The Press.
London, England, 1858-10-09 00:00:00

THE.PRESS, OCTOBER 9, 1858.

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with good results in many parts of England.
system there are one or two tough objections.
out, reading-rooms will not attract those to w 1
toil. And we may add that the appetite for
stronger than it is likely to be in the large n' _ labourers to
counteract the effects of a long and hard day's work: It occurs to us that
after all Mr. BEST was the speaker who hit the right nail upon the head
He said he was of opinion that "education alone would not ' raise
the moral status of the humbler classes. Their social position
must be improved. They must be provided with better cottages,
and to enable them to participate in that benefit there must be
a corresponding effort to put the payment of wages on a sound basis,
so that the labourer might be able to pay his increased rent, and
to put the skilled labourer and man of integrity in his proper position."
The education of the poor, like the education of the rich, is in reality but
a question of money; with this distinction, that we believe the poor mart
will often make the greater sacrifice to attain it. But, practically, what
is the difference between Giles Hedger taking his boy from the village
school to earn 4d. a day by " tenting," and Mr. Broadcloth removing his
son and heir from Rugby to help him in the counting-house? None
whatever : it is a question of money, we repeat, with both. But place the
labouring man in a position to dispense with Tommy's services for a year
or two longer, and we believe he would eagerly grasp at the opportunity
of making his boy " a scholar." More, we fear, than can always be said
for his superior. As far, then, as the agricultural poor are concerned, it
is scarcely too much to affirm that, twist the matter as we may, the much
vexed question of education is more or less a question of wages. With
the subject of mechanics institutes a different set of considerations, of
course, come into play. But Sir JoitN PAKINGTON did not say anything
at Worcester suggestive of any corollary to our remarks of last week upon
this subject. We must, however, with all deference to the First Lord of
the Admiralty, take exception to the terms in which he concluded his
address. We are told, says he, that a little knowledge is a dangerous
thing. "I am not afraid of knowledge, but I am afraid of ignorance."
Now, what is all ignorance but little knowledge ? The subject of middle-
class examinations was discussed this week at Norwich. Nothing novel,
however, was advanced by any of the speakers ; and we have only there-
ore to repeat the hope, frequently expressed in these columns, that the
system will not be abused, and act as a temptation to certain classes
in the community to satisfy themselves with a lower scale of education
for their children than they would otherwise have done. Middle-class
examinations are by no means intended for the whole middle class. This
is an error, against which we must be carefully on our guard. For there
is always danger that in striving to extend knowledge we may only depre-
ciate education. If this rock ahead be steadily kept in view, we trust that
the new system may answer all the expectations of its founders.
If we allude to the very sensible language of the Bishop of LINooLN,
delivered on the occasion of his triennial visitation on Wednesday last, it
is rather to call attention to an important general evil to which his words
bore witness than to the specific subjects he discussed. Both on the ques-
tion of Church-rates and also the revision of the Prayer-book his Lordship
expressed an opinion that a decided majority of the nation were adverse to
any change. It is possible that a change might be expedient for all that.
But that is not the point of our present observations. The power which
noisy and persevering minorities are gradually coming to exercise in this
country is a most dangerous and discreditable fact. Marriage with a
deceased wife's sister is another case in point. And if the new Reform Bill
contain any provision by which the quiet convictions of the whole people
may be enabled to control the clamour of a few interested individuals,
that one feature alone will entitle it to the gratitude of posterity.
The last event in the nature of a public meeting that we have to record
is the meeting of the Court of Common Council to do honour to Lord CLYDE
and Sir JAMES OUTRAN. The two speeches delivered on this occasion by
Mr. CHARLES REED (who certainly has not " plagiarized " from history) are
somewhat remarkable. There is so much, indeed, in his narrative of recent
events that is entirely novel, or original, that we are at a loss where
to commence our selections. We learn, however, among other things, that
in 1849 Sir COLIN CAMPBELL was a Brigadier-General in Affghanistan,
and that " the record of his services there is too fresh in our memory to
" need even a passing reference. Unfortunately, so far as our own
memory is concerned, we are not aware of any services performed by the
illustrious General during his command of the Peshawur division on the
frontiers of Affghanistan, beyond the dispersion of some mountaineers and
the destruction of a few villages. That "he it was who turned the for-
" tunes of the day at Balaklava " may be nothing more than a rhetorical
i
hyperbole, but the summary of Lord CLYDE'S Indian campaign s as
remarkable for the confusion and inaccuracy of its facts as for the vehe-
mence of its language •

" Retrieving the false step of WismiAm, gaining the bridge of boats,
his object at Cawnpore being secured, Sir (mu.; hastens to join OUTRAM
at the Alumbagh, and by a combined attack to repossess themselves of
Lucknow. We know how that work was accomplished—how, throwing
off the officialism of the general, the commander of the noble army became
a personal leader—how, exposing his own life, he covered the pos►tion of
his men, sparing life everywhere. We know how he effected a complete,
and, speaking by comparison, a bloodless victory, gaining possession of one
of the largest cities in India, and turning the retreat of the mutineers into
a tumultuous flight. We know how he chased them in confusion to
Rohilcund and Bareilly (some people suppose I3areilly to be in Rohilamd),
and scattered them far up into the wild recesses of the Himalayas."
It is quite possible that all this may be known to Mr. CHARLES REED, but
a great deal of it appears strange to ourselves, though not so much so as
the startling revelations with which we are favoured touching the career
of Sir JAMES OUTRAN! :

"In 1839 the Shah SHOOJAH, exposed to peril from a lawless banditti,
finds a generous protector in OUTRAM ; and the Ameer of SCLYDE shortly

But then, again, even to this
. As the Times has pointed
'horn reading at all is still a
or intellectual food must be 1111
najority of our labourers t.