The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-03 00:00:00

of connection between the Church and the school,"
in the shape of " a positive Christian instruction at
once moral and dogmatic, whether Protestant or
Catholic, according to the communion of the pupils,"
such as he found in Prussia, But there is such a
contradiction and confusion of ideas in what he says
upon this head, as to deprive his opinion upon it
of that weight he would else have a clear title to.
" Assuredly (he says) besides the moral and reli-
gious instruction of the school, the Church ought
to have hers, and in her own temple, together
with the exercises related to it, and under the ex-
elusive authority of her own ministers. But this
instruction of the Church ought to have for a
preparative, the moral and religious instruc-
tion given in the school, of an in initely less spe-
cial character to be sure, yet still Christian."
(See his book, De L' Instruction Publiquc en
Hollande, pp. 66, 168, et seq.) Well ! it is to
this " less special," precisely, that the Dutch s) s-
tem confines itself—it is this system, therefore, that
really constitutes the " close link" between the
school and the Church, whilst his favourite Prus-
sian system, with its " positive and dogmatic" in-
struction, transfers the Church into the school, and,
losing sight of the " exclusive authority" of the
minister of religion, makes the schoolmaster a priest.
The constant cultivation of the moral and religious
sentiment is a necessary part of a true education
—every well-trained teacher knows it is, and,
therefore, attends to it scrupulously as a strict
duty, whilst the " positive and dogmatic" cate-
chising he feels conscious does not properly belong
to him, and he does it, in consequence, carelesslt
and fruitlessly. I have observed something of
the working of these two methods, and feel
not the least misgiving in preferring tin
Dutch. Indeed, M. Cousin himself admits,
" that, after all, the best way to appreciate
principles is by their results, and, that so judg-
ing of it, the Dutch practice is good—for, from
all he has seen and heard, he is convinced the
generations reared up under it are, and have been,
moral and pious." To this honourable testimont
I can boldly add mine, for I too believe, and upon
well assured grounds, that there is not in Europe,
or beyond the great waters, a more moral people
than the Dutch, more honest, more industrious,
more sober, more peaceful, more loyal to their
King, more obedient to the laws, more attached to
their country, or more faithful to their religion.
Now, to come to practical results. There is not
a city, or town, or village, or commune throughout
all Holland, where there is not a school or schools
provided with teachers thus trained, thus appointed,
thus inspected, and secured by the care of the
several commissions in a decent competency, so
that there is not a poor man in the whole country
who has not an opportunity of procuring for his
children gratuitously that sort of education I have
sketched, and you will scarcely find, in fact, one
young person of either sex who has not had the
benefit of it. I saw these schools myself in full
operation, and not in the great towns only, but in
small villages ; and I shall conclude this part of my
subject by a short statement of what I observed in
them, limiting myself to a few comments upon
whatever may strike me as worthy of special notice,
and I can dispose of this matter the more readily
that, in describing one of these schools you pretty
nearly describe them all, the only difference bein
such as must necessarily result from the different
capacities of the respective teachers.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)

TRZASURE TROVE.—Christmas morning last
a little boy, about twelve years of age, residing at Chal-
lord, Westbury, proceeded to take a piece of an old
window frame from some ruinous premises, late the pro.
perty of Perry, a bankrupt, for the purpose of making
a Christmas fire. On cutting it up, nearly 200 piece,,
of gold coin were discovered. They were of different
sizes, of the reign of Elizabeth, and were in the most
beautiful state of preservation.—Salisbury Journal.
Our readers will see by the report of the Lewes
Sessions, that the vendors of the Paul Pry, who were
indicted for the publication of libels in that paper, have,
on making an apology, and agreeing to discontinue the
sale of the paper, been discharged on their recogni-
zances to appear and receive judgment when called
upon. Since the trial, the Smiths have handed over
to Mr. Dempster, solicitor to the Association for sup-
pressing the paper, various communications forwarded to
them for insertion ; and among them are several letters,
the hand-writing of which is well known.—Brighton
Gazette.

EARTHQUAKE NEAR LYME.—On Christmas
eve, about six, the residents in the houses and cottages
along the coast between Lyme and Seaton were
alarmed by a convulsion of the earth, attended with
fearful sounds ; this astounding occurrence was suc-
ceeded by reiterations of the phenomena, and it was
soon ascertained that a course of mischief was in serious
operation. On arriving at a part of the coast called
Gowlands, a quarter of a mile from the sea, it was found
that a large portion of land on which there were several
cottages, orchards, and a coppice, had been separated
from their scites, leaving huge chasms in a lateral
direction along the coast between Sidmouth and
Seaton, to the extent of upwards of four miles.
The convulsions of the earth continued at various
intervals from the night of Tuesday the 24th in-
stant, to Friday evening, the 27th instant, having,
within that interval, occasioned the prostration and
subsidence of buildings of various descriptions, and the
displacement of large tracts of soil, a loss of property to
a considerable extent, among the sufferers by which is
Mrs. Inman, a respectable resident of Bishop's Hull,
near this town, whose loss is estimated at upwards
of 2,000/. Mr. Hallett, of Axmouth, and Mrs. Dare
also suffered heavily by the event. A huge rock fifty
feet high appears in the sea off Culverhole, nearly a
quarter of a mile from the spot where the principal
scene of mischief presents itself. The soundings were
being taken around the newly-formed rock on Satur-
day. No lives were lost by this event, although
several of the occupants of cottages, who had left
home to spend their Christmas-eve, found to their great
astonishment, on their return, no other vestiges of their
dwellings but those presented by the roofs and. chimney-
discernible above the chasms in which their habitations
were engulphed. The new road from Charmouth to
Lyme is utterly destroyed. Whether the occurrence
above stated be attributable to an earthquake, or con-
sidered as the result of the slow working processes of
Nature, which, as foreseen by naturalists, and asserted
by Mr. Buckingham in his lectures in the town of
Lyme a few years ago, will gradually encroach
upon the shores of the Channel, as has already
unquestionably taken place eisewhere on the Bri-
tish Coast, is at present problematical. The visita-
tion, to whatever cause it may be referred, beside the
destruction of property, has occasioned great alarm and
anxiety among the owners of buildings and estates in
the vicinity. Multitudes of persons from all parts have
been for several days past rushing into Lyme, Seaton,
and Charmouth, eager to ascertain the nature and ex-
tent of the catastrophe. The total loss of property is
estimated at 6,0001. Mr. Chappel, the renter of the
estate called Gowlands, upon which four of the destroyed
cottages stood, succeeded by great exertions on Wed-
nesday in saving the lives of twenty-eight of the poor
occupiers, and having employed nine carts, secured most
of their furniture. On the following morning the cotta-
ges had sunk up to their roofs. The cliffs on the colst
do not appear to have suffered any disruption, all the
mischief being inland.—Taunton Courier.
BEAR-MEAT.—Reader I did you ever eat bear
meat—that is, the bona fide flesh of the bear ? I do
not mean your having, by accident or chance, at some
period of your existence tasted a morsel of some im-
ported ham, so smoked, and dried, and disguised, and
tumbled about, until neither you nor I, nor anybody
else, could by possibility pronounce upon its identity—
no ; I mean have you ever sat down to a savoury bear-
steak, or to a nice roast sirloin of some honest bruin that
had been nurtured in the wild forest and lived a life of
freedom ? If you have not, I have : nay more ; for I
have not only dined seven days in the week upon bear-
meat, but breakfasted and supped too upon the same
dish (when I indulged in those somewhat uncertain and
unnecessary repasts of the forest hunter) ; for I have
been much where the only meat-market was the howling
wilderness, and the only meat that market afforded was
wild venison and bear-meat. But mind, while I state
that I positively consider the flesh of the bear both good
and wholesome, I beg it may be understood that I refer
exclusively to the North American black bears ;
and even amongst them I must be permitted to make
my selection. An old bear, fat or lean, is rank, tough,
and unpalatable, and a young lean one is not fit for the
table ; it is only your nice plump young fellows, half or
two-thirds grown, that iire really delicious. As for
those melancholy wretches that are poked about with a
long pole in our perambulatory shows and exhibitions,
and that are finally sold to those puffers of bears' grease
for the purpose of being fattened in some dismal stinking
cellar for a season, and then knocked on the head ac-
cording to public advertisement, and to the imminent
danger of ruining Rowland's Macassar—why I declare
I would as soon think of eating the leg of a pole-cat
as a morsel of one of these sorry wrotches.—Old
Sporting Magazine for December.
We believe that the new commission of Colonial
Lands and Emigration will consist of Colonel Torrens,
who has hitherto acted as Chairman of the South Aus-
tralian Board ; of Mr. Elliot, the agent-general of
Emigration ; and of the Hon. Edward Villiers, the
brother of Lord Clarendon. The successful perform-
ance of their duty will require a steady adherence to
principle, and an assiduous attention to detail.