OUR HOME LETTER.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3435, 27 December 1879, Page 1

OUR HOME LETTER.

(FHOM OVA OWN COIIMPONDINT,) London, November, 1879. Bir Charles Whethem, the late Lord,. Mayor, ha* contrived to-day to auk* himself very unpopular during hii torn > : of oihee, and the other day wai actually : hiiied in hii own court, in fact there waa a most unseemly squabble in a Cottrt of Jaitiee. The ease was that of Mr Phil, pott, one of the leading stationers in the city, who had exposed for sale in his window some photographs of Zulus " habited in the costmme of their country/ Now the ■aid costume is not of too extensive a character,'and someone (note the someone), got a case of prosecution omt against Mr Philpott for exposing "indecent" photographs. Mr Philpott declared he saw no wrong.about it» rat that he was willing to give up aid destroy"* every copy in his possession, further that he had bought them from a highly respectable firm, the London StereoscopicCompany, whom, he was sure would never wish to infringe the law, and certainly not in the matter charged. Thi* would not. satisfy the Lord Mayor and the j printers were included in the charge. Now , the London Stereoscopic Company is raajly ■Mr Alderman Nottlge. Noiv here's a 1 pretty mess, an Alderman of the City of London charged with printing and setting indecent photographs. Finally the ease i is dismissed, and the defendant's solicitor naturally asks for costs, which the Lord I Mayor will not allow, neither,' on the question being put to him will he give the » name of the prosecutor in the matter. Now who was the prosecutor P The someone P If Sir Charles wished to hide anyone he has successfully accomplished it by bearing the blame himself. One thing is .certain that if the photos were allowable, and that was proved by the dismissal of the case, the defendants ought not to hare had to pay the heavy costs they had sustained. She public took the defendant's part strongly, and as I said, there was a very pretty but discreditable squabble. It is the* custom of the sheriffs to ask the Lord Mayor to their dinner towards the end of his term of office, but this invitation has been generally declined, this year it was accepted, but strtnge to say many of the Alderman have been prevented from accepting by business engagements, .(fee, &c. Strange is'nt it ? Another notable trial has been that of Adolphus Rosenberg, editor of Town Talk, for libel against Mr and Mrs Langtry and Mrs Cornwallis West. The libel in the first ease consisted in publishing a' report that a divorce was pending between Mr and Mrs Langtry, and implicating a personage of very high position in the Empire, and although he was called upon and told that there waa no truth whatever in his report, he continued as long as possible and then quietly intimated that the affair had been " squared." In the second ease, the libel consisted in remarks on photos of Mrs West being in shop windows with half nude actresses &c. He must have found it pay him well, but fortunately in this case, the parties libelled were courageous enough not to let the matter drop, but to have the matters brought to the test of the law, and Mr Adolphus Bomnberg, ! who professed that his paper was pubI lished with a view of protecting &c. the I morals of the people, will have to give up I that interesting occupation for the next 118 months. Good will, however, come of the matter, for it appears at present that if anyone has a photograph taken, the photographs become the property of the party, but the negative remains the property of the photographer, and even if one negative be bought he has the right to make another and use it as he thinks proper. The question is to be enquired into by Parliament, when it is to be hoped that the privileges of the photographer! will be somewhat curtailed. ! Of all the princes of our Imperial Family, Prince Leopold is the one who ia following the path of his father, Albert the Good. Scientific and educational matters appear to be his taste, and so naturally he was invited to open the Firth College, at .Sheffield, last Monday week, and he met with a warm and very hearty welcome. Firth College has been built at a cost of about £20,000 by Mr Mark Firth, of Sheffield, who as also given £'5000 towards the Endowment Fund, whichit is hoped will soon reach the amoaut required—viz., £25,000. The object of the College is to extend University, Edm- ' cation amongst the people. For this purpose lecturers are sent down from Oxford aud Cambridge, who give lectures and hold classes, and a yearly examination takes place- those who pass these examination are enabled to take degrees. It is considered tbat three years' attendance is equal to a year at headquarters, and so University degrees can be attended by people without neglecting their ordinary business. In fact, it in a case of Mahomet going to the mountain: if people cannot go to Cambridge, the latter will come to them. Sheffield, Nottingham, and Bristol have taken to the matter very earnestly, and at present the scheme works well, and prospects look bright. Maybe* you Thames people will take it some day, build a fine hall, endow scholarships, and send to Oxford and Cambridge for lecturers and Professors. Beware of the introduction of School Boards. It is a case of philanthropy run wild. Grand buildings are erected, the best salaries given to teachers, everything done at a lavish rate in order to teach the lowest classes, not the rudiments, but the higher standards of education. That every child should bo taught the three B's is quite right and correct, and if a child's parents cannot pay, the nation should; but the scheme lias gone far beyond this, the children arc taught better, and higher subjects than the children of the middle class, who bare yet to pay rates to enable this to be done, and as the School Boards aro dealiug with other people's money they cau bring the best ability into

market, and thus the lowest class in years to come will be better educated than the middle clashes. Is this right or reasonable ? Where are our shoeblacks, chimneysweeps, scavengers &c, to come from? Scarcely from a class who can talk earnestly about the solar system, the effect of tides, of sun spots, or who could shew you how to dissect an animal. I heard of a lady teacher the other day dissecting a rabbit to an admiringclass. Maybe it was not true. You say then the middle class should send their children to these schools. Not so. They were not intended for them, and the association socially would be decidedly against them; therefore, I say again, beware of School Boards, and the cant of people who assert that everyone must be educated—so say I, but not in this manner.

Are public libraries to be opened on Sundays? A proposition was brought before .the Court of Aldermen last week for the opening of the Guildhall Library on that day, and although defeated by a neat majority, is a sign of the times. There is no doabt that in England we are relaxing that strict observance of the Sabbath which we used to glory in. Several public libraries and museums in some of our large towns are opened regularly, and the impulse is extending. The opponents of the measure argue that reading is an amusement, and that if you allow the amusement of one, you ought in fairness to allow it to another; but this other may not care for reading, but doats on dancing, or horse racing, and so the thin end of the wedge being inserted may lead us to be as bad as the continental nations, and so what is even innocent in itself should not be allowed for fear of ulterior consequences. It is a very interesting subject, and is bound to make aome stir amongst us during the next year or two. We are preparing for the election contest thoroughly; our feelings are getting wound up to proper party pitch, for we scarcely know what a day may bring forth. The Marquis of Salisbury and Sir Stafford Nortbcote for the Government, Bir William Harcourt, the Marqnis of Hartington, and Mr John Bright, together with smaller stars on each side, Bare lupplied us with a great amount of political reading during the last month, and as the contest, when it comes, is bound to be close, the excitement will be Tery great. No doubt the speeches made by the abore named gentlemen are Tery fine and telling, but half-a-dozen columns a dsy, and then the criticisms thereon are just a "leetle bit too much," but somebody must read them or the papers would ■eareely giro them ia extenso as they hare been doing. '