The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-19 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 19, 1870.

THAT Mr. FORSTER should be much more san-
guine than Mr. BRIGHT about the triumphs of the
coming session is only natural, seeing that the first is
seven years the junior of the second, and, being
outside the charmed circle of the Cabinet, knows less
of the difficulties which stand in the way of legisla-
tion. In fact, the Ministerial utterances of the
recess have varied in hopefulness in; ersely to
the authority of the speakers. First came Mr. GLAD-
STONE, on Lord Mayor's Day, with a speech so depressed
and depressing that it seemed fitter for a funeral
oration than for the chief civic festival of the year.
Mr. BRIGHT, as compared with his chief, was abso-
lutely jovial; yet even he spoke of mountains that
appeared more and more inaccessible as you
approached them, an.d of a legislative Temple Bar,
which so blocked the way that the nation ought to
feel grateful if one legislative vehicle contrived to
get through. Mr. FORSTER speaks in quite a
different tone. He is full of hope ; he does not
believe in any inaccessible mountains, and even
the eye of a needle may be traversed by camels if
only they will consent to march one at a time. The
PRIME MINISTER gave the idea that all legislation
hitherto had been a failure, and that the Government
were not at all sure that they would be prepared
with any legislation hereafter. The PRESIDENT of
the BOARD OF TRADE considered there was one mea-
sure which Parliament might possibly pass, but it would
be unwise to expect more than that one. The VICE-
PRESIDENT of the PRIVY COUNCIL names a succession
of first class measures, all cf which he thinks Parlia-
ment may pass, and any two of which would be suf-
ficient to signalise a session even in these days of
rapid progress. It is really most inspiriting to hear
Mr. FORSTER telling his constituents of the Irish
Land Bill, the Education question, the Licensing
question, the University Tests Bill, the Ballot, and
Trades Unions, and saying that he can see no reason
why all these matters should not be dealt with before
the time for the shooting of grouse is come. We
confess that when the first glow of enthusiasm and
hopefulness has passed away, we are not so sanguine
as Mr. FORSTER. We cannot but remember that he
is only a subordinate member of the Government.
True he is a very able politician ; true he is, if his life
be spared, destined to be one of the very-foremost
statesmen of the day; yet for all that he cannot, so
long as he is outside the Cabinet, appreciate all
the difficulties which his colleagues within the
Cabinet have to overcome. No man was more
sanguine than Mr. BRIGHT was before he be-
came a Minister, no man had a finer scorn
for obstacles or a more magnificent contempt
for the lion in the path, which, according to him,
statesmen evolved out of the depths of their own
imagination. Nevertheless, he has come to acknow-
ledge that there is such a creature after all, and
that this beast is a very formidable impediment to
progress.

But while we imagine that Mr. FORSTER'S pro-
gramme is far longer than his colleagues will sanction,
and while we shall be abundantly satisfied if three,
or at the most four, of the leading measures ho names
become law before this seventh decade is completed,
we rejoice to see that the one measure about which
he is most sanguine is that with which he is best
acquainted. No one knows more about the education
question than does Mr. FORSTER, no one so much,
except, perhaps, the Bishop of EXETER, whose praises
Mr. FORSTER sang. Yet he finds no insuperable
obstacle ; on the contrary, he believes that the diffi-
culty which now appears so great will prove none at
all on close inspection. Not but what there are
difficulties ; yet that which men fear most is by no
means the greatest. "I am sure," he says, "that
although the difficulties of this education question are
greater than I can describe to you, the religious difficulty
is one which will disappear as we come close to it.
It is a hill, the height and steepness of which will be
less and less as we approach its base, and I am not
sure that we shall not be able to canter along it."
How this is to be done Mr. FORSTER does not say
precisely; yet we may form some idea from
another passage of his speech. "So convinced
is the country, so convinced is. the House of Com-
mons, of the importance and urgency of this question,
that no economical, or religious, or irreligious diffi-
culty will be allowed to stand in the way. The
public money must not be wasted ; no, not one penny
of it must be spent, unless, indeed, for the purposes
of education. But it the public money must
be spent, no religious differences must stand in
the way of an elementary secular educa-
tion—no differences between one dogma and
another. lam certain that public opinion will
not allow dogmatic differences to be an obstruction
to a national system of education. lam quite sure
that it will not allow the State to interfere, or em-
power others to interfere, with the religious educa-
tion of any individual; and I am also sure that pub-
lic opinion will not allow the State to prevent the
teaching any more than the preaching of religion."
These words appear susceptible of only one explana-
tion. The State will combine the denominational
and the secular systems. It will continue to
aid those schools in connection with religious bodies,
which fulfil certain conditions of efficiency. But in
starting new schools where there are none, or where
the number is insufficient, Government will not
undertake the religious instruction, but will establish
schools that shall be purely secular. In a word
Government will recognise the efforts and the
energy of religious bodies so far as these have
supplied the means of education. Where they
have not, the State will compel the esta-
blishment of schools that shall be open to all,
and will therefore be without any specific religious
teaching. If this be the solution of the problem we
do not see that either party will have any reason to
complain. The denominationalists will be satisfied
when they find that the schools upon which they
have spent so much trouble, time, and money, are
not to be taken out of their hands; the Secularists
will be equapy_satisfied when they learn that schools

The young woman murdered inFinsbury on Satur-
day has been further identified as Cecilia Aldridge. It
appears that two years ago a respectably dressed woman
applied at 54, Flower and Dean-street, Spitalfields, and
asked if she could be accommodated with a lodging for a
night. She did not give her name, and she did not state
where she came from, but it was suspected that she had
been a needlewoman. While in the house she always con-
ducted herself very quietly ; and at seven o'clock in the
evening she left, as she stated, to go and see her friends.
At two o'clock every morning she returned to her lodgings.
About a month ago she met a young man who slept in the
lodging-house, and she told him her name was Cecilia
Aldridge, but she did not tell him where she had come
from. In the house she bore the character of being a quiet,
inoffensive, sober woman. She hardly ever spoke to any
--- =44 sae.