18 JANUARY 1851, Page 1

Manchester, which gave the first great practical impulse to the

Free-trade movement begun in 1839, is now taking a vigorous lead in the Education movement. The Public School Association, re- cently enlarged from a local to a " National" body, had its rise in Manchester, still its great stronghold. The new movement for obtaining a local bill, to establish public schools in Manchester, is another proof of growing opinion in that district, since it includes former opponents of the larger enterprise. There are some points of suspicion in the new scheme, of a sectarian tendency, which ought to be well watched; but it has the support of Mr. Joseph Kay, the educational traveller, whose active participation is in itself an important fact. The establishment of the public eireu- lati-ag library for the working classes, promoted by Mr. Potter, the Mayor, is in itself another important event,-characteristic of the local spirit. The prompt collection of 6300/. towards the 75001. required, is in the princely style of the cotton metropolis. We have heard it surmised that the project is a stroke of political com- petition, to court popularity ; but if political competition takes forms like this, it becomes such a generous and substantial tribute to the claims and wants of the people, that it is by its nature raised above invidious aspersion.