The Express.
London, England, 1846-09-11 00:00:00

ment control, or contentment with educatio—;-4
or even with such as we have now made unim
We repeat our counter-conviction. Such
u England does furnish, except in a few sr*
a mockery.

If it 1;e not already, it soon will be, a tssit
that reading, writing, and arithmetic ass
education. Rate them at their highest,
are only means to education. To attain eves*
subordinate dignity, they must be effectually
thoroughly taught. Only to the mau who gilt
with ease and fluency, will reading ever bank,
habit. When it has, the direction it takes, the it finds within its reach, the atmosphere in why*l4
is enjoyed, must be considered before we can estift
how far it conduces to education. Even fik
utterance of words is useless, unless the mean's.,
the words be familiar to the reader. Educated'
uneducated man, educated tongue and even shah
book, speak each a different language. The Naffs,
agricultural labourers get through life with a vossi,
lary of some five hundred words, out of the forty th,
sand which make up the English Glossary. so xi
the other means to education furnished at oss46
mentary schools. They are nothing unless thereto
mastered. They are mastered by a very small
portion of our poor children.

But if we widen the province of elementary e
tion, and suppose it to aim at the end %rot
means ; at the educing or drawing out the
powers and affections; what becomes of the ea"
our national and other humble schools to the aft(
educational institutions? how much of the pg
done or happiness enjoyed in after life, is traotaVit
knowledge acquired or principles developed
strength at these places ?

In putting this question we might go higher tit
national schools. New ntnch. clue::.'::: (it —Too
prehensive sense of the word) is furnished, either '
private academies, public schools, or univerak
otherwise than by the self-sustaining effort of */
pupil himself ? The great difference between ir
and poor is, that the former possess the metal
education, and, later in life it may be, the will tow
them. The latter are left without these, the tools
him who would shape his own character. Mutt
elementary schools do not generally furnish e7en
means of education, is proved, for .a lat
class of them, by the reports of the fit
vernnient Inspectors for 1845. These repot
moreover, illustrate the great advantage which as,

result from the appointment of a Minister of Edua
tion, and the establishment of a government eau
tional staff and system. This system, of course, sx
not aim at imposing uniformity of method, or rate
ing subjects of instruction. All we understand byte
words national education, is education over which a
Government should exercise a superintendence; a
to which it should devote, but not under unvarya
conditions, aid in money, more proportioned the t
present to the wants of our population. The funda
of inspection should certainly be discharged by,
compcter.t official body. Some of the effects of ma
an inspection may be illustrated from this rem
It shows what a mass of valuable informatis
the inspectors may be the means of disseminating.
illustrates their opportunities for observing la
comparing the working of different system'., and to
bringing the results so obtained to a focus from whit
their vivifying heat and light may act upon tie,
country, with a force which no individual or detaches
enthusiasm can command, however devoted or a.
lightened. These reports may be manuals for tie
instructor as well as the minister; and the one la
issued appears to us the most valuable that we haveyn
seen. We recommend it to all men who, in their severol
towns or districts, are preparing the ground for edt.
cation. They will find it pregnant with instruction,
warning, and encouragement. It establishes two
grand conclusions. One, that our present elementaty
education is what we have already called it,
mockery; the other, that to a certain extent then
_ _ .