On this page

• Text (3)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    &Mf ^gE LE A lMlt pSTo. am SA*tnm A,vr

  • 

    THE DTJOHY OF LANCASTER. One of the memb...

  • 

    EDUCATION IN THE ARMY. The resolutions w...

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    The Education Conference. On Monday Afte...

    carrred the-day . I * is true there is no laek of schemes with this party ; prize schemes , and certificate schemes , and half-time schemes-, ; and numberless other appliances for enticing the unwary boy into school . 2 ? or , as the Bishop of Oxfoeb expressed it , they want ' not schools for the children , ~ but children for the schools . ' In other words , the man must be made to fit the coat , not the coat the man .

    Therefore , ' voting' began in all its glory on the third and final day of the Conference . It \ ras of no use whatever that Sir John PiJKiNGKEOiir told the assembly that one great cause of the children ' s being taken early from school was the dadness of the schools , a fact which he proved from the returns of the official school-inspectors themselves . Great cries of " Wo ! no ! " received the assertion of the Honourable Baronet . 3 ? acts are such disagreeable things to people who onljy know dogmas j so that if faets cannot be answered , they must be cried down F '

    Another instance occurred on tliis same final Conference meeting . Mr . Bobbbt Owiar- wished to say something about his own educational plans ; after great trouble , and only with the reporters' help , he had / readied the platform ; but here the power to speak was refused him , by a ' vote' of the meeting . How they laughed and sneered at the old man who stood there with his grey beard and his burden of eighty years ! At the old man who had done more for the

    education , of English workmen than all the rest of the ' voters' put together . For Robeet ChvEir is not only known as one of the many propounders of the ' Socialist' principlethat principle which is already creeping into the books of the p olitical economists , and is admitted by many in conversation who would shrink from avowing their opinion- —he was ampng tlie first to prove , experimentally , that the young can be educated and still employed . Ana His evidence took possession of the pub > - lie , high as well as low . Ministers listened to Tiis earnest appeals . Two of the lioyal

    Dulses , JBjBSrtC and Sussex , we believe , sat as joint chairmen atone of O west ' s many public meetings . But time has passed by , and the philanthropist has grown very old , very deaf , not quite certain of his sight , not quite sure of what is passing around at the momenthis thoughts , always kind , always generous , filled with the past and the future . Whatever parties may think of Robebt Owtsit and his pfans ^ we say , it is a burning shame that men attending such a meeting should sneer at Bim who , above all men , is worthy of thanlis as long as New Lanark Schools are remembered .

    In justice , however , to the noble chairman , Earl 0-JEtAirvTi . i-T 3 , and his supporters , the Marquis of Xiansdownb and the Bishop of Oxford , it must be mentioned that they treated Mr . Owen with , all possible deference and politeness . Perhaps there was even a slight sarcasm pointed at the meeting , in the opening ^ neech of Lord GuATrriEi . ia , when he eaiQ tffai ) he expected more indirect than dir ^ elh results from the Educational

    Conference' ? ' These widirect results , it is true , are * plenty as "blackberries , and it would be more ^ han wonderful , if out of so much , seed , not , a little fruit ; should grow . r & qttestibn . is , what fruit have we , who ehall cnltivqte , and who shall gather it P "We dcr noj ; forget that the first-ideas which were mooted' at the polite meeting , were propagatedbVnijgn that would have formed peraps , Mtle consideration in one of such exglW 3 rank . Among the people—and it is riralj , " among the people that the real work rimsji 1 b e' < j 0 ne—the difficulty is this , You ifiiajr ' provide teachers- — "but they have

    not yet been provided ; you may provide schools—but they have not yet been either built or opened for the whole ; but when all is done , the people cannot send their children , because , not having enough to live upon , needing every help to get them through the work of the week rind to earn enough for food and lodging , and clothing if possible , the

    parents are obliged to let the young assist . In innumerable cases they know well enough —a & well as some of the philanthropists in "Willis ' s Hooms—that they lay themselves open to the charge of being undutiful to their progeny ; but how can they help it ? It is a choice between letting Johnny or Tommy have a better education for his advantage a

    few years hence , or getting food now , and being allowed to remain in the lodging over Saturday night . " When schools are provided , and opened by teachers—and prayers—they are bad . Sir John Pakington says so . If they were good—if JoHmrr or Tommy had a chance of being really made a man—both father and mother would undergo immense sacrifices to let him remain . But then the instruction should be perfectly free . There is no reason why the whole community should not provide even food for the children of the whole

    community . In other words , if the Gotnmonwealth , Peers and Parliament as well as Prince and patriots , could be brought to perceive the plain common sense- of the subject , in all parts of the country public- schools would be open , with teachers paid by the public , and free admission for children of every class ; and the schools would be so good that even the working classes would send their children to

    them . Are we without an example r No ; the " Dinted States furnished the working model of this great public law ; and the United States , " be it observed , are now pursuing a career of prosperity under public men educated by that law ; while it is well known that , with all the fast life of the Republic , there is a larger and more general consumption of literature than in any country of the world .

    &Mf ^Ge Le A Lmlt Psto. Am Sa*Tnm A,Vr

    & Mf ^ gE LE A lMlt pSTo . am SA * tnm A , vr

    The Dtjohy Of Lancaster. One Of The Memb...

    THE DTJOHY OF LANCASTER . One of the members' tea-rooms in the House of Commons has been made the scene of a pretty exposure this week ; the worst , the most dramatic details , are to come ; but , so far , the scandal has ripened not at all slowly . "We have now evidence , where before we had only rumours . " When the inquiry is complete , the entire story will bear repetition : but , apologizing to the BteRTOiiAcor Committee , we have entered upon our own papers a few

    minutes of its proceedings . There appears to be no denying that the auditor of the Duchy of Lancaster is , by virtue of his office , entitled to attend' the Council , thai such has been the regular practice , that Mr Bebtoz-acci took an oath to perform his duties in- a certain fashion , and that systematic impediments were put in his way . The officers of the departments legally accountable ' to him were allowed to treat him with practical contumacy ; the Chancellor was in the habit of acting unconstitutionally without the aid of the Council . la fact ,

    illegality was the order of the day . Why , and for whose benefit ? Mr . OoNiNcraAM , we thought , elicited some of the truth when he asked whether Lord Be-lpur , when Chancellor of the Duchy , had not instructed the auditor ' to see whether any portion of the large amounts of rent then in arrear could not bo struck out as irrecoverable . ' Evidence was put in to that effect . So that is the way iu which they administer the public estates . The auditor is ft xiBoful man when he can strike out as irroqovetrablo the . rents due by My Lord and My Pear Sir . At other

    times , for- a-nv- cheek he was permitted to us ? they might We given , him a blank paW to sign , and writte *» i » the figures afterwVdt We cannot understand , however , whv nU £ lie servants , with fair salaries , should Uv » any scruples ; at all events , they mav as well abandon those diseased * habits of mind after the penal example that has been made bv Mr BEBTOi , Aoer . He was intrusive , clearl y . He ' thought that when public property was sold it should be disposed of to the highest * bidder ; but the idea was scouted . It might give rise to ' malignant or vexatious competition , ' and the Crown-might make too good a bargain .

    Still less can we understand why the auditor , af ter being rebuked for meddling with the accounts , did not certify , in the terms of his oath , that he had examined and found them correct . We have heard evidence that he was- amplyeMd , even by the faithful Mr . Danvebs . Mr . Danvers was clerk , and one

    day he was conversing with the auditor , when Lord W * ATBaPA 3 iK , an axe-bearer ( not an executioner or a woodman ) , entered the room . " I wish to speak to you about that wood , " he said . Mr . Danvebs answered , hurriedly , "Oh , yes , " shut up the dialogue , and introduced the auditor . The auditor was present , consequently there was to be no mention of

    transactions . We are anxious to know what the noble Lords concerned will have to state in reply , particularly Earl GbanviIiI , e . It would not be surprising to hear of that great personage being slightly nervous , although a well known expert in af & iirs of this nature . His agitation , however , is not discreditable to him ; the ease looks very black at present j

    neither Mr . Estcottrt , nor any other anxious friend of the absent , was able to trip up Mr . BERTOiiAcci , although two or three attempts were made to surprise him . The evidence becomes more powerful every day that the inquiry is carried on ; but , as we have said , we are not yet in the depths of the mystery ; let us hope the officials will be searchingly cross-questioned , so that justice maybe done .

    Education In The Army. The Resolutions W...

    EDUCATION IN THE ARMY . The resolutions which Sir Db La . oy Evajts is to move on the SOfch instant will at least have the effect of bringing the Government and the Parliament decisively to the question whether or not education is to be introduced into the Army ; whether or not a knowledge of his profession is to secure admission for the officer . The resolutions might have been couched in other language ; we could imagine ten or twenty different forms in whicli the same propositions , or propositionsi nearly similar , mW have been laid before the House of Commons ; but it is felt by the author of the resolutions , and by the eminent persons who are ready to support Sir vv Laot , that the question does not hinges upon the phraseology of the resolutions , as it tney were a Parliamentary bill , but upon the * coming to the point . They are a form of expression for the broad question wl en we have put , and , what is m , they will be supported by . men vitlun tw House of Commons , as they will be watched by the public out of doors , because thg «™ ™™™ l * d as the lever for putting tm

    broad " question . They say to Mtauna ™ , < Are you or are you not m earnest f Ministers have professed their wlUngg ** to answer the question in the *®™™ 2 ' . indeed they say they are already doing » » and some practical steps have been tok «* The Oomnwndwn-Chief hns » fjiwd lh » J R enernl orders , all bearing " P ™ /? VK » One directed that officers admitted to w Staff should undergo examination , a ^ Their on each promotion , in order to prove tn »

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 27, 1857, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27061857/page/14/