The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-30 00:00:00

SIR BOUNDELL PALMEn.

The Liberal candidate for Oxford University has written
the following letter in reply to an inquiry as to his views
unon the questions of the day:—
"Dangstein, Oct. 21, 1868.

"Dear Sir,—l must first thank you for the favour of
your letter, and for the desire to be able to support my
nomination for Oxford, which you are so good as to
express.

" Upon some of the points to which your letter refers 1
have publicly expressed my views (as far as at the present
juncture of affairs it seemed to me to be necessary and
consistent with my duty to do so) in the speech at Rich-
mond to which you refer. As the reports of that speech
which have appeared in the papers have been imperfect
and partially inaccurate, I will on my return home to-
morrow take the liberty of sending you a copy of it, as
printed in full for circulation at Richmond.

" With reference, however, to any further engagements
upon particular points, whether as to a change of Ministry
or as to the votes which I may think it proper to give in
Parliament, I hope you will excuse me for frankly
saying that it would be inconsistent with my sense of
the duty and responsibility incumbent upon me at this
time if I were to enter into them, either for the
purpose of conciliating support or of disarming opposition
at Oxford. In all these matters I must, if in
Parliament, do the best I can, according to my conscien.
tious convictions, for what I truly believe to be the genefal
good of the Church and country. If it were necessary to
choose between the representation of the university and
the power of exercising in difficult and anxious times some
practical influence for the good of the university, the Church,
and the nation, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.
Malo vos salvos esse, Quirites, qualicunque animo erga
me futuri estis.' Whether lam a man who can be trusted
or not to exercise a sound judgment, and to act honestly
upon it, may (I venture to think) be more safely deter-
mined by reference to my public conduct during the last
twenty years than by any explanations to be given now,
with reference to this particular election.--I remain, dear
sir. yours faithfully, "ROUNDELL PAL3IER."

THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY ON

EDUCATION.

Wednesday the Marquis of Salisbury distributed the
prizes in connection with the Union of Lancashire and
Cheshire Institutes, in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester.
The chair was occupied by Mr. T. Bazley, M.P.,and amongst
those present were Mr. Jacob Bright, 31. P., Sir Edward
Watkin, M.P., Mr. Wright Turner, Principal Greenwood
(Owens College), Mr. Ernest Jones, &c. The noble Marquis
spoke at some length on the subject of education. The edu-
cational problem we had to solve in this country was not, he
said, the Ending of money for the schoolmaster and the school,
it was the question how to overcome the indifference of the
parent and the strong counter temptation of the money which
his child can earn. There are two ways of doing it. You
may force, or you may persuade. Within the last few
years we had heard proposals, which sound strange to
English ear?, of coma ulsory laws for forcing parents to
send their children to school, whether they like it or not.
" I am not the least surprised," said the noble Marquis,
"at these proposals. I don't wonder that ardent minds,
filled with a conviction of the advantages which educa-
tion can confer, should refuse to wait for the long process of
conversion, and should be anxious to anticipate by years, it
may be by generations, the result which they feel that other-
wise they in their lifetime would never witness. It is
natural for those who are earnestly bent on any great
object to be comparatively indifferent to the means, if they
are innocent means, by which that object is attained. And
they have to say in their behalf, that there are other coun-
tries, highly educated countries, where compulsion is ap-
plied, and applied too with a certain amount of success."
But the state of things in America and in the countries
of continental Europe was very different from that which
existed among ourselves. " With regard to tl,e older coun-
tries of Europe," said Lord Salisbury, " the whole or-
ganisation of their Governments is different. The
:are of the policeman, if I may so speak, on
the Continent attends a man from the cradle to the grave.
A subject is never out of the sight of his Government.
Be its character what it may, be it constitutional or
democratic, or imperial, the spirit of minute supervision is
still the same. The population are accustomed to bo guided
by authority, as authority may wish to guide them ; and they
accept the order to go to school as they accept the order to
do a hundred other things, they accept it as a part of the
natural conditions of their existence. But you know how
different it is with us. We have never been accustomed
to be drilled and lectured by au hority, and the mere inter-
ference of the constituted authorities, I regret to say, is
very often with Englishmen a sufficient cause why they
should set themselves up stiffly against any advice that
is tendered to them. Therefore, I confess I view with
apprehension these recommendations for compulsory edu-
cation ; my fear is that if you do not make a great success
you will make a tremendous failure. If you do not succeed in
driving the children into school, you will drive the parents
into opposition to all school ; you will implant in their
minds a hatred of education as of something tyrannically
imposed upon them, which will do more to hinder your
efforts in the future than any slackness or tardiness of
which we have to complain now."

"A nAlif PER FOR MONITORS."--Under this
teading the Pose prints the following letter, signed " Non
..`Tauticus : "—While the great naval Powers are squander-
'aig millions in constructing armour-plated vessels impene-
trable to the heaviest missiles, it maybe worth considering
whether there is not an easy and cheap expedient for
silencing and mastering those formidable floating batteries.
If we should unfortunately be again involved in war, let
bur ships be provided with powerful engines to discharge
v deluge of cold sea water into the muzzle of every gua,
nto every porthole and turret, into the chimney to extin-
ruish the fire and drive the stokers from the furnace-hold
sy a scalding and suffocating vapour, and down the funnel
to stop the machinery by condensing the steam which sets
it in motion. Then let our intrepid tars board the helpless
log, take it in tow, and drag it, without bloodshed, into
one of our harbours. This would soon put an end to
maritime warfare."

UNDERGROUND ROOMS.—Sir, will you allow a
plain country parson to enter his solemn protest against
the cruelty of builders? Wherever Igo I see great deep
holes being dug, in which many of our poor unfortunate
countrywomen are to be buried alive. Now, sir, it will be
quite time enough to put us underground when we are
dead ; until then, pray let us do what we can to keep
above ground. It may be difficult to do so in every case,
but surely in the suburbs of London, and many other
parts, there is no imperative necessity for sinking kitchens
as the earth instead of placing them on the earth. Sunken
kitchens are so prejudicial to health that few of us would
think of placing a valuable horse in one of them. Health,
economy, and comfort are all in favour of houses with
titchens at the back, on the same floor with the sitting-
rooms. How houses constructed upon this plan are valued
appears from the fact that they are no sooner built than they
are immediately taken ; while those built upon the old-
fashioned plan remain vacant for months, and in many
instances for years. Yet the great majority of builders
seem to persist in multiplying houses with the terrible
drawback of a sunken kitchen; but I am persuaded that
as the question of comfort and health is considered, so will
sunken kitchens be avoided. I for one will never take a
house so constructed, and I think that undergrcun6
servants should strike and go in -for double wages. Builder:
will do well to turn their attention to'thia important
pattere—Buildfr.