The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-03 00:00:00

E LEMENTARY ED UCA 2 lON.

A parliamentary paper just issued, completing a
return already made for England and Ireland, shows
the proportional number of men and women in
Scotland who, on marrying, made their mark on
the register, and could not (at least did not) sign
their names. In Scotland, in 1855, 114 per cent.
of the men who married had to make their mark,
and 22.8 per cent. of the women ; in 1865 the pro-
portions were nearly the same-11.4 per cent. of
the men and 22.2 per cent. of the women. In Eng-
land, in 1854, 29.5 per cent. of the men, and 42.2
per cent. of the women, made their mark ; and in
1865, 22.5 per cent. of the men and 31.2 per cent.
of the women. Ireland had no civil registration in
1855 ; in 1865, 40.6 per cent, of the men and
52.2 per cent. of the women made their marks and
did not write their names. Thus in round numbers
the proportion of the illiterate stool as follows,
naming the countries in this order-Ireland, Eng-
land, Scotland. Of the men 40, 22, 11 in 100, and
of the women 52, 31, 22 in 100. In Scotland
education appears to be most backward in Ross and
CromArty, as many as 33.8 per cent. of the men
and 47.5 per cent. of the women made their mark
in 1865. The county of Inverness is not very much
better off : the illiterate were 27.4 per cent. of the
men and 48.8 per cent. of the women. Then fol-
low the counties in which there is a large proportion
of Irish-Dumbarton, Linlithgow, Renfrew, Lanark
-all with a proportion of illiterates much above
the average for the kingdom. The insular county
of Shetland and the purely highland county of
Sutherland have 28 in 100 of their women unable to
write ; but the number of the men thus illiterate
is in that county almost exactly the average, and
Shetland only 7 per cent. The great county of
Ehnburgh had only 6.2 per cent of the men and
only 11.6 per cent. of the women unable to write in
1865. The greater county of Lanark, with its
Irish immigration, has to acknowledge this condi-
tion of 15.1 per cent, of its men and 314 per cent.
of its women ; and this county has more than a fifth
of the population of Scotland. The successful work-
ing of the parochial school system of Scotland has
been in the high proportion of persons in the rural
districts able to write. The classification adopted
in this return shows in the districts contain-
ing parliamentary boroughs 13.2 per cent. of the
men and 26.4 per cent. of the women in 1865
making their mark and not signing their name ;
in the districts not containing parliamentary
boroughs, only 9.3. per cent. of the men, and only
17.2 per cent. of the women. It is a remarkable
fact, and not exceptionally peculiar to the year
1865, that in all the 33 counties of Scotland only
two-Inverness and Ross and Cromarty-show a
proportion of men who had to sign by mark so high
as tie average of all England ; and except in those
two counties and in Renfrew no county in Scotland
shows a proportion of men so high as the common
English mean, who had to sign their names by mark.
In 14 Scotch counti,a more than 95 in a hundred of
the men who married in 1865 signed their names
upon the register, and in 13 counties more than 90
per cent. of the women. The small amount of pro-
gress shown by the average for the whole kingdom
in 1865 as compared with 1855 is to be laid to the
blame of the town districts. The districts contain-
ing parliamentary boroughs had in 1855 only 12.7
per cent. of the men marrying who had to make
their mark, but in 1865 13.2 per cent. ; and of the
women the number was 24.8 per cent. in 1855, but
26.4 per cent. iu 1865. On the other hand, the
districts not containing parliamentary boroughs had
in 1855 9.9 per cent. not signing their names, but
in 1865 only 9.3 per cent. ; and of the women 20 7
per cent. of illiteratesin 1855, but only
These figures
17.2 per
-
cent, in 1865.5h0w where the
whole United
schoolmaster is wanted.
In
ntmen and
t.
of the
he
Kingdom 239,769 marriages weree registered in the
year 1865, and 23.70 per cent.
32.98 per cent. of the women did not sign their
names upon the register, but made their mark.

FORE-AND-AFT-RIGGED SHIPS.—The Marine De-
partment of the Board of Trade has issued a notice that
masters who hold certificates of competency bearing the
words "of fore-and-aft rigged vessels" only, are not
deemed by the Board as holding certificates appropriate
to the station of masters of brigantines, or other square-
rigged vessels, and that on aril after the Ist of January
superintendents of Mercantile Marine offices will not be
satisfied with the production of those qualified certificates
in any cases except in those of bona fide fore-and-aft-
rigged vessels.

A DVERTISEMENT. -I.lonoWay'S Ointment and Pills.-
13-calth defences. —None save the strongest can with im-
punity pass through the sudden transitions from wet to
dry, from cold to muggy weather so prevalent during the
late autumn and early winter months. Influenza, bron-
chitis, cough, sore throat, diptheria, or quinsey will attack
those most watchful of the health ; but they can readily
arrest any of these complaints by rubbing Holloway's
Ointment twice a day upon the skin adjacent to the af-
fected part, and by assisting its coructive action with ap
propriato doses of his Pills. This well known, safe, and
easy mode of treatment efficiently protects the invalid
from present and future danger without weakening or even
depressing the system in the slightest degree.

Yesterday, at the Norfolk Quarter Sessions, some
reference was made to the state of the country. The chair
was occupied by Sir W. Jones, and among those present
were Lord Suffield, Colonel Fitzroy, Mr. E. Howes, M.P.,
Mr. R. J. H. Harvey, M.P., Mr. C. S. Read, M.P., &c.
Lord Suffield moved the adoption of an address to her
Majesty, expressing the indignation and sorrow with
which the magistrates had heard of the outrages committed
in the metropolis and other parts of the United Kingdom
against the lives and property of her Majesty's subjects
by persons engaged in organising a seditious insurrection
against her Majesty's glorious and beneficent rule. The
address added that any steps taken by the Government
to repress the odious conspiracy would receive the hearty
and vigorous co-operation of her Majesty's loyal :sub-
jects in the county of Norfolk. The noble lord observed
that, happily, Norfolk had been perfectly free from
any of those dastardly, cowardy, and rascally attacks
which had been made elsewhere, and he trusted that the
county would continue to enjoy a similar immunity. lie
believed that the present Government would meet any
proceedings of the Fenians with the utmost firmness, and
such was the only manner in which the occasion could be
met.—Mr. E. Howes, M.P., in seconding the address,
observed that in voting that clay £750 for the repair and
improvement of militia depots at Norwich and Great
Yarmouth the magistrates had given some earn,st of their
desire to repress the conspiracy.—Mr. R. J. H. Harvey,
M.P., said he feared there was a growing feeling of sus-
picion as regarded the Irish people, and that in some of cur
largest manufactories there was a danger of ' Irishmen
being dismissed just because they were irisheora ; thi
was a feeling which he considered it desirable to prevent.—
The Chairman, in putting the motion for the adoption of
the address, expressed his concurrence in what had fallen
from Mr. Harvey, and said he thought, if there were any
body of men who deserved sympathy in the present unplea-
sant and terrible state of things, it was the loyal subjects of
Ireland. In every step we took in repressing the present
conspiracy, we should endeavour to dissociate Fenianism
from Irishmen. We should repress steadily, firmly, and
severely, and without the shadow of doubt, hesitation, or
pity, every miscreant who participated in the shameful
outrages of Fenianism ; and he believed that with such a
policy they would be stamped out. But we must never
forget that Ireland was in the main loyal. If any proof
of this were wanted, it might be found in the fact that in
trying recent political prisoners it had not been necessary
to change the venue, as such offenders had been convicted
by Irish juries selected without regard to class or creed.
He believed Fenianism was the work of a number of men
who had run riot in the late horrible civil war in the
United States ; they had bean engaged there in a
feast of incendiarism and blood, and now that peace
was restored in America they were trying on the same
thing here.—The address was adopted unanimously, and
it was agreed that it should be signed by the chairman on
behalf of the meeting, and should then be forwarded to
the Home Secretary for presentation to her Majesty.

At the Leicester Quarter Sessions Mr. Serjcant Hayes
said the men who were really responsible for the outrages
which had taken place were still at large, while those who
had been arrested were mere dupes in the hands of others.
He believed that the Fenian movement originated in
America, and a number of Yankee Irishmen had gulled
many of the lower class of the Irish population in this
country into becoming their followers and carrying out
their nefarious plans. But the time had arrived, in his
opinion, when this matter must be dealt with severely.
There were in this country a number of men who dare not
shew themselves in the public streets in Ireland, but who
could walk about unmolested and with impunity in
England. It had been found necessary in Ireland to
suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, and that appeared to him
to be the only effectual remedy that could be adopted
here. He could not see why the same remedy for the
same evil, and the same punishment for the same men,
should not be adopted in this country as in Ireland. If
this were not the case it was an argument in favour of
Fenianism, as the Irish people could then say that they
suffered from the effects of unequal legislation. The
adoption of this course appeared to him to be the only
way in which the really responsible parties could be caught
and their power for mischief prevented.

At Cambridge an address to her Majesty, expressing a
determination to support the Government, was agreed to.

A gratifying instance of the readiness of working men u.
protect property in a crisis like the present has been
brought under our notice. The men employed in the
Greenhead Mills, Glasgow, to the number of eighty-two,
have presented the owners, the Messrs. Hohns Brothers
with an address, in which they offer their services to
watch in rotation the property of the firm during the New
Year holidays, and for any longer period that may be
thought necessary. As this action on the part .of the men
was perfectly spontaneous, it affords a pleasing proof of
the good understanding which subsists between them.
selves and their employers, and sets an example which, if
generally followed, would go far to defeat Fenian designs.

At the Dublin Lord Mayor's Show, on Wednesday (tne
successor of Mr. Joynt being Dr. Carroll) the streets, we
learn, were thronged by a crowd which had a good deal of
the American-Irish aspect, and the roughs who collected
in strong force outside the City Hall showed little respect
for the authority of the police, who did their utmost to
preserve order with excellent temper. A vote of thanks
to the outgoing Lord Mayor was passed with one dissen
tient. Town Councillor Sullivan (editor of the Il'ation), in
the course of a speech, said he had not taken part in the
Lord Mayor's procession. Persons should be careful
nowadays what processions they assisted in, and " cer-
tainly he had no desire to follow after the 12th Dungarvan
Lancers." The band of the Lancers led the civic parade.

The marriage of Miss Louisa Milbank, daughter
of Mr. and the late Lady Margaret Milbank, grandniece of
the Duke of Cleveland and the Earl of Wemyss, and niece
of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington, with Mr.
Francis Arkwright, eldest son of the late Mr. Arkwright
-of Sutton Scarsdale, was solemnised on Thursday at St.
Paul's, Kniihtsbridge. The Archbishop of Canterbury
officiated, assisted by the Rev. H. Langhorne. The briLle'B
dress was of white silk, covered with magnificent point
lace, and veil of same, with diamond and pearl ornaments.
The Archbi4op read the service in the most impressive
manner.—Pat.

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