The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-30 00:00:00

patients ; and Drs. ANDREW COMBE and SPURZ-
HEIM were of the same opinion. To this we may
.dd the strong opinion so recently delivered by Sir
JAMES SIMPSON in his capacity as President of
the Health Department at Belfast against
overcrowding hospitals. It is true that the
establishments to which Sir JAMES referred were
occupied by sick and wounded persons, but the in-
sane and mentally afflicted also require plenty of air,
and the overcrowding is not likely to produce other
than mischievous consequences. The additional ex-
pense of smaller and more numerous asylums would
be well compensated for by the increased advan-
tages, and in the proposed reforms expense should
not be the first consideration, as the changes will
be permanent.

Sir ROUNDELL PALMER delivered an Address at

the opening of new buildings in connexion with the
Richmond Grammar School, Yorkshire. A dis-
tinguished company was assembled to do honour to

,be occasion, and the Inaugural Address was a very

good one. The subject of education has for some
time past been one that has engaged a large share of
public attention, and the question is one of such in-
terest and importance that too much care and atten-
tion can hardly bo bestowed upon it. The remarks

of the learned gentleman are especially worthy of no-
tice, and can be profitably studied. He commenced

by saying that the associations of the past were one
of the richest legacies of the English nation, and
among the memorials which Richmond could boast
of might be ranked the ancient and famous Grammar
School. The more we consider the subject of edu-
cation the more important it seems in all its bear-
ings ; and, as it is well put in this speech, its aspects,

_ .
both social and political, are significant ones :

socially, in promoting civilisation, and politically in
making men familiar with economical laws—the
guarantee for the right use of position and power,
and the antidote to false levelling notions. The
more widely education is spread the better insight
will men have into those matters of social
position and the claims of all classes, for it is in
almost all cases those who have received a half-
education, or none at all, who are the most mis-
chievous members of society, and those who dis-
seminate dangerous doctrines. Happily, nowadays
we may see this feeling very much gaining ground,
and the increase in the number of our schools, and
their more extended influence, attest the truth of
this. Not alone have the more simple and less
pretentious establishments borne witness to this
influence, but likewise the highest and most

important have given proofs of its general
acknowledgment. The conduct of our lead-
ing Universities has of late years changed
for the better, and conspicuous among other
alterations may be mentioned the abolition of
the old close system of patronage. Prizes are now
more exclusively the appanage of merit, the course
of instruction is enlarged, and the formation of
local examinations has tended greatly to increase
their influence and enhance their nature. Other
Universities have sprung into existence of compa-

ratively recent dates, and new public schools have
arisen, without however doing injury to the old and
long-established ones.
Another noticeable feature of the present day is
the formation of the middle-class. schoz,ls designed
and intended for the benefit of those who are pre-

vented from attending the higher classes, and it is
in every way desirable that they should not be
precluded from some educational advantages be-
cause they cannot avail themselves of the best
resources. No doubt the Government schools
ought to be, as Sir IL PALMER emphatically ob-
served, " local centres of first-rate education." Of
course, in pursuance of this object, they may have
very different ends to pursue, for they should as
much as possible adapt themselves to the wants
and requirements of localities in which they
arc placed. Some might be expected to do
more than lead the middle-class education
in commercial districts ; others again might
have to be the connecting link between the
higher education and that simply commercial, while
yet more would have to keep up their place as
on a level with the great public schools.
Sir R. PALMER is one of these who incline
to the older studies as valuable and important ;
and so they undoubtedly are in many respects,
for which we can find nothing else as a substi-
tute. It is gratifying to find so good an autho-
rity come forward as an exponent of the merits
and an advocate of the importance of the pre-emi-
nence of these time-honoured studies and pursuits.
"Classical studies teach the laws of language, which
are the main instruments of reason ; to be
alie to understand other people's words, and to
express one's own thoughts well and intelligibly, are
indispensable foundations for all other progress ;
aud, as a means to this end, the study of the Greek
and Latin languages is most important, not only or
chiefly as an introduction to a precious literature,
but as being the best adapted for giving au insight
into the structure of language generally." Those
who persist in decrying the study of classical litera-
ture seem entirely to overlook this important end
which it answers, and there is no reason why the
cultivation of this study should prevent the atten-
tion of students being given to other branches of
education. It would be an idle sort of progress to
make, and one quite unequal to the demands of the
present day, to elevate one branch at the expense of
the other, and such neglect would inevitably bring
about undesirable consequences. It would be well
if the remarks here made as to the object of teach-
ing and learning were more fully appreciated and
acknowledged, as mistakes and errors are often
made in trying to do too much instead of resting
content with doing a little well. " The object of
education," it is here truly said, "is not
so much to draw as to cultivate the faculties of the
mind." Those who do not adapt the amount of
learning to the capabilities of the student commit a
fatal error, and one that does away with a great deal
of the benefits of learning.
In Richmond School, as in other places, it is
satisfactory to find that duo attention is given to
the study of modern subjects, and French and
German, the national sciences, and other things find
a place in the list of duties to be considered. It
is to be regretted that this grammar school
in question is not better endowed, and it
would be a good thing if those interested
in its welfare would turn their attention_ to the
subject of its improvement in this respect. Sir R.
PALMER concluded his address by impressing upon
his hearers the importance of energy being employed
to effect the objects in view, and as this school had
in former days won high distinction by the attain-
ments of some of its scholars su it might again.
Senior Wranglers, Archbishops, and Chancellors
have issued from its ranks, and so they may again.
" All the prestiges of life are open to boys with their
opportunities, if they submit to discipline, learn
early the practice of virtue and self control,
and unite an honourable ambition with a spirit of
modesty and generosity towards others." The
advice here tendered will apply generally to other
plans besides that for which it was immediately
intended, and may be profitably considered by both
masters and scholars. Education is being looked
upon more in its right light nowadays than it used
to be, and people are beginning to think more of