The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-08 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1855.

The Colonial Secretaryship has not as yet been
filled up. If not actually " going begging," it
seems to have been already offered, directly or in-
directly, to different persons, who have either
positively refused or thrown difficulties in the
way of its acceptance. The latest rumour points
to the Duke of NEWCASTLE as the successor to the
lamented Sir W. MOLEAWORTH ; and, as we stated
in our impression of yesterday, it is more than
hinted in official circles that the offer of the im-
portant office to his Grace has already been trans-
mitted by electric telegraph to the Crimea. In-
deed it would seem as if the proposition should
be made through the medium of the " electric
wires," for, as will be in the recollection of our
readers, it was by means thereof that Lord J.
RUSSELL received the intimation of his appoint-
ment on the resignation of the second division of
the Aberdeenites in the early part of the present
session, and that he signified his acceptance
of it. This fact may be received as
a good lesson for the future Minister,
whoever he may be, to put this invaluable
instrument into more frequent requisition,
and to use every possible means to expe-
dite the communications between the Parent
State and its numerous dependencies. It is a
Lint which, we trust, will not be thrown away.
Although we have never joined in the outcry
against the Duke of NEWCASTLE, and invariably
declared that lie was the best of the Aberdeeuites,
we confess that we should receive the definitive
intelligence of his appointment to an influential
seat in the Cabinet with considerable regret, if
not dismay. That he made a very good Colonial
Minister we freely concede, and that he was a
pains-taking and hard-working official, sincerely
desirous of promoting the welfare and prosperity
of those whose interests wore placed under his
control and direction, is indisputable. So far as
the Colonies are concerned, the appointment would
be unobjectionable, for although there were some
grave mistakes committed during his administra-
tion, we believe that he was not justly responsible
for them. But we must look to the matter, not in

connection with a single department, but as it
would affect the great question to which the
national attention is now mainly directed, viz.,
the carrying on the War in earnest, and the ex-
pression of the unflinching determination of the
Government to accept no terms which would not,
in accordance with the opinions of the great majo-
rity of the people, enforce ample guarantees for
the. future good behaviour of Russia.

There have unfortunately been too many, and

we fear too authentic, rumours of the strong in-
fluence of the Peace-at-any-price party in the
Cabinet. It has been positively, and we believe
truly, asserted that Lords PA_LMERSTON and
CLJRENDON were only enabled to carry
their own views by a very slender majority, and
that had Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH proved less
trustworthy than ho was, the insubordination of
Lord JORN RUSSELL in respect to the Austrian
proposals might have met with a very different
result. If, then, that lamented statesman should
be replaced by a friend of Mr. GLA.DSTONE'S,
events might possibly take a very different course,
and we might have but too much reason to appre-
hend a Ministerial defection and backsliding
productive of the most serious consequences.
Besides, while rendering a fair tribute of ap-
probation to the Colonial Administration of the
Duke of NEWCASTLE, we cannot forget the regular
" mull " at the War-office---the innumerable
errors that led to the appointment of the ROEBUCK
Committee, and the terrible disasters brought to
light during that investigation. The Duke of
NEWCASTLE then felt it necessary to yield
to the earnest expression of public opi-
nion. He clearly perceived that, whatever
might be the result of the then pending motion,
subsequently carried by an overwhelming majority,
he ought to resign, and ho expressed his intention
in a manly and straightforward manner, that ex-
cited considerable sympathy. But although his
conduct as Secretary for War should not neces-
sarily operate as a perpetual exclusion, his return
to a scat in the Cabinet, during the present crisis,
would be decidedly premature ; it would not only
prove highly prejudicial to the entire Ministry,
but would completely eradicate the favourable im-
pression ho had previously made. It would, un-
questionably, be ascribed to the back-stairs, or
Germanic influence, which is regarded ivith so
much doubt and suspicion in the country ; and
he might himselfand visited with t,
again,
he
odium
Imbe madeappert a scapegoat,
ainingtoan
unconstitutional and objectionable system. For
sake, therefore, it would be ads isable
Ic:fil owne should, for the present at leo.st, refuse
the proffer, however tempting, and. meet Parlia-
ment next session as a private member of the
House of Lords.

Besides, it is necessary to remember that
t
there is an American difficulty pending, and that
it has grown out of a measure of which his Grace
was the putative and responsible parent. The
nomination of the Duke of NEWCASTLE at the pre-
sent moment would naturally exasperate the feelings
of our transatlantic brethren, and render a satis-
factory settlement of the vexata qucrstio far more
troublesome. We should not wish to play into
the hand of Mr. CALEB CUSSING, and those who
join in the nefarious project of making political
capital out of the disputes which they can create
between Great Britain and the United States.
The appointment is, then, objectionable on so
many grounds that we trust it may not be per-
severed in. We know that it is supported in a
very high
quarter, but that would perhaps, of all
others, be the reason why it would prove distaste-
ful to the people--who think that England ought
to be for the English and not for the Germans
or Coburgs.

Among the more hopeful signs of the times is
the swelling undercurrent of feeling in the direc-
tion of education. While a general system of which
all classes will approve seems as little likely as
ever to be eliminated as a practical whole, it is

satisfactory to perceive how perseveringly the
grand object all parties have in view is being
pursued, and with what likelihood of being, per-
haps, unconsciously attained. Among the hum-
bler classes—what with cheap literature and the
large increase of superior schools—there can be
no question that a striking advance has been and
is being made. Among the higher classes, where
the quality of the education is the chief defect,
an advance is quietly taking place, and before
long it will be found that younger sons will enter
the lists armed with a more practical knowledge
than of old. Among the middle classes, which
we are afraid have hardly maintained a corre-
sponding progress, hopeful signs are also to be
witnessed. The steps taken by Government to-
wards Administrative Reform, and the reports
which reach us from abroad, are, to some extent,
having their effect. A goal for youthful ambition
within the confines of prudential calculation, and
the prospect of losing our commercial superiority
and being beaten out of the market by foreigners,
are at all events stimuli to progress in practical
education exceedingly likely to be productive of
beneficial results ; and we live in hope of being
able, before long, to present unmistakeable proofs
that they have not failed in their influence.
The most backward portion of the middle
classes in general education, and we believe
actually, is the class of farmers. While other
classes have been advancing in the path of mental
cultivation, their progress has, we fear, been, gene-
rally speaking, confined to the adoption of superior
modes of agricultural cultivation, and what obviously
might conduce to the profitable tenure of their
lands. Even with respect to this class, however,
there are grounds for hope. Their backwardness,
it is not too much to say, is more their misfortune
than their fault. No other body has been so
bamboozled and betrayed, so buoyed up with
false hopes to be unscrupulously let down, so im-
peded, in short, in the pursuit of their real wel-
fare for the political aggrandisement of others.
Among these grounds are the interest displayed
and the efforts made by enlightened individuals
of influence in connection with the laud ; and
this leads U 2 to notice a particular scheme of
an educational nature suggested by a nobleman
of much promise, who has always exhibited an
enlightened regard for a class on whose property
his own interests are largely involved.

Impressed with the necessity of something
more than mere professional knowledge being ac-
quired by the farmer (and of their professional
skill he pronounces a high opinion), his lordship
is desirous that more should be done towards their
mental culture. To him it is a matter of regret,
that, " for want of some additional education, so

many good farmers and sensible mea should, to so

great an extent, be restrained from advancing
agriculture by the freer communication of their
knowledge to others, and from more usefully
serving the public in various capacities, and should
be thus prevented from doing more justice to
themselves in the eyes of the community." Not
confining himself, however, to regrets, his
lordship has recourse to exertions, and
being of opinion that " more has latterly
been done for improving the education of

,he classes both above and below the farmers than

for them, and that they find, with regard to the
education of their children, certain disadvantages
not experienced by their predecessors before the
days of Government grants, he arrives at the
conclusion that, in their case, incentives to exer-
tion are especially applicable. The result is, his
Lordship has offered a prize of 201., to be re-
peated annually for three years, for the sons and
relatives of Devonshire farmers. The subjects of
examination the first year are limited to three :

1. The English Language ; 2. The History and
Geography of the British Empire ; 3. ,Practical
Mathematics. In relation to these his Lordship
keeps steadily in view the source of his regret,
and the examination is to be conducted so as to

have the most practical bearing towards its re-
moval. By means of these examinations his
Lordship looks for much useful information, as
well as the establishment of an authorised and
recognised local standard to test the fitness of
teachers for their office, and secure the
Felection of the right men for the right place.
A scheme of this sort commends itself at once to
general approval, and ci,nnot but be suggestive
of the propriety of applying the principle to the
middle classes generally. Indeed hislordship, in his
pamphlet on middle-class education, questions whe-
ther Government examination and the certificates
to be derived from them can ever supply the de-
sideratum, and suggests the possibility of county
or public examinations effectually doing so. For
the present we must content ourselves with this
brief notice, and the reflection that every fresh