sure is such as to insure ultimate success. An effort is also being made for the purpose of promoting a movement in favour of closing all public drinking-houses in England throughout the whole of the Lord's day. The British Temperance League and the Lord's Day Observance Association are understood to take the lead in this movement; and it is hoped that a bill may be got before the house during the present session.

At Plymouth the Town Mission has recently taken action, by calling a public meeting, and promoting a petition, concerning the liquor traffic, the preamble of which sets forth the evil consequences resulting to the work of the mission's agents through the licenced drink-shops-the ancient purpose of the victuallers being to supply food and lodging to travellers -praying Parliament to confine them to their legitimate aim, and to sanction the bill about to be brought before the legislature, empowering the people to veto the traffic in their respective districts. Other missions of a like nature throughout the country are to be communicated with for the purpose of requesting their co-operation in a similar work. In the recently published report of the Liverpool Domestic Mission, one of the missionaries declares that he is more than ever convinced that it is not from improved drainage or improved dwellings that true reform is to arise. Speaking of strong drink, he says: I have no confidence in any scheme for really improving the condition of the people, which does not embrace within its scope the removal of this, the greatest of all temptations to which they are exposed.'

OF

In a recent debate in the House of Lords the Earl of Shaftesbury protested against the further DEMOLITION HOUSES for railways in the metropolis, on the ground that the poor inhabitants, unable to find shelter elsewhere, would all 'crowd into the remaining houses, to the great sanitary and moral deterioration of the mass. To this cause -miserable and insufficient dwellings -his lordship attributed, not altogether but mainly,' the prevalent habits of intoxication. The Earl of Dudley, in the course of a speech when presiding over the Dudley Mechanics' Institution soirée, said: 'He could confidently appeal to those who lived in the town and district for support

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to his observation, that drunkenness was the one great vice of this place, and led more than anything else to the production of that great calendar of crime which they saw from time to time. There was nothing that he knew of that could be put into the scale to counterbalance its evils. The one great source of nearly all the evil authority and power had to contend with, was the drunkenness of the lower classes, and the temptation presented by the flaring gin-shop, and the society it offered was too often more than enough to induce men to leave their miserable, dark houses to be taken care of by their wives and children as best they could. If this were a true representation of the state of things existing in the town [the country], and those who started the Mechanics' Institution knew it was so, and if they were striking at the root of so huge an evil, then the work they were engaged in was so important and onerous, that everybody would be justly held responsible for the consequence of withholding his support and countenance from it.'

The difficult and momentous question of CONVICT TRANSPORTATION is again before Parliament, Mr. Childers having succeeded in obtaining a select committee, which is to go into the general subject of secondary punishments, and which, we trust, will ascertain the causes of the recent violent outbreaks at Chatham and other convict prisons, and the great insecurity which is complained of in many parts of the country. In Bermuda and Gibraltar there are large numbers of convicts whose discipline is said to be in a very unsatisfactory state. The Australian colony is demanding that only prisoners who have the best characters be sent to them. But what are we to do with the others? It is reported that three' hundred ticket-of-leave convicts are at the present time residing in Manchester; and burglaries, garotte robberies, and other crimes are of nightly occurrence. Our authorities might wisely take a hint from the governor of Michigan, who, in his message to the legislature of the State, says: 'Since I entered upon the duties of my office I have pardoned seventy-two convicts. Whenever I could learn that the convict had been in the habit of indulging in intemperance, I imposed upon his pardon the condition that he

should

should for ever after abstain from the use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage. One and one only, has since violated that condition, and for such violation is now serving out the balance of her term.' If a similar condition were imposed upon all our ticket-ofleave convicts, there can be no doubt but that a large proportion of the reconvictions which now bring discredit upon our prison discipline would never be incurred.

An important CONFERENCE was held on the 21st of January, at Birmingham, for the purpose of discussing the question of providing for the education of neglected and destitute children, and the duty of the legislature and executive government to aid therein. The attendance was numerous and influential. The Right Hon. Sir John Pakington, M.P., ably presided, and stated that they had assembled to set forth a grievance, and discuss what was the best and most appropriate remedy. The grievance, he said, was this-that out of the large annual sum which is voted by Parliament to assist in the education of the poor, those who are the most poor, those who are the most destitute, those who come under the care of those institutions which have been founded by benevolent persons in most of the large towns of England and Scotland, called ragged schools, are, in fact, altogether excluded. He submitted the following declaration of policy and opinion on the part of those at whose instance the conference had been convened, as indicating the precise object of the meeting.

"The welfare of society requires that all its members should be educated. Therefore it is the duty of the state, both as regards society in general, and each individual composing it, to provide education for those who cannot obtain it for themselves. This duty is recognized by the state, since it provides education for those who are in gaols and reformatories, and therefore come compulsorily under its care, and for those who are thrown upon society for support, i. e., paupers. The same duty exists, but has not been discharged by the state, towards children who are not as yet either criminals or paupers, but whose natural guardians will not, or cannot, provide for their education.'

This declaration was endorsed by the signature of one hundred and forty-six of the most eminent and conspicuous

friends of education in Great Britain. Resolutions in accordance with the spirit and drift of the declaration were spoken to by the learned Recorder of Birmingham, and a number of other gentlemen, including Mr. Scholefield, M.P., Archdeacon Hone, Lord Lyttel ton, Rev. Samuel Bache (Birmingham), Rev. W. C. Osborne (Bath), Rev. Thomas Guthrie, D.D. (Edinburgh), the Right Hon. the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, Sir Baldwin Leighton, Bart., M.P., Rev. George Hans Hamilton (Berwick-on-Tweed), Robert Hanbury, Esq., M.P., Rev. J. C. Miller, D.Ď. (Birmingham), Viscount Ingestre, M.P., Rev. Prebendary Burgess (Chelsea), H. J. Leppoc, Esq. (Manchester), George Bell, Esq., M.D. (Edinburgh), C. F. Runey, Esq. (Aberdeen), Rev. James Gillespie (Liverpool), R. Spooner, Esq., M.P., T. Barwick Baker, Esq., &c., &c. Papers of an important character bearing upon the question before the conference were read by Mr. M. D. Hill, Q.C., and by Miss Carpenter, of Bristol. In the evening of the same day a public meeting, in connection with the conference, was held in the Town Hall. The Mayor of Birmingham, Arthur Ryland, Esq., took the chair, and was supported by a very large array of ladies and gentlemen who had attended the morning meeting. There were about three thousand persons in the body of the hall. On the motion of the Rev. Dr. Guthrie, and Mr. Scholefield, M.P., the series of resolutions adopted by the conference were unanimously approved and confirmed by the public meeting. In the course of his able and eloquent speech, Dr. Guthrie said:

"The grand object ragged schools have in view is this-to rescue from vice, and misery, and crime, in this world, and from ruin in the world to come, those who have no parents, and those who are worse off than them that have none. It is both the interest and the duty of society to see that these children do not perish. Society not only does them, but does itself a wrong in allowing uneducated children to grow up within its bounds. No man or woman is a fit member of a civilized community if they are bred in all the ignorance of a savage; and the man and woman who bring up their family in such a state, who train them to lie, to steal, to beg, are sinners against the good of society and the

welfare

welfare of the country.' The meeting was afterwards addressed by Mr. M. D. Hill, Rev. Dr. Miller, and other gentlemen, the whole of the day's proceedings being marked with deep interest.

The effect of the conference upon the public mind and leading statesmen was soon apparent. Several letters were

inserted in the London Times,' and leading articles appeared in various papers. Mr. Adderley came forward to defend the policy of the Privy Council from the charge of refusing aid to ragged schools, showing that the Minutes make very ample provision for aiding these institutions, on certain conditions. He complained of the want of precision in the statements made at the Birmingham conference, whilst he himself neglected to state what the conditions were upon which aid would be given. He, however, intimated that the Home Secretary was preparing an amendment of the Industrial Schools Act. This is just what the conference desired, and we hope that its aspirations will be speedily realized. Mr. Barwick Baker and Mr. M. D. Hill replied

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most ably and conclusively, and there can be no doubt but that government will be compelled to treat this great social question with more sagacity and fairness than heretofore. We hope soon to see an earnest and successful effort made in Parliament to secure for our ragged and industrial schools more of that public support to which they are so well entitled, and which experience proves they so greatly need.

Another movement that claims our earnest sympathy is being carried forwards towards a successful issue. We allude to the scheme of Mr. Sikes, of Huddersfield, to establish POST-OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS; and we congratulate the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the vigorous manner in which he has introduced the measure. Our facetious friend Punch' has been quite delighted with the idea, and with much laudable alertness has put his shoulder to the movement. His pictorial article in behalf of the measure was done in his best style. It was a happy hit to put the new savings bank into juxtaposition with the dram-shop.

Regeneration. By William Anderson, LL.D. Second edition. Edinburgh : Adam and Charles Black. 1861. THIS is a treatise on one of the most delicate subjects in theological science. It is by the hand of a master in Israel

a man sui generis, who stamps the individuality of his own original mind on every subject which he discusses. He expresses himself with great clearness and force, and brings the minds of his readers, as he does his hearers, into intelligent contact with his own. It is unnecessary for us to enter into the discussion of the question opened up in this volume; we may, however, remark that the subject is one of the most momentous which can occupy the attention of man, and the manner in which it is treated is such as will scarcely fail to impress every thoughtful reader. A massive intellect here handles a theme which many proud literati resign to women and weak-minded men. Such would do well to study the book of Dr. William Anderson.

The Annals of the Rescued. By the Author of Haste to the Rescue.' London: Nisbet and Co. 1860. NONE can peruse the touching pages of these annals without blessing God for the benevolent work in which the author has been engaged in Shrewsbury during the last three years. Her strong convictions on the subject of total abstinence, her zealous efforts among the degraded, her success in rescuing the fallen and miserable, combine to give unusual interest to her story. Would that every minister's wife, who can command the leisure, were as devoted, and that in every congregation or parish in England, similar efforts were made to remove drunkenness from the people. Nephalism the True Temperance of Science, Scripture, and Experience. By James Miller, F.R.S.E., Surgeon in Ordinary to the Queen in Scotland, and to H.R.H. the Prince Consort, Professor of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh. Glasgow: Scottish Temperance League. 1861.

PROFESSOR

PROFESSOR MILLER has taken up the temperance cause con amore. He has done it a powerful service by his literary contribution. Free from technical terms, and full of racy humour, quaint sayings, and sparkling anecdote, as well as philosophy, science, and religion, he brings his views home to the intelligence of all readers. This work is worthy of a large circulation, and we rejoice to learn that the professor's desire is, that its publishers may give every facility for its popular dissemination. His arguments are in the main irrefragable, his appeals pointed, and his interpretation of Scripture as reverent as it is accurate. The use of alcohol in disease is his most vulnerable point. Modern Statesmen; or, Sketches from the Strangers' Gallery of the House of Commons. By J. Ewing Ritchie, author of The Night Side of London.' 1 London: Tweedie. 1861.

MR. RITCHIE writes with a smart and ready hand, and possesses abilities capable of producing something more permanent than anything he has yet contributed to literature. There is too little information given, and there are blunders which a parliamentary littérateur should not have fallen into. Beyond the smartness characteristic of Mr. Ritchie's pen, and a certain popularity attached thereto, these sketches of modern statesmen cannot command our admiration. They are merely ephemeral. We regret to see so much of London conversational slang mixed up with descriptions of men of mark.

The Worn Wedding Ring, and other Poems. By W. C. Bennett. London: Chapman and Hall. 1861.

MR. BENNETT has already won his spurs as a poet of the third class. He writes well. His rhymes jingle musically. His songs are remarkably manly, patriotic, and tender in sentiment, and are expressed in nervous Saxon. His poems on childhood, and all its joys and sorrows, are true to nature, and are beautiful in art. The present volume is diversified. There are about two dozen poems and songs, many of which are exquisitely conceived and well expressed. There are no fewer than eighty-five sonnets where a practised hand is made to turn the harmonies of that difficult versification.

.

The Underground Railway from Slavery to Freedom. By the Rev. W. M. Mitchell. London: Tweedie.

THIS little work will be read with unflagging interest at the present time. It contains a strong appeal on behalf of the freedom of the slave. Teetotalism in Harmony with the Bible. A Lecture by the Rev. William Caine, M.A. Manchester.

THE argumentum ad Christianum is here well put. Mr. Caine examines consecutively many passages of the Bible, deduces his arguments with great cogency, and applies them as he advances. Alcoholics: a Letter to Practitioners in Medicine. By H. Mudge.

Temperance and High Wages. By W. Tweedie.

The Moderate Use of Intoxicating Drinks. By Dr. Carpenter.

A Tract for every Christian.

The Worn Thimble: The Drunkard's Bible. By Mrs. S. C. Hall.

The Value of Health. By Mrs. Ellis. Beacon Lights. London: W. Tweedie, THESE are very useful tracts, and calculated to carry conviction to the thoughtful reader.

Alcohol, a Prisoner at the Bar. Two
Lectures by Jabez Inwards. London:
Caudwell. 1861.
THIS trial is very cleverly described in
the pamphlet before us.

The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian

Messenger. London: Caudwell. THIS is a small quarterly devoted to the advocacy of vegetarianism. It is ably edited, well written, and full of variety, notwithstanding its single aim.

Amusements, and the need of Supplying Healthy Recreations for the People. By the Rev. George Huntington, M.A. London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.

THIS lecture is the production of a man of learning and accomplishments, who is also possessed of a large-hearted philanthropy. He approves of more physical out-of-door recreations than are generally within the reach of the working classes. This is very important counsel. A free library is not enough without a public park. There is very much in Mr. Huntington's lecture that we highly approve, but we cannot quite agree with his views on certain in-door amusements.