The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-22 00:00:00

LORD DERBY ON RAGGED SCHOOLS.

At the laying of the, foundation stone of an industrial
ragged school and chuvch at Kirkdale, near Liverpool, on
Saturday, the Earl of Derby said—" I believe that in the his-
tory of the world no cox retry already possessed of so large a
population has increase d with the same rapidity that this
country has in the course of the last half century. This is
the more remarkable, because that rapid increase which has
gone on from day to day--and I may say from hour to hour
—is the effect not only of the excess of births over deaths
within the country, but of the excess of the births against
the deaths and beyond the deaths—that constant stream of
emigration which is constantly being poured forth from our
redundant population to lay the foundation of future em-
pires, and to add to the population and to add to the wealth
of our widely-extended colonies and of other friendly States.
(Cheers.) Nor is there any more certain test than the rapid
increase of population of the physical well-being of a coun-
try; and those who can look back for the same lengthened
period that I can, or even those who can look back for a
much shorter period of years, must be well aware that, to •
gether with that great increase in the numbers of our popu-
lation, there has been a corresponding increase in the physi-
cal comforts of the great body of the people. (Hear, hear.)
I do not say—far from it—that there is not among the
working-classes much undeserved sulYering ; but this I do
say, that, taking the middle and working classes as a whole,
it is inconceivable, except to those who have aetually wit-

and

nessed it, what a change has taken place in their condition,
in their comforts, in their clothing, in their food, and in all

ho habits and conveniences of life within the course of the

last 25 or 30 years. We have in this well-being of our country
great cause for congratulation and thankfulness to Him who
is the giver of all good. But if we turn from the physical well-
being of the population to their moral progress and theirreli-
gious advancement, I doubt whether we have equal cause to
congratulate ourselves in that point of view. The truth is,
and the truth ought to be spoken—we are at this moment
suffering from the supineness and from the apathy of our
ancestors. Years ago the vast increase of the population
was looked upon, no doubt, with triumph and with satisfao.
tion, as adding to the power and wealth of the country ;

but it was looked upon without a due appreciation of the

greatest moral and social and religious consequences which

must flow from an increase of an ill-educated and irreligious
population. I do not say that this has been the case univer-
sally. I do not say that it has been the case in many of the
country districts where a great increase of the population
has not taken place, and where there is little room for the
exercise of those kindly sympathies between the upper and

lower classes which are the cherished bonds of union &tween
the various classes in this country—(hear) ; but it is in
the great towns, it is in those great hives of industry to
which our redundant populations flock for employment, to
the influx of population and the increase of buildings, with
regard to which you have only to turn your eyes around
you and survey what is going on in this neighbourhood,
which has caused this population to increase beyond the
possibility of the means of religious and moral superintend-
ence and instruction. In these great towns there is little
room, comparatively speaking, for the social intercourse
between high and low, rich and poor. The immense size
of the parishes, and of the townships, and the immense
numbers of the population baffle efforts of the most zealous
ministers, whether belonging to the Established Church or
to those numerous Dissenting sects of whom, widely as I
differ from them, I wish to speak with all gratitude and all
respect for their exertions in the cause of education and of
religion. (Cheers.) But here a population, I say has
grown up which has mocked at all our efforts, which has
defeated all our endeavours, which has outgrown all our
means, moral and pecuniary ; and, although it is
quite true that the present generation is awaken-
ing to a painful and an active consciousness
of this great evil, and of the necessity of ap-
' plying a remedy, our difficulties in doing so
are much the greater inasmuch as a longer time has elapsed,
and we are not combatting now the origin and the first
seeds of a disease, but we are contending against a well-
established and systematic disease, which is gaining strength
almost exceeding that which we can apply as a remedy to
prevent it. It is true, again, that from these causes the
vast population in our great towns, and in the suburbs
of those great towns, is growing in a state of practical
heathenism—l am afraid I must say, in the indulgence of
the grossest sensuality, and of that intemperance which
statesmen, judges, and magistrates all combine in stating
to be the predominant cause which fills our gaols, and
wastes us with a criminal population. (Cheers.) It is true
that for the criminal population of this country a milder
and wiser system of punishment is prevailing. We have
learned to substitute a better discipline for those sangui-
nary scenes which not fifty years ago loaded our scaffolds
with criminals, and relieved the population at the expense
of a vast number of unhappy criminals' lives. Some per-
sons, indeed, may believe that the present system runs in
the opposite direction, and that this great indulgence is a
portion of our criminal discipline ; but, be that as it may, the
object which is uniformly held in view now with regard to
the criminal population is not indiscriminating vengeance,
but it is, if possible, the improvement and the reformation
of the convict. (Applause.) But it is painful to say that,
so far as adult criminals are concerned, so long as those
remain who have been long practised in the habit of vice
and crime, the best directed efforts and the wisest discipline
are comparatively insufficient to restore theta to a
better state of mind ; and too few, comparatively speak-
ing, of those advanced in life who are subjected to this dis-
cipline are really, permanently, and in the heart brought
to a trite sense of their guilt, and to a sincere and
earnest reformation. But with regard to the younger
classes, those who are not hardened in crime, those who
are seduced by bad example and encouraged by idleness
and vicious habits to enter upon the paths of crime, a more
hopeful course is opened, and a more cheerful prospect may
be entertained for those invaluable institutions which, under
the name of reformatories, combine the advantages of penal
confinement with those of a moral and an industrial educa-

tion. (Cheers.) Again, for the poorest and absolutely desti-
tute class of the community the workhouse schools furnish
no contemptible amount of education, of discipline, and of
training. But there is a class of the population untainted
with crime, above the condition of the absolutely destitute
poor, yet below the scale of what may be called decent
poverty, for which neither in criminal reformatories—for
which they are not fit subjects—nor in the workhouse—to
which they either are not admitted or are unwilling to enter
—is any provision made, and who, except by the instrumen-
tality of that of which I am laying the first stone to -day,
must grow up inevitably, from idleness to vice, and from
vice probably to swell the lists of our criminal population.
It is for that portion of the community—who, I repeat, are
untainted by vice hitherto—it is for them that the hand
of well-directed and well-devised charity has contrived
these invaluable institutions—(hear, hear)—in which they
will receive, in the strictest sense of the word, a true,
a moral, and a religious education." (Cheers.) After
alluding to the benefits conferred upon society by
such institutions, his Lordship said— " The object
of all fitting education is to suit the child and afterwards the
man for fitly discharging his duty in the state of life to
which it has pleased God to call him, and fit him to be a
good and faithful subject here, a useful member of society,
and so to live that, through the mercy of God, he shall
enter upon a higher and holier state of existence hereafter.
(Renewed applause.) Wisely, then, you do not in these
schools attempt any ♦ery high flight of knowledge with any
very great expanse of science. Wisely, most wisely, do
you devote a very considerable portion of each day, not to
the acquisition of mental knowledge, but to the acquisition
of those habits of industry which are to form the future
means of subsistence of those whom you are bringing up.
But it is not only that you promise for them future means
of subsistence. Admitted into these schools—in which
they need not blush for the rags in which they are
clothed, because they see that all are so alike—admitted
into these schools, taught some industrial calling, and at
the same time imbued with moral and religious teaching,
these unhappy children become fresh beings, with
fresh consciences, with fresh feelings, with a knowledge that
they are far different and destined for far higher ends than
ever entered into their comprehension before, and with an
amount of self-respect and habits of useful and happy in-
dustry which will secure them, by the blessing of God,
against all the temptations of those callings upon which
they must enter when they quit the shelter of these institu-
tions. These, then, are the many objects of ragged—more
properly and appropritely called ragged and industrial—
schools for the youthful population in our great towns.
need hardly say it is an object that commends itself to the
deepest interest of ministers of religion, and to all those who
have at heart the well-being of their fellow-creatures. But
this institution proposes to go much further. I have stated,
and I am afraid it is a lamentable fact, that of those deeply
involved in crime a small portion only arc brought back to
habits of industry and of religion. But hod forbid that I
should say that there is not a vast proportion of the lower
classes of the population, who have hitherto been wholly in-
different to or alienated from religious things, upon whom
time, opportunity, and eiample may not perform wonders in
bringing them up to that flock from which in ignorance they
have been wandering, and causing them to form part of that
one flock, in that one fold, under that one Shepherd of
the rich and poor alike." (Applause) After alluding to
the accommodation in the school, his lordship continued:—
" It is intended to combine with the education of the
children the religious and moral training of the parents,
and bring together a large portion of the population into a
church free and open to every one, without money and
without price. (Cheers.) Now; it is a remark which has
often been made, and it is one of painful significance, that
even among the respectable portion of the working classes,
of the mechanics of this great country, there is a very large
proportion who, from various causes, never enter the house
of God—a very large proportion whe never know any-
thing of the truths and of the comforts of religion.
, Various causes, no doubt, there are for this, which is a
most lamentable symptom of our condition—this total ab-
sence of a largo portion of the population from the service of
God, either according to the principles of the Established
Church or of any dissenting body; but I believe that, apart
from hostility to religion, apart from what is more common
still, absolute indifference and ignorance, there are two pre..
veiling causes which tend to drive front our churches even
the best disposed and most respectable portion. of, I will not
say our pauper, but of the poorest of our population. The
one is in the appropriation of the greater portion of the seats
in our churches, and above all the best seats, to the richer

' and easier classes of society—(hear, hear, and cheers)—to
the exclusion of the poor man, or to his relegation into the.
most inconvenient, distant, and inadequate seats. (Renewed
cheers.) Now this, lam afraid, is an evil inherent in hu-
man nature, and an evil of such antiquity that it formed a
ground for a rebuke and a reproof upon the part of the
Apostles themselves; for St. James himself distinctly points
to this ungracious distinction in the earliest Christian
churches between rich and poor, and notices it as a fact for
condemnation and amendment. The other cause is, I be-
lieve, an honest shame of parading the wretched garments
in which the poorer classes are clad in immediate contiguity
with the better and richer garments of the wealthier and
more easy-to-do portion of the parish. Ido not say that
this is a feeling which is to be altogether vindicated, but it is
a feeling which is not unnatural, and a feeling for which
we should make every indulgence and allowance. Nor do
I say, again, that I condemn as absolutely and entirely as
some persons are disposed to do the appropriation of parti-
cular seats, provided a sufficient amount are set apart for
those who are not enabled to obtain spiritual acoommoda-
tion ; on the contrary, I believe it tends to the solemnity,
regularity, and order of parochial worship. I am sure it
tends very much to the influence of the best feelings when
father, mother, and children can entec the house of God with
a knowledge that there is a seat to which they may go with
a certainty of being together and united, to offer up their
prayers and praises, and hear,the Word of God. (Hear.) But
I am far from condemning the appropriation of certain
seats to those who are able and willing to increase the
means of the Church by paying for the accommodation,
provided it is not granted to the exclusion of those who
have no such means of paying for the accommodation, and
who are equal by the law of the land, and who by the con-
sittution of the Church have an absolute equal right with
the richest of the rich to enter and worship Glad in the
pariah church, which is not for the rich alone, but. for every
parishioner, rich and poor. (Cheers.) Well, then, but in
this case we have to deal, not with a mixed population; but
with a population all of whom are of the poorest class, few
of whom can afford anything, and none of whom. can afford
any considerable sum for separate accommodatio a for them-
selves. We are providing the means of religions worship
for those who are clad in rags, and who will not be shocked
by the comparison of the silks and satins of their richer
neighbours ; and in this case I say it is most important,
not that there should be some free seats, but that every
seat in this church school which is about to be built
should be free and equal, without payment of money or
price, and that no amount of poverty of clothing or
squalid destitution should be sufficient to e:eclude the
very poorest of the poor who are willing to enter' and wor-
ship from His house in whose eyes rich and pool! are alike,
and the distinction of rank and title are as nothing. (Loud
applause.) This, then, is the object for which are have met
to-day. I believe the Christian liberality of the people of
this neighbourhood, who can well afford it, will not suffer
this great work to fail for want of funds. Every motive
which can actuate men conspires to recommend the support
and countenance of this undertaking ; the peace of the dis-
trict, the good order, the sobriety, the cleanliness the tem-
perance—let me take the meanest and the lowest motive,
the diminution of the burdens which are entai led upon a
parish by the augmentation of its criminal population; but
from those let me go to higher motives—viz., the duty
which you owe to your Christian fellow-creatures, or to
those who, if not your Christian fellow-creatures„ it is your
highest object and aim to make your Christian fellow-crea-
tures. So perform your duty to that God who, as lie would
not that a sparrow should fall to the ground without His
knowledge, would not that one of those little ones should
perish." (Cheers.)
Lord Derby then formally laid the stone, and after ad-
dresses from Canon Stowell, the Mayor of Livenvool, and
Mr. W. Brown, ex-M.P. for South Lancashire, the pro-
ceedings terminated.

THE MURDER IN TILE QUEEN'S
PARK, EDINBURGH.

Notwithstanding the exertions of the police and
the county criminal authorities, it is believed that
very little transpired on Monday to clear up the
mystery which overhangs the dreadful tragedy
of Sunday morning. A number of persons, includ-
ing five or six soldiers from Piershill, were exa-
mined by the Procurator-Fiscal during the forenoon,
principally with a view to throw light upon the in-
tercourse had by the deceased girl with the soldiers
in whose company she was seen on Saturday even-
ing, and especially with the prisoner Tanner. These
preliminary examinations are, however, in accord-
ance with the usual custom in criminal cases in Scot-
land, conducted with the utmost privacy. Early in
the forenoon a story got into circulation to the
effect that at the time Tanner and Quin were ap-
prehended in Campbell's-close on Sunday afternoon,
two other soldiers of the same regiment were sit-
ting in an adjoining house in the same close ; and
that, on hearing of the apprehension which had
taken place, they got themselves dressed in civi-
lians' clothing, hurriedly left the house, got into a
cab, and drove off. The police immediately set
about sifting the story, and proceeded to search the
house in question ; but the result of their investi-
gation and inquiries was to satisfy them that the
two suspected men were cab .drivers, who went out
about the time stated to their cabs.

About two o'clock a boy residing in the Canon-
gate was playing in the enclosed piece of ground
between the Abbey-hill and Regent-road, in which
the old stones of Trinity College Church are placed.
While running about he came upon a girl's shift,
a little cotton printed bed-gown, and a white
worsted stocking, apparently thrust in among the
loose stones and debris towards the east end of the
park. The boy took them home, but they were soon
afterwards brought by his parents to the police
office. There are two slight stains of blood on the
shift, but none on the other articles. In the course
of the afternoon the whole of the articles were
identified by the members of Mr. Slater's household
as having belonged to the deceased, and it is pro-
bable that they formed part of the contents of the
bundle which the girl carried with her from the
house.

From some statement made, it is believed, by the
by the prisoner Tanner, during the day, a request
was sent to the castle to ascertain all the men of the
78th who had been out during Saturday night on
leave, and to order their attendance at the Pro-
curator-Fiscal's office. The request was complied
with, and between five and half-past eight o'clock
on Monday night upwards of 20 of these men were
examined. Tanner, who was shown to all the wit-
nesses, bore himself in a very cool and unconcerned
manner. He is a tall, slight made young man,
barely 20 years of age, and would scarcely from his
appearance be taken for a person likely to commit
the brutal crime laid to his charge. He states that
he is a native of Paisley, but speaks with English
accent. No evidence of any kind has, it is believed,
been obtained against Quin • and he has accordingly
been handed over to his military superiors at Piers-
hill, where he has been placed under arrest on the
charge of absenting himself from the barracks with-
out leave. No trace has yet been discovered of the
" corporal" whom some of the witnesses thought
they had seen in company with the girl on Satur-
day night or Sunday morning ; nor of the two ab-
sentees still missing from Piershill.
It was considered advisable not to proceed with
the post-mortem examination on Monday, as had
been directed, in order to give a further opportu-
nity to witnesses to identify the body—not as
that of Elizabeth Slater, regarding which there is
no doubt—but as that of the girl seen in company
with the soldiers in the Queen's-park and else-
where' on Saturday night. The medical exami-
nation was, however, to be made yesterday.
It is considered a curious circumstance that
no one heard the girl cry out during the struggle
which it is believed mast have taken place in the
Queen's-park before her death. The watchman
employed to guard the tank in the course of erec-
tion on the face of the hill, directly opposite the
trees, neither, it is said, saw nor heard anything
to attract his attention.

THIS DAYS MARKETS.

CORN EXCHANGE.

Scarcely any English wheat was on sale in to-day's
market. The stands were quickly cleared, at, in some in-
stances, is per qr. above Monday's currency. Letters from
most parts of the country bring unfavourable accounts m
quite
is to 2, per qr. dearer
reference to the crops.
A fair supply of foreign wheat, 14,210 qrs., has arrived.
All kinds wore in request, and
than last week. Floating cargoes of gram were very firm
in price.
Per qr.
The few samples of barley on offer realised
3.8
more money.
Malt was in improved request, but we have no change to
notice in its value.
quotationsOatsch of quite
angedhaneddsperfregerl.y at all improvement in the
Beans and peas commanded extreme rates, and country
flour was hold for more money.
Wheat. Barley. Malt. Oats. Flour.
English,. .„ .... 1.211 •450.1 20 1540;
Irish.. ......•... .
.
Foreig,n.. • • .... 14,21 e ___ 5,230 2,530 sacks.
10,650 brie.

BOROUGH HOP.
The excitement in our market still continues► and prices
generally have further advanced quite 5s to 108 per cwt.
Duty, £60,000.