SCOTLAND.
The friends of the "Original Ragged School" held a meeting on Mon- day, at Edinburgh, to obtain the recall of the Treasury minute, reducing the grants to Ragged Schools. Mr. Black, M.P., the Lord Provost, Mr. Dunlop, M.P., Mr. Muir, M.P., the Reverend Norman .M`Leod, D.D., and Dr. Guthrie attended. Resolutions condemnatory of the Privy Council Minute as unfair in its distributive operation, and appealing for funds, -were passed. The speeches were vigorous ; that of Dr. Guthrie charac- teristically eloquent : after some indignant remarks, he said— "If you do not help us, we must either sink into the tide, and by accu- mulating debt ruin the whole concern, or we must east seventy children overboard. Now, who es to select the seventy victims ? We cannot get into debt. I'll nevenag,ree to that. I'll never work with money that is not my own ; lie the sin and guilt where they may, I'll be no party to going into debt. We must, unless you come out, turn out seventy children, and cast them overboard. It'll be a black day for Edinburgh when these children are turned out into the streets, cast out to go and beg their bread of you ; to hold
out their hands for a piece of tread, to leave the happy school ; and their happy home, and to lie like houseless dogs in stairfoots, and to go to ruin ! i
That s the question now ; and that question must be settled soon, and can only be settled by you. That day I hope will never come; it will be a dark day for our city if it do. Fancy seventy of these children walk- ing weeping out of our school, not, like our first parents as they went out of Eden, weeping for their sins ; they have done no sin ; they have been more sinned against than sinning ; that is the truth. They are suffer- ing innocents, but out they must go, and when they go out let them muffle that drum and heat the funeral march of their good fortunes and of their highest hopes. And then let Mr. Smith (the governor of the prison) open his prison wards. The prison is well-nigh empty ; it will be filled by and bye. Let them cry, Room in the prison. God cries, Room in Heaven for the guilty;' here they cry Room in the prison for the innocent.' I say, it will be a black day when that is done ; and it is clean contrary to common sense ; it is clean contrary to the best interests *four country. It is the spirit of our country to help the weak, and let the strong fight their own battle. As to the present question, I am confident the people of Edinburgh will answer my present appeal. Lwas astonished at the wonderful way in which they answered my first appeal on this subject; I shall be more astonished still if this appeal I now make is not answered."
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