The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-03 00:00:00

Mr, , Roebuck, M,P„ on Education,

Mr. 13 .oebuck, for Sheffield, who is now
staying at Swanage, in Dorsetshire, delivered an
addres s can Education in the Congregational School.

room 'in that place, on Thursday evening last, to a
very crowded audience. The Rev. S. Saville occu-

pied the cb.air.
Mr. ROEBUCK, M.P., 011 rising to address the
mee Ling, was received with much applause. He said,

Mr. Saville, ladies and gentlemen, I am obliged to

do now what I did on a former occasion when ad-

dressing an assembly like this—to begin by making
an apology. From on infirmity under which lam
labouring I feel a difficulty in reading at night; in
truth, I find it much more easy to make a speech
than to read a lecture. Therefore, I will endeavour
to lay before you what few ideas I have formed on

the subject without .committing them to writing,
and simply by speaking to you. Sir, I wish it
clearly to be understood that I feel very great diffi-
deuce—sincerely I speak it—in attempting to ad-
dress an. audience like this. It has not been my
habit to, lecture ; it has not been my habit to descant
upon matters connected with education. My busi-
ness in life has been far different. Still, sir, as you
tell me that you and your friends are endeavouring

to spread the benefits of education among your fel-
lows., and as you have called on me to render help
in that great work, I said I should have
the greatest readiness to assist you as much
as I could. Now that you are met for that purpose:,
I will endeavour to fulfil the promise hhavee
made
to you. I understand, sir, that 9°' and yours
fellows are endeavouring to spread education among
the uneducated classes by
frustrated in a
whornyou are surrounded,
though your desire to do that is
great measure by the great
Persona whom you
difficulties you have to
cou
Va':—the ignorance of th
address, and their utter ignorance theeancpc of the great value
of the education Y
-ou
thoughts on that
endeavuoumyto lay before them.
Now, Sir, in stating to
subject,yraeyself first to the class
I shall address
whom you wish to. aid upon this occasion; then I
shall •address myself, Sir, to those friends of educa-
tion wb o are to be the teachers in these schools, be-
cause I think:
I have some things to lay before you
which :may smooth the difficulties in your way ; and
lastly, t shall address myself to the gentry by whom
you aro surrounded, and I shall endeavour to point
out to them the advantages of the course you are
t kiree, and the great duties they have to fulfil in
ri
the position they held on the present occasion. Now,
in addressing the class whom you represent, it is
my wish to point. out to the working man tho groat
advantages or. education. Firstly, I will speak of
education, as giving him the means of raising him-
self among, b is fellows, of carving out for himself a
great fort ur le among his fellows. Now this, Sir,
seems to to b© a great mistake. Very few peo-
ple can da aw prizes in the great lottery of life;
where o ce man makes his fortune a million must
rest wh ere they began. Therefore, the great object
I have in view is to point out to the working man
the benefits—the great benefits which he may de-
rive fie en education itself—to make him understand
that hi a life will be purer, his life will be bettor, his
life wi:,l be a more virtuous life if he has obtained the
benefil,s of education. I don't point out to him such
great examples as George Stephenson. I don't know
whetb er the working men here have heard of that
working man in the north of England, who has lived
in our own time, who at 18 years of age did not
know how to write; that Wall taught himself how
to write, taught himself everything that he knew;
he acquired a great fortune, and was, in fact, the
father of all the railways in England. That man's
life is ,alreost a miracle, and I would not point out
to labo wing men him as an example, because mil-
lions of .labouring men cannot attain that which be
attaine( I. But every working man can get the
benefits. of education, can derive the advantages
such as no other means can give him, which would.
make him a happier and a better man. (Applause.)
Now, sir , it is not for me to say whether among the
various. races of mankind one is better or more cap-
able than another; but we say this of the race to
which we belong, that we are among the foremost
of mat ,kind ; that England has exhibited in all her
class 31 the greatest possible greatness to which man
can rise. (Hear, hear.) Our nobles, our gentry, our
merel .ants, our clerical class, our lawyers, our far-
mers, our workins men have shown themselves to be
amen g the foremost of mankind. Therefore, I say
to ymt who are among the working men of this
country, who aro possessed of great intellect, which
God, has given you, but from the want of education
ha're no,; the opportunity of making use of it, it is
indeed like the bright diamond hidden in a dark

CEtVe

" F 2 it many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear,
Pull many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And wastey fellow
l
its s_ewweetatss on the desert air."
m
So it is with -countrymen. There are m
lions of yon who arepossessed of great abilities, o
wonderful capacity, who are bound down and gro
yelling in a state of
ignorance. Why is this, Sir, 7
would ask you? Whatre the pleasures of an igno
rant man? I would ask you to make a comparison
between the pleasures of that man and those of
"
the educated man, and by comparison would
woo Tou to see that intellect exalts each man who
has availed himself of the advantages.brn ofo education.
And to labour,
why ? The uneducated man
is
labour;
and passes the greater portion
of h
life
in
hours
he employ
unemployed,
i
but there are hours when he is
of leisure. And how does
t those hours?
par
Unfortunately, for the mostin sensual enjoy-
ments ; unfortunately, drink is
whichthe great means by
which he obtains a solace, byhe recreates
himself, by which he gets rid of that which is more
of
his
painful than labour, the tediumleisure time
which is more painful than labour,e tedium of
his leisure time which sometimes heacquires.
sir, what does an educated man do? T-is Now,nio,
znents are multitudinous. I can s e k foirmeiseii
speak for myself,
that if a man had come to me ina
my youth with a
fortune in his hands, and had said to me, "I will
give you this cn condition that you never learn to
read," I would repel the gift that he offered me, and
Bey it was worth as nothing in comparison with
that which he desired me to forfeit. No hour of my
life, no hour of any man's life may be without the
enjoywent of a book. I have oftensaid,
sir, that a
book is better than a friend. No
matter what may
be your state of mind, no matter what may be the
state of mind of those who surround you, a book is
ever your eqaable, calm, and generous friend. You
is spread out before you the
open it, and there
wealth, and mind, and language of the author. On
every occasion he is willing to come forward and
benefit
you. The friendship of a book is above the
friendship of man. I would say to you, learn all
that the knowledge by which you are surrounded
can give to
You • and there is one thing above all
others which to remember, and that is
that it is vii°t,l. desire you n
the reach of every working man to
attain tI
° Pretty nearly oyments of
civilised life. I all the enj
enjoy-
ments which wealth not speaking of the enjoy-
gives. I am
my women friend not talking to
garments, of
jewels, of fine ribs of
splendid
the kind of pleasuraesals—
I would point out to would (laughter)—that is not
point out to them.
them that all the
within the reach of all
pi husbands and would tell
:assures of civilised' life are
to be obtained by the improvement of
society, but only
(Cheers.) Now, sir, 1 dare of the intellect.
many of those present may aroets,sY you know, what
of that terrible class of poiitician°w, that I am one
(Lau;hter and cheers.) my itallads. culled Radicals.
I
does not consist in putting everybody iisr°, however,
desire is to raise everybody up. (Cheers.) down ; my
the working men of England hay believe
advisedly—as much power of obtaining Sand I say it
elegances of life as the man who dwells i all
the
a Palace.
Suppose now—and let me urge this uponn
your
at-
tention—suppose o young man marries early in life
and becomes the father of a family, and that family
grows up into boyhood and girlhood.'''., Suppose the
children are instructed and the father is not. The
father, if he be a good man, stays at home in the
vening with his wife and children ; he does not go
abroad for excitement in the pothouse, but stays at
home with his wife and children, and his children
availing themselves of the knowledge they have ac-
quired, read to that father, and thus convey to him
the knowledge which they have obtained by means
of availing themselves of the advantages which
associations like this bestow. It is that more than