The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-26 00:00:00

had failed to accomplish. This is the real fact of the
matter, and it is entirely false that women were fixed
upon and driven back into the burning houses, as it was
reported. The absurd rumours of women being shot by
soldiers have no foundation. The curd of the village,
who fled to Bouillon frantic with fear, is the cause of all
these sensational rumours and calumnies respecting the
conduct of the German troops. The cure, on his arrival,
seemed to have entirely lost his senses, and could only cry
out that they wanted to shoot him. have been able to
convince myself that the German iroops did all they
could to pacify and calm him, but it was of no avail—he
would listen to nothing, and continued his ravings.. I saw
one of the unfortunate inhabitants of Bazeilles upon the
ruins of his former dwelling. After having given him all
the money I had about me, I asked him if he bore any
enmity towards the Germans. He replied that they were
attacked, but he complained very much of the Franc-
tireurs having chosen a position in the village and of their
having fired upon the German troops.

THE BISHOP OF ORLEANS ON THE WAR.
Mgr. Dupanloup writes to a friend on the present crisis
in France :—" A month ago I expressed my horror of
war, and also, alas ! my confidence in the suocess of the
French arms. You may well believe that I shed bitter
tears for the grief and humiliation of France. If I de-
nounced war a
,month ago I do so with a thousand fold
more energy to-day. I do so in the name of the outraged
heavens, the bleeding earth, the human fraternity that is
trampled under foot ; but do not think I shall give way
to a feeling of discouragement. We do not know how
much love we have for our country until days like the
present ones come upon us. Let France be dearer than
ever to us now that she is in trouble, and let us seek to
discover the source of her injuries. I do not
wish in this place to make any reference to
politics ; but for the sake of my country I cannot
endure to have it said that our enemies possess all the
virtues, beeause at great expense they have succeeded in
turning their country into an arsenal or a camp. We
must remember the words of an illustrious queen, the
mother of the present King of Prussia--` I believe in God.
I do not believe in force : justice alone is stable.' Victory
is very intoxicating, but let the conquerors beware, be-
cause there is always a period in human affairs when God
reserves to himself the right to act. During this century,
France passed beyond her just limit, and had bitter cause
for repentance, for the greatness of her misfortunes
equalled the greatness of her triumphs. Should Europe
refuse.to hear the illustrious statesman who has under-
taken to inform her that in this instance political advantages
are on the side of outraged humanity, she will find toolate
that she has bequeathed to future days a long series of
wars. As to the conqueror, should he prove unworthy of
his good fortune, and turn a deaf ear to the cry for peace,
the malediction of all civilised nations will come upon him.
Experience has shewn that the vcc VietoribusQf Providence
is more fully manifested in the history of nations than
the Vce victis of the barbarians, and if his great age pre-
vent him from witnessing it, his sous will see it after
_ _

him. In reviewing the history of other days, I find that
when Queen Louise, of Prussia, had the celebrated inter-
view with Napoleon, he asked her what had induced her
people to make war on him, to which she replied,. ' The
glory of the great Frederic led us astray concerning our
power, and we were mistaken !' This exactly corresponds
with our history of 1870. We also, Frenchmen, have
deceived ourselves. and the glory of our arms has led us
astray. Many years afterwards she wrote to her father
some memorable words, which I take the liberty of re-
calling to the memory of the King of Prussia. She said,
He who will not exercise moderation, and is blinded by
success, loses his equilibrium and does not act in accord-
ance with eternal laws.' I would also recall to the mind
of France the history of Prussia, in case she should be too
discouraged. What is perishing in France at this moment
is not the nation, and if anything is conquered it is our
weakness ,and our infatuation. We can only raise our-
selves on two conditions—those of truth and virtue. At
this solemn hour it is the duty of the nation to ask itself
why God has subjected it to the trial? We had all left
off speaking the truth, and above all we had omitted the
practice of virtues, an extravagant desire for luxury
had pervaded all classes, and though the evil
was recognised the torrent Pursued its ,nurse. France
wac not intended to corrupt the world, but to enlighten
and civilise it. I say this, that if we are declining, it is
not because we are Catholics, but because we are not
enough so. We have neither the faith nor the stern dis-
cipline of our fathers, and for too long a period impiety
and immorality have taken root in our consciences
and characters. While I write these lines a last attack has
been made in favour of the humiliation of France and
her universal abandonment. Rome is invaded and the
t'ope is despoiled. Let not our faith be affected, for God
will not forsake His Church. I have said enough : the
time has not yet come for telling all the great truths
while the hour for the performance of great duties sounds
as a tocsin. The Parisians are mounting the ramparts,
while I, who can only accompany them with my sym-
pathy, will pray for them in this old French city which
preserves the free standard of Joan of Arc."

GENERAL WIMPFFEN ON THE SURRENDER
OF SEDAN.

General Wimpffen has written a reply to the letter of

the aides-de-camp of the Emperor Napoleon. A number
of journals having published a letter from the aides-de-
camp of the Emperor, the General feels himself compelled
to notice it. The note sent to the Emperor by the Staff
Captains St. Naouer and de Lapeowvelle was as follows:
—" Sire, I have ordered General Lebrun to attempt to
force a passage through the enemy's lines in the direction
of Carignan. I have directed General Ducrot to support
this movement, and General Douay to cover the retreat.
Let your Majesty take a place among your soldiers. They
will be proud to open a passage for you! In
sending this notice to the Emperor the object
of the General was to spare him the necessity
of being made a prisoner, and to take advantage of the
prestige of the Emperor's name in order to insure a com-
bined movement of the troops. The Emperor did not
agree to this proposal, and unknown to General Wimpffen
he caused the white flag to be hoisted, at the same time
sending one of his officers with a flag of truce. The white
flag was kept up in spite of the general's protestations,
and his refusal to negotiate. The enemies' flags of truce
were received at the Imperial quarters. All these acts,
which are in the province of the commander-in-chief,
spoiled the execution of the last offensive movements.
It is, therefore, not correct to say that the general was
not interferred with in his management, and in the orders
which he gave. It was a feeling of etiquette
which prevented him in his letter of resigna-
tion from specifying the motive of his refusal
to sign the armistice. He did not undertake the
office of negotiator until he had read the honourable reply
of his Majesty. The general's aides-de-camp were
justified in saying that there never had been any difference
of opinion between the Emperor and the general, and the
general took leave of his Majesty with great regret. The
only document which General Wimpffen has drawn up
about the operations of the war, is the official report of
the battle which has been addressed to the Minister, and
reproduced in several journals. This letter is dated Cam-
statt, the 19th of September.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS.—The ninth annual regatta of
the Empire City Rowing Club was witnessed on the East
River, opposite Harlem, on the afternoon of the Gth of
September, and was chiefly noticeable in consequence of
the appearance of the five young oarswomen, who con-
tested in single scull boat-race on the occasion. A very
large crowd was attracted to the scene. The start of the
competitors was made about five o'clock, amidst the most
lively excitement. Miss Amelia Sheehan, the
daughter of a gentleman at Ward's Island, was
the first one of the contending party to arrive at the
starting-point. She was dressed in a loose white flannel
shirt, cut Marie Antoinette style in front, with a short
red petticoat and pantalettes. Her head was covered
with a jauntry, tight skull-cap, made of white muslin
and trimmed with blue riband, her hair falling down in
two long braids at the back. The costume was a pic-
turesque one, and displayed the large and splendid physique
of the wearer to fine advantage. She was pronounced to
be the heaviest and most muscular of the five competi-
tors. Her weight was given at 140 pounds, her age being
19 years. Her comely, fair complected face, and the
magnificent position which she maintained in her boat,
won her many admirers. She seemed accustomed to
handling the oars, and used them in a very expert manner.
Miss Olivia Roberts, aged 17, the daugheer of Mr.
Stephen Roberts, the boat-builder, was one of her
rivals. The latter was a blonde, and wore a light
dress, her head being uncovered. She weighed 110
pounds. Miss. Mary Kyle, of Harlem, aged 19 years,
daughter of Kyle, the boat-builder, and another of the
oars-women, was also attired in a light dress, over which
she wore a red Zouave jacket. A small blue turban com-
pleted her dress. Her weight was about 115 pounds. The
other two contestants included Miss M. Walton, of
North Brother Island, East River, and Miss Annie
Williams, of Staten Island. Both of the latter were
dressed in ordinary street dresses. The race was rowed
in 17ft. boats, the course being three miles in length. It
was won by iss Sheehan in 23 minutes. Miss Walton
was second.—New York Times:,

SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS.

NEWCASTLE, SATURDAY.
The event of chief interest to-day was the address of
Dr. Lyon Playfair, M.P., President of the Education
Department. This was a masterly production, and was
delivered to a crowded audience in the Town-hall. Dr.
Playfair said :—For thirty years efforts have been made
to bring the State into proper relations with the education
of the people, but they have been-unsuccessfal on account
of the conflicting interests and jealousies of religious
bodies. The churches charged with the promotion of
religious sentiment among the laity thought naturally
that they should impose upon themselves the educa-
tion of the people, in order to advance their moral
and religious welfare. But the want of union among
churches led to a discordant action in the means
employed, and though much was accomplished by
voluntary zeal, still no common national system of educa-
tion was evolved from these ecclesiastical cures. Hence,
while other nations in Europe have spread primary and
secondary education in well organised systems throughout
their lands, England had not even laid the foundation
stone of a national system till the present year. The
Act which passed last Session deals with the quantity
of education, but not with its quality. Perhaps tha
first was a great enough question to deal with on one
occasion. Still the number of schools in a country is
of small consequence as compared with the nature of
the education given in them, just as the number of bottles
in a cellar matters little if the wine be bad. Under
these circumstances near with me in discussing the
subject of quality in our schools,-even if I appear in the
light of the uncommonly candid friend whose indication of
one's faults is generally not soothing. In education, as in
everything else, our position is not of our own making ;
for our experience, our conceptions, and our prejudices,
have descended to us by inheritance. Accordingly, we
find that our present system is very much of an eccle-
siastical inheritance. It is needless to go so far back as
the days of monasteries, when excellent schools were
attached to them, often for the political purpose of
raising the middle-classes as allies to the church
in resisting the power and encroachment of the nobles.
These were grand old schools, but they represented
our Etons, Harrows, and Rugbys, rather than the
elementary schools with which we are dealing.
The latter are the growth of modern times, and were
raised by churches, which naturally thought that the
chief preparation of man ought to be for the future, and
that the school, like the church, was intended for his eter-
nal, not his temporal, condition. The original idea of the
Church, if it could have given a fair amount of considera-
tion to the temporal condition of man in comparison with
his eternal state, was to educate him in correlation to his
work and condition of life • The same idea is manifested
whenever the State, in olden times, interested itself in
education. The ancient laws of apprenticeship were in
fact laws of education. Only the State reversed the pro-
cess followed by the Church, and thought of man's tem-
poral condition first, and of his eternal state afterwards.
The State took up all vagrant boys, and sent them, by con*
pulsion, to a farmer or blacksmith, or a shoemaker, first to
follow the plough, to hammer iron, or make shoes as their
chief end, and to learn the ten commandments as a supple-
ment. The State had no idea that education was worth
much, unless it fitted a man for his work in life. The
first direct compulsory law relating to education in this
kingdom, that I have met with in my studies, was passed
by James IV., of Scotland, in 1494. He ordained that
all sons of freeholders and barons should go to school
under penalty, and that their eldest sons, who were -to
have the estates, should, after their preliminary education
attend three years at a school of laws, in order that they
might administer, discernedly and wisely, justices' justice
to the-poor folk of the realm. It is a pity that thin com-
pulsory law does not still exist for eldest sons! You see in it the
idea that education should .be adapted to the work of life
Professor Playfair, alluding to the benefits of the Prussian
system of education, said that knowledge is as important
as valour in modern combats. The educational principle
of continental nations is to link on primary schools to
secondary improvement schools. The links are always
composed of higher subjects, the three R's being in all
eases the mere basis of instruction. Elementary science,
and even some of its applications, is uniformly encouraged
and generally enforced. I , shall not detain you with
examples, as they are to be found in any work treating of
continental schools. But as we have no schools corres
ponding to the secondary improvement schools for the
working classes, we suppose that we can do without the
higher subjects used as links. With what results? Our
primary schools, oh the whole, do not teach higher instruc-
tion than a child of eight years of age may learn. In
our class of life, our children acquire such knowledge as a
beginning ; with the working classes they get it as an
end. What an equipment for the battle of life ! No
armour plate of knowledge is given to our future artisan.
but a mere thin veneer of the three R's, so thin as to rub
off completely in three or, four years' wear and tear of
life. So, under our present system of elementary
teaching, no knowledge whatever bearing on the life
work of the people reaches them by our system of
State education. The air they breathe, the water they
clink, the tools they use, the plants they grow, the
mines they excavate, might all be made subjects of sur-
passing interest and importance to them during their
whole life ; and yet of these they learn not one fact.
There are terrible mistakes made in the training of
children. The whole yearnings of a child are for the
natural phenomena around until they are smothered by
the ignorance of the parent. He is a young Linnaeus
roaming over the fields in search of flowers. He is a young
conchologist or mineralogist gathering shells or pebbles on
the sea shore. He is an ornithologist, and goes bird-nest-
ing ;an icthyologist, and catches fish. Glorious education
in nature, all this, if the teacher knew how to direct and
utilise it. But as soon as the child comes into the school.
room all natural God born instincts are to be crushed out
of him ; he is to be trained out of all natural sympathies
and affections. You prune and trim, cramp and bind the
young intellect, as gardeners in olden times did trees and
shrubs, till they assumed monstrous and grotesque
forms, altogether different from the wide spread-
ing foliage and clustering buds, which God him-
self gave to them, and which man is idiot
enough to think he can improve. Do not suppose that
I wish the primary school to be a lecture theatre for all or
any of the ologies." All the science which would be
necessary to give a boy a taste of the principles involved
in his calling, and an incitement to pursue them in his
future life, might be given in illustration of other subjects.
Instead of mere descriptive geography drearily taught and
drearily learned, you might make it illustrative of history,
and illustrated by physical geography, which, in the
hands of a real master, might be made to embrace most of
what we desire to teach. The properties of air and water,
illustrations of natural history, varieties of the human
race, the properties of the atmosphere as a whole—its
life-giving virtues when pure, and its death dealings when
fouled by man's impurities—the natural products of dif-
ferent claims, these and such like teachings are what you
could introduce with telling and useful effect. Think of
the few precious hours as the training for a whole life-
time, and let us use them by giving living and intelligent
learning, and not obsolete and parrot instruction. If you
bring up a ploughman in utter ignorance of anything re-
lating to the food of plants, of every mechanical principle
of farm implements, of the weather to which he is ex-
posed, of the sun that shines upon him and makes the
plants to grow, of the rain which, while it. drenches
him, refreshes the crops around, is that ignorance con-
ducive to his functions as an intelligent being made
after: the image of Him, who has done all things wisely ?
Those of us who have passed middle life recollect the
chronic state of misery and poverty in the Scilly Islands,
off the coast of Cornwall. In such a wretched condition
were they that the inhabitants were only preserved from
starvation during the winter months by constant contri-
butions from the main land. Now we never hear cries of
distress from these islands, and for what reason ? In 1834
Mr. Smith, who became their proprietor, undertook their
improvement. He abolished the cottar system, consoli-
dated holdings, founded good schools under a compulsory
system of his own, and kept them up to the mark by
constant inspection. He did not content himself with
the three R's, but directed the instructions towards the
occupations of an insular people. History, geography,
the rudimentsof mathematics, and navigation were taught
to the children. And with what result ! So much
esteemed are the youths of the Scilly Islands as sailors
that vessels sometimes stop there to procure them, and very
frequently they rise to be mates and masters, Pauperism
has vanished from the islands, so that it is difficult to find any
of its population poor enough to accept the alms offered in
the Communion Service. The well-educated population
shew a disposition to pass to the main land, for they are
much appreciated there, and receive high wages. But all
this is as it should be, and Mr. Smith deserves our thanks
for having preserved to us an example of what the Govern-
ment intended to do, but failed to accomplish, viz., to
direct the subject matter of education to the ,occupations
of the people. The great advantages of directing educa-
tion towards the pursuits and occupations of the people,
instead of wasting it on dismal verbalism, is that, while it
elevates the individual, it at the same time gives security
for the future prosperity of the nation. In the industrial
battles of peoples, we are content to leave our working
classes armed with the old Brown Bess of warfare, while
men of other countries are arming themselves with modern
weapons of precision. In the competition of nations, the
two factors of industry—raw material and intellect
applied to its conversion into utilities—are altering their
values. • The first is rapidly decreasing, the second
quickly augmenting in value. We anchor our
hopes on the sand, which the advancing tide of
knowledge is washing away, while other nations
throw out their anchors on firm ground accumulating
around, and enabling their vessels to ride in safety.
Physical training of the young is a subject of national
importance, scarcely less weighty than their intellectual
training. In Prussia and Switzerland, where militias are
now more important than standing armies, an increasing
value is attached to gymnastic training in their schools.
Efficient school instruction, with good physical training,
shortens by a year a man's military service in some of the
German States. This is wise and easy to be understood.
When military drill is thrown into schools, as in the
Hibernian Academy, the Chelsea School, some of the
Union Schools, and the Middle-class Corporation Schools
in London, an important national result is secured, for the
scholars are habituated, at the most plastic period of
their life, to soldierly obedience and exercises which will
induce them, even when they go into trades and occupations
to join the volunteer or militia services of the country!
Speaking of the effects of the last Reform Bill Dr.
Playfair said : The right of suffrage has for its corollhry
the duty of instruction. You cannot give political power
to a people and allow them to remain ignorant. That
would be the political suicide of a nation. The people,
in all their grades, are surrounded and imbued with the
prejudices acquired in their upbringing, either
from their parents or those around them. An
uneducated . people is like a nation one or two genera-
tions back in its history. It is unable to grasp the
ideas of the age in which it lives, and is powerless to
shake itself free from the prejudices which the
progress of thought has proved to be dangerous
errors. They are unable to do so, as they cannot
take possession of the 'inheritance of intellectual wealth
accumulated by their predecessors; for they do not know
how to read the books forming the testament by which it