The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-24 00:00:00

EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE.

On Drionday the first of the three general Con-
ferences to be held with.ti view of fully discussing
the Educa.ional question in all its bearings, espe-
cially in relation to the early age at which the
children of the working classes are removed from

school, was held at Willis's-rooms, under the pre-
sidency of his Royal Highness Prince Albert and
a number of distinguished noblemen and gentle-
men. Long before the hour fixed for the Prince to
take the chair the room was completely crowded,
_ _

and the reception accorded to_his Royal Highness
ou his arrival was most warm ant flattering.

His ROYAL HIGHNESS, who on his rising was re-
ceived with prolonged cheering, iminefiliately pro-
cPeded to address the meeting as follows :—Gen-

Lemen, we have met to7dayfin. the sacred cause

of Education—of National Education. This
word, which means no less than the moral and
intellectual development of the rising generation,

end, therefore, tire national welfare-, is well
calculated to engross our minds, and opens
a question worthy of a nation's deepest
interest and most anxious consideration. Gentle-
men, the nation is alive to its importance, and our
presence here to-day gives further evidence (if such
evidence were needed) of its anxiety to give it that
consideration. Looking to former times, we find
that our forefathers, with their wonted piety and
pa' ernal care, had established a system of national
education, based upon the parish organisation and
forming part of parish life, which met the wants
of their day, and had in it a certain unity and com-
pleteness which we may may well envy at the pre-
sent moment. But in the progress of time our
wants have outstripped that system, and the con-
dition of the country has so completely changed
even within these last 50 years that the old paro-
chial division is no longer adequate for the present
population. This has increased during that period
in England and Wales from, in round numbers,
9,000,000 to 13,0,10,000, and, where there for-
merly existed comparatively small towns and
villages, we now see mighty cities like Liverpool,
Manchester, Hull, Leeds, Birmingham, and others,
with their hundreds of thousands, springing up
almost, as it were, by enchantment, London leaving
increased to nearly two and a-half million of souls,
and the factory district of L tncashire alone having
aggregated a population of nearly 3,000,000 within
a radius of 30 miles ! This change could not escape
the watchful eye of a patriotic public ; but how to
provide the means of satisfying the new wants could
not be a matter of easy solution. While zeal for
the public good, a fervent religious spirit, and true
philanthropy are qualities eminently distinguishing
our countrymen, the love of liberty and an aversion
from being controlled by the power of the State in
matters nearest to their hearts, are feelings
which always most powerfully influence them in
action. Thus the common object has been contem-
plated from the most different points of view, and
pursued often upon antagonistic principles. Some
have sought the aid of Government, others that of
the Church to which they belong ; some have de-
clared it to be the duty of the State to provide
elementary instruction for the people at large, hers
have seen in State interference a check to the spon-
taneous exertions of the people themselves, and an
interference with self-government ; some, again,
have advocated a plan of compulsory education
based upon local self-government, and others the
voluntary system in its widest development. While
these have teen some of the political subjects of
difference, those in the religious field have not been
less marked and potent. We find, on the one hand,
the wish to see secular and religious instruction
separated, and the former recognised as an innate
and inherent right, to which each member of society
has a claim, and which ought not to be denied to
him if he refuses to take along with it the inculca-
tion of a particular dogma to which he objects as
unsound ; while we see, on the other hand, the doc-
trine asserted that no education can be sound which
does not rest on religious instruction, and that re-
ligious truth is too sacred to be modified and tam-
pered with, even in its minutest deductions, for the
sake of procuring a general agreement. (Much
cheering.) Gentlemen, if these differences were to
o
have been discussed here to-day I
been able to respond to your invitation to take the
chair, as I should have thought it inconsistent with
the position which I occupy and with the duty which
I owe to the Queen and the country at large. I
see those here before me who have taken a leading
part in these important discussions, and I am happy
to meet them upon a neutral ground ; happy to
find that there is a neutral ground upon which their
varied talents and abilities can be brought to bear
in communion upon the common object ; and proud
and grateful to them that they should have allowed
me to preside over them for the purpose of work-
ing together in the common vineyard. I feel cer-
tain that the greatest benefit must arise to the
cause wo have all so much at heart by the mere
free exchange of your thoughts and various experi-
ence. You may well be proud, gentlemen, of the
results hitherto achieved by your rival efforts, and
may point to the fact that, since the beginning of the
century, while the population has doubled itself, the
number of schools both public and private has been
multiplied 14 times. In 1801 there were in England
and Wales, of public schools, 2,876 ; of private
schools, 487—total, 3,363. In 1851 (the year 'of
the census) there were in England and Wales, ,of
public schools, 15,518 ; of private schools, 30,5.24