TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 135 



phievous as those whose reckless abuses of statistical methods have given point to 

 the sueer that nothing is «o false as figures except facts — the Rigbys of political 

 life, -who manipulate their figures with a view not to arrive at truth, but to obtain 

 a couti'oversial success. There is no poorer tiiimiph than such a one as this, for 

 there is none easier ; unless, indeed, it be the triumpli attained by fifth-rate theo- 

 logians when they quote isolated texts against each other, and each remains, in the 

 opinion of bis followers, the master of the unhonoured and improfitable field of 

 strife. It is, however, vain to argue against anything because it may be abused. 

 Of com-se, a man who deals with statistics, in the spirit of the saying, " Taut pis 

 pour les faits," can make them prove anything ; but surely no saying can be further 

 from being the expression of tlie temper of any man who has a right to call himself 

 a statistician. Perfect openness of mind, a determination to receive every fact ^^^th 

 equal favom-, a determination to restrain not only all the ordinary disturbing preju- 

 dices, but even that love of hasty generalization which is charactenstic of many fine 

 intellects, a spirit resigned to collect, one by one, the stones of the temple which 

 a successor may build up, — these are the marks of a true student of this science. I 

 have said something about popularizing economic science. Argninients not less 

 strong, though difterent, might be alleged in favour of popularizing statistics. It 

 is in this department that we shall find the real value of those men whose habits 

 of mind lead them to take what I may caU the old view of the science, the view 

 which foimd favour with Schlozer, when he said, " Statistics are history in repose ; 

 history is statistics in motion." The more the science, properly so called, Avith- 

 draws itself up the heights of knowledge, the more necessary will it be to have 

 messengers constantly passing to the plains below. It is satisfactory to see useful 

 manuals of statistics bemg gxadually multiplied and getting dovm into general cir- 

 culation. The historical ' Almanach de Gotha' has been mother of a numerous pro- 

 geny, amongst which not the least useful is the Belgian 'Annuaire' of Scheler, and 

 its younger sister in om- own coimtiy, the ' Statesman's Year Book.' It is strange 

 that, while France has in a kindred class of literature her excellent ' Aimuaire 

 des Deux Mondes,' and Germany her ' Europaischer Gelchichtskaleuder,' we have 

 nothing more cosmopolitan than our verj' parochial Annual Register. An idea 

 which was some years ago put forward in the ' Saturday Re^dew,' that it would 

 be expedient to bring out a series of politico-historical Companmns to Mr. Murray's 

 hand-books, has not yet been acted upon, but the realization of so reasonable a 

 project is surely only deferred. One of the greatest attractions of this science is 

 undoubtedly its" international character. The first impulse of a statistician who 

 has arrived'at what appear to him satisfactory results with regard to a group of 

 facts and tigm-es in his own country, is to see how his conclusions are affected by 

 similar groups of facts and figures in other coimtries. In so doing, he is necessarily 

 brought into connexion, not only ^vith foreigTi knowledge, but with foreign men of 

 activity and intelligence, and so becomes one more link in the chain that is binding 

 into om' great confederation the progressive nations of the globe. But I am for- 

 getting that I promised to adhere to the good custom of being brief. During the 

 next week we shall listen to many papers upon most important subjects, both in 

 our character of economists and statisticians. I trust we shall not only bring to 

 all an open and unprejudiced mind, but recollect the precept of the PjTrhonists, "Be 

 sober, and remember to doubt." Working in this spuit, we may perhaps square 

 a stone or shape a rafter which some future " master of those who know " may 

 use in building up a system of politics which may do as much honour to the nine- 

 teenth century after, as did that of Ai'istotle to the fourth century before the 

 Christian era. 



0)1 Productive Labour in Prisons as associated with the Reformation of Cri- 

 minals. By Sir John Bowring, LL.D., F.li.S. 

 The author read a paper, accompanied by the statistics of twenty-one prisons in 

 Great Britain, with the pui-pose of showing that profit-giving labour in gaols was 

 an all-important auxiliary for producing refoi-matiou among criminals. He stated 

 that the Act of Parliament in 186-3, which was intended to regidate all the prisons 

 of England, had left incredible incongruities, discrepancies, and contradictions in 



