The Press. — London, England, 1854-06-24 00:00:00

JUNE 24, 1554. " large and important school in the city of " Loudon." The gentlemen who are only just not " dunces or idiots " must be exceedingly obliged to their candid assailant, who, had he deigned to consult the pages of the Oxford Calendar, would have found that to fortify his own case the less he said about Merchant Taylors the better. In this school the mercantile and profes sional inhabitants of the city of London are es pecially interested, for by them it was originally founded, and with singular fidelity it has con tinued to educate their children for newly three hundred years. Yet it is dependent, perhaps, for its very existence upon these en dowments, three-fourths of whose value wquld be destroyed were the scholarship obtained at school to be, what it is scarcely yet determined it shall not be, converted into a terminable in stead of a continuous benefice. This, be it. ever remembered, is the pith and marrow of the question. Compel such scholars, to com pete for honours, make a term of probation universally necessary—do anything but deprive . the schools of their property. It is idle, in the face of the example of St John's, to say these endowments promote lethargy, while their positive advantages are, on the other hand, clear, great, and sacred. They beget habits of study in the schoolboy earlier than could be produced by any other means ; they train him to assiduity and continual careful ness, and accustom him to the necessity of waiting for his reward. On the other hand, as regards the undergraduate, the test of proba tion has been found to operate most benefi cially in keeping up a high standard of con duct, inasmuch as the disgrace of losing a fellowship on the ground of immorality is suf. ficient to affect a man 'e prospects for life,. while the failure iu an examination is got ove r with comparative ease. Now, were the system of competition sub stituted for this, and every scholar compelled to undergo a second examination before his admission as full fellow, would the' colleges gain anything sufficient to compensate for the injury inflicted on the schools? We do not see how. If a first, or even a second, class man is not, as a rule, good enough for any fellowship, then is the university standard of excellence itself worthless; but if he is, there never need be any. lack of such for,the annual vacancies. A large proportion of the. fellows of St. John's, as above stated, are always first olassmen, and there can, therefore, be norea son why it should not be so in the other Live colleges as well, were certain accidental dis tinctions once got rid of. But, besides .all this, it is a mistake to suppose that oollege endowments are turned to the best account hy invariably awarding them to the cleverest men. These are not the class for whom they were originally intended, or to whom they are of the most service, while the cause of learning in the abstract would, we are certain, be little benefited by any measure which tended, to exclude second and third-rate class-men from the advantages,. social and otherwise, ; of .mu Oxford fellowship. IRISH PAUPERISM. THE last report of the Irish Poor-law Commissioners is, on the whole, decidedly satisfactory. It exhibits considerable decrease both in the numbers relieved and the amount expended, as compared with the pre• ceding year. In 1852 the expenditure was 883,267/. ; in '53, it was 785,718/. In the former year 504,844 indoor paupers were relieved, and 14,811 received outdoor support. In the latter the indcor paupers Were 308,4.36 ; the outdoor, 13,232. We have thus a diminution of one-eighth in the cost, and a diminution of nearly one•ilfth in the amount of distress, as attested by this, the only accessible evidence of any value. That the oast should not have decreased in an equal ratio with the relief afforded is due to several causes—the two principal being, the higher price of food, and the permanent nature of that part of the expenses which consists in salaries, rem ;rs, and establishment charges generally. The average weekly cost of food for each individual is at present about Is. 01; while last year it was about Is. 2ed. That of clothing, on the other him* shows a reduction ; the average weekly cost not ex ceeding led., though a few years back it was fully double that sum. qrn EIsTV Tn the present as during the last year the pressure of poverty seems to fall Most heavily in the month of February ; a fact of which the explanation is not obvious, since up to lttsl the heaviest ex penses of unions were incurred in the month of June. Farther observation and experience may serve to clear up what is at present perplexing. An increased Mortality is perceptible in the Irish workhouses; not. however, attributable So any pecu liar unheakthiness either there or in the country at large. It is obviously due to two causes—one the extent to which of late years the unions have teen made to assume the character of hospitals; the other, the diminished number of young paupers, a fact which is itself the result of recent emigration. This movement continues unabated - . About 2,' 00 persons have been sent out at. the public expense, at a cost of 12,800/. ; and 1,100 more have been assisted out by friends or relatives beyoud the sea. The value of agricultural labour has increased, at the rate, it is supposed, of about Is. weekly above the prices of 1815.0, the ye ars preceding the famine. From our own calculations we should have been inclined to rate the incniase higher ; but it must be borne in mind that the demand for labour is not only more urgent but more continuous than formerly; thus the mere weekly payment, taken alone, forms no fait measure of the labourer's im proved condition. It is not simply that he now receives 7s. where be used to receive tie., but that he receives the augmented pay throughout the whole year, instead of, as formerly, at irregular intervals. Industrial training is attended to in all the unions except seven; „little difficulty is found in supplying employment for workhouse children ; 5,371 were thus provided for in 1852 ; and the services of pauper boys are everywhere in request. Greater difficulty is ex perienced in the case of.girle; and these accordingly constitute the majority of emigrants. . Not the least remarkable featute of Irish poor la* adininistration is the establishment Of a complete system of gratuitous medical assistance for the - poor. This is an advance on English practice; but 'though we believe its introduction to have been a jnilicious act in Ireland, undeethe peculiar circumstance* of that country, it is obviously liable to abuses, which indeed are a frequent subject of complaint. MR. GLADST4CONE AND' THE 4 18NE&L BURSARIES." ' IN the year 1079 a Mr. SNii.x. died, having be- , lusathed certain estates in WarwiCkshire to found exhibitions at Oxford for the benefit of students, of Glasgow College. ;At that period 'Episcopacy hall not ceased to be by law the national religion of Scot • land,. and on that ground certain EPiseopalians who entertain extreme opinions recently endeavoured to close theie exhibitions againA all but Episcopalians. The process to wln4h they bad recourse was,a spit et law, the que.stian involved was the construction of Sintu.'s will, and in 1548, upon appeal to the House of Lords, the case was decided in fatour •of the general body of the students. The expense of these proceedings ' was defrayed by stilysetiption ; and, according to astatereent inDlachlvood's Mago-aine, the most active instigator of the suit has since jointid of Church ,Of •Route, while amongst thosi who soh secibed,.to carry ,it an was the. Right . Honourable WILLLAK EWART 4141,DWZOALE,, now Chancellor of I 4 Exchequer. A similar itaternent was made in t he Edinburgh Adrer(iser, and' a correspondence his ensued between Mr. Ottrositis; ' l and the ecßtot of that paper. rimt, "Mr. W. Vtir..ins.rome," 'in the third person singular, withnnit wasting time .. in presenting Ma compliMents, "requests to be informed " upon whet atithority "p; the statement • has been made. The •editor replies as curtly that he received the information " from a source which he was entitled "to credit," and reminds the Guano:Lima of the ENQREQUER that his " note, perhaps from. Waa 1, vertence, does not contradict, tOe statenietti,—r "a circumstance which, if it be erroneous, the " editor very much regrets, as he purposes " writing again on the subject in next publication. "If. Mr. GLthsrear inform hint - by Monday night "'that the statement is 'unfounded; the editor wilt 1 " contradict it as publicly as it was melte."' •• • t. -f" • I The cold and studied formality of the third person singular 'he now cast aside, and;—that Better on .his ! genius remevcd—the CHANCELLOR ,o 1 thIVEXCHRQE&R thus touchingly relieves his outraged faelingsp----. TO I,llt MOTOR Or TRY IDIXDOROH ADVlCirrtitli. ' Sir,-1 hold myself entitled .to couipluM of your abuse of your privileges and neglect of your responsibilities as a . public journalist. Tii making agkinst me chafes hi' a • most offensive character, you ltave'coseplett Orem with, aryl; in met founded them upod;csie 'single litatesnent which i worts to be aatatement of factsouid.•which is ennuis; ..i :f • . . . , .1 hsa A tig ht to vaguest of you that you , should usnie your author' y ; and you have done a fresh wrong to me, and what is far more important to publiclitsßce-andlin; 579 gent redly high charseter of our press, by refusing to give up to ine.tho author of a statement for which, and (which is far more material) for the joining of which with dis graceful impillations, you uow stand exclusively respon sible. I have no further wishes• to express upon the subject than this—that if you contradict your statement you will publish the oorrespondence.—l remain, sir, your obedient servant, W. E. GL. DSTONE. Downing street, June 3, 1851. Mr. GLAPSTONB is celebrated as ft letter-writer; but we wish some Birmingham clerk would ask him to explain what he means iu this! whether he intenas to deny that ho subscribed towards the fund in question! and also what is " a statement for " which, ands(which is more material) for the join " ing of which with disgraceful imputations?" Mr. GLADSTONE is an old author; it is somewhere about twenty years since he published a work ; but, in perusing the last paragraph of his note, one is irresistibly reminded of the advice to a young author," Whenever you think you have writteu any " thing particularly good—burn it!" THE NEW BISHOP. Wr are tunch obliged to the correspondent who, with some remarks of his own, sends us an article from the Liverpool Mail on the character of the Hon. and Rev, HORACE Powva—" the hard-working, "earnest-minded rector of Warrington." We are very glad so hear that the new bishop has "a cheerful " cenvereation and' a pleasant presence." His repu tatfon, it seems, has sustained some damage from the suspicions character of his patrons. Noseitur a sooiis does not apply to him. One account says that his Whiggery "is of a type extremely mild and in "offensive," and another that "his sympathies and "even efforts have always been with the Conserve ," ti4ti party in Warrington. He has spent a portion of tits Income in acts of benevolence, and has no Other tendencies than a " thorough Chureh of Eng " laud-man" should have. So far as these state• meats affect the remarks we made on the appoint ment a fortnight back, we willingly and thankfully weeps tins correction. We have not the slightest disposition to'roast a bishop, and are delighted to heir that Sodor and Man will have the benefit of sech:exemplary ecclesiastical rule. The question remains, however, whether a bishcp ought not to be semething better than a good sort of man. We are Sure that itia for the interests of the Church that men` of lekrnbig, eloquence, courage, and decided principle liheedd be chosen at this time to fill its high places ; and though we can understand the attachment to the rectos of Warringtou of those por tions who have been .privileged to share his "cheerful "eenversatiore"yet ive , think that the mistake as to prianwles , and predilections which it is alleged autto u =eivili , eoteinion. with several other London • a here falleu into, could scarcely have occurred ,the ;loopy rector's reputation as a divine ever q.xtended beyond the boundaries of his parish. A letter from Lubeck, of the 18th, in Voss's Gazette of Berlin, says . ' 4 . According to lettere which have arrived this day from Idetsingfors, it wils a h posed that there would soon be a p i conilsit, fur the 'ism Beet, anchored in that port, ut out to sell. i t , however, possible, that its object rel 4 'to prOtecle the ftrtress of Mveaborg." V!Baron Meyenderff, or rather the Russian embassy Viesna, are endeavouring, it is said, to let the hotel " leased by the Russian Government in that espital. The plate, linen, lox., ire packed as if for a long jouruey. A 4 4 .i3aziAß in of the funds of the HOsPitalWitonsnmptioh will be held on 'Tuesday and Wednesday next in the beautiful grounds of Gore-house, under the immediate; patronage of the Queen. This noble charity, though comparatively of recent datoi,i bas already relieved so much suffering And saved so many lives that it has the strongest claims tb the •Sympathy and support of the public. The *Wee% tot'. the bazaar is to provide a fund for ppeuing. Ole new wing of the hospital; and from the number of distinguished patronesses of the institu tion, and'the perfect manner in which the fetes for its benefit lave. always been got up, se may anti cipate that, the scene will be one of the most elegant of the season. The stalls will be presided over by Dliitheins of Sutherland lady Foley gasalitotwhis of 14 astniga .Ludy southauiptou Marchioness of Ailinibury Lady Leigh GOtititeas of Darby Dowager Lady Shelley Sountess of Jersey Lady West leounteen of Harrington Dowager Lady Morgan .Gpuntesa 4 :aroliue Bellew Mrs. Warner Lady Cliarlotte Fgerton Mrs. (plain •4191 0 9 4 u , L000 pitman/ton . Mrs. Phillip Ruse V *countess oulberniero Mrs. Mason Latlllle John Somerset • • Query, whirker.--Printort