We have already expressed...
The Times, 1824-08-04T00:00:00

Wenave friAdy ecxpyesed our favourable JuEgmenE ox t3he spit.which set on foot a commkisiol for iiquiriig in'to the 6tate of education througout Ireland; and, at the-same time, our belief that. the - resiat would go to imprint very strongly on the publcind the necessity of resorting to far 4ifferent experiments than that of koolc-iR6stuction for her i people.. The domestic habits of' the peasantry, vhich are sucked in with the mother's milk, and cornfirmed andl per- petuated by the daily occurrences of the, cabin-they, it is, which call for an absolute and completereform.- Dirt, and idle7less, and improvidence, are the practicil el nients p7 every child's education. By these, the *povert7ywhich they so. often suffer is alvays aggravated when it does occiir; and frequently, produced where, under, abetter system, it might have been with ease prevented. Akin ta these vices, or misfortunes, and a part of them, is that perfect ignorance of the mnost ordhimay wants of ci- vilized life, which we at least cannot help regarding as the most obvious difference between the Irish labourers andl those of other nations. They seek nothing inore (if so mueh]' in the way of what Englishmen consider " comfort," than would satify the cur-dog that guardis their dwelling, or the pig that shares it. They have no conception of bringing up children to any higher state than one of scanty and precarious livelihood. They have no idea of rcs6rving for their own use, in recompense for their own. toil, any larger portion of what the earth produces than that which thoei ragged and half-starved progenitors received before themn. From this deplorable insensibility to the decent wants of existence, as is well known-indeed so well, that we are almost ashamedl to repeat it-two dreadful eyils fol- low: first, marriage, with just as muclh forecast of its natural consequences as beasts have-not half so much as birds have, whenthey pair: secondly,extravagant biddings for land,which are the immediate causes of those enormous rents so univer- sally complained of by the poor themselves, and so (in that case) unjustly charged upon their landlords. The igno- rance, we say again, of those daily wants wvhich are fami- liar to all civilized beings, is what constitutes, and what prolongs, the miserable conditie3 of the Irish. Can such ignorance be supplied by school-books? Books may cor- rect erroneous theories; but habits of diseased action must be superseded by a practical instruction in better habits. WFe do not propese, therefore, to relinquish nor to narrow the school system of charity throughout Ireland; but we do most earnestly recommend, that in addition to it, some pains shouldl be takeR to improve the daily management and interior arrangement of the cabins, and of the tenements surrounding them. Government there can do nothing, but by furnishing a moderate sum of money. It rests with the gentry, the Protestant clergy, and Catholic priesthood-above all, with the resident ladies of Ireland-to teach the poor in their owln cottages-to make every family a little school, where cleanliness, and decency, and domestic industry, and minute economy of time and space, may supplant the abomiiations which now prevail universally; for, disproportionate as are the rents which these poor creatures impose upon themselves, it must be observed, that by their slovenly, unskilful, and waste- ful practices, the difficalty of providing for the landlord is nearly doubled. Such a course of instruetion, it is true, can be executed only by means of sacrifices on the part of the gentry and clergy wlich they have not been accustomed to. They must visit the poor man's cottage in their own persons-not represented by dlrivers, by tithe-proctors, or policemen: they must overoome a variety of disgusts, forego many idle engagemeents, speak the language of kind and friendly admonition, and follow up their counsels by en- couragements of a more substantial nature to those among the labouring poor who distinguish themselves by superior promptitd(le in acting upon the lessons of their benefactors. By such methods, and such chiely, do we esteem it possible at present to improve the habits of the Irish peor. It may ;ound paradoxical to desire that an increase of their wants ;hould be resorted to as an expedient for relieving them from the pressure of those which now afflict themr: yet if some such stimulus be oot applied, we may anticipate another 100 years of hopeless and melancholy degradation. It will be further said, we have no doubt, that although the poor may be disposed to learn, there are none among the upper classes of Ireland qualified or willinig to act the part which we have suggested, and thus to remedy tlho evils by which they themselves so deeply suff'cr. That is their considleration-not ours. If the Irish gentlemen and their families can neither see the disordler, nor administer a re. medy to benevolent minds so inviting, and to those which arc capable of even slight reflection so indispensable, why the Commissioners ought to obtaia fresh powers, and en- large the sphere of their inquiry, so as to embrace the best methlod of educating the upper classes of the Irish, and fitting them for the dlischarge of their most urgent duties. An Irish " Peasantry Association" has been formed in London for the ilentical objects above explained ; but with.. aut support from Irelaud itself, such partial undertakings can scarcely hope to be successful.