The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-03-03 00:00:00

'1 by incontrovertible evidence, and

of societ

•, existing in the heart

!ned England, in th

rnrnediate vicinity of

ses of wealth, and of th

national

rength, such as most assu-
redly is not to be parallelled throughout_the eivitiaed
world; and such perusal, we are confident, must im-
press deeply upon his mind the conviction that upon
no country can the blessing of God fall, in which such
a state of society is permitted to exist—that no country
deserves to be happy and prosperous which is not
ready to put forth the vast energies, which this country
possesses, to repair the consequences of its past

neglect

Glance only at •the immediate neighbourhood of
Manchester—the centre of exclusive enlightenment in
political matters—the hot-bed of liberalism, and the
seat of the utilitarian philosophy. Go no further than
five or six miles from that cotton metropolis—to the
town of Ashton-under-Lyne, with fifty or sixty thou-
' Stalybridge, with thirty to forty thousand;
not more than one in forty-six of the children of
receiving the benefits of a religious
eflield, Leeds, Birmingham,
nd villages pointed
uatic catalogue which Lord Ashley has placed
before our eyes; and say if we have not, as a professinif
Christian people, ample caus
rnities which are rife in

sand souls,

aak at Sh

Wolverl

ampton, and other town

to blush for the enor-

them--for the mental pollution

lg their rising generation to the

Level of the beasts e

lert Peel's g

raliste of the. day--to the men who have vaunted
so loudly their zeal for the enlightenment of the

people !)—is at length, at the eleventh hour, about to

be grappled with, and in a worthy spirit. The heart-
stirring appeal of his lordship has been replied to by
Sir James Graham, who, on the part of the govern-
ment, has laid before the house and the country the
outlines of the plan which he purposes during the pre-
sent session endeavouring to carry out. The plan in
question—or rather plans, for the measure will em-
brace two—we shall here briefly detail.
The first of these has reference to the education of
pauper children, embracing orphans and the children
of working people, not being paupers, who are unable
otherwise to provide them education. For these it is
proposed to erect schools, to contain the children
within a district of fifteen miles, having attached to
such schools a chaplain, appointed with the sanction of
the bishop, and a chapel. The system of education
will be one based upon the reading of the Scriptures
in the authorised version, with instruction in the cate-
chism, and portions of the liturgy of the Church of
England. The children of Protestant dissenters may,
however, be withdrawn during the hours in which the
doctrines of the Church are taught, their religious

teaching being attended, to by their own ministers.
The schools will be visited by inspectors appointed
by the Council of Education, who will have instruc-
tions to see that the terms under which dissenting
children are permitted to embrace the benefit of the
schools are strictly adhered to. The erection of the
necessary buildings will be provided for by a rate not
to exceed one-fifth of the average amount of the poor-
rate for the three preceding years.

The second plan has reference to the education to
be provided for the children of the working classes in
The custom of the
i 3 been, hitherto, to extend the
only when two •thirds of the
tributed

manufacturing districts

Council of Elucation

s grants in

have been c

James Grah