The Sun. — London, England, 1853-04-05 00:00:00

atablished church, insisted upon the learning of the religious and moral training of the people of this country, catechism and the attendance at church, to which the but that this matter ought to be left entirely to the volun tary efforts of those who choose to undertake the task. I Dissenters conscientiously objected ; on the other hand, the can never subscribe to the reasoning by which this position Dissenters, forced as it were into opposition on this subject, is supported. I never can admit that any principle or any united in great bodies for the purposes of education, and scruple should prevent the State from assisting in the reli formed schools entirely on their own principles, and were gious and moral training of the people, when it is obviously therefore organised in a manner that enab l ed t hem to great duty the of the State to preserve peace and to enforce the observance of the rules of morality. (Hear, hear.) bring great power to bear against any plan bf education of Take the case of a young man cast into gaol for some act which those societies, chiefly composed of Dissenters, did of theft. He is told by the gaoler that he has offended not approve. (Hear, hear.) The education, however, against the laws of the country :he is told - by the chaplain which was carried on by these two societies produced a of schools all over the country, and a great of the prison that he has offended against the laws of God . great number Should he ask why he had .not been instructed before with i ncrea se of the means of education. About 1831 or 1832 res p ec t t o th ese ma tt ers , would it be a sufficient answer o it was proposed, for the first time, to the House of Com- th a t young man t o say, "Th e St a te has power to punish— mons by the Government of Lord Grey, that the State it can commit you to prison, and even give you religious should aid in the education of the poorer classes • and at i ns t ruc ti on w hile there ; but there is some principle or the same time it was proposed that a sum of 10 , 0001. should scruple which prevents it at any previous period from e be given to each of these two societies for the purpose of g i v i ng you th e means o f avoiding thepunishmentyou rr aiding them in their efforts. This plan continued till B u t th a t ques ti on was agitated very fully, I think, in 1847, 1839. The Treasury conducted the aid which they gave an d th e h ouse d ec id e d by a very considerable majority in according to the rules which, as a board, it was incumbent favour of the aid which was then sought by the Govern on thoni to adopt. They gave grants according to the inent for the purpose of promoting education. ,Since that amount of the sums voluntarily subscribed, and they dis- time it has not appeared to me that the opinion of this tributed their grants in the proportion of those sums, but House has been changed, and it certainly does not appear they took no note or regard of the kind of education given. that the country agree with those who support what is In 1839 Lord Melbourne's Government proposed a change called the voluntary system. (Hear, hear.) Various reli of the system. They proposed that a Committee of Conn- pious communions—for instance, the Established Church, ail should be formed, which Committee of Council should the Wesleyans, the Roman Catholics, and the British and take a more en l arge d and a more discriminating view of Foreign School Society, comprising in the schools in con the business of education. Holding the office of Home nexion with it many of the various denominations of Dis- Secretary at the time I wrote a letter to Lord Lansdowne, senters—have received the aid which was given them under which letter, with the answer, was laid before Parliament the minutes of the Committee of Council. There are other as the grounds of the proceeding that was then taken by parties, indeed, belonging to the same d enom i na ti ons as the Government. It was intimated in that letter, by the those who receive the aid, especially the Baptists and Con command of Her Majesty that it was the wish of the gregationalists, who refuse the aid and maintain the vo- Queen that the youth of this kingdom should be religiously luntary principle. It is evident, however, that these latter, brought up, and that at the same time the rights of con- as compared with the country generally, form rather an in science should be respected. (Hear.) Among the proposals considerable minority, and theref ore it cannot be expected for encouraging the means of education, and furthering that this House would so far change its course as to lean to this great object there was one to found a normal or train- the arguments used in support of the voluntary system.ifor ing school , in which persons of different religious per - But there is another sy s t em w hich has been proposet suasions should b e e d uca t e d, w hil e at the same time there adoption, and w hi c h h as b een pu t forth as a system which should be a chapl a in of the Church of England to i n- ought to influence the State in its decisions on this subject struct those who belonged to that church. This pro- —I mean the proposal for the establishment of what are posal excited great apprehension and a l arm , and aftermuch called se cu l ar sc h oo l s . N o w, Ido not wish to misrepresent threatened opposition it was withdrawn by the Govern- the arguments which are employed upon this subject, and ment ; but the proposal to obtain a grant to be placed for I will endeavour to state as fairly as I can the views put distribution it the hands of the Committee of Council was f or th b y th ose w h o ar e the advocates of this system. If I persevered in, and by a narrow majority sanctioned by the should be so unfortunate as not to have comprehended the House. of Commons. (Hear, hear.) In 1846 a further step system, I have no doubt there are many present who will was taken of very considerable importance. That step was set me right, and place before this house the arguments in an endeavour to • prove, to a very great degree, the favour of the plan they contend for. What I understand quality of the education that was given. (Hear, hear.) to be said in support of this system is thi s : —Th e coun t r y In stating in 1839 the views which the Government took is divided into various religious communions, differing of education, I declared my opinion that the main object greatly from one another, and it has been impossible, by to be had in view was to improve the character, the know- any scheme hitherto suggested, to bring the children of ledge, and the condition of the schoolmaster—that, as the persons belonging to these different communions info one schoolmaster is, so is the school, and that, unless we im- school, and induce them to accept of religious instruction prove his character and condition, we could hope for no there ; but it would be very possible to give them secular great improvement of education for the poorer cla sses . instruction — instruction in reading, writing, geography, (Hear.) The minutes agreed to in 1846 were afterwards arithmetic, science, and art—and to leave the question of the foundation of grants proposed to this house and carried religious instruction to the ministers and pastors of the into effect. lam not aware that since that time any great different communions, and thus, by treating religion as a change has taken place with reference to this subject. thing apart from the school, would be avoided the expense, The house will thus perceive that the education of the difficulty, and discord which are created byhaving so many poorer classes in this country has been conducted, generally schools. Now, if that be the proposal, there seem to me speaking, by the voluntary efforts of great religious bodies, to be difficulties sufficiently great to prevent the adoption of while, at the same time, they have had assistance from the such a system. We must consider, surely, when weare assist- State, partly to increase the quantity, but chiefly, and es- ing in the education of children, and especially in the edu pecially, to improve the quality of the education ; though cation of the children of the poor of this country, that the the State—and a review of the history of particular grants school is the place where they are to learn the rules for will prove the fact—has not interfered materially with the their conduct in life,—those rules of religion and morality nature of the instruction given. Great improvements have by which they are in- future to be regulated. Such been made—indeed, I may say, a great revolution has taken being the case, it is obvious that, according to this plan of place—in the instruction given since the commencement of secular instruction, there would not be sufficient time or the schools under Lancaster and Bell ; but it has been ef- opportunity allowed for the clergy of the church of Eng fected at the suggestion of the different societies which land or the ministers of other denominations to instruct the manage education for the bodies with which they are con- children in religion, and consequently ate very great and nected, and by the managers of particular schools, who important end of education, I should say the most import have individ ua ll y i n t ro d uce d i mprovemen t s i n th e sys t em. ant of all, would not be sufficiently attended to. (Hear, What I wish to call the attention of the house to, how- hear.) The advocates of the secular system of instruction ever, is the point at which we have arrived with respect see this difficulty, and it appears to me, while, no doubt, to the educ a ti o n of th e cou ntry generally — what it man y diff er among th emse l ves, t h at t h e most able of them is in amount and in character. To this, then, I take a mode of obviating the objection, which certainly de invite the consideration of the house before proceeding to serves the utmost consideration of this house before any state what further steps we may be able to take. I re- system of the kind should be adopted. The scheme is deve ceived only yesterday from the Registrar-General a state- loped by many of the writers on the subject, especially by ment relative to the number of schools in this country, and Mr.Combe, whose name, no doubt, will be well remembered of persons receiving education in them. The number of by the house. What he holds out is this— that very imper public day schools existing on the 31st of March, 1851, at feat views are taken with respect to religious subjects ; the taking of the census, was 15,473 ' • the number of per- th a t ver y o ft en th ose ru l es w hi c h th e Al m i g ht y h as l a id sons belonging - to the schools, or on the school books, was down for our conduct in this life, so far from being fol -males 791,548, females 616,021 ; attending at the schools lowed, are wilfully or blimlly set at nought ; and that it is on the 31st of March—males 635,107, females 480,130. the business of the schoolmaster to teach those laws of The number of private day schools existing on the 31st of social economy and of physiology by which the people of March, 1851, was 29,425 ; the number of persons belonging this kingdom may be better instructed in can d uc ti ng them to the schools on th e sc h oo l b oo k s was—ma l es 347,694, selves so as to enable them to avoid that course of vice females 353,210 ' • attending at the schools on the 31st of an d m i ser y i n t o w hi c h t oo many o f th em f a ll . It w ill , March—mal es 317,390, females 322,349. The proportion however, be obvious to the house that this is a proposal of scholars on the books to the population was equal to different from what was the apparent proposal, as at first 11.76 per cent., or 1 scholar to 8 eersons ; the proportion put forth, of the advocates of the secular system. The of scholars in attendance to scholars on the books was proposal, as it stands nakedly in the first declaration of equal to 83 1-sth per cent. I will now state from a dif- their views, amounts to this—give exclusive secular in ferent source what I believe to be a very accurate estimate struction in the schools, and leave religion to be taught of the number of boys and girls belonging to the schools of elsewhere by the ministers of religion. The second view the before-mentioned societies. The house will find it less of the subject, however, is this—there is a natural theology than the number I have already given, which may be ac- which should be taught in the schools, but Christianity counted for partly from the circumstance of there being a should not be taught there. (Hear, hear.) Now, that number of schools unconnected with any society, and appea r s t o me a view cer t a i n l y more extensive, andi un partly from the account being mode up previously to 1851, doubtedly far more dangerous, than that which the advo which allo w s f or su b sequen t i ncrease . Th e num b e r of ca t cs o f secu l ar e d uca ti on first out with. My belief is scholars in 1817 was— Church schools, 955,865 ; British that the people of this country acted with a right instinct; and Foreign schools, 225,000 ; Wesleyan, 38,623; Congre- when, upon associatingftogether and d evo ti ng their money gational, 6,839; Roman Catholic, 3e,750 ; Ragged schools, for the purpose o f e d uca ti on , th ey declared openly that 20,000; total, 1,211,077. Number of schools—Church of there should be a religious training in the schools, and England, 17,015 ; British and Foreign, 1,500 ' • Wesleyan, th a t th a t re li g i ous t ra i n i ng s h ou ld compr i se all the greet 397 ; Congregational, 89 ; R oman C a th o li c , 585 ; Ragged doctrines of Christianity. (Cheers.) Therefore, neither schools, 270 ; total, 19,856. Th e i nco me of these s c h oo l s I nor th e present Government can be a party to any in 1847 stood thus :—Church of Enplane) schools, 817,081/. ; plan for proposing a secular mode cf teaching instead of British end Foreign schools, 101,250/. ; Wesleyan, that which is at present established. I come, then, 27,347/. ; Congregational, 4,901/. ; Roman Catholic, to the question as to what should be done under the 16,000/. ; Ragged schools, 20.000/. ; total, 1,046,8791. I present system. Ido not, owing to the difficulties think I shall be rather under than over the mark if I and which I mentioned at the outset, think it possible 50,0001. for all other schools ; and this makes the amount to unite throughout the country the children of persons provided for the maintenance of those schools about of different religious communions in one plan of educe -1,100,0001. The sources of income are as follow :—local lion. There are obviously very great difficulties with re endowments, 69,537/. ; local subscriptions, 306,8231. ; local spect to those requirements which are made by the Nas collections, 114,109/. ; school pence, 413,0441. ; other tional Society on the part of the church, and with respect sources, 83,076/. ; private supporters, 54,000/. 'There is to requirements, too, which aro naturally made by the one sees to which lam particularly desireee of calling the Dissenters on the pint of their communities. With respect attention of the house—l allude to the item of 413,000!. to the National Society, it is past of their rules—l do not derived from the school pence. I have no doubt the sum say whether it will be changed or not—that every child at here given is below the actual amount, and that we should tending their schools should learn the church catechism not err in excess if we were to set down 500,000/., or half and should attend the church on the Sunday. It is obvi a million, as the sum actually contributed in school pence. one that this rule must be intended to apply only to the Now, recollecting that half a century ago there were none children belonging to parents who are members of the but Sunday schools which could be called public schools church, because, if you asked questions in the catechism of for the poor, the result of these efforts is striking, and like- a child not baptised—if you pretended to ask him his name, wise satisfactory. (Hear, hear.) That the people of this and who gave him that name, it would be manifest false country, and, ab ove a ll, th e wor ki ng an d poorer c l asses, h ood, and almost blasphemy, the child to say that his should contribute half a million a year to defray the ex- godfather and godmother gave it him, when id truth, he pence of the instruction of their children the house cannot had neither godfather nor godmother. But, even if that fail as to consider a most gratifying circumstance. (Hear, difficulty were got over—even if the National Society and hear.) I confess it induces me to think that we ought to all the managers of schools belonging to the Church were direct our efforts rather to strengthen and improve the to say that they would dispense, in the case of some chil system of education which has grown up chiefly from vo- dren, with the rule with respect to learning the catechism, luntary efforts, than to attempt to set up anything in its and would not require their attendance at church, still I place which, while disturbing the existing system, might do not think that in the present condition of things the fail to supply an equal amount of money for the education great difficulty would then be at all removed. The house of the poor. (Hear, hear.) At the same time, we are w ill see, if it g i ves i ts attention to the subject, that here is bound to bea r i n mind that, although large sums are pro- a very great question involved, in which the Protestant vided for this instruction, and a greet number of persons Dissenters of this country naturally take the deepest inte partake of it, it is, in great part, d e f ec ti ve an d inadequate, rest. In reference t o ecc l es i as ti ca l a ff a i rs, we h ave an and it becom es us to consider whether, without disturbing established church, with its endowments, and the Sove the existing system, we may not do much to improve it. reign of the country belonging to it, with the exercise of I will now state to the house what has occurred, chiefly her supremacy, and various laws making a distinction be under the minutes of 1846, but partly before those minutes tween the Established Church and bodies who belong to were issued. I have already stated to the house that the other communions. Bht when we come to the question of plan which was in the contemplation of the Government in political and civil rights, then, on the contrary, we have 1839, of having one training school under State direction perfect equality. (Hear, hear.) Equality of civil and and control, i did not meet w ith pu bli c f avour, an d was no t po li t i ca l rights has been established with very few excep persevered n ; but that, instead thereof, a large number Lions, and it is now the rule ; and for the last 20 years of training schools were established in different parts of the there has been no doubt on the minds of the great majority country, of which the greater part belonged to the church, of the Legislature that there should be civil and political and the others to various Dissenting congregations. equality with regard to the subjects of this country, to These schools have proved to be of the greatest value whatever communion belonging. (Hear.) Th e Ch urc h i u and utility—indeed, it i s i mposs ibl e t o d eny what is stated ancient days used to pretend to have complete dominion by one of the most intelligent inspectors appointed over the education of the children of this country ; and I by the ( Severnment—namely, that the dispersion of remember Lord Derby, in this house, quoting an ac t o f pupil-teachers t o var i ous t ra i n i ng sehools throughout the Henry IV. to that effect; but since the accession of the country, to which funds are apportioned under the mi. house of Hanover education in this country has been per nutes of Council, is productive of more beneficial results featly free. When, therefore, there is a question of estab than could have been obtained from bringing them toge- fishing and supporting by the State a system of education, ther into two or three large s chools appropriated to their I believe the Protestant Dissenters would most naturally education as sch oo l mas t ers. The plan now in force is this : and most justly say that the rule to be established on this —A boy or girl, as the case may be, who shows intelli- subject sho u ld not be the rule of y our ecc l es i as ti ca l gence and capa c ity f or teaching is r' etained as a pupil, laws, but th e ru l e o f your c i v il and political laws; it teacher in the e l emen t ary school for five years. During must be the rule of equality, and not of ascendancy. If this time the pupil-teacher receives, under the authority this, then, were 'the case, it leads to this most serious of the Committee of Council, out of the grants made by difficulty , with respect to parish schools—that whatever this house, a salary beginnin g at 10a and rising to 20/. ind u l gence or w h a t ever t o l era ti on you might give to the before he leaves the school. He is then admitted into a children of Dissenters, that would not satisfy the dissent training school or college, as some are called, where he ing body, because there would still remain this source becomes a Queen's scholar, and receives from 20/, to 25/. of discontent. Accordingly, when an attempt to establish the first year, 251. in the second, and 30/. in the third. a combined plan was made, not many years ago, by my There the pupil -teacher receives an education to Bs him Lib- L-- ic pr qp,+ - are + , sae. 1-rr -a n v ornm, for a schoolmaster. For this purpose he not only receives which I should haveheartil; wished to see succeed—at was the best instruction from the masters and conductors of found, by the petitions presented to this house, and from the schools, b u t h as an opportun i ty of s h ow i ng, pract i cal l y, the discussions at public meetings, that a great' agitation his capacity for teaching. In this way a large number of prevailed among the Dissenters, and that agitation was persons are educated specially and properly for filling the sufficient to preclude all hope of the success of the scheme. office of schoolmaster—an office which I, long ago, declared But it is furthe r t o b e sa id w ith respec t t o the general in this house was not held i n • su ffi c i en t estimation, but establishment of one scheme of education, supposing it which is now rising in just estimation, and which is cer- were to be supported by-a rate, that there is the difficulty tainly one of the most important that any person can fill arising out of the strong repugnance to the imposition of in this country. (Hear, hear.) I think it an advantage rates for such an object, in which the whole of the com that these pupil-teachers are dispersed over the country— munity cannot agree. Consequently, as the right hon. some springing from the middle order—some belonging to gentleman opposite, the member for Midhurst, said last the working classes, who are proud, and justly proud, of year, there would be, if a school-rate were imposed in every seeing that their children, by dint of intelligence, by dint parish, something like the agitation in reference to it, as of quickness in learning, and also by reason of religious now often prevails in reference to the church-rates. (Hear, and moral conduct, have a chance of obtaining from the hear.) There is, however, it appears to us, one kind of masters of the training colleges and the inspectors ap- community in this country which might obtain the means pointed by the Government honourable testimony to their of supporting schools by rates—l allude to those towns fitness for the office of teacher. (Hear, hear.) Since 1814 which have a corporate organisation, and, under act of Par the outlay upon training school has been 353;402/., and liarnent or by ancient charter, manage through municip a l the grants 137,623/. Th e i ncome o f 2 1 training schools institutions the concern s o f th e locality. In towns of this in 1851 was 44,000/. to which must be added the annual kind there is not any necessity for establishing schools of grants, amounting to 4,334/. Up to 1851 the number one kind. There are in these towns, generally, schools of training schools established was, I believe, 40 ; but belonging to various communions, all of which either the number has been much increased since, as well as receive, or might receive, some support by the minutes of of the persons educated as pupil-teachers. In 1852 the Committee of Council. It appears to us, therefore, the total expenditure on these schools under the that it is possible, at all events, to give power to the cor minutee of the Committee of Council, was—for porations and municipal councils of such towns to 'vote a augmentation of teachers' salaries,. 16,9751. ; for sti- rate for the purpose of improving education therein. But, ponds of pupil-teachers and gratuities to schoolmasters in so doing, we should think it necessary to impose certain for their instruction, 79,587/. ; towards the building of conditions, in order to prevent evils which otherwise training schools, 15,996/. ; for the support of training might arise. In the first place, we think it right that two schools, 17 ,545 1 ,—making a tot a l of 130,103/. I n thi s wa y thi r d s o f a t own counc il should agree in the imposition of great good may be achieved, and the result of this expen- the rate. If a mere majority had the power to impose the diture is immediately to raise the character and position rate, and the majority should happen to be small, that of tho schoolmaster. (Hear.) The inspectors appointed would give rise to incessant attempts to overturn the pre by the Government bear the strongest testimony to the vious decision, and to probably great dissentious in the value of these schools. I will not weary the house with locality ; but if two-thirds of the representatives of the quotations from the reports of these gentlemen, but will community gave their voice in favour of the imposition of content myself with stating that Mr. Moseley, one of the the rate, their decision would probably be generally in most distinguished of them, bears the warmest testimony accordance with the sense of the town. In the next place, in favour of the training schools, in which he is supported we think it necessary that the rate should be applied, not by all his colleagues. Only to-day I read (the testimony to establish schools in substitution of former schools, but given by the principal of the training school at Chelten- in aid of the voluntary efforts of individuals, and of the ham, in which this gentleman states that he has watched school pence given by the parents of children. We should the progress of the system for two years, and bears willing propose some such scheme as this—that the rate might be evidence in favour of the advantages resulting from it. An applied to pay 2d. in the week for the scholars, provided examination is likewise carried on under the direction of 4d. or sd. were contributed from other sources. We should the Committee of Council, both of those who have been propose, likewise, that the schools which should receive this and those who desire to become schoolmasters, and to whom assistance should be schools .which, under the minutes of if approved, certificates are granted. About 1,900 men Council, might receive assistance, and which, consequently, and 900 women have obtained certificates of merit. A have for years received the sanction of Parliament. (Hear.) portion of the se are now exerc i s i ng the dut i es of teac h ers, I s h ou ld b e afraid of great difficulty and di ssens i on if we but I should say that about 2.700 of those who have re- were to go beyond a rule of this kind, and I found my ceived certificate s of merit continue to teach. I now come opinion very much on what occurred in Manchester in the to a question which has been discussed with great ability, past year. It is well known that a number of gentle and which has excited great interest throughout the coun- men, most benevolent, and entitled to the highest try—namely, what shall be done with this system ? Shall praise for their exertions, associated togeth er f or th e pur we continue to add t o its efficacy by aennentin,g the pose of establishing a rate for improving education in that amount of aid given by the State? Shall we abandon it place. When they endeavoured to collect the opinions of altagether ? Shall we adopt another system in place of it? the town a very great number of ratepayers—some might ll dispose of the last two queries before proceeding to dispute whether they amounted to the majority of rate explain the pro It is position which it a+ my d u ty t o su b mit to payers, but they appeared to be so—assented to the pin- the house. urged by some persons of considerable c i p l e o f ra ti ng. Wh en th ey came, however, to consider talent that the State ought not to interfere at all in the what kind of schools should receive assistance, I believe they had no difficulty so long as they confined themselves to the schools under which the minutes of Council might receive assistance ; but, when they endeavoured to frame a scheme of their own, for new and further schools, they were met by the difficulty that all should receive the bene fit of assistance. Now, the resolution to which the asso ciation had come, made it an absolute and essential condi tion that the Scriptures should be read in the authorised version, leaving, however, the Roman Catholics to use the Douay version. But it was to be expected, and it did oc cur, that the Roman Catholics demurred altogether to the religious instruction to be given in such schools, and they, therefore, formed a minority dissenting from that plan. Now I think the same difficulty would be found in any attempts to frame any other plan, and we should not therefore propose that the power of the town councils should go further than the appointment of a committee, which should distribute the sums obtained from the rate according to the minutes of the committee of Privy Coun cil. The committee to be appointed by the town councils would be formed partly by members of the council, and partly of other persons resident in the town, who would be able to obtain accurate information with respect to the schools, and see that all the conditions required by the State were complied with in those schools. I propose to ask for leave to bring in a bill to carry these into effect. I may add that we propose also that in these schools a parent should have the power of withdrawing his child from the religious instruction to which he might be subjected. It is obvious, however, on the one hand, that the p aren t s would not send their children to a school where the reli gious instruction should be repugnant to the parent ; and on the other hand a school which had strict rules that every child should receive that religious instruction, would at once refuse admission to such a child. All will be done, therefore, by a clause which will declare the general prin ciple that the parent may have the power of such with drawal. Seeing that such a plan could not be generally adopted in this country, and for this plain reason, that in many parishes in the country there could only be ono school, we propose by a minute, which Int been for some time under consideration, but which is not yet fully ma tured, to allow in certain instances to places which have not municipal corporations a certain sum per head for each child attending...the school. It will be neces sary, however, to confine any such g ran t s t o th ose schools where the schoolmaster has obtained a certificate of ability. That minute, when its provisions shall have been fully matured, will be laid upon the table, and the house, before comi ng t o an y vo t e u p on it, will have ample opportunity afforded for duty considering it. (Hear.) The committee of council have likewise considered the pro priety of making additional grants for buildings in some poor places where great difficulty exists in obtaining a suf ficient sum for establishing schools. I should say that the schools generally throughout the country may be divided into three classes. First, those in which the education is already sufficient, and where it is also of a sufficiently good quality; secondly, where the education is deficient both in quantity and quality; and thirdly, where education has been entirely neglected. The schools of the first class are already considerable number; those of the third class are rapidly diminishing, and are certainly not very numerous; but it is the second which constitutes the largest class, and which requires the largest amount of aid and assistance. I have now stated what is proposed to be done by the bill as regards a school-rate, and by the minutes of council with respect to building. There is, however, one subject of great importance, and with regard to which several bills have lately been introduced into this house—l mean the very large amount of property which has been left by cha ritable bequests, and which now forms the income of pub lic charities. (Hear.) Attention was called to this subject many years ago by Lord Brougham ; and among the varied labours which he has performed, and the many splendid efforts which he has made, I know of no object more use ful to which he has turn e d his attention ; and I know of no arguments more striking than those which he has used upon the subject of public charities. In 1818 a commis sion was appointed upon the subject, several commissions have been appointed since that period, the last being ap pointed by the Crown, when I had the honour of holding the office of Secretary in the Home-office, and finally made its report in 1837. This commission made its report in 38 folio volumes. They reported that the number of charities amounted to 28,840, and they stated the aggregate income of the charities, upon which they reported, to be 1,209,3951. They likewise stated that the annual income of the endow ments for the purpose of education was 312,0001. Now, with respect to many of these charities, various evils have been found to exist. With regard to a great number of them, the money has been left to individuals, the trustees having been careless in recovering them, and they have been lost in the lapse of time from negligence and inat tention. With respect to others of them, the money has been dispersed by litigation. One instance is mentioned in the report of a sum of 3,0001., which, after a law-suit of a considerable length of time—conducted as law suits were in our Court of Chancery—left a residue of only 151. a-year. There are unfortunately too many instances of the same kind. Many of these charities are of exceed ingly small amount, and they have been left for purposes which are not now found to be useful. The charities not amounting to 51. a-year are 13,331 in number, and those of 51. and under 101. are 4,641 in number, making a total of 17,272 under 101. per annum. Upon the other hand, there are several which have increased far beyond the ex pectation of those who founded them. There are of cha rities of 2,0001. and under 3,0001. twenty-four • of 3,0001. and under 4,0001. ten ; of 4,0001. an d under 5,0001. four ; of 5,0001. and, under 6,0001 two; of 8,0001. and under 9,0001. three ; and there are also one each of the different sums of 10,0001., 15,000/., 20,0001., 25,0001., 30,0001., and 35,0001. This is a subject which, having attracted the at tention of the public, was sure to be brought under the consideration of Parliament and of those who held office in the High Court of Chancery. Lord Lyndhurst, from 1842 to 1845 introduced, I think, th ree or f our different bills on the subject, which did not, however, pass through Parlia ment. Lord Cottenham, in the same way, four times in troduced bills relating to these charities, and last year a bill was under consideration, proposed by the last commis sioners of charities appointed in 1849, which contained many useful provisions. Some of these provisions went to obtain more accurate and complete accounts of the value of these charities, their amount, the prevention of loss by litigation, by declaring and enacting that, without the au thority of the Attorney-General, no suits should be insti tuted. Other parts of the measure went to give the power of exchanging lands and granting building leases, working mines, and various other powers, which would tend to make property of this kind more valuable. We propose to adopt these provisions, but we propose to vary the power to which this discretion is to be given. It appears to us that there are many matters totally distinct, and which ought to be placed under distinct management. There is first a judicial power, which would be required to declare whether any of these trusts have been abused, and to take methods for remedying obvious abuses against the will of the founder. Secondly, there is a power which is that of administration, or rather of superintending the adminis tion, of trusts, which it appears to us should be differently exercised. It was proposed last year that there should be a body of three persons named by the Lord Chancellor, two of whom were to receive salaries, and the third might also receive a salary, if it should be thought necessary to give it. There is no reason to think that persons so appointed, without the superintendence of Parliament, would do otherwise than exercise their power merely so that there should be no abuse of the powers given by the founder of the charities, and in taking care that no unnes sary litigation should take place. Now, we think it de sirable that there should be an authority which should have the power of proposing and enforcing amended schemes for the disposition of charitable property for such useful purposes as the founder himself might wish to see them applied to. We therefore propose that there should be vested in a committee of the Privy Council, to be ap pointed by her Majesty, with the Lord President at its head, a general power, besides those which I have already mentioned, to propose schemes for varying trusts in respect to those charities. We should propose that with respect to those schemes which should meet the approbation of the trustees, that they should be adopted, and should, after being placed on the record, take effect in the same manner as the original trusts. There is a clause similar in effect to this in the bill proposed last year. We propose also to give a power, similar to that which has been con ferred by Parliament in one or two instances of late years, that in cases where the trustees do not consent to the scheme, a bill should be introduced into this house, and the assent of Parliament should be asked to the improved administration of these funds. It appears to me that great advantages may be gained by the exercise of a power of this kind. With respect to many of those small chari ties giving six loaves at Christmas, and different small be quests of that kind, they are generally of no use to the place where they are given, and in many cases they are extremely noxious • they produce, in the m a j or ity o f cases , merely a day of feasting and of waste, they induce idle and profligate persons to go to some particular parish for the purpose of obtaining the benefits, and the benevolent views of the founder of the charity is utterly frustrated. Of course, the house would be very jealous of giving any power upon such a subject, which would seem to interfere unduly with the intentions of the founders of charities. At the same time here is a great public advantage to be gained, and here is a body which m i g ht b e cons tit u t e d t o winch ue VII LI UZ Ccu, - -_ checks as Parliament should think proper, the power of endeavouring to extract out of these charities the power of obtaining objects of great utility—such, for instance, as that of the improved education of the people. (H ear .) My noble friend the Lord President will ask to intraduce a bill into the other house, containing the views of the Govern ment upon this subject, and I trust that to whomsoever the power may be given, or whatever may be the extent of those powers, that we shall at last be able, after ten years of attempted and frustrated legislation, in the course of the present year to legislate upon a subject of this vast importance in such a manner as to improve the distribution and management of these charitable funds. We propose that charities not having incomes above 30/. a-year should be carried to the county courts, and those above that sum either to the Master of the Rolls or the Vice-Chancellor, who will have special powers intrusted to them on the sub ject. I have now stated generally what are the views of her Majesty's Government upon the question of theeducation of the working and poorer classes of the country. The sum which will be asked appears in the estimates, and before that vote is taken we shall be able to explain fully the mi nute which we shall have adopted upon tho subject to which I have already referred, and it will then be for the house to consider whether it will grant the stun asked for or not. There are some other topics upon which I wish to touch, because they are akin to these subjects, though I do hot propose to enter at length onto them. The first is, that the speech of her Majesty, delivered at the commencement of the session, has occupied the attention of the Government. The earnest deliberation of the house was in that speech re quested to the consideration of the subject of the promotion of science and art. It is proposed by the Board of Trade that the same authority granted for the department of schools of design, and for the purpose of science, should be united under one department, to be called " The Department of Science and Art," under the Board of Trade. Without any very large expenditure, it will be found that there will be means of opening museums for scientific objects, and also for a museum of art, which for the present will be placed in Marlborough House. There will also be the means provided for giving instructions on technical questions relating to art and manufactures, calculated to improve and cultivate the taste as applicable to manufacturing purposes. Dr. Lyon Playfair will be the inspector of the scientific, and Mr. Cole of the department of art, and under their care and superintendence it is hoped that great advantage will be obtained. 'What more immediately concerns that which I have to state to the house this evening is, that it is pro posed by the Department of Art, instead of sending to certain schools in this country that- aid which has usually been granted, that models and particular forms useful for instruction in drawing should be furnished as parts of the grant in cases where such assistance is required, for the pur pose of improving their pupils in drawing and in a know ledge of the principles of art. (Hear.) I said that I would state upon this occasion what were the general views of her Majesty's Government with respect to the reports of the commissions which were appointed by the Crown on the subject of the two universities. The house is well aware that these (sommissious have presented reports of a most valuable Id nd, setting forth in great detail the history of those universities, giving a great deal of evidence of a most indructivg and valuable uatura - , and themselves suggesting THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 5, 1853, various reforms in the universities. I will not state any particular scheme which it is the intention of the Govern ment to adopt. On the contrary, her Majesty's Government are of opinion that they would not fulfil their duty in the best manner. if they proposed any particular scheme for the adoption of the house until the matter had been much more maturely considered, and until the universities had had the opportunity of giving their suggestions and their ob servations, and adopting such measures as they may think it desirable to adopt on the subject of the changes sug gested. Speaking, however, of the University of Oxford, there are in the first place some points upon which the commissioners have touched, with respect to which I think it is but fair that I should state what ate the views of her Majesty's Government. The first subject with reference to Oxford, and which is of the highest importance, is the constitution of the government of the university itself. (Hear, hear.) We are of opinion that very considerable change is required in the constitution of that university. (Hear,' hear.) We think it desirable that there should exist a greater power of introducing into the governing body of the university persons who, in the station of pro fessors, are engaged in teaching in the university, and into the several colleges those who are engaged in teaching in those colleges. What should be the particular form of that governing body is a matter upon which, as I have in timated, we are not yet prepared to decide. What we say is, that it is a subject to which we shall look, to which our attention will be directed, and upon which we shall be ready to receive any suggestion which may come from the university itself. But if these suggestions either do not come, or if they should fail to meet what we think the cir cumstances of the case require, it will then be necessary to come to Parliament and submit to it proposals of our own on the subject. (Hear, hear.) There is another matter upon which our opinion is no less decided with respect to the principle, and that it, a more full and free admission to the teaching of the university. My belief is that these universities were intended, and ought to be treated, as in stitutions for the benefit of the country, and that their ob jects ought to bo fulfilled more completely than they have been of late years. For this purpose I believe it will be necessary that there should be a power of admission, and of attending the teaching of the university, and of acquir ing those privileges by means other than those of belong ing to, or residing in, colleges. (Hear, hear.) Whether the recommendations of the commission on the University of Oxford, or the different recommendations of the com mission on the University of Cambridge, should be taken on the subject, I will not now pretend to decide. Any change which shall effect the object, and effect it without endangering the discipline of the university—because that point must be kept carefully in mind—will be favourably considered by us, and will be one which we shall be ready to adopt. (Hear, hear.) Another subject in connection with the present state of the University of Oxford is the amount of restriction which is placed upon the attainment of fellowships and emoluments in the university. (Hear.) Many of those restrictions, it is true, claim for their origin the statutes of the university, or the wills of the founders, but we have to consider that if these statutes and these will; were to be literally obeyed, we should have, not the present state of the universities, but a state very much different, and one which it would be impossible to maintain. I will not upon this point express any opinion as to the re commendations of the commissioners—whether all restric tions as to place of birth, or the county to which the persons belong, should be abolished, or whether persons belonging to that locality cceteris paribus should have the advantage —all I say is that merit, industry, study, and ability ought to have their due reward. (Hear, hear.) I may say fur ther, in respect to another topic of great importance that a greater part o f th e i ncomes an d revenues o f the colleges should be devoted to purposes of instruction, such as to giving additional incomes to professors, or applied in other modes most conducive to giving instruction in the univer sities. No doubt, we must keep in mind on this subject, as in other trusts, the purposes for which they were created, At the same time, I do not think it possible to lose sight of the times in which many of those foundations were made, and the views entertained by those who founded them—views which were entertained naturally and pro perly according to the belief of the times, and, perhaps, according to the circumstances of the times, but which no longer apply to the present period. For instance, it was thought at one time that it was most desirable that a num ber of studious men, perhaps of the ecclesiastical profes sion, should devote their time to study and to prayer, and that they should remain in seclusion from the rest of the world. Far be it from me to state that those who devoted their means and their estate to that purpose took a mis taken view of the benefits which might thereby be ob tained. I believe that at a time when no man's house was safe, when armed knights were frequenting lanes and val leys to save the peace of the country, and there was no se curity for life or property, the sacred character given to theseinstitutions enabled the men thus secluded to pre serve the works of learning; it enabled them to preserve those great classical works which at the time of the revi val of letters were found in the monasteries and convents, and which, amid the din of arms and amid a state of ig norance which might have led to barbarism, yet kept alive that sacred flame rrom which we have derived our civilisa tion. Far be it from me, therefore, to say that they were short-sight e d, an d s till less to say they were not benevo lent. But the circumstances of the present day are utterly altered in that respect ; and those same men who, ani mated by the love of knowledge, made those foundations, would probably, if they lived in these times, be the first to say that instruction of another kind ought to be given. (Hear, hear.) There is another view, likewise, which they might; have entertained with regard to the localities to which they confined their endowments. It might very well be that a man of property, seeing that his county was in a state of ignorance, and entirely deprived of the light of letters and science, might have thought that if he found ed in the University of Oxford or in the University of Cambridge a fellowship devoted to the inhabitants of that county, it would turn their minds to the acquisition of knowledge, and thereby he might increase the general cul tivation, and so civilise the county. I do not say that was not a wise view ; but what I say is, that with our present means of communications and with the present circulation of knowledge through the country, a reservation which might be wise at the commencement would be exceedingly unwise at the present moment. (Hear.) These, then, are four of the objects which we shall endeavour to keep in view with regard to the University of Oxford :—First, the improve ment of the governing power or body ; another, a larger admission of students without belonging to a particular college ; third, the removal or modification of the restric tions which now exist in regard to the attainment of the rewards and honours of the university to a particular county or locality; and fourth, the application of some part of the endowments and property of the colleges to tue purpose of instruction in the university, which are now not given for any purposes of instruction whatever. Another object which I think we should have in view is, that when fellow ships are attained by students, the distinction should not be held for life, but only for a certain period. Thus we shall have a constant stimulus to and a constant system of promotion. (Hear.) Sir, I will not go into the recom mendations that have been made by the commissioners ap pointed for the University of Cambridge. They recom mend, in a similar spirit, that those restrictions which I have mentioned should no longer exist, but they state that the university itself is continually, from time to time, adapting its institutions to the present state of knowledge and the present state of the country, and they expect that further improvements will be made in the same direction. They say that they think it would be a great misfortune if the University of Cambridge should in any respect fall short of that which is required from it by. the most en lightened view of the public interests, and the greatest ad vantage of the pecple of this country. At the same time, with a natural pride in the university to which they be long, they say they are happy to think such has been the case, and they further think that it will continue to be the case hereafter; at the same time they state their firm be lief that the interposition of Parliament will be required in order to enable the University of Cambridge to make all those reforms and improvements which, in their opinion, ought to be made. (Hear.) Now, sir, may I venture to say that the persons whom I had the honour of advising the Crown to appoint to the commissions of Oxford and Cambridge were men of very great distinction;, they were men who themselves had attended those universities—men who had attained to the greatest honours, some of them in science and others in classical learning ; and that they ap proached the subject with that reverence for those great institutions which such men were sure to feel ? When, therefore, such men as these advise such extensive altera tions, and accompany them with such observations, I think it is the part of Parliament, without reserve, and waving every objection, to consider their different proposals, and to legislate for the improvement tif the Universities of Ox ford and Cambridge. (Hear.) I trust I have made it clear to the house that we do not propose at the present time, or without giving full means to the universities of considering all that we ought to do, to introduce any bill to Parliament on these subjects. At the same time we shall keep in view these objects which we think essential. (Hear, hear.) If the universities adopt them, and carry them into effect as far as they can, and apply to Parliament for powers to carry them out still further, we shall be happy to see them arrive at that consummation ; but if they should not do so, if there should be persons who are still deterred by their prejudices from making any, even the most useful not to hesitate, but to bring in Bud; measures as we may think absolutely necessary. (Hear, hear.) Now sir, having ventured to trouble the house upon this important subject, I feel that, wide as the field is which I have had to go ove., it has been quite impossible for me to give an ade quate notion to the house, either of the present state of these questions, or of the measures which the Government mean to propose. (Hear, hear.) But I have a firm belief that the people of this country, who themselves have founded these institutions—that the people of this country who, in the course of the last half century have carried day schools and the instruction of the poorer classes to such an extent as I have shown—will supply any inade quacy which I may have shown, and will even supply any defects they may find in our legislation. I feel that, with regard to the great and most important subjects, that will happen which we have seen happen in the material world and in physical science. We have seen that which beggars have passed unnoticed, and which was disregarded converted into the means of giving brilliant light in our streets and our houses. We have seen those powers of nature which were usually considered noxious and destruc tive employed to carry to distant regions in a few minutes intelligence which a century ago would require weeks, and even months, to convey. We have seen other wonders of physical science and physical study astonish, almost every year, the generations in which we have lived. I feel per suaded that whatever may be the state of society in this country at present, that there is a power at work which will draw up from the dregs and the destructive part of that society the means of establishing religion and mo rality upon a still firmer basis, and which will make reli gion and morality the crown of our social institutions. (Hear, hear.) I feel, then, that this is even a nobler task, that it is even a still greater achievement than those won ders which the acquisitions of science have enabled us to effect. (Hear, hear.) Imploring, then, this house to pay the utmost attention to all these subjects, to take no word of mine as sufficient for the measures that we have to pro pose, but begging them to keep in view these great objects upon which the future happiness and welfare of this coun try must depend, I shall conclude by asking for leave to bring in a bill to improve and extend the education of the people in England and Wales. (Hear, hear.) Mr. HUAIE contended that secular education was the only system of education which could be generally accepta ble in this country, and that the noble lord's plan would be a failure if he intended to combine with it the teaching of religion. The principle cf the division of labour should s b e e h a o Po aplied s t e t r o to not traincom a coednaucinatinoinoaatsinw;llsocasutlaoralklnootwhelredpgurse, u a i n ts d — t th ho o boy up to the proper discharge of his social a n d political pclergymanwhy h t y h a a twhich sch 0 o im w a a s t e s e s l i h g i o u o i d s . duties. Times were certauly altered now , but when he b e H w e el l c ° n u l l attended school he recollected that no distinctions were made. There were as many sects then as there were now, and the schoolmaster taught them all alike. No religion was taught except just thosepoints to which nobody could object ; the Catechism was the subject of instruction- on Saturdays. That system worked well, but he was sure that if the noble lord adhered to his principle there would be no chance of improvement. At the some time, he was greatly obliged to the noble lordfor haying introduced the , • subject. Many people thought, as he did, that he would • make but little progress, still he had grappled with the question and deserved credit for it. But he should have gone further, and have stated the means by which he pro posed to bring all people to agree on the subject. That was the whole difficulty of the case, and he qad left it as he found it. Schools might be increased, the superintendence • extended, and more money granted. By such means the noble lord might extend education in some degree, but so • long as he mixed up the religious part of it, which ought to be the duty of the clergyman, with the secular part, which ) ought to be the duty of the schoolmaster, he never could produce the general benefit which he intended. lie (Mr. Hume) would rate every parish and every acre of land in the country for the instruction of the people in their moral and social duties ; but the teaching of peculiar religious tenets was not a subject for which a tax ought to be levied. He approved of the observations of the noble lord concern ing small educational charities ; but he advised him that half measures—doing a little in one town and a little in another—would not do. Let all these institutions be made useful for their purpose. (Hear, hear.) He would not fur ther discuss the question, but when the bill was actually before the house he should take an opportunity of pointing out some of its defects. (Hear, hear.) Mr. GIBSON said it would be premature to offer an opinion upon the plan propounded by the noble lord until the bill itself was on the table, and the house had had an opportunity of considering its provisions. But inasmuch as ho (Mr. Gibson) was with other members engaged in an inquiry before a committee into the practicability of sup porting schools in towns governed by municipal corpora tions by means of rates, such schools to be of a denomina tional character, he wished, with all respect, the Govern ment had delayed legislation upon this particular branch of the subject until they had the report of the committee. (Hear, hear.) Ho was himself so anxious that something should be done for the education of the people that he should be backward in throwing obstacles in the way of any plan : nevertheless, ho doubted exceedingly whether they could succeed in this attempt to transfer the duties of the clergy of various persuasions to the schoolmaster. (Hear, hear, hear.) He very much doubted whether two thirds of any town council could be got to agree to teach all forms of religion in their respective boroughs, and to support such religious teaching by public rates. (Hear, hear, hear.) He very much doubted whether they would get town councils to agree to train up children in the Ro man Catholic religion, in the Jewish religion, and in various forms of Christianity. He feared that in making such a proposition they were embarking in difficulties which he saw no means of overcoming. At this prelimi minary stage he would not detain th e house by any general remarks on the subject of education ; but, as a member of the Church of England, he thought there was one import ant omission in the noble lord's speech. The noble lord had not informed the house what had become of the mi nute of Privy Council of June 12, 1852, the principle of which was to transfer from laymen of the Church the ma nagement of Church schools, in moral and religious mat ters, to the clergy of the diocese. The Government of which the noble lord was a member in 1836 distinguished themselves greatly, and made a great step in advance, by enabling the laymen of the Church to manage Church schools in conjunction with the clergy, and it was a retro grade step on the part of the Government of Lord Derby to undo the decision of Parliament in former times to give something like exclusive jurisdiction to the clergy. He therefore wished to ask the noble lord whether that mi nute of council had been rescinded which enabled public money to be given to Church schools in cases where the clergyman had the power of dismissing the schoolmaster on other than religious grounds, in cases in which the clergy man had the power of deciding what books should be used upon other than religious grounds, and in those cases which were provided under the new form of trust-deed that had been allowed, to be introduced for the first time by the late Government. The question was one of vital consequence. Although it might not affect existing schools it involved a great principle—the principle of laymen su perintending the education of the young ; and he could never, as a Churchman, consent to go back one iota to transfer from lay committees of management any power they had hitherto enjoyed to the sole use of the clergy. Lord Derby said the minute would not be acted upon until Parliament had consented to the principle ; now, as the subject of education was before the house, a fitting oppor tunity had arisen of asking her Majesty's Government what course they were prepared to take in respect to that mi nute? (Hear.) Lord J. RUSSELL—I will answer at once the question of the right hon. gentleman. The committee of council have considered the minute to which my right hon. friend refers. We do not propose to enforce that minute. It will bo cancelled ; and we propose that by another minute, power shall be given to the clergyman to appeal to the Lord President of the Council and the bishop of the dio cese, in cases of a schoolmaster of immor a l con d uc t an d im moral habits. It is certainly possible, in some cases, that a schoolmaster of immoral conduct and immoral habits might be screened by the partiality and indulgence of the lay committee. In such a case we propose not, as under the minute to which my right hon. friend refers, an appeal to the bishop, but an appeal to the President of the Coun cil and the bishop of the diocese, who shall appoint an in spector and the incumbent to make an investigation. Mr. W. J. FOX was very glad to find that the noble lord recognised the principle of an educational rate, as he thought that a most important step in the progress of in struction. (Hear, hear.) He never could comprehend the objections to the State interfering to secure the rights of children and their own rights. The State had a right to expect that society should not have turned upon it from time to time large bodies of uninstructed and almost un civilised beings, ripe for immorality and crime ; and chil dren, because of the neglect or loss of parents, ought not to be deprived of that training of their faculties which every human being had a right to enjoy. (Hear.) Much, however, of the virtue of a rate for education depended upon its being generally levied and distributed according to recognised and impartial principles. Unless that were the case, they would be introducing into borough the struggles which prevailed among religious societies and educational associations—they would be adding another item to that great mass of antagonism which caused so much disturbance and confusion in our social system— they would be throwin g down the prize o f public money in boroughs for different sects and congregations, for dif ferent churches and different bodies to contend for, as they would assuredly contend, and that, too, in a manner which would desecrate education by mixing up with it topics of political strife. (Hear, bear.) Therefore, any partial levying of the rate would be vory inexpedient. The noble loril give as a reason for retaining this mixed system of payments by children, benevolent contributions, and public support, amongst other reasons, the fact that nearly half a million of money was now contributed towards the schools by the children's pence; but if this contribution, large as it might appear, were closely examined, he thought some very material reduction must be made from it. It was called children's pence, but it must not be understood the sum of a penny was paid by each child, because very many paid three, and four, and even six times that amount—indeed, such a payment as would entitle them to instruction at a private school. (Hear, hear.) He believed the way to make grants most conducive to the the increase of education, was to let the amount of remune ration be governed, not by the number of children, but by the attainments they acquired ; to institute something like an inquiry, by the inspectors, into what had actually been taught, and to apportion the amount of money aid accord ing to the amount of instruction actually given, and the amount of education realised in the childrenof each school. This would be a stimulus which would operate very strongly in raising the character of education ; and an other might be added, of conferring the suffrage and the rights of political citizenship upon those who attained to a certain amount of erudition. Another matter to be con sidered was the emoluments of the schoolmasters, which at preient were so inadequate that no man of educated mind and possessed of the necessary habits and qulifications for instructing children would undertake the office. They ought to be rplaced in a better position, not only as re garded revenue, but as regarded independence—for they were too often placed under the control of persons who were by no means able either to guide their instructions or correct their errors. (Hear, hear.) He, ought perhaps, to apologise to the house for having gone into such a mi nute criticism upon a measure which had only that even ing been brought under their notice ; but his excuse was, that the topic was one in which a deep interest was felt throughout the country. (Hear, hear.) He could not but hope, that as the discussion proceeded the scheme would be enlarged, so as at length to become really comprehen sive and worthy of the name of " national ;" and certainly he was disposed to believe that the recognition of a rate by the noble lord had laid the foundation of an edifice which would not only do honour to his own name, but redound to the happiness and glory of the country. (Hear, hear.) Mr. E. BALL could not but consider it as a subject for great gladness and joy on the part of the country that no less a sum than 500,0001. was annually contributed in pence by the poor towards the education of their children. Ho wished to know what the hon. members for Montrose and Manchester meant when they talked of excluding religion from the schools? If they meant that they would not permit the Bible to be introduced into the schools, he could only wi tam+ a. would do everythinc , he could to oppose their views ; for he could not believe that any sys tem of education could be considered a national benefit which excluded the Bible. He had no desire to enforce sectarian religion upon any one, but he must insist upon the reading of the word of God. (Hear, hear.) He hoped therefore that the Government would never give their as sent, much less their authority and sanction, to any system of education which excluded the word of God. (Hear, hear.) Sir IL INGLIS said that, while he was not usually happy enough to be able to agree with the hon. membea for the city of Manchester, he was bound to say that on one point, at least, they approached to something like an agreement on the present occasion, and that was, that it would be impossible to establish a system of united secular and religious education by means of a school-rate in any corporate town whatever. Certainly, the right hon gen tleman's own city of Manchester would not support a rate for such a combined system. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the proposals which the noble lord had brought under their notice that evening, he would only then say that he saw great difficulties in the way of their adoption, and that lie hoped to be permitted at the proposed time to state his objections in full. (Hear, hear.) Lord J. MANNERS said that, when the right hon. gentleman the member for Manchester asked the noble lord whether the Government intended to cancel the minute of Council of the 12th of June last, he seemed to labour under the misapprehension that that minute had had the effect of placing the Church of England schools under the sole control of the clergymen of the parish ; and the noble lord, in answering the question, said nothing to remove that misapprehension, but, on the contrary , . seemed to give currency to that erroneous belief. The right hon. gentleman had entirely mistaken the object and intention of that minute. Its sole object was to remedy what the then Government believed to be a violation of the right of conscience. (Hear, hear.). Before sitting down he wished to ask the noble lord, or, in his absence, the Chancellor of the Exchequer—first, whether it was the intention of the Government to bring into operation their minute cancel ling the minute of the 12th of June last, before submitting it with their other minutes to the consideration of the house, and before it should have received that discussion which its importance merited ? Second whether the bill which it was intended to introduce was to be restricted to England and Wales, or whether it was to be extended to Scotland ; and, if so, whether the free schools, or ragged schools as they were called in Scotland, would be enabled to participate in the benefits of the increased grant ? And, third, whether—with reference to that part of the scheme which was to give power to the Committee of Privy Council to make alterations in cases where the trustees did not agree with them—it was intended to brills, in a sepa rate bill for each separate case i n w hi c h the' committee proposed a variation in a particular...trust, or whether it was intended at the end of every session, or at some other stated period, to introduce a general measure sanctioning all the particular alterations of the Committee of Council ? In conclusion, he begged to say for himself, that he fully agreed in the wisdom and justice of the course which was taken by Lord Derby's Gove,rnment last year on this sub ject, and that he was perfectly ready to vindicate the minute which it was now proposed to cancel against all the imputations which had been brouglit against it. (Hear, hear.) Mr. PHINN regretted the timid and hesitating tone of some portions of the noble lord's speech, and expressed his belief that, when the measure came to be placed before the public, the people would be found outrunning the Govern ment, and showing that they were far in advance of them on the subject. (Hear, hear.) The question naturally di vided itself into two heads—upon one of which alone the noble lord had touched on that occasion—upon the other, and that the most difficult point, the noble lord had been entirely silent. With respect to those who were willing to participate in the benefits of education, there could be little difficulty; but there was another class to which he begged to invite the attention of the house and the Government, and that was the class who did not want to participate in those benefits, and with respect to whom it was worthy of consideration whether some compulsory education should not be provided. (Hear, hear.) It must be familiar to all who were engaged in the administration of criminal justice whether as advocates or judges, in both of which capacities however humbly, ho was himself engaged, that there was growing up, in the midst of our civilisation, a class of peo ple more like wild beasts than men, a class almost savage in their habits, and he might say, in almost every respect, degraded to the rank of savan•es by their ignorance of social religious, and intellectual knowledg e ; an d if th e Govern ment were not prepared to apply some strong measure to this state of things the end would be—though it might not be in our time—that there would be a frightful disorgani sation of society. (Hear, hoar.) No one indeed could ad vert to the vast number of persons roaming about our streets without any other means of support than that of preying on their fellow-subjects without seeing that their case presented a frightful question. He, for one, would be the last to propose that the L eg i s l a t ure should med dle unnecessarily with the independence of the subject, but if they had a right to say to tho owners of pro perty that they were not entitled to hold that property without maintaining those who were unable to maintain themselves, he held that they had equally a right to say that they were not entitled to hold that property without attempting to bring to the know ledge of the Gospel, and of their social and moral relations, those who were not provided for by their parents or friends. Ho hoped, therefore, that the Government—and if not the Government, some old and experienced member of the house—would be prepared to invite the attention of house to this great question ; and he felt sure that, how ever stringent the measure that might be proposed, and whatever expense it might involve, the people generally would approve of it, and bo ready to make the greatest sacrifices in its support ; for, looking at it in a mere pecu niary point of view, he believed it would be found amply to repay the expenditure. (Hear, hear.) He hoped that, if not this year or the next, at,an early period, the noble lord would be able to present to the country a great, sound, and comprehensive system of national education, which would be the most enduring monument of his name, be cause exceeding in its ultimate results those political advan tages which he had been in instrumental in bestowing upon the nation. Mr. WIGRAM observed, that it appeared to him that the general measure of education proposed by the noble lord well deserved the consideration and favour of the house, because he understood that the purpose of the noble lord really was to aim at extending a system which had been already tried in the country, and which had produced very great and admirable results. (Hear, hear.) Those results had been attained consistently with the maintenance of peace and goodwill among all classes, and any measure which aimed at extending such a system would certainly meet with his support. Mr. BLACKEtt said there was only one point to which he wished to advert, and he must say he regretted that the noble lord did not allude to a university which wanted as much reform as Oxford or Cambridge—he meant the Uni versity of Durham. He believed that institution had suc ceeded in a very few years in reaching the same perfection of mismanagement as Oxford and Cambridge. They all knew that it was, conducted on the purely ecclesiastical system ; that the professorial teaching had fallen into dis use, and that scientific lectures were as badly attended as in either of the two universities. This was the more severely felt in the part of the country with which he was connected, because it was expected that, being in the neigh bourhood of the collieries, it would afford a school for mining and engineering purposes. He understood the noble lord to state that he would not bring forward any measure on the subject this year ; and recollecting that there was a passage in the Queen's Speech upon education, and that the general, opinion was that some enabling act would have been brought in by Lord Derby's Government, he regretted to find that all hopes of improvement f ro m legislation were further removed than before. At' the same time he must offer his humble tribute of admiration at the views expressed by the noble lord with reference to independent students the extension of th e p ro f essor i a l system, and the making of intellectual merit the test of success for all classes. He was very glad to hear this from the noble lord, because, in 1850, the right honourable gen tleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer used language on this subject, which no doubt had some influence upon the line of conduct pursued by the University of Oxford in re ference to the royal commission. He agreed, however, with his hon. and learned friend the member for Bath, when he said that the noble lord was more timid than his own com missioners. Ho understood the noble loid meant to give the universities more time, and if they did not act, then he would come to Parliament for powers to compel them to do what was proper. But time was the very thing which the Oxford Conservatives wanted to gain, but nothing would induce him to grant it, because he was convinced that they would make as bad a use of it as they did be fore. This demand for time was not new. In 1834 or 1835, when Lord Radnor brought the question before the House of Lords, the late Duke of Wellington said that the University of Oxford had entered upon the consideration of its statutes, and that the colleges were about to do the same, but from that time to the present no step had been taken by any Oxford college. The hon. baronet, who was the senior representative of the University of Oxford, ex pressed great alarm at what the noble lord had said he would do if the university did not act, but the hon. bart.'s apprehensions were unfounded, for if the noble lord did not strike while the iron was hot, all internal dissensions would be appeased, and Oxford would again present the same unbroken front to improvement which it had always done. He would ask the noble lord whether the commissioners approved of this delay. He (Mr. Blackett) had no authority to speak their senti ments, but the spoke of the ' immediate" necessity of opening the scholarships, and of abrogating the oaths to observe the statutes. The house was aware that the in quiries of the commissioners were met by the reply that the oaths to observe the statutes stood in the way of an answer being given by the fellows to the request made to them in the name of her Majesty. In the course of every year there were thirty or forty fellowships and other offices of emolument within the university given away, and upon admission to which this oath of a perpetual observance of the statutes was taken. Every year, therefore, added a fresh crop of persons, who were ready to plead that oath as a bar to any inquiry. The Vice-Chancellor had refused to give any information to the commissioners, and only colleges and three halls had communicated informa tion to the commissioners. The commissioners had, how ever, reported, and when it was known that an appeal was to be made by the Ministers of the Crown to the autho rity of Parliament, he thought it was the duty of the University of Oxford to abstain from taking any steps which were formally condemned by the commission. One of the recommendations of the c(emtnission was that the revenues of the university should not be applied to objects that were not academical, yet the university, although it had given 1,0001. last year to the diocesan training school, and had thereby mortgaged the surplus revenue of the cur rent year, the university thought proper to give 5001. towards the testimonial to the late Duke of Wellington. He perfectly agreed with the noble lord that the most valuable of the recommendations of the commissioners was the extension of the university system to students without exacting from them admission to the several colleges, the main advantage of which would be that it would break the neck of the ecclesiastical and the tutorial system. The noble lord was probably aware that the Liberal-Conserva in oppo sitionandti v Liberal-Conserva tive portion o the of the recommendations university h o a f d o the r g a n i se d itself commissioners, on this last head the tutors' association had put forward a separate scheme of its own. It had assented to other por tions of the scheme, such as the erection of independent halls under private masters of arts, but they steadily re fused any countenance to the project of students uncon nected with colleges. This, he thought, was a fair speci men of the way in which the University of Oxford would emasculate and temper down the recommendations of the commission. In conclusion, he could not help lamenting that the main obstacle to efficient university reform was a Coalition Cabinet: The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER did not rise to go into the various points which had been raised inci dentally in this discussion, or to follow the hon. gentleman who had just sat down through the particulars of his at tack upon the University of Oxford, and upon members of that university, who, in his (the Chancellor of the Ex chequer's) opinion, deserved the highest honour—(hear) — and had taken part not now only in the cause of university reform—(hear) —but he wished to answer the questions of his noble friend (Lord J. Manners), and to notice,, one or two of the points which had been referred to. The noble lord had asked whether there would be any objection to lay upon the table the minute of Privy Council which it was intended to substitute for that of June the 12th, 1852 There would bo no objection whatever to the immediate production of that minute. (Hear.) But the noble lord did not give a correct description of the minute of Juno, 1852, when he said that the promoters of Church of Eng land schools had laboured under a grievance in not being allowed to constitute their trusts in the manner agreeable to their own convictions, while a liberty of that kind was gives to the founders of Roman Catholic schools. .The minute of June, 1852, did not say that the founders of Church of England schools should be at' liberty to consti tute their trusts in the manner they thought fit. The ob ject of that minute, if it had ono, and no doubt it had a rational object, was to prevent tiro retention, through thtruroustogthroughlotchae noble d lord local misunderstanding, or undu e influence or intri g ue, of im moral or improper person s in'Aheowffiilicechhad n ow b een adopted of schoolm as t er ; anti,as sfar i would u t w asothat be b fully secured. But a s t o the noble object y the minute lord'a constructi on of the minute of June, see 1852, ho could not have had the minute in his recollection when he referred to it as giving to the promoters of Church of England schools a liberty which it would be very unreasonable in them to claim and very improper in any Government to give. (Hear, hear.)The whether Scotland was includ e d i n the noble - lord asked whether which had that evening been announced. That ed to Scotland ; the intentio ns plan in no respect extend of th e Government with respect to Scotland, when theyshould matured, would be explained upon a distinct lord also asked whether it The noble occasion. (Hear.) was intended by the bill for the regulation of charitable trusts to provide that every separ ate scheme of reform Which migh t framed under the provisions o f th at bill should b be madeethe'subject of a se parate act of Parliament. Of course, with regard to the precise frame of the hill,it would be better that the noble lord should wait for the bill than trust to a general descrip tion of it; but what was intended was to adopt a provision somewhat similar to that of the Enclosure Act. It would be necessary to come to Parliament for schemes of reform in the case of charities whore the trustees did not give their consent, but it would nor bo necessary to come for a separ ate act in each case; it might be found practicable to com bine a number in a s ingle act, just as now a number of schemes of enclosure might be combined in one act of Par liament. (Hear, hear.) The lion. member for Bath (Mr. Phinn) referred to the great schools of this country, and thought they ought to have been comprised, in the state ment which had been made to the house. When the Attorney-General of the late Government (Sir F. Thesi ger) i n troduced a bill last year for the regulation of charitable trusts. it would have admitted an inquiry into the great schools and the manner in which they managed their funds ; and he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) believed those great schools would be included within the scope of the bill which it was now indended to introduce into the House of Lords for the regulation of charitable trusts, and it would be premature to enter upon the subject on this occasion. It was quite true that those schools cliacharged an office preliminary m a great degree to the universities, and it seemed only in the na. tural order of things that the measures of reform to be adopted in the universities should take their ultimate shape before Parliament considered the measures which it might be right to adopt with respect to the great schools. (Hear. hear.) A great deal had been said upon the sub ject of the universities, and the hon. member for Caw bridge (Mr. Wigram) had spoken upon the subject in conciliatory tone,—a tons indicating readiness to give fair consideration to proposals of improvement—(hear, hear)--• which was the best adapted both to promote beneficial change, and to resist dan gerous an d m i schievous alteration. (Hear, With respect to the statement of the n oble lord (Lord J. Russell), it required no defence and no eluei• dation from him (the Chancellor of the Exchequer). Whether it was in contrast with what he had said there or or elsewhere, as has been stated by the hon. gentleman who had just sat down was a subject upon which he should leave that hon. gentleman to speculate to his own content, and satisfaction. To the principles which had been laid down by the noble lord he (the Chancellor of the Exche' quer) adhered, as he always had. He held it to be the; duty of the Legislature to seek that the great endowmentsl and resources with which -the universities had been pre' vided should be made available for the ends and pur poses for which they existed ; and if ther e were por ti on s of those e n d owments which at preaent lay dormant and iu abeyance, and were not so made available, it was o , matter essential to the welfare of those universities themselves that their application should be so directed that they might accomplish the ends for which they were appointed. (Hear, hear.) If he at ail refer red to the speech of the bon. member who had just sat down, he must say it appeared to him, with gre at deference and submission to that hon. member, a speech greatly tending to stop the progress of university reform. He could not conceive a course more unwise, if the hon. member was in earnest—as doubtless he was—in desiring many beneficial changes in the universities, than that which the hon. m em b er h a d ta k en. He had not' stopped short of imputing a general insincerity to the professions ma de among the university residents ; he said they were all asleep till the report, though he incidentally stated in another part of his speech that a great and extensive chap.; had been a d op t e d b y the university in the whole system change study and examination just before the commission was ap' pointed [Mr. Blackett.—" I distinguished between the university and the colleges."] He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had not heard that ; but, the university and the colleges being composed at present of the same persons, it was scarcely possible that a spirit of reform should pro' vail in the one, and that in the other the same p NO° adopted reforming measures should be li a bl e to the veil severe censures which the hon. member had cast upon theta , (Hear.) But, be that as it might, the hon. member AP: peered to be of opinion that it was not only desirable ths' changes should be made in the universities, but that they should be made by extraneous authority ; for he said that the noble lord was comm i tt i ng a fatal error in giving theta time. Why, the commissioners, who were not deficient is zeal and diligenc e t oo k t wo years to frame their report, and very wisely. Did the hon. member think, in reference to bodies of this kind, which had discharged the most import' ant functions for centuries, and which enjoyed at this ine' ment —he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) would venture to soy—the confidence and respect of the country—(hear)- - , as bodies of men ardently engage d i n t h e promotion of mos t useful labours—(hear)—did the hon. member think it was desirable entirely to over r id e th e f ree an d i ndependent action of those bodies ? Their free and independent action was essentially connected with the attainment of the en€ ls for which they existed. (H ear .) If th ey were deprived O ' that free and independent action, it might be necessary fot them to interfere—he did not say such circumstances migh t not arise, but it wo u ld b e a grea t m i sfortune ; it was o f importance that improvement s h ou ld b e introduced o`, their own free choice. (Hear.) An hon. member said" " I hope you do not mean to hold out a threat to the up!' versitics that you will interfere if they do not do so-and' so." It was anything but desirable to hold out threats el an hon. gentleman had done, it produced a strong spirit 0 reaction. At the same time it was too much to allege ths' they or any incorporation was in such a sense and so able lutely master of its endowments, that Parliament had v`; right of sup erv i s i on w h a t ever ; it was surely the duty °` Parliament, on sufficient cause shown, to interpose and re; gulate those endowments for a public purpose. (Heat But the rational course was to give fair and full time', these bodies. Th e y were no t b o di es that had been aslee p ' they had been improving their systems. No doubt the was much to be do ne . W as th ere not much to be den e in the House of C ommons ? (H ear, h ear.) Was the ta not much to be done in the way of reform and improilr i ment ? (Hear. hear.) But did it follow th a t the‘ had been doing nothing? (Hear, hear.) Just so vri these ancient and complicated foundations, with gre e _, difficulties standing in the way o f re f orm ; h e must lcv:i test against the imputations which had been thrown e,, by the hon. memb er aga i ns t th ose w h o were conduc tive education there, and warn the house against his doctrine' " Do not give them time ; sweep away what you wa nt I see removed." The se were no t ques ti ons that would adn t of that rude treatm en t. (H ear, h ear.) If you wante d attain your end, you must proceed regularly and i n orde r ' and, while vindicating the supremacy of Parliament, Y e , must give these partie s th e opportun i ty of introduc le i changes, unless you had reason to believe they would v e ,,, be introduced by their free action. (Hear, hear.) The b( ) ,P, t r r e a co ti m on me o n f; ford should have acted upon the recommendation of .„ member said it would have been but reasonable that Of' o n w th h e eth ad er that inis property. It was reasonable one; but what a doctrine to sof' tion was a 1 ,1 4 commissioners with on r e e that because a commission of inquiry had been appoinv e pa q ga u rd esti t o when that commission had reported the body was t ° ,o bound to act upon the.principles the commission had ,; . 1 .0- down ! He (the Chan ce ll or of the Exchequer) mustj r test against that, as a d oc t r i ne adverse to liberty. ( P- ' , s te ' hear.) He would say, it was the business of aor perv d bodies to submit themselves to their view of reason, f ` not to the view of the hon. member, or of him se lf. It Iv t their duty to sub m it themselves to law, but it was ne s , their duty to submit t o th e op i n i ons or v i ews of coinivit3 i ,, sions of inquiry, u n l ess th ey t h oug h t them to be r i g ht; (Hear, hear.) He hoped the statements of his noble frie4 e with respect to the universities would b e t a k en from speech of the noble lord himself, and not from the ci j o structions put upon it by any member. (Hear, h ear .) b commissioners spoke of the introduction of st u d en ts 0 1, longing to the university, but not conn ec t e d with the Cos leges. They thought this desirable, if it c ou ld be , without relaxing or weakening the discipline of the city. But this was a reservation of a most important 0 ~ , 0 racter, and the question was in what mode and whet'. this change could be made without weakening the d";t 1 ) h pl a i d ne s . po H k e en re l g y r it e h tte w d h th at at h t e he m h uosnt. cgoennstilseleir gentleman e ß a lae nd keu , vii i merited asperity—(hear, hear)—of a body of men of a m i l laborious laborious and meritorious character, who were eilgep - 0 ( honestly, industriously, and uprightly in the business education. He trusted that the house would adher e 11) the recommendation of his noble friend (Lord J. fluss ere and give to the universities fair and f u ll ti me for cons i° ing and recommending the measures best adapted tot ior end in view, leavjng it to them, as to a ll corporate alo I rities, to do their duty, if they would do it willingly,a n ,d if not, then reserving to that house th e d uty of avv under its authority. (Hear, hear.) 1 0 After a few words from Lord J. MANNERS and BLACKETT in explanation, Mr. PELLATT wished to bear testimony to the laboe l ; of the persons engaged as Sunday-school teachers. T V e a schools had no w b een i n ex i stence for 70 years ; there vi it no less than 2,000,000 scholars in them, who were by 200,000 teachers. All these schools were maintain . upon the voluntary principle, and all gave religious instill' tion. Leave was then given to bring in the bill. • CLERGY RESERVES (CANADA) BILL. This bill, as amended, was considered. Mr. HUME said that great obj ec ti ons were felt ollt. doors to any portion of the religious instruction of i v people of Canada b e i ng pa id for by the State, and . 0 trusted the Govern men t would reconsider the alteratl they had made in the bill. The bill was ordered to be printed with the amendinev and to be read a third time on Monday next. PILOTAGE BILL, Mr. CARDWELL moved that this bill be read a see ° " ' ime. Mr. HUME recommended that it should be referred „ 4 select committee up-stairs. Mr. CARDWELL believed that the bill would be bell ficial to the mercantile interest, and thought it could t very well considered by the house itself. • T ea After some discussion, th e bill was rea d a secon d ti- - and ordered to be committed on Monday next. PUBLIC BUSINESS FOR FRIDAY NEXT. Lord J. RUSSELL thought it might be as well to stO publicthe c course which on Fri day chit 1 - a propos ed s hext On t o take t day with r t e h g e a rl r ( i A; hon. gentleman the Chancellor o f the Exchequer woo'. evening exp explain theto move fora propositions c of which mittee he of had given whole h given notice eus e t consider the Consolidated Fund and the National p'' , Redemption Acts), and after that the Government pJ posed to go into Committee of Supply and take th e nag , ' laneons estimates. The Copyholds Bill was read a second time. The Now Forest Deer Remo- ioval Act Amendment and the Law of Evidence (S co tl an d ) Bill passed thro at com Th m e it O te a e th . s in Chancery Bill was read a third time 1)? passed. MERCHANT SHIFPING BILL. of' Mr. TURNER presented petitions from the nieliv aldermen, and burgesses of Liverpool, and from the t r o j, tees of the Liverpool docks, under their corporate o c „. against this bill, the 22nd clause of which would, the It 4 titioners believed, prejudice their interest in regard tolls. The bill was read a second yof ti e m E a e L a E n r C d b T u loryrdO Nt e ju re . d to be cod mitLed on Monday next. On the motion of Mr. S. SEYMER, the further e tisPf lo sion of the writ a quarter to 11 o'clock, adjour was agr . eed to. CANTERBURY .tftheei Monday, e' until this day (Tuesday). 2nd The day house of M then,a y next, a t „ f S TAT E OF TRADE.— Th e accounts of the state of ,-tradetre in the manufactoring towns during the past w eek ge nerally satisfactory. At Manchester the market li ce b ee n very firm, owi ng t o the advance of the raw nl3 rial at Liverpool, although buyers being still cautiq, business has been limited from the hesitancy to g l c , higher prices. A t Bi rm i ngham the makers have reils).4 tantly consented t o a re d uct i on of 11. per ton in e iron, and the concession appears likely to lead to Iso transactions, in consequence of the great demand 1 . heavy machinery and the general requirements for r Li l way purposes. The manufacture of a gasomete r o Sinethwick, for the Sheffield Gas Consumers Compact e l of the unprecedented diameter of 165 feet is regard with interest. The price of copper continues to hOoi slight tendency to d ec li ne . H ea t on an d Son ar e contractors for the new coinage of 500 tons, which ` O O ' be commenced about the end of June, the ° e el firm being meanwhile employed in copper co” t o for Canada and F rance . Th e N ott i ng h am accounts stoii' business to have be en i n t errupte d b y the Easter Poe days, but there was a tendency to great activity, 0 1 , Australian, Am er i can , an d h ome demand being all g°tr In the wooll en di s t r i cts there has been continued all'"elel; tion, and the recen t str ik es for higher wages have ~ arranged by mutual concessions. The Irish linen V ket shows firm ness an d activity, without any Pesitiol alteration, in prices. Letters from Rouen mention e 0 transactions in the market . for manufactures had bee , more extensive, lower prices having in s evera l c ases accepted. g I A LETTERS FOR AUSTRRLIA.—It appears that arr as oe p meats have been m a d e w ith the P ost - o ffi ce au thor4j , for car r yi ng h er M a j esty ' s ma i ls to Port Philip an d ney by the screw s t eamer O sman li , to sail from pool on the 7th inst.