least not enough to fill the school, and there being many other charities in the same neighbourhood.

Is it a poor neighbourhood?-I do not know much of the neighbourhood.

Is it a very populous neighbourhood?—Yes.

Do you know any thing of Sunday schools?—I do not; but there are upwards of 500 of my children attend at Sunday schools.

Mr. THOMAS HARROD, called in, and Examined.

WHAT school are you connected with ?-Spitalfields British and Foreign School.

How many children are educated there?-500.

How many is the school capable of educating?-About 700; it was built for 1000, and at the first two years of the establishment there were about from 700 to 800 daily attended, but there was not sufficient room to accommodate those conveniently; we were obliged to reduce the number of desks, which reduced the number of boys; it will now accommodate about 600.

To what do you ascribe your not being full?-For want of means, the parents have not the means of paying.

How much do the children pay at your school?-Thirteen pence per quarter: it was opened at first for a number of free scholars, but the funds were so low, that without the assistance of the boys it could not have gone on, and therefore they were obliged to stop admitting free scholars, and the children were obliged to pay.

Are the poor in that neighbourhood unprovided with the means of education?—Yes, from that reason.

Can you form an estimate of the number of poor children there may be uneducated?-Within the immediate neighbourhood of Spitalfields, I should suppose there are 400 or 500 boys uneducated, and without the means of education.

In how large a district do you consider there are that number?-Taking in only the parishes of Spitalfields and Bethnal Green.

What is the population of those two parishes?—I really do not know; I'judge from an inquiry that I made last week in only a few streets, and I found the number in each family very considerable who were remaining in the house, and whose parents were very anxious to get them, now they were out of employment, into schools; those boys had been formerly for a short time in this school, but were taken out in consequence of their parents being in full employ, which is not the case now, and which makes them anxious to have

them re-admitted, if they could, without any expense, not being able to pay themselves.

Do the parents seem desirous of the education of their children? Very.

How long have you been engaged in education upon the new plan?-About fifteen years.

Have you heard the last two witnesses examined ?—I have.

Do you agree with them?—Yes; only that in Sunday schools they are not able to do any thing more, in the time stated, than read.

How long do you think they take to learn to read in Sunday schools, if they have no other means of instruction?— About two or three years, I should imagine.

[Adjourned to To-morrow, 12 o'clock.

Veneris, 7° die Junii, 1816.

HENRY BROUGHAM, Esq. in the Chair.

Mr. WILLIAM CRAWFORD, called in, and Examined.

ARE you a member of the committee of the Spitalfields Lancasterian school in Spicer-street?—I am.

Have any measures been lately taken to ascertain the extent of the want of education among the poor in the neighbourhood of Spitalfields?-Inquiries have been made in the neighbourhood of Spitalfields, and it appears that in 2,091 families that have been visited, and containing 5,953 children, there were 2,565 children, from six to fourteen years of age, without any education.

Who made those inquiries?-Several gentlemen were called together for the purpose.

Did you make your inquiries in the poorest part of Spitalfields, or in a part where the poor did not so much abound? -Generally all over Spitalfields; we selected various di

stricts.

Would those districts be a fair sample of the neighbourhood of Spitalfields in general?—I think they would. What portion of that neighbourhood do they include; a third, fourth, fifth, or what?-They include the whole of Spitalfields, and some part of the immediate neighbourhood.

Do you mean the whole of Spitalfields parish?—Yes, and some part of the parishes immediately adjoining.

In what parish or parishes was that part of the neighbourhood? A part in Bethnal Green, and, I think, part in Shoreditch.

Was the district examined, too extensive for the attendance of children on one school, or was it not?—I think it was too extensive for the children to attend one school.

What school is there now in that district or neighbourhood?-I have a list of the schools for the instruction of the poor in Spitalfields, the Old Artillery Ground, and Norton Falgate; which embraces nearly the whole of the district which has been examined.

[It was delivered in, and read, as follows:]

LIST of SCHOOLS for the Instruction of the CHILDREN of the POOR, in Spitalfields, the Old Artillery Ground, and Norton Falgate.

Are any of those schools out of that district ?-Not any. Did you find the want of education to be chiefly among the very poorest?-Yes.

In what proportion among the very poorest, should you apprehend?-About seven-eighths.

What reason do the parents allege, in general, for not sending their children to school?—They allege principally poverty.

What other reasons do they also allege?-In some cases the necessity of employing the children during the day.

Were those cases numerous, in which they spoke of the necessity of employing the children during the day?—Not very numerous; the silk trade at present is very dull, and does not now afford much employment for children.

Do you imagine that in a good state of the trade there would be an objection to children going to school, in that neighbourhood, from the wish of the parents to employ them?-I believe a considerable number in that neighbourhood would be kept by their parents from attending the school on that account.

Do the parents in general seem very desirous of educa tion for their children?-Very desirous.

Do they make any stipulations about it, and say they should not like such and such a sort of school?-Not in any case, among the families I visited.

But seem satisfied with good education, in whatever shape it might be presented?-Exactly so; they appeared anxious in their inquiries when schools would be opened.

Did they make any inquiries about the clothing of their children, as if they expected that would be a necessary condition in their appearance ?--Not generally.

Did any considerable number?-Not any considerable number.

In what state did the children appear, in cases in which the want of education which you have mentioned was expressed; did they appear dirty and miserable ?-In a very miserable condition.

Was there any great deficiency in their manners; were they uncivil? There seemed considerable wildness in the manners of the uneducated children, and their persons were generally very dirty.

Their looks were not like those of children who were accustomed to go to school?-Certainly not.

There was a want of that civility and propriety of behaviour which is amongst those children who go to school? -Yes.

Most of those children are employed in the silk business, when at work?-The greater proportion of them.