The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-11 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAIENi

HOUSE OF COMMONS'. -ES TERD AY. )
EDUCATION.

The house having resolved itself into a committee,
Lord J. RUSSELL moved the first resolution.
Mr. HENLEY said his first impression was that these
resolutions should have been taken in detail ; but on
considering them he found it would be impossible to get
over the first resolution satisfactorily. He wanted to
know in what manner the merits of the Committee of
the Privy Council on Rlucation should be extended, &c.,
and that being so vague he thought the house would not
consent to it. He should consider these resolutions
as a whole, and, therefore, instead of asking the
house to negative the proposition, he should adopt
the safer course, that the chairman do now leave
the chair. This scheme wars divided into six great
branches, that of inspection, the formation of dis
tricts, charities, religious teaching, and the mode of forcing
masters to pay those whom they employed under
a certain age. He objected to the general power of in-
spection these resolutions would give the inspectors, and
he doubted if many of the schools would submit to it.
He could consider nothing so inimical as this house to
pledge itself to what they could not afterwards
carry out. It was not to be expeeted that private
property would submit to public inspection. The people
of this country may be led, but they did not like to be
driven—(hear, hear)—and the sending of 80 sub-inspec-
tors over the country would be likely in his opinion to
frustrate the objects he had in view. If the object was
to get information, might it not be obtained in a more
extended manner by returns from the schools containing
full details of what they taught, &c. They would
thereby get that information earlier and better than
by Government Inspection, because there were many
who would not have it, and who shut their doors
against it. The next point was the power to be
given to the Privy Council behind the backs of
patties, and on the report of the sub-inspectors to
form districts. The inevitable result of the forma-
tion of districts would be in small parishes to
break up the existing parochial school system and
sever the clergymen from these schools. The
present value of bringing clergymen to the schools
was to be found from Mr. Kennedy's report. Every
one must, however, be impressed with the necessity of
the religious element of these schools—(hear, hear)—
and he congratulated the noble lord with having
on this occasion gone further in that direction than
on any former occasion. To destroy that must have
a mischievous effect. The next point was the power to en-
large the power at present enjoyed by the Commissioners
of Charitable Trusts to apply the funds now useless or
injurious to the community to the education of the mid-
dling and poorer classes. He thought this subject
should have been dealt with substantially, and not in
these resolutions. The noble lord, it should be recol-
lected, was one of the commissioners, and what
was done by them might come under the notice of this
house. Had that resolution been introduced by any
other person, he should have thought his object was
to have obtained the quasi sanction of that house
to some most important matters under their considera-
tion. The bon. gentleman then referred to the Charity
Commissioners' report that had recently been published,
and analysed the mannerin which the funds had been admi-
nistered bythem,and contended none of these charities were
useless or injurious, and ought not to be diverted from
their original purpose. The next question was that of
the mode proposed for the settlement of the religious
differences existing on this important question, and
which be wished had not been introduced for their con-
sideration then, and on so vaguely worded a resolution.
It appeared to him (admitting they could not carry on
education without religious instruction) that by this
resolution they would be shutting out many children,
and the system would be brought down to a
secular one, which would be a great misfortune.
The rating system, as proposed, was bad, because the
powers for deciding that a district should be rated were
to be vested in the Committee of the Privy
Council, and it was equally objectionable to
give the powers of imposing the rate to the quarter
sessions. This branch of the scheme, he thought, would
produce as much discord and ill-feeling as existed now
in many districts with regard to Church rates, and
from sectarian feelings. He now came to the pro-
position that the employers of labour should send chit
drea employed by them under a certain age to school,
and pay towards their education. These no doubt had
been founded on the factory system, but the tNO cases
were not strictly analogous. All the schaol
inspectors complained of children being removed from
school at a certain age, especially in 1854 and 1855, and
Mr. Cooke's report bore extensively on that subject. In
the years 1854 and 1855 high prices occurred, and he
thought it was that pressure on the poor that had in-
duced many of them to remove their children from school
to put them to remunerative labour. The noble for
had read to them some extracts from Mr. Co.eke's re
port, for the purpose of showing what the children ac-
quired in good schools up to 11 or 12 years of age. He
(Mr. Henley) found Mr. Cooke proposed that, in addi-
tion to reading, writing, and arithmetic, the children
should be taught the elementary knowledge of the Eng-
lish language, history, geography, physical science, and
the principles of political economy. All that was to be
acquired before the age of 12 years, so that what the
children were to get after that was a puzzle to him.
Now, the house sought to know what they were going
to do on this point, but the noble lord bad thrown no
light on this matter, except reading the extract from Mr.
Cooke's report. The Rev. Canon Moseley, another in-
spector differed in opinion from Mr. Cooke as to the
kind of education the children should receive, and re-
commended the establishment of dame schools through-
out the country. As the character of the schools im-
proved, it was hoped, he said, that the children
would be sent to school inure numerously, and longer
kept there ; but that hope had been disappointed, for
parents reasoned in this way----thet the teaching was so
good they could, in consequence, take the children from
school much earlier. Mr. Moseley added, that there was
a greater proportion of the people in this country who
were growing up able to read and write than formerly.
Another inspector, Mr. Kennedy, said that the improve-
ment which ha,l taken place in the schools in Lancashire
contrasted well with those abodes of filth called the na-
tional schools some 20 years ago. He (Mr. Henley)
had heard several persons of experience say that the
youths educated at the national schools 10 years ago did
not carry from them a disposition to continue the course
of study into which they bad been there initiated. He
was asked the question whether the scholars in the higher
classes retrograded in their attainments and intelligence.
Mr. Kennedy went on to consider the question, which
was a most important one ; and he spoke in reference
to the existing mode of teaching, and gave his opi-
nion upon it. He said, "I confess that there is truth in
the statement that those who leave our nati, nal schools
deteriorate intellectually rather than improve; and I do
not think that this is satisfactorily accounted for merely
by the earlier age at which they leave." Here the noble
lord and Mr. Kennedy were decidedly at issue. Mr.
Kennedy said that "we want, at least, three grades of
schools—infant, secondary, and third. In the first, the
children would be taught to read, write, and cipher, in
the second, to read and write well, the compound rules
of arithmetic, vulgar fractions, and to parse an English
sentence perfectly." He added that they would gain
these acquirements by about nine years of age ; and,
with respect to the third schools, he said, " I would have
regular lessons in four subjects only. In the morning
the boys would learn a language and drawing." What
language—whether Greek, Latin, French, or German—
was not stated ; " and in the afternoon arithmetic, or
mathematics, or music by notes." He (Mr. Henley)
doubted whether it would be satisfactory to the manu-
facturing men of Lancashire—of which district Mr. Ken-
nedy was the school inspector—to be deprived of their
children's earnings at a time when there was the greatest
pinch to support the family, in order that they might
learn arithmetic, drawing, mathematics, or music. Ile
believed that there was no disinclination on the part of
the working classes to send their children to school, but
from their inability to lose the wages of those children.
The inspector who looked over the eastern part of Eng-
land, said, in parishes with a population not exceeding
460 persons, a dame's school would be sufficient. He
next came to the question of recreation or amusement.
What was the kind of recreation which Mr. Mitchell
suggested ? He (Mr. Henley) confessed that if he had
not seen the suggestion he could hardly have believed
it. This gentleman having gone on some trip of duty
to France, became acquainted with the mode o

recreation -pursued in some educational institution

there, and seemed to think it suitable to the people of
this country. Re said—"lt seems to be that more
weight might be given in teaching games, and providing
amusement in the schools. Many inconveniences

might be prevented if there was a room provided
well lighted and furnished"--not w,th books, but—
" with backgammon boards, chess, er draughts, or even
billiards or bagatelle tables." He (Mr. Henley) confessed
that when he 10°11E4 at Mr. Cook's estimate of what ehil-

dren might know up to 12 years of age, and when he
found that Mr. Kennedy was of opinion that the present
mode of teaching was too professorial, he (Mr. Henley)
thought that the system might be compared to a fire-
engine charged with instruction which Was brought to
play upon the children. Some inforrnatihn might stick to
them just as a fire-engine might wash clean, but he
thought that in both cases the process could ba more
effectually accomplished by gradual means. Mr. Ken-
nedy proposed to confine the children to one or two dry
thinv—mathematics to conciliate Cambridge, and lain•
guage to conciliate his Oxford friends. It appeared from
the opinions of Mr. Cook and Mr. Watkins that the
reason why children did not go to school was, because
their parents could not afford to lose the wages earned
by those children. The amount of these wages had been
differently estimated by different persons. The amount
of wages earned by children between the ages of 12 and
15 had been estimated at 3,000,0001. per annum. Mr.
Bellairs stated that, in six counties, they amounted to
500,0001. a year. Mr. Cook said that be knew instances
in which boys of that age earned as much as Bs. a week.
If the plan of the noble lord were adopted, theinconve-
nience would be enormous to the employers of labour,
who would be compelled to have recourse to adult la-
bour; and he (Mr. Henley) was afraid that the younger
children would also be kept away from school, and thus
they would run an imminent risk of. having a larger num-
ber of that most neglected class of children neither at
school nor at work. It was very well known, according
to the census, that there were many hundred thousand
children in this country who were neither at school nor
at work. The noble lord's p'an would not touch those
children, although they were the very persons who most
required looking after. If they thrust themselves in this
way he was afraid that they might create a great reac-
tionary feeling, on the subject of education, which would
be most unfortunate, as, at the present time, there was
every disposition on the part of the population generally
to value the blessings of instruction. The census con-