The Express.
London, England, 1853-12-14 00:00:00

EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA.

—w—
It it impossible not to feel mach interest in the
sleets which the Australian colonies are making to pro-
mote edentioe. There are two systems eemnienaneod and
supported by the legislature of Mew South Wales. One
they all the " National ;" it is ossimelleal Ages naively
the same principles as the Irish "MOW fleensks. Th•
ether spume they call the "Demeneinatienel," which is
analogods to that on which tbe pellemmallney grant is dis-
tributed:la Ragland by the Privy Osanoll ; that is, the four
most important reliollne ilembietteme-4a• Anglican,
Boman Cadsolie, are Wesiegan, receive •
sham each, ee their respell's numbers, of a
public great. se at home, the ditch& and philoso-
Vim are strongly is favour of the " National "or Non-
sectarian" system, while the public penally prefer the
"Denominational"—that is, they like better sending their
children when they are taught the religion of their
prime, as well an secular matters, wh there is a
choice. The bishops (Anglican and Roman Catholic), and
most of the elergy, oppose the National Schools; still they
seem to be well suported and well oondueted, and I have
as doult will, b 7 degrees, make their way into public
hum, especially so country districts, where there is not •
geflisistidy large population of any one religion to support
• pod The number of children at all the schools,
Wilk and private, in the colony in 18:11, was 21,000, out
of a population of 197,000. Of them 11,000 were Denomi-
national ; 2,800 " National ;" the balance " private." Just
60 per cent of the population profess to be Anglicans, about
25 per east. Roman Catholics, 20 Presbyterians, 6
Miscellaneous. The master of the Central School
is, I am told, a very intelligent, competent man.
They talkan amusing story about his appointment, which I
without vouching for its truth. It is said that the
local governmeat wrote to retreat that the Colonial Office
would procure and send out•
• ritiserm, wall acqnainted with
the " leiih national system." TIM " dim ' applied, with
ita usual discrimination, to the Disfe. of London, who sent
tbm a very ma, trawl at Battersea. Mr.
wept to Down sptmeete sail erespeestved by the clerk, who
said

you're the schoolmaster for Australia. You un- 11
wood the Irish national system ? "
" Nemeses' saw it in operation," said Mr. —, aghast.
" Oh '. DOM naiad, you'll soon learn it, 1 dare say. Your
wife is an experienced isistrem / "
" I__!y Wife . I wee married."
" well, you'll have to get a wife before you soil, for they
waist a Master and mistress, who must be married. And
you Dave not much time, for there's a vessel sailing for
Swan River en Friday week, chartered by government, and
there's a berth kept for you in her."
Swap River ! I have been engaged for Sydney."
" Oh, ind, there are plenty of ways of going from
sue part of Australia to another. At any rate, it's settled
so. and you must be ready."
Whatever may be the troth of this story, Mr. cer-
tainly get safe to Sydney ; and being really a clever man,
aad ea excellent schoolmaster, he has given complete satis-
faction his employers and public. He gets 3)OI. a
year, and the school foes, estimated at 1501. more.—Frascr's
Magazin*.

SHOCKING ACCIDENT AT A FOUNDRY.—An inquest
was held at Manchester on Monday, before Mr. Herfurd,
the coroner for that city, on the body of Samuel Ireland,
aged 21, a founder is des smplripmest of Mr. Barninghats,
his foaader, Canal Me, Females. One day, about
three "Le age, dessaeors pair polled oat the door of
the furnam, aad this issessed Imp in asbovel-full of scale
wad iron swarf, is seas, leis supposed, to sprinkle the hot
iron and cool it, but a parries et the Buse sad cinders came
oat and get Are to hie shift% aad he was so severely burnt
as to caste his death is listarday morning. The jury
ratereed verdict of "Assikatal death."
THE • FORTIFICAI7OIe6 AT Dov Eft.— Tbe work
at the castle sad citadel, which have bees is ?revise
terottehout the swarm sod sebum, are still /pine
forward, sad by Jaly mot will, it is 'mid, be ready
for the accessatodatiett of 1O°) addttioaal troops, The
'steno, of each fortress is also undergoing extensive
'spun and renovation. so as to give Dover the strength to
which its frontier position estidee it.—SontA Eastern Ga-
te*.

THE WAR IN THE EAST.

.-.- .. --

PUBLIC MEETING AT NEWCASTLE•UPON-
TYNE.

NEwcAsTLE, rVIVIDAY, Dtc. 13.
Yesterday evening a public MCeting was held in
the Lectnre•room, Nelson•street, " to consider the pro-
priety of petitioning her Majesty the Queen to co-operato
vigorously with France in the defence of the Ottoman
empire." The meeting was convened by the Mayor, Mr.
A. Dodds, in pursuance of a requisition addressed to hiss,
and signed by 120 of the principal inhabitmes, including
Sir John Fife, and • considerable number of the member
of the town•council, merchants, tradesmen, professional
men, and others. The room in which the meeting was
held is capable of accommodating upwards of a thousand
persons, and it was crowded to excess throughout the pro-
ceedings.

The MAYOR mas caned to the chair, and having briefly
Mated the object of the meeting, and the pleasure he had
felt in convening it,

Sir JOUN Fire proposed the first resolution, declaring
that the Sultan ought to command the sympathies of all
Englishmen, and that the aggressions upon Turkey de-
served the mast serious attention of the British queen-
anent, on account of the imminent peril to the liberty and
civilisation of Europe that might arise from the ambitious
and encroaching policy of the Russian government. He
said there was a painful impression on the minds of most
men that the government of this country bad not been so
prompt in this matter as our gallant neighbours, the
French, nor so decided as it ought to have been in asserting
the authority of international law, the honour of her
Majesty, and the interests of the nation. (Cheers.) The
documents issued of late from St. Petersburg stood unpa-
ralleled ant alone in the history of modern Europe for their
unblushing falsehood and their domineering insolence.
(Cheers.) They could not, however, wonder at the con-
dint of Rana when they thought of the shameful encou-
ragement she bad bad from a party in this country, of
whom Lord Aberdeen was at the head. When they con-
sidered the character of the Czar, his insolence, his domi-
neering conduct, and his uawarrantable invasion
of the Principalities were not to be wrndered at,
foe they were due to these parties in this country who had
so shamefully trilled with its interests. The defenders of
Lord Aberdeen's conduct —and they were very few—said.
so moderate had been hie lordship's course, that it had had
the happy effect of obtaining the acquiescence of Austria.
(Laughter.) Bat, remembering that Austria was nothing
more then the abject tool of the Czar, he could not imsgine
• keener sarcasm on the conduct of • prime minister of this
orientry than to say ha had the acquiescence of Austria and
the approbation of the camarille of Vienna. (Cheers.)
This unotry ones had a prime minister called Chatham,
aad, if he had fired in the present day, we should have had
no war—we should have bad no creasing of the Pruth ; he
would have told the Czar at once that he would sweep the
Russian fug from the face of the ocean, and he would have
'kept his word. (Cheers.) lie (Sir John Fife) did not
wish to speak disparagingly of the man to whom the
country was principally indebted for the blessings
of free trade ; but the argument held forth
at the peace meeting in Edinburgh was this—
If your ally, however old and faithful, be rather weak—if
he is driven with his beck to the wall—by deserting him is
his distress, you will save yourselves a little money. He
(Sir John Fife) could believe that such an argument
could weigh with the majority of his fellow.countrymen.
(Cheers.) Rather than that they should become so dege-
nerate to the spirit of their forefathers, so debased in cha-
racter, it were better that Great Britain should be sunk
beneath the waves of the sea, and that her grand old name
should be erased from the history of the world. (Cheers.)
There were parties in this country ready to invoke the
spirit of Christianity in reference to this matter, but his
opinion wee, that of the whole draught persona in this
affair, the Sultan was the only man who had practised it.
It was a saying of the witty end profligate Charles IL, that
he had in his own breast jest salons virtue to enable
him to. admire that quality when he saw it in
ethers. (A laugh.) Not only was it that Austria
and Russia dared not imitate the virtues of the
Sultan, but they hated them ; for the Sultan bad shown
them an example of something like constitutional govern-
meat, in the Danubian Principalities especially, which
neither Austria nor Russia dared to follow. They also
hated Turkey for her religious toleratios; and he would
tell thus that the Christians in the Ottoman empire did
net pay church:stem (A laugh.) They hated her too for
her commercial freedom, her proverbial honesty, sad, most
of all, for her noble hospitality. Those districts on the
Danube which were occupied by the Sclavonian race had
fee the last 400 years enjoyed under the Sultan something
like constitutional liberty, electing their own chiefs and
princes, and paying tribute to the Sultan which was rather
more nominal than oppressive. Russia had sent a commis-
siossr there on the pretext of protecting the Greek Chris-
tine; but for the last fifty years the conduct of that
feectionsey had been so uniform that it could not be
attributed either to the innate depravity of the Russian
character or in the individual, but could only be of -
sweated for in one way, and that was by the systematic
Instructions be received from St. Petersburg, for he had
made it his business invariably to stir up and foment hostile
feelings and jealousies between class and class, and to make
the government of those countries bad and disturbed, and
as dissatisfied as possible with the sovereignty of the Sultan.
And this he had done by systematic bullying, lying, and
elteatieg. In 1842 Prince Alexander was elected by the
Serving as their Prince. The Csar, knowing that he was
hostile to Russia, sent to the Sultan, insisting on the elu-
tion being rendered null and void. Prince Alexander was
not popular its St. Petersburg, and the Czar would not
have him. Sir Stratford Canning wrote to the British go-
verment, statist that, in his opinion, the Sultan ought to
be supported in rseindag this insolent demand on the part
Rammis ; bat who hemmed ? Lord Aberdeen said, very
auk. that Prime Meander would very soon be glad to
Mee Mee Minn pest* end that British interference was
net . bowman Moths did not find it necessary to
interfere. 1.04 Alesioder' however, was re-elected,
sad he was tknie Priam to this day. He (Sir John Fife)
gave the ties as • specimen of the bullying
theolosse Oahe Mee, sod to show the infatuated, doming
=of Alleniese, and his entire reliance on the
albs Cur. He believed that peace was one of the
pnalestbiamiesson the earth, but he wasconvinced that peace
meet MN be secured by mean compliances nor by a bees
deseethis of the principles of justice; and whether they
seeddesed this question in • moral, a religious, or • political
point slview, they would see that it was the duty of this
ornastry to show Russia that she should not invade, rob,
sad planer at her own good pleasure. (Cheers.)
Mr. CATCRIMIDI Wended the resolution in • humorous
speech, sad it was carried unanimously.
Mr. G. CJIAMSnAT moved the next resolution, express-
ing satisfied= at the repeated assurances given by more
than one of her Mejesty's ministers, of the full determine-
Ma of her Majesty, in concert with her ally, the Emperor
of she French, to sewn the independence of the Sultan
and of Turkey, at all hazards ; and asserting that the
exigency bad now assessed a Am a which rendered it in-
dispensable that her Majesty should soak the advice
of her parliament with as little delay as possible,
He said the only apprehension he had in proposing this
resolution was lest it should be thought too moderate in its
language, for he believed that the indignation which they
felt at the conduct of the Russian government was some-
thing too deep for words, and could only find its vent in
deeds. They might have called upon the government at
one to declare war against Russia. He had to complain of
the unwarrantable degree of heresy that had been shown
all along by the present government In reference to the
Eastern question, the like of which had never been evinced
in regard to previous war. His opinion was that every
despatch which was either received or sent away by the
government should be published to the nation in the shortest
possible:tiose. But, as it was, enough had been known to
cause great dissatisfaction with the manner in which the
government had proceeded in this affair. lie did not pro-
use to move • voteof want of confidence in the government,
bet that they should keep their judgment on this subject in
li=He was confident that if the people only used a
tle pressure towards the government, though it had
basest Is se very unworthy • manner in the affair of the
Thum miss, it would do all they wanted, and would re-
osunnend this keen of Great Britain, in conjunction with
them et Immo and Turkey, to be employed in compelling
the Resat en government to evacuate the Danubian prium-
rizHe was more alarmed at the negotiations at
.....at the war on the Danube, and his opinion was
that the pursuant should demand the perfect neutrality
of Autria is this matter, and in the event of this not being
complied with, that they should inscribe on their British
flag the independent,. of Italy and of Hungary, and the ex
Section of Austria, as they had already inscribed upon it
the independence of Turkey. (Cheers.) He believed the
nue of peace could only be maintained by action, and he
trusted the resolution would meet with the approbation of
the meeting,
Mr. Cowes seconded the resolution, which was carried
unanimously, and a loyal memorial to the Queen, based
upon the preceding resolutioi,s, was afterwards adapted,
signed by the Mayor on behalf of the meeting, and directed
to be intrusted to Lord John Russell for presentation to her
Majesty.
The proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the
Mayor.

DEATH ON THE CARNARVoNsIIIRE MOUNTAINS.—
A melancholy event, which has excited great sensation, has
just occurred in the neiehbourbood of Llanllyfui, Carnet-
voluble*. About a week ago a young quarryman, nailed
John Williams, 19 years of age, in the employ of the Car-
naevonshire Slate Company, left his work at the.Tahrallt
quarry at the usual hour, and was seen by his fellow work-
men to run towards his home, about two miles off, in excel-
lent health and spirits. Us did not reach home that nlat,t'
and sent day his hat was (shad about a !Otto rroinehis
dwelling A heavy fog having Prevailed :ears were excited,
.
and a strict marsh was institutet. The young ma. was
meth respected, and the whole of the quarrymen in
the neighbourhood, several hundreds in number, made
daily and nightly search, with torches, over the
moantebis, dragging the rivers and lakes, but with-
' out avail. The corpse was, however, discovered
oe Monday last, by a man coming over the mountain called
Oraig Las. The unfortunate deceased was lying on his
face, his heads crossed under him, and his body appearing
quits lusinjured. It is suppued that he lost his way in
the fog, and perished through cold and starvation.