The Express.
London, England, 1851-06-27 00:00:00

THE STORM OF SATURDAY.

A correspondent, writing from Shipaton-on-Stour,
Worcestershire, gives an account of the severity of the late
storm (of whiel;a detailed account appeared in Wednesday's
Express) in that neighbourhood. We, of course, cannot
vouch for the absolute correctness of the writer's statements
of the damage done, or the size of the hailstone's, but pre-
vious experience has shown that such facts are not without
precedent. The writer says:
" The direction the storm took was from the south-west to
the north-east. It commenced in Great Woltiod-wood,
twoceed‘al over Todenham, in the direction of Shipston ;
from there its course lay over Honington, Idlicote, What-
cose, Oxhill, and Tysoe. The fields in the centre of the
line are completely laid waste ; the wheat, being cut in
two in the middle, presents the appearance of stubble
in September; not a single ear of corn is to be found
in hundreds of acres. The beans are as bare of
blossoms and leaves as walking-sticks ; the barley
is cut up at the root, and is completely withered and lost;
the few apples left upon the trees are so cut and bruised as
to be quite spoiled. The gardens are as bare of vegetation
as in the middle of winter ; in fact, the toils, the hopes, and
the industry of the past twelvemonth are completely swept
away, and that within the space of one short hour. In
some places the hailstones lay from three to four feet deep;
the average depth in the streets was four inches; the general
form of the hailstones was spherical, though some where
oblong, the majority were crystalised in the most beautiful
manner ; the average weight was three ounces, though some
were considerably heavier; several werepeasured from live
to eight or nine inches in circumference.
"A public meeting was held at the George-inn, in this
town, on the 24th, at which the landholders attended, and the
loss f the persons there assembled was calculated at up-
wards of 20,0001., and extent of grain destroyed at 3,000
acres, exclusive of green crops, orchards, grass, &c. Hun-
dreds will be partially, and a great many toally. ruined,
unless some means of relief are adopted. It is intended
to hold another and more influential meeting at the earliest
period possible, when proceedings will be adopted for
organising subscriptions towards the relief of the sufferers
by this awful catastrophe."

CONGREGATIONAL BOARD OF EDUCATION.—Last
evening a public meeting was held at the London Tavern,
Bishopsgittc-street, to consider the present aspect of the
educational question, Mr. Samuel hlorley in the chair.
The proceedings having been opened with a prayer by the
Rev. Dr. Massey, the Chairman observed that the meeting
had been convened by the members of an association
formed seven or right years ago, the object of which was to
stimulate the body of non-conformists to increased efforts
in connexion with the work of education. The opinion of
this association was thi.t education, to be worth anything,
must be religious, and they would be no parties to any in-
terference or help from the government. Many of them
were prepared to go much further than this, and they con-
tended that even if it be possible to separate secular from
religious education, it was most desirable to keep the go-
vernment away from any interference with the subject.
The question of liberty no less than religion was necessary
to be observed, in order to keep the government to its
proper work. Ile, for one, objected individually to any at-
tempt on the part of the state to force religion
upon the people, and with this feeling he opposed
both those schemes for national education which had ema-
nated from the town of Manchester. Mr. Charles Robert-
son, of Liverpool, then read to the meeting a paper on the
subject of " Objections to a system of free education for the
people based en general or local taxation." In this paper
Mr. Robertson strongly opposed interference of the legisla- '
ture in religious matters, and concluded by observing that
he objected to any system of gratuitous education based on
compulsory support. The voluntary principle, as applied
to education, ought to be defended upon various grounds ;
and be urged that any legislative provision for the promo-
tion of public instruction would only tend to deaden the
sense of parental responsibility. He further contended
that it was just as impossible to educate the people by any
compulsory means, as it was to feed and clothe them,
and on this, amongst other grounds, it was, that the present
association advocated the voluntary system of education.
The next subject which was brought under the notice of the
meeting was that of the evil of embracing all religious
opinions in connexion with the education of the. people."
This question sins introduced by Mr. Edward Mall, who
dwelt with much argumentative force upon the principles
which he sought to oppose, and adduced a variety of reasons
for objecting to any legislative interference in the work of
public education.—A resolution was then passed to the
effect, that the meeting declared its earnest conviction in
favour of voluntary and religious education as beet adopted
to promote the intellectual, moral, and religious interests of
the community, and to sustain the spirit of freedom and self-
reliance. This resolution was unanimously agreed to, and the
meeting was addressed by several gentlemen an furtherance
of the principles advocated. The meeting then separated.