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began with expressing in the strongest terms his sense of the assistance received from the clergy of the established church. It was quite impossible that any words of his could do justice to the zeal, the honesty, and the ability, with which they had lent their assistance towards the attainment of the great object which had been proposed as the result of the inquiries. He need only mention, that after the committee issued their circulars, he received no less than 600 returns, all in one day; and, two days after that, as many as 2600; so that, within one week, about one-third of the whole clergy had obeyed the wishes of the House, that is, those who were sufficiently near the capital to make their returns in such a space of time. In a little while the committee received nearly all the remainder; but, in a correspondence maintained with so large a number of persons as 11,400, there was, as might be expect ed, many defaulters; and they amounted to 600. To these another circular was addressed; whereupon, as universally happened in such cases, their number was soon greatly reduced; and about 200 ministers only were still defaulters. Another circumstance appeared to him worthy of mention About 360 of the most distinct and full of these returns had by some accident been mislaid and lost sight of. The writers were consequently addressed a second time, as supposed defaulters. Would the House believe--and he protested that it did appear to him a most unexampled and incomparable instance of a very honourable and meritorious feeling-that so great and so zealous was their good-will to a most important national object, and such the truly Christian meekness which they evinced, that out of those 360clergymen no more than two murmured at the fresh trouble that was imposed upon them; and even those

two transmitted the required returns, together with their remonstrances? In many cases a foundation was supported by the charity and exertions of the incumbent himself; he spoke of the working parish priest, not of the more dignified prelate, nor of the pluralist. Upon these grounds he made out his case for intrusting the clergy of the establishment with the execution of the plan. He now submitted to the House a digest of the proposed system. Nothing was more difficult than to ascertain the number of poor children requiring education in a country. All former estimates were extremely erroneous, particularly those of Dr Colquhoun. There were now educated at unendowed schools 490,000 children, and to these were to be added about 11,000, for 150 parishes from which no returns had yet been made. In the endowed schools 165,432 children were educated; making a total (exclusive of the 11,000) of 655,432. In England it appeared that on the average 1-14th or 1-15th of the whole population was educated. The Breslaw tables, on which the calculations were made in France, included children between the ages of 7 and 13 years; but he (Mr Brougham) had gone through the laborious task of checking those tables by the digests now before the House, which digests were made up from the actual statements of clergymen, from the personal knowledge of their own parishes; and the result was, that instead of oneninth being the ratio of children requiring education, as compared with the whole mass of the population, he found that it was nearer one-tenth. Now in England the proportion of those actually receiving education was only one-fourteenth or one-fifteenth, so that there appeared to be a considerable deficiency. Another deduction ought, however, to be made for

the unendowed dame-schools, where 53,000 were educated, or rather not educated, for it amounted to no education at all, since the children were generally sent too young, and taken away just when they were competent to learn. He admitted, notwithstanding, that these dame-schools were most useful, on account of the regularity and discipline they inculcated. The average means of mere education, therefore, was only in fact onesixteenth in England; yet even these scanty means had only existed since the year 1803, when what were called the new schools, or those upon the systems of Dr Bell and Mr Lancaster, were established: they were in number 1520, and they received about 200,000 children. Before 1803, then, the amount of education was only as 1-21st, and at that date England might be justly looked on as the worst-educated country of Europe. What a different picture was afforded by Scotland! The education there was 1-9th, or between 1-9th and 1-10th. Wales was even in a worse state than England: at the present day it was 1-20th, and before 1803 it was 1-26th. The proportion in France at this day was 1-28th, but even this had only been produced by very recent improvements. In 1819, only 1,070,000 children of the population received education, but it was greater by 200,000 than in 1817. In truth, it had been almost as bad as Middlesex, which, though the great metropolitan county, was, without all dispute, the worst-educated part of Christendom. (Hear, hear.) No sooner had the defect been discovered in France, than the inhabitants set about to reform it, and, from the zeal with which the subject was undertaken, no less than 7120 new schools had been opened, and 204,000, or the children of two millions of the whole population, had since 1817 received education-an example well

worthy of admiration and of imitation. There were about 12,000 ecclesiastical districts in England; and of these 3500 had not the vestige of a school, endowed, unendowed, or dame: they had no more means of education than were to be found in the country of the Hottentots. Of the remainder, 3000 had endowed schools, and the rest relied entirely on unendowed schools of course fleeting and casual. In Scotland it was known that every parish, great or small, had one or more schools; some of them endowed, upon which were formed the bulk of those where the majority of the population was educated. Middlesex was three times worse educated than all the rest of England. Lancashire was next in the scale, where it was 1-21st, or very nearly half as bad again as the rest of England. In the four northern counties taken together, the average was 1-10th of the population; but in Westmoreland singly, he was happy to say, that it amounted to 1-7th. In Scotland, although all the children were educated, there was scarcely one whose parent or friend did not pay something for it. Even the peasants took care to provide means for this purpose: and we in this part of the empire might well envy Scotland the possession of such a peasantry. We might also be assured that there was no way of getting rid of the poorlaws, and of their increasing evil, except by a restoration of those wholesome feelings which England once had, which Scotland still has, but would not long continue to have, if the poor-laws were extended to that country. He might here advert and point the attention of the House to a digest of the reports of the Scotch clergy on this subject, as one of the most admirable and affecting documents which had ever been submitted to their consideration. In that might be taken a correct view of the charac

ter of the people; în that might be found manifested, in a thousand ways, the zeal and earnestness of parents in procuring instruction for their children. In Scotland there were parishes fifteen miles in length, and six in breadth. It was easier for an adult to go to church than for a child to go to school in such cases. But what was the expedient suggested by their zeal and ingenuity? The schoolmaster was taken into houses successively, and was boarded in remuneration for his trouble in teaching the children. Scotland was not remarkable for abundance of animal food, but the parents gave him some kind of sub. stance, probably better suited to their means than to his appetite. There was a curious similarity in this respect between that part of the kingdom and the south of France. It was observed, in a report of the French commissioners, that "happy was the schoolmaster who lived in the rugged districts of the Pyrennees; there he was at least sure of not dying of hunger, for the people, having no money, boarded him by rotation." How differently were we situated in this country, and how ample were our means of diffusing instruction throughout all classes! The money which had been thrown away on the Caledonian Canal, would have educated half of England, and the whole of Scotland. Mr Brougham now proceeded to give a view of the provisions of the bill which he was to lay before the House. The determination when a school was necessary in any ecclesiastical district, was to be made by the quarter sessions. A complaint might be brought before them by the grand jury at Easter, by the clergy of the district, or even by any five resident housekeepers. The salary of the schoolmaster, as he proposed, should in no case be less than 20l. per annum, nor more than 30l. It might

be objected, that this was a great deal too little; but he did not wish for sinecurists, or to take from them the desire of obtaining day scholars. It was his great object, that whilst measures were adopted for bringing education home to the doors of all, that all should still pay a little for it. The expense was to be defrayed out of the parish rates, and he trusted the country gentlemen would not complain of this very small addition, which would soon, he trusted, lead to a much greater reduction of these rates. The expense of the school and garden, however, should fall, he thought, upon the part of the community engaged in manufacture, and should be advanced, in the first place, by the treasurer for the county. The qualification of the master should be a certificate from the clergyman and three householders of the parish in which he resided. He must be above 24, and under 40: boys of 15, and men of 70, had ruined more schools than any other cause. He must be a member of the esta blished church; and the appointment was to be open to the parish clerks, as the union of the two situations might tend to elevate both. The election was to take place in the following manner: 1st. A meeting was to be called, by notice posted on the church-doors a month before the election, of inhabitant housekeepers, rated to the school rate. They were to assemble in the church between twelve and three o'clock. 2d. Proprietors of above 100l. a-year might vote by their agents, authorized in writing for that purpose. 3d. The senior parish-officer to preside, and have a casting vote in case of equal numbers. It did appear to him, that the system of public education should be closely connected with the Church of England, as established by law. When he came to consider the inestimable advantages of a system that would secure the ser

vices of such a body of men as the established clergy-when he looked to the infinite benefit that would arise from having the constant, the daily superintendance of such a character as a well-educated and pious English churchman-when he became sensible how much the durability of the system would be increased by giving it that solidity, that deep root, that wide basis which no new system could possess or acquire without being grafted on an old stock, he felt the full force of the argument. A religious education was most essential to the welfare of every individual. To the rich, it was all but every thing-to the poor, it might be said, without a figure, to be every thing. It was to them that the Christian religion was preached-it was their special patrimony; and if the legislature did not secure for them a religious education, they did not, in his opinion, half execute their duty to their fellow-creatures. Let the House look to the alacrity, the zeal, the warm-heartedness which the established clergy manifested for the education of the poor. They declared that blessings would be poured down on Parliament if they carried into effect a religious system of education, which they expressly declared to be the most effectual barrier against the prevailing vices of the time. Under these views, he proposed that the parson should have a veto on the election, and should have constant access to examine the school. The higher clergy were to have the power of visitation; and the visitor could dismiss the schoolmaster, subject to an appeal to the metropolitan. The school fees were to be fixed by the parson and parish officers, and not to be less than 2d. or more than 4d. aweek. A certain number to be admitted gratis, or to have their fees paid out of the parish rates. No religious book to be taught except the

Bible, and no form of prayer to be used except the Lord's prayer, or passages of Scripture. Under these regulations it was conceived that only the most squeamish dissenters could object to sending their children.They were to be exempted from the Sunday discipline, which consisted in taking the children once a-day to the parish church, and teaching them in the evening the Church Catechism, and certain portions of the liturgy.

Mr Brougham finally stated the measures proposed for improving the efficiency of the endowments for education that actually existed. It was proposed that, in the establishments for grammar schools, there should be an arrangement for teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, either by the master himself, or an assistant. This might be supposed to lower the dignity of these schools, but it would make them much more useful. The present incumbents, however, were to be exempted from this obligation. He proposed also to limit or prohibit the system of boarding, which, in many of these establishments, engrossed the whole attention of the master. Mr B. finally stated the expense of the plan. Taking the whole kingdom at the same rate with Devonshire, which was the county least provided with schools, the expense would be for building of new schools, purchasing of ground, &c. &c., 850,000l. But taking the average with Cumberland, which was only 400,000l., he could state the expense, on a liberal average, to be only from 500,000l. to 600,000l. These were not times in which any sums could be spoken of as unimportant; at other times those sums would have been thought little. The annual average upon the Devonshire scale would be 150,000l.: on the Cumberland scale, 100,000%.

Lord Castlereagh said, that he had listened with much satisfaction to the

perspicuous details given with so much ability by the honourable and learned gentleman. He was quite incapable of giving any opinion at present on the general merits of the proposed plan, but he discharged his duty by giving his consent to the bringing in of the bill, reserving to some future occasion the discussion of its principles. From the importance of the subject, and the great details involved in it, he hoped the honourable and learned gentleman would not press the bill during the present session. After the bill should have been brought in, it could be printed, and members could so be prepared for its discussion. He, at least, would give it his best attention.

Mr Brougham expressed his acquiescence in this delay, though he would be better pleased to get the bill through in the present session. Mr Wilberforce and Sir James Mackintosh expressed their approbation of the plan.

Mr Vesey Fitzgerald and Sir John Newport expressed their sense of the great benefit which such a measure would secure to Ireland, though there were many details in the present bill which appeared to them inapplicable to that country.-Mr Brougham stated, that in framing its provisions, Ireland had not been at all in view.

Leave was then given to bring in the bill.

Among the miscellaneous proceed ings of the year, it would be improper to omit the proposition made for the abolition of the Welsh system of judicature. This was brought for ward on the 1st June by Mr Frederick Campbell, who observed, that the present system of Welsh judicature was first adopted at a period when a distinct line could be drawn between England and Wales, and when great animosities subsisted between the inhabitants of the two countries, At

that period it might be perfectly proper; and a court like the court of great session might have been absolutely necessary. Now, however, that the boundaries of England and Wales served for no other purpose than that of a geographical distinction, and that the interests of their inhabitants had become so closely interwoven that they could never again be easily separated, the case was completely altered, and the necessity for the existence of a separate court, like the court of great session, was materially diminished. It was urged, indeed, in favour of this system, that the law was more cheaply administered under it, than it could be under any other. There was indeed a regulation by which every action must be concluded within a week, but was this consistent with the due administration of law? If the suitor did not like such summary justice, he must either submit his case to arbitration, postpone it for six months, or carry it to the next English county. Mr Campbell endeavoured to shew, that the alleged cheapness was illusory, unless in a few cases, where, if it appeared expedient, the old system could still be retained. Then there were no lawyers in Wales duly acquainted with equity proceedings, which appeared indeed to be of only secondary consideration in these circuits. He objected to the judges in these courts being allowed to practise as barristers in other courts, and particularly to the mode of their appointment. The nomination lay in the treasury, and when a vacancy occurred, instead of looking about at the bar for the most proper person to fill it, they looked at the House of Commons, of which they knew much more; and if a seat could be secured, or a vote gained by it, so much the better. They were not very nice in their selection, as the salary was so

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