TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 183 



three years. I tliiDk we also see something of the same tendency in China, and I 

 shall be surprised if we do not see some similar movement iu our own Indian posses- 

 sions before long. Even the recent visit of the Shah of Persia (although there was 

 much in it of not much reality) is, nevertheless, of itself a very interesting fact. 

 It is a matter of some interest to us to hnd that the despotic ruler of an Eastern 

 nation has thought it necessary to pay a visit to the West. It would be hard to 

 foresee what will be the economic results of this intellectual movement, if it 

 should go on increasing in extent and activity. It may cause to some extent com- 

 petition with our labourers ; but I believe that the general result of it will be that it 

 will tend enormously to the advantage of both labour and capital. 



Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have only one more remark to make before I sit 

 down. There was one event (one sad event) that occurred last year to which I 

 must allude. It would ill become me to close this address without making some 

 reference to the irreparable loss which economic science has sustained in the death 

 of Mr. Mill. That man, from whose lucid wi-itings most of us have learnt what 

 political economy we know, has been struck down in the full vigour of his thought, 

 with his power of expression undiminished. I think there is no one who would 

 dispute that vigour, or who would deny that in his remarkable faculty for the expo- 

 sition and the illustration of a trutli, John Stuart Mill was unrivalled in our time, 

 and hardly excelled in any other. But his loss cannot be measured by that faculty 

 of exposition. He was one of those who not merely explained and declared prin- 

 ciples, but who endeavoured to apply them. He was not content with stating 

 problems ; he did not shrink from the attempt to solve them. I know that many 

 of us would not iu all cases accept his solutions ; but who of us is there who would 

 not acknowledge the perfect sincerity of his motive — the absolute truthfulness of 

 his action ? Many of you knew him well : I had not that privilege ; but I knew 

 him well enough to feel that the spirit with which, in attempting to apply his 

 principles, he dealt with social and political questions, was so pure and noble, so 

 sincere and single-minded, that he spread, as it were, an ennobling atmosphere 

 around him, and for the time shamed away all mean intrigue and personal preju- 

 dice or vanity. I hope that those of us who in future try to study or to apply 

 those principles will alwaj's keep before us the example of the author of ' The 

 Principles of Political Economy.' 



0)1 the Use and Abuse of Peat. Bij Major-General Sir James Alexander, C.B. 



The author described the waste of the valuable supply of peat in the county of 

 Perth, in Scotlaud, by floating it down the river Forth in order to obtain the use 

 of the clay subsoil for corn. The store of peat yet untouched was enormous, and 

 the facilities for dealing with it were profitable. The peat in Shetland was said to 

 be hard as coal, and the varieties of the Blairdrummond peat were described. The 

 great consumption of coal was alluded to, and the danger of exhausting the supply, 

 unless the export was checked by duty. The author next proceeded to describe 

 the Falkland Islands peat, which was used for ships of war, and noticed the uses 

 to which peat-charcoal was put for smelting iron. The method of working peat 

 by peat-a achine in Canada was shown by drawings, and a description given of the 

 manner of working. The author referred to the stores of peat in France which were 

 as yet unworked, and alluded to a peat-factory which had been forciblj' closed in 

 Ireland, but remarked that one was about to be erected at Dumfries. 



On some of the Economical Aspects of Endounnents of Education and Original 

 Research. By C. E. Appleton, D.C.L. 



Endowments may be classified according to source, object, or extent. 



Questions arising from the consideration of the sources of these are mainly extra- 

 economical. Possible sources are private bequest, taxation, or a private bequest 

 taken in hand and reapplied by the community. 



