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sider it a mere cavil to reply, that although they were not less than twenty in all, all the twenty were Protestants, there was not one Catholic among them. This was so entirely according to precedent, long established and universally followed, that in all probability there was no more deliberate intention of excluding Catholics from the Commission than there was of excluding horses and dogs; simply because it never seemed to any one possible to appoint either. Of course Sir J. K. Shuttleworth will not feel that this affects the correctness of his statement. Catholics are not "men of any phase of political and religious opinion." Still it seems that omissions of this kind, much as they appear a matter of course to English authorities, are found inconvenient in practice. When the assistant-commissioners began their inquiries in France, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, the United States, and Canada, they found the inconvenience; and as we presume that the object of the Commission was to obtain full information, that object was so far frustrated. The Rev. J. Pattison reports from Germany (vol. iv. p. 165):-"I found myself at a very early period obliged to renounce inquiry into Catholic education. The present increasing influence of the Roman Catholic Church makes this subject one of great moment, as also of special difficulty." Both this gentleman and the Rev. J. Fraser, who reported upon America, candidly report that they had not time" to examine into Catholic schools. It must be recollected that in Prussia more than one-third of the population is Catholic, and that Mr. Pattison was informed by Protestants that "the influence of the Roman Catholic Church is increasing in Germany." Mr. Fraser also reports, evidently on Protestant authority, that "Roman Catholicism bids fair to be the dominant faith over the whole American Continent"; to which we must add two other facts: first, that the commissioners themselves report that even in England the Roman Catholic week-day schools contain more scholars than any others, except the Church of England and the British schools (vol. i. p. 306); and next, that it appears from the correspondence published by them (vol. iv. p. 680) that their attention was specially called to the importance of appointing Catholic commissioners. That notwithstanding all this, the possibility of doing so does not appear to have crossed their minds is, to say the least, unlucky; for, strange as it may seem to Sir J. K. Shuttleworth, there really are in the world those who think that Catholics actually are men and women, and that their offspring are boys and girls; nay more, that they really have "religious and political opinions" of their own, and not least upon the subject of education; and that when an inspector has not time to ascertain anything about their schools, it must be regretted that want of time prevented his fully examining the facts connected with education.

It should therefore be borne in mind that if the facts reported by the Commissioners and their inferences from them agree, in the main, with the conclusions to which Catholics have come, this is not because they had any voice in the Commission, which was confined to "men [i.e. Protestants] of every phase of political and religious opinions.

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This being the case, it is at least satisfactory to find, not only that the mass of the facts reported by the Commissioners and their assistants fully bear out the convictions of Catholics with regard to the proposal to establish compulsory secular education supported by local rates; but that the recommendations of the commissioners in the main agree with them.

The general principle upon which almost every one who, for the last half-century, has endeavoured to promote popular education has proceeded, has been, that a large portion of the poorer classes of the population were in a condition injurious to their own interests and discreditable to the rest of the community; that it was the duty and the interest of the nation at large to raise them to a higher level, and that religious education was the most powerful instrument for the promotion of this object. This has been the feeling which has stirred the zeal of those volunteers who, with very small aid from Government, have built and maintained the existing popular schools in England and Wales, who have, in fact, done so much for popular education, and who, with a moderate increase of Government aid, and more elasticity in Government regulations, can readily, and upon the best system, do all that, under existing circumstances, is humanly possible. This system has existed in England for more than twenty-one years, has expanded by gradual accretion like most other useful English institutions, has during that period been subject to frequent parliamentary discussions, which have sifted every objection if they have not added every improvement; and as the Commissioners justly remark, during those years, "No other system has been devised which the nation could be induced to adopt, and this raises a strong presumption that the deliberate feeling of the public is in favour of the existing system."

The practical difficulties of any interference with existing schools are thus stated by the Commissioners:-"During the last twenty years several thousand schools have been established in connection with the system in different parts of the country. These schools are private property, and the founders of many of them are still living. They are connected with particular religious denominations, and the fact of that connection formed the chief inducement to the subscribers to contribute towards their foundation. Their foundation deeds were drawn up in a great measure under the direction of the Government. The managers would, in our opinion, be very

harshly treated if the assistance at present given to them were transferred to schools founded on a different principle, without any proof that they had failed to render the services for which the grants were paid; or if they were refused further contributions, except upon the terms of altering the constitution which they were so lately compelled by public authority to accept, and upon the faith of which such contributions were made."

"The Government contributes about a quarter to the income of the schools which receive annual grants," or, in other words, every £25 contributed by Government has caused £75 to be contributed from other sources. What public money spent upon public improvement has secured co-operation to such an extent? It has "raised the standard of education by improving the general character of education throughout the country" through its inspection; the only question, perhaps, being whether the benefits of this inspection might, as in France, be secured at a less cost; and whilst it has enlisted, in the promotion of education, a large amount of religious activity, it has practically left the management of the schools in the hands of the different denominations. In these respects," as the Commissioners report, "it has been most successful.”

The Commissioners also express their opinion "that the existing plan is the only one by which it would be possible to secure the religious character of popular education," and, instead of arguing the abstract question whether this be desirable or not, they declare "that it is the deliberate opinion of the great majority of persons in this country that it is desirable"; and as one proof of this they mention the "fact that, with hardly an exception, every endowment for purposes of education, from the universities down to the smallest village school, has been connected with some religious body."

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After referring to other modes, (1) "either by restricting the teaching to points upon which different denominations agree, or (2) by providing that the religious instruction should be given at particular hours and by the ministers of different denominations,' they say they do not think that either of these expedients would be suitable to the state of feeling in this country"; and in stating their reasons against these modes, they quote a resolution of the Wesleyan Committee of Education on Sir J. Pakington's Bill, "that the Wesleyan community will never consent that the teaching of religion itself in their schools shall be subject to restriction. Their experience shows that, besides the Scripture lesson with which their schools daily open, and in which it is sought to make divine truth intelligible to children of all capacities, an able Christian teacher will find throughout the day, when teaching geography, history, physical and moral science, and the knowledge of common things, frequent occasion to illustrate and enforce the truths of religion, and that religious teaching may be made to impart life

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and spirit to the whole process of education." They might have quoted to the same effect the strong but true remark of Dr. Arnold (mentioned by Mr. Fraser, p. 248): "They talk of separating religious and secular teaching; I cannot understand them. Give me a lesson to teach in geography and I will make it religious." It is clear that any lesson may have the perfume of religion imparted to it by a religious master, and that the poison of indifference, even of a tendency to infidelity, may be communicated to the young mind any lesson by an irreligious master.

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The Commissioners therefore report that "the leading principles of the present system are sound, that they have shown themselves well adapted to the feelings of the country, and that they ought to be maintained."

The Commissioners next state the objections to the extension of the present system, so as to extend its benefits to the whole country. Only one is worth considering, the estimated cost. They say :—

According to the most careful estimate we have been able to make, which is based upon a calculation of an increase in the number of pupil-teachers and in the augmentation grant, the extension of the general system to the whole country would cost about £1,300,000, if the unassisted public schools alone were brought under it. If the scholars in private schools were added, the sum would amount to about £1,620,000. And, supposing an increase in the number of scholars of 20 per cent., in consequence of an improvement in attendance, it would be increased to about £1,800,000 yearly. To this sum, if the present system were unaltered, would have to be added a capitation grant for 2,300,000 children; and at the present rate of attendance, which is an increasing one, at least 800,000 of these would earn six shillings a head. This would make the whole grant amount to nearly £2,100,000 a year. Even supposing this to be the extreme point to which the present grant could possibly reach, it seems to us too large a sum to throw upon the general revenue for an object the benefits of which are in a great measure local.

In answer to this, it would seem enough to suggest that the whole calculation rests on the bases of the supposition that the benefits of the present system are extended to the whole kingdom, and that on this supposition these benefits will no longer be local, in the sense of extending only to certain places. It is no hardship that every part should pay for that by which every part is benefited.

But we may further ask in what cheaper mode, or rather in what other mode so cheap to the public purse, can the education of the people be accomplished as by an extension of the present system, which secures from other sources £75 for every £25 contributed by the Government? Probably this proportion might not be maintained after an extension to the whole country; but still the Government grant would insure contributions from other sources VOL. XIV.—NO. XXVII. [New Series.]

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if the schools remained under denominational management, which could not otherwise be expected.

The "local" objection does not, therefore, apply to an extended grant, and an extension of the present system is the most economical, as well as the best, mode of accomplishing popular education.

But even if this were not so, the Commissioners have answered their own objection when they remark (p. 313), with reference to "the expense of public assistance to the education of the poorer classes, and its tendency to increase, we desire to say that we think it unreasonable to object to it simply on both or either of these grounds. If it be assumed that it is proper for the State to render pecuniary aid towards the education of the lower classes, a large expenditure, where the area is so large, will be a necessary consequence; and upon the same assumption, it cannot be denied that the object is among the worthiest on which the public money can be expended."

The Commissioners say, "If the money be wisely and successfully applied, it is to be desired and expected that indefinitely for some considerable time the number of schools seeking to avail themselves of the public aid will increase as improved education is more and more widely diffused, and operates more powerfully on the public mind." But they also add: "One legitimate result of this, however, in a system which is based on assisting local exertion, ought to be a higher and more practical feeling of their duty by parents to provide for the education of their children; with this may reasonably be expected an increased liberality, on the part of the higher classes, to assist their poorer neighbours in the discharge of this great duty, and thenceforward we should have a right to look for a decrease, gradual at first, and then rapid, in the demands on the public purse. The reports on education in Germany and Switzerland show that the diffusion of education has a tendency to increase the spontaneous resort to it, general education there being a result of the habits of the people rather than of any compulsory law, and being as general in Frankfort and Geneva, where there is no compulsory law, as in the states of Germany and cantons of Switzerland, where such a law exists.

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It is this fear of increasing the expenditure of the central Government upon local expenses which leads the Commissioners to propose that part of the expense of all schools, aided by a Government grant, should be met by a local rate. They propose to charge it on the county rate.

They further support this recommendation by the fact that the present system of Government aid does not reach many poor and thinly-inhabited country parishes. No doubt this difficulty would partly be met by a judicious union of parishes for school purposes (which they recommend in another part of their report).

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