The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-23 00:00:00

tillSpAY MOltNlNer,

Ly gs,

EDUCATION OF APPRENTICES,
COPY OF A CIRCULAR LETTER TO TIIE
b LIVER INTEN OEN TS OF • THE SEVERAL
DOCKYARDS. _ _ _

Admiralty, June 27,
.1846.

My Lords being of opinion, wittia view to the pro-
motion of greater emulation troong the apprentices
educated in the dockyard schools, and to the better regu-
lation of those schools, that a general system of reward
and punishment should be established in them, are
pleased to direct:-
1. That the Inspector of the Greenwich Schools be
requested to undertake the duty of making an annual
tour of inspection of the dockyard schools, for the pur-
pose of examining into, and reporting on their condi-
tion, and that, at such annual examina, ion, a certain
number of prizes, to be hereafter determine-1 by their
Lordships, on the recommendation of the insp. et,r, be
distributed among such apprentices as may appear to
him and to the School Committee to be the most de-
serving of such rewards.
2. That in cases of grave misconduct, or of repeated
neglect and disobedience, the Admirals and Captains
superintendent of the several yards, on the recommenda-
tion of the school committee, be authorised (in addition
to such minor punishment as they may deem it neces-
sary to resort to, to mulct any apprentice, who may be
guilty of such misconduct, of time and pay for any time
not ex ceding one month, or to order such apprentice to
work extra hours without extra pay ; but in all cases of
such extraordinary punishment, a ape, ial rep ,rt is to be
made to their Lordships, specifying the nature cf the
offence, and the d. gree of punishment inflicted ; and if,
notwithstanding such punishment, any apprentice should
prove incorrigible, and by his bad exaalple endanger the
order and discipline of the school, the sueerintendent is
to make a report accordingly to their Lordships, who
will decide whether it may not be for the general good
that such apprentice should be discharged from the
service. _ _

3. My Lords are also of opinion that it is essential to
the good of the service, that a certain limited number of
such apprentices as may display extraordinary ability
should receive a more scientific education thin that
which they can obtain in the ordinary dockyard schools,
and they therefore direct that the in-pector of the dock
yard schools shall, at his annual examination, select a
certain number of such of the apprentices as shall have
comnleted the fourth year of their servitude, for such
superior education during the three remaining years of
their servitude, in the following proportions for each
yard, viz.:—
Portsmouth
Davenport
Chatham
Sheerness
Pembroke
Woolwich and Deptford I ft

2 every year.

Total Y•••••-•••• 00000 8

4. That the selection is to be made with reference to
comparative talent- and proficiency, coupled with good
conduct, of which a ci rtilcate from the superior ship-
wright., officers, and schoolmaster, must be produced ;
and that in order to obtain greater security that the
most deserving of the Candidates shall be selected, the
inspector shall, after the general examination, set apart
for re-examination such of the apprentices qualified for
selection (that is, who shall' have completed his fourth
year of servitude) as may appear to him to have dis-
played superior ability and proficiency ; and that on
the result of this re-examination, which is to be held in
the presence of the school committee, the final decision
is to depend ; but that no apprentice is to be so selected
unless he shall pass, to the satisfaction of the inspector,
an examination in arithmetic, in the three first books
of Euclid, and in algebra to quadratic equations, and
a discretion is nevertheless to be exercised by the in-
spector as to the qualification of the candidate for selec-
tion, notwithstanding that he be the best of the school.
5. That in the case of Woolwich and Deptford yards,
from which combined one apprentice only is to be an-
nually selected, the general annual examinations of the
two schools are to be held separately, bnt that the ap-
prentices chosen for re-examination, for the purpose of
selection, are to be examined together in the presence
of the school committees of the two yards.
6. That if in any school none of the apprentices
should, in the opinion of the Inspector, be qualified for
selection, the next best qualified unselected apprentice
is to be selected from some other yard ; and that, will
a view to this contingency, the Inspector is to note the
names of the canditates best qualified after those on
whom the selection may have fallen.
7. That the apprentices so selected from the several
yards (unless their parents or guardians should object,
in which case the next best qualified apprentice is to
be chosen) are to be removed to a separate school in
Portsmouth yard, to be called the Mathematical School,
in which they are to be instructed during the three
remaining years of their apprenticeship, by the profes-
sor of mathematics, and the mathematical assistant of
the Royal Naval College, in the higher principles of
pure and mixed mathematics, as applied to practical
purposes, and by the superior shipwright officers of
the yard in the theory of the science of Naval Archi-
tecture ; but that they are, notwithstanding, to be em
ployed like the other apprentices of the yard in learning
the practical part of their profession, in the actual- huild-
ing and laying off of ships ; and the professor of mathe-
matics and the master shipwright, in concurrence with
the inspector, are to draw up an transmit through the
Rear• Admiral S.iperinzendent a detailed scheme of in-
struction and employment, for the consideration of their
Lordships.
8. That the professor of mathematics, being a clergy-
man, or if it should be incompatible with his other
duties, the chaplain of the ) ard, be required to attend
to the moral and religious education of the apprentice,
in the mathematical school, aid that the Inspector is to
report specially on the state of the school in these re-
spects at his annual examination, as well as with re-
spect to the proficiency of the scholars in scientific
attainments.

9. That the apprentices bel-mging to the mathemati-
cal school be required to attend the lectures en chemical
and experimental phitosophy now given to the officers
of the yard.
10. That as the pay of apprentices when removed
from their parents or guardians is insufficient to pro-
vide fe- their maintenance, those selected for instruc-
tion in the mathematical school are to be victualled at
the public expense, under such arrangements as may
hereafter be determined, and they are to be lodged
within the dockyard, in the building of which a portion
is at present appropriated to the D.lckvard School.
17. That the Rear-Admiral Superintendent be di-
rected to call on the master shipwright to select from
among the unmarried shipwright officers, some compe-
tent person to have charge of the discipline of the
mathematical school, within the limits of which, apart-
meets are to be provided for him, in which he is to
reside.

12. That, subject to the above general regulations,
the Rear-Admiral Superintendent is to consult with
the professor of mathematics of the Royal 'Naval
College, and the master shipwright of the yard, and to
submit to their Lordships, for their consideration, the
details of such further regulations as may appear to be
required for the proper management and discipline of
the sclr)ol.
13. That it is to be distinctly understood that the
apprentices to be selected for instruction in the mathe-
matical school are to have no further claim to pro-
motion to the higher grades of their profession than that
which, it must be presumed, superior scientific attain-
ments and professional skill will necessarily give them ;
arid it is, therefore, essential that their instructioti in
the practical operations of ship-building should be as
much attended to as its theory and science. And in
order that the prospect of promotion to the higher
grades may still be open to those apprentices who may
not have had the good fortune to be selected for instruc-
tion in the mathematical school at Portsmouth, but
may subsequently recommend themselves to the favour-
able opinion of their officers by their good conduct,
skill, and professional attainments, my Lords have pur-
posely limited the pupils to be taught in the mathe-
matical school to such a number as, it is estimated, will
be sufficient to fill one-half only of the vacancies which
occur in such superior grades on the average of years,
leaving the remaining haf to be filled by selections from
among ti e shipwrights educated in the ordinary schools
of the dockyards.
By command of their Lordships,
H. CORRY.

CASE OF POISONING IN FRANCE.—A trial was com•
mencod at Strasburgh on the 2tith ult., which has excited
the greatest interest, not only in that town, but throughout
France. The charge is one of murder by poison, in which
the declarations of the Strasburgh professors do not coincide
with those of the Parisian chymists. Last November an ad-
vertisement was publiished in the newspapers, inviting those
who could give information respecting a certain flour-dealer
who, during an attack of fever, had risen from his sick bed
and taken to flight, to do so at a given address. The dis-
appearance of the man remained a complete mystery,
until a few days after his body was found concealed in
a water closet. The body was cut up in pieces, and the
heart and entrails, which were also afterwards disco-
vered, removed. An inquiry immediately led to
the suspicion that the wife of the unfortunate man
had committed a murder upon her husband, and
taken out the heart and bowels, in order to avoid an accusa-
tion of poison, incase of an evental discovery and examina-
tion of the remains. She was immediately arrested, and the
entrails and heart of the murdered man given tip to the pro •
lessors of the university, for the purpose of ascertaining.
whether they contained poison. A well-grounded supposi-
tion that this must be the case was the more general, inas-
much as arsenic was found in the house of the accused, and
it was also proved by an apothecary that the prisoner bad
bought such poison in the preceding August, from which
period the deceased had commenced to sicken. The chymical
professors of Sixasburgh declared that they had found no
traces of arsenic in the remains delivered to them. The au-
ie, engaged in the investigation were, however, not
s.itilied with this statement, but sent the corpse to Paris for
analysis, wi;ere Professors Duvergie, Chevalier, and Flandi.l
discovered in it a stro:,g dose of arsenic. These professors
are now at Strasburgh, and at the trial repeated their state-
ment. By desire of the Court and jury, the trial was ad-
journed for the purpose of making a renewed analysis, of
which the result has not yet been made public. The ac-
' ens :(1, who wishes to make it believed that her husband poi-
soned hieiself, has a very bad reputation ; and. in the course
of the trial, aaother crime has come to light. It appears that
live years ago a step-child of the accused fell from a garret
window, and was picked up lifeless. Ail the facts conspire to
prove that in this case also a wiltul murder was committed
oy the accused in order to insure a larger inheritance to her
own children.
CnicKET.—The first match this season between the
Windsor and Star and the St. James's Metropolitan
Clubs came oft. in the Bursas, at Eton, on Monday. The re-
however, showed that the Metropolitans were either
veer-matched, or that they were not in ;
" cue." In
both the innings they could only number 91 runs, being
itefeart.d, in one innings, by 78 tuns —Th., It:etch between
the Gentlemen v. the Plapors wascontintied yes et day. Th.
ers g iined in the seen . Tat, gtmileAi.ll
i;le on, 0 t kit d w.irim w
4 .„1 17. I. I) • $ --11 tiLt •111 Inc sa,;,
twit of Sir E. Bathurst, are to ot.) ill ttlii 11101'llity, to obtain
109 runs to win. There is snore betting on this match than
on any which has been played this season.

LAW INTELLItiEZ,c

COURT 0: CILINCERY. July 22,

The Lord Chancellor sat in Li 7 /
shortly after ten o'clock.

THE LONG VACATION.
The Low) CITA:WELL-it. hi 4 seat, stated that
he found it had brew usu.:l or late f t,.e Court to r ise for t,le
loog vacation at an earlier day than when he last sat in that
Court, and when the state of business justified it, his Lord-
ship did not see why the course he nad formerly adopted
should be departed from, but as for this year it might be in-
convenient to alter an arrangement previously made, his
Lordship would adhere to the day that had been previously
fixed—namely, the last day of the prrsent month, after which
day his Lordship did nut intend to sit.
The Court then proceeded to hear lunatic petitions and
appeals.

• :Nothing of any interest oceurrea in any of the other Equity
Courts, all of wild), ti is unti,rst 'od, will rise on the 31st,
and not sit again till the lu st day of Michaeltuas Tettu.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE,

NOM'.' ClRCUlT.—Naidstone, July 22.

The business for the county of Kent commoneed on
Tuesday na.srning. Mr. Baron a,lte sat on the Civil
side. and Mr. Justice C locum presidud in the Crown
C, art. There were thirty-seven caries .ntered, five of
app• ared to be special jury cases, but it is unthr-
stotKl that thrre of th,a), which involve tlo- qu-siion of
gavelkind tenure, will riot be tried. In the Crown Court
there were fiCy-thte-e persons for trial, but most of the
cases were of tue ordinary description.