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Leader (1850-1860), 27th June 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 5

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      Imperial Parliament. —>»——Mo&Da*/, June ...

      Mr . Drummond , though " he differed from the gentlemen who opposed the bill on the ground that it would un-Christianize the House . He did not think the measure could have been entertained until the House was alreadyun-Christianized . . ( Laughter . ) The expression no'doubt required explanation . They had by Liberalism completely obliterated all the essential principles which had hitherto guided this country in ecclesiastical . and political matters . When the amendment was introduced

      by hon . gentlemen opposite , the question was asked , Why not , in a religious matter , appeal to your Bishops ? Why , because they knew they would have six Bishops on one side and six on the otber . What did they see every day ? The enormous cathedral of St . . Paul empty , and Westminster Abbey empty , and Bishops going to an unconsecrated concert-room to preach , and then having the impudence to go down into the country and squabble with dissenters about unconsecrated burial-grounds . '' { Sear , hear . )

      The O'Donoghde objected to the bill , not because it admitted Jews , but because it refused equal rights to Roman Catholics , and virtually re-enacted the Act of 1829 , making the measure , in his opinion , a mere Ministerial job . —Mr . Ball spoke in support of the bill , but obtained a very reluctant hearing . —Mr . Dillwyn , who was likewise very unwillingly listened to , condemned the concession of the Government in admitting the clauses excluding Jews from certain offices , which imposed a disability . —Mr . Collins objected to the retention of

      the Roman Catholic oath , and Mr . Bowyer opposed the bill because it reaffirmed and re-enacted that oath . — Mr . Deasy said , with the deepest regret , he could not vote for the third reading of this measure , which , in his view , created for the first time an invidious distinction between the' Roman Catholic subjects of her Majesty and those belonging to all other religious persuasions . At the same time , he could not bring himself to vote against the bill . —Upon a division , the third reading was carried by a majority of 123 , there being 291 Ayes to 168 Noes . —The bill then passed .

      THE METROPOLITAN 'WORKHOUSES . On . the motion for going into Committee of Supply , Viscount- Rayhham moved , as an amendment , that a select committee should be appointed to inquire into the condition and administration of the metropolitan workhouses , and into the arrangements made and carried out by the parochial authorities of the metropolis for the relief of the poor , r—After a few -words from Mr . Williams ( who disputed some of the facts alleged by Viscount Kaynham ) , Mr . Bouverie deprecated the appointment of a committee , promising , at the same time , that the Poor-law Board should fully investigate every case of mismanagement in a metropolitan workhouse which might be submitted to them . —Some further discussion ensued , and the House divided , negativing the amendment by 73 to 52 . The House then went into Committee of

      SUPPLY . The discussion on the Civil Service Estimates was resumed , when , on the vote of 361 , 233 / . for education , Mr . Cowper detailed the progress that had been effected in providing means of instruction for the community . During the past year , grants of public money had been issued towards building 242 new schools and enlarging 262 existing establishments , supplying altogether additional accommodation for 32 , 000 pupils . In all , 7508 schools had been built , and were now subject to inspection : the corresponding number in 1854 having been

      • 1788 . Out of five million children now computed to be living in the United Kingdom between the ages of three and fifteen , thVuational inspectors reported that at least three millions -were ^ ttending or had attended schools of uoine kind or other ,- —A prolonged discussion followed , of a very discursive character . Uftiwyitely , a division took place upon an amendment , moved BySLqrd Melguni > , reducing the vote by 91 , 020 L , bejng the amtmntof increase on this year ' s estimate as compared with 1866-7 . The amendment was negatived by 168 to 7 . The original vote wfls then carried .

      Several bills having been advanced a stage , on the House resuming , an adjournment took place at a quarter-past two .

      June 27, 1857.] The Leader, 605

      June 27 , 1857 . ] THE LEADER , 605

      The Educational Conference. Tub First Of...

      THE EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE . Tub first of the three general Conferences held with « viow to discussing fully the Educational question , especially with reference to the early ago at which the children of the working classes are removed from school , took place at Willis's Rooms on Monday . Prince Albert presided , and several nobleinoa and gentlemen of distinction wore present . His Royal Highness addressed Iho meeting as follows : — " Gentlemenwo have mot to-day in the sacred cause

      , of Education—of National Education . This word , which moans no less than the moral a . nd intellectual development of the rising generation , and , therefore , the natipnal welfare , is well calculated to engross our minda , and "pans a question worthy of a nation ' s deepest Interest and moat anxious consideration . Gentlemen , tho nation ia "live to its Importance , « nd our presence hero today gives further ovidonoo ( If bucIi evidence wore needed ) of Its anxiety to give it that consideration , C //« w , hear . ) Looking to former times ; wo find that

      our forefathers , with their wonted piety and paternal care , had established a system of national education , based upon the parish organisation and forming part of parish life , which met the wants of theii day , and had in it a certain unity and completeness which we may well envy at the present moment . But in the progress of time our wants have outstripped that ' system , and the condition of the country has so completely changed , even within these last fifty years , that the old parochial division is no longer adequate for the present population . This has increased during that period in England and Wales from , in round numbers , 9 , 000 , 000 to 18 , 000 , 000 , and , where there formerly existed comparatively small towns and villages , we now see mighty cities like Liverpool , Manchester , Hull ,

      Leeds , Birmingham , and others , with their hundreds of thousands , springing up almost , as it were , by enchantment , London having increased to nearly two and a half million of souls , and the factory district of Lancashire alone having aggregated a population of nearly 3 , 000 , 000 within a radius of thirty miles ! This change could not escape the watchful eye of a patriotic public ; but how to provide the means of satisfying the new wants could not be a matter of easy solution . While zeal for the public good , a fervent religious spirit , and true philanthropy are qualities eminently distinguishing our countrymen , the love of liberty , and an aversion from being controlled by the power of the State in matters nearest to their hearts , are feelings which always most powerfully influence them in action . Thus the common object has been contemplated from the most different points of view , and pursued" often upon antagonistic principles . Some have sought the aid of Government , others that of the Church to which they belong ; some have declared it to be the duty of the State to provide elementary instruction for the people at large , others have seen in State interference a check to the spontaneous exertions of the people themselves , and an interference with self-government ; some , again , have advocated a plan of compulsory education based upon local selfgovernment , and others the voluntary system in its widest development . While these . have been some of the political subjects of difference , those in the religious field have not been less marked and potent . We find , on the one hand , the wish to see secular and religious instruction separated , and the former recognized as an innate and inherent right , to which each member of society has a claim , and which ought not to be denied to him if lie refuses to take along with it the inculcation of a particular dogma to which he Objects as unsound ; while we see , on the other hand , the doctrine asserted that no education can be sound which does not rest on religious instruction , and that religious truth is too sacred to be modified and tampered with , even in its minutest deductions , for the sake of procuring a general agreement . ( Much cheering . ) Gentlemen , if these differences were to have been discussed here to-day , I should not have been able to respond to your invitation to take the chair , as I should have thought it inconsistent with the position which I occupy and with the duty which I owe to the Queen and the country at large . I see those here before me who have taken a leading part in these important discussions , and I am happy to meet them upon a neutral ground ; happy to find that there is a neutral ground upon which their varied talents and abilities can be brought to bear in communion upon tho common object ; and proud and grateful to them that they should have allowed me to preside over them , for the purpose of working together in the common vineyard . I feel certain that the greatest

      benefit must arise to the cause we have all so much at heart by the more free exchange of your thoughts and various experience . You may well bo proud , gentlemen , of tho results hitherto achieved by your rival efforts , and may point to tho fact that , since the beginning of tho century , while the population has doubled itself , the number of schools both public and private has bcW multiplied fourteen times . In 1801 , there were in England and Wales , of public schools , 2876 ; of private schools , 487—total , 8868 . In 1851 ( the year of tho Consu 8 ) , there were in England and Wales , of public schools , 15 , 518 ; of private schools , 80 , 524—total , 46 , 042 ; giving instruction in all to 2 , 144 , 878 scholars ; of whom 1 , 422 , 982 belong to public schools , and 721 , 896 to tho private schools . The rate of progress ia further

      illustrated by statistics suow jloao me proportion of day acholarB to tho population was 1 in 17 ; in 1888 , 1 ia 11 ; and in 1851 , 1 in 8 . These are groat results , although I hope they may only bo received as instalments of what has yet to bo done . But what must bo your feelings when you reflect upon the fact , tho inquiry into which has brought us togothor , that this groat boon thua obtained for tho mass of tho people , and which is freely offered to thorn , should have boon only partially accepted , and , upon tho whole , so , insufficiently applied as to render its uso almost valueless ? ( Hear . ) Wo arc told that tlio total population in England and Wales , of children between tho ages of fl and 15 , being estimated at 4 , 008 , 000 , only 2 , 040 , 848 attend school ivt all , while 2 , 801 , 848 rocoivo no instruction whatovor . At tho same tlino , an anulysis of tho scholars with reference to tho length of time allowed for thoir echool tuition shows that 42 por cent , of them U « ve been at school loss than one year , 22

      per cent , during one year , 15 per cent , during two years , 9 per cent , daring three years , 5 per cent , daring four years , and four per cent , during five years . Therefore , out of the two millions of scholars alluded to more than one million and a half remain only two years at school . I leave it to you to judge what the results of such an education can be . -I find further that of these two . millions of children attending school only about 600 , 000 are above the age of nine . Gentlemen , these are startling facts , which render it evident that no extension of the means of education will be of any avail unless this evil , which lies at the root of the whole question , be removed , and that it Is high time that the country should become thoroughly awake to its existence and prepared

      to meet it energetically . To impress this upon the public mind is the object of our conference . Public opinion is the powerful lever which in these days moves a people for good and for evil , and to public opinion we must therefore appeal if we would achieve any lasting and beneficial result . You , gentlemen , will richly add to the services which you have already rendered to the noble cause if you will prepare public opinion by your inquiry into this state of things , and by discussing in your sections the causes of it as well as the remedies which may lie within our reach . ( Cheers . ) This will be no easy matter ; but even if your labours should not result in the adoption of any immediate practical steps , you will have

      done great good in preparing for them . It will probably happen that , in this instance as in most others , the cause which produces the evil will be more easily detected than itsremedy , and yet a just appreciation of the former must ever be the first and essential condition for the discovery of the latter . You will probably trace the cause of our social condition to a state of ignorance and lethargic indifference on the subject among the parents generally ; but the root of the evil will , I suspect , also be found to extend into that field on which the political economist exercises his . activity—I mean the labour market—demand and supply . ( Hear . ) To dissipate that ignorance and rouse from that lethargy may be difficult , but with the united and earnest efforts of all who are the friends of the

      working classes it ought , after all , to be only a question of time . What measures can be brought to bear upon the other root of the evil is a more delicate question , and will require the nicest care in handling , for there ^ you cut into the very quick of the working man ' s condition . His children are net only his offspring , to be reared for a future independent position , but they constitute part of his productive power , and work with him for the staff of life ; the daughters especially are the handmaids of the house , the assistants of the mother , the nurses of the younger children , the aged , and the sick . To deprive the labouring family of their help would be almost to paralyze its domestic existence . ( Cheers . ) On the other hand , carefully collected statistics reveal to us the

      fact that while about 600 , 000 children between the ages of 3 and 15 are absent from school , but known to be employed , no less than 2 , 200 , 000 are not at school , whose absence cannot be traced to any ascertained employment or other legitimate cause . You will have to work , then , upon the minds and hearts of the parents , to place before them tho irreparable mischief whicU they inflict upon those who are entrusted to their care by keeping them from the light of knowledge , to bring home to their conviction that it is their duty to exert themselves for their children ' s education , bearing in mind at the same time that it is not only their most sacred duty , but alao their highest privilege . Unless they work with you , your l

      work , our work , will bo vain ; but you will not fai , I feel sure , in obtaining their co-operation if you remind them of their duty to their God and Creator . ( Cheers . ) Our Heavenly Father , in his boundless goodness , has made his creatures that they should be happy , and in his wisdom has fitted his moans to uib end ? , giving to nil of thorn different qualities and faculties in using and developing which they fulfil thoir destiny , and , running their uniform course according to his prescription , they find that happiness which ho has intended for them . Man alone is born into this world with faculties far nobler than the otber creatures , reflecting tho image of Hjm who has willed that there should bo beings on earth to know and worship Him , but endowed with tho power of self-determination , having reason givon him for his guido . Ho can develop his faculties , place himself in harmony with hia iness which ia

      divino prototype , and attain that happ offered to him on earth , to bo' completed hereafter in ontiro union with Him through tho morcy of Christ . But ho can also loavo these faculties unimproved , and mlaa his mission on earth . Ho will then sink to tho level of the lower animals , forfeit happiness , and separate from hio God , whom ho did not know how to Urn ) . ( Much ohaorina . ) Gentlemen , I say man has no right to do this , ho has no right to throw off tho task which ia laid upon him for his happiness ; It is his duty to fulfil his mission to tho utmost of Ills power ; but it Id our duty , tho duty of those whom l ' rovldonco haH-roinovoci from this awful struggle and placed beyond thta fearful danger , manfully , unceasingly , and untiringly to aid by advice , stance , and example , tho groutbulk pf tl . o people who , without fluoh aid , must almost inevitably succumb to tho difficulty of their task . They will not caat from them tho aiding hand , and tho Almighty will

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 27, 1857, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27061857/page/5/