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members of all communions; or that it shall be limited to a separate lecture, to be given at a certain allotted period in each week, and only to such as may choose to avail themselves of it. Now, however the advocates of this system may persuade themselves to the contrary, it is quite manifest, that either of these plans would establish an education without religion. The first proposes a system of tuition of which religion, it is said, is to form a part; but that religion is to be denuded of everything that might give offence to the professors of any one form or mode of belief. To avoid displeasing the Socinian, the divinity of the Son of God, and the consequent efficacy of his atonement, must be kept out of view; to conciliate the Romanist, the sole mediation of our Saviour, and the right of all mankind to the free and unrestricted perusal of the word of God, must be passed over in silence; while, lest the prejudices of the Jew should be wounded, all mention of the very name of Christ must be strictly forbidden. Can it be necessary to demonstrate, by any argument, that a religion without form or feature, such as this must prove, would be, in fact, no religion at all; or that a mere collection of moral precepts, isolated from those doctrines which alone can supply adequate motives for the observance of the precepts, would produce no other result than that of weariness and aversion? The connexion between doctrines and duties, faith and practice, is vital and indissoluble.

Nor could the second of these plans prove more successful. By it, every particle and vestige of religion would be cast out of the system of tuition; and a bare permission would remain for the ministers of every creed to visit the school at certain stated hours in each week, for the purpose of lecturing or catechising those among the scholars who choose to receive their instructions. But it is sufficiently obvious, that a periodical lecture of this sort, attended only at the option of the scholars, could have scarcely any perceptible value or utility. In either way, Christianity would be removed from its rightful position, as the vital and pervading principle; and would either be reduced to a meagre and useless outline, or pushed into a corner as a doubtful and optional appendage to the system.

Such is the alternative which is now pressed upon the attention of the government and the country. The question is not, whether the poor should be educated, for on that there is no controversy; but whether their education should be conducted, as heretofore, on a system of which religion forms the leading feature, or on either of these two plans of the " Central Society," by each of which it is, in effect, practically excluded.

It is needless to remark how deeply the members and friends of the church of England are interested in the right settlement of this question. For should it ever be decided by the state, that the rising generation shall be trained in schools in which Christianity is not inculcated, a habit of indifference to religion will be engendered in the popular mind, so as at once to alienate it from Christianity, and from the established church, by which Christian doctrines are so faithfully set forth. We therefore feel that this question directly affects the security of the establishment; and we are persuaded, that the time is now come when its importance ought to be urged upon the earnest attention of all the friends of the church.

Five years have elapsed since the self-styled "liberal" party commenced their exertions for the introduction of their system of education. It is impossible to deny, that during that time, owing to the inertness of Christians in general, they have made considerable advances towards their end. They have succeeded, during three sessions, in prevailing on the House of Commons to grant them committees, before which witnesses were produced for the purpose of explaining and extolling the "liberal plan of education." They have established the Central Society of Education, already alluded to, which embraces many members of parliament and other public characters, and the publications of which depreciate all descriptions of religious education, and advocate the superiority of their own plan. They have further laboured to instil their

views into the public mind throughout England by popular lectures and addresses at public meetings, and they have elicited petitions,-many of which, no doubt, have been signed by persons little aware of the tendency of their system, but which prove the progress that their doctrines are making in the country. They have therefore felt themselves, at length, sufficiently strong to bring the question under the notice of both houses of parliament in the present session. In the House of Lords, a bill has been introduced by Lord Brougham, which embodies the principle of this system, and proposes its immediate establishment. In the House of Commons, Mr. Wyse has brought forward a motion which would introduce the system, by establishing that which is one of its great features,—a central board of education nominated by government. It must not be forgotten, that both these proposals, pernicious as their obvious tendency is, have received the general approbation, expressed in parliament, of persons now high in office; and that Mr. Wyse's motion was defeated by a majority of four only, in a house consisting of one hundred and forty-four members. It is impossible, therefore, to deny that these views have made formidable progress, and that, if we would prevent their adoption in this country, we must forthwith awaken the public attention to their dangerous and antichristian character.

We are indeed fully convinced that, if the tendency of this system of education were properly understood, it would receive no countenance from the majority of the people. It would be found that, however anxious they are that the means of instruction should be widely extended, they would require that the education of the poor should be based on religion; that it should combine Christian instruction with useful knowledge; and that parliament should not impose on the members of the church of England, who are the great majority of the people, any system of education which should not inculcate the doctrines of that church; any, in short, which should not harmonize in all its parts with the discipline and polity of that church, and be conducted under the superintending care of the parochial clergy.

But it is necessary that the people should be warned of the actual position of this question, and of the danger attending the least appearance of indifference. The advocates of an education without religion have now brought the danger to our very doors. The opening of the next session of parliament must witness some very decided manifestation of opinion on the part of those who feel the importance of a religious education, or there can be little doubt that some step will be gained by the adversaries of the church, the evil consequences of which may be irremediable. Let, then, all who take any interest in the religious state and prospects of their country-all who know that a people without religion must of necessity be a people without morals, and that a demoralized population cannot long continue either free or happy-let all, in short, who are convinced that "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people," resolve to oppose themselves, as strenuously and as unitedly as possible, to any system of education of which religion does not form the prominent and essential principle. By order of the Committee, SAMUEL MILLS, Secretary.

Committee Room, 28, Cockspur Street,
London, July 25, 1838.

EDUCATION IN THE MANUFACTURING DISTRICTS.

THE following report on this subject has been addressed to the committee of the Home and Colonial Infant-School Society by their secretary:

"

Gentlemen,-Interested as you are in all that relates to early education, it has been for some time my desire to bring before you its present state in the manufacturing districts in England; and in order to do this more satisfactorily, and to test, by personal observation, the accuracy of the information gathered

from various quarters, I have availed myself of the facility which railroads present to visit Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, and some of the adjacent places.

"The act of the 3rd and 4th William IV. cap. 103, you are aware, prohibits the employment of children in the factories under nine years of age, and only those between that age and thirteen to be at work nine hours each day. From what has passed in parliament, I did not expect that this statute was fully carried into effect; but as it had not been repealed, I was not prepared for its entire abandonment, and calculated on it as affording some facilities to the work of education.

"It is obvious, however, that if many of the manufacturers disgraced the act, the better disposed are almost compelled to follow their example. The most able workmen would naturally go where they may obtain the highest reward; and as this, to family men, would be the factories were their young children obtained employment, such factories would have a decided prefer

ence.

"The manufacturers who wished to obey the law would have no remedy but to raise the wages of such workmen, and if they did so, it would at once make their competition with their neighbours unequal. A large manufacturer, who appeared to feel very much the painful situation in which he was placed, lamented to me, that it was the interest of the parents to deceive him as to the ages of their children,' omitting to add, as he might have done, 'that it was his interest to be deceived.' This is plainly the fact; and although doubtless there are a few honourable exceptions, in the vast majority of cases the act is a dead letter.*

"Under circumstances such as these, when all the parties concerned have an interest opposed to the law, it will be very difficult to frame any act that will not be greatly evaded; but I would not venture to say success is altogether unattainable until very different provisions, and a far more efficient machinery, have been tried. At present, however, when considering the question of education, with a view to any immediate practical steps, this act may be forgotten. Children do go to work before nine, and I may safely add before eight, and in many cases as early as seven.

"This is an appalling statement, but its enormity has been too frequently and too loudly exposed to render it necessary for me to dwell on the subject; the fact itself will prepare you for the announcement, that for any purposes of education among the really manufacturing population, the National Schools and the British and Foreign Schools have entirely failed; in most instances they are not half full; and when from the excellency of the master or mistress, or the activity of the managing committee, an attendance has been procured, it will be invariably found that the older children are not the children of labourers who work in the factories, but of the little tradesmen, and the more respectable mechanics, who could well afford to pay the ordinary price for their children's instruction. One of the labouring class candidly said to me, 'When work is brisk, I can get 28. or 3s. a-week for my child's labour; and when work is not brisk, I cannot afford to pay for his schooling-it is enough then if I can keep myself.'

"If this view did not at once approve itself to the understanding, so as to render proof unnecessary, I might refer to a recent statistical return published by Mr. Joseph Bentley, in which it is stated that six-sevenths of the children of Lancashire do not attend any daily school. Admitting this estimate to be, as I believe it is, somewhat exaggerated, still if it be only an approximation towards the truth, it affords strong evidence that the existing plan requires

It is, perhaps, worthy of remark, that I was unable to obtain a copy of this act at any bookseller's shop in Manchester.

revision, and powerfully appeals to the friends of education to turn their valuable exertions into a different channel.

"It will readily be understood that I am finding no fault with the systems pursued by the two societies to which I have adverted; they are avowedly framed for children from seven or eight to fourteen, and however excellent in themselves, no man who does not shut his eyes to what is going forward in the manufacturing districts could expect they would render any material assistance, or answer any useful purpose there. They are indeed injurious, for by educating the children of parents who can afford to pay, they are competing with a very valuable class of men, the private schoolmasters, and absorbing charitable funds, for which there is other and ample employment.

"I should not think this opinion had in it much of novelty; it seems to lie as it were on the surface of the question; and yet I was surprised to find that a society recently formed at Manchester, for the purpose of promoting education, was about to commence its labours by establishing two schools, one on the British and Foreign plan, and the other on the system of Mr. D. Stow, of Glasgow, both schools for children of from six or seven to twelve and upwards.

"If the object of this society be, as I have reason to suppose, to educate the children of the working classes, it is impossible not to anticipate another failure, and the consequent loss of much valuable time. The great problem before them, as practical men, is what, under present circumstances, can be done for the children before they attain the age of seven or eight; and view the question as they may, to this conclusion they must come.

"It gave me much satisfaction to find, so far as my inquiries extended, that the sabbath schools were in a state of efficiency; they were receiving much unbought attention, and doing great good. As the elder children evidently receive no daily instruction, I felt anxious to ascertain the state in which they were when admitted into these schools; whether, in fact, there was a sufficient number of efficient and well-conducted infant-schools, in which children might be collected together, and remain from two or three to eight, and afterwards be watched over, and their early impressions kept up, and strengthened in the Sunday-schools. I was greatly grieved to find that comparatively few such schools existed. In Manchester and Salford, for example, whilst upwards of 40,000 children attend the Sunday-schools, scarcely 1000 attend infant-schools. I was still more grieved to ascertain that these schools, as well as similar schools at Birmingham, Liverpool, &c., are, with scarcely a single exception, wretchedly conducted; the teachers appeared to know little or nothing of the principles on which early education ought to proceed, nor of the results it was capable of producing: reciting poetry, singing hymns, manual exercises, stories, particularly from the Bible, and a little arithmetic, formed the staple. There was very little attention to moral training, and scarcely an effort to develop or improve the faculties of the infant. When questions were asked in the gallery, they were always answered by four or five of the elder children; and the countenances of the remainder evidently shewed that they did not understand, and therefore took no interest in what was going forward.

"One or two of these schools were called 'model schools,' and teachers were in the habit of attending three or four weeks to learn what they were pleased to call 'the system,' previously to their taking charge of other schools. Thus error has been extended; the teachers, acquiring no knowledge, teach nothing, and in consequence the great majority of the infant-schools appeared to me very little better than the old-fashioned dame-schools.

"It is to this very inefficient state of infant-schools that I attribute the little attention they receive, and the low place they hold in the estimation of the philanthropic individuals who are exerting themselves for the improvement of this plague-spot' of England. I found very few persons who were aware of the steps already taken by Mr. D. Stow, and the Educational Society of

Glasgow, or by our society, to improve the system of early education, or of the success which had attended those efforts. The infant-schools in their own immediate neighbourhood had obviously failed, and without investigating the cause of this failure, they appeared ready to abandon the only machinery which, in the present position of things, can touch the evil they wish to

alleviate.

"Every intelligent man with whom I conversed readily admitted that there was no present hope of obtaining the attendance of the poor children at school after seven or eight years of age, and that before that age neither the National nor the British and Foreign School system was applicable, and yet I had great difficulty in awakening attention to any improved system of infant training. "The subject of education generally is certainly engaging the minds of many. I scarcely spoke to any one who was not more or less interested in it, but their thoughts appeared to be occupied by plans for erecting district normal schools for the instruction of teachers on a great scale, or by a government plan for national education, whilst, in the meantime, the poor children around them were tottering to the manufactories on legs scarcely able to support them, as ignorant and misinformed for every purpose of good as when they first entered the world.

“You will not, I am sure, misunderstand me. I do not mean to undervalue normal schools, or extended plans of education; all I would contend for is, the urgent necessity of doing what we can' immediately, allowing these larger schemes to supersede our more limited exertions as soon as they are in a state to do so.

"What is wanted is to render the existing infant-schools really efficient; to turn the National, and British, and Foreign Schools, where it is admitted they have failed, into infant-schools; and to bring in aid of the same object the school-rooms of the Sunday-schools, at present used for sabbath instruction only. This will at once give us buildings sufficient, or nearly sufficient, to reach the whole of the working population.

"On general principles I should never, as an individual, advocate the interference of government with education. It appears to me, it should be accomplished by private charity, which blesseth the giver and the receiver. Even if in a government so popular as ours we could exclude parliamentary influence, and secure an education decidedly religious, still I should say, 'leave the people alone.' Different opinions will, of course, be held on this point; but all will agree that the present state of our manufacturing population is a gangrene, and can scarcely be paralleled, except by a slave population. A positive disease must not be dealt with on the general principles applicable to a healthy state of society; and I would therefore venture to suggest, as a fit subject for consideration, whether the assistance of government should not be applied for, for the purpose of training teachers on the improved infant-school systems to which I have adverted. It would probably take, on a rough estimate, about 30l. to educate a man and his wife, or one-half that sum to educate a single female. By great exertion the existing societies might educate nearly 200 in one year, at an expense of from 3000l. to 4000l.; during that time, no doubt, arrangements could be made for doubling or trebling the number, so that in three, or at most four years, we might hope to provide teachers for all the vacant buildings; and as the weekly payments of the infants would go a great way towards the payments of salaries, we might thus hope to put in operation a machinery powerful enough to make a sensible impression on this moral wilderness.

"In these measures, too, we might reasonably expect to have the concurrence of the manufacturers; training children to habits of attention and obedience, inculcating honesty on principle, developing their faculties on the every-day objects which surround them, would render their labour more valuable; they would perform their allotted tasks with more ease and more efficiency; and I should not despair of seeing the time when the employers of labour would so

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