The Press. — London, England, 1856-04-12 00:00:00

. ~......0 . ............, o....sibb. . . .. .._ .. . „,, ..., ... ......,.., . ~. ~,...........- ' ...",.... -"-----' '; - --:-.'";""- - - - .- . 16........." .. - 10,;..::- " . '.:::. " 41 ' .' , . : - 4 , t . , APRIL 12, 1856. But Peelite and Whig were one mind, And jined ! It's little to stop them ye'll find When inclined ! Says they, " What'll you be? " " What is there? " says he. " There's this gown—and whatever's behind 0' that kind." And this Mimber they all thought so shy, My eye! Niver thought o' his ould party-c ry - . For why ? _ But, " Begorra," says he, " As ye've that berth for mo, Ye may put down the scat for Athlono Yer own !" There's a moral contained in my song. Not long ; When a Brass band's man rails for a wrong, Quite strong, If to win him ye sigh, Jist bid—and ye'll buy ; For they're all like the judge from Athlone, Och hone! THE PREMIER'S EDUCATION SPEECH. (LAST NIGHT.) IThe hour at which we go to press unfortunately compels us to insert the following report a short time before the speech itself can be delivered; but the material, if not the textual, accuracy of the version will be found unimpeachable.] - - Lord PALMERSTON : Sir, I humbly conceive that, instead of talking about education, the House had better have carried out the original intention of her Majesty's Government, and gone into Committee of Supply to-night. However, as instead of going into Supply the House preferred " going to Johnny "—(laughter)—as my friend the Hon. Member for Sheffield says my late friend Lord Melbourne advised him to do, and as the Government has been so repeatedly called upon to declare its educational policy, I shall not shrink from the challenge. The resolutions which " Johnny "—I beg pardon—(laughter)—which the Noble Lord the Member for London has laid before us go, to a certain extent—for, like himself, they go no great length—(laughter)— towards enacting compulsory education. Now, it seems to me that all education is compulsory. At least, I know, for myself, that if I had not been compelled to learn I should have known precious little. (Hear, hear.) You coerce the baby to learn its alphabet by withhold ing the lump of sugar until it has articulated the letter ; you coerce young frock-and-trousers with hints at the birch ; and you coerce the big schoolboy with the wax-ended cane. You compel the collegian into his rooms with the bulldog ; and you coerce the young man into moral habits with the wife and the mother-in law. (Laughter.) I might go further, and show how political knowledge is coerced into the candidate by cabbage stalks and defunct cats, and knowledge as to the matters on which he legislates is beaten into the statesman by hostile majorities. There fore the principle of compulsory education is not a new one. But I am reminded by those who have paid more attention to the subject than I have done, that it is compulsion, applied to the parent, not the child, that my noble friend "Johnny"—(laughter)—advocates. This, Sir, I confess is another view of the case. This, Sir, may be an inroad upon our liberties, upon our right of private judgment and action, a robbery of those treasures which have been handed down to us from the remotest antiquity, and which it is our duty to transmit to poste rity intact and undefiled (Loud cheers). I own, Sir, that it appears to me that the same benignant nature, which as I explained elsewhere, made all babies good, has provided that all parents shall be educators. (Hear, hear.) I. say that it is impossible for a parent to escape the duty of trning his child, either personally or by proxy. • Why, Sir, I don't 'now my noble friend Johnny's notions, but it would be to me quite impossible to live in a house with an untrained child. (Laughter). The child forces you to teach him. He breaks your windows, he burns your papers, he spills ink over your white trousers, he cuts offyour:cat's tail, and he makes himself such a general and per vading nuisance, that teach him self-government and good morals you must. I defy you to leave him untaught. (Hear, hear). There, Sir, is the compulsory principle, and one established by nature, and I see not why a resolution of this House should gild refined gold and paint the lily, and throw a perfume on the violet. (Cheers.) But, Sir, although I object to the plan of my friend Johnny, it must not be supposed that I subscribe to the views of lion. members opposite. For instance, they affirm that all educational processes should involve a religious element, and that my noble friend's plan would become secular. I thoroughly agree that religion is a very important thing, a most important and invaluable thing. Without religion we should have had no ne o f our sumptuous an d no bl e cat h e d ra l s , our e l egant Churches, ay, an d our hi g hl y respecta bl e, if l ess ornamen t e d dissent ing chapels. Without religion, we should have had none of our I ‘!i B sioluiry and Tract Societies, and a hundred other institutions, the glory of the country. Had there never been any religion in these islands, my noble friend's family would have been far poorer than it is, for there would have been no church-lands to endow it. (Laughter.) THE PRESS. Therefore, religion is an inestimable thing. But, on the other hand, as nobody knows what religion is, as we have, as the Frenchman said, "ninety-six religions and only one fish-sauce"—(laughter)—and as every body flies at everybody's throat, the moment a creed or a definition is proposed. I think it is of no use to try to enact a religious education. (Hear, heat.) I have disposed of both of these plans, but there is a third, upon which the opinion of the Government is sought, namely, a secular system. Now, though the word sounds newfangled, it is not new. Horace wrote an ode, which he called Carmen Seculare, though, for the information of the Manchester school, I should mention that there is nothing about carmen, or any other members of the lower orders, in it. ( Laughter.) In astronomy, we have a secular inequality, which the gentleman who found out that the moon had stopped turn ing would do well to study. The word is simply equivalent to " profane," the latter having been used for it until lately, in contra distinction to " sacred." Now, Sir, do you think I would consent to give the children of this country a profane education ? Heaven forbid, Sir. Anything like profanity is so distasteful to me, that the other night when a gallant Admiral (Wallcot) so far forgot himself as to say " d—n "in this House, it was as much as I could do to remain present. ( Hear, hear.) lam most deeply imbued with the sense of reverence, and my organ of veneration is developed to a remarkable degree. Therefore, Sir, I must oppose any profane scheme. such as that propounded by cottonmongers and Socinians. (Applause.) Having now shown, Sir, that it is impossible for the Government to support any of the three schemes before the House, I may he asked what I would advocate, and I may be reminded that a Ministry is in a serious and responsible office, and that the welfare of millions of our fellow-beings depends on our course of action. I reply, at once, that I admit it, and that I see in the course which her Majesty's Government is prepared to adopt the best guarantee for the happi ness of those millions. Away with your libels and slanders upon the people of England—(cheers)—away with your false allegations that they are not taught ! Did ever our ignorant and untaught nation select a good Government ? ( Hear, hear.) And what kind of a Go vernment has this nation selected ? ( Applause.) Sir, for the Govern ment of this country to meddle in the education question would en danger its position, and it would be an unworthy and ungrateful return to the people, who have placed us where we are, did we insult them by declaring them ignorant, or injure them by imperilling our places. Therefore, Sir, I beg to announce that her Majesty's Govern ment has decided upon doing—nothing. (The Noble Lord sat down amid loud cheers from his supporters.) THE WHIG MODEL FARM. The noble lord (Lord Palmerston) had said that Ireland had been suffering from sectarian differences, and therefore we must establish a MODEL F./m—Mr. Disraeli, House of Commons, April 4, 1856. Oh ! green are the grasses of Erin's green isle, And green is the haulm of its pra ties : But greener by far are its flats, all the while We reap and we harvest them gratis. Oh ! Erin's the Whig Model Farm ! Oh, yes! It's our own Model Farm ! We fenced as Whigs only are able to fence, And we drained to the Treasury level; The new Irish Income Tax paid our expense While we pitched Tenant-Right to the devil. Oh ! Erin's the Whig Model Farm ! Oh, yes! It's our own Model Farm! Its grievances—antediluvian crop— And its rank weeds of partisan hate Were our staple manure : for our dressing on top We used Blarney and Blatherumskate. Oh ! Erin's the Whig Model Farm! Oh, yes ! It's our owu Model Farm ! We harrowed, we trenched, and our clod-crushing tools We got from the great Agitator; We ploughed on the simplest and safest of rules With the sub-soil machine of our Hayter. Oh ! Erin's the Whig Model Farm ! Oh, yes ! It's our own Model Farm! For Keogh's new Guano we paid rather high, For its virtues we couldn't discover ; What with that or the Sadleir-O'Flaherty What dockweeds came up in our clover. Oh ! Erin's the Whig Model Farm ! Oh, yes ! It's our own Model Farm ! As the dockweeds die off we may still hope for spoil From the slime, of corruption begotten ; So our farm may he found, like much other good soil, Most highly productive when rotten. Oh! Erin's the Whig Model Farm! Oh, yes! Its our own Model Farm ! Oh ! green are the grasses of Erin's green isle, And green is the haulm of its praties ; But greener by far are its flats, all the while We reap and we harvest them gratis. Oh ! Erin's the Whig Model Farm ! Oh, yes ! it's our own Model Farm J