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ing-state of education has obtained the concuiv r of' all religious denominations . He gave his ty opposition to Sir John Pakington's measure ; ie hoped that the House would deal a deathtc all the three companion measures which before it . —Mr . W . J . Fox insisted upon the it need which exists for some national scheme iversal education . The present system is most ictuaL The great bulk of those who are com-: d to prison for crimes are such as have been to- the schools which now exist . The utterly an * are the small number ; the number of those i&n read and write is not so small . He trusted ; he three bills would be sent to the same coms , where they might be amalgamated into one
. John Pakington entered into a minute reply i arguments against his bill advanced by Mr . y in the last debate . The main proposition of [ enley and of Lord John Manners was , that the ng system has not failed . But this is not a le position ; while , on the other hand , it is im-» le to controvert the facts upon which the prestate of things is impugned . The continental is , with a few exceptions , and the United States leriea , with the exception of the slave states , advance of England .. Sir John then quoted a yof statistics , showing the lamentable state of nice to be found among the poor , of whom large
: tions have no knowledge of the existence of a r of the name of Jesus , while many are unable eat the names of the months , and have no ¦ conn of the distinction of vice and virtue . The ; ary system had been found insufficient for the rt of schools ; and thirty-two clergymen . have that they have been obliged on the average to it of their own pockets 26 / . for the support of s in their parishes . Mr . Henley had said that feet of the bill would be to pauperise the y . Were the people of New York , Pennsyl-Holland , and Scotland , pauperised by having
• port free schools ? He ( Sir John Pakington ) lerely contending that England should have iages similar to those which have existed in ad for two centuries . Extraneous aid being try , there was no other resource than a rate , respect to Mr . Denison ' s objection , that there > provision in the bill for compulsory attendt must be borne in mind that , before such a on could pass , more schools must be provided , b effect of the bill in improving schools would ly be to stimulate attendance . the motion of Mr . Ewart , the debate was idjourned till Monday next .
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE . e remaks made by Mr . Disraeli , upon the ture period at which morning sittings had com . 1 , and a suggestion by him that they should be id to Tuesdays and Thursdays , led to a rather mversation respecting the business before the in the course of which Mr . Bouverie coned the report that it was intended to withdraw irtnership Amendment Bill and the Limited ty Bill . "WAYS AND MEANS . ommittee of Ways and Means , it was resolved , 3 motion of Mr . Wilson , that , towards * . good the Supply granted to her Majesty , the if 10 , 000 , 000 / . be granted out of the Coned Fund . Gojld Finger-Rings Bull was read a third id passed .
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP BILL . Earlof SiiAFTEBiiUKY on Tuesday moved the > n of the report on the Keligious Worship Bill , ect of which is to repeal so much of the net of HI . as prohibits the assembling of more than persons in a house , besides the family , for the 3 of religious worship . The Earl remarked is permitted to persons to open their houses s and other diversions ; it is lawful to have a ' with a . puck of hounds for the purpose of nentj and it ought to bo equally legitimate sons to gather in one spot for devotion . Now e ponny stamp is taken of I' newspapers , there t danger of the country being overwhelmed editious and infidel publications ; and every
inity should bo sought of counteracting this witli the antidote of religion . JLord Shafteslen went tit length into several details exhithe spiritual ignorance which overspreads u ivrt of the population of this country , of whom Ilionsin England and Wales never attend any is service whatever , while ; in cmo purLsh not , idrocl people out of ten thousand attend reany place of worship , and only one hundred ty occasionally . Ono of the ; chief menus of taring this ignorance , and of instructing it , is d illegal . DifU-ivnt religious mick'tios are hi b it ¦ or calling mootingfl in their schoolrooms purpose of religious devotion ; but tho very prayer constitutes such meetings illegal , and r > those who arc engaged in conducting them o u fino of from ii () H . to 20 / . Tho Churoh him taken to holding open-air meetings , at ono of
which ; held "the other-day in-Greenwich . -Park , - as many as -twelve hundred persons ^ attended . If these efforts are to be extinguished ; there would be an end to the best system devised in these timesfor reaching large classes of the poor and jgnoranfe Ragged schools , also , and many other institutions for enlightening and evangelising the lower classes , would be destroyed by an enforcement of the present law ? since the meetings of all such bodies as these are commonly opened with prayer . There is no hinderance to attending a lecture at which the evidences of Christianity and the truth of the Bible maybe disputed ; but a meeting for-the maintenance of these , which should be opened with'prayer , would be
illegal . Indeed , he believed that the inauguration of the Crystal Palace , when the Archbishop of Canterbury offered up a prayer , was a monster violation of the law . But he was told the law is obsolete . Yes ; yet it has a power of revival . Lord Barham , now the Earl of Gainsborough , used to have religious services at his own house , at which the village school attended ; but Lord Romney laid an information against him , and he was fined 40 l . for two meetings . A county magistrate in the north of England had recently endeavoured to civilise the
poor on his estate by- religious exercises in the largest of their cottages : the meetings were largely attended , and the thing went on well for a few months ; but it was then intimated that the proceedings -were illegal , and they ceased . The reason for the present law has passed away . The acts of George XL and George III . are wholly unsuited to trie present times ; and his Lordship maintained that it is most unjust to put an interdict upon any man receiving any number of persons in his house for religious worship .
The Bishop of London had great doubt whether the practice is illegal when clergymen act under the sanction and with the license of their bishops . He doubted also whether it would be any advantage for unqualified persons to be at liberty to hold small congregations in private houses , and thus draAV them away from the parish church . He should like to have a clause embodying that view added to the bill . —The Bishop of Oxford had no doubt that the bill was brought forward with the best intentions ; but , since he believed it would interfere materially with the action of the Established Church , he must oppose it . It would confuse the line of demarcation between the Church and Dissent , and would do serious injury to the cause of religious peace . The existing prohibition does not extend
to open-air meetings , as Lord Shaftesbury , no doubt inadvertently , had said ; and , as for housemeetings , the small payment of half-a-cro \ vn will procure a license . He therefore held that no alteration of the law is requisite , and concluded by moving that the bill be recommitted that day six months . —The Earl of Haurowby , tho Earl of Cinchester , the Duke of Argyll , the Earl of Rodent , and the Lojid Chancellor , spoke in favour of the bill , and the Earl of Carnarvon against it . —Their lordships then divided , when the numbers were—For the bill , 31 ; against it , 30 . The bill was then reported with amendments . —The Earl of Shaft lcsBUiiY , on Thursday , in answer to a request from Lord Derby , refused to refer the bill to a select committee . The Roman Catholic Charities Bill was read a . third time and passed .
MORNING SITTING . In the House of Commons , at the morning sitting , the Validity of Proceedings ( House of Commons ) Bill was read a second time . The remainder of the sitting was expended in discussing , in committee , the details of the Metropolis Local Management Bill .
DECIMAL COINAGE . Iu the evening , Mr . William Brown moved a series of resolutions , " That tho initiation of the decimal system of coinage , by tho issue of tho florin , has been eminently successful and satisfactory ; that a further extension of such system will bo of great public advantage ; and that an address bo presented to her Majesty , praying that she will bo pleased to complete tho decimal scale with the pound and tho Jlorin , as suggested by two commissions ami u Committee of the House of Commons , by authorising
tlio issue of silver coins to represent tho valuo oi tho oiio-hundrcdth part of a jmuiid , and copper coins to represent ; tho one-thousandth part of a pound , to bo called ' cents' and ' mils' respectively , or to benrsuoh other names aa to her Majesty may seem advisable . " In support of the motion , ho cit , ud Bevernl authorities . — Lord Stanley seconded the motion , considering that the plan embodied in the report ; of tho Committee , and now proposed in tho resolutions before tiio House , is the best of any of tho plans that have yet boon proposed , and that it would bo attended with very fow practical inconveniences .
Air . J . B . Smith moved , as an amendment , to leave out from the words " pleased to" to thu end oi tho question , in order to add tho words "invito a . congress of representatives of all nations , ttt some convenient place , with tho view of eonnidoring tho practicability of adopting a common standard of moneys , weights , and measures , " instead thereof .
The-small coins comtemplated-in the plan or'M * Brown would be utterly useless ; inconveniences and losses , would be caused by fractions ; a decimal system of weights and measures would be a necessary complement of the change ; and this would render an extensive alteration of our laws indispensable . It would be but wise to invite the co-operation of other nations . —Mr . Lowe , while admit-, ting the advantages of the decimal system , thought that the unit or integer proposed was too high , and that perplexities would be thus occasioned , the chief burden of which would fall ; . upon the poor .: A cent is twopence and two-fifths of a penny . Such , a coin could never get into circulation ; for it is a
mere arithmetical quantity . The only recommendation of the mil is that it is the thousandth part of a pound . It appeared to him that we should be unwise in adopting a system which would involve such a complication of divisors . In a scientific decimal coinage , the unit must be something which would divide the pound without a remainder . The proposed new coinage would be incommensurable with foreign money . In selling small quantities of goods by the pound or yard , we should be obliged tO ' resort . to , the decimal of a pound , which might require the use . of nine figures . In short , the project would be most puzzling , and would multiply , instead of economising labour . —The motion was supported by
Mr . John M-Gregok and Mr . Hankey . — Mr . Ricaedo acknowledged that the change would . be attended with inconveniences , but thought that we should submit to them for the sake of the advantage —The Chancellor of the Exchequer believed that the scheme was open to many serious objections ; but he assured Mr . Brown the subject should receive the most careful consideration of the Government , and he recommended him to withdraw his motion . —Mr . Cardwell was of opinion that , although the difficulties attending the proposed change are not so
great as to be insuperable , the time has not arrived at which the scheme could properly be carried into execution . The House should prepare the country for the adoption of the plan , which is of high scientific value . —Ultimately the first of Mr . Brown's resolutions ( that which asserts the success of the florin ) was carried by 135 to 56 ; the second resolution affirming the advantage to be derived from an extension of the decimal system , was agreed to without a division ; and the third resolution , praying for an address to the Crown , was withdrawn .
NATIONAL EDUCATION IN IRELAND . Mr . Kennedy moved an address for a commission to inquire into the arrangements most desirable for rendering national education in Ireland more comprehensive and complete—firstly , by means of industrial instruction-, secondly , by securing the most efficient teachers . He was proceeding with his speech , when the House was counted out , at half-past eleven o ' clock .
SUNDAY TRADING ( METROPOLIS ) BILL . In the House of Commons , on Wednesday , Lord Robert Gkosvekob moved the committal of this bill , which was opposed by Mr . Massby , who moved to defer the committee tor three months . He denounced the principle as being in the last degree mischievous . It would interfere with the interests of the working classes , and merely proposed to do by an Act of Parliament what might be done by any one who chooses to act for himself . Sunday trading is confined to a few dealers who minister to the wants of the very poor : these men are always at liberty , whenever they please , to shut their shops if their conscience should require it . Compulsory legislation has never been known to control social evils . The only remedy fur such is to bo found in moral correctives . — Lord Stanley supported tho bill ; and Mr . W . J . Fox resisted it , observing that it picked out trading exclusively , disregarding work
and amusement altogether . A . moasure of sucli a kind ought to strike boldly at Sunday work ; in which case it would interfere with bishops and archbishops , their cooks and carriages . —Mr . Kkb Seymer ,. in supporting thy bill , described a visit which ho had recently paid to Moumlsditeh lmir on Sunday morning during the hours <> f divmo service . Ho admitted , however , that ho saw no drunken men , nor anything disorderly , and Unit , in the words of a policeman with whom he conversed , ' there was nothing imrticularlv wrong going «»" , with tho ex-Sir John Niikllky also polc
coption of thioving /' - . s o in favour of the bill ; while Mr . DuNroMiii-:, Mr . Drummond ( who would von- for an honest bill which would include dubs ) , Mr . Bkntincic Mr . Wilkinson Mr . JUaoujiik , Sir . h » : nu \ \ Vai . mhi . ev , and Mr Mi vwoktm rosistod it . —Alter a few words from Lord 1 { ' () i u : kt ( iuo . svKNou and Mr . IJakkow , in defence , tho House divided , when the o miscarried by 1 . 03 to ft I . --The House into eonm . il too on tho bill , tho details dement much discussion , tho Chairman the clauses were gone through , being " jKS , rv o , 1 '« oc : «» , > , koB ( mow *) U * M < was committed , read a
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fan » 18 ; 1855 . ] TBDE' LEAPEE ; 555 *
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riginal motion tlu ; nxf ? nt ? v ,- > of ,. whiclii . ujk - " % s -. * 'before < £ if . ,.... , s ) p ordored .-to ro- ' , ;¦ >;<<{ . IToutrtjo * Co * g- « £ thiriT 4 miO , r * W- ^ V ; V ^!| ^ W : ## i # ~ s * ¦ : J-JHS i-igimd motion ^^ iHti theiv ^ ntN . "T > -v , i of ; , which UttTv - :. \ ' ., . mil *' ' before < fj fl |< ' / . ¦/ ., ' . ' / > p onjlarud .-to tb ' - ' ,- . ^ ' > . » * " V , o ^' of Co ^ W ^ , hifa : ^ imor . ^^^ i ^ - * ¦ iJHs
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Leader (1850-1860), June 16, 1855, page 555, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2095/page/3/
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