The Sun.
London, England, 1838-02-08 00:00:00

such will be the result 3f this emigration clause be pct-
.:7 fonnection with a Bill, WhiCh rcAses
mated tO A-•
P -wement. I am
any, outdoor ref if f; di d ftViddlktt
ready to &nit tnai it *Child td e. Useful application
Poor-rates to assist those who wished to become, in the 1n
sense of the word, voluntary emigrants ; but I abhor the
means of compulsion which this Bill would clandestinely confer.
I have confined myself, in the foregoing observations, to
the objections arising from two leading features of the proposed
Bill—namely, the limitation to in-door relief, and the rejec-
tion of any principle of settlement. I shall not take up space
to comment on other numerous objections to its details, be-
cause if what I have attempted to show on those two points
will not induce the friends of' humanity in the Legislature to
al tee its provisions, nothing that I can say will be of any value.
But I do not brirtg forward these objections to offer endless
impediments to a Bill of relief' 1,6 4,1!.e u.nr of Ireland. Those
who object, without suggesting the remedies, render them-
selves liable to the charge of making the objections to the Bill
the mask under which altogether to defeat the poor man's
right. This is not nly intention. I would accept the Bill
with many objections, provided I could recognize in it even a
discretionary power to lay the foundation of any efEctual re-
lief to the sufferings of my countrymen.
I shall, in the third part of these observations, respectfully
submit propositions for the improvement for the objectionable
points of this Bill.
WILLIAM SHARMAN CRAWFORD.
Crawfordsburn, February 4, 1838.

LORD BROUGHAM'S EDUCATION
BILL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR—The present is the moment for deep and earnest re-
flection, as to the best mode which can be adopted for edu-
cating the people.—THE PEOPLE I Strange is it, with riches
unequalled, and a moral character pre-eminently distinguished
among civilised nations, that no system of National Educa-
tion should have hitherto been established in Great Britain.
The whole civilized world is in a transition state—it is a race
of improvement, and those who struggle not for the prize will
be distanced.

A year or two back I presented to the Nottingham Literary
Society a Paper on the " Propriety and Practicability of Na-
tional Education," with a rough plan for its attainment. In
order that the state of education in that large town might be
understood, I drew out a statement of the numbers of all the
children who were taught, both in the week-day schools, and
in the Sunday schools. The total shows the relative numbers
in the course of education, as compared with the population of
the whole town. If we take the ratio as adopted in Prussia
for children between the ages of 6 and 14, it would be one-
sixth part of the whole number. It is pretty certain, how-
ever, that with regard to Sunday school scholars, there will be
found, some both under and above these limits. The statement
seems to bear on the Education Bill now in progress. It will
show, moreover, how very small a number of children are re-
ceiving the regular course of education, as compared with the
number of those who are admitted into Sunday schools.
The number of children educated in the whole of the Not-

tingham schools, was in round numbers, 9,000 ! Of these,
6,000 were taught in Sunday schools, and 3,000 in week-day
schools ; so that in a population of from .52 to 54,000 giving a
ratio of 9,000 children, of the ages from 6 to 14, only one-third
of that number. was receiving a regular course of instruction.
So great a proportion being taught in Sunday schools, arose
no doubt, from the education being given without cost, and re-
ceived without any loss to the parents of the time and labour of
the children.

The total number of boys and girls educated in all week-day
schools in St. Mary's parish, Nottingham, 40,000 inhabitants.
Number of Schools, 54.
Number of Boys 1,980
Number of Girls
Add one-fifth for remainder of the Town, the population in 2,820
1831 being 50,000 564

Total 3,384
c of Infant Schools.
The total number of Children taught in all the Nottingham
Sunday Schools.
In 20 Schools, in union, in various Chapels .... ... 4,312
Unitarian, 200; Catholics, 200..... 4OO
In Chapels -4,712
In the Five Churches.
St. James's, 710: St. Mary's and Paul's, 600
St. Peter's, 268; St. Nicholas, 100
In Churches .-1,678

Total 9,774
hi the plan above adverted to, I proposed a school-rate to be
collected along with the Poor-rate, and applied to the pur-
poses of general education. It appears to me, however, upon
the clearest conviction, that such a measure, or any other
measure, directed to the purposes of general education, will be
entirely inefficacious, and comparatively useless, if some mode
be not adopted in order imperatively to carry it into operation.
In the Education Bill, as lately presented in its improved
form, the charitable endowments are to be made the subject of
a separate enactment. The general management of the mea-
sure, in being carried out, is to be under the direction of a
Board, which is to be composed of five Commissioners, three
of them appointed for life, and two of them to be members of
the Government. The leading principle of the proposed Bill,
however, is, that no part of it is to be in any degree compul-
sory, that people may still keep their children in savage igno-
rance, although unpaid-for education is to be at their doors ;
that with regard to the characters ar.d morals of the children
of the British empire, they are to remain the sport and caprice
of corrupt and abandoned parents, who have a direct and posi-
tive interest in their destruction.

Now it appears to me, Sir, that while we are legislating for
a specific object, with a view also to enact a new compulsory
tax, to be levied upon the rich and the poor, and even upon
the childless, to allow badly disposed parents to reject the
proffered boon, and by that rejection to commit an act of com-
plicated injustice towards their offspring, and towards society
at large, we are legislating upon a principle which is not only
absolutely contradictory in itself, but opposed to every dictate
policy and well-directed humanity. To speak of
liberty and justice towards the parent, and allow the children
tofo founded edd on
e
prived of an education provided for by a public tax, is
indeed straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. When we
compel all to pay in order to arrest an evil, surely we might
compel all who need it to accept the benefit, especially if its
non-acceptance would be detrimental to the community. We
stop a plague, we prosecute nuisances, we compel parents to
feed and provide for their offspring, but we allow a moral in-
fection to blast and wither the soul when the cost-free antidote
isaltt heaitnhde.r appearsby the the statements above, that a species of educa-
tion, the regular schools, or by eleemosi nary esta-
blishments, may always be obtained by children at large. The
Sunday Schools are continually open. There is a praise-
worthy competition in this noble race of generosity. It is,
however, a sort of recruiting service for the several divisions
amuhF benevolence is continually in action. While
Prussia of the Church Militant, and to the honour of our country it is
thatisoaa and France, however, have set us the noble example
of a machinery
much benevolence
in, full work, for the purpuse of universal in-
struction, it would in the highest degree be discreditable, were
Great Britain negligent or apathetic, either as to the duty
itse
sulf, ofrom r as to th
fulfile gment .
reat advantages which may be expected to
Useless, however, will it be to put a great machinery in
motion if its results are not correspondont. An Education
relt its
Bill iofor.thTehceoupnrtiroyo
japticlasrg?ef oieuggihsitattoioibleairioniovenrisvaelrsianl.its
There
is nothing-
snee needful t o
How morals
many
s a ,
cation.
the atmosphere to life I In case of danger the state may com-
mand
the life and service of all the inhabitants. Is
there
danger so imminent
asignorance
any
crimes arc multiplied under its baneful influence ! What
tyranny so
local in instruction. It is a
much to be dreaded as that which drives to the
_ property.
violation of life and lt has been left, it is said, to
the present age to discover the true principles of legislation,
and they consist in providing_ the greatest happiness for the
greatest number. Now, how can this end be so well attained
as by legislating for the education of the whole community ?
This conditional legislation does, therefore, appear to me, Sir,
to be mast anomalous I It is contrary to the spirit and prin-
ciple of law Parents who are vicious, and of bad
character, will prefer that their children remain in ignorance,
in order to make them rogues and thieves with more certainty
and expedition. Yet these poor children arc to be left to de-
struction, under the affectation (so it appears to me) of a vio-
lation of liberty, in compelling them to receive instruction.
They have perfect liberty to make their way to the tread-mill
and to the hulks. The school-room must on no account be
tyrannically interposed, although it might prevent judicial ex-
penses to a vast amount, and sorrow, and suffering, and dis-
grace, beyond all estimate.
The great obstacle to the education of the children of the
poor arises from the interest which the parent claims in the
time and labour of his children. A little more decency
as to
clothing connects itself also with their going to school. These
two causes will operate, in thousands of instances, to render
the proposed Bill entirely nugatory as to its objects. But will
it not appear a strange anomaly to be legislating for one town,
that it may be placed under the provisions of the Board, for the
advantages of universal instruction, while the town immediately
adjoining may've left in ignorance, attributable it may be to the
obstinacy or of the authorities ? A question, however,
naturally presents itself here. Have parents a right, either
morally or legally, to make their children mere chattels—to
avail themselves of their labour, like mere animals, and en-
tirely to neglect their moral welfare ? Can we reprobate the
West India planter who makes his purchased slave a mere
chattel, and yet suffer the children of Great Britain to remain
in bondage? I venture to plead, Sir, for the rights and liber-
ties of the children of Great Britain. One voice, at least,
shall be raised in favour of poor helpless children. A few of
their teuder years might surely be spared for the purposes of
education, ere they arc devoted to the inevitable employments
of life. We interfere to regulate the hours of labour—why
not the hours to be devoted to instruction?
The Prussian and French systems of education are now in
complete operation. In the former state, not only are schools
provided in
every district, but thoroughly qualified masters
also. The ieading, enactment provides, that if the parent do
not prove that his child receives a competent education in pri-
vate, he is then under obligation to send him to the public
school. The safety and welfare of the community require the
education of all classes. Now, if those who cannot afford to
pay for the instruction of their children refuse to accept the
education provided for them gratuitously, ought they not
under such circumstances be denied the right of 2laiming paro-
chial relief for those whom they consign to ignorance and vice?
On whatever principles a general educational system may
rest, it must emanate from Parliament, and bear its Legisla-
tive stamp. The Poor-law, although characterized in
some of its enactments as exceedingly tyrannical and oppres-
sive, has nevertheless been put to work with great benefit.
To render the proposed system free from objection, the