The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-20 00:00:00

THE RAGGED SCHOOLS.

Yesterday evening a public meeting was held at the
Clerkenwell Parochial School-rooms, Amwell street, in
support of the Lamb and Flag Ragged School. The
meeting was densely crowded by a most respectable
assembly, who appeared to take a warm interest in the
proceedings. Lord Brougham presided on the occasion,
and the Bishop of Norwich opened the business of the
evening with prayer. A hymn was then sung by the
children of the school, who, raised on a platform at one
side of the building, maintained a propriety of de-
meanour which wonderfully contrasted with their ragged
and wild appearance.
Lord BROUGHAM said he was sure that he spoke the
sense of all present when he expressed his gratification
at seeing them meet on such an occasion. They were
really engaged in doing one of the very best works that
it was possible for man to be engaged in, for they were
endeavouring to rescue from a state of helpless and
hopeless ignorance, which was the parent of crime, a
great and important body of our fellow-countrymen.—
(Hear, hear.) It was the cruel lot of the poor of
our land, that at all times, as well in seasons
of plenty as in those when Providence had
visited us with a scarcity or any other calamity—
unhappily there must always be in this and every
other fully peopled country—every country where
there was not an infinite amount of land unsettled, that
was to say, over every country in the old world and a
considerable part of the new—there must of necessity
be this deplorable result, that the wages of the poor were
reduced to the lowest ebb, far, far below what every
humane mind must wish to see them at; far, far below
what was sufficient to minister to their comforts, and, be
was afraid truth compelled him to say, reduced as nearly
as possible to the lowest amount on which man could
subsist.—(Hear, hear.) He did not say this to make the
poor discontented ; God forbid ; but he said it to make
the rich mindful of their less fortunate neighbours, and
to render them anxious by every means in their power
to alleviate the necessarily hard lot of the humbler
classes. Now, various men had various opinions as to
the best way of carrying into effect their humane inten-
tions in this respect. Some thought it best to interfere
with the employment of labour, and to tell the poor man
he must only work a certain number of hours in the
day; while others, considering that the labour of the
poor man was his only wealth, thought he should be al-
lowed to labour unrestricted and in the best way he
could. He would not say which of these two
opinions he held, and he stated them only to
show how much different minds differed as to
the means, though all agreed in the great end,
that of promoting the good of the humbler classes.
It was natural, then, to ask whether there was any neu-
tral ground on which men could meet, which would not
raise controversies between different religious sects, be-
tween the Jew and the Gentile, between the Christian
and the heathen, who dwelt in utter darkness. He found
that neutral ground in attempting to promote by all
means in their power the free education of their fellow-
citizens of the working class. The children of that class
were a burden to them, and would grow up to be a curse
to them and a pest to society at large, if they were al-
lowed to remain in that state of ignorance which led to
vice and immorality and the infraction of the laws both
of God and man. The question then was, how could
they rescue from this deplorable state creatures born in
misery and bred in crime; and this led him to remind
the meeting that they were assembled to perform one of
the most acceptable services which men could render to
their Maker, and to show forth not only by thanksgiving,
but by good works, their gratitude for being placed in
happier circumstances than their brethren of the humbler
classe 3. His Lordship then proceeded to touch upon a va-
riety of general questions having a more or less direct
bearing on the subject of education for the children of the
poor. He referred to the preponderance of crime among
that class, and contended that it was not to be effectually
counteracted by any reform of criminal law—the ex-
ample of punishment operating only in preserving the
good in their habits, and not in deterring those who had
once become depraved. He admitted that some pro-
gress had been made in the reformation of offenders in
France and Germany, the example in that respect hav-
ing been set at Stretton, in the county of Warwick. He
was, however, for beginning a step earlier, by educating
the children of that class which produced nearly all the
criminals in the country. His Lordship concluded by
saying that, as the greatest satisfaction had been ex-
pressed at the improvement of the children at the Lamb
and Flag Ragged School, he hoped that its numbers and
means would increase, and with them the satisfaction of
its patrons, who would thus derive the sweet consolation
of benevolence, attended by that without which benevo-
lence was a barren plant—beneficence; the doing good
as well as the meaning good.—(Cheers.)
Mr. C. WHITE read the report, which stated that 300
children were on the books of the school, and which gave
a most encouraging view of its usefulness.
In moving the adoption of the report,
The Bishop of Nostwzor said, that he had heard
since he came into that room one argument in favour of
ragged schools which scattered to the winds a thousand
arguments against them. He had heard these children
praising God with lips which would have otherwise
blasphemed him. The Right Rev. Prelate here addressed
himself to the children, and told them, for their instruc-
tion, a very affecting story of an accident in a coal mine,
by which many people had perished. Among them was
a boy, who had written on a slate with a rusty nail the
following words;—" Mother, dear mother, grieve not for
us, mourn not for me; we are singing the praises of God
in our last hours, though we shall see you no more."
The Right Rev. Prelate then proceeded to point out the
prejudices with which the cause of educating the poor
had ,hitherto been opposed. Their Noble Chairman had
lately expressed a doubt as to whether this was the year
1847; but the reason why he (the Bishop of Norwich)
believed that it was so was the signs which he saw of
increasing interest in the instruction of the humble
classes. Even if the ragged schools did nothing else,
they would secure cleanliness, which was a great-point,
for he made bold to say it as his experience that he had
never known a very wicked man with a very clean face.
—(Laughter.) Mr. Peto, by educating the navigators
working on the railways in the county of Norfolk, had
beat the beer-shops out of the field. The Right Rev.
Prelate concluded by an earnest appeal to the meeting
to promote with hand and heart the cause of instruction
among the poor.
The Rev. Mr. HUGHES, in seconding the motion; bore
witness to the good results which had attended the Lamb
and Flag Ragged School, not only to the children but
also to their parents.
The resolution having been carried by the meeting,
Mr. WIRE moved the second resolution, which was—
" That this meeting, recognising the important truths
conveyed in the report of the committee, earnestly in-
voke all parties to co-operate in removing the evils
arising from and incidental to juvenile delinquency."
In reference to a statement made by Mr. Wire,
Lord BROUGHAM, at the close of that gentleman's ad-
dress, rose and said that it was, he was sorry to say,
thirty-seven years since he presided at the first meeting
in founding the British and Foreign School Society,
the object of which was that, without interference, schools
might be established to teach all classes secular in
struction. That was their principle, and he was sorry
to say that it had placed him between two fires.—
(Laughter.) He had the Church on the one hand, of
which he was a humble member, and the Dissenters,
whom he very much respected, on the other, and it was
hard to say from which he bad encountered the most
opposition at different times. As he was about to state
a thing in which they all would agree, he would also
state on what they might differ also. The Dissenters
proved themselves excellent friends to the cause of edu-
cation, and indeed began it. The parochial clergy, also,
were excellent agitators, and both agreed in doing a great
deal about it; bat there was one thing both were a little
more agreed in, and that was in endeavouring to gain
victory over each other. Some slight confusion followed
this expression of opinion, in the midst of which his
Lordship left the chair, which was filled by the Bishop
of Norwich.
The meeting terminated after hearing addresses from
Mr. Bellenden Ker, Mr. Payne, and other gentlemen,and
adopting resolutions supporting the objects for which
they had assembled.

e..on- ylinefi,
FATAL FIGHT.—On Saturday evenins fight took
place at Cramlington, near. Newcastl.
wjoashnu"nf7oairt.otunnareldy killed.joseph SAinimains'quesimttalweasa,hwelhdenonthMaefordayer,
before Mr. S. Reed, coroner, at the Bay Horse public-house,
Cramlington, when it appeared in evidence that on the day
in question the parties had been at the Town Moor, New-
castle, at a bowling match, and that some words afterwards
ensued between them. Simms, however, being afraid of mis-
chief, left the house in company with a friend, took the train,
and reached Cramlington at 7 o'clock. The deceased seems
to have been in the same train, for on reaching the station he
came up to Simms and challenged him to fight, but at that
time he declined. Some irritating expressions having soon
after been made by the deceased, both parties threw off their
clothes, and, after exchanging blows, the deceased seized
Simms by the hair of the head, and both fell down, Simms
falling against the fence, and the deceased into the ditch.
On getting up, and while the deceased was advancing
towards Simms, in a fighting position, the latter struck him
on the side of the neck, when he fell on his hands and knees.
The deceased got up, but after walking a yard or two, fell
down, and soon afterwards expired. There were altogether
but two rounds. The jury returned a verdict of " Man-
slaughter against Joseph Simms," who was committed, under
the coroner's warrant, to Morpeth Gaol, to await his trial at
the next assizes. The deceased is understood to have been
of a quarrelsome disposition, while, on the contrary, Simms
bears the character of a well-disposed man.
THE GREAT BRITAIN.—Since the fine weather
has set in, pedestrians and equestrians, by dozens
have been visiting this ship, the
on being the breakwater. The spring tide beginning
board
great point of aatttraatcitToen,
taken on
Wed-
nesday last, the labourers along the bay
workthe leviathan,
which
ba
had been
it wasgs; knownoonnin ada
with that were
tahme i
teffect n
do f thecar-
penters was to be tried. The pumps were known to be
working as the tide rose, by the streams of water seen issuing
from her in several places. As the tide rose it was perfectly
evident that thTebsuhriLroyseslightl3 morning,- alshon,wbeuvtart,heit rose muchtidewas not
haighhiegrh, andai. the same efforts were repeated; and at high
water it was quite visible that the vessel was nearly upright,
and very little by the head. At low water, it was evident
amazingthatshe quantitystood ou ta
fo f
large he r
andold bed
small two
stonesor w
threeer a feet, 0
thrown
and an
n
the hollow left from her rising. Some of the labourers who
have been on her from the the first are intelligent men, and
they stated that she was all in motion and quite afloat
everywhere. It blew strong, and the_ sea was very high.
The ship seemed to have settled back a little, but it is
quite clear those in authority have her in hand, although
the large hole is still not high enough for patching.—Newry
Telegraph of May 18.
SWINGS A farmer near Retford, Nottinghamshire,
having several corn. stacks in his farm-yard, has received an
anonymous letter stating that unless he thrashes out the
k u
gracino,utilitcl puts it into market, it will be thrashed for him.
Torre del Lago and suite arrived at Black-
; w.lll ytz.l,--rday afternoon by the General Steam Navigation
Coiufaii.)'s steam-ship Venezuela that left Ostend in the
morning.
CHEAP STEAM TRAVELLING.—Yesterday the boats
I running from London-bridge to Harwich and
Ipswich re-
duced their fares to is. 6d. for the entire distance.

IRELAND.
ATTEMPT TO MURDER MB. J. W.

S u

OF BALLYCORNEY.
Limerick Examiner Office, One o'clock, P.M.
This moment Surgeon Wilkinson passed
. ."
his way to Ballycorney, to give his professional at to
Mr. James Watson, who was fired at about half-
past ten o'clock this morning from behind a hedge, on
the road between Bridgetown and Mlleloe. It is fe and
that the wound is dangerous, if not fatal. Mr. Spai pht,
jun., has just arrived from Killaloe with the melanch soly
intelligence of Mr. Watson's death. The only ca t ,se
assigned for the murder is, that he became an agent m er
some property in the room of Mr. Rogers, who emigre.% ed
to America.

A man, named Edmond Duet, dropped instantly dead
on the rope-walk of the Messrs. English, this morniAg,
after breakfast.

DIIIIIIN, MAY 19.—An Extraordinary Gazette was
published yesterday evening, containing the follow ing
official announcement:—

" Dublin Castle, May 17, 1847,.
" Last night, at the hour of eleven o'clock, died, at her
Majesty's Castle of Dublin, his Excellency John William,
Earl of Besborough, the late Lord Lieutenant-Genet al
and General Governor of Ireland, to the infinite regret
of all ranks of people."

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