The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-25 00:00:00

way." Well, there is a stop to education at acer•

tail', age, which is too young an age. spme of the
best and wisest friends of education have met, they
have proposed prizes, and various other methods •,
but I own it appears that there is but one method
at present, viz., that employers of labour, of per-
sons of so young an age as that—should feel them-
selves bound in duty to promote the teaching and
the instruction of these young persons. It is an
obligation by law upon a certain part of the em-
ployees of labour. I do not say that it should be
upon others, but I own I think the present Presi-
dent
'of the Poor-law, Board, Mr. Estcourt, was
right when he said he employed two boys, And he
took care that while he gave them work they had
some instruction also. But while this difficulty
remains, there is an obstacle to education about the
age of 11 or 12. If you speak still further of a
general system of education, there are the objec-
tions that are fet by those who at present have the
education of the country in their hands to any
change upon th
Established Church,The clergy of the
that subject.
of the Dissenting
denomination, have
wheoenhthe persons who have been
the most active,
lent, who have benvtrheemnoait;estbeen the most bentevo-
liberal of their money
and their time, in
theeergarleat cause of
education. (Cheers.)
and active as they arc, thieunytg, , benevolent,
of
education
apt not to
aitl•
approve any system except that
which they have been taught is best,tleioeffneet and the
effective:
respect er e ,
only education which- they think
again, there is a great obstacle, but in
I will not enter now into the question of how these
obetaeles are to be met. I wish, however, to bring
sou round to this question of the ragged schools,
here.- I think, we reall:y have no obstacles of so die_ '
ficult a.nature to ene•ounter. In the first place,
these: children are taken at an early age, and they
arc taught some trade, or the means of earning
theirlivelihood. I saw this morning at the esta-
blishment I have already mentioned, in the rag,ged
school of this town, the bags, and different things
of that kind, which had been made by the children,
and for which there is a demand among the whole-
sale dealers in various articles. Nov, that is a
kind of industry, I believe, which we have not at
present in London ; but there are various modes of
that kind in which the children, by learning a
trade, and having at the same time some instruc-
tion, can proceed at once to get an honest liveli-
hood.- Then; with regard to what i 5 called the•
" religious diflieulty,-" I don't believe in the ragged
schools there has hitherto been any difficulty of the
kind- It has been feeneyally agreed that Scripture
instruction should be to the children, I find
here a statement of what is done in the institution,

and I cannot do better than read it, that you may
know the course that is taken. The inmates lodged
and fed in the institution rise at 6 o'clock in the
morning to prepare the rooms for the usiness of
the day. The remainder of the child: en assemble
at 7, wash, and breakfast at 8 ; after which there
is reading of the Scriptures, religio is instruction,
and prayer. From nine to twelve 4. ey are taught
reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, geography,
&c. They have dinner at half-past 12. From one to
half-past they wash themselves and have recreation.
Subsequently, from half-past one to a quarter past
four they are employed on various industrial occu-
pations, such as sorting bristles, making paper and
canvas bags for tea and coffee-dealers, winding
bobbins, or in weaving, clogging, shoemaking, and
tailoring, the girls having sewing and household
work. From half-past 4to 5 there is oral instruc-
tion, singing, and prayer, and at 6 o'clock all the
inmates of the institution assemble for family wor-
ship ; after which they have tea, and at 9 they re-
tire to rest. Nov, seeing that this instruction is
gIN • 'en that it is given at the same time with the
means of earning a livelihood in future, I cannot
but think that if these institutions are supported as
they should be supported our streets may in future
be in a great degree free from those who earn their
income from crime, and that industrial and honest
occupations will take their place. It appears to
me that the support of institutions of this kind is a
duty incumbent upon us as a Christian nation, and
that we ought to persevere in promotino. them.
(Cheers.) But I am sorry to say that the grant
made by the Committee of Council for Education,
which I think in 1856 was decided to be 50s. for
each inmate, has been diminished by a minute of
Dec., 1857, to 55., being 455. less than the former
grant. Whether the former grant was not too
great is a matter that I will not discuss, but I must
say that the diminution that has been effected is one
most injurious to the institutions of this class ; and
I must say also that I think there is no manner in
which the money of the public—the money.of the
state, which is derived after all from the income
of all—from the wages of the workman as well as
from the yearly revenue of the richest person-1
think that part of the money which is given to edu-
cation can in no way be better given than in the
support and maintenance of ragged schools. (Hear,
hear.) I do not wish at all to say that these ragged
schools should be entirely supported by the state. I
think that there will be far more zeal, far more effi-
ciency, if men apply their own money to their sup-
per& ; but yet, seeing the great numbers that there
are----seeing the thousands that there are, not only
in such a metropolis as London,-** in such a city
as Manchester, a further contribution by the state
than that small sum which I have mentioned ought
to be asked for, and ought to be granted. (Hear,
hear.) In many instances, where very handsome
schools have been erected, there have been large
sums granted by the State, £3OO and £4OO at a
time, to particular schools, when, in fact, the con-
tributors to those schools would probably have
built the schools out of their own money if it had
not been done ; but, with regard to this destitute
class of children of our great cities, it is hardly to
be expected that schools for them should be pro-
vided in a sufficient number unless the State also
coMributes. Now, the advantage of having such
schools would, I think, be, that some of those insti-
tutions which have been rightly founded of late
year—viz., institutions for the reformation of chil-
dren who have been already convicted, would not
be required to a greater extent than it is possible
for individuals and the State to maintain. I need
not say how great is the advantage in every point
of view, whether in saving the pockets of the com-
munity, or in the moral-advantage,-or in the re-
ligious well-being of the children themselves—how
far better it is that the child who is exposed to
temptations to crime, who is wandering about
without a mother—how much better it is that he
should be taken into one of these institutions, and
taught and led into an honest way of life, than that
he should be reclaimed after he had suffered the
degradation, the evils of a prison, and had to con-
sider himself as one of a degraded class of mankind.
(Loud cheers.)
The Hon. Judge HALIBURTON subsequently ad-
dressed the meeting and moved a resolution, which
was unanimously adopted, expressing satisfaction
at the success of the institution, and urging upon
the members a liberal support to this and similar
schools.

Lord John Russell, previously to the meeting,
had visited the schools and delivered a brief address
to the children.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, SATURDIT MORNING.

ANOTHER COMMISSION OF INQUIRY.

Yesterday Mr. Edward Litton, Senior Master of
the Court of Chancery ; Mr. Henry Daley, and Mr.
Wilmot Scyton, of the Treasury-office, London, the
Commissioners appointed to inquire-into the nature
and extent of the duties of the several officers of
the Court of Chancery, and the fees or emoluments
payable to them, and as to whether any and what
alterations should be made therein, held their first
sitting in the Chamber of the Lord Chancellor's
Secretary, Four Courts. A large number of the
officials of the Court of Chancery werepresent. The
inquiry is to be conducted with closed doors, and is
expected to last several days. Mr. Litton, in open-
inn the commission, briefly detailed its objects. He
said :—" The words of the commission, if I may so
call it, or the Treasury minute, are—that we should
inquire into the nature and extent of the duties of
the several officers of the Court of Chancery, and
the fees or emoluments thereof, and to report whe-
ther any and what alteration may be made as
regards those emoluments, with the view either of
effecting any saving to the public, or by establish-
ing a graduated scale of salary or emolument,
having reference to length of service, to render the
offices of the Court more uQcfr! to Vl^ public, and
their emoluments more just to those who fill them.'
It will be perceived that our jurisdiction is confined
to the officers and offices of the Court of Chancery.
The circumstances of existing officers, the nature
and extent of their duties, and their claims arc to
be the matters for our first inquiry ; and for our
second, whether any and what alterations should be
made with a view of serving the public, and of
fairly remunerating the working men for the time
and labour bestowed on their respective offices. I
may state that there is not any idea of encroaching
upon existing rights ; and, though it may be our
duty to report that some of the officers ;•,re too highly
paid, considering the time expended by, them and
the quality of their labours, yet, if reductions
be made, they will be in future appointments, and
the recipients of such appointments will be apprised
of the intended reductions before their acceptance
of them. From the many applications which have
been made to the Government, to the Lord Chan-
cellor, and to the Lords of the Treasury, for in-
creased salai ies and increased remuneration, by
existing officers, it is manifest that the most ex
tended duty of the Commissioners will be the con
sideration of the claims of existing officers to such
increased salaries and to such remuneration. The
Commissioners consider that, generally speaking,
the fair grounds for such claims are, firstly, time
occupied; secondly, quality of the work to be done,
and, connected with that, the qualifications neces-
sary to the due execution of such work ; thirdly,
responsibility ; fourthly, length of service ; and,
fifthly, in cases where the fact occurs, additional
duties thrown upon the officer beyond hose which
appertained to his office upon his original appoint-
ment to it."
The task of the Commissioners is no light one.
Time almost out of mind the scale of salaries paid
to the officials in the Irish law courts has been a
bitter source of complaint, and the sooner some
plan is devised by which a more equitable division
of either the work or the money is decided upon,
the better for the public, no less than the parties
interested in a pecuniary sense.