The Express.
London, England, 1866-04-24 00:00:00

NATIONAL SCHOOL MANAGEMENT.

The West Sussex. Gazette contains a report, pub,
Exiled as " from a correspondent," of a vestry meeting o'
the pariah of Southwick, at which some extraordinary
statements appear to have been made respecting the ma-
nagement of the National School at that place. Mr. Hall.
of the Drove, Portslade, Shoreham, had issued a circular on
the subject, and the result was an unusually large attend-
ance. Mr. Hall, in proposing the election of Mr. Mechen
as churchwarden, is reported to have said :
" My principal object in calling you here to-day is to
invite public attention to a disregard of the religious feel-
ings of our fellow parishioners, and to a cruel treatment
of little children. That there may be no misapprehension
as to the facts, I shall mention three cases that have come
under my notice during the peat week. Mrs. West, of
Fishersgate, had two children st the school, both under
eight. She sent them, because required to do so,
on Sunday mornings, at ten or thereabouts, to
the school, after which they attended the morn-
ing service at 11, at the parish church, a mile
and a half from their home. It was impossible for these
little things to get home before half-past one ; and yet.,
because they did not or could not (having already wanted
three miles) attend the school and church again in the
afternoons, they were beaten on two Monday mornings,
and when the third fleatng was due, M. West removed
them to the church of land school at Hove. Ido not
know a more kindh or more Christian gentleman
than the Rev. Walter Kelly, the manager of that school ,•
and il need scarcely toll you that there the brutal
treatment I have described is unknown. There
is a boy named Sheppard. He is fatherless ; his mother
lives in Adur-terrace. He was thrashed several times for
not attending church, and told me, in the presence of the
master the day before yesterday, that four or six cuts with
the =me was the punishment generally given by the
schoolmaster for not being here on Sundays before going
to church, but that if the boys had been to any dissenting
place of worship with their parents, the Rev. Mr.
Parkes punished them himself, and much more severely.
Joseph Child, carpenter, now present, had a boy
at the school. He wrote, requesting the master not to
flog the boy for not going to church, and expressed a
wish to take him with his own family to the chapel at
Fishersgate. This was positively refused, in writing, by
Mr. Parkes, and the boy is now sent to church, against
the father a conscience, that he may not be uneducated.
I shall not, gentlemen (continued Mr. Hall), trouble you
with any more instances; these things are not to be de-
nied—the parents or masters of these poor children are
all now present before you. I know of nothing more
destructive to the interests of religion than time to
invade the sanctity and destroy the unity of a Chris-
tian home. A continual practice of this kind is a foul
blot upon your character as a Christian community, and I
ask you to do your utmost to remove it." The corn-
spondentcontinues :—" The rector (Mr. Parkes), the school-
master, and all the managers of the school were present,
and no one attempted to deny Mr. Hall's statement. Mr.
Hugh Gorringe proposed, and Mr. Gardner seconded, the
re-election of the present churchwarden and manager of
the school, Mr. Hardwick. Upon a show of hands being
taken there appeared to be a majority of six for Mr.
Mechen. A poll was then demanded, which took place on
Friday, and resulted in a majority of 63 for Mr. Hardwick,
the numbers polled be 107 ; Meehan, 44.
The rector has appointed Mr. Hugh Gorringe as his church-
warden. We are informed that Mr. Hall intends bringing
the matter before the Educational Committee of the Privy
Council." The managers of the school will no doubt think
it right to give some explanation of the circumstances on
which these serious charges are founded.

THE CANNON-STREET MURDER.—The investiga-
tions made at Eton by the detective officers of the City of
London, and the Eton College police have elicited some
further information with reference to the whereabouts of
the prisoner, William Smith, on the night of the murder.
It is understood that a young man, personally known to
the accused, saw Smith one night during the week inwhich
the murder occurred (he is not certain whether it was the
actual night), at Eton. The accused, it is said, jokingly
remarked, " I've got to do forty miles to-night," which
the other refused to believe, and the prisoner soon
after left him. The time of the above occurrence was, it is
believed, a little before seven o'clock in the evening.
Mr. Harris, the hatter at Eton, in whose company, it
will be remembered, Smith said be had been till half-past
seven o'clock on the night of the murder, is reported to
have stated that the accused was with him; till a quarter-
past seven o'clock, and that the last he saw of Smith was
at the cornerof Eton-square, as he quitted the turning. Still
more important, however, is the statement of • man
I named Blackman, who is employed at the Eton
Gasworks, and, being a relation of the accused,
would of course know him well. Part of Black-
man's duty is to light the lamps on the highway,
between Eton College and Slough. On the day of the
murder his wife went over to Chalvey, a little village near
Salt Hill, to work. Blackman made arrangements (as he
would have to go along the Slough mad to light the lamps)
tomeet his wife as she returned from her work at Chalvey.
Just as Blackman and his wife had reached what is called
the Chalvey stile they met Smith as if on his way to Slough,
sad, it is believed, spoke to him. Blackman has reason to
recollect the night in question, more especially from the
fact of his wife's going out to work at Chalvey being an un-
usual occurrence. Now a person leaving the corner of Eton-
square at a quarter past 7 o'clock in the evening, if desirous
of proceeding to London from Slough would have to catch
the 7.43 p.m. train on the Great Western Railway. He
would have nearly half an hoary to y do the distance,
which could be effected by way of Eton College and the
Slough road in the time named. The 7.43 is the 7.30 p.m.
train out of Windsor at Slough, and by it the City
could be reached about five minutes past 9 o'clock.
About half-past 11 o'clock the accused was seen to come
from the direction of Windsor-bridge, and go into Eton-
square. He seems to have then visited the New Inn, a
public-house situated in the square, and where it is said
Smith had some refreshment, and remained till the house
was about to be closed, when he returned home. It is
singular that the prisoner, who, wheniarrested, stated that
he had been with Mr. Harry, did not volunteer some state-
ment of how he passed the intervening hours between the
time given (half-past seven) and the time he was known to
return home. It is said that numerous witnesses will be
called to prove an atai, but some of those persons who at
first volunteered such evidence, on being questioned sepa-
rately, had a difficulty it is understood in recollecting the
precise day.
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