The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

the giver of all good, and in the immensity of the
great sacrifice that has been made for mankind, the
great religious difficulty would be found in no very
long time to disappear. But we have not yet ar-
rived at that state of opinion, or that state of edu-
cation. It is therefore absolutely necessary as it
appears to me, whether you will look upon it that
the state 'Of difference is for ever to subsist, or whe-
ther you suppose that in time we shall get overthese
difficulties, thatfor the present at least the voluntary
efforts of those who love mankind and who have a
feeling of regard for their neighbours and the safety
of society should combine to provide by what are
called ragged schools, and by schools of a similar
description, a supply for the wants to which I have
adverted. I believe that if those wants are sup-
plied, although we certainly can never hope in our
most sanguine expectations that temptations will
not divert many from an honest and religious
course, yet that the number of those who are sent
to prison, who not having originally vicious inch
nations, are yet perverted by bad example and the
circumstances of their position—that the number of
of those who are criminally punished will very
much decrease, and society be a great gainer
thereby. Let us consider in every respect how
much we can do by enabling those children to lead
au honest life, and to obtain the means of know-
ledge. However elementary the instruction may
be, a knowledge of reading and writing puts into
their hands the great instrument by which emi-
nence of every kind is to be achieved. The young
person availing himself of the talents which God
has implanted in him will, finding that he has
these instruments in his hands, pursue his own
course ; and we know that in this free country,
happily, from among the humblest ranks and pur-
suits there have arisen men who have benefited
their country by their discoveries in science, and
by their services in the State and in the field—by
Vie abilities they have displayed in the law and in
the church. Such being the case, in this point of
view you render a real service to the country. But
the moral service you render is of still far higher
importance; for, instead of havingthese poor persons
wandering about the streets, and thus led into crime,
if you can induce them to pursue an honest course
of life—if they can be recommended by those who
have seen their conduct, whether as shoeblacks or
in any other occupation, as steady, honest, and
faithful—if you can thus procure employment for
them, you not only benefit the whole community,
and add to the prosperity and stability of the coun-
try, but you have the consolation of reflecting that
you have not neglected the immortal part of those
who are your fellow-creatures. (Cheers.) Such, as
I conceive, is the foundation of the effort to estab-
lish ragged schools in great towns. Of course there
will remain those who refuse their aid, who are so
involved in vicious inclination and crime that it is
not possible by this means to reclaim them. But
can any one say that we have hitherto done our
utmost in this respect 1 Is there not still a great
defect, a great want of effort for this purpose ?
Have those who have been blessed with affluence,
as a consequence, it may be, of their own applica-
tion and industry in the various trades which are
pursued in this country, used those means for the
improvement of their fellow-creatures as well as for
the enjoyment of those luxuries and comforts which
wealth has placed within their reach ? lam afraid
the answer must be that hitherto in this country,
however we may pride ourselves upon our know-
ledge, our freedom, and our power, there is still a
great duty to do to our fellow-men in this respecE.
I know that there does exist in th's country, and I
have no doubt in this town, a wholesome spirit of
independence, which induces those who wish edu-
cation either for themselves or their children rather
to pay for what they receive, and thus to be under
no obligation to any one, than to receive eleemo-
synary grants for their education. (Cheers.) A gen-
tleman who holds a high position in the House of
Commons told me that in this neighbourhood he
had established an evening class for elementary in-
struction on matters of science. He made it, as it
were, a free school. It was very little attended, and
likely to be a total failure, when he made it a con-
dition that a certain sum should be paid by all who
attended. Immediately the school began to fill, and
very soon a respectable class were in attendance,
because, while the people saw that it was something
worth their paying for, they felt they did not part
with any of their independence, as they would have
felt they were doing by receiving gratuitously in-
struction for which they were well able to pay. They
did pay, and they received the instruction. I my-
self am connected with a school to which those who
pay a certain sum, and are not able to pay more,
may come and receive elementary instruction ; but
those whose means enable them to pay are at liberty
to do so, but receive no better instruction than those
who pay the smaller sum. You might suppose th it
none would pay the larger sum, but the fact is that
more than one-half of those who attend pay the
larger sum, in order that they may retain
hat which is highly valuable—that sense of inde-
pendence arising from the consciousness that they are
paying for that which they receive, and are not
placed under any obligation to those who conduct
and had established the school, but that it is a free and
reciprocal bargain between man and man, and th'Lt
they who receive the benefit are as fully independent
es those who confer it. (Cheers.) Now, it is a most
valuable thing to cultivate that feeling; I believe,
as you have been told, that this Ragged Schools
Institution ought not to go one inch beyond the
purpose for which it was intended, and that if you
were successful in giving education to the children
and parents freely and without payment, who could
well afford to pay for it, you would be doing injury
instead of benefit, and that a certain degradation
of mind would accompany the reception of it.
The MAYOR moved " that the meeting rejoices to
recognise in Lord John Russell the untiring advo-
cate of education among all classes of the commu-
nity, and that the best thanks of the meeting are
due to his lordship for his kindness in coming a
great distance to preside at this meeting." (Cheers )
This resolution was cordially received.
Lord J. RUSSELL. (Loud cheers)—l have now
to return, and a very pleasant task it is, my thanks
for the manner in which you have passed this reso-
lution. Before Ido so, let me say, with regard to
the collection, that since 1401. has been raised in the
room means will be found to induce others to add
their subscriptions,- and so make the entire amourr.
There is a proverb which says the absent are always
iu the wrong. I hope that in this case they will
not be in the wrong by withholding their sub-
scriptions, though they have not bad the pleasure
of being present. With regard to my coming
here to-day, I am sure it has been a very little in.
convenience and a very great pleasure and gratifi-
cation. (Cheers.) lam glad to see every effort
made to promote education, whether it be the edu-
cation of the highest classes, conducted at the Uni-
versities of Oxford or Cambridge, or others which
have been founded for the education of the very
poorest in ragged schools. With improvement
in the mind I look for improvement in man-
ners and the abandonm'nt of those grosser vices
which belong rather to our animal than our intel-
lectual nature, and which degrade the name of man.
Many may remember—perhaps not a great many,
but I for one remember—that 40 years ago there
existed a very anxious and uneasy state of society.
The Government of that day had the greatest dis-
trust of the people. They were passing laws aim, st
every session which a member of the Government
described as laws of severe coercion, and the be fir-
ing of the people was full of resentment and dis-
trus+. During these 40 years there has arisen a
very different state of feeling—a feeling on the part
of the Government of entire trust in the people,
and on the people of great loyalty to the Throne
and of confidence in our institutions. We do not
now find men of the higher classes spending their
evenings in a degraded way, and ladies of wealth
do not gamble away their fortunes. May we not
suppose that a similar change will take place in
those whom fortune has not so favoured ? With
education furnishing the means by which we spend
our days and eveiniege in more intellectual pursuits,
which, according to a great orator of antiquity, are
delightful in prosperity, a comfort in adversity,
which go eith a man when he journeys and a ernaiu
with him at home—pursuits of this kind will take
the place of intemperate indulgence and vicious
appetites. Though there may be some portion of
the community yet indulging in such habits, we
may hope they will be much diminished. I shall
ever remember this day with satisfaction. lam
grateful for the manner in which I have been re-
ceived, and I trust to merit the good' opinion you
have been pleased to express. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. JOHN WILSON, grind-r, teien came fore and
ant presented Lard John Russell with an adl e q,
voted to his lordship at a public meeting of the
working classes hell on Tuesday evening.
Mr. HENRY LEVY and Mr. SAMUEL as a depu-
tation from the Jews resident in Sheffield, also pi e
seuted an addr, S 3 thenkine Lord J. Ruse fur his
exertions in behalf of religious and civil liberty.
now received.°ißthtelifitagttiee'erisning
sELL—W hen I arrived hero y esterd iy
"ad expectations of having any addresses pre-
sented t
Sou Sl-1011
t ion thaterahc
gel;
ewsltiigcrhaltilfil Dave
being
have thought any efforts of
mine worthy of
useang commemoratedF in the terms
that you have
was
or my own part, I cannot
in behalf of measures of civil
pbaurttpienrcElavreliattnitt good fortune to take a
and religious liberty, of reform in the representa-
tion, of the removal of restrictions upon trade and
commerce, to which public opinion was inclining,
and in favour of which a preponderating weight a
length prevailed. Very many abler and better men
than myself bad failed in those endeavours. They
failed because at that time either the nation was
engaged in the overwhelming interest of war, or
I that the prejudices and false theories of writershad