The Sun. — London, England, 1862-03-28 00:00:00

1 MPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS — YESTERDAY. `The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at _five o'clock. THE REVISED CODE. Petitions against the Revised Code were presented by the Earl of Rardwicke, the Bishop of Worcester, viscount Dungannon, Lord St. Leonardo, Lord Teignhara, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Earl of Malmesbury, Lord Redesdale, Lord Lyttelton, and several other noble peers. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Leeds New Gas, Falmouth Water, and the Dundee Water Bills were read a third time and passed. MUTINY BILL. - This bill was read a first time. CHARITABLE USES ACT (1861) AMENDMENT BILL. Lord ORAN WORTH moved the second reading of this bill, which was for the extension of time for enrolments amder the act 1861. The motion was agreed to. INDIA STOCKS TRANSFER BILL. This bill passed through committee, and was reported Without amendments. LUNACY REGULATION BILL. The report of amendments on this bill was received. SIR JOHN SOANE'S MUSEUM BILL, - --- This bill passed through committee, and was reported without amendments. INDIAN LICENSE TAX Thr, Earl of AIRLIE asked her Majesty's Government whether it was true that the Indian License Tax had been al . ,olishel. The tax yielded about £500,000, and ho was ?glad the finances of India were in such a flourishing con dition to enable the Government to remit it ; but there were other taxes which pressed very heavily on the people of that country which he thought ought to have been dealt with before the License-tax. The Duke of ARGYLL said no official information had arrived from India as to the course taken by the Indian Government with respect to the License-tax; however, he thought it extremely probable that the informa tion which the noble lord had received was true. The license tax had never been, as far as he could discover. collected throughout India, although it had been paid in certain parts of that country. It would however be more likely that the collection of the tax had been deferred rather than altogether abolished. He believed it was the inten tion of the Indian Government to modify certain customs duties and to abstain from collecting others ; and it must be satisfactory to every one that the finances of India were in such a, hopeful condition. That lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS—YESTERDAY. The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS, The following bills were read a third time and passed : Barnsley Local Board of Health, Garston and Liverpool Railway, Ileckmondwike Gas, Kington and Eardisley Railway, London, Chatham, and Dover Railway (Junction Railway at Battersea, &c.), New Chappel, Lindfield, and Brighton, &c. Roads, Tendring Hundred Railway, 1 4 are ham Roads, Weymouth and Portland Railway and Exten sion to Harbour. The following bills were considered and ordered for third reading : —Coventry Poor Act Amendment, and Launceston and South Devon Railway. PETITIONS. Several petitions were presented against the Local As sessment Bill—against the Revised Code—in favour of an alteration in the Poor Law in Ireland—in favour of an amendment of the Grand Jury Laws, &c. COMMITTEE OF SELECTION. Sir W. MILES was sworn in a member of this committee. COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH BELGIUM. Mr. FORSTER gave notice that to •morrow he would ask the First Lord of the Treasury why the Commercial Treaty with Belgium relative to the differential duties on Englifsh goods imported into Belgium had been suspended. RZGISTRATION OF MARRIAGES (IRELAND). _ _ Itt reply to Mr. LONGFIBLD, Sir R. PEEL said he had given notice that he would introduce a bill for the better registration of marriages in Ireland to-morrow. ALLEGED GRIEVANCES OF OFFICERS IN THE CIVIL SERVICE IN INDIA. Mr. VANSITTART asked the Secretary of State for India whether he had received any and what memorials from those members of her Majesty's covenanted civil ser vice who are now in India, praying for the redress of cer tain grievances ; and, if so, whether he had any objection to place the same on the table of the house ? _ _ _ . Sir C. WOOD ,s a id th a t a memorial on_ _ the subject had been received by Government. Ultimately he would have no objection to lay all the papers bearing on the matter on the table. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SECRE TARY FOR WAR AND THE UNIVERSITIES. Mr. SELWYN asked the Secretary of State for War whether the undermentioned letters were not omitted from the "copy of correspondence between the Secretary of State for War and the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dablin;relatingto military education," ordered by the House of Commons to ",be !printed March 11, 1862; and whether there was any objection to the production of those letters, viz,, letter dated Cambridge, April 23, 1861, signed Latimer Neville, Vice Chancellor—Letters from Lord Herbert, dated War-office, April 30, 1861—Letter dated May 6, 1861, signed Latimer Neville, Vice Chancellor; and in closing a scheme for Military Education, signed by L. Ne ville, Vice Chancellor, W. Whewell, G. E. Corrie, W. H. Bateson, and by twelve other members of the Council of the Senate? Mr. LEFROY asked the Secretary of State for War, whether a letter of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Dublin of Feb. 10 was not omitted from the copy of cor respondence between the Secretary of State for War and the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, relat ing to military education, ordered by the house to be printed 11th March, 1862, and whether there was any ob jection to the production of that letter ? Sir G. LEWIS said that the correspondence alluded to by the hon. and learned member (Mr. Selwyn) had been considered by Lord Herbert as private, and there was no copy of it in the War-office. With reference to the ques tion of the hon. member (Mr. Lefroy) the letter in question had been omitted by inadvertence. THE RIOTS IN MALTA. Mr. GRIFFITH asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether a memorial or petition, signed by 30 gentlemen of Malta, had been addressed to the governor of that island, complaining of the conduct of the police there in not effectually preventing, or con niving at, the riots which took place on. the 9th and 10th of February : Whether they were desired, in answer, to address any "evidence or explanation they pos.. sees" to the Superintendent of Police, which they declined, on the giound that the inquiry should be made by autho rity "independent of the department of the executive police:" and, whether it was the opinion of the Secretary of State for the Colonies that the chief of the police was the proper authority to be appointed to inquire into the conduct of his own department, as between the inhabitants and that esta blishment, in case of a complaint publicly preferred against it. Mr. C. FORTESCUE said that the Governor of Malta had instituted an inquiry into the subject, from which it appeared that the repous which had reached this country were much exaggerated, and the riots in the island were of a trifling character. THE DIPLOMATIC CONSULAR SERVICES. Mr. LIN VSAY asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why the return relative to the diplomatic and consular services, addressed for on the 26th July last, had not been laid upon the table of the house. Mr. LAYARD said' that if the question was put in a more explicit form he would give the hon. member an answer. GREENWICH HOSPITAL. Mr. ANGERSTEIN asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether her Majesty's Government would consent, during the present session of Parliatncnt„to place tb.o rating of Greenwich Hospital upon the saute footing already conceded to other places where there is a large amount of public pro- PertY, the justice of which was acknowledged by a clause in the Greenwich Hospital Bill, laid upon the table of the house in 1561 by the Government ? Mr. F, PEEL said that the bill referred to had no bear ing on the claims brought forward by the hon. member in refe renft t o 9reenwich Hospital, which had funds of its own. FAIRS A ND MARKETS (IRELAND) BILL . In reply to M r , timNEsay, Sir R. PEEL said that he thought it would be bet'er to proceed with the bill, but he was ready to consult th e w i s h es of the Irish members on the su bj ect. PROSECIIMIt EXPENSES BILL. Sir this bill G. until GRE tho 15th of A Y said he did not propose to p ro c ee d w ith A -o Y, and he would move that the of the bill this ev en i ng s h ou ld Order for the secon d rea ding be discharged' _^ _____ SO UTHERN Sir G. GREY said that he hoped thehon, baronet (Sir G. Bowyer) T t wou ld postpone his moti on „ Southern Italy, in the absence of his noble : 11 . subject of ann u l the Fre mier. Sir G. BOWYER said he wished for s ome tilt° on the subject of some intellig ence which he hodrlZthli The hon. baronet then alluded to certain reports whi ch had '. appeared in Italian newspapers as to some very stri ng .,,, t reenlations being adopted in some of the communes, " 4 proclaimed in reference to the brigands in South Italy, and to persons affording them shelter. Mr. LAYARD said that the hon. barone t had given him no nntieo of his question. All ho could say woe, that the Government was not responsible for any,rumours or reports in newspapers. With respect to the proclamation referred to relative to the brigands, it hail been brought under the notice of the Government of Naples, and it appeared that Such proclamation was not sanctioned by the Government, and it had not even been printed. He thought the question L ut e l7 by the hon. arenet wonhi have been best asked in a arliantent of Turin. (H ear , h e ar.) _ THE ISED CODE —ADJOURNED DET3ATE. Mr. WRITEsiDr. resumed — the adjourned debate on the motion " That this house immediately resolve itself into a committee to consider the best mode of distributing the Parliamentary grants for the education now adminis tered by the Privy Council." The right hon. gentleman s t ron gly advocated the merits of the existing system which the Revised Code proposed to supersede. He referred to that of Scotland, and to the success which attended native; of that country in different avocations, which he ascribed to the system of national education which prevailed there. He contended that the tests on which the Privy Council proceeded in arriving at the conclusion as to the inefficiency ei the existing system were most unsound, for they entirely excluded migratory children, an important element in the consideration of the subject. He also alluded to the eon. flitting statements between the schoolmasters and the in spectors, and argued that the vice-president of the Board of Education had entirely failed to make out a case. The commissioners had entered into the question respecting the masters, and had reported as to their manners, conduct, and what was called conceit, with which they had been charged and had affirmed that they found nothing against the schoolmasters as a class to justify the allegations which had been made to their prejudice, and testified to their intellec tual qualification end good moral character. The right hon. gentleman alleged that the masters were dissatisfied with their position ; but had it not often been the case in higher conditions of life. that when a man got one good place he grumbled until he got a better—(laughter)—but that did not affect his moral character. (Hear, and a laugh.) The right hon. gentleman said that the masters had not a very favourable opinion of him, and told the house why he should have no very favourable opinion of them. He (Mr. White side) never read a speech that gave him more pain than that delivered by the right hon. gentleman. in that speech the right hon. gentleman said that the masters were dissatisfied because they only received on an average £122 a year, and because the work was spoiled by the interference of the clergy. (Hear.) Mr. LOWE.--It is in the summary of evidence. Mr. WHITESIDE understood it perfectly, as he would presently show. The right hon. gentleman proceeds from the national schools to the British schools, and speaks of the satisfied state of the masters of these schools, because they were free from "priestly tyranny," (Hear, from Conserva tive benches.) The right hon. gentleman had two objects in view in quoting what he called a " summary" o f th e evi dence, but which was not so. His first object was to insult the clergy, and next to cast a slur upon the whole body of masters . connected with his own depart ment. This was shown by the fact that he fixed upon the only point in the evidence which was offensive to the clergy. Would the right hon. gentleman, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was looked upon as a great friend of the Church—who admired the clergy, and who was ad mired by them—agree in this language of his colleague in which he had held the clergy up to contempt ? (Hear, hear.) The right hon. 'gentleman (Mr. Lowe) shook his head and disclaimed this imputation, but he (Mr. White side) repeated that the right hon. gentleman designedly dulled out the passage, and not fairly, from the appendix to the evidence collected by Mr. Wilkinson. That gentle man himself had reported most favourably of the education work of the clergy, and 26 out of the 27 witnesses who were examined concurred in this opinion. These were all Church men ; but the 27th, Mr. A—, a Dissenter, alone expressed the opinion that had been quoted by the right hon. gentle man against the interference of the clergy. That dissenting witness had a right, if he pleased, to speak for himself and for the master of the British school, but he had no right to speak for the National schoolmasters or the Church. (Cheers.) Mr. Wilkinson, in his report, declared that edu cation was progressing in the metropolis, both in quantity and quality, and that the people recognised the necessity of religion being a material ingredient of it, It was his opinion that the grant for education should be ihcreased. Now, with respect to the resolutions proposed by his right hon. friend (Mr. Walpole), the two last were highly important, because they raised the Constitutional question, which the house should not hesitate to give an opinion upon. The re ports of the commissioners having been laid upon the table of the house, the right hon, gentleman, in reply to a question from his right hon. friend (Mr. Walpole), said that any change in the system of education would still be regulated by the opinion of those whose hands had maintained it. A few days afterwards, on the 29th July, the new code was published, and on the 12th August the Privy Council issued the order commanding obedience to that code. He asked if that was consistent with the answers which the right hon gentleman had given to the questions put to him upon the subject on the 12th July ? Did he mean to say that his scheme was approved of by all who were interested in edu cation, when that statement was directly contradicted by all who took any practical part in the work of education in either England or Scotland, and especially in Scotland ? He had heard of drum-head court-martials, and Austria being called a Despotism, but what could be more despotic than for a department of the Government suddenly to announce that great changes were to be made—to call for submission on the part of those affected by such changes without in quiry or remonstrance ? (Hear, hear.) He thought that Parliament was bound te teach the Government to treat it with that respect to which it was entitled, and to ensure for the future that such sweeping changes in the administra tion of a public grant for great national purposes, should in future be fully and properly brought under the considera tion of the Legislature. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gen tleman said the system was expensive and ought to be re duced in cost ; but the fact was, we had too long neglected the education of our poorer classes. (Hear, hear.) There had been endowments, foundations, and provisions for the education of the middle and upper classes, who in this way had been stimulated and incited to emulation in knowledge, but we had done nothing for the education of the poor. The Scottish Parliament had done much, and with the happiest results. He trusted that when the house came to discuss the question, they would recollect how small was the amount spent upon tho education of the poorer classes when compared with the sums expended in iron-plated ships, of instruments of human destruction, and in guilty wars that filled the world with widows and orphans. (Hoar, hear.) He trusted that they would remember that there were vic tories to be gained over ignorance, vice, and crime; and if they persevered in that great conflict—there were battles to be won, triumphs to gain —we should come safely out of the contest, and the results would add to the glory of Queen Victoria's reign. (Long-continued cheers.) Mr. B. OSBORNE said he could not help suspecting, from the tone of the right hon. gentleman's observations, that he rather differed from the right hon. gentleman who introduced this subject, in a desire to make this somewhat of a party question. (Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Osborne) would endeavour to steer clear of anything of the sort, be cause the solution of so great a social problem ought not to be reduced to the level of a party conflict. (Hear.) The right hon. gentleman had told them of the difference be tween the ingenuity of a witness and the fairness of a judge. His speech appeared to him to show more of the ingenuity than the fairness. '(Hear, and a laugh) He had spoken very highly of education and its results in Scotland, and of what Buller called the profound principle of truth which it diffused; but though the right hon. gentleman might have read Lord Macaulay, ho did not appear to have read the evidence of Mr. Di iseoo betore the committee, or he would have found that the morals of some of the ladies of that country were not of the moat brilliant character. (A laugh.) He could not conceive why so much condemnation should be thrown on the vice-president of the education committee. He for one thought that great credit was duo to him for the moral courage—(hear)—and the industry he had ex hibited in grappling with, unravelling, and simplifying a system which by successive orders of successive committees had become so unwieldy and complicated that it was puzzl ing to the few, and absolutely unintelligible to the many. (Hear.) As to the opposition the new system had had to encounter, it was natural in the course of events that when the Government endeavoured to check the growth of an artificial system which had created an army of managers, teachers, pupil teachers, and others, all participating in a public grant, the most determined opposition should be exhibited by those, so interested. The right hon. gentle man had spoken of the opposition of the clergy of all de nominations. He (Mr. Osborne) was not at all surprised that those who hated each other for the love of God in all other cases should yet agree when their object was to drain the public Exchequer non shit. When they did agree their unanimity was wonderful. (Hear, and a laugh.) No doubt the changes involved individual hardship, but that was no question for that house. The real and only ques tion it had to decide was, whether these changes were for the public benefit. (Hear, hear.) Now, divested of all technicality and details, they had simply to consider, in the first place, that this system which had been in existence some twenty years was always spoken of as provisional and temporary. (Hear, hear.) What had been its cost during these twenty years? Four millions and a half sterling. It had risen from an annual grant in 1839 of the modest sum of £32,000, to the sum of £815,000 last year, asd the cry . was still "Give, give," " More, more." W hat was the prospect if this was not checked ? Dr. Temple in his evidence (and he was a good authority) said that to carry out the scheme fully would cost £5,000,000, and even the most sanguine supporters of the old scheme estimated its cost at two and a half millions annually. And what had we got in return, either for this large past or pro spectively larger outlay ? The answer was to be found in the report of the Royal Commission, which, after two years' careful examination of the whole subject, was fatal to the whole system as it at present existed. They stated that the junior classes, who formed the majority of the scholars, do not learn, or learn very imperfectly, reading, writing, and arithmetic. (Hoar.) This was, ha con tended, to give up the whole case. In the name of com mon sense, what were children sent to school for but to learn reacting, writing, and arithmetic? (Cheers.) But !hen the discipline was spoken of. Could any discipline public (loc um I),better than that involved in the acquirement of these en tarY and , Qpntial bran ches of instruction ? (Res newed chsertn g.) He would not quote any but was, whether theseUe had tried to read Mr. Chadwick's pamphlet, re en e .,,, tB c . 4 candidly ea u f„,,, a r by the right hon. gentleman, but he ti,iisae borne him down. What he asked this army of sup esnur r e :ees, teachers, pupil-teachers, 'and , were to be allowed not only to frighten the Goveseniftenlit's. mends, but to present an eleel'ititoQ compliance with their de mands to the heads of members of that house, and the m kith the loss of their FPats t the next. Oectiral if then not vote for the continuance of the grants in their prea su ld t n • mm ee For his own part he only complained that it s , t; (Hear) not go far enough, It had been urged that this Z e did a T a - veil- gious question. The right hon. gentleinan opposite, who was peculiarly the friend of the clergy had said:much on that point, and insinuated that the right hon. vice-president (Mr. Lowe) was not the friend of the clergy or of religion. Now he (Mr. Osborne) utterly denied that the question had anything to do;with religion. Dr. Hook, the estimable Dean of Chichester, had shown in his evidence that in a re ligious point of view the system was a complete failure, and observed that it was a mockery to suppose that because children were allosted to dogs'-ear their Bibles in school they learned anything of religion. (Hear.) The Rev. Mr. Brookfield, one of the most eminent inspectors, reported that out of 6,000 scholars he eXamined, 3,344 were unable to answer even one of the simplest questions in the catechism, with the exception of 142 out of the whole number. Mr. Fraser and Mr. Fester said that the religions instruction was learned . merely by rote; and Mr. Jelinger Symons said that he found the children could tell the weight of Goliah's spear, the length of Noah's ark, and the dimen , s ions of Solomon's temple, while they w ere utt er ly i gnoran t of all the first principles of Christian life. (Hear, hear.) The truth was that it was not a religious but a breeches'- pocket question (hear, hear) whether the country should go on paying, and the schoolmasters receiving, as at present. Everybody agreed that something must be done, except one, and that was the hon. member for Hert fordshire, who told them that be had practised in the Court of Chancery, and seemed to want to get the house into Chancery, too. (A laugh.) Mr. PULLER—I did not say that nothing ought to be done. Mr. OSBORNE—The hon. gentleman at all events called the revised code an " immoral act," and he was very much surprised to see the hon. gentleman at that moment in con versation with the author of an "immoral act." (Great laughter.) Was it not notorious how petitions were got up The Rev, Mr Scott details the plan how hon. members were to be worked up, as appeared by a letter he (Mr. Osborne) held in his hand, dated March 12, from Westminster, in the neighbourhood of the house. He was writing to all persons belonging to the Wesleyan connexion, a body that received from the grant nearly £300,000 a year, and very naturally had more to fear than others. Well, what did he say ? "All legitimate influence," he writes, " should be used with our representatives in Parliament. Few of them understand the subject of the Revised Code — (laughter)—so well as to have any opinion about it." (Laughter.) He (Mr. Osborne) did not know if that were parliamentary language; but Mr. Scott proceeds, "They are, therefore, the more likely to act for their consti tuents if they plainly and honestly expressed their opi nions." Hon. members ought to know what that meant. (Hear, hear,) It was a threat " looming in the future," and was evidently written for the purpose of getting up petitions in the schools against the proposed code. (Hear, hear.) Who, in point of fact, was to petition in. its favour, when no organisation was set on foot, and when it was well known that nothing could be more unpopular than to stop grants of public money which had been given for years. He believed the right hon. gentleman the Vice-President of the Council was one of the best friends the country ever had, not only on economical grounds, but from his attempt to save the country the con sequences of the lavish expenditure to which it was annually subjected. As to what was said about " vested interests," that he believed to be what was called "a pocket pistol," to induce the hon. gentleman to continue the present system. The hon. member for Hertfordshire said the faith of the country was pledged to continue the teachers. How did that occur ? Did he mean to say that the system of educa tion now carried on was not for the benefit of the children of the poor of this country, but for that of the schoolmasters, who received their education at the public expense and now turned round on the Executive because it presumes to alter the system ? He was surprised that, with the experience Whatslb subject?"—" tle a re it . which the hon. gentleman said he had in the Court of Chan he p ce o ry rt , o h f e th s e ho n ul o d yal ma: o e m ze is h si a on sta s t a e y m o e n nt t . may be said that the State did excite expectations, and gave teachers a moral right to think the system would be continued ; but that was not the case, as the sum s voted were always annual, and not ipermanent. Indeed it was notorious that it has grown up by degrees, and that the propriety of altering it was always considered as cer tain." Ho could hardly believe that the experience and knowledge acquired by the hon. gentleman in the Court of Chancery could have permitted him to assert that the country was pledged to continue these certificated teachers. The hon. member for Bradford—hi s h on . friend, if he would allow him to call him so ; for after his powerful • speech the other evening any one ought to be proud to call him so—but his hon. friend forgot himself at the end of it, and called it " a pedantic and bureaucratic scheme." It certainly was not " bureaucratic," because it decentralised the present system, and gave away the whol e p a t ronage from the possession of the Government. If it were worth anything, its best argument was, that it simplified that which previously 'existed. (Hear, hear.) What business he (Mr. Osborne) wished to know, had the Government to interfere with the question of education ? It was never contemplated that the Privy Council should do so. The right hon. gentleman the member for the University of Cambridge endeavoured to enlist the feelings and sympathies of the old Whiga in that house, who generally went to sleep on those benches at eleven o'clock—(a laugh)—by insinuating that what he proposed was the scheme of Lord Lansdowne and another noble lord (Earl Russell) who had now gone to another and happier place. (A laugh.) But he denied that either ever contemplated the continuance of the system under the Privy Council. In 1839 Lord Lansdowne stated in the House of Lords that a permanent settlement of it at that time was out of the question, that the arrangements were merely temporary, liable to be modified or enlarged; and Lord John, now Earl Russell, said in this house it was not intended to apply it to the whol3 of the country. • The fact was, the machinery had so enlarged as to require more clerks than were employed in . the office of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and it appeared in evidence before the Royal Commission that, notwithstanding its enormous staff, it was at the present moment totally inadequate to perforrit its duties. That was the testimony of Mr. Lincoln, the secretary of the Education Committee, who had been 14 years in the office, and whose opinion was, that if the system were fully carried out it mint break down unless they procured a much larger establishment than Parliament would grant, and that if the whole grant were withdrawn education would not fall back in any great degree. The same evidence was given by Mr. Carster, the assistant secretary, who stated in addi tion that the Committee of Privy Council was so over whelmed with details that there was no time to ascertain the practical working of the whole scheme. The Royal Commission recammended that the payments to be made should be entrusted to the managers altogether, so as to do away with the idea that the schoolmasters were stipendiaries of the State. Those people threatened the Government, and the house should take care that they did not even go farther. The right hon. gentleman who last addressed the house said the system was a national one; but how did that appear ? He found by referring to the report, that while there Ni ere 6,897 assisted schools, there ware no less than 15,925 who received no grant at all. In the county of Cornwall there were 71 parishes having 600 children at school, but in not one of those places, except the borough of Liskcard, which he had the honour to represent, was any of them connected with the present system. Then, let the house see what the nature of the teaching was. If any hon. gen tlemen looked into the whole matter, and read, as ho had done, five large volumes of evidence, which gave him a terrible vertigo, he would see that it was too high for tho children of the poor, too ambitious, and too much cramming of children, instead of imparting to them the essential rudi ments of education. Mr. Fetzer stated that the failure to obtain local aid in support of these schools, was the opinion entertained by landlords and others that it was vicious in this respect. He then gives an instance where he found a young schoolmistress employed very earnestly and sedu lously in the discharge of her duties, but engaged in teach ing children a sum in long division, although they were not even able to read the figures. Then came what were termed training colleges, which he believed had also failed, although they cost the country £2,544,000. There were 31 of them in England and Wales, containing 2,065 stu dents, male and female. They were founded mainly on the self-supporting system, yet the college at Cheltenham coat the Government 99 per cent for its expenses, and the others 90 percent. The result was that they bad more school masters than they could employ, and those now educated at the public expense were allowed to compete with the sons of those who paid for them in obtaining situations in the public service. (Hear, hear.) The Rev. Mr. Glass, the principal of the Battersea training school, stated in his evi dence that the supply was greater than the demand, and that tho local subscriptions had fallen from £1,500 to £3OO. Ho would suggest to his right hon. friend that it would bo a good plan to appoint a select committee to inquire into the whole system. He thought the question of principle of na tional education had been lost sight of. The effect of Go vernment interference with education in this country had been to cripple all efforts to promote voluntary education. But they had also evidence of a most conclusive character upon the point—the evidence of two men who, from their public situations, must have had peculiar information, and were well qualified to give an opinion on the subject. Dr. Temple, the master of Rugby School, said the system of education had done great good, and ho thought that it might bo productive of great harm if dependent upon Go vernment aid. Ile also thought that although the good was increasing, the harm was increasing in a still greater ratio, and no doubt, if the matter went on as is had been doing, the grant would soon become enormous. Dr. Vaughan, late master of Harrow School, said that nothing, not eventhe defence of our shores, was so important as education;rightly conducted. Ent yet in the teeth of all that eviden ce they were, about to consolidat e thi s sys tem, without inquiring first what was the principle upon Tey whichr h Government s c e u d s u s c i a o t n i o n o n s h t zl t d q p u r e o s e t o e n d Now he could not conceive how this was at the present period, which was so favourable for settling this question at least. There they wore free from any party spirit, albeit they had had a little infusion of it to-night— a tincture from the University of Dublin. There they were in ." Reform." " Its voice is never heard—our lips are loath to speak that once familier word." (Laughter.) Even the war panic was gone by, end there was n political-mil lennium. The Conservative lion was lying down by tho Liberal lamb. (Laughter.) And if the noble lord at the head of the Government could only get an Irish Lord of the Treasury everything would be smooth. The-calm had almost reached a state of stagnation—the "chickweed" was on the face of their debate. (Laughter.) Why, then, could not the Government come down to the house and propound a scheme of unfettered national education in this country, free from the trammels of Government assistance, by gradually diminishing the Government allowance? Since looking into the subject he had come to the con. , elusion that if they wished the country to be educated on right principle—if they wished to improve the community, they would not continue this lavish system of Government grants, or of conducting the education of the country under a Government office. The political views of parties should have nothing to do with the education of the people. When he heard the opinion of the majority of the Council of Education was in favour of the Government scheme of education, he might refer to the opinions of two gentlemen of the minority, viz., Mr. Miall and Mr. Toulmin Smith, who was one of the rising lights of the present generation. They desired that the system of education should be free and that the Govern ment should gradually abstain from the lavish expenditure upon it, and that they should not make further money grants except for the purposes of building. He could not help thinking that the report of the minority was well worthy the attention of the house. They had never yet dis cussed on what principles proper education should be con ducted, and so long as they were content to lavish those sums without inquiry he felt confident that it was not by this revised code they would be able to deal with it fully ; but that they would be obliged eventually to say once for all, you should put a stop to this lavish outlay from the public expenditure. (Hear, hear.) Mr. ADDERLEY observed it was agreed on both sides that some revision of the code of 1860 was necessary; the only question was as to the time and mode of the revision. The proposed revision had been unjustly characterised as intended to revolutionise the present system; its apparent object was to limit the interference of the Government, and to revive the action of voluntary agency, which had been overlaid by Government aid. So far the proposition was wise, but the mode of carrying it out was a more difficult question. After referring to certain points which had been misunderstood by the opponents of the Revised Code, he observed that there were two difficulties which he could not at present see his way through. One was the proposal for the individual examination of every scholar, not having heard by what machinery it was to bo carried out. The other was the effect which the various causes, diminishing attendance during examination, might have the income of schools. One great object of the code ought to be to spread the Government grant, and extend the use of it throughout the country, the poorer districts keeping aloof from the Privy Councillthrongh terror of Government inspection—an objection which the Revised Code would remove. He de precated the discussion of this question in relation to parti cular interest ; the primary consideration to be kept in view was the good of the labouring classes, and how far Govern ment should come in aid of voluntary action. If that had broken down, then let the Government take the manage.. ment into its own hands ; but, if the voluntary principle was still alive, let means be taken to check Government in terference. Mr. GOWER noticed and obviated various misappre hensions of the scheme of the Government, explaining and defending the alterations it proposed. He considered the fears entertained as to the financial prospects of the schools exaggerated. Under the present sy s t e m the pupil teachers were paid at the same rate all ov er th e country, though wages differed in different parts ; whereas by the Revised Code the managers could adapt the payment according to circumstances. Mr. LIDDELL said, if the existing system of education was cumbrous and costly, the Privy Council had made it so, from two motives—to save themselves trouble, and the Exchequer expense. He regarded the revision of the Code as one of a series of financial reforms—one, however, which the people least required. He admitted the utility of such reforms, but there were two modes of reforming—the right and the wrong ; and, in his opin ion, th e Revised Code was, in many of its details, a wrong method. He expl a i ne d th e objections he entertained to some o f th e proposed changes, and the evils and dangers he ant ici p at ed from them, espe cially the grouping of children by age. He compl a i ne d o f some statements contained in the report of an Assistant Commissioner, the charges in which, though gr o u n dl ess , formed a part of the evidence upon which the revision of the Code was founded. Mr. BAINES considered that it was a great fault in both the old Code and the new that the public money was in a very large degree wasted upon schools which needed it the least, or not at all, while those that required most had little, or none, of the Government grant. He referred to instances of largo sums given to schools in wealthy districts, where parents were able to pay for the education of the children, and the managers did not know what to do with the capitation grant. This was a gross abuse of the public charity, which had a demoralising effect and other injurious consequences. He appealed to strong testimony in support of this assertien, and contended that, in a very moderate percentage upon the wages of the working classes, there existed a large fund untouched for the education of the poor, and that if the people were left to themselves it would make greater progress, their ability and their Willingness to make prevision having been demonstrated. Sir J. PAKINGTON felt himself bound to support the resolutions of his right hon. friend the member for the University of Cambridge, in opposition to the scheme of the Government; but he was very glad to find that the views he had himself put forward on different occasions on the subject had been sanctioned both by the report of the Royal Commission and by the speech of the right hon. gen tleman the Vice-President of the Council. No one could doubt that the present system was too centralised and too costly, and failed in reaching those districts where educa tion was most wanted. He always considered that the quantity of education was immaterial, unless the quality was good ; and certainly there could be no doubt that it had materially increased, for he found that while in 1845, out of every 100 persdns married 41 per cent. could not write their names, in 1860 it was diminished down to 30 per cent. His complaints against the right hon. gentleman was, that he was borne out in saying he did not meet the difficulty. He submitted that, as far as the 920,000 chil dren were concerned, the right hon. gentleman's plan might answer ; but he did not enable them to extend the system to the 1,250,000 children. They all remembered the evidence of Mr. Lynden, that so great was the increase in the amount of business in the Education-office, that the whole system must break down if some change in it were not made.. The right hon. gentleman told them that one of his objects was to correct the evil of " centralisation;" but he apprehended the right hon. gentleman would never succeed in that object. In his opinion there was but one ' mode of correcting this centralisation system, and that was by the establishment of local boards, with power of control. The right, hon. gentleman complained of the great expense which was incurred in carrying out the existing system ; tut that arose from the extravagant payments made to par ticular schools. The right hon. geneeman told them that, on looking- at the list of schools, he found one in which there were 200 children, for whom £4 per head was paid, others for wbom'M Os. per head was paid, others £1 75., and others for whom only 19s. per head was paid. Now he (Sir John Pakington) maintained that by the establish. ment of local agencies and of local boards the amount might be greatly reduced, and by that system there would be no further extravagance in the distribution of the money given to schools. He found, according to the statement of the hon. member for Leeds (Mr. Baines), that 'a large amount of Government aid had been given tc some schools. Now what was the character of those schools ? They were schools to which it was questionable whether any relief at all ought to be given. He quite agreed with the right hon. gentleman in that opinion, and he must say that the evil of endeavouring to carry out the education of the country by a system of centralisation WAS 'a system of extravagance they could not keep up. The right hon. gentleman said Government were determined to adopt the system of paying by results. He would tell the right hon. gentleman that that system would not succeed. He was anxious to know what was the principle upon which tho Government were prepared to proceed. Was it the inten tion. of- the Government to maintair. the grant hitherto given, and to make it spread over a wider area, or was it their intention to reduce the grants altogeter ? In his opi nion, the right hon. gentleman's plan was intended not merely to benefit and promote the welfare of schools, but more especially so to promote the welfare of the right hon. gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The right hon. gentleman stated in ono of his speeches that great extrava gance had resulted from the system of management. (Hear, hear.) The Government, hb sail, were willing to give .e. 500, 000 in one year, and they were not unwilling to pro pose £600,000 in the next year. That was a serious charge. In 1857 the right hon. gentleman charged the officers of the Government with deluding the country. Did the right hon. gentleman make that charge at present ? Now he (Sir J. Pakington) must say ifsever the charge was sub stantiable the ground for it would be found in the speech of the right hon. gentleman. He did not want to recommend any extravagance in the grants, but the question of extra vagance did not turn upon the amount, but upon the manner in which they expended the money ; and if they found assistance granted to schools that were not entitled to it, and withheld it from other schools that stood in need of it, ho must say that that was a sys tem of extravagance on the one hand, and of injustice on the other, that could not fail to give dissatisfaction. Now the establishment of local boards would correct that system of abase, and the leading principles of the present system were, according to the report of the Royal Com missioners, simply t o com bi ne the re p rese ntative with the local system, and thus enable the children of the country generally, in all cases whore necessary, to participate in the' advantages of national education. He did not agree with the right hon, gentleman that a system of rates would be unfair because it would throw the burden upon a smaller fund. If it did so, at all events the burden would be borne by those who derived the benefit. Wits there no defect in a s y s tem which permitted such a state of things as this—that in- the three counties of Hereford, Devon and Somerset there were 605 Parishes with under 600 inhabitants each, and only eight of them had schools in connexion with the Privy Council, yet they bore their share in the taxation. The injustice of the scheme was apparent in the extent to which it drew revenue from a portion of the country which derived no . benefit. The right hon, gentleman next referred IVE SUN, LONDON . FRIDAY eVENDIG, MARCH 28, 1862. test was not attendance but what Taus really : earned ' It Take the regiment of Staffordshire militia, for trceance. consisted of 846 men; out of this number 316 could read, 231 could read imperfectly, end 250 could not read at all. On the contrary, take a regiment in South Holland, where the attendance was worse, out of 688, 526 could read per fectly. Again, in the Birmingham House of Correction it was found that out of 407 persons who had been at school from two to five years, 70 were unable to write, 178 unable to read, 32 only were able to work a rule in compound arithmetic. These facts showed the necessity of pressure being applied in the only proper quarter, namely, to the managers of the schools, through the medium of examina tion. It was not merely a question of comparative education and comparative cost with which they had to deal. In Eng land we did not pretend to do more than supplement private and vgluntary effort, and to do that we paid £825,000 yearly. But in France, where the State defrayed the whole cost, there were 5,000 schools, educating 3,500,000 children, at a cost of £1,700,000. In Ireland, where we took upon ourselves a similar responsibility, the cost was £285,000, or 10s. a-head; while in this country, for less efficient education, it was 11s 6d. a-head ; and In Scotland something of the same kind might be seen. He had been asked what the cost under the new system would be. How could he tell what education would be given under the new system until it had been tested by examination. The right hon. gentleman (Mr. Wal pole) had said it was doubtful whether it would be either effi cient or economical. If the house adopted his resolutions there would be no doubt the education would neither be effi cient nor cheap. The fact of the matter was thatno one could foresee what efficient examination as a constant stimulus would effect. The work of a school was never done. It might be described as a luminous circle surrounded by a large dark belt of ignorance. Every successive generation that came Into the world added to that black belt, and it was the mis sion of the school to illuminate it to the greatest possible extent. The eases of individual hardship had been pointed out. But how could a central department of Govern ' meat deal with such cases ? Was it intended that there should be Rome 20 or 30 different sets of rules, under any one of which the Minister for the time being might place applicants according to his pleasure. If so, it would im mensely increase Government patronage, and make the de partment itself a den of iniquity. He therefore saw no way to administer the grant except under a general code. If the system had been other than it was the administration might have been different, but he took the system as he found it, sanctioned by Parliament and successive Govern ments. He did not impugn either the decision of Parlia ment or the commission; all he wanted was that it should, as far as possible, be administered,honestly, efficiently, and economically. The real difference between himself and the right hon. gentleman the member for Droitwich was the system of examination, but how could they test the effi ciency of the teaching in the schools unless it was adopted ? The right hon. gentleman the member for Cambridge com plained that, in regard to religious teaching, there was no safeguard whatever; but how did that appear? In the first instance, religious instruction was absolutely insisted on, or the grant would be entirely withdrawn, and surely that did not look as if such instruction were discouraged. Again, if the children in any school could not read, write, or cipher, one-third of the grant given to each child not being able to do so was withdrawn—and when it had been said religion was entirely neglected, he could only say that the penalty for neglect on that head was the heaviest; and for a proficiency in reading, writing, and arithmetic, the very lightest. With respect to what had been said respect ing inspectors, he could only say that they would be in the same rank of life as the managers of schools; and as to the pupil teachers, instead of being subjected, as under the old system, to the caprice and very often tyranny of the mas ters who employed them, they would now be engaged directly by the Government for five years, with liberty on each side to give six months' notice. The noble lord the member for Stafford made an attack upon him the other night for having, as he alleged, ex posed the pupil teachers because their agreements were not stamped. Now, so far from that, his object was to protect the pupil teachers against the injustice to which they were exposed by the mere quibble by which they had done in justice to them, and the object of the Government was to see that they should be properly paid. (Hear.) The system of pupil teaching had worked admirably, and the pupil teachers had shown themselves very clever and very able instructors. He was greatly gratified at the manner in which this debate had been carried on. It was most satis factory. It was quite certain that the existing system could not go on, and that it required great alteration in relation to the application of the grants. He hoped, in conclusion, in order to place this question on a proper and sound foot ing, every gentleman in the house would give him such assistance on the way, and application of grants, as would secure to the children of the poor of the country a sound education. (Hear, and cheers.) Mr. WALPOLE admitted that his right hon. friend had, in many instances, made a very able reply, but ho, in some points, was not satisfactory. For instance, in the case of the pupil teachers, the right hon. gentleman said they had been treated with injustice. Mr. LOWE—Most improperly so. Mr. WALPOLE—WeII, then, when the Government, who paid for their instruction, saw that they were treated with injusticee,:bcause their deeds of apprenticeship were not stamped, why did they not take stops to remedy that defect, and protect the teachers against the injustice com plained of. The right hon. gentleman concluded by saying he would persist in his motion. The house then went into committee pro forma, and it having been arranged by Sir G. GREY that the Revised Code would stand as the first order to-morrow (this day), The CHAIRMAN then reported progress, and obtained leave to sit again. The house resumed. COPYRIGHT (WORKS OF ART) BILL. to the recommendation of the commissioners, that the Charity Commission should be united to the Committee of Council, and that a large number of small endowments, in most caseeuseless, and in some cases mischievous, should be appropriated to the educatien of the poor of the district. In an anonymous pamphlet which had that day been placed in his hands he found a tabulated statement, from which it appeared that in various parts of England there were 547 endowed grammar schools, and 2,405 other endowed schools, and of the latter it might be said, that they were doing no good whatever. There were several of them in Worcester, and they were the Very worst schools he knew. By follow ing the advice of the commissioners a considerable sum would be made available. If the right hon. gentleman had framed a statesmanlike measure, which combined the re commendations of the conamiseioners with the best parts of the present system, he might have settled this question, not for eVet, perhaps, but for a brig time to come. But the right hon. gentleman had not the courage to grapple with the question in this spirit, and the result had been that they had committed a most serious mistake, giving us all the evils of change without the advantages of improvement. This was not a question of principle but of detail. It might be said, perhaps, there was the principle of payment by re sults, but that principle was as old as the Privy Council system, and this was only a question of detail se to how it should be carried out. He contended therefore that the, question raised by the Revised Code was a question not of principle bat of detail, and that all its details were objec tionable. He was not at all insensible to the defects of the present system, but he should not be prepared to abandon it till he was sure of something better. The right hon. baro net quoted from a letter published by the Archdeacon of Worcester, eatteral statements setting forth the objection able features of the nevised Code,and showing how it would press with peculiar severity on that district. He then asked, what was the answer to be given to that etatement ? How would the difficulties connected with the uncertain attend ance of children at the eehools be met? They had heard it stated the other evening, by Alt hon. gentleman on that side of the house, that in his district not tam than 50 per cent. of the children of the labouring classes gave 169 attendances in the course of the year. What would it be in remote dis tricts, and in the crowded enbarbs of towns ? Then again, who were those managers of schools ? In the immense ma jority of does they were the clergy of this Country. (Hear.) Their conduct had been beyond all praise, and it ivenld be a most unwise and unjust return to tell them that they =tat incur risks which it would be imporriMe for them to afford. According to Mr. Fraser's report the average subscription of the clergy to the schools was at the rate of 10 glikreas per annum, while the landowners gave £5 each on an average, and landoccupiers considerably below that amount. In the district alluded to by Mr. Fraser the burthen fell on the clergy. Would it be wise to expose those men to the chance of incurring unknown risks, or the certainty of increased payments ? Against the want of wisdom in such an ar rangement he must protest, because he believed the result must be to undermine the beat portions of the present system. From the report of Mr. Watkins they learned that in the northern district not one half of the children remained in the schools for one year. Many of them re mained for eight or nine months, and went away before the day fixed for the examination. How was the manager to be remunerated for the labour, care, and anxiety be stowed on their- elementary education ? Evidently the proposed plan would in this respect be a direct inducement to the masters of rural schools to neglect the education of those children—those who were most dull requiring the greatest attention. Moreover, there was the chance of the clever children deserting him at the last moment. That portion of the scheme, where the right hon. gentleman pro posed fourth-class certificates, was one which he approved, because he believed it would benefit the humbler and lower classes; but he could not find words to express his feelings of regret at the intended withdrawal of all Go vernment aid from those• schools which were attended by the most destitute and pitiable of all classes—he meant the ragged and industrial schools. (Hear, hear.) Now, from that decision of the Government he dissented, and he certainly must confess ho had hoped that when an op portunity was presented to the Government of revising the educational code, they would not have withheld the benefit of State assistance from that class of schools which stood more in need of it than any other class in the country. (Hear, hear.) He regarded the whole of the plan of the Government with feelings of regret; and he could not re frain from expressing his surprise that the noble duke now a member of the Cabinet, who had so ably discharged the duties of chairman of the Royal Commission, should have consented, as he supposed he had consented, to the introduction of a system which, really and practically, ignored and repudiated the laborious results of that com mission. (Hear, hear.) For a far different result, indeed, he had looked. They had heard a great deal of the un willingness of hon. members to give a party character or complexion to the consideration of this most important question. If any man in that house had a right to say that he was free from party bias in connection with the subject, he (Sir J. Pakington) thought he was that man. (Hear.) On more than one occasion he had risked his connection with that party, with whom he acted during the whole of his political life, because he refused to abandon his strong convictions on this subject. (Hear, hear.) When Earl Russell introduced his resolutions in 1856 he stood almost alone on that side of the house in giving his beat support to the plan of the noble earl: He did so because he believed the principles on which the plan was based were sound,aud he believed so still, and in the same spirit had he been able to concur in the plan of the right hon. gentleman, no party considerations would have deterred him from giving it his warmest support. (Hear, hear.) He regretted the propo sal of the right hon. gentleman and of the Government. He regarded it as absurd, and he should meet it with a de cided negative. (Hear, hear.) Mr. LOWE said the right hon. gentleman had told them he would show why ho opposed the proposition of the Govern ment, and why he supported the plan brought forward in opposition by the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Walpole). He regretted, he said, that Government had not taken advan tage of the report of the commission,and thrown the expense upon the county rates, He (Mr. Lowe) thought he had a right to complain of the course which the right hon.gentle man had pursued, but be could not at that time of night trouble the house with any remarks till they should go into committee. On the 27th of February, he understood they had come to an agreement that they would go into com mittee, and that being so, he did not think he would be justified in going into matters which must be gone into in com mittee. His right hon.friend the member for North Stafford shire had stated certain difficulties which lay in the way of the proposed plan, and had asked for answers. . The first difficulty his right hon. friend sail would be to got the children to attend the examination. As he (Mr. Lowe) had stated he could not go into details now, but he might be permitted to observe that the attendance of the children at the school when it was being inspected was 7 per cent. larger than 'during the year; and as to the second point started he (Mr. Lowe) did not think there would be any practical difficulty in examining the children. Mr. Coo'4o and Mr. Norris both bore testimony to the fact that there would be no practical difficulty c n that point. The right hon. gentleman then referred to the personal charges which he said had been made against him by the right hon. and learned member for the University of Dublin (Mr. White side), and contended that the facts of the case would not warrant the right hon. gentleman in making such charges. Ile thought that the statement made by the right hon. gentleman (Mr. Adderley) was a complete answer to the charge brought against him on this point by the right hon. gentleman the member for the University of Dublin. He was therefore right in saying that it was upon the report of the inspectors that the grants were made to the schools. Why was he the only man, then, that could entertain such an opinion ? Ho now came to the third charge brought against him by the right hon. gentleman. He alluded to the fact that the right hon. gentleman charged him (Mr. Lowe) with making use of the report of the inspector refer red to to justify the allegation that "priestly tyranny" had been exercised by the clergy over the master. Now, what was the fact ? Why, that he referred to the report for the purpose of denouncing it, bat at the same time to show that the masters were a discontented class. It was not likely that he who knew the interest which the clergy took in the suc cess of the schools which were placed under their control, and of the improvement of the pupils, would ever allow himself to use words towards them as calculated to show that they exercised a "priestly tyranny" over the nets ters. But the right honourable gentleman was not content with making this charge against him, but he used the very report to which he referred for the purpose of show ing that ho (Mr. Lowe) adopted it in order to libel the masters. The right hon. gentleman seemed to him to deal with this great and important question for the purpose of introducing into it some miserable petty squabble more suited to the politics of an Irish pariah than to the conside ration of so great a subject as that now before the house. But the right hon, gentleman, with all his ingenuity, had not thought it right to make himself acquainted with the details of the question, as now shown by the way in which he dealt with the subject of the examination of children. Why, the deliberate opinion of the inspector was, that exa mination was the test by which the system was to be regu lated. Passing, then, from the right hon. gentleman—which he did with great pleasure— (a laugh)—the first question related to the deficiency of the education of the children. Ile based his argument on this subject on the report of Mr. Norris, the inspector, who had said that three-fourths of the children had left the schools without being properly educated. That error bad, however, been very properly pointed out by Mr. Birko, whose lettor had been quoted in the course of the debate, and from which it appeared that the report of the commissioners said that three-fourths of the children left school without entering the first class. He admitted his error. There really was no means of knowing what number of children were improperly educated, and he had been mislead in following the authority of Mr. Norris in reference to that point. The right hon. gentleman then referred to the evidence of Mr. Cooke, one of the Govern ment inspectors, for the purpose of showing that the reading, w r iti ng , and ciphering of the children iu schools was not such as could bo desired. The conclusion to which the commissioner's came was, that the present system was too ambitious in its aims, and that it effected too little at too great. a cost. The hon. member for Bradford seemed to think that because, in comparison with otfior nations, we stood highest in the list except Prussia, as to the amount of attendance at schools, that therefore . our education is Pod, but the The amendments on this bill were considered and agreed MARINE MUTINY BILL. This bill passed through committee. OFFICERS COMMISSIONS BILL. - _ The Lords' amendments on this bill were considered and agreed to. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS ACT (186 l). This bill was read a third time and passed. REGISTER OF VOTERS BILL. On the motion for the third reading of this bill, the house divided, when there appeared— For the third reading 6l Against it Majority in favour The bill was then read a third time. STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATES. Mr. H. B. SHERIDAN moved for leave to bring in a bill to facilitate the appointment of stipendiary magistrates in cities, towns, and boroughs, of 25,000 inhabitants and upwards. It was subsequently road a first time. The house adjourned at I.P. DEPRESSION OF THE SHIPPING . INTEREST. .~----♦- (From the Liverpool Telegraph.) - A fow days ago we called attention to the depressing in fluence of the American struggle on the shipping interest, as evidenced by the fact of a decrease of 338 vessels in our port in March, 1862, as compared with the corresponding month of 1861. From our own sources we have compiled the following statement of the decrease of registered ton nage comprised in this "falling-off" of vessels, the docks being arranged as they are placed in our Dock Directory : 111AncH 21, 1861. MARCH 21, 1862. Tons. Tons. Birkenhead .. .. 11,240 Birkenhead 29,327 Canada .. .. 41,035 Canada .. .. 33,237 Huskisson .. 27,153 Huskisson .. 20,359 Sandon .. 18,032 Sandon .. 11,313 Wellington .. 13,338 Wellington .. 8,725 Bramley-Moore .. 35,044 Bramley-Moore .. 19,369 Nelson .. .. 10,144 Nelson .. .. • . 7,100 Stanley .. 22,770 Stanley .. .. 9,275 Salisbury .. .. 4,319 Salisbury .. 6,761 Collingwood .. 2,808 Collingwood 711 Clarence Half-tido.. 1,050 Trafalgar 299 Victoria .. .. 13,404 Victoria .. .. 9,922 Waterloo .. .. 17,753 Waterloo .. 8,947 Prince's .. 33,060 Prince's .. 28,383 GeOrge's 10,487 George's 8,775 Canning .. 4,996 Canning .. .. 1,805 Salthouse .. 15,218 Salthouse 7,425 Albert .. .. 20,611 Albert .. 7,037 Wapping .. .. 10,940 Wapping .. .. 3,506 Do. Basin .. 2,766 Do. Basin .. • . 569 King's.. 17,806 King's 8,423 Queen's 30,705 Queen's • . 19, 592 Do. Half-tide .. 3,915 Do. 14;1f-tide .. 759 Coburg .. 21,902 Coburg •• .. 12,711 Brunswick 41,711 Brunswick • • .. 24,118 Toxteth .. 2,083 Toxteth • . . • 767 Harrington .. 1,285 Harrington •• .. 964 Graving Docks.. .„ 32,445 Graving Docks.. 12,921 _467,997 I Tota l ..813,100 Total p ee.re .asen 1862 . A s compared with March 21, 1861, there is thus a decrease i. 154,897 Tons. of tonnage in our docks in this corresponding month (March 21, 1862) of 154,897 tons, or more than one-third —a convincing fact of how deeply we are interested in the termination of the American contest, and pregnant with thoughts of loss of business, straitened means, and destitu tion in Liverpool and the manufacturing towns. That this lamentable decrease may be attributed to the contest raging on the other side of the. Atlantic, few at all acquainted with commercial matters will deny, for, with freights to the Bast Indies, China, an d elsewher e good, and shipping arrived et a employed to most parts, no o th er soun d con clusiont, and we ca n on l y w i s h t h e en d o f gener a ly can well be rri the stru ggle w as a s equally cl ear . 'Wi th the except i on o f Birkenhead, all the docks show a decrease in March of this year, and a word of explanation is perhaps here necessary. The more than doubling of the tonnage at Birkenhead arises from the fact that most vessels lying up go there from c onsiderations of economy, so that the increase is more apparent than real, and must not be set down as an excep tional instance of increase, or as a fact denoting increased local prosperity. That we shall have a revival of commer cial prosperity there is little question, but it will be a work of time to restore things to the equilibrium of 12 months or two years ago ; and when this does come to pass, many now struggling on in hope, from day to day, of a better, state of things, will - then perhaps bo indifferent about' the matter, and regard the change merely as disinterested spec tators, NEWARK. There was only a small am( and very few farmers at marl lower. Barley and other grai: White wheat, new, 60s to 63s Red do. sss to 51s Old white 6os to 63s Red do.. 468 to 56s Barley, malting 32s to 39s .ROMA.NTIC CASE I 9 F BIGAMY MANCILES,TER. At the Leeds assizes last Satt.u•day, before Mr. Justice -Mlles, Isa,be.lla Milward, who haol been out on bail, sur rendered to t,a,ke her trial on a char,Te of bigamy. The pri ep mourning, and appeared to be nearly 40 Ii • Sept., 1845, a person - of the name of Thos. • to be an idle, dissi pated, and cruel bus.. •ed to the prisoner act Prestwich Church. ••els, and tempwary separations, Mil -4 yearss e l r a vo .f d 11 isv ago. d r a a o r Millard turned out . band. After many oar. ad had never lived.with her since w ard deserted his wife,cal. .ged in N et v cas tl e - on -Tyne, and 1851. In 1852 the cholera ra. hand had, died of that disease , prisoner hearing, that her la - Lek of the name of Renshaw/ of was married in 1854 to a perso n who died in 1856: and the widow was denied to a man , the name of Roberts, who sometime nshaw and of :Igo also died. During the time the prisoner was the w ife of itt berts, she had saved a considerable 0101 of money, which Roberts had frequently wished to get hohl of that he m ight invest it for his own advantage , but she hoe, always rwishedesisted -r to ad his entreaties. When Roberts died the prise % minister to her husband's estate with a view •ef having her own savings legally invested i n herself. Who' the widow e r i n tention of administering became known to the brother of the deceased husband, measu res were taken to prey 'out letters of administration being issued ; and to justify this course it became necessary to invalidate the marriage of E oberts, by endeavouring to prove that Milward, the first hug !band, was not only alive at the time of the second and third mare riagea, but that he was actuaily living at Birkenhead: tt :so late a date as the 11th of January last. The prosec utiou called witnesses to prove that the prisoner was marrit wl to Milward, and that, with her knos"ledge of his being living at the time, she was married a seco..ad time to a person of the name of Renshaw ; and also, after Renshaw's ileatll7 with the knowledge of her first husband being alive, she was married a third time to Roberts. Witnesses for. the pro secution could not rememb er the p risoner ever going into mourning for Milward. For the defence it was con tended that Mr. Owen Roberts, the brother of the deceased husband of the prisoner, wishing to become possessed of the property which the woman had saved, had contrived to get a number of poor women to depose to assumed facts neces sary to prove the case of the prosecution, and thereby leave him next of kin to the deceased. Several witnesses were &led to prove that the prisoner, in 1852, went into mourn' ing, a nd put her children also into mourning, she having heard that Milward had died of cholera, in Newcastle-or Tyree witnesses also proved that there had been a quarrel betwen Owen Roberts, brother of the deceased, and tho prisoner, about the property deceased possessed. The learned judge in his summin,l up told the jury if they believed that the prisoner, within se v en years of either of her marriag es, bad a knowledge of he:* ,Irst husband being alive, th e y must find her guilty. The ).-IrY found the prisener guilty; and she was sentenced to ono day's imprisonment. The sentence was received with claplling of hands by a crowded Court. The applause was, ho vrever, immediately or' pressed. COUN2BY L2S. ~,,,,,,,, LYNN—MAncs 25. The supply of wheat was limited , a nd iho trade rule' dull, at Is decline. Barley scarce, and at extreme prices. Oats, beans, and peas unaltilred. Old white 56s to 60s i B arle y . 34s to 36 9. RA.. .. 54s to 55 s 1 Oa ts.. .220 to 26.-: Beans .42s:to 48s I i'/eas 37s to 3P; —MA-itton 26. oust oS business done to-dait ket. "An:leat and oats rather in also at . a reduction. Barley, gi finding 29s to 31 Oats, old, , • oos to . 5 g New d 0.... 23s to 21 0 1 8ean5....... 4ss to 47 0 Beans, new.. • 44s to -- 3 .488 to 545. PLYMOUTH—MARCH 25. The market was poorly attended, with an average , cle_l23# 4 . for wheat and flour at a decl ine on last week's rates. W wheat, 65s to 66s ; red, 63s to 64s per qr ; French do., D V ' to 62s ; American, 61s to 63s ; Spanish, 74s to 76s ; P sian, 60s to 625. Barley at higher rates-34s to 3SS J U' A qr for malting ; gr indin g , 28s to 30s ; oats, 22s to 28s ; 51;1" beans, —s to —s ; flour, 43s to 46s Od. EDINBURGH GRAIN—BIAncn 26. Wheat on the top 2s 6d up . average is Id do' on the top is Od up. average Os 3d Maio Oats on the top is Od down average Os ld up. Beans on the top is 9d down average is Od up. Total Supply and Sales. Wheat .1090 qr 5........ Sold` 814 qrs Barley... ' 913 qr 5........ Sold 618 qrs Oats 2075 qr 5..... .. Sold 99.1 qrs Beans 286 qrs ....Sold :165 qrs CORK—MARCII 26. lied The following were the quotations this morning wheat, 22s 9d to 24s 6d ; white, 31 s 6 d to —s Od; barleY Od to 13s Od ; oats, 5s Od to 16s Od.; DERBY SMITHFIELD—MAiteu 25. There was a short supply of fat beasts to-day, and th price slightly advanced, with plenty of buyers. The suprY,. of sheep was also short, and higher prices were asked. and store calves were an unusually large show, and t he shoW of fat pigs was good. Beet Mutton ... 6d to 6/d Veal . .......... Lamb 71(1 to Sid Pork ......... 6d, Od to Od Rough fat, 45 i p t r stone. Hides, 3d to 4/d ; calf skins, 5d to Gu• to tqd ..affilik. BANK OF ENGLAND. An Account, pursuant to the Act 7th and Bth Irict""" cap. 32, for the week ending on Virednesday, the 26th day of March, 1862: — MATTE DEPARTMENT' , Notes issued ......X3 0 , 640 , 080. Gover nment Debt £llt7 , 015,1 ,„,, °° (Other Securities .• 3. 634,, G old Coin & llion 15,89 0 P v Silver Bullion •••• £30,540,060 £30,540,080 BANKING D Proprietors' Capi tal £14.553,000 Rest Public Deposits (in cluding Exche quer, Savings' Banks, Conwils missioners of Na tional Debt, and Dividend Ac counts) 8.413,275 Other Deposits 13,154,258 Seven Day and other Bills 617,825 PARTAISNT. Government Secu rities jincluding Dead Weight A nnuity) XIO F 95, 241 Other Securities • • 18 : 244 1 65 Notes .. • . 10,343,4d Gold and Silver 922, 718 Coin X 40.408.175 M. V 0,06,175 iIdESMAJJL, Chief Cashitr. March 27, 1862. .+•••••, FOREIGN 21.1 T UST- MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton . .April 18. via Marseilles Brazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. April 6. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.. April 4. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton.Apr.q via Marseilles Mar. - i'''' .• • • • Falkland Island. - April t''' Gibraltar, via Southampton .... . India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton April 4. via Marseilles: Mar. 29 ',, a India (Bombay), via Southampton Mar. .-4"" via Marseilles • April Lisbon April I ,: a ' Malta, Egypt, aud Aden, via Southampton Mar. : 4 "' via 14 rseilles N ew f oun dl an d .. ... Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.. .. .. • AAlXlirrrriilill :1129.2.: by U.S. pb:cket.... _ by Canadian packet. April N,: . W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe....... April 1u Bahamas, via New York ' ...April 10. 5)•, , ," '' -ikl 31. Mexico ;AA • • • ar.: ...ar. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Pern,ju ar , 31. California, and British Columbia. .. J BENSON'S WATCHES AND CLOC KS.- nt — 44 Perfection ••• mechanism."—Morning Post. Gold watches, sto leo guineas; silver watches, 2 to 50 guineas. Benson's new Illustrated ! Pamphld, tree for two stamps, descriptive of every construc tion of watch, enables persons in any part of the world to select with the greatest certainty the watch best adapted tO 4 their use. W a tches sent free and safe by post on receipt 131 . f a remittance. --J. W. Benson, 33 and 31, Ludgate-hill, 413 80 47, Cornhill, London E.C.—Established 1749. lithon°. BIRTHS. 25th 31r i Mrs. . l ia l s , t i 11 i a a m t Stoke Byron, of Talmag e, a s 0 0 33 : st born.fe lit — th ° e ll Bvshnior; rr e BEoWNn.—On the 23d inst., at 4, Marine-parade, F,,° lk . c 4 ° stone, the wife of C o l one l H. R. Browne , late 87th r 11 ' .6 Hers, of a daughter. o f WYNDH AM.--On the 26th inst,, at Lee, Sent, the wife - Penruddocke Wyndham, Esq., of a son. MARRIAGES. BAILEY---WINDLE.—On the 26th inst., at Rushall Churl, the Rev. John Bailey, incumbent of The l'lich, %Arabia , to Martha Carew, only daughter of the into Henry a r m Windlo, Esq., of Walsall. INDE—MUGGERIDGE.—On the 25th inst. at North L C S V, Devon, Henry Bret Ince, Esq., of Linc o ln's-inn, barrit: ter-at-law, to Annie Jane Grace, eldest daughte r of u J, Muggeridge, Esq. DEATHS. COURTENAY.—On the 25th inst., at the residence of ha father, 25, Adelaide-road, Eliza, wife of F. B. Courtenah Esq., of Cbandos-street, Cavendish-square. COLE.—On the 25th inst., at Boulogne-sur-Mer, Affijor- General Fennel Cole, late R.E., aged 71. COOKE.—On the 25th inst., George Freder ick Cooke, Esq., late of Trafford View, near Manchester, aged 36. DIIRRANT.—On the 24th inst., at his residence, 27, Grea t Coram-street, William Durran t, Es q ., late of H.M.s Ordnance. MILL.—On the 25th inst., at Richmond, Lady Mill, relict of the late Sir Charles Mill, Bart., of Mottisfont, Hants 9 and afterwards of the late Ilenry W. Ashhurst, Esq., o f Waterstock, Oxon, aged 83 - ROCITE.—On the 25th in st., at 26, Doddiugton-grove, sington-park, James Dillon Roche, Esq., late of West meath, Ireland. SAIVELL —On the 24th inst., at his residence, Mucking John Hills Sawell, Es-., aged 50. Hall, Essex, Jo LONDON : Frintell and Published by JOHN CHAPLIN, of N 0.112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office, N 0.112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Nidtilesex.—Friday, March 28, 1862, 1) the Ti anio on tl pt the -care. Fa, voted alBO ing a th e h 7lb 7 . 0 0 d 0 10r Ni KOr, D o to _ e, I , ; ei e C e ' T ani( Itf +. - M e l lions I a cu e . • (lr Glee Tr Ibrio rr,i. • Pare, !'ft.t 1