Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-11-11 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES. LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1857

formation, at Brussels, of a new Ministry
thoroughly liberal, which in Belgium means anti-
catholic, is the most important news from the
Continent. This turn in the politics of our
constitutional neighbour was to be foreseen from
the time of that great and somewhat violent
agitation, to which the education bill of the late
government gave rise. A direct connection between
that outbreak and the present change of
government is established by the entrance into the
the cabinet of some of the statesmen who on that
occasion led the opposition, and particularly of
M. Frere Urban, the favouite of the liberal masses.
The new ministry wishes to govern with a new
Chamber, and thus a dissolution, after a short time,
of the present Chamber, whose majority is catholic,
forms one of the arrrngetnegts between them and
King Leopold. The withdrawal of the late ministry
who commanded a small, but distinct majority in
the chamber, was principally caused by the issue
of the municipal elections, a fortnight ago, in which
their adherents almost everywhere were beaten by
overwhelming majorities. This they interpreted
to mean that neither they nor the chamber had
any longer the majority of the electors with them,
and unwilling to give up their opinions, but afraid
to govern against public opinion, they told the King
that he had better look to the safety of his
throne. It must not be supposed, however,
that the catholic party in Belgium have grown
so weak as the mucipal elections considered
in themselves seem to indicate. The
Etoile du Danube of Brussels publishes the report
presented by a committee to the Divan of Wallachia
in the sitting of the 21st ult., which recommends
the union of Moldavia and Wallachia, the election
cf a foreign prince to reign over them, and the
establishment of a representative system of govere -
ment. It is known that the Divan passed resolu-
tions in accordance with these recoLemendations
which scarcely differ from those previously men-
tc.ried in the report presented by the committee of
the Divan of Moldavia.

The screw-steamer Kangaroo arrived off Queens-
town yesterday afternoon. She will .arrive in the
Mersey to-day, an 3, in all probability, will bring us
tidings regarding the (ff_.ct of the Persia's news
from England.

WE have more than once taken occasion to
animadvert upon the conduct of Lord CANNING
as Governor-General of India, and express
it as our opinion that his lordship had
given abundant evidence of his unfitness to
occupy that high, important, but critical office at
the present juncture. Since we last wrote upon
the subject, two important official personages
have volunteered a vindication of Lord CANNING'S
Indian policy. The Duke of CAMBRIDGE and
Lord GRANVILLE played their parts well at the
Guildhall of L-mdon, on Wednesday. Nothing
could be more admirable than the nice little
farce of e Not as bad as it seems," which they
performed with the view of making the public
think that Lord CANNING was " courageous,
indefatigable, energetic," and " industrious."
These are very good qualities, as far as they go,
but the Governor-General of India must have
others, both of head and heart, before
his advocates in the Government can induce the
people of this country, or even India, to regard
him " the right man in the right place."
We have objected to Lord CANNING not only
for sins of " omission," but sins of " commis-
sion." His lordship, it is well known, had not
ranterimate knowledp-a. of India. and flip, pa-
-01 its people. necessary to cope wan the
savage and wide spread mutiny which burst
forth as a mighty avalanche in the province of
Bengal. Nor could he give any evidences of
military conception and stratagem, so necessary
in the supreme ruler in a contest noted for
fierceness, determination, and magnitude. The
want of these qualities more than counterbalanced
the sterling qualities set forth by L)rd GRAN-
VILLE. But, diplomatist though his lordship
may be, and cunningly but earnestly though his
advocacy of Lord CANNING was, we must put in
a demurrer and say, that anyone who has read
carefully the official account of the Cawnpore
massacre, must be convinced that the Indian
authorities, with Lord CANNING as Governor-
General, displayed a want of foresight, an evident
trucking to the mutinous Sepoy, and, therefore,
symptoms of cowardice which has told harassing
and bloody tales, too cruel and shocking for the
minds of civilised beings to reflect upon. Where
was the " energy" or the " courage" of his lord-
ship when he sanctioned, nay, authorised, Mr.
GRANT to usurp the functions of General NAIL%
and set at liberty his prisoners of war, caught in
the very act of high treason to the Sovereign of
England, and brutalising, torturing, and mur-
daring the faithful and loyal subjects of that
sovereign—men, women, and children ? It is a

principle of military warfare, that the more
prompt and decisive the blow aimed at the
enemy, the more humane and merciful is the
conqueror. Lord CANNING set at nought this
principle, and hence the promulgation of those
most reprehensible instructions respecting the
treatment of S.Toy prisoners. Hence, also., the
liberation of the 150 miscreant murderers by Mr.
GRANT. Ind.epmdent of the baneful conse-
quences which such an act must exercise upon ;
the mutineers, it is one calculated to sow more
or less the seeds of disaffection in the minds of
our own brave s They cannot help ,
regarding the act as one which places them in a
false position, preventing them from obtaining
that fall satisfaction for all the hardships, incon-
veniencies, privations, and cruelties to which
they and their helpless Wives and children have
been exposed. Taken in this light, a more
reprehensible and mischievous proclamation, or
one better calculated to encourage the mutineers,
could not be issued. No wonder, therefor..., that
Lord GRANVILLE, when addressing the company
at the Mansion House, on Wednesday evening,
was forced to exercise a little diplomatic caution,
and decline to venture an opinion upon the
" Proclamation" . in question. His lordship's
apologetic explanations respecting it, while, at
the same time, be declined to venture an opinion
as to its expediency and justice, reminds us of an
Old Bailey lawyer, pleading with the most solemn
earnestness for the acquittal of a henious mut.-
derer, althongh he had the prisoner's confession
. .
of guilt in his pocket. What will the Plwlla •

think, what estimate can it form of the force and
value of Lord GRANVILLE'S defence of Lord
CANNING, when it finds him approving of the
doctrines laid down by the American Ambassador
—that where a people commit crimes that con-
stitute their perpetrators what pirates are, what
Cannibals in the Fejee Islands are—enemies of
the human race—and meriting, not from one
nation, not from one people, but from the whole
human race, summary and peremptory extirpa-
tion—and at the same time bolstering up every
act of his protege, and, we believe, noble relative ?
We know that the special pleading in such
matters of Lord GRANVILLE will have as much
weight with the people as the mountebank
oratory of CHEAP JOHN, alias a travelling
auctioneer,

Lastly, if anything could have satisfied the
Government that Lord CANNING was unfit to act
as Governor-General of India, it was the memorial
of the leading European residents in Calcutta
and elsewhere. These memorialists had the
means and opportunity of observing the passing
events of the day. They, too, were well aware
of the power, inclination, and determination of
the enemy, and were, therefore, well able to
calculate upon the occurrences which took place.
Their remonstrances has been unheeded, and the
nobleman whom they pronounced as unfit is
forced upon them as Governor-General during a
struggle that has no parallel for atrocity and
barbarism. Lord GRANVILLE feels that the
matter will not rest where it is, and that Parlia-
ment will demand explanation and invest:gation.
This was a fine pretext for declining to say what
the Government thought of the whole affair.

NOTWITHSTANDING the discouraging position
in which the affairs of the country are placed, and
when the fearful results of a monetary and
commercial crisis, with gloomy forebodin2s
regarding our position and prospects in India,
occupy the public mind generally, it is satisfac-
tory to notice the praiseworthy efforts which the
leading Statesmen'of the day are making on behalf
of that most important of all social questions—
National Education. It is now quite evident that
the public will not rest satisfied until the problem
which has been so long a source of party feeling
and keen debate in the Senate, the pulpit, the plat-
form, and the Press, is fairly considered and
fully solved. Am mg the great Educational
Reformers of the present day we must rank that
veteran nobleman, Lord BROUGHAM, who has
just been among us for the distinguished purpose
of inaugurating the Queen's College. But others,
although much later in the field, are taking up
the question and advocating it with an earnest-
ness of purpose and moderation of views, which
lints them infinite credit, and cannnt fail to
p..ouce We allude,
particularly, to Lord JOHN RUSSELL, Lord
STANLEY, and Sir JOHN PAICINGTON. It is an

encouraging sign of the times to perceive such
distinguished Statesmen throwing aside their
minor differences and petty jealousies and joining
together for the purpose of promoting the mental
and moral illumination of the people, without
dis.inction of sect, class, or creed. That
distinguished American divine, the Rev. Dr.
CHANNrNo, was, in his day, an earnest advocate
for the diffusion of knowledge. But like everyone
who has thought over the subject, lie felt that to
extend and improve the education of the people
we must begin with the Elicator; he somew here
writes, " One of the surest signs of the re-gener-
ation of society, will be the elevation of the Art
of Teaching to the highest rank in the
community;" Dr. CUANNING was right, and so,.
also, was that great philantrophist, PEsTALozzr,
when he instilled that memorable maxim into all
his pupils. " As the Teacher is, so will be the
school," is not less true that " As the school is,
so will be the scholar."

Sir JOHN PAKINGTON, and those who labour
in the cause of Education, are constantly deplor-
ing the evil pf children being taken from school
at such an early age, and put in the factories
or other places, where their juvenile labour can
find employment. Now, it strikes us that if the
Educators of the present day were equal to the
requirements of their high and important voca-
tion, we should see children following- up the
instructions and training which they received
in the Elementary Schools. The thirst for sound
and useful knowledge would lead them to
Evening Sthools or Mechanics' Institutions.
They. would not require to be forced to attend
such places; every evening would find them
longing to be released from the labours of the
day, so that they could pursue their favourite
studies, whether it be " language," " science,"
art," or any other department of literature
and instruction. It is, then, by means of a
thoroughly efficient race of teachers that this
thirst for knowledge can be created in the minds
of yeung people, and once it is created, there
would not be any necessity for the adoption of
such a resolution as .Lieutenant-Colonel TOWNLEY
moved at Burnley, on Wednesday last, on the
occasion of distributing the prizes awarded by
the Council of the East Lancashire Union of
Mechanics' Institutions. The purport of the
resolution alluded to was " That it was desirable
to induce the scholars of the Day Schools to
continue their education by attendance on
Evening Classes when they leave the Day
Schools, and to enter Mechanics' and Literary
Institutions when they are of ripe years for

instruction.

Entertaining these views, as the result of long
and anxious study of the question of National
Education, we are desirous of seeing the attempt

at its extension and improvement proceed from
true principles. How can it be expected that a
race of teachers will leave a lasting impression
upon the pupils mind, if they do net proceed in
expanding and cultivating all those mental facul-
ties and moral and religious sentiments which are
planted in every sane being for wise and holy
purposes ? And what reason have we to expect
that the shoolmaster and schoolmistress of the
lower classes can qualify themselves aright for
an office, the emoluments of which and the

status in society that it confers are, in many
instances, below that awarded to a clerk in a
merchant's office, or the liveried and peruked
footman of my lord this, or squire that.
We do not see much good in agitating the
question of Educational Reform without making
the character and position of the Educator a
main element in the scheme. Another consider-
ation connected with the subject is, the entrusting
the direction and control of the educational
machine to those persons only, who have made
the teaching of youth a matter of practical
experience, and who are, thereby, conversant
with it as an art and a science. In fact, we
would select every officer connected with the
administration of National Education from the
ranks of practical teachers. If we are to have a
Minister of Instruction, we can get practical
Educators for the post, without entrusting the
office to some scion of nobility, whose only
recommendation is, that he is closely connected
with the leading members of the aristocracy.
Again, we are not much in favour of compulsory
assessments for the support of our schools, and
it becomes a question for deep and earnest
consideration whether we should not break
through national prejudice and enact a law,
compelling the attendance at school of all
children of certain ages.
Other countries, with less pretensions to
civilisation, have acted upon the principles
enunciated in this article, particularly as regards
the social position and professional attainments of
the teacher. Take Prussia, for example. There,
a first and essential step towards increasing the
authority and influence of the schoolmaster was.
to raise the office in public estimation. This
was accomplished by connecting it with the
State. The schoolmasters salary is paid out of
the public purse; a provision, too, is made for
his old age, or for the maintainance of his
family, should he be cast off while still young.
In ceasing to be the recipient of the pence and
shillings of the scholars, the instructor rises in
their respect, and attains a position in which he
can acquire a moral influence, superior in its
effects to any system of artificial rewards and
punishments that ingenuity can devise. There
is a regular gradation, from the modest village
schoolmaster, hunau,,, /1011.:Ji, 111 ms own
sphere, to the Minister of State, for the
department of Public Instruction ; and merit,
not favour or seniority, is the guide to promotion.
These are the true principles of the economies of
Education, and we hope the agitation now
going on in this country may lead us to imitate
Prussia in her E lucational means and appliances.

TUE social position of Ireland has been one of
considerable quietude for the last three or four
years. The only exceptions are the party feuds
at Belfast. The tide of crime has, however,
begun to flow into Tipperary, a county noted for
deeds of desperation and daring. We have
already given the details of the murder of Mr.
JOHN Ews. These particulars clearly show
that nothing was wanting in this particular case
to render that assassination a full and complete
type of the old agrarian homicide which, for a
long series of years, rendered Ireland a bye-word

and a disgrace to the British Empire. Mr

aids being a Scotchman and a Protestant, was
obnoxious to the peasantry of Tipperary, as an

" alien," a stranger, and an obtruder.
offence was that of exercising ownership of pro
perty, and serving some of the tenantry on an
estate, which he had purchased in the Encum-
bered Estates' Court, with notices of ejectment.
For this offence he was brutally murdered. The
Lynch-law of Tipperary was dealt out to him for
exercising an undoubted and constitutional right
—a right which reason, common sense• and Divine
revelation alike sanction and enforce. The
Lord of Life has laid down an emphatic princi-
ple on this very subject. In the parable of the
vineyard, he asks the grumbling labourer this
most important question—" Is it not lawful for
me to do what I will with my own 2" The " boys
of Tipperary" think otherwise; and have recourse
to bludgeons, and other destructive weapons, to
enforce their principles of meum and teum. This
is the old tactics of Munster, a province which
has so often figured in such unholy deeds; and
we are afraid that they will continua to disgrace
that portion of the British Empire unless there is
a bold and determined stand made against the

abominable system.
No grievance, civil, religious, or social, under

which the Irish population labour, could justify,
or, in the slightest degre., palliate such a crime
as the assassination of Mr. ELLis. le-could not
be accused of exacting rack rents. The peasantry
were in good employment, and obtaining a com-
fortable existence, the wages for their laboUr
being higher than they have ever been before.
Even the Vice-Regal favours are disposed of to
the Roman Catholic population, whilst their
priests are courted and feted at Dublin Castle.
The party is subsidized in all the great depart-
ments of the State, and the national exchequer
mad,: to bleed year by year a heavy sum for the
education of their children. There has not been

an alleged grievance for some years. Neverthe-
less, agrarian outrages have again exhibited their
hideous mien, and innocent and unoffending
gentlemen are brutally murdered.

The reflecting portion of the community will
ask themselves the question, is there a cause for
such diabolical effects? It cannot be that men
will plunge their hands into human blood for
mere sport or pastime, and deprive their fellow-
being of life without a powerful motive.
Robbery was not the impelling power, for
we are told that there was no less
a sum than 801. left on the person of the mur-
dered man. It is most desirable to trace this
renewal of agrarian outrages to its legitimate
source. Not long since certain outrages were
committed in the extreme North of Ireland, the
object of which was to expel certain English and
Scotch farmers who bad rented the pasturage of
mountain lands in Donegal. About 1,000 of
their sheep were destroyed, houses were pulled
down, and the lives of the strange shepherds
threatened in the most violent manner. This
caused the county authorities to saddle the
localities with the amount of damage inflicted,
which drew forth a remonstrance, and a petition
was got up and presented to Parliament, which
partly denied, and partly justified, these out-
rages. That document denounced the introduction
of British capital on the lands of Ireland, as an
intrusion and an oppression which it was justifi-
able to exterminate. The history of the petition
was somewhat remarkable. It purported to have
some two thousand signatures, but when submitted
to the Secretary of the Committee on Petitions,
it was found that it only contained three genuine
signatures, and these three were Roman Catholic
Priests. This was certainly a flagrant violation
of the privileges of Parliament. Yet the
Government took no notice of the affair, and the
Irish authorities have not had the courage to
enforce the payment of the amount assessed for
the damage done to the sheep. Now, we must
look upon this as a great triumph for the Ribbon
Conspiracy. It is only in such secret and
iniquitous councils that deeds of the kind are
concocted. After this came the declarations of
the Romish hiarchy in Ireland, regarding the
mutiny in India. Then followed the memorable,
but truly disloyal, manifestoes of the men of
Tipperary, regarding the nefarious Sepoys of
Bengal. These documents counselled rebellion
and sedition, and even some of the public
journalists so far forgot themselves, as to give
expression to sentiments truly disloyal and
treasonable. The very paper containing the first
account of the murder of Mr. Eems, contains the
copy of a placard posted on the gates of a chapel
in Tipperary, calling upon the Irish people to
avail themselves of the opportunity that offers, of
freeing their necks from the iron grasp of English
taskmasters. That same week, Mr. alas, the
Saxon invader, was butchered. In justice to
life and property this system must be put down•
The law is quite competent to deal with these
crimes, and the Executive should not look on
with indifference at scenes which are only
equalled by the atrocities of the S ,•poy. Much
was said and made of the street-preaching riots
at Belfast, but they are nothing to the agrarian
doings of the people of Tipperary. Tile
Government has been remiss in its duty, and the
voice of an indignant people should force them
to deal a signal chastisement upon blood-hounds
who know ne law, and are devoid of every
feeling of humanity, and all those principles
which go to make up the character of civilised