The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-05 00:00:00

11ER MAJESTY'.

WINDSOR CASTLE, April 4.
The Queen, accompanied by her Royal High-
nesses Princess Louise, walked and drove in the
grounds this morning.
'I he o'her members of the Royal Family also went
out.

The Princess of Wales drove out yesterd iy.

ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS,
aPEECH OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

MONDAY.

This afternoon a meeting of the committee appointed
by the Society of Arts, at the request of Her Majesty's
Commissioners, to organise the educational divisions of the
Annual International Exhibitions, commencing in 1871,
was held at the rooms of the society, John-street,
Adelphi, His Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales, president of the Society, occupied the chair.
The exhibition of educational works and appliances will
include specimens of all the subjects belonging to the
following branches into which this class is subdivided :
School buildings, fittings, furniture, &c. ; books,
maps, globes, instruments, &c. ; appliances for
physical training, including toys and games ;
specimens and illustrations of modes of teaching fine art,
natural history, and physical science; specimens of school
work serving as examples of the results of teaching. All
the producers named in these lists are eligible to send new
specimens of their respective branches of pro-
duction. The aim of the exhibition being
to show specimens remarkable for excellence,
novelty, invention, etc., it is desirable to limit the number
of specimens from each producer to those which are
absolutely necessary : consequently no duplicates of any
object can be admitted. As far as possible specimens
should be exhibited in glass frames, the wood-work of which
should not exceed two inches in depth, and an inch
and a half in width. The frames should be black.
Models of school buildings, heating and ventilating appa-
ratus, &c., ought not to exceed the scale necessary to shew
their construction or working parts intelligibly. But
generally drawings shewing the buildings, &c., in plan,
section, and elevation will be preferred to models, as they
can be more easily exhibited. Specimens of fit-
tings, furniture, &c., such as desks and forms, must be kept
within moderate limits ; for instance, the desks and forms
ought not to exceed four feet in length. The name of the
object, as well as that of the manufacturer, should be
securely attached to each article. , All educational
works and appliances must be delivered at the
Exhibition building into the charge of the proper
officers, unpacked and ready for immediate exhibition,
on Wednesday the Bth, or Thursday the 9th February,
1871. To every object, when exhibited; will be attached
a label, prepared by her Majesty's commissioners, which
will contain the following particulars :-1. The name
of the object ; 2. the purpose for which it
is intended ; 3. the exhibitor's name ; 4. his address
5. The reasons why it is exhibited, such as—lts special
fitness for its purpose ; its, illustrative character ; its
novelty ; its. ingenuity ; its superiority ; its cheapness. 6.
The price, unless the exhibitor objects. 7. Any explana-
tions, &c. Specimens of school work serving as examples
of the results of teaching.—These will be confined to the
following :—Writins, plain and ornamental ; drawing and
design ; modelling in clay, terra-cotta, wax, &c. ; models
of machinery, building construction, &c. ; needlework,
plain and ornamental, lace, knitting, &c. ; miscellaneous
work by pupils in schools for the blind, reformatories, &c.
The SECRETARY read a correspondence between the
Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 and the
Society of Arts, which calls attention to a series of annual
international exhibitions, of which the first is to
be held in 1871, and in which the Society of Arts professes
its desire to.co-operate cordially in the scheme.
The SECRETARY also read a report, giving a summary
of the society's proceedings in relation to the Educational
Exhibition of 1854. He said that the exhibitors amounted
to 539, of whom 425 were British, 114 foreign, The Ex-
hibition was opened by his Royal Highness the Prince in
July, and it was closed in September. The council of
the society, however, transferred a number of the objects
shewn to the South Kensington Museum.
The Prince of WALES said : My lords and gentlemen,
we are assembled here together for the pupose of organis-
ing the Educational Section of the International Exhi-
bition of 1871. I appear before you in the double
capacity of president of your society • and Presi-
dent of the Royal Commission of 1851, having
succeeded the late lamented Lord Derby, who, much as
he was missed—as he always will be missed—as a great
statesman, will also be missed as President of the
Commission whose interests he had so much at
heart. As was well known, in this ' very room
the exhibitions of 1851 and 1862 were first planned.
[ think I may say that as regards the subject of education
this society has always been prominent in using
its best efforts for the promotion of education.
(Hear, hear.) • And it is almost needless to
remind you that this society had an Exhibition in 1854,
which was inaugurated by m late lamented father. (Hear,
hear.) This society, therefore, 'having as one of its great
objects in view, that of education. I think we are, as a
society, well qualified to deal with the subject before us. I
can assure your, my lords and gentlemen, that it gives me
the greatest gratification to preside here on this occasion.
and to shew you that I am entirely alive to the great
question of the day, namely, that of education. It
, may, perhaps, be agreeable *to the meeting that,
as the subject is of such great weight,
and importance, I should read a short address
which I have before me, so as the more fully to ex-
' plain the object we have in assembling here to-day.
It is one of members, and of a large committee of
persons eminent in their various stations, for the interest
they have displayed in education, appointed without re-
ference to political party, denomination, or social position,
for the purpose of causing the best possible representation
in 1871 of the various materials and apparatus used in teach-
ing, and of establishing, as far as practical, the results
of the many systems of instruction which are practised in
this country and the other nations of the world. Under
the first class we find such objects as affect the sanitary
condition of schools, the desks and stools used, maps and
globes, books, pictures, scientific diagrams, objects of
natural history, and the like. Under the second class
will be shewn illustrations of the modes of teach-
ing reading, writing, music, and gymnastics.
and the interesting work of educating those whom Nature
has deprived of sight, speech, and hearing with the suc-
cessful results of such modes. In this exhibition of edu-
cation foreigners as well as British subjects will take their
share, and I am happy to say that Sweden has already ap-
plied for permission to exhibit a full sized model of
one of its parish schools. The duty of this
Committee is to see that such work as I have sketched
out, shall be completely accomplished; the exhibitors
shall come forward and offer their productions ; that the
best only shall be selected for exhibition, and that discus-
sions on systems of instruction shall be properly organized.
I indulge a sanguine hope that the labours of this committee
will teach many lessons that will lead to the improvement
of the quality of primary education, and to the extension
of that secondary instruction in science and art so much
needed for the industrial progress of this country—
a necessity proved at the Exhibition - of 1851,
originated and conducted by my illustrious father,
and confirmed again in 1862 and at Paris in 1867,
where our own citizens shewed by their remarkable
reports how strong were their convictions on this point
Difficulties there are as there always must be in the com:
pletion of a great work, and here I am reminded how
fully the difficulties connected with this work of
education were appreciated by my father as long ago as
1851, and you will, I hope, allow me, whilst on this point,
to quote the Prince Consort's own words—" You will
probably. trace the cause of our social condition to a
state of ignorance and lethargic parents generally ; but
the root of the evil will, I suspect, be found to
extend into that field on which the political economist
exercises his activity—l mean the labour market, demand
and supply. To dissipate that ignorance, and arouse from
that lethargy, may be difficult, but with the united and
earnest efforts of all who are the friends of the working
classes, it ought, after all, to be only a question
of time ; what measures can be brought to bear upon the
other root of the evil is a more delicate question, and will
require the nicest care in handling; for there you
cut into the very quick of the working-man's
condition. His children are not only his off-
spring to be reared for a future independent posi-
tion, but they constitute part of his productive power,
and work with him for the staff of life. The daughters
especially are the handmaids of the house, the assistants
of the mother, the nurses os the younger children, the
aged, the sick. To deprive the labouring family of their
help would be almost to paralyse the domestic existence."
But my visit with the Princess of Wales to the middle-
class schools in the city of London on Wednesday last,
and the reports on Faversham school and the district
union schools of the metropolis, which have been pub-
lished by our society, make me hope that even these
difficulties may admit of solution. By improved
organisation of school, and of teaching. power, I think
it is shewn that instruction may be so given as to enable
earning and learning to go hand in hand together. I
close these few remarks by bidding God speed to this
committee in the great work which is before them. Two
resolutions will be offered for your acceptance, and any
explanation will be afforded which may seem necessary.
CoL Scorn gave an explanation of the committee's work
and also of the plan of the exhibition. In former exhi-
bitions the object had been to shew every possible class of
work; but in that of 1871 the object would be to shew
only a certain number which had been duly examined,
and report on them within a reasonable time.
Instead of allowing things to be brought in
wholesale they would be dealt with carefully. No prizes
would be given—the admission to the Exhibition would be
considered as the prize. But he believed that as they
went on they would find many societies and private indi-
viduals willing to offer prizes. As to the particular manner
in which they would be offered no information could yet
be given. A catalogue would be published in English, and
other nations could publish one if they thought fit.
Sir JOHN PAKINGTON, Bart., M.P., moved the first re-
solution :—" Resolved that this committee, having heard
the observations of his Royal Highness the President, the
correspondence which has taken place between the Royal
Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 and the Coun-
cil of the Society of Arts, together with the report of the
proceedings of the Educational Exhibition of 1854, and
the explanations offered by Lieut.-Colonel Scott, hereby
expresses its approval of the purpose, and pledges itself to
give its hearty co-operation. Respecting this great
national question of education, ,he could not refrain
from expressing emphatically • his earnest and
anxious hope that the time was at last at hand
when by the vigorous determination of her
Majesty's Government supported as he believed
they would be by the great majority of all parties in the
Legislature—(hear, hear)—the important question would
have its final solution and settlement. However that
might be, and even supposing that the most sanguine hopes
on this subject are realised, there would be much of
importance, and probably of difficulty, to be done. He
believed that nothing would more tend to smooth these
difficulties and conduce to this end—which they all so
much desired—than the information which might be de-
rived from such exhibitions as that which they were
likely to see in those respecting which they were met.
A vote of thanks to the Pr*fil of Wales for pre§iding
grniclacd the pißgeazigq,

THE TRAMWAYS BILL.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, AIONDAT.
The select committee respecting this bill met again to-
day. Mr. S. Lefevre in the chair.
Mr. J. Layton, vestry clerk of Islington, presented a,
petition from the vestry of that parish in favour of the
Government bill, and protesting against the suggestion
that the Metropolitan Board of Works should have the
entire control of the tramways of the metropolis.
Mr, Layton stated that it was intended to present the
petition to the House of Commons in the first instance,
but there .had not been time to do so. The Islington
vestry never gave authority for the statement that the
vestries and district boards of the Metropolis approved of
the tramways being placed in the hands of the Metro-
politan Board of Works.
Mr. T. Morris, solicitor, of London, was examined in
the existing tramways interest. He said that he had had
a good deal of experience in joint stock business, and had
taken a good deal of interest also in the construction of
tramways. He had knowledge of the working of tram-
ways in America and in England. He thought it would
prove very benefical to the tramway interest if
the Government bill were passed. The effect
of its passing would be to bring a large amount of
capital into the field. It would be a misfortune if the
local authorities were allowed to veto any tramway scheme.
It would not be desirable to allow the majority of any
town council to have such a power. Cases of dispute
ought to be decided by a committee of the House of
Commons. The construction of tramways would become
so extensive that it might be well to establish a distinct
body to whom appeal might be made in cases of dispute
between the promoters of tramways and local authorities.
When the corporation of a town, or any other local
authority, agreed to sanction the laying down of a tram-
way, and a dispute arose as to whom it should belong,
then the Board of Trade should be the arbitrator. His
opinion with regard to the latter point was that, whoever
constructs a tramway, it shonld be maintained and
worked by a joint stock company.
By the Chairman : He did not think it would be well
to give the tramways to be constructed under this bill to
existing omnibus companies. He thought there was
room enough in London for tramways and omnibuses to
exist together.
Mr. Hopkins, engineer of the Liverpool Tramways
Company, was examined respecting the results of the
working of the tramways in that town. The gauge of
the Liverpool and Birkenhead tramways was 4t feet,
the same as the lines in America. This gauge
necessitated the wheels being under the body
of the coach, an arrangement which would be
inconvenient for omnibuses running part of the distance
on the tramways and part on the road. He thought that
there should be a uniform gauge for one town. In Liver-
pool the length of tramway was 3i miles, and the charge
was 3d. each passenger inside, and 2d. outside. This line
cost £3,500 a mile, the cost of the sleepers being £l,OOO a
mile, and the paving £2,500.
By the Chairman : The tramways in Liverpool had not
Injured the omnibus traffic. They had, on the contrary,
improved it. Only eight omnibuses were in use in Liver-
pool before the tramways came into existence ; now there
were twenty. The omnibuses make use of the tramways,
and seemed to fully appreciate their benefit.
Mr. Gore, of the Staffordshire Pottery Tramways, gave
evidence in favour of tramways being entrusted to com-
panies, and against corporations having entire charge of
them.
The committee adjourned at four o'clock.

VIE PRISON AND PRISON MINISTERS' ACTS.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, Mormer.

The Select Committee of the House of Commons again
resumed their sitting on these acts, Mr. Maguire in the
chair.

The first witness examined was Mr. Kirner, the Roman
Catholic minister attending Coldbath Fields. He stated
that he attended the prison four days in the week, from
helf-past nine o'clock till nearly one o'clock. Previous to
September or August last he was only allowed three
days. On Sundays he also attended from nine
to eleven o'clock. The Protestant minister
had two services, one in the morning and the other
in the afternoon. When he asked the visiting justices
for another service, he was told that the Protestants had
only half a service in the morning and afternoon, so that
strictly speaking, they were in the same position as the
Catholics. There was an average number of 2,000 male
prisoners, about 400 of whom were Catholics. He was
only allowed to collect twelve prisoners together for Mass
and teaching, and the time allowed was barely
sufficient to give the necessary instructions. It
would be a great boon if he were allowed
to collect 100 together. He was first allowed to have
Divine worship in 1867. Certain altar plate was
necessary, and this was provided by the visiting priest,
who received no payment for his services. The Hatton
Garden congregation with which he was connected was
very poor. Last summer there was a direct interference
with the Catholic prisoners. The warders opened the
cells of the Catholics, and told them that they might at-
tend the afternoon service of the Protestants, and if they
did not they would be locked up in their cells. That was
given up on his remonstrating. If witness had daily
service and liberty to attend the prison at all times the
same as the Protestant minister, he thought he should be
able to do all the work himself. The Protestant minister
had interfered with the Catholic prisoners by asking them
about the tenets of their Church, but he had ceased since
witness had remonstrated.—By Sir John Pakington He
had not applied to the visiting justices either for daily
services or payment, because he believed the request had
been refused to his predecessor. Dr. Kirner was re-
called, and stated that he must have been in error when
he said that only twelve prisoners were allowed to be col-
lected ' • it vas twenty-five.—Mr. Kelly said he had atten-
ded as Catholic priest for eighteen months to the prisoners
in Clerkenwell. There was an average of sixty, male and
female, prisoners. He had not the same free access to the
prisoners as the Protestant clergyman, who could go from
cell to cell, whilst he had to wait in a room till the
warder brought a prisoner to him. He sometimes found
that the warder brought the refusal of a prisoner, when no
such refusal was given.—To the Chairman : They were
obliged to have more priests in his district
because of their having to attend the prison. He had
only one day for instruction during the week ; he had also
the Sunday service. There was no service on Sunday be-
'ere September last,. and that privilege was granted on
his giving up one instruction-day in the week. Mr.
Furnell, chairman of the Justices of Middlesex, was
called, and the court shortly afterwards adjourned.