The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 18, 1870.

and there would be surprise in .many quarters that METROPOLITAN iOSSIF—Feb. 17.
Government had adopted it. If they wanted to

establish that principle they
beyond public opinion—not
public meetings, but of worki

districts. Mr. FORSTER wisely proposes to do away
with the present wasteful system of maintaining
different staffs of inspectors for the different
charities, and every school receiving Government
aid will be put under undenomivational inspection,
while it must consent to the Conscience Clauie of
the Bill. It may fairly be said that on the whole the
Education Bill last night submitted to the !louse
was worthy of the occasion, and reflected honour
alike on those who framed its provisions and thos.!
who accorded to them a hearty welcome. Mr.
FORSTER has long laboured iu this great work, and

he must last night have felt that he fully realised the

drt tuns and anticipations of years in presenting, from
the Treasury Benches, a comprehensive scheme of

popular education. The measure is one which is
rational in its character, and of mighty import in
its bearings. It has long been the standing
reproach to England that her people were
far behind other nations in point of intellectual cul-
ture and training ; they were willing to struggle with
all their might and main in the race for gold, but they
allowed other and far meaner competitors to win the
prize of knowledge. Let us hope that all this is about
to change, and that to a Reformed Parliament and
a pacified Ireland, we may shortly add that last, not
least, a striking improvement has taken place in the
character and condition of English education.
The discussion of this Education Bill will possess
au advantage over the consideration of many
measures, for it is one in the principles
of which all parties may agree, and the
carrying out of its provisions may reflect
equal credit on both sides of the House, and on
members of every varying shade of politics. Libe-
rals and Conservatives are alike agreed as to the
necessity of educatiou, and as they recognise its vast
importance, so let them join in earnestness and
good faith to secure the b:essings of instruction to
the poor and the outcast. They will have the satis-
faction of knowing that their zeal cannot be aroused
n vain, nor their toil misspent in such a service, and
that long after they are gone to their rest future
generations shall reap what they now sow. The legis-
lators of the future will find their work in this
respect a much easier one, for the battle is now
with the ignorant children of untaught persons, but
when the victory over perversity and prejudice has
been won, the greatest difficulty will have been sur-
mounted. The details of the scheme which was last
night brought forward will bring hope and satisfac-

tion to the minds of many; and the patriot, the
philanthropist, and the politici ►u may rejoice in uni-
son at the prospect, so full of promise, which is I,ut
before them. While with one han.l we open tl.e
gates of instruction which will lead to honour, and

incite to virtuous pursuits with the other, we way bo
said to close, with corresponding force, the approach
to the haunts of iufa:ny and crime, by which ignor-

auce is so Inoue to cuter.

It has long beet, acknowledged by statesmen and
social reformers that our Metropolitan Pauperism has
assumed gigantic proportions. It has become almost
a matter of course to grumble at the rates, to deplore
the thriftlessnes3, and intemperance, and ignorance
which are such ail-powerful and indefatigable
reciuitieg sergeants for the pauper army. The
condition of our workhouses has been one of
our standing- social horrors, which every one admits
to be a national disgrace, but which it is nobody's
business to deal with ; and, in fact, the whole ques-
t tion of Pauperism, b •ing neither politically exciting
nor personally profitable, has been allowed to stana
over for amore convenient opportunity.
• e Unhappily the qu s ion is not one that beats
this complacent and isdolsut method of handling. It
is very Convenient, fir the orator, the journalist,
and the essayist to have a standard topic on h,n.l to
point a moral or inspire an article when diplomacy
i 3 idle and Ministerial crises at a discount. But
we have to do, net with Parli inientary Blue Books
and parChinent treaties, bit with living men and
women,•when the su"ject claiming our attention in-
volves not the rate of commercial profits, or the poli-
tical status of this or that householder, but die food
and clothing, and shelter of sentient and suffering
human beings like ourselves. The pauperism of
London is a problem which refuses to wait fur its
solution until the theories of political economists and
the aspirations of philosophers can find some tangible
form which shall realise all possible requirements.
We have postponed its consideration, we have thrust
it aside. we have turusd resolutelyaway from the con-
templation of its grim and ghastlyleatures, and wh
is the result ? A long-coutinuA season of almos
unparalleled depression of trade and stagnation of
labour, during which the labouring classes have ex-
hausted their credit and their resources, has been fol-
lowed by weather exceptionally sharp and severe.
Wealthy and kindly Englishmen cannot take up
their daily paper without the awful words, "Death
from starvation," "Death from want," "Painful case
of destitution !" meeting their eye. On Wednesday
four inquests were held in London on persons who
had perished from absolute lack of the necessaries of
life during •the extreme cold. Not many days since
Mr. HumeHßEvs, one of the coroners for Middlesex,
held five similar inquests. The deaths of this
class are growing so common that they have
to be dealt with in batches. Perhaps soon our
civilisation may grow so advanced that no
inquest will be needed at all, but starvation
will be one of the regular headings in the mortality
tables ! The very coroners who conduct the in-
quiries, accustomed as they are to painful and shock..
ing investigations, stand appalled at the revelations.
Men, women, and children struggling on in the midst
of this wealthy city without bread, without clothing,
without bedding, without fire. Sometimes the tragedy
is varied hya suicide. Some miserable creature, finding
his existence intolerable, cuts it short by a few hours,
and the verdict is a little varied, but the real cause is
the same througliout. It may be sail, Why do not
the sufferers apply to the workhouse? But in many
cases they do so apply, but cannot get enough to
hold body and soul together. A whip maker at the
East Eud, who was one of the subjects
of inquiry on Wednesday, had been discharged from
an asylum, and receive.l ls. a week from the
parish. There are thousands of such cases. Two
shillings, half-a-crown, evea three and sixpence a
week will hardly pay rent and get fire and food this
weather. Yet what are the guardians to do? Even
if the people were willing to come into the House,
they cannot all come in unless we want to vary our
inquests on starvation cases after the fashion of St.
Pancras Infirmary. The fact is, we have left the
miseries of our fellows too long unnoticed, for
from whatever cause they sprang, be it ignorance, or
drunkenness, or social extravagance, or deficient
laws, it was our duty to have boldly invt sigated it.
Now we would aid if we could, but we hardly know
how. 1 here is no i.nposition in the a retchedhe s that
dies by t he wayside, no need to stay the hand in relieving
the shruoken and wasted form in the fireless garre'.
The distress speaks hint-Tot-tongue I in our streets,
and the question of how it is to be dealt with is one
that demands the prompt attention of the Legisla-
ture and c ;u.itry. If we neglect it Lather we shall
rue that neglect. Let Englishmen remember the
warnings of a living American poet who years ago
fearlessly reproved his countrymen for tolerating the
horrors of slavery :

" If man before his duty
With a listless spirit stands,
Ere loug the great Avenger
Takes the work out of his hands."

must not go one jot jSeveral Of the iournals has noticed that during Mr.
Gladstone's speech on Wednelay there were not so many
the opinion alone cf M.P.'s present as there have seen on other less important
ug men in the several occasions. The attendance, ,owever, was very large, and
the Members' galleries were nusually full. Some vacant
seats there were among the conservatives on the floor of
the House, but these vacacies were due to the fact
that a large number of 7onservative Irish M.P.'s
were in Ireland attending the Church Convention.
The rest of the House was something more than
full. Even in the peers' gallry there was not a vacant
seat, and three members of thl Royal Family were present ;
the Duke of Cambridge, Pince Christian, and Prince
Teck. Next to the Duke sat Earl de Grey, and perhaps
the two peers were more inteusted in Mr. Cardwell's most
lame exposition on army ref rm than in Mr. Gladstone's
land bill. Lord Cairns sat inmediately behind the Presi-
dent of the Council. He had chosen to run the
dek of being in England during this bitter cold
weather rather than lose the opportunity of hearing the
Ministerial scheme, and conferring upon it with his
followers. He will remsin in England until the end of the
week, and will then, it i 4 expected, leave for Mentone. In
We absence Lord Derby will lead the House of Lords, and
so prepare the way for :eking over the formal leadership,
probably after Easter. There is not the smallest probability
of any serious oppositks to the Land Bill. True, an Irish
tea room party has been formed, and a circular has
been sent round to the Nationalist M.P.'s, inviting their
attendance to criticise the measure. But of course they
will be able to do nothirg. The success of the Cave four
years ago arose from the union of its denizens with the
Conservatives. We all know the result, and even Mr.
Disraeli will not be able to repeat the experiment, will
not be able to educate his party to resist this moderate
measure in order to obtain perpetuity of tenure.
Mr.
_Gladstone's speech was one of his very finest
efforts. It was a real work of art, and he
had the wit to see when he had given the House
as much detail as it could take in, and to pass on to his
magnificent peroration. There were one or two incidents
worth noticing. The very delicate compliment to Napo-
leon raised cheering i.em all, pests of the House. So did
the declaration against fixity of tenure, and loud and pro-
longed were the " hear, If6ars " when Mr. Gladstone
deprecated the idea of increasing • the class of
loungers who are possessed of wealth but of nothing
else. On one occasion there was a very ludicrous
incident which would have disturbed a less accustomed
orator, but did not interrupt Mr. Gladstone for one
moment. He had remarked that the sun of prosperity
was beginning to shine upon Ireland, when a squeaking
voice on the left side of the House uttered a most dolorous
" Hear, hear." The effect was itresistible. There were
shouts of laughter, and nowhere were they louder than
just behind the Treasury bench. I was very much
struck by the effect which the reading of Mr, Bright's letter
produced. This letter' stated that, in the opinion of the
writer, the bill was wise and moderate, and the announce-
ment was received with evident satisfaction, as the opinion
of one whose judgment had weight. Four years ago the
bare suspicion that Mr. Bright had some share in recom-
mending the £7 franchise was sufficient to convince the
country squires that that franchise was revolutionary.
Another point which struck me was that a consi-
derable portion of the House of Commons are verypractical
men indeed. As soon as Mr. Gladstone had finished
detailing the provisions of his measure several M.P.'s
arose and left the House in order to dine. They would
not stop and listen to the peroration ; for if they love
eloquence at all, they love a comfortable dinner better.
Lastly, when Mr. Gladstone sat down his voice was as
clear as a bell. He had spoken from 4.59 to 8.3
o'clock, and yet he seemed no more weary than he was
when he began to speak.
The Irish Land Bill was published this morning. It
consists of thirty-two pages, five parts, sixty-eight clauses,
and a schedule of twelve clauses for conducting arbitra-
tions. The last clause of the bill is very short, and I sus-
pect will prove only very temporary. It runs : " This
Act shall apply to Ireland only." lam inclined to think
that Welsh tenants will have a word or two to say on that
point. The recent political evictions have so exasperated
these tenants against their landlords that they will not be
long in demanding the remedy which is to be bestowed
upon Ireland. Mr. Watkin Williams has given notice of
a motion to disestablish the Welsh Church ; but it is long
odds that we see the Irish Land Bill applied to Wales
before the Irish Church Bill.
It is to be hoped that constituencies in search of a Libe-
ral candidate will remember the conduct of Sir Sydney
Waterlow, who, by his perverse obstinacy in going to the
poll when he had not a chance of success, kept out the
candidate of the working classes, and lost the seat to the
Liberal yarty. Without looking at the incident from
the party point of view, the affair will appear a most un
fortunate fiasco. Mr. Odger is perhaps the only working-
class candidate who had any, 'chance, of getting into the
House, and Southwark was one of the few boroughs which
would have accepted such' a candidate. Moreover, by
withdrawing from the contest at Chelsea, and so securing
both seats in that borough to the Liberals, he had a claim
upon the party which they ought to have remembered.
On the other hand, Sir Sydney Waterlow belongs to that
City-knight class of whoni the House already possesses a
plethora, and whose presence was by no means neceesaey to
its welfare. Nevertheless he persisted in going to the poll,
and with what result all the world knows. True he retired
at two o'clock, but by that time the battle was lost, and
it is no secret that a large number of the stationer's
friends had determined to withhold their votes until the
close of the day, in order that if the contest lay between
Mr. Odger and Colonel Beresford, they might support the
second. " Colonel " Beresford is a colonel of volunteers,
and lives in St. John's Wood. He is the first Conser-
vative candidate who ever sat for the constituency. If
the working men are wise, they will go on dividing the
Liberal interest until the rich citizens abate some of their
class selfishness, and allow the working class a share of
the representation. Generosity and self-denial have no
effect upon the shopocracy ; it must nowbe forced by fear of
os ing seats for its party to yield what it will not yield
voluntarily.
It chanced that while the Liberals were losing a seat at
Southwark, they were gaining one at Bridgnorth. This
,tly by his nephew
at the
(w
has been held for a long time by the Conservative party.
eartyth her ad beenar sold b
than that of the
disgusty
burgesses of
Mr. Whitmore, the late Conservative whip, partly be-
causehos ethreepAreeseelneytaptirvoep?
Bridgnorth, he really was),and partly
tactics of his chiefs, has thrown up parliamentary life,
and resigned his seat. It was taken, without even a con-
test, by a young Liberal, the son of the well-knownchairman
of committees.
Mr. Cardwell's army reform scheme is likely to give a
good deal of dissatisfaction. Considering the vigour with
which the chiefs of the spending departments dismiss the
lowest class of employes, they shew a remarkable readiness
to constitute new posts. Many persons have been puzzled
to know what Captain Vivian can have to do at the War
Office, except read the papers and smoke cigars. That
he should require two newofficials tohelp him to accomplish
those duties, puzzles people who have hearts soft enough
to feel for the Devonport dockyardsmen, dismissed before
even their pension papers were given them.
The benchers of the Middle TeMple have been very busy
for a fortnight past in hearing the facts relating to the
quarrel which has arisen out of the Overend and Gurney
prosecution. It will- be remembered that Mr. Dawson-
Yelverton offered Dr. Thom to undertake the case for
nothing, under certain conditions. Subsequently, there
was a grand quarrel, 'involving more or less
Dr. Thom, Mr. Dawson; Mr. Dawsen-Yelverton, Mr.
Macrae Moir, and Dr. Kenealy, and it was expected that
the two latter counsel would withdraw from the case.
They did threaten to do so, but afterwards were induced
to persevere with it. Then followed divers charges and
recriminations, and much angry correspondence and cita-
tions before the Benchers. But the only question which
has actually come before that tribunal is as to whether
Mr. Dawson-Yelverton did violate professional etiquette
by undertaking the case gratuitously. In the event of this
charge being proved, it is not supposed that Mr. Dawson-
Yelverton will be disbarred. He was called only last June,
and it will be assumed that he erred through inexperience.
This gentleman is the son of Mr. Dawson, a North Wales
attorney, and his mother was a Miss Yelverton, a mem-
ber of the Avonmore family, and therefore related to the
notorious Major Yelverton, the future Lord Avomnore.
One would not have supposed that anybody would be very
anxious to claim relationship with that person. Never-
theless young Mr. Dawson has chosen to append his
mother's name to his own. This lady has written a
very severe letter to Dr. Thom, in which she
applies to him Sir John Karslake's epithets "granitic and
adamantine," and speaks of her own noble family in terms
of pride. Mr. Dawson-Yelverton joined the Western Cir-
cuit, but he did not find it sufficiently genteel, and now
goes tho Oxford Circuit.
et is expected that only a portion of the contemplated
changes in the Law Courts will be carried out this year.
One change will be the reconstitution of the Court of
Appeal. It is anticipated that henceforth there Will be
only one of these courts. How the House of Lords will
like to be deprived of its -legal jurisdiction remains to be
wen. It is possible that Lord Hatherley may also intro-
duce a bill to enable the judges in one of the Common
Law courts to sit in any other of them. At the present
time there are more judges than are needed, and Baron
Bramwell spent the whole of last term on the Medi-
terranean and the Red Sea. Yet in the Court of Queen's
Bench there are never enough judges, for there is always
twice as much work there as in the other courts. Unfor-
tuately it is this very court which, by the death of Sir
George Hayes. • has been deprived of ()lie of its members.

This morning it is announced that Sir Alexander
Cockburn is prevented by illness from sitting. The large
reforms which Lord Cairns has been and is still elaborating,
will not in all probability be carried but 'before next
year.

There is great discontent among the young men who
have been reading for the Indian Civil Service. Suddenly
it has been announced that only half the usual number of
posts will be open to competition this year. It so happens
that there is an unusually large number of candidates,
between 500 and GOO, and only twenty-five of them can
succeed. This is really very hard, all the more because
the training for this service is a special one, and does not
greatly help in competition for other posts.
The new arrangements for supplying London with gas
are in a forward state. It will be remembered that in
consequence of certain proceedings in Parliament it was
determined to remove the Chartered Company's works
out of London. Subsequently it was resolved to amal-
gamate the City of London Company with the one first
mentioned. The carrying out of this intention allowed
the removal of the gas works near Blackfriars Bridg•
and the construction of the Thames Embankment.
Independently of that advantage, other benefits
have been obtained. A manufacture which is
both injurious to health and dangerous to public safety, is
removed from the midst of populous districts, and the
shareholders will find their incomes increased by the diminu-
tion of official salaries and other expenses. The new
" head-centre " of the gas manufacture is a spot of ground
150 acres in extent, opposite the Barking outfall of the
main sewer. The place is called Beckton, in honour of
Mr. Adam Beck, governor of the Chartered Company.
The retorts will be equal to the comsumption of 1,000 tons
per day, and the gasholders will hold 4,000,000 cubic feet
of gas. In addition, there will be gasholders in London,
holding 6,500,000 cubic feet. To conduct that supply into
London a 4-foot main, S miles long, is being laid down
from Beckton to the company's station at Brick-lane, not
far from Alders,gate-street. Thence it is carried down
Farringdon•street to Blackfriar's Bridge, and eventually
it will be taken along the Thames Embankment to West-
minster. An elegant iron bridge will carry the main
across the river Lea. Six steam cranes will be erected at
Beckton pier-head for unloading vessels. This pier will
be 718 ft. long.

lam sorry to say that r. T. NV. Robertson, the
dramatic author, is very seriously ill, and his frierads
greatly fear that he may not recover. For many years
this now well-known writer led a very struggling life, and,
indeed, was for some time in actual poverty. His wife,
who cheered him through his arduous struggles, died just
before he attained success ; and now that his " Home,"
" School," and other pieces, have brought him both fame
and profit, he is struck down with pulmonary disease.
Scholars will be glad to learn that a large portion of
Professor Jowett's translation of Plato is now actually in
type. Three volumes of the " Dialogues " are almost
ready. They contain, besides the translation, an intro-
ductory essay to each dialogue, and copious notes. It is
expected that the work will extend to seven volumes.
Admirers of Tennyson will be interested in learning that
in the beautiful little pocket edition of his works just
published, the famous line, " Some one had blundered "
has been restored to the " Charge of the Light Brigade."
This line appeared in the first edition but was struck out
from all subsequent ones until the present. Mr. A. J.
Church has written " Horn Tennysoniann," translations
of some of the Laureate's works into Latin. Mr. Thompson
Cooper, who writes the parliamentary sketches in the
Daily News, is preparing a new biographical
dictionary. Mr. Moy Thomas has for the present
discontinued his weekly articles in the same paper,
entitled "In the Recess." The same gentleman is just now
very busy in getting up the supplementary exhibition of
paintings in Old Bond-street, and has received promises
of support from many well-known artists. Mr.
Alfred Austin, author of " The Season," is
about to bring out " The Poetry of the Period,'
which will, I presume, be another attempt at satire
The Talmud seems to be exciting much attention now,
and Mr. J. Alexander has written a book upon the origin
of that work. Messrs. Chapman and Hall have nearly
ready the Arts of the Middle Ages and of the
Renaissance Period, by Paul Lacroix (Biblio-
phile Jacob) illustrated with nineteen chromo
lithographic plates and 400 woodcuts ; and Messrs. Samp-
son Low and Co. are publishing " Longleat," by Elleray
Lake, 3 vols.; " Kilmeny, " by the author of "In Silk
Attire ;" and " True to Herself," by the author of " Anne
Judge, Spinster." The New York, Daily Tribune is now
the property of a company, and the dividend for last year
was £27.000.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.