The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-04-09 00:00:00

LIBEL BY A CLERGYMAN.

At Gloucester assizes, the came of " Francis v. llippliley "
has been tried, and was as action for libel and slander.
The plaintiff is an attorney of Cirencester and Stow.
on.the-Wold, and the defendant iN the rector of St rw.
In 1866 a committee was formed for obtaining a
supply of water for Stow-omthe-Wold, and Mr.
Francis, being clerk to the committee, took an active
part in carrying out its objects. Mr. Hippisley
took an opposite view to that entertained by Mr.
Francis and the committee. In 1869 he prepared and
submitted to a vestry meeting at Stow a series of reso-
lutions imputing to Mr. Francis perjury, the mutila-
tion ..1 boots, and the misappropriation of money, and
these resolutoms he ~igned. For this libel and slander
the action was brought. _ -

Mr. James, Q. C., en the case being opened, having
stated the circumstanced under which the action was
brought, said Mr. Hippisley had male an apology
(which was read to the court) in which the rev. de.
fend nit expressed his "sincere regret fur the charges
of perjury, fraud, deceit, and other imputations re-
cently made by me both in and out of the yeatry of
the pariiii of Stow.in-the.Wold" against the plaintiff,
and undertook to call a vestry meeting at Stow, and to
move a resolution for rescinding the former resolutions
of the vestry.—A verdict for the plaintiff was taken;
damages, 100 guineas.

THE GOVERNMENT EDUCATION BILL.
In London, on Monday 'light, at a meeting of the National
,ciation for the Pr motion of S ,cisl Science. Mr. Edwin
Chadwick in the coair, the adjourned slitcmodon upon the
Government Education Bill was resumed. Mr. John Stuart
Mill said:—

The important paper read by the chairman hail
furniihed the very iitrongest argument against titnornd
national education. It WAN an argument which the
League had not med, but which he hoped they would
um, for it iv. old avail them mml. 'lnc chairman had
shown that the sel,ol PNslttlll, to be either i.tlicient or
economical. trout be based lip in tile constitution of Loge
schools. The denominational schools could not be large

schools, and schools of denominations locally smallmust
be small school% Now, there was one great defect in
stools, and that was that the minters gave their time
and attention to the clever and quick pupils and
neglected the great mass. Was not that the natural
consequence of having to teach both together? The
teaching should be divided between them, and be partly
adapted to one, and partly adapted to the other. The
syetem of the graded schools in America should be
adopted, so that the putoils should be classed according
to their proficiency. Referrivg to the local Boards,
Mr. Mill said it was quiet clear that school districts
outht to be much larger than they were. It was true
that in the rural districts they might not be able to get
together a sufficient number to make a large school,
but, at any rate, it would be much better not to
cut them up into different denominations, and an
approximation to the desirable sire of schools would
be best attained by teaching, in the first place,
the boys and girls together, and, in the second
place, the poor and those, who were not poor together.
Why should not the middle Clans and the poorer class
recite that portion of their education which %Nan
to be the some fern the same teachers? But, again,
let the district be ever ro large, tl ey could tot trust
the education if the poor to local Boards. They Milk'.
have some better security than that. They wanted
some more competent authority than the local bodies
to take the initiative in this matter. What they
wanted was to strengthen the central department of
education. It was desirable there should be a Minister
to look sf ter education, but it was not good that this
Minister should be changed wither cry Administration.
There should, at any rate, be &permanent Board com-
posed of persons selected for their zeal for education
and the amount of study they had given to the subject.
Farther discusbion followed, and the proceedings
closed with a vote of thanks to the chairman.