On this page

• Text (2)

  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.

  • 

    No. 395, October 17,1857.] THE LEAD E E....

  • 

    THE SOCIAL SCIENCE MEETINGS. The Nationa...

• 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.

    Public Meetings. Dr. Livingston" And Lor...

    troland East India Company . That is the question for the House of Commons to settle . They should make a terrible example of the mutineers ; but they must not act in the spirit of vengeance . " Loud Harry Vane at Barnard . —His Lordship expressed his opinion that tranquillity would be restored to British India , firm and consolidated , in the course of a few months . The Hon . F . Lygon at Tewkesbury . —Mr . Lygon " hoped that some measure would be taken to withdraw the Sepoys from scenes that must necessarily be associated in their minds with their bloody triumphs , and to

    give them an opportunity of working out in another land some reparation for the atrocities which , perhaps in a moment of excitement , they had been led to perpetrate . ( Hear . ) With regard to foreign politics , he would say the less we had to do with them the better—( cheers ) — the better for England , as well as for other states . Foreign nations have the same keen sense of national honour with ourselves , and it is therefore most unwise in ua to interfere with them . So long as England does so she will have to maintain a semi-hostile attitude towards foreign powers , which cannot be beneficial either to those powers or to England herself . "

    Me . Buchanan at Glasgow . — " What are we to do with . India ? First , and without hesitation , I say these outrages must he punished with signal and prompt retribution . Vengeance is not a word for man—it belongs to a higher power . But justice requires that the foul insults offered to our countrymen should meet with due punishment . . ( Applause . ) To accomplish this object no sacrifice should be considered too great . But then conies another question—What are we to do in regard to the future of India ? ( Hear , hear . ) It appears too

    evident that up to this time we have done nothing to conciliate the inhabitants of that vast region . During the two hundred years that our rule has existed we have made no progress . We have governed , no doubt , but we have not exalted , nor have we in any sense touched the sympathies of the inhabitants . What causes may have been at work to produce this result I shall not stop to inquire ; but -what I wish to say is , that , in everv sense , our work in India is to do over again . I think you will agree with me that the work must be done . We cannot give up India . " ( Loud applause . )

    JIkssks . Pease at Daulingtox . —A meeting was held at Darlington on Monday in aid of the Indian fund . Mr . H . Pease , M . P ., in moving the first resolution , expressed his sympathy with the sufferers by the revolt , but at the same time alluded to our misgovernmsnt of India , and said that a reform is imperative . Mr . Joseph Pease ( late M . P . ) , in moving a vote of thanks to the chairman , spoke at some length on Indian affairs . " As an Englishman , he took shame to himself for the way in which we had abused our power over 150 , 000 , 000 human beings . It had been his lot to sit for many years in the House of Commons , and he felt shame as an Englishman that while the smallest and most trivial personal dispute would bring houses of from three hundred to five hundred members , and while senators would sit patiently to hear the cavillings and personal piques and prejudices of individuals , Lord

    Glenelg and others whom he had lumself assisted found it the most difficult thing in the world to keep forty members together on a subject affecting the interests of millions . Tlie agriculture of India ought long ago to have made us independent of that cotton supply with which the United States vauntingly flouted us in the face when we spoke against her abominable traffic in human flesh and blood , and of the sugar supply from all the alavo-labour in the world . But Indian agriculture had been shamefully overlooked . ' * A subscription was commenced in the room . The venerable Edward Pease ( father of railways ) sent a donation of Ibl . in a letter in which ho requested its application to the relief of the widows and orphans of civilians . He said " he sympathized with those belonging to the military rank , but in choosing their profession they knew what was before them , and he could not in any way countenance an employment forbidden by the Saviour . "

    MK . B 12 UESFOUD HOl'K , M . l \ , ON CHURCH EDUCATION . The eighteenth anniversary meeting of the Diocesan Board of Education was . held on Friday week at M aidstone , in the college schoolroom . The * chair was taken by the Archbishop of Canterbury , mid the chief speech was thut of Mr . Bereslbrd IIopo , fll . P . Alluding to the large amount of crime which wo see around us , ho said ho believed that wo are in no darker condition tlmn our forefathers , but are blessed with n greater perception of the evil , and . consequently with a greater power to remove it . The object of the Diocesan Society , he observed , is to elevate the peasant class of England—u class about which great delusions exist . Many have supposed that our towns have si monopoly of wickedness , and that the rural districts lire all innocence and jiapmncss . Nothing could be further from the truth . ilio rhapsody of thupoet , thut

    ' God made tlio country , and man made the town , ' is as false in fact as it ia bad in theory . It is well sometimes , ' continued Mr . Hope , " to ace what ia going on fo r good na well as for bad in the north of England . It » a a well to seo how much they are doing : there for tho education and comfort of tho people , and to find liow

    happy the working classes may be in those great mills which many aie too apt to look upon as the scenes of grinding , purse-proud tyranny on the part of the master ; and of hopeless toil and suffering on the part of the operative . I had one day the pleasure of visiting one of the laTgest mills in the north of England . I found the operatives looking the very perfection of happiness ; the building was fire-proof , the ventilation admirable , the people employed cleanly , cheerful , and intelligent . I then visited the house of the proprietor—a gentleman whose father lad raised himself from a very humble station—a gentleman who devotes a noble fortune to pious and good works , and whose recreation is the cultivation of the fine arts . After my inspection

    of his mill , he said , 'Well , we are not so bad in the north as you expected to find us ? ' For myself , I at once repudiated any such idea , and I now mention the fact as a proof that all classes ought to understand each other better , and also to show how very susceptible the manufacturers are of the opinions of rural districts , such as our own . It teaches us also how necessary it £ s that we should exert ourselves if we would not be wholly left behind by the manufacturing districts in the religious training of the lower classes . ( Hear , hear ) There is one point in the report to > which I will now take leave to

    allude—namely , that winch refers to the early age at which the children leave school , or jire taken away from school . Perhaps I may he allowed to throw out a hint on this subject . This difficulty may be met by considering what is best to be done with respect to the peculiar class of society from which the children spring . I should be sorry to advocate lowering the standard of our teach , ing , but I do advocate a greater adaptation of it to the peculiar circumstances of those . we have to train up . ( Hear , hear . ) We want something more like what is called industrial training—a more familiar , commonsense grappling with the necessities of the case . "

    After a few words from the Archbishop of Canterbury , intimating his satisfaction with the progress that had been made , the meeting broke up . The Bishop ok Oxford and Mb . Gladstone at Chester . —The annual meeting of the Society for the Aid of Foreign Missions , held at Chester on Monday , gave occasion to the Bishop of Oxford and Mr . Gladstone to look at the Indian question from a , religious point of view . Both attributed our disasters to our having discouraged Christianity and encouraged Paganism in our Oriental empire , and both desired that

    India should be retained by us , not for the augmentation of our power and glory , but as a means of carrying the Christian faith among a vast race of people , to whom however , they would allow the liberty of following their own faith as long as they pleased . Mr . Gladstone also protested against the cry for a bloody vengeance on the whole Indian nation , and said that there could be uo fear of our soldiers out there , after what they had seen , showing undue leniency . On the contrary , they may be expected to show a degree of rage which will be natural in them , but which is odious in persons sitting safely and quietlv at home .

    No. 395, October 17,1857.] The Lead E E....

    No . 395 , October 17 , 1857 . ] THE LEAD E E . 989

    The Social Science Meetings. The Nationa...

    THE SOCIAL SCIENCE MEETINGS . The National Association for the Promotion of Social Science was inaugurated at the Town-hall , Birmingham , on Monday . The body of the hall was crowded , and the platform showed a large gathering of eminent men . The Mayor having briefly introduced Lord Brougham to the meeting , his Lordship proceeded to deliver the inaugural address . Alter some preliminary remarks , and some observations on the difficulty of arriving at an exact and logical division of the various departments of inquiry which the Association proposed to discuss , Lord Brougham proceeded : —

    " But it is manifest tliat we are taking a right , in some sort , a necessary , course in bringing together those who chiefly devote themselves to promote the inquiries and the measures connected with social improvement ; and this position appears to rest upon most solid grounds , both from considerations common to all joint undertakings , and from the peculiar nature of the subject itself . Of the former description is the great advantage which must accrue from the mutual help afforded to one another by fellow-labourers in the same cause ; the increased efficacy thus given to the efforts of each ; the lights struck out by full discussion , with the valunblcsuggestions thus produced , the experience , the reflections of each individual being made as it were

    common to all , the security against error by timely examination of each plan before its author ' s prepossessions have become too deeply rooted , and before h « lias been committed to its details ; the authority given to proposals ultimately , and after mature deliberation persevered in , even if not snetionud by the assent of others ; the influence which may bo acquired in various ways when that sanction has been declared . These advantages attend all hiicU unions , and may bo cited in favour ofaiiy cotnbined operations , whatever be tho nnturc of the subject . Hut there is a peculiar expediency—it may rather bo « ai < l necessity—for sucli a common or united action where a great vaiiety of opinion is likely to exist upon many matters , possibly no universal concurrence upon all tho particulars of any one . Plucing all

    prejudices arising from diversity of political party or religions sect entirely out of view , and assuming every person to be inspired with the pure and single desire of performing his duty towards the community , it is still unavoidable that men should view the same subject in different lights , and that the absence of such standards from demonstration or experiment as the reasoners on other sciences can appeal to should create doubt 3 and introduce diversities of opinion . In some cases these differences may yield "to full discussion , but in not a few instances they will remain , and here is precisely the inestimable advantage of such a union as ours . That discussion and explanation may often remove the grounds of dissent is undeniable . "VVe have classical authority for observing that , how widely soever men may differ in their reasonings upon human conduct , it is singular how seldom they differ much in the judgments which they

    form respecting it . We may go further and affirm that there is less diversity of opinion than might have been supposed even upon general subjects ; and that ignorance or misinformation , or inattentive and therefore inaccurate observation , or careless reflection and hasty declaration , is the cause of most of those differences . However that may be , we summon those who honestly differ in opinions , because they regard the same subject from different points of view , to look at both sides , when possibly they may be found to agree , and because it is of incalculable importance that those points on which they are agreed should be separated from the test , and the measures approved regarding which no material difference exists . , . - Upon the beneficial effects of united action in its different applications I can venture to speak from an experience of some duration and considerably varied . It may suffice to mention two instances of this successful

    operation . About thirty years ago , the Society foT Diffusing Useful Knowledge was founded , its object being to b Ting the different branches of science and of literature within the reach of the great bulk of the community by reducing the cost of books , maps , and prints to a very moderate scale , and by preparing various works at once didactic and attractive . The committee which carried on these operations consisted of sixty persons among the most eminent in science and literature , ancient and modern , with members of three learned , professions , and distinguished statesmen . Regular meetings "were held to receive reports of sub-committees

    charged -with preparing the various works composed either by their own members or by authors who were employed- Every matter was discussed by the general committee , both on the writings submitted and on the new works to be undertaken . The most severe examination had been applied by the sub-committees , but theproof-sheets were farther submitted to the whole of the members , who had to consider both the substance and the manner of treating it ; and even those who on any subject might not feel competent to criticize the scientific part exercised a vigilant superintendence over the style , so that errors in composition and offences against correct , even severe , taste were sure to be detected . "

    His Lordship tlien gave some particulars of the immense sales which were attained by the publications of the Society ; of the effect they had in advancing popular education , and cheapening sound literature ; and of those similar efforts which were made in emulation , of the London Society in France , Holland , America , and other countries . Before quitting this part of his subject , Lord Brougham denied tlie common assertion that the Society had ceased to exist . " It is a body incorporated by Kuyal charter , and cannot be extinguished unless by a forfeiture , although for some years it has not been in active operation , because almost all the purposes of its institution have been amply fulfilled . " He also denied that classical studies were underrated in its publications .

    " But the other experience " ~ which reference may be had is that of tho body whosb . J , ts approach most nearly to our own—the Society for Promoting tho Amendment of the Law . It would not bo easy to describe the many pernicious attempts at legislation which it has stopped in their earliest stages—attempts tending to the injury , not to the amendment of the law ; and , if ending in failure and its attendant exposure , calculated to bring the great eause of legal improvement into disrepute . But it is more pleasing to dwell upon the signal benefits that have accrued from the measures maturely digested and strenuously promoted which have obtained the sanction first of the public assent—that is the apof those

    proval w ho are capable and well informedand , finally , the assent of the Legislature itself . To give particular instances would only weary those who art familiar 'with the history of the society ; but I am bound to stato that sinon its establishment in 1811 most of the bills which 1 havu brought forward , ami of which many have bcuji passed , making a groat change in our jurisprudence ., cither originated in tho inquiries and reports of the . society ' s committees , ov owed to tho labours and authority of that body valuable help towards , first , their preparation , next , their adoption . The £ jroat measure of local judicature , mud those which iiroso out of tho common law and real property commissions , were no doubt adopted prior to the society ' s foundation ; but

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 17, 1857, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17101857/page/5/