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building of houses on farms may be discovered . ( Applause . ) Now , i repeat that I am afraid I have said several things which , are very unnalateable , ami which vrill not be liked -. but I cannot help it ; I feel strongly on the subject , and I cannot but state 'what I feel . ( Applause . ) I do trust that you will have the same feelings in your minds which I have with reference to the duty which is incumbent on every person to look after the interests and the ¦ ociaPand moral condition 'which follows the domestic condition , that'depending an the domestic arrangements of the agricultural labourers throncrhout the country . ( Cheers . ') You may
depend upon it you will improve greatly the moral tone of the country , and indirectly you will cain & great benefit to yourselves . And if you were to talk of this abominable matter of pounds , shiflings , and pence , which , unfortunately far us , governs what we have to do in this country , I do believe mat , instead of finding what I am advocating unprofitable , you would find , it a very profitable investment , Mid one yielding a far higher return to your pockets , and oortainly to r . your consciences , than the present vicious system which unfortunately prevails ^ Applause . ) T The following resolutions were adopted : —
" First , that no material improvement in the character and habits of the labouring population could be expected unless . they were supplied with sufficient house-room and mum of domestic comfort and decency ; and that the present eooditioa of the agricultural labourers in these respects was lamentably deficient throughout a great part of Scotland . Second , that it is the especial duty of the owners and occupiers oc land to remedy this defect , and to provide adequate accommodation for their farm labourers ; and that a stricter fulfilment of thfa" duty would not only tend to maintain the physical powers of the workman in fuller efficiency than at present , arid induee him to discharge 6 Ms duty with , greater diQicen . ce and fidelity , but would encourage him in the cultivation of snperior habits , and remove one of the acknowledged
toosefot immorality and * yice m the rural districts . Third , 'that there , is reason to believe that un many cases improve--meut has nitiierto been delayed from ignorance of the real . « xteot of the evil , from uncertainty as to what is required ^ the jaroper acconunodation of country labourers , and from i wao ^ ox information as to the best md cheapest way of prodding'it ; and that although much good has been done by r-the ; exertions of the Highland and Agricultural Society in ftfxnotiogthe improvement of cottage dwellings , it is exptfientrtnatmore comprehensive and systematic means ahould ^ now be adopted for directing ^ mttention on the part « f proprietors and tenants to the great deficiency that still
prevails ,: and " to aid them in their efforts to supply it . -&Mtt * tb ^ that ^ for this pnrpose an association be now constitaUed , to be called The Association for Promoting Improvement in the Dwellings and Domestic Condition of the Agricultural Labourers in Scotland , ' the object of which ahaU be , by periodical meetings of the association , by the ^ establishment of an office in Edinburgh ,. where plans , models , - and specifications of buildings and fittings may be deposited and consulted , and by such other means as may be found . expedient to promote the construction of suitable dwellings and domestic accommodations for the agricultural ' labourers in this part of the kingdom . " This is a most important movement , and capitally
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SCOTCH EDUCATION . Thkbb is a great movement on foot in Scotland connected with education , which promises to lead to a really national secular system , under local management , in that country . The principles at lague are pretty much the same as those in England . The Established Church claims the parish schools , iand the right of directing education ; the Free ChttTch seem to want to share tie domination of the
on the subject . Mr , Renton showed that tilings cannot go on as they are doing ; but the one partythe Established clergy—are doing all they can to prevent the constitution of the parochial schools from being changed . " This is the position which has been taken up by a party . Now , in this age of inquiry and of change , when the spirit of the country and the principles of legislation are alike hostile to whatever is restricted , or exclusive , or partial , or unjust in our laws or . institutions , and when _ it is the purpose of both to amend and to adapt our institutions to the present circumstances of the country , and to our present duty , the position is taken up by thi ^ party of no surrender , no reform , no amendment , no alteration in the constitution of these schools . ( Hear , hear . ) And who , pray , or what are they who at this time , before this country , take up this strange and invidious—shall I say this audacious—position ? They are the party of the Established clergy . "
religious instruction should be , therefore you should rather let a man go without instruction at all than that we should get only th « secular instruction , and not your religious instruction ? ....... But , to return to secular instruction—what I mean by it is precisely what Mr . Stanley , now Lord Derby , called then moral and literary instruction . I would call secular instruction moral , literary , scientific , industrial training , including in the last what Lord Ashburton has so happily termed the knowledge of common things . I would include all that in
what we wish in an efficient system of secular instruction ; for what is to be paid for by all should be adapted to all . But I wish the religious instruction to be provided for-otberwise . My reaolutton sets forth the recognition of the importance of such instruction ; it sets this forth ia order that there may be no mistake about our views . Certain hours are to be set apart for this religious instruction , and it is for the parents of the children , it is for the people of the locality , to say what that religious instruction shall be . If Protestants , they will wish theirs ; if Roman Catholics , they will wish theirs : and so with the other sects . "
An important meeting in Edinburgh , fixed for Thursday , will throw further light upon the position of the question .
After further showing from a speech made by Dr . Barr , Moderator of the General Assembly , that the clergy of the Established Church would *> ppose any measure which would disturb their irresponsible , unjust , and unprofitable control over the parish schools , he unmasks one of Dr . Barr's modes of attack . " The . reverend doctor proceeds to characterise the proposed plan of detaching the schools from the control of the Established Church , and vesting this control in local boards , as 'justly termed revolutionary . ' Revolutionary is a formidable word , my lord . It is associated in the minds of many with convulsion and anarchy , and rapine and bloodshed . It is employed to frighten ; but when it fails to produce that effect , as it sometimes does when employed by false alarmists
and deceivers , and by interested monopolists , it has an opposite result , and when hung out on the banner of every party which opposes reform , it is apt to be regarded as the symbol of fear and weakness , and of a bad cause , and , therefore , instead of deterring , to invite and embolden the assailants to go on with the invasion . ( Applause . ) Why , my lord , it is only a few months since the respectable body over which Dr . Barr at present presides' raised the cry of revolution against another reform , the abolition of tests in the lav chairs in the universities . They passed tremendous resolutions . They declared that the Sovereign was bound by her coronation oath to resist the change , and to maintain these tests . They protested . , that the Articles of Union guaranteed their preservation : and thev uttered ominous words about
what would come , of their allegiance if these tests were abolished . To hare read their' speeches , or even their resolutions and memorials , one would have thought that heaven and earth were coming together , that Scotland was about to demand a repeal of the Union , or , at all events , that the clergy were on the eve of rebellion . Well , what happened ? Not a single public meeting opposed the revolutionary change . Several public meetings and many public bodies petitioned for it . It passed with very feeble opposition hi the House of Commons . It' passed without a single negative in the House of Lords . The Queen is still on the throne . The people of Scotland are as loyal as ever . ( Laughter . ) . . . \ . . . Is not the Legislature of this day , one member of
whichour own honourable and respected representative—we have this evening the happiness to see among us , as competent to frame a measure for the time as the Legislature of Scotland , three centuries , or two centuries , or a century and a half ago , was to frame a measure for these times ? ( Cheers . ) Is it to proceed to frame a measure in our day as if the population consisted now , as then , of one religious denomination ? Is it not to take into account the altered circumstances , tbat there is now an influential section of E p iscopalians—that there is a considerable section of Congregationalists—that in our large towns and among the lowest and most uneducated masses
there is a large body of Roman Catholics—that there is also , unhappily , among the artisan and working classes in these towns a considerable body of no religion , or of sceptical and infidel opinions—and , finally , that of the Presbyterian population of the country , which comprises more than three-fourths of the whole , an overwhelming majority has left the pale of the Established Church ? ; We come forward on explicit pr inciples . We wish the total abolition of tests connected with these schools , so that nothing of the sort , so far as religion is concerned shall be required of the candidate for the teacher ' s office . ( Applause . ) We wish also to have control over the school vested in
committees chosen by those who are to pay for these schools , without any reference to religion or ecclesiastical distinctions at all . ( Cheers . ) And we wish to provide that the money received by taxation , whether it shall come from the general funds of the country , or whether if shall come , as we prefer that it should , from local rates—whatever plan the Legislature may sanction , the . money so raised shall go to provide secular instruction solely , and that the important department of religious instruction ought to be , as it may most confidently be , left to be provided for by the parents and churches . ( Cheers . ) As I have already said , this is approaching the great difficulty . There has been much misrepresentation on tlie subject of secular instruction . A distinguished doctor ( Dr . Candlish ) represents those who ask for it as holding tlut it is enough to make a good man and a good citizen . Now I know a good many of those who are advocates for thia system in England and in Scotland . I have the pleasure to know intimately those who have been most prominent in advocating it , and I must say that I never met with one of them , nor read a line that fell from the- lips or from the pen of one of them , to the effect that mere secular instruction was enough to make a good man and n good citizen . They hold , as far us I hold , that religious instruction is of indispensable importance to the foundation and to the formation of a good character , cither moral or religious , and that , without religious principle , what lies at the root of a good man or of a good citizen ia any state of society ia awanting . ( Cheers . ^ But because secular instruction \ a not sufficient of itself to make a good man and a good citizen , does it follow * that therefore secular instruction ia an ovil , and that , if you cannot supply a man with both secular and religious instruction , according to your notion of what
Kirk ; while a strong party go fpr secular education with separate religious instruction based on the Irish system . The supporters of all the views in conflict axe Tery active ; but our readers will obtain a good insight into the spirit of the contest from the annexed extracts from speeches delivered last week at a meeting in Kelso , under * the presidence of Lord Melgund . He made some admirable remarks , from which we may pick out the following : —
.. " Hitherto in Scotland , our paroclial system , whether it has been good or whether it has been bad has been strictly national . The parochial establishment is a national establishment , the parochial schools are national schools , and jfclltbe money which is given to the support of these schools is national money , and we may do precisely as we please with these schools without injustice to any one . ( Cheers . ) * . . . . But there are undoubtedly great and grievous faults connected with the school laws of this country ; as they stand At present , tests are imposed upon those who are about to undertake the duties of schoolmasters , which' I think it is quite improper in a free country should any longer be suffered to exist . ( Applause . ) Why , rea ^ men , it is almost unnecessary that in any meeting held iAthis country I ahould - ----.- - — ~ - rA . A , \^— . n- — . * . . - « . * r A . ^~ A * I ^ I 1 1 _ _ £ against the system of testsThe whole of
argue . course our legislation has been adapted —has tended towards a repeal of all tests in regard to public offices—and the schoolmaster ' s is essentially a publio office . ( Hear , hear . ) The . only test , I think , which a man ought to be subjected to , is the tea t of the approval of his fellew-citizens . ( Applause . ) You m * y depend upon it , that if we allow persons to choose Schoolmasters for themselves , they will make a much better choice than could be made by any rigid System of tests—a y piem which has hitherto created so much dissatisfaction in opotbind , ( Cheers . ) Why , it is a most absurd thing , when oa ^ eoome ? to think of it , that at this moment more than pag-holf of the population of Scotland are excluded from the privilege of entering into the position of schoolmaster in ^ he parish school . "
; Bttf the best speech -was tlia . t of the Ilcv . Mr . Renfcra , the-Moderator of the General Synod of the United Presbyterian Church , and a great authority
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AUSTRIAN OUTRAGE UPON AN AMERICAN . Mb . J . P . I ^ bine-water , of Liverpool , communicates to the Daily News & copy of a statement addressed by the Reverend James Cook Richmond , a citizen of the United States , to President Pierce , detailing the outrages inflicted on him by Austrian officials in Hungary . Copies of the document have been forwarded to the American press ; and General Pierce now has an opportunity of carrying dot the policy announced in his inaugural speech . The document is as follows , and needs no comment : —
" To the President of the United States . " Hungary , Kecskemet , Bee . 16 , 1853 . " Dear Sir , —Through Mr . Secretary Marcy yon may have already heard the relation of the unprovoked insults which were offered me by a high official ( M . Kirchner , Oct . 14 , 1853 ) in the police of Pestb , of the petty espionage and anonymous letter writing to which I was exposed by order of the police , as I can prove , and of the certain and proved withholding from three to twelve days , and almost certain ( indeed , acknowledged at the post-office to me ) opening of my private letters . Yesterday , Christmas-day , ou my return from church , I was visited by the commander of the gendarmes , Jacob Scbraml ( the Rittmeister } , of this p lace , with the information tbat lie had orders from the highest
authority in Hungary , with the cognisance of the Archduke Albert , civil and military governor of this ( once ) kingdom , to subject all my personal effects to an examination . I protested against the right of Austria to interfere with the sacred private rights of an American citizen , and asked the officer what course he would then pursue ? He replied , he should ' telegraph to Pesth for further orders . ' Meantime , I should necessarily be under arrest , and am also informed that I must as soon as possible leave the kingdom . Thus , in addition to my former complaints , in the correspondence laid before Mr . Secretary Maicy ,
" 1 . My private sacred personal rights are subjected to violent interference , and my letters , papers , &c . examined against my will . " 2 . I am in danger of arrest , if I defend my rights . " 3 . A stranger , without all political connexions or purposes , is inhospitably driven from the kingdom . " These several personal attacks on me and my rights are now added to the before-mentioned grievances . I have written to the Emperor , to the Archduke Governor of Hungary , and to our Ambassador , Mr . Jackson , in Vienna . The officer performed his duty with politeness and courtesy , and
of course found nothing . " Begging the President to take such course as maybe needful in this matter , and adding that I have written to the Emperor and the Archduke , as well as to our Ambassador that the question has now become a state question , I hand over my rights as an American citizen with the utmost confidence to him whose inaugural address so noBW declared that ' the rights of an American citizen should be reverenced throughout the world ;' and am , -with the highest regard , your friend and fellow-citizen , " James Cook Richmond ,
" Presbyter of the Anglo-Catholic Church . " 4 Felegvh&za , Deo ^ 28 . —This morning , between four and five o ' clock , a gendarme intruded into my bedroom , ordered me up , and in a violent snow-storm compelled mo to leave Kecskemet in a jolting waggon , over frozen roads . I arrived ouly two hours before the mid-day train , by which I had volunt arily promised to leave , and so exhausted that 1 could not continue my journey .
" 29 tb . —Last night I hoped to rest , three gendarmes , by order of the Huasar Rittmeister , Hcrr Von Falkenhayn , of Felegybitza , broke down the door ( which was split into two pieces ) and threatened to ' shoot me dead ' if I did not instantly rise . I rose , showed the word America in my regular passport , and told them that you had declared that tho rights of an American citizen should not be violated with impunity , but should be reverenced throughout the world . With brutal , coarse , nnd disgusting minuteness and violence , they proceeded to examine my dreHB , thrusting their dirty hnnds into my bosom , and rifled my pockets of my papers and money . They told me I 'had never fallen into the right hands before , and they ivoulcl teach me , ' that my obstinacy ( in refusing to answer their insulting questions ) ' would soon bo diminished , ' &c , &c . The officer of the three tlien declared mo under arrest , and taking mo , at 1 o ' clock in tho morning , through another snowstorm , Hhowed ino a soldier ' s dirty lied in the guard-room . ' There ' s a good bed at your disposal . ' Meantime , as thov had forgotten to look under tho pillow ia the room where I was arrested , 1 had asltod permission to take what they had left , with the understanding that I was not to be searched again . 1 then took out my watch nnd rtaper inoni : y , which I did not suffer them
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28 THE LEADER . [ Saturday , __ . * i . — . —
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 14, 1854, page 28, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2021/page/4/
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