The Sun. — London, England, 1863-10-12 00:00:00

The Earl of Derby on Middle-class Education On Sato calf iy the Lecture-hall of the Collegiate Institution, Liverpool, WE crowded, even to inconvenience, by a most brilliant asset ablag e of ladies and gentlemue, the attraction being the appoarre nee of the Earl of Derby, who had con sented to broak ti trough a long-established rule and to pre side on the f ouni ter's anniversary, and deliver prizes to some of the pupils cot inected with the institution, viz., The Mas ters' Universi t 7,, Exhibition ; the prizes given by his lord ship, and obt a'nied by pupils of these schools, this year and last Y at ' the Oxford local examinations ; the other prizes ear and the cer' nificates obtained this year at the two University Local Ent mainations ; and some of the prizes gained by pupils of ,he institution in the Liverpool School of Art. Those invited to be present were stationed in the body of the hall and first gallery, and the boys, whose noisy and jovial. demonstrations at intervals proved them to be in ad z:nil-table health and spirits, occupied the galleries. About 50 of the collegiate cadets, in unform, were very attentive in showing visitors to their seats, and making themselves otherwise useful. The Earl of Derby (who was received on entering with a hearty bu rat of cheering) was surrounded on the platform by some of t'ae oldest and most influential friends of the institu tion, inoluding the Rev. Dr. Howson (principal) and other masters, the Mayor, Mr. C. Turner, M.P., the Rev. Rec tor Carapbell, Rev. Cannon M'Neile, Mr. J. A. Tobin, Mr. J.. K, Rounthwaite, Mr. N. Waterhouse, Mr. Alderman Ileneeett, Mr. J. A. Tinne, Mr. C. Parker, Mr. Alderman Mover, Mr. Alderman S. Home, Mr. C. Bushell, and other well known clergymen and gentlemen. The proceedings commenced at noon with the singing of "King Alfred's Hymn," after which The Rev. PR INCIPAL , i n alluding to the presenceo of the Earl of Derby, s t a t e d t h a t it was i n the same years ago that hi s l or d s hip l a id the foundation-stone of 23 of this institution, and since he had accepted the office of patron to the institution no one could possibly have as great a right to preside at its meetings. Dr, HowSON then gave the list of prizemen, and for- Wally introdteced his Lordship receivedto o with prolonged and heart"- cheering ' lie "'l e the assembly. The Earl of DERBY 7cia. yf 5 r. Principal, ladies and gen tlemen, and boys of thC Co ll eg iate Institution. The Prin cipal has told you ve r y truly that it now is within a few days of 2?, years s i nce I had the honour of laying the first stone of thisineporiant and magnificent building in which we ary assembled. It wants but little more than three months , 2i years since the time when this buildi ng o f being fir at opened for the purposes of education, and when its g w as inaugurated by an able and eloquent address cfrPom. the right hon. gentleman now the Chancellor of the mcii.equee , (Loud applause.) Twenty-three and 21 years! A short period as compared with that which he hopes will be the life of this young institution, but a period occupying no inconsiderable space in the life of each individual man—a permed during which many of those who took an interest in t he earlier proceedings and attended the first establish int .nt of this institution have passed away from these scenes ar ad have ceased from their earthly labours ; a period ('curing which a whole generation in this busy bustling re:intro of commercial activity has grown up from infancy to manhood, from boyhood to matures age ; and it may not be irrelevant or important that, when this college is entering upon its majority, we should take the opportunity of casting a retrospective glance upon the circumstances which have led to its establishment, and upon the progress which it has made hitherto; and that I should also say a few words up on it s present position, and what we hope for its future prospects. I need not say to those who know the historrof education in this country that 50 years ago --I speak of a time when I myself was a boy at Eton— the education of this country was upon a deplorably low standard; that the amount afforded of public education for any class of society was exceedingly scanty in amount, and exceedingly deficient in character. It is true, indeed, that to a certain portion of the higher, or at all events the wealthier classes the public schools afforded a certain degree of instruction and of education; but at the same time, with out wishing in the least degree to disparage thoseclassical at tidies which at that time formed the almost entire and ('inclusive subject of instruction at Eton—those studies from which I hope that I have myself derived some advantage, and which I am sure have procured for me great enjoyment —I say without in the slightest degree disparaging studies which I hope will always be consilered as an essential por- Lion of a liberal education in this country, I am bound to say that at the time of which I speak—things have much improved since—whatever benefit a boy derived from his instruction at Eton was derived much more from the effect produced upon his character by the social influence of that little miniature world of which be was a citizen than by aely cultivation of his intellect o r expansion of his mental powers which he could derive from the ordinary business of the school. I believe that Eton was a tolerable representa tive at that time of the state of the public schools gene rally, and such as that education was it is quite evident that with some few exceptions, the education which it did afford were only available to the wealthier classes, and to persons, at all events, in easy circumstances of life. With reg erd to the other classes, education was infinitely more deficient still. The ancient grammar schools—excellent as they were in their origival intention, and adapted to the time for which they were founded—were insufficient to meet the require ment s of the present age, even if they had not in many cases, from apathy, from neglect, from abuse, and from insufficient endowment became wholly or partially insufficient. At the time of which I speak—God be praised that a change has taken place since—there were many excellent men who ap prehended serious danger from communicating instruction and education to the lower classes of society, and thought it was absolutely essential to the well-being of the country that these classes, in order that they might not be dissatisfied with their condition, should be kept in a state of profound ignorance. lam speaking of opinions and feelings which prevailed many years ago. A change, however,—a vast change,--has come over the feelings of society upon these subjects ; and I am not quite sure that we do not, with re gard to the lower class of society, run some risk of falling into the opposite error, not of over. educating—for I think it is imposssble to over-educate boys who are capable of re ceiving such an amount of instruction as may be given to them during the short period to which their school attend ance is confined ; but I am afraid there is some risk with regard to the lower classes that our education should be too ambitious, and that in striving to crowd a vast amount of instruction into the very limited space of time which alone can be afforded, we run the risk of getting, not a sound wholesome, elementary education, but a superficial smat tering of a great deal without a solid knowledge of that which is most useful. (Applause.) The great improve ment, however, which took place in the education of the lower-classes made still more apparent the lamentable deficiency of any proper provision for those whom we call, by a familiar and colloquial expression, the "middle classes" of society ; and it was to meet the want which was then more and more felt, and felt more especially in the great commercial towns of this country, that almost simul taneously were established, as I believe, the Collegiate In stitution of Liverpool, the school at Rossall, the Colleges of Marlborough and Cheltenham, and, I believe, several esta blishments of a similar description. Now, I have used the term middle classes, because it is one which has a certain colloquial and well-understood significance, although it is one which I believe it would be found exceedingly difficult to . define. In p o i n t o f f act—an d i t i s one of t h e great hap messes of our social condition in this country—it is almost impossible to draw a li ne o f di st i nction between the var i ous classes and the grades of classes into which, from highest to the lowest, society is distributed. There is not in this coun try, as in many others, a broad, clear, and sharp line of dis tinction between different ranks and different conditions which it is impossible to pass over from the one side or the other, and which keeps up a permanent b arr i er b etween t h e different classes of society. In this country there is no such line. The distinction of rank and social position a doubt, understood and respected ; b u t, on the one hand, no descendant in the second generation of the highest peer in the realm has no distinguishing mark to separate him from at large. He is rather absorpboedsi,tilwfortiolrad the co mmunity sa y, in the general c lass o f society, and his on that time must be dependent, like the position of all others, upo n his own industry, his own talents, and his own abilities. Applause.) On the other hand, we see daily the ranks o f ( the peerage and of the highest classes recruited from the middle and lower class of the community, giving fresh life, fresh blood, an d fresh energy to the ra n k s into which they en t er , and giving more encouragement and more stimulus to those from which they proceed. (Cheers.) But sup posing we were to draw a line, which I think after all would be a very inexact one, and suppose from the middle class we were to exclude , as belonging to thehighe ha rc v l e as h se a s d , all those who from inhe rited fortune or position the opportunity o f obtaining. for themselves undthemd are of giving to their children a liberal edu independent of the nece ss ities of applying to any p . rovision, 41, Ppose, on the other hand, we excl ude as belong r ep g e t n o d n t e he t l owest cla ss a ll th ose w hose daily subsisten ce is t u pon their d a ily manua l l a bour—l ask you to look what a vast aulonnt, what an immense social rang e, what infinite gr'a gr — ad a a ti° tio l lensare left between these two extremes, all of which and ranks co nstitute that which we me an b y the middle-ci anusr easy to s a y of this society in this country. It would be ver y classes, this one bei r that person " ho belongs to the higher class," but for one mag a to the miedle, and that to the lower curately define. te t Whose position you could distinctly, ac impossible to ReyokeZare hundreds of whom it would be bably would not agree wi wil th regard to whom two people pro or higher-middle, to to e ',ether they belonged to the higher, Such is the hat,py a n i on h w er - middle, or to the lower class. abyzhich one rank and one grada tion melts into and is harmonious chain by W hi ch the by another, forming the whole of society is bound together in this happy country. Lveeted cheers.) Now, it is not without a purpose that I entered upon what ea sy appear to be somewhat irrelevant— sion of what may be intended and m namei:;'thaedaitsdilsles-t. 6, middle-class." I hare done so becausee bearing. upon the object and intention with eo t c h h a '' thi s insti tution was founded. Looking to the ext en t of the classes as I have defined them—that active, energetic the l eav en of the whole social community— wh i ch hasbetyr, nished no inconsiderable number of our states men , which has furnished by far the largest proportion of the liberal professions, the bar, the bench, and the episcop a l b ench, a l so , which has distinguished itself in the army, which, in point of fact, has ‘ supplied every liberal profession with sori f its b-itzbee9t ornaments. It I might be permitted n to pause for a moment, I have often heard the late Sir Robert Peel make it a subject of boast that he belonged to and had sprung from the middle classes of society—(hear, hear)—and we all know that, by his own en2rgy and in dustry the father of Sir Robert Peel raised himself from a position certainly not entitling him to be placid above the middle classes. I remember that. 20 yaars ago, another right hon. gentleman, said an ornament of this country at the present time—l mean the Chancellor of the Exchequer THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 12, 1863. —made it his boast that he, too, was sprung from the middle class of society, and he pointed with pride to the honourable example and the honourable position which had been at tained by his respected father, who was well known in Liver pool as a merchant, and respected by all who knew him. (Cheers.) From the middle class have sprung such lawyers as Eldon, and Stowell, and Lyndhurst, and St. Leonardo. (Cheers.) From the middle class have sprung such soldiers as Clyde. (Renewed cheers.) From the middle class have sprung men of science too numerous to be mentioned, and among whom it would be invidious to draw a distinction by naming any one. Bat what I was about to say was this— that, looking to the infinite gradations which are comprised in this middle class, to the various prospects of life, to the various abilities and circumstances of those comprised within that great range, the idea of establishing an education for the middle classes in a single school will at once he seen to be absurd and preposterous. The education necessary and becoming for the son of a wealthy merchant or banker, or even for the higher classes of the tradesmen, would be far above that which would be requisite or desirable for, or within the means and capacities of, the small tradesman and shopkeeper, who also belong though to the lower stages of the middle class. How, then, was it possible in one insti tution to give at once an education suited to the position, to the fortunes, and to the prospects of classes of society rang inglts ut y ? t i was n T as— he t nh aa o mt n e l w y l yh en : cm. ohd has pa se w n h beeni n i c g h w c a o ld. t u oh l pi d . nt e td p h o ie s u s s iatbhml this over so vast an ext en t an d i nc l u di ng among them so many nlCoelelteg 4 a i e f f t ede rilffien snectuei building not one but three separate educational establish ments, into any of which it might be permitted for any parent to enter his son according to the position which he himself held, to his pecuniary means, and to his son's pro bable prospects and future destiny in life. Of course, the higher education includes a higher payrrient ; but the pay ment even of the highest is one of the most moderate de cription, while, on the other hand, the sum for which a sound, plain English education can be obtained in the lower school is within the compass of almost any parent mixing in ordinary society,and certainly conveying in parts an amount of benefit to the boy infinitely surpassing the expense to which the parent is put to obtain it. (Hear, hear.) The three schools, therefore, into which it is at the option of any parent to enter his son, and thereby himself to appraise and assess, as it were, his own position, are the higher, the middle, and the lower school. These are not, as the terms would perhaps suggest, grades of the same school, from one of which a boy might be passed in accordance with the pro gress made in his education, but they are entirely separate and distinct schools, though under the same management— entirely separate and distinct in the amount, at all events, of the education which they give. I may briefly say the lower school applies itself to what is calledun ordinary Eng lish education, with some knowledge of French, but to the exclusion altogether of any classical studies whatever. The middle school, of course, requires a larger range and affords a higher cultivation. It includes a knowledge of German, mathematics, and Latin; but it does not go to the higher I kind of classics, and does not, I believe, include any know ledge of Greek. The upper school, from which a certain portion, at all events, go to the Universities, includes also among its studies those classical studies to which I have referred, as well as various branches of learning which are deemed essential to a modern, although not thought essential to au ancient education. Now, I have said that these are separate schools, and they are separate to all intents and purposes, although it is at the option of any parent to place his son in any of them ; but to this separa • tion there is one exception—an exception which I think has worked very beneficially. In each half year, it is compe tent of the managers of the school to elect for merit some one boy from the lower school to the middle, and from the middle to the higher, that raising not involving (as it would be unjust that it should) an additional pecuniary payment to the parent, but obtaining for the boy, at the lower rate of payment, a higher class of education, that higher class of education having been earned by his own merits, talent, and industry. (Loud applause,) And lam happy to say that among those to whom it will be my pleasing duty to offer prizes for success upon the present occasion, are two who have both commenced in the lower school, have worked their way successfully to the middle, and from the middle to the upper school, and in the upper school have not only placed themselves in the first class of University examina tions, but have both been at the very head of those local University examinations, not for the centre of Liverpool alone, but for the whole of the United Kingdom. (Cheers.) Now, I have stated the causes which led to the formation of this institution, and to the want which called it forth. I may say, perhaps, now a few words upon the progress which, in the space of 21 years, this instituticn has made. For some years after its establishment its success appeared to be in some doubt—and from the year 1843 to 1847 the numbers in the several schools, so far from increasing, had a tendency to diminish. In the upper school, undoubtedly, the numbers have gradually increased from the original foundation—but in the middle schools between 1813 and 1847, the numbers had 'fallen from 240 to 137. The lower had increased certainly from 208, but only to 230 ; and the total decrease in the numbers of the three schools was from 507 down to 454. But from that period the destinies of the institution have materially changed, and during the 14 years under which it has had the advantage of the presidency of the respected and honoured Principal, now by my side—the Rev. Dr. Howson—(loud cheers)—the progress of these schools had not only been satisfactory, but I Week I may venture to say unprece dented. (Cheers.) I make less account of the mere numeri cal progress of the schools, but it may be satisfactory to know that between 1847 and 1363 the numbers of the upper school have increased from 87 to 159, of the middle school from 137 to 325, of the lower school from 230 to 363, making a total increase in the course of the 16 years of from 454 to no less than 847. (Loud applause.) But I said I laid less stress upon the actual numerical amount than upon the distinctions and the honours which pupils of these schools have obtained. I see, also, another gratifying proof that the parents in this town are becoming daily more and more sensible of the advantages of a higher class of educa tion, and that the numbers of those who, at their own op tion, aro being removed from the lower to the middle, and from the middle to the upper school, are constantly on the increase. In the course of last year 14 boys have removed from the middle to the upper school, from the lower school 13 to the middle, and three from the lower to the upper school at once. Now, I think this affords a satisfactory proof, not only that the people of this town appreciate the value of a liberal education, but also that they feel that the liberal education is to their own eyes and knowledge freely and generously offered by the Collegiate Institution.. (Cheers.) Far the greater portion of those educated even in the upper school are intended for business and for va rious professions, which renders it necessary that they should leave at a comparatively early age. I wish, I confess, that parents took a different view, and permitted boys, even when intended for professions, to remain to a much later ago. But a very small proportion of those educated at this college have been intended for and have gone to the Univer sities, and they are almost the only boys whose future course can be traced with accuracy. It is true, certainly, that one of our earliest prizemen has, within the last year or two, stood first in the highly scientific institution of Wool wich, and has obtained a commission in the Engineers by competitive examination. It is also true, and a most grati fying fact, that within this year two of the former prize boys of the institution have been successful candidates for the Indian Civil Service Examination—no slight test of their general knowledge and ability. But I think the cir cumstance I have to mention with regard to the Universi ties are such as it is difficult, if it is possible, to match with regard to any other educational establishment. In the last two years there have been from this college no less than five Wranglers from the University of Cambridge. (Cheers.) In a andeigh.th. course of last year we had adopted no less than three, and two fa of t t h hose have held respectively the very high position handurWrangler. Besides this I hold in my Cambridge list of distinctions which have been conferred at the I upon pupils from this institution in the course of last year. The list is headed by a gentleman most in appropriately named Sinker , becaus e t o be one of the most rising young and laughter.) Mr. S• the Carus University pos, the Scholefieldri distin guishing mark for Wranglers in the present year. wrangterahiP, obtained lege prizes for reading and has obtained the degree of Senior legs Greek Testament he appears day. (Cheers I have mentioned already three year. Two of these, besides the Prize, already spoken, and of whom it men of the present (Cheers and has at Trinity College obtained Prise, the first class Theological Tri jebzre for Biblical Greek, and the distin nd class classical tripes and col has of conduct, while ono ainoar Optime, another the Col !nether, of whom I have award a prize this day, has oi will be my p l eas i ng duty to competition at Catherine Colle bta ned ge. an open sc h o l ars hi p b y 1 p r izes obtained at Camb r id ge in one his is the small list of men tion that the average of boys who go from and when I the Universities does not exceed four orrrive this college to o f a year. I think this amount of distincti on the course tion to the number sent, is one which we ni:' ill proper- 1 a ny educational institution in the world to a m y eet c hallenge p a rallel. (Appla use. ) Before I pas s f rom the _and to oes eeva ,, tions upon the education given hero I ought to mention one subject, which is not only of the highest, b u t of unparalleled importance --I mean that in all cases, and in all t h e schools —the highest, and lowest, and the middl e — t h ey part of education here given a sound re- 1 make an essenti al li g i ous instruction according ccordine• to the doctrines and p r i nc i p l es of the Church of England. (Applause.) Whatever else may be necessary, unnecessary, or superfluous for each of the different ranks info which these schools are divided, there is, at all events, this one subject, which is of equal im portance to the high, to the middle, and to the low, and which it is the boast and the honour of this institution to have, from its first foundation, incorporated with and made i an essential part of the instruction to be given to all those I ' l ' o come within its walls. From the first foundation of this in st it ution it has not only been decided that the educe tion. • given to all the pupils should be of a strictly religious cl4ra " 4, e, b i n close connection with th e ut also that it should be service, discipline, and doctrine of the Church of England. How, then, it may be asked, can this system work for the benefit of the middle-classes in general in a community which comprises among its members a very considerable number of Protestant Dissenters ? I think the solution has been found by acting upon a very simple prin ciple, and demonstrating that, where this principle is fairly and honourably carried out, there is leas difficulty—at all events with regard to the point of religious education—with Protestants of different denominotions than is usually sup posed to exist. It has been determined in this college to introduce that which, with regard to the Government services,luu s r i e v elthaty made h h a a e dt s e et usehrve i ct of,ee a c f h t t e g Chu esvhe ror every i h db o o f by eE should n d f s o attend with the doctrine of the Church of England, and that the teachers, with the exception of those of foreign languages, should be members of the Church of England; it has also been decided, and I think with a judicious and wise tolera tion, that those boys whose parents object to their being instructed in the catechism and formularies of the Church of England should be exempt from so much of attendance upon and teaching of the services of the Church. And the best proof that can be given that this a sound and reason able principle is, that a few years ago—and I have no reason to suppose the proportions are materially changed --the number of Nonconformists in the higher school amounted to 10 per cent., in the middle school to 20 per cent., and in the lower school to no less than 30 per cent. of he whole population, thus showing that while we adhere strictly to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, there is no intolerable obstacle to our affording with perfect satisfaction to a large body of Dissenting Pro testants a sound religions education. (Cheers.) I now pro ceed to a point of very considerable importance, and which has been adverted to by the Principal—viz., the subject of University Local Examinations. Within the last few years the range of education given at the Universities themselves has been considerably extended. New schools of natural and physical science have been introduced and made the subject of direct competition, and conditions for obtaining degrees. The Universities themselves, therefore, have con siderably enlarged their range of teaching as qualification s for obtaining the University degree; and it is a great satis faction to me to think that the measure adopted by the Universities of thus communicating with the whole mass of the community has been satisfactorily carried out by the happy adoption of a principle which introduces to the teach ing and to the examination of the members of the Univer sity those - "whose circumstances or position do not enable them to become members of the University itself. I have always felt, with all the fondness for the Universities which I sincerely entertain, that we have been too much aloof from the great mass of the population, and that the great body of the country did not take that interest in them whi ch their real importance and value eminently deserve. But think by the quasi incorporation of a large number of schools in the teachings and examinations of the University a most important connecting link has been introduced be tween them and the population at large, most beneficially for the Universities themselves, and most beneficially, also, for those colleges and establishments which are brought into immediate connexion with them. (Cheers.) Th e ex aminations adopted by the examiners from Cambridge and Oxford act, necessarily, as a great stimulus, and con fer a great distinction upon the members of the middle, and even the lower classes. They act as a great stimulus to the boys, and I am not sure that they are not of almost equal importance iniacting as a great stimulus to the masters of the various schools throughout the country. These exami nations bring together the candidat es f or honours from all the various schools, and it is a matter of justifiable and laudable ambition in the master of a school that has boys should be able to distinguish themselves in competition with those from other schools in the same centre, and, indeed, in the country at large. There is only one risk attending this, and I am sure it is one which the discretion and good judgment of your respect e d p r i nc ip a l will prevent him ever falling into ; it may act as a temptation to masters to concentrate a great portion of their time and attention upon the most promising boys, and th os e who ar e likely to reflect honour upom them in the University, to the com parative neglect of less promising boys, and those from whom they may expect to derive a less amount of credit. (Hear, hear.) I ant certain this is a danger w hich only requires to be pointed out to be at once recogn ised and understood, and in this instance, at all eve nts, I am satisfied that, being recognised and understood , it is on e which will be studi ous ly avo id e d . (H ear , hear.) I will not take up your tim e by enter i ng upon a di s cussion of the character of the examinations that are required to be gone into by the candidates for academical honours. Of course they vary iu exte n t, an d s till more in the amount of knowledge required according to the senior or junior classes. The senior classes, you are aware, must not be above the age of 18 years, and the j un i or c l ass a t the two Universities must not exceed the ages of 151. These are the restrictions, and it is provided that, bef ore en t er i ng up sn any examina tion at all, it is necessary f or a preliminary examination to take place, in order to satisfy the examiners that in attend ing to the higher branches of knowledge the elementary instruction has not been overlooked or partially taken up. The preliminary examination comprises, reading aloud, writing, parsing, English, arithmetic, some knowledge of geography, and the outlines of English history, the quality of the handwriting, and the spelling are also taken into ac. count. These are the preliminary examinations to qualify the junior candidates for entering upon the competitive ex aminations. They are then to be instructed, and be exa mined in the rudiments of faith and religion; that is, not only a knowledge of the contents of the Bible, but also in the Catechism, the Morning and Evening Ser vices, and the Litany. For these, distinguishing marks will be given, to count in estimating th e whole scale of merit. There is some difference between the two Universities with regard to this religious question. They both of them adopt the same principle, in point of fact, which has been adopted in this sc hool —namely, that boys whose parents object should not be examined in the distinctive doctrines of the Church of England, in the Church of England Catechism, and the Church of England Prayer Book, although they may obtain marks for profi ciency in these if they choose to make them up to the University of Oxford; an arrangement differing from that of Cambridge, which refuses a certificate to boys by a set of examinations in what is called the rudiments of faith and religion, unless they should have gone up in both exami nations. At an early period the University of Oxford, from what I think was a mistaken view of the reverence and respect due to religious studies, thought it was disparaging those studies to make them the subject of examination. I understand perfectly the sentiments which dictated this but I think the principle was erroneous and has proved to be so. It has been abandoned by the University of Oxford since, and that step has been attended by consequences which I am about very shortly to mention. I think it was a mistaken view, because I know perfectly well that such is the nature not of boys only, but of men, that they will give their greatest attention to, and take the greatest pains with, those subjects by which they are to obtain immediate distinction and immediate honour. But if you say to a boy you shall be examined in this or that subject —no matter how important it is--but your examination, however, shall not count in any way towards a mark of distinction youare to obtain from the University, the boy naturally declines to compete upon a disadvantage, and ho applies himself to those subjects, and those subjects only, from which he is to obtain distinction and honour. (Cheers.) Well, now, what has been the result in the years 1861 and 1862 of the altera tion made in the University examinations ? In 1861 there were 93.5 examined, of whom 571 were examined in the rudi ments of faith and religion, and 338 satisfied the examiners. The next yetr the University determined to give marks for this examination, and next year the numbers examined increased from 939 to 1,021, the whole number examined. The numbers examined in faith and religion amounted to 939 out of the 1,021, including 217 not examined in the Cathechism and the Church of England, and the num bers who satisfied the examiners were not, as in the pre vious year, 338, but no less than 538; in itself a con vincing proof of the wisdom of the alteration, and that attention to faith and to religion was not disparaged or brought into contempt by being made a portion of the general examination, and placed, as it were, on a level with other studies. (Applause.) Now, it happened in 1859 and 1860 that many boys from the Liverpool centre failed in the rudiments of " faith and religion." On the contrary, since this alteration has been made, and since prizes have always been given, which are not restricted to those who have so satisfied the examiners, the number of boys who have satisfied the examiners in "faith end religion" has very largely increased, and forms a very considerable portion of those who go up from this centre for public examina tion. Now I think, considering that the range of examina tion comprises so many subjects as it does of high attain ment, and that classical studies form a very prominent, though not exclusive part of it, it will be obvious to all who do me the honour of listening to me that boys from the middle and lower schools enter upon these competitions at a great disadvantage. They are able to take up a much smaller range of subjects, and to put themselves upon all equality with their competitors, they are obliged to be much more accurately and thoroughly versed, and much more successful, in those fewer studies in which they go to be examined; and it is a matter I think of great congratula tion in the present year that among those who have attained the two first classes in the University of Cambridge there is one boy who comes from the middle school. There are five at Cambridge who have attained a first class, and ono of these is from the middle school. There aro none in the second class, none in the third class, none in the fourth class. At the Oxford examination we have three boys in the first class, and it i s a very remar k a bl e c i rcumstance that all these three boys should win first-class honours, one a senior, and the other two • juniors. All are boys who leave re' one ens passed themselves from the lower to a higher school th• passed from the lower to the middle, and again uPPer school; the upper, one,has one has passed from the middle to I school, and one still I.:noosed from the lower to the middle I consider th e high disttihe middle school has eerned what tction of bei ng pl ac ed in the first class of th e college examinationssev e. Of the,,,,e who are in the second class th ere are two exceptions, f rom the li ee k ( i t d r i r eniors), and all, with the disadvantages un d er whi, 7-e - Class ; and looking to I will not say at an epee' h - ' ll the middle school starts, of which they may be ono ur, but it is an honour 'j to a second class, prou an to h ave atta i ne d, ev en going out at the middle to n early age, and from .tee upper school, There is ono boy in the second class who still being in the lower school, and not being able to take up any classical studies, has succeeded in the University examinations in obtaining a second class. (Loud applause.) There is one subject more, and I will re lease you from what I am aware must have been a very tedious and protracted examination. (No, no, and cheers.) There is one change about to be made in the arrangements of this institute which 1 think promises to be of signal benefit to the boys and to the college itself. For the first half-year of its existence the college was in a state of doubt ful prosperity, and involved in a considerable amount of debt. Happily that debt has been cleared off, and not only so, but a considerable reserve fund acquired by the college to meet n and provide additional improve m eemanagers tof course, a matter of consideration with h directors of the scho o l h o w the overplus t s. Now any contingencies, t was, and money should be applied. It might have been applied in increasing the emoluments of the masters; it might have been applied in diminishing the cost of education to the dif ferent classes; it might have been resolved to meet future contingencies ; but it was decided—and I think wisely, look ing rather to the future advantage than to the immediate profit of the school—that £2OO a-year should be devoted to the establishment of 20 scholarships, each to be hell for half a year only, four in the upper, eight in the m n iddle, and eight in the lower. The practicai result of these scholarships will be that in each of these schools the boy will obtain for that half-year a gratuitous education, and I apprehend there is no reason why a boy, having obtained a scholarship in one half-year, should not compete for another in a sue seeding half-year. Three of these scholarships are intended for boys upon an examination on their first entrance. The remainder are to be given to boys as a reward for profi ciency in several classes, and for position in the class lists ; but, at the same time, having reference to the ages of the boys, so that out of the eight different scholarships one will be held by a boy of 13, another by a boy of 11, another by a boy of nine, and so on. That every boy will have a stimulus to exert himself in his own class, as compared with those of his own age, the younger not being placed at a disadvan tage with their superiors in age, and a stimulus being given to the advancement of the boys and to the progress of the college, while an additional inducement is afforded to pa rents to send their boys where they can obtain not only these scholarships, which give a gratuitous education, but which afford also contingent advantages, furnished by the Univer sity local examinations in the prospect of University honours and emoluments. In conclusion, his Lordship observed that though the remarks which he made contained probably nothing new to many of those present, yet as they would go forth far beyond that assembly, he thought it due to the town of Liverpool and to the Collegiate Institution that the country at large should know how high a value that great commercial town set upon the benefits of a liberal and clas sical education. (Loud applause.) The institution had been singularly fortunate in having at its head the respected and esteemed Principal, the Rev. Dr. Howson (great cheer ing), under whose management and guidance, his lordship anticipated for it, not only a continuance of its suecese, but a constantly increasing prosperity and honour, from the distinction gained by its pupils, and the benefits conferred upon the neighbourhood. His lordship resumed his seat amid loud cheering. Mr. Roebuck, M P., on Working Men's Institutions. Mr. Roebuck, MX., delivered an address at the Mowlent Institute, Swanage, Dorsetshire, on Wednesday evening, on the inauguration of a series of lectures to be delivered at that institution, John Mowlem, Esq., founder of the insti tute, occupied the chair. Mr. ROEBUCK, after some introductory remarks, said he considered working men's institutions should be supple mentary to the other educational facilities in the town. He continued—Whether a man is destined to be a philosopher, or whether he is destined simply to be a shopkeeper in this town, the beginning of his educations-the beginning of the education of these two men—is the same. They must both of them learn to read, they must both of them learn to write, and they must both of them learn the elements of arithmetic. That which peculiarly distinguishes the human being from all the oth er an i ma l s i s , first, that hecan acquire knowledge by_ experience; and, secondly, that be can store it up. Th 3 brute animal starts exactly where his father began. In this man is distinguished from all the other animals, he can ac quire knowledge by experience, and he can store it up, and can mould it into such a shape that it becomes capital for the offspring who succeed him. The:man who succeeds him starts where he left off; and this is the great peculiarity of man kind. Therefore, we learn first to read—that teaches us to acquire knowledge; thenYwe learn how to write—that teaches us to hoard knowledge, so that others who come after us may learn what we have learned much more easily h than we have done. Morally and intellectually, all instruc tion ought to be alike. They ought all to be morally taught alike. The morals of the poor man ought to be like the morals er e are to of the means the to grave,ri c a le n now man.One that ofimprovementcansetanexamplecradlebetter, man h w el i d n g to y improve himself in a way that our fathers knew not. The printing press has enabled all men to attain the means of education, however low may be their position. At this present moment there are in London publications so cheap that they are within the reach of every man ; and I would mention, in particular, to the gentlemen who govern this insti.ution, the publication of Cassell. (Hear. hear.) They are really so good that they may be put into anybody's hands, and so cheap that anybody may obtain them. And now, sir, I would address myself to another point, I mean the lectures that are to be delivered in this hill. When a man or woman leaves school their education is really not finished. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are not knowledge ; they are the means of acquiring know ledge. You may give them after they have left school in struction of the greatest possible importance, and if you deliver it in the shape of lectures, you deliver it in a way in which in olden time many were compelled to receive in struction. It may be of advantage to make a programme, and that programme I will now endeavour to make. I will do it in this way. I will suppose a centre, several concentric circles are drawn from the same centre, but at different distances from that centre. The first circle contains the circumstances that regard man as an individual ; the next circle will contain those circumstances that regard man in his family relations ; the third circle the circumstances that regard man in his social relations ; and the fourth circle the circumstances that regard man in his political associations. (Hear, hear.) Hitherto the labouring man— by far the larger number of community—has been consi dered of very little worth when men are talking about edu cation. It has been felt that his lot in life was to labour; to eat and drink, to continue his race, and to die. But I have a higher conception. (Cheers.) I believe that he has a soul to be saved, a mind to be taught, a great destiny to fulfil, many pleasures to enjoy ; and being, in my mind, one of the larger number of the commun it y as well as the much more important part, his welfare becomes to me of the greatest consideration. (Hear, hear.) I would ask myself what there is in the life of a labouring man that pre vents him aspiring to all the finer emotions of mankind. If I see a clerk whose business it is to drive the quill over man would toll me that he cannot h ave all those finer a sheet of paper du r ing the long-life toil o f his days, no him to be a more important being, or one more natu rally capable of enjoying existence than the labouring man ? I say that a man like that may have a mind capable of anything of greatness, of goodness, and of intellect. (Hear, hear.) That m an , b e i ng an Beglislinsan, is one of that race that has weighed the planets is the balance, told us how this universe is conducted through its days and hours, tracked the comet in its vagrant course through the pathless sky—and shall we tell him that in point of intellect he is not capable of anything ? Therefore, I say, a great book may be written upon what the poor man can and ought to be taught, and if you can find a lectu rer who shall teach the poor man what he can be taugh t y ou would have put y o ur hand upon a jewel of price. (Hear, hear.) Thus far, air, then upon the first circle. What can we make of the wo rking man? I - say you can make anything of him; the stuff is there. Let me ask you, sir, to find lecturers—if you can find them —who shall instruct the labouring classes in their various family relations of husband, wife, and parent. In all these various relations that class has much to learn. Unfortunately, I believe the moral duties of the working here, I did no t b r ing man are not p resse d upon him as they ought to be. The son does not un d er stand the sort of love that he ou g ht to bear to hi s pare nts. (Hea r, myself here. I must make the most of wh a t I ca n get, and I shall not be very careful hear.) He says, l am and not ve r y so li c itous abo ut those around me." Th en , again, when young peop le leave school I sup p ose the y think of getti ng married. Yet, what do they know an d what do th e y t hi n k of the d uties of a father or a mother ? Little or nothing. Th e y have not studied the character of children —they t e ir working e ldren. All this , sir, might be taug,ht ma n in his social relati ons . Th e h ave not studi ed even what is necessary for bringing up he if you could g e t a lecturer t o teach them. Now, ai r , I come to consider th first great relation of the working man is the relation of em ployer and employed. I want to know where are the work ing men generally—l as k y ou are they in Dorsetshire—who hi understand the real relations of employer and emplo) ed ? Why, sir, u n til a f e w years back the educated classes did not understand it; and there wore, I am sorry to say, in this neighbourhood very great men who set their faces dis tinctly against instructing- the working man upon the re lations of employer and employed. (Hear, hear.) These men have passed aWaY, and their ideas have passed away, and that unfortuuat® science which is called political economy has become one of the things which it is thought requisite to teach the working class. Now, sir, if you can catch a labourer who can make political eco nomy understandable by the working man, you will have got another jewel of great price. Agriculture at the pre sent moment is becoming a science, and I want to know what poor John in the fields knows about the science of agricul ture. He whistles after his horses, he ploughs with them, he sows the seeds, he reaps the grain, be thrashes it, and perhaps he eats some of it, but not much, and there ends his concern with the matter in hand. The science of the steam engine must be taught the labourer, and more than that, the great science connected with his business in life might be taught him. Again, sir, I would ask the lecturer who comes here for the purpose of descanting upon the natural sciences to conslacr the beat means of instructing them that will hear him, The great object to which he ought to turn the results of his science is to instruct the people around him ; not to make a parade of his learning ; not to make use of long words, and Latin, and Greek—and rather bad Latin and bad Greek. It is not that we want—what we want is to instruct the labouring men around us—we want to make them equal—and I use the word advisedly —equal in intellect to ourselves, and then we shall make this earth the paradise for which it was intended. Now, sir, I am going to speak of the political relations of the working man. The large majority of Englishmen know really nothing of the institutions under which they live. The poor uneducated man thinks that he is bound to the narrow circle in which he was born, and that his mind need net travel beyond that circle ; but, tir, if the mind of England were commensurate with the extent of its population, how much greater should we be—how many more bright intel lects should we employ in making ourselves more prosperous than we are now ? And where one man now strives for this and thousands would be employed in the same business. (Cheers.) The poor man walks in safety through the streets as the richest man amongst us. His rights are as well protected, his being is as safe as that of the Queen upon her throne. Why is this, sir ? It is because there have been men of England who have understood their position, who have fought for all they have gained, and who have made us what we are—a well-governed people. Well, sir, there is no harm in extending that knowledge through all classes of society. Time was, indeed, when it was said that great mischief might arise from instructing the people. I have known our forefathers say there was danger in putting arms into the hands of the people ; but I have lived to see the time when the volunteers of Eng land—(cheers) —are armed for a purpose. If they choose they could do great mischief to us; but, instead of that, they are our great defence ; and England is impregnable because her people can be armed. (Hear, hear.) Well, with respect to the constitution of England, I do see through the great mischiefs that have arisen and are daily arising from the mass of mankind, ignorant and ill-conditioned, having the power to govern a great people. I wish the people to be instructed and then to have the power of employing that instruction, and that they may have all the benefit of their condition in life and all the mighty good which is around them. I would ask you, sir, again to get that lecturer who shall tell and teach the people their great poli tical interests. After a few other remarks upon the benefits arising from the application of steam to printing, the hon. gentleman concluded by commending the institution to the sympathies of the public. A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Roebuck, and briefly acknowledged. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS SPECTATOR.—The event of the week has been a harmless but widely-felt earthquake, which shot across the island from west to east at 3.20 a.m. on Tuesday morning, wakening a considerable num ber of British householders from their sleep. It was severest in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, at Hereford, Worcester, and Derby ; but it was felt on the south coast and on the British Channel, and struck a ship in St. George's Channel 20 miles west of Milford Haven. It does not appear to have been perceived at all on the Continent of Europe, nor, we think, at any point further north than Southport, in Lancashire, on the west coast; or the Vale of Pickering, in Yorkshire, in the midland region ; nor at any place exactly on the east coast. But as far east as Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and North amptonshire, in the north, and as Rochester, in Kent, in the south of England, the shock was dis tinctly felt. In London it was perceived, but evi dently much more slightly than in the west. A shock of earthquake was felt in Normandy on the Sunday, but not on the day in question. Of course all the scared Britons at once confided their sensa tions and those of their wives and children to the Times, which opened wide its columns to receive them, printing on Wednesday and Thursday 53 personal letters, many impersonal reports, and, al together, seven and a half columns of small type concerning British " seismological" emotion& The prevalent type of intellect amongst them, on find ing itself awakened from sleep in a rather startling manner, at once suggested " thieves"—so truly doe& the Bible illustration that the day of the Lord shall come upon men " like the thief in the night" hit the weak point in the British imagination—the dread of losing portable property unawares. Some gentlemen plunged honestlybeneath the bedclothes; some delayed getting up on the insincere pretence that perhaps " their leg might have bceu asleep and unwittingly twitched ;" some, perhaps, struck a light at once—but most took time to con eider. A few children it appears date their rather anticipated appearance on the scene from the earth quake, but most of the phenomena recorded were 'floral. One gentleman reports that his wife was awakened first, but kept profoundly still till the house and bed were shaken. But while she was thus musing the fire kindled, and at last she spake with her tongue, "My dear, what is it ?" The manly voice answered, without any endearing epi thet, "I really cannot imagine what it is, unless it be an earthquake." " The physical effect upon my wife," proceeds the writer (adding in offnand paren thesis, as it strikes him that that lady may read these lines in paint " who is really the last person in the world to be alarmed at anything") " was a violent palpitation of the heart, and on myself that of quickening the circulation and increasing per ceptibly and pleasantly the heat of the system." A sort of scientific glow, in short, passed through him. After giving these invaluable scientific data, this charming writer thinks the phenomenon may be referred to electrical currents " above the ground, or subterranean, or both ;" but would " be happy to know what the wise and learned in such cases have to say upon the facts stated." Probably it would be, that a British interior, moral and physi cal, suddenly unroofed at midnight even by a phe nomenon which adds a "pleasant stimulus to the heat of the system," is apt to discover among those white-robed horizontal forms, reluctantly vigilant, one of the foolishest spectacles that human imagi nation can conceive. SATURDAY REVIEW.—We can scarcely expect, in the present state of the public mind, that the popu lar view of the recent earthquake will be very dif ferent from what it would have been in the dark ages. The great public instructors may congratulate themselves on the spread of intellectual light, and on the march of mind, and may contrast the abject superstition of the past with that calm philosophical estimate of material phe nomena which we are told is the characteristic of our own times. It is to be feared that much of our light is only borrowed, and is but a sham reflection ; and with the awkward facts of experience which so often occur, it may be doubted whether, as far as the gene ral intelligence goes, any very remarkable advance has been made. The difference between our credulity and that of past centuries is this—that credulity then took a respectable form, whereas now it is disrepu table. It was a virtue, and it included a pious and reverential feeling; now, it is a sin concealed, and consequently cherished. It was a religion—it 5.s a superstition. But it exists nevertheless. Whole vil lages—with schools, and clergy, and railways, and electric telegraphs—believe in witchcraft, and act on their belief. Spiritualism has its professors and its organs. The traded a soothsayer is profitable, and magical books are a lucrative literature. In their heart of hearts there are tens and hundreds of thou sands who will connect the rare occurrence of an earthquake in England with some significance, moral, spiritual, or political. Earthquakes in countries of active volcanic agency are as much a matter of course as is a violent and exceptional tempest among our selves. The people of Central America or Calabria or the Philippines no more think of investing an earthquake with any supernatural meaning than we should think of reading Divine wrath in a specially destructive storm. But literature grew up in coun tries where earthquakes were rare, and they have consequently connected themselves, in an exceptional way, with religious feelings. There are those who probably think, without a metaphor, that the voice of the Deity is in the thunder ; and such may per haps be pardoned for considering an earthquake as a sign of an angry Providence. It is the Scriptural image in which troubles and convulsions of the spiritual world are described. When the solid foundations of the round world seem to be shaken the mind may be almost pardoned for thinking that wrath has gone out from the Most High ; and even the staid and lofty poet of antiquity, whose whole mind was occupied in a protest against superstition, and against religion itself, admits and apologises for the feelings that the thunderstorm was a stern awakener of conscience, and a remembrancer of the retribution that awaits the tyrant's crime and pub lic wrong. How far Kings and peoples of the pre day are above or below what we have ventured to think is still at the bottom of very many minds among us when they discuss the earthquake of Tuesday morning, it is not for us to say. We shall not inquire whether Foreign Secretaries read the signs in Heaven and Earth. If they had consulted Zadkiel—who will next year sell 100,000 more copies on the strength of another lucky hit—they would have found that that distinguished seer, in his " Voices of the Stars for October, 1863," fore told that " from the conjunction of Saturn and Mars earthquakes and storms, both physical and political, are likely to occur." To be sure the prophecy was a safe one, for, as the illustrious Tao-Sze did not specify an English eatthquake, there wan pretty s certain to be an earthquake somewhere in the aril' terrarum early in October, and tempests at the Equinox form a safe sub j ect for prediction. But certainly this shaking of the earth and the disturb ance of the polit ical equilibrium are strangely coin cident. If earthquakes are sent to admonish the nations as to po liti ca l duties and political crimes, the lesson is just now significant. One young King is mounting a precerious throne, and a new Trans atlantic sceptre has just been manufactured, and offered to the ambition of a cautious yet adventurous aspirant. Europe seems to be trembling to its very centre with the rumours of war; the balance of power is rudely shaken; and fresh political com binations, both for disturbance and stability, are threatened or promised. If earthquakes are the I precursors and omens of coming troubles, the poli tical future is likely enoagh to fulfil the threaten ing presage. The old women of another generation may perhaps recall, with a shudder of cowering piety, that the great German war or the great Polish war was heralded by the famous English earth quake of October, 1863. For, in its way, this earth quake was, for England, a remarkable one. Al though it occurred at an hour very unfavourable to accurate observation, sufficient facts for the infor mation of the future historian seem to have been ascertained. It remains to be seen whether the shock was the dying wave of a more formidable volcanic concussion at one of the great centres of activity in the far South West ; but, making allow ance for the lack of precision in unscientific observers, there must have been a very considerable disturbance to shake so many people in their beds in the dead of the night. We can scarcely recall an accredited instance of so large and sensible a ter restriel disturbance in our own island. EXAMINER. —Undeniably the performances of the Galway packets have falsified our dismal anticipa• tions, and exceeded all expectations. Not a vessel has been lost, nor in any great distress either in leaving or making a port in the most dangerous part of the exposed west coast of Ireland. The packets, indeed, have not kept time, but as they have arrived at all, it is as ungracious to notice the unpunctuality as to look a gift horse in the mouth. One most extraordinary circumstance is that people have been found to take their passages in them, and a fact hardly less surprising, and contrary to reasonable expectation too, is that mails are conveyed by them to the number nearly of a score. The Adriatic brought twenty first-class passengers, and mails as many minus one. Now when it is considered that the Scotia which preceded her, had brought no more than 100 mail bags and 121 passengers, first and second class, it must be confessed that the Adriatic has done wonders, circumstances con sidered. And this is not all. The Scotia made the passage in eight days and a half, and the Adriatic only wanted half a week of equalling the Scotia in speed. Take three days and a half from the Adriatic, or add them to the Scotia, and you have a tie between the two vessels. It is enough to say that in twelve days the Adriatic plodded across the Atlantic on the shortest line be tween land and land. Her news was a little stale to be sure, but better late than never ; and what fills us with admiration is the fact that the ships on this line come safe to port, and the time they take about it seems to us a very secondary consideration. The Adriatic was detained 40 hours by an accident to her machinery, and all that can be said of that is it is well it was no worse, the packets on this line being peculiarly subject to derangements, ae ap pears by their time accounts. The correspondent of the Vines calls the company unfortunate. We think it fortunate to a most extraordinary degree in having lost nothing but time, and perhaps money. Such luck was not to be expected by any acquainted with the character of the coast and weather of the west of Ireland, and the most dangerous inlet in that wild storm-beaten region. How long the pitchers will go safely to the well is a question upon which it is not pleasant to speculate, but so long as they do come to hand unbroken we must be too grateful for that fact to notice little deficiencies in, time. We have heard it suggested by an Irish gen tleman that the Galway packets, late for the late, should carry the postscripts to the mail letters. It is the same gentleman who asked why the electric telegraph did not carry small parcels. LONDON REVIEW.—M. Tournachon Nader, le beau Nader as his friends love to call him, the spirituel caricaturist, the frank and jovial laughter loving compagnon, the skilful photographer, whose monster autograph in gold on the wall of his atelier in the Rue St. Lazare strikes the astonished vision of English visitors arriving by the Rouen railway, and whose tall, well-knit frame, blonde chevelure, sparkling grey eyes, and Cromwellian wart upon the left cheek, point him out to the saunterer on the Boulevards, has gone up into the clouds with thir teen companions, and, what is mo re im p ortant to the lover s of innocent fun et l'esprit Francais le plus malin has—like Astrea after her exile to heaven— redescended to earth. For the last few months all Paris quidnuncs were agog, and their curiosity whetted to a cutting edge over Nadar's giant bal loon. How big was it? Would it go up? Would it come down ? Would the adventurous aeronauts be killed? and would Nader exhibit the nouveau spectacle d'un ballon crevd and share the fate of Icarus, furnishing a fresh illustration how quickly sometimes soaring ambition falls prone to earth ? Well, last Sunday the questions were satisfactorily and triumphantly solved. There was afoul tizonstre in the Champ de Mars. All Paris had turned out to witness the courageous enterprise of the Beau Nader. The ground was kept by detachments of cavalry and infantry. The charming Princess de la Tour d'Auvergne, who was driving in the Champs Elykees, inquired the cause of the crowd, and on being informed of it, drove to the field of Mars, and entreated le beau Nader to be permitted to accom pany him and his friends in the aerial trip. Nader —le beau, le galant homme—vanquished par les beaux yeux de la princesse, gave way. He who had steadily refused to allow his wife to share his perils melted into softness. Frailty, thy name is Nadar? The aerial tourists consisted, besides Nadar and the the princess, of MM. de St. Martin, the Prince de Sayn Wittgenstein, Eugene Delessert, Thirion, Robert Mitchell, Adrien Tournachon (Nadar's brother), M. Saint Felix, Piallat, Louis Godard, Jules Godard, and a navigator—fifteen hands in all. At five o'clock the words " Let go" were pro nounced, and the Ballon de Geant arose majesti cally in the air, amid feverish excitement and frantic exclamation. When at a considerable alti tude, Nadar climbed outside and waved his hat to bid farewell. "Brave cceur," asked thousands of lips, "serait it sondernier aditua la terre?' And there was a tightening over the chest t a gasping of ter breath, a deep-drawn sigh, and a half expressed wish that he had not gone up. As we have been looking curi ously at the balloon while the preparations for the ascent were going on, let us see what its designer and constructor says of it iu his programme. The Geant is the largest known in the aerostatic annals. According to the Manuel de l'Aiirostatier of M. Depuis Delcourt, the monster balloon of Green's, which in 1837 travelled from London to Weiburg, contained no more than 2,500 cubic metres of gas. The cubical capacity of the Flessiles, which was a fire balloon or Mongolfier, and made its ascent at Lyons in 1784, cubed 6,098 metres; whereas the Geant is composed of two balloons superposed for the purpose of obtaining greater solidity (we pre sume, rigidity). The silk is of white taffetas, first quality and identical in texture. Each of the balloons has 118 gores, 45 metres long, which give a circumference of 90 metres. They are wholly sewn by hand, double stitched. A third and smaller balloon is arranged below the first double balloon ; it is called a compensator, and its office, having a cubical capacity of 100 metres, is to receive any excess of gas that may exist. The Geant can and ought to carry 9 tons. The total height of the whole reaches to—if it does not exceed—an altitude of 60 metres, 14 more than the height of the towers of Notre Dame. In its construction, 20,000 metres of silk were employed. The car consists of tv,o stages or floors, and is 2.50 metres high by 4 metres wide. It is built of beech and wicker-work, sup ported by twenty cables crossing each other on the sides and cables, and attached to the circle from which it depends. It rests also on two axles and four wheels, which are capable of being adjusted after a descent. It is furnished, moreover, with buffers inside, and others of air, caoutchouc bags in a girdle on the outside, to lessen shocks. The ground-floor contains central passages en croix, and six divisions. At one end is the captain's cabin, with a bed 75 centimetres wide, and underneath is a compartment for luggage. At the other end is the passengers' cabin, containing three beds superposed, each 60 centimetres wide-10 less than the cap tain's bed ; but then Nader aimait a prendre son aise au lit. Four divisions are appropriated to washing and toilette, to store for provisions, to photography and printing. /--- [ADVERTISEMENT.] -- Holloway ' s Fills.—Mothers and daughters—How many suffer from disease, for which, through bashfulness, no relief is sought , till their strength of constitution is sapped I The headache, deranged diges tion, and dull pains in the back and loins, maladies, may be safely and permanently cured, if tile sys attendant o!). these tern be regulated by these celebrated pills. All diseases affecting the lower bowels, which are so troublesome. and so weakening, may thus be cured without consulta ion and without vexing explanations. The pills are equall all ages, y suiti.ble to the young, the middle-aged, and tho eld7-at and in any climate. Full instructions for their use accom pany each packet of these medicaments. [ADVERTISEMENTd—OOIISUMptiOII, all nervous, bilious, drugs o f every description, liver, and stomach complaints, in ev er y stage, are only ag gravated and accelerated by but perfectly curable by Du Barry's heal th restoring Revalenta Arabica Food, as proved by thousands of cases vhich had been considered hopeless. We quote a few.—Cure No. 62,914. Miss Lange, 18 years of age, cured after the medical men had abandoned all hopes of her recovery from the last stage of ulmona consumption, with fearful cough, expectoration . exhaustion, spitting of blood, perspirations, hollow cheeks. : I f is ;r a i i m re le d ; Police. Curs, No. 46,270. emaciated to a skeleton. She is now, thank God, a perfectly healthy,. blooming, fleshy girl.—N. Lange' James Roberts, Com derangement, and partial deafness . — Cure, No. 47,121. Miss Elizabeth Jacobs, of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies.—Cure, No. 64,816. The R ev. J a mes P. Campbel l, Fakenham, Norfolk, otindigestion and torpidity of the liver, which had resisted all medical treatment. In tins 11b, 20 9d ; 21b, 48 6d ; 51b, lls : 1211, • - ---, 22s • 241 b, 40s. Barry' du Barry 77- itegent-strcet, London also For and Mason ; and all grocers and chemists in every town Ql the Vuitedjungdom, STEAM RAMS ON THE MERSEY, A considerable amount of gossip and remarks have of late been prevalent in Liverpool and elsewhere relative to two steam rams which have been con structed at the Birkenhead Ironworks by Messrs. Laird Brothers. One account stated that the ships in question were being built for the Emperor of China, which averment gave rise to some incredu lous remarks. Another statement was to the effect that the vessels in question were built on French account, and one of them,which was launched a:few weeks ago, named El Tousin, was taken into the Great Float flying the French ensign. Since then she has been moored at the Victoria wharf, in that immense basin, and operations have been steadily prosecuted for:the purpose of fitting her for sea. In consequence of these operations intimation was re ceived from the Foreign-office —at least, so much is said, and has been acknowledged in high quarters —to the effect that, suspicious of the vessels being intended for the Confederate States of America, they would not be permitted to depart unless satis factory evidence was given that their destination would not form an infringement of the Foreign Enlistment Act. In this state the affair remained till Thursday last, when a reN enue cutter conveyed. a Custom-house officer into the Great Float, and. put him on board the El Tousin. On Friday this proceeding was followed by the appearance of a second Custom-house officer, who, it is said, put the " broad arrow " on the vessel, and, it is said, re mained in charge of the ship. About 11 o'clock on Thursday night the Goshawk, under the command of Lieutenant Cheek, acting ten der to her Majesty's ship Majestic, went into the low-water basin, which is not yet open for vessels, and remained there on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday morning her Majesty's ship Liverpool dropped from her previous moorings, and took a position in front of the entrance to the Morpeth dock, with her fires banked, and her steam obviously up. In this condition she lay all day, and general opinion connected with her being in this position a belief that she, as well as the Gos hawk, was in readiness to prevent the apprehended departure of the El Tousin. So far, however, as present appearances warrant the conjecture, this precaution was unnecesary. The suspected vessel remains moored alongside the Victoria wharf, and up to Saturday afternoon did not appear in a condi tion fit for sea. During the whole of the early part of Saturday workmen were busily employed in pro secuting the different processes which would fit her for use. So far as could be observed from the quay —no admission was allowed on board—there was no Government officer in charge of the craft, and every thing appeared to make progress in the usual way. The ship is evidently a powerful vessel. She has, or rather preparations are being made for her to have, two cupola turrets, which are far advanced in construction. Her bulwarks are made to fall down outwardly, and she has two port-holes in the stern, disagreeably suggestive of heavy "stern chasers." Her sides are evidently strong, and ar mour-plated ; but by far her most formidable-look ing character is derived from her sullenly projecting prow. As a whole, this formidable-looking craft, which every one professes to regard with something like mystery, and which no one about will admit knowing anything of, is a capital specimen of the shipbuilder's art, and if let loose with a hostile in vent would no doubt prove an ugly customer. COUNTRY NLAEKETS• V-- NORWICH-SATURDAY --- There was a fair supply of wheat to-day, and for the best samples full prices were maintained ; other sorts can not be called lower. There was a moderate show of bar ley, and, more money being demanded, business was slow, but sales were at late rates. White wheat. 46s to 47s Red wheat 43s to 44s Malting barley ...36s to 38s I Chevalier barley 36s to 375 Distilling d 0..... 33s to 35s Oats.. 24s to 283 Flour, 31s Od to —s Od per sack from the miller. GRANTHAM—SATURDAY. Old white wheat, 42s to 46s ; red, 40s to 44s per 36st. ; new white, 42s to 455; red, 40s t 0,425. Malting barley, 36s to 40s per qr ; grinding, 30s to 32s ; oats, old, 28s t) 30s; new, 20s to24s ; beans, 40 s to 42 5; peas , 36s to 38s. NORTHAMPTON—SATURDAY. An average supply of wheat to-day, but the show mostly' of the new sorts. Buyers operated to a moderate extent- For choice qualities late rates may be quoted, but other sorts rather lower. Oats, beans, peas, and barley all dull. —White wheat, 40s to 455; red, 37s to 425; fine, — 5 to —s per qr. Barley, 35s to 39s—grinding. 28s to 30s; Oats, 28s to 32s per 24 stone. Beans, 38s to 42d. Feast 348 to 40s per qr. LE I CE ST ER—SATu RDAY. We were moderately supplied with new wheat to-dal, but old sorts again limited. Barley in good show, but dull. --New white wheat, 44s to 46s ; red, 42s to 44s per 36 stone. Old red, 42s to 44s per 36 stone. Barley, malting, new, 36s to 38s per qr.; grinding, 29 s to 325; (Ad oats, 25s to 30s ; new oats, 22s to 25s per 24 stone. Beane, old, 38s to 42s per 38 stone ; flour, 30a to 35s per 20 stone. YORK—SATURDAY. The supply of wheat at market to-day was moderate, and not a large attendance of the trade. The best sorts were purchased readily, at late prices; inferior a shade easier. Barley in fair show, but the demand was slow at lower raes. Oats also inactive, and beans steady. Wheat, red 38s to 42s I Oats.... 2 os to 240 White do .42s:to 453 Beans 3 Be to 404 Barley .30s to 32s Peas ....—s to ^- 44 Malt, 62s to 64s per,qr.; rye, 32s per qr ; flour, 303 to 32s per sack. NOTTINGHAM—SATuanAr. There was a good quantity of wheat to-day from the growers. The demand ruled fair, and prices unaltered. —White wheat, from 41s to 45s ; red wheat, 39s to 42e. Barley—malting, 33s ,to 40s ; grinding, 28s to 31s. Oats old, at 24s to 31s Od ; new, 22s to 265. Beans Bold at 39 to 43s per qr. ; new, 38s to 425. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton Oct. 19. via Marseilles Oct. 13. .drazil and Cape Verds, by British packet Nov. 4. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Oct. 2 9 . China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Oct. 19. via Marseilles Oct. 13. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton Oct. 16. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Oct. 27. via Marseilles Oct. 13. India (Bombay), via Southampton Oct. 18. via Marseilles Oct. 21. Portugal Nov. 4. Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Oct. 1 9 . via Marseilles Oct. 2 5 - Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo .. U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Oct. 16, by U.S. packet.... by Canadian packet. Oct. 17. W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe Nov. 10. Bahamas, via New York °et. 22. Mexico ....Oct. 29. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 Oct. 1 4 . California. and British Columbia. i e P n e efi rr t y of , which A GRANDwi will shor tly Miss,be performed by a yu for th 9 the Mr. b age c onsidered. Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pu t " chas i n g Horniman's pure Tea; very choice at 35. 4d. an d 4s. ~ High Stan dard "at 48 . 4 d. (formerly 4 s. B d.), i s the the age d r 0 1 1 0 6 0 9 , in Palls, is spoken of as of remarkable p romise, its writeo strongest and most delicious imported. Agents in every town supply it in packets. Births. DUFF. — On the 9th inst., at Queen's-gate-gardens, th e wife of M. Grant Duff, Esq., M.P., of a son. FtTzßoY.—On the 9th inst , at 23, G rosvenor - s tr e et, the Lady Fred er i c k Fitzßoy,.of a daughter, stillborn. N tcHoLsox,—On the 7th inst. at The Cedars. Sunde r ' land, th e w if e o f Willi am Nicholson, jun., Esq., of son. Marriages. DANIELL —DAvEY.--At the parish church, Bures, Eclw (1 1 Daniell, Brunden Hall, Essex, to Fanny Eliza. smolt,' daughter of the late Geo. Davey, Esq,, Sawyers, Butel St. Mary, Suffolk. WADE-LADKIN —At St. George's, Hanover-square, Geo' Wade, Esq., of Great Sarratt Hall, Hertfordshire, t ° Elizabeth Emma Ladkin, of Luttorworth, Leicestershire' Deaths. CONYERS.—On the Bth inst., at Elmswell, Edmund Dam e Conyers, Esq., Coroner for Yorkshire, aged 66. CAMFBELL.—On the Bth inst at Edinburgh, Williays Campbell, W.S. DAuLiNG.—On the Bth inst. at Strote House, near Ch e r stow, General W i lli am Lindsay Darling, Colonel of 0° 931 h Itegt. "BADY.--On the Bth inst., Carew Louis, Captain R.V'f younger son of Admiral O'Grady, of Elinagh Limerick, agedi2B. Smrrn,—On the Bth inst., at Lewisham, Mr, Beajara ill Smith, aged 74. lA A TnorstAs.—On the 7th inst., at Droitwitch, Robt. Hug.- Thomas, Esq., late of Bombay, aged 53, London : Pr;r,z,ld and TuNished by WILLIAM ANDRO!I° of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TIIE Sun Office No. Strand, in the P recinct of t he savoy , in the Cotua ° idiclellesextHAVAdaY, October 12, 1163, P r rron Ellpr 111 si 1863 Etat F; taro bete T 1 deli' onto be r and l ir 1.86:3 toe X 2 all AliSh