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SCHOOLS INQUIRY COMMISSION.

Vol. VIII.

GENERAL REPORTS

ASSISTANT COMMISSIONEES.

MIDLAND COUNTIES AND
NORTHUMBERLAND.

TlivtSente'a ta iaO) ^atxieS at parliament fij; (fTammanTt of ^ec Mn\tits>

LONDON:
PBINTED BY GEORGE E. EYEE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,

PKINTEES TO THE QUEBN's MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
TOB HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE,

1868.

CONTENTS OF VOL. VIII.

Page
Instetjctions to Assistant Commissioners - - - v

General Report on the Counties of Flint, Denbigh, Montgomery,

Glamorgan, and Hereford, by H. M. Bompas, Esq. - - 1

Special Eeport on Birmingham Free School, and General Report
on the Counties of Stafford and Warwick, by T. H. Green,
Esq. ... ... 91

General Report on the Counties of Norfolk and Northumberland,

by J. L. Hammond, Esq. - ... - 255

Summary Minute on Endowed Grammar Schools in the Counties
of Cambridge, Huntingdon, and Suffolk, by D. C. Richmond,
Esq. . - - - - - - 635

Summary Minute on Endowed Grammar Schools in Counties of

Bedford, Chester, and Derby, by R. S. Wright, Esq. - 657

Eeport on the Schools of Sir W. Harpur's Charity, Bedford, by

R. S. Wright, Esq. - - - - - - 677

Report on Jones's Free Grammar School, Monmouth, by H. M.

Bompas, Esq. ...... 701

nC43. a. c. 3.

INSTRUCTIONS TO ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS.

Schools Inquiry Commissionj
2, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W.,
SiE, March 1865.

The duty assigned to the Schools Inquiry Commissioners
is to ascertain the state of education in the schools that have not
been already reported on, and to recommend measures, if any can
be devised, for its improvement. It is obvious, that in order to dis-
charge this duty the Commissioners must begin by ascertaining
the facts. The education now given in the schools, the facilities
for improvement that may already exist in them, the demands and
wishes of the parents, the cost of the present system, the pro-
bable cost of a better, the burden which the parents are willing to
bear, these and similar facts must be the basis of any measures
which it would be wise to recommend.

The Commissioners have already issued circulars, copies of
which are now put into your hands. The answers will give much
information on the chief points on which it is needed. But this
information is of necessity incomplete ; it requires to be supple-
mented by the evidence of independent observers. The masters,
for instance, may tell what they teach ; but it is only by indepen-
dent examination that the true value of that teaching can be
ascertained.

For this reason the Commissioners have determined to send
Assistant Commissioners into selected districts to make careful
inquiry on the spot into all the facts that bear upon the subject.
The district assigned to you for this purpose is —

I. Your first duty will therefore be to ascertain the present
state of education in the district. You will observe that by the
words of the Commission (a copy of which is annexed), the in-
quiry is bounded on the one side by the province assigned to the
Duke of Newcastle's Commission in 1858, and on the other by
that assigned to the Earl of Clarendon's Commission in 1861. It
is not possible to draw the boundary precisely in a country in
which no class of society is separated by a definite line from that
which is above and that which is below it. But you will under-
stand that you are required to give your chief attention to the
schools attended by the children of such of the gentry, clergy,
professional and commercial men as are of limited means, and of
fanners and tradesmen.

vi Schools Inquiry Commission.

A. The schools which you have thus to inspect seem to be
divisible into three classes : —

1. The grammar schools and those endowed schools which,

though not grammar schools, do not appear to have been
intended for the children of labourers.

2. Proprietary schools, which not being endowed, are private

property, but are owned by single proprietors, or by pro-
prietary bodies, distinct from the schoolmasters.

3. Private schools, which are the property of the schoolmasters

who teach in them.

1. In regard to the grammar and other endowed schools, it is
desirable to ascertain not only what is their present condition, but
also how far they seem to be fulfilling the purpose for which they
were founded. You will therefore endeavour to inform yourself
both what sort of education the founder meant to prescribe, and
to what class of children he meant to give that education. You
will report whether the school appears to fulfil these two purposes ;
and if not, whether this is due to' some fault in the management,
or whether the two purposes have become incompatible with each
other by lapse of time, and scholars are no longer to be found
whose parents wish them to learn what the school was founded to
teach.

It is a further question whether, without reference to its
original purpose, the school is now a useful institution. You will,
therefore, endeavour to get leave to examine the scholars, or a part
of them, that you may judge for yourself what is the character of
the instruction. You will report whether the education is good
of its kind, and suitable to the needs of the scholars ; whether the
discipline appears to be careful and effective ; and the moral tone
sound. You will endeavour to ascertain whether the parents of
the scholars appear to value the teaching that the boys receive,
and particularly whether the boys remain long enough at school
to derive the full benefit of that teaching. You will report
whether the results, taken altogether, are satisfactory and propor-
tionate to the amount of endowment ; and if not, whether the
fault appears. to lie with the school or with the parents, or is due
to circumstances independent of both.

You will also inspect the grounds and buildings, and report on
the schoolrooms, the accommodation for boarders, if any be pro-
vided, and the playground.

Finally, it will be desirable to ascertain the estimation in which
the school is held in the neighbourhood, and whether there is any
general wish to have a change in the character of the instruction,
or in the laws or regulations of the foundation ; and if so, what
are "the reasons for such a wish, and whether they appear to have
any ground to rest on.

2. The great increase of late years in the number of proprietary
Schools is a strong testimony to the disposition of the public to
think favourably of the principle upon which they are founded ;
and it has even been suggested that the grammar schools might be
much improved by attaching proprietary schools to them. It will

Instructions to Assistant Commissioners. vii

be well, therefore, to examine with care what special results are
obtained by schools of this kind, and to what causes these results-
are due. It is also of importance that you should ascertain
whether the control of the directors interferes injuriously with the
master in the conduct of the school. In other respects your
inquiry into these schools will not differ from that which you will
make into the graiAmar schools, except that the absence of a
foundation will render unnecessary any comparison of the present
condition with the object aimed at by the founder.

3. The great number of the private schools renders it impossible,
even if it were ;idvisab!e, to make a personal inspection of every
one of them throughout your district. You must be left very much
to your own discretion to decide which you will visit, and how
closely and searchingly you will examine any that you do visit.
But you will bear in mind that the general object oP the Commis-
sion is to ascertain what is the character, quality, and moral tone
of the education now given to the children of the middle classes ;
and you must push your examination far enough to satisfy your
own mind that you can give a trustworthy report on this xJoint.
Many of the schools will undoubtedly be found so like each other,
that to have seen a few is to have seen them all. The few that
may perhaps be exceptional will be prevented, by being exceptional,
from aiFecting the general result. By going first to the county
towns, and one or two others of considerable size, and making a
tolerably exhaustive inquiry there, you will probably obtain such
a general conception of the education of the whole district as will
enable you afterwards to decide without difficulty what schools to
visit and what to pass over elsewheie.

You will be supplied with circulars of questions to be answered,
and statistical forms to be filled up for as many private schools in
your district as you find vdlling to supply such information.

B. To the inquiry into schools of the ordinary kind it may be
well to add an examination of what may be called supplementary
means of education. Such, for instance, are Art schools, which
the scholars of ordinary schools have it in their power to attend,
and special schools or colleges in which professional rather than
general education is given.

This inquiry is to be considered as strictly subordinate to the
other. General and not special instruction appears to the Com-
missioners to be their proper province. But still there are some
facts which it is important to ascertain in regard to means of
education of this kind. You will examine, for instance, whether
Art schools are found to put good drawing within the reach of
boys who could not otherwise obtain it, and whether this may not
be the cheapest and most efficient means of supplying this kind of
instruction. It is a question of the same kind, whether in towns
good museums may not supply means of teaching natural science ;
whether the scholars from several schools might not attend a com-
mon lecture in chemistry and have the use of a common laboratory.

In the professional schools and colleges you should inquire what
previous general instruction is found to be the best preparation,

viii Schools Inquiry Commission.

and whether the authorities of schools of this kind prefer that their
pupils should possess sound general knowledge on their entrance,
or that they should have anticipated the elements of what they
are now to learn. On the other hand, it would be well to inquire
how far these professional schools are themselves successful in
preparing boys for professions ; and, if not successful, what appears
to be the reason of their failure ; if successful, Vhether that success
has to be purchased by the sacrifice of general cultivation.

C. The education of girls does not fall so largely within the
province of the Commission as that of boys. Girls are much more
often educated at home, or in schools too small to deserve the
name. And the Commission are not charged with an inquiry into
domestic education or private tuition.

But the education of girls cannot be excluded from view. It is
said that there are endowments to which girls as well as boys have
a claim, and it will therefore be impossible to make recommenda-
tions relating to endowments without reference to both sexes.
Further there are endowments not hitherto applied to education
which may possibly be so applied hereafter ; and in dealing with
these it seems unreasonable to take for granted that girls are to be
excluded. And even if the Commissioners find themselves unable
to recommend immediate measures for the improvement of the
education of girls, it will still be well worth while to ascertain and
lay before the public information respecting the present state of
that education, and thus supply a basis for subsequent action to
this end.

You will, therefore, report on the more important girls' schools
in your district, and particularly on any which possess endowments.
You will endeavour to ascertain what amount and kind of education
is generally considered necessary for girls, what time is given to it,
what it annually costs, and how far it appears to fit the girls for
their after life.

II. Besides Inquiring into the state of education, it will be your
duty to find out from the parents what are their own wishes,* and
what expense they are willing to incur. Upon their co-operation
all improvement must mainly depend. And even if their wishes
are mistaken and arise from imperfect acquaintance with the
subject of education, it is still necessary to ascertain them as an
important element in the consideration of what is to be done,
whether through this Commission or other agency. The wishes
of the parents can, of course, be ascertained only by conversation
and correspondence. In the course of your examination into the
schools you are sure to meet with many whose interest in the
matter and general intelligence will make their statements on this
subject valuable. You will endeavour to find out how far it is the
wish of the pp.i-ents to alter the subjects of instruction ; how far to
introduce teaching of a more professional character ; whether they
are at aU aware of the cost of a really sound education, and whether
they are willing to incur that cost; what are their prejudices in
reference to associating with the class below them and the class

Instructions to Assistant Commissioners. ix

above them; under what circumstances they would prefer day
schools or boarding schools respectively. The answers to these and
similar questions will be of the utmost importance in determining
what measures of improvement are not only desirable but practi-
cable. In short, you will generally endeavour to inform yourself
of the desire which may prevail among the middle classes of society
in your district for an improved system of education that may be
made available for their children, and also of such measures as may
recently have been taken to meet their wishes in this respect.

In conclusion, I am to warn you that the Commissioners can
give you no compulsory powers. The success or failure of your
mission wiU depend very largely on your own tact and prudence.
It is true that your duties are of a kind that ought to encourage
those who are employed in education to give you every assistance
in their power. There cannot be the slightest doubt that what-
ever tends to throw light on the present state of education, and
still more whatever tends to improve it, will largely increase the
demand for teachers of every kind, and by so doing will promote
their interests, and add importance to their profession. But it would
not be dilficult to convey the contrary impression, and to close
almost all access to information by prosecuting your inquiries in an
inquisitorial and injudicious spirit. It will be your duty to arrive
at the truth in whatever way shall give least trouble and least
annoyance to those from whom you are seeking it. You wiU of
course make no distinction with regard to religious creed in respect
of the schools you may desire to visit.

The main object of your mission will be to collect matters of
fact, and ascertain the opinions of others. At the same time the
Commissioners do not wish to preclude you from expressing any
opinions of your own as to the remedial measures which you may
think expedient. But it will be desirable that you should express
such opinions in as brief and summary a manner as possible.

The Commissioners consider that your inquiry may be completed
in six months, and that you Avill be able to finish your Keport
within two months afterwards.

By order of the Commissioners,

H. J. EOBY, Secretary,

SCHOOLS INQUIEY COMMISSIOl^.

REPORT

MR. H. M. BOMPAS.

CONTENTS.

Page

Character of the district inquired into - . - - 1

Statistics respecting the boys' schools in the district - - - 8

Observations on the subjects taught in tlie boys' schools - - 18

The advantage of examinations and insufficiency of those now existing - 26

Method adopted in examining the boys' schools in the district - - 27

Results of the examination of the boys' schools - - - 31

Statistics respecting the girls' schools in the district - - - 40

Observations on the subjects taught in the girls' schools - - 59

The advantages of examinations for girls - - - - 54

Method adopted in examining the girls' schools in the district - - 56

Results of the examination of the girls' schools - - - - 67

Preparatory schools - - - - - -61

Boarding schools - - - - - - -62

Rewards and punishments - - - - • - 64

Holidays . . - - . - 66

Schools of art - - - - " - - - 66

Endowments - - - - - - - -67

Conclusions -.-. ...76

Appendix A. — Papers set to the boys' schools - - - 77

Appendix B.— Papers set to the girls' schools - - 81

Index - ■ - - - - - - -86

LIST OF TABLES CONTAINED IN THE REPORT.

1. .Annual, value of property arranged according to counties - 5

2. Number of persons paying income tax arranged according to

counties - - - - - - -5

3. Number of day schools, mixed schools, and boarding schools, and

boys, in them, arranged according to counties - - - 1 1

4. Number of schools of various sizes, arranged according to counties - 11
5. -Number of endowed and private schools, and pupils in them,

arranged according to counties - - - - - 12

6. Number of day schools charging various prices, and of boys in (hem,

arranged according to counties - - - - - 16

7. Number of boarding schools charging various prices, and of boys in

them, arranged according to counties - - - - 16

8. Per-centage of boys learning and schools teaching the principal

branches of education - - - - - -17

xiv Schools Inquiry Commission.

Page

24
30
30

9. The profession of the parents of the pupils in different classes of
boys' schools -------

10. Ages of the boys examined, arranged according to counties

11. Ages of boys examined, arranged according to the class of schools -

12. Number of boys learning the principal subjects in each county - 31

13. Number of boys learning the principal subjects at each age - 32

14. Number of boys learning the principal subjects in each class of

schools ---■"""

15. Number of boys who answered two of the questions in Latin - 32

16. Average number of marks obtained by the boys in each subject in

each class of school - - - - - - 33

17. Average number of marks obtained in each subject in the afternoon

papers, by boys who learnt them - - - - 36

18. Average number of marks obtained by the boys in each school on the

whole papers - - - - - - -3/

19. Number of boys obtaining a high number of marks in each class of

school - - - - - - - -38

20. Average number of marks obtained by the boys in each county - 38

21. Average marks obtained in the morning paper by boys learning

and not learning Latin - - - - - - 39

22. Average marks obtainad in the morning paper by boys learning

and not learning Euclid - - - - - - 39

23. Number of day, mixed, and boarding schools, and of girls in them,

arranged according to counties - - - . - 44

24. Number of girls' schools of various sizes, arranged according to

counties - - - - - - - -45

25. Number of girls' schools containing various numbers of boarders,

arranged according to counties - - - - - 45

26. Number of schools charging various prices, and girls in them,

arranged according to counties - - - - - 48

27. Per-centage of schools teaching and girls learning the principal

subjects - - - - - - - -49

28. Ages of girls examined - - - - - - 66

29. Number of girls learning the principal subjects in each county - 57

30. Number of girls learning the principal subjects of each age - 58

31. Time spent on the study of. music, drawing, and needlework

respectively - - - - - - -58

32. Average number of marks obtained by the girls in each subject in

each class of schools - - - - - -58

33. Average number of marks obtained in each subject in the afternoon

papers by girls who learnt them - - - - - 60

34. Average number of marks obtained by the girls in each school on the

whole papers - - - - - . -60

35. Number of girls obtaining a high number of marks in each class of

schools - - - - - . . -61

36. Average number of mai:ks obtained by the girls in each county - 61

U E P R T.

Mr Lords and Gentlemen,

I HAVE now to lay before you the result of my inquiries District
into the state of Middle-class Education in the district assigned ^s^'S°e°«
ine. This district included the four AVelsh counties of Glamor-
gan, Flint, Denbigh, and Montgomery, to which were subsequently
added the county of Hereford and the towns of Chester, Shrews-
bury, and Monmouth.

To collect the requisite information I have been twice through Mode of
the whole of my district. On the first occasion I visited all the collecting
schools in it, with very few exceptions, and collected such statistics '" o"nation.
concerning them and concerning the wants of the population sur-
rounding them as I was able to obtain ; I also endeavoured to ascer-
tain the opinions of the masters and mistresses on some of the most
important questions connected with education ; and, lastly, I exa-
mined viva voce a certain number of the schools. On the second occa-
sion my object was to ascertain the actual state of knowledge of the
children in the schools. For this pui-pose I prepared three papers
of questions for boys and three papers for girls, copies of which
will be given in the appendix to this Eeport. I set these papers to
as many schools as were willing to receive them, in all cases super-
intending the examination in person, or being represented by a
gentleman acting as my deputy. In this way I examined 1,485
boj^s from 39 schools, and 626 girls from 37 schools; and the
results of those examinations, and the conclusions I have drawn
from them, will be found at pp. 39 and 67. I also sent to all the
private schools in my district the questions supplied to me by the
Commission ; but I have not received many answers, only
IS boys' schools and 29 girls' schools having returned the forms
filled up, many of them only partially. This did not arise in most
cases from any unwillingness to give the required infoi'mation, but
merely from the difficulty in giving the requisite time experienced
by persons so constantly engaged as are the masters and mis-
tresses of most schools. Very many others, I know, wished and
intended to return me their forms filled up. Several mistresses, objections to
however, declined to fill up the paper, mainly, I think, on account questions
of the nth and 12th questions, which they misunderstood, and " and 12.
considered to amount to a reflection on their mode of keeping
school. These two questions, in fact, have been one of the chief

11643. a. c. 3. X

Moral
training.

Aid afforded
me in my
investigation.

Characteristics
of district.

Glamorgan-
shire.

Swansea,
Cardiff, and
Merthyr.

2 Schools Inquiry Commission.

obstacles I have experienced in obtaining the information
required. . ,

I have felt strongly that in one respect my investigations liave
been incomplete. I have only been able to test the intellec-
tual training and general arrangements of the schools ; i have
not attempted to investigate— and I think it would have been
impossible to do so— the moral training, which is, after all, the
most important part of education. I have, of course, formed some
opinion in the case of individual schools ; and I may say generally,
that, with some lamentable exceptions, the masters of schools in
my district are, I believe, endeavouring to do their duty in this
respect. I shall not, however, make any more particular repert-
on this branch of the subject.

On both occasions I have met with very great kindness and
courtesy ; and in the majority of cases the masters and mistresses
have afforded me all the information I desired, often at very consi-
derable inconvenience to themselves, and have permitted me to
examine their schools if I wished to do so. I would take this op-
portunity, too, to return my especial thanks to those gentlemen
who aided me in conducting my examinations. Whenever I have
needed it, I have found gentlemen willing to devote the whole or
greater part of a day to acting as my deputies in schools at which
I was not able to be personally present, or aiding me when the
numbers to be examined were more than I could properly super-
intend. I was also greatly indebted to various gentlemen for the
loan of rooms in which to conduct joint examinations ; and I may
mention, in particular, the vicars choral of Hereford Cathedral,
the vicars of Swansea, of St. Mary, Cardiff, and of Newtown, the
mayor of Leominster, and the master of the grammar school at
Swansea. The masters of the national schools at Swansea, Car-
diff, and Newtown also deserve my sincere thanks for the aid they
gave me in effecting the necessary arrangements.

Before proceeding to the consideration of the schools, and the
education provided by them, I will endeavour to give some idea of
the characteristics of the several counties comprised in my district.

Glamorganshire is for the most part a mining and commercial
district. The abundant supplies of coal and iron that are found
in it attract into it and afford occupation to a very large popula-
tion: the same causes make the ports on the coast active
commercial centres, where a large amount of business is carried
on besides that which I have named. The rise of this commercial
activity in the county has been very rapid, and the increase of
the population has been so likewise. During the 10 years from
1851 to 1861 the population increased from 240,095 to 326,254,
or nearly 36 per cent., though the rate of increase throughout
the whole of South Wales was only 15 per cent.

The three most important towns in the county are Swansea,
Cardiff, and Merthyr ; their populations within the limits of the
parliamentary boroughs are respectively 41,606, 32,954, and
83,875. In 1831 their populations were only 19,672, 6,187,
and 27,201. They differ very conpidcrably in character. Merthyr

il7r. Jiumpas's Report. 3

is tlie great centre of the iron mauufacture, ami the population
consists ahnost entirely of persons engaged in the iron works.
The number, therefore, of persons who are in a position to send
their children to any other than a national or British school is
comparatively very small, and it is still further diminished by the
fact that there are excellent schools, conducted on the system of
the National School Society, attached to each of the principal
works, which the children of the managers, and others, (who, if this
were not the case, wcJld be sent to private schools,) attend.
Cardiff is the great shipping port for the coal and iron of the
district, and has a more mixed population. The increase in the
number of its inhabitants has been exceedingly rapid, especially
about the docks, and in consequence rents are very high, and
there is great difficulty in finding good accommodation for schools.
The population in that part of the to\vii is such as is usually fjund in
seaports, containing a large number of persons of the lowest classj
together with a considerable number of sea captains, tradesmen,
and others of the lower middle-class. The town has few attrac-
tions except for purposes of business, and the inhabitants are
almost all of them engaged in some trade or profession. The
suburbs are healthy, and there are one or two considerable
boarding schools ; but many of the upper middle-class send their
children to Bath or Clifton, which are within easy reach, and this,
appears to affect injuriously the upper-class schools in the town.
Swansea has great commercial activity independently of the
coal trade. It is the great centre of the trade in copper, more
than half of the copper brought to England being smelted there.
The inhabitants are for the most part prosperous, and besides
those who have amassed fortunes in various branches of coannerce
it contains a large number of well-to-do tradesmen, and clerks in the
various works and offices, who receive considerable salnries. It pos- ^,
sessesalso many of the attractions of a wateringplace,and there are a
considerable number of ipersons living there who have no business
engagements. It has, therefore, a far larger number of children
needing a good education than either of the other towns.

The agricultural population of the county consists chiefly of
small farmers, many of whom have to work harder and live more
sparingly than ordinary labourers. Such persons can hardly be
expected to provide their children with more than a National
school education. Where there are larger holdings the difficulty of
obtaining labour is very great, owing to the high wages offered in
the mining districts, and this both lessens the i)rofits of the farmers
and at times almost obliges them to keep their children at home
to do the necessary work on the farm, which, could not otherwise
be provided for.

The county of Flint is also to some extent a mining county. Flintshire.
Coal and lead are found in considerable quantities, and it seems
probable that these works will increase. At present, however,
there has been no great influx of English into the county, and
tlie mining operations, especially the lead mines, are conducted
mainly by small adventurers. The towns are all small, the largest
being Holywell and Mold, with populations of only 5,335 and

A 2

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Denbighshire.

Montgomery-
shire.

Herefordshire,

Monmouth,
Chester, and
Shre-wsbiiry.

3,735 respectively. Welsh is still spoken in many parts oi the

county, but not on the borders of Cheshire, while it is becoming

gradually supplanted by English along the coast and in the towns.

Denbighshire is a large and important county, differing very much

in character in different parts. It is mostly agricultural, but has

several towns scattered through it. Wrexham, the principal one,

is an important town of 7,5C2 inhabitants, with a considerable trade.

Euabon is becoming surrounded by a very large population, owing

to the coal and iron mines adjacent to it. There seems reason to

suppose that there are minerals under a considerable part of the

county. This is of some importance, as rendering probable an

increase in value at some future time of the lands held by the

different endowed schools. In the agricultural part of the county

the farms are larger than in Glamorganshire, and its extreme

beauty has drawn into it many gentlemen whose seats are scattered

about it. It is greatly visited in summer by tourists, especially

the vales of Llangollen, Clwyd, and Llanrwst, and in such places

English is pretty generally spoken ; but in the less frequented

parts "Welsh still prevails, and only a few miles from Denbigh I

heard of persons holding considerable farms who knew no English.

A great part of the county is very thinly populated, and for a

distance of 15 miles square there are no schools of any kind

except national schools.

Montgomeryshire is an agricultural county, with the exception of
the towns in which the woollen manufacture is carried on. It is
very thinly populated, and the western district is mountainous.
The population are rather poor, even the woollen manufacture
being in a depressed state, and affording apparently but uncertain
j)rofits. Through a large part of the county Welsh is the language
still usually spoken.

The county of Hereford is also an agricultural county, and
considerable parts of it have not as yet been visited by the com-
mercial activity which has spread throughout the rest of England.
Hereford itself is an important county town, with a population of
15,587, and is prosperous iind increasing. The four other principal
towns are Koss, Leominster, Ledbury, and Kington. The farmers
are for the most part prosperous, and have especially made large
profits from their hop gardens during the last two or three years.
The land is very rich, the average annual value per acre being
25s., while in Glamorganshire it is only 10.s.

Monmouth is a small and very quiet county town, with only
5,783 inhabitants, but is remarkable for its Grammar School,
which has a very large endowment. Chester contains 31,110
inhabitants, and Shrewsbury 22,163. They contain a consider-
able number of schools, to which Welsh children sometimes go
on account of their vicinity to Wales, and it was mainly for that
reason that they were added to my district. In the schools at
Shrewsbury there appear, however, to be at present very few
Welsh pupils.

Some idea of the relative wealth and commercial Importance of
the counties may be formed from the returns of the property-tax.
The following table gives the annual value at which the differept

Mr. Bompas's Report.

species of property are rated in each county, and also the net Value of
annual income taxed under schedule D., i.e., derived from trades, ^["^f^'^"'
professions, or employments in the county : — ■

Table L

district.

Gross Annual Value of Property assessed under Schedule A.

NetAmount

County of

Acreage.

Land.

Messuages.

Mines and
Ironworks.

Xtatlways
and Canals.

Other
Property,

assessed

under

Schedule D.

Denbigh
Flint -
Montgomery -
Glaniorgan -
Hereford

386,052
184,905
483,323
547,494
534,823

. £
326,915
205,584
287,168
272,249
678,635

78,994

74,051

51,.552

453,310

147,448

117,764

53,467

5,109

356,568

894

5,461

2,8') 1

2,913

131,972

40,611

3,795
3,069
4,220

88,778
7,285

■£,

86,847
107,366

60,812
527,116
137,087

The enormously superior wealth of Glamorganshire and the
value of the land in Herefordshire are apparent.

The object of the present inquiry being the education of the Proportion of
middle, and upper classes, the returns of the population of the t^e population
different counties obviously afford but a very small clue to the num- gjassf ™' °
ber of children who need such an education. An approximate idea
of this, however, may be obtained from the inconie-tax returns. All
persons with incomes derived from any trade, profession, or occupa-
tion within the county are included in the income-tax returns
under schedules D. or E. They do not include persons who derive
their income only from fixed sources, such as the funds, but
propably in such counties as those under consideration the number
of these is comparatively small. Under scliedule B are assessed
all those who are tenants of land of the value of 2QQI. a year or
upwards, that being considered equivalent to the possession of an
income of lOOZ. a year. From this number, however, considerable
deductions must be made, from the fact that the ftxrms and not the
persons are rated, and that one person holding two farms would be
counted as two persons.

The following table will show the number of persons engaged Income tax
in any business or occupation who have a total income above lOOZ. i"eta™s.
and less than 200Z., and also those who have an income above 200/.

Table 2.

County of

Denbigh -

riint

Montgomery

Glamorgan

Hereford

Total
Population.

104,346

39,941

76,923

326,254

106,796

Persons

having an

Income more

than 100?., less

than 2002.

187
354
255
1,350
268

Per.Wn3

having; an

Income of

more than

•iWl.

469
375
200
1,689
"76

Persons

having Farms

Total

ofSOOi.aYe.^r

Middle Class

and upwards.

1,.^09

2,165

1,100.

1,389

. 1,353

1,873

1,778

4,817

4,827

5,871

It will be seen that, with the exception of Glamorganshire, all the
counties have a fiir larger population devoted to agriculture than

Schools Inquiry Ctmynission.

Number of
children of
the middle

class.

Character of
the Welsh.

to all other pursuits put together. It will also be remarked that
in Flint, Montgomery, and Glamorganshire nearly half the persons
who have incomes exceeding lOOZ. have less than 200/. a year.

It appears from the census tables that the average number of
children in a family where the father and mother are living is 2-26,
and where the head of the family is a widow or widower is 1"35,
and also that the numbers of families in which there is a husband
and wife, in which the head is a widow or widower, and in which the
head is a bachelor or spinster, are about in the proportion of 40, 19
ahd 41. 'The average number of children to a family, therefore,
may be reckoned at 1'16. About one-third of these may be taken as
the number of children between the ages of 10 and 16, giving about
■38 as the number of children to a family who should be receiving
a middle-class education. Assuming that these are half of them
boys, we may say, as a rough approximation, that there are 411
boys of the middle class, between the ages of 10 and 16, in Denbigh-
shire, 359 in Flint, 356 in Montgomeryshire, 915 in Glamorganshire,
and 1,115 in Herefordshire, or a total of 3,156. It will be seen
from Table 3 that this is considerably above the numbers of boys
actually in schools in the five counties, as might be expected from
the fact that the average time boys remain at school is considerably
less than six years, while deductions have to be made for boys
educated at home and boys sent to national schools. In Glamorgan-
shire, however, the number of boys in school is in excess of that
given above. The greatest difference in the numbers is, as might
be expected, in the agricultural county, Herefordshire, the educa-
tion of farmers' children being much below that of other classes of
the community.

A few remarks may also be desirable with respect to the
character of the Welsh, and the effect of the use of the Welsh
language on the schools in my district.

The Welsh, as a rule, are wanting in enterprise, .and not
willing to expend or risk money for future advantages. They
are, however, steady and industrious. They are also distinguished
by a great love of knowledge, and even among the common
miners there are many well acquainted with the highest part of
mathematics, and it is quite usual for servants and labourers to
compose essays and poems for the various eistedtifods. It would
iippear to result from these two characteristics, that on the one
hand parents are unwilling to spend money on the education of
I heir children for the sake of the future advantages that may flow
to them from it, and on the other, those very children when ^rown
up will pinch themselves to save enough to enable them to go to
school for a year when they are between 20 and 30. The presence
in Welsh schools, especially those in South Wales, of these young
men is a very marked characteristic. In many schools there are a
considerable number of young men from 18 to 25 years of
age, who have worked either as miners or as farmers, and saved
just enough to enable them to live for a year in the cheapest
way and attend school. At the end of the time they either return
to their work, and occupy in it a rather superior position to that

Mr. Bompais Heport. 7

which they held before, or go to some college and enter the
dissenting ministry. They not unfrequently go to schools on the
borders of England, as, for instance, at Shrewsbury, or Kington
in Herefordshire. They work in classes with boys of 12 or 13
without the least hesitation, and apparently with no disadvantage
to either. The fact that throughout Wales it is usual for the
Sunday sctoolo' to be attended by grown-up pei'sons as well as
children seems to prevent any feeling of pride in the matter, and
to take away also the feeling that childhood is the special time for
education. Except as above, and in respect of the language, I
do not think "^ that there is any material difference between the
state of education in a Welsh and an English county.

One important consideration in Welsh schools, however, is the Prevalence of
Welsh language. This is still spoken for the most part in the J'^^^^'s'i
country districts. In thfe towns English is spoken almost entirely,
and also along the English border. In all schools, whether for
elementary education or otherwise, English is the language taught,
and in most middle-class schools the master either does not kViow
Welsh, or, if he does, abstains from using it in school, in ordei:
that the boys may speak and understand English. From this
and other causes Welsh is gradually disappearing as a spoken
language. All the children, in fact, learn English, though many
now forget it as they grow up ; and, as the railways and other
causes bring into the country those who can speak English but do
not know Welsh, there will be an additional inducement to them
not to do so. The language is dying out most rapidly in Glamorgan-
shire, mainly on account of the great influx of English and Irish.
Thirty years ago Welsh was usually spoken in Swansea ; now it is
never heard there, except from persons coming in from the country.
The shopkeepers and others, however, still learn it in order to be able
to communicate with country persons. It would appear that it is
beginning in some parts to be considered unfashionable for girls to
know Welsh, and this feeling is likely to make the language die
out rapidly, at least among the middle classes. The Welsh Its effect on
language interferes in two ways with education. In many cases education.
the pupils do not know English well enough to understand what
the master says for a considerable time after they come to school.
I met with several schools to which pupils not uncommonly came
who could not speak a word of English, the master or mistress of
which did not understand any Welsh. Where the main object is
to learn English this may be an advantage ; but it must interfere
greatly with the acquisition by the pupil of other branches of
knowledge. Even when the pupils know English suificiently to
understand their master, they often think in Welsh, and have to
translate the lessons they receive into Welsh before xhey fully
comprehend them ; this makes them seem dull and slow in dnder-
standing what is taught them. Whenever Welsh is the Janguage
usually spoken by their parents, this will, I think, be the case ;
and it certainly adds greatly to the difficulty of teaching, especially
in day schools to which the pupils come from a country district.
I was greatly struck by the fact that children who know English

8 Schools Inquiry Commission.

very imperfectly speak, nevertheless, with such a good accent,
and so grammatically, that their deficiency very often is not
perceived at first ; I am convinced that in some cases the masters
attribute to natural deficiency an apparent dullness jthat arises
really from an imperfect knowledge of English, i can only
account for this peculiarity by the fact that the pupils learn what
little English they know when they are children, and that chil-
dren can imitate accents and modes of speaking better than older
persons ; certainly any foreigner who was acquainted with as few
words as some of the boys are in Welsh schools would speak a
broken English which no one could mistake. I think this fact
may be worthy of consideration in determining the question, at
Avhat age and in what manner French and other modern lan-
guages should be taught.
Classes of I proceed to consider the education supplied by the schools

schools usually {^ t}jg above district. It may be well to state first, in a general
toTTOs. ° form, the result of my inquiries. In the large towns there are usually
first, National and British schools, to which the children of the
working classes and the small shopkeepers go. These charge from
2d. to 6d. a week, according to the position in life of the children
who attend. 2ndly, there are usually one or two schools kept
either by masters who have formerly taught a National school, or
by persons of similar position ; such masters for the most part
appear to take an interest ia their work, but seldom teacb more
ilian is taught at the National schools. They chai'ge 10s. or 15s.
a quarter, or in some cases by the week; they sometimes have
mixed schools for boys and girls. To such schools the smaller
tradespeople send their children ; and many who at first go to a
National school are sent when 11 or 12 yeai-s old for a year to
such a school to " finish," more for the sake of their being able to
say that they have been educated at a private schoolthan on
account of any difference in the education itself. Some of these
schools are very bad, but I think such are exceptions ; the
masters usually do their best, and though there is a deficiency
in point of order and discipline, the boys get more individual
attention than can be given in a National school to any except the
first class. The chiklren of parents of a rather higher class of
EDciety often attend such schools for the first few years of tlieir
education ; in fact, each class of school contains boys who will be
reinoved for the last year or two of their education to more
expensive schools. Srdly. Above these there are schools which
charge from one guinea to two guineas a quarter for day boys, and
which almost invariably have boarders also, especially if chaiffinc
tiie higher terms. Of these, the grammar schools for the mostpai^
still make classics the foundation of their education, but other
schools almost without exception have ceased to teach Greek
except occasionally, and pay most attention to the more practical
subjects. The day scholars of these schools are the sons of trades-
men and professional men. The latter very usually leave and oo
to a boarding school in England for the last year or two oF their
education, partly for the sake of losing any peculiarities which

Mr. Bompas's Reporter 9

they may have as Welshmen, partly that they may break off the
associations which they have formed at school with boys of the
same town of a lower position in society, and partly in some cases
from a preference for the stricter discipline of a boarding school.
The boarders are usually from some distance ; in the case of the
grammar schools they frequently come from England; in the
commercial schools they are mostly the sons of farmers, not
however, at all universally of farmers in the immediate neigh-
bourhood.

To illustrate these observations we may take the instance of Schools at
Swansea, the most important town, educationally speaking, in my '^^°^*^'
district. In it there are, besides the National and British Schools,
a school of about 30 boys at 10.s. a quarter, a school of about 80
boys at one guinea a quarter, a school of about 90 boys, another
of 60 boys, and another of 30 boys at 1^ guineas a quarter; the
grammar school of about 90, and another School of 30, charging two
guineas a quarter. There does not appear to be much distinction
between the five last-mentioned schools, with respect to the class
of boys who attend them, which includes the sons of tradesmen,
clerks, and professional men ; the first-mentioned school is attended
by boys corresponding to the upper class of boys attending the
National schools, and the second is almost entirely attended by the
sons of tradesmen and farmers. There is also a boarding school at
the Mumbles, a few miles from Swansea, containing VO boys of a
class similar to those in the five schools above mentioned. In the
grammar school,- and the grammar school only, are classics made
the principal subject of education, though classics are taught in
diflTerent degrees in all but one of the other schools.

In small towns there is usually a school charging 10s. or one Schools in
guinea a quarter, and sometimes a better school charging one and a small towns,
half or two guineas. The principal schools in small towns are,
perhaps, more deserving than any others of the serious attention of
the Commission ; they are far more difiicult to support than those in
larger towns, for the number of children of an age to go to school
varies' from time to tiaie, and the size of the school is therefore
necessarily fluctuating; and if such schools are in an unsatisfactory
state in any townj the education of the sons of the tradespeople is
likely to suffer seriously. A second school is seldom started, the
boys in the town not being sufficiently numerous to support two
schools, and the tradesmen and other inhabitants have, therefore,
no alternative but either to send their sons to a boarding school,
or to put up with the unsatisfactory teaching which the particular
school may afford. The former of these alternatives often entails
a greater expense than they are well able to afford.

It is in the case of farmers and others living in small villages, Education in-
however, that the greatest difficulty occurs. These, if they are country
near some town, often send their boys into it to echool by day, but
otherwise they are obliged either to send them to the National
school or to a boarding school. The former they objec; to from a
feeling that they do not need charitable help, or from a dislike to
the associations which their children would form there ; and even if

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Favourable
opinion of the
educatioii
given.

Chief
difficulties.

Time boys
remain at
school.

Irregularity of
attendance.

Reir.cdy for
this evil.

they do send their children to them, such rural schools are usually
in a very unsatisfactory state. The latter, if the family be large,
is often beyond their means. These remarks do not apply merely
to farmers, but still more to clergymen and other professional men
living in country villages, and I fear the education obtained by the
children of such persons is often very unsatisfactory. I shall refer
to this question again when treating of endowments.

With respect to the education given at the schools, I may state
that I have formed on the whole a favourable opinion. It of
course varies greatly in different schools, and there are still many
schools in which it is exceedingly unsatisfactorj^ In most cases,
however, the masters are really in earnest in their work and
endeavouring to do their best. The result of the examinations to
be presently detailed will afford more distinct information on this
point.

The great difficulty in the way of education appears to be the
short time that the pupils remain at school, and the irregularity with
which they attend even during the few years that they are there.
The time boys remain at school appears to be diminishing ; this is
partly owing to the much larger number of boys who can find
employment in various ways than formerly, and partly to the fact
that boys now acquire more readily the elements of reading,
writing, and arithmetic, on account of the better books in use and
better methods of teaching employed ; and in many cases parents
take their sons away as soon as they are able to read, write,
and cipher tolerably, without reference to their age. A still
greater evil, at least in the cheaper schools, is the irregularity of
the attendance of the pupils. It is a very common thing for a boy
to be kept away from school for a quarter on account of harvest,
or because his parents are going to the sea-side ; and in some cases
boys are only sent to school the longest quarters, in order that their
parents may get as much as possible for their monej'. So common
is this in some places, that the schools have adopted the plan of
dividing the year equally, independently of Easter, in order to
avoid it. In some cases this irregularity of attendance seems
almost unavoidable, as in parts of Glamorganshire, where labour at
harvest and other busy times actually cannot be obtained, and the
assistance of his sens is absolutely necessary to the farmer to
preserve his crops. In most cases, however, it arises simply from
the apathy of the parents, and their carelessness respecting the
education of their children. The masters everywhere complain of
this most bitterly and apparently with good reason. Until parents
can be made to feel that it is necessary for the purposes of educa-
tion that the boys should attend school regularly, and that to keep
them away is as real a crime as to ill-treat their children physically,
it is vain to hope that education will be really successful. Various
remedies for this evil have been suggested. It is hoped by many
that the generation who are now being educated, having learnt
more than their predecessors, will have also learnt to value education
more highly. Some think that an improvement might be effected in
the case of farmers, the class whose children are the most frequently

Mr. Bompas's Report.

kept away, if the principal landholders of each district would use
every, occasion and all the influence they possess to impress on them
• the importance of a regular education. , A system of examinations
would probably have much influence in the same direction, both by
keeping the question of education before the. public mind, and by
inducing the boys to wish really to be regular in order to secure a
prize — the will of the children having but too.much influence with
their parents in this matter^ I hope the present inquiry may do
much good in the same way, by calling the attention of the public
in the districts in which the inquiry has been prosecuted to the
evils of irregular attend£!,nce at school.

I proceed now to give the statistics of the schools in my district. Statistics.
drawn mainly from the answers I received to the questions supplied
to me by the Commissioners, and shall illustrate the results by such
information as I have been able to obtain by personal inquiries.

I felt some difficulty in deciding what schools came within the Difficulty in
terms of the Commission ; on jthe one hand many National Schools Jh^i'g^n-
have a senior class in which the boys are taught Euclid and alge- eluded in the
bra, and on the other hand there are private schools to which well- Commission.
to-do tradesmen send their sons, at which, lit tie, more than reading,
writing, and arithmetic, and the elements of history, geography,
and grammar, are taughf. I have drawn the line as well as I have
been able, excluding for the most, part weekly schools, and includ-
ing all schools for the children of farmers and tradesmen, unless
they were only preparatory sphools. The number and size of the
schools in the different counties and the number of children in
them, whether as day boys or . boarders, will be seen from the
following tables: —

Table 3. No. of boys'

schools and
scholars.

County of

No. of

Day

Schools.

No. of
Mixed
Schools.

No. of
Boarding
Schools.

Total
Schools.

No. of
Day Boys.

No. of
Boarders.

Total
Boys.

Denbigh
Flint -
Montgomery -
Glamorgan
Hereford
Chester (city) -

3
2
1
10
2

5
4
4
14
8
5

2
1

12
7

167
179
12S
840
286
130

163
33
60
226
227
138

330
212

188

1,066

513

268

Total -

1,730

847

2,577

Table 4.

Size of schools.

County of

Denbigh
Flint -
Montgoinery
Glamorgan
Hereford
Chester (city)

Total

No. of Schools
containing less
than 25 Boys.

3
1
1
2
4
3

No. of Schools
containing more
than 25 Boys and
less than 50 Boys.

7
4
2
14
4

No. of Schools

containing more

than' 50 Boys.

Schools Inquiry Commission.

No. of endowed
and private
schools, and
scholars in
them
respectively.

Endowed
larger than
private schools.

Proprietary
schools.

Comparative
merits of
hoarding and
day schools.

Table 5

County of

"gel

46
30
20
29
49

^11

91
76
75
768
112
60

.5-
d|l

«i

117
3
40
197
178
138

III

Denbigh -

Flint -

Montgomery

Glamorgan

Hereford - . -

Chester (city) - ' -

3
1
2

4
1

76
103

53*

72
174

122
133

73
101
223

722

7
3
4
22
8

208
79
115
965
290
198

Total -

548

174

.50 1 1,182

673

1,855

It will be seen from the last table that endowed schools are on
an average rather larger than private schools, the diflference being
in the number of day boys ; the average for endowed schools
being 37 day scholars and 11 boarders, and in private schools
24 day scholars and 13 boarders. This is partly due, no doubt, to
the fact that the endowments enable them to give a good educa-
tion for a very small payment, especially in the case of day boys.
The system of proprietary schools seems hardly as yet to have
been introduced into my district — one in the city of Hereford,
and one small one in Denbighshire, being the only examples ; tlie
Ladies' College at Hereford, however, is a remarkable instance of
a similar principle being applied to ladies' schools, it having been
established by a joint stock company \7ith limited liability.

If any difficulty should arise hereafter in the formation of pro-
prietary schools, either from the provisions of the " Joint Stock
Companies Act, 1862," which renders a partnership of more
than 20 persons for purposes of profit illegal,, or from the fact that
an action cannot be brought against any of their own body to
enforce the payment of the school fees. It may be desirable to
adopt this plan, and form the proprietary body into a joint-stock
company.

There is some difference of opinion as to the relative merits of
day schools and boarding schools as places of education. Almost
all the masters of schools agree in saying that it is better for a boy
to be a boarder than a day scholar. Their reasons appear to be prin-
cipally two : 1st, that day boys are liable to interruptions at home
which prevent them from properly preparing their lessons in the
evening, and have their minds so taken up with other interests, that
they cannot fix them on their work ; and, 2ndly, that a boarding
school affords, on account of its stricter discipline, the best moral
training, and gives the master greater opportunities of knowing the
boys thoroughly, and so enables him to train iiiore effectually their
characters and dispositions. The over indulgence of parents, or
their failing to support the authority of the masters, often occasions
difficulty in the education of day boys.

* The day scholars at this Grammar School are of the same class as attend a
National school.

Mr. Bompas's Report. 13

Boarders appear in many cases to be less remunerative to the
masters than their day scholars, and I have no reason therefore to
attribute the above opinion to prejudice. Among parents there is
more difference of opinion, but very many of them also prefer
boarding schools.

In very many cases, however, that which decides the mode of
education is the question of expense. Boarding schools are neces-
sarily much more expensive than day schools need be, or usually
iare, and most parents, therefore, unless wealthy, are glad to avail
themselves of a good day school, if there be one in the town in
which they ai'e living. On the other hand, farmers (avHo it will be
remembered are as numerous as all those who derive their
incomes, from any other trade or profession) have for the most
part no day schools to which they can send their sons except the
Ifational or British schools, and they therefore are compelled to
send their sons to bbarding schools, at any rate for the latter part
of their education.

Most schools consist partly of boarders and partly of day Schools having
scholars. Those that take only day scholars are usually schools ^oarders and
for the lower middle class. Only six schools in my district ^ <= o ars.
ta,ke only boairders. Almost all the masters, however, that I
have spoken to on the subject think that the presence of day
scholars is an injury to a boarding school; they give as reasons
that the day scholars bring the news of the town into the school,
and so distract the attention of the boarders from their work ; that
the preservation of the discipline of the school is rendered more
difficult by the boys having a means of communiciitlng with the
town ; that the day boys are apt to come with their lessons un-
prepared, and thus delay the class ; and that the hours of the day
scholars being fixed, they cannot alter the school hours to suit the
weathei", or any special circumstances that may arise ; these
remark^ seem t6 apply- with more force to girls' schools than to
boy's' schools. ' On the other hand, the masters of most day schpols
seeni to be of opinion that the presence of a few boarders in the
sdhool is an advantage. It appears to raise the estirnation and
standing of the school, and creates a degree of esprit de corps
aniong the' scholars. In the case of high class schools it also
adds considei'ably to the income of the schoolmaster, and thus
enables him to render the school more efficient. In the lower
class 6f schools the boardefs appear to be less profitable than the
day scholars. Against these advantages it is urged by others that Objection to
the toasters are apt to neglect the day scholars for the sake of the ^oarders in
boarders, in whom they feel a stronger interest. In the new scheme Monmonth"
for the Llanrwst Grammar School, the number of boarders allowed grammar
to be taken by the head-master has been limited to 12,in consequence s<='i°<'ls.
of this feeling ; and a strong party at Monmouth are using every
endeavour to prevent any alteration in the present rules, which pro-
hibit the master of the grammar school there from taking any board-
ers. AtButhin, on the contrary, great opposition was shown to the Contrary
late master, on the ground that he was unwilling to take any S^^?.^ ^*
boarders, from which it was said (and I think with more reason) that " °*
the school was likely to suffer. My own impression is, that it is

Schoofs Inquiry Commission.

Relative
advantages of
large and
small schools.

Size of classes
and number of
masters.

Number of boys
in a class
varies Trith
subjects

always a benefit to the day scholars in a school' when the master
takes some boarders, and that in many cases the boarders also in
mixed schools are more favourably situated than those in schools
where there are only boarders, because while they have the advan-
tage of large numbers when in school, they have more of the,
individual care and personal influence of the master out of school.

The size of the schools in my district is shown by Table 4.
AU masters almost desire that their schools should be as large as
possible, and their evidence, therefore, is of little value as to the
best size for a school. The general impression of parents, also,
however, is, I think, in favour of a large school. The advantages
of such a school appear to be that the boys can be divided into
classes of a sufficient size, and yet the boys in each class be nearly
equal to one another in knowledge ; and thus larger classes can be
taught efficiently by one master. There can also be a more per-
fect division of labour among the mastert!, each taking the duties
for which he is most fit. From these causes, and from the fact ■
that many of the household expenses are the same for a large school
as a small one, the education is or should be cheaper. There is also
more competition among the boys and more esprit de corps. The
objections to a large school are, that the boys must be left more to
assistant masters, who are usually not men of the same ability and
who have always far less motive to exertion than the head-master ;
and that while the head-master will have less personal influence
oh each of the boys in a large number, it is not the duty of the
assistant masters to supplement that influence in the case of any
individual boys. Of this, however, being rather a question of moral
influence than of intellectual training, I cannot speak with any
authority. It may be remarked that the cheaper schools, charging
one guinea a quarter, or less, are usually taught entirely by the
head-master, and seldom contain more than 30 or 40 boys.

The size of the classes into which the boys are divided varies
both with the schools and with the subjects. Omitting one or two
schools, which from their small size or other reasons would not
give any true criterion on the subject, out of 18 private schools
from which I have returns,' I find seven taught entirely by the
master himself, with an average of 39 boys in each school ; this
number is, however, increased by one large school of 70 boys
taught by the master alone, with some assistance from the elder
boys. The average without this would be 34, which may perhaps
be taken as a fair average for schools of that class. The other 11
schools contain 517 boys and 31 teachers, or one teacher to
17 boys. The number of masters is greatest in the most expensive
schools ; thus, in the four most expensive of the above schools,
there are 157 boys and 12 masters, or one master to every 13 boys.

The number of boys taught in class at one time is not of course
so large as the above. It varies considerably with the subjects
taught, the classes in Latin and Greek being decidedly smaller
than those in history and grammar, &c. Thus on an average of
eight schools I find the average size of a class in the English°sub-
jects is 13, and in Latin only seven. This diflference may partly
atise from the fact that in almost every school the number of boys

Jlir. I^umpas^s Report.

learning Latin is smaller than that of those learning English gram-
mar, history, and geography ; but most masters agree that it is
possible to" teach a larger class of boys well in the English subjects
than in Latin. The general opinion is, that 12 is about the largest
number that can be properly taught classics in one class, but that
15 or even 20 may by a good master be taught history or geogra-
phy quite as well as a smaller number. This probably arises partly
from the fact that to translate even one sentence in Latin takes
longer than to answer several questions in history or geography ;
and a master can, therefore, test the knowledge of a larger number
of boys in a given time in the latter subject than the former. It
is possible that the necessity in classical schools of the classes being
smaller is one reason why such schools are usually the most expen-
sive.

The following table will show the usual charge for education Terms charged
in my district.

Table 6. — Day Schools.

to day
scholars.

Glan

lorganshire.

De^i

biglishire.

I'lintshire.

Montgomeryshire..

-a

^'o

°o

,^"

,""

■s

'''-'^

«M

■o

■s

-A

12;

-A i '

f<:,

!2i

Sphools charg-

" ^

313 ! 10

171

1
3

.ingrot inore

! than Iguinea

■ per quarter.

More than 1

451 ' 185

guinea and

not more tlian

2 guineas per

quai'ter.

More than 2

guin'ea^<i per

quarter.

[continued) .

Herefords

liiro.

Chcste

Total.

1 rt

<«

■3

/ :

A
&

^^1

°1

'^£.

■s

'^OQ

12; o

•s

|2;

ScTiools charging not more than

161

787

163

1 guinea per qiuirter.

More than 1 guinea and not more

719

34,2.

than 2 guineas per quarter. '

More than 2 guineas per quarter.

224

186

The above are, of course, exclusive of extra charges. In some
cases there is a lower charge for boys under a certain age. 1
have in most cases clMSsified the school according to the liigher
charge. . ,

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Terms charged
l)y boarding
schools.

Table 7.— Boaeding Schools.

Glamorganshlrp.

Denbighshire.

Flintshire.

Montgomerj'shjre

■i

■§

1"^

Hi's

©'3

7?'

w™

fe«!

•s

B"j

S";;

r§

o p

■og

S'i

feifl

n.S

;2;.S

O.S

S.S

o.t!

^.H

n.S

Iz;

■12

iz;

Schools charg-

202

1 '

.SI

ing less than

25 guineas a
year,
liess than 35

155

guineas and

not less than

25 giiineas a
year,
less than BO

137

45 .

1- _

guineas and

not less than

S5 guineas a

year.

Hot less than

50 guineas a

year.

(contimted.)

Herefordshire.

Chester,

Total

?' CB

1^.

m a

^ 09

§,-

■§

■3

1
o

5cQ
d "

^.s

d.3

S.S

o.S

;z;.S

n=-

;z;

Schools cliarging less tliati 25 gui-

172

359

neas a year.

Less than 35 guineas and not less

290

360

than 25 tineas a year.

Xess than 50 guineas and not less

200

301

than 35 guineas a yesr.

Not less than 50 guineas a year.

179

126

Pupils taken at
less than the
terms named.

Extras.

There is one subject connected with these schools on which I
have not been able to obtain exact information, but which renders
it necessary to receive the results with caution. It is very usual
for schoolmasters to take some pupils at less than the terms named
in their prospectus. This is sometimes confined to the sons of clero-y-
men, or boys having some special claim to consideration, while
in others it extends to any who are unwilling or unable to pay
the full terms. It is, I think, done principally in unsuccessful
schools, in which it is difficult to obtain the full terms. I do not
think, however, that this will materially affect the results given
in the table, which are formed from the terms mentioned in the
prospectuses.

French, German, drawing, drilling, and music, if taught, are
usually extras, and in some cases Latin and Greek also. These latter
are made extras chiefly in small schools, where they are required

Mr. Bompai's Efiporf.

by one or two boys only. I found some masters who had formerly
made Latin an extra had given up doing so, on the ground that
the extra charge preyented many from learning it, while they
thought it was a subject which it was desirable should be learned
by all their pupils.

It is difficult to give more than a general idea of the ages of the Ages of the
scholars. Out of 1,094 scholars mentioned in the returns from 25 ^'^'^o'^i's-
schools in my district, 205 are under 10 ; 559 between 10 and 14 ;
230 between 14 and 16 ; and 100 over 16. The latter include the
young men whom I have mentioned above, and whose presence in
the schools of Wales and the neighbouring English counties is one of
their most marked characteristics. In the cheaper schools the boys
leave earlier, because they are usually of a lower grade of society,
and therefore have to enter when younger on some employment.
Thus in schools charging two guineas or upwards, the per-centage
of the pupils more than 14 years of age is 32 per cent., while for
schools charging one guinea or less per quarter it is 28 per cent.
The age at which boys leave school depends, however, a good deal
upon the master : if parents see their son making real progress,
they are usually ready to allow him to remain another year at
school if the master advises it. It will be remembered, however,
that for the reasons given above the difficulty of retaining boys
long at school appears to be increasing.

In considering the subjects that are taught at the various schools,
I shall first give a Table showing the per-centage of schools which
teach, and of boys who learn, the more important subjects, and then
make some remarks upon the subjects separately.

Number of
schools at
which the
more im-
portant subjects
are taught,
and number of
boys who learn
them.

Table 8.

J- w

%k%

Boysi
above
arter
n.

Subjects.

« to ^

Per-oentag

Schools char

Guinea

who

Greek -

Latin - - _ - ,

100

French ~

100

German

—

Book-keeping

1 +

Mensuration and surveying -

Mathematics beyond arithmetic

English Grammar -

lOo

Miisic -

Drawing

)00

Chemistry -

These Tables are formed from the returns that I have received, Remarks on
which are not sufficiently numerous to make the results perfectly the difterent
accurate. I think, however, they give a substantially correct view ^'^ ^^'^ s aug .

n. c. 3.

18 Schools Inquiry Commission.

of the extent to which the diflferent subjects are taught in my
district. The returns do not include the schools in Chester, but
only in the five counties of my district. The returns from Chester
would differ in some degree, though in the main analogous.
It will be seen that German and chemistry are hardly taught at
all ; they are not taught in fact as part of the school course any-
where. Book-keeping and mensuration are most taught in the
cheap schools, while Latin and Greek are most taught in the
more expensive schools; and especially in grammar schools;
English grammar is taught everywhere except in two or three
of the leading grammar schools. Euclid and algebra are much
less taught than Latin, though more so than Greek, and there
is less difference in the amount of them taught in the cheaper
and more expensive schools. A good deal of the teaching of
Euclid is, I think, of a very unsatisfactory kind, many of the
boys who profess to learn it really knowing nothing at all of the
subject. There is, I think, rather more music taught than appears,
some boys learning it away from school, and some schools having
classes for the boys in play hours as part of their recreation.

Eeligious teaching. In almost all schools some time is given
to direct religious teaching. The nature of this varies in different
schools. In grammar schools, and in some other schools, it
includes the teaching of the Church catechism, but boys are
usually allowed to omit this at the request of their parente. In
schools where the* boys are required to bring a written request
from the parents before they are excused, such a request is seldom
sent. This, however, probably does not so much arise from a
willingness that their boys should learn it as from a dislike to
interfere. In one or two schools the masters have told me that it
would create a difficulty if some boys learned jt and others did
not, and that it was desirable, therefore, that it should be
compulsory on all ; others, however, stated that there was no
difficulty in so arranging the times for learning it, that it should
not interfere at all with the work or discipline of the school. At
Cowbridge Grammar School the Church catechism was at one time
taught to all the boys in the school ; but it having been suggested
that some of the answers when put into the mouths of Dissenters
were absolutely untrue, and that repeating them therefore taught
such boys to undervalue truth, or to disbelieve the whole — a view
in which the present head-master seems to fully concur — it has for
some years past been taught only to the sons of members of the
Church of England. Most of the larger private schools in my
district are kept by Dissenters. I believe there is only one
private school in the four Welsh counties containing more than
50 boys that is not. They, however, contain boys whose parents
are members of the Church of England, as the grammar Bchools
contain many boys whose parents are Dissenters.

Greek This subject is but little taught, as will be seen from
the Tables, except in the grammar schools, and the almost
unanimous opinion of the masters of schools is that Greek ought
not to form a branch of ordinary education, except in the case of

Mr, Bompas's Report. 19

boyg whp are going up to one of the universities, or are going to
eoter one of the learned professions. The wishes of the parents
appear to be the s*me, although in towns like Jluthin and
Cowbridge, where thei'e are old and important grammar schools
forming the chief point of interest in the town, many tradesmen
are anxious that their sons sh-ould have a classical education.
Teaching it to one or two boys causes such an interruption to the
routine of the school that in some of the larger schools which are
intended to give a commercial education Greek is not taught at
all. In smaller schools where the boys necessarily receive more
individual teaching it is sometimes taught to two or three boys ;
but such teaching does not usually extend further than the
grammar and the translation of some easy author.

Latin is taught in almost all schools, but in the lower middle
class schools only to a small proportion of the boys. The masters,
however, are almost unanimous in wishing that all boys should
learn it, except those who come for only a quarter or two, and
know hardly anything when they come. Various reasons are
given for this wish. TIjb principal are the help that it aifords to
boys in understanding English and learning other languages, and
the discipline it exercises on their minds : this latter appears to
be the great reason for which it is valued by masters. They say
that it is the hardest subject which the boys learn, and that it
produces in them habits of industry and attention which would
more than compensate for the time spent upon it if it had no
further use. Many masters say that they find that boya who
learn Latin get on fiaster with their history, geography) and
English grammar, &c., than boys who do not do so, but give
their time to additional lessons in those other subjects. In many
schools, however, the boys are not taught more Latin than ig suffi-
cient to enable them to translate a Pelpetus or a few sentences in
Henry's First Book. This will be best seen from the results of
the examination to be given hereafter. The opinions of the
parents of the pupils is less favourable to the study of Latin.
Very many of them prefer their sons confining their attention to
reading, writing, arithmetic, and similar subjects; or learning
the modern languages and the sciences instead of Latin. The
opinions and wishes of the masters exert a great influence, how-
ever, and the number of boys who learn Latin usually increases in
a well managed school on this account. Thus, one master told me
that when he commenced his school only 15 per cent, of his boys
learnt Latin ; but that after 7 years 80 per cent, did so, though tlie
class of boys was the same, and at the Llanrwst grammar
school the head-master was at first obliged to give up a rule he
had made, that all the boys should learn Latin on account of the
strong opposition of the parents ; but after a few years he found
that all the boys but one or two ^d learn Latin, and was able to
re-establish the rule.

The abstract .question whether any other subject could be
made to supply the place of Latin as a mental discipline is a
question rather of opinion than of fact, though some degree of

B 2

20 Schools Inquiry Commission.

light may be thrown on it by the results of my examinations. One
master, whose school showed that he was competent to express an
opinion of some value, said that he thought the modern languages
might be made to supply the place of Latin, and with advantage,
were it not that ao many of the examinations of the present day
require a knowledge of Latin, such, for example, as the preli-
minary examinations for attorneys and medical men, and that
schools are, therefore, obliged to teach it to enable the boys who are
preparing for such positions to pass the examinations : but that
that being so it became almost impossible to have a second system
in the school for the education of the other boys. It is, I think,
a fact, and one worthy of consideration that the subjects of
examination do thus compulsorily fix the course of study in all
schools, and oblige them to be to a great extent the same. If a
choice of subjects were given to the candidates at the examinations
it would allow different systems of instruction to be pursued by
different masters, and might end in a lasting improvement in the
education of the country.

The same master said that he found that the boys who did not
learn Latin were usually behind the boys who did so in all their
other subjects, but that he intended for the future to make them
learn Euclid during the time that the others were learning Latin.
I asked him to let me know the result, and have since heard from
him that though at present there has not been time to make any
wide generalization, his last school examination showed a great
advance in those who had done extra Euclid, and they were not
at all, as before, behind the other boys in general subjects. If the
effect of different studies upon the general position of boys in the
school were more carefully noted by other masters, it might lead
to very valuable results.

French is taught more in some districts than others. It will be
seen that the number of boys .learning it is larger than that of
those learning Greek, though much smaller than that of those who
learn Latin. Most of the masters consider it a useful and impor-
tant subject, but as it is useful rather for its own sake than for its
influence on the school work, as a whole they do not press it upon
the parents so much as they do Latin. The wishes of the parents
vary greatly in different districts : in Swansea, Neath, and Cardiff)
at which there is a large trade with France, it is considered very
important ; but in other parts, even of Glamorganshire, though boys
often go on leaving school to one of the places I have named, the
parents appear to care very little for it. Two reasons, probably,
have made it less usually learned than it would otherwise have been.
In most schools it is charged as an extra : this is the case in three-
fourths of the schools from which I have returns. None of the
boys, therefore, learn it if the parents are indifferent about it,
while if it were not an extra th^ would do so, nnless the parents
actually objected, in those schools in which the masters wished it.
The other reason affects the masters rather than the parents, and is
the difficulty of teaching it : the master of the school is seldom able
to teach it himself, while it is difficult to obtain an assistant who is

Mr. Bompas's Report. 2 1

able to do so who is also well fitted to aid ia the other parts of the
school work. It seems usually considered best that it should be
taught by a Frenchman, though on this there is some difference of
opinion. On the one hand a Frenchman is seldom able to maintain
discipline among English boys, or to understand their difficulties
and requirements; on the other hand, few Englishmen can teach
either the accent or the minutiae of the idioms. In practice, it is, I
think, usually taught by a Frenchman. One disadvantage of the
subject being charged for as an extra is, that the boys commence
learning the subject later than they otherwise would. It would
seem, as I have before pointed out, when speaking of the Welsh
language, that the younger children are, the more readily they
catch the accent of a foreign language, and it is an advantage
therefore for boys to commence learning modern languages when
quite young. The boys do not usually attain any great pro-
ficiency, and very few, I think, learn to speak the language
fluently.

German, as will be seen, is taught to hardly any boys in
my district though some of the parents would, I think, be glad
that their children should learn it. There is not, however, time to
teach all the subjects that are desirable when the boys remain so
few years at school.

Arithmetic is taught to almost all the boys in all schools, and in
the lower schools a good deal of time is spent on it. By some
masters a good deal of attention is paid to mental arithmetic. The
results of the teaching vary greatly in different schools, and are
not for the most part very satisfactory, though this is in
many cases due to the class of boys taught and their irregular
attendance. '

Book-keeping and mensuration, especially the former, are taught
in very many schools, and mainly because they are likely to be of
real' value to the boys in after life. It is thought by some, how-
ever, that book-keeping is so soon leariit practically when a boy
goes into business, that it is not worth while to teach it to him in
school. The study has, however, an additional value as an exercise
in writing, and as teaching habits of order and neatness, and seems
to be well worth the time bestowed on it even on those grounds.
It is usually taught by means of books published for the purpose
by Chambers.

The other branches of mathematics usually taught, are Euclid
and algebra; in very few schools do the boys get to anything
higher. Euclid is very generally taught to some of the boys,
and in some schools seemed to be well taught ; but the results
given by the examination do not seem to me to be at all satisfac-
tory : a large number were just beginning and had only learnt two
or three propositions of the first book. I think about the same
number of boys learn algebra as Euclid, or, if anything, rather
fewer.

Science is but little taught except in quite an elementary form :
the great difncuity appears to be the expense. In those parts of
my district, where there is much mining or manufacturing employ-

22 Schools Inquiry Commission.

ment, there seemed to be a wish both among masters and parents
that it could be taught more extensively. The owners of chemical
and other manufacturing works with whom I conversed, seemed,
however, to think it undesirable that the persons employed on
thgir works should have any knowledge of science, as it rendered
them less likely to follow implicitly the instructions given them.
I think, however, this must be a mistake. Chemistry is taught
practically in one or two schools, and in one it was taught
practically and apparently efEciently for a charge of 1/. a year,
which I was told covered all expenses. It seems generally con-
sidered, however, too expensive to be introduced into ordinary
schools, and it is impossible for it to be so where the number of
boys is small.

History and Geography receive a good deal of attention in the
lower schools : in the grammar schools there is often but little time
allowed for them. I think there is usually too little attention
•paid to the constitutional part of our history, or to the lives of
scientific and literary men. Very few of the boys in the schools I
examined viva voce knew anything of Lord Bacon, and their only
acquaintance with the Magna Charta for the most part was that it
was the Charter of English liberties ; but why, they could not tell.
In some schools, however, history is well taught. A difficulty
arises in the study of geography in classifying boys : a class which
one year has been learning the geography of England will the
next year go on with that of Europe, and the third year perhaps
with that of America. A new boy coming the second or third
year, who knows but little geography, may thus learn the geography
of America before he knows that of his own country. This diffi-
culty is got over in some schools by giving each boy a special
lesson of his own as well as a class lesson, and sometimes in other
ways, but the difficulty seems to be inherent in the subject. The
lessons in geography are I believe usually said, viva, voce, and the
results of this are apparent in the examination, from the fact that
few boys know how to spell correctly the names of places, or even
geographical terms, though they write words which have a similar
sound. To prevent this, I think it would be desirable that lessons
in geography should be more frequently written out..

English Grammar is now taught in all except one or two of the old
grammar schools, and the importance of the study of English as a
part of education is being increasingly recognized. In one gram-
mar school in which it had been recently introduced, the master
told me that he found the subject of j great value, not only for its
own sake, but as assisting the boys in the study of Latin. The
inability that is shown in my examination to parse an English
sentence proves, I think, the necessity of still further teaching,
and shows that the study of Latin grammar is not alone sufficient.
In some of the classical schools the attention paid to the, English
in the exercises of translation sent up by the boys is considered the
chief means of teaching English, and takes the place of any special
^tudy of English grammar. It would be well if more attention were
paid in all schools both to the English and the writing of exercises

Mr, Bompas^s Report. 23

sent up in other subjects. Various grammars are used, but meet
schools use either Lennie's, or Allen and Cornwall's for the lower,
and Morell's for the upper classes. A good deal of attention is paid
to Morell's System of Analysis in some of the higher schools.

English literature seems seldom to be made a distinct branch of
study.

Musio is, I think, taught more than formerly, though still only
to a very limited extent. In some schools it is taught out of
school hours, a band being formed among the boys as one of their
recreations. I shall have to treat more at length on the subject
of music when speaking of girls' schools, and shall have then to
point out the disadvantages of instrumental music as a general
branch of education.

Drawing. I was surprised to find how very generally drawing
was taught, and it will be seen that in this respect it is next to
Latin, far more boys learning it than learn either Greek, French,
or mathematics (excluding arithmetic). In some schools it is
taught to all the boys as a part of the necessary school work, a
given time being set apart during which all the boys draw. It
is the more remarkable that it is so generally learnt, because it is
usually charged as an extra, as much so as French. It seems to be
thought highly of as a branch of education both by parents and
masters, and I think it is likely to become even more general.
Various kinds of drawing are taught, but principally mechanical
drawing, and freehand drawing from the flat. Several of the
masters have complained to me that the parents insist, or at least
expect, that their sons shall bring home at the end of the half-
year drawings that will look pretty, and that they cannot there-
fore teach them in a really scientific manner. The necessity of
pleasing parents in such things, and making the result of the
teaching apparent to them, is certainly one of the difficulties of
education at the present time, and tends to make it superficial ;
it might perhaps be partially met, as will be suggested hereafter by
a system of examinations.

Table 9 is taken from the answers received from schools Occupation of
respecting the profession or occupation of the parents of the ^ parents^of
pupils. The classification is necessarily a rough one, but will
serve to show the nature of the schools in my district. It will be
observed that the social position of the boarders is almost
invariably higher than that of the day scholars, and that in
grammar schools there is usually a greater number of boys of
diflferent classes than in any others. The lower class of boys are
attracted to them, either by free admissions, or at least a lower rate
of charge than would be possible if it were not for the endowments.
The higher class of boys are attracted partly by the name of the
school, partly by the exhibitions, and partly by the abilities of the
masters, who are induced by the endowments to settle in them.

Salaries of

assistant

masters.

Superiority of

trained

masters.

Schdols Inquiry Commission.
Table 9.

BOAEDEES. ,

DAT SCHOLAES.

Sons of
S Erofesional
Men.

S=3

J
Zt

o pi
CO o

.11

m ^

% '

2 1 7

1 4

1 j 10

a :-,

' 8 i

Average

2t i 1* 1 lOi

2 , 1

i 3

sea -

9 j 1

■§160 3

11 ;

1- 5

I
1

1
1

Average

i! 3i

94 i 1 i 3J i

3^ on

S S

O 0)

O fcD
02 g

Averai^e i

1 20

5
2i

The salaries of the assistant masters are for the most part very-
small, of eighteen private schools from which I have complete
returns (the endowed schools make no return on this point) ten
have no assistant masters, and at the other eight schools there are
sixteen assistant masters, whose salaries are as follows : — one 70/.
one 601, two 50L, five 40/., one 35/., two 30/., one 25/., three
20/., with in each case, board and lodging ; the average, therefore,
being .38/. 2s. 6d. Only a few of these are classical masters, and
they are the best paid. I am told that the salaries of good assis-
tants are, however, increasing. The general opinion among the
head-masters of schools seems to be that masters who haveT)een
trained at one of the Government training colleges are most effi-
cient teachers of English grammar and history, geography, &c.,
more so than even graduates of either of the Universities. This is
a striking proof of the need there is that a master should know how

Mr. Bompas's Report, 25

to teach and how to maintain discipline, and not merely possess
a knowledge of the subject to be taught, and is a proof also that it
is possible to learn how to teach. It appears to me that one of the
great deficiencies in our present school system is the absence of
any special training for the masters of our middle-class schools.
Those who devote themselves to tuition are not articled to some
good master, or in any way taught the special knowledge required
in their profession, as is the case in almost all other employments,
but are left to gather up the knowledge of the best mode of per-
forming their duties from their own personal experience. This
no doubt saves them from expense at the commencement of their
career, but it may account in some degree for the small salaries
they receive, and the small success that often accompanies their
teaching. This, however, is not the place to suggest remedies
for this evil.

With respect to the desirability of schools being examined and Examination
publicly reported on, there is not much difference of opinion. °fs<=''°°ls.
Out of 27 answers that I have received to the question asked
by the Commission on this subject, 18 are favourable; some of
them being expressed most strongly, and only two are distinctly
opposed to it, both of them from schools in which an investigation
is much needed. In the remaining cases the masters do not see
any particular advantage in it, or feel unable to give a decided
opinion. The advantage of an examination appears to be threefold —

First, it enables the parents of the pupils to select the best Advantages of

schools. This is only partially the case, because it can afford but ~ "'

very small indication of the moral influence and training of the
school, which, after all, is the most important consideration. The
parents are, however, for the most part better able to judge of that
than of the actual progress made by their boys in their studies,
for they are often unacquainted with the subjects taught, and
almost always have partially forgotten them ; they cannot, there-
fore, apply any efficient test of their sons' proficiency in them, and
must leave it to the master. I believe that a really good school
usually increases, and an inferior one fails even now ; but I think
this is by no means always the case, and that any means which
would throw light on the practical working of schools would be
considered by most parents a great boon.

Secondly, it acts as an incentive to the masters, and rewards
those who are really efficient. In the case of some mastei's such
an incentive is greatly needed, and in the case of most it would
be beneficial, while all probably would be glad to see some
tangible result of their labours. They are at present greatly
tempted to teach mainly such subjects as can be appreciated by
the parents, and to teach those subjects in a way which will
produce the most visible results. This temptation would be done
away if they knew that the result of their teaching was to be
tested by men really versed in the subjects instead of by the
parents only.

Thirdly, it acts as an incentive to the boys, and puts in the
hands of the masters a means of encouraging and spurring on their

an examina-
tion.

26 Schools Inquiry Commission.

pupils which might in many cases go far to replace punishments.
It would give them, too, a motive for acquiring a real and thorough
knowledge of the subjects they learn, instead of such a smatter-
ing as might please a superficial observer.
Ways in which At present the want is met in various ways. The larger schools
this want is Jq gome instances are examined by examiners from Oxford or
now met. Cambridge, or through the College of Preceptors. The expense

of the former is too great to be incurred except by the highest
class of schools, while the latter does not appear to be generally
popular, though I am not cerjfiin of the reason. I believe,
however, the College of Preceptors has not such a standing in
public estimation as to make masters seek its certificates. In the
smaller schools the masters either examine their pupils themselves,
or ask some neighbouring gentleman to examine them. Both these
plans are unsatisfactory. If the master examines, it is no incen-
tive to himself, and affords no guarantee to the parent, and the
influence on the boys is not wholly satisfactory, for if prizes are
not given they care little for the result, and if prizes are given the
master is apt to be accused of favouritism, and jealousy springs up.
This latter is so diflBcult to prevent, that in several schools prize
giving has been given up in consequence. If a friend examines
he is seldom really competent for a duty which requires much
more than a mere knowledge of the subject, and if he is, he is pre-
judiced in favour of his friend, and the results of the examination,
therefore, cannot be relied on, even if they are not purposely
one-sided. The result of this is not only that no dependence can
be placed on such reports, but that if any school is carefully
examined, and the report fairly states the defects which are sure
to exist, it is in danger of being considered worse than other
schools on account of its honesty. It is these smaller schools
which most need an examination on all the grounds I have
mentioned above, and they at present have no means of obtaining
one.
The Oxford An attempt has been made to supply the want by the Oxford

and Cambridge and Cambridge Local Examinations. I have inquired carefully
Examinatious. ^°*° ^"^^ working of these, and I believe that on the whole they
are very beneficial. The objection has been urged against them
that they lead masters to give special attention to some boys and
to neglect others. I believe that in some schools this is so to a
limited extent. I think, however, the evil is not so great as some
have supposed, and that the good gained by the encouragement
given both to masters and pupils exceeds the evil. It does, however,
increase the temptation which all masters must feel to help on the
Insufficiency of clcver boys to the neglect of the more backward ones. These
these. examinations, however, do not at all supply the want I have

mentioned, for, first, they do not at all affect the lower middle-
class schools : when boys leave school at 14 it is in vain for the
master to hope that he_ can fit them for the local examinations.
Secondly, they do not influence or affect any but the higher classes
in any schools : the lower boys, who most need an inducement to
work, are not affected at all. Thirdly, it is a very uncertain test of

Mrt Bomfais Report 27

the work of a school, because the number of boys who go up is
smallj and depends not only on the ability of the boys to pass the
examinations, but upon the wishes of the parents and their wil-
lingness to pay the necessary expense. This latter is the great
difficulty ; very many parents are unwilling to pay the cost of
their sons going to one of the local centres and residing there
during the examination. Several masters have told me that unless
they are prepared to pay that expense themselves they cannot
persuade their pupils to go up ; and I have heard of schools in
which the masters do pay all the ^xpenses, considering it a good
investment as a means of advertising their school.

There seems, therefore, still to be required a systematic ex- Modes of
amination of schools as a whole. Almost every possible mode of selecting
appointing examiners has been suggested by different masters — examiners,
as a rule the lower schools say by Grovernment, the upper schools
say by the Universities. Some think they should be elected by
the masters of schools as a body ; and one has suggested that they
should be selected by the parents. I think the parents, at any rate
where they belong to the lower middle-class would, as a rule,
prefer the examination being conducted by Government. It is
probable that in some cases the parents would object to the
examination altogether, as I have been told by several masters and
mistresses that the parents objected to their children taking part in
my examination. I think, however, this objection arises from a
misapprehension, and would cease if the examinations were once
established. It applies, too, more to girls than boys. All the
masters agree that the examination should be voluntary, and
though they would, I think, be willing to contribute something
they would not — at any rate in all cases — be willing or able to
contribute a sufficient sum to cover all the expenses.

It was partly with a view to test the possibility of such an Reasons for
examination by written papers of whole schools that I adopted the examining the
mode which I did of examining the schools in my district. It was, ^^^^n papers
however, mainly for the following reasons : — 1st, I found it diffi-
cult for want of time to examine more than a part of a school
viva voce in one day ; 2ndly, I felt that it would be difficult to keep
the same standard before my mind in going from school to school ;
3rdly, 1 felt that any opinion I should express as the result of such
an examination could have only the uncertain value always
attaching to an opinion while the results of a written examination
could be put In the form of statistics, and would speak for them-
selves.

The plan I adopted was as follows. I prepared a paper of Mode of con-
questions in dictation, English grammar, geography, history, ducting the
French, and arithmetic to set inthe morning, and two papers to examination.
be set together in the afternoon, including questions in Greek,
Latin, German; modern history, algebra, Euclid, book-keeping,
mensuration, natural philosophy, and natural science, the list of
subjects being taken from that given in form B of the papers of
questions sent to private schools. These papers are given in the
Appendix. I did not, as will be seen, set any questions in religious

Schools Inquiry Commission.

knowledge. This was partly because I felt that it would be diflS-
cult to set questions which should test fairly schools in which such
very different religious teaching took place, but mainly because I
thought it objectionable to mix up such questions with those in
other subjects, and I could not for want of time give a separate
paper to them. I allowed three hours in the morning and three
hours in the afternoon to answer these papers, and in practice
I found that the examination never occupied the whole time.
None of the questions, therefore, were left unanswered from
want of time. As it was necessary to compress so many sub-
jects into so short a time, I was compelled to ask only questions
admitting of short answers, which will account for some of the
questions that I have set. It will be seen that in each subject I
set a very easy question, and then others gradually increasing in
difficulty. The younger children thus had an opportunity of
answering the first ones, while the elder pupils took but a little
while in answering those, and were then tested by the harder ones
JMumber of which succeeded. ' I examined in all 1,485 boys belonging to 39
boys exammed. different schools. In each case I asked leave to examine all the
boys in the school who could write an intelligible answer to a
question, and in most cases I did so, though in some instances a
few of the younger boys were not present, though old enough to
write, and a few of the more backward elder boys were also
absent. The number of boys returned as belonging to the 3?
schools is 1,887. In some of the increasing schools the number of
boys I examined was greater than that returned as belonging to
the school. At Swansea, Cardiff, Hereford, and Chester, the
schools met in a central building for the purpose of examination.
At other towns I examined the schools in their own schoolrooms,
and if there was more than one school to be examined, asked some
gentlemen to act as my deputies to superintend the examinations in
those schools at which I could not be present myself.

In the towns in which the different schools met I found no
difficulty in obtaining suitable rooms for the examination of the
schools, nor in obtaining the necessary tables and other appliances
— thanks to the very kind assistance I received on all hands — and I
am strongly of opinion that an examination of several schools
together out of their own schoolrooms is the most satisfactory to
all parties.

The result of my examinations seems to me to show that
there is no difficulty in examining whole schools instead of
only selected boys presenting themselves at some central spot. I
found it best that the masters should be present, both that they
might be satisfied that all was conducted fairly, and because their
presence formed a check upon their boys and rendered it easier
to maintain order. There was in the present case no inducement
to the masters to aid their boys or to endeavour to obtain sur-
reptitiously a knowledge of the papers, because the results of the
examination of particular schools were not to be made known. In
the case of an annual examination in which there would be a
report on each school^ some further precautions would have to be
taken upon which it is unnecessary to enter here.

Possibility of
obtaining
rooms for
central
examinations.

Mr. Bompas's Report. :i9

It is hardly necessary to say that the results of such an exaraina- Degree iu
tlon cannot be considered as minutely accurate. A s. it was not to be which the
a competition between the different schools, and was in all cases a reUe/o™.^^
voluntary act of courtesy on the part of the masters, I imposed
no more restrictions than I thought necessary for the purpose
of obtaining a substantial accuracy ; there was iu some schools
a good deal of copying, which may tend to make the results appear
too favourable, on the other hand, many of the boys had never
been in an examination before, and did not show half the knowledge
they possessed. Again, the questions being necessarily such as
admitted of short answers, many of the latter are only guesses,
and as I have not taken off marks for mistakes in marking the
questions, this will make some cf the subjects — such as botany and
natural philosophy — appear better known than is really the case. I
believe that all these uncertainties might be obviated without
difficulty in an annual examination. I should have been able to
lessen them to a considerable extent myself if I had had at the
commencement the experience I now possess. The results of the
examination, however, may, I think, be trusted as substantially
accurate, and wiU give a fair idea of the knowledge possessed by
boys at different ages and of the education actually given by
different classes of schools.

To persons unaccustomed to examinations the results may seem Reasons for
small, and undoubtedly in some schools and on some subjects they requite,
are so. It is, however, I need hardly say, more difficult to answer a
sei'ies of questioiis in an examination than it would appear to be to
anyone who has not tried. It must be remembered, also, that the
examination took place in the middle of a quarter, and without
any special preparation on the part of the schools. Much better
results would be no doubt obtained by an examination held at the
end of the half-year, and of which the schools had due notice.
Much allowance also must be made for the fact that it was boys,
not men who were examined; and boys, especially when young,
are unable to produce at will the knowledge they really possess.
I think, however, the results do show, that boys, unless excep-
tionally clever, cannot be taught in the limited time at which
they are at school so much as is usually supposed. That it is to a
great extent this fact, and not a deficiency in the teaching which
prevents the results being more satisfactory, is shown by the fact
that they are the same in all schools. There are several school.'*
in my district carefully taught by able and experienced men, but
the results, though certainly better than those obtained at cheaper
schools, are not so to any great extent. On tlie other hand, in
some of the schools in which the master Avas really incompetent,
the difference is marked. In judging of the results fairly, it is
necessary, also to take account of the early training of the boys
and the difficulties the masters have to contend against from their
irregular attendance : these hindrances are greater in my district
than they would be in some parts of England or in more expensive
and high-class schools.

The papers which I set, with the number of marks I gave for
each question, are to be found in Appendix A.

Schools Inquiry Corfimimon.

Number pf
marks giTen
for eapji
subject.

The marks allotted

Dictation
English Grammar
Geography -
English History
French

Arithmetic -

Writing

to the different subjects were—

Ages of the
boys examined.

150

150
50
50

100
50
50

100
40
50

120
90

Total morning paper 600 Total afternoon papers 1,000

Before giving the results of the examination I shall give a few
tables of the ages, &c-, of the boys examined, as the number of
schools examined was larger than that of those who answered the
questions sent by the Commissioners, and such Tables will, there-
fore, be useful for purposes of comparison with those given above.

I examined in all 1,485 boys and their ages are given in the
following Table : —

Table 10.

Latin

100

Greek

100

German

100

Modem History

100

Algebra

100

Trigonometry

Conic Sections

Euclid

Mensuration

Book-keeping

Natural Philosophy

Natural Science

Ages - A

warcls

Total.

Glamorganshire

117

lOS

102

663

DeuWehshire -
FlintsSire

»1

177

—

112

le-

%'li,

Chester -

—

133

Monmouth

2«

111

Totals

150

228

295

239

199

148

i,4as

Most of the older pupils are of the class above referred to who
come to school for a short time when young men to improve them-
selves. Thus, 46 out of the 83 pupils above 16 (including all
those above 20) had come to the school since they were 16, The
number of boys who receive a continuous education continuing
after they are 17 is comparatively small.

At schools charging one guinea a quarter or less, the boys,
excluding the younjg men, are younger than in the more expensive
schools as will be seen from tbe following Table : —

The age of the

Table 11.

cheaper schools No. of hoys of the I
compared •with age of i

12 1 11 ; 10

Total.

that of those

in the more j„ gchools charging one

expensive. guinea » quarter or

less - - . -
In schools charging

more than one granea

a quarter

1
6

1
11

6
34

8
48

31
120

62
165

89
206

71
166

66 ! 45 j 18
133 103 51

5 -
IS ' 4

415
1.070

Mr. Bompai's Jteport.

It will be seen that the boys of 15 and 16 form a much smaller
proportion of the whole in the cheaper schools. All the boys
above 16 belong to the class of young men before spoken of. The
proportion of the boys between 12 and 14 to the whole is almost
identical.

With respect to the time the boys had remained at school, 182
had remained four years or upwards at the school in which they were
examined, only 38 of whom were in schools charging one guinea a
quarter or less. 474 had been in the school less than a year, of
whom 154 were in schools charging one guinea a quarter or less.

Of the 1,485 boys examined 536 were boarders and 949 day
scholars.

Before giving the number of marks that have been obtained, it
may be desirable to state generally the principle of marking I have
adopted. I have given the marks rather liberally, taking off but
few marks for a mistake if it appeared probable from the answer
that the boy had really learnt the subject or rule a knowledge of
which the question was intended to test. In the dictation I have
taken off two marks for every mistake up to 15, and one mark for
every additional mistake. In the first two questions in geography
I have taken off a mark for a mis-spelling of the name of the town,
but I have not taken notice of the spelling elsewhere. In the case
of the fourth and fifth questions in geography I have only given
five marks, if the answer to one only was right, as it is in that case
usually the result of a guess.

The following tables will give the number of boys learning the
different subjects, first divided according to counties, then according
to ages, and lastly, according to the classes of schools. In these
tables I have considered only these boys as learning a subject who
have obtained some marks in it. Many boys in Euclid, for
example, only attempted to answer the first question (the definition
of an acute-angled triangle) and did that wholly wrong, obtaining
no marks, and are therefore not reckoned, and the Euclid will
therefore appear rather less generally taught than is professed in
the schools.

I have not considered as learning Greek those who only answered
questions in Greek History.

Table 12.

Time the boys
had remained
at school.

Nranber of
boarders and
day scholars.

Principle on
which the
marks have
been given.

6
u

County or Town.

■So

■A

»,

.a
1

■3
1

Glamorgansliire

663

242

295

136

187

Denbign shire
Flintshire -

177

128

Montgomeryshire -
Herefordshire

275

106

122

Chester

133

Monmouth -

f!0

Total ^

1,469

609

693

188

102

171

297

168

144

161

386

Number of boys
learning the
principal
subjects in
each county.

* The numbers for these two sutgeets are taiken from the ansrrers to the intro-
ductory questions of the afternoon paper.

Snhools Inquiry Commission.

Number of boys
learning the
principal
subjects, at
different ages.

Amount of
Latin learnt.

Table

Ages.

o
1
1

1
1

i
1

•s

15
19

IS and above

13S

91
«7

52
34

7
S

24
17

4(7

67
64

26
26

21
20

225

10*

117

R«

<i6

287

139

2.4

235

109

196

fi5

TJndor 11

231

2
168

1,459

610

692

180

101

172

296

99 !104

151

385

Number of boys
learning the "~
principal

subjects in '3

schools ,a

charging ^

different terms. ".

o
S5

Table 14.

Schools.

Classical grammar

schools -
Schools charging

more than one

guinea per

quarter -
Unsatisfactory

schools cliarging

as above -
Schools charging
one guinea or less
Unsatisfactory

schools charging

as above -

C above 14
(.under 14

3 above 14
1 uuder 14

\ above 14
1 under 14

(above 14
' under 14

f above 14
■) under 14

I have included in the Table under the head of schools charging
more than a guinea, some of the smaller grammar schools which
charge only one guinea or less. I have thought it better to divide
the private schools in order to make a fairer comparison with the
classical grammar schools, which are all of them old established
and well managed, and should be compared, therefore, with the
better class of semi-classical schools.

Very many of those who are included in the above table ns
learning the subjects really know very little of them. Thus in
Latin, taking as a test, the correct answering of the two following
questions : — Translate into English, Epistolam quam misi vidit,
and translate into Latin, " He was a good boy ;" I find the follow-
ing result : —

Table 15.

Classical grammar schools T above 13

" l."r"ier 13

Schools charging more than one guinea / above 13

a quarter - - - -\ under 13

Schools charging one guinea a quarter f above 13

or less - - - -"[under 13

Boys

learuing
Latin.

Boys
answering

both
questions
correctly.

130

106

269

121

Mr, Bompas's Report.
Table 16,

Column 1.

Classical
Grammar
Schools.

Column 2.

Semi-Classical
Grammar
Schools,

Column 3.

Semi-Classical
Private Schools
having over 20
Boarders, and
charging over
30 guineas.

Column 4.

Column 5,

Semi-Classical

Private Schools a«™; r^i.^o-^ i
having over 20 x&f"";^L*l'"^f
Pn,r^„.= o„H Private Schools,

Boarders, and

charging lees

than 30 guineas

a year.

having less than
20 Boarders.

Column 6.

Private

Day Schools,

charging 4

guineas a year

or less.

Column 7.

Inefficient
Grammar
Schools.

Column 8.

Inefficient
Schools of class
j given in
I Column 3.

Column 9.

Inefficient

Schools of class

given in

Column 6.

Number of schools in the
class - - -

No. of boys in such] 15
schools of the ages 1 14
respectively -J 1.3

4
32
30
34

3
21

28
30

3
20
35
27

20
33

3
2

4
16

2
3

Average
Marks

-Average

Average

Avci-age

Average

Subjects.

Age.

Marks

Slarks

Marks

3 a j?

obtained by
each Boy.

obtained by

each Boy.

each Boy

[•

Dictation

100

English gram-

15
14

mar

100

Geography -■

100

English his-

tory

100

French

100

Arithmetic -•

35 '

' 29

Writing

600

Total for the '

13
15

253

248

224

227

258

195

233

211

183

morning

219

220

224

183

216

201

194

172

120

paper
Latin - i

207

194

212

191

193

158

163

180

114

150

Greek

German

Modem his-

tory

100

Algebra

Trigono-

metry

14
13

Conic Sec-

tions

14
13

100

Euclid

Mensnration- ■

Book-keeping-

120

Natural Phi-
losophy -

15
14
13

5
7
3

6
2

2
2

2
1

Natural
Science -

15
14

3
2

1000

Total marks

13
15

110

•

in the after- •

1600

noon papers
Total marks

13
15

363

341

296

• 259

336

225

233

219

197

obtained -

297

281

271

205

242

232

195

179

120

264

237

253

210

214

166

170

187

119

Mr. Bompas's Report. ' 35

In eight schools In which Latin was taught no boys answered Amount of
the two correctly. It would seem, therefore, that five-sixths of ^""^^"^ learnt,
the boys who learn Latin in the lower middle-class schools do not
learn enough to be of any value to them, except as a means of
training them to habits of thought and application. Similarly
the amount of Euclid learnt is for the most part very small. In
the second question in Euclid I set two propositions. In one
school out of 28 boys learning Euclid, 19 wrote out one or
other of the propositions correctly ; and in seven other schools,
out of 84 boys learning Euclid, 30 wrote out one of the proposi-
tions correctly, and eight others nearly so ; but in the remaining
16 schools, out of 163 boys learning Euclid, only 12 wrote out
either proposition correctly, and only 9 others wrote either of
them out at all nearly so; yet in these 16 schools are Included
some of the best grammar schools and private schools in my dis-
trict. This would seem to show either that Euclid cannot be
successfully taught to boys, or that the present modes of teaching
it are unsatisfactory, and the time allowed for It too short to be
eiFectual : I think the latter must be the main reason, though It
js no doubt a difficult subject to teach young boys.

In order to make any fair comparison of the schools it will be
necessary to confine the attention to boys of the same age, and the
ages 13, 14, and 15 will be best for the purpose, as under 13 there
is a great element of uncertainty introduced by the Inexperience
of the pupils, and above 1 5 there are so few boys In the schools
as to prevent the average being a fair one.

By a semi-classical school I mean a school in which the boys Mode of
do not all learn Latin, and only exceptionally learn Greek. None classifying the
of the private schools in my district which I examined are really s''''°°'^-
classical schools. The schools in column five contain usually three
or four boarders, and 10 to 30 day scholars : they are usually
more expensive if anything than the larger schools. It will be
observed that there is a very little difierence between the gram-
mar schools and private schools as regards the morning paper ; the
arithmetic Is a little better in the private schools, and equally so
in the cheaper as the dearer schools. The French, and in a less
degree,' the spelling, English grammar, and English history
become less In the cheaper schools. It must be remembered that
the grammar schools spend much of their time on classics, and
that on the other hand the boys remain longer at them and are
better trained at home. In the afternoon papers the deficiency
of classics In private schools and the deficiency in book-keeping
and mensuration in the classical grammar schools is apparent.
The averages for the subjects In the afternoon papers give, how-
ever, an imperfect test of the teaching, as a low average arises
sometimes from the fact that few boys were learning the subject
and sometimes from bad teaching. In Table 17, therefore, I have
given the number of boys learning each subject, and the average
marks obtained by such boys.

a. c. 3.

Schools Inquiry Commission,

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Mr, Bompas's Report.

Table 18 shows the actual totals for the morning and afternoon
papers of all the schools examined, and will thus give an idea of
the extent to which the schools vary from one another.

Table

18.

Results :
oMained from

oacVi nnlinnl.

Schools.

Werage Marks gained
on Morning Papers.

4.vera«e Marks gained ^^^';!«^fcH?„^'"'^
on iufernoon pipers. f^^Siinltton.

237

235

230

140

377

325

296

260

248

201

126

386

346

254

Schools.

279

.211

188

14ff

426

283

231

' ^

246

186

212

67 .

313

241

267

273

283

213

123

86 .

-45

306

369

25S

261

24S

193

843

328

222

267

227

■203

143

410

256

219

Semi-Classical
- Grammar Schools.

8
9

192
233

133
•121

159
132

263
233

164
•121

210
132

—

261

197

— '

—

261

222

—

•132

171

—

•29

—

•161

177

-12

1 —

•379

—

♦61

- —

111

■•440

Proprietary Schools

13
14

200
202

194
204

198
161

24
39

27
31

23#

239

218 •
243

226
192

'15

270

237

263

149

419

826

351 . ii

274

247

232

141

415

-309

"279

285

287

193

101

886

353

203

206

254

216

267

323

270

Private Schools charg-
ing more than one
" Guinea aQuarter for "
Day Scholars.

19
20
21
22

191

288
217
•266

214
194
183
170

294
176
167
182

67
74
84

18
60
11

253
363
801
•266

232
254
194
170

339
210

196
188

184

173

174

196

184

186

22.')

145

163

266

152

156

279

—

187

—

386

—

199

L26

—

186

—

199

1^27

•244

265

187

—

•244

.308

191

229

176

248

242

183

289

203

178

177

257

210

200

266

147

138

—

293

147

188

' Private Schools charg-
ing one Guinea a
Quarter or less for
Day Scholars.

31
32
33

162
* 93
•122

•209

178

210

163
94
99

172

162
• 93

•122

•209

178

254

153

94
99

187

145

139

—

145

142

—

124

—

146

—

223

—

234

•

1-38

—

143

—

148

* In these schools there vraa only one hoy of the age so marked, and the numher cannot there-
fore he safely taken as a test of the school. In No. 9 there are no afternoon papers, though a
few of the Doys professed to learn Latin i the examination, however, was not in any way
satisfactory. In No. 15 there was a great deal of copying, and the results may therefore be rather
' higher than they should he.

It may be interesting also to see in what schools the best results
are produced in regard to the first boys, and I therefore give a

D 2

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Number of
toys showing
special
proficiency.

Eesnlts of the
examination
-arranged
according to
<;onnties.

Inferiority of

agricultural

counties.

table showing the number of boys who obtained half maiks ii
different classes of schools.

the

Table IS

Class of School.

Percent, of boys
obtaining half
marks in morn-
ing paper.

■stJt

Ilii

Per oont. of boys
obtaining at least
100 marks in
afternoon paper.

Per cent, of boys;
obtaining at leasi
200 marks in
afternoon papet.

Per cent, of boys
obtaining at leas
300 mark^ in th
afternoon .paper

1. Classical grammar schools - -

2. Semi-classical grammar schools -

5. PriTate schools having not less than 20

boarders, and charging not less than
80 guineas a year - - ", „"

4. Private schools having not less than 20
boarders, and charging less than 30
guineas a year , - - -

B. Private schools having less than 20
boarders - - - - -

6. Private day schools charging not more

than 4 guineas a year . - -

7. Infftcient grammar schools

8. Ineffi(!ient schools of same class as (8)
g. IneCaoient school of same class as 6

173
110

160

102
18
50
54

19-2
21-8

4-8

14-7

2-9
11-1
2
1-9

S-6
3-6

4-7

1-3

SO 2
21-8

5-8

7-8
5-5
4

14-3
2-7

1 -
1-S

5.8
1-8

1-3

Total ....

827

13-S

2-4

15-4

1-7

The average number of marks obtained by the boys, classified
as to counties is as follows :

' Table 20.

Morning

Afternoon

Total

County of

paper.

Glamorgan -

256

219

187

351

273

215

Denbigh

235

241

204

322

283

247

Flint -

204

136

143

275

157

163

Hereford

219

171

198

266

195

226

Chestei- (city)

246

223

205

333

272

244

As I only examined two schools in Montgomeryshire, and the

returns from one are not complete, I have thought it fairer net

to give an average for that county ; there are, in fact, very few

schools, as will have been seen, in the county. The results show,

as might have been expected, that an agricultural population gives

a less favourable result for the schools, Glamorgan and Chester

being at the head of the list. The difficulties experienced by

farmers in educating their children, and the indiiFerence often

shewn by tljem on the subject, resulting perhaps from the action

ot these (hftioulties on successive generations have been already
remarked on.

thefr Enrfi^rSfbipT^"'^ 'Y\ *''" ^^^7'^^^ learn Latin do best in
bear thif out fe' T^ ^^'^ '""^"^^^ ^^ ^^^ examination fully
st;e?lstlitedt\et:itT!!*fSrs:'^ ^^^^ ^^-ols, whic(

Mr. Bompas's Report.
Table 21.

1st solioo

2iid school.

Ages

Marts obtained on morning paper by

Boys learning Latin
Boys not learning Latin

304
211

298
147

266
187

219
162

211
179

211
147

Advantages of
learning Latin.

There can be no doubt that the great difference is owing to the
fact that it is the boys who are most proficient in other subjects
who are selected to learn Latin,, whether this is the whole reason
it is difficult to say : it may be worthy of remark, hov/ever, that
applying the same test to Euclid the results are not so marked—
thus from the same schools we get.

Table 22,

1st scliool.

2iid school.

Ages - ....

Marks obtained on morning paper by

Boys learning Euclid
Boys not leanfing Euclid

274
207

259

208

317
174

237
199

' 251
182

274
173

It would require statistics from many other similar schools in
other parts of the country before any certainty could be arrived
at, as to the effect that the study of Latin has upon the power of
learning otlier languages.

I have been struck by the deficiency of answers to the third Deficiency in
quiestion in English Gra,mmar and the first question in arithmetic. f^^^^J ^^^
Thus out of 1,034 boys above 12 years of age only 114 obtained
half marks for the third question in grammar, and 47 of those
boys were in four schools containing 189 pupils. And so out of
the same number of boys 442 failed to answer the first question
in arithmetic.

It v/ould be easy tO' adduce examples of answers apparently Specimens of
displaying the most lamentable ignorance, and in fact sometimes erroneous
doing so. I think, however, it is a most unsafe test of the state of g^use of
a scbool, as they often arise from thoughtlessness or nervousness, and tbem.
cannot be avoided even by careful teaching. I may adduce two
examples as illustrating this. In answer to the fifth question, in
history, viz., " In whose reign was the Petition of Rights passed ?
Mention any three of its provisions," one boy put, " He lived three
days with nothing to eat but peas." Upon inquiry I found that he
had been reading the day before the account of the Duke of Mon-
mouth's sufferings after the battle of Sedgemoor, and lie had evi-
dently caught at the words " provisions " and " three " without
trying to understand the question. Again, in one of the girls'
schools, a girl of 15, after looking at the first question in geography,
and thinking a moment, said out loud, '■ The capital of Scotland is
Ireland. No, the capital of Ireland is Scotland." Yet after she

Schools Inquiry Commission,

Importance of
inquiring into
girls' schools.

TJnsatisfactory
condition of
girls' schools,
and its, reason.

Motives of the
mistresses in
keeping school

Pre quent
change of
mistresses.

had become -less excited, she answered, not only that question
but the rest of the paper, very fairly. Neither of the schools
were particularly deficient, and I adduce these examples as show-
ing the untrustworthiness of single answers, however absurd, as
a test either of the pupils or the school.

In the previous pages I have confined my attention almost
entirely to boys' schools, but besides inquiring into them I was
directed by my instructions to inquire also into the schools for
girls. This inquiry has proved more important and interesting
than I anticipated, and is, in fact, even more so in many re-
spects than that as to the education of boys. Girls' schools are
more numerous than boys' schools, though the number of pupils in
them appears to be not quite so great, and they have hitherto
received less attention ; again, there is less agreement of opinion
with respect to the best subjects for the education of girls than
there is with respect to those most suited for boys, and I
have been led strongly to the belief that an alteration in the
subjects now usually taught is desirable. The mistresses have
less opportunities than masters of learning the methods em-
ployed at other schools, and the general opinions that have been
formed in relation to education, while they are, as a rule, far more
willing and anxious to receive suggestions and advice than the
masters. I think, too, that the views of the mistresses are for the
most part in advance of those of parents in relation to the edu-
cation of girls, and it is especially desirable, therefore, that the
matter should receive some degree of general attention, and public
opinion on the subject be, if possible, improved.

Girls' schools, on the whole, seem to be in a less satisfactory
condition than those for boys; though I found many in which
the mistresses were doing good work, and the moral and religious
influence appeared to be all that could be desired. The reasons
of this unsatisfactory position of girls' schools are various; it
is still not unusual for ladies to open schools solely because
they need some increase to their income, without having any
taste or aptitude for teaching, while others take pupils to give
themselves some occupation, without considering it the principal
object of their lives, or throwing into it all their energy as a man
does into his profession. This happens the oftener because of the
subjects which are usually taught to girls, and the mode in which
they are taught, neither being such as to require much real train-
ing on the part of the mistresses. There are no doubt some
counterbalancing advantages in these small schools kept by ladies
who seek to add somewhat to their income, since they approach
more nearly to a home, and allow of more personal and individual
influence being exerted by the mistress over the girls : the system
is sure, however, to produce many unsatisfactory as well as some
satisfactory schools. Again, the mistresses of schools change much
oftener than the masters in boys' schools. The latter seldom open
a school without intending to make it the principal employment of
their lives, and their marrying, so far from interfering with their
continuing to teach, is xisually almost necessary to the success of

Mr.- Bofnpas's Report. 41

Iheir school. On the contrary, very many young ladies open a
school on finishing their own education, hardly intending to con-
tinue it for more than a few years, and if they marry they almost
invariably cease to teach, and the school passes into other hands.
Thus a large number of mistresses, just when they have acquired
■the experience which would make their teaching valuable, cease to
teach, and leave their schools to other hands, who have to gather
up fresh experience. Again, mistresses have no means of acquiring Absence of
that high education which is obtained by men at the Universities, ^"Jation^for
and which can hardly be obtained except in a place devoted to the mistresses,
study of the higher branches of knowledge and strong in the tra-
ditions of successive bodies of teachers. This applies, indeed,
mainly to the upper class of schools, the masters of the lower
middle-class boys' schools having seldom had a university educa-
tion; but if the upper-class schools are really well taught, the
result is felt in other schools also. An almost equal disadvantage Absence of -
under which mistresses labour is the absence of any examination examinations

- ' , * tor misrrcsBGs

by which they can test their own acquirements or evidence them
to others. The need of such examinations is very generally felt,
and most of the mistresses I have spoken to have expressed in the
strongest terms their sense of the want of them. The head of a
school has now no means of ascertaining the capacity of any
■governess to teach a particular subject except her testimonials,
which are often given by those who are themselves unfit to judge
of her acquirements, and has therefore to take her on trial before
Bhe can form an opinion as to her suitability. Among the gover-
nesses themselves I think there is a similar wish for some means
of evidencing the acquirements which they may possess; and I
was told by one young lady, who was just opening a school, that
she had gone to France to finish her education, mainly in order
that she might obtain one of those certificates of fitness to teach
which can be obtained in France, but not in England, and that
she knew other girls who were going over to France to be edu-
cated for the same reason. I can hardly suppose that this great
want will be sutFered to continue much longer.

Perhaps the chief obstacle to the satisfactory education of girls Different
is the different object that appears to be sought by it from that "^''^'e'^e^uca^*
which is sought in the education of boys. The main object of tion of girls
the education of a boy is to train his intellect, and to teach him to and boys,
think and to work ; and even when much time is given to those
subjects which will be useful to him in his future pursuits — which
is, I think, increasingly the case— they are usually in some degree
of an intellectual character, or taught in such a way as to effect the
above objects. In the case of girls, however, the necessity of mental
training seems to be to a great extent overlooked, and the only
desire is to store their minds with such information and to teach
them such accomplishments as may make them appear to advantage
in society : subjects, therefore, which would exercise the reasoning
powers and other mental faculties such as mathematics, classics,
or science, in any but its elementary forms, are seldom taught,
while much time is spent on learning facts of history and geo-

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Classification
of gii-ls'
schools.
Numerousness
of cheap
Schools.

Finishing
schools.

graphy, and such general information as may be acquired from
elementary lectures on science, or books like Mangnall's Questions,
■while a still larger portion of the short time that is allotted to
education is devoted to music and other accomplishments. The
reason of this difference may perhaps be traced further back to the
different aims which boys and girls set before them in their lives.
A boy seeks to get on in life and to compete with his fellow-men
in business or in a profession; a girl usually looks forward to being
married, and so forming a home for herself, and seeks therefore to
make herself an attractive and agreeable companion. I do not think
this latter object is really so fully obtained by the present course
of instruction as it might be by a different one, but I believe it is
not unnaturally supposed to be so.

Girls' schools may be classified in a manner very similar to boys'
schools, but the cheap schools at which only elementary knowledge
is taught are much more numerous. This arises mainly from the
fact that children are sent to girls' schools much younger than to
boys' schcoLs, and there are many schools in which the mistresses
only profess to teach their pupils till they are II or 12, after which
they are sent to other schools to finish their education. There is
also a class of schools called finishing schools, to which there is
nothing corresponding among boys' schools, which have no pupils,
or hardly any, under 14 or 15, and whose avowed object is to com-
plete the education of girls who have been brought up to that age
at home or at cheaper schools, and which teach principally the
accomplishments. These schools are for the most part boarding-
schools, and usually congregate round one or two centres. Thus
at Malvern there are collected a very large number of ladies'
schools, while there are comparatively few in the neighbouring
towns of Herefordshire. The reason that such schools congregate
together seems to be mainly that it is easier to obtain really
efficient masters where there are many schools together, and partly
also that such places acquire a reputation for the education given
at them, and it is thought fashionable to have been educated at one
of them. The town of Chester forms in some degree such a centre,
but there is no other within my district, which arises probably
from the wish felt by most parents to send their daughters
to school out of Wales to finish their education, that they
may lose their Welsh accent and habits. The existence of this
class of school for girls, and not for boys, may be accounted for
partly by a very general feeling that home education is the
most suitable for girls, at any rate, as far as it is compatible
with the acquirement of the accomplishments which are deemed
necessary; and partly from the great expense of girls' schools,
which makes parents wish to shorten as far as possible the time
that their daughters are at them. They may perhaps also be
considered as supplying in some degree the place occupied by the
Universities in the education of men. With respect to the subjects
taught in different classes of schools, music takes very much the
place of Latin, though it is rather more universal; and I have
considered as a rule that no school came within the terms of t

Mr. Bompa&'s Report. 43

Commission at wliich It was not taught. There is, I think, rather Mixture of
more objection felt to different classes of society mixing in girls' "'jesses in
schools than in boys' schools. Only one or two of the schools in ^*^ °° ^'
my district, bowcTcr, are confined to the daughters of professional
men. The upper class of tradesmen are for the most part able
and willing to pay higher temis, and few mistresses therefore are
willing entirely to exclude their daughters for the chance of
obtaining more of those of professional men.

I may again illustrate my remarks by the case of Swansea. In Schools in
that town there are 12 schools at which the accomplishments are Swansea.
taught, and there are two others of the same class at the Mumbles.
Four of these are intended for day-scholars only, but they are not
in all cases the less expensive schools. Of the above, four charge
25/. a year or less for boarders, and 4 guineas a year or less for day-
scholars, and one charges 50 guineas a year for boarders, the
others charging intermediate terms. This is, however, exclusive
of the accomplishments, which are in all cases extra, and which
make the actual payment for a girls' school very different from
that for a boys' school professing to charge the same amount.
The pupils are in all cases the children of the upper class of
tradesmen, farmers, and professional men ; but in the cheaper
schools are almost entirely confined to the first ; while in one or
two of the more expensive schools they are mainly the daughters of
merchants, manufacturers, and professional men. Seven of these
contain between 10 and 20 pupils, five between 20 and 30, and the
other two between 30 and 40. Besides the above, there are 12
schools which only profess to teach young children, and which do
not appear to me to come within the terms of the Commission,
• though I visited some of them. These for the most part, as well
as many of those before mentioned, take boys under nine or ten
years of age, as well as girls. They are mostly small schools, and Schools in
principally for day-scholars. ^™*^' to'^^-

There are fewer towns without any girls' school than without any
boys' school, and the schools being smaller, there is more likelihood
of a second school being opened if the existing one is unsatisfactory; Education in
and there is therefore, I think, less difference between the eflficiency country
of schools in the small and large towns. Farmers and men living °^*™*^-
in country districts have of course the same difficulty in finding
schools for their daughters as their sons, but it is of less importance,
because they have less difiiculty in providing them with an educa-
tion at home. This is, I think, usually done at any rate for some
years, but the governesses employed for that purpose arc, I fear,
often very unfit for their work, being very imperfectly educated
themselves; while the treatment they receive, and the position
they occupy in the household, is such as to prevent the probability
of any superior persons entering on the position, even if the salaries
offered were likely to tempt them to do so. Tiie number of gover-
nesses throughout the country must be very large, and considering
that they usually only devote a few years of their life to teaching,
if all the persons who are really qualified to teach were to devote
themselves to it, they would not, I should think, be sufficient to
supply the demand. At present any tradesman's or farmer's

Schools Inquiry Commission.

daughter who has been to school for a few years, if she disukes
the idea of being a servant, is considered as a matter of course
fit to undertake the duties of a governess.
Short time In girls schools as in boys' schools the great difficulties that the

that the pupils migtresses meet with appear to be the irregularity of their pupils'
scCol! ^* attendance and the short time that they remain at school. Girls
on the whole remain at school to rather a later age than boys do.
This is, I believe, partly because they cannot so easily enter upon
any situation when young ; partly because girls' schools being on
the whole more expensive than those for boys, the firet part of
their education is conducted at home, and they are sent to
school for a year or two when thought old enough to gain the
greatest advantage from it. It is not unusual, therefore, for
girls to come to school for the first time when they are from 14 to
16. They then frequently stop a very short time, one or two
quarters perhaps, and in this time they are supposed to learn
especially accomplishments, though very often ignorant of the
elements of education. I have met with girls of 16 and more
just come to school who knew absolutely nothing, except how to
read and write, and that imperfectly. I believe that girls remain
at school, on an average, a less number of years than boys do ;
though when they are educated wholly at school and are of
the upper middle class, they remain at school longer than boys,
Irregularity of both coming to school earlier and remaining later. The irregularity
attendance. of their attendance seems to be even greater than that of boys; in
day-schools a very small reason is often sufficient to keep them
from school, and in both day and boarding schools they are often
kept away for a quarter or even for a year or two without any
apparent necessity, and on returning to school in such cases they
have usually forgotten most of that which they had previously
learnt. To prevent the habit of staying away for a quarter some
mistresses insist on being paid for the quarter whether the pupils
are there or not, unless a quarter's notice has been duly given.
This, however, can only be done by mistresses who can afford to
risk lo^ng a pupil, as it often gives offence, I cannot but think,
however, that it is really a right plan. The total number of girls'
schools in my district that come within the terms of the commis-
sion is 95, which it will be seen is a larger number than that of
the boys' schools. The following tables will show the size and
nature of the schools and correspond to tables 3 and 4.

Table 23.

Numher of
schools and
pupils.

County of

Glamorgan
Denbigh
Hint -
Montgomery
Hereford
Chester (city)

Total

No. of

1 No. of
1 day
sdiooIs.

No. of
mixed
schools.

board-
ing
schools.

Total
schools.

No, of

day
pupils.

No. Of
board-
ei-s.

Total
girls.

1
1.1 24 ]

- .89

674

253

927

277

149

426

G :! : 1

20S

236

1 8 1 1

168

223

13 j

193

158

360

2 \ 8

i'i

101

146

■ 1 29

.57

iso-i

744

2307

Mr. JBompas's Report.

Table 24.

Size of schools.

Connty of

Schools
containing less
than 25 girls.

Schools

containing less

than 60 and mdre

than 26 girls..

Schools

containing more

than 60 girls.

No. of
schools.

No. of
pupils.

No. of
schools.

No. of
pupils.

No. of
schools.

No. of
pupils.

Glamorgan . - 24
Denbigh - . 7
mint ... -8
Montgomery . 7
Hereford . - - 8
CliKter (oitj) . . . 5

S70
126
177
120
140
, 85

2
3
7

380
186
69
103
210

177
114

Total

1018

938

351

Table 25.

Schools having
more than 20
boardeijs.' ''

Schools having
more than 10
and less than
20 boarders.

Schools having

less than

10 boarders.

Total
boarding schools.

County of

■§

■3

■1

o 3
6^

d m'

6 99

■1

oj3
6%

•^

d 03

d'.S

121

|Z|

Glamorgan

114

292

253

425

Denbigh

149

160

Flint

Montgomery -
Hereford

132

162

3(1

107

158

152

Chester (city) -

101

Total

319

273

259

152

636

744

991

Size of

boarding

schools.

There are only two endowed schools in my district, viz., the Endowed
two Howell Schools, the one at Landaif, containing at the time of schools.
my visit 60 boarders and 10 day scholars, and the one at Denbigh
containing 55 boarders. The existence of these large schools increase
the averages given in the above table for Glamorganshire and Den-
bighshire. I have not included in the above statistics Shrewsbury, Sht'ewsbtay.
in which there are four schools. They all declined to be examined,
and I have not received any answers from them. They are boarding-
schools of a similar description to those in Chester, but I should
think not so good. As, however, I was able to gain so little infor-
mation about them and they presented no peculiarity as far as I
could learn, I have omitted them altogether.

The preference of boarding to day-schools is less common in the Relative merits
case of girls than boys, and in fact day-schools are usually pre- of boardbg
ferred for them, except during the last year or two of their educa- schooS!^
tion. On the other hand, girls are less able to valk any consider-

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Small size of
girls' schools,
and its reasons.

Eelative
number of
mistresses and
pnpils.

able distance to school than boys, and the pupils of each school,
especially in towns, tisually come from its immediate neigh-
bourhood, which may be one reason why girls' schools are so
numerous. In the country they are for a similar reason more
often obliged to be sent to a boarding-school on account oi the
absence of any day-school in the neighbourhood. I have, however,
heard of several instances of girls walking three or four miles
into a town to school, and being, notwithstanding, among the
most regular pupils ; in other instances I have heard of their
being driven every morning the whole or part of the way to
school.

"With respect to the size of schools, the diiference between those
for boys and girls is, it will be seen, very marked. _ The origin
of this I have heard attributed to various causes. _ It is, no doubt,
partly due to the greater number of ladies wishing to engage in
teaching, while very many of the mistresses shrink from the
responsibility and actual physical labour of the management of a
large school. The objection, however, seems to be as strong on
the part of the parents as the mistresses ; very many have based
their objection on the fact that girls are more easily biassed than
boys, and that in a large school there is sure to be onebad girl
who it is said would lead astray all the rest. The_ mistresses,
however, of two or three of the best schools in my district, strongly
deny this, and say that there are as distinct a tone of feeling and
esprit de corps in a girls' school as in any boys' school which would
put down any misconduct in a single girl. I do not think, there-
fore, that it is a valid ground of objection, though it seems to
influence many. Another reason is, that a small school is more
like home, and there is more of the direct personal influence of the
mistress brought to bear on the individual girls. The daily Jife,
too, being more like that in an ordinary family, they can be the
better taught what is proper behaviour in the different positions
in which they may be placed in after life. One of the advantages
of a large boarding-school for boys is supposed to "be the forma-
tion of a strong hardy character, and both a large school and a
boarding-school may be thought unfavourable to the formation of
the gentle and feminine character which it is desired tO form in
girls.

The proportion of mistresses to pupils is ver}' great. Thus in
29 schools from which I have returns, there were 770 pupils,
79 mistresses, and five pupil teachers ; omitting the two Howell
Schools, the proportion of mistresses is still greater, being 73 mis-
tresses (including pupil teachers) to 645 girls. As in the case of
boys' schools the number of mistresses is greatest when the terms
are_ high. In the three schools from which I have returns in
which the terms are about 50 guineas per annum exclusive of
accomplishments, there are 53 girls and 13 mistresses, or one
mistress to every four girls. One main cause of this is, I believe,
the smallness of the schools which renders it difficult to divide the
children into classes, and the necessity for having resident mis-

Mr. Bompas's Beport. 47

tresses for the different accomplishments, "When it is remembered
that in addition to these mistresses the senior pupils arc taught
musicj drawing, and dancing, and often some other accomplish-
ments by masters, the contrast with boys' schools is very marked.
The size of the classes differs less from those in boys' schools ; thus,
on an average of 10 schools, the number of pupils in the first class
in English grammar is eight. There are, however, more subjects
which are taught to the girls individually than are so taught to
boys.

The expense of a girl's education is greater than that of a boy's. Expense of
The usual charges for education in the ordinary English branches education at ■
is indeed less, but there are so many extras, and that for subjects S'^''^' ^"''oo's.
which it is considered necessary for girls to learn, as more than
counterbalance this.

The following table shows the terms of the schools in my
district, but they almost all charge also from 4Z. 4«, to SI. 8s. each
for music, French, dancing and other accomplishments : if the sub-
jects are taught by masters they become often still more expensive.
For an average bill in most schools, therefore, 10 or 1 2 guineas must
be added to the nominal charge, and in the higher scliools a much
larger amount. Thus, an average bill for a school charging 60 guineas
for boarders would be at least 100 guineas. The most expensive
boys' school in my district has 64i. for an average, and 73Z. for the
highest bill. There are at least three girls' schools whose average
bills must be 90Z. or \QOl. and whose highest bills must amount to
at least 120Z. In one school, for which 60 guineas Js charged
for board and education, even arithmetic is an extra, the following
being the list of extras given in the prospectus :

Music and singing, each - 8 guineas per annum. Extras.

German and Italian, each -

Drawing

Calisthenics

Latin

Class singing

Arithmetic, including algebra,

Euclid, &c. - -

Lectures on Natural Philosophy

Laundress, seat at church, use of library and piano being also
extras. ,

I do not give this list in any degree as a reflection on the par-
ticular school, with which I was much pleased, but as illustrating
the great expense of female education as at present conducted, as
compared with that for boys. I believe, even in the school above
mentioned the expenses of conducting it are so great, that very
little profit is made by the mistress.

8 guineas per

annum.

6 „

4 „

„ •

3 „

4 „

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Number of
schools
classified ^
accoTding to
their terms and
to the counties.

Table 26.

Schools charging 60 guineas a year
or upwards for boarders

Schools charging more thau 25
guineas a year and less than 60
guineas a year for boarders and
more than four guineas a year
for day scholars . - .

Schools charging not more than
-25 guineas a, year for boarders
or four guineas' a year for day
scholars t - - -

Gla-
morgan-
shire.

24 92

Den-
bigh-
shire.

127

6 67

9715

162

Flint-
shire.

Mpnt-

gomery-

shire.

15 il?;

i,209 8 30

Here-
ford-
shire.

.Si «

fQ I —

'^'^

20,

14810

Chester. Totals.

12; >?;

IS 7

31 28

110

2X4 llil *

Evils and
advantages of
extras.

The system of extras is attended with some evils. It induces
parents to put off the time for learning a subject till long after it
would have been really best for the pupils to begin it, and it is also
usually unsatisfactory to the parents, and likely to prejudice them
against the proper education of their children. On the other hand,
it is undoubtedly desirable that parents should be able to diminish
the cost of their daughters' education by omitting the more expen-
sive accomplishments, and it may tend to check the general study
of them. The actual expense of a girl's education is no doubt less
than appears, because it is very usual in girls' schools for ladies to
take lower terms than those held out in their prospectus. I cannot
but think this is undesirable except for very special reasons, and I
believe it sometimes ends in the mistress having habitually to
accept lower terms than those justly due to her.

The question whether girls are best taught by mistresses or
masters is one on which there seems to be a pretty general agree-
ment of opinion. It would seem that the commencement of a
subject is best taught by mistresses, who know more of the disposi-
tions of the girls, and are able to act and speak more freely to them.
On the other hand, the higher parts are best taught by masters,
the girls being usually more willing to exert themselve? to please
them and having more respect for their opinions. This adds,
however, further to the expense of the school, because as a mistress
is usually present during the giving of the lesson, for the sake of
propriety, there are really two persons engaged in teaching the one
pupil. °

Age of pupils. Out of 348 pupils in girls' schools whose ages I have returned-
to me, 116 were under 10, these no doubt including many
boys; 136 between 10 and 14; 65 between 14 and 16; and 31
above 16.

With respect to the subjects taught in the various schools, the

What subjects
are taught by
masters better
than by
mistresses.

Mr. Bompas's Report.

following tables will show the number of schools which teach and
pupils who learn some of the principal subjects ;

Table 27.

Subjects,

French

Book-keeping

Instrumental music

Vocal music

Drawing

•Arithmetic

Dancing

PeroentaRe
of schools
teaching.

71
24
100
41
65
65
54

Percentage
of pupils

learning.

23
5
55
13
19
49
24

Number of
schools
teaching and
pupils learning
the principal
subjects.

These statistics being formed from the returns of, only 17 schools
cannot be considered as very accurate ; it must be remembered in
relation to them that the schools contain a large proportion of
children under 10 who could hardly learn the subjects. Drawing
is usually taught during one half of the year only. In the more
expensive schools French and music are learnt as a matter of
course by all the pupils.

Latin is, I believe, taught in only three schools, except to the Latin.
little boys who may be in them, though some other mistresses
Avould teach it if the pupils were willing to learn, and some of them
do teach Latin roots. The chief reasons that it is not taught
appear to be, first, a want of time, so much being devoted to music
and other accomplishments, and to needlework of various kinds.
Secondly, that it will be no use to pupils in life — a reason assigned
to me again and again when asking why the pupils did not learn
Latin or Euclid or even the higher parts of arithmetic. Thirdly,
that very few of the mistresses are able to teach it.
. French is taught pretty generally, and I think known better by French,
girls than boys; this I imagine is partly due to the greater time
and more prominent position among the studies allotted to it, and
partly perhaps to a greater aptitude in girls for the study of
languages.

In the upper schools it is usual to have a French lady resident
in the house and to make the pupils speak French the greater
part of the day either every day or on certain days in the week.
Some mistresses, however, object to this on the ground that the
girls thus acquire a habit of 'speaking inaccurately, the mistress not
being always by to correct them, and they being, in fact, unable
to speak correctly from want of knowledge of the language. In
most schools, however, the advantage of gaining some degree ot
fluency in speaking is considered to more than counter-balance this
evil, and various means are adopted, such as giving bad marks to
girls making mistakes or good marks to those correcting them, to
induce them to speak correctly.

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Italian and
Gennan.

Arithmetic.

Italian is not, I tliink, taught at all in my district, and German
is taught in about 10 schools, but only to two or three pupils in
each.

Arithmetic is not nearly so well or carefully taught in girls
schools as in boys' schools. Very few girls get beyond practice,
and the majority know hardly more than the first four rules. ^ The
reason of this deficiency is not, I believe, any want of capacity or
inclination in the pupils, but, as in the case of Latin, partly a
belief that the higher parts of arithmetic will be of no practical
use, and still more the incapacity of the mistresses. With regard
to the former it is no doubt true that the importance to boys of a
goodknowledgeof arithmetic as enabling them to obtain situations
more readily is one reason of the attention paid to it in commercial
schools, but the value of its higher rules as a mental training, aiid
as affording practice in and command over the earlier part of it
ought not to be overlooked. With regard to the latter reason,
I believe few governesses have been well taught arithmetic them-
selves, and those few have no means of proving their capacity and
are not therefore selected specially to teach that subject ; in some
schools it is taught by masters and charged as an extra, but this
I should think, it can hardly be doubted, is undesirable, for the
reasons amongst others that render masters undesirable at the
commencement of the study of music or other accomplishments.
Book-keeping. Book-keeping is taught in some of the lower schools in my district,
for the sake of girls who will be required to help to keep the
books in their fathers' shops. The mistresses as a rule are hardly
capable of judging of the expediency of teaching aZ^eJra or: Euclid.
In one school in which algebra was taught the mistress informed
me that it was always a favourite subject with the girls.

Natural history and physics are taught by means of lectures in
a few of the upper schools. This, however, is only possible in the
neighbourhood of large towns, or where there are several schools
together.

It is thought by some mistresses, and I think with good reason,
that these lectures afford little mental discipline and give only an
uncertain and incorrect knowledge, at any rate unless supple-
mented by an independent study of the subject ; they may be of
value however as giving a useful and entertaining variety in the
routine of schoolwork if too much time be not taken up by them.
In most other schools the facts of science are taught from elemen-
tary books, but I fear usually with a like result. I was struck by
the fact that in my examinations, though many of the pupils
attempted to answer the question " What gases is the air com-
posed of?" very few answered it correctly. Most said oxygen and
hydrogen. A real and systematic study of a science, such as
chemistry or botany, is not, I think, anywhere attempted.

History and geography receive a good deal of time and attention
and they are as a rule better taught in girls' schools than in boys'
schools. I think, however, that more stress might be laid with
advantage on the constitutional part of history.

Natural
history and^
physios.

History and
geography.

Mr. Bompas's Report. 51

English grammar seems to be less understood and, I suppose, English
therefore is worse taught in girls' schools than in boya' schools, g'^ammar.
In parsing the sentence, " What reason have you for saying that?"
I was surprised to find how very few were aware that you is the
nominative to have. The number was small even among the boys,
but still smaller among the girls that I examined. I think this
is partly the result of the subject being taught rather as a series
of facts and rules than according to any natural system, and partly
of the girls not having been trained to think by any otlier subjects
which exercise the reasoning power. The absence of the know-
ledge of Latin or Greek grammar or, in many case?, of any other
grammar at all no doubt also is one cause of it.

Music is almost universally learnt except by a few girls in the Music.
lower middle class schools who remain but a very short time.
In many cases farmers' daughters who know hardly any history or
€ven spelling, and who have only six or nine months in which to
finish their education, learn music, and that though there may be
no instrument at their homes on which they can practice. In the
higher class schools a great deal of time is usually devoted to
it, from one to two hours a day being spent thus, and sometimes
even more, if singing be also learned. The opinion of a large
majority of the mistresses seems to be that this ought not to be so,
but that if after having tried for six months the pupil appears to
have no taste for music, she ought not to be allowed to continue its
study, but should learn drawing or some branch of science instead.
A few of the mistresses, however, consider that by continued perse-
verance anyone may be taught to play fairly, and that the ability
to play is worth the sacrifice of time.

Except for the positive advantage of knov/ing it, Instrumental, Disadvantages
music appears to be as undesirable a subject for educational pur- ^^.™"f'° «^ ^
poses as could be well found. It affords very little exercise to the education.
mind, and indeed a great part of the time that Is occupied in it
is occupied in the merely physical training of the hands. It is,
therefore, of very little value for mental training. Again, a large
amount of time must be spent on it to be of any value. It is
necessarily taught to each child separately. It is a subject the
teaching of which is very expensive, especlfilly if taught by
masters, because two teachers are then required for each pupil
during the time of each lesson, instead of one teacher to ten pupils,
which is a fair proportion in other subjects ; the expense there-
fore having to be reckoned by pounds instead of shillings. The
necessary appliances for teaching it, viz., the piano and music,
are also very expensive. Independently of the expense the study
of music introduces great difficulties into the arrangements of the
school. The number of pianos being limited, it is necessary that
the girls should practise whenever there is a piano vacant, and this
often interferes with their other studies. Some schools seem to
succeed in so arranging the classes as to get over this difficulty
to a great extent, but it Is only by having many pianos and by
the pupils practising at all hours out of school. Another dis-
advantage is that the pianos being in different rooms, the practising

a. c. 3. jjj

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Drawing.

Dancing.

Needlework.

cannot be carried on under the eye of the mistress, and as there is
no result, as in exercises in other studies, by which it can be seen
whether the pupil has properly attended to her duties or not,
there is no check on idle and improper conduct during that
time. . -

When there is a real laste for music it may be worth while,
notwithstanding all these difficulties, to make the required sacri-
fice for the sake of the pleasure and advantage to be gained ; but.
when it is considered how little use is likely to be made of it by
o-irls who have no real love for it, I cannot but agree with the
mistresses in thinking that it is a great pity that its study should
be considered necessary in such cases. In one school in which
music was not taught — the lady who kept it belonging to the
Society of Friends — the subject was replaced by the study of
Latin, German, and Euclid, and I could not but think with
advantage.

The study of the theory of music and the practice of class-
singing are not open to the above objections, but no doubt are
attended with many advantages. I am not sufficiently acquainted'
with the subjects myself to be able to judge whether they could!
be made to take the place of instrumental music as a branch of.
education, and have not been able to gather much information on
this head, as it is not anywhere systematically attempted.

Drawing, though taught more or less in most schools, is not
learned by so many pupils as music; many of the mistresses,
itowever, regret that it is not taught more generally. It is
almost always taught in the form of free-hand drawing from the
flat.

Dancing is usually learned, but is taught for the most part by a
master or mistress, who comes to give lessons. Not unfrequently ;
the children attend at classes held at the house of the dancing
master or mistress. It is usually taught during a part only of
the year, and is very often combined with calisthenics. These
latter are in many schools taught to all the pupils as part of the
ordinary school course. I find that in almost all schools dancing
is the favourite amusement out of school in wet weather.

Some form of needleicork is taught in almost all school?. The
nature of the work, however, is left almost entirely to the parents;
usually the time devoted to it is about equally divided between
plain and fancy work. The girls generally prefer fancy work, and
are anxious to take home some specimens which they have worked
at the end of the half-year, and plain work is often neglected in
consequence. _ In one school, as a means of teaching the girls plain
work, the mistress had started a class out of school hours to
make clothes for the poor; and this plan appeared to be answering
the required object. The work is almost always sent by the
parents, and no attempt seems to be made to teach sewing, as
all other branches of education are taught, by examples not in
themselves useful, but chosen especially for the purpose of
education. I asked some mistresses why they did not get some
pieces of hnen on which to teach the children to hem. fee, in the

Mr. Bompas's Report. 53

same way that they procured copy-books to teach the children to
write. The idea seemed new to them, and they could give no
explanation of the different manner in which the subjects are
taught. I subsequently found one school in which the mistress
said that such was her practice. There appears to be very little
instruction in the art of cutting out and making up dresses and
other large articles of clothing, and it is difficult to see how this
can be taught under the present system. I ought, perhaps,
to mention that in the Howell schools needlework seems to be
thoroughly taught, the children making their own clothes.

I asked several of. the mistresses vvhether it would be possible Cooking and
and desirable to teacsh household duties, and in particular cook- ^oM^du^''''
ing. The latter is included in the scheme settled by the Court ' '

of Chancery for the Howell schools, though it has never been
actually taught in them. The universal opinion appeared to be
that it was impossible, and that such subjects must be taught at
home. I did not, however, hear any difficulty suggested which
appeared to me insuperable. It might probably involve some
^Iteration in the part of the premises occupied by the servants,
and would doubtless, cause some expense or waste of materials ;
and care might be i-equired to prevent the pupils becoming intimate
with the servants, or the latter being interfered with in their work;
but I am not aware of any other difficulty, except the want of
knowledge on the part of the teachers.

Much more attention is ]>aid to the behaviour of the pupils in Deportment,
girls' schools than in boys' schools ; indeed, in the former the
teaching of deportment is as real a part of the duties of the school
as the teaching of any other branch of knowledge. It would,
perhaps, be well if a little more attention could be paid to it, in
boys' schools. I think these remarks will illustrate the difference
which I have previously pointed out between the subjects that are
taught to boys and girls, and the motives that have led to the
selection of those subjects.

. I have no reason to believe that there is any materiiil dif- Relative
ference in the powers of boys and girls to learn the various subjects pojers of boys-
of education. Very few persons were really competent to express ^° ^"
any opinion on this point, the experience of most having been only
of one or the other ; but thosa who were seemed to be all of the
opinion that there was no diftv.rence in their powers, though w real
difference existed in their natures and characters which no similarity
of education could eradicate or affect. One gentleman, who kept
a boys' eclioal, and subsequently gave it up and kept a girls'
school, consisting mainly of the sisters of his former pupils, said
that he taught them the same subjects except Greek, which he
taught to a few boys, but to none of the girls, and that he found
no difference in their facility in learning the other sul)ject8,
although the girls were rather quicker and more impatient, making
a second guess when told that they were wrong, instead of waiting
as the boys did for further expla\!ations. I met; also a lady who
had been educated at the mixed school at Alnwick, where boys
and girls are taught together, and examined together by papers

E 2

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Earlier age at
•vrhich the
female mind
developes.

Eeasons of the
present system
of education
for girls.

Beneficial
effect of
examinations
on girls.

sent from Cambridge, and slie said that she h.ad usually been firec,
excelling all the boys, and that it was generally the case that one
or two girls were first, though Latin formed one of the subjects ot
examination. i • i

It must also be remembered that, as above stated, girls remam
at school to a later age than boys, and that ihey arrive much
earlier at a full development , of their minds, and that they are
able to study from 15 to 17 with a mature power of thought and
appreciation of the value of knowledge, which boys do not attain
till 17 or 18, an age after which :few boys who are not going up to
the Universities remain at school. _ _ ;.^

The explanation of the present system of education, which 'is
almost confined to the teaching of such subjects as a girl ca^ show
in society, and excludes most subjects which would train and
strengthen. the mind, appears to be two-fold. First, as I hjive
remarked above, the object alike of the parents and of the children
is that the latter. should be agre,eab]fe and attractive companions
rather than useful .and intelligent women, and they do not suflS.-
ciently realize that the latter is a necessary step to the fprm^r^
Secondly, gii'Is are far more susceptible than boys of praise and
blame, and they seek, therefore, to excel, in such subjects as can
be appreciated by their parents and friends on their return from
school. They have hardly any motive to counterbalan<]iej this-:
the desire to fit himself for some situation or office, or to be, sufr-
cessful in, one of the many examinations which now exfst-is a
more powerful, motive with most bpys than the mere love flf
display; but there are at present, ,110 corresponding moitiyes^ for
girls. ;,.r . , r;, „ ,.!■ 't,. .,,. ; -■..;.,;_ .-

The fact that mistresses, as a, rule wish for some increase, in
the more solid parts of ieducation rendgr.ed it necessary to inq[uire
what means could (be adopted to counterbalance tlie above motives,
and I have endeavoured, therefoi-e, to ascertain, whe;ther a system pf
examinations couM be extended to girls' schools as a means of regu-
lating the course of studies which.the existing examinatioi^ cer-
tainly very largely do in boys' Schoolsf I have been led strongly to the
conclusion that they could be so. Examinations appear to me to
be more valuable as a means of influencing girls than boys, because,
as I have said, the < former are,. far more affected, by praise and
blame than the latter. In the examinations I have held the girls
have evinced far greater interest than the boys. This may have
been partly on account of the novelty of them, but I think not
entirely so. , , , , . , , , ,

Such examinations would afford to the girk a motive ior
pursuing the severer course of studies quite equal to the desire
of displaying their acquirements' before their friends, success in
the examination itself being a proof of such acquirements. It is
true that such examinations would not directly influenee the
parents, but one of the great evils complained of by the mistresses
IS that the parents always aUow themselves to be led by the
children, and they would certainly yield almost always to the com-

tainly yi

bined wishes of the children and their teachers.

Mr. Bompas's Report_ 55

The opinions of the mistresses on the subject of examinations, Views of the

as expressed by the answers to the questions furnished by the mistresses -witU

Comraission, are on the whole favourable. Of the 20 who express ""^^P*?* *°

..,, 1-,,^ f 1 '■ examinations,

an opinion on the subject, 15 say yes, tour say no, and one says

yes, if the report was made only to the head of the school. Some
misapprehension, however, occurred at first as to the meaning of a
public examination. The only examinations of girls' schools at pre-
sent existing to which that epithet can be at all applied are those
of certain endowed schools to which the public are admitted ; such,
for example, as those held in the Howell schools under the existing
scheme, and which I cannot but think are exceedingly objectionable.
Many of the mistresses thought that such examinations (viva voce
examinations in the presence of the public) were meant in question
77, and this may be the explanation of the four negative answers.

Undoubtedly, however, there was among some of the mistresses
a shrinking from an examination, and several objected to an
examination of their schools, and others permitted it only on
condition of its being held in their own schoolroom. I think,
however, this was the result of a want of experience, since all
the ladies who have allowed me to examine their schools, often
with some reluctance, have expressed to me after the examination
was over a wish that such an examination could be repeated
annually. I examintained ■

258

345

233

187

24«

200

222

176

Average marks
obtained in the
subjects of the
afternoon
paper by girls
learning those
subjects.

ScJiools Inquin/ Commission.
Table 33.

i?ls.'

Endowed
seliools.

Higher private
schools.

Middle private
schools.

Lower private
schools.

- -- -■ -

No. of
girls
learn-
ing the
subject.

Average
marks

ob-
tained.

No. of
girls
learn-
ing the
subject.

Average
marks

ob-
tained.

No. of

girls
learn-
ing tlie
subject.

Average
marks

ob-
tained..

No. of
girls
learn-
ing the
subject.

Average
marks

ob-
tained.

Latin - \
German- - -!
Modem history \
Music - - 1
Euclid - 1

Book-Jceeping , - \

Natural philo- J
sophy - - ]^

Natural science \

15 .

18
10
8
3

11
8
6
19
19
20

1
1

I
5

22
17
16
33

28
23
24
S3
29
27

. . 17

18
7

6
6
1
S
3

5
4
1
6
7
3
1
1

■1
2

.^>
2
1

26
83
15
52
43
19
SO
20
-

20
10

25
21
22 -

5
6

8
14
12 -
16

1
1

3
6
6
7 -

13
12
15

29
22
22
30

sg -

27
12
12
18

3
13

-.4

' 6
9

13
29
24

1
1

9
15
14

22
37
32

20
20

12
15

Average marks
obtained in
different
schools.

Table 34.

Average marks,
gained oii morning

Average marks
gained on the

Total average marks

Schools.

paper.

afternoon paper.

.14 J3

Endowed schools ■ ■

- 1
. 2

269
266

201
223

218
160

101

52
39

61
22

370
310

253
262

269
182

181

121*

.£2

. - .

183

191

246*

177

114

305

340

266

Higher schools - <

801

239

395

336

217

186

118

217

186

118

L V

843

388*

214

43S

602

' 8

199'

165

192

244

219

244

20i

95*

177

296

160

239

106*

157*

165

121

220

184

179*

171

'244

244

Middle schools - -j

215

221

235

244

251

265

123

39*

143

163

165

175

143

173

229

176

208

165

81S«

150

- 30

'228

S43 :

£21

Lib

120

811

228*

102

143

413

268

163

208

£01

277

836*

236'

400

236

198

148

226

- 88

160

268*

. 143

161

368

177

174

129

103

-20

1S4

122

22
23

181*

287*
233*

263
167*

62
5

221

287
812

315
163 -

26
26
27

138

151

; 187

176

187

246

Lower schools

123

90*
222*

66»

142*

126
139

103

143

29
30
31
33
33
34
L35

123
191

176*
154

l.'Se
lOS
151
117

243*
101
228
85*

137

203*

lOS*

20
70

123

214

196

234

148
125
178
119

267

138

286

147
248
168

were not set to school 6.

sse so marked. The afternoon papers

Mr. Dompas^s Report.

Table 35.

Endo-vred schools -
Higher private schools
Middle private schools
Lower private schools

, Total

No. of

girls iu

the

school
over 12.

172

415

Per-
centage
of girl^
obtaining
200 marlis
and less
thau-300

in the
morning

papers.

32-3

44'S

25-1

Per-
centage
of ^irls
obtaining
at least
300 marks

in the
morning
papers.

15-5
4-5
3-.5

Percentage

of girls
obtaining
more thaii
100 marks
and less
than 200
marks in
the after-
noon
paper.

19-8
25-9

5-6

10-6

9-6

Per-
centage
of girls

obtaining
at least

200 marks
in the

afternoon
paper.

Number of
girls distin-
guishing them-
selves in the
examination.

1-7

The following are the results classified according to counties :-

Table 36.

.,.

■ 4.

Morning

Afternoon

Total.

.15

Crlamorganshire
Denbighshire -
!Plintshire ■ -

226

196

188

■76

232

216

235

254

204

160

293

244

177

160

147

169

176

152

192

Herefordishu-e

1(16

158

149

225

196

176

Chester -

238

231

147

101

842

810

238

Montgomeryshire

122

156

104

129

178

Results of the
examination
classified
according to
counties.

The deficiency in parsing and numeration is, as may be supposed,
even more marked in girls than in boys ; only 33 obtained half-
inarks'for the third question in English grammar, and only 148
answered the first question in arithmetic.

There is another class of schools besides those already mentioned, Preparatory
namely, preparatory schools for children under the age of nine or schools.
ten; these sometimes receive boys only, and sometimes boys and
girls; they are not numerous; I only know of five in my district,
but there may have been some others, as I did not make any
minute inqiiiries respecting them. I think such opinions as I
could gather were favourable to these schools as a means of educa-
tion for yQung boys. It is very difficult, however, to test them
■except by the opinions of the masters of the schools to which the
laoys subsequently go, the pupils being too young for a satisfactory
examination. In the case of ^irls such schools have the disadvan-
tage' that they involve a change of school as the pupils grow up;
in the case of' boys this disadvantage is equally felt if they are
sent, as they now usually are, to girls' schools. Most of the girls'
schools in my district have some boys in them.

The prevailing opinion seemed to be that boys came, on the
whole, better prepared from preparatory schools than from home;
but that it depended upon the particular case and the nature of
the home.

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Boarding
schools.

Insufficiency of

school

buildings.

Separate heds
for the pupils,
■where
provided.

Means of
Ueejping order
in the
hed-rooms.

"With respect to the arrangements and influence oi boarding
schools, apart from the question of the teaching which is given
in them, my information is, I fear, necessarily imperfect. In
such schools the moral is far more important than the intellec-
tual training, and of such training I have, as I have before stated,
been only able to form a very general opinion. The school build-
ings are, as may be supposed, of very various kinds, but usually, I
think, sufficient for the actual necessities of teaching. In some
places, however, there is a great difficulty in obtaining suitable
premises. Thus in that part of Cardiif which is near the docks,
there was, when I went there, no school having a better school-
room than the drawing-room of an ordinary house, and the boys
were in many cases much crowded, and the ventilation unsatisfac-
tory. Since then one school has obtained better premises, which
were in preparation when I was there ; but there will probably be
always a difficulty in getting really good premises where land is so
valuable. In some other places I have met with the same diffi-
ciilty, though in a less degree. Very few private middle-class
schools, however, have in their premises all the conveniences that
are desirable for a school, since the masters are seldom able to
build for themselves, and are therefore dependant upon the houses
which happen to exist in the neighbourhood in which they wish to
open their schools. There is less difficulty in the case of girls'
schools, on account of their being usually smaller. The school
fittings are seldom in first-rate order, though in most cases sufficient
for practical purposes. It was suggested to me, however, by one
master, and I think with reason, that it is only when the fittings
are themselves really good and in thorough repair, that the boyg
can be expected to abstain from marking or injuring them, and
can be thus taught habits of care and order. The moral influ-
ence of a well-ordered and well-kept schoolroom is, I think, an
important consideration, which is too often neglected. Very few
schools have separate class-rooms or other such accommodation.
The bed-rooms are usually sufficient, though in some cases more
crowded than in others. The elder boys are generally provided
with separate beds, though in a few cheap schools this is not the
case. In endowed schools, with one exception, all the boys have
separate beds. In the private schools from which I have returns
4 do and 10 do not have separate beds for all the boys. In
girls' schools it is much less usual for the pupils to have separate
beds ; out of 20 schools which have returned answers to the ques-
tions on that subject only six have answered in the affirmative. I
am told that the girls, and very often the parents also, object to
separate beds ; and one mistress told me that she had at first fitted
up her rooms with single beds, but was obliged to alter them, because
the pupils slcepmg alone was in so many instances obiected to by
their friends. ■"

Very various opinions have been expressed to me as to the best
means of keeping order among boys in their bed-rooms, and from
what I have seen and heard I believe it depends on the habits
and character of the masler what regulations are best Most

Mr, Bompas's Msport. 63

toasters prefer rooms of moderate size, containing from four to
eight beds each, and tlie eldest boy in the room is then generally
expected to be in some degree responsible for the behaviour of the
others. , In some schools it is usual to question the boys as to
their, gbseryance of certain rules. There would appear, however,
to be a danger Ijest this, unless carefully watched, should lead to
habits of systematic falsehood. One or two masters have spoken Large
-strongly, in favour of large dormitories divided into separate dormitories.
cubicles. This is( probably the most perfect system, if the master
has such control, over the boys as to be, , able to insure their not
leaving their cubicles after they have once retired to bed. Unless
this can bo done there are more likely to be objectionable habits
formed under that system than when several boys being in the same
room form some, sort of check on each other's conduct. . Large
dormitories, however,^ would seldom be possible except in endowed
school^, from , the wa^it of puitable buildings. In some schools
absolute ^ileixee is enjoined after -the boys retire to rest ; but this
is, I think, ]jot,the case in tjie best schools. '

Most schools, have some sort of playground, though in some. Playgrounds,
cases a piece of open public ground near the school is made to
answer the purpose. In , towns, however, the playgrounds are
sometimes very small. The want is the more felt as the boys
cannoti as in the, country dista;icts, make the neighbouring fields
supply the place, of a playground. In girls' schools, there is
usually a garden in which the pupils walk and play;, but not
lisually ci^, playgro^n,d in ■ the strict sense of the word; They do
not seem for the most part to have many outdoor games ; but
iui^Qors dancing forms an almost universally favourite amusement.
f One .very important part of the school arrangements seems to me School library.
tQite the library. JtlQg.t endowed schools possess something of the
kind, but many priy£it,e sphoqlg do not possess any. There is a
^iffere^ce of opinion among the masters. as to whether it is desirable
fpr bCffis ;tp! read much during. the time they are, at school. Some
mas.iers think thaf;the time which is not devoted to study ought
tp fee spent iii bodily exercise, .Qp prne otTier complete .change of
occupation. On the Sunday, however, at any rate, it seems very
desirable that the boys should haye books to read; and in schpols
where they .have.np libi-ary the boys eitb-^r bringibookp with them
from bfime, or are lent them by the masters ; but a school library
accomplishes thp object mpre satisfactorily. , Jn the Howell school
ajfpienbigh the mistress, tpld me that gjie found great difSculty
|ii 'affprdipg,.the, children occupation on Suaday, owing to their
h^aying no library. ..It may be questioned, I think, >vhether some
.prp,yisjon ought not to be made in school education fppjthe form-
'fltljpn of a habit pf reading, since the value of such a habit in after
life is go great, and whether some sacrifice, of the stricter school
Studies might not be well made, if necessary, for such an important
objiecti. ,^, ,, -, . , , ,, , _ ., ,;-,.,.. . ,

' it is not unusual for boys to lodge in a to.>vn where there i? a Practice of
good, school and attend it as day, scholars in order tp save the toyslodgmg
expense of boarding. This is especially the case at some endowed ^ ^™^* ^*^'

6-i Schools Inquiry Cutmnisiann.

schools such as Llaiirwst and Monmouth, but it is true_ of some
private schools also. Tliis would appear to be as objectioDable a
system as possible, and oiight not, I think, to be allowed in the
case of any endowed scliool ; the boys are under no control when
out of school, and having usually only one little room, they
wander about the streets as much as possible, while in many cases
the lodgings themselves, being only chosen for cheapness, are
barely respectable. All the masters agree in condemning the
practice most strongly, and at Ruthin the head-master refused to
take boys unless living either with their relatives or with one of
the masters, and I think most reasonably, though probably he
had no legal right to refuse to receive any boys who were living
in the town. Special regulations with respect to this ought,
I think, to be introduced Into the schemes granted to grammar
schools by the Court of Chancery, but if so, it will be necessary
to provide some cheap means of boarding in connexion with the
schools.
Punishments. Xhe punishments in use in boys' schools are mainly three —
caning, impositions, and the loss of marks. Corporal punishment
has almost entirely ceased as a usual punishment, and though few
masters say that they never use the cane, most reserve it for
extreme cases, not using it above once or twice in a year. In one
or two schools, however, it is still used as an ordinary punishment,
and certainly in the only case which I had special opportunities of
observing, without lessening the respect or affection of the boys
for their master. Corporal punishment was not used in any of
the girls' schools v/hich came within the terms of the Commission ;
its place seems to be taken by a punishment not used in boys
schools, viz. sending the pupils to bed. This I am told, under
proper management, can be made a very severe punishment,
though usually it is little more than a disgrace and disappointment.
One or two mistresses seemed to think it unwholesome, but I
cannot see that it need be so, certainly not so much so as extra
work.

Impositions which are, perhaps, the most universal form of
punishment, are open to several objections. If the school work is
sufRciently hard, any considerable addition of impositions becomes
unwholesome, involving the loss of necessary exercise and recreation.
An idle boy, too, is apt to receive several impositions successlvely[till
it becomes impossible for him to do them. After a boy has been
punished he needs especially all his energies and powers of work
to enable him to make a fresh start and recover his position, but
if the punishment has been an imposition he comes to his ordinary
work tired, and is likely to fail again in it. Lastly, the impositions
too often cause the subjects he is learning to be associated in a
boy's mind with all that is disagreeable and evil so as to make him
dislike learning instead of the contrarv. I have met with one or
two_ girls' schools where the contrary 'practice was tried and the
punishment consisted in enforced idleness, the pupils beino- taught
to regard work as a privilege. There can be no doubt that
enforced idleness can be made as severe a punishment as anyy

Jlr. Bumpas's Report. 65

being in fact the severest used in prisons, and 1 think it is well
worth consideration and trial. It is, however, difficult to use it
as a punishment for slight offences, as to many boys idleness
for a'shoi-t time would bo a pleasure, and a long suspension of
employment could only be used occasionally. It is difficult, too,
to find, the means of separate confinement which are practically
required if several pupils require to be punished at once. In
schools where marks are given daily and prizes in accordance witli
them, the loss of marks is the usual punishment for defective
preparation ; it is apt, however, to have little effect upon the
idler boys, who having no chance of a prize care little for the
marks. In girls' schools a system of marks, if well arranged, is, I
think, usually very, effective, girls being more susceptible to praise
and Wame and the disgrace implied in losing marks affording
usually the necessary restraint. Many mistresses told me that
their pupils never required punishment, and that to express dis-
pleasure at their conduct was all that was ever required. I must
confess to extreme incredulity as to such stateiuents, and I believe
that, punishments are much the same in girls' schools as boys'
schools, except that as I have said above, sending the pupils to
bed is substituted for corporal punishment, and that punishments
which are expressive of disgrace as well as the corresponding
rewards are more effective, partly from the fact that the schools
are smaller, and partly fi'om the difference of character in boys
and girls above mentioned.

The systems of rewards differ, of course, widely. In the lower Eewai-ds.
middle class schools the system of prize-giving has in many cases
been given up oh account of the' jealousy it occasions among the
children and the dissatisfaction on the part of the parents of the
children who do not obtain them. In a few cases the difficulty is
got over by giving some rewai'd annually to every child. When
prizes are given the usual practice is to give marks for each lesson
daily, and then to give prizes to those who obtain most marks in
tlie half year. Jn many schools there is also an annual examina-
tion, the marks obtziined at which are added on to the marks
obtained for the daily work during the year. Very few schools, I
think, give prizes for success in tlie examination alone. In one or
two large schools tliere are a double set of prizes, one awarded
according to the daily marks, and one according to the result of the
examination. The system of mnrking is occasionally very elaborate;
thus in one school the boys received a mark for every sum they
did, and were allowed to do as many as they liked out of school
hours ; the result was, that the first boys did an immense number
of sums as extra work, and the arithmetic was very good, though
rather to the neglect of other subjects. The system of allowing
boys to obtain marks by extra work I met with also, elsewhere,
and it tends to teach boys to work for their own pleasure and not
only because they are obliged ; there is a danger perhaps, how-
ever, of its leading to overwork. In some schools the masters
adopt the plan either instead of or as well as prizes, of sending
home monthly reports to the parents, containing the marks

Schools Inquiry Commission.

obtained by tbe boys and their position in the school, and the
plan seemed to work well. It is not, however, I think, adopted in
many schools.

Holidays. The aftiount of holidays given is greater in endowed schools

than in private schools. The average number of weeks during
which the pupils are in school, being according to the answers
I have received, 40 for endowed schools and 42 for private
schools. It is less for cheap schools, than for those of a higher
class, the number of weeks in school being on an average 43 in
the lower class schools and in some instances reaching 46 or 47.
As a rule the masters like long holidays and the parents short
ones. The parents of the lower middle class especially object to
long holidays, partly, I think, from a wish to obtain as much
teaching as possible for their money, and partly because they have
less accommodation for their children and less means of providing
amusement for them when at home. The reason that endowed
schools give longer holidays may be partly that they are less
dependant on the wishes of the parents, but is mainly, I think,
the remnant of old customs, and points to the fact that holidays
are diminishing and not increasing. In Kuthin School it has
been always the habit to give three half-holidays in the week,
but the present master intends to reduce them to two. Most
teachers say that much time is spent in recovering the ground lost
during the vacation and getting the pupils into steady habits
of work. In day-schools it is difficult to say why such inter-
ruptions to habits of work should be allowed, but in the case of
boarding schools, parents would hardly consent to be separated
entirely from their children, and, probably, would not agree to
any great curtailment of the holidays, at any rate in summer.
Considerable difficulty is felt with respect to the best time of
giving holidays. Parents usually like to take their children with
them to the sea-side when they go there, which is often later than
the time when holidays are now usually given, and they often
keep their children from school during the Michaelmas quarter for
that reason ; so also the farmers often want their children at home
during harvest time to help them. One or two schools, but only
one or two, adopt, consequently, a later time for the holidays, viz.,
August. Most masters are of opinion that this time is even more
inconvenient, as those farmers who do not need their children to
help them are so busy at that time that they cannot take them to
the sea-side or attend to them if at home. The general opinion of
the masters appeared to be that the earlier time was usually pre-
ferred by the parents.

Schools of Art. Before proceeding to the last subject for consideration, viz., the
endowments existing in my district, I may say a word or two as
to the Schools of Art in it. These are not used by other schools
as a means of teaching the boys drawing, but are valued as a means
of bringing into the neighbourhood a good teacher who can go to
the different schools to teach them. It seems to be considered
that the boys are not likely to work so well when away from the
school and not under the eye of their master. I should think

Mr. Bompas's Report. 67

it probable that the great spread in drawing as a subject of education
is in some degree the result of the existence of Schools of Art.
The examinations and prizes awarded by the Society of Arts have
done much towards the same end. It is, I think, a question worthy
of consideration whether a similar means might not be used for ex-
tending the teaching of science in schools. It is, as I have said, at Means of

present difficult to teach chemistry and other sciences practically in ^^I'^'^^g
11 ic.i -^i . ii",.''i, science.

schools on account ot the expense, and yet it would seem desn-able,

especially in certain districts, such as Swansea, that such teaching
should exist. If a central laboratory were established under an
efficient teacher, I think, from what the masters stated to me, they
would avail themselves of it and send some of their boys to learn
science practically while the existence of such a teacher in the town
Avould, I have no doubt, lead to an effort to have the subject taught
in some of the larger schools. At Swansea there is an institution to
whicli a laboratory was formerly attached which is now used for
the purposes of the School of Ai-t ; but I have little doubt that
either there or elsewhere accommodation could be obtained for a
laboratory if any system of teaching science similar to that now
carried out with respect to art were adopted by the government.

The question of endowments may be considei'ed under two Endowments
heads — those that were left for purposes of education, and those
that have been left for other charitable objects. There are in my
district 17 existing grammar schools, viz., those at Cowbridge and
Swansea, in Glamorganshire; Denbigh, Llanrwst, Ruabon, Ruthin,
and "Wrexham, in Denbighshire; Hawarden, Holywell, and St.
Asaph, in Flint; Deythur, in Montgomeryshire; Bromyard,
Hereford, Kington, and Lucton, in Herefordshire, and those at
Chester and Monmouth. There are also two endowed girls' schools,
viz., the Howell schools at Llandaff and Denbigh. Besides these
there are no fewer than nine towns and villages in Herefordshire
where there are endowments which were originally intended to
support grammar schools, but which, being inadequate for that
purpose, are now paid to the National schools in those places. It
will have been seen from the preceding report that tiie actual state
of these grammar schools is very various, and I leave for my special
report on each school the notice of their special peculiarities, and
confine myself to pointing out some general principles which may be
deduced from them. First, then, it may be well to recall the special Present
educational wants that need to be supplied. They are, I think, educational
mainly three — a, school in each town for those parents who cannot
affijrd to send their children to a boarding school ; means of educa-
tion for the children of farmers and others in the country who have
no day school near them ; and who cannot themselves Avell aiford the
expense of a boarding school ; and a means of education for orphans
or others who from exceptional circumstances are imable to pay
the ordinary expense of an education such as their position in
society entitles them to. To effisct the first purpose was the main
intention with which many of the endowments were left, and it
would seem as if some small endowments were necessary to accom-
plish it. Small country towns do not usually offer a sufficiently

a. c. 3. V

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Endowed
schools CO
injury to
private schools,

Best form of
endowment.

Large
endowments.

attractive sphere to induce a good master to settle down in them
unless there is some small endowment to counterbalance the
superior advantages of other places. There are several towns in
my district in which there are no grammar schools, in which there
are no private schools either ; Llangollen and Leominster may be
mentioned as instances. I think that the existence of a grammar
school in a town, unless it be a very small town, is favourable
rather than otherwise to the existence of private schools, because
it awakens an interest in education which induces parents to wish
to send their children to some school who would otherwise leave
them uneducated, or at most send them to the national school
Thus, of the five principal towns in Herefordshire, viz., Hereford,
Kington, Ledbury, Leominster, and Eoss, the two first alone
have more than one school, they being the two that have grammar
schools, and Leominster also, when its grammar school was in
existence, had a good private school also. Now its grammar school
has ceased to exist, and the private school too. At Llangollen
there is now a ladies' school, and the mistress told me that when
she first came hardly any of the farmers or tradespeople seemed
to take any interest in the education of their children, and she had
few pupils. The existence of her school seems gradually to have
awakened an interest in education, and now she has many more
pupils,^ while others of the children are sent away to school. I do
not think, therefore, that a badly managed grammar school does
actual harm, by keeping out private schools without supplying
their place ; while the advantage of a really well-managed school
with a good master can hardly be over estimated. The best form
of endowment for the above purpose is probably good buildings.
Eeally good premises, with a small endowment for which a few
boys may be taught free, is quite sufficient to render a town a
desirable place for a master to settle in, and to insure the existence
of a school in the town. A fixed stijiend without buildings is very
apt to lead the master to become careless of his school, thinking
the stipend without work more valuable than an increased income
obtained from a more flourishing school, which would entail
constant labour. Kington grammar school is an instance of an
endowment working in that way.

There are many schools, however, having large endowments,
such as Monmouth, Hereford, Swansea, &c., and a question
arises as to the effect which they produce. At present the en-
dowments are used to cheapen the education of boys of the
upper jniddle class either by enabling the school to give a better
education at a given rate or afibrding the boys scholarships by
^u^'^L *^-®^ P'^^ ^^^ '^ longer education. It may be questioned
whether in either case much advantage is gained. Persons of the
upper middle-class can as a rule well afibrd to pay for any education
that their boys need, and it can hardly have been the intention of
iounders of grammar schools to relieve them of expense. The ad-
vantages possessed by grammar schools do, I think, tell injuriously
against private schools, few existing in my district of the same
class as these upper grammar schools, while they are not required

Mr. Bompas','! Report. 6g

to skow to persons of that position in society tlie neceeeity of pro-
viding an education for their eons. It can hardly be doubted that
their place would be supplied by private or proprietary sohoole if
they did not exist. Little guidance as to the employment of the
endowments can be obtained from the intentions of the founders
on account of the change of circumstances. In the days when the
schools were founded it was difficult, if not impossible, to obtain
an education in anyway unless there was a school in the neigh-
bourhood. Now, to the upper middle-class the distance of the
school has become almost a matter of indifference, and most boys
are sent to boarding schools at a distance from their homes. It
would seem, therefore, as if these endowments might be used with
advantage to supply the second educational want above mentioned ;
yet no systematic attempt has been made, as far as 1 am aware, in
my district to employ the endowments for the aid of the small
farmers and others of the lower middle-class living in the Country
with no schools in their immediate neighbourhood.

A strong opinion was expressed to me by the late Dean of Here- Education of
ford that the sons of farmers should be educated at the National atTationT'*
schools in their neighbourhood, paying at a higher rate than the schools.
other children so that their education should not be a charitable one.
He thought that the schools themselves would be thus improved
and the other children benefited, and that the farmers' sons would
receive a more satisfactory education than in any other way. I do
not think that this opinion is a very general one, and there seem to
be several practical difficulties which it might be difficult to over-
come. There is a growing wish among the clergy to have a
school in every parish, and this renders the sdioola too small to be
adequate for the sort of education that would be required under
the above system. The farmers do pot like their sons receiving
their education together with the sons of their labourers, and
though this objection might be overcome if the schools were very
good ones, it would require far more attention and pains than is
usually bestowed on such schools to render them sufficiently
attractive to overcome it. There is al^o a feeling that it is more
respectable for their sons to be educated at least in part at a
private school, which induces farmers for the most part to prefer
sending them to one. I do not think, therefore, that national schools
are likely, in fact, to supply the want I have above referred to.

If large cheap boarding schools were opened with these endow- Employment of
ments it might indeed interfere somewhat with the existing private cents' to^'
boarding schools for the same class, but I cannot but think % great establish
benefit would be confered upon the boys themselves. It would cheap boarding
probably be necessary to place the admission of boys under certain °° ^'
restrictions, giving perhaps to a committee the power of admitting
them to the school at the reduced rate, and requiring them to
prove that they belonged to the class for which the school was
intended. About 221. a year appears to be the lowest sum at
which boarders can be made to pay, and even then it is hardly
possible to provide such teachers as are desirable for their educa-
tion. A school which should receive 100 farmers' boys at 12/. a

F 2

Schooh Inquiry Commission.

Difficulty
arising from
the maBtere
and trustees.

The Howell
schools.

year would confer, I believe, a great benefit on the class If the
admission of boys were properly conducted. The third class whom
I have referred to above as needing help are already partially
provided for at some grammar schools, a certain number of boys
having a right to a free education, and fit candidates being selected
by the trustees of the school.

Some difficulty would probably arise in applying the endow-
ments of grammar schools to the education of the sons of the lower
middle class from the not unnatural wish of the masters and trus-
tees to render their schools as well known and high-class schools
as possible, and the opposition which they would therefore offer
to any such scheme. The difficulty might perhaps be met by
having an upper and lower school under the same management.
Many masters have complained to me of the difficulty that they find
arising from the presence in their school of a few boys who from
natural 3ullness, idleness, or imperfect early education are unable to
keep pace with the rest, and who would be far better taught in a
lower class of school ; on the other hand, in every commercial
school there are some boys whose special aptitude entitles them to
a high-class education. A combination of two schools under one
head would, in the opinion of some masters that I have spoken to,
greatly lessen the difficulty, but as there is no example in my
district of such a double school on any considerable scale I cannot
support this opinion by facts. If such double schools do not
answer, I think, for the reasons above-mentioned, that the endow-
ments should be used for lower, not upper, middle-class schools.

The only schools in which endowments are applied in a manner
at all resembling that which I suggest are the Howell schools for
girls. These afford, in the first place, a perfectly free education to
55 orphans, who are selected .by the committees of local governors
who manage the schools, consisting of the principal gentlemen of
the neighbourhood. To these orphans board and clothing is given
free as well as education, and they remain at the schools till they
are 17 or 18, at the discretion of the local governors. Besides
these there are 60 other pupils to whom a free education is given,
but who pay for their board and clothing ; they are also selected
by the local governors but are not necessarily orphans. They are
selected as far as possible from applicants whose parents are
gentlemen or professional men, but who are not able without help
to give their daughters a really good education. There are also
a certain number of day pupils admitted to the school who pay
for their education, though at a rate hardly equivalent to its
actual value. Even these schools, however, though affording
^fP^° tl^tise only by whom it is needed do not meet the wants
of the lower middle class, though they do in some measure those
of professional men residing in country districts. They afford an
mstance, however, of a boarding school being offered at less than
a remunerative price to those who would not otherwise obtain a
good education for their children. It may be questioned whether
It ]s wise to confine schools entirely to those receiving aid from
the endowments, and whether boarders paying remuneratin«'

Mr. Bompas^s Report. 7 1

terms, as well as day scholars, might not be advantageously added
to the Howell schools as they often are to grammar schools, so as
to Introduce into the schools more of the ordinary motives which
influence mistresses and pupils, and to lessen the constant feeling
among the latter that they are receiving a charitable education.

The difiSculty in confining endowments to those who renlly
need them arises partly from the danger of an improper selection
of objects of the charity and the suspicion that is always likely
to attach to those who are electors, that they are unduly biassed,
and secondly from the unwillingness that would exist in the case
of many parents to receive such charitable aid. These difficulties,
however, do not seem to have materially interfered with the
working of the Howell schools, and might, I think, be overcome,
especially if a competitive examination formed one of the means of
selecting those who should be admitted on the foundation.

One of the most common uses to which endowments are now Scholarships
put is the granting scholarships tenable at the universities.
In all the schools -whose revenues are increasing this is one of
the objects to which the trustees seek to apply them. Such an
application of the revenues of a school seems, however, to be
inconsistent with the opinions expressed by the University Com-
missioners when reforming the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge.
They as far as possible threw open scholarships which had been
j)reviously attached to particular schools, considering such restric-
tions unadvisable and a remarkable instance occurred in the case
of Cowbridge grammar school, the scholarships attached to which
were all thrown open leaving this, which is one of the most impor-
tant grammar schools in my district practically unendowed. That
the Commissioners were right in supposing that the scholarships
were more valuable to the cause of general education if open to
all comers than when attached to a particular school, there can,
I should think, be little question. In several schools the scholar-
ships are sufficiently numerous to render any boy who wishes
to go to the University practically assured of one even without dis-
tinguishing himself, and thus the incentive to work is greatly
lessened : by affording an attraction to the school indepen-
dent of the education offered they also lessen the incentive
to the masters to render that education as good as possible. It
seems inconsistent with the above to establish fresh scholar-
ships to be held at the universities attached to particular
schools. On the other hand it is said, with much force by
those interested in particular schools, that it is impossible for
them to compete with other schools which have scholarships if they
have none, and that, as long as other schools have them they must
likewise. It would be well if some general principles could be
laid down for the regulation of this subject. It is sufficient for
me here to point out the broad fact, that while Cowbridge and
some other schools have been deprived of their ancient scholarships,
Swansea, Monmouth, and others are seeking to establish new ones.

It has been proposed in some instances to give scholarships to be
held by boys while at the school, and to offer such scholarships for •

7'2

Schools Inquiry Commission.

Unsatisfactory
nature of the
schemes for
endowed
schools.

Swansea
grammar
school.

The Howell
schools..

competition to boys educated in the surrounding National schools,
so that any boy of the working classes of special ability might be
able to obtain a higher education. This has not, I think, been tried
to any great extent ; it was tried for a time at Ruabon grammar
school, but without much success, the National schoolmasters being
unwilling to part with their best boys, as they needed their help as
pupil teachers, &c., and the boys themselves being unable to re-
main at school for any additional time without earning anything.
It has been said, and I think truly, that if such scholarships were
given they should be of such an amount as would be equal to the
probable earnings of the boys if at work, and not merely amount
to a free education. The opponents of such a system say that by
giving to children a better education than that' which their parents
are able to afford, you render them unfit for the position which
their parents occupy, while you do not provide them with the
means of obtaining employment in the higher sphere of life for
which their education would fit them. In the Howell school at
Llandaff, some girls of the lower middle class were at first ad-
mitted ; but this has been discontinued. Where, as at that school,
the education includes all the accomplishments, and the mode
of living includes all the comforts of a high-class school, such
girls are often rendered dissatisfied with their homes and unfit for
the mode of life to which their family circumstances necessarily
call them, I think this danger, though doubtless often exagge-
rated, should be taken account of in determining the mode in
which endowments should be employed, and that if an education
is given to the children much above that usually obtained by the
class of society to which their parents belong, some means should
be at the same time provided for placing them in positions in which
that education wUl be practically available to them.

In accordance with my instructions I have examined the various
schemes under which the schools are now conducted, and have
been led to the conclusion that they are often very unsatisfactory,
and that some improvement is required in the way in which
they are prepared. Thus in the scheme for Swansea grammar
school, which was granted in 1850, it is provided that up to the
number of 20 all sons of poor freemen or burgesses of Swansea,
who may be admitted to the school, shall receive their education
free of any charge whatever. Yet no means are provided for
selecting the 20 who are to receive a free education, if more than
20 (as is the case) are in the school. So also the maximum pay*
ment is fixed by the scheme at 2*. 6d. a week, which proved whoUy
insufficient, and eight guineas a year has been habitually charged
in defiance of the scheme. Again, it is provided that in case the
minerals under the trust property are worked, the whole profits
shall be mvested and only- the income used, though as it is pro-
bable that the minerals which are now being worked will not be
exhausted for 50 or 100 years, the school will thus have a very smaU
income for the first half of that period, and a very large one for
the remainder. Again in the scheme for the Howell schools,
sanctioned by the Court of Chancery in 1853, provision is made

Mr.,Bompas's Report. 73

for an education of the highest class, including all the accomplish-
ments, being given to the pupils, while the buildings and fittings
are of the most perfect kind, yet the scheme provided that day
scholars should be admitted who should not pay more than 6d. a
week, and a doubt was thus raised whether the school was not
intended for children of the lowest class, till on a recent application
to the Court of Chancery the maximum has been raised to 21 a
quarter. Again, in the scheme for the grammar school at
Llanrwst it is provided that the master shall not take more than Llanrwst
12 boarders, and that day scholars shall pay only two guineas a grammar
year. The village of Llanrwst is not large enough to support a
large day school ; and, as the master stated to me with great forcej
if he charged high terms for his boarders, and had sons of gentle-
men, they objected to associate with boys of the class that came
as day boys, the terms being so low, while if he charged lower
terms, and received the sons of farmers, which would probably be
of most use in that neighbourhood, it was impossible to make the
school answer with so small a number of boarders. The restriction
in number also encourages the practice of boys coming to lodge in
the village to attend the school, on which I have animadverted
above. It would appear that the schemes need the supervision of
persons practically acquainted with the educational questions Of
the day. It would be a great boon also if slight modifications of
the scheme which are rendered desirable by the varying character
of the master or circumstances of the school,' could be made as
easily and at as little expense as possible.

One point on which" there is some difference in different schools, Mode of
and on which I have heard strong opinions expressed, is as to the ^fg^"^^
mode of appointment of the second or other masters in the schools.
The appointment of the second master is very frequently vested
in the same body as elect the head master, though in some instances
the head master has a right to appoint all the rest. I think the
opinion is almost universal that the latter is preferable. The
existence of two distinct authorities in a school is likely to injure
its discipline, and to lead to discord and discomfort. It is not
only necessary that the masters should be good and able men, but
that their dispositions should be suited to one another if the school
is to work well., and this it is impossible to obtain with any cer-
tainty if their appointments are independent of one another.
Serious difficulties have occurred at the Howell school, Denbigh,
mainly from this cause, and very many instances have been pointed
out to me where difficulties have arisen in a similar manner, or have
only been avoided by the greatest forbearance and care on all sides.
The only advantage that I know of obtained by the separate ap-
pointment of the masters is that they fonn to some extent a check
upon one another if the head master is incompetent ; but such
incompetence may be better provided for by 'external checks than
by the introduction of contradictory elements into the internal
management of the school.

One fact that must strike anyone on looking into the history of Mode of
endowments, is that any which have been left in the form of a ^^^5*'°^

74 Schools Inqmrij Conimission.

fixed annual sum of money become in the course of years utterly
inadequate for the purpose for which they are intended, while those
which were left in the form of land continue equally sufficient, or
even increase in amount. This is of course the necessary conse-
quence of the fact, that the value of money is for ever diminishing
in relation to other objects, A good illustration is found in the
early granmaar schools of Herefordshire above referred to, or in
the Cowbridge grammar school, the founder of which intended to
endow it richly, and leaving land for that purpose to Jesus College,
Oxford, directed that 20?. a year should be paid to the head-master,
and that the surplus should be employed in increasing the college
fellowships so as to make them about the same amount: the
mastership still continues worth 20/. a year, while the fellowships
are worth several hundreds. Notwithstanding this fact, it has
become usual to invest trust property in the funds, rendering it
certain that the income will by degrees become wholly insufficient
for the objects for which it is now employed. The advantage of
handing down endowments to posterity may be an oj)en question,
but it ought to be distinctly understood that, by investing them in
a form in which their value steadily diminishes, their disappearance
is as certainly secured as if part of the principal was spent annually
as income. The form of investment which has proved most bene-
ficial in times past, in my district, has been an investment in land
near the school, because then, if from the discovery of mines or
other causes the population has largely increased, the value of
the land has increased with it, and a means thus been afforded of
supplying the increased demand for education.
Applicability I ought perhaps to notice a suggestion that has been made with
of endowments respect to the endowuients belonging to the Howell Schools and
tcTiools. some others ; viz., that they ought to be employed in the support

of National schools, or schools of that class, to as to relieve the
consolidated fund. From an exactly similar feeling trustees were in
the habit, some years back, of applying the money left in various
parishes for the relief of the poor, to the reduction of the pooi-s
rate. This is now, however, held to have been a misappropria-
tion of the fundd, and the trustees have been greatly blamed for
having applied them to that purpose, which, as lias been truly said,
makes them beneficial to the class who possess property^ and not
to the poor. The very same arguments show the impropriety of
applying any funds left to improve the education of the poor, to
the relief of the consolidated fund. Sucli an application of the
endowments does not benefit education, but only relieves the tax-
payers. Whatever else may be a legitimate use of them, that
cannot be if the principle of endowments at all be admitted.
Help which I have been frequently asked, during the course of my inquiries,

might he for my advice and assistance in improving the condition of the

TnnuaT '^ '" endowed schools. It is often the case that beneficial reforms
examiner in ■•ire neglected, from its being nobody's business to commence
effecting tliem. Thus at St. Asaph new school buildings are very oreatly

improvoment.. needed, but there seems to be a difficulty in getting an.y one to
move in tlie matter. Should any system of annual cxamYnation

Mr. Bompas's Report. 75

or inspection of grammar schools be adopted, I think one great
benefit that would accrue would be that there would then be
always some one who could suggest and set on foot the various
necessary improvements without exciting the jealousy which is
apt to exist between parties residing in the neighbourhood of the
school, if one of them commences any such reforms.

With respect to endowments not specifically devoted to educa- Endowments
tional purposes I have little to say, as I think there are none in ""* *"''
my district which would be applicable to the education of any but education"
the working classes. There are very considerable sums spent j^qj^j
annually in doles to the poor with apparently very little benefit
to them ; the jealousies and heartburnings, and dissatisfaction that
they cause probably counterbalancing the good that they do. Many
clergymen, I believe, wish that there were none such in their
parishes. It would be impossible, however, to divert the money
to other purposes without causing greater dissatisfaction. In many
cases the recipients were originally bound to attend church ; but
this is in many places now being altered, being found only to en-
courage hypocrisy and formalism. At Holywell, however, a large
sum of money has recently been given to the parish, the interest to
be bestowed on poor persons who regularly attend church and
receive the Holy Communion. The evils such a condition is likely
to produce will, I should think, hardly be compensated by the
good, if any, which the money may do.

The only large charities which I need specially notice are the Baker Charity.
Baker Charity, at Ross, and the Jervis Charity. The former now
amounts to 800?,, a year and is of quite recent origin, having been
left by will in 1836. It is spent in small .""ms, which
serve to keep the recipients just above parish reiief. There
is a difierence of opinion as to whether it really does any good,
but it certainly does not seem to he doing harm. Thei'e are
other good schools for the poorer classes already in the town,
and it would be entii-ely setting aside the objects of the testator
to apply it to the foundation of a grammar school, which might
otherwise be desirable. The Jervis Charity is one of large amount, jervis Charity.
and to which attention has often been directed. It was left in
1790, for the benefit of the poor inhabitants of the three parishes of
Stanton-upon-Wye, Bredwardine, and Letton in Herefordshire.
The only restriction as to its application contained in the will was
that none of it should be spent on building. A scheme having been
settled by the Court of Chancery for its distribution in food,
clothing, medicine, &c., it was soon found that it attracted
into the parishes all the vagabonds of the county, and pro-
duced the greatest idleness and demoralizaton, the only persons
benefited being the landlords, the rents in the three parishes
being higher, and the wages considerably lower, than in the
rest of the county. A new scheme was adopted, by which a
large sum was expended in building schools, including one for
boarders, and no one is permitted to share in the benefits of the
charity unless he has resided five years in one of the parishes, and
is of unblemished character. The charity now amounts to about

76 Schools Inquiry Commission.

2,400?. a year, of which 600Z. is given away in food, clothing, &c.,
to the poor, and the rest is expended on salaries to the oflacers, on
the schools, and on medicine and food for the sick. All the children
at the schools are clothed from 7 to 14 years of age. They are
about 130 in number. The new scheme works much better than
the former one, though many still think that the_ charity does
injury, and few, I believe, would consider that it does much
good. The boarding-school, which would accommodate 60 chil-
dren, has never been opened, the funds being after all insufficient
for that purpose, and when I visited it the large building was
standing empty and unused, except in those parts where the day-
school is held. It would be difficult to conceive a more striking
instance of the failure of the express wishes of a testator, the
waste of money in building he so specially endeavoured to pro-
vide against being the very thing that has happened. There can,
I think, be little doubt that the suggestions of the late Dean
of Hereford should have been adopted, and the charity thrown
open to the whole of Herefordshire, which would have been a leas
departure from the wishes of the testator than employing it for
the one purpose which he had forbidden. If spread over a large
area it might be the means of effecting much good. In no case,
however, probably would it have been employed for purposes
coming within the terms of the present Commission.
Conchisions to I venture, then, in conclusion, to summarise the principal sug-
fr^ ^^^&^ gestions that seem to arise from the facts and opinions in the
report. foregoing report.

1st, Endowments should be made available for the lower instead
of the uppe" middle classes, especially by providing a good day-
school in every town, and cheap boarding-schools for the sons of
small farmers, &c.

2nd. Opportunities should be offered to all masters and mis-
tresses of having their whole schools examined and reported upon
annually by competent examiners.

3rd. The subjects and methods of education in girls' schools
should be modified.

4th. Means should be provided for training masters in the art
of teaching.

5th. Examinations should be established or other opportunities
afforded to mistresses of proving their proficiency in different
branches of knowledge.

6th. All possible meatis should be adopted to stir up the parents
to take more interest in the education o. What school do you attend ?

Music.

1. How many notes are there in the octave ? 6

2. How many flats or sharps are there in the key of E ? 10

3. How many flats are there in the key of Bjj ? 10

4. How many demisemiquavers are equal to a minim ? 10

5. What is the meaning ofthe terms Da Capo, Crescendo, a.r^&Rallentando'? 15

6. What is the difference between the major and the minor scales ? 20

7. How do you find the relative minor of any major key? . ^^

8. Is there any difference in the signature of a major key and its relative

minor ? 15

Algebra.

1. Reduce to its simplest form (a-4) (a+4) — {2a''— 4 (a+4)}

2. Divide 0^—9 by a +3.

3. Solve the following equations : —

n ^ Imf '^ + 1 Q io\ f a^ — y^=a; + l

(1-) -^—-T~ =3- (2-) U^+/=3^ + l 45

Euclid,

1 . What is an acute angled triangle ?

2. Write out the following propositions of Euclid : —

(1.) From the greater of two given straight lines to cut off a part
ec|ual to the less, B. I., Prop. 3. (2.) To find the centre of a given
circle, B. III., Prop. 1.

3. In B. I., Prop. 9. To bisect a given rectilineal angle
the following construction is given by Euclid :

Let B AC be the given rectilineal angle ; in BA, take any
point b, and from AC the greater cut off a part AE equal
to AU, join ED, and upon ED, on the side remote from A,
describe an equilateral triangle DFE and join AF, AF
will bisect the angle BAC. Are the words in italics neces-
sary, and if so, why ?

4. Is the following a correct solution of the
problem, from a given point to draw a straight
line equal to a given straight line :

Let A be the given point and BC the given
straight line ; join AB, and on AB describe the
equilateral triangle ADB. Produce DA to E ;
and with centre D at the distance DC, describe
the circle CFH, cutting DE in F ; AF is the
line required. Because D is the centre of the
circle CFH, DC is equal to DF ; but BD, AD
parts of them are equal, therefore the remainder
AF is equal to the remainder BC. Q.E.D.

a. c. 3, Q_2

84 Sclifiols Inquiry Commission.

John Jones p. 121.
Book-keeping. Cr.

fol.

81
17

By Goods
By Cash

11 13 2
5 3 0-20
drawer and

1. If the followinpt be a copy of a
page in your ledger, what is the mean-
ing of the figures 81 and 1 7 in the left-
hand column.

2. In the following bill of exchange which is the name of the
which of the acceptor ?

m London, April 10, 1865.

Three monthg after date pay to
James Smithoiinety-four pounds.

^94 ptj Henry Thomas.

To F. Morris, Esq.

Natural Philosophy.

1. If two forces act on a point but not in the same straight hne, will
their resultant be increased or diminished by making the angle between
the two forces greater 1 '

2. Through what distance will a body fall from rest in three seconds,
the force of gravity being taken as equal to 32 feet ? 20

3. What is the greatest weight which you can support with a single
moveable pulley if you exert a force equal to 5 lbs ? 20

4. If a body is floating in water and only J of its bulk is above the sur-
face of the water, what is its specific gravity, the specific gravity of water
being taken as unity? 20

5. If the refractive index of water is f , how far below the surface wiU a
fish appear to be, its real depth being 8 feet ? 20

6. Should a long-sighted person use a convex or a concave lens ? 20

Natural Science.

1. What gases is the air composed of, and in what proportions? 20

2. Write down the chemical symbols for potassium and sulphuric acid. 40

3. What is meant by the calix of a flower? 30

4. To which of the three classes exogens, endogens, and acrogens (or
cryptogamous plants) do ferns belong ? 15

Afternoon Paper. Paper (2). For Girls.

Introductory.
■ 1 . What is your name ?

2. What school do you attend ?

3. How many hours a week (if any) do you spend in learning music, in-
cluding practising^?

4. How many hours a week (if any) do you spend on drawing ?

5. How many hours a week (if any) do you spend on plain needlework ?

6. How many hours a week (if any) do you spend on fancy work ?

Latin Language and History.

1. What is the nominative plural of regnum ? 5

2. What is the genitive of (1.) homo, (2.) unus'i 10

3. What is the first person singular future active of amo ? 10

4. What are the perfect and supine of {\.)fr%co, (2.) pello ? 10

5. What is the meaning of consulo (1.) when it governs the dative (2.),
when it governs the accusative? 15

6. Translate into English, (1.) Omnis Gallia divisa est in tres partes? 10

(2.) Quaramus quonam modo mtam agere possimus, si nihil interesse
nostra pntemus, valeamus agrine sirmis, vaoemus an cruciemur dolore,
frigus, famem propulsare possimus necne possimus, 26

3Ir. Bompas's Report 85

7. Translate into Latin, (1.) She loved her sister. 10

(2.) The Lacedtemonians, to gain peace, of which they stood much in
need, determined to prevent their allies from devastating the country. 25

8. Who were the members of the second triumvirate ? 15

9. By what Roman general was Carthage destroyed?

Italian.

1. Translate into English, II fiore che mi ha dato quella donna e bello
assai ? 16

2. Translate into Italian, It appears to me that your hand is rather larger
than mine ? 20

German.

1. Decline Sohn. 10

2. Give the parts of the verb «precAe» 10

3. Translate into English, Diefleissige Tochter sass ganz allein und spann
wahrend Karl ein deutsches Lied sang ? 15

4. Translate into German, I received a letter from Germany yesterday ? 15

Mod&rn History.

1. By what king was the Edict of Nantes revoked ? 15

2. What was the extent of the empire of Charles V., Emperor of Ger-
many ? 20

3. What two empresses were contemporaries of Frederick the Great ? 20

4. How long was Napoleon Buonaparte emperor after his return from
Elba? 15

g-h2

86 Schpols Liquiry Commission.

INDEX.

Page

Baker's Charity - ...---75

Boys —

Boys of the middle class, number of - - - - - 6

Boys learning different subjects at each age, number of - - - 32

„ „ „ „ in each county, number of - - 31

„ „ „ „ in different classes of school, number of 32

„ lodginpf by themselves in towns, practice of - - - 63

„ showing special proficiency, number of - - - - 38

Character of the Welsh people - - - - - - 6

Characteristics of the to-svns of Chester, Monmouth, and Shrewsbury - 4

„ „ county Denbigh . - . - 4

„ Flint 3

„ „ „ Glamorgan - - - - - 2

„ „ „ Hereford - - - - - 4

„ „ Montgomery - - - - 4

District assigned ----- -.1

Education —

Apparent state of education in the district - - - - 10

Different objects sought in the education of boys and girls - - 41

State of education in country districts - - - 9

Endowments - - - - . - 67

Best form of endowment - - - - - 68

Effects of large endowments - - . . - 68

Endos^Tnents not for purposes of education - - - - 75

Inapplicability of endowments to National schools - - 74

Investment of ----..-73

English grammar and numeration —
Deficiency in- ---..-39

Euclid — Amount learnt - - - - - . -35

Examinations —

Examination of schools desirable - - - . - 25

Existing examinations - - . - -26

Feasibility of examining the whole of schools - - - 28

Good that might be effected by an annual examiner - . - 74

Method of examination adopted - - . . .27

Modes of appointing examiners suggested - . . - 27

Reasons for the apparent smallness of the results - - - 29

Keliability of the results obtained . « . . - 29

3{r, Bompas's Report, 87

Page

Examinations for boys —

Ages of tlie boys examined - - - - • - 34

Boarders and day scholars examined, number of - - - 31

Boys examSned, number of - - - - 28

Marks allotted to each subject, number of - - - 30

Papers set to the boys' schools - - - 77

Results of the examination for each county - - 38

„ „ „ school - - - 37

„ „ „ in each subject - - - - 33

Examinations for girls —

Ages of girls examined ... -66

Beneficial effect of examination for girls - .54

Girls examined, number of - - - . 66

Marks allotted to each subject, number of - . - 57

Objection to publicity in the case of girls . - . .66

Opinions of the mistresses on examinations - - - - 65

Papers set to girls' schools - - 81

Eesults of the examination for each county . 61

„ „ „ „ school - . 60

„ „ J, in each subject - .68

United examination of girls' schools . .66

Examinations to test governesses, want of - - .41

Girls-
Advantages of masters for teaching girls - '- - 48
Girls learning different subjects at each age, number of - 68
„ „ „ „ in each county, number of . 67
„ showing special proficiency, number of . - - 61
Importance of an inquiry into the education of girls . .40
Reasons of the present system of female education . 64
State of education of girls in country districts . . .43
HoKdays ..... .66

Jervis's Charity - . • . . _ - 76

Kindness received ... . _ o

Latin —

Advantage of, in education . - - - - 39

Amount leanit .... .32
Masters —

Mode of appointing masters - - - . . - 73

Salaries of - - - . - 24

Superiority of trained masters - - - - 24

Method of awarding marks - - - - - 31
Mistakes — Instances of """--- 39

Mode of collecting the required information - - ■■ 1

Music and drawing, time allotted to the study of . . - 68

Playgrounds - - - - . . . .63

Punishments --.-.. -64

Relative powers of boys and girls ... - 63

Regards ' <•' » - . . . . .65

88 Schools Inquiry Commission.

Page

Scholarships - - - - - " " 'a

Schemes for endowed schools - - - ■ " - /^
Schools —

Boarding schools —

Arrangements of boarding schools - - - - 62

Cheap boarding schools - - - - - - 69

Dormitories, apd the modes of maintaining order - - - 63

School buildings - - ... 62

Howell schools - - - - - - 70

Influence of endowed on private schools ... 68

Mixed schools - - - - - - -13

National schools - - - - - - -69

Preparatory schools - - - - - , - 61

Proprietary schools - - - - - - -12

Schools of art - - - - - - - 66

School libraries - - - - - - -63

Schools for Boys —

Age of scholars - - - - - - -17

Difficulties experienced by masters of boys' schools - - 10

Extras - - - - - - - -16

Nature of boys' schools in large towns - - - - 8

„ „ small towns - - - 9

Per-centage of boys learning and schools teaching each subject - 17

Relative merits of day and boarding schools - - - - 12

Size of boys' schools - - - - - - 14

Size of classes, and number of masters - - - - 14

Social position of the pupils - - ... 23

Statistics of boys' schools in district . . . .15

Subjects taught in boys' schools —

Book-keeping and mensuration - - - - - 21

Drawing --- ----23

English grammar - - - - - . .22

English literature - - - -.. . . .23

Euclid and algebra - - . . . - 21

French - - . . . . . .20

German . - - - . . . -21

Greek . - - . . . . -19

History and geography - - . . . .22

Latin - . . . „ -19

Music - . - . . . . -23

Rehgious knowledge - - - . . .18

Science - - - - . . . .22

Terms charged by boarding schools - . . . - 16

"day „ 15

Town of Swansea taken as an instance - . . -9

Years boys had been at school, number of . . . .31
Schools for Girls —

Classification of girls' schools . . . " . .42

Difficulties experienced by mistresses of" girls' schools . . 44

Endowed girls' schools - ... _ - _ i c

Expense of education at girls' schools - . . .41

Extras .... ' >i

- 47

Mr. Bompas's Beport. 89

Page

Schools for Girls — cont.

Finishing schools - - - - - - -42

Girls' schools in small towns - - - • - - 43

„° „ Swansea - - - - - - 43

Mixture of social classes in girls' schools - - - - 43

Per-centage of girls learning, and schools teaching each subject - 49

Proportion of mistresses to pupils . - . - 46

Relative merits of day and boarding schools - - - 45

Science — Means of teaching - - - - - - 71

Shrewsbury — Schools at - - - - - - 45

Schools classified according to their terms . . - -

Short time for which ladies usually keep school - - - 40

Size of girls' schools - - - - - - 46

Statistics of girls' schools in district - - - - - 44

Subjects taught in girls' schools —

Arithmetic - - - - - - - -50

Book-keeping - - - - - - -50

Cooking and household duties - - - - - 63

Dancing - - - - - - - -62

Drawing - - - - - - - -62

English grammar - - - - - - -51

French - - - - - - - - 49

History and geography - - - - - - 50

Italian ...- ..-60

Latin ..---- - 49

Music - - - - - - - -51

„ its disadvantage as a branch of education - - - 61

Natural history and physics - - - - -60

University education, want for mistresses - - - 41

Value of property in district - - - - - - 6

Welsh language —

Prevalence of- - - - - - - -7

Its effect on education - - - - - - 7

SCHOOLS INQUIEY OOMMISSIOJ!^.

REPORT

MR. T. H. GREEN.

Mr, Green's Report. — Contents.

CONTENTS.

REPORT ON KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL,
BIRMINGHAM.

Page
Results of the present constitution of the Board of Governors in connexion
with the system of personal nomination, gratuitous education, and
restriction on the eligibility , of scholars . - . 91—116

Constitution of governing body — its exclusive effect - - - 91

Relation of governors to the municipality - - - 92
Its results — (o) immobility, due (1) to absence of moving spirits, (2) to

fear of resistance from the town council - 92
{h) Danger of religious exclusiveness — at present a mere

danger - ----- 93

Restrictions on eligibility, and their result - - - 94

Views in the town on the subject - - - - 95

Practical objection to identification of the board of governors with the

town council - - - - - 95
Nomination of scholars, and examination of those nominated - - 96, S7

Local restriction on nominations ----- 97

Effect of nomination system on preliminary education- - - - - 99
Consequent ignorance in lower part of school and thinness of upper

part - - ... - - 100

Remedy, to establish competitive examination for entrance - ] 01
This partly exists already, but not complete unless payment of fees is

made the rule, with exemptions for merit - - 102

Popular feeling about fees - - - - 103

Proposal to make charitable exceptions - - . . 104

No need of this, if " elementary" schools made the most of - 106

Good material now obtained from the Parade school - - - 106

Relation of schools on King Edward's foundation to National schools - 107

What is wanted to raise the character of the former - - 108
No class would be excluded from the grammar school on the proposed

system ... .... 109

Relation of the grammar school to the private schools - - 110

How it might virtually affiliate them - - - - - 111

Is there any need for preparatory schools distinct from the " elementary ?" 112

Three standards of admission, according to age, desirable - 113

Local restrictions on exhibitions - - - - - 1 1 4

No hardship in fees, properly regulated - - - - - 115

What should be their amount ? - - - - - - 116

Future disposal of income - - - - - -117

Review of the drawhaehs to the efficiency of ihe School in promoting
(l) practical education, (2) liberal education, whether general, or adapted
to the Universities - - - . . 118-140

Division of departments - - - - - - -118

Kind of boys in- each "- ' - ' - ' - ' - . . 119

Mr. Greeris Report. — Contents.

Page

Provision for practical education in English school . . - 120

Noise and bad arrangement in it - - - 121

Preliminary ignorance - - - - - - -122

Boys wanting English education often in classical school - 123

Get hardly any English or general education in the latter - ] 24

The classical standard cannot otherwise he maintained - - 125

Condition of the under-masters - - - - - 126

Desrability of giving more general education ... - 127

Such education does not "pay " - - - - 128

What is done for it in the upper classes of English department -_ - 129

Few reach these - - - - . - 130

Possibility of combining the two departments for certain lessons 131

Evening classes - - 131

Cerlain lines of life for which no preparation is given in the grammar

schgol ... .. 132

Neglect, of mathematics - ... 133

Is a third department wanted ? - .... 134

View of university among commercial men - - 135

What might be done by the school to. increase the number who go to a

university ... . . . 136

Transfer from the English school to the classical should be facilitated
—how? ... ... 136,137

Establishment of scholarships . - 138

Changes in regard to exhibitions . - - 139

*i*iii^gosed re-modeUing of the department — system - - 140

" MoraPtane," and means of improving it ... 141

Situation of tne^fflTOOl^^^udvantages and disadvantages - 142, 143

Relation of the school to "local examinations " - - 144

GENERAL REPORT.

Division of grammar schools into those used as such, and those used as

elementary schools ..... _ j^^g

In the former division, education given may be considered under the
heads (1) liberal, (2) commercial . . . . .14-6

General review of the present character of the liberal education, and of
the reasons why it is not better . 147-185

Sketch of the standard attained in Latin, mathematics, French and

English ' 147, 148

Remedy for the present state of things not to be found in a radical

change of the subjects and method of instruction . , 143

Abandonment of Latin for young boys in the grammai- schools quite a
different thmg from a modification of the classical system in the great
schools and universities - . . . _ -i^n

Review of the educational value of the " modern " studies - 149 150

May it not be desirable to adopt them as a sop to commercial pai-ents ? I61' 152
To the average parents Latin not necessarily an offence; to the best an '
object of desire - . . , .' _ jgg 153

Mr. Green's Report. — Contents.

Page
To give it up, would be to sacrifice the best boys to the worst, without
any corresponding gain to tlie latter, and finally divorce the grammar'
schools from the universities --.... 154

Real reasons of the defects of grammar schools, and first, why more hoys

don't go to them ...... 154-168

(a) The position of the master of the grammar school has generally
been such as to give him no adequate motive for making the
school popvilar — contrast with the private schoolmaster 154, 155

He does not spread his net wide enough, and often will not con-
descend to manage the very manageable commercial parent - 157

He often does not care for his work, or has other work - - 157

(6) The buildings and situation of grammar schools often bad ;

illustrations - - - - - 157, 158

(d) General abstention of the professional class from use of the
grammar school - - - - - - ] 60

Reasons for it (1) social ... 161,162

„ (2) educational ... I63

Commercial parents often object to the grammar school, as not giving
the shortest cut to necessary knowledge .... Ig4

Comparison of grammar schools with private schools in this respect and
in that of numbers - - - - - 164,165

Many boys locally out of reach of a grammar sehool ; where and why
this is the case ...... IQQ^ 167

Special consideration of the case of sons of farmers in remote districts 167, 168

Why the grammar schools don't malce more of the boys who do go to
them ------.- 169-185

(a) Uneducated parentage - - - - - 169

(6) Presence in the schools of boys who ought not to be there at
aU, "who learn nothing and prevent others from learning :
this due (1) to gratuitous system, (2) to want of entrance
examination .... 170, 17I

out of reach - - - - 172

Special obstacles in way of a Dissenter - - - 173

Attractions of London University and civil service, - - - 173

Day-boys, generally meant to leave early for business - - 174

Only stimulus for these to be found in the " local examinations " - 175

Consideration of the general effect of these on schools - 176, 177

Difficulty of combining preparation for them (1) with that for public

schools, (2) with that for universities - - - - 178, 179

Value attached to success in them - . . . . igQ

(d) Defects of teaching in the grammar schools ; distraction of

the masters, and modes of classification - 180, 181

(e) Difficulty of getting good under-masters ... 182

Question between graduates and others - - - - - 183

Possible simplification of work, by abandonment of Greek in lesser
schools ........ 183

(/) Want of oral teaching in lower classes and of work on paper

in the higher ...... I84

(^) Defects of building and arrangement - - - 185

Mr. Green's Report. — Contents.

Page

Review of the state of " commercial education " in grammar schools 185-191

Iftfi
Comparison with private schools . ■

Cases where the classical standard is kept up at the expense of the

commercial - - - ' ' " "

How far, and why, this is unavoidable - - 187

In some cases income insufficient to keep up both - 188

Two ordinary ways of attempting to keep up both - - 189

Alternative studies ; objections to this - - - - - 189

Separate departments ; objections to this ... 190

Suggestion of a better plan ... - 191

Review of the mode and extent to which private effort supplements the
action of grammar schools . - - 192-212

A. (1.) Cases where the private schools have it aU their own way,

e.g. the Potteries - 192

Small number in them— where are the rest? - - 192
Character (a) of the more, (6) of the less expensive private

schools here ..---- 193

Vacuum which they don't fill .... 194
(2.) Action of private schools as cheap boarding-schools; why they

are cheaper than grammar schools ... 195
Two classes of them in respect of terms ; demand for, and

character of, the cheaper class - - 196-198

Defects in the principals, the assistants, the buildings - 199

Want of effective examination - 200
Few schools of this class use "local examinations;" good

effect on such as do - - - 201

What is wanted to extend the benefit . - - 202
(3.) Action of cheap private schools, as day-schools, side by side

with grammar schools - - 203
(4.) Action of more expensive private schools in like juxta-
position - - 204,205

5. Action of private schools of the latter sort as boarding-schools 206
What the grammar school might do, but the private school

cannot do - ... - 207

B. Supplemental action of proprietary schools ; 1st at Leamington 208

2nd at Tettenhall - .... 209

Inferences to be drawn from the estabhshment of this school, and diffi-
culties in its way ... . 209, 210

(3rd.) Edgbaston ; its object ; causes of its partial decline, and condi-
tions of its success ■ ... 211,212

HoXv far are National and British schools supplemental to grammar

schools? ---..... 212

Consideration of the possibility of getting more money for grammar
schools, and of the way in which it should be applied - - 213-231

Application to its proper purpose of the income of grammar schools in

villages, now applied to elementary schools - . . . 213

Uselessness of the endawment in these places, as at present applied 214, 215

Mr. Qreen's Beport, — Contents.

Suggestions of change in certain cases : Page

(1.) At Bradley and Church Eaton - - - - - 216

(2.) At Dilhorne 217

(3.) At Audley and Newchapel ..... 218

Possible resources of the grammar school at Newcastle, and of Orme's

School 219,220

Proposal to establish a high school at Newcastle, and suggestions for
working it--.----- 221

Desirable transfer of funds at Walsall and Hampton-Lucy - - 222

Useless charity in large amounts at various places - - 223-225

Plan for establishing high schools ; great need of them - - 226

Where should they be ? - - - - - - 22?

Supposing them to be established, what schools should continue inde-
pendent? ..-..-.- 228
What should be affiliated to them? - - - - - 229

Limit of income desirable for scliools of each class ... 229

Cases where the limit is reached, and where it is not - - 230, 231

Preparatory schools specially wanted in certain cases - - - 230

Obstacles to proposed changes - - . . . 231-237

1. Local opposition in some cases ..... 232

2. Cry of injustice to poor ...... 232

3. Existing " commercial departments " in the way ... 233

4. Want of initiative -.-..-- 233
Suggestions as to where an initiative might best be found, and as to

the constitution of boards of trustees - - - - - 234

5. Objection of masters to affiliation - . - - . 235

6. Denominational difficulty ...--- 236

7. General want of interest in high education among the commercial

class - . - . 237, 238

Importance in this respect of really opening the old universities - 237, 238

Education of girls ....... 238-261

Incompleteness of accessible information .... 238

Grades of school in respect of terms ..... 238

Small number of girls to be found in them ; where are the rest? - 239
With girls, sound education not necessary for the purposes of life,

except in certain cases ...... 240

Training of teachers — the apprenticing system and its results - - 241

Grammar schools wanted for girls ..... 242

Usefulness of the " Bath Row School " at Birmingham - - 243

What else is wanted at Birmingham ..... 244

Demand for the proposed schools, as felt by various classes - - 245

Difficulties in the way of their successful operation ... 246

Means of establishing them — their probable expense ... 247

Waste of teaching power in present system .... 248

Probable effect of the proposed schools on others, and on the opinion of

parents ........ 249

Present state of the more expensive schools .... 250

ME. GEEEN'S EEPOET

THE SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTIES OE STAFFORD
AND WARWICK,

AND

SPECIAL EEPOET

KING EDWARD VI. FREE SCHOOL, BIRMINGHAM.*

Mt Loeds and Gentlemen,

The matters to which, in pursuance of my instructions, I Dmsion of the
directed my attention at Birmingham, may be divided under two »"''J«'=*-
main heads, (A) those affecting the condition of the grammar
schools externally, which naturally fall under the view of the
governors and the general public, and (B) those affecting it
internally, which fall rather under the view of the masters and
pupils of the school.

Under A, the first point to be considered is the constitution of Constitution of
the Board of Governors, as determined by law and custom. By |°^y""'^
law, i.e., by the original letters jiatent of Edward VI., and by the
Act of 1831, vacancies in the Board are filled up by co-optation.
By custom, no dissenters during the last half century, nor any one
connected with the municipal government of the town since the
establishment of such government, have been admitted to the
Board. This customary exclusion, it is to be observed, is the
result of the rule of co-optatiori.

On such a question in such a place, social and political feeling
is sure to run rather high ; but while opinion with regard to it is
strong, the facts ascertainable by a stranger are few. I shall pro-
bably best serve the purpose of the Commission by stating the
chief aspects of the question as it presents itself to an inquirer on
the spot, and one or two points in which the present system ope-
rates favourably or otherwise on the welfare of the school. As it
is universally admitted that the present Board has discharged its
duties with all care and conscientiousness, such a statement can
involve no reflections on individuals.

Hitherto, so far as I could ascertain, the Board has fairly repre- Exclusive
sented the upper or more select section of society in Birmingham, effect of thwm
so far as this section is politically conservative and attached to the
Established Church. Its enemies assert that it represents merely
a clique, but this, I think, is only true in the sense implied in the
above statement. In Birmingham, as elsewhere, there is an un-
fortunate, though natural, tendency in the professional class, and

* This report relates ttiroughout to the state of things in the year 1865.
a. e. 3. I

Birmingltnm Free School.

R elation of
governing
body to the
municipality.

Practical
results.
General im-
mobility due
(1) to absence
of moving
spirits.

(S') To fear of
resistance from
Town Council.

among those commercial men whose families have been well on
for one or two generations, to stand aloof from municipal affairs.
The exceptions to this rule, — and there are several notable excep-
tions, — have been uniformly men of liberal politics, and generally
dissenters. Thus, a Board composed of conservative churchmen, of
good social position, has necessarily been antagonistic to the town
council, and careless or contemptuous of local politics. To belong
to it has been a certain social distinction. Social and municipal
distinctions have not coincided, and hence the Board has been an
object of public animosity, irrespectively of the manner in which
it has exercised its function.

The first evil resulting from this state of things I should de-
scribe as a general immobility in the management of the school.
As dissenters or radicals, the Board has excluded most of those
who would be disposed to move, and likely to move with discre-
tion. It is noticeable that, with one or two exceptions lately intro-
duced, the names of those who have been foremost in the establish-
ment and conduct of such educational agencies as the Midland
institute and the public libraries, are not to be found on the list
of governors. The dissenting congregations in Birmingham are
not only as numerous as those of the Establishment, but (as would
be generally admitted) include at least as many persons of intel-
lect and education. Among their ministers are several men of
great ability, and specially qualified to give an opinion of the
educational wants of the town, as being in intimate contact with
the middle class. Among the dissenting or liberal laymen, again,
are to be found those who would be best able to commend any
desirable change in the scheme under which the school is at pre^
sent managed to the approval of the citizens. The actual gover-
nors, on the other hand, have been men naturally averse to change,
and possessed by a just pride in the success with which the school
grew up under their management during the 20 years which fol-
lowed the enactment of the new scheme in 1831. Their secretary,
who is also their solicitor, and who, from his professional eminence
and long connexion with the school, has great influence with them,
has also been an effective power on the side of maintaining the
" status quo." The conservative tendency thus induced has been
strengthened by a permanent practical obstacle to change. The
governors have been aware that, owing to the state of their rela-
tions with the municipality indicated above, the enactment of any
change that they might think d'isirable in the scheme of 1831
would be opposed with all the resources of the municipal purse.*

* As it is, whenever the town council is promoting a local bill, the governors of
the school have to take precautions against the insertion of provisions trenching on
their privileges. Not long ago the town council inserted in such a bill a clause
providing that the mayor and ex-mayor of the borough should be ex officio governors
of the school. 1,000?. was mentioned to me as the sum spent in fighting for and
against this clause.

The formidable character of a contest with the town council may be illustrated
by the fact that shortly before my visit to Birmingham about 7,000i had been spent
by the council in resisting a gas company's bill.

Mr. Green's Report. 93

I did not find that all the governors were willing to admit th9.t
they had been influenced by this fear of opposition, but men are
not always conscious of their, own motives, and no other reason
could be given for their unwillingness to go to Parliament to
obtain changes which they admit to be desirable, and which many
of them are most anxious for. The most important of these — a
modification of the present absolutely gratuitous system of educa-
tion — is clearly one which a body, not commanding popular sym-
pathy, could not hope to carry through.

A second objection to the present constitution of the Board Danger of
arises from its liability to religious exclusiveness in the manage- religious
ment of the school. However carefully the openness of the school
may be provided for by the Act of Parliament, it is clear that, so
long as the right of nominating scholars is exercised as a right of
individual patronage by the several governors, which has hitherto
been the case, and so long as there are more applicants for admis-
sion than can be admitted, there is opportunity for a preference
being shown to the children of churchmen as against those of
dissenters. So long, also, as religious instruction according to
the doctrines of the Church of England continues to be given at .
the school, there is a possibility that difficulties more or less defi-
nite may be put in the way of exemptions from such instruction.
As a matter of fact, however, I could not hear of any suspicion of This at present
unfairness on religious grounds in the distribution of nominations, ™^'''^ danger,
nor does exemption from religious instruction and attendance at
prayers subject a pupil to any disadvantage except the loss of a
certain number of marks. Such exemption is seldom sought for
except in the case of Jews. The fact that there are Jews in the
school, and a natural proportion of dissenters, including several
sons of ministers, is sufficient evidence on this head. The esta-
blishment of the proprietary school at Edgbaston, on the basis of
the entire exclusion of religious instruction, is not, as might
seem at first sight, any indication of unfairness to dissenters at the
grammar school. It was founded mainly by Unitarians, who pre-
ferred a purely secular system on general grounds, and, with the
exception of a few Unitarians and Jews, I could not hear of any
parents whose reasons for preferring it to the grammar school had
anything definitely to do with religion. Its system excludes cor-
poral punishment as well as religious teaching, and this is a strong
ground of preference with many parents. Others choose it as
more select than the grammar school ; others as more conveniently
situate. On the whole, after conversation with the leading dis-
senters of the town, both laymen and ministers, I satisfied myself
that, though they objected to the customary exclusion of dis-
senters from the Board of Governors as wrong in principle, and
liable at any time to lead to practical injustice, they had no cases
of present hardship to allege, except such as arise from the diffi-
culty of access to the governors experienced by poor and obscure
parents, which s greater in the case of dissenters than of church-
men, as the former have not so ready an introduction through
their ministers. This evil, however, arises properly from the nomi-

B{rmi7if/hnm Free School.

Awkward
local restric-
tions on
eligibility.

Their result.

Views in the
town as the
change
desirable.

nation system, not from the constitution of the Board, and will be
considered below.

The only other point in the constitution of the Board which it
is important to notice is the local restriction on eligibility. Ac-
cording to the Act of 1831, only such persons are eligible for
the office of governor as (a.) reside within four miles of the present
site of the grammar school, and are bond fide rated to the relief of
the poor of the parish of Birmingham, or (/3) exercise any profes-
sion or carry on any trade within the limits of the town, parish,
or manor of Birmingham. This Act was passed before the exist-
ence of the present borough, the limits of which extend far beyond
the old parish. The suburbs in which the better classes chiefly
reside are outside the parish. Acting professional men would
generally be qualified under (jS), and acting men of business under
both {a) and (/3), but men retired from a business or profession,
who might very usefully give their leisure to the management of
the school, would almost always be excluded. As the loss of the
original qualification does not disqualify a governor once elected,
the restriction operates less awkwardly than it otherwise would.
The result, however, is in some cases rather grotesque, for while
an active Birmingham citizen, living to all intents and purposes in
the town, is ineligible because his rateable property or place of
business happens to be outside the old parish, another man, who
resides at a distance from the town and seldom comes near it, may
continue a governor in virtue of his original qualification, or may
be elected for the first time, if he has an interest in some firm
carrying on business within the parish. An extension of the area
of eligibility so as to include persons either carrying on business,
or rated to the relief of the poor, or holding property within the
borough, and resident within a moderate distance, would, I think,
give general satisfaction both to the governors and public. On
the other hand, the admission of persons to the oflice of governor,
not closely connected with the town, would be generally objected
to, and the number of necessary attendances at meetings of the
governors might, it is generally thought, be desirably increased.
According to the scheme of 1831, it is only the neglect to attend
any meeting during two years that disqualifies a governor, and
even then he is re-eligible.

As to the general constitution of the governing Board, which it
might be desirable to substitute for the present one, opinion in
Birmingham seemed to be a good deal divided. Outside the circle
of the governors themselves almost every one, except a few rather
exquisite politicians, would lament the present absolute separation
and antagonism between the governing body of the school and
that of the town, and most would condemn the principle of co-
optation. But as to the amount of power over the school which
should be conceded to the town council, and as to the way in
which it might be expected to exercise this power, I heard rather
different opinions from men of equal authority on the subject.
On the one hand I found men, themselves important members of
the town council, deprecating the concession of an effective con-

Mr. GreerCs Report. 95

trol over the school to that body. One of them told me that if
the appointment of governors were placed without restriction in
the hands of the town council, though many of their nominees
might be good, he could foresee the appointment of others " who
" would drag every school question through every public-house
" in the borough." Others, on the contrary, urged that the
management of the school would have small attraction for dema-
gogues ; while its association, directly or indirectly, with the muni-
cipal government would lead more men of education to seek a share
in the latter. As an indication of what might be expected from
the town council, they instanced the appointments which it now
makes to the committees of the Midland institute and the town
libraries, which are admitted to be good.

Such a question is out of the reach of statistics, and, according Two extremes,
as people approach one or other of the above views as to what
might be expected from the town council, they differ as to the
number of governors which it should be allowed to nominate.
Some would be content with such a recognition of the municipality
as would be involved in the presence of the mayor and ex-mayor
" ex officio '' on the Board— an arrangement which would have the
minimum of effect, as by the time these officials had learnt their
business in relation to the school, that relation would have ceased.
In the opposite extreme is the view involved in a resolution
passed by the town council itself, claiming the entire government.
Between these two extremes lies the proposition which would ^"^^ ^ '"^^°-
abolish the co-optation of governors altogether, but give the
appointment of one -third or half the Board to some such body as
the borough magistrates, while it would compel the town council
in its appointment of the other two-thirds or half to take a certain
proportion from outside its own body* It was further suggested
to me that it might be well to limit the town council in its selec-
tion of the rest to the aldermen or ex-aldermen. The rationale
of this last restriction would be that the popularity of a mere
demagogue seldom lasts long enough for him to be made an
alderman.

One definite practical objection was mentioned to me against Practical ob-

placing a virtual command of the management of the school in •''i^i'°° '''.*^°™'

^ 1 1 n 1 M mi n ^ i i i- plete capitula-

the hands of the town council. I he property or the school lies tionto Town

in the streets of Birmingham, and its pecuniary interests are, in Council,
consequence, constantly liable to be affected by schemes for im-
provement of the town. This being so, it would seem equally
undesirable that these interests should be maintained by a body
(as in times past) distinctly antagonistic to the town council,
and by one virtually identical with it. The conflict, not of
interest, but of feeling, between the two bodies has once, at
least, stood in the way of arrangements likely to enhance the
value of the school property; but though it is most desirable
that this conflict should cease, and though no one would expect

* This is in general the scheme of the " School Reform Association." It will be
found iu detail in their report, of which I transmit a copy.

Birmingham Free School.

Mode of
nominating
&ee scholars.

the town cotincil of Binningham to follow the example of other
town councils in " starving the grammar school " for the
benefit of the ratepayers, yet, as a matter of business, the several
interests of town and school are more sure of being fairly
adjusted if kept in separate though friendly hands.
General result. The general tesults of my inquiry on this subject were these :
(1.) That the general opinion of Birmingham, so far as it is in-
tferested In the question, would accept any modification of the
present system of co-optation which would secure a representation
on the governing Board of the rflunicipality on the one hand
and the nonconformists on the other. (2.) That it would be
opposed, on the whole, to the introduction of Crown nominees or
magnates of the neighbouring counties upon the Board. I have
reason to believe that the present governors are willing, not
indeed to surrender the principle of co-optation, but to bind
themselves to the co-optation of a certain number of town
councillors and dissenters. This, however, the Commissioners
will be able to ascertain from the governors personally. I should
quite expect such a concession to be well received by the town.

I now come to a question of wider practical bearings, — the
nomination of free scholars. By the scheme embodied in the
Act of 1831, "'No boy shall be admitted to the school under the
" age of eight years, and who shall not be able to write and
" read English ; and the master under whose care such boy is to
" be placed shall examine and admit him if he be so qualified,
" but not otherwise." " All boys, not sons of inhabitants of the
" town, manor, or parish of Birmingham, or of parishes touching
" upon or adjacent to the same, shall pay to the governors for
" education at the school such annual sum as the governors, with
" advice of the bishop, shall from time to time fix." This sum,
by a subsequent ordinance of the governors, was fixed at not less
than 15?., nor more than 201. a year. The practice in pursuance of
the above rule has hitherto (with an important recent modification
to be noticed afterwards) been as follows. As many "sons of
" inhabitants, &c." as the school-building would accommodate,
about 500, have been admitted, on nomination by the governors,
without any fee whatever. The nomination, however, has not
been by the governors in council or collectively. There being
20 governors, each has a twentieth part of a year's nominations
to dispose of individually, and a parent desiring admission for his
boy to the school has to seek out a governor with a nomination
to spare. Thus, instead of a general list of applicants being
kept by the secretary, who should be admitted as vacancies
occurred, a private list is kept by each governor, and the same
boy will very likely have his name down on several of these lists.
Accordingly, v,-h"n it falls to the turn of any given governor to
nominate a scholar, he has first to ascertain whether°any of the
boys on his list have been already nominated by some one else.
It then remains for him to decide whether he take the first boy
on his list not yet nominated, or make a selection according tO his
knowledge of the circumstances of the applicants. The practice

Mr. Greenes Report. 97

of the governors in this last respect has not been uniform* Some
have simply followed the order of the time of application ; others,
and I think the greater number, have been in the habit of
exercising a discretion.

The nomination having been given, the examination for Of examining
enttance follows. This consists of three parts. A sum is written ^^g^ated.
on a board in figures, which the boy has to reproduce in words,
and another in words which he has to reproduce in figures. He
has, further, to write down one or two simple verses of the Bible
from dictation, and to read aloud a few other verses. If he made
more than two or three mistakes in each subject, he would be
rejected. In regard to this examination, however, an important
change has been made by the present head master (appointed in
1862). Under his predecessor, the examination for admission
took place immediately on the nomination being given; and as
nominations were given according to an estimate of the number
of vacancies likely to occur in the year, an interval of some
months might elapse between the nomination, with the con-
sequent entrance-examination, and the actual admission to the
school. This interval was naturally often spent by a boy, the
examination being safely passed, in forgetting that which enabled
him to pass it, so that when he came to be placed in the school
he would be literally unable to read. According to the present
arrangement, the examination for entrance does not take place
till a vacancy actually occurs, and immediately precedes the
actual entrance.

It will be observed that, according to the above mode of pro- Three-fold
cedure, a parent, wishing to get a son into the school, has a three- uncertainty
fold uncertainty before him. In the first place he cannot tell above^phtn °™
when he may find a governor who will promise him a nomination.
Secondly, the nomination having been promised, he cannot tell
when it will be given. Thirdly, the nomination having been
given, he cannot teU for certain when a vacancy will occur,
which will enable his son actually to enter.

Of the inconvenient results arising from the nomination ^'^'^ effects of
system, so determined by the scheme of 1829, or by custom, it (i) due to re-
will be well to take that first which is at once least considerable striction of
and least disputable, viz., the confinement of the free education freedom to the
to the sons of inhabitants of the parish of Birmingham and
adjacent parishes. Adjacent is understood to mean contiguous.
Now there are certain parishes contiguous to the present Parlia-
mentary borough (which did not exist at the time when the
scheme in question was enacted), bilt not contiguous to the old
parish. Their inhabitants, therefore, cannot send sons to the
grammar school,* while other people residing at a greater dis-

* In pursuance of the clause in the scheme of 1829 (enacted in 1831), the
governors ordained that boys, not sons of inhabitants of the parish or adjacent
parishes, should pay in advance an annual sum of not less than 15Z. or more than
20?., but that no such boys should be admitted to the exclusion of sons of inhabitants
of the parish or adjacent parishes. As more of the latter are always applying for
admission than can be admitted, tbis amounts to an exclusion of all othersi

98 Birmingham Free School.

tance from the school, but within a parish that happens somewhere
to abut oa the old parish of Birmingham, can send their sons to
it without any payment whatever. I heard, for instance, of a
clergyman, himself formerly a master of the school, but now
holding a small incumbency in the parish of Northfield, who
could not make use of the school for his sons, because this parish
is not conterminous with the parish of Birmingham, though it is
with the borough. On the other hand, people resident two miles
further off in the parish of King's Norton, which meets that of
Birmingham at a single point, could use it freely.

The excluded parish of Northfield contains 3,130 inhabitants.
That of Yardley, which is in the same position, being conter-
terminous with the present borough, but not with the parish, has
a population of 3,848, and is rapidly increasing. It contains a
new suburb, Acock's Green, much frequented by the less wealthy
tradesmen and manufacturers of Birmingham. The number of
boys in these two parishes whom the present regulation excludes
is no doubt comparatively small, but it may at any time increase
with the establishment of a popular suburb within either of them.
The exclusion, moreover, is liable at any time to lead to dispute,
for other divisions have so far superseded parochial ones for
practical purposes, that neither the governors or secretary ou
the one hand, nor the parents on the other, are likely always to
know whether a boy is admissible in respect of residence or not.
It would seem much simpler to ignore parochial boundaries
altogether, and take a certain distance from the school as the
measure of the area of admissibility. Two facts, at any rate,
are to be borne in mind : one, that the middle-class population of
the town is gravitating more and more to the suburbs ; the other,
that owing to the position of the school close to the central
station, and to the point where the several lines of suburban
omnibuses converge, it is available as a day-school for boys living
almost anywhere within a radius of five or six miles of it. On
this subject I shall have afterwards to dwell in a difierent
connexion.

So much for the local limitations on the privileges of the

school. Of the mode in which these privileges are "enjoyed"

by those who are within the favoured parishes it is impossible to

speak too strongly. Indiscriminately free admission under any

system would be an evil in the negative sense, for it involves the

sacrifice of fees from parents very well able to pay them, and it

(2) Bad effect excludes the stimulus of admission by competition. Under the

on preliminary system (now modified) which has been pursued at Birmingham it

e ucation. becomes a more positive evil. It makes the primary education of

boys destined for the free-school worse than it would be if there

were no free-school at all.

To explain this result I must recall what I said above of the way
in which nominations are given, and the uncertainty which results
from it. A parent relies on getting his son educated for nothing
sooner or later, but he cannot tell whether it will be soon or later
A clergyman or dissenting minister, any respectable professional

Mr. GreevUs Report. 99

man, a tradesman with a " genteel connexion," would be pretty Often long
sure of getting a nomination as soon as he wanted it. These, ^^^^ ^'^ ?**"
however, are the sort of people who would take care that their tion, during
sons were being educated somewhere, if not at the grammar school, which boy
As it. is, the school is largely filled with the sons of small trades- "ss'ected.
men and manufacturers, who are probably more numerous rela-
tively in Birmingham than in any other of our great towns.
Among these people the delay experienced in getting nominations
is a source of considerable irritation. I heard it often asserted
that while a pushing man, or one who could make himself useful
to a governor or governor's friend, could get a nomination at once,
though perhaps a new comer into the town, another, who had
paid rates for a quarter of a century, had to wait some years, and
make a dozen applications for one. Such complaints, of course,
are to be taken at what they are worth.* It is only natural that
the governors should exercise some discretion in the bestowal of
their patronage, and probably the diflSculty complained of is often
due to the applicants not going the right way to work. Several
of the governors will only notice an application when made in
writing. The applicant perhaps is not aware of this rule, or has
some diflBculty in conforming to it. He makes a personal applica-
tion, is repulsed, and for ever after has a grievance. But though
it would be unjust to visit such grievances on any governor per-
sonally, the existence of them is due to the system which makes
the nomination of scholars matter of individual patronage. Their
existence, however, is the least part of the evil which arises from
it. The irritation of the parent while he is waiting for a nomina-
tion would be of less moment if he kept his son regularly at a good
school in the interval ; but the chances are that he does not. The
anticipation that his son will ultimately get an education for
nothing lowers his standard of educational expenditure. If,
for the sake of getting him out of the road, he sends his son to a
private school at all, it will be to one where the payment is too
small for the teaching to be good. Even here his son will pro-
bably get less than the average amount of attention, for the
master can have no inducement to take pains with a boy whom
he may any day see transferred to the grammar school without
recognition of his pains.

The consequence of this state of things has been, firstly, a dead Hence great
weight of preliminary ignorance to be dealt with in the lower ignorance in
classes of the grammar school; and, secondly, a degradation of the school.

* One of the governors showed me on his list applications of five years' standing,
which he had not yet heen able to satisfy. The late pupils of the school, whom I
talked to about it, specified various periods as those during which they had been kept
waiting, from five years to two. On the other hand, I heard of a pushing solicitor,
who, wishing to get three sons in at once, wrote to all the governors at once, and
immediately got five nominations, two more than he wanted.

A tradesman of the town observed to me that a man, whose wife was stay maker
to a governor's wife, could get a nomination at once. This he seemed to think
constituted a peculiar intimacy of relation.

The editor of one of the newspapers of the town told me that people often sought
nominations through him, who could not get them in any other way.

100

Birmingham Free School.

Instances.

Hence (1)
many boys
turned out ill-
equipped for
business.

(2)Very few
■well-equipped
as scholars.

State of the
lower part of
the classical
department.

private schools in the town. On the first point the evidenoo of
the masters of the school is unanimous. They complain that hoys
often come at the age of 12 or upwards knowing nothing beyond
the minimum which is requisite for admission. One day, when I
was in the school, a boy of 14, who had already been admitted,
was examined by the head-master in order to ascertain what claSS
he was fit for. He knew no Latin, spelt " wrong," " roung,^' did
not know the name of any river in England, or of any English
king but Charles I., or the capitals of Scotland, Ireland, or France,
or how much 30 pence made. He had been trained at a private
school where 65 boys were taught by only one master. This, I
was assured, was by no means an uncommon case.* The evil will
appear in a stronger light, when it is remembered that most
of the boys get no sort of education, regular or incidental, at
home, and that very few of them stay at school beyond 16. A
boy who, after waiting a year or two for a nomination, enters the
school when turned 12, with no acquired knowledge of English
grammar, and without ever having heard English correctly spoken
at home, defective also in arithmetic and penmanship, really wants
the three years, which are all that he will spend at school, to obtain
the simple elementary knowledge necessary for the business of
life. Now this, I should say, has been the ordinary case at
Birmingham, and hence two results ; on the one hand it has been
very difficult to keep up effective classes for the higher subjects,
whether in the way of classics, science, or modern languages ; on
the other hand, the mass of boys who cannot be raised to the level
of these subjects have not been getting the lower, practical educa-
tion so effectively as they might. In the classical department,
though arithmetic and writing are now adequately attended to,
yet Latin and Greek absorb the greater part of both the teaching
and the learning power. Yet the head master told me that be-
tween the highest boy of the first class and the lowest of the
second, which two classes are taught together by him, and do not
together contain more than about 25 boys, he could place six
Rugby forms. Again, it is the exception in the classical school
for a boy to rise beyond the fifth class, yet it is as much as the
best boys in this class can do painfully to make out Ovid's
Heroides and the Greek Delectus. The average age in this class
is 13|. Now as there are a certain number of sharp small boys
in it under 13, who are generally at the top, it follows that it con-
tains a quantity of boys turned 14, who are thus probably within
a year of leaving, and who, after learning little else than Latin
and Greek, do not know enough even to read an easy Latin
book to themselves in after-life. From the fifth class downwards
is to be found a mass of boys who clearly, according to the fitness
of things, ought not to be in the classical departmen't at all, but in

* Another mstance fell under my notice of a boy, 16 years old, and the son of
parents rich enough to keep a carriage, who had not even the qualification in readin*
and writing necessary for admission. His parents, expecting the school ultimately
to teach mm everytmng, had let him run idle;

Mr, Gfeen's Etipoft. 101

the English. They have entered the classical, in sotne cases, be-
cause it is rather more genteel, in others because nominations to
the classical (the pressure for them being less) are more easily ob-
tained. As it is they are struggling with Latin and Greek most
of their time, when they ought to be learning — for the simple
reason that they have not learnt to do it already, and will not
learn afterwards — to put together an ordinary English sentence.
In the English department itself there are only a few picked boys
who master the elementary subjects early enough to make any-
thing of chemistry, mathematics, or modern languages.

Such a state of things is very depressing to the masters, and
keeps back the clever or better-taught boys. The master, if he
spends himself in teaching the mass what ought not to be taught
them by him at all, has not life for " forcing" those who are really
susceptible of it, and who in turn (as some of them have told me)
find that they are not urged to do as much as they can. A head
master, who has an eye for budding talent, may of course so
sweep the school as to get the clever boys to the front, and leave
the rest to their chance. I suspect that when the school was most
distinguished at the universities, the distinction was obtained to
some extent by this method, but it is a method which few men can
be expected to have the ability, and not all the conscience, to
pursue. It would, however, be a wrong conclusion from what has
been said to advise that the school should so lower its aims, with
regard to most of its pupils, as to give them merely the elemen-
tary English education which all of them want, and many now
only inadequately obtain. The true conclusion is that this educa- Elementary
tion should be given them before they come to the school, and this, education
with a change in the nomination system, might, I believe, be the °^|. ^foyg ^°'
case. In other words, I believe that the governors of the grammar entrance.
school, if their hands were free, might set the standard of prelimi-
nary education in the town as they pleased. If they were able to
say that the privilege of free education at the grammar school
should no longer be given away as a gratuity, but as a reward for
elementary knowledge, they would soon be able to fill it with boys
from their own elementary schools, and from the private schools of
the town, who would know as much on entering it as many now
do when they leave it.

An. important step in this direction has been taken within the Competitive
last 18 months. The governors, though not entitled, or believing examination
themselves not entitled,* under the Act of 1831, to admit any sons partly intro-
of inhabitants, &c. at a fee, have been able to some extent, owing duced.
to the great pressure for entrance, to make priority of entrance
matter of competition. At the instance of the head master they

* The head master is disposed to think that under the existing scheme, if so many
boys were admitted free as the present building will accommodate, i.e., about 500, it
would be allowable, on new buildings being made, to admit at a fee any number
more. Unfortunately, as soon as any boys are adihitted at a fee, so as t6 interfere
*ith the purely charitable character of the institution, it becomes chargeable to the
local rat«S, to the probable amount, as was stated to me by one who ought to know,
of nearly 2,660/. a year.

102

Birrriingham Free School.

The system
cannot be
thoroughly
carried out
without fees.

agreed, at the beginning of 1865, to put a certain number of nomi-
nations each year into his hands. He was then, twice a year, to
hold an examination, and the boys who did best in it were to enter
the school at once. Those who failed might take their chance
another time, or wait till they could get a nomination from a
governor ia the ordinary course. The number of nominations
thus thrown open to competition for 1865 was 40; for 1866 it
will, I believe, be 80. The examination, according to a circular
issued by the head master, is arranged as follows: — If under 12,
the candidates, whether it be the classical or the English depart-
ment into which they desire admission, are examined in reading
and writing from dictation, in the outlines of English history and
elementary geography, in Latin, and in certain rules of arithmetic,
viz., the first four, simple and compound, reduction, practice, and
simple proportion. If over 12, those who are candidates for the
English school are examined also in vulgar fractions ; those who
are candidates for the classical school, in vulgar fractions and
Greek. No subject is in any special sense a " plucking " subject,
but Latin and arithmetic are made the most of.

Last summer the announcement of these nominations, to be
given by competition, brought a boy all the way from Dereham,
whom circumstances enabled to change his residence to Birming-
ham, and who was tempted by the prospect of free education.
With this exception, the boys who have been head in the compe-
tition have almost uniformly been trained at the elementary
schools on King Edward's foundation. After them have come
boys from some of the national schools of the town. Only a few
from private schools have as yet gained admission in this way.
This competition for priority of entrance, so far as it goes, — and
henceforth about half the boys admitted will be admitted in this
way, — is a departure from the old system of nomination by indi-
vidual governors, and, so far, is a remedy for the evils which
appear to have been incidental to that system. To give all their
nominations by competition would be all that the governors under
the present scheme believe themselves able to do, and this would
probably be doing a great deal to stimulate preliminary education
and raise the character of the lower classes in the school. It is
to be observed, however, that if all nominations were given in this
way, the distinction of obtaining one would proportionately fall.
The examination would, in fact, be simply an entrance examina-
tion, become competitive through the pressure for entrance.
Careless parents, though they would make better provision for
their sons' preliminary education than they do now, would still
make sure of getting him in some time, and once in he would not
be distinguished from the most carefully trained. The bad effect,
too, of the simply gratuitous system, in lowering the standard of
payment for education, and with it the character of private schools,
would still continue. It is therefore most desirable that the
governors should have power to exact an annual fee from the
ordinary boys, so as to make exemption from this the prize for a
certain number who should do best in the entrance examination.

Mr. Green's Report. 103

A plan of this kind was proposed in the report of the " School
" Reform Association " ,of the town issued last summer, and
would, I think, be acceptable to many, probably to a majority, of
the governors.

Whether it would be acceptable to the public in general is a How would
question more difficult to answer. The " School Reform Associa- proposal of
tion," which, I believe, adopted it without difficulty, represents most reived ?
of the leaders of opinion in the town. On the other hand I heard
objections to it on what may, without harshness, be called senti-
mental grounds, from quarters whence I should not have expected
it ; and one or two parents of past or present pupils of the school,
belonging to the class of lesser shopkeepers, spoke of the present
charge for books, &c. in the classical school as being quite as much
as could be borne, without addition of a fee. On such a point
conclusive evidence is not to be attained. It must be admitted,
in the first place, that, partly from long habituation to a gra-
tuitous system, partly from a feeling natural to a people keen in
business and only half convinced of the value of education, there
is some niggardliness at Birmingham in regard to payments for
education. Chemistry is taught in the upper division of the first
class in the English school, and this is a study, one would suppose,
likely to be valued as practically available. I heard, however,
from Mr. Fleay, who was acting as master of the English school
last summer, that three parents that half-year had wished to with-
draw their sons from the chemistry lesson on account of the expense
of the books and apparatus, which then cost each boy 25s. The
private schoolmasters of the town, who draw on the class of small
manufacturers and shopkeepers, are not generally able to charge
more than 4Z. a year, with a very small sum in addition for books,
&c. The cost of necessary books for a boy, who reaches the
upper classes of the classical department in the grammar school,
would probably not fall far short of this. Again, though most of
the Birmingham tradesmen, sending sons to the grammar school,
could very well affijrd lOZ. a head for them if they could adjust
such a sum to their imagination, yet there are a good many boys
in the school, and those often among the most promising — sons
of widows or of tradesmen whose prosperity has been in inverse
ratio to the size of their families — on whom such a fee could be
paid with difficulty, if at all. I heard, for instance, of a promising
boy in the first class who would have had to be withdrawn from
the school on account of the cost of books, but for the charitable
interposition of the head master. Several other cases, more or less
similar, occur to my memory at once. They were cases of this
kind, I found, that people generally had in mind when they objected
oif-hand to the abolition of gratuitous education. They regarded it
as meant to make the school more select at the expense of its univer-
sal availability. Whether this result Avould really follow or no,
would depend on the way in which the proposed new system was
worked.

I found it a very common opinion among people favourable Proposal to
both to the general exaction of fees and to the principle of entrance ^^fees^the"^"*

104

Birmingham Free School,

rule, Trith
charitable ex-
ceptions.

Evil of such
exceptions.

How the need
of them might
he avoided.

The "ele-
mentary
schools."

by competition, that if exemption from fees were made without
reservation the prize for excellence in the examination for entrance,
it would be obtained by boys whose parents could affordto pay the
most for a preliminary forcing. To be among the first in this exa-
mination, it was urged, would become an intellectual distinction.
As such, parents would desire it for their children, and desiring it,
the wealthy would have better means of obtaining it,by the purchase
of ^' cramming " power, than the poor, nor would they be too
proud to accept it because it involved gratuitous education. Thus
the poverty which gives the only true title to such education
would be the means of exclusion from it. To prevent this result
various modifications of the competitive system have been proposed.
Several persons, whose opinion was of importance, while proposing
to make the payment of a fee the rule, and free admission a
privilege to be competed for, thought that the competition for this
privilege should be restricted to boys from King Edward's elemen-
tary schools, or from schools receiving Government aid. To meet
the case of boys of gentle parentage, sons, for instance, of de-
ceased ministers, for whom such schools might be unsuitable, but
who might yet be ill able to pay a fee at the grammar school, it
was suggested that a certain number might still be admitted free
on nomination ; the nomination, however, to be given by the
governors collectively, so as to guard against the suspicion of
favouritism.

Any restriction on the competition for free entrance, such as
the above, would, I think, be undesirable on two principal grounds.
In the first place, the free admission would still retain something
of an eleemosynary character. The free boys, having gained
their freedom in virtue of a protective system, would be regarded
as an inferior caste by those who paid. This at any rate was the
uniform anticipation of those best able to judge, the young men
who had lately left the school whom I consulted on the subject
Secondly, the restricted competition would fail to do what I
believe might be done by open competition, in the way of stimu-
lating and elevating the private schools. They would still con-
tinue to maintain a struggling existence side by side with the
grammar school, instead of being insensibly affiliated to it.

The true solution of the difficulty is to be found, I believe, in
the suggestion made in an appendix to the report of the " School
" Reform Association," that the standard of the examination for
entrance to the grammar school should be adjusted to that of the
highest class in the King Edward's elementary schools. This
suggestion, indeed, pretty much represents the actual practice of
the head master in his conduct of the present competitive exami-
nation for nominations.

In the elementary schools the means are ready to hand at once
for relieving the grammar school from the duty of giving a mere
clerk's education, which is all that many who now use it want,
and for giving the poorest boys an equal chance with the richest
of obtaining that elementary knowledge on which the competitive
examination for entrance to the grammar school ought to turn.

Mr. Greenes Report. 1 05

By a clerk's education I mean the learning to read and spell cor- These may
rectly, to write a plain hand, to oast accounts quickly, to compose prepare poor
grammatically an ordinary English sentence, and to know some- quatefy both
thing of the map of England and (perhaps) the world. This for proposed
really is all that is meant by a " practical " or " commercial " entrance ex-
education. It is all that a young man wants to qualify him for foj. tuainess.
any ordinary office in the way of commerce or manufacture, and
it is all that he goes to a " commercial academy " to learn. In
special manufactures he may want some elementary knowledge of
chemistry or mechanics, but this he can commonly learn best in
the business ; the knowledge of a modem language may sometimes
be turned to account, but is seldom necessary ; a small know-
ledge of Latin words and declensions is necessary for a druggist,
and the faculty of making out an easy piece of a Latin author for
one who aspires to pass the "preliminary legal" examination.
These, however, are exceptional cases. The ordinary " commer-
cial " education means simply what I have specified above, and
this, I believe, may be and is adequately given at Birmingham by
the King Edward's elementary schools.

To satisfy myself on this point, I spent some time in one of the Evidence of
elementary schools, that in the Parade, which is the only one that *^^^-
has hitherto done much towards feeding the grammar school. I
should say without hesitation that the first class here, consisting
of about 30 boys, knew more all round than the six best boys in
any commercial academy that I visited. I heard them do lessons
in "mental " (i.e., oral) arithmetic, in history and geography, in
English grammar, and in Latin. Their mental arithmetic was
excellent. They could do sums in fractions and decimals, in pro-
portion and in practice, without slates or paper, with wonderful
exactness and celerity. The outlines of English history and
general geography they all seemed to know very well. In the
analysis of English sentences there was more diiFerence. All
knew the rules well enough, but two or three were much quicker
than the rest in applying them to complicated cases. Their hand-
writing seemed generally good. Now, here were 30 boys, of
whom only five were turned 13 (15 of the rest being betweeu 12
and 13, 10 between 12 and 11), who to the best of my judgment
had already acquired all the elementary knowledge necessary for
a clerk.* They might, without losing any of their qualifications
in this respect, if their parents did not insist on utilizing them at
once for business, be transferred to a school which should give
them the chance of developing a taste for science, or literature, or
even classical learning. A school which was supplied regularly
with boys of 12 years old, knowing as much as these boys knew,
though it might not turn out just the type of scholar now sent
forth from the foundations of Eton and Winchester, would not

' Of three boys transferred from this school to the grammar school at the last
competitive examination for entrance previous to my vigit, one had beei}. placed in
the third, one in the fourth, and one in the fifth class of the English department.
This means that the lowest of them was placed at least half-way up this department.

106

Birmingham Free School.

EeUef of
grammai'
school to be
obtained thus.

Steps already
taken in this
direction.

Latin now
taught at one
elementary
school.

Effect of this.

fail to produce plenty of men of the sort who now get first classes
at Oxford, and become wranglers at Cambridge. The elementary
subjects being adequately mastered to begin with, little time would
suffice for keeping them up, and the school might devote itself to
the higher subjects without being open to the accusation that it
turned out a great many bad clerks and accountants for the sake
of turning out a very few good scholars. Such an accusation
must inevitably have a certain amount of truth at present, for
however careful the arrangements may be for teaching arithmetic
and writing, these subjects are sure to flourish more (supposing
the teacher to be competent) where, as in the "commercial
" academies," they are taught almost alone, than where they are
only the second or third thing in the master's, and hence in the
scholar's, mind.

As a step towards making this elementary school act as a
regular feeder to the grammar school, the head master (who has
the supervision of the elementary school) has had Latin introduced
into the first class. He will probably seek for authority to do
the same in the other elementary schools as opportunity offers.
If the grammar school is to act as an avenue to the universities,
it is very desirable that boys who enter it at about the age of 12
should already know something of Latin. Whatever importance,
therefore, might be attached to elementary " English " subjects
in the entrance examination, Latin would naturally hold a con-
siderable place in it. It follows that if boys from the elementary
schools are to attain the front rank in this examination, and with
it the privilege of free education, in open competition, some
amount of Latin must be introduced into the first classes of these
schools. In the Parade school it was being taught last autumn to
about 30 boys, of whom, judging from the experience of last year,
not more than a quarter could be expected to go on to the gram-
mar school. It is taught to a great extent orally by the master,
who applies very effectively to the Latin lesson the method which
the boys have learnt to employ in the analysis of Enghsh
sentences. It seemed that in this way the boys escaped the
hopeless mystification as to the nominative and accusative cases,
under which beginners in Latin generally labour. In virtue of
the same method the master is able to shorten the time given to
English grammar and analysis, and it is by this curtailment chiefly
that time is found for the Latin. I understood that only one or
two parents had objected to the introduction of the new subject,
and the master finds that though the Latin lesson is apt to be less
well learnt than others out of school, it is very popular in school.

The question naturally arises whether this "modicum" of
Latin can be taught to the first class in the elementary schools
for the benefit of the small proportion of the boys who go on to
the grammar school without injustice to the majority, and without
gradually drawing into the elementary schools a higher class of
boys than that which now uses them. As to the injustice, it
must be admitted that it is no positive benefit to boys, who will
forget them in six months, to learn the Latin declensions and

Mr. Green's Report, 107

conjugations. At tlie same time it must be remembered that, as
it is, the Latin lesson is made to a great extent a general gram-
mar lesson. Supposing the better boys to give two hours a week
to Latin for a year under a master who would make it interesting,
as a good trained master can, by the oral method, and turn the
previous drill in English grammar to account, they might at
least learn to unravel a simple Latin sentence, which would be a
great step to begin with in the grammar school.* Now of these
two hours, one at least may be taken as saved from the English
grammar, which would have 'Otherwise to be taught during it.
The remaining one hour a vreek is no great amount for the
average boy to waste, if it be wasted, for the sake of opening the
higher learning to his more capable brother. That a rather
higher class should be drawn to the elementary schools than at
present use them is, I think, desirable. The boys at the Parade
school, as it is, are rather of a higher grade than those at the
other three, owing, perhaps, to its situation in rather a better part
of the town. Most of them are sons of small tradesmen or small
manufacturers, (jewellers, for instance,") only a few of parents
earning weekly wages. As this school is, or even a little higher,
I should think all the elementary schools might with advantage
become. They ought at least to occupy a position definitely Desirable as
above the schools receiving Government aid. They ought to be tending to raise
able to offer aspiring boys from these schools a definitely higher gchoolTaboTe^
education. Now these schools, as it is, are used largely by the the rank of
smaller tradesmen. Several boys go from them to the grammar JJ'°5« ™'^«'"
school, and I can recal the case of one of the most promising boys in °''^«™™«'' •
the first class of the classical department, who stayed at a National
school till he was 11. f At a school (under Government inspec-
tion) connected with Mr. G. Dawson's congregation, the boys in
the first class pay 9rf. cr Is. a week, and several of them learn
Euclid, and read Telemaque in French. There is an interval,
however, to be filled between such schools and the grammar school,
the grammar school, i.e., as it ought to be, and the King Edward's
elementary schools ought to fill it. Let them by all means
receive as many sons of small tradesmen or mechanics as they can,
but only on the understanding that they are to have an education
distinctly above the level of a National school.

A rise in the standard of education in the elementary schools More oatlay
would involve a greater outlay on teaching power. As it is, I required on
doubt whether they are adequately supplied in this respect. The sciiooL"^
staff in each boys' school consists of a master (at 150Z. a year),
an assistant, at 45Z. a year, and a pupil-teacher. For teaching
nearly 150 boys, considering the age and attainments of many of
them, one additional hand at least is wanted. The master at the

* At present, as -will be seen from the returns, three honrs a week are given to
Latin, one and a half to English grammar, in the Parade (or Edward Street) school.

I The case of this boy was remarkable, though not at all uncommon. He entered
the grammar sehool at 11, and knowing no Latin was placed at the bottom of the
classical department. His good preliminary training enabled him to rise so rapidly,
that in four years he had traversed nine classes,, and ■was within about 15 of the top
of the school.

a. c. 3. K

108-

Birmngham Free School.

Shoald fees be
charged in
them?

or entrance to
them be com-
petitive ?

Parade school told me that though he could conduct a class of 80 ■
boys in arithmetic, in other subjects 40 was as many as he could
manage. I should think, from what I saw, that in such a lesson
as English grammar, and still more in Latin, a greater subdivision'
was desirable.' Again, the salary of the master, as no provision
is made for his retirement, seems scarcely sufficient, especially if
in time to come he is to be expected to teach Latin. ^ I know of
one master of a school receiving Government aid in Birmingham,
whose income is considerably la,rger. 45 Z. a year, as I was told
by the master in the Parade, is not enough to attra;ct an assistant
worth having. The only chance of filling the situation satisfacV
torily is to retain an old pupil in it. On the whole, if the elemen-
tary schools are to act as feeders to the grammar school, I should'
say that an additional expenditure of 100?. or 150Z. a year on each:
would be necessary.* '
' This suggests the question of the desirability of exacting fees
from the scholars in these schools. At present any parent can
gain admission for his child to them, as soon as there is room for
him, without the payment of any fee. Among people very anxious
to do away with simply gratuitous education at the grammar
school, I found an impression that the time had not come for
abolishing it at the elementary schools. I failed, however, to.
arrive at any definite result on this point. The master of the
Parade school thought that a small fee would not be objected to,
but that 2Z. ayear would be the maximum. \l. a year would
sufl&ce to cover the additional outlay suggested above.

It has been proposed here again to apply the competitive systerii,
sd that while a small fee should be paid as a rule, free admission
should be given to the best boys from the schools in the. town
under Government inspection. In this way a regular ascent'
might be possible for the promising son of a mechanic from the
^National or British school to the grammar school, and from it to
the University. The chief objections which I heard to such a
plan were, first, that though in exceptional cases a boy might be
able to turn to account the opportunities of higher education thus
afforded him, yet generally a double change of school, in a space
perhaps of two or three years, would be bad for a boy ; secondly,
that the character of the National or British schools would be
lowered by the regular loss of their best boys as soon as they came
to the front, and that thus an jnjury would be done to their
masters. The injury would be greater if they were Dissenters,
as they could not then hope to get masterships on King Edward's,
foundation. It is of some significance that the master of one of
the best of these schools, who made the last objection to me, added
that if the change, which lowered the standard of his school, were
part of a scheme which made free entrance to the grammar school
a privilege to be gained by competition, he should at once abandon
his school, and make a much larger income by preparing boys for
the entrance examination.

* This is irrespective of the department for girls.

Mr. Green's Report. 109

. Whether the above plan were carried- out or no, picked boys Proposed
from the National and British schools might be sure of winning notbeexdusive
their- fair share of free admissions to the grammar school in the of any class,
ftipst unrestricted competition, if the line of examination already
adopted is continued or extended. The apprehension that as the
Standard of the school rises it will gradually be modified, so ais to
be more like the examination for entrance to the foundations at
Eton and Winchester, is, I think, unfounded. Any .head-master
would see that a school, situate in a noisy street in the middle' of
a smoky town, can never hope to draw largely on the '' genteel^'
dasses. His chance of working it with distinction depeiids
^peaking generally) on his success in getting the cream of the
boys whose parents, as a class, want a mercantile' educaition for
them, and in stimulating them to seek the " higher culture." To
do this he must take, as his test of promise, proficiency in th^
recognized elements of a mercantile education. Of what may be
e;xpected from the better National school-boys in an examination
in" these elements, a sufficient sign is afforded by the results of the
'■ BirminghaBi prize education scheme." The managers of this •'<'-,"•

scheme offer special prizes to , boys educated in schools under
Government inspection in the following subjects : arithmetic,
ordinary and "mental," English history, geography, dictation,
letter-writing, and English grammar. Now these are just the
subjects which, with the addition of Latin, constitute for boys
tmder 12 the programme of the competitive examination for
priority of entrance instituted by the present head master. Under
the prize scheme at the examination last preceding my visit to
Birmingham, five boys under 12 got special prizes for ordinary
arithmetic, six for mental arithmetic, three for geography, six for
dictation, two for English history, one for letter-writing, one for
grammar. Having seen the examination papers, I am convinced
that these prize boys, even without the knowledge of Latin, of
which they might probably learn a little in extra hours, would be
quite sure of getting admission to the grammar school by compe-
tition according to the present system, and that on any new
system which gave 20 per cent, of the admissions free, making
payment the rule, supposing the entrance examination to remain
the same in principle, they would have a good chance of gaining
their freedom. The real difficulty would be to tempt the parents
of such boys to consent to the continuance of their education after
they had learnt everything necessary for practical purposes, and
had become available. for earning money.

Enough has probably been said to show that with the existing Desirable to
appliances for preliminary education, boys of the poorer "middle extend number
class " might hold their own in any well-managed system of com- "5^00^*°**'^
petition for free entrance to the grammar school. The grammar
school might make a wider -sweep of thei best boys of this class by
increasing the number of its affiliated schools. The four that now
exist are all, I think, within a radius of a mile from the Exchange,
which is the practical centre of the town. The class of small
shopkeepers is very strong in many of the suburbs, and three or
four more elementary schools might be established in these, e.g.,

E 2

1 10 Birmingham Fi-ee School.

at Aston, on the Coventry and Moseley roads, or even at Smeth-
wick, with great advantage, and perhaps with a prospect of
drawing more hoys likely to go on to the grammar school than are
attracted by those in the centre of the town. The wants of
the middle class in these suburbs are very inadequately sup-
plied by private schools. This is indicated by the success of
the Bridge-trust school at Handsworth, which on being esta-
blished in a region where there had only been one or two struggling
private schools before, though it charges a fee of 4?. a year, at
once drew 100 boys, and within a year rose to 150.

Such suburban affihated schools would naturally tend to take
a higher standard than the existing elementary schools. They
would do so for two reasons ; firstly, because the suburbs are
better provided with schools for the poor than the old parts of the
town, which the rich have deserted ; secondly, because the shop-
keepers, who reside in them, are on the whole a higher class.
These schools would in fact be parallel, in respect of the boys
who would attend them, to the existing commercial academies.
Relation of the This brings me to the general question of the relation of the
grammarschool grammar school to private schools. Here two facts deserve special
schooir'^^*^ attention. (1.) The more educated class of parents using the
grammar school, who naturally do not like (supposing them to be
able) to send them to it very young, feel a want of adequate pre-
paratory schools for them. There are several ladles, chiefly about
Edgbaston, who keep schools for little boys, and the masters of
the grammar school assured me that, with the exception of the
boys from the King Edward's elementary schools, those prepared
by these ladies were generally the best prepared. This, however,
does not satisfy the want, for a boy outgrows a lady's school
before a sensitive parent would think him old enough to be
knocked about at the grammar school. (2.) The number of boys
attending schools of any kind, public or private, professing to be
of the "middle" kind, in Birmingham and its suburbs, seems
much smaller than it ought to be. The population of the borough
of Birmingham and the contiguous parishes was, I believe, in 1861
365,742, having grown to this from 273,328 since 1851. Pro-
bably It might fairly be reckoned at 400,000 in 1865. Now, so
far as my experience has gone, even with the present low standard
of middle education, 6 in 1,000 is a fair proportion to expect to
be in attendance at middle schools. There ought, accordingly, to
be 2,400 at such schools in the above district. I cannot, however,
account for anything like the number. The grammar school, with
its branches, will account for 1,000 ; the Edgbaston proprietary
.school and the Bridge-trust school at Handsworth * for another
300.^ With regard to the private schools, I could not succeed in
•getting precise information, but I do not think they will account
for more than another 400. This gives a total of 1,700 as against
the expected 2,400.f

» A good many of the hoys at Handsworth come from West Bromwich and other
places outside the district -which I am considerins
t See Note A. ®'

Mr. GreerHs Report. Ill

Two inferences, It would seem, may safely be drawn from these Bad effect on
facts. The existing private schools, on the one hand, are not of a ihem at present,
kind to suit parents whose requirements are at all high, and on
the other they fail to get any sufficient hold of boys of the lower
middle class. Here, then, is a gap for the grammar school, so far
as its funds allow, to fill. It may naturally be objected that the
demand, if a real one, will attract its own supply ; that the educa-
tional want, if it is really felt, will be satisfied by private enter-
prize. The answer to this is, firstly, that with people so ill
educated as small tradesmen and manufacturers commonly are,
the supply of education must precede and create the demand ;
secondly, that at Birmingham the grammar schoolj as hitherto
rnanaged, has tended to prevent the required supply being fur-
nished by private enterprize. A private schoolmaster at Birming-
ham has at present three principal difiiculties to contend with:

(1) the competition of cheap boarding-schools in agreeable localities ;

(2) the impossibility of making his terms high enough to do his
work really well ; (3) the premature and irregular departure of
his pupils. With the second and third of these difficulties the
grammar school has a good deal to do. It is true that the terms
of the private schools at Birmingham, varying from 4Z. to 6?. a
year, are not lower than those which I found common elsewhere,
but in the " midland metropolis " one would expect them to be
higher than in country towns. At any rate one would expect to
find certain private schools of a higher kind, such as that kept
by Mr. Langley at Wolverhampton, charging 10/. or 121. a year
for day-boys. I am not aware of any such school in Birmingham
or in its suburbs, nor of private day-schools can I recall more than
two that ever send in for University local examinations, and these
two only send in at considerable intervals.* The simple explana-
tion of this low standard is that a private school cannot hold up its
head against the competition of a rich grammar school which is
really in good repute, and gives its education for nothing. A
father will neither pay much for his son's education, when he
knows that his neighbours are paying nothing at all, nor, in a
general way, will he keep him at the school where he has to pay,
after he gets a chance of sending him where he will not. Hence
the complaint heard everywhere from private schoolmasters, that
they lose their boys as soon as they begin to make something of
them, is heard with special frequency at Birmingham.

No one would complain, on general grounds, of boys being I* niiglit insen-
transferred from the private schools to the grammar schools. On ^^^ '***
the contrary, it is the best thing that can happen to them. The
evil is, that so long as the transfer is made in the present irregular
and unrecognized manner, it lowers the private school without
bringing any countervailing credit to it or benefit to the grammar
school. If, on the other hand, the transfer were only made as the
result of a public examination, held at regular intervals which
should exclude all but those who know as much as a well-taught

* See Appendix on Private schools at Birmingham.

112 Eirminrihain Free Sch'ool.

, ^ , . boy; of 11 or 12. years old ought to know, and should gain for those
, \ \yho excel in it free education as an exceptional privilege, then,

instead of being injurious to the private schools, it would offer them
a definite distinction to aim at. It was not to all the private
schoolmasters that I could bring the possibility of such an altered
system sufficiently home, to ascertain how far they would acquiesce
in it. It has already been introduced imperfectly by the com-
petitive examination for priority of entrance, and I found one
school for small boys — very good of its kind — at Sutton- Cold-
field, of ■vyhich the master was distinctly laying himself out to
prejp.are for this examination. Others were evidently disposed, tp
do the same as soon. as the examination should have attained a
certain amount of recognized dignity. Others, again, spoke with
contempt of the commercial education afforded by the grammar
school— a contempt, as I generally found, applicable to a past
condition, of the English department — aijd considered that undey
any system they would maintain a rivalry with it. Some of these
■\Y0uld probably find it more for their interest, if the system above
indicated were carried out, to acquiesce in the position of prepaci-
tory schools. Others would, no doubt, still have an independent
work to do, especially in the discipline of dull, idle, or backward
boys, and these would have reason to be thankful for a change
which, by preventing the education of such boys for nothing at
the grammar school, would raise the price of it in the private
school.
Any need of •■:; '^^^ change in the character of the private schools, which might
preparatory thus be expected to follow from the proposed change in the mode
schools distinct pf entrance to the grammar school, would go far to supply the
lary ones ? want of good preparatory schools now felt by the more educated
class. Tliis is to be borne in , mind in considering schemes, th^
have been suggested for the establishment of a preparatory school
out of the funds of the grammar school. These schemes may
virtually be reduced to two, one for establishing a separate j pre-
paratory department in the same situation as the present, school;
another for establishing several smaller preparatory schools in the
suburbs. The first of these is favoured by the head master, though
I do not know that he would be opposed to the other. He her
lieves that it would be possible, by building at one end of the
present play-ground, to accommodate 500 more boys, at a cost of
about 6,000/, He believes that a large increase in the numberspf
- - ■ the school is desirable, with a view to creating a more effective

competition towards the top. The governors have also had a plan
under consideration for building on the present site with the same
object, but at a much larger cost. With regard to any such
scheme it is to be considered whether it is desirable (1) to burd^
the head master with the supervision of more boys than he alrefidy
has under him ; and (2) to bring the little boys into the middle of
the town. _ On the first point the present head master will forgive
.me for saying that, great as his energy is, he has already quite as
much on his hands, in the way of general management, as is
consistent with the retention of the freshness necessary for the

. Mr. Green's Report. 113

leffective teaching of the first class. On the second, it must be •■,:

remembered that most of the boys for whom such a school would ■: '

be wantedj supposing the elementary schools to do their work
properly, are of the class that resides in the suburbs. The little
boys would, many of them, be unable to go home between morn-
ing and afternoon schools, and would, in consequence, have to
iaog about the streets and get dinner at cook-shops. - ■

1 As to the establishment of a special preparatory school (ot This need would
schools) in the suburbs, my own notion would be that the estal- mettypmate
-blishment of suburban schools, on the plan of the present elementary enterprise,
ones, ougbt to take precedence of it. The latter would supply a
want not likely otherwise to be supplied, while the work of the
preparatory school, as soon as admission to the grammar school
was made something of a distinction, would, I should expect, be
largely done by private establishments, which would find their
account in doing it well. It was suggested to me by a private
schoolmaster that- the grammar school might, with- ad vantage, sub-
sidize private schools that should be found to act effectively as
preparatory to it. The suggestion was significant in several
ways ; but such schools, I think, if they did their work well, sup-
posing the gratuitous system at the grammar school to be abolished,
would find themselves suflSciently subsidized by parents. If the
governors determined to establish a suburban preparatory school,
their unoccupied land at Lady- wood would give them an excellent
site.

One other suggestion with regard to the admission of scholars Three stan-
remains to be noticed. In an appendix to the report of the local dards of admis-
" School-reform Association " it is proposed that there should be
-two standards of admission, one for boys between 10 and 12,
another for boys over 12. A distinction of the same sort is made
in the head master's programme for the competitive entrance-
examination. It has been thought by some that it might be
'desirable to have a third entrance-examination for boys above M
or 15, and that some of those who excelled in it should be admitted
free, though residing beyond the limits of the coUtigUous parishes,
f within a radiua (say) of 10 miles. The object of this would be Why?
to constitute a sort of affiliation of the neighbouring grammar
schools at Solihull, Sutton-Coldfield, Yardley (Hall-Grreen), and
Walsall,. and of the Bridge- Trust school at Handsworth, to the
Birmingham grammar school. None of these schools have exhi-
bitions, except an insignificant one at "Walsall, and they hafdly
ever keep a boy beyond 16. They are thus scarcely able to give' "
any one disposed to stay longer an effective education for the Uni-
versity* The Birmingham grammar school, which is quite avail-
able as a day-school, by use of the railway, for a resident at any
of tbese places, might add the requisite supplement and furnish a
passage to the Universities. For this purpose, however, a change
would have to be made in the local restriction on eligibility to ex-
hibitions imposed by the scheme of 1831.

According to this, a candidate for an exhibition, resident in the Change of local
parisjiy'is, if qualified, to have a preference. The qnaUficntion is regSd'toe^-

114

Birmingham Free School.

Wtions neces-
sary.

General result
of proposed
changes.

understood to be fitness to pass his examinations at the IJniversitj
As has been already stated, the parish is not conterniinous with
the borough. According to the census of '61 it contains 212,621
inhabitants, as against 296,076 in the borough. Another 64,000
may be added for the population of the adjacent parishes, entitled
to send boys freely to the grammar school. The whole number
of boys in the school, therefore, should be to those having a pre-
ferential title to exhibitions as about 5 to 3. Really, owing to
the gravitation of the respectable classes away from the centre of
the town, the proportion is a good deal larger. At the examina-
tion last Midsummer of five candidates for exhibitions, only one
was resident in the parish. He was decidedly the worst of the
lot, but being qualified was necessarily elected.

Among distinguished ^fay-scholars, genuine Birmingham boya,
whom the present rule has excluded from exhibitions, may be
mentioned the present Professor Lightfoot, of Cambridge, and
Mr. Humphrys, who has just got one of the Chancellor's medals
at Cambridge. A few years ago the son of a widow at Hands-
worth, in order to qualify himself for an exhibition, took a lodging
at considerable expense and inconvenience within the parish, at
which he used to sleep. The governors have since made an ordi-
nance requiring three years bona fide residence of the parents
within the parish, in order to constitute a qualification.

The removal of this restriction in favour of the parish is uni-
versally desired ; but in order to give efifect to the plan mentioned
above, it would be necessary to deal further with the secondary
preference of inhabitants of contiguous parishes, and substitute
for it a preference of residents within ten miles. Such a change
might provoke some opposition, which, however, might be pro-
pitiated by the foundation, when the school funds allow it, of an
additional exhibition. The proposed affiliation would be sure to
draw good material to the school, and is the more natural, as all
the grammar schools mentioned, except that at Walsall, are in
places which are, or are becoming, respectable suburbs of Bir-
mingham. I have before my mind one boy in particular at Sutton-
Coldfield, whom his father told me he should certainly send to
Birmingham if he were eligible for an exhibition, and who, accord-
ing to his present promise, is likely to gain distinction at the
University. At Handsworth I heard of another case of the same
kind, but had not an opportunity of becoming acquainted with
the boy in question.

The general effect of the scheme above delineated, which in its
main features, even when I have not so presented it, expresses the
opinions of people of importance in connexion either with the
town or with the school, would be to make the present grammar
school a central high school, having affiliated branches. Supposing
it to be carried out, a parent proposing to send a son to the
grammar school, would be situated as follows. He would in the
first place be relieved from all the annoyance of seeking for a nomi-
nation, and from the uncertainty as to when it would be obtained.
He would know that at a certain time, without asking any one's

Mr. GreerHs Report. 115

favour, he would have to present his son for examination, for which
the elementary schools, perhaps at a trifling fee, if he chose to
avail himself of them, would furnish an adequate preparation.
If the son found himself among the first quarter, or so, at the
examination, ho would be admitted free. If he failed to reach this
position, but still passed, his father would have to consider whether
he should enter the grammar school at a fee, or take another year
or two of education at the elementary school, so as perfectly to fit
himself for a merchant's or manufacturer's office. Supposing him
not to succeed in passing, and to be too old to try again, this would
of itself be an indication that he was the sort of boy for whom
continued education at the elementary schools, or (if he were in a
better social position) at a private academy, would be more suitable
than an effiart after classical or scientific accomplishment at the
grammar school.

After using my best endeavours, I was unable to hear of any They would not
cases in which such an arrangement would act as a real hardship, involve hard-
There are, it is true, at Birmingham, over and above the class ^ 'P*"^"^""®"
of small shopkeepers to be found everywhere, a large number of
people who might be reckoned either among the " working " or the
" middle " class, according to the definition taken of each class.*
According to the Government " Reform Statistics," they would be
reckoned " workmen," for they work with their own hands, having
commonly an apprentice and a journeyman or two under them.
Many of these people who now send sons to the English depart-
ment of the grammar school would probably be prevented from
doing so by any considerable fee. I recall the case of a young
man, for some time head of the English department, and who had
clearly derived a good deal of real culture from it ; whose father,
a brass founder in a small way, sent another son to a school where
he only paid about a shilling a week. This may be taken to
represent the father's natural standard of payment. A higher fee,
charged at the grammar school, would have prevented him from
sending his son to it, which would undoubtedly have been a very
great loss. It is noticeable, however, that the son whom he did
send had been previously educated at one of the elementary
schools, to which he chiefly ascribes his success at the grammar
school, and would have been quite sure to win his freedom in a
competitive examination on the system indicated above. If he
had not had the ability to do so, it would have been no hardship) to
him to continue at the elementary school. On the whole I found
that although my suggestion of the propriety of paying fees, in
conversation with late pupils of the school, was generally met at
first by the objection that it would exclude a great number, yet it
afterwards appeared that those among the number whose exclusion
would be undesirable, would be sure to obtain free admission by
competition, and that the rest, being of the class called by their

* These people work chiefly as hrass founders or "jewellers." Statistics with
regard to them will be found in a paper on the trades of Birmingham, read at the
last meeting of the British Association, and published in the association's report.

116

Birminrjlunn Free School.

What should be
the amount of
the fee ?

Fee should be
the same for
both depart-
ments.

schoolfellows "roughs," would be better at the (improved and
extended) elementary schools. The other objection which I heard
from, the sarae quarter, that if freedom were exceptional free boys
would be despised, though it would be valid if the freedom were
eleemosynary, would not apply if the freedom were made the
reward of intellectual merit. To admit it would be to contradict
all the experience derived from similar systems elsewhere.

As to ihe proper amount of the fee, i venture to think that the
" School-reform Association," was idisposed to place it too high.
They propose to fix it at half the cost of education of each boy.
By reckoning under the cost of education the money spent on
payment of exhibitioners, the management of the estate, secretary^
salary, &c., they: make this cost about 2<dl. a year. The fee
accordingly would be 10?. a year. They are in favour, moreover,
of making the fee for the English department loss than that foj:
the classical, on the principle that education in it costs less.

A fee of lOZ. a year would, I think, effect a much larger
exclusion than is desirable. There is no private school in the town,
so far as I know, which at present charges more than 6Z., and the
case of the Edgbaston school is not in point. It has no endow-
ment, is situate in a genteel suburb, and is meant to be more select
than the grammar school, if it is to be in any large measure fed
by the elementary schools, can ever hope to be. The selectness
of the grammar school ought to be of a different kind, a select-
ness secured not solely by the fee, but also by the standard of the
entrance examination, which from its relation to its own elementary
schools it has peculiar facilities for keeping up. I should think
the fee commonly charged by the private schools, i.e. from 4?. to
6/. a year, would for the present be enough. 4Z. a year is the fee
at the Bridge-trust school at Handsworth, which succeeds
admirably. %l. a year on each boy would in fact cover nearly half
the sum spent on actual teaching power at the grammar school..

The head master objects to the plan of making ■ a difference
between the fees payable in the classical and English departments
as tending to lower the position of the latter. At present, so far
as I could make out from boys who had lately left, there is a
certain amount of caste separation between the boys of the two
departments which a difference of payment would tend to fix and
perpetuate. It would also tend to commit the governors to the
maintenance of the present division into departments, which as I
shall afterwards point out, is or may become of questionable
utility, nor is the doctrine that the fee should be proportionate to
the cost of education one which it is desirable to press. According
to strict economical principles it ought doubtless to be soj but
educational endowments are inconsistent with strict economical
principles altogether. They in fact act as bribes to parents to seek
a higher education for their children than they otherwise would,
nor, m a place where the temptation to put boys to business
early, and the aversion to the "higher culture " as impractical, are

•ong, can this bribery be better bestowed than in inducing parents

prefer the " classical " to the « English " education for their sons

stroni
to

; Mr. Gveen.s>~Rfi1('rU 117

by offering them the more costly educ^lional article S,t, the same
price as the less.: ; ,

; ;0f the. money gained by the exaction of fees, the greater part Future disposal
might with advantage be spent within the grammar school on °f income,
increasing the number and pay of the hiasters, on founding scholar- ; .

ships tenable sit thet school^ and perhaps on . founding new, or
increasing the yalue of the present, exhibitions. Whatever arises
;fr©m the natural increase in the value of the school property may
then be -Bp^nt oa the extension of the elementary schools. This
increase will in all probability be rapid and large, It will depend
.partly on the letting for building purposes of the, vacant land
beldnging to the school at Ladywood.. The letting of this can only
be a question of a few yearsj Within 10 years the annual income
,^,f the school, which is already 13,000/., may fairly be expected to
have reached 20,000Z., with a prospect of continuous increase after-
wards, as leases fall in. The cost of the improvement in the
.existing elementary schools, which I have spoken of as desirable,
.might be covered by the exaction of a yearly fee of 1/. from each,
pupil. This being off their hands, I, do not see why the governors
should not at once set about building four additional elementary
schools. The yearly cost of the existing four for girls as well as
;boys is, I believe, about 2,800Z. , By the time the new ones were
builti the governors might expect, I should think, to have this
additional amount of yearly income at command. If not, they
might begin with admitting boys only, though (as I shall explain
elsewhere) -it- would be most desirable, as soon as possible, to
:supply additional accommodation for girls. On all points connect^
with finance, however, I speak with special deference to the
judgment of the governors.

In concluding what I have to say on this part of my subject, I
will observe once again tha,t the changes in the existing, system , j_

which I have suggested, and which in substance would, I believe
be acceptable to many or most of the governors, can only be
carried, out as a whole by a new scheme, and that to carry such, a
scheme through Parliament will scarcely be possible without some
concession to the town as to the i constitution of the governing
board. As the governors, I am convinced, have a single eye to the
welfare of the school, I should not be surprised to hear that some
such concession was under consideration by them.

(B.) In regard to the internal working of the school, the first Dmsioninto
thing to notice is the division into two departments, the " classical " departments,
and the " English," in which the curriculum of instruction is wholly
different, and which are not taught together on any single subject.
The Act of 1831 provided for the building of two new schools, one
to be classical, the other to teach " the modern .languages, arts,
and sciences." These were to . be in different situations. The Its origin,
former was to be built on the old grammar school site, the latter
in Peck Lane. The classical school — the existing structure — was
built first, and was so costly that when it was finished there was no
;nioney to build a commercial school on a different site ; accordingly,
;in virtue of an Act of 18.37, it was arranged that the commercial

1 1 8 Blrmingliam Free School.

school should be held in the same building as the other. ^ The room
originally intended for a library was devoted to it, and in this, ever
since its establishment in the following year (1838), it has continued
to be held.
And history. J'or some time the English department continued to hold quite a

secondary position. According to the scheme of 1838, a master
was appointed to teach it at a salary of 250Z. a year, to whom an
assistant was assigned. For some time these two masters had the
sole teaching of it. Its position gradually improved, but no con-
siderable change was made till 1860, when by an ordinance of the
governors it was arranged that the second-master of the school, who
had formerly been engaged in the classical department, and whose
income is over 5507. a year, in addition to a house and liberty to
take 12 boarders, should have the management of the English
department. The second-master who first undertook this charge
wa& Mr. Neville Hutchinson, now teacher of chemistry at Rugby,
and under him, according to all accounts, this department made a
great start. Now, except so far as the instructions of the head
master are given solely to the classical school, the two are nearly
on a level in respect of teaching power. Of 10 ordinary under
masters, six work under the head master in the classical, four
under the second master in the English school. Of the work of one
German, two French, four arithmetic and writing masters, the
English school gets its full share. The mathematical master now
confines himself to the classical school. The number of boys in
the two schools is about equal, but nominations for the English
department are in by far the larger request. The proportion
between applications for them and applications for admission to
the classical department was stated by some of the governors to
be as two to one, by others to be as four to one.
Functions of Of the several functions of these two departments, the best
each. generalnotion may be given by saying that on the whole the classical

department has set itself to teach classics, with a supplement
of mathematics, and little else ; that the English department sets
itself to give a boy a clerk's education, with the addition of some
knowledge of Latin, and (supposing him to complete the
course) of English literature and history, French and German,
mathematics and chemistry. A boy of ability, who went througii
the classical school, would be as thoroughly qualified, except in
mathematics, for Oxford or Cambridge as school could make him.
One who stayed in the English department till 16, and spent the
last two years in the first class, would probably have learnt enough
Latin to make out 30 or 40 lines of Virgil in an hour, would have
gone some way in trigonometry, would havegot up four or five plays
of Shakspeare well, would know the outline of English history,
and enough French or German (not generally bothf to read an
ordinary book or write an ordinary letter, would have had a good deal
of practice in writing English, and have learnt enough cliemistry
at least to be very much interested in the subject. As preliminary
to this, it would have been his own fault if he had not learnt all
that a clerk needs to learn, except book-keeping, thouo-h very

.Mr. Greenes Report. 119

likely during his last two years at school he would have lost some
of his readiness at accounts and spoilt his handwriting. It must
be remembered, moreover, that the above account only applies to
just the cream of the boys, and that in respect of the English
sclioblit represents a state of things that has obtained only during
the last three or four years, and has scarcely yet found its way
into popular appreciation in the town.

Between the classes of boys severally using the two departments Kind of boys
It is difficult to draw a more definite distinction than that the '^sing each,
classical boys are on the whole more " genteel." The more
wealthy merchants and manufacturers, those, at least, whose wealth
is of longer standing, generally send their sons to boarding schools.
If they sent them to a day school, it would be most likely to the
Edgbaston proprietary school, especially in case they were Dissen-
ters. The professional men of the town, on the other hand, generally
make use of the grammar school. The medical men, from the
nature • of their calling, are still unlikely to withdraw to the
suburbs, and I was told by one who ought to know that probably
four-fifths of them had themselves been educated at the grammar
sehool. These naturally send their sons to it. The clergy and
dissenting ministers, and to a considerable extent the solicitors, do
the same. The professional class, then, may be reckoned tlie first
element in the constituency of the classical school. I do not
suppose that any one belonging to it ever sent a son to the other
department.* Any one, again, who had been much in contact
with educated people, or who believed his son to have what is
called '• a turn for books," would prefer the classical department.
Others, again, would select it from a vague notion of its being
higher in social estimation ; otliers, lastly, would accept a nomina-
tion to it, simply because it can more quickly be obtained. Any
one who distinctly meant to put his son to some business at or
before the age of 16, would naturally send him to the English
school, though he might take the other as an alternative. As a
matter of fact many boys do leave the classical department for
business under 16, as will be seen from the returns.

The distinction of departments, then, does not correspond to
that between the " classical " and " modern " departments at such
schools as Cheltenham or Marlborough, where the " modern "
prepares specially for Woolwich, or the civil service, or civil en-
gineering. It represents a distinction of social circumstances as
much as or more than a distinction of educational objects. The
course of education in the classical department is determined ex-
clusively with reference to the old Universities, yet not more than
about four boys a year, excluding boarders, go from it to these
Universities. From the English school, again, almost all the boys

* Of 10 day boys in the first class last summer, four were sons of professional
men. In the third were nine sons of professional men, nine sons of men in various
kinds of business, the rest being sons of widows or boarders. One of the masters of
the fourth and fifth classes (there are two parallel fourths and fifths) told me that of
about 25 boys under him seyep or eight were sons of- medical men.

120 Birmingham Free School,

become clerks in offices of various kinds, but the course of study
in the upper classes of this department gives no special qualifica-
tion for such clerkships. A boy from the third or fourth class— as
I learnt from late pupils of the school, whb, after gaining some
real culture, were toiling at desks — would be quite as well fitted
for them as one from the first. The state of the case may be put
in short thus : — The education necessary for commercial life, the'
school, in its English department, now adequately gives — gives,
[{■ however,' in its lower classes, and no better than it is given at one'

of the elementary schools or at a good National schooL It also
gives an education which qualifies, if pursued, for the highest dis-
tinctions at Oxford and Cambridge. The eduCationj however,
given in the higher classes of the English school, and to all those
in the classical school,, except the few'who go to Oxford or Cain-
bridge, is one having no special reference to any office or distinc-
tion to be obtained after the education itself is over. I do not
say this in condemnation' of the school. It is not that the boys,
in large numbers, want a particular kind of education for their
after life, which the school refuses to give, but that the educatioa
necessary for this purpose is too scanty to fill the course of a
school whose standard is decently high.

On this part of the subject the questions which it seems impor-
tant to answer are the following: — (1.) Does the school give the
education which it professes to give for practical purposes as effec-
tively as it might ? (2.) Does it do all that might be done to
supplement this education by general culture? (3.) Are there
any lines of life the education for which is in any demand, and is
not supplied by the school ? (4.) Could more be done than is
done by the school to tempt its pupils to reach a higher calling— |
one, at least, which requires a more learned education — than that
to which circumstances naturally lead them ?
Defects of prac- (1.) On the first of these questions, there has no doubt been a
tical education, general notion in the town that boys from the grammar school
have not been well trained as clerks. They have had the reputa-
Eeasons. tion of writing badly, and being bad accountants. These are the

points on which I generally found that the private schoolmasters
of the town believed themselves able to do more for an average
boy than the grammar school did. The merchants, however, are
very ready to take boys from the grammar school as clerks, and I
believe that the complaints made against it refer properly to a
past period, when the masters in the English department were not
numerous enough for their work, and before certain changes intro-
duced by the present head master had taken effect. The most
Formerly important of these concern the teaching of arithmetic. In the
inadequate pro- early days of the English school, very poor provisio.n was made
Irithmetio. ^^^ *^^^* '^^^ '^^^^^ present arithmetical master told me that when
he first came he had to teach -arithmetic unaided to all the boys
of the English school, 210 in number. There was then only one
black board in the school. After additional arithmetical teachers
had come to be employed, there still continued to be no distinct
arithmetical classification, and the ordinary masters took no part

3Ir. Green's Report. 121

in teaching it. As a boy's place in the school depended chiefly
on his merit in other subjects than arithmetic, it would constantly
l^appen that "the same arithmetical work was being done by boys
utterljoftifferent in arithmetical knowledge, to the great discourage-
ment 'and hindrance of those who were advanced in it. A boy
from the 'elementary schools, transferred to the grammar school,
would at that time rather lose ground than otherwise in arithmetic,
as one or two such boys 'told me had been the case with them-
selves. At present the separate classification for arithmetic in the
English school is nearly, though not quite, complete. The boys
in the two upper classes' form one group, which is rearranged on al
mathematical basis three mornings a week. The classes below
the' second form another group, which is rearranged on an arith-
metical basis three afternoons and one morning during the
week (six hours a week in all). The best 20 of this group form a
class by themselves. They belong commonly, I was told, to the
lower classes in general work, being often boys froiii the elemen-
tary schools. Below this 20 the arithmetical classes are rather
larger, but still do not contain more than 30 each.' The ordinary
masters being now employed to teach arithmetic in addition to the
special arithmetical masters, they are smaller than the classes for
general work.* Special examinations in arithmetic are now held
throughout the school at stated intervals during the half year, and
special prizes are given for it.

According to the above arrangement, it can scarcely be said
that arithmetic is neglected in the English school, and the teachers
are admitted on all hands to be very efficient. At the examina-
tion last Midsummer, my coUeague, who attended to that depart-
ment, pronounced the arithmetic to be on the whole quite satis-
factory. To this braiich of education, however, as to others, the
outward arrangements of the English school cannot but be preju-
dicial. This school is taught altogether in one large room, which
is very noisy (as it faces New Street, the busiest thoroughfare of
the town), and decidedly over-crowded. To accommodate more
scholars, a gallery has been erected at each end of the room, and
in each gallery about 50 boys are taught. Under one of the gal-
leries is a class-room, separated by glass doors from the body of
the school-room.

Masters and pupils are unanimous in describing the noise of NoiseinEnglish
this room as most distressing. The junior classes in the galleries school,
suffer the most. In each gallery is one master, having to teach
in one case 50, in the other 57 boys. This is a considerable
number for one man in any case, and the difficulty is increased by
the boys under each master being divided into two classes, one of
which learns a lesson or writes something while the other is being

* The result of the above management is, that if a boy is carried by his general
work into the. second class he has to give more time to mathematics than to arith-
metic, though his knowledge of the latter may be far from complete. Instances of
this kind are not uncommon, and so fer the arithmetical classification is not yet
perfect.

122 Birmingham Free School.

heard. The arrangements do not allow of the master properly
overlooking one class while he hears the other. He is troubled
at once with the buzz of the learning class on one side of him,
with the murmur ascending from the classes below, and with the
roar of wheels in the street.* He is at the same time breathing
the atmosphere natural to the upper regions of a crowded and ill-
ventilated (though lofty) room. The teachers and boys on the
floor do not suffer quite so much, but still considerably, As there
is not room for all the boys under one master to write at once,
the master (who always has, nominally or virtually, two classes,)
has one part of his boys standing round his desk to say a lesson
while the rest are learning or writing. Over the latter he cannot
maintain a proper supervision, and, as they sit writing at double
desks, so as to face each other, they are very apt to keep up a
game involving more or less noise all the time. Each master,
again, in turn, except the lowest, carries off one of his classes to
the sepai'ate class room,| and meantime his other class is left in the
large room, with no one to keep it in order but the second master
(master of the English school), who is responsible for the general
order of the room, but is all the while teaching or looking over
exercises himself.

The result, even under good management, is an amount of sus-
tained noise, increased by a strong echo in the room, which makes
a stranger wonder that any teaching can go on at all. After long
habituation to it, the late second master told me that teaching in
the English school cost double the labour that it would in a quiet
room, and produced only half the effect. The late pupils of the
school speak to the same purpose. One of them, who^e experience
was of a period six or seven years ago, told me that towards dusk
on an autumn or winter afternoon , the English school " became a
" mere bear-garden." The discipline has probably been more
effective lately, but those who had left the top of the English
school within the last year or two all agreed in saying that during
a lesson round the master's desk in the great school, especially if
the lesson was in mathematics or a modern language, the noise
was very distressing, and that they got twice as much good from
a lesson in the separate class room.
Preliminary It is very likely that sometimes a dull or idle boy, knowing hardly

Ignorance. anything to begin with (which is the case with many who enter
the grammar school), amid this noise and distraction may remain
virtually untaught in the elements, however good the teaching
may be, and that such an one, on his removal to a well-manao-ed
private school, just when he is beginning to be ashamed of his
ignorance, may, with the more direct personal attention which he
there receives, improve rapidly in elementary knowledge. It is-
very likely, also, that such a boy might learn spelling" writing.

* I found myself that, as I stood by tHe master's side in one of these galleries, I
conld not hear half of -what the boys said, though his more practised ear seemed able
to do so. As the boys stand round him in three sides of a quadrangle it must be
very difficult ior those on one side to hear -what is said by those on the other

•f Each master has the use of this for about 1^ hoiu-s a day

Mr. Green's Report. 123

and arithmetic more effectively where virtually little else is
attended to, than where, as in the grammar school, they are the
accompaniments of Latin and other subjects. This is ])robably
the true account of the cases often mentioned to me (without
details) by private schoolmasters, of boys who have come to them
from the Ens;lish department of the grammar school, ignorant of
the elements, and under their care quickly acquire them.

The remedy for such cases of elementary ignorance (which Remeiiies.
already, I think, belong rather to the past than the present) is to
be found, as I have previously stated, rather in the improvement
of preliminary education through King Edward's elementary
schools or otherwise, than within the grammar school itself. A
boy from the first class of the elementary schools, as I have go^l
evidence for saying, would be able to do accounts or write a busi-
ness letter sufiiciently for practical purposes before entering the
grammar school. When in it he would only require to keep up
what he already knew. The elementary part, however, of the
education in the English department of the grammar school
would improve like all other branches with the improvement of the
accommodation for teaching. More room is imperatively required.
The boys now taught on the floor might, perhaps, with an addi-
tional class-room be adequately provided for, but the gallery
classes ought to be removed altogether. Such removal, I should
think, was required on sanitary, if on no other grounds. One
additional master also is certainly wanted for the lower part of
the English school.

So much for the English department. Many of the complaints. Boys in the
however, which may be heard in Birmingham as to the neglect of <='assical de-
practical education in the grammar school refer really to the case should rather
of boys who have been placed in the classical department, and be in the
then removed for business at or under the age of 16. That such ^"S'^^'*-
boy» should not be found well qualified for their work is very
natural. Distraction through noise and overcrowding cannot
indeed be now com])lained of in the classical school. The room
in which it is taught is considerably larger than the other, and,
unlike it, was originally meant for a schoolroom. It lies also
away from the street. But though it only had to accommodate
as many boys as the other school, it was found inconveniently full,
till on Mr. Hutchinson's resignation of the ofiice of second master,
some rooms in his house, which is part of the school building,
were converted at the instance of the head-master into class-rooms.
This made it possible to withdraw four classes altogether from
the great schoolroom, which cannot now be said to be either too
full or noisy. If the classical school now fails to give a clerk's
education adequately, it is because its object is different. It has
as yet no separate classification for arithmetic, and marks for this
subject have not much influence as compared with those for Latin System of the
and Greek on the promotion from class to class. In the six lower ^'^'^f^ purely
classes about three hours a week are given to it. The teachers
are able, and the classes are small, but a boy not well trained in
it to begin with would be very likely not to learn it well, simply
a. c. S. L

124

Birmingham Free School.

Hence little
general culti-
vation of in-
ferior boys.

from, finding it treated as quite a secondary subject. Supposing
him to leave for business at 15 or 16, when he has reached the
fourth or fifth class (and this is a very common case), he will pror
bably for the two previous years have attended to hardly anythiijg
but Latin and Greek, and if he learnt a "good roiind hand", in
the lower classes, will have lost it for a scribble with writing
exercises in the higher. He will, in fact, be much less fitted for
a clerk than a boy from the elementary schools. What is wrong
here, however, is not the teaching of the classical school, except
in so far as it fails through want of a separate arithmetical classi-
fication, but the arrangement through which , the boy was placed
in the, classical school at all. This points to a fault in the relgr
tion between the two departments, which will be considered more
fully afterwards.

(2.) On the second of the questions mentioned above^-Does
the grammar school do all that might be done to supplement the
practical elementary education by general culture ? — what has
just been said of the classical department has an important bearing.
It would certainly seem that a boy who does not rise above the
fourth or fifth class in the classical school, and leaves it at 16,
gets very little " general culture " indeed. Setting aside the
amount of arithmetic specified above, and a little Euclid which he
only, learns when he reaches the fifth class, he will have learnt
scarcely anything but the elements of Latin and Greek. Of
geography he will have learnt something in the lower classes, buj
as it is dropped in the higher he will probably have forgotten, ifc
Of history, unless he has had some special interest in it, he will
have learnt next to nothing. One hour a week is given to history
(ancient) in the fourth and fifth classes, and not so much as this
regularly in the third. It is not, I think, generally taught witH
much spirit, and no regular cycle of periods is arranged. A boy,
who has read one period of history in one class, reads, the same,
perhaps in a difierent manual, on his promotion to the next
French, now that means are provided for teaching it in a separate
class-room, (a provision universally admitted to be most bene-
ficent,) he will have had the opportunity of learning well, but as
attention to it will have had very little comparative influence on
his promotion in the school, the chances are that he will have
neglected it. Latin and Greek, in short, have been supreme in
his education, and he has learnt enough of them to make out
Cassar and Xenophon with difficulty. Within a couple of years,
probably, of his beginning commercial life he will remember a
few examples from the Latin and Greek grammar, and nothing
more.

This exclusive attention to classics is felt as an evil by parents
who have sent their sons to the classical department, not from
chance or from a notion that it is the more distinguished, but from
a distinct desire that they should obtain some amount of classical
knowledge. In the case of boys who rise Ivigher and stav loncfir
than the one I have supposed, though the evil may be less, as tije
amount of classical knowledge gained is greater, still, unless, they

Mr. Green's Report. 125

are ititcnded foB Cambridge', the want of all supplementary culti-
vation i^ to be lam'ented. Among the discontented parents^
however, though' there wafe a desire for more history, more modem
languages, more physical sciemje, as the case might be, I did not
find any desire for an essential curtailment of the classical studies.
The qiiestioDj therefore, seems to be. Can the classical character
of the classical department be kept up, and at the same time more
provision made for general cultivation ? As matters stand at Hard to main-
present it requires an absorbing and exclusive effort to keep np tain classical
the classical standard in the upper part of the school. Anything, a^y o^g].°~B.
therefore, 'which tended to lighten this necessary effort would so tem.
far facilitate the introduction of supplementary studies.

The difficulty of maintaining the standard is due, I believe. Why ?
mainly to three causes: (a), want of preliminary education; (/3), the
exhaustive drain- of laoys from the middle of the school who leave for
commercial life, and the consequent rapidity of proiliotion ; (7), a
certain want of spirit in the junior masters, due mainly to the hard-
ness of their position. On {a) enpugh has been said already in a
different connexion. A boy who, up tftjtheiage of 12 or over, has
not learnt to speak or write his own langnage correctly, and who has
not, be it observed, in many cases, those- about him at his home to
whom such correctness is habitual, is proportionately unreceptive of
Latin and Greek grammar. With the want of early education is
also closely connected the want of encouragement and assistance
in learning lessons, especially classical lessons, at home. So far as
the school- has a remedy for this evil, it can only be through the
operation of its entrance examination.

For (|3) there is probably no remedy, short of a higher apprecia-
tion of education among men of business, and a modification of
the received view that 16 is the latest age at which a boy- ought
to enter an office. Whatever the remedy, of the evil there is no
question. After the midsummer examination, it is no uncommon
thing in the middle of the school for a whole class to be changed^
through either the promotion or departure of the boys who com-
posed it. The better boys are often promoted two classes at a
time. The consequences are (1), that it is next to impossible' to
maintain a proper graduation of study in the supplementary sub-
jects ; and (2), that in order to qualify the boy, thus rapidly
thrown up into the third, fourth, and fifth classes, who can often
scarcely construe, for being taught along with boys aspiring to
scholarships at -Oxford and Cambridge, under the headmaster,
Latin and Greek have to' bci worked at to the exclusion of every-
thing else.

As to (7), I should be sorry to cast any reflection on so hard- Condition of
worked, and, as it seems to me, hardly-used a body of men as the *astws
under-maeters at Birmingham. -They do their work in all cases
conscieiltiously, and in many very effectively.' I may say here,
however; once tfor all, that I think their position a very trying
one; and their p'ay inadequate. They ai?e, in Consequence, with
scarcely an exception, gloomy and down-hearted, and men in their
temper, however diligent and coiiscientiQus,are not likely to do

L 2

126 Birmingham Fiee School

their work with much freshness or elasticity. The pay of the
head and second master is, of course, quite sufficient. Below
them, the teacher of the 3rd class gets altogether 3251. a year, and
the mathematical master 250?. The senior master in the English
school (having been originally the chief master) also gets 250/.
The rest of the ordinary masters get 200Z. a year, and are expected
to be graduates of Oxford or Cambridge. No one who knows
anything of these Universities will suppose that any but quite
inferior men would, for such a salary, take such a place, with all
the unpleasantness of teaching rough boys in a noisy school, unless
under peculiar circumstances, or as leading to something better.
It is probably on the latter ground that the governors hope to
attract young men for a time to the school, but the attraction is
very poor of its kind. "Within the school itself— setting aside the
second mastership, which requires special qualifications not likely
to be found in any of the ordinary masters — there is only one
possible promotion to look forward to, and that is only to a salary
of 325?. a year. The prospect of promotion to better-paid scholastic
employment elsewhere is at best a precarious one, nor for most
kinds of such employment would apprenticeship at Birmingham
be reckoned a good qualification. But even if it were, teaching
supplied solely by apprentices is hardly likely to be what it
should be, especially if the apprentices are discontented at having
stayed longer than their time. For a certain number, at any rate,
of more permanent teachers adequate provision — i.e., provision
that would render marriage possible — ought to be made. The
mathematical mastership, for instance, is one which cannot with
advantage be constantly changing hands, yet the present salary is
wholly inadequate to retain a good master. The present holder
of it, whose loss would have been a great one, has been kept to
the town by domestic circumstancesj and having a Cambridge
fellowship, he is able to live in tolerable comfort. Otherwise,
no one of his merit could have been retained without double
the salary. As it is, I think that he feels his position to be a hard
one.*

Supposing the pay of the ordinary graduate masters to be raised,
as it ought to be, by at least lOOZ. a year, the question would arise

* The salary of the ordinary under-master, 2007. a year, is not more than may be
made— at Birmingham, I helieve, in at least one instance is made — by the master of
a school receiving Government aid. The question suggests itself -whether the junior
classes, in the English department at any rate, might not with advantage be taught
by masters of this sort : for instance, by masters promoted from King Edward's
elementary schools. At present the two lowest classes in the English school are
taught by a master holding a Government certificate, and with very satisfactory
results. The promotion of a master from the elementary schools was, I believe, tried
some years ago, but not found to answer. The repetition of the experiment was
very much deprecated by the older graduate mastera (not the head master) to whom
I spoke about it. Though it cannot be disputed that in method of teaching a good
certificated master is likely to excel a raw graduate, it is said that he has not the
same civilizing influence on the boys, an influence certainly much needed in the
lower classes of King Edward's School. However this might be, the difficiUty of
properly amagamating the graduate and non-graduate masters is a sei-ious one, and
)», I think, felt aa such already.

Mr. Green's Report. 127

whether this should be given in cash or by the provision of board
and lodging at a common hall, after the example of Marlborough
and "Wellington Colleges. My intercourse with the under-masters
led me to think that the latter arrangement would be far the most
desirable. It Is not easy for them to get suitable lodgings at all,
and then only at a considerable distance from the school, and
(generally) from each other. They have not naturally much
opportunity of mixing in the society of the place, and may not
much care to avail themselves of what they have. Living toge-
ther they would form a society among themselves, their interest
in the school would be quickened by comparison of counsels, and
they could supply themselves more readily with books and news-
papers. Altogether their life would be more cheerful and on better
terms with celibacy.

If, by the removal of the evils above explained, it were possible Desirability
to raise the general standard of the middle part of the classical ^°™S more
school, more attention might be given to history or physical science classical
or modern languages, without diminishing the effectiveness of the education,
school as a nursery for the Universities. Such a modification of
the present system would be desirable for boys destined for the
Universities, as well as for those meant for business ; but unless
carried further than would be consistent with the educational in-
terests of the former, it would, I think, scarcely meet the case of
the latter. There is such an essential difference between the case
of boys whose regular education terminates at the age of 17 at
latest, and that of boys with whom it will be continued for some
years longer, that it is hard to see how the same system can suit
both. Every one knows that if a boy is to get a scholarship at
Oxford or Cambridge, classics or mathematics must form the back-
bone of his education. Nor did I find that for boys intended for
the University of London, with a view to the medical profession,
any essential departure from the classical and mathematical system
was desired by their parents, except sometimes with reference to
what the school, of course, cannot take into account — the capacity
of individuals. A boy, on the other hand, whose education is to
stop when he leaves school, must lay at school the foundations of
any general knowledge to whicli he may afterwards attain. If he
has not there become acquainted in outline with the history of
modern nations and modern literature, and of physical science, the
chances are that he will be repelled from reading on these subjects
in after-life by elementary ignorance, or that, if he attempts it, his
reading will be wasted from having nothing to fasten upon. This
class of boys would really be better suited by the education given
in the first class of the English department, if somewhat extended.
Their transfer to this department is, however, prevented not only
by social considerations, but by the physical impossibility, accord-
ing to present arrangements, of accommodating more boys in it.
Their removal, moreover, would so attenuate the classical depart-
ment that there would not be enough competition in its lower
regions to form effective classes for those who remained in it.
Without an entire revolution of system their case could only be

128

Birmingham Free School.

What is done
for it in
English
Department.

Such cultiva-
tion does not
' pay ' in
business;

met by allowing alternative studies, i. e., by allowing boys in the
classical department to substitute for some of the ordinary lessons
work to be done in common with the upper boys of the English-
school. Such an arrangement could only be made with great diffi-
culty, and before saying more about it, it will be well to explain
what provision for " general culture " is now made in the latter
department.

The education given in the first class of the English school is
very multifarious, and the question which an observer w6a1d first
a,sk abput it would be, for -what in particular does it qualify its re-
cipients ? This is a question which it would be difficult to answer,
but the explanation of the difficulty is that the business of Bir-
mingham absorbs nearly all the boys who pass through the English
school, and that this business is not of a kind which requires any
preliminary education but the most elementary. An aoquaintaBoe
with " book-keeping" is, of course, necessary for a clerk, but the
general voice of the merchants seems to be that a boy learns it better
in the mercantile house, according to the particular method of the
house, than at school. It is not at present taught in the grammar
school. The only advantage to be gained by teaching it there
would be this, that possibly, if his clerk came to him having
already some practical knowledge, the merchant might not insist on
his coming quite so young, and that thus a boy, instead of leaving
at 15, might be kept to 16 ; but the opposite results might follow^
The merchant might say that the " practical knowledge," not being
of the right sort, only made the boy more difficult to shake down
into the regular routine of the office. Eor the kind of manufacture
involving the electro-deposit, such as "jewellery," some elementary
knowledge of chemistry is useful — so much only, however, as may
soon be acquired by an apprentice in the business. The son of a
jeweller, meant to continue the father's business, might be allowed
by his father to remain longer at school on the understanding that
the chemistry learnt there might be turned to practical account.
I became acquainted with a case of this kind, but the boy in ques-
tion, though he found some of his chemical knowledge useful, had
learnt far more than was necessary for his calling, and was seeking
opportunity to continue his chemical studies in Germany. An-
other case was mentioned to me of a boy from the English school
who obtained a well-paid place in Allsopp's brewery on the
strength of his chemical knowledge. Cases again may occur
where a knowledge of French, or — which at Birmingham is more
likely — of German may be turned to account, but they are quite
exceptional. A commercial house, doing a large foreio-n trade,
generally employs a foreigner, or one who has lived considerably
abroad, to do its foreign correspondence, and only perhaps 10 per
cent, of its clerks would be wanted to know even the commercial
terms of any language but their own.* A school knowledge of

♦ In a house connected chiefly Tvith the South American trade, and where con-
sequently Spanish was the modern language in demand, I understood that of 50
clerks only six were required to know any Spanish. A thormigh knowledge of it

Mr. Greenes Report. 329

mechanics could 'be held up as practically useful with less plausibi-
lity at Birmingham than in many other large towns, as it has no
great madhine-'makiiig establishment. For those manufactures
which involve engraviii^, and which are largely pursued at
Birmingham, some practice in drawing is necessary, and many
masters, I believe, compel their apprentices to take lessons in it.

On the Avhole, though the prospect of pi-aotical availability may StiU something
not be altogether without influence, it cannot at Birmingham be ^?"^ for it in
relied on as a general incentive to any study beyond the region of of^English^^
the -simplest elementary knowledge, or as a set-off to the desire to department.
make a boy practically useful as soon as possible^ The English
department, therefore, in its promotion of " general culture," has
very little to appeal to but the genuine desire for knowledge,
though in its selection of the sort of knowledge to be cultivated it
may, and does, look to the appearance of practical usefulness.
From conversation with late pupils, and from what I saw and
heard at the midsummer examination, I believe that a boy who
stays two or three years in the " upper first" class of this depart-
ment gets as good an education, looking to his future life, as under
the circumstances is possible. He is in the first place well trained
in English, which, considering his probable domestic antecedents,
is itself a great point. A yearly prize is given for an examination
in plays of Shakspear,* and a boy who stays long enough comes
really to know and think about some five or six of the best plays.
A more general acquaintance with English literature used to be
cultivated by lessons in a short history of it by Collier. For this
the acting master last summer had substituted, I should think
wisely, a lesson three times a week in Chaucer and Shakspear ; a
short English theme, or paraphase, is written in or out of school
every week ; at midsummer a prize is given for an English essay.
I saw several of the essays both for last year and for previous
years, which showed, at least, that the better boys learnt to get
together a considerable amount of information, and to express it in
good form and correct English. The study of English history
seemed to suffer from want of good manuals, the " Student's
Hume " being used by the first, " Mrs. Markham " by the lower
classes. The best indication of the general result of the English
part of the education is that it clearly gives the better boys a taste
for English reading. I recall one boy in particular, who within
rather more than a year after leaving school, had in his evenings
read through Macaulay's History, Hallam's Constitutional History,
Clarendon, and Craik's History of English Literature.

would only be wanted in the one man who conducted the foreign correspondence.
In; order to fill this department, a large merchant commonly sends one of his sons
.ahroad for a time. A.n ordinary clerk, bred at the grammar school, could scarcely
aspire to it. The number of merchants and manufacturers at Birmingham, however,
riot too magnificent to use the grammar school, and yet desiring a practical know-
ledge of modern languages for their sons, is very considerable. Spanish and German,
I believe, are each in more demand for mercantile purposes than French.

* This is a prize given by Professor Lightfoot, of Cambridge, and open to both
departments, though unifoi-mly obtained by the English.

130 Birmingham Free School.

Latin, though taught in the lower classes of the English school,
used to be given up iu the first. It has now been restored, and is
taught in the time (one hour ,ind forty minutes a week) formerly
given to " Morell's Analysis." The boys seemed able to make out
Virgil slowly, but with fair correctness, and the acting master,
•when I was there, used to treat Latin, English, and German
grammar comparatively.

Of the chemistry I cannot speak from personal knowledge;
three lessons a week are given in it, and the examiner who
attended to it last midsummer pronounced it fairly done. The
great difficulty with regard to it is that most boys who reach the
" upper first," in which alone chemistry is tanght, seldom stay
more than a year in it, whereas two years is i-eckoned the minimum
necessary for gaining an adequate practical knowledge of it. In
mathematics the better boys generally go some way in trigono-
metry, as far as the " solution of triangles." The examiner last
midsummer reported that they did well what they professed to do,
though he dia not reckon the standard high, as considering the
age of the boys and the time given to other subjects, it was hardly
likely to be.

The teachers in French and German are tlioroughly good.
Tlie better boys generally learn one language well and the other
imperfectly, according as their taste inclines them more to one
or the other. The head boy last summer seemed to have learnt
German as thoroughly as was possible for one of his age who had
not been in the country, and was going to perfect himself by
residence there.

The special study of geography is stimulated by a prize. Last
summer some of the boys appeared to be very well up in the more
advanced geography (physical, &c.), though they had rather for-
gotten the simpler elements. The arrangement made for teaching
drawing is that those who want to learn (102 last summer) attend
the school of Art on half-holiday afternoons. They are taught
by the master of this school and his assistants, all together and
by'themselves, for a certain payment made by the governors. It
is generally admitted that this arrangement does not work well,
the boys being languid and careless over their work, and that if
it is to be learnt satisfactorily, drawing must be tauoht at the
school as part of the school work.

Te-w reach this. The great fault with regard to this general education is that
very few boys comparatively come within its range at all, and that
for those who do it does not last long enough. Not a fifth part of
the boys who enter the English school reacli the " upper first "
class, and below it the only considerable supplement of the " clerk's
Why more education " is Latin. Of such as do reach it even those who stay
don't. in it the longest find the subjects rather over crowded, and if the

pupil is conscious of this, much more must the master be. The
only way of affording relief, under present circumstances, would
be by again discontinuing Latin in the " upper first," and this I
tlilnk would be undesirable both in itself and as interfering with

Mr. Greenes Report. 131

the possibility of that transfer from the English to the classical
school, which at present is the only channel through which access
to the University can be gained. The real remedy is more remote,
arid is to be found, firstly, in such an improvement of preliminary
education as will bring boys up to the standard of the first class
more quickly and frequently, and, secondly, such an enhanced
appreciation of general education in the town as will induce parents
to leave their sons a year or two longer at school. In order to
encourage this, the head-master is anxious for the conversion of
two prizes of \Ql. each, now given annually by the governors to
the best boys in the English school, into scholarships of 61. a year
each, tenable at the school and open to boys under 14.

To revert to the case of the boys in the classical department who Possibility of
are meant for commercial life, the unsuitableness of their present o^timng the
education might be remedied if above a certain class, say the sixth, mentsXr "
i.e., when it had become apparent whether they were likely to certain
make anything of an education having reference to the Univer- subjects,
sities, they were allowed for Greek to substitute lessons in English,
or German, or physical science, with the upper boys of the English
school. I must confess that none of the masters gave any coun-
tenance to the suggestion of such an arrangement. Over and
above the inherent difficulties of a system of substitution, the
social difference between the boys of the two departments was
thought to be an impediment to any such partial amalgamation.
But for this difference, which is such, it must be admitted, that a
stranger could tell at a glance to which of the two departments a
given class belonged, it is difficult to see why in modern languages
lessons at any rate some amalgamation has not already been
established.

Another institution has been suggested, for the extension of Eveniusr
the general education of those who leave young for business, in classes.
the shape of evening classes connected with the school. At the
" Midland Institute " evening classes are held in English history
find literature, in chemistry, mechanics, &c., but they are not much
frequented by late pupils of the grammar school. They were not
in fact intended by the original founders of the institute for the
class to which these pupils generally belong, but rather for artisans.
For the most part thej' are not attended by artisans, but by clerks,
clerks, however, generally both older and less respectable socially
than the boys turned out even by the English department of the
grammar school. I could not obtain exact statistics on the point,
but I satisfied myself that hardly any young men educated at the
grammar school were in attendance at any of the classes, except
at the chemical one. On the whole the " Institute " does not
furnish any regular continuation to the education begun at the
grammar school. Evening classes held in the school hj teachers
belonging to the school would be more likely to do so. Several
young men, who ->ad lately left the English department, assured
me that they should like nothing better than to go on with their
lessons in the evenings under their old master and with their old
companions. Some of them had actually been in the habit of

132

Birmingham Free School.

Difficulties
in way of
these.

Certain lines
of professional
life for -vrliieh
no preparation
given at the
school.

doing work privately with one or other of the masters of the
school, though distance of residence is apt to make such an
arrangement very awkward.

The practical difficulties in the way of evening classes at the
school would be these ; firstly, on the part of the pupils, many
houses keep them at work tiU 7 or 7 "30, after which the going and
coming, with a meal, would occupy at least another hour ; secondly,
on the part of the school, it has at present neither the necessary
room nor the necessary teachers at command. All the available
rooms are occupied with boys during the day, and have to be
given up to cleansing and ventilation at night. On the three
weekly half-holidays, however, it might be possible, I should think,
to get the cleaning and ventilation done sufficiently during the
afternoon. The want of teaching power is a more serious obstacle.
The only man who would be looked to in an ordinary way for
holding these classes would be the second master, and he has quite
enough on his hands without it. This want might be supplied by
the addition to the staff of ordinary masters of one or two men
who should act rather in the capacity of lecturers on special sub-
jects, an addition which is or may become desirable for further
purposes, to be mentioned shortly.

(3.) It appears, from what has been already said, that the gram-
mar school suffers from not being able to set before its scholars
any definite practical object for the attainment of which any high
education is necessary. We are thus led to the third of the ques-
tions proposed above. Are there any lines of life, the education
for which is in any demand and is not supplied by the school ? I
have already said that as a rule the business of Birmingham can
and must abs.orb the boys of Birmingham. This is certainly true
of almost all who pass through the English department and of
most of those who pass through the classical. Of the rest a few-
go to Oxford and Cambridge, while more are articled to solicitors
or matriculate at the London University. For the " preliminary
" legal examination " a boy from the upper part of either depart-
ment might, I should think, with a very little special preparation,
be adequately qualified. The matriculation examination for the
•London University is very miscellaneous, but an ordinary boy
who made the most of the instruction in the classical department
would not require much extra teaching to pass it, though he miwht
have reason to regret that mathematics had not been made more
of in his education and that he had not learnt any physical science.
Other openings, which are found very tempting to younw men
elsewhere, ai-e afforded by tlie military college at Woolwich and
by the Indian Civil Service. At Birmingham, of course, these
openings could never be sought after as they are at such a place
as Cheltenham. There are many parents, however, even at Bir-
mingham, to be found in the professional class, especially among
the clergy and dissenting ministers, who cannot find good openings
for their sons in business and who would think an education at
the University too expensive and questionable a speculation. For
such people the grammar school offers rather an awkward alterna-

Mr. Green's Report. 133

tive. In the English school, which ihey would probably think unfit
for their sons on social groutidsjan education is to be had which would
suit them if they looked to commercial life ; in the other depart-
ment a classical system is maintained with peculiar rigidity and
exclusiyeness, only qualifying specially for the Universities.

If a better educational provision were made for this class of Ifeglect of
people, it would appear, I think, to be already larger than is mathematics.
commonly supposed, and more persons, whose pla«e of residence
is not absolutely fixed for them by circumstances, might be
attracted to, or retained in, the suburbs of the town by the pros-
pect of special educational advantages for their sons. According'
to the present constitution of the school, such provision could only
be made by the method of alternative studies. In regard to
mathematics, this method has already been introduced, but can
scarcely be said to be effectively worked. Above the fourth class
a boy is allowed to do extra mathematics instead of verses. Only
two boys, however, were last summer availing themselves of this
liberty. The verses being written out of school, the extra mathe-
matics are done also out of school. As the mathematical master
has no access to the boys, or the boys to him, out of schoolj this
implies that they are not done under the master's supervision, and as
individual attention is, I believe, of special importance to progress
in mathematics, it follows that they are done with corresponding
want of effect. In the ordinary mathematical work, done in
school, as there is no separate classification for it, the master is
unable to push the more advanced mathematicians, as he otherwise
might, through having to teach them along with the most back-
ward. Of 20 boys, taught together in the first class last summer,
one had gone over analytical conic sections, and begun the dif-
ferential calculus, while those at the bottom were only doing the
simpler parts of algebra. Nor in the regular hours do the arrange-
ments allow of the master's bestowing especial attention on the
more advanced pupils. As soon as he begins to do so, he finds
that their time with him is up, and that they are wanted for a
classical lesson.

The substitution of extra mathematics for composition might be
made more effective by arranging that composition should be done
in 'School, in place of certain lessons now prepared in school, but
which should then be prepared at home. The mathematical work,
which is substituted for composition, might then also be done in
school under the personal attention of the mathematical master.
Supposing this to be done, and the mathematical classification to
be recast, a more effective preparation for "Woolwich might be
given. As it is, I believe that only three boys from the grammar
school have gained admission there, and of these two left before-
hand for special preparation. For the Indian and the higher
departments of the English Civil Service, a preparation could only
be given by allowing a further system of substitution, and by
providing lectures in English history and literature, together with
additional teaching power in mathematics and natural science. On
the practicability of such a plan I have not the materials for es-

134

Birmingham Free School.

Third depart-
ment ■wanted?

View of
University
among com-
mercial men.

presslni? an opinion. It would In fact amount to the institution of
a new -department, giving a higher education than the Present
English one and not adjusted to the requirements ot the old
Universities, like the present classical one.* Such a department
would satisfy an existing demand, but whether that demand would
become large enough to make the proposed department answer,
and whether it could be supplemented by a demand for general
education on the part of the boys meant for commercial life but
now bred in the classical school, I cannot venture to say. At
any rate, until the general character of the middle region of the
classical department is raised, it does not afford an adequate basis
for " bifurcation." Until there are more boys in it of the age of
15, thoroughly grounded in Latin, arithmetic, and Euclid, and
likely to stay two or three years longer in the school, though not
meant for the University, it would be questionable policy to pro-
vide a separate course of instruction for them. "With the improve-
ment of preliminary education, however, the time may come for
doing this, and with it for engaging one or two special lecturers,
in physical science, in Englisli^history and literature, or even_ in
logic, whose presence might facilitate the establishment of evening
classes, suggested above, and lessen the present requirement of
multifarious knowledge in the second master.

(4.) The essential question, then, with regard to such a new
middle department would be whether enough promising boys could
be kept at school till the age of 18, properly to fill it. It is the
same question as that on which depends the success of the school
as a place of preparation for the Universities. We are thus
brought to the fourth topic, proposed above. Could more be done
than is done by the school to tempt its pupils to seek a higher
education than they seek at present 1

The unfrequency of aspiration for University training al Bir-
mingham is not really to be wondered at. Great fortunes are not
made there quickly enough to allow of there being many persons
able to send sons to the ijniversity simply as a matter of luxury,
and tliese would not make use of the grammar school. Plenty
could well afford to pay for a University education, if it enabled
their sons to provide for themselves afterwards, but such people
naturally ask themselves, what is to come of it ? On the one hand,
if advantage is taken of openings ready to hand in commercial life,
the sons are under the father's eye ; the father knows what they
are about, and may feel pretty confident that, by the time they
are 25, they will be prosperous enough to marry, and may lead in
more affluence and comfort the life that he has led before tliem.
The Universities, on the other hand, are unknown ground to him.
He thinks of them as places where young men stay at great ex-

* If it could te made to give a preparation for the profession of a civil engineer as
well as for Wool-wicli and the civil service, its practical availability Mould he much
extended. There is a faculty of civil engineering, as well as of medicine and theology,
at Queen's College, Birmingham, but it has failed with the general failure of that
institution. This failure, however, is not to be taken as a sign that the institution
did not meet an existing want, hut rather to be ascribed to faulty management.

Mr. Greens Rcjwrt. 135

pense till tbey are 23, and then are unfitted for business without
knowing what else to do with themselves. Unless, therefore, he
has a definite project for making his son a clergyman, a project
only possible among churchmen, and rare amongst them, he puts
him to commercial life, which means, and probably for some time
to come will mean, that he takes him from school at the latest at
the age of 16. This is, and must be, the natural course of things
at Birmingham with the commercial, and to a large extent with
the professional class. On the other side must be set a consider-
able though not very discriminating appreciation of intellectual
decorations, which is strong even among men who have very little
education themselves. There must also be set the reflection that
in the commercial class are a considerable number of men who,
through no fault of their own, have not greatly prospered, and can
find no very favourable openings for their sons in business. Such
persons are easily encouraged by the appearance of a taste for
books in their sons to seek for them a scholastic career, and the
temptation of exhibitions and scholarships can be set before them
with great effect. As a rule, it is not among the rich that the
grammar school must seek for a large supply of boys to train for
the University. Among them a University career will always be Who can be
looked upon as a speculation, and as comparatively not a good one. fo^Jard to it
To men with a less advantageous alternative before them, if a way
Is opened to it by exhibitions, it will offer much higher attractions.
This is not the place to remark on the limitation of these attrac-
tions to churchmen, by the exclusion of dissenters from the ulti-
mate prizes on which they depend, the fellowships and the
masterships in grammar schools.* Such as they are. King Edward's
foundation has excellent means of bringing them home to Bir-
mingham parents. Through its elementary schools it can draw
into its net all the more promising boys in the town of other than
wealthy parentage, and by a proper application of its funds it
might provide a graduation of scholarships, tenable at the school. Value of ex-
for the best of these, which should carry them on to the exhibitions, hibitious.
which again would carry them to the University.

It has already had a most beneficent influence, as I had several
opportunities for observing, in familiarizing persons of quite the
lower trading rank with the notion of a possible University career
for their sons. A small baker or publican, who thinks of sending
his son to College, can quote instances of men in the same position
who have done the same before him. In order, however, to make
the avenue to the Universities as wide and open as possible, the
following changes seem desirable, (a) a more systematic affiliation of
thee lementary schools to the grammar school, (^) more facility
of transfer from the English to the classical school, (y) the
institution of scholarships tenable at the school, (s) a modification

* I may perhaps be allowed here to call attention to the unintelligible rule at
King Edward's School, which confines the second mastership to clergymen. The
second master has, so far as I know, no religious functions whatever to perform, and
the rule greatly limits the area of eligibility.

136

Birmingham Free School.

Difficulties of
transfer from
English de-
partment to
classical.

of the present rule with regard to the examination for exhibitions,
and gradually an increase in their number.

On (a) enough has been said in a previous part of this report.
It may be added that even on the old system, when the transfer of
a boy from an elementary school to the grammar school depended
on the chance of his attracting the, head master's attention on
occasion of his inspection of the former, one instance occurred of a
boy, so transferred, who finally got a first class and an open fellow-
ship at Oxford, and another of one who got an appointment in the
Indian Civil Service. Similar cases have probably occurred, which
(lid not come to my knowledge. I saw enough, however, to con-
vince me that In the elementary schools, as they are, (and still more,
as they might become,) there exists a material out of which a
succession of boys fit for scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge
might be moulded. ' Li;

{p) At present a boy may, with the consent of his parents, be
transferred from the English to the classical school at the pleasure
of the head master, and such transfer is not unfrequently made.
Both the young men just referred to, on promotion from the ele-
mentary school, began an the English department of the grammar
school. Among others transferred from the English department
to the classical, I heard of one who had become 4th wrangler, and
of another who had got a scholarship at St. John's, Cambridga!
The transfer^ however, is difficult to manage, owing to the dlscer-
pancy of. studies between the two departments. The only study
.contributing directly to University success, that is carried far in
the English department. Is that of mathematics, while in the other
department classics have It all their own way. The chances are
ihat a boy In the English department however diligent and
successful he may be in his school work, never thinks of changing
his position till he Is 15 or 16 years old, the age at which an
independent Interest in study seems generally first to awaken. By
this time he probably has gone as far in mathematics as all but
the few best puplk in the classical school. He also knows some
English history, and has had some practice in writing English. Of
Latin he probably knows enough to construe Cjesar, and has been
well drilled in the grammar. So qualified, his mathematics and
general Intelligence would carry him to the second class of the
classical school, and his Latin perhaps to the fourth, but he knows
no Greek. Now -Greek Is begun in the eighth class of the classical
department ; in this, therefore, he would have to be placed among
little boys and dunces. This is In Itself discouraging, and_^thougS
If he worked hard at Greek, he might find himself in two years in
the class for which his general attainment qualified him to begin
with, during all this time In every subject but Greekj he ^tfould
naturally have been losing ground ; owing to the want of a separate
mathematical classification he will have been doing work, while
knowing some trigonometry himself, with boys who have not
begun Euclid and can scarcely do vulgar fractions. His English
knowledge will have been lying fallow, and even m Latm he will
have been doing work below his proper level. The consequence

il/r. Greenes Report 137

of' this state of things is that unless a boy is transferred from the
English to the classical department while still very young, at 13 or
under, the transfer is not likely to be successful. Its success,
therefore, depends on the skill of the masters in picking out
promising talent among the little boys, and however great this
skill may be, it can scarcely fail to miss a good deal that a better
organization might lay hold of. Talent often does not fully appear
till a- later age, and if it is especially of the mathematical kind
there is on the present system veiy little object in transferring it
to the classical department. Moreover, neither the boy nor his
parent, when the boy is stilLyoung, may care for a transfer, and
yet both, two or three years later, when a taste for learning has
manifested itself, may be glad of it.

That the evil, here indicated, is a real one, I had sufficient
evidence in what I heard from old pupils of the English school."
Several of these told me that they had distinct thoughts, when they
\yere about the top of the English school and had become interested
ia study, of transferring themselves to the classical with a view
tOr-reaching the University, but that in the first place they did not
like the notion of passing from the top of one department to near
the bottom of the other, and, secondly, they knew that their strong-
points mathematics, would go for nothing in the classical depart-
ment. They, all, however, seemed to think that the prospect of
obtaining a small scholarship, tenable in the classical school, would
have been a great inducement to themselves to make the experiment,
and would tell strongly on both parents and boys generally in the
same direction, thus confirming the view, suggested to me in other
ways, of the -sensibility of the trading class even to slight
intellectual decorations. One young man in particular, who, having
been born in humble life, and educated in the English department, i - '

had found his way to Cambridge, and become a wrangler without " ■

entering the classical department at all, assured me from his own
knowledge that a high wrangler might be got every year from the
English department, if only he could be induced, as such" a one
easily might be, by a small scholarship and the prospect of an
exhibition to stay long enough at the school.

The question of the possibility of establishing a better relation How these
between the two departments involves the question of the position <^^" ^^ ™^'-
which Greek ought to occupy in a school which sets itself to pre-
pare for the Universities. On the answer to this question depends
generally, to a great extent, the possibility of eflfectively com-
bining the education of average boys for commercial life, and that
of picked boys for the University. It would seem to an un-
practised man that a diligent and intelligent boy who had beea
well grounded in Latin might soon gain an equal knowledge of
Greek though, he did not begin it till three or four years later.
This, however, is not the general opinion of schoolmasters, and
thus, in the classical department of King Edward's School, which
boys enter only just able to read and write, out of eleven classes
Greek is begun in the eighth. With.out venturing to criticize the
intrinsic utility of this, I will only remark that it would unques-

138

Birminijliam Free School.

"Want of
scholarship.

Mathematics
should count
forexhibitions

tionably facilitate the transfer of promising boys from the Englis.i
to the classical school if Greek were not begun so low down in the
latter. For the same purpose^ on the other hand, it is most desir-
able that the standard of Latin should be kept as high in the Eng-
lish school as is compatible with justice to the commercial boys, and
for this reason it is most happy that it has been restored to its for-
mer place in the instruction of the upper first of that department.'

(7) The unpleasantness, however, of passing from the top of
one department to a low class in the other would be faced by those
who could face it with most advantage, if any distinct recognition
of their attainments were offered them, independently of their
place in the school, and some more substantial reward proposed to
them in the future. The first requisite for this purpose is a
distinct classification in the classical department for mathematics,
if not for history and modern languages. The second is the
establishment of scholarships, tenable in the classical department,
which the best boys from the other department might have a
chance of obtaining. The latter want has been to some exteat
recently met by the liberality of the present head-master in offer-
ing at his own expense two scholarships every year, of lOZ. a year
each, open to boys under 16, and tenable during the stay of the
holder at the school. One of these each year is to be given for
excellence in mathematics, in order to elicit talent from the
English school. This institution, which the Grovernors will pro-
bably put upon a permanent basis when the state of their
finances allows it, will serve the purpose at once of satisfying the
ambition of the boy who ventures, when old enough to go to
business, on a change of departments, and of taking him^ to some
extent, off his father's hands,

(S) Such a boy, however, will probably have no reason to
congratulate himself on his experiment if he fails ultimately to get
either an exhibition at the school or a scholarship at the University.
According to the present rule, the exclusion of mathematics
from the examination for exhibitions, will very likely prevent him
from getting the first, and the low standard of mathematics in the
school, which this exclusion causes, from getting the second. The
school has 10 exhibitions of 50?. a year, tenable for four years, at
Oxford and Cambridge, of which two or three are given away in
alternate years respectively. According to the scheme of 1829,
the examination is to be solely classical. The examiners are to
" report to the Governors the names of such boys, being candi-
" dates for exhibitions, as they shall find qualified to receive
" exhibitions, and shall arrange the names of the said candidates
" according to their respective excellence in classical learning."
The Governors are then to " give exhibitions to such of the boys
" as shall be reported qualified to hold the same, according to the
" order in which such boys shall be respectively classed by the
" examiners." * This rule is precisely carried out. It is true

* Another clause in the scheme of 1829 empowers the gOTernors to make fresh
statutes " touching the orders, goTernment, and direction of the head master and

Mr. Green's Report. 139

ihat in the case already mentioned, of the boy who began in the
English school and finally became fourth wrangler, some con-
sideration, as ,1 was told, was allowed to his mathematical exoel-
ience, without which, he would not have got an exhibition, but I
30uld:not iasoertain how this was managed, or that anything of
the: kind had been done before or since.. The result is very dis-^
30uraging to mathematical study,* and with it to, the prospects of
1 boy who transfers himself to-tJie classical department from' the
Srst class of the English.

As to> the evil of the above rule there is so much agreement
that it alone might have been expected to induce- the Governors
to apply for an alteration of the scheme, if other considerations
bad not interfered. There is not quite the same agreement as to -
the position which should be given to mathematics in .the final
examination. The head-master would wish them to > count to a
limited extent for all the exhibitions rather than that they should
bave a preference for any. This arrangement might be desirable
m generalgrounds, but the case of the boys transferred from the
English department would scarcely be met, unless, for an occasional ,
exhibition, at any rate, mathematical m6rit had the preference. .
[f the Governors were able so to increase the number of exhibi-i
;ions as to give away three every year, and if the same relative."
[^reference were given to mathematics t for one as to classiesMfor
:hc other two, none being purely either classical or mathematical,
;he several conditions of the problem might, perhaps, be satisfied.
Sufficient general encouragement would be given to mathematical
study to make the result more adequate to the time nominally
aestowed on it,$ and a boy from the English school who was-
^ood-, enough to get the mathematical , scholarship at 15, might
baye leasonable hope of obtaining at the end of his school-time
the means of access to the University.

I may be allowed here to express a hope that in the bestowal of
iny increase in the income of the school, the foundation of scholar-
ships tenable at the school,, and an addition to the number, if not
;o the value, of the exhibitions, will hold a considerable place.

' usher, and assistant and other masters, and the mode of education of the scholars
■- of the school, and of the exhibitions hereby directed to be established." This, I
uppose, is not to be understood as giving them power to piodify the rule with regard
exhibitions established by the same scheme.

* The only rewards which a mathematician in the classical school has to look to
re, (1) a yearly prize, called " The Albert," and (2) Lench's scholarship, consisting
if the income of 500Z. for four years. This being of such small value, so seldom
■acant, and requiring the holder to go to Oxford, is not of much use. No minimum
if attainment is fixed as the qualification for it, and the boy who last got it knew (as

was told) scarcely enough mathematics to pass the little go at Oxford.

r,t There would be a. further question as to the desirability of allowing physical

cience to count in the examination for the mathematical exhibition.

% Six hours a week are given to mathematics in the first class of the classical
iShool.yet last summer, as I understood, only four boys had got as far as trigonome-
;y.j Several pupils of the school, who have done well in mathematics in Cambridge^
ave left it for special mathematical teaching before going to Cambridge. This has
ertainly not been due to any want of ability and diligence in the mathematical
iaster,'l)ut to the system of the school.

C..C.3. M

liO Birmingham Free School.

This is the proper supplement to a general improvement in the
working and standard of the school. The number and value of
scholastic employments, to which the University is the introduc-
tion, is constantly increasing, and it may be hoped that^ before
long the expense of the University career itself will be diminished.
This being so, and considering the strong spirit of self-elevation
that is at work in the lower stratum of the middle class at Bir-
mingham, it is not too much to expect that, with a suflBcient pecu-
niary stimulus, the number of boys sent yearly from the Kinc
Edward's School to the University might shortly be doubled.
There can be no better employment of educational endowments
than as a balance, in the interest of learning, to the attractions of
money-making.
Proposed Although it would be possible to make the transition from one

remodell^ of department to the other more regular and easy by the means above
system. indicated, the separation of the two departments, as it at present

stands, must continue, I venture to think, a wasteful and incon-
venient one. As I have pointed out, there are many boys in ths
classical department who, looking to their future course of life,
should rather be in the English ; while on the other hand there jsf
and under any modification of the present system must remain, in
the English department, a good deal of talent that might have been
more adequately developed in the classical. At the same time there
are a certain number of boys who want an education less purely
adapted for Oxford and Cambridge than that given in the classical
department, but which yet should go further and have a more
special object than that given in the English department. This
want of adaptation, which involves a waste of power, might be
avoided by a scheme of the following kind. Let there be a com-
mon preparatory department, containing about 300 boys, and two
special departments containing about 200 between them. The pre-
paratory department should give the necessary "English educatio^^
and teach also Latin, French, and elementary mathematics. Of the
special departments one should set itself to prepare for the Univer-
sities ; the other, while keeping up Latin, should attend specially to
mathematics, physical science, and modern languages and litera-
ture. For each of these departments there should be an entrance
examination, open to boys of the preparatory department or of
any schools in the district, and one or two of the boys who did best
in this should be rewarded with a scholarship tenable in the special
department. The standard of this examination should be so fixed
that the cleverest of the boys from the preparatory department
should be able to pass it soon after the age of 13, the average
diligent boy not later than 15. For the university department it
should turn principally on Latin, with mathematics and Greek in-
subordination ; for the other, or " modern " department, mainly on
mathematics, with Latin and French in subordination. « EngM*
subjects might count in both. In order to prepare for it, boys in
the lower department, on reaching the higher classes, should be
allowed to learn Greek as a substitute for French.

This scheme would suppose that a good many bovs, who now

Mr. GreerCs Report. 141

enter the grammar school, should finish their education in the im-
proved and extended elementary schools. Of those who entered
the preparatory department a good many would not pass beyond
it, but would leave it for business at 15 or 16, having acquired in
it all the elementary knowledge necessary for their after life. Only
the better boys would emerge into the special departments, which
thus might be able to keep up a really high standard. The ad- Advantages of
vantages of such a scheme would be, (i), that it would enable *'"^'
the head-master to secure for his University department all the
boys likely to turn its education to account : (2), that in the
special modern department it would ;meet the wants at once of the
boys meant for business in the town, but whose parents are willing
to leave them at school beyond the usual age, and of those who
seek appointments at "Woolwich or as civil engineers; and, (3),
that it would enable the school, through its special departments,
to act itself as a local university to the whole district for which it
would be available as a day-school, which, probably, contains a
population of at least 800,000. Its difficulties would consist (1) Difficulties.
in the mixture in the lower department of boys more and less
genteel, and ;^2) in the postponement of Greek. As to the first,
it must be remembered that the scheme presupposes the absorption
by the elementary schools of the rougher element now found in
the English, and the lower region of the classical, school. As to
the second, it must be remembered that though the boys passed
up from the preparatory to the special University depart.nent
would begin Greek later than most boys do at Rugby or Win-
chester, they would presumably have had a more thorough elemen-
tary training, and would be, according to general testimony, more
capable of hard work. Such an arrangement is, probably, too re-
mote from the present one to meet with general acceptance, but it
was commended to my attention by men versed in education,
whose opinion is at least worth recording.

As to the " moral tone " of the school it is in the nature of the Moral tone.
case impossible to furnish precise information. I heard nothing
that led me to suppose that there was anything serious to com-
plain of in the moral state of the boj'S. Among some of them,
however, there is no doubt a good deal of roughness of language
and manner, and cases of pilfering sometimes occur, but I found
that professional men of the town who would be particular in such
matters sent their sons to the school with perfect confidence,
trusting to instinct to keep them from mixing with unmannerly
boys, and instructing them not to loiter in the streets on their
way home. Such faults as there are in the moral state of the
school are clearly due in great measure to its situation in the
middle of a great town, on the streets of which the boys are
turned directly they escape from their lessons. It would be a Means of
great advantage in this respect if a common dining hall were '^P^'o^^S
established for tlie use of such boys as live too far from the school
to go home between morning and afternoon lessons. Such boys Dining hall.
are numerous, and either they must get their dinner at taverns
aUd cookshops to the detriment alike of their manners and diges-

M 2

142

Birmingham Free School.

Library.

Playground.

Situation of
school.

Its evils.

tions, or their parents must at some expense and inconvenience;
engage a room for them in the town to which they may resort at-
midrday. This is done to my knowledge by careful parentst
having several sons at the school, but it is difficult to manage 'in .
the case of a single boy, and many are probably on this ground
sent to boarding schools in preference to the grammar school. h-

Another beneficent institution on moral, no less than on intel-'
lectual grounds, would be the establishment of a good readings
room and library in the precincts of the school. According to m-
ordinance of the year 1838, the governors resolved to "appro-'
" priate annually a sum not exceeding 200Z. towards the purchase
" of books for a school library." This resolution, ho-wever,'doe8i
not seem ever to have been acted upon. At present there iS a
small library kept up by subscription, managed and mainly used
by the upper boys of the classical school, but it is not calculated,
to be of much use to the school generally. Many of the boys it
must be remembered have not only no access to books, but very-
little opportunity for private reading, at home. By taking the
necessary steps they can, it is true, obtain books from the libraries-
in the town, which are very good, but this implies a certain
amount of forethought which is not always to be expected from
a boy. What is wanted is a large room contiguous to the school
well supplied . with books of reference and illustration, where the
boys might be allowed, under conditions, to sit as much as they
liked, and whence they might take books home in the evening,-:
Such an institution would do a great deal both to keep the boyw
from loitering in the streets, and to give them a taste for reading.
It might in time also become a centre for literary or debating
societies among' past or present pupils of the school.

So long as the school remains where it is, the want of an
adjacent playground must always be a serious one. As it isj
there is a large open yard at the back of the school in which'
the boys can knock about during any break in the lessons, but
the field, which is rented by the governors for cricket and other
games, is three miles off, and the majority of the boys make no
use of it. It is in fact only available for those boys who live on
the side of the town where it is situate. The cricket club is now
less exclusive than formerly, and includes 100 boys, mostly of the
classical department. There is also a rifle corps of 80. Manf
of the boys, however, get little exercise during the greater part
of the year, except by walking between school and home, and un-
doubtedly suffer in consequence ; as some of them told me, they
had tried going to the cricket ground, but found themselves tired
before getting there.

Another result, evil or otherwise, of the situation of the school-
is the difficulty which is becoming an impossibility of attracting*
boarders to it. According to the scheme, the head-master is;
entitled to take 18 boarders, the second master 12, On Mr,
Hutchinson's resignation of the second mastership, as has beea
already stated, the second master's house, which there was little
prospect henceforth of filling with boarders, was converted to

Mr. Green's Beport. 143

school uses, r The head-master last summer had still 10 boarders,
but these were only the remains of the lot which he brought with
him on his appointment. He did not expect to replace them, and
, as sanitary reasons have compelled him to transfer his wife and
• family to a country house, where he himself generally sleeps,

■ it is not likely that he will.

i,e The absence of boarders is regarded with different feelings by
different people. By some their presence was always regarded

■ Wth jealousy; by others, and those, I think, more intimately
acquainted with the school, they were reckoned a very valuable
ielement. I could not asceirtain that there had generally been
■ill-feeling; between them and the other boys, and they have been
'.useful as taking the lead in the establishment of common games,
and as. forming a means of communication on minor matters
between the master and the school If they are still to be retained,
supposing the; school to cohtioiue in the middle of the town, either
the head-master with his family must reside there too,* which I
have good medical authority for pronouncing most undesirable, or
they must live with the head-master in the suburbsj and come in
with him to school, which is a very awkward arrangement.- Either
•way, as they are ineUgible for exhibitions, there would in these '
days be very little attraction, for them. Unless the terms charged
for them were rather high they would not under the circumstances
.be remunerative. If the prospect of obtaining them were defi-
nitely abandoned, the accommodation now provided for them in
the head-master'^s house might be made available for additional
plass-rooms, which are much required, or for. lodgings for some

of the under masters. The above evils, resulting from the
present situation of the , school, have led several persons of judg-
ment to desire its removal. The present building they would
.either, sell, and it might be sold at an immense price, or give up to
;the English department, according to the original scheme of 1829.
,The higher department they would transfer to the suburbs. Such Its advantages,
a, transfer would doubtless have many advantages, but it would be
regarded, I think, with jealousy in the town, and would very
likely provoke opposition to the measures which 1 have spoken of
as desirable for the purpose of raising the standard, of the school,
especially to the exaction of fees. Its advantages would be dearly
purchased at the loss of that universal availability which belongs
to the school as it now stands. No other situation could be any
thing like so central, or so accessible by railway. Already a large
number of boys come in by rail every morning, and if the school
•came to draw on a larger district in the way previously suggested,
its neighbourhood to .the central station would become of still
greater importance.

The character of the present building is too well known to
require description or criticism. Though excellent of its kind, it

, * A master living at the school -would have to send his children two mUes in a
carriage or cab before they could reach a place fit for them to walk in. The atmo-
sphere about the school is charged ■with smoke to a degree very trying to certain
constitutions.

144

Birmingham Free School.

Good state of
the school in
classics.

It does not
send in for
"middle class
examinations.'

is not sufficient for present purposes, on the grounds already
mentioned.

Having Lad occasion to notice certain shortcomings in the
operation of the school, the result not at all of individual neglect,
but of a system inadequate in some respects to present require-
ments, I am glad to remark finally on the excellence of the
general teaching as evinced by the examination in which I took
part last midsummer. On this in other branches I have already
spoken, but the state of the classical teaching in the upper classes
has yet to be noticed. There was unmlstakeable evidence that
this had been most careful and eifective, and there was promise of
its bearing fruit in the good scholarship of the exhibitioners for
two or three years to come. The candidates for exhibitions for
1865 were a very fair set, and very well up in their work. Three
of them at least might have a good chance of a first class at
Oxford, if they went there, but several of those who meant to stay
another year at school were distinctly better, and there were
some, not more than 16 years old, who showed great promise.*

Some remark has been occasioned by the very small show
which Birmingham makes in the Oxford local examination lists,
and which is due no doubt to the abstention from the examination
of the boys in the grammar school. The head-master puts no
impediment in the way of their going in, but he does not encou-
rage it, and in consequence both boys and parents think the school
examinations enough. In 1865 not a single boy from the gram-
mar school entered the " local examination." The reason urged
for this abstention is that on the one hand the school can supply
competition enough within its own limits, so that there is no
object in seeking it outside ; and that, on the other hand, it is
undesirable to conform the course of instruction given in the
school to that virtually prescribed by the Oxford examination,
while without such conformity success adequate to the position
of the school cannot be obtained. The examination for juniors
it is said, is adapted to the case of boys v\rho leave school at the
age of 15, while the course of instruction in the English depart-
ment is meant for boys who stay (as only a minority do stay) to
the age of 16. The preparation for the examination, moreover,
would involve the special " cramming " in certain subjects of
certain boys, which would interfere with the general working of
the school. How far these reasons ought to weigh against the
desirability of maintaining the chai-acter of the local examinations,
and of affording the public some recognized and independent test
of the result of education in the grammar school, it is not for
me to decide.

In conclusion I must express my obligations to all connected
with the grammar school, and to all with whom I came in contact
in the town, for the readiness with which they have facilitated my

* I am glad to find this observation, made in 1865, confirmed hy the number of
open scholarships— four, I think, at Oxford alone— ^vhioh have been o-ot by boys
from Kmg I'.dward s School during the spring and summer of 1867

Mr. Green's Report. 145

inquiries. It was a great advantage to me to meet with so much
intelligent opinion on education, as I found at Birmingham.
Among all classes there is a general pride in the school, a general
admission of the benefits which it has conferred on the town, due
in great measure to the judgment of the governors in their
selection of head-masters, and a general desire to maintain or
elevate its character as a place of high education. As was remarked
to me by one of the leading " school reformers," before there can
be any wide spread desire for University education in the Birming-
ham district, the grammar school itself must act as a university to
the district. With its magnificent endowment, this is not at all
too high a position for its attainment, if it will apply its wealth
to stimulate, rather than to supersede, the educational effort of
others.

146

GENERAL EEEOET.

Grammar
schools fall
into two
groups.

Income of
each.

Standard of
education in
the first.

I. Liberal.

The grammar schools of Staffordshire and Warwickshire —
excluding that at Birminghatn, which, as essentially differen'c'ed
from the rest by the greatness of its endowment and 'the populatiofl
which it serves, has been treated of in a separate report— fall
naturally into two groups, according as they do or do not profess
to give an education definitely higher than that given in elemen-
tary schools for the poor. Those which do make this profession
are, of course, generally to be found in towns ; those which do
not, in villages. The' gross annual income from endowments of
schools of the former class in the two counties is now, according
to the best calculation I can make, 8,173Z., of which 4,590l
belongs to schools (14 in number) in Staffordshire, 3,583/. to
schools (nine in number) in Warwickshire. To this should be
added a further annual sum of 460/. appropriated to exhibi-
tioners at the Universities. This sum benefits the county of
Warwick alone, 235/. of it belonging to the grammar school at
Coventry, 195/. to that at Warwick, 30/. to that at Stratford-
on-Avon. Staffordshire has no exhibitions, except one at Walsall,
representing the interest on less than 700/., which has not been
in existence long enough to have produced any effect. The gross
annual income from endowments of grammar schools of the latter
class is now 1,295/., of which 1,123/. belongs to those (nine in
number) in Staffordshire, 172/. to those (three in number) in
Warwickshire. The population of the two counties, after sub-
traction of those who may be reckoned as served by the gram-
mar school at Birmingham, is about 900,000.

It will be well, in the first place, to state the general result of
my inquiries as to the existing standard of education ia the
grammar schools, which, in the case of the first of the above-
mentioned groups, will fall under two heads— (I.) liberal, (11.)
commercial, education. On the necessary elements of a commer-
cial, or clerk's education— that sort of education which is generally
requisite for one who has to make money by other than manual
labour-— I have spoken in my report on the Birmingham schools,
(p. 105). By a liberal education I understand everything beyond
these necessary elements, whether it be sought for with a view to
a university career, or to the " liberal " professions, or for its
own sake.

(I.) The channels by which this education is imparted at the
grammar schools are still chiefly the Latin and Greek lano-uao-es

. ' . Mr. GreerCs Report. 147

and mathematics. There were only, one or two schools at which ■•''■

I found" lessons given either in < English history and literature, r,.'

or in the French language, or in chemistry, in such a way as to ..•>.-[:■.:'

have much educational effect. ■ As a general rule the knowledge

of Latin- in: a grammar school is the measure of attainment in all )'-'■

other subjeotsj According to the ordinary classification; then, Knowledge of

which is -determined- mainly by proficiency in Latin, there were ff *J,'' V* ^''^

•at the time of my inquiry in the several -first, classes' of those classes.

schools im the two counties, at which the teaching of Latin is

anything more than a profession, 69 boys. From thig number I

-should strike oif 1-2 as obviously unfit to be classed along with

the rest;. On the other hand about 40- may be added from classes

nominally below the fifst at certain schoolsi, as on an average up

to the level of the first groiip^ which is thus raised to 97 (69 — 12

+ 40). -These 97 are, of course, of various degrees of attain- ■ ■ r

ment, but besides lihem I can say with some confidence there

are nonein the schoo-ls which I examined^ who with any amount

of time allowed and with unlimited use of the dictionary, would

make out for themselves with decent correctness an or43inary

passage of Cicero or Virgil.. The power of translation into Latin

I found almost universally below that of translation from it, and

the knowledge of Greek lower in proportion to the Latin than it

would be at an ordinary " public school."

This may naturally be thought a poor result froqi cbarita/ble
endowments, producing more than 8,d00L a year, which were given
for, and are still professedly applied to the purpose of teaching
Latin. Nor will such an impression be lessened by the considera-
tion that,- small as is the number of those who attain the general
standard specified above,- hardly any either go beyond it at present, '

or are likely to do so in the future. Of the whole number not Comparison'' '
more than four would-be qualified in knowledge of Latin for the "withKugby.
6th form at Rugby. Another 12 might by the same test befitted
for the upper or lower 5th in that school. The rest would range
from the " upper middle "to the " shell, " i.e. they would in no
case have less than five forms and 200 boys above them. Again,
it was quite the exception to hear of boys near the top of their
respective schools who were likely either to stay much longer
where they were or to seek higher education elsewhere. At "^^y ^°y^
Warwick (which has exhibitions) there was one boy intending to ^°™^ ^°^
go to the University. At Coventry, which is similarly provided,
there were two such ; and another, the most promising in the school,
who was only prevented from aiming at the University by the cir-
cumstance of his being a Dissenter. Of the upper boys at Bre-
wood there were some six, and a like number at Atherstone and
Wolverhampton respectively, who might be expected to stay lono-
enough at school to become fair scholars. The same might be said
of one boy at Stratford, and another at Sutton- Coldfield. At
Lichfield were two or three promising boys, likely to go on to
other schools. Probably Stafford might furnish a few more of the
same kind, but there T had not an ojiportunity of gaining exact

148

Counties of Stafford and Warwicli,

Most have
come to the
end of their
tether.

Standard in
other things.

Mathematics.

Prench.

English.

Causes of the
above short-
comings.

What the
remedy is not.

Not the aban-
donment of
Latin.

Controversy

"between

" words " and

" things " does

notarise till

later.

information.* Altogether not more than 30 of the 97 could be
expected to rise considerably beyond their present standard of
attainment. Of these 30, again, not more than half would be likely
to find their way to any university.

The amount of "liberal" education conveyed through the
classics having been thus roughly estimated, the next question is.
What is done by other studies to supplement it? As regards
mathematics, I only found five grammar schools, viz., Stratford,
Warwick, Coventry, Stafford, and Brewood, in which any one was
reading anything beyond Euclid and elementary algebra, and at
only one of these — Brewood — is the mathematical standard rela-
tively higher than the classical. The five schools together would
not furnish more than 12 boys who had gone so far as plane
trigonometry, and of the rest of the 97 but a small minority had
been over six books of Euclid. As to knowledge of French I
cannot speak precisely, but I set or saw translations from French
into English at all the schools where I understood that it was
made much of, and if 20 were taken as the number of those in all
the schools who could translate a passage from an ordinary French
writer for themselves, so as at all to understand it, the allowance
would be a liberal one. At Brewood and Coventry, and at those
schools only, (to the best of my knowledge,) lessons are given in
history and English literature of a kind which can be reckoned
to contribute to liberal education. These schools together might
produce about 10 boys having an intelligent interest in English
literature, and a knowledge of history that would be likely to
continue with them. Chemistry is studied to some purpose by a
few boys at Walsall and Stafford.

In considering the probable causes and possible remedies of the
short-coming above delineated, it will be best to begin with a
process of exclusion. Observation of the present working of
grammar schools and intercourse with their teachers lead me
distinctly to the result that a remedy is not to be found either in
a radical change of the subjects of instruction, or in new methods
of teaching as distinct from a greater general effectiveness on the
part of the teachers. u

The question between classical and other methods of education, |;;
and between the English and continental systems of teaching
classics, is doubtless of great importance in its bearing on the
upper classes of the great schools and on the Universities.
Through them (as will afterwards be pointed outf) it has an
indirect bearing on the condition of grammar schools. But it is
most important to notice that the boys in the grammar schools of
which I am speaking — even the select 97 — have not reached the
stage at which the controversy of systems can rationally be raised, ;
When a boy has got that acquaintance with gramn\atical forms,
without which he cannot speak or write any languao-e, even his

"■ The master of the Stafford school— not, I am sure, from any fear of the
result, but on prniciple -declined to allow of my examining any of his boys.
He sent me, ho^^yever a budget of papers which some of them had done for him,

t bee pages 163, 1/2, and 1/9.

3Ir. Greenes Report. 149

own, with more than accidental correctness ; when he has learnt
to appreciate other distinctions than those which can be directly
seen, and smelt, and handled; when ho has become capable of
inference in regions besides those of profit and loss ; when he has
leaj-nt the difference between the word that first occurs to him and
the right word ; then a serious question arises as to the parts
which the acquisition of positive knowledge and of skill in the use
of words should severally fill in his education. The grammar-
school boy, however, nearly always disposes of the qviestion by
leaving school as soon as — often before — he has received the pre-
liminary mental training without which neither real knowledge
nor literary skill can be acquired at all.

The primary question, then, is, how boys of the sort frequent- Difficulty in
ing the lesser grammar schools can be brought in larger numbers grammar
and at an earlier age to the level which is now only attained reaching the
by the highest class at the best of them, and at which liberal stage at which
education can first be said properly to begin. The apparently "'iteral"
short cut to this end — of substituting modern languages for an i,e„ins.
ancient one, and botany or chemistry for grammar — would be
found, I think, a longer road. Setting aside for the present This won't he
deficiences on the part of the teacher, the real difficulties which reached sooner

*■ DV fflVlDlT Up

have to be met on the part of the taught are an absence of Latin.

intellectual interest, an incapacity for intellectual effort, and an

obtuseness to distinctions of thought. Either the proposed

" modern " curriculum would appeal to the same intellectual

interest, and exact the same effort and refinement of intellect as

the present classical one, or it would not. If it would, it would

meet with the same passive resistance as the present ; if it would

not, to adopt it would be not to overcome existing difficulties, but

to acquiesce in them. Whether, in any case, such acquiescence Why not.

may be necessary, is a further question ; but it is inconsistent

with the attainment of the object here under consideration.

It will be well, however, to consider more in detail in what the
" modern " education at a grammar school might consist. The
study of the English language, philologically, is clearly beyond
the grammar school level. To be pursued to any purpose it pre-
supposes the possession of just that intellectual apparatus which
it is our problem to supply. The study of English literature, Why studyof
again, though most valuable under a good teacher to boys who ^"Slisli ••^orCt
have reached the stage at which those in question leave off, is
impossible till the power of appreciating language other than that
of common life has been attained. When professedly adopted in
"middle schools," it consists, so far as I have observed, in
cramming "manuals," which dispose of Milton in a couple of
pages, with an enumeration of his works, the dates of their
publication, and a few stock criticisms which have no more mean-
ing to a boy than an account of the pictures in the Academy to one
who has never seen a work of art. History and geography, as why that of
ordinarily taught, by the almost uniform confession of the teachers Mstory and
serve merely to exercise the memory. Their educational value &^°S^^^^y-
(and this is itself a drawback) depends solely on the spirit with

ISO

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Why that of

English

Grammar.

Why that of

modern

languages.

Why that of

physical

science.

which they are taught ; but at best, studied as a boy must study
them, they do nothing to elicit the faculties of inference ; nor
can they take much real hold on those who are wholly witihout
political knowledge or interest. English grammar is very properly
taught for practical purposes to boys not habituated to speak and
read English correctly at home, but as an instrument of iibferal
education it seems comparatively poor. If taught philosopbicaily
it at once runs up into logic, out of the reach of the uncultivated
schoolboy. As taught in the ordinary empirical way, it does not
serve the purpose of Latin. It is the degree to which the learning
of Latin requires a perception of difference between words and
phrases apparently alike, and of equivalence between those
apparently unlike, that gives it at once its value and its un-
pleasantness. English grammar, on the other hand, having few
inflections, and being (in greater or less degree) native to the
learner;; does little to stir the faculties of discrimination and com-
parison out of that "stark and dead eongealment " which binds
the average intellect of the ^ grammar school. I cannot reeaiH a
single instance of a school where Latin grammar was well and
systematically taught, and English only casually, in which
English grammar itself was not better understood than in those
where it was systematically taught and Latin grammar excep-
tionally.* The same remarks apply in a modified degree to
the juvenile study of French. They are probably- a g^od deal
• less applicable to German, but just in so far as the learning of
German is more difficult and less generally recognized as of
practical utility, the popular objection to it will be the greater.
At present, outside of Birmingham, (where it is taught both at
the . grammar school and the proprietary school,) German is not
taught at any school in the two counties, so far as I know, except
the Leamington College, which is frequented by boys of a higher
grade socially than those who commonly go to a grammar school,
and the Brewood Gramma,r School, where it is not made much of.*
There remain the physical sciences. Of their educational value
I speak with the diffidence proper to one who has no thorough
-acquaintance with them. This value, it must be noticed, is only
in question with regard to boys in that state in which to construe
a few sentences in Csssar and to learn Euclid is a serious difiiculty.
I will not dispute that even to boys in this state those less abstract
branches of physical science, siich as botany and physiologj,
which I presume can alone be within their reach, may be tauglrt
in such a way as to afford an equal mental discipline with Latin
grammar and_ construing. If so taught, however, they will be
equally objectionable. It is only because, as ordinarily taught,
they do not require the same effort of abstraction from sense as
the elements of Latin, only because they appeal more directly to
eye and ear instead of thought, that they are more popular subjects.

* It should be remembered, howevei-, that the boys in schools of the former
kmd, bemg mostly of a higher social grade than those in the latter were pre-
sumably more accustomed to correct grammatical speech. > . . ,

t The merest beginnings of German grammar are taught at Wolverhampton.

Mr. GreerCs Report. 1 5 1

'■' -TheTinost sufiicient gi-ound, -I believe, oa-wluGh the substitution
of physical science or modern languages for Latin in the grammar
schools can be urged, is as a compromise. Admitting, it may be
*iid, that they are an Inferior educational organ, yet they are more
popular with boys and parents', as at once more easy and more
available in practical life. Since classical studies are confessedly,
abandoned by all but a very few in the grammar schools before
they harVe been carried far enough to be of much value on their
own account, might it not be well to adopt other studies, which,
will attract a larger number, be pursued with more zeal, and ' ;

which, hoWeveri inferior in absolute value, a good teacher may yet
turti to account' as instruments of true mental cultivation?

Thcinotion tha,t 'parents of the' " middle class " have a distinct what parents
preference for " modern " subjects as against Latin, is apt to be think of the
far too readily accepted. To most of them, as has been pointed ^t^^es™"
out elsewhere, the prospect of a modern, as distinct from a mere jg^ parents
elerKs, education proving of ! practical value is far too remote to of higher
haV-e much influeiiice. In the iron and pottery districts, I heard of '^°°?™^''''*^^
3*: few fboys for whom a knowledge of modem languages was
necessary, and who went abroad— generally either to Switzerland
or Germany — at considerable expense to obtain it. These would
be boys who were expected to become the managing men in large
establishments. As such, they were presumably born in wealth, - --o

and therefore of a class which, as things go, prefers a- distant ■'

hoarding school to a local grammar scliool. At any. rate their
parents were of a kind who could so well afford to leave them at
school for a year or two after they were 15,. in ■ order to learn
modern languages, that they could supply no argument for
changing the system of education for boys under 15. Their case
would be met by a system of bi-furcation after that stage had been
reached, to which the shortest way is now being considered.' The
notion, however, of a possible utility of an acquaintance with
French and German is no doubt beginning to reach a less wealthy
class. In the iron district, particularly, enough instances occur of
such an acquaintance being turned to account, or the want of it
being felt, to make the smaller manufacturers alive to its impor-
tance. Since the conclusion of the commerciak treaty with France,
I'was told, French teaching was sensibly in more demand.

How this demand is to be met I shall consider more in detail
under the head of Commercial Education.* If a parent, howevei-,
found that a boy who learnt French on a basis of Latin knew as
much of it at the age of 15 as one, who learnt French only, knew at
14, he would generally have enough vague reverence for the classics
about him to prefer the former result to the latter. The former is
one whitih a well-managed grammar school may certainly secure ;
nor if it turns fairly to account the advantages which an endow-
ment gives it, need it ever lose a boy worth having to the
private academy on the ground of its insisting on Latin as pre-
liminary to modern languages. Those' only will. be lost to* whom

* See pacre 191.

132

Counties of Staffqrd and Warwick.

2ndly, parents
of lower
commercial
rank.

Latin not
necessarily
an offence
to them.

Instance from
Handswortli.

Causes of
popularity
of this
school.

the knowledge of a modern language happens to be necessary, and
whose early education has been so neglected as to make _ the
shortest road to it the only practicable one. Towards chemistry
the ordinary parental feeling is much the same as towards French
or German, only that the cases where a school knowledge of it is
of direct utility in business are more exceptional, while a practical
acquaintance with it is more easily acquired in the shop.

It cannot be too strongly insisted on, however, that to that class
of parents which forms the main constituency of the grammar
school, the shopkeepers and small manufacturers, the " modern"
subjects are matter of equal indifference with the classical. What
they want for their sons is an education which will qualify them
for business, i.e., which will enable them to read, write, do accounts,
and compose an ordinary letter — in the most compendious possible
way. It is for this they send them to private commercial schools
at 4Z. or Ql. a year. The aversion to the grammar school has
arisen not from its teaching Latin, but from its failing to teach
writing and arithmetic, or at any rate to teach them expeditiously.
Let these be properly attended to, and the commercial parent,
though he may object to the addition of anything else as loss of
time, had as lief the addition be of Latin as of French or chemistry.

That to require the learning of Latin is not to alienate parents of
the trading class is shown by the success of the "Bridge-Trust''
school at Handsworth. This was started about three years ago
for the benefit of the shopkeepers and lesser iron-masters of the
neighbourhood, and on this class it has continued almost solely
to draw. Greek is not attempted in it, but Latin is part of its
regular system, and has a good deal of time given to it by all the
boys above the one or two lower classes. French is taught also,
but is quite secondary, the master considering it his first business
to make the Latin standard decently high. When I was there,
the knowledge of Latin was relatively higher than that of French,
which even the upper boys had only learnt for a short time. Yet
this school got nearly 150 boys within a year of its foundation
and could get many more if it had room. Charging 4Z. a year, it
is hardly at all cheaper than the private schools to which the boys
whom it attracts would otherwise go ; yet it has driven aU the
private schoolmasters of the neighbourhood from the field. This
success I believe, apart from the great merits and popular qualities
of its master, it owes to two causes. It has what almost every
town grammar school with proper management might have — a
good building and playground ; and it provides adequately for
what the parents really want and understand — good writing,
arithmetic, and drawing. One or two parents, having sons there,
expressed to me a hesitating desire for rather more French and
less Latin ; but this objection did not interfere with their general
satisfaction, and will probably vanish, if they find, as they will
when the school has had time to develope its system, that their
sons know French as well in the long run as if they learnt it at a
" modern" forcing establishment, though at the cost of waiting
rather longer for it.

Mr. Green's Report. 153

Finally, on the parental side of the question it is to be remarked, Parents who
that there are certain persons — few in number but the salt of their really thirst
class — to whom a local grammar school in which classics and
mathematics are taught affords the sole means of obtaining that '^^^"^ '^^ "®"
education for their sons, which they definitely desire. Such are
the poorer clergy, dissenting ministers, and the better sort of pri-
vate and Government schoolmasters. Even a small country town
is seldom without them. They are the hills and trees which break
the monotonous level of commercial intelligence. Several such
men are definitely before my mind when I say that they desire
rather more than less of the classical element in the grammar
school education, by which alone they can hope to push their sons
a little higher up the intellectual ladder, of which they have
themselves mounted the first step. In itself, the rational desire
of one such father is surely more to be esteemed than the utili-
tarian instinct of ninety-and-nine practical persons, who want no
learning.

As with the parents, so with the boys. A change of system why boys
would be to sacrifice the few who want to learn to the many who prefer
don't. The modern languages and " sciences'" are doubtless more g^^fgcts'^
acceptable to the majority of boys than Latin and Greek, but for
the simple reason that they are easier. To the mature student of Evils of
physical science, who applies to his subject the same method and ^ejding *"
intensity which the student of language or metaphysic applies to fgren,^.
his, it is of course an equal discipline, but by the universal testi-
mony of schoolmasters it is just because, as taught to boys, it does
not exact the same method and intensity that it is preferred by
them ; nor does it imply any disrespect to the study to suppose
that it would gain little by the unreasonable service of those who
want either the capacity or the diligence to write a Latin exercise
without violation of .the concords. The substitution of it, no less It means a
than that of modern languages, for Latin would be to acquiesce in lower standard
a distinctly lower intellectual standard, and that not for the majority
of boys only, but for all. A small grammar school cannot work Why for all.
effectively a system of alternative studies, save within very narrow
limits. It has not the necessary staff for the purpose, and the
exceptional study is sure to be neglected. Thus the abandonment
of Latin for the majority would ultimately involve its virtual
abandonment for the few. This, I believe, for reasons above
indicated, would be a definite loss to the best boys, and would be
no equivalent gain to the ordinary run, who would get no more
real culture out of the new studies than out of the old, and would It would seal
lose that beneficial consciousness of their own inferiority which is ^i''°''<!6 of
induced by contact with a study, to them disagreeably difficult. fchoTfrom
It woiild also finally seal the divorce of the grammar school from university.
the University. It would do this in two ways, by its action both
on masters and on boys. The present head-masters of grammar
schools in the towns are almost always graduates of Oxford or
Cambridge, and on the present system rationally so. If active and
interested in their work, as they always Avould be if the system of
paying them were put on a better footing, they teach elementary

154-

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Evils of this
result in
regard (1) to
masters, (2)
to boys.

Keal reasons
of defects of
grammar
schools.

Why don't
more go to
them.
Position of
masters.

No pecuniary
stimulus to
popularity.

Former
reasons for
snuhhing
town-boys.

classics and mathematics better than any one else would, and
better than they would themselves teach anything else. What
they have themselves learnt as boys, they can teach to boys, . But
on the ':' modern " system, unless the old universities, with the,
schools which mainly feed them, also modernize themselves, their,
<rraduates will be out of place in the provincial grammar schooL
Their best men, indeed, if they applied themselves to the " modjern "
subjects, might perhaps teach them better than any one else, but:
it is only graduates of the second rank that the provincial grammar,
schools can command. Such men in teaching the modern subjects,
having no longeJJ the advantage of teaching what they have them-
selves been drilled in from boyhood, would probably do their •work.
t)ut poorly, and would gradually be superseded by men trained to
the business, of the stamp of the better kind of certificateeaton, in
the same month, there were only 25 boys, divided into two
departments, only six being under the head master. Of these six
only one was up to the mark of the second class at Atherstone.
Of the 19 in the lower department only one or two were likely
ever to pass in the upper, and to the rest the " higher learning "
could not be said to be within reach. The superiority of Ather-
stone in numbers is certainly not due to its " modernizing " the
style of education, for this would be inconsistent with its superiority

Causes of
success of
Atherstone.

Mr. Greenes Report. 159

in quality, and as will be noticed elsewhere,* English subjects are
perhaps unduly neglected there, nor, though it so happens that an
unusual proportion of the middling families of the town have sons
of an age to go to school, will this really explain the difference
in the face of Nuneaton's larger population. The true account of
its excellence is to be found in the spirit shown by the trustees in
building, in the active encouragement which, being residents in
the town, they have given to the school, and especially in the
energy of the late master in getting hold of and pushing forward
boys. As good as Atherstone is, every grammar school in a
country town, having an equal endowment, might with energetic
management become.

(3.) The next general causes to be reckoned under (a) are the
general preference of boarding schools to day schools, and the
unwillingness of professional and commercial parents generally to
use the town grammar school. The first of these causes depends
greatly on the second, but so far as it rests on other grounds it
may be considered separately.

The preference for large boarding schools is partly simple Preference of
fashion. It goes along with that reverence for the conventional gg^o™^
character of the English gentleman, which is obtruded on us in Reasons of
all the literature of the day, and which in various graduations of tl»is.
form has worked itself down through all classes of society above Pashion.
the shopkeeper. This character large boarding schools are rightly
thought to have special means of generating. They foster an
early susceptibility to the club-law of honour ; form habits of ready
address towards equals and of contempt towards " those that are
without ;" lead to the concealment, if not to the suppression, of
egotism and self-conceit in ordinary companionship ; and by their
organization of games develope a muscular bearing suitable to
such a temper. This being a result now recognized as valuable,
each class seeks after it according to its means and standard, and
in the circulars of private schools one finds its production adver-
tized at a surprisingly low figure. There are more tangible Boarding
reasons, however, for the popularity of boarding schools, which school saves
were frequently brought under my notice, and are connected with r^^°*^ "'°" ^■
the stress of occupation among men of business. Outside the
homes of the less distracted ministers of religion, there is scarcely
a father to be found who knows anything about or takes any prac-
tical interest in the education of his sons. The man of business
leaves home after breakfast, and when he returns for a late dinner
or tea, he likes his son to be jocose and companionable, but not
to bother him about lessons. The mother and sisters, however
desirous they may be for the boy's intellectual distinction in the
abstract, have seldom strength of mind to check his readiness to
take part in any social amusement that may be going on. The
consequence is that he does next to nothing at home, and there is
not enough competition to stimulate him much in the local day-
school. Meanwhile he is very likely forming acquaintances in the

'* See page 187.

160

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Beasons why

professional

men don't use

grammar

school.

Gratuitous

entry.

Instances.
Coventry.

WalsaU.

Nuneaton,

Charging fees
does not set
things right.
Instances.
Burton.

Newcastle.
Warwick.

neighbourhood which his parents think socially and morally ob-
jectionable, and becoming rather disagreeable in his domestic
relations. A sovereign remedy for this mischief is thought to
be his migration to a boarding schooL Here greater competition
and the supervision of the master in the evenings may make him
more studious, though I doubt whether they generally do so. At
any rate, disagreeable connexions are broken, the family is free
from responsibility, and the boy is more acceptable to his home,
and his home to the boy, when he returns to it for the holidays.
No better than these are the general grounds ' for preferring a
boarding school, as such. Both professional and commercial
parents, however, often choose it because it supplies something
which they want, and which cannot be supplied at the grammar
school.

(4.) At most of the schools that I visited the absence of sons of
professional men was very, remarkable. On the whole, it was
most conspicuous in those schools where no fees are charged, and
which consequently are apt to have their lower classes filled with
boys who, in respect both of birth and of capacity for learning,
had better be in a national school. At the Coventry school (serving
a population of 40,000), which has the attraction of good exhibi-
tions (though awkwardly limited *), and a master well able to give
the highest education, there was scarcely a single son of a pro-
fessional man in the upper classes. Here the almost gratuitous
admission of sons of freemen — they pay SO*, a year — and the
unsuitable situation of the school, must be borne in mind. At
Walsall school,f where admission is wholly gratuitous, and where
the boys of the lower department, who learn neither Latin nor
Euclid, partly use the same school-room, though not the same
playground, as the rest, there were only two or three sons of pro-
fessional men out of more than 100, and I ascertained that parents
of this sort generally objected to use the school on account of the
company. The objection, I understood, had not been so strong
some years ago, when the two departments were taught in separate
parts of the town. At Nuneaton school, where there are no fees,
was only one son of a professional man, and he, I was told, was
the first who had been there for years. "Where fees are charged,
however, the evil continues, though not quite to the same extent.
At Burton a division of departments has been introduced, for the
first of which 7Z. a year is charged, yet the professional class was
represented in it by the sons of a single family. Here the entire
want of playground, and the supposed unhealthiness of situation,
are drawbacks. At Newcastle, where there are similar objections
in aggravated degree, the professional men seemed to have quite
given up using the grammar school. At the Warwick school fees
are charged, the master is thoroughly able to give the best educa-
tion for the Universities, and there are three exhibitions of 65/.

* See page 173.

t The endowment is 1,000Z. a year gross.

The population 39,000.

Mr. Greeds Report. 161

a year eaqh.* The school, moreover, is accessible as a day-school
not merely to the covmty town, but to the whole of Leamington.
It has more sons of professional parents relatively to its whole
number (44) than the schools previously mentioned, but still
a very scant supply considering how many might come, and that
the course of instruction is more adapted for them than it is in
most grammar schools. Here again want of playground and bad Four schools
situation are to be noticed. Only at four schools of those I visited, po^^on^of sons
viz., Lichfield, Brewood, Atherstone, and Sutton-Coldfield, did of professiooai
the professional class seem adequately represented. At Lichfield, gentlemen,
the endowment being scanty, the fee charged on the ordinary
scholars is high enough to exclude the lower rank of commercial
hoys, who resort either to a private, or to a very good endowed
elementary school, in the city. Brewood and Sutton-Coldfield
have both considerable attractions in the way of building and play- Reasons in
ground, and both are in repute as boarding schools. At Brewood each case,
the boarders form two-thirds, at Sutton-Coldfield one-third, of the
entire school. At the former, " English " subjects certainly re-
ceive a full share of attention ; at the latter, though I do not
mean to imply that they are neglected, yet the system of the
school is rather laid out with reference to the wants of professional
men, and there is a private commercial academy in the town
which seems to flourish in numbers. At Atherstone, as I have
said before, every boy of every class that can in any sense be
reckoned fit for the grammar school goes to it. Almost the best
hoys in the school last year were severally sons of an exciseman and
a gardener, while all the sons of professional men in the town, who
were of fit age, were in attendance. I thought here, however,
that, though the general standard of the school was excellent,
arithmetic and writing had been somewhat neglected, and there is
an impression to that effect among the tradesmen of the town.

The general objection of professional men to using the local Permanent

fframmar school, so far as it is independent of such remediable grounds for
& ., , _ . , , , .-,\. , , f. , J ahstention ot

evils as defects in the master and buildmg, has a tworolo source — professional

dislike of mixture between their sons and those of tradesmen, and men.

an opinion that the small grammar school cannot give adequate

preparation for the large " public school," at which, if prosperous,

they generally propose ultimately to place them. The dislike of

mixture with inferior boys is so closely bound up with prevalent

and well-understood feelings of English society, that little need be

said about it. So far as it can be said to rest on moral grounds. Mixture of

these are to be found in the facts that the code of honour is apt to classes.

be less strict among the sons of tradesmen, that their language is

more frequently coarse, and that they are receptacles for all local

scandals. It is generally stronger in small towns than in larger

ones. In the small town every one knows and talks about every one

else, and an acquaintance between the boys of two families leads to

each family becoming acquainted with the domestic affairs of the

■^ In two instances during the last few years the holders of these have been
placed in the first class at Oxford.

162

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Modes of quali-
fying this
objection.

Instance from
, Handsworth.

Professional
man wants
education
for his sons
other than the
grammar
school can irell
give.

other. So long as the tradesmen of country towns continue their
habit of spending the evening in the bar-rooms of inns, a sensitive
father may be excused for wishing to have as little connexion as
possible between his family and theirs. The difficulties of social
mixture in a grammar school, however, seem to be greatly lessened
by the influence of the master on the manners of the boy, and by
the possession of a good playground. "Where, as is most commonly
the case, the grammar school has no playground, or only a yard,
the day boys after lessons are turned directly on the street. This
affects the mixture of classes in two ways. It is companionship
with under-bred boys in fite street which the more refined parent
specially fears for his son ; and, on the other hand, it is by inter-
course with his boys in the precincts of the school and in the
playground that the master may best succeed in softening the
manners of the rougher ones, and giving a common tone of honour
and gentleness to all. Of what may be done in this way, the
Bridge Trust School at Handsworth affords a good instance. The
boys there are almost all of the trading class, which is very
numerous thereabouts. Having spent four days in and about the
school, I had good opportunity of observing their outward be-
haviour, and this seemed to me as good as any one could wish — a
good deal better than that of the same class at Kong Edward's
School, Birmingham. At Handsworth a good playground adjoins
the school, and the head-master, mainly by this means, sees a good
deal of all the elder boys out of school hours. At Birmingham
the rank and file of the boys emerge immediately on the street,
and the masters can see nothing of them when lessons are over.
If there were many professional men about Handsworth, which
there are not, there could be no reason against their sending their
sons to the school, except that the education given in it might not
be sufficiently classical.* This brings me to the second obstacle to
the availability of grammar schools for the professional class.

Those members of this class who have been themselves, so to
speak, born to education, are the people whose sons the master of
a grammar school naturally looks for as his best material. In
the present state of things, however, it would be difficult with a
good conscience to recommend them to use an ordinary grammai'
school, even though it be well conducted. They naturally desire
their sons to have a chance of a university career, if they should
show a desire for it, and of turning such a career to the best
account. Short of this, they desire them, before taking to a
business or profession, to have such an education as is given in
the higher classes of the public schools. Neither desire is likely
to be well satisfied by the provincial grammar school. A boy who
stays on at the grammar school till he goes to the University no
doubt eases his father's pocket as much as he would do by getting
an exhibition from a boarding school, but for his last three or four

* The best instance of an amalgamation of classes that I have met with—
clue in large measure, I believe, to excellence of building, situation and play-
ground — is the Loughborough grammiu- school. This not being \vithin the
district dealt with by the present report, I have not referred to it in the text.

Mr. Green's Report. 163

years at school he will have to be taught alone. Thus he will why it can't
lose the stimulus of competition, and not knowing how to measure gi'^^ it.
himself, will probably acquiesce in too low a standard. His Want of
master may give him as much attention as he would receive at a competition,
public school, or more; but the master who spends three-quarters of leisure for
of his time in drivmg the "syntaxis minor" into boys of 14, higher studies
cannot keep his scholarship up to the level which is maintained by "n the part of
the higher masters at liugby and Winchester. The difficulty is ^^^ "*^'®''-
probably greater in regard to classical than to mathematical study
(which may perhaps account for the fact that boys from the small
grammar schools achieve comparative success at Cambridge), and
in the case of the former is aggravated by the importance attached
to composition in English classical scholarship. In greater or
less degree, however, it must be felt in all branches of the higher
education. Nor is it easy for the grammar school to fulfil well
the subordinate function of educating boys up to the age and
standard at which they may with advantage be transferred to one
of the great public schools. On this point I found the testimony
of the best masters of grammar schools concurrent. If the town System
grammar school is to do its duty by the ordinary boys, it must requisite for
adapt its system to a far greater want of home cultivation, and an not test suited
earlier need of bringing arithmetic and writing to perfection, than to sons of
are supposed in those for whom the course of instruction at the educated men.
great schools is adapted. It ought in the first place to take care The former
that all its scholars, except the stupid or neglected, be accomplished want too much
in all ordinary arithmetic, and able to write a good clerk's hand ^" "^ '°'
by the time they are 12 years old. It is better on aU grounds to
get this necessary part of the education, which in justice to the
ordinary boys must be imparted some time, out of the way at first.
It is what the commercial parents value and understand, and it
is what the sound commercial schools, by giving it exclusive at-
tention, bring early to perfection. If neglected to begin with,
parents are dissatisfied, and the more promising boys are cumbered
with it during their last two or three years at school, when they
are most capable of receiving some liberal cultivation. Secondly, Too much
for boys who form the staple of our provincial grammar school, English
some early teaching of English grammar is unquestionably wanted. Si'ammar.
Bred as they are at home, they are incapable without this of
reading and writing correctly,* and are thus not only inadequately
equipped for practical life, but seriously hampered in the acquisi-
tion of any other language.

Now, for the sons of educated professional men, who are
to be sent ultimately to Rugby, Winchester, or Marlborough,
any formal instruction in English grammar is, with a view
to success at these schools, simply thrown away, nor does any
large share of attention to writing and arithmetic "pay." If,
then, they are sent to a grammar school conducted on the plan
above delineated, they are either not taught in the best Avay

* Any one, who will take the trouble to look over the advertisements of inn-
keepers at the end of Bradshaw's Guide, will find that scarcely one is gram-
inatioally correct. I. know of no reason for supposing that innkeepers are
worse educated than ordinary shopkeepers.

164 Counties of Stafford and Wamnck.

for their final destination, or they are taught exceptionally, and
such exceptional teaching is always found to be bad both for
those in whose favour the exception is made and for the rest. I
have not found a single grammar school where a reconciliation
between the two kinds of want has been achieved with perfect
success, though I have found several where each want was imper-
fectly satisfied from an attempt to satisfy the other.* As the
younger grammar schoolmasters are becoming conscious of the
impossibility of maintaining their hold on the higher professional
class, they naturally throw themselves more on the commercial.
In seeking to attract this they meet with further difficulties,
which have next to be considered.
Objections of C^') ^^^ Statement of these has been to a great extent antici-
commereial pated in what has been already said. So far as they are per-
class to gram- manent they arise mainly from the greater attraction which the
mar so oo . private commercial school offers to the parent who wishes his son
to be qualified for business by the shortest possible method. This
Private schools attraction is no doubt in many instances factitious. Of the private
thought to give schools into which I gained admission, and which were presumably
shorter out to q^ ^j^g whole the best of their kind, there were some in which the
necessary for arithmetic was worse than in the worst grammar schools. In
business. most, I think, the knowledge of English grammar and the general

Do they ? faculty of composing a correct English letter were no greater than

Yes, if good of ^^ *^^® second-rate grammar schools. At the sounder private
their kind. schools, however, charging from 4Z. to 6Z. a year, and making
little profession of anything beyond " English " subjects, the
writing and arithmetic of the boys at a given age, say 12, were,
if not better in themselves, yet better for commercial purposes
than were those of boys of the same age at most grammar schools.
This is the natural result of the fact that they are almost exclu-
sively attended to. There are also certain commercial accom-
plishments, much thought of by parents of the trading class, of
which the private schools make great parade, while the grammar
schools commonly ignore them. Such are book-keeping, com-
mercial letter-writing, mechanical drawing, &c. On the extent
to which these may be provided for by a grammar school I shall
speak afterwards. It is clear, however, that in a school which
aims at laying the foundation of a liberal education, they can
never be treated as other than supplementary. Those parents,
therefore, who wish them to be primary will send their sons to
schools where they are treated as such. A certain number also
will always be alienated by the rigid system which a grammar
school, having only two masters, must always maintain if it is to
teach thoroughly what it professes. These will prefer the private
school, which ostensibly consults the several wishes and capacities
of individual parents and boys. More will be said on these points
under the heads of "commercial education" and "private
schools." The boys thus lost to the grammar school on com-

* A successful reconciliation is, I think, more nearly approached at Loughr
borough than at any other school that I have aeen.

Mr. Greenes Report, 165

mercial grounds are on the whole those who would furnish the
least promising material for " liberal education." Such as they
are, their loss might often be avoided by a fuller recognition on
the part of the grammar-school m£|,sters of their true poisition, but
so long as the feeling of the trading class on education remains
what it is it cannot be altogether prevented.

It may be well here to give such informatioii as I have been Statistic? as to
able to obtain with regard to the number of day boys attending J^um^'ei" taught
grammar and commercial schools severally in given populations, and private
It was only in certain towns that I succeeded in learning enough schools
from the private schoolmasters to obtain even approximate respectively.
statistics on this point. There is also in all cases a difficulty as
to the amount of population served by the schools of a country
town, according as villages around do or do not send boys to
them. In the round numbers given below I have made rough
allowance for such villages according to information obtained in
the several towns :

, Stafford. Population, 14,000 ; in grammar school, classical
department, 37 ; commercial department, 35 ; in private schools,
virtually not classical, 60.

Liclifield. Population, 7000 ; grammar school, 26 ; private
schools, virtually not classical, 45 (?) ; tradesmens' sons in Mynor's
English School, 4,

Atherstone. Population, 5,500 ; grammar school, 60.

Uttoxeter. Population, 6,000 ; grammar school, classical depart-
ment, 22 ; English department, 18 ; private school, not classical, 28.

Stratford-on-Avon. Population, 7,000 ; grammar school, 30 ;
private school, classical, 14 ; ditto, not classical, 20.

Wolverhampton. Population (inclusive of Bilston), 90,000 ;*
grammar school (about), 105 ; private schools, teaching Latin,
62 ; ditto, virtually not classical (about), 233.

Walsall. Population, 40,000 ; grammar school, 115 (classical
department, 70 ; English, 45) ; private school, virtually not clas-
sical, 35. Perhaps one or two other very small private schools.

Those schools I have described as virtually not classical,
where there is a profession of Latin, but where it is only taught
to a sixth part of the boys, or less, and to these only with a
view to employment as druggists. It will be observed that
whereas in the country towns the proportion of boys attending Contract be-
middle schools of some kind is nearly 10 to the 1,000, at the *"^een country
manufacturing towns of "Wolverhampton and Walsall it is less mamufacturins
than five to the 1,000. The same remark applies in yet stronger towns.
degree to Birmingham, and, I believe, to the Potteries.f The
explanation, probably, is partly that in manufacturing places the
number of labourers is relatively greater, partly that in the
larger towns the small shopkeepers make more use of schools
under the Privy Council. In all the places mentioned, except
perhaps Stratford, the grammar school is as full as it conveniently

* The Parliamentary borough of Wolverhampton includes several townships
not reckoned here,
t See Report on Birmingham, page 110, and below, page 166.

166

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Many persons
virtually out of
reacli of gram-
mar schools.
In the pottery
towns.

In the " Black
Country."

This sometimes
due to pa-
rochial limita-
tions, as at
Walsall.

could be, though on the other hand I do not know that in any
of them many are kept out for want of room. The figures in
other towns having grammar schools would, to the best of my
belief, correspond on the whole to those given.

(6.) There is a large middle population, however, in the two coun-
ties, rich as they are in grammar schools, which is practically out of
their reach. The most obvious instance of this is in the iron and
pottery district of North Staffordshire. In the parishes of Wolstan-
ton, Burslem, and Stoke-on-Trent is a population — practically a
town population — of moi-e than 120,000 without any available
grammar school within reach. That at Newcastle is as full as its
miserable accommodation will allow without drawing on this popu-
lation, and has besides no attraction to offer them adequate to the
fee which it charges for out-town boys. The iron district of South
Staffordshire cannot be said to be ill-supplied with grammar schook
Those at Birmingham, Handsworth, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and
Dudley possess together a gross annual income of about 16,000/.
and no place in the " Black country " is more than four miles
from one or other of them. These schools, however, together
(including the elementary schools on King Edward's foundation
at Birmingham) are not educating more than 1,500 boys out of
a population of about 800,000. If the smallness of this number
were mainly due to the inaccessibility of grammar schools, it
might be expected to be compensated by a large attendance at
private schools, yet I feel sure, though unable to give exact
statistics, that not more than 1,000 are to be found at such
schools within the same distance. At the same time, an enlarge-
ment in the present grammar schools, a change in their local
restrictions, and an establishment of some new ones on the model
of the Bridge Trust School at Handsworth would bring many
more within the range of a " middle " education. At Walsall, for
instance, the freedom of education, which is absolute, is confined
to sons of residents in the parish. Extra parochial boys have to
pay 10/. a year, a higher fee than is charged at any private
school in the district, except one on the genteel side of Wolver-
hampton, which charges the same, and has only 25 day boys.*
The result of this system is that the school is filled with free
boys, one-third of whom might as well be at a national or British
school, while the sons of resjiectable tradesmen and others, living
in some cases almost at the doors of the school are virtually ex-
cluded.! I say " excluded," for — setting aside the question of
room — the commercial parent of the district In question will always
think it a better bargain to send his son to a boarding-school at
30Z. a year than to a day grammar school at 10/. If the privilege
of the parish were abolished and a fee of 4/. a year charged on all
day boys without distinction, or with exemption in "favour of

* With this exception, and that of another school at Wolverhampton, which
charges 11. a year, the fee for day-boys at all the private schools in the districts
that I am acquainted with, is 4Z. to 6/. according to the subjects taught.

t In the same street as the grammar school, a few yards higher up, ai'e
several ron's of respectable middle-class houses, which are in RushaU parish.

Mr. Green R He-port. 107

merit, on the plan oF the Bridge Trust School at Handsworth,
boys would come to it, as they do to that, from a distance of three
miles, and it would thus become available for Wednesbury and
Darlaston, which are within that distance, and have a population
of more than 30,000.

Supposing this change to be made, I do not see that distance
could be urged by any parent in the " Black country " as a reason
for not sending his son to a grammar school. The Wolverhampton
school is already open at a small fee and under certain conditions,
and a certain number of boys, 10 or 12, do come to it from Wil-
lenhall and Sedgely — places distant three miles each. It must be
remembered, however, that distances are longer to the imagination
of residents in a town than to that of residents in a village. A Distance -which
farmer, if he likes a school, thinks nothing of sending his son six miles ahoy can be
to it every day, and for a school in a country town, supplying pro- come.
per conveniences for dinner, four miles may certainly be taken as
the radius of its availability for day boys. But it is different with
a population like that of the " Black country "accustomed to have
all the necessities of life brought to its doors. Those few parents
who value an education above that which is necessary for busi-
ness will send their sons some miles to seek it, but if the grammar
school wants to get hold of the average mass of commercial boys
in such a class it must go to seek them. Of the best way of
doing this I shall speak afterwards.

Another set of boys, which may be taken as to a large extent How far sons
lost to the grammar schools by difficulty of access, are the sons of "f farmers are
farmers. It is true that farmers are in a special way estranged
from the grammar school by influences referred to before. On
the one hand its system is peculiarly objectionable to parents who
make a practice of keeping their sons at home and in ignorance
till they are 12 or 13, and then want them to learn to write and
keep accounts with the least amount of trouble and discipline; on
the other, the fascinations of the private schoolmaster seem to take
a special hold on the mind of the farmer. There is a considerable
population of this class, however, in the two counties out of the
reach of grammar schools used as such, even if it desired to use them.
This is the ease with the whole district of Staffordshire lying north All in Northern
of a line drawn from Market Drayton to TJttoxeter. The number P*''* "f S*ai'-
of farmers in this district, so far as it can be collected from the census- reach. ^'^^ °"
returns (here only partially available, in most other cases utterly
unavailable for my purposes), is 2,260. The great mass of these,
however, are very small holders, after the custom of that region, for
whose sons the national or British school is perfectly available. In
the district of Staffordshire south of the above mentioned line, the
cases of farmers living more than six miles from a grammar school
must be quite exceptional. In Warwickshire, on the other hand, the In parts of
census-districts of Alcester, Southam, and Kugby * must be wholly Warwickshire,
outside this distance, and those of Solihull, Stratford, and Warwick

* Some villages in the Rugby district are in Northamptonshire, but these
are at least balanced by those in the Shipston district, which are in Warwick-
shire and which I have not reckoned.

168

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

these cases.

partly so. Taking the whole number in the three former, and half
the number in the three latter, districts, returned as farmers above
the age of 20, we have a total of 1,567. These are mostly con-
siderable holders (the average holding in the Southam district
seems to be a little over 200 acres), they must be generally heads
of families, brothers, sons and grandsons being returned separately,
and how they get their sons educated I am at a loss to say. There
are only 12 boarding-schools mentioned in the Directory (which
I have generally found accurate) within the district, and farmers
do not often use schools far from home. From five of these I ob-
tained some information, and taking them as average specimens,
the 12 will not account for the education of more than 200 sons of
farmers at the outside. I do not know whether there are any
statistics of authority on the point, but I should suppose that to
1,500 good-sized farms there would be at least 500 boys of an age
What hecomes to be at school.* The 300, who according to this calculation ought
of the hoys in to be at some school and are not at the private schools, cannot be
accounted for by the supposition that they are at national or
British schools, for the farmers in this district seem generally un-
willing to use these. The explanation I believe to be that the
sons of farmers commonly get extremely irregular schooling.
They are kept at home under the nominal tuition of an elder
sister, or of a governess paid 15?. a year, till they are 13 or 14.
Then they are sent to a boarding-school for a year or two, but as
they generally stay at home during the " short quarter," and are
irregular at other times, they do not really get more than a years
instruction. That this is the general practice is the uniform state-
ment of schoolmasters whose connexion lies with the farming class,
and is a natural inference from what I have seen of sons of farmers
at the schools that I have visited. It was always a safe guess that
any unusually big and backward boy in a private school was the
son of a farmer, and an inquiry as to the cause of his backward-
ness was always met by the explanation that he had not been in
the school long and had been away half his time. At Baneton a
" middle school,'' on a small scale, but very promising, has lately
been established for the special benefit of the farming class under
the auspices of Lady Willoughby de Broke. The master, who
had only been there about a year at the time of my visit, had got
together a good many boys, sons of farmers, of about the age of
12, and with these he told me he had to begin de novo in the very
elements of education.

The practical disuse of grammar schools by farmers extends far
beyond the regions where they may be considered inaccessible.
Farmers are great supporters of private schools in country towns,
and I do not recall a single grammar school, used as such, in
which a farmer's son was other than rather an exceptional pheno-
menon. How far this material, unworked at present by the
grammar schools, can be worked by them to advantage, will he
considered afterwards. At the best a very scanty fruit in the way
of " liberal education" can be expected from it for some generations.

* It appears from the census-returns that there is generally one boy over
9 and under 16 years of age to every three houses.

Farmers great
patrons of
private scliools,

Mr. Green's Report. 169

Enough having been said of the reasons why the grammar -why the gram-
schools fail to attract more boys, it remains to inquire (6) the mar schools
reasons why they do not make more of those they get. ''°"'* ™^"

(1). In the fore-front of these is to be put the fact, already the hoys they
mentioned, that they have to a great extent lost their hold on the get.
professional class. The difference between the educational standard
of the professional class generally and the commercial class generally
forces itself strongly on any one conversant with provincial life. The
explanation of it is to be found in the simple fact that while the edu- Uneducated
cation of the commercial man has stopped at the age of 15, that of parentage,
the professional men — setting aside the lower stratum of attorneys
and apothecaries — was continued from three to eight years longer.
The difference in amount of education, which this implies, between
the parents of the two classes, must be conceived of as increasing in
geometrical ratio if we are to appreciate the difference of educational
impulse which they severally apply to their children In the one
case there are no books (except a few with gilt leaves, only moved to
be dusted,) no intellectual traditions, small opportunities of study at
home. The father, probably, spends the evening with his friends at
some place of social resort ; the mother is tired with household cares,
and if she had the will, has not often sufficient elementary know-
ledge to overlook even the studies of a small boy.* The entire
education of the son, therefore, has to be done in school. He goes
there unable to read or speak correctly ; as he grows older, he reads
nothing for himself to quicken the unconscious perception of ana-
logies on which good scholarship depends ; uor does any gentle
pedagogue at home supply the absence of the schoolmaster in the
evening. There is nothing future to stimulate his intellectual
ambition. The possibility of an education at the University never
entered the horizon of the family imagination, nor has he ever
heard any one commended for knowledge or literary ability. The
son of a professional man, on the other hand, learns his own
language, it is to be hoped, in the nursery. He is early accus-
tomed to the sight and use of books. There are those about him at
home who, if they like, can see that he does at home what his
master sets him, and as he grows older, familiar example may
accustom him to the notion of knowledge as a source of utility
and estimation.

Such general statements as the above must be taken with due Evidence of
abatement for individual exceptions. They wbuld be accepted *^^.^^ effects
by masters of grammar schools with a readiness which, as these
gentlemen are generally dissatisfied with their position, may be
thought somewhat deceptive. They are confirmed, howeveir, by
my own observation of the general inferiority of the work done by
the day-boys of grammar schools at homef to that done under the
master's eye; by the increasing difficulty of getting lessons learnt at

* As to the bearing of this state of things on the qtlestion between day
schools and boarding schools, see below, page 196.

t As a case in which this evil has been to a, great extent remedied through
the pressure of the head-master, t may instance the grammar school at Wolver-
hampton.

170

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Where there
are no fees,
school filled
with hoys, who
learn nothing
and prevent
others from
learning.

Instances of
Walsall and
Coventry.

home as the subjects become higher and more remote from simple
writing or arithmetic ; by the fact that the use of an expression or
illustration which would be familiar to boys bred among books or
educated people, is often received by a grammar school class with a
stare ; by the common inability of the upper boys in these schools
to write simple English correctly ; and by my general experience
(to which there are some noticeable exceptions) that the only boys
in them who have attained the elements of scholarship are the few
of professional parentage. They agree also with the remark,
frequently made by the masters of private schools, that as a rule
the only parents, who desire much beyond the commercial routine
of education for their sons, are either professional men, or those
who through family relationship or otherwise have been brought
into connexion with such men.

(2.) Over and above the general want of a stimulating intel-
lectual atmosphere, the effects of parentage appear specifically in
the elementary ignorance of the lower classes in a grammar
school. This arises partly from the received view of the grammar
school as a charitable institution which is to remove the- burden of
education wholly from the shoulders of parents, a view which is
generally dominant where the school has not been put under a
new scheme, and in other places is only gradually disappearing
before the exaction of fees and of a minimum of preliminary
knowledge as the condition of entrance. The effect of free ad-
mission 1 always found to be so to lower the general character
of the school as to deprive promising boys of the humbler class of
any real benefit they might gain by entering it. It leads to the
invasion of the school by a " mixed multitude " of boys too
numerous to be absorbed in a higher element than their own, who
get no good from it themselves which they might not get else-
where, and prevent its doing good to others. I observed that at
Coventry, where a virtually gratuitous education is given to sons
of freemen, while others pay 10/. 10«. or 61. 6s. a year, according
as they do or do not learn Greek, among the nine head boys only
two were sons of freemen. Of the rest, six were paying day-boys
and one a boarder. The sons of freemen, I was told, generally left
before reaching the third class from the top, in order to avoid the
cost (about 21. 10s.) of books required for that class. Coventrj'
school is in fact only good lor any thing in virtue of the boys in it
who pay fees. Walsall school has not this redeeming element,
and with a large endowment and most efficient master can only
bring on an average about two boys a year out of more than 100 to
the level of the third class in the University local examination for
juniors. Though it lays itself out specially for this examination,
the cases of higher success are very rare. Where a fee is charged
things are rather better, but even here the endowment is applied,
not to stimulate or reward the attainment of a higher kind of
knowledge than would otherwise be attained, but (in the case of
nine boys out of 10) to pay a man 300Z. a year for teaching what
might as well be taught by one receiving only 100?. The entrance
examination did not at any school that I visited, even where it

Mr. Green's Report 171

was strictest, preclude the necessity of teaching the simplest
spelling to the majority of boys that entered it. At Handsworth
free admission is given annually to a few boys who pass the best
examination among the scholars of the national and British
fichools. A similar arrangement exists at Burton. With these In other cases
exceptions, I think it may be said that nothing is done by the ^^"' °f l'ig'>
grammar schools of the two counties to encourage the education e"a^uation.
of boys previously to their admission to the school. The result is jj^jj ^^ ^j^j^^
that these schools in their lower classes are giving an education
the same in kind as that given in the national schools, but under
a different name, and (on the whole) to a different grade of boys,
while in all but their highest classes they are giving the same
education as the cheap private schools, and to boys in the same
rank of life. This state of things is evil, negatively and positively. Preliminary
Negatively, because the grammar schools, if they would raise g^JJJ'u^at^d"*''
their education throughout above that which is to be had else-
where, and then give admission to it, thus elevated, as the reward
of early knowledge, have the power to advance the elementary
teaching of ordinary boys by a space of two or three years, and
to put the stamp of public discredit on the inability, now very
common, of boys born in competence to read and spell at the age
of 12 — a power which by their present system they throw away.
Positively, because not only do the mass of boys, owing to the Higher educa-
waste of some years, which might have been given to elementary tion retarded,
learning before entry to the grammar school, lose all chance of
availing themselves of the higher education which the grammar
school has to give, but the few of more promise are kept back by
the dead weight of ignorance in the lower classes, and by want of
competition when they reach the upper. It was my general
experience to find in the lesser grammar schools one boy, in the
larger two or three, so far superior to the rest as either to have to
be taught separately, thus seriously trenching on the master's
time, or to be distinctly kept back by classification with inferior
boys. These inferior boys, however, would be themselves quite
an aristocracy compared with those in the region below the two
first classes, a region from which the majority never emerge.
Low as is the level of the first class In a grammar school, it is
a level which it is quite the exception to reach. Generally, where
there are six classes, most boys will leave in the third from the
top. That is, such is the loss of time to begin with, that the
average boy, when he reaches the age at which he is fit for
business, has only learnt to read, write, and do accounts, with
enough Latin to make him think it a nuisance. Such a boy can
have no intellectual interest to counterbalance his own desire to
be independent, and his father's to have him off his hands. He,
therefore, leaves school. If, through better preliminary training,
he had had enough knowledge, by the time he was fit for business,
to care at all for increasing it, he might have preferred additional
learning to making money, and induced his father to do the same.
The effect of the present system is thus to minimize the number
of those who become capable of " liberal education," and when

a. c. 3. O

172

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Want of
effective re-
ward to higher
boys,

Universities
generally out
of reach.

Reasons of
this.

Special ob-
stacles in the
way of a
Dissenter.

they have become capable of it so to lower their own standard
and their master's, through constant commerce with dunces, that
they pursue it under a disadvantage unknown in the higher forms
of the " public schools."

(3i) While the few who reach the ordinary level of the gram-?
mar school are thus depressed through want of effective emidation,
there is little to reinvigorate them in the way of effective reward.
As has been explained, they are mostly of a class to which the
Universities are quite unknown ground. Their parents are either
unable to bear the expense of a university course, or, if they are
prosperous men who have risen from the ranks, generally un-
willing.* The college system, maintained at Oxford and Camr
bridge, by putting a certain mystery about the University career^
and raising its expense, increases the difficulty. The father of the
aspiring grammar-school boy probably does not know how to
communicate with the authorities of a college. Fees and caution-
money perplex him. He is ignorant as to how scholarships and
bible-clerkships may be best obtained. It is possible for him, of
course, to leave all such matters in the hands of the schoolmaster;
but an arrangement on his son's behalf, which is wholly uniiH
telliglble to him personally, he is sure to look upon with a less
favourable eye- The difficulty of expense, however, is much
greater. Witbojit a college scholarship, or (at Cambridge) a
sizarship, boys of the kind - under consideration cannot possibly
compass a degree at the old universities. A scholarship they iave
very little chance of obtaining. At Oxford, certainly, the picked
boy -from the provincial grammar school would have a much better
chance relatively of being placed in the first class at the final exami-r
nation than of gaining a scholarship, his capacity for obtaining posi-
tive knowledge being relatively superior to his skill in the use of
words. The sizarships at Cambridge, though not absolutely
" publici juris," sometimes afford an opening of a kind that does
not exist at Oxford, and the only scholarships that have been
obtained of late years by boys from the schools that I visitedi
setting aside Warwick, have been at Cambridge.- At best, how-
ever, to a grammar-school boy of 15, and still more to his father,
the contingency of obtaining access to the University in this way
must seem very remote. If the boy continues at school on the
strength of it,'and is finally cheated of his hope, the old universities
are virtually closed against him, and he has lost four years which
might have given him a good footing in business. Any one who
inquires into the personal histories connected with provincial
grammar schools will find enough instances of enterprises upon
Oxford and Cambridge proving a bad speculation to make him
cautious in advising an imitation of them. ■

The impediments between the grammar school and Oxford and
Cambridge, great in any case, are greater to a Dissenter. The
restrictions in favour of Churchmen on scholarships, fellowships,

* Men of the latter sort, who "aim high" educationally, will probably
either not use the grammar school &t all, or early transfer their sons to' a more
select school.

Mr. Green's Report. 173

and degrees, need not here be enlarged upon. A special restric-
tion oa- the exhibitions attached to Coventry school calls for
special notice. These are tenable for seven years, three of which
are to be spent at school where the holder receives 5Z. a year ; four
at the University, where he receives 35?. a year. A candidate for
one of these, while he has still three years to spend at scho6l; and
is thus pfesumably not over 16, has to declare his intention of ,
taking Orders. This of course constitutes an absolute exclusion of
Dissenters. At the time ' of iny' visit, while two or thtee Bxhibi-'
tions were waiting to be filled up, the most promising boy in the
school — a boy for whom a first class at Oxford might modestly he
predicted — as the son of a Baptist, was prevented from taking one, ' '

and in consequence from contemplating a university career. I
found, however, in;his case, as in that of other Dissenters, that the
prosp'eet of a difficulty in providihg for himself at Oxford or
Gambridge' was not the sole reason against trying to get there.'
A further question had to be met. What is residence at the
University to lead to ? In the case of a Churchman, the question,
though formidable, may be answeredti' If- -lie proposes tb take
Orders, a gtiod degree may improve Ms position and prospect of
preferment. Short of this, it may always be turned to account in a
scholastic career. But to a Dissenter nearly all the masterships in:
schools are closed as much as the benefices, and unless he is b'orll
to Wealth, it is difficult to tell him of any adequate return, which
a successful career at the old universities can bring, as compared
with the outlay which they exact. This is the more important t6
notice, as the better boys at grammar schools are often Dissenters.
The ministers of Nonconformist congregations are among the
few educated parents who habitually usfe them.*

It may be safely assumed that the only rewards which can be
reckoned on as incentives to a pursuit of knowledge beyond the
point reached at the age of 16, are those which contribute to
future success in life. Failing the attractions of Oxfprd and Attractions of
Cambridge, those only remain which are offered by the University London TJm-
of London and the Civil Service, and in the grammar schools ^^'^^' ^'
which I visited I heard of very few cases in which these were ^^y ^"'*''-
in operation. At the Stafibrd school were two boys preparing ^

.for matriculation at the London University. I do not recall any
who were doing so at any other grammar school outside of Birming-
ham, though of course I may have failed to notice such cases. It
may safely be said, however, that so far as the grammar schools
in Staffordshire and "Warwickshire are concerned, the attractions
of the University of London are doing very little to lead boys
to stay longer at school or reach a higher education than they
otherwise would. This is to be accounted for partly by the fact
that the grammar schoolmasters are not generally familiar with
this University and its system, and hence do little to direct the
thoughts of parents or pupils towards it ; partly by the fact that it.
is not the recognized channnel to any profession, except the

* On the use of grammar schools by Dissenters, see page 236.

o 2

1Y4

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Attractions of
Civil Service.

Drawbacks.

Day boys
generally
meant for
business.

Age at which
these leave.

What educa-
tional reward
for these ?
Prizes in the
school.
Example of
private schools.

medical,* and that it has no emoluments or old-established dis-
tinctions to offer, like those of Oxford and Cambridge, as a set-oif
to the loss of time and opportunities involved in an extension of
education beyond the age of 16. I found a few cases, where an
appointment in the Civil Service was being looked forward to as a
reward for protracted education, but here the element of con-
tingency, arising from the requirement of a nomination, greatly
detracts from the effectiveness of the stimulus, and confines its
operation almost entirely to boys resident in represented towns.

On the whole, with a few exceptions — such exceptions as to be
noticeable — the day-boys in the grammar schools that I saw
were destined for various kinds of business, on which it is the
custom to enter at the age of 16 at latest. In the country towns,
as might be expected, the age for leaving the grammar school is
generally rather later than in the manufacturing towns, but this
is 'compensated by the boys in the former being more backward
to begin with. At Walsall I only found one boy in the school over
16 ; at "Wolverhampton two. At the latter school, however, under
the influence of a new scheme and energetic management, it seemed
that several boys were likely to stay on to the age mentioned, or
longer. At Coventry were four who had turned this age, two of
these being retained as holders of exhibitions. At Warwick I noted
two such, one being retained by anticipation of an exhibition; at
Stafford, which has no such attraction, also three. At Brewood
there were several, but Brewood is essentially a boarding-school.
Elsewhere a day-boy of 16 was so rarely met with, as at once to
arrest one's attention. Setting aside these mentioned, I can answer
for there not being six in all the grammar schools together. Those
who stay the longest, with the exception of the few who contemplate
the University, are those who intend to be attorneys or chemists.
The early removal of the rest from school is due partly to the
objection of merchants to take boys over 15 as clerks, partly to
the customary period of apprenticeship being seven years, which
parents desire to be over by the time the son is of age.

In this state of things, the only incentives to study are merely
honorary, and as such, comparatively feeble. They are either
provided by the school itself, in the shape of prizes, or from
without by the '•' local examinations" of the Universities and those
of the Society of Arts. In respect of distribution of prizes, the
grammar schools might, I think, with advantage take a hint from
the private schools. The latter, being under a strong necessity
of advertisement, generally have a great display of distribution of
prizes, in the presence of parents and friends, twice a year. In
many cases their masters have confessed to me that they had to
give prizes without discrimination for fear of giving offence —a
fact which should be borne in mind in considering the value of
educational endowments. With that stricter justice, however,
which their independent position enables them to maintain, the

* I am avirare that many dissenting ministers obtain degrees from the
University of London, but sons of Dissenters, contemplating ministerial em-
ployment, would generally be removed early from the grammar school to a
special institution for training ministers.

Mr. Greeris Report. ] "5

masters of grammar schools might well take similar means for
giving publicity to their rewards. In some cases they already do
so, but in many others owing to that backwardness, which is partly
natural to a " scholar and gentleman," partly the result of a
guaranteed income, nothing of the kind is attempted.

The stimulus of the " local examinations " seemed in some cases Middle class
to be very effective. The gramimar schools at Brewood, Wolver- examinations ;
hampton, Walsall, Stafford, Solihull, Coventry, and Burton have ^^^*4''fo°^'
all sent in boys, more or fewer, to them during the last few years, these.
Of these, Brewood, "Walsall, and Stafford send in regularly, and
lay out their system of education accordingly. The rest have
hitherto only used them exceptionally. Coventry having exhibi-
tions, in its upper classes adapts its instruction rather to the
Universities. At Burton the teaching of the younger boys in the
upper department seemed more purely classical than I have found
it where the local examinations are specially looked to. Wolver-
hampton, under a new master, has as yet hardly got its system set
at all, but is laying itself out rather for the Universities. The
only school that has sent in largely to the local examination for " Seniors "
" seniors" is Brewood. In the Cambridge examination for
" seniors" different boys from Brewood have been head in
" English subjects " for four successive years. The whole first
class of eight boys, at the time of my visit was doing the work
prescribed for the next examination for seniors at Wolverhampton.
At Walsall was one boy reading for the senior examination, and
that seemed to be about the yearly average. From Stafford, on
an average, about two seniors have passed each year. From Bur-
ton only two seniors altogether have passed ; from Coventry one ;
and from Wolverhampton one.

The examination for juniors, as it catches boys just at the age and" Juniors.'
when the best are likely to leave the ordinary grammar school, is
much more in request, and I found that at all the schools men-
tioned above, except Wolverhampton and Coventry, as well as at
some others, the work prescribed for it was the subject of the
regular lessons of those in the higher classes who had not yet
passed it. Altogether at least 25 boys were professedly preparing
for it.

At ihe schools making no use of these examinations, I heard Objections to
three reasons assigned for such abstention. In some cases distance ^^^ °°™"
from the local centre makes it impossible for boys to go in, unless
their parents or the school master will be at charges to take a
lodging for them. In others the better boys were said to be of
such a class, that their parents would rather turn up their noses
at a "middle-class" examination. This objection seemed only
applicable to a few at Sutton-Coldfield, and perhaps Lichfield.
Finally, some masters objected to the special preparation necessary
for success in these examinations as " cramming," and held it to
be inconsistent with the best general arrangement of the studies of
a grammar school. The last objection is the only one that re-
quires consideration, and raises the general question of the effect
on the schools of the new local action of the Universities.

176

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Their effect on
schools.

Pressure on
promising boy.

Good for them
and not bad for

the rest.

Advantage of i
sending in
entire classes.

Objections to
the kind of
work which
these exami-
nations exact.

failure in,. the "local examinatioiis " attaches a considerable
stigma to a grammar school. The private schoolmasters " watch
for. its- halting," and, though its complete abstention may be
credited as appropriate, to its classical superiority, the "plucking"
of its pupils at once raises an outcry. In order, however, to secur?
success it is necessary, say the objecting, inasters, to give an undue
share of attention to the boys who are to be sent in, and to certain
books and subjiects as distinct from general education. As tQtthe first
ground it; is clear that the mere forcing of the few boys at the topiof
a school cannot win for the school that sustained success in liieae
examinations which is necessary to its permanent reputation. ^ But
that provision for a series of "local Jionours." implies a systematic
pressure on the; promising boysitlnroughout a school; to the exchii'
sion of their more stupid fellows, is, liiMnk, true. I constantly
found the. classes under the ;head-master:.at a grammar school
i'eading a book obviously too hard for the majority of boys in it,
because it was prescribed for the next local examinaiaoni, for whicH
only one or two were going in. So in the lower classes Euclid
and , " English analysis " were sometimes being prematurely at-
tempted by the majority in order to get the fevr, who were likely
sometime to be qualified for. the local exajminatioivearly into train-
ing. Compendia of English history, also, will be got up for the'
same purpose by boys for whom stories about Alfred and thei Cakes,
or Charles in the Oak, would be more suitable. .The good or evil
of such a system must be.matter of opinion, but I may venture ^to
express the strong conviction that so long as the average :boys are
taught the necessary elements, the more the clever ones are forced;
the better. The latter gain by it, and those who are incapable of
gain cannot be said to lose. . , .

The objection in question, however, is more satisfactorily met
at schools, which have attained a certain standard, by sending in
%vhole classes at once to the examinations. This is done at Bre-
wood, where, as I have said, the whole first class was preparing for
the senior, and the second for the junior Cambridge examination.
A similar arrangement is made at Stafford, and at one of the chief
private schools in Staffordshire-^Mr. Sydenham's at. Cannock.*
So far as I could see, it removed the possibility of the ordinary
boys being victimized for the sake of the best, while it provided a
more effective stimulus for the latter. . >

That the result of the examinations under discussion is an
undue attention to certain subjects, and to the fragments of Latin
annually selected by the University, is a more true and serious
objection. It seemed that the construing of the 5th .Jineid,
which was being got up last autumn for the Cambridge examina-
tion, was literally learnt by heart by the boys who were to be sent
in. If they were put on to translate a lesson which they had learnt
for the first time they could make nothing of it, while the part

* This scliool is to all intents and piirposes a private one, though it has an
endowment of 10/., and I have accordingly throughout left it out of account
in speaking of grammar schools. ' '■

Mr. Greens Report. 177

w^hich they had finally got up they had at their tongue's end. In
the parsing and construing, again, of the given portion they were
often very exact, while unable to turn the simplest English, which
they had not seen before, into Latin. This experience enabled
me to appreciate the observation of the head-master at Wolver-
hSinpton, which is that of an excellent teacher of boys, that a boy
preparing for these examinations generally went back rather than
Otherwise in Latin during the time 6f preparation, as compared
with those who pursued their ordinary class- work. In regard to How far valid.
other than classical subjects the same objection has some validity.
The preparation in question exacts a systematic teaching of
English grammar, practice in English "analysis and paraphrase,"
and a familiarity with the outline of English history. It, exacts
this bond fide, and in the schools that had successfully pursued
this line I found among the upper boys a quickness and accuracy
in " analysis," and a knowledge of the leading facts of English
history, which were certainly not to be found in schools that
held aloof from it. For boys of half-educated parentage, and
destined for the shop or counting-house, so soon as the examina-
tion is over, the system is probably a good thing. Without it an
intelligent interest in the literature and history of their own
country might not be possible for them in after life. For boys,
on the other hand, born among any kind of literary habitudes, or
likely to continue their education to the verge of manhood, it can
hardly be beneficial. For them the simple encouragement of a
taste for reading is more to be desired than much paraphrase, and
a familiarity with the living physiognomy of one small period of
history than an acquaintance with the skeleton of all.
' The adoption, therefore, of the " local examination" system is only
satisfactory on the supposition, which for reasons already stated I
believe to be necessary, that the ordinary grammar school must
lay itself out for the former class of boys rather than the latter.
This is a supposition, however, which the master of a grammar
school is slow to admit, and the mode of teaching that foUows
from it, according to the system of the " niiddle-class examina-
tions," is one likely to be specially irksome to a highly educated
man.* The practical problem remains how the system can be
made to consist with general cultivation, and with a preparation
for a possible university career of the best talent that it elicits.

With a preparation of young boys for the "public schools," J^i'eparatiou for
such as Eugby and Winchester, it seems all but absolutely incom- 'ati™le°°°ft"
patible. Till the local examinations acquire more social ■prestige, preparation for
parents who have the public schools in view will probably not public schools.
mtich like their sons to go in for them. The sons themselves, if
they go in, must either be drilled in English subjects to an extent
not supposed by the entrance examinations at the schools men-
tioned, or run a risk of being " plucked in the preliminary," and

* It was a, feeling of the above objections, I believe, which led the master of
the proprietary school at Edgbaston, after a period of remarkable success in the
local examinations, to hold aloof from, them altogether for some years, Bovs
from this school, however, are now again sent in for them.

178

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

How far com-
patible with.
preparation
for Universi-
ties.

Instance from
Brewood.

How far
exceptional.

in Latin and Gteek must be taught in a way not the best calcu-
lated to make them fine scholars. If, on the other hand, they are
treated as exceptions, they spoil the system of the school and get
less regular teaching themselves. The public schools, of course,
have it in their power, by modifying their present system, to
remove this difficulty, and would thereby do much to obliterate
the social demarcations which at present are growing stronger in
education ; but this is hardly to be expected of them. I heard of
one boy from Brewood who had gone on to Harrow and been well
placed there, but this was a solitary exception. The third class
,it Burton, in which were some boys, chiefly the master's song,
preparing for Winchester, did not seem to be pursuing the line of
study best fitted to qualify the ordinary middle-class boy for the
local examinations, though no doubt the candidates for Winchester,
if they were diverted from their Latin and Greek for a few
months to English grammar and history, might do very well in
them.

Of the possible combination of a system specially adapted to
the local examinations with eflfective preparation for theUniversities,
Brewood school is the best illustration that I have met with. It
has achieved great success in these examinations, and its numbers
have risen in about six years from almost nothing to nearly 100,
of whom two-thirds are boarders. It sends about 12 juniors on
an average, and two or three seniors, every year to the Cambridge
examination at Wolverhampton. At the same time it has, during
the last few years, sent several boys to Cambridge, who have done
very well. A year previous to my visit three, I think, had gone
there, who had passed the local examination for seniors (in the
first class) nearly three years before. Two of these had got open
scholarships at St. John's College. When I was there, a younger
generation had filled the upper classes. Several of them, however,i,iit
seemed likely to go on to the University, and all (with a few special
exceptions) had been or would be sent in for the local examina-
tions. It must be observed that the successes which Brewood boys-
have obtained at the University have been mathematical, and the
school was clearly stronger relatively in mathematics than in
classics. Greek is not begun till nearly three-quarters of the way
up the school, and after that there are exemptions from its study..
In the second class from the top there were several young boys,
who had evidently been well taught in classics and were beyond
the ordinary grammar school leveh Still, though there were several
boys in the school who promised well for gaining scholar-
ships in time by mathematical knowledge, there were none for
whom I should much anticipate them on the strength of their
Latin and Greek. It is to be remembered, moreover, that Bre-
wood from the position it has obtained, is able to attract boys of a
higher class socially, and who have presumably more home-cultiva-
tion, than those who frequent the ordinary grammar school. Its
boarders pay 50/. a year, and though there is no sort of exclusive- ;
ness in its management, many of the day-boys being sons of the
farmers of the neighbourhood, its upper classes are clearly not in

Mr, Greens ReporL 179

the same need of preliminarjr civilization as most who are sent in
to the examination for juniors. This circumstance, and the skilful
teaching of the head-master, render it possible to compress the
subjects other than classics and mathematics, which the local
examiners require, within very small compass. Though its success,
as already mentioned, has been eminent in " English " subjects, only
1^ hour a week is given by the first class to history and geography
together, and no special lessons are given in English grammar on
literature till a month or two before the examination begins.
Scantiness of time for these subjects is more than compensated
by general intelligence, frequent practice in English writing, and
effective teaching. On the whole my conclusion is that, with
good material and teaching, a grammar school that lays itself out
for the local examinations, if it can get its best boys to stay on
for the examination for seniors, may again give the best of these More compati-
a good training for scholarships at Cambridge. Such boys, how- rati^'for ^^*
ever, will at present have a worse chance of scholarships at Cambridge
Oxford. The examination for these, with the exception of a few *™ ^^
given for special excellence in mathematics, is mainly suited to
the coui'se of instruction pursued at the great classical schools,
and though a young man of the kind in question might very likely
get a final first class at Oxford, if once he were there, yet the
want of a scholarship bars his way. On the question whether How far
preparation for the local examination constitutes a good general compatible
training it is only necessary to remark that all education must be ^'itivation.
relative to the time at which it is likely to stop. The process
which a boy has to go through, in order to get ready for the
" junior " examination, can scarcely be a desirable one if his educa-
tion is to be contiued beyond it. It implies the learning of too
many things at once, and the virtual learning-by-heart of transla-
tions from Latin books instead of a gradual acquaintance with the
Latin tongue. The same remark applies with some modification
to the examination of "seniors." But it does not at all follow that
either examination may not be the best for the majority of those
who go in for it, with whom it is the final goal of regular educa-
tion.

To return to the question of the value of the local examinations Value to be
in the way of reward, it will be seen from what has been said attached to
that they have on the whole little value as leading to anything ^^^^^ exami-
further. It is only in exceptional cases that even the examina- nations as a
tion for seniors can serve in any way as a stepping-stone to the r^'^ard.
University, and again it is only exceptionally that boys can be got
to stay long enough at a grammar school to go in for this. Nor in
nine cases out of ten can success in these examinations be in any
sense a source to success in life. Of the estimation attached to
them by the public I heard diiferent accounts. At Coventry I
was told that parents would only allow their sons to go in for them
as a favour to the master of the grammar school, while at Wolver-
liampton (which is a Cambridge local centre) the master of the
school told me that though he personally objected to preparing
boys for them, he yet intended to do so because they formed the
one test by which the local public measured the school. The

180 Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

truth I believe to be that though -parents of the middle-class in
general are beginning to look to them as a test of the goodness of
schools, they yet have no particular ambition as individuals for
I their sons to succeed in them, because such success does not as a
rule provide any better openings in business. Thus they afford
a powerful stimulus to the schoolmaster, where his positioais such
(which it is not always) as to render him sensitive to parental
opinion, but on the boys they act mainly through him.' His
ambition to some extent communicates itself to them, and a public
distribution of prizes for success in the examinations by a local
magnate adds some further incentive, especially to those who live
in and about the town where the distribution takes place. Of this
I had good evidence, particularly at Brewood, and at Mr, Syden-
ham's school at Cannock, The best testimony to the efifect of the
system is to be found in what I heard from all the schoolmasters
■who', had largely availed themselves of it, viz., that it -has already
lengthened the time which the better boys give to education by
at least a year. Those who would otherwise have been removed
from school at the age of 14 are allowed to stay there till 15, in
order to go in for the examination for *' juniors," and those again
who have distinguished themselves in this are often tempted to give
still another year to preparation for that for " seniors."

The examinations by the Society of Arts and those instituted
by the Government Department of Science and Art are not,
according to my experience, much used by grammar schools. The
chemical examination of the latter is resorted to by boys from
Walsall, and at Kinver also I found some youths, late pupils of the
grammar school, who had gone in for the former. These exami-
nations do not carry the same local prestige as those instituted by
the Universities, and the drawbacks mentioned to the effectiveness
of the latter apply to them with more force.
Defects of {'^•) Having explained the chief difl&culties on the side of the

teaching in tlie pupils, as they presented themselves to me, which interfere with
grammar the attainment of a higher standard, I come now to those which

lie rather on the side of the masters. Among these I must be
understood to presuppose that want of sustained energy on the
part of many grammar school masters, very different from negli-
gence, and due to the nature of their position, which has been
previously given as one of the reasons why their schools are not
Distraction of more full. To this must be added the distraction which results
the masters. from teaching a great variety of subjects to boys of the most
various degrees of knowledge and capacity. The subjects taii^t
in a grammar school, which seriously attempts the classicsj are as
numerous as those taught at a great " public school," and perhaps
the gradations among the boys are not much less so.* For dealing
with this heterogenous material there are but two or three masters.'
Among these there can be no satisfactory division of labour.
Either one man must teach all the classics, another all the mathe-
matics and arithmetic, and a third all the English, or each man
must take the entire teaching of a certain number of boys on all

■*At Nuneaton the six upper boys were divided into four classes ; at Warwick
the eight upper boys, in like manner, into four classes.

Mr. Green's Report. ISl

subjects. 'If the former plail is adopted,' the classification for all Modes of
subjects must be the same. The first class in mathematics for classification,
instance must coincide with the first class in classics : otherwise
the mathematical master, having his second class while the classical
master hears his first, will want some of the boys occupied with
the latter. The result is, that a boy, for instance, who has a
specialty for arithmetic, has either to be put above his level in
classics, or below his level In arithmetic. If the former alternative
is adopted, he is a drag on the others in classics ; if the latter,
(which- is more common in grammar schools), he is himself kept
back in arithmetic — a result' very unfortunate to the repute- of
the school with commercial parents.

To take an instance. At Warwick are two masters, one of Instance of
whom takes all the classics, the other all the arithmetic and mathe- °^® ^""."V^
matics. The school is divided into two main groups which are
taught in separate rooms. The upper one, on a given day, will
be occupied with the ckssieal master in the morning and the
mathematical in the afternoon, the lower one with the mathe^
matical in the morning and the classical in the afternoon. Ac-
cording to this arrangement, the same boy must be in the same
group for all subjects, and the mathematical master complained to
me of the embarrassment of having to teach a boy very backward ,
in arithmetic, along with the first group, because he happened to
have reached its level, in classics. The only way in which this evil
could be avoided would be by the whole school doing arithmetic at
one time,' on a distinct classification, and this implies that both
masters should take part in teaching it.

This way out of the difficulty (which applies equally to all sub- Other mode,
jects, though the competition between classics and arithmetic is Its defect.
most important), may be desirable under the circumstances, but is
very unsatisfactory in itself To teach three classes in Latin and
Greek alone is somewhat distracting, — especially, when as is often
the case, they ought properly to be broken into four or five, if
circumstances allowed. To teach them also French, arithmetic,
and history breaks a master's time into half-hours. And this is
what actually happens in most grammar schools. The conse-
quence is that none but a specially gifted master can apply himself
with any elasticity to any of the lessons that he has to give. The
masters at Rugby, I believe — at any rate those of the higher forms
^^get up their lessons beforehand. It would be generally admitted
that a man could not be an effective teacher of advanced pupils
who did not do this, and perhaps to make a lesson really effective
to young or backward boys may be no less a work of art. I may
be doing injustice, but I doubt whether any one of the masters of
the schools that I visited ever prepares a lesson beforehand, nor do
I see how he should. Supposing this state of things to be com-
patible with the most effective teaching of such boys as form the
first class of most grammar schools, it can scarcely be so with that
of boys preparing for the University. There are also instances of
boys who stay on at. the grammar school beyond the ordinary
time for general cultivation, and with a view to the Civil Service.

182

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Difficulty of
getting good
under-masters.

Evil of having
one on the
foundation.

Cases Trhere
the income is
not sufficient
to provide a
good assistant
of any kind.

Under a better system tliere might, it is to be hoped, he more.
What is specially wanted for such boys is such spirited discourse
on history, literature, and science as may create a real interest in
these matters — an object which the manuals can never achieve—
and this the distracted grammar school master, who has perhaps
never himself travelled out of the routine of elementary classics
and mathematics, is in most cases incapable of giving. The evil
of course is aggravated when the master is partly occupied with
work outside his school, or has lost interest in his vocation.

(5). I have already expressed an opinion that graduates from
Oxford and Cambridge are, on the whole, the most suitable men
to act as head-masters' of grammar schools. Provided that the
trustees are on their guard against men of this class who are
involuntarily seeking such a position under stress of circumstances,
I don't think they would gain by travelling into other regions.
The question, however, is a different one as regards the assistant-
masters. In several schools provision is made for an under-master,
who is to be on the foundation, and is as virtually irremoveable
as the head-master himself. This arrangement is generally recog-
nized as bad. It not only leads to all the evils of divided empire,
but establishes an officer who has security of tenure without re-
sponsibility — who, like the head master, is strong in the strength of
an endowment which can be taken from him only by a process which
no one will undertake, but who is not subject to the same restraints
of public opinion. Without invidiously particularizing, I ought to
say that I have met with several cases which strongly illustrate the
above remark. The mischief, I think, is generally greater, where
such an under-master is a graduate, for in that case he is apt to
consider the elementary work, to which he is relegated, as beneath
him. ,i

Where this evil is avoided, and the under-masters are all readily.,
removable either by the trustees or head-master, there are still
great difficulties in the way of getting effective assistance. In
some cases the income of the school, according to present arrange-
ments, is not enough to provide a good assistant of any kind.
Without an assistant it may safely be said that a grammar school
cannot be conducted as such at all. Of those professedly so con-
ducted, at Solihull IQl. a year is all the money it is possible to
give to an assistant, although fees are charged. For such a sum_
a graduate is out of the question, nor can a good man of another ,
sort be kept, though by a happy chance he may be obtained for a
few months. At Uttoxeter the under-master gets 100/. a year.
At Coleshill (where, however, no fees are charged) he gets 80?.
Neither sum will get a first-rate certificated master, much less a
graduate. At Lichfield adequate assistance can only be obtained
by charging a higher fee on the day-boys, and making the school
more dependent on boarders than is desirable. At Newcastle it
would be impossible for a decent salary to be given to an assistant
but for the objectionable arrangement by which the head-master
has a parish in the town. Here, however, by proper measures, the
income from endowment might be increased. At Stone, where Latin

Mr. GreetHs Eeport. 183

might with advantage be taught, only one master Is possible, and
hence it is not attempted.

In such cases as the above, where a really good assistant of any
kind is out of reach, it is clearly better to acquiesce even in a
second-rate man from a training college than to engage a Dublin
graduate, who must have some defect either of character or capacity.
This view, however, is not always accepted by the mas^ters of the
schools in question. In cases where a better salary is forthcoming,
the matter is more doubtful. In a school where there are three Question
or four masters, and which teaches Greek in the higher classes, g^Iduates and
it is almost necessary that the second of them, who sends up others.
boys direct to the classes under the head-master, should be a
graduate.* The doubt arises as to lower masters in such a
school, and as to the second where only two are kept. The
graduates obtainable at tbe given price are, with some notable
exceptions, such as the second masters at Stratford and War-
wick, of a very inferior type, nor are they so available as others
might be in the commercial part of education, and in teaching
such things as book-keeping, mechanical drawing, and mensu-
ration, which have great attractions for commercial parents, and
with good management can be taught without taking much time
from other subjects, supposing a competent teacher to be at
hand. On the other hand, the non-graduate master is not always
trustworthy in the teaching of Latin, and commonly does not pro-
fess Greek; he has (perhaps) a less civilizing influence on the
manners of the town boys, and is apt to be offensive to the head-
master. Without attempting to decide between the claims of the
graduate and the non-graduate, I will only notice the want of
effective teaching in the classes below the head-master's as one of
the reasons why the upper stratum of the grammar school is reached
by so few boys, and by them so late. There is clearly a want of
men better suited to the grammar-school system than the certifi-
cated masters, and to whom 150Z. a year is not so poor a pittance
as it Is to one who has spent 600/. or 700Z. on his " education " at
Oxford or Cambridge. At present, so far as I have seen, the Merit of
want is best met by men from the Scotch universities, especially graduates from
from Aberdeen. The best assistants that I found at the best pri-
vate schools — the only ones who could teach Latin without being
given to drink — were of this sort. The only grammar schools, at
which I noticed them, were outside the district now under con-
sideration. Loughborough and Oundle afford very favourable
instances of their employment. The whole question would be
very much simplified by the abandonment of the attempt to teach Possible sim-
Greek. If this were done, better teaching could be provided on pjification by
all other subjects in the classes below the head-master's for the <,£ (jreek.
same salary as is now given to a graduate.f A good instance of

* At Burton, however, where the full number of masters is four, and where
15 boys learn Greek, there is no assistant who is a graduate. I did not observe
any bad results from this.

t The schools having graduates as under-masters are Wolverhampton (2),
Brewood (2), Walsall, Coventry, Sutton-Coldfield, Atherstone (2), Nuneaton

184 Counties of Stafford, and Warwick.

this kind is furnished by the Bridge- Trust School at Handsworth,
where Latin is taught — very soundly so far as it goes — through-
the greater part of the school, but Greek not at all, and where,
none of the under-masters are graduates. On any other system this
school could not teach the same number of boys nearly so Well as
it does.. On the conditions under which a general adoption of

this system might be advisable I shall speak afterwards.

Want of oral (6.) I do not . doLibt that a practised observer of educational'
teaching in phenomena would have noticed many points, in which the modes'
owe asses, of teaching prevalent in grammar schools operate injuriously on
the progress of the pupils. 1 can only mention two as having;
specially struck me. In many cases there seems to be not enough^
work on paper in the higher classes, and not enough oral teaching
in the lower. In schools where I have observed rapid progress in-
elementary subjects to be achieved by young boys, the master hasj
been in the habit of making them do their lessons, to a great ex-
tent, aloud. Instead of setting them a quantity of sums to do by
themselves, he makes them do one after another orally to him.
Each blunder is thus corrected as it occurs, a constant spirit of
emulation is kept up, and there is none of that hopeless moping
over an irretrievable series of mistakes, which may be seen in
little boys when they work by themselves. English grammar,,
spelling, and geography may be taught in the same way and T
believe that the quickness with which these elementary subjects
are got up in national, as compared with grammar schools, is
mainly due to the greater practice of the oral method in the former.
The cheap private schools seemed to me to vary in goodness accord-'
ing as this method was more or less pursued in them, and it is on
account of their skill in it that I believe certificated masters to be
specially useful in the lower classes of a grammar school. The
masters of grammar schools complain that boys who are habituated
to it — those, for instance, who come on to the grammar school-
from the national school — are incapable of learning lessons by
themselves. No doubt it may be kept up to too advanced an age.
But for the object of getting elementary knowledge, especially
the knowledge of arithmetic and grammar, into commercial; boys'
at the earliest possible age it seems most valuable, and thisis an
object of primary importance to the grammar school, if it is to
fulfil what after all is its true function, that of .drawing boys Tvho-
come for a commercial education on to a liberal one.
Of work on The system of doing work on paper is the exact opposite of the

higher" '^^ ^^^ method of teaching, but I believe the former to be as impor*'
-' '■ " tant to the higher as the latter to the lower- classes. The charac-

teristic fault of the upper classes in most grammar schools seemed
to be a certain slovenliness and inexactness of mind. This appeared'
especially in the badness of their Latin exercises, in the.tendency'
when construing viva voce to slur over the auxiliary words- and-tr

(Dublin), Coleshill (Dublin), Warwick, Stratford. The first five can welK
afford the luxury. Atherstone only obtains its second graduate by an arrange' ;
ment which the commercial parents complain of. Warwick and Stratford only
get good graduates accidentally. -It

'; Mr. Green's Report. 185

repeat the nominative case,' after a relative sentence, and in tlieii'
bad English when set to Avrite on some ordinary subject. The
best cathartic for this malady I hold to be. the constant practice of
loriife^ translationsy the correction of which by the master is the
beat possible^ exercise in English grammar as well as Latin, and
frequent examination on paper. This involves a good deal of
additional trouble both to masters and boys, against whichj no
dQnbt,"the flesh rebels, and I think there is too much tendency to
neglect it. At Burton I understood that there was an examination
on paper every wijek, and the. good result appeared in the neatness
and exactness with which the; upper boys did their work. At
Brewood the upper iboys haveifrequent practice in writing English^
and there ares examinations in arithmetic and algebra every fort-
nights The good effect of this was obvious, while written trans-
lation from the classics seemed to have been scarcely* ' frequent
enough. At Coventry, again, the most satisfactory thing about
thfi school was the English writing of some of the upper boys,
whidh was suchs that the training necessary to produce it- must
haA*© been anedncation in itselfl It contrasted strongly with the
Latin writing to which, so far as I could learn, comparatively little
attention had been given. At the other schools which I saw it
seemed that English writing was hardly practised at ail, and trans-
lation on paper from and into Latin not so much as it should be.
If my impression in. this respect is correct, it illustrates the im-
portance of instituting,, if possible, examinations on paper, which
shall excite more interest in the schools than those at present held
by the- masters themselves, or by men whom they appoint, seem
generally to do.

i(7.) Finally, as a general cause, prejudicial alike to, the higher Defects of
and to the most elementary education, must be noticed the general "'^^'^'^S ™"J
inconvenience of the buildings in which the grammar schools are
taughfer For details on this head I must refer to my reports on
individual schools. . The building is in many cases too small for its
purpose. In others separate class-rooms are urgently i needed.
The desks are, oftener than not, badly arranged, being either double, ,-

so that the boys sit facing each other with every facility for talking
and play, or ranged along the wall, so that they have their- backs
to the master. The latter arrangement is a special- obstacle to
giving oral lessons to large groups. The noise in the schools, re-
sulting mainly, I think, from bad arrangement, was often very,
troublesome to me, when examining, and must.be a serious impedi-
ment -to the effectiveness of the teacher and the attention of the
boys: It Vi^'as very rare to see any educational appliances in the
schools, except a black-board and a few very old maps.

(II.)-' As to the state of commercial education in the grammar II. Commercial

schools a good deaL has unavoidably been said, by anticipation eiJucation.

already. I entered on my work with the , expectation of finding

this department much more efficiently conducted in private schools

than in grammar schools. This expecta,tion, however, which Not better on

certainly corresponds not only with the professions of private *?^^°'V",

X. i ,. t, jv -xi, a X- ■ • • .Li • 1*^ f .1 private schools,

schoolmasters, but with a noatin<T impression m the mind of the

186

Counties of Stafford and Warwick,

Cases where
classical
standard is
raised at ex-
pense of the
commercial.

commercial class, has not, on the whole, been confirmed h
experience. The essentials of a commercial education are simph
(1) good handwriting; (2) good "mental arithmetic" or, in othe
words, ready reckoning ; (3) enough practice in grammar and coni'
position to write a commercial letter correctly. Drawing anc
French are desirable accessories. As baa been previously es-
plained, they are not likely ever to be wanted by nine commercial
boys out of ten ; but there is a general impression among parents
that they may come in usefully. That there is a good deal offancj
in this is shown by the fact that while German is quite as much
a commercial language as French in the district where I have been
employed, it is in hardly any demand at the schools. Now, in the
private schools which I was allowed to examine, and which were,
probably, not the worst of their kind, I cannot say that I found
these subjects better taught than in the grammar schools. In
several grammar schools, no doubt, they are (to judge by results)
defectively taught, but so they are In many private schools. lo
take arithmetic as a general test, if the number of sums done
right in the grammar schools that I examined were divided bytle
number of boys who tried them, and the same process performed
in the case of the private schools examined, the average number
done right by each boy would appear quite as great in the former
case as the latter. The chief distinction that I observed was that
instances of complete failure were more frequent in the grammar
schools, and that the style of arithmetic done in these schools was
perhaps less strictly commercial. Of handwriting I do not pro-
fess to be a judge, but I did not observe any general distinction
in this respect between the two kinds of school. At the same
time I have no doubt that both writing and arithmetic are
generally taught more quickly in the private schools, for the
simple reason that they are taught almost alone, and that a boy
who at the age of 12 was backward in commercial education, and
wanted to be perfect in it by the time he was 14, would be more
likely to get what he wanted in them.*

As a rule, I found that in those grammar schools where arith-
metical knowledge was defective the knowledge of Latm was
defective also. There were exceptions to this rule, however, and
in some cases certainly the classical standard of the school had
been advanced rather at the expense of the commercial. At the
Atherstone school, excellent in most respects, I thought the
arithmetic defective. The same remark applies to Lichfield, but
with some modification, the classics there being not quite so good,
the arithmetic rather better than at Atherstone. At Eugeley
most of the boys whose work I saw did fairly in Latin construing
and English writing, but very poorly in arithmetic. These were
the only cases where the contrast between the general kinds of
work was strong. At Warwick and Stratford, however, I thought

* In the simple office of imparting elementary linowledge the Edward Stoeet
branch school at Birmingham seemed decidedly above any other that I saw.
grammar or private.

Mr. Greeyh Report. . 187

that scarcely enough provision was made for the commercial side
of education as compared with the classical. At Warwick know-
ledge of Latin is the sole basis of classification, and this always
implies a certain disadvantage to boys whose parents wish them,
and who are disposed themselves, to push specially in other things
At Stratford no provision is made for teaching French or drawing,
nor is English grammar regularly taught. In all the above cases,
except Rugeley, some complaint was made to me by intelligent
persons, not at all disposed to seek for any lowering of the classical
standard, of the defects pointed out. In most, if not all, of them,
however, it is undoubtedly the competition between the classical
or liberal and the commercial elements in education that has
caused the balance to turn against the latter. It is important to
enquire how far this result is a necessary one.

At Atherstone some complaint had been caused by the removal
of an English teacher from the office of under-master, the pay-
ment of which is provided for by the scheme, and the appointment
to it of a graduate. The consequence of this arrangement had been Howfar this
that the English teaching was done at a less charge by 40Z. a year is unavoidable.
than it had been previously, and, some people in the town thought,
worse done. The head-master's answer was, in brief, that but for Want of funds
the change he should only have been able to keep one graduate *° ^*^P "P
assistant, and that two were wanted to keep up the classical and
mathematical standard of the school. He admitted that the
difficulty was caused chiefly by the boarders, as without them one
graduate assistant would have been enough, but unquestionably
in that school the boarders contribute essentially to the maintenance
of its general standard. On the other hand the reduction in the
charge for English teaching is no doubt an injury to that depart-
ment. On the present system and with the present funds I do
not see a way out of the difficulty. In the Lichfield school, again,
the neglect of arithmetic, such as it is, is probably due to the fact
that the boys are with the exception of six free boys either
boarders or admitted at a fee which excludes those most anxious for
commercial education. But on no other system could the school
with its present income be carried on, unless it were given up to
commercial education " pure and simple." At Warwick, again, the
disproportion between the income of the school and the value of
its exhibitions 'is at fault. Having such exhibitions, it is bound
to keep up its standard of classical teaching at all costs. Though
the conduct of it is perhaps hardly so energetic as it might be, yet it
would in any case be very difficult for it to maintain its standard
in classics and at the same time do full justice to other subjects
without an increase of income. Such an improvement of building
and situation as would make it attractive for boarders might do
something, but unless the boarders were of the commercial class
the additional teaching power in classics which they would require
would absorb such increased revenue as they might bring. At
Stratford I thought that the boys, though well-taught and intelli-
gent, had scarcely enough to do, and time might be found for sub-
jects now neglected without taking it from the classics. Here
however, the second master is of a much higher calibre than the

». 0. 3. -p

188

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Special im-
portance to
grammai-
school of
keeping up
commercial
standard.

Level of
income l^elow
which the t^o
kinds of educa-
tion cannot
both be fully
supplied.

Where the
income is
higher some
difficulty still
remains,

salary given him could be expected to attract. He is a graduate,
and is able, in addition to English lessons and arithnaetic, to under-
take all the matheniatics and as much Latin as may be wanted.
In the event of his leaving, the difficulty on the present system
of providing adequately for the English subjects, without lowering
the standard in classics and mathematics, would at once arise.

It must be borne in mind, in the consideration of this question,
that it is not enough for the grammar schools merely to give as
good a commercial education as the average private school. To
parents of the commercial class the private school offers attrac-
tions at which the grammar school cannot and ought not to aim.
The grammar school therefore cannot maintain an hold on this
class unless it offers to them the article of commercial education,
which they want, either of better quality at the same price, or
of the same quality as a charity. The former alternative is clearly
the only desirable one. Yet it is extremely difficult, on grounds
above indicated, for a grammar school, having an income not
exceeding 4O0Z. a year, to supply the superior commercial educa-
tion required, and at the same time, according to the present theory
of its duties, to supply a complete classical and mathematical
education for the Universities. In trying to do both, it will very
likely fail to do either well. A fee of 4Z. a year is all that can be
wisely charged in a provincial town,* and it is desirable to have a
few boys free. Suppose there are 50 boys paying this sum, this,
in addition to an income from endowment of 400/., gives 600?. A
good head-master can hardly be got for less than 400/. a year,
nor can a master who will do full justice to the commercial de-
partment be got for less than 150Z. A visiting master for drawing
or French will absorb the rest of the income. Now it is im-
possible that a single master can adequately maintain the classical
teaching in such a school at the level which good preparation for the
Universities requires. If he seeks to meet this difficulty by taking
enough boarders to pay for another classical master, he raises a new
one as to the relation of these boarders to the commercial master.
The only arrangement, I believe, by which the difficulty could be
satisfactorily met would be one which should relieve the classical
department by transferring the teaching of Greek and the higher
classics to some upper school, which the smaller grammar schools
should feed. But of this more below.

Where the revenues of the school are such as will allow, con-
sistently with the maintenance of the classical standard, of the
employment of a superior English master, such as the best turned
oulr by the Government training colleges,! the commercial educa-

* I do not mean that the fee might not ultimately be raised to a higher sum,
but that, considering the habituation to the gratuitous system, and the received
notions on educational expenditure among small shopkeepers, this is as much
as could wisely be charged at present.

f I found a good instance of this kind at the Wolverhampton grammar
school, where is an English master from the Battersea training college, who,
besides giving excellent elementary instruction to the lower boys, teaches book-
keeping, &c., to some of the upper ones, to the great contentment of their
parents. These secondary commercial accomplishments — book-keeping,
mechanical drawing, and the like — may easily be taught without seriously

Mr. Green's Report. 189

tion need not suffer so seriously by combination with the classical
and mathematical. If the system of the school is to be uniform,
each is inevitably to some extent in the way of the other. The
boy whose main object is an educational- equipment for business,
cannot get this so expeditiously as he might if nothing else were
attended to. On the other hand, as has been previously pointed
out, those whose parents wish them to be pushed as quickly as pos-
sible in the subjects, on which success at the great schools and
universities depends, will be kept back by superfluous arithmetic
and geography. It is sometimes attempted to satisfy both wants
at once by a system of alternative studies or by a separation of Ways of
departments. Neither plan seems to work satisfactorily. When meeting this,
boys are exempted from Greek, for instance,* that they may give AltematlTe
more time to modern languages or history, it is found, according to ''*"^®^|
the uniform testimony of schoolmasters that they make hardly any ^Jeetionsto
additional progress in the subjects to which extra time is given,
while they lose ground both in general intelligence and in habits of
application. This is due partly to the intellectual slackness which
results from the consciousness of having given up the hardest sub-
jects, but mainly from the fact that the exceptional studies cannot
be pursued under adequate supervision from the higher masters.
Were the alternative studies of equal dignity, as for instance,
classics and mathematics, the case would be different, but when the
one course of study is taken by all the boys of promise, the other
by the backward boys, who don't profess to aim at the higher
education, the latter inevitably becomes a secondary care to the
masters, at any rate to those of them whose oversight is most
effective. If the majority of the upper boys, on the other hand,
or the more promising of them, lapse from the higher to the com-
mercial studies, the standard of the school, as a place of classical
education even for the few, inevitably falls.

The institution of a separate commercial department, as at Separate
Walsall, Stafford, Burton, and Uttoxeter, seems a still worse way ^^pai'toents.
out of the difficulty. This, it is to be observed, does not mean a
simple division of the school into groups according to knowledge,
so that those in the lower ^oup should rise into the upper when
they had learnt a certain quantity. It means that those parents who
wish their boys merely to learn just enough to act as clerks, or serve
in a shop, place them in a '•' commercial department ", while those
who wish them to learn a little Latin and mathematics, or possibly
Greek, place them in the "classical ," without any reference in
either case to the amount of knowledge which a boy possesses on

infringing on other things, if the head-master is not unwisely contemptuous of
them, and if there is anyone at hand to teach them. Complaint was made to me
by a father at Atherstone that his son, who had been bred at the grammar school,
had missed a good situation from inability to write a " commercial letter."
Supposing the boy to have learnt his own language beforehand, one hour's
lesson a day for a week would have given him the art that was lacking.

* As at firewood, where the substitution of German for Greek is allowed,
and at Coventry where the commercial boys learn extra French, arithmetic,
and English History in place of Greek, paying (if not sons of freemen) 6Z. &s.
a year, as against 10?. 10s. paid by those who learn Greek.

p 2

ISO

Counties of Hta;fford and H'nrwich.

Objections 1o
this.

Does not
attract sons of
professional
men.

Degrades the

commercial

boys.

entrance to the school. In all the above schools (except Walsall,
where education is gratuitous), the fees charged for the two de-
partments are different. At Stafford they are 4Z. and 21. a year
respectively, at Burton 11. and 21, at Uttoxeter 51. and 3Z. At
Walsall and Uttoxeter neither Latin nor mathematics is taught in
the commercial department, at Stafford and Burton they are taught
to a few boys in it, who are likely to be transferred to the classical.

If this arrangement either enabled the higher subjects to be
taught more exclusively in the classical department, or met the
objections of professional men to the grammar school, something
might be said for it ; but it does neither. In many cases, no doubt,
it has been found necessary in order to avert opposition to the
introduction of fees on the part of the lower class of those who
have been accustomed to gratuitous education, but suj)posing fees
to be introduced, I doubt whether one more son of a professional
man has been attracted to a grammar school through its separation
into departments. The dislike whicli such a man feels to the
mixture of his boys with those of a lower class is a dislike not so
much of their mixture in school as of their mixture in the street,
and this is what the division of departments, except by very elaborate
and invidious arrangements, cannot prevent. The boys, accord-
ingly, who constitute the classical department^ are mostly of the
commercial class, whose parents have rather higher aspirations
than the rest. The separation from the " commercial department "
does not make them come better taught to begin with, nor does it
remove that want of interest in the higher subjects which arises
from their position and prospects. Thus, the great drag on pro-
gress in the classical department remains unchanged, and if it
moves at all more quickly from the absence of the Pariahs who are
relegated to the " commercial," this is more than compensated by
the hopeless degradation of the latter. I never met with a school
where a system of transfer from the commercial department to
the classical was effectively worked. The transfer is useless,
unless made when a boy is still very young. A head-master may,
no doubt, by keeping up an active supervision over the lower
department, occasionally catch a promising boy in it, while still
quite young, and get him transferred to the higher. But here is
a double risk. The head-master may fail to notice the boy, and
the parents, accustomed to the lower fee, may be unwilling to pay
the higher. If, as at Burton, regular provision is made for the
admission of certain boys from the commercial department to the
classical without payment of a fee, boys do not generally avail
themselves of this till they are near the top of the former. Then,
having learnt little or no Latin, they are not fit to be placed in the
higher classes of the classical department, while they are too old and
too far advanced in English subjects to improve themselves in the
lower. Thus, a boy whom parental ignorance or selfishness has
once placed in the commercial department is prettty sure to stay
there, whatever his latent capacity. With nothing to stimulate
his ambition, he learns even the commercial subjects!^ this was my
uniform experience) no better than his neighbour in the classical;

Mr. GreerCs Report. 191

and pays the penalty for the sin of his parents in a permanent
vulgarity of mind.

The separation of departments, as ordinarily carried out, is thus is specially
wasteful of juvenile intellect. It is wasteful also both of teaching '"'""'"f"'-
power and of the resources which grammar schools possess for
raising the education of the middle class. The teacher of the
commercial boys is not able to do what he very well might in
teaching English subjects to the classical department, while the
teachers of the latter again can do hardly anything for the com-
mercial. At the same time the commercial department is giving
under another name an education the same in, kind as that given
at the National and British schools, which is thus given, so to
speak, twice over. Provision having been made for elementary
education in one way, the grammar school steps in and provides
for it in another. To gratify the whim of parents, who think
" grammar school " a finer name than " National school," or (as at
Walsall) prefer a school where they pay nothing to one where they
pay a few pence a week, it applies money which might do much
to stimulate education of a kind not yet generally appreciated, to
provide an education which all — at least of the class under con-
sideration — value enough to seek without stimulus, and which is
already adequately provided elsewhere.

The means of reconciling the opposite wants of classical and Outline of true
commercial education are to be found, I believe (1) in the exaction ^°^"'^°°'
of a larger amount of elementary knowledge at entrance to the
grammar schools than is now required at the best, (2) in such a
postponement of Greek as would render it possible, without
trenching on the time given to Latin, to secure that the average
boy should be perfect in arithmetic, and able to write English
correctly by the age of 14 at latest. After that age a bifurcation
might be allowed either, where the staff is strong enough, at the
grammar school itself, or at upper schools to be founded for the
purpose. This plan, of which more will be said under the head of
Remedies for the existing state of things, I believe to be the only
one by which commercial requirements can be satisfied and at the
same time the way kept open to the higher learning, without
sacrificing the great advantages of uniformity of system. The
words " arithmetic " and " Latin " should be graven on the heart;
of every grammar-school master. The one represents the primary
condition of popularity with the commercial class ; the other the
wicket-gate through which must pass every boy, not endowed
with special gifts or the subject of some uncovenanted mercies,
who is to attain an appreciation of anything high and remote in
the intellectual world.

Before proceeding to the consideration of remedies, however, it Private effort.
may be desirable to describe more in detail the supplemental ^°^ ^'"'^"P"
action of private and proprietary schools as they at present exist, grammai-
1 propose to give in an appendix, without names, an account of schools ?
each private school that I examined or from which -I obtained
information. Plere I shall merely point out the modes in which
they may be considered to supply that which is lacking on the
part of the grammav schools.

192

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

1. Where there
is no grammar
school.

e.y. in the
Potteries.

Small number
in the private
schools in the
Potteries.

Where are the
rest?

(I.) They may be thought to do this most obviously in the case
of districts which have no available grammar school within reach.
The Pottery district of North Staffordshire is of this kind, and
here private enterprise in education has had a fair field before it.
There have been no endowments either to stimulate or to interfere
with it, while it has had to deal with a middle class which cer-
tainly has the means, if it had the will, to pay handsomely for the
teaching of its sons. Under such circumstances, most favourable
for illustrating its strength, it has, on the contrary, shown its
weakness. This appears alike from the small number of the boys
whom it educates, from the low standard of the education given
to this small number, and from complaints, on the part of the
few people in the district who care for a good education, of the
general want of it and of the difficulty of obtaining it for their

sons.

The population of the ' parliamentary borough of Stoke-on-
Trent, which is co-extensive with the Pottery towns, in 1861
was 101,207.* According to a rough estimate previously given
(page 110) such a population should send 600 boys to middle
schools of some kind. In the Potteries, however, the workmen
bear an unusually large proportion to the middle class. I have
no means of estimating the proportion precisely, but from a
parliamentary return published in 1860, which gives the number
of male persons who were at once assessed to the poors^ rate upon
a gross rental of 2Ql. and upwards, and charged to any of the
assessed taxes or to the income tax under Schedules (B) and (D),
it appears that the number of such persons at Stoke was 1,021,
while at Birmingham it was 5,456. The population of Birming-
ham, on the other hand, was scarcely three times that of Stoke.
Perhaps on the strength of these figures we may take the relative
number of the " middle class" in Stoke to be to that of Birmingham
as 3 to 5. The number of boys, then, who should be at middle
schools may be reduced from 600 to 360. Now, in the whole
Pottery district I could only ascertain the existence of three
private middle schools, having together 160 boys. One or two
others were entered in the directory, but if they existed, they
were so obscure that no one seemed to know anything about
them, A few boys also from the district attend the Newcastle
grammar school, but altogether it may be safely reckoned that
not more than 200 boys in the district are receiving a middle
education, as day pupils, in place of the 360. What becomes of
the rest it is not easy to say. A few no doubt are sent to school else-
where. I heard of one or two of the more wealthy and aspiring
manufacturers who had sent sons abroad for education. Several
families, again, from the Potteries take houses in the village of
Alsager, which is only a few riailes distant by rail, and send their
sons thence as day-boys to a flourishing school at Sandbach.
Occasionally a boy from the Potteries is sent as a boarder to the

* This does not include several large villages, whence a day-school in the Potteries
■would be accessible.

Mr. Green's Report. 193

grammar school at Macclesfield. On the whole, however, the
explanation of the smallnesa of the number in middle schools on
the spot is to be found in the fact that many are sent to National
or British schools, whose parents could well afford a higher
education, and that the time given to schooling is reduced to a
minimum. A boy is perhaps sent to a commercial school at the
age of 10 ; by the time he is 12 he has learnt to write a plain
hand and to do a certain amount of " ready reckoning ;" he is then
fit for business, and is accordingly removed.

The three private schools which I examined in the Potteries Character of
feeemed to be honest institutions of their kind, and to do fairly what gchooVsTn'^the
they professed to do. In one of them the fee for a day-boy was Potteries.
12/. a year; in the other two A.I. In the first, which draws on
the professional class and the upper rank of commercial men, Latin
is regularly taught. Greek was so till lately, but now is optional —
to the sorrow of the master, who knows that what is optional is
neglected. In this school a boy, who would stay long enough, (a) Of the
might receive the elements of a liberal education, but with the ™'"^* «^P™-
exception of one boy, the master's nephew, who struck me as most
promising, it did not seem that anyone in the school was really
likely to obtain an education worthy of such a name. The fault,
however, was not with the master, but with the want of capacity
or of early knowledge or of aspiration on the part of the bojfu
The positive result of their schooling, over and above its civilizing
influence, might be summed up as the necessary " English "
education, enough knowledge of French to facilitate the later ac-
quisition of the language if it were wanted for the purposes of life,
and enough Latin to enable them to make out Virgil in an unin-
telligent way, and to be forgotten in a twelvemonth. The education
given in the school, it should be remembered, would, except in
peculiar cases, be final.

In the other two schools mentioned the education given is simply (A) Of the less
of the kind which I have described above (page 105) as a "clerk's e^'pensive.
education." The parents do not care, and therefore will not pay,
for anything more. The boys commonly enter the school unable
in any proper sense to read, and they will not stay beyond the age
of 14 at latest. The classification, moreover, in private schools,
whether owing to the necessity of the case, i.e., to the variety of age
and attainment among the boys when they enter, or owing to a
traditionary want of method, is less simple than in the elementary
schools under the PHvy Council. The use of boys, again, to help
in teaching is impossible, or at least unknown, in them. These
things being borne in mind, it cannot be expected that for a yearly
payment (often irregular) of 4L per boy the private schoolmaster
should provide teaching power enough to attempt Latin and Euclid,
unless in exceptional cases. As a matter of fact, he certainly does
not. In one of the schools in question there were 80 boys to be
taught, and one assistant ; in the other 36 boys, and no assistant.
The schoolroom in each case was small, inconvenient, and ill-
ventilated — a garret, in fact, turned to account. Subject to such
disadvantages the teaching seemed to be good of its kind, i.e., the

194

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Want of gram-
mar school felt
in the Potteries.

By •whom ?

Why private
enterprise
cannqt meet
the want.

upper boys had learnt to write and do sums fairly, and had some
notion of the composition of an English sentence. In one of them
especially the quickness of some of the boys in obvious arithmetic
was remarkable.

Among the more educated inhabitants of the Potteries I found a
general sense of the want of a good middle or grammar school. Men,
whose families have been rich for one or two generations, naturally
do not feel the evil in their own persons. They withdraw to pleasant
houses on the outskirts of the district where their wealth is made,
and send their sons to the " public" schools. Those, again, — and
they are a numerous class — who have themselves risen from being
workmen, or something not much higher, to considerable wealth,
do not generally feel the want of more education for their sons than
is necessary for making money. There remains, however, the large
body of professional men which such a population brings together,
who cannot obtain on the spot such an education as they desire for
their sons, and yet in many cases can ill afford to send them to
good boarding schools. The ministers of religion, of whom, accord-
ing to the census of 1861, there were 76 in the census districts of
Stoke and Wolstanton,* suifer most in this respect, and many of
them spoke to me very feelingly on the matter. Meanwhile an
oppressive atmosphere of well-to-do ignorance hangs over the
district. The signs of diffused interest in things intellectual,
commonly found in large towns, such as evening classes and popular
lectures, seem here to be wholly absent.

It may be said that in a case like this the short-comings of
private enterprise are only temporary ; that the wealth and popu-
lation of the Potteries are new, and that when they are older
they will attract to themselves a proper supply of education. To
this I answer, that in time probably a sufficient supply of the
" clerk's education " will be forthcoming, but nothing more. At
present even this is lacking, as is shown by the fact that the rector
of Stoke has formed special classes for sons of shopkeepers in a
separate part of his national school. But a larger supply of edu-
cation of this kind will do nothing either to meet the wants of the
poorer professional men, or to elicit the intellectual aspiration of
the " new rich." The latter, when they have been rich long
enough to care to improve it, will be too genteel to use a local
school at all, while the former by themselves will be unable to
support a local school adequate to their wants. A well-endowed
grammar school, on the other hand, if it could be imported into
the Potteries and properly worked, would find a considerable class
already craving for the higher education which it . might impart
but unable to supply its ovvn need, and another class, much larger,
which would send its boys to it merely to learn what is useful in
the market, but would often keep them there to learn something
better. If it did something also to check the vulgar tendency of
the larger capitaUsts to send their sons to schools where they only
learn to despise their homes, it would be no slight gain. On the

These districts are co-extensive ivith the Pottery towns and their adjuncts.

Mr. Green's Report. 195

possible means of establishing such a school in the Potteries I
shall speak below.

The Potteries are the only urban district I met with where
middle education had been left wholly to private enterprise. Of
the use made of private schools by farmers I have spoken already
(p. 78). How far this results from local necessity, how far from
a traditionary preference, it is difficult precisely to decide. What
the well-to-do farmer likes is a cheap boarding school, which will
profess to pay more individual attention to his son than a gram-
mar school generally will. It is as cheap boarding schools that
the supplementary action of private schools should next be
considered.

(II.) The general causes through which the grammar schools H- Mvate
fail to act efficiently as boarding schools are — (a) a frequent want adventure
of enterprise on the part of the masters, fostered by jealousy of boarding
boarders on the part of the privileged townspeople, (Jb) badness schools.
of situation and building, (c) the unwillingness of the parents,
who would not be above a provincial boarding school, to pay the
terms which the master of a grammar school naturally charges. Why the
Of (a) and (b) enough has been said on pp. 65 and 67. Of the grammar
grammar schools in Staffordshire and Warwickshire, Brewood j^^g"" ^ ^' "
alone offers any considerable attraction or accommodation to
boarders. It has about 60 of them. Sutton-Coldfield comes
next with 24, then Atherstone with 20, the accommodation in each
case being good. At Lichfield I found 17, but the accommoda-
tion for them was in part rented by the master. The remaining
grammar schools in the two counties (excluding Birmingham) had
only 4o boarders among them, and several of these were living in
rented houses. On the other hand, in several cases (e. g. at War-
wick, Stratford, and Nuneaton) room that might have been avail-
able for boarders was not so used, either from the master not
wishing to have them, or from unsuitableness of situation and
surroundings, or from a combination of these reasons.

With regard to reason (c) it might seem that the master of a
grammar school with an endowment at his back ought to undei"-
bid the private schoolmaster. As a matter of fact he does not, Private masters
and there are great difficulties in the way of his doing so. As is '^'^ ^° *^®
well known, the possibility of making a profit on boarders taken ™^ " eaper.
at a cheap rate depends on their number. Where 10 boarders
would scarcely cover expenses, 30 will yield a considerable profit.
Now, with a few exceptions, the grammar schools that I have met
with only afford accommodation for such a number of boarders as,
at the rate of payment to be expected from the class of parents
who are not above using them as boarding schools, is scarcely
remunerative. It may be asked, why under sucli circumstances
does not the master take another house at his own risk ? To this
tlie answer is, that in many cases the managers would object to
his doing so, and that, where they do not, such an enterprise
could only be made to answer by an amount of " touting " and
advertisement, to which the master of a grammar school may have
a natural repugnance. Supposing him, however, to have large
accommodation provided by the trustees, he will still find it hard

196

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

2 Classes of
private school
in respect of
charge.

The cheaper.

Causes of the
taste for them.

to compete in cheapness with the private boarding schools. These
for the most part take boys at a rate of 25^. a year each, to which
an average of 51. a year may be added for extras. Setting
aside those which prepare boys for the public schools, I did not
discover more than eight private schools in the t\\ j counties that
charged considerably more than this, while some fall below it.
On these terms, strange as it may seem, the private schoolmaster
makes a profit. If he gets 50 boarders he will clear, after de-
duction for assisting masters, and without starving the boys, as
much as 500?. a year.* This, however, supposes a rigid economy
of a kind of which " a scholar and gentleman," such as the gram-
mar-school master is presumed to be and often is, may scarcely
be capable. It supposes unpleasant bargaining with tradesmen,
and a minimizing of the number and wages of servants (facilitated
by putting the boys two in a bed), and that the schoolmaster's
wife shall herself act as cook.

These considerations may explain why it is left to private enter-
prise to meet the large demand for cheap boarding schools, which
exists on the part of farmers and tradesmen. If my reckoning is
right the grammar schools of the two counties only take 167
boarders altogether, and scarcely half a dozen of these are taken
at a less charge than 30Z. a year for board and education. f Most
of them pay much more, as at Brewood and Sutton-Coldfield,
where the yearly charges are 60/. and 60Z. respectively. Of the
private schools whence I obtained information (excluding those
that prepare for Kugby, &c.) 20 take boarders at or under 33i. a
year for board and education, and the boarders in these number
416. In most of these cases the charge is only about '251. a year.
Only eight schools on the other hand, containing 190 boarders,
take them at a yearly charge, varying from 33Z. to 53Z. It must
be remembered also, that while none of the more expensive schools,
to the best of my belief, escaped me, there were many cheaper
ones from which I failed to obtain information. The people who
support these cheap schools are no doubt in fact persons living
either, like farmers, away from towns, or in towns where there is
no grammar school. But they are to a greater extent, I think,
persons who have the chance of sending their sons as day-boys to
a grammar school, but who distinctly prefer a boarding school.
Of some general grounds for this preference I have spoken above
(p. 159). Other reasons that have come under my notice have
been (a) a supposed neglect of duU boys in grammar schools. The
private schoolmaster generally has some triumphant stories of
boarders who have come to him from grammar schools where
nothing has been made of them, and whom he has soon taught all
they needed to know. In reality these are generally boys who
have never been properly managed at home, and in consequence

* In a school of the kind in question there would generally be extra charges of 1/.
a quarter for P'rench or Latin (not commonly for both), German, drawing, music, and
dancing. Supposing that on an average, in a school of 50, each boy paid for one extra
over the whole year, this would give enough to pay the salaries of the ordinary aissist-
aiits as well as of the visiting masters.

■f In this statement I take the average number as given by the master. I did not
find quite so iaany in attendance.

Mr, Green's Report. 197

have neglected their lessons in the grammar school, but whom a
change to a new school, and the personal supervision of a master
in the evening, wakens up. {b) A prevalent habit in the class under
consideration of either sending their sons to a national school or
letting them run wild, till the age of 12, and then sending them
for two years or less to a boarding school to be " finished." The
masters of private schools constantly allege this practice as a
reason why they can make so little of their pupils — (c) a general
dislike among the same class to the fixed rules of the grammar
school, and a desire to have the system modified to suit the use of
each boy, a desire to which the private schoolmasters often
express a readiness to conform, (d) A fancy for subjects of
instruction that promise to be practically useful, such as book-
keeping, mechanical drawing, and mensuration, of which the private
schoolmaster commonly makes a great parade. The objection to
Latin, which is often spoken of as a reason for preferring the cheap
boarding school to the grammar school, is seldom anything positive,
but really reducible to one or more of the reasons above given.
The character of such schools is very much what might be expected Character of
from the rate of payment, and the objects of the people using them, ^'i*'^^ schools.
I quote the following from an elaborate letter, written by the
master of one of the oldest and largest of them, in answer to my
request for permission to examine. It is illustrative in many
respects: — "I may here remark that you will find no great pro-
" flciency attained by the generality of the pupils in any particular
" branch of study taught, in consequence of the comparatively
" brief and inadequate period of their attendance (not extending
" over twelve months on an average), a circumstance corroborative
" of the fact, that most of the youths sent to this school have been
" sadly neglected in their education on the part of their parents.
" First, from the want of their due appreciation of its advantages ;
" secondly, from the too common practice of removing their
" children from school to school, so fatal to their progress; and,
" lastly, from the prevalent notion entertained by that class, by
" which this and similar establishments are chiefly supported, that
" beyond a little initiatory training at some church or chapel, Sun-
" day or weekly school, a couple of years or so (here a little and
" there a little, now a quarter and then a quarter) are quite
" suflScient for the requirements of any business for which their
" sons may be destined."* The " requirements of business "
mean the faculty of reading, of doing sums quickly, of writing a
legible hand, and of composing a business letter. Of the schools
that I am describing only two could be said to teach anything

* I may be aUovped to quote another paragraph from the same letter, as a sample of
the rich epistolary style to which schoolmasters are addicted: — " I am perfectly
" -willing, under the conditions mentioned in your letter, to further the laudable
" objects of the Schools Inquiry Uommission by acceding to your wishes; but next
" Wednesday, not being a day that will suit our convenience, I would propose the
" examinalion be postponed to some day next week that you may appoint ; not, be it
" observed, with a view of taking the pupils through a course of preparatory training,
" or drilling for the occasion, and thus interfering with the regular routine of school
" business to no useful purpose, but merely as a matter of greater convenience and
" compatibility with pre-existing arrangements." The writer of the above was a
Scotchman.

198 Counties of Stafford and fVarwick.

Nothing really more than this. The rest make a great profession of other sub-
bXriW and Jects, especially history, geography, and English grammar. The
arithmetic master, whose letter I have quoted, in a " curriculum of instruc-
tion " which he communicated to me, described his pupils as
composing historical and geographical exercises every week,
" which required considerable research from various authors ; " also
as applying " critical analysis" to English grammar. On examina-
tion I found that, though no worse than most others of the same
class, they really knew nothing of history, geography, or grammar.
It would be tedious to multiply instances of ignorance. My
ordinary test of the upper boys in these schools as to intelligence
of their own language was to make them take down from dictation
the first stanza of Cowper's " Alexander Selkirk " (" I am monarch
of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute," &c.) and then
examine them in the grammar of it. It was very rare, even with
the top boys, to get it correctly written, and still rarer not to be
told that "right" in the second line was the nominative case. Of
their geographical knowledge no unfair sample is an answer which
I received in a Warwickshire school to the question whether there
was any other river Avon than that in "Warwickshire — " Milford
'Aven." Of English history the knowledge was uniformly very
poor, and of a kind that could scarcely survive a month after the
boy's leaving school. Latin and French in the cheap boarding
school, though they commonly figure in the advertisement, are as
a rule not taught at all. Sometimes they are attempted for the
sake of saying so, or to meet the wants of boys meaning to be
druggists. I never found any intelligent or grammatical know-
ledge of them, any knowledge of them, in short, which might not
with advantage have been replaced by a slightly more intelligent
knowledge of English. On the other hand the knowledge
" necessary for busine.ss," as above described, is for the most part
really imparted, though not without scandalous exceptions. This
the parents can test. It is imparted, however, in a way to secure
a minimum of intelligepce. Writing and spelling, for instance,
instead of being taught by practice in writing from dictation, are
taught mainly by writing from foolish copies and by learning off"^
long lists of words on spelling-cards. The art of composing a
tradesman's letter at best requires little exercise of thought, but at
the commercial academy it is acquired in the most thoughtless
manner possible by the simple copying of specimens.*

While there is nothing to elevate these schools, but rather much
to depress them, on the part of the people who use them, it can
hardly be expected that a general reform should be initiated by the
Defects in the masters. Among these there is a great diversity. Some are in-
pnncipa s, telligent and well-informed enough, anxious that their sons should
have a better education than themselves, and eager to take advan-
tage of any change by which access to the higher learning may be
cheapened in England ; others, however, are curiously ignorant.
One of them, for instance, who had formerly been English master

* On the teaching of arithmetic at these schoolsj see above, page 186.

Mr. Green's Beport. 1&9

in a granmiai' school, inquired of nie in a letter whether he was
obligated to ansvrer the questions issued by the Commission. Even
the more competent are greatly at the mercy of the traditions of
their craft. Instead of giving oral lessons to large classes together
in grammar and geography, which is the only way of eliciting
intelligence, they set their boys to learn pieces by heart out of
grammar nnd geography books, which they then hear sleepily
repeated. I found that even men who had been masters in schools
under the Privy Council, and thus had experience of the better
method, when they came to set up private academies of their
own, would adopt the old routine.* Then the rate of payment in the buildings,
does not allow the master, unless he gets a very large number of
boarders, to obtain either decent assistant-teachers or decent places
for teaching. No words are too strong to express the badness of
the schoolroom at most of the cheap academies. Generally it is a
barn or a pigeon-cote, or a scullery in a back yard, or (at best) a
large attic, close and yet cold, full of draughts, noisy, and too
small for its purpose. That the tradesman should prefer it for his
son to a commodious national school, where the clerk's education
is at least equally well given, is a curious instance of class-feeling.
The salaries of assistants in these schools range from 20Z. to 40/. '" *be assist-
a year, with board and lodging, and the assistants are what such ""*"■
pay for such work is likely to attract. Sometimes they are little
more than lads, otherwise they are either ignorant or of question-
able character. In my examinations I not unfrequently found them
fragrant of alcohol. Their inefficiency and bad character is a con-
stant theme with the principals of schools, but a better article will
scarcely be got unless at a higher price.

I have observed above (page 172) that the grammar schools Want of effec-
sufFer from want of a system of exaonnation that shall act as f,u |;^^cxamina-
effective stimulus to masters and boys. The same remark applies
more strongly to the cheap private schools. Till the establish-
ment of the " local examinations " there was nothing to bring to
light either their merits or defects, and these examinations, as it is,
scarcely touch them f Of the private boarding schools, charging
less than than .33/. a year for board and education in Staffordshire
and Warwickshire, only two, those that I have mentioned as giving
an education beyond the " requirements of business," send boys in
for them, and in one of these the yearly charge is 32i,J Of the Rare use of
rest within this mark, some owing to remoteness from a " local '9'^'''^ h'^^™^"*!
centre " would have a difficulty in sending boys in, but none are of this class,
really up to the standard which the examinations require. They

* Another time-honoured custom, .still commonly retained, is that of providing the
boys with emblazoned note-books, in which corrected sums, generally having reference
to buying or selling, are written down in inks of many colours, to be shown to
parents.

t I only heard of one school which resorted to the examinations conducted by the
College of Preceptors. I may have overlooked some, but these examinations certainly
carry but little prestige.

X From one other one boy has passed the " local examination." I have left out of
reckoning, also, a school from which two or three boys have passed it, but which is
essentially a day-school, though it takes a very few boarders at a rate under .3.3/. a
year.

200

Counties of Stafford and Wanoich

Opinion of
private school-
masters on
systematic
examinations.

Project of
registration.

are thu^ left without any examination or inspection from without.
One of the questions issued by the CommissionerB to private
schoolmasters was : " Would it be an advantage or otherwise if
" your school were examined annually and publicly reported on
" by independent examiners?" To this the masters in question
would sometimes reply that the school was so examined already,
sometimes that the parents were sufficient judges. The first
answer refers to a device of which several masters avail themselves,
of getting some acquaintance — perhaps a necessitous or accomo-
dating clergyman — to hold an examination in the presence of
parents, in which questions are asked out of some manual which
the boys have learnt by heart, and after which small prizes are
given all round to avoid jealousy. As to the judgment of parents,
that has some weight on two questions : whether the boys get
enough to eat or not, and whether they are fit for business when
they leave school. A school with regard to which these questions
cannot be favourably answered will not flourish in the long run,
but of anything further the parents are no judges at all. Nothing
can distinguish a school where the intelligence of the boys is
brought out from one where it is not, nothing can get rid of the
pretentious routine now in vogue, but some examination which
shall be reckoned as a public test.

The better rnasters are quite aware of this, and several expressed
themselves very strongly In favour of regular inspection.* A
movement, as is well known, has long been going on in favour of
the " registration " of schools. This might do something to
prevent cases of scandalous deficiency, but would give no special
stimulus to excellence. What is wanted is some system that may
extend to more schools, and to more boys in the schools, the good
now done by the university " local examinations," which at present
only serve to make the best of the cheap schools better, and in
these only aifect the best boys. As it was, they had clearly been of
great benefit to the two cheap boarding schools which I mentioned
as using them. One of these calls itself a grammar school. Keally
it possesses a small endowment, not given for the teaching of
grammar, and a house which is not used by the master. The
yearly income from endowment and house is 35/. and a few
shillings. In consideration of this the master takes two day-boys
free ; the rest, if day-boys, pay 47. 4s. a year ; if boarders 24Z. 3.
or 26?. 5s. (for board and tuition), according to age.f There were,
in the autumn of 1865, 17 day-boys and 58 boarders. The house
and play-ground used by them, which are very pleasantly and healthily
situated, are not part of the school property, so that on the whole
the establishment may be reckoned simply a private speculation.

* One of them, however, formerly master of a national school, remarked that,
" unless the inspectors difFered hoth in tone and manner from those who examine
" national schools, their visits would be extremely objectionable."

f This does not include the charge for learning French or for washing, which
together would cost about 5A a year. The only other extras were such as music,
drawing, and dancing.

Mr. Greenes Beport. 201

It is used mainly by the lesser manufacturers, the lesser coal and
iron masters, and the tradesmen of Staffordshire ; to some extent also
by farmers. Considering the nature of its clientMe, the lowness of Good effect of

its charges, and that it has had no patronage from a superior class, '9''^' examina-
.1 '^^ 1 . T •■ V • .1 11 tions on sehools

the result seemed encouragmg, in its lower regions the school ^jiich send in
did not appear to differ from the ordinary cheap boarding school, to them.
but the 10 upper boys (whose ages were between 13 and 16) were
quite of a higher order. They all knew four books of Euclid
well, and they all had a good knowledge of geography and of the
outline of English history. The latter knowledge was doubtless
" crammed," but still was of a kind to make an intelligent in-
terest in history, after school was left, much more possible than it
is with most boys of the same class. They did not all learn Latin,
but those who did, though they did not and probably never would
know enough to make out an easy Latin book for themselves,
had some intelligence of the grammar, and were clearly much
stimulated by the effort to construe Cicero and Caesar ; two of
them could translate an ordinary French book into English pretty
well, and those whom I tried in writing English could express
themselves correctly and easily on an ordinary subject ; four of
them, I understood, had gone some way in trigonometry, and
from their excellence in Euclid I should have confidence that what
they professed to know they did know. Throughout the upper
classes of the school there appeared an activity of mind and desire
to learn, quite unlike what is generally to be found in a commer-
cial academy.

The other school draws on the same class of boys, charging 32Z.
and 36Z. for boarders, according to age, 71. for day-boys.* It has
29 boarders, 37 day-boys. At this I found an upper stratum
about on a level with that just described. None had gone so far
in mathematics, while on the other hand there were more who
had a fair knowledge of French ; this is to be accounted for by
the fact that in this school French is taught by the principal
master himself, who has been a good deal in France, and it is a
general rule in private schools of this kind that that subject alone
is well learnt, which the principal himself teaches. The upper boys,
further, could write English correctly, and had an exact and ready
knowledge of the outline of English history. The Latin did not
come to much. As in all schools of the kind, it seemed to have
been taught by a man who had not himself learnt it in youth ;
but though no boy in the school probably, if set down by him-
self to an easy piece of Latin with a dictionary, could make it
out correctly, I am far from thinking the effort to learn it thrown
away.

The two schools just described have both of late years sent in
their best boys regularly for the Cambridge " local examinations, "t

* It must te remembered that in schools of this order an abatement is often made
from the ostensible terms. A younger brother is not generally expected to pay so
much as the older.

t For both of them the Cambridge examination is more convenient than the Oxford
in respect of place. The time of the Cambridge examination seemed to be generally
preferred.

202 Gountieis of Stq-fford ami Wunoick.

and their superiority ia greatly due to this. The first had passed
in three years one senior and 13 juniors, two of the latter having
They keep gained a second class. The other, in the same time, had passed
school?"^^'^ "* three seniors (one in " honours ") and 18 juniors (three being in
" honours ").* This had at once given the schools an effective
" advertisement " (for parents, who can neither value nor judge of
education in itself, care for its result as a decoration), and set
before the boys a definite object of ambition. The latter result is
most iujportant as a set-off to the tendency, peculiarly strong in
the manufacturing district of which I am speaking, to leave school
at the age of 14. If a boy can be got to pass the examination for
" juniors " under that age, he may be induced to stay on another
year in order to try for honours in the same examination. Then
there is a farther bait to him to pass the examination for
seniors in the ensuing year, and if he can compass that, to try for
" honours " the year after that. This is not a mere figure of the
imagination. In the former of the two schools described were
five boys who had passed the Cambridge " junior," and ^yho were
hoping to pass the next Cambridge " senior ;" none of these, as the
master assured me, would have been likely to have continued with
him but for this inducement, and he had hopes, if they succeeded
in passing, that some of them wovild stay on yet another vear
to try for " honours."

This beneficial result, it is true, does not affect more than a
sixth part of either of the above schools at any one time. As has
been said, the main body of the boys in them are not perceptibly
above the state commonly found in cheap commercial schools, but a
" screw," formerly unknown, is applied during the last two years
that a boy spends in them. This, so far as it goes, would seem to
be a clear gain. The worst that can be fairly said is, not that it leads
to the neglect of ordinary boys, but that it leaves them as they
would otherwise have been, and ultimately about half of them feel
the effect of the final stimulus : that is, in schools where otherwise
nothing would have been taught beyond reading, writing, and
arithmetic, half the boys are now subject to instruction, which at
least gives them the chance of learning the elements of grammar
and exact science, and to read a modern language. What is
Whatis wanted Wanted in addition is (1) some encouragement to them to pursue
to extend the this learning further, and (2) the means of imparting this elemen-
^"^ *' tary learning earlier and more uniformly. Of (1) I shall not say

more here ; (2) supposes partly, no doubt, a more general culti-
vation among the class from which the boys in question come, but
also a better training and more liberal payment of schoolmasters.
Heal education is at present confined to the first class, even in the
best of the cheap commercial schools, not merely because of the
time that has to be spent on the " three 'Bs," but because one
master alone in the school can impart it, and even he can only do
it in a clumsy way. In anything beyond " commercial " subjects
he is probably self-educated. Perhaps in teaching mathematics

The " honours " were not very high.

Mr. Green's Report. 203

this may not be so much of a drawback, and it is in mathematics Higher trainiag
that these schools are best able to succeed, but in teaching Ian- °f ™*sters.
guages it tells at once. Such a man is scarcely able to make a
lesson in one language bear on a lesson in another, and hence will
tell one (what I was often told by the more candid) that know -
ledge of Latin does not fixcilitate the acquisition of French. Thus
insufficiently equipped to begin with, the master is distracted by
the care of making both ends meet in his economy. It is in conse-
quence very difficult for him to conduct the instruction, even of
his higher boys, in all subjects. If, besides the English subjects,
he can teach them efficiently either Latin, or French, or mathe-
matics, it is as much as can be expected ; and such is the qua.lity
of the assistants whom the present rate of payment enables him to
obtain, that neither is any subject which he does not teach himself
to the higher boys likely to be taught them well, nor is any good
preparation for the higher work of the school likely to be given in
the lower classes.

III. The absence or insufficiency of grammar schools in certain
localities, and the want of cheap boarding schools, may be reckoned,
according to my experience, as the permanent causes of the demand
for " classical and commercial academies." This statement, however,
leaves unaccounted for the existence both of private day schools
side by side with the grammar schools, and of boarding schools
charging from 33Z. to 50/. for board and tuition — charging, i.e., at
the same rate at which most grammar scliools take boarders. On
the existence and importance of such day schools I may refer to
the figures given on page 165. Of boarding schools, charging at
the rate mentioned, I have said that I only discovered eight, one
in the Potteries with five boarders, two near Birmingham having
respectively 15 and 23, two in Warwick and Leamington having
respectively 19 and 26, one near Coventry with 60, one at
Wolverhampton with 22, one at Stratford with 16.

(iS.) In places where grammar schools with adequate endowment (S) Action of
exist, the number of boys in private day schools is due to causes P"^^*^ "^^J'^

SCllOOlS SlQP nv

which need not be more than temporary. Most of these have side with gram-
already been noticed, such as the reasons marked (a) (c) and {d) on mar schools.
pages 196-7. As the education of the commercial class gradually
improves there will be fewer cases of exceptionally backward
boys who require an exclusive drill in the knowledge necessary
for business, such as the system of a grammar school ought not to
allow of; at the same time parents will be less disposed to insist on
the acquisition at school of the " practical knowledge," which is
acquired soon enough and more soundly in actual business. If the
grammar schools, on their part, -will meet them half way by some
such plan as that delineated on page 191, so as to secure that all
boys shall be expert in arithmetic and able to write English
legibly, quickly, and correctly, by the age of 14, they need not in With good
the long run lose many to the private schools because they ™ai>ag«™«°t
insist on Latin and refuse to make exceptions, ihe iJridge-trust schools would
school at Handsworth, conducted on this principle, killed three l^i^l *ese.
private day schools in the first year of its existence.

a.o z. Q

204

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Causes of the
popularity of
more expensiye
private day
schools.

' Modem

subjects.'

Laxity.

Comparatiye
seleetness.

{y.) The reasons here noticed for preferring a private day
school to an equally accessible grammar school apply to private
schools of the cheaper sort. It is on somewhat different grounds
that I should account for the existence of private schools charging
over 11. a year for day-boys in the neighbourhood of grammar
schools. The counter-attraction to the grammar school in the
way of instruction which these offer is not so much a greater
celerity and certainty in imparting the " clerk's education " as an
dttention to " modern subjects." " The empty vessel makes the
biggest sound," and this phrase " modern subjects," powerful to
the parental ear, diminishes in meaning as it is more thoroughly
investigated. Practically, it means French, the elements of
popular science^ geography, and a meagre outline of modem his^
tory. Of these subjects the three last are popiJar with boys
and parents of the well-to-do middle, class, because they are easy;
French, because' it is both easy and likely to be jiseful. , While in
many grammar schools they are still unduly neglected, the. private
schools of the kind now under consideration make a great profession
of them. The result scarcely seemed to correspond to the pro-
fession. In perhaps three private schools French was better
known than in the average grammar school, though certainly not
better than in the best. The knowledge of history and geography
was indeed better in all private schools of this class than in
grammar schools where these subjects are distinctly neglected, but
not so good as in grammar schools where they are attended to at
much less cost of time. (See remarks on Brewood, p. 179.) The
popular science, I think, seldom comes to much. I did not dis-
cover any private day school in my district that had a chemical
laboratory.

(8.) Parents, however, are not critical, and the prospect of an
easy road to general accomplishment, which their stupid sons (of
whose stupidity they are never convinced) may traverse as quickly
as the most intelligent, has great charms for them. They are also
attracted by the laxity of rule which the private schools allow.
The masters of these are not only often obliged to put up with the
constant absence of a boy from school for no necessary reason ; they
have also to consent to give up systematically a large number of the
best hours for work to lessons in music, drawing, and dancing.
"With one voice they complain of this, but would lose their cus-
tom if they resisted. It is not an uncommon case for six hours a
week to be taken from the regular school-time for such lessons,
and it implies no disrespect for the accomplishments in question,
considering the preliminary ignorance and the general stupidity
of the boys, and the early age at which they leave school, to
regard them as seriously interfering with the small chance that'
would otherwise exist of communicating a liberal education.

(e.) The more genteel private day school has often a superior
attraction to the grammar school, apart from subjects (and laxity)
of instruction, in being more select and better off in respect of
situation and premises. Of the frequent defect of grammar
schools in situation, building, and playground, and of the con-

Mr. Green's Rsport. 205

nexion of this defect with a repugnance to them on the part of
the jnore "genteer* cjasges, I have spoken above (pp. 166 and 162).
Whenever such defect exists, a private school, charging §7. a yea?
or upwards for day-boys, is pretty sure to find custoni.

If to the above reqisons be added an indefinite but deeply-
rooted dislike and distrust of grammar schools on the part of ^he
middle class generally, and especially of Dissenters,* dexived from
the mismanagement of them in the past, we shall have exhausted,
the causes, to j-jthe best of my belief, which enable private day , , .. ^
schools to compete successfully with endowments. In most Instances ^atrK<
cases of such competition that came under my notice there was ^''^'*''''^' V
something about the past or present state of the grammar school f ^':

to account for it. .At Stratford, are two private schools, takm^
day-boys, besides the granimar schoor. One . of these, haying
20 boys, is of the cheap sorr, and does^, not commonly give any-
thing beyond an English education. Its existence is explained by
the fact that in the grammar school there (see p. 97), though the
boys are taught tq do sums well and to understand English, Latin
is ostensibly too dominant, and a boy who wanted primarily a
" clerk's education" would hardly get in it what he wanted. In
the same town there is a more expensive school, which draws 14
day-boys from the families of professional men and the more
wealthy tradesmen. This is explained by the fact, firstly, that
no modern language or drawing is taught in the gramma,r school,
while history and geography, are made very little of ; secondly,
that owing to the want of playground the boys from the grammar
shool are turned out directly on the street, and in conspquencd
get a reputation for ill manners. In almost the saine way I should At Warwick,
account for the existence of private day schools in the district
from which the Warwick grammar school is accessible. It ought
to attract the middle population of Leamington as well as of
Warwick ; but the Leamington people will not send their sons
two or three miles to a school which has indeed two good masters
but of which the rooms are inconvenient, the situation and sur-
roundings bad, the playground small and damp, and in which the
" English " teaching is not very well organized. Accordingly
they support two private schools on the less genteel side of
Leamington, of which one charges 8L, the other 6/. a year for
day-boys. In Warwick itself is a private school where the neces-
saries of commercial education are thought to be learnt more
quickly than at the grammar school. At Wolverhampton are At Wolver-
some flourishing private day schools, which mainly owe their hampton.
existence to the bad situation and buildings of the grammar
school and a reputed neglect of the necessary English education
in It till within the last year or two.f At Lichfield the existence At Lichfield,
of a cheap day school is attributable to the ,high charge for day-
boys in the grammar school. To one or other of the above
instances corresponds nearly every case of rivalry between grain-

* See, however, page 173.

t From what I have heard since writing lie above, I have reason to believe that
the private; schoolmasters of Wolverhampton are already taking alarm at the advance
of the grammar school,' which in a year and a halfiad risen.in numberfi.frQm._lJQ.0-io
186, and that one at least was intending to leave.

206

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Causes of suc-
cess of more
expensive pri-
vate boarding
schools.

How far the
grammar
schools can su-
persede private
schools.

mar and private schools as day schools. In the long run, I am
convinced, notwithstanding the reasons noticed under (/3), (7),
and (S), a well-organized grammar school, with good building,
situation, and playground, which paid due attention to arithmetic
and writing, and (in its upper classes) to French, might empty all
surrounding day schools, however rigidly it Insisted on Latin
Its competition with private boarding schools would be a some-
what different question.

These, as has been said, so far as they compete with the grammar
schools, may be divided into a more and a less expensive class, of
which the latter has been sufficiently considered. To the success
of boarding schools charging over 321. a year * aU the causes con-
tribute which have been spoken of in relation to the more expensive
private day schools, and their operation is streng-thened by the
general feeling in favour of getting boys from home (see p. 159).
This feeling would be checked by an improvement of the grammar
schools as dai/ schools, but would not be got rid of, while on the
other hand the tendency of commercial men in the larger towns to
remove their families, so soon as they can afford it, to a suburban
or rural residence frequently makes the use of the day school difficult
or impossible. The case of the upper class of fanners is, of course,
generally a stronger one. So far, then, the demand for boarding
schools is one that must continue. It is to be noticed, however,
that of the boarding schools with which I became acquainted only
two of the cheap sort (both large) and two of the more expensive
(one with 60 boys. One with 15) were properly in the country
the rest were in towns and in the neighbourhood of grammar
schools. Why, then, should not the grammar schools satisfy the
demand now satisfied by these private schools ?

In many cases no doubt they might. The existence of five out
of eight of the more expensive private boarding schools seemed
distinctly due to defects, present or recent, in a neigliliouring
grammar school, remediable either by masters or trustees. In each
of these cases, if the grammar school were well situate, well built,
and provided good room for boarders (and expenditure for these
objects, even out of a small income, will always repay itself), and
if its masters would give facility for day boarding, and condescend,
without the least sacrifice of Latin or Euclid, in the matter of
" English " and " modern ■" subjects, the private boarding school
might be maintained by its present master but would not pay a
successor. The other three were of a kind that would be likely to
survive any improvement of grammar schools. One (a very sound
one) chiefly depended on a Baptist connexion ; another drew on
backward and neglected sons of well-to-do parents from the " Black
country " ; the third, a very flourishing institution, is delightfully
situated in the country, makes a great and (I think) just profession
of moral discipline, and gives a very miscellaneous, chiefly " modern,"
education, which is supposed to be elastic enough to suit all minds
and all modes of future life, and which, though it does not seem to
produce any eminent intellectual result, is genuine of its kind.

* See page 203.

Mr. Greens Report, 207

The demand now satisfied by the cheap boarding schools is not, How far they
in its present form, one which it is either possible or desirable for ^^^^°^
the grammar schools to meet. It is not desirable, for it I'epresents
(see page 197) a debasement of ideas on education, to which the
grammar school ought not to condescend ; nor is it possible, for
though county schools on a large scale may take boarders at as low
a rate as the cheap commercial academy, the master of a grammar
school, whose number must generally be small, cannot be expected
to do so. But though the grammar school cannot meet this demand,
it may, by making itself more attractiverfis a day school to comm(;r-
cial parents in the way indicated on page 203, greatly lessen it. Till
popular ideas on education cbange, however, the demand must to
a great extent continue, and can only be made less mischievous by
society taking some security against gross incompetence on the part
of the masters of the schools in question, and by the provision of
some effective stimulus to the intellectual ambition of them and
their pupils.

If it is asked, finally, why it is to be wished that the grammar Whatthe gram-
schools should supersede private schools, the answer is that the ""^"^^"J""!^ .
former may, while the latter scarcely can, help a boy to get beyond the private "
the intellectual position to which he is born. The operation of school cannot,
commercial supply and demand, pure and simple, in education,
means, on the whole, that as the father is such will the son be. An
uneducated father generally has a low conception of education.
If he grows very rich he may perhaps send his son to a fashionable
school or to the university, that he may learn to be like the sons
of the landed gentry, and the boy commonly becomes like them
" with a vengeance ; " otherwise he sends him to a private school
of the kind described, where he meets other boys of the same class.
Here there is nothing to raise him above the traditions of his
home. Neither those about him nor those above him are likely to
do anything to enlarge his intellectual horizon, and there is no
path of reward to tempt him on to the higher learning. He is
naturally in a hurry to leave and make money as his father made
it. Those parents, on the other hand, who have a higher idea of
education but no large share in this world's goods, if their lot is
cast in a region of private schools, must conform to the general
level. They must send their sons to schools of which the standard
is set by the capacity and aspiration of the majoiity. Thus in
almost all the decent private schools I found one or two boys, 13
or 14 years old, who seemed to have more faculty and desire of
learning than was ever likely to be brought out. Now, a well-
organized system of grammar schools by which the poorer schools
should pass on their best boys with small exhibitions to the
richer, and these again should transfer their elite with larger exhi-
bitions to the university, would at once meet the aspiration of
the few and raise that of the many. It would spread its net to
catch boys who want a commercial education, and having caught
them, while it gave them what they wanted wouldj by a process
of natural selection, keep for the higher learning all who were fit
for it. It would bring every boy of capacity by the age of 14 or
so in contact with the mind of a scholar and familiarize him with

208

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Supplemental
action of pro-
prietary
schools.

Leamington.

Failm-e of this.

Tettenhall.

Its objects.

the prospect of an intellectual career. Such a system would find
no small class of parents eager to avail themselves of it,* and once
inaugurated it would, by its own operation, perpetually augment
this class. Not only would it by degrees create a taste for the
pursuit of science and literature in our large towns (where there
might be plenty of leisure for it if only there were the will) ; it
would constantly be increasing the demand for schoolmasters
of high university degree, and thus be giving to the scholastic
career more of the material encouragement which it at present
lacks. If it is desired faiiiy to get rid of the notion ingrained
in the mind of the commercial class, and of which an historical
account can easily be given, that high education is the perquisite
of the clergy and gentry, this is the way to do it. .

Before leaving the consideration of the supplemental action of
private persons in middle education, some notice must be taken
of proprietary schools. Of these I only met with three, those
at Leamington, Tettenhall, and Edgbaston. The Leamington;
College was originally established on the proprietary plan ; i.e., it
belonged to shareholders; but some years ago it was decided to vest
the property in trustees. Inasmuch as sons of tradesmen in the town
were virtually excluded from it (an exception having been made,
I believe, in only one case), it could hardly be reckoned a middle
school. It was in fact intended for the sons of the unemployed:
gentry resident in Leamington, and as an attractioii to bring more
of that class into the place. It did not make a good start, and
though it revived considerably (as was natural) under the late
master, yet it did not succeed in clearing itself of debt. It had,
indeed, no very definite opening. It did not want to have sons
of tradesmen, nor were its system or rate of paymentj adapted to
them. On the other hand, the more wealthy resident gentry,
unless they had a preference (rarely found) for a day school,
naturally preferred the old public schools, while people, who
wished for a residence in that district with a view to local educa-
tion, would, if possible, quarter themselves on Eugby. Whatever
the reason, the Leamington College has not prospered, and since
my visit has been sold in order to pay off the debt.

The proprietary school at Tettenhall was started by a number
of wealthy men, mostly engaged in the commerce or manufactures
of South Staffordshire, " whose object," to use their own language,
" was to establish a school which should furnish on moderate
" terms a sound and liberal education, both classical and com-
" mercial, with a religions training in harmony with the principles
" held by Evangelical Nonconformists." The school circular
further states that " A thorough education in the classics and
" mathematics is made the main element in the school course,
" which includes also a sound training in all the usual branches
" of an English education, together with the French language,

* See pages 153 and 194.
t 20/. a year for day-boys.

.-■ ■ Mr: Green's Repwt. 309

" ^nd the rudiments of drawing and vocal music. The senior

"sohojlars, will be. prepared and encpuraged to matriculate at the

" University of London." It is entirely a boarding school. The

yearly charge, ..including necessary extras, is 47/. 5s. Weekly,

boarders pay 9L 9s. a year less.* Boys entering above the age of

15 pay 10^. 10s. a year more. In favour of sons of ministers of

religion (this is important to observe) a reduction of 25 per cent.

is made. The shareholders have no privilege of nominating boys

to the school. All may come for whom there is room. Some

pecuniary return is contemplated on the outlay — five per cent is

talked of — but with the originators of the scheme this was certainly

not an object. The school is excellently situate in one of the Its condition.. ,

pleasantest villages of England, easily accessible from Wolveiv

hampton and the " Black country," but unaiFected by its smoke

and noise. Its head master is a man of learning and ability, of

high repute among the Independents. In the autumn of 1865

the arrangements were still so far from complete that the directors

thought it better not to allow an examination or to furnish

answers to the questions issued by the Commission. All the

information, however, that I asked for, was readily granted.

At that time the new building (which is, I believe, now open)
was only just above the ground. The school meanwhile was held
in an old mansion close by, which, with its grounds, has been
bought by the directors. The arrangements contemplated were
very elaborate, and when complete would accommodate nearly
120 boys, for whom there would be six resident masters. When
I was there the number of boys was 42, all that the then accom-
modation would admit. Of these two-thirds were Independents,
and most of the rest Baptists. More than half seemed to be
intended for commercial life, but the master hoped to keep all till
the age of 17 or 18, and to make matriculation at the University
of London part of the system of the school. Hitherto no boy
had left under 16, save for illness. The master's plan was to teach
Latin and Greek to all, and only to vary from the " public school "
model in this, that he would make more of the " English Educa-
tion " in the lower classes, and would not attempt much composition
in verse.

The establishment of such a school at least bears witness to a Inferences to
strong zeal for the higher education among the dissenting men of estibuXntnr
business of that district, a class not apt to be credited with it. of this school.
There is more of it, to the best of my belief, among them — in
consequence perhaps of the influence of certain ministers — than
among the Churchmen of the same class in that district.. The*
interest, however, is on the whole a new one with them. The
long exclusion of Dissenters from the old universities, and from
the endowments which give to the clerical profession a social
[prestige, have led them generally to regard the pursuit of com-
merce as their necessary inheritance and thus to terminate the

* It IS supposed that their washing is done at home.

210 Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

education of their sons at the age when qualifications for commerce
are supposed to be sufficiently obtained. But a considerable
change is appearing among them in this respect, and though the
question of turning to more general account the educational
endowments of the country is not one with which they, any more
than other people, are yet very familiar, no one in my experience
caught so eagerly at any scheme that might be suggested for
facilitating access to the higher culture as certain Dissenting
ministers and laymen whom it was my privilege to meet, nor did
any assure me so strongly of a readiness to take advantage of such
a scheme on the part of the classes which they represented.
Limitations to The drawbacks which I should anticipate to the efficiency of
possiWe success tj^g Tattenhall school, would be the want of good feeders, and the
want of effective ultimate reward. If it is to do its work in the
best way as a place of training for universities, it ought to be fed
by boys of about the age of 13, already sufficiently equipped in
arithmetic and Enirlish writing, and well grounded in Latin. If
It does not get most of its boys in this state, as it cannot, like
Eton or Harrow, ignore English teaching, it will be pulled down
by the necessities of " commercial education/' Now in the present
state of things Nonconformists of the class in question have
scarcely the means of getting this early preliminary education for
their boys. In a very fev/ cases it might be given at home.
Otherwise it could only be got at grammar schools and cheap
private schools in the condition already described, which at best
only bring a few boys, and these not till the age of 15, to the state
in. which they ought to be on entering such a school as Tettenhall
seems to be, A well endowed school would have the remedy in
its hands, if it would only use it. It might institute an entrance
examination in the preliminary subjects, and give exhibitions,
tenable at school, to those who did best in it. Such an examina-
tion would be something for the smaller schools to aim at, and in
time they would have boys forthcoming up to the required
standaed. As it is, the directors of the Tettenhall institution
propose to found two scholarships, tenable at the school, of 25i.
a year each. This is indeed a laudable proof of their spirit, but
more are wanted. If they could lay hands on some grammar
school funds at present wasted, and apply them to the establish-
ment of several scholarships, open to all comers, they might convert
all the small grammar schools and the best private schools about,
so far as they contain sons of Dissenters, into serviceable feeders.
But in this, as in other cases, where the heart is there is not the
treasure.
Importance to In like manner I should doubt whether the attractions, of the
disabaities*\°^ University of London will suffice to induce many of the pupils,
Oxford and with the alternative of the early pursuit of profitable business
Cambridge. before them, to pursue their studies at due length and with due
thoroughness. The head master is quite aware of the superior
stimulus which the endowments of Oxford and Cambridge enable
them to afford, and assured me that if the disabilities which they
impose on Dissenters were once thoroughly removed, he should

Mr. GreerHs Report. 211

set himself to prepare boys to compete for scholarships at those
universities, as he does now to matriculate at the University of
London.

The origin of the proprietary school at Edgbaston (charging Edgbaston:
from 9Z. to 2\l. a year for day boys according to position in school)
has already been referred to (p. 93.) The system which its founders its objects.
and managers contemplated, was one which should give to boys
destined for commercial life at once the necessary education and
as much general cultivation as possible, while at the same time it
should be available as a preparation for universities. Accordingly
Latin and French were to be taught throughout, and German
in the higher classes. Greek was to be optional. For classics,
mathematics, and modern languages severally, there was to be a
separate classification, so that each study might have an un-
trammelled chance of flourishing. This programme has been
adhered to. At first its success was considerable ; it sent a good
many boys to the London Univei'sity and achieved remarkable
distinction in the Oxford local examinations. It also got an open
scholarship at Oxford and another at Cambridge. Of late years
it has declined both in numbers* and success. For a time it
ceased to send boys in for the " local examinations," and though Its partial
it sent in three juniors in 1865, they did not greatly dis- decline.
tinguish themselves. One very promising boy from it came up
to Oxford in 1866, but he was so much better than any one else
in the school that he had for some time been taught by himself.
Very few have gone from it lately to the London University, and
the general age for leaving the school was shortened. Hardly
any have stayed on beyond 16 ; most have left at 15.

The only assignable causes that I could discover for this decline Causes of this,
were (1) that at the time of its foundation many of the persons
who started it had themselves sons for whom they wished a high
education, and whom they kept at the school long enough to get
it. These sons are now grown up and others have not appeared
to take their place; parents of the same position as the foijnders
of the school being now more disposed to use distant boarding-
schools. (2) That since the Edgbaston school was founded there
has been an improvement in the grammar school, especially in its
non-classical department and in its general arrangements. It may
be added that the late head master, who left a few months ago,
though a most accomplished scholar and admirably fitted to give
reality to the " modern " education, perhaps gave scarcely enough
attention to the routine of school work.

For whatever reason, the attempt to combine the classical and
the modern education has not succeeded at Edgbaston. In 1865
only 12 boys, less than a sixth of the school, were learning Greek.
In the third class from the top only three out of ] 5 were learning
it, and the proportion was not much larger in the classes above
this. The Latin scholarship was clearly at a low ebb. The exer-
cises which I saw of 12 boys in the second-class from the top,

* It had under 80 boys in 1865, having at one time had 120.

212

Counties of Stafford and Warwich.

Conditions of
success of this
school.

School under
Privy Council,
how far sup-
plemental to
grammar
school.

though not at all difficult, were full of gross grammatical blunders.
The knowledge of French in the school, on the other hand, so far
as I was able to judge of it, was very good. That in such a school,
under such a system, the " modern " subjects should triumph over
the classical seems, apart from all questions of management, an
inevitable result. A parent, who distinctly looked to a university
career for his son, would send him to the grammar school which
has exhibitions, not to the proprietary school. The, boys in the
latter, therefore, may be presumed generally to have no strong
stimulus to classical studies at home, and not to have learnt the
Latin grammar early. At school their time is very much divided
and there is no prestige attaching to success in Latin above that
which attaches to success in other subjects to compensate for its
far greater difficulty of attainment. In short, all the general
conditions that conduce to success in classical studies are wanting
here. There is want of early education, want of pressure at home,
want of sufficiently exclusive attention, want of sufficient reward
at school, and want of a definite result from classical study in after
life. The object of the originators of this school, however — that
of giving a good general education to boys destined for business —
is a most important one. For its attainment two conditions at
least are necessary, good early education and a habit of remaining
at school till the age of 17 or 18. If the Edgbaston school
received its boys well drilled in Latin accidence,; and could be
relieved of the burden of teaching elementary English and arith-
metic, it might give to boys, who would stay long enough, a good
" modern " education, based on that real knowledge of Latin,
without which no one is a qualified citizen of the intellectual
commonwealth of the modern world. In any case, however, it
would suffer from the absence of boys destined for professions for
which a good education is necessary, and from the want of sub-
stantial rewards for continued and diligent study. AH that is
possible for the Edgbaston school in the way of " modern ''
education ought to be more possible for a grammar school with
an income approaching 20,000Z. a year, with the great additional
advantage on the part of the latter that it might keep its
" modern" students, to some extent, in contact with those who
were pursuing longer methods and give them a constant induce-
ment to undertake those methods thejnselves (see above, pp. 131,
138, and 140). The benefit of this in modifying the superficial
tone apt to result from the " modern " education, wouldjj think,
though indefinite, be very great.

I know of no other supplements to the grammar schools than
those mentioned, unless schools under the Privy Council, so far
as they educate sons of tradesmen and farmers, may be so reckoned.
On this point, I presume, statistics may be obtained at head-
quarters. Among the masters of the cheap commercial schools,
I heard frequent complaints that boys who, considering the
position of their parents, ought to be sent to them, were sent
instead -to schools receiving Government aid. . Such a master, near
West Bromwich, told me that by conference with the master of a

Mr. Green's Eeport, 213

neighbouring Wesleyan school under Government inspection, he

had ascertained that there were. 70 boys in attendance at the

lattei", whose parents might rather have been expected to send

them to a middle school of some sort. My impression is, that

this is a sample of a practice prevalent thoughout the " Black

country," and at Birmingham, where the middle class emerges Difference

rapidly from the working class, and it has an important bearing ^etween manu-
iU ^- 1 ^1 . 1 11 ■ ° facturmg towns

on the question whether the grammar schools can in any way use ami others.

the schools und^r the Privy Council as their feeders.* To some

extent the same practice prevails in the Potteries, nor do the

small farmers of North Staffordshire object to using the same

school as the labourers, if they like it in other respects. In

country towns, and in the rural districts where farms are large,

distinctions of class are more fixed and matter of more social

jealousy. Here, accordingly, the school under inspection, unless

it happens to have a hold on some particular congregation of

Dissenters, is more exclusively used by children of the poor.

Any plan for the improvement of grammar schools must begin Funds available
with the question of funds. Are those which they at present actually or pos-
possess sufficient to meet the wants of an improved system, and if provement™
not, how can more be obtained ? In answering this question, the
first thing to take account of is the present application of property,
bequeathed for the purpose of teaching grammar, to other pur-
poses. I have already stated that in nine grammar schools of
Staffordshire, having a gross annual income of 1,123Z. and in three
of Warwickshire, with a gross annual income of 172/., the educa-
tion given does not profess to be higher than that given in
elementary schools for the poor.f To these ought in fairness to be
added Audley, with annual income of 155/., where two boys learn
a little Latin, but where the rest are not above the level of a Grammar
National school, and the lower departments at Walsall and Coles- school money
hill, on which together about 220/. a year is spent, and from which ^nages!^*^"
there is no transition to the upper department. It would be
reasonable to add, most of the money spent on lower departments
elsewhere, from which boys are exceptionally transferred to the
upper, but in which the general level is not above that of a
National school ; also the income of the grammar schools at
Hatnpton Lucy, Abbot's-Bromley, (121/. and 20/. respectively,)
where Latin is professed, but where, from the nature of the case^;
a grammar school is of no use. Setting these latter cases aside,
we have a yearly income of 1,650/. derived from grammar school
funds and not devoted to grammar school purposes.

That it should be so devoted in the places for whose benefit it
was left, is in most of the above cases barely possible. At Walsall
certainly, at Coleshill possibly, the lower department might use-
fully be made preparatory to the upper. The other places are
villages, and the only example I have met with . of a successful

* See Note B.

t The nine in Staffordshire are Aldridge, Barton-under-Needwood, Bradley, Church-
Eaton, Dilhome, Gnosall, Madeley, Newchapel, Eolleston. The three in Warwick-
shire are Kingsbury, Monks-Kirby, and Salford-Priors. From the gross annual
income stated in the text must be deducted 751., which represents voluntary grants in
supplement of endowments.

214

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

grammar school in a village is that of Appleby in Leicestershire.
That is rather a peculiar case. It has had a local repute as a
grammar school for several generations, which it has only lost for
short intervals. It has an imposing and (on the whole) corn-
It takes the niodious building, and is central to many villages. Thus, having
na^y^lementary ^^^ t^e fortune a few years ago to obtain an excellent master, who
school. brought several boarders of a good sort with him, it promises,

supposing the master to be duly supported by the trustees, to act
as a very useful middle school, maintaining a high standard of
classics and mathematics, to the country about. Possibly, some
of the schools under consideration might with good management
have been kept up to the same mark, but having now permanently
fallen from it, they can scarcely regain it. As it is, they can
scarcely, with one or two exceptions, be reckoned even a superior
sort of village school, their effect being simply to provide out of
an endowment an education which might otherwise be provided,
with better security for usefulness, out of local subscriptions,
Does no good Government grant, and school pence. Under the present rule of
thereby. the Education Office, which prevents more than a certain sum per

head being paid from endowment and Government grant together,
they have generally no chance of a Government grant, and hence
are not under Government inspection. Only three out of 13 are
so inspected. Six others are examined regularly by a diocesan
inspector ; four others not at all. In seven of them no fees at all,
or fees merely nominal, are paid. In one of the others, boys from
outside the parish, about a third of the school, pay 9rf. a week,
while the rest are free. In another, more than half are free, the
rest paying from 4s. to 6s. a quarter. In another, six out of 80
on the books pay 10s. Gd. per quarter, the rest being free. In
another, about half are free, the i-est paying 17. a quarter. In the
other three weekly pence are paid. In one case 4Ql. a year is
added to an endowment of QQl. by a resident landowner. In
another, 1.5/. is added to .54/. by the parish.* In none of the other
cases is anything done by subscription or otherwise to supplement
the endowment.
Instances. It is clear, then, that in the places in question the grammar

school funds are simply taking the place of the sources from which
elementary schools are commonly maintained. We have next to
inquire (1) whether there is anything in these places that would
make the maintenance of an elementary school in the ordinary
way difficult, and (2) whether, supposing such school to be main-
tained, it would fail to do any good done by the existing school.
The first question must be answered in the negative. Some of
the places are at a peculiar advantage, none at any disadvantage,
for the maintenance of a National school. In two of them,
Dilhorne and Eolleston, are resident baronets, one supposed to be
of great wealth. In another, Church Eaton, the benefice is very
valuable. Another, Barton-under-Needwood, is a model village
in situation and appearance, and has several resident gentry. In
none of the other cases is there any exceptional poverty. To the

* The case referred to is that of Monk's liirby. The 5il. includes a yearly grant
of iil. made hy the trustees, hut not required by the terms of the trust.

Mr. Green's Report. 215

second question, I think, the answer must be that in most of these
places a school maintained by subscriptions, fees, and Govern-
ment grant would be better than the existing one. This remark
does not apply to the three under Government inspection. In
these, some Government money is lost through the possession of
an endowment, but the endowment more than covers the loss, and
thus presumably attracts a better master than might otherwise be
had. In several of the others evils were noticeable which Govern- .
ment inspection might tend to remove, especially irregularity
of attendance. Where this irregularity damages the income of
the school by lessening the Government grant, more vigorous
measures are taken to check it than where it involves no such fine.
Thus, in one of these village "grammar schools," I only found 36
in attendance out of 80 on the books ; in another, 33 out of 90,
in another, 20 out of 35. The master of another told me that on
a rainy day his school was nearly empty. One of these schools,
again, was held in a building wholly unfit for the purpose.
Generally, the absence of an inspection on which money depends
leads to a slackness of work. Against these evils, as it seemed,
very little countervailing good was to be set. In five out of 1.3,
there were sons of farmers mixed with the poor boys, but I heard
no reason for supposing that in these cases the willingness of the
farmers to use the school was due to its endowment. Gratuitous-
ness of education is i-ather the reverse of an attraction to farmers,
who like to be able to say as one said in my hearing, " I pay a
shilling a week for my lad, and no thanks to no man." In three
out of the 13, there was some filtration to the "grammar school,"
out of a lower mixed school, which if it had been effectively
worked, as it did not seem to be, might have kept the former to a
higher standard than that of the ordinary National school in a
village. In the rest, however, there was no pretence of this kind.
Pour of them were themselves mixed schools. For the boys in
the others there was no preparatory instruction, except such as
might be given at a dame's or infant school, and the standard of
admission was merely nominal.

Where these grammar school endowments in villages are small
in amount, as is generally the case, it might not be thought very
desirable, even if there were the power to interfere with them,
except so far as to secure that the elementary schools which they
maintain are good of their kind. There are three cases in Stafford- Cases where
shire where either from peculiarity of situation, or from size of ^^^^ resent
endowment, the utility of some interference from without can system is
hardly be questioned. These are (1) the case of Bradley and wanted.
Church Eaton, (2) that of Dilhorne, (3) that of Newchapel and
Audlej'. In the first are two villages, little more than two miles
distant, possessing endowments for the purpose of teaching gram-
mar which together produce a gross income of 405/. a year.* Out
of this are maintained two common village schools. In one of
these, I understood, there were no sons of farmers, and as the

* For present charges on this income, see separate reports.

216 Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

farms were said to be large, and the farmers to keep phaetons, it
was not expected that there would be many. In the other were
several sons of farmers, but most of these were likely to go on to
Bradley and some other school to be finished. One of the schools is for boys
Church Eaton, alone, but the only means for preparing boys for it is a dame's
school. The other is a mixed school, and for it there is no
preparation.

These schools, left as they are, can scarcely be much raised in
character. The population in one village is a little under, in the
other a little over 600, and in. both cases there was a decrease
between 1851 and 1861. They do not lie on any main road, nor
are they central to other villages.- Bradley is vdthin five miles of
the grammar school at Stafford, to which both its clergyman and
its schoolmaster were sending sons as day bays at the time of
my visit. The Bradley ^farmers, I understood, frtequently sent
sons there. Church Eaton is rather further from the Stafford
school, but not too far for its farmers to use it with facilities
for boarding by the day or week. On the other side, of it, at a
distance of about seven miles, is Newport with a grammar school>
to which the Church Eaton farmers sometimes send their sons.
The only mode in which the grammar school endowments of the
two places could be made really useful to the neighbourhood — for
at present they are merely doing what in other less favoured places
is done without them — would be something of this kind : Let the
two endowments be combined, and out of them be established one
middle school, which should give facilities for day and weekly
boarding, with a view of di'awing to it the sons of the farmers (who
thereabouts are generally well off), of the schoolmasters and
poorer clergy for six miles round. To this purpose 200Z. a year
might be applied. The fee should be Al. a year. If 30 boys
were got at this rate, and if a little more money could be got by
taking boarders, — and the farmers at a little distance would be glad
to make use of it for boarders, — there would be enough to secure
a good master, able to teach elementary Latin, mathematics, and
French, and a competent assistant for writing and arithmetic. A
certain number of boys might be taken free on examination fi"om
the district round, and some more free boys might be selected from
the elementary schools of the two villages. Towards each of these
30?. a year might be given from the grammar school funds. If
the rule of the Privy Council could be so far relaxed in such excep-
tional cases, as that this money should not cause any deduction
from the Government grant that might otherwise be earned, these
schools would still be in a peculiarly good position. This scheme
would involve the incurrence of a debt for a new school building.
When this was cleared off, there would still remain (allowing for
ordinary deductions) more than 100?. a year, which should be paid
over to the Stafford grammar school, supposing that school to be
then fitted to act as a good upper school, or to some other school so
fitted, on the understanding that such school should take a certain
number of boys free, after sufficient examination, from the new
middle school to be established as above. The prime conditions

Mr. Green's Report. 217

of the success of this new school would be that it should get a good
master with a wife who was a judicious and comfortable house-
keeper, that it should exact sufficient elementary knowledge at
entrance, and look well to writing, arithmetic, and Latin
grammar.

Before considering the impediments to such a change, it will Dilhome
be well to notice the other cases where a similar change is specially Present state.
desirable. My report on Dilhome explains how out of an income
of about 260?, a year only 70Z. is at present spent on the school,
which is of the. common village sort, but used largely by sons of
farmers, and. how the whole income must soon be available. To
the advantages^ there noticed, which' Dilhome possesses for the
maintenance of an elementary school in the usual way, it should be
added that at Blythe Marsh], a hamlet of the same parish, only two
miles distant, is an endowment of 28Z. a year for a school for the
poor. This latter school is at present damaged by the existence of
the school at Dilhorne. This being entirely free and exacting no
preliminary knowledge, it is impossible for the Blythe Marsh
school to charge a fee. It subsists simply on its endowment, and
only keeps its boys till they are old enough to walk to Dilhorne.
As girls are inadmissible at Dilhorne they finish at Blythe
Marsh.

It is clear! to an outsider that the wants of the boys of the parish What might
of Dilhorne would be better met than they are at present by an ^^ '^°"^-
elementary school under Government inspection, midway between
Dilhorne and Blythe Marsh, which would be quite available for all
but infants in both places, as well as in Forsbrook, which forms
the remainder of the parish. If the Blythe Marsh endowment were
applied to such a school and supplemented by weekly pence and a
Government grant, earned in the ordinary way, a better school
would in all probability exist in the parisli than exists now. The
grammar school fund might be mulcted to find a building for it,
and it would not be much to expect from private endeavours in
such a place that they should be able, with the ordinary help,
to maintain .schools for girls and infants at the two extremities of
the parish. - Any good purpose which the present Dilhorne school
may serve as a place of elementary education for the sons of small
farmers in the region north and north-east of Dilhorne ought to
be served by a new elementary school at Kings] ey, about four miles
distant in that direction, which, owing to the discovery of minerals,
will have an income of about 190J. a year from endowment, and
thus ought to be able to provide an excellent English education.

The grammar school money of Dilhorne should then be applied
to the. establishment of a " middle" school {i.e., a school which
should give an English education, with the elements of Latin,
Erencb, and ihathematics) within the parish of Dilhorne, but close
by the Blythe' Bridge station. Here it would be quite available
for all Dilhorne boys capable of a " middle education;" it would
be available also for day boarders from Cheadle, a small town,
four ihiles distant, where there is no middle school, private or
othe^y' and- whence seven or eight boys now come as private day

218 Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

pupils to the curate of BIythe-Marsh, hard by ; further, what is
more important, it would be available for day boarders from
Longton, a Pottery town of 16,000 inhabitants, distant four miles
by road and rail, which has no endowed middle school and only a
very inconsiderable private one. For this purpose, after deduction
for the object mentioned above, and for repairs of property, &c.,
about 230Z. a year might he available. If the school were well
managed it might soon get 50 day boys, and attract plenty of
boarders from the Pottery district. It might take select free boys
from the elementary school to be established as above, and a certain
number from the district generally to be chosen for proficiency in
elementary knowledge. It might thus turn the National and
British schools of the neighbourhood as well as the private schools
into its feeders. How an upper school might be established for it
to feed I shall explain below.
Andley and In this way the " middle " education of one end of the Pottery

Potteries' district might be provided for. That of the northern part of it

might be provided for by dealing with the grammar school funds
of Newchapel and Audley, in a way that would at least do no harm
to either of these places, while it would do much good to others.
For the use at present made of these funds I must refer to
my separate reports. In the case of Newchapel there is nothing
in the original bequest to prevent the transfer of the school to
Tunstall, and it seemed to be a general opinion that such trans-
fer was desirable. The same, of course, cannot be said about
Audley. As it is, 20/. a year of the Audley grammar school
money goes to a mixed school of girls and little boys, and
another 20?. goes in clothes and food to the poor. Now Audley
is a place where there should be no difficulty in maintaining an
elementary school in the ordinary way ; the people earn mostly
large wages, and the landov.'iiers are wealthy. The mixed school
might, therefore, fairly be thrown, so far as it is not self-support-
ing, on voluntary contributions ; and there can be no good in
the gratuities to the poor. The 40/. a year, then, now spent on
the mixed school and gratuities, might fairly be given to an
elementary school for boys, which, if it were allowed to earn a
Government Grant without deduction, would with weekly fees be
well off. The remaining 100/. a year might, I think, with advan-
tage be combined with the Newchapel money (120Z. a year and
probably capable of some increase)* to form a middle school at
Tunstall, on the plan suggested in the preceding case. If estab-
lished on the western side of Tunstall it would not be more than
three miles from Audley, to select boys from which it should be
freely open ; in like manner it might be open to picked boys
from the villages which now have a privilege in the Newchapel
school. As to the great use of which such a school would be to
the northern part of the Pottery district, I found a general
agreement among intelligent persons.

* Besides tr ]Ethe trustees of Newcliapel school have about 800/. in hand.

Mr. Greev's Report. 219

The other Pottery towns — Burslem, Hanlcy, and Stoke — are How the other
in no part much more than tliree miles from Newcastle, in some ^ot'^^'T to^™^
parts only two. For their " middle " population the grammar school ^ded for.*^""
of Newcastle, if changed in site, enlarged, and generally im-
proved, ought to be quite available. Sufficient pecuniary means,
I believe, are at hand for these changes. Under part of the land
from which this school derives its income lies valuable " carbo-
naceous iron ore," which could be easily and economically raised.
Indeed, if the land belonged to an individual owner there is little
doubt that the minerals would have been already worked. The
following estimate of their value is from a good local authority :
" The calcined produce of the three upper red mines, Which Minerals under
" alone are worth working now, would average from 10,000 to ^^""^ "^ ^^^•
" 12,000?. tons an acre, and at the fair average royalty of Is. Qd. ^ ^^"^ °°-
" per ton would realize, for the entire estate, from 10,000Z. to
" 12,000/.; the whole might be worked out easily in 10 years.
" When the three upper red mines are gone there would still be
" left the Bassy mine, and all the upper coal strata, which in
" 10 or 15 years from this time would form a most valuable
" property." It is clear that within a very few years from the
letting of these minerals the trustees of the Newcastle school
would be in a condition to carry on a middle school with excel-
lent building and appliances. It would be most useful, howevei',
if of the same order as those of which I have suggested the foun-
dation at Blythe-Bridge, and Tunstall; that is, it should set itself
to impart an " English " education, with the elements of Latin,
French, and mathematics, and should feed an upper school which
might be established as follows :

In Newcastle is a charity founded by Edward Orme in 1704, Orme's
primarily for apprenticing boys and then, with whatever money *"'**•
was left, for teaching the poor children of Newcastle to read,
write, and cast accounts, and for buying them books. Some of
the money arising from Orme's bequest was invested in 48 acres
of land, hard by the estate just described as belonging to the gram-
school. In 1846 a scheme for the management of the charity
was obtained from the Court of Chancery, which is still in force,
and under which an elementary school is maintained, giving a
perfectly gratuitous education to poor boys. The income of the
charity when this scheme was obtained was, 1 believe, only 160/.
a year ; and the size of the school contemplated appears from a
clause which provides " that the trustees shall not refuse to nomi-
" nate any child eligible to this charity, if the number of
" children on the foundation shall not exceed 50 ; but, neverthe-
" less, nothing herein contained shall be construed to limit the
" number of the foundation children to be admitted to the said
" school, if the means and accommodation will afford education
" for more than 50." A few years afterwards, however, carbo-
naceous iron ore was discovered under the land mentioned, for
the working of which a lease of 21 years was granted; under
this lease the trustees have in some years received more than
2,0007. In 1851 a fine new school was built, on which altogethej-

a. c. .3. B

220

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

What is to be
done with them.

Poor school or
high middle
school.

about 2,600L was spent: in this 150 boys receive an excellent ele-
mentary education gratuitously — books, stationery, and all mate-
rials being found by the trustees. Three masters are maintained
in it at salaries of 150?., 1 lOZ., and 75?. a year respectively ; another
50Z. a year is spent on books, stationery, &c. Altogether the out-
goings from the charity are about 500/. a year. The money that
has accrued from minerals and been invested in the funds
amounts now to considerably more than 20,000/. As to what may
be expected in the future, I quote the following from the local
authority previously referred to : — " The mines on this estate are
" of unusual thickness and quality, and the three mines yet un-
" exhausted (consisting of about 1 1 acres of half yard, 1 1 acres
" of red shag, and nearly 11 of red mine) should produce an
" average of 15,000 calcined tons to the acre, which should at all
" events secure a minimum of 1,000/. a year to the expiration of the
" lease. At that time the Bassy mine, which is now quite un-
" touched, would be well in the market, and that with the
" Spencroft, 10 foot, great row and little row coals, and all the
" argillaceous ironstones, would safely ensure a new lease for 21
" or 30 years at a minimum of 800/. or 1,000/. per annum, with
" the certainty that the royalties would yield far more than that
" sum annually. Thus within a very few years from this the
" corpus of the trust will amount to 30,000/., exclusive of surface
" rental, and exclusive of a great annual income which must for
" many years infallibly arise from the deeper minerals to which
" it is only necessary to sink the present pits."

Opinion seemed to be divided in Newcastle as to the best way
of applying these accumulations. Some were for establishing
another school for the poor on the model of the present one,
others for founding a middle school. It must be observed that
the present school, though very useful, is not so in the way of
giving an education to boys who could not otherwise obtain it.
The scholars are nominated by the trustees on the ground of
merit in themselves or their parents, not specially on the ground
of poverty. Generally they are transferred to Onne's school
from the National or British schools, and the transfer enables
them to get a longer and more thorough education than they
otherwise would, and to gain a better position in after life. Of
the boys who had left the school up to a certain year, one half
had become either pupil teachers, or clerks, or apprentices, or
errand boys, very few of whom, but for the education obtained at
this school, could have become anything but ordinary labourers.
It is probable, however, that one such school would be enough
for the town, if admission to it, instead of being somewhat arbi-
trary (as owing to the nomination system it now is), were syste-
matically made a prize for merit at the National and Dissenting
schools of the town, so that it should become distinctly superior
to, not parallel with, them. Another free school of the kind would
probably rather have the effect of damaging the schools at which
pence are paid. It would be a more real boon to give poor boys
who have capacity for it a chance of rising to the higher learning, as

Mr. Green's Report. 221

might be done by establishing for boys in Orme's school small exlii- Question
bitions to the grammar school, supposing the latter to be rehabili- ""''^etliei"
tated and affiliated to a higher school, according to previous sug- setool Uke
gestions. There is doubtless a class of boys in Newcastle, as in present
other towns, of parentage too poor and debased to take advantage P^^^'s school
of schools under the Privy Council system, but on them— sup- ^^ '^^°**^-
posing that their education does not soon come to be provided for
by a rate — a school on the expensive scale of the existing Orme's
school would be thrown away. There is, moreover, another
charity in Newcastle — Hatrell's — now in suspense, but available
for the education of the poor, producing nearly 100?. a year.
Perhaps it might be too sanguine to hope that any part of the in-
come from the " Burgesses' Lands " of Newcastle — now spent in
the payment of some 30s. a year to each burgess, which is of
course wasted — should ever be applied to education ; but on the
whole it is reasonable to think that a deduction of lOOZ. a year
from the resources of Orme's charity for elementary education, in
addition to the sum (435/. a year)* already so applied, would jus-
tify the application of the rest to education of a higher kind. If How high
15,000Z. of the accumulations, with the surface rent, were applied ^"'^'^'jV^^
to the former object, there would still in a year or two be should be '
15,000/. for other purposes, with the sure prospect of the gradual -worked,
addition of some 40,000Z. during the ensuing 30 years. This
would quite suffice to establish a high school, which might be
so worked as to supply upper departments — one preparatory for
the universities, the other devoted mainly to physical science and
modern languages — primarily to the improved Newcastle gram-
mar school, but also to the proposed middle schools at Tunstall
and Blythe Bridge, if they should happily come into existence.
The grammar schools at Stone and Uttoxeter, whence there is
easy access by rail to Newcastle, and that at Leek, if it could be
put on a satisfactory and permanent footing, whence there will
soon be such access, might also in some way be affiliated to it.
That such a school might thrive at Newcastle no one who con-
sidered the question seemed to doubt; it is a place with many
attractions for residents, open to smokeless country on two sides
out of four, and only needs a good school to become the gen-
teel suburb of the Potteries and neighbouring iron district. On
the great need in that district of higher means of education I have
remarked above (p. 194). If well provided with buildings, play-
ground, and exhibitions, the high school might probably almost
support itself upon boarders and day-boys. If it took picked
boys free from the affiliated schools, it might without damaging
its usefulness charge (say) lOZ. a year for day-boys, and 50Z. for
boarders. Thirty boarders at that rate would yield a master, if he
had his house rentfree,a clear income of more than 600Z. a year. If
the grammar school could be put under the same management as

* This represents the present expenditure minus the salaries of clerk and agent,
which cannot be regarded as spent specially on the existing school.

R 2

•222 Oountief: of Sin ford and IVarwick.

the proposed liigli school and share a modern language master with
it, there would be a saving of expense and probably more efficiency. _
Desirable The only transfers of grammar school funds in the shires of

transfer of Statford and Warwick, besides those already spoken of, that

saUandHamp. seemed to me specially desirable were at Walsall and Hampton-
tou-Liicy. Lucy. If the Walsall grammar school would apply 150/. a yearT

out of its I,OOOZ. to establish a branch school at or near Wednes-
bury, pretty much on the plan of the King Edward's elementary
schools at Birmingham, it would do a great service and might
more than remunerate itself by charging fees at Walsall (see pp.
76 and 101). I have already stated reasons for thinking that many
boys in that region are sent to National or British schools whose
parents could well afford a higher school. The best of these
might be taught by a school of the kind suggested, charging a fee
of 21. a year, of whom again the best, after a good grounding in
the elements, might be transferred to Walsall. | At Hampton-
Lucy it is attempted to use the grammar school as such, but
without, as it seemed, any beneficial result. To all the boys
learning " grammar " in it the Stratford school would with facili-
ties for day-boarding be accessible, and if it paid over lOOZ. a
year to that school on condition that the corporation put it on a
better footing, while it received enough, with proper manage-
ment, to secure there being a good elementary school at Hamp-
ton, no one there would be the worse and the neighbourhood of
Stratford would be much the better. In the other cases in the two
counties where a grammar school endowment exists in a Tillage, the
amount being small, it might be well to allow of its appropriation to
an elementary school, if any security existed — and there is none_^
now — that the elementary school should be good of its kind ; if it
were so, the farmers, even where they keep phaetons and pianos,
would send their sons to it, notwithstanding the mixture with the
poor, at least up to a certain age, and they could not do betfcer.§
Charity money, Over and above the application to grammar school purposes of
grammar school funds not now so applied, and of some part of the
proceeds of Orme's educational charity, something, it is to be
hoped, may ultimately be obtained for the same object from pro-
perty belonging to charities or to corporations. The extent and
application of such property might fitly form the subject of a
separate inquiry. It is one of which I can only speak generally,
and with reference to places where a grammar school needs
Stafford. subsidy. At Stafford, as at Newcastle, are " Burgesses' Lands."

They extend, I believe, over more than 200 acres. From Sep-
tember to spring they are common. The practice is for each

* On a difficulty as to the patronage of the grammar school, see special report.

f If with this could he combined some of the money now given at Wednesbury in
doles, &c., so much the better.

X J'or some of them it would be six miles distant, but these come on ponies as it is,

§ Out of 24 " grammar schools " used as elementary village schools, which I met
with in the five counties that I traversed, only eight had a fair mixture of sons of
farmers. The other 16, however, were not, or had very lately become, good schools
of their kind. I have doubts, notwithstanding, whether the larger graziers of South
Warwickshire would often condescend to use such a school, however good.

Mr. Green's Report. 223

" old and necessitous burgess " who is not a pauper, to have an
acre assigned to him at a rent of 8s. This he generally sublets
to some one at a rent of 2Z. or more. The practical result thus is
to put a gratuity of 30s. or 2Z. in the pocket of the " necessitous
burgess," which I was told, he generally spends in drink. These
lands, I understood, if enclosed, would be worth at least 40,000Z.
That sum had in fact been offered for them for some public pur-
pose. They might, again, be let at a very high rent as garden-
ground. I should suppose that provision might be made for paying
the burgesses as much as they at present receive from them, and
at the same time 15,000Z, or 20,000/. might be obtained for public
purposes. At Burton also there are town lands vested in feoffees. Burton.
who in the autumn of 1865 had, I was told, more than 30,00OZ.
invested. They had given liberally to elementary schools of all
denominations, and might not be unwilling to do something for
middle education. Lichfield abounds in charities, and has in Lichfield.
consequence an ill-conditioned surplus population. About 600/.
a year, I believe, is spent in doles and gratuities of various kinds,
and with a very bad effect. A quantity of the inhabitants work
as market gardeners, and in the summer earn high wages, which
they waste, in expectation of living on charity during the winter.
Here also, as in other cases of the same kind, these gratuities are
said to be turned to political account by the authorities. Into the
the truth of such statements it is not my business to inquire, but
the system clearly opens a wide door to abuse of this kind. The
sum above mentioned is exclusive of the income from the " Conduit
Lands," and of that of the hospitals. One of the latter, St John's,
is said (I speak under correction) to have lands which at a rack-
rent would produce 5,000Z. a year.* Under the circumstances the
starved condition of the grammar school (with an income of 96/.
a year, of which 60/. is a grant from the " Conduit Lands "), is
scarcely creditable to a place where the " educated class" is
relatively so strong. At West Bromwich is a charity estate, West Brom-
producing, as I understood, about 270/. a year, which might pos- "ffich.
sibly be available for purposes of education. It might be usefully
spent either on the existing " Bridge Trust '_' school at Handsworth,
or on a new school of the same kind on the side of West Bromwich,
most remote from Handsworth, i.e., about Hill Top. At Leek,
as I have stated in my separate report, a good deal of money
(about 200/. a year) is spent in doles and gifts to the poor. That
any of this should be spent on the grammar school is perhaps more
to be wished than expected.

In Warwickshire, Warwick itself and Coventry are well-known Warwick,
seats of charitable foundations. In Warwick, a town of 10,000

■* The first known statutes of the hospital were promulgated by Bishop Smith in
1495. These prescribe that lOZ. a year shall be paid to a master, and Hi. to an usher,
for teaching grammar. In 1740 the hospital school was formally amalgamated with
the existing town grammar school. The payment from the hospital to the school has
never increased, notwithstanding the improved value of its estate of 786 acres. The
income of the " conduit lands " is chiefly applied to purposes elsewhere met by rates.
More of it might be applied to education without anyone in the place being the worse
off for it. Elementary education is well provided for, as it is, by Minor's English
school.

224

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

White's
Charity .

Coventry.

Sutton Cold-
field.

inhabitants, without trade or manufacture, more than 1,000?. a
year is spent in doles and gratuities to the poor. This is exclusive
of hospitals, and further (1) of a charity for schooling poor
children, producing 225Z. a year net ; (2) of Henry VIII.'s charity,
producing about 3,O0OZ. a year, which, after deduction of 400?. a
year for the grammar school, is spent for purposes elsewhere met
by rates ; (3) of White's charity. The object of White's charity,
which is shared by Coventry, Leicester, Northampton, and
Nottingham, is to advance money without interest for a term of
years, on security being given for its repayment, to young men
who are setting up in business. At "Warwick, owing to want of
trade and to the requirement of security for repayment, the
money is not applied for to the full amount. Thus while 8,000?.
is out on loan, more than 18,-000?. is accumulated. It is a general
opinion in the place, I think, that this money should be applied to
education, and it is also generally admitted that the money spent
on doles and gratuities is at present simply mischievous. The
town is burdened with poor for whom there is no regular em-
ployment, and some of whom are said to boast that what with
charities, elections, and assizes (where they act as javelin-men),
they have got along without doing a stroke of work for many
years. In the year 1854 a movement was started for a better
application of the charity-money, and a scheme proposed for a
rehabilitation of the grammar school. An inquiry was held in the
place by a representative of the Charity Commission, but nothing
has been done since. Everyone seems to have been waiting for
everyone else. What is wanted here, as in similar circumstances
elsewhere, is an initiative from without.

In. Coventry about 13,000L a year, I believe, is spent by the
various charities ; of this — setting aside hospitals, schools for the
poor, and the maintenance of old men and women at regular weekly
payments — about 2,000?. a year is spent in variable gratuities, and
600?. a year in coals. The trustees of White's charity at Coventrv
a few years ago devoted their accumulations to the establishment
of an industrial school, but they have more in hand already, and
are constantly accumulating more.

At Sutton Coldfield exists a " Warden and Society," holding
property of which the gross income in 1864 was 2,628?.* This
has been spent partly on purposes met elsewhere by rates (such
as the supply of water), partly on almshouses and "poor maidens'
" portions," partly on schools for the poor in Sutton and neigh-
bouring villages. To the latter about 1,000?. a year is applied,
but of this 375?. goes in clothing. The payments to the masters
and mistresses of the schools are not large. The masters at the
three, where there are masters, received for salary and fuel in 1864
respectively, 76?. 10«., 65?. 10«., 70?. 10s. The schools have been
under no regular inspection. A clergyman of the neighbourhood.

* The result of the existence of this rich corporation is generally admitted hy im-
partial persons to be bad. It pauperizes the people in character and ideas, and renders
municipal government of the ordinary kmd impossible, while it does not adequately
meet the purposes of such government. The di-ainage of the town is bad. A case
to some extent parallel is that of Melton Mowbray.

Mr. Greenes Report. 225

excellently qualified, examined them 12 years ago, and reported
them to be below the level of good schools under the Privy
Council. The clergyman of the place does not consider that there
has been much improvement since. The other most considerable
charges on the income of the society are for almshouses, blankets,
a lying-in charity, and poor maidens' portions. These come to
about 400Z. a year. The only expenditure on " middle " edu-
cation consists of 467. a year, of which 4Ql. is paid to the master
of the grammar schools on the understanding that he take certain
boys free to be nominated by the society. Proposals have been
made by members of the society to apply more money to the same
purpose ; in particular the income of a sum of about 2,300/. recently
made by a sale of land to the London and North-western railway,
but have not yet succeeded. It has been proposed either to
establish a middle school apart from the grammar school, which I
think would be a great mistake, or to provide an English depart-
ment at the grammar school, or to found an exhibition at it. My
experience of English departments is not favourable, as I have
already explained. The ground for the establishment of such a
department at Sutton Coldfield would be that hitherto this school
has been used, to some -extent, by a class of boys of whom many
go on to the public schools, and that with these arithmetic and
English writing do not require so much attention as with boys of
a lower rank. The wants of the case would probably be best met
by the establishment of a preparatory school, which should pro-
vide a sound English education early, and thus enable the grammar
school, to give as much attention as it now does to classics without
unfairness to the boys going into business at 16. There were
many boys in the school at the time of my visit who would have
been the better for passing through such a preparatory school.
If, besides, some small exhibitions were founded, tenable at the
school, to be given primarily for proficiency in the subjects taught
at the preparatory school, and one or two of 25Z. a year for boys
of 15, tenable at some school or schools well qualified to prepare
for the universities,* the grammar school would be well off, and
able to supply all the " middle ■"' education wanted for the place.
For these purposes the income of " the Warden and Society " might,
do doubt, with good management suflfice, without detriment to any
good object which it at present serves. Setting aside the question
of a management at once more effective and more economical of
the schools which it maintains for the poor, a great part of the
expenditure described as " incidental," which, in 1864, amounted
to 430/., can hardly be regarded as permanent.

Supposing that from any of the sources above mentioned a high
school could be established for Staffordshire (in addition to the
one to which it has been suggested that Orme's money should be
applied), and another for Warwickshire, it would seem that as far

* Exhibitions of this kind would be preferable to one direct to the university, on
the ground of a relation between the Sutton Coldfield School and the grammar school
at Birmingham, which I believe it would be possible to establish (see above pp. ll')
and 114),

2'26 Counties of Stafford cmdefFarwick.

as funds go, the grammar schools of the two counties (except in a few
cases to be mentioned presently), would be well able to supply
the middle class with a suitable education, having in it the elements
of " liberality." For an education without such elements, yet
, outwardly distinct from that given in National schools, there
would no doubt be still a demand. This, however, the grammar
schools should not seek to meet, but gradually to divert into a
Plan for high more worthy direction. The high school to be effective, should
schools. jj^^,g j.^jj departments, the basis of division being that suggested

above (p. 140 and p. 221.) should have accommodation for boarders
and give facilities for boarding both by the day and the week. It
should also be centrally situate and easily approachable by rail.
The charge should scarcely be more than 40?. a year for board and
teaching,* and there should be exhibitions of 251. a year tenable
at the school, most of which, if not all, should be appropriated to
boys either resident or trained at schools, public or private, in the
county. Whether these should not be confined to the department
preparatory for university, as a set-off to the utilitarian attractions
of the other, would be a matter for consideration ; at anj' rate it
would be very desirable that a boy in the " modern" department,
for whom the rewards given by the universities for knowledge of
mathematics and physical science might have attractions, should
be able to tranfer himself from that department to the other
with an exhibition, tenable at the school, awarded for merit in
those subjects. There should, further, be exhibitions to the
university.
Need of them. The reasons for desiring the establishment for such high schools
are as follows : — (1.) A small grammar school caanot give an edu-
cation likely to enable a boy to get a scholarship at the university.
It is scarcely likely that the master of such a school, though of
course there will be exceptions, should have the knowledge or
ability to impart such nn education. If he has, he can only
impart it to the exceptional boy whom he finds receptive of it, at
the cost of neglecting more necessary work. The exceptional
boy, moreover, is at an essential disadvantage from want of com-
petition, nor can the small school afford him an exhibition at the
end of hia time. There is thus a gap between the schools fre-
quented by the less wealthy of the middle class and the univer-
sities, which, except by the proposed high schools, cannot be
filled. (2.) Such schools would make it possible to simplify the
work of the smaller grammar schools, and remove the occasion
for the mischievous separation into " classical " and " commercial "
departments (see above, p. 187, et seg,). It would be under-
stood that the higher classical education was not to be attempted
by the smaller schools ; that they were to concentrate attention

* I pm'posely suggested a higher charge for the proposed high school at New-
castle-iinder-I.yme, heeause it -would be accessible as a day-school to most of the bovs
fiom the schools which might be expected to .feed it. There could be no reason for
putting the charge lower than 40/., supposing exhibitions to be provided. The sort of
pai-ents who would be hkely to send boys to it at all without exhibitions are nuite
ready to pay that nr more. '

Mr. Greens Report. 227

on English writing, arithmetic, Latin and Euclid, with French in
the higher classes, and that further classical or scientific edu-
cation would be furnished elsewhere to such as were fit for it.
Gi'eek grammar might be learnt instead of French by boys looking
to the classical department of the higli school in their last year,
but with this exception, which need not be serious, there would
be a uniform system throughout the school, and one in which all
the masters, even those not trained at universities, might be
expected to take apart. (3.) The high school might offer to the
smaller schools the stimulus in the way of reward, which they
now lack, by instituting a severe entrance examination in the sub-
jects which it is thought desirable for the latter chiefly to cultivate,
and awarding exhibitions tenable at the school to those who did
best in it. The better private schools, as well as the grammar
schools, would soon find it to their advantage to lay themselves
out for this examination.

A subordinate question is, where the high school should be. Where should
It may be premised that none of the existing " public schools " '*^
(in the technical sense) would serve the purpose. Their system
presupposes less previous attention to arithmetic and English
writing, and more previous attention to Greek, than it is desirable
that the small grammar schools should give; nor could any
existing grammar school be turned to account for the purpose,
except one already acting on a large scale as a place of education
for universities. Of any other grammar school the head master
would presumably be not qualified for the conduct of a high school.

The only school in the two counties that would satisfy the Use of King
requisite conditions in this respect is King Edward's school at ^ ff ;n*i,is
Birmingham, and this from its position, though admirably qualified ^^y.
to serve as a high school to the population which can go in and
out of Birmingham daily by rail, is not calculated to act as a
boarding school. There is something to be said for the establish-
ment of a new school for the purpose in some eligible rural place,
but, if so situated, it would lose the advantage of having a town
population close at hand to support it, and of being available for
parents who might be disposed to take houses in its neighbour-
hood for the purpose of using it as a day-school. On such a
scheme, too, there would be less chance of winning for the school
some share of the charitable and municipal funds already spoken
of The best chance for inducing the people of a town to
acquiesce in the application of these to the establishment of a
middle class school would lie in the assurance that the school
would bring residents and trade to the town, an assurance which
could not be given if the school were some miles away. Thus, in
Warwickshire, the place for a high school would, I think, unques-
tionably be Warwick itself It is central and easily accessible, Warwick an
and a school there might be so situate as to be easily available as el'giWe place,
a day-school for Leamington, where it would find a constituency
in the greater part at once of those parents who formerly main-
tained the " Leamington College," and of those who support a
flourishing private school charging from 8/. to 10/. a year for day-

228

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Possibly Lich-
field.

What schools
should he
independent.

boys. The trustees of King Henry VIIPs charity could furnish
an excellent site, with plenty of room for playground, on one of
the roads leading from Warwick to Leamington, and it might
fairly be hoped that they would also supply money for the building
in consideration of the material benefits it would confer on the
town. The accumulations of White's charity would furnish a
suiEcient endowment, if the existing grammar school could, by
improved buildings and appliances, be made so effective a feeder
of the high school as to relieve the latter of the burden of teaching
boys under a certain standard, and if the exhibitions on Fulk
Weale's foundation, now appropriated to the grammar school,
could be transferred to the high school. In Staffordshire the
question of site would be more difficult. The town of Stafford
itself, would be most central and accessible. On the other hand
Lichfield' is the great seat of superfluous charities. Possibly, if a
high school were once started at Lichfield ovit of some of the pro-
ceeds of these, the townspeople of Stafford and Burton might not
be unwilling to lay the town lands at those places under some
contribution towards the maintenance of an exhibition fund at the
new school, on the ground that exhibitions, tenable at a high
school by boys belonging to the county, would do more to improve
those several schools, than money spent directly upon them.

Indulging for the moment the anticipation that such high
schools may be established, let us consider the future position of
the existing grammar schools in the two counties. Those at
Coventry and Wolverhampton could not do better than continue
self-contained and independent. The income of each is over
1,000Z. a year.* Coventry school has already exhibitions to the
university, which would be valuable if released from the existing
mischievous restrictions (p. 173). It urgently needs a change of
site, new buildings, and a playground, but out of the abundant
charities of the town enough, it is to be hoped, might be got for
these purposes. The money that might be gained by the sale of
the existing premises, added to the accumulations in the hands of
White's trustees, would probably be now sufficient. The same
need exists at Wolverhampton, but an appeal to the abundant
wealth and public spirit of the town, now that the conduct of the
school is admitted to be effective, would produce enough to supply
new buildings and in time exhibitions. Supposing these changes
to be made, each of the above schools would have enough to main-
tain at once a preparatory school, and an upper school in two
departments, according to the plan previously suggested. A fee
of Al. a year for the preparatory department (in which the ruck
of the "commercial" boys might be expected to finish), and of 8/.
a year in the upper, would correspond to the rates of payment in
the two classes of private school previously described (p. 203 et seq.)
To give a better article than the private school at the same, not at
a lower, rate, should be the object of the grammar school. Lower

* In the case of Coventry tliis is subject to temporary deductions, for w hieh see
separate report.

Mr. Green's Report. 229

fees, then, than the above, would not be desirable, and if each
department took a certain number of boys free by examination,
no one would be excluded whom it would be useful to admit.
Now if three masters — a chief master for the preparatory depart-
ment, and for the upper department one mainly classical, another
mathematical and scientific — could be secured out of endowment,
it might safely be reckoned that in respect of such other masters
as might be necessary, a school charging the above fees would be
self-supporting. 1,000/. a year ought to be enough to secure
three good masters for the purposes specified, if the school was so
built and situate as to be suitable for boarders, and if for each
master a house with good room for boarders was provided.

When a grammar school has an annual income from endow- What affiliated
ment nmch under 1,000Z., unless it has some peculiar attraction to -"g'l schools.
for boarders, it would do well, to the best of my belief, to act as
prepai-atory to one of the proposed high schools. This means,
that it should confine itself to teaching " Englisli," Latin, French,
and elementary mathematics, and should not attempt to keep any
but backwark boys much beyond the age of 15 (see p. 140).
There need be no formal " affiliation " to the high school. If the
latter offered scholarships, tenable at itself, to boys of the county
who should do best in these subjects, the end would in time be
gained. With good buildings and situation, and a yearly fee of 4Z. ^^''^t endow-
a boy, a clear income from endowment of 250?. a year should for°affilia"ed
enable a school under ordinary circumstances to fulfil this prepa- schools.
ratory function. If there were a prospect of adding 150Z. a year
as profit on 10 boarders at 40/. a year each, the endowment
should be enough to secure a good head-master, and the expense
of necessary assistance would be covered by fees. With a less
income, such a school could not be satisfactorily conducted, for an
assistant could not be kept, and without an assistant either the
Latin or the " English " must break down. A multitude of
boarders at high terms might, no doubt, supply the defect, but
they could not be got to a school conducted on the plan proposed,
or if they could, would be objectionably heterogeneous to the day-
boys. Thus, at Stone, where a gratuity from Trinity College
makes up the income to lOOZ. a year, and 4Z. a year is charged for
day-boys, the master cannot afford an assistant and Latin is not
taught. The education given, though more sound of its kind, is
not in kind much different from that given in a cheap commercial
" academy." At Solihull, where the conditions are pretty much
the same, an assistant is kept and Latin is taught to some purpose,
without neglect of " English," but a stranger must wonder why
the master stays there. The recourse, frequently had under such
circumstances to chaplaincies of unions and job-duty on Sundays,
is scarcely desirable.

A clear income of 250Z. from endowment may suffice for a
grammar school of the second rank, but 400/. would do better.
Where from the nature of the case there is small chance of
boarders and at the same time a large population, a larger sum
might be necessary to secure the services of an adequate head-

230

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

What should
be done with
money above
this limit.

Preparatory
schools.

Cases where
the limit is not
reached.

master. The largest endowment in the two counties, after those
mentioned, is at Walsall, where it produces about 1,000/. a year,
and is likely gradually to increase. From the nature of the popii-
lation, however, and other circumstances, the Walsall school is not
calculated to act as an independent place of training for universi-
ties. At the same time, supposing it to act as a school of the
second rank, it is one where a large endowment is wanted. It is
not well fitted for boarders, and the population to which it is
easily accessible, ought to furnish at least 300 proper subjects for
a "middle" education. For these, some process of filtration
Hvould be eminently desirable. Thus, while 600Z. a year from
endowment would not be too much to assign to the grammar
school proper,* any available income above this would be well
bestowed on the establishment of preparatory schools, such as the
best of the elementary schools in Birmingham, at Walsall itself,
and Wednesbury, as suggested above (p. 222). Schools of this
kind would be very useful in most cases, but they are specially
wanted in places like Walsall and Birmingham, where the limit
between the middle class and the working class is not very exactly
defined; i.e., where there are many workmen who earn enough to
use a school somev/hat above the National and British schools,
and at the same time many small masters who have not risen long
or far above the rank of workmen. In such cases there will be a
mass of boys, which, if thrown without stint on the grammar school,
is sure to depress it, but which yet, if sifted by a preparatory
school, may supply it with most valuable material. In such cases,
too, the customary age for finishing education is sure to be early,
and the need of getting the elementary part of it over vvith all
possible expedition proportionately great.

Wherever else in the two
anything that can be called a town, the income from endowment
is up to or above the minimum limit mentioned, except at Stone,
Uttoxeter, Kinver, Solihull, Lichfield, and Tamworth.f At
Kinver the income is so near the limit, and the situation so eligible
for boarders, that with enterprise in building and management it
might get along very well as a school of the second rank. The
school at Solihull is maintained out of a charity applied to general
parish purposes, which at the time of my visit was repairing the
church steeple, and proposing to spend 250?. on a town hall. If
the school could be rebuilt, and good room provided for boarders,
the situation being very eligible for them, it might get along in
spite of its small income. Lichfield, with its present endowment
and accommodation, can only be kept up by the exaction of a
higher charge for ordinary day-boys than most shopkeepers are
likely to be willing to pay. To the abundant charities of this
"city" attention has been already called. At Tamworth the
school has been for some time in abeyance, but is shortly to be

counties a grammar school exists in

* I suppose throughout that the head-master of the Walsall school is relieved of
duty at St. Paul's church, and that a fee of il a ycai- is charged for day-boys.

t Account is nut taken here of Newcastlc-undcr-Lymc or of Leek (see above p. 221").

Mr. Green's Report. 231

reopened in a new building. It is hoped that the expense of the
building may be defrayed by subscription, on the plan that every
subscriber of lOOJ. should have the right of nominating a scholar,
and lj500Z. may be obtained from a local charity. Even then,
however, the yearly income will be little over lOOZ., and this being
so, it is hard to see how the school can get on without charging a
considerably higher fee than 4?. a year. The schools at Stone
and Uttoxeter are in the hands of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Their income consists of a fixed charge (13Z. 6s. Qd. in each case)
on an estate, which is said lo be now very valuable. When it was
left, its value was stated to be 80Z. a year, of which sum the charge
for Stone, Uttoxeter, and a third school, was just a half. Till
lately, however, the schools had no profit from the increased value
of the estate. Now by " gratuities " Trinity College makes up
the income of the Stone school to lOOZ. a year, that of the
Uttoxeter school to 150Z. a year. The effect of scanty endow-
ment is, at Stone, that Latin is not attempted ; at Uttoxeter that
the pay for the master of the English department is not enough to
secure a good one, and that this department languishes.

At the remaining town grammar schools in the two counties, Case.s where it
the income from endowment is quite, sufficient for schools of the '^•
second i-ank, if duly supplemented by yearly fees of 4Z, At
Burton, Nuneaton, Coleshill, and Stratford, new buildings, with
playground and accommodation for boarders, are urgently needed.
Coleshill might charge its endowment with the expenditure for
this purpose, and yet, if it abolished its lower (it may fairly bo
called its pauper) department, might have enough to maintain a
good school for the few tradesmen of the town, and for the farmers
and lesser clergy around. Nuneaton, again, could well afford to
rebuild. At Stratford the maintenance of the school is a charge
on the corporation, which spends money liberally for town
purposes. When I was there, it had, I understood, for the time
rather over-spent itself, but no doubt it will soon have the power,
and probably the will, to do something for the school. Meanwhile
the fees paid by boys from outside the borough are accumulated,
and in 1865 had reached a sum over 800Z. At Burton, considering
the size and importance of the town, it might be well to leave the
endowinent untouched for purposes of building, but here the
feoffees of the town lands and the millionare-brewers may fairly
be looked to for the supply of a new school with proper belongings.
Wherever a school of the second rank, after due satisfaction of
external requirements, had a clear income from endowment of
more thai; 250Z. a year, it would be a question to be settled
according to the circumstances of each case, whether part of the
overplus might not be devoted to the establishment of small
exhibitions tenable at a high school, if one existed.

In conclusion should be noticed the difficulties, which, from local Obstacles to
inquiries, I should expect to present themselves to changes in the PJ'°Posed
direction suggested. (1.) So far as they involve the application
to the purpose of teaching " grammar " of money left for that
purpose, but now spent on elementary schools in villages, they

232 Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

In some cases would generally meet with opposition from the clergy and land-
loealopposition. i^^.^^ ^f ^j^^^^ villages, who again would probably get support from
the farmers. Whenever I ventured to suggest a change of this
kind in the places concerned, I always took care that it should be
one that would secure the interest of the people of the privileged
place, so far as they were capable of an education above that of
an elementary school. I always found, however, that while the
terms of the founder's will, appropriating the bequest to the
particular place, were much insisted on, those which stipulate for
an education in " grammar " were ignored. The question, how-
ever, in its proper form, was really quite new to the people. They
knew that the school in each case was to be for the benefit of the
village, and that there were not enough well-to-do people in the
place to fill it as a grammar school. A plan by which it could
be made available for a wider area, and as a grammar school,
without prejudice to the interest of the village itself, had never been
suggested to them, and when made for the first time was naturally
received with an incredulous smile. As any such plan would
presuppose the establishment of an elementary school for the
village to be maintained in part by subscription, it would be
unwelcome, however well understood, to those on whom the
responsibility of subscription would chiefly fall. The clergy
would not be opposed to it in itself; where they are poor and
have sons to educate, they would welcome it as a boon ; but they
fear that if the grammar school money were diverted from the
maintenance of the school for the poor, they would get no sufficient
help from the landlords for the latter, which would in consequence
either perish or become a burden on them. The places in ques-
tion, as I have said before, have on the whole rather exceptional
advantages for the maintenance of such a school in the ordinary
way, but the misapplication of the grammar endowment has
tended to dry up the ordinary sources of voluntary effbrt.

(2.) In such cases, as in others where an application of charity-
money to the " middle " or " higher " education might be sug-
gested, a cry would be raised of injustice to the poor. Even
where general opinion might favour the diversion to educational
objects of the money now spent in doles and gratuities, the claims
of any education but the most elementary would scarcely be
Cry ofiDjus- recognized. Education is thought to be an affair of classes, and
tice to poor. j^jj classes above the poor, it is said, can afford to pay for the teach-
ing suitable to them. It is not yet a recognized idea, that
educational endowments can be so worked as in some degree to
efface demarcations of class, to give a freedom of self-elevation in
the social scale other than that given by money, and to keep " the
career open to the talents." It is only in primary education that
the poor are thought to have any interest, and since this is not yet
systematically provided for by a charge on property, but is still
very much matter of charity and accident, it is naturally regarded
as the one proper object of charitable bequests. For a single
man to be found having views about better education for the
middle class, a hundred may be found having views about the

Mr. Green's Report. 233

education of the poor. (3.) Meanwhile, the questions at issue
being so ill understood, the grammar schools have been readjusting
themselves and doing it in a very clumsy way. The doctrine Commercial
being retained, as in the absence of high schools it must needs be, l^r^^olies
that each grammar school is to act as an independent place of established.
training for universities, it has been held that the only way to
combine this with the satisfaction of the wants of the com-
mercial class is to establish a separate commercial department.
The objections to this arrangement have been already noticed
(p. 189), but when it has once been made, an attempt to change it
would be liable to excite the suspicion of the class of people to
whose instance it has been conceded, and in whom past experience
has fixed the notion that Latin necessarily drives out arithmetic,
and that Latin is only good for a " gentleman."

(4.) In this state of things, the absence of any strong and ^^."t.°f
central initiative is a great misfortune. No one who has occasion '°>'^^'^"^'^-
to hear much of the past history of grammar schools will question
the reality of the good done by the Charity Commission ; but
when gross abuses have been got rid of, its work seems to be at an
end. For the purpose of recasting the system of grammar school
education it is with its present powers ineffective on two grounds ;
it can only act in the way of giving effect to a clearly formed
public opinion, and it has to treat each school as out of relation to
all others. A clearly formed public opinion, however, on the sub-
ject of middle education cannot be said to exist. There is little
more than a vague, though strong, feeling that while dead lan-
guages may be fine things for a clergyman or a man who has
nothing to do, they are of no use to a man of business, and that
to learn them is incompatible with learning what a man of busi-
ness needs to know. A few years of a really good organization
of grammar schools would, I believe, wholly remove this feeling,
but the attainment of this organization according to the present
order of things presupposes just that change or development of
local opinion, which it alone can create. On the other hand, in
many cases where local opinion is not clear or strong enough to
move for itself, it would, if approached on the right side, gladly
welcome authoritative suggestions from without. In towns I often
heard it said that proposals for the improvement of middle educa-
tion and the application to it of charitable or municipal funds,
which would have small chance of success if they issued from a
party— especially if from the "genteel" party — within the town,
would probably be well received if they came from some board
analogous to the Charity Commission. On the question, where
the needful initiative might best be placed, it is not my business
to dwell. The desirability of placing it, if possible, with the
same body which has the supervision of the charities of the
country, must occur to everyone acquainted with the educa-
tional resources which these charities furnish, arid who has
observed the prestige which the Charity Commission has already
acquired in the provinces. An initiative, it is to be remem-
bered, is nearly all that is wanted. Once let the high schools be

234 Counties of Stafford and Wanoick.

established, with adequate endowments and exhibitions of the
two kinds suggested, and then for the other schools, if only
endowment could be provided where it is lacking, a brief or-
dinance prescribing fees (with 'exemptions for merit), proper
buildings, a real entrance examination, and openness to in-
spection, would be all that was wanted. The nature of the
examinations for entrance and for exhibitions at the high school,
and of that held by the inspector, would sufficiently determine
the character of the teaching given in the lesser grammar schools.
It would be a further question, when the grammar school system
had been fairly put on its legs by the action of some central power,
Possible use of whether the direction of it should be left to the boards of trustees
county boards, and governors as at present constituted, or whether county boards
should be established. The institution of the latter would have
some advantages. It might tend to bring the grammar schools
into more systematic relations to the National and British schools,
which, if the farmers can be induced to use the latter, would be
very useful in the rural districts, as well as in the larger towns
(see above p. 213). It might facilitate the establishment of middle
schools in districts where gi'ammar endowments were wanting,
such as those already referred to (pp. 167 and 168) about Southam
and Kineton on the eastern side of Warwickshire, and about
Alcester and Henley-in-Arden on the western. It might also
facilitate the transfer in whole or part of endowments for teaching
grammar in villages to grammar schools in neighbouring towns.
Present interest The position of Church Eaton and Bradley in relation to Stafford
of trustees. has been already described as rendering such transfer desirable.
If the schools of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire were part
of my present subject, stronger instances of the same kind might
be found in the relation of Blakesley to Towcester, of Burton-
Latimer to Kettering, of Clipstone to Market Harborough, of
Barrow to Loughborough. In the case of grammar schools in
villages the trustees, so far as I could learn, with some notable
exceptions, take little active interest in their office. In one place
that I visited, where a good village grammar school is within ear-
shot of the squire's garden, he, being a trustee of the school, is in
the habit of saying that he had far rather hear the sound of a
dog-kennel in such close neighbourhood than that of a school.*
This no doubt is an extreme case, but neither the squires nor the
country clergy can be relied on to exert themselves much on behalf
of schools which they don't make use of themselves, and which yet
do not, like schools for the poor, excite either benevolence or church
feeling. On the other hand, in towns, though there are cases
of neglect like that at Newcastle, where the trustees have never
met since many years ago they elected the present headmaster,
yet generally (as at Atherstone, Wolverhampton, and Lough-
borough), the trustees being of a kind themselves to send boys to
the grammar school, take a very useful interest in it. The great

* In tlie case referred to, the master of the school, who vr&s a man to trust, told me
that there were only three out of 13 trustees who did not positively oppose the progress
of the school as a grammar school ; two of these three were clergymen

Mr. Green's Report. 235

danger in towns is lest, on the principle of co-optation, the trustees
should come to represent merely a clique and a particular form of
local opinion.* Where this is the case, however disinterested
their management, they are sure to be met by a popular cry as
soon as they propose a change. I can only account for the main- ^tion"^"""^'
tenance of the gratuitous system at Walsall by the fact that the
trustees, representing meiely the Conservative opinion of the
town, are obnoxious to popular clamour, even when proposing that
which fi om another quarter would be readily accepted. If county
boards are established, I am persuaded that they will be useless
for the reform of middle education, unless thoroughly representa-
tive of the general class interested in that education. The great
obstacle to be dealt with is the notion that high education is only
proper to the gentry. How far the gentry are likely to be earnest
in attacking this notion I will not inquire, but an attack upon it
from them, if made, would provoke suspicion. It can only be
got rid of by an appeal from the right quarter to the self-respect
of the class infected with it.

(5.) A further difficulty to the change proposed, so far as it Objection of
involves inspection and something like an affiliation of the small "^^^^f-^ *°
schools to a high school, might be found in the attitude of some
of the existing masters, who are virtually irremoveable and almost
uncontrollable. Of inspection, someofthe best masters would (for
some time at least) be most jealous. It was not at the worst schools
that I had most difficulty in getting leave to examine. Others, how-
ever, would welcome inspection, especially as the best means of
removing the notion — which, once fixed in the commercial class,
does not vanish till long after the ground of it has vanished — that
arithmetic and English are neglected to make way for Latin and
Greek. The resistance to the due operation of the high school
would be most formidable if it proceeded from the master of the
existing grammar school in the town where the high school might
be established. At Warwick, I think, such resistance need not
be apprehended. At Stafford or Newcastle it might, perhaps, be
expected,! though not on the same ground in each place. If the
high school were once in full operation, offering exhibitions tenable
at the school, the affiliation ol the smaller schools to it need be of
no rigid kind. It would rest with the masters in each case to give
reality to it by educating boys with a view to the examination for
exhibitions. The trustees of the smaller schools might stimulate
the process by establishing exhibitions to the high school out of
their own funds, as these admitted of it. Many of the existing
masters would readily enter into the plan of affiliation ; others,
chiefly those of older standing, still cling to the notion of
educatmg boys for the university, even where no boy for many

* In this regard the restriction of the trusteeship to members of the Church of
England, where it exists (as at Walsall), may become practically mischievous. The
fact that a proposal to exact fees at Walsall would undoubtedly be made an occasion
by the Dissenters to press for the removal of the disabilities, to which they are now
subject there, has increased the unwillingness of the governors to make the proposal.

■f The Lichfield mastership is now vacant.

a. c. 3. S

236

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Denomina-
tional
difBculty.

Bad effect on
middle educa-
tion of denomi-
nationalism at
the Universi-
ties.

years has presented himself for the purpose. Where a sehooiy
like that at Atherstone, is producing boys who get scholarships at
the universities, and at the same time educating ail the boys in
the town but those of the poor, it would be a pity to trench on its
independence, if evidence could be given (which is now laclcing)
that English writing and arithmetic were duly attended to along-
side of the classics,

(6.) The only other difficulty to be noticed is that which might
arise as to tiie mixture in a high school of sons of Churchmen and
sons of Dissenters. This difBculty would scarcely affect any but
boarders. Practically, so far as I could learn, Dissenters scarcely
ever object to the presence of their sons either at prayers according
to the liturgy of the Church of England, or at religious lessons
given by a clergyman, so long as they have their evenings and
Sundays at home, and are not compelled to learn the catechism,*
Even where, as at Walsall, the boys have to go to church on
Sunday, the Dissenters, though disliking the rule, acquiesce, as
is shown by the presence of sons of Dissenting ministers in the
school. Where a bo}', however, was wholly removed for the time
from parental supervision, the feeling would in many cases be
different. Even then several Dissenters, and ministers among
them, told me that for the sake of the advantages offered by a high
school, giving a cheap avenue to the universities, they would be
disposed to send sons to it as boarders, though religious teaching
might be given and worship held in it according to the principles
and forms of the Established Church, so long as they were subject
to no individual pressure in the interest of the Church, and were
not expected to be confirmed. Others seemed to take a different
view, and while they would object to the absence of definite
doctrinal religious teaching, would equally object to submitting
their sons to teaching according to tiie doctrines of the Church.
The case of the latter might be met in some degree by facilities
for weekly boarding. Many, however, would probably prefer
a denominational school of their own, like that at Teltenhall,
which, if adequately endowed, would serve every purpose.

There is another respect, however, in which the separation
between Churchmen and Dissenters presents a very serious hin-
drance to the spread of high education among the class wbich
lies outside the landed or capitalist gentry and the " three
professions," over and above all educational defects which an im-
proved organization of schools can remedy. There is lacking in
this class the public sentiment in favour of the sort of learning
which requires many years for its attainment. It is not from the

* Where a grammar-school is regulated by a recent scheme, the rights of Dissenters
are generally protected by a conscience-clause. In the other cases -within my expe-
rience, it did not appear that the religious teaching, being tempered by the discretion of
the master, acted as a bar to Dissenters. There is a tendency now, however, in some
places to put pressure on the master of the grammar-school in the direction of a more
strict enforcement of Church of England teaching. I saw enough, especially in the
county of Bucldngham, to lead to the opinion that the protection of the Noncon-i-
fonnist conscience cannot safely be left to discretion, but needs to he systematic. ■ ,

Mr. 'Green's Report. 237

successful men of the class, as a rule, that any germination of
this sentiment can yet be looked for. Only by a special grace can
any one bred amid the keen interests, the obvious profits, the
" quick returns " of prosperous commerce, be drawn into the
devious and difficult paths \vhich lead to the knowledge that is its
own reward. Among men, however, not made to get on, — men
whose heart is with their few books, or in the Lord's house, while
they are behind the dOunter or at the clerk's desk ; — among those,
again, who, having the instinct for letters, yet spend their life in
teaching arts not " ingenuous " to the children of commerce, and
among the preachers who' deal with the intellect of men of business
at the intervals when it is open to other interests that those of the
immediate present; — here the lacking Sentiment already exists,
and only needs an open path for its development and realization.
This open path it has not found in time past, nor will it find in
the future, whatever cheapening and widening of the avenue to
the Universities may be achieved, unless that career of learning
and teaching at the endowed Universities themselves, and in the
endowed schools, which is now only open to Churchmen who
have some command of money, be also open to poor men and
Dissenters. Men of the kind described, — traders who do not love
trade and whom trade does not love, — small schoolmasters and
ministers in towns, — are always poor, and, at least as often as not, are
Dissenters. For their sons poverty in any case must make access
to Oxford and Cambridge, so long as the present artificial system
of expense is maintained there, extremely difficult ; and if they
are Dissenters, the positions in which a man of learning who is
not a popular book-maker can alone hope to provide for himself
after taking a degree — I mean the fellowships and masterships
of good schools — are as yet closed against them. Their intellec-
tual aspiration is thus necessarily thwarted or crushed. Nor is
the evil to be measured merely by the result to the individuals
immediately suffering from it. It lowers the tone of the class of
which these individuals have practically the chief spiritual direc-
tion. If an adequate prolongation of study were more possible
to the men of whom the dissenting ministers and private school
masters in towns are made, the men of business to wh^s-
wants they minister would more often conceive of such pro-
longation as possible for their sons. The class which now sends
its hopeful youth to Oxford and Cambridge would not do so to
the same extent, unless the clerical and scholastic professions were
looked to as likely employments for the young men in after-life.
But no well-to-do Dissenter ever contemplates the possibility of
his son becoming a minister or a schoolmaster, mainly for the
reason that exclusion from the old Universities has, in the case of
Dissenters, deprived these callings of half their dignity. If this
exclusion, along with that caused by the expense of the present
College system, were got rid of, the Universities would gradually
get hold of a new class of students, who, in turn, as schoolmasters
or ministers, acting on the ideas of commercial men more intimately
than the clergy of the Establishment can do, would raise their

'38

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Incompleteness
of accessible
information.

Grades of
school in re-
spect of terms.

respect for learned empoyments ; while at the same time, and by the
same process, these employments, as pursued by Dissenters, would
become " better " in the ordinary sense, and thus be more often
regarded by men of business ae offering such a career to their
more studious sons as may compensate for the continuance of their
education to the age of 23. Meanwhile Oxford and Cambridge
would gain by the multiplication of those students, from whom
alone, as a rule, sustained study can be expected, — of those who
pursue it as a definite preparation for employment as teachers or
preachers. Without such an expansion of the Universities, the
best organization of middle schools would be a body without a
spirit.

Education of Girls.

Tl)e information which I was able to obtain as to the education
of girls was less complete than I could have desired. Out of 50
private schools for girls to which I sent the questions and schedules
drawn up by the Conunissioners, only six sent answers spon-
taneously. From 19 others, by means of personal application, I
obtained a greater or less amount of information. In several cases,
however, a personal application lor information was repulsed with
more or less severity, on the ground that the inquiries made by the
Coinmissioners were " impertinent and inquisitorial.'' Of strictly
private schools I was only able to examine nine. The principals cf
some few others might probably have consented to an examination
if I had been able to call and spend an hour in negotiation, but I
spent so much time, often fruitlessly, in this way as it was, that
1 was obliged to leave some dozen schools whicb I knew of
unattempted. I examined, besides, the " Bath Row elementary
school for girls" at Birmingham — the only one of the branch
schools on King Edward's foundation that seemed to come within
the limits of inquiry prescribed to me, and also that part of jMiss
Selwyn's establishment at Sandwall Hall which falls within the
same limits.

In respect of terms charged for boarders, the schools from which
I obtained information might be divided into four classes : (a) In
the lowei", the charge for " board and instruction in English,
" grammar, history, geography, writing and arithmetic," would be
from 18 to 20 guineas a year ; French, music, singing and drawing
would be charged for as extras at the rate of 4/. 4s. a year each.
At such schools most of the elder pupils would be learning either
French or music, but few learn more than one extra subject at any-
one time, {b) In the next grade, the regular charge would be 25
guineas with the same extras at the same rate. In this grade
rather m^ore would learn extra subjects. In both the above grades,
" plain and ornamental needle work " would often be an item in
the advertisement, as included in the regular charge, and music
would be much more often learnt as an extra than French.*
(c) Next come schools of which the cost, including extras which the

* In these schools washing would generally be charged as an extra at the rate of
3?. a year.

Mr. Green's Report 239

pupils learn as a matter of course, would be from 45 to 50 guineas.
{(i) Finally comes a class of school in whicb the lowest charge
practically (including extras uniformly learnt) would be 60 guineas
a year, while most would pay 70Z. or 80?.* At Leamington are
one or two schools where the terms are higher still, but nowhere
else (I think) within the counties of Stafford and "Warwick.

Where day pupils are taken in schools of the grades (a) and
(6) the regular charge would be from four to six guineas, with
extras at the same rate as for the boarders. In schools of grade
(c) day pupils, learning extra subjects which all do learn, would
pay on an average from 12 to 16 guineas a year. In schools of
grade (d) day pupils are seldom taken at all ; where they are taken,
the minimum payment practically would be 20 guineas a year.
The additional charge for day boarding (i.e. dining) would vary
from 4/. 4s. a year in the two lower grades to 8l. 8.9. in the highest.

A great difficulty in the way of obtaining precise information as Small number
to the education of gii-ls of the middle class arises from the small found at*middle
numbers to be found in schools of any size or notoriety. At schools.
Walsall, for instance, with a population now above 40,000, I
could only ascertain the existence of two " establishments for
young ladies,'' and these had only 37 day pupils between them.
In the same town the number of boys at discoverable middle
schools is unusually small, but it is l-iO. One naturally asks,
Where are the sisters of these boys educated? To this question I
can give no satisfactory answer. It arises in all towns, except in
those watering-places that are special nests of schools for girls.
In Wolverhampton I obtained information from four schools for
girls, which had 70 day pupils between them. I could only hear Examples.
of the existence of two others, which were certainly not larger, and
would not have more than 30 day pupils between them. In the
immediate neighbourhood were middle schools with about '250
boys. The same contrast obtained at Birmingham, though I could
not state it in such precise terms. The explanation is not to be
found in the use of boarding schools, for there would only be a few
genteel families in the places in question which would send their
daughters to distant boarding schools, while in those of the neigh-
bourhood the number of boarders was relatively as small as that
of day pupils. It is to be found partly, I believe, in the use of very
small schools which do not obtain any general recognition in the
towns where they exist. Many ladies appear in the Directory as
keeping schools of whom I could hear nothing in any other way,
and in traversing the streets of Birmingham I often observed a
notice up. generally over a small shop, of a school for girls, not
mentioned even in the Directory. It is common, I believe, for a Where are the
widow, or the wife of a shopkeeper in needy circumstances, or any ^^^^ ?
woman who wishes to help herself, to set up a school to which
come half-a-d6zen daughters of tradesmen living hard by. The
brothers of these girls would probably go as day-boys either to a

* At Birmingham I am only aware of two schools of grade (d), both taking day-
scholars as well as boarders, but not having more than 60 of both sorts between
them. In the counties of Stafford and Warwick I only discovered one other school
of this grade, except those at Leamington, where are several such.

240

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Education with
girls not
necessary for
getting on.

Demand for
music.

Two classes of
girls who havt
a pecuniary
interest in
education.

grammar school or to a commercial school of some size, charging
M. a year. In other cases probably the mother herself teaches her
daughters the little (besides sewing) that they need to know, or an
elder sister is sent to school for a time and afterwards attends to
the education of the younger ones. The employment of a gover-
ness (common among the more wealthy farmers) is not, any more
than that of a visiting teacher, common among the tradesmen of
towns. Whatever the true account of the matter may be, the
fact certainly is that not a sixth part of the girls above the class
supposed to attend National and British schools, and of the
recognised age for education, are to be found in local schools of any
size or general estimation.

It is to be remembered that while boys of the commercial class
cannot get on in life unless they are able at least to write, spell,
and do accounts quickly and well, it is not generally so with their
sisters, For the latter the recognized way of getting on is to marry,
and I do not suppose that this provision for after-life is, as a general
rule, obtained less quickly or successfully for lack of completeness in
elementary knowledge. Thus in the schools of grades (a) and (b)
the uniform complaint of the principals was that sound elementary
knowledge was not cared for either by the pupils or their parents ;
that what tliey did care for was music ; that considering the time
spent on this it was very difficult to teach anything else thoroughly
to girls who (as is commonly the case) first come to school at the
age of 12, having had no real education at home, and will only stay
three years. , This statement I found to correspond with my own
observation in the few schools of the kind in question which I was
allowed to examine. In none of them was the arithmetic good
for anything, or was there any intelligence of English grammar,
history, or geography. On the other hand, the writing from
dictation, so long only as obvious words occurred, was rather
better than in corresponding private schools for boys, the expla-.
nation doubtless being that to write a correct letter in a pointed
liand on an ordinary topic is an accomplishment of recognized
importance to the girls by whom schools of this kind are fre-
quented. In most of these schools music, though charged as an
extra, is learnt by nearly three-fourths of the pupils, at one time
or another by nearly all, and takes up at least a quarter of the
school-time. French, meanwhile, is learnt by very few, and by
these, as the teachers confessed, seldom long enough to be known.

There are girls,- liowever, who suifer definitely in regard to their
prospects from these defects in elementary teaching. Such are
those who will seek employment in shops, and those (whose case is
far worse) who will have themselves to live by teaching. Of the
former, in such a town as Birmingham, there are considerable
numbers, but they are not, I think, generally in a position to use
even the cheapest of the schools that I am speaking of. In only
one such school did I hear of arithmetical knowledge being in
practical demand, and there it was in demand not so much for the
use of spinsters in shops, as for the use of the wives and daughters
of men engaged in the jewelry business, or in some of the other
Birmingham crafts pursued by small masters, who often get no

Mr. GreerCs Report. 241

help from outside their own families. The young women employed
in shops are of the class which hovers between the National school
and the cheap " young ladies' school," but I suspect they more
often use the former. For them such institutions as the elementary
schools for girls on King Edward's foundation at Birmingham are
eminently useful, and they are even more so for those who are
destined themselves to become teachers, whose general want of
adequate training is the most striking and most easily remediable
evil that came under my notice in the matter of the education of
women.

At present the persons engaged in the conduct of private Training of
schools for girls are of three kinds : (1.) ladies not trained to the *^^'='*®''^-
business, who have taken to it under the pressure of circumstances
not anticipated in youth, which require them to earn their own
living ; (2.) ladies who have been trained to the work, but in the
way of serving as " articled pupils " in schools ; (3.) the native
rrench and German teachers. The principals of schools are
tgenerally of the first kind, the English teachers of the second.
The latter, I fear, seldom save even the amount of money neces-
sary to start a school of their own. For a girl who in early life has
the prospect before her of earning her own bread, and proposes to
do so as a teacher, there is generally no other mode of qualifying
herself available than that of being apprenticed in a school.
According to common usage she would be articled at the^ age of Apprenticing
14 or 15, and after three years would seek a situation either as ^y^*^™-
governess in a family or assistant in a schooL The " articled pupil "
when she begins her apprenticeship can hardly help being ignorant.
Her best chance has probably been to attend a good National
school, but this (as the daughter of a respectable farnaer or trades-
man who has not succeeded or has died early) she may on social
grounds have been unwilling to do. During her apprenticeship
•she has little chance of improving herself ■ She is used as the
drudge of the school, and has her time wholly taken up with
minding the little girls and teaching them' to write and spell. As
ihe mistress is probably not herself regularly trained and maintains
no good system in the school (I am speaking of schools of grades -

a and &) the appreritice has no chance of learning anything by
example. When her time is up she is glad of a salary of 15/. or 20/.
a year, which she earns in carrying on the hopeless system . to
which she has been bred at another similar school, or in preparing
a farmer's daughter to be sent ignorant to a boarding school at the
age of 14. The evil thus perpetuates itself. An unmethodical its results,
system requires a large number of teachers, and any quantity of
unmethodical teachers are to be had. The principals having this
supply at command,. do not insist on higher terms from parents,
nor will the latter (though in the towns I have mentioned they
<:ould well afford it) pay at a higher rate for their daughters at
schools while they can get governesses for them at home so
•cheaply. So the system of wasteful cheapness is maintained,
and the self-acting process of supply and demand has no power
to change it. Schools that now charge 201. may come to charge

242

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Grammar
schools for
girls wanted.

Beneficence of
" Bath Eow
School " at
Birmingham.

407. and to employ a native French teacher Instead of an English
drudge, but others will take their place at the lower rate and do
the old work. Meanwhile the poor girls who want training as
teachers will be no more able to get into the better schools
than they are at present, and those that alone are open to them
will have become even more unmixedly bad than they are at present.

The education of boys in England has only been saved from the
abyss of triviality and vulgarity by the application, however
clumsy, of endowments. In other countries the same purpose has
been served, perhaps better, by appropriations from the revenues
of the state. For girls the same salvation can only be obtained
in the same way. In their case, however, a much smaller sum
would suffice than in that of boys, partly from the nature of the
case, partly because, the application being made " de novo," there
would be no vested interests to take account of. What is wanted
is the establishment on the outskirts of every considerable town of
a school which should do for girls what a well organized grammar
school does for boys ; that is, one which should take day-pupils
at the rate of about 4Z. a year and should be able, in virtue of
endowment, subscriptions, or Government grant, to give them a
sound training in English and arithmetic, in at least one
modern language, and either in music or drawing, at the same
terms for which a nominal training in English and arithmetic with
a power of fingering a piano is now imparted In the schools of
grades {a) and (h). Such a school of course would not attract the
sort of girls who are now sent to boarding schools at Brighton or
Kensington, but it might attract the best of those who now go to
the cheap private schools, as well as the daughters of the
poorer professional men, who have now often much difficulty in
obtaining suitable education. It would not do its work fully
unless it took a certain number of girls free. Only thus would it
enable those whom early poverty compels to contemplate the
employment of teachers from the beginning, to exempt tliemselves
from the " articled pupil " system, and stay at school till the age
of 18.

An instance of what may be achieved in the way of English
education for girls by the good organization, which an endowment
makes it possible to maintain, is affijrded by the " Bath Row
Elementary School " at Birmingham. The elementary schools on
King Edward's foundation for girls, as for boys, have not hitherto
generally attempted an education superior in kind to that given in
a National school. In the one mentioned, however, I found an
upper class of 25 girls, who had reached a distinctly higher level.
In what is ordinarily understood by " English education " they
M'ere, for their age, better than the best in the " boarding schools
for young ladies " that I examined, and they had a sound elemen-
mentary knowledge of French besides. In arithmetic they were
simply perfect. _ In less than an hour I saw them do 18 sums in
fractions, practice, interest, proportion, decimals, and duodeci-
mals ; most of them got all the sums right, and the rest had very
few mistakes. They did very well in the " analysis " of the first

Mr. Greens Report. 243

book of the Paradise Lost and would bear pressing in it. The Account of it.
outline of Enjjlish history they knew thoroughly, and of the
other history they were not ignorant : some of them could tell me
me a good deal, for instance, about the 30 years' war. They
answered as well as could be wished in geography ; French they
had not begun long, and had learnt quite as a supplementary-
thing. But most of them could translate Voltaire's Charles XIL
correctly, and they had a sound knowledge of the grammar. Mr.
Evans, the head-master of King Edward's school, to whom, as
well as to the mistresses of the Bath itow school, much credit is
due for the high standard attained, was making some arrange-
ment when 1 was there to secure a weekly lesson, chiefly in
pronunciation, for these girls from the French master of the
grammar school. The best in the class were the five monitors,*
all of whom, I understood, intended to take to teaching as a pro-
fession. To qualify themselves better for this, some of them had
taken evening lessons in drawing at the School of Art ; f some also
had learnt music out of school ; neither music nor drawing being
taught in the school. Except the monitors, none of them were
over 14, and unless they became monitors and intended perma-
nently to take to teaching, it was not expected that any would
stay much beyond this age. There were several under 14 who,
if they would continue their education another three years,
would become (so far as one could anticipate) as well qualified for
teachers as possible. The lady who chiefly taught them, and cer-
tainly taught them admirably, had herself been bred in the
school. The cost of teaching power for tlie whole school is only
about 200^. a year, and more than half of this must be reckoned
as spent on the elementary teaching of the girls (more than 100)
below the upper 25. In an ordinary private school of grade (a)
or (6) 200A a year would be the cost of educating 25 " young
ladies."t That is, while for the given sum in these latter schools
25 girls all learn " English " and arithmetic badly, most of them
music badly, and a few French badly, in the Bath Bow school
the same number all learn " English " and arithmetic well, most
learn French well, and a few drawing well, while at the same
time 100 others learn well to read, write, sum, and sew.

This result is admirable as far as it goes, and the governors of What else is
King Edward's school could not, I conceive, find a better appli- ^'^"^"^ ^' ^"^"
cation for their growing income than to the purpose of extending °
to more girls, and those of a somewhat higher rank socially, the
benefits now enjoyed by the 25 that I have described. The
manners of these (so far as I could presume to judge) were per-
fectly ladylike, but they were of comparatively humble origin,
being mostly daughters of small tradesmen or superior artisans,

* These earn a small salary.

t In such a school the charge for day pupils in English would he four guineas a
year, and on an average — at least in grade (4) — each girl would learn one extra at
the same charge.

% To enable them to do this, a payment is made to the School of Art out of the
income of the charity.

244 Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

and might be objected to by the principals of the higher grades of
boarding school (who perhaps affect hyper-criticism in the matter)
as not °' presentable." A " grammar school " for girls of the
kind described above would supply tiie deficiency. At Birming-
ham it might be maintained at a really high level. King Edward's
school and the School of Art would furnish it with excellent
visiting masters for modern languages and drawing, and the
former, if certain changes that I have ventured to suggest (pp. 132
and 140) were adopted, might further supply lectures on history,
literature, and science. Charging 4/. or 6/. a year, without extras,
for ordinary pupils, it might take the best girls from the elementary
schools free, or with exhibitions which should represent what the
older pupils now earn as monitors. These elementary schools
should, if possible, all be raised to the level of that in Bath B.ow.
In the case of that in the Parade, there should be no difficulty
about this. With the other two, situate in what are reckoned
low parts of the town, the case might be somewhat different.
Meanwhile, as I have already suggested (pp. 109 & IIV), the
establishment of new ones, further from the centre of the town
would be most desirable.

i Of the practicability of establishing for girls such a high school
with feeders, considering the resources at the command, or soon to
be- at tb e command, of the governors of King Edward's school, there
can be no doubt. A consideration (1) of the felt demand for it ; (2)
ofrthe possibility of similar or affiliated schools being set up else-
where ; (3) of its probable results^ especially if its operation were
thus extended, will bring together the few further observations I
have tomake on thisipart of my subject. The whole question is so
new, not ionly to the general public but to those engaged in the
edilcation of girls, so far as it was my fortune. to meet them, that
few precise facts or ascertainable opinions can be recorded upon it.
Felt demand for (l.^ .Bi the demand, as felt, the first element to be noticed is
such schools : thsidifficulty experienced by girls, who mean to be become teachers,
, . , in qualifying themselves for situations that yield decent salaries,

to teach • O^ the unfortunate position of such girls I have already said

enough. Likcf other ill-used classes they have probably no
general conception of the vyay out of their troubles, but the more
clever and ambitious of them distinctly desire better training and
means of getting on. This is sliown at Birmingham by the large
attendance of girls, mostly of this sort, at the evening lessons in
modern languages (and even, to a less extent, in English history
and- literature) given at the Midland Institute. What the
Midland Institute does more or less accidentally and exceptionally,
a high school would do systematically and generally.
by principals The next element is the present difficulty experienced by the prin-
of schools ; cipals of private schools in obtaining satisfactory English teachersj_
though the standard of satisfaction is not high. As to this difficulty,
I found (with, I think,. one exception) uniform testimony. For a
vacant English teachership, I was told, many applications were
generally received from persons who could not even spell. These
of course, would often be women unexpectedly thrown on their own

Mr. Green's Report. 245

resources, and for neither the distress nor the incompetence of
such can any remedy be devised. It is to be remembered too
that the badness of the applicants is partly due to the smallness of
the salaries, which again is due to the combination cf a system,
that requires a ridiculous number of teachers for a given i>umber
■of pupils, with stinginess as regards payment for education on
the part of commercial parents. The relation, however, of the
badness of the teachers to the scantiness of their pay, and of this
scantiness to the combination mentioned, is not one of consequent
and antecedent, but of reciprocal action. The better training of
the teachers is a coordinate though not the sole condition of thc;
improvement of their position. As it is, besides the unhappy
apprentices grown into journey-women, whose lot I have described,
the only English teachers who have learnt their business are those
from the Government training colleges, and those trained at
Scotch institutions. The former are complained of by the prin-
cipals — I know not with what justice — as defective in manners.
The latter were certainly the best that I met with or heard of.
The complaint of the principals about them is that they are too
much used to teaching or being taught in large classes — a com-
plaint which I take to indicate that they have better notions of
organization than the principals themselves.

Among the commercial classes, so far as I could see and hear, among com-
the demand for a sounder education than is now to be, had for ™^'^<='*1 '^l^^ »
girls is not yet of a pronounced and definite kind. If it were,
there would be less need than there is for the application to the
purpose of endowments or public money. In regard to girls even
more than to boys it is true that the supply, of education must;
precede and create a general derhand. , With the people in ques-
tion,, marriage, as a rule, is early, and not more is expected of a
wife, I think, than tha.t she should be able to write a correct note,
to keep simple accounts, and to. display some,;":aeco.mplishmenJ; "
at an evening party. It is not yet a recognized idea that she
should be able in any stage ordegree to direct the intellectual eduy
«alion of her children.* At Birmingham, however, I found several
men of business strongly impressed with (he need of improvement,
and I believe that if the governors of the Grammar School cared
to invite subscriptions in aid of a grant from endowment for the- pro-
motion on any well-considered plan of the middle or higher educa-
tion of girls, they might easily get them. From a single person that
I know of a considerable sum might be expected. Those, however,
who most strongly feel the practical need of an education for their
daughters at once cheap and good are the poorer professional men,
especially the ministers of religion. The sons of a poor clergyman among profes.
have at least a good chance of obtaining as high an educfition as sional men.
those of the rich and noble, but it is not so with the daughters.
If their parents are at leisure, they may learn much in the best
way from them, but a clergyman in a large town has presumably

* On the bearing of this upon the condition of grammar schools see above, pp.
'Ji9 and 169. .

246

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

no leisure, and his wife very little. It is mainly to meet this
want, and to do so after a more liberal method than_ is sup-

posed to obtain at professed " Clergy Daughters' Schools,"
that Miss Selwyn has engrafted a school for girls of the middle
rank on her establishment at Sandwell Hall. This school is very
useful in its way, but is necessarily on a limited scale, involves
no guarantee of permanence, and does not tend, as the institution
suggested would, spontaneously to propagate its influence. On
the whole, there can be no doubt that a High School for girls at
Birmingham, well placed, would at once find in the daughters of a
large class of professional men, a constituency of the most pro-
Difficulties, raising kind. The objections that would be felt to its use would
rest on its want of selectness, on the approach to it through a
greater or less length of busy streets, and on the strictness of the
system which it ought to maintain. The mixture of classes in it
would be a fatal objection to those by whom £2;ood manners are at
once greatly prized and have to be learnt. Those, however, who
set less store by them, or with whom tliey are natural or here-
ditary, would not feel the difficulty, for if good manners were not
acquired in the High School, they certainly need not be lost in it.
On the system that I have suggested, it would be practically much
more select than the grammar school now is, and those would
not object to use it for their daughters who now do not object to
use the grammar school or the proprietary school for their sons.
The difficulties of approach to it could not be thoroughly overcome.
If situate at Edgbaston, however, near the Five Ways, it would
be easily available as a day school for two-thirds of those for whose
use it would be intended, and for most of the others if facilities
were given for day-boarding, as seemed generally to be the case
m the private schools of the same neighbourhood. It is to be
remembered that, if a proper affiliation of elementary schools
to it were established, it would not receive its pupils till the
age of 14. For the present, strictness of system would pre-
vent the popularity of the school with a large class of parents.
From all the principals of schools for girls with whom I conversed
I heard the complaint that they were obliged to take pupils of
all ages and all degrees of ignorance, and to make all kinds of ex-
ceptions as to subjects and hours of instruction. It is their impo-
tence to resist the weakness of pupils and parents in these matters
that calls for the establishment of a school, independent because
endowed, which in time would raise the conception of education
in the commercial class ta a level where regularity of system
would be appreciated.
Means of esta- (2) The means for establishing such a high school at Birming-
bUsHing gram- jjam are certainly of a kind that do not exist at present in any
^Ig_ other place with which I became acquainted. The necessary

conditions are (a) the command of a certain amount of money,
whether from endowment or any other source, over and above
the payment received from pupils. (6) Such supervision from
without, as will prevent the sacrifice of educational order to parental
laxity, (c) a supply of trained teachers having some conception of

Mr. GreerCs Report. '247

organization and of a general public system. The conditions (a) and
(h) are not likely to be at present fulfilled, but if High Schools
for boys were established, as I have elsewhere suggested, a con-
siderable step would be taken towards their fulfilment. It might
then be possible, without endowment, to establish corresponding
schools for girls, which should have some share in the teaching
power of the High Schools, and be under the supervision of their
head masters. Let us suppose such a school to have 40 pupils,
paying 6Z. a year, and eight others free. If occasional but regular
lessons were given in history, arithmetic, and modern languages,
by the masters of the High School for boys,* and if the pupils were
all above 14, and sifted by an entrance examination, I believe that
two qualified teachers would be enough to conduct the ordinary
lessons in English, French, and German of 48 girls. Supposing a
residence to be provided, 240/. a year(150Z. and 90/.) would afford
sufficient payment for the teachers. Music and drawing would have
to be extras, but where there is a School of Art drawing may be
taught cheaply ,f and a master in music might be shared by girls
and boys at a rate which would not add much to the expenses of
the former. Meanwhile, the direction of the head master of the
High School, and occasional examination by him, might secure
the general organization and the maintenance of the severer
studies. It has been the supervision of the head master of the
grammar school at Birmingham over the elementary schools that,
in default of other inspection, has kept these up to the mark. J

On this plan the High School for girls, if once a building with Number of
residences were provided, would be self-supporting, except so far teachers
as it received lessons from the masters of the school for boys. The °^^
most obvious objection to the plan is that two ordinary teachers
would not be enough for 48 girls. At present, in schools where
Trench and music are generally learnt, the principals reckon that
one teacher is wanted to every seven girls. This, in fact, in
schools above grade (a) is about the number actually in use, and
nothing is more certain than that, so long as the quantity of
teachers is so great, the quality, except in the most expensive
schools, must be bad. The present requirement of such a number Wastefiilness
is due, so far as I could ascertain, to the variety of age and attain- "^stpm^"*
ment in the pupils, to the number of subjects of which some
teaching has to be squezed into a very short period, to the arbi-
trary exceptions allowed, and to the way in which music is taught.
It is common in a school of 25 girls to find the ages varying from
8 to 17. Perhaps half of these will be girls who come about the

* In two or three of the private schools for girls at Birmingham arithmetic is
taught (according to private agreement) hy a master fi'om the Grammar School. In
the only one of these that I examined the arithmetic was exceptionally good. In
another I noticed the good result of German having heen taught by a master from
the Grammar School, and in another that of French having been taught by a master
from the Proprietary School.

f The School of Art at Stoke might be useful to a school for girls, attached to
that for boys which I have proposed at Newcastle-under Lyne. The School of Art
at Wolverhampton has been shut up. The only other one in my district (except
that at Birmingham) is at Coventry.

X See Note C.

system.

24.8

Counties of Stafford- and Warwick,

age of 9 and stay till 12, going onto some other school; and the
other half girls who come about 13 and stay till 16. Of the latter
Eeasonsforit. many come very ignorant, while those who have learnt soinething
have not learnt it according to the mode in use in the school to
which they come. Some know a little French, but are very-
backward in " English ; " others are pretty good in arithmetic,
but know no French; The effect of this diversity is aggravated
by the iiumber of subjects attempted. " English," Latin, and a
little Euclid are as much as can be taught with effect to ordinary
boys who leave grammar schopls at 16, but while the strictly
intellectual studies of girls in a corresponding position are aa
various and (if really pursued) as difficult, a minimum of six
hours a week — an average of 9 hours — has to be found in addition
for music. These hours are spent in " practising " on the piano,
and as the best supplied establishments have only one piano to half-
a-dozen girls, the music lessons have to be taken in detachments.
It follows that the school time must be broken into half-hours, and
the natural classes info minute sub-divisions, in order to keep the
pianos at work and yet not overcrowded.* If to this general con-
fusion be added a general want of real training on the part of the
teachers, which enslaves them to bad manuals and makes them in-
capable of teaching a class instead of hearing lessons, there will be
enough to account for a system so wasteful of teaching power as
that "now in vogue.

From the wenknesses on which this system depends the pro-
posed High School should be able to save itself. It would have
to fix a uniform age of admission, and establish an entrance ex-
amination. This, to begin with, would do much to simplify classi-
fication. Then it would have to fix a definite course of instruc-
tion, not too full, and refuse to allow exceptions. Out of the
musical difiiculty I confess that I cannot suggest a way of escape,
but a practical teacher, trained to organization, would doubtless
soon find one. In this, as in other respects, the effectiveness of
the scheme would depend on the fulfilment of condition (c), as
stated above, and this for the district in question might be achieved
at once by such an institution as King Edward's Charity at Bir-
mingham has the means of establishing.

As the great High School for girls at Birmingham, if it existed,
would facilitate the establishment of others by supplying trained
teachers, so if once High Schools generally were set on foot, some
kind of adjustment, if not affiliation, of private schools to them
would gradually come about through the infiltration Into the latter
of teachers bred in the High Schools, and in the notions of sys-
tem and public responsibility which they would foster. The
usual absence of any such notions at present among those who
have the charge of private schools for girls is most notable and
distressing. This appears specially in their horror of examinations^
Only five mistresses, of those that I communicated with, pro-

Effect of pro-
posed schools
on others.

» The school at which I found the best general education was a small one for
daughters of Friends, at which no music was taught. I understood, however, that
even among Friends the demand for instruction in music was becoming general.

Mr. Greens' -Re-port. 249

nounced in favour of an independent examination of their schools.
' The rest on various grounds were against it, aSj I presume, were
those who refused to hold any communication with me. The
grounds alleged were sometimes that responsibility was owed only
to the parents of the pupils in the school, sometimes that an examina-
tion would be no test of the real proficiency of the pupils. Some-
tim.es a plain confession was made that, while owing to the ignorance
of the pupils, to the shortness of their stay at school and the number
of subjects to be taught, very little was really learnt, a public report
to that effect would be very damaging. It was evident that most
of the principals had no conception of what a system of examina-
tion by recognized authorities would be like, but were fearful of
any test of the existing routine, while others were conscious of
being victimized by a state of things which they were powerless
to change. The extension of the " local examinations " by the uni-
versities to girls will probably be productive of much good, as at
once enabling competent assistant-teachers to distinguish them-
selves from incompetent,* bringing home the idea of public
recognition to the principals, and enabling the best of these to
take a higher tone with parents. The principal of a sound and
honest school at AVolverhampton told me that when it was an-
nounced that the University of Cambridge would hold an
examination there she tried to form a class especially to prepare
for it, but that her day pupil?, their parents being careless and On opinion of
indulgent, -would not stand the necessary pressure. This is but pa^'^^i'ts.
one symptom of a general slackness of domestic interest in educa-
tion, which, mischievous enough in the case of boys, is unqualified
in the case of girls by any practical necessity of mental effort, and
sanctioned by the doctrine that competition in learning is bad for
them, a doctrine which the good people who hold it would, per-
haps, modify if they remembered that competition in learning is
practically the only set-ol? to competition in frivolities. It will
be but slowly and partially that the "local examinations" — which, "Local exami-
it muist be borne in mind, as yet furnish the only intellectual nations."
decoration open to fchool-girls — will tell upon the present slack-
ness, but in some degree theyundoubtedly will do so, and just so
far will enable the better schoolmistresses to be more exacting in
their system. But for the purpose both of supplying teachers with
the will and faculty to be thus exacting, and of enabling them to
give efi'ect to their will and faculty, the institution of endowed
high schools, carrying -prestige and maintaining a standard which
the private schools with or without their good-will would have to
emulate, would be far more powerful.

(S.) The good results to be expected from the realization of the

scheme here shadowed forth have been mostly stated by anticipa-
tion in the review of present needs. It would operate both directly
and by example. The High School, paying its own teachers
liberally and teaching its own pupils thoroughly, would raise the

* They might do this in the " examination for seniors," -which, if the limit of age
-were the same as in that for boys, would catch them just at the age -when they gene-
rally begin to serve as teachers.

•250

Counties of Stafford and Warwick.

Effect on more

expensive

schools.

Faults in best
of these.

general conception of what payment and teaching should be. At
the same time it would supply a race of qualified teachers who
would at once improve the style of education in the private schools
and i-aise the rate of remuneration, without additional cost to the
parents, by showing practically that on a good system girls can
be better taught with fewer hands than at present. It would
further gradually create that higher public sentiment with regard
to the intellectual training of women, which in turn would enable
it to enlarge its operation in ways not yet distinctly visible.
Its influence would be first felt in the education of girls,
for whom the schools of grade (d) are too expensive. But
those who resort to the more costly schools would gradually
feel its benefit in the improvement of their teachers. In the
only schools of this kind that I was allowed to examine the
education in many respects seemed very satisfactory. Among
the older pupils in them I found some real intelligence of English
authors and of the principles of correct expression in English, and
in particular some real knowledge of history, which made the
absence of such intelligence and knowledge in the cheaper schools
the more painful,* for it appeared that only those born to educa-
tion had a chance of obtaining it. The chief defect that struck
me (apart from general badness of arithmetic, which in girls bom
in a certain amount of wealth is perhaps inevitable) was the loose-
ness of the way in which they translated French. To any one
drilled in grammatical accuracy according to the received methods
of classical schools this was very vexatious, and would seem to
destroy the educational value of the study. It is due, I think, to
the fact that French is learnt to a great extent conversationally,
and from foreign teachers whose knowledge of English is not very
precise. Thus girls who can speak French fluently and give a
free paraphrase in English of a passage from a French book are
not able to analyse an involved construction or gi^^e its exact
equivalent in English. The teaching of modern languages by
persons who had themselves been trained, as they might be in a
High School, under a real scholar, would probably tend to remedy
this defect. A thoroughly educated foreigner having a scholar-
like knowledge of English (such a one as a High School for girls
at Birmingham might have at command) can no doubt teach his
own language better than any one else; but where instruction
from such a master cannot be obtained, or only obtained at inter-
vals, I believe that for educational purposes, both to boys and
girls, modern languages may best be taught by a properly-taught
Englishman or Englishwoman. That the teaching of " English " or

* I noticed no essential difference in these respects between schools of grades (c)
and (d), but a marked one between the two more expensive grades on the one hand
and the two cheaper ones on the other.

The small extent to which German was learnt surprised me. Even in schools of
grade (rf), and among the older pupils it was only learnt exceptionally, and by those
who did learn it not at all thoroughly. Below grade (e) it is not learnt at all. In
one school of grade (c) I found two pupils who knew more of it than any that I
found elsewhere.

Mr. GreerCs Report. 251

Latin on the one hand and of modern languages on the other to
the same set of boys or girls should be wholly in different hands
is itself a great evil.

The principals of several schools of grade (d) objected to any State of most
examination of their pupils being made. They did so often ex- °tg*^^es^°^
plicitly on the ground that owing to the indifference to real educa-
tion on the part both of the pupils and the parents, and to the
time absorbed by " accomplishments," it was impossible to produce
a satisfactory result. It cannot be too strongly urged that so
long as girls are sent to school for three years at the age of 14
without having previously received any solid education or having
been ever accustomed or expected to make any intellectual effort,
and then give 12 hours a week to music and singing,* neither real
knowledge nor the faculty of obtaining it can be imparted. This
is now the common case. For its remedy not so much sounder
teaching as a sounder opinion is needed. That girls should
learn to play and sing, and still more to draw, is most desir-
able, but at present they learn these things, in deference to a
false conventionality, as a matter of course, without reference to
individual capacity and (so I was assured by the teachers them-
selves) in the most superficial way.j With a healthier senti-
ment among parents on such subjects and a better educational
system a higher aesthetic result might, it is to be hoped, be
obtained at a less cost of time.

I have the honour to be.

My Lords and Gentlemen,

Your obedient servant,

T. H. Green.

* The inroad on other studies which this implies is not to he measured merely
hy the actual time lost. The music-lesson, constantly coming as an interruption to
other lessons, keeps the pupil in constant distraction.

t I was told (1) that the music of the great masters was very little practised ; (2)
that the teaching of drawing-masters from the Schools of Art was very unpopular
with girls, and little used, hecause they spent much time ou the elements, particu-
larly on geometrical drawing, and did not quickly help the pupil to make up showy
sketches.

252 Mr. Green's Report. — Appendix.

APPENDIX,

NOTE A., p. 110.

The statement that " with the present low standard of middle education, 6 in
1,000 is a fair proportion to expect to be in attendance at middle schools," is the
result of questions put to those most likely to know, wherever I went, as to the
number to be expected at a good grammar school, if such existed. By those who
might be- expected to be at middle schools I mean those whose parents would be
definitely above sending them to a National school, and would not be definitely
above sending them to a good local grammar school, if such existed. In the
estimate, however, of those in attendance at middle schools in Birmingham I
have included the boys at the elementary schools on King Edward's founda^
tion, whose parents for the most part would not be definitely above sending
them to a national scliool. As a matter of fact the brothers and sisters of boys
at these elementary schools are constantly sent to National or British schools.

Excluding for the present the class of boys resorting to the " elementary
schools," there is some statistical ground for saying that at Birmingham six
boys to every 1,000 inhabitants should be at the grammar school or some cor-
responding school. According to a return from the Poor Law Board, pre-
sented to Parliament in March 1861, it appears that the number of male persons
in Birmingham who were charged to any of the assessed taxes or to the income
tax under schedule (B.) and (D.) respectively for the year 1859-60, and who alsa
were assessed to the poors' rate upon a gross rental of 20L and upwards, was
6,456. These persons were presumably householders, and of a position in life
to be above the use of a national school. To them must be added widows of
the same rank in life, who may be fairly taken as raising the number to 6,090,
It appears further from the census of 1861 that there was at Birmingham about
one boy over the age of 9 and under 16 to every three houses. Thus for the
6,090 householders of the rank specified there should be 2,030 boys of the age
specified. At the time the return was made the popidation of the borough of
Birmingham was probably 290,000. Supposing aU the 2,030 boys to be of a
kind to go to a " middle school " in the place, that woidd give 7 to the 1,000.
A deduction, however, should be made for those who, under any circumstances,
would be sent to a boarding school away from home.

I have some doubts about the above estimate. In the first place I cannot
make out for certain whether the parliamentary returns gives the numbers for
the borough or for the parish of Birmingham — a question which seriously
affects the proportion ; secondly, the number of male persons in Birmingham
according to the return charged to assessed taxes or income tax under schedules
(B.) and (D.), but not "occupiers of tenements rated to poors rate" at all is
4,356, a number quite out of proportion to that which is returned in other cases.

Taking the above return as a test on the principles stated, the boys at
middle schools at Lichfield should be 10, at Stafford 10, at Stoke 4, at
"Walsall 6, at Wolverhampton 4i, at Coventry 6^, to the 1,000, without
allowance for widows.

It is obvious, however, that the standard here taken overleaps a large number,
especially in the populous towns, who might be drawn to middle schools.
This number might be ascertained roughly by a return of the number of houses
rented at over 15Z. a year, but such a return I do not possess. In Birmingham,
however, the number may be learnt proximately from the Government electoral
returns of last year. The number of male occupiers in the borough of
Birmingham at 10?. and upwards is given as 19,062. It appears incidentally
that in the parish of Birmingham 3,252 voters were occupiers of tenements
from lOl. to 15?. gross estimated rental. Nothing is said about Aston or
Edgbaston, but supposing the proportion to be the same there, and making
allowance for the difference between 101. occupiers and voters, there should be

Mr. GreerCs Report. — Appendix. 253

about 13,000 male occupiers above \bl. rental. To these, without taking
account of sons of widows, there should be 4,500 boys between 9 and 16. To
take the age from 7 to 14 would make little difference. Supposing the
population of the borough of Birmingham to have been 330,000 in 1866, this
would give a proportion of more than 13i to the 1,000 for those who might be
at the grammar school or its feeders.

NOTE B., p. 213.
On this question I have only to say (a) that the only case I have met with
where boys were transferred systematically from the National or British school
to a grammar school was that of the Bridge Trust School at Haudsworth.
There a certain number are every year admitted freely by competition from the
schools for the poor. The trustees fix the number at their discretion, so long
as there be not more than 30 such boys in the school at any one time. When
I was there, the practice had been to admit two free boys in this way each year.
The master considered that he could fitly absorb about one such boy to every
20. (b) That in other cases where boys had been transferred from a national
school to a grammar school, the experiment did not seem to have succeeded
very well. The reason for its failure was generally the same as that for which
a transfer from the lower to the upper department of a grammar school is
generally a failure (see p. 100). It had been made too late. The system of
the grammar school supposes that an average boy at 13 or 14 knows some
Latin but is still imperfect in arithmetic ; the advanced boy from the national
school, on the other hand, at that age (which is the age at which he generally
makes the transfer in question) is perfect in arithmetic but knows no Latin ; in
consequence he cannot adjust himself to the system of the grammar school and
gains little from it. If the grammar school maintained a severe entrance
examination for all boys in elementary knowledge, through which the best boys
from the national school under a certain age might gain free admission to it,
the case would be different. These latter would be caught younger, while the
ordinary boys at the grammar school would get their arithmetic over at an
earlier age.

NOTE C, p. 247. (Education of Girls.)

At Loughborough an upper school for girls has been established on Burton's
foundation according to the scheme of 1849 (clauses 26 and ff). The fee
paid in it is 15s. a quarter. The instruction in it by the scheme is to consist
of "reading, writing, arithmetic, EngUsh grammar, geography, biography,
" history, singing, and needle-work, and such other branches of education as
" the trustees, with the advice and assistance of the head-mistress shall
"' direct." Every girl also is to learn "to mend and make up her own
" clothes." This school, it must be confessed, has not been a success. As it
was not in my special district, and my time at Loughborough was limited, I
made no minute inquiry about it, but I understood that, while it was very well
conducted, the number of girls in it had within a few years declined from
60 to 18. The reasons assigned for this were (1) that parents who were
ambitious of gentility objected to its want of selectness, (2) that others —
such as would use the private schools which I have described as grades (a) and
(S) — disliked it on account of the thoroughness of its English system, and
omission to teach " the piano," (3) that a lower class still were satisfied with a
national school, or with no regular schooling at all. In short, I suppose the only-
girls whom it would suit would be those intending to become teachers. This
is not encouraging, but it must be remembered that Loughborough is not a
favourable place for trying such an experiment. To the success of such a
school it would be necessary, I think, that the fee should be rather higher
than SI. a year, while at the same time several picked girls should be admitted
free, and that the girls should be taught to play on the piano.

T 2

255

SCHOOLS BTQUIRY COMMISSION.

REPORT

J. L. HAMMOND, ESQ.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Page

INTRODUCTORY 261

(I.) EDUCATION OF BOYS 263

1. NORTHUMBERLAND WITH GATESHEAD]:

SCBOOI.S rURXriSKIIffG IVIAT&RIAI.S FOR INqVIRV.

(a) Endowed Schools - ... 263

(6) Proprietary Schools .... 266

Commission .... - 268

Number of schedules of inquiry delivered - - 269

Number of schools inspected ... 269

Objections to the inquiry ... - 2/0

General Summary of all Schools inspected - 272

genera! description of education in northxmi-

BERIiAND.

Adb AT^WHiQH Boys LEAVE School - - - 273

Classification of Schools . - - . 274

(a) "Working men's schools .... 274

(i) Town schools,
(ii) Rural schools.

(S) Tradesmen's schools ... 276

(i) Writing schools,
(ii) English schools. ~

Peculiarities of Northumberland Schools - 277

Mixture of classes ...... 277

Mixture of sexes ..... 277

Day school system - - - - . 279

Its effects on the supply of scholars - - 281

Accessories and indirect iniluences of schools - 283

Distribution and Locality of Schools - - 284

(A) Rural districts - - - - - 284

(B) Towns and larger villages .... 286
(a) Newcastle - . - - 286
{b) Gateshead - ... 288

(d) Berwick - . . - 290

(e) Morpeth - . - - 292
(/) Alnwick - - - 293
(g) Hexham - - - 296
(h) Blyth ... - - 297
(i) Smaller town and villages ... 298

Allendale, Belford, Wooler, Stamfordham,
Haltwhistle, Ponteland, Bellingham, Roth-
bury, Haydon Bridge.
Schoolmasters, their Social Position and

Qualificatons ..... 300

Graduates and certificated masters ... 300

Commercial schoolmasters .... 300

Adventurers in rural districts ... 302

Proprietors of inferior town schools - - . 304

School Buildings ..... 304

School Assistants .... - 306

Their rates of payment .... 307

Price of Education ..... 307

Day scholars ..... 307

(i) Weekly schools,
(ii) Tradesmen's schools,
(iii) Commercial and professional schools.

Table of Contents. 25t

Page
Boarders --.... 309

Boarding House Accommodation - - - 309

p1.aygr011nds ------ 310

Moral Tone AND Discipline - - - 311

Corporal punishment ... - 313

Difficulties experienced by Schoolmasters . 315

Irregularity of attendance - - . - 315

IndSference and interference of parents - - 316

Want of sufficient teaching power - - . 316

Special difficulties - . - - -316

Prizes, Exhibitions, &c. - - . . 317

Examinations - - - . - - 318

Newcastle Grammar School examination - - 318

Views of schoolmasters respecting examinations - 319

Examination of endowed schools - '- - 321

Vacations and Half Holidays - - - 321

2. NORFOLK (WITH BECCLES AND BUNGAT SCHOOLS AND
FRAMLINGHAM COLLEGE) :

SCHOOLS FITRHISHHTG nEAXERXAIiS FOR INf^VIRV.

(a) Endowed Schools - - - - 323

{b\ Proprietary Schools - - - . . 328

Number of schedules of inquiry delivered - - 329

Number of returns received - - 330

Specimens of all kinds of schools inspected - - 330

Objections to the inquiry - . - - 332

General Summary of all Schools inspected - 333

CENERAIi DESCRIPTIOir OF EDVCATIOIT IN BfORFOZiK.

Age at which Boys leave School ... 338

Class Schools ...... 340

Recent Changes and Improvements in Local

Schools ... - - 342

PnESENT Educational Machinery - - - 346

Early Home teaching .... 346

Boarding School System - - 348

Playgrounds . - . . . 352
Miscellaneous Particulars relating to Schools

and Schoolmasters ... 353

Schoolmasters, their Social Position and

Qualifications . . - . - 354

Graduates and certificated masters - - . 354

Commercial schoolmasters - - 355

Registration .... 355

School advertising AND School Agencies - 356

Distribution and Locality of Schools - 358

(a) County towns ... - - 358

\h) Norwich ----- 360

(rf) King's Lynn - - - - - 362

Number of Schools in Norfolk - - - 362

Classification of Schools . - - - 363

(a) Classical schools _ . - - - 363

(6) Semi-classical schools - - , - - 365

Albert Middle Class College, Framlingham - 370
Framlingham College, Norwich Commercial

SCHOQL, AND NEWCASTLE GrAMMAR ScHOOL

compared - - - - - - 3/8

258 Table of Contents.

Page
3. NOEFOLK AND NORTHltMBEIlIiAND :

CENERAXi COBIPABISOJSr BETWBE]S3' THE T-WO OOT7»fTlES.

MTiDDLB Classes differently constituted - 381

Thbib Mental "Peculiaeities ... 382

Effects thereby produced on the recognized

Qualifications of Teachers ... 383
Opinions prevalent in either County respect-
ing religious Instruction ... 384
General Education ... - - 386
Preparatory, Special, and Professional Educa-
tion ,...--- 38/
Newcastle College of Medicine - - 389
Schools of Navigation - - - 389
Schools of Art - - . . 390
Methods of Teaching - - - 391
Subjects of Instruction ... - 394
(a) Religious knowledge - - - 395
(6) Greek - - - - - 397

(d) French - - - 401

(e) German .... 403
(/J Arithmetic - - - 404
\g) Book-keeping . . - - . 410
(h) Mensuration ... 410
(i) Mathematics - - - .411

Ejachd
Algebra
Trigonometry

(J) Natural science ... . 413

{I) History 415

(m) Geography .... 417

(ji) English grammar, composition, and literature 418

(o) Reading - - - - - - 426

(p) Writing 428

\q) Music ...... 430

(r) Drawing ...... 430

Quantity of Educational means - - 430

Norfolk.

Northumberland.

Modern Extensions and Improvements - - 432

Norfolk.

Northumberland.

Cost of Education ..... 435

Day scholars.

Boarders.

Tabulated estimate of charges for day scholars and

boarders ...... 438

Circumstances affecting the cost of Education 438
Willingness and ability of Parents to pay the

true cost ...... 440

Case of poor farmers and small country tradespeople 442

Case of poor clergymen and professional men - 443

Superiority of classical to semi-classical education - 444

•ESfJiOVir-HtB.TSTS :

Table of Norfolk Endowed Schools - - 445
Endowments producing inadequate results - - 446
Suggestions for the utilization of Norfolk endow-
ments ...... 448

Exhibitions ...... 450

Table of Northumberland Endowed Schools - 452
Suggestions for the utilization of Northumberland

endowments ..... 453

General remarks and suggestions on Endowed

Schools -•-... 454

Table of Contents. 259

Page

Utilisation oj endowments by means of exhibitions - 45S

Boarding liouse system - . . . 459

Boards of Management for particular Schools 4()1

General Local Boards - - - - 461

Central Educational Board ... 4()()

Schemes ...... 4CS

State Inspection ..... 46!J

(11.) EDUCATION OF GIRLS 471

NORFOLK AND NORTHUMBERLAND ;

GE9T£Z£A3i AJSTi IKTIXOBTrCTORV ^BBIHCAKSS.

Endowments for Girls .... 471

Corporation and Proprietary Schools - . 474

Motives influencing Parents in the selection

OF Schools for their Daughters . 475

Importance attached to instrumental music - 476

Social and moral considerations ... 477

Effects thereby produced on thh Schools

themselves ..... 4/8

Their Studies - . . 478

Management . - - 478

Constitution ..... 479
F&KTICVX.ii.RS OBTAXSfBS E'ROSS XBTQUIRIT TSS1Q,
ANH INS?£CTZO£r OF OSRSiS' SCKOOXiS.

Account of proceedings in Norfolk . . 482

Objections to the inquiry .... 482

Number of schedules of inquiry deUvered . - 484

Number of returns received ... 484

Number of schools inspected - - 486

Account of proceedings in Northumberland 486

Number of schedules of inquiry dehvered . 486

Number of returns received - - . 487

Examination of schools by means of written papers - 487

Number of schools inspected - ■ - 490

Boarders in Ladies' Schools - - 490

School Accommodation .... 491

Inner life of Boarding Schools - - 492

Favouritism shown by schoolmistresses - 493

Demeanour of boarding school girls - - 493

Character of women affected by the want of solid

studies ..... 493

Cost of Education ... . 494

Norfolk select boarding schools ... 494

Norfolk schools for farming and trading classes 495

Northumberland schools .... 497

Cheap seminaries .... - 499

Competition among Girls' Schools - - 501
Schoolmistresses a conscientious and fairly culti-
vated class ..... 501

Visiting Teachers - - - - 502

Their duties and emoluments - - 602

School Assistants and Pupil Teachers - - 603

Their salaries ..... 603

Difficulties experienced by Schoolmistresses 604
A difficulty peculiar to inferior Northumberland

schools ...... 605

Age of Scholars ..... 505

Subjects of Instruction .... 606

Relative number of students in specified subjects - 607

Quality of Instruction .... 510

Reading, writing, and spelling ... 510
Arithmetic - - - - - -511

English grammar - - - - -614

260 Table of Contents.

Page

Geography ------ 515

History -.---- 516

Religious knowledge .... 519

English literature .... 520

Miscellaneous subjects - - . » 521

Languages ..---- 523

Defective methods of teaching ... 524

Inability of females to teach certain subjects - 526

Examination of scholars the only remedy - - 527

Mixed Schools for advanced Students op both

SEXES ..... 528

Effects of the female system of teaching on

the intellectual character of English women 529

(III.) FUNDS THAT MAY BE MADE APPLICABLE TO THE IM-
PROVEMENT OF SECONDARY AND HIGHER EDUCA-
TION ........ 530

Overgrown Endowments of Primary Schools - 530
Trusts not connected with Education - 531

Norfolk ;

Summary of charities belonging to the city of

Norwich . - - . 531

Specimen of a Norwich charity for an obsolete
object ..... 534

Specimen of a Norfolk conjoint trust requiring

regulation . - . . . 534

Specimen of a charity with funds in excess of
its claims - . . . . 535

Northumberland :

Crewe's charity .... 535

Hospitals of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Mary
Magdalene ..... 636

Freemen's rights and dividends - - 536

APPENDIX.

(A.) Abstract op Replies to Particulars of In-
quiry relating to Private Schools for Boys 638

(B.) Tables showing the relative number of
Boys at Private Schools studying the
different subjects of instruction - - 674

(C.) Time tables for Boys' Schools - - 675

(D.) Additional particulars relating to Fram-
lingham College - - . . . 680

(E.) Additional particulars relating to the
Newcastle College op Medicine - . 582

(F.) Abstract of Replies to Particulars of
Inquiry relating to Private Schools for
Girls. - - . - . - 585

(G.) Time tables for Girls' Department at
Haydon Bridge School, and for Berwick
Corporation Academy . - _ _ 613

(H.) Examination Papers for Girls' Schools,
with tables showing the performances op
the Pupils in each subject . - _ 615

(I.) Summary of contents of " Mangnall's Ques-
tions " AND specimen exercises FROM " Eve'S

School Examiner" - - - . 629

REPORT.

My Lords and Gentlemen,

I HAVE the honour to submit to you the following Report
on the education of boys and girls above the labouring class in
the district assigned to me by order of your Board.

My district consisted of two main subdivisions, the counties of
Norfolk and Northumberland. These counties present many
points of difference in some of the essential particulars forming the
subject of your inquiry.

In reporting upon a district of this heterogeneous character, it is
difficult to preserve a clear consecutive order of arrangement,
except by treating each subdivision entirely as a district by itself.
But I was not aware that the educational systems of the two
counties were so dissimilar untU I had carried my investigations
too far to allow of a change in my original plan ; which was to
treat some matters as local and peculiar to each subdivision, and
others as general and common to both. The adoption of this plan
has, I fear, caused a certain confusion of arrangement and some
repetition of statement which might otherwise have been avoided.

There is, however, some advantage gained by treating the
district as a composite whole. In the latter part of my remarks
on Boys' Schools I have employed this mode of treatment for
purposes of comparison and mutual illustration, and, even where
the plan of a separate arrangement has been more strictly followed,
I have sometimes found it useful to note, by way of anticipation or
retrospect, the peculiarities of either county without reference to
that arrangement.

In the case of schools exclusively attended by girls the contrast
presented by the two counties is not so striking or important as to
render a separate notice of either county necessary,

My Eeport begins with an account of the education of boys in
Northumberland with Gateshead : the sole reason for this being
that I completed the inspection of schools in that county before I
had finished my work in Norfolk.

I have next described the Norfolk schools for boys. My
account of these is not so circumstantial as that of the North-
umberland schools; first, because I received less assistance and
information from Norfolk schoolmasters; secondly, because the
day-school system, characteristic of Northumberland, is favourable
to the permanence of schools in small towns and villages, and at
the same time brings all the educational opportunities of each sepa-
rate centre of population within the compass of easy observation.

262 Mr. Hammond's Report.

From a description of Norfolk boys' schools I have digressed
into that portion of my Eeport in which I have ceased to deal with
either county separately.

In the course of my General Report I have given some account
of every important Proprietary Establishment in my district.
Strictly speaking, however, one or two of them, such as the
Ajjricultural College 'at Framlingham and the Corporation
Academy at Berwick, should be regarded rather as endowed foun-
dations.

Although I have reported specially on every endowed gi-ammar
school in Norfolk and Northumberland, I have referred in my
general report to the subject of local endowments. Thus towards
the end of my remarks upon boys' schools will be found a tabu-
lated summary of all actual and so-called grammar schools in
either county. I have added comments on their present condition,
pointing out their results, noting their failures and suggesting
modifications in the application of their funds. The notice of
particular endowments has led me to offer some suggestions
respecting educational endowments in general; and with these
suggestions 1 have brought to a close that portion of my report
which refers to the education of boys.

The education of girls I have reserved for separate notice.
Although the institution of mixed schools is an important feature
peculiar to Northumberland, and on that account deserving of
separate notice, I have for many reasons preferred an arrange-
ment by which the particulars respecting female education in the
two counties are placed, as much as possible, side by side.

The chief peculiarity of ladies' schools, both in Norfolk and
Northumberland, is the defective method of teaching employed.
In all schools the method is substantially the same, and this
common fault overshadows all minor differences of organization,
social status, and price. Of course, as must be expected, the sub-
jects of instruction and the capacities and attainments of teachers
vary in different schools. But in all ladies' schools alike, whethei"
they be day schools or boarding schools, class schools or open
schools, whatever be their locality, terms and range of instruc-
tion, and however teachers may differ in point of earnestness and
enlightenment, there is universally a misdirection of effort ; anl
the training, whatever may be its other advantages, is not pro-
motive of vigorous intellectual health. From this point of view
all ladies' schools may be regarded as belonging to one and the
same educational class.

I examined the pupils in several ladies' schools by means of
printed questions. These questions, together with the results of
my examination, will be found in an appendix,* which also contains
among other things tabulated abstracts of the replies received by
me in answer to the Commissioners' Particulars of Inquiry for
Private Schools.

* See Appendix (A.), p. 537 ; Appendix (F.), p. 585 ; Appendix (H.), p. 615.

(I.)-EDUCATION OF BOYS. ^^^^l^^^

NOKTHTIMBEE-

LAKD.

1. NORTHUMBERLAND WITH GATESHEAD.

I WAS occupied in this portion of my district for about 15 Time spent in
weelis in the course of 1865, viz., from July 19th to October ^°^*'™^^'^"
7th, from October 28th to November 10th, and from December
11th to December 21st.

On my first arrival at Newcastle in July 1865 all the schools
were closed for the holidays, and there was no prospect of admit-
tance into anj' of them for the next six weeks ; partly because at
Newcastle pupils are very irregular in returning to school after
the summer holidays, and partly because the teachers objected to
submit their pupils to examination immediately after six weeks of
idleness.

The time thus rendered unavailable for the inspection of
schools I devoted to personal interviews with schoolmasters and
schoolmistresses, trustees and other persons, who from their
position or pursuits seemed likely to be of use to me. During
this interval I visited all the towns and populous villages in the
county, making such inquiry as might help me to ascertain what
schools it would be desirable and possible to inspect at a future
time; for everywhere, as at Newcastle, I found the holidays later
than in most of the Norfolk scliools, and latest of all in the
agricultural districts, where vacation time is always determined
by the season of harvest.

SCHOOLS FURNISHING MATERIALS FOR INQUIRY.

(a) Endowed Schools.

There was no difficulty in ascertaining what endowed schools Endowed
should be set down for inspection. With one exception, they are schools m
correclly specified in the digest of tiie Charity Commissioners land -with
Report and in the return ordered by the House of Commons to Gateshead.
be printed 5th July 1865. They are there stated to be the follow-
ing:—

(L) Newcastle-on-Tyne Free Grammar School - Boys' school.

(2.) AUendale - - Brideshill Grammar School Mixed school.

(3.) Alnwick - Corporation Grammar School Mixed school.

'4.) Hexham - - Free Grammar School - - *Mixed school.

(5.) Morpeth - - Grammar School . - - Boys' school.

(6.) Rothbury - Grammar School - - Boys' school.

(7.) Tynemouth - Kettlewell's School - Boys' school.

(8.) Warden - - Haydon Bridge Grammar School - Mixed school.

(9.) Berwick-upon- Grammar School - - - Boys' school.
Tweed.

(10.) Gateshead - Anchorage School - - Boys' school.

* Now no longer a mixed school. See extract from head master's letter quoted
in note on p. 278 (1867).

264 Mr. Hammond's Report.

Schools . "^^^ exception is Kettlewell's school, Tynemouth. On visiting
NoRjHUMBEK- itj I found that it could only be regarded as a school legitimately
LAND. attended by the children of the poorest classes, and by them
KettleweTl's exclusively. It is true that some of the other schools in the
school, Tyne- above list are now practically parish schools ; but they were
mouth, asohool intended for the benefit of all classes, and, except perhaps in the
for t e poor. ^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ Allendale school, some representatives of the farming
and trading classes are to be found in all of them. But Kettlewell's
school was founded specially for poor boys, with a preference for
orphans and fatherless children ; and although the trustees may
direct instruction to be given in such useful knowledge and
learning as they shall from time to time deem prudent, and Latin
has been at one time taught, yet no instruction is now given
beyond the rudiments, the boys belong to the very neediest classes,
and the school is under Government inspection. I therefore
erased it from my list.
Widdiington's On the othei' hand, Widdrington's school, Stamfordham, classed
school, as a non-classical school in the digest, and not noticed in the re-

Stamfordham. ^^^^^ ^^^ founded for all the children of the parish. The master
is a clergyman of the Church of England. A classical education
has been furnished by the school in former times, and the endow-
ment is more than is required for the education of the labouring
classes. For these reasons I placed it on my list for inspection.
Other endowed Other endowed schools respecting which I made inquiry were
schools non- the following : —

classical.

(1.) Newcastle-on-Tyiie St. Mary's Hospital School - Boys' school,

(2.) Bellingham - Read's School - - - Mixed school.

(3.) Haltwhistle - Lady Capel's School - - Mixed school.

(4.) Ponteland - Coates' School - - - Mixed school.

(6.) Rothbury - - Girls' Endowed School - - Girls' school.

(1.) *S'^. Mary's Hospital School, Newcastle, is closely connected
by the provisions of 9 & 10 Vict. c. 42. with the Free Grammar
School. I visited it ; but finding that by the scheme it was in-
tended to be " of a class similar to the schools of the National
" Society,'' I did not formally examine the scholars.

There are other schools in Newcastle (the most important being
the Orphan House Wesleyan, and the Royal Jubilee schools)
which give the same kind of instruction to the- same class of
pupils as the National and British schools. The two just men-
tioned are both under Government inspection, and neither they
nor others of a similar class in Newcastle, Gateshead, and the
larger towns can be regarded as coming within the province of
the Commission ; but they all probably contain some scholars
belonging to the middle class, and thus compete with certain of
the private schools which I have visited.

(2.) Read's School, Bellingham, was expressly founded for 50
poor children of the chapelry of Bellingham; and,

(3.) Lady CapeVs School, Haltwhistle, for the children — boys
and girls — of poor persons of the parish.

These are not in any sense of the word middle-class schools ;
but I examined the scholars in both of them, because the districts

Northumberland Endowed Schools. 265

are, comparatively speaking, populous, and the schools In some Boys'
instances are attended by the children of tradesmen and farmers. norSotber-

(4.) Coated School, Ponteland, was founded for 15 or more ^^"•
poor children of the parish, and is now attended by 20 children
of either sex, who are taught reading and writing gratuitously.
They are also clothed and shod out of the endowment, which is
more than sufficient to provide education for the labouring
classes of the district. In former times the master of the school
has been a clergyman ; and the present vicar of Ponteland con-
siders that under a new scheme a better provision may be made
for the poor, and a portion of the endowment applied to the
purposes of secondary education. I made arrangements for
examining the scholars, but on my arrival at Ponteland I found
that the master had been called away on important business, and
the school was closed."

(5.) Endowed Girls' School, Rofhbuv)/.^— This school receives a
payment from Thomlinson's Charity, and professes to supply to
girls' of the parish the same kind of education, mutatis mutandis, as
Thomlinson's school does to boys. I examined the scholars.

In every other instance, except four, the endowed schools in other
Northumberland were expressly founded for the children of the charitable
poor. In every case but one the endowment is so small, and the endo-wments.
district in which the school is situated is so poor, that the most
proper use of the charity is to apply it in aid of a parish school
for the labouring classes. The only exception is that of Heron's Heron's
Charity, Simonburn. The portion of this charity devoted to the Charity,
purposes of a National school is no doubt wisely applied. There Simonhurn.
is, however, a considerable Income, intended partly for appren-
ticing, and expended solely upon doles, respecting which a
different opinion might be entertained. I have therefore men-
tioned the circumstance in my account of separate schools,
although I did not visit the school itself, which is a National
school under Government inspection.

The ten schools which I have treated as endowed schools, in Endowed
which persons above the labouring class have an interest, though grammar
originally founded more or less with the same object, have now ^yl's^^ie into
become very different in their character. They may be divided three groups,
roughly into three groups : — (1.) Parish or working men's schools ;
such as jfillendale, Rothbury, Haydon Bridge, and Stamfordham
schools. (2.) Tradesmen's sclioos ; such as Newcastle, Alnwick,
Hexham, and Gateshead schools : and (3.) commercial and profes-
sional schools ; such as Morpeth and Berwick schools. The above
division is open to some criticism ; but having due regard to the
social condition of the majority of scholars, the age at which they
leave school, the pursuits for which they are intended, the subjects
of instruction taught, and the method of teaching adopted, I
consider that it fairly represents the relative status, social and edu-
cational, of the several schools. And the same classification will
be found to apply generally to the proprietary and private schools
in this portion of my district.

266

Mr. HammonSs Report.

Boys'
Schools,

NoMnUMBEK-
LAND.

Proprietary
schools.

(/() Proprietary Schools.

Passing on to the proprietary schools, I must premise that
there are no schools of this class in Northumberland which will
furnish any very important data for deciding whether the principle
on which such schools are founded is a sound one ; but as the
following are not endowed, and at the same time are the private pro-
perty of persons distinct from the schoolmaster, they must be con-
sidered as a separate class, although the Hexham school is the
only one which, in ordinary parlance, would be called a proprietary
school. I examined them all, and in their case, as in the case of
the endowed schools above specified, I had every facility afforded
me for a complete and thorough inspection.

a.) Allendale -
(2.) Alnwick -
(3.) Belford -
(4.) Hexham -
(5.) Wooler -
(6.) Berwiok-on-Tweed

Lonkley School -
The Duke's School
Presbyterian School
Proprietary School
Presbyterian School
Corporation Academy

- Mixed school.

- Boys' school.
Mixed school.

- Mixed school.

" Adven-
turers."

Of these schools the Allendale, Belford, and Wooler schools are
parish schools. The Alnwick, Hexham, and Berwick schools
belong to the second group, and are what I have called trades-
men's schools.

Private schools. In a cej'tain sense some of the schools which I now proceed to
treat as private schools should more strictly be considered pro-
prietarj^

In those parts of the county which are thinly populated, and
where a day school, connected with the Church of England or with
some other Congregational body, does not exist, it has been the
practice among farmers witli young and growing families to
combine together and invite a master, generally a Scotchman, to
settle among them and keep school. This is still the custom in
a few places. The children of the " hinds," or agricultural
labourers, supply the bulk of the scholars; but in case the pay-
ments from them should not be sufficient to attract a competent
man, the farmers guarantee that the master's i-eceipts shall not
fall iDelow a certain annual sum. In former times the dominie
was billeted on the different farmers in succession ; the modern
practice is to provide him with a school-room and a lodging. The
master is generally called an " adventurer," though this term is
also applied to private schoolmasters who own or rent their own
school-house.

In my report I have considered the " adventurers " as belonging
to the class of private schoolmasters. The distinction is a local
one, of no practical importance, and the " adventurers " in the
rural districts are disappearing, as the modern system of Govern-
ment education becomes more extended.

I found considerable difficulty in making a selection of private

Difficulty in

pSfchools. «°1^°«^« f°^- inspection.

NortMimherland Private Schools. 267

III the first place, the number of schools which would be Boys'
regarded in other parts of England as middle-class schools is „ Schools,
extremely small; and as there is in Northumberland but little j,tjsT>.

social prejudice on the subject of schools, the sons of skilled

artisans, who know the value of education better than many ^° *^|^^?
wealthier tradespeople and farmers, would be found in some of!ounty. ™*^
these. On the other hand, there are in Newcastle and in the
colliery and manvifacturing districts along the Tyne several si^hools
of an inferior sort, which are attended by the children of small
shopkeepers as well as by those of skilled and unskilled mechanics ;
and in the rural districts the children of farmers always attend
the same schools as tlie children of their hinds.

Again, it is scarcely credible how few persons resident in a Ignorance of
town of an)' size can give any information whatever respecting the residents m
private schools in their place of residence. An incidental advan- respecting
tage resulting from the University local examinations is that in each private schools,
permanent centre there will always be at least a secretary and two
or three committee-men acquainted with the opportunities for
classical and commercial education in their district; but there
is no such centre in Northumberland, and apparently only one
private school in the county has ever sent in candidates for
the local examinations. Thus it happens that, whereas several
persons can furnish complete information respecting the various
public schools in Newcastle intended for the children of the poor,
no one knows the names of more than three or four private school-
masters at most. Two* private establishments are in every respect
so superior to the rest that they were always named to me wherever
I made inquiry ; but respecting the existence or character of other
academies I could learn nothing, except from the teachers
themselves.

With the help of local and scholastic directories I eventually
drew up a first list of schools, from which I gradually eliminated
those which proved on inquiry not to come widiin the province
of the Commission. These were very numerous. For instance,
Crockford's Scholastic Directoi-y for 1861 contains the names
of more than 180 private schoolmasters, and nearly 140 private
schoolmistresses, residing in tliis portion of my district. Of these
a large majority, classed under the heads of " private schools for
gentlemen" and "private schools for ladies," proved to be the
names of teachers in colliery and parish schools.

At length I succeeded in making a list of all schools that
could in any sense be considered to come within the range of the
present inquiry. It included many which in no oilier part of
England would be regarded as middle-class schools ; but, on the
other hand, no middle-class school for boys, properly so called, was,
I ventuie to believe, omitted. In the process of framing it I visited
Newcastle, Gateshead, North Shields and Tynemouth, Morpeth,
Bedlington, Blyth, Rothbury, Alnwick, Alnmouth, Belford,

* Since my inspection the proprietor of one of these schools has left Newcastle, and.
his school has jassed into other hands. (1867.)

o. c. 3. -p-

268 Mr. Hammond's Report.

Boys' Bamburgh, Berwick and Tweedmouth, Wooler, Bellingham,

SoHooLB, Chollerton, Hexham, Corbridge, Haydon Bridge, Allendale,

™™''™" Haltwhistle, Stamfordham, and Fonteland. Besides the masters

' of the various endowed and proprietary schools enumerated above,

I saw between 80 and 90 private schoolmasters and school-
mistresses in different parts of the county.

I proceed to give a statement of the boys' and mixed schools
to which schedules of inquiry for private schools (boys) were
sent, and which it seemed desirable, if possible, to inspect.

My original list contained the names of 40 schools; 14 in New-
castle, 7 in Gateshead, 6 in North Shields, 4 in Berwick and
Tweedmouth, 2 in Blylh, and 7 scattered in different parts of
Northumberland. Of the 40 schools, about one half differed from
" Mixed parish schools only in being private establishments. The leading

schools." characteristic of these schools is the mixed attendance of boys and

girls, though in a few instances this criterion would not strictly
apply. The whole number of middle-class schools in Northum-
berland and Gatesheadj endowed, proprietary, and private, in
which the scholars are exclusively boys is, I believe, 21, and the
boys attending them are about 1,200 in number ; the three largest
schools in Newcastle furnishing more than 500 between them.
Objectors to the Two private schoolmasters only, one at Morpeth and one at
Commissioners' Gateshead, refused all communication with me, and even declined
mquiry. ^^ g^g ^^ printed Particulars of Inquiry, It is not worth while

to state their reasons, which fall under one or other head of
general objections briefly noticed below. The Morpeth, school is
the only middle-class school for boys, except the grammar school,
in the town ; but it hardly competes with the grammar school,
being, as I am informed, a writing or English school, long esta-
blished and respectable. The Gateshead school is, I understand,
a new establishment, due to the enterprise of a retired exciseman.
Although it is styled a " classical, mathematical, and commercial
academy," the master has had but little experience in teaching,
the instruction is quite rudimentary, and the pupils belong to
the working class or to the lowest stratum of shopkeepers. The
school, therefore, is one of no importance in connection with the
present inquiry, although it is fair to observe that the room in
which it is held is the best school-room in Gateshead, and one of
the best in the northern part of my district.

Five persons, one a female with a preparatory school for young
boys, and four masters of mixed schools of the inferior sort, de-
clined to send returns, and refused or deprecated inspection after
a perusal of the printed schedules. Two were dissenting clergy-
men. One, who handed me a card bearing his name, " The Rev.
Dr. ... M.A., E.C.P.," was manifestly much relieved in
mind when I forbore to press my request. Having caught a
glimpse of his^ pupils and school accommodation during lesson
tune on a previous visit, I am doing no injustice to either master
or scholars in classing the school with the working men's or lowest
group of schools. The other three were likewise schools merely
competing, as I learnt from the masters themselves, with the

Northumberland Private Schools inspected. 269

National and British schools in their respective towns. One of Boys'
them writes to say that his scholars " are composed of all who „ Schools,
" cannot get on in the National school." The preparatory school land.

was a dame's school for young boys of the " small tradesmen "

class.

Of the remaining 33 schools, three proved to be so decidedly
below the lowest possible standard of middle-class schools that
it was not worth while to send the circulars of questions to them,
though I visited them all, and examined some of the scholars in
one of them. In another of these three I found that the ma-
jority of the boys left an hour before noon to fetch their parents'
dinners ; yet this was a school in which some tradespeople's chil-
dren might be found.

My list was thus reduced to 30 private schoolsi Schedules sent

I have entered into the foregoing particulars in order to show *" ^^ schools.
the very small number of really middle-class schools in Northum-
berland. One only refused all communication with me, — the com-
mercial school at Morpeth noticed above ; and of the 30 schools
just mentioned, 15 would not have contained a single farmer's
or tradesman's son in Norfolk. It will thus be seen that, inclusive
of proprietary and endowed schools, there are in the whole of this
subdivision of my district about 25 schools which may be
considered socially superior to the ordinary parish schools.

Of the 30 private schools remaining on my list, 24 have sent Eeturns
returns or more less detailed. Of these returns four or five con- 2Tsohools™™
tain only a few answers, almost useless, and little or no statistical
information. They are all from schools of no practical importance.
An abstract of the answers is given in the tabulated statement
appended to this report.

The six schools which have not sent returns have been inspected Six schools in-
by me, and I have a sufficient knowledge of their character and ^^"^^ ^^°^
organization. Three of them are schools of some importance as returns have
tradesmen's schools. One is a small establishment of a superior heen received,
description, attended by a somewhat better class of boys. The
master had just come to the county, and could give no written
information of any value ; but he readily permitted me to see his
school at work. It contained but a few boys, and although I
deferred my visit of inspection till the latest possible period, I saw
it at a great disadvantage.

On the whole I have received returns from 24 schools, of
which I inspected 20, besides inspecting eight others from which
no returns have been received.

Of the 28 private schools inspected by me, five may be Twenty-eight
placed in the " commercial and professional " group of schools, ten ?''^°°'^
in the " tradesmen's " group, and the rest are in no respect
superior to ordinary parish or working men's schools.

Taking into consideration the number and character of the
schools, endowed, proprietary, and private, actually inspected, and
the returns received from private schools, I feel satisfied that I
have been furnished with the necessary and sufficient data for
forming a correct estimate of the state of middle-class education

i; 2

270

Mr. Hammond's Report.

BOTS'

Schools'
nokthombee-

I.AND.

Letter from
private
schoolmaster
declining visit
of inspection.

in Northumberland and Gateshead. For this result I am greatly
indebted to the readiness and courtesy with which most of the
persons engaged in education met my applications for assistance
and co-operation.

Of the four schools, furnishing returns but not inspected, three
were of the humblest class, of which I had already seen a sufficient
number of specimens for my purpose. Tlie following letter will
explain why I did not examine the fourth.

I transcribe it in full, because it is a temperate statement of
the views taken by many private schoolmasters, especially of
the second rank, respecting their responsibilities and the rela-
tions existing between them and their employers. The sentiments
expressed are more prevalent, however, in Norfolk than in
Northumberland,

Sir,

After having forwarded, as requested, distinct and concise replies to
the inquiries contained in the schedules handed to me last month, I confess I
am a little surprised to find that my small academy is chosen for a personal
visit. It is a compliment that I am sorry to say I cannot properly appreciate.

I have occupied my present residence, as a teacher, for m.ore than 25 years.
My school has always heen distinctly a private one, limited in number, and
unassuming in character. I wish it to remain so.

In answer to Question 90, I ventured to express a want of confidence in
public examinations, as conferring little advantage upon a position so obscure
as mine. I still see no reason to alter this opinion.

The question that interests me most is to maintain a good understanding
with my supporters. This I have generally succeeded in doing by a faithful
discharge of my duties, and without soliciting the assistance or patronage of
any one. I hope to continue in this course.

Believing that I have given you in the schedules more information respecting
my academy than the most anxious parent ever required, and that the educa-
tional measures ab.eady in operation with me are perfectly satisfactory to my
friends, you must allow me, with every respect to yourself and the instructions
you have received, to decline your contemplated yiAi on Monday the 18th
instant.

I am, &c..

Reasons why Although the returns sent to me are, in not a few instances,
^!l"!=l^^™ * incomplete, and although some masters, whose schools I have

not sent or sent •■ji ° ht-i

incomplete. Visited, liave not sent any returns at all, i attribute tins apparent
neglect mainly to the great labour involved in answering so many
questions and giving all the particulars required. The daily work
of teachers conducting cheap schools, which cannot support an
adequate staff of assistants, is so great and exhausting, that such
persons could not find time to collect and transcribe the minute
and circumstantial information demanded in the printed schedules.
In many instances, too, where the scholars were of both sexes, the
questions were often inapplicable to the conditions of the school
organization. And, lastly, few of the inferior class of school-
masters, whose pupils are constantly changing, keep the necessary
registers for supplying the details required for the statistical
forms.

Questions One or two masters were disposed to demur to some of the

Sndersto''o'd. I^estions on tiie ground of their inquisitorial character. These

Objections to the Inquiry, 271

were chiefly the questions relating to payments and accounts Bots'
and to the domestic arrangements for boarders; but, owing to the Schools,
small number of boarding-schools, this was not so general a ^o^humbeh-

ground of complaint as in Norfolk. 1

The meaning and object of some questions were sometimes mis-
apprehended. One master writes as follows : " I was sorry to
*' observe in the questions sent to nie a considerable number of
*' apparently little significance, whilst a number of most important
^' questions were omitted. I do trust that, notwithstanding the
" surmises of some of our educationists here, it was unintentional,
" or not done from any sinister motive." The first subject of
complaint is illustrated and partly explained by this gentleman's
answer to* Question 2.

Q: Give the name and description of the master of the school ?
A. * * * F.E.I.S. ; 45 years oF age, 5 it. 1 1 ins. high.

I have not learnt what were the important questions omitted, or
what the supposed motives for their omission.

A feeling of suspicion was more generall3' entertained and ex-
pressed against the interference of the Commission by proprietors
of humble establishments, competing with National and British
schools. These persons consider that the Government grants Otjectiona
■already place them at an unfair commercial disadvantage, and ™^'^^ '^ ^o™^
they complain that the children of the lower middle class, whose class^of private
parents can afford to pay for their education, are not only desert- schoolmaster.s.
ing their former places of instruction, but are driving the really
poor children out of the establishments pensioned or endowed for
their support. In Northumberland, where there is no social
feeling to prevent a farmer or tradesman from sending his child
to a Government school, the improvements caused by grants in
the form, if not in the substance, of instruction are seriously
affecting private educational enterprise. In the country parishes
" adventurers " are giving way before certificated and trained
masters. In the. towns the children of small traders, clerics, &e.,
are resorting to the public schools. One master,, whose school I
examined, writes thus : " Probably the great majority oi working
" people prefer small private schools such as mine to large public
" schools, notwithstanding the inducements held out by the latter,
" such as prizes, trips, inspectors' certificates, pupil-teacherships,
" money clubs, &c., &c. " ; and another, ironically, I presume,
approves of National schools, "for they are so bad they help the
" private "schools." Biit others, more candid or sagacious, are
alarmed at their increased importance, and insist that their benefits
should not be extended, as they frequendy are by a graduated
scale of payments, beyoud the limits of the very poorest classes.
And though the operation of the Revised Code, by limiting the

* Other schoolmasters and schoolmistresses have made similar mistakes as to the
meaning of this question. Another question which has been misunderstood by several
persons is Question 2i, " What is the average time that" the pupils remain in the
Bchool J " ' " '

272

Mr. Hammond's Report.

B6ts'

Schools,
nokthumber-

Stumnary of
boys' and
mixed scliools
inspected.

subjects of instruction to the essentials, would at first sight seem
calculated to benefit such of the private schoolmasters as are will-
" ing and able to impart instruction in the higher subjects, I am
informed on the best authority that this will not be its effect. My
own experience also leads me to believe that the private schools
of the lowest class will be compelled to confine themselves to the
same subjects as the Government schools if they are. to compete
with them at all successfully ; for, as the first and indispensable
requirement not only of the working but also of the tradii^
classes, is a sound instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic,
no school will meet with much favour if it sacrifices the essentials
to any other branch of study ; and the standard attained by the
Government schools in the elementary subjects must eventually
become the standard of private schools competing with them.

Though my visit may have been regarded in some quarters as
an omen or fresh instance of State interference in educational
matters, I found the more intelligent schoolmasters of the humbler
class very ready to admit me to their schools. It is only fair
to say that there are among them some zealous and laborious
workers, struggling against many diificulties, and earning but a
scanty and precarious remuneration, which is quite inadequate to
procure for them any paid assistance. In every school of this
grade, where an assistant (not a pupil) was employed in teach-
ing, the assistant was the father; wife, son, or daughter of the
schoolmaster.

General Summary oi' Schools.

The number of schools, not girls' schools, which were inspected
by me in Northumberland and Gateshead, is 46 : viz. 12 endowed,
6 proprietary, and 28 private schools.

The endowed schools are the following : —

(1.) Newcastle -

Grammar School

Boys.

(2.) AUendale -

Brideshill School

Mixed.

(3.) Alnwick -

Corporation Grammar

School

Mixed.

(4.) Hexham -

Grammar School

Mixed.

(5.) Morpeth -

Grammar School

Boys.

(6.) RothbuiT -
(7.) Stamfordham

ThomJinson's School-

Boys.

Widdrington's School

Mixed.

(8.) Haydon Bridge -

School

Mixed-

(9.) Berwick -

Grammar School

Boys.

(10.) Gateshead

Anchorage School

Boys.

(11.) Bellingham

Read's School

Mixedj

(12.) Haltwhistle

Capel's School

MLxed.

The proprietary schools are—

(1.) Allendale

Lonkley School

Mixed.

■ (2.) Alnwick -

The Duke's School -

Boy«.

(3.) BeUord -

Presbyterian School -

•

Mixed.

{4.) Hexham -

Proprietary school

Mixed.

(5.) Wooler -

Presbyterian school

Mixed-

(6.) Berwick -

Corporation Academy - '

Mixed-

General deicitpMon of Northumberland Schools. 273

•■ Of tlie private schools 12 are boys' schools and 16 are mixed Botb'
schools. Ten at least out of the 28 are working men's schools. j^ ^"^^^br.

Most of the schools, whether endowed,, proprietary, or private, land.
were examined viva voce in accordance with the practice generally — -
observed in' Northumbei-land. Few indeed contained pupils
sufficiently advanced to be examined by written papers : ' but
where this mode of examination seemed desirable I adopted it.
The papers were chiefly on arithmetic, but in some instances
they included questions in Euclid, algebra, and trigonometry.

Thus in ten schools an aggregate number of 198 boys sent
up answers in arithmetic.

Four schools furnished an aggregate number of 19 boys who
answered questions in Euclid and algebra.

And from Morpeth Grammar School I received answers in
trigonometry from two of the older pupils.

The total number of boij/s in these 46 schools was about 2,400
but a considerable proportion of them, probably not less than
1,000, were sons of mechanics and labourers. ■

These may be distributed roughly as follows :

Total No. No. of boys belonging to

■of boys. tlie working classes.

Endowed schools - 700 - 350

Proprietary „ - 375 - 250

Private „. - 1,325 - 400

Total - - 2,400 - 1,000

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP EDUCATION IN NORTHUM-
BERLAND. .

A very large majority of middle-class boys educated in North-
umberland and Gateshead schools are intended for the clerk's
desk, the counter, or the farm. The proportion trained for
learned professions, when compared with that in most English
counties, is inappreciable, and. much smaller now than it was
formerly. Practically the local schools do not pretend to fit boys
for the English universities. On the average not one boy in two
years proceeds to any of them direct from a Northumberland
schdol, and no boy entirely educated in the county could ever
attain any distinction at Oxford or Cambridge. Eight boys a
year, at most, may pass on to Scotch universities, but these would
in many cases be unable to join any class above the lowest.
Moreover, there is no centre in Northumberland for University
local examinations, and only two or three schools in the county
have ever sent in candidates for them.

Age at ■which Boys leavk School.
■ It will readily be imagined from this statement that the highest Highest
Standard of education in this subdivision of my district is com- ^f^^^^^j?^
paratively low. The most advanced students who commence and jg.^.

274

Mr. Hammond's Report.

Boys'

Schools,

nokthumebk-

LAND.

Mean level.

Age at which
boys leave
school.

Lowest group
of schools (a).

complete their general course in local schools are destined for
the law, for medicine, or for civil engineering. They are very few
in number, and they generally leave school at the age of 16,
]Boys intended for merchants' offices leave at an earlier age.

The mean level of education is determined by the require-
ments of farmers, tradesmen, and small merchants, wlio desire for
their sons such a general training as will fit them for business at
the earliest age at whicii they can earn a livelihood. There is an
active demand on the Quayside at Newcastle for sliarp lads, and
such lads can easily obtain situations of some value at the age
of 14. This is the age at which most boys leave school, and very
few indeed remain after tliey are 16.

Of 930 boys attending the best private schools, and of 417 at-
tending* grammar schools in the county, 16 and 11 respectively are
youths above 16 years of age. It may safely be asserted that
throughout this part of my district the average number of scliolars
above that age is nearer one than two per cent., and in many in-
stances it would be found iJiat the older scholars are not pursuing
higher branches of study, but merely retrieving the neglect of
early years.

A general education, at once sound and comprehensive, is
under these circumstances quite out' of the question. The large
majority of scholars are of an age when boys of the most promis-
ing abilities have scarcely begun to' think methodically, and very
few indeed remain long enough at school to understand or acquire
the first principles of inferential reasoning. The instruci;ion given
at most of the schools is consequently mechanical in its character
and instrnmeulal in its object. And this supply corresponds with
the general demand. Nothing is asked for beyond tiie ability to
read and spell correctly, to compose a business letter, to write a
fair hand, and to enter and keep accounts. The corresponding
programme in a school prospectus comprises reading and dicta-
tion, the rudiments of English grammar, writing, plain and orna-
mental, and commercial arithmetic. This is the staple of the
instruction generally offered, and most effectively imparted, by
the great mass of boys' and mixed schools.

Classification of Schools.

I have already remarked that the schools in Northumberland
and Gateshead, in which any boys above the labouring class are to
be found, divide themselves into three groups.

The lowest group consists of working men's schools, in which,
however, especially in the rural districts, sons of farmers and
tradesmen may be found. In the country these are actually parish
schools; in the towns they are private establishments competing
with National and British schools. I shall call these working
men's schools, though the term is more correct than convenient.

* I have only taken into account those schools in which it is possible to distin-
guish the number of boys from the number of girls. At mixed schools girls remain
rather longer than boys.

Classification of Schools. 275

The intermediate group I have called tradesmen's schools. Boys'
They are town schools, frequented generally by the children of nokthumbbk-
tradesmen and clerks. land.

The highest group, which I have designated as commercial and — 77
professional schools, are attended by boys of various classes ; but „roup^(6v ^
they contain distinctively those who are intended for their parents' Highest group
houses of business, and who are destined to become solicitors, (c).
medical practitioners, civil engineers, and the like.

It must be tinderstood that this classification is not precisely
accurate, and that it is sometimes difficult to assign to a particular
school its proper place in the above list.

The lowest class of schools, visited by me are town schools of Group (a)
the first-named grotjp. They are attended chiefly by the chii- comprises
dren of labourer.? and mechanics, but contain a few of the " small ggjioo"^."
" tradesmen " class. They invariably comprise children of both
sexes, as do also the country or parish schools of the same
group.

The education in these town schools is confined to reading,
including Scripture, spelling, writing, and ciphering, with the
merest rudiments of grammar, and sometimes the outlines of
geography.

In the country or parish schools the presence of a better (2) country-
class of scholars sometimes gives occasion for instruction in otber P^"^^ ^°^°°'^-
subjects.

English grammar and parsing are more tboroughly taught.
Mensuration is learnt by one or two older boys, who also practise
land surveying to some extent.

English history, French, and Latin are in a few instances
attempted, but are generally quite worthless.

The tradesmen's schools are either writing schools or English Group (6)
schools. '=°'"P™««

In the lowest group of schools just described there is often a
want of proper accommodation for writing, and writing materials
and books form a troublesome item of expense. The chief atten-
tion is therefore given to reading and spelling, and ciphering is
taught orally rather than from text-books. In the writing schools (i) writing
of the second group prominent importance is attached to the art ^'=^°°'^ >
of plain and ornamental writing.

The school-rooms are fitted up for the purpose, and consider-
able time is spent over copybooks.

There is no oral teaching ; the scholars merely read, and repeat
lessons in spelling and perhaps in geography or history.

In arithmetic each scholar sits at his desk, and after obtaining
the answer of a sum, as given in his text-book, proceeds to enter
the solution neatly in a* "ciphering book."

Practically in these schools nothing is taught beyond reading,

* The master of school No. 13 (Northumberlimd) in the tables appended to this
KepoTt, -when enumerating the subjects of instruction best fitted, in his opinion, for
the education of the majority of his scholars, specifies among others " Arithmetic,
" entered in ciphering books prepared and ruled bi/ the pupils,"

276 Mr. Hammond's Report.

Boys' spellitig, ciphering, and; writing; " There is Httle- pretence' of

^Schools, attempting even geography or grammar, but a few boys some-

•'*'°^™™'''^"' times advance to book-keeping and elementary algebra. This

— — lattet subject, however, is quite worthless when taught in such

schools. I doubt whether a single writing-school pupil could

even state, much less explain, the law of indices.

Intellectually considered, the instruction given at these schools
is extremely meagre. In fact, no mental faculty of the pupils is
exercised or even interfered with by the teacher. But a successful
school of this class nevertheless finds great favour with merchants
in need of clerics ; for neatness, method, and regularity are im-
perceptibly instilled by the system. The schools are therefore
popular with parents, and are apparently not without their use.
They have one merit: except in the higher rules of arithmetic,
they do not pretend to teach more than they do teach ; and even
an illiterate parent can test pretty correctly the progress which
his son makes at sucb a school.
(2) English I have called anotber class of tradesmen's schools English

schools. schools.

: For tbe purposes of education proper these, when good of their
kind, are very superior to the writing schools just described.
But they are liable to one defect ; they can be employed more
easily than any other class of schools for purposes of imposture.
When the instruction is limited to what the masters are really
competent to teach, they are most useful institutions ; but the
prospectuses of some of these academies are often mere make-
beheves.

The following is a specimen : — •

Senior Department.

Subjects of Instruction,

Reading, writing, arithmetic, mental and mercantile, English grammar,
compositionj geography, mapping, drawing, history, ancient and modern, the
sciences, book-keeping by single and double entry, algebra, mechanics,
mathematics, theoretical and practical (including land surveying, navigation,
&c.), with Latin, Greek, or French, at 31s. &d. per quarter, or when more than
one foreign language is learned at once, at 42s.

Such is the programme of studies in a school where the master
is competent to teach reading and spelling, writing, arithmetic,
the elements of English grammar, composition, geography, and
the skeleton outline of English history. The school would be a
useful one if the instruction were confined to these branches.
But of ancient history, Euclid, Latin, and Greek the master
was profoundly ignorant, and the results of the teaching in these
subjects and in French (except in the case of one foreign boy)
were simply ridiculous.

The Duke's School at Alnwick is a good specimen of a school
of this class, confining itself to the subjects above specified. But
by far the most important and successful tradesmen's school in
the county, aiming too as it does at some of the higher branches
of education, is the Grammar School at Newcastle.

Mixture of^-Munk's and' Sexes in Local Schools. 277

•> The eommefoial aufl profes&ional schools in the county do not -Boys'
number more than six or seven. Schqow,

The general course in this group of schools includes Latin and '^^^^^^^^'

sometimes Oreeki French and sometimes German, Euclid, algebra,

and sometimes trigonometry, besides the subjects specified in Group (c)
the account above given of English schools. The principles of commercial
English grammar and the theoretical knowledge of arithmetic are and profession-
taught with some success, and it is needless to state that orna- ^^ schools.
mental writing and the " ciphering book " system are discarded.

Some peculiarities of Northumberland Schools.
Mixture of Classes.

As the subjects deemed sufficient for a boy attending a trades- Mixture of
men's school are generally considered essential by an intelligent ^^^^f^ ^°,
artisan, and are not beyond the ambition of a " hind " or agricul- i^^ schools.
tural labourer, it follows that the same school can supply the
education in demand both to the labouring classes and to others
immediately and considerably above them in wealth and station.
Though this is equally the case in other parts of England, yet in
Norfolk (for instance) the consciousness of class distinctions almost
invariably prevents a farmer or well-to-do tradesman from sending
his son to a parish school. In Noi-thumberland this sentiment is
neither strong nor general, and at the same time the proportion of
the labouring population, mechanics, colliers, hinds, and shepherds
is large. Hence there are but few tradesmen's schools, and a con-
siderable number of schools of a cheaper description. Again, the
labouring classes in many parts of Northumberland are superior
in intelligence and education to the same classes in Norfolk. A
consequence of this is that their private schools are better. Cer-
tainly, though I have seen several of them in the North, I have seen
nowhere anything so deplorable as a really low-class private school
which I stumbled on by accident or mistake in Norfolk. These
considerations partly account for the presence of middle-class
scholars in working men's schools.

The terms in these schools, being adapted to the means of the School charges
labouring classes, are necessarily low ; and as for the reasons above lov.
given the farming and trading population have no objection to
avail themselves of these places of education, the working men's
schools compete with, and to some extent bring down the terms of,
the tradesmen's and professional schools. Thus education is
comparatively cheap throughout the county.

Mixture of Sexes. .<

Where education is cheap, scholars must be numerous. Hence
another peculiarity in schools attended by the middle classes in
the- northern part of my district. With the exception of the pro- Mixture of
fessional schools, they are in general attended by children of both sexes iu North-

._„f4„^ . , ' umberland

sexes. t T

Of the 46 schools visited and inspected by me only 19 are

exclusively boys' schools,; and, except possibly a few unimportant

278 Mr, Hammonds Report.

Boys' preparatory schools, I have seen every such school but two in the
Schools, county. These, as might be expected, are generally of a better

^°™"™" description than the rest.

1 ' There are doubtless otlier reasons for the mixture of sexes in

Keasons for it. the Northumberland and Gateshead schools; such for instance as
long traditional custom, and the example of schools in Scotland,
whicli supplies masters to many of the Northumbrian schools.
But economy was the main and original cause of this custom,
and now contributes to keep it alive probably in Scotland as in
Northumberland. Even quite recently a proprietary scl;ool of
a far superior type to that of most mixed schools has been
established at Hexham, and I am assured that it is only by the
admission of girls to the school that the proprietors are enabled
to supply an education for boys at terms which parents of the
middle class are willing to pay.

Effects of the I cannot speak with certainly of the effects produced by this

mixture of mixture of the sexes at the same school. The subject is either

^®^f ^ ™ ■'^°''"'" considered a delicate one or is not thought of at all. The latter
nmberland . , . , o , , . . .

schools. IS the case with most persons accustomed to the institution ;

strangers on the contrary speak doubtfully or badly of its practical

results. In one case, that of Berwick Corporation Academy, the

practice of caning girls on the hand in the presence of boys was

reported to me without any symptoms of repugnance by one of

the masters. The arrangements of conveniences for the children

were also objectionable ; but I understand that the corporation.

meditate a new system by which the girls will be entirely separated

from the boys' school.* It was remarkable that the girls in this

* I haye lately received from a resident the following remarks respecting certain
recent changes in the Corporation Academy at Berwick. Though under the new system
the girls are not entirely separated from the boys' school, what has been done already
is an indication of what may be done hereafter. I should mention that the Corporation
haye since my visit to Berwick purchased the old Grammar School premises. They
are adjacent to the Academy, though entered by a separate passage, and from a
different street :

" The principle of division now made is that the older boys and older gii'ls are taught
together by masters in the old Corporation Academy premises ; the younger chil-
dren, both male and female, by mistresses in the old Grammar School premises. The
older hoys and girls, though taught the same lessons and in the same classes, do not
talie ])laces indiscriminately, but only hoys with boys, and girls similarly. The boys
enter the yard and academy by their old entrance ; the girls through the old Gram-
mar School premises. The older boys have now the old academy playground and
waterclosets, &c. The older girls have theii- playground with the little children
(part of the old Grammar School playground), and also their conveniences there.

" These are very considerable changes which we have had effected, and remove
many of the objections against mixed schools. The reason why the Corporation
could not he induced to go fm-ther with the separation of the sexes, was on the ground
of increased expense in the matter of teachers. But these restrictions, in themselves
absolutely necessary precautions, show that the mixed system is not good, at all
events for cliildren beyond a certain age, say 10 years. The two sexes under strict
and well defined regulations (the maintenance of which, however, is in itself a great
waste of power) may be taught together without much harm ; but they clearly
cannot be trained or educated together. And mere lesson-saying on a form is of
course hut a small part of education."

At the time of my visit to Hexham there were two female scholars at the Grammar
School, and formerly there were many more. There are none at present. The head •
master's views on the subject of mixed education may be gathered from the following
observations extracted from one of his letters to me :

Day School System prevalent in Northumberland. 279

academy were in appearance and behaviour, as well as in the Bots'
results of my examination, very superior to the boys ; the latter Schools,
being in some instances the most unruly and ill-conditioned I ■^''^™n™^'^"

have seen anywhere. At Hexham Proprietary School, wliere the

intermixture is most complete, the boys and girls being arranged
in class without regard to sex, the girls, instead of being bolder
or more confident, as might have been expected, were more sliy
and timid than in any ladies' school. 1 had great difficulty in
overcoming this shyness, and found it impossible in some instances
to extract an answer even from pupils who were quite able to
give the correct one. The boys also were affected in the same
way.

In most mixed schools the rule is to make the boys and girls Prevalence ot
repeat their lessons in class together, though they sit in separate fjf^u^hout^he
parts of the school ; and in class each sex is arranged so that the county,
boys take places among themselves and the girls among themselves.

Educationally 1 believe the institution of mixed schools taught
by masters to be more advantageous to girls than to boys.

Day School System.

The disregard of class distinctions, the mixture of sexes, and
the cheapness of education thence resulting, produce another
striking peculiarity in the schools of this county. They are
almost all day schools. I believe I am strictly accurate in report-
ing that at the tilne of my visit there were in the whole county
of Northumberland, exclusive of Newcastle, only three boys
lodging in masters' houses. There' was not, so far as I could
learn, a single boarder in North Shields, Berwick, Morpeth, or
Alnwick. There were four in Gateshead (which is not in the
county), one in Blyth, and two in Hexham. Of the latter, one
was at the grammar and the other at the proprietary school.

At Morpeth Grammar School the experiment of attaching a
dormitory for 12 boarders to the master's house has been tried,
and has* failed. The failure is ascribed to different causes by the
master and trustees, but it is not the less a fact. At Berwick
Grammar School the master is permitted to take boarders not
exceeding 40, and is required to reside in the school-house, which
just furnishes the ordinary accommodation for a married man
with a family. It is unnecessary, therefore, to observe that he
has no boarders. Negotiations are now on foot for securing f to

" Since my coming here, five years ago, I have always dissuaded parents from
Bending girls to my school, and I have at length succeded in eliminating the female
element from it entirely. I found the presence of girls to act as a serious ' disturbing
force ' on the studies and conduct of the boys, and vice versa. In one case I was
obliged to ask a father to remove his daughter from my school.

" There are now four good schools for girls in this town, and as it is generally known
that I do not wish to have female pupils, I apprehend that the anomaly peculiar to
this school has now ceased" (1867).

* See, however, note on p. 293 (1867).

■)• These premises have now been bought and appropriated to the Grammar School
(1867).

280

Mr. Hammond's Report.

BOTS'

Schools,

nokthumbek-

Boarding
schools in

Newcastle.

Comparison
■with certain
hoarding
schools in
the Norfolk
district.

the school the benefit of more adv«ntageous premises, in which
case the experiment of a boarding school will be tried under
possible conditions. The same thing is in contemplation at
Hay don Bridge School.

Even in Newcastle the number of boarders is comparatively
very small. There are none at the grammar school; but a
new scheme, which is soon to come into operation, provides
a house for the head master, in which he will be allowed
to take boarders, not exceeding 20. The two most important
private schools, whose average numbers during the last three
years have been 195 and 105 respectively, have had during the
same period an average of 15 and 10 boarders eacL A third
school has seven boarders. Another, a lady^s preparatory school
for young boys, contains from eight to ten at most, and besides
these there are none, unless a few should be found in one or two
preparatory schools kept by ladies, which are scarcely to be
regarded as schools, but rather as " weaning establishments,"
affording an easy transition from the comforts of home to the
rougher life of a large public school. On the whole, 50 is a large
average to assume for the total number of boys boarding in schools
at Newcastle.

A comparison of these figures with those furnished by a town of
the same population in the south of England would make the
small proportion of boarders still more apparent. I have not,
however, the means of making such a comparison, except in an
incomplete form. The population of Norwich is about two-thirds
of the population of Newcastle. I have information respecting
the number of pupils at four private schools, and at the grammar
and commercial schools at Norwich. Taking the aggregate of
these schools, the proportion of boarders to day scholars in Norwich
is at least* one to three, in Newcastle it is about one to twent}'.
The difference is still more remarkable in the country schools in
each county. Four or five years ago there was a private school at
Aylsham with 80 boarders ; that is to say, with twice the number
of all the boarders at all the schools, exclusive of preparatory
schools, in the whole county of Northumberland. Three or
four schools in Norfolk have each of them quite as many
boarders as there are in the whole of the northern subdivision of my
district. Beccles, in Suffolk, with a population of between 4,000
and 5,000, has a grammar sciiool with nearly as many boarders
as there are in the whole town of Newcastle, the population
of which is 110,000, and besides the grammar school I am
informed that there is also at Beccles a large private school
with boarders. Finally, the Albert Middle Class College at
Framlingham, in Suffolk, within one year of its foundation had,
from the county of Suffolk alone, more than four times the

* If the commercial department of Norwich School, which is purely a day school,
be left out of consideration, the four private schools and the grammar department of
Norwich School wotild he found to haye almost an equal number of boarders and
day boys.

ScholuTs attending Local Schools. 281

number of boarders at all boys' schools, of every class and de- Bars'
scription, in the whole of Northumberland, Schools,

In fact, the farmers and country tradespeople in the two sub- ^o^^^s^^^bee-
divisions of my district hold exactly opposite 'views on the subject t^'
of boarding schools. In Norfolk persons belonging to these classes
do not like to keep their sons at home after the age of twelve,
but send them to boarding schools, generally in the immediate
neighbourhood or at the nearest market town; in Northumberland,
on the contrary, they usually send their boys to day schools, but
if they do send them to boarding schools they seem to prefer
sending them out of the county.

In some cases boys attending day schools lodge in the neighbour-
hood. I have no precise information on this subject, and the
number of such boys is too small to require any lengthened notice.
The fact, however, shows that the absence of boarding schools for
boys is not entirely attributable to the unwillingness of parents to
send their sons away from home. The general idea of education General idea
prevalent among the lower middle classes of Northumberland jforthimber "^
involves merely the necessity of a school-room and teacher; the land confined
former being a place to learn and repeat lessons in, and the latter ^solely to
a person who sells instruction just as any other article may be ^^^^'^S-
sold. In some of the commoner schools a price is attached to
each separate item of instruction, as, for instance, so much to
reading, so much to writing, and so much to arithmetic. Butthe
moral and personal influence of the teacher on his pupils, or of the
pupils on one another, are made of no account; and the one
thing in demand is simply instruction.

This may to some extent explain the mode of teaching adopted
in these parts, which is more showy and demonstrative than it is
in Norfolk. The exertions made by the master in conveying
instruction are more laborious, and the scholars rather receive
their knowledge from him than acquire it for themselves. The
teacher moreover seems to know the capacities of his pupils
better than he does their characters, and tries to strengthen his
hold on their intellects rather than on their aflFections, In Norfolk In ISforfolk (he
boarding schools the opposite state of things is often observable, ideaofeduca-
and the master's wife, whose existence is unknown in a Northum- tiaUy^dSrent
berland school, unless she happens to teach the younger pupils,
becomes as important a person as the master himself, and probably
knows as much of the dispositions and characters of the scholars
as their own parents do.

Effects of the Day School System on the supply of Scholars in

Local Schools,

It follows, from the want of boarding schools, that no boys from No ex-county
other parts of England come to Northumberland for their educa- boys educated
tion. Some few of the day scholars in Newcastle may live across |" ^orthumber-
the Tyne; but their exceptional presence in a Northumberland
school does not practically affect the general rule, that none but
Northumberland boys are educated in Northumberland. In

282

Mr. Hammond's Report.

BOTS'

Schools,

NOHTHtTMEEB
LAND.

Boys of the
upper middle
class educated
out of the
county.

With an

unimportant

exception.

Norfolk, on the contrary, a large proportion of the boarders at
the better grammar schools come from a distance, — a fact Tvhich
is often cited with dissatisfaction by persons who consider such
schools to have been intended for the sole or special benefit of local
residents; and in the large private school lately dissolved at
Aylsham, out of 80 boarders only a very small number were
natives of the county.

Again, in a great measure from the same cause, the landed
gentry, clergy, professional persons, and wealthier manufacturers
and merchants of Northumberland, almost without exception, send
their sons to be educated out of the county. There is no doubt
a growing disposition on the part of the rich everywhere to
patronize the large public schools, but in Northumberland the
less affluent of the Jiiglier middle class, who cannot afford the
expense of Eton, Harrow, or Rugby, nevertheless prefer such
schools as Rossall, Durham, or the Collegiate Institution at
Liverpool, to any of the Northumberland schools, which, in fact,
partly in consequence of the want of boarders, cannot pretend to
supply a first-class classical or mathematical education. It is true
that the strong accent or " burr," which might be caught from
provincial schoolfellows, is also of the nature of a deterrent; but
the main reason for this migration of boys requiring an education
for the universities or for the learned professions, is that there
are no schools at hand that can completely supply it. This has
not always been the case. The Newcastle Grammar School, for
instance, towards the end of last century counted among its scholars
several who were afterwards distinguished as men of learning
and ability, and a generation later the grammar school at Berwick
was a flourishing classical school. Three pupils who graduated
at Cambridge in 1825, 1828, and 1830 successively, were all
elected Fellows of Trinity. But there is no such education now
imparted in the county, and persons requiring it must look for it
elsewhere.

An insignificant exception to the general rule, that persons of
wealth sends their sons to schools out of the county, may be
found in the case of a few merchants, who have risen rapidly to
wealth and position without much education, and who are at the
same time too indulgent to their children to remove them from
the comforts of home. For their accommodation one or two small
day schools exist, at which the terms are somewhat higher than
usual, though they never exceed 12 guineas per annum. The
teaching and organization of such schools are hardly subjects of
inquirj' under the terms of the Commission, for the masters'
functions do not in general differ from those of a private tutor.
But I saw certainly two schools of this description. They were
remarkable for laxity of discipline and for a want of system and
order. In one especially, the master's great aim was to save his
pupils all possible ti-ouble and all necessity for close application
by conveying his instruction in an amusing and discursive form.
Many persons would be satisfied and even pleased v/ith the
results of this system. It produces a love of information, pro*

Want of Playrfi'ounds and School Tone. 283

vided it can be easily acquired, and an interest in general topics Boys'
of conversation ; but none of the higher faculties of the mind are Schools,
directly trained. The masters of these schools are more de- ^^°^™™^'^-
pendent than any others on the caprices of parents, and the —
parents of their scholars have little earnestness, judgment, or
experience in matters connected with education, which their own
success in life rather inclines them to undervalue and despise.

Accessories and indirect Influences of Schools.

Where there are no boarders, there are generally no play- Want of play-
grounds. Throughout the county the absence or inadequacy of S''°""ds.
places set apart for the recreation of scholars at once strikes a
stranger, though it is not felt or regarded by the parents of the
pupils.

This, vchich follows naturally from the idea of a school as
conceived by the lower middle classes, operates as an additional
motive among the wealthier inhabitants for sending their children
out of the county. For the want of a playground, while it reduces
• a school to the conception of a school-room and teacher, — the ideal
of most Northumberland tradesmen, — prevents the existence of
that esprit de co7-ps and moral tone among the boys, which are
gradually assuming greater importance, as elements of education,
in the estimation of the higher classes. In Northumberland, as
there are, with few exceptions, no playgrounds, so there are no
cricket clubs, foot-ball matches, or other associations for competi-
tion in athletic sports. Such arrangements for games as may be
organized among the boys of a day school are made without the
knowledge of the master, who feels little or no interest in his
pupils when once they are beyond the walls of the school-room.
The only exception that I know of is in the case of Newcastle
Grammar School, where annual swimming matches are encouraged
and attended by the head master.

As the influence of the master is generally not felt beyond the General
limits of the school premises, so that of the boys on one another, "'fl"e°<=e "f
except as rivals in class, is only slight, whether for good or evil, another
and such as it is, it is due to the accidental contact of particular comparatively
boys, and is not regulated by any school feeling or traditionary ^^'Sm-
code. Each individual boy in a Northumberland or Gateshead
school' is an independent unit ; and beyond the school walls
schoolfellowship supplies no element of cohesion or association.

That part, or supposed part, of a boy's education which is
acquired, not from masters, but by the mutual intercourse of
schoolfellows in their daily games and amusements, is not in de-
mand, and is therefore, so to speak, not on sale. The parents *
who take advantage of local schools do not care to allow their
children's habits and principles to be in any way formed or
fixed by free and unrestricted intercourse with companions who
merely happen to be receiving instruction at the same school, but
prefer to keep the direction of these matters in their own hands.
Probably many do not think of the subject at all in connexion

a. c. 3, «•

284

Mr. Hammond's Report.

BOTS'

Schools,
northumbek'

LAND.

Locality of
schools iu
Northumber-
land de-
termined by
the popula-
tion.

No middle-
class schools in
rural districts.

with education : those who do, are of opinion that the morality
of a day school is higher than that of a boarding school ; and this
is the view taken by many masters. But, as from the nature of
the case their experience is quite one-sided, their testimony
cannot be considered conclusive on this point.

It is worth while to remark that the substitution of boarding
schools for day schools would increase the price of education in
Northumberland, and that all encouragement of intercourse be-
tween scholars out of school hours tends to destroy the equality of
ranks within the school walls. This, however, is a subject which
will fall more appropriately into place when I have to describe
the boarding schools of Norfolk.

Distribution and Locality of Schools,
(a) hubal districts.

The circumstance that all schools in Northumberland are day-
schools naturally serves to determine their locality. Except in
the towns and larger villages no schools are to be found of a
higher class than parish schools ; and in every place of sufficient
size some school or schools exist, whicli, whatever their character,
are attended by the children of farmers and tradespeople.

In this respect Northumberland presents another striking con-
trast to Norfolk, where, except in Norwich, Yarmouth, and King's
Lynn, the phenomenon of a middle-class school may be said to be
quite fortuitous and entirely independent of the wants of the im-
mediate neighbourhood. Thus, for instance, there are no middle-
class schools worth noticing in SwafiFham or Wells, though there
are at Fakenham and Diss ; and at Beccles there is a large private
school in spite of the competition of two well-endowed schools. So
at Aylsham the dissolution a few years back of a private school
with 80 boarders did not much affect the educational interests of
the place, though it seriously interfered with the tradesmen's
profits in the town. At East Dereham the best private school for
boys in the county virtually excludes the children of residents,
being strictly confined to boarders, and in like manner the best
ladles' school of any size is in the middle of a country park, six or
seven miles distant from any town of importance.

In Northumberland, on the contrary, the schools follow the
population. Beyond the boundaries of the towns and larger
villages the education of the middle classes, who foi'm a remark-
ably small proportion of the population when compared with that
in other parts of England, is almost entirely afforded by Church
of England National schools supported by landed proprietors, or
by schools of a similar class and character maintained by
different denominations. After the Church of England, the
English Presbyterian church has a numerical preponderance;
but there are also schools in different agricultural parts of the
county kept up by old Roman Catholic families.

All these schools are of a class that would entitle them to
Government grants, and at least half of them are under Govern-

Schools in Rural Districts. 285

ment inspection. For a range of country extending 12 miles In Boys'
all directions round Wooler to the boundaries of Berwickshire Schools,
and Roxburghshire, I could only hear of one private or adven-- NoKiHnMBEK-

turer's school, attended, as I was assured, by less than 20 scholars, ' _'

even at the most favourable season, viz., from Old Martinmas to Educational
Old May Day. All the scholars were described to me as being ?^??'^^"'H?\

1 1 *i 1 p 1 • 1 ^^ trie QlStriCt

the children oi hnids. vma^ Wooler.

In each of the small hamlets which are scattered over this area
there is generally a single school, either National and dependent
on the support of a landed proprietor, or denominational and main-
tained by the prevailing congregation in the place. Thus, for
instance, there are schools of this kind at Doddington, Ford,
Lowick (2), Ancroft, Branxton, Cornhill, Kirk Newton, Brandon,
Chatton, Lillburn Tower, Eglingham, Ingram, Glanton, Whitting-
ham, and perhaps atother places. Of the 15 just enumerated 10
iare under Government inspection, and may fairly be considered
the best specimens of schools affording education to the farming
class in this remote agricultural district. The proportion of pupils
of this class will depend, however, not on the character and quality
of the teaching, which must be accepted, such as it is, but on the
number of farmers within a certain distance from the schools who
may happen to have young families ; and this number is liable of
course to constant fluctuations.

This description of the educational opportunities afforded to
farmers in the district round Wooler applies also to the districts
of which Bellingham and Halt whistle form the chief centres ; and Bellingbam and
these three districts comprise the whole of the northern, western,- HaltwWstle.
and south-western divisions of the county.

Schools of the same description, attended, however, mainly by Eastern coast
the children of colliers and miners, supply the staple of the and southern
village education on the eastern coast and in the southern part of "iistrict.
Northumberland. The schools lie more thickly together as the
population becomes more compact; so that while the farmer is
still compelled to send his children to one or other of them, he
has at least in some cases the advantage of a choice of schools,
which the more western districts do not afford.

Though all the boys and girls of the farming and trading class
in the thinly populated agricultural districts invariably attend
these schools till the age of 13 or 14, some of them (more especially
the girls) are at that age transferred to southern schools "to finish."
I am informed that the practice of attendance at the local schoolj
up to a certain age is invariable, that of a subsequent migration
southwards is not.

It is in these districts, and especially in the neighbourhood of
the collieries and mines, that the effects of State aid to education
have been most evident in superseding the adventurer's school,
which' a generation or two back chiefly supplied the instruction of
all classes in these parts.

X 2

286

Mr. Hammond's Report.

Boys'

Schools,
noethcmbek-

LAND.

(B) TOWNS AND LABGEB TILLAGES.

Havlno- now briefly noticed the case of districtsin Nortbutn-
berland where the education of the whole community is supplied
by a single school, or at best by a limited choice between schools
of the same description, I pass on to the towns and larger
villages, where a certain competition and distinction between
schools exists, and where the farmer and tradesman can exercise
some degree of choice in the selection of a school.

By passing in review the actual middle-class schools to be found
in the most important towns a general idea can be formed of the
kind and quality of instruction which finds most favour with
parents, and is best supplied by schoolmasters. I shall take the
towns in the following order : —

Newcastle
middle-class
schools.
Two large
private schools.

Newcastle.

Morpeth

Gateshead.

Alnwick

North Shields.

Hexham

Berwick.

Blytli.

(«) Newcastle.

The education of the middle classes in Newcastle is chiefly
supplied by three schools, the grammar school and two private
establishments. The two private schools are attended generally
by pupils of a higher class than the grammar school, and the
method of teaching adopted in both of them is better suited for
boys intended for the learned professions. One of them has rather
the character of a modern school. Special attention is paid to
physical science and chemistry, but instruction is given to about
fifty boys in Latin and in mathematics, including a little trigo-
nometry. Some half dozen boys learn Greek and German, and
about one boy in four learns French. Geography, English
history, linglish grammar, and composition are subjects of
considerable importance. The English histoi-y in this school is
particularly good. The school is a boarding school, but not more
than 13 out of nearly 200 boys are boarders.

Tlie second private school is also a boarding school, with about
10 boarders and 90 day scholars. All the boys who have passed
through the preparatory department attached to the school learn
Latin, and about one hoj in four learns Euclid and algebra.
French is taught to about half the scholars, but no instruction is
given in German. The Latin of the higher boys was about the
best in the county, Morpeth and Berwick grammar schools and
the private school last noticed being the only other schools where
any progress is made in the intelligent translation of authors.
Little or no Greek is taught, and in this respect only the instruc-
tion differs from that of a Norfolk classical school.

In these two schools the teaching in the higher classes allows
more scope for individual and original thought among the pupils
than that adopted in the grammar school at Newcastle. A few
of the boys are encouraged to attempt composition in the English

Newcastle Schools, 287

language, and they are more or less habituated to the practice of jjo^s'
writing down their own independent work on paper. On entering Schools,
the last-named school I had no difficulty in collecting a number Nouthdmbek-

of boySj who without any warning or preparation sat down at once '

to answer a paper in arithmetic, Euclid, and algebra, and some of
the work shown up was very satisfactory.

It is in this respect that these schools are superior both Grammar
in their aim and method to the grammar school.* This is not the school.
fault of the latter school, which really professes to perform other
and not less useful functions. It labours under the disadvantage
cf losing its scholars at an earlier age than the otlier schools ; the
scholars themselves are mainly Intended for trade, and the classes
are so large that It is impossible to adjust the teaching to the
capacities of the highest boys without entirely neglecting the
lowest. Very little work Is In consequence written dovvn on
paper by the individual boys, and the instruction is confined to a
careful and accurate grounding in those subjects, or branches of
subjects, which can be taught catechetical ly. The teaching being
thus conveyed by question and answer, much more attention Is
paid in the languages to grammar than to authors, and In
geometry to book-work and the text of Euclid than to problems
and deductions. In the ordinary subjects of an English course,
where the instruction is confined to facts and rules which can be
repeated by word of mouth as satisfactorily as they can be explained
111 writing, this school is almost as perfect as a school can be,
the knowledge of these subjects being very generally and equally
diffused among all the pupils of a large class, and the eagerness
and animation which every boy under examination displays afford-
ing excellent evidence of the success of the teaching. So with
French, Latin, and Greek ; questions In accidence and syntax, so
far as they can conveniently be put by word of mouth, are In
almost every instance answered with amazing rapidity and accuracy.
Euclid and arithmetic are more intelligently taught ; and I have
no hesitation In saying tliat the oral instruction in the text of
Euclid at this school Is the best specimen of teaching of any kind
that I have witnessed at any school.

Yet this school has never sent In a boy to a University local
examination, and probably would not be very successful in any
examination by written exercises. The best pupils at the private
scliools just noticed are more at ease with a paper of questions
requiring some exertion of thought than the grammar school
boys, who in their turn would quite eclipse the former in a viva
voce examination on the Greek and Latin Irregular verbs or the
text of Euclid.

It is for this reason that, notwithstanding the remarkable
efficiency of the teaching In this school, I place it on a lower

* In this and in other parts of my report I have not given any lengthened de-
scription of endowed schools, as a separate account of each is furnished elsewhere.
But I have supplied such particulars respecting the proprietary schools in my district
as are necessary for a complete insight into their constitution and results.

288

Mr, fjammon^s Report.

BoTs'
Schools,
Northumber-
land.

Smaller
academies.

Trinity House
school.

School of Art.

College of
Medicine.

Gateshead

middle-class

schools.

grade than tllPSe; to whicsha student Jias a chance of discoverirvg
for himself some few at least of the principles which underlie the
rules imparted to liira by his teachers. In the grammar school
the best pupils cannot under the present system arrive at that
stage of proficiency, and the school, which is an admirable one
for a boy of moderate abilities and unambitious prospects, is cal-
culated to dwarf and narrow the intellect of a thoughtful youth
capable of aspiring to a higher rank of life.

There are at the most six other schools in Newcastle which may
be considered as socially superior to working men's schools. Oiie
is a prosperous writing school, and another a smaller school of the
same description. The rest are English schools. One of them I
have not examined, but of the others it may safely be affirmed
that all subjects beyond the ordinary English course of reading
and spelling, writing, arithmetic,. geography, and grammar might
be discarded with advantage. The Euclid, algebra, Latin, and
even the' French taught in these schools are quite worthless.

The, nine schools contain about 800 scholars, of whom 530
attend the three more important schools,

. The remaining schools in Newcastle are either National, British,
and endowed charity schools, or else private schools competing with
them. I examined three or four of the private schools of this
class.

There is a Trinity House School of Navigation, but the boys,
who, are about 20 in number, do not receive a special instruction.
It is really a school of a superior description for the children of
small traders and artisans, who are charged sixpence a week^
Theoretically the boys are. supposed to be intended for the sea,
practically, they go into various lines of business.

The School of Art at Newcastle is a successful and useful
institution. The total number of scholars taught by its agency in
186.5 was 2,239. At the time of my visit it contained 483 pupils,
the large majority of whom attended the artisans' classes. These
being cheap classes held in the evening, some boys of the middle
ranks of life take advantage of them. But there are also special
day classes, at a higher fee, both for male and female students,
besides a similar weekly class for teachers and governesses. The
school of art masters do not, however, visit any middle class
schools for boys.

Newcastle contains one professional school, the College of
Medicine, which is connected by express regulation with the
University of Durham.

(5) Gateshead.

The highest education imparted in Gateshead at the time of
my visit was supplied by a private school with about 30 boys, of
-whom four were boarders. But the Anchorage School was seen
by me at a disadvantage, as it had suifered lately from a constant
change of masters.

The instruction given in the private school comprised, beyond
the subjects taught in English schools, Euclid, algebra, history.

Gateshead and North Shields' Schools.

289

IVeiich, and Ijatin. The master had been but a short time in Boys'
Gateshead ; but the method of teaching adopted was sound, and uoKrauMBBK-
the school is likely to do good service. If the Anchorage School land.

should' prove successful under its new master, the competition

between the schools will be useful to both of them. At present
there are not more than 50 boys attending these two schools.

There are two private schools which seem to belong to the
tradesmen's group. One is a very remarkable school of its kind.
The instruction is confined simply to the " essentials," with Eng-
lish grammar ; no geography, history, mathematics, or languages
are attempted. The school is a mixed school ; and the girls are
fully as well trained as the boys. Even the Newcastle Grammar
School cannot compete with this school in the extraordinary
rapidity and accuracy with which almost every scholar answered
the questions, and worked the sums proposed to him. There was
no exercise of thought or reflection in the process; all was effected
by mere strength of memory and smartness of attention. The
application of rules and processes was instantaneous : they were
learnt blindly and punctiliously by heart; and I feel sure that
hot a single principle was understood. The writing of the pupils
in this school is excellent; and though the instruction in arith-
metic is oral, the ciphering book system is partty in use. The
master, whose scholars are very successful in obtaining situations
on the Quay side, explained to me that he did not approve of the
system, but that the merchants required it. One of them had
remarked to him that he considered it equivalent to the gain of
a clerk's salary for one year to have a boy introduced to his office
from a school where " ciphering books " were in vogue.

The other private school is a small unassuming establishment,
where the boys seemed fairly taught English, including geography.

The number of boys in these two schools is about 90.

All the remaining schools in Gateshead are working men's
schools. I visited two, and applied for permission to see a third ;
but those whicli 1 saw require no notice.

There are three small schools in North Shields which are supe- Noith Shields
rior socially to the rest. They do not contain more than 50 boys middle-class
between them. They differ in many respects. The master of
one of them is a gentleman well known in Newcastle and the
neighbourhood for the interest he has always taken in the cause
of education. Some of his pamphlets on the subject are written
with great ability, and he has long kept a school at North Shields,
which was at one time much larger than it is at present. The

, subjects of instruction include Euclid, algebra, and Latin. His-
tory, geography, and French are not taught. A second school,
on. the. contrary, devbteS especial attention to history and general
knowledge. The best description of its nature and objects is
given by the master's own answer to the question — " What are the

"** subjects in your opinion best fitted for the majority of your

290

Mr. Hammond's Report.

BOTS'

, Schools,
nouthumbee-

Berwick

middle-class

schools.

Grammar

school.

Corporation
academy.

" scholars?" It is as follows: "History, reading, geography,
" arithmetic, grammar, composition, politics, news of the day,
" biography, natural history, natural philosophy, book-keeping,
" commercial hand-writing, mental calculation, travels, drawing,
« &c. &c."

A. third school lately established adopts an educational system,
not so rigidly philosophical as that of the first-named school, and
not so discursive as that of the other.

There are two large and useful tradesmen's schools in the town.
The number of boys in them (they are both mixed schools) is
about 150. Both are satisfactory schools of their class, and one
of them especially, from which I regret to find T have received no
returns, passed an excellent examination in the usual commercial
subjects, including geography.

I believe there is only one other school in the town which con-
tains any but working men's children. I asked leave to inspect
it, but was refused. The master gave me, however, to understand
that it competed with the Government schools.

The poorest class in tlie parish of Tynemouth, consisting chiefly
of fishermen, have the advantage of free instructional Kettlewell's
endowed school, which is wrongly classed in the Digest of the
Charity Commissioners' Report as a grammar school.

(d) Berwick,

The endowed grammar school at Berwick is a commercial and
professional school, attended by about 35 day boys. The subjects
taught are, in addition to the usual English course, Euclid,
algebra, history, French, and Latin. There were no boys learn-
ing Greek at the time of my visit.

The chief, if not the only school belonging to the tradesmen's
group, is the Corporation Academy, attended by a fluctuating
number of boys, girls, and infants. At the time of my inspecti)n
there were about 100 boys present.

In my separate report on Berwick Grammar school, it is stated
that in 1632 a voluntary subscription was set on foot for the
maintenance of a Grammar School, which subscription has passed
since 1663 into a customary payment exacted from every freeman
on admission. Some of the earliest subscribers being desirous of
having an English school, the Corporation Academy in a certain
sense owes its existence to this circumstance. It would appear
that the first payment to a schoolmaster out of the town stock
was made in 1652, but it was not till 1798 that the present
building was erected on a playground belonging to the Grammar
School Trust. Since that time the Corporation Academy has
been a very important commercial school.

The school, however, is not open to any but the children of
freemen, and these do not include children from Spittal and
Tweedmouth, which now form part of the borough of Berwick.
The education is quite gratuitous, the school being maintained
by the Corporation at an expense of more than 800/. per annum.
The scholars belong to all ranks in life, and side by side may be

Berwick Schools. 291

found the children of fishermen, tradespeople, and professional Boys'

OOHOOLSf

persons. ^ ^ ^ Nokthumbbk*

The accommodation is not sufficient to allow of an extension of land.

the benefits of the scliool to others besides the children now '

privileged. But it is felt by some that, if the school aceommoda-
lion could be increased, it would be desirable to open the school
to the districts of Spittal and Tweedmouth, and also to the
children of non-freemen. The latter would reasonably be expected
to pay for their education as indeed they do in the similar in-
stitution at Alnwick. Although there would be no injustice in
exacting a small fee from most of the children of freemen attending
the school, such' a payment would be very unpopular and the
opposition to it would probably prove insurmountable.

At the same time the town clerk, a gentleman who from his
experience and position is entitled to pronounce an opinion on the
subject, suggests that an extension of the school can be effected
without imposing any charge for freemen's children.

It appears that the Corporation of Berwick possesses property
to the amount of about 10,000L per ann. After the expenses of
the Corporation (including the interest on a debt of 55,000/.)
have been defrayed, the residue of this property derived from
allotments is divided among the freemen under the name of
" stints and meadows." The town clerk informed me very
candidly that he himself as the oldest freeman received the largest
dividend, something between 10/. and ] 1/. per ann. ; but he
lamented the existence of the ' system and thought that the
residue of the Corporation property, instead of being portioned
out among individual freemen, should be applied to public improve-
ments, and more especially to education. If this could be done
in such a way as not to affect existing interests, there would be a
considerable sum which could be converted to public uses with but
little private loss. My informant considered that In this way
funds would be provided sufficient for such an extension of the
school as is above proposed.

At present the school contains six rooms, one devoted to sewing
under the charge of mistresses, and five class rooms, each with its
separate master. One class-room is a writing school ; one is the
rector's or head-master's own room, with excellent appliances in the
way of desks and maps ; one is the English and one the mathe-
matical master's room; while the fifth is given up to the juniors,
who learn little beyond the essentials. The education is confined to
the usual English course, with French and German. The latter
language seemed to be more satisfactorily taught than in most
schools. But I cannot speak favourably of the general result of my
examination, so far at least as the boys were concerned. In
dictation the boys' spelling was very bad, and their answers to an
arithmetic paper, were equally unsatisfactory. The girls, on
the contrary, did the dictation exercise very correctly, and their
arithmetic was better than that of the boys. In the English
master's room I heard a grammar lesson repeated by a junior

292

Mr. Hammonds Report.

Boys' class. Little or no oral explfiuation was given and the method, of
■ NoOTHOTraEK- teaching was inferior to that generally adopted in Northumberland

XAND.

Private
schools.

Morpetli

middle-class

schools.

Grammar

school.

schools. The best department was apparently the mathematical,
though the mathematics were practical, not scientific in their
character.

The worst feature in Berwick Corporation Academy is the
want of discipline. This is owing to the interference of
parents. Though the school is nominally managed by a com-
mittee of the town council, freemen treat it as their own indi-
vidual property. Boys are excused attendance and removed from
particular classes without the rector's sanction or concurrence;
and some of the rules framed by the committee tend rather
to promote irregularity and to weaken the authority of the
masters.

Yet with many defects the academy is an important institution,
and the girls educated in it receive a sounder instruction than
most of their sex and class. If it were properly managed and its
benefits extended to all residents within the borough, there would
be few more useful commercial schools in Northumberland.

From the practice of caning girls in the presence of boys and
also from the defective provision made for the separate con-
veniences for each sex, it may be inferred that the school was
originally founded on the model of Scotch borough schools and
that no great changes have been introduced since its foundation.

There is now* some plan proposed for making two departments
for boys and girls respectively. It is boped that this may be
effected by acquiring the grammar school premises, should that
school be removed from its present site.

There is one private school in Berwick for boys and girls,
containing about 30 boys, which should perhaps be considered as
a tradesmen's school.

Two others, and one in Tweedmoiith, rank only with the schools
for the working classes.

The education provided for the poorer inhabitants of Berwick
by British, National, or Union schools is said to be very com-
plete of its kind; and the instruction given at the British school
which is attended by the children of many non-freemen of the
middle class, is such as to qualify the best pupils for clerkships
and other situations affording a good opening for commercial life.

(e) Morpeth.

To a boy of ability the grammar school at Morpeth offers the
best education in the whole county of Northumberland. As I
have explained in nay special report on the school, the method
;of teaching is very much the reverse of that adopted at the New-
castle Grammar School.

There were, however, at the time of my visit only three boys
learning Greek ; and in mathematics two boys only had advanced

* See note on p. 278 (1867).

Mai'peth'anS Alnwkk Schools. 293

as far as trigonometry ; but th^se students wei-e emanolpated from Boy^'
the- mere servile acquisition of facts and rules, and having passed j;ro^'Tm3MfiE
through this necessary discipline had arrived at a stage where they land. -

could safely begin to reflect and reason for themselves. The com-

panionship and intercourse of such boys with one another, and the
emulation excited by a comparison of intelligent work, tested by
independent examiners, are elements essential to the success of a
superior school ; and no teacher, however laborious, can supply
the want of them. Even at Morpeth Grammar School these
advantages exist only in a very slight and imperfect degree ; but
such as they are, they give the school, viewed as a place of pre-
paration for a higher course of study, a decided superiority over
all other public schools in the county.

The institution of periodical examinations conducted by gradu-
ates of Durham University, and the competition of scholars from
this school in the Oxford local examinations are the best features
in the educational system ; but it must be admitted that the number
of boys* (30) reaping the benefits of this system is not large, and
that while the senior and junior classes are in a healthy state, the
intermediate classes are not. The same defect was observable in
Hok School} a very similar institution, except that there Greek
was more extensively taught.

As a mere training school for commercial pursuits Morpeth
Grammar School is inferior to many in the county, and notably
to the Grammar School at Newcastle.

There is a " tradesmen's " school in the town, respecting which Private school.
I have no information, but the number of boys attending it does
not exceed 30. It is not a mixed school.

These two schools do not contain more than 70 boys, and three
is no other school in the town above the rank of a National school.

(f) Alnwick.

At Alnwick there are two schools belonging to the " trades- Alnwick
men's school " group, the Corporation Grammar School and the middle-class
Duke's School.

The first of these schools is described in my special report on
endowed schools.

The other is a school founded by a former Duke of Northum- The Duke's
berland, and maintained by bis successors. It was originally school.
instituted for 200 poor boys. The number is now limited to 100,
all of whom are educated free of all expense.

The class of scholars has been raised, not so much by any express
act or resolution, as by the very advantages which the school
affords.

■The limitation of the numbers and the improvement in the
class of scholars have naturally created some- dissatisfaction, and
one correspondent writes to inform me that very many of the

* Since my visit the numbers ha-^e considerably increased. I learn that there are
now 43 boys, of wh6m four are boarders (1867).

NOKTHUMBEK'
LAND.

294 Mr. Hammond^s Beport.

Boys' boys belong to the opulent classes, and that none, or hardly any.
Schools, are admitted who do not show a certain amount of education,
■ Jibility, and aptitude.

The Duke's manager, who gave me every facility for inspecting
the school, explained to me that the changes recently introduced
were not made with any intention of altering the character of the
schoo], but merely to improve its efficiency. The boys belong
chiefly to the poorer classes, but a few are admitted of a higher
grade than the rest. As there is considerable competition for
nominations to the school, all applicants are first examined by
the master, and on his furnishing a satisfactory report the boys
are appointed by the manager as vacancies occur in the school.
In making his appointments the manager is influenced chiefly
by the circumstances and conduct of the parents, subject, however,
in every case to the intellectual test above mentioned.

The beneficial results of this entrance examination upon the
teaching of the school are very evident, and give the master a
great advantage over his rival at the Corporation Grammar
School, where pupils of all grades are admitted without being
required to know anything.

The Duke's School was formerly under Government inspection;
but the late Duke objected to this arrangement, and the yearly
examination of scholars has been discontinued.

There is a good school-room, but no class-room, the manager
fearing that it might be used for the purpose of bestowing extra
attention on the boys of a better class, who in some instances
attend the school. In addition to a playground there are 24
little gardens contiguous to the school, which are awarded to the
best boys, who receive the profits from their cultivation. All the
arrangements connected with this school are pleasing and satis-
factory, and the boys are very well-conducted. They belong to
every rank in life, from the labouring to the professional class,
Hud some of them remain at the school till the age of 15. Few
are admitted under nine years of age, but there is no superior limit
of age for admission.

The school is a Church of England school. Instruction in the
catechism and attendance at church are compulsory. The master,
who has an assistant, is a certificated teacher.

I was much pleased with the vivd voce examination of the
pupils. No languages are taught, but instruction is given in
drawing and in the elements of chemistry.

The drawing, which is educational in its character, was in some
instances very good. Casts of mouldings taken from Alnwick
Castle furnish excellent models.

I set some questions to be answered by the pupils, but the
master apparently does not imderstand the importance of adherinf
rigidly to the rule that a boy's work in an examination should
be strictly his own. The answers, therefore, which I have re-
ceived afford no real evidence of what the boys can put down in
writing, when they are left entirely to themselves.

Hexhdm Schools. 295

In this latter respect the Corporation Grammar School proved Boys'
itself superior to the Duke's School. The pupils in this case Schools,
underwent a strict bond fide examination, and though the result "^^land!^^""

was less satisfactory than in the case of the Duke's School, the

readiness of the master to conform in all respects to the recog-
nized regulations of an examination gave me a better impression
of his views as to tlie real aims and duties of a teacher.

The number of boys at the Corporation School is about 70;
a few learn a little Latin, Euclid, and algebra. The knowledge
of these subjects is, however, scanty and inaccurate, although it
is not so entirely useless as at most private schools of the same
grade.

There is only one private school in Alnwick. The master Private school.
declined my offer to examine it, alleging that in consequence of
the competition of the Duke's School it contained for the most
part the intellectual dregs of the town. The boys belong chiefly
to the humbler classes.

{g) Hexham.

The grammar school at Kexham contained about 30 boys at Hexham
the time of my visit. It is not easy to assign its right place in niifidle-oiass
the classification of schools which I have adopted. The qualifi- Qramm
cations of the master, the method of teaching employed, and the school.
occasional presence of boys who proceed to some higher place of
education, would mark it out as a school of the "commercial and
" professional" class; but the actual social rank of the scholars,
and the pursuits for which they are generally intended, compel me
to regard it as belonging to the second group. It is, moreover,
open to* girls as well as to boys.

The education in arithmetic and English grammar is sound
and good. Some Latin is taught, but history and geography are
almost entirely neglected.

On the day of my inspection the proprietary school at Hexham Troprietary
contained 34 boys and 17 girls. I have already remarked upon school.
the indiscriminate arrangement of the classes in this school,
which is socially, though not educationally, a better school than
the grammar school. I have also reported that the admission of
girls is necessary to make the school self-supporting.

The school was originally established by two or three residents
whoj being desirous of obtaining a good education for their own
children, clubbed together and built a school-room. They then
engaged a master and mistress very much in the same maimer as
farmers engage an " adventurer " in a rural district. In course
of time they admitted the sons and daughters of other residents,
and at present the school is open to all persons who are willing
to pay 4/. and 6Z. per annum respectively for children under or
above the age of twelve. The other school charges do not
exceed 8s. per annum ; but music and drawing are extras, the
former at four guineas and the latter at two guineas per annum.

* The school is no longer attended hy girls (1867).

LAND.

296 Mr. Hammond's Report.

Boys' The school belongs to three gentlemen, who guarantee that the

T<r^™°,!!^;„ master's salary shall not be less than 100?. a year. They allow
the master to use his discretion in the internal management o\
the school, and to appoint his assistant master and governess,
subject to their approval ; but they exercise a control over the
dismissal of the teachers, the admission and expulsion of pupils,
the studies, discipline, and conduct of examinations. They derive
no pecuniary advantages from the school, and the receipts, which
are collected by the master, are devoted to maintaining and
increasing its efficiency. Out of them are paid salaries, rent, and
all expenses. The balance forms the master's income, and is
estimated at 200Z. per annum. The assistant's salary is 50/. per
annum. The governess, who teaches sewing, music and drawing,
and (if required) a junior English class, receives 601. a year.
The school is not connected with any religious denomination, and
no provisions are made for formal religious instruction, nor is
any one responsible for it, but the school vrork begins, as in many
Northumberland schools, with extempore prayer.

Discipline is enforced by detention in school, by " poenas " aad
caning, inflicted publicly. There is an open space of two acres
round the school which serves for a playground. Some pupils
come in every day from a distance of two mUes and dine in the
school-room; but the majority of the boys are resident in the
town.

There are three departments in the school : the classical, com-
mercial, and English departments.

In the classical department about twenty* pupils were learning
French and Latin. Nine had just begun German. In the com-
mercial department all were learning writing and arithmetic ;
four were learning geometry, and five algebra. Mensuration and
book-keeping are classed under this department, but there were
no pupils in these subjects.

In the English department all learnt Scripture, reading and
geography. Some were learning grammar, including syntax and
analysis, composition, and dictation. History is not taught.

Fourteen boys learnt drawing as an extra.

I had great difficulty in obtaining answers from the scholars in
consequence of their exceeding shyness. More than twice the time
requisite in a school like Newcastle Grammar School was spent in
extracting from both boys and girls knowledge which they perhaps
all possessed, but which only a Tew would disclose. Thus only two
boys and one girl could be induced to answer in English gram-
mar, two boys in Latin and F'rench, and one girl in the latter
language. I was more successful with the second class in geo-
graphy, which was on the whole satisfactory. The youngest chil-
dren were very good in dictation.

* In this number girls are included. The boys receiving instruction in Latin
French, German, and mathematics were 16, 11, 4 and 5 respectively. Three learnt
music and 14 learnt drawing as extras. Eight are returned as students in physics,"
and the same nufflber in English literature.

Blyth Schools. 297

In arithmetic, I examined boys and girls of all ages, but the Bo^s'
result vvas not good. NoI™«b'ek-

Though the children were extremely modest and well behaved, laud.

the discipline appeared to be lax. The pupils were orderly enough,

but they lacked earnestness and were incapable of sustained
attention. Not only did I fail to extract answers from a majority
of the pupils, but I could not prevent them from examining each
other's slates or helping their neighbours. They were more
impatient than children at most Northumberland schools, at being
detained a few minutes beyond the school hour.

There is an excellent school-room, capable of holding eighty
scholars, there is also a class-room attached to it, and chiefly used
by the girls for their special subjects, sewing and music.

The only other school in Hexham is a private school of tVie Private school.
lowest class. I visited it, and found the scholars, boys and girls,
very deficient. The fault can hardly be ascribed to the master,
who attempts to teach 86 children single-handed. The education
was certainly not fit for any one who aspired to rise above the
raqk of a labourer or unskilled mechanic. A few arithmetical
processes and grammatical rules are learnt by rote, but nothing
of any kind was understood bj' a single child.

(7i) Bli/th.

There is a commercial school in Blyth attended by about 45 Blyth middle-
boys.* It is not a mixed school, but I assume that the lowest class <=l^ss schools.
is represented in it, as I noticed some of the boys were without
shoes or stockings.

The education given is confined to commercial subjects, with
tbe outlines of geography ; a little smattering of Latin crops out
now and then in the teaching, as, for instance, in the derivation of
words occurring in a reading lesson. But the real substance of
the instruction given in this school, which makes it, I think, the
best private tradesmen's school I saw in Northumberland, is to
be found in the English grammar and the commercial arith-
metic. The English grammar was inferior to that at Morpeth
and Hexham Grammar Schools only because the masters of these
two schools have had the advantage of learning other languages
besides English, but it was not surpassed in any other Northum-
berland school; and the commercial arithmetic was still better.
Except the Euclid lessons at Newcastle Grammar School, I have
heard nothing so intelligent as a lesson in arithmetic, in which
the master catechetically taught his junior pupils how to work
and explain a sum in "reduction." The arithmetic, however,
was confined to the practical commercial rules, and none of the
boys could point a sum in simple division of decimals.

Another school at Blyth, which 1 visited, was a purely working
men's school, containing 86 children.

* The master of this school reports that seven of his scholars have proceeded
during the last three years to Edinburgh University. No boy certainly could be
prepared at a school of this kind for either Oxford or Cambridge.

298

Mr. HammoncPs Report.

EoTs" I was informed by the incumbent of Blyth that the children of

Schools, professional gentlemen, such as surgeons, &c., often go to the
°^™^^^^' National school for elementary instruction.

(«) Smaller towns and villages.

In no other place in Northumberland is there a single school
essentially different from a parish school. Some, however, of the
country towns or villages have two or more schools of this
class.

Allendale. ^t Allendale, besides the Brideshill Grammar School, there is a

proprietary school vested in certain trustees, who represent different
religious denominations. It is of exactly the same educational
character as the endowed school, and the subjects of instruction
are almost entirely confined to the " essentials." Owing in some
measure to the inefficiency of the late grammar school master, it
has been well attended by children of both sexes. The girls are
not taught needlework, and the scholars are annually examined
by a British and Foreign Inspector. The numbers were 43 boys
and 13 girls, aged from 5 to 13, all taught by a single master. "

At Wooler and at Belford there is a National as well as a
Presbyterian School. All four schools are under Government
inspection. In both places the Presbyterian school was repre-
sented to me as affording the better instruction, and as attended
by the few scholars of a higher class who might be in want of
schooling. • I therefore selected these two schools for inspection
They differ in no respect from ordinary Government schools. The

Belford. Belford school is under a certificated master and mistress, and

a little geography is added to the usual branches of instruction.
The school premises are remarkably good, and being very supe-
rior to those of private schoolmasters of the same class, while
the teaching is satisfactory of its kind, it is not surprising that a
third school at Belford, conducted by a private master, has been
.obliged to withdraw from competition. The numbers at Belford
Presbyterian School were 91 boys, girls, and infants, most of them

Wooler. being the children of hinds. At the Wooler school the master

sometimes has a French or Latin pupil ; but the quality of the
instruction given in these languages is not good, and the operation
of the Revised Code will probably restrict the subjects for the
future to the essentials with geography. The numbers on the
day of my visit were 51 boys and 27 girls, but in the winter
months they sometimes reach 140.

At Haltvvhislle, Stamfordham, and Ponteland there are en-
dowed schools, and in each village a private or adventurer's
establishment as well. At Hallwhistle I examined both schools;
■ Stamfordham. at Stamfordham I visited the endowed school, and at Ponteland
the private school. All were mixed schools, chiefly resorted to

Halt-nhistle. by tlie children of hinds or labourers. The Haltwhistle private
school was, in respect of the condition of the scholars, somewhat
better than the rest, and four of the boys were just beginning

Ponteland. Latin. At the Ponteland school an older lad was studying

Schools in small Towns. 299

mensuration. All these schools lose a large proportion of their Boys'
scholars during the summer months, and practically no i-eal Schools,
progress is made in anything except reading, spelling, writing, Northumbek-

and ciphering. J '

At Bellingham there are three schools for the poor. One, an Bellingham.
endowed school under Government inspection, I visited and found
to be simply a National school. The others are a British and a
Roman Catholic School in no wise superior to it. But about five
miles from Bellingiiam there is a small adventurer's school, in con-
nection with the English Presbyterian Church, v/hich is probably
the best of its kind in the county. The fanners sometimes send
their sons to board at houses in tiie neighbourhood of the school,
m order that they may enjoy the advantages of the teaching there
given. But there were no such boarders at the time of my visit,
and the instruction was confined to purely English subjects,
including geography and English history.

I did, however, see a youth in the town of Bellingiiam who had
been prepared at this school for the University of Durham, and has
since passed his entrance examination. He told me that he had
read portions of Greek plays and of Horace's Satires, and that he
had advanced in mathematics as far as conic sections ; but on
inquiry it turned out tliat he knew nothing of the nature or pro-
perties of the curves, and that he had merely got up some rules of
thumb from Nesbit's Mensuration for the measurement of parabolic
and other areas. In fact, his acquaintance with the simpler
geometric conceptions and proofs was limited to a knowledge of
the definitions and of a few early propositions in the first book of
Euclid.

The school seldom contains scholars requiring more than a
good parish school education, but, owing to the superior qualifi-
cations of the master and the comparatively limited number of
pupils in so remote a spot, it is possible that now and then a
plodding boy of some ability could be trained at the school so as
to pass the examinations for an ordinary university degree. But
the normal functions of the school are exactly the same as those
of a superior parish school.

At Kothbury the endowed school supplies a sound elementary Rothbmy.
education to all- the boys in the town, including the sons of farmers
and tradesmen, and occasionally of some professional persons. Eor
instance, at the time of my visit the son of a Presbyterian clergy-
man was receiving instruction there. Tiie education is too good
of its kind to allow of any real competition, and the only boys
not attending the school are young boys, who are taught in a small
mixed establishment kept by a lad}'.

At Haydon Bridge Grammar School, although the education is HaydonBridge
not so satisfactory as at Rothbury, the privilege of free instruction
open to all residents prevents the establishment of a private school
in the village. This, however, is not always the result produced
by the existence of a free school in a small place, as may be seen
from the instances of Stamfordham, Ponteland, and Haltwhistle.

a. c. S. Y

300 Mr. Hammonffs Report.

Boys' It appears that when the master is not in a decidedly superior

Schools, social position to the parents of his pupils, the latter prefer to see

NoMHUMBEK- ^ gpppjjj ggj^pgj established in their village, partly because it pro-

!:^" motes competition and partly because it gives them an opportunity

of indulging any private pique they may feel against either

teacher. This leads sometimes to periodical migrations ot scholars

to and from either school, — an evil complained of by more than

one schoolmaster in their ansvi'ers to the schedules of questions.

Schoolmasters, their Social Position and
Qualifications.

Social position The Social position of schoolmasters in Northumberland depends,
mastor'" '^^ course, to some extent, upon the recognition of their qualifica-
tions. As my business was to examine learners, not * teachers, I
feel some delicacy and difficulty in alluding to this subject ; but a
few facts which came under my notice, may be useful as illustra-
tive of particular cases, though they should not be considered as
data for any general conclusions.
Graduates. Yive masters of grammar schools and two private schoolmasters

are graduates of Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin. I do not know
the precise number of Durham, London, and Scotch graduates;
but I think that there are five or six.
Certificated The number of certificated teachers conducting private schools

teachers. jg very small, but there are some employed in endowed and in

parish schools. The master of the Duke's School, Alnwick, holds
a certificate.
Other school- Of the persons conducting commercial or English schools few
masters. appear to have any credentials beyond their experience and

success, which, when properly established, may fairly be recognised
as certificates in themselves. Some few masters have appended
titular initials to their names (E.C.P. and F.E.I.S.) ; and^ one
Their qualifica- Styles himself at full length a Senior Licentiate of the Educational
tions for Institute of Scotland. The best evidence of his qualifications is

teac mg. furnished by himself in his answers to the printed questions, e.g.,

Question. What system of rewards and prizes is in use in the school? —
Answer. No rewards nor prizes in use ; but the cleverst boys get to be dux of
his class.

Question. Is the school classified .... separately for every subject or group
of subjects? — Answer. Seperately for every subject.

* In 1865 schoolmasters were appointed to Allendale and Haydon Bridge
Endowed Schools. In both cases there was a competitive examination of candidates.
At Allendale the schoolmaster elected held a Government certificate. At Haydon
Bridge it is necessary that the head master should he in priest's orders, and the
gentleman appointed had graduated in honours at Cambridge. The examination of
candidates for the head mastership is prescribed by the deed of foundation. It was
stated to me that of the competitors for the vacant post two had distinguished
themselves beyond the rest, one by his answers in mathematics, the other by the
excellence of his Latin verse composition. The latter was eventually selected.
Haydon Bridge School is practically little better than a parish school, and for
many years there has not been a schoolboy in the whole county of Northumberland
who could write a single line of Latin verse.

Qualifications of Schoolmasters. 301

Question, What difficulties, if any, do you find in the discharge of your Boys'
duty? — Answer. None in particular, unless defective accomodation, which. Schools,
under present circumstances, cannot be remedied. Nokthumeer-

Question. Would it, in your opinion, be an advantage or otherwise, if your land.

school were examined annually, and publicly reported on by independent

examiners? — Answer. Yes; provided my accomodation was satisfactory.

Question. If such examiners are desirable, how should they be appointed? —
Answer, By profFessional gentlemen in the neighbourhood, who have received a
collegian education.

In answer to question 43, it is stated that the ordinary school
education supplied to his pupils is sufficient without supplementary
aid to prepare a boy of good ability for " Scholarships at the Scotch
Universities ; " but in reference to the other competitive examina-
tions specified in the question, it is added " that his (the master's)
*' attention has not been directed to them."

It must not be imagined that the above answers afford a fair
specimen of the literary culture of Northumberland school-
masters in general ; but I have received a few returns and letters
which are not quite faultless in point of spelling, and without
attaching undue importance to mistakes of this nature, I think it
right to record all that are to be ascribed to ignorance. One
teacher w^rites seperately , a second untill, a third circumstenceS) a
fourth occurrance and theorettically, while a fifth sends the fol-
lowing sentences in a letter : — " If the artificers have the material
" prepaired, the work will commence this week, but 1 have not
■" been able to asceria\n possitively, &c., &c.''*

The educational course expected by ])arents from commercial
schoolmasters is so unscientific in quality and so limited in quan-
tity, that no particular credentials are necessary from persons
professing to supply it. They must, of course, be able to read and
write fairly and to cipher pretty correctly ; but their success will
depend on their moral qualities rather than on their intellectual
culture. In addition to a certain fondness for teaching and power
of management, tact, common sense, methodical habits, patience,
firmness, and evenness of temper are the really important requi-
sites. A room furnished with a few desks and maps and an
assortment of the cheapest books from which some modicum of
knowledge may be extracted, are the materials to work with. All
the geography and grammar necessary in the opinion of most
merchants and parents for future clerks or shop assistants can be
learnt by an intelligent and industrious man in the course of a
fortnight. And no other subjects are required.

It is only when such a master oversteps his mark that his defi-
ciencies betray themselves. The temptation to do so does not

* On the part of Norfolk schoolmasters only two instances of false spelling came
under my notice. One wrote perigrinations in a letter addressed to me; another, a
certificated teacher, not only yf rote fourty in an arithmetic paper set to his scholars,
bat in correcting their exercises on English grammar invariably substituted
comparitive for comparative wherever the word occurred. The opposite fault of
leaving real blunders uncorrected was more frequent, and I have alluded to it in
another part of my report ; but this I ascribe to carelessness and not to ignorance.

T 2

302

Mr. Hammond^s Report.

Boys'

Schools,

nokiiidmeer-

liAND.

Adventurers.

often occur; but in one school especially the master seemed bent
on a voluntary display of his ignorance. Greek, Latln,_ Ancient
History, and Euclid supplied him with various opportunities, and
he blundered in all. It is not necessary to specify the nature of
the mistakes made; but they were such as a public school boy of
fourteen would have been punished for. Latin was professedly
tawo-ht in this school ; i.e., Cossar and Virgil were read. Not one
boy could decline the relative pronoun, or give the perfect passive
of amo. False quantities were incessant, but I do not attach
much importance to them in the north, as they are generally dis-
regarded. The only time I heard the quantity of a Latin word
noticed was by a Scotch graduate. A boy read the word feriilis in
his delectus, and was corrected and told to call \t fertllis.

But even in schools where the education is confined to English,
the method of teaching grammar and arithmetic at once marks
the difference between the really competent and incompetent
man. Some few of the Northumberland schoolmasters, conduct-
ing quite second rate schools, were men not only of skill and
experience in teaching, but gifted also with great natural sagacity
and acuteness. But in point of literary and scientific attainments,
none appeared to me at all equal to a self-taught private school-
master in Norfolk, whose acquaintance I had an opportunity of
making during my inspection. In their methods of teaching, in
the variety of their knowledge, and in the earnestness of their
desire to add to it, three or four old fashioned schoolmasters in
Northumberland were superior to any certificated teacher I have
met with.

Socially non-graduate masters of flourishing commercial schools
occupy much the same position as the parents of their best pupils.
Private schoolmasters of this class, being free from the care and
trouble of boarding establishments, are more independent in their
relations with their supporters than they are in Norfolk.

I have ali'cad}' referred to a class of schoolmasters in the rural
districts, who are specially called " adventui'ers." The system
which they represent is, I understand, not unlike that of the
parish schools in Scotland, except that it is purely voluntary. In
Scotland, as I am informed, the heritors of different parishes when
appointing a schoolmaster, assign to him a salary between the
limits of 35Z and 70/. per annum, regard being had to the size
of the parish and the other emoluments which may ex officio
accrue to the schoolmaster. The average amount is from 55Z. to
'60/. per annum, and my informant considers that such an average
is a proof of liberality on the part of the heritors generally.

In Northumberland the guaranteed income is sometimes as low
as 30/., a sum less than the total amount received in money and
kind by ordinary hinds or labourers. The "adventurer,' there"
fore, is generally inferior to a Scotch parish schoolmaster, many of
whom are persons of some learning or scientific culture.

I heard some amusing accounts of the habits of the « adven-
turer " class, and as the same description of them was very general

NOKTUCMBEE-
LAND.

Adventurers in Rural Districts. 303

wherever tlie class was known, I cannot consider it as altogether Boys'
calumnious. Schools,

At one place I had been informed casually of a school as exist-
ing somewhere in the neighbourhood, and I expressed an intention
to go in search of it. " You will never find it," I was told, "it
is only a byre with a mud floor." My informant added that it
was in a very desolate situation, and that at that season (harvest
time) there would only be half a dozen scholars. Between Novem-
ber and May there might be a dozen or twenty. ISText day, on
repeating my inquiries, I was assured that I need not give myself
any further trovible, for the master had been seen frequently of
late in the village in a state of semi-intoxication, which was a sure
proof that the business was dull, or that the school was up for
harvest.

In another part of the country I was told by a clergyman
that farmers did not object to the schoolmaster indulging on
Saturday nights, if he could measure land, and would keep sober
for his work on lawful days.

At a third place the master did not observe the last named
stipulation, and the school was constantly shut up for a day or
two in consequence. In this case the guarantee was so low, that
a gardening job or other like work was frequently more remunera-
tive than teaching. Thus his school, which he had kept for
several years, was sometimes closed for a twelvemonth at a time.
In this instance the farmers had the alternative of an endowed
school, but they seemed to like competition. When dissatisfied or
piqued with the endowed schoolmaster, they opened fresh negotia-
tions with the adventurer, commenced a new subscription list and
set the school at work again.

In a fourth village containing an endowed school a person
lately removed on the ground of immorality from an appointment
in a neighbouring vi'orkhouse had just opened a private school
iit the time of ray visit. It was decidedly the more popular school
of the two. The master's success was apparently not affected by
the circumstances which had obliged him to open an adventurer's
school, and it could scarcely be due to his intellectual fitness, for
he is the Senior Licentiate of the Educational Institute of
Scotland i-eferred to in a former page (p. 300).

In another place the private schoolmaster (not a guaranteed
adventurer, I think) informed me that harvest holidays not only
suited the boys for field work, but fell in with his own arrange-
ments; " for I hold my sales in September," he added. I learnt
afterwards that he was the postmaster and auctioneer of the
village.

A sixth schoolmaster, apologizing for the scanty information
contained in his returns, writes as follows: — "Besides, I am par-
" ticularly occupied in making out surveying calculations and
" accounts for farmers beside us. They let their fields of
" potatoes, &c. at a rate per acre to families in town. Lots vary
" from 1 drill to upwards of 30 drills, I have more than 120

304

Mr. Hammond's Report.

Bom'

•SCHOOLS,
'KOUTHUMBEE-

Pi'oprietors of
inferior town
schools.

School accom-
modation in
Northumber-
land.

'" lots from one farmer ; properly they should be all given in
" before the farmers settle with their reapers. It i«, therefore,
" impossible for me to give averages and details so minutely as I
" would otherwise have done."

It will be seen from the above account that the adventurer or
private schoolmaster in rural districts is poorly remunerated and
obliged to depend on other sources of income besides his
school. Even when he is entitled to respect by reason of his
ability and conduct his inferiors speak of him in patronising
terms. The ostler of the village inn who drove me over to a
school, kept, I should imagine, by the ablest teacher of this class,

volunteered the remark that " Mr. was a vara intelligent

" young mon." Mr. •■ proved to be a man of some education

and the highest respectability, and to judge from his appearance
ten years older than his panegyrist.

The teachers of the lowest class of town schools are subjected to
all the social disadvantages incidental to a laborious and ill-paid
calling. As parents often select these schools because they will
not pay ready money, and as they are constantly removing their
children from one school to another, it will be imagined that these
schoolmasters have often a hard struggle to make ends meet.
One schoolmaster writes as follows : — " I may here take the
" liberty to remark that the fees are paid weekly, and are as
" follows : Reading ScZ., with writing Ad., with arithmetic 6<f.,
" and English grammar 8cf Weekly payments prevail in all
" the schools of the town, with the exception of the Corporation
" schools and one private school. The fees are, of course, too
" low to realize a respectable living to the teacher of such a
" school as mine, but in the other schools they are subsidized by
■' the Government giant, and are in consequence adequate to
'•' cover all expenses. Weekly schools ought, in my opinion, to
" be discouraged, as they are great hindrances to the pupil's
" improvement. As the teacher has hold of his scholar only for
" the week he has prepaid the fee, he has no heart to enter
'• earnestly upon the task of tuition, finding from daily experience
" that the more faithfully he performs his duty the greater will be
" the certainty of his pupils removing and going to another school.
" There is not a boy in my school, or in that of any other in the
" town, but has yearly made the circuit of the wliole schools."
The competition, moreover, was represented to me as being very
severe in Newcastle. One master asserted that there were sixty
private schools such as his. They are held often in small, over-
crowded, and unhealthy rooms situated in dingy streets ; but still
the teachers impressed me as being often in point of intellect
superior to the writing schoolmasters. For instance, their instruc-
tion is mainly oral and their arithmetic taught on the black board.

School Buildings.
The schoolroom accommodation in all classes of Northumber-
land schools is very inferior to that in Norfolk. I have just
alluded to the humbler establishments in Newcastle belonging to

School Buildings.

305

private schoolmasters, and the same description applies to other
private schools in large towns. In many cases school is held in
small dwelling houses never designed for the purpose. The
rooms were often hot and stifling when I visited them in ilie
autumn, and could not be tidy or healthy at any time. In one
of these schools I envied a boy who had come without his jacket,
and in another school of a better class the heat was so oppressive
that with every window open all the children were in a state of
chronic and profuse perspiration. Sometimes, however, private
schoolmasters hire the basement floors of dissenting chapels;
others again, including adventurers in rural districts, are pro-
vided with buildings erected originally as schools. These build-
ings are naturally more convenient, but they are never furnished
with a second or class room, and generally the appliances for
writing are old fashioned and defective. In the writing schools,
which almost invariably consist of a single room, there is more
neatness and order, and the method of instruction requires an
ample supply of desks and materials necessary for writing; but
maps and blackboards are dispensed with. These, however, are
always to be found in the tradesmen's schools, which I have
classed as English schools, and in such schools the educational
apparatus is generally sufficient, even when they are held in
ordinary dwelling houses, as is not unfrequently the case with
small schools. The schoolroom is sometimes formed out of two
or more rooms by the removal of partition walls, but such an
arrangement is never so satisfactory as the erection of a separate
school building. Still parents in Northumberland really care but
little about school accommodation, and the ideas prevalent on
this subject are very much the same as those entertained by all
classes in all parts of England forty or fifty years ago. Whatever
improvements have been introduced into Northumberland in this
respect are due to the spontaneous action of schoolmasters and
school managers. Thus the best school buildings in the county
are generally the most modern,* and belong to endowed or
proprietary establishments. The Grammar School at Morpeth,
the Duke's School and the Corporation School at Alnwick, and
the Proprietary School at Hexham, are among the best, being
large, clean, commodious, and well ventilated, although the
Morpeth School is the only one with a class room always
available for the general work of the school. The Grammar
School at Newcastle is held in a private dwelling house, quite
unadapted to the requirements of a large school, and though the
premises are spacious, the arrangements for the several classes
are out of date and very inconvenient. On the contrary, the
largest private school in Newcastle is very complete and well
arranged, and for a school of its numbers it is far the best

- Boys'

Schools,

NoRTHnMBEK-
LAND.

* Of the older school buildings in the county the most substantial and commodious
are those belonging to th« endowed schools of Haydon Bridge and Rothbury and to
. the Corporation Academy at Berwick.

306

Mr. Hammond's Report,

Boys'
Schools,

koethumdek-

LAND.

in the county. It contains nine very good class rooms, two
or more of which can, by the removal of partitions, be formed
into a lono- lecture room whenever occasion requires. Each
master has his own room, v.hicli leads to an inconvenient practice
of hourly shifting whole classes from one room to another, a
practice which interferes with the orderly pursuit cf study, and
takes up considerable time. It certainly would seem more con-
venient and natural to shift the teachers instead of the classes.
The other important school in Newcastle occupies two large
houses thrown into one in the modern part of the town. The
accommodation, intended for about 100 boys, consists of five
class rooms, one a preparatory department under the charge of a
lady, and the others appropriated to the master and his assistants,
each of whom usually retains his own class and class room. The
class rooms are large enough for 30 boys each, but there is no
school room proper. On the other hand, the best private schools
in Gateshead and North Shields, though comparatively small
schools, have each a sufficiently large schoolroom, built expressly
for the purpose, but no class rooms.

School Assistants.

Staff of assis-
tants in-
Sufficient,

Tiie question of school accommodation is not unconnected with
that of school assistants. In schools where the work is conducted
in a single room there is generally but one assistant, if any ; on
the contrary, when the scholars are distributed among several
class rooms there must be an assistant for each room. In inferior
schools, as I have already remarked, the only assistance is that
given by a pupil teacher or by some relative of the proprietor.
This kind of assistance is usually not good for much ; that of pupil
teachers especially seemed to me worse than inefficient. The
alternative plan of dispensing with assistance altogether cannot
possibly be adopted in a school with more than 50 pupils, though
I saw two or three schools in which the master attempted to deal
single-handed with 80 or 90 scholars,
tut economized In writing schools, assistants are not so necessary, as the master's
by the practice duty is confined mainly to the inspection of copy books, and he
troubles himself very little with oral teaching or explanation. At
the same time oral teaching in a properly organized English
school tends to economize the teaching power, if the object be to
bring up large classes to a respectable standard without encou-
raging boys of special ability. Thus at Newcastle Grammar
School there are on an average 220 boys receiving instruction
from six teachers, one teacher being always off duty; and at the
Duke's School, Alnwick, a hundred boys are efficiently taught by a
master with one assistant. On the average one teacher to 35 boys
is found sufficient wlierever the instruction is imparted rather with
the view of arousing the attention than of developing the reason-
ing powers of the boys. But in Norfolk semi-classical schools,
such for instance as Saham Toney College, a teacher cannot take
in hand so large a number and at the same time prepare any con-

ing.

Price of Education. 307

siderable proportion of his scliolars for a formal examination by Boys'
means of written exercises. And for the same reason if any change NoimroMBEK-
were introduced into the method of teaching now popular in North- land.

uniberliind schools, so as, for Instance, to prepare boys for tiie Uni-

versity Local Examinations, I believe it would be found that scliools
such as Newcastle Grammar School and the Duke's School at
Alnwick would require an increase in their staff of assistants. This
in fact is to a certain extent proved by the case of schools which
attempt a higher course of education. In the two large private
schools at Newcastle there is a teacher for every 20 boys, and at
Berwick and Morpeth Grammar Schools, which, however, ought
to contain a larger number of scholars, there is a teacher for
every 15.

The only information I can give as to the salaries of assistants in School assis-
private schools may be gleaned from the tables appended to this tints' salaries,
report. The salaries are certainly lower than in Norfolk, no
assistant receiving more than 60Z. per annum, with board and lodg-
ing. At Hexham Proprietary School, a school which, without
departing from local customs, represents the most modern develop-
ment of middle-class opinions on the subject of education, the
assistant-master receives 50/., and the governess 60/. per annum.
At* Berwick Corporation Academy the mathematical master
receives 100/. per annum, and the other male assistants (three in
number) 80/. per annum each. In the endowed schools the
assistants' stipends, though generally higher than in private
schools, are so low as to preclude all hope of securing the services
of an English graduate. The work of assistance in all Northum-
berland schools is accordingly undertaken by an inferior class of
teachers. What, however, is wanting in knowledge and ability is
to a certain extent supplied by zeal and laborious exertion. Thus,
in Newcastle Grammar School, v/liere the assistants are perhaps
the best in the county, the satisfactory state of the teaching is in
a great measure due to them, although they are only qualified to
impart instruction in a mechanical way, very much as an average
certificated master would. The efficiency of the Grammar School
at Rothbury is in the same way attributable to the exceptional
qualifications of the assistant master, who receives only 80/. per
annum for his services.

Pkick of Education.

The low rate of payment to assistants and to teachers generally Day scholars,
is the natural result of a low current price of education. In the
private schools which I have classed as working men's schools
the cost to a labourer is at least as great as in a National school,
but parents of a higher grade availing themselves of these schools,
whether in towns or in rural districts, get the advantage of what
may be called labourers' terms. Thus in the " weekly " schools, Weeklyschools.
instruction —

* The rector or head master has a salaty of 180/. per annum and a residence.

308

Mr, Hamrrtond's Report

Boys'
Schools,

NoiiTHUMBEJR-
LAND.

Tradesmen's
schools.

Commercial
and profes-
sional schools.

In reading is to be had for 3d. per week, r, ' '

In reading and writing for 4d. per week.
In reading, writing, and arithmetic for 6d. per week.
And in the same subjects (with grammar) for 8d. per week.

The " quarterly " schools of the same class oifer much the
satne terms, instruction in all the four branches taught being
charged for at the rate of about 30s. per annum.

The charges in tradesmen's schools generally vary, not ac-
cording to the elementary subjects taught, but according to the
ages of the pupils. Four guineas per annum is the usual average
for boys above ten years of age, two or three guineas being the
charge for yoimger boys. But in these schools the ancient and
modern languages are almost invariably extras, not often asked
for and of very bad quality when supplied. Drawing also is very
little taught in Northumberland private schools of this class, and
the above average charges are not supposed to include it. At
Hexham Proprietary School, where the general school fee for a
course including Latin, French, and German, is 41. per annum
for children (boys and girls) under 12 years of age, and 61. per
annum for all others, drawing is an extra for which the annual
charge is two guineas. This school is, with one exception, as
^expensive as any of its class in the county. The exception is a
small" school in North Shields, where the annual fee is 12 guineas,
not because of any peculiar educational advantages offered by the
teacher, but in consideration of its somewhat exclusive character.
The school is too unimportant to notice, were it not that it is,
as far as I know, the only instance of a school in Northumberland,
where the current price is raised by considerations of a social
nature. It is also remarkable that the master of this school com-
plained more bitterly than any other of the insufficiency of his
remuneration.

The four schools which stand first in order in the appended
tables for Northumberland are the* only private schools in the
county in which a boy can possibly obtain any real knowledge of
Latin or mathematics. In these schools the terms are higher.
They are highest in the first school on the list, which is an old
established school of good reputation, educationally superior to
all the Norfolk private schools which admit day-boys. The terms
in this school, exclusive of extras, of which there is a long list,
are 8 guineas, 12 guineas, and 16 guineas for boys under 10, above
10, and above 14 years of age respectively. The second school
in the tabular list has furnished no information as to the school
fees for day boys. But except at these two schools and the small
school in North Shields just noticed, there is not a single day boy
at a Northumberland or Gateshead school whose education (every
subject included) costs more than eight guineas per annumf ;

* I ought to except School No. 6 in the tables, -which I was not permitted to
inspect. . .^ . _

t This is the charge for non-freemen's sons at Berwick Gra^mmar School. '

Boarding Schools,' 309

and tlie average ptice of education fif tlie two large private schools 'Boss'
■send '.the working ' men's schools be left out of account) would Sohwoi-s,
certainly be under 51. per annum. NoKTHtrMBiiE-

- Tins average price is lower than in Norfolk, but the terms for

boalrders are not. The reasons for this I shall explain in another Terms for
part of my report. At present I shall merely give the amounts ^"'"■''^®''^
of bills charged at the three boarding schools which have supplied
information on this point. Two of them are the two leading
private schools in Newcastle, and the third is a newly-established
school in Gateshead.

The highest bills for the year 1864 in these schools were
respectively,

63Z. As. 6d. ; 591. 3s. 2d. ; and 42?. 0*. Qd.

The lowest were,

42?. 3s. 9c?. ; 33?. Os. Od. ; and 30?. Os. Od.

The average being,

48?. 175. Id; 43?. 13s. 6d.; and 36?. Os. Od.

The several items of which two of these series of bills are
composed will be found given in detail on a future page (p. 437).

A prospectus of a fourth establishment, with seven or eight
boarders, states the terms to be from 25 to 35 guineas per annum ;
but I have no means of ascertaining what is and what is not
covered by the charge. The school is practically an English
school, though It professes to supply several other branches be-
sides English. At the same school dinner is provided for day
pupils at a charge of one guinea and a half per quarter, an
arrangement I have not observed in other schools, though it
must be most useful in a disH'ict where day schools are in vogue.
It is more usual for day scholars coming from a distance to bring
their dinner with them and to take their meal in the schoolroom.

At a ladies' preparatory school in Newcastle, vfhere there are
eight or ten boarders at most, the charges are 25?. and 30?. respec-
tively for boys under and over six years of age, extras amounting
to about 6?. per annum. The boys in this establishment belong
to a somewhat superior class, and most of them do not complete
their education in the county. The terms at a similar kind of
school kept by a clergyman in Yarmouth were about 10 guineas
per quarter of 10 weeks; but another preparatory school in
Norfolk, conducted by ladies, was, in my opinion, both better and
cheaper than the Newcastle school. In this latter school, where
there were 22 boys aged from six or seven to 12, the terms were
from 23 to 28 guineas per annum, and the instruction as well as the
domestic arrangements were thoroughly satisfactory. Nothing, in
fact, could be better than the food and accommodation provided
for the boys; but an experience of 10 years had proved that the
terms were barely remunerative, and probably they have since been
raised.

Boarding Schools.

. When the accommodation for boarders iii Norfolk schools is Boarding house
compared with that in Northumberland schools the relative dear- accommodation

310

Mr. HammoncHs Rejiort.

Boys' ness of these latter schools becomes more apparent. There are

NootXibeh- °"^J' "^"'° boarding schools in Northumberland sufficiently im-

LAND. portant to notice, and I have no doubt that they are the best in

. the county. These two I inspected. In the smaller school (as will

in Norfolk**' be seen from the tabular statement) each boy has a separate bed
and an allowance of 768 cubic feet for bed room. The rooms,
moreover, are large and well ventilated, and in this respect the
health and comfort of the boys are fully provided for. From
personal experience I can further testify to the abundance and
excellent quality of their fare, as well as to the pleasant relations
existing between the boys and their master; in fact the school, in
this respect, was as good as any in Norfolk, but there was not
even an apology for a playground, the school being situated in
one of the busiest streets in Newcastle.

In the larger boarding school there is a gravel enclosure con-
taining 1,422 square yards, and an asphalted shed for use in wet
weather ; but, on the other hand, the bed room accommodation is
veiy inferior. When I visited the rooms I thought them the
worst I had seen anywhere, and I find by the master's return
that the allowance of bed room for each boy is only 120 cubic
feet. It is true that the boys sleep two in a bed, and it will
be observed that the master of school No. 5 states that boys
generally prefer a bedfellow ; but the real explanation of this
defective accommodation is, that the small demand for boarding
schools in Northumberland renders both parents and school-
, masters inattentive and indifferent to the subject. Besides, people
in the north of England, as in Scotland, have very different
ideas iVom those of a comfortable Noi-folk farmer as to the
Amount of space requisite for a bed room, and also as to the
value of fresh air and the necessity for free ventilation.

It is impossible to determine by numerical calculations alone
whether a given bed room is sufficiently large and well ventilated
for its occupants, especially when they are numerous and of
different ages and constitutions, and it is only by ocular inspec-
tion that a decision on these points can be fairly arrived at. StiU
under no circumstances can the minimum space for each boy of
12 years of age be reduced below 300 cubic feet,* and generally
speaking, when the construction of a room and the means of
ventilating it are taken into account 500 cubic feet will not be
found too much as the allowance of bed room for each boy.

Few play-
grounds in
Northumber-
land.

Playguounds.

I have already noticed in general terms the want of playgrounds
in Norlliumberland schools. Out of twenty-four private schools
furnishing replies to the schedules nineteen have no place whatever
for the recreation of the scholars. Again, what is called a play-

* Tills calculation is based on the least possible dimensions of length, breadth, and
height, viz., 6 feet for the length of the bed, 6 feet for the breadth between alternate
beds, and 8 feet for the height of the room.

Noethumbee-

LAND.

Moral Tone and Discipline. 311

ground in Northumberland would not be acknowledged as such by bots'
most Norfolk schoolboys. None of the five playgrounds attached Schools,
to private schools would admit of a game of cricket, and the same
remark applies to the enclosure in which Hexham Proprietary
School stands, which notwithstanding is one of the best play-
grounds in the county. The best is that at Morpeth Grammar
School ; but it lies on a considerable slope and is very inferior to the
playgrounds of several private schools in Norfolk. Tiie only other
grass field, as far as I know, used as a playground is a small plot of
ground, not half a rood in extent, at Brides Hill School, Allendale.
Other of the endowed schools have either yards or open spaces
adjoining the premises, where the boys assemble and run about,
and there is a sort of closed lane near the grammar school at New-
castle, which is the only place of recreation for the 220 boys attend-
ing the school. In former times this school had a playground of
two acres, but it was sold to a railvray company and no other piece
of ground assigned in its stead. In New^castle however there
are extensive commons just outside the town, and these must to a
great extent supply the place of playgrounds in schools.

Moral Tone and Discipline,

The largest and in many respects the most important school in Want of school
Northumberland, viz., the Grammar School at Newcastle, possesses tone m North-
no one room or open space, either within or without its walls, "ohools.
capable of holding one-fourth of the scholars. For this, as for other
reasons already given, there is no intimate association among the
scholars as such, many of whom must be complete strangers to
one another ; and both in this and in the other day schools of
Northumberland the sentiment which is known as the school tone
is unrecognized. It is therefore difficult to ascertain the prevalent
standard of morality in any day school. There is however much
truth in some remarks which I have received from an old fashioned
Northumberland schoolmaster on this subject : " The good order
" maintained in a school will be in proportion to the state in
" which the school furniture is found, making due allowance for
" tear and wear, according to the time it has been in use." He
then alludes to the state of the conveniences for the boys as
giving the best indication of the current tone of a day school. The
same remark was made to me in Norfolk by certainly the best
authority in the county, the head master of the Commercial School
at Norwich. The only way in his opinion to keep a large day
school like his free from the contamination of bad boys is to watch
these places and visit them regularly, to hunt out ail who ofiend
by writing on the walls, and to expel them or punish them with
exceptional severity. But it is obvious that no master and a
fm-tiori no stranger formally visiting a day school, can form any
but a superficial opinion as to the aggregate morality of the
boys.

There can be no doubt whatever that good order and discipline Good order
are well maintained in most of the large Northumberland schools. S^e*schools?

312

Mr. Hammond's Report.

Boys'

Schools,

Nohthijmbek-

LAND.

Discipline in
mixed sohools.

Modes of
enforcing
discipline.

Many of the boys have a roughish exterior, but, except at^ the
Berwick Corporation Academy, the large classes characteristic of
these schools were always under easy and complete control. One
chief reason for this is that the oral method of teaching adopted
in these schools interests all the boys alike. At Morpeth and
Berwick Grammar Schools, which have but thirty scholars each, the
behaviour of ihe boys was equally satisfactory, the mechanical and
soldier-like regularity of the larger schools being replaced by a
conscious propriety of manner, which was quite free from a certain
taint of conceit and forwardness noticeable in two of the Norfolk
Grammar Schools. The large private schools were also under
good discipline, but I cannot say so much for some of the small
private schools. In one or two, especially where corporal punish-
ment is unknown, there was a want of order and attention, and
several boys betrayed ail the humours and caprices symptomatic
of home and school indulgence. The result of my experience in
both counties, leads me to express a strong conviction in favour of
large schools for all purposes of discipline, though whether laxity
of discipline is a consequence of paucity of numbers or the con-
verse is a point which I will not venture to decide in a general
way.

I have already mentioned that the discipline at Hexham Pro-
prietary School appeared to be lax, though the children were gentle
and well behaved. At some mixed schools of a lower grade, where
the numbers exceeded 50 or 60, the discipline was perfect ; and I
think that no stranger could fail to be especially struck by the
modest and attentive demeanour of the girls in these schools.

Discipline is left entirely to the master and assistants, the moni-
torial system being practically unknown. The nearest approach
to it in a Northumberland school is described by the master in the
following extract : " The punishments are varied, but always as
" mild as circumstances will allow. Sometimes a 'fault book' is
" given out to one of the children by turns, impressing upon them
'■' their duty to be honest in recording the faults of their school-
" fellows without any regard to partiality. This interests them-
" selves in keeping order and observing the rules of the school.
" If any one abuses his trust he is put down in my own check
" book as a faulter, and not again allowed the trust until he
" prove himself worthy of trust. This mode is used chiefly for
" unnecessary noise and speaking, &c. &c. Corporal punishment
" is always the last resorted to, but when inflicted always in the
" pi-esence of the whole school." The school in question is an
adventurer's school in a very remote district, and retains, I should
imagine, many of the peculiarities of a former generation. It is a
good school of its kind, and though the numbers were under 30 at
the time of my visit, the schoc^. ^fas a pattern of good order.
How far this was due to the " fault book" system I cannot tell;
but I fancy that in many schools boys would not much appreciate
a trust which merely required them to record their neighbours'
faults.

The means of enforcing discipline will be found in the tabulated

. . Punishments.

313

statement. They are chiefly tasks and impositions, confinement
to school, and corporal punishment.

Tasks and impositions* are found to interfere with school work,
and the latter are often supposed to spoil a boy's handwriting.
They are, therefore, not so common as might have been expected.
Confinement to school during playhours is a punishment to .the
master as well as to the offender. One old schoolmaster in the
north says that " it is reckoned a grievous punishment," and that
*' most boys would prefer a whipping." I think this is very proba-
ble ; at the same lime corporal punishment is practically the most
common mode of correcting boys in the Northumberland schools.
The punishment is not generally very severe. So far as I could
learn, there is not a birch rod in either Norfolk or Northumber-
land, and flogging on the bare flesh seems to be unknown in the
district. The instrument in use is either the cane or the taws.
The comparative efficacy of the two may be inferred from the fact
that at Haydon Bridge School boys are tdwsed, anA girh are caned:

I do not think that corporal punishment is carried to any great
excess either in Norfolk or in Northumberland boys' schools, and
there is apparently less of it now than there was formerly. But
everything must depend on the temper and character of indi-
vidual teachers, and when there is no assistant or colleague to
keep an angry man in check cases of unwarrantable severity and
injustice will occur. On this subject it is difficult to obtain
satisfactory information either from masters or boys ; but 1 am
inclined to mistrust the statements of masters who are very loud
in disclaiming all use of the cane. One, for instance, who made
an undignified appeal to his scholars to substantiate his assertions,
was nevertheless reported to beat his boys unmercifully about the
head and ears. Another, the only person who used either cane
or taws in my presence, had commenced the afternoon's work by
" edifying " the classes, in the course of which process he de-
claimed very unnecessarily against the brutality of sorne school-
masters. In the course of my inspection he lost his temper, and
though, at my request, he abstained from interfering with the
class under examination, he seemed to me to be using his taws
in other parts of the school in a singularly random and indis-
criminate manner.

As it will not be necessary to refer specially to the punishments
in vogue in Norfolk schools, such punishments being very much
the same as in Northumberland, I will here state that I saw one
school, and one school only in which a satisfactory state of disci-
pline was maintained, as I believe, without any resort to corporal

Bays'

ScHOOIjS,

NORTHDMBKK-

LANDi

Tasks and
impositions.

Corporal
punishment.

* Instead of impositions a punishment is adopted at Norwich Commercial School,
among others, which is, known by the name of" cuhes." It is simply the exaction of
long multiplication sums instead of written words or sentences ; but the master has
certain memoranda of reference whereby he can tell at a glance whether the work is
honest and correct. Some ingenuity is required to prevent the same boy from having
the same " cubes " twice over, as also to prevent different boys from having the same
cubes on the .same day. The infinite variety of numbers with seven or eight digits
«ach, is a security against the circulation of ready made lists of cubes.

314 Mr, HammoncCs Report.

Boys' punishment or bodily assaults of any kind. This was a private

Schools, school at Norwich. The master, though conscientiously opposed

NoKTHDMBEK- |,q ^Jj^ ^gg ^f jjjg cane, struck me as having that unusually firm

' and hard nature which boys dare not trifle with, and the pupils,

chiefly sons of dissenting farmers, were a docile and orderly set of
lads.

In answer to my questions on the subject of corporal punish-
ment I was constantly assured that it was inflicted " only in cases
of gross misconduct." The phrase is a very elastic one, and the
meaning attached to it is tolerably loose. At one school, of which
this expression is used in the written replies of the master, the
boys of a particular form were asked, in my presence, whether
any of them had ever been caned, and if so for what offences. To
the evident surprise of the master the whole form, consisting of
30 or 40 boys, had been caned, and on my asking one at random
what was his last offence and punishment he told me " twelve on
the hand for whistling." I remarked afterwards to the master
that this was unnecessarily severe, when he explained that the
punishment had been inflicted by a hot tempered assistant^ who
was at liberty to cane the boys without reporting to anybody.
The explanation seemed to me to be the most serious part of the
matter.

Most schoolmasters of discretion and experience are of opinion
that corporal punishment cannot be altogether dispensed with,
but when inflicted it should be recorded before infliction. Masters
should not acquire the habit of punishing boys in a moment of
ill temper, a habit which will grow upon the best of men when
subjected to the constant irritations of school life. Boys too should
understand clearly that all corporal punishment is by way of
correction, and not a mere gratification of spite or anger. The
deliberate record of all acts of corporal punishment would tend
very effectively to produce these two desired results.

I saw tv/o or three schools in Northumberland in which the
pupils enjoyed complete immunity from corporal punishment
of all kinds. The results were not satisfactory. Such schools
were small schools for spoilt children, and the punishments were
remonstrance, impositions, and in the last resort expulsion. Any-
one who has observed how dependent the very best private
schoolmasters are on the caprices of unreasonable parents will
understand their great reluctance to expel any boy, however bad
an example he may be to the rest of the school. On the con-
trary, they are almost compelled to admit boys whose presence in
the school they know beforehand will be a nuisance to themselves
and a hindrance to the other boys ; such is the competition
among schools, that small private schools especially can exercise
no choice in the selection of their pupils. Hence they contain
often the most unmanageable boys with the least effective power
of management. What some boys will do when not restrained by
motives of bodily fear, few but schoolmasters know. 'J'hus at a
smallprivate school of the class described, the master having, a
morbid antipathy to corporal punishment, was compelled at last

Difficulties experienced by Schoolmasters. 315

to resort to expulsion in tlie case of two boys, the sons of a Bots'
magistrate in the town. A few daj'S afterwards these " young Schools,
" gentlemen " exploded a bag of gunpowder during lesson time °™nd °^"'

just within the school door. No apology or satisfaction was offered ,'

for this outrage ; apparently none was demanded, for the master
when stating the facts to me described these former pupils of his
as " high-spirited lads, but incorrigibly fond of mischief" He
still hopes to manage his boys on his present principles ; I have
no doubt whatever that the attempt will be a failure.

From what I saw of the results in schools where the existence
of corporal punishment was frankly avowed, and where it was
i-ealiy or professedly ignored, I am satisfied that tlie terror of a
cane is necessary for sound discipline, and that a judicious use of
it is the most salutary as well as the most summary mode of cor-
rection for boys. Indeed, persons sincerely anxious to have
their children well trained and broken in have little to fear from
the severity of schoolmasters ; their great danger arises from the
injudicious attempts of other parents to limit the master's
discretion in the infliction of punishments.

Difficulties experienced by Schoolmasters.

The crying evil of Northumberland rural schools is the irregu- irregularity of
larity of attendance during the summer months. Turnip-hoeing, attendance in
haymaking, and harvesting all in their turn afford parents an i^j*s"^oig'
excuse for withdrawing their boys from school. Nor is this prac-
tice confined to the hinds ; farmers are quite as culpable in this
matter. I have drawn especial attention to the subject in my
separate reports of Rothbury and Haydon Bridge schools, and I
will therefore only observe that the average number of scholars
entered on the register of a free school, who habitually and by
desire of their parents absent themselves from May-day to Martin-
mas, is quite 40 per cent.

This evil is also felt in the Inferior schools of small county
towns. Thus one master at Hexham stated that gardening re-
duced his numbers very considerably during the summer months.
The following was an excuse delivered on the day of my visit to
Berwick Corporation Academy : — " Aandrew F. hes ben at the ,

" potatoes and cold not git aney soner." At this school boys are
required to account for their absence by some kind of certificate,
and in the belief of the Rector the certificates are continually
forged. But as the penalty for truancy is removal from the
school, parents have too strong an interest in thematter to furnish
evidence against their sons ; and thus an arrangement, sanctioned
by the school committee for an object more or less legitimate, is
productive of gross abuses which are beyond the power of cor-
rection. At Blyth the excuse for habitual and continued absence
from school is furnished in the same way by the occupations of
parents, many of whom employ their sons' services in fishing
during the summer months.

a. c. 3. z

316

Mr. liammoncCs Report.

Boys'

SCHOQJ;S,
NOBTIIUMBEK-

"Want of home
co-operation.

Interference of
parents.

Want of suffi-
cient teaching
power.

Special
difficultieF.

In a district where day schools are in fashion, there is always
a tendency among ignorant parents to detain their children at
home for trifling reasons, and thus masters complain not only of
the habitual absence of scholars at particular seasons, but also of
the irregularity of attendance at all times of the year. Want of
punctuality is another evil felt in day schools, especially where
education is cheap or gratuitous. And the mischief arising from
all these causes combined is not confined to the absentees or de-
faulters themselves; the regular attendants suffer from the dis^
organization of the classes. Beginners also are retarded in their
progress, when, as one master writes, " in consequence of this
" intermittent attendance some of the little ones have to be taught
" their letters three or four times over."

Where parents are indifferent about the attendance of their
children at school it can hardly be expected that they will pay
much attention to their lessons at home. "Want of hearty home co-
operation" is the chief difficulty experienced by most schoolmasters,
and in day schools the result of this parental apathy is that evening
lessons are carelessly prepared without supervision unless it be
that of a nurse or servant. That there is much justice in the
complaints of schoolmasters on this head is proved by the superior
intelligence and attainments of their own sons, whenever they
may happen to be pupils in their fathers' schools. 1 saw several
cases of this both in Norfolk and Northumberland day schools,
and in every instance the masters son was the most advanced boy
of his age in the school.

The ill-timed interference of parents is another subject of com-
plaint. One master gives expression in one sentence to the two
chief difficulties of private schoolmasters, and his mode of putting
the matter will explain how the most apathetic parents are really
the most meddlesome. "The dear boys" he says, "are allowed
" to do what they please, and if the master correct them they
" are removed."

The low price of education in Northumberland, as I have had
occasion to remark already, prevents the employment of sufficient
and competent assistants. This difficulty I need not further
enlarge upon ; but 1 consider it certain that the majority of
masters in the inferior schools are overworked and under paid.
Their receipts, too, are precarious, and in weekly schools competing
with British and National schools they have a monopoly of bad
customers. Even in some of the better schools there seem to be
bad debts. One master writes, " My bills are very badly paid,
" allowing them to stand over as far as three years."

The constant migration of scholars from one school to another is
unquestionably one of the greatest difficulties a teacher can have
to contend with ; it is, however, an evil chiefly felt in weekly
schools, which come only indirectly under the notice of the Com-
mission.

Of special difficulties mentioned by individual masters I select
one or two. The first [extract is from an old-fashioned Pres-
byterian teacher, and describes, in rather amusing terms, the

NoKTHDMBEn-
LAND.

Prizes, ^Emhibitions, '^c. 317

relaxation of school discipline since the opening of the neighbour- Boys'
ing railways. ' Schoom,

" The chief difficulty is a want of good government in the fami-
" lies at home. Also excursion trains by railway going away,
•'' others arriving, almost all accompanied by bands of music ;
" Sabbath school railway trips, with their music ; cavalcades of
" strolling equestrians with their music and processions through
" the town. Holy days, athletic games, reviews, and sham
" fights, &c. &c. The result is the children's minds are so
" distracted and unsettled, that when they grow up to 13 or 14
" years of age and have to leave school, they are nearly twelve
" months behind in their education to what they W€re previous to
« 1848."

The master of the Hexham Grammar School mentions as one of
his difficulties, " the intellectual dissipation among intelligent boys.
" from the abundance of trashy literature, which causes an indis-
" position to severe studies." I have no doubt that there is much
truth in this remark. Solid reading and severe studies are a great
want in Northumberland schools. Boys, naturally intelligent
and immensely sharpened by the peculiar method of teaching
in vogue, must read something merely to satisfy their mental
cravings. But as the schools do not help them to relish great
authors, either of ancient or modern times, they fall back upon
such reading as is cheap and amusing.

The master of Berwick Grammar School says : '* The difficulties
" in such schools as this are generally the existence of a privileged
" class of pupils, and the legislation of local trustees."

The master of Morpeth Grammar School alludes to the lawsuit
affecting the trust property, and complains that his house is not
suited for boarders. I have referred to both these matters in my
separate report, and I will merely add, that the dormitory for
boarders in the master's house, though in some respects not ill-
contrived, will not be used until it is properly warmed.

At Berwick Corporation Academy the direct interference of
parents was mentioned to me as the great obstacle in the way of
school management and discipline. There can be no doubt of
two things : first, that the discipline of the boys in the rector's
class room was most ineffective ; and, secondly, that it is likely
remain so, if any individual freeman is allowed to threaten a
teacher with personal violence for correcting his son.

Pkizes, Exhibitions, &c.

No rewards of any kind are given at the endowed schools of Few prizes
Newcastle, Alnwick, Eothbury, or Haydon Bridge ; but prizes for awarded.
general or special proficiency are awarded at Berwick, Morpeth,
and Hexham Grammar Schools. In no case are they of any
large value, and those at Hexham School are a voluntary gift from
the master.

At seven of the private schools which have furnished replies to objection of
the schedules prizes in books are adjudged once a year or more private school-

z 2

318

Mr. Hammonds Report.

Boys'
Schools,

noktitumber-
LAND.

masters to
prizes.

No appro-
priated ex-
hibitions.

Newcastle
Grammar
School new
scheme.

frequently. But many private schoolmasters object to the prac-
tice of giving prizes, and this feeling is as prevalent in Norfolk as
well as in Northumberland. It is thought tliatthe distinction of
a prize causes jealousy, not only among the pupils, but sometimes
amon" their parents; and to avoid this some schoolmasters dis-
pense°with prizes altogether, while a few distribute douceurs at
certain intervals without discrimination to all, or almost all, their
scholars alike. These, though called prizes, are not incitements to
industry or rewards of merit, but are propitiatory offerings to
pupils and parents.

There are no exhibitions appropriated to any Northumberland
schools, but Newcastle Grammar 'School has a preferential claim to
a scholarship of 16Z. per annum at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
The claim has not been asserted for many years.

One of the most competent authorities on the subject of edu-
cation in Northumberland, himself a trustee of Haydon Bridge
Grammar School, slated his opinion to me that the great neglect
of classical studies in the county schools was due to the want of
exhibitions.

By the new scheme for the future government of Newcastle
Grammar School it is provided that there shall be three exhibi-
tions, seven premiums, and other smaller prizes. The exhibitions,
of the yearly value of 40L per annum, are not necessarily to be
held at a University, but may be applied, with the sanction of the
corporation, to the advancement in life of the successful candi-
dates. The prize premiums, worth 10?. per annum, are tenable
at the school, being awarded by the corporation on mixed grounds
of poverty and merit. The prizes, which are not to exceed ten
in number, are to be given after an examination, not, however,
according to the award of the examiners, but of the head master.

At Berwick and Morpeth Grammar Schools the trustees are
allowed to expend yeai'ly in prizes a sum not exceeding lOZ., but
no power is given under the new schemes for founding exhi-
bitions.

Examinations
by -writtea
papers very
rare in North-
umberland
schools.

Newcastle
Grammar
School ex-
amination.

Examinations.

The schools of Northumberland with Gateshead have only in
two or three instances at most availed themselves of the Univer-
sity local examinations. Such examinations, in which written
papers are proposed by strangers, are almost unknown in the
county, nor are they calculated to exhibit the teaching of the
local schools in it3'most favourable light. Though the mas-
ters of Morpeth, Berwick, and Haydon Bridge Schools are in
favour of them, the master of Hexham Grammar School expresses
the general opinion when he states that the best person to ex-
amine a school is the master himself. Thus at Newcastle Grammar
School there is annually held a public viva voce examination in
the Town Hall, conducted entirely by the master and his assist-
ants, in the presence of the corporation officials and of the pupils'
A J. 'I'l.. practice was originally adopted from Scotland.

friends. The

Examinations. 319

Dr. Collingwood Bruce, for a long time the most successful Boys'
private schoolmaster in the county, informed me that it was first Schools,
introduced into Newcastle by his fiUher, himself a schoolmaster; ^ok™^'^''"

his object being not so much to test the efficiency of his system, '

or the capacities of his pupils as to rouse the emulation of the
boys and to gratify the pardonable vanity of tiieir parents. The
plan succeeded, and was afterwards adopted on a more imposing
scale, and under the countenance of the municipal authorities, by
the present head master of the Grammar School. This annual
ceremony has produced good results, although it is not an
examination in any strict sense of the term, that is to say, it
does not test the efficiency of the teaching, except in a very partial
manner. But some of its results are not good. It has quickened
the energies of the teachers and the attention of the scholars
in their daily lessons, and has imparted to the school instruction
a vitality and animation very rare in grammar schools; it has pro-
bably also caused that general equality of proficiency observable
throughout the classes ; but on the other hand it has limited the
scope and range of the teaching and destroyed all encouragement
of thoughtful and advanced study, such for instance as miglit be
promoted even if a small per-centage of the scholars were prepared
for the local examinations or for the Universities. As the
audience before whom the examination takes place consists for
the most part of persons disposed to judge hastily and not qualified
to judge accurately of the performances of the boys, the teachers
train their classes not to think but to ansv/er rapidly without
thought. This is very evidently the fault which requires most
correction in the teaching of this school ; but the mode of exami-
nation adopted tends to perpetiiat(j it. The examination, moreover,
is not an examination but an exhibition of the boys.* A practised
teacher catechizing his own scholai's in presence of a mixed
audience is under an irresistible temptation to produce only his
best effects. Thus the examination, instead of being a test of
weak points and a guide to future improvements, degenerates into
a kind of performance for exhibiting to parents and friends the
briirht and successful side of the school. And this seems to be
the popular conception of an examination among Northumberland
schoolmasters. When consulted as to the desirability of institut- Opinions of
ing periodical examinations, they answer merely with a view to schoolmasters
the effect on their own schools. One writes as follows : " Public examinations.
" examinations confer little advantage upon a position so obscure
"as mine." Another says: "A public examination would not
" benefit or dg,mage my academy;" although he adds; "Examina-
" tions here are top much got up for a show to be really
" beneficial to the best interests of education." This idea that
an examination must necessarily be of the nature of a public

* In 1867 the master dispensed with the usual public examination, because he was
not satisfied with the state of some of his aSssistams' olasses|j(18G7).

320

Mr. Hammond's Report.

BOTS'

Schools,
northumbek-

" nothing,
apparently
inspection.

Compulsory
inspection of
private schools
undesirable.

exhibition, pervades other answejs. One* gentleman, favourable
to independent examinations, "would not like to put a flash face
" upon them." A fourth writes as follows : " The examination of
" schools is considered to be a great sham. The most ridiculously
" inflated reports of school examinations are published in the local
" papers, showing the ' very satisfactory ' state of the different
" schools, while the parents are well aware that their children
" have done nothing for two or three months past but prepare
" their examination lessons." Another gentleman, who has
actually taken advantage of the Oxford local examinations, shows
by his answer to the question that he only contemplated a viva
voce test. His answer is, " No ; as a general rule I would not
" like to be at the mercy of an individual unknown to me. A wet
" day, a disordered stomach, &c, would affect the report. To a
" judicious examiner I would have no objection ; I would fear
but rather welcome his presence." Other masters,
regarding the question as a proposition for State
betray the same dislike of any such scheme unless
with certain checks or limitations. One says, " Having had some
" experience of Government inspectors, I do not fancy the pro-
" posal would be popular among the teachers; but everything
" would depend on how the matter ■vi'ould be carried on."
He then suggests that the appointment of examiners should
be " by the schoolmasters from among their own body, but
" the examiners should, I think, be sworn to write no malicious
" or false reports." And another master of the same class writes,
" The preparation for a public examination entails a great loss of
" valuable time, while it tends too frequently to degrade the
" teacher and give a handle to busybodies to insult or calumniate
"him."

I do not think that an attempt to enforce an inspection of
private schools is either desirable or feasible. It is a misfortune,
in my opinion, that so few Northumberland boys are prepared or
fitted to pass the local examinations, and I consider it certain that
the peculiar mode of teaching adopted in most schools would not
stand the University tests. But it has advantages of its own, and
if any change be desirable it can be easily effected without, any
external interference. Should a few influential persons take the
necessary measures for making Newcastle a centre, and induce
some of the leading schoolmasters in the county to send in can-
didates, it would be seen whether the education of the schools
were likely to be improved, and in due course the legitimate

* After inspecting this gentleman's school, I received a letter from him contain-
ing the folio-wing remarks : " I am rather disappointed with my boys ; but I find that
I have taken too much for granted and gone too fast over arithmetic. The boys do a
large number of sums daily from the board, but they have done them faster than they
have reasoned on the conditions of the questions. I will take care that they do less and
think over the sums they do." The boys' arithmetic on the whole was very credita-
ble, but I quote these observations, wluch were offered quite spontaneously by the
master, because they show how a really earnest and sensible teacher may take
occasion from an independent examination of his scholars to find out and correct the
weak points in his system of instruction.

Vacations and Half-hoUcfuys.

321

operation of economic laws would attract support to those Boyb
teachers whose schools gave evidence of earnest and successful ,, Schoom,
endeavour. _ land.

At present Morpeth Grrammar School is the only endowed — r
school periodically reported on by an independent examiner Examinations
who sets written papers to the various classes. At Berwick schools.
Grammar School there is an examination conducted by some
person appointed by the trustees; but it is viva voce, and
held in public. A similar mode of examination is prescribed in
the scheme for the future government of Newcastle Grammar
School. The Corporation School at Alnwick and the Presbyterian
Schools at Wooler and Belford are under Government inspection,
and one or two others are examined vivd voce from time to time
by independent persons, either deputed by the English Presby-
terian Church, or at the invitation of a local landowner. These
schools, however, are what I have called working men's schools,
in which the presence of middle-class children is an exceptional
feature peculiar to Northumberland.

VACATIONS AND HALF HOLIDAYS.

The vacations in Northumberland schools, following the old Vacations,
fashion, are shorter than in Norfolk schools ; and the lower the
class of school the shorter the vacation time. As this was a
point to which the special attention of the Assistant Commis-
sioners was directed, T may say that there is unquestionably a
tendency under the modern school system to lengthen the holidays.
Hence the period during which a school is at work is generally
shorter in Norfolk than in Northumberland, as may be seen from
the following table : —

Greatest number of

weeks during whiioh

school is at work.

Least ditto.

Average.

Norfolk (12 private schools)

Northumberland (23 pri-
vate schools).

48
50

38
40

40-5
45-5

In schools where the work goes on for 49 or 30 weeks in the year,
the payments are for the most part weekly. It is therefore the
teacher's interest to shorten the duration of the holidays, which
may be put generally at five weeks ; viz. four weeks at harvest
and one at Easter.

In private schools of a higher class the masters naturally do not
object to longer vacations, but they could not extend them un-
reasonably against the wishes of parents, nor is there apparently
any disposition on the part of schoolmasters to do so. One master
at North Shields, who for many years had the leading school in
the town, was very loud in his denunciations against the modern

322 Mr. Hammond's Report.

BoTS.' extension of vacation time. In former days he grudged all holi-
ScHooLs, days except Christmas-day and Good Friday, but he is now

NoBTHTOttBiTE- obliged to grant four weeks in the year. At Newcastle it is
' rather a subject of complaint among schoolmasters and school-
mistresses that parents detain their children from school long
after the summer holidays are nominally over. At that time of the
year many Newcastle residents go to Tynemouth or to some other
place on the sea side ; and their children, being day scholars,
cannot come back to school until their parents' return provides
them with a place of residence in the town. They thus lose tiu-ee
or four weeks themselves, and delay the resumption of regular
school work for the same period. This, though an evil especially
incidental to the day school system, is not unknovn in boarding
schools as well, and the weakness of parents in this respect is
provided against in the byelaws of Framlingham College. Every
boy not appearing at the hour appointed for the return of pupils
is fined 5s., and an additional fine of Is. is imposed for each
succeeding day, unless the cause of absence is explained by a
medical certificate or otherwise.

Half holidays. There is a custom observed in most Newcastle, Gateshead, and
North Shields schools which deserves notice. Wednesday is not
a half-holiday, but Saturday is a whole holiday; and as school
often breaks up on Friday afternoons at 3 p.m. all the year round,
boys are allowed to remain idle from that time till the following
Monday at 9 a.m., unless, indeed, they attend a Sunday school.
I think the more usual custom, observed in Norfolk, of allowing
half-holidays on Wednesdays and Saturdays, affords a better dis-
tribution of the time allotted to work and recreation.

Norfolk Endoioed Schools. 323

2. NORFOLK (WITH BECCLES AND , BUNGAY Bots'
&RAMMAE, ; SCHOOLS AND FRAMLINGHAM IomoS.
COLLEGE). '

I spent between 10 and 11 weeks inspecting schools in tlie Time spent in
counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and investigating on the spot the Norfolk,
various matters which bear upon the subject of middle- class
education. Six weeks during the months of April, May, and
June 1 865 were occupied mainly in the examination of endowed
schools, and in making such inquiries (at Norwich, Yarmouth, and
"King's Lynn for the most part,) as would enable me to select
private schools for future inspection. The remainder of the time,
which was early in the year 1866, was spent chiefly in the
examination of private schools for boys and girls, but it was during
this latter period, and after I had seen the Northumberland and
Gateshead schools, that I visited the middle-class college at Fram-
Kngbam and the endowed school at Holt. The two departments
of King Edward's School at Norwich were more formally and
completely inspected by me during my second visit, although I
had partially examined the school and had made inquiry into
its administration and management soon after my first arrival in
the district. In June and July 1866, at the request of the mayor
and town council of King's Lynn, I held two meetings for public
inquiry into the foundation and endowment of the grammar school
in that borough.

I first broke ground in Norwich, where 1 had the assistance of
the Eev. Hinds Howell, Secretary for the Cambridge local
examinations, who furnished me with the naiTies of schoolmasters
conducting the more important private schools in Norwich and
Yarmouth. After interviews with several of these gentlemen, and
with other schoolmasters, I thought it better to leave the selection
of private schools undetermined till the proprietors of the larger
establishments had had time to make themselves acquainted with
the objects of the Commissioners.

I then turned my chief attention to the endowed schools in this
part of my district.

SCHOOLS FUENISHING MATERIALS FOE INQUIEY.

(e) Enaowed Schools.

The list of endowed grammar schools in the county of Norfolk, Endowed
as given in the return printed by order of the House of Com- schools in
mons 5th July 1865, includes several which only exist at present ^^o'*'^-
as parish or national schools. The list is as follows : —

Norwich ... King Edward VI. School.

„ ... Alderman Norman's School.

Attleburgh ... Nerford's School.

Aylsham ... National School.

Cromer ... School.

Feltwell ... Boys' Free School.

324

Mr. Hammond's Report.

Boys'
Schools,
Norfolk.

Norwich. King
Edward VI.
school.

Norman's
school.

Endowed
schools no
longer grammar
schools.

Other en-
dowed schools
non-classical.

Grimston
Harleston
Hingham
Holt -
Kings' Lynn -
Great Massingham
Snettisham
Thetford
North Walsham
Little Walsingham
Wymondham -

Endowed School.

Sancroft School.

Endowed School.

Grammar School.

Grammar School. *

School.

Grammar ScKool.

Grammar School.

Sir Wm. Paston's Free School.

Grammar School.

The school of King Edward VI. at Norwich is now divided into
two departEQienls, the grammar and the commercial department,
each of which must be regarded as a separate school.

Norman's School is a superior kind of national school for the
boys of a limited number of families. The scholars chiefly belong
to the working classes, and none are above 14 years of age. The
school is taught by a certificated master, and is under Govern-
ment inspection.

The endowments of Attleburgh, Harleston, and Great Mas-
singham schools are appropriated in aid of national schools.

Feltwell Free Schools are the existing representatives of Sir E.
Mundeford's benefaction for the teaching of grammar. They are
parish schools^ not under Government inspection.

Cromer School, is a parish school for boys of the poorest class
maintained at the expense of the Goldsmiths' Company in London.
None of the scholars are above 14 years of age.

The case of Aylsham School is peculiar. I venture to call the
Commissioners' special attention to my separate report on the
subject of this endowment.

Of the non-classical endowed schools in Noi-folk, the names of
which are given in the digest of the Charity Commissioners'
report, a large majority have but slender endowments, and were
expressly instituted for the benefit ,of the poor.

The following are exceptional. They were either intended for
scholars of all classes, or their endowments are sufficiently large
to provide something more than the instruction of a primary,
school.

The* Boys' and Girls' Hospital and the Presbyterian Charity
School at Norwich were founded for poor children, and are
for the most part attended by such, but their endowments,
especially that of the hospital, are now considerable. On visiting
the schools I learnt at once that they did not come within the
scope of the Commissioners' powers, except so far as it might be
thought expedient to apply some portion of their income to the

* A further reference to the charity schools 61 Norwich will he found in a short
detailed summary of Norwich charities "given oh p. 531. Although the present
income of the Presbyterian school is not large, it will receive a considerahle addition
by the falling in of leases. There are some children of Ismail traders and clerks,
both at the Presbyterian School and at Balderstone's School. At the former school
they pay 6rf. and at the latter id. a week for their-education.

Norfolk I^ndoioed Schools.

325

furthei- education of promising pupils attending the schools, or Boys'
to the education of children of a better class. Schools,

Balderstone's School, on the contrary, was not expressly founded

for the children of the poor. The scholars, with the exception of
16 free boys, pay 4d. a week for their education, and the school is
as useful a one as can be supported out of the endowment.

There are charities of some value attached for purposes of
education to the Norwich City Charity Schools, but there is no
good reason for diverting them from tiieir present application,
especially as the middle classes in Norwich have already the
benefit of a considerable educational endowment.

The endowed school at Shipdham was founded for children of
the poorer sort, who were to be instructed in reading, writing,
and arithmetic, and particularly in the church catechism. The
endowment amounts to about 70Z. per annum, and the school is
attended by about 80 scholars paying weekly pence.

A portion of the endowment might possibly be appropriated to
form an exhibition fund for the purpose of supplying a more
advanced education to some children of the parish.

Saham Toney School has an endowment of about 50/. per
annum, and the scholars (boys) are tauglit free.

Roughton School was founded for the instruction of men and
women, boys and girls, inhabitants of Roughton, in reading,
writing, and ciphering. The endowment, about 50Z. per annum,
together with a master's house, has been for some time devoted to
the purposes of a free parish school for boys and girls.

Hamond's School, Swaffham, has an endowment of 22/. per
annum, with a large house capable of accommodating 20 boarders.
The house, however, is not the legal property of the charity,
being built on the "camping ground," a site belonging to the
town estate; nor is it adapted to the object of the founder, which
was to establish a free school, with a preference for poor children.
In former times the school was a classical school, but it has long
lost that character, and is now attended by about 16 day boys, ■:

SODS of local tradesmen, wlio pay 1/. a quarter for their schooling.
The children of the poor, including Dissenters, attend the
National School as pay scholars.

At Walpole St. Peter's, in Marshland, there is an endowed
school for all children of the parish of either sex, who are
instructed in reading, writing, and accounts. The endowment is
is about 130Z. per annum., derived from land, and the number of
scholars varies from 45 in summer to 120 in winter. The chil-
dren are charged according to the assessments on the rate book,
but in no instance does the school fee exceed 3d a week.

At Seaming there is a well-endowed school, once a classical
and now a useful parish school. Some portion of the endowment
mio-ht, without injustice to the poor, be applied to the encourage-
ment of a superior education among all classes interested in the
foundation.

It will be seen from my separate report on Yarmouth Grammar YarmoutH

and Commercial School that the constitution of the Children's Grammar and

C/ommercial

326

Mr. Hammond! s Repnrt.

Boys'
Schools,

NOKFOLK.

School ; an old
foundation
recently
modified.

Three Suffolk
schools in-
cluded in the
district.

Endowed
grammar
schools divi-
sible into three
groups.
Classical
schools.

Hospital, a non-classical school in that borough, has been modified
so as to afford the means of establishing a useful school for the
middle classes. This is a remarkable instance of the transfer of
charity funds from a lower to a higher class of recipients. As tiie
initiative was taken by the local authorities themselves, it is pro
taiito evidence that a similar readjustment of educational endow-
ments may be brought about by spontaneous local action. And
it is an extreme case, for it is not intended under the approved
scheme that boys of the class formerly entitled to the benefits
of the charity should in any case be admitted to the newly esta-
blished school. Many persons will regard this ti'ansaction as a
high-handed misappropriation of charity funds. On the other
hand, as there can be no question that far more important results
will now be obtained from the same amount of money, the
interests of education and the economical advantages of the new
arran