The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-14 00:00:00

rARLE-STREET.I OL D

On Friday evening last a very interesting and
admirable lecture was delivered by the Rev. A.
J. D. D'Orsey, 8.D., Corpus Christi College, Cam-
bridge, " On the Study of the English Language
as an essential part of a University course." After
some general observations vindicating the claims
of language on the attention of men of science, not
simply as the vehicle of thought, but as the very
looni,in which thought is woven, he entered on a
rapid sketch of the origin of the English lan-
guage, illustrating his subject by large maps of
Europe and the British islands, coloured (as he
termed it) "glosso graphically" so as to exhibit the
seats of the various languages and dialects, He
showed also by coloured charts and tables the pro-
portion of the Teutonic and Romanic elements in
the spoken language, and i❑ the writings of our
great authors. Thus out of 100,000 words in Eng-
lish, 60,000 were Teutonic, 30,000 Romanic, and
10,000 from all other sources. Having . thus
proved the great preponderance of Anglo-Saxon
words in English, the lecturer entered on an
inquiry as to the present modes of teaching
our native language. He censured the employment
of uneducated nursery governesses, quoting Quin-
telean in support of his strictures. Extracts were
then read from the reports of H.M. Inspectors of
Schools, to trove the want of attention to the
proper teaching of English in schools for the
people—the indistinct articulation—the mono-
tonous sing-song—the total want of reading, so
as to understand or be understood. Schools for
the middle and upper classes were next reviewed,
and their means of teaching English by trans-
lations from the classics, occasional themes
and declamations on speech, were fully con-
sidered. The City of London School, King
Edward's at Birmingham, and the Grammar School
of Bury St. Edmund's were about the only ones
where direct English teaching existed. The first
English department worthy of the name was insti-
tuted in the High School of Glasgow in 1834, and
since then English masterships and professorships
had been founded in King's College and University
College, London, and in the Queen's Colleges in
Ireland. Bat in the universities little had
been done. Professor Aytoun, in Edin-
burgh, and Professor Ingram, in Dublin,
had met with considerable success for many years.
Mr. C. J. Plumptre (a barrister of the Temple)
an eminent elocutionist, had broken ground at
Oxford, and an English lectureship had been
founded at Cambridge, but both were of origin too
recent for their results to be at present adequately
estimated. The authorities in our great universities
seemed to rely on previous training. They assumed
that men were masters of their own language when
coming into residence, and that a few prizes for
essays, poems, declamations, 4nd reading in chapel
were sufficient encouragements. So while there
was ample disciplining of the mind, and
every effort to store it with knowledge,• there
was no training in the mode of communicating
thought; men were not taught, not even clergy-
men, to read and speak in public.
The lecturer then sketched the results of this
neglect of the mother tong'ie. The mass of oar
population, in spite of all that has been done, must
be considered densely ignorant ; millions never
opened a book ; nearly fifteen millions never entered
a church or chapel. Other causes might operate,
but the want of a knowledge of language was
a potent one. People, whose vocabulary was
limited to about 300 words, could not follow
a sermon, and clergymen who had never been
taught the value of plain Saxon-English could not
preach one. Then amongst the middle and upper
classes, how superficial was the knowledge of Eng-
lish. How few could write a common letter with-
out faults in grammar, choice of words or spelling.
Punctuation was absolutely ignored by many.
What were the speeches at public meetings, or
rather how would they appear in print, but for the
talent of the reporters, who could bring order out
of chaos. The results of the civil service
examinations abundantly proved the justice
of these strictures ; and the fruits of univer-
sity trainin g,or rather nonstraining, were too patent
to require illustration. Our clergy too often carried
into the reading desk and pulpit all the defects of
early life, the provincial accent, the sing song tone,
the nasal twang, the lisp or burr or stammer, in-
distinct utterance, inaudible reading, vociferation,
wrong emphasis,und ue stress on particular words,and
many other faults. Good sermons were the excep-
tion rather than the rule, for if sound in doctrine
and full of zeal, the style was often obscure or pe-
dantic or inflated, and the delivery monotonous
and soporific. In the Senate, though most
of the members were University men, there
were but few really effective speakers. Were
our senators trained to speak well, that is, to the
point, much time would be saved and public busi-
ness dispatched more rapidly. The remedies sug-
gested were-Ist, Training schools for nursery
governesses, who, without knowing or pretending
to know French and Italian, should speak English
without vulgarisms. 2nd, Greater attention in our
present training colleges for schoolmasters to due
instruction in English, especially in correct and
fluent speaking. 3rd, More encouragement to men
of talent and education to become and to remain
schoolmasters by holding out the prospect of hon-
ourable offices to distinguished teachers. Why
should Inspectorships of Schools be always
given to clergymen and barristers, to the exclusion
of the schoolmaster. 4. The appointment of a
thoroughly accomplished scholar as English master
in every great public school, of equal rank with
the other masters. 5. The endowment of at least
one professorship in every University. 6. The
recognition of English as a subject, in every ex-
amination not strictly scientific, and rewarding
distinction in composition or oratory in the same
substantial manner as eminence in classics or
mathematics.
Were these suggestions carried into effect, the
lecturer believed the greatest benefits would result,
not merely literary, but moral and religious, and
not simply to the educated, but to the great mass
of the community. The lecture theatre of the
Royal Institution was filled with a very numerous
and distinguished audience, and the Rev. Lecturer
was frequently and loudly applauded.

THE LOSS OF TEE CAMILLA.

ADMIRALTY, FEB. 13

Vice-Admiral Sir James Hope has transmitted
to the Admiralty the following extract of a letter,
dated the Bth of December, written by the master
of the Ivera, which appears to confirm the idea
that her Majesty's ship Camilla foundered at
sea:—

" On the 27th of October, being 70 miles south-
east from Cape King, I passed a large lower mast,
with top on it, scraped bright, and evidently not in
the water for a very long period; it well could have
been considered as a mast of a man-of-war brig."

MUSEUM OF PATENTS, SOUTH KENSINGTON.--
Number of visitors for the week ending Feb. 9, 2,863;
total number since the opening of the museum free daily
(May 12, 1858), 322,863.
GIBRALTAR.—A Parliamentary return has been
obtained by Mr. Alderman Salomons of the
revenurieta ea-t
rived from granting permission to sell wines or spr
38
Gibraltar. It amounts to £3,432, and, as there
,are only
places authorised, the authority must cost in each case
above £9O a year. The population may be taken at 18,000
or 20,000.
THE DISASTER AT NINGSTOWN.—In the course
of Tuesday the search for the bodies of Captain Boyd and
a missing sailor, named Forsyth, belonging to the Ajax,
was vigorously prosecuted. Early in the morning Lieu-
tenant Hutchinson, with Lieutenant Morrell and a party
of sailors from the Ajax, and fishermen of Kingstown,
commenced the search. It was supposed that the body
must be lying amongst the loose rubble, and the atten-
tion of those who were looking for it was specially directed
to the debris of the wrecks, which it was supposed might
have covered it from sight. The vest and comforter, and
even the shirt of Captain Boyd were found, but there was
no trace of the body. Lieutenant Hutchinson offered the
reward of £5 to any per son who would find it, but the men
toiled on without success until darkness caul() on. To-
wards evening the sea and wind began to rise and the
barometer fell, murky clouds drove across the sky, and
those persons who were engaged in the search were oom-
pelled to desist.

?ER T.

A very curious troupe of minstrels have arrived
from America, and have taken up their public abode
in the smaller hall of St. James's, which is entered.
from Piccadilly.
It consists of 30 performers, costume in file
style of a period ranging from 50 to 100 years since,
and showing all the eccentricities of former fashions,
and proving that our grandfathers and grand-
mothers, and ancestors, doubtless up to the remotest

times, were, as are their descendants, the slaves of
fashion, consenting to put on any ludicrous garb,
or any absurd costume that the absurdity of the
period may demand.
The concert is divided into the sacred and the
secular, and thus we have several pieces of very old
religious music in the first part ; whilst the second
is devoted to very worldly, not to say fast produc-
tions, although throughout the utmost decorum is
preserved. The first part consists of some very
old psalm tunes, which forcibly carry one back to
the pure and stern Puritan times, when the young
Republic was making her way into the Is ild
prairie and the dark woods, and when she had a
stern and often solitary duty to perform. Doubt-
less in the cities of the Western World, whence
this " Old Folks' Concert" comes, these old tunes,
sung with the simple yet natural power of these
singers, must produce many associative feelings
which we on this side the Atlantic
.cannot so fully
participate in.

The merrier portion of the entertainment con-
sists of home melodies which have the novelty and
gaiety of the Western world, and although they
cannot be called negro, they have the simplicity
and touchingness of that class of music. Mrs.
Nichol sang two or three ballads with great sweet-
ness, and a certain naivete which were very telling
and which commanded rapturous encores. A lady
of the name of Reeve sings with much expression
and power ; and there is a fine natural bass voice,
but we did not catch the name of the possessor.
The chorus sing very well together, and are effec-
tive. Altogether it will prove attractive from its
eccentricity, and from the perfect novelty of much
of the performance. We can sincerely recommend
those in search of a couple of hours of novel amuse-
ment to look in on " The Old Folks' Concert."

ROYAL GEOGRAPRICAL SOCIETY.

A crowded meeting of tlitt Society was held on
Monday evening, Lord Ashburton, President, in
the chair.

Among those present were Sir R. L. Murchison,
Sir John Anson, the Danish Minister, General
Portlock, Colonel Sykes. M.P., Sir J. Elphinstone,
M.P., Mr. Monckton Milnes, M.P., Sir Thomas
Fremantle, Sir Richard Mayne, Lord Strangford,
the Right Hon. H. U. Addington, Colonels Sotheby,
Gawler, and Shaffner, of the United States ; Capts.
Sir E. Belcher, Sir F. Nicolson, R. Collinson, C. G.
Robinson, G. A. Bedford, M. S. Nolloth, E. Orn-
manney, Sherard Osborn, and Aldrich, R.N. ;
Allen Young, D. J. Herd, S. Hyde, and W. P.
Snow; Major Cooke; Drs. Hodgkin, Rae, Bigsby,
Worthington, and Bernays ; Messrs G. W. Dasent,
Crawfurd, Brooking, Hamilton, Stavely, E. 0.
Smith, C. White, C. E. Mudie, &c.
Vice-Chancellor Sir John Stuart, and Messrs. G.
Cox Bompas, Charles Bonney, Thomas Combe,
John Jermyn Cowell, Passmore Edwards, William
Fairbairn, John Fleming, William Forsyth, Wil-
liam Bosville James, Hayes Kyd, William Robert.
son Sandbach, Peter Sharp, and James Simpson,
were elected Fellows.

The subscription list in aid of Consul Petherick's
expedition up the White Nile, amounting already
to upwards of £l,OOO, was laid upon the table.
The PRESIDENT, in opening the discussion on the
North Atlantic Telegraph, observed that the geo-
graphical features connected with the scheme were
before the public, and he hoped the meeting would
have the assistance of several eminent travellers
present who had visited the region in question.
Sir EDWARD BELCHER, R.N., said that he had
accompanied the deputation to Lord Palmerston,
and was glad to find that the arguments then used
had been thoroughly realised. He expected that a
great bank would be found between the Faroes and
Iceland and Greenland ; and as to the existence of
reefs, from which difficulties were anticipated, he
believed they would serve as a defence, because they
would prevent the ice coming down. Sir Edward
bore witness to the value of the soundings which
had been carried out by Sir F. L. M'Clintock.
Capt. SHERARD OSBORN said that no doubt could
exist as the practicability of the route after what
they had heard from the distinguished navigators
who had read their papers at the last meeting.
The soundings showed that, with but an occasional
exception, the depth never exceeded 1,000 fathoms.
The principal difficulty was in carrying the cable
within the 150 fathoms depth on the Labrador
coast, where it might be exposed to the action of
icebergs. The great point would be to push the
150 fathoms mark as far in towards the coast as
possible. There was evidence, however, from the
soundings made by Capt. M'Clintock that the bank
off Hamilton Inlet was 200 fathoms in depth, and
that fish and shells were brought up, showing that
the bergs did not rip up the bottom in the sweeping
manner which some had alleged, and that the risk
to the cable was therefore not so great as had been
imagined. With regard to the aurora borealis and
the intense cold being likely to affect the electric
current, if any apprehensions existed on that bead,
they were set at rest by the fact that when Capts.
Kellett and M'Clintock were beset in the ice a few
seasons ago, in 742 deg., a much more northerly
latitude than the line of the proposed route, they
established a telegraphic communication between
the two vessels, and maintained it without any
difficulty.
Mr. JOHN BALL said, that while acknowledging
all that had been achieved, and believing in the
practicability of the northern route, they ought not
to underrate the obstacles that still remained. The
thsaription given of the interior of Iceland showed.
that there was an extensive desert to be traversed,
where there was no grass for horses, and no tim-
ber to form the piles with; nor did he think the
difficulties on the coast of Labrador had been suffi-
ciently considered, and that before they could be
solved it might be necessary to make a more care-
ful survey.
Sir R. AlueeHisosr briefly observed that he was
disposed to accept as conclusive the opinion of the
Arctic navigators who had examined and had pro-
nounced in favour of the scheme. He had no in-
terest in the undertaking except in a geographical
point of view, yet he must say the promoters had
put their case ably before the public, and that the
gentlemen associated with the other lines must
admit that they had done so in a clear, fair, and
candid manner. Sir Roderick concluded by ac-
knowledging the valuable assistance which had
been rendered by their friends, the Danes, to the
undertaking.
Dr. JOHN RAE, in reply to Mr. Ball as to the
difficulties in Iceland, said that in his journey across
that island he and his party never wanted grass.
They rode 30 miles a day with the .same horses,
some of them carrying men weighing 14 and. .l_
5
stone, and the journey was made in 13 dayst) habit
l wth
ti
out any impediment. The horses were in
of carrying
toy
eo
n veloads
piles o
f2iOnOtle any
b. , andd i
swt
ro
iueltdw thheerree
theyf o therefore,
beable
might be bwearsesqtuililreedas.ierT.he southerfrnomroui‘tiera.crsotsusatrhves
Diary Mr. ofG abni
sT ,re
explorations, p
ireeraadti
oextracts
ertaken previously to
a_ailthrough the centre of
of Carpentaria. He
lAiiusstlarateliadatroiwn
Lake Torrens. Driftwood
Weebrae found 15 feet high on the trees
discovered wellga_rwdsaidtnevtrohefned udistricts and springs be-
River Neale, proving the large quan-
Itill)oin°tnrydgdiroenurfgibnbgtiostththhee which during the rainy season must
pour through the valley. His examinations extended
27.30 deg., between long. 135 and 136 deg.,
vtboaustt lat.
hecould not reach the northern limit of the
lagoon discovered. Indications of gold were
found, but his health having broken down he
returned, and succeeded with Mr. Kokewieh and
two men in reaching Chamber's Creek on the 21st
of January, 1860, after an absence of about three
months.
Sir R. MraellisoN reviewed at some length the
data cotleeted by various explorers, and expressed
his belief that, notwithstanding the discovery of an
extensive fertile region in the interior by Mr. Mac-
douall Stuart, there was, as he had originally sur-
mised, a vast saline desert to the eastward.
Mr. BAKER, of South Australia, believed that the
theory of Sir R Mureiiiison would prove to be cor-
rect, and mentioned a variety of facts tied indica-
tions in support of it.
Colonel GAWLER, late Governor of South Aus-
tralia, urged the great importance of Mr. Stuart's
discoveries, in making which he had been so nobly
assisted by Messrs. Chambers and Finke, and
which had proved the practicability of forming a
route from the south-east colonies to the north-west
coast, and enforced the advantage of establishing
without delay a now colony on that roast.
The meeting was then adjourned, to the 25th,_
inst., when the President hoped that a papel_elyt
Mr. Du Chaillu on the Gorilla Co untry of W
Equatorial Africa, and one by
Hodgson on Japan, would be reaCdicl:sul rembea:tort