Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-28 00:00:00

/~ ~Tc~, c nce oo poi 3ia a n , al ; b‘l" JRO!.; pres_ o4 °l casuP (ra scal' , • 111, lregm" th t h ie e date oP on, ntecl_ Ind ; 4355 rico r ;enevj >itnlt t e ' chil' - ' tineq' 'lest . e Glad' ,ecis l4 ilres a l befl r eh of "_ll c 0 .10 culti ut 19 5 th e ; fo e, , it stl ° ' 0 t ri°rs' CARDINAL WISEMAN'S LECTURE AT THE PHILHARMONIC HALL. Last night, Cardinal Wiseman delivered a lecture tt, the Philharmonic Hall on the following subject :-.—" Is the present education of the poor of a sufficiently practical character, or can this be imparted to it ?" All parts of the Hall —except the boxes, in which ',lore were few per sons —were well filled ; and amongst the female portion of the audience was a considerable number of ladies in evening dress. The Cardinal, on walking upon the Platform, accompanied by a number of the Catholic clergy and several distinguished Catholic laymen, was enthu siastically applauded, the people in the galleries rising and waving their handkerchiefs. After a few words by Ch•aloner, Esq., introducing the eminent lecturer, Cardinal Wiseman arose, and was received with enthu siastic cheering, Ile said—Ladies and gentlemen, if I had been invited to deliver a lecture in anyplace of minor consequence, or to address an audience less likely to take a Prominent part in the formation of what is generally called 'ph& opinion, I should have had but little difficulty in the selection of my subject. I could have easily found one of a limited importance ; some literary topic perhaps, which might have been made interesting, and even instructive. But there are circumstances 'Which permit no choice. In a place like this, in a teWn. of such a high character, and of such great weight and influence in this country, I felt that I could select no ruiner topic—that I conld not possibly shrink from e ndeavouring, however feebly, to speak to you upon one of the greater and more momentous questions which occupy the public mind. With this principle before me, I had but a very limited range of selection. With poli tics, and its great questions, I profess to have nothing to do ; they are bvond my sphere. I have one simple Principle to apply to men as to measures. They who will best study those which shall most, promote the social and moral good of the 'country—put that test aside, and I have none other which to apply: (Hear, hear,' But, then, we always have at hand the great and, I believe, the popular subject of education, one that seems never to fail—that inexhaustible—that affords abundant matter for innumerable lectures, speeches, and addresses. I do not see, 'therefore, why one more should net be added to the numbers which almost every day produces and passes before us. We may, in fact, say that not more certain is the return of harvest or of spring .to the country than is the periodical :season of educational addresses not more surely does the northern moor, or the upland stubble, or the reedy morass, sound at the appointed time with-the echoes of death, than the whole country is sure to hear from place to place the sudden and startling sounds of the lectures on education, sometimes singly, sometimes, we may say, in the form of - frattues. (Laughter and:applause.) One more lecture - then, whether there has :been already too little said or -too much, will not make any great difference. But, still it strikes me, having paid some little attention to the subject—following., as I dare say many of you have done, eagerly and closely the reflections of the topic, that it is by no means as yet exhausted, but on the con trary, that we are very much in the habit of hearing the same heads reproduced in different forms in almost s•every discourse. The subject of education appears to have certain heads under W hich you are sure.to hear it treated. First, you have the moral bearingsof the question of education. You arc told that it is the day of man to cultivate his intellectual Powers —to collectand to amass knowledge—that it is the d uty of the ri c h t o p rov id e th a t bl ess i ng f or the p oor , an d tollce arage them to use it—that it is the duty of the grere ment of the-country to provide for all the means of intel lectual advancement. And, finally, that it is the duty likewise of the poor to take advantage of it, and to C ake; good use of it when it is provided for them. Then ebsewaring. what we may call the encouraging and the lauda toryof the question. What has been done for .• the many schools which have been-opened in a given time ; the i mmense i ncrease of scholars who are wing education. ; the immense sums which .are lavi s the dihsecdoura upon .them. Bnt then comes, next, and, perhaps, the regretful aspect of the question. Th e poor, we are told, are not as yet sensible of the i mmense advantages which have been amply pro vided for them. They do not value at call as they should do the ed ucat i on which we have prepared for them. T here are still countless children receiving no sort of instruction. Of -those who do go :to the schools th ere are b u t f ew who remain a sufficient time to r eceive even a decent education, ,and after they nalie received any education they, unfortunately, undervalue it ; :they do not -.know what blessi ngs we have been bestowing upon them. The 'summing up of a ll, i s . th e ex h or t a t or y view, when we tell . the audience. that we must all labour ,in this most glorious cause—that we must put our shoulders to the wh eel —that we must ,endeavour to the utmost to push forward education and ,to excite the poor particularly to t ake advantage of it. Now, after all this, which com prehends pretty well what would make a tolerable lecture 11 Pou education, there seems to be wanting a fifth point which we very seldom find treated; that is, the practical bearing of it. (Hear, hear.) We can all contribute our r espective mites or our generous donations, we can build schools, we can invite the poor to come —but what we wish to be told, what we wish-to be instructed in is this — What means can we employ :to cure this great defect which we are told exists, and to make the poor children receive the education which we wish—the good education that we have provided for them? (Applause.) This practical point brings to our minds an old and good Proverb, and which illustrates what I desire you. to understand. There was once a Roman Emperor, who would have his horse to drink out of a golden cup, but be found there was something which h e could not do, even after he had made his horse consent he could bring him to the water but he could not make him drink. (Applause.) In the results that have come before us we find that there are no golden temptations that we can hold out—no illusions of a perfect and beautiful education have been made as yet to induce the poor to take advantage of it—and they cannot drink though they are thirsty. And it is this which occasions the weed of our consideration ; this is the problem that appears to require solution. (Applause.) This is the point which I propose to embody, rather in a suggestive form than in that of a perfect proposition. I ask two questions : Is the education, in the first place, Which we are giving to the poor, of a sufficiently prac tical character ? If not, is there any means by which we can communicate this character to it ? Can we give it a More practical character than it now possesses ? There can be no doubt that immense ma terials have been collected—that not only a great deal has been done, and that a great deal stands under our hands ready for immediate use ; but this requires a fc'nu, a shaping, a giving of a consistent shape. When You are about to erect some buildings at a great expense, for example, when in Liverpool you began the erection of th at magnificent Hall, which is the admiration of every one who visits the town, the first scene we had was one of entire confusion. The ground was scrubbed and trenched in every direction, masses of useless rubbish W ere . throw n on th e surface ; then came heaps and ?des of enormous stones, which seemed only to encumber the ground. You know perfectly well that from all this nothing itself can arise ; but you are well aware that there is an architect prepared with a plan, and a builder who has in hand the estimates ; skilful work each in his own craft. You know that every stone Which is th ere will be measured and weighed in one p ro- Portion to the edifi ce , and that it will find its own proper , rue already designed for it. It was in this power of galueing and arranging the materials that you put your r4 fit for anything perfect or beautiful coming forth out of the chaos before -your eyes. And you know l - moreover, that no amount of public meet ings, no am ;ant of loyal 'and patriotic speeches, or even the vast, sums contrarated will suffice, without the inter velleon of an art at skilled in that art by which was to be Pr.oduced that which you desired to see glorious and per fect. (Applause.) This, I imagine, is the defect we shall find in the syst em of education which, we are told, is becoming more and more marked every day, and no proper and efficient remedy has yet been discovered. Let us, then, come to the subject which I have proposed, First, whether the education we are giving to the poor is of a sufficiently practical character ? Much has been done, an immense deal more than could probably have been anticipated in the great cause of education. Looking at it in a pecuniary light, we find that in the year 1831 the first parliamentary grant for education was given, and amounted to £30,000. You have now a quarter of a million, and that is going on increasing every year. Between 1837, or 1839 anelBs7, £2,000,000 had been expended in the erection of schools, and it is calculated that £2,000,000 a-year is actually spent now in schools for the working classes. It is an immense advance, no doubt. Then, look at it in another form. In 1818, one in seventeen of the population were receiving education • in 1833, one in eleven ; in 1857, one in eight. (Applause.) Superior books, greatly multiplied in number, and well trained instructors, are also now plentiful. I disparage not what has been done by any meens, but there is yet something wanting. Do not let us loose sight of it, but let us endeavour to the utmost to add to the good that has been done, and I trust that just now we shall see effected some very important matters, which have hitherto remained unexecutcd, in the great work of promoting the education of the po or . (Applause.) If all who had had most experience in education, were now asked if the education of the poor is in a satisfactory state, they would answer in one voice "no !" There is a great deal yet to do. In 1856 and 1857, there was extraordinary attention paid to educational questions. In April, 1856, there was a debate which lasted several days in the Rouse of Commons on the subject, and which elicited an immense mass of information, and a great deal of sound observation. In the August of that year a very 'remarkable meeting was held at Bristol—a meeting of the National Reformatory Union, and at -that conference some remarkable opinions were expressed by two noblemen, one a veteran in the cause of education, and the other a young states man of the present day, both of whom seem to have held the theory that crime is nothing but the effedt of insanity, and that it is wrong to punish the criminal in - any way except that of educating him, and that is called educational reform. Out of that meeting arose another in the summer of next year. In June, 1857, on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th days of-this month, this conference was considered of such great importance,' that the Prince 'Consort, with that readiness which he has always manifested, in putting himself at the head of any measure , for national improvement, condescended himself to preside, and all that was dignified, all that was scientific, and in -any way dis tinguished in the country iby position, by 'celebrity of any form, attended in this conference, and there was every reason to expect that we should have great results of this union of so much ability, of so much genius, of so much learning, and so -much .practical experience. let us see now what was the object, and what were the results of 'this extraordinary meeting. Why the very object fot avhich it was convoked tells us at once. The conference 'was to be held for three days in London by the educa tional celebrities, under such high - presidency, in order to discover what ought to be done with reference to the early age at which children were taken from school. You must admit that the evil must be very glaring and very great, when it was thought right to bring together such distinguished elements as this to solve this problem, and to decide why children were taken away -so soon from schobl, and how they might be induced ,to -stay, and their parents to allow them to remain, for a:longer period. As we proceed we find the nature of this evil more 'clearly developed. This conferenee diiided itself into four great sections, each containing men of great reputation and character, and these were the subjects which separat3reach confereace or section had teetonsider. The first had to enquire'into the fact of the alleged early removal from schools in the agricultural, and manufacturing, and mining districts of England, Scotland, and Wales, and enquire into the case of such early removal and its results. Secondly, in another section, similar enquiries had to be made as to the question as it appeared in other :countries, whether there was the same defect, and how it was met ; and the third had to consider the expediencies proposed for .a remedy ; and the fourth section had to consider the ha - if time scheme prevailinu in the manu facturing districts, to see if that could in any way be made a remedygor the evil. But to see how great this evil is, and how it almost baffles the great efforts that have been made in the cause of education, I will give you a few of the results of this4Jongress. The Prince Consort has summed up, by stating that the number of children in England and Wales, between 3 and 15 years of age, are 4,008,696. Of-these there are attending schools 246,848, and there are receiving no education whatever, 2,861,848, or very nearly three millisns. The total number of children, being within a fraction of five millions, nearly three millions are .of the uneducated class, and little more than two millions thus receiv ing education. But out of the two millions of the scholars at school, more than a million and a half remained only two years at all at school. . I will lenre you to judge of the results of such an education; or rather, we may ask, is it an education. atall ? Thirdly, out of two millions in education, only 600,000 are above nineyears of age ; so that we have the greater part only children scarcely arrived at the full develop ment of Jnental pols-ers. And of all that receive education, the average is two years and a half at school. Now, without troubling them with individual speeches, which would,confirm every part.of this, I will read you a few of the conclusions come to at •these sections. '.First, as to the one which had to enquire ,into the cause of children being withdrawn from school with such an imperfect education ; the terms of the resolution are, first, " that in the opinion of this section of the conference the greater number of children of the working classes in the agricultural, .manu facturing, and 'mining districts, are removed from school from nine to ten years of age, and the removal at this cearly age detracts from the effect of the education provided for them; and secondly, this section, having inquired into the cause of such removal, is of ? opinion that it is not commonly attributable to the poverty of the parents, but in some instances to the rules of the school and in others to its unpractical character." The educa tion is .not practical. (Applause.) "In others an undervaluing of education by parents, from the inefficiency of the education which they thus receive ; and as a general rule to the state of the labour market, which attaches great value to the labour of children, and to the employers of the parents requiring the labour of the children." ATow, we come to the conclusion. It is, acknowledging that there is a great practical mischief; and how is it to be met.. The third section came to the canclusion that though some protection in a certain case became necessary, it was by moral and religious influences, rather than by legislation, that the greatest remedy for these evils must be found. Quite agreeing with this resolution, that interference by authority should not be made more than is absolutely necessary in matters of edu cation, at the same time it does not follow that there eauuot be means which are as much in the power of the government as is the contribution to certain funds. We have abundant acknowledgments here, that the parents will not allow their children to remain at school _longer than they are absolutely obliged to keep them there, yielding, probably, to the influence of persons who can, to some extent, control them—and this results from the want of somethinc , practical which parent; miss in this education, and wh at are these defects ? It appears that there are two difficulties on the part of the parents : the first is, that the children can earn out of school, and they cannot earn in it, and that, there fore, parents being dependant, not merely the disso lute, but the industrious ones, with large families, on the co-operation of their children, they are almost compelled to withdraw them, for it is well known that many parents regret the necessity in which they are. It may appear at first sight, that the labour of mere children can hardly be worth calculating upon, but it is startling to find that from returns laid before the House of Commons in 1856, and these returns were collected with great diligence, the labour of children between 12 and 15—the most important period of education—is valued in England at three millons a year, and the estimate taken upon five or six of these counties, with perhaps still greater care, show that it more probably reached five millions. So that we are calling upon parents to sacrifice five millions that come into their pockets, to give their children an education which they are hardly able properly to value. This is the first obstacle that edu cation has to grapple with. Children are made to toil from almost infancy—from five or six years of age, if they only bring in le. per week, rather than allow them to have a little mental culture. And the second reason is, that the parents set no value upon education, for reasons which ought to be manifest to us—that they do not consider that this education, if they spent their present earnings, will enable their children in any way to earn hereafter. It is not wonderful that they should not care to have children pass their days in schools—of which they do not calculate _tlly present o r p rospec ti ve advan tage. (Applause.) When one says, therefore, what is wanting is a superior education of these children, it is a r i g ht cvession, although it may b e misinterpreted. THE NORTHERN TIMES, 'RIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1859 It does not mean that 'you are to give them a superior education in mathematics, or in history, or in grammar, or in geography, but you are to give them a superior education for the_ objects of their education, and in the class to. which they belong. Now, I ask you, do you not suppose that there is on the whole a very fair, or high standard of mental educa tion given to the children ? I have not read to you passages which appear in the collection of essays delivered at this great meeting, which refer specifically t o this point ; but I think you would be astonished to hear the severe remarks of one of the government inspectors, one very well known to the public in England, upon the results of education, as elicited in the examinations. In his inspections he gives an account of answers that one commonly receives, and appeals to other in spectors for the truth of his statement. After he has replied with indignation to the idea that we are giving in our schools anything that can be called an intellectual education, he refers to the religious educa tion, which he condemns ; and proceeds to the labourer and servant class, and says that it was not possible that the parents of the children would value such instructions as were intrinsically worthless in themselves. He referred to the answering of the children as to the geography of the globe the agriculture of his own country, and different questions on domestic matters, and he would undertake to say that not one out of 50 children would give a good answer, and yet 999 out of every thousand of these questions may refer to the future life of the child, and matters which the child's parents require it to be taught, and if you are not advancing the child one step in the direction in which his livelihood depends, how can you expect that the parents will sacrifice both their means and the time of their children to give them what you designate under the prosecuted name of education. (Applause.) This is the opinion of Mr. Simons. But now comes the practical difficulty which is to be met, and which, unfortunately, seems to baulk all our attertipts. In some cases practical employment was success ful, and the difficulty met ; and, no doubt, if there was as much anxiety to promote the real education of the poor as there is to talk about it, the difficulty could be met. These days, 'which we may call three glorious days of educational discussion, ended, you would suppose, in something practical. Such discussions, by such learned men, could not but lead to some device or other adapted for meeting the great practical difficulty. It seems incredible that so much genius should have come into collision, and no bright spark have been kindled from which - any new light, any flaming torch of wisdom and of knowledge, could be lighted, by which 'to shovv Its some new path, opened by their ingenuity, and made smooth by their experience, whereby we may conduct our population 'to the great and desired 'good of ;a thorough, high, moral, and practical education ? We had a right to expect this, for the preface to the publioa hen states (and it is dated in 1857, the year before last), that the general report 'of the facts and suggestions 'which have been elicited, will be made and published at a very early period. The book closes with these words notei bete---the report Of the general 'Committee of the conference will be publiihed afterwards. No such report has ever yet appeared. (Hear, hear, mid applause.) I have enquired carefully after it, bitt from very good authority, I have been assured that none has been published. We may therefore, I suppose, *hope for it ye!, but until it appears we must conclude eitherthat the evil was found irremediable, and thattthere is no practical suggestion to be made, or else that that great •meeting having'been held, speeches delivered, newspapers filled with reports, the rause is finished—the end hath been attained—there has been a greattalk upon a magnificent scale about the zeal and interest of the great in the education of the poor. (Cheers:) To come now to the second question ; what course has been taken towards arriving at theTemedy which we seek? There are'certainly remetfies which do not apply 'immediately to the sore. The good physician will often prefer what may be called a general treatment—raising the constitution, restoring the general health which has been impaired-4o dealing with local ailments ; and, undoubtedly, in this case, there are measures which may be taken, and which it would appear at the first sight, would •very much facilitate the obtaining of the practical results. In the obvious ordinary meaning of the word, education means the training of the child, the preparing of the , youth for his future life. It is clear, that if education has no reference whatever to the future life of the child, it is a mere waste -waste of time, waste of power, waste of the abilities of the teacher. Therefore, our real estimate of education must be the manner in which it prepares the youth for that which he is to be when he is a man. (Hear, hear.) .No one for a moment surmises— no one has thrown out any hint that possibly the poor do not like the education we give them, either because it is too moral or because it'is-not moral enough. They do not quarrel with that point at all. They say that it is something in the air of education itself, con sidered as preparatory to the after life of those who receive it, which they consider not defective, but -abso lutely wanting. New, education to'be perfect, of course must be complete. It must not be merely mental, it must be also manual. It must makelim who receives it not oily skilful, but,..to we a word which carries well its own signification, dexterous. He must know how to use his right arm and hand. The education given must he that which will strengthen a man's hand as well ias his brain. You do not consider the educa tion of an officer complete if he cannot wield his sword, -if he cannot brandish it .over his head, and strike one down with it. Can the -education of the artisan be complete unless he can wield his hammer — or that of the peasant unless he can hold and guide his plough ? The practical education of the ,officer, of the soldier, is made complete—and that of 'the other classes is left unpractical and incomplete. There are two classes of education - that which is provided for :the rich, or rather which the rich provides for themselves, and that which is provided for the poor. Both rich and poor begin in- the same way. You remember the .old saying of the Philosoper to a King—" That there 'is no royal road to learning." Therefore, the poorest peasant and the son of a king, must begin alike with his AB C. He must learn to tread, he must learn to •o write—he must learn, if he can, to cypher, that is what may call the first foundation. It is the solid ground work of the education, in which there can beno difference. In the same manner, when you are about to erect a solid building, whether it be a palace or a gaol, the foundations must be equally firm •and complete. Until we come above ground all is the same ; but the rich have yet another, 'which we may call the basement story, well proportioned, enriched, and beautiful, which is common to all who belong to that class. Whatever a man of that class is to be, he will go through a course of elegant literature. He will apply himself to the elassics. He will discipline his mind by mathematics, even if he does not go to any depth in them. Whatever may be his future destiny, he will be taught that he must make himself ac complished in all that belongs to the demands of a well educated gentleman. So far all is well, but there begins the divergence, In the same manner as you will see, looking at a vast and elegant building, such as that to which I have already alluded, up to a certain point all is equal, and only the simple members of architecture are permitted to run around the whole edifice ; but then a column is placed here, and a pilaster there—at this point a niche is introduced, and at that a relief and then springs up the dome, or whatever varied form of roof covers the whole. Thus the education of those who belong to what are considered the higher classes of society, is the same, up to a certain point, , and then, after that common education, it is no longer deemed consistent with good sense that they should all be brought up alike. The clergyman, the priest, or the minister of any other form of religion puts himself apart, and receives his own special training. He 'would think it absurd to continue for any long period of life studying the special pursuits of the soldier. The soldier would think himself only derided if he were put to pursue a commercial education, or to qualify himself for the navy, (Hear, hear.) But education differs after it has reached the summit of that common basis, and the beautiful theory and accom plishments of knowledge and of power, the applying of which enriches the social structure. But we do not con sider it necessary to act upon this wise system, with those who require erections much more than the class I have spoken of. Afterthey have received this first education in common with the richest and the best, we must see that, as the children of the poor are educated, they must take the chance of whether that which is given to them fits them or not. It may be called a "scramble" for education. One child may get what fits him in after life, and may have his little head filled with that which is not of the slightest use to him ; because, we have formed no plans, no system to dis tribute materials applicable to their various pros pects in life. No plan has been matured for adapting the education to the character of the child. Then as to the training schools. The young men who pass through their examinations are drafted off into normal schools, and they, like the girls, go through but one course of in struction. They are always struggling to attain to the " standard" which is fixed, and which I believe is too high. They get accomplishments that can be of little or no use to them unless to assist them in pushing them selves forward to another sphere of life, but not to advance their future pupils in the knowledge befitting their requirements. They have all to go through a high course of .examination in many branches of grammatical, historical, and . geogra phical knowledge which really makes i . tdifficult to go through the whole course, and which, when gone through, only instructs them in science or general learn ing, sUeli all is possessed by the Whets of gentlemen's schools. This does not fit them to educate the children of the poor. They go with the same knowledge into `town or country, but wherever they go, their learning is of one sort, and they have one stock of knowledge which may or may not be applicable to the children who come under their care. It may not be the knowledge applicable to the future condition of the children. The same knowledge that is required in a town school may not be required in a country school. There is printed for the teacher who has passed, a list of 1,152 voli. of educational works (a laugh), from which he is left to select ; but in many instances the titles would mislead, and we all know that a country schoolmaster would not generally have the money to secure an efficient library ; besides, what new books are constantly issued, and as the course of literature alters, the only plan he can adopt, therefore is to pursue his own course. He must adapt himself to circumstances. The peculiar character of the classes of the population to be instructed, may be divided into three classes, manufacturing, mining, and agricultural. This division appears to me deficient, and I think we might perhaps propose another. The mining and manufacturing classes are very similar in many respects, and are totally distinct from the agricul tural classes, though all work upon the products of the world in different ways. Apart from the agricultural class, and the mining, and manufacturing, there is another large section of the population which should not be overlooked- that which has the land on one side and the sea bn the other. The seafaring population is totally distinct from any other classes, and in magnificent towns and villages, the industry of which is not on the land but on the sea, here men and children will look not to the land but to view it almost with contempt as they look to the adventurous life of the sea for a livelihood. The Cardinal referred to the large number of the children of coast guards, to those of the fishermen of Scotland, and others, who were left without any special training for the callings which they were in all likelihood destined to pursue. He alluded to the report published lately by Admiral Seymour, addressed to the Board of Trade, in which he showed that hundreds, or even thousands, of lives might be saved, if the use of the barometer were taught to the fishermen and coast-guards. In a like manner, pointed out what benefit might be conferred by a practical training of the children in agricultural districts, and how the difficulty of their educa tive years might be got over, by enabling them to earn something, in the meantime, by even growing vegetables, and referred to the efforts made in that direction by Mr. Edgeworth, father of Miss Edgeworth, before defined educational movements were heard of. The asked if it was not a reproach to the age, that if you wanted to get a boy a practical education for some future remunerative and respectable class of life, the best thing you could do for him would be to make a criminal of him, and put him into a reformatory. (Hear, hear, and - applause.) Rut the great difficulty remained ; how was that education of which he spoke to be gained for the agricultural and industrial population. He felt a diffidence in -speaking upon that subject in a county where • industrial pursuits prevailed more than in any other part of England, and where there were men who had the best desires to promote the education of the poor, and who occupied themselves with it. It would seem that if they had not discovered any expedient, it must be difficult for him, uninterested in such pursuits, to suggest any plan. Bat he observed that there was a system - called "half time"—that is, 'when a boy belonged to a factory, or any industrial este rblishment, he was obliged during a certain number of - years, to frequent a school for so many hours in 'the day. 'Now, the problem he would propose for the consideration -of practical men would be this - could that system be -reversed ? While you have a law that every boy which is in employment in a factory shall 'frequent a school, and that ;in a proportion which is hardly sufficient, 'can no plan be devised whereby those boys who .are at -school can 'likewise be brought to occupy so many of their hours in industrious pursuits—in the prosecution of trade or business in one form or another ? (Applause The -school has been made supplemental to the manufactory. Could that not be made, in its turn, if not subordinate and subservient, at least coadjutant with-the school? (Hear, hear.) 'Lord - Brougham, in the conference to which I have already alluded, made a shrewd remark, upon which there has been a very painful comment within the last few weeks. He said that, from his experience of - mechanics' institutions, he recommended that the management 'of all schools of 'that clase should The placed to as considerable extent in the hands of working men. (Cheers.) There is a new principle. I !may add what TI read a short time ago. A French phy ,sician, speaking of our English institutions, especially of our grand societies for the protection of 'oppressed needle women, at the head of which are noblemen and gentle men of the highest rank, who meet, talk, and discuss - and, I believe, ;ladies who contribute their attention and interest materially to the work - this Frenchman, who had been much in England, said, " I think, if these noblemen would only .consult some working people, they . would hear some unpleasant truths, 'but they would receive some very sound advice." (Loud cheers.) A. great and popular cause, like that of education, does not want merely kind phrases of encouragement, or what, perhaps, ' I may call patting on the back. It may be filet a little practical experience would teach more than all our conferences and discussions. You all remem ber the story, usually a little distorted, of the raising of the great obelisk in at. Peter's, when all the capstans and windlasses refused to move, and the severest penalty was ordered to any one who should interrupt by a word of advice, and Fontana, the great architect, and the greatest engineers of the day stood perplexed, not knowing what to do —the magnificent granite monument remained balanced half wayin air, and if anything gave way would have been shattered upon the marble pavement in a moment—when one who 'is generally called -an English sailor, but whom 'I must claim for Genoa, only called out —" Wet the ropes" and the obelisk was hoisted into its place in obedience to the suggestion of a practical working man. ((;Treat applause.) The Cardinal then passed on to speak of the condition of the poor in London, and the means of promoting education there. He asked— Why should there not be universities for the poor ? (Applause.) I could point out in London, in the midst of a population of the poor, large pieces of waste land, which only served for criminal children to play upon, or arches in roads where they may conceal themselves. This has been so aver since I went to London. In Westminster, houses that have been built are falling to pieces, because nobody will live in them. Large tracks of unoccupied ground may be seen. Here then is land, and there is no difficulty in the obtaining of the estimates for the purposes of education. Something, then, may be done. And why should there not be workshops, with steam power prepared, to which children in the neighbourhood might go to be instructed. The only difference between this - and the private works would be, that the discipline would be more rigid, and parents would find that their boys were learning some desirable trade. Is not an experiment of this sort worth being tried. No doubt that we shall be told the expense would be enormous. I wish I could have brought with me the estimates in my possession, showing the amount that has been spent on gaols for our criminals, on unions and asylums in the last few years —the peopling of all these being generally the result of crime. Would it not be worth while then to try the experiment of preventation, and do what would have the effect of saving thousands. And even £20,000,000 could . not be better bestowed than in this way. It would be equally to spending the same sum in emancipating the slaves in the colonies - (cheers) ;—and preventing a future generation being over-run by a stream of youths made more acute in their vice and more dangerous to society. I ought, perhaps, to apologise for having spoken so boldly and so openly here, where I already know that so much has been done, and is doing, for education. Looking at the statistics and returns, we find Liverpool standing very high, in proportion to its population, in number of those who attend schools of different classes, whether day schools or night schools ; and, therefore, it may appear presumption in me to advise, but, if I do so, it will not be to go back in any thing that has been done. God forbid. But my advice to you would be to use all the influence you possess to bring about practical results. You are practical men here ; you are men accustomed to carry out what you undertake, and carry it out nobly. Your town, with all its immense prospenty, its accumulation of worldly wealth, and its progress in all matters of industry and commerce, in ad dition to the splendid character it has gradually acquired, and the absorption by it of a considerable portion of the commerce of the world. Your town, beyond all this, has given to the world noble examples which, perhaps, no other town in the British empire has produced. It is not long ago that a merchant in this town had collected a most valuable series of MSS, and some of the most rare and beau tiful ornaments the world has known, the collection of Sir John Tobin. It might, he observed, be said of him, that he was collecting for the nation itself, he so generously scattered his wealth to obtain possession of those rare monuments which now enrich our national collection. This puts one in mind of the old Venetian merchants, or the merchants of Genoa and Antwerp, who applied much of the profits of their commerce to the promotion of the beautiful in art. And I now may allude, with feelings of grest respect and veneration, though I never knew him, to a gentleman who was well known in this town, who swept the lumber and dust-of prejudice from the pages of history, and presented trut h to our eyes. I allude _to your townsman Roscoe. (Cheers.) But whilst consider ing the dead, let us remember the living. When you have rising at this moment in the mast of your town, a magnificent structure , the cost whicll has boon contributed entirely by one of your worthy townsmen, who is your representative in the Parliament of this country—(cheers) who has set Liverpool an example of what on many occasions I have proclaimed before this time—that no where are there more generous sacrifices made to art, literature, or science than in the midst of our industrial population, where we see men bestowing liberally of that which they have acquired by years of per severence and industry. (Cheers.) I hope the gentleman to whom I allude will live to see his great work completely finished and inaugurated with all the solemnity it deserves. (Applause.) The Cardinal concluded by an eloquent appeal to his hearers to dispel what was merely dreamy in the theories of education—to sweep away all that was merely bright and delusive—to keep their feet firmly and steadily upoia the earth, and look towards 'the great goal of making education the means of moralising and rendering virtuous every portion of the population. He then concluded, having spoken for two hours amid enthusiastic applause. On the motion of Mr. Aspinall a vote of thauks was passed by acclamation to Cardinal Wiseman, and the proceedings terminated. THE TAx Ox DOGS.—By a return just printed, it appears that in the year ended the 31st March last the Oa on dogs realised £197,604. THE ENGLISH AT ROME.—The English Catholics are about building a church of their own at Rome. The work is entrusted to an eminent London architect, and a collection has already been set on foot to carry out this undertaking. We are glad to learn that the South Eastern Railway Company have offered to the widow of the Rev. T. Wood, Wesleyan minister, who died from injuries received in the shocking accident at Chilham last summer, the sum of £1,500 as compensation. Mr. Wood left a widow and eight children. A cotemporary states that " Isa Craig," the authoress of the Burns prize poem, is a young Scotch lady, and that the mysterious monosyllable " Isa " is a breviate or nemme de plume for Isabella—that she belongs to the single sisterhood, and has been a contributor to Chambers' s JOurnal, the Scotsman, and the Englishwoman's .Magazlnc, and has published a small volume of poems. The Brussels Inclependa nee says :—" Negociations for a large Piedmontese loan, to be guaranteerfby the French government, have been going on for some time. The overtures were received as badly as could be by all the great monied interests of Paris and London. For this reason it seems that a loan by public subscription to be opened simultaneously at Turin, London, and Paris, is lecided upon." A WOMAN DEVOURED BY RATS.—On Thursday morning, in a barn near Hebdall Bar, on the Great North road, near Newark, the body of an old woman partially devoured by rats was discovered. The woman's face was literally eaten away by the vermin, and at the time she was discovered the animals were devouring the inside. The body of the poor woman was not identified at th( time. PUBLIC DRINKING FOUNTAINS FOR BRIGHTON.--4 donation of £5 has been received from W. Conningham, Esq., M.P., towards the fund for erecting one or more public drinking fountains, the advantages of which have been set forth in a circular lately issued by the committee appointed at a public meeting, held at the Town Hall, on the sth inst., to carry out the project 'by means of voluntary contributions.—Brighton Bx ,aminer. CORONER'S INQUESTS.—In the year 1856, 234 coroners and their deputies held inquests on 21,801 bodies, at a total cost of £67,000, or an average of £3 is 6d for each death. Of the total number of bodies, nearly 10,285 died of disease or otherwise than from violence ; 11,936 died violent deaths. Of 265 persons committed for trial for homicide (murder 82, manslaughter 183), 109 were convicted (31 of murder, and 78 of man slaughter.) Of the 31 convicted murders, including Palmer, 16 were hanged. THE POACHING AFFRAY IN NOTTINGHAMSIIIRE.—The police have succeeded in capturing two more of the men engaged in the affray at Shelford, Nottinghamshire, and on Wednesday morning they were brought before Lord Belper and the county magistrates, at the Shire Hall, Nottingham. Their names are Alfred Musson and Charles Maltby. After undergoing a short examination, they were remanded until Saturday. The poacher Vard still continues in a very precarious state. Most active exertions are being made to capture more of the gang. A decision in the ease of Messrs. Calvert and oo.:the brewers, has boen pronounced by Vice-Chancellor Wood, on a question raised as to the relative liabilities of the several . partners. Of the six partners, three had joined only within the past two or three years, namely—Messrs. Johnstone, Phelips, and N. Calvert, and it was pleaded that they were not liable for certain debts of the firm, which had been omitted to be disclosed to them at the time of joining. One of the creditors interested accord ingly, instituted proceedings to test the point, which have resulted in the liability being affirmed. The amount of debts thus affected is supposed about £200,000. DELICATE SURGICAL' OPERATION.—III the theatre of the Royal Infirmary, a very unusual and delicate operation has been suecessfnlly performed by Dr. Lyon, assisted by Dr. Ebenezer Watson. The patient, who was a man about 50 years of age, was suffering from cance r in th e t ongue , and the operation consisted in the excision of a considera ble portion of that organ. A few minutes sufficed for the completion of the operation, and the man left the theatre apparently none the worse. This is not the operation which Mr. Syme, of Edinburgh, recently performed twice with a fatal result. That gentleman cut out the whole of the tongue, while Dr. Lyon cut out only the diseased portion, which in this case only amounted to fully a third of the whole.—Glasg ow Bulletin. The Ddbats contains a report of a strange case which has just been decided by the Correctional Tribunal of Colmar. A protestant, named Jacques Bessmer, was charged with having lent to a catholic, his neighbour, a volume from his library, entitled "Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures upon the Worship of Mary," and in which it seems the new dogma of the immaculate conception is assailed as superstitious. The chief count in the indict ment charged him with having committed an infraction of the law prohibiting the distribution and colportage of writings which do not bear the official stamp. This is the first time the law of colportage has been applied to the simple loan of a book. - The tribunal condemned him to pay a fine of fifty francs and the costs. SHOCKING DEATH.—An inquest was held at the Mul lingar workhouse, by P. Connell, Esq., a few days ago, on the body of a young woman, named Eliza Fegan, aged twenty-one years. It appeared that on the 28th December last, as deceased was in her father's cabin, at Tahmon, while her father was at his work as a day labourer, she was seized with an epileptic fit, to which sad complaint she had been for many years subject ; that when attacked she was near the fire, and in her struggles one of her legs reached the fire-place, and was d rea df u ll y b urne d ; andl still more horrible to relate, while the wretched sufferer was in this miserable condition, a pig, attracted, no doubt, by the smell of the burning leg, rushed into the cabin, and commenced devouring the half-roasted limb. A man who was passing on the road was also attracted both by the smell and the noise of the ferocious brute, and went in to the rescue of the suffering creature. She was im mediately conveyed to the Mullingar "Workhouse, where every attention was bestowed on her, but in vain. She lingered in a state of indescribable agony for nearly a month, when death terminated her existence. A verdict was brought in of " Accidental death." SIR R. PEEL AT TAMWORTH.—On Friday morning, Sir R. Peel attended at an examinations of his school, in company with the Rev. J. Mould, and others. The pupils showed the greatest proficiency in their studies. Prizes were kindly distributed by Lady E. Peel to the deserving boys, and cakes supplied for their refreshment. The 18th annual general meeting of the Tamworth Library and Reading Room was held in the library of the institution. The chair was taken by Sir Robert Peel, Bart., M.P., president of the institution. The report and accounts were adopted. The committee of management was appointed, and the various officers re-elected. A vote of thanks was moved to Sir Robert Peel, for . his present of books. On Wednesday, Sir Robert Peel attendedat the Endowed School of Kingsbury, with the other trustees, for an examination of the pupils , and their entertainment afterwards. Lady E. Peel was surrounded by other ladies of the village and neighbour hood, and the children will long remember the great kindness and attention shown them, as well as the abundant and excellent provision supplied for their entertainment.— Wolverhampton Chronicle. STRANGE JUSTICE AT BARNSLEY. —At the Barnsley Court-house, on Wednesday, another of those extraordi nary magisterial decisions, which have gained for Barnsley anything but a flattering reputation throughout the kingdom, was given. A weaver, named John Watson, was charged before Godfrey Wentworth and W. S. Stan hope, Esqs., with having taken out work ap om ieefrebone mann had out the evid e ence of the p fa r c e t r u i r o e n r sv b e f f r o o r m e a h n e ot h h a e d r Fromonfien.ished witnesses, it appeared that on the 28th of October the defendant took out from the Messrs. Taylor and Sons a he had not returned. In Iparegeeempbieecre he ef took fanc drill,y out r which om M b es t srs. Hattersley and Par kinson lot,u T ort h io u n ck o a f ha th ck e it and appearedthatso badlyh tonlyhat not : paid for it, when he took the remainder back. he l x n e ewascu edEi defence Watson said that tlie th drill was superior work, askeda so n m d er, erso the t m d a o n it t . o wHheeracallede iliiosomsisbteerlr who ged stated o ta g te e d t that; being deprived of the sight of one eye, ho was unfit to - do anything but inferior work. The Bench committed defendant to two months' imprisonment in the Wakefield hoie a cocorrection with h ard WRECK OF THE HAMBURGH BARQUE DIANA. The Diana, from Hamburgh for Cardiff, in ballast, drove on shore in Brackelson Bay, near Cockbush station, during the violent gale of Sunday. The Diana sailed from Hamburgh on the 27th of December, and proceeded on her voyage as far as the Lizard, when she was o compelled by h eavy h ea d ga l es t o b ear u p f or some port Katherine's light, twhereo get a th p ey ilo l t ai o d n th b e oar si c lip ; btoutusteietiilngdanyo fuge.On the 22nd of January she made St. r break to pilot-boat, she stood off the land, and afterwards again stood in for the land, and on sighting the coast tacked to sea, but found she would not weather some broken water ahead which proved to be the Pole Sands, off Chichester harbour. She then let go both anchors,. but soon afterwards the starboard chain parted. The ship still drove towards the beach, and the fore and main masts were cut away ; and she stranded at 1 p.m., amid a tremendous surf. Measures were immediat.2 - y takes by Commander Wollaston, R.N.,, with the coastguard under his command, to assist, the crew in landing as speedily as possible. They were landed by th it own boats, which were stove m and otherwise d imaged in the process of beaching ; the lowering of the last boat which left the ship, containing the chief mate and three of the crew, was nearly attended with a se;ious loss of life. The foremost tackle by some means became fouled, keeping the boat's bow suspended, wit'i her stern in the water. The. violent jerking and straining on the bow tore out the stem, and. precipitated the crew into the raging wa t er s alongside. Two of the coastguard men, under the persona l direc tions of Lieutenant Wollaston, R.N. w ith ropes made fast round them, the ends being held by those on shore, rushed into the sea, and, at the peril of their own lives, seized hold of the men, and with the assist ance of those with the hauling lines succeeded in bringing the whole of them safely on shore. Chevalier Vanden Bergh, the Hamburgh Consul at Portsmouth, was promptly on the spot, and after visiting the scene of the wreck, and seeing the crew safely landed from their perilous position, lodged them at East Wittering. T h e ship lies about 300 yards below high water mark, her head off seaward, her fore. and mainmasts and rudder gone, sternposts started, and apparently part of her keel carried away, and bilged on both sides. • THE LOSS OF THE CZAR STEAMER. Additional information has been received at Lloyd's relative to the melancholy loss of the Czar screw steam ship, which foundered off the Lizard on the afternoon of the 23rd, after striking on the Vogue Rocks.: Captain Jackson, the commander, his wife, a passenger, and seve ral of the crew, in all fourteen, perishing with the ill fated ship. The Czar was a powerful iron built vessel, launched at Hull last year, and, according to Ll o yd' s register, she was classed A 1 for nine years. She was constructed under special survey, of 937 tons burden, worked by engines of 180-horse power, and was the property of Messrs. Samuelson, of Hull. She was chartered for the conveyance of government stores, prin cipally shot and shell, to Malta. She took in her cargo at the Arsenal, at Woolwich, and in the early part of last week left the river. Captain Jackson, the commander, was accompanied by his wife, his sbn, and nephew. The run down Channel appeared to have been favourable until reaching near the. Land's End, on Saturday, when a gale from the south-west was encountered, and in endeavouring to weather it, the steamer's engines be came partially disabled in consequence of the break ing. of the steam-pipe. Captain Jackson, finding it impossible to proceed, attempted to put back, and run into Falmouth, to repair the 'defect. The gale, however, continuing with almost increased force, rendered the progress of the vessel more difficult, and becoming, it is supposed, unmanagable, she, about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 23rd, drove upon the Voque Rocks, near the Lizard. The moment the ship touched the reef she was submerged by a fearful sea, and the loss of all on board for a time seemed inevitable. The striking of the vessel bei ng seen from the Coast Guard station at Cadgwith, the most prompt steps were taken by the boatmen for the rescue of those on board. A galley was quickly manned, and as rapidly rowed off to the steamer. Nothing could exceed their gallantry, and they succeeded in saving six of the crew. The life-boat of the steamer had, by some providential circumstance, been got clear, and was the means of preserving eleven oth ers . Capt. Jackson, perceiving the near approach of the-de struction of the ship, was about to save his wife and son, when the vessel broke up, and immediately went down in the deep water by the side of the rock,..carrying with her all who were then on board. The survivors were brought ashore at the village of Lizard, and received every kind- and attention by the inhabitants. The fol lowing are the names of those whd perished : Captain R. Jackson, his wife and son ; Mr. G. Wood, passenger; Mr. R. Brown, second officer; Charles Crossley, Samuel Lavett, Matthew Hall, George Jefferson, James Wade, engineers ; Thomas. Foster, Robert Young, Robert Burton, and James Greene, sea men. Those saved were —Mr. Wm. Tucker, chief officer Master Whitsale, captain's nephew ; Mr. J. Nelson, chief engineer; Henry Jackson, Nathaniel Cracknell, David Cattle, and John Collier, engineers; Geo. Penn, carpenter; John Knight, Joseph Buck, Jonathan Thick ett, James King, John Davies, Henry Gartkorp, James Mulvey, John Nixtons, John Smith, and Louis Bran, seamen. The hands were shipped in Dull and London. The loss of the ship and cargo will involve a large amount. She was insured. FEARFUL BOILER EXPLOSION A fearful boiler explosion occurred upon the Brunton and Shields waggon-way on Monday. This line is wrought by standing engines and incline, and the coals sent down from the collieries by it are shipped in the Northumberland Dock. An engine-man, named William Brunton, who was both engineman and fireman, was ;n charge iF the middle engine, and it appears that he h a d c l eane d the boILT: ut on Satur day. He was working a set of laden waggons , w h en the boiler exploded with fearful violence. It was lifted from its seat, and torn into four portions by the force of the explosion. A large portion was thrown some distance across three lines of railways. Another portion was pitched against the cottage occupied by Brunton and his wife, but inflicted no injury upon the inmates. A set of waggons were being run down an ineline at the time the explosion occurred. A portion of the boiler in its flight cut in two the rope that was easing the waggons down the way, an d th ey i mme di ately commenced to run " amain." A woman and a girl were riding upon them at the time, and as the speed of the waggons increased they screamed most piteously. The woman jumped out, but her legs got entangled with the loose rope attached to the waggons, and she was thrown down and dragged after them. Fortunately the lad who had charge of the waggons had presence of mind to loose . the rope and throw it off, and thus save her from farther injury. A man belonging to the railway also jumped behind and saved the girl. The waggons gathered speed as they got on, w a n h d e r d e a she d they d cameoln t v into tPercyocollifs lion ,‘ v , i i t t h n h c s o oni si e de s r t a a b n l d e li v i e g locity wag gons, and a considerable amount of damage was done. The engine-house was completely . demolished by the explosion, and poor Brunton was buried under the debris. A number of men were employed to dig him out, and his body was recovered an hour and a-half after the accident. The poor fellow was quite dead, and was dreadfully bruised. The cause of the explosion is not known, but it is supposed to have been a deficiency of water in the boiler. UNIVERSITY OF LONDON xa a ni nd ina d ti e o gr ns e fo . r The senate of the University of London have just issued es achelor of Arts. their Henceforth new regulations ther e are to fo i r )e ex p a r m ov i in na oc t it il a a i : on e siMultaneousl v with examinationsandin for the , d degree e th e e . same days and at the These examinations will be carried • same hours. Sealed packets, co the matriculation, ntaining the examination . papers, will be sent down from London and publicly opened at the commencement of the provincial examina tion. These packets • will be entrusted to a sub-examiner, named by the t sena e, and sent down expressly for the occasion, who shall be responsible to the senate for the proper openino• , of the papers, for the conduct of the ex amination, and for the collection and sealing up of the answers at the close of each examination. The answers will be brought back to London in se a l e d pac k e t s , so as t o be reviewed in London at the same time with the answers of the London candidates; and the total results (including the local as well as the central) will be made known by the examiners in London on the same days as they are at pre sent. Applications from any city, town, or college, during the institution of provincial examinations in the present year, must be transmitted to the registrar before the Ist May. Under the new arrangements there will in future be two examinations for matriculation in each year at Burlington House —one commencing on the second Monday in January, and the other on the first Monday in July. Any candidate who has passed may be examined for honours in mathematics and natural philosophy, clas sics, chemistry, and natural history. The first B.A examination will take place once a year , and will candidate who has passed this examination may be examined for honours its mathematics, Latin, English, and p assages in the French and German languages, and literature. The second B.A. examination will take place once a year, and will commence on the fourth Monday in October. The examination for the degree of Master of Arts will take place once a year, and commence on the first Monday in Juno