79 . 42 . 
 C S8f 
 
 A FEW REMARKS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SYSTEM OF GENERAL EDUCATION 
 
 AS PROPOSED BY THE 
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION LEAGUE. 
 
 By GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. 
 
 WITH A SECOND EDITION OP 
 
 A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER, 
 
 UPON THE SAME SUBJECT. 
 
 WITH CUTS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM TWEEDIE, 337,"STRAND. 
 
 1870, 
 
INTRODUCTION". 
 
 In publishing a Second Edition of “ A Slice op Bread and 
 Butter,” I take the opportunity of making a few remarks upon 
 the present movement as to a general or national system of 
 education; for the purpose of promoting which object I first 
 published this pamphlet about fifteen years ago. 
 
 On the 9th of this March, 1870, I had the honour of being one of 
 the deputation of the “ National Education League ” to the Premier 
 (Mr. Gladstone), the Earl de Grey and Ripon, and Mr. Foster, and 
 I must say that it afforded me much gratification to hear ail the 
 suggestions which I had placed before the public so many years 
 ago so eloquently and forcibly advocated upon this occasion before 
 the above-named members of Her Majesty’s Government, by 
 clergymen, and ministers of religion, and also by the several 
 Members of Parliament who headed the deputation. 
 
 The old difficulty as to cutting the right slice of bread and butter 
 still seems to be almost insurmountable; but as what is being now 
 done is a step in the right direction, it is to be hoped that ere long 
 the right and proper slice will be cut; and when this is accomplished, 
 a very large amount of good will be the result, without the possi¬ 
 bility of harm to any one. 
 
 All those gentlemen who oppose the plan of the “National 
 Education League ” are, I believe, “ good men and true,” and some 
 of whom I hold in the highest respect; for I know they fully desire to 
 do what is right, and to have what they think the best plan adopted. 
 But good as their system may be, it does not, and will not, grasp the 
 whole question; and I respectfully suggest the following remarks 
 for their serious consideration. All Christians will admit that the 
 life of every child is sacred, and that every child should be properly 
 cared for, as to health, comfort, and be taught the common elements 
 of education with religious, moral, and useful training. Christian 
 civilization demands this. Not one single child should be omitted or 
 neglected ; and we find it to be one of the laws of the Divine power 
 that some of the greatest minds are created in the humble classes, 
 and hence, a little useful education, in early life, has led, and will 
 always lead, to gocd and great results. With reference to the com¬ 
 pulsory part of the proposed system, it occurs to me, that as compulsion 
 
(A 
 
 U. 
 
 \n 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 is a very harsh word, it had better not be used, but instead thereof, 
 that if an act of Parliament be passed to this effect, it should be 
 worded or framed something in this way, namely— That as it ivill 
 now he a part of “ the law of the land ” that every child must have some 
 education, proper appointed authorities ivill have to attend to this, and 
 see that , in this respect, the law is carried out. But great care must 
 be taken that this law, intended for the general benefit of society, 
 does not, in some cases, become a serious tyranny; for instance, 
 where the elder boy or girl is required to look after the younger 
 children, or to take care of an infant, whilst the mother attends to 
 her household duties, or when she goes out to work, particularly in 
 cases where the children have lost their father. Under such circum¬ 
 stances as these, the evening and Sunday Schools could be attended. 
 And I may here just suggest that even little children should not be 
 dragged or driven to school, but led or induced to go there. 
 
 With reference to the religious question, the reader will find 
 that I have in this pamphlet suggested that the ministers of all 
 denominations should adopt some plan to teach religion to the 
 children of the particular class to which they belong. But, I pre¬ 
 sume, there could be no objection for every child to repeat the 
 “Lord’s Prayer” in the school, and also their being taught that 
 grand and simple lesson, taught by Jesus Christ himself, and which 
 is the basis of all true religion—namely, 
 
 LOVE GOD, 
 
 AND 
 
 THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF. 
 
 3 A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER, 
 
 3 
 
 CUT BY G. CRUIKSHANK. 
 
 - 
 
 v~ 
 
 \ 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 In a small country town (not a hundred miles from London) as 
 some worthy gentlemen, magistrates and others, wero proceeding to 
 the Town Hall upon county business, they observed a poor little 
 boy lying against tho wall of the principal inn of the place (The 
 Britannia.) Ho had only a few pieces of rag hanging about his 
 wasted body, and altogether looked very wretched and very dirty; 
 but the dirt did not conceal the painful expression and death-like 
 paleness of his poor thin face; but these worthy gentlemen were 
 passing on, such objects and such sights of destitution being quite 
 common in that town. Had ho been begging or stealing, then the 
 
 
 789579 
 
4 
 
 A SLICE OP BREAD AND BUTTER. 
 
 officers who accompanied these worthy gentlemen wonld of course 
 have taken him into custody and have brought him before their 
 worships at the Town Hall, to be dealt with according to law in the 
 one case, perhaps, or sent to the Union—in the other case, of course 
 sent to jail, or to trial. But as this poor boy was neither begging 
 nor stealing, and did not obstruct the pathway, he was allowed to 
 enjoy his liberty, and they, having, in fact, nothing to do with him, 
 were passing on, when one of them—a medical man, and a kind- 
 hearted man to boot (as all medical men are)—stopped the party, 
 and told them that the poor boy seemed to be seriously ill: upon 
 which they all gathered round the child, and, Laving aroused him, 
 inquired very kindly what was the matter with him—if be wasn’t 
 well ? Upon which he stared wildly at the inquirers, and bursting 
 into tears, replied in a faint voice, “ I wants summut to eat! ” 
 “ Ah ! ” said the doctor, feeling the boy’s pulse, “ the poor fellow is 
 reallv sinking for want of food—he’s famishing, dying of hunger ! ” 
 JNTow the worthy magistrates and the other gentlemen—some of 
 whom were clergymen, and ministers, and lawyers—were all kind- 
 hearted and benevolent men as well as the doctor; and they all 
 exclaimed, as with one voice, upon hearing what the doctor said, “ Oh, 
 dear me, how very shocking !—let him have some food instantly ! ” 
 “ Yes, yes ! ” cried one : “ here, officer ! go into the ‘ Britannia,’ 
 and get him something to eat instantly.” “1 suppose,” said he, 
 turning to the doctor, “ a bit of plain bread and butter wall be 
 best for him in his present condition?” “The very thing,” he 
 replied; and as the officer w T as about to run into the house to get a 
 bit of bread and butter, another gentleman of the party cried out, 
 “Stop! see that you bring brown bread.” “Pooh! pooh!” said 
 another; “it does not matter what sort of bread it is, but it must 
 be toasted .” “ White or brown, or plain or toasted, it matters not 
 
 much,’’ exclaimed a fourth, “provided there is plenty of butter on 
 it.” “I object most decidedly to the butter ,” observed a very 
 sedate gentleman. “ As to that,” shouted out another, “ I consider 
 the butter as most essential: it is full of nourishment; and, besides, 
 the poor boy might be choked by cramming dry bread down his 
 throat without butter; but then we must be careful that it be salt 
 butter.” “ Uo ! no!” cried another; 11 fresh butter, if you please, 
 and as much as you please; but no salt.” “ You are all wrong, my 
 friends !—quite wrong ! ” vociferated another of the party ; “ depend 
 upon it, that dry toast is the best thing he can have.” “ Oh ! oh ! oh ! ” 
 exclaimed all the other gentlemen; “ who ever heard of such a 
 thing as giving dry toast to a starving child ? ” “ Who ever, indeed ! ” 
 chimed in another ; “ it is quite ridiculous to toast the bread at all; 
 
A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. 
 
 the poor child might die before it was ready! No! no! plain 
 bread and butter is best for him ; but mind, if I have to pay my 
 part towards it, the bread must be new —yes, new bread.” ‘"New 
 bread ! ” exclaimed some of the party—“ why, that’s worse than all; 
 for if it does not stick in his throat, it will in his stomach, and 
 perhaps kill him. New bread is indigestible and most unwholesome 
 stuff.” “ Well, well; let it be plain stale bread and butter, but only 
 the crumb of the loaf, and I will pay my part willingly,” observed 
 another. “ Crumb without crust! ” said one of the former speakers • 
 ‘'why, the crust of the loaf contains ten times more nourishment 
 than the crumb, and I, for one, will have nothing to do with it, nor 
 pay a farthing towards it, unless he has a good lump of crusty 
 Now during this contention, or 
 
 “-all this splutter 
 
 About the toast and bread and butter,” 
 
 the poor boy seemed to be getting worse and worse, and at the 
 same time all these worthy gentlemen becoming more and more 
 excited; some calling out for “Fancy bread,” some for “French 
 rolls,” others for “ German black bread,” and all refusing to pay 
 any part towards the bread and butter, unless cut after their own 
 fashion, when they were reminded by one of the party that there 
 was not the least necessity to trouble themselves about paying for 
 what the boy might have, as it could be charged to the county. To 
 which they all replied, rather sharply, that, as to that, if they did 
 not think it right to pay out of their own individual pockets, 
 neither did they think it right that the public money should be 
 used for purposes which they could not individually approve of. 
 “Gentlemen, gentlemen,” cried the doctor, “pray let the child 
 have something. Is it not dreadful to let this poor boy perish 
 before our eyes, when there are the means of relief within reach ? 
 For mercy’s sake let him have something to keep him alive! ” 
 
 “ Well,” replied one of the magistrates (who was chairman of the 
 Sessions), “as you see he cannot have the bread and butter, you 
 must prescribe something else for him.” “Dear, dear me!” said 
 the doctor, “ I am really shocked at such inconsistency. Will you 
 let him have a little brandy, then?” “Oh yes! ” they all cried 
 out together, “ let him have some brandy—by all means give him 
 some brandy!” Upon which Mr. Bull, the landlord of the 
 “Britannia,” a very simple, good-natured man, who had heard all 
 the talk about the bread and butter without paying much attention 
 to their discourse —it being a question, indeed, which he did not 
 clearly comprehend—made his appearance at the door with brandy 
 
6 
 
 A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. 
 
 bottle in band, a glass of which was administered to the boy, who 
 took part of it at first in little sips, but swallowed the remainder' 
 in gulps, after which he seemed to revive and stare abont him 
 rather saucily ; and the doctor, having placed him upon the steps 
 of the public-house door and advised him to go home and get 
 something to eat as soon as possible, followed after the other 
 gentlemen, who had gone to the Town Hall, considering the boy 
 quite safe in the good doctor’s hands. 
 
 How, it was well and kindly meant of the doctor to tell the boy 
 to go home and to get something to eat as soon as possible; but 
 this poor boy, like thousands of other boys of that class, had no 
 home to go to, nor money to buy any food ; and such a state of 
 things as this had not occurred to the doctor, who was rather an 
 absent man. But it seemed, indeed, the fate of this poor boy that 
 he should be the victim of neglect or mistake, in some way or other. 
 
 Ragged Jack—the only name the boy was known by—was 
 seated on the door-step of the “ Britannia ” Inn, and, as he was in 
 that position neither useful nor ornamental, the landlord cried out, 
 “ Come, my man ! you had better go home, as the doctor told you, 
 and get something to eat;” and helping him on his legs, said, 
 “ There now ! run away home, that’s a good boy.” 
 
 Ragged Jack then staggered away from the public-house door, 
 from whence many a ragged Jack had staggered away before, and 
 had not gone far before he came to a baker’s shop ; and as he still 
 felt the pangs of hunger, notwithstanding the dose of brandy, and 
 recollecting the doctor’s advice to get something to eat as soon as 
 he could, and, having no money to buy any bread, he thought it 
 would be better to steal some, than to starve ; so, emboldened by 
 the brandy, he dashed into the shop, and, snatching up a penny 
 roll, made off with it as well as he could, cramming the bread down 
 his throat with such haste that he was nearly choked. But the 
 baker had witnessed the theft, and was after poor Jack in an 
 instant, whom he soon ran down and captured, and, taking the half- 
 eaten roll from Jack’s hands, seizing him by the rags that covered 
 his shoulders, and calling him a young rascal and a thief, literally 
 dragged him to the Town Hall, where the magistrates were sitting, 
 and having handed him into the custody of a policeman, and 
 explaining the charge, that functionary at once took him before 
 their worships, who, upon seeing the boy reel when he entered the 
 dock, and lay hold of the rail to support himself, asked the police¬ 
 man if he (that is the boy) had been drinking who returned the 
 
 * When any one is charged with an assault, or any act of violence or brutality 
 it is a curious fact that almost the first question which the magistrate asks is, “ Had 
 the prisoner been drinJcivg ? ” but never, that we ever heard of, have they asked 
 if the prisoner had been eating. 
 
A SLICE OF BREAD AXD BETTER. 
 
 7 
 
 answer usually given to this question:—That the prisoner had been 
 drinking, but that he knew very well what he was about. As if' 
 anybody could know very well what they were about when then’ 
 brains were either muddled or inflamed by strong drink. The 
 officer also added that it was the same boy his worship had seen by 
 the side of the “ Britannia.” The baker’s evidence against Ragged 
 Jack was clear and conclusive : he had seen the boy take the roll, 
 and had caught him in the very act of eating it, and even exhibited 
 the part that was undevoured! 
 
 It was a case for “ summary punishment,” and Jack was sen¬ 
 tenced to a month’s imprisonment, and carried off to “ the House of 
 Correction ” forthwith. The chaplain of that establishment, who 
 was present, and who had been one of the party in the discussion 
 about the bread and butter, seemed much pleased when he found 
 that Jack was committed, and said, “Ah! I’ll take good care that 
 whilst the poor boy is in prison he has plenty of good bread and 
 butter .” And so he had; poor boy ! for, immediately upon his 
 arrival at the prison, he had some proper wholesome food given to 
 him : he was then placed in a nice warm bath, and after that dressed 
 in good clean clothes, his hair trimmed and cleaned, and, by the orders 
 of the medical officer, placed in the “sick-ward,” with everything 
 necessary for his bodily health and comfort, and waited upon and 
 nursed by a nice, clean, good-natured, motherly woman. Of course, 
 when sufficiently recovered, he was put to work ; but then it was 
 not “ hard labour,” and he had the advantages, besides being clothed 
 and fed, of being taught reading, and writing, and arithmetic by a 
 schoolmaster, trained in habits of regularity and cleanliness, and 
 trained also in morals and religion, by the chaplain who was the 
 first to tell him that there is a GOD, and to teach him, in one way 
 at least, how to worship and adore that GOD. Yes, now that Jack 
 was a CONVICTED THIEF, he had plenty of good wholesome 
 BREAD AND BUTTER ! 
 
 But when the term of Jack’s imprisonment was over, this 
 supply of bread and butter would have been stopped, and he would 
 have been dressed in his ra^s again, and turned out to lead the 
 same life of wretchedness as before, had it not been for the kind¬ 
 ness of the worthy chaplain, who had taken care to provide some 
 more bread and butter for him in another establishment—not a 
 prison , but a “ Reformatory School.” In this institution Jack 
 received the same training in cleanliness, morality, and religion, as 
 in the jail, and the same sort of schooling, with kind treatment, 
 comfortable clothing, etc.; and, added to all these, he was taught a 
 trade, so that when he went out into the world he might be a 
 
A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. 
 
 8 
 
 decent and a useful member of society. In the reformatory, as well 
 as in the jail, he had plenty of good bread and butter ; and (strange 
 as it may appear) he had rendered himself eligible as a pupil to 
 this institution, and received all these advantages, because he had 
 been a CONVICTED THIEF ! 
 
 But with all the advantages of education, moral and religious 
 training, which had been bestowed upon Jack, there was one great 
 drawback or disadvantage ; which was, that no one who knew that 
 he had been a convicted thief would hire him for a servant, or even 
 employ him. The consequence was, that, as he now knew a trade, 
 his kind reformatory friends gave him a basket of tools, and advised 
 him to go into another part of the country to seek employment, 
 which he did. But on the morning of his departure, as he was 
 trudging along the street with a basket containing his work-tools, 
 a change of linen, etc., he met a cousin of his—one Tom Rag, a boy 
 as ragged and as wretched as he used to be himself—who was 
 
 pleased to see his old pi ay-fellow look so well, and inquired how he 
 had managed to get such nice clothes, and what he had got in his 
 basket. Upon which Jack told him all that had been so kindly done 
 for him, whilst in the prison and the reformatory. “ 0 ! ” said Tom 
 Rag, “ I am taught morals, and to read and write and cast 
 accounts, at tbe ‘ Ragged School; ’ and on Sunday I go to the 
 ‘ Ragged Church,’ where I am taught religion, and all that. But 
 then I want to be clothed and fed, and have a comfortable place to 
 live in, and to be taught a trade as you are : so do, Jack, tell me 
 how I am to sret all that ’ere.” 
 
A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. V 
 
 Cousin Jack, who had been taught, and, indeed, now knew, that 
 thieving was a wicked thing to do, was sorely puzzled how to advise 
 his friend in this matter; for, having a great regard for Tommy, he 
 wished to save him from the miserable state in which he himself 
 had once been—skulking and wandering about the streets all day, 
 picking up bits and scraps of food, even out of the gutters like the 
 dogs, and at night sleeping in the corner, perhaps, of an open 
 sheep-pen in the cattle-market,* or crouching from the drenching 
 rain by the side of a doorway; and when he contrasted that state of 
 his existence with the comfort he had felt, and the attention he had 
 received whilst in the jail and the reformatory, he knew not how to 
 advise his poor cousin, knowing that poor Tom was, as he himself 
 had been, almost perishing for want of a little good wholesome 
 bread and butter, clean clothes, and a comfortable bed to lie in, 
 which he well knew poor Tom would have if he could be sent to 
 jail, as he had been. When he thought of all this he was sorely 
 puzzled what to recommend ; but at last he said : “ Tom, you must 
 not steal; so you had better go a begging, and perhaps you may be 
 lucky enough to be sent to jail for that, and then you will have 
 everything done for you as I have had, and come out better than 
 me; for nobody will be able to say that you have been a thief. 
 Yes; go and beg, Tom! But if this don’t answer, why, then, I 
 suppose you must go a thieving, as I did.” 
 
 It may be asked, Where were the parents of these poor boys all 
 this time ? Well, they could tell you at the “ Britannia ” public- 
 house, only they don’t like to talk about such disagreeable matters 
 there. But the fact is, Jack’s father used to use that house, and 
 was once a decent sort of man, and was at one time a “ moderate 
 drinker ; ” but upon one occasion he got mad drunk, and in that 
 state of drunken insanity went home and killed his wife, was sent 
 to jail, and died there. Tom’s father was transported for com¬ 
 mitting some crime after he had “ been drinking ” at the “ Britan¬ 
 nia ; ” and Tom’s mother took a little drop at first to comfort her , 
 and then drank herself to death. 
 
 All persons, except Teetotallers, train up their children to take 
 strong drink, with the mistaken notion that it does them good, and 
 thus, unintentionally sometimes, lay the foundation of their chil¬ 
 dren’s ruin and destruction. “ To train up a child in the way he 
 should go,” is a most wise and important piece of advice, and 
 means, of course, that the child should be brought up to do that 
 which is right , and this advice is followed and is carried out 
 extensively in all civilized countries, it is true ; but a large propor¬ 
 tion of the common people (of this country at least) train up their 
 
 * Fact. 
 
10 
 
 A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. 
 
 children to go to the gin-shop and the beer-shop, either by taking 
 them with them when they go to get their drink or their dram, 
 when they invariably give them a taste, a glass, or a pot to drain; 
 or sending them to fetch the liqnor, and then the children are sure 
 to take a lick as they go along. Yes, these poor young creatures 
 are trained up to the habit of drinking intoxicating liquor, and 
 “when they grow old they seldom depart from it.” And what are 
 the consequences of this training ? Why, a large amount of exces¬ 
 sive drinking, and also a vast amount of drunkenness. And what is 
 the effect of these P Ignorance, poverty, pauperism, immorality, 
 dirty habits, wretchedness and misery of every description, ruin, 
 degradation, brutality, crime, blasphemy, bloodshed and murder! 
 And what are the effects upon the offspring of a class of persons 
 of such habits (habits, recollect, produced almost entirely by the 
 use of intoxicating drink)—in what condition, then, morally and 
 physically, are the children of such an impure portion of the 
 population ? In the first place, passing over the many, very many, 
 infants who die for the want of proper and natural care, and taking 
 those who do live through their dirty dismal infancy, and are 
 able to “ run alone,”—why, entirely neglected by their drinking 
 parents, these children are allowed to “ run wild,” and are conse¬ 
 quently as “ ignorant as horses ” and as “ ragged as coltsbred, 
 born, and brought up in dirt, and trained in immoral habits, with¬ 
 out even hearing the name of God, unless connected with some 
 horrible and blasphemous oath. This wretched, neglected, starving, 
 begging, thieving juvenile part of the population, many of whom 
 are orphans, are brought up to this horrible state of destitution— 
 recollect, almost entirely , through the use of intoxicating liquors 
 by their parents. But it must not be supposed that all the wretched 
 and ragged children spring from the lowest condition of society. 
 Families of various grades of comfort and respectability are brought 
 down to the lowest level , disgraced, ruined and made wretched, 
 entirely from the use of intoxicating liquor, and thus from various 
 sources the supply of ragged children for the ragged schools, and 
 juvenile offenders for the jails and the reformatories ; and thus as 
 fast, or indeed at a greater rate, than secular teaching, with moral 
 and religious training, can raise a portion of these poor creatures 
 from their miserable and deplorable state of mind and body, and 
 place them in a more healthy condition, fresh pupils are provided 
 for these institutions, by the liquors prepared by the brewer and 
 the distiller, and dispensed at the beer-shop and the gin-palace. 
 
 The Earl of Shaftesbury has lately condemned in strong terms— 
 and very justly so—the trade carried on in opium by the East India 
 Company and other merchants, which all those parties are aware is 
 
A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. 
 
 11 
 
 smuggled into China in violation of the laws of that country, and 
 despite the efforts of its government to prevent this illicit trade. 
 It is, indeed, disgraceful and dishonourable, either for the Honour¬ 
 able East India Company, or any man or set of men, holding high 
 stations, as far as wealth and character go, to be making a profit out 
 of a trade which produces wretchedness, disease, premature decay 
 and death, amongst any people, however low they may be in the 
 social scale. But, bad as this may be, and miserable as are the con¬ 
 sequences arising from the use and indulgence of this poisonous and 
 pernicious drug, yet the evils created from this source in China are 
 not attended with such horrible results as those which come from the 
 use of the poison—ALCOHOL—in our own country. Yet there are 
 men here—gentlemen, who, in fact, form part of our aristocracy—men 
 rolling in wealth and luxury, holding up their heads w*ith the highest, 
 and some of them forming part of our legislative body—respectable 
 merchants and traders, deriving large incomes and making princely 
 fortunes from the profits on the manufacture and sale of a liquor 
 which, even in small quantities, is proved to be injurious to the 
 human system ; but which, if indulged in, produces that temporary 
 insanity called intoxication, and which causes nearly all our poverty 
 and wretchedness, and is, in fact, the principal cause of the com¬ 
 mission of every species of criminality and the blackest and foulest 
 deeds that human beings can, with ignorant and maddened brains, 
 possibly commit. 
 
 A great outcry has been made of late about the “ Ticket of leave” 
 men, and the very large number of our criminal population (!) ; and 
 it is a serious consideration what is to be done with the convicts, and 
 where they are to be sent to. Now every one will allow that it would 
 be a most excellent thing if we could reduce the number of our 
 criminals ; but, however desirable this might be, the question is, How 
 is such a change to be effected ? The Earl of Albemarle has stated, 
 at a public meeting in Norfolk, upon the authority of the judges, 
 that nine-tenths of the crimes committed in this country owe their 
 origin to the use of intoxicating liquor. If that be the case, you 
 have only to stop the use of intoxicating liquor, and, according to 
 this showing, to stop the commission of crime—at any rate, a lorge 
 proportion of it. Yes; only shut up the beer-shops and the gin- 
 shops, and you may then shut up your prisons. I say this with 
 confidence, because it was found that in the State of Maine, when 
 the “Maine Liquor Law” was in full operation, not only was the 
 workhouse cleared of all those that could work, but the jail, in some 
 of the counties, which used to be always overcrowded, was empty, 
 and advertised To be Let ! and so it would be here, in this country, 
 if we had such a law. Then, again, many excellent men have 
 
12 
 
 A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUl'TER. 
 
 been trying to do away with the punishment of death for criminal 
 offences. In this matter yon have only to stop the nse of intoxi¬ 
 cating drinks, and the gibbet would fall to the earth—crumble with 
 the dry rot for want of use. And why? because almost every 
 deadly crime committed in this country is mixed up, more or less, 
 with this accursed intoxicating drink. 
 
 One of the great social questions of the day is the necessity and 
 importance of a general or national system of Education for the 
 humble classes, upon such a comprehensive plan as shall give 
 every child born in the United Kingdom a certain amount of book 
 knowledge, and also of moral and religious training, as they are, or 
 ought to be, entitled to as juvenile members of a civilized com¬ 
 munity—such training as may prepare them to fill useful and 
 honest positions in life, or, perhaps, be the first step to those high 
 stations so often filled by honest, hardworking, mercantile men, or 
 ingenious mechanics. Now, every thinking and right-minded per¬ 
 son will agree that this object is a most desirable one, and that no 
 innocent child should be so neglected as to be allowed to grow up 
 in a state of savage ignorance ; and at the first blush nothing seems 
 more easily to be accomplished, in a wealthy and intelligent country 
 like ours, than to arrange such a general system as is here alluded 
 to, and to provide the ways and means. Well! all this tvould be 
 simple and easily accomplished, but for one obstacle—namely, the 
 differences in the religious opinions of a portion of the adult popula¬ 
 tion. Yes, strange as it may appear—nay, monstrous as it is— 
 nevertheless these religious differences have been, and are now, the 
 only bar to the adoption of any wide and general system of secular 
 education. 
 
 It is of course impossible to please all parties; but few persons, 
 
 I imagine, could surely object to a national system of Education 
 upon the following plan :—In the first place, an Act of Parliament 
 should be passed, making it imperative that every child should receive 
 some education, and where the parents are destitute or depraved, 
 then that the State shall take the position of the parents, and educate 
 and train up all the neglected and helpless children. In the second 
 place :—In the schools, let reading, writing, and arithmetic be 
 taught (with other branches of education, if possible, or required), 
 and such moral training as will teach a child the difference between 
 Eight and Wrong —and here let the schoolmaster’s duty cease, and 
 that of the ministers of religion begin. And in the third place :— 
 Let it be the duty of the clergymen, and ministers of all denomina¬ 
 tions, to instruct all those children who belong to their particular 
 church, chapel, or sect, in the religious belief of their parents ; but 
 when the parents do not attend any place of worship, or profess 
 
A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. 
 
 I n 
 O 
 
 any particular creed—then, that the clergy of the Established 
 Church be allowed to instruct all such children in the religion 
 of the State. By such an arrangement as this, it appears 
 to me that if all the poor helpless children of the land were 
 schooled in the common elements of reading, writing, etc., for 
 five days in the week, and the clergy and ministers of all deno¬ 
 minations were to instruct these children one day in the six, in 
 the religion of the class to which they belong (independent of 
 the Sunday), that then all parties might be satisfied, and a 
 great objection done away with as to the great general system 
 which I here propose for secular instruction and moral and religious 
 training. 
 
 I may here be told that there are schools and institutions where 
 the young of both sexes are instructed in useful knowledge, morally 
 trained, and taught some trade or calling, and where begging or 
 stealing are not necessary qualifications for admission. I grant that 
 ther may be such places, but that does not alter the fact that 
 neglected children, clothed in filthy rags, supply scholars to the 
 “ Bagged School,” and young thieves the pupils to the “ Reforma¬ 
 tory.” A reformatory may be wanted in any country, under any 
 circumstances, but why should we have Ragged Schools in rich 
 England ? A German newspaper, not very long since, had a para¬ 
 graph headed “A man starved to death in London!” in rich 
 England ! and the editor seemed thoroughly astonished that such a 
 circumstance should occur in a country of such immense wealth, 
 and there is certainly no reason why such a shocking thing should 
 occur in this country, where there is probably as much food destroyed 
 and wasted every day in London as would feed thousands of persons ; 
 but although, as I have said, some sort of reformatory, even in the 
 highest state of civilized society, may be required, why should we 
 have such a thing as a Ragged School in rich England?—in a 
 country where the Almighty, in his beneficence, has given enough, 
 and to spare, for every one ! 
 
 I am not saying that Ragged Schools are not wanted now, in the 
 present state of society,—no, no : there is unfortunately a strong 
 necessity for them at the present time; and whenever there is an 
 evil, of course there should be a remedy. I have had the honour of 
 presiding at Ragged School meetings myself, and of advocating 
 their support and extension, and would do so still whilst poor chil¬ 
 dren remain miserable, ignorant, and neglected ; and I have, upon 
 these occasions, always shown what I consider a radical cure for 
 such a state of destitution. I have also the honour of knowing and 
 honouring some of the chief supporters of these institutions; and 
 I do all I can in my humble way to assist such good men for such 
 
14 
 
 A SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. 
 
 good purposes; indeed, it is quite riglit that there should he these 
 schools and reformatories—it is indeed one of the first duties of a 
 civilized people to provide a refuge for the destitute ; no doubt 
 there should be some place provided for the reception of the erring 
 and the repentant, where they may receive help and comfort, and 
 where their good resolves may be cherished and strengthened ; no 
 doubt but that it is quite right that there should be a place of shelter 
 for those who may have offended against the laws of man, and a 
 chance of leading, in future, an honest life. Nay, it is the duty of 
 a civilized community to do all this ; and under the blessing of God, 
 well and nobly do the people of this country perform this duty—all 
 honour to them for so doing—all honour to the nobility of this land— 
 all honour to the wealthy, the middle and the humbler classes—all 
 exemplary in their degree and station, from our good and gracious 
 Queen down to the poor widow who gives her “ mite ”—all honour 
 to those who so generously and bountifully bestow their means in 
 so many excellent and needful charities; it is a good work, and it is 
 well and nobly done ! But excellent as all these remedies for our 
 social evils may be—excellent as it is to provide hospitals for the 
 reception of those who meet with accidents, it is, nevertheless, 
 better to prevent accidents happening than to provide a cure for 
 them; so it is better, or indeed, it is the paramount duty of a 
 civilized people to PREVENT the commission of evil, to PREVENT 
 poor children from falling into that dreadful state of ragged 
 wretchedness and criminality which unhappily prevails to such a 
 fearful extent at present. It may here be said that almost every 
 thing is being done that ingenuity, toil and benevolence, can suggest 
 or accomplish :—true, a great deal is being done, but not all; for 
 whilst even a small number of poor dear helpless children are left 
 uncared for or unprovided for, so long is the work imperfect. And 
 unhappily we find that there are, even in spite of all that is being 
 done, still an immense number in this forlorn condition ; for, upon 
 the authority of that noble and indefatigable worker in all good 
 works, the Earl of Shaftesbury, we find that there are, at this time, 
 about twenty-two thousand neglected, ragged children, wandering 
 about like the wild Bedouins of the desert! At a late ragged 
 school meeting, thanksgivings were offered up to the Almighty for 
 the present prosperity of the ragged schools, and also for the great 
 moral good effected by these institutions. In this thanksgiving 
 I most heartily join, and rejoice at the amount of success; but I 
 put it to all those worthy persons who are engaged in this good 
 work, and who thus express their feelings of gratitude, whether it 
 would not be still better that they should be able to thank GOD 
 that ragged schools were not required at all, and that there was very 
 
15 
 
 their children—who 
 Klier feel the degradation, or 
 
 modulation will be 
 L and women—who, 
 ragged or reforma- 
 
 Wy with the 
 
 Band ! would 
 
 Peflect upon the 
 ng. Why, if it 
 
 ■w oriehi; and they may wrll ask, 
 
 Bwas bi 1 'hi id it up at a reformatory r 
 
 W \hat she was educated at a ragged 
 Kike this ourselves ? 
 
 Baf it does not appear to be a matter almost 
 Bulity, but surely entailing a fearful responsibility, 
 H) oppose a general system of teaching and train- 
 owing innocent children to grow up in ignorance 
 
 BRi crime—to starve, in fact, for want of food, of which there is 
 plenty—because they, the grown-up people, cannot agree upon the 
 mode of cutting a SLICE OF BREAD AND BUTTER. 
 
 Education has done, and is doing, a very large amount of good ; 
 
 but it will never entirely put a stop to the intemperate habits or 
 drunkenness of a large mass of the population—a habit, which 
 
 “ The Times ” has designated as “ the curse of the country.” In 
 proof of this, witness the immense mass of common people who 
 
 unfortunately suffer from the use of strong drink, and also the 
 number of the most highly educated, intellectual, and well-trained 
 
 persons—nay, even ministers of religion—-who are constantly 
 
 falling victims to these intoxicating drinks, which are blindly looked 
 
 upon, generally, as a blessing, if taken in moderation. But let 
 
 those good folks who say this, consider for a moment from whence 
 
 comes the supply of drunkards. There are at least thirty or forty 
 thousand drunkards, dying as drunkards every year in this country, 
 whose places are filled up from the class of “ moderate drinkers.” 
 This lias always been the case, and must continue so, from the very 
 
 naturo of the material in uso. Some very clever moderate drinkers 
 assert that those peoplo only get drunk who take too much. This is 
 
 certainly a most wonderful discovery, and an incontrovertible fact; 
 for they may defy the who'e world to prove that any one ever got 
 drunk by taking too little! But, even supposing that education 
 would ultimately form a very moderate drinking population: 
 beforo such a desirable state of things could be established, at tlio 
 rate that education is now going on, millions of our fellow-creatures 
 
16 
 
 IAS RAGGED AND IlEFORMATOUY PEIS. 
 
 I 
 
 must suffei 
 be maimed 
 
 Educate! 
 thing more reql 
 the present age 
 rascality. The rascl 
 nately, “ cast accoul 
 and could read and 
 of men who can read and" 
 something like a station in 
 his employer. However, these a 
 system of education, with moral 
 did nothing else, it would decrease 
 which is now found to predominate* 
 vulgar when under the influence of drink. * 
 of wine, beer, and spirits, is at the root, in 
 most, if not all our social evils, and until the 
 eating drinks is done away with, all reforms are 
 work—very pretty patchwork no doubt; nay, some^JT 
 beautiful patchwork; but still nothing but patchwork after all. 
 
 Finally, I would say by all means educate all the people in some 
 way or other. But as prevention is better than cure, I call upon all 
 those who delight in good works to aid the Temperance cause, which 
 is, in truth, the‘only radical cure for the evils complained of. I call 
 upon them to assist us in our endeavour to stop the use of the body 
 and soul-destroying strong drink, and thereby PREVENT Poverty, 
 Misery, and Crime. 
 
 M