The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-28 00:00:00

THE CABINET COUNCIL.-(TATS DAY.)

The Cabinet Ministers assembled this afternoon for
deliberation on the action to be taken on the Russian
answer, but up to the time of going to press we have not
heard of any decision that may have been arrived at.

(CRNTRAL PRESS TELEGRAMS.)
SIR STAFFORD NORTHOOTE ON THE ELEMEN

TARY EDUCATION ACT.

A meeting was held at Tiverton on Saturday to con-
sider the Elementary Education Act. Sir Stafford
Northcote, Bart., M.P., presided. He said the question
of elementary education had for a long time presented a
good deal of difficulty to the country, and for many years
there had been a sort of easy consciousness amongst pub-
lic men, but something of a national character ought to
be done to promote the education of the masses. At the
same time had it not been for the voluntary exertions of
those who had taken an interest in this question, we should
have been in a very different position with regard to it
than we are at present. What they found was that for the
last thirty or forty years great and very successful
exertions had been made to establish what they now re-
cognised as a voluntary system of education upon the
basis of voluntary efforts and management, assisted, how-
ever, and to some extent superintended, by the State; and
so far as it had been carried, that system had worked
exceedingly well. But the time had now come when in
the opinion of many, and in his opinion as well, something
more was required to extend and develope the voluntary
scheme, and if necessary to provide some other plan to
promote the education of the masses. It was not intended,
however, by the new Act to educate on the old system,
but to add to its sphere of usefulness, and to provide foz
the educational wants of those poor districts which had
hitherto been neglected in consequence of their popu
lotion being unable to support the desirable means
of imparting knowledge to those who needed instruction.
The present measure, he thought, had been conceived by
Parliament in a praiseworthy spirit ; and the only fault
of any great importance, of which he felt it his duty to
complain, was of the clause which excluded religious
teaching in schools erected and managed by
school boards, in districts where the voluntary
system was impracticable. It was the provision of this
principle which led him to hope that everywhere if
possible in this, and other dioceses, the clergy and laity,
would work heart and soul for the furtherance of the cause
of the voluntary system.

A MURDEROUS ATTACK ON A SCHOOL

MASTER.

A murderous attack was made upon Mr. Christian
Fleuck, master and conductor of a flourishing boarding
and day school in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, on Friday
evening, during the absence of his wife, as he was sitting
alone in his room. A resident tutor, named Houshiau.
has been arrested on suspicion. Mr. Christian Fleuck has
since died from the effects of the wounds inflicted upon

PUBLIC BANQUET TO MR. BASS, M.P.
A public dinner was given to Mr. Bass, the senior
M.P. for Derby, in that town, on Saturday night, for the
purpose of presenting his portrait to the Mayor and Cor-
poration. The presentation was made in commemoration
of Mr. Bass's long connection with that town, and his
beneficent gifts of a public playground and swimming-
baths to the inhabitants. The usual complimentary
toasts having been honoured, the presentation was made.
Mr. Bass remarking that he had far more pleasure in
giving than the inhabitants of that town had in receiving
his two Dre_au.t.i... •

A BELLIGERENT CREW AT GRIMSBY.
The German schooner Alicia, which has fallen a prize to
the French fleet, was brought up in the Humber on Satur-
day morning, about a mile from Grimsby harbour,having a
French crew on board, commanded by Captain Bouzo.
She was captured on the ith inst. by the Hermitte, de-
spatch boat, attached to the French fleet. The schooner
was from Bremen, in ballast, destination unknown. Her
crew except the master, were taken off as prisoners. The
prize crew endeavoured to get her to Dunkerque, but
failed. Falling short of provisions, they went to Grimsby
to replenish, but received notice to leave English waters
in twenty-four hours. They managed to secure
provisions.

A FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.
A fatal accident occurred on Saturday at Camborne, on
the West Cornwall Railway. A guard named Drew was
in charge of a mineral train, and whilst shunting at Carn
Brea, near Camborne, it is supposed he attempted to
jump off, and got caught between the wheels, which went
over his thigh, and dragged him along for some distance.
lie was extricated, and medical aid was summoned. Ho
lived for nearly four hours afterwards, and then died.
The body was fearfully mangled, but Thew was sensible
till death.

DEATH OF ARCHDEACON HALE.
We regret to announce the death of the Venerable
William Hale Hale, Archdeacon of London. For some
time past the Archdeacon had been in failing health, and
a few days ago serious symptoms presented themselves, to
terminate fatally shortly after two o'clock yesterday
morning at the Master's Lodge, Charterhouse. With
the Charterhouse the memory of the late Archdeacon was
intimately linked. He became preacher there in 1323,
and Master in 1842. To all old as well as present Carthu
sians his death will be a personal grief. The venerable
Archdeacon was in his T6th year.

ALEXANDRA PARK PRIZE ESSAYS.—The Wood
green committee have seemed the services of Mr. Samuel
Carter Hall, E.S.A., editor of the Art Journal ; Mr,
Blanchard Jerrold, editor of Lloyd's Weekly News ; and
Mr. Henry J. Slack, editor of the Weekly Times, to assist
them in the selection of the prize essays. The essays
must be sent to Basil Ringrose, Esq., M.D., honorary
secretary, at Wood-green, to-morrow.
This (Monday) evening a paper will be read at a
meeting of the Social Science Association, Adam-street,
Adelphi, by Mr. Ernest Hart, on "Medical Organisation
in time of of War." The chair will be taken by Colonel
Loyd Lindsay, M.P.
A special morning performance will be given al
Drury-lane Theatre on Wednesday, December 14, in aid
of the fund now being raised for the benefit of the widows
and orphans of the officers and seamen lost in H.M. late
ship Captain.
SPOLLEOE OF PRECEPTORS.—A. meeting of the
Council of this Corporation was held on Saturday last.
Mr. J. Ogle, of St. Clere, Sevenoaks, and Mr. G. Ma-
conachie, M.A., Head-Master of the Jews' College,
London, were elected members of the Council, and Mr.
G. W. Tuck, of Devizes-road, Salisbury, was elected a
member of the College.
The stipendiary magistrate of Sheffield, Mr.
Davis, has set a good example by announcing his inten-
tion to punish severely all pawnbrokers who take pledges
from children. The practice is not confined to Sheffield,
the Act of Parliament being notoriously violated in all
the large towns in the kingdom.
Arrangements have been made for giving a com-
plimentary dinner, on Thursday evening next, to William
Holyoake, Esq., by the students of the Royal Academy,
for the purpose of presenting him with a testimonial on
his resignation of the curatorship of the Painting School
of that institution. It will take place at Simpson's Hotel,
Strand. The chair will be taken by Valentine Prinsep,
Esq., and a number of gentlemen eminent in art and lite-
rature will be present. The arrangements are in the
hands of a committee, with Mr. Horace H. Canty, of
Campden Hill, as hon. secretary.