'11 y< >- o _ ?3 a ^ 2 '-:£- '-J £^<\ NATIONAL EDUCATION. VOL. I. LONDON PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, Dorset Street, Fleet Street <50i^«\ NATIONAL EDUCATION; ITS PRESENT STATE AND PROSPECTS. FREDERIC HILL. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, LUDGATE-STREET. 1836. ^ ADVERTISEMENT. ^ In sending forth this work to the public, it is neces- < sary to give some explanation respecting the inconi- ~ pleteness which will be found in one or two portions. Nearly the whole of what now appears was already ^ written when the Author received his present appoint- — ment, that of Inspector of Prisons for Scotland. The "=" duties which thus devolved upon him have so com- pletely engrossed his attention as to put it out of his S power at present to complete the work according to ^ the original plan ; and under these circumstances he thinks it better to publish the book in its present state than to delay it any longer with a view to greater completeness. It was intended that one part of the work should give a general view of the existing provisions for edu- cation in England ; and in this portion the Author is not aware of any important deficiency, except on the VI ADVERTISEMENT. subject of Mechanics' Institutions. A chapter on this interesting subject had been promised to the Author by his revered friend, the founder of these institutions ; but the constant demands on the attention of that benevolent individual have delayed for a time the per- formance of his promise. The Author trusts, how- ever, that if his work should reach a second edition, it will be enriched by the chapter in question ; and in the mean time he has put into the Appendix much valuable matter relating to Mechanics' Institutions received in reply to queries which he had distributed. TottenJuim, March 1836. CONTENTS. VOL. I. Pages Advertisement .... v Introduction . . . . vii Present State of Education in England AND Wales . . . 1 — 283 Principal sources of information, 1. — Exaggerat- ed statements, 3. — Estimated number of children attending Sunday schools, 7. — Returns in obedi- ence to the late parliamentary order not trustworthy, 11. — Reports of the Charity Commissioiiers, Poor Law Commissioners, and Factory Commissioners, 12. — Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Education, 12. — Indirect educa- tion, 14. — Means at present existing for affording education, 16 Kind of education given, 17. — Its meagerness, 18. Schools of Industry . . . 19 — 56 Gower's Walk, 20. — Asylum at Hackney Wick for the prevention of juvenile vagrancy, 24. — Re- fuge for the Destitute, 30. — Guernsey hospitals, 36. — Warwick County Asylum, 44. — Mr. William Allen's school at Lindfield, Sussex, 46. — Military Asylum, Chelsea, 50. — National schools, 52. VllI CONTENTS. Pages Day Schools conducted on the plans of Bell and Lancaster . . . 56 — 100 Principle of establishment, 59. — Differences in religion, 61. — Number of children, 65. — Relative proportion of the sexes, 66. — Attendance at school, 66. — Age at which children usually enter, 67. — Age at leaving, 67. — Time of remaining, 67. — Usual state of the children in morals and knowledge at their entrance, 68. — Nature and extent of the education which is professedly given, 68. — School hours, 69. — Plans of teaching, 69. — Acquirements really made, 72. — Government and discipline, 72. Habits of the children and state of morals among them, 76 Cost of their education, 76. — Funds, how raised, 76. — Effects produced, 76. — JModel schools and training establishment, 81 — 100. — Borough Road school, 82. — National school, West- minster, 96. Sunday Schools . . . 100—129 Number of children 101. — Attendance, 101. — Average length of a Sunday school education, 102. School hours, 102. — Nature and extent of the education professedly given, 102. — Means of in- struction and plans of teaching, 102. — Libraries, 103. — Acquirements really made, 104. — Value of the power of reading, 104 Cost of Sunday school education, 112. — Effects produced, 113 — 129. — Birmingham, 113. — Manchester, 121. — Stockport, 122. Factory Schools . . . 129—144 Schools in New England, 131. — Country fac- tories, 134. — Mr. Ashton's factory at Hyde, 135. — Mills belonging to Messrs Birley and Kirk, Messrs. Strutt, Mr. Ashton, and Messrs. Lichfield, 136.— Mr. Ashworth's factory near Bolton, 137. — Bur- ley Mills, 138.— Stroud, 139.— Mr. Ashton's fac- tory, 140. CONTENTS. IX Pages Schools for Paupers . . . 144 — 169 Birmingham Asylum, 145. — Liverpool, 147. — Bad state of many pauper schools, 147. — St. Se- pulchre's, 148. — Pauper schools examined by Mr. Villiers, 149 — St. Clement's Danes, 150.— Good effects produced by the workhouse school of St. George's, Southwark, 151. — Lambeth, 153. — . Gravesend, 153. Infant Schools .... 169—196 }C First introduced by Mr. Robert Owen, 169.— Estimated number of infant schools at the present time, 169. — Nature and extent of the education given 170. — Plans of teaching, 170. — Cost of in- fant education, 173.— Effects produced, 173—190 Infant thieves, 174.- — Consequences of locking children up at home, 177. — Mr, Ashworth's infant school, 180. — Evidence relating to the effects of infant schools : — Mr. Dunn, 181. — Mr.^Wilson, 183.— Mr. Trimmer, 184.— The Bishop of London, 185. — The vestry clerk of St. Botolph, Bishops- gate, 185.— Mr. Chadwick, 187.— Mr. Wilder- spin, 188. — Spitalfields infant school, 190. Adult Schools .... 197—202 Bristol Society for teaching the adult poor, 197. — Great number of adult schools at Bristol, 197. Bristol the first place in England at which an adult school was established, 197 Exertions of Mr. William Smith, 198. — Great number of adults still uneducated at Bristol, 199. — Dr. Johnstone's adult school at Edgbaslon near Birmimgham, 199. Education of the Middle Classes . 202—224 Y Difficulty of obtaining trjs' worthy information, 202. — Proprietary schools, 203. — Defective state of the education of the middle classes, 204. — Diffi- X CONTENTS. Pages culty of applying tests, 205. — Slow progress of education, 206. — Present narrow sphere of educa- tion, 207. — Readiness and avidity with which knowledge is received when it has a direct bearing on our interest and welfare, 210. — Pleasant sub- jects often eschewed as such, 211. — The pupil's enjoyment in an exercise a strong presumptive proof in its favour, 211. — Much room for improve- ment in the mode of teaching, and still more in the subjects to be taught, 212.— Who in fault? 213. — Mental education of females among the middle clas- ses, 214. — Infant schools, 219. — Literary and scientific institutions, 222. v/Education of the Wealthy Classes . 224—236 Objects to be attained, 224. — The public schools, 226. — The cramming system, 229. — Oxford and Cambridge, 230. General View of the PresenrState of Edu- cation in England . . 237 — 279 Want of trustworthy information, 237. — North- ern part of England highest in education ; next, the manufacturing and commercial district; and last, the southern and midland agricultural district, 23S.— Northern dhtrict, 238—246 — Letter from Mr. Grey, a magistrate for the county of Northum- berland, 239. — Answers received by the Poor Law Commissioners : — Northumberland, 243 — Cumber- land, 244. — Westmoreland, 244. — Durham, 244. — *' Causes of the superior condition of the labourers of the North," 245. — Maimfacturiin^ and commer- cial district, 247 — 265; — State of education in them improved, though still very defective, 247. — Education in a comparatively good state at Bir- mingham, Stockport, and Stroud ; and in a bad state, comparatively and absolutely, at London, Man- CONTENTS. XI Pages Chester, Oldham, Wolverhampton, Durham, Staf- ford, and Bristol, 248. — Cotton factories, 249. — London, 251. — Manchester, 254. — Wolverhamp- ton and its neighbourhood, 258. — Durham, 261 Redruth, 261. — Stafford, 262.— Oldham, 262.— Bristol, 262. — Leeds, 262. — Returns of commit- ments and convictions a very imperfect index of the amount of crime, 263. — Southern and midland agricultural district, 265 — 279 ; — Those concerned in the incendiary fires for the most part very igno- rant, 265. — Mr. Altham's evidence, 267. — Essex, 268.— Kent, 269. — Berkshire, 269. — Hereford- shire, 271. — Devonshire, 271. — Pershore, 271. — Newport Pagnell and its neighbourhood, 272. — Dunstable, 274. — Shaftesbury, 275. — Dover, 275.— Grantham, 275.— Brentford, 275.— Choles- bury, 276. Wales .... 279—283 Education believed to be in a low state, 279. — Neath, Glamorganshire, 279. — Small amount of crime not a certain indication of a good moral state, 281. — Bastardy very common in Wales, 282. — England excels in the higher virtues, 283. Scotland .... 284—319 Rural population better educated than in Eng- land, 284. — Public provision for education, 284. — Outstripped by population, 285. — Mr. Colquhoun's statements, 286.— Glasgow, 286. — Paisley, 286. — Unfavourable report of Factory Commissioners, 287. — Legal provision does not vary with extent of parish, 288. — Professor Pillans's evidence, 289. — Expenses falling on tlie parent, 290. — The middle classes do not generally avail themselves of the public provision for education, 290. — Extent of reading in Scotlami, 290. State of public morals in Scotland compared with VOL. I. a 6 Xll CONTENTS. Pages their state in England, 291—297 ;— Crime, 291.— Wealth and pauperism, 296. — Drunkenness, 297. Political tumults, &c. 297. Factory schools, 298 — 305 ; — New Lanark, 298.— Russel Mill near Cupar, 300.— Stanley Mills near Perth, 302. State of education, morals, and comforts atsundry places, 306 — 319 ; — Ledgerwood, Berwickshire, 306. — Traquair, Peeblesshire, 308. — Kinnettles, Forfarshire, 311. — Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, 313. — Melrose,314. — Stobo, Peeblesshire, 316. — John- stone, Dumfriesshire, 317. Ireland .... 320—334 Small amount of reading, 320. — Poverty and misery, 323. — Crime, tumult, &:c. 330. — Desire for education, 333. — Ignorance in England partly the cause of the miseries of Ireland, 334. INTRODUCTION. The enlightened friends of humanity may at length congratulate themselves on the arrival of the time when the subject of education has acquired that strong interest in the public mind which will ensure a full inquiry into its merits, and consequently a speedy adoption of measures for bringing into full operation its mighty powers for good. The sneers of the ignorant, the supercilious, and the time-serving, and the fierce opposition of the interested, are now alike unavailing to prevent a rapid onward course in the path of improvement : nor will our progress be henceforth much deterred by the nervous fears of the timid and feeble-minded, who are at length finding out that, like other cowards, they have mistaken the object of their alarm ; and that the imagined mon- ster, on which they had not dared steadily to fix their eyes, is in fact a most friendly and benign power ; — in a word, that popular knowledge, instead of being really a source of danger and insecurity, is the best guarantee for public tranquillity and the rights of pro- perty. General attention having been thus strongly drawn to education, it is important that the public should at once be put in possession of such facts relating thereto as can be readily collected and arranged, in order that it may arrive at a just estimate of the XIV INTRODUCTION. nature, tenor, and extent of the efforts made in be- half of education in this country and elsewhere, and of the effects actually produced. Such a statement will assist, it may be hoped, in extending and strengthening the interest already so widely spread ; and it will also be highly useful in directing public inquiry into the right channels, and in furnishing materials for estimating the benefits to be anticipated from a more extended education, — ex- tended not only in the number of recipients, but also in the instruction afforded, and in the moral and phy- sical training by which habits are created, and the constitution both of the mind and body in a gr^t measure determined. Such is the object of the present work, imperfectly as that object is attained. The great difficulty of obtaining trustworthy information on the state either of education or of public morals and happiness, in the absence of any organized system of collecting and registering facts, can be appreciated only by those who have earnestly set to work in the attempt. Writers, indeed, are to be found, who, to judge by the comprehensiveness and precision of their state- ments, must have succeeded in obtaining information at once vast in extent and astonishing in accuracy. We doubt not our readers, in common with ourselves, have often been amused to see tables laid down the utmost gravity, and without the slightest hint of a doubt as to their correctness, showing to a fraction the exact ratio of educated to uneducated persons in a dozen different countries; while all the time one knows full well how impossible it is to obtain even a mode- rately correct idea of the state of education in one's INTRODUCTION. XV own parish. In fact, by what means short of personal inquiry can one learn how many of one's neighbours have, even in their own apprehension, mastered the very elements of ordinary school instruction, and who account themselves able to read and write? Fielding talks of a " book which certain droll authors are fa- cetiously pleased to call the History of England ;' and the same love of the humorous has, we suppose, in- duced writers of the present day to present us with Statistical Tables of Educatioyi and Crime. We divide our work into two parts, of which the first only now makes its appearance. In the present part, we begin by describing the meatis now exist- ing for supplying school education to the poorer and most numerous classes of the English people ; showing, at the same time, in what that education chiefly con- sists. Here we are led, of course, to remark on the schools conducted according to the plans of Bell and Lancaster, as also on Sunday schools : we likewise give such information as we have had opportunities of collecting (principally by personal examination) re- garding manual-labour schools, or schools of industry. We give some account also of factory schools, which are of peculiar value in estimating the results of edu- cation, inasmuch as the continuance of the pupil's connexion with the place of his early training gives his instructors opportunity, rarely found elsewhere, for watching the course of his conduct, and observing how far the discipline of the boy modifies the charac- ter of the man. We give a short section, also, to schools for pauper children, another to infant schools, and a third to adult schools. XVI INTRODUCTION. The next portion of our volume consists of a brief notice of the education of the middle and of the wealthy classes ; and we conclude the division of our work, of which the foregoing forms part, with a general view of the present state of education in the country at large, — dividing the country, as well as we can, according to an educational standard. Having thus examined at some length the means for affording education to the working and poorer classes of England and Wales, and of the extent to which education has in fact been carried among them, and having also taken a cursory view of the state of education among the middle and wealthy classes, we subjoin a brief notice of the state of education in Scot- land and in Ireland. We then proceed to give some account of what has been effected in two countries in which education has, in a peculiar degree, been made a subject of national provision, — America and Prussia; and, as a contrast, we notice the state of ignorance and the amount of crime in Spain, — a country in which education has been almost totally neglected. The volume closes with a short chapter pointing out some of the conclusions which appear to follow from the facts brought forward, and into the consideration of which we propose to enter more fully in the second part of our work. This we propose to commence with a sketch of the history of education and the progress of knowledge in this country, to be followed by an examination of some of the results of the increase of knowledge, and some of the conse- quences of the ignorance which still continues. This examination will be founded principally on matter incidentally introduced in the preceding portions of INTRODUCTION. XVII our work, but which in its new place will be classed under different heads, — such as crime, pauperism, drunkenness, superstition, industry, duration of life, &c. In conclusion, we shall submit, for the consider- ation of our readers, a sketch of a plan of national education, with an estimate of the cost of carrying it into operation. NATIONAL EDUCATION. PRESENT STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES. In no department have English statistics been neg- lected more than in that of education. The conse- quence is, that the most vague and contradictory ideas are abroad respecting its actual condition. By some it is maintained that the means of education are now within every one's reach, and that, in point of fact, very few are growing up without acquiring at least the ru- diments of knowledge ; while others declare that the existing provision for education is wretchedly insuffi- cient, and that thousands and tens of thousands are advancing to the age of manhood in hopeless and un- avoidable ignorance. After a laborious search through the unarranged and unconnected materials at present existing, and after drawing from many private sources of informa- tion, we are still unable to come to any general con- clusion on the accuracy of which we can rely. On two points, however, we entertain no doubt : firstly, that very much has been done for popular education ; and, secondly, that a great deal remains to be effected, both as regards the diffusion of education and the nature of the education given. The principal sources of information respecting the present state of educa- tion in this country are, — 1. The Reports of the British and Foreign School VOL. I. B 1 STATE OF EDUCATION Society, of the National Society, and of the Sunday School Union ; 2. The Reports of the Commissioners for Inquiring into the Application of Money left for Charitable Pur- poses ; 3. The Reports of the Poor Law and Factory Com- missioners ; and, 4. The Evidence already received by the Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to in- quire into the Present State of the Education of the People in England and Wales. The matter contained in the reports of the societies enumerated, when of a general kind, is necessarily drawn up from data on which but little dependance can be placed. Most of their schools are under the management of local committees, which are in no way responsible to the London committees, with which, indeed, their connexion is often of the slenderest kind. It is therefore impossible for the latter either to ob- tain returns from all these schools, or to test the ac- curacy of such returns if they be sent. Hence we need not be surprised that Mr. Dunn, the very intelli- gent Secretary of the British and Foreign School Society, should declare, as he does in his evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons, that he has no means of knowing how many schools there are in England and Wales which adopt the British system. Upon being asked whether he could point out any way in which the Committee could acquire a definite conception of the extent of education in Eng- land and Wales at present, Mr. Dunn gave the follow- ing answer : — " I should distrust almost any method short of IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 3 a personal investigation of the schools. I think there is no subject on which there has been more mystifi- cation, and respecting which the country has been so completely kept in ignorance, as on the extent of edu- cation. All the returns that I have yet seen appear in some instances to have confounded Sunday schools with day schools, and infant schools with schools for children of a higher class. The number of children on the books has also been confounded with the num- ber in actual attendance; and in some instances schools have been returned as places of instruction where the children are only taught plaiting or lace- work, or some other work of industry." Agreeing with Mr. Dunn in the incorrectness of the conclusions at present formed, and on the inadequacy of all means short of a personal examination for securing a trustworthy report on the state of education, we cannot but look with great scepticism on the announce- ment in the last Report of the National Society, that there are half a million of children in the society's schools ; and again, that there are another half million in course of education under clergymen not in imme- diate connexion with their society. We fear the com- mittee are imposing a heavy task on their friends, when they " earnestly entreat the clergy and other managers of schools to furnish them with such par- ticulars as may serve to verify the conclusions now made from their former reports." In like manner, we place but little reliance on the calculations of the Committee of the Sunday School Union ; who, according to their own estimate, have nearly a million of children in their schools in England and Wales. It is natural for all parties to wish to see a good array of figures in the statement of the num- B 2 4 STATE OF EDUCATION her of children in their schools ; and this desire would be quite sufficient greatly to modify the returns, without any one entertaining the slightest intention of making a false report ; so much are we all influenced in our interpretation of facts by our wish to arrive at certain conclusions. We make these remarks with anything but a wish to detract from the merits of those who exert them- selves in behalf of schools for the poor. Their merit is of a high order; especially is it so with those who, week after week, and year after year, give up to the laborious work of instructing others part of the only day in which they can hope for relaxation. Most richly do these truly benevolent men deserve honour of their countrj^, as well for the purity of their inten- tions, as for the great benefits they have conferred on society at large. It is, we say, with no unfriendl}- design that we question the accuracy of the published reports issued as to the numbers of children educated; we merely wish to show, that if upon reports like these have been founded high opinions of the spread of education in this country, such opinions, even as regards the mere number educated, without reference to the instruction given, are probably incorrect, and certainly unauthorised, seeing that they depend on statements which are not, and (from the mode in which they are made) cannot be trustworthy. We will examine these reports a little in detail ; and in order to do so, let us first estimate as nearly as we can the total number of children in this country who are receiving education of any kind, and from what- ever source. The average time during which a boy remains at school is (so far as we can learn from the very insufficient evidence which exists on the subject) IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 5 in a Sunday school between three and four years, and in a day school about a year and a lialf. Mr. Althans, the Secretary of the East London Auxiliary Sundaj- School Union, gives it as his opinion before the pre- sent Education Committee of the House of Commons, that two years is about the average time a child re- mains in any one Sunday school : but, as he remarks, a child will, owing to change of residence and other causes, often go to two or three schools in the course of his education. At a large Sunday school in Bir- mingham, (where change of residence is not likely to operate to the same extent as in London,) it has been observed that the children stay generally about three years ; but as the instruction in this school, instead of being confined to reading merely, (as is generally the case,) is extended to writing and arithmetic, it is pro- bable that children remain longer there than in Sun- day schools in general. Everything considered, we think we cannot be under-estimating the average length of a Sunday school education if we put it at four years. We will assume, then, that this is the true average ; and we also assume that the general period of life when a child is at a Sunday school is from the age of eight to twelve years. Owing to the kindness of an eminent actuary (Mr. Finlaison), we have before us a table showing the probable number of children in England and Wales at each year of age from one to twenty. We extract as follows (omitting small numbers) : — Between 8 ai.d 9 — 355,000 9 10 — 345,000 10 11 — 328,000 11 12 — 322,000 Total 8 12—1,350,000 b STATE OF EDUCATION Supposing, then, that every child in the country, rich or poor, attended a Sunday school for a space of four years, — namely, from the age of eight to that of twelve, — it is manifest that the above total would be the maximum number of scholars for the whole country. As, however, there are, in the first place, a great number of children who do not go to school at all, and, in the second place, a great number whose parents would not send their children to a Sunday school, this estimate must be considerably reduced. We shall not here attempt to determine how many ought to be struck off as belonging to the first class, and can make but a rough estimate of the number belonging to the second. Having no sufficient data whereon to found a calculation, we will assume that the class of those who are not in the habit of sending their sons and daughters to Sunday schools is identi- cal with the class of voters under the Reform Act; though we are convinced that in so placing the line of separation we are putting it somewhat too high. It appears by a Parliamentary Report (the Report of the Committee for Inquiring into the Expenses of Elec- tions), that the number of persons living in houses assessed at a rent of at least 1(W. a-year, and who, having paid up their taxes, &c. were registered in 1834 as qualified to vote for members of parliament, was about 2U0,000. This number does not include county voters, or ten-pound householders living in villages and towns which do not send members to parliament ; it shows merely the number of voters qualified under the Reform Act, and dwelling in Eng- lish or Welsh cities and boroughs which are repre- IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 7 sented in parliament. These cities and boroughs contain altogether a population of about 5,000,000, or about one-third part of the entire population of Eng- land and Wales. It would not, however, be safe to assume that the class of persons, of which the voters in the cities and boroughs form a part, is three times as numerous in the whole country as it is in the cities and boroughs ; seeing that in proportion to their numbers the population of towns is probably more wealthy than that of rural districts. We shall not however, probably, be estimating the total number of persons in this class too highly if we put it at 500,000; including widows and spinsters who occupy houses of the specified value, but who are not counted in the parliamentary returns. These 500,000 householders, with their families, must together form a population of about 2,200,000, or about one-seventh part of the entire population of England and Wales. A corresponding fraction must of course be struck off from the number of children who might otherwise be in Sunday schools ; and thus the total of such children falls from 1,350,000 to about 1,150,000. It appears then, that without deducting for the crowds of children who are growing up without re- ceiving education, the total number of children in England and Wales who, under present circumstances, are at any one period going to Sunday schools, cannot be more than about 1,150,000. Let us now inquire how these 1,150,000 are to be disposed of among the several School societies. In the first place, the Sunday School Union claims 900,000 ! Then the National Society claims a million ! — namely, 8 STATE OF EDUCATION 300,000 for themselves, and 500,000 for clergymen of the Established Church, not in union with their so- ciety." After each society has in this way taken as its portion nearly the whole number in existence, we are at a loss what number of children to allot to those schools which do not come within the pale of either society, (for each society is fenced with doctrinal barriers,) f and to schools also whose supporters, while * The words of tlie Report are, " Tliey (the committee) have no hesitation in stating that there are upwards of a million children re- ceiving education under the immediate superintendence of the clergy in England and Wales; about one-half of which number are con- tained in the schools of the National Society." Report for 1834, p. 15. In speaking of the children who are educated by clergymen not in connexion with the National Society, it is probably intended to in- clude children of the middle and higher classes. IVIaking, however, every allowance for these, the number claimed as educated gratui- tously by the National Society and its branches must still be equal nearly to the total number of children in all the chanty schools in the country. The difficulty of so large a fraction of the chiUhen being claimed, as well by the National Society as by the Sunday School Union, cannot be explained by saying that the National Society provides week-day instruction only, and that the same children may attend their schools on the week-day, and the schools of the Union on Sunday. The children belonging to the National schools (as these schools are erroneously called) are required to come to school on Sunday, in order that their attendance at church may be secured. t 'i he subjoined is extracted from the regulations of the Sunday School Union, given in the report for last year (1834) : — " The following rc&olution was adopted by the committee, 17th .Tune 1834 : That the auxiliary and country schools be recom- mended to admit into connexion with them such schools only whose conductors are of an orderly character, and who hohl the doctrines of tlie Deity and atonement of .fesus Christ, the divine influence of the Holy Spirit, and that ' all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.'" IN ENGLAND AND WALES. » they agree for the most part with the leaders of the Sunday School Union in articles of faith, refuse never- theless to ally themselves with any who make a dif- ference in religious opinion a ground for exclusion from the benefits of education. At Stockport, in Cheshire, there is a noble school of this latter kind, containing no fewer \.\\Q.n four thousand children. No child is stopped at the door of that school by doctrinal tests of any kind : the school is open to all, and all mingle in harmony within its walls. Again, there are many schools under the partial or entire management of Quakers and Unitarians ; and we do not suppose there is a single instance of a school supported by either of these sects having any connexion with the Sunday School Union: indeed, the Unitarians would be excluded from such alliance by the religious test already cited. The Roman Catholics, too, have their Sunday schools, (though we do not know to what extent,) and we may presume that these form no part of the Sunday School Union. There is thus no doubt that a considerable I'eduction must be made in the estimated total number of children In Sunday schools before we obtain the right number to be divided between the National Society and the Sunday School Union. Instead of each society really counting nearly a million of children in its ranks, we think it probable that the number educated by the two societies together falls short of 700,000. If, however, each society, or rather the local committees in con- nexion with each society, give useful instruction to 350,000 children, or any such number, they are ef- fecting a great deal, and deserve the sincere acknow- B 5 10 STATE OF EDUCATION ledgments of their country. No exaggeration in the statement of the extent of their labours can in any way cancel the debt of obligation. How far the in- struction given is of a useful kind, is of course yet to be determined. We ourselves are of opinion, that al- though it is exceedingly meagre, and often given with little regard to the improvement of the reasoning powers, or the formation of habits of cheerful in- dustry, yet, considering how (under present circum- stances) the children would probably be employed if they did not attend these schools, a great balance of advantage is obtained. From what has been said, we think it must appear evident that the only existing reports that can be con- fided in are those of a particular and local nature ; and in most of these even there must be many sources of error. But if there be so much difficulty in ob- taining an accurate statement of the number of children receiving education, what hope is there of obtaining (by the present means) any correct account of the kind of education given, the discipline by which it is enforced, the acquirements really made, and the effect produced on the habits of the children, with a review of the advantages acquired in after life ? Such information on a large scale can only be ob- tained by men accustomed to collect, weigh, and re- port evidence; and even these must act under a strong feeling of responsibility for the accuracy of their state- ment. Without the establishment of some plan se- curing both these advantages, our knowledge of the real state of education in this country, and of the effects it has produced, must remain, as at present, IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 11 vague and uncertain to a most unfortunate and per- nicious extent. Little, we fear, will be accomplished by means of the (jueries issued from the Home Office, in the autumn of 1833, in accordance with a motion made by the Earl of Kerry in the House of Commons. The overseers of parishes to whom these queries are addressed, are, we fear, quite as likely to fail in giving a correct account of the numbers of schools and of pupils in their re- spective districts, as in making an accurate return of the number of houses rated at 10/. a year.* As to the more important inquiry into the nature and extent of the education given, that is not even attempted, from the utter hopelessness, we presume, of any valuable or trustworthy information being obtained. It is, in fact, unreasonable to call upon men who (especially in the rural districts) have had but small advantages of education, and who are forced into office contrary to their inclination, and without any remuneration, to perform duties such as those we have spoken of. Limited, therefore, as are the objects of the Government inquiry, there is reason to fear that the information furnished will be at once very defec- tive, and unworthy of trust.t * Poor Law Report, Appendix A, page 50. ■f This was written several months ago. The admirable and inter- esting Report which has just appeared of a Committee of the Statis- tical Society of Manchester, giving the result of a careful personal examination into the state of education in that town, fully confirms our anticipations of the erroneous character of the official returns, so far as INIanchester is concerned ; and there is no reason to suppose that the returns from other places are more accurate. The follow- ing is extracted from the Report of the Statistical Society : — 12 STATE OF EDUCATION To the Report of the Commissioners for Inquiring concerning Charities, the cause of popular education is indebted for much valuable information respecting the amount of funds which have been left for its support, and are still available for its purposes. In other respects, however, the Report does not contain much that is important. Although many valuable and striking facts relating to the state of education are to be found in the Re- ports of the Poor Law and Factory Commissions, (es- pecially in the former,) yet the objects of these com- missions being but indirectly connected with educa- tion, the information furnished on this subject is necessarily somewhat limited and desultory. The inquiry before the Education Committee of ' ' That some more accurate account was required of the schools and number of scholars in the borough than any already existing, will be made evident by comparing the returns to Government under Lord Kerry's motion, previously referred to, with those which have been drawn up from tlie more careful investigations of your com- mittee. They have been able to obtain copies of the returns made to Government from only three of the nine townships of the borough, vjz. ]\Ianchestcr, Chorlton-on-lMedlock, and llulme. " In the township of Rlanchestcr alone, which contains a popula- tion of 142,000, there are entirely omitted, in these returns, one infant school, ten Sunday schools, and 176 day schools, which ex- isted at the period these returns were made, and contained 10,611 scholars. False returns were made by one individual of three Sunday schools that never existed at all, and which were stated to contain 1,590 scholars ; and double returns were made of three otiier schools, containing 375 scholars, so that the total error in these returns for the township of Manchester alone was 181 schools and 8,646 scholars. Besides this, eight dame schools were reported as infant schools. " In Chorlton-on-lVIedlock, containing a pojjulation of 20,500, IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 13 the House of Commons, which has sat during the last two sessions, is important, and much valuable evidence has been elicited. Still, all acquainted with the nature of investigations before parliamentary committees, the mode in which witnesses are selected, and the insufficiency of cross-examination when the person who gives evidence is far removed from the spot where the occurrences which he relates happened, are aware how dangerous it is to draw conclusions from the statements which usually form the bulk of a committee's report. With the exception of parliamentary returns now antiquated, we believe we have now enumerated near- ly all the important sources of information respecting the state of education ; and it must be admitted that the returns made to Government show too small a number by 40 schools and 837 scholars. One infant school (a private establish- ment) was not returned at all ; and one Sunday school, which had ceased to exist for more than a year, was returned with 222 scholars. " In Hulme, containing a population of 9,600, the returns made to Government show too small a number by 14 schools and 864 scholars ; and though there was not one infant school in the town- ship, four dame schools, with 112 scholars, were returned under tiiat title. A Sunday school with 112 scholars was also returned under that title. A Sunday school with 102 scholars was also re- turned which belongs to another township ; and another with 400 scholars was altogether omitted." We confess that, in our opinion, the little work from which the above is extracted contains more really useful information, and might more safely be taken as the basis of a general legislative en- actment, than all the huge folios which are made up of the returns sent in obedience to the order of the House of Commons ; and we do trust that no more public time will be wasted in the collection and digest of such flimsy materials. 14 STATE OF EDUCATION the knowledge to be gleaned from them is but small. Such materials, however, as we do possess, we shall endeavour to form into a connected whole, with a view of giving our readers some idea of the actual state of education in this country. Before doing this, however, it is perhaps necessary to warn our readers against a common error by which, in treating of education, one branch of the subject is totally overlooked. We allude to indirect education ; or that undesigned course of training which we all undergo, and which varies in individual cases, accord- ing to the circumstances b}'^ which the recipient is surrounded : such, for example, as the nature of the trade or profession by which he earns his livelihood, — the degree of enlightenment, civilization, wealth, and comfort at which his country may have arrived — the standard of morality which may there obtain — the nature of its political institutions, &c. In comparison with the operation of these causes on his mind, his feelings, and his physical powers, the effects of any system of mere school education will be found very moderate. If, however, these two kinds of education act in unison, their power is great indeed. In England, the state of indirect education is be- yond doubt comparatively high : indeed, unless we are to except some parts of America, we do not ima- gine that in this respect England is rivalled by any country in the world. The beautiful processes of manufacture which the English people are constantly witnessing, and in which they are actively engaged ; the admirable machinery which they are employed in constructing and directing ; the excellent system of internal economy observable in many of our large ma- IN ENGLAND AND WALES. 15 nufactories ; the ample field ever at hand for the ex- ercise of skill, and the rewards with which successful efforts are crowned, — these must all act most bene- ficially in developing the minds and in cultivating the taste of our artisans : while the high state of excel- lence to which the agriculture of the country has been carried must do much towards raising the intellectual character of the peasantry. Again, the proceedings of our courts of justice and of our public meetings, as also the reports of the debates in parliament, must all call into play the reasoning and reflective powers of the people at large ; while a considerable class of the community are daily called upon as jurors, to weigh and judge of evidence ; — as electors, to balance comparative merits ; — or, as tradesmen, manufacturers, or members of some great company, to organize and direct large bodies of men. At the same time, a strong tendency towards the formation of good habits must arise from witnessing the comparative regularity with which the laws are here enforced, the order and tranquillity which gene- rally prevail, the esteem which is usually paid to virtue, and the disgrace which, for the most part, attaches to vice. This practical education is of the highest value ; but because we are so fortunate as to command its advantages, we should not therefore neglect the be- nefits of direct education : on the contrary, the high state of the one is necessary for the full development of the beneficial powers of the other. The fruit to be gathered in after-life by attention to early edu- cation is multiplied ten-fold if there be genial warmth to ripen it. 16 STATE OF EDUCATION". We now go on to consider tlie state of" direct or formal education in England, and particularly among the labouring and poorer classes. And first, as to the means which exist for affording such education. The schools provided for the labouring and poorer classes in this country are of various kinds. Those, hoAvever, in which the greatest numbers are educated, are day schools (conducted on the plan of Dr. Bell or Mr. Lancaster) and Sunday schools. In the Sunday schools the education given is wholly gratuitous : in most of the day schools, it is so only in part; a small weekly payment, varying from one penny to three- pence, being generally required. The number of endowed schools in England and Wales is very great, and their total revenue is of vast amount : the precise sum, however, cannot be ascer- tained until the Commission for inquiring into the sub- ject has completed its labours. Still, from the mate- rials already collected, we may form a tolerably accu- rate estimate of the whole. The Commissioners have already completed their reports for more than half the counties in England and W\ales ; and these reports, containing a precise account of every separate en- dowment, have been published. It appears that the income arising from charitable bequests (chiefly for the purposes of education), in the counties of York, Cumberland, Surrey, Huntingdon, Bedford, and a number of others, containing together about one-half the population of England and Wales, amounts to no less a sum than 428,000/. per annum, giving for England and Wales a probable income of between 800,000/. and 900,000/, exclusive of the revenues of the two ureat universities. But when we consider SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. 17 in how many instances funds have been carelessly and fraudulently managed, it is safe to assume that, under an honest and intelligent direction, this income would be very greatly enlarged.* In addition to the schools on the systems of Bell and Lancaster, the Sunday schools, and the various endowed schools, we have many schools for children labouring under particular infirmities ; such, for in- stance, as those for the blind, and for the deaf and dumb. There are schools also for the reception and reform of juvenile vagrants and juvenile offenders; asylums for orphans, &c. Again^ there are about 150 inflmt schools in England and Wales ; and there are some adult schools. Lastly, there are the mecha- nics' institutions ; now numbering from 100 to 150, and containing probably about 20,000 members. KIND OF EDUCATION GIVEN. The school education of our working and poorer classes is, with few exceptions, very meagre. Even in the day schools the instruction seldom extends beyond reading, writing, and the elements of arithmetic ; and in by far the greater portion of the Sunday schools reading alone is taught.f An imperfect acquaintance * See the speech of Lord Chancellor Brougham in the House of Lords, April 16th, 1834. t A gentleman who takes an active interest in all that relates to popular education, and who has had many opportunities of collect- ing facts on tlie subject, declares that he does not believe that in more than one Sunday school out of a hundred is anything taught beyond reading. It must, however, be borne in mind that many who go to a Sunday school also attend a day school, or perhaps an evening scliool, held once or twice a week. 18 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. with the subjects mentioned, together with a certain amount of rehgious knowledge, is all that is even at- tempted to be given in our popular schools. While we zealously maintain that such an amount of direct instruction is far, very far better than no instruction at all, it must be admitted that it is little indeed compared with what it is the duty and true interest of the country to afford. Can it be wondered at that drunkenness, idleness, and crime should abound, when so little is done to excite nobler tastes, — to create a love of rational employment, and foster habits of industry? or to trace, explain, and illustrate the real opposition that exists between vicious practices and the true interests of those who indulge in them ? Is it surprising that both children and adults should con- tinue to seek for gratification in annoying and tyran- nizing over their fellow-members of the human family, or in torturing the lower animals, when so little is done to cherish the kindlier feelings ? or to point out how the happiness of every one depends on that of his neighbours and associates? Is it inexplicable that men should go on to destroy machinery, burn hayricks, and combine in attempts to break through the laws which regulate wages — laws as immutable as those of gravity — where no care is taken to instruct them (ere the prejudice of ignorance has taken root) in the principles of political science? and to show them that, while such acts are hurtful to society at large, their direct mischief recoils on the heads of the perpetrators ? Until our system of education embraces these and many other objects, it must be regarded as imperfect; and the country will have to blame itself for a great SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. 19 portion of the crime and wretchedness which still abound. On the nature and extent of an efficient sys- tem of education, however, we shall have to speak fully in another part of our work: we have at present to consider what is, rather than what oitght to he. While it is true that, in most of our popular schools, the course of instruction is confined within the narrow limits we have mentioned, we are happy to say that there are many schools in which a somewhat wider range is adopted, and that the general tendency is certainly onward. Particularly in many of the schools connected with the British and Foreign School Society has much that is good been recently introduced, as we shall presently see. One improvement, which we hope is spreading, (an improvement, in our opinion, of great importance,) consists in the mixture of manual labour (under qua- lified instructors) with the ordinary business of school education. So high indeed is our opinion of this im- provement, and so beneficial the results that we an- ticipate from its introduction, that, singular as the speculation may appear to some of our readers, we cannot but hope to see the day when, instead of being confined to a very few schools, and these with- out exception of the humbler kind, the use of produc- tive labour as a means of education will be generally adopted in schools for all classes, the highest as well as the lowest. Its introduction, we are persuaded, will, under good management, be followed in all cases by a most salutary effect, as well on the health and comfort of the scholars, as on their moral feelings and mental vigour. Among the schools of industry to which we refer, 20 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. one of the best whicli we have had an opportunity of inspecting is in Gower's Walk, Whitechapel, London. Placed in the heart of a district densely peopled with the poorer classes, the school owes but little to situa- tion for the contentment and cheerfulness observable in the scholars, whose lively appearance cannot fail to strike every visiter ; while the value of the acquire- ments they are making is amply manifested in the eagerness shown on the one hand to procui*e admis- sion to the school, and on the other to obtain the departing pupils as apprentices. When we visited the school (in July last year), there were two long lists of applicants, the one of masters waiting for children, the other of parents wishing to send their sons and daughters as scholars. The industrial occupation of the boys is printing ; that of the girls, needlework. There are altogether about 200 children in the school, rather more than one half of whom are boys. Both boys and girls are in attendance during seven hours each day. Four hours of this time are given to the usual business of a school, — namely, reading, writing, and arithmetic : the remaining three hours are employed by the girls in needlework, and the boys in printing; with this re- striction however, that no boy is allowed to join the class of printers (a privilege nmch coveted) until he can read, write, and cipher with a certain degree of facility. This regulation is found to act very bene- ficially in furnishing a motive for increased diligence in the school-room. The printers, in number about sixty, are divided into three classes, some one class being always in the printing-office, and the others in the school-room. 'J'hus the boys are refreshed and gower's walk. 21 relieved by an alternation of manual and mental labour, and l)oth the school-room and printing-office are constantly occupied. We were much pleased by the scene of life and bustle among the little printers. No lolling and yawning. — no wistful looks at the slow-moving hands of the clock ; the signs of cheerful industry were visi- ble in every face, were apparent in the quick motion of every limb. The last time we called at the school happened to be on a holiday afternoon ; but no still- ness of the printing-office notified the term of relax- ation. The busy hand of the compositor was moving to and fro as usual, and the pressman was tugging at his screw-bar with as much energy as ever. On inquiry we found that the boys engaged were a class of volunteers, who, incredible as it may ajipear at Eton or Winchester, preferred passing their holiday at work to spending it in play. We particularly inquired whether the little printers entered fairly into competition with their elders in the same profession ; or whether, in point of fact, there was not some protection, — some favour of friends con- ceding better terms than are allowed elsewhere. We were, however, assured that the school depends on no partiality of the kind ; that, on the contrary, a pre- vailing prejudice against work done by boys depresses their prices below those usually given for work exe- cuted in the same style. It is of course necessary that the little fellows should work many more hours than an adult printer in order to obtain an equal remune- ration : what the latter would get through in a day may occupy one of them a week, a fortnight, or even a month : but as the work is paid for by the piece, 22 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. it is evident that the increased time is followed by no additional recompense. As evidence of the neatness of the work, it is suffi- cient to refer to the Reports of the National Societ)', which are always printed by these children. So far as appears to us, the typography of these books bears no mark of inferiority, and we believe it furnishes no clue to the age of those by whom it was executed save what is found in the imprint, " School Press, Gower's Walk, Whitechapel." It is proper to remark, that the boys receive a good deal of instruction and assistance in the practice of their art ; but the cost of this aid is taken out of the proceeds of the printing, which even after this deduction furnish a consider- able sum towards the general expenses of the school, and finally give a handsome surplus to be divided among the boys. With these and many other interesting particulars we were furnished by Mr. French (the very intelligent master), who now gives an example of the value of the institution by the ability with which he conducts the school, from which he derived his own education. It appears that the school has existed on its pre- sent footing for nearly thirty years. The building, which was formerly a sugar bakehouse, was applied to its present use by the benevolent and enlightened founder of the school, Mr. Davies, who also endowed the school with the sum of 2000/. in the Three per Cent. Consols. The income of 60/. a year arising from this sum, and the use of the building rent free, are all that interfere with the self-supporting character of the establishment. Yet with this moderate help is a school carried on in which two hundred children re- gower's walk. 23 ceive a comparatively good education, being trained in habits of cheerful industry, taught a useful art, and moreover instructed in the ordinary branches of a school education. And not only is all this effected, but a sum of money averaging more than 100/. a year is divided among the children according to their respective savings ; one half being immediately distri- buted in the form of pocket-money, and the remainder set aside to meet the expenses of outfit, apprentices' premium, &c. at the time of departure. A boy will in this way accumulate 4/., 51., 61., or even 10/. before leaving the school ; no inconsiderable sum for a lad in this rank of life to start with in the world. The monthly gains of the little printers average about three shillings per boy, though sometimes an indivi- dual will have to receive as much as six shillings. A savings' bank has lately been opened in the school as an additional encouragement to thrifty habits, and the smallest sums down to a single halfpenny are re- ceived. Most of the children have become deposit- ors, though they are quite at liberty to keep their money in their own possession. The bank was opened last February, and when we visited the school in July the deposits amounted to 23/. One boy, a lad of thirteen years of age, was pointed out, who alone had deposited 1/. in this short time. This little fellow was of course one of the volun- teer workers on the holiday afternoon ; and we learnt that, not satisfied with the labour of the printing- office, he was in the habit of carrying out milk before he came to school in the morning, and of helping his father, a gunmaker, in the evening. From time to time the money collected in the 24 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY, school savings' bank is placed in tlie public savings' bank of the district, and the interest received is dis- tributed in just shares among the boys. Each one is periodically furnished with a full statement of his ac- count; and it is needless to say that, on passing into his hands, the document is certain to be subjected forthwith to a most rigorous audit. Without shutting our eyes to the defects of the system we have attempted to describe, — effects how- ever by no means peculiar to it, — we feel ourselves fully warranted in setting a very high value on its advantages. In the formation of good habits — a prin- cipal object of early education — the effect of such plans must be far greater than is produced in many a school of high pretensions and of great expense ; and humble as are its objects and its means, the school in Gower's Walk presents much which these prouder es- tablishments would find well worthy of imitation. It would be interesting to trace the children brought up at this school in their career in life; but without some system of registration such inquiries are very difficult. So far, however, as the master of the school has had opportunities of learning, the subsequent con- duct of the pupils is very good. Many are known to have become thriving men and respectable members of society ; and in no one instance did the master ever hear of a child educated at Gower's Walk being con- victed of an offence against the laws of his country. Another school of industry which we have visited with much gratification is the Brcnton Asylum at Hackney Wick, near London, intended principally for the reception of juvenile vagrants. The plan of the society by which this asylum is supported, justly HACKNEY WICK. 25 termed the Children's Friend Society — is to take chil- dren who, owing to the manner in which they have been brought up, are unable to obtain an honest livelihood ; to give these children a rude kind of education, and then to send them to a country where labour is more in demand than it is in England : thus at once to cut them off from their old connexions, and give them an opportunity of establishing a new character. Hitherto most of the children have been sent to the Cape of Good Hope, where a society has been formed in connexion with that in London, by means of which situations are procured, and a certain degree of super- intendence is kept up after the children have been placed out as apprentices. The institution has been on its present footing about two years and a half, and during that time it appears to have effected a great deal. In the year ending May 1st, 1834, nearly 250 children passed through the asylum, were sent out to the Cape, and were placed in situations where they could at once earn their maintenance. It has not yet been ascer- tained with certainty at what expense to the society these objects are attained. Hitherto the cost per head has been estimated at 12/. 10s. including board, lodg- ing, and clothing for three months (the average time a child remains in the asylum), the boy's outfit on leav- ing the school, and his passage to the Cape. On the payment of this sum, the society has been willing to receive a child from a non-subscriber. It appears, however, that this estimate is somewhat below the actual expense, and it is proposed to raise the charge to 15/. The average number of children in the school of VOL. I. c 26 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. this excellent institution is about fifty, and their ages vary generally from ten to fourteen years. Their time is divided between productive labour (chiefly agricultural) and school exercises ; six hours a day being given to the former, and three hours to the latter. The first practical knowledge inculcated on a novitiate in this society is, that his comforts in life will depend mainly on his own exertions ; nay, that if he indulges in idleness, he may want the very neces- saries of life. He is informed at the outset, that he will have to labour to earn at least a part of his main- tenance before he will have food to eat. The justice of this regulation is explained ; and so clear is the principle that every one ought to do what he can for himself before claiming assistance from others, that few even of the dullest can be proof against the demonstration. We may here observe, that great care is taken in all cases to show the boys the rea- sonableness of the regulations to which they are re- quired to submit. " You must, because you must," is not the logic of Hackney Wick. Everything is effected (as far as possible) by addressing the under- standings, and working upon the good feelings of the boys; and the poor lads, surprised and delighted at hearing (perhaps for the first time in their lives) the voice of kindness and intelligence, frequently yield without a struggle, and enter at once on a course of good conduct. On the other hand, there is no want of decision and firmness in the management of the refractory. Stern reproof and effectual punishment, though not dis- figuring the front of the picture, have nevertheless a place in the background, and at the call of necessity HACKNEY WICK. 27 stand forth sufficiently conspicuous. Solitary con- finement, however, for a space rarely exceeding twelve hours at a time, is the utmost severity admitted or required : corporal punishment in none of its disgust- ing forms is ever employed. And thus are these poor children, born and bred though they be under circum- stances the most adverse to the development of the intellect and moral feeling, treated, and successfully treated, like rational beings ; while it is deemed essen- tial to the safety of Eton and Winchester to subject their high-born and high-bred foster-sons to treatment from which the humanity of our law protects in a measure even the brute creation. The most thoroughly lazy and troublesome boys that come into the school are, the master assured us, from ill-managed workhouses. These children, whose experience has probably taught them to consider threats as mere idle vapouring, commence with dis- beheving that in their new situation labour alone will entitle them to food. " I don't come here to work," and so forth, is muttered with the usual doggedness. In such a case, the boy is allowed to take his course : his companions go at the regular hour to their labour, and a portion is allotted to him also ; so many yards of digging, perhaps, or any other task of a simple kind. This he may neglect as long as he chooses ; but he finds that until it is completed no dinner is ready for him. After a time, nature gains the mastery, and the boy sets to work ; and it rarely happens that he tries the experiment of obstinacy a second time. The shortness of the term usually passed in the asylum must of course render it difficult for the children to acquire such skill in cultivating the land c2 28 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. as would enable them to do much towards defraying the cost of their maintenance. Their field must be looked upon as a school, in which they are receiving lessons (and most valuable lessons they are) with a view principally of future advantage. For the sake of such instruction, it would be well worth while hiring land for cultivation, even if the produce did not pay the rent ; the reason, even in this extreme case, being at least as strong as that which induces us to furnish the young tyro with a copy-book, despite the fore- knowledge that his pothooks will have no other imme- diate effect than that of destroying the value of the paper on which they are scrawled. In point of fact, however, the boys do raise a crop, which more than repays the cost of the land and all expenses con- nected with its cultivation. Nor is this all the labour they perform; for, under the direction of the mistress of the asylum, they do all the washing, cleaning, cook- ing, and other household work, no servant being kept at the establishment. The boys also repair their own clothes and their own shoes, under the care of jour- neymen in the different crafts, who for a small sum attend occasionally to teach them. The school is conducted on the monitorial system ; and we were glad to observe that instruction is given on the meaning of words, and on other subjects calcu- lated to awaken the intellectual powers. The adop- tion of such improvements we should have expected from the superior intelligence which marks many of the regulations of the asylum. This superiority is in a great measure due to the benevolent founder of the institution, Captain Brenton, R. N. : much credit must also be given to Mr. Wright, the master of the asy- HACKNEY WICK. 29 lum, for the zeal, skill, and good feeling with which he performs his duties. The boys appeared to be contented and happy : and this fact is confirmed as well by the excellent health they enjoy, as by the fact of their remaining in the asylum ; for the doors are open to all who may wish to leave — a facility of which some very few have at different times availed themselves. Notwithstanding, however, that the condition of these children when in the asylum is one of compara- tive comfort, they look forward with eagerness to the time when they are to go out as emigrants. Doubt- less this desire is in some measure based on the love of novelty — the wish for adventure — the admiration of what is unknown: in few instances, alas ! is it re- strained by any strong bonds of affection — any ties of love that bind them to the scenes and partners of their former life. But perhaps the change derives its greatest attractions from that regulation of the establishment which allots early departure as a mode of distinction and a reward for good conduct. The boys are divided into three classes, from the highest of which the emigrants are drafted. Promotion de- pends principally on moral improvement ; but a boy is not admitted to the highest class until he has made a certain progress in reading, writing, and arith- metic, and can handle his farming tools tolerably well- It may readily be supposed that obstacles to the right working of the plan sometimes arise from the connexions of those for whose benefit it is intended. Occasionally the parents endeavour to dissuade the children from going out, but the boys are generally 30 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTKY. firm in tlieir resolution. A recent instance was men- tioned to us, in which this attempt was repeatedly made by the father and mother of an intelligent boy, who had conducted himself exceedingly well in the asylum. One day coming to the school half-intoxi- cated, they resorted to threats and imprecations. The boy, however, continued steady in his resolution, saying, "Father, you know it is of no use: if I go home again, I shall be sure to get with Tom Jenkins and Jack Smith, and then I shall be as bad as ever." We wish all who talk learnedly on the subject of crime had as great an insight into its true causes as this poor child. The results of the plan hitherto are promising ; the accounts received of the conduct of children who have emigrated are satisfactory ; and instances have occurred in which parents have appeared before the committee with letters from their children, and with tears of gratitude have expressed their thanks for what has been done for them. Still it must be ad- mitted that the experiment has not yet been fully tried ; nor would it be safe to pronounce upon its suc- cess until it has stood the test of time. There are some other schools of industry with which we have had opportunities of becoming ac- quainted, and which are well deserving of attention. We refer particularly to the Refuge for the Destitute at Hoxton, the Warwick County Asylum, and Mr. Allen's School at Lindfield, Sussex. The first two are like the asylum at Hackney Wick, excepting that their inmates are drawn from a yet more depraved class of society ; Mr. Allen's School, of which we shall REFUGE FOR THE DESTITUTE. 31 speak presently, is intended for the children of the peasantrj'. At the Refuge for the Destitute, the average number of inmates is about 150 ; namely, 80 or 90 males, and 60 or 70 females; their age varying from 12 to 18 or 19. Here, as at Hackney Wick, the chief means of reform are employment and kind treatment. We passed through the male department in company with a member of the committee, and were much struck with the affectionate manner in which he accosted the inmates, and the simple yet touching appeals he made to their moral and religious feelings. We happened to arrive at the establishment during the hours of leisure ; and as we passed by a window overlooking an open area on one side of the building, we saw a large party of the boys engaged in some active game. It was pleasing to witness the innocent mirth of those who hitherto, under the burden of guilt, had probably tasted but little real pleasure of any kind. Our conductor, a Quaker gentleman, was delighted with the spectacle, and rubbing his hands with great glee, exclaimed, " Is not it a noble sight ?" After a time the bell rang for them to return to their work, and in a few minutes every one was diligently occupied. The trades taught are those of the tailor and shoemaker ; and every boy is, we believe, allowed to choose his occupation. Part of each boy's earnings is set aside for the boy's own use. The money, how- ever, is neither put at his immediate disposal, nor even placed in his hands at his departure from the asylum, b-ut reserved until he has completed his twentieth year ; and even then his claim must be 32 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. backed by a satisfactory report of his conduct during his apprenticeship. The beginners are put under the care of those who have acquired some Httle skill in their art ; and as these latter are still expected to perform their own duty, they are allowed, in recompense for the trouble of instruction, a certain share in their pupils' earnings. The whole are overlooked by intelligent persons, them- selves experienced workmen. The efficacy of this plan is shown by the smallness of the premium required with the boys when they are put out as apprentices. Places with board, lodging, and clothing are readily found for them at a premium of five pounds each ; a niucli smaller sum, we under- stand, than is required with boys who have their trade yet to learn. A distinct account is kept of all the receipts and expenditure connected with the trades carried on ; and it is found that the clothes and shoes which the boys make sell for about as much as the cost of produc- tion, including the salaries of the master-workmen (together about 300/. a-year), and expenses of every kind. Considering that the boys enter the asylum for the most part with ver^' lazy habits, and that as soon as they have acquired a little dexterity in their trade they are withdrawn, this result must be regarded as very satisfactory. The work of the females is more productive ; their art, from its superior facility, being more immediately profitable, though from the same cause less valuable in the long-run. They are em- ployed in washing ; and besides doing all that is re- quired for the Refuge, they earn about 400/. a year REFUGE FOR THE DESTITUTE. 33 clear profit. (The expenses connected with the wash- ing de])artnient last year were about 1050/. and the receipts 1464/.) The boys had a clean and neat appearance, and seemed to work diligently and cheerfully ; and the superintendent reported well of their general conduct and demeanour. In cases where remonstrance proves insufficient, the ordinary punishments are withdrawal of animal food and solitary confinement. Occasion- ally, however, corporal punishment is also resorted to. It cannot be expected that any great moral reform can be worked in the space of a year and a half, in a youth of sixteen or seventeen years of age. Never- theless, the subsequent accounts of those who have passed through the asylum show that a good deal' is accomplished. Many who were formerly inmates of the Refuge are now known to be living in comfort and respectability ; and there are some even who have be- come annual subscribers to that institution, the doors of which they once entered as outcasts of society. The following extract from the last Report speaks well for the conduct of the young men after they have been placed out as apprentices : — " In the tailors' and shoemakers' departments also the work proceeds with great activity. In each of these trades nearly forty young men are annually in- structed by competent masters ; and of those who have been placed out as apprentices, the number who through the past year received the usual gratuities for good conduct amounts to thirty-four." It thus appears that, even under great limitation as to time, a wholesome discipline of industry, regula- rity, and cleanliness, accompanied with kind yet firm c 3 34 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. treatment, and moral and religious admonition, is not without a powerful effect on the character. While, too, the boys are thus strengthened against tempta- tion, one of the causes of temptation is removed, by their having the means of earning an honest livelihood placed within their reach. In contemplating, however, the amount of good which the humane and enlighten- ed supporters of the Refuge for the Destitute are dis- pensing, it is melancholy to observe that, for want of larger funds, the committee is compelled to send away many applicants for admission. To what extent this is the case, the following extract from the Report will show : — "During twenty-eight years that the Refuge has been open to the public, upwards of four thousand three hundred juvenile outcasts have received main- tenance and instruction within its walls ; many of whom are now respectable members of society, and some are subscribers to that institution by which they were early rescued from destruction. It is distressing, however, to be obliged to add, that the number of young applicants for relief against whom, on account of want of funds, the Refuge lias been obliged to shut its doors, has amounted to considerably more than six thousand, and may be calculated at no less than three hundred annually. An appalling reflection ! To think that every year upwards of three hundred young per- sons, generally discharged from prisons, who are ear- nestly desirous to forsake their abandoned courses, and who are capable of being made valuable members of society, are, for want of effectual aid, consigned, there is too much reason to fear, to inevitable ruin !" It thus appears that, notwithstanding all the efforts REFUGE FOR THE DESTITUTE. 35 which are made, three hundred unfortunate beings apply in vain every year for admittance to the asylum; whereas the average number received does not exceed one hundred. The funds, nevertheless, at the disposal of the committee are very considerable. Last year the income did not fall far short of 5000/. ; namely, about 2000/. in subscriptions, donations, and legacies, and 3000/. in a grant from Parliament. 5000/. is a large sum to expend in one year on one hundred and fifty young persons, who are to be supplied with the mere necessaries of life, and to receive an education of the plainest kind. It is true that part of this sum is expended on account of those who have left or are leaving the asylum, and that part goes in apprentice fees, rewards for good conduct, cost of emigration, t*v:c. ; but, deducting all these disbursements, the cost of each inmate is upwards of 20/. a year, which is equal to half the yearly income of many an honest labourer who has a wife and family to support. One circumstance which tends to make such esta- blishments as this very expensive is, that they are often placed in large towns, where rent is high and food is dear. In the present instance, for example, the rent and taxes together amount to nearly 300/. a year, exclusive of repairs ; and the average cost of food is nearly 8/. a year per head. In the rural districts of the North of England, a common charge for the board of in-door paupers ap- pears to be from one shilling and sixpence to two shillings a week, or between four and five pounds a year; and this in workhouse establishments too small to secure any of the advantages of purchase on a large scale. That this low charge is not the result of 36 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. a stinted allowance of food, is shown by the following extract from the Report of Captain Pringle, who visit- ed Cumberland as an Assistant Poor Law Commis- sioner : — " There are three poor-houses in Carlisle : they ap- pear all to be well managed. The expense per head, for maintenance only, is one shilling and sevenpence or one shilling and eightpence weekly. The diet, milk-[)orridge for breakfast and supper ; meat and broth, with barley-bread, for dinner. The very old have white bread and tea, " The diet appears to be ample. The same cost for maintenance I found to be very general in the poor-houses of the neighbouring rural parishes." Poor Law Commissioners \st Report, p. 401. In the island of Guernsey, which is within a few hours' sail of England, there is an asylum contain- ing about yOO inmates, and maintained at a cost of about '2000^. a year, or about seven pounds per head. This includes salaries, repairs, and expenses of every kind, with the single exception of rent. With an allowance, however, for rent, it will still be found that the cost per inmate at the asylum in question is but little more than one-third part of that of the Refuge for the Destitute. And yet we have no hesitation in saying, after a personal inspection of both institutions, that the accommodations provided at the (ruernsey Hospital (the asylum to which we are re- ferring), and the general comforts of the inmates, are superior to those at the Asylum for the Destitute. The following notice of the Hospitals in Guernsey (there are two of them) is extracted from a brief ac- count of that interesting little island, which we drew GUERNSEY HOSPITALS. 37 up after visiting it about five years ago. We insert the notice in this place because it bears immediately on our present subject — schools of industry ; and be- cause it will show that, although the objects of the Guernsey asylums are somewhat different from those of the Refuge for the Destitute, there is a sufficient resemblance to make the comparison, as regards ex- pense, a fair one. In the main design of their founda- tion, the Guernsey Hospitals much resemble ordinary workhouses in this country : and the example of Guernsey shows that a workhouse is not necessarily a hot-bed of pauperism; but that, on the contrary, under good management, it will be found a wholesome school of industry and morality, and a powerful check to the spread of pauperism. " One of the most striking changes which the visitor, either from England or France, meets with on his landing in Guernsey, is the entire absence of beggars. That miserable compound of imposture and real dis- tress, the wandering mendicant, is there unknown. A tradesman, who has been established at St. Peters Port (the town of the island) for upwards of thirty years, assured me that during the whole period of his residence in the island he had never once seen a bep-- gar. For myself, I neither saw nor heard of one ; and I was satisfied from all I learnt, that a beggar is in Guernsey a being of a past age — a creature of his- tory — a fit subject for the speculations of the anti- quary, but too completely covered with the dust of ancient times for those of the present day to examine. " Not only is the island free from beggars, but it is free also from those debased but unfortunate creatures 38 SCHOOLS OF IXDUSTUY. whom the twihght of evening brings forth from their hiding-places, hke swarms of moths, to join the gidily dance round the flame that is soon to destroy them. Prostitution proceeds from the same sources as men- dicity — want and ignorance ; and where the latter is not found, the former will rarely be met with. Be that as it may, however, the fact is, that the streets and roads of Guernsey are not disgraced by the ap- pearance either of the prostitute or the beggar. " Two establishments, called the Town and Country Hospitals, exist in the island, to which all persons are sent who, for any reasons whatever, arc unable or unwilling to obtain an honest livelihood. In these establishments are to be found females who would otherwise be living by prostitution; the habitual drunkard, the lunatic, the destitute orphan ; — all have here an asylum, and are removed from the tempta- tion and misery to which they would otherwise be exposed. " I visited the Town Hospital, (situated not in the town itself, but in the outskirts,) and I was very much gratified with what I saw. The scene was a busy one. The men were occupied, some in weaving cloth, some as tailors, others as shoemakers, &c. The women were engaged principally in washing. In addition to the washing for the hospital, a great deal is taken in from families living in the neighbourhood, and by this means the women do much towards paying the ex- pense of their maintenance. The greater part of the clothes, shoes, &c. which the men manufacture is sold. The men are also employed in the town as scavengers. " By thus employing the men and women at profit- able labour, instead of setting them to turn a great GUERXSEY HOSPITALS. 39 Stone, as is done in some of our parishes, the expense of the maintenance of the inmates of the hospital is greatly reduced. The average yearly expense of each inmate is not more than seveii pounds, notwithstanding that at least half of those in the hospitals are boys and girls who produce but little, being the greater part of the day in school; and notwithstanding also that there are many lunatics and infirm people, who are of course unable to do anything towards their own support. The number of inmates in the Town and Country Hospitals together is about three hun- dred, and their expense to the island is about 2,000/. a year " The arrangements of the hospitals, and the disci- pline maintained in them, are excellent : at the same time, the inmates are treated with great kindness, are allowed an abundance of good wholesome food, and are well clothed and lodged. Those whose conduct deserves reward are frequently allowed to visit their friends for a day or so ; but if the privilege is abused, (as, for instance, if any one returns to the hospital in a state of intoxication,) he is not allowed to leave the hospital again for several months. On the whole, whether we regard these hospitals as asylums from misery, or as schools of morality, I must say, that I liave never yet seen any institutions in this countr}'^ that would bear comparison with them." On a proper examination, many places could doubt- less be found much nearer London than is either Guernsey or the North of England, Avhere establish- ments like the Refuge for the Destitute could be maintahied at much less expense than in town. Dis- tance, however, unless it be very great, would not 40 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. under good management be productive of any serious inconvenience. The inhabitants of Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow, and other places on the western side of our island, know to their cost what a slight hindrance the Irish sea is to the immigration of Irish paupers. Thousands cross it every year at a shilling a head. Nor does travelling by land (except where rapidity is required) necessarily entail much greater expense. How, indeed, should any serious expense arise in the removal of a number of beings who carry with them the means of locomotion? The fact is, the cost ought to consist in little more than the value of the food consumed on the road, and a i'ew pounds of shoe- leather. Any system, however, for locating people in parti- cular parts of the country, and for transporting them thither at the least possible expense, requires a uni- form plan of management, and a general directing power. Indeed, so long as institutions such as the Refuge for the Destitute are dependent on private charity, it is perhaps necessary to place them in towns, in order that they may force themselves on public attention. Still, we deem it a serious evil that the eye of humanity should in every direction fall upon the signs of depravity and woe. The humane feelings, combined with a sense of interest, will in every civilized community prompt the establishment of asylums, sanatory as well as i)rotective, for such as from any cause, physical or moral, are kept in that degree of indigence which strongly tempts to crime. But this once done, it is not just or expedient that people's feelings should be constantly harassed by the immediate neighbourhood of the abodes of vice and SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. 41 misery : these ought never to be contemplated with- out emotion. But the man whose daily business carries him through the streets of London would find life insupportable if every object of the kind — gaol, lunatic asylum, or workhouse — were to rouse in him, as often as he passed, that strong feeling which it might awaken in a stranger. Happily for the human frame, such sensations, when too frequently excited, lose much of their poignancy, and thus the smaller evil — apathy — ensues ; and we soon learn to pass by the walls of Newgate without bestowing more thought on the ignorant, depraved, and wretched beings who are within a few yards of us, than on the pavement we are treading. To guard against this evil of overwrought feeling on the one hand and apathy on the other, asy- lums for the wretched should be kept apart from towns. To return to the more immediate object of this por- tion of our work. We have mentioned that the in- mates of the Refuge for the Destitute are at their entrance almost always found to be totally deficient in habits of industry and regularity. This description agrees exactly with that given of the boys who are placed in the asylum at Hackney Wick and in the Warwick County Asylum, and it is confirmed by the information we obtained in a visit to Newgate. At the Refuge and Hackney Wick, where the circum- stances of the boy's previous life are more minutely inquired into than they are at Newgate, we were in- formed that, generally speaking, the boys were either orphans, or had been neglected by their parents. The superintendent of the Refuge said that the number of instances in which these unhappy boys were under the care of stepmothers was strikingly large. 42 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. The forlorn condition of many of these chiUh-en of crime is forcibly displayed in a table containing a few facts connected with the case of every boy who has passed through the Warwick County Asylum. (See Appendix.) By this table it appears, that out of 88 cases recorded, there are, besides several cases in which the child had but one parent, no less than 54 in which both parents were de?ad : and that of the remainder, there were no less than 1 1 cases in which one or both of the parents were known to be thieves, or otherwise of bad character ; 5 in which one at least was a drunkard; and 5 in which one at least was a pauper; — in a word, that in 13 cases only had the pa- rents an honest reputation. If information such as this were collected and recorded in every asylum, prison, madhouse and poorhouse in the country, we should soon have a body of facts highly illustrative of the causes of crime, and perhaps in no small degree sug- gestive of the remedy. There is one particular in which all our accounts agree, for which we were not prepared ; namely, that the children are generally found to be unusually acute and intelligent.* Probably much of this sharpness exists more in appearance than reality ; for much low • In support of this character for acuteness, we had the follow- ing anecdote from the present schoolmaster in Newgate. His school having been increased one day by the addition of several young pickpockets, the subject of their art came naturally forward. 1 n the course of conversation, the schoolmaster remarked that any one who allowed his pocket to be picked must be very dull and stupid, and that he was sure no one could ever pick his pocket. A few hours, however, brought about a considerable change in liis opinion ; for in the course of that very day, in his own schoolroom, and by his own scholars, liis pocket uus picked _/'<'i(r times. SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. 43 cunning is quite consistent with dull intellect. If a boy receives (as doubtless many do) regular instruc- tion in picking pockets or other such roguery, he will by mere dint of practice acquire a certain dexterity in the art ; and as his peculiar cleverness is of a kind which to people in general seldom comes under imme- diate observation, it is not surprising that the amount of general talent of which it is supposed indicative should be over-estimated. Making, however, every allowance for this source of error, it certainly does appear that the children in the asylums we have mentioned are equal, if not somewhat superior, to the average of boys in natural talent : they learn their different trades very quickly, and, in a word, have the power of acquiring knowledge with ease. If the thieves and pests of society are in truth sup- plied principally from the class of quick, intelligent children, heavily indeed is society punished for not watching over its poorer members ere they have ac- quired bad habits, bad feelings, and baneful preju- dices, — for not seizing on the time when their minds and dispositions may be so moulded as to render them honest, useful, and happy. At the Refuge for the Destitute, where, as at Hack- ney Wick, a certain portion of the day is allotted to ordinary school exercises, we inquired what propor- tion of the boys were at their entrance found able to read. " About one in three," was the reply. But upon our asking how many were able to read with suffi- cient ease to enjoy ivhat thei/ perused, the reply was — " Oh, that is a very different question ; — not more than o)ie in forty /" The information we received at Newgate was of the same kind. Mr. Cotton, the ordi- 44 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. nary of the prison, assured us tluit many of those who said they could read, could in fact do nothing more than repeat the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. The Warwick County Asylum is on a much smaller scale than the Refuge for the Destitute or the asy- lum at Hackney Wick : it is, however, an interesting and valuable institution, reflecting great credit on its supporters, and well deserving attention. It was es- tablished about seventeen years ago, principally by the exertion of Sir Eardley Wilmot, Bart, (now M.P. for the northern division of Warwickshire,) a gentle- man who has ever taken a benevolent and active in- terest in the reform of juvenile offenders, and the amendment of the laws concerning them. Through the kindness of Sir E. Wilmot, we have obtained answers from the governors of the asylum (attested by the honorary secretary) to a number of queries respecting the progress of the institution, and the effects produced. These queries and answers will be found in the Appendix. It appears that, of 164 children who have passed through the asylum, 93 have been permanently re- formed, as shown by their continuance in respectable employ : of the remaining 70, 23 were dismissed for bad conduct, and 48 absconded ; and from these two classes, 19 have been subsequently transported for new offences. Compared with the ordinary course of young offenders, this result nuist be considered very satisfactory. In some cases a magistrate will consent not to commit a boy to prison, on condition of his enter- ing the County Asylum. In such instances the WAllWICK COUNTY ASYLUM. 45 boy's reform is found to be comparatively speedy and certain. But where a boy has once been exposed to the contamination of an ill-regulated gaol, (and few of our gaols, we fear, are conducted on even a tolerably good system,) reform becomes both difficult and pre- carious. So, at any rate, it is found to be at the War- wick Asylum. It may appear extraordinary to many, that one great obstacle with which the promoters of the asylum have to contend, arises from unwillingness on the part of the parents of young offenders to place their chil- dren in the institution ; — an institution where they know their children will be kindly treated ; where food, clothing, and lodging will be gratuitously furnished ; where the rudiments of learning will be given, and the power of earning an honest livelihood imparted. What we have already cited about the characters of the parents, perhaps explains this reluctance, and shows that it proceeds probably from anything rather than an excessive care concerning their children's comfort. Sir E. Wilmot mentioned an instance to us which occurred at the quarter sessions last spring. A boy had been brought to trial on a serious charge of theft : no doubt existed of his guilt ; but owing to a flaw in the indictment, or some other technical error, a verdict of acquittal was returned. Sir Eardley sent for the mother of the boy, and pointed out to her the extreme probability of her son's ending his life at the gallows unless something was immediately done to stop his career, offering at the same time to get him admitted into the County Asylum. By no effort, how- ever, either of persuasion or remonstrance, could he induce this woman to consent to the measure ; and, in 46 SCHOOLS OK INDUSTRY. point of fact, the boy was again let loose on society: nor is it uncharitable to suppose that his mother looked forward to being a partaker of his future plunder. We are very glad to learn that an asylum on the plan of the Warwick County Asylum is about to be opened in Glasgow, and that 9000/. have been raised for that purpose. Mr. William Aliens School at Lindfieldin Sussex. — We wish our limits would allow us to do ample justice to this valuable institution, and to the merits of its excellent founder. Mr. Allen's reputation, however, for enlightened benevolence stands far too high to require any addition at our hands ; while his unos- tentatious manners show that he is actuated in his good works by a nurer and nobler motive than the de- sire of praise. Truly is he an ornament to the sect to which he belongs, — a sect that has ever been for- ward in the cause of enlightened humanity. We visited the school at Lindfield in July 1S31, and it had then been established several years. Be- fore fixing on the spot where to build his school, Mr. Allen sent an intelligent young man on a tour through the country to find out where a school was most want- ed. After a diligent search, the village of Lindfield was pitched upon, as the centre of a district in which the peasantry were in a very low state of ignorance. Lindfield is on the road from London to Brighton ; and is distant from London about thirty-seven miles, and from Brighton fifteen. Not onl}' did Mr. Allen receive no assistance in building his school, but most of the wealthy inhabit- ants endeavoured to thwart him ; while among the peasantry themselves the most preposterous stories LINDFIELD. 47 were afloat respecting his real designs. These poor people had been so little accustomed to see persons act from other than selfish motives, that they could not believe it possible that any one would come and erect a large building, at great cost and trouble to himself, merely from the desire of promoting their good. They felt sure that all this outlay was not without some secret object ; and at last they explain- ed all much to their own satisfaction by referring it to the following notable project. — The building was to be applied to the diabolical purpose of kidnapping children : a high palisade was to be thrown up all round it, and other measures taken to prevent en- trance or escape ; then the school was to be opened, and everything to be carried on smoothly, and with great appearance of kind and gentle treatment, until such a number of children had been collected as would satisfy the rapacious desires of the wretches who had hatched the wicked scheme ; when all at once the gates were to be closed upon them, and the poor innocents shipped off to some distant land I Greatly indeed must a school have been wanted where such unheard-of absurdity could circulate and obtain credence. At length the building (a most sub- stantial and commodious one) was completed, though few indeed were those who at once ventured within the dreaded bounds. However, by dint of persever- ance, this number was gradually increased. The few children who did come began in a short time to take home with them sundry pence which they had earned in plaiting straw, making baskets, &c. — arts they were learning at school. The boys began to patch their clothes and mend their shoes, without 48 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. their parents having to pay a penny for the work. Meanwhile there came no authentic accounts of ships lying in wait on the neighbouring coast, nor had even the dreaded iron palisades raised their pointed heads. Little by little the poor ignorant creatures became assured that there was nothing to fear, but, on the contrary, much practical good to be derived from send- ing their children to the school ; and that, strange and incredible as it might seem, the London ' gem- man' was really come among them as a friend and benefactor. A breach being thus fairly made in the mud-bank of prejudice, it was not long before the whole mass gave way. In short, the scheme proved so completely suc- cessful that at the time we visited the school, almost every child whose parents lived within a distance of three miles was entered as a pupil, the total number on the list being no less than 300 ; though, from the frequent calls made upon the children for assist- ance in the fields, and from the bad state of the roads in certain seasons, the number in actual attendance did not exceed 150. About a hundred of the children form an infant school, their ages varying from a year and a half to seven years. For these a distinct part of the building and a separate play-ground are provided. Tiie remain- ing two hundred are divided according to sex, the boys" rooms and pla3'-ground being apart from those of the girls. Tiie children are at school eight hours each day, three being employed in manual labour, and five in the ordinary school exercises. There is a provision for a diversity of tastes in the classes of industry; indeed LINDFIELD. 49 the most unbounded liberality is manifest in all the arrangements. Some are employed as shoemakers, others as tailors ; and others again at platting, basket- making, weaving, printing, gardening or farming. The children work very cheerfully, and, as we ex- pected, are found to like the classes of industry better than " school." We say we expected to find this the case ; for until the ordinary plans of instruction in reading, arithmetic, &c. are much improved, and the exercise made more intellectual and interesting, we fear that children will take but little pleasure in their school lessons. The first employment to which the little workers are put is platting straw. When they are au fait at this, which is generally at the end of a few months, they are promoted to some other craft; the one of highest dignity being that of the printer. Before leaving the school, a child will often become tolerably expert in three or four trades. Those who work on the farm have each the sole care of a plot of land measuring one-eighth part of an acre, and each is required to do his own digging, sowing, manuring, and reaping. An intelligent husbandman, however, is always on the ground to teach those who are at fault. The plots of land were all in clean and nice order ; and from the variety of produce — oats, turnips, mangel-wurzel, po- tatoes, and cabbages — the whole had a curious and amusing appearance, reminding one of the quilted counterpanes of former years. We found the system of matayer rent in use, each boy being allowed one half of the produce for him- self, the other half being paid for the use of the land, the wear and tear of tools, (S:c. One lad, twelve years VOL. I. D 50 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. old, had in this way received no less a sum than twenty- three shillings and sixpence as his share of the crop of the preceding year ; and we were told that such earnings were by no means uncommon. Of course the practical knowledge to be acquired on a miniature farm of this kind would not be suffici- ent in itself to fit a boy for the cultivation of land upon that large scale on which alone it can be tilled to the greatest advantage; still, he will have learned much that will be of direct use to him on a farm of any size ; and, what is far more important, he will have acquired habits of industry, intelligent observation, and fore- thought : and thus prepared, he will learn as much in a few months, as the dull and ignorant boy, whose only training has been in the hovel or at the plough, will acquire in as many years. Our notice of schools in which manual labour is combined with exercises which usuall}' form the ex- clusive subjects of instruction, has already extended to a considerable length ; but as we consider this union essential to a good system of education, we are anxious to give the subject full attention. We shall therefore venture to add to what we have brought forward, some extracts from an interesting article " On the Works of Industry," which appeared in the Report of the National Society for the year 1833. KOVAL MILITAnV ASYLUM, CHELSEA. " Tliere are at present about 000 boys in this school, being half the number under instruction dur- ing the time of the late war. The children vary in age from five and six to fourteen years, and arc MILITARY ASYLUM, CHELSEA. 51 not employed in works of industry until the age ol" eleven : little more than three years (at five hours a day in summer, or four hours a day in winter,) can therefore be devoted to learning any trade ; and in this short period the boys only work on alternate days, the rest of their time being spent in the school; — yet they make every article of clothing required for their own use. " Rather less than a hundred boys work as tailors ; fifty each day alternately : about the same number are employed in a similar manner, as shoemakers, cap- makers, and in covering and repairing their old school- books ; besides which, there are two sets or companies of knitters and of shirt-makers, and others who are engaged as porters, gardeners, in kitchen-work, &c. &c. Everything is done by those who work at the trades except the cutting-out. This branch, requiring more experience, is managed by the old regimental shoe- makers, tailors, &c. who, with aged Serjeants and cor- porals, and their wives, manage the concerns of the institution. The system of monitors and teachers to overlook the other boys at work is generally adopted ; while, in addition to the various branches of industry mentioned, the school furnishes a company of drum- mers and fifers, and an excellent band of music ; the players necessarily devoting a considerable part of their time to the practice of their instruments. " The materials for the shoes, purchased by con- tract, amount to about 2*. 3d. a pair ; the shoe-mak- ing tools, about 3*. a set to supply each boy. The stouter children are preferred for the work; and the subdivisions of their labour are of the following kind : — 1st, the easiest for the youngest, closing ; 2nd, D 2 52 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. the next for the middle set of children, repairing and mending ; 3rd, the highest for the oldest, making the new shoes. But all the children learn to work at every part of the shoe, and are sufficient adepts, not merely to supply their own institution, but to make whatever shoes are wanted for the Clergy Orphan School, Saint John's Wood Road. In this manner about 25 new pairs of shoes are made, and 140 pairs mended, in the course of each week." The article then goes on to notice the industrial occupations in different National schools under differ- ent heads. " Household Work. — In most schools for girls, the children clean the school-room, wash towels, and per- form whatever services are required of this kind; in many, the boys do the same. Occasionally, a few of the elder girls are instructed in household-work by the schoolmistress at her own dwelling by turns ; but little appears to be accomplished in this way. Where the girls are boarded and lodged in a house, a larger supply of such kind of employment is created, and servants' work of all kinds is perfectly acquired. The Poor Reports, vol. vi. p. 69, article 150, give an ac- count of a school at Cheltenham for thirty girls, the chief design of which is to encourage household in- dustry ; and a recent report from that place shows that the school is still maintained with success. The children by turns fill the offices of housemaid, cook, &c. and learn to bake bread, &c. " Knittimj. — The following National schools have furnished the committee with an account of this branch of industry successfully performed by boys, viz: — Chetton, Salop ; Campsall, York ; Morley, Der- NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 53 by ; South Cerney, Gloucester ; Stanmore, Middlesex ; and Whitechapel, London. There appears to have been no difficulty in introducing the work among the boys, and very little in disposing of the articles made, although the profit upon them is small. Generally, the very young boys are not taught ; and sometimes, in the first instance, the elder boys are taken by turns, and a few at a time, into the girls' school, where they see their sisters work and learn from them. " Netting. — Report from the National School at Northleach, Gloucestershire : — All the boys who are old enough, i. e. all who are six years of age, learn netting. A lady staying here on a visit first taught the schoolmistress and some of the children. The twine is bought from a shop in the town ; the needles and pins cost about 9d. a pair, but doubtless they might be made for less. The twine is ]s. 6d. or Is. 8d. a pound, and the consumption of it is rapid. The dis- posal of the nets is the principal difficulty. Cabbage- nets are chiefly the article manufactured. Several of the parents send the string ; in which case they have the nets their own children make, and dispose of them as they can. "A correspondent from another part of the country suggests that twine-spinning might be very well com- bined with the above work, and that it is an employ- ment suited more particularly for the neighbourhood of the sea, on account of the demand for fishing-nets. " Tailors' Work, — To the schools already mention- ed in which this kind of work is taught, may be added the Tandridge School, Surrey ; the Sudbury School, Salop ; and the United Day Schools of St. George's, Hanover Square, where 250 boys are edu- 54 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY. cated, and 50 instructed in tailors' work, under a se- parate master. These children work alternately 25 at a time, like the boys in the Military School, the other half being in the school-room with the rest of the boys. They make their own clothes. " The first-named school has furnished the following account, showing how easily, under an intelligent and well-disposed master, a work of industry may be in- troduced among children : — ' The master had no previous knowledge of tailoring : he at first tried to make a jacket out of an old coat to give to one of the boys, by drawing the pattern of one worn by another boy, and then cutting it out in brown paper, and the cloth by the paper pattern. This was given to a girl to sew, who was often obliged to consult with the master as to the manner in which she should pro- ceed. But the experiment was successful ; and this induced him, with consent of the committee, to try the plan on a larger scale. He continued himself to cut out from his paper pattern, and employed two or three of the girls at first in teaching some of the boys to sew in the afternoon. Jackets and trousers of fustian lined throughout with calico arc the articles he has taught them to make. He has 55 boys in the school, 50 of whom can work. The beginners are taught to sew little waste pieces of fustian or calico together in a class by themselves, and are gradually promoted to branches of useful work. The clothes are sold at prime cost to the parents of the children, or to those ladies and gentlemen who give them away to the poor. " Straw Platting. — This work appears to have been partially introduced into many schools; and from the NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 55 ease with which the art of platting is learnt, it seems to be particularly suitable both for boys and girls, where the nature of the country is such as to furnish a supply of good straw at a low price. In the platting districts (chiefly comprising Beds, Bucks, Herts, and Essex,) 2d. a pound is given for the straw in the rough, but a much higher price is paid for it in other parts." — (Here follows a good deal of useful information re- specting the best way of teaching the art, the cost of tools. Sec. Such information appears under most of the other heads.) " Hush Platting, for Mats, Baskets, S^c. — This work appears calculated for children in schools, being of a clean and healthy nature, easily learnt, and at small expense. The only instruments used in the work are a knife, a large pair of scissars, and a thick coarse kind of packing needle, with an eye sufficiently large to take in a wattle, which serves for the thread. — The increased comfort given to a cottage by a mat at the doors, — the convenience of the little covered baskets for marketing, and of the larger ones for carry- ing tools, — the want, also, of hassocks, or some other convenience for kneeling in most of our country churches, &c. might perhaps recommend this branch of industry to notice. " Gardening, Agriculture, S)^c. — Report of the Na- tional School, Thames Ditton : — Two intelligent boys were first instructed in gardening, and afterwards others of the first and second classes placed under their care, but not more than four, including the monitor, work in the garden at the same time. The ground being foul, at first potatoes only were grown ; but peas, beans, potatoes, and turnips are now being cultivated 56 SCHOOLS OF INDUSTHY. in succession. The produce meets with a ready sale, and it is proposed to reward the labourers with cloth- ing from part of the profits. The ground at present consists of 40 poles ; and the total expense of tools, including four spades, four hoes, two rakes, two pota- toe-forks, a reel and line, with a wheelbarrow, has amounted to 21. lis. 2d. The cost of seeds for one year, to produce two crops in the year, is calculated at 1/. 6s. 3d. One- tenth is added for the wear and tear of tools every year, and a trifle for manure, which a few of the boys are allowed to collect in the wheel- barrow from the roads, receiving a small reward. — A higher kind of gardening, including the cultivation of flowers, fruits, and greenhouse plants, appears to have been tried in connexion with the excellent Na- tional school at Bath, a few years since ; but the ex- penses of the undertaking, and other causes, prevented its success. " No report has been received of agricultural works carried on in connexion with National schools, although some direct attempts of the kind are being made. But various agricultural schools have been established in Ireland, several of which, although attended with much expense, have conferred important benefits on the community." DAY SCHOOLS CONDUCTED ON THE PLANS OF BELL AND LANCASTER. These schools must be considered as forming the chief medium of direct education in this country. They are far outnumbered, it is true, by Sunday schools ; and as regards the nature of the education LANCASTERIAN AKD BELL SCHOOLS. 57 afforded, they must yield to very many private schools. But taking numbers of scholars and amount of instruc- tion both into consideration, we are inclined to think that the schools in question are the most efficient. There has been some angry contention between the supporters of Dr. Bell and Mr. Lancaster, as to which is entitled to the chief merit of the plans known in connexion with their names ; and which, however they may differ in details, are in their great features the same. This dispute probably owed most of its bit- terness to the circumstance of one of these gentle- men being a member of the Established Church, and the other a Dissenter ; the respective parties consider- ing their own honour implicated to a certain extent in the question. The dispute, however, like most others of the same kind, has at length died away ; the majo- rity on both sides having found out that it is folly to allow differences in religious opinions to excite feel- ings of hostility, and that the honest and well-mean- ing of every religious faith have one common interest, and ought for their own sakes to unite in one common cause. We believe Mr. Lancaster himself has declared that he is indebted to Dr. Bell for the plan of teaching by monitors ; and this, it must be admitted, is the chief characteristic of the system in question. In helping to devise means for the successful application of the plan of monitorial teaching, and in assisting to call public attention to the system generally, Mr. Lancas- ter, has, we are sure, much merit ; and this is now ge- nerally acknowledged. Dr. Bell's first experiments on the monitorial sys- tem were tried at Madras in the year 1789, and D 5 58 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. eight years afterwards he published the results of them in this country. Public attention being soon attracted to the subject, in a great measure through the exertions of Mr. Lancaster, a society was formed in the year 1805 for carrying the plans as modified by Mr. Lancaster into general operation. This society eventually took the name of the " British and Foreign School Society." Six years after its formation, another society was established with a similar object. This latter corporation took the name of the " National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor on the Principles of the Established Church throughout England and Wales." The latter part of this title, however, seems to be inconsistent with the first, for how can a society be properly termed "national." which avowedly excludes nearly half the nation from its benefits ? We say excludes, for we cannot suppose that any who seriously desire to forward the cause of sound education would wish to offer instruction as a bonus for the abandonment of those principles of truth and honesty which it is surely one great object of education to foster. The British and Foreign School Society is founded on the principle of perfect equality among all sects of Christians, the religious instruction being confined to points in which all are agreed. We believe, indeed, that the conscientious Jew may also send his child to the schools of the society, as the boy is not required to join the classes in reading the New Testament, or in other exercises that would be offensive to his parent. Such at least is said to be the practice at the Central School in the Borough Road. In the following extracts we give the terms on PRINCIPLE OF ESTABLISHMENT. 59 which schools are admittedinto union with each of the two societies, as laid down by their respective secre- taries in their evidence before the Education Com- mittee of the House of Commons : " BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOL SOCIETY. " If any party or parties in any given town wish to establish a school in connexion with the British and Foreign School Society, and communicate to that effect, the committee generally will aid them by a grant of school materials, by training for them a teacher, and sometimes by a small donation ; the only condition enjoined being, that they shall adopt the great leading principle of the society, viz. that the school shall be open on equal terms to all religious denominations, and that no catechisms or creed shall be introduced. Those are the only terms required." Education Report, j)age 1(5. " NATIONAL SOCIETY. FORM OF APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO UNION. " In these schools the National system of teaching will be adopted as far as is practicable. The children will be instructed in the Liturgy and Catechism of the Established Church, and constantly attend divine service at their parish church, or other place of worship under the establishment, unless such reasons be as- signed for their non-attendance as are satisfactory to the persons having the direction of the schools. No religious tracts will be used in the schools, but such as are contained in the catalogue of the Society for Promoting Christian^ Knowledge. Annual or other communications on their state and progress will be (50 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. made, as required by the practice of the National Society." — Education Report, page 59. An ample guarantee against any underhand scheme of proselytism in the British and Foreign School Society is to be found in the mixed character of the directing committee ; where several members of the Established Church (one of them a clergyman) are as- sociated with gentlemen belonging to different deno- minations of Dissenters. The same diversity is ob- servable among the young men who attend the classes with a view to becoming schoolmasters. Churchmen, Quakers, Baptists, Independents, are to be found pur- suing the same studies, and mingling together in per- fect harmony. With such rules and under such di- rection it need scarcely be added, that the establish- ments by the British and Foreign School Society are in point of fact attended by children belonging to every variety of religious sect. Of the children in the model-school, Borough Road, it is observed that about one half belong to the Established Church. Notwithstanding that the reading-lessons are taken exclusively from the Scriptures, and that the children are encouraged to ask for explanation whenever they do not fully comprehend the meaning of a word or phrase, and are afterwards questioned upon the same, there has been no complaint at the Borough Road School, even in a single instance, of a child being taught peculiar religious doctrines: and this fact is the more striking, when we consider that, in addition to any ex- ception which might be taken by the parents, the school is open to the criticisms of a constant succession of visiters, including of course many members of the Establishment, and not a icw clergymen, all of whom DIFFERENCES IN RELIGION. 61 are at full liberty to inspect the proceedings of the classes and examine the children.* Whenever a child puts a question on a controverted point, (which however rarely happens,) he is told that his question relates to a subject on which Christians are not agreed ; and that he must apply to his own parents, or the minister of the congregation to which they belong. There cannot, as appears to us, be any rational objection to this mode of proceeding. Here all is taught on which Christians in general are agreed, and the rest is not excluded, as has sometimes been er- roneously imagined, but simply not provided for; its inculcation being left either to the parents or tlie ministers of religion. As for making it a sine qua non that children should profess opinions which they can- not possibly have formed for themselves, and which must in many instances differ very widely from those they have imbibed from their parents, we confess this does not appear to us the way to inculcate sound religious principles, or to promote habits of truth. We are not then satisfied with the explanation of the secretary of the National Society, that " many Dis- senters send their children with a feeling that the in- fluence of the parent at home will counteract anything that is done at school." — This explanation would be less unsatisfactory if the proceedings at school extend- * Since writing the above, we have observed, in perusing the evidence given before the Educational Committee of the House of Commons, that some exception is taken to the proceedings of the Borough Road School by the Rev. S. Wood, secretary to the Lancaslerian School in Harp-alley. We believe, however, that this is a solitary instance. 62 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. ed only to instruction on the part of the master, and did not involve any professions on the part of the pupil ; though even then we should say that the de- batable ground would be much better avoided ; for it is a bad system where the parent and teacher are pulling in opposite directions ; between them we should apprehend that the child's ideas must be greatly confused, and his respect for both parent and teacher somewhat lowered. But much more serious is the evil we have pointed out ; an evil which must exist in all those cases where the child is receiving one set of opinions at home and professing another at school. According to the Rev. Mr. Wigram's evidence, there is a very large class of persons to whom the religious dog- mas inculcated in the National schools are no ob- stacle to their sending their children, inasmuch as these persons are quite indifferent on such matters. We cannot agree in the accuracy of these state- ments, at least to the extent laid down by Mr. Wig- ram ; and we must also protest against the infer- ence that it is not objectionable to withhold educa- tion from such children except on the condition of their repeating certain articles of faith. For as in- difference not unfrequently generates contempt, is it not to be feared that the lessons of the teacher by day may become the subject of ridicule by the parent in the evening ? We quote the evidence referred to, and for which we confess we were not prepared : " Do the children of Konian Catholics and Dissent- ers actually attend the worship of the Established DIFFERENCES IN RELIGION. 63 Church? — Generally they have no objection: their great object is to get learning, as they call it, for their children, — and very few of them look for any distinct religious impression upon the mind of the child. ****** " Would it not be quite impossible, in your view, to meet the Socinian upon that subject, [the principle on which acts of duty are to be performed,] inasmuch as you would teach that the grace of God is neces- sary to enable a man to perform any such act? — That is what I feel ; that if the Socinian were disposed to enter into the subject, that would be a stumbling- block which he could not get over ; but, as I said be- fore, the working classes for the most part bring their children to us, because they think they will get good instruction, and they will get on in the world. There are persons in that class of society who are as religious, and as religious on pi-inciple, as in any class ; but the generality of them, like their superiors in the world, do not think much about the doctrines of religion." Education Report, page 64. For our part, we feel no doubt that a very large class of the English people would be deteri'ed from sending their children to schools in which peculiar religious opinions are to be inculcated; and Mr. Wigram, in another part of his evidence, appears to come to the same conclusion, as regards the Baptists at least : " With reference to other classes of Dissenters^ particularly that large and respectable class called tlie Baptists, are the Committee right in supposing 64 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. that your principal difficulty in comprehending them would arise out of your views of the sacrament of baptism ? — They are numerous in some parts of the country, but I have seldom met with them; and I never thought of the subject with reference to Baptists." " Would not their opinion upon the point of adult baptism form a great hindrance to the reception of their children? — I should suppose it would, in their minds." — Education Report, imge G5. The sectarian spirit which unfortunately influences the acts of the National Society does not appear ever to have been met by retaliation on the part of the British and Foreign School Society. This latter body has acted on the wise and liberal policy of a nation which throws open its ports to foreign produce, how- ever rigidly its own manufactures may be excluded. The following appears in the evidence of Mr. Dunn, the Secretary of the British and Foreign School Society : " Have you had any applications from particular sects for teachers? — We have; but in every case refused them, if the schools are to be conducted on sectarian principles." " W^hen particular sects have applied, have they asked for a preference? — Yes, we have had ajjpli- cations of that kind. The application has come in this form : ' We are a certain congregation, in a par- ticular town or village; a National school has just been established from which we are excluded ; we want now a school in connexion with our chapel, which will also be our own.' We have invariably replied to such communications, that while we regret their circum- NUMBER OF CHILDREN. 65 Stances, we will never sanction any school which is not freely and fully open to all parties ; nothing sectarian or exclusive being introduced. On that point the committee are exceedingly firm." Education Report, pttge 29. Dismissing the subject of religious distinctions, we proceed to other matters connected with the two societies. NUMBER OF CHILDREN. British Schools. — The total number of children is estimated at between 60,000 and 80^000. This esti- mate, however, (as the secretary of the society is careful to state,) cannot be relied upon ; there being but little certain information on the subject. The number of children in London is stated to be 12,300, as ascertained by the inspector employed by the so- ciety ; who, during the course of the last year, visited every school in the metropolis, and reported on each separately. The population of London at the last census (1831) was 1,500,000, or about one-ninth part of the entire population of England and Wales. Hence, if the British schools in the country generally bore a ratio to the population equal to what they do in Lon- don, the total number of children in them would be about 110,000. There is, however, little doubt that the towns are much better provided with schools than the rural districts ; and thus the secretary's estimate is probably not below the true number. National Schools. — In the Reports of the society, the number of children is stated to be about 500,000; 66 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. but, as we have seen, this number is probably much over-estimated. The number in London, as given in detail in the society's Report for 1833, is 19,100. Assuming this number to be correct, and taking the population of London as a basis of calculation, the re- sult would be 172,000 for the whole of England and Wales. The deficiency in the rural districts is pro- bably less as respects National schools, than British schools. However, without making any allowance for deficiency, the total as thus estimated falls far short of that laid down in the Reports of the society. RELATIVE PROPORTION OF THE SEXES IN THE NATIONAL AND BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOLS. British Schools Not known for the country at large. In London the number of girls is less than one half that of the boys ; there being only 3,800 girls to 8,500 boys. ' National Schools. — According to the report for London, the girls are to the boys in the proportion of two to three ; but according to the report for the country at large, the proportion is five boys to six girls. ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL. The average attendance at a considerable number of schools is mentioned in the Reports of the two societies. The total number of scholars on the lists in these schools is 11,700, and the average total number in attendance 8,850; which gives a proportion of three to four. The care, however, which would ATTENDANCE, &C. 67 insure a record of the attendance, and a transmission of the record to the parent society, would be hkely to produce unusual attention to the subject generally ; and hence the specimens given are probably too fa- vourable. Most of the schools, too, the attendance of which is reported, are in towns ; where the children are likely to be more regular in going to school than in the country. At Mr. Allen's school, at Lindfield, as we have seen, not more on an average than one half of the children attend ; and from the many un- usual attractions which that school possesses, we may expect that the attendance there is more regular than at most other country schools. AGE AT WHICH CHILDREN USUALLY ENTER THE SCHOOLS. Probably eight or nine. At the Borough Road School it varies from six to twelve. Education Report, page 20. AGE AT LEAVING SCHOOL. The children at the National Society's model-school, Westminster, leave at the average age of eleven years, (Education Heport, page 61.) This is probably about the general average. TIME AT SCHOOL. Not ascertained with any degree of certainty. At the Borough Road School the children remain about 68 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. a year on an average. (^Education Report, page 19.) At the National school, Westminster, the average time is stated to be about three years. Many chil- dren, howeve^ go to two or three schools in succession. We have in a former place assumed that the average length of a child's day-school education is about two years : and this is the nearest estimate we can make. USUAL STATE OF THE CHILDREN IN MORALS AND KNOWLEDGE WHEN THEY ENTER THE SCHOOLS. Not known. NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE EDUCATION WHICH IS PROFESSEDLY GIVEN. British Schools — Reading, writing, the elements of arithmetic, and a competent knowledge of the Scrip- tures. National Schools. — Reading, writing, (generally), the elements of arithmetic, a competent knowledge of the Scriptures, and the Church Catechism. — (^Educa- tion Report — 3Ir. Dunns and Mr. Wigranis evidence.) In some of the British schools the education ex- tends to geography, and in a few to the elements of geometry, including the measurement of land. The following are among the schools thus distinguished : — the model-school in the Borough Road ; the school in Harp Alley, Farringdon Street ; and the schools at Devonport and Trowbridge. In some of the National schools, (as we have mentioned,) a valuable and im- portant improvement has been effected by the intro- duction of various branches of manual labour. SCHOOL-HOURS, &C. 69 SCHOOL-HOURS. Generally from six to eight hours daily, with a holi- day of either the half or the whole of Saturday. PLANS OF TEACHING. The monitorial system introduced by Dr. Bell is common to the schools of both societies. The British schools have adopted Mr. Lancaster's modifications ; the National schools have abided by Dr. Bell's plans. In many of the British schools a great improvement has been introduced during the last three or four years, with a view of rendering the exercises more intellec- tual, and of imparting general knowledge. We can- not do better than quote Mr. Dunn's own words on this head : " In what way do you endeavour to improve the ge- neral frame and capacity of their minds? — By inquir- ing the meaning of every word they read, of every word they write, and of everything they do. We never allow them to do anything without asking them how they do it, and why they do it. We avail our- selves fully of the principle of interrogation." Education Report, page 21. In the National schools this improvement has not yet been introduced ; and the consequence is a com- parative dulness and lethargy in their classes, except- ing always the schools which have adopted the excel- lent plan of mixing manual labour with ordinary school studies. How, indeed, is it possible for a poor child to keep up its attention, when its sole employment is 70 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. to dole out a few sentences as the slow turn goes round, and these containing many words to which he can attach no meaning, written in a style above his comprehension, and often relating to subjects in which he has not yet learned to feel an interest? Yet this is what is expected ; and many a hearty cuff is given to the poor fellow whose attention is found wandering. — When will a knowledge of human nature be deemed an essential qualification of a teacher ? In other words, when will he whose busi- ness it is to mould minds and dispositions be expected to have some acquaintance with the materials he has to deal with ? We rejoice, however, to see the amendment that has taken place in the British schools. We hope the good effect produced will lead to further improve- ments, and that the National Society will join in a friendly course of amelioration, each gladly adopting whatever of good may spring from the other. In his evidence before the Education Committee, Professor Pillans speaks thus of the plans pursued by the two Societies: " I conceive that the great defect in the system which the Church has patronized particularly hitherto, lies in the extremely limited nature of the information communicated, and the object being almost entirely confined to making members of the Church of Eng- land, and inculcating a blind submission to her, instead of imparting, along with religious instruction, that ge- neral information and intelligence which alone can make a school ultimately valuable to an individual who is to be in the lower walk of life. So narrow and un- PLANS OF TEACHING. 71 attractive is the instruction given in the schools which call themselves by a misnomer National, that I think it by no means unlikely that a considerable por- tion of the pupils, ten years after quitting them, will be found to have lost the power of reading. So little are their minds imbued with the love of books or of knowledge by the school business, that they have lit- tle temptation in the ordinary circumstances of a life of labour, to keep up the acquirement. 1 conceive that by far the most important point to be considered in a national system of education, is the course of in- struction that ought to be followed; and that as long as the books perused and the instructions delivered are of an exclusively religious cast, it is vain to expect that school-training will contribute materially to form a moral, religious, and intelligent population." ****** " What should you say with respect to the Lancas- terian schools: do you think they are equally deficient with National schools? — I should say that the Lancas- terian schools are greatly superior, as far as my obser- vation has gone ; and with regard to those in London, I think there can be no doubt about the superiority, considered in that point of view : there is much more play given to the faculties ; there is more spirit in the instruction, and a vastly greater fund of knowledge ac- quired. " Do you consider that the instruction given at the Borough Road School is quite equal, if not superior, to what is given at Mr. Wood's Sessional School at Edin- burgh? — I would not say superior, I think it is much of the same description." — Educatmi Report, ppAO-42. 72 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. ACQUIREMENTS REALLY MADE BY THE CHILDREN. There is a great want of trustworthy information on this head. We shall presently see what is reported respecting the acquirements made in the Borough Road School and in the National school at Westminster ; these, however, are avowedly model-schools, and it is probable the attainments there made are much above the average. Speaking of the schools generally, we cannot hope that more is acquired than an imperfect power of reading, (not sufficient in many cases to en- able a child to read with pleasure to itself,) a yet more imperfect power of writing, and an acquaintance with the first three or four rules in arithmetic. In the schools in country parishes especially, the knowledge obtained is, we fear, exceedingly scanty. The Bishop of London, in his evidence before the Education Com- mittee, says that few children in country schools do more than acquire the power of reading a chapter in the Gospels with tolerable correctness. GOVERNMENT AND DISCIPLINE OF THE SCHOOLS. When we compare the actual state of things in these schools with what we know to be practicable, we are struck with the fact that great improvements have yet to be made ; but when we call to mind what we have seen and heard of the state of things in the lower class of schools twenty or thirty years ago, — nay, what is still found in many schools of higher preten- sions, both public and private, even at the present day, — we immediately become sensible that, comparatively GOVERNMENT AND DISCIPLINE. 73 speaking, these humble scholars have indeed their lines in pleasant places. True, authority is not as yet always backed by reason ; still less does reason al- ways precede the exercise of authority. Too often are blows and harsh words resorted to, where gentler punishment or perhaps even admonition would produce the desired effect. We have no hesitation in saying, that where the means exist of putting the refractory into solitude, the master who cannot govern his pupils without rating and striking them may rest assured that he has undertaken a task for which he is not qua- lified. Still, we are aware that the limited funds of the societies must in many instances render it impos- sible on the one hand to erect the necessary buildings for this mode of punishment, and on the other to offer such salaries as will secure the services of men of ta- lent, and induce them to go through the course of training, mental and moral, which is of capital import- ance to every one who seeks to be a teacher. There are, we trust, few schools among those con- nected either with the British and Foreign School Society ,'"or the National School Society, in which flog- ging in its most revolting form is in use. On the other hand, we fear that there are very {"ew indeed from which corporal punishment is wholly excluded. Certainly this desirable end has not been attained at the model school in Westminster ; and even at that in the Borough Road there is still to be found some little of the old leaven. At the former school, even the monitors are allowed to feed their bad passions by striking their companions. Many advantages would be found in having the VOL. I. E 74 LANXASTERIAN AND RELL SCHOOLS. laws of a school written down and explained periodi- cally to tlie boys, the reasons of each law being fully gone into. The code of laws would be found an ex- cellent text-book for moral instruction, and moreover it would act as a great and safe check on those in whose hands power is placed. At present a master is often engaged at the same moment in the twofold occupation of lawgiver and executioner. An inciden- tal advantage which most schoolmasters, and state masters also, would find in Bentham's plan of assign- ing the reason of every law, would consist in this : — the statute-book would be shortened by the erasure of many laws for whose continuance no reason could be assigned. Still, while we point to the improvements which the comfort of the children, and yet more their moral and mental welfare, so strongly demand, let us never cease to look back with grateful acknowledgment on the happy change which has been already effected. The arrangements by which a sufficient corps of subordi- nate teachers is raised among the pupils, — thus re- lieving the master from the care of order in the detail, and at the same time keeping the pupils in compara- tively regular occupation, — these arrangements keep out of existence a thousand breaches of propriety, which in former times fretted the master beyond endurance, and drove him, in all such cases as were followed by detection, to visit the unfortunate offend- ers with merciless severity. That our readers may the better estimate the value of what has been done, we extract from Professor Pillans's admirable little work on the Principles of Elementary Teaching a passage illustrative of the state of things in former GOVERNMENT AND DISCIPLINE. /O times, and which, though it is intended as a descrip- tion of Scotch schools, will, we are sure, be at once acknowledged by our readers as no less accurately describing the rude proceedings found thirtj' or forty years ago in many schools on this side the Tweed. " Few situations occur in human life where order and method are more indispensable than in a school of this description. There are probably three or four classes of English reading, as many stages of arithme- tic, as many of penmanship, a class or two perhaps of Latin, and occasionally classes or individuals learn- ing some branch of the mathematics. Amidst such a distracting diversity of occupations, if the teacher has no method, the school must unavoidably fall into disorder, and the insubordination that would as cer- tainly follow can only be kept down by a very free and frequent use of the lash. Suppose one class on the floor saying to the master ; another has finished the tasks prescribed, and having nobody to say it to, abandons itself to strenuous idleness ; pupils come from various classes to inquire a word they cannot make out, to complain of a neighbour, to crave leave out, to ask what they are to do next, to show a copy or an account cast, or to beg a new sum to work. In such a scene of confusion worse confounded, we need not wonder that the child's progress should be slow and small ; the wonder is rather that he should succeed in learning anything." Those who have the merit of introducing, perfecting, establishing, and supporting the plans which have ren- dered this accurate picture of what was a very imper- fect portrait of what is, may justly lay claim to the gratitude of all schoolboys and all schoolboys' friends. E 2 76 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. HABITS OF THE CHILDREN', AND STATE OF MORALS AMONG THEM. Very little is known on this head. COST OF THEIR EDUCATION, (Including rent, taxes, salaries, and expenses of every Jiind.) About one pound per annum for each scholar. FUNDS, now RAISED. Partly by voluntary subscriptions, partly by pay- ments from the parents, and, in some of the schools, (principally those for girls,) partly by the produce of the children's labour. The payment by the parent varies from a penny to three pence or four pence per week ; and allowing for schools altogether free, the average is about three halfpence. Deducting for non- payment in the holidays, this sum is equal to about six shillings per annum. Hence, on an average, about one-third part of the expense of a child's education in a British or a National school is defrayed by the parent. EFFECTS OF THE EDUCATION GIVEN IN THE BRITISH AND NATIONAL SCHOOLS. We have already spoken of the great difficulty of procuring authentic information on this head in the absence of any general system of organization. The blame of this paucity of incontrovertible fact does not, however, lie with the friends of education : they EFFECTS PRODUCED. 77 would have the statistical department of government put into such an efficient condition, that not only should the real effect of education generally on the habits and welfare of the people be made fully manifest, but the operation of any particular plan in extensive use should be determined with at least tolerable accuracy. The true friends of education have no fear of the result of a full examination into its effects: on the con- trary, they are satisfied that such an examination would, in its consequences, do more to forward their cause than anything else that could be devised. They look upon education, however, as a means, and not an end; and should they become convinced that the end they have in view is not to be obtained by this means, — that "to develop the powers with which a child has been gifted by its Creator, to foster its best feelings, to present it with objects of interest and rational plea- sure, and to create in it a love for useful employment, — to trace before it, link by link, the chain b}' which vice and misery are inseparably connected, — in a word, to make it feel that to be virtuous is but to be wise; — should they be satisfied that to do this is not to promote the cause of virtue, the welfare of the individual, and the happiness of society, then would the friends of education wish to abandon their present pursuit, and engage in some other plan of benefiting their fellow-creatures. The evidence, however, which, even with our pre- sent imperfect means, has been collected respecting the effects of education, is too powerful to be resisted. We have already brought forward some strong facts, and v.e shall have opportunity of bringing forward many more. 78 LANCASTERIAN AXD BELL SCHOOLS. As regards the efficacy of the particular plans in use in the British schools and the National schools, we must depend, to a considerable extent, on the Reports of the two societies. We have already noticed the admira- ble results of the school in Gower's Walk, (which is in connexion with the National Society,) as ascertained by personal examination ; and we shall presently show that the British school in the Borough Road, so far as the subsequent course of the children can be traced, has proved very successful as a preventive of crime, and a means of raising useful and worthy members of society. The following are the extracts from the Reports of the two societies ; — BRITISH SCHOOLS. Harp Alley, — " It is gratifying to observe that the efforts which have thus been made to improve the boys have been eminently successful. They are evidently interested in their studies, and attached to the insti- tution ; a pleasing proof of which is afforded by the circumstance that many of the monitors, after having been engaged for six hours during the day in the re- gular business of the school, attend in tlic evening a class which is taught by the master on his own account in the same room; thus evincing a most laudable de- sire to take advantage of ever}'^ opportunity of acquir- ing useful knowledge before they arc placed out in the world. " Another circumstance to which the committee have much pleasure in adverting, is the very neat and clean appearance of the boys, especially at the annual EFFECTS PRODUCED. 79 examination ; a circumstance so striking, that several strangers have exclaimed on seeing them, ' These are not children of the poor !' The committee have no hesitation in affirming that, vi^ith few exceptions, the boys are actually the children of parents in the hum- bler walks of life. They are delighted to witness the efforts which are made by these persons to rise above the evils of their condition ; they regard this improve- ment in dress and general appearance as one of the most incontestable proofs that the education which is given at Harp Alley School is producing its proper effects ; and they rejoice to think that their exertions are thus instrumental in hastening the arrival of that happy period when the diffusion of knowledge shall become universal, and when ignorance and misery shall no longer be regarded as the almost inseparable attendants of poverty." Report for 1834, p. 45. Ly7in School. — "At the annual meeting of the com- mittee of this school, held at the Guildhall, on the 8th of February, a selection of boys attended for the pur- pose of exhibiting specimens of penmanship, and to be exercised in mental recreations, customary on such occasions. The committee felt warranted to state, from the excellency of the system under which the school is managed, that the education imparted to the pupils is of a character truly practicable for common life ; and they are fully borne out in this assertion by the desire of tradesmen to be furnished with boys for their service from this school in preference to others found elsewhere. LANCASTERIAN AXD BELL SCHOOLS. " The friends of education in this town feel fully con- vinced that the moral condition of the inhabitants is abundantly promoted by such a useful auxiliary among the poorer classes of society ; for, recurring to the grand test of experience, it will be found that in pro- portion to the dissemination of religious instruction, there has been a visible diminution of wickedness and crime. Contrasting the moral state of the population with that which existed twenty-five years ago, when the school in question was organized, there is every encouragement for continued and increased exertion on the part of those who have the best interests of the rising generation at heart." Report for 1833, p. 66. NATIONAL SCHOOLS. Lincolnshire Society. — " The general character of our old scholars is very good. Many could be named who are holding excellent situations. Three or four of the oldest pupils (who never had any other instruc- tion but from the National school) have held situa- tions in attorneys' offices seventeen years ; one in a merchant's the same time ; a great many others ten or twelve years ; and a great many good servants of all descriptions. In fact, we know not of more than two or three (who have attended regularly for two or three years) but what are very creditable to us during the last twenty years ; and we have more applications for children to go into places tlian we can supply." Report for 1834, p. 70. EFFECTS PRODUCED. Western Sussex Society. — " The result of inquiries respecting boys admitted into the Sussex Central School, from 1812 to 1826, is as follows : — Present Employment of the Old Scholars. Schoolmasters , 4 jNIasters in Trade . 29 Clerks, &:c. . , 17 INIechanics, Labourers, or Servants . 282 Soldiers and Sailors . 35 Emigrated , , 14 Guilty of Crime , . *7 Dead , , 40 Unknown • 202 Total 630 Characters selected as good . 271 middling . 59 not good 54 Removed or unknown * 246 630 " The greater part of the girls go to place in fami- lies in the city and neighbourhood, and bear very good characters, and continue in their situations for a length of time. The children are in great demand as servants, so that the first class is constantly being spoilt by the numbers who leave it for situations." Report for 1834, p. 68. MODEL SCHOOLS AND TRAINING ESTABLISHMENT. Each society has its model school, and establish- ment for training teachers ; the two being in each case united. The model school and training esta- * Four of these belong to families who are notoriously bad. e5 82 LAXCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. blishment of the British and Foreign School Society is in the Borough Road, Southwark ; that of the National Society is in the Sanctuary, Westminster. This latter society has also several model schools and training establishments on a smaller scale in different parts of the country. The training establishments arc, as we have re- marked, in a very imperfect state ; affording only a few months' instruction ; and that to young men who in many instances have a very scanty stock of knowledge to start with, and who for several years have been engaged in occupations altogether unconnected with the business of education. Everything, however, is comparative ; and in the absence of any other public provision for preparing teachers for popular elemen- tary schools, these training establishments are very valuable, and reflect great credit on those who founded them. We have lately visited the principal model schools of each society, and the following is the result of our observations : — Boroxujh Road School. — This school appears to be very ably conducted, so far as the limited means in use will allow. Our first glance round the room gave us a favourable impression. The general appearance of life and cheerfulness among the scholars ; the intelli- gence and vivacity of the monitors ; and the ardour, talent, and good-temper which were depicted in the countenance of the master, satisfied us that there must be much that was excellent in the working of the school. The room in whidi the boys are taught is exceed- ingly spacious and lofty ; so that even when the Borough road school. 83 whole school is assembled (to the number of 500), there is no feeling of closeness or impurity in the air. The girls, of whom there are about 300, are taught in a separate room. When we entered the boys' school-i'oom, most of the classes were occupied in reading ; and we were much pleased with the care that was taken to see that the children understood every word they uttered. Indeed, it appeared to us, that if there were any fault, it lay in carrying the sys- tem of questioning too far ; for the exercise was often persisted in until the original object was quite lost sight of. Thus, the word parable gave rise to the following questions : What is a parable ? Name one. Who spake the first parable ? Who was Jotham 1 &c. &c. Now it is evident that the two first questions only had anything to do with the signification of the word under consideration. Again, the word silver led to a series of questions and answers, running on, as nearly as we can recollect, as follows : What is the colour of silver ? — White. What is made of silver ? — Shillings and sixpences. What other metal is used to make money with ? — Copper and gold. Where does silver come from? — South America.* What also comes from South America? — Sugar and coffee. * Vv'hen no member of the class can answer the (juestion, the information is supplied by the monitor or teacher. 84 LANCASTEllIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. What is the plant called from which sugar is obtained ? — The sugar-cane. Who discovered America? — Columbus. &c. &c. Now we at once admit, that it is far better that such information as this should be communicated in a de- sultory manner than not at all : but it appears to us that it would be a considerable improvement to give connected and systematic instruction in different branches of knowledge, and confine the business of explanation to its direct object. A rambling kind of teaching, while it fixes but comparatively little in the mind, has a tendency to create mental fickleness — a pernicious failing. Anything, however, is better than the old, tiresome, and stultifying plan of reading on without regard to the meaning of what is being uttered. After we had heard several of the classes read under the monitors, the monitors themselves were formed into a class for reading. The book was the New Tes- tament, and we were invited to select a chapter. We were much struck with the feeling, the attention to emphasis and inflection, and the general propriety, with which the boys read. We have in fact seldom lieard better reading from children of any rank of life ; and, whether regarded as a distinct accomplishment, or as an index of mental cultivation, the exercise re- flected great credit on the children and their instruc- tors. We afterwards examined a class of monitors in mental arithmetic, and in the elements of practical geometry ; and we found the boys very expert in their powers of calculation and possessing clear conceptions BOROUGH nOAD SCHOOL. 85 of the nature and properties of many geometrical figures. While we were engaged in these examinations, the general classes had formed at the desks for writing. The boys write on slates, and (excepting those just begin- ning) from the dictation of the monitors. As the writ- ing goes forward, the monitors keep passing to and fro, to point out errors in the spelling, faults in the writing, &c. ; the master superintending the whole, as usual. We looked over the slates of many of the boys, and were pleased with the neatness of the writing and the general correctness of the spelling, The drudgery of repeating the multiplication-table is got over here, as in infant schools, by setting the table to music. At a given signal, one of the monitors led off to the tune of " Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea." We were much amused at hear- ing the quiet and unassuming facts of the multiplica- tion-table come forth in such animating and heart-stir- ring periods. We suppose the little fellow reserved this air for state occasions, for all the other airs were of a much more homely kind. The children sang in good tune and good time ; but as they did not take different parts, the pleasing effect of harmony was wanting. In a school where economy is necessarily an import- ant object, and where the children remain for so short a time as thirteen months only on an average, the course of instruction cannot but be very limited, though in the present instance the actual progress is greater than a consideration of these obstacles would have allowed us to expect. We made particular inquiries as to what acquirements the children did in fact make ; and 86 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. the information we received agrees with that given by Mr. Dunn to the Education Committee, which there- fore we extract : — " WTiat amount of knowledge do those who are best educated possess when they leave your school ? — Those who remain in the school for twelve months will learn to read well ; but those remaining for three or four years will both read and write Mell, and per- form any sum in the common books of arithmetic ; they acquire also a considerable knowledge of geogra- phy, can draw maps, and are made acquainted with the elements of geometry. Their general intelligence, judging from the opinions expressed by visiters, is equal to that of any boys of their age." *' You are speaking of those children that remain for three years ? — Yes ; but these are a very small number. With regard to children remaining one year, I should say that they read well, write fairly, and have a tolerable knowledge of the first four rules of arithmetic. This is, however, about the average of the whole." " Could they write from dictation ? — They invari- ably write from dictation ; we but rarely use copies in the school." " And could do that correctly? — When I say fairly, I speak of what we call fair writing for a labouring man." " It is not that facility which gentlemen acquire? —No." " It is in fact a laborious effort ? — Yes ; and I would not say that they all read with such ease as to ensure the fact of their never forgetting it, and reading being a pleasure to them. Without they are able to do this, BOROUGH ROAD SCHOOL. 87 we consider that they learn very Uttle. Those who are three years with us will read well, and so far understand what they read, that any book placed before them they will enjoy. They will write as good a hand as many boys leaving boarding-schools in London." " In arithmetic, how far will they have advanced ? — Through any school arithmetic." " And become masters of vulgar fractions ? — Com- pletely so. We have a few boys in the school (as indeed might be expected out of 500 boys properly taught) who are almost prodigies in arithmetic." " Besides the reading, writing, and ordinary arith- metic, how much of other knowledge do they acquire ; such, for example, as geometry? — There is, of course, very great difference in the capacity of boys ; and in mentioning three years, I do not wish to be understood as asserting that this time is sufficient for every child's education. I give it as the shortest time in which a competent education can be imparted by efficient teachers. Generally speaking, teachers are not so efficient, and will require longer time. I speak of a boy of avei-age capacity, who has been under a com- petent teacher; this boy in that time will learn read- ing, writing, and arithmetic, geography, and the ele- ments of geometry." In addition to the foregoing acquirements, must be remembered the effect of the education (limited as it is) in awakening the mental powers, in attracting the boy to useful and innocent pursuits, in instilling sound principles, and in improving his general habits. These advantages, indeed, are among the most import- ant which education can dispense. 88 LAXCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. The usual punishment consists of detention out of school hours ; tasks are never imposed, and by the rules of the school the infliction of corporal punish- ment in any and every form is strictly forbidden. Still, the account of our visit would not be strictly correct if we did not mention that we observed some of the young men mIio were in process of training for teachers strike the boys occasionally on the back of the hand. Corporal punishment, even in its mildest form, is objectionable ; among other reasons, because it ne- cessarily weakens the influence of the teaclier on the mind and feelings of his pupil. In justice to the master, however, it must be recollected that the young men who are in training for teachers remain in the school too short a time to undergo any considerable change in their habits. Many of them, probably, have been in ill- regulated schools, and become accustomed to the bar- barous but easy means of producing a temporary effect which the rod affords; and they are likely to con- tinue the practice, unless they are incessantly watched. The interests of the school are in a measure compro- mised by the admission of these young men ; for the boy-monitors, whom they displace to a certain extent, are much more successful teachers. Another punishment which we found in use, and to which we strongly object, is that of public shame. The boy whom we observed suffering under its inflic- tion had been guilty of riotous behaviour during les- son-time. His punishment was twofold ; and it is to the latter part only that our present objection applies. The first part consisted in a dismissal from his class, backed by a permanent prohibition against his resum- ing in any other class the pursuit which had been in- BOROUGH ROAD SCHOOL. 89 terrupted by his misconduct, — namely, geography. This punishment, especially the expulsion from the class, arose naturally from the offence, and tended to place the acquisition of knowledge in its true light before the culprit and the school at large. It was as- sumed that knowledge is a thing to be prized, and that to withhold it is a punishment; whereas the too gene- ral practice of instructors is to treat knowledge as a drug, of which an extra quantity is to be forced upon any child who shall misconduct himself. There is nothing which might not be rendered disgusting by such a plan of proceeding. If the very sweetmeats of which children are so fond were pressed upon them at all times, without regard to inclination or appetite, desire would soon give place to loathing, Thus far, then, the kind of punishment to which the boy was subjected (for we say nothing of the degree) was, in our opinion, judicious. But he was further ordered to sit for a number of days in a conspicuous place during school-time, an object of public disgrace. In the propriety of this we cannot concur. In truth, the subjecting of boys to shame has many of the ob- jections which apply to corporal punishment. It is, in the first place, glaringly artificial ; and without now considering the general propriety of artificial punish- ments, we presume every one must admit that it is difficult to explain their reasonableness. Thus the culprit is likely to think himself harshly treated ; and, what is still worse, there is great danger of public sym- pathy being on his side. Again, public shame is a very unequal punishment. To the boy of keen sensi- bility it is very painful ; to the one of dull feeling it is a mere bagatelle. And, in the last place, this punish- 90 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. ment throws a boy into a position in which he is strongly tempted to put a bold face on the matter, — to affect, and as far as he can to feel, contempt for the school, its teachers, and its laws. We have however dwelt enough on the punishments in use in the Borough Road School : indeed, punish- ment in any form appears to be employed but to a very moderate extent, and by no means to constitute a striking feature of the system pursued. The artificial rewards consist in the distribution of little tickets which have a certain value attached to them; the principal natural reward is promotion to the office of monitor, a post of great ambition. The necessity both of rewards and punishments is much reduced by the extent to which the exercises of the school are ren- dered interesting and agreeable. The admixture of useful and productive labour would, we are satisfied, render them still more attractive; and another advan- tage would arise, inasmuch as the parents would in all probability keep their children much longer in the school. In Gower's Walk, where printing is taught, the children stay on an average three years ; whereas at the Borough Road School, the average time does not exceed thirteen months. A charge of two pence per week is made for each child attending the school. These pence amounted last year to 234/. which is within a trifle of the cur- rent expense of the schools, exclusive of rent and taxes, which may be estimated at between 200/. and 300/. The total expense, therefore, may be put down at about .500/. a year. The number of children on the books is about 800, and the average attendance, as calculated from the sum of money paid by the BOXOUGH ROAD SCHOOL. 91 children, must be about 600. It appears, then, that 600 children receive a year's education, such as we have described, for about 500/. ! — not more than 16*. 8d. per head ! Surely few things are in their na- ture so cheap as elementary education. The usual difficulties exist for ascertaining what is really the after-career of the children who have passed through the Borough Road School. As far, however, as facts have been gleaned, they speak very favourably for the effect produced. The following is extracted from the evidence of Mr. Dunn (the secretary of the society), and from that of Mr. Crossley, the master of the school. 3Ir. Dunn : — " Do you think that the society has any oppor- tunities of learning the destiny, in after-life, of those who have been remarkably good scholars in the cen- tral school, or in other schools of the society ? — In several instances we can trace them. We know that many of them are occupying situations as clerks or assistants in shops or warehouses, and generally suc- ceeding ; and many are employed as gratuitous Sun- day school teachers." 3Ir. Crossley: — " Have you been able to judge from any instances that have come under your observation, that boys educated at the Borough School have afterwards pre- served a quickness and intelligence, and a capacity for learning, which they have there acquired ? — If their success in life be at all a test, we have many proofs. Having been for many years at the school, and thousands of children having passed through it under me, there is no part of the town where I do 92 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. not constantly meet them ; and I have made inqinries on every occasion that I could, and I find them ge- nerally such as I could wish ; they certainly have ac- quired a degree of quickness above boys educated on the old system." *' Will you state what is the result of your obser- vation upon the boys educated in your school as com- pared Mith other boys who have received any suffi- cient education? — I can speak of the boys that go from the school ; and with very few exceptions indeed they are filling situations, giving much satisfaction to their friends and to their masters. As to other boys, I cannot speak of them precisely by way of compa- rison ; but I find that boys from other schools, and boys I meet about in various situations, do not possess the same quickness upon the average, ceteris paribus. The tendency of repeated questioning pursued in every stage of their instruction must be to make them quick." " What kind of situations have you known them to fill ? — They principally go out as errand-boys ; sometimes they are taken into offices." " Have you ever known them employed to serve in shops ? — Yes, many are employed in shops, and many of them are filling respectable situations in life. I could point out a large number who are in business for themselves as small shopkeepers." " From the information you have collected, do you find that they discharge the duties of those situations with a due regard to their character and to their duties ? — We have repeated assurances of this ; and as far as our own observation goes, it is borne out. We find them coming out as Sunday school teachers, BOROUGH ROAD SCHOOL. 93 and becoming useful in various ways. Some of the British schools have been principally established by boys who have left the school. There is just now an instance at Hemel Hempstead. A young man who was in the school about three years, having been a little successful in his business, has established a school, and has with him now the principal monitor of the central school to superintend it as master." Education Report, page 85. In addition to the foregoing, we are enabled to state that no one instance has ever come to the know- ledge of the directors, of a child who had been a mem- ber of the school being subsequently convicted of a criminal offence. Mr. Crossley, to whom in a great degree the school is indebted for its present excellent state, has held his situation as master for more than fourteen years. He was once a member of the school himself, and was one of Mr. Lancaster's monitors at the time the school was under that gentleman's direction. Mr. Crossley appears to have done very much, especially during the last two or three years, towards rendering the exercises of the school more intellectual than they formerly were, or than the exercises of most schools are at the present moment. One chief means by which this improvement has been effected consists in a superior training of monitors. As there are many schools which are now provided with libraries, we need scarcely mention that the Borough Road School is not deficient in this respect. The children eagerly avail themselves of the oppor- tunity thus afforded, and the library is found to be a means of diffusing a good deal of general information. 94 LAN'CASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. In confirmation of our testimony in favour of the Borough Road Schools we have much pleasure in re- ferring to that of Professor Pillans. Mr. Pillans ex- amined the school in the Borough Road a short time ago, and he spoke to us in high terms of the pleasure he had received. An American gentleman, too, who takes an interest in all that relates to education, visited the school lately, and declared that he had seen no public school in America that would compare with it. It must not, of course, be expected that the gene- rality of schools in connexion with the British and Foreign School Society are equal to the one we have been describing. The school in the Borough Road is avowedly a model school, and as such is likely to be under superior management. Training Estahlishme7it. — The number of scholar- teachers (as the French call them) is generally about 24. Their time is divided between teaching and learn- ing ; or, to speak more accurately, between the prac- tical study of didactics, and the acquisition of that knowledge which it will be their duty to communicate. They are expected to apply very closely to their studies while they are in the establishment ; and, in point of fact, they are at work, with but short interruptions, from five in the morning till nine at night. Still their stay is so brief, (not exceeding three months on an average,) that they necessarily leave the schools in a very imperfect state of preparation. As might be ex- pected, those are found best to succeed who have a love for the profession ; this quality making up for great deficiency in positive acquirements ; and indeed doing much towards enabling the possessor to make rapid progress in the various studies in which a teacher BOKOUGH nOAD SCHOOL. 95 should excel. On this subject Mr. Dunn gives the following evidence before the Education Committee : — " Those teachers that 3'ou send out to the country, are those persons who have served their time to other professions, and have applied to you, and whom you have found competent ? — The persons who make the best teachers in our schools are intelligent me- chanics, or persons who have been employed in shops or warehouses, but who seem attached to teaching : these are the class of persons we want, and we gene- rally find them out by inquiring for them in Sunday schools. We consider that a person who has given up the Sunday voluntarily to the gratuitous instruc- tion of the poor, has afforded evidence that he has some taste for teaching, and may probably be useful in a day school. We have frequently found that per- sons who have been through life accustomed to pri- vate tuition, although possessed of considerable attain- ments, make very poor teachers of British schools. A large class of persons may be met with who have acquired a good deal, but who have no ability for communicating what they know to children." It is a most benevolent provision of the Creator, that the act of communicating knowledge, while it benefits the recipient, affords so much pleasure to the donor. In some indeed the love of teaching becomes quite a passion. An instance of this occurred lately at the Borough Road School. A young man, who had a situa- tion in the Excise worth 200/. a year, threw it up, and entered at the Borough Road School to qualify himself to become a schoolmaster, with no other prospect than one of incessant labour, and a pittance of 601. or 70/. a year. After going through the usual routine, 96 LAXCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. he accepted an appointment, in which he was to have a small house and a salary of 50/. a year. This ap- pointment he holds to this day ; and in spite of hard work and narrow income, he is probably a happier man than he would have been had he gone on strug- gling with his natural feelings, and cleaving to an oc- cupation which was distasteful to him. But how much is it to be lamented, that a person cannot follow so honourable an impvdse as that of a desire to dissemi- nate knowledge, without sacrificing the ordinary com- forts of life ! In what profession can a man possibly engage, in which he may better promote the welfare of society? Surely it behoves the State to make such reasonable compensation to those who are able and willing to assist in rearing her sons and daughters — the future masters of her destinies — as shall raise them above the petty cares of life ! But on this sub- ject we shall have more to say at a future time. We cannot close this short notice of the model school in the Borough Road without strongly recom- mending our readers to peruse the whole of the evi- dence given by Mr. Dunn before the Committee of the House of Commons : they will find their time amply repaid by the number of interesting facts and able deductions which it contains. MODEL SCHOOL OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY, SANCTUARY, WESTMINSTER. We are sorry not to have it in our power to report as favourably of this school as of the one in the Borough Road. The fact is, there is a striking con- trast between the two. We did not find here the sprightliness and intelligence whicli had delighted us NATIONAL SCHOOL, WESTMINSTER. 97 in the Borough Road School ; but in their stead were to be seen too many signs of dulness, weariness, and fear. The discipHne, we admit, is very efficient : the most perfect order prevailed ; every boy was to an inch in the place assigned him, and not a word was uttered contrary to rule ; — nay, so strict was the si- lence, that all our efiPorts had failed, as we approached the school, to catch the least indication of murmuring labours within ; and we had nearly come to the con- clusion that the boys had not assembled. We fully admit the advantages of this order ; we are fully aware that its maintenance not merely aids the progress of the boys, but prevents the commission of many of- fences which would render severe punishment neces- sary. But an equally precise degree of order can be obtained by a mild yet firm system of government ; and further, we venture to assert, that, useful as it is to accustom children to instant and exact obedience, the advantage is too dearly purchased if they are to be constantly under the operation of the demoralizing passion of fear — the generator of deception and cow- ardice, and therefore of misery. Soon after we entered, a signal was given for the boys to rise from their seats, preparatory to a change of exercise. The signal appeared to us to be obeyed with promptitude and with an anxiety to be right. The master, however, was not satisfied ; probably his prac- tised eye detected some irregularities which escaped our notice. The order was repeated ; again the obe- dience was not satisfactory. A third time the order was given, backed by the menace of severe general pu- nishment in case of a third delinquency. We watched the movement with anxiety, and we were not a little VOL. I. F 98 LANCASTERIAN AND BELL SCHOOLS. relieved at finding that this third performance of the manoeuvre satisfied the master. We cannot suppose that failure would really have been followed by the execution of the threat ; though there was that in the tone of the master and the looks of the boys which rendered it impossible for us to feel altogether easy as to the result ; and if no real intention existed of inflicting the menaced chastisement, still the measure was objectionable, as injurious to that confidence in the master so necessary to secure the respect and ha- bitual obedience of the pupils. We were sorry to remark the harsh language and angry tones in which the boys were constantly ad- dressed ; and we were still more grieved to witness the cuffs and blows that were inflicted from time to time. We walked round the reading classes as we had done in the Borough Road School, but with com- paratively little pleasure ; the proceedings not being relieved and intellectualized by judicious questions and explanations, and the monotonous tones of the readers too well showing that the sense had not reach- ed their heads, still less penetrated to their hearts. Of another exercise we are glad to speak far more favour- ably : we looked over^the writing of some of the boys, and all such specimens as we saw were very good. On inquiring how long the children remained in the school, and what they generally acquired, we were told that they stay on an average as much as three years ; and that before leaving, they can generally read easily, can write, and work arithmetical opera- tions in either of the first four simple and compound rules in arithmetic, and have moreover acquired a tolerable knowledge of the Scriptures. NATIONAL SCHOOL, WESTMINSTER. 99 There is a library attached to the school, to which the monitors only, as we believe, have access. Some of the young men who are in process of train- ing for teachers were in the school-room while we were there. They were standing in a class of little boys, and appeared to be performing the same exer- cises as their juvenile companions — in a word, to be pro tempore scholars. We understood that in this manner the}' passed through the classes seriatim, until they reached the top ; by which time they were gene- rally ready to be draughted off as teachers. To young men thus employed, the presence of strangers was, as might be expected, obviously unpleasant ; and though the discipline to which they wei'e subjected is in ac- cordance with the maxim by which we are taught that we must learn to obey before learning to command, we greatly doubt whether the balance of advantage is in favour of this humiliation. Perhaps this brief account of the National Society's model school may appear to some too little lauda- tory : we fear, however, that it will be found just. The arrangement by which the school is thrown open to visiters is a liberal one ; and we should be very sorry to have made an unfair use of it, in publishing the result of our observations. We cannot, however, look upon the society in the light of a private body. It calls for general support; and a large sum of public money has lately been disbursed under its direction ; the Lords of the Treasury having determined that the parliamentary grant of 20,000/. for purposes of education* should be applied exclusively to the build- ing of schools recommended either by the National * Written in 1834. f2 100 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. Society or the British and Foreign School Society : and, in point of fact, the National Society's share of the grant was upwards of 11,000/. ; that of the British and Foreign Society being somewhat less than 9000/. Under these circumstances, the schools of both so- cieties are open to public criticism. The tone of that criticism, however, should be modified by a considera- tion of the disinterested motives by which these so- cieties are chiefly influenced, and the great exertions they have made to promote the public good. We should be very sorry to fall into the disgusting error, so common in this country and elsewhere, of attacking those who do much, because they do not ac- complish more ; and, at the same time, laying no blame on those who do nothing at all ; among which number are generally to be found the detractors themselves. When, therefore, we point out defects in the Na- tional Society's model school, we must not be con- sidered as casting any reproach on the society, but merely as indicating circumstances which tend to lessen its amount of positive merit. SUNDAY SCHOOLS. Few improvements were ever adopted more eagerly, or carried forward more rapidly, than the plan of em- ploying a part of the Sunday in the education of the l)oor. Fifty years ago, and the infant poor of this country were wandering about on the Sunday, idle, dirty, ignorant, and immoral. The great mass of them are now received into schools, where at least some amount of regular occupation is found, and some in- struction is given; where cleanliness and neatness are much cultivated, and where, for the most part, they NUMBER OF CHILDREN. 101 come under the care of persons who are likely to treat them with kindness, and gradually to acquire an inter- est in their welfare. Number of Children in Sunday Schools. — We Iiave already endeavoured to show, that if all the chil- dren of the poor went to Sunday schools, and remained there four years on an average, the total number in the schools at any one time would be about 1,100,000, or 1,200,000: the real number may probably be about 800,000 or 900,000. Attendance. — On this head we have little posi- tive knowledge : we apprehend, however, that there is generally much irregularity. The following specimen of attendance is extracted from the evidence of Mr. Althans, Secretary of the East London Auxiliary Sun- day Schools' Union. We are, however, inclined to think it too favourable as a sample of the general habit. " As respects the attendance of Sunday schools, is it very regular? — There is a paper which states the attendance in one school last Sunday, and I think that may be taken as a specimen of the attendance at Sun- day schools generally. ' At Virginia Chapel Sunday School, Bethnal Green, June 29th, 1834, on the books — teachers, 23; scholars, 247 : in attendance, — morning, 23 teachers, 188 scholars ; afternoon, 23 teachers, 220 scholars.' I think this will be a fair specimen of the Sunday schools in general ; except that I rather think this school is in a better condition than some of the schools, because the teachers are very devoted." " The attendance of the children depends in a great measure upon the zeal and interest which the teachers themselves show ? — Almost entirely." VOL. I. F 3 102 sunday schools. Average length of a Sunday School Edu- cation. — This we have estimated at about four years. Time in School Generally three or four hours each Sunday. Nature and Extent of the Education pro- fessedly GIVEN. — Almost always confined to reading only. There are however exceptions to this rule. At the great Stockport Sunday School, for instance, writ- ing and arithmetic are added ; and the same is done at two large Sunday schools in Birmingham, contain- ing together about 1,300 children. Many Sunday schools, too, have evening schools connected with them, open two or three times a week, in which writing and arithmetic are taugl't; but, according to Mr. Althans' evidence, the habit of attending these schools is gene- rally confined to the elder boys. Means of Instruction and Plans of Teach- ing. — The system of boy-monitors is not in use in Sunday scliools. The schools depend for their supply of teachers on the voluntary services of the young men and women belonging to the different religious congregations ; and, to the honour of our country be it spoken, this source is found abundantly suffici- ent, although the number required is very great, (ienerally speaking, there is one teacher to every ten or twelve scholars ; so that if we estimate the total number of scholars at 900,000^ the number of teach- ers cannot be less than from 70,000 to 80,000. It is a fact that argues well for the system of Sunday school education, and is at the same time highly creditable to our working classes, that a large majority of these gratuitous teachers are persons who liave themselves been brought up in Sunday schools : and indeed this MEANS OF INSTRUCTION, ETC. 103 is essential to the present extended scale of operations; for though a fair proportion of the middle classes join in this labour of love, yet it is the working classes alone that are sufficiently numerous to furnish the requisite supply. The following is extracted from Mr. Althans' evidence : — " Have you any children that stay the whole time in the school ? — We have some that stay till sixteen : they become monitors and afterwards teachers, and are the best teachers we can get." "Are those instances very rare? — No: out of 23 teachers in one school, 18 have been scholars." Mr. Braidley, Boroughreeve of Manchester, who was examined by the Committee on the state of education in that town, states that, of 120 teachers and superin- tendents in a large Sunday school with which he is con- nected, all except two or three were brought up in the school : and on being asked whether there was any difficulty in keeping up so large a number of teachers, replied, " None whatever : we generally find that a sufficient number of the elder children are, from prin- ciple, willing to stop in the school to educate others." Libraries. — We are happy to say that it is becom- ing more and more the practice for Sunday schools to have libraries connected with them. The value of a library must, of course, depend very much on the selec- tion of books ; and it frequently happens, in forming libraries for the poor and half-educated, that the im- portance of including such works as are interesting and amusing is too little kept in view. The very ex- istence however of a library is a proof of its possessing some attraction, since without readers it would speed- ily fall into neglect and decay. We may therefore feel sure that a certain amount of good is being done ; 104 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. and probably with increased experience the error we have spoken of will be remedied. Acquirements really made. — In addition to the religious knowledge obtained in Sunday schools, of which, from its variety in kind and degree, it would be difficult to make any general report, there can be no doubt that a great number of children acquire there the power of reading fluently, and a small number (very small when compared with the whole) learn to write, and obtain some knowledge of arithmetic. But here, we fear, the enumeration of acquirements ends. Doubtless (til the children make some progress in read- ing ; but where, as is frequently the case, the power is acquired in so slight a degree that its exercise con- tinues to be a business of labour rather than pleasure, the value of the accomplishment is but small. Still there is no doubt that thousands and tens of thousands among the working classes, including most of those who by their superior talent were likely to become leaders, have by means of Sunday schools acquired the power of reading fluently : and this we hold to be in itself a very important acquisition, and one which does much towards accounting for the great effects which we believe Sunday schools to have produced. As the question of the value of reading without re- ference to other acquirements is of great importance especially as regards the operation of Sunday schools, we shall venture to digress a little into its examina- tion. We are aware that there are many who maintain that an education which confers the power of reading, and which does not at the same time cultivate the in- tellect and moral feelings, with a view of securing against the abuse of this power, is useless — nay, perni- ACQUIREMENTS MADE. 105 cious. In this opinion we cannot agree ; for while we shall rejoice over every extension in the province of education, and while we feel as strongly as any can do how meagre it is at present even in our best schools, we cannot think one deficiency, however unfortunate, just cause for the creation of another : neither can we refuse to scatter our seed though tares may mingle with the crop ; or withhold the use of an instrument, powerful for good, because in some instances it may be available for ill. We would no more refrain from giving instruction in reading on the grounds al- leged, than we would object to teach a child to walk until we were well assured that he was thoroughly ac- quainted with all the pits, ditches, wells, and quag- mires in the neighbourhood. If a child's path were so beset with danger, that unless watched at every step he would probably be killed or made a cripple for life, it might be necessary to defer teaching him to walk until he could be forewarned against the dangers he had to encounter, and taught how to avoid them. So, if the great mass of literature were of a baneful kind, then we admit it would be unwise to give a child the power of reading, unless he could at the same time be well fortified against temptation, and carefully in- structed what books to choose. If any one suspects for a moment that the general character of our literature is bad, let him enter a bookseller's shop, and take up a number of books in- disci'iminately, and examine the general tendency of each : he will soon find how very few, comparatively, are the works of a pernicious tendency. Then let him inquire into the comparative sale of the different books he has picked up, and he will, we think, at once F 5 106 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. conclude that, with Hterary as with edible food, wholesome nutriment is the rule — poison the rare exception. We much question even if there be any branch of literature which would not bear a like examination. We presume, however, that the two departments re- specting which most doubts would be raised are those of fiction and politics. — First, as regards fiction. We think it would be very difficult to point out a single popular writer, the moral standard of whose works is not decidedly ahead of that of the public at large : and this, be it observed, is sufficient for our purpose ; since, while we are injured by contact with inferior morality, we are benefited by the influence of that which is superior, be the superiority never so little. How much more triumphant, however, will be the defence of these writers, when we demand whether their works are not of purer morality, than the gossip, the scandal, the slang, the ribaldry, with which those who have no opportunity of communing with books often try to keep off ennui ! Assuredly the two most popular writers of our own day — Sir Weaker Scott and Miss Edgeworth, deserve well of their country — we may say of mankind, for the truth and power witli which they have traced the course of virtue and of vice. Every chord of our heart vibrates in turn at their magic touch ; we laugh, we weep, we admire, we condemn, we rejoice, we pity, — and rarely is our sympathy carried in the wrong channel. In the scene at the farmhouse in " Old Mortality," we tremble for the high-minded and virtuous Henry Morton, and we shudder at the crimes to which gloomy fanaticism may lead. In " Guy POWER OF READING. 107 Mannering," we laugh at the Dominie for his eccen- tricities, while we love him for his affectionate heart and the perfect simplicity of his character. And who can follow the admirable Jeanie Deanes through her toils, dangers, and sufferings, in behalf of her erring but unfortunate sister, without becoming enamoured with a pure and sincere character, and feeling that true nobleness is confined to no sphere of life ? Whose eye but glistens at the account of the sufferings of the hardy old fisherman who had lost his son, and whom the Antiquary finds at his ordinary work, vainly endeavouring to struggle with the feelings of nature ? — Again, how many dry lessons in honesty would it not require to produce an effect equal to that which a child's mind must receive in perusing Miss Edge- worth's beautiful story of the Little Merchants ! What child could read the tale of Lazy Laurence without acquiring some taste for useful labour, and without forming a resolution to shun bad company ? or the story of the Cherry Orchard, without seeing the folly of anger and ill temper ? How many thousands might have been deterred from going to the gaming-table if they had early in life read the story of the Lottery, where, by a chain of circumstances as natural as it is beautifully traced, success itself leads to misery! In this way we might run through most of the works of these admirable writers, and show how each tends to the promotion of virtue and morality. Nor is it by resorting to artifice and improbability that this is accomplished. The very power of the author depends on his abiding by Nature ; for the reader's mind and heart are more or less worked upon as he feels the truth or falseness of the portraits before 108 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. him. Errors may and do appear in the very best works ; the reward of virtue and the punishment of vice being generally made to appear more certain in their operation on a man's success in life, (so far as the attainment of wealth and rank constitutes success,) than any institutions, however good, have hitherto rendered them. Imperfections, however, exist in other kinds of writing besides fiction, and to as great a degree. Let two historians of different opinions and different prejudices run through the records of any period in a country's history, and what a differ- ence, not merely in their conclusions, but even in their statements of facts ! in a word, how different, and therefore, in one instance at least, how false, will be the conceptions of their respective readers as to the same transaction ! The observation is no less applicable to two travellers visiting the same country and at the same time. The historian, the traveller, and the novelist may all draw from Nature's stores, (and must do so if they will be read,) and yet accord- ing to their selection of materials will they present a true or false image of the whole. Which of these three classes of writers has hitherto been most suc- cessful it is difficult to say. Certainly, however, we look in vain for any work of history containing so faithful a picture of the manners of the people of this country in the early part of the last century, as is to be found in Fielding's Joseph Andrews: and we know of no work of travels equal to Hajji liaba, for convey- ing an accurate idea of the present state of Persia. Even the inferior and less popular works of imagi- nation possess negative advantages at least; inasmuch as they supersede pleasure of a debasing kind. And POWER OF READING. 109 rather than a man should pass his time at an ale- house or a gin-shop, at a bull-bait or a cock-fight, in a brothel or at the gaming-table, in gluttony or in sloth, in injuring the property of his neighbour or in slandering his character, — we would gladly see him occupied in perusing the silliest novel that ever issued from the Minerva press. The vast sale of the best of our works of imagina- tion is an undeniable proof of their greater popularity. As an interesting fact corroborative of our position, that the taste for a pure kind of writing is to be found in all classes of men, we may mention that Sir Walter Scott's works are of all others most in request at the London Mechanics' Institution. As respects the newspaper press, too, we cannot but look upon it, with all its faults, as a most powerful engine of civilization and moral improvement; and we would therefore place all within the reach of its influence, by enabling all to read. We agree entirely in the view taken by Mr. Hickson on this subject, in the following evidence before the Poor Law Commis- sioners. Mr. Hickson is an inhabitant of Stanstead parish, Kent ; and, together with other members of his family, has assisted in diffusing education in his neighbourhood. " Then you believe the low-priced periodicals now published will have a beneficial tendency ? — I be- lieve the Penny Magazine will work usefully ; but cheap newspapers would do much more good. I have found it difficult to create an interest in the mind of an ignorant man on matters of mere general litera- ture ; but his attention is easily enlisted by a narra- tive of the stirring events of the day, or local intelli- no SUNDAY SCHOOLS. gence ; and I believe that an account of the trial of a poacher, a fire, or even a murder, in the immediate neighbourhood, will often do more towards the ac- quiring habits of reading, and paving the way for general information, than any other means which could be adopted. The dearness of newspapers in this country is an insurmountable obstacle to the education of the poor. I could name twenty villages within a circuit of a few miles, in which a newspaper is never seen from one year's end to the other." — Appeiidix (A.) to First Report of the Poor Law Com- missioners., p. 258 a. We are aware that many have attributed the riots and burnings in the agricultural districts to the ex- citement of political writing ; but such a conclusion is in direct opposition to facts. The following evi- dence on this point is given by ]Mr. Chadwick : — " The witnesses whose testimony I received with relation to the agricultural riots concurred in stating that the most dangerous of the mobs were formed from the most ignorant and ill-educated of the labour- ing classes. The evidence of the best-informed per- sons with reference to the state of education, and the habits of the people chiefly concerned in those riots, was similar to that given by Mr. Russell, magistrate of Swallowfield, who states that ' the instigation was neither propagated by the press, nor travelled on horseback or in gigs. I am satisfied that there were no unseen agents ; that there was no mysterious con- spiracy, no premeditated suggestion. In this, and I apprehend in all agricultural districts, there is very little reading of tracts or newspapers among the poor: they take no concern in any politics beyond those of POWER OF READING. Ill their village, or, at the utmost, of their county ; and if a handbill or a passage of a newspaper is ever read by one of them to his companions at the beer-house on a Saturday evening, it is because it relates to some parties whom they know, or to some incident in their neighbourhood.' " Appendix (A.) to Poor Law Report, p. 264 a. The broad fact, that there is comparatively little reading of newspapers in the agricultural districts, must be known to almost every one of common obser- vation, and is itself sufficient to disprove the assertion that newspapers have led to rick-burning. It would indeed be strange, if newspapers, which in this coun- try are almost the only vehicles by which the laws are made known, and the people warned of the conse- quences of violating them, were the means of leading to breaches of the law. We are quite ready to admit that much bad matter is circulated in newspapers, and much advice given which is of a very mischievous tendency. But we must examine the institution as a whole, and not fix our eyes on particular parts. Let any one look over a file of newspapers, taken at hazard, with a view of marking such parts as he con- siders objectionable, and we think he will be surprised how little he will find : while, on the other hand, he will meet with paragraph after paragraph which con- tains useful intelligence, sound reasoning, or excellent advice. In considering the defects, too, of the newspaper press, we must bear in mind the extraordinary and anomalous state in which it is at the present time ; a state which cannot possibly endure. We allude of course to the existence of an illicit press, which the 112 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. law, unsupported by public opinion, is wholly unable to put down. The difficulty will probably be met by the removal of the stamp-tax ; and we cannot but hope that when once the man of capital and superior education is admitted into the field of cheap newspaper publication, much trash which now finds customers will be driven to the wind, in the same way as other trash has disappeared before the Penny Magazine, the Saturday Magazine, and Chambers Journal. We have digressed thus far in considering the ten- dency of our popular literature, because we think the amount of benefit conferred in bestowing the mere fa- culty of reading is frequently placed too low. That such an education is far, very far, from sufficient, we should be the last to deny : but inasmuch as the power of reading gives access to great stores of know- ledge, (now that literature is so cheap,) and is a means of obtaining innocent and rational amusement, we look upon the acquirement as a very important step in edu- cation ; and we cannot but think that the enabling so many to take this step is one, and not the least im- portant, of the means by which Sunday schools have raised the moral character of the neighbourhoods in which they have flourished. COST OF SUNDAY SCHOOL EDUCATION. As nearly all the teaching is gratuitous, the money cost of the education afforded consists of little more than rent and stationery. At the great Stockport Sunday School, .5,000 children are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, at an annual cost of 500/. only; which is not more than 2s. a-head. This is indeed a EFFECTS PRODUCED. 113 small expense, and is probably somewhat lower than that usually incurred, notwithstanding the greater ex- tent of the education afforded. The great scale of the Stockport School must, under the able management with which it is carried on, be productive of economy. We think that, speaking generally, the average cost of a Sunday school education may safely be put down at about 2s. 6d. per head per annum. EFFECTS OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS. We believe that Sunday schools have produced a very great and very beneficial effect in this country. "We happen, however, to be best acquainted with their re- sults in the town of Birmingham, which was one of the first to adopt them, and where Sunday schools have to this day been the j s incipal means of diffusing education. We have the happiness of being nearly connected with some who took an active part in their first introduc- tion, now fifty years ago, and who have watched their progress from that time to this. Before Sunday schools were established, and until there had been time for those educated in them to take their standing as men, neither life nor property was secure. A brutal spirit of intolerance, religious and political, pervaded the people ; and drunkenness, filth, and rags met the eye in every direction. The disgraceful riots which broke out in the year 1791 have been deemed of sufficient importance for record in the history of the country. For many days the riots raged without any attempt being made to quell them. At first the fury of the mob was directed ex- clusively towards the Dissenters, and especially to- 114 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. wards those who were thought to hold liberal opinions in politics. Among others who suffered on this ac- count was the enlightened philosopher and warm phil- anthropist Dr. Priestley. His house, library, and la- boratory were destroyed, and he himself was obliged to fly from the town. Every morning the roads were lined with drunken men who had fallen asleep on their return from some work of devastation. In one instance, a number of wretched beings who had crowded into the cellar of a house to which they and their companions had set fire, were crushed to death by the building falling in while they were still plundering the wine- vaults. The riots at length assuming the form of an indiscriminate attack on property, a vigorous effort was made to suppress them, which succeeded, and a few of those concerned were brought to trial and suf- fered death. Birmingham has certainly witnessed many riots since that time, but none of so terrible a kind. Most of the subsequent disturbances have been occasioned by the high price of provisions; the ignorance of the people leading them into the absurd error of suppos- ing that the dearth could be alleviated by the par- tial destruction of the existing stock. These riots, however, became less and less formidable, until at length they totally disappeared ; and it is now nearly twenty years since there was any outbreak of the kind. During this latter period, life and property have been invariably respected, and the laws of the country observed ; and the remotest apprehension of an attack on the butchers and bakers, or on those holding peculiar religious or political opinions, has long since died away. Drunkenness, in the mean EFFECTS PRODUCED. 115 time, though still existing to a melancholy extent, is much less common than formerly ; and as respects clothing, the working classes and their children are greatly improved in neatness and comfort. In proof of the superior condition of the people in these and other particulars, we may mention that the cholera made no head in Birmingham. Among a population of more than 120,000 souls, there certainly were not in the whole more than twenty cases of cholera ! Crimes of the gravest kind, such as murder, bur- glary, and arson, are become very rare indeed. The offences that are committed consist principally of petty thefts ; and we have been assured bj/ the chief constable of the town, (a very intelligent man, who has been for many years connected with the police department,) that the offenders consist very much of one set, comparatively few in number, but each com- mitting many offences, and often passing through his hands several times. He mentioned one young woman who had been committed to the county gaol eight times in the same year ! Many of the young thieves are, however, too cunning to allow themselves to be caught more than twice in the same county ; a third conviction being often followed by transportation. They frequently move off, when released a second time from prison, to a new county ; where, thanks to the absence of a general system of registration and correspondence, their former exploits are unknown, and where, therefore, they can start with a new cha- racter. Having again run the gauntlet of watch- houses, police-offices, and prisons, they move their quarters once more ; and so go on, till either owing to their committing some very serious offence, or to their 116 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. appearing before a particular judge, they get trans- ported or hanged. We hope the time will shortly arrive, when our prisons, instead of being, as they now generally are, schools of idleness and crime, shall become schools of industry and morality ; and when a child or an adult, who is once detected in crime, shall be separated from society, not for a given number of months or years, but until he can be restored with safety, be that time as long or as short as it may be. This, however, is an observation en passant. Our object in these last remarks has been to show how a handful of rogues and pickpockets may find employ- ment for a numerous corps of constables, prison-keep- ers, magistrates, lawyers, and judges ; and may fill such an assize-calendar as will afford much dismal pleasure to those who delight to lament over the in- creased and increasing amount of crime I As respects Birmingham, we venture to say, without indulging in any exaggeration, but, on the contrary, whilst keeping far within the limits of truth, that more property was destroyed or stolen, and more terror inspired, during the single week of the riots of 1791, than during the whole of the last ten years. The question, however, still remains — How far is this pleasing change attributable to education ? We think, to a great extent ; though we at once admit that other causes have been at work, and have assist- ed materially. That education has effected a great deal in Bir- mingham, the following circumstances tend to demon- strate : — EFFECTS PRODUCED. 117 1st. The progress of improvement has been coinci- dent with that of education, 2nd. Several persons who have Hved through the whole period in question, and who have had their at- tention constantly directed to the subject, are fully convinced that education has been the ccmse of the improvement. (We know of no one who has had the same opportunities of observation, and who has come to a different conclusion.) 3rd. The working classes believe that the education they have received has been beneficial. This is shown by their readiness to assist in educating others, even at the sacrifice of a portion of the only day of relax- ation which they can command. (This fact tells doubly ; as it marks, not only the high value which the working class place on education, but the exist- ence among them of a liberal and generous feeling, and a power of self-control.) 4th. Many of those who have received an educa- tion in a Sunday school now hold respectable posi- tions in society. Some have accumulated property in trade, and others have risen to a fair standing in the different professions. In the same class also are to be found many of those who now possess the great- est influence among the mechanics, and the great mass of the people. 5th. In one of the largest and oldest Sunday schools in the town, no instance ever came to the knowledge of the committee, of a pupil being in after- life convicted of an offence against the laws of his country, or of his applying for relief as a pauper. (We do not wish the reader to infer that the children 118 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. educated in this school have without exception turn- ed out honest and industrious : such a fact, regarding a school constantly containing 800 children, would, if it could be proved, be in itself irresistible. All that it is safe to conclude from what we have said is, that the numbers of cases in which the children have after- wards fallen into crime, or become paupers, must be very small.) The facts we have brought forward, when reviewed in combination, admit, we think, of no other conclusion, but that education, insufficiently as it may be afford- ed in Sunday schools, has proved itself a great instru- ment of civilization in the town of Birmingham. In considering how far the causes brought into operation by Sunday schools appear adequate to pro- duce the effects ascribed to them, we must bear in mind the indirect advantages which are obtained from them. We have already spoken of the intimate con- nexion between the middle and working classes which a Sunday school is often the means of creating. This must operate advantageously in very many ways ; among otl ors, in promoting habits of neatness and cleanlinens among the children ; for there are few parents wh() will not make an effort to prevent their children appearing in a ragged and dirty state before those who will be disgusted by such neglect, and who are likely to remonstrate with them on the subject. The same cause — the interest excited among the richer and better informed in the concerns of those who are down low in society — has led in some Sunday schools to the establishment of sick-funds, by which habits of prudence are fostered among the children. The following is an account of the origin and progress EFFECTS PRODUCED. 119 of the sick-fund belonging to two large Sunday schools in Birmingham. We received it from the treasurer, Mr. James Luckcock, who in this capacity, as in many others, has essentially promoted the true interests of the humbler classes of his native town : indeed, the desire to minister to their happiness appears to have ever been a ruling principle of Mr. Luckcock's life. May the fair retrospect which such a life must present cheer every hour of its honourable close ! * " In the year 1798, the managers of the Old and New Meeting Sunday Schools in Birmingham planned the establishment of a sick-club for the benefit of the children in case of illness, and with the additional mo- tive of attaching them more steadily to the schools. As it was altogether an experiment, and as no appeal could be made to any similar attempt in any other quarter, the managers could be guided by probability alone in their original estimates. But supposing an average of one week's illness in twelve months for every member, they offered to allow a subscriber of a half- penny per week, 2*. a week during his illness ; and a subscriber of a penny per week, 4*. The receipts during the first six years were 240/., and the payments 140/. Thus encouraged, the plan was extended to such of the teachers as chose to become members, at the rate of 2rf., 3d., or 4c?. per week, at their own op- tion, on certain stipulated conditions : but, considering that they would be permanent members, and that as they advanced in age their claims would become higher in proportion than the juniors, the payments to them were * Since the above was written this truly estimable man has been removed by death. 120 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. rated at 8s., 9s., and 12*. per week. In the next ten years the receipts averaged about 40/. per annum, and the payments 20/. This increase, with the interest which began to turn in, showed an increasing prosperity, which has continued to the present day. Last year (1834) the subscriptions were 81/. 18*. 9|(/., and the produce from interest 66/. 2*. 6d. ; while the payments for sick- ness were only 43/. 6s. 6ri., including 3/. for one funeral ; leaving an increase during the year of about 100/. Our capital now amounts to 1467/. " The variations in the amount of payments have been considerable, but in no instance have the pay- ments in any one year equalled the subscriptions. In 1821 the receipts were 48/., and the payments 43/. ; whereas, in 1827, the receipts were 56/., and the pay- ments only 8/. 16*. The present number of subscrib- ers is about 320 ; and it is worthy of remark, that though the subscribers throughout may average from 250 to 300, yet the number of deaths during the whole period falls somewhat short of one per annum. " The following table shows the amount of our capital at the end of each of several years. 1829 - - - £ 981 1830 - - 1065 1831 - - 1160 1832 - - 1265 1033 - - 1371 1834 - - 1467 " There is good reason to hope that in a few years the funds may allow a considerable appropriation to aged members as annuitants. Several others of the Sunday schools in the town have borrowed our plans, and made considerable progress (I believe), thougli EFFECTS PRODUCED. 121 they are as yet far behind us in the results. The society's printed laws show that they have conformed to the legislative enactments respecting benefit-clubs and friendly societies." A sick-club on a yet larger scale (although it has not been in operation for so long a time) exists in the large Sunday school at Manchester, which has already been mentioned. This school (which is in connexion with the Established Church) contains nearly 3,000 children ; and of these from 900 to 1,000 are members of the sick-club. The feelings of attachment between the children and the directors of the school (the creation of which we have already noticed as one great ad- vantage to be obtained by Sunday schools) appear to exist very strongly in the school in question. The following is taken from Mr. Braidley's evidence be- fore the Education Committee. The large sum raised by voluntary subscriptions among the children and teachers is a striking fact, and speaks most honour- ably for all parties concerned, and for the great moral effect produced by the education bestowed. " We have found, that when we have had occasion to receive voluntary subscriptions for any purpose from the children or teachers, (I speak of the teachers, because they themselves have been formerly scholars,) it has united them the more in attachment to the school. That attachment has kept them longer in it, and has tied them to us in a way which I think we never could have otherwise looked for. The act of subscribing makes them take an interest in the insti- tution. The subscriptions to which I allude are prin- cipally those towards the erection of the building it- self. The present school was erected in 1818, and VOL. I. G 122 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. the voluntary subscriptions of the children and teach- ers towards it have been about 800/. in that time. We have other subscriptions also in the school. We have a sick-club, consisting of such children of twelve years of age or upwards as may of their own accord become subscribers, that has been established now for more than twenty years, and the present number of members is from 900 to 1,000. They subscribe Id. a week, and during the time of sickness receive an al- lowance of 45. per week. We find that this sick-so- ciety has a very strong tendency to keep up in the children an attachment to the school." Education Report, p. 178. The great Stockport Sunday School, to which we have frequently referred, appears also to have pro- duced very beneficial effects. The following extracts of a letter from J. A. Bury, Esq. who has been a member of the committee for nearlj' half a century, furnish some interesting particulars: — " Stockport Sunday School is an institution of a re- ligious nature, but on the most liberal plan ; free from sectarian prejudices, bigotry, and superstition : and when I inform you we have a register of 40,000 chil- dren who have passed through the school, you will at once conceive the immense moral effects as well as mental improvement thereby promoted. By the last re- port, it appears that there are upwards of 3,000 scholars now on the list. This includes four auxiliary schools in different parts, at each extremity of the town, which comprise upwards of 1,000 scholars : the remaining 4,000 are in the great school. " The school has been wonderfully supported, and affords in itself a great proof of the efficacy of the vo- EFFECTS PRODUCED. 123 luntary principle. There are upwards of 500 teachers, all gratuitous : indeed, with the exception of two porters, no one is paid anything. The teachers are of different sects and parties, but are all confined to the moral precepts of the Gospel, and are excluded from giving any bias to their own dogmas. ******* " The late Mr. Robert Parker gave us in his life-time 500/. to erect an organ in our large lecture-room; and at his death left us 500/. more towards carrying on the work. Tic ^ T^ ^ ""■ T^ ^ " The Independents are our best friends. The Bap- tists, New Itinerant Methodists, and even Quakers, support us. The Wesleyans have a flourishing school of their own in the town : however, notwithstanding this, our school increases; last year the number of scholars was greater by 309 that in 1832. ******* " Some of our friends of the Independent class have forsaken us, because we teach writing and accounts on Sundays. We would willingly teach these on week-days (evenings), but the factory hands here work so late that we have found it impracticable; therefore we put this on the score of works of neces- sity and mercy, considering our Saviour as sanctioning the pulling out sheep from the pit on the Sabbath. By this means we keep our pupils in the school until their moral habits are fixed, and do not turn them adrift with reading only. " Not a few of our pupils, when grown up, become assistant teachers; so that the institution could now be supported with teachers within itself. You may form g2 124 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. some idea of the influence of the long and intimate connexion formed among the members of the school bj the following anecdote: — Last year the building being struck with lightning, one poor boy on his knees during prayer was struck dead. It was announced in the school the Sunday following that a subscription w^ould be raised for the poor boy's family ; — his mo- ther, I believe, was a widow. The subscription was limited to Id. from each, and it was perfectly volun- tary : no less a sum than 30/. was, however, raised. " There is a library in the school, which now con- tains nearly 1,200 volumes, free to those scholars who behave well, and to the teachers : besides which, the teachers subscribe to a library of their own of nearly GOO volumes. They have also a small tract society and bible society in the school, and four benefit so- cieties, two male and two female — all in a very flou- rishing state. Rooms, too, for their meetings are al- lowed in the schools, to prevent them from going to a public-house, " When any of the scholars are sick, they are vi- sited by their teachers; and some of them, indeed most of those who have died, have with their latest breath rendered thanks to God for the benefit received in the Stockport Sunday School, expressing entire submission to the will of God, and blessing their teachers. ******* " Some of our old scholars have been advanced to respectable situations in life, and become masters, and obtained property. " I have been now a member of the committee nearly half a century, during which time many of its first sup- EFFECTS PRODUCED. 125 porters have died : I am now the oldest member, and am considered the father of the school. The three first originators of the school were Mr. MatthewMayer, father of our present treasurer, the late Mr. James Heald, and Mr. George Garside. They were all of them Methodists, but they were men of honest prin- ciples ; insomuch, that when an attempt was made to unite a class in the school of the more serious-minded by a preacher, these three resisted it, declaring that as long as they received the public money from all par- ties, that money should not be prostituted to a parti- cular sect, though that sect was their own. Mr, Heald declared, that if the sectarian principle was introduced, he would withdraw from the school, and not be guilty of such dishonesty. The attempt, how- ever, was persevered in ; a public meeting of the sup- porters of the school was convened, and a motion was brought forward in pursuance of the views of the sec- tarian party ; but this motion was negatived by a con- siderable majority." The following extracts are from the Reports of the Committee of the Stockport Sunday School. " Report for 1831. " Nor are the reports we hear from time to time of the welfare of scholars who have left the town and settled in different parts of the kingdom less cheering and encouraging. Your committee often find them either rising to be masters themselves, or, if still in the capacity of servants, filling their various stations with credit to themselves and satisfaction to their em- ployers, and, above all, taking care to secure to their children the benefit of education. 126 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. " One Sunday morning, as your committee were employed in the usual avocations of the day, eight individuals were introduced into the committee-room, who stated that they were old scholars who had been brought up in the institution, but were then residing in Manchester. They presented to your committee a written address, expressive of the gratitude they felt * to those kind benefactors who so nobly and liberally came forward on all occasions to supply their spiri- tual needs, and to devise and execute plans for the moral and religious instruction of themselves, and of the rising generation in general ;' and concluded by requesting they might be allowed to present that ' small token of sincere attachment and gratitude, with their humble prayers to Almighty God for the long-continued prosperity and usefulness of the Stock- port Sunday Schools.' When this address (to which our chairman made a suitable reply) had been read, they presented your committee with the sum of 51. in aid of the funds of the institution ; a sum which they stated to have been raised by the joint and equal subscription of themselves and two other old scholars, also residing at Manchester, who were unavoidably ab- sent. To conclude this interesting scene, one of their number inquired for his old teacher ; and on being in- formed that he was not at that time in the school, he produced an elegantly bound bible, and requested your committee to present it to his teacher as a token of his gratitude." " Report for 1833. " Although, since our last Report, this town, in com- mon with many other parts of the kingdom, has been visited by that awful scourge the cholera, it is with EFFECTS PRODUCED. 127 feelings of the deepest gratitude and thankfulness to Almighty God that your committee are enabled to state, that not one child out of the many thousands be- longing to our institution fell a victim to the disease. We are the more impressed by this circumstance, as we observe from the Report of the Sunday School Society for Ireland for last year, that many Sunday schools were entirely abandoned, or had their useful- ness greatly diminished, by the prevalence of the sam.e awful visitation. Amongst the secondary causes which might have a tendency to check the progress of the disease amongst us, we think may be enu- merated the cleanliness so remarkable in the persons and houses of the generality of our young people, many of whose parents have been educated in our institution." Mr. Cowel, who, as one of the Factory Commis- sioners, visited the Manchester district, speaks in the following terms of Stockport and its working classes : " It is well known at Manchester, that the opera- tives of Stockport are the most orderly and best-con- ducted of those in any manufacturing town in the neighbourhood ; and equally well known that the operatives of Oldham are the least so. The size of Oldham and Stockport is nearly the same, and the distance from Manchester equal. The Oldham peo- ple invariably attend all the tumultuous meetings at Manchester, and there are always disturbances on those occasions along the Oldham road: the Stockport people very rarely, indeed scarcely ever, attend such meetings. In Stockport, while I was there, 17 per cent, of the whole population attended Sunday schools ; at Oldham, only 7 per cent. I heard the superior 128 SUNDAY SCHOOLS. good conduct of the Stockport people invariably attri- buted to their superior education." — Extracts from Reports made to Poor Law Commissmiers, p. 14. Messrs. Rooth and Mayer, the proprietors of Hope Hill Spinning-mills, near Manchester, give the follow- ing evidence in favour of Sunday schools in their replies to the Factory Commissioners. In answer to the question, whether the health of their work-people has improved or deteriorated during the last ten years, they say : — " Improved, for many reasons. Great improvements have been made in the building ; in the heating, light- ing, and ventilation of the rooms ; in the cleanliness of the machinery, as well as the rooms, and the conse- quent cleanliness of the workers in such rooms. But the greatest change in favour of their health, as well as of their habits and morals, has been effected by education ; and the factory children are in these re- spects particularly benefited by the kind of education they receive, which is in the Sunday schools. The factory children are among the best attendants at the Sunday schools ; the regularity of the factory hours, as well as the influence of their masters and over- lookers, inducing them generally to attend those schools, where they are placed under the care of teachers of a higher grade in society than the com- mon day-school teachers, from whose example and instructions and kind care they learn to be clean and neat in their persons, regular and orderly in their habits and behaviour, and are generally uncommonly well clothed ; and of course they carry the same clean- liness and good order to their own homes, and, by in- dustry and economy, they obtain good furniture and FACTORY SCHOOLS. 129 comfortable bedding, and obtain also the knowledge, as well as the means, of preserving their health, or being sooner cured if taken sick. They do also, by the re- commendation of their teachers, and by the example of the more provident among themselves, pretty gene- rally become members of sick or fmieral societies, which are a comfortable provision for them, rendering parochial assistance unnecessary." FACTORY SCHOOLS. Many cotton factories have now schools connected with them ; and these, from their number, the large scale on which some of them are carried on, the superior plans that have been introduced into several of them, and the striking results obtained, deserve particular notice. We do not refer to schools erected in consequence of the passing of the Factory Bill, by one clause of which it is attempted to make education compulsory. We speak of the schools which had been established by the more enlightened mill-owners be- fore the act was passed or brought forward. With reference to the clause just mentioned, we are sorry to perceive, by the Report of Mr. Rickards, the commissioner appointed to superintend its en- forcement, that it has proved almost an entire failure. By his report, it appears that out of 2,000 mill-owners only six have made any change in consequence of the provisions of the Factory Act for enforcing education. We were prepared for such a result by a letter which we received some time ago from a gentleman of ex- tensive connexions at Manchester. The following is an extract: — G 5 130 JbACTORY SCHOOLS. " It [the education clause] is generally, perhaps universally, an obnoxious regulation. It makes that which should be supplied by the whole of a commu- nity a burden on a part — namely, on the mill-owners. It is resisted, therefore, even by those who are most friendly to education, as an injustice. From the re- gulation in this way having raised a spirit of opposi- tion in the minds of the masters, I am inclined to think that less attention will be paid to education by mill-owners, and less education in consequence will be bestowed in mills, now education is compulsory, than before the compulsion existed. Partial legislation can never be wholly successful in its object. In this instance it will, I believe, signally fail." A fact of great importance — and of the truth of which we were assured by one of the Factory Com- missioners — is, that those factories in which most attention is paid to the education of the children, are found in reality to be at the same time the most flourishing as regards the interests of the proprietors. We perceive that the author of an " Inquiry into the State of the Manufacturing Population," who appears to have a good deal of personal knowledge on the sub- ject, makes the same remark. " That many of these evils may be in a great mea- sure mitigated even by individual exertion, is clear and certain. In several ca'ses which we know, where the proprietors of factories have had the welfare of their people honestly at heart, much has been done towards an amelioration of their condition both phy- sical and moral : and it is important to mention, that these houses are witliout exception among the most flou- rishing in the trade" — P. 27. NEW ENGLAND. 131 The interest which the master-manufacturer has in the education of his work-people appears to be fully appreciated by the shrewd and thriving New Eng- landers. The following is taken from the evidence of Mr. Kempson, an American, before the Factory Commission : — " Have you any national system of education ? — We have public schools, supported partly by state funds, and partly by bequests. All children have the privilege of attending." "Do they, in point of fact, very generally attend in the manufacturing states ? — They universally attend ; and I think that information is more generally diffused through the villages and the whole community of the New England States, than amongst any other com- munity of which 1 have any knowledge." " What is the general view taken of these schools by the manufacturers and persons of wealth in Ame- rica ? — From their experience they deem them of the greatest importance to the welfare of the state. They are encouraged by the state government and all the leading persons of the state." " How do the children whom you employ obtain education ? — The manufacturers are always anxious that the children should absent themselves from the manufactory during two or three months of the year to attend the schools. The manufacturers very fre- quently suggest to the parents the necessity of the children being taken to school. The sending the child to school is generally an inconvenience to the manu- facturer." " Is the inconvenience of the children going to the school such as to increase the cost of production ? — 132 FACTORY SCHOOLS. I do not think it does increase the cost of production. Tlie only inconvenience is in the trouble of getting; other hands. We think the advantage of their being educated more than counterbalances that trouble." Factory Commissioners' First Report, p. 70. Most of the factories which are described as being in the best state as regards the education of the children and the comfort of the work-people gene- rally, are large ftictories in rural situations. These appear to combine, in the greatest extent possible (under present arrangements), the advantages of con- centration and separation. In a town it is impossible for the proprietor of a factory to do much as an individual towards guarding his work-people from temptation, and securing to them the blessings of pure air and cleanliness. On a broad scale, and with a good system of municipal government, which should make the petty interests of individuals always give way to the great interests of the community, we doubt not that these objects could be as well obtained in a town as in the country ; whilst in other respects a town offers facilities for the mental and moral im- provement, and general happiness of the labouring classes, which are unattainable in a state of insula- tion. At present, however, the owner of the least patch of land in a town may set at nought the wishes and comforts of his jieighbours : by stopping up or spoiling some public promenade, erecting a gin-shop, or opening a cock-pit, he may render futile the best- arranged plan for promoting the general good. An instance of this kind has fallen under our own observation. About four years ago, the owner of a mere nook of land adjoining one of the extensive iron- FACTORY SCHOOLS. 133 works in the county of Stafford was induced to let his ground for the erection of a beer-shop. The situation was fatally well chosen: it is jjlaced, evidently by design, so fully in view, that not one of the many hundreds of persons employed in the establishment can pass from one part of the works to another with- out being exposed to its dangerous temptation ; at every move their eye is sure to glance " Where the Red Lion, flaring o'er the way. Invites each passing workman that can pay." As might be expected, in too many instances this constant attack has proved irresistible, and many who should be at their work are found loitering in the beer-shop : in short, a distinct change for the worse has taken place in the habits of the men ; the vice of drunkenness having much increased. In Manchester, the inconvenience of the land being split up into a number of small patches shows itself also in another way. Great numbers of the streets there are wholly unpaved, owing to some of the owners of the land refusing to bear their share of the expense. The consequence is, that it is impossible thoroughly to cleanse the streets, and fever is excited by the fumes and vapours arising from heaps of foul refuse and pools of stagnant water. The time cannot be far distant when every town in the country will be provided with a local government so constituted as to deserve and ensure public con- fidence.* When that period arrives, we hope the pro- priety of authorising every town to purchase, as a community, all the land on which it stands, will be * Written in 1834. 134 FACTORY SCHOOLS. taken into consideration. To us the case appears to be similar to that of a canal or a railway, in which the private will of an individual is made to yield to the public good. We should anticipate the most bene- ficial results from such an arrangement; and in no respect more so than in education. Mr. TufFnell, in his Report from the Lancashire district, as an Assistant Factory Commissioner, speaks as follows of some of the country factories : — " In towns, the tie that binds together employer and employed is of course less strong; but in the country the feelings of attachment are not unfrequently pushed to an extent that could not be easily surpassed. The population surrounding a country mill, to the number of one or two thousand, are sometimes entirely depend- ent on its master for work and subsistence ; but the master is equally dependent upon them for the neces- sary services they perform ; and whether it is that this mutual dependence is more apparent, or that the people are more civilized, it certainly seemed to me that there was less assumption of undue importance or manifestation of pride on the part of the master, and more esteem on the part of the workman, than I have ever witnessed in any agricultural district. The pro- prietors of these establishments frequently go to con- siderable expense in founding schools, and in providing for the moral improvement of those they employ ; and in general they are perfectly aware that it is their in- terest to do so." — Supplementary Report of the Fac- tory Connnissioi/ers, part i. d. 2, p. 222. In another part of his Report, Mr. TufFnell re- marks : — " But it is in the country that the superior condi- HYDE. 135 tion of the factory population is principally displayed ; and I do not believe that any part of England can show instances of comfort and prosperity surpassed by that which is enjoyed by cotton-workers in country districts. The cottages of the workmen in Hyde comprise each two sitting-rooms, a pantry, a privy in a small yard walled, and two large rooms up-stairs. Several of the houses contained books ; and I give as a specimen the literary furniture of one of them, taken at random. The house belonged to Samuel Broadbelt, a spinner, earning 30^. a week, besides coals and house-rent, the expenses of which are subtracted from his wages by his master. His books were, a volume containing 292 hymns, Cottage Comforts, Scott's Force of Truth, Wesley's Hymns, the Panorama of London, the Reform Bill, ]Mackenzie's Biography, Columbus's Discovery of America, Robinson Crusoe, a small novel, a monthly periodical, the United States' Co-operative Journal, and a volume containing Chapone's Legacy, Gregory's Legacy, and Penning- ton's Advice. It would be an injustice to compare these dwellings with those of agricultural labourers, to which they were far superior in every respect. Judging from what I have seen of the two classes, the workmen of these country factories are, as I have stated before, much more healthy-looking than in towns; and in the weaving department, where girls are mostly employed, the not unusual ruddiness of their faces attests the wholesomeness of their occupation." — Sujiplementary Report of the Factory Commissioners, part i. d. 2, p. 204. Mr. TufFnell speaks as follows of the superior ma- nagement of large factories : — '< I invariably found that the large factories were 136 FACTORY SCHOOLS. those in which the health, general comfort, and con- venience of the workmen were most attended to, and where they were the best off in every respect. And it would be an extraordinary circumstance if it were not so. When a large body of workmen are collected together under one employer, he is enabled to allow them many indulgences at a comparatively small ex- pense, but which would cause a serious outlay to the proprietor of a small establishment. It is the interest of a master-manufacturer to do all that lies in his power to accommodate his men, as he thereby is enabled to attract the best workmen into his employ, owing to the good repute which his factory will bear among them : therefore, a large establishment is certain to be best regulated, as it can be most cheaply well regulated. Accordingly, the greatest mills I always found to be the cleanest, the machinery most securely fenced off, and the hands of the neatest and most re- spectable appearance. In Messrs. Birley and Kirk's mill, the largest in Manchester, the workmen are al- lowed as much hot water as they please at tea-time, without charge, and persons are employed to take it to them. In Messrs. Strutt's mill, at Belper, each hand is allowed a pint of good tea or coffee, with sugar and milk, for one halfpenny, and medical assistance gratis: a dancing-room is also provided for them in this esta- blishment. It could never answer to put up a copper to heat water for twenty or thirty persons; nor could tea or coffee be sold at this price unless a large num- ber were supplied with it. Mr. Ashton can afford to pay for all the surgical assistance that is yearly re- quired by his 1,173 workmen, as he can contract for it at six guineas a year : did he employ only a twelfth part of that number, he assuredly could not get a MR, ashworth's factory. 137 surgeon to take the contract at a twelfth part of six guineas. Mr. Bott undertakes to attend to all the ail- ments of the operatives in Messrs. Lichfield's mills on payment of a halfpenny each weekly : he certainly would refuse to attend twenty persons for tenpence a week." — Supplementary Report of tlie Factory Commis- sioners, part i. D. 2, p. 207. Messrs. Ashworth, of Turton, near Bolton, have paid great attention to the education of the children in their factory. The results will in part be noticed in our section on Infant schools. The following is ex- tracted from the evidence of Mr. Greenhough, over- looker of the factory, and of one of the spinners : — Mr. Greenhough : — " Can they all read and write? — Two-thirds of them can. On going round to make up the returns for the Commission, I found that only five in 500 hands could not read; and those five came from Manchester lately, and we had only had them two months. We have a night school on the premises ; and when a boy has nothing to do, he can walk into the school and read a newspaper or any history, as we keep a library of books for their use." " Do they read in the daj'-time during the inter- vals of their work ? — Yes ; many carry books into the mill, and if the work is right we never notice it. I have read many a volume through when I was a spinner." " Are the factory children in towns equally moral and well instructed with those in the country ? — They are not so well off in towns ; they have not equal privileges in schooling as in the country. I speak only with reference to Bolton." The Spiniiers evidence : — " Is there any improve- ment in factory children since you were a boy ? — 138 FACTORY SCHOOLS. Yes, great improvement ; they are better behaved, and better m their learning." " Can a greater proportion read and write than then ? — Yes ; there is more provision for their edu- cation made on the premises; on the Sabbath and tuo or three nights a week they are instructed gratis for about an hour and a half." " Do you think that factory operatives in general are more educated and enlightened now than they were twenty years ago ? — Well, as far as I have to do witii them, they are ; they are in general more intelligent than formerly." " How were you educated ? — At Sunday schools, and at a night school." " What did you learn ? — Reading, writing, and arithmetic." " Is that degree of knowledge universal among the factory operatives ? — I think there is altogether more information among the factory operatives than among other classes : there are not more than two or three in our establishment but what can read and write." Factory Commissim^ers' First Report, v>. 2, p. 135. There are several other factories well worthy of particular notice, from the care taken to provide for the instruction of the work-people. In so enlightened and liberal a policy as that of pro- moting general education, the Messrs. Strutt of Der- by are of course among the most forward ; and we refer to our Appendix for some valuable and detailed information as to the results of their exertions, M'hich has been kindly afforded us by one of those gentlemen, in reply to a series of queries. Messrs. Greenwood and Whitaker, the proprietors BURLEY MILLS. 139 of the Burley Mills, Ottley, near Leeds, have a^so long paid attention to the education of the children in their employment ; and the results have been most satisfac- tory. The number of their work-people is nearly 400 ; and yet, during the space of eighteen years, the only instances in which the laws of the country have in any way been broken are a few cases of bastardy. This fact is attested by the principal acting magis- trates of Ottley. The average time each person has continued at the Burley Mills is upwards of ten years. The health of the operatives has been so good, that the average amount of interruption to each from ill- ness has, for many years, been less than one day per annum ; and the deaths, for the last ten years, have been at the rate of only 1 in 127 per annum. Lastly, as a proof of the existence of habits of pru- dence and forethought, it may be mentioned that 31 of the workmen have together saved no less a sum than 2,145/. from their earnings. We do not suppose that education has been the sole cause of this excel- lent state of things at the Burley Mills : the same enlightened benevolence that directed the attention of the proprietors to the education of the children would probably suggest other plans for ameliorating the condition of the operatives. At Stroud in Glocestershire, and in the surrounding district, great attention is paid to education ; though the ordinary practice there appears to be for the masters of the factories to subscribe liberally to the neighbouring schools, instead of having schools of their own. The evidence collected by the Factory Commissioners who visited Stroud agrees in describ- ing the people as moral, sober, and orderly. Mr. 140 FACTORY SCHOOLS. Burgh, the principal acting magistrate of the district, says he recollects only two cases of very serious crime since he first went to live there, which is now nearly sixty years ago. Mr. Ashton, of Hyde in Cheshire, uncle of the young man who was murdered through the frenzied ignorance of some Trades' Unionists, has an excellent school attached to his factory. Mr. Tufnell thus speaks of Mr. Ash ton's benevolent exertions: — " Mr. Thomas Ashton, — than whom there does not exist a person who has been a greater benefactor to the district he inhabits, or who is held in greater reve- rence and respect both by the labouring population around him (of whom he employs 1,"200), and those in a higher sphere, who enjoy the benefit of his acquaint- ance, — this gentleman has built a school, in which 640 children are instructed on Sundays in reading, writing, and arithmetic ; with a library attached to it, where the operatives read after the conclusion of their work. He has also founded an infant school, in which 200 children are educated ; and two night schools, where instruction of a superior character is impart- ed." — Siqyplementarij Report of the Factory Commis- sioners, part i. D. 2, page 223. Dr. Kay, in his valuable and instructive pamphlet on the Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Classes at Manchester, makes mention of Mr. Ashton's enlightened policy, and his benevolent exertions to promote the education and happiness of his work- people. The following is an extract from Dr. Kay's work : — " Twelve hundred persons are employed in the factories of Mr. Thomas Ashton at Hyde. This MR. ashton's factory. 141 gentleman has erected commodious dwellings for his work-people, with each of which he has connected every convenience that can minister to comfort. He resides in their immediate vicinity, and has frequent opportunities of maintaining a cordial association with his operatives. Their houses are well furnished, clean, and their tenants exhibit every indication of health and happiness." [Here follows an account of Mr. Ashton's schools, which agrees with that given by Mr. Tufnell.] " The factories themselves are certainly excellent examples of the cleanliness and order which may be attained by a systematic and persevering at- tention to the habits of the artisans. "The effects of such enlightened benevolence may be to a certain extent exhibited by statistical statements. The population, before the introduction of machinery, chiefly consisted of colliers, hatters, and weavers. Machinery was introduced in 1801, and the following table exhibits its consequences in the augmentation of the value of property, the diminution of poor's rates, and the rapid increase of the amount assessed for the repairs of the highway, during a period in which the population of the township increased from 830 to 7,138. 142 FACTORY SCHOOLS. Year. Sums assessed for the relief of the poor. Yearly averag;e.* J'opu- lation. Yearly average per head of popu- lation. 1801 830 £ 395 294 543 420 388 597 1806 3355 7138 s. d. 7 2 4 5 2 3 1 11 2 " This table exhibits a cheering proof of the advan- tages which may be derived from the commercial • This table is not an exact copy of the one in Dr. Kay's work : it is however calculated from that table. We have preferred giving the yearly average of the amount of poor's rate for periods of five years to the sum for each year separately. AVe have also given the yearly average for each head of population, which does not appear in Dr. Kay's table. MR. ashton's factory. 143 system under judicious management. We feel much confidence in inferring, that, where so Httle pauperism exists, the taint of vice has not deeply infected the population ; and concerning their health we can speak from personal observation. The rate of mortality, from statements with which Mr. Ashton has politely furnished us, appears to be exceedingly low. In thir- teen years (during the first six of which the number of rovers, spinners, piecers, and dressers was 100, and during the last seven above 200,) only eight deaths occurred." — P. 100. In reply to an inquiry as to the moral state of his work-people, Mr. Ashton says — " We have had only one prosecution for felony or larceny in our establishment for thirty years ; and I can say that there are very few, if any, in the neigh- bouring mills. I have made inquiries from the neigh- bouring minister, who has christened the principal part of the population ; and he finds, by looking over the register, that there are fewer bastards in propor- tion than there were forty years ago, and fewer in the last ten years than in the previous ten." Factory Commissioners First Report, d. 2. p. 86. The following table may not be uninteresting. It shows the actual state of education in Mr. Ashton's factory. Mr. Ashton says that the table is perfectly trustworthy, as it is the result of a careful examination of each workman or child separately. By this table we see how little is really effected in the way of direct instruction, even under the comparatively favourable circumstances in which Mr. Ashton's work-people are placed ; and we may thence infer how trifling must be 144 FACTORY SCHOOLS. the amount of knowledge in fact acquired under ordi- nary circumstances. " A List of Persons in the employ of Mr. Thomas Ashton, of Hyde ; with an account of their respect- ive Ages and Capabilities as to Reading and Writing: taken 25th March 1833. Age. Cannot read. Can read. Can read and write. Total. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 13 19 20 21 to 30 31 — 40 41 — 50 51 — 60 61 — 70 71 and upwards 1 2 4 4 4 2 3 3 6 3 1 28 11 6 5 4 12 33 34 34 32 43 21 31 28 31 22 22 104 36 20 7 1 1 4 6 14 15 17 30 18 29 29 42 36 33 180 72 29 16 6 17 41 52 53 53 75 42 63 57 79 61 56 312 119 55 28 11 1 Total 87 512 576 1,175 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. We know of no instance in which a tolerably good school has been opened for pauper children without producing satisfactory results. One great cause of this, in our opinion, is, that the propriety of employing the children during a considerable portion of their time in manual labour is, in the case of paupers, too apparent to be readily overlooked. We heartily agree with Mrs. Park in her interesting and instructive evi- dence (which we shall presently quote at length), that. BIRMINGHAM ASYLUM. 145 as regards paupers, "all moral instruction must be based on a continued round of industry." We are acquainted with an excellent pauper school, of which we shall give a few particulars. It is under the direction of the guardians of the poor at Birming- ham, and is called the Birmingham Asylum. There are generally about 300 children in it, from the age of two or three to thirteen or fourteen. It has for some time been the practice of the guardians to relieve out- door paupers by taking charge of one or two of their children instead of giving them money ; such children are placed in the asylum, as are also the children of all in-door paupers. Bad as is the material thus collected, (and the assemblage of heads would petrify a phreno- logist,) the long course of industry, cleanliness, and punctuality through which the children are carried, (always, however, under kind treatment,) appears ge- nerally to effect a complete cure. As far as it can be ascertained, no instance has occurred of a child brought up in the asylum afterwards sinking into pauperism. The work at which the children are employed is heading pins. The guardians of the poor, however, do not enter into the trade of pin-making themselves ; they sell the labour of the children to one of the Birmingham manufacturers, who fits up shops at the asylum and sends workmen to superintend the chil- dren. The children work eight hours a day, and the rate at which their labour is paid for by the manu- facturer is 6d. per week for each child between eight and ten years old, 1*. a week for each between ten and twelve, and 1*. 6d. per week for each between twelve and fourteen ; beyond which age no children VOL. I. H 146 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. remain in the asylum. In this way some hundred pounds a year are paid towards the expenses of the asylum ; but the benefit conferred on the children by accustoming them to regular labour is far more im- portant. Two hours a day are given to formal instructions ; and among other exercises singing is very properly included. Once a month the parents are admitted into the asylum to see their children. This is well ; but one evil is found to result, namely, that during the two or three days following the parental visit, bowel complaints are common among the children, owing to the indigestible food with which, from mistaken kind- ness, they have been supplied. The general health of the children, however, is very good, which is owing in some measure to their breathing good fresh air ; the asylum being situated in an open district at the out- skirts of the town. What we most admire in this institution is an arrangement for keeping up a superintendence of the children after they have left. Once a year the gover- nor goes through the whole circuit, 20 or 30 miles round Birmingham, visiting every boy who has been put out as an apprentice. He makes a point of see- ing first the master, and then the apprentice, in private, in order to learn from the former how the boy is con- ducting himself, and from the latter whether his mas- ter treats him kindly. As a careful inquiry is made into the character of all who apply for apprentices from the asylum before the child is entrusted to them, it happens but very seldom that instances of cruel treatment are met with. When a case does occur, the governor immediately applies to the proper authorities BIRMINGHAM ASYLUM. 147 to have the indenture of apprenticeship cancelled. The children are generally very glad to see their annual visiter ; while the expectation of his coming, the interest in their welfare which his visit betokens, the certainty that their conduct will be passed in re- view, and each part commended or blamed as it may deserve, must and do produce the best effects. As we have said before, and the fact is too important not to allow repetition, no instance is known (though some few may have occurred) of a child brought up at this asylum aftertcards becoming a paxiper. A system similar to the one we have here described has been adopted in the education of pauper children at Liverpool, and with very good results. We have not, however, any detailed information respecting it. We are aware that many workhouse-schools exist which produce no good whatever, and that education is made to bear the discredit of this failure. As rea- sonable, however, would it be to charge the science of medicine with the quackery of Dr. Eady, or the pur- suits of commerce with the forgeries of Fauntleroy. Some crabbed, ignorant, and lazy fellow, wliom nobody would entrust with the care of his pigs, is picked up and placed in command over a number of helpless children : it being quite forgotten that the practical lessons in cruelty and injustice, which he will afford every minute he is in authority, will outweigh a thou- sand times the value of all that he can teach, even if he drain to the very dregs the contents of his miser- able brain. He is desired to instruct his prey in read- ing, which he is considered competent to do, because he can just distinguish " an i from an izard.". Read- ing, however, is the nominal occupation ; the main h2 148 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. business in his eyes, and that in which the thing called his heart delights, is to rate, cufF, and kick the chil- dren. To such a compound of brutality and absurdity is the name education often applied ; and to the result of such a tragic farce as this do people point, to show how little is to be expected from cultivating the moral and intellectual faculties of the working classes ! The following are striking instances of bad work- house education : — Evidence of Mr. Miller, Assistant-overseer of St. Sepulchre's Parish. " What is the eftect of the sort of education re- ceived by the children in the workhouse ? — The edu- cation given is, I consider, no education whatever." " Does not any person of superior education in your parish, then, take any active part in the education of the children ? — No : there is no one who takes any part in it ; nobody cares for them ; they are generally left to a pauper in the workhouse. This state of things hurts me very much, when I see the dreadful consequences of this neglect." "What is the usual conduct of these children? — Very bad indeed ; we find all those who have had a workhouse education hopeless objects. We have given them up entirely. Some of the most desperate, the most horrible characters in the parish, the most incorrigible paupers, are those who have had a work- house education. It has been proved over and over again. They are all of them able-bodied men, who are in the gaols and workhouses alternately as thieves and paupers. We have succumbed to them because we can find no punishment for them. This applies equally to the girls, who, in addition, are frequently ST. sepulchre's. 149 prostitutes. We know not what to do with them. Something of this must be ascribed to the habits engendered from pauper parents, but most to their want of education." " Besides the children in the workhouse, have you not others educated in charity-schools at the expense of the parish ? — Yes ; we have two schools : one, the Ladies' charity-school for females, conducted by two respectable schoolmistresses ; and the other, a pa- rochial school for boys and girls, conducted by a paid schoolmaster and schoolmistress." " It is perhaps unnecessary to ask, whether a better education is not given to those children, and more attention paid to them, than to the children in the workhouse? — Unquestionably, a better education ; in the Ladies' charity especially." " How do these children turn out? — I examine all the poor who apply for relief, and I can state, that I never met with an instance of a person applying for relief who had been educated either at the parochial school or the Ladies' charity-school." " Have you heard no complaint of these children elsewhere than in connexion with the parish ? — I have never heard anything against them in any way ; neither as having been in gaol, nor in any other such situa- tions as those in which the workhouse children are constantly found." Mr. C. P. Villiers, in his Report as Visiting Poor- Law Commissioner, says : — " Upon inquiry in many parishes, whether any pro- vision was made for the education of pauper children, it was usually said that there was a school in the house. This I observed to consist of a small outhouse 150 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. attached to the workhouse, where a certain number of children of" both sexes, from the ages of three to twelve might be seen sitting on a bench, attended by an old male or female pauper, who, having the reputation of being able to read, is expected to instruct the chil- dren. It was not often pretended that they learned much, or often denied that they chiefly associated with the other inmates. In other cases, these chil- dren are sent to the National school, where also read- ing is taught." Mr. Crook, Clerk of St. Clement's Danes. " What sort of education have you for the children of your parish ? — The education which they receive, judging from the effects, is of little or no use; for I am sorry to say that the children turn out very badly. We have great difficulty in getting rid of them ; the boys especially. There is a large proportion of indif- ferent characters amongst them." " Does any person of education take any part in the education of the workhouse children ? — Their educa- tion has been in the hands of a man who has been a sailor and a watchman. The boys under his manage- ment were so disorderly, that in vexation he attempted to hang himself." " Was this or the other persons who have had the education of children characterized by superior ac- quirements to those commonly possessed by watch- men and sailors, or persons of the labouring classes ; or were they distinguished by their superior moral habits ? — No ; they certainly had no superior acquire- ments ; and as to good moral habits they M^ere not distinguished, — quite the contrary. One master was employed in keeping an account of the beer sent into ST. Clement's danes. 151 the workhouse by the publicans ; and it was found that he had not only got liquors supplied to himself by various publicans, and charged an equivalent amount of beer to the parish, but had received money regu- larly, and charged it under the head of beer supplied to the workhouse. It was believed that his scholars had been made agents in the negotiation of these mat- ters. This occurred some years ago. But I have constant reason to wish that more care were taken of the moral and intellectual education of the children. If the Government could only see what the course of life of these unfortunate children is, what plagues they are made, and how poor is their education, I think little time would be lost in getting an education which would have some influence on their habits and conduct in life." The following instances, in addition to those of Birmingham and Liverpool, and to others mention- ed in our Introduction, show of what excellent results the education of pauper children is capable when con- ducted on a tolerably good plan, and by respectable and competent persons. Evidence of Mr. G. Huish, Assistant- overseer of St- George's, Southwark : — " We have about seventy boys in our workhouse school. There have been nearly the same number during the time I have been in office. They have always been very fairly educated. During the last twelve years, they have been fortunate in having had very good masters ; good moral men as well as good teachers." " How have these boys turned out when appren- ticed or got out to work ? — The boys who have been 152 SCHOOLS for paupers. apprenticed liave on the whole turned out very good boys." " How many of these boys have you known return to the parish as bad characters ? — Since I have been in office I only remember two cases." " How many Iiave returned from such causes as failure of work or want of competency, or other causes than those not deemed bad, or bad conduct ? — I do not know of any other instance whatever, beyond those I have mentioned, where the boys sent out dur- ing the last twelve years have returned upon the parish." " Can you state from your observation that this result of the good general conduct of the work- house boys has been the effect of their more careful education ? — I have no doubt whatever that the great care bestowed on their education, and the general attention paid by the minister of our parish, and a number of well-disposed persons, to their moral and religious conduct, has been productive of these effects. The boys in the workhouse are fre- quently visited by respectable people, who pay at- tention to their behaviour, and treat them with kind- ness. I am quite sure that, with such care as may easily be given, the children may be made to turn out well, where, had no care been given, they would in the ninety-nine cases have turned out bad. There is less care taken of the morals of the charity- children than of the children iu the workhouse ; and if I wanted a boy, I would sooner take a work- house-boy than a charity-boy, though the workhouse- boy would be at a disadvantage as to parents : their parents, where they have any, being mostly confirm- ed paupers."' LAMBETH. 153 Dr. D'Oyly, the Rector of Lambeth, having been requested to state with accuracy the result of the system of education pursued there, says, " A question was put to me as to the number of persons bred up as children in the Norwood House of Industry, who after- wards return on the parish as paupers. The result of my inquiry on this head is very satisfactory. I am assured that, independently of those who are perma- nently disabled from earning a livelihood, a very small portion, not more than a twentieth, if so many, ever become burthensome in after-life to the parish ; and this is mainly attributed to the good education which is given in that institution, and the industrious, moral, and religious habits which are there found." But the most interesting and circumstantial account of the establishment, progress, and effect of a work- house-school, is given by Mrs. Park, sister-in-law of the lamented African traveller. The account is long, but every paragraph contains an interesting fact or an able deduction. With but few omissions, therefore, we give it as it stands in the Poor Law Report. " About two years ago, the state of our workhouse at Gravesend attracted my attention, from the state in which I learned that it was during my inquiries respecting Mr. Park's patients, he being then the sur- geon of the parish. There were then fifty females in the workhouse ; of these twenty-seven were young, stout, active women, who never were employed in doing anything whatever. There were five of these young and able women who were accustomed to go to bed in the forenoon, solely to pass off the time. There was no separation of the sexes during the day, and the most frightful demoralization was the consequence. H 5 154 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. Tliere were four old females who did the whole of the work of cooking and cleaning the house. The mistress of the workhouse, who was herself very unfit for the situation, and having no domestic management, was accustomed to send any of the female inmates out to service, receiving herself half the emolument : she took no care where they went to ; and when an occa- sional servant was applied for from any low public- house or any such place, (for no respectable person would then take a pauper,) these girls were sent out. The overseers were equally culpable in giving orders to send out the paupers without any attention as to the places where sent. They usually returned to the house still more corrupt and corrupting, and often preg- nant. A woman who is deaf and dumb had four chil- dren during her residence in the workhouse. Being an excellent needle-woman, she was let out upon all oc- casions. She was one of the females who positively refused to work, as she took in work of her own ; but since four hours' work was exacted, she has gone to re- side with a relation in London, and I understand she makes a good living. " The younger females, the children, were brought up much in the same way ; these were educated by an exceedingly ignorant, ill-conducted man, a pauper, who acted as the parish schoolmaster. These females were brought up in tiie same school with the boys, and very great disorders prevailed there. 1 understand that even now, when the ladies leave the house, the girls are re- turned to the schoolroom among the rude boys. We were petitioned to allow the girls to continue to write with this master ; but having observed the improprieties communicated in the form of writing lessons, it was GRAVESEND. 155 discontinued, but for the younger, who only formed let- ters. The girls ought to continue in the room where they work, under the constant observation of the ladies who visit, or of the elder married women. They should sleep in a chamber together, along with one of the most steady matrons : both night and day they should be kept separate from both men and boys ; this however is not done. "The old females were also very ill regulated: I found that they made it a practice to send the child- ren to the public-house for spirits. How they obtained the money was a mystery which I have never been able to penetrate. " On the whole, the workhouse appeared to me from all I saw and all I could learn, a frightful and increas- ing source of demoralization to the labouring classes ; and of burthen to them in common with the higher classes. Seeing this, I got several ladies to form a committee, and we tendered our services to the churchwardens and the parish officers to educate the children, and to make the young and able-bodied pau- pers of our own sex work a certain number of hours a day, and conform to industrious and religious habits." "How was this offer received? — It was ultimately acceded to, but with a great deal of difficulty. They said they did not mind it, but they were quite sure that work could not be found. All the officers evinced a great unwiUingness to be interfered with ; and, in- deed, had it not been for the exertions of the Curate of Milton parish, in conjunction with the churchwar- dens at that time in office, we should never have suc- ceeded." 156 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. " What was your next course of proceeding? — The first object was to bring all the inmates to more in- dustrious habits. Instead of four old persons alway» doing all the work in the house, our intention was that the requisite number of persons should perform the cooking and other work in turn, so that thesen young women might learn household work, and form useful domestic habits, instead of bad habits and im- moralit}-. But we found that we had so much trouble in carrying any alterations which would affect the ar- rangements of the master and mistress, that in fact we could do nothing but make tlie paupers work during the four hours that we, or a portion of the ladies of the committee, were present ; and keep them quiet during that period. We could not stop the practice of the master and mistress letting out to hire young female paupers under the circumstances stated, where the master and mistress received half the earnings, although they received good salaries, and although it appeared that they had no right by their contract to any such a source of emolument. The most dis- tressing practice that I have met with, was that of sending out another class of paupers as nurses. It may be observed, that it has been a practice to send for old women to act as nurses, and sit up with sick persons of the labouring classes. The general prac- tice was to send out the worst persons in the house, for which choice no other reason can be assigned than that they were the persons whom the master and mis- tress were the most desirous of being rid of. These, with very few exceptions, were the most reckless cha- racters, with whom no being whatever ought to be en- trusted ; but these were the description of nurses who GHAVESEND. 157 were, sent to the cholera hospital. We begged that we, who, from our attendance, knew these characters, and coukl judge of their fitness, might have the con- trol of their going to work ; but this was deemed by the churchwardens and overseers as an infringement of their authority. In the first instance, they did indeed consent, but subsequently the overseers and other officers began to give orders to the paupers to go out, and the old practice was re-established. Nothing ultimately was left to us but to direct the labour of the house during the four hours of daily attendance that we devoted to them." " What was the nature of the employment with which you occupied them? — The elder ones we taught knitting stockings, and the younger females needlework. Before we went to the workhouse they were badly clothed, and some of them almost in a state of rags and nakedness. We wished to have the whole clothed in one way, with gowns of blue linsey-woolsey, check aprons, dark handkerchiefs, and close white caps. After violent opposition from the mistress of the house and the females themselves, this was acceded to. Hitherto they had purchased the most gaudy prints for the females, and ready-made slop shirts for the men in the house, whilst the young women were lying in bed idle. One of the paupers, a girl of eighteen years of age, who re- fused to work, was dressed in a dashing print dress of red and green, with gigot sleeves, and a silk band, a large golden or gilt buckle, long gilt ear-rings and a lace cap, and abundance of curls. A general order was given that the hair of the females should be braided, and put under their caps, and no curls or curl-papers seen. We got the whole of the young females clothed in the 158 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. manner we designed in two months, during the first year. This was done by their own labour, under the instructions we gave them. The benefit of this was, that whenever they went out of the workhouse they were known and hable to observation, and could not act as they had been accustomed to act when they could not be distinguished. In the next place, the parish saved money. They were thus clothed com- fortably for 10*. each. After that we procured them needlework, in which we had no difficulty; though we were opposed in the first instance, under the no- tion that we should injure the National school, where work is taken in. It was supposed also that it would injure industrious poor people in the neigh- bourhood. But according to the statements of the National School Society, the amount of the labour done was not diminished, although we took work at somewhat lower prices ; neither could we ascer- tain that any industrious people out of the house had been injured by it : we never had any complaints, nor ever heard of one from any industrious people. I believe the fact to be, that a great part of the work we procured was work created, or which would not have been done had it not been taken. But it would have been much better that the work which might be done in wealthy families should be done in the work- house, that these pauj>ers should be occupied usefully and instructed. The ladies paid great attention to the work, and employed one of the most intelligent and active of the inmates of the house as the general su- perintendent. The Avork was remarked for its neat- ness ; no slovenly or indifferent work was permitted to go out; and the committee were so very particular, that GRAVESEND. 159 the instruction they received was necessarily much better than that which they would have obtained in the houses of their own parents. One effect of this partial discipline in the house was, that in almost two months about one-half of the workers left. Some of them called themselves widows ; others said that they did not come in to work, they merely came in to accommodate themselves until they could get them- selves another situation; but they could not remain to work, indeed that they would not; they would sooner take a room and keep themselves when they were out of place, " sooner than put on a dress, indeed, and be made to work." One refractory person said, "The poor were not a going to be oppressed by work." They did not work one moment beyond the four hours during which the persons in authority allowed us to employ them. It had been the practice to have tea-parties in the house, to which the friends of the female in- mates were invited. The young persons began to get out the tea-things and make preparations for these parties before the ladies who were instructing them, and who had not themselves dined, had left. But this practice was put an end to." "Were tea and sugar allowed to them from the poor-rates ? — No, I believe they procured it from their own private resources." " By what means did you enforce the performance of the work ? — We had no other means than re- wards. We wished to withhold their meals till the required work had been performed, and thus convert the meals into a reward of industry ; but we were told by the authorities that we could not by law do this.' " What were the earnings of the females? — They 160 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. were on an average about one pound per month for the four hours' work daily of about fifteen per- sons.* There were 30 shirts, 82 shifts, 20 pairs of stockings and socks, 41 gowns, GO caps, 60 handker- chiefs, 16 nightcaps, 1 frock, 5 flannel petticoats, 2 tippets and slips, and an entire set of sheets for the whole house, made during the first eighteen months.f But still the mistress of the house was observed to be cutting out gowns for the paupers coming in, and for the children, of the gaudy prints, instead of allow- ing the visiters to provide as heretofore. But had they not earned one farthing, great good would have been done by keeping away those who were proved capable of providing for themselves; and by finding employment for those who would otherwise have passed their time in vicious idleness. The money earned was divided amongst the workers, with the exception of 2*. a week, which was paid to the su- perintendent. A mark was put against the names of those who were refractory, or who were impertinent, and their money was withheld. In a short time this regulation produced perfect civility and obedience." " If you had been seconded in your exertions, and been allowed to carry into effect the alterations which you thought desirable, what further effects do you believe, judging from your experience. Mould have been practicable ? — In the first place, we should have had the hours of work at least doubled. I am well con- vinced that the workhouse might, as regards females, * In adrlitiou to this, a great quantity of work was done for the house. t The articles named were for the house, indcjiendent of one pound a mor.th of work taken in. GRAVESEND. 161 be made a school of industry, and a place of wholesome restraint, instead of a school of vice. Whilst no one would come to it under the influence of the induce- ments afforded by idleness, those who must neces- sarily come there, — orphans, and the great numbers of young people who have been born on the parish, — might be so instructed as to be made superior servants and good nurses, and superior wives of working men. In the first place, the workhouse affords the means of giving to females instruction in household work and in domestic economy, which at present is their great want, and which so frequently occasions the ruin and misery of labouring men when they take wives from this class. That which is done by the Guardian So- ciety in London, might be done in every workhouse throughout the kingdom. If matrons with proper qualifications were appointed, they might conduct the system, and might obtain the assistance of the ladies of the vicinity. I was told from the outset that ladies could not be got to form a committee, but I found no difficulty whatever in getting a committee of the age and qualifications to command respect. 1 could have got plenty of committees, if we had taken young ladies ; but my objection was, that the paupers would have presumed on their inexperience ; and I thought it desirable that the committee should con- sist of married ladies who were the heads of families. The committee consisted of ten, and two attended each week. I conceived that there would be no difficulty in obtaining a committee of ladies in such a district who could give their attendance one week in five. It was arranged that two should attend, so that one might not be absent, though unexpected 162 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. domestic duties might interrupt the attendance of the other. The household work, scouring, cleaning, washing, plain-cooking, needlework, knitting, mend- ing and making up carpets, and economical industry, might under such a system be taught in a much higher degree than they could be learned in a cot- tage, or in the house of a person of tlie middle classes. They might also receive superior instruction in an- other respect ; they might be well qualified to act as nurses when sickness occurred in the families of their employers or in their own families. There are always poor people sick in the workhouses, and they might be usefully taught to wait upon the sick people. There are very few females who are ever capable of acting as nurses ; in fact, it requires special instruction, of a nature which might be given by the physician who attends the workhouse. The ladies' committee might maintain a very high order of domestic instruction in these places ; and the children of misfortune, who are now a prey to every vice, might be made very su- perior servants, and in every respect superior mem- bers of societ3% This is in fact accomplished by the ladies of the Guardian Society in London. I have myself known several instances where females who have been reclaimed by them from dissolute, wretched states of life, have by their course of instruction made the most exemplary servants. I have been informed that this is now so well known, that no difficulty what- ever is found in getting places for servants from the Guardian Society. The whole of the ladies who have acted with me are assured from our own experience of the effects of the very partial change which we have been allowed to make, that the same effects GRAVESEND. 163 might be produced with the females in our own and in every other workhouse. The young female whom I before instanced as sitting in the gaudy dress, with gilt ear-rings and a lace cap, and who refused to work, of which indeed she was ignorant, has subse- quently been reformed, and by her own solicitation gone as a penitent to the Guardian. She has now in many respects become an excellent workwoman ; and I have no doubt, from the instruction she will there receive, that she will become a skilful and an excellent moral servant. This had been so far accomplished before she left us, that one of the ladies of our com- mittee, Mrs. West, offered to take her as a servant; but she preferred going to the Guardian Society, as she preferred getting away from the companions of her former courses. If she had lived in the town as a servant, she must have carried messages, and could not have avoided meeting them." " What moral or religious instruction was usually given to females in the workhouse before the ladies' committee undertook the performance of their duties? — I am not aware of any religious instruction having been given them, excepting by the occasional charity of gentlemen who went to read to them in an evening." " What alterations did the ladies' committee pro- pose or effect in that respect ? — Every morning, the moment we assembled, we had prayers and read a chapter in the Bible. All the females were collected to prayers ; the old and very infirm returned to their own room ; the others remained to work. All those who could read, were made to read one chapter of the Bible, and those who could not read were taught. I was confounded by finding, two years ago, how large a 164 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. proportion of the persons who came to the workhouse could not read. I was surprised to find about half of the young women, even those who were married, could not read. They also requested the curate, who approved of the ladies' exertions, to give them a lec- ture once a week, to which he kindly assented, and has accordingly attended every Monday evening." " What characteristic difference did you find be- tween those adults who could, and those who could not read ? — I found that those who could read were persons whom we could instruct more rapidly, and make stronger impressions upon, and whom we could get more readily into habits of industry. I have al- ways remarked that the most ignorant were the most idle. It must, nevertheless, be remarked, that pre- cepts, however forcibly inculcated, will have no effect alone ; and that all moral instruction must be based on a continued round of industry. They were very ready to conform to all religious instructions, and very glad to do so, if they conceived it was all that was required of them. Some of the most profligate in the house are noted for their attention to religious exer- cises. Instruction in reading and writing, and reli- gious exercises, were made a relief from work. Those who had done their scrubbing the first, were permitted to come to their instruction in reading and writing or their religious exercises. This made them work with more alacrity. If the class were large, as it would be for a time, from such a district, it might be worth while to employ, as the superintendent of the house for the females, a person of education and respect ability. Such persons as the widows of non-commis- sioned officers vvouUl be extremely glad to accept such GRAVESEND. 165 situations ; and they might also be made acceptable to the widows of poor clergymen; and it would be cheap to the public in the end to obtain the services of such persons. They would be incapable of the exer- cise of low cunning and petty jobbing which exist at present. " With regard to the children, the ladies' committee sent in the following proposals to the parish officers : — " To the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Pa- rishes of Gravesend and Milton. "Gentlemen, " I am desired by the ladies of the committee for the improvement of the morals of the poor in the workhouse, to state, that twelve months having elapsed since the commencement of their exertions, they have (notwithstanding their regret that the whole of their original plans have not been duly enforced, such as that of all paupers wearing the same dresses, &c. &c.) every reason to feel satisfied with the improved con- dition of those under their charge. The ladies would beg to call your attention to a plan for the improve- ment of the children of the out-paupers. " 1st. That every person receiving parochial aid shall be ordered to send their children, from the age of six years to fourteen, to the workhouse, from ten until twelve in the morning, and from two until four in the afternoon. " 2nd. That each child shall be furnished with a leaden badge, numbered on the one side, and the letter of the parish on the other ; the numbers running from one upwards ; so that the ladies in attendance may be enabled to report once in a week to each parish the absentees. 166 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. " 3rd. That the attendance of these children should be enforced by withholding relief from all parents who do not comply with this regulation. " 4th. In case of sickness, a certificate from the medical gentleman of the parish to be presented. " 5th. If their children are attending National or other schools, a certificate from the master or mistress to that effect must be produced to the parish officers. " 6th. Children attending Sunday schools to con- tinue to do so ; and such of them as have never had that advantage, to be sent to that of Milton ; it being at present the only parish Sunday school. "7th. That the school-room of the workhouse should be appropriated to the boys ; and that the present master be teacher ; the ladies continuing to take the entire management and teaching of the girls. " The committee, in conclusion, beg to assure the gentlemen in parochial authority, that the above plans and suggestions for the moral improvement of the poor in the parishes of Gravesend and Milton, are not of recent origin, but have long been discussed and entertained ; and they confidently hope that the gentlemen in authority will carefully and consideratel}^ examine them, and, with all convenient speed, return an answer to their obedient servant, "Marion Park, Secretari/." "If a school had been established, a young ladies' committee would have been formed to superintend it. The children of paupers, who are the most neglected, would receive some education ; and the regulations would probably detect the frauds of those paupers who liad their children in profitable employment GRAVKaiiND. 167 whilst they are receiving relief, on the ground of having large and burthensome families, and being out of work." " What was the reply made by the parish officers to this application ? — No notice whatever was taken of it." " Has no reason been suggested in any way as to the ground of this neglect, or such refusal to comply with the proposition ? — I know of no reason ; except the general aversion on the part of those persons to have their authority interfered with. One of the ladies' committee stated, that she had been informed by one of the parochial officers, that they considered the ladies took a great deal too much upon them- selves." In answer to questions with reference to the plans set forth in the evidence of Mr. Thorn, founded upon the practice of putting out pauper children with cot- tagers, Mrs. Park stated, " that she thought such a practice could not fail to be beneficial as compared with the existing practice, than which nothing could be well worse : but she conceived that a well-regu- lated workhouse, which should furnish a continued round of domestic industry, would be far more bene- ficial as regards females, as it would far better qualify them for service. The ladies' committee had found, during their experience on this subject, that they had always to teach almost everything to females who had been educated in cottages ; what was learned there being of little use to them as servants. Indeed it must be obvious, that a large establishment, such as that in which the females must be maintained, where there would be such an extent and variety of house- 168 SCHOOLS FOR PAUPERS. hold work, would furnish instruction such as could be found in no cottage ; and the ladies of the committee, who were the heads of families, must be enabled, from their station, to give superior instruction as to the mode of executing that work. In the cottage, too, the usual school education of the child would not probably be so well attended to, if at all." " We, the undersigned members of the Ladies' Committee, who have endeavoured to establish a beneficial system of education in the work- house of Gravesend and Milton, have perused the evidence given by Mrs. Park, our Secretary, and do concur in the statement of facts and opinions contained therein. Mrs. Barber. Mrs. Tippetts. Mrs. West. Jane Swinny. Mrs. Petley. Mrs. Hindle, Mrs. H. Styles. Mrs. Grahame. Mary Spencer. Marion Park." The foregoing shows how much may be effected by an enlightened system of education under the most unfavourable circumstances. We see that, with the worst material to act upon, and thwarted by igno- rant parish officers, Mrs. Park and her able and zeal- ous coadjutors, by affording motives to industry, and bringing into operation a few other principles of a sound education, produced a most salutary effect. What might not such instructors accomplish if cordi- ally supported by those who possess the directing power; and if ch'thlrcn were put under their care in- stead of persons who have grown up in habits of idle- ness and improvidence ? INFANT SCHOOLS. 169 Whether improvements, however, may hereafter be made in the system of pauper education, (and the esta- blishment of a central power for the administration of the Poor Laws offers great facilities for this,) the facts we have brought forward show, that, with all its imperfections, much may be and is accomplished, even on the present plan, except in instances where the education of paupers is committed to persons grossly incompetent to their task. INFANT SCHOOLS. It isgenerally admitted that the high honour of origin- ating and first bringing into successful operation this important instrument of human improvement and hap- piness is due to Mr. Robert Owen. Dr. Pole, in his no- tice of the rise of infant schools, published in the year 1824, states that Mr. Owen's infant schools at New Lanark were in full activity so far back as the year 1816. A step towards the introduction of infant schools had certainly been taken by Mr. Fellenberg even before this time ; but this does not subtract from Mr. Owen's merit, and but little from the originality of his plan. AH that Mr. Fellenberg had done, according to Dr. Pole, was to make a provision for having the children of his agricultural labourers taken care of whilst their parents were at work. Of the number and actual condition of the infant schools at present existing in this country no authentic account has appeared. Mr. Wilderspin, well known in connexion with infant schools, says, in a letter we have received from him, that their number may be VOL. I. I 170 INFANT SCHOOLS. estimated roughly at about 150 in England, 70 in Scotland, and 50 in Ireland; each school containing on an average about 100 scholars. According to this estimate there are about 15,000 children in infant schools in this country; a very small number when compared with the whole infant population. The total number of children in England and Wales between the ages of two and seven is about 2,000,000 ; of these, about 430,000 are in the third year of their age, and about 380,000 in their seventh year ; the intermediate numbers gradually decreasing as the age advances. We see, therefore, that there is a great field for the extension of infant schools; though, when we consider that it is not more tlian about fifteen years since the first was opened in England, we must admit that considerable progress has been made. Hitherto, infant schools have been almost exclusively confined to the poorer classes : we hope that their advantages will speedily be extended to all classes. Nature and Extent of the Education. —Ac- quirement, in the ordinary.sense of the term, is very properly but little aimed at in our infant schools. The formation of good habits, and the development of the mental and bodily powers of the child, are made, as they ought to be, the principal object. The means for effecting this may not always be sufficient, and the application of those means may not always be judici- ous. Still, much is accomplished when the object is rightly understood. Plans of Teach inc. — It is a fortunate circum- stance with respect to infant education, that the insti- tution is of a very recent date. No ancient lumber PLANS OF TEACHING. 171 obstructed the path of the projectors, either as regards the subjects to be taught or the manner of teaching. The consequence is that the principle of utility and the connexion between cause and effect have been kept in view much more than we should expect if we looked only at the system of education in general use for children of more advanced age. One advantage, essential to infant education, consists in the ready test it affords of good or bad management. A boy twelve or fifteen years old, may be frightened and flogged into silence and dulness ; and may be acquir- ing habits of deception, cruelty, selfishness, and dis- honesty, without these habits at once appearing, at least in their full force : and the parent hearing his son repeat his Greek verbs with a certain degree of volubility, and finding that his boy brings home with him a good stock of nonsense verses, may think that all is going on well, and that Tom will one day become the pride and ornament of his family. There can, however, be no such mistake with respect to the way in which an infant is going on. All that is good or bad in him rises at once to the surface. The mis- taken treatment of one hour is felt in its consequences in the next; and an uncontrollable fit of crying is but one token among many, which the poor teacher will receive, of any foolish treatment to which he may have subjected the child. This ready power of pun- ishing unskilful teachers, with which Nature has fur- nished the child, is sure to drive most such teachers from infant schools : for where is the man that would not be driven mad in a month if he were surrounded six hours a day by a hundred children, crying and roaring away in full chorus ? In self-defence, there- i2 172 INFANT SCHOOLS. lore, if other motives were wanting, the teacher must make his lessons entertaining and attractive, and in so doing he is almost certain to make them useful and instructive. If he begin to talk on subjects which do not interest the child, and to use words and phrases which the child does not comprehend, it is certain that the lessons will not be productive of the slightest benefit, and it is therefore fortunate that the child's attention will soon be withdrawn. If the teacher persist, the dreaded signal of error will soon be given. Singing has with great propriety been generally introduced into infant schools. It is an excellent exercise, employing as it does at one and the same time the voice, the ear, and the memory. It is, too, very conducive to health, and it is an exercise in which great numbers can join. It is desirable that the verses sung sliould present vivid and pleasing ideas to the mind, and that the music should be made sub- ordinate to the sense. These points are sometimes overlooked. The various active motions of the body, as clapping the hands, swinging the arms round, &c. which the children are taught to go through simul- taneously, are all very good : it is, indeed, difficult to say which is benefited the most, the child's temper or his bodily frame. In some infant schools a good deal of time is em- ployed in answering questions put by the children, and in ascertaining that the explanations given are understood. This is an excellent exercise, especially if care be taken, whenever it is possible, to have the object which forms the ground- work of inquiry pre- ^ent before the children. We were visiting an infant school some time ago, mIicd a question was asked COST OF INFANT EDUCATION. 17-3 about a carpenter's plane ; and it struck us how much more interesting and instructive the explanation would have been, had a real plane been produced, and the manner and object of its use experimentally shown. The more very young children can have to do with things instead of words the better. Books and their contents are of very doubtful value for infants, except for the nice prints to be found in some of them. To carry into full operation the rule of letting a child see every object that is spoken of, a great col- lection of articles would be necessary; and this and other advantages of the kind cannot be hoped for until infant schools are carried on upon a much larger scale than at present. Mr. Wilderspin says there is a great want of a model infant school : a training establishment is also a desideratum. Here, again, we see the import- ance of combined and concentrated efforts. COST OF INFANT EDUCATION. The average cost has been estimated at I5s. a head per annum ; but we are inclined to think that this estimate is below the real expense. The average cost at three infant schools with which we are ac- quainted is rather more than 1/. per annum : this sum, however, includes the payments by the parents of the children, which in two of the schools are at the rate of 2d. per week, or 8^. a year for each child ; in the other instance the parent pays Id. per week, or 4*. a year. Effects of Infant Education. — The evidence on this head is at present scanty, and somewhat con- 174 INFANT SCHOOLS. tradictory. That infant schools, however, have in all instances been the means of" preventing great evils, admits, we think, of little doubt ; and we feel satisfied that, whenever the teacher has been well qualified for his task, the school has been productive of much posi- tive good. It appears from the evidence of several persons employed in cotton factories, that a child is often sent to work at a very tender age, because the parent is at a loss how otherwise to dispose of him. Unless the mother stays at home to take care of the child (at a great sacrifice in the income of the family), the little creature must either be locked up or allow- ed to run about the streets. The danger arising from either of these practices is too obvious to require comment. It may, however, be well to give a few facts. The subjoined are extracted from the works of Mr. Wilderspin and Mr. Goyder, on Infant Educa- tion. The extracts from Mr. "Wilderspin's book relate to the habits of crime into which children who wander about the streets are often led : — " It is no small mat- ter of credit with older thieves — (by older thieves, I mean, in the present instance, boys of nine or ten years old) — to have under their tuition two or three pupils. I have seen in my walks as many as seven or eight sallying forth from the alleys in the neighbour- hood of Spitalfields, under the command, as it were, of a leader, a boy perhaps not more than nine or ten years old. I have watched their plans ; and have no- ticed that it was usual to send first the youngest boy to attempt the theft, — perhaps the object to be attained was only a bun from the open window of a pastrycook's shop, — if he failed, another was sent, whilst the rest EFFECTS OF INFANT EDUCATION. 175 were lurking at the corner of some court, ready to start in case their companion was detected. And 1 have sometimes witnessed, that after all the rest had failed, either from the want of dexterity, or from the too great vigilance of the shopkeeper, the boy who acted as leader had started out, and by a display of su- perior dexterity, would have carried off the object, had it not happened that some one was thus purposely watching his conduct. When detected, if an old of- fender, he will either look you in the face with the greatest effrontery and an expression of defiance, or he will feign to cry, and tell you he was hungry, has no father or mother, &c.; though frequently, on further inquiry, I have found the whole story to be false. '' Having had occasion to walk through Shoreditch some time since, I saw a number of persons collected together round a little boy, who, it appeared, had sto- len a brass weight from the shop of a grocer. The ac- count the shopman gave was as follows : — He stated, that three boys came into the shop for half an ounce of candied horehound, and that while he was getting down the glass which contained it, one of the boys contrived to purloin the weight in question. Having some suspicion of the boys, from the circumstance of having recently lost a number of brass weights, he kept his eyes upon them, when he saw one of them put his hand into a box that was on the counter, take out the largest weight, and then run out of the shop followed by the other two boys. The boy who stole it slipped the weight into the hand of one of the others ; but the shopman, having observed the man- oeuvre, followed the boy who had the weight, who, being the youngest of the three, could not run very 176 INFANT SCHOOLS. fast ; he, finding himself closely pursued, threw away the weight into the road, and when he was taken, de- clared it was not he who took it. The man wished to take the child back to the shop, in order that his mas- ter might do with him as he thought proper ; but the bystanders, with a charitable zeal which evinced lit- tle knowledge, prevented him : one man in particular seemed to interest himself much in the boy's behalf, stating that he knew the child very well, and that he had neither father nor mother. The child inmiediately took up the plea, said he had no father or mother, add- ing to it that he had had no victuals all day. The in- dividual before-mentioned then gave him Id., and his example was followed by many more, till I think the boy obtained nearly 1*. I put several questions to the child, but was checked by this fellow, who told me, that, as I had given the child nothing I had no right to ask so many questions ; and, after a great deal of abuse, ended by telling me, that if I did not " take myself off," he would " give me something for myself." Feeling a great desire to sift further into this mystery, I feigned to withdraw, but kept my eye upon the boy, and followed him for nearly two hours, until I saw him join two other boys, one of whom I had not seen before, and who had a bag with something very heavy in it, which I have every reason to believe were weights or something which they had obtained in a similar manner. Wishing to ascertain the fact, I approached tlie boys, but they no sooner perceived me, than the little fellow who had been the principal actor in the affair called out " Nose, nose ! " a signal-word, no doubt, agreed upon amongst them, when they all ran down some obscure alleys. I followed, but was EFFECTS OF INFANT EDUCATION. 177 knocked down, as if by accident, by two ill-looking fel- lows, who continued to detain me with apologies till the boys had got safely away. I have little doubt that this was an instance of that organized system of depredation of which I have before spoken ; and that the man who took so active a part at the first was at the bottom of the business, — was, in fact, the tutor and employer of the predaceous urchins. His acti- vity in preventing the boy from being taken back to the shop ; his anxiety to promote a subscription for the boy; and lastly, his threat of personal violence if I in- terfered in the matter, by questioning the child, — all these circumstances confirm me in this opinion." Mr. Goyder, after speaking, like Mr. Wilderspin, of the perils to which children are exposed, who are al- lowed to wander about the streets, goes on as fol- lows : — " Still worse, if possible, is the situation of those children who are shut up during the absence of their parents in close, gloomy, and unwholesome apartments, breathing for hours together an impure and tainted atmosphere, besides being subjected to accidents and dangers of the most serious nature. It would harrow up the feelings of the reader were I to detail every circumstance that has come to my knowledge of this description; but a finished picture of these miseries must not agonize the feelings of my hearers. I shall, therefore, content myself with relating a few of the less revolting, though equally pernicious effects, to which the children of the poor are exposed, pledging myself for the truth of what I may relate. " Two little children being locked up in a room to- gether, sought in vain for some outlet whereby they X 5 178 INFANT SCHOOLS. might escape and join their playfellows in the street. At length they proposed to jump out at the window. The first effected it, and was killed on the spot ; the second followed, but in consequence of falling on the dead body of its companion, its life was preserved, although both its thighs were broken, and much seri- ous injury besides sustained. Three children, the eldest nine years of age, the youngest three, were locked up in a similar manner ; the youngest cried for a pair of scissors, which being given it, it inflicted a shocking wound in its throat which caused its death. " A child locked up in a room for a short time, went to play with a saucepan of boiling water, on the fire, which in a short time he pulled down, and dread- fully scalded himself; and although his life was pre- served, he has ever since been subject to fits in conse- quence of the fright. " Out of an average of sixteen years, sixty-five chil- dren have been annually sent to the Bristol Infirmary* with dreadful burns and scalds ; another consequence of being locked up. " It is a common practice among the poor people to suffer their children to drink from the spout of a tea- kettle : this is a very dangerous practice. A child who came to the infant school at Bristol was accus- tomed to this, and one day going as usual to drink, the kettle was full of boiling water ; giving the kettle a sudden jerk, lie ejected a large quantity of the boiling water down his throat, and was so dreadfully scalded that he expired in a i'ew hours in the most excruciating agony. * Tlic autlior superintended the Bristol Infant School four years and a half. EFFECTS OF INFANT EDUCATION. 179 " In most of the instances above enumerated, the parents have resorted to locking up their children in. order to preserve them from the contaminating influ- ence of street associations." — Goyders Treatise on In- fant Schools, pages 6 and 7. Other instances of the dreadful consequences which sometimes result from the practice to which the poor are often driven of locking up their children have come to our own immediate knowledge, but we for- bear adding to Mr. Goyder's distressing enumeration. Appalling, however, as are these calamities, they are not, perhaps, so frequent as to be justly considered the main part of the mischief. The misery of long conti- nued solitude, its benumbing effects on the intellect, and its tendency to deprave the heart, — these are the most formidable results ; for they must extend in a greater or less degree to every one of the thousands of poor children who are thus daily immured. We remember the effect produced upon our feelings by an account of the life passed by some of the chil- dren in the Cornish mines. It did not occur to uSj, however, when reading that appalling narrative, how nearly the condition of thousands of children whose parents are engaged in the ordinary business of life resembles theirs. — Our traveller describes himself as riding through a long and narrow passage on one of the carriages for conveying the ore. The only light received was from a lamp fastened to the carriage, and the carriage itself moved silently along, drawn by cords attached to the steam-engine. Here and there was a door across the passage to regulate the current of air by which the mine is ventilated. The traveller was surprised at observing the regularity with which these 180 INFANT SCHOOLS. doors opened at their approach and closed after them, there being no apparent means for accomphshing this. On incpiiry, he found that a poor child was stationed at each door, whose sole business it was to open and shut the door, and whose only relief from total dark- ness and solitude was the occasional appearance of a carriage with its solitary lamp. But to change the picture. The following evidence given by Mr. Henry Ashworth, one of the proprietors of the large cotton works at Bolton, Lancashire, men- tioned in our section on factory schools, shows that infant schools are not confined in their effects to the removal of crying evils like those we have spoken of, but that they have already been made productive of much positive good : — " From what I have seen of the early operation of that influence, [the influence of the mother,] I con- sider that infant schools are a most important step to the improvement of our manufacturing population, when they are under the control of females, as these are better qualified to convey correct feelings to the infant mind than men are for children of the same age. In the infant school, we are sure that children learn to be obedient and orderly, and to restrain their passions ; we are sure that in a large proportion of cases it is not so at their own homes." " What number of children have you at the infant schools which you have instituted ? — At two schools connected with our works, and at another school supported by ourselves and others jointly, we have altogether about 150 children, from three to nine years of age." " How long have these schools been in operation ? EFFECTS OF INFANT EDUCATION. 18J — The first, almost six or seven years ; the two others, within the last three years." " Have you seen enough of the character of those who have passed through these schools to enable you to judge of their practical effects? — Yes; I have made observations upon them." "What are their eflPects? — I may most shortly state them, by mentioning the fact, that the workmen, even the most rude and uneducated amongst them, who do not make very nice distinctions, always prefer a child who has been educated at an infant school, as those children are most obedient and docile. Such children are bespoken beforehand by the workmen, who engage their own piecers. This is the most pointed way in which the effects of infant schools have been already manifested : other characteristics will doubtless appear as the children grow up." — Ap- jje/idix to Poor Law Report (Education), pp. 1 1 and 12. The following evidence, extracted from Mr. Dunn's examination before the Education Committee, is not so satisfactory: — " Are you at all conversant with infant schools ? — I generally visit them when I have an opportunity." " Do you find that the pupils who come to you, who have gone through an infant school education, are better adapted to receive your education than other children? — Certainly better prepared, but not to the extent that we once hoped. We find infant school tuition is so much an amusement, that the children are not willing at first to work, or to make a serious bu- siness of their studies. The number of competent infant school teachers is also very limited. There is no society to which any one can apply for teachers ; 182 INFANT SCHOOLS. • ' the consequence is, that masters and mistresses of infant schools have been generally recommended by other masters and mistresses, and sometimes from in- ferior motives." " But you conceive that very important instruction might be conveyed ; that it is very important training that might be gone through in the infant schools ? — I think that it might be ; but I think that in many cases infant schools have been made mere toys, with which the public have been pleased." " As far as your superior experience has gone of individual cases that have come to your knowledge, do you find their minds better prepared for the reception of knowledge ? — Decidedly, when they have been to good infant schools : but the infant schools really worth the name are comparatively few. It is very easy to open an infant school, and to introduce certain amusements for the children, but it is not easy to obtain a teacher who will laboriously instruct them." " Do you speak from a large experience of infant schools, or is that limited? — In a great many cases the state of infant schools has been brought under our notice. Where we get a child from a well regu- lated infant school, then it is of great advantage ; but (I repeat it) the number of well regulated infant schools is small." Report of the Education Committee , page 26. In an infont school the importance of having a mas- ter and mistress really qualified for their task is greater, if possible, than in a school for older children; since books and other extraneous assistance are here of little avail. No wonder then, that in the absence of any provision for educating masters and mistresses of EFFECTS OF INFANT EDUCATION. 183 infant schools, incompetent persons should sometimes be employed, and the results prove unsatisfactory. Even, however, where no important acquisitions have been made — where the children have been simply amused and kept safe, we are of opinion that much has been effected ; to have averted great moral and physical evil is in itself a great good. The Rev. William Wilson, Rector of Walthamstow, and founder of an infant school in that parish, (one of the first that was opened in England,) insists very much, in his evidence before the Education Committee, on the want of a training establishment for masters and mis- tresses. In all instances, however, that have come to his knowledge, at least some amount of good has been effected by an infant school ; and where there has been an efficient master, the effect produced has been highly beneficial. W^e extract from Mr. Wilson's evi- dence : — " If you had heard that some of the officers of the great schools and societies had spoken, on the whole, rather unfavourably of the practical effects of infant schools, judging from your experience, would that sur- prise you ? — Not at all ; because I consider it depends much upon circumstances. I should expect the result to be doubtful, if I had an inefficient master; but that does not affect the question of the excellence of the system." " You would explain that by the very frequent inade- quacy of the master ? — I do not know instances where they are wholly ineffectual. My own experience here and in other parts is quite to the contrary. The claim of the system to our approbation rests chiefly on its accordance with the better tendencies of our na- 184 INFANT SCHOOLS. ture. It makes use of the pleasurable emotions of early life in forming good moral habits, and conveying instruction. I have had correspondence with per- sons residing in savage countries, where this system has been introduced, and its beneficial effect is very strongly seen there, where there is nothing but the natural tendencies to work upon." " If such an opinion were just, it could be only on account of the inadequacy of the master ? — Certainly ; my own experience would bear that out."' ***** " Do you not find the manners of the children a good deal improved in your parish by infant schools ? — Indeed I do, very manifestly." Education Report, pages 168. 173. Mr. Trimmer, of Brentford, who was examined by the Education Committee, and who appears to have paid great attention to education for more than forty years, on being asked whether he approved of infant schools as a preparation for other schools, replied that he did ; observing at the same time, that he was not an early convert to them, but that he had become one from seeing them in practice. Other questions to Mr. Trimmer elicited the following answers : — " From what motive have you changed j'our mind on the subject of infant schools ? — My objection was the separating children at that early age from their parents ; the advantages I have seen : the very great order and care and pains taken by their parents to send them neat and tidy to those schools, and the degree to which they have learned obedience in those schools, has convinced me that they are bene- ficial." EFFECTS OF INFANT EDUCATION. 185 " You said you had originally an objection to sepa- rate the child from the parent ; do you think any di- minution in the sense of duty takes place in the parent in consequence ? — That was my fear ; but on deeper consideration of it, I have given up that idea." " You think that the parents do not in consequence consider themselves reUeved from the discharge of their duty ? — No ; they are not tired with them the whole day, and they can enjoy their society in the evening." — Education Report, page 218. The Bishop of London, in his evidence, bears wit- ness also to the good effect of infant schools, as a preparation for other schools : — " Is it not the case, that children who have been educated in infant schools, have a greater facility of reading than children of the same age who have not ? — Yes ; they come to the National schools already able to read ; they have a greater facility of reading, and a greater facility of paying attention to anj' thing. I have been making inquiries lately as to the effect of infant schools upon the scholars who are drafted into the National schools, and they say they learn more quickly and are better behaved : the only difficulty arises from this, that in infant schools an important feature is the bodily exercise of the scholars, and the combining a sort of mechanical exertion with the pro- cess of learning. In the National schools, the children rather miss that excitement : but, upon the whole, there cannot be any doubt that infant schools are an important preparation." The following is extracted from the evidence of Mr. Smart, Vestry Clerk of St. Botolph, Bishops- grate : — 186 IXFANT SCHOOLS. " What do you find is the operation of other schools in your parish? — Very good. The number of children at the infant and other schools has greatly increased ; and I believe that on the whole the juvenile portion of the population has been much improved in character by them. Of those young people who come to the parish for relief, the persons who are educated, or who have been educated in the parochial schools, have no pro- portion to the rest." " Do you find the infant schools serviceable in en- abling the mothers of the working class to work more, and maintain themselves better ? — That is my opinion. They are enabled to go out to work ; and if there were no such schools, they would be compelled to attend to their children, and would more frequently apply to the parish. I conclude this to be the case, from the con- stant declarations of those mothers who have children, and are not able to send them to school. They say they must have assistance from the parish, on account of having to attend to their children. There are many of the families who reside out of the parish, at too great a distance for their infant children to come to the parish school." " From the whole of your observation, do you con- sider the general establishment of infant and other schools a matter of economy, viewing their operation only with relation to parish rates and the progress of pauperism? — I have no doubt whatever of it; that their effects are immediately economical, merely in a pounds, shillings, and pence point of view ; for I am convinced that, great as the amount of pauperism now is, the claims upon the parish funds would be much greater but for the operation of these schools : ulti- EFFECTS OF INFANT EDUCATION. 187 inately their effect will be more considerable in pre- venting the extension of pauperism." Appendix (a) to Poor Law Report, page 248. A. Mr. Chadvvick gives some striking facts that fell under his observation connected with infant schools ; and, as usual, accompanies his statement with excel- lent deductions : — " In the course of my proceedings under the com- mission, I have visited the infant schools at Kingsbury, Berks, and several other places. In some instances the existence of an infant school was suggested to the casual observation by the fact of there being few or no ragged, dirty, and squalling miserable children to be seen running about the lanes and residences of the labouring classes. I found the infants in the schools in a state of cleanliness, and invariably displaying most delightful cheerfulness. There were none of the scenes of quarrelling and fighting between the young children observable in the streets, — occurrences which are often the evident preludes to similar scenes be- tween the parents. A considerable proportion of the little scholars were engaged in learning to sew. I had no opportunity of entering into the details of their tuition ; though the important bearing of these bene- ficent institutions upon the subject matter of the Committee, would, perhaps, have warranted me in doing so, had my time permitted. I venture, how- ever, to observe, that if by these schools no other immediate object is obtained than that of taking these children out of the streets, and keeping them under one superintending eye, in the comparatively high state of personal comfort and cheerfulness in which I always found them, enough would be obtained to 188 INFANT SCHOOLS. recommend their universal adoption. The school- mistresses were probably as capable persons as any whom the funds available would enable the patrons of these schools to procure ; but I venture further to ob- serve, that the educated and accomplished females of the wealthier classes, who have leisure, and who fre- quently occupy themselves in works of charity, would confer the highest service on the poor by superintend- ing the management of these schools, and by render- ing daily active aid in the education of the children." Appendix (a) to Poor Law Report, page 264. A. Of the grateful and affectionate feelings often in- spired in children of the tenderest age, Mr. Wilder- spin gives a touching account in describing the illness and death of his wife, who had always been his fellow- labourer in the cause of infant education. " It is due to one who is departed to state, that my wife, endowed with mental powers and energy of character of no ordinary kind, had most ably seconded my endeavours for the formation of the plan, and con- stantly urged me to do what was practicable abroad, and to confide in her management at home. The burden she thus solicited was great ; and that one female should be able to superintend 200 infants for months together, with no aid except that of a daugh- ter, then a child, and, in addition to this, to explain the system to visiters coming from morning till night, may seem incredible; but all this she actually accom- plished. Frequently has she been occupied from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon, without any relief or refreshment. Visiters often arrived at twelve o'clock, after a journey of ten or twenty miles, when she would cheerfully direct the children (sometimes EFFECTS OF INFANT EDUCATION. 189 amounting to fifty or sixty) who dined in the school, to go through their various exercises ; and thus reUnquisli the only rest that could be enjoyed in the midst of her arduous labours. These, at length, undermined her constitution, and aware that her end was approaching, she intimated this to her infant charge. Their replies discovered their warm affection : ' We won't part with you ; — We can't let you go ; — We love you dearly !' was often heard. When she told them of her exhaus- tion from so much talking and singing, some entreated that she would not work so hard ; others promised to nurse her; and, when she was confined to her own room, many brought oranges and all the little presents they could command. Indeed, in the whole course of my observation, I never met with ingratitude from children under six years of age ; and how much they may be acted upon by love, those to whom i-eference is made amply proved. Many had come to us to wean., and before they could speak, and were now our head scholars ; — these, in common with others, were most kindly solicitous about their governess when she did not appear in the school as before ; and, as soon as they heard she was confined to her bed, the little monitors begged permission to see her. The request was granted. On going up stairs I heard them say ' Hush ! hush ! don't make any noise.' At the desire of one of their leaders, their shoes had been taken off, and we reached the room before the nurse was aware of our approach. I marked their anxious counte- nances as they gazed on their altered teacher, but did not speak, when she raised herself and addressed them on her removal from this world so simply and pathe- tically that all were in tears. On their return they 190 INFANT SCHOOLS. told the rest of the little scholars that the governess was dyhig; and when they went out to play they might be heard saying, without this being urged ujyon them, ' Hush ! hush ! Think of poor governess ; don't let us count out loud in swinging, but only whisper ;' and this was regularly done every day." We shall conclude our remarks on the present state of infant schools in this country, with a notice of a very well conducted infant school in Quaker-street, Spitalfields, which we have lately visited. The number of scholars averages 150 in summer and 100 in winter ; and their ages vary from two to eight years. There is a charge of a penny per week for each child. This charge, Mr. Brown, the master of the school, believes to have the effect of deterring many parents from sending their children : such is the poverty of the district, and so great, we may add, is the moral degradation which generally accompanies extreme poverty. The regularity of the attendance of such as do come, has, however, increased since the charge was first made. At a rough estimate, it ap- pears that one-sixth part of the infant population in the neighbourhood are sent to this school. Such of the children as have steady respectable parents generally stay about two years. The continu- ance of the others is very variable, sometimes not more than a few weeks. The children are in school six hours each day — namely, from nine to twelve, and from two to five. There are, however, frequent in- tervals of a few minutes when the children run out into a small ofjcn court which serves as a play-ground. The afternoon, too, of Saturday is a holiday. We reached the school some minutes before the SPITALFIELDS INFANT SCHOOL. 191 proper time for assembling. Most of the children, however, had arrived, and they were playing very merrily in their open court. Mrs. Brown, who assists in the management of the school, was v/ith them. Some of the children were swinging, surrounded by a crowd of little performers, who were marking the time by singing ; the burden of the song being the multi- plication-table. While standing by this innocent and happy group, we observed a piece of broken platter fly through the air, and very nearly strike the head of one of the children. It had been flung ^over the wall of an adjoining yard ; and upon inquiry we found that their brutal neighbours frequently greeted them in this way. When the bell rang, all the children ran (apparently with the greatest goodwill) into school. Having ranged themselves in order round the room, the master and mis- tress went in different directions to examine them, and see that every one had clean hands. Some were taken out to wash their hands, while those who were particu- larly clean and neat, were honoured by being allowed to accompany their master or mistress in their proces- sion. This business being ended, the school exercises began. The first was called a lesson in spelling. Had it been so in fact, the task would probably have proved as irksome as it must necessarily have been useless. In truth, however, it was an exercise in general know- ledge. A little fellow, with a list of words in his hand, mounted a box, dignified with the name of ros- trum, and spelled one of the words aloud, as baker. This was followed by a number of questions, as — What does the baker do? What is the place called where the bread is baked? What is bread made of? &c. 192 INFANT SCHOOLS. Any child, or any number together, being allowed to answer, the interest of all was kept alive. When a number of words had been taken in this way, a new exercise was called for. This, like several others that followed it, was very properly arranged, rather for the agreeable occupation of the children, and the develop- ment of their physical powers, than with any view to the communication of what is ordinarily called know- ledge ; the latter was at least made quite a secondary object. The proceeding would have sadly scandalized a governess of the old school ; many a time, when the children and ourselves were in the highest glee, her fingers would have itched to grasp the rod. One of the most popular of these divertisements consisted in rudely imitating the motions of the different tribes of the brute creation : the birds flew, the beasts ran, the insects crawled ; the performance elicited much arch humour, and the merriment was quite infectious ; the last manoeuvre of the game brought the little creatures into one joyous group, in the middle of the room, and in the roar of laughter which burst forth, we confess we heartily joined. But the use of all this? — Much, if it only produced the enjoyment we witnessed ; more, if it aided in pre- serving the temper from the cankering effect of sloth, or the evils that follow contention. But there were other ends to be answered, which probabl}' would not suggest themselves to our readers, and of which the bare idea never crossed our mind until we visited the school in the winter: we found, then, that the vital warmth had to be maintained. The school-room is lofty, and without ceiling ; and the funds of the insti- tution are not sufficient to provide cither for an ade- SPITALFIELDS INFANT SCHOOL. 193 quate supply of fuel, or a complete repair of the win- dows ; and though the visiters' seat which we occupied is one of the warmest, and though in our thermometer the comfort point is not marked very high, yet, after a stay of two or three hours, our thoughts began to turn towards Captain Ross and the North-west Passage. We heard no complaint from the children, and we hope that their activity preserves them, at least in great measure, from the extreme of a sensation which to infancy is so full of present pain and danger for the future. And yet, when we contrasted our own warm clothing with the half-nakedness of some of the little pupils ; and when we heard, as we did with a shud- der, that certain of their number, whose parents were gin-drinkers, not unfrequently came to school with- out having had a morsel for breakfast ; and when we gazed at the shrunken limbs and hollow cheeks of two little brothers whose case the master had lamented as particularly distressing, — we could not but consider the absence of complaint as a wonderful instance either of patience, or of the benumbing eifect of continued suf- fering ; and we looked with increased admiration on plans which had thus reared up cheerfulness in the midst of miser}'. After a variety of other exercises, singing began, and was carried on with great spirit ; the very least of the infantile group singing occasionally for a bar or two, and imitating, as well as he could, the motions of the arms and body by which the words are sometimes accompanied. Before leaving, we offered to tell the children a story, in order that we might have an opportunity of taking them upon ground which must be new to them. The VOL. I. K 194 INFANT SCHOOLS. offer was gladly accepted ; and the children were marshalled in a gallery which rises from the floor at one end of the room. We found an attentive audience ; and we were pleased with the questions they put when the story was ended, and the answers they returned to our own questions. On the whole, we cannot but look on this school as reflecting great credit on all connected with it; on Mr. Joseph Wilson, by whose munificent benevolence it is supported, and on Mr. Brown, the kind and intel- ligent master by whom it is conducted. Our favourite test of crying or no crying, showed that things were in a good state. We can safely say that we have sel- dom passed an equal amount of time in the same room with half a dozen children, placed in ordinary circumstances, whatever may be their rank in society, without hearing more crying and wrangling than we heard among the 150 children who were assembled in this infant school. We inquired as usual into the effects produced by the school, so far as chance had brought facts to the knowledge of the master. Mr. Brown said he never heard of an instance of a child who had passed through the school afterwards appearing before a magistrate on any charge ; though, as the school has been open more than fourteen years, many of the children must long since have reached the age at which crime too often begins. The manners of the people in the dis- trict have, it appears, become much more civilized, or rather much less barbarous, than they were, notwith- standing the affair of the broken platter. Ten years ago, Mr. Brown says, robberies were frequent, and pas- sengers were constantly exposed to insult. It was no SPITALFIELDS INFANT SCHOOL. 195 uncommon thing, too, for persons to be thrown at as they walked along. Passengers are still subject to annoyances, but these are of a less outrageous kind than formerly. On a rainy day, for instance, a num- ber of loobies will sometimes plant themselves upon the causeway, so as to leave passengers the pleasant alternative of the horse-road and the kennel. Burglaries, we presume, have given way to the less formidable and more genteel practice of picking pockets ; for we ourselves left the district freed of the incumbrance of a silk handkerchief. We must not, however, expect people to get from barbarism to civilization at a hop, stride, and jump : and we are free to admit that there is a wide difference between a housebreaker and a pickpocket ; and be- tween having one's eye knocked out by a stone, and being compelled to walk through a little mud. We do not for a inoment suppose that the improve- ment which has taken place is wholly attributable to the infant schools, or indeed to education in any other form; though we have no doubt that to such causes much of it may be traced. We should assign no small por- tion of the change to the establishment of a compara- tively efficient police ; though many more officers are wanted in this district than are at present to be seen in it. We should think that a few might be spared from the great corps always to be found at the West End. One instance, of a very pleasing kind, had come to the master's knowledge of very meritorious conduct on the part of a child who had been brought up at the school. A charitable lady hearing that a poor woman in the neighbourhood was very ill, went to visit her ; k2 196 INFANT SCHOOLS. and, on inquiry, learnt that during the whole time of her illness she had been supported and nursed by her son, a lad of nine years of age. By dint of great exertions the poor fellow contrived to earn enough by day to support both his mother and himself, and during the night he often broke in upon the rest of which he stood so much in need, that he might perform the duties of a nurse. This admirable boy had been edu- cated at the infant school in Quaker-street. Mr. Brown is convinced that the general effects of the school would be much greater were it not for the outward influences to which the children are exposed. At home they often witness scenes of drunkenness and quarrelling ; in the streets they mingle with bad asso- ciates. It would be a great advantage if the children could be removed to some place in the country, where they could breathe pure air, see the fresh face of na- ture, and have plenty of room to exercise their limbs; and where, best of all, the good implanted in their hearts would be allowed to take firm root. The cost of maintaining an infant is so trifling (especially when large numbers are brought up together) compared with the injury to society which a bad member will cause, and the amount of property he will waste, that we cannot but strongly hope that some plan such as we have hinted at will ere long come into operation. The probability is, that in the article of gin alone the whole cost of tiie child's maintenance would be saved ; and grown u}) to man's estate, with a sound consti- tution, a clear intellect, and economical habits, the quondam child, by his industry, sobriety, love of order, and zeal for the general good, would well repay society for all the cost incurred on his account. 197 ADULT SCHOOLS. We cannot succeed in obtaining much statistical in- formation respecting adult schools. A society existed in London eight or ten years ago for their promotion ; but this society has, we regret to say, died away. Another society with similar objects, which was founded more than twenty years since at Bristol, still continues ; though, judging from the smallness of its in- come (which is less than 50/. a year), we fear that it must be in a precarious state. The society is deno- minated " The Bristol Society for teaching the Adult Poor to read the Holy Scriptures." It appears by the report published last year (1834) that there are no fewer than 36 schools under its superintendence, con- taining altogether 408 men and 268 women. Since the formation of the society 13,000 persons have been received into the schools, though not more than 3,300, or about one in four, appear to have persevered long enough to have become able to read. The number of adult schools at Bristol, however, must not be taken as a sample of the extent to which the plan has been adopted generally. In this particular, Bristol is much ahead of other towns ; although the general state of education there appears to be very low. The superiority referred to is probably owing, in great measure, to the circumstance that Bristol was the first place in England at which the idea of giving elementary instruction to adults was started and brought into operation. This was in the year 1812; and the lead in adult education thus obtained has been preserved ever since. A year previous to that time, 198 ADULT SCHOOLS. an adult school had been opened in North Wales, by the Rev. Thomas Charles, the clerg3'man of Bala, Me- rionethshire ; and this, we believe, was the first school of the kind ever established. Dr. Pole, in his " History of the Origin and Progress of Adult Schools," speaks in the following well-merited terms of the individual who had the honour of found- ing adult schools at Bristol : " The successful exertions of William Smith have proved him to be a well-wisher to his country and to mankind at large; and strikingly evince to us, that neither an humble station in life nor the want of an extended education precludes the sincere Christian from important usefulness to his fellow-creatures. This estimable man, who, through Divine Providence, has been made so great a blessing to the indigent of society, occupies a rank in life no higher than that of a doorkeeper of a dissenting chapel in this city, for a salary of eighteen shillings per week ; out of which he pays three shillings to have a part of his work done by another person, for the purpose of setting himself more at liberty to perform the duties dictated by that Christian philanthropy which animates his heart, and guides his footsteps to the haunts of sorrow, the abodes of sickness and of want. This is the person who collected the learners, engaged the teachers, and opened the two first schools in England for instructing adults exclusively, in borrowed rooms and with borrow- ed books." The following extract is from a letter we have re- ceived from Dr. Ball of Bristol, who takes as lively an interest in all that relates to adult schools, as was manifested by his predecessor the late Dr. Pole. BRISTOL. 199 " One of the secretaries, an intelligent person, in- forms me that great reluctance prevails amongst the adults to come to the schools, from a false notion of de- gradation by discovering their ignorance; and that many times the number now under tuition are to be found in this city totally unable to read. Himself, in com- pany with a friend, lately visited every house in thirteen streets, nearly all in one parish (the out-parish of St. Philip and Jacob, which contains about 20,000 inha- bitants), without missing one house on account of its superior appearance ; and he fully believes that in that parish there are nearly 1,800 adults that cannot read. They found many persons who had learned to read when young, but had entirely lost the acquisition by disuse. It is to be feared this cause is too preva- lent, and will occasion the continuance of adult schools beyond what might be considered their legitimate period." We shall close this brief notice of adult schools with a short account of one which was established nearly twenty years ago at Edgbaston, near Birming- ham, and with which we are well acquainted. In opening this school, Dr. Johnstone, its founder, gave but one among many proofs of the enlightened philan- thropy which has marked the career of his long and valuable life. May the happiness which he must ex- perience from a review of the good that he has effect- ed act as an inducement to others to follow in his footsteps ! We give his account, with some additions, as it was drawn up for the " Penny Cyclopedia." There are now forty members, (more than half the labouring population of the parish,) of all ages from eighteen to seventy. The teaching is confined to 200 ADULT SCHOOLS. reading and writing ; but the advantages of the school are not limited to the amount of direct instruction afforded, there being a well-conducted benefit society connected with the institution. The management both of the school and the benefit society is now en- tirely in the hands of the men themselves ; who now also defray the expenses incurred, as those of books, stationery, &c. ; Dr. Johnstone assisting merely with his advice when applied to, and allowing the men the tree use of a room in his house. This point (inde- pendence of foreign aid) has always been a great ob- ject with Dr. Johnstone, and it has been attained only by slow degrees. At length however, the leading mem- bers of the school liave become quite able to teach their associates ; and they do in fact perform this task with zeal and success. The affairs of the benefit society are directed by a committee, chosen by the body of members. The school assembles once a week — namely, on Sunday evening; the period of instruction being two hours ; but the men often go on with their lessons, at home, in the week-days. It is found that a man who is quite ignorant of reading will generally acquire sufficient knowledge to enable him to read with plea- sure to himself in the course of six months. It may appear somewhat strange that the men are fonder of writing than of reading : in truth, they show wonder- ful perseverance in plodding through endless copies, from the large text down to the small hand. In many instances the members of the school have been able to turn their acquirements, small as they are, to very good account. A man who has had the office of per- manent overseer of Edgbaston parish for nine years, EDGBASTON, NEAR BIRMINGHAM. 201 and has been subsequently appointed parish-clerk, made the necessary acquirements entirely in the adult school; at his entrance to which he could neither read nor write. — The naoral effect of the school has been most satisfactory. During the seventeen years that have elapsed since its opening, there have been only three or four instances of members applying for parochial relief; and these were in the first period of its establishment. One member has even been re- claimed from pauperism. This man, up to the time of his entering the adult school, was a regular burden upon the parish ; sometimes living altogether in the workhouse, and at others receiving a supply of fuel, bedding, &c. He soon, however, became independent of assistance of every kind, and has now saved money enough to enable his wife to open a small shop. Ano- ther man, who was once in the habit of frequent in- toxication, has become perfectly steady and sober. Such effects as these are of course too powerful to have been produced merely by the instruction in reading and writing afforded in the school, useful and valuable as that instruction may be: they must be ascribed to the working of that social feeling which the founder of the school has laboured to call into active operation, and to the habits of prudence and forethought which the plans on which the school is conducted are calculated to develop. In his conversations with the members of the little community, and in the addresses which he delivers from time to time. Dr. Johnstone has endeavoured, and with great success, not only to foster a strong social feeling among the men as members of the same class of society, but he has succeeded in awaking just K 5 202 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. feelings on their part towards those classes of society which stand above them ; showing them how the in- terests of all are linked together, and how much each class may do to promote the general welfare, while at the same time it is essentially benefiting itself. A striking instance of the good effect produced by these enlightened exertions was afforded at the time of the incendiary fires, in the winter of 1830. On that occasion the members of this adult school form- ed themselves, spontaneously, into a body for the protection of the property of the neighbouring farm- ers, in case of attack ; but happily no such case ap- peared. Such are the admirable results, on a small scale, of education commenced even at a late period of life, but directed by enlightened benevolence. May the operation of such excellent principles of instruction be speedily and widely extended I EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. It is perhaps even more difficult to obtain trustwor- thy information respecting the kind of education given to the children of the middle classes than to those of the poorer classes, owing to the private nature of most of the institutions in which the latter are brought up. Boarding schools and day schools (to use the ordinary but illogical antithesis), opened on private speculation, are, as is well known, the common medium of instruc- tion for the children of our middle classes. Schools, however, of a new kind have arisen during the last tew years, which have already done much, in some of the PROPRIETARY SCHOOLS. 203 larger towns, towards supplanting private schools ; and which, from the superior principle on which they are founded, are likely, we think, gradually to super- sede private schools altogether ; unless, before the change is wholly effected, they in turn are superseded by national schools (using the term in its legitimate sense). We speak of proprietary schools, as they are called ; that is, schools belonging to a number of per- sons who have united for the purpose of providing for the education of their children. In these cases, the plan to be pursued and the subjects to be taught are determined by a committee representing the whole body of proprietors; which committee also generally appoints the masters. Many advantages must necessarily result from this plan of proceeding, provided the committee be com- posed of able and intelligent men. In a proprietary school, the teacher is not required to act in the multi- farious capacity of the conductor and proprietor of a private school ; and a thorough examination can be made into the qualifications which he is required to possess. Economy too in the cost of education must be greatly promoted by the arrangement, inasmuch as the school is certain to have its complement of pupils ; and it is not therefore necessary to stipulate for a large remuneration on each individual pupil, to counter- balance the risk of having the school only partially filled. It is evident that these advantages of divi- sion of labour, a better insight into the character and powers of the instructor, and economy in the cost of education, though considerable in proprietary schools, would all be attainable in a yet higher degree by the country acting as one united body : and we have no 204 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. doubt that ultimately the superior principle of na- tional education will become manifest, as applicable to the middle and upper classes, equally with the labour- ing and poorer classes ; and that proprietary schools, and Cd fortiori) private schools, will give way to schools under the superintendence of a branch of the general government. The kind of education given to the children of our middle classes, though much superior, in our opinion, to that of the children either of the aristocracy or of the labouring classes, is still very defective. And here again we may remark the want of an advantage which a good system of national education would en- sure ; namely, the existence of a body of men in whose wisdom, judgment, and integrity parents might place confidence, and who would be in a position for recom- mending alterations in the objects and plans of educa- tion. Under present circumstances, a parent is obliged to be excessively cautious in acceding to such changes. He may be fully aware that the system in common use is not good — nay, that it is decidedly bad ; but he may, nevertheless, properly distrust his own judgment in the selection of another. And where must he look for counsel ? Unless he be a man of superior discern- ment, how is he to distinguish between the inflated assertions of the empiric, and the just statements of the sober, enlightened, candid, and skilful practitioner? In many of our dealings we have to do with articles the true value of which we can readily test. It is in vain that the baker asserts that his oven turns out better loaves than his neighbour's, unless such be really the case ; for all false pretensions would soon be de- tected. It is not so, however, with education. This, DIFFICULTY OF APPLYING TESTS. 205 indeed, will compare better with the business of agri- culture ; where the farmer toils with a view to future benefit, and in so doing often does that which, in its immediate effect, is absolutely pernicious. If a man, utterly ignorant of agriculture, were to pass by a farm, where draining, fencing, and manur- ing were going on, he would probably look upon the whole as a scene of profitless confusion ; and on reach- ing the next farm, where with a smiling surface the work of exhaustion was silently proceeding, he would imagine that he was now come to productive and well- managed land. So with education : — the most impor- tant labour — that which has for its object the uproot- ing of bad habits and the formation of good ones — the development of the reasoning powers and the moral feelings — is, by the superficial observer, often looked upon as a mere waste of time. An instance illustra- tive of this came to our knowledge a short time ago. The father of a child at school, having notified his in- tention of withdrawing his son, and that without as- signing any reason, the master of the school took an opportunity of inquiring what was his ground of com- plaint. The father replied, that his son was getting on very slowly in arithmetic. In answer to the ques- tion whether he had examined the boy, the father ad- mitted that he had not ; but added, that, by his son's account of the proceedings at school, so much time was given, in his case, to moral instruction and moral discipline, that he was sure the boy could not have sufficient time to get on with his "learning." With- out attempting to make the worthy parent understand the superior value of a posteriori to a j^riori evidence, the master reminded him of the deplorable state of the 206 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. child's habits when he entered the school ; and ob- served, that the child's moral reform was of course the first object to attain ; and that, in prosecuting this, it was necessary that ordinary school acquirements should for a time, and to a certain extent, give way. The father replied, that moral instruction was " all very well ;" but that a person's object in sending his son to school, was to see him " get on with his edu- cation /" If instead of representations from the schoolmaster himself, whose powers of remonstrance and advice were paralyzed by the consideration of the pecuniary interest under which he lay, an opinion had been given by a board of directors, standing high in the world's esteem, and untainted by the most distant suspicion of impure motive, this parent would not probably have persisted in thus sacrificing the great interests of his child. In the present state of things, the school- master, like the physician, is every day obliged to stand by and sec the fruits of his labour destroyed, and a train laid to the most disastrous results ; whilst, from his position, he cannot, without subjecting him- self to degrading suspicions, make any effort to pre- vent the evil. The great difficulty and length of time required to test the merits of a school by its results, as marked in the character through life of those who pass through it, and the probability that, before this demonstration has appeared, the school will have fallen into decay, are strong arguments against the system of private schools ; and do much towards accounting for the slow progress that has been made in the science and art of education. In all the varied processes of manu- SLOW PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 207 facture, in the construction of roads, in navigation, in chemistry, agriculture, geology, and astronomy, gigantic steps have been taken in the last few hundred years ; whilst education, labouring under the difficul- ties we have pointed out, has crept on at a very slow pace. Indeed, its first principles, such as that every study or occupation ought to receive attention in pro- portion to its importance, measured by its effects in the promotion of man's virtue, and the augmentation of his happiness ; and that every one should give his chief attention to those pursuits for which nature has best qualified him, are as yet scarcely recognized, much less developed in practice. Without regard to the wants of society, or to the endless diversity of dis- position, and of mental and physical powers, so mani- fest in its members, an iron path is laid, into which, however suitable it may be for the chosen few who have the peculiar kind of talent necessary for coping with its difficulties, and the degree of moral strength necessary for withstanding its pernicious tendency, it is absurd,* cruel, and, beyond all calculation, mischie- vous, to drag the generality of youth. The acquirement of languages (on their present im- perfect and unphilosophical construction) affords, it must be admitted, comparatively little exercise for the nobler powers of the mind ; and is for the most part but little connected with the subjects on which the attention of young pei'sons is fixed, and their curiosity excited. Yet languages are made an engrossing sub- * iNIost cordially do we agree in the pithy expression of a writer in the Quarterly Review (article on Eton School), that " compulsion will never make a scholar, to whom his scholarship will be of use in after life." 208 EDL'CATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. ject of instruction among the middling classes ; while, among the upper classes, they occupy almost exclu- sive attention. Even if we were to admit for a mo- ment the propriety of this selection, we should still question the order in which the pursuit is made. Is it consistent with utility that the chief and earliest attention should be paid to dead languages ? and that other foreign languages, while they are postponed to these, should take precedence of our native tongue ? Let us not be misunderstood : we do not wish to exclude the study of foreign languages ; on the con- trary, we contend that it should be open, with all ap- pliances and means, to such as are fitted for the pur- suit. We admit, nay, we maintain, that to a thorough knowledge of the vernacular tongue, to an acquaintance with its powers and its weaknesses, its riches and its poverty, its beauties and its defects, the study of foreign languages is essential ; but we cannot allow that it is through their medium that we shall best acquire that practical knowledge of the vernacular tongue, that power of using it with correctness, per- spicuity, force, and propriety, in the ordinary concerns of life, which is so desirable for all, but is now attain- ed by so few, even among the educated. While an acquaintance with foreign languages is thus made the one thing needful, how slight the pro- vision that exists for exercising a child's powers of ob- servation and judgment 1 What is done towards cul- tivating the moral feelings, save the propounding of vague, general precepts, which are not carried home to the heart, and which the child may in all probabi- lity see broken through every day by those even who advance them ? How insufficient the means for calling PRESENT NARROW SPHERE OF EDUCATION. 209 into action any latent power the cliild may possess for the cultivation of those arts or sciences, on which, from his peculiar constitution, his success in life, his respectability, and, indirectly, even his rectitude, may depend? Where will he find the inducement, or even the opportunity, for the pursuit of mechanics, architec- ture, navigation, sculpture, chemistry, mineralogy, or that one among a dozen other branches of knowledge for which he may have a peculiar aptitude ? Where will those noble powers be developed which would fit him for assisting in the administration of justice, or in the general business of government? What is done towards giving him an extended view of the principles on which honourable success may best be insured in manufactures, commerce, or agricul- ture ? or for making him acquainted with the laws of his country, or the reasons on which those laws are based ? or for introducing him to a knowledge of the general laws of political and social justice ; so that he may be ready as a good subject, and a good man, to help in forwarding the true interests of his country, and of mankind at large ; and join in steering clear of those errors which have proved the ruin of nation after nation ? Finally : what provision exists for the syste- matic development of the physical powers of the body? for bringingevery nerveand muscle into vigorous action, and yet without subjecting the one to undue excite- ment, or the other to excessive exertion ? And what is done, in our present schools, towards giving a young person a clear insight into the causes of disease; and making him acquainted with the nature and office of the different members of that system, which, from the moment of birth to the hour of death, is affected 210 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. in some degree by every motion of the body, and every sensation of the mind ? The objects we have here held up to view, with many others, we believe to be fully attainable by a good system of education ; with such readiness and avidity is knowledge received when it has a direct and palpable bearing on our interest and welfare. It is, indeed, a most happy provision of nature, — but it is one which we take an ignorant and perverse pride in disregarding, — that that knowledge which it most im- ports our happiness to obtain^ is at the same time most easy and pleasant of acquisition. Tell the young pupil an anecdote of some child setting its clothes on fire, or falling out of a window, or getting into trouble by telling a falsehood, or losing the affection of its com- panions by selfishness or tyranny, or of its having made itself ill by excess in eating, — or (to take examples of a more pleasing kind), relate instances in which chil- dren have been kind to each other, or have tended upon some poor sick neighbour, or worked for their parents when in distress, or in any way made them- selves useful, — address a child in this way, and his attention will be at once engaged; while he is at the same time receiving a valuable lesson in prudence, truth, kindness, industry, or temperance ; the benefit of which will be felt every day of his life. But talk to a child of the nominative case of a substantive, or the past participle of a verb — set him to learn hicy hcec, hoc, or ])ropria qxuB maribus — and his mind is soon found wandering, unless forced by hard pressure into the dull track marked out. We do not mean to say that the time never arrives when questions of grammar should be investigated; PLEASANT SUBJECTS ESCHEWED AS SUCH. 211 but we do maintain that it is not before thousands and tens of thousands of other matters have been acquired, and not until the child himself possesses the requisite mental appetite, that information on these points should be laid before him. The very symptom, however, of any kind of know- ledge being good and wholesome, — namely, the plea- sure with which it is received, — is by many persons looked upon as indicative of futility and worthless- ness. " This is not work," they say, " but amuse- ment. These children are as gay as if they were in the play-ground I What can be expected from such a system as this ?" Disagreeable instruction must, we are fully aware, be sometimes given, and mipleasant discipline enforced. But these are the exceptions : and it is no more in accordance with the general laws of nature that unpalatable study should be the staple commodity in education, than it is that we should breakfast every day on calomel and magnesia, and dine on rhubarb and bark. We repeat, then, that the pupil's enjoyment of any particular exercise, is a strong presumptive proof in its favour, both as to the selection of the subject and the mode and manner of instruction ; while apathy on the part of the pupil, and still more, positive dislike, is strong evidence either against the correctness of the selection, or the plan of instruction, or both. Yet the school exercises of the middle classes, notwithstanding some late improvements, are in general but little cal- culated to afford pleasure to the students. The changes that have been made, beneficial as they may be, are for the most part confined to the mode of teaching ; and but rarely extend to the more important point of 212 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. subjects to he tmiglit. Even as respects mode, however, there is still much to be done ; much even in our best conducted schools. For, in the first place, much re- mains to be discovered on the subject: again, the means of a private school are too limited to allow of the adoption of all, even of those improvements which have been devised ; and, lastly, in other instances, where a superior mode is fully recognized, and where means exist for carrying it into effect, the school- master cannot venture to adopt it, for want of a high public sanction to its excellence. And here we must pause a moment to point out a mistake (one at least in our apprehension), which has been made by many writers on education. Errors, certainly many of them glaring ones, having been discovered in the practice of education, it has been somewhat hastily concluded that the fault was to be attributed in all cases to the ignorance, incapacity, or obstinacy of the teacher. With equal justice might we charge all the follies and vagaries of fashion on the ignorance, incapacity, or obstinacy of tailors or dress- makers. Only suppose that one of these caterers to public caprice were to avoid all those deformities which are accounted beauties, — to discard all those encumbrances which are mistaken for ornaments, — to abandon the false pocket-hole, the supernumerary buttons, and the stiff' collar, — or the compressive band, the bustle, and the cumbrous sleeve, — suppose that by long and careful study of the finest models he had deduced the most correct rules of taste, and discover- ed the most happy compound of beauty and utility, and that his practice was brought into the most rigid accordance with his theory, — what would be the re- WHO IN FAULT ? 213 ward of his ingenuity, his labour, and his persever- ance ? Might we not, mutatis mutandis, apply to him the words of the poet, — Every toil is past, And full perfection is arrived at last. When lo ! the adept to some small corner runs, And leaves s/ioit-rooms to bailiffs and to duns. Equally unfortunate would be the teacher who should adopt all, or even many, of those improve- ments for his supposed ignorance of which he is so severely blamed. It is not enough that he is aware of their existence, or even that he is deeply conscious of their value. He may long for the relief which their introduction would occasion him ; he may pant for the accelerated progress which would result from their use ; but all will not do ; the approbation of a few enlightened individuals will avail him but little; and in fine, unless he is ready to risk martyrdom in the cause of education, he must conform at last to the standard of established mediocrity. On whom, then, is the blame to be thrown ? On the parent ? Scarcely more than the ugliness of the dress is chargeable on its wearer. The parent and the wearer of dresses have each a certain latitude ; the latter may, from all permitted modes of dress, select the one most accordant with taste ; and the former may, from all permitted plans of education, select the most rational ; but, however strong may be their wishes, and however decided their opinions, both will find it, in most instances, practically im- possible to wander far from the beaten track. Since then we may not enjoy the pleasure, (so dear to all fault-finders,) of laying the blame some- 214 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. where, we must be content to point out the remedy. This, if we mistake not, must be furnished by so- ciety. A moment's glance at the history of society will be sufficient to discover a constantly advancing process of organization, through which much that formerly depended on voluntary individual exertion, and was therefore for the most part neglected, has had its regular performance secured by becoming an established part of the social economy. This or- ganization has still to be much extended. The assay- mark assures us of the quality of our plate ; and is it altogether impossible to establish an assay office for education ? Doubtless the task is more difficult ; but is not its performance therefore more necessary ? Even at present, some sort of test is applied by in- dividuals ; and little qualified as most of these must be, are not their decisions at least superior to those of the dice-box ? though how inferior to the deliberate opinions of well selected judges? But of this we shall have more to say hereafter. Mental Education of Females among tJie Middle Classes Public attention has lately been called by several excellent articles in the Journal of Education and elsewhere to this subject; and we trust that enlightened views respecting it have already made considerable progress: and that a silly admiration for Oriental ignorance and mental torpor among females, will soon give way to just appreciation of the supe- rior beauty of a vigorous intellect and a cultivated mind. Limited, however, as is the present range of female education, — devoid as it is in so many respects of mat- ter to call forth the reasoning and inventive powers, — FEMALE EDUCATION. 215 little as it is calculated, even in its engrossing pro- vince of ornament,to accommodate different tastes and various talent, — it is not during the period passed at school that the inferiority to male education is prin- cipally marked. The musical gamut is in our opinion quite as intellectual as the propria quce marihus of the Eton grammar : and the poor girl, who without any taste for natural beauty, love of imitation, or idea of form and colour, is forced to pass hour after hour in trailing her pencil over the leaves of a drawing- book, is not more unprofitably occupied than the boy who is driven through page after page of authors who are treating on subjects in which he takes no interest, — employing a style the beauties of which are entirely lost upon him, — and using a language the acquisition of every word of which is to him an irksome and dis- gusting task. It is not, then, in school education that female in- struction is so far behind that of males ; it is in the time immediately following the period passed at school that the disparity is greatest. It is then that a young man chooses his occupation for life, and sets vigor- ously to work to qualify himself for its successful pur- suit. With a clear object before him, and seeing how the acquirement of various kinds of knowledge will facilitate his progress, he no longer looks upon study as a burden to be avoided by all possible contrivances. Formerly, he was like an obstinate child taking medi- cine; who does not admit one more drop into his mouth than is forced into it. He now takes willing and copious draughts at the fountain of knowledge; and months do more for him than years under the old regime. 216 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. Meantime, how is the young female situated ? What objects can she select for attainment, and pursue with steadiness, as the main business of life ? The road to wealth and distinction, even by the most quiet and unobtrusive paths, is, for the most part, closed upon her : and what is opened in its stead ? On what course of persevering exertion has she any sufficient inducement to enter ? It is too evident, that however great and varied may be her talent, she has scarcely any of the ordinary motives for cultivat- ing it. Hence to a great extent the frivolous habits too often contracted or indulged in at this period of life ; and hence a want of mental energy and a dearth of knowledge. Nor is the intercourse with the other sex often such at all to correct this evil. Rarely meeting, except at times of relaxation, our youth naturally avoid such subjects as call for a vigorous exercise of the understanding ; and our young countrywomen are led to suppose that the most important questions on which they shall be called upon for an opinion, or on which they must presume to reflect, do not go beyond the merits of the last published novel, the prima donna of the Italian opera, the oratory of some fashionable preacher, or the illustrations to a new batch of annuals. Unhappily, women are not true to their own cause in protesting against this state of mental slavery; — a state to which we doom them, partly from a selfish desire to retain all power in our own hands, partly from an overweening idea of the strength of our own minds, (backed by an unfounded conception that those of females will not bear labour). FEMALE EDUCATION. 217 and partly from a persistence in the customs and feelings of by-gone ages of ignorance. Nor, when we reflect for a moment, is it surprising that women who have grown up under this bad system should be opposed to its amendment. Many must feel that their best age for acquiring knowledge has passed, and that in the new career they should soon be outstripped by their juniors. We have no doubt that to a like motive may be attributed the continuance of many an objectionable system besides the one under consideration. A man who has spent the best portion of his youth in the exclusive study of Latin and Greek, for example, is not likely, unless he be of a superior cast of mind, to look w^ith a friendly eye on proposals for giving more extended education to those who in a few years may become his competitors in the world. This motive may not be present to his mind — he may not even suspect its existence ; but that it does exist, and is powerful in its operation, can, we think, admit of no doubt. To return to female education. Doubtless it is more easy to enlarge upon an evil than to point out the remedy ; but we think that among other inquiries as to the cause of the evils we have pointed out, it might be w orth while examining whether that rule of modern schools by which the sexes are kept entirely apart has not been carried somewhat too far ? Under defective management, indeed, a departure from this rule might be very objectionable : but where active supervision is combined with sound discretion, would such deviation be equally objectionable ? Many an instrument which is useless and dangerous when VOL. i. L 218 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. wielded by an ignorant man, has only to be put into skil- ful hands to become the means of effecting great good; and perhaps the fear with which we have shunned what we consider the mistake of our forefathers on this point may in a measure have arisen from the bad- ness, not of the plan, but of its administration : any change, however, would have to be made with caution. It is possible that the monastic and nun-like system of education is the less of two evils ; though an evil it certainly is. Witliout any wish to see girls become boys, or boys girls, w^e hope we may safely desire that the cha- racter of the former had somewhat more of strength, and that of the latter somewhat less of coarseness and disregard of the feelings of others. To us it ap- pears worth considering, whether, with a view to these desirable changes, the established rule might be so far relaxed as to allow boys and girls to associate occasionally in some of those studies which are com- mon to both. We are sometimes inclined to hope that such a measure would be followed by advantages which ai-e at present little expected from such a source. We are sometimes inclined to imagine that much of the feeling which gives rise to impure thoughts and precocious love-fits may be fairly ascribed to the ner- vous anxiety that exists in parents, guardians, and teachers, on the subject of separation ;— an anxiety which is constantly forced on the attention of those concerned, and which endows the proceedings of each sex with a mysterious interest which docs not natu- rally belong to them. We cannot but hope that the occasional presence of their sisters, cousins, and other females of the same rank as their own, would in gene- INFANT SCHOOLS. 219 ral be an effectual check to the boys in the expression of coarse ideas or rude language ; and we should also anticipate a favourable effect on their deportment to each other at times when they are alone. The fe- male character too would, we trust, be benefited by this occasional association. We cannot but think that, by the greater mental energy which would be thus infused, and the interest which would be thus awaken- ed on a variety of important subjects, the young female would be better fitted for the high task she has to perfoi'm as man's companion and helpmate, — the sharer of his joys, and his comfort in affliction. We have already had occasion to refer to the want of infant schools among the middle classes. We sincerely hope this defect will not be allowed to continue. A good system of national education for all classes would, of course, include the introduction of infant schools. But the establishment of such a system may be the work of much time ; and every month in the life of an infant is of importance in the formation of its habits. We would, then, respectfully urge upon the middle classes the importance of opening schools for their infant chil- dren without delay. With their superior means, they could, at but little sacrifice, provide schools that would indeed make their children be " glad to be alive." Pictures, models, tools, playthings, playground and garden, might all be supplied on a scale which it is hopeless to look for in the infant schools of the poor. Above all, teachers might be engaged, combining in the highest degree all the requisites for the instruct- ors of infants ; — lively and prepossessing manners, a strong affection for children, unwearied patience, a thorough acquaintance with human character and the L 2 220 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. means by which it is to be influenced, great stores of general knowledge, true eloquence and the power of presenting vivid pictures in narrative; and lastly, a love for the occupation of teaching infants. It is often urged, we are aware, that it is best to leave the education of an infant in the hands of its mother. We cannot, however, see the propriety of this arrangement, even supposing it could in fact be put in practice ; which, beyond a certain very limited extent, is not the case at present. The most consci- entious mother, in the enjoyment of the best health, and having but a single child, cannot and ought not to devote herself exclusively to that child's education. Her own comfort and happiness, and those of her hus- band, together with her duties as a member of society, present many calls upon her time and attention. And yet a child is not safe for a single hour in the care of an ignorant person. A tale of fear, an unmerited re- proof, an idle threat, — or, on the other hand, a dose of flattery, an example of deception, or a thoughtless con- cession to a fit of pouting and crying, — may do mischief which it will be the work of days to undo. Nor is it reasonable to expect that every mother should herself possess, even in a moderate degree, the qualifications of a teacher. Indeed, while female education is in its present state, it must be hopeless to look for these qualifications in the generality of cases. Even, how- ever, if all mothers were equally and perfectly compe- tent to the task, and if each could afford to keep an intelligent and educated nursemaid at hand to take charge of the child when she herself is called off, the plan of private education would be objectionable. For not only can many children together be taught as well INFANT SCHOOLS. 221 and with as little effort as a few, but they can posi- tively be taught much better and with less effort. The life, spirit, and circulation of knowledge, which great numbers meeting together under good arrange- ments insure, cannot be looked for when three or four only meet, and they perhaps (as is often the case in small numbers) all of different ages and dispositions. Nor is it possible for any individual to have such an apparatus for education as many united can command. Much stress has been laid on the peculiar affection of a mother for her offspring, as a qualification for con- ducting its education. The justice of this argument we, to a ctrfuin extent, admit. This feeling on the part of the mother must have a tendency to obtain for the child a greater amount of patient attention and watchful care than could be expected from any other person. But, putting out of the question the other demands on the mother's attention, and the circum- stance that she is not trained to the office of an edu- cator, the very fact on which the argument is based entails something which must be carried to the debit side of the account ; and which, indeed, we fear, more than counterbalances the good to be derived from it. In the majority of instances that have come under our observation, even amongst the most enlightened pa- rents, the parental feeling has proved too strong for the judgment ; and the child's habits have been seri- ously injured, and a train laid for much future misery, through the want of the power of acting steadily on sound principles, when they call for the infliction of a little temporary pain.* Every one must have witness- * We do not of course mean the infliction of corporal punish- ment of any kind. However erroneous the system on which an in- 222 EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES. ed in others endless instances of what we are point- ing out, and must have felt grieved at his own utter inability to prevent the evil. He knows that to speak on the subject would inevitably be to excite strong feeling, and that there would be little hope of setting the facts before the parent in their true light. In truth, parental fondness, like any other affection of the mind, the moment it gets beyond the control of the judgment, must be considered, strictly speaking, as a species of insanity; and therefore as incapaci- tating a person for calm observation and wise decision. For many reasons, then, it appears unwise for parents to undertake the education of their own infants : and if such be the case, no time should be lost by the middle and higher classes in opening infant schools. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS FOR THE MIDDLE AND HIGHER CLASSES. These institutions, we are glad to observe, are ra- pidly extending themselves ; indeed, few large towns are now without at least one of the kind, for the gene- ral purposes of science and literature, besides minor institutions for the cultivation of particular branches of science. In London the number of these institu- tions is very great. There are no fewer than eleven of a general character ; and those for specific purposes, fant may be brought up, that barbarous mode of influencing it can never be necessary. We refer to the withholding improper indul- gences, however sued for by prayers and tears ; and to making the child suffer the natural consequences of its occasional misconduct, — as being dismissed from a room where, by its fretfulness, it is disturb- ing the peace of others, &c. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS. 223 — such as the Astronomical, Geographical, Geological, Zoological, and Statistical Societies ; the Societies of Painters and of Civil Engineers ; the different Medical and Chirurgical societies. Law societies, &c. &c. — are almost beyond enmneration. At many of these institutions, the facilities afforded for the acquirement of knowledge are striking, when the smallness of the charge is considered. Take, for instance, the City of London Institution, Aldersgate- street. The annual subscription is two guineas ; and for this sum a member is entitled to the use of an extensive library for circulation and reference ; has access to reading-rooms supplied with all the daily papers, magazines, reviews, &c. ; and to a museum of natural and artificial curiosities ; may attend classes for instruction in the French, German, Italian, and Latin languages, and in di-avving ; and for discussion on various subjects connected vv^ith philosophical in- quiry : and, lastly, he has an opportunity once a week of hearing a public lecture ; the lecturer often being a man of high standing in science or literature. This institution (like almost all others in this coun- try which are not intended either for the very poor or the very rich,) is dependent for its income on its own re- sources alone ; that is, on the annual subscriptions of its members; and the fund thus raised is found amply sufKcient for the demands upon it. It appears by the last report, that the income for the second half of 1834 was about 1000/., while the expenditure was only 700Z. — If the superior economy of union required to be established, here surely we find it supported by irrefragable proof. How little could be done by the isolated expenditure of so small a sum as two guineas. 224 EDUCATION OF THE WEALTHY CLASSES. towards obtaining a news-room, a library, a museum, instruction in four different languages and in drawing, and opportunities of attending able lectures in various departments of science and literature ! And yet how fully are all these objects attained by a number of per- sons joining their little funds together ! The stream- lets which, while separate, are evaporated or absorbed, need but be joined to form the mighty river. EDUCATION OF THE WEALTHY CLASSES. It is not our intention to enter fully into this branch of our subject. Much that we have said respecting what we conceive to be errors in the present system of education among the middle classes applies with yet greater force to the education of the wealthy classes. The opinion is indeed abroad, and is gaining strength daily, that the objects and means of educa- tion among the aristocracy of this country are to a great extent alike erroneous ; and the importance of effecting a speedy change in that which is bad cannot be denied, when wo recollect the great powers with which, by the institutions of the country, our patrician youth are entrusted so soon as they have reached the age of manhood. It is then an inquiry worthy the grave attention, not only of parents in the ranks of the hereditary aristocracy, but of all who have at heart the progress of just and wise legislation, and the ad- ministration of good government ; — it is, we say, an inquiry worthy of grave and general attention, whether a portion of the time now spent in attempting (and for the most part vainly attempting) to familiarize the OBJECTS TO BE ATTAINED. 223 young members of the aristocracy with the nice dis- tinctions of languages now fallen into disuse, — or at best, to make them acquainted, through the medium of those languages, with the laws, habits, and modes of thinking of nations long since passed away, with whom we have comparatively little in common, and who, however bright they may appear amidst the con- temporary gloom, were, nevertheless, in all that affects the great interests of mankind, in the whole range of the sciences, and in almost all the arts of life — above all, in an acquaintance with the great principles of morality and religious truth, immeasurably our in- feriors ; — whether a portion of the time so employed would not be more advantageously occupied in en- deavouring, by instruction conveyed in their native tongue, to make them acquainted with the men, man- ners, and institutions of their own times? — to lay open to them the principles of sound morality, illustrated by examples drawn from passing events? to give them an insight into those truths of science which ages of unwearied research have at last brought to light, and which are leading on, perhaps, to truths of yet greater moment ? to lead them, by the study of real history — not the mere record of court intrigues or antiquarian curiosities, but the chronicle of the great events of passing ages — the record of those aus- picious or portentous facts which mark the knowledge, virtue and happiness, or the ignorance, vice and mi- sery, of millions of human beings, to regard the insti- tutions of their country with no blind veneration, but with a full comprehension and a sincere love of their excellences, a deep rejoicing at the progress they have made, and a warm but well-regulated desire for l3 226 EDUCATION OF THE AVEALTHY CLASSES. farther advancement ? — again, to awaken the sympa- thies of our high-born youth for those classes of society which are placed by fortune in an humble position, and whose comforts and happiness will be affected by every law which, as legislators, they may be called on to decide upon ? and, finally, to prepare them for the gradual progress which society is making towards that state of things in which a character for superior virtue and talent will be looked upon as essential to any claim for the possession of superior power ? — the opi- nion is, we say, gaining ground, that if these latter were made the objects of education, other and far worthier qualifications might be given to our legislators than the power of making smart speeches interlarded with trite quotations. It is hoped that an insight might be afforded into the practical working of our existing laws, and the probable operation of new ones; and that a moral rectitude might be created, which would be proof against all temptation to sacrifice the mighty interests of the nation at the shrine of avarice or ambition. But what are the incentives to virtue, what the means of developing the powers of the mind, under the present system? Let us look for a moment at the circumstances under which the education of the young patrician is conducted. In his first outset, he is placed either under a tutor, who is probably looking forward to the patronage of his pupil's family for pre- ferment in the Church ; or in a private school, in which the little aristocrat is petted and flattered as a decoy for other scholars ; or lastly, he is sent to one of the great public schools. Here he is soon sensible, on all points, that he is THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 227 \inder the exercise of authority ; and he may perhaps for a moment presmne (if his ideas have not been previously distorted) that those in whom this power is vested have been selected on account of their dis- tinguished fitness for the office. But how does the reality accord with this reasonable expectation ? In the first place, has the head master, the fountain of power, been chosen for the high moral tone of his character — his perfect self-control, his love of young persons, his firmness combined with gentleness and patience, his profound knowledge of human nature and the springs to human action, his acquaintance with the philosophy and practice of good government, his power of rightly estimating the talent and acquirements of others, and of holding those who act under him to efficient responsibility ? — or has he been selected, without examination into these qualifications, merely because he happens to excel in one confined branch of literary knowledge ? Again, the child finds himself placed under the au- thority of certain of his companions. Does he at the same time see provided a ready appeal to a superior authority in case of the abuse of this power ? Does he learn that those in whom this important trust is re- posed have been selected on account of their ascer- tained fitness ? or does experience of their gentle sway teach him that, by the plan of selection, what- ever it be, such fitness is virtually secured ? Is it not in more than one instance the fact, that the claim to this high power rests on no merit whatever ? not even on proficiency in the confined department of knowledge, in the cultivation of which the whole machinery of the school is employed ? Yes, even 228 EDUCATION OF THE WEALTHY CLASSES. Latin and Greek, the Gog and Magog to whom all else is sacrificed, find here the limit of their power : for their votary, however deeply skilled in the mys- teries of his faith, they can claim no favour if they have received his adorations at any of their other shrines. His offerings must derive sanctity from the very spot : it is here, upon this hill, that he must have worshipped, or no priestly honours can be his. He must show that he has been exposed for a certain length of time to the effects of bad example and the abuse of power, before he himself can be entrusted with authority. In a word, he must prove that he has been a slave, in order to show that he is qualified to become a despot. But for the modes of instruction ; — compulsion is the nostrum ; its effects — we cite from a staunch and able friend of the present system what many of our readers will recognise as an o'er true tale. " The words will have been repeated, the lesson construed ; the poetry of Virgil and Homer, and the prose of Cicero and Demosthenes, will have been commit- ted to the memory, and a facility acquired of ren- dering so much Greek and Latin into so much Eng- lish : but the mind, the taste, the moral feelings, will have remained utterly uneducated; the judgment un- refined, the style unformed. The task will have been performed, the business of education creditably gone through : but that done, all is considered to be done. No desire of future improvement is stirring in the yet unsatisfied mind — no aspirations after higher perfection awakened. The wondering parent is de- lighted at the proficiency of the youth, who, he finds, has thus been perforce saturated with school learning; THE CRAMMING SYSTEM. 229 but is too ignorant, or too blind, to take notice whether he ever after recurs to those books over which he has spent so many years of his young Ufe, — or whether he recurs, of his own accord, to any book at all. In short, we would put the plain question, whether what is technically called at the universities the cramming system, the results of which are sometimes, both at school and at college, so apparently flattering to the instructor, and so complacently admired by the parent, answers in the end one real purpose of edu- cation? — whether Jack, though by some good for- tune, or as the reward of such incessant toil, he may have obtained school and university honours, is not as dull a boy as ever — perhaps conceited in his dulness? Even his habits of application, not being voluntary, are by no means settled and confirmed : no one of the faculties which are to be of use in public life has been quickened or rendered more acute ; he has not ac- quired one taste which will give a polished tone to his mind ; he has neither a scholar-like, nor a literary, nor a scientific turn." — Quarterhj Review, August 1834. After passing through the different grades of a public school, the young patrician is sent to one of the universities. Here he finds that, however idle he may hitherto have been, and whatever may be his mental deficiencies and moral deformities, his being the son of A and B instead of C and D, of great O instead of little s, is sufficient to relieve him from all difficulties. Selected from the throng of students, and placed in an honoured seat in the society of the chiefs of the college. With what a decent pride he casts his eyes Above the man by three descents less wise ! 230 EDUCATION OF THE WEALTHY CLASSES. while those certificates which others must toil to ob- tain are offered to him without any inquiry into the reality of the acquisitions the possession of which they formally attest. He looks on with careless in- difference, while the grim ferryman receives now these, now those, and drives others far away. He views in calm security this contest between mind and mind ; and showing his golden talisman, its potency is at once acknowledged, and the path to elysium is clear. And what are the kinds of study in which the young nobleman is invited to engage, supposing him to have too much self-respect to consent to be party to the forgery, and to suffer himself to be stamped, like a piece of base metal, with a false index of value? At Cambridge, we gladly admit, that, ill adapted as many of the studies may be to particular tastes and, powers, and limited as the paths to academic honours still are, knowledge of the most intellectual and elevating kind may be pursued under professors of transcendent talent and surpassing acquirements. But at Oxford the case is different. Had Pope lived at the present day, he would not, we suspect, have been more at fault than at his own time for a " great scholiast" to support the claims of the University to the favour of the Goddess of Dulness : — Ah ! think not, mistress, more true dulness lies In Folly's cap than W isdom's grave disguise. J>ike buoys that never sink into the flood, On learning's surface we but lie and nod. At Oxford, language still holds the supreme sway it has long usurped, and things give way to words. OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 231 The Heads of Houses persist in refusing to allow the examination for degrees to extend to a knowledge, however limited, of any of the physical sciences ; maintaining that such knowledge does not form any essential part of a liberal education : * nor can a claim to a degree be founded on an acquaintance with these sciences, however accurate and extensive. No ; the wise men of Oxford are resolved to show that Nature was wrong in creating a diversity of in- clinations and a variety of powers : they will have all men alike; with them the knowledge of two dead languages shall be the universal passport, and the only one. Whatever the character of your intellect, what- ever the complexion of your taste, to this favour you must come : it is not the body of knowledge, but an antiquated raiment of words, that shall be held valuable. Store not up facts ; but, like Lord Peter, send for a box from Greece or Rome ; — it matters not whether you have aught to put in it ; it is the box, not the contents, that will be examined. Produce this, and you are everything: be without it, and * This subject has been frecpently handled in a very able manne in the Journal of Education. The extent of ignorance among the Oxford students on matters connected with natural philosophy is astounding. The Rev. Baden Powell, Saviiian Professor of Geo- metry at Oxford, calls attention to this subject in his introductory lecture. The examiners having drawn up a few simple questions in natural philosophy, to be put to those who came to pass their examination in the requisite portion of Euclid's Elements, it ap- peared, says Mr. Powell, " that (at least at the two first examina- tions) out of the whole number of candidates, though a certain por- tion had ' got up' the four first books of Euclid, not more than two or three could add vulgar fractions, or tell the cause of day or night, or the principle of the pump !" 232 EDUCATION OF THE WEALTHY CLASSES. though you understand all mysteries and all know- ledge, you are nothing. The insufficiency and inaptitude of the present university course of instruction at Oxford for accom- plishing the real purposes of education are well put by Professor Powell. " In what sense," observes Mr. Powell, " the mere routine of continuing to read a certain portion of the Greek and Latin poets and historians, with the addition of learning by rote a few technicalities of logic, can be called general edu- cation, or by what perversion or delusion this can be considered as answering the purposes of academical instruction, or fulfilling the requisitions of an acade- mical course, for supplying the various departments of church and state with fit and able men, duly qualified to fill and adorn them, is difficult to say." There is truth as well as poetry in Moore's descrip- tion of the state of ignorance in which Sheridan quitted college ; and the picture still holds good. He is described as having " left school, like most other young men at his age, as little furnished with the knowledge that is wanted in the world, as a person would be for the demands of a market who went into it with nothing but a few ancient coins in his pocket." Again, let us not be misunderstood ; let no one mis- represent us as denying to the classics their proper value, or as wishing to exclude their study from a liberal education. We are sensible of the immense benefit derived from their study in past ages ; and we are aware that from their rich mine much that is valuable is yet to be drawn. But that they should be considered of such importance as to engross all the attention of all who seek to be educated, — that OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. 233 every one must be doomed either to acquire know- ledge in them, or to be stigmatized as a dunce, — it is to this absurd and monstrous over-estimate of their value that we would so strongly object. Moral and political science has practically no place at either university ; and the opinions necessarily resulting from such studies would, we fear, as little accord with the views and feelings of the majority of those in whose hands the directing power is lodged, as do true morality and sound principles of govern- ment with the regulations, laws, and discipline of the universities themselves. Is it wonderful that, under these circumstances, the staunchest friends of the aristocracy should look with doubt to the future ? should anxiously weigh its chance of maintaining its present position ? should call on those who direct the education of its youth for a modification of measures and an increase of exer- tion ?* May the call be obeyed ; and may all danger of violent collision between the aristocracy and other classes of society be thereb}' averted ! Under tolerable management, would the extra- * " The House of Peers must not depend on the continued in- fusion of new blood, of fresh intellectual strength, into their order, from the constant accession of the most accomplished and successful men for certain professions — (though this is the peculiar strength and security of this branch of tiie constitution) : the hereditary aristocracy must strain every nerve to keep ahead of the general mass ; it must counterbalance the inevitable general tendency of 1833, the Rev. J. Clare, in the absence of Sir John Wrottesley, in the chair : — " By the last census, the population amounted to 24,732 ; of which number it is computed 5,906 are chil- dren under twelve j'ears of age. By far the greater part of this number (perhaps two-thirds) are children of persons dependent for support on their daily labour ; ArANUFACTURING AND COMMERCIAL DISTRICT. 259 and of the above 5,906, not more than 1,400 are educated in private schools, and 700 in schools wholly or in part supported by public contribution. Upon this calculation, 3,806 remain without education ; a number which, being repeated every few years, pre- sents a painful feature in this important district." Dudley. — " Upwards of 3,000 children of the poorer classes, and of the proper age for instruction, might be found in the immediate neighbourhood of this place, entirely destitute of the means of acquiring education." Gornals, Parish of Sedghy. — " Over this populous village, which is a mile from the parish church, and the centre of a population of 12,240 souls (chiefly em- ployed as colliers, miners, and nailers), ignorance, mi- sery, and vice prevail to a lamentable extent. Thou- sands arrived at maturity of years cannot tell a letter of a book ; and hence drunkenness, sabbath-breaking, and brutal sports, are very common. Within the range of this population there are found 2,448 chil- dren above six years of age : of this number there are only about 300 who attend day schools ; leaving 2,148 in a state of the most deplorable ignorance, and with- out the means of education." In addition to the' foregoing, we will insert some extracts from two letters we have received from a friend residing at Wolverhampton ; a gentleman who is always active in the cause of education. " I shall feel much pleasure in making all the in- quiries and exertions in my power to furnish you with information ; but W^olverhampton is a most unpromis- ing field in which to search for evidences of the good effects of education. Very little has been done for 260 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. public education. The National school here is very inefficient: and even if it were otherwise, united with the other public institutions of a similar character, it, with them, could accommodate but a very small frac- tion of those who want gratuitous instruction. On these subjects I am not as yet able to come to figures. I am happy to be able to add, that a school is in pro- gress of erection, on the plan of the British and Fo- reign School Society, which I think will be more valuable than all our other educational institutions to- gether : it will accommodate 800 children. At our endowed grammar school few of the humbler classes are educated, and the education which they receive is not of a practical description ; while, at the National school, religious forms constitute a very large portion of what is taught." In a subsequent letter the writer says : — " The population of Wolverhampton by the last return was 24,732 ; of which, probably, about 5,900 are under twelve years of age. For the education of these there is now provision made for about 700. The Blue-coat School, an old foundation, accommodates about 150, and in this the course of education is pretty good. The National school contains, or is capable of accommodating, about 450. The number actually at- tending falls very far short of this amount, however. These, with a Catholic school, containing about 100, are supported mainly by public subscription. The Sunday schools, which, with the exception of our own, containing from GO to 100 children, confine themselves entirely to reading the Scriptures and Catechisms, and spelling, may probably contain 1,100 or 1,200: but MAXUFACTURIXG AXD COMMERCIAL DISTRICT. 261 the education which they communicate is, upon the whole, very Hmited both in kind and quantity. " The ill effects of the want of education are here remarkably conspicuous. You may go through the whole catalogue of them and not find any unexempli- fied. To specify causes would be endless. The desire of education is increasing gradually among the mechanics, as evinced by the increase of subscribers to our Mecha- nics' Library ; yet these do not yet amount to 100." We extract from the Report of the British and Foreign School Society for 1834 the following notices of the state of education at Durham, Redruth, in Cornwall, and Stafford. Durham, Cittj. — " There are places round this city where schools on your principles would be great bless- ings. I refer to the colliery districts, where the most wretched and defective systems of education are acted upon. The chief difficulty in these places would be get- ting 07ie ha/f of the sum necessary. In one parish there are 22,000 human beings ; and if one in thirty be under instruction, it is all that can possibly be found." Redruth. — " This town and parish contains above 8,000 inhabitants, consisting chiefly of labouring miners. The only public provision made for the education of the poor is the parish workhouse, where about 50 children are taught, who are all paupers. The following resolution was passed at a public meet- ing held on the 19th of December last : — 'Resolved, that in the opinion of the parties assembled, not more than three-fourths of the population above the age of twelve years can read ; and not one half of the inha- bitants above that age can write.' " 262 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND, Stafford. — " In this town and immediate vicinity there are from 800 to 1,000 children uneducated." Oldham. — The neglected state of education at this town has already been noticed, in the section on Sunday schools ; where we gave an extract from the Report of one of the Factory Commissioners, in which Oldham and Stockport are contrasted, as well in the state of education at each, as in the conduct of the working classes. The riots which took place at Old- ham last year, and in which one of the factories was attacked and in part destroyed, are additional proof of the bad state of the town. Bristol. — Under the head Adult Schools, we have given some facts illustrative of the low state of education in this city. (See page 199.) Leeds. — This town does not appear to be distin- guished either favourably or unfavourabl}^ as regards education. As Leeds, however, is an important town, we shall give in our Appendix the result of some inquiries we have made into the state of education there, through the medium of a family that has done much towards raising the standard of intellect and vir- tue in the whole district of which Leeds is the centre. We refer to the Messrs. Baines, whose public services, like those of the Messrs. Strutt at Derby, afford a proof how much may be accomplished by a ^ew en- lightened men, strongly imbued with a desire to do good, and acting in unison with each other. It will be seen by the answers to our queries con- tained in the Ai)pendix, that many old inhabitants of Leeds are of opinion that the wealth and comfort of the people have decidedly increased in their time ; that riots have become less and less frequent, and that MANUFACTURING AND COMMERCIAL DISTRICT. 263 crime generally lias diminislietl ; and that these im- provements are due, in part at least, to education. Until our official records of crime contain entries of all offences co/nmitted, instead of tiiose only the perpe- trators of \vhich are detected and brought to punish- ment, we shall have more confidence in such evidence as we have given (namely, the opinions of elderly in- telligent persons) on the increase or decrease of crime, than in reports founded on our public records. The single fact that thirty years ago it was dangerous to be abroad in the neighbourhood of London after night- fall,* — nay, that in large districts of London itself a person walking about in the evening ran great risk of being knocked down and robbed ; whereas at present a robbery is a rare occurrence, and the feeling of ap- prehension has almost disappeared ; — a single fact like this outweighs, in our estimation, the entire value of any deduction to be made by comparing the lists ot committals and convictions at the present time, and at the time we have referred to. Before we can safely draw any inference from com- paring the number of committals and convictions at one time with that of another, we must take into con- sideration, not only with what degree of vigilance the law is administered at the two different periods, but also what is the state of the law itself. An increase in knowledge and an improved tone of moral feeling- may cause that to be regarded as an offence, and pu- * On tlie principal roads leading to London, there were, within the recollection of very many now alive, large inns at a distance of about ten miles from the metropolis, which depended for their custom on travellers halting for the night to avoid the danger of passing along the roads in the immediate neighbourhood of London after sunset. 264 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. nished as such, which formerly passed unnoticed; and vice versa. Cruelty to the lower animals, for ex- ample, might, until lately, be indulged in with im- punity : now the perpetrator is prosecuted as an offender. Again, under certain circumstances, not always very nicely inquired into, a man could formerly be forced from his home and carried abroad as a soldier ; any resistance on his part being treated as a crime. Such a transaction at the present time, however immutable the principles upon which its justice depends, would appear very different in the eye of the law. The former culprit would now stand forth as the indignant prosecutor ; while the former complainant must be satisfied to take his stand as prisoner at the bar. The time, we trust, is at hand when in this particular the naval service will be assimilated to the military. On the other hand, we hope that the imaginary crimes of forestalling and regrating will soon be struck out of our statute-book, and that the Court of Ex- chequer will find some more profitable occupation than one which but a few months ago was allowed to engross its attention during a whole day ; namely, the trial of a person charged with the dire offence of ex- porting a piece of machinery ; — in other words, with the crime of choosing for himself in what market he would sell the fruits of his own talent and industry ! We would humbly submit for the calm and dispas- sionate consideration of all parties concerned, — judges, counsel, witnesses, and jury, — whether their time might not have been employed in a manner at once more profitable to society and more agreeable to themselves, than in the laborious examination which came before AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 265 them ? Whether, for instance, they would not have better promoted true philosophy, public advantage, and private gratification, by passing the day in a general game at jack- straws, or push-pin? SOUTHERN AND MIDLAND AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS. Soon after the agricultural i-iots of 1830-1, the Committee of the British and Foreign School Society instituted an inquiry into the state of education in the disturbed districts. The result showed that a most lamentable ignorance prevailed. We do not infer from this that the ignorance of the peasantry was the sole cause of the incendiary fires, but we fully believe that it was a necessary link in the chain. Other in- gredients were not wanting in the caldron of mis- chief — but this was required to make the gruel thick and slab. The following is extracted from the Report of the British and Foreign School Society for 1831. Agricultural Districts. — " From these communica- tions," (those received in consequence of the inquiries spoken of,) " as vvell as from information derived from a variety of other sources, your committee are pain- fully convinced that the country is far from being educated. The state of the agricultural districts ge- nerally is very distressing. The most debasing igno- rance prevails, to an extent which could not be cre- dited were it not verified by the closest investigation. The facts which have been elicited respecting the moral and intellectual state of those counties which have been disgraced by riots and acts of incendiarism are truly affecting ; and yet they are but a fair repre- VOL. I. N 266 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. sentation of the actual state of our peasantry. We call ourselves an enlightened nation, an educated peo- ple, and yet, out of nearly seven hundred prisoners put on trial in four counties, upwards of tico hundred and sixty were as ignorant as the savages of the desert — they could not read a single letter. Of the whole seven hundred, only one hundred and fifUj could write or read with ease ; and (in the words of one of the chaplains to the gaols) ' nearly the whole number were totally ignorant with regard to the nature and obliga- tions of true religion.' " The information respecting the ignorance of the prisoners in the disturbed districts is given more in detail in a subsequent part of the Report. It is as follows : Berkshire — "Of 138 prisoners committed to Read- ing gaol, 23 only could write, 37 only could read, and 76 could neither read nor write : 120 were under 40 years of age, varying from 35 down to 18 years. " Of the 30 prisoners tried at Abingdon, 6 only could read and write, 1 1 could read imperfectly ; the remainder were wholly uneducated." Bucks. — " Of the 79 prisoners convicted at Ayles- bury, only 30 could read and write." Hants. — " Of 332 committed for trial at Winches- ter, 105 could neither 'read nor write: nearly the whole number were deplorably ignorant of even the rudiments of religious knowledge." Kent. — "About one half of the prisoners committed to Maidstone gaol could neither read nor write ; and nearly the whole were ignorant with regard to the nature and obligations of true religion." Sussex. — " Of 50 prisoners put on trial at Lewes, AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 267 13 only could read and write ; 12 could read imper- fectly ; only one could read well." The following is taken from one of the communi- cations received by the committee during their in- quiries. It is stated to be from a highly respected country clergyman. " My parish is large; the population above 1,300, all poor, and hitherto entirely uneducated. I have to struggle not only with the prejudices of the farmers and the people themselves, but also (my own income being limited) with the difficulty of obtaining books. I purpose establishing a girl's school, which will be chiefly at the expense of myself, aided by such con- tributions as I can raise, and a small weekly payment from the children ; and a boy's school, which may be grafted upon a foundation endowment, I propose also to extend. Could you see the state of this large population but for one hour, you would sympathise in my desire to educate them. As gross darkness broods over every class as could possibly be witnessed in any heathen land." In our section on Sunday schools we had occasion to insert an extract from Mr. Chadwick's Report, in which he speaks of the ignorance and want of educa- tion among the peasantry in the disturbed districts. This evidence is applicable to our present object : it will be found by referring to page 110. Mr. Althans gave the following evidence respect- ing the state of education in the agricultural districts before the Education Committee: — " From your extensive knowledge of the population over which you inspected schools, what should you say of the extent of instruction which the whole popula- N 2 268 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. tion have acquired, whether it is small or sufficient, adequate or inadequate ? — I should say, not half ade- quate to the wants of the country ; but I speak of school education as the basis of other education ; I think that people have been more educated by con- versation than by anything else." " Taking the population generally, what proportion of them should you suppose were reading with such facilities, that reading is a pleasure to them? — That is rather difficult to answer without making a local inquiry : I have no doubt that there are a great many adults that cannot read, but I should not like to venture a positive opinion without making a local inquiry." " Generally speaking, do you think the local popu- lation of the agricultural districts, for example, are enabled to read with that degree of facility which renders reading a pleasure to them? — I should say, that in the agricultural districts there are a vast number of labourers that cannot read at all." Essex. — Mr. Davis (the founder and supporter of the excellent school in Gower's Walk), in his exa- mination before the Education Committee says, — " I have attended to that which has been said upon the subject of education at different times, and have been sorry that something has not been devised which should embrace the lowest classes in society. I would give my money and my time to embracing, by any means which could be devised, that class ; for I find them (especially among the agricultural population) in a most deplorable state of ignorance up to the pre- sent moment, notwithstanding everything which has been done. I act as a magistrate in the county of AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 269 Essex, and I regret to say, that nine times in ten, when any poor fellows come before me, they cannot write, and I am obliged to take their cross ; in many towns and villages I fear such is also the case : we have not yet either forced or duly encouraged that lowest and most wretched class to receive education." Kent. — The following is extracted from the evi- dence of Mr. Hickson before the Poor Law Com- missioners : " My observations have been almost confined to Kent, where I certainly was not prepared, some time back, for such a state of semi-barbarism as I have since found within 25 miles of London. I had not expected to find in the present day so small a pro- portion of labourers who possessed the elementary knowledge of reading and writing. In the parish of Stanstead, I believe, not above one labourer in fifteen can read and write. Here and there one or two can read a little in the New Testament ; but even these could hardly read the direction of a letter. When the inlets to knowledge are thus blocked up, it is not a matter of wonder that the ideas of this class of men should be very limited ; that their conversation should be distinguished by swearing and obscenity, or that they should not have acquired habits of prudence and forecast. The frequency of illegitimate births, and the uiiconcernedness with which the women will con- verse to a stranger of the children they have had before marriage, njay be mentioned as an evidence of the low state of moral cultivation." Berkshire. — We take the following from the evi- dence of the Rev. H. C. Curtis, Rector of Tadworth, before the Poor Law Commissioners : — 270 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. " The present condition of the labouring classes within the rm-al districts with which I am acquainted is certainly very deficient in respect to education : for the case is, either that some parishes are so small that the number of children is not sufficient to main- tain a master and mistress for a day school ; or else, if the parishes are larger, the houses are widely scatter- ed, and the roads or footpaths so bad that the children are not able to attend school regularly in the winter, if there is a school of some sort ; or else (and this, I am sorry to say, is the most common cause) the farmers, and even the resident wealthy proprietors, generally speaking, have not sufficient zeal in the cause to induce them to subscribe enough for the maintenance of a regular school establishment. There are, how- ever, in most parishes, besides Sunday schools, day schools for girls, kept by females on their own account, or supported more or less by their benevolent neigh- bours. Boys, it is true, when infants, are allowed to attend ; but soon becoming unmanageable by a mis- tress, at the age of seven or eight years they quit school, and are employed to scare away birds from the corn-fields, to keep cows, &c. : and this on Sundays as well as other days of the week. Thus they soon for- get what little they may have learnt. At ten or twelve, according to their size and strength, they are hired to drive the plough ; and though they live under the farmer's roof, in very many instances they are suffered to attend church or not, as they please. Hence I may say, that very few of the men at the age of eighteen can read or write, or even say small portions of the Church Catechism, such as the creed and the ten commandments : but the generality of the girls AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 271 are able to read, and some to write, tolerably well ; because they commonly attend the school till they are twelve or fourteen years of age ; at which time they go to service." Herefordshire — It is stated as the result of an extensive personal examination made by the commit- tee of the Herefordshire Auxiliary Bible Society, that of 41,017 individuals visited, only 24,2:i2 could read with ease. Devonshire. — A deplorable want of education among the mass of the peasantry may be assumed from the unlettered state of the farmers and others called upon to act as overseers of the poor. The following are the observations of Mr. Charles P. Villiers, M.P., who visited Devonshire in the capa- city both of Revising Barrister and Visiting Poor Law Commissioner : — " I might venture to state that one-fourth of the overseers whose lists came before me could not write, and in one instance the parish rates amount to nearly 7,000/. annually. I acted as Revising Barrister again this year in the south of Devon, and my observations here with regard to the overseers correspond with those of the North Division. " Some lists were made without any attention to the simplest requisites of the Act, others without signatures at all, and the apology which was constantly offered by others for them, as well as by themselves, was that they were no scholars, and that it was not to be expected that persons in their station of life would perform the duty better." — Appendix to Poor Law Report, A. No. 23, p. 30 a. Pershore district ( Worcestershire), — In this district, 272 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. including a population of 14,000 persons, spread over sixty-six parishes, there are only twelve schoolmasters. (See Mr. Villierss Report.) This neglected state of education appears to be coincident with a want of skill and industry among the peasantry. The follow- ing is the reply of Major-general Marriot, to the in- quiry of the Poor Law Commissioners, on the question of improvement or deterioration in the habits of the peasantry as labourers: — "Industry is stationary. If employed by the day, they work as little, and if by the piece not more, I should say, than those of any county in England. Three of them would not do near the work performed by two in more northern counties." Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. — The state of education in this district appears to be exceedingly low. We are indebted for the following particulars to a friend residing in the neighbourhood of New- port Pagnell, who has taken the trouble to visit the different parishes and make inquiries on the spot. " I forward to you, in answer to the inquiries con- tained in your letter of the 22nd ult., the particulars, as far as I am able to obtain them, relative to the edu- cational condition of several parishes round me. " First, as to that in which I reside — Stokegoldington and Ekely in Bucks. The population in 1831 was 912, and must now be upwards of 1,000. The number of paupers all the year round is 42 ; and the averge number of labourers out of employ and receiving pa- rish allowance is 30. The total cost of the poor this year has been 900/. 10 in 100 of the labourers and their wives can read; and 1 in 90 can write ; 50 in 100 children can read, and 2 in 100 can write. There AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 273 is a Sunday school at the church, containing about 80 children, whose attendance, however, is very irregular : reading only is taught. There is also a Sunday school at the meeting-house, of upwards of 100 boys and girls, whose attendance is more regular. The children make much more progress here tlian at the other school, and they are clean and orderly : the in- struction, however, is confined to reading. A private teacher of reading, writing, and the first lessons of arithmetic, has 10 or 12 farmers' children at 6d. per week. " Gai/hurst, with a population of 118, and Latkbiiri/, with a population of 172, (the adjoining parishes,) have no school w hatever ; nor has Ckicherty (population 218), which adjoins Lathbury. Hanslope (Bucks), population 1,623, has an endowed school for six boys, to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic ; but the teacher, an old shoemaker, is incompetent to teach either. There are two Sunday schools in which read- ing is taught, and one private school for girls. Of the adult labourers and their wives in Hanslope parish, only one in six is able to read, and one in ten able to write." After giving the particulars of the state of educa- tion in some other parishes, our correspondent sums up as follows : — " In the whole of the above parishes, forming an area of 1 3 miles by 7, there is but one school where the children of the poor are taught writing and the elements of numbers." No question relating directly to the state of educa- tion was sent among the queries issued by the Poor Law Commissioners. The question, however, as to whether agricultural labourers are found to be better n5 274 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. or worse workmen than formerly, has occasionally led to remarks on the state of education among them. Such remarks are much less frequent in the replies from the midland and southern agricultural districts than from the northern districts; and this might be expected; since the connexion between education and knowledge on the one hand, and industry and skill on the other, is much more likely to occur to intelligent, well-inform- ed men, than to the obtuse and ignorant : and there can be no doubt that the former are more commonly met with in all ranks of society in the northern rural districts, than in the midland and southern. Among the endless complaints, indeed, in the replies from these latter districts, of the idleness and worthlessness of the labourers, a fling is occasionally had at educa- tion itself; some of the respondents thinking that the laziness and profligacy of the labourers are caused by excess of edtication ! Excess of education in the South of England ! We can venture to assure such alarmists, that a superabundance of knowledge is the last thing they have any reason to apprehend either in their neighbours or themselves. In addition to the facts already adduced, we refer them to the following extracts from the Report of the British and Foreign School Society for 1834, which show how little need there is to raise the mud-banks of prejudice against the stream of knowledge, and how distant must be the fear of inundation. The general source of information is private correspondence. Bedfokdsiiike. Dunstable. — "It has been found, by a diligent canvass, that the children of the labour- ing class in Dunstable, and the neighbouring villages and hamlets, are in a deplorable degree destitute of AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 273 daily instruction ; and that their parents are desirous that they should, if possible, possess that invaluable benefit." Dorset. Shaftesbury. — " The population of this town, and parishes immediately adjacent, is near 5,000 ; and the only public school is an endowed one for 20 children. Several hundreds are certainly grow- ing up in ignorance." Kent. Dover " We have recently caused a domi- ciliary inquiry to be made throughout the borough, and the results of that inquiry have proved that up- wards of 800 children of both sexes stand in need of the means of elementary education." Lincolnshire. Grantham. — "In the town of Gran- tham and the hamlets adjoining, there is a population of about 8,000 souls ; and, after deducting the exist- ing schools, there must be 1,300 children without any daily instruction whatever ; and these chiefly of the humbler classes. We are situated in the midst of a thickly-peopled neighbourhood for an agricultural dis- trict, and look with great pain upon the state of the labouring classes around us, many of whom are sunk in ignorance and vice. Middlesex. Brentford. — " W'e have just completed an examination into the educational necessities of cer- tain districts in this town. Our first visit comprised 120 houses, which were taken indiscriminately : we found 93 adults unable to read, and 12G children quite uneducated. Our second visit was to 69 houses. The number of children in these families under twelve years of age was 222 : of these 82 were going to schools of one kind or other; 89 were uneducated. We believe that there are, in this town and immediate 276 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. neighbourhood, not less than 1,000 children unin- structed, and fear that not one-half of the population can either read or write." Another place in the neighboui-hood of London — a village containing 272 families — is mentioned in the Report for 1833 ; and it is stated that of 1,467 persons who form the population, only 562 were found able to read. We shall conclude our notice of the state of educa- tion in the southern and midland agricultural districts with a letter which we have received from the Rev. Mr. Jeston, descriptive of the state of education at Cholesbury (Buckinghamshire) at the time when, by means of the letters which Mr. Jeston addressed to the Poor Law Commissioners, and which were pub- lished in the Report, public attention was first drawn to this wretched, poverty-stricken village. Amidst the ills to which this village was a prey, most fortu- nate was it in being blessed by the presence of a kind, zealous, and enlightened pastor, who, by great sacri- fices in his own person to the interests of his pa- rishioners, was able to give effect to his appeals to others in their behalf. The following is Mr. Jeston's letter, including re- plies to the queries which we took the liberty of send- ing to him: — " Cholesbury Parsonage, Great Berkhamstead, ' June 16tli, 1834. " My dear Sir, " I feel much pleasure in laying before you such in- formation as is in my power, respecting the state of education at Cholesbury in 1833," Mr. Jeston then gives answers to our queries as follows : — AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 277 " Adults. " 1. What portion of the adult population could read with sufficient ease to enjoy what they perused ? — Only four males (inclusive of the late and present parish clerks) and two females."* " 2. What portion could read, though with diffi- culty ? — Not more than eight." " 3. What portion could write fluently ? — Not one." " 4. What portion could write, though with diffi- culty? — Three only." " 5. Was there any cheap library for the poor ? or any means by which they could readily procure the cheap publications, as the Penny Magazine, &c. ? — None at all." " 6. What portion of the adult population had re- ceived any education extending beyond mere reading and writing ? — Not an individual." " 7. Had anything and what been done by means of education to induce habits of industry and prudence? — Nothing at all." " 8. Did any provisions exist for promoting inno- cent amusement among the labourers ? — None." "9. How far were the better educated of the la- bourers distinguished from the others, particularly as regards crime, insubordination, pauperism, and drunk- enness ? — In every respect they were superior cha- racters to those who could neither read nor write ; especially as regarded habits of industry and sobriety. One, though possessing a large family, and enjoying no greater advantages than the rest of the paupers, was less burthensome to the parish than any other man with a family : one kept himself entirely off the * Tlie population of the parish at the last census (1831) was 127. 278 STATE OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. parish books : the other was a bricklayer and parish clerk, and maintained himself and wife and family very respectably. The fourth (the late parish clerk), on account of his great age (upwards of 82), was allowed a small sum weekly : he is also a very sober and re- spectable character." " Children. " 10. What portion of the children were growing up without receiving any education ? — None." " 11. What were the nature and extent of the edu- cation that was given to the others ? — The education given to the children in Cholesbury is very slight: they are taught only to read. The children, without exception, are taught to plait straw as soon almost as they are capable of holding the straws; and about ten or twenty minutes of each day is dedicated by the old woman who teaches them the straw plait, in teach- ing each child its book and catechism. Whilst the others are plaiting, there is generally one being taught to read. " The same mode of education is pursued in almost all the adjoining parishes ; there being no other daily school in any of them. If the woman who keeps the school happen to be a churchwoman, the children generally attend church ; if a dissenter, then they at- tend the meeting-house. " I have bitterly to lament the want of a better source of education in my poor parish ; but I am so destitute of neighbours to assist me in the expense of a daily school, and my own income is so small, as at present to preclude the possibility of my establishing one. If I could establish a weekly school, I should still wish it to be also a school of industry, as at present. The persons WALES. 279 to whom the education of the children is committed, I should wish to see superior to the generality of those on whom at present it devolves. 1 know not how to account for it, but it is certainly the case, that the persons who keep these straw-plait schools are oftener dissenters than churchwomen. " The Agricultural Employment Institution has effected a very great change in my parish : the habits and morals of my poor men are certainly alter- ing for the better. I have every reason to think that the humane intentions of the society will be crowned with success ; and that the poor men benefiting under it, instead of being a set of paupers, will be enabled to provide for themselves and their families, and contri- bute to the parish funds, instead of taking from them." WALES. We possess but little information of a precise kind respecting the state of education in Wales. We be- lieve, however, that it is at a low ebb. We are in- debted to a friend at Neath in Glamorganshire for the following particulars respecting the state of education in that district ; and this is all we are prepared to lay before our readers : — "I cannot venture to speak as to the progress of education in Wales generally. In this district, I may safely say, nearly the whole of the rising population are receiving instruction of some kind, either weekly at the National and Lancasterian schools, or at the Sun- day schools of the various dissenting chapels. The extent of the education to the working classes in the 280 WALES. Sunday schools is confined to reading, principally in the Bible ; in many instances, in the Welsh language. In the charity schools, reading, writing, and arithmetic (as far as the rule of three) are taught to the boys ; to the girls, reading and writing. Of the adult male population in our district, of twenty-five to thirty years of age, at least three-fourths are able to read with suf- ficient ease to enjoy what they read ; the remaining fourth-part may be able to read with difficulty. Among the labouring class few read excepting on a Sunday, and their reading is nearly confined to theological subjects. The class immediately above labourers, — mechanics and working tradesmen, — enjoy more varied reading, and are purchasers of cheap periodicals to a larger extent than might be supposed. , Almost all the elderly persons in the lower classes, both labourers and mechanics, are unable to write, and many of them even to read. Very few also of the women retain or practise the learning acquired at school. I think, however, I can observe a great desire in all classes to have their children educated in the best mode within their reach, and to allow the children to remain to a later period at the schools than was formerly the prac- tice : they are also without difficulty induced to con- tribute a small weekly payment. The people in this district are much more civilised than they were twenty years ago. Street-fighting, brutal behaviour, and bad habits generally, which then existed in full force, are now nearly extinct. The general condition of the people is improved. Crime of any atrocity is of very rare occurrence : riots and incendiarism occa- sionally exist in the iron districts, but are unknown here. Drunkenness and superstition we have in full PUBLIC MORALS. 281 vigour : the latter, however, is giving way in very many instances ; the former is quite the vice of the lower classes, and the fruitful source of misery to them. Habits of truth and of good principles want much to be introduced into the systems of education for the lower classes, as well as for the higher classes. Our charity schools do not sufficiently inculcate the moral virtues." Before closing this short notice of the state of education and public morals in Wales, we think it well to make a few observations on an assertion which we have often heard made, that the state of things in Wales disproves, to a certain extent, the beneficial influence of education : inasmuch as while the Welsh people are less educated than the English, they are nevertheless more moral ; as is shown by the small number of criminal offences in Wales. We admit that the Welsh are as a people less edu- cated than the English ; and we will also admit that there is a less amount of crime among them in pro- portion to the population : but we do not agree that this is owing to the comparative ignorance of the peo- ple ; nor can we subscribe to the general proposition, that because in one country there is a less amount of positive crime than in another, therefore the first is necessarily in a better state than the second. Let us take the most common class of crimes — theft. Before a theft can be committed three circumstan- ces must exist in union : first, it is tolerably evident there must he something to steal ; secondly, there must be a desire to rob ; and thirdly, there must be the power. Now as regards poor countries, like Wales, it is often assumed, with more haste than logic, that a 282 WALES. small number of robberies argues the absence of a desire to steal, and consequently a good moral state in the inhabitants : whereas on closer investigation it may appear, that the rare occurrence of robbery is really to be traced to the non-existence of one of the other essential requisites to the commission of the offence: and that, in fact, to praise the morality of the people under these circumstances is very much like commending the peaceable demeanour of a man in the stocks. Not only too is Wales a poor country (possessing therefore but little comparatively to steal) but owing to the scattered distribution of the inhabitants, and to the consequent absence of a system of organization and a division of labour among thieves, there must be great difficulty in disposing of stolen articles; and the chance of detection is therefore much greater. In other words, not only is there much less to steal in Wales than in England, but it is more difficult to steal any portion of that little. Under these circumstances it is by no means safe, however much we may desire to come to the conclu- sion, to infer great honesty in the Welsh people, be- cause but few robberies are committed. We fear, in- deed, that there is too much positive evidence of another kind to allow of our even leaving the cause of the rarity of robberies a doubtful question. There is in Wales one species of robbery which is as readily effected there as in England — we mean that of female virtue and happiness : and the returns of the cases of bastardy show that robbery of this kind — the only one perhaps in which the two countries are upon the same footing — abounds much more in Wales than in Eng- PUBLIC MORALS. 283 land. This fact alone, without inquiring into the truth of the charges of the general prevalence of habits of low cunning and petty dishonesty among the Welsh people, satisfies us that we are not called upon to sub- scribe to any inferiority in point of morals on our part to the Welsh ; although we may rejoice at every step whicli they take in the common race of improvement. But surely the absence of crime, after all, can only show that a nation is not below mediocrity — that it is not positively bad. And this we trust is not the sum- rait of human aspirations ; nay, we hope and believe that in most countries — especially in England — this point has long since been passed : and that we must look upon the amount of crime committed, not as affording an index of the grade at which the country stands in the scale of morality, but merely as a neces- sary subtraction from the claim to positive merit which it possesses for the daily and hourly exercise of noble and generous virtues. In this point of view surely the comparatively educated people of England — that nation which, in addition to the endless munifi- cent establishments for diminishing human pain and adding to human happiness which it has erected in its own land, has in turn rendered aid to almost every country on the face of the earth, — not as an act of gratitude — for England never received nor desired, nor was in a state for requiring foreign assistance — but impelled by generous feelings and a sympathy in the sufferings of others — surely such a country need not review its position with shame, nor bow in deference to other countries in which much less positive good is effected, but in which, possibly, the direct amount of wrong inflicted may also be less. 284 SCOTLAND. There can be no doubt that in Scotland the rural population, at least, is much better educated than the same class in England ; though it must be admitted that neither the amount of instruction given nor the number of recipients justifies the opinion usually en- tertained on the subject in this country. As respects the urban population, indeed, we doubt whether our Northern neighbours are at all in advance of ourselves. The reader is of course aware that there is a legal provision for education in Scotland, The heritors (land- owners) in every parish are required to provide a school house, and pay a schoolmaster : the minimum salary, however, is as low as 24/. per annum,* and the house, which is to furnish a dwelling for the master and a school-room for the boys, need not contain more than two rooms ; so that the burden which the law imposes on those who enjoy the whole rental of the country is not very weighty. It is pleasing to learn that the he- ritors generally do somewhat more than the law de- mands of them. Thus, though the salary to the school- master might, as we have seen, be kept down in each instance as low as 24/. the average amount actually given is about 28/. Again, the number of parishes in Scotland is 907, while the number of parochial schools * By a law passed in 1802, the schoolmaster's salary, as expressed ia money, is regulated from time to time by the average price of wheat during the previous period of twenty-five years. The minimum salary, as determined by the price of wheat during the twenty-five years ending in 1802, was 16/. only. PUBLIC PROVISION FOR EDUCATION. 285 is 1,005: though weave not certain that this excess of schools over parishes is owing to the liberahty of the land-owners. Taking the average salary of the schoolmasters at 28/. a year, the total amount paid in salaries must be rather more than 28,000/. ; and if we estimate the ex- pense of keeping the school-houses in repair at 4,000/. a year, the total (32,000/.) will express the entire cost of the national provision for education. Whatever maybe thought of the sufficiency of this pro- vision for the education of the people at the time it was made, (about a century and a half ago,) considering the scantiness of the population and the poverty of the country at that time, there can be no doubt that it is far from being adequate to present wants, and that the country has now ample means for enlarging and im- proving it ; for great as has been the increase in popu- lation since the time when the present plan of national education was introduced, the increase in the wealth of the coimtry has been much greater : and moreover, it must be borne in mind that the cost, per head, of education is less for a large number than for a small one. Something has been done towards supplying the deficiency, by opening Lancasterian schools, sup- ported by voluntary subscriptions, in different parts of the country; and in Edinburgh the Sessional Schools (so called because they are under the direction of the church sessions of the different parishes) were established with a similar view. (These latter are the schools in which Mr. Wood has succeeded in effecting such important improvements in the manner of teach- ing.) Still the provision for education in Scotland has by no means kept pace with the increase in population, '286 SCOTLAND. and the growing demand for knowledge among all ranks of the people. Many thousands, we fear, are growing up in some towns without any education whatever. Mr. Colquhoun, in his speech in the House of Commons in June last year (1834), estimates that there are 20,000 in this state in Glasgow alone ; the whole population of that town being about 200,000. In Paisley, if Mr. Colquhoun's statements be correct, education is in a still worse state ; for though the absolute number of the uneducated is not so large as at Glasgow, yet compared with the population the number is much greatei". The population of Paisley is 37,000 ; and of these, according to Mr. Colquhoun, no fewer than 14,000 are growing up without education. Mr. Col- quhoun mentions other towns also, as Perth and Dun- dee, in which, he says, education is at a low ebb. He complains also of the state of education in the rural districts ; not only as respects the Highlands, where we could not look for much at present, not- withstanding the exertions of the General Assembly, but also as regards the Lowlands. The worst instances of the latter kind mentioned by Mr. Colquhoun are those of two parishes, one in Dumbartonshire, and the other in Berwickshire : in the first, the fraction of the population at school is stated to be one-thirteenth, and in the second, one-fifteenth; whereas, if all be- tween the ages of five and fifteen were at school, the fraction would be one-fifth. After giving these and other instances of deficient education, Mr. Colquhoun remarks as follows : — " Such, then, is the state of education, and such its enormous deficiency both in the towns and rural dis- tricts of Scotland. I am aware that a different im- STATE OF EDUCATION. 287 pression prevails — that Scotland ranks high in the estimation of all on the subject of education. I am sorry to disturb that impression ; but I feel that it is the best and truest policy to exhibit clearly the amount of the evil, in order that you may be induced to apply yourselves to the remedy." We do not know what means Mr. Colquhoun took to assure himself of the accuracy of the foregoing state- ments, and the other information on which he draws the conclusions just quoted ; and we are inclined to think, from information we have derived from other sources, that Mr. Colquhoun's description of the state of education in Scotland is too unfavourable. A gentleman who has paid much attention to the subject assures us that he very seldom meets with a person in Scotland, whatever his station in life, who cannot at least read easily ; in fact, he believes that the propor- tion of those who have not made this acquisition is not more than one in fifty. (This statement is not, of course, intended to apply to the Highlands.) On the other hand, the gentlemen who went to Scotland as Factory Commissioners were much disappointed at the state of education in such of the large towns as they had occasion to visit; though at many of the villages and small towns which depend on large coun- try factories, they found a state of things which was highly gratifying. In reference to the general defici- ency in education, the Central Board of Commission- ers speak as follows : — " Few will be prepared to expect the statements that will be found on this head [education] in regard to Scotland ; where the education of the children is neg- lected to a far greater extent than is commonly be- 288 SCOTLAND. lieved; where only a very small number can write ; where, though perhaps the majority can read, many cannot ; and where, with some honourable exceptions, it seems certain that the care once bestowed on the instruction of the young has ceased to be exem- plary. The Reports of the Commissioners for Scotland, who will be found to have kept this subject continually before their view, are decisive on this head." It is impossible, with the evidence before us, to form anything like a precise idea of the point which education has actually reached; but we think we are perfectly safe in concluding as we have done, that as regards the rural population at least, Scotland is far in advance of this country. We do not know of any statement, indeed, which would lead to a dif- ferent belief. That the rural districts in Scotland should be in a tolerably good state with respect to education is readily explained by the circumstance that the national pro- vision for education depends on extent of district, and not on the amount of population. As we have already mentioned, evei*y parish has its public school ; but whether the parish contains 500 inhabitants or 50,000, the legal provision is the same — the land-owners in the latter instance, as in the former, not being required to do more than to maintain a school-house containing two rooms, and with about a quarter of an acre of land attached to it, and to provide a schoolmaster with a salary of 24/. a year. Education is not compulsory by law, but in many parts it is looked upon as a necessary of life, and pub- lic opinion would strongly condemn a man who did not send his children to school. Professor Pillans gives RURAL DISTRICTS. 289 the following evidence on this point, and some others connected with it : — " Is it the uniform practice for parents to send their children to school ? — Almost universal, wherever they can : I think the exceptions to the habit are very rare indeed, and can only exist in Scotland among the most depraved part of the population. In the country districts, I should say, there is no such thing ; a man would be looked upon as a monster who could keep his child from means of instruction within his reach." " Is there any compulsion used for that purpose ? — None." " Has it not frequently happened that parents have submitted to great privations in order to enable their children to receive education ? — Yes ; I beheve it is an object which a Scotchman seldom loses sight of, both when he thinks of marrying and settling in life, and at every future period, the laying aside of a sum for the education of his children." " Do you trace the consequences of that habit among the people of Scotland in the character of the labouring people of that country ? — I think very deci- dedly; and that we owe the morality of our rural districts in particular almost entirely to that habit, handed down from father to son ; so that we have scarcely any rural population who are not perfectly aware of the importance of education, and not willing to make sacrifices to secure it to their children." Education Report, p. 37. Such part of the expense of his child's education as consists in the cost of books, Sec. the parent has to pay himself; the usual charge being about 10*. a year, though sometimes much smaller. In cases of great VOL. I. o 290 SCOTLAXD. poverty the charge is often dispensed with altogether. The ordinary course of instruction does not extend beyond reading, writing, the elements of arithmetic, and sometimes a little Latin ; the demand for which last, indeed, is dying away. By paying 1/. a year instead of 10^. a parent may have his child instructed in geography, grammar, and some other branches of education : and by additional payments of very mode- rate amount he has often an opportunity of having him taught geometry, French, Greek,