The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDOPI, SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 4,
.1832.

THE NAVY.

The Mersey) 40, screw, Capt. H,.Caldvvell, C. 8.,
according to latest advices from Bermuda,was under
orders to sail for Vera Cruz, to land there a body of

500 men.
Letters received at Portsmouth by the last C:pe
mail from her Msjesty's sloop Espoir, Commander
Douglas, dated at St. Helena, state that she was
going to sail immediately for Ascension, where
several vessels had been ordered to meet to enable a
court-martial to be held. _ The Espoir's crew had
suffered greatly from fever, as in addition to the
loss of her senior lieutenant, she had at one time 35

out of her crew of 60 in hospital.
The Vigilant, 6, screw, Commander' J. W. Pike,
remains at Spithead, awaiting ordeisi She made
her official trial of speed at the measured mile in
Stokei-bay on Thursday,under the superintendence
of Mr. Q. Murdoch, Inspector of Machinery Afloat,
and Mr: Miller, Second Engineer of her Majesty's
Dockyard. Her draught of water was 12ft aft and
llft forward ; pressure of steam, 151 b ;
,vacuum,
211 b; revolutions of engines, maximum, 84 ; mean,
80; mean Speed of six runs, 9.833 knots. A complete
circle was made under full steam in 5 min 39 sec.
The Black Prince, 40, iron frigate, at Portsmouth,
is ordered to be fitted with a spare fishhead abaft
her present cathead, on nearly the same principle
as that adopted in the French Imperial navy, by
which means, when getting up her anchor, she will
be enabled to transfer and carry it its full length
abaftef its present position. The value of the-pro-
posed improvement will be at once understood by
all who have once seen our liners and frigates under
full steam, burying their bows in the immense
wave they drive before them, diminishing their
speed, straining them in every part, and drenching
their decks with water. In the old sailing liners
the anchors were well water-borne, although their
eatheads were well over the bows ; but in the War-
rior, Black Prince, and other fine bowed craft the
case is very different. The Chanticleer, 17, screw,
Commander C, Stirling, lying off Osborne, is the
first vessel that has been fitted at Portsmouth on
this plan. A great improvement, as affecting their
sailing qualities and stability, it is allowed by all
competent to judge of such matters, might have
been made in the forms of the hulls of both th e
Black Prince and the Warrior, in giving each of
them less rise of floor and 12 inches of keel. They
would probably then have sailed on equal terms
with such ships as the Revenge,and would certainly
have rolled less than they do now in a seaway.
The Prince Regent, 86, screw, in the steam
'basin at Portsmouth, got up steam yesterday to test
joints, &0., on her machinery being got together by
the contractors. _ _ _

The Sutlej, 51, screw,was removed from the steam
basin at Portsmouth yesterday, on her completion
for the pennant.
The Foam, Cracker, Earnest, and Pheasant gun-
boats, at Portsmouth, each received their 100-poun-
der Armstrong, with its equipment, at Portsmouth
yesterday. To complete them for sea they have now
but to receive their 40-pounder Armstrongs, which
they will do at sunset to-day.
Yesterday the screw steam gunboats Britomart,
60 horse power, and Sandfly, 60 horse power,
attached to the first division of the steam reserve in
the Medway, went alongside the Ordnance wharf
at Chatham for the purpose of taking on board their
Armstrong guns. The Britomart was furnished with
one 100 pounder Armstrong, one 40-pounder Arm-
strong, and two 24 pounder brass howitzers; and
the Sandfly with one 100-pounder Armstrong, and
one 32-pounder cast iron smooth bore gun. Each
gunboat also shipped a large quantity of Armstrong
shot and shell, together with a miscellaneous assort-
ment of stores,. They are both equipped for sea, and
will proceed, it is understood, to one of the Irish
ports.
Although there is a large amount of work re-
quiring to be executed in the Resistance, 18, iron
steamer, at Chatham, before she is fully for sea,
that vessel is, nevertheless, in a much forwarder
state than the sister ship Defence was when docked
in the same dock at Chatham. Most of the heavy
portion of the work on board the Resistance is com-
pleted, and the attention of the workmen employed
on her will be turned to completing and arranging
her magazines for the heavy stores
,of gunpowder
and shell she will carry, besides the other internal
fitments. Her pumps are all fixed. With extra
exertions she could be ready to be undocked in
about a month or six weeks' time.
The following vessels have been chartered by the
Government for the conveyance of stores to India
and the colonies :—The Rockliffe, 680 tons, for Ma-
dras; the Onward, 571 tons, for Calcutta; the Un-
rivalled, 812 tons, for Bombay ; the Veronica, 322
tons, for Hong Kong ; the William, 703 tons,
the David Malcolm, 590 tons, and the Alert, 212
tons, for St. Helena; and the Caroline Elizabeth,.
505 tons, for the Cape of Good Hope. The follow-
ing ships have been chartered by the Emigration
Commissioners for the conveyance of emigrants to
the colonies :—The Abyssinian, 1,072 tons, for
Sydney ; the Mary Harrison, 781 tons, for Fre-
mantle; and the Nipisiquit, 340 tons, for Natal.

Lieut. Gillies, and Lieut. Brother, 7 sergeants, and
110,gunners, intended for duty in Halifax garrison.
They were escorted to the wharf by the regimental
band, the music, ordered to cease playing after the
death of his Royal .Highness the Prince Consort,
having been permitted to perform as usual. The
passage of the troops through the town was hailed,
as on the former occasions, by the cheers and accla-
mations of the people, and the conduct of the troops
was remarkably good. The statement contained in
some of the morning, and copied into the evening
'papers of Thursday, of the departure of Royal Ar-
tillery from Woolwich for America, was incorrect,
a detachmenthaving left for Tilbury Fort only.
A quorum of three field-officers, consisting of
Lieut.-Col. W. P. Radcliffe, 2d battaliA 20th
Regiment, president, Lieut.-Col. Dickson, 16th
Lancers, and Lieut.-Col. Furness, Royal Artillery,
assembled at :the Victoria Library, Aldershot, on
Thursday, for the purpose of drawing up a report
upon the condition and working of the library, for
the information' of his Royal Highness the General
Commanding-ia-Chief.

The deaths of the following military officers have
been officially reported at the War-office since the
Ist of December :—Field Marshal his Royal
Highness Francis AlbertAugnstus Chas. Emanuel,
the Prince Consort, Duke of Saxony, Prince of
Saxe Coburg and Gotha, K.G., K.T,, K.P., G.C.8.,
and G.C.M.G., Col. of the Grenadier Guards, Col;
in-Chief of the Rifle Brigade, Governor and Con-
stable of Windsor Castle, and 'Col. and Capt.-Gen.
of the Hon. AefiLlery Company of- Lendow Gens.
Sir E. Bowater, K C.H., CiA. 49th Regiment, and
A. Armstrong, late Royal Irish Artillery; Lieut.-
Gene. tie Hon. J. Finch, C. 8., 24th Regiment, and
D. Daly ; Lieut.-Cols. R;Daly, 3d Buffs; J, Ward,
'f3lst Regiment; W. Ready and H. North, 14th
Regiment ; Captains W. C. Grant, 2d Dragoon
Guards, 'and T. M- Mottley, Royal Artillery ;
Lieuts. R. B. Stone, Royal Artillery, W. F, A. E.
Presgrave, 17th Regiment, E. Penfold, 12th Dra-
goons; H. A. Mosse, 94th Regiment; W. V.
Riet, Cape Corps, J. Grant and F. W. Vieth ;
Ensign C. J. Wix ; 11th Regiment ; Paymaster R.
W. Kyffin, 12th Regiment ; Commissary-General
W. Fielder, C.B. ; Deputy Commissary-General T.
Stickney ; Inspector-General of Hospitals W. Daw-
son, M.D. ; Surgeon W. M'Andrew, M.D., 57th
Regiment; Deputy-Assistant Superintendent of
Stores A. G. Crawford; Solicitor, W. G. Carter,
Coldstream Guards.

MR. BEE CROFT, M.P., ON FEMALE
EDUCA.TION.

At the annual soiree of the Wodehouse Me•
chanics' Institute, Leeds, held during the present

week, under the presidency of the Mayor J. Kitson

Esq.,
Mr. BEECROFT, M.P., one of the members for the
borough, spoke on the value of female education.
The hon. member, who was received with applause,
said—The idea of education, when we come to ana-

elyxsiestiitn,gasescuomnoems I think, that, in the
yoropfretshurwoosersld, , some things there
are which have not perfection impressed upon them

primarily, or at once, but which are made to depend
for the attainment of their perfection upon the

gradual application of human instrumentality. We
observe in this respect great diversity in the opera-
tions of nature. Some of the laws which the

Supreme Being has impressed upon the universe are
wholly and entirely beyond the power, the direc-
tion, the influence, the will of man. Certain laws
—such, for instance, as those which regulate the
motion of the heavenly bodies, and determine the
time of the seasons—are what wo may call absolute
laws. Like gravitation, or pulsation, they are, so

ar as man is concerned, perfect involuntary—being
in no wise dependent upon man for their origin, their

scope, their continuance, or any circumstances what-

ever. In reference to law* like these the idea of

gaining or education has no place. We do not in-
form our hearts how to beat. We do not instruct

matter to gravitate. The times and seasons are not
trained by us to observe their appointed round. Nor

do we educate the planets to move in their respec-
tive orbits. Here the law, which is Divine, is from
the first complete and perfect, lacking nothing, and
leaving nothing for man to supplement. Other
laws, however, there are, which in the very

order of God's providence, are, to a considerable

extent, brought within - the reach of human
influence, and subject to modification at the
guiding or disposing hand of man. Of these the

law of growth, or the law of development is one.
En the growth of fruits, vegetables, and cereals,

man has to perform an assisting process—he
trains them. This regulative training, when ap•

plied to the law of the growth or development
of the human being, constitutes, in fact, education.
For, in truth, education is nothing more or less than
this, the right training of the human species in its
growth or development as a compound being, con-
sisting of body, mind, and spirit. Education is the
proper training of the growing human intellect.
Education is the proper training of the growing
human affections. Education is the proper training
of the development of our spiritual nature. Thus
in man, at his birth, no part of his complex being
is perfect; but everything requires to be educated
—his physical being, his mental being, his moral
being, his soul. And thus also is it of necessity a
providential dispensation that each generation is the
trainer or educator of that which succeeds it. But
now, sir, I must observe, that as education is the
proper
lalso of the whole being of the individual,
so a
proper training of the infant, of the
o training i
s it
the
child, of the adult. Education is the proper train-
ing of the rich ; and it is the proper training of the
poor. Education is the proper training of the man;
and to come to the sentiment entrusted to me, it is
the proper training of the woman. (Hear, hear.)
Female education, like any other form of class edu-
cation, has some special characteristic features of
its own, and one which it possesses in common with
the other divisions of education. If it is not the
education of the dominant sex; if it is not the educa-
tion of the sex out of which the members of our
learned professions are taken ; if it is not the educa-
tionwhich supplies our ministers, our statesmen, our
judges, our magistrates, our clergy ; if it is an edu-
cation which looks rather to private life than to
public or to political life, it is nevertheless an edu-
cation which has to ao with a most important class
of the community, with those upon whom we are
dependent for the supply of our domestic necessities
and our home comforts; with those who in our family
circle are our pleasant companions, our loving
friends, our help-meets, our ministering angels;
with those who are the bearers of the rising gene-
ration, and who, more than any others, by their
sweet influence on the infant and the child, deter-
mine the future of the man. Under circumstances
like these the education of woman cannot be other-
wise than a matter of paramount importance; and
I wish we might venture to assume that this educa-
tion was perfectly satisfactory, both as to the direc-
tion which it takes, and the degree to which it pro-
ceeds. (Hear.) But recent investigations have, I
fear, proved (see the report of the Education Com
missioners) that the popular education of girls (as
well as boys) is defective—being ambitious and
superficial rather than useful and solid. As an ex
treme illustration of this, I suppose, one school is
cited in which it appeared that almost every girl
had a crinoline, but hardly any girl possessed a
pocket-handkerchief. (Applause and laughter.)
If popular female education so missed the mark in
other respects, what a burlesque it would be ! Hap-
pily this is not the case ; but still there are some
errors to be deplored, and some mistakes to be rec-
tified ; and we need more than ever to work by this
rule, that education, in so far as it is common to all
ranks, should be useful and solid ; and that where
it is special for any rank, it should be appropriate to
that rank. I am not quite sure that the physical edu-
cation of woman is appreciated or attended to as it
ought to be. Health, and exercise as a means to

health, are too much ignored,
especially amongst
the higher classes. In our more elevated women,
delicacy and refinement are great charms; but
delicacy and refinement are pushed too far when
obtained at the sacrifice of the bone, muscle, sinew,
nerves, and all that goes to constitute the physical
conformation of the motherhood of young England.
(Hear, hear.) lam not proposing the fast young
lady as a model, to her sex ; nor do I suggest that
our maidens, like our yang men, should play at
cricket, or take an oar, orfollow the hounds. But
I do venture to think that in every bodily exercise
which consists with feminine pr:lpriety, there is
that which ministers to their own comfort and hap-
piness, and which conduces to the wellbeing and
elevation of posterity. As to that part of female
education which consists in the cultivation of the
mind, there are I think three things requiring spe-
cial consideration. 1. The subjects of education.
These should in general be useful rather than am-
bitious. To read well, to write fairly, to have a
sufficient acquaintance with accounts, to have some
knowledge of the earth on which we dwell, and of
the inhabitants thereof—this I suppose ought to be
the minimum of any one's education. ,2. The next
point to be attended to is , the kind of education.
This ought to be solid, rather than superficial.
Whatever is done, let it to well done. Depth is
better than extent. 3.' The last point I shall notice
is the extent of education. This of course depends
upon the rank, condition, and future prospects of
the woman. Education must be special as well as
general, must fit the woman to do her duty in that
psrticuJar state of to which God's prOvidenee
calls her. (Hear.) This at once defines the extent
of education. To the female children of the
working classes, the ability to cut out, to sew, to
make clothes, to cook, to bake, to wash, is of far
greater importance than any skill of fancy work,
in crochet, in embroidery. For the industrious
classes, we want a special industrious education.
Then, again, as to those who are to become wives
and mothers, not under "limited liability," but at
any rate with limited means, what education so
important as that which teaches them the value of
money, how to make much of a little, how to rear
children, how to guide a household ? Accomplish-
ments are not to be excluded from the idea of female
education. They are to be excluded, indeed, from
the education of those females who have time and
opportunity only for what is useful. In all other
cases they are admissible, except that education

ust not consist of ornament and accomplishments
only. Neither must these be put first; they must
be preceded by, and built upon, the solid super-
structure of useful education, I see no reason why
men should be jealous 'of clever women. If God
bestows upon a woman great intellectual power and.
free leisure to cultivate it, there is plainly a call to
the work. Nor need we assign any limit to the
mental culture in this case, which we should not
assign to the intellectual culture of a man similarly
placed. (Hear, hear.) The degradation of woman
is the degradation of man ; her elevation is his ele-
vhtion. Educate woman, and you secure the intel-
lectual progress of posterity, and the true aggran-
disement of your country.

MR, AIRTON, 111. P., AND HIS CON-

STITUENTS.

Mr. Ayrton met a numerous meeting of his con-
stituents last night at the Beaumont Institution,
Mile-end-road, to explain to them the course he
pursued during the last session, and give his
opinions on the present momentous crisis. Shortly
after half-past seven o'clock the chair was taken by
Robert Charles, Esq., who thanked the meeting for

he honour conferred on him, and introduced their

worthy member, who was anxious to explain to
them to his views on the political topics of the day.

Mr. AYRTON then came forward and was very
warmly received. After alluding to his efforts to
promote their local prosperity, and assuring them
of his anxiety to continue doing so, he complained

hat the constitution of the Metropolitan Board

of Works was not such as gave a fair representation

,o the ratepayers of the metropolis. It was also a

great cause of just complaint that the city of London
should enjoy the immunities it possessed for centu
ries. The coal tax, for instance, was an intolerable

burden, They would be surprised when he told them

what went on in Parliament during the last session
with respect to taxation. It appeared, by a com-
mittee of which he was a member, that though the

city of London up to the year 1750 received only

about £l,lOO a year for doing certain duties, yet in

he year before the committee sat that sum increased
_ _

o £76,000 a year, and there was besides a sum o

£276,000 which ought to have been placed in the
hands of proper representatives, instead of allowing
it to remain where it stood. The fact was that the

taxes on the people were such that he knew no
how long they would bear them. (Cheers.) He
alluded next to the manifest injustice done to
jurors in keeping them dangling about the courts
from day to day, at great expense and inconvenience,
and expressed it as his opinion that they ought to
have one central court in some convenient part of
the metropolis, where all parties could be accommo-
dated. He believed that that was the great object
of the present Lord Chancellor, and he was glad to
say it was a subject of his most particular attention.
With respect to the question of the Poor-law Re-
moval, they had a measure introduced last session
which he regretted to say was not one of which he
could approve. They had many measures brought
forward on this topic for many years, and yet,
notwithstanding all the experience acquired, and
the inquiries entered into, the bill of last session
was really of a most imperfect description. He
felt it his duty to express his indignation on the
short-comings of that measure, and hoped that, in
the end, the interests of millions would prepon-
derate over those of a few thousands of great
power and influence. Then, with respect to the
Post-office Savings Banks, he was one of the first
to suggest the principle ; but although he thought
the savings of the people were secure in these
establishments, he did not think it wise that the
Crown should undertake such duties, but that
the people should be incited to help themselves,
rather than have these extraordinary aids afforded
them. (Hear.) There were other questions to which
he paid great attention, such as the improvement
in the law of bankruptcy, although he could not
coincide with the divergency in the law between
the rich and the poor—or rather between the man
who owed large debts, as compared with the poor
man who owed but a few shillings. That anomaly
he promised to have remedied as soon as it was
possible. Then with respect to the question of edu-
cation, he was entirely for a voluntary system, in-
dependently of the state, on the principle put for-
ward by Adam Smith as regarded commerce, so that
the people may be taught in the end that the
instruction of the minds of their children was as
necessary as sustenance for their bodies. To the last
education minute he entirely subscribed, though he
denounced the conditions with which its promoters
clogged its working, believing as he did that it was
not a sound principle to give a million of money to
a committee of the Privy Council, but that it should
be placed entirely under the control of Parliament,
and Parliament alone. (Hear.) With respect to
free trade, it meant an anxious competition to pro-
mote the welfare of the people, and not an encou-
ragement to combinations to put down the working
classes. He was a supporter of the former, and
would on all occasions endeavour to do so to the
utmost of his power- As to India, he had been in
that country, and felt it to be his bounden duty to
take part in the legislation respecting it. Some of
his views and suggestions were adopted by the Go-
vernment, but he could assure them there was no
ground whatever for the reports spread in the Tower
Hamlets that one of their members was to be pro-
vided for. (A laugh.) With respect to a reform bill,
they all knew the history of that question ; and
although he supported measures brought for ward