The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-23 00:00:00

ettion. should be given, but ho it shoull be given? The
questionbil they were now considering was, as to tho
t
of the plan proposed by the Hon. Member fur Old-
-1:1. He had three objsetione to that Hon. Member's
t,`, !93e—first, he had doubts about the expediency of
th°llng education free. Practical men were of opinion
to„1812oh a system was not edapted to the wante ot the
dge7trY, or was likely to tend to produce feelings of in-
Grndence among the lower orders. They thought the
e3:_ver.nment Einstein was better adapted for the purpose,
Vvcially if the parents of the poorer, but not the pcorst
la! Were invited to make smell contributions towards
ptl)mses of education. For his own part he would
4
cmo ,'Y see
makesuch aid extended to the ragged schools as
44 make the education there free of expense; but
:,/t3 of opinion that neither the necessities nor the
~1"8 of the lower orders were sufficient to warrant the
b".°,•Ption of a general system of free education. lhe
pi:‘ objection to the next feature of the Hon. Member's
tabor aid
toward oubted the propriety of calling for
f4;:'or aid educating the people by means of
„toaer rates. He considered if aid were to be given, it
;e""ght to be given in a more equitable form, and the ex-
ibbite oeght to be diffused over all those who were
cto bear it. The objectionable form was by
riiluat from the Consolidated Fund, according to the
tytul at present adopted. With reference to the
14" feature of the scheme, that secular education only
culd be given, he was eltogether opposed to the prin.
ei4l: of such a propositien. He did not sea that such a
Ene would give eatisfecion in any quarter. He did
Ltthink it would give the Church of England, or any
t7,?ectlar sect, genernl satisfaction. The Roman Ca-
-ones, they all knew, would receive no satisfaction from
t tolstem of that kind. The mass of the people belonging
the Church of England nr the body of Dissenters
iln'd not be generally satisfied with euch a system.
14 Dissenters continued to send their children to
tide‘ Church of England echocis, for they knew that the
r: at mass of these schools were not teachers of doc-
dines, of an theological character likely to create preju-
eote,s, but oly gave instruction in the Scriptures. He
not possibly think how such a system of education
ta that • a
le at proposed by the Hon. Member was ad speed to
iieure the end it professed to hey° in view. It was,
orvever, said the system was proposed for the purpose
doing justice to the poor, and discharging a debt
to to them. But if it was the aim of all who sought
l° elevate the poor to implant in their minds the great
hit principles of humanity and religion, as the surest
Preventive of crime, how could that aim be attained by
ekoposed system? If education were confined to
ialtir subects—if carried out withot religions instruc-
-1141--he vjery mach doubted whetheur the tendency of
401 ft system was to diminish vice and crime. He
ahted whether the system would be either bene-
esisl to the individual or the community. But
tit Was said by Honourable Gentlemen opposite, " What
" Propose is that children shall be educated in the
Liehael, and receive religious instruction elsewhere." But
t that system be carried out, and let all tea done that
14 advocates wanted, what would be the result? How
bog were the children to remain at school? If inquiry
'ere made, it would be found that parents would not
leave their children at school beyond the age of 13. All
`ue edtication these children received, which was to go-
:ern the whole course of their future life was given be-
fore they were 13 years of age. How then could the
!,t?Potted resolution be carried out ?—where could these
Tildrei I get their religious education frem? Were these
ouildren to be without instruction in the great moral
Princiiales, and in the duty of worshipping God ? If the
Vinoiples is the resolution were carried out, the chil-
telen erould receive no instruction in the schools in their
rat duty, that of worshipping the Creator. To such a
sYstena he was decidedly opposed. The only argument
of any weight urged in its favour was, that there was a
necessity for it. Ha did not believe the necessity
existed- He believed the Government plan could be
carried out so as to produce general education, provided
two things were furnished, a great deal more money,
4nd more time. What was wanted in the first instance
were good teachers. Much had been done by Go-
vernment to remedy this want. Several institutions
cad been opened for th© purpose of providing good
teachers. The institution at Highgate, which furnished
eighty teachers, had worked well, as also had the
uYstem of pupil teachers. He believed, therefore, that
the present system, with some addition to it for pro-
viding free education for the very poor. was well cal-
culated, in time, to afford a prospect of carrying out
the aim of a general system of education for the people.
zlo must oppose, on principle, the present proposition;
at the same time he, and the House, were obliged to
the lion. Member for Oldham for bringing forward
the subject, as even its discussion must be productive of
good.

Mr. ADDERLEY must vote with reluctance on the
question against those with whom he usually voted—
tor he felt he could not conscientiously vote against the
propositions of the Hon. Member for Oldham.—(Hear,
ear.) There was an old proverb—Take care of the
treee, and the pounds would take care of themselves—
moral of which was susceptible of a wide applica-
Tin. If the House took care of the elementary questions,
they Would find that the great complicated questions
would take care of themselves. He regretted to differ
from the opinions expressed by the Hon. and Learned
Gentltanan, Mr. Walpole, who, in expressing his dislike
to free education, dealt with only a part of the case as
if it were the whole.—(llcar.) The Hon. Member for
Lancashire said he felt anxiety on the question, but would
only consent to support the prepesitious before the House
in the event of no better scheme being put forward. The
question then was, what chance was there of a better
system being carried out, end what would happen to the
country in the meantime?—(Hear.) All were agreed
that religious and secular instruction ought to be com-
bined, and that one should be based on the other. They
Were also, agreed that the two could not be carried out
Without the help of a national rate. But it also appeared
that while secular education could not be carried out ex-
cept by a national rate, religious education could not be
carried out by a national rate. So, therefore, as one-
half was impossible, the Hon. and Learned Member set
his face against the whole. He would, however, show
the House that while one part could be carried out by a
national rate, the other part could be carried out by a
voluntary aid. The proposition of the Hon. Member for
Oldham could not be controverted, that the present sys-
tem of education was deficient in this material respect—
that it failed to point cut to the poor ho w they were to
find their own subsistence. Now, as crime proceeded
frequently from want of employment, education would
fail _to prevent crime. If, for instance, the poor knew
geography, that would enable them to understand the
advantages of colonial emigration, and, as in America,
Our colonies would soon have their back settlements.
The Hon. Member referred to the standard of educa-
tion as being of an improving character. He thought
the standard of education was vastly too high; it was
vastly higher than was required. And he considered
that the prizes of the Privy Council went to a higher
class than was expedient or proper. The money,
therefore, that was spent by the Privy Council was
lavished on a class for which it was never intended, and
who' ought not to receive a farthing of it. The gigantic
plan of the Privy Council could not be carried out, and
debts had been incurred which could not be liquidated.
There was, therefore, no hope to be derived from that
quarter. But while they were discussing the question,
an efficient national education was going on which was
only accessible to two classes—the prisoner and the
pauper.—(Hear.) The education given to prisoners
was. elaborate and perfect—in Parkhurst Bridewell, and
other prisons for the reformation of juvenile offenders
the education was good. In the workhouses also, the
education there was vastly superior to that given by the
poorer classes to their children. Here was a national
system of religious and secular education at the expense
of the couutry, and the only question was, whether that
system should be extended to the poor outside the work-
houses and prisons. It might be said that this system
mixed up religious instruction with education; but would
they consent to open the doors of such places to the
honest poor outside. He confessed he was dissatisfied at
seeing the poor deterred from the advantages in those
places. He approved of a national rate for general
education, and ho thought it was highly creditable to
the county of Lancaster that it should have been the
first to come forward with a petition to Parliament to
tax them for purposes of national education. He had
the authority of a distinguished traveller for stating,
that no one could visit America without seeing the great
superiority of the Americans over this country in point
of education. He had heard only two serious objections
to the propositions; first, that, if adopted, they would
supersede the present schools. But that objecion was
of no force, for if the present schools were inefficient, it
would be an advantage to supersede them. The second
objection was, that it was impossible to separate secular
and religious instruction, That was a mere play upon
words. We acted upon the principle every day of our
mischief.o choked thata
ad-
vantages lives in the educstsioenpaorfatoeudrweihthiloduret
IVssh
the two could be
vantages of the Honourable Gentleman's proposition
would be plain and obvious. The necessities of the case
were also obvious; and he therefore approved of a plea
which would compel the people to take an interest in
their own schools.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL thought no subject
could be more important than that of how they could
best educate that young and numerous class now is want
of education. Still he must say that he had never heard
in the same debate so many errors and fallacies as there
were to be found in the speeches of the Hon. Member
who proposed this motion, end in the spe.cboa of those
who followed bitn.—(llear.) The real effect of the
mea-
sure proposed would be to shut up the religious schools
in the country, and compel those who now supported them
to contribute to schools that they abhorred.—(lle ar.)
It was assa:ned by those who supported the proposition
of the Honourable Member, that nothing had been done
hitherto on the subject of education. This was not the
fact. For 27 years before the Government grant for
education the Church of England bad 530,000 children
in its schools; and in the nine years that bad succeeded
the Government grant they had added to the 550,000
children no less than 400,000. Previous to the Govern-
ment grant the annual subscriptions were 3,0001, and
since the Government grant their annual subscriptions
bad increased to 20,000/. As a proof that the people of
England were not unanimous in favour of what was
called mere " secular" education, he referred to what
bad occurred in Manchester, where, after a long
discussion the word " secular" was omitted from
the name of a society established for promot-
ing education. In Manchester, also, a committee
had been formed, consisting of all classes of
politicians, from the highest Tory to the lowest Radical,
and of ministers of every creed, until lately, when it was
abandoned by the Roman Catholic priests, although not
by the Roman Catholic laity—and that committee pro-
posed to avail itself of all the schools already in existence
to contribute to the maintenance of schools approved of
by the Government Inspector of Educatior. Now, he
asked, if two schools were established, giving secular
education in each, and in each, too. the religious educa-
tion fitted for the children in that school, would not that
be a perfect system of education?—(Hear, hear.) The
whole matter, as put forward by the Hon. Member for