The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-20 00:00:00

ensmittee and Council named some one to whom the
Archbishop had no objection. Such was the state of the
question when the Right Hon. Gentleman °pp/ (the
ember for Tamworth) came into power, and no change
Zs made by him with respect to the appointment of the
Committee of Council. Those who had been Ministers
gothe Crown immediately ceased to be Members of the
linen The Right Hon. Baronet opposite (Sir Robert
Peel), Lord Stanley, Sir James Graham, became Mem-
!era of the Council, and Lord Wharncliffe being Presi
121. ent of the Council, became head of the Committee. I
ta more than one conversation with the late Lord
enwharncliffe on the subject, as I was connected
Poreigeover have been with the British and
School Society. And he consulted me from time
to time as to what should be th ere!ations between that
Beejet and the board. He proposed that a sum of
O should be granted—the proposition emanated
With
a former Government—for the purpose of a normal
Caansele I advised them to accept that grant of the
I,,sturalttee At a subsequent period Lord Wharncliffe
informed the secretary of that society that he should
adopt the same rule will regard to it as had been
141°Pted to the national ,chools, but that he should not
UPoint the inspector without their concurrence. The
sPector did not, according to their orders, make
spy examination as to religious instrue'ion. Sir, the
rant continued to be made in this fori.,. and various
111118 Were granted which from time to telee were in•
creased, until it reached the sum of 100,0001., and that
slim was granted, without any discussion of importance
447,g Place. When, however, we come to consider the
of education, it appeared to us, as a very great
lubber of schools had been built, that there was no
building
such a demand for money for the purpose of
11,(Isicg schools. The system of monitors has been
s4,loshed by Lancaster and Bell, but it did not answer
et",leractorily on account of the early age at which the
education
left school, so that a boy who had only a years'
lentication himself was a very until person to teach well,
aa(l give the proper comprehension of the subject of
socation to a school. It was therefore proposed that
llaertain sum should be allowed in each school for the
khPose of inducing a boy to remain some years in
w°ol, till be thereby became an efficient teacher. It
143 proposed, likewise, that when the masters gave
peir time to training of the pupil teachers, and render-
then efficient in their duties, that there should be a
ow
th sum of money as an allowance made
ern- It was proposed with regard to some other
: hools sin which there were not monitors and pupil
Etchers, that there should at once be established
Inonitors, who likewise received a sum of money to in-
Tice them to remain at school. These became stipen-
diary monitors, and there should be an allowance made
to masters training
and teaching these stipendiary
monitors. It was proposed likewise with a view to the
Improvement of the normal schools, and for the better
ustentstion of those resorting to those schools, that a
sum of money should be granted for the sTrpose of pay-
ingB those pupils who should be most promising, and who
should be recommended by the inspectors of the school,
sugether with those who were at school, for the purpose
of being trained in normal schools, and that there should
an augmentation of the salaries of the masters of
e-" Dis who had been trained, and who should obtain a
aueree
s. -cote of proficiency. There should be a certain
"` of money likewise for the encouragement of proper
as garde
Who
and workshops, which has to those persons,
have taken an interest in education, been at various
w
a a very desirable object. It has been always my
of that the only way efficiently to raise the education
ithis country will be to raise the condition and pros-
ts of the schoolmasters. It has been my view, often
02 often expressed in this House, whether in or out of
4:e:that the drudgery of schoolmasters was not suffi-
"4 rewarded, and leading to no prospect of advan-
e; it was such that men of talent and abilities who
were
treat trained to that purpose, cannot but leave it in a
N. number of instances for other and more
I.4(l)l4fit4l°le occupations. Such has been the view
I c have not only taken myself but which
is It `4:l confirmed by that of others.---(Hear, hear.)
of •
immense importance that these schools should
eir. efficient teachers, and that there should be some
aer°lutnetit or reward given ; the latter more commen-
Tha_te With the great duties which they had to perform.
-.se" is another proposition which I shall have to make,
it 9t that any grant will be wanted fur it this year, but
thefor e required, in all probability, next year—it is
have s b
Purpose of pensioning off those schoolmasters who
thu. been
„ worn out in the service. No one can deny
8
elel,la " highly important for us to do all in our power to
ate the character and position of the schoolmasters.
exsern only surprised that so far from the country
Wovurlessing itself alarmed at the minute of Council, it
Well d have exclaimed—" What, is this all ? it is
Ishichs? far, but it is not equal to meet the evil
geen.t.'s complained of. It ought to be a larger and a
Pre -rSir, I have said before, that I have not
raull)Ned anything but what has been settled on for
stith Years, and repeatedly referred to. It has been
Which I know, that this is an unconstitutional body
/ cis makes the grant; but to that I will answer, that
thaunifsoot think any course can be more constitutional
es r Ministers to come forward with an explanation
partraat they intend to do, and to depend on a vote of
same as in for the grant. The question now is the
hot ai 11te 1 1839, when first brought forward. I did
nt
lave br.Pa
, such objections, least of all from those who
Dissent°. agot forward this opposition, via, the various
Mir hog ministers of London, and the various bodies
°lig
3:1 the ut tee country, who applauded the Government
di course they adopted in the year 1839.—(Loud
ofeers*) I trust, therefore, that the Committee
Council will not -be considered as so
formidable an evil as it was once supposed to be.
(4Eleer, hear.) I am not, Sir, going. to discuss
',oat larg uestion at the present moment. I wish
to point the attention of the House to how far these ar-
guments are endeavoured to be applied. Sir, it is im-
POssible not to see the drift of those arguments. Sir, it
Is again said that there is sufficient already done for edu-
cation, that there is no need of any further assistance;
that the people of England are as educated, or if not so
completely educated at present, they are in the way to
be so completely educated, that it would be superfluous
for the legislature to interfere. I wish that I could con-
cur in that representation of the case. I wish I could say
that the voluntary efforts had done so much,
and„ that the education of the people MU so complete,
that we need not trouble ourselves here with the matter,
"'Lich I confess is one of great difficulty, and one which
cannot be touched without exciting the feelings of
tilaiaeaY opposing persuasions. The case is, however, far
statistics
I will not, Sir, attempt to go into minute
ii",,abtistics as to what has already been done upon this
11-,-„Ject, but I feel that Hon. Members of this House who
Paid any attention to the subject, or who have read
ittt-i-'7 Pamphlet upon this subject, or who have attended to
e education in their own butneighbourhood—(Cheers)—
e must see that the education of the people of this
w°i•anatry is lamentably deficient. Upon this subject I
-,` take the statements of one of the opponents of this
4100 -aanre. I regret deeply that he should be one of its
~PPonents, because his learning, his zeal for the public
ofd, and his piety, render him deserving of the respect
to every person—l mean Dr. Vaughan. That gentle-
Ittsa; in an article published in the British Quarterly
-" eel, and which has since been published with his
name'd,tateS that of the whole population of England
inn d wales, between the ages of five and fifteen, found
ay schools, the proportion would be somewhat less
-eke one-third, about an equal number in the Sunday
ilehn°lB, and the remaining third not found in any schools
i-daY, evenings, or Sunday. Statements of a similar nature
Lave been made by Dr. Hook, and other persons who
of
devoted considerable time and attention to the cause
r education, and all concur in agreeing, in opposition
t 0 the statements of Mr. Baines, that the education of
country is extremely defective.—(Hear, hear.) This
-atement does not, however, rest upon statements of
tb, is sort. It will be found, by a reference to the mar-
riagee registers, that there are forty out of every 100
Tarried who cannot write their names—thirty in every
~20 who cannot read.—(Hear, hear.) This, we
must own, is an immense proportion, when we
Consider that the schools of Bell and Lancaster
have been established now for upwards of forty years,
and that voluntary education has been ever since that
time doing its utmost to overtake and subdue this amount
Of ignorance. In a report furnished by some inspectors
Who were sent down to inspect and report upon the state
Of education in schools belonging to the voluntary esta-
blishment, it is stated that there are great numbers of
persons who are not in the habit of attending any place
of public worship, and to whom the name of God and
Christ was utterly unknown. Not many years since I
referred to the statement of a chaplain of one of the
county gaols-, I have lately consulted again the report of
that gentleman ; he is a person who has taken the
greatest pains to inform himself of the condition of the
124_erions brought into that place, and in that report he
states that during his three years' stay at that place the
performance of his duties has brought him into contact
With 1,733 men and boys, and 387 women and girls; and
of these the majority could neither read or write, and
Were also ignorant of the name of God and of Christ,
and
tof such things as virtue or vice, holiness or heaven.
here was a case, Sir, in which some of the boys be-
st to a school were desired to read that chapter of
I,* Matthew's tiorpel containing an accountthe.
arriage in Cana in Gallilee," wh were utterly unac-
(:inaieted with the meaning of the word marriage. With
ieaPect to the secular education of a tkuwher of prisoners
n
°Tie of the gaols, it was reported by the inspectors
thatr there were 90 persons unable to name the months
Of
year, 104 unable to tell the name of the reigning
te-t"eign, 108 who could not define the meaning of the
urtos virtue or vice, and a number of persons who were
r),aahlo to count as high as 100. Sir, I confess it ap-
R fars to me a very shocking thing that education is not
o:leen to these persons until they are sent to the gaol.—
seneaer,hear.) There are many occasions in which pri-
h sou
had been induced to bless the day in which they
dia,-„Lueen sent to prisons, because they have after their
aorrga conducted themselves in a respectable manner
. earned an honest livelihood. But, Sir, is it not
they that before the people reached tbat place
cm?' , should, while young, while impressions
in v. be easily made upon them, be instructed
ablest
knowledge, and in their duties. One of the
Ine's‘ °Plsonents of this proposition was recently speak-
eribt;itgainst it at a public meeting in this metropolis, and
Soto occasion some one in the body of the meeting put
hWriei! hand the following question, which he gave in
Rine•-e:—" Is it not better to put a sign post at the be-
, rire lag of
a man's life than a gibbet at the end of it?"—
`,larn,ar, hear, and loud cheers.) I will not, however,
the Rev,
remark made on that occasion by the speaker,
he 4ev. Mr. Burnet, who asked with a readiness which
„:0 well can command, " What if the sign-post led to
saacitgvibbet?"---(Hear, and a laugh.) I admit that it was
meeting,
answer, and one well calcalated to catch the
gt. but I must remark that there is nothing in the
oititswe hich I propose, and which shall be laid before the
to the in plan calling upon the House to agree
8010_,8 laying out of money for the purpose of aiding the
tianfgth e Established Church, of the schools of the
ncongregations, of the British and Foreign
schools, and of the Wesleyan—which could justify
/ ra an in saying that the education which is to be