New-York daily tribune., 1846-12-25
Education ofihc Poor.

Our own conviction Of the moral impossbility Of
truly educating or morally improving tie destitute
portion of mankind until they shall have iirst been
socially elevated above their present condition Of
want and misery. need hardly be restateJ. We
haye presented it ia many forms, and 30 much to
the ANNOYANCE of many worthy patrons who can't
imagine what business Political journal mas to
medde with such matters, that we will not farther
tax their forbearance by reterang at this time our
views Instead Of this we will ask tile attention
Of our rcadors-those who hope for radical changes
IN our Social Economy as well as those who dread or
detest all mention OF them-to tue following ex-
tract from the leading article Nov. e7thl OF the
London Times, the abiest. wealthiest md most
powerful journal issued in tho English tongue. The
Editor is commenting on n communication o. more
than two columns in tue same pnper, which points
out in kindred spirit but in detail the Social
obstacles 10 the Education OF the Poor aud, after
brief survey OF the ground goes on TO say
It's in fact the whole of the rural msaoge which
Constitutes the school! 1t is folly to fix ones atten-
MA on ono small building and call the school of
rural life one little man, whose chief scholarship
consists in his uniitncss for any other employment.
aud call him the teacher three or iour years,
ending at the nge Of eight or nine, and call them
sphere take all its circumstances, all its opportun
tics aid temptations. That is the trnc school Of
life. The facts of the will not adjust them
selves TO our theory. We can no more provide Tor
the moral training OF the plowboy by giving him
taat stunt ed technicality which we Cnll religious
education. while we leave the bulk Of his youthful
.ime and interests Mt the mercy OF corrnptng and
degrading influences. than the drunkard can Sc
cure himself from the effects OF daily excess by an
occasional draught of the pure element or by hav-
III, md
tween the ages OF five and nine Discipline com
p.ehends everything that actually teaches,
What then can be done by churches built on the
most genuine models, aud arranged ON the most
thodoS plan, or by schools conducted on the most
scientific principles, when the whole teaching OF
the village which is the aborers little world pulls
the other way Excessive penury, prccarious
employment, tho denial of: common charity in the
hour o! visitation the frequent spectacle OF calamity
unirlended and crime unrepruved, habitations that
preclude habits OF deccncy and cleanliness. and sys
ten Of public relief which conounds all the dstnc-
tions OF morality, constitute giant whole compared
with which the Sunday service and the national
school are impotent and ridiculous. What can be
more painfully true than the following
Now follow the child home in how many of our vii
lagos and towns will You find it placed under force
circumstances that unless be blind and deaf force
knowledge, by and by eye OF evil destructive
Of every decency OF habit or purity OF thought Not
only In the cottage and the lodging is this the case bn;
20 the national refugees Tor the Rdgeni-the union
houses and you will find in them system pursued ihs,
the highest pressure of the worlds worst contamination
could hardly exceed anywhere in the worlds worst
aSodes OF vice So hcrded together the abandoned
Ia :hess establishments that al degrees of vice arsocn
lost; the woman the victim OF sedacer the mother OF
one child 10 made TO keep company With the oldest and
worst enners OF the ssret grls soon rs they are too
old Tor the schoolroon placed among Just that spe-
cies OF adult company which n, their age mus, most
surely cuphaninate them Respectable women who
have been forced fox time 10 mnsle with this heEd
have told x horrors in word and deed which defy
all description. The head Of very large union. house
lSey told such things Of the female wards in l.
would disgrace the worst deas in ST Gess Are these
things unknown No. they quoted To psavs,
the shSmelessness OF the lower orders, Let Us 90 &c
the villages sro which these houses are filled md lei
Us see how things there
not notorious thst very generally ,he cottages
In which the poor dwell constructed ,hsi Rnything
like separation Of the sexes night Is next 70 iupos-
slbe Is il not the fact that In ten thousand father
pother brothers, snd sisters forced 10 unirss snd
lie down TO rest in enc and the So com
Is this state " thnss thst sasisd il has at
fecesd the whole tone OF ieng OF the upper toward he
lower classes We have got into away Of thinking ts.
prsyisy like rags and broken Windows 10 De the regu
Ii not the natural accompaniment of poverty"
We iorbeaf from following our correspondent in,
10 the melancholy incidents with which he Illus.
syates the above and 10 which be has added Z smes
plscss and other particulars IN private note. The
statement IS strong enough as It stands. and Will
approve itself 10 the experience OF every eniiShten
sd and cenerous person acquainted With the dwell
inss and the habits OF the rurs poor II is not 100
much say that the condition Of the cottages IN
large portion of the south OF England can hardly be
accounted for on any other supposition than per.
secs indifference, not 10 say more, on the part OF
owners to the health and morals of the inhabitants
" IL IS impossible to be decentI' is the common
language o. the poor, oooped up as they sre, male
and female, old and young, married and single, in,
SoSsn' ana iaien. dozen in a few cubic yards of
physical and moral Infection. = II ,s impossible to
Se decent - sad the resul, aln,os, to, uDitcrrr,,-
shows how true the assertion. or nor. ready The
excuse. What svsils !, shas educational and ec
clssisssic commissioners are messurips. with ,bs
aicest care the quantity OF atmospheric space =, b
sssisned TO the human unit IN the school and the
church. whea whole families are sleeping. wia,sr
and summer, almost in contact and within two ana
three feet of the slantins rooff five are have
new inquiry into the education OF the country, in
the name OF truth and common sense let 1t eoInpre
bend all that actually eonssieases education ether.
wise we shall certainly find thsf we are only pull
ing down with one hand whatwc are attempting to
build mp with the other
--Mishs no. TIE Times Of .4,sertcs derive
ssns vslssb,s hints fTpsa the as0Ys!