The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-15 00:00:00

' • •-•

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 15, 1858.

WEYMOUTH and CHANNEL ISLANDS
7 - STEAM PACKET COMPANY (Limited).)
DAY PASSAGES.—Shortest Sea Route to Guernsey and
Jersey.—The Brighton, Cygnes, o;. Aquila, from Weymouth
Harbour, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at 8 a.m.
Ordinary Fare from London 3ls. and 21s.
Return Fare 455. and 355.
Stewards feeS additional.
Passengers may break the journey at. Chippenham, Dor-
chester, Weymouth, or Gueinsey. Through-booking from all
the principal stations on the Great Western Railway.
Steamers from Weymouth to Cherbourg are now placed
upon the station, making three trips per week each way.
JOSEPH MAUNDERS, Manager and Secretary.

GREAT. INDIAN PENINSULA RAILWAY
COMPANY.

light, and "passages that "lead to nothing." There
was many a time when a window was put up
w*.iich you were to suppose was to let in the. light
of knowledge, but which, in fact, was so obscure
and so -hang with: framework that •it shut
eat that very light that it should have intro-
duced to some of the sciences that were taught.
Id the - olden *time, and that not a very olden
time, we understood the introduction to all
the practical knowledge that is Wanted in life
was merely a passage to some abstract, to sonic
abstruse science, which science itself, when mas-
tered, was utterly useless.. When people attempted
not many years ago to improve education, were all
the institutions we have founded sufficient for
their purpose or well adapted to their end ? I.
rather think in the case of the establishment of
mechanics' institutes in London—in which my
noble and learned friend, your chairman, took so
great a part, and in which Dr. Birkbeck was so.
active—that-in some- cases- those lectures which
were given, being upon deep Mathematieal subjects,
and given to working men who had had a hard
day's work, and perhaps had to leave their homes
and go -through the rain to attend -the lectures;
were not at first attractive. But -gradually these
things became modified, and the success of an
institution of this kind is, in fact, a test of the
capacity, of the prudence, of the good sense. of its
conductors. (Hear, hear.) I therefore ask your
approbation for this institution, as having .been
conducted with that prudence, and -as .having led
to• that success. (Applause.) I, need not say
anything, I am sure, as to education in general,
or as to -the improvements that may be made, or as
to the general state of society in this country. All
the subjects that belong to those important ques-
tions mustbe discuss*and treated of elsewhere. I
am glad to hear that, ynth regard to this institu-
tion, no religious_difflialty has been felt, and I ask
you- to applaud the catholic spirit in i•c-hiefi.
proeeedinga have been conducted. - (Applause.) • I
am glad to hear that lately it has been so far con-
nected with the University of London' that young
men educated here may be there examined, and re-
ceive those testimonials, to their ability- and profi-
ciency which they so well deserve. I will not trouble
you a moment longer, but will proceed to read, the
resolution which I have to propose, which is—" That
this Meeting, deeply sensible of theiniportance of ex-
tending the means of the-highest education as widely
as possible among all ranks of society, heartily con-
gratulates the directors of the Liverpool Institute on
the establishment of their Queen's College in connec-
tion with the London University, and sincerely trusts
that a measure so large in its aims and so catholic
in Its spirit may at once enlist in its favour the
sympathies of the public, and largely command the
confidence and co-operation of the class for whose
advantage it was specially designed." (Loud
applause.)
• The Earl of CARLISLE, in supporting the resolu-
tion, declared himself to be a cordial friend of all
efforts and all institutions which had for their
object to promote the spread of- useful education
and liberal accomplishnients—of the knowledge
which -made men wise;
.and the acts which made
them humanised and refined. (Hear, hear.) The
president of the institution, his friend Mr. W.
Brown, was one who 'had nobly practised what
others thought it honour enough to preach: (Cheers.)
They had read formerly of splendid public libraries
established by Ptolemies or by. Caesars, 'in the
capitals of their wide-spread empires ; bid this in-
stitution had been achieved by a simple citizen,
if I. may so call one of our merchant princes.
(Cheers.) Mr. Brown is the true Ptolemy
Philadelphus of Liverpool ; and like Mr. Astor of
New
.York, Mr. Brown "had conferred upon his
fellow-townsmen those benefits which in former
times were provided by emperors, kings, or states.
(Cheers.)
The resolution having been put and carried,
Sir J. PAKINGTON, M.P., moved the next resolu-
tion, " That this meetin,i, cordially rejoices in the
extension of general education ; and that not merely
in colleges for the middle and upper classes, but in
institutions and schools for the instruction of the
working. population." looking to the subject of
the resolution, he felt strongly the force of what
fell from his noble and learned friend in the chair,
that the cause of education now 'happily needed no
panegyric. The days were fairly gone by when
any class of men or any individual. man would
desire to keep his fellow-countrymen and his
fellow-men in darkness, and to • deprive them of
the inestimable blessing of cultivating that in-
tellect which is the best blessing of the
Almighty to the human race. (Applause.)
His noble friend Lord John Russell- had told
them with truth that he would • -abstain- from
entering into the general subject of education, be-
cause now it was everywhere felt that no one stood
in need of exhortation to encourage education by
every means in his power ; and, above all, it was un-
necessary to enlarge upon the subject generally, after
the manner in which it had been treated by his
noble friend in St. George's-hall 'on Monday night.
The first words of his resolution 'Were—" That this
meeting rejoices in the extension of general educa-
tion." He was happy to say that he cordially
adopted that form of words ; he heartily rejoiced in
the extension of education. He rejoiced in the
proofs of that extension which they found-On every
side. He was happy to say that in almost every
part of England, and especially in our great cities,
like Liverpool, they found the most spirited and the
most benevolent exertions 'for the promotion of this
great and most important cause. And such was
the advantage which that cause derived -from those
exertions—and he might appeal to the proceedings
of the meeting at which they were assembled; he
might appeal to the proceedings at the 'first meeting
of the association last year at Birmingham ; he
might appeal to the proceedings in London at the
conference which was held under the presidency of
the Prince Consort, at all of which men have
come forward from all parts of the country to con-
tribute the results of our experience, to offer them
suggestions which their ability might dictate, and
to give their utmost aid in the promotion of this
cause. These were not only proofs that education
had extended, but they held out.the most cheering
and satisfactory hopes of future progress and con-
tinued success. But he ventured to- hope that the
British public would not be content to leave the
subject where it was. No cleat the cause of
education had been greatly and generally ex-
tended, and his earnest counsel, whenever he pre-
sumed to speak upon this subject—his earnest and
anxious advice to those who took an interest in it
was, look at both sides of the picture. Let them
not be led away by the flattering representation
that this. cause had progressed to the extent
which the requirements of. the country demanded.
Let them not be persuaded that they had
chalked out the best mode of extending the
education of the people; let them not he de-
terred by self-complacency, by undue national
pride, from borrowing hints and suggestions
from the proceedings of other countries, u7henever
those proceedings were calculated to aid them in
the promotion of a great • national object. (Hear,
hear.) The more he reflected on the question the
more deeply he felt they ought to borrow aid from
whatever quarter was able to give it ; and he felt
convinced that we would improve by engrafting
upon our own system, not the exact system of
any other country, but the best part, as he
had 'often been told, and no' doubt told truly, that
in no one respect, be it education or jurisprudence,
was it likely- that the exact systems of foreign
nations would suit •uur habits of life and be fit to
be adopted by us entirely and as a But it
did not follow that we might 'not berroiv useful
hints from our neighbours ; and he believed there
was no reflecting man—there was no man of judg-
ment or experience in public affairs, -who would
deliberately say that with respect to the state of
our laws, with respect to our public health, with
respect to the various other subjects which had
brought them now together, and, above all, with
respect to the great question of national education,
that the institutions of England were what they
ought to be and what we wished to see them. This
was not drawing a flattering picture. It was not
trying to inculcate the idea that our country was
everything she ought to be. He would rather look
at—and he believed it was the wise part of those
who studied the qUestion—and dwell upon the un-
favourable than the favourable side of the picture.
It was not by boasting of what we had, but by
seriously reflecting on what we had not, by com-
paring other countries with our own, by looking
boldly in the face of all deficiencies which existed
that we could have a rational hope of raising our
country to the point we should wish to see her
attain. (Cheers.) Depend upon it there was no
part of our institutions, and no subject upon which
this was more strictly and literally true, than in
respect to national education. Go where they would
—go to the crowded city, go to the rural districts,
in spite of benevolence, in spite of efforts which did
honour to those who made them, they would find
that a large portion of the population was in
a state of ignorance, which is inconsistent with
their welfare, and dangerous to the welfare and
prosperity of the nation. (Cheers.) That was
what they Should address themselves to amend.
That was the reason why they had come together

upon this question to try to help each other in the
common cause. (Cheers.) He was sure no one
would confirm him more than the -distinguished
men around him—no one more than the noble chair-
man—no one more than Lord John Russell—when
he said that passing years made it more and more
important, if we valued the welfare of our country,
that we should cultivate the intellect of 'our coun-
trymen. (Cheers.) Depend upon it, as our institu-
tions became more free—as the glorious institutions
of which we were so proud acquired greater free-
dom—as we from time to time admitted more and
more of our fellow-countrymen to the exercise of
civil rights—so would it become more and more
necessary% that we should raise their characters,
th9t Vce should raise their intellectual powers, that
we should raise their habits and power of judg-
ment, and make them more and more fit to exer-
cise the rights bestowed upon them. (Cheers.)
And here let him say, talking of that which we
might venture to borrow from other states,. that we
would do well and wisely to borrow from the
avowed principle of our own noble offspring, the
United States of America. (Cheers.) Why had
they those educational measures which, whether
we liked them in all their details or not, were well
adapted to their object, and were_sound awl. good?
'Why had they those institutions—for we must not
shut our eves to the fact that they had gone ahead
of England in that respect ? (Hear,
.hear.) It was
because they had the wisdom and the foresight to
lay it down as a political axiom undeniable, that
when they commenced their republican institutions,
and determined to try the experiment of the freest
political system the world ever saw, they felt and
knew it would bedang,erous, if not impossible, unless
t the same time they raised the standard of educa-
tion, and cultivated the intellect. (Loud cheers.)
He had been led, speaking on this suriject, on which
he confessedle felt deeply, to enter further than he
had intended on first portion of the resolution ;
but he could, not sit down without a few passing
observations and expressing a few of- those ideas
which were suggested to his mind by the latter
part of the words—" That this extension of education
is desirable not merely in colleges for the middle
and upper classes, but- in institutions and schools
for the instruction of the working population." He
concurred as cordially with this latter part of the
resolution as he did with the former. And here he
could not refrain, coming as he did from another
part of England, from expressing that feeling which
he was sure must be strong in the mind of every
stranger who visited Liverpool—his feeling of
gratification at the noble institutions which he saw
around him. He would allude first to the building
in which they were assembled, and here he could
not, avoid congratulating his noble and learned
friend at being there presiding three, and twenty
years after he had laid the foundation stone. There
they saw him still vigorous, still exlightening and
delighting those whom he addressed, and presiding
over an assembly in one of the most prosperous and
one of the most successful .educational institutions
in the whole kingdom. (Cheers.) There was
another, the Collegiate Institution, of which he had
heard much, and which he believed was well
adapted to confer the greatest benefit on the town.
But great as were the advantages conferred by
these institutions, he found that the benevolent
spirit of the citizens of Liverpool did not rest con-
tent, but was still striving. to 'add to those advan-
tages. That morning he had received a deputation
consisting of some of the most eminent citizens,' to
communicate with him upon the subject of an insti-
tution intended to train a large number of boys for
the service of the ro,yal navy and mercantile marine
—(cheers)—a floating institution to enable those
who were now in the streets, and who knew not
what their fortune.in life might be, to become useful
citizens, and be brought up to a noble calling—the
profession of the sea. (Cheers)—He was delighted
to be able to aid in the establishment of institutions
of that kind, and it would give him sincere pleasure
on the part of the Admiralty, to give a vessel for
the promotion 'of so excellent an institution, which
he hoped would thrive and prosper, and be produc-
tive of all the advantages expected from it. He could
not be silent upon another subject, although it had
been adverted to by the noble earl near him, he meant
that magnificent donation by Mr, Brown of the
free library which was rising in the town—one of
the noblest acts that he had ever known to be
done by an individual. (Cheers.) He was afraid
he had extended his remarks to too great a length,
but that had arisen from the fact that he had
always felt a deep interest in the education ques-
tion. He was deeply convinced of the extent to
which the welfare of our country depended upon
it ; and so long as he was able to take an active
part in public life, whatever situation lie might
hold, whatever might be his position, he should
never cease to feel the deepest interest in pro-
moting it. (Cheers.)
Sir JAMES STEPHEN—Sir John Pakington has
told you that the object of this resolution is con-
gratulation. We record our joy in the progress of
learning, not only in colleges for the higher and
middle ranks, but in institutions for the poorer
people. I happen to be very much connected with
colleges for the higher ranks. I have the honour
to be a professor of modern history in the Univer-
sity of Cambridge, and therefore I live in the midst
of vast libraries. I associate with every variety of
learned men. I am surrounded by a band of
cheerful young pupils. I have all learned leisure
—or leisure, at least—l will drop the epithet—to
pass quietly the evening of a long life. In short, I
am one who fares sumptuously every day on intel-
lectual diet, and I'should be a strange man indeed
if I at least did not rejoice to know that he who
lies at my door should be fed, not with the crumbs
which fall from my table, but• should come and
take. his full share, as much as he will. (Cheers.)
I raise the voice of congratulation in answer to this
motion, .in seconding it, because my university, of
which I hope I am a very loyal subject, has re-
solved to send forth persons to examine all manner
of school-boys of a certain age, and to confer upon
them certificates which in, some sense will attach
them to the University of Cambitidge. Well, I
rejoice, such being the decision of that learned
body, that all that is passing here is of a kind to
meet cordially and heartily their efforts to promote
the cause of national education. One other cause
of congratulation is this—self-government, social
self-government, municipal self-government, na-
tional self-government ; these are our largest and
justest • boast. We are emphatically the self-
governing nation of the world. (Applause.) But,
in addition to social and national self-government,
there is another kind of self-government wanted—
personal self-government. (Hear, hear.) If yeu
give a mighty people the government of everything
else, and don't teach them to govern themselves, the
time
is not very remote when they will cease to be
mighty. Sir John Pakington has had the kindness
to tell us of our faults. All I have to speak of is
what is welcome and agreeable. I say, then, that
this self-government is the one end, purpose, and
object of all education—the great power which our
Creator has put within us—the power of conscience,
the power of doing right or that of doing wrong,
the power of living and acting up to those commands
which He has placed in our bosoms ; these are the
things we need and which education must give us.
And let education give us that, and then—l, all my
life, I think, have been somewhat liberal, somewhat
conser-rative ; I have been, I think, I hardly know
what, but I am become a radical to the utmost ex-

treme—in favour of universal suffrage, vote by
ballot, and everything and anything you like, if
only they to whom that mighty trust is to be com-
mitted shall be not merely collectively but indivi-
dually worthy of it. (Hear, hear.) It is a sort of
hymn of triumph which I have been asked to sing;
I have sung it entirely hypothetically, and in every
other way, that the education of which we hear so
much, and of which we talk so much, shall only be
that education leading to that kind of self-govern-
ment of which I have spoken. (Cheers.)
Mr. M. MILNES, M.P.—The resolution says it is
well to have educated as far as we have done the
working-classes ; and the way in which you received
the somewhat grave speech of my right hon. friend
Sir John Pakington shows that you are desirous
that that education should go further. And it is in-
deed, if I may be permitted to say so, an agreeable
thing for a man who passes the greater part of his
life in the rank and file of the House of Commons,
sitting night after night with one set of men look-
ing others in the face, to find himself here meeting
gentlemen who are there opposed, all combined
with full sympathy for such a work as this. By
my side is a noble lord who proposed that a commis-
sion should be issued for the purpose of inquiring
into the present state of the education of the people
of this country; my noble friend proposed, and I
had the honour of supporting it, and it was rejected.
But a short time afterwards a proposal to issue a
commission to inquire into the present state of the
education of the country was made by my right
hon. .friend Sir J. Pakington, who sits on the other
side, and then, happily, it was agreed to. Thus we
see these two statesmen running together,
_
yoked
fil
one noble career for the purpose of accomplishing
what I believe a very great practical good ? Be-
cause it will show us the position in which we
really are. It is most important these facts should
be §ubstantiated, becalm I believe that whell they