The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-27 00:00:00

SPORTING INO.M'S.

f HINTS ABOUT HARROW.
An attempt will be made to-morrow to "resuscitate"
L the Metropolitan Steeplechases at Harrow, and to im-
prove the character of the sport which has of late years
been celebrated on the Uxendon Farm. To effect a consum-
mation so earnestly to be wished, the right man has been
put in the right place, for the qualifications of Mr. Sam.
Merry, for the office of Clerk of the Course and Handi-
capper, aro manifold and widely acknowledged. I cor-
dially wish him succes in his now ucdeitaking. He
has commenced his work in earnest, and the fact of
Lord Chesterfield and Capt. Little having consented
to act as stewards, is alone sufficient to give the
stamp of popularity and respectability to the
meeting. The programme is certainly attrac-
tive, and promises ample if not very interesting
sport. Should the weather, too, be propitious, there
will doubtless be an immense gsthering of metropolitan
and provincial Turfites. I always experience much
hesitation in dealing with Steeplechases, and only on
special occasions venture a hint relative to the probabi-
lities. Believing, however, that the squaring system
will not be very extensively adopted at Harrow, I shall
depart from the rule I have laid down. The Metropo-
litan Handicap seems, on paper, what is popularly called
a "good thing" for either Odiham or Dieppe. The
former was not " wanted" at Shrewsbury ; his turn
therefore may be now come. I have not selected Old
British Yeoman, because I am quite ignorant as to his
present form. If his powers be not greatly impaired,
he would, doubtless, be capable of galloping his oppo-
nents to a stand-still. The last opportunity, however,
which I had of taking stock of him convinced me that
he had not the "shade of a shadow" of his former abi-
lity. For the Hurdle Race I shall select Nonsuch nod
Laura Selina.
I intended to watch the proceedings at Waltham last
week, but circumstances interfered with my design. I
have, however, received many communications respecting
them ; but really the doings seem to me to have been
too contemptible and clumsy to require comment. The

attempt to get up another gathering in that locality will
not, I trust, b© repeated. From a letter which was for-
warded to me last week I make the following
,extract,
which sets forth the modus operandi of the "gutters up"
of the Waltham Steeplechases :

"Massaroni was sold by auction, after winning the
Selling Steeplechase, for 23 guineas, to Mr. Webb,
who paid the auctioneer a deposit of one sovereign,
agreeing to meet him at the New Inn in the evening
and pay him the remainder. Early in the evening
Mr. Webb was at the place appointed, and
Mr. Brayley offered to give him 301. for his horse. This
proposition was accepted, and Mr. Brayley paid over
the stipulated sum to Mr. Webb, who wrote him a re-
ceipt. Mr. rrayley, accompanied by Mr. Stinton, then
went to the stable, expecting to find the horse, but, to
their surprise, they discovered that the changes had been
rung, and that another animal called Firebrand had been
substituted for Massaroni. On inquiry it was ascertained
that the promoter of the meeting had induced the auc-
tioneer to deliver Massaroni to him, and he had caused
the horse's removal. Ile was applied to, and it then ap-
peared that, to give a colour to his claim, although he
had not bought the horse from the auctioneer, ho had
paid twenty-three guineas in addition to the stakes to
Yates, the jockey, under whose charge the horse
was sent to Waltham. Mr. Stinton expostulated
with the getter-up of the meeting, who coolly informed
him that if he (Mr. Stinton) went to law about the matter
he might be able to obtain possession of the horse. To
arrange matters, however, Mr. Stinton was compelled
to write a " termer" off an old account. Mr. Newcome
Mason, who took some interest in the affair, and at whose
instancellassaroni was sent to Waltham, expressed him-
self pretty warmly on the matter, and even made a threat
of bringing the case before certain "turf authorities."
Such is the round, unvarnished tale of my correspon.
dent.

I was much pained to hear of the death of Mr. Pell,
the owner of Pole Star. He died suddenly about a week
ago. A. FRESH MAN.
Nov. 27.

LORD STANLEY ON TILE EDUCATION OF
THE RURAL POPULATION.

Within the last few days Lord Stanley has addressed
a letter to Sir Willoughby Jones, of Grammer, Hall, Nor.
folk, in which ho propounds a scheme for facilitating
rational recreation and self-culture among the humbler
classes in the rural districts of the country, by meats of
public libraries established at central or salient points of
the county, and radiating from them a series of small
local reaaing-rooms for every village. The letter has
for its more immediate object the promotion of an edu-
cational project which the hon, baronet to whom it is
addressed, aided by some of the nobility and gentry of
Norfolk, have recently set on foot at Fakenham ; and,
though having special reference to that county, his lord-
ship's scheme is not the less applicable to every other
rural county or district in England, so far, at least, as
the Machinery, apart from the necessity for carrying it
into execution, is concerned. The document, the more
material parts of which are given below, may be assumed
to embody the sentiments to which the noble lord would
have given viva voce expression, had not the late negotia-
tions for his joining the Government cf Lord Palmerston
prevented his being present at the late educational meet.
ing at Fakenham.
Adverting to a request made to him to put on paper
a few suggestions in reference to the Falsenh his lordship says :—" I do so with great
pleasuarn plan, ,
feerel-
ine sure that you have got hold of the right end of the education qurstion, while politicians, both in and on of
Parliament, are, for the most part, busying themselves
with the wrong one. It is idle to expect that persons
who have no access to books, and who therefore seldom
or never read, will take pains to see that their children
acqeire the power dreading. Public libraries, whether
wholly free or open to subscribers at a low rate, are the
most effective instruments to create a demand for more
and better schools. That done, the supply will soon
follow. The evil which friends of knowledge have now
to fight against is not poverty, nor prejudice, nor the
want of qualified teachers (though all these obstacles
operated until lately), but sheer apathy and indifference
on the part of parents in the labouring class. That
apathy cannot, in the nature of things, be removed tine tit literary culture is more diffused and more valued in
the class immediately above them. Your undertaking
is therefore calculated directly to benefit one set of per-
, sons, and indirectly to operate, by the force of example,-
upon another. More than this—in regard to literary pro-
vision for the people, England is behind almost every
European nation, and the rural districts of England are
behind the great towns. A double obligation, there-
fore, lies on the inhabitants of Norfolk, as Englishmen -
and as agriculturists, to regain their lost ground in the
competition of intellect, both with foreign nations and
with a rival class in their own country ; and it behoves -- 7 - eze-4
them, rather than any others, to take the lead in this t•rieveeee
rnovetnent ; for Norfolk claims to be in agriculture what n •
Lancashire is in manufacturing matters—the model
county—the most active, intelligent, and enterprising of
all. Nowere are landlords more liberal; nowhere do
farmers dish play more science and skill ; nothing is want.
ing to succees, except that educational reforms should
be pushed with the same energy which has been shown
in developing the material resources of the province.
" Let us consider what agency and what amount of
expenditure are requisite to establish throughout Nor-
folk a system of public libraries, independent of one
another, but so distributed as to supply:every village and
parish with the means of instruction and amusement.
The county contains an area of 2,116 square miles, its
form compact, without straggling or outlying districts,
and with easy communication to and from every part.
The population (increased within 20 years by 52,000)
exceeds 442,000. In this number are included, accord.
ing to the census returns, 413 landowners, 862 clergy
of various denominations, 1,324 professional persons,
exclusive of clergy, and nearly 6,500 farmers. Besides
Norwich, with 70,000 inhabitants, Yarmouth 'with
30,000, and Lynn with something under 20,000, there
aro eight towns, in each of which the residents exceed
2,000, according to the estimate of 1851. No requisi-
site for social progress seems absent. You have no
great distances or natural obstacles to overcome. You
have a population not too much dispersed; an abundance
of educated and wealthy men, fit and willing to act as
leaders, and you have central points from which to ope-
rate upon and influence the whole surrounding districts.
"In order to take advantage of these facilities, I
should suggest the establishment of five principal or
central libraries, from which smaller institutions of a
similar nature might be supplied with books. Beginning
from the west, Lynn occurs as the first suitable point ;
and here, in fact, the work has been done. Norwich
and Yarmouth should be provided with depots of the
same kind ; and there, at least, neither means nor will
are likely to be wanting. Fakenham towards the north,
and Thetford, on our southern boundary, might, with
a proper organisation, supply the intervening districts.
To pronounce what number of volumes each such library
ought to contain is difficult. I have often stated my
belief that a collection of 5,000 volumes may be so chosen
as to include nearly all that, for popular purposes, is
valuable in English literature ; and that estimate I see
no reason to alter. The cost of books may be taken
roughly at 4s. per volume, or five to the pound, which,
allowing fur expenses of furniture, would imply an outlay
of 1,2001. for each library, or 6,000/. for the whole.
When one considers that sums are recklessly wasted by
the richer classes in this country on objects of mere
selfish luxury or pleasure, it is difficult to imagine that
such an amount would not be forthcoming, if only the
importance of the end to be gained were once duly esti-
mated." The noble lord then proceeds, in some little
detail, to prove that libraries of this kind, once founded,
would be self-supporting, by citing examples at Hatfield,
in Hertfordshire, Lynn, and places in Lancashire.
"Next, it may be demanded," he continues, "by what
agency the benefit of libraries such as those I describe
can be extended beyond the immediate vicinity of each ?
I answer, by the establishment in every village of small
local reading-roome, each of which may be supplied with
books from the nearest central depot, paying for their
use, and having also, if that be practicable, a limited
stock of standard works in its own possession. Such a
reading-room may be easily established wherever a school
exists. All that is required is that some one person
should make himself responsible for the due payment of
the annual subscription and for the safe custody of the
volumes issued. In the district immediately surround.
ing Lynn many parishes and villages are thus assisted,
and there is no reason why the system should not be ex-
tended ever the entire county. Taking its area in
I square miles (in round numbers, 2,100), it will be seen
that 42 institutions such as I describe would give one to
every 50 square miles, or, in other words, nearly ono to
every square of seven miles each way. If the number
were doubled, we should have one to every 25 square
miles, or one to every square of 5 miles each way. The
latter number might probably be considered as sufficient
for all purposes. But with these branch or affiliated in-
stitutions wo need have no present concern ; local
efforts will create them in every place, when once the
central establishments are formed, on which their effie
ciency must in a great degree depend
"I regard, therefore, the work on w lh. ch you are engaged
at Fakenham, not as an isolated enterprise (in that case it
might be fitly left to those who aro to derive immediate
benefit from it), but as falling into and forming part of a
larger scheme, as does also the kindred institution al-
ready existing at Lynn." .• " As to raising the
capital required, it is generally found advisable to invite
contributions only on condition of success ; that is, to
undertake that no donation promised shall be called' for
unless a certain minimum amount shall have been raised,
sufficient to carry out the design in a satisfactory man-
ner. A manifold advantage is thus gained. First, the
fear of entire failure, and of the consequent abandon-
ment of the project, acts as a stronger stimulus than the
mere apprehension of an inadequate result. Next, in the
unfortunate event of such failure, you have at least the
ground clear for a fresh attempt, and not encumbered
_
more with the ruins of an abortive enterprise. Thirdly (and
this is most important) many persons are
to assist in a good work than sanguine oft theof
fewilling
d
apaistshuye:
but because they think success impossible o- u
Such persons are apt to hold back, not
•
objec-
tions are met by a form of promise
which, their
fears
prove
After w e
noticingl well-grounded, ro u n d
severale d, binds
other
tht ermtpootnidlnynt
so to hf nd gs .t
ail his
remains for me to
"
lord-
ship concludes by stating I
e g
fhee r wealthy,with
it
express the pleasure I feel in
being associated
atewdok with
e
however slightly, in tdh
you have taken in han
That neither political rivalry,
nor ry,
nor sectarian
among,oonrorcaupsast,hymay i
nor ignorance in the
earnest wish of many. Obstacles
to such an undertaking vanish differheenc poor
speedy success is t
approach. Little
i
mores needed
on
confidence which a good cause ought to inspire."

---;-
SIB ROBERT PEEL AND THE PRESS.

The two members for Tamworth had an opportunity
of meeting their constituents on Tuesday last at a public
dinner given to the retiring Mayor of the town. The
toast of " Tier Majesty's Ministers" was spoken to by
Sir R. Peel, who said—This war was not a matter of
cbeshotice to them ; it was a necessity—(hear)—and the
way of concluding it was by a hearty and deter-
nmairnryg
mined prosecution of it, and an untiring perseverance in
out the object we had in view. (Cheers.) But,
however determined the Government and the people
were to carry on the war with vigour, it would be
perfectly udelcss unless they had fitting agents abroad
to answer to the policy of Lord Palmerston. jyhat
they wanted were men 3,00 G miles away w,iPt_
energy and vigou' to carry out the policy of the
Administration at home. He could not help saying
that the press had rendered the most incalculableown
benefits to the country. Far from crying
the press, as some others were
thought that the press had done
great temper, judg.
placing before the public, with stances which had
inclined
infinite
g odooj,
bh
ye
went, and determination, the circumstances
whaort,ha nfrdomw htibceh othe
occurred in connection with the war,
wise might have been concealed
the cost of
Parlia-
ment and the country,anbduwthfi_ocrh
the
ed led to adop-
tionmthigehtnot
of measures which,d
wßavindown
tlg.ot
070%1107010001
Sir Robert
thehav have beenarwhichundertaken.
h e
set
went on to say that during tne last year the fleet in the
Baltic had cost the country between 8,000,0001. and
9,000,0001. sterling, and he thought be was expressing
the opinion of many in the country when he said that
ill-, 8,-000,0001,, or 9,000,000/, spent in the Baltic had
not answered the expectations of the people. The hon.
baronet expressed a similar opinion as to the fleet in the
Black Sea, and referred with high praise to Lord
Palmerston's late speech at Guildhall. Capt. Town-
shend followed, controverting. Sir Robert's views as to
the fleets, pointing out that all that could be done was
done. Other toasts and speeches followed.

The new range of huts for 1,000 men at Ilobb's Point,
Chatham, have not yet been occupied, nor will they be
for some little tine, as tip!, atingii are aO. ready.