The Press.
London, England, 1858-04-10 00:00:00

THE PRE S S, APRIL 10, 1858.

occupants of the Treasury bench. Under such circumstances faction
is a difficult game, and attempts to get up a " movement " would end
in positive abortion. The Times may reprint snarling paragraphs from
Scotch Whig journals; but even the Times itself has seriously altered
its tone towards Lord PALMERSTON, and the most careless reader may
infer from its columns that there is no reason for supposing that the
public interest at all suffers by the ejection of Lord PALMERSTON and
his tail of jobbers. On the contrary, the facts recorded for the last
month show very clearly that the empire has largely gained by ttie
recent Ministerial change. Tho entire absence of all excitement out of
doors, the tranquillity of the public mind, and the fact that no "indig-
nation meetings were even attempted during the Parliamentary recess,
are considerations that will not be lost sight of by independent mem-
bers of the House of Commons.

We confess ourselves somewhat at a loss to detect the precise ad-
vantages to be expected from the late resolution of the Commander-
in-Chief in regard to Woolwich and Sandhurst. Till recently an un-
restricted competitive examination was held periodically for candidates
wishing to enter the Engineers or Artillery. Tho successful
competitors received nominations to the Woolwich Academy, where
they studied for two years, at the expiration of which period, if they
maintained their efficiency, they were appointed to commissions in the
above-mentioned corps. It is now, however, proposed that no young
men shall be admitted to compete for Woolwich without a previous
course of two years' preparation at Sandhurst, the entrance to Sand-
hurst to be the prize of a competitive examination, and the permission
to become a candidate to be obtained from the Horse Guards. Now
the change from two years' exclusive military training to four, and the
existence of two competitive examinations instead of one,
are barely sufficient advantages to compensate for the in-
jury which seems likely to ensue elsewhere. We our-
selves aro no advocates of too stringent a professional
education. We consider the deduction of two years from the period
devoted to general culture, and subjected to the beneficial action of
public school influences, is a serious evil. But waiving this objection,
is it certain that greater professional efficiency will be obtained by the
new plan ? If we grant, on the one hand, that the masters and pro-
fessors of Sandhurst will prepare their pupils better than either public
schools or private tuition, we must remember, on the other hand, that
the class from which these pupils will be chosen must inevitably be
greatly narrowed. The better workmanship, if it be better, will be
cancelled by the inferior material. The difficulty of sustaining two
years' extra expense, and the trouble of obtaining the Commander-in-
Chiefs recommendation, will act as deterrents upon all that numerous
class whose fortune is their brains. The excellent material thus
excluded from the public service will be so serious a loss that we
cannot, suppose it to have escapei the attention of the authorities.
That a sufficient answer may be returned to our view of the subject we
would not be so presumptuous as to deny; but we expect it with some
curiosity.

A Report has recently been published by Dr. LYON PLAYFAIR upon
the condition of the " old original'' Mechanics' Institute, in South-
ampton-buildings. It appears that this institution is in an advanced
stage of consumption, and the Times of last Tuesday has a very clever
leader on the causes of its decline and probable fall. No doubt there
is a great deal of truth in the general propositions laid down
by our daily contemporary. Unity, tradition, association, the
religio loci, by whatever name we choose to designate that
intangible influence in virtue of which schools and colleges effect so
much good, are inaccessible to the members of a Mechanics' Institute.
But, then, as a Mechanics' Institute is neither a school nor a college,
and was never intended to exercise influence of the same description,
we do not see how the absence of these attributes can be logically
alleged as the cause of its decline. To assert that one institution is a
failure because it is wanting in conditions which account for the suc-
cess of an entirely different one, is at best but a negative argu-
ment, of the vaguest and most distant application. To object to
Mechanics' Institutes that they have no genius loci like public schools
and universities, is just as unreasonable as to reproach Mr. SPURGEON
with lacking the elegance of a Trench or a Melvill. Suoh a quality is
not essential to his success, and would not retard his failure. Morti-
fying as the lesson may be to some of us, we cannot doubt that the
decline of institutions similar to that in Southampton-buildings is
attributable less to the want of " unity " and corporeity
than to the character of their teaching. Tho reception of
facts, apart from the acquisition of principles, is a barren i
and wearisome task. The man who has accustomed himself to
this mode of learning for any length of time is sure to be dissatisfied
at last. He finds himself none the more able to cope with his ancient
opponents at the debating club or the harmonic meeting; none the
more able to appreciate his clergyman's discourse; none the more able
to lay his finger on what displeases him in a newspaper article.
This is the true secret of the non-success of Mechanics' In-
stitutes, and not any want of the tone and the traditions of our great
educational establishments. The isolation of the different classes
could be a matter of small moment to earnest-minded men intent on
self-improvement, however injurious to their juniors. It is the teach-
ing of facts, instead of laws, without which the former fly away from
us, or at best remain but as useless lumber, which is the real defect of
these institutions. The effort to fill with water a cask with a hole in
the bottom of it is nut an exaggerated illustration of a system which
pours facts into the mind without any law which may embrace them
and intercept their escape from the 1101"11.

)

Itil all

THE MEETING.

it m " Oh! if there be &human tear
tltu From earthly dross refined and clear,
'Tie that which pious fathers shed
Inv°. Upon a duteous daughter's head."

~~Ntr

y Utin

SCOTT'S " RONZBY."

I idn)

From batter'd wall and wave-swept deck,

Vex'd land and ruthless sea,
The slow blockade, the sudden wreck,

By twofold marvel free,
The Lady comes—her arms are flung
Around the neck where oft they clung
In childhood's loving glee;
Long years—long toils—keen struggles past,
The Sire and Daughter meet at last !

They parted, but as thousands must
Till Peace shall conquer War :
He to the Forum's learned dust,
The conflicts of the Bar;
And she, a gallant soldier's bride,
With him to wander side by side,

And act, in realms afar,
The meek, devoted, duteous part
Dear to a British matron's heart.

They meet—and honour'd Chelmsford rears
His head in " pride of place " ;
I High raised among his country's peers,
He fills with stately grace
The seat which Hardwicke held of yore,
Whence sounded Eldon's balanced lore
And Lyndhurst's pregnant phrase ; -
wlesbe6
Unenvied in his high renown,,
" The glory of the English gown."*

Irt u.

And she, by whom true hearts were stirr'd
To many a dauntless deed,
u Whose cheering glanoe and kindly word
Ph Were Valour's spur and meed ;
ll' Fearless, yet patient—calmly bold,
at The Lady of the lcaguer'd hold, "ii, -141,
L Best aid in surest need, ,•,

giiL

Shall live while Glory kindles song,
And Duty makes the feeble strong.

There are, for whom the track of life
With barren wreaths is strown,
Who mingle in Ambition's strife,
And make the palm their own,
Yet count their trophies little worth,
And gaze in sadn!ss o'er the earth

To feel themselves alone :
With them no kindred hearts rejoice;
Love greets them not with thrilling voice.

Ah ! happy they, the favour(' few,
Who live, and shine, and rise,
Still freshen'd with the sacred dew
Of hornefelt sympathies!
rr Nay, more, in mutual honours blest,
May share with those who love them best
The triumph and the prize
r Match'd with the chaplet twined for them,
What were imoaareh'a diadem ?

'Joy to the Daughter and the Sire! .
t•.. •,fi. g
We have not lost the strain ;4,1
• Of high•soul'd worth—the sacred fire
n'r Yet burns in heart and brain ;
But England's laws shallt change their mood,
And herds shall graze where Lucknow stood,
Ere meeting such as theirs be view'd
f On British soil again—
Ere such a living gem be set
In such a stainless coronet!

if

MIPI

ti t if

I itriihE

Igit

• Gloria liosaanv, Qutuli ane, tog .c.

+ Nolumus lege/ Anglia sautari