The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-16 00:00:00

of reclaiming the adult criminal were comparatively
small, but with children there was every prospect
and hope, under the Divine blessing, of getting
rid of one of the greatest evils that ever
afflicted a Christian city. If they could succeed
in withdrawing children from those hot-beds of misery
and vice in which they were so often born, there was
little doubt that a great diminution in the amount of
crime would follow. He quoted in proof of this a state-
ment made by the governor at the gaol at Edinburgh,
to the effect that after the institution of ragged schools
crime had diminished in that city fifty per cent. The
late lamented Dr. Chalmers was in the habit of de-
claring what one could do when one got alongside of a
human being. If the expression was true with regard
to a grown up man, how much more so was it in refer-
ence to a child. They had all been passing through one
of the greatest crises which had ever happened in the
history of the world. They had hitherto passed
through safely, and he trusted they might do so to
the close. But those who had been on the conti-
nent and who were there then expressed their astonish-
ment and wonder where those faces lighted up with bad
passions, those creatures of misery and crime, came from
who haunted the streets of the great cities of Europe in
times of revolution. lie had heard it said that such a
class could not be produced in England; but he (the
Duke of Argyle) advised the meeting not to believe
such a statement too readily. Those who had entered
the haunts of vice in the metropolis would tell them
that there were a vast number of beings thero who,
were it the design of Providence to visit upon this city
the iniquity of which it had been guilty, would be fit in-
struments of such punishment.—(Cheers.) It was
therefore their duty and their highest interest to
enter these abodes of vice with the Bible in their hands
and to teach the young, especially, the principles
and truth of Christianity. In his elegy on a " Country
Churchyard," the poet Gray lamented the great powers
of intellect which were lost in the obscurity of poverty;
but in the children whose welfare they had met to pro-
mote, intellectual power instead of being undeveloped
was misdirected to the most grievous purposes of evil.
—(Cheers.) They became the victims of the hangman
and the inmates of the gaol, or were sent as convicts to
the most distant regions of the earth. It was from
such a fate that the Ragged School Union was formed
to rescue them, and he trusted that those who were there
assembled would devote themselves to that work with
energy and zeal, and that instead of their revenue being
reckoned by hundreds of pounds, it would go on increas-
ing till it was placed on a level with those for the heathen
missions, at present 20 or :30 times larger in amount.
Mr. F. MAULE, in seconding the report, said he con-
gratulated the great body of the community on the
spectacle before him, the immense number pact to cele-
brate the work of raising their fellow-creatures from
.gliorance and moral death to become useful, and
perhaps ornamental, portions of society. This was a
duty which combined the two great commandments
is the law, being a duty to God and a duty to our
neighbour. It was not so true, to use the language
of Scripture, that the children of the ragged schools
were ".fallen among thieves," as that they were
" born among thieves." Education was the fashion
of the day, and he wished that the efforts making
in that respect might be abundantly blessed. But
the children of the ragged schools must be torn from
.the vicious circumstances and influences by which
they were surrounded. This must be done if they
hoped to rob the gaol of its inmate, or the hang-
man of his victim. There was no subject which more
merited the consideration of the political economist in
the strictest sense than the institution of ragged schools,
and the example which in this respect had been set in
London had been followed extensively throughout the
country. He concluded by characterising ragged schools
as the greatest blessing that God had given to man in
his time for the benefit of their over-crowded cities.
_ _

Mr. IJINDLEY supported the resolution, ands;id; that
while he admitted that the ragged schools were a great
necessity he declared that that necessity was a great di;s•
grace. He produced the raw material out of which
cloth and paper could now be manufactured, acd having
shown as a contrast the articles produced from them,
asked whether Christian men would be outdone by the
men of the world, and give up their destitute and helpless
fellow-creatures in despair ?—(Cheers.)
The resolution was then carried unanimously.
Mr. J. LABOUCHERE moved the next resolution, which
was as follows:—:

" That there are in the metropolis many thousands of
poor
poverty, youths
childrenor
thew-ho ,
ofmsrso
of thepar
nt
sneglect,ar the
e t be and
desertion,
en-
tirely destitute of the means of instruction, exposed to
all the evils of ignorance and to all the allurements of
vice, and that free schools for this class (especially Even-
ing and industrial schools) are well deserving the hearty
support of all true friends to the poor."
Mr. E. CORDERER seconded and the Rev. W. ARTHUR
supported te rsolution, whic was greed to.
The Rev.h We. ARTHUR, theh Rev.a J. SHERMAN, Mr.
H. POWNALL, and other gentlemen, then addressed the
meeting, and resolutions %ere adopted in accordance
withe the objects of the institution.
fhe proceedings terminated with the usual vote of
thanks to the Chairman.

STATE OF TRADE.
(From the Manchester Guardian of this day.)
MANCHESTER, TUESDAY.—The telegraphic an-
nouncement of the acceptance of Lord Palmerston's
proposition, by Denmark, has had no sensible influ-
ence upon yarns in this day's market. Favourable as
the removal of the blockade (if confirmed) must be to
the northern trade, there still remains, in the revolu-
tionary turmoil which pervades the whole of Ger-
many, a much greater obstacle and a far more for-
midable danger to our commercial intercourse
with the continent. The private letters received
this morning give a very gloomy and discouraging
picture of the state of political affairs, and of the
prospect which the German people have before them.
The anxiety of the merchants is, of course, increased;
and their determination not to purchase beyond the
bond fide wants of the hour is strengthened. To• day.
their operations have been of trifling amount.
In this protracted absence of demand, the
yarns suitable for that class of buyers have
been purchasoable, in some instances, on rather
lower terms than sellers were willing to accept
a week ago. For India but little has been
done, and No. 40's are scarcely firm. The manufac-
turers are very cautious in their buying. The goods
market has been inanimate. The India houses are
less inclined to enter into contracts than they were
last week, though they are still purchasers of such
suitable fabrics as are ready for delivery, of which,
however, very little is to be met with. The Levant
merchants are doing extremely little ; and other
classes of shippers rendered increasingly wary in
their operations by the state of European affairs. On
the whole, however, there is much firmness in the
prices of goods. It is hoped that the fine weather
will produce a good effect upon the home trade, which
has been in a very unsatisfactory state throughout the
season.

ROCHDALE, MONDAY.—In the flannel market we
have had but very little doing to-day, and the mer-
chants have purchased very sparingly at former
prices. The wool market continues inactive with
little or no change in price.
HUDDERSFIELD, TUESDAY.—I3ut little has been
doing to-day in our market, and very few buyers
have visited us. In the warehouses, the business is
equal to the general average of this seasop.
HALIFAX, SATURDAY.— OUT Piece Hall has pre-
sented to-day a very inanimate appearance, and there
is no improvement in the demand for worsted goods.
Prices are consequently drooping. The demand for
yarns is also slack for the home market, and entirely
at a stand foi the continent. The spinners have now,
fur the most part, completed their orders, and are
working to stock. The late rates are, accordingly,
not maintained. The wool market is still very quiet,
and prices more in favour of the buyer.
LEEDS, TUESDAY.—There is no change worthy of
notice in the state of our market, which continues
much the same as last week. The colonial wool sales
now going on in London fetch quite as good prices as
last February, c9ntrary to the general expectation.