The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-18 00:00:00

diately just before the division ? We listen eagerly—
and among his remarks we hear him uttering these
rather notable words :—" MAzzlea's letters were
addressed to my house under the name of Fiore."
He had previously reminded the house that FIORE
expressed in English meant "Flower." Nay, he
reminds his interrogators, " I said Flower was the
English translation ; but," he adds immediately—
" BUT, I said, to my knowledge, no letter addressed
to Hr. Flower had ever come to my house," Really,
as pretty a piece of prevarication, that, as
we should certainly wish to see for many
a long day ! He has had delivered at his house for
MAZZINI, letters directed to FIORE FIORE
meaning FLOWER—but, to his knowledge, no
letter addressed to Mr. FLOWER ever cane to 35,
rhurloe-zquerc, Brampton. Ahem ! And Mr.'
BRIGHT, forsooth, in a burst of generous, not
to say virtuous indignation, could not help
deprecating the not:on of any one striving to make
his way to the Treasury bench over the character,
the reputation, the happiness, and the future
lof the last appointed and. the youngest
member of the Government ! The said in•
genuous youth, this "youngest member of the
Government," having been for the last eighteen
years the intimate friend and associate of M.
MAzzINI! Well, really the less that is said by
Mr. STANSFELD'S vindicators about the "reputa-
tion," &e., that he has himself laid down in
the dust by the side of M. MAzziNi—everything
considered, perhaps—the better. The upshot
of it all last night being—that we have
now to regard as distinctly characteristic
of the Ministry (among other agreeable little
reflections), that literal truth just now—a truth
that Ministers generally, from Lord PALMER-
STON downwards, deliberately recognise, resolutely
stick to, and complacently make the most of—that
among the " Ministers of the Crown" we have an
avowed MEzzinian.

A very interesting meeting took place on Wed-
❑esday evening, in Exeter Hill, which, although it
may well be overlooked in the crowd of more attrac
tive and engrossing topics, was not without import-
ance as affecting our national welfare. The efforts
of the Ragged School Union, whose tenth annual

prize meeting was held on that occasion, are directed
to the benefit and training of what are called will
truth " the dangerous classes." It is difficult, as

every philanthropist and social reformer knows, to

deal with men and women, wbuie vagrant habits
and unsettled ways of living are alone a formidable
barrier against their following any decent or re-

spectable mode of life, The task is, indeed, almost
hopeless, for the old habits and associations form a

. .
bond too strong to be broken by exhortation

entreaty, or warning. The plain inference then
remains, that if we are to deal with these classes at
all in the hope of permanent end extensive success,
we must begin with the young. We must not, of

course, relax our Efforts on ' behalf of the
elders, hoping against hope in the good work ;

but the old time-worn adage, which tells
us that " Prevention is better than cure,"
is never more forcible in its application than in this
case. Every influence of opening life is against the
children of the Ragged Schools; their parents, their
homes, their associates, their tasks, and their plea-
sures, all alike drag them on the downward road.
Setting aside the cases in which children are trained

as thieves, utterers of false coin, &e., the chances
are a thousand to one against the boys and girls
who play about our courts and alleys growing up to
be respectable members of the community, if left to
themselves. Yet their numbers are yearly on the
increase, and every addition to the << dangerous
classes" represents an expense to the country which
would startle the uninitiated, besides the heavy
national responsibility incurred in leaving these
poor children to be led captive by ignorance, vice,

and crime. I❑ this dilemma the Ragged School
Union came valiantly to the rescue, hnd it has done

good service for many a year among the mora

wildernesses of oar mighty city. Not only

does it provide these poor little way

farers with the rudiments of sound instruc
tion and religious and moral training, but i
watches over them as far as possible when the
schoolboy days are done, and the boy or girl is
sent out into the trials and temptations of the
modern Babylon. As a large proportion of those
who leave school do so to enter service of some
kind, prizes and testimonials are given by the
society to those who have remained with the same
employer for more than 12 months, and receive
from him a good character. Every succeeding year
in the same place claims a testimonial card which,
of course, is very valuable to the receiver as a
badge of character in getting other places. The
ages within which the candidates' years must be
reckoned are 12 and 17. We should imagine that
the higher limit might he advantageously extended
a year or two more, since, however much the first
five or six years of the " teens" may tend to form
the character and habits no one can pretend to
say that the temptations of the young lad or
girl are over at 17. On the contrary, the mast dif
ficult and dangerous years are to come, and if the
rewards offered by the society have any effect in
inducing recipients to remain steadily in one place
during that critical period, it is certainly a pity
that its beneficial influence does not extend a little
further. The number of claimants who come for-
ward for these tokens of approval is large, and it is
doubly gratifying that it should be so, both as show-
ing that the prizes and cards are valued, and as
proving that many of these ragged scholars are
going on well in life. Daring the ten years-of these
prize meetings, more than six thousand prizes have
been distributed, and 530 claimants have come for-
war&this year, 430 of whom receive their rewards
for the first time. But it is pleasing to know that
of the remaining hundred, many have kept the
same place for six or seven years. From such a
start, there is good reason to hope for
a useful and honourable career, since, if stoadinesss
and self respect aro cultivated at so early an ago
there is a good substratum laid for all future life.
The good that has been effected by the little
brigade of shoeblacks in connection with the
Ragged School Union is a recognised fact, and the
sums saved by many of these industrious little
fellows is something wonderful when we consider
the small amount of their earnings. It would be a
good thing if it were possible to establish some
kind of little savings bank for these ragged school
scholars, which should encourage in them habits of
providence and self denial. Much amusement was
created at the prize meeting by the presentation of
ouo of the testimonial cards to the noble Chairman
and President of the Union, whose services in the
cause certainly entitle him to receive any token of
merit connected with it. The Earl of SHAFTESBURY
has continued to add to the laurels so worthily won
by Lord ASHLEY, as knight champion of the poor
forlorn, neglected, or oppressed, the helper of those
who cannot, from ignorance or weakness, raise a
voice on their own behalf. His public appeal for
aid to the fonds of the Association, exhausted by
temporary pressure, brought forth a hearty response
which quickly placed it in a very different position.
There is surely no reason to fear that the good work
will bo suffered to languish for want either of funds
or of personal inspection, when the good it hat,
effected is so manifeetly apparent, and the numbers
it has trained and taught are reckoned not by
hundreds but by thouond9.