The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-08 00:00:00

itritement,nothing

het was
ng to the mistress, and that he
to the children, so that they were

Brown's co

. -
questions. He read a variety of entries
uook, extending over the period named, from dif-
..et parties, to shew that the regulations and management
ps the schools were in every way creditable. He hoped this
would go forth to all the boards of guardians in the country,
and that they would each appoint a committee to
a concocted plot to get the education of
from the hands of the guardians into
district schools. He contented that it
else. The public 'Would not stand any such
—(n of centralization, and because boards of guardians
refused to submit to a system of dictation, they were told
that their regulations and management were full of defects.
He was inclined to thick that before these reports were
made' the inspectors all met together and concocted them.
lie contended that the Committee of council in their system
of education had temperized with man. He declared that
the word elf God, and the word of God alone, ought to be
the ground upon which education should be imparted to the
children. They had sowed to the wind and must reap in
the whirlwind. All around crime was increasing
upon' every hand. Anarchy, confusion, and des-
truction, were, about to involve the country. There
was an attempt being made in the present session of
Parliament to desecrate the Sabbath day by the opening of
the Crystal Palace. (Some cries of " Question.") He
asked was that state of things to go on ? He called upon
the board of guardians to enter upon the consideration of
the question manfully and openly, and concluded by pro-
posing his motion.
Mr Ambrose seconded the motion.
Mr. Hunt asked if they could, by dispensing with
government assistance, get rid of government inspection ?
The Chairman said they would still have government
inspection.
Mr. Baker testified to the good character of the education
given in the schools.
The Chairman proposed, as an amendment, that the salary
and office remain as at present arranged.
Mr. Brown, inspector of schools, in replying to the state-
ment of Mr. Stoner, denied that any difference of opinion ex-
isted between himself and Mr. Farnell. Mr. Stoner seemed to
suppose that there was some strange plot going on among
the inspectors, to deprecate workhouse schools, and that all
the inspectors were strong advocates of district schools.
His report for 18.53 would show that that was not the case.
He was not an%dvocate for district schools, and he stood
alone among his colleagues in that respect. Most certainly
the inspectors did not meet before hand to concoct their
reports. Each reported independently, and for his own
district exclusively. As to the case of the first school-
mistress, although it was eight years ago, he had some
recollection of the facts. He found the children in a very
low state. It so happened that they passed a better exami-
nation upon religion than any other subject; and not
knowing anything of the clergyman's particular opinions,
he thought he was probably the person entitled to the
'redit of it, for the schoolmistress's papers
h that he could not give her the credit of it. One
.as ne mew her was, to mention some of our Sa-
viour's principal miracles, and, writing by herself, she
answered to this effect—" The miracle which he worked
before Pharaoh, Kin? of Egypt, delivered the Israelites from
Egyptian bondage." (Laughter.) He repudiated altogether
the insinuation conveyed in regard to the clergyman having
been his host. It was not an unusual thing for the clergy-
man of a school to invite the inspector to his house,
beyond which he had no connection with that gentleman.
It was perfectly possible that he might have some faults of
manner, but he endeavoured to examine the teacher,
and the children, as fairly as he could, and it must
be presumed that whatever faults he had would apply
to every other district he visited, equally as to that.
He took great pains in the examination of each school,
taking dewn the number who could read, the books they
number learning geography or other subjects, and
acted himself especially to the knowledge of common
_;s, most likely to be useful to the children on leaving
workhouse. He might remark one answer which he
eceived in one workhouse of Lancashire. He asked what
sort of poultry farmers kept. and the answer he got was,
" cuckoos." (Laughter.) How could he speak favourably
of the intelligence of the children in such a school as that ?
(Hear, hear.) He believed most of the children were
allowed to leave the workhouse too soon, frequently under
before it was possible they could receive
considerable degree of education, and that after they went
out, they very soon forgot the little they had learned. Many
of them had therefore to return to the workhouse because
they w're not able to perform any duties outside. As to
the examination of the teachers, he reminded the board
that the examination was a written one. All he did was
to ask the schoolmistress to conduct the class, and he
observed her reading a sentence or two—all the rest was
written down, and the papers were sent to the Council
office. His estimate of the teachers was not final ; the
final decision was given by the council. The reason why
the teachers of Ormskirk obtained such low positions and
salaries was that they fell short of the standard of the
council office. As to the last schoolmistress, the facts
were these,--Ile took great pains to ascertain the
state of the children. He found them in an unsatisfac-
tory state. Afterwards, as it was his duty, and
he did so 'in all other cases where the teacher had been
appointed without being examined, he requested her to
write some answers to the printed questions. She sat
down, and wrote about three lines, and there she stopped.
There was no mistake made, if he recollected Healy, in
what she wrote, but nothing could induce her to go on.
He did everything in his power to induce her to go on,
but she refused, in fact, to obey the law which required
that each teacher should be examined. He had, of course,
only to send the fragment she had written to London, and
give his opinion that she was not entitled to a certificate,
and the council took the same view of the matter. It
appeared that she had not been a teacher before, but a
milliner, or something of that kind, and did not know how
to teach. In "West Derby, however, a new school-
mistress came, who knew nothing of teaching in the first
instance, but, being an honest, persevering, wen-dispo,sed
woman, she gave her mind up thoroughly to the subject
and now she had got a certificate, and had her infant
school in a most excellent and creditable state. If the
other woman had chosen to exert herself, and followed
the course which he pointed out, she too might have got
a certificate. There was nothing very extraordinary or
extravagant in the qualifications required. Any person
of moderate application and intelligence, with a certain
degree of common sense. might answer the written ques-
tion pretty well. It did not, of course necessarilv fol-
low that she should be a good school mistress, because
he conceived that a great part of the business was
that of a reformatory, and that moral training
tewoaary,sinaagnbdtohytahetahteverything else. He should conclude by
eight yeenaeresinagnlein;pieece-
onehv"eir bueepritomothreattbtaimn time had school been withdrawn from his inspection,
r ion, nor did he
recollect ever having attended a board upon the subject
day been iven. norli
faction to thegguard'an
of such a withdrawal,
more than thaast thehad such a notice ever before
He was very anxious to give satia-
tion,
childrens shouldll yr.
eclielevea gooddesired
ed nothingaea.
tion, as good
be made useful m time and circumstances would permit, and
head in such a inaembers 'of society. He could not appre-
of opinion. wastte,re there could be any great differences
discharge the duties ry,possible that other parties might
He was willing to • °I
admitthttnotfice better than he could.
taken as some ground 'that till But surely it should be
complaint against him_the
factere was no very general
meeting of the kind he had ever
that this was the first
one single union had yet been with _attended, and that not
tion. (Hear, hear.) drawn from his inspec-
The Chairman said he had attended t Brown's examinations, and, as tar as his judgment
somene of Mr.
he was bound to say that he thought Mr. grown put
went,
too difficult questions to the children. lie believed, much
ever, this was done with a view to elicit from the childrwen
whether they had any knowledge. He thought Mr. Brown
himself hardly expected an answer to some of the
questions.
Mr. Brown said he only asked the questions which were
asked in other places. He had much more difficult ques-
tions answered elsewhere.
Mr. Farrell stated that with regard to the centraliza-
tion no such attempt as that alluded to by Mr. Stoner
was at all likely to be made by the poor law board.
Mr. Stoner
The amendment having briefly replied upon his motion,
proposed by the chairman was put and

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