The Scottish Historical Review for January contains, besides several notable
articles on Scottish topics, an account by an American scholar, Mr. Volwiler, of Robert Owen's picturesque and fruitless mission to the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1818. Owen wished to persuade the Tsar Alexander and his fellow- • sovereigns that the development of machinery would increase production without modifying the old system of distribution and that the governments ought to take precautions against the aggravation of existing evils by providing a proper education for the working classes. The Tsar would not receive Owen, though he listened to Clarkson on behalf of the slaves and to Way, the advocate of toleration for the Jews. Gentz, Metternich's
confidential adviser, thought Owen a bore. In after years Owen declared in his memoirs that his petitions had been favourably considered by the Congress, but in this he deceived himself.
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