The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-30 00:00:00

whom they thought the best, and into their hands the
whole scheme must bo thrown. But the Church of
England was necessarily thought by the Government to
be the best ; therefore, the power would fall into the
hands of the Church of 'England. The manner in
which the proposal had been introduced, the way
in which it had silently glided in, exciting no attention
till it was securely placed, was dangerous to the most
sacred principles of the British people, for there was no
liberty of which they might not thus be robbed, no
sacred principle which might not thus be crushed for
ever. He contended that the principle of the
scheme was bad, the scheme itself was wrong,
the manner of its introduction was an injury,
and that it could not be carried into effect with-
Loa out inflicting a wrong upon this country. He concluded
by moving—" That, whatever might be the value of the
educational measure now proposed by the Government,
tl4 the meeting could not consent to accept it when brought
forward in a manner so alien to the spirit and principles
of the British Constitution."
Mr. NATHANIEL GRIFFIN seconded the motion, which
was carried with two dissentients.
Mr. JOSEPH STURGE moved—" That even were the

manner in which this measure is brought forward unex-
ceptionable, in the judgment of this meeting the gravest
objections lie against the measure itself, as tending to
enervate the system of voluntary contribution and local
educational efforts, as opening a channel through which
a corrupt political influence may at any time be exer-
cised on the masses of society ; as still further, and in
the most inconsistent of all ways, mixing up the State
,cc with religion, and in leading in numerous instances
to a direct violation of the rights of conscience, and
as the commencement of a system of Government
action which is capable of vast and indefinite ex-
tension, but of which no man can foresee the issue."
f: lie said there were one or two questions on which per-
haps he went a little further than those who had drawn
up these resolutions. One of these was, whether under

any circumstances a Government was entitled to take
34 education into its own keeping. It might perhaps build
schools, but to take the direction of what he must call
religious instruction was beyond their province, for they
could not do so without offending the consciences of some
i of their subjects. How could he impose a tax on a Jew
md in order to buy a New Testament for the instruction of
the imposer's child? Again, so long as they had a
. church established by law in the ccuntry, and
. a distinction made among sects, they could
not accept Government aid, however guarded,
' without strengthening that establishment, and on
that account he differed from the British and Foreign
School Society, when they accepted of Government
xd grants. It was an Lifringement of the voluntary prin-
ciple. He had, therefore, withdrawn his subscription,
and given it to schools which had stood independent,
v and he would now give 1001. subscription to the British
and Foreign Society if that grant were rejected. On
these grounds he objected to a Government scheme of
education.
The Rev. JoHN BURNET seconded the motion in an

eloquent speech.
It was then proposed and carried that, in the judg-
ce ment of this meeting the fact that all schemes for the
• promotion of education by the Government, which have
been hitherto propounded, have been found to contain
elements in their operation incompatible with the wel-
fare of the community, is adapted to shake the confi-
dence of our Legislators in the belief now so strongly
entertained within the walls of Parliament—that educa-
is the business of the Government, and that it should
induce them to give to that question a new and careful
investigation.
A vote of thanks was passed to the chairman, and the
meeting separated.

SALE OF RAILWAY SHARES BY
AUCTION.—(TII.I.3 DAY.)
The sale of Railway Shares to-day, by Messrs. Larnond
and Co., was dull, and participated in the general depression.
Shropshire Unions have had a serious fall. The following
are a few of the principal sales:—
South Yorkshire, Doncaster, and Goole ... £1 19 0
North British Extension
Shropshire Union and Canal 0 16 6
South-Eastern and Dover, No. 4 4 5 0
Louvain ala Sambre 1 0 0
Great Western of Bengal 0 6 0
Leicester & Bedford, Exchange Certificate 0 11 6
Shrewsbury and Birmingham (A) 4 1 0
Eastern Counties, York Extension 4 17 0
Calcutta and St. George's Point 0 4 6
Direct Northern (scrip) 2 7 6
Reading, Guildford, and Reigate 4 18 6
Newport and Abergavenny 1 15 0
Taw Vale Extension and Dock
Ambergate, Nottingham, and Bosto■

70 THE LONDON GAZETTE.

(THIS EVENING.)