Introduced with much "pomp and circumstance," as the subject next in importance to the pacification of Europe, the "Resolutions" in which this attempt was embodied contained within themselves the elements of their annihilation; and we should doubt whether even their mover could, from the first, have had any expectation of success for them. They led, however, to a long and important discussion; and it is quite possible that the elaborate defence made by Lord John Russell, as well as other statements made in the course of their discussion, may have created the impression which it was evidently intended by him they should, that the state of education throughout the country is far behind what might reasonably be expected in the present day; and that our movement is rather retrograde, than on the advance. We propose, therefore, to refresh the memories of our readers, by laying before them a short review of our position and prospects; our machinery, and the work which is being done by it; our advantages and our difficulties. And in doing so we shall hope to carry them with us, in the conviction that, whatever room there may be for improvement, the existing system of national education is one well deserving our respect; and that the position of our country generally with regard to education is far from being so unfavourable as these would-be reformers wish the nation to believe.

The apparatus of our educational system, as far as it affects the poor, is almost entirely of modern origin, as well as of modern development. In the times preceding the Reformation there was evidently a widely-extended power of educating the masses of the people in the great number of religious houses, in each of which a schoolroom formed an essential feature. On the annihilation of these, the Reformers were induced, by an instinct of self-preservation, to attempt the restoration of this portion from among the ruins of the many good works undertaken by such establishments; and, accordingly, the schools of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. are, to a small extent, a redeeming feature in the otherwise unmitigated selfishness of their characters. But the genius of Protestantism is so adverse to the claims of the poor, that, whatever the intentions of those who founded free schools in post-Reformation days, they are in our own age removed quite beyond the reach of the lower classes; and have mostly become as CHRIST's Hospital-the ordinary sources of education for the upper strata of the middle classes. It is difficult to determine what provision was made, at the beginning of the present century, for the teaching of those who are now found in our national schools. There were many dame-schools, in which children were taught the merest elements of reading and writing. It is probable also that many of the country Clergy were accustomed to teach the poor children of their parishes, as a part of their regular pastoral work; or at least for a very small fee, such as is now paid at national schools. But that

the general education of the poor was at a very low ebb, and what there was of a very inferior character, is evidenced by the enthusiasm which attended the introduction of even such imperfect systems as those of Dr. Bell, and the Quaker bookseller, Lancaster. What few schools there were for the poor of those days must have been entirely in the hands of the Church; for Dissenters (with some trifling exceptions) had never sought for the separate education of their children before the rise of the British and Foreign School Society in 1805. Six years later, the National Society was founded, for the express object of educating the children of the poor on Church principles; and by its subsequent incorporation in 1817, with the Archbishops, Bishops, and ten Privy Councillors as the ex officio basis of its corporate capacity, this society became still more recognised as the educational functionary of the Church. It is calculated that the direct expenditure of the society, and the sums of money supplied from local sources, (in the augmentation of which the society's funds are dispensed,) have amounted together to nearly £4,000,000, or between £90,000 and £100,000 per annum. This large amount is, however, but a portion of the voluntary expenditure of Churchmen for educational purposes; as there have been many schools built, and some endowed, by private individuals, of which no statistical record is available. Moreover, the working expenses of the schools so built and prepared for use by the society, and those whom it has assisted, taking the average at only £20 a year over and above the payments made by the parents of the children taught, and the average number of schools at only 8,000, will require us to treble the above amount, before we can arrive at anything like the real voluntary expenditure of the Church on the education of her children. But it must be remembered that these calculations are based upon the records of the National Society alone, and that there are probably as many more Church schools not appearing on those records at all, and yet owing their support more or less to the free-will offerings of Churchmen.

This voluntary system had been at work for some twenty years, or more, when the Privy Council Committee of Education was established in 1833, for the purpose of dispensing an annual Parliamentary grant, the aggregate amount of which up to the present time will be, we believe, about £2,000,000; the Church receiving rather more than half of this sum, a large proportion of the remaining half having been divided between several sects and the British and Foreign School Society. It may be remarked that rather less than half the sums paid from this public fund are, directly or indirectly, contributions towards the working expenses of the schools to which the grants are made.

1 In the form of subscriptions, and sums paid by the Clergyman from his own income.

It seems probable, then, that the minimum voluntary contribution of Churchmen to the education of the poor, within the last half century, must be reckoned at £12,000,000; and that, during one-fourth of that period, State assistance has been added to the amount of £1,000,000. Our conviction is that the former sum is very much below the mark: above the reality it cannot be, as any one who knows the working expenses of a school must be convinced. But take the sum as we have said, at £12,000,000, and the Government aid at £1,000,000, and it is sufficiently plain that by far the larger proportion of any educational progress that has been made in the Church during the present century must be owing to the voluntary exertions of its members. In reality, the greater portion of Government assistance has been given since the time to which our future remarks will apply; so that, whatever good it may be doing, we shall not be in a position to take account of its effect in the country at large, until a new census is procured, and compared with that of 1851.

What then are the results of Church Education during the last forty or fifty years? With these vast financial resources, what has the Church been doing?

It appears from Mr. Horace Mann's Educational Census, that at three periods during the present century the number of children in all the elementary schools, Church and non-church, in the kingdom stood thus:

And during the same intervals, the population increased in the following proportions:

While therefore the population has increased in number by half, the number of children educated has not only kept pace with the increase, but has been more than trebled.

There is also another test of progress provided by Mr. Mann, in the number of public schools founded during the decades of the present century. We have selected the three periods coming nearest to those in the above tables, and they are as follows :—

Public Schools founded in periods of ten years.
From 1821 to 1831

1265

3035

5454

This table seems strikingly to corroborate the other; and a remark made by Mr. Mann for a different object, will serve to show that the progress made in general education among the lower classes of the English people, may be fairly claimed as the work of the Church. "For many years past," Mr. Mann says, "at least four-fifths of all the children who have passed through public schools must have been instructed in the schools of the Church of England."-P. 50. In the three years selected by Mr. Mann himself the proportion of Church schools and others will therefore stand as follows:

and of Church and non-church schools in the corresponding

decades:

We think that the "at least" of Mr. Mann, as well as the impartially administered grants of the Council Committee indicate a higher proportion of increase on the part of Church schools and scholars, than of non-church; but take it on the above rough calculation, and it is evident that the progress on the part of the nonchurch schools is so insignificant in proportion to the population, that we may fairly attribute the whole of the real progress made in the education of England during this period to the Church.

Nor is this all. A most important feature in the system of modern education for the poor is the establishment of training institutions for school teachers. It has been often remarked, but the remark cannot be repeated too often, that the character of the school is a reflection of the character of the school teacher. And while this is principally true of moral qualities; it is also the case in some degree with those which are simply intellectual. A capacity of communicating instruction is likewise needed, and few possess this by nature. It was the perception of these necessities,of the acquirement by teachers, of good moral, and intellectual habits, and of the power to convey knowledge,-which led to the foundation of institutions where young men and women might be taken through such a course of training, as should prepare them for undertaking their future duties on the best possible plan, and with all the advantages offered by the knowledge of improved systems, and by contact with persons of a higher order of mind than themselves. The National Society made some endeavours from the

first to secure this desirable object; but until within the last twenty years no very energetic steps were taken towards accomplishing it in an effective manner. There are now, however, in various districts of England, as many as forty Training Institutions for this express purpose, capable of accommodating about two thousand young persons of either sex; and of these the Church's share is thirty-four, being twenty-three for young men, and eleven for young women. Some of these are immediately connected with the National Society, as S. Mark's, Battersea, and Whitelands; but the greater number have been founded by local Diocesan or Archidiaconal Boards of Education, in union with and partly assisted by the Society, but providing the chief of their funds within the bounds of their own immediate districts. The original cost of founding these thirty-four excellent institutions will have been little short of a quarter of a million; and perhaps a third of that may have been contributed by the Government from the annual educational grant. Their continued support must entail an annual expenditure of about £70,000. By these means a large supply of schoolmasters and mistresses is provided every year, highly trained for the work they are intended to undertake. But when it is considered that about 10,000 of the former and 8000 of the latter, are constantly employed in Church schools, it is evident that the supply is not at present nearly commensurate with the demand; and accordingly the work of providing these institutions is still going forward.

Here then is another large item in the educational bill of fare, in which the voluntary exertions of Churchmen have produced a result far beyond any proportion of the whole which has proceeded from the State, or from other non-church sources. And although the assistance of the Educational Grant is exceedingly valuable in the conduct of these institutions, there can be little doubt that, as they owe their origin, so they do their continued energetic support to the free-will offerings of the Clergy and lay-members of the Church for the benefit of whose schools they are provided.

Thus, it is plain that as far as progress is concerned, the advances made in National Education have been chiefly made, as they ought to have been, by the National Church; the funds for making such advance having been provided, not by the State, but by private individuals.

Let us now, if our readers are not wearied with statistics,though we are endeavouring to burden them with no more than are absolutely necessary to elucidate to subject,-let us now take a concise general view of the proportion which exists between the educational necessities of the country, and the provision which has been already made, or is now making to meet them, by means of the present system, of the Church's voluntary exertions assisted by a larger or smaller proportion of the public money.

Again having recourse to Mr. Horace Mann, we find him esti