The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-01 00:00:00

LORD AMBERLEY.

If the National Reformer (the organ of the
Secularists) is to be believed, Lord Amberley and
Sir Charles Lyell have joined a committee for the
defence of the Rev. Charles Voysey, the clergyman
whom the Archbishop of York is prosecuting for
heresy. We presume that his lordship takes this
step by way of practically carrying out the argument
laid down in his late contribution to the Fortnightly
Rev:eir, that a State Church ought to include
the teachers of error no less than the teachers of
truth. If Lord Amberley could have taken this step
six months earlier, the Liberal party in South Devon
would not have had the misfortune of being weighted
with a candidate whose theological views were so
entirely opposed to the convictions of the majority of
the electors, for the party would have seen from the
first what it has now learnt by experience—that to
fight with success it must have a champion whose
tactics will not alarm his own followers.
NEEDY KNIFEGRINDER ItEDIVIVUS.

The somewhat notorious 1)1.. Armstrong, of Burs-
lem, prays every Sunday for the Irish Church, which
he describes to be in deep affliction. He has written
to the Archbishop of Armagh to tell him of those
prayers, and to propose that the Archbishop should
invite his clergy to pray too. The Archbishop is
much obliged, and says he shall be very glad of any
snpplications, either in the closet or the congrega-
tion. It does not seem to have struck Dr. Armstrong
that it is rather funny for Irish Churchmen to be
advised to pray for themselves by an English cler-
gyman. If they are in the " deep affliction" he
supposes, one would have thought that they would
have begun praying without
any incentive from the
rector of Burslem. Has Dr. Armstrong ever read
Canning's poem of " The Needy
Knifegrinder ?"
THE EARL OF SHAFTESBuILY ON THE HOUSES OF
THE WORKING CLASSES.

The Earl of Shaftesbury on Tuesday laid the
foundation-stone of some new dwellings for the
working classes, which are being erected in the
suburbs of London. In the speech usual on such
occasions he spoke on the homes of the
working man. On this subject he declared
his well-known conviction that intemperance
was the cause of a great many of our national
failures; bad homes produced intemperance, and
should, therefore, be made good, if possible.
Good dwellings produced in many cases good
habits. Let us, then, said his lordship, have them
by all means. The people of England would never
be as they ought to be without three rooms being set
apart for each family. When that took place, and
the houses were clean and comfortable, the working
men would be entitled to universal suffrage. " I do
not talk politics on these occasions. lam not called
an vdvanced Liberal, and am not so. lam hardly a
Liberal, and do not pretend to be; but if I could see
the working classes brought to the condition I speak
of, I should be the first to propose universal
suffrage."

EDUCATION STATISTICS.

There is one item of national expenditure whose
increase might well be a matter for congratulation
rather than for regret—the Education Estimates.
From a Parliamentary return just issued, it appears
that the sum spent upon education in England and
Wules during the past ten years has increased from
£788,461 to £1021,184. A still more satisfactory
feature of these statistics is that while the total sum
thus spent upon education has augmented, the
augmentation has been met not by increased
taxation, but by increased payment on the part
of parents and by increased subscriptions. The " school
pence" have risen in a very remarkable degree, viz.,
from t.)00,17-1 in 1858 to £430,279 in 1868—in fact,
they are not far short of double. This seems to chew
that education is being more valued every year by
the c1:1 ss for whose benefit it is promoted. The
subscriptions have increased to a much smaller
extent, viz., from £458,151 to £409,782. This is
as it should be ; education should be as little eleemo-
synary as poEs:ble, and the more its expense is
defrayed by those who enjoy the advantage of it the
better. While the school pence have nearly doubled,
the parliamentary grant has largely decreased. It
reached its maximum in 1862, when the amount was
£700,700, having increased nearly £lOO,OOO in four
years. Mr. Lowe then took the matter in hand, and
devised various reforms, which excited great indigna-
tion at the time, but which have had this result—the
amount spent on education is £124,000 more than it
was when the Government grant was highest, and
yet the Government grant is £llO,OOO less. The
difference has been made up for the most part by
those who ought to pay—the parents. The total
amount from all quarters spent on education during
the ten years 1859-68, is £8,991,405.
Turning to Scotland we find very similar results.
The total amount spent in 1868 was about £70,000
more than that spent in 1859, and about £46,000
more than when the parliamentary grant was highest.
That grant has been reduced from £115,317 to
£90,634. The school pence have increased in ten
years from £47,056 to £90,631, and the subscriptions
from £41,333 to £60,623. The total amount from
all sources spent on education in Scotland during the
ten years was £1,426,406.
THE ENDOWED SCHOOLS BILL.
" M.A." writes to the Times a long letter on the
Endowed Schools Bill. He points out what he con-
siders to be two blots in Mr. Forster's scheme. The
nrst is tne exemption of the seven great schools from
the scope of the Educational Council. Eton, Win-
chester, Harrow, Rugby, Charterhouse, Westminster,
and Shrewsbury are not to be in any way under the
power of the new commissioners, because they have
a commission of their own. But why (he asks)
should they not be subject to the Council. Either
the Educational Council is good for Eton and Rugby,
or it is not good for Marlborough and Uppingham.
Why should Parliament trust the governors and
masters of Charterhouse and Shrewsbury more
than those of Tunbridge and Sherborne ? What have
the parents who send their sons to Wesminster
and Harrow done that they should be deprived
of a test which is granted to the parents
who select Canterbury or Repton ? Why should
old endowments like Winchester be left unguarded,
and new ones like Wellington College, Bradfield, and
Lancing stand in need of additional safeguards ?
" M.A." also argues against the proposed exemption
on the ground that ill would practically exclude
from the Council the men taught in the
exempted schools ; and by implying that the
Council was not fitted to govern the higher
would lower its prestige. Secondly, " M.A." argues
for a rearrangement of the present system as regards
the cathedral schools. These schools no longer fulfil
their original intention, as many of the original
provisions concerning them have become obsolete.
And yet the commissioners are not to have power to
remodel them without the consent of the Dean and
Chapter of the cathedral. The correspondent of the
Times argues that they should have this power, and
suggests, among other things, that the managementof
the schools should be taken from the Dean and Chapter,
the present allowances- made by them rendered
permanent, and the schools further endowed from
the increased moneys which the Ecclesiastical Com-
missioners have received on account of the increase
in the value of cathedral property.
MISS CARPENTER.

Miss Carpenter, the Eatly Yews announces, is so
seriously ill in India that she will be obliged speedily
to return to her native land. It is to be hoped that
though giving up her work of female
.education in
India, she will be spared to return to her old work
amongst the criminals of this country.