The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-01-13 00:00:00

LANCASTERIAN MEETING.

At a numerous and very respectable general meet:.
ing of the Inhabitants, Ladies, and Gentlemen of
High Wycombe and its vicinity, held in the Town
Hall, on the 4th'of January, 1812, for the purposa
of establishing a Royal Lancasterian School.

Sir Tiimam BARING, Bart. M P. Presided.

Lord Viscount M AVON being unanimously re;
quested to take the Chair, in a very able manfur
tated the object of the meeting, in a speech of con•
,iderable length, .the sound arguments, iMprestive
2loquence, and liberable principles of which ilia
.vhole company testified, by the liveliest and warmest
approbation; and of which the following is the sub-
stance

LADIES and GENTLEMEN,--Tt is unnecessary for ne
o enlarge on the general principles and great advena
' tsges of education. In earlier periods of the hiss
tory of our own country, reading and writing were
confined almost exclusively to the Clergy ; when au
Act was passed by the Legislature, and wi ich still
exists, known by the name of " Benefit of Clergy."
You will also recollect, that when the art of print-
ing was discovered, and the knowledge of letters
began to increase in so extraordinary a degree, teen
it was that mankind began to emeige from a state of
barbarism—that learning and literature re%ived—that
arts and sciences, strengthened wills each ether's
atvenstth, and grew with each other's arossth. It
cannot be admitted that reading and wrlties are i. 7..
furious to the lower classes; it is only necessar) to
state the objection in order to refute it : a propesi-
tion so absurd, so preposterous, and so cruel, C1:1••
not be allowed. Thole who advan e the ~entiment,
that mankind should continue ill a state of igoorance,
have secret motives they de not publicly avow, a,.d
certain private views they are unwilling to own. We
know that in society there must be a gradation from
the Prince to the Peasant. There will always be
found persons enough to till up the mo.e laborious, t
but not less honourable and useful, offiess of tee State;
but is it nothing that the children s, the poor should
rise in intellectiml attainments ; is i' s small et an in-
considerable advantage, that they should he able to
communicate their opini,•ns, and state their feelings ?
By instructing the poor, you will render them ;tot
only happier and more esefel, but more morel nu tn.
hers of society. Of all the various schemes which
the ingenuity of man has hitherto invented, or de+
vised, for the purpose of commuticating the ‘alua.tle
arts of reading and writing, there is none, of which
the principles in general appear so plain, and which
has uniformly been found so successful, as that of
Joseph Lancaster. A needless dispute has arisen,
whether he were the original inventor of th whole of
this system or not ? This is a question naturally in-.
teresting to the parties themselves and their atllle-
rents ; but with this we can have no concern. Tile
essence of the question is, which is the system of
education most adapted to the wants and wisltss of
this place?
Gentlemen, from all I hate heard, after the most
deliberate, and, I may add, dispassionate inquiry,
Dr. Bell's plan is more expensive and les. effieociests
than that of Joseph Lancaster. I rest the question
II upon this single remark: Dr. Bell's system, to this
' particular district, is wholly inapplicable; amd this
is an argument which no one can remove. Dr. Bell's
method is founded upon preference and separation :
I meanl the peculiar tenets of the Church or Eng-
land must be taught :—hut in that practised It) Jo-
seph Lancaster, no peculiar sentiments, distinct from
one another, are inculcated ; h.rt all are t•lnglit from
that sacred source, which ail Christine, ackitoe ledge
as the foundation of their religion, the 110 l Scrip.
1 tures ; together with Dr. Watts's Hyross far C7;il-
- are tile only box Ls ad:oiled let ; the
school. Do you not feel, that Di. Bell's s) ', m
would have the practical effect of excluding the ci.;l-
- drett of the Di,senters, who form so large a propor.
' tion of this district; but that of Jos. pi: Lancaster
must be beneficial to all religious denominations. I
was educated in the love of the principles of religious
liberty, and in the love of those principles I shall
die. [A burst of general applause.] Can, the Su.
preme Being, will not judge us by what catechisms
we learnt, or what churches we attended, in our
youth. I conceive that all religious roads tend to
the same point : all of you pursue your journey (or
at least you think you do, which is the same thing
for my argument) for your personal satiation. The
system of Dr. Bell cannot, and ought not, to be in-
troduced into this district, as it would be usere•s, in
as much as it would exclude many of the children of
this town and neighbourhood.
Joseph Lancaster has a merit which no man can
dispute with him ; he has been the first to carry it
into execution in this country ; and, with scatty
means, he persevered in his laudable, patriotic, and
useful endeavours. He has made jouruies, and has ,
the satisfaction, which, to a heart like his, must be
I so gratifying, of seeing his system diffusing' the bless.
ings of education. It is because he is now in Dub-
lin, that he is not present on this occasion. When
his discovery was known, it was promoted as it de-
seered. It has the patronage of our Sovereign :
need I repeat his memorable words to Joseph Len-
caster, " that it was his desire every poor child in
his dominions should be taught to read the Bible ;"
and shall we not carry into execution the pious Bed
benevolent desire of our August Sofereic ? You
will find, also, among the promoters of this import-
ant cause, names distinguished for piety, virtue, and
talents. Can it be supposed that his Majesty, whose
strong, sincere, and zealous attachment to the reli-
gion, as by law established,:s so Kell known, would
patronize (as he nobly meld justly did) a scheme, the
tendency of which would overthrow the religion so
established ; would those great atel noble personages
countenance a system, calculated to sap and under-
mine the Established Church ? No danger whatever
can exist from adopting the plan now proposed.
Gentlemen, the particular advantages of this aye.
tem I take to be these: first, its great economy of
money ; and this you will feel to be no inconsider-
able advantageat such a- time as the present : when
burdens are NOV every class of the commit/say.—
With the same fends you will be able to produce s.
. greater benefit, It has beep found thatchildren can
be educated at the annual ism of three shillings ; I
mean tbree shillings and no Shore, to educate one
child for one year; which,sto this day (that is, Up to
the time of discovering this plan), is an aaexamptact