The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-30 00:00:00

to feel that the compensation of those miseries will
be in accordance with the dictates of a repentant ge-
nerosity and the impulses of a laudable emulation.

his Grace been connected with the cause of education

For the last fourteen years the Most Rev. Prelate has
been chiefly occupied with the introduction of na-
tional education into Ireland, which, he considers,

" will prove one of the greatest boons which has been
conferred by Government on any part of her MA-
JESTY'S dominions." This system has been made the
theme of much vituperation ; but, as explained by
the Archbishop, we are sure it will meet with merited
commendation :

" We do not undertake to teach the whole of their
religious belief, to give the whole of their religious edu-
lation to the children of different denomivations—be-
-,ause we could not possibly do that for all of them toge-
.her,_without violating the consciences of some of them.
We do not propose, therefore, to give a complete educa-
tion. The system is to leave to the parents of each child
he nligions education of that child, the .right of rtdi•
;ions education in that mode, be it right or wrong in my
)pinion, which they themselves think the best.—(Much
Aeering.) We gibe to the children jointly, and it"
'riendly intercourse with each other, all the instruction
which they can conscientiously receive together. Arid
,o much of that instruction, I am happy to say, con-
ists of the knowledge of sacred history, of those great
ruths of our common Christianity in which, thank
[leaven, we all agree, much as we differ upon other
coin ts."

This, as far as the principle is concerned on which
:he sys'tem is I.nied, seems to leave nothing to .be
lesirel His Grace subsequently remarked, in
terms of fervid elcquence, that it was not right to
orce upon children any religious instruction which
heir parents may disapprove :--
" I never can believe that the'Founder of our Religion,
who, when he was apprehended, and dragged away to an
ignoble death, declared that he could eall on more than
twelve legions of angels to his rescue, an who told his
wer zealous disciple to put his sword into his sheath
L never can believe that it was his intention or desire
hat his sacred word shou!d be forced upon any one
against his will, inclination, and conscience.

This language does honour to its author. We
,wish the whole bench of Bishops were equally en-
'arged in their views. However, a more enlightened
,pirit is beginning to animate the head's of the
Church, as was, in a great degree, evinced during the
last session of Parliament. We shall hope that the
sound advice tendered, and the excellent example set
them by the Archbishop of DUBLIN, will not be lost
,fight of by his episcopal compeers. The fulfilment of
`his hope would be the removal of one of the greatest

mpediments now lying in the path of nationa
,ducation.

A most important meeting of landowners and
gtentry was held at Fermoy on Saturday last, for the
purpose of " discusing the present alarming state of
the country, and taking such steps as might be deemed
advisable to meet the exigency created by the scarcity
and dearness of food, and the want of useful and
beneficial employment for the people." The county
Members attended, Mr. O'CONNELL having come from
Derrynane specially for the purpose, in order to hear
the sentiments and understand the views of his con-
stituents and to assist in carrying them out as far as
possible. Every such assemblage, at which the views
)f intelligent gentlemen, well acquainted with the
wants of their respective localities, are elicited, must
be extremely valuable; facts are stated and authen-
ticated which will form data for the authorities to
draw their deductions ; and, although the conclusions
of the speakers or the resolutions adopted may possibly
not be fully warranted by the premises, still the
attention of the Executive will necessarily be directed
thereto, and a full consideration will be secured for
the projects by which it might be suggested that the
existing distress should be mitigated, and the condition
of the people of all classes ameliorated and improved.
It was chiefly owing to what had occurred at similar
meetings, and the forcible manner in which the
deficiencies and defects of the Labour•rate Act were
pointed out and explained to the Lord-Lieutenant by
the gentlemen selected to attend before his Excellency
as deputations, that we probably owe the vigorous
and bold determination adopted by that patriotic
nobleman of taking upon himself the responsibility of
sanctioning a deviation from the letter of the statute,
by which the greatest benefit may be obtained, if due
advantage be taken of the powers thereby afforded to
the several baronial sessions.
The proceedings were restricted to the deeply im-
portant questions they had assembled to discuss, and
everything that could by a possibility have occasioned
difference or dissension was carefully excluded. Mr

O'CONNELL, true to the pledge he voluntarily offered
with respect to the proposed National Committee, to
which the present meeting waa in some degree

analogous, checked the expressions of esteem and

respect which were loudly offered to himself, feeling
that they might possibly be tortured into political
manifestations—and thus afforded an additional proof

of the confidence that may be reposed in him, and of

the fidelity with which he would observe his engage-

ments.

The- fin t resolution conveyed a certain degree of
c, nsure on the Hoard of Works for not facilitating
and expediting the projects submitted to them for

There can be no doubt that next to a temporary
arrangement —settlement, for the present, were hope-
less—of the pressing difficulties of Ireland, which
must be first considered and dealt with by the Legis-
lature in the ensuing session, the great question of
national education will occupy a large portion of the
attention of Parliament. The Government itself is
pledged, by the city of London manifesto of the
Premier, t.) introduce the subject upon a " compre-
hensive" scale; and, even:were we without this au-
thoritative assurance, the public mind has so long
been bent upon the necessity of supplying the intel-
lectual wants of the middling and humbler classes,
that the force of opinion alone would forbid the Go-
vernment remaining inactive on a matter of such
national interest. Had we earlier attended to the pro-
minent duty of imparting to our countrymen the
blessings of mental culture, what moral advance-
ment might we not by this time have accomplished,
and what a reduction of crime would there not have
been yearly effected ! Independently of the superior
example set us by other civilised countries—and
those our nearest neighbours—our own criminal
statistics, periodically furnished, ought to fill us with
shame for the neglect of which we have been guilty.
We have frequently noticed the notorious dispropor-
tion among criminals of those who can neither read
nor write compared with those who have acquired
such elementary instruction, affording us the legiti-
mate inference, that in the ratio of the spreadof know-
ledge crime diminished. It is a melancholy circum-
stance to contemplate that nothing has so much de-
terred public men from grappling with the subject of
national education as the prevalence of religious
jealousy ; and we: are not without the
apprehension that the over-wrought zeal and
mistaken enthusiasm of many well-meaning,
but really bigoted men, will be forthcoming to oppose
any liberal measure that the Executive may propose
for the'diffusion of general enlightenment. Education
has been for centuries a complete monopoly. The
Established Church has had the entire power in her
own hands. Everything has been done for the upper
ranks of society that could have been expected, where
the stimulus of competition has been wanting; a few
charity and Sunday-schools have been kept on foot
for the poorest of our fellow-creatures; but the edu-
cation of the middling classes has been nearly altogether
unheeded. The Church will not resign her accus-
tomed power without a struggle, and the specious plea
will continue to be dogmatically put forward, that
education is worth nothing without religion, which
ought to constitute its foundation. We fully concede
to the truth of this proposition, but hold, neverthe-
less, that without prejudice to the same the State
may go a great way • towards ensuring education to
all ranks of the people, upon the principle of religious
toleration.
We have read with feelings of unmixed gratifica-
tion the masterly speech which the Archbishop of
DUBLIN delivered at the recent soirée of the Man-
chester Athenaeum, immediately after Lord Most-
PETII had concluded his eloquent oration, and to
which we adverted a few days since. His
Grace left Dublin for the express purpose of
being present on the occasion, persuaded, no doubt,
-hat the opportunity was a most seasonable one for
enunciating and enforcing certain truths, as well as
r'or propagating particular information of intrinsic
importance. The speech of the Archbishop will
amply repay perusal. The views put forward are
most extended and Christianlike, the reasonings
developed most cogent. For upwards of thirty-eight
years, in an active and zealous manner, as a writer,
teacher, and founder of different establishments, has