The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-13 00:00:00

THE S IfN, LONDON, MONDAY EVEI•TING, MAY 13. 1.44.

LONDON UNIVERSITY.
[Owing to pressure of other matter, and also to the
severe strictures contained in the following letter
from an old and intelligent correspondent on men
who have done much for the middle classes, we have
kept it back till now. Same parts of it are not in ac-
cordance with our opinions, but, on the whole, the
good far outbalances the bad, and we let them go
together.—We may_ren3ark that our able correspon-
dent pays a far too high compliment to Oxford and
Cambridge._ Canning was a wit and an eloquent
orator. Peel, with all his sterling qualities, is neither.
They were both University men. Pitt and Brougham
never entered Oxford or Cambridge. Does our cor-
respondent wish us to draw the contrast ?,--ED. Sun.]
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sll2,—ln your report of the meeting for the distri-
bution of prizes in the London University, Lord
Brougham is represented as saying—" In all, nearly
50,000/., which was now at the disposal of the Coun-
cil. He had no doubt whatever, at any rate, lie
would recommend it to the Council, that that great
building should be now completed. He now came to
the darker side of the picture. Instead of being the
first, theirs was ur.doubtedly the last institution of
the kind in reference to science and literature," &c.
Although there is much in the above extract that
may be disputed, there is the one great fact on which
his Lordship's testimony is sufficient authority, that
at the end of fifteen years the attempt to establi.h in
London a college for general education,, unshackled
by the fetters of religious bigotry, has proved a
failure. But if this failure should cause an inquiry
into the circumstances that have conduced to this
want of success, the attempt will not have been made
in vain. I doubt not but that persons who have
more ability than I possess, and who have some leisure,
which I have not, will bring this subject before the
public in the manner that its great importance de-
mands, but, in the meantime, I beg to offer a few re-
marks on his Lordship's speech.
First, his Lordship recommends that the 50,000/.
at their command should be used to cpmplete the
building. There is already more room than they
Want, and his Lordship recommends them to pro-
vide more. Money will employ masons, although
the advantages of the institution will not induce
pupils to enter. When his Lordship subsequently
speaks of " their magnificent establishment," he must
have been thinking of the vast lonely, silent structure
which is to cast a gloom on one part of London.
You, Sir, justly censure the Bishops for their ex-
cessive zeal for church-building, as contrasted
with their care for our mental, moral, and so-
cial culture ; but this eagerness to raise
buildings made with hands has been the
curse of every age, joined as it has too often been
with apathy and inability to elevate men to their due
grandeur. We have not to dread the crimes which
attended the building of the Egyptian pyramids, the
temple of Solomon, nor St. Peter's At Rome, but our
generation is likely to be remembered rather for the
edifices raised, than for the noble institutions to
render our fellow citizens what Englishmen ought
to be.

down to, if he dare with liberal politics and freedom i
of inquiry in religion devote great powers, with un-
wearied industry and indefatigable research, to the
pursuit of scientific knowledge, and to acquiring the
ability to elevate and instruct with the most sublime
knowledge the minds of his countrymen. The citi-
zens of London may be tempted to repay Lord
Brougham some of this scorn and contempt when
they see him, the pretended patron of science, wishing
them to place their sons under professors for whom
he and his council have so miserably provided. The
English are neither a poor nor a stingy people. If
they want an article, convince them it is good, and
they will pay for it.
The fact is -that the education required for the
middle order of England is not that of the old univer-
sities. It is one which can only be planned by men
of great minds, vast attainments, noble hearted, and
with abundant leisure. The country possesses such
men, and can afford to employ them as a council for
education. But who are the council of the joint-
stock failure ? What are their qualifications
to plan a new arrangement of the objects of study,
what leisure can they devote to the conside-
ration of the affairs of the University, or do they
leave the affairs of the greatest importance mainly in
the hands of an omniscient official ? Grant that the
council provides adequate professors, secures their
entire devotion, retains them year after year,--all is
not done. The council may sail be as the statuary,
infelix operis summa quia ponere totem nesciet. What
due encouragement can they hold out to the pupils,
what influence and authority are they enabled to
exert ? And is it unreasonable to ask that these in-
quiries should be made before the scorn and contempt
are patiently endured?
Never did an order of men better deserve a good
education for their sons than the middle order of
England, and never were men so shamefully ne-
glected. Never did there exist an order of men who
conferred greater blessings on the world, or who
wielded greater powers. Educate them or not, they
will act. The potentates of Asia may bow their
heads to the Ruler over sovereigns and the Emperor
of countless millions, but a few of our merchants can
instantly convert him into a feeble old dandy.
Converse with the officers in our merchant navy.
with our master ship-builders, with our engineers and
mechanicians, and how are you smitten with dismay
and shame at the utter neglect of .these most merito-
rious men ? It is infamous. Look at our burdens ;
if we want a pound of tea we must pay for more than
two; if a pound of sugar, more than three; but it is
Useless to allude to them. They are well known.
We are a loyal and patriotic race; but no people can
be named who deserve so much, none who receive so

little parental regard from those who ought to govern
them. Are matters thus in New England, are they
so in Prussia ? Look ; and is it wise to force us to
look there for an example of what we want ? Are
our rulers already demented, that they neglect the
strong bond of gratitude a father feels who sees the
nation has provided a suitable education for his sons,
leaving the father the pleasing task of paying for it ?
Look; however, if we must see how such things should
be done, to revolutionary France. See how the Poly-
technic School was planned and worked. Compare
with anything that has been done for the middle
orders in England the Ecole Normale of the
year )795. Among the men employed we find
Lagrange and Laplace, for Mathematics; Monge, for
Descriptive Geometry ; Haily, for Natural Philo-
sophy ; Lacroix and Hachettee, for assistant pro-
fessors, with others, men of great eminence in dif-
ferent departments of instruction. Fifty years have
elapsed, and what have we done that can bear a com-
parison ? On descriptive geometry Ido not know a
work in English except that abortion of Professor
Halls, a poor translation of a part of a French work.
What English work on mechanics would Lord
Brougham recommend for the instruction of an Eng-
lish engineer ? Would he insult us by naming the
treatise published by the Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge ? The best attempt I have seen,
very good, considering how little of the French ma-
thematics was then known in England, is a work, pub-
lished by Mr. Marrot, at Boston. The book was
highly praised by Rennie, Hutton, Barlow, and Gre-
gory. The author was, at a later period of-life, Pro-
fessor of Mathematics in the Royal Institution in Li-
verpool, and subsequently in the Mechanics' Institu-
tion. He taught, also, in some of the first families in
Liverpool, and enjoyed the acquaintance and respect
of Woodhouse, and some of our ablest English mathe-
maticians. He is now upwards of seventy years of
age, with a strong body, vigorous mind, and inde-
pendent spirit, and solaces himself in conversing with
Newton and Laplace. He earns his livelihood by
selling old books from a stall.
Such objects are useful as scareboys. They must
effectually deter boys from any propensity to pursue
the study of the severe sciences—
" So human for their use, for knowledge so divine."
The English people are sadly ignorant and neg-
lectful of science. In vain have Babbage and Herschel
lamented the " Decline of Science in England." The
evil cannot be removed by diffusing through the coun-
try contemptible treatises, nor by employing unpaid
teachers and professors. lam persuaded the work
must be taken up nationally. Why will net our great
men duly despise the hisses and yells, and barkings of
bigotry, and earn for themselves eternal fame by
organizing a national system of education? The
Liberal party, it is true, are at present in
a state very little fit for any great work,
they are anti-everything and anti-one-another.
But this greatest and grandest of all works
need not be made a party question. Sir Ro
bert Peel and Lord John Russell can agree and act
together in providing singing-masters for the mil-
lion, and in tie encouragement of painters, sculptors,
and architects ;—can they not unite in raising to the
rank of an honourable profession those men of
science and literature who are engaged as the in-
structors of the sons of the middle order and of the
industrious classes ? It is refreshing and encourag-
ing to turn back and read the history of the men who
formed the Royal Society. A speech of Sir Robert
Peel's, delivered at Tamworth, gives us fair reason to
hope that he would heartily unite with Lord John
Russell in raising the countrymen of Wren, Halley,
and Newton above unmerited scorn and contempt,
but, what is infinitely more important, to prepare the
English people to use wisely, justly, and generously
the great power and influence they possess.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
AN ENGLISH MECHANIC.

conductedu niversitioyo:
efdsaeas
Secondly, his Lordship speaks of the cheapness of
his goods, and wonders they do not sell. He tickets
them thus :—" A great sacrifice, 2001. or 3001. worth
of Oxford or Cambridge education for 251." This
cannot be of use. No one has complained that the
University College is too dear. The Londoners do
not want education for their children without paying
the full price, but they have doubted the goodness of
the article offered to them. His Lordship's
contrast is inaccurate. The education at Oxford
or Cambridge does not cost anything like the sum
mentioned. Compare the expense of a College edu-
cation in Dublin. The University there is in a
capital city. No religious tests are forced on the
students. An education of the highest order is pro-
vided for the sons of the citizens for 151. a-year.
In the third place, the education is said to be of
the same class and quality as at Cambridge and
Oxford; and again, that better teachers were not to
be had elsewhere. It would be sad news if this were
ttp:hps,eetoe easily
unas studies
timei et
los e
true—if men of the highest attainments in science
and literature could be engaged on such terms as
those offered the professors by the London Uni-
versity, and if educational establishments could
l
osa shisrna citizenswtv htetohehui eierl
mdoCsal
codogr
anaui
nunr
esnuneclt
oodiyi
ofbe tralheseLdonandodn
A comparison with Oxford and Cambridge is useless
t
uni-
versities. csirsshsi
classics
cittesosla.sds eiridiculous.given oue cyltrilhd'
be as great. In Scotland much time is given to
classics and mathematics at school and college, and
yet it is not attended with the same results as at
Oxford and Cambridge, and Dublin. Mr. Fox Maule
tells us " that if they looked to those chairs which
include the teaching of classics in the Scotch uni-
versities, they all knew very well that the Heliconian
Spring did not exist in Scotland, and were they to be
refused the service of the distinguished members of
the other universities, &c. ;" or, as it is expressed by
Mr. Christie, " the universities of Scotland were in a
great degree dependent upon the universities of Ox-
ford and Cambridge for professors of classical litera-
ture." Professor Dunbar, of Edinburgh, accounts
for this :—" In England there are 'rich endowments
for the encouragement of literature, and especially a
great eclesiastical establishment, with different de-
grees of preferment to which ambition may lock for-
ward; while in this country,- no such aids and pros-
pects are afforded. There are not ten situations in
Scotland which require an extensive, or even a mode-
rate, knowledge of Greek literature." The Engliih
universities have other advantages which will justify
a rich man, who believes the creeds and articles, and
admires the spirit and practice of the Established
Church, for sending his sons to those universities.
The fathers of Canning and Peel were but men of the
State
ai
havedtde
re
such
sueocnrhd
to the
et
hhaendr attheirbeen
ors
educatedo ndsonewould
thein
service, will
t hadey thinke
theyee up
he
such an institution as the London Uuniversity
College.
I beg you, Sir, to keep the question before the pub-
lic until we are in • f ormed as to the causes of the
failure of the University College.
On the Ist of
October, 1828, the University,of
London was opened. Mr. Bell, Professor of Phy-
siology and Surgery, delivered his introductory lec-
ture to an audience of 800 persons." Why did that
great man resign his professorship ? The chair of
Natural Philosophy is now vacant. What is the
professorship worth ? How many persons have al-
ready filled that situation,and hat has been the
in-
come of each that he has derived from the College ?
In Dublin they give, as I am told, 8001. a year, and
hence they boast of such professors of Natural Philo-
sophy as the Lloyds •
, of Mathematics, as M'Culloch;
of Astronomy, as Brinkley and Sir W. Hamilton;
and have given Romney Robinson to Armagh. But
it is absurd to speak of the professors as if they were
the great props of the University, and the persons
most useful to the pupils. Look at the College tutors.
I dare not trust myself on such a subject. I should
trespass too far on your columns, if I wrote even the
feeblest expression of the respect, affection, and grati-
tude felt by his pupils for such a man as Dr.
M'Donnell. Nearly a quarter of a century has passed
since I was introduced to him. The London Univer-
sity has since sprung up—oneprofessor after another
has vacated his office ; but when I go to Dublin, I can
have the gratification of seeing my college tutor, now
one of the heads of the University, enjoying an ade-
quate remuneration, and adorning every relation
of life.
I think a judicious friend of University College
would not provoke a comparison with the old uni-
versities. The old universities, Oxford and Cam-
bridge, do not meet the demands of the day, but they
have advantages which are out of our reach. They
are closed against men of liberal politics, attached to
the right of private judgment. I would not attempt
to justify a person who thinks as I now do, with re-
gard to Christianity, who would for a moment think
of sending his sons to either Cambridge or Oxford—
I only object to his Lordship's "scorn and contempt"
for London citizens who may not be Dissenters, pre-
ferring, if they.can afford it, Oxford and Cambridge
to London University College, with its poorly paid
professors. No small part of the difficulty the Lon-
don University College has to contend with, is the
ignorance of the public, and the consequent apathy
on educational matters. The middle order have been
so entirely overlooked by the Government in every-
thing except taxation, that they cannot be expected
to see the deficiencies of a Squears or a Pecksniff.
They cannot be expected to come forward very,
promptly with support for an educational establish-
ment, even if it were really good. But to provide an
education for.the middle order of England such as
their industry and their virtues merit, and such as
would qualify them for the power they possess, is not
so easy as many persons imagine. But not to enter
on so extensive a subject, I will only add a few re-
marks on the absurdity of claiming support for a
University that either cannot or will not pay its pro-
fessors, and expects men with the powers of a Porson,
or a Poisson, to live contentedly in poverty.
It is to be hoped that some of your readers.will
furnish us. with accurate information as to the per-
sons on whom devolves the choice of the professors,
to whom the professors are responsible, and what has
really been the value of each professorship in the col-
lege for geberal education.
Vhat is the value of the
Professorship of Natural Philosophy ? Ifs well qua-
lified person should apply and be appointed, bow is he
to live? Will he be able early and late, with a mind
free from care and anxiety, to devote himself to his
studies, and to making himself acquainted with what
has been done elsewhere, except when he is engaged in
the then delightful work of instructing his pupils in the
college? Or is it true that he is to be wholly de-
pendent on his fees in an unsuccessful college, that he
must eke out an income with private teaching, or go
about as a travelling lecturer in the provincial towns ?
Is he to stand day after day before the sons of rich men
as an exhibition of what a man in England will sink

SHOCKING ACCIDENT.—About two o'clock on
Wednesday afternoon, a serious accident- occurred at
Mr. Bimson's, Clarendon Brook Forge, near Wigan. A
man named John Bennett, a workman at the Forge,
was adjusting a strap connected with one of the grind-
stones, when unfortunately his arm was caught by it, and
he was taken through a hole in the wall along with the
strap, and so dreadfully injured that his life is despaired
of. The poor fellow had his right arm torn off, his
right leg broken, and his head severely injured. Be
was conveyed to his residence in Millgate, Wigan, where
he now lies. •

-IRELAND.
THE POLICE SPY SYSTEM-EXTRAORDWARY
DISCLOSURES.

Durum; MAY 11.—Revington, the principal witness against
the police, who had been spirited away from the investiga-
tion ordered by the Government at Shinrone, is now in Dub-
lin Castle, having arrived in towp from the King's County
on Thursday, under the surveillance of Mr. Lynar, son of
Mr. Lynar, the stipendiary Magistrate. Ogle and Lyndon,
two of the police at Shinrone, implicated in this affair, are
also at the Castle, where Mr. Manley, Q.C., has resumed the
inquiry he had commenced at Shinrone. A female, stated to
have been employed by the police, to cause outrages to be
committed, for the ulterior purpose of prosecution, is also in
attendance at the Castle. It appears that revelations of the
most extraordinary kind havebeen made by Revington, who
has implicated several more policemen in the King's County.
It is stated that more than thirty innocent persons in that
district, within a few
.years, have been transported through
the agency of policemen or their agents in this most nefa-
rious business. Several of those prosecutions were for the
possession of Ribbon 'documents, which, it seems, had been
surreptitiously conveyed into the pockets of the parties se-
lected for prosecution.
Since the present Government came into office, this vil-
lanous system has often been exposed; but the authorities
did not deem it necessary to take any step to check the ter-
rible evil.• At length the police spy system has been actually
forced upon the Government.

The following statement appears in the Leinster ExExpress:—
"We stated in our last that Revington, the principal wit-
ness in the development of the atrocious system pursued by
Ogle, and screened by his superiors, had returned to Shin-
rone the day after the investigation. We have since heard
that he again absconded, but was again brought back, and
is now in Dublin, for examination at the Castle. Peggy Di-
vany, the wretched woman at whose instigation the unfor-
tunate creatures named Brien set fire to a house, for which
she was transported at Tullamore assizes, has, notwithstand-
ing her asseveration in open court, that' the Peelers were
gentlemen,' since come forward and acknowledged the part
she took in the poor woman's ruin, stating that she was put
up to it by. Ogle, who arranged the plot, and had the deed
committed at a time when he should be lying in wait. Di.
vany also has been sent to Dublin. Comment further than
appeared in our last is needless, respecting these awful dis-
closures. We can only further express our hope, that no-
thing will be left undone for the conviction and punishment
of all who have had any hand in these fiendish transactions ;
and that; Government will, in this manner, restore that
public confidence in the channels of justice, which the Libe-
ral journals are endeavouring to bring into disrepute, cer-
tainly not upon 'slight or isolated grounds, as several other
cases of a similar nature—whether well founded or otherwise

we will not now presume to say—appear in Tipperary papers
of this week."

SOUTH LANCASHIRE ELECTION.
LIVERPOOL, FRIDAY EVENING.—About twelve o'clock
to-day, William Brown, Esq., of Richmond-hill, of the
eminent house of Brown, Shipley, and Co., American
merchants, of this town, acceded to the solicitation
of a most influential free-trade deputation from Man-
chester and Liverpool, to be put in nomination as a
candidate for the representation of the southern division
of the county. Mr. Brown is in every respect an unex-
ceptionable representative of the principles and party
he advocates. He is considerably advanced in life; pos-
sesses a most intimate knowledge of commercial legisla-
tion in all its bearings ; is a gentleman of unobtrusive
deportment, and by no means of violent political feel-
ing ; an extensive landed proprietor, and, in short, one
in every way calculated to justify the choice of a great
commercial community. On recent occasions, when he
departed from the usual privacy of his life, to attend the
meetings of the Anti-Monopoly Association, he evinced
ability in his mode of treating public subjects, turning
the results of his long experience to account. in the
elucidation of the topics under notice. He has not,
however, any pretensions to oratory. The name
of the Conservative candidate is expected to
be made known to-night or to-morrow morning.
This afternoon, a meeting of influential free-traders was
held at Eastwood's Royal Hotel, Dale-street, Mr. R. E.
Harvey in the chair, at which committees were ap-
pointed and various arrangements made. A public
meeting of the electors was appointed to be held in
Liverpool on Wednesday next, at Eastwood's, at twelve
o'clock at noon ; a meeting at Prescot on Tuesday; and
a meeting at Ormskirk on Thursday. Great enthusiasm
prevailed at the meeting to-day; and it was stated by the
chairman that the deputation from Manchester were
unanimously of opinion that Mr. Brown was one of the
most excellent candidates that could be put forward.

SUICIDE BY HANGING.—EXTRAORDINARY CASE.-
Mr. Payne, City coroner, held an inquest on Friday at
the Blue Last, Dorset-street, Fleet-street, on view of
the body of Posthumous Collar, aged sixty-three years,
who committed suicide on Tuesday last under the fol-
lowing circumstances Pryor, an engineer in
the employ of Messrs. Benbridge and Healy, of Fleet-
street, said he knew deceased, who was in the ser-
vice of. the same firm ; not having seen him since
Tuesday night, about nine o'clock, on Thursday
morning, witness, accompanied by two other persons,
went to his lodgings in Dorset-street to see how he
was ; finding his door locked inside, and being unable to
obtain any answer, it was burst open, when deceased was
discovered in a sitting posture at one corner of the bed.
His legs were twined round the bed-post within about two
inches of the floor—his arms being clasped tightly round
the centre of the post. A pair of braces were fastened
round his neck, and attached to the bed-mil above his
head. He was quite dead and stiff ; indeed, decompo-
sition had already commenced. The evidence of
two of his sons proved, beyond all doubt, that
the deceased's mind had been failing for some
time past ; and, without any apparent cause, he had
long been in the habit of saying to his shopmates
that he was a lost man. The sum of IL 19s. 104 d.
was found in his bedroom, and a receipt book for 231.,
invested by him in the St. Clement's Savings' Bank.
One of the sons added that his father's mind had been
affected ever since the death of his wife, five years ago,
and Mr. Day having proved that death was caused by
strangulation, the jury expressed themselves satisfied
and returned a verdict of " Temporal.), insanity."
GOVERNESSES' BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.—On
Friday the annual meeting ofthe subscribers to this Institu-
tion was held at the Hanover-square Rooms; Hon. William
Ashley in the chair. It was expected that his Royal High-
ness the Duke of Cambridge would have presided, but he
did not attend. The Earl of Manvers and several other per-
sons of distinction were on the platform. After some remarks
from the Chairman, congratulatory of the state of the Insti-
tion, the secretary, the Rev. Dr. Laing, read the report,
which, after some unimportant details, stated that the entire
receipts had been 2,473/. 17s. 4d., and that, deducting the
expenditure, a balance of 6734 3s. Ild. remained with the
treasurer. This statement included seyeral particular funds
coining within the rules. It further appeared that, from the
17th of March, 1843, to the 25th of March, 1844, the sum
of 2,351/. 9s. 9d. had been received from ladies' g 4
who who wished to purchase annuities for themselves, agreeably
to the regulations, &c. The report having been received
and adopted, several resolutions were proposed and carried.
Amongst the subscribers are several membrseofutshe
_Royal
Family, and of the nobility and gentry. Th ual Tote
of thanks being passed to the Chairman, the proceedings
terminated.
PIIRENOTYPIC LECTURES.—ROYAL ADELAIDE
GALLERY.—On Friday, at the Royal Adelaide Gallery,
Major Beniowsky, the successful author of the system
of " Brain Printing," whichlis now so popular in London,
delivered a lecture illustrative of his principles. The
demonstrations were never more happy, as one of his
pupils, Mr. James, with but a short course of instruc-
tion, learnt lay heart, and repeated a page of the catalogue
of the institution, containing a chronological and his-
torical series of sixteen different objects of interest con-
nected with science,, arts, and antiquities, agriculture,
and commerce. This was done amongst thel busy hum
of the visitors in less than three minutes, whilst Mr.
Bailey, another pupil, reduced six degrees of logarithms
and added thew up iu leas than § minute.