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

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 3, 1863

and saw a new
invitation I went down to
Windsor,
entirely by the people who supported
building raised
who is also a teacher at the school at Eton. At his
the school. The school was after this fashion.
wild songs, and not, if I may use the phrase, black-
guard Within the children were singing, not ballads, not
tunes; but they played the whole of the
Messiah" of Handel, and sang the great parts of
that great work. I went down afterwards and saw
a band of volunteers out of the school, who marched
into a building underneath, for it happened to be
bad weather, and a finer set of young fellows I never
saw. They were all working men's children, the
sons of railway porters, the eons of farm labourers,
the sons of servants—they were all the sons of work-
ing men, and these boys were as thoroughly gentle-
manly in their manners as any of the young gentle-
men at Eton. I never enjoyed a day of more happi-
ness than the day I beheld that school. Mr. Ottery
told me that one of our consuls at a port in the
Mediterranean wanted a servant, and he sent him
one of the bays out of his school. No sooner had the
gentleman got him over, than he said, "This boy
can do a great many things; I will make him my
secretary." Soon afterwards the secretary wrote to
Mr. Ottery to send him another boy out for his ser-
vant, and, accordingly, another boy was sent out,
and thus became the servant of his fellow-scholar.
(Applause.) Now, this is a proof that education does
not simply mean the education of the intelligence,
but the boy's manner, his se hole character, to make
him so that his master, like the consul, could
trust him in any real difficulty, or in anything of a
serious character—trust him, in fact, sufficiently to
make him his secretary. But, Sir, I do not adduce
this as a thing that may happen to a great number
of people, but I adduce it to show that the kind of
teaching at that school made the man in all his
thoughts, his feelings, his way of dealing, a gentle-
man, although he was bat a labourer's son. Now,
Sir, I have hero a report which contains a series of
evidence which I wish you to read, and if you will
permit me I will place it in your hands, as I think
it will be of great use to you in your important
undertaking, which I am now endeavouring to aid.
I have made a great number of extracts, but I will
not trouble you with them. There are, however,
one or two which I should like to read. It is the
evidence of persons who are really engaged in the
work of education. One extract is the evidence of
the schoolmaster of a district workhouse in North
Surrey, and to this statement I wish particularly to
call your attention and the attention of my young
hearers present. The question put to him is," What
has your experience ot military drill been in mental
and bodily drill ?" The answer is, " The effect of
military drill will best show itself by its discontinu-
ance. In 1857 the drill master's services were dis-
pensed with by the guardians. The consequence
was to make the school altogether another place.
In six months we lost £2OO in wear and tear ot
clothing, breaking of utensils, breaking of windows,
pulling up grating, spoiling the walls; in fact, a
spirit of insubordination pervaded the house. In the
workshop they were insubordinate, and the master
shoemaker and master tailor called upon me to
coerce these boys. This state of things induced
the guardians to reinstitute the drill, and the
school then changed back again, the ordinary
behaviour was resumed, and they were all kindly
and well disposed." Now, Sir, I ask you to look
at that fact ; I think it will give much important
and useful information. Well, what conclusion
do I draw from these observations ? It is this,
—that there is no man among us so poor but
that he is able to send his child to school, and
to send him for a sufficient time to learn that
which by his system can be gained, -W When yogi
come to read that report you will find that man
after man, schoolmaster after schoolmaster stir—
take a child to a well instituted infant school, teach
it to read, teach it to write, and give it all other
elementary instruction; well, suppose the child is
in the school till he is seven years of age, which is
a long period for an infant school, at the age of ten
he will have received an indelible education ; he
will have received the means of enjoyment through
life; his whole frame of life will be so fashioned
that be will be industrious and civilised. This, sir,
seems to me a most eneouraging and cheering thing;
it shows that we have driven away a mass of ign°-
ranee and folly which before obstructed us in or;
work of education. (Hear, hear.) N'ow, sir, I will
address myself to the gentry around me; but I fear
my voice will not reach many of them, but if it
should, I hope they will listen to my voice when I
say they may be among the great teachers of the
people. It is not sufficient to instruct a man in
reading, writing, and arithmetic. If you leave him
there, you merely put the instruments into his
hands that may make him -more mischievous
than he was before. What you have to
do when
pyrooupgerivlye,thaenmd tehspeseeciianlslytruhmisenmtsainsnteorsf, and
fashion them
then,
after you have given him these instruments' you
launch him upon the stream of life, and be is
sure to find a safe and happy harbour. Now, sir,
one of those teachers says he always persuades
ladies to visit his school. Their manners' their
behaviour are looked upon by the children--and
what so observant as a child? They look
on what
passes around them and sae the great
beauty of
good manners. If you compare the manners of an
educated man—and I use the word large!y—and
those of an uneducated man, is not the one gentle,
kind, and good natured— is
he not the life and plea-
sure of the society in which he lives ? Is not the
other cruel, morose, selfish?
is no greater
difference between the uneducated man and
a man like Newton. What a
difference we
can make in this respect ! It is within our hands,
we have the means within our grasp, and it lies
more with the gentry of this country to per-
vade with their kindness of manner and tenderness
of feeling the working classes around them.
It be-
hoves them to do this ; it is their duty to
do this.
New, sir, I dare say this may be called very radical
talking ; if so I cannot help it ; I believe it to be
true, I believe it to be wise. (Cheers.) I can say,
sir, in conclusion—for I fear I have spoken too long
—(cries of "Go on")—that it is not simply that they
have the greater means because they
are wealthy,
but they have great (means by means of their ex-
ample. If they were to
mix more with the labour-
ing classes—and where better than in the school ?
—if they were to mix more with and take more
interest in the existence of their fellow men who
live around them, their presence would be as the
sun shining upon the cold earth, bringing up and
vivifying the seed that is
within it. Now, air, I
fear that what I may say may appear wild and ex-
travagant and fanciful---that I anticipate the things
that may never occur ; but I am sure the time will
come—though I shall not live to see it—the time
will come when England will be that place which I
in my imagination can see, when all the people will
be instructed, when all the people will be well man-
nered, when we shall be really a band of brothers,
when England will exhibit a spectacle to the world
that the world will admire, and while admiring
emulate. (Loud cheers.)
A vote of thanks was then awarded to Mr. Roe-.
buck.

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