12 Original Articles. [Jan., 



very wrong, and you will have no redress until we have a new 

 Ministry." 



We do not mean to seek notoriety, nor to curry favour with any 

 " party," by an attack upon the existing Government ; neither is it 

 our intention to denounce that Department of it which has so com- 

 pletely belied the great principles of the Liberal party. The former 

 would be to us a distasteful proceeding, and the latter, which has often 

 been eifected with scathing sarcasm, would simply be injurious, and of 

 no avail towards securing the end we desire — namely, justice. 



Instead of reaping a reward for the freedom with which we have 

 commented upon the shortcomings of one section of the State, we must 

 even be prepared to incur a considerable share of ill-will, and to lose 

 some friendships. But, however we may have to deplore the one, or to 

 miss the other, we shall be well satisfied to abide by the consequences, 

 if the mischief which has been done be but speedily repaired. The 

 plea of " economy," in justification of the course that has been 

 adopted, is a wretched one ; and we express and endorse the opinion 

 of one of the leading financial reformers of the day, in stating that the 

 very last item of the national expenditure which the people of this 

 country would desire to see curtailed, is the unimportant one which 

 provides for the intellectual improvement of the masses.* 



As it is, however, not safe to be too sanguine, and to expect that 

 the State will voluntarily retrace its steps, we must, as an alternative, 

 address a few words of counsel to the Science teachers of the country. 

 Their strength, and perhaps their only hope of redress, lies in con- 

 cert and agitation, those two talismans which have so often wrought 

 wonders upon obdurate rulers, and it has frequently been a matter of 

 surprise to us that thev have sat still, and looked on patiently, whilst 

 acts of injustice have been committed, without making any attempt to 

 form themselves into a protective Association. The rapid modes of 

 intercommunication which now exist would render such a scheme easy 

 of accomplishment, and the delegates from various districts in the 

 United Kingdom could easily hold an annual Conference, which might 

 not only consider the best means of guarding the interests of the 

 teachers, but of promoting the work of Science instruction. 



If the more prominent and influential teachers choose to bestir 

 themselves, and to prevent the body from remaining any longer a 

 bundle of loose fagots without bond or tie, they will no doubt find 

 many who are willing and ready to give them material and moral sup- 

 port (should this be requisite), and gentlemen of influence in Parlia- 

 ment willing to represent their interests. 



But, to be effective, such a movement should not be long delayed. 

 A dissolution of Parliament cannot be far distant, and besides the 

 value, at such a juncture, of an associated body prepared to act as a 

 whole, it would no doubt be found that many of its individual mem- 



H 

 * In the year 1861-2, when this scheme of Science Instruction may be said to 

 have been in active operation, the total amount of money expended on ' Education, 

 Science, and Art,' was 1,359,9962., of which ' Science and Art' received 111,484/., 

 and of this latter sum, the amount devoted to Science and Art tuition (salaries and 

 payments in aid), was 17,500/. ! and for rewards to students 2,750/. 



