Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-28 00:00:00

'lest
. e
Glad'

,ecisl4
ilresal
beflreh
of "_ll

c 0
.10
culti

ut 19
5 the;
fo

e, , it
stl°'
0
t
ri°rs'

CARDINAL WISEMAN'S
LECTURE
AT THE PHILHARMONIC HALL.

Last night, Cardinal Wiseman delivered a lecture tt,
the Philharmonic Hall on the following subject :-.—" Is
the present education of the poor of a sufficiently practical
character, or can this be imparted to it ?" All parts of
the Hall—except the boxes, in which ',lore were few per-
sons—were well filled ; and amongst the female portion
of the audience was a considerable number of ladies in
evening dress. The Cardinal, on walking upon the
Platform, accompanied by a number of the Catholic clergy
and several distinguished Catholic laymen, was enthu-
siastically applauded, the people in the galleries rising
and waving their handkerchiefs. After a few words by
Ch•aloner, Esq., introducing the eminent lecturer,
Cardinal Wiseman arose, and was received with enthu-
siastic cheering, Ile said—Ladies and gentlemen, if I
had been invited to deliver a lecture in anyplace of minor
consequence, or to address an audience less likely to take
a Prominent part in the formation of what is generally
called 'ph& opinion, I should have had but little
difficulty in the selection of my subject. I could have
easily found one of a limited importance ; some literary
topic perhaps, which might have been made interesting,
and even instructive. But there are circumstances
'Which permit no choice. In a place like this, in a
teWn. of such a high character, and of such great weight
and influence in this country, I felt that I could select no
ruiner topic—that I conld not possibly shrink from
endeavouring, however feebly, to speak to you upon
one of the greater and more momentous questions which
occupy the public mind. With this principle before me,
I had but a very limited range of selection. With poli-
tics, and its great questions, I profess to have nothing to
do ; they are bvond my sphere. I have one simple
Principle to apply to men as to measures. They who will
best study those which shall most, promote the
social and moral good of the 'country—put that
test aside, and I have none other which to apply:
(Hear, hear,' But, then, we always have at hand the
great and, I believe, the popular subject of education,
one that seems never to fail—that inexhaustible—that
affords abundant matter for innumerable lectures, speeches,
and addresses. I do not see, 'therefore, why one more
should net be added to the numbers which almost every
day produces and passes before us. We may, in fact,
say that not more certain is the return of harvest or of
spring .to the country than is the periodical :season of
educational addresses not more surely does the northern
moor, or the upland stubble, or the reedy morass, sound
at the appointed time with-the echoes of death, than the
whole country is sure to hear from place to place the
sudden and startling sounds of the lectures on education,
sometimes singly, sometimes, we may say, in the form of
-frattues. (Laughter and:applause.) One more lecture
-then, whether there has :been already too little said or
-too much, will not make any great difference. But, still
it strikes me, having paid some little attention to the
subject—following., as I dare say many of you have
done, eagerly and closely the reflections of the topic,
that it is by no means as yet exhausted, but on the con-
trary, that we are very much in the habit of
hearing the same heads reproduced in different
forms in almost s•every discourse. The subject
of education appears to have certain heads under
Which you are sure.to hear it treated. First, you have
the moral bearingsof the question of education. You arc
told that it is the day of man to cultivate his intellectual
Powers —to collectand to amass knowledge—that it is the
duty of the rich to provide that blessing for the poor, and
tollcearage them to use it—that it is the duty of the
grerement of the-country to provide for all the means
of intellectual advancement. And, finally, that it is the
duty likewise of the poor to take advantage of it, and to
Cake; good use of it when it is provided for them. Then
ebsewaring. what we may call the encouraging and the lauda-
toryof the question. What has been done for
.• the many schools which have been-opened in a given
time ; the immense increase of scholars who are
wing education. ; the immense sums which .are
lavis
the dihsecdoura upon
.them. Bnt then comes, next,
and, perhaps, the regretful aspect of the
question. The poor, we are told, are not as yet sensible
of
the immense advantages which have been amply pro-
vided for them. They do not value at call as they should
do the education which we have prepared for them.
T here are still countless children receiving no sort of
instruction. Of -those who do go :to the schools
there are but few who remain a sufficient time to
receive even a decent education,
,and after they
nalie received any education they, unfortunately,
undervalue it ; :they do not -.know what
blessings we have been bestowing upon them. The
'summing up of all, is. the exhortatory view, when we tell
.the
audience. that we must all labour ,in this most
glorious cause—that we must put our shoulders to the
wheel—that we must ,endeavour to the utmost to push
forward education and ,to excite the poor particularly to
take advantage of it. Now, after all this, which com-
prehends pretty well what would make a tolerable lecture
11Pou education, there seems to be wanting a fifth point which
we very seldom find treated; that is, the practical bearing
of it. (Hear, hear.) We can all contribute our
respective mites or our generous donations, we can build
schools, we can invite the poor to come —but what we
wish to be told, what we wish-to be instructed in is this—
What means can we employ :to cure this great defect
which we are told exists, and to make the poor children
receive the education which we wish—the good education
that we have provided for them? (Applause.) This
practical point brings to our minds an old and good
Proverb, and which illustrates what I desire you. to
understand. There was once a Roman Emperor,
who would have his horse to drink out of a
golden cup, but be found there was something which he
could not do, even after he had made his horse consent
he could bring him to the water but he could not make
him drink. (Applause.) In the results that have come
before us we find that there are no golden temptations
that we can hold out—no illusions of a perfect and
beautiful education have been made as yet to induce
the poor to take advantage of it—and they cannot
drink though they are thirsty. And it is this
which occasions the weed of our consideration ; this is
the problem that appears to require solution. (Applause.)
This is the point which I propose to embody, rather in
a suggestive form than in that of a perfect proposition.
I ask two questions : Is the education, in the first place,
Which we are giving to the poor, of a sufficiently prac-
tical character ? If not, is there any means by which we
can communicate this character to it ? Can we give it a

More practical character than it now possesses ?
There can be no doubt that immense ma-
terials have been collected—that not only a great
deal has been done, and that a great deal stands under our
hands ready for immediate use ; but this requires a
fc'nu, a shaping, a giving of a consistent shape. When
You are about to erect some buildings at a great expense,
for example, when in Liverpool you began the erection of
that magnificent Hall, which is the admiration of every
one who visits the town, the first scene we had was one
of entire confusion. The ground was scrubbed and
trenched in every direction, masses of useless rubbish
Were. thrown on the surface ; then came heaps and
?des of enormous stones, which seemed only to
encumber the ground. You know perfectly well that
from all this nothing itself can arise ; but you are well
aware that there is an architect prepared with a plan, and
a builder who has in hand the estimates ; skilful work-
each in his own craft. You know that every stone
Which is there will be measured and weighed in one pro-
Portion to the edifice, and that it will find its own proper
,rue already designed for it. It was in this power of
galueing and arranging the materials that you put your
r4fit for anything perfect or beautiful coming

forth out of the chaos before -your eyes.
And you knowl -moreover, that no amount of public meet-
ings, no am ;ant of loyal 'and patriotic speeches, or even
the vast, sums contrarated will suffice, without the inter-
velleon of an art at skilled in that art by which was to be
Pr.oduced that which you desired to see glorious and per-
fect. (Applause.) This, I imagine, is the defect we shall
find in the system of education which, we are told, is
becoming more and more marked every day, and no
proper and efficient remedy has yet been discovered.
Let us, then, come to the subject which I have proposed,
First, whether the education we are giving to the
poor is of a sufficiently practical character ? Much has
been done, an immense deal more than could probably
have been anticipated in the great cause of education.
Looking at it in a pecuniary light, we find that in the
year 1831 the first parliamentary grant for education was
given, and amounted to £30,000. You have now
a quarter of a million, and that is going on
increasing every year. Between 1837, or 1839 anelBs7,
£2,000,000 had been expended in the erection of schools,
and it is calculated that £2,000,000 a-year is actually
spent now in schools for the working classes. It is an
immense advance, no doubt. Then, look at it in another
form. In 1818, one in seventeen of the population were
receiving education • in 1833, one in eleven; in 1857, one
in eight. (Applause.) Superior books, greatly multiplied
in number, and well trained instructors, are also now
plentiful. I disparage not what has been done by any
meens, but there is yet something wanting. Do not let
us loose sight of it, but let us endeavour to the utmost
to add to the good that has been done, and I trust that
just now we shall see effected some very important
matters, which have hitherto remained unexecutcd, in the
great work of promoting the education of the poor.
(Applause.) If all who had had most experience
in education, were now asked if the education
of the poor is in a satisfactory state, they
would answer in one voice "no !" There is a great deal
yet to do. In 1856 and 1857, there was extraordinary
attention paid to educational questions. In April, 1856,
there was a debate which lasted several days in the
Rouse of Commons on the subject, and which elicited
an immense mass of information, and a great deal of
sound observation. In the August of that year a very
'remarkable meeting was held at Bristol—a meeting
of the National Reformatory Union, and at -that
conference some remarkable opinions were expressed
by two noblemen, one a veteran in the cause
of education, and the other a young states-
man of the present day, both of whom seem to have
held the theory that crime is nothing but the effedt
of insanity, and that it is wrong to punish the
criminal in -any way except that of educating him,
and that is called educational reform. Out of that
meeting arose another in the summer of next year.
In June, 1857, on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th days of-this
month, this conference was considered of such great
importance,' that the Prince 'Consort, with that readiness
which he has always manifested, in putting himself at
the head of any measure ,for national improvement,
condescended himself to preside, and all that was
dignified, all that was scientific, and in -any way dis-
tinguished in the country iby position, by 'celebrity of any
form, attended in this conference, and there was every
reason to expect that we should have great results of this
union of so much ability, of so much genius, of so much
learning, and so -much .practical experience. let us see
now what was the object, and what were the results of
'this extraordinary meeting. Why the very object fot-
avhich it was convoked tells us at once. The conference
'was to be held for three days in London by the educa-
tional celebrities, under such high -presidency, in order
to discover what ought to be done with reference
to the early age at which children were taken
from school. You must admit that the evil
must be very glaring and very great, when it was thought
right to bring together such distinguished elements as
this to solve this problem, and to decide why children
were taken away -so soon from schobl, and how they
might be induced ,to -stay, and their parents to allow
them to remain, for a:longer period. As we proceed we
find the nature of this evil more 'clearly developed.
This conferenee diiided itself into four great sections, each
containing men of great reputation and character, and
these were the subjects which separat3reach confereace or
section had teetonsider. The first had to enquire'into the
fact of the alleged early removal from schools in the
agricultural, and manufacturing, and mining districts of
England, Scotland, and Wales, and enquire into the case
of such early removal and its results. Secondly, in
another section, similar enquiries had to be made as to the
question as it appeared in other :countries, whether
there was the same defect, and how it was
met ; and the third had to consider the expediencies
proposed for .a remedy ; and the fourth section had to
consider the ha-if time scheme prevailinu in the manu-
facturing districts, to see if that could in any way be
made a remedygor the evil. But to see how great this
evil is, and how it almost baffles the great efforts that
have been made in the cause of education, I will give you
a few of the results of this4Jongress. The Prince Consort
has summed up, by stating that the number of children in
England and Wales, between 3 and 15 years of age, are
4,008,696. Of-these there are attending schools 246,848,
and there are receiving no education whatever, 2,861,848,
or very nearly three millisns. The total number of
children, being within a fraction of five millions, nearly
three millions are .of the uneducated class,
and little more than two millions thus receiv-
ing education. But out of the two millions
of the scholars at school, more than a million and a half
remained only two years at all at school. . I will lenre
you to judge of the results of such an education; or
rather, we may ask, is it an education. atall ? Thirdly,
out of two millions in education, only 600,000 are
above nineyears of age ; so that we have the greater part
only children scarcely arrived at the full develop-
ment of Jnental pols-ers. And of all that receive
education, the average is two years and a half at school.
Now, without troubling them with individual speeches,
which would,confirm every part.of this, I will read you
a few of the conclusions come to at •these sections.
'.First, as to the one which had to enquire ,into the cause
of children being withdrawn from school with such an
imperfect education ; the terms of the resolution are,
first, " that in the opinion of this section of the
conference the greater number of children of
the working classes in the agricultural, .manu-
facturing, and 'mining districts, are removed from
school from nine to ten years of age, and the removal at
this cearly age detracts from the effect of the education
provided for them; and secondly, this section, having
inquired into the cause of such removal, is of? opinion
that it is not commonly attributable to the poverty of the
parents, but in some instances to the rules of the school
and in others to its unpractical character." The educa-
tion is .not practical. (Applause.) "In others an
undervaluing of education by parents, from the inefficiency
of the education which they thus receive ; and as a
general rule to the state of the labour market, which
attaches great value to the labour of children, and to the
employers of the parents requiring the labour of the
children." ATow, we come to the conclusion. It is,
acknowledging that there is a great practical mischief;
and how is it to be met.. The third section came to the
canclusion that though some protection in a certain case
became necessary, it was by moral and religious influences,
rather than by legislation, that the greatest remedy for
these evils must be found. Quite agreeing with this
resolution, that interference by authority should not be
made more than is absolutely necessary in matters of edu-
cation, at the same time it does not follow that there
eauuot be means which are as much in the power of
the government as is the contribution to certain funds.
We have abundant acknowledgments here, that the
parents will not allow their children to remain at
school _longer than they are absolutely obliged to keep
them there, yielding, probably, to the influence of
persons who can, to some extent, control them—and
this results from the want of somethinc, practical
which parent; miss in this education, and what are these
defects ? It appears that there are two difficulties on the
part of the parents : the first is, that the children can earn
out of school, and they cannot earn in it, and that, there-
fore, parents being dependant, not merely the disso-
lute, but the industrious ones, with large
families, on the co-operation of their children,
they are almost compelled to withdraw them, for
it is well known that many parents regret the
necessity in which they are. It may appear at first
sight, that the labour of mere children can hardly be
worth calculating upon, but it is startling to find that
from returns laid before the House of Commons in 1856,
and these returns were collected with great diligence,
the labour of children between 12 and 15—the most
important period of education—is valued in England at
three millons a year, and the estimate taken upon five or
six of these counties, with perhaps still greater care, show
that it more probably reached five millions. So that we
are calling upon parents to sacrifice five millions that
come into their pockets, to give their children an
education which they are hardly able properly
to value. This is the first obstacle that edu-
cation has to grapple with. Children are made to
toil from almost infancy—from five or six years of age, if
they only bring in le. per week, rather than allow them
to have a little mental culture. And the second reason
is, that the parents set no value upon education, for
reasons which ought to be manifest to us—that they do
not consider that this education, if they spent their present
earnings, will enable their children in any way to earn
hereafter. It is not wonderful that they should not care
to have children pass their days in schools—of which
they do not calculate
_tlly present or prospective advan-
tage. (Applause.) When one says, therefore, what is
wanting
is a superior education of these children, it is a
right cvession, although it may be misinterpreted.