The Press. — London, England, 1855-04-21 00:00:00

APRIL 21, 1855. exact form and shape of the machinery by which proposed results are to be carried out— may be, and must be postponed. If adequate to their purpose, they may pass; if faulty, a remedy will be found, or others may be sub stituted ; the immediate question at issue is— on what principles shall the educational sys tem of England be henceforth based ? Three only can be pointed out—the secular, the voluntary, and the denominational. Of the first of these, abstractedly, we say no thing, convinced that its practical adoption is, in the present temper of the English people, impossible—that it would provoke an opposi• tion irresistible, universal, and which time would rather increase than abate ; conse quently, that however interesting as a theory, it has no value as a legislative scheme meant to be adapted to the present time. So, again, with the " voluntary" theory; which, whether believed in or not, was, in fact, acted upon until some five•and twenty years ago, with what results those conversant with the state of England in the last generation can best tell Against both secularists and voluntaries the people of England, were they polled to. morrow, would pronounce by a majority of two to one State teaching there must be— or rather State assistance to those who teach —religious teaching there must be—and the problem is, to combine both these without either allowing to the Government a cen tralising dictatorial authority in educational matters, or giving occasion (too easily taken) of mutual offence and exasperation between contending sects. To guard against the first of these risks, local self-government is ado: led as the leading principle of Sir JOHN PAIING. TON'S bill; there is no compulsion in it. A district in which the plan is unpopular may simply ignore it, and go on as before. The " voluntaries" are not meddled with—no taxa tion is meditated except self taxation—that interference of the governing power is cut down to the lowest point, and will be still fur ther controlled when, as Sir JOHN proposes, the Committee of Council receives, what it ought to have had long ago, its due represen tation in both Houses of Parliament. The last, or sectarian difficulty, is the most formidable of all ; and we do not say that any method has, or can be, discovered by which it can be either wholly evaded, or wholly over come. But under the present measure, as compared with any other that has been, or that is likely to be, proposed, what party will have a right to complain? The Dissenter? He well knows that the establishment of • secular schools (even supposing that his con science allows him to send his children to each), cannot be made compulsory, and that if left optional the permission will remain, over nine-tenths of the country, a dead letter. He is equally well assured, it the inhabitant of a rural district, that his fellow-sectarians, scat tered far and wide in numbers comparatively small, cannot unite for educational purposes, such union necessarily requiring proximity of residence, as well as community of sentiments. His alternative, therefore, unless he reside in a town, is to educate his children himself, or send them to a Church school for education. By the proposed bill he will have access, as a matter of right, to the Churoh school, coupled with exemption from compulsory attendance on religious teaching. He is so far a clear gainer, with the added advantage, that if he dislike the school system adopted in the union where he resides, he,like every other ratepayer, has it in his power practically to protest, by withholding or cutting down the rate. Again, the Churchman,—in what respect is he a loser by the bill ? It is true that on him, as on his rival, is laid an obligation of tole rance in the prohibition of compulsory reli gious teaching. But this is no interference with the management of his school—it is simply a stipulation on the part of the State, that in return for aid given by the State, he shall forego the exercise of a power which no sensible man could desire to possess, and by the abandonment of which he himself may profit, in localities where a non conformist mrjm•ity pre'. ails. If the rigid rule of deno p in ttional exclusion is not to be maintained— if any consideration is to be shown to the THE PRESS. rights of minorities, too small and scattered to set up schools of their own—and if, at the same time, a denominational teaching is to be allowed at all,—which we at least hold to be matter of necessity—we affirm it, with confi dence, no plan except this—Oct those who will call it a compromise, though to us it seems rather to resemble an equitable arrangement of conflicting claims)—no attempt at a more thorough separation, no division between half & dozen schools of a sum only sufficient to support one respectably, will really meet the exigencies, or receive the support of thoughtful fairminded men. " THE EMPRESS." THE fame of the beauty of the Empress EUGENIE had long passed beyond the shores of France. In every city in Europe portraits of her remarkable countenance have been seen by admiring eyes. Cynical observers have sometimes been heard to hint that art could flatter, and that the charms of reality might be heightened by the courtly limners. Millions of English people can now, from the evidence of their own senses, refute the un generous insinuation that the loveliness of the French Empress was exaggerated by the cun ning hands of painting panegyrists. On Monday the Empress appeared to par ticular advantage. When she landed at Dover, her countenance was at first rather pale. It was understood that the fatigue of travelling had slightly discomposed her, but when the Imperial party had reached the Bricklayer's Arms Station her Majesty had resumed all her native freshness, grace, and beauty. The sight of the beaming looks around her, the sound of the countless cheers of welcome, the fineness of the weather, the thorough cor diality of the reception from the people at large, and an exulting sense of the greatness of the august occasion, brought a flush of pleasure into the countenance of the Empress, and as she drove slowly up Pall-mall her beauty never looked more dazzling, and its resplendent effect was hailed with universal admiration. It was a constant remark, that " the pictures " had not done justice to the Empress." We are decidedly of that opinion. The expression of her mild blue eyes, and the sweet serenity of her face in repose, has never been perfectly portrayed. The artists appear to us to have succeeded in catching only the physical outline, and not the sentiment of her most peculiar and distinctive style of beauty. We admit the merits of WINTER HALTER'S portrait, but it has the coldness of the German school, and we can conceive what an incomparably finer presentment of such a face would have been given on the canvas by REYNOLDS, or LAWRENCE, or FRANCIS GRANT. It is rarely that so distinctive a type is seen in female beauty as in the French Empress. She belongs to one of the rarest of all styles, that of the Spanish blonde. Stamped by Nature's impress, there is an unmistakeable evidence of blood in her refined and spiritual face. Extremely fair, with gentle blue eyes, and a charming natural colour, the Empress EUGENIE possesses the additional charm of a most expressive mouth. The classical eleva tion of her countenance reminds one of the chiselled masterpieces of Grecian art. She has more, however, of the outward and visible signs of high Spanish race in the long and delicately drawn features, and especially in her noble Castilian air, so remote from aught that is suggestive of vulgar associations. Nor are her voice and manner the least of her attractions. She can sustain dignity without losing affability, and in her courtesy there is none of the affected condescension that wounds more than wins. Her words, gestures, and deportment, are those of a noble lady, of an illustrious gentlewoman, formed to grace a throne, and cast an additional lustre on her position. On Thursday, the heat of the weather, and the prolonged exertion of receiving the ac clamations of what we shall call the levee of the Londoners. gave rather the appearance of languor to the Empress. But in the evening at the Opera her loveliness was heightened by the attractiveness of her dress and by her brilliant jewels. As she acknowledged the greeting of the house, with radiant smiles, it seemed that if ever clay was cast in an impe rial mould it was when Nature fashioned that Grecian head, with its graceful neck and bust. It is gratifying to know that her amiability is equal to her beauty; she is adored by her attendants ; and the words " Elle est si bonne, " si amiable," are in the mouths of all who know her. We cannot close this notice of one so lofty in station, and so highly endowed, without recording that her Imperial Majesty's in fluence has been directed to raising the tone and character of the Court of the Tuileries. On French morality the Empress EUGENIE has exercised a most beneficial effect, and the moral beauty of her character, as shown by countless acts of personal beneficence, attest the generous heart that beats within her bosom. That her career may continue to be fortunate, and that every happiness public and domestic may reward her many private virtues, is the sincere wish of the British people, and by none of them is it more de sired than by the women of England, who can best appreciate that purity of character of which the beautiful presence of the Em press EUGENIE is, in her illustrious instance, the faithfully significant exemplar. THE NEW INDIAN FIVE PER CENT. LOAN. IT is about a year since the Indian Five per Cents. were paid off, or rather that pay ment was advertised in the case of holders who preferred cash to conversion; but, as the public were informed that the Government had seventeen millions in its treasury available for the operation, and as they were led to believe that a Four per Cent. Stock was the highest that the Government would ever issue in future, they almost unanimously accepted the terms offered them, and, in lieu of their Five per Cents., received Four per Cent. Stock of the new creation. A little before this the Five per Cents. bad been at 112, while the Fours were at par, or a little over, so that many lost twelve per cent. of their capital by the conversion ; but, as the first loss was understood as likely to be the last, the purchasers for investment were in clined to make the best of their indifferent bargain. Any man, however, who has anything to do with the funds in India is pretty sure, sooner or later, to repent it—unless, indeed, he happens to be behind the scenes, and in a position to have official knowledge of measures in embryo, in addition to the wits that Heaven has blessed him with. Accordingly, the acceptors of the converted Four per Cent. Stock have all, with those exceptions, been completely taken in—the available seventeen millions are proved to have been unavailable, being merely the collected revenue at credit required for and exhausted in the ordinary service of the year—a new Five per Cent. Stock has now been created for investment at par—and the Four per Cent. Stock received in lieu of the Five per Cent., at its conversion last year, has sunk at once to 85, and will probably be quoted at 80 by the time of the departure of the ensuing mail. Such is the mode in which the nicest opera tion in finance is conducted in India ; such is the process—a process which no ingenuity unaided by official knowledge could guard against—by which numbers of Indian fund holders have lost twenty seven per cent. of their entire capital within a twelvemonth. Whether any men possessing official know ledge have gained in proportion we are unable to say ; but, on a former occasion, it is a matter of notoriety that large sums of money were made by some of those who were in the secret. It does not, however, require the additional stigma of being a suspected channel of mal versation or corruption to insure the condem nation of such a financial system—a system which renders the fundholder liable to the most sudden and arbitrary and extreme flue