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ARCHDEACON DENISON ON EDUCATION . At the annual general meeting of the members of the Bath and Wells Diocesan Societies , held at Wells , on Thursday , Archdeacon . Brymer presiding in the absence of the Lord Bishop of the Diocese , Archdeacon Denison moved the following resolution : —• " That this meeting deeply regrets the little assistance which the Diocesan Board of Education has been able to render during the past year ; but , while it is fully alive to the difficulty of providing for the education of the poorer classes , it deprecates most earnestly any attempt to conciliate support by omitting to teach the doctrines and principles of the Established Church . "
The resolution , of course , was carried . In a speech of great force and eloquence , Archdeacon Denison made a statement of the argument employed by Churchmen against secular education , or state education , which is so close and succinct , and , coming from him , may be said to be almost by authority , that we reprint it : — " What was the theory of a rate ? The theory of a rate was that citizens should be assessed , locally or generally , as the case might be , for purposes which were of confessed public benefit , or such as , if men differed about the manner of carrying them out , the minority might be expected to give way to the majority , without putting any strain upon their conscience . For example ,
it was a confessed public benefit to pave and light the streets of a town , and those of the inhabitants who preferred to walk in the mud , or to grope their way in the dark , need not be considered . And if the ratepayers differed about the manner of lighting and paving , the minority might very fairly be expected to yield ^ to the majority , without putting any strain upon their conscience . But education was not a thing , as logicians spoke , ' in pari materia . ' We might assume , indeed , th . 3 t it was a confessed public benefit to educate a people . No one would dispute that proposition . But when we came to what was meant by education , to the matter and manner of education , the differences were so great , and ran up so completely into first
principles , that the minority could not be expected to give way to the majority , because it would be a direct Btrain upon the conscience . It was right and good , then , to make a rate for paving and lighting a town , or for any analagous purpose ; but as for making a rate to educate people , that was neither right nor good , nor , strictly speaking , was it possible without reducing education to the level of vague general instruction . That it should never be reduced to this level was jusc what the Churchman had to contend for at all costs and risks . ( Hear i hear . ) The majority of men took a loose and low view of what was meant b y education . They confined it principally to the wants of this life , rejecting the idea that it must be based upon definite revealed truthsupon the one faith committed by God to the keeping of
his Church ; and as the minority would no more—and , indeed , could no more—concede these points than the majority would adopt them , the difference between the two was one which must always subsist . Now , a rate , and the manner of spending a rate , was the expression of the will of a majority—an expression certainly not , under the present circumstances of the world , in accordance with the mind of the Church ; but in reality , however it might be disguised , setting aside her mission and her office , and weakening her hands for the discharge of her trust . He concluded , therefore , a priori , that an education rate was a thing neither right nor good under any conceivable circumstances of our present state , and he had such confidence in the soundness of the argument whereby he had arrived at this conclusion , that lie would only add , ' Quoderat demonstrandum . " ( Cheers . )" Mr . Denison had stigmatized the Council of Education , as a power making insidious advances towards assuming the entire control of the education of the country ; and he had asserted that tho Manchester and Sulford scheme would be used as a precedent , if established , for a general education rate , lie wound up with a fervid appeal to the Church , not without its value to us even . " The battle of the Church of Kngland is in her parishes , in her churches , and in her schools . What is her watchword ? ' The Catholic l <' aith whole and undefiled . ' ( Cheers . ) What is her reliance and her strength ? Not reason , but faith ; not pride of knowledge , but humbleness of heart . ; not State enactments , but the word of God ; not JSliite endowments , but daily selfdcnial for the love of ( Mirint , in the spirit of Christ , and after the pattern of Christ ; not . the princes of this world , but Christ crucified . ' ( C / ucra . ) And what are the adversaries of tlie Church of Kngland ? On one Bide is Rome—Home , which has added to , and taken uway from , the Catholic faith — Home , which denies that there is any Church , in 1 'lngland nave in subjection to herself . On the other side arc many uncertain shapes , fading awny into darlmesH as they withdraw farther and
farther from the light of the Catholic faith—all of them lacking somewhat of the complete armour of the soldier of the Cross—all of them with th « claim written in their foreheads to be ' wise above what is written' —the mark of the pride of life , the nigii of the coming of tlie man of « in , the undoubted Antichrist . ( ll <'< tr , hear . ) In the midst Htands the Church of Knglund . Around her is the bright light of the Catholic faith , She trembles , indeed , and her eyc « are cast upon the ground , an in her Lord's presence , and because Khe known mid feels that elie bus failed , and in fulling Htill—alas ! iu how many things—to do her Lord ' s will . Hut still docs nlie grasp her standard with undoubting hand . Upon it arc the awful words , ? This in the Catholic faith , which , except a man believe faithfully , he cannot be suved . ' And shall it ever lie that Koine shall have power to trample her iu tho dust , or that tho pride of life shall draw her
away from the light to walk among those uncertain shapes , and , it may be , to wander into outer darkness ? May God forbid ! ( Hear , hear . ) But what is her confidence ? —what is her hope that God ' s mercy will interpose to save her , if she allow any considerations of worldly advantage—any un due craving after what , in man ' s common language , is called ' success '—any preference of State policy—any love of ease and comfortany admiration of external order and mere worldly peace —to weigh with her in such sort as does not become a Church of God , and to persuade her that she may concede or compromise one particle of that good thing which has been committed to her to keep until that day
when her Lord , who gave it , shall demand an account of it at her hands . It is part of every Churchman ' s trial whether he will do , each one according to his measure and his gift , what has been said of the duty of the Church militant . May it be our wisdom , brethren beloved in Christ—may it be our wisdom to know this , our happiness to feel it , our confidence to do it . ( Loud applatcse . )"
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The Bishop of Oxford performed the ceremony of laying the foundation 6 tone of the chapel attached to the Oxford Diocesan Training School , now in course of erection at Culham , between the Abingdon-road station and Abingdon . The bishop ' s address turned , of course , on education and educators , or trainers as he called them , whose office was , he said , only second to the sacred ministry of the Church . As to education itself the bishop was very emphatic . " If any of you , my brethren , doubt whether it is good to extend education , believe me it iu a settled question .
It is a settled question whether there shall be education . You cannot stop it . Education , of one sort or other , there will be in this land . You might as well tell the tide when it rises to stop , as say you will keep the people of this country without education . All you can settle now is the quality of the education you will give themwhether it shall be the training of Christ ' s Church , to make them meet instruments fordoing his will , or whether it shall be an irreligious , a puffing up , a vain , an empty , and miserable earthly training , which shall make them unfit for serving God , and unfit for doing their duty in . that condition of life to which God calls them . That is the only question left to be settled . "
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REOPENING OF THE HIGHGATE LITERARY INSTITUTION . The Earl of Shaftesbury , Dr . SouthwoodfSmith . and other gentlemen assembled to do honour to the reopening of this'institution , on Monday evening . Mr . Harry Chester presided , and a goodly company occupied the benches of the theatre . The subject of the evening ' conversation was " The Uses of Scientific Institutions in improving the Condition of the People . " Amongst other things , Mr . Chester said one which we register .
" Take another subject upon which great ignorance prevailed—he meant political economy . He was aware that all questions of party politics had been , by a most wise regulation , excluded from their society ; but there were questions connected with social law which might with safety be made the objects of their study . The question of strikes , the mutual relations of the employer and the employed , the law of partnership , the questions of unlimited liability , and that of par tnerships en commandite , were all mutters in which they had a deep interest , and concerning which it was most desirable that sound and accurate information should be widely circulated . If by a full discussion the public mind could be enlightened concerning them , how much would the passing of good laws be facilitated ?"
Lord Shaftesbury , who traced tho strength and security of society to the efforts made of late years to improve the condition of the people , said : — " There were many things relating to the condition of the poor to which they might most profitably direct their attention . In the first place , there was the truck system—an abomination so great , and of so subtle a character , that it could not be put down , except by a . general expression of public opinion . ( Hear , hour . ) lie knew nothing which mure tended to repress the poor ¦ nan ' s energies than this system . It kept him down at the lowest point of barbarism . ( Cheers ) A case had lately occurred in which an agricultural labourer had not
for years received any money at all from his master ; and it need not be added , that he could not supply iiincteen-twcnt . iet . hn of the wants of his family . Of course , he could not send his children to school , for he had nothing wherewith to pay the schoolmaster , all his wages consisting of a certain quantity of ineiil , which his wife received every week . Another abomination to be put down by public opinion was the payment of wages on a . Saturday night at publichouscs , than which nothing had bciMi more productive of irretrievable ruin to the working man . ( Cheers . ) Another most , important step was the improvement of the dwellings of the poor , without , which education and the labours of the clergy were uhcIcss , and almost an instill . ' ( Loud cheers . )" After alluding to tho Shoe Black Ihigude , ho described the Ragged Dormitory at We . stniinater , an institution where thieves who have Buffered their term of imprisonment and < leniro to reform are located : ¦ - - " No one wan admitted until he had undergone a inont severe ordeal . Jle waa placed in an upper room and told that he must remain there fourteen days without seeing any one besides the master , and with no better fare than bread and water . The door wan , however , left , open , so that he might leave if he chose ; but he was told that if he went out , even for an instant , lie muni never return . If n lad or u man underwent taut ordeal , it wan
considered that he was really sincere , bat of the / Min ^ T had been admitted , scarcely any had failed ami * k ° were obliged to refuse seventy to eighty applications pe * week . I here were in the house forty-six persons Jh had been as great vagabonds as any in London , and JX they were all kept m order by one man , Mr N fl , K Even he had been obliged to be absent for a fortniX on account of his health , and yet they had behaved i the most exemplary manner , though thus left bv thpm selves . ( Cheers . ) " »« m-The company were subsequently addressed by Dr South wood Smith and others ; after which they broko up well pleased .
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LETTER FROM LADY FRANKLIN . The following is a copy of a letter from Ladv Franklin to Mr . Grinnell , who interested himself so much in sending out the American expedition under Captain de Haven . " 21 , Bedford-place , London , September 12 , 1851 . " My deab , Mb . Grinnell , —I write to you in much agitation and confusion of mind , which you will not wonder at when you hear that Captain Penny , with his two ships , has returned , and announces the approaching return of Captain Austin ' s squadron , after being out for only half the period for which they were equipped . * * * Captain Penny ' s letter is to-day before the Board of
Admiralty , urging them in the strongest terms to despatch instantly a powerful steamer to Wellington Channel , in which quarter , to the north-west , he has discovered the passage which there can be scarcely a doubt the ships have taken , since it is the onl y opening they have found anywhere , and hundreds of miles of coast have been explored in the lower western direction to Cape Walker , Banks ' Land , and Melville Island , without a trace of them . Drift wood in considerable quantities has come out of this north-west channel , and also a small bit of rather fresh English elm , which Penny pronounces must have belonged to our ships , and was probably thrown overboard .
" Thus the right track of the north-west passage and the course of the missing ships are identical ; and I can only regret that our squadron was not told they might attempt the making of the passage if they could ; for in that case we should have had no abandoning of the search till many more struggles had been made to get into Behring ' s Straits . The barrier of ice in Wellington Channel did not break up last year , nor had done so this when Penny . left ; but his explorations , which extended to 180 miles from the entrance , were made beyond it in boat sledges ; 60 miles beyond this he saw water , with land standing to the north-west . I can hardly conceive how he could resist following the open water which he saw beyond him , and which he is convinced leads into
the so-much-talked-of Polar basin . He is also convinced , with Dr . Kane , that there is a better climate in these more northern latitudes , with more natural resources of food and fuel ; some proofs of which he brings forward . We have every reason , then , to hope that some of our lost friends and countrymen may yet be able to support life in this region , though unable to return by the way which they came ; and the absence of any traces of them north of Cape Innes , on the east 6 ide of Wellington Channel , proves nothing at all against it , since they were not likely to linger on their way to examine shores and islands , but would push on as fast as possible while the opportunity favoured them ; and the next trace to be found would probably be their second winter quarters .
" In confirmation of this view , Penny tells me that there are signs of their first winter encampment at Heechy Island , and of their having left it suddenly ; and that the summer of 1846 , though extremely unfavourable to the whalers , who , on account of the prevailing winds , could not cross over to the west side of Baffin ' s Bay , must have been quite the reverse to our navigators . You may imagine what a state of anxiety and agitation we are in , till we learn the decision of the Admiralty on the appeal now made to them . I have written a strong letter also , and I know that Sir V . Beaufort , Captain Hamilton , and Mr . Barrow , who are all at their posts , will allege the necessity of prompt measures with all their powers . Should 1
we fail , we must look to America alone as our resource . o you will belong all the virtue and credit of continuing the search when our countrymen fail ; and to you will belong the honour and glory of succouring the distressed , and of settling for ever that vexed question which for centuries it lias been the ambition of Europe , ot Kngland in particular , to solve . I cannot abandon my husband and my countrymen both to their fate , just at the moment when the pathway to them has been found : and if need be , and my coining to the United Stales would help in engaging the active and energein : sympathies of your countrymen , painful , in many respecta , a this trial would he , 1 would braco up my courage to the
proof . , , " Hut my head is growing weak , and my healin is sinking ; and then 1 have a beloved sister ( not to menuo " an aged father , who is not now in a Htate to be < : 0 " , of my absence ) whom it would almost break my hcau . leave . I am sure you will tell , with all your accustom . truth , and candour , and kindnesH , what is your vkw this point , in case the Admiralty fail me . m m * * * * . ,, ,. . i , ¦ - „ „ { i » .. ;„ a nut ; M ' h intention »> It that it Captain Austin s »» lc » 110
" appears waa \ t ( , look into Wellington Channel himself , and alut »» J Jones ' s Sound before he returned home ; but as u . former , Penny « ay « he will find the . cc imp * rouble » that he will be sure not to bo able , uh an eyt . witi .. *" , seethe opening . Nothing , perhaps , could iien . l « tic iu its present state but the 4 ( 5 o horBe-i «» wc . r » team « . r . e , hat cannot be done this year ; though J exxny «») " » , h steamer could be ready to sail in t ir « o week- or u « from hence , he thinks lie could still got he - J * " ^ . caster Bound this season , or at " 7 ™ ? [ ' ^ ommouoo ncnient locality , which would enable Una to comai ^
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1036 fflft * % t& \ ttT + [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 1, 1851, page 1036, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1907/page/8/
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