The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AIARCEI 25, 1868

doubt that progress has been made in the last ten
years? so that we may believe that matters are even
better than they appeared to the commission.
Genera! observation is sufficient to show the
great improvement that has taken place
of late 5n the primary education of the
lower classes. It needs no blue books and
no Royal oommission to tell us that there are many
more working men and women who can read and
write than of old, or that the whole mental
calibre of the population is raised. The interest
taken in foreign politics, the immense circulation
of cheap literature, are things unknown to our fore-
fathers, and while we should endeavour by every
means to press onward the great question of
national education, we need not confuse our-
selves by making matters worse than they really
In another aspect, too, one which com-
mends itself to the attention of practical men,
the existing system has worked well. The
share which the public has voluntarily borne in the
expenses of primary schools has been very large.
The school pence amount to nearly £400,000 and
the subscriptions to £350,000. Besides this much
has been effected by personal exertion and volun-
teer effort. All these gains would be forfeited by
the adoption of the compulsory rate, and there are
other serious obstacles to such a measure.' The
rates already press heavily on the smaller house-
holders, and any addition to the burden would be
most unwelcome. They are already, as the
Duke of MARLBOROUGII observed, on the in-
crease. Rates are already imposed for some
educational purposes, such as industrial schools,
reformatory schools, and workhouse schools,
and the Government may well shrink from increas-
ing the number. In the interest of the schools it
is not desirable to do so. When the question is one
of administering funds raised by unwelcome pres-
sure the natural tendency of the local bodies chosen
by the ratepayers is to screw down the expenses to
the minimum point. This is often a shortsighted
policy, but it is followed in nine cases out of ten
where ratepayers' representatives have the govern-
ment of institutions. We have seen the effects
in the administration of our workhouses,
and the Commissioners of 1861, in stating their
objections to the rating system, give this argument
a prominent place. They say " The experience of
workhouse schools leads us to fear that the conse-
quence of [putting the management of the schools
into the hands of parochial bodies would be that
trained teachers would in a great measure cease to
be employed, and that the whole standard of ele-
mentary education would be lowered." Again,
they say very sensibly that " Rates are a proper
fund for expenses, of which it is desirable to exercise
vigilant and minute economy;" but the support of a
good school does not belong to such a category.
Having, therefore, abandoned the idea of a compul-
sory rate in aid, the Government have decided on
proceeding on the foundation they possess. The
most important change which is made under the
new scheme is the appointment of a Minister of
Education, and Parliament is to be asked to give its
assent to the appointment of a new Secretary of
State. This proposal may startle some, but it is
grounded on reason. National education is un-
doubtedly one of the most important topics of the
day, and the range of interests which it affects
is so wide, the business connected with it so
engrossing, that it is simply impossible for
the present organisation to deal with it
in a manner at all adequate to its proportions.
Continental countries have such a minister, and
there is no reason why educational matters should
be less important to Englishmen. Such minister,
if he were an able and energetic man, might revise
the whole question of education, might collect
valuable information, might classify the unwieldy
evidence obtained in various parts, and place the
whole subject on a clearer and more comprehen-
sible basis.

are.

With respect to the revised code the Govern-
ment propose to omit the condition that all the
schools which receive aid must be in connection
with some religious denomination, and to ply for
results on a secular principle, that is to say, where
a school asks for inspection and complies with the
sanitary conditions, &c. The object of this is not
to encourage purely secular education, but to assist
many Nonconformist schools now excluded from
State aid on other grounds. The clauses relating
to the management of the denominational schools
is to remain exactly as at present, while the
conscience clause is to be amended by providing that
the religious teaching of the school should be
left uncontrolled, but that every parent should be
at liberty to withdraw his child if he wished while
religious instruction was being given. Without
abandoning the certificate system, it is also proposed
to assist schools in poorer districts by marking a
limit below which they may receive a portion of the
grant without a certificated teacher. There are
many other matters of detail to be further enlarged
upon, but such are the main features of the bill,
which, as we have said, will no doubt on the whole
be favourably received.

It seems that the Thames Embankment is likely
to present some of its promised advantages shortly,
and that the Metropolitan Board have resolved to
prepare for the traffic of the public over the whole
of the part that is completed. This will be an im-
mense advantage to the community, especially the
most busy part of it, and the convenience of using
a connected line between the City and Westminster
that will be free from many of the evils of the pre-
sent road of communication is almost incredible.
In looking at the proposal before us it seems almost
impossible to realize how people have managed
to get on at all under the burden of the old system,
and why they should so patiently have submitted to
the long delays that have taken place in the matter.
The benefits conferred upon those to whom time is li
money, and the justice of quick transit, are of
paramount importance—one, indeed, most consi-
derable, and they will be overjoyed at the delight-
ful prospect now before them. There will be a
ready mode of access to the Houses of Parliament
and the Courts of Law for those in the Inns
of Court, and about half the time we now
take will be saved. It is to be hoped that the
remaining part of the Embankment from the
Temple to Blackfriars'-bridge will be shortly
finished, which will be another advantage. The
Metropolitan Board may rest assured that the public
will appreciate the services they are thus rendering,
and if all these good things come to pass shortly,
they will be inclined to overlook a great deal of the
irritating delay that has occurred previously in this
matter. It is, indeed, time that the convenience of
the public should be looked upon as the
thing of primary importance, and we
may congratulate alike those who have
wisely resolved upon making the desired arrange-
ment and those who will benefit greatly by it.
It is more easy to remember the evils that obtained
in the old way than to realise all the advantages
that will accrue from the new regime; but in either
case there is ample reason to be fully satisfied, and
it affords hope and encouragement to all who are
engaged in ordinary affairs to know that the time
is at hand when serious losses and inconveniences
will no longer await them from the stopping of
traffic and the impossibility of getting on.

00.RRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN noRRESPONDENT.)

!ARTS. TUESDAY. March 24.

From day to day the Etendard assures us of the favour-
able reception which the new army law has met with in
the country, and describes the enthusiasm with which the
young men have enrolled themselves in the Mobile Guard.
Unfortunately for the semi-official organ, it always manages
to give us, every day, news of some fresh disturbance. It
was in the Etendard that we had the first intelligence
of the riot at Toulouse ; then that at Montauban ;
then that at Bordeaux. Yesterday we were
informed of the "anarchical placards" at Rennes,
the capital of Brittany, and we were assured that
the "only" object of those who wrote them was to excite
sedition, an object which the Etendard treats lightly, con-
sidcring its devotion to the Empire. To-day the same
paper lets out that there have been disturbances at the
Veterinary College at Lyons. These, however, do not seem
to have had any connection with the enlistment. They
were " acts of insubordination." The young men wished
to have a holiday, apparently, and, being refused, took it.
All but thirty of them have been expelled.
M. Horn's pamphlet has attracted much more notice
than the "Titres." The first is a terrible exposé of the
financial extravagance of the " Dynastic Napoleonienne."
This has been followed by another pamphlet of similar
import from M. Achille Mercier, called " Le Nouvel Em-
prunt et la Politique du Grand Livre." This " Grand
Livre " is the register containing the list of public credi-
tors ; and it appears, according to M. Mercier's figures,
that what is called " personal " government, i.e., the
government by the two Napoleons without responsible
Ministers, has created in twenty-five years three-fourths
of the entire public debt. The Empire has spent during
the first fifteen years of its- existence 11 milliards
(£440,000,000) more than was spent by Louis Philippe
during the first fifteen years of his reign. The total
amount spent by the Empire in fifteen years is nearly
1,200 millions sterling. Taking the excess of 440 millions,
M. Mercier tells the Minister of Finance, with this amount
" you might have built 3,600,000 houses for the working
classes like those of Mulhouse, which the public admired
so much at the Exhibition; and you might have for sixty
years lodged an equal number of families, representing 18
millions of souls, or one-half, nearly, of the whole popula-
tion of France. With 11 milliards you might have pro-
vided for the present budget of all the relief comthittees
(Bureaux de Bienfaisance) of the Empire during 645
years ; that is, for the same number of years that have
elapsed since the death of Philippe Auguste. With 11
milliards you might have made the 1,700,000 inhabi-
tants of Paris profit by the compensation on the price
of bread during near fifteen centuries. With 11 milliards
you might have cleared and irrigated the whole of Algeria,
reconciled the two races, raised the triumphal arches and
the aqueducts of the Romans, and reconstructed the
Eastern cities of the Moorish kings. And in presence of
how much misery and continued suffering has not this
enormous supplement of budget expenditure been obtained!
In France, in this country, blessed by nature, as it is, with
a fertile soil, with a mild climate, there exist 3,000,000
poor, of whom 300 die every year of cold and hunger, or
4,500 every fifteen years." Two other pamphlets, attack.
the financial policy of the Emperor, have also appeared,
Altogether, the Empire is getting some hard blows juin
now.

The Emperor is still, however, hankering after new
weaFons of war. While his agents are flitting restlessly
about Europe endeavouring to bring about alliances, he
cannot abandon the idea of making the French the most
formidable army in the world. On Sunday he " assisted
at some fresh experiments with his portable cannon
which has now been named mitrailleuse, i.e., gape-shot
It is said to have a range of about 2,000 ft., but it still want,
precision. The Minister of Marine has also turned in
ventor, and has devised some fire-ships which have the
means of attaching themselves to an enemy's vessel, and
the price of which is £4BO. In connection with this sub
ject, I may mention that the estimates for the manufac-
ture and conversion of Chassepot rifles already exceed three
millions sterling, and it is believed that not less than four
millions will be spent. Every new Chasscpot costs about
£2l6s. But, after all, this is not so much as other Govern.
ments have spent, or are spending. In Russia the amount
is 54 millions; in Austria 34. It is calculated that IL
three or four years the needle-gun will have cost Europ,
40 millions sterling. And this is the reign of peace !
Easter Day is always a great holiday in Paris. This
year it will see the opening of some new and some restored
portions of the Louvre. Amongst the first is the grand
staircase in the Pavillon Darn. Among the second are the
splendid apartments occupied by Anne of Austria. In the
Salle des Bijoux have been placed Luini's splendid frescoes
bought in Italy last year.
The work of destruction is going on rapidly at the
Champs de Mars. The Parisians bad hoped that the gar-
dens surrounding the Exhibition v, ould have been pre-
served to tliem, and that a museum would have been
erected out of the proceeds of the sale of the old building,
amounting to about £40,000. But the Minister of War
was inexorable, and so all the terraces and walks are beinp
levelled, and the place will soon be as ugly as it was

The official denial of the Emperor Napoleon's visit to
Berlin and St. Petersburg, appearing immediately after
the return of Prince Napoleon, has produced an unfavour-
able impression in Paris. It is inferred that the Prince's
mission, whatever it was, has failed. The Ind4pendance
Beige mentions that the rumour of an Austrian alliance i,
once more revived.

Two sad catastrophes have just happened at Paris. Is
the one case a captain of chasseurs, whose duty was t(
be present with his company at the review before the
Emperor on Thursday, failed to make his appearance, fo•
some reason not stated. He was, in consequence, severer
reprimanded, and ordered under arrest for some days.
Smarting under this disgrace, he sat up all night regulat
ing the accounts of his company, and in the morning he
called the men together, reviewed them, and saying "a
now hid you adieu," pulled a revolver from his pocket,
placed the muzzle at his breast, and fired. The ball, how-
ever, was turned aside by the Cross of the Legion
of Honour; but he immediately discharged another
barrel, and fell, bathed in blood, from a dan-
gerous wound near the heart. He was at once taken
to the hospital, where he lies in a critical state.
In the other, M. de Turennes, a descendant of one of the
old historical families of France, was returning from the
Vincennes steeplechase in his mail phaeton ; turning
round to speak to a friend, be let the reins slip from his
hand, the horses bolted, and ran full tilt against a heavy
waggon. The phaeton was upset, and all in it thrown out.
M. de Turennes fell on his head, was picked up senseless,
and had not recovered consciousness at a late hour on
Monday night.

A correspondent of the Temps writing from Algeria
describes the terrible avidity with which the famine-
stricken people devour the food which he gives them. He
mentions that young girls of 16 came for food to his office
without a particle of clothing. To such desperate straits
have they been reduced that they have sold the last
remnant of dress which they possessed.
Great preparations are being made at Florence to eele.
brate the marriage of the heir to the Crown. Prince
Humbert's bride elect is said to be the girl of his own
choice. Some time ago he made a matrimonial tour to the
Courts of Europe, but returned with the conviction that
there was none of all the royal girls to be compared with
his cousin Margaret. The Italians are of the same
opinion, and they are far better pleased at having an
Italian for their future Queen than they would have been
by having the Austrian princess whowas at one time spoken
of. So there are to he magnificent fetes at Turin (where
the marriage takes place), Florence, Milan, and Venice.
Florence will offer the bride a sevign6 in brilliants, with
a lily in the centre surrounded by daisies—thus combining
the emblem of the city with the flower of which she bears
the name. The ladies of Venice will present beautiful
Venetian lace in a coffer of the choicest mosaic. Seven
hundred Milanese ladies subscribed for a gift which shall
he a masterpiece of its kind, and shall display to the best
advantage the skill and taste of the artists and artisans of
the flourishing and munificent Lombard capital. Their
committee has decided on an ivory writing-desk, with
paintings on a golden ground and ornaments in silver and
enamel. Among other fetes there is to be a tournament in
the Piazza Santa Maria Novella at Florence, which will
be a very brilliant spectacle.

The Piedmontese and the Lombards seem to have felt
little interest in the transportation of the body of Manin,
the illustrious President of the short-lived Venetian
Republic, from Paris to Venice. The funeral car wail
taken across Mont C4nis in the midst of a deep snow. At
Susa it was deposited for a time in a chapelle ardente. At
Turin, Milan, and other cities but little notice was taken.
But directly the cort4ge reached Venetia all was changed.
At Verona, Vicenza, and Padua the people turned out
in crowds to pay their respects to the remains of their
hero. At Mestre, where the railway enters the
lagune, the corpse was deposited for the night, and
during the night National Guards mounted guard. We
learn by telegraph that the body was deposited in a sar-
cophagus within St. Mark's. We have yet to receive par-
ticulars of the funeral procession of gondolas down the
the Grand Canal. It must have been singularly
impressive.

Spain is still in a very unsettled state. The Madrid
correspondent of the Indepenclance Beige mentions a
rumour to the effect that the Government, fearing a new
insurrection, was about to proclaim a state of siege
throughout the Peninsula. This intention, however,
seems to have been abandoned, although it is probable
that It will be adopted in Navarre and Catalonia,