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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


HISTORY  OF 
ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 


[STORY 


ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 


IN  ENGLAND  AND  WALES 

FROM  1800   TO   THE  PRESENT  DAY 

PRESENTATION  COPY. 


BY 

C.   BIECHENOUGH,   M.A. 

LECTURKR   IN   EDUCATION   AT   THK    UNIVERSITY   OF   SHKFFIKLD 


LONDON:    W.  B.  OLIVE 

(Uniperetfg    £uforiaf   ( 

HIGH  ST.,  NEW  OXFORD  ST.,  W.C. 


U.  fa  L  A  . 
EDUC.  DEPT, 


IDUC.       DEPT, 

Library 

LA 

£33 

PREFACE. 


THE  aim  of  this  book  is  primarily  to  present  a  concise 
and  accurate  account  of  the  evolution  of  the  system  of 
elementary  schooling  in  England  and  Wales  as  we  know 
it  to-day.  It  covers  on  broad  lines  the  history  of  Ele- 
mentary Education  [in  this  country  since  1800,  and  meets 
the  requirements  of,  for  instance,  the  Syllabus  of  the 
Board  of  Education  for  teachers  in  training. 

The  need  for  such  a  book  is  widely  admitted.  The 
development  of  our  educational  system  during  the  last 
fifty  years,  and  particularly  during  the  last  decade,  has 
been' wide  and  rapid.  TheSresult  is  that  all  who  are  closely 
concerned  with  education,  and  especially  teachers,  are 
finding  a  knowledge" of  the  history  of  elementary  education 
in  England  and  Wales  in  the  nineteenth  century  to  be 
almost  essential  to  their  work.  Witness  the  inclusion  of  the 
subject  in  the  syllabus  for  Training  Colleges  and  for  the 
Higher  Froebel  Certificate,  and  in  the  education  course  of 
almost  every  University  in  the  country.  The  time  there- 
fore seems  ripe  for  taking  stock  of  what  has  been  achieved, 
and  seeing  in  what  directions  further  progress  is  tending. 

The.  treatment  and  the  choice  of  subject-matter,  which 
differ  considerably  from  those  adopted  in  other  books 
dealing  with  the  period,  are  the  fruits  of  a  number  of 
years'  experience  in  lecturing  to  University  students.  Thus 
while  due  regard  has  been  paid  to  tracing  the  increasing 
demand  for  popular  education,  the  movements  that  have 

827766 


VI  PREFACE. 

contributed  to  this,  the  gradual  growth  of  State  inter- 
ference, and  the  building  up  of  a  great  system  of  adminis- 
trative machinery,  equal  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
development  of  the  school  itself,  its  planning,  staffing, 
curriculum-,  and  method. 

Accordingly,  with  a  view  to  simplicity,  the  book  has 
been  divided  into  two  parts.  Part  I.  deals  with  the 
growth  of  the  elementary  school  system  as  viewed,  so  to 
speak,  from  without.  Part  II.  follows  the  changes  that 
have  taken  place  within  the  four  walls  of  the  school. 
The  last  Chapter — called  for  convenience  Part  III. — 
is  concerned  with  the  changes  in  the  status  and  in  the 
training  of  the  teacher.  The  arrangement  is  clearly  one 
of  expedience,  and  if  the  plan  appears  on  occasion  to  be 
somewhat  artificial,  it  is  nevertheless  hoped  that  the  total 
gain  in  clearness  will  more  than  compensate  for  this. 
Cross  references  have  been  given,  and  an  effort  has  been 
made  to  avoid  unnecessary  repetition. 

In  using  the  book  students  may  follow  the  order  of  the 
chapters,  concentrating  first  on  the  development  of  the 
system  of  popular  instruction,  and  afterwards  re-studying 
the  period  from  the  standpoint  of  the  class-room.  Or  they 
may  prefer  to  study  the  two  aspects  together,  in  which 
case  they  will  read  Chapters  I.  and  VI. ;  II.  and  VII.  ; 
III.,  IV.,  and  VIII. ;  V.  and  IX.  together.  Some  may 
choose  to  study  the  second  part  of  the  book  first. 

In  this  attempt  to  trace  the  history  of  elementary 
schooling  I  have  derived  considerable  help  from  two  books 
by  Kirkman  Grey,  A  History  of  English  Philanthropy  and 
Philanthropy  and  the  State.  I  have  also  found  useful  such 
well-known  writings  on  the  period  as  those  of  Sir  Henry 
Craik,  Mr.  Graham  Balfour,  Mr.  de  Montmorency,  Dean 
Gregory,  and  Dr.  Michael  Sadler.  But  in  the  main  I  have 


PREFACE.  Vll 

depended  on  a  first-hand  study  of  the  mass  of  source 
material  available.  Numerous  references  have  been  given 
to  enable  the  student  to  pursue  any  topic  at  greater 
length  for  himself. 

It  is  impossible  to  acknowledge  in  detail  the  help  which 
I  have  received  in  connection  with  the  book.  To  Pro- 
fessor Welton  of  the  University  of  Leeds  my  thanks  are 
specially  due  for  his  careful  reading  of  the  whole  book  in 
proof,  for  his  valuable  suggestions,  and  for  placing  un- 
reservedly at  my  disposal  his  wide  experience,  his  ripe 
judgment  and  rich  historical  scholarship.  To  Professor 
Green  I  am  indebted  for  reading  part  of  the  book  in  manu- 
script. I  have  to  acknowledge  many  kindnesses  in  lending 
me  scarce  books  and  pamphlets.  In  particular  I  have  to 
thank  Canon  Symonds  for  the  loan  of  the  whole  of  the 
Reports,  etc.,  so  far  as  they  are  still  available,  of  the 
Sunday  Schools  at  Stockport  since  their  foundation  in 
1785,  together  with  the  Accounts,  Minutes,  and  Reports 
of  the  National  Day  and  Sunday  Schools.  My  thanks  are 
also  due  to  Mr.  A.  J.  Mundella,  Monsignor  Pennington, 
Professor  W.  J.  Roberts,  and  Mr.  Holman,  as  well  as 
to  many  friends  both  in  England  and  Wales  among 
inspectors  of  schools,  professors  and  teachers  of  all  grades 
who  have  so  kindly  given  of  their  knowledge  and  advice. 

As  the  danger  of  error  in  writing  briefly  on  a  variety  of 
topics  is  very  great,  I  ought  to  add  that  I  alone  am 
responsible  for  the  contents  of  the  book. 

C.  B. 

THE  UNIVERSITY, 

SHEFFIELD. 
August  1914. 


CONTENTS. 


PART   I. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE  SYSTEM 
OF  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION. 

CHAPTER  PAO« 

I.    GENERAL  EDUCATION,  BEFORE  1800    ....        1 
II.     THE  PHILANTHROPIC  PERIOD,  1800-1833     ...      28 

III.     PERIOD  OF  INCIPIENT  STATE  ACTION. — I.  SUPERVISION 

OR  ANNEXATION?  1833-1847 62 

IV     II.  PERIOD  OF  SUPERVISION,  1847-1870      ...  102 
V.     PARTITION  AND  ANNEXATION — 

I.  PERIOD  OF  PARTITION 130 

II.  PERIOD  OF  ANNEXATION 169 

PART  II. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE   CURRICULUM  AND   THE 
INTERNAL  ORGANISATION  OF  THE  PRIMARY  SCHOOL. 

VI.     THE   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   AT   THE   CLOSE   OF   THE 

EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 183 

VII.    TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY 210 

VIII.     TRANSITION  AND  REACTION 250 

IX.     THE  NEW  SPIRIT  IN  EDUCATION         ....     285 

PART   III. 
X.     THE  TEACHER 324 

INDEX 374 

viii 


PART    I. 

THE  EVOLUTION   OF   THE  MODERN  STATE 
SYSTEM  OF  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER   I. 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTION. 
BEFORE  1800. 

"It  is  manifest  that  a  Christian  and  Useful  Education  of  the 
Children  of  the  Poor  is  absolutely  necessary  to  their  Piety,  Virtue 
and  honest  Livelihood  ...  to  their  Happiness  here  and  hereafter 
...  as  well  as  to  the  Ease  and  Security  of  all  other  People  whatso- 
ever."— An  Account  of  Charity  Schools,  1708. 

"  The  poor  man  has  no  need  of  education." 

— ROUSSEAU  :  Emtte,  Bk.  I. 

"The  education  of  the  common  people  requires,  perhaps,  in  a 
civilised  and  commercial  society  the  attention  of  the  public  more 
than  that  of  people  of  some  rank  and  fortune." 

— ADAM  SMITH  :   Wealth  of  Nations. 

"A  nation  under  a  well-regulated  government  should  permit 
none  to  be  uninstructed.  It  is  a  monarchial  and  aristocratical 
government  only  that  requires  ignorance  for  its  support." 

— THOMAS  PAINE  :  Rights  of  Man. 

THE  history  of  elementary  education '  in  this  country 
during  the  nineteenth  century  is  the  record  of  a  persistent 
attack  against  privilege.  What  was  once  a  question  of 
charity  is  now  a  matter  of  right,  and  equality  of  educa- 

1  The  term  "elementary  education"  is  somewhat  ambiguous.  As 
used  in  legislation  and  politics  it  has  reference  to  provision  for  definite 
needs  of  the  community,  and  is  equivalent  to  schooling.  It  is  in  this  sense 
that  it  is  used  here. 

H.  ED.  1 


2  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

tioual  opportunity  is  taking  the  place  of  a  system  of 
education  graded  according  to  the  social  position  of  the 
individual.  National  elementary  education  as  it  now 
exists  is  the  result  of  a  slow  process  of  evolution 
characterised  by  experiment,  by  successes  and  failures, 
by  opportunism  and  compromise.  Here,  as  always,  re- 
form has  been  the  outcome  of  long  and  sometimes 
blind  struggle  towards  better  things.  There  has  there- 
fore been  no  sudden  reform,  no  attempt  to  implant  a 
new  or  foreign  system  on  the  country  as  a  whole. 
There  have  been  of  course  periods  of  rapid  educa- 
tional advance  when  the  vitality  and  force  of  a  new 
faith  have  carried  the  nation  forward,  just  as  there 
have  been  periods  when  criticism  rather  than  construc- 
tive ideas  have  predominated.  Some  epochs  stand  out 
with  especial  significance,  for  example  1808,  1811,  1833, 
1839,  1843,  1870,  1902— great  landmarks  in  the  history 
of  popular  education. 

What  is  true  of  the  development  of  the  present  system 
of  national  education  is  no  less  true  of  the  school  itself, 
its  curriculum,  its  motive.  As  it  has  passed  by  almost 
imperceptible  stages  from  the  school  of  the  poor  to  the 
school  of  the  people  its  breadth  of  outlook,  the  liberality 
of  its  curriculum,  its  effectiveness  and  its  dignity  have 
shown  a  corresponding  advance.  No  institution  has  more 
effectually  resisted  foreign  influence  or  shown  greater 
capacity  for  assimilation  and  for  compromise.  Indeed 
the  most  characteristic  feature  of  English  elementary 
education  whether  viewed  from  without  or  from  within  is 
the  way  in  which  it  has  responded  to  and  interpreted 
the  conflicting  social,  religious,  and  educational  aspirations 
of  the  times.  We  shall  understand  these  better  and  see 
more  clearly  how  they  affected  elementary  education  if  we 
look  first  of  all  at  the  eighteenth  century. 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION.  6 

Elementary  education  in  England  and  Wales  in  the 
eighteenth  century  was  a  matter   of   indi- 
Eighteenth         vidual  enterprise  or  dependent  upon  charity. 
Cen  ury  ^yj   ^e  exis^jng  agencies   may  be  roughly 

Schools.  grouped  under  three  heads — private,  domes- 

tic (home),  and  charitable.  Of  these  the 
private  schools  were  by  far  the  most  numerous  and  were 
the  recognised  means  of  educating  all  but  the  poorest 
children.  They  were  fee-paying  schools,  conducted  by 
individuals  at  their  own  risk  and  for  their  own  profit. 
Their  number  we  have  no  means  of  knowing ;  they  de- 
pended entirely  upon  local  circumstances  and  the  demand 
for  education  that  changing  economic  conditions  would 
create.  There  was  probably  much  truth  in  what  Shenstone 
wrote  in  1 742  : — 

"  In  every  village  mark'd  with  little  spire, 
Embower'd  in  trees,  and  hardly  known  to  fame, 
There  dwells,  in  lowly  shed  and  mean  attire, 
A  matron  old,  whom  we  schoolmistress  name, 
Who  boasts  unruly  brats  with  birch  to  tame."  1 

These  private  schools  covered  the  whole  field  of  educa- 
tional activity.  Some  were  dame  schools  and  provided 
only  for  children  up  to  about  seven  years  of  age.  They 
sought  in  a  very  imperfect  way  to  meet  the  demand  for  a 
creche  and  for  an  infant  school.  Others  under  various 
names  gave  an  elementary  education.  Some  were  day 
schools,  others  were  boarding  schools,  others  again  were 
held  in  the  evening.  It  was  at  one  of  these  evening 
schools,  William  Cobbett  tells  us,2  that  his  father  got  his 
education  (c.  1740)  while  working  as  a  plough  boy  at 
twopence  a  day.  Some  schools  offered  a  definite  cur- 

1  The  Schoolmistress. 

-  William  Cobbett :  a  Biography,  Edward  Smith,  Vol.  I.,  p.  6. 


4  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

riculum  at  a  fixed  charge,  but  in  others  pupils  might  take 
one  or  more  subjects  as  they  pleased  and  according  to  the 
fees  they  were  prepared  to  pay.  There  was  in  fact  end- 
less variety.  Some  schools  prided  themselves  on  giving 
a  commercial  education,  some  specialised  in  penmanship 
and  called  themselves  Writing  Schools,  some  laid  stress  on 
mathematics  ;  some  merely  taught  reading,  others  taught 
nothing  at  all.  As  might  be  expected  this  class  of  school 
showed  every  degree  of  excellence  and  incompetency. 
Some  were  well  housed,  others  were  mere  hovels.  In  these 
private  schools  we  find  as  masters  the  refuse  of  every 
other  profession,  the  lazy,  the  economic  misfit,  the  de- 
crepit, and  the  unemployed,  as  well  as  others  who  com- 
bined the  office  of  teacher  with  such  occupations  as  cob- 
bling, tinkering,  engraving,  and  in  the  case  of  women 
washing  and  shop-keeping.  Such  schools  existed  and 
indeed  flourished  in  great  numbers  down  to  the  intro- 
duction of  a  State  system  of  elementary  education  in 
1870. 

But  not  all  private  schools  were  inefficient.  On  the 
contrary,  many  were  uncommonly  efficient  even  when 
judged  by  the  standards  of  to-day.  Some  of  these  schools, 
as  for  example  in  Sheffield,1  were  in  charge  of  men  who 
showed  no  mean  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  educa- 
tion, who  were  thoroughly  alive  to  the  importance  of 
making  school  work  meaningful  and  of  stimulating  their 
pupils  to  self-help,  who  bestowed  much  thought  on  the 
organisation  and  the  grading  of  their  schools,  and  com- 
posed special  books  for  the  use  of  their  scholars.  It  was 

1  See  for  example  the  volume  of  Juvenile  Unsays,  to  which  is  prefixed  a 
"  Brief  History  of  Education  and  a  Table  of  the  System  "  pursued  in  the 
Milk  Street  Academy,  Sheffield.— J.  H.  Abraham,  1805. 

The  writer  has  before  him  three  other  books  by  Sheffield  private-school 
masters,  two  on  arithmetic  and  one  on  the  use  of  the  globes,  dated  respec- 
tively 1766,  1794,  and  1787- 


GfeNERAL    INTRODUCTION.  5 

in  a  private  school  attended  by  poor  children  that  Lan- 
caster worked  out  his  plan  of  a  monitorial  system.  Again, 
we  have  only  to  recall  the  excellent  work  done  by  Mrs. 
Barbauld  at  Palgrave  and  to  reflect  that  the  best  ele- 
mentary text-books  of  the  day  were  the  product  of  this 
class  of  school,  to  realise  that  at  their  best  they  were  un- 
equalled by  any  of  their  contemporaries  in  the  freshness  and 
reality  of  the  education  they  provided. 

Home  education  was  common  among  the  middle  classes 
during  the  period,  and  calls  for  some  attention  in  any 
attempt  to  present  a  picture  of  elementary  practice  in  this 
country  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when,  as 
Crabbe  tells  us, — 

' '  To  every  class  we  have  a  school  assign'd, 
Rules  for  all  ranks  and  food  for  every  mind."  l 

It  will  be  treated  under  the  development  of  educational 
practice  in  the  second  half  of  the  book.' 

But  without  exception  the  agencies  for  providing  a  free 
schooling  called  themselves  educational 
Education  charities.  They  embraced  a  variety  of  paro- 
chial, ward,  and  other  "  charity "  schools, 
schools  of  industry,  workhouse  and  hospital  schools,  Sun- 
day schools,  evening  schools,  circulating  schools  (Wales), 
etc.  These  were  institutions  that  provided  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  poor.  There  was  of  course  an  important 
body  of  endowed  grammar  and  allied  writing  schools 
scattered  unevenly  up  and  down  the  country,  but  these 
were  in  the  main  secondary  schools,  they  were  not  and 
never  had  been  intended  for  the  masses.  They  were 
essentially  a  middle  class  provision  thoroughly  aristocratic 
in  conception,  offering  to  the  poorest  boy  of  ability  the 
avenue  to  a  liberal  education.  There  was  nothing  in  the 

1  The  Borough,  Letter  xxiv.  •  See  p.  198  f. 


6  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

nature  of  public  elementary  school  provision  such  as  we 
are  accustomed  to  to-day.1 

The  explanation  of  this  seems  to  be  found  not  in  any 
distrust  of  State  interference  in  domestic  matters,  but  in 
the  prevailing  class  view  of  society  and  in  the  tendency 
to  regard  education,  in  so  far  as  it  had  any  public  signifi- 
cance, as  an  ecclesiastical  affair.- 

In  a  highly  stratified  society,  where  the  station  of  each 

individual  was  regarded  as  fixed  by  Divine 

Society10"  or  °^er  dispensation  at  birth,  where  great 

numbers  of  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of 

water  were  essential, — a  broad  basis  of  poverty  on  which  an 

aristocracy  might  rest — there  was  little  hope  for  popular 

1  It  is  interesting  however  to  note  that  in  the  Commonwealth  Parliament 
1649,  in  view  of  the  neglected  religions  condition  of  many  parts  of  Wales, 
an  Act  was  passed  appointing  Commissioners  to  examine  the  religions  and 
educational  needs  of  the  several  counties  and  to  appoint  preachers  and  school- 
masters applying  to  their  support  various  ecclesiastical  funds.  In  Scotland 
a  Parochial  Schools  Act  1646  provided  for  the  establishment  of  an  elementary 
school  in  every  parish,  but  it  remained  inoperative  until  it  was  amended  in 
1696.  Even  so,  it  was  not  until  the  nineteenth  century  that  every  parish 
had  its  school.  A  similar  Massachusetts  Act  1692  provided  for  the  com- 
pulsory establishment  of  a  school  for  reading  and  writing,  and  maintained 
by  local  rates  in  every  village  of  fifty  householders. 

-  In  England,  as  well  as  in  Germany,  the  Reformation  had  done  much 
to  destroy  existing  means  of  education  (see  De  Montmorency  :  State  Inter- 
vention in  English  Education).  Public  instruction,  however,  was  neces- 
sary to  check  the  growth  of  superstition,  and  it  was  under  this  influence 
that  we  find  both  Edward  VI.  and  Elizabeth  ordering  the  clergy  to  teach 
their  parishioners  reading  and  writing.  The  injunction  seems,  however,  to 
have  been  poorly  carried  out  and  must  soon  have  been  ignored,  for  the 
Canon  of  1604  only  enjoined  catechising.  This,  too,  never  became  universal. 
It  left  too  much  to  the  interest  and  initiative  of  individual  clergy,  many  of 
whom  seem  to  have  considered  it  beneath  their  dignity.  It  was,  however, 
a  well  recognised  practice  previous  to  the  eighteenth  century,  for  it  was 
to  the  decay  of  catechising  that  many  earnest  men  of  that  period  attributed 
the  spread  of  ignorance  and  irreligion. 

Thus  we  find  the  Bishop  of  Norwich  insisting  upon  the  practice  of 
catechising  throughout  his  diocese.  Bishop  Ken  is  said  to  have  set  up  a 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION.  7 

education  save  from  a  humanitarian  or  religious  impulse. 
This  was  equally  the  case  whether  the  social  grades  were 
supposedly  determined  by  wealth  or,  as  with  the  men 
of  the  Enlightenment,  by  brains.  Mandeville  was  only 
expressing  a  well  recognised  sentiment  when  he  wrote : ' 
"  Reading  and  writing  I  would  not  hinder  them,  nor 
force  them  upon  society :  as  long  as  there  was  anything 
to  be  got  by  them,  there  would  be  masters  enough  to 
teach  them :  but  nothing  should  be  taught  for  nothing 
but  at  church  :  .  .  .  for  if  parents  are  so  miserably  poor 
that  they  cannot  afford  their  children  these  first  ele- 
ments of  learning,  it  is  impudence  of  them  to  aspire 
any  further."  Even  Rousseau,  with  all  his  sympathy 
for  the  poor,  makes  no  provision  in  the  Emile  for  giving 
them  any  other  education  beyond  what  they  can  get  in 
ordinary  intercourse  with  their  fellows,  through  their 
daily  occupations,  and  in  contact  with  nature.  The  poor 
man  has  no  need  of  schooling,  he  tells  us, — a  position  from 
which  he  retreats,  however,  when  face  to  face  with  the 
practical  problem  of  framing  a  scheme  of  education  for 
Poland. 

parochial  school  in  every  parish  of  his  diocese,  and  to  have  been  actively 
engaged  in  founding  village  and  Sunday  schools.  Again,  we  find  the  Rev. 
Abraham  Colfe,  Vicar  of  Lewisham,  by  his  will  dated  1656  providing  for 
catechising,  for  the  purchase  of  Bibles,  for  the  founding  of  almshouses  and 
two  schools — one  a  reading  school  for  poor  and  destitute  children,  the  other 
a  grammar  school  for  the  sons  of  needy  clergy  and  the  children  of  poor 
tradesmen,  etc.  (Cf.  Kirkman  Grey  :  History  of  Philanthropy,  pp. 
47-49.) 

In  1663  Marchamont  Needham,  the  journalist  and  pamphleteer,  in  advo- 
cating the  exclusion  of  schismatic  schoolmasters  from  the  teaching  pro- 
fession, was  urging  the  employment  of  parish  clerks  for  teaching  the 
children  of  the  poor  and  preparing  them  for  public  catechising  in  church 
on  Sundays.  It  was  in  reviving  and  taking  steps  to  make  permanent  the 
old  practice  of  catechising  that  much  of  the  educational  activity  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  expended. 

1  Fable  of  the  Bees,  1772  Edition,  p.  2:21. 


8  '.INKKAL    INTRODUCTION. 

In  short  it  is  to  a  religious  motive,  or  to  some  pressing 
social  problem  such  as  pauperism,  that  we 

The  Religious    must  look  for  any  interest  in  the  education 

Motive  in  . 

Education.         °*  t"e  poor  previous   to   the  rise  of  a  new 

school  of  social  thinkers  in  the  latter  half 
of  the  century.  It  was  the  men  who  believed  that  charity 
was  a  duty  before  God — that  "  the  delivery  of  the  talent 
was  the  injunction  of  the  duty  " — the  men  who  sought 
to  check  irreligion  by  spreading  broadcast  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  Christianity  who  were  the  pioneers  of  popular 
education.  Their  charity  was  catholic  in  its  range. 
Beside  endeavouring  to  bring  the  means  of  instruction 
within  the  reach  of  the  poor  they  were  variously  em- 
ployed providing  for  the  sick,  finding  work  for  the  un- 
employed, supporting  the  aged,  subscribing  to  funds  for 
the  release  of  prisoners,  and  so  on.  To  be  rich  in  good 
works  was  held  to  be  one  of  "  the  surest  and  safest  ways 
of  thriving."  It  was  thrice  blessed,  not  only  did  it  bring 
such  immediate  relief  to  the  poor,  but  it  was  conducive 
to  a  better  understanding  and  attachment  between  classes, 
and  it  gave  hope  through  improvement  in  the  children 
for  a  better  state  of  society  in  the  future.1 

These  ideas  were  of  course  not  peculiar  to  the  eighteenth 

1  Cf.  Gouge  :  Collected  Works,  1706,  pn.<.<hi<  •  Robert  Nelson  :  An  Ad- 
dress to  Persons  of  Quality  and  Estate,  1715;  Sir  Thos.  Bernard:  A 
Digest  of  the  Reports  of  the  Society  for  Bettering  the  Condition  of  the 
Poor  (Eilifdtiiin},  1809;  also  Kirkman  Grey  :  History  of  Philanthropy. 

How  deeply  significant  this  two-grade  view  of  society  was  in  determining 
the  outlook  of  even  the  philanthropically  minded  towards  "the  inferior 
part  of  mankind  ' '  may  be  seen  from  the  wording  of  a  typical  charity  school 
prayer  for  daily  use  :  "  Give  me  Grace  I  beseech  thee,  O  my  God,  to  live 
this  day  as  in  thy  Sight,  and  to  do  always  such  Things  as  please  thee. 
Make  me  dutiful  and  obedient  to  my  Benefactors  and  charitable  to  my 
Enemies.  Make  me  temperate  and  chaste,  meek  and  patient,  just  and 
true  in  all  my  dealings,  content  and  industrious  in  my  station." — The  Poor 
Girl's  Primer.  For  the  Use  of  the  Charity  School  in  Sheffield.  1789. 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

century.  It  is,  however,  in  this  period  that  we  see  the 
first  concerted  attempt  to  provide  an  elementary  educa- 
tion for  all  the  children  in  the  country.  Of  the  cir- 
cumstances that  contributed  to  this  the  most  important 
was  the  application  to  philanthropy  of  the  joint  stock 
principle  that  had  astonished  the  commercial  world  in  the 
previous  century.  It  was  the  subscription  list  and  the 
resources  of  associative  philanthropy  that  made  organised 
movement  possible.  The  first  venture  of  this  kind  was 
probably  the  founding  of  a  society  in  London  in  1674 
by  Thomas  Gouge  in  conjunction  with  Dean  (afterwards 
Archbishop)  Tillotson,  Eichard  Baxter,  Thomas  Firmin, 
and  others,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  catechetical 
schools  for  "teaching  the  poorest  Welsh  children  to  read 
English  and  the  boys  to  write  and  cast  accounts,  whereby 
they  will  be  enabled  to  read  our  English  Bibles  and 
treatises,"  and  for  circulating  throughout  the  Principality 
religious  books  both  in  English  and  Welsh.1  It  was 
followed  by  three  great  ventures  in  popular  education : — 

(1)  the  Parochial  Charity  School  movement,  which  was 
especially  vigorous  during   the  first   thirty  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century  and  may  be  dated  from  the  founding 
of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  1698  ; 

(2)  the  Circulating   School  movement   under    Griffith 
Jones  and   later   Madam  Bevan,  1737-1777,  which   was 
confined  exclusively  to  Wales  ; 

(3)  the  Sunday  School  movement,  which  spread  rapidly 
after  1784. 

In  each  of  these  movements  a  religious  and  humani- 
tarian motive  pi'edominated.  The  first  was  principally 
within  the  confines  of  the  Church,  and  was  designed  to 
counteract  the  vice  and  degradation  into  which  the  poor 

1  A  copy  of  the  engagement  is  given  in  The  Sunday  Schools  of  Wai  ex, 
D.  Evans,  p.  87 ;  also  in  Phillips  :  Wales. 


10  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

had  been  allowed  to  fall  through  the  decline  of  religious 
enthusiasm  that  had  accompanied  the  rationalising  in- 
fluence of  the  age.  "  It  must  needs  pity  any  Christian 
heart  to  see  the  little  dirty  infantry  which  swarms  up  and 
down  the  alleys  and  lanes  with  curses  and -ribaldry  in 
their  mouths  and  other  rude  behaviour  as  if  they  were 
intended  to  put  off  their  humanity  and  degenerate  into 
brutes."1  The  Sunday  schools  were  an  outcome  of  the 
Methodist  movement,  and  the  Circulating  Schools  of  an 
earlier  revival  under  Griffith  Jones  in  Wales.  In  a  very 
real  sense  they  may  be  regarded  as  so  many  attempts  to 
evangelise  the  masses  by  reviving  and  making  permanent 
the  old  practice  of  catechising. 

"  Happy's  the  child  whose  youngest  years 

Receive  instruction  well  ; 
Who  hates  the  sinner's  path  and  fears 
The  road  that  leads  to  hell. 

Tis  easier  work  if  we  begin 

To  fear  the  Lord  betimes 
While  sinners  that  grow  old  in  sin 

Are  hardened  in  their  crimes."  - 

But  they  had  in  view  much  more  than  religious  instruc- 
tion.    Rather  they  aimed  at  spreading  abroad 
Aim  of  a  practical  piety,  at  helping  the  poor  to  lead 

Charity  industrious,  upright  lives  in  the  sphere  in 

Education.  which  they  were  placed.  Their  ideal  might 
with  little  exaggeration  be  summed  up  as 
training  the  poor  to  poverty.  They  offered  one  means  of 
attacking  the  problem  of  pauperism  that  was  eating  like  a 
canker  into  the  life  of  the  nation.  The  causes  of  pauperism 
were  little  understood,  but  men  were  inclined  to  attribute 
it  to  laziness,  to  a  want  of  robustness  of  character,  to  an 

1  Discourse    concerning     Schools     and     Schoolmasters,    Marchamont 
Needham,  16G3.  -  Divine  Songs  for  Children,  I.  Watts. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION.  11 

absence  of  self-respect,  and  to  regard  it  as  largely  or  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  individual.  There  was  some  difference 
of  opinion,  however,  as  to  the  best  methods  of  treating  the 
disease.  Those  that  believed  that  laziness  lay  at  the  root  of 
the  trouble  were  in  favour  of  inuring  children  from  an  early 
age  to  habits  of  industry,  giving  them  a  trade  and  providing 
them  with  religious  instruction.  Others  looked  rather  to 
the  3  R's,  to  the  growth  of  self-respect,  and  the  moral  uplift 
that  came  from  religious  teaching  that  touched  the  heart 
and  the  conscience.  But  the  ideal  education  undoubtedly 
provided  a  training  in  industry  "  which  is  no  unprofitable 
Piece  of  Learning,  considering  that  an  early  Habit  of  Idle- 
ness is  the  common  Bane  of  those  who  cannot  hope  to  sup- 
port life  otherwise  than  by  their  Labour."1  Each  of  these 
opinions  found  expression  in  a  special  type  of  curriculum. 
Here  it  is  necessary  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  the  ques- 
tion of  child  labour  is  inextricably  bound  up 

Working  with  the  development  of  elementary  education 

Schools  and        j      •        AV       •  Vi~      AV        j      •  ,u 

Child  Labour,  during  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  cen- 
turies. Child  labour  was  of  course  nothing 
new,2  but  owing  to  industrial  competition  abroad  and  low 
wages  at  home  it  had  come  to  be  regarded  by  parents  as  a 
regular  means  of  augmenting  the  family  income,  especially 
at  a  time  when  the  spinning  of  linen  yarn  opened  up 
avenues  of  labour  well  within  the  capabilities  of  young 
children.  The  practice  of  setting  poor  children  to  work 
was  viewed  with  favour  by  middle  class  opinion  and  be- 
came a  recognised  philanthropic  device  in  attacking  social 
and  educational  problems.  Thus  John  Locke,  in  a  memo- 
randum on  Poor  Law  Reform,  1697,  written  while  Commis- 
sioner of  Trade  and  Plantations,  advocated  the  general 

1  Charity  Sermon  (St.  Sepulchre's).     Robert  Moss,  D.D.,  1708. 

2  Cf.  Macaulay    on  child  labour  in  the  seventeenth   century,  History 
of  England,  Vol.  I.,  p.  417.     (Library  Edition.) 


12  GENERA!  INTRODUCTION. 

adoptioii  in  every  parish  of  a  workhouse  school.  To  these 
"  working  schools "  were  to  be  sent  all  pauper  children 
!>etween  3  and  14  years  of  age,  to  be  there  taught "  spinning 
or  knitting  or  some  other  woollen  manufacture,  unless  in 
countries  (districts)  where  the  place  shall  furnish  other 
material  fitter  for  the  employment  of  children."  Each  child 
was  to  have  an  allowance  of  bread  and  in  winter  a  little 
gruel.  Provision  was  to  be  made  for  religious  instruction, 
but  apparently  not  for  learning  to  read.  The  proceeds  of 
a  child's  labour  were  estimated  ultimately  to  cover  the  cost 
of  his  teaching  and  partial  maintenance.1 

In  this  way  it  was  hoped  that  children  would  be  kept 
"  in  much  better  order,  be  better  provided  for  and  from 
infancy  be  inured  to  work,  which  is  of  no  small  consequence 
to  the  making  of  them  sober  and  industrious  all  their  lives 
after."  Workhouse  schools  on  these  lines  were  opened  at 
Bristol,  Hull,  and  elsewhere,  and  were  maintained  by  dona- 
tions and  local  rates.2  There  was  little  difference  during 
the  first  quarter  of  the  century  between  these  schools  and 
charity  schools  with  an  industrial  bias — -"  schools  of  in- 
dustry "  as  they  were  called.3 

Ordinary  day  school  education  was  decidedly  unpopular  : 
employers  objected  to  it  on  the  ground  of  its  diminishing 
the  supply  of  labour  and  producing  disaffection 4 ;  the  vvell- 

1  Life  of  John  Locke,  Fox  Bourne,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  383-5. 

-  Cf.  Considerations  on  the  Increase  of  the  Poor-rates  and  on  the 
State  of  the  Workhouse  in  Kingston-upon-Hull,  1799. 

3  For  a  typical  school  of  industry  cf.  that  of  Thomas  Firmin  in  Little 
Britain,  1675.  It  was  partly  a  school,  partly  a  factory,  and  was  conducted 
for  the  joint  purpose  of  teaching  children  to  read  and  providing  them  with 
employment,  the  money  so  earned  being  carried  home  at  week  end.  Children 
were  admitted  when  3  years  old,  and  until  4  years  of  age  were  taught  the 
elements  of  reading.  At  5  to  6  years  of  age  the  children,  we  are  told,  could 
earn  2d..  and  when  rather  older  3d.  per  day.  A  woman  was  engaged  at 
5s.  a  week  to  teach  spinning  and  reading.  (Cf.  History  of  Phila/ithr.opy, 
Kirkman  Grey.)  4  See  Essay  on  Charity  Schools,l.  Watts. 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION.  13 

to-do  complained  that  it  was  producing  a  race  of  idlers  ;  the 
poor  opposed  it  because  it  involved  a  loss  of  income.  As 
the  eighteenth  century  advanced  and  the  demand  for  child 
labour  increased  with  the  coming  of  the  industrial  revolu- 
tion, we  find  that  one  of  the  main  claims  urged  in  favour 
of  Sunday  schools  was  that  they  provided  an  elementary 
education  without  interfering  with  the  work  of  the  week.1 
At  the  same  time  the  "  school  of  industry  "  acquired  a  new 
popularity.  ^^ 

We  may  now  trace  briefly  by  way  of  illustration  the 
history  of  the  three  charity  school  movements. 

The  S.P.C.K.  had  its  origin  in  one  of  the  devotional 
"societies  that  were  common  at  the  close  of 
The  Parochial  the  seventeenth  century.  Among  its  objects 
SchQ1^  were  the  founding  of  Catechetical  schools 

Movement.  for  the  education  of  poor  children  in  the 
principles  of  the  Established  Church,  and  the 
establishment  of  circulating  lending  libraries,  together  with 
th$  distribution  of  Bibles  and  other  suitable  literature. 
These  schools  were  copied  from  others  already  in  existence,2 
and  directions  as  to  their  constitution  and  management 
Avere  carefully  laid  down  by  the  central  body.  They  were 
generally  supported  by  subscription,  and  were  designed  for 
the  benefit  of  such  poor  children  between  7  and  12  years 
of  age  whose  parents  or  friends  were  unable  ".to  give  them 
learning."  The  schools  spread  rapidly.  By  1734  there 
were  132  schools  in  London  and  1,329  in  the  country, 
providing  for  5,123  and  19,506  children  respectively.3 

1  Of.  for  example  the  Reports  of  the  Suu4ay  Schools  at  Stockport. 

-  In  this  connection  see  Charity  Schools,  by  De  Moutmorency,  Cyclo- 
pedia of  Education,  Paul  Munro. 

3  Some  of  the  mine-owners  in  Wales  supported  schools  for  the  children  of 
their  workpeople.  At  Winlatonin  Durham  the  employees  of  an  ironworks, 
asiisted  by  the  owner,  made  a  weekly  contribution  for  the  education  of  their 
children. 


14  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

Sometimes  the  schools  were  endowed,  and  many  were  the 
recipients  of  bequests  and  donations  from  time  to  time. 
Some  were  boarding  schools,  which  maintained,  clothed,  and 
educated  the  children  until  they  were  of  age  to  be  appren- 
ticed or  put  to  service.  Many  adopted  a  distinctive  dress, 
blue,  green,  orange,  etc.,  after  the  fashion  of  earlier  hospital 
schools.1 

Some  establishments  made  provision  for  but  a  few 
boaudera  ;  others  were  day  schools  only.  Of  these  some 
merely  educated  the  children,  others  clothed  them  as  well, 
others  again  provided  the  children  with  a  free  meal  a  day. 
A  number  of  similar  institutions  were  founded  and  sup- 
ported by  Dissenters  and  Roman  Catholics.2  In  all  alike 
religion  and  dogma  constituted  the  most  important  part 
of  the  curriculum,  but  they  also  provided  reading  and 
writing,  and  in  boys'  schools  arithmetic  as  well.  From  the 
outset  some  schools  introduced  such  industrial  occupations 
as  spinning  wool,  mending  and  making  shoes,  sewing,  knit- 
ting, etc.,  and  in  1712  the  S.P.C.K.  recommended  a  half- 
time  system,  devoting  only  alternate  days  to  ordinary  school 
work.  The  object  was  to  fit  boys  for  apprenticeship  and 
girls  for  domestic  service.  In  some  schools  special  ap- 
prenticeship funds  were  available. 

As  early  as  1700  an  Inspector  of  Charity  Schools  in  and 
about  London  was  appointed,  and  in  1710  a  plan  for  a 
Training  School  for  Masters  and  Mistresses  was  discussed. 
The  teachers  were  generally  of  inferior  merit,  as  might  be 
expected  when  the  annual  expense  of  a  school 3  for  50  boys, 
including  master's  salary,  room,  firing,  books,  clothing,  and 
all  expenses,  required  only  d£75,  and  a  corresponding  school 

1  Account  of  Charity  Schools.  Two  Hundred  Years  :  a  History  of  the 
S.P.C.K.,  Allen  and  McClure.  Elementary  Education,  Gregory. 

-  See  The  Education  of  the  Poor  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  David 
Salmon,  pp.  23-28;  "An  Essay  towards  the  Encouragement  of  Charity 
Schools,"  I.  Watts,  Collected  Works,  Vol.  IV.  3In  London. 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION.  15 

for  girls  <£60.  According  to  the  early  regulations  of  the 
S.P.C.K.  the  master  of  a  charity  school  was  required  to  be 
a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  to  be  not  under 
25  years  of  age,  to  be  able  to  pass  an  examination  in  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  religion,  to  be  equilibrated  and 
a  good  disciplinarian,  to  have  aptitude  for  teaching,  to 
write  a  good  hand  and  to  understand  arithmetic.1 

By  the  middle  of  the  century  the  Charity  School  move- 
ment had  reached  its  height  and  was  providing  for  the 
educational  needs  of  some  30,000  children.  After  that, 
although  charity  schools  continued  to  be  founded,  interest 
in  the  work  flagged,  and  the  latter  half  of  the  century 
furnishes  many  records  of  disappointment,  lowered  ideals, 
and  partial  failure.  Funds  were  mismanaged,  schools 
were  left  in  charge  of  masters  too  old  for  the  work,  and 
some  establishments  practically  ceased  to  exist.  We  have 
it  on  Bernard's  -  authority  that  in  a  number  of  schools  only 
a  single  scholar  was  on  the  foundation  at  the  close  of  the 
century.  With  the  rise  of  the  National  schools  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  raison  d'etre  of  a 
number  of  these  schools  disappeared,  and  they  were  merged 
into  the  new  establishments.3 

In  spite  of  their  narrow  curriculum  and  limited  outlook 
these  schools  did  a  great  work  in  the  cause  of  popular 
education,  and  the  legacies  and  endowments  they  received 
from  old  boys  who  had  prospered  in  after  life  are  the  best 
evidence  of  the  gratitude  they  evoked.  Nor  did  they  exist 
in  England  alone.  A  similar  movement  began  in  Scotland 
in  1705  for  establishing  charity  schools  in  parishes  that 
had  failed  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  1696, 
while  abroad  the  great  charity  school  movement  that  arose 

1  Account  of  Charity  Schools. 

-Sir  Thomas  Bernard:  Digest  of  Reports  (Education)  S.B.C.P., 
pp.  98-9 ;  see  on  p.  39.  3  E.g.  at  Barnsley. 


16  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

under  the  stimulus  of  pietism  had  its  origin  in  the  pioneer 

work   of   Francke  at   Halle,   1695-1727,  work   that   was 

closely  followed  by  the  Central  Committee  of  the  S.P.C.K.1 

Meanwhile  a  new  educational  movement  had  been  begun 

in  Wales  by  the  Rev.  Griffith  Jones,  vicar 

Welsh  Of  Llanddowror,  a  corresponding  member  of 

Circulating  _ 

Schools.  the  S.P.C.K.     Impressed  by  the  ignorance 

of  many  of  his  congregation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, he  had  established  catechising  classes  for  adults. 
The  success  of  the  plan  over  many  years  inspired  him 
with  a  desire  to  extend  his  system  over  the  whole  country 
and  provide  schools  for  old  and  young.  This  he  was  enabled 
to  do  through  the  liberality  of  philanthropic  individuals 
in  England  and  Wales,  backed  up  by  large  donations  of 
Bibles  and  other  books  from  the  S.P.C.K.  The  existing 
English  Charity  Schools  in  Wales  were  quite  inadequate 
in  numbers  and  were  failures  educationally,  for  after  three, 
four,  or  five  years  all  the  children  were  able  to  do,  accord- 
ing to  Griffith  Jones,2  was  "  to  read  very  badly  some  early 
parts  of  the  Bible  without  knowing  the  Welsh  of  it  or  the 
meaning  of  what  they  said  when  they  repeated  the 
catechism."  In  1737  he  began  to  establish  his  "  Schools 
of  Piety,"  variously  named  Catechetical  Charity  Schools, 
Circulating  Schools,  and  subsequently  Madam  Bevan's 
Schools,  the  names  emphasising  special  characteristics 
of  these  institutions.  They  were  free  schools  for  teach- 
ing the  poor  to  read  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular,  and 
for  instructing  them  in  the  principles  of  religion  by  way 
of  question  and  answer.  They  were  established  in  any 
sort  of  building  that  came  to  hand,  church,  chapel,  or 

1  It  is  worth  noting  that  Francke's  account  of  the  schools  at  Halle, 
Pietas  Hallensia,  was  included  in  the  list  of  books  recommended  for 
Masters  of  Charity  Schools,  1713.  There  is  no  mention  of  La  Salle. 

-  Welch  Piety,  1738. 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

tmtenanted  house,  and  were  conducted  by  travelling  school- 
masters who  continued  in  the  place  for  three  months,  and 
for  a  further  three  months  if  needful,  before  moving  on 
elsewhere,  In  this  way  they  were  extended  over  the  whole 
of  Wales.  They  were  opened  day  and  evening  to  people  of 
all  ages,  and  careful  records  of  the  numbers  attending 
during  the  day  time  were  kept.1  This  movement  is  credited 
by  Griffith  Jonea  with  stimulating  a  new  interest  in  charity 
education  in  England.2 

By  Griffith  Jones'  death  in  1761,  3,495  schools  had 
been  established  at  different  times  and  in  various  places, 
attended  by  158,237  scholars  not  counting  more  than  twice 
the  number  who  were  instructed  in  the  evening.  The  work 
was  continued  by  Madam  Bevan  until  her  death  in  1777, 
by  which  time  the  numbers  had  risen  to  6,465  schools  and 
314,051  scholars.  After  this,  through  the  misdirection  of 
trust  funds,  the  schools  soon  ceased  to  exist.  Nothing 
however  could  better  express  the  spiritual  forces  at  work, 
or  the  appeal  these  schools  made  to  the  affections  of  the 
Welsh  people,  than  the  fact  that  they  floxirished  during  the 
very  years  when  disillusionment  and  loss  of  faith  were 
paralysing  the  spread  of  popular  education  in  England.3  In 
1785  the  establishment  of  circulating  schools  was  again 
begun  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Charles,  of  Bala.4  Instruction 
in  reading  and  in  the  Scriptures  was  now  given  on  Sunday 
as  well  as  during  the  week.  In  spite  of  early  opposition 
Sunday  Schools  soon  sprang  up,  under  the  stimulus  of  the 
Kevival  movement,  wherever  the  ground  had  been  prepared 

1 A  summary  of  the  method  of  organising  these  schools  is  given  by 
Griffith  Jones  in  Welch  Piety,  1743. 

2  Welch  Piety,  1740. 

3  For  a  detailed  account  of  the  Circulating  Schools  see  the  volumes  of 
Welch  Piety  or  The  Life  and  Times  of  Griffith  Jones  of  Llanddowror. 
David  Jones. 

4  In  some  districts  of  North  Wales  only  1  in  20  could  read. 

H.  ED.  '2 


18  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

by  Griffith  Jones'  schools.  Thus  arose  the  Welsh  Sunday 
School  movement,1  thereby  making  permanent  the  work  that 
had  begun  half  a  century  before  of  bringing  the  elements 
of  education  within  the  reach  of  all  the  people  regardless 
of  age.  In  this  it  differed  from  the  English  Sunday 
School  movement,  which  in  the  early  stages  made  no  pro- 
vision for  adults. 

Though  isolated  Sunday  schools  had  existed  in  England 

certainly  as  far  back  as  the  middle  of  the 
The  seventeenth  century,  the  concerted  movement 

Movement.         ^or  the  establishment  of  these  institutions 

dates  from  the  opening  of  a  Dame  Sunday 
school  for  the  ragged  and  turbulent  boys  in  one  of  the 
poorest  districts  of  Gloucester  in  1780  by  Robert  Raikes. 
A  similar  work  was  begun  about  the  same  time  by  the  Kev. 
Thomas  Stock,  a  local  curate.  Raikes  was  a  typical  middle 
class  business  man,  the  editor  of  the  Gloucester  Jotirnal, 
and  a  regular  attendant  at  Church.  The  coarse,  undisci- 
plined, illiterate  state  of  the  children  in  the  poorer  districts 
of  the  city  suggested  to  him  the  desirability  of  a  school 
where  they  might  learn  self-control  and  the  elements  of 
reading,  and  be  brought  up  under  Christian  influences. 
After  some  expei'imenting  the  plan  of  Sunday  schools  in 
charge  of  paid  teachers,  where  children  were  taught  reading 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  was  widely  advertised  through 
the  medium  of  his  journal.  The  leading  magazines  of  the 
day2  were  also  used  for  propagandist  purposes  and  the 
idea  succeeded  in  capturing  popular  imagination.  This  is 
Raikes'  title  to  fame — that  he  made  universal  a  practice 
that  until  then  had  been  local  and  practically  unheard  of. 
Though  meeting  with  opposition  in  some  quarters  schools 
sprang  up  rapidly  everywhere,  in  manufacturing  towns 

1  The  Sunday  Schools  of  Wales.  D.  Evans. 
-  See  e.g.  The  Gentleman's  Magazine. 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION.  19 

and  in  country  villages,  sometimes  as  the  outcome  of  in- 
dividual initiative,  sometimes  in  connection  with  particular 
churches  and  chapels.  At  the  outset  the  movement  was 
undenominational  in  character,  as  witness  the  founding  in 
1785  of  "The  Society  for  the  Establishment  and  Support 
of  Sunday  Schools  throughout  the  Kingdom  of  Greait 
Britain,"  with  local  committees  half  Churchmen  and  half 
Dissenters.  Two  years  later  it  was  estimated  that  a 
quarter  of  a  million  children  were  attending  these  schools, 
and  the  numbers  increased  rapidly.  By  1801  the  London 
Society  alone  had  connected  with  it  1,516  schools  and 
156,490  children.1 

The  explanation  of  the  rapid  spread  of  Sunday  Schools 
is  to  be  found  in  the  religious,  social,  and 
economic  forces  at  work  in  society.  The 
Movement.  endeavour  to  establish  the  reasonableness  of 
Christianity,  to  harmonise  reason  and  revela- 
tion, had  resulted  in  a  cold  unemotional  religion  that  failed 
to  touch  the  hearts  of  a  great  section  of  the  community. 
To  win  men  back  from  the  indifference  into  which  they  had 
fallen,  learned  discourses  had  to  be  put  aside  and  attention 
once  more  directed  to  the  simple  truths  set  out  in  the 
Gospel.  To  preach  this  evangel  to  eighteenth-century 
England  was  the  work  of  the  two  Wesleys  and  George 
Whitefield.  In  Wales  the  same  message  was  preached  by 
Howell  Harris,  Daniel  Rowlands,  and  others.  In  each 
country  the  result  was  a  great  religious  revival,  a  stirring 
of  dry  bones,  and  the  infusion  of  a  new  spirit  into  the 
Established  Church  that  found  expression  in  the  Evan- 
gelical movement.  Along  with  it,  as  in  the  earlier  revival 
of  Griffith  Jones,  went  a  new  interest  in  popular  education. 

1  Robert  Raikes :  a  History  of  the  Origin  of  Sunday  Schools,  A. 
Gregory.  Robert  Eaikes,  the  Man  and  his  Work,  J.  H.  Harris. 
History  of  Philanthropy,  Kirkman  Grey. 


20  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

Through  the  work  of  men  like  Henry  Venn  and  William 
Wilberforce  and  the  writings  of  Hannah  More,  many 
among  the  middle  and  upper  classes  of  society  acquired  a 
new  sense  of  responsibility  towards  social  and  educational 
reform.  To  it  is  due  a  large  share  of  the  credit  for  the  rise 
of  the  new  voluntary  movement  in  the  sphere  of  elemen- 
tary education  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

But  other  factors  were  contributing  to  direct  attention 
to  popular  education — (1)  the  rapid  growth  of  population 
in  towns,  and  (2)  revolutionary  thought. 

Both  before  and  after  the  Eevolution  of  1789  French 
revolutionary  thought  exerted  a  great  iu- 

Influence  of  fluence  on  public  opinion  in  this  country. 
Revolutionary  . 

Thought.  Briefly,  it  represented  an  attack  on  over-inter- 

ference, vested  interests,  superstition,  and 
tyranny  in  every  form.  It  showed  a  marked  propensity 
to  ignore  history  and  judge  everything  by  its  immediate 
reasonableness.  It  pictured  a  society  free  from  all  laws 
and  coercion,  freed  from  all  clerical  influence  and  ruled  by 
universal  benevolence,  a  society  in  which  all  men  had  equal 
rights  and  were  able  to  attain  the  fullest  self-realisation. 
In  its  strictly  educational  aspects,  it  demanded  the  with- 
drawal of  education  from  the  Church  and  the  setting  up  of  a 
State  system  of  secular  instruction.  La  Chalotais  put  the 
position  concisely  in  these  words :  "  I  do  not  presume  to 
exclude  ecclesiastics,  but  I  protest  against  the  exclusion  of 
laymen.  I  dare  claim  for  the  nation  an  education  which 
depends  only  on  the  State,  because  it  belongs  essentially 
to  the  State;  because  every  State  has  an  inalienable 
and  indefensible  right  to  instruct  its  members;  because, 
finally,  the  children  of  the  State  ought  to  be  educated  by 
the  members  of  the  State." 1 

1  Essai  d'education  nationale.  See  Cotnpayre  :  Histoire  critique  dee 
doctrines  de  V education  en  France,  Vol.  II. 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION.  21 

Among  those  who  believed  that  public  instruction  was 
a  civil  affair,  a  "  government  undertaking,"  we  find  three 
schools  of  thought.  First,  there  were  those  who,  like 
Voltaire,  had  no  sympathy  with  popular  schooling, 
and  who  regarded  education  as  essentially  aristocratic. 
Secondly,  there  were  men  like  Eousseau  and  La  Chalotais, 
who  exhibited  strong  prejudice  against  popular  instruction 
and  especially  against  such  instruction  badly  conceived, 
but  who  were  not  consistent  in  their  opposition.  Thus,  La 
Chalotais  taught  that  "  the  peasantry  ....  ought  not  to 
be  neglected  in  the  system  of  instruction,  ....  there 
should  be  instructed  and  competent  generals,  magistrates, 
and  ecclesiastics,  and  skilful  artists  and  citizens  all  in  fit 
proportion.  It  is  for  the  Government  to  make  each 
citizen  so  pleased  with  his  condition  that  he  may  not  be 
forced  to  withdraw  from  it."  Finally,  in  Turgot  and  the 
physiocrats  on  the  one  hand,  and  many  Parliamentarians 
on  the  other,  we  have  men  deliberately  working  for  the 
cause  of  popular  education  and  urging  the  doctrine  of 
equality  of  educational  opportunity.  "  Each  one  ought 
to  have  the  opportunity  to  receive  the  education  which  is 
adapted  to  his  need,"  said  Eolland,  the  President  of  the 
Parliament  of  Paris,  in  1768.  "Education  cannot  be  too 
widely  diffused."  Similarly  Turgot,  seven  years  later  in 
a  memorial  to  the  King  on  local  government  and  national 
education,  pleaded  the  cause  of  popular  schooling  as  the 
best  means  of  ensuring  the  public  good  and  attaching  the 
affections  of  the  people  to  the  throne.1 

At  the  same  time  the  theoretical  justification  of  popular 
instruction  was  being  unwittingly  provided  by  Helvetius 
and  others,  who  taught  that  mental  life  was  simply  the 
product  of  sense  impression,  and  that  education  in  its 
widest  sense  was  the  sole  cause  of  the  difference  between 

1  Life  and  Writings  of  Turgot,  Stephens,  pp.  269-272. 


22  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

individuals.  Prom  such  a  theory,  imperfectly  appre- 
hended, it  was  easy  to  deduce  au  exaggerated  view  of  the 
value  of  mere  schooling  as  a  means  of  social  betterment, 
which  inevitably  resulted  at  a  later  period  in  disappoint- 
ment and  disillusionment. 

All  this  had  far-reaching  results.  On  the  one  hand  it 
confirmed  many  of  the  middle  and  upper  classes  in  their 
opposition  to  popular  education  in  the  hope  of  safe- 
guarding the  masses  from  the  disturbing  influences  of 
revolutionary  thought  and  checking  the  spread  of  social- 
ism, deism,  and  atheism.  On  the  other  hand  it  provided 
men  of  more  liberal  outlook  with  a  convincing  argu- 
ment for  enlightening  the  people,  so  as  to  render  them 
a  less  easy  prey  to  inflammatory  writings  and  the  decla- 
mation of  interested  and  ambitious  demagogues.1  This 
was  the  more  necessary  in  view  of  the  distress  that  had 
accompanied  the  change  in  agricultural  and  industi'ial 
conditions.  It  was  especially  important  now  that  the 
grouping  of  large  numbers  of  men  in  the  factory  towns 
had  made  discussion  of  social  conditions  inevitable,  but 
had  made  no  corresponding  provision  for  their  general 
enlightenment. 

At  the  same  time  there  gradually  grew  up  a  body  of 
opinion  in  favour  of  State  action  in  popular 
Importance        education,  of  separating  secular   from  reli- 
Education.         gious  teaching,  and  of  making  school  atten- 
dance compulsory.     Adam  Smith,  Malthus, 
and  Thomas  Paine  exerted  a  profound  influence  in  this 
connection.     The  first  two  approached  the  question  from 
an  economic,  the  last  from  a  political  standpoint.     On  the 

1  Thus  Sir  T.  Bernard  looked  to  a  "  general  system  of  EDUCATION,  regu- 
lated according  to  the  rites  and  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England  "  to 
preserve  the  poor  "  against  the  taint  of  sedition  and  the  poison  of  infidelity." 
—Digext  of  Reports  (Education)  S.B.C.P.,  1809.  Cf.  the  sets  of  Cheap 
Repository  Tracts  published  with  a  similar  object. 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION.  Z«j 

other  band  Godwin,  the  philosopher  and  oracle  of  the 
revolutionary  party  in  England,  is  a  representative  of  those 
who  looked  with  extreme  distrust  on  State  interference  in 
any  form  in  educational  affairs. 

Adam  Smith  (1776)  argues  that  in  all  highly  organised 

societies,  unless  special  steps  are  taken  to 
Adam  Smith.  ,  .  .,  ,,  ,  ,  r  .  r  .  .,  ,  .  , 

check  it,  the  labouring  poor  inevitably  de- 
generate both  physically  and  mentally.  In  a  ruder  con- 
dition of  society  more  varied  demands  are  made  upon  the 
individual,  inventiveness  is  constantly  being  called  for, 
and  the  mind  has  no  opportunity  to  stagnate.  This  is  no 
longer  the  case  when  the  individual  is  confined  to  a  narrow 
routine  occupation  day  after  day.  Such  an  individual 
degenerates  and  may  well  become  a  danger  to  society,  the 
victim  of  all  sorts  of  prejudice  and  a  prey  to  every  kind  of 
superstition. 

"  A  man  without  the  proper  use  of  the  intellectual  faculties  of  a 
man,  is,  if  possible,  more  contemptible  than  even  a  coward,  and 
Heems  fco  be  mutilated  and  deformed  in  a  still  more  essential  part  of 
the  character  of  human  nature.  Though  the  State  was  to  derive  no 
advantage  from  the  instruction  of  the  inferior  ranks  of  the  people, 
it  would  still  deserve  its  attention  that  they  should  not  be  altogether 
uninstructed.  The  State,  however,  derives  no  inconsiderable  ad- 
vantage from  their  instruction.  The  more  they  are  instructed  the 
less  liable  they  are  to  the  delusions  of  enthusiasm  and  superstition, 
which,  among  ignorant  nations,  frequently  occasion  the  most  dread- 
ful disorders.  An  instructed  and  intelligent  people,  besides,  are 
always  more  decent  and  orderly  than  a  stupid  one.  They  feel 
themselves,  each  individually,  more  respectable  and  more  likely  to 
obtain  the  respect  of  their  lawful  superiors,  and  they  are  therefore 
more  disposed  to  respect  those  superiors.  They  are  more  disposed 
to  examine,  and  are  more  capable  of  seeing  through,  the  interested 
complaints  of  faction  and  sedition,  and  they  are,  upon  that  account, 
less  apt  to  be  misled  into  any  wanton  or  unnecessary  opposition  to 
the  measures  of  government.  In  free  countries,  where  the  safety  of 
government  depends  very  much  upon  the  favourable  judgment 
which  the  people  may  form  of  its  conduct,  it  must  surely  be  of  the 


24  -;K.VERAL  INTRODUCTION. 

highest  importance  that  they  should  not  be  disposed  to  judge  rashly 
or  capriciously  concerning  it."  l 

Accordingly  the  State  has  every  right  to  make  elemen- 
tary education  compulsory  and  to  make  it  a  public  charge, 
though  for  the  sake  of  efficiency  he  recommends  leaving 
provision  for  the  payment  of  school  fees  and  for  voluntary 
contributions.  At  the  same  time  he  advocates  a  cautious 
introduction  of  military  training  to  keep  up  the  standard 
of  national  physique  and  to  check  any  loss  of  martial  spirit 
likely  to  result  from  confined  employment. 

Thomas  Paine  was  the  pamphleteer  of  the  revolutionary 
party,  a  deist  and  a  man  of  unbounded  faith 
Thomas  Paine,  in  the  efficacy  of  argument.  His  Rights  of 
Man*  was  intended  as  a  reply  to  Burke' s 
Essay  on  the  French  Revolution.  He  saw  a  sharp  anti- 
thesis between  society  and  government.  Government  was 
an  evil,  yet  as  things  were  it  had  great  powers  for  good  if 
only  they  were  properly  exercised.  In  his  scheme  of  social 
reform  he  proposed  to  substitute  for  poor  relief  a  grant  of 
.£4  a  year  for  each  child  of  the  very  poor  under  14  years 
of  age,  and  to  compel  the  parents  to  send  their  children  to 
school  to  learn  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.  The 
provision  of  education  he  proposed  to  leave  to  individual 
interest.  The  school  fees  of  children  above  the  very  poor 
were  also  to  be  paid,  for  many  of  this  class  find  it  difficult 
to  afford  the  necessary  money  for  education.  In  a  nation 
under  a  well  regulated  government  none  should  be  per- 
mitted to  go  uninstructed.3 

Godwin,  on  the  other  hand,  expressed  his  abhorrence  of 
William  anv  kind  of  State  interference.  Government 

Godwin.  he  believed  to  be  an  evil  in  any  case  and 

especially  in  such  a  matter  as  education,  where  human 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  Bk.  V.,  Chap.  I.,  Part  III.,  Art.  II. 

- 1791-2.  3  Rights  of  Man,  Part  II.,  Chap.  V, 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION.  25 

perfectibility  was  determined  partly  by  environment  and 
partly  by  the  growth  of  opinion.  A  State  system  would 
check  the  growth  of  free  opinion,  it  would  induce  over- 
veneration  for  things  as  they  were,  it  would  tend  to  check 
free  enquiry  and  replace  it  by  dogma.  Moreover  its  very 
element  of  permanence  was  a  vital  objection ;  so  was  its 
tendency  to  produce  a  dull  uniformity  and  to  spread  ideas 
favourable  to  the  party  in  power.  To  trust  the  State  with 
the  management  of  education  he  considered  far  more  per- 
nicious than  leaving  it  under  ecclesiastical  control.1 

In  Malthus  arose  an  influential  advocate  of  State  inter- 
ference in  education.  His  contribution  was 
Malthus.  embodied  in  his  Essay  on  Population  first 
published  in  1798,  which  was  avowedly  a 
reply  to  Godwin's  Political  Justice  and  its  assertion  of  the 
doctrine  of  human  equality.  Malthus'  object  was  to  show 
that  inequality  was  a  necessary  result  of  the  working  of  a 
natural  law,  viz.  that  population  constantly  tends  to  out- 
strip the  means  of  subsistence,  and  that  it  is  only  prevented 
from  so  doing  by  the  operation  of  checks  of  various  kinds 
that  involve  a  great  amount  of  misery  and  vice.  Here  the 
roots  of  pauperism  lay  revealed.  Indiscriminate  charity 
was  worse  than  useless.  Pauperism  could  only  be  checked 
by  each  individual  playing  his  part,  and  exercising  moral 
restraint  and  foresight.  To  this  end  a  widespread  system 
of  public  instruction  was  necessary. 

"We  have  lavished  immense  sums  on  the  poor,  which  we  have 
every  reason  to  think  have  constantly  tended  to  aggravate  their 
misery.  But  in  their  education  and  in  the  circulation  of  those 
important  political  truths  that  most  nearly  concern  them,  which  are 
perhaps  the  only  means  in  our  power  of  really  raising  their  condition, 
and  of  making  them  happier  men  and  more  peaceful  subjects,  we 


1  Enquiry  concerning  Political  Justice,  1st  edition,  1793,  passim.     See 
also  Shelley,  Godwin,  and  their  Circle,  H.  N.  Brailsford. 


26  GENERAL    INTRODUCTION. 

have  been  miserably  deficient.  It  is  surely  a  great  national  disgrace, 
that  the  education  of  the  lowest  classes  of  people  in  England  should 
be  left  entirely  to  a  few  Sunday  Schools,  supported  by  a  subscrip- 
tion from  individuals,  who  can  give  to  the  course  of  instruction  in 
them  any  kind  of  bias  which  they  please."  l 

Malthus,  in  fact,  would  remove  much  of  the  onus  of  deal- 
ing with  the  most  pressing  of  social  problems  from  society 
as  a  whole  to  the  individual.  He  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  those  who  feared  the  results  of  schooling  on  the 
common  people,  rather  he  expressed  his  whole-hearted 
agreement  with  Adam  Smith,  that  knowledge  was  the 
surest  means  of  guarding  men  against  the  "  false  declama- 
tion of  interested  and  ambitious  demagogues."  And  he 
urged  that  the  elements  of  political  economy  might  very 
well  be  taught  in  the  common  schools  so  as  to  enable  the 
poor  to  live  to  greater  advantage  in  a  society  governed  by 
competition. 

The  further  discussion  of  this  question  of  State  educa- 
tion was  carried  on  by  Eobert  Owen  and  the  Benthamites 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  will  be  considered  in  the 
following  chapter. 

Malthus'  influence  was  seen  immediately,  and  was  already 
very  important  when  Mr.  Whitbread  introduced  his  Poor 
Law  Reform  Bill  in  1807.  It  was  in  accord  with  Adam 
Smith's  teaching  that  elementary  education  developed  dur- 
ing the  first  half  of  the  century.  Godwin  soon  suffered 
eclipse,  though  his  teaching  was  welcomed  by  a  section 
of  both  Liberals  and  Conservatives.  Paine's  influence  was 
important  both  because  of  the  fear  of  popular  education 
that  he  aroused  among  conservative  people,  and  the  popu- 
larity of  his  teaching  among  working  men.2 

To  sum  up,  the  educational  ideal  of  the  century  at  its 

1  Essay  on  Population,  Bk.  IV.,  Chap.  IX. 

2  The  popularity  of  the  Rights  of  Man  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that 
Paine  made  ;i  profit  of  over  £1000  on  the  book. 


GENERAL    INTRODUCTION.  27 

best  was  the  training  of  the  poor  to  poverty,  an  honest, 
upright,  grateful,  industrious  poverty.  But,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  change  had  already  begun  through  the  gradual 
interfusion  of  revolutionary  thought  and  the  new  condi- 
tions that  had  inevitably  followed  the  grouping  of  large 
numbers  of  men  in  towns  as  a  result  of  the  industrial 
revolution.  Working  men  were  now  demanding  not  only 
political  rights  but  political  enlightenment,  and  ideas  for 
democratising  education  were  already  at  work. 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE  PHILANTHROPIC  PEEIOD,  1800-1833. 

"Schools  for  all." — Motto  of  the  West  London  Lancasterian 
Association. 

"  Whereas  the  greater  part  of  persons  had  hitherto  been  content 
to  take  no  heed  of  passing  circumstances,  and  to  allow  abuses  to 
continue  scarcely  recognising  their  existence,  the  time  was  come 
when  the  rights  of  humanity  would  make  themselves  heard.  Men 
of  reflection  had  begun  to  investigate  the  causes,  and  the  probable 
results,  of  the  facts  around  them.  Enormous  errors  were  com- 
mitted, incalculable  mistakes  made,  .  .  .  ;  yet  the  good  pre- 
ponderated .  .  .,  undeniable  truths  were  proclaimed." — Memoir  of 
Elizabeth  Fry,  Vol.  I.,  p.  401. 

This  period  begins  with  the  publication  (1797)  of  Dr. 

Andrew  Bell's    account  of    his  educational 

Survev  experiment  at  Madras,    and  ends  with  the 

first     Parliamentary     grant   for    education 

(1833).     In  its  main  characteristics  it  belongs  rather  to 

the  eighteenth  than  to  the  nineteenth  century.     Movements 

that  belong  to  the  preceding  century  continue  for  a  time 

with  renewed  vigour  and  then  nicker  out.     Social  ills  are 

still  a  matter  for  philanthropic  rather  than  State  action, 

but  a  new  spirit  is  evident  from  the  outset. 

The  period  is  one  of  great  social  and  political  unrest,  of 
extraordinary  philanthropic  and  educational  activity.  To 
realise  a  need  was  sufficient  warrant  for  private  individuals 
to  rash  in  to  alleviate  it  without  pausing  to  examine  too 
closely  either  the  attendant  circumstances  or  the  extent  of 

28 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  29 

their  own  resources.  It  was  accordingly  a  time  of  cheap- 
ness, superficiality,  and  variety  of  endeavour  rather  than  of 
thoroughness.  Nevertheless  an  impulse  was  given  to 
popular  education  that  has  never  died  out. 

At  the  back  of  much  philanthropy  the  idea  of  a 
"  beautiful  order  providentially  arranged"  between  diverse 
ranks  and  positions  was  as  deeply  trenched  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding century.  Numerous  projects  for  alleviating  the 
social  and  educational  condition  of  the  masses  appeared, 
but  they  were  in  the  main  middle  class  schemes,  devised 
and  run  by  the  middle  class  with  no  thought  of  training 
the  people  to  manage  their  own  affairs.  Infant  schools 
arose  and  became  popular  largely  because  they  were 
demonstrably  "safe"  institutions.  Savings  banks  and 
mechanics'  institutes,  on  the  other  hand,  occasioned  some 
suspicion.  As  for  elementary  schools  for  the  poor, 
religious  instruction  still  formed  the  backbone  of  the  cur- 
riculum. They  "  were  to  be  as  little  as  possible  scholastic. 
They  were  to  be  kept  down  to  the  lowest  level  of  the  work- 
shop, excepting  perhaps  in  one  particular — that  of  working 
hard :  for  the  scholars  were  to  throw  time  away  rather 
than  be  occupied  with  anything  beyond  the  merest  rudi- 
ments."1 

Between  Churchmen  and  Dissenters  there  was  nothing 
to  choose  in  this  respect,  and,  as  a  contemporary  writer- 
says,  it  was  necessary  in  order  to  obtain  contributions  "  to 
avow  and  plead  how  little  it  was  that  they  (the  schools) 
pretended  or  presumed  to  teach."3  Mental  cultivation,  en- 
larged knowledge,  the  elements  of  science,  a  habit  of  think- 
ing, exercise  of  judgment,  free  and  enlightened  opinion, 
were  ideas  that  had  to  be  handled  very  carefully  at  the 

1  An  Essay  on  the  Evils  of  Popular  Ignorance,  John  Foster,  Sec.  VI., 
p.  259. 

2  John  Foster.  3  Ibid.,  p.  259. 


30  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

beginning  of  the  century.  A  more  liberal  view  that 
gathered  strength  and  attracted  to  it  all  that  was  best  in 
the  new  working  class  movement  was,  however,  not  want- 
ing. It  was  represented  by  men  like  Robert  Owen,  Words- 
worth, and  James  Mill,  the  latter  of  whom  summed  up 
the  new  liberalism  when  he  wrote :  "  As  we  strive  for  an 
equal  degree  of  justice,  an  equal  degree  of  temperance, 
an  equal  degree  of  veracity,  in  the  poor  as  in  the  rich,  so 
ought  we  to  strive  for  an  equal  degree  of  intelligence." ' 

It  was  an  age  feeling  the  full  effects  of  the  machine 
industries,  prone  to  a  doctrine  of  laissez  faire,  and  to  a 
want  of  imagination.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  mechanical 
spirit  of  the  age  that  the  quality  that  appeared  especially 
to  justify  the  monitorial  system  to  posterity,  the  feature 
that  evoked  the  highest  admiration,  was  that  it  brought 
into  action  in  the  province  of  education  "  a  new  expedient, 
parallel  and  rival  to  the  most  modern  inventions  in  the 
mechanical  departments. "- 

Only  slowly  did  the  view  prevail  that  society  is  some- 
thing more  than  the  summation  of  individuals,  that  men 
are  in  fact  members  one  of  another.  This  is  seen,  for 
example,  in  the  slow  alleviation  of  glaring  social  abuses 
like  the  exploitation  of  children  in  factories.  But  that 
a  new  spirit  was  at  work  is  evident  from  the  application 
of  statistical  methods  to  the  investigation  of  social  and 
educational  problems,  the  object  being  first  to  obtain  ac- 
curate information  of  things  as  they  were  and  then  to  use 
the  data  so  gained  as  a  means  of  propaganda  and  of 
stimulating  social  consciousness.  The  first  census  dates 
from  1801  and  is  typical  of  a  new  social  attitude.3  Educa- 

1  Reprint  of  Article  on  Education,  1818  :  Encyclopaedia  Britannica, 
p.  yj. 

-An  Essay  on  the  Erils  of  Popular  Ignorance,  John  Foster,  Sec.  II., 
p.  87.  3  See  History  of  Philanthropy ,  Kirkuian  Grey. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  31 

tional  statistics  were  used  with  effect  before  the  various 

commissions  and  committees  of  enquiry  during  this  period, 

and  in  the  thirties  statistical    societies  had,  come  to  be 

regarded  as  the  most  effective  means  of  furthering  reform. 

In  the  marked  growth  of  public  interest  in  education 

during  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  nineteenth 

Educational       century  three  motives  can  be  seen  at  work — 
Forces  at  v    .   '  ..  .     ,  ..  .   ,.     . 

Work,  religious,    political,  and    socialistic    respec- 

tively. The  first  predominates  in  the  spread 
of  Sunday  Schools,  "  Schools  of  Industry,"  in  the  work  of 
the  Society  for  Bettering  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  and 
in  the  development  of  the  monitorial  system.  The  second 
is  seen  in  the  teaching  of  the  Radicals  that  gathered  round 
Bentham — men  like  James  Mill,  Brougham,  and  Francis 
Place.  The  third  had  a  worthy  exponent  in  Robert  Owen. 
Associated  with  each  and  standing  out  with  greater  or  less 
clearness  are,  of  course,  other  motives  ;  but  these  we  may 
ignore.  The  important  point  is  that  from  the  outset  of 
the  century  we  find  influences  prominently  at  work 
antagonistic  to  ecclesiastical  monopoly  in  the  field  of 
popular  education. 

The  spirit  of  the  Radical  party  is  not  unappropriately 
expressed  in  Bentham's  dictum  "  The  way 
Benthamites  ^°  ^e  comf°rta<ble  is  to  make  others  com- 
fortable. The  way  to  make  others  comfort- 
able is  to  appear  to  love  them.  The  way  to  appear  to  love 
them  is  to  love  them  in  reality."  These  benevolent  as- 
pirations found  expression  in  the  well-known  formula  "  the 
greatest  happiness,"  where,  it  is  important  to  note,  every 
individual  should  count  as  one  and  one  only.  Benthamism 
was  an  attack  on  monopoly,  vested  interest,  class  prestige, 
"  sinister  interests  "  of  all  kinds.  Instead  of  a  society  in 
which  one  half  existed  by  plundering  the  other  half,  it 
would  establish  a  universal  brotherhood  and  distribute 


32  Tfifi    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

broadcast  the  elements  of  well-being.1  Selfish  interest 
would  give  way  before  an  all- sufficing  conception  of  public 
good,  and  each  man  would  have  within  his  reach  the 
elements  that  make  for  individual  and  general  happiness ; 
and  of  these  education  would  be  one.  Education  was  neces- 
sary for  the  growth  of  intelligence  and  in  order  that  each 
might  take  his  part  in  the  life  of  a  democratic  com- 
munity. "  The  question  whether  the  people  should  be 
educated,  is  the  same  with  the  question  whether  they 
should  be  happy  or  miserable.  The  question  whether 
they  should  have  more  or  less  of  intelligence,  is  merely  the 
question  whether  they  should  have  more  or  less  misery 
when  happiness  might  be  given  in  its  stead."2  Accordingly 
alike  on  individual  and  on  social  grounds  education  for 
all  was  essential,  an  education  as  liberal  as  circumstances 
would  permit.3 

The  whole  outlook  on  life  was  profoundly  optimistic 
and  profoundly  mechanical.  Man  was  a  rational  animal : 
teach  him  to  reason,  give  him  in  other  words  the  power  to 
read  and  write,  and  social  ills  would  vanish  before  in- 
structed intelligence.  Of  the  affections  no  account  was 
taken  whatever.  As  Sydney  Smith  put  it,  "  if  everything 
is  to  be  sacrificed  to  utility,  why  do  you  bury  your  grand- 
mother ?  Why  don't  you  cut  her  into  small  pieces  at 
once,  and  make  portable  soup  of  her  ?  " 

It  needed  the  leavening  influence  of  Wordsworth, 
Coleridge,  Carlyle,  and  the  new  Anglican  revival  in  the 


'See  Essay  on  Bentham  in  Six  Radical  Thinker*,  John  MacCunn ; 
Autobiography,  J.  S.  Mill,  Chap.  IV.;  Life  of  Francis  Place,  Graham 
Wallas,  Chap.  III.  j  James  Mill:  a  Biography,  Bain;  Rise  of  Demo- 
cracy, Rose. 

2  Mill  :  Article  on  Education,  p.  38. 

3  Through  his  distrust  of    government  Bentham  himself  looked  to  the 
supply  of  education  mainly  by  voluntary  agencies. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  33 

thirties  to  reassert  the  spiritual  character  of  man,  to  insist 

that 

"  We  live  by  admiration,  hope,  and  love  ; 
And  e'en  as  these  are  well  and  wisely  fixed 
In  dignity  of  being  we  ascend* :> 

For  the  time  being,  however,  liberals  were  satisfied  that 
spiritual  influences  were  unnecessary.1 

Few  men  were  more  zealous  in  the  cause  of  popular 
education,  both  in  Parliament  and  outside,  than  the  Ben- 
thamites. Naturally  they  magnified  the  value  of  useful 
knowledge;  but  their  interest  in  education  was  catholic 
in  its  range,  and  in  general  they  showed  a  liberalism  much 
in  advance  of  the  thought  of  their  day.  They  included 
among  them  staunch  supporters  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
School  Society,  and  men  who  were  actively  interested 
in  the  spread  of  adult  education,  in  the  Society  for  Diffus- 
ing Useful  Knowledge,  in  the  infant  school  movement, 
and  in  the  proposed  Chrestomathic  secondary  school.2 
Bentham  himself  was  for  some  years  one  of  Owen's  partners 
at  New  Lanark.  It  was  largely  to  the  teaching  of  men 
of  this  party  that  we  owe  the  gradual  growth  of  a  demand 
for  popular  education  on  purely  democratic  grounds, 
popularly  managed  and  freed  from  clerical  interference. 
In  this  connection  two  names,  Brougham  and  Roebuck, 
stand  out  with  special  prominence  in  Parliamentary  activity 
during  this  period. 

Eobert  Owen's  influence  was  of  a  different  order.     He 

was   the   founder   of   the   English   socialist 

EoberTciwen      movement,  and  is  one  of  the  most  important 

figures  in  the  social  history  of  the  century. 

He  was  a  self-educated  man  and  a  philanthropist,  who  for 

a  quarter  of  a  century   (1799-1824)  managed  with  coc- 

1  A  History  of  Philosophy,  Windlebaiid,  pp.  GC2-667. 
-  Chrestomathia,  1815.    Also  in  Bentham's  Collected  Works. 
H.  ED.  3 


34  THE   PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

spicuous  success  the  New  Lanark  Cotton  Spinning  Mills 
in  which  he  had  a  large  monetary  interest.  For  some 
years  previous  to  this  he  had  shown  considerable  interest 
in  social  questions  from  being  daily  brought  into  contact 
with  the  evils  existing  in  the  factory  towns,  and  in 
Manchester  in  particular.  He  seems  to  have  been  well 
acquainted  with  revolutionary  literature,  and  he  used  his 
position  at  New  Lanark  to  carry  out  a  series  of  social 
experiments,  the  results  of  which  he  embodied  in  four 
essays — A  New  View  of  Society,  or  Essays  on  the  Formation 
of  the  Human  Character — written  between  1813  and  1816. 
Briefly,  Owen's  aim  was  to  establish  a  new  social  order. 
Social  misery  he  traces  to  the  absence  of  right  character  in 
man,  the  result  of  upbringing  and  environment.  All  the 
agencies  in  society,  all  its  punitive  measures,  are  based  on 
a  false  assumption,  viz.  that  man  is  responsible  for  his  own 
character,  whereas  in  fact  this  is  the  one  thing  over  which 
the  individual  has  absolutely  no  control.  "  The  character 
of  a  man  is,  without  a  single  exception,  always  formed  for 
him ;  ...  it  may  be  and  is  chiefly  created  by  his  prede- 
cessors ;  .  .  .  they  give  him,  or  may  give  him,  his  ideas  and 
habits,  which  are  the  powers  that  govern  his  conduct. 
Man,  therefore,  never  did,  nor  is  it  possible  he  ever  can, 
form  his  own  character."  '  The  criminal  is  the  criminal 
and  the  judge  the  judge,  entirely  as  the  result  of  their 
early  environment  and  upbringing.  Moreover,  not  only 
has  the  individual  no  control  over  his  own  character,  his 
very  opinions  are  not  his  own.  "  The  will  of  man  has  no 
power  whatever  over  his  opinions  ;  he  must,  and  ever  did, 
and  ever  will  believe  what  has  been,  is,  and  may  be  im- 
pressed on  his  mind  by  his  predecessors  and  the  circum- 
stances that  surround  him."  2 

1  Ibid.,  Essay  Third,  p.  46  (Heywood's  Reprint,  1837). 
.,  III.,  p. 43. 


THE  PHILANTHROPIC  PERIOD,  1800-1833.          35 

It  is  because  of  this  that  ignorance,  hatred,  and  error  are 
generated  and  perpetuated  from  one  generation  to  another. 
But  the  very  ease  with  which  external  circumstances  deter- 
mine the  individual  proves  a  source  of  hope  to  the  social 
reformer,  for  it  means  that  if  the  environment  can  be 
controlled  and  right  habits  and  opinions  implanted,  the 
millennium  will  be  in  sight.  This  plasticity  of  human 
nature,  and  of  child  nature  in  particular,  makes  the  office 
of  teacher  one  of  first-rate  importance.  "  Children  are, 
without  exception,  passive  and  wonderfully  contrived  com- 
pounds ;  which  by  an  accurate  previous  and  subsequent 
attention,  founded  on  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  subject, 
may  be  formed  collectively  to  have  any  human  character. 
And  although  the  compounds,  like  all  other  works  of 
nature,  possess  endless  varieties,  yet  they  partake  of  that 
plastic  quality,  which  by  perseverance  under  judicious 
management,  may  be  ultimately  moulded  into  the  very 
image  of  rational  wishes  and  desires."  L  Nay  more,  "  the 
infants  of  any  one  class  in  the  world  may  be  readily  formed 
into  men  of  any  other  class."-  And  it  must  be  laid  down 
as  a  maxim  so  self-evident  as  to  win  the  assent  of  all 
rational  beings,  that  "  any  general  character,  from  the  best 
to  the  worst,  from  the  most  ignorant  to  the  most  en- 
lightened, may  be  given  to  any  community,  even  to  the 
world  at  large,  by  the  application  of  proper  means ;  which 
means  are  to  a  great  extent  at  the  command  and  under 
the  control  of  those  who  have  influence  in  the  affairs  of 
men." 3 

By  adopting  the  proper  means,  men  may  by  degrees  be 
trained  to  live  in  any  part  of  the  world  without  poverty, 
without  crime,  and  without  punishment ;  *  for  all  these  are 
the  results  of  error  in  the  various  systems  of  training  and 

i Ibid.,  II.,  pp.  11-12.        -Ibid.,  IV.,  p.  60.        3  Ibid.,  I.,  p.  5. 
*Ibid.t  II.,  p.  25. 


36  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

government,  which  proceeds  from  gross  ignorance  of  human 
nature. 

The  end  of  government  is  to  make  the  governed  and  the 
governors  happy.1  The  one  and  only  criterion  of  good 
government  is  that  it  should  effect  the  greatest  possible 
happiness.  Each  individual  will  systematically  pursue  his 
own  happiness,  but  fioin  the  nature  of  things  this  will 
only  be  attained  by  conduct  that  promotes  the  happiness 
of  the  community  as  a  whole.  This,  however,  requires 
"  true  knowledge." 2 

Accordingly  Owen  proposes  first  to  reform  the  environ- 
ment and  to  make  the  fullest  use  of  public  education.  In 
his  plan  of  national  reform  which  he  based  on  his  social 
experiments  at  New  Lanark  he  proposed  (1)  that  the 
national  church,  as  the  first  step  to  removing  the  grounds 
of  envy  and  strife,  should  lay  aside  all  formularies  and 
declarations  of  belief,  (2)  the  checking  of  the  drink  traffic 
and  gambling,  (3)  the  amendment  of  the  Poor  Law  on 
rational  and  humanitarian  lines,  (4)  a  universal  system  of 
elementary  education  from  infancy,  (5)  a  labour  bureau, 
and  (6)  national  work  for  the  unemployed. 

"  The  best  governed  State  will  be  that  which  possesses 
the  best  national  system  of  education." 3  The  State  should 
provide  a  Department  of  Education  and  empower  it  to 
establish  training  colleges,  to  build  schools,  to  draft  the 
curriculum,  and  to  appoint  teachers — the  oflice  of  teacher 
being,  as  with  Herbert  Spencer,  the  most  important  in  the 
State.4  Great  stress  was  laid  on  the  importance  of  early 
education,  equality  of  opportunity,  and  an  education  that 
should  train  the  whole  being.  The  object  of  all  this  is  to 
establish  habits  and  sentiments,  a  social  consciousness  and 
an  open-mindeduess  such  as  are  calculated  to  make  the 

1  Ibid.,  IV.,  p.  52.  -Ibid.,  IV.,  p.  54.          »Ibid.,  IV.,  p.  62. 

V.,pp.  70-71. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  37 

individual  and  the  community  lead  full,  happy,  aud  vigor- 
ous lives,  sanctified  by  a  spirit  of  social  service. 

The  defects  in  Owen's  treatment  call  for  little  comment. 
He  altogether  misconceived  the  meaning  of  environment, 
he  gave  no  thought  to  heredity,  and  was  unable  to  free 
himself  from  the  mechanical  view  of  the  educative  process 
prevalent  at  the  time.  Nevertheless  his  influence  both  on 
working  men  and  on  middle  class  opinion  was  very  great. 
The  Infant  School  movement  in  this  country  was  an  out- 
come of  his  teaching,  and  he  exerted  great  influence  on  the 
Chartists  and  on  factory  reform. 

The  social  misery,  the  pauperism,  and  the  unrest  that 

were  rampant  in  this  country  at  the  begin- 

The  Religious    ning  of  the  century  offered  a  worthy  field 

Hmnanitarian  ^or  ^ie  exerc^se  °^  that  new  religious  and 
Motive.  philanthropic  zeal,  the  rise  of  which  has  been 

mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter.  On  all 
hands  it  was  felt  that  something  must  be  done  to  check 
the  ruinous  expenditure  on  poor  relief  that  was  going  up 
by  leaps  and  bounds,  and  charity  and  prudence  alike 
emphasised  the  necessity  for  improving,  in  some  measure, 
the  well-being  of  the  poor. 

"  The  discipline  of  slavery  is  unknown 
Among  us, — hence  the  more  do  AVC  require 
The  discipline  of  virtue  ;  order  else 
Cannot  subsist,  nor  confidence,  nor  peace. 
Thus,  duties  rising  out  of  good  possest 
And  prudent  caution  needful  to  avert 
Impending  evil,  equally  require 

That  the  whole  people  should  be  taught  and  trained. 
So  shall  licentiousness  and  black  resolve 
Be  rooted  out,  and  virtuous  habits  take 
Their  place  ;  and  genuine  piety  descend, 
Like  an  inheritance,  from  age  to  age."  ' 


1  Wordsworth  :  The  Excursion,  Bk.  IX.,  lines  350-361, 


38  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

Numerous  ameliorative  schemes  were  proposed,  all  cen- 
tring round  one  or  other  of  three  propositions — to  open  up 
new  avenues  of  employment,  to  encourage  thrift,  and  to 
spread  widely  the  elements  of  a  religious  education,  with  the 
object  of  training  the  poor  to  self-help  and  to  the  forma- 
tion of  "  inveterate  habits."  Of  the  many  associations  that 
arose  it  will  suffice  to  mention  four — The  Society  for 
Bettering  the  Condition  and  increasing  the  Comforts  of  the 
Poor  (1796)  ;  the  Sunday  School  Union  (1803)  ;  the  Eoyal 
Lancasterian  Institution  (1808)  ;  and  the  National  Society 
(1811). 

The  Society  for  Bettering  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  was 
founded  by  Sir  Thomas  Bernard  in  conjunc- 
The  Society  lion  with  Dr.  Barriugton,  Bishop  of  Durham, 
the  Conditfon  Wilberforce,  and  others.1  Nothing  that  con- 
of  the  Poor.  cerned  the  happiness  of  the  poor  was  foreign 
to  its  purpose.  Its  aim  was  to  educate  public 
opinion,  to  break  down  prejudice,  and  to  reduce  all  that 
concerned  the  poor  and  their  happiness  to  a  science. 
Branches  were  established  all  over  the  country ;  friendly 
societies  of  various  kinds  were  started ;  village  shops  and 
soup  kitchens  for  the  supply  of  cheap  food  were  opened  ; 
savings  banks  were  started  in  connection  with  schools  ;  and 
so  on.  From  the  outset  it  took  a  great  interest  in  the 
question  of  popular  education,  and  with  experience  increas- 
ing attention  was  given  to  this  aspect  of  its  work.  Briefly, 
it  directed  its  activities  to  extending  Sunday  schools,  in- 
creasing the  usefulness  of  charity  schools,  promoting  schools 
of  industry,  and  establishing  monitorial  schools.2 

It  is  interesting  as  showing  the  alertness  of  the  Society 

1  An  excellent  account  of  the  non-scholastic  work  of  this  Society  is  given 
in  easily  accessible  form  in  Self-Help  a  Hundred  Year*  Ago.  by  J. 
Holyoake. 

-  For  details  see  the  Digest  of  Reports  (Education),  1809, 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PEBIOD,    1800-1833.  39 

that  in  January  1804  it  asked  for  a  Parliamentary  Return 
from  all  charity 1  schools  in  the  kingdom,  with  certain  excep- 
tions, with  a  view  to  investigating  the  abuse  of  endowments 
and  getting  accurate  information  as  to  the  educational 
needs  of  different  localities :  a  proposal  which,  had  it 
succeeded,  would  have  anticipated  the  work  of  Brougham's 
Commission  by  twelve  years.2  The  returns  were  to  show 
the  date  of  the  foundation ;  a  copy  of  the  trust  deed  ;  the 
nature  and  the  amount  of  income ;  the  average  number 
of  children  educated  during  the  previous  five  years ;  the 
number  of  children  clothed,  and  the  number  boarded  in 
addition.  Information  was  also  to  be  given  as  to  the 
practicability  of  improving  or  extending  the  usefulness 
of  the  school.  It  was  felt  that  all  the  children  of  the 
poor  could  be  properly  educated  granted  the  following 
conditions:  (1)  The  adequate  carrying  out  by  schools  of 
the  intention  of  their  founders.  (2)  The  admission  to 
these  schools  of  poor  children  as  day  scholars  at  a  small 
fee,  viz.  3d.  a  week.  (3)  The  opening  of  parochial  schools, 
where  needed,  on  similar  terms.  (4)  The  enabling  of  magis- 
trates in  certain  cases,  where  parents  were  too  poor,  to 
order  the  payment  of  the  children's  schooling.  (5)  The 
institution  of  legal  process  by  the  Crown  in  case  of  the 
unconnected  abuse  of  funds.3 


1  I.e.  all  endowed  schools  "with  the  exception  of  the  great  classical 
schools."  Ibt'd.,  No.  xxvii.,  pp.  306-9. 

~  In  1788  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  had  called  attention  to 
the  loss  and  mismanagement  of  charitable  funds  as  a  matter  demanding  the 
"  serious  and  speedy  "  consideration  of  Parliament,  but  nothing  had  come 
of  it.  Ibid.,  pp.  44-5. 

3  It  is  worth  noting  that  William  Lovett,  a  man  of  very  different  social 
views,  had  a  similar  robust  faith  in  the  capability  of  all,  save  a  small  minority, 
to  pay  for  the  education  of  their  children.  See  Chartism,  a  Neiv  Organi- 
sation of  the  People,  by  William  Lovett  and  John  Collins,  Second  Edition, 
1841,  pp.  49,52. 


40  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

The  founding  of  the  Sunday  School  Union  gave  a  new 

impulse  to  the  spread  of  Sunday  schools. 
ShooT  There  seems  to  have  been  great  diversity  in 

the  proportions  of  Sunday  scholars  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country,  the  proportion  being  highest 
in  Wales  and  in  the  manufacturing  districts  in  the  North 
of  England.  The  popularity  of  these  institutions  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  in  a  very  special  way  they  met  the  senti- 
ment of  the  times.  They  were  cheap— many  were  con- 
ducted by  purely  voluntary  teachers — they  reached  a  wide 
audience — they  did  not  teach  too  much,  and  they  had  the 
further  merit  of  not  interfering  with  the  work  of  the  week. 
Connected  with  many  of  these  schools  were  week-day 
evening  classes.  Others  following  the  plan  recommended 
by  Mrs.  Trimmer,1  opened  "  schools  of  industry."  Many  of 
these  were  little  more  than  sewing  classes,  where  girls  were 
trained  to  make  and  mend  their  own  clothes,  and  to  under- 
take at  a  fixed  rate  of  payment  the  plain  sewing  of  private 
individuals  resident  in  the  neighbourhood.2 

At  no  period  do  we  find  a  greater  faith  in  the  efficiency 

of  "  Schools  of  Industry."  They  were 
Industrv  capable  of  infinite  adaptation  to  meet  every 

need,  from  the  checking  of  chronic  pauper- 
ism to  providing  a  universal  system  of  popular  education. 
Thus  Pitt,  in  his  proposed  scheme  of  Poor  Law  reform 
(1796),  provided  for  the  compulsory  establishment  of  such 
schools  for  children  whose  parents  were  in  receipt  of  poor 

1  See  (Economy  of  Charity,  1787. 

2  Cf.  the   Society  of  Industry  at  Caistor.     Here  the  children  went  to 
school  on  Sundays.      During  the  rest  of  the  week  they  might  go  to  the 
"Settlement  of  Industry,"  thereby  earning  Is.  6d.  a  week,  which  they 
carried  home,  in  addition  to  Is.  a  week  that  was  put  to  their  credit  in  the 
>  ivings  bank.     They  might  also  win  a  premium  of  l^d.  a  month  by  regu- 
larity and  good  work  at  the  Sunday  School.3 

3  Reports,  Yols.  I.  and  II.,  1821, 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  41 

relief.     The  value  of  their  labour  was  to  be  applied  to 
lessening  the  burden  of  the  ratepayer.1 

In  1808  Bell  published  a  plan  of  a  national  system  of 
education  for  the  poor  that  contemplated  the  establish- 
ment of  schools  to  teach  nothing  but  reading  and  religion, 
and  to  give  a  training  in  industry,  arguing  that  "  Parents 
will  always  be  found  to  educate,  at  their  own  expense, 
children  enow  to  fill  the  stations  which  require  higher 
qualifications."2  This  plan  was  made  good  use  of  by  Bell's 
detractors  as  an  example  of  his  lack  of  sympathy  with  the 
poor.  It  is  worth  noting,  however,  that  the  more  demo- 
cratic Lancaster  was  of  opinion  that  the  "  school  of 
industi-y"  was  more  fitted  than  the  ordinary  school  for 
children  whose  parents  were  too  poor  to  pay,  or  to  keep 
the  children  at  school  until  their  education  was  "  finished." 
"  One  proper  object  of  such  schools  is  to  enable  children 
to  earn  as  much  money  as  will  remove  the  difficulty 
occasioned  by  the  poverty  of  their  parents.  .  .  .  By  this 
means  they  are  enabled  to  keep  their  children  at  school 
till  their  education  is  finished,  until  they  have  acquired 
habits  of  industry  which  will  follow  them  into  future 
life.":i  Indeed,  to  combine  industry  with  schooling  was 
one  way  of  getting  hold  of  a  class  of  children  who  would 
otherwise  be  left  outside  educational  influence  altogether. 
This  can  readily  be  understood  when  at  some  of  these 
schools  the  children,  beside  learning  the  three  R's,  earned 
sufficient  to  take  home  at  the  week  end  Is.  8d.  each,  and 

1  According  to  the  Parliamentary  Returns  (1803)  comprising  nearly  the 
whole  of  England  and  Wales,  the  numbers  of  children  out  of  the  workhouse 
between  5  and  14  years  of  age  who  had  been  in  receipt  of  parish  relief  was 
188,794  ;  whereas  the  number  of  those  who  were  receiving,  or  had  received, 
a  training  in  "schools  of  industry  "  was  only  20,336.  The  population  was 
under  9  millions,  and  the  poor  rate  for  1803  exceeded  £5,000,000, 

-  The  Madras  School,  p.  292. 

3  Improvements  in  Education,  1806,  p.  120, 


42  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PEEIOD,    1800-1833. 

to  provide  themselves  with  a  new  outfit  of  clothes  once  a 
year  ;  sometimes  a  good  midday  meal  was  provided  in 
addition.1  There  were  enormous  difficulties,  however,  in 
the  way  of  carrying  on  these  establishments  successfully.2 
They  started  from  a  false  economic  and  educational  stand- 
point, and  by  1834  they  did  not  number  1  per  cent,  of  the 
schools  then  in  existence.3 

But  though  this  narrow  vocational  training  was  a  mis- 
take, it  represented  an  attempt  to  embody  in  practical 
shape  the  belief  that  the  only  cure  for  existing  social  ills 
was  "  by  exalting  the  character  of  the  labouring  classes." 
Education  was  the  key  to  the  situation,  and  men  were 
looking  to  some  cheap  yet  efficient  means  that  would  bring 
the  elements  of  instruction  within  the  reach  of  the  masses. 
What  the  real  effect  of  this  would  be  it  was  difficult  to 
forecast,  but  "  keeping  clear  of  the  vain  extravagances  of 
expectation,  ...  it  is,  at  the^very  lowest,  self-evident,'' 
writes  a  contemporary,  "  that  there  is  at  any  rate  such  an 
efficiency  in  cultivation,  as  to  give  a  certainty  that  a  well- 
cultivated  people  cannot  remain  on  the  same  degraded 
moral  level  as  a  neglected  ignorant  one — or  anywhere  near 
it."4  In  illustration  of  this  it  is  customary  to  point  to 
Scotland  and  elsewhere,  countries  which  had  enjoyed  the 
benefits  of  popular  education  over  a  long  period. 

To  supply  this  need  the  monitorial  method,  rediscovered 

independently  by  Dr.  Andrew  Bell  and  Joseph 
S  steir  Lancaster,  and  worked  up  by   each  into  a 

system,  seemed  providentially  devised.     The 
essence  of  the  method  consists  in  setting  children  to  teach 

1  E.g.  at  Oakham.     Digest  of  Reports  (Education)  S.B.C.P.,  p.  179. 

-  For  a  description  of  typical  schools  see  infra,  pp.  191-2. 

3  Trimmer's  evidence  before  the  Select  Committee.  For  accounts  of  at- 
tempts to  encourage  industrial  work  in  connection  with  schools  in  1830  see 
The  Quarterly  Journal  of  Education,  vol.  II.,  p.  79;  vol.  VII.,  p.  185; 
vol.  IX.,  p.  39.  *  Essay  on  Popular  Ignorance,  John  Foster,  pp.  254-5. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  43 

children.  Mutual  instruction  is,  of  course,  a  common 
feature  of  all  family  education,  and  belongs  to  no  age  or 
people.  A  classical  example  is  afforded  in  the  education 
of  the  Edgeworth  family.  But  even  here  it  is  very  liable 
to  abuse.  John  Stuart  Mill,  for  example,  as  soon  as  he 
was  seven  years  old,  was  made  responsible  for  instructing 
his  younger  brothers  and  sisters,  and  in  after  years  re- 
corded his  opinion  of  the  broad  merits  and  defects  of  the 
system  in  no  uncertain  terms.  "  It  was  a  part  which  I 
greatly  disliked.  I,  however,  derived  from  this  discipline 
the  great  advantage  of  learning  more  thoroughly  and 
retaining  more  lastingly  the  things  which  I  was  set  to 
teach  ;  perhaps,  too,  the  practice  it  afforded  in  explaining 
difficulties  to  others,  may  even  at  that  age  have  been  use- 
ful. In  other  respects,  the  experience  of  my  boyhood  is 
not  favourable  to  the  plan  of  teaching  children  by  means 
of  one  another.  The  teaching,  I  am  sure,  is  very  ineffi- 
cient as  teaching,  and  I  well  know  that  the  relation  between 
teacher  and  taught  is  not  a  good  moral  discipline  to 
either.'' l  As  a  device  of  school  organisation  the  employ- 
ment of  senior  boys  to  superintend  the  work  of  juniors 
had  been  used  in  William  of  Wykeham's  time.2  Robert 
Raikes  made  use  of  the  method  in  his  early  efforts  at 
organising  Sunday  schools.  Bell  and  Lancaster,  however, 
both  believed  firmly  that  they  had  made  a  discovery  that 
would  revolutionise  teaching  for  all  time. 

Both  men  had  hit  upon  the  device  by  accident.     Bell 

was  a  graduate  of  St.  Andrews  and  a  clergy- 
Andrew  Bell.  ,   .,      -r,      , ,.  ,    ,    ~,       ,          A1    * 
man  of  the   Established   Church.       Along 

with  other  posts  he  occupied  for  a  time  the  Headship  of 

1  Autobiography,  pp.  9-10. 

2  For  a  full  account  of  the  use  of  monitors  in  the  seventeenth  century  see 
A  Neu-  Discovery  of  the  OJ<1  Art  of  Teaching  School*,  Charles  Hoole, 

16GO.     (Liverpool  University  Press  reprint.) 


44  THR    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

the  Male  Orphan  Asylum  at  ALnlr.is.  While  there  he  was 
confronted  with  the  difficulty  of  carrying  on  the  school 
during  a  strike  of  the  staff.  In  face  of  such  an  emergency 
and  being  a  man  of  resource  it  occurred  to  him  to  put  the 
different  classes  in  charge  of  a  few  selected  senior  boys. 
Thanks  to  his  own  organising  ability,  the  experiment  suc- 
ceeded so  well  that  he  dispensed  with  the  services  of  the 
regular  staff  and  set  himself  to  perfect  a  plan  that  per- 
mitted one  master  to  instruct  twenty  times  as  many  boys 
as  had  been  possible  hitherto,  and  to  do  it  much  more 
effectively.  An  account  of  the  experiment l  was  published 
on  his  return  to  England  in  1797,  and  the  system  was 
successfully  introduced  into  St.  Botolph's  Charity  School, 
Aldgate,  the  Kendal  Schools,  and  elsewhere. 

Lancaster  was  a  man  of  little  school  education  and  a 
Quaker  in  humble  circumstances.  He  began 
^s  career  as  a  private  adventure  school- 
master in  a  poor  district  in  London  in  1798. 
He  was  a  man  with  a  real  sympathy  for  children,  and  was 
possessed  of  considerable  organising  ability.  From  an 
early  period  his  thoughts  were  turned  to  ways  and  means 
of  increasing  the  efficiency  and  extending  the  usefulness 
of  the  school.  As  was  customary  in  suet  institutions  he 
taught  reading,  writing,  and  cyphering,  and  as  the  number 
of  scholars  increased  he  employed  an  usher  to  assist  him 
in  his  work.  His  numbers  continuing  to  grow,  it  occurred 
to  him  to  make  use  of  monitors  as  a  means  of  keeping  all  the 
children  occupied  and  at  the  same  time  extending  the  num- 
bers it  was  possible  for  one  adult  to  look  after.  In  work- 
ing out  the  idea  he  derived  assistance  from  the  published 
account  of  Bell's  experiment  at  Madras. 

1  An  Experiment  in  Education  made  at  the  Male  Asylum  at  Madras, 
suggesting  a  System  by  which  a  School  or  Family  may  teach  itself  under 
the  Superintendence  of  the  Master  or  the  Parent. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  45 

Through  the  co-operatiou  of  Mrs.  Fry  aud  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends,  he  was  able  to  admit  to  his 
school  an  increasing  number  of  free  scholars  who  were  too 
poor  to  pay  the  fee  of  4d.  a  week.  The  schoolroom  was 
enlai'ged  to  provide  for  the  steady  influx  of  new  children, 
but  such  were  the  improvements  in  method  and  organi- 
sation that  the  quality  of  the  work  showed  no  falling  off. 
Ultimately  the  establishment  was  advertised  as  a  Free 
School  for  the  poor  of  the  locality.  Visitors  were  attracted, 
and  by  1803,  when  an  account  of  the  experiment  was 
published  under  the  title  Improvements  in  Education,  the 
annual  cost  of  schooling  was  only  7s.  6d.  per  head,  a  sum 
still  further  reduced  to  between  4s.  and  5s.  as  the  school 
was  increased  to  accommodate  1,000  children. 

When  we  recall  the  mechanical  spirit  of  the  age  and  re- 
member that  the  average  cost  of  educating  a 
Popularity  ^  child  in  a  charity  school  was  15  guineas :  a  year, 
Plan,  it  is  little  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  friends 

of  popular  education  welcomed  the  system 
with  open  arms.  The  school  in  the  Borough  Road  included 
in  its  list  of  subscribers  many  distinguished  individuals,  both 
Chui'chmen  and  Dissenters,  and  chief  among  them  the  King. 
So  well  had  Lancaster  succeeded  in  convincing  himself  and 
others  of  the  possibility  of  educating  children  at  5s.  a  head 
that  Mr.  Whitbread,  in  introducing  his  Parochial  Schools 
Bill2  in  1807,  used  this  fact  as  an  argument  why  Parlia- 
ment should  take  up  the  work  of  popular  education. 

Education,  he  was  convinced,  was  "  the  incipient  prin- 
Mr.  Whit-  ciple  and  grand  foundation  "  of  any  plan  of 
bread  &  Bill.  Poor  Law  legislation.  The  times  were  par- 
ticularly favourable  to  the  establishment  of  a  system  of 

1  This  includes  feeding,  lodging,  and  clothing.  Digest  of  Reports 
(Education)  S.B.C.P.,  p.  17.  2The  Parochial  Schools  Bill  was  intro- 

duced as  part  of  a  more  comprehensive  Poor  Law  Reform  Bill. 


46  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

rate-aided  parochial  schools,  "  because  within  a  few  years 
there  has  been  discovered  a  plan  for  the  instruction  of 
youth  which  is  now  brought  to  a  state  of  great  perfec- 
tion ;  happily  combining  rules,  by  which  the  object  of 
learning  must  be  infallibly  attained  with  expedition  and 
cheapness."  The  scheme  provided  for  two  years'  free 
schooling  for  all  poor  children  between  7  and  14  years 
of  age  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  and  for  girls, 
in  addition,  needlework,  knitting,  etc. ;  schools  were  to  be 
established  by  vestries,  or  failing  these  by  the  magistrates, 
with  power  to  levy  a  local  rate  not  exceeding  Is.  for  main- 
tenance; the  clergy  and  parish  officers  were  to  be  the 
managers.  The  Bill  raised  for  the  first  time  in  Parlia- 
ment the  question  "  whether  it  was  proper  that  education 
should  be  diffused  among  the  lower  classes."  In  intro- 
ducing the  measure  its  promoter  anticipated  the  usual 
objections  that  education  would  make  the  poor  despise 
their  lot,  that  it  would  make  them  indolent  and  refractory, 
and  would  set  a  premium  on  seditious  books.  He  pointed 
out  that  if  schools  were  not  to  educate,  the  gutter  would. 
But  in  vain.  The  Bill  was  unpopular  in  the  country. 
Many  petitions  were  presented  against  it  and  not  a 
single  one  for  it.  Parliament  as  a  body  did  not  believe 
in  popular  education,  and  though  the  Bill  passed  the  Com- 
mons it  was  rejected  by  the  Upper  House.  There  the 
matter  remained  for  nine  years  until  the  end  of  the  war. 
Meantime  important  events  were  happening  in  the 

country  at   large.     Lancaster's    experiment 
Controversy  r  .  . 

round  and  the  publicity  that  had  been  given  to  it 

Lancaster's  na(j  done  good  service  in  stimulating  interest 
in  popular  education,  and  schools  on  the 
Lancasterian  model  were  being  established.  Lancaster's 
plan  of  education  was  avowedly  non-sectarian.  The  very 
fact  of  this,  while  it  won  the  approval  of  some,  was  calcu- 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  4? 

lated  to  arouse  the  suspicion  of  still  more.  This  was 
evident  from  the  moment  Lancaster's  book  appeared. 
Mrs.  Trimmer,  who  by  her  writings  and  good  works  had 
won  for  herself  a  position  of  some  authority  in  matters 
that  concerned  the  education  of  the  poor,  while  commend- 
ing the  system,  disapproved  of  anything  in  the  nature  of 
unsectariauism.  Nothing  seemed  more  likely  to  lead  men 
to  Deism,  the  thing  above  all  others  that  smacked  of 
revolution  and  the  destruction  of  the  Church.  Accord- 
ingly attention  was  directed  to  Bell's  Madras  school. 
Criticism  along  these  lines  gained  strength  and  developed 
from  other  quarters  as  time  went  on  and  as  the  system 
showed  signs  of  spreading.  Lancaster  was  denounced  as  a 
deist,  an  atheist,  an  infidel,  but  for  a  time  the  attack  does 
not  seem  to  have  hurt  him  financially,  for  he  continued  to 
flourish.  By  1808,  however,  subscriptions  had  begun  to 
fall  off.  Many  Churchmen  withdrew  their  support,  though 
this  was  in  some  measure  compensated  for  by  winning  new 
adherents  from  the  rationalist  party  and  by  receiving  the 
support  of  many  Nonconformists.  Controversy  grew  apace, 
and  hard  things  were  said  on  both  sides.  It  was  con- 
tinued for  years  and  developed  into  a  party  quarrel  with 
the  Whigs  and  The  Edinburgh  Review  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  Tories,  the  Church,  and  The  Quarterly  Review  on 
the  other.1 

Here  we  find  already  at  work  the  same  forces  that  later 
contrived  to  produce  the  so-called  "  religious  difficulty  " — 
the  difficulty  of  getting  a  body  of  men  to  agree  to  conduct 

1  An  accouut  of  this  controversy  lias  been  written  by  Principal  Salmon  iu 
The  Educational  Record,  Vol.  XVIII.,  Nos.  43-45;  Vol.  XIX.,  No.  47. 
The  student  will  find  a  great  deal  of  very  valuable  material  dealing  with  the 
history  of  this  period  in  the  recent  volumes  of  the  above  journal,  under  the 
respective  signatures  of  Principal  Salmon  and  W.  See  also  Joseph  Lan- 
caster, Salmon  ;  Andrew  Bell,  Meiklejohii;  and  A  Century  of  Education, 
1808-1908,  H.  B.  Binus. 


48  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

a  system  of  religious  education  iu  a  wholly  disinterested 
way,  without  any  suspicion  of  either  sectarian  aggrandise- 
ment or  sectarian  aggression.  But  it  is  more  than  this. 
It  is  the  difficulty  of  harmonising  deep-rooted  differences 
of  religious  and  social  ideals.  In  the  present  instance 
we  have  a  party  of  men  who  regarded  the  widespread  dis- 
semination of  the  three  R's  and  simple  Bible  reading, 
without  note  or  comment,  as  a  matter  of  urgency.  On 
the  other  side,  we  see  many  individuals  no  less  honest, 
pinning  their  faith  to  the  spiritual  uplift  of  religious 
formularies  and  observances,  and  less  convinced  of  the 
importance  and  urgency  of  mere  secular  instruction.  In 
addition  they  were  firmly  persuaded  that  if  any  universal 
system  of  education  was  to  be  established,  the  Church 
was  the  only  organisation  with  the  power  and  the  sanction 
to  carry  on  the  work. 

But  to  return.     Lancaster's  worst  enemy  was  himself. 

With  growing  success  he  extended  his  opera- 

The  Royal          tions.     Schools  on  his  plan  were  springing 

Institution.        UP>  and  he  must  needs  provide  for  them.    He 


established  a  free  residential  school  for  moni- 
tors, set  up  a  printing  press,  began  a  slate  manufactory, 
and  in  various  ways  proved  himself  extravagant  and 
unbusiness-like.  He  was  soon  involved  in  serious  diffi- 
culties, from  which  he  was  extricated  by  two  supporters, 
Fox1  and  Corston.2  In  1808  very  few  schools  had  been 
established,  and  with  the  decline  of  subscriptions  more 
money  had  to  be  found  if  the  work  was  to  continue.  Allen 
Fox,  Corston,  and  others  rose  to  the  occasion,  advanced 

1  Jos.  Fox,  a  surgeon-dentist  at  Guy's  Hospital,   a   Baptist,    aud   the 
Secretary  of  the  British  aud  Foreign  School  Society. 

2  Wm.  Corston,  a  hat  manufacturer  of  Ludgate  Hill  ;  founder  of  a  school 
of  industry   at   Fincham   for  teaching  children   to   make   straw   plait  ;  a 
Moravian,  see  infra,  pp.  191-2. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  49 

money,  and  constituted  themselves  trustees  to  manage  the 
business  part  of  the  work,  leaving  Lancaster  free  to  lecture 
up  and  down  the  country  on  his  "  truly  British  "  system 
of  education.  In  this  way  he  was  instrumental  in  estab- 
lishing within  two  years  95  Lancasterian  schools.  More 
money  being  needed,  the  Royal  Lancasterian  Association 
(Institution)  was  formally  instituted  (1810), :  and  on 
the  Committee  were  Brougham,  Whitbread,  and  James 
Mill. 

Such  activity  stimulated  the  heads  of  the  Church  to  do 

their   duty.      Soon    after   Bell's   return   to 
Ineland  England    he    received    preferment   to    the 

Rectory  of  Swauage.  Here  he  set  to  work 
to  establish  day  and  Sunday  schools  in  his  parish,  and 
generally  became  a  source  of  good  works  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. Since  1805  his  name  had  not  suffered  from  want  of 
public  attention.  He  was  appealed  to  for  advice  by  corre- 
spondents in  various  parts  of  the  country,  among  whom  we 
find  R.  L.  Edgeworth,  at  that  time  one  of  the  Commis- 
sioners concerned  with  the  establishment  of  a  system 
of  popular  education  in  Ireland.  Old  schools  were  being 
reorganised  on  the  Madras  model  and  new  ones  opened. 
Among  them  was  the  charity  school  at  Whitechapel  that 
was  used  as  a  training  school  for  teachers.  In  1808  Bell 
published  his  Sketch  of  a  National  Institution  for  train- 
ing the  children  of  the  poor  in  the  elements  of  letters, 
morality,  and  religion,  in  conjunction  with  industry.  The 
Barriugton  school2  was  founded  by  the  Bishop  of 
Durham  for  training  monitors  on  the  Madras  plan,  and 
generally  the  system  was  making  steady  progress,  for 
Lancaster  declined  to  admit  the  catechism  into  a  Lan- 
casterian school. 

1  It  had  existed  in  a  more  or  less  nebulous  shape  since  1808. 
-  The  Barrington  School,  by  Sir  Thomas  Bernard,  1815. 

H.  ED.  4 


50  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

The  time  was  ripe  for  more  extended  operations.  An 
The  Fo  d'  event  °f  nrst  importance  was  the  founding 
of  the^  in  1811  of  "The  National  Society  for  Pro- 

National  moting  the  Education  of  the  Poor  in  the  Prin- 

ciples of  the  Established  Church  throughout 
England  and  Wales."  The  credit  for  this  seems  to  be 
primarily  due  to  Joshua  Watson  and  two  friends,  all  three 
High  Churchmen  and  active  members  of  the  Society  for 
Promoting  Christian  Knowledge.  Their  object  seems  to 
have  been  a  frank  attempt  to  capture  the  new  movement 
in  popular  education  at  the  critical  moment  for  the  Church. 
Intimately  connected  with  them  was  Dr.  Marsh,  well 
known  for  his  Charity  School  sermon  at  St.  Paul's,  and 
many  leading  clergy.  The  Ai-chbishop  of  Canterbury  was 
President,  and  he  was  supported  by  a  distinguished  body 
of  Church  dignitaries,  peers,  and  others.  It  was  adopted 
as  a  fundamental  principle  "  that  the  national  religion 
should  be  made  the  foundation  of  national  education,  and 
should  be  the  first  and  chief  thing  taught  to  the  poor, 
according  to  the  excellent  liturgy  and  catechism  provided 
by  our  Church  for  that  purpose."  It  followed  that  Bell's 
system,  "  which  made  religious  instruction  an  essential  and 
necessary  part  of  the  plan,"  was  adopted  in  preference  to 
Lancaster's,  "  which  confined  itself  to  the  mechanical  part 
alone."  1 

Within  a  month  of  the  founding  of  the  society  ,£1 5,000 
was  subscribed,  and  this  was  soon  followed  by  a  contri- 
bution of  .£500  from  each  of  the  Universities  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge.  A  school  to  accommodate  600  boys  and 
400  girls  was  opened  at  Baldwin's  Gardens  to  serve  as  a 
training  school  for  teachers.  District  Societies  were 
founded  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  grants  were 
made  towards  the  building,  enlarging,  etc.,  of  affiliated 
1  Memoir  of  Joshua  Watson,  Churton,  Chap.  V. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  51 

schools.  Between  1813  and  1816  <£13,792  was  distributed 
in  167  grants,  121  of  which  were  towards  the  building  of 
new  schools.  As  a  condition  of  grant  it  was  necessary  to 
follow  the  mechanism  of  the  National  (i.e.  Bell)  system ; 
children  were  to  be  instructed  in  the  liturgy  and  catechism 
of  the  Church  of  England  and  to  attend  church  regularly 
on  Sundays  ;  moreover,  no  religious  tract  was  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  school  unless  it  was  contained  in  the  cata- 
logue of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge. 

The  cost  per  child  in  a  school  of  500,  exclusive  of  build- 
ing charges,  was  estimated  in  1816  at  4s.  2d.  Children 
were  admitted  to  the  school  at  Baldwin's  Gardens  at  7  years 
of  age  and  might  remain  until  14,  though  it  was  considered 
that  an  attendance  of  two  years  was  "  abundantly  sufficient 
for  any  boy."  By  this  date  336  masters  and  86  mistresses 
had  been  trained,  and  a  special  staff  was  kept  for  the 
purpose  of  organising  schools  as  occasion  required.1 

The  total  number  of  children  receiving  instruction  in 
Church  schools  in  1831  was,  according  to  the  returns  of 
the  National  Society,  900,412. 2 

At  the  outset  these  schools  were  generally  free,  though  a 
few  made  a  charge  of  Id.  per  week,  the  cost  of  maintenance 
being  met  by  donations,  local  subscriptions,  church  collec- 
tions, and  occasional  grants  from  the  National  Society. 
In  1823,  the  funds  of  the  society  being  exhausted,  a  Koyal 
appeal  for  further  support  was  addressed  to  congregations 

1  The  following  table,  which  unfortunately  includes  Sunday  schools,  shows 
the  spread  of  the  movement : — 

1812 52  affiliated  schools 8,620         children 

1813 230      „          „         40,484 

1817 725      „          „        117,000 

1820 1,614      „          „         ...(over)  200,000 

1830 3,670      „          „        ..(about)  346,000 

-  Report  of  the  Select  Committee,  1834 :  Minutes  of  Evidence,  1877, 
pp.  138,  139. 


52  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

through  the  parochial  clergy.  A  similar  appeal  was  made 
nine  years  later.1  Owing  to  the  quality  of  the  work  in  some 
schools  having  fallen,  and  in  order  to  improve  the  regularity 
of  attendance,  Bell  suggested  a  system  of  payment  by 
results,  whereby  the  teacher's  emolument  would  in  some 
measure  depend  upon  the  number  and  the  improvement 
of  the  scholars.  To  effect  this,  and  at  the  same  time  to  open 
up  a  new  source  of  revenue,  the  institution  of  small  weekly 
fees  was  recommended  by  the  society  (1824)  .3 

The  Royal  Lancasterian  Association  had  not  long  been 

formed  before  Lancaster  quarrelled  with  his 
The  British  trustees.  Against  their  will  he  had  set  up  a 
School  Society.  middle  class  boarding  school  for  his  own 

profit  at  Tooting  (1812),  a  piece  of  reckless- 
ness that  resulted  for  the  second  time  in  bankruptcy.  His 
affairs  were  now  taken  over  by  the  trustees,  and  the  Royal 
Lancasterian  Association  became  the  British  and  Foreign 
School  Society  in  1814 ;  Lancaster  was  paid  a  fixed  salary 
as  Superintendent,  but  excluded  from  any  share  in  the 
management  of  the  society.  Further  difficulties  followed, 
and  Lancaster  left  the  country  a  disappointed  man  four 
years  later  to  end  his  days  in  America. 

The  i-ules  of  the  society  provided  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  central  school  at  Borough  Road  as  a  model  school 
and  training  establishment  for  teachers.  All  schools  sup- 
plied with  teachers  at  the  expense  of  the  society  were  to 
be  open  to  children  of  all  denominations  ;  the  subjects  of 
instruction  were  to  be  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and 
needlework ;  the  reading  lessons  were  to  consist  of  extracts 

1  A  further  Royal  appeal  was  made  in  183",  after  which  it  was  continued 
triennially.     See  National  Society  Directory. 

2  In  1832  the  central  school  of  the  society  was  removed  to  Westminster, 
and   children  were   admitted  at  6  years  of  age.     An  infant  school  was 
established  somewhat  later. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  53 

from  the  Bible;  no  catechism  or  distinctive  teaching  of 
any  denomination  was  to  be  admitted  into  the  schools  ;  and 
children  were  required  to  attend  regularly  some  place  of 
worship  on  Sundays. 

Francis  Place  had  been  a  staunch  supporter  of  the 
Lancasteriau  system  for  the  past  nine  years. 
Lancasterian  jje  now  became  a  member  of  committee,  and 
Schools.  along  with  Brougham  and  James  Mill  con- 

ceived the  idea  of  a  complete  system  of 
primary  and  secondary  schools  at  any  rate  for  London. 
Their  first  venture  was  the  founding  of  the  West  London 
Lancasterian  Association1  (1813)  to  investigate  educational 
needs  in  the  west  half  of  London  north  of  the  Thames,  and 
to  invite  penny  a  week  subscriptions  by  house  to  house 
canvass  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  schools.  It  was 
hoped  that  similar  associations2  would  be  started  over  the 
country,  but  only  two  are  mentioned  two  years  later,  viz. 
at  Bristol  and  at  Southwark.  By  this  time,  however,  the 
West  London  Association  had  been  killed  through  difficul- 
ties that  had  arisen  between  it  and  the  parent  body.  Had 
the  plan  succeeded,  Place  had  in  mind  the  establishment  of 
higher  primaiy  or  secondary  schools  giving  a  modern  edu- 
cation. The  association  is  worthy  of  notice,  as  it  was  in- 
directly the  means  of  inducing  Bentham  to  invent  his 
Chrestoinathic  scheme  for  giving  to  boys  and  girls  between 
7  and  14  years  an  encyclopaedic  secondary  education  on 
Lancasterian  lines.3 

By  1816  nearly  300  schools  had  been  established,  205 
for  boys  and  74  for  girls,  many  of  which  had  circulating 

1  Cf.  The  City  of  London  Auxiliary  School  Association,  in  which  Joshua 
Watson  took  a  special  interest. 

-  Numerous  Foreign  associations  were  founded  in  Europe,  America,  and 
the  Dependencies,  but  with  these  we  are  not  concerned.  See  Educational 
Record,  Vol.  XXVII. 

3  Life  of  Francis  Place,  Graham  Wallas,  Chap.  IV. 


54  THE    PHILANTHROPIC   PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

libraries  connected  with  them.  The  average  length  of  time 
necessary  to  complete  a  boy's  schooling  was  one  and  a  half 
to  two  years.  As  in  the  case  of  the  National  schools  no 
fees  were  charged  at  the  outset,  but  after  1816  small  weekly 
fees  became  customary,  and  exerted  a  salutary  influence 
on  both  attendance  and  discipline.  At  the  central  schools 
fees  were  not  charged  until  ten  years  later. 

With  so  much  attention  being  given  to  improving  and 

extending  elementary  instruction  it  is  not 
Education  surprising  to  find  special  interest  being 

taken  in  the  question  of  infant  education. 
The  schools  of  industry  at  Kendal  admitted  children  from 
three  years  of  age  (1799),  and  six  years  later  Lancaster 
was  calling  special  attention  to  the  need  for  improving 
initiatory  schools,  schools,  that  is  to  say,  frequented  by 
boys  and  girls  rarely  more  than  seven  years  of  age,  con- 
ducted oftentimes  by  the  wife  of  some  working  man  in 
order  to  increase  the  family  income,  and  providing  tuition 
in  reading  and  needlework.  Oftentimes  they  taught 
nothing  at  all,  and  disorder  and  noise  were  their  most 
characteristic  features.1  Efficient  establishments  com- 
bining the  function  of  school  and  nursery  were  necessary 
in  order  to  provide,  while  the  children  were  yet  too  young 
for  other  employment,  the  only  education  many  of  them 
would  ever  obtain.  Moreover,  by  keeping  the  children  off 
the  streets  something  would  be  done  towards  implanting 
good  habits,  and  a  foundation  would  be  laid  for  the  work 
of  the  monitoi'ial  schools.  The  school  element  was,  how- 
ever, to  be  prominent,  for  time  was  valuable  and  learning 
could  not  be  begun  too  young.2 

!Cf.  i>ifrn,p.  232. 

-  As  an  example  of  this  sentiment  ef.  Beuthani's  Chrestomathic  School, 
where  none  conld  enter  at  seven  years  of  age  unless  they  had  already 
mastered  the  elements  of  the  three  R's. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  55 

To  Kobert  Owen,  however,  belongs  the  credit  of  having 
awakened  public  opinion  to  the  importance 

The  London       of    an    efficient   system   of    infant   schools. 
Infant  School          ,.     .  ,      ,.*     ,  .  .     ,      , 

Society.  Believing  as  he  did  that  man  is  entirely  the 

creature  of  circumstance,  he  held  that  it  was 
impossible  to  begin  too  early  to  implant  right  habits  and 
to  evoke  feelings  of  brotherliness  one  towards  another, 
arguing  that  "  as  the  twig  is  bent,  the  tree  's  inclined." 
Accordingly  children  were  admitted  to  his  infant  school  at 
New  Lanark  as  soon  as  they  could  walk,  and  there  taken 
care  of  while  their  parents  were  at  work.  Their  time  was 
occupied  in  free  play,  games,  and  hearing  stories.  Later 
they  were  taught  to  read  and  write  and  were  instructed  in 
certain  parts  of  natural  history,  geography,  etc.  At  six 
years  of  age  they  were  promoted  to  the  upper  school. 
Brougham  conceived  such  a  favourable  opinion  of  the  plan 
that  in  1818  a  school  on  similar  lines,  financed  by  a  small 
committee,  was  opened  in  London  under  the  superinten- 
dence of  Buchanan,  the  master  of  the  New  Lanark  Infant 
School,  who  had  been  borrowed  for  the  purpose.  On  the 
committee  were  James  Mill  and  Joseph  Wilson.  The 
latter,  thinking  well  of  the  plan,  opened  a  second  school  at 
his  own  expense  in  the  following  year  and  put  it  in  charge 
of  "Wilderspin. 

So  well  did  the  experiment  prosper  that  other  schools 
were  opened,  and  in  1824  the  Infant  School  Society  was 
founded  for  promoting  the  establishment  of  schools,  "  or 
rather  asylums  for  the  children  of  the  poor  "  between  two 
and  six  years  of  age,  to  replace  the  inefficient  Dame  schools. 
The  schools  were  designed  to  accommodate  a  maximum  of 
from  200  to  300  children ;  great  stress  was  laid  on  the 
necessity  of  playgrounds  as  a  means  of  training  the 
scholars  to  good  habits  and  incidentally  leading  them  "  to 
the  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge."  For  the  time  being 


56  THE    PHILANTHKOPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

Wilderspin's  school  at  Spitalfields  was  to  be  the  model 
school  of  the  new  society.  The  first  Church  Infant  School 
was  opened  in  the  same  year  at  Walthamstow  by  the  Eev. 
William  Wilson  (brother  of  Joseph  Wilson)  and  quickly 
Avon  a  reputation  at  least  equal  to  that  of  Wilderspin. 
The  spread  of  these  schools  was  largely  due  to  the  exer- 
tions of  Wilderspin,  who  travelled  up  and  down  the  country 
lecturing,  demonstrating,  and  founding  schools  at  the 
request  of  local  committees.1  In  1836  the  Home  and 
Colonial  Infant  School  Society  was  founded  with  the  spe- 
cial object  of  training  efficient  teachers  for  infant  schools 
in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  Pestalozzi. 

The   first   instance   of   State  interference  in  education 

during  the  nineteenth  century  was  the  pass- 
Education  mg  Of  the  Health  and  Morals  of  Apprentices 
Children  Act  ^n  1802.  For  some  years  the  Manchester 

Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  had  been 
conducting  a  campaign  against  the  evils  that  attended  the 
system  of  apprenticeship  in  factories  and  the  reckless 
exploitation  of  children  five  years  old  and  upwards,  drawn 
from  workhouses  and  elsewhere.  This  was  the  first  of  a 
series  of  measures  directed  against  establishments 

"  where  is  offered  up 
To  Gain,  the  master-idol  of  the  realm, 
Perpetual  sacrifice." 

The  Act  limited  the  working  hours  of  apprentices  to 
12  hours  a  day ;  forbade  night  work  ;  required  provision  to 
be  made  for  instruction  during  the  day  in  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic,  together  with  attendance  at  church  at 
least  once  a  month ;  provided  for  the  registering  and 
inspection  of  factories,  and  imposed  fines  for  non-compli- 
ance. The  Act  was,  however,  imperfectly  enforced,  and 
made  no  provision  for  the  large  number  of  uuapprenticed 

1  Early  Discipline,  Wi 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1838.  57 

children.     Its  value  lay  ill  the  fact  that  it  established  use- 
ful precedents,  and  was  a  sign  of  an  enlarged  conception 
on  the  part  of  the  State  of  its  social  responsibilities.1 
It  has  been  seen2  how,  at  the  beginning  of  the  century, 
the  attention  of  philanthropists  was  already 

Brougham :        directed  to  educational  charities  as  likely  to 
Educational  .  • 

Commissions      afford,  if  properly  administered,  a  sufficient 

and  Par-  income  for  a  wide  extension  of  the  means  of 

Activity.  popular  education.     With  the  rejection  of 

the  plan  for  a  national  system  of  rate-aided 
schools  (1807),  it  was  in  the  adapting  of  the  resources  of 
these  charities  for  elementary  education  that  the  hopes  of 
reformers  lay. 

With  the  close  of  the  French  war  distress  increased  apace 
among  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  laid  the  foundations, 
with  very  little  help  on  the  part  of  agitators,  of  two  work- 
ing-class movements — Trades  Unionism  and  Chartism. 
The  time  seemed  ripe  for  re-opening  the  question  of 
national  education.  In  1816  Brougham,  who  with  the 
death  of  Whitbread  (1815)  now  became  the  main  support 
of  the  cause  of  popular  education  in  Parliament,  moved  as 
a  preliminary  measure  the  appointment  of  a  Select  Com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons  "  to  inquire  into  the 
education  of  the  lower  orders  of  the  Metropolis,  .  .  .  and 
to  consider  what  may  be  fit  to  be  done  with  respect  to  the 
children  of  paupers  who  shall  be  found  begging  .  .  .  and 

1  Some  of  the  more  humane  manufacturers  already  provided  education  for 
their  apprentices.  Thus  David  Dale  employed  at  New  Lanark  (1797)  three 
regular  day  schoolmasters  for  the  younger  children.  The  older  children 
were  taught  between  seven  and  nine  in  the  evening.  For  these,  if  additional 
teachers  were  employed,  one  of  them  was  a  writing  master.  A  woman  was 
appointed  to  teach  the  girls  sewing,  and  another  master  occasionally  gave 
lessons  in  Church  music.  There  were  500  children  in  all.  See  Self  Help  a 
Hundred  Years  Ago,  G.  J.  Holyoake. 

"  Ante,  p.  39. 


58  THE  PHILANTHROPIC  PERIOD,  1800-1833. 

whose  parents  .  .  .  have  not  sent "  them  to  school.  Subse- 
quently the  investigation  was  extended  to  the  whole  country. 

Under  the  none  too  tactful  chairmanship  of  Brougham 
the  scope  of  inquiry  was  laxly  interpreted  to  cover  all  avail- 
able means  of  supplying  existing  deficiencies  in  education. 
The  committee  sat  for  two  years,  gathered  together  a  wealth 
of  valuable  information,  and  raised  a  storm  of  criticism 
and  abuse.  It  reported  that  a  large  number  of  poor 
children  were  wholly  without  the  means  of  instruction, 
although  parents  generally  seemed  desirous  of  it1 ;  it  com- 
mended the  good  work  done  by  the  various  charitable 
institutions ;  indicated  the  existence  of  many  abuses  in  the 
administration  of  charity  trusts  for  education,  and  urged 
the  appointment  of  a  Parliamentary  Commission  to  investi- 
gate the  application  of  such  funds  throughout  England 
and  Wales  ;  recommended  for  necessitous  districts  a  system 
of  rate-aided  parochial  schools,  and  elsewhere  a  grant  for 
building  purposes,  care  being  taken  not  to  dry  up  the 
sources  of  voluntary  contributions ;  suggestions  were  also 
made  for  introducing  a  conscience  clause.  It  was  antici- 
pated that  a  proper  application  of  charitable  funds  would 
leave  no  considerable  burden  on  the  taxpayer.2  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  the  idea  of  building  grants  was 
adopted  in  1833,  but  rate  aid  was  postponed  until  1870. 

In  1818  Brougham  succeeded  in  getting  through  a 
measure  after  much  mutilation  for  the  appointment  of  a 
Royal  Commission  to  inquire  into  educational  charities 
throughout  the  country.  This  woi'k  occupied  the  Com- 
missioners until  1837. 

1  Cf.  the  statement  of  a  speaker  on  Mr.  Whitbread's  Bill,  who  said  that 
in  Eeading,  with  a  population  of  10,000,  three-quarters  of  whom  were  poor, 
there  was  hardly  a  child   who  had  not  learned  to  read  "  at  some  of  the 
threepenny  schools  kept  by  the  poor  old  people." 

2  Third  Report  of  the  Select  Committee  on  the  Education  of  the  Lower 
Orders. 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  59 

Two  years  later  Brougham  introduced  a  Bill  "  for  the 
better  education  of  the  poor  in  England  and  Wales."  It 
provided  for  the  erection  of  parochial  schools,  authority 
for  the  establishing  of  which  was  to  rest  with  the  Quarter 
Sessions,  application  having  been  made  by  the  Grand  Jury, 
two  magistrates,  the  local  clergyman,  or  five  resident  house- 
holders. The  cost  of  building  was  to  fall  on  the  manu- 
facturers, the  cost  of  maintenance  on  the  local  rates. 
School  fees  of  from  2d.  to  4d.  a  week  were  to  be  charged 
to  foster  a  spirit  of  independence  among  parents,  special 
provision  however  being  made  for  poor  children.  School- 
masters were  to  be  appointed  by  the  Vestry;  they  were 
to  be  Churchmen,  and  the  right  of  vetoing  their  appoint- 
ment was  vested  in  the  local  clergyman.  Their  salary 
was  to  be  from  £20  to  <£30  a  year,  with  the  addition 
of  a  house,  though  this  sum  might  be  increased  at  the 
option  of  the  local  ratepayers,  the  object  being  to  ensure 
that  every  master  should  have  a  real  interest  in  developing 
his  school  to  the  utmost.  The  curriculum  was  to  be 
decided  by  the  clergyman  at  the  time  of  each  new  appoint- 
ment, and  in  all  cases  simple  Bible  teaching  was  to  be 
included.  Provision  was  made  for  teaching  the  Catechism 
on  Sunday  evenings  to  all  who  did  not  object.  Part  of 
the  expenses  of  the  system  was  to  be  borne  by  the  applica- 
tion of  educational  endowments. 

Brougham  tells  us  that  his  reason  for  introducing  the 
Bill  was  a  fear  that,  instead  of  continuing  to  expand,  the 
voluntary  impulse  might  die.  He  paid  tribute  to  the  work 
that  the  local  clergy  had  done  in  the  matter  of  popular 
education,  estimating  that  of  some  650,000  boys  and  girls 
being  educated  in  endowed  and  unendowed  schools  one- 
third  were  in  monitorial  schools.  In  addition,  about 
50,000  were  being  educated  at  home,  and  another  100,000 
exclusively  in  Sunday  schools.  Some  53,000  in  Dame 


60  THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833. 

schools  he  neglected.  From  these  data  he  argued  that  011 
the  average  1  in  15  of  the  population  was  attending  some 
sort  of  school  in  England.  In  Wales  the  proportion  was 
only  1  in  20.  In  1803  the  proportion  for  England  and 
Wales  he  estimated  to  have  been  1  in  21.  Assuming 
about  one-tenth  of  the  population  to  be  of  school  age,  he 
calculated  that  one  in  five  was  still  unprovided  for.  School 
provision  varied  greatly  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 
London  was  by  far  the  worst  off  in  this  respect,  for  accom- 
modation existed  for  only  1  in  24,  or,  if  Dame  schools  were 
deducted,  for  1  in  46.  Lancashire  came  next.  It  was  to 
remedy  this  state  of  affairs  that  the  Bill  was  intended.  At 
the  same  time  he  advanced  a  strong  plea  for  the  support 
of  Infant  schools  as  rescue  institutions. 

Striking  as  these  figures  are,  they  afford  no  real  idea  of 
the  actual  state  of  education  at  the  time.  Brougham's 
calculations  were  based  on  the  assumption  that  children 
between  7  and  13  ought  to  be  in  school.  In  other  words, 
he  based  his  estimate  on  a  school  life  spreading  over  five 
or  six  years.  At  the  time,  however,  1^  to  2  years  was 
the  extent  of  the  ordinary  day  school  course, — a  time 
"  abundantly  sufficient "  for  learning  all  that  the  poor  boy 
needed  in  the  way  of  reading  and  writing.  Hence  the 
proportion  of  children  who  were  attending  school  was 
probably  much  larger  than  Brougham  gave  credit  for. 

The  Bill  called  forth  the  strongest  opposition  from  Roman 
Catholics,  Dissenters,  and  the  British  and  Foreign  School 
Society,  as  a  measure  dangerous  to  religious  liberty  and  as 
accentuating  the  privileges  of  the  Church  in  contrast  to  the 
other  denominations.  Nor  did  it  please  the  Church  party. 
It  was  accordingly  withdrawn,  and  no  further  attempt  at 
legislative  action  was  made  for  the  next  ten  years. 

During  this  period,  however,  a  great  change  had  come 
over  the  general  attitude  towards  popular  education,  a 


THE    PHILANTHROPIC    PERIOD,    1800-1833.  61 

direct  result  of  the  forces  mentioned  earlier  in  the  chapter. 
The  voluntary  movement  spread  rapidly.  According  to 
returns  obtained  by  Brougham  in  1828  the  number  of 
children  attending  day  schools  had  doubled  since  1818. 
Education  as  a  measure  of  protective  and  preventive  police 
had  never  been  more  popular.  It  was  during  this  period 
that  the  great  movement  in  adult  education  began  l  and  the 
Society  for  Diffusing  Useful  Knowledge  came  into  exis- 
tence. 

In  1832  the  Reform  Bill  was  passed,  thereby  fulfilling 
Cobbett's  prediction  at  the  close  of  the  French  War  that 
the  legacy  of  debt  must  inevitably  bring  about  a  reform  in 
popular  representation.  The  balance  of  power  now  passed 
to  the  newly  enfranchised  middle  classes,  and  popular 
education  became  more  than  ever  a  matter  of  expediency. 
In  1833  Parliament  made  its  first  grant  in  aid  of  elemen- 
tary education. 

1  Some  idea  of  the  interest  in  the  subject  may  be  gained  from  the  fact 
that  Brougham's  pamphlet  on  Popular  Education  (1825),  setting  out  a 
scheme  of  working-class  education  by  means  of  reading  rooms,  libraries,  and 
evening  institutes,  and  by  the  institution  of  cheap  literature,  went  through 
twenty  editions  in  the  year. 


rilAPTKll    III. 


PERIOD  OF  INCIPIENT  STATE  ACTION. 

I.— SUPERVISION  OR  ANNEXATION  ?  1833-1847. 

"  0  for  the  coming  of  that  glorious  time 
When,  prizing  knowledge  as  her  noblest  wealth 
And  best  protection,  this  imperial  Realm, 
While  she  exacts  allegiance,  shall  admit 
An  obligation,  on  her  part,  to  teach 
Them  who  are  born  to  serve  her  and  obey  ; 
Binding  herself  by  statute  to  secure 
For  all  the  children  whom  her  soil  maintains 
The  rudiments  of  letters,  and  inform 
The  mind  with  moral  and  religious  truth." 

— WORDSWORTH. 

"  Civil  government  is  no  fit  agency  for  the  training  of  families  or  of 
souls.  .  .  .  Throw  the  people  on  their  own  resources  in  education  as 
you  did  in  industry  ;  and  be  assured,  that,  in  a  nation,  so  full  of 
intelligence  and  spirit,  Freedom  and  Competition  will  give  the  same 
stimulus  to  improvement  in  our  schools,  as  they  have  done  in  our 
manufactures,  our  husbandry,  our  shipping,  and  our  commerce." 

— EDWARD  BAISES. 

With    the    first    Parliamentary  grant    for  elementary 
education  (1833)  a  new  era  begins.     Among 
Survey  a^  ran^s   there  was   still   a   great   deal   of 

ignorance  and  apathy  towards  popular  edu- 
cation, but  a  new  note  is  evident  from  the  outset.  The 
forces  of  progress  were  abroad.  Education  gradually 
ceased  to  be  given  to  the  poor  as  a  charity.  It  became  a 

62 


PERIOD    OP    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  63 

right  of  the  people.  To  educate  men  to  this  larger  view 
was  the  work,  among  others,  of  Carlyle,  Dickens,  and  J.  S. 
Mill.  After  1837  education  began  to  take  a  prominent 
place  in  the  programmes  of  the  working-class  movement 
through  the  influence  of  William  Lovett.1 

There  was  a  growing  hatred  of  shams,  monopoly,  and 
vested  interests — a  desire  to  liberalise  education  at  all  costs. 
Existing  agencies  were  either  to  be  stimulated  into  action 
or  to  disappear.  The  Central  Society  of  Education  arose 
in  1836  with  the  avowed  object  of  doing  what  the  two 
existing  societies  seemed  unable  or  refused  to  do,  viz.  to 
take  an  enlarged  view  of  the  situation,  to  set  aside  sectarian 
rivalry,  to  endeavour  to  raise  educational  practice  from 
dogmatism  and  rule  of  thumb  to  the  plane  of  a  science, 
to  cease  counting  heads,  and  to  remove  the  reproach  of  being 
content  with  giving  to  the  people  an  education  that  was  a 
disgrace  to  the  age. 

Rigidity  and  inelasticity  of  view,  intolerance  and  a 
disposition  not  to  compromise  were  the  dominant  features 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  period.  They  were  peculiar  to 
no  one  party,  but  the  characteristic  of  all.  With  the 
abolition  of  the  Test  Acts  and  the  advent  of  Catholic 
Emancipation  the  previously  "inferior"  sects  showed  a 
determination  to  use  their  newly-acquired  liberty  to  the 
full.  Dissenters  and  Churchmen  alike  made  grievous 
mistakes,  and  were  not  above  sacrificing  future  good  to  an 
immediate  advantage.  Occasionally  they  combined  to 
present  a  united  front  to  the  common  enemy — the  growing 
rationalist  party. 

The  period  between  the  first  Parliamentary  grant  and 
the  advent  of  School  Boards  divides  into  two  parts — 
(1)  1833-1847.         (2)  1847-1870. 

1  Leader  of  the  Moral  Force  Chartists,  compiler  of  the  People's  Charter, 
organiser  of  the  National  Union  of  the  Working  Classes,  etc. 


64  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

During  the  first  period  we  see  the  prospect  of  a  State 
system  of  education  which  should  bring  the 

1833-184.7 

means  of  instruction  within  the  reach  of  all 
endangered  and  finally  destroyed  for  the  time  being  by 
the  controversies  that  centred  round  the  "  religious  diffi- 
culty." A  Liberal  Government  had  burnt  its  fingers  in 
1839,  and  a  like  fate  attended  a  Conservative  Government 
in  1843.  In  1847  the  Government,  through  the  Committee 
of  Council,  resigned  itself  to  the  inevitable,  and  definitely 
entrusted  the  spread  of  education  as  far  as  might  be  to 
voluntary  agencies. 

The  counti-y  was  divided  into  five  parties  :  (1)  those  who 
would  have  State-aided  denominational  schools  under 
private  management,  (2)  denominational sts  who  would 
admit  a  conscience  clause,  (3)  undenominational ists,  (4) 
those  who  would  exclude  religious  instruction  altogether 
from  State-aided  schools,  (5)  those  who  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  State  aid  in  any  form. 

The  second  period  saw  successive  Parliaments  acquiescing l 
in  the  spread  of  a  great  denominational 

1847-1870.  ' 

system,  and  in  the  growth  of  a  great  depart- 
ment of  State  that  distributed  in  the  course  of  thirty  years 
some  .£10,000,000  and  gradually  regulated  the  education 
of  half  the  children  in  the  country,  without  the  control  or 
guidance  of  a  single  Act  of  Parliament. 

Meantime  the  struggle  between  the  rival  parties  con- 
tinued. The  extremists  of  all  parties  gradually  abandoned 
their  position.  Voluntary  agencies  had  proved  themselves 
unequal  to  the  task  of  reaching  all  the  children  in  the 
country.  Accordingly  Liberal  opinion  set  strongly  in  favour 
of  a  State  system,  rate-aided  and  locally  managed.  In 
other  words  many  desired  to  see  the  State  annex  elementary 
education  instead  of  continuing  merely  to  aid  and  supervise 

i  Cf.  Public  Education,  Kay-Shnttleworth,  Chap.  I.    . 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  65 

the  work  of  voluntary  associations.  Conservatives,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  for  retaining  the  status  quo  but  making 
education  compulsory  and  opening  up  other  sources  of 
revenue.  Between  the  two  came  a  third  party  who  favoured 
a  partition  of  the  work  between  the  State  and  the  voluntary 
associations.  That  is  to  say,  the  State  was  to  undertake 
the  responsibility  of  supplementing  the  already  existing 
provision,  but  to  allow  freedom  for  private  individuals  to 
continue  their  work — a  policy  calculated  to  attract  the 
suppoi-t  of  those  who  distrusted  any  undue  interference  or 
predominance  of  the  State  in  social  affairs,  who  saw  progress 
not  in  the  narrow  individualism  of  "  Hands  off,"  nor  in 
paternalism,  but  rather  in  a  fuller  and  richer  individualism 
such  as  found  expression  in  the  teaching  of  John  Stuart 
Mill.  The  Act  of  1870  realised  in  some  measure  this  third 
view. 

The  demand  of  the  Benthamites  for  popular  education 
has  already  been  noted.1       In  the   thirties 
Growing  reformers  were  demanding  the  establishment 

Popular  °^  a  State  system  with   a   persistence  that 

Education          seriously  alarmed  the  Church  party.     Propa- 
ganda on  these  lines  was  the  raison  d'etre  of 
the  Central  Society.     In  1831  the  labour  movement  may 
be  said  to  have  begun  with  the  founding  of  the  National 
Union  of  the  Working  Classes.     Six  years  later  Lovett,  in 
an  address  to  working  men,2  was  claiming 
Lovett™  popular  education  as  a  right  derivable  from 

society  itself — an  education  that  should  offer 
to  each  the  means  of  developing  his  capacities  to  the 
utmost.  For  this  he  proposed  a  system  of  State  education 
under  a  Committee  of  Public  Instruction  appointed  by 

1  See  ante,  pp.  31-3. 

2  An  Address  to  the  Working  Classes  onthe  Subject  of  Education,  1837, 
reprinted  in  The  Life  and  Struggles  of  William  Lovett,  pp.  135-146. 

H.  ED.  5 


66  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

Parliament,  with  the  building  of  schools  a  State  charge, 
and  their  maintenance  dependent  upon  local  rates.  In 
1839,  however,  he  changed  his  position  and  repudiated 
State  control.1  Education  was  too  important  to  be  left  to 
any  Government  to  take  in  hand,  especially  "  an  irrespon- 
sible one."  Accordingly  he  advocated  a  plan  by  which  the 
working  classes  could  educate  themselves  on  free  co-opera- 
tive lines. 

Carlyle,  writing  in  1840,  saw  in  education  and  emigration 
the  two  means  of  curing  the  social  evils  of 
the  day.  "  Who  would  suppose,"  he  says, 
"  that  education  were  a  thing  which  had  to  be  advocated 
on  the  ground  of  local  expediency,  or  indeed  on  any  ground? 
As  if  it  stood  not  on  the  basis  of  everlasting  duty  as  a  prime 
necessity  of  man." 2  To  impart  the  gift  of  thinking  seemed 
to  him  the  first  function  of  government.  Yet,  in  spite  of 
this,  education  was  being  shelved  through  sectarian  con- 
troversy. Religious  teaching  he  admitted  was  essential, 
but  until  the  sects  could  agree  to  sink  their  differences  he 
prayed  for  the  strong  man  to  come  and  impose  a  secular 
system  on  the  whole  country. 

Dickens'  influence  came  through  his  writings  and  his 

readiness  to  speak  to  popular  audiences  on 

the  subject  of  education.      No  one   of   his 

generation  had  a  greater  belief  in  the  masses  or  greater 

sympathy  with  the  poor.     No  aspect  of  educational  work 

escaped  his  notice.     He  was  among  the  first  to  expound 

Froebel's  teaching  in  this  country,3  and  was  one  of  the 

greatest  influences  of   the  day  iu  improving  the   school 

education  and  making  it  more  meaningful.     He  favoured 

1  Chartism,  Lovett  and  Collins. 

2  Chartism,  Chap.  X. 

3  See  Household  Words,  1855.     The  article  is  reprinted  in  Dickens  as 
an  Educator,  Hughes. 


PEBIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  67 

a  compulsory  State  education,  comprehensive  and  unsec- 
tarian  in  kind,  that  should  lead  individuals  to  self- 
improvement  and  make  them  generous,  self-respecting, 
intelligent  men  and  women. 

J.  S.  Mill  set  out  with  an  unlimited  faith  in  the  ordinary 
individual,  and  he  demanded  as  the  end  and 
aim  of  government— as  the  end  of  man  him- 
self— the  fullest  opportunity  for  each  to  develop  his 
capabilities  to  the  xitmost.  His  "  grand  leading  principle  " 
was  the  absolute  and  essential  importance  of  human  de- 
velopment in  its  richest  diversity.  It  was  education  that 
was  to  bridge  the  gulf  that  separates  men  as  they  are  from 
men  as  they  might  become.  It  was,  however,  much  more 
than  mere  schooling.  It  included  education  in  and 
through  social  duties.  But  popular  education  was  neces- 
sary from  another  standpoint.  According  to  him  the 
ideally  best  form  of  government  was  that  in  which  the 
sovereignty  was  vested  in  the  entire  aggregate  of  the 
community,  and  where  every  citizen  was  called  upon 
occasionally  to  take  his  share  in  the  actual  work  of  govern- 
ment by  discharging  some  local  or  general  public  office. 
Universal  education  was  an  essential  condition  to  this, 
and  he  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  it  was  wholly  inadmissible 
for  any  person  to  have  a  vote  who  was  ignorant  of  at  any 
rate  the  three  E's.  While,  however,  he  was  prepared  to 
justify  State  assistance  and  compulsory  education,1  he  was 
opposed  to  the  State  monopolising  education,  on  the  ground 
that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  the  life  of  a  free  com- 
munity. 

"  An  education  established  and  controlled  by  the  State 
should  only  exist,  if  it  exist  at  all,  as  one  among  many 

1 "  Is  it  not  almost  a  self-evident  axiom  that  the  State  should  require  and 
compel  the  education  of  every  human  being  who  is  born  a  citizen  ?  " — On 
Liberty,  Chap.  IV. 


68  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

competing  experiments,  carried  on  for  the  purpose  of 
example  and  stimulus,  to  keep  the  others  up  to  a  certain 
standard  of  excellence."  l 

We  may  now  examine  the  period  in  detail. 

The  struggle  for  a  State  system  of  popular  education 
in  place  of  the  existing  voluntary  agencies  began  with 
the  passing  of  the  Reform  Bill.  The  new  Government 
contained  a  number  of  men  notoriously  sympathetic 
to  the  cause,  but  they  lacked  adequate  backing  in  the 
country. 

Brougham  was  now  in  the  Upper  House,  his  place  in 
the  Commons  being  taken  by  Mr.  Roebuck 
Proposed  ^Bill8  an<^  ^r<  Wyse.  For  some  years  the  success 
of  voluntaryism  had  been  leading  him  to 
modify  his  views  as  to  the  expediency  of  compulsory 
educational  provision.  A  declaration  to  this  effect  in  the 
first  session  of  the  new  Parliament  pi'ovoked  Mr.  Roebuck 
to  move  that  in  the  following  session  the  House  would 
"  proceed  to  devise  a  means  for  the  universal  and  national 
education  of  the  whole  people,"  pointing  to  the  critical  state 
of  the  times,  and  urging  that  education  was  essential  to  the 
production  of  a  virtuous,  industrious,  happy,  enlightened 
democracy,  and  that  it  was  a  duty  incumbent  on  a  State 
to  undertake  and  enforce  it.  The  education,  however, 
must  be  real :  no  mere  mechanical  drilling  in  the  three 
R's  would  do.  He  had  in  view  the  compulsory  attendance 
at  school  of  all  children  between  six  and  twelve  years  of 
age;  the  establishing  in  every  village  of  at  least  one  infant 
school  and  one  school  of  industry,  a  provision  to  be  supple- 
mented in  towns  by  evening  schools  for  all  over  fourteen 
years  of  age;  and,  finally,  the  opening  of  normal  schools 
for  schoolmasters.  For  administrative  purposes  the 

1  Oil  Liberty,  Chap.  IV.     See  Essay  on  Mill  in  Si.v  R'ldirnl 
MaeCuun, 


PERIOD  ot1  INCIPIENT  STATE  ACTION.  69 

country  was  to  be  divided  up  into  school  districts  under 
the  control  of  locally-elected  committees. 

The  school  of  industry  had  two  functions  to  perform, 
first,  to  impart  scholarship  and  to  teach  a  trade,  and 
second,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  taste  and  to  educate 
for  leisure.  Hence  the  curriculum  was  to  be  "  as  liberal 
as  prudence  would  permit."  Besides  the  three  E's  it  was 
proposed  to  provide  for  instruction  in  art,  music,  and 
singing,  in  natural  history,  elementary  science,  hygiene 
and  civics — the  latter  to  include  "  a  general  knowledge  of 
our  government  and  other  institutions,  with  such  portions 
of  political  economy  "  as  were  appropriate.  The  control 
of  the  system  was  to  be  vested  in  a  Cabinet  Minister ; 
equal  rights  were  to  be  given  to  all  denominations ;  and 
the  cost  of  education  was  to  be  met  partly  by  school  pence, 
but  mainly  by  taxes  and  the  income  from  existing  endow- 
ments. 

The  speech  is  interesting  because  of  its  grasp  of  the 
meaning  of  education,  for  its  liberal  handling 

The  First  of  the  whole  question  of  popular  education, 

Parliamentary         ,  .,.  . ,        ,,         ,    J    , .        ,         ...         c 

Grant.  and  as  typifying  the  educational  position  ot 

the  advanced  reformers.  To  have  accepted 
such  a  motion,  however,  would  have  seriously  embarrassed 
the  Government,  and  it  was  not  pressed.  As  an  earnest 
that  they  were  not  passive  in  the  matter  a  grant  of  <£20,000 
for  the  erection  of  school  houses  was  proposed  and  passed 
after  a  struggle  in  a  thin  House,  thereby  carrying  out  an 
idea  suggested  in  the  Report  of  1818. l 


1  See  ante,  p.  58.  The  vote  ran,  "That  a  sum,  not  exceeding  twenty 
thousand  pounds,  be  granted  to  His  Majesty,  to  be  issued  in  aid  of  private 
subscriptions  for  the  erection  of  school  houses  for  the  education  of  the 
children  of  the  poorer  classes  in  Great  Britain,  to  the  31st  day  of  March, 
1834  :  and  that  the  said  sum  be  issued  and  paid  without  any  deduction 
whatever." 


70  PERIOD    Ot'    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

No  special  machinery  was  set  up  to  distribute  the 
money.  It  was  administered  by  the  Treasury  under  a 
special  Minute  (1833),  according  to  which  grants  were 
to  be  applied  exclusively  to  the  erection  of  schools  :  no 
grants  would  be  made  unless  at  least  half  the  cost  were 
met  by  voluntary  contributions  ;  grants  would  only  be 
made  through  the  National  or  the  British  and  Foreign 
School  Society ;  applicants  were  to  be  prepared  to  submit 
the  school  accounts  to  audit  and  to  mate  reports  ;  populous 
places  would  be  given  preference  in  the  allocation  of 
grants.  The  result  was  an  immediate  stimulus  to  local 
effort,  and  before  the  end  of  the  year  the  grant  was  in- 
adequate to  meet  the  demands  made  upon  it.  The  result 
was  a  further  discrimination  in  favour  of  large  schools 
accommodating  upwards  of  400  children,  and  in  which 
two  school  places  were  provided  for  each  £\  of  grant  asked 
for.  In  other  words,  the  grant  was  applied  to  assist  the 
erection  of  schools  in  comparatively  well-to-do  populous 
neighbourhoods,  rather  than  in  poor  and  relatively  more 
necessitous  districts.  On  these  terms  the  grant  was 
renewed  annually  for  the  next  six  years.  During  this 
time  the  State  was  merely  the  contributor  to  two  volun- 
tary societies,  laying  down  no  standards  to  which  build- 
ings should  conform,  and  eliciting  no  security  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  fabric  when  erected  nor  for  the 
efficiency  of  the  instruction — a  condition  of  affairs  that  is 
accounted  for  by  the  tentative  nature  of  the  experiment.1 

1  Within  a  few  mouths  of  the  passing  of  the  grant  sixty-two  schools, 
forty-four  of  which  belonged  to  the  Church  of  England,  providing  in  all  for 
12,191  children  had  been  aided.  By  the  end  of  the  year  applications  had 
been  made  from  236  projected  schools.  Of  these  185  were  not  assisted 
owing  to  the  exhaustion  of  the  grant.  By  1838  714  National  schools  ac- 
commodating 140,591  children,  and  181  British  and  Foreign  School  Society 
schools  had  been  helped. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  a  similar  method  of  distributing  grants  had  been 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  71 

Meantime  the  question  of  State  interference  with  educa- 
tion was  not  allowed  to  drop,  and  reformers 

Educational  se^  themselves  the  task  of  educating  public 
Returns  and  .  .  „,  .  ,,  ,.  ,,  , °  r. 

Statistics.          opinion.     The  ttill  extent  of  the  deficiency 

in  school  accommodation  was  not  known, 
no  authoritative  data  being  available.  To  obtain  this 
information  a  good  deal  of  effort  was  expended  both 
by  Parliamentary  agencies  and  local  associations,  for  it 
was  felt  that  "  facts,  numerous  and  well  attested,"  were 
the  only  ground  on  which  conclusions  with  regard  to  the 
state  of  the  country  could  be  safely  based. 

In  1833  a  Parliamentary  Eeturn  was  called  for  by  Lord 
Kerry,  showing  the  number  of  Infant,  Day,  and  Sunday 
schools  in  every  town,  parish,  and  chapelry,  together  with 
the  number  and  sex  of  the  children  in  attendance,  the 
average  age  of  entering  and  leaving  school,  the  nature  of 
the  school  funds,  etc.  This  was  followed  by  the  in- 
vestigations of  three  Select  Committees,  the  most  impor- 
tant being  that  appointed  in  1837  to  consider  the  best 
means  of  providing  useful  education  for  the  children 
of  the  poorer  classes  in  the  large  towns  of  England  and 
Wales. 

Further  information  of  the  social,  moral,  physical,  and 
educational  conditions  of  particular  districts  was  obtained 
by  the  inquiries  of  various  local  agencies,  statistical 
societies  and  private  individuals.  Foremost  in  importance 
of  these  was  the  work  done  by  the  Manchester  Statistical 
Society,  founded  in  1833,  and  the  London  Statistical 
Society,  established  in  the  following  year,  which  proved  the 

tried  in  Ireland  since  181C.  The  medium  in  this  case  was  the  Kildare 
Place  Society.  After  the  passing  of  the  Catholic  Emancipation  Act,  1831, 
a  Board  of  unpaid  Commissioners  was  set  up  to  administer  the  Government 
grants,  to  appoint  inspectors,  to  establish  training  schools,  to  publish  suitable 
school  books,  etc. 


72  I'KRlOD    OK    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

data  of  the  Kerry  Parliamentary  Return  to  be  untrust- 
worthy.1 

These  enquiries  revealed  not  only  a  good  deal  of  edu- 
cational destitution,  particularly  in  large 
The  Demand  towns,  but  also  emphasised  the  deplorable 
System  of6  condition  of  much  so-called  schooling.  The 
Education.  demand  for  a  State  system  was  again  taken 
up  by  Brougham,  who  in  1835  introduced  a 
Bill  for  establishing  a  Board  of  Education  similar  to  that 
existing  in  France,  with  powers  to  extend  education 
throughout  the  country,  to  plant  schools,  to  bestow 
Parliamentary  grants,  and  to  superintend  the  distribution 
of  such  other  funds  as  might  be  raised  by  local  taxation. 
The  Board  was  to  consist  of  paid  commissioners  holding 
their  posts  on  conditions  similar  to  judges,  but  with  a 
Cabinet  Minister  at  the  head.  A  similar  Bill  was  in- 
troduced in  1837  and  re-introduced  in  1838,  when  in 
answer  to  a  question  Brougham  stated  his  position 
with  regard  to  religious  instruction  by  saying  that  every 
plan  of  national  education  should  embrace  religious 
instruction,  but  owing  to  the  conscientious  scruples  of 
Roman  Catholics  and  Jews  he  would  not  compel  these  to 
be  present  either  when  the  Scriptures  were  read  or  when 
the  Catechism  and  Thirty-nine  Articles  were  expounded.2 

Meantime  the  Central  Society,  to  which  belonged  Lord 
John  Russell,  Mr.  Wyse,  Mr.  Slaney,  and  others,  was  en- 
gaged in  propagandist  work.  "  A  Board  of  Education 
for  England,  another  for  Scotland,  a  third  for  Ireland, 
all  acting  under  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  here, 
with  large  powers  over  new  and  old  endowments,  and 
with  adequate  funds,  composed  fairly  (representing,  that 

1  A  similar  society  sprang  up  in  Bristol  in  1836,  another  at  Birmingham. 
The  Central  Society  of  Education  began  work  the  same  year. 
-  Hansard,  3rd  Series,  Vol.  xliv.,  col.  1174. 


PEBIO1>    OF    INCIPIEAT    STATE    ACTION.  73 

is,  the  various  parties  arid  feelings  in  the  country  iu  due 
proportion),  and  acting  under  constant  Parliamentary 
and  Government  inspection  ;  but,  above  all,  under  the 
universal  public  eye  :  a  wise  share  of  co-operation  granted, 
and  required  from  the  people,  in  parishes,  towns,  counties, 
and  provinces,  through  the  public  bodies  most  appropriate 
to  each  "  : — such  was  regarded  as  preliminary  to  all  real 
reform. 

In  summing  up  the  educational  condition  in  towns  in 
1838  the  Select   Comnattee   reported  that, 

The  State  of  however  defective  the  existing  system  of 
Education,  J  .  .  , 

1838.  instruction  tor  the  poorer  classes  might  be, 

it  was  impossible  not  to  recognise  the  great 
service  that  had  been  rendered  to  the  country  by  the 
persevering  efforts  of  benevolent  individuals  in  the  cause 
of  education.  In  large  towns  1  in  12  of  the  population 
were  on  the  average  in  receipt  of  some  sort  of  schooling, 
but  only  1  in  24  were  getting  an  education  likely  to  be 
useful.  In  some  places  the  proportion  was  as  low  as  1  in 
41 ,~  whereas  it  was  considered  that  provision  ought  to 
exist  for  1  in  8.  To  meet  this  deficiency  further  Govern- 
ment assistance  was  urgently  needed .  In  view  of  existing 
difficulties  the  Committee  could  not  see  its  way  to  recom- 
mend the  establishment  of  a  National  Board  of  Education, 
and  suggested  a  continuance  of  the  present  system  whereby 
grants  should  be  distributed  through  the  National  and  the 
British  and  Foreign  School  Societies.  Some  modifications 
in  the  terms  of  grant  ought,  however,  to  be  made  in  favour 
of  poor  districts.  In  short,  vested  interests  and  fear  of 

1  Central  Society  of  Education,  First  Publication,  p.  63. 

2Cf.  Leeds.  See  Report  of  the  Select  Committee  on  Education  of  the 
Poorer  Classes,  1838,  p.  viii.  The  data  used  were  those  obtained  by  the 
Statistical  Societies,  and  only  take  into  account  day  schools.  See  how- 
ever ante,  p.  60,  for  the  note  as  to  the  average  length  of  school  life. 


74  PERIOD    OK    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

civil  interference  appeared  to  the  Committee  too  strong  to 
warrant  the  State  in  departing  from  its  position  as  the 
contributor  to  two  societies  that  were  far  from  command- 
ing the  confidence  or  representing  the  opinion  of  the  country 
as  a  whole.  In  Parliament  in  1838  a  motion  by  Mr.  Wyse 
for  the  establishment  of  a  Board  of  Commissioners  only 
just  failed  to  pass,  and  the  same  year  the  British  and 
Foreign  Society  petitioned  for  the  same  object. 

The  Government  now  took  up  the  matter.     There  were 

three  parties  to  propitiate.  The  Church 
The  Establish-  under  the  stimulus  of  the  Anglican  Eevival 
Commltteeof  was  vig°rous^y  pressing  its  claims  to  domin- 
Council.  ate  popular  education.  The  Dissenters  were 

disputing  the  claim  with  no  less  perseverance. 
Apart  from  both,  Liberal  opinion  as  expressed  by  the 
Central  Society  looked  to  the  separation  of  secular  and 
religious  education  under  the  control  of  a  centrally  elected 
body.  By  its  emphasis  on  secular  instruction  it  had 
drawn  upon  itself  the  dislike  and  distrust  of  Churchman 
and  Dissenter  alike — and  to  this  party  belonged  Lord 
Melbourne,  Lord  Lansdowne,  and  Lord  John  Russell.  The 
state  of  affairs  was  clearly  unpropitious  to  establishing 
a  Board  of  Commissioners  to  supervise  education.  The 
claim  of  the  Church  that  education  was  essentially  an 
ecclesiastical  matter  was  also  regarded  as  untenable.  At 
the  same  time  to  look  upon  it  exclusively  as  a  civil 
function,  and  to  attempt  to  set  up  a  purely  State  system 
as  in  Prussia  or  the  United  States,  would  be  to  ignore 
history  and  existing  conditions.  Accordingly  a  compromise 
was  effected,  tentative  and  opportunist  in  character.  The 
Queen,  on  the  advice  of  her  Ministers,  appointed  by  Order 
in  Council  a  Special  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council, 
analogous  to  the  Committee  of  Council  on  Trade,  "  for  the 
consideration  of  all  matters  affecting  the  education  of  the 


Of    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  75 

people,"  and  to  determine  "  in  what  manner  the  grants  of 
money  made  from  time  to  time  "  by  Parliament  should  be 
distributed.  The  step  was  important,  for  it  asserted  the 
claim  of  the  civil  authority  to  a  dominant  position  in 
national  education,  and  if  the  measure  was  not  as  compre- 
hensive as  the  Government  would  have  liked,  it  was  at 
any  rate  "  a  beginning."  l 

The  Committee  was  appointed  on  April  10th,  1839,  and 
a  Minute,  dated  the  following  day,  provided 

rpi._   "Fif»of 

Minute  ^or  *ne  establishment  and  constitution  of  a 

State  Training  College  with  Model  Schools 
attached ;  for  the  appointment  of  two  inspectors  for  the 
inspection  of  aided  schools ;  and  for  granting  aid  to  teachers 
and  to  schools  not  necessarily  confined  to  the  two  Societies. 
It  proposed  to  throw  the  College  and  Model  Schools  open 
to  all  regardless  of  sect,  to  provide  general,  non-distinctive 
religious  instruction  for  all,  and  to  give  opportunities  for 
definite  doctrinal  instruction  at  stated  times  during  the 
week  by  specially  appointed  ministers.2 

A  storm  of  opposition  greeted  the  publication  of  the 

Minute.     It  was  characterised  as  a  piece  of 

os't'o          legerdemain,  designed  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen 

to  bring  into  operation  schemes  identical  in 

all  essentials  with  the  projects  of  Roebuck,  Brougham,  and 

others,  that  had  been  consistently  opposed.3 

'The  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  Hanxard,  3rd  Series,  Vol.  xlv.,  col.  351. 

-  A  full  account  of  the  doings  of  this  period,  told  from  the  official  point  of 
view,  is  given  in  Four  Period*  of  Public  Education,  Kay-Shuttleworth. 

3  For  an  account  of  the  history  of  this  period,  written  from  the  Church 
standpoint,  see  The  Hixtory  and  Present  State  of  the  Educat ion  Ques- 
tion, i>rintfd  for  the  Metropolitan  Church  Union,  1850.  See  also  the 
pamphlet,  Tlic  Church  and  Education  i>ri»r  to  1870,  published  by  the 
Church  Committee  for  Church  Defence  and  Church  Instruction;  also 
Elementary  Education,  Gregory.  For  an  account  written  from  the  civil 
point  of  view  see  Adams'  History  of  the  Elementary  School  Contest. 


76  I'KRlOD    Oy    1NC1P1KNT    STATE    ACTION. 

The  main  opposition  came  from  the  Church,  the 
Wesleyans,  and  the  National  Society,  and  was  directed 
against  the  plan  of  a  State  Training  College.  The  policy 
of  the  Government  was  to  acknowledge  equal  rights  to  all 
denominations,  or,  in  the  words  of  Lord  John  Russell,  to 
give  "  a  temperate  attention  to  the  fair  claims  of  the 
Established  Church,  and  the  religious  freedom  sanctioned 
by  law."  The  application  of  this  policy  to  religious  in- 
struction in  the  proposed  College  and  affiliated  Model 
Schools  aroused  the  gravest  distrust.  Many  saw  in  it  the 
first  step  towards  a  compulsory  State  scheme  of  religious 
conformity.  Religion  was  henceforth  to  be  a  mere 
"  subject "  like  Arithmetic.  Petitions  poured  in  against 
it  from  all  over  the  country.  Religious  controversy — 
the  mark  of  deep-rooted  differences  of  principle — was 
never  higher.  The  Government  was  in  low  water  at 
the  time,  so  the  Training  College  scheme  was  dropped, 
and  the  money — a  sum  of  ,£10,000 — handed  over  to 
the  National  and  the  British  and  Foreign  School 
Societies. 

But  the  opposition  did  not  end  here.  Distrust  had 
been  aroused,  and  the  Committee  of  Council  itself  was 
attacked  on  all  manner  of  grounds.  Some  objected  to  it 
on  the  ground  of  its  exclusively  political  character  and  its 
necessarily  fluctuating  and  uncertain  composition,  so  that 
it  was  regarded  as  incapable  of  pursuing  any  fixed  policy. 
Many  saw  in  it  an  instrument  of  political  tyranny. 
Others  were  opposed  to  it  as  an  instrument  of  instruc- 
tion and  not  of  education,  alleging  that  it  worshipped 
machinery  and  neglected  sympathy.  Others,  again,  ob- 
jected to  any  form  of  State  interference,  on  the  ground 
that  education  is  essentially  spiritual  in  character,  no 
mere  matter  of  restraint,  of  disciplining  the  faculties,  of 
facts  and  opinions.  The  State  might  add  new  elements 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  77 

of  information  in  the  effort  to  improve  national  education, 
but  it  was  powerless  to  evoke  the  spiritual  forces  that  give 
stability  and  unity  to  national  life.1 

An  address  to  the  Crown,  protesting  against  the 
establishment  of  the  Committee  of  Council,  was  defeated 
by  280  to  275  votes,  and  the  education  grant  for  the 
year — ,£30,000  for  Great  Britain — passed  by  two  votes. 
In  the  Upper  House  a  similar  address  was  carried  by  229 
to  118  votes  without  result. 

The  G-overnmeut  adhered  to  its  plan  so  far  as  the 
Committee  of  Council,  the  right  of  inspection,  and  the 
extension  of  building  grants  to  other  bodies  were  con- 
cerned. Dr.  Kay  (afterwards  Sir  James  Kay-Shuttle- 
worth),  an  assistant  Poor  Law  Commissioner,  was  ap- 
pointed Secretary  of  the  Committee,  but  in  view  of  the 
general  feeling  in  the  country  at  the  time  a  common 
school  system  was  impossible. 

To  understand  the  heat  engendered  and  the  bitterness 
of  the  conflict  it  is  necessary  to  remember 

Difficult^10  ^at  *n*s  moment°us  change  in  the  attitude 
of  the  State  towards  popular  education  came 
at  the  very  climax  of  the  Anglican  Revival,  when  the 
Church  was  awakening  to  a  new  sense  of  its  dignity  and 
an  enlarged  faith  in  its  destiny.  At  the  same  time  the 
coming  of  Catholic  Emancipation  and  the  abolition  of 
the  Test  Acts  left  no  doubt  that  the  Church  of  England 
could  no  longer  claim,  as  it  could  with  some  justice  at 
the  beginning  of  the  century,  to  represent  the  religious 
aspirations  of  the  whole  community.  Frederick  Denison 


1  Mr.  Gladstone  saw  in  State  interference,  divorced  from  orthodox 
religious  instruction,  the  ultimate  destruction  of  national  religion  and 
national  character.  Mr.  Disraeli  was  equally  opposed  to  it,  though  he  had 
DO  fear  of  the  growth  of  national  infidelity, 


78  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

Maurice,  writing  as  a  Broad  Churchman,  put  the  position 
admirably  in  these  words : — 

"  No  cowardice,  putting  on  the  face  of  modesty,  shall  prevent  us 
from  declaring  that  we  have  a  commission,  and  authority,  and 
ability,  to  educate  the  whole  mind  of  the  country  ;  a  power  of 
forming  the  nation,  which  those  who  would  take  upon  themselves 
our  duties  do  not,  and  cannot  possess.  Xo  shame  for  past  misuse 
of  the  trust  which  has  been  committed  to  us,  shall  tempt  us  to  the 
further  sin  of  denying  that  we  retain  it.  But  at  the  same  time,  we 
are  bound,  by  the  most  solemn  obligations,  to  make  our  pretensions 
good,  to  prove  that  they  are  not  put  forth  rashly  or  proudly  for  the 
sake  of  self  displaj',  or  that  we  may  retain  selfish  honours,  but  in 
the  firm  belief  that  the  tenure  by  which  we  hold  our  gifts  is  not  one 
that  makes  them  dependent  upon  our  individual  merits  any  more 
than  upon  State  patronage,  but  one  that  ensures  a  continual 
renewal  of  the  only  strength  in  which  we  are  able  to  exercise  them 
for  good  to  this  age,  or  to  posterity."  ' 

"  You  have  always  a  vague  notion  that  we  want  you  to  do  some- 
thing for  us — in  some  way  or  other  to  help  us  against  the  sects. 
We  ask  no  such  thing.-  .  .  .  We  are  born  in  an  age  in  which  men 
are  trying  to  find  a  bond  of  union  for  themselves,  and  cannot  find 
it — in  which  they  are  abusing  one  another  for  not  being  con- 
ciliator}-, and  are  ready  to  tear  one  another  in  pieces  for  the  sake  of 
establishing  charity.  We  are  born  in  an  age  of  parties — it  is  God's 
will  that  it  should  be  so ;  we  cannot  make  it  otherwise  by  not 
believing  it.  We  (Churchmen)  have  an  Education  which  assumes 
men  to  be  members  of  one  family — of  one  nation.  (A  '  family  we 
declare  to  be  universal,  limited  by  no  conditions  of  time  or 
country;  to  belong  to  it  is  our  great  human  privilege.  This 
principle  underlies  all  our  education,  and  is  the  very  meaning  of  it  ! 
Only  on  such  a  foundation  can  a  united  nation  be  built.  We 
have  learned,  therefore,  to  reverence  our  own  function  more, 
because  it  is  the  function  of  proclaiming  truth  to  men  ;  and  we 
have  come  to  think  less  and  less  of  your  State  machinery,  because 
it  carries  with  it  no  such  power.')  If  any  persons  like  to  be 
educated  on  that  ground,  we  will  educate  them  ;  if  they  do  not  like 
it,  they  must  educate  themselves  upon  what  other  principle  they 

1  Has  the  Church  or  the  State  the  Power  to  Educate  the  Nation  ?  A 
Course  of  Lectures,  1839,  p.  129.  2Ibfd.,  p.  163. 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  79 

may,  for  we  know  of  no  other.  The  State  rushes  in  and  says, 
'  But  we  can.  We  will  make  you  members  of  one  family,  whether 
you  like  it  or  no.  You  shall  love  by  Act  of  Parliament,  and 
embrace  by  an  Order  in  Council.  You  have  paid  for  our  pro- 
tection ;  of  course,  therefore,  we  are  bound  in  honour  to  make  you 
wise  and  charitable.'  This  is  their  scheme  ;  I  believe  that  it  will 
work  in  this  way.  It  will  teach  those  who  are  indifferent  to  be 
more  indifferent,  .  .  .  more  intolerant,  .  .  .  (and  remit  in)  the  nation 
growing  .  .  .  more  divided  and  broken."  ' 

There  is  no  mistaking  the  sincerity  of  the  sentiments 
set  out  here.  Any  system  of  education  that  was  not 
based  on  orthodox  Church  teaching  was  unthinkable.  It 
was  a  frank  declaration  in  favour  of  a  rigid  denominational 
system  where  each  sect  should  educate  its  own  children. 
Similar  sentiments  were  held  with  equal  conviction  by  the 
Wesleyans,  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  the  Jews.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  Lord  John  Russell,  the  leader  of  the 
Government  in  the  House  of  Commons,  had  greatly  mis- 
calculated the  situation  when  he  asserted :  "  In  the  midst 
of  these  conflicting  opinions  there  is  not  practically  that 
exclusiveness  among  the  Church  Societies,  nor  that  indif- 
ference to  Religion  among  those  who  exclude  dogmatic 
instruction  from  the  school  which  their  mutual  accusations 
would  lead  bystanders  to  suppose." 2  Moreover,  in  judging 
of  the  attitude  of  the  sects  towards  religious  instruction 
it  is  well  to  remember  that  popular  education  owed  its 
spread  mainly  to  a  religious  impulse,  and  that  the  various 
agencies  that  came  into  existence  were  frankly  sectarian  in 
character  and  that  dogmatic  religious  teaching  was  their 
raison  d'etre,  "  nothing  else  being  comparable  to  it  in 
formative  influence." 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  172-3. 

2  Parliamentary  Papers  :  Letter  to  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  Feb. 
4th,  1839. 


80  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

A  difficulty  arises  whenever  children  of  any  particular 

sect  have  no  school  of  their  own  to  attend 
Schemes  an(^  accordingly  may  have  to  submit  to 

teaching  to  which  their  parents  object.  With 
the  application  of  public  funds  to  the  support  of  schools 
various  schemes  were  put  forward  and  terms  were  in- 
vented to  describe  them.  By  a  denominational  system  was 
meant  a  system  under  the  control  of  a  particular  sect  that 
made  no  provision  for  any  but  those  of  its  own  persuasion. 
The  plan  of  giving  public  aid  in  such  cases  was  described 
as  "  concurrent  endowment "  of  the  denomination.  A 
comprehensive  system  was  one  in  which  schools  were  con- 
nected with  some  particular  religious  body  and  definite 
religious  instruction  given,  but  the  rights  of  conscience 
were  respected.  In  a  combined  system  secular  instruc- 
tion was  given  by  the  teacher,  and  distinctive  religious  in- 
struction left  to  the  ministers  of  the  denomination.  All 
the  efforts  at  compromise  centre  round  one  or  other  of 
these  plans. 

State  interference  having  definitely  begun,  the  question 

confronting  statesmen  of  both  parties  was, 
Second  }1OW  far  an(]  by  what  means  it  was  politic  to 

Establish  a        press  forward.1    With  the  change  of  Govern- 
State  System,    ment  Sir  James  Graham,  the  Conservative 

Home  Secretary,  was  fully  alive  to  the  im- 
portance of  education — State  education  if  possible,  but  in 
any  case  religious  education — as  the  chief  means  of  sub- 
duing the  strong  and  general  tendencies  to  acts  of  vio- 
lence— intimidation,  rioting,  and  insurrection.  Brougham 
urged  him  to  press  forward  a  Government  measure,  favour- 

1  In  Parliament  a  small  group  of  men,  among  them  Mr.  Slaney  and  Mr. 
Roebuck,  constantly  pressed  for  a  larger  measure  of  Government  interest, 
urging  larger  grants,  the  appointment  of  a  Minister  of  Public  Instruction, 
and  school  rates  for  the  maintenance  of  schools  in  rural  parishes. 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  81 

ing  the  Church  if  need  be,  as  the  matter  was  so  urgent  to 
the  social  welfare  of  the  country.  "All  real  friends  of  edu- 
cation," he  believed  would  accept  it,  "  with  the  exception  of 
those  who  hate  the  Established  Church  and  love  their  sects 
more  than  they  love  education — a  class  of  most  worthy  and 
most  conscientious  men,  who  have  done  incalculable  service 
hitherto,  but  whose  honest  scruples  and  prejudices  prevent 
them  from  doing  more  now."  1 

Graham's  reply  dealt  frankly  with  the  issues  involved. 
Could  national  education  work  well  without  religion  ?  He 
thought  not.  At  the  same  time  he  was  clear  that  the 
State  could  not  teach  "the  established  creed"  with  the 
aid  of  rates  and  taxes  without  provoking  the  resistance  of 
Dissenters.  He  was  also  frankly  of  opinion  that  as  far 
as  England  was  concerned  an  "  agreement  on  the  funda- 
mental articles  of  the  Christian  faith  as  the  basis  of  a 
mixed  scheme  of  general  instruction  "  was  delusive.  Such 
a  scheme  in  Ireland  had  failed.  That  it  had  succeeded  in 
Scotland  was  because  the  churches  had  a  common  creed 
and  catechism,  however  much  they  might  differ  on  points 
of  discipline.  The  situation  was  such  that  the  Prime 
Minister — Sir  Robert  Peel — believed  the  times  altogether 
unfavourable  to  Government  action,  and  thought  the  best 
service  would  be  rendered  "  by  the  cautious  and  gradual 
extension  of  the  power  and  the  pecuniary  means  of  the 
Committee  of  the  Privy  Council " — a  view  that  turned  out 
to  be  correct.2 

An  opportunity  to  test  the  feeling  of  the  country  on  the 
question  arose  in  1843.  In  that  year  Lord  Ashley,  better 
known  as  Earl  Shaftsbury,  moved  an  address  to  the  Queen 
praying  for  "  instant  and  serious  consideration  of  the  best 
means  for  promoting  the  blessings  of  a  moral  and  religious 

1  Life  and  Letters  of  Sir  James  Graham,  1792-1861,  Parker,  Vol.  I., 
p.  337-  -Ibid.,  pp.  337-3 10. 

H.  ED.  6 


82  l'KRHH»    «>K     INCII'IKNT    STATE    A.CTIOK. 

education  among  the  working  classes."  For  half  a  cen- 
tury reformers  have  been  pleading  for  shortening  the  hours 
of  labour  and  improving  the  educational  condition  of 
children  employed  in  factories.  The  Health  and  Morals 
of  Apprentices  Act  (1802)  has  already  been  referred  to. 
Factory  Acts  had  been  passed :  that  of  1833  made  two  hours' 
daily  schooling  compulsory  and  inspectors  were  appointed 
to  see  that  the  regulations  were  not  evaded  ;  yet  the  reports 
of  the  Factory  and  School  Inspectors,  the  Children's  Em- 
ployment Commission,  and  the  Statistical  Societies  serve  1 
to  emphasise  their  failure,  the  vast  amount  of  educational 
destitution,  and  the  results  of  ignorance. 

Sir  James  Graham  complied  by  bringing  in  a  Factory 
Bill.     He  expressed  the  wish  that  all  party 

Sir  James          feeling  and  religious  differences  should  be 

Graham's  Bill,  b 

1843.  laid  aside,  and  that  they  should  endeavour 

"  to  find  some  neutral  ground  on  which  they 
could  build  something  approaching  to  a  scheme  of  national 
education  with  a  due  regard  to  the  wishes  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  on  the  one  hand,  and  studious  attention  to 
the  honest  scruples  of  Dissenters  on  the  other." 

The  Bill  was  a  small  measure  providing  for  the  compul- 
sory education  of  children  in  workhouses  and  those  em- 
ployed in  woollen,  flax,  silk  and  cotton  factories,  for  at 
least  three  hours  per  day,  at  the  same  time  limiting  the 
working  day  of  children  between  eight  and  thirteen  years 
of  age  to  six  and  a  half  hours.  Government  loans  were  to 
be  offered  for  the  erection  of  schools,  their  maintenance 
being  a  charge  on  the  local  poor  rate.  The  management 
of  each  school  was  to  be  vested  in  seven  trustees,  com- 
posed of  the  clergymen  and  churchwardens  ex  officio,  two 
trustees  appointed  by  the  magistrates,  and  two  millowners. 
The  schoolmaster  was  to  be  a  member  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  his  appointment  was  subject  to  the  approval 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  83 

of  the  Bishop.  The  right  of  inspection  was  reserved  to 
the  clerical  trustees  and  to  the  Committee  of  Council.  At- 
tendance at  Church  on  Sunday  was  compulsory, 'and  religious 
instruction  during  the  week  day  was  to  conform  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  Establishment.  Provision  was,  however, 
made  for  the  children  of  parents  who  objected  to  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Catechism  and  attendance  at  Church.  The  intro- 
duction of  this  conscience  clause,  together  with  the  consti- 
tution of  the  trust  would,  it  was  hoped,  satisfy  Dissenters. 
The  measure  quickly  evoked  the  opposition  of  Noncon- 
formists, on  the  ground  that  it  rated  all 
3on  onn  classes  and  gave  the  management  to  one, 
that  it  was  an  attempt  to  recruit  the  Church 
at  the  expense  of  Dissent  under  the  guise  of  education,  and 
that  its  influence  would  be  mainly  felt  in  populous  districts 
where  Dissenters  were  in  a  majority.  Meetings  were  held 
all  over  the  country ;  resolutions  pledged  the  people  to 
resist  the  measure  ;  and  a  great  mass  of  petitions  poured 
into  Parliament  against  it.  In  the  face  of  such  opposition 
Sir  James  Graham  proposed  a  series  of  amendments,  mak- 
ing denominational  teaching  separate  and  voluntary,  and 
assigning  set  hours  when  the  Ministers  of  different  denomi- 
nations might  instruct  their  own  children.  Bible  reading 
and  the  Lord's  Prayer  were  the  only  compulsory  religious 
observances.  At  the  same  time  it  was  proposed  that  four 
of  the  trustees  should  be  elected  by  the  ratepayers,  each 
ratepayer  being  allowed  to  vote  for  two  trustees.  In 
short,  the  Government  was  prepared  to  adopt  the  "  Com- 
bined "  plan  of  education  favoured  by  the  majority  of 
Dissenters,  and  at  the  same  time  to  grant  the  principle  of 
local  management  by  trustees  elected  ad  hoc.  "I  am 
aware,"  said  Sir  James  Graham  in  introducing  these  con- 
cessions, "  that  the  waters  of  strife  have  overflowed,  and 
now  cover  the  land — this  is  my  olive-branch." 


84  PEBIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

It  was  of  no  avail.  Nonconformists  might  have  found 
ample  ground  for  agreement  at  this  stage,  but  they  dis- 
trusted the  Government  and,  elated  with  the  success  of 
their  agitation  in  the  country,  were  determined  to  sacrifice 
all  to  party  advantage.  Thus  for  the  second  time  within 
four  years  the  hope  of  establishing  a  universal  system  of 
national  education  disappeared.  The  Government  had  no 
option  but  to  drop  the  Bill  (1843). 

The  following  year  the  non-controversial  clauses  were 
embodied  in  a  new  Factory  Act.  Increased  powers  were 
given  to  Factory  Inspectors  to  inspect  schools  and  to 
disqualify  inefficient  masters.  Half-time  employment  be- 
gan at  eight  years  of  age,  and  parents  as  well  as  employers 
were  made  responsible  for  the  attendance  of  their  children 
at  school  on  three  full  days  or  for  three  hours  on  six  half- 
days  in  each  week.  No  mention  was  made  of  religious 
instruction,  and  the  total  deduction  from  the  child's  wages 
for  school  pence  was  2d.  a  week.1 

The  outcome  of  the  controversy  was  the  rise  of  a  body 
of  Dissenters  whose  object  was  to  resist  the 
The  Rise  of  intervention  of  the  State  in  matters  of  educa- 
taryistB."  tion.  Dissenters  of  all  parties  had  supported 

by  petition  and  active  exertion  the  Govern- 
ment scheme  in  1839,  which  embodied  the  principle  of 
State  interference  in  the  education  of  the  people,  and  they 
had  not  hesitated  to  accept  Government  assistance.  As 
late  as  1842  the  Leeds  Mercury  was  advocating  two  schools 
in  every  district— one  for  the  Church,  one  for  Dissent,  — 
each  equally  supported  by  the  Government.  It  was  only 
as  alarm  spread  among  Nonconformists,  and  especially 
among  Congregationalists,  through  the  introduction  of  Sir 

1  These  regulations  were  extended  to  non-textile  factories  and  workshops 
in  1864  and  1867- 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  85 

James  Graham's  Bill  that  a  party  arose — the  "  Volun- 
tary ists  " — who  embraced  the  doctrine  of  educational  free 
trade  and  the  immorality  of  State  action.  The  objections 
were  first  formulated  at  a  meeting  of  the  Congregational 
Union  held  at  Leeds  in  1843,  and  were  developed  as  time 
went  on.  Briefly,  they  adopted  as  their  platform  three 
principles  :  (1)  All  education  must  have  a  religious  basis  ; 
(2)  The  State  cannot  educate,  and  State  interference  is 
necessarily  pernicious  ;  (3)  The  spread  of  education  depends 
upon  self-help  and  free  competition.  The  leaders  of  the 
movement  were  Edward  Baines  and  Edward  Miall.  One 
of  the  first  steps  was  the  founding  of  the  "  Congregational 
Board  of  Education  to  promote  the  advancement  of  Popu- 
lar Education,  upon  strictly  religious  principles,  free  from 
all  magisterial  authority."  1  It  was  connected  with  the 
Congregational  Union  and  was  composed  of  subscribers, 
its  object  being  to  aid  the  erection  of  school  buildings,  to 
establish  and  support  day  and  Sunday  schools,  to  promote 
the  training  of  teachers,  to  supply  books  and  other  school 
requisites,  to  improve  education  generally,  and  to  dissemi- 
nate voluntary  principles.3 

Education,  they  held,  was  not  a  department  of  State 
law  and  administration — "  Government  inter- 

Their  ference  in  any  form  with  the  education  of 

Educational  .    ..  „    , 

Position.  mind     they  repudiated  on  the  ground  that 

it  could  only  retard  if  not  positively  injure,  for 
from  its  nature  it  tended  "  to  abuse,  to  stereotyped  forms, 

1  The  Baptist  Voluntary  Education  Society  was  founded  at  the  same  time. 

•  By  1859  £180,000  had  been  raised  for  school  buildings.  Homerton 
Training  College  was  opened  in  1846,  and  by  1851  364  schools  had  been 
erected  and  were  wholly  supported  by  subscriptions  and  school  pence.  The 
Crosby  Hall  Lectures,  the  series  of  Congregational  tracts,  the  quarterly 
journal  The  Educator,  and  Edward  Baines'  Letters  to  Lord  John  RiiKurJI, 
A  Letter  to  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  etc.,  give  the  authoritative  ex- 
position of  the  principles. 


86  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

to  perfunctory  discharge  of  duties."  It  was  not  in  harmony 
with  the  principle  of  free  trade.  It  contained  no  incentive 
to  improvement.  "  Government  can  build  schools,  advance 
money,  employ  masters,  commission  inspectors,  and  dis- 
tribute books  ;  and  it  can  so  cover  the  land  with  the  means 
and  the  aspect  of  education,  but  it  cannot  educate.  Soon 
all  this  will  be  found  obstructive  machinery,  cumbering 
the  ground.  Change  will  be  impossible.  School  books 
will  be  as  unchangeable  as  Church  books,  and  for  the  same 
reason — their  fixed  use  and  immense  numbers.  A  vast 
interest  will  be  created,  and  stand  as  an  insurmountable 
obstacle  to  spontaneous  effort  and  improvement."  '  Besides, 
taxation  which  is  applied  to  teach  doctrines  objected  to  by 
great  numbers  is  unjust.  Only  by  adopting  the  voluntary 
principle  will  universal  spontaneous  effort  and  interest  in 
education  be  evoked,  parents  freely  seeking  it  for  their 
children  and  freely  making  sacrifices  to  secure  their  train- 
ing, instructors  free  under  competition  for  every  effort  and 
every  improvement,  and  all  men  of  religion,  philanthropy , 
and  patriotism  concurring  in  voluntary  effort.2 

No  labour  was  spared  in  canvassing  these  principles. 
In  their  enthusiasm  "  Voluntaryists  "  were  led  to  over-rate 
seriously  the  efficiency  of  existing  means,3  they  depreciated 
the  amount  of  education  needed,  and  had  supreme  faith  in 
the  ability  of  all  parents  to  pay  fees  adequate  to  make  the 
schools  practically  self-supporting.  Moreover,  they  over- 
looked the  large  area  where  they  could  not  work  at  all, 
and  they  disregarded  or  denied  the  great  truth  that  the 
"  voluntary  principle  is  inapplicable  in  education  because 

1  The  Connection  of  Reliqion  with  Popular  Education,  Algernon  Wells, 
pp.  fi-7.  See  series  of  Tracts  on  Popular  Education,  Congregational  Board 
of  Education.  -  Ibid.,  p.  11. 

:t  See,  for  example,  Ed.  Baines'  Letter  to  theRt.  Hon.  Lord  John  Russell 
on  the  History  and  Progress  of  Education  in  Wales,  1848. 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  87 

it  is  precisely  those  who  need  education  most  that  are  least 

capable  of  demanding  it,  desiring  it,  or  even  conceiving  it." 

In  1847  the  Minutes  authorising  the  apprenticing  of  pupil 

teachers,  providing  Queen's  Scholarships  to 

Opposition         Normal  Schools  and  allocating  grants  and  pen- 
to  State  D  °        „  .    , 
Action.              sions  to  teachers  and  to  schools  ot  industry 

were  laid  before  Parliament.  "  Voluntaryists  " 
saw  here  a  means  of  strengthening  the  hands  of  the  Church, 
and  the  vote  of  ^£100,000  for  Education  was  strongly  op- 
posed. Macaulay,  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Council, 
made  a  strong  speech  in  favour  of  the  State  principle.  "  I 
appeal  with  still  more  confidence  to  a  future  age  which, 
while  enjoying  all  the  blessings  of  State  education,  will 
look  back  with  astonishment  to  the  opposition  which  the 
introduction  of  that  system  encountered,  and  which  will  be 
still  more  astonished  that  such  resistance  was  offered  in 
the  name  of  civil  and  religious  freedom."  1 

Moderate  men  felt  that  such  extreme  "  voluntaryism  " 
was  a  mistake,  and  many  Dissenters  and 
Congregationalists  gradually  joined  the 
number  of  those  who  favoured  either  a 
"  combined,"  or  a  "  comprehensive,"  system  of  State  educa- 
tion. Indeed,  had  it  not  been  for  sectarian  rivalry  and 
party  zeal,  it  is  inconceivable  that  such  a  theory  could 
have  been  seriously  supported  for  a  moment.  The  facts 
of  history  were  against  it,  and  the  law  of  supply  and 
demand  were  clearly  not  applicable.  Moreover,  whatever 
it  might  do  as  a  middle  class  scheme  it  made  little 
provision  for  the  poor  districts  most  in  need  of  education. 
By  1858  the  number  of  persons  having  conscientious 
objections  to  the  acceptance  of  State  aid  had  greatly 
diminished,  and  all  denominations  were  then  in  receipt 

1  Speeches.   The  whole  of  this  speech,  April  18th,  1817,  is  worth  reading. 


88  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

of  grants.     Meantime  the  Committee  of  Council  had  per- 
force to  work  cautiously  and  tentatively. 

Its  policy  was  to  favour  a  religious,  as   opposed  to  a 
secular,  education,  to  work  through  existing 

Work  of  the       agencies,  and  to  conciliate  as  far  as  possible 

Committee  .  , .  A  ,    ,, 

of  Council.          the   various   denominations.      At  the  same 

time  the  main  abuses  that  attended  the 
distribution  of  money  under  the  Treasury  Minute  of  1833 
came  to  an  end.  Buildings  were  required  to  conform  to 
definite  conditions  ;  adequate  security  for  the  continuance 
of  the  school  had  to  be  given ;  the  property  had  to  be 
vested  in  trustees  ;  and  the  school  had  to  submit  to  in- 
spection. The  work  of  the  inspectors  to  begin  with  was 
mainly  to  inquire  into  the  needs  of  districts  applying  for 
aid,  to  investigate  the  actual  educational  conditions  of  the 
various  parts  of  the  country,  to  obtain  trustworthy  informa- 
tion as  to  the  work  being  done  in  schools,  to  help  in 
spreading  a  truer  view  of  the  meaning  of  education,  and  of 
more  efficient  methods  of  school  organisation  and  instruc- 
tion, and  generally  to  place  their  knowledge  and  experience 
at  the  disposal  of  such  managers  and  others  as  invited  it, 
whether  in  aided  or  non-aided  schools.1  In  reporting  on  a 
school  they  were  asked  to  note  such  points  as  the  follow- 
ing :  the  suitability  of  the  site ;  the  condition  of  the 
fabric ;  the  size  of  the  chief  schoolroom  ;  whether  there  was 
a  gallery,  a  cloak-room,  a  playground ;  the  heating  and 
ventilating  of  the  school ;  the  teaching  apparatus ;  the 
school  books  in  use  (reading,  arithmetic,  geography, 
English  history,  grammar,  etymology,  singing,  drawing, 
laud-surveying)  ;  whether  physical  exercises  were  an  in- 
tegral part  of  the  work  ;  the  nature  of  any  gymnastic  ap- 
pliances in  the  playground  ;  the  method  of  school  orgauisa- 

1  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Council,  1839-40,  pp.  25-45. 


PEEIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  89 

tion  in  vogue ;  the  attendance ;  school  fees,  salaries,  in- 
come ;  etc. 

In  this  way  valuable  suggestions  for  guiding  the 
policy  of  the  central  authority  were  obtained.  The  re- 
ports are  interesting  as  giving  a  detailed  picture  of  ele- 
mentary education  at  the  time.  They  tell  a  tale  oftentimes 
of  extraordinary  sacrifice  and  self-denial  on  the  part  of 
clergy  and  others  to  bring  the  elements  of  education  within 
the  reach  of  the  poor.  Yet  in  spite  of  the  most  valiant 
efforts  little  progress  was  being  made.  Managers  were 
without  the  means  to  make  the  schools  really  efficient: 
books  and  apparatus  were  too  meagre,  salaries  were  too 
low,  teachers  were  in  charge  of  far  too  many  children,  the 
attendance  was  bad,  and  the  methods  of  teaching  were  far 
too  mechanical.1  In  short,  the  official  reports  merely  con- 
firmed the  impression  that  a  good  deal  of  education  existed 
merely  in  name,  and  that  if  schools  were  to  be  efficiently 
conducted  money  would  have  to  be  found  somewhere. 
Building  grants  were  all  very  well,  but  it  was  impossible 
for  the  matter  to  rest  there. 

This  machinery  was  not  established  without  arousing 
much  misgiving.  The  religious  basis  of  education  had 
been  recognised  by  the  Committee  of  Council  as  being  in 
accord  with  the  sentiment  of  the  nation,  but  the  idea  of 
an  inspection  that  confined  itself  to  secular  subjects 
occasioned  great  suspicion.  In  view  of  the  attitude  of  the 
Government  towards  religious  instruction  the  Church  of 
England  took  alarm,  seeing  in  it  an  insidious  means  of 
introducing  a  religious  conformity  repugnant  to  Church 
principles.-  Grants  were  declined  and  a  deadlock  ensued. 

1  The  Managers'  Reports  of  individual  schools  during  this  period  fully 
confirm  the  official  account.  See  infra,  pp.  256-7. 

-  Lord  John  Russell  was  of  course  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  cause  of 
unsectarian  religious  instruction.  Brougham  in  1839  had  introduced  still 


90  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

Accordingly,  in  order  to  conciliate  the  Church,  a  concordat 
was  entered  into  whereby  inspectors  of  schools  under 
either  the  Church  of  England  or  the  Church  of  Scotland 
should  be  approved  by  the  archbishops  previous  to  ap- 
pointment, they  should  be  required  to  give  special  atten- 
tion to  the  I'eligious  teaching  in  the  school,  and  a  copy  of 
the  reports  on  such  schools  should  be  lodged  with  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese.  In  order  to  meet  the  views  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  a  similar  concession 
was  granted  to  them  four  years  later,  and  to  the  Komau 
Catholic  Poor  School  Committee  in  1847.  It  was  to  these 
arrangements  that  the  clerical  element  among  Government 
inspectors  until  comparatively  recent  times  was  due.1 

In  1846  the  Committee  of  Council  definitely  took  in 

hand  the  task  of  improving  school  staffing  and  providing 

a  succession  of  professional    teachers.       This    it  did  by 

instituting  the  pupil  teacher  system.      At  the  same  time 

it  took  steps  to  make  the   profession    of   teacher    more 

attractive  by  paying  grants  in  augmentation  of  salaries  and 

providing  a  pension  scheme.2     The  following  year  special 

grants  were  made  in  aid  of  apparatus,  maps,  books,  etc. 

At  this  point  a  most  important  step  was  taken  by  the 

„,  Grovernment.      Any   thought    of  the    State 

Management    annexing  popular  education  was  abandoned, 

Clauses.       an(j  instead  the  Government  resigned  itself t 

at  any  rate  for  the  time  being,  to  handing  over  the  work  of 

another  Bill  proposing  a  system  of  rate-aided  schools  under  local  manage- 
ment, to  be  conducted  on  the  "combined"  plan.  Anything  that  savoured 
of  making  religion  a  "  subject ''  was  abhorrent  to  Churchmen.  Had  Kay- 
Shnttleworth — a  Nonconformist —and  the  Committee  of  Council  failed  to 
recognise  this,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  establishment  of  a  State 
system  would  have  been  indefinitely  postponed. 

1  Four  Periods,  Kay-Shuttle  worth,  Period  Three,  Chap.  II.  The  Ven. 
Archdeacon  Sinclaire's  Charge  to  the  Clergy  of  the  Archdeaconry  of 
Middlesex,  1845,  '»  See  infra,  pp.  347-8. 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  91 

popular  education  to  such  voluntary  agencies  as  could  be 
in  luced  to  undertake  it,  and  it  contented  itself  merely  with 
supervision.  The  occasion  was  the  issue  of  the  Manage- 
ment Clauses  for  schools  in  connection  with  the  Church, 
Wesleyaus,  Eomau  Catholics,  and  the  British  and  Foreign 
Society.  These  clauses  defined  the  conditions  to  which 
managers  must  conform  for  purposes  of  grant. 

Hitherto  only  schools  connected  with  the  National  and 
British  and  Foreign  School  Societies  and  a  few  others 
belonging  to  neither  body  had  participated  in  the  Parlia- 
mentary grants.  Now  they  were  thrown  open,  subject  to 
provision  being  made  for  religious  instruction. 

The  Minutes  provided  for  four  forms  of  management. 
Iii  the  case  of  Church  schools,  the  superintendence  of 
moral  and  religious  instruction  was  vested  in  the  hands  of 
the  clergyman  of  the  parish,  with  power  to  use  the  premises 
for  a  Sunday  school.  In  case  of  dispute  appeal  was 
allowed  to  the  bishop.  In  all  other  respects  the  govern- 
ment of  the  school,  the  management  of  the  funds,  and  the 
appointment  and  dismissal  of  teachers  were  vested  either 
in  a  committee  consisting  of  the  clergyman,  his  curates, 
and  certain  representatives  of  the  subscribers  being 
members  of  the  Church  of  England,  or,  where  the  popula- 
tion was  small,  in  the  clergyman  alone.  Disputes  had 
to  be  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Council.  For  Wesleyaii 
schools  similar  provisions  were  made,  the  circuit  ministers 
being  substituted  for  the  clergy.  In  the  case  of  Roman 
Catholic  schools  the  priest  acted  under  faculties  from  his 
bishop,  and  the  members  of  the  committee  were  nominated 
by  the  priest  and  not  elected  by  the  subscribers.  In  British 
and  other  undenominational  schools  the  whole  committee 
was  elected.  The  purpose  of  these  clauses  was  to  safeguard 
any  undue  clerical  influence,  and  to  put  the  management 
of  the  school  as  far  as  possible  into  the  hands  of  the  laity. 


92  PERIOD    OP    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

The  clauses  were  the  subject  of  a  long  controversy  be- 
tween the  Committee  of  Council  and  the  National  Society. 
The  chief  points  of  objection  were  that  the  "  obnoxious 
distinction  between  secular  and  religious  instruction  was 
covertly  and  by  implication  reintroduced,"  that  no  guaran- 
tee was  afforded  that  the  Committee  would  be  composed 
of  "  bonafide  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  that  is  to 
say  Communicant  members,"  and  that  in  both  respects  the 
clauses  constituted  "  a  plain  violation  of  the  limits  of  State 
interference  settled  by  the  Archbishop  and  the  Committee 
of  Council,  and  affirmed  by  Order  in  Council  in  1840."  The 
opposition  of  the  Church  was  fed  through  the  intense  dis- 
trust of  many  of  its  members  of  the  educational  policy  of 
Lord  John  Kussell,  who  was  again  back  in  power.  The  lay 
committee  savoured  too  much  of  the  plan  of  local  government 
of  each  school  by  bodies  elected  ad  hoc,  without  any  religious 
test.  Compromise  in  detail  was  effected,  but  the  Committee 
of  Council  succeeded  in  carrying  its  main  points.1 

1  Minutes  of  Committee  of  Council.  Correspondence,  1848,  1849. 
History  and  Present  State  of  the  Education  Question,  Metropolitan 
Church  Union,  1850.  For  Jewish  schools  see  Minutes,  1852-3. 

Progress  up  to  1851  as  given  in  the  Census  Returns  of  the  chief  classes 
of  schools. 

Church  of     n.y,]       Congrega-     Wesley-       Roman 
England.  LS1'      tionalist.         ans.         Catholics. 

Before  1801  709  16  8  7  10 

1801-11  350  28  9  4  10 

1811-21  756  77  12  17  14 

1821-31  897  45  21  17  28 

1831-41  2,002  191  95  62  69 

1841-51  3,448  449  269  239  166 

Not  stated  409  46  17  17  14 

8,571  852  431  363  311 

Schools  principally  supported  by  endowments  are  not  included  in  the 
above  summary.  The  list  of  schools  conducted  on  the  principles  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  School  Society  is  admittedly  incomplete.  The  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Education  Census  contains  a  useful  summary  of  the  various 
parties  met  with  at  this  time. 


PERIOD  OF  INCIPIENT  STATE  ACTION.  93 

PROGRESS  OF  EDUCATION  IN  WALES. 

A  few  words  may  be  said  about  the  progress  of  elementary 
education  in  Wales  after  the  establishment 

The  Demand  f  th  Committee  of  Council.  The  social 
for  Education. 

unrest  that  found  expression  in  the  Chartist 

riot  at  Newport  in  1839  and  the  Eebecca  Riots  of  1843 
had  the  effect  of  concentrating  attention  on  the  need  for  a 
better  and  more  general  system  of  elementary  schooling. 
Thus  the  Commissioners  who  investigated  the  latter  riots 
emphasised  the  importance  of  providing  extensive  facilities 
for  instruction  in  the  English  language  as  the  most  likely 
means  of  leading  to  a  more  efficient  working  of  the  "  laws 
and  institutions,"1  and  of  opening  up  avenues  of  advance- 
ment and  increasing  individual  adaptability.  The  existing 
agencies  fell  far  short  of  the  demand.  Indeed  "  the  means 
of  instruction  of  the  children  of  the  poor,  and  even  those 
who  may  be  styled  the  middle  classes,  are  lamentably  small 
.  .  .  (with  the  result  that)  not  only  the  children  of  the 
labourers,  but  of  a  large  class  of  working  farmers,  are  almost 
beyond  the  reach  of  mental  improvement.  It  is  needless 
to  remark  how  greatly  such  a  state  of  things  is  calculated 
to  minister  to  those  prejudices  and  misconceptions  to  which 
so  much  of  the  recent  excitement  of  the  country  may  be 
justly  attributed."2 

In  order  to  understand  the  history  of  elementary  educa- 
tion in  the  Principality  during  this  period  it 
Difficulties         *s  necessary  to  remember  that  Wales  was  at 
the  time  relatively  poor.     A  great  proportion 
of  the  people  then  as  now  were  strong  Nonconformists,  but 
the   wealthier   part   of   the   population   belonged   to   the 

1  The  obvious  solution  was  of  course  to  issue  "  laws  and  instructions  "  in 
both  Welsh  ami  English. 
y  See  Report  of  the  Commission  on  the  Rebecca  Riots. 


J)4  PERIOl)    (>*'    INCIl'IENT    STATE    ACTION. 

Established  Church.  Accordingly  without  the  operation 
of  a  State  system  there  were  great  financial  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  bringing  an  efficient  day  Fchool  education  within 
the  reach  of  all.  The  obstacles  confronting  the  establish- 
ment of  such  a  system  in  England  have  already  been  noted. 
These  were  even  greater  in  Wales.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
remember  how  large  a  part  religion  plays  in  the  life  of  the 
Welsh  people  and  how  opposed  the  majority  of  Welsh 
Nonconformists  have  been  to  anything  that  savoured  of 
"  concurrent  endowment "  of  the  sects,  to  understand  why 
the  Principality  became  one  of  the  strongest  centres  of 
"Voluntaryism  "  in  the  country.  So  strong  was  this  feeling 
that  for  years  districts  too  poor  to  establish  day  schools  were 
led  to  decline  all  State  aid  and  pinned  their  faith  on  the 
educative  work  of  the  Sunday  schools.  The  policy  proved 
to  have  been  a  mistaken  one,  and  it  did  much  to  hinder  the 
spread  of  a  higher  standard  of  elementary  schooling. 
Another  point  also  calls  for  notice.  At  the  present  day 

when  the  spirit  of  Welsh  nationalism  is  so 
English  v.  strong,  when  every  effort  is  made  to  develop 
Teaching.  Welsh  education  along  its  own  lines,  and 

when  everything  is  being  done  to  make  the 
language  and  literature  of  the  Principality  a  living  force 
in  the  schools,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  the  first 
half  of  last  century  it  was  not  Welsh  but  English  that  was 
the  favoured  language  in  elementary  schools.  It  was  the 
ambition  of  the  poorest  Welshman  that  his  child  should 
learn  English  because  of  its  market  value,1  and  this  senti- 
ment was  fostered,  as  we  have  seen,  by  those  in  authority, 
who  honestly  believed  that  in  a  widespread  knowledge  of 
the  English  tongue  lay  the  salvation  of  Wales.2  English 

1  Reports  on  Wales.     Minute  of  Committee  of  Council,  1847,  p.  10. 
-  See  ibid.,  pp.  309-313,  for  the  way  in  which  many  Welshmen  regarded 
this. 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  95 

was  almost  universally  the  language  of  the  day  schools,  even 
though  the  teachers  themselves  had  oftentimes  a  very 
imperfect  knowledge  of  it.1  In  view  of  the  low  level  of 
attainment  of  teachers  at  this  time,  what  the  educational 
value  of  the  instruction  was  under  these  conditions  may  be 
left  to  the  imagination.2  So  strong,  however,  was  the 
determination  of  many  of  the  teachers  to  do  their  best  that 
penalties  were  inflicted,  as  in  the  schools  of  the  Renaissance, 
on  children  found  speaking  their  mother  tongue  during 
school  hours. 

What  the  existing  state  of  education  was  in  the  mining 
districts  of  South  Wales  is  described  in  the 

Education  in     nrst  reports  of  the  Committee  of   Council. 
South  Wales,     ,       ,      A  ,    ,       „    ,      ,.      .      .          ,.          , 
1839.  In  the  whole  or  the  district  investigated  not 

a  single  National  or  British  school  existed. 
Some  two  thirds  of  the  children  never  went  to  a  school  at 
all,  the  rest  attended  some  47  common  schools  or  dame 
schools  and  paid  from  3d.  to  8d.  per  week.  These  differed 
in  no  important  respects  from  poor  schools  in  England. 
"  The  rooms  were,  for  the  most  part,  dirty  and  close.  A 
rudely  constructed  desk  for  the  master  often  occupied  one 
corner ;  forms  and  desks  for  the  children  Avere  ranged  along 
the  walls,  and  from  side  to  side.  The  books  being  provided 
by  the  parents,  mere  fragments,  consisting  of  a  few  soiled 
leaves,  appeared  to  be  generally  deemed  sufficient  to  answer 
the  purpose  for  which  the  children  were  sent  to  school.  A 
pile  of  detached  covers,  and  leaves  too  black  for  further 
use,  often  occupied  another  corner,  betokening  the  result 
of  long  struggles  with  unmeaning  rows  of  spelling,  with 

llbid.,  p.  446. 

~2  Minutes  of  Committee  of  Council,  I.,  1845,  pp.  xv-xix. 

s  Report  of  Mr.  Tremenheere,  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Council,  1839- 
40.  The  district  comprised  the  parishes  of  Bedwelty,  Aberystruth, 
Mynnyddyslwynn,  and  Trevethin  in  Monmouth,  and  Merthyr  Tydvil  in 
Glamorganshire. 


96  PERIOD    O¥    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

confinement  and  constrained  positions,  and  the  other 
adversities  of  elementary  learning.  In  many  silence  was 
only  maintained  for  a  few  moments  at  a  time,  by  loud 
exclamations  and  threats."  The  main  source  of  education 
was  in  the  Sunday  schools,  of  which  some  80  existed. 
Among  the  Welshmen  who  took  a  prominent  part  in 

advancing  elementary  education  at  this  time 
Educational**  WG  findtbree  well-known  names,  Sir  Thomas 
Activity.  Phillips  of  Newport,1  Hugh  (afterwards  Sir 

Hugh)  Owen,  and  the  Rev.  Henry  Griffiths 
of  Brecon. 2  Both  Churchmen  and  Nonconformists  shared 
in  the  movement.  The  Diocesan  Board  of  Education  for 
Moumouth  came  into  existence  in  1839,  that  for  Llandaff 
in  1846.  Between  1845  and  1847  the  National  Society 
conducted  an  investigation  into  the  state  of  education  in 
Wales.  The  great  deficiencies  existing  led  to  the  formation 
of  a  special  fund  for  education  in  the  Principality,  to  the 
granting  of  special  facilities  for  Welsh  teachers  in  training 
colleges,  and  to  the  formation  of  the  Welsh  Education 
Committee.  One  result  of  this  activity  was  the  opening 
of  Carmarthen  Training  College  in  1848. 

Some  years   before  this    Hugh   Owen  had   begun  his 

valuable  work  on  behalf  of  Welsh  education. 
Owen  Ug  Finding  that  people  in  Wales  were  generally 

unaware  that  the  Government  had  under- 
taken to  assist  the  work  of  education  by  means  of  grants, 
he  endeavoured  to  arouse  interest  on  the  subject  of  State- 
aided  undenominational  education  by  issuing  in  1843  a 
Letter  to  the  Welsh  People  on  day  schools.  "  In  order  to 
provide  the  children  with  education  you  must  have  schools  ; 
in  order  to  secure  liberty  of  conscience  you  must  have 

1  The  author  of  Wales. 

-  Prominently  associated  with  the  establishment  of  the  first  normal  school 
in  Wales. 


PERIOD  OP  INCIPIENT  STATE  ACTION.  97 

schools  which  shall  not  be  identified  with  any  particular 
religious  denomination."  Accordingly  he  favoured  the 
British  and  Foreign  system  and  recommended  the  establish- 
ment of  a  British  school  in  every  district '  ;  the  formation 
of  a  "  British  School  Society "  in  each  county  for  the 
purpose  of  collecting  money,  especially  for  the  help  of  poor 
districts,  and  generally  to  advise  and  direct  the  spread  of 
education ;  lastly  he  proposed  the  establishment  of  a 
local  Committee  for  each  school  district.  The  necessary 
money  was  to  be  obtained  from  government  grants,  from 
donations  by  local  landlords  and  from  subscriptions. 

A  movement  on  these  lines  began  in  North  Wales.  An 
agent  of  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society  was 
appointed  and  in  three  years  some  40  schools  with  nearly 
5,000  scholars  were  at  work.-  The  great  difficulty  at  this 
time  was  to  secure  efficient  teachers  and  the  fullest  use  was 
made  of  the  Borough  Eoad  Trainiug  College/1  In  1845 
some  30  young  Welshmen,  many  of  them  with  very  meagre 
educational  qualifications,  were  passed  through  the  College. 
The  charge  for  board,  lodging,  washing,  and  instruction 
only  amounted  to  6s.  a  week.  In  South  Wales  the 
general  feeling  was  against  receiving  State  funds,  and 
it  was  not  until  "Voluntaryism"  had  proved  itself  un- 
able to  accomplish  the  work  of  popular  education  that 
an  agent  of  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society  was 
appointed. 

1  In  North  Wales  there  were  only  two  British  Schools  at  the  time.    * 

2  By  1871  the  number  of  schools  had  increased  to  271,  with  an  average 
attendance  of  32,455. 

3  The  difficulty  of  getting  efficient  teachers  was  primarily  due  to  the  poor 
salaries  that  could  be  offered.     As  one  of  the  Welsh  Education  Commissioners 
reported  in  1818,  "  The  meagre  prospect  of  income  which  presents  itself  to  a 
schoolmaster  in  Wales  deters  all  but  those  whom  poverty  or  want  of  activity 
compels  to  have  recourse  to  so  unenviable  a  status  for  their  means  of  live- 
lihood." 

H.  ED.  7 


98  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION^ 

In  1846  the  Cambrian  Educational  Society l  was  founded, 
with  Hugh  Owen  as  Honorary  Secretary,  to  further  the 
establishment  of  British  Schools  in  Wales,  to  advise  local 
committees  and  assist  them  in  negotiating  with  the 
Committee  of  Council,  to  give  pecuniary  assistance  in 
special  cases,  to  assist  young  men  to  become  teachers,  and 
to  appoint  inspectors  for  the  supervision  of  the  schools. 
Owen  also  took  upon  himself  the  work  of  making  the  new 
pupil  teacher  regulations  and  the  augmentation  grants  to 
teachers  familiar  to  Welshmen,  urging  them  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  conditions  offered,  and  not  to  leave  the 
Established  Church  to  capture  the  education  of  the 
country  through  adopting  a  mistaken  "  Voluntary ist " 
policy." 

That  a  good  deal  of  attention  needed  to  be  given  to 

education  in  Wales  was  evident   from   the 

The  Welsh         Commissioners'  Reports  of  1848.     As  a  re- 

cSSissfon,      sult  of  a   motion3   in  Parliament  in  1846, 
1846.  for   an  Address  to  the  Queen    praying   for 

"  an  inquiry  to  be  made  into  the  state  of 
education  in  the  Principality  of  Wales,  especially  into 
the  means  afforded  to  the  labouring  classes  of  acquir- 
ing a  knowledge  of  the  English  language,"  three  Com- 
missioners, one  of  whom  was  Mr.  Lingen,  afterwards 
Secretary  to  the  Education  Department,  were  appointed 
by  the  Committee  of  Council  "  to  ascertain  ....  the 

1  It  was  practically  a  Welsh  branch  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Society. 

2  It  was  as  an  outcome  of  Owen's  activities  that  the  Bangor  and  Swansea 
Training  Colleges  came  to  be  established.     Owen  showed  a  catholic  interest 
in  all  branches  of  Welsh   education,   and  is,   in  fact,  the  link  between 
elementary  and  higher  education.      He  was  closely  associated  with  the 
foundation  of  University  College,  Aberystwyth,  1872,  and  with  the  move- 
ment for  extending  the  facilities  of  secondary  schooling  in  the  Principality. 
See  Life  of  Sir  Hugh  Owen. 

3  This  was  moved  by  a  Welshman,  Mr.  Williams,  M.P.  for  Coventry. 


OF    INCIPIENT    StATfi   ACTION.  §0 

existing  number  of  schools  of  all  descriptions,  for  the 
education  of  the  children  of  the  labouring  classes,  or  of 
adults — the  amount  of  attendance — the  ages  of  the 
scholars — and  the  character  of  the  instruction  given,  in 
the  schools."  The  Commissioners  were  assisted  by  a 
number  of  young  men  who  possessed  a  knowledge  of 
Welsh,  but  apparently  had  very  little  other  qualification 
for  the  work.  The  investigation  extended  over  the  best 
part  of  a  year.1 

They  reported  in  effect 2  that  the  school  buildings  were 
usually  very  inefficient,  and  often  of  a  wretched  character ; 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  entire  number  were  un- 
provided with  out- buildings  essential  to  decency,  and  that 
a  small  proportion  only  of  the  existing  buildings  were 
secured  for  educational  purposes  ;  that  suitable  furniture 
and  apparatus  existed  in  a  small  number  of  schools  only ; 
that  the  supply  of  books  was  very  scanty  and  exclusively 
English,  without  any  suitable  aids  for  enabling  Welsh 
children  to  acquire  what  was  to  them  a  foreign  language, 
and  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  commonly  used  as  the 
spelling  and  reading  book  of  the  school.  Moreover,  very 
few  of  the  teachers  had  had  any  previous  training  for  their 
work,  and  those  who  had  been  at  a  training  school  had 
not  continued  there  on  an  average  more  than  six  months. 
There  was  the  usual  complaint  that  many  had  undertaken 
school-keeping  after  having  failed  in  mechanical  trades ; 
that  but  few  of  the  schoolmasters  taught  efficiently  what 
they  professed  to  teach,  and  very  few  were  skilful  teachers 
or  possessed  of  adequate  mental  cultivation.  The  incomes 
of  teachers  were  very  inadequate  to  secure  the  services  of 
competent  people,  nearly  half  of  the  salaries  being  under 
=£20  per  annum,  although  two-thirds  were  unprovided 

1  Reports  of  the  Commissioner,-!  of  Inquiry  into  the  State  of  Education 
in  Wales,  1848,  pp.  ii,  iii.  2  Ibid.,  or  Phillips'  Wales,  pp.  409-10. 


100  PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION. 

with  a  residence  by  the  school  managers.  There  were  no 
local  resources  adequate  to  the  support  of  the  schools. 
There  was  no  effective  supervision,  and  the  discipline  of 
the  schools  was  generally  poor.  The  attendance  of  the 
children  was  very  irregular,  being  limited  to  "  odd  quar- 
ters "  with  long  intervals  between  in  the  case  of  a  large 
proportion  of  the  scholars.  Moreover,  the  school-leaving 
age  was  much  too  low.  Too  often  it  was  found  that  on 
leaving  school  the  children  could  not  read  with  intelli- 
gence the  most  ordinary  book  of  common  information, 
while  their  own  language  had  been  ignored.  In  general 
the  provision  for  girls  was  worse  than  that  for  boys. 

The  Commissioners  in  the  course  of  their  reports 
introduced  many  observations  on  the  moral  and  religious 
conditions  of  the  Welsh  people,  and  succeeded  in  pre- 
senting to  the  outside  world  a  most  unfavourable  picture 
of  the  general  social  conditions  of  the  Principality.  Both 
here  and  in  the  accounts  of  the  stupidity  that  prevailed  in 
the  schools  things  are  a  little  overdrawn.  This,  however, 
is  a  feature  common  to  practically  all  the  educational 
reports  during  this  period.  Investigators,  apparently 
without  any  deliberate  intention  to  be  unfair,  were  led  by 
their  zeal  for  better  things  to  emphasise  the  bad,  and 
rarely  gave  equal  importance  to  the  good  work  that  was 
being  done.  This  defect  is  very  marked  down  to  1870. 

The   Keports   were   repudiated   by    Welshmen    of    all 

parties.     The  comments  were  described   as 

flippant,    misleading,    and    untrue.      They 

called  forth  the  most  indignant  protests  and  a  hail   of 

abuse  both  in  print  and  on  the  platform.     The  state  of 

feeling  is  reflected  in  the  name  by  which  the  Eeports  are 

known,   Brnd   y  Llyfrau  Gleision,  The   Treason    of  the 

Blue   Books.     It   had   been   intended   that    the    inquiry 

should   pave   the  way   for   some  comprehensive   plan  of 


PERIOD    OF    INCIPIENT    STATE    ACTION.  101 

State  education  in  Wales,  but  the  agitation  aroused  by 
the  Reports  against  the  Committee  of  Council  put  a  stop 
to  any  such  scheme.  Indeed  the  immediate  effect  was  to 
confirm  many  Welshmen  for  the  time  being  more  than 
ever  in  their  "  Yoluntaryist  "  position.1  Nevertheless  the 
inquiry  gave  a  new  impulse  to  Welsh  education,  and 
it  is  from  this  date  that  the  forward  movement  may  be 
dated.  As  the  "  Voluntaryist "  position  was  abandoned 
the  majority  of  Welshmen  joined  the  secularist  party.2 

i  The  controversy  has  an  interest  of  its  own  because  of  the  part  taken  in 
it  by  the  advocates  of  "Voluntaryism."  Edward  Baines  succeeded  in 
showing  to  his  own  satisfaction  that  all  was  well,  and  that  State  inter- 
ference was  quite  unnecessary  in  the  Principality.  See  ante,  p.  86. 

As  illustrating  the  state  of  the  feeling  aroused  we  may  take  the  cartoon 
published  in  Cardiff — "  Pictures  for  the  Million,  No.  2,"  entitled  "  Gather- 
coal  Scuttleworth's  Final  Charge  to  the  Spies."  It  depicts  Kay-Shuttle- 
worth  with  horse's  hoofs  seated  at  a  table  with  an  inverted  coal-scuttle  on 
his  head,  addressing  in  these  words  the  three  Commissioners,  who  are  very 
much  out  at  the  knee  and  are  specially  remarkable  for  their  foxy  ears  : — 

"  The  Whig  Ministry  are  resolved  to  punish  Wales  for  the  dangerous 
example  it  gives  to  the  rest  of  the  Empire  by  its  universal  dissent  from  our 
Church.  I  now  inform  yon,  in  confidence,  that  this  is  the  real  object  of 
this  espionage, — you  are  to  help  their  lordships  (of  the  Committee  of 
Council)  to  make  out  a  case  against  voluntary  religion  by  collecting 
such  evidence  of  its  connection  with  immorality,  disloyalty,  and  bar- 
barism, as  will  disgust  the  public  mind  of  England,  thereby  preparing 
it  to  sanction  the  (despotic)  scheme  in  contemplation  for  driving  the  Welsh 
back  to  the  true  Church.  The  use  of  the  AVelsh  LANGUAGE  being  known 
to  be  favourable  to  the  propagation  of  earnest  personal  religion,  both  the 
LANGUAGE  and  the  NATIONALITY  of  the  Welsh,  as  well  as  their  religion, 
are  to  be  destroyed.  Your  professional  with  your  personal  art  will 
enable  you  to  select  such  witnesses,  and  call  such  evidence  as  may  secure  our 
object  without  exciting  suspicion.  My  lords  have  authorised  me  to  assure 
you  that  you  will  be  made  gentlemen(!)  on  your  return." 

-  See  -infra,  p.  121. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


II. — PERIOD  OF  SUPERVISION,  1847-1870. 

"We  live  in  an  age  when  the  question  is  not  whether  but  how  the 
poor  are  to  be  educated." — DR.  HOOK. 

In  1846  something  of  a  sensation  was  produced  in  the 
Church  by  the  publication  of  a  pamphlet  by 
Ltt  S  ^r'  Hoot,  Vicar  of  Leeds,  "  On  the  means 
of  rendering  more  effective  the  Education  of 
the  People,"  written  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  the  Bishop 
of  St.  David's,  a  pamphlet  that  went  through  eight  editions 
in  three  months.  Arguing  that  experience  had  demon- 
strated that  the  resources  of  Voluntaryism  were  inadequate 
to  secure  a  system  of  elementary  education  efficient  either  in 
quality  or  quantity,  he  proceeded  to  advocate  a  "  combined  " 
system  of  education  whereby  secular  instruction  should  be 
given  by  the  State,  supported  out  of  public  rates,  and 
definite  doctrinal  instruction  should  be  given  on  two  after- 
noons a  week  and  on  Sundays  by  ministers  of  the  different 
denominations.  Under  these  conditions,  he  argued  that 
both  secular  and  religkms  instruction  would  benefit. 
Teachers  were  to  hold  Government  certificates  ;  the  school 
was  to  provide  a  real  mental  and  moral  training ;  and  the 
curriculum  was  to  be  enlarged  to  include  the  elements  of 
mathematics,  geography,  music,  drawing,  and  history. 
Religious  teaching  would  no  longer  be  allowed  to  degener- 
ate "  into  nothing  more  than  a  reading  lesson,  with  no 
peculiar  interest,  nor  profit,  nor  object."  Classes  would 
not  be  left  in  charge  of  ignorant  and  thoughtless  monitors 
"  to  read  anywhere  "  ;  little  children  would  not  be  set  on  the 

102 


PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  103 

Epistle  to  the  G-alatians  ;  chapters  would  not  be  read  with- 
out question  or  comment ;  and  the  Bible  would  cease  to  be 
a  favourite  spelling  book.1 

This  pamphlet  aroused  a  good  deal  of  opposition,  and 
marks  the  beginning  to  a  new  trend  in  the  controversy  on 
popular  education.  The  question  that  now  came  to  the 
fore  between  those  who  approved  of  State  assistance 
centred  round  the  principle  of  management.  Men  grouped 
themselves  into  two  parties.  Those  who  were  disposed  to 
regard  the  development  of  popular  education  mainly  as  a 
religious  work  held  that  the  management  of  a  school  should 
rest  in  the  hands  of  the  Church  or  the  congregation,  and 
were  altogether  opposed  to  handing  it  over  to  the  control 
of  any  popularly  elected  committee.  They  desired  freedom 
of  development  on  denominational  lines,  and  favoured  a 
scheme  of  concurrent  endowment  out  of  the  rates.  This 
party  included  the  majority  of  the  Church,  the  Eoman 
Catholics,  and  many  Nonconformists.  On  the  other  hand, 
those  who  saw  in  the  spread  of  education  the  expression  of 
a  democratic  principle,  who  believed  that  no  complete 
system  could  be  established  without  the  uniform  inter- 
vention  of  the  State,  were  in  favour  of  management  by 
properly  elected  bodies  ad  hoc,  arguing  that  local  taxation 
without  representation  was  intolerable.  In  the  absence 
of  any  common  basis  of  agreement  between  the  various 
denominations  with  regard  to  religious  teaching,  this  party 
favoured  a  system  of  secular  instruction. 

In  1847  a  committee  was  formed  in  Manchester  to 
promote  a  "  plan  for  the  establishment  of  a 

The  National     general  system  of  secular  education  in  the 

Public  School    ' 

Association.       county    of    Lancaster.         This     developed 

into  the  Lancashire  Public  School  Associa- 
tion, and  after   a   repulse   in  Parliament  it  became   the 

1  Letter,  p.  U. 


104  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

National  Public  School  Association  in  1850,  framed  on  a 
wider  basis.  Among  its  supporters  were  members  of  the 
defunct  Central  Society,  eminent  dissenters,  and  men  like 
Cobden  and  Combe  the  phrenologist.  The  Secularist 
Bill  of  1850  is  interesting  for  the  way  in  which  it  fore- 
shadowed the  Act  of  1870.  It  proposed  that  inspectors 
should  be  appointed  to  ascertain  the  educational  deficiency 
of  districts,  and  that  compulsory  powers  should  be  given  to 
the  ratepayers  to  establish  local  school  boards,  and  to  levy 
rates  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  free  secular  schools 
for  children  between  seven  and  thirteen  years  of  age,  and 
making  up  any  deficiency  in  revenue.  The  importance  of 
the  personal  factor  was  recognized  by  endeavouring  to  place 
the  position  of  the  teacher  on  a  sound  economic  basis,  and 
steps  of  a  somewhat  doubtf  ul  character  l  were  to  be  taken 
to  secure  energy  and  initiative.  No  provision  was  made 
for  existing  denominational  schools.  The  secularists  were 
forced  to  make  concessions  through  the  strong  opposition 
of  the  Church,  Wesleyaus,  and  Roman  Catholics,  without 
however  saving  the  Bill.2 

An  active  campaign  was  now  begun  to  mould  public 
opinion.  Branches  of  the  National  Association  were 
established  in  all  the  large  towns,  statistics  and  pamphlets 
were  published  and  circulated,  and  free  secular  schools  were 
opened  in  Manchester,  Edinburgh,  and  elsewhere,  to  show 
the  practicability  of  the  secularist  plan.  A  similar  associa- 
tion came  into  existence  at  Leeds,  but  was  somewhat 
overshadowed  by  the  local  "  Voluntaryists."  As  the  party 
attracted  supporters  from  all  classes  it  became  less  exclusive, 

1  For  example,  in  order  to  stimulate  or  shame  teachers,  school  reports 
were  to  be  circulated,  and  salaries  were  to  be  dependent  upon  the  number  of 
children  as  well  as  upon  the  success  of  the  teaching. 

"History  of  the  Elementary  School  Contest,  Adams,  p.  152;  Pullic 
Education,  Kay-Shuttleworth,  p.  37  et  seq. 


PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  105 

and  was  prepared  to  extend  to  denominational  schools  uot 
only  the  right  to  exist  and  to  participate  in  Parliamentary 
grants,  but  even  the  benefit  of  local  rates  to  supply  the 
place  of  fees.  The  policy  was  inconsistent  but  opportunist, 
and  had  the  merit  of  saving  the  proposals  of  the  party  from 
extinction. 

To  meet  these  proposals  the  advocates  of  the  existing 

system  had  to  devise  some  plan  to  accelerate 

JLhe  ,     ,  progress.     The  result  was  the  founding  of 

and  Salford       the  Manchester  and  Salford  Committee  on 

Education  Education,  its  policy  being  to  engraft  a 
Committee.  '  ?  J  5 

system   or  local   rating   upon   the   existing 

organisation.1  It  brought  forward  a  private  Bill  only 
applicable  to  the  boroughs  of  Manchester  and  Salford, 
proposing  the  levying  of  a  rate  of  not  more  than  6d.  in  the 
pound  in  aid  of  existing  schools,  which  were  to  be  free 
but  subject  to  a  conscience  clause  and  the  management 
of  which  was  to  be  undisturbed,  the  rate  being  adminis- 
tered by  the  Town  Councils  through  the  denominational 
managers.  The  Bill  had  the  support  of  the  Bishops, 
Wesleyans,  and  many  dissenting  ministers,  but  was  op- 
posed by  Jews,  Roman  Catholics,  Friends,  etc.,  on 
various  grounds,  not  the  least  of  which  was  that  it  pro- 
vided for  the  compulsory  adoption  of  the  Authorised 
version  of  the  Bible  in  all  new  schools.  It  was  strongly 
opposed  by  the  "  Voluntaryists,"  as  was  also  a  new  Bill 
introduced  by  the  secularist  party.  Both  measures  were 
referred  to  a  Select  Committee.  A  good  deal  of  evidence 
was  collected,  and  both  Bills  were  set  aside  to  make 
way  for  a  Government  proposal.2 

1  See  Public  Education,  Kay-Shuttleworth,  Chap.  VI.  and  Appendix. 

'-A  review  of  the  evidence  from  the  "  Voluntaryist  "  standpoint  is  given 
in  The  Caxe  of  the  Manchester  Educationists,  by  J.  H.  Hiuton,  1852, 
1854. 


106  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

On  all  hands  it  was  felt  that  something  must  be  done 
to  extend  education  by  discovering  some 
Jifficulties  in  permanent  source  of  local  contribution  to 
State  System,  supplement  State  grants.  The  difficulty  lay 
in  providing  that  compulsory  local  con- 
tributions should  be  accompanied  by  local  representation 
in  the  management,  without  unduly  interfering  with 
existing  denominational  schools. 

During  the  next  few  years  a  number  of  Bills  were  pro- 
posed by  the  rival  parties  to  meet  the  situation.  In 
1853  the  Borough  Bill  was  introduced  by  Lord  John 
Russell  on  behalf  of  the  Government.  Its  object  was  to 
give  permissive  powers  of  rating  to  Town  Councils  and 
towns  with  a  population  of  5,000  to  supplement  the 
revenue  of  existing  schools  by  a  sum  equal  to  half  of  the 
income  derived  from  other  sources  ;  special  grants  might 
also  be  made  in  aid  of  existing  schools.  No  provision  was, 
however,  made  for  local  representation,  and  the  Bill  was 
dropped.  Even  though  this  scheme  was  abandoned, 
another,  intended  to  supplement  it,  was  put  into  operation 
in  rural  districts  by  a  Minute  of  the  Committee  of  Council. 
It  provided  for  a  system  of  capitation  grants  to  be  paid  to 
managers  in  order  to  encourage  regularity  of  attendance. 
The  immediate  result  was  to  raise  the  Education  Vote  by 
more  than  a  half.  These  grants  were  a  great  boon  to  the 
denominational  system. 

A  new  Manchester  and  Salford  Bill  was  introduced,  but 
opposed  on  the  ground  that  it  neglected  to  provide  local 
representation.  Another  Bill  was  proposed  by  Sir  John 
Pakington  in  1855,  providing  for  the  permissive  establish- 
ment of  local  boards  with  power  to  aid  existing  schools, 
subject  to  the  adoption  of  a  conscience  clause,  and  to  erect 
and  maintain  new  schools  the  creed  of  which  was  to  be 
decided  in  each  case  by  the  dominant  religion  of  the 


PERIOD    OP    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  107 

locality,  provision  being  made  to  safeguard  the  rights  of 
conscience.  All  the  schools  were  to  be  free.  This  Bill, 
together  with  another  introduced  by  the  secularist  party, 
was  dropped.  Various  schemes  of  like  nature  were  brought 
before  Parliament  during  the  next  fourteen  years,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  Act  of  1870. 

Two  Acts  of  a  different  character  call  for  notice  at  this 
point.  Denison's  Act  of  1855,  which  gave  permission 
to  Boards  of  Guardians  to  pay  the  school  pence  of  children 
in  receipt  of  outdoor  relief,  is  an  indication  of  the  im- 
portance attached  to  universal  education.  The  following 
year,  owing  to  the  great  expansion  of  the  work  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Council,  a  Department  of  Education  was  created 
by  an  Order  in  Council,  and  a  Bill  was  passed  which 
provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  Minister. 

Meantime  dissatisfaction  with  the  existing  state  of 
education  was  becoming  more  intense.  A 

Dissatisfaction  geries  of  drastic  resolutions  l  to  increase  both 
with  the  State  ,  ..  .  „,  .  .  . 

of  Education.     the  extent   and  the    ethciency   or    existing 

means  was  rejected  after  a  heated  debate. 
The  education  vote  was  steadily  increasing,  and  in- 
cidentally was  establishing  the  existing  system  more  and 
more  firmly.  A  good  deal  had  been  accomplished,  but 
amid  the  dust  of  conflict  it  was  difficult  to  discern  what 
effective  progress  had  been  made.  For  a  quarter  of  a 
century  the  State  had  been  making  grants,  and  more 
than  three  and  a  half  millions  of  public  money  had  been 
spent  on  education.  Opinion  was  divided  as  to  the  lines 
along  which  further  operations  should  proceed.  Had  the 
Voluntary  system  shown  itself  capable  of  meeting  the 
need  ?  If  so,  was  it  capable  of  still  further  development  ? 
Or,  on  the  other  hand,  were  the  various  Voluntary  agencies 
hiding  fundamental  defects  under  a  show  of  activity? 

1  Introduced  by  Lord  John  Russell, 


108 


PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 


These  were  questions  to  which  thoughtful  men  desired  an 
answer.  Accordingly,  in  response  to  a  motion  by  Sir  John 
Pakington,  a  Commission  was  appointed  in  1858  under 
the  Duke  of  Newcastle  "  to  inquire  into  the  present  state 
of  popular  education  in  England,  and  to  consider  and  re- 
port what  measures,  if  any,  are  required  for  the  extension 
of  sound  and  cheap  elementary  instruction  to  all  classes 
of  the  people." l 

DUKE  OF  NEWCASTLE'S  COMMISSION,  1858-1861. 

The  first  duty  of  the  Commission  was  to  inquire  into 
the  complaints  made   against  the    existing 

Subjects  of  SyStem.  The  most  prominent  of  these  were 
Inquiry. 

that  the  cost  or  education  was  excessive  and 

was  still  increasing,  that  it  failed  to  penetrate  the  rural 
districts,  that  the  instruction  given  even  at  the  best 
schools  was  of  an  imperfect  character,  that  the  average 
school  life  was  too  short  and  attendance  was  very  irregular. 
The  system  had  confessedly  accomplished  great  and  bene- 
ficial results.  Was  it  to  be  regarded  simply  as  tentative 
and  provisional,  or  did  it  contain  elements  of  durability 
capable  of  a  definite  development  into  a  national  system  ? 


1  In  1857  a  Conference  on  School  Attendance,  under  the  Prince  Consort, 
reported  that  of  2,000,000  children  at  school 

42  per  cent,  attended  less  than  1  year. 

1  or  less  than  2  years. 


15 
9 
5 
4 


The  Committee  recorded  their  opinion  that  the  main  defect  in  the 
existing  state  of  popular  education  was  not  so  much  the  lack  of  schools  as 
the  bad  attendance  of  the  children,  many  of  whom  left  when  they  were 
from  9  to  10  years  of  age.  See  Final  Report  of  the  Cross  Commission, 
p.  10, 


PERIOD    OP    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  109 

No  complete  account  of  the  state  of  education  in  any  class 
of  the  population  or  of  any  district  in  the 
I  6  tieation  countr.v  being  available,  ten  assistant  com- 
missioners were  appointed  to  investigate 
the  educational  condition  of  ten  specimen  districts  and  to 
supplement  existing  information.  Of  the  selected  areas 
two  were  agricultural,  one  being  in  the  east,  the  other  in 
the  west  of  the  country  ;  two  were  manufacturing,  one 
comprising  Lancashire  and  the  West  Biding,  the  other 
the  Midlands.  Similarly  two  mining,  two  maritime,  and 
two  metropolitan  districts  were  chosen. 

The  Report  of  the  Commissioners  was  presented  in 
1861  after  three  years  of  assiduous  labour. 
ofhEdSu*ation  Briefl>'  &  reported  that  the  plan  of  leaving 
the  spread  of  popular  education  to  the  initia- 
tive of  religious  communities  had  been  justified  by  results. 
More  than  one  in  eight  of  the  population  was  being 
brought  under  school  influence,  and  the  proportion  was 
steadily  increasing.  The  weakness  lay  rather  in  the 
value  of  much  of  the  so-called  educational  provision,  the 
early  leaving  age  of  the  children — comparatively  few  re- 
mained after  11  years — and  the  poor  standard  of  atten- 
dance. Even  in  inspected  schools  attendance  only  reached 
74'35  per  cent,  of  the  number  on  the  books.  Of  the  two 
and  a  half  million  children  at  school,  little  more  than  one 
and  a  half  million  were  in  public  schools,  and  only  about 
half  of  these  were  in  schools  open  to  inspection.  The 
value  of  inspection  was  recognised  on  all  hands,  and 
inspected  schools  as  a  class  were  much  superior  to  others. 
There  were  of  course  some  very  good  private  schools,  but 
the  great  majority  gave  an  education  that  had  little  value. 
Under  the  superintendence  of  the  Committee  of  Council 
a  good  type  of  education  had  been  set  up,  but  it  was  con- 
fined to  too  small  a  proportion  of  inspected  schools,  and  a 


110  PERIOD  of  SUPERVISION,  1847-1870. 

good  deal  of  levelling  up  was  necessary,  for  not  more  than 
one-fourth  of  the  pupils  in  this  class  of  schools  were  receiv- 
ing a  good  education,  and  even  in  the  best  schools  only 
about  a  fourth  of  the  children  reached  the  highest  class 
and  could  be  said  to  be  "  successfully  educated."  It  is 
necessary  to  remark,  however,  that  this  last  statement  was 
challenged  by  Matthew  Arnold  and  others  as  an  assertion 
made  without  sufficient  proof,  and  which  in  many  cases 
would  turn  out  to  be  untrue.  Probably  the  criticism  was 
more  sweeping  than  it  ought  to  have  been  owing  to  the 
lack  of  attention  given  at  the  time  to  providing  suitable 
education  for  the  younger  children,  and  the  tendency  to 
concentrate  all  attention  on  the  upper  classes.  The  pupil 
teacher|system  was  regarded  as  "  upon  the  whole  excellent," 
while  trained  teachers  had  proved  themselves  "  beyond  all 
doubt  greatly  superior  to  the  untrained."  But  the  system 
as  it  had  grown  up  under  the  Committee  of  Council  was 
too  complicated ;  its  educational  results  were  felt  to  be  in- 
commensurable with  the  expense  entailed ;  the  distribution 
of  Government  grants  was  too  limited  in  its  range,  being 
confined  to  a  comparatively  small  number  of  schools  and, 
moreover,  not  reaching  the  districts  most  in  need  of  assis- 
tance ;  and  further,  the  instruction  given  in  schools  was  too 
ambitious  and  superficial  in  character. 

The  problems  confronting  the  Commissioners  thus  re- 
solved   themselves    into   how   to   raise   the 

general  level  of  sch°o1  work»  how  to  deal 
with  the  irregularity  of  attendance,  and  how 

to  simplify  the  system  and  further  the  establishment  of 
efficient  schools  throughout  the  country.  The  Commis- 
sioners were  divided  as  to  the  steps  to  take.  A  minority 
who  feared  increasing  central  control,  a  gradual  diminu- 
tion of  local  interest  in  and  liberality  towards  education, 
and  the  ultimate  advent  of  public  management  favoured 


fEBIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  Ill 

the  gradual  cessation  of  grants  except  for  building  purposes 
and  trusted  to  awakened  public  interest  and  individual 
generosity  to  support  schools.  The  majority,  however, 
favoured  increased  aid,  and  the  minority  agreed  to  fall  in 
with  them.  Denominational  feeling  being  so  strong  it  was 
decided  to  preserve  the  leading  features  of  the  existing 
system  and  to  maintain  the  principles  of  non-interference 
in  the  religious  training  given  by  the  different  denomina- 
tions and  of  central  control  over  the  direct  management  of 
schools.  Teachers  were  no  longer  to  be  regarded  as  semi- 
civil  servants  receiving  grants  direct  from  the  central 
authority,  but  all  money  was  to  be  paid  direct  to  the 
managers.1 

At  the  same  time  a  considerable  extension  of  the  existing 
system  of  grants  was  suggested.  These  were  to  be  of  two 
kinds  :  State  grants  from  general  taxation,  and  local 
grants  from  county  and  borough  rates.  They  were  to 
be  directed  toward  increasing  the  efficiency,  staffing,  and 
average  attendance  of  schools,  and  at  the  same  time  stimu- 
lating local  interest.  To  be  entitled  to  grants  a  school 
was  to  be  registered,  suitably  housed,  and  provide  at  least 
8  square  feet  of  superficial  area  for  each  child  in  average 
attendance.  The  State  grant  was  to  be  awarded  on 
attendance,  staffing,  and  the  general  tone  of  the  school. 
The  local  grant — which  was  to  be  awarded  by  county  or 
borough  boards  elected  by  quarter  sessions  or  town 
councils — was  to  depend  upon  individual  examination  in 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.  That  is  to  say,  the 
system  of  "  payment  by  results  "  was  recommended,  with 
the  object  of  making  the  actual  teaching  in  schools  more 
efficient  and  to  distribute  it  more  evenly  among  the 
scholars.  "  There  is  only  one  way  of  securing  this  result, 
which  is  to  institute  a  searching  examination  by  competent 

1  See  infra,  p.  $47. 


112  PERIOD    OP    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

authority  of  every  child  in  every  school  to  which  grants 
are  paid,  with  a  view  to  ascertaining  whether  these  indis- 
pensable elements  of  knowledge  are  thoroughly  acquired, 
and  to  make  the  prospects  and  position  of  the  teacher 
dependent  to  a  considerable  extent  on  the  results  of  this 
examination."  1 

It  was  not  proposed  to  abolish  school  fees  nor  to  intro- 
duce any  system  of  compulsory  attendance,  such  being 
regarded  as  neither  attainable  nor  desirable  in  view  of 
existing  public  opinion  and  the  prevailing  attitude  towards 
child  labour.  As  boys  and  girls  could  scarcely  be  expected 
to  remain  at  school  after  11  years  of  age  it  was  important 
that  they  should  commence  schooling  early,  and  it  was  in 
improving  the  education  for  infants  and  young  children, 
and  in  establishing  half-time  and  evening  schools,  that  the 
hope  of  the  future  lay. 

The  Commissioners  considered  that  by  the  adoption  of 
some  such  plan  existing  requirements  would  be  largely 
met.  Poor  districts  would  be  supplied  with  the  necessary 
means,  local  interest  would  be  stimulated,  and  school  work 
would  increase  in  efficiency.  At  the  same  time  by  frankly 
recognising  the  value  of  the  work  done  by  the  religious 
communities,  by  keeping  existing  relations  unchanged,  and 
by  looking  to  them  to  supply  the  motive  power  for  the 
further  extension  of  popular  education  they  would  effec- 
tually check  any  reaction  against  a  State  system. 

The  Report  was  the  result  of  compromise.  Though 
outwardly  unanimous  it  covered  much  deep-seated  dif- 
ference, and  it  inevitably  aroused  a  good  deal  of  criticism. 
Its  statistics  were  challenged,  its  reports  were  regarded  as 
untrustworthy,  and  it  was  soon  evident  that  the  division  of 
opinion  the  Commissioners  had  sought  to  avoid  was  inevit- 
able, so  much  so  that  the  Government  was  not  prepared 

1  Report,  p.  157- 


PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  113 

to  face  the  danger  of  attempting  to  embody  the  recommen- 
dations in  a  Bill. 

It  now  fell  to  Mr.  Lowe,  as  Vice-President,  to  meet  the 
criticism  of  the  Commissioners  and  say  what 

Mr.  Lowe's         measures  the  Government  proposed  to  adopt. 

Criticism  of        -„       ,     ...    ,  , ,     ,  , , 

the  Report.        -"-6  admitted  that  the  system  was  expensive, 

that  instruction  was  deficient,  and  that  the 
machinery  was  complicated,  and  said  that  the  Government 
would  remedy  as  far  as  possible  the  evils  complained  of. 
The  plan  of  a  local  rate  could  not  be  entertained,  as  it 
would  inevitably  entail  locally  elected  representation  and 
public  management  and  introduce  the  difficulties  they  had 
sought  to  avoid.  The  organic  principles  of  the  present 
system  would  be  retained,  with  its  denominational  charac- 
ter, its  foundation  on  a  broad  religious  basis,  and  its 
practice  of  giving  State  grants  in  aid  of  local  contribu- 
tions. Any  change  must  come  through  a  modification  of 
existing  Minutes,  and  the  backbone  of  it  must  be  to  dis- 
continue the  practice  of  paying  grants  direct  to  teachers, 
throwing  more  responsibility  on  local  managers,  and 
making  grants  depend  partly  on  the  results  of  individual 
examination. 

In  order  to  present  a  clear  view  of  the  existing  system 

and  to  facilitate  its  working  Mr.  Lowe  had 
Code  "  ^e  Previ°us  year  collected  the  various 

Minutes  in  force,  arranged  them  in  chapters 
according  to  subjects,  and  published  them.  This  was  the 
original  Code,  the  authoritative  statement  of  the  Education 
Department  as  to  grants  and  the  conditions  determining 
their  application.1  This  was  now  cancelled  and  a  new 
series  of  Minutes — The  Revised  Code — presented  to  Par- 
liament in  1861. 

1  An  abstract  of  these  regulations  had  been  issued  as  a  Parliamentary 
TV.per  in  1858,  and  a  chronological  list  of  Minutes  in  1855. 

H.  ED,  8 


114  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

This  provided  that  grants  should  no  longer  be  made  to 
teachers  holding  certificates  of  competency,1 
e  '  but   all  payments    to    a   school   should   be 

massed  into  a  single  Capitation  Grant  and 
paid  direct  to  the  managers,  leaving  them  to  bargain  as 
they  liked  with  the  members  of  their  staffs.  In  other 
words,  the  teacher  ceased  to  be  in  any  way  an  employe  of 
the  State.  He  must  possess  certain  qualifications  before 
his  school  was  eligible  for  grant,  but  there  the  immediate 
interest  of  the  State  ended.  At  the  same  time,  subject  to 
the  right  of  teachers  already  retired,  the  pension  scheme 
was  withdrawn.  Grants  could  only  be  earned  on  pupils 
under  12  years  of  age,  and  were  dependent  on  a  certain 
number  of  attendances  being  made  by  the  children,  subject 
to  the  results  of  an  individual  examination  by  the  Govern- 
ment Inspector  of  each  child  in  reading,  writing  and 
arithmetic.  The  girls  must  also  be  taught  sewing  as  part 
of  the  regular  instruction  of  the  school.  Local  co-operation 
was  stimulated  by  regulating  the  amount  of  grant  by 
reference  to  the  income  derived  from  school  fees  and 
subscriptions.2 

Schools  had  to  be  adequately  housed  and  staffed,  but 
the  scale  of  staffing  was  less  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  scholars  than  before.  At  the  same  time  a  lower  class  of 
certificates  was  instituted  with  the  object  of  opening  up 
for  grants  schools  taught  by  teachers  of  a  lower  order  of 
attainment.  Grants  to  Training  Colleges  were  cut  down, 
and  no  allowance  Avas  to  be  made  in  future  for  building 
and  for  improving  the  premises.3 

1See  infra,  p.  347.  '2  See  infra,  pp.  143-4.  A  Reprint  of  the 

Revised  Code  is  given  in  the  Appendix  to  Matthew  Arnold's  Reports  on 
Elementary  Schools  1852-1882,  edited  by  F.  S.  Marvin,  1908. 

3  The  Training  Colleges  were  supposedly  voluntary  institutions,  although 
90  per  cent,  of  the  cost  was  borne  by  the  Government.  Of  the  4^  million 
spent  by  Government  on  Education,  2|had  gone  to  the  training  of  teachers. 


PERIOD    OP    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  115 

One  reason  for  these   drastic  measures  was  the  policy 
of  economy  to   which  the  Government   was 

Opposition         pledged,  and,  as  Mr.  Lowe  put  it,  "  If  the 
to  the  ...  f  ...    , 

Revised  Code.     new    system   will   not  be   cheap  it    will    be 

efficient,  and  if  it  will  not  be  efficient  it  will 
be  cheap."  The  plan  excited  great  hostility  on  all  sides. 
The  tendency  of  its  provisions,  it  was  contended,  was  to 
lower  the  qualifications  of  the  teacher,  to  diminish  the  size 
of  the  staff,  to  reduce  the  importance  of  teaching  any  sub- 
jects beyond  the  mere  rudiments,  to  restrict  the  total 
amount  of  the  grant,  and  to  take  away  the  inducement  to 
keep  children  at  school  after  11  years  of  age.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  was  maintained  that  under  the  new  condi- 
tions every  child  would  receive  the  educational  attention 
to  which  it  was  entitled,  that  the  managers  and  not  the 
State  would  in  future  be  responsible  for  the  teacher,  and 
that  a  door  was  opened  for  a  humbler  class  of  schools  to 
come  under  the  Government  system.  Teachers  contended 
that  the  Government  was  under  a  moral  obligation  to  con- 
tinue the  money  payments  conditionally  due  on  their  certifi- 
cates. Managers  protested  that  the  system  would  injure 
religious  instruction,  and  that  "  payment  by  results  "  was  a 
delusive  test  of  moral  and  intellectual  advance.  It  showed 
a  great  want  of  trust  in  the  educational  oversight  of  the 
great  societies,  and  was  characterised  as  "  an  act  of  spolia- 
tion ever  to  be  remembered  with  shame."  Others,  however, 
welcomed  it  as  a  check  on  the  ambitious  tendencies  of 
primary  education,  and  as  absolutely  essential  if  anything 
like  efficiency  was  to  be  promoted.1 

In  introducing  some  modifications  into  the  scheme  in 
1862  Mr.  Lowe  elaborated  what  he  conceived  to  be  the 
advantages  of  the  plan.  He  pointed  out  that  a  religious 

1  For  a  discussion  of  the  actual  effects  of  the  Revised  Code  on  the  school 
see  infra,  pp.  282-4, 


116  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

element  underlay  the  whole  system  of  Privy  Council  edu- 
cation, that  religious  instruction  in  Church  schools  would 
be  inspected  as  before,  and  that  the  object  of  the  Revised 
Code  was  to  deal  with  individuals  rather  than  classes.  It 
gave  the  managers  almost  entire  freedom,  made  the  interest 
of  the  school  identical  with  the  interest  of  the  public, 
tested  thoroughly  the  work  done,  and  gave  Parliament  a 
complete  control  over  the  educational  grant.  "  The  object 
of  the  Privy  Council  is  to  promote  education  among  the 
children  of  the  labouring  poor.  Those  for  whom  this 
system  is  designed  are  the  children  of  persons  who  are  not 
able  to  pay  for  the  teaching.  We  do  not  profess  to  give 
these  children  an  education  that  will  raise  them  above 
their  station  and  business  in  life — that  is  not  our  object 
— but  to  give  them  an  education  that  may  fit  them  for  that 
business."1 

The  Revised  Code  came  into  operation  in  1862.     The 
grant  was  limited  to  12s.  a  head,  4s.  to  be 

TbaVTorlnag     paid  on  average  attendance,  and  8s.  on  the 

of  the  Revised    * 

Code.  results    of   examination,    one-third    of    the 

latter  sum  being  withheld  for  failure  in  each 
of  the  three  R's.  Children  under  six  years  of  age  were 
exempt  from  examination,  but  for  the  rest  six  standards 
were  laid  down,  and  no  child  could  be  presented  a  second 
time  in  the  same  grade.  Half-timers  were  eligible  for  the 
same  grants  as  those  attending  full  time,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  evening  schools  was  encouraged  by  making 
similar  grants,  but  on  a  smaller  scale,  for  pupils  over  12 
years  of  age.2 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  application  of  the  Revised 
Code  was  a  substantial  and  progressive  reduction  in  the 
total  grant,  together  with  a  slow  rise  in  average  attendance 

1  See  Final  Keport  of  the  Cross  Commission,  1888,  p.  17. 

2  In  1862  there  were  only  317  evening  schools. 


•  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  117 

due  in  some  measure  to  an.  increase  in  the  number  of 
inspected  schools.1 

Supporters  of  the  new  system  explained  these  figures  as 
the  result  of  greater  efficiency  in  the  administration  of  the 
grant,  for  whereas  it  had  previously  to  be  paid  in  full  or 
not  at  all,  it  was  now  automatically  regulated  by  the 
quality  of  the  work  done.  Moreover,  the  decline  in  total 
grant  merely  exhibited  pre-existing  unsoundness  in  the 
children's  knowledge,  and  was  a  necessaiy  preliminary 
to  better  work.  Some  idea  of  the  backward  state  of  the 
schools  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  in  1863-4  only 
41  per  cent,  of  the  children  in  average  attendance  were 
presented  for  examination,  and  86  per  cent,  of  those 
over  10  years  of  age  were  examined  in  standards  too  low 
for  their  age.2  With  experience  the  number  of  passes 
slightly  improved,  but  at  best  the  schools  showed  up  very 
badly. 

On  the  other  hand,  various  inspectors  testified  to  the 

cruelty   and   the   over-pressure   of  children 

Criticism".         that    ^suited.      There    was    a    falling    off 

of  all  higher  subjects ;  teachers  were  being 

sweated ;  managers  were   thrusting   all   responsibility  on 

1  The  following  list  shows  the  average  yearly  attendance,  together  with 
the  Parliamentary  Grant : — 

Av. 

1860 

1861 

1862 

1863 

1864 

1865    

1866 

The  large  drop  in  1862  was  partly  due  to  the  stoppage  of  grants  for  books 
and  apparatus  and  to  alterations  in  the  system  of  building  grants.  See 
Final  Report  of  the  Cross  Commission,  p.  18. 

2  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Council. 


'.  Attendance. 

Pad.  Grant, 

803,708 

£724,403 

855,077 

£813,441 

888,923 

£774,743 

928,310 

£721,386 

937,678 

£655,036 

1,016,558 

£636,806 

1,048,493 

£649,307 

118  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

the  staffs,  inferior  teachers  were  being  employed ;  teach- 
ing was  much  less  intelligent1;  there  was  a  serious  reduc- 
tion in  the  number  of  pupil  teachers,  and  the  scale 
of  payments  necessarily  resulted  in  a  lower  grant  per 
head  than  was  earned  under  the  previous  system.  Mat- 
thew Arnold,  who  was  among  those  opposed  to  the  plan, 
notes  however  one  good  result,  viz.  that  it  had  wrought  a 
great  improvement  in  the  quality  of  school  reading 
books. 

By  1867  sufficient  experience  had  been  gained  to  warrant 
the  modification   of  the    Revised   Code   in 

Modifications     several  important  particulars.    An  additional 

of  the  Revised  „      *,      ,     .        ,     . 

Code,  grant   was   ottered,   designed   to   encourage 

more  rapid  promotion  of  the  scholars,  induce 
better  staffing,  and  provide  for  the  introduction  of  at 
least  one  specific  subject  so  as  to  remove  the  repi'oach  that 
all  teaching  was  reduced  to  the  "  beggarly  elements  of  the 
standard  examination."  At  the  same  time,  to  prevent  the 
supply  of  pupil  teachers  being  checked  at  its  source, 
special  bonuses  were  to  be  granted  to  schools. 

The  introduction  of  the  Revised  Code  had  made  Mr. 
Lowe  one  of  the  best  hated  men  of  the  day.  He  was 
subjected  to  attacks  on  all  hands,  and  in  1864  was  (unfairly) 
driven  from  office.  In  the  same  year  his  successor  was 
able  to  establish  the  right  of  the  Department  to  refuse 
grants  for  building  where  a  conscience  clause  was  not 
accepted.  Experience  of  the  working  of  the  Revised  Code 
was  proving  conclusively  that  the  existing  system  would 
never  succeed  in  educating  the  country,  and  from  the 
death  of  Palmerstou  in  1865  education  was  caught  in  the 
general  reform  movement. 

!Cf.   infra,   pp.  282-4.       See  also  Matthew  Arnold's  Reports,  1862, 
et  seq. 


PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  119 

Men  were  becoming  weary  of  the  incessant  struggle  that 
centred  round  the  education  question.     The 

Movements        times  of  prejudice  against   popular   educa- 
leading  up  to  „    t  ,    ,.        , 

the  Bill  tion  were  past.     Few  people  now  believed 

of  1870.  that   it  was  dangerous  for  the  poor  to  be 

able  to  read  and  write  :  opinion  was  strongly 
setting  the  other  way.  There  were  signs  of  a  growing 
spirit  of  reasonableness  and  of  a  determination  to  com- 
promise. Evidence  of  this  was  seen  in  the  joining  of 
secularists  and  denomiuationalists  to  form  the  Manchester 
Education  Aid  Society,  1864,  a  society  formed  to  investi- 
gate the  educational  condition  of  the  city  and  to  get  the 
children  to  school.  The  work  of  the  society  showed  how 
impossible  it  was  for  voluntary  effort  to  meet  the  situa- 
tion, and  accordingly  the  Manchester  Education  Bill 
Committee  was  formed,  the  first  of  three  great  organisa- 
tions aiming  at  improving  the  machinery  of  education  and 
responsible  for  educating  public  opinion,  the  culmination  of 
whose  labours  was  the  Elementary  Education  Act  of  1870. 
The  purpose  of  the  Committee  was  to  press  Parliament 
to  establish  a  complete  system  of  free  com- 

Tlie  pulsory  elementary  education,  supported  by 

Manchester        f      ,    J   , 

Education  Bill    local   rates   and   under   local   management. 

Committee.  Existing  schools  were  to  be  assisted  subject 
to  a  conscience  clause,  but  not  otherwise 
interfered  with.  New  schools  were  to  be  unsectarian  in 
character.  All  schools  were  to  be  open  to  local  and 
Government  inspection.  The  Education  of  the  Poor  Bill, 
drafted  on  these  lines,  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Bruce, 
Vice-President  of  the  Committee  of  Council,  in  1867,  and 
was  backed  by  Mr.  Forster.  It  is  interesting  as  being  in 
essential  particulars  the  same  as  the  original  draft  of  the 
1870  Bill.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Baines  finally 
recanted  his  "Voluutaryist"  views. 


1  •_'<.!  PEKIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

The   same  year  (1867)  saw  the  establishment  of  the 
Birmingham   Education    Aid  Society,1    the 

investigations  of  which  showed  that  many 
Birmingham  * 

League.  parents  were  unable  to  pay  school  tees,  and 

emphasised  the  lack  of  educational  provision 
and  the  necessity  of  compulsion  if  proper  attendance 
was  to  be  secured.  Two  years  later  the  Birmingham 
Education  League  came  into  existence,  with  Mr.  Dixon 
as  chairman,  Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain  as  vice-chairman, 
and  Mr.  Jesse  Collings  as  secretary.  Its  object  was  to 
secure  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  elementary 
education  for  every  child  in  the  country.  It  proposed 
making  education  free  and  compulsory,  compelling  local 
authorities  to  see  that  adequate  school  accommodation 
was  provided  in  their  districts,  and  founding  and 
maintaining  schools  uusectarian  in  character  by  means 
of  local  rates,  supplemented  by  Government  grants. 
It  also  purposed  to  meet  the  conscientious  objections  of 
parents  by  giving  only  secular  instruction  to  particular 
children,  as  well  as  by  opening  the  schools  at  stated  times 
to  teachers  of  the  various  denominations,  and  on  certain 
conditions  it  Avould  not  withhold  rate  aid  from  sectarian 
schools. 

To  secure  this  the  League  instituted  a  great  educational 
campaign,  opening  up  over  a  hundred  branch  committees 
in  Manchester,  Sheffield,  Leeds  and  all  the  important  towns 
in  the  country,  and  starting  with  a  guarantee  fund  of 
.£60,000.  Connected  with  it  were  many  Churchmen  as 
well  as  Nonconformists,  and  it  is  acknowledged  by  all 
parties  to  have  stimulated  an  interest  in  popular  education 
the  like  of  which  had  not  been  known  in  the  country 
before. 

1  History  of  the  Elementary  School  Contest,  by  Francis  Adams.  Chap- 
ter V. 


PERIOD  OF  SUPERVISION,  1847-1870.  121 

As  was   only   to  be   expected,   an   association   of   this 
kind  called  into  existence   "  Unions "  of  a 
The  National      distinctly  denominational  character  at  Bir- 
Union.  mingham  and  Manchester.    The  Manchester 

National  Education  Union,  founded  in  1869, 
is  the  third  of  the  three  great  organisations  already  men- 
tioned. It  received  the  support  of  those  who  believed  in 
developing  education  on  already  existing  lines  and  feared 
the  secularisation  of  the  schools.  Its  policy  was  a  very 
conservative  one.  Thus  it  proposed  to  make  education 
compulsory  by  means  of  a  vigorous  application  of  the 
Factory  and  Workshop  Acts.  School  fees  of  necessitous 
children  only  were  to  be  paid,  and  all  schools  were  to  be 
denominational  in  character  but  subject  to  a  conscience 
clause. 

One  other  organisation  must  be  mentioned,  the  Welsh 
Education  Alliance,  which  had  sprung  up 

The  Welsh         through  disagreement  with  the  policy  of  the 
Education  &  .  .  .  .        • ?       J 

Alliance.  League  in  recognising  denominational  schools. 

It  demanded  a  system  of  secular  schools, 
unsectariau  in  management,  compulsory  and  free,  leaving 
religious  teaching  to  the  pai-ents  and  the  churches.  No 
recognition  of  any  sort  was  to  be  given  to  existing  denomi- 
national schools  beyond  allowing  them  to  be  transferred 
to  the  local  authorities.1 

THE  COMING  OF   SCHOOL  BOARDS. 

With  the  passing  of  the  Eeform  Act  of  1867  came  the 

opportunity  for  dealing  comprtehen  si vely  with 

187e0  *  elementary    education    and    introducing    a 

national  system.     Politicians  were  fully  alive 

to  the  importance  of  "educating  their  masters"  as  Mr. 

1  Proposed  National  Arrangements  for  Primary  Education,  H.  W. 
Holland,  Chap.  III. 


122  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

Lowe  put  it,  and  the  matter  was  taken  in  hand  by  Mr. 
Forster  in  the  second  session  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  Govern- 
ment in  1870. l  Mr.  Forster's  interest  in  education  was 
well  known.  He  had  supported  the  Education  Bills  of 
1867-8  ;  he  prided  himself  in  his  Puritan  ancestry,  and  was 
looked  upon  as  an  advanced  Liberal.  He  found  firmly 
implanted  on  the  country  a  great  denominational  system 
that  in  spite  of  its  defects  had  done  the  great  service  of 
rearing  a  race  of  teachers,  spreading  schools,  setting  up  a 
standard  of  education,  and  generally  making  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  national  system  possible.  Accommodation  for 
nearly  two  million  children  had  been  provided,  three- 
fourths  of  which  was  in  connection  with  the  Church  of 
England.  In  accomplishing  this  the  Church  alone  had 
expended  some  ,£6,270,000  on  buildings,  and  had  raised 
,£8,500,000  in  voluntary  subscriptions  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  schools.2 

Liberals  were  agreed  that  to  ignore  or  wholly  set  aside 
these  existing  agencies  was  impossible,  though  extremists 
were  prepared  to  go  to  such  lengths.  The  question  to 
be  decided  was  whether  a  stop  ought  to  be  put  to  the 
further  development  of  the  existing  system,  or  whether  it 
should  be  encouraged  to  progress  side  by  side,  and  even  in 
competition,  with  a  specifically  State  system.  Liberals  and 
Nonconformists  as  a  body  undoubtedly  favoured  the  former 
alternative,  but  to  the  surprise  and  disappointment  of  many 
the  Government  took  the  other  view. 

Mr.  Gladstone's  statement  was  clear  and  unmistakable. 
"  It  was  with  us  an  absolute  necessity — a  necessity  of 
honour  and  a  necessity  of  policy — to  respect  and  to  favour 

1  See  the  volume  of  Parliamentary  Debate*  :  Elementary  Education 
Bill,  1870,  published  by  the  National  Education  Union. 

-  The  Church  schools  had  also  received  some  6£  millions  in  Government 
grants. 


PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  123 

the  educational  establishments  and  machinery  we  found 
existing  in  the  country.  It  was  impossible  for  us  to  join 
in  the  language  or  to  adopt  the  tone  which  was  conscien- 
tiously and  consistently  taken  by  some  members  of  the 
House,  who  look  upon  these  voluntary  schools,  having 
generally  a  denominational  character,  as  admirable  passing 
expedients,  fit,  indeed,  to  be  tolerated  for  a  time,  deserving  all 
credit  on  account  of  the  motives  which  led  to  their  founda- 
tion, but  wholly  unsatisfactory  as  to  their  main  purpose, 
and  therefore  to  be  supplanted  by  something  they  think 
better.  .  .  .  That  has  never  been  the  theory  of  the  Govern- 
ment. .  .  .  When  we  are  approaching  this  great  work,  which 
we  desire  to  make  complete,  we  ought  to  have  a  sentiment 
of  thankfulness  that  so  much  has  been  done  for  us." ' 

Similar  sentiments  were  echoed  by  Mr.  Forster,  by  Mr. 
Lowe,  now  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  by  other 
prominent  members  of  the  Government,  and  adhered  to 
unflinchingly  throughout  one  of  the  greatest  controversies 
of  modern  times,  a  controversy  that  continued  for  some 
years  and  for  the  time  being  effectually  disintegrated  the 
Liberal  party. 

In  introducing  the  Elementary  Education  Bill  1870 
Mr.  Forster  estimated  that  about  1,450,000 

Education  °f  children  were  on  the  registers  of  State-aided 
schools,  with  an  average  attendance  of 
1,000,000,  but  in  the  schools  there  were  only  two-fifths  of 
the  working-class  children  between  6  and  10  years  of  age, 
and  only  one- third  between  the  ages  of  10  and  12.  In 
other  words,  there  were  1,000,0;)0  children  unprovided  for 
between  6  and  10,  and  half  a  million  between  10  and  12 
years  of  age.  An  investigation 2  conducted  the  previous 

1  Speech,  July  22nd,  18~<>.  -An  inquiry  conducted  by  Mr.  (after- 

wards Sir)  Joshua  Fitch  and  Mr.  D.  R.  Fearon  into  the  educational  pro- 
vision existing  in  Manchester,  Liverpool,  Birmingham,  and  Leeds. 


124  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

year  had  shown  that  a  quarter  of  the  children  in  Liverpool 
between  the  ages  of  5  and  13  never  entered  a  school,  while 
another  quarter  attended  schools  where  the  education  was 
worthless.  A  similar  state  of  affairs  existed  in  Manchester, 
Leeds,  and  Birmingham.  It  was  to  remedy  this,  "  to 
complete  the  voluntary  system  and  to  fill  up  gaps," l  that 
the  Bill  was  intended.  It  rested  on  two  principles,  viz. 
that  there  should  be  efficient  schools  within  the  reach  of 
all,  and  that  where  such  provision  did  not  exist  it  should 
be  compulsorily  provided. 

In  drafting  the  measure,  due  regard  was  given  to 
economy,  to  preserving  existing  schools  from  injury,  and 
to  offering  no  encouragement  to  parents  to  neglect  the 
education  of  their  children.  Briefly,  the  Bill  divided  the 
country  up  into  school  districts — municipal  boroughs  and 
civil  parishes,  the  metropolis  being  treated  separately — and 
powers  were  given  to  ascertain  the  deficiency  of  school 
accommodation.  To  remedy  any  such  deficiency,  the  deno- 
minations were  granted  a  period  of  grace  and  aided  by 
building  grants.  Should  they  fail  School  Boards  were  to  be 
set  up,  with  rating  powers  to  establish  and  maintain  public 
elementary  schools,  and  able  to  compel  the  attendance  of 
children  between  5  and  12  years  of  age.  Boards  might  be 
set  up  at  once  on  the  request  of  the  ratepayers,  and  existing 
Voluntary  schools  might  be  transferred  to  these  bodies.  It 
was  also  proposed  to  abolish  denominational  inspection, 
to  require  a  conscience  clause,  and  no  longer  to  insist  on 
religious  instruction  being  given  a  place  in  the  curriculum 
as  a  condition  of  grant.  An  elementary  school  was  defined 
as  "  a  school,  or  department  of  a  school,  at  which  elemen- 
tary education  is  the  principal  part  of  the  education  there 
given,  and  not  including  any  school,  or  department  of  a 

1  Debates,  p.  91. 


PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  125 

school,  at  which  the  ordinary  payments  in  respect  of  the 
instruction  from  each  scholar  exceed  9d.  a  week  "  (averaged 
over  the  whole  school),  a  sufficiently  general  description, 
the  interpretation  of  which  became  a  fruitful  source  of  con- 
troversy.1 On  grounds  of  economy  the  Government  could 
not  see  its  way  to  make  education  free,  but  special  powers 
were  granted  to  School  Boards  to  pay  the  fees  of  necessitous 
children  attending  any  public  elementary  school. 

The  Bill  shows  a  peculiar  blending  of  the  programmes 

of  the  National  Education  Union  and  of 
Compromise  the  Education  League.  It  followed  the 

policy  of  the  former  in  encouraging  the 
development  of  Voluntary  schools,  which  would  generally 
be  denominational  in  character,  in  continuing  them  under 
the  same  conditions  of  management  as  befoi*e,  in  requiring 
a  conscience  clause,  and  in  proposing  to  make  the  school 
fees  of  necessitous  children  a  charge  on  the  rates.  It  fol- 
lowed the  League  in  proposing  to  set  up  Board  schools, 
managed  by  local  bodies  elected  &d  hoc,  and  supported  by 
local  rates  and  government  taxes.  It  also  agreed  with  the 
programme  of  the  League  in  its  proposal  to  assist  existing 
denominational  schools  out  of  the  rates,  but  it  differed  in 
not  limiting  the  growth  of  these  institutions,  in  allowing 
them  to  retain  their  distinctively  denominational  character, 
and  in  leaving  the  local  Boards  to  decide  the  nature  of  the 
religious  instruction  to  be  adopted  in  their  respective 
schools  instead  of  making  it  definitely  unsectarian. 

1  The  code  of  1862  limited  schools  eligible  for  grants  to  such  as  provided 
for  the  children  of  those  who  supported  themselves  by  manual  labour. 
Children  of  a  higher  social  grade  might  attend,  but  they  could  not  be 
counted  for  grant  (Minutes,  1862-3,  p.  22).  Previous  to  this,  however, 
schools  attended  by  children  of  small  farmers,  small  traders,  and  superior 
artisans  were  under  no  such  restrictions,  provided  the  fees  charged  were 
not  such  as  to  exclude  the  labouring  class  (Minutes,  1856-7,  p.  42).  See 
ante,  p.  116. 


126  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  enter  into  details  with  regard  to 
the  controversies  that  centred  round  the  Bill. 
Opposition         ^  contained  sufficient   common  ground  to 
secure  a  welcome  from  all  parties  on  its  in- 
troduction, but  opposition  soon  gathered.     The  main  at- 
tack came  from  the  League  and  was  directed  against  the 
policy  of  extending  the  existing  denominational  system, 
both  by  giving  a  period  of  grace  and  by  proposing  to  aid 
such  schools  out  of  the  rates ;    against  leaving  religious 

'  O  O  D 

instruction  in  Board  schools  to  be  settled  locally ;  against 
the  method  of  electing  School  Boards ;  against  the  nature 
of  the  conscience  clause  in  denominational  schools,  and 
against  the  retention  of  school  fees.  The  struggle  centred 
round  the  religious  question. 

The  Church  party  were  satisfied  with  the  support  given 
to  the  denominational  position  and  supported  the  Govern- 
ment, while  the  latter,  in  a  desire  to  meet  the  wishes  of  a 
considerable  section  of  their  own  supporters,  consented  to 
cut  down  by  a  half  the  period  of  grace  granted  to  the 
denominations  to  put  their  house  in  order.  They  also 
adopted  for  these  schools  a  time-table1  conscience  clause, 
instead  of  requiring  parents  who  objected  to  the  religious 
teaching  to  lodge  a  protest  in  writing.  Beyond  this,  how- 
ever, they  would  not  go. 

With  regard  to  religious  teaching  in  Board  schools,  the 

Government  admitted  the  incessant  discord 
The  Cowper-  that  might  result  from  leaving  the  decision 
Clause.  to  the  local  Boards.  They  proposed  to  get 

over  the  difficulty  by  leaving  the  Boards  to 
decide  in  each  case  whether  they  would  impose  a  purely 

1  The  result  of  this  was  definitely  to  separate  religious  from  secular  in- 
struction, a  separation,  it  is  true,  in  time  only,  but  one  that  reformers  held 
to  embody  the  great  principle  of  freeing  education  from  ecclesiastical  con- 
trol for  which  they  had  been  fighting  for  nearly  a  century. 


PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870.  127 

secular  system  or  wo;ald  include  religious  instruction. 
"  The  prevailing  and  veiy  general  desire  and  conviction  of 
the  people "  being  for  including  religious  instruction  in 
these  schools,  the  Government  adopted  Mr.  Cowper- 
Temple's  amendment  as  likely  to  meet  the  case.  This 
was  to  the  effect  that  "  no  religious  catechism  or  religious 
formulary  distinctive  of  any  particular  denomination  shall 
be  taught  in  schools  which  receive  rate  aid."  This,  it  will 
be  noted,  involved  much  more  than  "  Bible  reading  Avith- 
out  note  or  comment."  It  was  hoped  that  by  imposing 
such  limitation  upon  the  discretion  of  local  Boards,  it 
would  on  the  one  hand  "  bring  together  the  conflicting 
opinions  of  various  parties,  and  on  the  other,  if  not 
wholly  get  rid  of  what  may  be  called  denominational  con- 
troversies, yet  in  a  very  large  degree  abate  their  acrimony 
and  diminish  their  range  besides,  in  a  large  number  of 
cases,  abrogating  them  altogether." 

Mr.  Disraeli's  comment  on  this  issue  is,  perhaps,  worth 
recalling.  "  Nothing  would  be  more  unfair  than  that  the 
children  of  this  country,  without  any  previous  religious 
instruction,  should  be  told  by  Parliament  that  they  must 
find  adequate  religious  instruction  in  merely  reading 
passages  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  .  .  .  but  .  .  .  although 
no  creed  nor  catechism  of  any  denomination  is  to  be  intro- 
duced, yet  the  schoolmaster  would  have  the  power  and 
opportunity  of  teaching,  enforcing,  and  explaining  the 
Holy  Scripture  when  he  reads.  Now  he  cannot  do  that 
without  drawing  some  inferences  and  some  conclusions, 
and  what  will  those  inferences  and  conclusions  be  but 
dogmas  ?  .  .  .  You  will  not  intrust  the  priest  or  presbyter 
with  the  privilege  of  expounding  the  Holy  Scriptures  to 
the  scholars,  but  for  that  purpose  you  are  inventing  and 
establishing  a  new  sacerdotal  class."  ' 
1  Debates,  pp.  157-8, 


128  PERIOD    OF    SUPERVISION,    1847-1870. 

The  Government  also  went  some  way  to  meet  the  con- 
scientious objections  of  its  supporters  to  assisting  denomi- 
national schools  out  of  local  rates  by  dropping  the  clause 
and  providing  instead  higher  Exchequer  grants  to  these 
institutions.  In  the  heat  of  the  controversy,  the  clause 
(No.  25)  which  required  School  Boards  to  pay  the  fees  of 
necessitous  children  at  any  public  school — a  clause  that 
embodied  identically  the  same  principle — was  overlooked, 
and  became  a  fruitful  source  of  irritation  in  the  following 
years.1  Various  other  modifications  were  introduced,  but 
on  the  question  of  compulsion  and  free  schooling  the 
Government  woxild  not  give  way. 

On  these  terms  the  Bill  was  passed  by  a  coalition  of 
Liberals  and  Conservatives,  and  became  law  on  August  9th, 
1870.  Feeling,  however,  still  ran  high.  Many  Liberals 
thought  they  had  been  betrayed,  the  leaders  of  the  Govern- 
ment were  charged  with  bad  statesmanship,  with  having 
missed  a  unique  opportunity  of  settling  once  and  for  all 
the  education  question  through  weakness  and  over-con- 
sideration of  vested  interests, and  the  Act  was  characterised2 
as  the  worst  passed  by  any  Liberal  Government  since 
1832.  History,  however,  has  agreed  in  pronouncing  the 
Act,  imperfect  as  it  was  in  some  respects,  as  the  most  im- 
portant measure  of  the  reform  period,  for  none  has  entered 
so  intimately  into  the  life  of  the  people,  or  had  more  far- 
reaching  and  beneficial  results.3 

1  See  The  Struggle  for  National  Education,  J.  Motley. 

2  By  John  Bright.    For  a  discussion  of  the  situation  see  Life  of  Gladstone, 
Morle'y,  Book  VI.,  Chap.  III. 

3  See  Rise  of  Democracy,  Rose,  Chap.  XI, 


CHAPTER  V. 


PAKTITION  AND  ANNEXATION. 

"  You  do  not  learn  that  you  may  live — you  live  that  you  may 
learn." — RUSKIN. 

"  We  hold  fast  to  the  faith  that  the  '  cultivation  of  the  masses,' 
which  has  for  the  present  superseded  the  development  of  the  in- 
dividual, will  in  its  maturity  produce  some  higher  type  of  individual 
manhood  than  any  which  the  old  world  has  known." — T.  H.  GREEN. 

With  the  Act  of  1870  the  experiment  of  partitioning 
the  work  of  popular  education  between  the  State  and  the 
Voluntary  associations  began.  A  Voluntary  system,  aided 
and  supervised  by  the  State,  was  left  to  compete  with  a 
State  system  working  through  its  local  instruments,  the 
School  Boards.  There  was  nothing  inherently  unfair  in 
this,  for  at  the  time  neither  the  magnitude  nor  the  cost  of 
the  undertaking  had  been  foreseen.  The  annual  expense 
of  educating  a  child  had  been  steadily  rising.  During  the 
past  ten  years  it  had  increased  by  more  than  one-third. 
It  was  now  25s.  5d.,  but  no  one  expected  this  to  continue. 
The  most  reliable  computations  gave  30s.  as  the  cost  of  an 
efficient  secular  schooling,  and  a  3d.  rate  was  regarded  as 
the  utmost  extent  of  the  ratepayers'  liabilities.  On  this 
basis  the  finance  of  the  new  measure  was  calculated.  It 
was  immediately  evident,  however,  that  the  upward  move- 
ment showed  no  signs  of  slackening,  with  the  result  that 
the  Voluntary  system  was  placed  at  a  disadvantage  that 
became  more  and  more  accentuated  as  time  went  on,  for 
H.  ED,  129  9 


130  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

the  subscription  list  had  not  the  elasticity  of  a  local  rate. 
By  1897  it  was  costing  <£2  10s.  l|d.  to  educate  a  child  in  a 
Board  school,  a  sum  11s.  2Ad.  in  excess  of  the  sum  available 
for  a  pupil  in  a  Voluntary  school.  A  Voluntary  system  in 
fact  was  rapidly  becoming  unworkable.  To  remove  an 
impossible  situation  and  at  the  same  time  to  co-ordinate 
the  various  branches  of  public  education  was  the  object  of 
the  Act  of  1902.  The  State  annexed  the  whole  of  popular 
education,  and  made  the  Voluntary  schools  a  charge  on  the 
rates,  but  left  them  their  denominational  character  prac- 
tically intact. 

The  history  of  elementary  education  since  1870  thus 
falls  into  two  parts  :  (1)  1870-1902,  a  period  of  partition, 
(2)  after  1902,  a  period  of  annexation.  The  first  is  an 
era  of  ad  hoc  bodies  and  of  the  gradual  democratisatiou  of 
education,  and  reveals  a  growing  belief  in  the  advantages 
of  communism  in  educational  affairs.1  The  second  has  seen 
the  municipalisation  of  education,  an  immense  forward 
movement  in  all  branches  of  public  instruction  and  a 
greatly  enlarged  sense  of  public  duty  in  educational  affairs. 
At  the  same  time  there  has  arisen  a  demand  for  reform  in 
the  finance  of  the  system,  to  alleviate  the  rapidly  increasing 
burden  on  the  local  ratepayer.2 

I. — PERIOD  OF  PARTITION. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  equality  of  educa- 
tional opportunity  has  been  the  demand  of 

forUcmz°enShip.  the    working   class     movement    since     the 
thirties.     A  great  step  towards  the  attain- 
ment of  this  end  was  made  by  the  Act  of  1870.     Huxley, 

1  Cf.  Matthew  Arnold's  Report  for  1882. 

-  In  1912  the  annual  cost  per  child  in  a  primary  school  was  £4  12s.  4d., 
and  the  education  rate,  including  that  for  elementary  education,  varied 
according  to  the  locality  from  5d.  to  2s.  10£d. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  131 

speaking  as  a  member  of  the  London  School  Board,  only 
crystallised  the  views  of  many  men  up  and  down  the 
country  who  were  intimately  connected  with  popular 
education  when  he  said :  "I  conceive  it  to  be  our  duty  to 
make  a  ladder  from  the  gutter  to  the  university  along 
which  any  child  may  climb."  It  was  in  response  to  senti- 
ments like  these  that  School  Boards  promoted  the  system 
of  Higher  Grade  schools  and  scholarships  that  did  so  much 
to  foster  the  demand  for  a  secondary  school  education 
previous  to  the  Act  of  1902.  In  more  recent  times  "  the 
ladder  "  has  given  way  to  the  demand  for  "a  broad  high- 
way," though  critics  who  have  seen  in  the  doctrine  the 
manufacture  of  a  great  intellectual  proletariat  of  only 
mediocre  ability,  unfitted  for  manual  employments  and 
discontented  with  all  non-literary  occupations,  have  called 
for  a  "  sieve "  instead.  The  truth  is,  the  ladder,  the 
highway,  and  the  sieve  are  all  similes  arising  from  a 
somewhat  one-sided  view  of  the  end  of  education  in  a 
democratic  community.  They  imply,  in  short,  a  form  of 
individualism  that  is  foreign  to  the  principle  of  the  move- 
ment from  which  they  spring.  As  J.  S.  Mill  taught,  the 
meaning  and  consummation  of  all  self-realisation  is  not 
selfishness  but  service.  During  the  period  with  which  we 
are  dealing,  this  message  has  been  re-emphasised  in 
different  ways  through  the  teaching  of  men  like  Rusk  in, 
Herbert  Spencer,  and  T.  H.  Green . 

T.  H.   Green's  words    spoken  at   the    opening    of  the 
Oxford  High  School  for  Boys  may  be  re- 
called in  this  connection.     "  Our  high  school, 
then,  may  fairly  claim  to   be  helping  forward  the  time 
when  every  Oxford  citizen  will  have  open  to  him  at  least 
the  precious  companionship  of  the  best  books  in  his  own 
language,  and  the  knowledge  to  make  him  really  indepen- 
dent ;  when  all  who  have  a  special  taste  for  learning  will 


132  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

have  open  to  them  what  has  hitherto  been  unpleasantly 
called  the  '  education  of  gentlemen.'  I  confess  to  hoping 
for  a  time  when  that  phrase  will  have  lost  its  meaning, 
because  the  sort  of  education  which  alone  makes  the 
gentleman  in  any  true  sense  will  be  within  the  reach  of 
all.  As  it  was  the  aspiration  of  Moses  that  all  the  Lord's 
people  should  be  prophets,  so  with  all  seriousness  and 
reverence  we  may  hope  and  pray  for  a  condition  of  English 
society  in  which  all  honest  citizens  will  recognise  them- 
selves and  be  recognised  by  each  other  as  gentlemen."  ' 
Man  is  by  nature  a  citizen,  and  the  end  of  all  educa- 
tion, while  allowing  the  utmost  freedom  for  individual 
development,  is  the  production  of  the  honest  neighbour 
and  the  good  citizen.  It  was  the  "  sons  of  artisans  "  to 
whom  he  looked  to  become  the  social  and  educational 
missionaries  to  the  class  from  which  they  had  sprung.2 
No  one  attacked  more  vigorously  or  with  greater  in- 
fluence the  educational  "gospel  of  getting 

The  on  "  than  Ruskin.     "  You  do  not  learn  that 

Educational  i-                   i-       AI    ,                    t           »»•> 

Teaching  of  vou  ma3r  *ive — ^ou  *lve  ™ia^  vou  mav  ^earn-    " 

Ruskin.  The  end  of  education  is  to  make  better  men 

and  better  citizens,  imbued  with  a  passion 
for  the  public  good.  It  is  impossible  to  do  more  here  than 
to  indicate  the  trend  of  Ruskin' s  educational  message. 
Education  occupied  a  necessary  part  in  his  system  of  social 
philosophy,  the  origin  of  which  is  to  be  found  in  his  study 
of  art  and  in  the  teaching  of  Carlyle.  "  Let  a  nation  be 
healthy,  happy,  pure  in  its  enjoyments,  brave  in  its  acts, 
and  broad  in  its  affections,  and  its  art  will  spring  around 
and  within  it  as  freely  as  the  foam  from  a  fountain." 4 

1  Works,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  475-6. 

2  See  Essay  on  T.  H.  Green  in  Six  Radical  Thinkers,  MacCunn. 

3  Crown  of  Wild  Olives,  Lecture  IV.,  §  115. 

'  See  John  Ruskin,  Social  Reformer,  J.  A.  Hobson,  Chap.  II. 


AND    ANNEXATION.  133 

Art  is  nothing  but  the  manifestation  of  the  perfectness 
and  eternal  beauty  of  the  work  of  God.  There  was,  how- 
ever, little  that  was  healthy  or  ennobling  in  the  industrial 
system  that  Ruskin  saw  around  him,  so  he  was  led  to 
attempt  to  construct  a  truer  social  order,  where  "  every 
man  must  do  the  work  that  he  can  do  best  and  in  the  best 
way,  for  the  common  good  and  not  for  individual  profit." 
But  to  organise  such  a  society  composed  of  the  maximum 
number  of  noble  and  happy  human  beings  two  conditions 
seemed  necessary:  (1)  that  all  citizens  should  be  well 
born,  (2)  that  all  should  be  well  educated.  Though 
hereditary  predispositions  made  individual  equality  im- 
possible and  accordingly  favoured  a  gradation  of  society, 
yet  within  these  limits  there  was  to  be  equality  of 
opportunity,  and  special  educational,  social  and  industrial 
machinery  under  strong  paternalistic  rule  was  devised. 
"  I  hold  it  indisputable  that  the  first  duty  of  a  State  is  to 
see  that  every  child  born  therein  shall  be  well-housed, 
clothed,  fed,  and  educated  till  it  attain  years  of  discretion." 1 
There  was  to  be  a  free,  compulsory  State  system  of  educa- 
tion, workshops  and  manufactories  were  to  be  under 
Government  control,  there  were  to  be  State  works  for  the 
unemployed  and  old  age  pensions. 

At  the  same  time  Euskin  propounded  a  new  view  of 
wealth,  which  was  nothing  less  than  complete  living. 
"  There  is  no  wealth  but  Life — Life  including  all  its  powers 
of  love,  of  joy,  of  admiration."  Education  was  a  means  of 
showing  men  how  to  live.  It  consisted  not  "  in  teaching 
men  to  know  what  they  do  not  know,  but  to  behave  as 
they  do  not  behave."  It  implied  a  development  of  the 
whole  man,  physical,  moral  and  intellectual,  a  training  in 
and  through  social  service.  Upon  the  growth  of  individual 

1  Note  ou  Modern  Education,  The  Stones  of  Venice,  Vol.  III.,  Appen- 
dix /•  The  whole  note  is  well  worth  reading. 


134  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

aiid  social  character  the  very  foundation  of  all  social 
betterment  rested,  for  reform  from  without  apart  from  a 
change  in  the  inner  man  was  powerless  to  accomplish  any- 
thing. In  bringing  about  this  change  of  heart,  however, 
education  had  a  great  place,  and  in  this  connection  Kuskin 
places  a  high  value  on  the  influence  of  character-forming 
ideas,  on  the  study  of  mankind,  and  on  an  intimate  com- 
munion with  nature  free  from  all  undue  interference  on 
the  part  of  the  teacher.  "  The  great  leading  error  of 
modern  times  is  the  mistaking  of  erudition  for  education."  ! 
His  curriculum  provided  for  (1)  instruction  in  the  laws 
of  health,  physical  exercises — including 

Ruskin  and        riding,    swimming,  the  art  of    offence  and 
the  School  c  &.        ,ox  ,      .    . 

Curriculum.  detence — and  music  ;  (2)  training  in  rever- 
ence and  compassion,  in  habits  of  gentle- 
ness, justice  and  truthfulness  ;  (3)  history  and  literature 
to  be  taught  for  enjoyment ;  (4)  an  accurate  training  in 
the  use  of  the  mother  tongue,  in  natural  science,  and  in 
mathematics,  and  (5)  drawing  and  handicraft,  which  were 
to  be  compulsory,  and,  in  the  case  of  girls,  training  in 
domestic  duties.  At  the  same  time  the  curriculum  should 
be  determined  by  local  conditions  and  by  the  future  occu- 
pations of  the  pupils.  Thus  in  cities  mathematics  and 
the  arts  might  well  be  emphasised ;  in  the  country,  natural 
history  and  agriculture ;  while  in  maritime  districts 
physical  geography,  astronomy,  and  natural  history  would 
seem  appropriate,  the  object  being  to  provide  a  generous 
meaningful  elementary  education  upon  which  a  technical 
education  might  be  based.2 

"  There  are,  indeed,  certain  elements  of  education  which  are 


1  Note  on  Modern  Education,  The  Stones  of  Venice,  Vol.  III.,  Appen- 
dix 7. 

2  Time  and  Tide,  Letter  XVI. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  135 

alike  necessary  to  the  inhabitants  of  every  spot  of  earth.  Clean- 
liness, obedience,  the  first  laws  of  music,  mechanics,  and  geometry, 
the  primary  facts  of  geography  and  astronomy,  and  the  outlines  of 
history,  should  evidently  be  taught  alike  to  poor  and  rich,  to  sailor 
and  shepherd,  to  labourer  and  shop-boy.  But  for  the  rest,  the 
efficiency  of  any  school  will  be  found  to  increase  exactly  in  the  ratio 
of  its  direct  adaptation  to  the  circumstances  of  the  children  it 
receives  ;  and  the  quality  of  knowledge  to  be  attained  in  a  given 
time  being  equal,  its  value  will  depend  on  the  possibilities  of  its 
instant  application."  l 

No  one  was  more  alive  to  the  suggestive  influence  of  the 
school   environment.     The   school   building 
uskin'a  was  ^o  ^e  the  most  important  of  all  public 

School.  institutions,  noble  and  castellated  in  design, 

and  provided  within  with  a  library  of  best 
books,  an  art  gallery  and  a  museum,  while  round  its  walls 
were  to  be  hung  historical  paintings.  A  garden  and 
workshops — especially  a  carpenter's  and  a  potter's — were 
essential,  for  one  of  the  great  objects  of  the  school  was  to 
train  pupils  to  handiness  and  to  a  sense  of  the  dignity  of 
manual  labour.  The  test  of  the  work  was  the  effort  put 
forward  and  the  spirit  of  joy  that  pervaded  the  whole. 
The  school  was  to  be  no  results  grinding  machine  nor  a 
place  for  doling  out  bits  of  knowledge.  Showiness,  super- 
ficiality, self-seeking,  and  punishment  were  to  be  unknown 
in  an  institution  the  motto  of  which  was  "  Let  nothing  be 
done  through  strife  or  vain  glory."  2 

Ruskin,  in  his  reaction  against  the  levelling  tendencies 
of  the  day,  finds  no  place  for  the  modern 
of  Girls*     101     woman  m  his  new  social  order,  and  he  un- 
doubtedly approves  of  the  intellectual  sub- 
jection of  women.      They  are  to    feel  and  judge  rather 
than  know.     They  are  to  be  primarily  useful  and  second- 
arily beautiful  home-makers.      But  within  these  limits  he 

1  Fora  Clavigera.  -  See  Ruskin  on  Education,  Jolly. 


136  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

provides  for  their  physical  education  and  for  cultivating 
their  imagination  and  sympathies  by  all  that  is  best  in 
nature,  art  and  literature.1 

The  ordinary  Englishman  is  frankly  sceptical  of  theories, 

and  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  main 

Industrial          incentive  to  improving  the  means  of  educa- 

in^iTlish  tion  has  been  tlie  fear  that  iudifference  iu 
Education.  this  matter  would  seriously  affect  the  com- 
mercial prestige  of  the  nation.  This  motive 
has  been  particularly  prominent  in  the  demand  for  science 
and  technical  knowledge,  and  in  the  reform  of  the  school 
curriculum  during  this  period.  The  demand  in  its  modern 
form  may  be  said  to  have  arisen  as  a  result  of  the  Inter- 
national Exhibition  of  1851,  which  gave  an  opportunity 
for  the  first  time  of  comparing  the  products  of  English 
manufacture  with  those  of  other  countries,  and  which 
served  to  emphasise  the  importance  of  science  and  art  in 
relation  to  industry.  One  result  was  the  founding  of  the 
Science  and  Art  Department  at  South  Kensington  and  the 
beginning  of  active  propagandism  by  Dr.  Lyon  Playfair  and 
others  on  behalf  of  technical  education.  The  movement 
received  a  further  impetus  as  a  result  of  the  Paris  Exhi- 
bition of  1867.  It  found  expression  in  the  establishment 
of  the  City  and  Guilds  of  London  Institute  in  1880 ;  it 
gave  rise  to  the  Royal  Commission  on  Technical  Education 
1881-4,  and  to  the  rapid  spread  of  technical  instruction 
after  1890.  In  the  primary  schools  the  movement  stimu- 
lated a  feeling  of  intense  dissatisfaction  with  the  bookish- 
ness  of  the  existing  system,  and  a  demand  for  the  addition 
of  new  subjects,  particularly  drawing,  science  and  manual 
work.  Technical  training  was  the  watchword  of  the  new 
movement.  But  under  the  influence  of  educational  theory 

1  See  Sesame  and  Lilies. 


PARTITION    AND   ANNEXATION.  137 

and  as  a  clearer  view  of  the  end  to  be  attained  has 
developed,  the  reform  spirit  has  found  expression  in  such 
terms  as  vocational  training  and  practical  education,  none 
of  which,  however,  is  very  satisfactory.1 

In  the  advance  that  has  been  made  in  popular  education 
since  1870,  three  ideas  then  are  clearly  seen, 
viz.  that  each  individual  has  a  right  to 
equality  of  educational  opportunity,  that  education  is  a 
training  for  citizenship,  and  that  on  the  right  kind  of 
school  education  the  foundations  of  national  prosperity 
rest.  Since  the  school  is  so  important  in  shaping  the 
destiny  of  society  and  the  life  of  the  nation  the  doctrine 
of  compulsory  schooling  follows  as  a  corollary,  while 
further  deduction  along  these  lines  provides  the  justifica- 
tion for  free  education,  school  meals,  medical  attendance, 
school  baths,  educational  oversight  during  adolescence,  etc., 
as  well  as  the  attention  that  is  being  given  in  schools  to 
arousing  corporate  life  and  evoking  the  qualities  of  leader- 
ship and  service.  Exactly  how  much  the  forward  move- 
ment in  popular  education  during  the  last  25  years  owes 
to  the  enthronement  of  democracy  by  the  Liberal  Reform 
Bills  of  1884-5  it  is  difficult  to  estimate,  but  their  direct 
and  indii-ect  influences  have  undoubtedly  been  very  great. 
The  Act  of  1870  provided  three  chief  topics  of  contro- 
versy to  be  thrashed  out  during  the  years 

Three  immediately   following.      Ought  denomina- 

Topicsof  «       i      i.     i  IT 

Controversy.      tioual  schools  to  continue  to  receive  public 

money ;  how  far  was  the  exercise   of  com- 
pulsion  to  secure   school   attendance    desirable ;    was   it 

1  It  is  important  to  note  that  dissatisfaction  with  the  purely  literary  work 
of  the  schools  had  been  expressed  in  the  Reports  of  Inspectors  in  the  fifties 
(see  Minutes,  1856,  p.  264),  and  for  years  an  attempt  had  been  made  to 
encourage  "Industrial  or  Manual  work."  It  was  only  as  the  influence  of 
the  Revised  Code  began  to  wane  that  attention  was  again  given  to  the 
Manual  movement  in  the  schools. 


138  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

justifiable  in  districts  where  only  denominational  schools 
existed  ? 

Before  the  Act  of  1870  had  passed  through  its  final 
stages,  both  parties,  denominatioualists  and 
Activity  of  the  undenorniiiationalists,  were  preparing  for  a 
Denominational  *•  i      j  ^      ^       c  it. 

Party.  Iiew    inal   of   strength — the   iormer   deter- 

mined to  use  to  the  full  the  period  of  grace 
so  as  to  put  their  house  in  order,  the  latter  resolved 
on  setting  up  School  Boards  at  all  costs.  Educational 
zeal  was  never  more  successfully  stimulated  than  by 
the  sectarian  differences  at  this  time.  The  main  activity 
came  from  those  connected  with  the  Church.  The  clergy 
and  National  Society  exhibited  amazing  energy  and  suc- 
ceeded, according  to  their  own  account,  in  doing  in  twelve 
mouths  what  in  the  normal  course  of  events  would  have 
taken  20  years.  By  the  end  of  the  year  they  had  lodged 
2,885  claims  for  building  grants  out  of  a  total  of  3.342.1 
They  also  set  to  work,  without  any  Government  assistance, 
to  enlarge  their  schools  and  so  increased  denominational 
accommodation  enormously.  The  voluntary  contributions 
in  aid  of  this  work  have  been  estimated  at  over  three 
million  pounds.  At  the  same  time  the  annual  subscrip- 
tions doubled.-  In  populous  districts  where  the  Church 
was  either  weak  in  numbers  or  where  the  growth  of  the 
working  classes  had  outstripped  any  provision  it  could 
make,  Churchmen  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  founding 
and  work  of  School  Boai'ds. 

As  if  to  counterbalance  the  enterprise  of  the  denomina- 

,       tionalists  the  Education  League  redoubled 
The  Struggle 

round  the  its  activities  and  received  the  backing  of  the 

Act  of  1870.        extreme  section  of  Nonconformists.    A  great 
campaign  was  started  to  compel  Parliament  to  revise  the 

1  Of  this  total  376  were  rejected  aud  1,333  were  withdrawn. 
-  1870,  £329,000 :  1876,  £750,000. 


PARTITION  AND  ANNEXATION.  139 

clauses  of  the  Act  that  were  held  to  favour  the  denomi- 
national system.  In  November  a  good  deal  of  excitement 
was  caused  by  the  first  School  Board  elections,  when  it  was 
found  that  the  system  of  cumulative  voting,  which  was 
intended  to  safeguard  the  right  of  minorities,  was  able, 
when  skilfully  used,  to  carry  a  minority  into  power.1 

These  early  years  present  a  picture  of  turmoil,  the 
battles  that  had  been  waged  round  the  passing  of  the 
Act  being  fought  again  on  the  School  Boards.  Often 
enough  one  party  on  a  local  Board  would  desire  to 
exercise  its  powers  of  compelling  children  to  attend 
school,  the  other  would  resist  compulsion  to  any  save 
Board  schools.  Some  Boards  (e.g.  Birmingham)  stead- 
fastly declined  to  pay  the  fees  of  poor  children  attending 
denominational  schools.  Others,  like  the  Manchester 
School  Board,  had  no  such  compunction  ;  indeed,  the  latter 
for  several  years  availed  itself  of  the  permissive  character 
of  the  Act,  and  served  as  a  relief  agency  for  denomina- 
tional schools.  Passive  resistance  to  the  payment  of  the 
education  rate  was  practised  by  a  section  of  Dissenters, 
and  quarrels  between  School  Boards  and  Town  Councils 
were  not  uncommon. 

The  extraordinary  activity  of  the  denominationalists 
induced  the  League  in  1872  to  adopt  a  definitely  secularist 
platform  and  to  urge  the  establishment  of  School  Boards 
broadcast.  For  several  years  the  League  unsuccessfully 
attempted  to  pass  a  Bill  embodying  the  main  points 
of  their  programme — universal  School  Boards,  secular 
schools,  compulsory  attendance,  and  the  withdrawal  of 
grants  from  denominational  schools,  leaving  religious  in- 
struction to  be  provided  by  the  various  religious  agencies 
at  their  own  expense.  The  extreme  agitation,  however, 

1  As  for  example  at  Birmingham.  See  History  of  the  Elementary  School 
Contest,  Francis  Adams,  Chap.  VI. 


140  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

gradually  died  away,  for  Dissenters  as  a  body  showed  a 
want  of  conviction  with  regard  to  the  relative  merits  of  a 
secular  and  an  unsectarian  system.  In  1876  the  League 
disbanded.  Its  main  good  had  been  done  in  educating 
public  opinion  to  the  importance  of  compulsory  attendance 
and  of  improving  the  quality  as  well  as  the  quantity  of 
instruction.1 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  progress  of  the  two 

systems.  The  returns  of  school  accommo- 
Progresa  of  dation  in  the  various  parishes  throughout 
Vohintarv  ^ie  couu^ry»  made  in  accordance  with  the 
Schools.  Act  of  1870,  showed  that  in  about  40  per 

cent,  of  the  cases  no  deficiency  existed  in 
1871,  and  in  a  large  proportion  of  those  where  deficiency 
did  exist  it  was  being  made  up  by  voluntary  effort.  In 
1872  over  a  thousand  new  Voluntary  schools  were  built. 
By  1876  the  number  of  school  places  in  England  and 
Wales  was  found  practically  to  have  doubled  in  seven 
years,  and  of  the  increased  accommodation  two- thirds  had 
been  provided  by  Voluntary  schools.2 

During  the  next  five  years  accommodation  was  further 
increased  by  a  half.  By  1886  over  3,000,000  places  had 
been  added,  one-half  of  which  were  due  to  voluntary 

1  See  History  of  the  Elementary  School  Content,  Chaps.  VII. -IX. 

-In  1869  there  were  in  England  and  Wales  1,765,944  school  places  in 
inspected  schools,  equal  to  8'34  per  cent,  of  the  population.  In  1876  there 
were  3,426,318  school  places,  equal  to  14'13  per  cent,  of  the  population. 
Of  the  additional  1,660,37-4  places,  1,104,224  (or  62'5  per  cent.)  had  been 
supplied  by  voluntary  agencies,  270,148  of  these  being  in  1,077  new  schools, 
erected  at  a  cost  of  over  £300,000  in  grants  and  1£  millions  in  voluntary  con- 
tributions. In  the  same  period  1,596  Board  schools,  providing  for  556,150 
children,  had  been  erected,  and  the  loans  granted  to  1,107  School  Boards 
for  building  purposes  amounted  to  over  7k  millions.  The  average  attend- 
ance in  Voluntary  schools  had  increased  by  593,503  (or  55'83  per  cent.),  and 
328,071  children  were  in  average  attendance  at  Board  schools. — Report  of 
the  Committee  of  Council  on  Education  1876-77. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  141 

agencies,  and  Voluntary  schools  were  providing  rather 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  school  places  in  the  country. 
In  1897  the  proportion  had  fallen  to  three-fifths,  but  even 
then  accommodation  in  Church  schools  alone  was  con- 
siderably greater  than  in  Board  schools.1 

But  to  augment  school  accommodation  was  itself  not 

sufficient.  The  children  had  to  be  brought 
Tk«  Problem  jn^o  the  schools,  and  to  be  induced  to  attend 
Attendance.  regularly  when  they  got  there.  This  was 

no  easy  matter.  Indeed  it  was  one  of  the 
most  important  problems  of  this  period.  School  Boards 
might  compel  attendance  within  their  own  districts,  but 
over  a  large  part  of  the  country  no  such  powers  were  in 
existence.  Besides,  the  mere  exercise  of  compulsion  on 
unwilling  scholars  is  not  very  satisfactory  in  its  results. 
Poor  and  irregular  attendance  was  due  to  diverse  causes. 
Many  parents  had  no  great  faith  in  schooling;  many 
others,  who  were  not  unwilling  to  send  their  children  to 
school,  had  not  realised  the  importance  of  regularity ; 
others,  again,  merely  followed  custom  in  setting  their 
children  to  work.  The  idea  of  sending  children  to  school 
as  a  duty  was  necessarily  a  thing  of  slow  growth,  and  it 
implied  that  the  parents  had  experienced  the  benefits  of 
education.  Various  steps  had  to  be  taken  to  remedy  this 
state  of  affairs.  It  was  felt  that  the  school  itself  must  be 
made  more  attractive,  that  parents  should  feel  that  some- 
thing useful  was  being  learnt  there,  means  should  be 
found  to  encourage  teachers  to  take  an  active  interest  in 
improving  the  attendance  at  their  own  schools,  and  further 
steps  should  be  taken  to  check  the  tendency  to  employ 
child  labour,  and  to  exert  pressure  on  weak  or  indifferent 

1 2,756,911  to  2,552,724  (Report,  1897-98).  In  the  25  years  1870  to 
1895  the  Church  had  spent  nearly  7j  millions  on  buildings  (A  Digest  of 
the  Neir  Education  Bill,  1896,  p.  9). 


142  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

parents.  In  other  words,  reform  was  to  be  looked  for 
through  improvements  in  the  curriculum,  through  im- 
proving the  teaching  power  of  the  school,  and  through 
re-arrangement  of  grants,  supplemented  by  compulsory 
powers  of  school  attendance. 

Indirect  compulsion  had  existed  previous  to  1870, 
through  the  operation  of  the  educational  clauses  of  the 
Factory  and  Mines  Acts.  These  had  made  education 
compulsory  in  two  ways,  either  by  making  the  employ- 
ment of  children  between  8  and  13  years  of  age  con- 
ditional upon  part-time  attendance  at  school — as  was  the 
case  with  the  Factory  Acts  since  1833 — or  children  might 
be  exempted  from  further  schooling  if  they  could  present 
a  certificate  of  proficiency  in  reading,  writing,  and  arith- 
metic— as  was  provided  in  the  Mines  Act  of  1860  for  chil- 
dren 10  to  11  years  of  age.  This  alternative  method  was 
incorporated  into  the  Factory  Acts  in  1874.  From  1870, 
however,  alongside  the  Factory  and  Mines  Acts,  we  have 
growing  up  a  system  of  compulsion  by  means  of  Educa- 
tion Acts.  The  I'esult  is  a  highly  complicated  system 
that  is  a  fruitful  source  of  litigation,  and  which  badly 
needs  co-ordinating  and  simplifying.  Besides  bringing 
children  into  schools,  the  Education  Acts  have  worked 
steadily  towards  establishing  a  higher  minimum  age  for 
employment  than  is  provided  by  the  Factory  Acts.1 

The  compulsory  powers  of  the  Act  of  1870  were  extended 

and  made  more  effective  by  several  other 
of  Compulsion  measures-  In  1873  a  short  amending  Act, 

among  other  provisions,  made  obligatory  the 
attendance  at  school  of  children  whose  parents  were  in 
receipt  of  Poor  Law  relief,  and  required  the  guardians  to 
pay  the  school  fees. 

1  See  Child  Labour  in  the  United  Kingdom,  Introduction  and  Part  I., 
Frederic  Keeling,  1914. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  143 

The  Act  of  1876,  passed  by  a  Conservative  government, 

aimed  directly  at  improving  attendance.     It 

Lord  Sandon  a  -g  memoraDie  f or  its  declaration  that  it  was 

ACL  .    1O/O. 

the  duty  of  every  parent  to  see  that  his  child 
received  efficient  elementary  instruction  in  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic,  and  for  providing  penalties  for  defaulters. 
No  child  was  to  be  employed  under  10  years  of  age  under 
penalty  to  the  employer,  nor  between  the  ages  of  10  and 
14  unless  he  had  obtained  a  certificate  from  H.  M.  Inspector 
of  having  passed  Standard  IV.  in  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic,  or  having  made  250  attendances  for  each  of  five 
years.1  Prom  the  restriction  thus  put  upon  the  employ- 
ment of  children  special  exemption  was  given  to  those 
who  came  under  the  Factory  Acts  which  provided  for  half- 
time  attendance  at  school.  To  administer  the  provisions  of 
the  Act  local  authorities  were  set  up — the  School  Boards 
where  these  already  existed,  and  elsewhere  School  Atten- 
dance Committees.  In  order  to  allay  the  fears  of  Noncon- 
formists, the  Committees  were  authorised  to  report  any 
infringement  of  the  conscience  clause — a  power  that  was 
either  unnecessary  or  was  overlooked,  for  it  was  not 
brought  extensively  into  use.  Provision  was  also  made 
for  the  establishment  of  day  industrial  schools  to  which 
vagrant  and  refractory  children  might  be  sent,  while,  to 
encourage  parents  to  keep  their  children  at  school,  free 
instruction  for  three  years  was  to  be  given  to  all  who  had 
attended  regularly  for  five  years.2 

Finally  a  relaxation  in  the  scale  of  grants  was  allowed, 
and  special  aid  was  given  to  poor  schools  in  scattered 
districts.  The  cost  of  education  was  rising,  and  it  was 
proposed  to  give  a  sum  up  to  17s.  6d.  a  head,  that  is  to  say, 
half  the  estimated  cost  of  a  child's  schooling  at  this  date, 

1  This  was  called  the  Dunce's  pass.  In  1900  350  attendances  were 
required.  2This  provision  was  dropped  shortly  afterwards. 


144  PARTITION  A;;D  ANNEXATION. 

without  requiring  it  to  be  met  by  a  corresponding  sum 
from  local  sources  as  had  been  the  condition  of  grant 
hitherto.  The  Act  was  deliberately  intended  to  assist  the 
Voluntary  schools  in  what  was  already  evidently  to  be  an 
unequal  struggle. 

A  further  step  was  taken  by  Mr.  Mundella's  Act  of  1880. 

School  Boards  and  Attendance  Committees 
18ge0  °  were  now  compelled  to  frame  bye-laws,  if 

they  had  not  already  done  so,  to  govern  the 
school  attendance  of  children  in  their  localities.  No  child 
between  10  and  13  years  of  age  was  allowed  to  be  absent 
from  school,  even  half  time,  without  having  obtained  a 
certificate  stating  that  he  had  reached  a  certain  standard  of 
education  fixed  by  the  local  bye-laws.1  At  the  same  time 
the  Dunce's  certificate  became  no  longer  available  save  for 
children  13  years  of  age,  though  even  then  a  child  was 
required  to  attend  school  half  time  for  another  year.  The 
Cross  Commission  of  1888  laid  great  stress  on  the  indirect 
incentives  to  regular  attendance  already  mentioned,  and 
advocated  the  raising  of  the  half  time  age  to  II.2 

In  1893  the  lowest   age  at  which   children   might   be 

wholly  or  partially  excused  from  attendance 
The  Rise  in  at  scnool  was  ]l  an<l  jn  1899  this  was  raised 
the  School-  n  „  , .  ,  ,  . 

leaving  Age.      to   **•     -Exception  was,  however,   made  tor 

children  in  agricultural  districts  who  under 
certain  conditions  might  become  half-timers  at  11.  In 

1  These  standards  still  vary  considerably  between  different  districts,  see 
e.g.  Report,  1881-2. 

2  The  importance  of  these  Acts  on  average  attendance  can  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  following  statistics.     In  1860  the  percentage  attendance  in 
grant-aided  schools  was  7^'35,  in  18/0  68'07-     The  accession  of  feeble  schools 
and  unwilling  scholars  brought  the  number  in  1875  down  to  66'95.     In 
1880  average  attendance  was  70'61,   in  1886   76'31,  and  since  then  the 
percentage  has  steadily  risen.     In  England  in  1905  it  was  88'11,  in  Wales 
85'4;  in  1912  it  was  88'86  and  87'22  respectively.     This  percentage  was 
lower  than  for  the  previous  four  years. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  145 

1900  local  authorities  were  allowed  to  raise  the  age  of 
compulsory  attendance  from  13  to  14.  At  the  present  day 
three-fifths  of  the  population  of  England  and  Wales  live 
in  areas  where  no  child  under  14  years  of  age  is  wholly 
released  from  school  unless  he  has  passed  the  Seventh 
Standard.  In  1909  the  Interdepartmental  Committee  on 
Partial  Exemption  from  School  Attendance  recommended 
the  total  abolition  of  the  half-time  system  and  the  retention 
of  all  children  at  school  beyond  13  years  of  age,  save 
where  necessity  or  the  beneficial  nature  of  the  employ 
ment  could  be  proved.  Within  recent  years  the  uurabei 
of  half-timers  has  considerably  declined.  There  are  still 
over  70,000  in  the  country,  but  no  one  now  undertakes 
to  defend  the  practice.  Even  in  Lancashire,  the  home 
of  the  system,  it  is,  according  to  Mr.  Shackleton,  retained 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  "  it  is  the  custom  of  the 
district." 

Simultaneously  with  the  expansion  of  educational  accom- 
modation, a  steady  effort  was  being  made 
by  the  central  authority  to  improve  school 
to  Increase11       buildings  and  staffing,  to  widen  the  curri- 
the  Efficiency     culum,  and   to  encourage  a  more  generous 

of  Primary  vjew  of  wnat  the  primary  school  ought  to 
Schools.  .  * 

accomplish.     This  "  stringing  up      process, 

as  it  was  called,  was  effected  by  constant  modifica- 
tions in  the  conditions  under  which  financial  aid  was 
dispensed  to  the  schools.  These  conditions  were  set  out 
year  by  year  in  successive  Codes  and  in  Instructions  to 
Inspectors. 

1  The  number  of  half -timers  in  1886  was  168,543  out  of  a  total  of  4£ 
million.  In  1876  it  was  201,284  out  of  a  total  of  under  3  million.  In  1912 
there  were  70,119  half-timers  out  of  a  total  of  over  6  million.  For  further 
particulars  see  Report  of  the  Interdepartmental  Committee  1909,  and  the 
various  annual  Reports  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

H.  ED.  10 


I4t>  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

Previous  to  1870  the  various  Codes  were  nothing  more 
than  the  codified  minutes  of  the  Education 
Department,  setting  forth  the  conditions,  for 
the  time  being,  on  which  Parliamentary  grants  would  be 
distributed.  After  1870  an  important  change  was  intro- 
duced. In  accordance  with  provisions  in  the  Elementary 
Education  Act,  the  Code  which  contained  a  summary  of 
regulations  for  the  conduct  of  schools  for  the  following 
year  had  to  be  laid  on  the  table  of  the  House  of  Commons 
for  a  period  of  30  days,  to  allow  members  to  exercise  more 
definite  control  over  the  policy  of  the  Department.  Should 
the  Code  remain  unopposed,  it  assumed  all  the  force  of  a 
new  Act  of  Parliament.  It  is  by  regulations  set  out  in  the 
Code  that  the  provisions  of  the  various  Education  Acts  are 
carried  into  effect. 

The  first  Code  of  the  new  series,  The  New  Code  1871, 

introduced  a  number  of  important  changes 
The  New  Code  •  J.T  n  -i  •  -n  xi 

of  1871  m         manner  of  awarding  grants.     ±  or  the 

first  time  secular  schools  became  eligible  for 
grants,  as  the  condition  making  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures compulsory  was  withdrawn.  A  further  slight  relaxa- 
tion was  introduced  by  extending  the  grants  to  efficient 
schools  where  the  average  school  fees  did  not  exceed  9d.  a 
week,  instead  of  limiting  it  as  hitherto l  to  schools  attended 
by  children  whose  parents  were  engaged  in  manual  labour. 
All  school  fees  charged  by  School  Boards  had  to  be 
approved  by  the  Department  to  check  unfair  competition 
with  Voluntary  schools. 

At  the  same  time  the  six  standards  of  the  Revised  Code 
were  modified,  and  a  higher  degree  of  attainment  required. 
The  old  Standard  I.  disappeared,  the  remaining  five  were 
renumbered,  the  old  Standard  II.  becoming  the  new 

1  See  ante,  pp.  116,  126. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  147 

Standard  I.,  and  a  new  Standard  VI.  was  added.  These 
standards  underwent  a  further  slight  modification  two 
years  later,  and  in  1882  a  Standard  VII.  was  included.  A 
more  generous  scale  of  grants  was  introduced,  6s.  for 
attendance  and  4s.  for  a  pass  in  each  of  the  three  R's, 
while  for  infants  a  grant  of  from  8s.  to  10s.  was  paid 
according  to  the  accommodation  provided. 

In  order  to  encourage  a  more  liberal  curriculum,  3s.  was 
paid  for  a  pass  in  not  more  than  two  "  specific  subjects  "  l 
by  children  in  the  three  upper  standards ;  250  attendances 
was  still  a  condition  of  grant,  and  the  total  grant  could  not 
exceed  the  total  local  income  obtained  from  school  fees, 
subscriptions  or  rates,  etc.  Evening  schools  were  encour- 
aged by  a  grant  of  4s.  for  attendance  and  2s.  6d.  for  a  pass  in 
each  of  the  three  E's.  Accommodation  had  to  be  calculated 
on  a  basis  of  eight  square  feet  per  child  (80  cubic  feet),- 
and  attention  was  to  be  given  to  ventilation  and  lighting. 
Two  years  later  provision  for  warming  schools  was  made 
essential.  Surprise  visits  to  schools  might  now  be  paid  by 
inspectors.  Time-tables  had  to  conform  to  definite  regu- 
lations, and  from  one-tenth  to  one-half  of  the  grant  might 
be  deducted  for  various  breaches  of  the  regulations. 
Schools  had  to  be  in  charge  of  certificated  teachers,  but 
certificates  might  be  granted  to  efficient  acting  teachers  of 
ten  years  standing  over  35  years  of  age.3  The  Instructions 
to  Inspectors  at  this  time  (1872)  throw  a  lurid  light  on 
the  policy  of  the  Education  Department  that  had  reigned 
since  Mr.  Lowe's  Revised  Code.  Inspectors  are  warned 
against  over-interference,  and  told  that  "if  satisfactory 
results  be  obtained  no  adverse  criticism  should  be  made  on 
method." 

1  See  infra,  pp.  3024. 

2  In  Board  schools  10  square  feet  werfe  required  for  older  children  and  8 
square  feet  for  infants.  3  See  infra,  pp.  318-319. 


148  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

In  1874  the  attendance  grant  was  reduced  to  5s.,  Is. 

being  specially  set  aside  to  encourage  the 
Class  Subjects.  b.  . J  . 

teaching  of  singing.     The  next  year  only  4s. 

was  paid  for  attendance,  the  shilling  being  paid  on  con- 
dition of  receiving  a  satisfactory  report  on  the  discipline, 
organisation,  and  moral  training  of  the  schools.  At  the 
same  time  only  3s.  was  paid  for  a  pass  in  each  of  the  three 
R's,  but  an  extra  4s.  per  head  might  be  earned  if  the 
children  throughout  the  school  were  able  to  pass  credit- 
ably in  any  two  "  class  subjects,"  '  viz.  grammar,  geography, 
history  and  plain  needlework.  This  was  a  further  effort  to 
liberalise  the  curriculum.  Special  grants  of  from  =£10  to 
.£15  were  made  in  aid  of  schools  in  poor  districts.2 

In  1877  attention  was  given  to  improving  the  staffing 
of  schools.  Not  more  than  three  pupil  teachers  were 
allowed  for  each  certificated  teacher,  and  in  schools  where 
the  average  attendance  exceeded  220  an  additional  adult 
assistant  was  required.3  At  the  same  time,  further  to 
assist  schools  in  poor  districts,  the  grant  was  allowed  to 
rise  to  17s.  6d.  per  child  in  average  attendance  before  it 
was  liable  to  be  reduced  by  excess  over  the  local  income. 
In  practice  only  the  best  schools  were  found  to  reach  this 
limit. 

In  1882  some  very  important  changes  were  introduced. 

To    prevent    hardship    and    to    check    the 

Grants11  temptation  to  fraud,  grants  were  paid  on  the 

average  attendance  over   the  whole  school. 

All  children    whose  names   had  been    on   the  books  for 

22  weeks  were  now  examined,  even  though  they  had  not 

completed  250  attendances.     The  primary  school  syllabus 

1  See  infra,  pp.  302-4. 

2  Special  Reports,  Vol.  I.,  p.  36. 

3  The  regulation  only  came  into  force  in  March  1878.     See  Minutes, 
1876-7,  p.  309. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  149 

underwent  further  modification  and  a  merit  grant  of  Is.  2d. 
or  3s.  was  introduced.  Experience  had  shown  that  though 
two  schools  might  obtain  the  same  ratio  of  "  passes,"  yet  the 
quality  of  the  work  done  might  differ  considerably.  The 
object  of  this  grant  was  to  encourage  better  organisation 
and  discipline,  more  intelligent  instruction,  and  generally  a 
higher  quality  of  work,  while  at  the  same  time  lessening 
the  harshness  of  the  system  of  payment  by  results  by 
allowing  special  local  circumstances  to  count  in  determining 
the  grant. 

The  effect  of  these  various  reforms  was  to  increase  con- 
siderably the  burden  of  the  Voluntary  schools. 
The  Growing  jn  t]ie  twelve  years  that  followed  the  passing 
Voluntary  °^  *-he  Act  of  1870,  the  Church,  for  example, 
Schools.  had  practically  doubled  the  number  of  its 

schools  and  of  its  certificated  teachers,  the 
average  attendance  and  the  amount  of  annual  subscriptions.1 

During  the  same  period  the  cost  of  maintenance  had 
increased  from  25s.  5d.  to  34s.  6fxi.  per  child  in  average 
attendance.  Of  this  sum  15s.  9d.  was  met  by  Government 
grants  and  6s.  lO^d.  by  contributions.  In  Board  schools 
the  cost  was  41s.  6^d.,  of  which  16s.  2d.  came  from  Govern- 
ment  grants  and  17s.  from  the  ratepayer.  The  struggle  to 
make  ends  meet,  to  conform  to  the  increasing  demands  of 
the  Education  Department,  and  to  compete  with  Board 
schools  was  daily  becoming  more  severe.  A  powerful 
memorial  from  the  National  Society  to  Mr.  Gladstone 
(1883),  praying  for  further  assistance,  only  elicited  the 

1870.  1882. 

1  Number  of  schools  6,382  11,620 

Accommodation  1,365,000  2,385,000 

Average  Attendance  814,000  1,538,000 

Certificated  Teachers  9,631  18,634 

Annual  Subscription  £329,000  £600,000 


150  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

reply  that  the  supporters  of  the  denoini national  system 
had  entered  upoii  the  terms  of  the  Act  of  1870  with  their 
eyes  open  and  with  full  knowledge  of  the  amount  of  public 
assistance  to  be  expected.  Undeterred  by  the  rebuff,  how- 
ever, an  agitation  was  kept  up  in  the  country  and  in 
Parliament,  and  in  1886,  with  Lord  Salisbury  as  Prime 
Minister,  the  denominatioualists  found  a  Ministry  sympa- 
thetic to  their  cause.1 

The  time  was  ripe  for  an  investigation  of  the  progress 
during  the  past  15  years,  and  for  this  a  Royal 
CommLsaicm  Commission  was  appointed,  with  Lord  Cross 
as  chairman,  to  inquire  into  the  workings  of 
the  Elementary  Education  Acts  in  England  and  Wales. 
The  points  for  investigation  were,  in  brief,  (1)  how  far 
existing  provision  was  adequate  and  suitable,  and  how  far 
the  machinery  provided  by  the  Education  Acts  was  able  to 
meet  further  requirements  ;  (2)  the  nature  and  efficiency  of 
existing  systems  of  school  management,  the  composition 
and  qualifications  of  the  inspectorate,  the  professional 
preparation  of  teachers,  and  the  working  of  compulsory 
attendance ;  (3)  the  system  of  moral  and  religious  instruc- 

1  Iu  this  denominational  movement  Roman  Catholics  occupied  a  foremost 
place.  Their  activity  is  shown  by  the  following  data  : — 

N°'of         Accommodation.         Present  at 
Schools.  inspection. 

350  101,556  83,017 

567  119,582 

737  242,403  159,576 

828  284,514  200,158 

946  341,953  223,045 

See  The  Position  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  England  and  Wales  during 
the  last  Two  Centuries,  Edited  for  the  XV.  Club,  p.  93.  Cf.  The 
Catholic  Encyclopaedia. 

One  result  of  this  denominational  activity  was  the  founding  of  the 
National  Education  Association,  formed  out  of  the  fragments  of  the  old 
Education  League,  and,  as  its  Secretary,  Mr.  A.  J.  Mundella,  pithily  puts 
it,  the  Association  has  been  fighting  a  "  rearguard  "  action  ever  since. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  151 

tiou,  the  suitability  of  the  school  curriculum,  and  the 
possibility  of  engrafting  on  to  it  some  system  of  technical 
instruction  ;  (4)  the  relation  of  elementary  to  higher  educa- 
tion. The  Commission  sat  for  more  than  two  years,  col- 
lected a  voluminous  mass  of  evidence,  and  issued  a  majority 
and  a  minority  report,  the  former  signed  by  15  and  the 
latter  by  8  Commissioners,  the  broad  difference  between 
the  two  being  that  the  majority  were  predisposed  to  favour 
the  extension  of  the  denominational  system,  aided  by  local 
rates,  alongside  the  Board  schools  ;  the  minority  were  al- 
together opposed  to  rate  aid  divorced  from  popular 
management,  and  would  make  the  denominational  school 
the  exception  in  a  system  of  public  education  unsectarian 
in  character. 

On  points  of  detail  there   was   considerable  agreement 
between  the  two  reports.    Both  agreed  that 
Majority  and      school  accommodation  ought  to  be  provided 
Reports  •  ^or  one'sixth,  an^  *n  certain  industrial  dis- 

Buildings.  tricts  one-fifth,  of  the  population,  and  that 
on  the  whole  the  demand  had  been  fairly 
met.  The  time  had  come  when  the  State  might  with 
justice  be  more  exacting  in  its  demands  for  higher  hygienic 
conditions  in  schools,  for  playgrounds,  for  furniture  and 
structural  arrangements  that  primarily  had  in  view  the  use 
of  the  building  as  a  day  school,  for  desks  adapted  to  the 
size,  age,  and  physical  comfort  of  the  children,  while 
10  square  feet  (100  cubic  feet)  should  be  the  minimum 
accommodation  per  child  in  all  upper  schools,  and  9  square 
feet  in  infant  schools. 

The  small  School  Boards  had  in  a  number  of  cases  not 
been  very  competently  managed,  and  greater 
en^ciency  would  result  if  they  formed  volun- 
tary  associations  ;  it   would   economise  ex- 
pense and  bring  to  bear  a  greater  variety  of   talent ;  a 


152  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

similar  arrangement  was  desirable  among  the  managers 
of  denominational  schools. 

The  inspectorate,  it  was  considered,  should  be  opened  to 

teachers.     The  staffing  of  schools  should  be 

Training  increased :  salaries  should  be  fixed  and  should 

.°  not  depend  on  the  amount  of  grant  earned ; 

ACC  OlillllO  * 

dation.  steps  should  be  taken  to  increase  the  educa- 

tional efficiency  of  pupil  teachers  ;  additional 
Training  College  accommodation  was  urgently  needed,  and 
a  third  year  of  training  was  desirable,  but  while  the 
majority  preferred  the  residential  denominational  college, 
the  minority  were  in  favour  of  undenominational  colleges, 
and  especially  emphasised  the  importance  of  a  system  of 
Day  and  University  Day  Training  Colleges. 

With  regard  to  the  working  of  compulsory  attendance 

there  was  no  doubt  that  the  magistrates  had 
Attendance. 

not  always  supported  the  Attendance  Com- 
mittees. That  no  serious  opposition  had  been  encountered 
was  due  to  the  cautious  way  in  which  it  had  been  in- 
troduced. Now,  however,  the  time  was  ripe  for  making 
the  minimum  age  for  employment  11,  and  compulsion 
ought  to  be  more  rigorous.  Truant  schools  were  especially 
commended.  The  minority,  even  so,  were  strongly  of 
opinion  that  the  real  secret  of  good  attendance  lay  in 
improving  the  quality  of  the  instruction  and  the  general 
interest  and  usefulness  of  the  school.  None  of  the  Com- 
missioners felt  that  they  could  recommend  a  system  of 
free  education. 

Both  reports  agreed  that  the  sentiment  of  the  country 

was  predominantly  in  favour  of  a  religious 

Instruction.        bas*s  of  instruction-     Tne  majority,  however, 

supported  definite  doctrinal  teaching  on  the 

ground  that  any  plan  of  committing  religious  instruction 

to   Voluntary   teachers   was    unworkable.       Where    con- 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  153 

scientiously  carried  out  the  undenominational  instruction 
in  Board  schools  was  highly  valuable,  and  in  all  schools 
increasing  attention  should  be  given  to  moral  training. 
The  quality  of  the  instruction  in  secular  subjects,  as 

tested  by  examination,  had  on  the  whole 
Improvement  shown  continuous  improvement.  The  system 
Subjects.  °f  payment  by  results  had  had  a  bad  effect 

on  promotion,  for  schoolmasters  had  not  un- 
naturally aimed  at  presenting  as  many  of  their  pupils  as 
possible  in  the  lowest  standards  where  success  could  most 
easily  be  guaranteed.  One  of  the  great  difficulties  of  the 
Education  Department  had  been  to  see  that  a  due  propor- 
tion of  children  benefited  from  the  work  of  the  upper 
standards.  In  1872  the  children  in  Standards  IV.  to  VI. 
numbered  only  17'96  of  the  whole  ;  in  1886  the  proportion 
had  risen  to  34  68.  At  the  same  time  the  index  of  backward- 
ness had  diminished.  The  proportion  of  scholars  over  10 
years  of  age  presented  in  the  three  lowest  standards  had 
fallen  from  6371  per  cent,  in  1872  to  36'33  per  cent,  in  1886. 
The  percentage  of  passes  remained  almost  unchanged.  It 
was  83'57  per  cent,  in  1864  and  85'87  percent,  in  1870,  after 
which  it  fell  off,  but  began  to  recover  in  1878,  and  in 
1886  it  was  85-99  per  cent.  The  standards  after  the  New 
Code  of  1871  were,  of  course,  higher,  and  other  subjects 
were  gradually  taking  up  part  of  the  school  day. 

Both  reports  considered  a  more  liberal  curriculum  than 

.    ,  existed  in  many  schools  to  be  imperative,  as 

Curriculum.  ,,  J.  r  ... 

well  as  a  more  elastic  system,  ot  grading  chil- 
dren than  the  rigid  yearly  standards  allowed.  Moreover,  a 
uniform  curriculum  for  the  whole  country  was  not  desirable. 
There  should  be  considerable  diversity  between  schools, 
the  determining  factors  being  the  special  needs  of  the 
district  and  of  the  type  of  children  in  attendance.  In  all 
schools  much  more  attention  ought  to  be  given  to  work  of 


154  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

a  more  practical  character,  and  steps  should  be  taken  to 
engraft  on  to  the  present  system  a  curriculum  of  a  voca- 
tional— "technical" — character  for  the  older  children. 
Special  Government  aid  ought  to  be  afforded  for  the 
erection  of  manual  workshops,  and  there  should  be  an 
active  development  of  technical  instruction  under  the  care 
of  the  municipalities. 

The  system  of  "  payment  by  results  "  had,  in  the  opinion 

of  the  Commissioners,  undoubtedly  tended 
Results  ^°  stereotype  instruction,  to  give  a  wrong 

emphasis,  and  to  hinder  healthy  develop- 
ment. "  We  are  unanimously  of  opinion  that  the  present 
system  of  '  payment  by  results  '  is  carried  too  far  and  is 
too  rigidly  applied,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  modified  and 
relaxed  in  the  interests  equally  of  the  scholars,  of  the 
teachers,  and  of  education  itself."  But  while  the  majority 
were  not  prepared  to  recommend  the  total  abolition  of  the 
system  if  it  could  be  rendered  less  harsh  in  its  operation, 
the  minority  would  do  away  with  it  altogether.  They 
considered  the  attitude  of  the  Department  was  mistaken, 
and  they  proceeded  to  lay  down  the  principles  which  have 
more  and  more  guided  the  policy  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, and  may  in  fact  be  said  to  represent  the  position 
to-day,  namely,  to  see  that  the  educational  conditions  and 
the  machinery  are  all  right,  and  to  expect  everything  else 
to  follow  as  a  matter  of  course.  "  We  are  of  opinion  that 
the  best  security  for  efficient  teaching  is  the  organisation 
of  our  school  system  under  local  representative  authorities, 
over  sufficiently  extensive  areas,  with  full  power  of  manage- 
ment and  responsibility  for  maintenance,  with  well-gradu- 
ated curricula,  a  liberal  staff  of  well-trained  teachers,  and 
buildings,  sanitary,  suitable,  and  well  equipped  with 
school  requisites ;  that  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the  State 
to  secure  that  all  these  conditions  are  fulfilled,  and  to  aid 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  155 

local  effort  to  a  considerable  extent,  but  leaving  a  sub- 
stantial proportion  of  the  cost  of  school  management  to 
be  met  from  local  resources  other  than  the  fees  of  the 
scholars,  ....  and  by  its  inspection  to  secure  that  the 
local  authority  is  doing  its  duty  satisfactorily."  L 

Various   alterations   in   the   mode   of  assessing  grants 

were    recommended,    so  as    to    abolish   the 

system  of  individual  payments  and  concen- 
trate on  encouraging  attendance  and  improving  the  general 
efficiency  and  tone  of  the  schools.  Moreover,  extra  aid 
ought  to  be  given  to  rural  schools,  and  for  special  expendi- 
ture on  manual  centres,  science  and  domestic  teaching,  etc. 
The  majority  went  so  far  as  to  demand  that  the  grants 
should  be  fixed  by  Act  of  Parliament,  so  as  to  stop  the 
incessant  changes  at  the  whim  of  officials.  In  addition 
they  urged  that  once  a  school  building  had  been  passed 
as  efficient,  if  the  Education  Department  required 
further  structural  alterations  they  should  make  a  grant 
to  assist  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  work.  They  also 
suggested  the  application  of  local  rates  to  augment  the 
income  of  Voluntary  schools  so  that  they  might  compete 
more  effectively  with  Board  schools,  a  procedure,  as  the 
minority  pointed  out,  that  would  upset  the  settlement  of 
1870. 

All  the  Commissioners  were  strongly  impressed  with 

the  importance  of  evening  continuation 
Contouati  n  schools,  an(l  with  the  need  for  a  thorough 
Schools.  revision  of  the  existing  system,  which  had 

now  outgrown  its  usefulness  and  was  in  a 
state  of  decay.  The  average  attendance  had  dropped 
from  73,375  in  1870  to  26,009  in  1886.  These  schools, 
which  primarily  aimed  at  teaching  the  three  E's,  were 

1  Final  Report,  Cross  Commission  (Minority),  p.  249, 


156  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

first   aided   by   grants    in     1851,    and    their    usefulness 
steadily  increased  up  to  1870. ' 

The  Act  of  1870  still  regarded  them  as  elementary 
schools  held  in  the  evening,  and  they  were  limited  to 
pupils  between  12  and  18  years  of  age,  or  12  and  21  by 
the  Code  of  1876.  But  the  number  of  students  needing 
this  particular  form  of  schooling  was  steadily  declining. 
In  1882  other  subjects  were  admitted,  but  the  rule  that 
every  scholar  must  take  an  examination  in  the  three  R's 
was  still  enforced.  This  was  now  felt  to  be  a  mistake. 
What  was  wanted  was  a  new  type  of  curriculum  more  in 
touch  with  the  every-day  needs  of  the  pupils  and  deter- 
mined by  local  conditions.  Classes  would  still  be  neces- 
sary to  revise  the  work  of  the  day  schools,  but  there  was 
need  for  preparatory  classes  for  higher  work  in  science, 
art,  and  technology,  for  schools  of  a  more  recreative  and 
social  type.  In  the  words  of  the  Report,  "  the  evening 
schools  of  the  future  should  be  regarded  and  organised 
chiefly  as  schools  for  maintaining  and  continuing  the 
education  already  received  in  the  day  schools."2  They 
should  be  opened  without  upper  age  limit,  and  should 
enjoy  much  more  freedom  to  adapt  themselves  to  particu- 
lar conditions.  Though  compulsory  attendance  was  urged, 
the  Commissioners  were  not  prepared  to  recommend  it.3 
A  good  deal  of  evidence  was  also  collected  with  regard 

to  the  grading  of  schools  and  the  relation  of 
Elementary  elementary  to  higher  education.  The  lack 
and  Secondary  of  adequate  secondary  school  provision,  the 

need  for  a  great  accession  of  lower  grade 
secondary  school  accommodation  and  the  importance  of 

1  Statistics  are  only  available  since  1862. 
-  Final  Report,  Cross  Commission,  p.  164. 

3  For  other  particulars  see  Cross  Commission  Reports,  1888,  and  Report 
of  Consultative  Committee  on  Attendance  at  Continuation  Schools,  1909, 


PARTITION   AND   ANNEXATION.  157 

democratising  the  whole  system  of  secondary  education 
had  been  emphasised  by  the  Schools  Inquiry  (Taunton) 
Commission  1864-7.  Among  other  things  they  recom- 
mended the  establishment  of  local  authorities  with  power 
to  levy  rates,  to  erect  secondary  schools  and  to  enlarge 
existing  establishments,  but  nothing  had  come  of  it.  They 
divided  secondary  schools  into  three  grades  according  as 
the  leaving  age  of  the  majority  of  the  pupils  was  18-19, 
16,  and  14  respectively.  A  third-grade  school  they  con- 
sidered should  exist  in  every  parish,  a  second-grade  school 
in  every  town  with  over  5,000  inhabitants,  and  a  first-grade 
institution  where  the  population  exceeded  20,000.  Even 
before  1870  the  need  for  some  higher  education  than  that 
afforded  in  the  ordinary  primary  school  had  led  managers 
to  establish  here  and  there  schools  of  a  distinctly  higher 
grade  type,  corresponding  to  the  third- grade  schools  of 
the  Taunton  Commission.1 

After  1870  this  movement  developed,  but  chiefly  under 
School  Boards.  In  the  van  were  Sheffield, 
Schools GradC  Birmingham,  and  Manchester.  The  defini- 
tion of  the  Act  of  1870  that  an  elementary 
school  was  one  "  in  which  elementary  education  is  the 
principal  part  of  the  education  given  "  was  interpreted  to 
mean  that  more  advanced  instruction  could  be  given  to  a 
minority  of  the  pupils  at  the  expense  of  the  ratepayers. 
The  movement  was  further  assisted  by  the  liberal  grants 
that  could  be  earned  by  individual  pupils  from  the  Science 
and  Art  Department  for  a  pass  in  a  written  examination 
in  one  or  more  of  a  long  list  of  subjects.  In  1872  another 
potential  source  of  revenue  was  opened  by  the  large 
grants  offered  by  South  Kensington  for  an  organised 

1  The  need  for  higher  grade  or  secondary  schools  of  a  vocational 
character  was  recognised  by  the  Committee  of  Council  in  I860.  (See 
Minutes,  1856-7,  p.  -12.) 


158  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

three  years'  course  in  science,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
encourage  systematic  scientific  training.1  There  was  a 
great  deal  of  diversity  in  the  actual  constitution  of  these 
higher  grade  schools.  The  one  at  Sheffield  took  childn-n 
above  Standard  V.  and  the  school  was  thrown  open  as 
a  prize  to  the  children  of  the  town.  The  upper  end  of 
the  school  was  arranged  as  an  Organised  Science  School, 
teaching  chemistry,  machine  drawing  and  construction, 
magnetism,  electricity,  light  and  heat,  and  drawing.  The 
Central  School,  Manchester,  one  of  the  four  higher  grade 
schools  in  the  city,  was  also  an  Organised  Science  School. 
Sometimes  children  of  Standard  III.  were  admitted.  In 
other  places  these  higher  grade  schools  were  practically 
elementally  schools  with  supplementary  classes.  In  some 
districts  their  effect  was  seriously  to  injure  the  endowed 
secondary  schools  by  offering  a  modern  education  at  a 
cheap  rate. 

Opinion  about  them  differed  considerably.  Some,  for 
example  Matthew  Arnold,  thought  they  hindered  the  ad- 
vent of  a  proper  system  of  secondary  education.  Others 
were  opposed  to  them  on  the  ground  of  removing  all  the 
picked  pupils  from  the  elementary  schools  and  so  lowering 
the  general  standard  of  effort.  Others  considered  them  a 
middle-class  provision.  But  many  were  enthusiastic  in 
their  support.  Both  reports  of  the  Cross  Commissioners 
viewed  them  with  favour,  but  they  pointed  out  the  need 
for  a  sharp  delineation  of  the  respective  spheres  of  different 
types  of  schools,  primary,  higher  grade  and  secondary, 
the  need  for  the  establishment  of  a  complete  system  of 
secondary  schools,  the  importance  of  giving  to  all  an 

1  This  had  the  bad  effect  of  diminishing  the  literary  subjects  of  the 
curriculum  to  vanishing  point.  Only  three  schools  of  this  type  existed  in  1886, 
but  they  developed  rapidly  later.  In  1895  steps  had  to  be  taken  to  provide 
for  the  introduction  of  a  larger  proportion  of  literary  subjects. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  159 

opportunity  to  benefit  by  means  of  exhibitions  in  either 
higher  grade  or  secondary  schools  and  of  giving  these 
institutions  a  bias  determined  by  the  locality.  They  also 
suggested  that  supplementary  classes  might,  in  certain 
cases,  serve  very  much  the  same  purpose  as  higher 
grade  schools,  and  in  large  towns  efficiency  might  be 
further  secured  by  careful  experiments  in  grading  schools 
so  as  to  get  the  maximum  efficiency  from  staffing  and 
from  the  congregation  of  pupils  of  approximately  equal 
ability.1 

Finally,  the  majority  report  considei'ed  that  the  time 
had  come  when,  for  the  best  interests  of  education,  some 
more  comprehensive  system  of  administration  should  be 
found  in  order  to  remove,  as  far  as  possible,  the  grave  and 
inequitable  differences  between  the  two  systems  of  Volun- 
tary and  Board  schools  as  at  present  existing,  and  to 
eliminate  for  the  future  the  friction  and  collision  that 
had  often  arisen  between  them. 

The  Report  focussed  public  attention  upon  the  problems 

of  education,  and  during  the  next  few  years 
Result  of  steps  were  taken  to  give  effect  to  many  of 

Commission.       ^s   recommendations.     The   Code   of    1890 

introduced  a  number  of  important  changes. 
Drawing  was  made  a  compulsory  subject  in  elementary 
schools  for  boys,  and  science,  physical  exercises  and  manual 
work  were  encouraged.  The  method  of  awarding  grants 
was  modified  to  provide  for  a  larger  fixed  grant,  and  an 
important  extension  of  Training  College  accommodation 
was  made  by  encouraging  the  establishment  of  University 
Day  Training  Colleges. 

1  The  experiment  of  grading  schools  into  junior,  middle,  and  upper  had 
already  begun. 


160  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

At  the  same  time  the  evening  school  system  was  revised. 
It  was  no  longer  required  as  a  condition 
Revision  of  of  graut,  that  schools  should  concern  them- 
School  System,  selves  mainly  with  elementary  education,  and 
students  who  could  present  a  certificate 
showing  that  they  had  passed  Standard  V.  were  excused 
examination  in  the  three  R's.  A  much  more  important 
change  was  made  in  1893  by  the  Evening  Continuation 
School  Code,  which  swept  away  the  old  conception  of  the 
evening  school.  Attendance  of  persons  up  to  21  years  of 
age  was  recognised  for  the  purpose  of  grants.  Payment 
was  made  upon  the  instruction  of  the  school  as  a  whole 
instead  of  upon  the  attainments  of  individual  scholars, 
and  fixed  grants  were  paid  upon  the  number  of  hours  of 
instruction  received  instead  of  upon  average  attendance. 
Examination  was  abolished  and  inspection  without  notice 
substituted.  These  changes  gave  the  schools  a  new  lease 
of  popularity,  and  by  1900  the  attendance  was  six  times 
as  great  as  in  1892. 

A  good  deal  of  attention  had  been  given  for  some  time 
to  the  question  of  free  schooling,  for  many 
Schooline  ^e^  ^ia^  Wl^  a  universal  system  of  compul- 

sory attendance  in  vogue  the  payment  of 
school  pence  could  not  long  continue  if  the  system  was  to  be 
efficient.  It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  both  Adam 
Smith  and  J.  S.  Mill1  had  been  of  opinion  that  the  expense 
of  elementary  schooling  might  without  injustice  or  without 
pauperising  the  recipients  be  made  a  State  charge.  To  say, 
as  many  did,  that  because  the  State  compelled  parents  to 
educate  their  children,  therefore  the  State  ought  to  pay 
for  it,  was  of  course  neither  a  valid  nor  a  convincing  argu- 
ment. The  growth  of  public  opinion  in  favour  of  free 

1  See  ante,  pp.  24,  67. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  161 

schooling  is  an  outcome  of  the  development  of  democratic 
sentiment  which  requires  that  each  child  shall  have  open 
to  it  the  best  available  means  of  self -improvement  without 
imposing  any  undue  hardship  on  the  parent. 

In  1891  the  "  Free  Schooling  "  Elementary  Education 
Act  was  passed  with  few  dissentients  by  a  Conservative 
Government.  This  Act  gave  pai-ents  the  right  to  demand 
free  education  for  their  children.  A  grant  of  10s.  on 
average  attendance  was  made  for  each  child  between  3  and 
15  years  of  age  on  condition  that  no  fee  was  charged  except 
where  the  average  payment  had  exceeded  10s.  a  year,  in 
which  case  the  reduced  fee  and  the  aid  grant  together  were 
not  to  exceed  the  amount  formerly  paid  by  the  pupils. 
Moreover,  if  the  Education  Department  was  satisfied  that 
there  was  inadequate  free  elementary  school  accommoda- 
tion in  any  district,  it  might  direct  free  schools  to  be  estab- 
lished under  the  Act  of  1870.  The  net  result  was  to  make 
the  great  majority  of  elementary  schools  free,  to  reduce 
greatly  the  fees  in  the  remainder  and  to  bring  free  educa- 
tion within  the  reach  of  all. ' 

Evidence  of  a  quickened  sense  of  State  obligation  in 
educational    affairs    begins    to    accumulate 
Legislation        rapidly  from  this  time.     In  1893  the  educa- 
Children.  tion  of  afflicted  children  was  made  a  national 

and  local  charge  by  the  passing  of  the  Ele- 
mentary Education  (Blind  and  Deaf  Children)  Act.  This 
provided  that  children  who  were  too  blind  to  be  able  to 
read  the  ordinary  school  books  or  too  deaf  to  be  taught  in 
class  with  normal  children  must  be  sent  to  special  schools. 
Imbeciles  and  pauper  children  were  excepted.  The 
authorities  concerned  were  the  School  Boards  and  the  bodies 

1  In  1902  there  were  still  over  600,000  elementary  school  children  paying 
some  fees,  but  the  number  has  steadily  fallen  until  to-day  they  do  not  total 
lujve  than  about  a  quarter  of  this  number. 

H,  ED.  11 


162  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

responsible  for  appointing  School  Attendance  Committees. 
Attendance  was  compulsory  between  the  ages  of  7  and  16 
years.  The  object  was  to  lessen  the  handicap  under  which 
these  children  suffered,  to  train  them  to  be  self-respecting, 
and  as  far  as  possible  self-supporting  members  of  the 
community,  and  to  check  them  from  developing  into 
habitual  paupers.  In  1899,  as  a  result  of  a  Departmental 
inquiry,  a  similar  measure  for  defective  and  epileptic 
children — the  Elementary  Education  (Defective  and  Epi- 
leptic Children)  Act — was  passed.  It  was,  however,  only 
permissive  in  character. 

In  1888  the  working  of  the  democratic  principle  was 

seen  in  the  passing  of  the  Local  Government 
Development  Act,  a  measure  of  first  rate  importance  that 
Government  se^  UP  County  and  County  Borough  Councils 

on  a  popular  basis  all  over  the  country.  The 
following  year  authority  to  supply  technical  and  manual 
instruction  was  given  to  these  new  bodies  by  the  Technical 
Instruction  Act  (thus  carrying  out  the  recommendation  of 
the  Eoyal  Commission  on  Technical  Instruction).  In  1890 
the  Local  Taxation  (Customs  and  Excise)  Act  allotted  to 
the  same  bodies  a  large  variable  annual  sum — the  Whiskey 
Money — arising  out  of  the  customs  and  excise  duties,  which 
might  be  devoted  to  technical  education. 

These  measures  are  important  as  exemplifying  the  trend 

of  opinion  in  favour  of  committing  education 
Decline  in  £o  some  form  of  local  authority  other  than 
ad  hoc  bodies.  tne  School  Boards.  The  failure  of  the 

School  Boards  in  rural  districts  has  already 
been  mentioned.  Experience  had  shown  that  if  local 
education  was  to  be  successfully  administered,  it  must 
be  in  the  hands  of  authorities  of  broad  and  enlightened 
outlook,  working  over  comparatively  large  areas.  As  it 
was,  a  number  of  School  Boards  took  rather  a  mean  view 


PARTITION   AND    ANNEXATION.  163 

of  their  responsibilities,  others  were  accused  of  lack  of 
sympathy  with  denominational  ideals,  of  extravagance  and 
the  like.  Besides,  the  system  did  not  cover  the  country. 
For  furthering  the  extension  of  local  government  in  educa- 
tional affairs  men  were  losing  faith  in  the  value  of  ad 
hoc  bodies  and  were  concentrating  their  attention  on 
municipal  and  county  authorities.  The  next  few  years 
saw  a  struggle  between  these  opposing  views.  In  view 
of  the  urgent  necessity  of  finding  some  body  to  take 
in  hand  not  only  primary  but  secondary  and  technical 
education,  and  to  co-ordinate  and  develop  the  whole  system 
of  local  education,  it  is  perhaps  not  surprising  that  the 
School  Boards  were  set  aside  by  the  Act  of  1902.  That 
the  dissolution  of  the  School  Boards  gave  rise  to  a  good 
deal  of  feeling  was  natural  enough.  The  larger  Boards 
had  an  unrivalled  experience  of  local  education,  they  had 
done  a  great  work  and  had  won  for  themselves  a  place  in 
history. 

The  history  of  the  Voluntary  system  between  1890  and 

1902  is  the  story  of  an  increasingly  difficult 
Financial  struggle  to  make  ends  meet,  for  while  Par- 

Difficulties  liament  augmented  its  grants,  the  result 
Voluntary  was  more  than  negatived  by  the  increas- 
Schools.  iug  demands  of  the  Education  Department 

as  the  staudai-d  of  efficiency  was  steadily 
raised.  During  the  whole  of  this  period  there  is  seen 
a  growing  determination  on  the  part  of  a  section  of  the 
community,  and  among  conservative  politicians  in  par- 
ticular, to  preserve  the  denominational  system.  Mr.  Joseph 
Chamberlain  eloquently  vindicated  the  position  and  claims 
of  Voluntary  schools  in  1890. '  They  represented,  according 
to  his  estimate,  a  capital  expenditure  of  anything  from 

1  For  nearly  20  years  he  had  been  their  unfailing  opponent. 


164  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

28  to  40  millions,  and  were  supported  by  voluntary  sub- 
scriptions of  over  three-quarters  of  a  million  annually. 
Lord  Salisbury  and  Mr.  Balfour,  too,  left  no  doubt  as  to 
the  goodwill  with  which  they  regarded  denominational 
schools. 

In  1895,  with  the  return  of  the  Conservative  party  to 
power,  a  conference  was  summoned  by  the 

Demands  of       Archbishops     on   the     subiect    of    national 

the  Church  r 

Party.  education.     The   result  was   a  memorial  to 

the  Prime  Minister  (Lord  Salisbury),  backed 
by  the  whole  weight  of  the  Church,  disclaiming  any  desire 
on  the  part  of  Churchmen  to  free  themselves  of  their 
responsibilities,  but  setting  out  the  principles  that  should 
be  kept  in  view  in  framing  any  new  Education  Act.  These 
were  the  maintenance  of  the  religious  character  of  educa- 
tion, the  preservation  to  this  end  of  the  existing  denomina- 
tional system,  the  rights  of  parents  to  determine  the 
religious  instruction  provided  for  their  children,  the 
safeguarding  of  the  rights  of  conscience  of  the  children  of 
Church  parents  in  Board  schools  no  less  than  of  children 
of  Nonconformists  in  Church  schools,  the  claim  of 
denominational  schools  and  colleges  to  participate  in 
public  grants  for  secular  education,  the  educational  value 
of  variety  both  in  type  and  management  of  schools,  and 
the  guarantee  of  efficiency  afforded  by  public  inspection, 
examination,  reports  and  audit.  To  carry  out  these 
provisions  the  memorialists  suggested  the  abolition  of 
the  17s.  6d.  grant  limit,  the  readjustment  of  grants  so 
that  poor  schools  should  not  be  penalised  in  comparison 
with  the  rich,  increased  grants,  preferably  from  the 
Exchequer,  further  facilities  for  the  federation  of  Voluntary 
schools,  the  throwing  open  to  all  of  educational  facilities 
provided  by  School  Boards,  facilities  for  denomina- 
tional teaching  in  Board  schools  and  for  establishing 


AND  ANNEXATION.      .  165 

denominational  schools  where  the  parents  demanded  such 
provision.1 

The  Government  replied  by  bringing  in  Sir  John  G-orst's 

Education  Bill  1896,  which  for  the  first 
Boards  ^me  a^me<^  a^  co-ordinating  the  various 

Attacked.  branches    of    education     under     a     single 

authority.  It  proposed  making  the  County 
Council  the  chief  local  education  authority  with  power  to 
control  and  inspect  elementary  education  and  to  supervise 
technical  instruction  and  secondary  schools,  to  abolish  the 
17s.  6d.  limit  and  give  a  further  grant  of  4s.  to  Voluntary 
schools  and  to  necessitous  Board  schools,  to  federate 
Voluntary  schools,  exempt  them  from  rates  and  assist 
them  with  loans,  to  limit  the  rating  power  of  School 
Boards  to  20s.  per  child,  and  to  provide  separate  religious 
instruction  in  all  public  schools  where  sufficient  parents 
demanded  it.  Sir  John  G-orst  sought  to  justify  these 
drastic  measures  by  pointing  out  that  considerably  more 
than  a  half  of  the  children  were  in  Voluntary  schools,  that 
since  1870  Churchmen  had  spent  over  seven  millions  on 
buildings  and  were  subscribing  another  two-thirds  of  a 
million  annually,  that  Board  schools  were  able  to  spend 
nearly  a  quarter  more  per  child  than  Voluntary  schools, 
and  that  the  Voluntary  system  represented  a  saving  to  the 
taxpayer  of  over  2|  millions  a  year.2 

The  Liberal  party  viewed  the  Bill  with  dismay,  as  a 

revolutionary  measure  designed  for  the  pur- 
Relief  of  p0se  Of  killing  the  School  Boards.  They 
Voluntary  *  .  J 
Schools.  fiercely  contested  its  propositions.  There 

were  many  difficulties  in  the  way  of  framing 
satisfactory  local  education  authorities  within  the  county 

1  Elementary  Education,  Gregory ;  also  The  Church  and  Education 
since  1870,  published  by  the  Church  Committee  for  Church  Defence  and 
Church  Instruction.  -  Cf.  Mr.  Chamberlain's  estimate,  ante,  pp.  163-4. 


166  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

area,  and  by  skilful  obstruction  in  Committee  the  Oppo- 
sition caused  it  to  be  withdrawn  through  the  exigencies  of 
time.  The  following  year  a  Voluntary  School  Bill  was 
forced  through  Parliament  abolishing  the  17s.  6d.  limit, 
freeing  schools  from  rates  and  providing  an  "  aid  grant " 
of  5s.  to  be  paid  through  the  Association  of  Voluntary 
Schools  formed  for  the  purpose.  A  corresponding 
measure  for  the  relief  of  necessitous  School  Boards  was 
passed  the  same  year.  Both  Acts  were  avowedly  temporary 
and  provisional  in  character — stop-gaps  until  a  more  com- 
prehensive scheme  could  be  brought  forward.  In  the 
next  few  years  various  unsuccessful  efforts  were  made  by 
the  Opposition  to  get  Parliament  to  consent  to  the 
establishing  of  a  universal  system  of  School  Boards.1 
Meantime  a  good  deal  of  attention  was  being  given  to 
secondary  education,  and  to  the  passage  of 
children  from  the  elementary  to  the 
secondary  school.  Public  interest  had  been 
focussed  on  the  question  by  an  important  conference  held 
at  Oxford  in  1893,  and  by  the  Report  of  Mr.  (now  Lord) 
Bryce's  Commission  of  1894-5,  appointed  to  consider  "  the 
best  methods  of  establishing  a  well-organised  system  of 
secondary  education  in  England."  A  discussion  of  the 
best  means  of  unifying  elementary  and  secondary  educa- 
tion under  one  local  authority  was  debarred  by  the  terms 
of  reference.  Nevertheless  the  Report  has  an  important 
bearing  on  the  development  of  elementary  education. 
The  Commission  recommended  the  unification  of  the 
central  authority  by  the  creation  of  a 
general  Board  of  Education  under  a  respon- 
sible Minister  with  a  permanent  secretary 
and  a  consultative  education  council,  of  which  one-third 

1See  The  Education  Crisis,  published  by  the  National  Education  Asso- 
ciation. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  167 

should  be  appointed  by  the  Crown,  one -third  by  the 
Universities,  and  one-third  co-opted.  The  new  Board  of 
Education  was  to  absorb  the  Education  Department  and 
the  Science  and  Art  Department,  and  to  undertake  much 
of  the  work  of  the  Charity  Commission.  The  Report  also 
recommended  the  establishment  of  County  and  County 
Borough  Authorities  for  secondary  education  responsible 
for  providing  adequate  secondary  school  accommodation  in 
their  respective  areas  and  empowered  to  aid  out  of  the 
rates  secondary  schools  whether  directly  under  their 
management  or  not.  It  also  advocated  a  great  extension 
of  the  scholarship  system  already  begun  by  County  and 
County  Borough  Councils  as  a  result  of  the  Technical 
Instruction  and  Local  Taxation  Acts  of  1889  and  1890 
for  the  further  education  of  children  from  public 
elementary  schools. 

"We  have  to  consider  the  means  whereby  the  children  of  the 
less  well-to-do  classes  of  our  population  may  be  enabled  to  obtain 
such  secondary  education  as  may  be  suitable  and  needful  for  them. 
As  we  have  not  recommended  that  secondary  education  shall  be 
provided  free  of  cost  to  the  whole  community,  we  deem  it  all  the 
more  needful  that  ample  provision  should  be  made  by  every  local 
authority  for  enabling  selected  children  of  poorer  parents  to  climb 
the  educational  ladder.  .  .  .  The  assistance  we  have  contemplated 
should  be  given  by  means  of  a  carefully  graduated  system  of 
scholarships,  varying  in  value  in  the  age  at  which  they  are 
awarded  and  the  class  of  school  or  institution  at  which  they  are 
tenable. "  * 

Other  important  recommendations  dealt  with  the  inspec- 
tion of  secondary  schools,  with  the  establishment  of  a 
system  of  school  examination  by  the  central  authority, 
and  with  the  registration  and  professional  training  of 
teachers  in  secondary  schools. 

1  Royal  Commission  on  Secondary  Education,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  299*300. 


168  PARTITION  AND  ANNEXATION. 

In   1895   the  total    number   of    County   and    County 
Borough  scholarships  offered   to   boys   and 

Beginnings  of     girls  from  primary  schools  in  England  was 

the  Scholarship  "  „  /  , . 

System.  under  2,oOO.     Of  these  the   majority  were 

available  at  endowed  schools,  but  a  number 
of  higher  grade  schools  and  technical  institutes  were 
included.1  The  difficulty  in  the  way  of  any  considerable 
extension  of  the  system  was  the  lack  of  adequate  secondary 
school  accommodation.  By  1900  the  number  of  scholar- 
ships had  doubled,  being  now  5,500,  a  number,  however, 
quite  inadequate  to  the  need.  It  is  only  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  new  local  authorities  in  1902  that  the  passage 
from  the  primary  to  the  secondary  school  has  become  in 
any  way  effective.2 

In  1899  the  reorganisation  of  the  central  authority 
was  taken  in  hand  by  the  Board  of  Education  Act,  which 
co-ordinated  the  various  activities  at  Whitehall  and  South 
Kensington  by  replacing  the  Committee  of  Council  and 
the  Science  and  Art  Department  by  a  central  Board  of 
Education  with  greatly  extended  powers,  under  a  President 
and  Parliamentary  Secretary,  and  by  providing  for  the 
establishment  of  a  Consultative  Committee.3 

1  There  were,  of  course,  scholarships  offered  by  endowed  schools  them- 
selves. These  are  not  included  in  the  above  figures. 

-  In  Wales  facilities  for  a  widespread  system  of  secondary  education  were 
opened  up  by  the  Intermediate  Schools  Act  of  1889.  In  1896-7  some 
1,364  scholarships  were  awarded  from  county  funds.  At  the  same  time 
school  fees  were  very  low — the  highest  being  £9  and  the  lowest  £2  2s.  per 
annum.  The  average  was  £4  14s.  lOd.  See  Special  Reports  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  Vol.  II.,  p.  40.  For  English  schools  see  Report  of 
the  Royal  Commission  on  Secondary  Education,  1894,  Vol.  I.,  Appendix  ; 
also  Report  oftlif  Board  of  Education  1911-12,  Chap.  I. 

3  For  some  years  the  policy  of  the  Education  Department  had  been 
approximating  to  that  suggested  by  the  Cross  Commission  Report,  viz.  to 
dispense  with  examining  results  and  instead  to  scrutinise  the  conditions 
under  which  the  work  was  conducted.  In  1895  inspectors  were  allowed  to 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  169 

Further  progress  was  held  over  for  the  next  two  years, 
through  attention  being  absorbed  by  the  South  African 
War.  During  this  period,  however,  important  events 
were  happening.  In  1900  Mr.  Cockerton,  district  auditor 
under  the  Local  Government  Board,  disallowed  the  London 
School  Board  the  money  it  had  spent  out  of  the  rates  on 
the  education  of  pupils  over  15  years  of  age,  whether  in 
higher  grade  or  in  evening  continuation  schools,  as  being 
of  a  type  not  provided  for  in  the  Code  for  public 
elementary  schools,  a  decision  upheld  in  the  Court  of 
Appeal  in  1901.  A  special  Act  in  1901  authorised  County 
and  County  Borough  Councils  and  other  local  authorities  to 
empower  School  Boards  to  carry  on  for  one  year  any  school 
that  had  been  conducted  in  violation  of  the  law — an  ar- 
rangement renewed  in  1902. 

II. — PERIOD  OF  ANNEXATION. 

Mr.  Balfour's  Education  Act  (1902)  marks  the  close  of 
a  chapter  in  the  history  of  English  education 
Act  of  1902  °tt  an<l  the  beginning  of  a  new  era.  It  is  the 
culminating  point  in  the  movement  towards 
unification  that  found  expression  in  Sir  John  Grorst's  Bill 
of  1896  and  in  the  Board  of  Education  Act  of  1899.  It 
is  a  great  venture  in  municipalising  education.  For  the 
first  time  education  of  all  grades,  primary,  secondary,  and 
higher,  was  brought  under  the  control  of  a  single  local 
authority.  But  it  is  no  less  interesting  as  affording  an 
illustration  of  the  vitality,  at  any  rate  for  the  time  being, 
of  the  denominational  ideal  in  this  country. 

substitute  surprise  visits  of  inspection  for  examination.  Two  years  later 
the  system  of  "payment  by  results"  disappeared.  In  1896  the  Depart- 
ment of  Special  Reports  was  established  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Michael 
Sadler,  and  the  same  year  the  Board  of  Education  Library  was  opened. 


170  PARTITION  AND  ANNEXATION. 

For  some  years  past  there  had  been  a  growing  deter- 
mination  on   the   part   of  a  section  of  the 

Demands  of       community  to  insist  on  the  rights  of  parents 

the  Church  /  &. 

Party.  t°  denominational  instruction  in  every  type 

of  school,  and  this  feeling  grew  as  the 
financial  position  of  Voluntary  schools  became  more  and 
more  untenable.1 

Opinion  among  Churchmen  was  divided,  as  it  always 
had  been,  as  to  the  wisdom  of  accepting  rate  aid  for 
Church  schools.  The  majority,  however,  had  no  such 
scruples.  Their  position  was  well  represented  by  the 
resolutions  passed  at  the  joint  conference  of  the  House  of 
Convocation  in  London  in  1901.  These  were  (1)  that  the 
cost  of  maintaining  secular  instruction  in  all  schools 
should  be  borne  out  of  public  funds,  whether  local  or 
Imperial ;  (2)  that  the  capital  expenditure  on  buildings, 
structural  repairs,  and  alterations  should  be  thrown  on  the 
body  to  which  the  school  belonged ;  (3)  that  Voluntary 
school  managers  should  appoint  and  dismiss  teachers,  but 
that  one-third  of  their  number  should  be  appointed  by 
the  local  authority  ;  (4)  that  wherever  a  reasonable  num- 
ber of  parents  of  any  denomination  demanded  it  dogmatic 


'  In   1902  the  cost  of  maintenance  per  child  in  a  Board  school  was 
£3  Os.  9id.,  as  compared  with  £2  6s.  3£d.  in  Church  schools. 

Board  Church 

Schools.  Schools. 

Number  of  schools    5,878  ...  11,711  ...         14.275 

Accommodation    2,957,966  ...  2,813,978  ...     3,723,329 

On  registers  2,778,127  ...  2,328,455  ...     3,074,149 

Average  attendance 2,344,020  ...  1,927,663  ...     2,546,217 

Grants  earned   £1  Is.  7?d.  ...  ...  £1  Is.  6£d. 

Voluntary  subscriptions  ...  ...  £670,324  ... 

Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  1902-3,  also  The   Church   and 
Education  since  1870. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  171 

instruction   might  be  provided  in  any  school  by  that  de- 
nomination at  its  own  cost.1 

The  principles  were  embodied  in  the  Education  Bill  of 
the  following  year.     Owing  to  its  importance 

The  Passing  of  ft  was  taken  in  charge  by  the  Prime  Minister. 

the  School 

Boards.  -"S  ^wo  main  features  were  the  creation  of 

one  local  authority  for  public  education  with 
extensive  powers  over  the  whole  field  of  education,  and  the 
making  of  Voluntary  schools  a  charge  on  the  rates  equally 
with  the  Board  schools.  It  aroused  the  bitterest  hostility 
of  Nonconformists  and  Radicals,  who  regarded  it  as  a 
betrayal  of  all  that  had  been  fought  for  in  1870.  The 
new  local  authorities  were  denounced  as  ineffective :  the 
"  clerical  yoke  "  was  being  riveted  into  the  educational 
system  of  the  country :  Voluntary  managers  were  left 
undue  independence.  This  and  much  other  criticism, 
both  intelligent  and  blind,  continued  through  two  sessions 
of  Parliament ;  every  species  of  obstruction  was  resorted 
to,  but  the  Bill  was  forced  through  by  the  guillotine 
application  of  the  closure,  and  became  law  at  the  end  of 
1902.- 

The  Act  abolished  School  Boards  and  School  Attend- 
ance Committees,  and  constituted  the  Councils  of  the 
counties  and  county  boroughs  the  local  authority  for 
elementary  and  higher  education,  with  the  proviso  that  the 
Councils  of  non- county  boroughs  with  a  population  of  over 
10,000  and  the  Councils  of  urban  districts  with  a  popula- 
tion of  over  20,000  should  be  the  local  authority  in  their 
own  area  for  elementary  education  only.  Each  Council 
was  empowered  to  elect  an  Education  Committee  under 
a  scheme  approved  by  the  Board  of  Education.  The 

1  Elementary  Education,  Gregory,  pp.  211-214. 

2Cf.  The  Education  Crisis,  also  Diary  of  the  Education  Bill,  1902. 


172  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

majority  of  the  members  of  the  Education  Committee 
had  to  be  appointed  by  the  Council  (a  county  might 
adopt  other  arrangements)  from  their  own  number.  The 
rest  were  to  consist  of  representatives  of  local  interests, 
persons  of  expert  educational  knowledge,  and  the  like. 
Each  Committee  had  to  include  women  as  well  as  men. 
All  powers  given  to  the  Council  under  the  Act,  except  the 
raising  and  borrowing  of  money,  might  be  delegated  to 
this  Committee. 

The  duties  of  the  local  authority  included  those  of  the 
School  Boards  and  School  Attendance  Committees,  with 
the  responsibility  for  controlling  all  secular  instruction  in 
all  public  elementary  schools  in  the  district.  They  had  also 
"  to  consider  the  educational  needs  of  their  area,  and  take 
such  steps  as  may  seem  to  them  desirable,  after  consulta- 
tion with  the  Board  of  Education,  to  supply  or  aid  the 
supply  of  education  other  than  elementary  and  to  pro- 
mote the  general  co-ordination  of  all  forms  of  education." 
In  this  connection  they  had  regard  to  secondary,  technical, 
and  higher  education  generally,  including  the  power  to 
establish  a  Training  College  for  teachei's.  The  rating 
powers  of  the  Council  were  unlimited,  save  that  the  higher 
education  rate  in  counties  was  not  allowed  to  exceed  2d. 
in  the  pound. 

The  Local  Education  Authority  thus-  acquired  control 
over  two  classes  of  elementary  schools,  (1)  provided  or 
Council  schools,  corresponding  to  the  old  Board  schools, 
and  (2)  non-provided  or  Voluntary  schools.  The  former 
were  built,  supported,  and  managed  entirely  by  the 
Local  Education  Authority.  In  county  areas  each  school 
had  four  managers  appointed  by  the  Education  Com- 
mittee. Non-provided  schools  differed  in  that  they  were 
managed  by  a  Board  of  six,  four  of  whom — the  founda- 
tion managers — were  appointed  under  the  provisions 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  173 

of  the  trust  deed,  and  two  by  the  Education  Committee. 
These  managers  had  to  keep  the  school  fabric  in  repair, 
with  the  exception  that  the  cost  of  ordinary  wear  and 
tear  was  a  charge  on  the  public  purse.  They  had  to 
carry  out  the  instructions  of  the  local  authority  with 
regard  to  secular  education,  and  to  allow  this  authority 
the  use  of  the  building  for  educational  purposes,  free 
of  charge,  on  not  more  than  three  days  in  the  week. 
The  managers  had  also  the  right  to  appoint  their  own 
teachers  subject  to  the  consent  of  the  Local  Education 
Authority. 

Religious  instruction  in  provided  schools  and  in  any 
secondary  school,  college,  or  hostel  under  the  Council  was 
to  be  subject  to  the  Co wper- Temple  Clause  of  the  Act  of 
1870.  In  non-provided  schools  the  religious  teaching  had 
to  conform  to  the  trust  deed,  and  was  under  the  control 
of  the  managers.  This  is  known  as  the  Kenyon-Slaney 
Clause,  and  was  introduced  to  check  undue  clerical  inter- 
ference. 

A  new  system  of  grants  was  devised,  applicable  to  all 
schools.  The  term  elementary  school  was  limited  to  a 
school  held  during  the  day-time,  and  might  not  include 
for  grant,  save  under  special  conditions,  children  over  16 
years  of  age.  Powers  were  also  granted  to  the  Local 
Education  Authority  to  pay  the  reasonable  travelling 
expenses  of  teachers  and  children  attending  school  or 
college.1 

The  Education  (London)  Act  of  1903  extended  and 
adapted  these  provisions  to  London. 

However  controversial  some  of  the  clauses  of  the  Act 
may  be,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  represents  an 
immense  forward  step  in  the  history  of  English  Educa- 

1  For  a  full  summary  of  the  Act  see  The  Educational  Systems  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  Graham  Balfour,  pp.  33-37. 


174  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

tioii,  parallel  to  that  taken  by  the  Act  of  1870.  The 
State  abandoned  its  policy  of  supervising  and  assisting 
the  work  of  Voluntary  associations,  and  assumed  full 
responsibility  for  the  whole  of  the  secular  instruction 
of  the  people.  In  other  words,  it  marks  the  close  of  a 
period  of  partition,  and  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  annexa- 
tion. 

The  result  has  been  that  all  grades  of  education  have 

been  brought  into  much  closer  relations 
(^1902°  °  than  was  possible  at  any  previous  period. 

The  interdependence  of  all  classes  of  schools 
has  been  more  clearly  realised,  and  the  passage  of  children 
from  the  elementary  school  to  higher  institutions  has  been 
enormously  facilitated.1  Greater  attention  has  been  given 
to  the  organisation  of  continuation  and  trade  schools,  to 
the  questions  of  child  labour,  blind  alley  employment,  and 
the  like.  The  position  of  teachers  as  a  body,  and  especi- 
ally of  those  in  non-provided  schools,  has  steadily  im- 
proved. There  has  been  a  great  development  of  interest 
in  educational  experiments,  and  a  considerable  expansion 
of  training  college  accommodation  and  of  means  provided 
for  enabling  teachers  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  latest 
developments  in  educational  method.  In  shoi't,  the  exist- 
ence of  strong  and  alert  local  authorities  responsible  for 
the  educational  policy  of  their  particular  areas  has  done  a 
good  deal  towards  raising  the  general  level  of  national 
education.  But  at  the  same  time  the  question  of  the 
right  attitude  of  the  State  towards  denominational  schools 
has  acquired  a  new  importance. 

1  In  1906  some  23,500  scholarships  were  offered  by  local  authorities  for 
this  purpose.  In  1911-12  the  number  had  risen  to  over  38,000.  At  this 
date  nearly  50,000  boys  and  girls  whose  previous  education  had  been 
received  in  elementary  schools,  representing  32'5  per  cent,  of  the  total 
number  of  secondary  school  pupils,  were  in  receipt  of  free  tuition. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  175 

It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  Nonconformists  and 

Radicals  as  a  body  would  b*e  prepared  to 

remove  the        leave   the    denominational    schools    in    the 

Grievances  of     favoured  position  in  which  they  were  left  by 

SmSts  Mr'  Balfour's  Act-     With  the  return  of  the 

Liberal  party  to  power,  Mr.  Birrell  brought 
in  an  important  Bill  in  1906  for  remedying  the  grievances 
of  Nonconformists.  The  dual  system  of  Council  and 
Voluntary  schools  was  to  be  abolished.  After  January  1st, 
1908,  all  public  rate-aided  Voluntary  schools  were  to  be 
transferred  to  the  local  axithority  and  become 
" provided "  schools.  The  terms  of  transfer 
of  these  "  non-provided  "  schools  was  to  be 
settled  by  the  local  authority  and  the  school  trustees,  or, 
failing  them,  by  three  special  Commissioners,  against  whose 
decision  there  was  to  be  no  appeal.  The  Cowper-Temple 
clause  was  to  be  enforced  in  all  schools  and  no  teacher  was  to 
be  bound  to  give  religious  instruction.  In  the  transferred 
schools,  however,  teaching  of  a  definitely  denominational 
character  might  be  given  on  not  more  than  two  mornings 
in  the  week  at  the  expense  of  the  particular  denomination. 
At  the  same  time,  to  meet  any  special  demand  in  urban  dis- 
tricts for  schools  of  a  denominational  character,  "extended 
facilities  "  for  special  religious  instruction  would  be  granted 
on  every  school  day  providing  four-fifths  of  the  parents 
demanded  it.  Under  such  conditions  the  ordinary  teachers 
might,  if  they  so  desired,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Local 
Education  Authority,  give  their  services  for  the  work. 

The  Bill  was  amended  in  the  Lords  so  as  to  provide 
every  opportunity  for  denominational  teaching  in  every 
type  of  school,  and  at  the  same  time  to  allow  the  setting 
up  of  a  class  of  State-aided  schools  entirely  free  from  local 
control.  The  latter  provision  was  introduced  to  meet  the 
views  of  a  considerable  section  in  the  Church  who  had 


176  PARTITION     AND    ANNEXATION. 

always  opposed  the  policy  of  assisting  denominational 
schools  out  of  rates.  Provision  was  also  made  for  the 
erection  of  denominational  schools  in  areas  where  the 
school  provision  was  deficient. 

As  neither  House  was  disposed  to  compromise,  the  Bill 
was  dropped.  This  forms  the  most  important  attempt  so 
far  made  to  amend  the  Act  of  1902.  Three  other  Bills 
call  for  notice  in  this  connection.  In  1908  Mr.  McKenna, 

then  Minister  of  Education,  sought  to  limit 
B^j  c  ennas  rate  aid  to  schools  that  conformed  to  the 

Cowper- Temple  clause.  Local  authorities 
were  to  be  responsible  for  seeing  that  adequate  "  provided  " 
school  accommodation  was  within  the  reach  of  every  child 
who  needed  it.  Accordingly  the  trusteos  of  "  non-provided  " 
schools  were  to  be  invited  to  "  transfer "  their  schools 
to  the  Local  Education  Authority.  Facilities  were  to  be 
granted  for  the  use  of  the  school  premises  on  Saturdays 
and  Sundays,  and  in  "  single  school  parishes  "  daily  before 
or  after  school  hours  for  denominational  teaching.  Where 
managers  did  not  wish  to  transfer  their  schools  they  might 
"  contract  out."  That  is  to  say,  they  would  cease  to  receive 
rate  aid,  they  would  be  given  an  Exchequer  grant  not  ex- 
ceeding 47s.  per  child  per  annum,  providing  they  satisfied 
the  requirements  of  the  Board  of  Education  with  regard 
to  efficiency,  staffing,  etc.,  and  they  would  be  allowed  to 
charge  fees  up  to  9d.  a  week.  This  option  was  not  open 
to  managers  where  the  school  was  the  only  one  in  the 
parish. 

In  the  same  Session  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph's  proposed 

a  Bill  on  similar  lines.  He  proposed  to  lease 
A?ab°h's0Bilit'  non-provided  schools  to  the  local  authority, 

but  he  required  undenominational  instruction 
in  all  schools  and  facilities  for  denominational  teaching 
on  at  least  three  days  in  the  week  in  every  school,  whether 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  177 

Council  or  transferred,  during  school  hours,  but  not  at  the 
expense  of  the  local  authority. 

Mr.  Runciman's  Bill  (1908)  proposed  to  limit  rate  aid 
to   Council   schools ;    to  require   uudenomi- 

Mr-  national  religious  instruction  at  the  morning 

Runciman's  .  „         ,  .        ,   ,       , 

Bill  session  ;  and  to  allow  denominational  teach- 

ing  at   the   request  of   the  parent  on  two 
mornings  in  the  week  providing  there  was  sufficient  ac- 
commodation for  the  purpose  within  the  school  building. 
He  also  proposed  to  recognise  a  special  class  of  State-aided 
schools   not   under  the   control   of   the   Local   Education 
Authority  provided  they  were  organised  into  associations. 
These  various  proposals  to  find  a  basis  of  compromise 
have  had  the  effect  of  exciting  a  good  deal 

Educational        of  opposition  on  both  sides.    In  the  following 
Settlement  ,         .        .  0  ...  ... 

Committee.         Jear  au  Educational  Settlement  Committee, 

composed  of  people  of  all  shades  of  political 
opinion  desirous  of  maintaining  and  promoting  religious 
education  as  an  integral  part  of  a  national  educational 
system  on  non-party  lines,  issued  a  series  of  proposals 
intended  to  pave  the  way  to  a  settlement.  As  yet  this  has 
not  been  realised.  Briefly,  they  proposed  that  wherever  only 
one  school  existed  in  a  particular  area,  that  school  should 
be  provided  by  the  Local  Education  Authority,  and  existing 
non-provided  schools  should  accordingly  be  transferred, 
though  provision  should  be  made  for  denominational 
religious  teaching  not  at  the  expense  of  the  local  authority. 
Proposals  were  also  made  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of 
religious  teaching  in  Council  schools,  for  continuing  rate 
aid  to  denominational  schools,  and  for  encouraging  a 
diversity  of  type  of  school  in  districts  where  more  than  one 
school  was  possible.  There  the  matter  rests  for  the  present 
The  real  difficulty  is  the  single  school  area.  A  settlement 
is  beset  with  difficulties  because  of  the  diversity  of  con- 
H.  ED.  12 


178  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

flicting  ideals  and  interests  involved,  which  are  not  limited 
to  the  members  of  the  recognised  religious  communities.1 
One  of  the  most  characteristic  features  of  the  twentieth 

century  is  the  attention  that  has  been  given 
Increasing  to  questions  concerning  the  improvement  of 
Personal11 10  the  Physical  condition  of  the  individual. 
Hygiene.  After  realising  that  the  environment  of 

home  and  street  is  amenable  to  remedial 
treatment,  it  is  a  short  step  to  the  individual  himself. 
Much  thought  has  been  given  to  the  question  of  how  to 
improve  the  physique  of  the  nation  and  to  determining 
whether  or  not  the  race  has  deteriorated.  The  Physical 
Training  Commission  (Scotland)  of  1903  and  the  Physical 
Deterioration  Committee  of  the  following  year  are  signs  of 
the  time  It  has  been  shown  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
physical  unfitness  existing  among  the  people,  and  the 
determination  has  arisen  to  ameliorate  and  as  far  as 
possible  prevent  it  by  improving  the  health  conditions 
both  personal  and  material  of  the  children.  Attention  has 
been  focussed  on  the  children  because  the  State  has  for 
years  been  cai'ing  for  their  mental  development.  They 
are  easily  seen  and  easily  examined,  and  it  is  with  the 
children  that  the  most  valuable  preventive  and  remedial 
work  can  be  done.  Two  important  Acts  which  are  the 
result  of  this  movement  call  for  attention. 

The  Education  (Provision  of  Meals)  Act  of  1906  is  an 

outcome  of  the  feeling  that  it  is  little  use 
Feeding  of  attempting  to  teach  children  who  are 
Children.  improperly  nourished.  It  empowered  local 

authorities  to  form  committees  ("  School 
Canteen  Committees  "),  whose  business  it  was  to  provide 


1  See  Towards  Educational  Peace,   Longmans,   1910;  also  the  recent 
publications  of  The  National  Education  Association,  etc. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  179 

Suitable  meals  at  a  cheap  rate  for  children  within  their 
area  who  were  unable  by  reason  of  lack  of  food  to  take 
full  advantage  of  the  education  provided  for  them.  The 
Education  Committee  was  required  to  provide  land,  build- 
ings, apparatus  and  the  like  for  the  Canteen  Committee, 
and  to  levy  a  charge  on  the  parent  for  the  food  provided. 
In  cases  where  it  was  evident  that  the  parent  could  not 
defray  the  cost  of  the  meals,  the  authority  might,  with  the 
permission  of  the  Board  of  Education,  levy  a  rate  for  the 
purpose  not  exceeding  ^d.  in  the  £. 

The  Education  (Administrative  Provisions)  Act  of  1907 
took    the    further   step    of    requiring    each 
Vacation  child  in   school  to  be   medically  examined, 

Medial and  anc^  a^owe(^  special  provision  to  be  made 
Inspection.  for  children  during  the  school  vacations 
It  empowered  authorities  to  establish 
vacation  schools,  vacation  classes,  play-centres  or  other 
means  of  recreation  during  the  holidays  or  at  other  times, 
either  in  the  school  itself  or  elsewhere,  for  example  in  the 
country.  At  the  same  time  it  imposed  on  all  local 
authorities  the  duty  of  pi-oviding  for  the  medical  inspection 
of  children  immediately  before,  or  at  the  time  of,  or  as 
soon  as  possible  after,  admission  and  on  such  other  occa- 
sions as  the  Board  of  Education  direct. 

This  marks  the  beginning  of  the  State  system  of  school 
medical  inspection  in  this  country.  Hitherto  few  autho- 
rities had  undertaken  anything  in  the  nature  of  the 
systematic  individual  medical  inspection,  although  it  was 
a  well-established  practice  abroad.  Useful  pioneer  work 
had  been  done  in  London  and  elsewhere,  and  of  course  in 
a  number  of  secondary  schools.  Each  Local  Education 
Authority  had  to  set  up  its  school  medical  department, 
and  a  corresponding  department  was  established  by  the 
Board  of  Education.  Special  grants  are  made  in  aid  of 


180  PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 

the  expenditure  incurred  by  local  authorities  on  the  medical 
treatment  of  children  attending  public  elementary  schools 
and  on  work  ancillary  to  medical  treatment,  as  well  as  for 
children  attending  special  schools  and  suffering  from  tuljer- 
culosis  or  from  ailments  for  which  open-air  treatment  is 
specially  suitable.  Apart  from  the  more  strictly  medical 
aspect  of  the  work,  the  result  is  already  seen  in  the  emphasis 
on  open-air  teaching,  the  provision  of  school  baths, 
increased  attention  to  clothing  and  personal  hygiene,  to 
physical  education,  to  the  lighting,  cleaning  and  ventilating 
of  school  buildings,  to  school  furniture,  reading  books  and 
the  like.  A  good  deal  is  also  being  done  to  educate  careless 
and  indifferent  parents  to  a  sense  of  their  duties.1 

Since  1902  the  cost  of  education  per  child  has  increased 

by  more  than  a  half.  The  result  has  been  a 
Financial  steadily  increasing  burden  on  the  local 

authorities,  which  has  not  been  met  by  any 
proportionate  increase  of  Imperial  grants.  At  the  same 
time  other  local  expenditure  has  grown,  and  the  rates  are 
not  indefinitely  elastic.-  The  seriousness  of  the  situation 
was  recognised  by  Mr.  Bin-ell's  Bill  (1906),  which  pro- 
posed to  allot  =£1, 000,000  for  the  relief  of  local  rates,  and 
Mr.  McKenna's  Bill  (1908)  had  in  view  an  extra  contribu- 
tion from  the  Government  of  nearly  1^  millions.  To-day 
educational  finance  is  one  of  the  pressing  problems  of  the 
moment.  One  way  out  of  the  difficulty  would  be  to  make 
the  entire  cost  of  education  a  charge  on  Imperial  funds. 
Such  a  policy  would  be  most  unsatisfactory,  as  it  would 

1  Compare  also  the  attention  that  has  been  given  during  this  period  to 
the  employment  and  school  attendance  of  children.     Cf.  inter  alia,   Child 
Labour  in  the  United  Kingdom,  Keeling. 

2  The  cost  of  education  per  child  per  annum  in  1912  was  92s.  4d.     Local 
authorities  are  expending  upwards  of  25  millions  on  education,  an  increase 
of  6  millions  in  7  years.     During  the  same  period  Government  grants  have 
increased  by  one  million. 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION.  181 

lead  to  a  highly  centralised  system  of  education  and 
management  that  is  contrary  to  prevailing  sentiment  in 
this  country.  English  opinion  undoubtedly  favours  local 
management  as  a  check  on  bureaucracy.  It  is  more 
democratic  in  character  and  allows  of  greater  initiative, 
variety  and  elasticity.1 

The  problem  on  which  attention  is  beginning  to  be 
focussed  is  how  to  increase  the  contribution  from  the 
central  funds,  by  transferring  some  of  the  burden  from 
the  ratepayer  and  imposing  it  on  the  taxpayer,  while  at  the 
same  time  guaranteeing  an  efficient  local  administration. 
Mere  doles,  it  is  recognised,  will  not  do.  At  the  same 
time  other  suggestions  are  being  made,  viz.  to  reform  the 
present  system  of  local  rating  by  distributing  the  burden 
more  equitably  than  at  present  and  securing  greater 
economy  in  administration  by  grouping  education  autho- 
rities and  establishing  a  uniform  system  over  large  areas.2 
These  are  questions,  however,  that  extend  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  educational  administration  and  finance. 

For  the  moment  the  tendency  seems  to  be  to  increase 
the  contribution  from  the  Government  in  such  a  way  as  to 
favour  poor  districts  where  the  ratable  value  is  lowest 
and  where  the  burden  of  education  is  often  highest.  How 
far  such  a  policy  is  capable  of  extension  without  over- 
stepping the  limit  of  sound  finance  is  another  question.3 

1  Thus  a  section  of  opiniou  to-day  looks  for  a  much  greater  freedom  than 
is  at  present  allowed.  It  seems  to  favour  experiments  on  co-operative  lines 
that  recall  the  proposals  of  William  Lovett  in  the  thirties. 

-  Provision  for  this  was  included  in  the  Act  of  1902. 

3  Local  education  rates  vary  from  2s.  lOy^d.  (Wales)  and  2s.  3T7gd. 
(England)  to  5r85d.  The  ratable  value  per  scholar  ranges  from  £13  to 
£10G,  and  local  expenditure  from  52s.  to  150s.  The  formula  proposed  by 
the  Kempe  Committee  on  Local  Taxation  was  that  the  Government  should 
give  a  grant  of  36s.  per  child,  plus  two-fifths  the  local  expenditure  on 
education  less  the  produce  of  a  7d.  rate,  but  no  authority  should  receive  under 


182 


PARTITION    AND    ANNEXATION. 


the  formula  more  than  two-thirds  of  its  expenditure  so  long  as  the  amount 
falling  on  the  rates  is  equivalent  to  a  rate  of  less  than  Is.  in  the  £.  The 
Kempe  Committee  also  recommended  a  grant  for  small  schools  of  5s.  for 
each  unit  by  which  the  average  attendance  in  a  school  falls  short  of  200. 
It  is  very  unlikely,  however,  that  the  recommendation  will  be  strictly 
adhered  to.  (See  Board  of  Education  Statistics,  1911-12.) 
Progress  since  1902  : — 

1902.  1906.  1!M2. 


Church  of 
England 

Wesleyan 


11,711    2,813,978 
458       183,673 


Roman  Catho- 
lic      1,056 


British 
other 

Jewish 


and 


1,043 


403,064 
322,887 


Undenomina- 
tional and 
other 

Total  Volun- 
tary ...  14,268  3,722,427 

Board    (and 
Council) 
Schools    ...     5,943    3,003,247 


11,377    2,743,876 
345        129,358 


10,877    2,227,431 
214         65,749 


1,064       411,360        1,082       377,859 


12         11,358 

689       196,480 
13,487    3,492,432 


9,883 


452 


98,828 
12,637    2,779,750 


6,980    3,520,093        8,196    4,065,240 

The  steady  increase  of  Boman  Catholic  schools  should  be  noticed.  The 
decline  in  the  number  of  other  Voluntary  schools  is  due  to  schools  being 
closed  or  transferred  to  local  authorities.  The  smaller  number  of  school 
places  is  a  result  of  the  larger  amount  of  floor  space  per  child  required  by  the 
Board  of  Education. 


PART  II. 

THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  CURRICULUM  AND 

THE  INTERNAL    ORGANISATION   OF    THE 

PRIMARY  SCHOOL. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  ELEMENTAEY  SCHOOL  AT   THE   CLOSE 
OF   THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTUKY. 

"'Tis  education  forms  the  youthful  mind, 
Just  as  the  twig  is  bent  the  tree  's  inclin'd." 
How  needful  then,  the  tender  plant  to  rear 
With  constant  diligence  and  watchful  care. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  conception  of 
an  elementary  education  more  or  less  common  to  all 
classes  was  non-existent  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Equality  of  educational  opportunity  was  un- 
dreamt of,  and  as  Crabbe's  lines '  suggest,  the  nature  and 
scope  of  even  an  elementary  schooling  depended  upon  the 
social  grade  to  which  the  individual  belonged.  The 
charity  school  had  one  ideal,  the  common  school  quite  a 
different  one.  Not  that  the  schools  which  fall  into  one  or 
other  of  these  two  classes  were  uniform  in  type ;  on  the 
contrary  they  presented  wide  differences  in  organisation 
and  curricula.  Thus  the  "  school  of  industry  "  had  a 

1  Ante,  p.  5. 
183 


184  THE    ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL    AT 

motive  very  different  from  that  of  the  ordinary  parochial 
charity  school.  The  Sunday  school,  again,  had  features 
peculiar  to  itself.  Similarly  the  term  "  common  school  " 
conveniently  denotes  the  great  number  of  private  adventure 
schools  resorted  to  by  the  working  and  lower  middle 
classes,  lying  between  the  dame  schools  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  academies  for  young  ladies  and  for  young  gentle- 
men on  the  other. 

But,  minor  differences  apart,  the  motive  of  the  charity 
school  was  primarily  to  give  a  moral  and 

The  Aim  of        religious  training,  while  the  common  school 

Charity  School  .      . 

Education.         was  principally    concerned   with   imparting 

the  elements  of  intellectual  instruction. 
Thus  Griffith  Jones  was  voicing  well  recognised  philan- 
thropic sentiment  when  he  wrote  :  "  It  is  but  a  cheap 
education  that  we  would  desire  for  them  (the  poor),  only 
the  moral  and  religious  branches  of  it,  which  indeed  is  the 
most  necessary  and  indispensable  part.  The  sole  design 
of  this  charity  is  to  inculcate  upon  such  ...  as  can  be 
prevailed  on  to  learn,  the  knowledge  and  practice,  the 
principles  and  duties  of  the  Christian  Eeligion  ;  and  to 
make  them  good  people,  useful  members  of  society,  faith- 
ful servants  of  God  and  men  and  heirs  of  eternal  life."  1 
In  short  the  foundation  of  all  charity  school  education  was 

a  training  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian 

The  Religious    religion  (e.g.  as  set  out  in  the  Church  Cate- 

Characterof  °        v   ^ 

the  Instruction,  chism).      Instruction   in    reading,   writing, 

and  arithmetic  might  be  added  to  augment 
the  economic  efficiency  of  the  pupil,  or  the  education  might 
be  "  improved  "  by  coupling  with  it  a  training  in  industry 
according  to  the  judgment  of  particular  school  governors ; 
but  this  does  not  alter  the  essentially  religious  motive  that 
dominated  the  whole.  The  peculiar  nature  of  the  instrue* 
1  Welch  Piety,  1/42,  p.  28, 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY.  185 

tion  called  for  a  special  method  of  teaching.  This  was 
carefully  laid  down  for  the  guidance  of  those  concerned.1. 
Thus  in  charity  schools  connected  with  the  S.P.C.K.  the 
children  had  first  to  learn  to  say  the  Catechism  by  heart 
distinctly  and  plainly,  after  which  it  was  expounded  by 
the  master  from  some  good  exposition.  This  had  to  be  done 
twice  a  week,  and  as  soon  as  the  children  knew  the  work 
they  were  catechised  by  the  minister  in  church.  After- 
wards the  children  were  instructed  in  their  duty  towai'ds 
God  and  Man — the  master  taking  as  his  guide  for  exposi- 
tion The  Whole  Duty  of  Man.  Much  attention  was  given 
to  religious  observances,  to  moral  training,  to  inculcating 
habits  of  good  behaviour,  etc.,  illustrations  for  teaching 
purposes  being  freely  drawn  from  the  Bible  and  the 
Catechism.  In  all  this  work,  as  in  the  direct  religious  in- 
struction, the  master  taught  under  the  superintendence  of 
the  minister. 

At  the  same  time  the  children  were  learning  to  read  by 
an  alphabetic- spelling  method,  or,  in  con- 
Charity  temporary  phraseology,  they  were  taught 
Routine.  "  the  true  Spelling  of  Words  and  Distinc- 
tion of  Syllables,  with  the  Points  and  Stops 
which  is  necessary  to  true  and  good  Reading  and  serves 
to  make  Children  more  mindful  of  what  they  read."  ! 
Girls  commonly  got  no  further  than  this,  but  spent  the 
rest  of  their  time  in  domestic  occupations,  sewing,  knit- 
ting, etc.  Boys,  however,  as  soon  as  they  could  read 
tolerably  well "  might  be  taught  to  write  "  a  legible 
hand  "  and  "  the  grounds  of  arithmetic."  The  schools 
provided  for  children  between  seven  and  twelve  years  of 

1  In  Salmon's  Education  of  the  Poor  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  pp.  4-5, 
is  given  a  verbatim  copy  of  these  instructions. 

-  An  Account  of  Charity  Schools  lately  erected  in  those  parts  of  Great 
Britain  called  England  and  Wales.  1708.  Seventh  edition. 


186  THE    ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL    AT 

age.  The  school  day  was  from  7  to  11  A.M.  and  from  1  to 
5  P.M.  iii  summer,  and  from  8  to  11  A.M.  and  1  to  4  P.M.  in 
winter.  Registers  had  to  be  kept  morning  and  afternoon, 
and  in  day  schools  parents  were  required  to  guarantee  the 
regularity,  punctuality,  cleanliness,  etc.,  of  their  children, 
and  to  conform  to  the  discipline  of  the  school.  Schools 
varied  considerably  in  size,  from  under  20  to  over  100, 
the  average  being  about  30. 

In  such  a  school  everything  depended  upon  the  nature 

of  the  exposition,  and  the  interest  of  the 
Exposition.  minister  as  shown  by  frequently  catechising 

the  children — a  fact  repeatedly  emphasised 
by  observers.  Griffith  Jones,  writing  in  1758,  was  at  some 
pains  to  make  clear  what  catechising  meant.  It  does  not 
mean  "  the  bare  asking  the  Questions  and  hearing  them 
(the  children)  repeat  the  answers,  just  as  they  lie  in  the 
Catechism,  for  this  is  not  to  instruct,  and  examine  them 
as  the  Rubric  requires  :  and  if  no  more  than  this  be  done, 
we  had  even  as  good  do  nothing ;  for  they  will  learn  but 
little,  or  nothing  from  mere  repetition.  .  .  .  You  (the 
clergy)  must  condescend  to  be  at  the  pains  of  giving  them 
an  easy  explanation  of  every  part  of  the  Catechism,  to  ask 
them  the  same  question  in  other  words,  to  furnish  them 
with  plain  texts  of  scripture  to  confirm  them  in  the 
doctrines  they  learn,  and  then  to  close  every  instruction  of 
the  catechumens  with  some  short  exhortation  for  their 
delectiou  and  encouragement."  l 

i  Welch  Piety,  1758. 

Isaac  Watts  was  equally  emphatic  on  the  importance  of  exposition. 
"  Be  not  content  merely  to  have  them  read  the  Bible,  and  be  taught  the 
Catechism  at  proper  seasons,  but  let  the  truths  and  duties  of  it  be  explained 
to  them  in  a  familiar  and  easy  way  by  taking  the  answers  to  pieces,  and 
instructing  the  children  till  they  understood  the  sense  of  it."  An  Essay 
towards  the  Encouragement  of  Charity  Schools,  particularly  among 
Protestant  Dissenters,  1728.  Works,  Vol.  IV-,  p.  524, 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.    187 

To  ensure  the  efficiency  of  the  teachers  in  the  circulating 
schools  it  was  Jones'  practice  to  instruct  the 
of  TeaSiers1^     masters    in  catechetical   methods  for    some 
weeks  before  they  embarked  on  their  work, 
giving  them  simple   and   familiar  explanations   of   what 
they  would  have    to    teach,  training   them   to   catechise 
one  another,  and  the  like.1     The  scholars  as  well  as  the 
masters  were  provided    with   simple    expositions    of  the 
Catechism,  etc.,  and  it  was  laid  down  as  a  principle  that 
the  pupils  should  not  only  repeat  "  out  of  Book  "  but  also 
give  the  sense  of  what  they  read  or  learnt  in  their  own 
words.     It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  method  of  read- 
ing recommended  was  by  "  look  and  say,"  2  the  alphabetic- 
spelling  method  being  condemned  as  irrational  and  re- 
sponsible for  much  slow  progress  and  dulness  in  schools.3 
How  far  the  schools  were  from  living  up  to  this  standard 
is  described  by  Mrs.  Trimmer  in  1792.     She 
Trimmer's         enlarges  upon  the  relative  ineffectiveness  of 
Account  of         charity  school  education,  the    ignorance  of 
Charity  ^ie  ^eac}ierS)  the  disuse  of  catechising  result- 

ing from  a  lack  of  interest  shown  by  the 
clergy  and  others,  and  the  smaller  proportion  of  verbal 
instruction  in  vogue  than  formerly.  "  The  children  in 
most  Charity  Schools  are  at  first  taught  to  read  in  a 
spelling  book,  the  lessons  of  which  consist  chiefly  of 
sentences  collected  from  the  Scriptures,  most  of  them  in 
figurative  language ;  as  soon  as  they  can  read  and  spell 
a  little,  they  are  put  into  the  New  Testament,  and  when 
they  have  read  this  from  beginning  to  end,  they  proceed 
to  the  Old  Testament  and  go  through  that  in  the  same 
manner,  without  regard  to  anything  further  than  improve- 

1  Welch  Piety,  1743.  2  Ibid.,  1742. 

3  For   the  system  of  training  teachers  recommended  by  the  S.P.C.K, 
see  infra,  pp.  329-330. 


188  THE    ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL    AT 

meat  in  the  art  of  reading.  They  loa.rn,  Ity  stated  regular 
tasks,  the  columns  of  spelling  in  the  Spelling  Book  ;  and  in 
some  schools  they  are  taught  English  Grammar,  writing, 
and  arithmetic.  Once  or  twice  a  week  the  scholars  are 
catechised,  that  is,  they  stand  up  in  classes,  and  answer 
in  rotation  the  questions  in  the  Church  Catechism  and  ex- 
planations of  it.  They  learn,  perhaps,  besides,  chapters, 
prayers,  etc.,  by  heart,  and  are  sometimes  taught  psalmody. 
They  go  to  Church  twice  every  Sunday,  and  where  there  is 
a  weekly  duty  performed,  they  attend  also  on  Wednesdays, 
Fridays,  and  Holidays.  When  the  scholars  leave  school 
to  go  out  into  the  world  as  servants  or  apprentices,  a 
Bible,  Common  Prayer  Book,  and  Whole  Duty  of  Man,  are 
given  to  them :  and  it  is  supposed,  from  the  years  they 
have  been  at  school,  they  must  necessarily  be  furnished 
with  a  competent  share  of  Christian  knowledge,  to  enable 
them  to  read  with  advantage  and  improvement  as  long  as 
they  live."  : 

To  improve  the  level  of  the  teaching  Mrs.  Trimmer  set 
to  work  to  provide  a  new  supply  of  school 

books'      At    the    same    time    she    suggested 
that  dullards  ought  to  be  sent  to  "  schools  of 

industry,"  and  that  the  charity  schools  should  be  reserved 
for  the  brightest  and  most  respectable  children,  pointing 
out  that  the  Sunday  schools  might  do  valuable  work  in 
this  sifting  process.  Some  of  the  charity  schools  might 
usefully  become  industrial  in  character,  while  others  would 
serve  as  training  schools  for  selected  pupils  who  would  be 
"  eminently  qualified  for  the  office  of  schoolmasters  and  mis- 
tresses in  the  various  descriptions  of  Charity  Schools  which 
very  few  of  the  present  generation  fill  with  propriety." 

1 "  Reflections  upon  the  Education  of  Children  in  Charity  Schools," 
cf.  Education  of  the  Poor  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  David  Salmon, 
pp.  17-18, 


THE    CLOSE    OP    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTUBY.          180 

By  way  of  illustration  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  give 
a  few  examples  of  charity  school  books  in  vogue  at  this 
date: — 

Fox's  Introduction  to  Spelling  and  Beading. — This 
book,  a  12mo  108  pp.  volume,  commences  with  a  pictorial 
alphabet — angel,  bull,  cradle— and  represents  each  letter  in 
Roman,  italic,  and  Old  English  characters.  The  first  six 
lessons  are  devoted  to  word-building,  a,  ab,  ac,  ack,  e,  eb, 
ec,  eck ;  the  next  17  to  monosyllabic  words,  first  of  the  type 
clout,  flout,  gout,  pout ;  then  classes  of  objects,  e.g.  "  creep- 
ing animals,"  ant,  asp,  bug,  eff,  flea,  frog,  leach,  louse,  newt, 
nit,  etc.  The  Bible  story,  from  the  Creation  to  the  death 
of  Sampson,  is  next  told  in  a  series  of  short  lessons,  the 
majority  of  which  are  illustrated  by  a  wood-cut.  As  an 
example  of  the  style  we  may  take  part  of  Lesson  XXXVIII., 
dealing  with  Joseph's  imprisonment : — 

"  This  punishment  would  have  been  very  grievous  to  Joseph  but 
that  God,  who  protects  and  rewards  injured  innocence,  was  with 
him  in  prison,  and  gave  him  favour  in  the  sight  of  the  keeper  of  it, 
so  that  Joseph  had  authority  over  all  the  other  prisoners,  and  not 
anything  was  transacted  which  Joseph  had  not  a  hand  in." 

Next  follows  a  series  of  catechetical  lessons.  Q.  Who 
made  you  ?  Q.  Why  did  God  make  you  ?  .  .  .  Q.  How  did 
God  make  you  ?  etc.,  the  order  of  topics  being  suggested 
apparently  by  those  in  The  Whole  Duty  of  Man.  Then 
come  selections  from  the  Proverbs ;  two  history  lessons ; 
rules  for  spelling  and  for  dividing  words  into  syllables ;  and 
finally,  a  number  of  prayers.  In  using  the  book  reading 
and  spelling  were  taught  together,  spelling  being  learnt  by 
memorising  a  variety  of  rules.  Thus  the  reading  would 
be  constantly  interrupted  by  the  teacher  interposing  such 
a  question  as — By  what  rule  do  you  spell  such  a  word  ?  etc. 

Mrs.  Trimmer's  Charity  School  Spelling  Book. — Part  I., 
Words  of  One  Syllable,  12mo,  pp.  36,  Id.  (a  separate 


190          THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOt  Af 

book  for  boys  and  for  girls).  Part  II.,  Polysyllables,  12mo, 
pp.  162,  l|d. 

Part  I.  follows  the  customary  practice  of  beginning  with 
the  alphabet  and  going  through  much  useless  word-build- 
ing before  reading  is  commenced.  This  is  arranged  sup- 
posedly in  order  of  difficulty,  but  shows  an  entire  want  of 
understanding  of  the  psychology  of  the  subject.  Lessons 
like — A  good  man  ;  A  good  boy ;  A  bad  man ;  etc. — are 
followed  by  others  composed  of  longer  sentences  and  dis- 
jointed paragraphs,  moral  and  religious  in  tone — "  Some 
boys  make  it  their  sport  to  tie  a  bone  to  a  poor  dog's  tail, 
or  to  cry  out,  A  mad  dog !  A  mad  dog !  that  people  may 
kill  them."  Finally  the  pupil  is  introduced  to  short  stories. 

Part  II.  begins  with  a  long  alphabetical  list  of  dissyllabic 
words.     This  is  followed  by  simple  moral  reading  lessons 
consisting  of  words  not  exceeding  two  syllables.      Next 
come  words  of  from  three  to  seven  syllables,  then  fables, 
then  long  lists  of  Scriptural  names,  followed  by  the  Bible 
story  up  to  the  entrance  into  Canaan.      Here  a   special 
feature  is  made  of  the  use  of  proper  names : — 
"And  they  went  from  Mithcah,  and  pitched  in  Hashmonah. 
And  they  departed  from  Hashmonah,  and  encamped  at  Moseroth. 
And  they  departed  from  Moseroth,  and  pitched  in  Bene-jaakan,"  etc. 

Next  come  all  the  difficult  words  in  the  four  Gospels  ar- 
ranged chapter  by  chapter.  These  are  followed  by  defini- 
tions of  Biblical  terms.  Finally  come  the  Catechism  and 
selected  prayers. 

The  Poor  Girls'  Primer. — Sheffield  Girls'  Charity  School, 
1789.     The  interest  of  this  book  lies  entirely  in  the  sub- 
ject-matter.    Two  examples  will  suffice : — 
LESSON  V. 

Learn  to  spin  Wool  and  Linen. 

Learn  to  sew  Shifts  and  Shirts  and  Caps. 

Learn  to  knit  Hose. 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CfiNTtJRY.          191 

Learn  to  bake  and  brew  and  wash. 
Learn  to  clean  Rooms  and  Pots  and  Pans. 

LESSON  VI. 
Do  no  wrong. 
It  is  a  sin  to  steal  a  Pin. 
Swear  not  at  all,  nor  make  a  Bawl. 
Use  no  bad  Words. 
Live  in  Peace  with  all  as  much  as  you  can. 

Sufficient  has  been  said  to  emphasise  the  moral  and 
religious  character  of  the  instruction  given  in  charity 
schools,  the  decline  of  oral  teaching  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  the  growth  of  verbalism.  The 
slow  progress  in  learning  made  by  the  children  in  many 
of  the  schools — a  direct  result  of  the  defective  methods 
of  instruction — was  an  important  factor,  as  has  been  seen 
for  example  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Trimmer,  in  directing  the 
attention  of  the  philauthropically  minded  to  an  industrial 
as  opposed  to  a  bookish  training.  Other  influences  that 
operated  to  the  same  end  have  been  referred  to  elsewhere.1 
The  following  is  a  description  of  a  typical  "  school  of 
industry  "  at  Fincham  in  Norfolk  in  1802, 
designed  for  the  children  of  that  and  the 
Industry.  neighbouring  parishes  : — 

"They  are  instructed  twice  a  day  in  reading,  and 
eight  of  them  in  writing.  The  rest  of  their  school  time,  being  seven 
hours  of  the  day,  is  employed  in  the  plaiting  of  split  straw  ;  for 
which,  in  addition  to  the  advantages  of  education,  they  receive  pay, 
according  to  the  amount  of  their  respective  earnings. 

There  are  at  present  in  the  school  sixty-four  children.  Four 
have  left  it  to  go  into  service,  and  seventeen  have  acquired  a  com- 
petent knowledge  in  the  straw  platt,  and  have  returned  home  to 
their  parents.  The  school  is  under  the  care  and  direction  of  three 
sisters  ;  who  have  divided  it  into  three  classes,  making  the  under- 
mentioned weekly  payments  on  the  average  to  each  of  the  children, 
for  the  time  they  are  employed  in  the  platt. 


1  Ante,  pp.  11-13,  40-42. 


192 

Nineteen  children,  from  7  to  9  years  old  (average  each  per* 

week),  Is. 

Twenty-seven,  from  9  to  12  years,  each  3s. 
Eighteen,  from  12  to  14  years,  each  4s." 

Threepence  a  week  was  deducted  for  each  child  who  learnt 
to  write.  The  long  day  was  not  injurious  we  are  told,  and 
the  children  were  led  to  form  early  habits  of  order,  clean- 
liness, and  application.  It  is  also  pointed  out  that  straw 
platting,  being  a  new  industry,  does  not  injure  anyone  by 
taking  away  their  livelihood.1 

At  the  Kendal  "  schools  of  industry  "  opened  in  1799,  of 
112  children  in  attendance  30  of  the  older  girls  were  em- 
ployed in  spinning,  knitting,  sewing,  and  in  housework. 
Thirty-six  younger  girls  were  employed  in  knitting  only. 
Eight  boys  were  taught  shoe-making,  and  the  remaining  38 
card-setting,  i.e.  preparing  the  machinery  for  carding  wrool, 
a  work  suited  to  small  children.  In  addition,  the  children 
were  taught  reading  and  writing,  geography  and  religion. 
Breakfast  was  provided  in  the  school  daily  for  about  40 
children  at  a  charge  of  4^d.  a  week.  The  elder  girls  as- 
sisted in  rotation  in  preparing  the  breakfast  and  in  wash- 
ing up.  The  girls  were  also  taught  to  wash,  bringing  their 
own  family  linen,  and  a  regular  training  in  simple  cookery 
was  contemplated.  The  school  with  four  teachers,  two 
for  spinning  and  knitting,  one  for  shoe-making,  and  one 
schoolmaster,  cost  <£55  a  year.  The  schoolmaster  was  as- 
sisted by  monitors,  according  to  Bell's  system. 

The  most  popular  and  influential  means  of  elementary 
education  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
l  ^  century  were  undoubtedly  the  Sunday 

schools.  Their  model  was  rather  the  day 
charity  school  than  the  ancient  practice  of  gathering 

1  Digest  of  Reports  (Education)  S.R.C.P.,  No.  XII.  Cf.  other  typical 
schools  at  Oakham,  Lewisham,  Birmingham,  etc. 


THE    CLOSE    OP    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY.          193 

children  together  for  catechetical  instruction.  They  were 
in  fact  charity  Sunday  schools,  and  took  pride  in  calling 
themselves  educational  charities.  They  offered  to  teach 
reading,  the  principles  of  religion  —  including  the  duty 
towards  God  and  man  —  and  in  some  cases  writing  as  well 
"  without  cost  and  without  hindering  the  work  of  the 
week."  The  school  hours  were  generally  from  9  to  12  and 
1  to  6.  The  scholars  were  required  to  attend  Church 
morning  and  afternoon,  on  the  latter  occasion  to  be 
catechised  by  the  clergyman.  To  accommodate  this  influx 
of  children  "  mats  and  forms"  were  provided  by  the 
ch  urch  wardens  . 

These  early  Sunday  schools  were  held  in  hired  rooms 
which  were  fitted  with  forms  and  desks.  Accommodation 
was  generally  strictly  limited.  Hence  we  find  a  large 
number  of  small  schools,  and,  as  teachers  were  paid  for 
their  services,  a  correspondingly  large  bill  for  salaries. 
Gradually,  however,  the  practice  developed  of  concentrating 
the  children  in  larger  schools  and  curtailing  the  number 
of  teachers.  l 

To  each  school  was  attached  a  number  of  "  visitors  "  who 
attended  in  turn,  acted  as  superintendents  and  assisted  the 
master  (or  mistress)  in  catechising  and  in  the  general  work 
of  the  institution.  Upon  their  efficiency  the  success  of  the 
school  largely  depended,  for  the  teacher,  no  matter  how 
zealous  he  might  be,  was  commonly  of  very  humble 


1  An  instructive  example  of  this  is  seen  in  the  Sunday  schools  at  Stock- 
port. 


«*«*•  •      . 

1785-6  ?  11  23  £87    9s.  Od. 

1786-7        Near  700  9  19  £55  15s.  Od. 

1793-4  751  7  ?  £67    9s.  Od.1 

1  Reports  of  the  Sunday  Schools  at  Stockport. 
H.  ED,  13 


194  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL  AT 

attainments.1  Even  under  the  most  favourable  conditions 
the  difficulty  of  organising  a  school  of  children  of  different 
ages,  some  of  whom  were  learning  to  read,  others  to  write, 
some  reading  from  the  Bible  and  having  it  expounded  to 
them,  can  well  be  imagined,  and  it  is  not  suprising  to  find 
the  Governors  of  Sunday  schools  welcoming  with  open  arms 
anything  that  approximated  to  a  system.  Instruction  was 
provided  by  means  of  spelling-books,  Testaments,  Bibles, 
and  in  Church  schools  psalters,  prayer-books,  and  some 
exposition  of  the  Catechism.2  Before  the  close  of  the 
century  week-day  evening  schools  had  arisen  in  connection 
with  a  number  of  these  institutions  to  supplement  the 
work  that  was  being  done  on  Sundays,3  and  many  schools 
were  employing  unpaid  teachers. 

It   must  not  be  imagined,  however,  that  all  elementary 

education   at  the   close   of   the    eighteenth 

P  'vate  Scho  1    centur7  was  ai'id  and  deadening  in  character. 

Educational  insight  is  no  monopoly  of  the 

present   day.     There  were  teachers  who   strove  to  make 

school  work  meaningful  and  to  quicken  the  understanding, 

just  as  there  were  writers  of  school  books  who  knew  how  to 

bring   instruction    within    the   range    of    their    readers. 

Compare    for    example    the    following    account    of    the 

Barbauld's  school  at  Palgrave  : — 

"  On  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays  the  boys  were  called  in  separate 
classes  to  her  (Mrs.  Barbauld's)  apartment  (for  English  Composition) : 
she  read  a  fable,  a  short  story,  or  a  moral  essay,  to  them  aloud,  and 
then  sent  them  back  into  the  schoolroom  to  write  it  out  on  the  slates 
in  their  own  words.  Each  exercise  was  separately  looked  over  by 
her  ;  the  faults  of  grammar  were  obliterated,  the  vulgarisms  were 
chastised,  the  idle  epithets  were  cancelled,  and  a  distinct  reason  was 
always  assigned  for  every  connection  :  so  that  the  arts  of  enditing 
and  of  criticizing  were  in  some  degree  learnt  together." 

1  Cf .  Robert  Raikes,  the  Man  and  his  Work,  p.  94. 
2 Ibid.,  p.  136.  3 Ibid.,  p.  72. 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY.  195 

Iii  the  geography  lesson  "  she  relieved  the  dryness  of  a  study 
seldom  rendered  interesting  to  children,  by  so  many  lively  strokes 
of  description,  and  such  luminous  and  attractive  views  of  the 
connection  of  this  branch  of  knowledge  with  the  revolution  of 
Empires,  with  national  manners,  and  with  the  natural  history  of 
animals,  that  these  impressive  lectures  were  always  remembered  by 
her  auditors  less  among  their  tasks  than  their  pleasures."  l 

The  same  good  sense  is  shown  in  her  Lessons  for  Children 
— a  child's  first  reading-book  with  its  easy 
ess  n*  1780     narrative  full  °f  action,  printed  on  "good 
paper  with  clear  and  large  type  and  large 
spaces."     There  is  no  introductory  spelling,  no  meaning- 
less sentences,  no  harping  on  words  of  one  syllable  in  a 
mistaken  idea  of  grading  difficulties.     Instead  the  children 
plunged  straightway  into  such  lessons  as  the  following  : — 

"Come  and  give  mamma  three  kisses. 
One,  two,  three. 

Little  boys  must  come  when  mamma  calls  them. 
Blow  your  nose. 
Here  is  a  handkerchief. 
Come  and  let  me  comb  your  hair. 
Stand  still. 
Here  is  the  combcase  for  you  to  hold  "  ;  etc. 

Very  soon  they  reach  continuous  narrative  : — 

"Look  at  puss  !  she  pricks  up  her  ears,  arid  smells  about.  She 
smells  the  mice.  They  are  making  a  noise  behind  the  wainscot. 
Puss  wants  to  get  into  the  closet.  Let  her  in.  The  mice  have  been 
in  the  closet,  and  nibbled  the  biscuits.  Ah  !  there  is  a  mouse  puts 
her  tail  through  the  hole  in  the  wainscot.  Take  care,  little  mouse, 
puss  will  catch  you.  Look,  look,  there  she  runs."  Etc. 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  marked 
change  had  been  coming  over  books  intended 
^or  children.     Authors  vied  with  one  another 
in  endeavouring  to  give  information  in  as 
pleasant  a  form  as  possible,  and  nothing  is  more  striking 

1  Mrs.  Barbauld's  Works,  with  a  Memoir,  by  Lucy  Aikin,  pp.  xxv-xxvij. 


196  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL  AT 

than  the  way  in  which  book  after  book  bases  its  appeal  to 
consideration  on  the  ground  that  it  is  simpler  and  presents 
its  subject-matter  in  a  more  interesting  manner  than  its 
predecessors.  There  is  commonly  a  great  affection  for  a 
highly  latinised  style  of  writing,  and  book  makers  still 
aimed  at  producing  infant  prodigies  by  loading  children 
with  all  manner  of  information  on  History,  Astronomy, 
Science,  Natural  History,  Geography,  etc.,  but  they  did  it 
in  the  form  of  conversation,  sometimes  interesting,  some- 
times very  insipid,  between  the  pupil  and  an  omniscient 
parent  or  tutor.  Barbauld's  Evenings  at  Home,  Edge- 
worth's  Harry  and  Lucy,  Swiss  Family  Robinson,  and 
many  of  Newbery's  Children's  Books  are  excellent  ex- 
amples of  this  method  of  instruction.  The  best  books  of 
this  kind  were  at  some  pains  to  sift  out  unessential  infor- 
mation, but  others  merely  redished  the  most  arid  facts  in 
a  form  calculated  as  they  thought  to  please  or  to  assist  the 
memory.  To  these  rhyme  offered  many  possibilities.  Thus 
children  might  learn  without  weariness  the  geography  of 
their  own  country  from  a  "  Poetical  Nautical  Trip  round 
the  Island  of  Great  Britain"  to  which  was  appended 
copious  "  entertaining  notes  in  prose "  descriptive  of  the 
usual  topographical  features  : — 

"  In  coasting  off  Norfolk  *  you'll  find  a  vast  number 
Of  beautiful  views — you  will  then  reach  the  Humber  ; 
And  then  if  a  visit  you'd  pay  to  John  Bull, 
Pray  steer  up  the  river,  and  call  in  at  Hull."    Etc.1 

*  "  Norfolk  is  bounded  on  the  N.  and  E.  by  the  German  Ocean,  on  the 
S.  by  Suffolk,  and  on  the  W.  by  the  washes  and  fens  of  Lincolnshire  and 
the  Isle  of  Ely.  It  is  sixty  miles  in  length,  and  thirty-four  in  breadth"  ; 
etc. 

'Compare  the  use  of  "toys"  for  imparting  the  rudiments  of  spelling, 
reading,  grammar,  arithmetic,  etc.  The  "Art  of  Teaching  in  Sport,"  a 
method  of  instilling  the  rudiments  of  letters  "  under  the  idea  of  amusement," 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.    197 

In  the  effort  to  bring  religion  within  the  comprehension 
of  young  children  Isaac  Watts  stands  out  pre-eminently. 
He  at  any  rate  could  present  his  lessons  in  a  language 
well  within  the  range  of  his  readers.  His  Divine  Songs 
for  the  Use  of  Children,  if  less  well  known  to-day  than  a 
generation  ago,  are  still  remembered  by  such  verses  as 

"  Let  dogs  delight  to  bark  and  bite," 

and 

"  How  doth  the  little  busy  bee,"  etc. 

For  more  than  a  century  his  First  Catechism  begin- 
ning 

"  Q.  Can  you  tell  me,  child,  who  made  you? 

A.  The  Great  God  who  made  heaven  and  earth. 
Q.  What  doth  God  do  for  you  ? 

A.  He  keeps  me  from  harm  by  night  and  by  day,  and  is  always 
doing  me  good." 

was  hardly  less  highly  valued.  Along  with  these  efforts 
at  religious  instruction  must  be  mentioned  Mrs.  Barbauld's 
Hymns  in  Prose. 

Towards  these  and  other  similar  examples  of  educational 
method  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
Eighteenth         tury  it  is  customary  to  adopt  an  attitude  of 
good-natured   tolerance.      Whether   this   is 
Good  and  Bad.   altogether  justified  is  perhaps  open  to  ques- 
tion.    We  tend  to  be  so  taken  up  with  the 
"new  methods  "  of  to-day  that  we  are  apt  to  overlook  the 
fact  that  the  value  of  time  charts  in  history,  of  dissected 
globes  and  maps  in  geography,  in  short,  of  illustrations  of 

is  commonly  met  with  alter  1780,  aiid  seems  to  have  attained  considerable 
popularity.  It  doubtless  was  stimulated  by  Basedow's  experiment  at 
Dessau.  The  idea,  however,  is  much  older.  Watts  writing  half  a  century 
earlier  warmly  advocated  the  method.  See  Improvement  of  the  Mind, 
I.  Watts,  pp.  229-231  ;  also  ^4  Dixcourxe  on  the  Education  of  Children 
and  Youth,  pp.  389-90  and  passim. 


198  THE    ELEMENTABY    SCHOOL   AT 

all  sorts,  was  amply  recognised  by  intelligent  teachers  a 
century  ago.  True  there  was  too  much  worship  of  "  useful  " 
knowledge,  there  were  too  many  attempts  to  point  a  moral, 
and  too  little  appreciation  of  the  meaning  of  childhood  : 
but,  allowing  all  this,  there  was  a  body  of  educational 
thought  and  practice  that  was  far  from  contemptible,  and 
which  found  worthy  exponents  in  R.  L.  Edgeworth  and 
his  daughter  Maria. 

Richard  Lovell  Edgeworth  (1744-1817)  was  a  prominent 
figure  in  the  literarv  and  scientific  world  of 

Tho  • 

Educational  ^is  day.  He  was  an  Irishman  of  iudepen- 
Teaching  dent  means,  possessing  considerable  literary 

and  social  interests,  and  a  well-marked 
Edge  worths.  .  . 

scientific  temper.  He  was  a  born  inventor 
and  educator,  a  man  of  shrewd  insight  into  child  nature, 
who  divided  his  attention  between  scientific  and  literary 
pursuits  and  the  education  of  his  numerous  family.  He 
is  a  representative  of  that  considerable  body  of  middle- 
class  opinion  that  favoured  a  domestic,  in  preference  to  a 
school,  education  for  its  boys  and  girls,  and  in  common 
with  many  other  cultivated  parents  of  the  time  was  not 
only  alive  to  contemporary  educational  thought,  but  was  also 
acquainted  with  the  teaching  of  earlier  writers,  such  as 
Locke. 

At  the  time  Edgeworth's  eldest  son  was  born  Rousseau 
was  the  oracle  of  the  day.     The  Emile  had 

Rousseau  s  been  published  four  years  before,  and  its 
Educational  1A  i  11  -v-i-i.  i  j  i 

Ideas  novelty,  eloquence,  and  plausibility,  had  made 

a  profound  impression  on  thinking  men  and 
women  who  were  not  unconscious  of  the  deficiencies  and 
absurdities  that  characterised  the  treatment  of  children  at 
the  time,  by  helping  them  to  see  things  from  a  new  angle. 
Among  many  extravagancies  and  inconsistencies  Rousseau 
pleaded  for  the  sanctity  of  individual  personality,  for  the 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY.  199 

abolition  of  tyranny  in  all  its  subtle  forms,  whether  in  the 
family,  the  school,  or  society.  He  taught  that  man  is  born 
good,  and  unless  interfered  with  develops  according  to  law. 
Hence  it  is  the  business  of  education  not  to  make  men  to 
this  or  that  arbitrary  pattern,  but  to  allow  man  freedom  to 
attain  the  fullest  self-realisation.  Since  education  is  no 
longer  a  matter  of  imposing  ideas  and  resti'aiuts,  the  atten- 
tion of  the  teacher  is  withdrawn  from  the  subject-matter 
of  instruction  and  concentrated  on  removing  obstacles.  In 
other  words,  there  is  a  shifting  of  emphasis  from  the  cur- 
riculum to  the  child. 

The  great  weakness  of  Eousseau's  handling  of  the  sub- 
ject is  that  moral  education  is  at  a  discount.  Neverthe- 
less, though  his  foundations  were  wrong,  he  succeeded 
in  emphasising  some  valuable  truths  that  were  in  danger 
of  being  neglected.  Under  the  plea  of  a  return  to  Nature 
he  made  a  powerful  appeal  on  behalf  of  physical  educa- 
tion, while  on  the  intellectual  side  he  reminded  his 
contemporaries  that  all  education  is  essentially  self- 
education,  depending  not  on  imposing  ideas  and  learning 
by  rote  but  on  inciting  the  self-activity  of  the  pupil, 
stimulating  his  curiosity,  inventiveness,  and  practical 
capacity. 

It  was  in  strict  accordance  with  Eousseau's  plan,  as  set 
out  in  the  Emile,  that  Edge  worth  began  to 
Edgeworth's  educate  his  son.  At  the  end  of  nine  years  he 
regretfully  admitted  his  mistake.  The  basis 
was  wrong.  "Whatever  i-egarded  the  health,  strength, 
and  agility  of  my  son,"  he  says,  "  had  amply  justified  the 
system  of  my  master ;  but  I  found  myself  entangled  in 
difficulties  with  regard  to  my  child's  mind  and  temper. 
He  was  generous,  brave,  good-natured,  and  what  is 
commonly  called  good  tempered ;  but  he  was  scarcely  to 
be  controlled.  It  was  difficult  to  urge  him  to  anything 


200  THE    ELEMENTAB.V    SCHOOL   AT 

that  did  not  suit  his  fancy,  and  more  difficult  to  restrain 
him  from  what  he  wished  to  follow.  In  short,  he 
was  self-willed,  from  a  spirit  of  independence,  which 
had  been  inculcated  by  his  early  education,  and  which 
he  cherished  the  more  from  the  inexperience  of  his  own 
powers."  l 

In  all  this  Edgeworth's  attitude  was  strictly  scientific. 
Rousseau  was  put  aside,  and  he  set  out  to 

Early  Child  discover  a  better  method  for  himself.  From 
Study. 

1768   he   and  his  wife  had  kept  a  careful 

register  of  observations  and  facts  relative  to  their  children. 
These  constitute  some  of  the  earliest  child-study  records 
we  possess.  In  1791  his  daughter  Maria  began  to  note 
down  anecdotes  of  the  children  and  their  father's  conver- 
sations with  them.  Every  effort  was  made  to  get  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  personality  of  each  individual,  and  to 
adapt  his  education  accordingly.  In  doing  this  no  pre- 
conceived system  was  followed.  The  fullest  use  was  made 
of  ideas  culled  from  earlier  writers,  and  practice  was  con- 
stantly revised  in  the  light  of  experience.  The  object  was 
to  reduce  education  as  far  as  possible  to  an  experimental 
science,  and  to  evolve  a  series  of  principles  of  universal 
validity.  The  results  were  embodied  in  Practical  Educa- 
tion, 1798,  in  a  series  of  children's  books,  and  in  the 
Memoirs,  the  joint  production  of  B.  L.  Edgeworth  and  his 
daughter  Maria. 

In  these  various  writings  we  get  a  picture  of  a  man  who 
was  first  and  last  an  optimist  in  matters  of 

dgewo       an    education.     No  one  believed  more  ferventlv 
Educational 

Optimist.  in  the  potency  of  education  in  forming  taste 

or   directing   talent.     "  Virtues,  as  well  as 

abilities,  or  what  is  popularly  called  genius,  we  believe  to 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  273-4. 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY.          20l 

be  the  result  of  education,  more  than  the  gift  of  nature."  1 
What  really  distinguished  one  person  from  another  was 
his  power  of  attention.  Hence  one  of  the  chief  objects  of 
the  educator  was  to  strengthen  this  faculty.  By  education 
Edgeworth  understood  much  more  than  instruction.  It 
consisted,  among  other  things,  in  cultivating  the  under- 
standing, developing  initiative  and  inventiveness,  evoking 
a  deep  sense  of  religion,  giving  "  moral  habits,  generous 
sentiments,  kind  tempers  and  easy  manners."  2 

The  method  proposed  for  compassing  this  was  frankly 
utilitarian,  "  to  associate  pleasure  with  what- 

ever  we  w^s^  that  our  Pupils  should  pursue, 
and  pain  with  whatever  we  wish  that  they 
should  avoid."  3  This  principle  was  founded  on  a  deep- 
rooted  conviction  in  the  inherent  reasonableness  of  man. 
It  did  not  occur  to  Edgeworth  that  he  was,  to  say  the 
least,  putting  humanity  on  a  very  low  plane.  "  Would 
you  teach  a  dog  or  a  horse  to  obey  you  ?  Do  you  not 
associate  pleasure  or  pain  with  the  things  you  wish  that 
they  should  practise  or  avoid  ?  "  *  As  his  daughter  Maria 
points  out,  this  doctrine  led  him  to  a  fundamental  mistake 
in  his  view  of  the  moral  principle  of  action,  an  error  that 
he  came  to  recognise  in  his  later  years.  "  He  had  believed 
that  if  rational  creatures  could  be  made  clearly  to  see  and 
understand  that  virtue  will  render  them  happy  and  vice 
will  render  them  miserable,  either  in  this  world  or  in  the 
next,  they  would  afterwards,  in  consequence  of  this  con- 
viction, follow  virtue  and  avoid  vice.  .  .  .  Hence,  both  as  to 


'-Practical  Education,  Vol.  III.,  p.  291,  2nd  Edition. 

In  his  later  years  he  allowed  that  there  was  more  difference  than  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  admit  between  the  natural  endowment  of  individuals, 
but  he  maintained  that  it  was  much  smaller  than  was  commonly  supposed. — 
Memoirs,  Vol.  II.,  p.  388.  2  Memoirs,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  386-7. 

3  Practical  Education,  Vol.  III.,  p.  291.  4  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  357. 


202  THE    ELEMENTARY   SCHOOL   AT 

national  and  domestic  education,  he  formerly  dwelt  princi- 
pally upon  the  cultivation  of  the  understanding,  meaning 
chiefly  the  reasoning  faculty  as  applied  to  conduct.  But 
to  see  the  best  and  to  follow  it  are  not,  alas  !  necessary 
consequences  of  each  other."  l  The  fact  is,  of  course,  that 
pleasure  is  not  the  mainspring  of  action.  There  are  many 
ends  that  we  desire  and  towards  which  we  strive,  and 
happiness  may  or  may  not  accompany  or  reward  our 
efforts.  The  teacher's  business  is  not  to  demonstrate  to 
his  pupils  that  certain  actions  pay,  but  to  evoke  worthy 
purposes  and  to  assist  in  their  accomplishment. 

On  the  question  of  education  Edgeworth  neither  allied 
himself  with  those  who  believed  that  children 

PunSunente      COuld    not    ^    set    t°°    voung    to  read  and 
write,   nor   with  those  who,  like  Rousseau, 

advocated  leaving  children  entirely  at  liberty  on  the 
ground  that  they  would  learn  for  themselves  much  better 
than  they  could  be  taught.  His  experience  of  the  bad 
moral  effects  that  resulted  from  trusting  too  much  to 
nature,  liberty,  and  the  pupil's  "  experiments  in  morality," 
inclined  him  to  extreme  caution.  Government  he  held 
was  essential  before  children  were  able  to  regulate  their 
own  conduct,  but  it  should  be  uniform,  determined  on  the 
principle  of  pleasure  and  pain,  and  directed  to  form 
settled  habits.  Laws  should  be  few,  but  once  laid  down 
they  should  be  strictly  adhered  to.  In  order  to  avoid  any 
suspicion  of  personal  caprice,  the  whole  treatment  of  the 
child  should  lead  him  to  associate  certain  experiences  as 
the  necessary  consequences  of  his  action.  Punishment  he 
held  should  always  be  remedial  and  not  vindictive,  it 
should  be  intelligible  and  should  inflict  the  minimum  of 
pain  necessary  to  achieve  its  purpose.  At  the  same  time 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  401-2. 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY.          203 

it  should  be  regulated  according  to  the  temperament  of 
the  individual — thus  to  some  a  sense  of  continued  dis- 
approbation is  a  much  greater  punishment  than  temporary 
physical  pain.  Reward  should  be  administered  on  similar 
principles,  remembering  that  the  greatest  reward  that  can 
come  to  any  individual  is  the  feeling  of  uplift  that  attends 
successful  achievement,  and  that  the  natural  consequence 
of  virtue  is  esteem.  "But  plum  pudding  is  not  the 
appropriate  reward  of  truth,  nor  is  the  loss  of  it  the 
natural  or  necessary  consequence  of  falsehood."  l  "  Chil- 
dren are  not  fools,  and  are  not  to  be  governed  like  fools." 
With  regard  to  intellectual  education  Edgeworth's 

great  aim  was  to  develop  capacity,  evoke 
The  Aim  and  initiative,  and  ripen  judgment.  The  great 
Int  Itectual  weed  of  the  time,  he  felt,  was  to  break  down 
Education.  the  idea  that  existed  in  children's  minds 

that  "  learning"  was  disagreeable,  by  infus- 
ing more  of  the  spirit  of  play  into  the  school.  To  accom- 
plish this  all  meaningless  tasks  were  to  be  abolished,  the 
schoolroom  was  to  be  brought  into  relation  with  the 
outside  world,  so  that  the  significance  of  the  lessons  was 
immediately  obvious  to  the  children.  At  the  same  time 
methods  of  teaching  must  be  reformed.  All  needless 
discouragements  were  to  be  got  rid  of,  and  in  order  not  to 
weary  the  children  short  lessons  were  to  be  introduced. 
There  was  to  be  no  forcing,  but  the  teacher  must  so 
govern  his  procedure  as  to  compel  attention.  "  If  the 
pupil  be  paid  for  the  labour  of  listening  by  the  pleasure  of 
understanding  he  will  attend."2  "  No  matter  how  little  be 
learned  in  a  given  time,  provided  the  pupil  be  not  dis- 
gusted :  provided  the  wish  to  improve  be  excited  and  the 
habits  of  attention  acquired." 

1  Practical  Education,  Vol.  I.,  p.  363.  2  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  112. 


204  THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL  AT 

To  train  the  power  of  attention  was  of  primary  impor- 
tance and  this  demanded  clearness,  distinct- 
Attention  '  ness>  an<i  opportuneness  in  the  presentation 
of  the  subject-matter  of  instruction.  In  other 
words,  teachers  must  be  careful  not  to  overwhelm  their 
pupils  with  too  many  ideas  at  once.  They  must  relate  their 
teaching  to  the  pupils'  experience  and  it  must  be  well 
timed,  great  care  being  taken  to  introduce  into  the  school 
work  a  variety  of  occupations,  so  that  one  subject  might 
counteract  the  fatiguing  effects  of  another.  Various  forms 
of  practical  occupations,  and  the  practice  of  agreeable  arts 
suggested  many  useful  experiments  in  this  connection. 
"  If  we  could  exactly  discover  how  to  arrange  mental  em- 
ployments so  as  to  induce  actions  in  the  antagonist  facul- 
ties of  the  mind,  we  might  relieve  it  from  fatigue  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  eye  is  relieved  by  colour.  By  pursuing 
this  idea  might  we  not  hope  to  cultivate  the  general  power 
of  attention  to  a  degree  of  perfection  hitherto  unknown  ?  "  l 
In  following  up  the  subject,  attention  was  to  be  given  to 
the  difference  of  temperament  that  existed  between  indi- 
viduals, Edgeworth  realising  that  no  one  procedure  could 
be  applied  with  equal  success  to  everybody. 

Notwithstanding  the  erroneous  psychology  underlying 

this  account  of  attention,  it  led  Edgeworth  to 

thromrh'plav     institute  a  number  of  useful  reforms.     Thus 

he   recognised    in    children's    play   a   great 

educational  means  ready  to  hand  that  only  needed  judicious 

guidance.     The  child  was  essentially  an  active  individual. 

Doing  was  the  keynote  of  his  life.     He  was  constantly 

building  up  and  pulling  apart,  ever  seeking  to  objectify 

his  inner  experiences,  ever  being  led  on  under  the  stimulus 

of  curiosity  to  investigate  and  to  invent.     Increased  scope 

1  Practical  Education,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  172-3. 


THR    CLOSE    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY.          205 

was  to  be  given  to  this  native  tendency  by  providing  more 
rational  toys,  and  at  the  same  time  more  use  should  be 
made  of  these  practical  activities  in  the  actual  school  work. 
Elaborate  toys  were  dispensed  with  and  playthings  were 
substituted  that  could  be  manipulated  in  different  ways — 
round  ivory  or  wooden  sticks,  square  and  circular  bits  of 
wood,  balls,  cubes,  and  triangles  with  holes  of  different 
sizes  to  admit  the  sticks.  From  these  children  would 
gradually  familiarise  themselves  with  the  sensory  proper- 
ties of  objects,  and  imagination  and  inventiveness  would 
be  stimulated.  Baby  houses  were  provided  unfurnished  so 
as  to  give  employment  to  "  little  carpenters  and  semp- 
stresses "  to  fit  them  up.  Pictures  were  used  as  a  valuable 
means  of  education  at  this  stage.  Children  were  encouraged 
to  cut  out  animals  in  paper,  to  model  in  clay  and  wax ; 
basket-making  was  practised,  and  so  on.  As  skill  increased 
and  more  call  was  made  on  the  inventive  powers,  card, 
pasteboard,  wire,  gum,  etc.,  were  introduced.  Similarly 
full  use  was  made  of  the  possibilities  held  out  by  garden- 
ing, woodwork,  and  experimental  science.  In  all  this  work 
the  teacher  needed  to  be  specially  on  his  guard  against 
unduly  interfering.  "  As  the  merchants  in  France  answered 
Colbert  when  he  desired  to  know  how  he  could  best  assist 
them,  children  might  perhaps  reply  to  those  who  are 
most  officious  to  amuse  them,  '  Leave  us  to  ourselves.'  " : 
Among  Edgeworth's  attempts  to  reform  school  work  may 
be  mentioned  his  invention  of  a  phonic  script 
The  Reform  for  teaching  reading,  which  he  elaborated 
Practice.  ^n  The  Rational  Primer.  The  need  for  more 

interesting  reading- books  of  the  standard  of 
Mrs.  Barbauld's  Lessons,  and  for  popularising  scientific 
knowledge,  led  him  to  begin  writing  Harry  and  Lucy,  a 

1  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  66. 


206  THE    ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL    AT 

book  that  was  expanded  later  in  co-operatiou  with  Maria 
into  the  series  of  Early  Lessons.  The  original  object  was 
two-fold :  to  diffuse  by  means  of  an  "  interesting  "  story 
the  first  principles  of  morality,  together  with  the  elements 
of  science  and  literature,  and  to  show  parents  how  the 
various  subjects  of  instruction  might  be  taught  without 
wearying  children.1 

In  other  directions  Edgeworth's  practice  shows  the 
impress  of  the  born  teacher.  Spellings  were  taught  by 
grouping  them  and  in  conjunction  with  writing.  Arith- 
metic was  introduced  practically  by  manipulating  small 
cubes.  Geography  was  taught  with  the  help  of  a  large 
globe  six  feet  in  diameter.  The  dominant  motive  in  the 
literature  lesson  was  enjoyment,  and  much  stress  was 
laid  on  the  stimulating  effect  of  good  reading  by  the 
teacher.  Edgeworth,  fully  realising  the  value  of  some 
acquaintance  with  elementary  science,  sought  to  demon- 
strate that  much  might  be  done  by  way  of  conversations 
centred  round  every-day  incidents  to  stimulate  children 
to  observe  and  investigate  for  themselves.  At  the  same 
time  he  suggested  lines  along  which  children  might  be 
allowed  to  experiment  for  themselves,  his  plan  approxi- 
mating very  closely  to  the  modified  heuristic  methods  of 
to-day.  He  reminds  us  that  "  Independently  of  all  am- 
bition there  is  considerable  pleasure  in  the  pursuit  of 
experimental  knowledge.  .  .  .  They  love  to  see  experiments 
tried  and  to  try  them.  They  show  this  disposition  not 
only  whenever  they  are  encouraged,  but  whenever  they  are 
permitted  to  show  it ;  and  if  we  compare  their  method  of 
reasoning  with  the  reasonings  of  the  learned,  we  shall  be 
surprised."  • 

1  Sandford  and  Merton  (Thos.  Day)  was  originally  intended  as  a  part  of 
this  work. 
-  Practical  Education,  Vol.  III.,  p.  117. 


THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY.          207 

In  his  anxiety  to  keep  school  work  free  from  drudgery 
he  was  apt  to  underrate  the  importance  of 
hit  Practice  seeing  that  foundations  were  securely  laid. 
Any  child  of  intelligence,  it  seemed  to  him, 
had  no  need  to  trouble  with  reading,  spelling,  or  writing  a 
legible  hand.  Similarly  he  undervalued  the  necessity  of 
some  memorising,  but  in  all  these  directions  he  consider- 
ably changed  his  position  in  later  years  without  any  loss 
to  the  liberality  of  his  practice.1  Indeed  the  education  of 
his  youngest  child  was  accounted  the  most  successful  of 
all. 

We  will  close  this  account  by  recalling  Edgeworth's 

conception  of  a  true  education. 

A  True  "  \ye  (J0  not  mean  to  promise  that  a  boy  judi- 

ciously educated  shall  appear  at  ten  years  old  a 
prodigy  of  learning ;  far  from  it :  we  should  not 
even  estimate  his  capacity  or  his  chance  of  future  progress,  by  the 
quantity  of  knowledge  stored  in  his  memory,  by  the  number  of 
Latin  lines  he  has  got  by  rote,  by  his  expertness  in  repeating  the 
rules  of  his  grammar,  by  his  pointing  out  a  number  of  places  readily 
on  a  map,  or  even  by  his  knowing  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  all 
the  capital  cities  of  Europe  ;  these  are  all  useful  articles  of  know- 
ledge, but  they  are  not  the  tests  of  a  good  education  We  should 
rather,  if  we  were  to  examine  a  boy  of  ten  years  old,  for  the  credit 
of  his  parents,  pronounce  proofs  of  his  being  able  to  reason  ac- 
curately, of  his  quickness  in  invention,  of  his  habits  of  industry 
and  application,  of  his  having  learned  to  generalise  his  ideas,  and 
apply  his  observations  and  his  principles  :  if  we  found  he  had  learned 
any  or  all  of  these  things  w  e  should  be  in  little  pains  about  grammar, 
or  geography,  or  even  Latin  ;  we  should  be  tolerably  certain  that  he 
would  not  long  remain  deficient  in  any  of  these  ;  we  should  know 
that  he  would  overtake  and  surpass  a  competitor  who  had  only  been 
technically  taught,  as  certainly  as  the  giant  would  overtake  the 
panting  dwarf,  who  might  have  many  miles  start  of  him  in  the  race. 
We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  a  boy  should  not  be  taught  the  principles 
of  grammar,  and  some  knowledge  of  geography,  at  the  same  time 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  390-1. 


208  THE    ELEMENTARY    SCHOOL    AT 

that  his  understanding  is  cultivated  in  the  most  enlightened  man- 
ner :  these  objects  are  not  incompatible."  ' 

Such  is  the  message  of  Practical  Education,  a  book 
written  for  parents  and  widely  read  in  cultivated  homes 
during  the  early  nineteenth  century.  But  its  spirit  reached 
a  much  wider  circle  through  the  medium  of  Maria  Edge- 
worth's  children's  tales.  To  avoid  any  misunderstanding 
as  to  the  relative  share  of  father  and  daughter  in  elaborat- 
ing the  underlying  principle,  we  need  go  no  farther  than 
Maria  Edgeworth's  statement  in  the  Memoirs  (1819). 

"  It  was  my  father's  delight  to  say,  that,  in  literature  his  thoughts 
and  mine  were  in  common  ;  he  never  would  permit  me  to  attribute 
to  him  even  what  was  peculiarly  his  own.  In  the  work  (Practical 
Education]  of  which  I  am  now  speaking,  the  principles  of  education 
were  peculiarly  his,  such  as  I  felt  he  had  applied  in  the  cultivation 
of  my  own  mind,  and  such  as  I  saw  in  the  daily  instruction  of  my 
younger  brothers  and  sisters  during  a  period  of  nearly  seventeen 
years  ;  all  the  general  ideas  originated  with  him,  the  illustrating 
and  manufacturing  them,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  was  mine.'' 

"So  commenced  that  literary  partnership  which,  for  so  many 
years  was  the  pride  and  joy  of  my  life."  - 

Maria  Edgeworth  was  a  past  master  in  the  art  of  didactic 
fiction,  and  in  her  various  children's  books 
^f"ria  fch  she  embodied  the  principles  she  held  in 
common  with  her  father.  The  books  are 
still  well  known,  so  that  a  brief  summary  of  their  import 
will  suffice.  Harry  and  Lucy  emphasises  in  popular  form 
the  importance  of  inciting  children  to  be  in  measure  their 
own  instructors,  by  stimulating  curiosity,  suggesting  ques- 
tions for  investigation  and  encouraging  inventiveness.  Its 
main  theme  is  to  bring  out  some  of  the  chief  principles  of 
science  and  their  application  in  every-day  life.  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  comment  on  it  illustrates  very  well  one  aspect  of 

i  Memoirs,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  369-70.  -  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  190. 


THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.       209 

public  opinion  toward  introducing  modern  subjects  in 
school  education.  "  She  should  have  limited  the  title  to 
Education  in  Natural  Philosophy,  .  .  .  for  there  is  no  great 
use  in  teaching  children  in  general  to  roof  houses,  or  build 
bridges,  which,  after  all,  a  carpenter  or  a  mason  does  a  good 
deal  better  at  2s.  6d.  a  day.  Your  ordinai-y  Harry  should 
be  kept  to  his  Grammar,  and  your  Lucy  of  most  common 
occurrence  would  be  kept  on  her  sampler,  instead  of  wast- 
ing wood  and  cutting  their  fingers,  which  I  am  convinced 
they  did,  though  their  historian  says  nothing  of  it." 

The  Parent's  Assistant  was  intended  to  point  a  series  of 
moral  lessons,  the  importance  of  industry,  the  dangers 
arising  from  contact  with  bad  acquaintances,  from  weakness 
of  mind,  and  in  general  to  shock  children  with  representa- 
tion of  what  they  ought  to  avoid.  Frank  and  Rosamond 
and  the  Moral  Tales  were  drawn  up  on  a  similar  plan. 

The  eighteenth  century  closes  with  a  picture  of  an 
elementary  education  differing  widely  for  different  ranks. 
Much  of  the  prevailing  practice  was  arid  and  worthless  to 
a  degree,  but  here  and  there  we  see  work  of  exceptional 
merit. 

In  the  following  chapters  we  shall  trace  a  growing 
liberality  of  outlook  in  the  instruction  designed  for  the 
poor,  and  a  rise  in  the  average  efficiency  of  school  work. 


H.  El).  14 


CHAPTER   VII. 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

"  As  the  sequence  among  the  letters  or  simple  elements  of  speech 
may  be  made  to  assume  all  the  difference  between  nonsense  and  the 
most  sublime  philosophy,  so  the  sequences  in  the  feelings  which 
constitute  human  thought,  may  assume  all  the  differences  between 
the  extreme  of  madness  and  of  wickedness,  and  the  greatest  attain- 
able heights  of  wisdom  and  virtue  :  And  almost  the  whole  of  this 
is  the  effect  of  education." — James  Mill,  Article  on  Education,  Ency- 
clopaedia Brit.  Supplement,  1824. 

These  words  of  James  Mill  afford  us  the  key  alike  to  the 
educational  optimism  that  characterised  the 
The  Mechanical  early  stages  of  the  primary  school  move- 
EcfW  "t"  '  merit  and  to  the  ideals  of  teaching  in  vogue. 
Process.  Broadly  speaking,  two  rival  conceptions  of 

the  educative  process  held  the  field.  The  one, 
objective,  regarded  education  as  primarily  external,  deter- 
mined and  imposed  upon  the  individual  from  without ; 
the  other,  subjective,  considered  education  as  conditioned 
by  the  spontaneous  development  of  the  individual.  The 
one  set  up  a  standard  man,  and  sought  to  manufacture 
him  ;  the  other  aimed  at  securing  the  fullest  self-develop- 
ment of  each  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  his  own  nature 
— the  aim,  for  example,  of  Rousseau  and  Pestalozzi. 

It  was  the  former  of  these  two  conceptions  that  im- 
plicitly or  explicitly  dominated  educational  thought  in 
England  during  the  first  part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

210 


Bt    MACHINERY.  211 

Such  a  view  represents  the  child  as  clay  in  the  hands  of 
the  potter.  What  he  is  depends  upon  his  knowledge,  upon 
the  "  trains  of  ideas  "  he  has  acquired,  and  these — making 
allowance  for  certain  physical  differences  in  individuals — 
are,  according  to  Mill,  under  the  control  of  the  educator. 
The  child  learns  what  seems  good  for  him  as  judged  by 
adult  standards,  and  the  business  of  the  teacher  is  to 
methodise  instruction  that  knowledge  may  be  acquired  as 
surely  and  as  economically  as  possible.  No  time  is  to  be 
lost.  That  childhood  has  its  own  ways  of  looking  at 
things,  its  own  standards  of  value,  is  forgotten.  Instead, 
there  is  an  inevitable  tendency  to  place  all  emphasis  on  a 
study  of  the  printed  page.  In  the  schools  education  tends 
to  become  purely  a  matter  of  machinery,  the  grading  of 
instruction,  the  length  of  lessons,  and  the  invention  of 
ingenious  devices  for  assisting  the  memory. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  trace  the  working 
out  of  this  idea  and  to  examine  its  influence  on  the  organi- 
sation and  method  of  the  primary  school. 

Our  knowledge  of    the  inner  working  of  the  common 

schools  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  and 
The  Common       , ,     ,       .      .          ,  ,,  . 

School  at  the     tne  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  centuries  is 

beginning  of  somewhat  incomplete,  but  apart  from  some 
Century311  notable  exceptions  all  the  evidence  points 
to  a  state  of  affairs  chaotic  in  the  extreme. 
Crabbe's  description  of  a  day  school  of  the  poorer  sort 
agrees  with  what  we  know  of  similar  schools  at  a  latter 
date. 

"  Poor  Reuben  Dixon  has  the  noisiest  school 
Of  ragged  lads,  who  ever  bow'd  to  rule  ; 
Low  in  his  price — the  men  who  heave  our  coals, 
And  clean  our  causeways,  send  him  boys  in  shoals. 
To  see  poor  Reuben,  with  his  fry  beside — 
Their  half -check'd  rudeness  and  his  half-scorn'd  pride — 
Their  room,  the  sty  in  which  th'  assembly  meet, 


212  TEACHING    BY    MACHINBKY. 

In  the  close  lane  behind  the  Northgate-street ; 

T'  observe  his  vain  attempts  to  keep  the  peace, 

Till  tolls  the  bell,  and  strife  and  troubles  cease, 

Calls  for  our  praise  ;  his  labours  praise  deserves, 

But  not  our  pity  ;  Reuben  has  no  nerves. 

'Mid  noise  and  dirt,  and  stench,  and  play,  and  prate, 

He  calmly  cuts  the  pen  or  views  the  slate. " ' 

Everything  was  calculated  to  foster  mean  educational 
ideals,  harsh  discipline,  and  wooden  methods.  Schools  in 
the  main  were  small,  composed  of  pupils  of  all  ages,  and 
numbering  anything  from  a  dozen  upwards,  in  charge  of  a 
single  teacher,  confined  to  one  room,  often  enough  ill- 
lighted,  ill-ventilated,  overcrowded,  and  with  a  minimum 
of  furniture  and  apparatus,  a  few  benches,  books,  pens 
and  paper  being  all  that  was  required.  In  successful 
schools  an  assistant  or  usher  was  employed,  but  large 
establishments  employing  a  number  of  teachers  were 
unusual.  Schooling  seems  to  have  been  entirely  a  matter 
of  imitation,  memorising,  and  the  getting  off  of  tasks 
with  no  attempt  at  exposition,  though  doubtless  many 
a  schoolmaster  here  and  there  with  the  instinct  of  a  born 
teacher  did  his  best  as  far  as  circumstances  would  allow 
to  touch  the  understanding  of  his  pupils. 

"What  one  type  of  common  school  was  like  can  be  seen 
from  the  accompanying  illustration  of  John  Pounds' 
School.2 

1  The  Borough,  Letterixxiv. 

-  Pounds](1766-1839)  "was"  the'large-hearted  cobbler  of  Portsmouth  who, 
when  fifteen  years  of  age,  had  met  with  atTaccident  that  disabled  him  for 
life.  His  time  was  divided  between  cobbling  and  rescue  work  among  the 
poorest  and  most  degraded  children  in  the  neighbourhood,  over  whom  he 
seemsjo'have  exerted  an  extraordinary  influence.  These  children,  boys 
and. girls,  he  induced  to'attend  his  workshop,  where  he  taught  them,  free  of 
charge,  to  read,  write,  and  sum,  to  cook  their  own  victuals,  and  to  mend 
their  own  shoes.  He  combined  the  functions  of  schoolmaster,  doctor, 
nurse,  and  playfellow.  So  well  did  his  work  succeed  that  he  is  often  spoken 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY.  213 

The  modes  of  teaching  in  vogue  can  be  grouped  under 
one  or  other  of  three  heads,  (1)  simultaneous 
Instruction  or  collective»  (2)  individual,  and  (3)  mutual.1 
It  was  the  second  of  these  that  was  charac- 
teristic of  elementary  schools  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  simultaneous  or  collective  method  so  familiar 
to-day  could  only  be  used  effectively  in  schools  sufficiently 
well  staffed  to  enable  the  children  to  be  divided  into 
groups  according  to  individual  attainment,  each  group 
being  in  charge  of  an  efficient  teacher.  As  used  in  Sunday 
schools  and  for  catechetical  purposes  it  was  generally  in- 
effective, for,  as  often  as  not,  the  whole  school  was  taught 
as  one  group  irrespective  of  age,  and  fully  deserved  all  the 
hard  things  that  were  said  about  it  during  the  early  years 
of  last  century.  The  individual  system  was  equally  in- 
effective and  uneconomical.  The  better  schoolmasters,  as 
Professor  Pillans 2  tells  us,  did  make  some  attempt  to  group 
their  children  into  several  grades  for  reading,  as  many 
more  for  writing,  as  many  again  for  arithmetic,  and  so  on, 
but  amid  such  a  distracting  diversity  of  occupations  it  was 
well-nigh  impossible  to  do  effective  work,  the  time  given  to 
any  section  was  too  short  and  the  pupils  spent  the  bulk  of 
their  time  in  idleness.  The  scene  of  confusion  in  the 
majority  of  these  schools,  conducted  as  they  were  without 
any  method  at  all,  by  teachers  with  no  special  capacity  for 
the  work,  and  where  every  child  was  occupied  with  a  dif- 
ferent task,  can  well  be  imagined.  That  progress  was  slow 

of  as  the  founder  of  Ragged  Schools.  His  workshop,  which  served  as  a 
schoolroom,  was  about  6  ft.  by  18  ft.,  and  accommodated  some  40  children. 
It  is  a  good  example  of  one  kind  of  unorganised  elementary  school  that  is 
met  with  down  to  1870. 

1  Cf.  Greard  :    Education    et  Instruction — Enseignement  Primaire, 
p.  39.     (1904.) 

2  Pillans:    Contributions  to  the  Cause  of  Education  (1856).    See  ante, 
p.  4. 


214  TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

is  hardly  surprising.  The  defects  of  both  a  simultaneous 
and  an  individual  system  as  commonly  practised  must 
have  been  obvious  to  all,  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  some  form  of  mutual  instruction  was  common  in  at 
any  rate  the  better  schools.1 

Robert  Kaikes  describes  how  he  made  use  of  the  plan  in 
his  early  experiments  on  Sunday  schools : — 

"I  endeavour  to  assemble  the  children  as  early  as  is  consistent 
with  their  perfect  cleanliness — an  indispensable  rule.  The  hour 
prescribed  in  our  rules  is  eight  o'clock,  ....  Twenty  is  the  num- 
ber allotted  to  each  teacher,  the  sexes  kept  separate.  The  twenty 
are  divided  into  four  classes  ;  the  children  who  show  any  superiority 
in  attainments  are  placed  as  leaders  of  the  several  classes,  and  are 
employed  in  teaching  the  others  their  letters,  or  in  hearing  them 
read  in  a  low  whisper,  which  may  be  done  without  interrupting 
the  master  or  mistress  in  their  business,  and  will  keep  the  attention 
of  the  children  engaged,  that  they  do  not  play  or  make  a  noise."2 

This  apparently  innocent  device,  re-discovered  inde- 
pendently by  Bell  and  Lancaster  and  worked  up  by  each 
into  an  independent  system,  was  destined  to  exert  a  deter- 
mining influence  on  educational  practice  in  this  country 
for  half  a  century.  So  much  so  that  mutual  instruction 
came  to  be  regarded  abroad  as  the  distinctively  English 
method  of  elementary  schooling.  The  rival  systems, 
though  differing  considerably  in  detail,  are  the  same  in 
principle  and  will  accordingly  be  discussed  together. 

THE  MONITORIAL  SYSTEMS  OF  BELL  AND  LANCASTER. 

Neither  Bell  nor  Lancaster  were  in  any  sense  educa- 
tional theorists.  Their  ideals  of  education  were  little  if 
at  all  in  advance  of  those  of  the  better  primary  school- 
master of  the  day,  being  confined  to  imparting  the  ele- 

!Cf.  ante,  p.  43. 

2  Letter  of  Robert  Raikes,  November  8th,  1787,  reprinted  in  Robert 
Raikes  :  the  Man  and  his  Work,  p.  324,  Harris. 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY.  215 

ments  of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  with  the  addition 
of  sewing  in  the  case  of  girls  ;  but  they  aimed  at  doing  this 
more  efficiently  and  more  cheaply  than  hithertofore.  To 
this  end  both  pupils  and  subject-matter  were  to  be  care- 
fully graded.  Short  lessons  and  working  to  a  time-table1 
were  to  be  insisted  upon.  Each  class  was  to  be  put  in  charge 
of  a  picked  boy  (or  girl)  teacher  in  order  to  insure  systematic 
drill  and  oversight,  thereby  greatly  increasing  the  number 
of  children  that  could  be  looked  after  by  one  schoolmaster ; 
and,  most  important,  emulation  was  to  be  substituted  for 
the  harsh  discipline  of  the  day.  In  Lancaster's  own 
words :  "  Every  pupil  in  school  shall,  at  all  times,  have 
something  to  do,  and  a  motive  for  doing  it."  Bell  was 
equally  explicit :  "To  attain  any  good  end  in  education, 
the  desideratum  is,  to  fix  attention,  to  call  forth  exertion, 
to  prevent  the  waste  of  time  in  school." 3  "  The  entire 
machinery  of  the  New  School  is  fitted  to  prevent  idleness 
and  offences,  to  call  forth  diligence  and  exertion,  and 
thereby  to  supersede  the  flagellation  which  he  (Quintilian) 
so  justly  reprobated."  In  short,  the  Monitorial  Systems 
introduced  (1)  a  new  plan  of  school  organisation,  and 
(2)  improvements  in  the  method  of  instruction. 

In  carrying  out  these  reforms  both  men  showed  not 
only  considerable  resource,  but  a  shrewd  knowledge  of 
.children.  It  was  upon  his  own  observation  of  boys  that 
Lancaster's  monitorial  principles  were  largely  based. 
Boys  are  naturally  active  and  full  of  spirits,  he  tells  us. 
Instead  of  attempting  to  repress  it,  use  it  for  the  good 
of  the  school ;  keep  all  busy  and  give  the  mischievous 


1  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  term  Time-table  is  not  met  with  until  the 
forties,  when  it  appears  in  the  Reports  of  Government  Inspectors.  Cf. 
Minutes  of  Committee  of  Council,  Vol.  II.,  1846,  p.  354.  See  infra, 
p.  220.  2  The  Madras  School,  p.  10. 


2KJ  TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY. 

positions  of  responsibility.1  Boys  are  imitative  and  sug- 
gestible ;  use  this  fact  as  a  means  of  exciting  emulation, 
promoting  a  healthy  public  opinion  and  esprit  de  corps. 
Motive  and  self -exertion  lie  at  the  root  of  all  education ; 
study  the  dispositions  and  cultivate  the  affections  of  the 
children.  Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  main  points  of 
monitorial  theory. 

ORGANISATION. 

As  already  indicated  the  root  principle  of  monitorial 
instruction  was  the  setting  of  children  to  teach  children. 
The  ideal  school  was  conducted  in  a  large  square  or  oblong 
room,  lofty  and  well  lighted,  a  barn,  it  was  said,  furnish- 
ing no  bad  model  as  to  shape  and  proportions.  Six  square 
feet  of  floor  space  was  recommended  for  each  child. 

In  Bell's  schools  the  centre  of  the  floor  was  kept  free  of 
furniture,  so  as  to  accommodate  the  various 
Pla^i  *  r  classes  standing.  Eound  the  walls  was  fixed 
a  row  of  desks  at  which  the  children  sat  for 
writing  with  their  backs  to  the  centre  of  the  room. 
Parallel  to  the  desks  were  placed  not  more  than  three  rows 
of  forms.  The  only  other  furniture  in  the  room  consisted 
of  a  few  cupboards  and  the  headmaster's  desk.  The 
centre  of  the  floor  was  marked  out  into  squares  for  the 
different  classes.  The  pupils  of  each  class  formed  three 
sides  of  a  hollow  square,  while  the  class  "  teacher  "  with 
his  "  assistant "  stood  on  two  dots  marked  T  and  A  re- 
spectively on  the  fourth  side.  They  stood  for  all  lessons 
save  writing.  The  accompanying  illustration  shows  the 
central  school  of  the  National  Society  at  Baldwin's  Gardens 
at  work.  The  room  was  60  feet  wide  and  100  feet  long, 
and  was  divided  by  a  partition  into  two  unequal  parts, 

1  Improvements  in  Education,  1806,  p.  31  and  passim. 


r   I        01 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY.  217 

the  one  for  600  boys  and  the  other  for  400  girls.  The 
girls'  school  shows  the  benches  distributed  over  the  floor 
for  a  sewing  lesson  ;  the  boys'  school  illustrates  the  every- 
day working  conditions. 

The  size  and  number  of  classes  depended  very  much 

upon  the  number  of  children  attending  the 
Classes  school ;  but,  in  general,  the  fewer  the  classes 

the  better.  In  a  large  school  where  many 
children  would  have  made  the  same  pi'ogress  each  class 
consisted  of  from  twenty-four  to  thirty-six  scholars.  In 
small  schools  the  classes  were  smaller,  but  never  more 
than  six  or  eight  classes  would  be  found.  Allotted  to  each 
class  was  a  teacher  and  an  assistant  teacher.  The  former 
was  chosen  from  the  top  class  (or  classes)  of  the  school, 
the  latter  was  the  best  scholar  of  the  particular  division. 
In  addition  every  boy  in  a  class  was  paired,  the  best  help- 
ing the  poorest,  and  so  on.1 

In  Lancasterian   schools    the    centre  of  the  floor  was 

occupied  by  long  unbroken  rows  of  desks, 

leaving  a  wide  passage  all  round  the  walls. 

This  free  space  was  marked  out  into  semi- 
circles much  smaller  than  Bell's  squares,  each  intended 
for  eight  or  ten  boys.  The  general  method  of  organisa- 
tion is  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration  of  the 
Borough  Road  School.-  The  room  was  90  feet  long  by 
nearly  40  feet  wide,  and  sloped  gently  towards  the  back. 
There  were  twenty  desks  each  25  feet  long,  and  thirty-one 
semicircles.  The  boys  of  each  row  were  divided  into  two 
"  drafts  "  of  from  eight  to  ten,  each  in  charge  of  a  monitor 
as  the  boy  teacher  was  called.  As  in  the  Bell  school,  the 
scholars  stood  for  all  lessons  except  writing.  The  use  of 

1  At  Madras  the  teacher  ranged  from  fourteen  to  eleven  and  the  assistant 
teacher  from  eleven  to  seven  years  of  age. 
'-'  The  common  method  of  beating  was  by  means  of  a  stove. 


218  TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY. 

small  "drafts"  instead  of  comparatively  large  classes 
brings  us  to  an  important  difference  in  the  monitorial 
plan  as  elaborated  by  Bell  and  by  Lancaster.  The  de- 
termining factor  was  cheapness.  In  the  ordinary  school 
of  the  day,  and  in  schools  following  the  Madras  model, 
reading-books  were  used  by  the  children  ;  but  these  books, 
varying  in  price  from  Id.  upwards,  very  quickly  wore  out. 
Lancaster  "  improved  "  this  by  using  reading  (and  arith- 
metical) sheets  17  inches  by  10  inches,  printed  in  larger 
type  and  mounted  on  cardboard,  which,  though  involving 
a  greater  initial  outlay,  were  practically  everlasting.  It 
was  round  these  sheets,  hung  on  the  walls,  that  the 
"  drafts  "  gathered.  The  smaller  classes  made  more  in- 
dividual drill  possible,  but  it  was  at  the  expense  of  more 
monitors  and  more  noise,  a  school  of  200  having  now 
instead  of  six  some  twenty  monitors  shouting  out  lessons 
simultaneously.  Not  only  so,  but  the  existence  of  a  stock 
of  imperishable  sheets  inevitably  tended  to  prevent  schools 
adapting  themselves  readily  to  new  ideas. 

There  was  no  part  of  school  organisation  that  Lancaster 
did  not  "  improve."  "  A  place  for  every- 
thin°  and  everything  in  its  place  "  was  one 
of  his  mottoes.  Accordingly,  he  devised 
elaborate  rules  for  slinging  hats  across  the  shoulders,  for 
marching  to  and  from  desks  ;  every  seat  was  numbered 
and  had  its  corresponding  slate  hanging  from  it1 ;  reading- 
sheet  No.  1  went  on  nail  No.  1 2 ;  every  boy  in  the  same 
class  was  supposed  to  write  the  same  number  of  letters  in 
the  same  time,  and  so  on.  To  keep  this  machinery  going 
a  small  army  of  monitors  was  employed.  Besides  teaching 

1  Considerations  of  economy  led  Lancaster  to  use  slates  to  an  extent 
hitherto  unprecedented.  He  popularised  the  slate  at  the  expense  of  paper 
and  ink. 

2Cf.  the  illustration  above, 


TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY.  219 

monitors  there  were  order  monitors,  monitors  for  ruling 
books,  mending  pens,  for  enquiring  after  absentees,  for 
inspecting,  monitors-general  for  writing,  for  reading, 
etc.,  until  the  whole  organisation  was  practically  at 
the  mercy  of  a  very  fallible  body  of  lieutenants.  In  short, 
Lancaster's  improvements  went  too  far  and  resulted,  in 
a  loss  of  flexibility.  Hence  it  was  the  less  precisely 
organised  Bell  system,  with  fewer  monitors  and  larger 
classes,  that  showed  itself  more  adaptable  to  newer  con- 
ditions, and  so  formed  the  link  between  the  practice  of 
the  eighteenth  century  and  the  school  organisation  as 
we  find  it  in  the  fifties  after  the  coming  of  the  pupil 
teacher  system. 

Two  other  points  of  organisation  call  for  remark :  the 
grading  of  lessons  and  promotion.  Lancaster  had  eight 
grades  (or  classes)  in  reading,  and  ten  in  arithmetic.  The 
arithmetic  was  only  begun  when  the  fifth  reading  class 
(or  grade)  was  reached  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  upper  part  of 
the  school  was  re-classed  for  arithmetic.  In  schools 
following  Bell's  plan  six  (or  eight)  grades  was  the  ideal, 
and  instruction  in  the  three  R's  went  on  contempora- 
neously. 

A  VILLAGE  SCHOOL  ON  THE  MADRAS  PLAN. 

The  exact  number  of  classes  depended,  of  course,  upon 
local  circumstances.  Thus  a  small  village  school  would 
only  have  three  classes,  each  with  its  own  "  teacher." 
The  method  of  conducting  such  a  school  is  shown  in  the 
accompanying  table.  Attention  should  be  directed  to  the 
occupations  of  the  different  classes,  the  length  of  lessons, 
and  the  way  in  which  the  master  distributed  his  time.1  The 
"  teachers  "  referred  to  are  of  course  the  monitors. 

1  For  the  breakdown  of  the  system  in  larger  schools  see  infra,  pp.  267-8. 


220 


TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  TIMK  IN  A  SMALL  VILLAGE  SCHOOL 
ON  THE  MADRAS  SYSTEM. 


MORNING. 

IST  CLASS. 

2ND  CLASS. 

SKD  CLASS. 

\  past  9 

Catechism. 

Collects. 

Lord's  Prayer. 

|  past  9 

Reads  and  spells 
to  the  master. 

Reads  and  spells 
from  lesson  to 
teacher. 

Reads  spelling 
cards  to  tea- 
cher. 

10  o'clock 

Repeats  tables 
—  cyphers  and 
spells  from 
cards. 

Spells  from  cards 
—  writes  from 
copper-plate 
cards  to  tea- 
cher. 

Reads  and  spells 
to  the  master  — 
goes  out. 

i  past  10 

Reads  and  spells 
from  lesson  to 
the  teacher. 

Reads  and  spells 
from  the  lesson 
to  master  —  goes 
out. 

Writes  copper- 
plate cards  — 
sitting. 

1  1  o'clock 

Spells  on  the 
cards  to  the 
master  —  goes 
out. 

Writes  a  lesson 
from  the  spell- 
ing cards. 

Writes  tables 
and  figures  —  go 
out  again. 

|  past  1  1 

Writes  in  copy- 
book, or  if 
girls,  sew. 

Go  out  five  min- 
utes —  writes 
tables  —  repeats 
them  from 
cards. 

Reads  and  spells 
to  master. 

\  to  12 

Repeat  religious 
instruction  — 
fill  up  regis- 
ters, etc. 

From  A  Small  Manual  for  the  JJwe  of  Village  Schools,  to  assist  Masters 
and  Mistresses  to  understand  and  to  adopt  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bell's  System, 
W.  Burkwell,  Leek,  c.  1818, 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY.  221 

Promotion  in  these  institutions  appears  to  have  taken 

place  at  no  fixed  date  nor  after  any  particu. 
Promotion.  .  ...  M.'A 

lar  period.  Perfect  familiarity  with  the  par- 
ticular set  of  lessons  was  the  deciding  factor  whether  for  the 
individual  or  for  a  group  of  boys.  Emulation  with  atten- 
dant place-taking  was  an  essential  feature  of  all  monitorial 
schools,  and  the  progress  of  each  boy  was  carefully  re- 
corded each  day  by  his  position  in  class.  To  the  marks 
register  kept  for  this  purpose  Bell  gave  the  name  of  the 
"  paidometer."  If  a  boy  succeeded  in  keeping  his  place 
at  the  head  of  his  section  he  was  moved  to  the  middle  of 
the  class  higher.  Should  he  succeed  in  retaining  or  in  im- 
proving his  position  well  and  good ;  if  he  dropped  to  the 
bottom  he  was  degraded.  No  degradation  of  this  sort  was 
practised  in  Lancasterian  schools. 

Of  teaching  properly  so  called  there  was  comparatively 
Meth  d  little  in  the  majority  of  these  schools.     It 

was  too  much  a  matter  of  learning  or  help- 
ing children  to  learn  lessons  in  the  most  mechanical  way, 
regardless  of  whether  what  was  learnt  was  assimilated  or 
not.  Reading  was  taught  as  a  mechanical  art,  arithmetic 
was  the  manipulation  of  figures,  writing  was  concerned 
with  penmanship  and  spelling.  There  Avas  no  such  thing 
as  composition.  Class  lessons  in  which  the  teacher  nar- 
rated, described,  expounded,  were  unheard  of.  Any  ques- 
tioning there  was  generally  came  cut  and  dried  from  a 
book,  followed  by  the  answer  which  had  to  be  memorised. 
To  teach  reading  was  the  chief  end  of  the  monitorial 
Reading,  school,  yet  as  a  rule  little  or  no  attention  was 

Spelling,  and     given  to  content.     Reading  simply  meant  the 

power  to  recognise  words  and  to  string  them 
together  orally.  The  customary  method  was  to  begin  with 
the  alphabet  and  to  proceed  to  read  by  means  of  spelling. 
Both  reformers  adopted  this  method,  but  proceeded  to 


222  TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY. 

improve  it  in  detail.  First  they  carefully  graduated  the 
lessons.  Not  until  all  ordinary  monosyllables  and  words 
had  been  spelled  were  children  allowed  to  approach  dis- 
syllables. Again,  all  syllables  and  words  of  two  letters 
had  to  be  known  before  those  of  three  letters  were  dealt 
with,  and  so  on.  Secondly,  in  order  to  fix  the  forms  of  the 
syllables  clearly  in  mind  they  had  to  be  written — that  is 
to  say  spelling,  reading,  and  writing  went  hand  in  hand. 
Only  after  the  children  had  gone  through  a  long  drill 
in  spelling  and  writing  monosyllables  and  monosyllabic 
words  were  they  introduced  to  the  reading  of  sentences, 
and  even  then  care  was  taken  that  these  did  not  make 
too  good  sense,  for  fear  the  children  would  memorise 
them  rather  than  concentrate  their  attention  on  the  indi- 
vidual words.  Lancaster's  scheme  of  spelling,  reading 
and  writing,  which  was  typical  of  monitorial  practice,  was 
as  follows : — 

Class  I.          learns  to  read  the  alphabet  and  to  trace  the  letters 

on  sand. 
Class  II.         spells  words  and  syllables  of  two  letters  and  writes 

them  on  slates. 
Class  III.       spells    and   writes    words  and  syllables  of    three 

letters. 
Class  IV.       spells    and    writes    words  and   syllables   of   four 

letters. 
Class  V.        spells  and  writes  words  and  syllables  of  five  and 

six   letters   and    begins  to  read   words   of  one 

syllable. 
Class  VI.       spells  and  writes  words  of  two  syllables  and  reads 

short  passages  containing  dissyllabic  words. 
Class  VII.     spells   and   writes  words  of  several  syllables  and 

reads  longer  passages. 
Class  VIII.  reads  from  the  Bible. 

The  last  one,  two,  or  three  classes  wrote  on  paper  with 
pen  and  ink. 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY.  223 

Though  each  reformer  introduced  "  improvements  "  the 
basis  of  their  work  was  Mrs.  Trimmer's 
Charity  School  Spelling  Boole,  and  the  New 
and  Old  Testaments  furnished  the  reading 
material.  As  a  means  of  ensuring  alertness,  the  pupils  in 
Madras  schools  would  be  asked  to  build  up  syllables  on  the 
model  ab,  eb,  ib,  etc.  A  sharp  distinction  was  drawn  between 
spelling  on  book  and  spelling  off  book.  It  was  "  spelling  on 
book "  to  look  at  a  word  and  say  i-b  ib,  c-a-t  cat, 
whereas  it  was  "  spelling  off  book  "  to  first  say  the  word, 
e.g.  cat,  and  then  spell  it  from  memory.1  The  reading  of 
monosyllables  proceeded  thus.  Suppose  the  sentence  to 
be  "  The  way  of  G-od  is  a  good  way."  This  was  first 
copied  on  slates,  then  from  dictation,  every  word  being 
spelled  alphabetically.  When  the  class  stood  up  to  read 
the  passage  was  attacked  in  the  same  way  :  T-h-e  the, 
w-a-y  way,  o-f  of,  G-o-d  God,  etc.  It  was  next  read  in 
pauses :  The  way-of  God-is-a  good  way ;  then  it  was  read 
again  without  a  stop.  Next  it  was  "  spelled  off  book  " 
thus,  The  t-h-e,  way  w-a-y,  etc. ;  afterwards  it  was 
written  from  dictation,  the  monitor  only  pronouncing  the 
words.  As  a  further  means  of  maintaining  attention 
each  boy  would  be  required  to  spell  only  one  letter  of 
a  word,  and  if  any  missed  his  turn  he  lost  his  place  in  the 
class. 

Polysyllables  were  split  up  into  single  syllables,  but 
now  without  any  spelling,  each  syllable  being  pronounced 
separately  :  "  Thus-he-pro-ceeds-through-the-child's- 
book-part-first-and-se-cond-Mis-tress-Trim-mer's-spel- 
ling-book,"  etc.,  afterwards  counting  one  for  a  comma,  two 
for  a  semi-colon,  and  three  for  a  full  stop.  In  order  to 
ensure  "  ceaseless  activity,"  while  one  boy  was  reading  the 

1  The  Madras  School,  p.  60. 


224  TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

lips  of  all  the  rest  were  to  be  moving,  and  individual  lessons 
were  to  be  short — 10  to  20  minutes.  Nevertheless  the 
same  sort  of  grind  went  on  for  the  whole  of  each  school 
session.1 

To  make  sure  that  the  children  grasped  the  sense  of  a  pas- 
sage two  forms  of  explanation  were  gradually  introduced, 
one  directed  to  getting  the  general  sense  of  the  passage, 
the  other  directed  to  particular  words,  both  questions 
and  answers  being  set  out  in  a  book  in  the  hands  of  the 
monitor. 

Arithmetic  was  taught  with  the   same  want  of  under- 
standing   as    reading.     Of   ways   in    which 
Arithmetic. 

number    concepts    develop    there    was    no 

thought  whatever.  It  was  all  a  matter  of  "  cyphering." 
The  figures  were  learnt  by  copying  them,  and  all  the  rest 
was  a  matter  of  drill  and  rules.  According  to  the  extract2 
from  the  Master's  Report  of  a  Sunderland  School,  1822, 
Lancasterian  Schools  were  graded  for  arithmetic  as 
follows  : — 

Class  I.  learnt  to  cypher  and  to  combine  figures.3 

Classes  II.  to  V.       learnt  to  add,  subtract,  multiply,  and  divide 

simple  numbers  respectively. 

Classes  VI.  to  IX.  learnt  the  same  rules  for  compound  numbers. 
Class  X.  learnt  reduction,  practice,  and  the  rule  of 

three. 


1  The  old  method  of  meeting  a  new  word  like  "misrepresentation"  was  to 
attack  the  separate  syllables  as  though  they  had  never  been  seen  before, 
e.g.  m-i-s  mis,  r-e  re,  misre,  etc.  Bell  would  not  allow  this,  the  word 
must  be  spelled  m-i-s — r-e — p-r-e,  etc. 

-"Monitorial  Schools  aud  their  Successors,"  Educational  Record, 
Vol.  XVIII.,  p.  21.  The  chapters  under  this  heading  contain  a  full  and 
valuable  account  of  the  iniier  working  of  the  monitorial  systems. 

3  Bell  carried  this  to  septillions. 


REACHING  BY  MACHINERY.  225 

The  tables  had  to  be  thoroughly  learnt,  and  in  Madras 
schools  these  were  built  up  as  follows  : — 

Addition.1 

00000 to  12. 

1  1  1  1  1  - 
1  1  1  1  1  -  - 
1  I  1  1  - 

2222 

1  1   1  - 

333- 

Combined  addition  and  subtraction  of  twos  : — 

234567  to  12. 
2222  2 2 
456789 
222222 
234567 
Combined  multiplication  and  division  of  nines  : — 

9  10  11     12 

9999 


9 ) 81  90  99  108 
9  10  11     12 
The  children  were  well  drilled  in  combinations  such  as — 

9+6  and  6  +  9  =  15. 
15  -  6  =  9  and  15  -  9  =  6. 

In  teaching  addition  the  monitor  in  both  Bell  and 
Lancasterian  schools  read  out  from  a  book  : — 

Ib. 

27935 

3963 

8679 

14327 

1  Lancaster's  method  was  for  the  monitor  to  take  a  long  table  and  read 
thus,  the  boys  writing  the  numbers  as  dictated  : — 9  and  1  are  10 ;  9  and  2 
are  11 ;  ...  25  and  2  are  27  ;  25  and  3  are  28. 

H.  ED.  15 


226  TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY, 

Each  Hue  was  inspected  as  written.  Then  taking  the 
key  the  monitor  began  :  First  Column :  7  and  9  are  16, 
and  3  are  19,  and  5  are  24.  Set  down  4  under  the  7  and 
carry  2  to  the  next,  etc.,  and  so  on  through  the  various 
"  rules." 

Such  was  the  monitorial  method  of  rendering  "  simple, 
easy,  pleasant,  and  economical  the  acquisition  of  letters," 
which,  together  with  morality  and  religion,  "  are  the  lead- 
ing objects  of  Elementary  Education."  '  That  the  actual 
value  of  letters  acquired  on  such  terms  was  small  need 
hardly  be  pointed  out.  At  the  same  time  the  judgment 
of  contemporaries  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  schooling,  such 
as  it  was,  was  enormously  more  efficient  than  that  afforded, 
almost  without  exception,  in  the  primary  schools  of  the 
day. 

But  what  of  the  moral  training  given  in  the  monitorial 

schools  ?     For,  according  to  Bell,  the  "  ulti- 

Training  mate  object"   (of  the  Madras  system)  was 

"  to   make   good   scholars,  good  men,  good 

subjects  and  good  Christians ;  in  other  words,  to  promote 

the   temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  of  our  pupils." 2     To 

Lancaster  it   was   "  to  train  children  in  the  practice  of 

such   moral   habits   as   are  conducive  to   the  welfare  of 

society."3 

Both  men  firmly  believed  this  end  Avas  an  inevitable 
accompaniment  of  the  machine-like  regularity  of  the 
school,  its  strenuousness,  the  constant  sense  of  personal 
responsibility  felt  by  pupil  and  monitor  alike,  supple- 
mented as  it  was  by  definite  moral  and  religious  teach- 
ing. "  Look  at  a  regiment  or  a  ship,"  says  Bell,  "  you 
will  see  a  beautiful  example  of  the  system  which  I  have 

1  The  Madras  School,  p.  6.  2  The  Madras  School,  1808,  p.  7. 

;<  Improvements  in  Education,  1806,  p.  25. 


TEACHING    BT    MACHINERY.  227 

recommended  for  a  single  school."  1  In  it  "  every  boy  has 
his  place  and  every  hour  its  proper  business  "  ;  .  .  .  and 
"  there  grows  up  imperceptibly  a  sense  of  duty,  subordi- 
nation, and  obedience."  ..."  The  hope  of  reward  .  .  .  the 
fear,  not  of  corporal  pain,  but  of  disgrace,  are  the  effective 
springs  by  which  the  mighty  machine  is  to  be  moved." 
"  The  smart  of  bodily  pain  soon  subsides  and  is  forgotten, 
but  the  sense  of  shame  strikes  close  and  will  not  suffer 
the  offender  to  be  at  peace,  till  the  fault  that  occasioned  it 
be  obliterated  by  subsequent  meritorious  action.  .  .  .  These 
things  daily  and  houi-ly  preached  .  .  .  are  wrought  into  the 
sentiments,"  and  they  become  "  the  fixed  and  settled 
habits  both  of  body  and  mind."  2 

By  realising  that  children  like  to  be  kept  busy,  by 
substituting  oi'der  for  chaos  and  emulation  for  the  harsh 
corporal  punishment  of  the  day,  a  great  advance  was 
made.  To  place  boys  in  positions  of  trust  and  so 
endeavour  to  awaken  a  feeling  of  personal  responsibility 
was  excellent.  The  practice  of  trying  boys  whose  names 
appeai-ed  in  the  black  book  by  a  jury  elected  by  the 
school  had  at  least  the  merit  of  endeavouring  to  eliminate 
any  suspicion  of  caprice  in  inflicting  punishment,  and  in 
so  far  as  it  was  an  attempt  to  cultivate  a  healthy  public 
opinion,  and  to  accustom  boys  to  self-government,  it 
emphasised  an  aspect  of  social  training  that  is  sometimes 
forgotten.  But  too  often,  owing  to  the  incompetence  of 
the  master,  these  elements  were  entirely  in  abeyance. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  detail  the  elaborate  scheme  of 
rewards  and  punishments.  Emulation  was  the  watchword 
of  the  systems,  and  supposedly  the  key  to  all  individual 
enterprise.  But  at  a  time  when  schooling  consisted  in 
"  driving  in  knowledge  at  the  end  of  a  stick  "  it  did  a  good 

1  The  Madras  School,  p.  312.  -Ibid.,  pp.  270-72. 


--S  TEACHING    feY    MACHINERY. 

deal  towards  popularising  a  inure  humane   view   in   the 
school. 

In  estimating  the  value  of  the  monitorial  systems  we 
must  not  confuse  the  machinery  with  the 
sPirit  that  Erected  it.  Both  Bell  and  Lan- 
caster were  men  who  could,  and  did,  infuse 
new  life  into  whatever  school  they  entered,  but  neither 
distinguished  between  the  relative  importance  of  machinery 
and  personality.  Mechanism,  was  in  the  air  and  both  men 
believed  firmly  that  it  was  possible  to  mechanise  education, 
just  as  Pestalozzi  had  done.1  "Any  boy  who  can  read  can 
teach  .  .  .  although  he  knows  nothing  about  it,"  -  said  Lan- 
caster. "An  automaton  might  be  a  schoolmaster."  Both 
believed  that  they  had  discovered  a  short  cut  to  knowledge, 
and  they  succeeded  in  convincing  others  that  this  was  so. 
That  the  monitorial  systems  of  school  organisation  marked 
a  great  forward  step  in  the  direction  of  bringing  instruc- 
tion within  the  reach  of  all  is  indisputable.'  The  wave  of 
enthusiasm  that  attended  the  introduction  of  the  systems 
into  both  day  and  Sunday  schools  is  shown  in  numerous 
contemporary  records.  Old  furniture  was  discarded,  and 
local  generosity  was  stimulated  to  effect  the  fitting  up  of 
the  schools  on  the  new  plan.  The  number  of  scholars 
increased  rapidly,  listlessness  disappeared  in  the  school- 
room, and  a  new  spirit  reigned.  Evidence  of  boys  "  spell- 
ing in  their  sleep  "  was  received  with  satisfaction.4 

1  Life  and  Work  of  Pestalozzi,  J.  A.  Green,  p.  12". 

2  Improvements  in  Education,  1806,  p.  84. 

3Cf.  The  Training  System,  Stow,  First  Edition,  Chap.  I. 

4  An  interesting  example  of  this  enthusiasm  is  found  in  the  records  of  the 
Church  Sunday  schools  at  Stockport,  where  Bell's  system  was  introduced 
in  1812.  In  1810-11  the  total  income  was  £91  9s.  8d.,  the  expenses 
£70  8s.  In  1812-13  the  total  income  was  £233  9s.  /d.  (this  includes  no 
grant  from  the  National  Society).  The  expenses  due  to  a  heavy  joiner's 
bill  for  desks  and  other  fittings,  a  large  bill  for  books  and  stationery,  in- 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINEBT.  229 

But  the  weakness  of  the  monitorial  plan  was  apparent 
even  while  Bell  was  boasting  "  If  you  or  I  live  a  thousand 
years  we  shall  see  this  system  spread  over  the  world." 
There  could  be  little  education  where  the  ideal  of  the  school- 
master was  to  do  nothing  beyond  acting  as  an  organiser 
and  an  inspector,  and  where  the  real  work  of  the  school 
was  committed  to  children. 

Accordingly  it  is  hardly  surprising  to  find  that  the 
average  day  school  conducted  on  monitorial 
The  lines  was  far  from  reaching  the  standard 

Monitorfal  se^  ^v  ^e  mvent°r8  of  the  system.  Among 
School.  the  complaints  lodged  against  these  insti- 

tutions were  included  bad  discipline,  the 
tyranny  of  the  monitors,  the  late  and  irregular  attend- 
ance of  schoolmasters,  and  the  poor  results  of  the  instruction. 
It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  monitorial  system 
was  too  much  concerned  with  "  stuffing  the  memory,"  and 
it  was  to  improve  the  intellectual  value  of  school  work  that 
reformers  first  directed  their  attention. 

One  of  the  leaders  of  this  movement  was  John  Wood  of 

the  Edinburgh  Sessional  School.     A  careful 

Intellectual8      study  °f  children  with  whom  he  was  brought 

System.'  into   contact   (1820)    soon   led   him   to  the 

discovery  that  pupils  are   not  machines   or 

irrational  animals  to  be  driven,  but  intellectual  beings  who 

may  be   led ;    that   success   depends   upon   studying   the 

individual   and  adapting  circumstances  accordingly ;  and 

that  it  is  the  spirit — not  the  external  arrangements  and 

creased  salaries,  et<-.,  amounted  to  £4"6  9s.  lid.  The  improvement  in  the 
efficiency  of  the  schools  is  seen  by  the  increase  in  attendance.  Within  a 
year  (>00  new  scholars  entered  and  two  new  schools  had  to  be  opened.  Two 
years  later  2,500  children  were  in  regular  attendance.  The  income  was 
then  £439  6s.  7d.,  and  the  expenditure  £552  12s.  7d.—  Report*  of  the 
Church  Sutnldij  /Sr/ioo/x. 
1  Account  of  the  Edinburgh  Sessional  School,  John  Wood,  1828, 


230  TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

mechanism — that  counts  in  education.  Teaching  that  did 
not  strike  a  responsive  note  in  the  pupil,  that  did  not 
quicken  his  understanding,  was  dead.  School  work  to  be 
of  any  value  must  be  meauiiigful  and  must  start  from  the 
pupils'  experiences.  Unintelligible  rote  work  must  be 
abolished,  exposition  was  to  come  in,  and  it  was  the 
teacher's  business  to  see  that  nothing  was  learnt  that  was 
not  understood.  Knowledge  was  accordingly  looked  for  in 
the  schoolmaster,  but  at  the  same  time  he  must  be  "  apt 
to  teach."  This  was  Wood's  contribution  to  educational 
practice.  His  principles  were  set  out  in  his  Account  of  the 
Edinburgh  Sessional  School,  and  further  elaborated  by 
Professor  Pillans  in  his  Letters  on  Elementary  Education. 
He  invented  no  new  system  of  school  organisation,  but  took 
the  monitorial  system  as  elaborated  by  Bell  and  sought 
to  infuse  it  with  a  new  spirit.  Higher  qualities  were 
demanded  of  master  and  monitor  alike ;  the  latter  must 
not  merely  know  the  lesson  by  heart,  he  must  understand 
it  and  be  prepared  to  get  the  pupils  to  understand 
it  likewise.  Great  store  was  set  upon  questioning,  though 
the  use  of  books  of  set  questions  was  not  forbidden  so  long 
as  they  were  not  used  mechanically.  A  real  effort  was 
made  to  brighten  the  school,  and  to  stimulate  a  vigorous 
intellectual  life.  Emulation  and  place- taking  were  retained, 
and  might  be  supplemented  by  corporal  punishment  under 
exceptional  circumstances,  but  sarcasm  and  ridicule  were 
abolished.  "  There  is  no  stronger  mark  of  incapacity  in  a 
teacher,"  says  Wood,  "  than  his  being  under  the  necessity 
of  resorting  to  punishments  more  frequently  than  others 
placed  in  like  situation :  nor  any  higher  recommendation 
in  one  than  his  maintaining  equal  authority  with  less 
severity  than  his  neighbours." l 

1  Account  of  the  Edinburgh  Sessional  School,  John  Wood,  3rd  Edition, 
.  144. 


TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY.  231 

In  reading  great  stress  was  laid  on  making  the  work 
interesting  and  instructive.  The  children 
were  set to  rea(l  simple  passages  as  soon  as 
they  knew  the  alphabet.  Much  attention 
was  given  to  seeing  that  they  understood  what  they  were 
reading  about,  and  in  a  mistaken  endeavour  to  achieve  this 
there  was  an  absurd  waste  of  time  on  learning  the  mean- 
ings of  individual  words  and  lists  of  prefixes  and  roots, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  lesson  was  allowed  to  degenerate 
into  a  vehicle  for  conveying  miscellaneous  information. 
Grammar  was  also  emphasised  as  an  aid  to  understand- 
ing the  reading-book.  In  arithmetic  a  good  deal  of 
emphasis  was  laid  upon  principles  and  mental  work,  and 
the  children  were  encouraged  to  evolve  solutions  and 
methods  for  themselves.  In  geography  an  effort  was  made 
to  see  that  every  place  learnt  was  located  on  the  map  and 
stood  for  something  ;  and  so  on. 

These  improvements  required  the  name  of  the  Intellectual 
System,  and  were  adopted  in  principle  by  the  monitorial 
schools.  Not  that  they  were  evolved  by  any  one  individual. 
All  these  ideas  were  in  the  air,  and  can  be  studied  to-day 
in  the  pages  of  the  large  contemporary  literature  intended 
for  the  consumption  of  middle-class  children.  Rather  they 
represent  an  inevitable  stage  in  the  evolution  of  the 
common  school,  reforms  that  thinking  teachers  have 
fallen  upon  again  and  again.  They  are  associated  with 
the  name  of  Wood  because  his  school  embodied  them 
more  perfectly  than  the  majority  of  similar  schools.  It 
stood  out  like  an  oasis  in  a  desert,  but  to  imagine  that 
the  ideas  were  peculiar  to  him  would  be  to  misread 
history. 

Other  improvements  came  with  the  development  of  infant 
schools.  It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  the  primary 
function  of  the  initiatory  and  dame  schools  of  the  working 


232  TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY. 

classes  during  the  early  nineteenth  century  was  to  mind 
children  while  their  parents  were  at  work. 

"  Yet  one  there  is,  that  small  regard  to  rule 
Or  study  pays,  and  still  is  deem'd  a  school : 
That,  where  a  deaf,  poor,  patient  widow  sits 
And  awes  some  thirty  infants  as  she  knits  ; 
Infants  of  humble,  busy  wives,  who  pay 
Some  trifling  price  for  freedom  through  the  day. 
At  this  good  matron's  hut  the  children  meet, 
Who  thus  becomes  the  mother  of  the  street. 
Her  room  is  small,  they  cannot  widely  stray — 
Her  threshold  high,  they  cannot  run  away  ; 
Though  deaf,  she  sees  the  rebel-heroes  shout ; — 
Though  lame,  her  white  rod  nimbly  walks  about ; 
With  band  of  yarn  she  keeps  offenders  in, 
And  to  her  gown  the  sturdiest  rogue  can  pin. 
Aided  by  these,  and  spells,  and  tell-tale  birds, 
Her  power  they  dread  and  reverence  her  words."1 

— CRABBE. 

Sometimes  the  elements  of  reading  were  imparted,  but  any 
attempt  at  instruction  was  most  perfunctory.  It  was  the 
improvements  in  common  school  education,  brought  about 
by  the  introduction  of  the  monitorial  method,  that  directed 
attention  to  the  need  of  reform  in  infant  education.  To 
leave  unprovided  for  children  who  were  too  young  to  begin 
to  use  slates  and  to  learn  to  read,  and  for  whom  the  drill  of 
the  monitorial  school  was  unsuited,  was  to  risk  the  stability 
of  the  whole  edifice.  Without  efficient  initiatory  schools 
there  was  no  provision  for  checking  the  formation  of  bad 
habits  and  stemming  the  growth  of  juvenile  depravity. 
Some  organisation  was,  in  fact,  wanted  to  supplement  the 
monitorial  school  and  to  help  in  disciplining  the  children, 
a  matter  of  especial  importance  in  view  of  the  early  age  at 

1  The  Borough,  Letter  xxjy. 


TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY.  233 

which  children  were  accustomed  to  enter  upon  some  form 
of  daily  occupation. 

It  was  Robert  Owen's  Infant  School  at  New  Lanark  that 
seta  new  standard.3    The  school  was  attended 

by children  from  one  and  a  half  to  six  vears 

of  age :  these  were  divided  into  three  classes, 
each  with  its  own  class-room,  and  placed  in  charge  of  an 
old  weaver,  James  Buchanan,  and  a  young  mill  worker, 
Molly  Young,  assisted  by  several  others.  Owen's  object 
was  to  banish  all  harshness  in  word  and  action  from  the 
school,  and  to  adopt  every  means  to  inculcate  a  spirit  of 
loving-kindness,  brotherliness,  and  social  service.  G-reat 
emphasis  was  laid  on  physical  training  and  an  education  in 
contact  with  realities.  Instead  of  teaching  the  three  R's, 
he  proposed  to  direct  the  interest  of  the  children  to  nature 
and  the  objects  around  by  means  of  conversation.  Spon- 
taneity was  to  be  the  keynote  of  the  school.  All  forma- 
lism was  to  be  abolished.  There  were  to  be  no  set  tasks. 
Much  time  was  to  be  spent  in  the  playground,  and  games 
and  story-telling  were  to  occupy  a  prominent  part  in  the 
work  of  the  school.  In  practice,  however,  the  importunity 
of  the  parents  made  it  impossible  to  follow  out  this  scheme 
in  its  entirety,  and  a  good  deal  of  formal  instruction  was 
included.  Children  of  from  two  to  four  years  of  age  were 
occupied  with  games,  singing,  object  lessons,  conversation 
and  story  lessons,  and  were  also  taught  the  alphabet.  Those 
from  four  to  six  had  lessons  in  reading,  geography,  natural 
history,  singing,  and  drawing. 

1  The  school  was  housed  iu  the  New  Institution,  a  large  building  erected 
in  the  centre  of  the  village.  The  ground-floor  was  divided  into  three  rooms, 
and  was  occupied  by  the  infants.  The  first  floor,  consisting  of  a  large 
room  90  ft.  by  40  ft.  by  20  ft.  and  a  smaller  one,  accommodated  the  upper 
school.  See  illustrations  in  Podmore's  Robert  Owen,  a  Biography,  Vol.  I, 

-Cf.  ante,  pp.  33  et  seq. 


234  TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

An  equally  liberal  outlook  governed  the  work  of  the 
children  from  six  to  ten  or  twelve  years  of 
Upper  School,  agt«.  Kindliness  and  a  spirit  of  mutual 
service  pervaded  the  whole.  All  artificial 
rewards  and  punishments  were  excluded  as  having  a  per- 
nicious influence  on  character.  Every  liberty  consistent 
with  the  maintenance  of  good  order  was  allowed,  and  even- 
effort  was  made  to  lead  children  to  understand  wherein 
their  true  self-interest  lay.  Instruction  was  conveyed  in 
as  pleasing  a  manner  as  could  be  devised,  the  object  being 
to  evoke  and  maintain  interest  and  quicken  the  under- 
standing. Failure  led  the  teacher  to  self -examination  and 
to  devise  means  of  improving  his  procedure.  The  impor- 
tance of  illustration  and  exposition  was  fully  realised,  but 
too  little  attention  seems  to  have  been  given  to  encourag- 
ing inventiveness  and  spontaneity  in  the  intellectual  part 
of  the  work. 

The  curriculum  was  very  liberal  including,  in  addition 
to  the  three  R's,  geography,  history  (ancient  and  modern), 
natural  history,  religious  instruction,  sewing,  singing, 
dancing,  and  drill.  The  school  was  first  organised  on  the 
Lancasterian  plan;  but  experience  having  shown  the  in- 
convenience of  this,  the  children  were  divided  into  classes 
of  40  or  50  under  adult  teachers.1  After  1818  Pesta- 
lozzian  methods  were  gradually  introduced.  But  what 
impressed  visitors  most  was  the  note  of  freshness  and 
spontaneity  that  pervaded  the  establishment.  To  find 
children  reading  Miss  Edgeworth's  tales,  illustrated  ac- 
counts of  voyages  and  travels,  using  time  charts  in  history, 
singing  "  The  Birks  of  Aberfeldy  "  and  other  lively  Scotch 
songs  from  note,  entering  with  enthusiasm  into  the 
various  Scotch  reels  and  country  dances,  and  to  see 

1  An  Outline  of  the  System  <>\'  Education  at  Neic  Lanark,  R.  D.  Owen 
1824. 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY.  235 

girls  cutting  out  their  owii  garments  in  the  sewing 
lessons,  the  boys  organised  into  a  cadet  corps,  suffice  even 
to-day  to  explain  why  the  school  should  attract  visitors 
interested  in  the  social  aspect  of  education  from  all  over 
Europe.1 

Thanks  to  this  emphasis  on  the  physical  and  moral  as- 
pects of  education  the  infant  schools  in  this 
Influence  country  took  on  a  direction  very  different 

from  that  of  the  monitorial  schools.  Owen 
shows  a  truer  conception  of  children  than  was  customary 
at  the  time.  To  the  majority  they  were  merely  adults  in 
miniatui-e,  childhood  was  a  time  to  be  hurried  tln-ough  as 
quickly  as  possible,  education  meant  storing  the  memory, 
and  young  children  learnt  the  same  lessons  as  their  elders 
only  in  a  briefer  and  more  concentrated  form.  This  in- 
tellectual view  had  its  outcome  in  the  prodigy  system. 
John  Stuart  Mill  began  to  learn  Greek  at  the  age  of  three. 
Basedow's  daughter  Emilie  spoke  and  read  French  and 
German,  could  compose  a  simple  letter,  was  familiar  with 
the  elements  of  arithmetic,  and  was  a  capable  housekeeper 
at  four  years  of  age ;  and  Bentham's  scheme  of  the  proposed 
Chrestomathic  school  which  children  were  to  enter  at  seven 
years  of  age  made  no  provision  for  instruction  in  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic. 

But  in  other  quarters  a  still  more  vicious  idea  prevailed. 
Acting  on  the  assumption  that  the  poor  must  be  trained 
to  poverty  many  were  in  favour  of  capturing  the  children 
young  and  inuring  them  to  "  habits  of  industry  "  by  set- 
ting them  to  various  industrial  occupations  utterly  reck- 
less of  any  physical  consequences,  at  the  same  time  pro- 

1  Cf .  "  The  Daily  Routine  of  the  New  Lanark  Institution  "  as  given  by 
the  Headmaster  in  The  New  Views  of  Mr.  (hven  of  Lanark  Impartially 
Examined,  by  Henry  Grey  Macnab,  1819.  A  good  account  is  also  given 
in  Adventures  in  Socialism,  Alex.  Cullen. 


236  TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY. 

viding  merely  the  dry  boues  of  intellectual  instruction.1 
What  the  times  needed  was  imagination,  and  this  was 
what  the  seer  of  New  Lanark  provided. 

If   the   infant   school   movement  owed   its   origin  and 

direction  to  Owen,  it  was  to  the  energy  and 
Wilderspin.  ingenuity  of  Wilderspin  that  the  ideas  were 

reduced  to  a  system  and  spread  up  and  down 
the  country.2  Wilderspin  had  a  genuine  interest  in  and 
sympathy  with  the  poor,  and  in  the  infant  school  as  organ- 
ised at  New  Lanark  he  saw  a  means  of  checking  the  growth 
of  juvenile  depravity  in  large  towns.  With  the  develop- 
ment of  his  scheme  and  the  controversy  that  centres  round 
the  source  of  his  ideas  we  are  not  concerned.  Many  of 
them  were  cognate  with  Pestalozzi's  doctrine,  nor  is  this 
surprising  when  for  the  past  twenty  years  visitors  had  been 
attracted  to  Switzerland  to  study  at  first  hand  the  ideas 
and  work  of  the  great  reformer.  All  the  ideas  vital  to  the 
plan  were  in  the  air  at  the  time  and  only  awaited  applica- 
tion. So  much  may  be  granted  without  in  any  way  milita- 
ting against  his  reputation  as  one  of  the  great  educational 
influences  of  the  day,  or  as  a  man  who  deservedly  won  the 
affectionate  esteem  of  enlightened  working  class  opinion 
throughout  the  country.3 

1  See  ante,  pp.  40-41. 

2Cf.  ante,  p.  56. 

3  G.  W.  Goyder  tells  us  (Autobiography  of  a  Phrenologist,  pp.  108-9) 
that  Wilderspin  got  his  first  knowledge  of  the  working  of  infant  schools 
from  James  Buchanan,  and  that  Wilderspin's  school  in  1820  differed  in  no 
way  from  Buchanan's.  Indicative  of  the  importance  of  Pestalozzi  at  this 
time  we  have  Goyder's  statement  that  Buchanan  urged  him  to  make  him- 
self acquainted  with  Pestalozzi's  system  in  order  that  he  might  be  eligible  for 
the  headship  of  a  new  Infants'  School  to  be  opened  at  Bristol.  Infra,  p.  243. 

Of  the  Pestalozziau  literature  in  England  at  the  time  we  find  The 
Mother's  Book,  "exemplifying  Pestalozzi's  plan  of  awakening  the  under- 
standing of  children  in  Language,  Drawing,  Geometry,  Geography  and 
Nature,"  Pestalozzi's  Intellectual  or  Intuitive  -Arithmetic — both  by  P.  H. 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY.  237 

Wilderspin's  success  was  due  not  so  much  to  any  pro- 
found educational  insight  as  to  his  genuine 

sympathy  with  children,  his  flashes  of  intui- 
Educational  *  /,.  . ,  '  .  .  ... 

Ideals.  tion,  and  his  considerable  organising  ability. 

Above  all  he  had  faith  in  his  work  and  was 
essentially  an  opportunist.  He  speaks  of  the  importance 
of  physical  and  moral  education,  of  making  school  work 
meaningful,  and  of  training  children  to  think  :  .but  in 
practice  he  was  not  averse  to  much  meaningless  rote  work, 
to  superficiality,  and  to  show.  Thus  he  lays  it  down 
as  a  first  principle  that  infant  schools  must  have  regard 
to  the  physical  development  of  children,  "  an  inactive  and 
healthy  child  under  six  years  of  age  is  never  seen."  Hence 
a  playground  is  essential :  games  have  to  be  devised : 
periods  of  intellectual  work  are  to  alternate  with  periods 
devoted  to  recreation :  moreover,  care  has  to  be  taken 
not  to  keep  the  children  in  one  posture  too  long.  Simi- 
larly he  realises  the  importance  of  making  the  school 
bright  and  cheerful  and  so  adapting  instruction  as  to 
"amuse"  the  children.  "The  first  thing  (to  be)  at- 
tempted in  an  infant  school  is  to  set  the  children  think- 
ing": teaching  is  to  proceed  by  means  of  objects  and 
pictures :  pupils  are  to  be  led  to  examine,  compare,  and 
express  what  they  see,  the  inferences  they  draw,  and  so 
on.  With  regard  to  moral  training  he  taught  that  to 
preach  morality  without  giving  children  opportunities  of 
practising  it  was  of  little  use,  and  that  it  was  better  to 
rule  by  love  than  by  fear.1 

Fallen — and  his  six  pamphlets  entitled  Hints  to  Parents,  devoted  to  various 
aspects  of  Method.  Pestalozzi's  Letters  on  Early  Education,  written  to 
J.  P.  Greaves,  the  Secretary  of  the  London  Infant  School  Society,  were  pub- 
lished in  1827. 

aFor  an  account  of  Wilderspin's  teaching  see  his  Infant  Education, 
The  Infant  System,  Early  Discipline,  The  Education  of  the  Young. 


238  TEACHING    B?    MACHINERY. 

The  spirit  is  excellent,  and  at  any  rate  has  the  merit  of 
approaching  the  question  of  education  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  child.  But  Wilder- 
spin's  school  fell  short  of  realising  these  ideals.  After 
making  all  allowance  for  the  difficulties  of  embodying  ideals 
in  practice,  after  making  every  allowance  for  opportunism 
to  avoid  the  objections  that  at  the  time  would  have 
been  raised  by  the  parents  themselves  to  a  really  en- 
lightened system  of  education,  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  the 
conclusion  that  Wilderspin  himself  was  far  from  under- 
standing the  real  significance  of  much  that  he  preached. 
Nevertheless,  he  did  a  great  pioneer  work  and  was  worthy 
of  the  high  praise  bestowed  upon  him  by  his  contem- 
poraries. His  efforts  were  greatly  handicapped  by  the 
ignorance  of  his  disciples,  and  though  the  spirit  of  his 
teaching  was  often  missing,  he  succeeded  in  riveting  upon 
the  schools  practices  the  effects  of  which  are  still  found 
to-day. 

He  persistently  confused  education  with  instruction. 
He  thought  he  was  laying  a  basis  of  sense  experience  when 
as  a  matter  of  fact  the  children  were  mechanically  memoris- 
ing names.  He  seems  to  have  imagined  that  if  he  manipu- 
lated a  ball  frame  the  children  would  inevitably  build  up 
number  concepts,  that  spacial  ideas  came  from  learning 
the  names  of  geometrical  figures  especially  if  they  were 
illustrated  from  surrounding  objects ;  his  oral  questioning 
too  often  laboured  the  obvious,  or  confined  itself  to  facts 
which  the  children  might  or  might  not  know :  it  was  not 
sufficiently  provocative  of  thought,  nor  calculated  to  lead 
the  children  to  investigate  things  for  themselves.  In 
short,  he  had  not  grasped  the  significance  of  Pestalozzi's 
Auschauung.  Concreteness  he  associated  with  something 
material,  and  he  never  seems  to  have  understood  how 
ideas  actually  develop. 


TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY.  239 

Wilderspin's  ideal  infant  school  is  shown  in  the  ac- 
companying illustration.  It  was  an  oblong 
buildiug  80  ft-  by  22  ft.,  with  a  classroom 
20  ft.  by  18  ft.  at  one  end,  and  was  intended 
to  accommodate  some  200  children.  Seats  were  placed 
for  the  children  against  the  wall.  At  one  end  was  the 
master's  desk,  at  the  other  a  large  gallery  before  which  was 
a  rostrum.  On  the  floor  were  a  number  of  lesson  posts. 
Outside  was  always  a  playground  bordered  with  flower 
beds,  containing  if  possible  fruit  and  other  trees,  and  in 
the  centre  of  the  area  were  several  rotatory  swings.  It  was 
a  place  for  games  and  physical  exercises,  a  sort  of  open-air 
classroom  where  children  might  be  seen  playing  together 
in  groups  with  their  bricks.  It  provided  excellent  op- 
portunities for  the  teacher  to  observe  the  children  in 
moments  of  freedom,  and  of  training  them  to  self- 
restraint  and  to  respect  for  the  property  of  others. 

The  school  was  in  charge  of  a  master  and  a  female 
assistant,  preferably  "his  wife.  Much  attention  was  given 
to  training  children  in  good  personal  habits,  cleanliness, 
tidiness,  punctuality,  etc.,  and  to  moral  training.  Great 
stress  was  laid  upon  information  ;  the  "  prodigy  "  element 
loomed  large.  The  curriculum  included  reading,  writing, 
arithmetic,  geometry,  lessons  on  common  objects,  geography, 
singing,  and  religion,  and  an  effort  was  made  to  make  the 
work  interesting  and  "  concrete."  To  this  end  much  impor- 
tance was  attached  to  object-lessons,  to  the  use  of  illustra- 
tion, to  questioning  and  exposition,  while  the  memory  was 
aided  by  means  of  didactic  verse.  A  new  system  of  school 
organisation  was  devised.  Monitors  were  still  employed, 
but  only  for  the  more  mechanical  parts  of  the  work.  The 
real  teaching  devolved  upon  the  master  and  mistress.  This 
was  of  two  kinds  :  class  teaching  to  a  section  of  the  children 
of  approximately  equal  attainments  either  on  the  floor  or 


24U  TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

in  the  classroom,  and  collective  teaching  to  the  whole 
school,  regardless  of  age,  on  the  gallery.  The  gallery  was 
also  used  for  the  simultaneous  repetition  of  hymns,  didactic 
verse,  etc.,  in  which  case  it  might  be  conducted  by  the 
senior  monitor  while  a  number  of  picked  children  were 
being  separately  instructed  in  the  classroom. 

The  following  was  the  procedure  in  a  typical  lesson  in 
the  classroom.     A  picture  would  be  placed 
in  front  of  the  class.     The  master  repeats 
the  passage  of  Scripture  beginning  "  And 
Joseph  dreamed  a  dream,  and  told  it  to  his  brethren." 
Pointing  to  the  picture  the  following  questions  might  be 
asked : — Q.    What   is  this  ?      A.    Joseph's    first    dream. 
Q.  What  is  a  dream?  .  .  .  Q.  Did  you  ever  dream  any- 
thing ?  .  .  .  Q.  What  did  you  see  in  your  dream  ?  .  .  . 
Q.  How  did  you  know  it  was  a  dream  ?  .  .  .  Q.  What-  did 
Joseph  dream  about  first  ?  l  etc.,  etc. 

A  typical  geometry  lesson  by  the  master  to  the  whole 
school  on  the  gallery  would  proceed  somewhat  as  follows  : — 
A  large  board  with  geometrical  figures  is  placed  before  the 
gallery.  The  master  points  to  a  straight  line.  "  Q.  What 
is  this  ?  A.  A  straight  line.  -Q.  Why  did  you  not  call  it 
a  crooked  line  ?  .  .  .  Q.  What  are  these  ?  .  .  .  Q.  What 
does  parallel  mean  ?  .  .  .  Q.  If  any  of  you  children  were 
reading  a  book  that  gave  an  account  of  some  town  which 
had  twelve  streets,  and  it  said  that  the  streets  were  parallel, 
what  would  you  understand?  "  etc.,  etc.  Instead  of  dia- 
grams a  jointed  strip  of  metal — the  gonograph — was  some- 
times used.  In  these  lessons  the  children  often  answered 
simultaneously,  and  though  to  begin  with  only  the  older 
ones  might  be  able  to  enter  into  the  work,  yet  as  the  same 
lesson  recurred  it  was  krgued  that  the  younger  children 
would  gradually  pick  up  the  necessary  ideas. 
1  Infant  Education. 


TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY.  241 

Number  was  similarly  taught  by  means  of  a  ball  frame. 
Afterwards  the  whole  gallery  would  be  set  to  memorise 
what  had  been  demonstrated.  A  monitor  would  ascend 
the  rostrum  and  repeat  aloud  in  sing-song  fashion,  the 
children  repeating  after  him.  Thus — "  One  and  one  are 
two ;  two  and  one  are  three ;  three  and  one  are  four,  etc." 
At  other  times  didactic  verses  would  be  learnt : — 

"  Sixteen  drams  are  just  an  ounce 

When  my  mother  goes  to  shop  ; 
Sixteen  ounces  make  a  pound 

When  she  buys  a  mutton  chop,"  etc. 
Or  again — 

"  Two  pints  will  make  one  quart 

Of  any  wine,  I'm  told  : 
Four  quarts  one  gallon  are  of  port 
Or  claret,  new  or  old. 

A  little  wine  within 

Oft  cheers  the  mind  that's  sad  ; 

But  too  much  brandy,  rum,  or  gin, 
No  doubt  is  very  bad,"  etc.1 

The  alphabet  was  taught  in  like  manner  to  the  whole 
school  on  the  gallery,  but  with  it  was  as- 
sociated spelling  and  the  maximum  of  general 
information.     At  the  same  time  the  children 
were  practised  in  oral  expression.     Thus  the  teacher  holds 
a  large  card  inscribed  with  letter  A,  and  the  lesson  pro- 
ceeds : — 

"  Q.  Where  am  I?  A.  Opposite  to  us.  Q.  What  is  on  the  right 
side  of  me?  A.  A  lady.  Q.  What  is  on  the  left  side  of  me  ?  A.  A 
chair.  .  .  .  Q.  What  do  I  hold  in  my  hand  ?  A.  Letter  A  for  apple. 
Q.  Which  hand  do  I  hold  it  with?  .  .  .  Q.  Spell  apple.2  .  .  . 

1  The  Infant  System. 

2  That  only  a  few  can  do  this  does  not  matter.     The  rest  will  learn  ! 

H.  ED.  16 


242  TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

Q.  How  is  an  apple  produced  ?  .  .  .  Q.  What  part  of  the  tree  is  in 
the  ground?  ..."  and  so  on,  the  teacher  going  over  the  parts  of 
the  trees,  discussing  blossom,  sap,  etc. ' 

Geography  was  similarly  taught  by  reference  to  a  map 
or  globe,  after  which  the  information  was  summarised,  as 
for  example  by  singing  the  capitals  : — 

London  is  the  Capital,  the  Capital,  the  Capital, 
London  is  the  Capital,  the  Capital  of  England. 

To  break  the  monotony  of  too  much  of  this  sort  of  thing, 
action  songs  were  sung.  These  were  supposedly  good  for 
the  physical  development  of  children ;  they  also  "  let  off 
steam  "  and  were  an  aid  to  discipline.  Thus,  "  The  Winds  " 
begins  with  the  teacher  calling  for  "  a  dead  calm  "  :  perfect 
silence  ensues.  "  A  breeze,"  and  the  children  gently  rub 
their  hands,  "a  gale"  and  slight  hissing  is  added;  "a 
storm  "  and  the  feet  are  used  gently  ;  "a  hurricane  "  and 
all  the  movements  are  performed  vehemently.  In  addi- 
tion, there  was  a  whole  series  of  finger,  hand,  and  arm 
stretching  exercises,  animal  cries,  and  animal  motions  ; 
the  prepositions  were  illustrated  by  postures,  and  so  on.2 
When  not  on  the  gallery,  the  children  were  divided  into 

small  classes,  each  in  charge  of  a  little  moni- 
Drafts  "  ^or  wk°  was  re-aPPoiuted  daily.  Each  child 

had  his  own  particular  seat  on  the  bench 
round  the  walls,  and  each  draft  was  grouped  for  drill  in,  say, 
reading  and  in  object-lessons,  round  one  of  the  lesson  posts. 
Special  boards  fitted  these.  One  board  might  contain  the 
alphabet,  another  syllables,  another  an  appropriately  illus- 
trated reading- sheet,  another  pictures  of  animals,  or  trades, 
another  a  series  of  articles.  (Wilderspin  had  some  34 

1  Infant  Education. 

2  A  good  account  of  the  inner  working  of  these  early  infant  schools  will 
be  found  in  Chambers,  Infant  Education  from  Two  to  Six  Tears  of  Age. 


TEACHING    BY    MACHINEBT.  243 

pictures  of  Scriptural  history,  60  of  natural  history,  and  so 
on.)  Thus  the  board  might  contain  a  piece  of  hemp,  a 
piece  of  rope,  string,  bagging,  sacking,  canvas,  hessian, 
sheeting,  unbleached  linen,  etc.,  or  it  might  confine  itself  to 
cotton  in  various  forms,  different  kinds  of  wood,  etc.  The 
monitor  in  charge  of  a  board  or  sheet  knew  it  by  heart, 
and  drilled  his  draft  until  they  had  memorised  it  too.1 

This  will  suffice  to  show  the  working  of  one  of  these 
early  infant  schools.  Their  influence  on  the  elementary 
schools  is  seen  in  the  gradual  introduction  of  the  mixed 
system  of  simultaneous  and  monitorial  instruction,  with 
corresponding  changes  in  the  planning  of  the  schoolroom  ; 
in  the  use  of  object-lessons  and  pictures ;  and  in  the  wider 
range  of  reading  material. 

But  the  credit   for  this    does    not   wholly    belong   to 

Wilderspin.     With  the  reform  movement  is 

David  Stow.        .  .    r  ,  .   ,    ,     ,  „  . , 

inextricably  associated  the  name  01  David 

Stow,  than  whom  no  one  exerted  a  more  far-reaching  in- 
fluence on  the  development  of  primary  education  during 
this  period.  Of  the  man  himself  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  he  came  from  a  comfortable  middle-class  home,  was 
deeply  religious  and  imbued  to  the  full  with  ideas  of  social 
service.  His  thoughts  were  turned  to  a  study  of  education 
as  a  result  of  experience  gained  in  social  work  in  a  poor 

1  Goyder's  school  at  Meadow  Street,  Bristol,  differed  in  important  respects 
from  Wilderspiu's,  and  is  interesting  as  showing  clearly  the  influence  of 
Robert  Owen  and  Pestalozzi.  The  organisation  was  not  nearly  so  highly 
perfected  as  in  Wilderspin's  school.  There  was  no  gallery  and  no  classroom. 
The  floor  was  marked  out  in  lines  to  facilitate  the  assembly  of  the  children  ; 
a  single  row  of  forms  was  arranged  round  the  walls ;  there  were  no  reading 
posts,  but  instead  the  children  were  grouped,  as  in  Lancasterian  schools,  round 
the  sides  of  the  room.  "Hardly  a  letter"  was  taught  to  pupils  under 
four  years  of  age,  but  otherwise  there  is  the  same  anxiety  to  impart  a  great 
deal  of  mere  information.  Picture  lessons,  marching,  action  songs,  open-air 
games,  and  singing  occupied  an  important  part  of  the  school  day.  Arith- 
metic was  taught  according  to  Pestalozzi' s  method,  Beading  aiid  spelling 


244  TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

district  ill  Glasgow.  His  aim  was  nothing  less  than  the 
moral  elevation  of  the  masses,  particularly  in  large  towns. 
He  first  devoted  himself  to  Sunday  school  teaching,  then 
to  conducting  an  evening  school ;  but  as  the  conviction 
forced  itself  upon  him  that  it  would  be  easier  to  prevent 
error  than  to  eliminate  bad  habits  once  they  were  estab- 
lished, he  concentrated  his  attention  in  1827  on  infant 
education.  It  is  with  the  principles  he  elaborated  rather 
than  with  his  experiments  that  we  are  concerned. 

Briefly  his  position  was  that  schools  had  exerted  less  in- 
fluence than  had  been  expected  because  they 
His  were  founded  on  an  erroneous  assumption, 

Position.  '  yiz<  that  morality  would  result  from  the 
mere  acquisition  of  the  elements  of  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic.  The  general  attitude  towards 
education  was  fundamentally  wrong.  It  was  too  commonly 
imagined  to  consist  in  imposing  precepts  and  knowledge 
on  the  individual  from  without ;  education  was  confused 
with  instruction ;  the  appeal  was  to  the  intellect.  But 
man  is  not  thus  made.  He  is  a  moral  and  physical  being, 
a  creature  of  emotion  and  sentiment,  a  being  in  a  constant 
state  of  development.  It  was  absurd  to  compare  the  mind 
to  wet  clay  ready  to  be  fashioned  when  all  education  was 
essentially  a  self-education,  the  beginning  and  end  of 
which  Avas  morality,  and  the  key  to  which  was  doing. 
The  business  of  the  teacher  was  to  evoke  this  activity 

were  taken  together.     Didactic  verse  had  a  recognised  place  in  the  curricu- 
lum, and  every  effort  was  made  to  make  the  school  work  attractive. 
' '  The  hour  is  come ;  I  will  not  stay, 

But  haste  to  school  without  delay  ; 

Nor  loiter  here,  for  'tis  a  crime 

To  trifle  thus  with  precious  time." 

— Manual  of  the  System  of  Instruction,  D.  G.  Goyder,  4th  edition,  1825. 
Goyder  organised  a  number  of  schools  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and 
claimed  that  Stow  had  adopted  his  plan  without  acknowledgment, 


TEACHING   BY    MACHINERY.  245 

and  to  direct  it,  to  arouse  worthy  motives  and  to  implant 
ideals.1  To  express  the  idea  Stow  invented  the  term 
Training,  a  word  peculiarly  unfortunate.  "  Education  in 
the  sense  in  which  it  is  generally  understood  never  has 
and  never  can  morally  elevate  a  community.""  What  he 
desired  to  see  established  was  a  "  Moral  Training  System," 
as  he  called  it,  a  system  that  among  other  things  should 
approximate  the  school  to  a  true  home  life,  and  that  should 
train  children  to  the  true  principle  of  giving,  for  "  know- 
ing is  not  equivalent  to  doing."3  "  The  child  that  can  be 
induced  to  part  with  a  penny  or  half  of  his  bun,  or  to 
call  on  a  poor  neighbour,  will  very  shortly  feel  a  pleasure  in 
the  act,  and  the  doing  will  eventually  form  a  habit,  which, 
coupled  with  principle,  he  will  carry  with  him  through  life."  l 

"  Training  "  implied  two   things  :    understanding   and 

.  .  action.     "  I  am  only  under  training  when  I 

am  caused  both   to  understand  and  to   do 

the  thing  specified."      The  true  educational  system,   he 

felt,  must   be  based    on    universal  principles   applicable 

throughout   life,   for  education  is  progressive  and  never 

completed.     Accordingly  he  had  no  sympathy  with  those 

who  would  invent  one    system   for    infants,  another  for 

children,  and  another  for  adults. 

Stow  readily  acknowledged  that  his  system  was  eclectic 

_         ,  in  character.5      Like  Pestalozzi  he   taught 

Importance  . 

of  Trained  that  "it  is  life  that  educates,  and  he  con- 
Adult  demned  the  schools  of  the  day  on  the  ground 
Teachers.  ,,  ,  ,,  ,  , 

that   they   were   not   constructed   so   as   to 

enable  the  child  to  be  superintended  in  real  life,  viz.  in 

1  The  Training  System,  10th  Ed.,  p.  13.  -  Ibid.,  p.  12. 

3 Ibid.,  pp.  137,  145.  *Ibid.,  p.  1  W>. 

5  See  The  Training  System,  1st  Ed.,  1836,  Chap.  I.  He  took  as  bis 
starting-point  the  improvement  in  school  organisation  effected  by  Bell,  the 
reform  in  instruction  due  to  Wood  and  Pestalozzi,  and  the  advance  in 


246  TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

play.1  "  A  dirty,  clingy,  airless  schoolroom "  might 
suffice  for  instructing  the  head,  but  some  of  the  best 
education  could  only  be  got  out  of  doors.  Accordingly  a 
playground — "  the  uncovered  schoolroom  "  as  he  called  it — 
was  a  necessity.  Monitors,  too,  were  all  very  well  for 
carrying  out  the  mechanical  details  of  the  school — giving 
out  pens,  arranging  desks,  hearing  spellings — but  they 
were  useless  as  teachers,  for  the  very  essence  of  education, 
according  to  Stow,  consisted  in  the  interaction  of  a  culti- 
vated on  an  uncultivated  mind,  in  "  awakening  thought, 
stimulating  and  directing  inquiry,  and  evolving  the  energies 
of  intellect."  Accordingly,  great  stress  was  laid  upon  oral 
class  teaching  on  the  ground  that  it  was  provocative  of 
thought,  and  the  teaching  could  be  adapted  to  the  needs 
of  the  particular  circumstances.  For  this  to  be  effected 
the  number  of  children  that  could  be  committed  to  the 
care  of  a  single  teacher  was  strictly  limited,  and  it  was  de- 
sirable that  they  should  be  of  approximately  equal  ability. 
Stow  also  laid  much  emphasis  on  what  he  called  the 
"  sympathy  of  numbers,"  that  is  to  say,  upon 
those  sut)tle  influences  of  suggestion  and 
imitation  that  play  such  a  large  part  in 
corporate  life,  in  raising  the  standard  of  individual  en- 
deavour, and  in  evoking  a  healthy  public  opinion. 

This  demanded  a  new  method  of  school  organisation, 

and  a  system  of  "  graded  schools  "  grew  up 
Organisation.  .„     ,    °.  ., 

at  Glasgow  and  elsewhere.     Each  of  these 

"  schools  "  was  in  fact  one  large  class  pursuing  the  same 
studies  and  receiving  the  same  lessons  under  an  adult 
teacher,  the  whole  being  controlled  by  an  organising  head 
master.  The  infant  (or  initiatory)  school,  for  children 

infant  training  effected  by  Wilderspin,  especially  on  its  physical  side. 
What  he  claimed  as  original  was  his  attention  to  moral  training  as  the 
chief  end  of  all  school  instruction. 
1  Kid.,  10th  Ed.,  p.  6. 


TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY.  24? 

of  from  two  to  six  years  of  age,  was  to  contain  not  more 
than  140  children  in  charge  of  a  master  and  mistress. 
In  the  junior  school,  for  children  between  the  ages  of  six 
and  twelve,  one  master  might  take  charge  of  eighty  pupils ; 
should  the  school  contain  more  than  this  number  an 
assistant  was  required,  another  was  needed  if  the  number 
exceeded  120,  and  so  on.  Monitors  were  still  used  for  the 
routine  work.  The  objection  to  this  method  of  organisa- 
tion was  the  expense  it  entailed  and  the  difficulties  it 
presented  in  sparsely  populated  districts,  for  it  was  ob- 
viously impossible  to  educate  simultaneously  a  group  of 
children  varying  from  six  to  thirteen  years  of  age.  This, 
however,  was  commonly  attempted,  and  led  to  the  grossest 
absurdities.  On  a  large  gallery  the  whole  junior  school 
would  be  gathered  to  be  instructed  at  the  same  time  and 
in  the  same  subject. 

In  emphasising  the  oral  lesson  Stow  sought  to  abolish 

all  meaningless  repetition.     Nothing  was  to 
Picturing  Out.    ,  . &  ,       ,  r    .,  ,, 

be  memorised  unless  it  was  first  understood. 

Moreover,  in  treating  a  subject  the  correct  order  was  to 
begin  with  what  was  significant  and  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  experience  of  the  pupils — to  sketch  out 
the  broad  outlines  first  and  leave  the  detail  to  be  filled 
in  gradually.  This  was  often  misunderstood  to  mean 
teaching  summaries  first  and  then  expanding  them.  In 
these  oral  lessons  much  emphasis  was  laid  on  questioning- 
individual  and  simultaneous — and  in  "  picturing  out  in 
words."  By  this  he  meant  making  clear  an  idea  to  the 
pupil  by  description,  aided  by  analogy,  familiar  illustra- 
tion, gesture  and  questioning,  much  use  being  made  of 
ellipses  and  any  device  that  suggested  itself  at  the  moment. 
The  following  is  a  typical  example  : — 

"  As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water  brooks,  so  panteth  my  soul 
after  thee,  0  God." — Psalm  xlii.  1. 


248  TEACHING  BY  MACHINERY. 

(Iii  this  stage  of  training,  the  children  are  supposed  to  have 
acquired  a  considerable  amount  of  Scriptural  knowledge.) 

POINTS  TO  BE  PICTURED  OUT. 

TRAINER  :  The  Bible  is  full  of  imagery  and  emblems  drawn  from 
nature  and  the  arts  of  life.  The  verse  you  have  now  read  is  of 
that  description,  and  is  full  of  ...  natural  imagery, 

I  must  tell  you,  children,  before  we  commence  our  lesson,  that 
it  is  supposed  this  Psalm  was  written  by  David,  who  was  obliged 
to  flee  from  his  enemies,  to  the  land  of  Jordan,  and  that,  when 
there,  he  probably  took  up  his  abode  in  the  mountains,  away 
from  the  public  worship  of  God's  .  .  .  house,  and  seeing  the  harts 
running  .  .  .  about  the  mountains,  and  panting  for  thirst,  most  likely 
induced  him  to  use  the  ....  What  metaphor  or  emblem  did  he 
use?  Look  at  your  books,  if  you  please.  David  says,  "As  the 
hart  panteth  after  the  .  .  .  water  brooks"  (read  on)  "  so  panteth  my 
soul  after  thee,  0  God.  " 

The  first  thing  we  must  speak  about  in  this  picture  is  ...  the  hart. 
What  is  a  hart?  Can  you  tell  me  any  other  names  given  to  the 
hart  ?  Stag  —  deer  —  gazelle.  Very  right  ;  these  are  the  names  given 
to  ...  this  animal,  or  ... 


Between  Stow's  practice  arid  that  of  Wilder-spin  there 
were  many  points  in  common,  and  also  much  of  difference 
that  it  is  unnecessary  to  elaborate  further.  But  while 
Wilderspin  is  best  known  in  connection  with  infant  educa- 
tion, Stow's  influence  was  probably  greatest  on  primary 
schools.  By  his  statement  and  elaboration  of  the  thesis 
that  education  presupposes  the  interaction  of  mind  upon 
mind,  the  cultivated  upon  the  relatively  uncultivated,  he 
made  a  contribution  of  permanent  value  to  the  educational 
thought  and  practice  of  his  time.  Too  little  value  had  been 
attached  to  the  living  voice  in  elementary  education,  and 
too  much  to  the  printed  page.  Stow  aimed  at  setting 
this  right,  but  the  result,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel,  was 
that  teachers  went  to  the  other  extreme,  and  schooling  be- 
came talking.  Even  in  Stow's  own  practice  the  pupil  was 

1  The  Training  System,  10th  Ed.,  p.  382. 


TEACHING    BY    MACHINERY.  249 

too  much  within  a  strait-jacket ;  the  teacher's  thought  was 
dominant,  and  the  pupil  was  not  left  sufficiently  alone. 
The  doing  that  was  talked  of  was  very  one-sided.  It  was 
confined  to  oral  work.  The  teacher  never  created  the  cir- 
cumstances, and  left  the  boy  to  "muddle  through."  There 
was  nothing  to  evoke  the  need  of  the  various  manual 
activities,  and  nothing  that  called  for  observation  and  ex- 
periment. But  this  does  not  detract  from  the  fact  that 
Stow  was  a  light  to  his  generation  by  his  emphasis  on 
studying  the  pupils,  by  his  call  for  concrete  teaching,  for 
training  children  in  oral  expression,  by  getting  his  pupils 
to  practise  morality,  by  his  use  of  phonic  methods  in  read- 
ing, and  above  all  by  his  demand  for  trained  adult 
teachers,  and  for  a  new  system  of  school  organisation  as 
the  only  way  of  making  the  school  an  effective  instrument 
of  moral  education. 

The  effect  of  these  reforms  on  the  average  school  was, 
however,  small  until  1 8-40.  The  monitorial  school,  where 
it  had  not  degenerated,  remained  much  as  it  had  been 
thirty  years  before. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


TKANSITION  AND  EE ACTION. 

"Education  will  cause  every  latent  seed  of  the  mind  to  germi- 
nate and  spring  up  into  useful  life  which  otherwise  might  have 
been  buried  in  ignorance  and  died  in  the  corruption  of  its  own 
nature.  .  .  .  The  ignorant  man  can  never  be  truly  happy." 

— LOVETT  AND  COLLINS  :  Chartism,  pp.  75-6. 

The  present  chapter  is  concerned  with  the  history  of 
school  practice  between  the  date  of  the  first 
General  Parliamentary  grant  and  the  coming  of  the 

Summary.  School  Boards.  The  limits  are  arbitrary,  but 
convenient.  The  period  falls  into  two  parts, 
before  1862  and  after.  Between  1833  and  1862  the  reforms 
in  organisation,  staffing,  curriculum,  and  method  that  had 
appeared  during  the  two  previous  decades  slowly  made 
their  way  into  general  practice.  These  years  present  a 
picture  of  extraordinary  diversity  between  schools.  Some 
were  good,  others  were  poor,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether 
such  a  thing  as  an  "  average  school  "  can  properly  be  said 
to  have  existed.  With  improvements  in  staffing  came  a 
widening  of  the  curriculum  of  individual  schools,  and  the 
signs  are  not  wanting  of  a  movement  in  favour  of  introduc- 
ing manual  activities  as  a  necessary  part  of  school  educa- 
tion. This  liberal  development  was  checked,  however,  by 
the  system  of  payment  by  results,  avowedly  designed  to 
secure  a  higher  average  efficiency.  Hitherto  the  Committee 

250 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  251 

of  Council  had  aimed  at  stimulating  and  encouraging 
teachers  to  work  out  their  own  salvation.  This  policy  was 
now  replaced  by  one  that  exalted  machinery,  that  took  no 
thought  of  anything  but  results,  and  left  methods  and 
general  conditions  to  take  care  of  themselves.  The  out- 
come of  this  was  the  reaction  that  is  seen  after  1862. 
There  was  a  checking  of  growth  due  to  the  loss  of  freedom, 
an  establishing  of  wrong  standards,  and  a  discouragement 
of  initiative.  If  a  higher  standard  of  accuracy  was  set  up 
in  the  schools,  it  was  at  the  cost  of  an  enormous  waste  of 
time  and  of  educational  opportunity  through  a  mistaken 
concentration  on  the  3  K's. 

During  the  past  fifty  years  the  facilities  for  obtaining 

education — deficient  as  they  were — had  in- 
Dissatisfaction  creased  enormously,  and  with  them  the  num- 
Education.  ker  °^  those  who  had  been  instructed  in 

reading  and  writing.  Education  had  at  last 
identified  itself  with  public  opinion ;  it  was  felt  to  be 
needful  for  the  advancement  of  every  physical,  intellectual, 
and  moral  good,  but  this  had  been  accomplished  at  the 
price  of  disillusionment,  and  with  it  came  a  storm  of 
criticism  against  the  very  agencies  that  had  contributed 
most  to  the  change.  Some  charged  them  with  manu- 
facturing economic  misfits,  with  stuffing  the  mind  and 
confusing  instruction  with  education.  Others  denounced 
them  as  illiberal  and  anti-social,  as  middle-class  schemes 
designed  for  maintaining  the  social  status  quo.  Many  of 
the  day  and  Sunday  schools  did  not  hesitate  to  call  them- 
selves educational  charities,  and  to  a  section  of  public 
opinion  a  charity  school  was  anathema. 

"  Knowledge  she  gives,  enough  to  make  them  know 
How  abject  is  their  state,  how  deep  their  woe  ; 
The  worth  of  freedom  strongly  she  explains, 
While  she  bows  down,  and  loads  their  necks  with  chains. 


252  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

Faith,  too,  she  plants,  for  her  own  ends  imprest, 
To  make  them  bear  the  worst,  and  hope  the  best ; 
And,  while  she  teaches  on  vile  int' rest's  plan, 
As  laws  of  God,  the  wild  decrees  of  man, 
Like  Pharisees,  of  whom  the  scriptures  tell, 
She  makes  them  ten  times  more  the  sons  of  hell."  ' 

All  this  is  very  healthy  and  marks  the  beginning  of  a 
new  epoch  in  popular  education.  Men  were  beginning  to 
realise  that  the  monitorial  plan  of  which  so  much  had 
been  hoped  had  merely  tinkered  with  the  subject.  It 
had  accepted  the  ideal  of  popular  education  as  it  existed 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  had  confined  its  attention 
to  improving  its  technique.  The  inculcation  of  religious 
truth  according  to  the  capacities  of  the  children  was  still 
the  main  function  of  the  elementary  schools.  Committees 
still  believed  in  the  children  treasuring  up  the  materials 
of  religion  in  their  memories,  for  "  though  at  present  they 
may  perhaps  enter  very  little  into  the  sense  of  them,  yet, 
as  their  understanding  ripens  with  time,  and  their  appetite 
for  knowledge  increases,  it  will  be  no  small  advantage  that 
they  have  the  words  and  sentences  of  heavenly  wisdom 
ready  stored  up  for  use ;  and  that  during  the  active  and 
busy  scenes  of  life  they  may  be  able  to  put  these  good 
resolutions  and  maxims  into  practice."  ; 

Not  until  1839  did   the  British   and   Foreign  School 

Society  see  the  necessity  of  abrogating  the 
Examples  of  ru]e  -which  bound  its  schools  to  use  no  other 
Practice.  reading  lesson  book  than  the  Bible,  a  rule 

that  provided  an  excuse  for  excluding  any 
book  of  general  literary  or  scientific  information.  The 
National  Schools  were  in  no  better  position,  and  what 
changes  were  made  were  principally  confined  to  "  im- 

1  See  Quarterly  Journal  of  Education,  Vol.  10,  p.  324. 

2  Report  on  the  National  Sunday  School  at  Stockport,  1816-17. 


TRANSITION    AND    BEACTION.  253 

proving  "  the  Scriptural  instruction.  Arithmetic  took  a 
Scriptural  cast,  and  the  result  was  such  curiosities  as  the 
following  : — 

"Mesha,  King  of  Moab,  was  a  sheep-master  and  rendered  unto 
the  King  of  Israel  100,000  lambs.  2  Kings  3rd  and  4th  Chap. 
Write  down  the  number. 

"  There  were  seven  days  between  the  birth  of  Jesus  and  his  cir- 
cumcision, and  five  days  from  that  event  to  the  Epiphany,  the 
time  when  the  star  led  the  Gentiles  to  worship  the  holy  child. 
How  long  was  it  from  the  Nativity  to  the  Epiphany  ? 

"There  are  twenty-four  chapters  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  and 
twenty-eight  chapters  in  the  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 
What  difference  is  there  in  the  two  ? 

"  At  the  marriage  in  Cana  in  Galilee  there  were  six  waterpots  of 
stone,  holding  two  or  three  firkins  a-piece.  If  they  held  two  firkins 
how  much  water  would  it  take  to  fill  them  ?  and  how  much  if  they 
held  three  each  ? 

"Our  Lord  showed  himself  to  the  Apostles  forty  days  after  his 
passion.  For  how  many  weeks  was  he  seen  ?  "  ' 

In  1825  sets  of  geography  and  grammar  lessons  were 
first  issued  for  British  schools.  A  similar  Biblical  tone 
characterised  much  of  the  geographical  instruction,  as 
witness  the  following  model  treatment  that  was  adhered 
to  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  lesson  is  on  the 
Holy  Land  and  Tyre  is  the  subject  of  discussion. 

"J/.  (reading  from  a  book)  :  What  occasioned  its  (Tyre's)  erection 
on  an  island  ?  P.  Its  being  attacked  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  M.  In 

what  tribe  was  it  included  ?   P.  Asshur M.  Was  the  second 

Tyre  ever  taken  ?  .  .  .  .  M.  Cite  a  passage  of  Scripture  relating  to 
the  event ;  etc.,  etc."  • 


1  Elementary  Arithmetic,  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Wigram  ;  see  Central  Society 
of  Education,  Second  Publication,  p.  358. 

"  British  and  Foreign  School  Society  Manual. 

For  further  examples  of  the  Scriptural  method  of  teaching  geography 
the  reader  is  referred  to  Mrs.  Sherwood's  Geography,  where  each  topic  is 
accompanied  by  an  appropriate  Biblical  text, 


254  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

Equally  absurd  was  the  practice  of  combining  Scriptural 
references  with  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  that  held  in  many 
infant  schools  : — 

A — is  an  angel,  who  praises  the  Lord  ; 
B — is  for  Bible,  God's  most  holy  word  ; 
C — is  for  Church,  where  the  righteous  resort ; 
D — is  for  devil, — D  is  for  devil, — D  is  for  devil  who  wishes  our 
hurt. 

Or  again,  introducing  sacred  geography  : — 
G — is  for  Gosheu,  a  rich  and  good  land  ; 
H — is  for  Horeb,  where  Moses  did  stand. 

There  were,  of  course,  good  schools  conducted  on  more 
liberal  lines,  as  may  be  gathered  from  the  list  of  reading- 
books  used  in  the  British  School  at  Lancaster,  1827  : — 1st 
class,  Blair's  Class  Book  ;  2nd,  History  of  Greece ;  3rd, 
History  of  Rome ;  4th,  History  of  England  ;  5th,  Dublin 
Eeading  Book ;  6th,  Esop's  Fables  ;  7th,  Selden's  History 
of  the  Bible ;  8th,  The  Bible ;  9th,  Testament.  In  1837 
the  Eeport  of  the  British  school  at  Harp  Alley,  City  of 
London,  records  that  "  about  130  boys  have  visited  the 
Zoological  Gardens  ;  30  the  British  Museum  ;  and  about 
20  attended  Mr.  Adam's  Lent  lecture  on  Astronomy  .  .  . 
30  to  40  subscribe  one  penny  per  month  to  the  school 
library." *  The  school  fees  were  2d.  a  week.  Contemporary 
observers  are  unanimous  as  to  the  useful  work  that  was 
being  done  at  the  central  school  of  the  Society  under  Mr. 
Crossley  in  face  of  great  difficulties.  Drawing  on  paper 
and  round  the  walls  was  introduced  in  1836,  the  children 
practised  vocal  music,  and  much  attention  was  given  to 
mental  arithmetic,  questions  like  the  following  being 
answered  immediately  : — 

"  Square  of  96  ?  17  oz.  of  tea  at  15s.  per  pound  ?  Cube  of  65  ? 
Interest  of  £47  at  5  per  cent,  for  9  days  ?  Square  root  of  9658  ? 

1  See  The  Educational  Record,  Vol.  XVIII.,  p.  204. 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  255 

Scraps  of  history,  geography,  geometry,  natural  history, 
and  natural  philosophy  were  taught  by  tacking  them  on  to 
spelling  lessons  and  by  making  the  Scriptures  the  vehicle 
of  all  sorts  of  extraneous  information.  But  the  instruc- 
tion was  largely  words.  No  apparatus  was  provided, 
pictorial  illustrations  were  at  a  discount,  and  no  attempt 
was  made  to  base  instruction  on  things.  Physical  educa- 
tion was  completely  ignored,  and  drawing  was  entirely 
from  copies.  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  a  number  of  schools 
small  libraries  existed,  and  it  was  to  these  that  intelligent 
masters  looked  to  supplement  the  trite  Scriptural  reading.1 

Writers  at  this  period  are  unanimous  in  their  con- 
demnation of  the  attitude  of  the  average 
Unsatisfactory  school  committee  towards  education.  "  We 
°n  100  have  been  brought  into  contact  with  many 


Schools.  British  School  Committees,"  writes  a  well- 

informed  contributor  to  the  'Education  Maga- 
zine, "  and  although  we  never  yet  found  one  where  there 
were  not  some  of  its  members  desirous  of  extending  edu- 
cation without  limitation,  we  never  found  one  in  which 
the  great  majority  were  not  either  opposed  to  it,  or  so  in- 
different as  to  make  no  exertions  to  introduce  more  com- 
prehensive methods.  The  masters  of  the  schools,  however 
ardent  they  may  be  when  they  commence  their  work,  are 
soon  chilled  by  this  opposition  and  indifference.  ...  It 
is  thought  if  a  man  attends  much  to  secular  instruction 
he  must  neglect  that  of  a  higher  kind,  and  he  is  looked 
upon  with  extreme  suspicion  ;  and  should  anything  go 
wrong  with  the  school  it  is  attributed  to  this  cause.  This 
remark  applies  not  to  all  schools  in  the  system  :  there  are 
some,  although  the  number  is  extremely  limited,  where  no 
shackles,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  are  placed  upon  the 
spread  of  intelligence,  and  where  every  facility  is  given  to 
1  Central  Society,  First  Publication,  p.  172, 


256  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

the  master  to  carry  out  his  views  ;  but  this  number  bears 
no  proportion  to  that  in  which  knowledge  is  painfully 
restricted."  ' 

Girls'  schools  were  in  a  much  worse  condition  than  boys' 
schools,  and  a  greater  degree  of  fear  and  jealousy  was 
manifested  in  them.  "  In  many  schools  writing  on  paper 
is  confined  to  half  a  dozen  or  so  of  the  principal  monitors, 
in  others  it  is  not  permitted  at  all ;  and  in  arithmetic,  they 
are  nearly  all  most  lamentably  and  miserably  deficient. 
We  find  in  a  few  schools  the  dry  rigid  rules  of  grammar 
attempted,  and  the  barren  definitions  of  geography ;  but 
the  children  rarely  enter  into  the  spirit  of  what  they  are 
about  for  want  of  the  required  books,  maps,  etc." 2  Sewing 
was  continued  practically  unchanged,  and  some  of  the  girls 
were  trained  in  domestic  duties. 

Unsatisfactory  as  the  average  British  school  was,  the 
National  schools  were  in  no  better  condition, 

National*  °f  an(*  manv  were  a  S°°&  deal  worse.  In  the 
Schools.  late  thirties  some  of  these  institutions  were 

too  poor  to  afford  anything  beyond  a  few  read- 
ing-books. In  the  majority  reading,  writing,  arithmetic, 
with  sewing  for  girls  were  taught.  Half  the  day  was  given 
to  religious  teaching.3  In  a  few  schools  a  little  geography 
was  permitted,  but  even  at  the  central  school  at  West- 
minster this  represented  the  whole  course  of  instruction. 
In  forming  a  just  estimate  of  them  it  is  necessary,  however, 
to  remember  the  enormous  financial  difficulties  under  which 
these  schools  worked.  Many  of  them  were  set  up  in  an 
outburst  of  enthusiasm  that  quickly  died  away,  and  the 
whole  burden  of  conducting  the  school  over  many  years 
fell  upon  a  devoted  few,  and  oftentimes  upon  a  single 

1  Educational  Magazine,  1838,  pp.  166-7.  -  Ibid. 

3Cf.   Central  Society,  Second  Publication,  1838,  pp.  356-8;  also  Rev. 
J.  C.  Wigram's  Evidence  before  the  Select  Committee,  1831, 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  257 

individual — the  clergyman  of  the  parish.  Many  of  them 
began  with  good  intentions.  =£100  a  year  might  be  paid 
to  the  headmaster  and  his  wife,  the  latter  undertaking  to 
act  as  schoolmistress.  In  addition  an  assistant  master 
would  sometimes  be  appointed.  Often  enough,  however, 
the  Committee  soon  found  itself  in  difficulties.  A  cheese- 
paring policy  would  be  forced  upon  them,  the  assistant 
would  be  dropped,  the  supply  of  apparatus  would  be  cut 
down,  and  significant  entries  like  the  following  appear  in 
the  School  Minutes  :  "  To  consider  the  subject  of  school 
fees  paid  by  the  day  scholars  with  a  view  of  increasing  them 
for  such  as  learn  writing  and  accounts."  The  struggle 
would  continue  for  years.  As  the  supply  of  books  and  pencils 
was  curtailed,  and  the  general  efficiency  of  the  school  was 
impaired,  numbers  dropped,  until  finally  the  policy  might 
be  resorted  to  of  attempting  to  throw  some  of  the  financial 
burden  on  the  headmaster.  The  Minutes  record  sugges- 
tions for  withdraAving  the  salary  of  the  master  and  mistress 
and  giving  them  instead  "the  pennies "  paid  by  the 
scholars.1 

This  is  not  meant  to  imply  that  the  majority  of  British 

schools   were   free   from   financial    worries. 

On  the  contrary,  they  too  led  an  existence  of 

constant  struggle,  so  hampered  that  even  with 

a  low  fee  they  could  not  retain  the  children  long  enough 

to  cai'ry  them  beyond  the  merest  elements.     Nevertheless 

some  British  schools  undoubtedly  adopted  the  policy  of 

catering  for  a  higher  class  of  children,  and  it  is  futile  to 

compare  the  achievements  of  schools  that  charged  from  4s. 

to  16s.  a  quarter  with  those  paying  Id.  a  week,  as  was  often 

done  perhaps  unconsciously  in  an   effort   to   prove   that 

liberality  of  outlook  was  exclusively  confined  to  one  class  of 

1  Minutes  of  the  National  School,  Stockport,  Feb.  1844. 
H,  BP,  17 


258  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

the  community.1  British  schools  were  fewer  in  numbers  and 
generally  planted  with  a  care  that  was  not  always  observed 
in  the  case  of  National  schools  ;  but  that  the  British  and 
Foreign  School  Society  had  in  Dunn  a  secretary  more 
alert  than  its  rival  to  the  educational  thought  of  the  time 
seems  to  admit  of  little  doubt.2 

The  failure  of  Place's  project  of  a  middle-class  secondary 
school  conducted  on  monitorial  lines  has  al- 

Middle  Schools  ready  been  mentioned.  That  he  anticipated 
of  the  National  ,  ,  .  .  .1,1  '  -.i 

Society.  a  rea^  need  is  borne  out  by  the  success  with 

which  certain  British  schools  in  favoured 
districts  gradually  approximated  their  curriculum  to  a 
higher  elementary  type  and  catered  for  a  superior  class  of 
pupils.  Some  twenty  years  after  Bentham's  Chrestomathic 
scheme  was  dropped,  the  question  of  middle  schools  was 
occupying  the  attention  of  the  National  Society  on  the 
ground  that  the  lower  classes  were  in  many  instances 
receiving  a  more  comprehensive  education  than  the  class 
immediately  above  them.  Defective  as  the  National  schools 
might  be,  the  common  day  schools  were  considerably  below 
them  in  point  of  discipline,  information,  and  religious 
instruction.3  The  problem  was  how  to  offer  to  the  middle 
(as.  distinct  from  the  poorer)  classes,  on  moderate  terms,  a 
useful  general  education  based  on  the  religious  principles 
of  the  Church.  The  matter  was  investigated  by  the 
Committee  of  Inquiry  and  Correspondence,  which  reported 
(1838)  that  they  had  "  reason  to  believe  that  a  promise  of 

1  Cf.  The  Educational  Record,  Vol.  XVIII.,  p.  203. 

2  For  further  information  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  evidence  in  the 
Journal  of  Education,  Central  Society's  Reports,  Pillans'  writings,  Articles 
in  the  Educational  Magazine,  the  Select  Committee's  Reports  1834,  1838, 
and  the  Reports  of  the  British  and  Foreign  and  National  Societies.     These 
may  be  usefully  supplemented  by  a  study  of  the  Reports  and  Minutes  of  a 
typical  National  school. 

3  Cf.  Four  Periods  of  Public  Education,  Kay-Shuttleworth,  p.  195. 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  259 

prompt  and  steady  exertion  in  this  department  will  be 
welcomed  by  a  large  portion  of  the  middle  classes,  who  will 
find  in  a  connection  between  the  teachers  of  these  schools 
and  the  clergy  of  the  Church  a  better  guarantee  than  they 
can  at  present  obtain,  both  for  the  religious  principles  and 
the  intellectual  attainments  of  those  to  whom  they  entrust 
their  children."  The  plan  suggested,  especially  for  rural 
districts,  was  to  engraft  superior  schools  on  already  exist- 
ing Normal  schools,  providing  there  were  a  master  and 
assistant  who  were  competent  to  undertake  the  work.  In 
other  cases,  and  generally  in  towns,  the  best  course  seemed 
to  be  to  establish  commercial  schools  in  connection  with 
the  local  Diocesan  Boards.  They  were  to  be  conducted 
by  masters  duly  qualified  and  under  clerical  superinten- 
dence. The  fees  of  the  scholars,  it  was  anticipated,  would 
be  adequate  to  maintain  the  institutions.  Projects  for 
founding  schools  on  these  lines  were  set  on  foot,  and  schools 
were  gradually  established  in  London,  Canterbury,  York, 
Manchester,  Lincoln,  and  elsewhere.  The  school  at  York, 
for  example,  was  connected  with  the  Training  College. 
It  provided  accommodation  for  day  boys  and  boarders 
and  was  (1848)  arranged  in  six  classes,  the  lowest  class 
containing  some  children  only  5  to  6  years  old.  In 
addition  to  the  three  R's  mensuration,  grammar,  Latin,  and 
history  were  taught.  Some  of  the  senior  boys  attended 
lectures  along  with  the  students  in  the  Training  College, 
while  some  of  the  weaker  students  attended  the  Middle 
School.  At  Manchester  the  first  of  four  commercial  schools 
contemplated  by  the  "  Manchester  Church  Education 
Society  "  was  opened  in  1846.  Its  curriculum  was  much 
more  modern  in  character,  and  its  object  was  to  supple- 
ment the  provision  offered  by  the  Grammar  School.  The 
staff  consisted  of  a  headmaster  (a  clergyman),  two  assist- 
ants, and  masters  for  French,  German,  and  drawing. 


260  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

In   the  volume   of   criticism    directed  against  primary 
education  at  this  period,  and  in  the  stirring 

Equip  for°Life  °^  ^r^  bones,  we  ^n^  *ne  working  more  or 
less  consciously  of  a  common  sentiment,  viz. 
that  the  school  must  equip  for  life.  No  such  unanimity 
however  attended  the  means  of  its  accomplishment.  On 
the  one  hand  were  those  who,  impressed  with  the  value  of 
useful  knowledge,  sought  to  widen  the  curriculum,  and 
exalted  the  intellect  and  the  understanding.  On  the  other 
hand  were  men  who,  with  greater  or  less  clearness,  looked 
to  education  to  develop  capacity.  The  educational  creed 
of  the  former  was  simplicity  itself.  It  dated  from  the 
"  bran  new  days  "  of  politico-economic  zeal,  when  men  had 
become  all  at  once  wise,  and  when  man  was  regarded  as  a 
curious  machine  capable  of  being  directed  at  will.  It  had 
animated  the  reform  party  since  the  beginning  of  the 
century,  and  its  very  simplicity  gave  it  a  glamour  that  was 
almost  irresistible  when  men  sei'iously  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  the  question  of  popular  education.  Moreover  it  is 
a  view  of  education  that,  in  spite  of  every  effort  to  uproot 
it,  is  still  very  popular  in  some  quarters  to-day. 

On  the  Continent  a  systematic  attack  on  this  position 

had  been  made  by  Pestalozzi.     To  him   is 

es     ozzl  s       (jue  tjie  merit  of  having  firmly  gripped  the 

organic  as  opposed  to  the  mechanical  view 

of  human  development,  and  having  striven  consistently  to 

embody  it  in  the  practice  of  the  school.     His  root  principle 

was   that  the   impulse   to   development  lies   within.     In 

other  words,  spontaneity  is  a  principle  of  mental  as  much 

as  of  organic  growth,  and  the  business  of  education  is  to 

see  that   this   striving   towards   self-realisation   is   aided 

rather  than  checked.     But   for   this   the  educator  must 

work  in  accordance  with  natural  laws,  which   laws    are 

discoverable  by  observation,  and  furnish  the  only  basis  of 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  261 

ail  educational  method.  Moreover,  as  mental  life  is  one, 
morality  and  practical  capacity  must  not  be  sacrificed  in 
an  attempt  to  exalt  intellectual  training,  but  all  three 
must  proceed  harmoniously  together.  At  the  same  time 
it  is  necessary  to  remember  that  the  mind  does  not  develop 
in  a  vacuum ;  it  must  be  supplied  with  the  materials  for 
growth,  but  these  to  be  of  any  value  must  be  assimilated. 
In  other  words,  only  what  is  concrete  or  meaningful  has 
any  value  in  terms  of  mental  development.  No  one 
realised  more  clearly  the  importance  of  the  social  factor 
in  education,  or  the  necessity  of  bridging  the  gulf  that 
separates  school  life  from  the  life  of  the  home.  The  true 
school  recapitulated  the  activities  of  the  outside  world. 
It  was  not  a  place  for  merely  learning  and  memorising 
set  lessons,  nor  was  it  a  means  of  inuring  children  to 
habits  of  industry  through  the  medium  of  treadmill 
occupations.  Bather  it  was  the  place  for  doing  meaning- 
ful work,  having  due  regard  to  intellectual  occupations 
on  the  one  hand  and  practical  activities  on  the  other,  its 
object  being  to  train  the  children  to  lead  moral,  useful, 
and  complete  lives  in  the  sphere  in  which  they  might 
happen  to  be.1 

Such  a  conception  of  education  is  much  more  elusive 
and  far  more  difficult  to  realise  in  practice 

Examples  of  than  the  mechanical  view  already  mentioned. 
Pestalozzian  „  .  .  .  .  ,  ;  , 

Influence.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  many  who 

were  infected  with  Pestalozzi's  zeal  for 
educational  reform  never  caught  the  spirit  of  the  master, 
and  were  content  to  transplant  a  practice  that  very  im- 
perfectly embodied  the  pregnant  ideas  in  which  it  origin- 
ated. Consequently  Pestalozzian  method  came  to  be 
associated  with  such  reforms  as  beginning  the  teaching  of 

1  Of.  The  Life  and  Work  of  Pestalozei,  J.  A.  Green. 


262  TRANSITION    AND   REACTION. 

arithmetic  in  contact  with  objects,  laying  great  stress  on 
object-lessons  to  provide  children  with  a  basis  of  sense 
impression,  emphasising  the  importance  of  language  train- 
ing in  connection  with  such  lessons,  grading  all  instruc- 
tion from  its  logically  simplest  elements,  and  in  general 
with  a  procedure  that  had  the  merits  of  thoroughness 
and  simplicity,  and  was  calculated  to  "  train  the  mind," 
though  it  appeared  at  times  meaningless  and  insipid. 
Pestalozzi,  in  fact,  commonly  stood  for  a  reformed  method 
of  instruction  rather  than  for  a  new  educational  ideal,  a 
method,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  that  in  1818  was  regarded 
as  very  suitable  to  the  middle  classes,  though  too  elaborate 
and  costly  for  the  ordinary  elementary  school,1  but  which 
twenty  years  later  was  looked  to  as  a  means  of  reforming 
the  whole  structure  of  popular  education. 

Nor  is  it  altogether  surprising  that  men  accustomed  to 

look  beyond  the  surface  of  things  should 
Influence8  S  have  failed  to  grasp  Pestalozzi's  message. 

Men  like  Mr.  Wyse,  of  the  Central  Society 
of  Education,  who  ardently  desired  to  see  education 
established  on  a  more  scientific  basis,  considered  the  system 
doctrinaire,  too  much  given  to  the  abstract  development  of 
the  intellectual  and  moral  man,  and  as  paying  far  too  little 
regard  to  fitting  children  for  the  workaday  world.2  Con- 
sequently it  is  not  Pestalozzi  so  much  as  Fellenberg  that 
dominated  the  educational  thought  of  this  country  in 
the  fourth  and  fifth  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Pestalozzi  was  the  idealist,  the  dreamer,  whereas  Fellen- 
berg was  the  practical  man,  the  man  who  embodied  what 
was  best  in  the  social  teaching  of  the  former,  and  showed 
how  to  present  it  in  practical  form.  His  was  an  eclectic 
system,  that  believed  in  the  importance  of  cultivating  the 

1  Cf.  A  Century  of  Education,  Binus,  p.  86. 
-  Intellectual  Education. 


TRANSITION  AND  REACTION.  263 

whole  being,  moral,  physical,  and  intellectual,  that  was 
acutely  conscious  of  the  supreme  value  of  manual  activities 
in  education  and  the  stimulus  that  comes  from  productive 
work,  that  regarded  the  child  not  as  the  mere  recipient  of 
the  ideas  of  others,  but  as  an  agent  capable  of  collecting, 
originating,  and  producing  ideas  from  contact  with  ex- 
periences of  all  kinds.  Nevertheless  it  was  a  system  that 
had  no  undue  predilection  for  cultivating  the  mind  to 
the  neglect  of  positive  knowledge  and  practical  applica- 
tion, and  that  neither  regarded  the  pupil  as  a  machine, 
moved  at  the  will  of  the  teacher,  nor  yet  left  him  to 
wander  aimlessly  about  without  guidance ;  but  it  sought 
to  establish  a  series  of  schools  calculated  to  fit  pupils  to 
be  intelligent,  industrious,  and  useful  members  in  the 
pai'ticular  sphere  of  life  in  which  they  happened  to  be. 
Thus  one  type  of  curriculum  was  evolved  for  well-to-do 
boys,  another  for  those  in  moderate  circumstances,  and 
another  for  the  poor,  but  the  same  principles  animated 
the  work  of  each.  On  the  educative  effects  of  a  training 
on  the  land  Fellenberg  set  a  high  value,  not  only  for  its 
physical  results,  but  its  disciplinary  powers,  intellectu- 
ally and  morally.  It  was  throughout  a  training  in  contact 
with  things,  evoking  forethought,  handiiiess,  and  resource- 
fulness.1 

It  was  in  thus  reacting  against  the  tyranny  of  the  school- 
room by  pointing  out  the  educative  value  of 
Training  a^  kinds  of   productive   work,   by  showing 

how  such  activities  might  be  connected  with 
ordinary  instruction,  by  indicating  a  means  of  adapting 
the  curriculum  to  the  needs  of  particular  classes,  that 
Fellenberg  exerted  a  great  influence  on  his  generation. 
Under  his  teaching  benevolent  individuals  like  William 

1  Letters  on  the  Educational  Institutions  of  De  Fellenberg,  u-ith  an 
Appendix  containing  Woodbridge's  Sketches  of  Hofwyl,  1842. 


2G4  TRANSITION    AND    KEACTION. 

Allen  and  Lady  Byrom  at  Baling  were  stimulated  to  set 
up  a  better  type  of  industrial  school ;  the  Irish  Com- 
missioners of  National  Education  developed  industrial 
education,  "  not  to  teach  trades,  but  to  facilitate  a  perfect 
learning  of  them,  by  explaining  the  principles  upon  which 
they  depend,  and  habituating  young  persons  to  expertuess 
in  the  use  of  their  hands," '  and  under  the  giiidance  of  Kay- 
Shut  tie  worth  and  others  education  in  workhouse  schools 
underwent  a  complete  reformation.  At  the  same  time  the 
reformed  school  of  industry  opened  up  new  possibilities 
for  educating  neglected  and  vagrant  children  in  large 
cities  who  were  excluded  from  the  ordinary  elementary 
schools,  and  many  ragged  schools  became  definitely  voca- 
tional in  character.  The  success  of  such  institutions  led 
somewhat  later  to  the  establishment  of  reformatory 
schools  for  juvenile  criminals. 

A  further  example  of  the  way  in  which  the  combined 
system  of  school  and  vocational  training  had  captured  the 
popular  imagination  is  seen  in  the  Chartist  programme  of 
education  published  by  Lovett  and  Collins  in  1840,  which 
specially  provides  for  the  establishment  of  industrial  and 
agricultural  schools  for  orphan  children  up  to  12  or  14 
years  of  age.  It  is  laid  down  that  part  of  the  time  spent 
in  the  agricultural  school  should  be  devoted  to  cultivating 
the  laud,  while  the  industrial  school  should  provide  for 
instruction  and  practice  in  "  such  manufactures  and  occu- 
pations as  may  be  combined  with  it."  ~ 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the  ordinary  Chartist 
day  school  Lovett  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  vocational 
training.  His  ideal  is  a  cultivated  working  class  with 
disciplined,  alert  and  receptive  minds,  and  with  every  latent 
faculty  developed  to  the  full.  Absence  of  wealth  or  social 

1  Report  of  the  National  Commissioners,  183".         -  Chartism,  p.  118. 


TRANSITION  AND  REACTION.  '265 

position  is  to  be  no  bar  to  educational  opportunity.  It  is 
the  fully  developed  individual,  not  the  individual  trained 
for  this  or  that  sphere,  that  he  has  prominently  in  mind. 
Accordingly  vocational  work  is  put  aside,  and  in  its  place 
he  provides  a  laboratory  where  the  pupils  may  obtain  a 
training  in  experimental  methods,  and  a  workshop  in  which 
they  may  cultivate  handiness  in  the  use  of  tools.  In  short, 
Lovett  rejects  the  class  system  of  Fellenberg  in  favour  of 
the  more  democratic  ideal  of  Pestalozzi. 

With  the  spread  of  Pestalozzian  practice  in  this  country 

two    names    are   especially    associated,   the 
The  Mayos.        ,  _.  ,    __  *    L. 

May os  and    Kay-tShuttleworth,   the   one   as 

practical  teachers  and  writers  of  text-books,  the  other  as 
an  administrator.  Dr.  Mayo  had  been  at  Yverdun  in 
1819,  and  on  his  return  to  England  had  conducted,  to- 
gether with  his  sister,  a  school  on  Pestalozzian  lines,  first 
at  Epsom  and  later  atCheam.  The  practice  of  this  school 
was  set  out  in  a  series  of  text-books,  the  best  known  and 
most  successful  of  which  was  Miss  Mayo's  Lessons  on 
Objects,  1830.  Half  a  century  before  the  author  of  Even- 
ings at  Home  had  remarked  that  "  we  daily  call  a  great 
many  things  by  their  names  without  inquiring  into  their 
nature  and  properties,  so  that  in  reality  it  is  only  their 
names  and  not  the  things  themselves  with  which  we  are 
acquainted."  Miss  Mayo's  book,  the  first  of  its  kind  pub- 
lished in  this  country,  was  intended  to  remedy  this  defect. 
It  consists  of  a  series  of  lesson  summaries,  enumerating 
such  qualities,  parts,  uses,  etc.,  of  the  several  objects  under 
consideration  as  may  be  mainly  obtained  from  a  first-hand 
examination,  and  setting  out  such  supplementary  informa- 
tion as  seems  likely  to  interest  children.  The  lesson  on 
Glass  proceeds  as  follows  : — 

"  Glass  has  been  selected  as  the  first  substance  to  be  presented  to 
the  children,  because  the  qualities  which  characterise  it  are  quite 


266  TRANSITION    AND    HfiACTION. 

obvious  to  the  senses.  The  pupils  should  be  arranged  before  A 
blackboard  or  slate,  upon  which  the  result  of  their  observations 
should  be  written.  The  utility  of  having  the  lesson  presented  to 
the  eyes  of  eacli  child,  with  the  power  of  thus  recalling  attention  to 
what  has  occurred,  will  very  soon  be  appreciated  by  the  instructor. 
The  glass  should  be  passed  round  the  party,  to  be  examined  by 
each  individual. 

Teacher.     What  is  this  which  I  hold  in  my  hand  ? 
Children.   A  piece  of  glass. 

Teacher.  Can  you  spell  the  word  glass'!  (The  teacher  then 
writes  the  word  "glass"  upon  the  slate,  which  is 
thus  presented  to  the  whole  class  as  the  subject  of 
the  lesson.)  You  have  all  examined  this  glass; 
what  do  you  observe  ?  What  can  you  say  that  it  is  ? 
Children.  It  is  bright. 

Teacher.    (The  teacher  having  written  the  word  "  qualities,'5 
writes   under    it— It  is  bright.)     Take  it  in  your 
hand  and  feel  it. 
Children.   It  is  cold.     (Written  on  the  board  under  the  former 

quality. ) 

Teacher.    Feel  it  again  and  compare  it  with  the  piece  of  sponge 
that  is  tied  to  your  slate,  and  then  tell  me  what 
you  perceive  in  the  glass. 
Children.  It  is  smooth — it  is  hard."     Etc. 

The  influence  of  the  book  was  very  great.  Not  only  did 
it  serve  to  popularise  object  teaching  in  schools,  but  it  set 
up  a  recognised  procedure  in  lessons  of  this  type  that  was 
adhered  to  for  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century. 

The  Mayos  also  exerted  a  great  influence  through  their 

connection     with    the   Home   and   Colonial 

The  Home          Infant  School  Society.     From   this  institu- 

Infant°  School     ^on  wen^  forth  a,  series  of  text-books— the 

Society.  best  known   of   which  is  probably   Dr.  and 

Miss  Mayo's  Practical    Remarks    on  Infant 

Education — and   many   generations   of   teachers  scattered 

Pestalo/zian  practice  broadcast.     In  the  model  school  of 

the  Society  the  children  between   2  and  10  years  of  age 


TfeANSITIOft   AND    REACTION.  267 

were  divided  into  four  divisions.  Great  attention  was  given 
to  inculcating  religious  and  moral  ideas,  to  exercises  in- 
volving sensory  discrimination — colour,  form,  size,  weight, 
sound,  etc.,  to  object  teaching,  to  careful  training  in  expres- 
sion, to  singing  and  so  on.  Instruction  in  arithmetic  was 
based  on  the  manipulation  of  objects,  geography  began 
with  a  study  of  the  school  neighbourhood,  attention  Avas 
given  to  physical  education,  some  provision  was  made  for 
the  constructive  activities  of  children  by  means  of  blocks, 
etc.,  and  drawing  was  introduced.  But  in  all  this  there 
was  none  of  the  spontaneity,  the  freedom,  the  games,  the 
practical  occupations  so  characteristic  of  schools  of  to-day. 
Orderliness  was  a  fetish,  everything  was  in  steps,  the  near 
and  remote  were  ideas  carried  out  to  the  bitter  end.  So 
concerned  was  the  school  to  see  that  ideas  were  properly 
built  up,  that  the  whole  procedure  was  artificial  and 
mechanical.  Story-telling,  it  is  true,  was  introduced  in 
connection  with  the  Scripture  lesson,  and  simple  poetry 
was  not  excluded,  but  the  treatment  was  too  didactic ; 
there  was  a  failure  to  recognise  the  educative  value  of  well- 
told  stories.  Nevertheless  the  general  influence  was  good 
in  emphasising  the  need  for  system  and  for  objective 
teaching  at  a  time  when  school  organisation  and  instruc- 
tion were  often  chaotic,  entirely  divorced  from  principles 
of  any  sort,  and  when  the  teaching  consisted  mainly  of 
words. 

Kay-Shuttleworth's  influence  was  of   a  different  kind. 

As    first    secretary    to    the    Committee  of 

The  Need  for      Council  he  had  opportunities  and  difficulties 

Sf1seCho?iethod  of  no  usual  order-    The  p°Pularity  of  the 

Organisation,     method  of  mutual  instruction  was  a  thing  of 
the  past.     What  it  resolved  itself  into  in  the 
ordinary  National  school  is  well  described  by  an  inspector 
at  the  time. 


268  TRANSITION    AND    RKACTlON. 

"  I  have  often  witnessed  with  pain  the  attempts  of  a  matter 
...  to  leave  .some  impression  of  his  knowledge  upon  the  minds  of 
the  children  ;  to  exercise,  in  short,  some  of  those  functions  of  an 
instructor  for  which  lie  has  been  carefully  prepared.  Bt&nding 
surrounded  by  his  school,  perhaps  of  150  children,  divided  into  tt-n 
classes,  with  as  many  teachers,  and  as  many  different  subjects  of 
instruction  all  going  on  at  once,  and  each  at  such  a  pitch  of  the 
voice  as  to  be  audible  above  the  surrounding  tumult — a  tumult 
which  has  a  perpetual  tendency  to  rise  to  a  hubbub,  because  every 
boy,  speaking  only  just  loud  enough  to  make  himself  heard,  any 
accident  which  raises  the  voice  of  one  must  be  followed  by  the 
elevation  of  the  voices  of  all  the  rest, — I  have  seen  an  excellent, 
accomplished  and  painstaking  teacher  make  the  attempt  under  such 
circumstances  to  give  a  lesson  to  the  first  class  in  his  school — say  a 
lesson  in  geography.  With  the  map  before  him,  and  the  class 
grouped  around,  he  collects  his  thoughts  and  endeavours  so  to 
arrange  them  as  to  give  to  the  knowledge  he  desires  to  impart 
the  easiest  access  to  the  minds  of  the  children— to  enlist  their 
interest  and  command  their  attention.  But  with  this  effort  he  is 
making  another — he  is  labouring  to  subdue  the  excitement  which 
has  been  awakened  in  his  mind  by  noise  and  disorder,  which  he 
perceives  to  have  been  gradually  increasing  from  the  moment  that 
his  attention  has  been  diverted  from  a  general  supervision  of  the 
school,  and  his  eye  taken  off  it.  It  is  obvious  that  the  schoolroom 
has  become  to  him  one  vast  sensorium — that  his  feelers  are  thrown 
out  over  the  whole  surface  of  it,  and  his  sensibilities  awakened 
everywhere  to  the  quick. 

Sometimes  he  pauses  in  his  discourse  and  listens  ;  the  perspiration 
begins  to  appear  on  his  forehead,  and  a  blow  with  his  cane  upon  the 
map  indicates  the  state  of  his  feelings,  and  for  a  few  seconds  allays 
the  tumult.  At  last,  when  it  is  too  much  to  be  borne,  he  darts 
perhaps  from  behind  the  map,  recovers  with  his  actual  presence 
and  the  formidable  suggestions  of  his  cane  his  ascendency  in  the 
school,  and  gives  up  his  task."  ' 

A  whole  new  system  of  school  organisation  and  method 
was  urgently  needed,  a  new  race  of  teachers  needed  to  be 
called  into  being,  a  better  type  of  teaching  appai'atus  was 

1  .Mr.  Moseley's  Report  on  the  Midland  District.  3Iiniitf>*  >>f  the  Com- 
mittee of  Council,  Vol.  I.,  1846,  pp.  246-7. 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  269 

necessary,  and  a  new  standard  of  elementary  education  set 
up,  and  all  this  with  the  strictest  regard  to  economy. 
Kay-Shuttleworth  was  no  mere  official.     He  was  a  man 
with  profound  faith  in  education,  who  for 

^av~  a  number  of  years  had  made  a  special  study 

Shuttleworth  s  .      J  • 

Influence.  °*  the  social  aspects  or  the  subject.     He  had 

gained  much  first-hand  experience  of  the  pi'o- 
blems  involved  during  his  apprenticeship  as  an  Assistant 
Poor  Law  Commissioner,  and  to  this  knowledge  he  added 
a  first-hand  acquaintance  with  the  teaching  of  Pestalozzi 
and  Felleuberg  and  the  educational  systems  of  Western 
Europe.  For  ten  years,  until  compelled  through  ill- 
health  to  retire  from  public  life,  he  applied  himself  un- 
stintingly  to  the  reform  of  elementary  education  along 
the  lines  laid  down  by  the  two  Swiss  educators.  Though 
compelled  by  circumstances  to  be  an  opportunist  he  in- 
augurated a  number  of  far-reaching  reforms.  Elementary 
teaching  became  a  profession,  the  method  of  mutual  in- 
struction was  replaced  by  the  modern  class  system,  and  a 
type  of  Pestalozzian  practice  was  imposed  upon  schools 
and  retained  almost  undisputed  possession  for  half  a 
century. 

Among  the  services  rendered  by  Kay-Shuttleworth  was 

the  drawing  up  of  instructions  on  method 
His  View  of  jn  t]ie  form  of  Minutes.  Unfortunately  he 
the  Educative  ,  ,  ,.  ,,  ,.  ,  11-1  •  ,  • 

Process.  started  troni  the  talse  psychological  position 

of  imagining  that  the  earliest  mental  activity 
of  a  child  is  synthetic,  and  that  analysis  only  comes  later. 
Or,  to  use  his  own  words:  "In  observing  the  process 
which  nature  pursues  in  developing  the  intelligence,  we 
use  the  senses  of  the  infant  first  in  activity  :  they  are 
employed  in  collecting  facts ;  the  mind  then  gradually 
puts  forth  its  power,  it  compares,  combines,  and  at 
length  analyses  the  facts  presented  to  it,  Thus  the  child 


270  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

raises  his  attention  above  material  objects.  But  whatever 
may  be  the  differences  which  mark  these  successive 
periods  of  intellectual  progress,  the  method  of  education 
which  suits  them  is  always  the  same.  Prom  the  most 
elementary  knowledge  to  the  highest  speculations  one 
method  is  universally  applicable.  This  consists,  first,  in 
cai-efully  examining  the  constituent  parts  of  any  object 
before  us,  i.e.  in  analysing  it ;  secondly,  in  classifying  and 
separately  considering  these  component  parts.  All  this 
is  the  work  of  the  teacher  in  elementary  schools  ;  thirdly, 
in  reconstructing  the  object  which  has  thus  been  de- 
composed by  the  analysis  of  the  educator,  i.e.  in  operating 
by  synthesis.  This  is  the  work  of  the  pupil,  by  which  he 
is  prepared  for  the  more  difficult  work  of  analysis.  When 
his  mental  powers  are  exercised  in  this  way  the  attention 
is  actively  engaged." ' 

In  other  words,  the  correct  method  of  instruction  is  for 

the  teacher  first  to  take  the  knowledge  which 
Committee  of  is  to  be  imparted  to  the  scholar,  decompose 
Manuals  for  ^  m^°  ^s  mechanically  simplest  elements, 
Teachers.  classify  these,  and  then  present  them  in  order 

of  apparent  simplicity.  In  writing  this 
consists  of  beginning  with  straight  strokes,  then  pot- 
hooks, then  simple  combinations,  and  so  on.  To  carry 
out  these  ideas  a  series  of  manuals  were  produced  and 
published  under  the  sanction  of  the  Committee  of 
Council, — reading-books  on  a  phonic  method,  a  manual 
of  writing  on  Mulhaiiser's  method,  and  another  on  sing- 
ing adapted  from  Wilhem's  Method  by  Hullah.  More- 
over, on  the  principle  that  in  order  that  the  scholar  may 
be  taught  it  is  necessary  first  to  teach  the  teacher, 
special  classes  were  arranged  on  the  new  methods  at 
Exeter  Hall. 

1  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Council,  1840-1,  p.  42. 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  271 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Committee  of  Council  was 
to  assert  control  over  the  planning  of  new  schools  by  re- 
quiring as  a  condition  of  grant  that  plans,  specifications, 
etc  ,  should  be  submitted  for  approval.  At  the  same  time 
Kay-Shuttleworth  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to 
advocate  a  new  scheme  of  school  organisation,  that  was 
calculated  to  replace  the  system  of  mutual  instruction  by 
the  modern  class  method.  No  one  was  more  conscious 
of  the  defects  of  the  monitorial  system,  or  more  alive  to 
the  truth  of  Stow's  teaching,  that  education  depends  for 
its  success  upon  the  stimulus  and  personality  of  the  culti- 
vated teacher. 

School  organisation  was,  in  fact,  passing  through  a 
critical  period.  The  shackles  of  the  old 

A  New  Plan       monitorial  systems  remained  to  hamper  the 
of  School  ,       ,  /     ,.  ... 

Organisation,     development   or    a   new    spirit.      Bell   and 

Lancaster  had  made  no  provision  for  an  en- 
lightened instructor  in  the  school.  The  master  was 
essentially  a  disciplinarian,  a  man  of  order  and  authority. 
The  system  was  not  based  on  contact  of  the  mind  of  the 
master  with  the  minds  of  the  children ;  '  but  with  the 
rise  of  other  conceptions  of  education  alert  masters  had 
tended  more  and  more  to  enter  into  the  actual  work  of 
teaching.  In  other  words,  a  new  system  of  school  or- 
ganisation was  needed  to  meet  the  changing  view  of  the 
educative  process.  There  is  little  doubt  that  Kay-Shuttle- 
worth's  ideal  would  have  been  a  trained  adult  teacher  for 
every  forty  children ;  ~  but  at  a  time  when  elementary 
teaching  as  a  profession  had  not  yet  come  into  being,  and 
when  the  strictest  economy  was  imperative,  any  such  plan 
was  altogether  outside  practical  politics.  His  actual  pro- 
posals can  only  be  regarded  as  tentative  and  as  making 
the  best  of  circumstances. 

1  See  ante,  p.  226.  '-  Public  Education,  p.  132, 


272  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

Every  school  he  considered  should  have  its  children 
divided  into  at  least  four  grades,  according  to  their  in- 
dividual attainment,  and  it  is  the  business  of  the  teacher  to 
see  that  he  conies  into  personal  contact  with  every  group 
of  children  for  some  part  of  every  day.  In  a  small  school 
this  is  a  relatively  simple  matter.  The  school  is  provided 
with  a  gallery  on  which  are  placed  desks  to  accommodate 
the  whole  of  the  children.  These  are  divided  into  four 
groups.  One  or  two  of  these  come  down  on  to  the  floor 
for  oral  instruction,  while  the  others  are  engaged  in  some 
kind  of  silent  work,  and  for  certain  lessons  the  whole 
school  is  taken  together. 

But  when  the  numbers  increase  above  a  certain  amount 
assistance  is  required,  and  the  so-called  mixed  method  of 
management  becomes  necessary.  This  consists  in  employ- 
ing pupil-teachers,  or  in  the  case  of  large  schools  one  or 
two  assistant  teachers  as  well.  Kay- Shuttle  worth  frankly 
describes  it  as  a  device  entirely  determined  by  considera- 
tions of  economy.  The  pupil  teacher  is  generally  an  old 
scholar  from  fourteen  to  seventeen  years  of  age.  At  the 
close  of  his  apprenticeship  he  should  further  qualify  in  a 
training  college,  and  then  serve  for  some  years  as  an 
assistant  before  becoming  a  master.  Such  a  plan  would 
have  the  merit,  however,  of  recruiting  a  body  of  expert 
professional  teachers.  Monitors  were  to  be  altogether 
superseded  as  teaching  agents.1 

In  adopting  this  method  of  simultaneous  instruction 
classrooms  provided  with  galleries  were  strongly  recom- 
mended to  give  the  necessary  isolation  and  quiet.  It  was 

1  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Council,  1839-40,  p.  52.  Note.—  The 
essence  of  the  pupil-teacher  system  was  devised  by  Kay-Shuttleworth  as  an 
Assistant  Poor  Law  Commissioner  before  his  visit  to  Holland.  What  he 
saw  there  only  "confirmed"  his  "conviction  of  their  value."  See  Four 
Periods  of  Public  Education,  pp.  287-9, 


TRANSITION    AND    EEACTION.  273 

proposed  that  each  classroom  should  be  shared  by  two 
classes,  separated  from  one  another  by  a  partition,  and 
that  the  teaching  should  be  divided  between  an  adult  and 
a  pupil  teacher.  In  order  to  promote  such  a  method  of 
organisation,  and  at  the  same  time  to  assist  managers, 
plans  for  schools  of  different  sizes  were  issued  (1840), 
showing  the  arrangement  necessary  in  order  to  carry  out 
each  of  the  three  systems,  Madras,  Lancasterian,  and 
mixed.  It  must  be  remembered  that  all  this  was  proposed 
six  years  before  the  establishment  of  the  pupil-teacher 
system,  and  the  drawback  to  it  was  of  course  the  large 
demands  it  made  upon  staffing. 

A  few  years  later  an  alternative  method  of  organisation 
was  put  forward  with  the  approval  of  the 
The  Tripartite  Committee  of  Council.1  It  divided  the  chil- 
dren into  three  grades,  and  provided  for 
Organisation,  each  being  personally  instructed  by  the 
master  once  each  session.  The  subjects  of 
instruction  were  divided  into  (1)  subjects  of  oral  instruc- 
tion, (2)  reading,  (3)  silent  occupations.  For -the  first, 
silence  was  regarded  as  essential,  and  accordingly  they 
should  be  taken  in  a  classroom  provided  with  a  gallery. 
For  silent  work  parallel  desks  were  arranged  on  the  floor, 
and  an  open  area  was  reserved  for  reading,  which  might 
be  taken  in  drafts.  The  master  was  to  be  assisted  by  two 
pupil  teachers,  and  monitors  might  also  be  used  to  supple- 
ment these.  This  system,  it  is  to  be  noted,  was  specially 
favoured  by  British  schools. 

The  accompanying  plan  illustrates  the  conditions  at  the 
Borough  Road  in  1856.  The  room  accommodated  nine 
classes  of  45  each,  and  was  divided  into  three  parts  by  cur- 
tains, which  are  represented  by  dotted  lines,  and  which  were 
dropped  while  lessons  were  in  progress.  Lessons  lasted 

1  By  Mr.  Moseley.     See  Minutes,  Vol.  I.,  1846,  pp.  250-2. 
H.  ED.  18 


274  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

for  three-quarters  of  au  hour,  ami  the  pupils  might  be 
arranged  at  a  given  moment  as  follows :  gallery — Eng- 
lish history  ;  desks — written  arithmetic  ;  drafts  on  the 
floor — Scripture  reading.  At  the  change  of  lesson  each 
set  of  three  classes,  e.g.  1,  2,  3,  would  interchange  places. 

There  is  no  need  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  merits 
and  defects  of  these  plans.  They  are  interesting  as 
attempts  to  give  something  like  system  to  the  increasing 
tendency  to  introduce  more  and  more  collective  teaching 
into  the  work  of  the  schools.  As  the  reports  of  inspectors 
show,  school  organisation  at  this  period  varied  widely  in 
character,  and  examples  of  a  purely  monitorial  or  a  purely 
simultaneous  type  were  practically  non-existent. 

With  the  coming  of  pupil  teachers  the  influence  of 
the  two  methods  of  organisation  already 
inSchooT  *  ^esci'ibed  became  very  marked.  But,  again, 
Organisation,  they  are  not  reproduced  true  to  type.  There 
is  a  peculiar  blending  of  old  and  new. 
National  schools  are  found  retaining  some  of  the  forms 
and  three-sided  squares  of  the  original  Madras  model 
alongside  rows  of  parallel  desks  and  a  gallery.  The  spirit 
and  the  details  of  Kay-Shuttleworth's  original  proposals 
were  alike  violated.  Large  schools  were  often  conducted 
solely  with  the  assistance  of  pupil  teachers,  and  curtains 
stretched  across  a  large  schoolroom  took  the  place  of 
the  partitions  and  classrooms  he  considered  so  essential. 
Along  these  lines  school  organisation  evolved,  but  without 
any  considerable  modification  until  the  coming  of  School 
Boards  after  1870. 

At  the  same  time  that  these  developments  were  in  pro- 
gress attention  was  being  given  to  improv* 
*US  ^ie  teaching  apparatus,  which  was  sadly 
deficient  in   many   schools.     First   came    a 
grant  for  school  furniture,  including  desks,  blackboards, 


2   U 

P  U  C 

^/  ^  >r 


D   U  C 


To  face  p.  274. 


THE  BOROUGH  ROAD  SCHOOL,  ARRANGED  ON  THE 
TRIPARTITE  SYSTEM. 


TRANSITION  AND  BEACTION,  275 

and  easels,  and  in  1847  a  further  grant  was  made  for  the 
purchase  of  maps,  books,  etc.,  for  not  only  was  reading 
material  generally  very  scanty,  but,  such  as  it  was,  it  was 
oftentimes  confined  to  Scriptural  reading.  Of  the  desks  it 
is  unnecessary  to  say  more  than  that  they  differed  little 
from  those  in  the  original  Lancasterian  schools,  and  the 
seats  were  never  provided  with  backs.  These  grants 
ceased  in  1862,  on  the  introduction  of  the  system  of  pay- 
ment by  results. 

Until  the   issue   of  the  "  Ee  vised   Code"   (1862)    the 

central  authority  exerted  no  direct  control 
The  School  , ,  1,1  •  i  A  i. 

Curriculum.       over   "ie   sc"°°l  curriculum.     Any  changes 

that  were  made  depended  entirely  upon  the 
initiative  of  the  master  or  the  school  managers,  or  were 
due  to  the  stimulus  of  a  Government  inspector,  who,  like 
Matthew  Arnold,  looked  to  the  schools  to  inspire  some 
elements  of  culture  into  their  pupils,  to  open  their  minds 
and  to  touch  their  imagination.  What  the  curriculum  of 
the  "  average  "  school  was  during  this  period  is  difficult  to 
determine.  According  to  the  Census  Returns  (1851)  the 
great  majority  of  elementary  schools,  both  public  and 
private,  taught  nothing  beyond  the  three  R's.  A  con- 
siderable number  included  grammar  and  geography,  and 
a  diminishing  number  taught  singing,  drawing,  mathe- 
matics, and  industrial  occupations ;  a  condition  of  things 
that  accords  very  well  with  the  reports  of  inspectors.1 
History,  etymology,  lessons  on  common  things,  and 
physical  exercises  also  found  a  place  in  some  schools,  the 
latter  in  particular  becoming  increasingly  popular.  In 
1847  grants  were  made  towards  the  cost  of  hiring  field- 
gardens,  erecting  workshops  for  the  teaching  of  handi- 

1  It  is  very  noticeable  how  a  gradual  extension  of  these  "  higher  subjects  " 
followed  the  improvements  in  school  organisation  after  1846.  See  Minute*, 
1850-1,  Vol.  I.,  p.  ciii;  1851-2,  Vol.  I.,  p.  143. 


276  TRANSITION   AND    REACTION". 

crafts,  and  providing  school  wash-houses  and  kitchens. 
Between  1850  and  1860  gardening  and  domestic  subjects 
received  considerable  attention.1  Thus  an  inspector  reports 
in  1856 :  "  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  usual  practice 
of  keeping  boys  at  their  lessons  in  school  from  five 
to  six  hours  a  day  is  the  best.  My  impression  is  that 
four  hours'  schooling,  with  two  hours'  industrial  work, 
and  home  lessons  at  night,  would  be  a  much  better 
arrangement."2 

The  fact  is  that  during  this  period  schools  showed  wide 

differences  of  quality.  Many  of  the  better- 
Education  in  class  schools  undoubtedly  had  a  liberal 
Schools.  curriculum,  and,  as  Matthew  Arnold  tells 

us,  were  attended  by  a  type  of  children 
whose  parents  had  every  right  to  expect  a  generous 
education.  In  1854  another  inspector  reported  that  a 
boy  of  fair  average  attainments  in  a  good  school  has 
learned — 

"To  read  fluently  and  with  intelligence  any  work  of  general 
information  likely  to  come  in  his  way  : 

To  write  very  neatly  and  correctly  from  dictation  and  from 
memory,  and  to  express  himself  in  tolerably  correct  language  ; 

To  work  elementary  rules  of  arithmetic,  including  decimal  and 
vulgar  fractions,  duodecimals,  and  interest,  with  accuracy  and 
rapidity ; 

To  parse  sentences  and  to  explain  their  construction  ; 

To  know  the  elements  of  English  history  ; 

To  have  a  satisfactory  knowledge  of  geography,  physical  and 
political,  and  to  draw  maps  well."  3 

1  In  1854  Froebel's  system  was  first  introduced  into  infant  schools.  See 
Mitchell's  Reports— Minutes,  1854-5,  pp.  473-4,  and  1856-7,  p.  340. 

As  a  further  indication  of  the  level  of  educational  thought  during  this 
period  see  Tate's  Philosophy  of  Education.  Cf.  also  the  volumes  of 
Pleasant  Pages,  following  Pestalozzian  method. 

3  Minutes,  1856-7,  p.  264. 

3  Minutes,  1854-5,  pp.  393-4;  cf.  ibid.,  1857,  p.  263. 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  277 

Besides  this  a  good  school  would  include  lessons  on 
physical  science,  natural  history,  and  political  economy. 
Natural  philosophy,  it  is  worth  noting,  was  a  subject 
especially  recommended  by  Matthew  Arnold  for  general 
adoption  in  schools. 

Classing  schools  as  excellent,  good,  fair,  bad,  the 
attainment  of  a  fair  school,  representing  80  per  cent,  of 
those  under  inspection,  was  thus  described  in  1854  : — 

"  In  the  first  class  the  children  will  be  able  to  read  a  page  of 
natural  history — about  an  elephant,  a  cotton  tree  or  a  crocodile — 
with  tolerable  fluency  and  with  scarcely  a  mistake.  They  would 
answer  collateral  questions  on  this,  not  well,  but  not  preposterous!}' 
ill ;  they  would  have  a  general  knowledge  of  the  distribution  and 
conventional  divisions  of  land  and  water  on  the  surface  of  the 
globe  ;  most  of  them  would  name  the  counties  on  an  unlettered  map 
of  England,  and  the  kingdoms  on  one  of  Europe.  They  would  work 
a  sum  in  compound  addition — two-thirds  of  them  without  a  mis- 
take ;  the}'  would  write  out  a  short  account  of  any  object  named  to 
them  which  they  had  seen  or  read  about — an  animal,  a  tree,  a 
flower — intelligently,  and  not  without  thought  and  observation, 
but  with  trifling  errors  of  grammar  and  of  spelling.  In  such  a 
school  the  remaining  four  or  five  classes  would  show  attainments 
proportionably  graduated  from  that  which  I  have  represented  as 
usually  belonging  to  the  first.  With  respect  to  acquirement,  boys 
are  ordinarily  a  little  in  advance  of  girls,  because  they  have  more 
time  for  it.  The  girls  compensate  by  a  somewhat  livelier  intelli- 
gence, by  prettier  reading,  by  better  discipline  and  by  needlework, 
on  which  two-fifths  of  their  time  are  spent."  ' 

while  a  "  bad  "  school,  said  to  be  typical  of  many  country 
schools  in  1854,  was  described  as  follows  : — 

"  Their  only  books  are  a  few  torn  Testaments  which  they  learnt 
to  read  with  precisely  the  same  amount  of  intelligence  as  if  they 
were  attempting  to  read  the  Greek  language  in  English  character. 
They  have  no  more  idea  whether  Jerusalem  was  in  Palestine  or 

1  Minutes,  1854-5,  p.  500, 


278  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

Palestine  in  Jerusalem  than  they  have  of  the  outside  of  the  moon  ; 
or  whether  the  event  from  which  all  Christian  time  is  reckoned 
occurred  before  or  after  the  Battle  of  Waterloo.  Very  few  indeed 
of  them  can  work  the  humblest  multiplication  sum  correctly.  Their 
writing,  if  legible,  is  rendered  unintelligible  by  the  spelling.  While 
their  minds  are  thus  left  utterly  uncultivated,  their  morals  can  be 
deriving  no  advantage  from  their  communion  with  each  other  about 
their  street  experience.  They  are  perpetually  engaged  in  eluding 
and  cheating  the  master."  l 

Inspectors'  Reports  leave  no  room  for  doubt  that 
throughout  this  period  one  of  the  gravest  defects  of  the 
schools  was  the  systematic  neglect  of  the  younger  children 
to  enable  the  master  to  give  all  his  attention  to  the  upper 
division,  with  disastrous  results  on  the  attendance.  More- 
over opinion  gained  ground  that  much  of  the  work  being 
done  in  elementary  schools  was  superficial  and  would  not 
stand  close  scrutiny.  Evidence  of  this  was  afforded  in 
plenty  by  the  Newcastle  Commission,  and  the  system  of 
awarding  grants  on  individual  examination  in  the  three 
R's  was  recommended  as  the  only  way  of  guaranteeing 
thoroughness  in  the  school  work,  a  recommendation  that 
was  carried  out  by  the  Revised  Code. 

A  new  era  now  began  for  the  elementary  school.  Read- 
ing, writing,  and  arithmetic  were  divided  in 

Progress  six   stages   or   standards,   and  immediatelv 

uuder  the  ,    .      ?  ,    ,  .  .      , , 

Revised  Code,    attained  an  exaggerated  importance,  tor  these 

rudimentary  subjects,  along  with  plain 
needlework  for  girls,  were  compulsory,  and  the  bulk  of  the 
grant  that  could  be  earned  depended  upon  the  success 
with  which  each  child  could  pass  an  annual  examination 
in  them.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  following  syllabus  the 
standards  were  not  high. 

1  Minutes,  1854-5,  p.  502, 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 


279 


SYLLABUS. 


READING. 

WRITINO. 

ARITHMETIC. 

Standard  I. 

Narrative  in 

Form  on  black- 

Form     on 

monosyllables. 

board  or  slate, 

blackboard    or 

from  dictation, 

slate,  from  dic- 

letters, capital 

tation,    figures 

and   small, 

up  to  20. 

manuscript. 

Name  at  sight 

figures  up  to  20. 

Add  and  sub- 

tract figures  up 

to    10,    orally, 

from  ex;imples 

on  blackboard. 

Standard  II. 

One    of   the 

Copy  in  manu- 

A    sum     in 

narratives  next 

script     charac- 

simple addition 

in   order  after 

ter    a    line    of 

or    subtraction 

monosyllables 

print. 

and  the  multi- 

in   an  elemen- 

plication table. 

tary     reading- 

book   used    in 

the  school. 

Standard  III. 

A  short  para- 

A    sentence 

A  sum  in  any 

graph  from  an 

from  the  same 

simple  rule  as 

elementary 

paragraph 

far  as  short  di- 

reading -  hook 

slowly    read 

vision      (inclu- 

used     in     the 

once   and  then 

sive). 

school. 

dictated  in  sin- 

gle words. 

Standard  IV. 

A  short  para- 

A    sentence 

A     sum      in 

graph    from  a 

slowly      dicta- 

compound rules 

more  advanced 

ted  once  by  a 

(money). 

reading  -  book 

few    words    at 

used     in      the 

a    time,     from 

school. 

the  same  book 

but    not    from 

the    paragraph 

read. 

TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

SYLLABUS— ( 


READING. 

WRITIM:. 

ARITHMETIC. 

Standard  V. 

A   few   lines 

A      sentence 

A     sum     in 

of  poetry  from 

slowly      dicta-    compound 

a  reading-book 

ted  once  by  a 

rules   (common 

used  in  the  first 

few    words   at    weights       and 

class      of    the 

a  time,  from  a 

measures). 

school. 

reading  -  book 

used      in     the 

first    class    of 

the  school. 

Standard  VI. 

A  short  ordi- 

Anothershort 

A     sum     in 

nary  paragraph 

ordinary  para- 

Practice  or 

in  a  newspaper 

grap  h     in     a 

bills    of     par- 

or other  mod- 

newspaper    or 

cels. 

ern  narrati%re. 

other     modern 

narrative,  slow- 

ly  dictated 

once  by  a  few 

words      at      a 

time. 

Reaction. 


That  some  decided  steps  needed  to  be  taken  to  raise  the 
average  standard  of  efficiency  in  elementary 
schools  cannot  be  disputed,  but  that  it  should 
have  taken  the  form  laid  down  by  the  Kevised  Code  must 
always  remain  as  a  blot  on  the  administrative  policy  of  the 
Education  Department.  It  marks  the  beginning  of  a  pro- 
cess of  reaction.  The  natural  evolution  of  curriculum, 
organisation,  and  method  that  had  been  going  on  under 
the  fostering  care  of  Sir  J.  Kay-Shuttleworth  and  his  suc- 
cessor, Mr.  (Lord)  Lingen,  came  to  a  stop.  Enthusiasm 
for  results  got  anyhow  was  to  replace  enthusiasm  for  edu- 
cation, for  improving  methods,  for  alertness  to  make  the 
school  work  meaningful.  The  child  became  a  money-earn- 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  281 

ing  unit  to  be  driven  ;  the  teacher  a  sort  of  foreman  whose 
business  it  was  to  keep  his  gang  hard  at  work.  No  wonder 
Sir  J.  Kay-Shuttleworth  was  dismayed.1  A  more  short- 
sighted policy  could  hardly  have  been  devised.  It  beto- 
kened an  entire  want  of  imagination  and  understanding 
of  what  was  and  what  was  not  fundamental.  It  denied 
that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  a  science  of  education. 
Initiative  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  was  not  wanted ; 
he  was  a  cog  in  a  machine,  and  it  totally  disregarded  what 
in  these  days  is  regarded  as  essential,  viz.  varying  local 
conditions  with  their  different  types  of  children  and  vary- 
ing potentialities.  The  school  in  a  poor  neighbourhood 
was  to  reach  exactly  the  same  standard  as  the  comfortable 
school  attended  by  a  good  class  of  children.  If  it  did  not 
it  was  to  be  penalised.  Six  cast-iron  annual  standards 
were  applied  to  the  whole  country.  The  whole  arrange- 
ment was  ridiculously  simple,  and  educational  administra- 
tion was  reduced  to  a  mere  question  of  arithmetic.  The 
school  became  a  money-earning  institution,  and  a  place  for 
doling  out  bits  of  knowledge. 

The  harshness  with  which  the  Code  was  bound  to  operate 
was  certainly  not  intended  by  those  responsible  for  draft- 
ing it.  Thus  Mr.  Lingen,  in  his  Instructions  to  Inspectors 
upon  the  administration  of  the  Eevised  Code,  expressly 
states  that  "  the  grant  to  be  made  to  each  school  depends, 
as  it  has  ever  done,  upon  the  school's  whole  character  and 
work.  .  .  .  You  will  judge  every  school  by  the  same  stan- 
dard that  you  have  hitherto  used,  as  regards  its  religious, 
moral,  and  intellectual  merits.  The  examination  under 
Art.  48  (i.e.  in  the  three  E's)  does  not  supersede  this  judg- 
ment, but  presupposes  it.  That  article  does  not  prescribe 
that  if  thus  much  is  done,  a  grant  shall  be  paid,  but,  unless 

1  Four  Periods  of  Public  Education :  Fourth  Period, 


282  TRANSITION    AND    REACTION. 

thus  much  is  done,  no  grant  shall  be  paid.  It  does  not 
exclude  the  inspection  of  each  school  by  a  highly  educated 
public  officer,  but  it  fortifies  this  general  test  by  individual 
examination.  If  you  keep  these  distinctions  steadily  in 
view  you  will  see  how  little  the  scope  of  your  duties  is 
changed." 

At  the  same  time,  however,  the  school  managers  generally 
threw  the  responsibility  of  the  new  system 

Revised 'code6  on  ^ne  snou^c^ers  °f  the  teacher  by  making 
his  salary  depend  upon  the  amount  of  grant 
earned.  It  is  little  wonder  that  the  real  education  in  the 
school  was  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Children  were  kept 
grinding  at  the  three  R's  in  an  endeavour  to  ensure  success  in 
the  examination,  but  to  make  the  grant  still  more  certain 
they  were  put  into  as  low  standards  as  possible.  In  this 
respect  it  certainly  had  the  result  of  strengthening  the 
attention  given  to  the  lower  part  of  the  school.  In  a  very 
short  time  the  percentage  of  apparently  backward  children 
was  enormous,  and  successive  Codes  had  to  struggle  with 
the  difficulty  of  speeding  up  the  rate  of  promotion.1  At 
the  same  time  it  had  the  effect  of  narrowing  the  curriculum 
to  the  three  "  rudimentary  "  subjects.  The  Annual  Report 
of  1865  admits  that  while  "  the  system  has  secured  greater 
attention  to  the  lower  classes  and  to  the  less  proficient 
children,  and  has  led  to  more  uniform  progress  in  Reading, 
Writing,  and  Arithmetic  ...  it  has  tended,  at  least  tem- 
porarily, to  discourage  attention  to  the  higher  branches  of 
elementary  instruction — Geography,  Grammar,  and  His- 
tory." 

T  In  1863-4  41  per  cent,  of  the  number  of  scholars  in  average  attendance 
were  individually  examined  ;  and  86  per  cent,  of  those  over  10  were 
examined  in  too  low  standards.  From  this  time,  however,  there  was  a 
steady  improvement.  In  1881,  with  69'69  per  cent,  examined,  47'84  per 
cent,  were  in  standards  too  low  for  their  age. 


TRANSITION    AND    REACTION.  283 

According  to  Matthew  Arnold  the  system  of  payment 
by  results  had  one  good  effect.  It  stimu- 
Matthew  lated  the  production  of  a  better  and  more 

Account  of  intelligent  type  of  reading-book,  but  other- 
the  System.  wise  school  examinations  under  the  system 
were  a  fraud,  "  a  game  of  mechanical  con- 
trivance in  which  the  teacher  will  and  must  more  and  more 
learn  how  to  beat  us."  Already  it  was  "  found  possible, 
by  ingenious  preparation,  to  get  children  through  the 
Revised  Code  Examination  in  reading,  writing,  and  cipher- 
ing, without  their  really  knowing  how  to  read,  write,  and 
cipher."  "  To  take  the  commonest  instance  :  a  book  is 
selected  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  for  the  children  of  a 
certain  standard ;  all  the  year  the  children  read  this  book 
over  and  over  again,  and  no  other.  When  the  Inspector 
comes  they  are  presented  to  read  in  this  book ;  they  can 
read  their  sentence  or  two  fluently  enough,  but  they  cannot 
read  any  other  book  fluently.  Yet  the  letter  of  the  law  is 
satisfied.  .  . .  Suppose  the  Inspector  were  to  produce  another 
book  out  of  his  pocket,  and  to  refuse  grants  for  all  children 
who  could  not  read  fluently  from  it.  The  managers  and 
teacher  would  appeal  to  the  Code,  which  says  that  the 
scholar  shall  be  required  to  read  '  a  paragraph  from  a 
reading  book  used  in  the  school,'  and  would  the  Depart- 
ment sustain  an  Inspector  in  enforcing  such  an  additional 
test  as  that  which  has  been  mentioned  ? 

"  The  circle  of  the  children's  reading  has  thus  been 
narrowed  and  impoverished  all  the  year  for  the  sake  of  a 
result  at  the  end  of  it,  and  the  result  is  an  illusion. 

"  The  reading  test  affords  the  greatest  facilities  for  baf- 
fling those  who  imposed  it,  and  therefore  in  reading  we 
find  fewest  failures,  but  the  writing  test  is  managed  almost 
as  easily.  .  .  . 

"  Jn  arithmetic,  the  rate  of  failure  is  much  more  coij- 


•284 


TRANSITION    ANP    REACTION. 


siderable.  To  t«i;ic1i  children  to  bring  right  two  sums  out 
'of  three  without  really  knowing  arithmetic  seems  hard  .  .  . 
(a  child)  is  taught  the  mechanical  rule  l>y  which  sums  of 
'this  sort  are  worked,  and  sedulously  practised  all  the  year 
round  in  working  them  ;  arithmetical  principles  he  is  not 
'taught,  or  introduced  into  the  science  of  arithmetic."  l 


1  Report,  1869. 

The  effect  of  the  Revised  Code  is  well  illustrated  by  the  following  Time 
Table  analysis,  the  one  taken  from  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society 
Handbook,  185(5,  the  other  from  The  Elementfii-ij  School  Manager,  Rice- 
Wiggin  and  Graves,  1879. 


1856. 

Time  spent  on  each  study  per 
week. 


and 


1.  Scripture      Reading 

Scripture  Lesson 

2.  Secular    Reading  —  Prose 

and  Poetry 

3.  Writing       

4.  Written  Arithmetic 

5.  Mental  Arithmetic 

G.  Map  Geography  and  Map 
Drawing ...         

7.  Physical  Geography 

8.  Grammar    ... 

9.  Composition  —  Oral      and 

Written 

10.  Etymology 

11.  Dictation,  Spelling,  Draw- 

ing, Singing,  etc. 

12.  English  History     

13.  Object  Lesson  and  Manufac- 

tures 

14.  Natural  History     ... 


3f 


si 

3! 
H 


1879. 
Secular  Instruction  only. 

Boys'  Schools. 

Reading  6£  hours 

Writing  (including 
Transcription,  Dicta- 
tion and  Composi- 
tion)   3£  ,, 

Arithmetic       ...         ...  7       ,, 

History  (Stds.IV.-VI.)  3  ,, 
Geography  or  History  3  ,, 
Singing  and  Recreation  2  ,, 

25      „ 

Girls'  Schools. 

Reading  6  hours 

Writing,  etc.    ...         ...  3  ,, 

Arithmetic       ...         ...  7  ,, 

Needlework      ...         ...  4  ,, 

Grammar  or  Geography 

or  History    3  ,, 

Singing  and  Recreation  2  , , 


Total  school  time 


25 


CHAPTER   IX. 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

"  New  times  demand  new  measures  and  new  men  ; 
The  world  advances,  and  in  time  outgrows 
The  laws  that  in  our  fathers'  day  were  best ; 
And,  doubtless,  after  us  some  purer  scheme 
Will  be  shaped  out  by  wiser  men  than  we, 
.    Made  wiser  by  the  steady  growth  of  truth." 

— LOWELL. 

"The  modification  going  on  in  the  method  and  curriculum  of 
education  is  as  much  a  product  of  the  changed  social  situation, 
arid  as  much  an  effort  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  new  society  that 
is  forming,  as  are  changes  in  modes  of  industry  and  commerce." 

— DEWEY  :  School  and  Society. 

It  remains  to  deal  with  the  changes  that  have  taken 
place  in  the  elementary  school,  in  its  ideals,  its  organisa- 
tion and  staffing  since  1870,  and  to  trace  the  forces  that 
have  been  instrumental  in  shaping  its  method  and  curri- 
culum in  its  passage  from  the  warping  system  of  payment 
by  results  to  the  comparative  freedom  of  to-day. 

In  the  preceding  chapters  it  has  been  seen  how  the 
curriculum  has  constantly  adjusted  itself  to  meet  new 
social  and  economic  conditions  or  to  give  expression  to 
particular  social  philosophies.  The  measure  of  success 
attained  in  any  given  instance  has  been  proportionate  to 
the  intensity  of  the  new  faith,  to  the  degree  in  which  the 
curriculum  has  met  prevailing  needs,  and  to  the  efficiency 
of  the  teachers.  Under  a  system  of  State  education  similar 
influences  are  at  work,  but  how  readily  they  find  expres- 

285 


28t)  tHfi    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

sion  depends  upon  the  sensitiveness  and  elasticity  of  the 
educational  machinery.  The  increase  of  foreign  competi- 
tion, the  growing  specialisation  of  modern  industry,  the 
steady  rise  in  importance  of  democracy,  and  the  advance 
in  scientific  method  and  hygiene  have  been  responsible  for 
giving  to  elementary  education  during  the  last  40  years, 
and  especially  during  the  last  two  decades,  a  character  of 
its  own.  There  has  been  an  increasing  tendency  to 
emphasise  the  social  responsibilities  of  the  school,  to  break 
down  the  barriers  that  have  been  erected  between  the  life 
in  the  school  and  the  life  in  the  home  and  the  outside 
world,  to  make  school  work  more  practical  and  less  bookish, 
to  deyelop,  in  short,  haudiness  and  practical  capacity.  At 
the  same  time  increasing  stress  is  being  laid  on  putting 
children  in  the  way  of  acquiring  knowledge  for  themselves, 
greater  attention  is  being  bestowed  on  the  encouragement 
of  individuality  both  in  children  and  teachers.  Much 
importance  is  attached  to  developing  the  physical  nature 
of  the  child,  and  to  training  for  citizenship  and  service. 
The  school  has  developed  a  new  social  importance  that 
seems  likely  to  increase  rather  than  diminish.  The 
demands  that  are  being  made  on  the  teacher  are  also 
steadily  increasing.  Personality  has  become  a  matter  of 
first-rate  importance.  But  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether, 
as  the  teacher  abandons  the  character  of  policeman,  he  will 
attain  his  rightful  position  as  an  educator. 

In  the  development  of  educational  thought  and  practice 
during  this  period  the  influence  of  Froebel,  Herbart,  and 
Pestalozzi  has  been  very  marked.  Of  contemporary 
writers  Herbert  Spencer,  John  Ruskin,  and,  of  more 
recent  date,  Professor  John  Dewey  occupy  a  foremost 
place,  each  having  contributed  in  his  own  way  to  interpret 
in  terms  of  the  school  the  social  movements  and  thought 
of  the  time. 


THE   NEW   SPIRIT   IN   EDtfcAflOtf.  287 

Herbert  Speucer  (1820-1903)  is  a  representative  of  that 

.       scientific  and  utilitarian   movement  that  in 
Educational 
Teaching  of       the  forties  found  expression  in  the  secularist 

schools  at  Manchester  and  elsewhere,  and 
in  the  teaching  of  George  Combe.1  At  an 
earlier  date  we  meet  with  it  in  the  writers  of  the  revolu- 
tionary period,  in  the  teaching  of  the  Benthamites  and  in 
the  work  of  the  Society  for  Diffusing  Useful  Knowledge. 

Biologist,  sociologist,  psychologist  and  philosopher, 
Spencer  ranks  among  English  writers  on  education  next 
to  Locke  in  foreign  esteem.  In  this  country  his  value  is 
felt  to  lie  in  the  powerful  plea  he  made  for  a  training 
in  scientific  method  and  for  the  introduction  of  science 
into  the  school  curriculum  ;  in  arousing  men  from  dog- 
matic slumber  by  challenging  the  accepted  values  of  school 
studies  ;  in  pointing  out  the  haphazard  character  of  existing 
education — a  patchwork  based  on  tradition,  and  in  calling 
for  a  system  of  instruction  based  on  scientific  principles. 
Further,  he  pleaded  for  realism  in  education ;  he  denounced 
the  bookishness  of  the  prevailing  system,  and  urged  that 
the  useful  is  not  necessarily  non-educative.  Bather  it  is 
the  most  educative.  "  It  would  be  utterly  contrary  to  the 
beautiful  economy  of  nature,"  he  declares,  "  if  one  kind  of 
culture  were  needed  for  the  gaining  of  information  •  and 
another  kind  were  needed  as  a  mental  culture."  It  is  to 
his  special  credit  that  he  demanded,  and  got  people  to 
believe,  that  the  fullest  attention  should  be  paid  to  matters 
of  hygiene,  to  the  feeding  and  the  physical  education  of 
children,  of  girls  no  less  than  of  boys. 

Lastly,  he  urged  the  more  rational  grading  of  instruc- 
tion so  that  it  might  harmonise  with  the  mental  develop- 
ment of  the  individual,  and  pointed  out  that  in  the  history 

1  fciee  Ditcuiaione  on  Education,  George  Combe,  p.  154,  and  Chap.  VIII. 


288  THE    NEW    SflRIt    IN    EDUCATION. 

of  the  nvce  might  be  found  many  useful  suggestions  for 
the  teacher's  guidance.  "  Alike  in  its  order  and  its 
methods,  education  must  conform  to  the  actual  process  of 
mental  evolution  .  .  .  there  is  a  certain  sequence  in  which 
the  faculties  spontaneously  develop,  and  a  certain  kind  of 
knowledge  which  each  requires  during  its  development  .  .  . 
it  is  for  us  to  ascertain  the  sequence  and  supply  the  know- 
ledge." '  In  short,  Spencer  restated  amidst  much  specious 
reasoning  much  of  what  was  best  in  the  educational 
thought  of  the  last  200  years,  and  focussed  attention  once 
again  on  the  teaching  of  Bacon  and  of  Pestalozzi. 

Spencer's  interest  in  school  reform  must  be  attributed 
to  the  importance  he  assigned  to  education  in  his  philo- 
sophical system,  for  though  the  laws  of  evolution  are 
inexorable,  yet  he  leaves  a  place  for  human  effort  and 
human  obligation  in  helping  on  the  progressive  improve- 
ment of  humanity.  Education,  he  considered,  is  capable 
of  exerting  a  determining  influence  not  only  on  the  rising 
generation,  but  on  mankind  in  the  future.  Hence  its  first- 
rate  importance.  It  is  a  matter  that  concerns  the  whole 
of  humanity  and  especially  parents  and  teachers.  "  The 
subject  which  involves  all  other  subjects,  and  therefore 
the  subject  in  which  education  should  culminate,  is  the 
theory  and  practice  of  education." 

But  a  rational  system  is  impossible  save  on  a  scientific 
basis,  and  the  materials  for  this  are  as  yet 
inadequate.     The  four  short  essays,  Educa- 
tion :  Intellectual,  Moral  and  Physical  (1861), 
which  in  bulk  form  a  very  insignificant  part  of  Spencer's 
writings,  are  intended  as  a  contribution  towards  such  a 
system.     The  treatment  is  very  incomplete  and  one-sided. 
In   the  anxiety   to   provide   a   utilitarian    education    the 
development  of   personality   tends  to  be  overlooked,  and 
1  Essays,  Chap.  II.,  p.  59,  Small  Edition. 


THE  NEW  sflRit  IN  EDUCATION.  289 

the  Use  of  "  science  "as  an  undefined  middle  term  leads 
to  conclusions  that  will  not  always  bear  analysis.  The 
influence  of  the  book  it  is  hardly  possible  to  exaggerate. 
Among  other  things  it  inspired  the  work  of  the  Code 
Reform.  Association  (1881),  and  the  demand  for  a  reform 
of  the  standards  and  curriculum  imposed  by  the  Educa- 
tion Department.1 

According  to  Spencer,  the  end  of  man  is  complete  living. 

This  being  so,  knowledge  has  value  in 
Categories  "  *  proportion  as  it  favours  more  or  less  the 

exercise  of  those  essential  activities  that 
conduce  to  individual  and  social  happiness.  The  first  need 
of  man,  it  seemed  to  him,  is  knowledge  calculated  to  assist 
the  individual  to  his  own  self-preservation  ;  the  second, 
knowledge  such  as  will  enable  him  to  gain  a  livelihood ; 
third,  knowledge  of  how  to  bring  up  a  family  ;  fourth,  of 
how  to  live  the  life  of  the  good  citizen  ;  and  last,  the  means 
for  occupying  the  leisure  moments  of  life.  In  preparation 
for  all  these,  "  science,"  understood  in  a  broad  sense,  seemed 
to  be  the  subject  of  primary  importance,  and  he  proceeded 
to  arrange  the  sciences  according  to  their  utility  in  serving 
these  universal  ends.  Physiology,  hygiene,  sociology,  all 
have  their  place.  "  For  discipline  as  well  as  for  guidance 
science  is  of  chiefest  value,"  But  as  the  categories  are 
arranged,  the  inner  life  of  the  average  man  tends  to  be 
neglected.  All  that  touches  the  affections,  that  serves  to 
implant  worthy  motives  and  high  ideals,  is  regarded  as  of 
least  importance.  The  school  is  to  become  a  dull  place 
once  more,  devoted  to  the  inculcation  of  science  and  reason. 

1  The  essays  were  originally  published  separately — "  What  Know- 
ledge is  of  Most  Worth  "  (Chap.  1),  in  the  Westminster  Review,  1859  ; 
"  Intellectual  Education  "  (Chap.  2),  British  Review,  1854  ;  "Moral 
Education"  (Chap.  3),  British  Quarterly,  1858;  "Physical  Educa- 
tion "  (Chap.  4),  Hritish  Quarterly,  1859. 

H. ED.  19 


290  THE    NEW    KPIKIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

As  would  be  expected,  however,  Spencer  firmly  grasps 
the   biological   view  of   the    educative  pro- 
1        cess'       Education    is    not    something    that 


can  be  given  to  children  ready  made.  It  is 
essentially  an  individual  process,  and  the  business  of  the 
teacher  is  to  put  children  in  the  way  of  educating  them- 
selves. Accordingly,  telling  must  give  way  to  providing 
pupils  with  opportunities  for  discovering  —  "  making  ''- 
knowledge  for  themselves.  "  Children  should  be  led  to 
make  their  own  investigations.  They  should  be  told  as 
little  as  possible  and  induced  to  discover  as  much  as 
possible.  Humanity  has  progressed  solely  by  self-instruc- 
tion. .  .  .  Those  who  have  been  brought  up  under  the 
ordinary  school  drill,  and  have  carried  away  with  them 
the  idea  that  education  is  practicable  only  in  that  style,  will 
think  it  hopeless  to  make  children  their  own  teachers."  ' 
Sense  impression,  observation,  heurism,  experiment,  inven- 
tiveness, inference,  realism  —  these  are  the  watchwords  of 
the  new  method.  Instruction  was  to  proceed  according 
to  the  carefully  graded  steps  so  dear  to  Pestalozzi,  though 
the  teacher  was  to  beware  of  falling  into  many  of  the  latter  's 
mistakes.  Everything  was  to  start  with  the  concrete,  the 
simple,  and  the  definite,  and  by  a  process  of  mental 
elaboration  was  to  be  arranged  into  nicely  compacted 
systems  of  knowledge.  But  unfortunately  "  concrete," 
"  simple,"  "  abstract,"  etc.,  are  purely  relative  terms  that  are 
either  misleading  or  so  trite  as  to  be  of  little  value.  A 
similar  want  of  analysis  characterises  the  use  of  the  term 
"  interest,"  the  evoking  of  which  is  supposed  to  be  an  in- 
fallible test  of  the  value  of  any  subject  or  method  of 
instruction. 

Spencer  was  no  believer  in  the  innate  goodness  of  children. 
Punishments  he  considered  necessary,  but  he  would  free 
1  Essays,  Chap.  II.,  p.  69. 


THE    NEW    SPIKIT    IN    EDUCATION.  291 

them,  as  bethought,  from  harshness  and  caprice  by  making 
them  "  natural  "  and  removing  the  personal  factor  as  far 
as  possible.  He  confessed  himself  sceptical  of  moral  in- 
struction, and  looked  rather  to  the  innate  "  moral  sense  " 
of  children  and  the  operation  of  experiences  of  pleasure 
and  pain.  Finally,  in  urging  the  importance  of  physical 
education,  he  was  led,  through  his  belief  that  interest  and 
pleasure  are  trustworthy  guides  to  what  is  educationally 
sound,  to  emphasise  the  superiority  of  plays  and  games  to 
formal  gymnastic  exercises. 

The  demand  for  instruction  in  science  and  for  a  more 
practical    education    resulted    in   increased 

Elementary        attention  being  paid  to  obiect  lessons  and 

Science  and        ,  , ,  .         .      , ,     , 

Nature  Work,    lessons  on  common  things  in  the  lower  part 

of  the  school.  At  the  same  time  various 
scientific  subjects — domestic  economy,  physiology,  physical 
geography,  mechanics  and  botany — were  encouraged  by  the 
Education  Department,  and  began  to  be  provided  in  the 
more  ambitious  schools  for  the  older  children.  But  the  in- 
struction was  commonly  nothing  but  words.  The  presence 
of  an  object  or  picture  was  supposed  to  raise  a  hackneyed 
and  rambling  discourse  to  the  level  of  a  "  new  method," 
and  the  performance  of  a  few  "  class  demonstrations  "  to 
transform  the  memorising  of  a  highly  systeinatised  and 
arid  array  of  facts  into  a  course  of  scientific  training.  The 
value  of  the  teaching  may  be  gathered  from  the  first  two 
questions  of  a  typical  examination  paper  set  to  Standard  V. 
boys,  about  11  years  of  age,  for  the  purpose  of  grant. 

(1)  Impenetrability  and   elasticity  do    not    apply    to    atoms. 
Explain  this  and  give  illustrations. 

(2)  In  what  bodies  may  you  say  that  molecular  attraction  is 
balanced  by  the  repulsive  force  of  heat  ? ' 

1  Final  Report,  Cross  Commission,  p.  161. 


292  THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

That  something  very  different  was  contemplated  is  seen 
from  the  instructions  laid  down  in  the  Code.  "  It  is  in- 
tended that  the  instruction  in  the  Science  subjects  shall 
be  given  mainly  by  experiment  and  illustration,  and  in  the 
case  of  Physical  Geography  by  observation  of  the  pheno- 
mena presented  in  their  own  neighbourhood.  If  these 
subjects  are  taught  to  children  by  definition  and  verbal 
description,  instead  of  making  them  exercise  their  own 
powers  of  observation,  they  will  be  worthless  as  means  of 
education.  It  cannot,  therefore,  be  too  strongly  impressed 
upon  teachers  that  nothing  like  learning  by  rote  will  be 
accepted  as  sufficient  for  a  grant,  and  that  the  examina- 
tions by  the  Inspectors  will  be  directed  to  elicit  from  the 
scholars,  as  far  as  possible  in  their  own  language,  the  ideas 
they  have  formed  of  what  they  have  seen." 

Huxley,  Lubbock,  and  others  were  outspoken  in  their 
condemnation  of  prevailing  methods  of  science  instruction. 
The  poor  quality  of  the  work  and  the  incompetence  of 
teachers  induced  the  Cross  Commission  to  recommend, 
presumably  as  a  temporary  expedient,  the  unsatisfactory 
system  of  peripatetic  science  instructors.  Teachers  in  the 
bulk  had  not  yet  realised  what  science  really  was,  nor  what 
it  aimed  at. 

Some  further  guidance  was  afforded  by  Mr.  Mundella's 
Code  of  1882,  which  for  the  first  time  sought  to  encourage 
the  teaching  of  elementary  science  throughout  the  whole 
school.  Teachers  were  to  provide  a  progressive  course  of 
simple  lessons  on  common  objects  such  as  familiar  animals, 
plants  and  substances  employed  in  ordinary  life,  "  adapted 
to  cultivate  habits  of  exact  observation,  statement,  and 
reasoning."  In  the  upper  part  of  the  school  a  more 
advanced  knowledge  of  special  groups  of  objects  was 
required.  For  example,  children  were  to  be  led  to  study 
the  animals  or  plants  that  have  special  reference  to  agri- 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  293 

culture,  the  simpler  kinds  of  physical  and  mechanical 
appliances,  the  thermometer,  lever,  etc.,  the  principles  they 
involve,  substances  and  processes  employed  in  arts  and 
manufactures,  and  the  like.  The  great  difficulty,  however, 
in  the  way  of  handling  such  a  course  successfully  was  that 
the  teachers  had  themselves  been  trained  on  bookish  lines, 
and  the  implication  of  terms  like  "  observation  "  was  not 
properly  understood.1 

A  f  urther  step  in  advance  was  made  at  the  International 
Conference  on  Education  at  London  in  1884, 
wnen  Professors  Meiklejohn  and  Armstrong 
independently  urged  in  effect  that  science  to 
be  of  any  educational  value  must  not  be  presented  as  a 
ready-made  system,  but  as  a  subject  that  the  student  saw 
being  gradually  built  up,  and  in  the  building  up  of  which 
he  had  a  hand.  It  is  from  this  date  that  heurism  as  an 
educational  method  has  been  brought  prominently  before 
teachers  by  an  enthusiastic  band  of  disciples,  helped  by 
reports  and  syllabuses  of  British  Association  Committees, 
etc.  Although  it  presents  a  partial  and  one-sided  view  of 
the  problem  of  scientific  training,  it  has  done  inestimable 
service  in  vitalising  the  subject  by  substituting  thought, 
observation  and  invention  for  the  passive  getting  up  of  facts 
taken  on  trust.  The  first  attempt  to  put  the  new  method 
into  practice  was  in  1891  in  some  of  the  schools  under  the 
London  School  Board. 

Since  1890,  owing  to  the  removal  of  certain  restrictions 

in  the  Code,  elementary  science  has  shown 

Nature™ tudy     a  remarkable   growth    in    popularity.     The 

movement   having  fairly  started,  it  rapidly 

took  on  a  new  character.     Knowledge  of  common  things 

and  elementary  science,  no  matter  how  useful  it  might 

1  Elementary  Science  at  this  time  was  a  permissive  and  not  a  compulsory 
subject.     See  infra,  p.  305, 


294  THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

be  or  how  valuable  the  training  it  might  afford,  di<l  not 
altogether  meet  the  need  of  the  time.  The  poets  had  been 
eloquent  in  their  praise  of  nature.  In  the  cities  men  were 
looking  more  and  more  for  some  means  of  escape  from  the 
grimy  monotony  of  bricks  and  mortar.  In  the  country 
much  thought  was  being  given  to  some  method  of  checking 
the  rush  to  the  towns,  and  to  making  rural  life  more 
attractive.  Ruskiu  was  emphatic  as  to  the  duty  of  schools 
to  cultivate  in  children  a  love  of  nature.  The  followers  of 
Froebel  had  always  emphasised  the  educative  influence 
that  may  result  from  contact  with  living  things.  Foreign 
experience,  especially  in  Switzerland  and  Germany,  was 
seen  to  be  strongly  in  favour  of  school  excursions.  These 
and  other  influences  had  a  powerful  effect  on  science 
teaching  in  elementary  schools  in  this  country.  Isolated 
schools  were  giving  more  and  more  attention  to  nature 
work,  to  school  gardening  and  to  school  excursions  to  the 
great  benefit  of  the  work  done.  In  1900  the  Board  of 
Education  sought  to  give  direction  to  these  tendencies  by 
emphasising  the  importance  of  making  the  science  scheme 
fit  local  conditions.  Mechanics  and  chemistry  were 
recommended  as  suitable  for  town  schools  ;  bee-keeping, 
poultry  management,  and  lessons  centred  round  agricultural 
processes  as  useful  in  rural  districts,  and  so  on.  These 
experiments  were  given  a  wide  publicity  by  the  Nature 
Study  Exhibition  of  1902,  and  from  this  date  the  Nature 
movement  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the  whole- 
hearted support  of  local  authorities  and  others. 

The  present  tendency  in  nature  work  and  elementary 

science  is  to  make  the  teaching  more  real, 
Tendencies  more  practical,  and  less  bookish.  As  a 

result  of  experience  rather  than  through  any 
widespread  understanding  of  its  theoretical  justification, 
there  has  been  a  steady  growth  of  opinion  that  nature 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  295 

work  provides  an  essential  foundation  for  elementary 
science,  that  the  latter  should  be  postponed  to  the  last 
years  of  the  school  course,  and  that  even  then  the  tendency 
to  present  anything  in  the  nature  of  a  system  of  science 
should  be  steadily  repulsed  ;  that,  in  short,  it  should  con- 
cern itself  with  practical  situations  and  the  development, 
at  a  later  stage,  of  the  point  of  view  that  the  purpose  of 
science  is  economic  description  and  not  dogmatism.  These 
tendencies  have  found  expression  in  the  demand  for 
experimental  work  by  the  pupils,  in  elaborating  courses 
and  methods  specially  suited  to  children,  in  centring  the 
work  round  the  school  gardens,  local  industries,  every-day 
appliances,  in  connecting  it  with  geography,  and  the  like. 
In  the  case  of  girls,  similar  influences  are  seen  in  the  desire 
for  a  more  scientific  treatment  of  domestic  subjects. 

The  result  has  been  a  growing  demand  for  greater  free- 
dom in  school  organisation  and  for  considerable  changes  in 
the  planning  of  schools,  so  as  to  provide  rooms  and 
benches  where  practical  work  may  be  done. 

The  various  terms,  "object  lessons,"  "observation 
lessons,"  "  elementary  science,"  "  nature  study,"  and 
"  experimental  science,"  are  the  record  of  so  many  attempts 
to  emphasise  important  aspects  of  the  training  in  scientific 
method.  It  is  because  each  represents  only  a  partial  view 
of  the  goal  to  be  reached  that  they  are  such  a  fruitful 
source  of  misunderstanding. 

Another  outcome  of  the  scientific  movement  is  seen  in 
the  spread  of  Hygiene  and  Physical  Training. 

Oue  or  both  of  these  subJects  had  found  a 
Exercises.  place  in  individual  schools  throughout  the 

nineteenth  century — for  example  in  Robert 
Owen's  school  at  New  Lanark,  in  the  schools  of  Stow  and 
Wilderspin,  and  in  the  secularist  schools  in  London, 
Manchester  and  elsewhere.  Open-air  lessons  were  advo- 


296  THE    NKW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

cated  iu  the  thirties.1  Sauitary  reform  was  one  of 
Kinsley's  special  themes.  Martial  exercises  were  warmly 
commended  by  Adam  Smith.  But  it  was  Herbert  Spencer 
who  more  than  anyone  else  was  responsible  for  educating 
public  opinion  to  a  sense  of  the  supreme  importance  of 
hygiene  and  physical  training  in  the  school.  Other  influ- 
ences had,  of  course,  been  at  work.  Physical  education  in 
particular  owes  a  great  deal  to  foreign  influence.  Every 
great  war  since  1870  has  given  a  further  stimulus  to  the 
subject.  Thus  in  1871  military  drill  was  first  recognised 
in  elementary  schools  as  a  result  of  a  conference  with  the 
War  Office,  and  ex-army  sergeants  were  recommended  as 
instructors.2  Physiology  and  domestic  economy  were  also 
encouraged  at  the  same  time.  Swedish  drill  appeared  in 
girls'  schools  about  1879  and  somewhat  later  in  boys' 
schools.  Each  of  these  subjects  came  in  for  special  com- 
mendation by  the  Cross  Commission.  But  neither  military 
drill  nor  Swedish  exercises  nor  physiology  quite  met  the 
needs  of  the  time.  For  some  years  teachers  had  been 
quietly  developing  school  games.  In  1885  the  first  Inter- 
school  Athletic  League  came  into  existence.  A  few  years 
later  organised  physical  exercises  were  introduced  by  the 
London  School  Board,  and  shortly  afterwards  they 
appeared  in  the  Code.3 

Meantime  increasing  attention  was  being  given  to  the 
hygienic  condition  of  buildings  and  furniture,  and  play- 
ground accommodation  was  receiving  attention.  As  a 
result  of  the  consideration  that  was  being  given  to  the 
question  of  physical  unfitness,  no  school  could  earn  the 
maximum  grant  after  1895  that  failed  to  make  provision 
for  some  form  of  physical  exercises.  Since  then  a  rapid 

1  Central  Society  of  Education,  First  Publication,  pp.  38,  39. 

2  Cf.  the  influence  of  the  Boer  War  in  this  respect. 

3  Cf.  Special  Reports  of  the  Board  of  Education,  Vol.  I. 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  297 

advance  has  been  made.  Syllabuses  of  physical  exercises 
were  issued  by  the  Board  of  Education  in  1902,  and  of 
recent  years  hygiene  and  physical  training  have  received 
more  and  more  attention.  The  tendency  in  physical  educa- 
tion has  been  to  attach  increasing  importance  to  freedom 
and  enjoyment  rather  than  to  formal  exercises,  and  to 
provide  opportunities  for  the  growth  of  corporate  spirit 
and  for  training  in  leadership.  Accordingly  we  find  a 
good  deal  of  attention  being  given  to  dancing.  There  has 
been  a  great  revival  of  old-time  games  that  were  in  danger 
of  extinction.  The  Boy  Scout  movement  is  encouraged, 
and  so  on.  Open-air  lessons,  too,  where  these  can  be  con- 
veniently held,  have  increased  in  popularity.  In  this 
movement  much  is  due  to  the  introduction  of  medical 
inspection  in  1907. l 

The  venerable  character  of  industrial  and  agricultural 
training  and  housecraft  in  elementary  schools 
dicraft*  nas  ^ee:i  Pointe(l  out  in  preceding  chapters. 
We  have  seen  the  steps  that  were  taken  to 
encourage  this  branch  of  instruction  by  the  Minutes  of 
1846,  and  how  all  this  disappeared  with  the  Kevised  Code, 
leaving  needlework  as  the  sole  indication  of  the  former 
existence  of  a  specifically  vocational  ideal  in  elementary 
education.  Some  attempt  was  also  made  to  show  how  the 
demand  for  vocational  training  has  arisen  from  time  to 
time  as  a  protest  against  the  bookishness  of  the  schools 
and  their  tendency,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  to  manufacture 
economic  misfits  or  to  give  children  "  pretensions."  This 
feeling  was  again  very  marked  in  Western  Europe  after 
186'*,  largely  as  a  result  of  the  rapid  changes  that  were 
taking  place  in  industry  and  commerce.  The  result  was 
seen  in  a  demand  for  "  technical  "  training  and  for  manual 

1  See  also  ante,  pp.  178-180, 


298  THK    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

work  with  a  view  to  making  school  education  more  useful 
and  more  practical,  and  checking  the  tendency  to  look 
down  on  manual  employment.  Ruskin  gave  the  weight  of 
his  support  to  the  new  movement,  and  would  make  the 
workshop  a  prominent  part  of  every  school  building. 
At  the  same  time  there  was  a  revival  of  interest  in 

educational  theory.  The  teaching  of  Pes- 
pn  u^n.ce  talozzi  and  Fellenberg  had  lost  its  compelling 

power.  The  forms  were  there,  but  the  spirit 
was  lacking.  Herbert  Spencer  had  done  good  service  by 
directing  attention  anew  to  Pestalozzi's  teaching.  Men 
were  realising  that  education  must  be  meaningful  and 
built  on  sense  impression.  But  it  was  from  Froebel  that 
the  new  note  of  inspiration  came.  Education  must  work 
through  bodily  activities.  In  the  kindergarten  activities 
of  all  sorts  were  to  be  found.  The  children  were  doing 
things,  and,  what  seemed  very  attractive,  a  foundation  of 
sense  impression  was  being  laid  through  "  Hand  and  Eye 
Training."  In  the  elementary  schools  children  were  still 
learning  the  three  R's  and  little  besides.  The  "  technical 
training,"  the  "practical"  education  that  men  were 
groping  after  appeared  in  a  new  light.  Instead  of  turning 
the  schools  into  workshops,  what  was  needed  was  to  use 
manual  activities  as  a  new  educational  means. 

It    was    with    somewhat    similar   ideas    in    mind   that 

Cygnaeus  and  Salomon  sought  to  turn  slojd 

to  educational  ends.  Schools  were  not  to 
aim  at  training  young  carpenters,  but  to  exercise  the  bodily 
activities  in  contact  with  materials,  to  give  suppleness  and 
dexterity  to  the  hand  by  means  of  a  graded  series  of 
exercises  "  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,"  to  implant 
ideas  of  form,  to  evoke  ideals  of  carefulness  and  accuracy, 
to  promote  self-reliance,  and  generally  to  make  good  the 
training  that  was  neglected  by  the  ordinary  school  subjects, 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  299 

The  result  was  the  setting  up  of  a  highly  artificial  view 
of  manual  work  and  the  implanting  of  a  boundless  faith 
in  training  the  hand  and  the  eye.  Professedly  following 
Froebel  and  Pestalozzi,  it  overlooked  practical  capacity 
and  worshipped  technique,  and  forgot  that  work  that  did 
not  spring  from  a  felt  need,  that  failed  to  arouse  and 
cherish  the  desire  to  achieve  a  particular  goal,  had  no 
educative  value.  The  popularity  of  the  system  was  due  to 
the  simplicity  of  its  underlying  principles  and  to  the  fact 
thiil  it  offered  a  tangible  means  of  combating  the  unprac- 
tical character  of  the  schools.  Where  it  was  not  accepted 
in  its  entirety  it  became  a  model  for  other  systems,  and  so 
a  standard  of  manual  instruction  has  been  implanted  on 
the  country  which  to-day  seriously  hampers  progress.1 

The  movement  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the 
publication  of  the  First  Eeport  of  the  Eoyal 
Instruction  Commission  on  Technical  Education  in 
1882.  Experiments  with  manual  work 
were  made  in  Manchester  and  Sheffield.  In  1884  the 
Commissioners  urged  the  payment  of  grants  for  "  pro- 
ficiency in  the  use  of  tools  for  working  in  wood  and  iron." 
The  Cross  Commission  considered  such  instruction  ought 
to  have  a  place  in  the  elementary  school  curriculum. 
Voluntary  managers  were  pleading  for  Government  help 
to  erect  workshops.  Grants  were  paid  by  South  Ken- 
sington for  manual  instruction  after  1890,  and  since  that 
time  the  work  has  spread  rapidly. - 

A  quasi-technical  character  was  given,  perhaps  uninten- 
tionally, to  the  work  by  limiting  it  to  boys  over  11  years 
of  age  who  had  passed  Standard  IV.  This  was  further 

1  Enquete  historique  sur  I'enseignement  manuel,  A.  Panthier;  also 
The  Teacher's  Handbook  of  Slojd,  Otto  Salomon. 

-  In  1891  145  schools  were  giving  instruction  in  manual  work,  in  1899 
there  were  1,587,  and  in  1910  4,261  with  187,111  boys. 


300  THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

accentuated  by  the  accidents  of  organisation.  The  subject 
was  generally  in  charge  of  craftsmen,  and  was  carried 
on  at  some  distance  from  the  school,  with  the  result 
that  it  became  almost  completely  divorced  from  the 
rest  of  the  school  instruction.  There  were  other  objec- 
tions to  the  system.  Backward  boys,  who  of  all  others 
might  have  been  expected  to  profit  by  work  of  this 
character,  were  excluded  because  of  their  position  in  the 
school,  and  no  handwork  of  any  kind  existed  in  the 
lower  classes. 

In  recent  years  various  causes  have  contributed  to 
remedy  these  defects.  Among  them  may 
Movement™1  ^  mentioned  the  initiative  of  individual 
teachers  who  have  availed  themselves  of  the 
freedom  that  has  resulted  since  the  abolition  of  payment 
by  results  in  1897,  coupled  with  the  demand  for  a  practical 
education  and  a  growing  belief  in  the  educative  value  of 
"  doing."  In  this  connection  the  writings  of  William  James 
and  Professor  Dewey  have  directly  and  indirectly  had 
considerable  influence.  The  early  experiments  were 
dominated  too  largely  by  a  belief  in  the  value  of  hand  and 
eye  training.  Work  in  clay  and  plasticene,  paper  and 
cardboard  modelling,  much  of  it  of  a  very  formal  and 
uneducative  character,  was  introduced  into  the  lower 
classes. 

But  teachers  have  gradually  withdrawn  from  this 
extreme  position,  and  the  present  tendency,  while  not 
despising  workmanship  and  technique,  is  to  utilise  hand- 
work more  and  more  as  a  method,  as  a  new  educational 
organon,  to  encourage  handiness  and  resourcefulness  when 
face  to  face  with  situations  of  a  kind  such  as  are  met  with 
outside  the  school.  It  is  much  more  than  a  means  of 
illustrating,  oftentimes  quite  unnecessarily,  the  various 
subjects  of  the  curriculum,  though  this  is  important.  It 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  301 

has  received  additional  attention  because  of  the  oppor- 
tunities it  affords  of  training  children  to  co-operation, 
but  the  possibilities  of  the  subject  are  hardly  as  yet 
realised. 

Similar  changes  had  begun  to  make  their  appearance  in 
the  work  of  the  older  boys,  but  it  is  not  yet  clear  what 
direction  the  movement  will  ultimately  take.  Signs  are 
not  wanting  that  we  are  moving  to  a  position  that  is 
strikingly  reminiscent  of  that  taken  up  by  Fellenberg. 
Advanced  opinion  already  favours,  at  any  rate  for  boys 
destined  for  industrial  occupations,  a  much  more  generous 
and  varied  system  of  work  than  is  met  with  outside  a  few 
special  schools.  It  emphasises  making  things  as  they  are 
rather  than  the  models  of  things,  and  would  entrust  the 
work  to  trained  teachers  who  are  craftsmen  as  well  as 
students.1 

It  was  pointed  out  in  the  last  chapter  that  the  effect  of 

the  Revised  Code  was  to  limit  instruction  in 
ui    ing  up     e  eiementary   schools    receiving    Government 

grants  to  the  three  E's  and  needlework  (for 
girls).  To  counteract  this  tendency  the  Committee  of 
Council  in  1867  offered  grants  on  the  result  of  individual 
examination  to  schools  that  introduced  a  three  years'  course 
of  instruction  extending  over  Standards  IV.,  V.,  and  VI.  in 
one  or  two  "  specific "  subjects,  for  example,  geography, 
grammar,  or  history,  in  addition  to  the  compulsory  sub- 
jects fixed  by  the  Code  of  1862.  It  is  on  these  lines  that 
the  elementary  school  curriculum  has  been  built  up. 
Broadly  speaking,  the  factors  that  have  determined  it  at 
any  period  have  been  (1)  the  minimum  needs  of  the 
community,  and  (2)  the  subjects  necessary  to  discipline 

1  Compare  the  attitude  of  educational  writers  in  the  thirties  in  The 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Education,  the  publications  of  the  Central  Society, 
etc. 


302  THU  NEW  SPIRIT  IN  EDUCATION. 

the  mind  or  give  it  a  little  culture.1  The  point  of  view  is 
entirely  adult,  and  of  the  needs  of  children  as  children 
there  is  no  consideration  whatever.  It  is  here  that  we 
have  the  root  of  the  difficulties  that  confront  teachers  as 
the  number  of  subjects  increases.  This  will  be  dealt 
with  later. 

In  1871  the  standards  of  examination  for  the  compulsory 
subjects  were  raised  and  the  list  of  "  specific  "  subjects 
was  greatly  extended  to  include  algebra,  geometry, 
natural  philosophy,  physical  geography,  the  natural 
sciences,  political  economy,  languages  (i.e.  English  litera- 
ture or  the  elements  of  Latin,  French,  or  Grerman),  together 
with  any  other  definite  subject  of  instruction  approved  by 
the  Inspector.  About  the  same  time  drill  and  singing 
were  encouraged. 

A  further  step  was  taken  in  1875  by  the  introduction 
of  "class  subjects" — grammar,  geography, 

Attempts  to       history,  and  plain  needlework — designed  to 

Liberalise  the     ...        *. '       ,  .     ,  „    , 

Curriculum.       liberalise  the  curriculum  ot  the  lower  part 

of  the  school.  Not  more  than  two  subjects 
could  be  taken,  and  if  taught  at  all,  had  to  be  taught  through- 
out the  whole  school  above  Standard  I.  The  teaching  was 
assessed  by  the  general  proficiency  of  the  class  as  a  whole, 
not  by  individual  examination.  The  curriculum  was  thus 
divided  into  three  main  parts  : — 

(1)  The   elementary   or   obligatory    subjects,    reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  with  needlework  for  girls. 

(2)  The  class  subjects,  optional  for  the  whole  school. 

(3)  The   specific   subjects   which   might   be  taught  to 
individual  scholars  in  Standards  IV.  to  VI.     These  now 
included  mathematics  (algebra,  Euclid,  and  mensuration), 

1  At  the  same  time  it  is  necessary  to  point  out  the  complete  absence  of  any 
definite  principle  that  has  characterised  the  constant  changes  by  the  Educa- 
tion Department  of  subjects  and  their  categories.  See  infra. 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 


303 


Latin,  French,  German,  mechanics,  animal  physiology, 
physical  geography,  botany,  and  domestic  economy  (for 
girls).1  English  literature  reappeared  as  a  specific  sub- 
ject in  the  following  year.  In  addition  a  special  grant 
was  made  to  encourage  singing,  and  instruction  in  cookery 
was  permitted,  though  no  grant  was  paid  for  it. 

Some  idea  of  the  character  of  the  instruction  in  class 
subjects  may  be  gained  from  the  syllabus 
laid  down  in  the  Code  at  this  time : — 


Specimen 
Schemes. 


ENGLISH. 

Standard  II. ;  To  point  out  nouns  in  the  passages  read 
or  written. 

Standard  III. :  To  point  out  the  nouns,  verbs,  and 
adjectives. 

Standard  IV. :    Parsing  of  a  simple  sentence. 

Standard  V. :  Parsing,  with  analysis  of  a  simple  sen- 
tence. 

Standard  VI. :  Parsing  and  analysis  of  a  complex  sen- 
tence. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

Standard  II. :  Definitions,  points  of  compass,  form  and 
motion  of  the  earth,  the  meaning  of 
a  map. 

Standard  III. :  Outlines  of  geography  of  England,  with 
special  knowledge  of  the  county  in 
which  the  school  is  situated. 

Standard  IV. :  Outlines  of  geography  of  Great  Britain; 
Ireland,  and  the  Colonies. 

Standard  V. :  Outlines  of  geography  of  Europe — physi- 
cal and  political. 

Standard  VI. :  Outlines  of  geography  of  the  World. 

1  After  1876  girls  taking  specific  subjects  were  required  to  offer  domestic 
economy  as  one. 


304  THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    KbttCATION. 

HISTORY  (not  taken  below  Standard  IV.). 

Standard  IV. :  Outlines  of  history  of  England  to  Nor- 
man Conquest. 

Standard  V. :  Outlines  of  history  of  England  from 
Norman  Conquest  to  accession  of 
Henry  VII. 

Standard  VI. :  Outlines  of  history  of  England  from 
Henry  VII.  to  death  of  George  III. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  with  this  the  syllabus  of 
English  literature  taken  as  a  specific  subject: — 

1st  Year :  One  hundred  lines  of  poetry,  got  by  heart, 
with  knowledge  of  meaning  and  allusions. 
Writing  a  letter  on  a  simple  subject. 

2nd  Year:  Two  hundred  lines  of  poetry,  not  before 
brought  up,  repeated ;  with  knowledge  of 
meaning  and  allusions.  Writing  a  para- 
phrase of  a  passage  of  easy  prose. 

3rd  Year:  Three  hundred  lines  of  poetry,  not  before 
brought  up,  repeated;  with  knowledge  of 
meaning  and  allusions.  Writing  a  letter 
or  statement,  the  heads  of  the  topics  to  be 
given  by  the  Inspector. 

In  1880  the  list  of  class  subjects  was  extended,  as  a 
result  of  representation  to  the  Education  Department,  to 
include  any  others  "  which  can  be  reasonably  accepted  as 
special  branches  of  elementary  instruction  and   properly 
treated  in  reading-books."    Natural  history,  chemistry,  and 
agriculture  now  appeared  in  a  few  schools  as  class  subjects. 
The  Code  of  1882  introduced  other  important  changes. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  children  were  stay- 
Standard  jng  ionger  a£  scnooi  and  the  level  of  attain- 
ment was  rising,  a  Seventh  Standard  was 
introduced   for   examination   purposes,    the    syllabus    of 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  305 

which  was  "  To  read  a  passage  from  Shakespeare  or 
Milton,  or  some  other  standard  author,  or  from  a  History 
of  England.  To  write  a  theme  or  letter ;  composition, 
spelling,  and  handwriting  to  be  considered.  In  arithmetic 
to  work  sums  in  averages,  percentages,  discount,  and 
stocks." 

Steps  were  also  taken  to  encourage  more  attention  to 
English  and  elementary  science,  and  to  the  practical 
training  of  girls.  The  class  subjects  were  re-arranged 
to  include  English  (literature  and  grammar),  physical 
geography,  and  a  new  subject  called  elementary  science. 
Wherever  class  subjects  were  taken  English  had  to  be 
one.  The  list  of  specific  subjects  was  further  extended  to 
include  agriculture,  chemistry,  sound,  light  and  heat, 
magnetism,  and  electricity.  A  grant  was  also  paid  for 
instruction  in  cookery.1 

Further  developments  were  considerably  influenced  by 
the  Report  of  the  Cross  Commission.  Briefly,  the  Com- 
missioners reported  in  favour  of  a  much  more  liberal 
curriculum  than  existed  in  many  schools.  All  children 
ought  as  far  as  possible  to  be  grounded  in  all  four  of  the 
"  class "  subjects,  and  where  this  was  impossible  the 
choice  should  be  left  to  the  school  authorities.  They 
pointed  out  the  mistake  of  confining  history  teaching  to 
the  upper  part  of  the  school;  and  emphasised  the  im- 
portance of  simple  instruction  in  elementary  physiology 
for  girls.  Drawing  they  considered  should  be  taught  to 
all  boys,  and  special  recommendations  were  made  with 
regard  to  instruction  in  manual  work  for  boys  over  11 
years  of  age,  and  in  physical  training.  Special  syllabuses 
were  advocated  for  small  schools  and  for  schools  in  rural 

1  Of  the  class  subjects  geography  was  by  far  the  most  popular.  In  1890 
English  was  taught  in  20,304  departments,  geography  in  12,367,  history  in 
414,  elementary  science  in  32, 

P.  ED.  30 


306  THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

districts,  and  special  facilities  for  teaching  the  Welsh 
language  in  Wales.1 

The  following  represents  in  their  view  the  essential  sub- 
jects of  the  elementary  school  curriculum  : 
Curriculum1  Reading,  writing,  arithmetic ;  needlework 
for  girls ;  linear  drawing  for  boys  ;  singing ; 
English,  so  as  to  give  the  children  an  adequate  knowledge 
of  their  mother  tongue ;  English  history,  taught  by  means 
of  reading-books ;  geography,  especially  of  the  British 
Empire  ;  lessons  on  common  objects  in  the  lower  stan- 
dards, leading  up  to  a  knowledge  of  elementary  science  in 
the  higher  standards.2 

In  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  these  recommendations 

1  As  a  result  of  this  Welsh  was  admitted  as  a  "  specific  subject "  in  Welsh 
schools.     It  became  a  "  class  subject "  in  1893. 

2  Final  Report,  p.  146.    It  is  important,  however,  to  note  that  very  few 
schools  had  such  a  curriculum  before  1900.     It  was  only  the  exceptional 
school  that  took  subjects  unless  grants  were  paid  for  them.     Any  further 
encouragement  of  this  attitude  was  done  away  with  by  the  introduction  of 
the  "block  grant"  (1900).     In  place  of  the  elaborate  system  of  grants  pay- 
able for  different  parts  of  the  curriculum  (viz.  a  principal  grant  of  12s.  6d.  or 
14s.  ;  discipline  and  organisation  grant,  Is.  or  Is.  6d. ;  drawing  grant,  Is.  9d. ; 
needlework  grant,  Is. ;    singing  grant,   6d.  or  Is. ;  grant  for  one   or  two 
"  class"  subjects,  Is.  or  2s. ;  grant  for  "specific"  subjects,  6d.  or  Is.)  a 
principal  grant  of  21s.  or  22s.  was  instituted.     Previous  to  this  the  follow- 
ing examples  are  typical  of  the  curriculum  and  grants  in  a  good  and  a  poor 
school : — 

Good  Mixed  School.  Poor  Girls'  School. 

Main  grant,  14s.  12s.  6d. 

Discipline,  Is.  6d.  Is. 

Boys  :  Stds.  I. -III.,  Object  Lessons  I  , 

Stds.  I -III.,  Object  Lessons  >„,  ,,    IV.-VI.,  English  i   ls' 

„     IV. -VII.,  Geography   i  Needlework.   2s. 

English,  2s.  Singing,  Is. 

Girls  : 

Stds.  I..III.  Object  Lessons  >  „ 
„    IV.-VII.  English          i  * 
Needlework,  2s. 

Singing,  Is. 
See  for  example  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Council,  1897-8,  p.  116, 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  307 

the  next  few  years  saw  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  time 
given  to  science,  mathematics,  domestic  subjects  for  girls 
and  manual  instruction  for  boys.  At  the  same  time 
commercial  subjects  received  attention,  while  there  was  a 
decline  in  the  importance  of  the  literary  side  of  the  curri- 
culum. History  was  no  longer  confined  to  the  upper  part 
of  the  school  and  alternative  courses  were  laid  down  in  the 
various  class  subjects.  Drawing  was  made  compulsory 
for  boys ;  manual  instruction  was  recognised  but  not 
awarded  any  special  grant.  Physical  exercises,  including 
swimming,  gymnastics,  and  Swedish  drill  as  distinct  from 
militarv  drill,  appeared.  Shorthand,  navigation,  horti- 
culture, and  hygiene  were  made  specific  subjects.  After 
1893  one  class  subject  became  obligatory  in  all  schools. 
Grants  were  made  for  laundry  work,  dairy  work,  and 
housewifery,  and  domestic  economy  was  made  a  class 
subject  for  girls. 

With  the  abandonment  of  the  system  of  individual 
examination  and  payment  by  results,  which  began  in 
1895,  a  considerable  extension  of  the  curriculum  took  place, 
and  we  have  gradually  approximated  to  the  position  as  we 
find  it  to-day. 

Indicative  of  the  new  spirit  is  the  Board's  Circular  to 
Inspectors  in  1893  on  the  "Instruction  of  Infants." 
Hitherto  "  varied  occupations  "  had  been  recommended, 
"such  as  will  relieve  the  younger  children,  especially  during 
the  afternoon,  from  the  strain  of  ordinary  lessons,  and 
train  them  to  observe  and  imitate."  Now  something  of 
true  Froebelian  spirit  was  to  be  seen.  It  was  strongly 
urged  that  sufficient  attention  had  not  been  paid  in  the 
past  to  the  following  principles  :  "  (1)  The  recognition  of 
the  child's  spontaneous  activity,  and  the  stimulation  of 
this  activity  in  certain  well-defined  directions  by  the 
teachers.  (2)  The  harmonious  a,nd  complete  development 


308  THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

of  the  whole  of  the  child's  faculties.  The  teacher  should 
pay  especial  regard  to  the  love  of  movement,  which  can 
alone  secure  healthy  physical  conditions  ;  to  the  observant 
use  of  the  organs  of  sense,  especially  those  of  sight  and 
touch ;  and  to  that  eager  desire  of  questioning  which 
intelligent  children  exhibit.  ...  It  is  often  found  that  the 
kindergarten  occupations  are  .treated  as  mere  tovs,  or 
amusing  pastimes,  because  they  are  attractive  for  children, 
and  the  intellectual  character  of  the  '  Gifts  of  Froebel '  is 
disregarded,  whereas  the  main  object  of  these  lessons  is  to 
stimulate  intelligent  individual  effort."  At  the  same  time 
emphasis  was  laid  on  training  children  to  express  their 
ideas. 

In  the  Code  of  1902  the  Board  of  Education  set  out  for 
the  first  time  what  it  considered  to  be  a  properly  co-ordi- 
nated curriculum  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  children, 
together  with  "  an  indication  of  the  relation  the  various 
subjects  of  instruction  should  bear  to  each  other  in  place 
of  the  relatively  haphazard  list  of  possible  branches  of 
knowledge  which  were  formerly  presented  to  the  choice  of 
individual  schools  or  authorities."  The  principal  aim  of 
the  infant  school  was  stated  to  be  to  provide  opportunities 
for  the  free  development,  physical  and  mental,  and  for  the 
formation  of  habits  of  obedience  and  attention.  Stress 
was  laid  on  free  play,  games,  singing,  and  breathing  exer- 
cises, providing  children  with  opportunities  of  doing  things, 
on  the  importance  of  story  work,  etc.  The  curriculum  of 
the  primary  school,  allowing  for  local  variations,  had  to 
provide  a  training  in  the  English  language  (including 
speaking,  reading,  composition,  literature)  ;  handwriting 
taught  to  secure  speed  as  well  as  legibility  ;  arithmetic, 
including  practical  measurements ;  drawing,  including  draw- 
ing from  objects,  memory  and  brush  drawing,  the  use  of 
ruler  and  compasses,  with  special  provision  for  handi- 


NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  309 

crafts ;  observation  lessons  and  nature  study,  including 
the  teaching  of  gardening  to  both  boys  and  girls ;  geo- 
graphy, history,  music,  hygiene  and  physical  training 
(together  with  cookery,  laundry  work,  housewifery),  and 
moral  instruction  given  both  directly  and  indirectly,  besides 
providing  for  the  teaching  of  special  subjects  suited  to  the 
particular  locality. 

As  the  curriculum  has  steadily  widened,  teachers  have 
been  faced  with  an  overloaded    time-table. 
The  Child          The  artificiality  of  a  long  list  of  disconnected 
Curriculum.       subjects,  the   result  of  dividing  instruction 
into  a  great  number  of  watertight  compart- 
ments, has  been  more  and  more  apparent.     The  economy 
of  time  and  effect  that  would  result  from  a  proper  group- 
ing has  led  to  many  attempts  to  evolve  schemes  based  on 
the  principles  of  correlation  and  concentration.1 

These  principles  have  a  theoretical  justification  in  the 
teaching  of  Herbart  and  his  disciples.  Ac- 
cording to  Herbart  the  end  of  education  is 
the  production  of  character.  Character,  however,  depends 
upon  willing,  willing  upon  desire,  desire  upon  interests, 
interests  upon  ideas,  upon  "  the  circle  of  thought."  Ideas 
are  the  result  of  instruction ;  it  is  by  instruction  that  the 
mind  is  built  up.  Hence  the  business  of  the  teacher  is  to 
establish  in  the  pupils  a  wide,  coherent  circle  of  thought, 
for  on  the  content  and  unity  of  the  latter  the  whole  moral 
life  depends.  In  Herbart's  own  words,  "  the  circle  of 
thought  contains  the  store  of  that  which  by  degrees  can 
mount  by  the  steps  of  interest  to  desire  and  then  by  means 
of  action  to  volition."  "  If  the  circle  of  thought  has  been 
so  perfectly  cultivated  that  a  pure  taste  entirely  rules 
action  in  the  imagination,  then  anxiety  for  the  formation 

1  The  ideas  are  in  themselves  very  old.     Cf.  their  working  in  the  moni- 
torial schools. 


310  THE  NEW  SPIRIT  IN  EDUCATION. 

of  character  in  the  midst  of  life  is  almost  at  au  end,  for 
the  individual  left  to  himself  will  so  choose  opportunities 
for  external  action,  or  so  use  those  that  force  themselves 
upon  him,  that  the  right  will  only  become  strengthened 
within  his  heart."  "  Those  only  wield  the  full  power  of 
education  who  know  how  to  cultivate  in  the  youthful  soul 
a  large  circle  of  thought  closely  connected  in  all  its  parts."  ' 
The  material  of  instruction  was  the  whole  field  of  human 

knowledge  and  activity.  The  aim  of  the 
Concentration  educator  was  to  see  that  his  pupil  acquired 
Correlation.  au  all-round,  well-balanced  culture,  the 

materials  of  which  should  be  closely  inter- 
woven. To  accomplish  this,  instruction  would  follow  two 
main  lines,  one  aiming  at  cultivating  the  understanding, 
the  other  having  regard  to  the  feelings  and  the  imagina- 
tion. For  the  first  the  subject-matter  of  mathematics  and 
science  was  available;  for  the  second, history  and  humanistic 
material.  The  school  curriculum,  therefore,  would  exhibit 
two  great  concentration  centres,  two  great  cores  of  instruc- 
tion, round  which  the  various  auxiliary  studies  would  be 
grouped  or  correlated.  In  this  way  the  unity  of  the  circle 
of  thought  would  be  insured.  The  curriculum  would,  for 
example,  be  dependent  on  a  strong  core  of  humanistic 
material  of  high  ethical  value  that  traced  the  history  of 
mankind  from  the  earliest  times.  With  it  would  be  cor- 
related the  literature,  moral  lessons,  the  bulk  of  the  draw- 
ing, geography,  etc.  Other  schemes  have  made  geography 
the  concentration  centre,  and  so  on.  The  objection  to 
plans  of  this  sort  is  their  obvious  artificiality  and  the  way 
in  which  they  lend  themselves  to  all  kinds  of  absurdity. 
Thus  a  lesson  on  the  miraculous  draught  of  fishes  is 
followed  by  a  nature  lesson  on  the  stickleback. 

1  Science  of  Education,  Felkin's  translation,  pp.  92,  213,  220. 


THE    NEW   SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  311 

But  a   Wore   fundamental  objection  is  raised  to  such 
theories.     They  give  an  over-emphasis  to  in- 
^h®  Child  struction,  to  imposing  education  from  with- 

Curriculum.  out,  whereas  modern,  theory  under  the  in- 
fluence of  biological  thought  inclines  to  lay 
stress  on  the  spontaneity  of  the  individual  and  on  self- 
education.  The  one  appraises  things  by  adult  standards, 
the  other  sees  a  new  meaning  in  childish  impulses  and 
activities.  Human  knowledge  in  all  its  majesty,  carefully 
systematised  and  pigeon-holed,  is  arrayed  against  the  im- 
mature attainment  of  the  child.  It  is  a  heritage  to  be 
entered  upon  as  soon  as  possible,  and  in  order  to  effect 
this  the  various  sciences  are  to  be  arranged  in  steps  and 
made  "  interesting."  That  this  logical,  impersonal,  highly 
systematised  view  of  experience  has  no  place  in  the  narrow, 
personal  and  practical  world  of  the  child  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  fully  appreciated.  There  is  an  antagonism 
between  the  two  that  no  amount  of  correlating  will  remove. 
The  school  material  is  too  formal  in  conception.  Instead 
of  seeking  to  arouse  a  feeling  of  demand,  attention  tends  to 
be  turned  to  the  modification  of  the  subject-matter.  So 
many  facts  have  to  be  learnt,  and  the  teacher  has  to  resort 
to  various  devices  to  interest  the  children  and  sugar  the  pill. 
A  new  way  of  approaching  the  problem  of  school  instruc- 
tion is  in  fact  needed.  To  have  helped  to  impress  this  on 
the  thought  of  the  present  generation  has  been  the  work 
of  Professor  Dewey.1 

He  teaches  that  the  problems  that  centre  round  the  cur- 
Teachincr  of  riculum  will  never  be  solved  by  concentrat- 
Professor  ing  attention  either  on  the  subject-matter  as 

Dewey.  something  to  be  learned,  or  on  the  activities 

of  the  child  as  ends  in  themselves.     We  must  take  full 

1  The  School  and  the  Child,  John  Dewey.  Edited  by  J.  J.  Findley, 
Essay  I. 


32  THK     NKW     Sl'IKIT     IN     K  I  >  I  '•  '.VI  lotf. 

advaut.age  of  childish  impulses  and  activities,  but  they 
must  be  interpreted  and  given  direction,  remembering 
that  they  have  meaning  only  in  the  light  of  their 
promise  of  higher  things.  Similarly  we  must  not  attempt 
to  impose  our  own  experience  or  our  own  highly  specialised 
view  of  the  world  on  children  ;  rather  we  must  recognise 
that  we  have  ourselves  attained  to  our  present  condition 
as  the  result  of  long  development.  Accordingly  the  sub- 
jects of  the  curriculum  must  be  taken  as  representing  the 
goal  towards  which  children  will  be  directed  as  the  narrow 
world  of  childish  experience  progressively  widens.  To 
children  knowing  and  doing  are  not  separated.  Their 
school  is  the  world  as  they  know  it.  Consequently  the 
problem  of  the  school  is  how  to  make  the  work  in  it  mean- 
ingful by  bringing  it  into  closer  relationship  with  the  home 
and  the  life  of  the  neighbourhood,  how  to  make  it  a  place 
dominated  by  purposeful  activities,  rather  than  where 
certain  lessons  have  to  be  learnt.  How  can  history,  science 
and  art  be  given  a  positive  value  and  real  significance  in 
the  child's  own  life  as  something  worthy  of  attainment  ? 
How  can  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic  be  carried 
on  in  such  a  way  that  children  shall  feel  their  necessity 
through  their  connection  with  things  that  mean  something 
to  them  ? 

Dewey  himself  sought  for  a  solution  by  gradually  work- 
ing up  to  the  definite  subjects  of  the  curriculum,  by  centring 
the  ea,rly  instruction  round  the  life  of  the  home  and  the 
neighbourhood,  round  various  social  and  industrial  occu- 
pations, by  reviewing  the  problem  of  primitive  man  in 
connection  with  the  experience  of  camping  out  and  the 
like.  Much  opportunity  was  given  in  this  way  for  manual 
occupations  of  very  varied  character  and  the  subject-matter 
of  instruction  was  no  longer  confined  to  water-tight  com- 
partments. 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  313 

It  is  in  emphasising  the  every-day  experiences  of  the 
children  as  the  starting-point  of  instruction 
Tendencies.  and  grouPiug  subjects  under  larger  headings 
that  reform  is  proceeding.  Geometry  is  no 
longer  something  apart  from  arithmetic,  nor  is  geography 
treated  as  something  divorced  from  nature  work,  mathe- 
matics and  history.  But  the  difficulty  of  advance  is  two- 
fold. There  is  the  weight  of  tradition  to  overcome,  and 
when  this  has  been  surmounted  it  is  necessary  to  convince 
teachers  that  the  advance  towards  the  reasoned  and  logical 
treatment  of  experience  has  not  therefore  been  abandoned, 
but  only  postponed.  Unless  this  is  understood  the  reform 
movement  is  in  danger  of  leading  to  results  at  least  as 
pernicious  as  the  older  system,  by  altogether  under-estimat- 
ing the  capabilities  of  children  and  leaving  them  inde- 
finitely at  the  Kindergarten  stage. 


THE  GRADUAL  ABANDONMENT  OF  "  RESULTS." 

It  has  been  seen  how  the  first  effect  of  the  system  of 
assessing  grants  by  individual  examination  was  to  mini- 
mise the  educational  value  of  school  instruction  and  to  set 
a  premium  on  results  "  got  anyhow."  Such  a  state  of 
things  could  not  last  indefinitely.  From  1875  a  new  note 
is  evident  in  the  attitude  of  the  Education  Department. 
In  that  year  a  small  part  of  the  grant  was  made  to  depend 
upon  discipline  and  organisation,  and  in  the  following  year 
the  moral  aspects  of  this  part  of  the  school  work  were 
specially  emphasised.  "  The  managers  and  teachers  will 
be  expected  to  satisfy  the  Inspector  that  all  reasonable 
care  is  taken,  in  the  ordinary  management  of  the  school, 
to  bring  up  the  children  in  habits  of  punctuality,  of  good 
manners  and  language,  of  cleanliness  and  neatness,  and 
also  to  impress  upon  the  children  the  importance  of 


314  THE    NEW    SPIfclT    IN    EDUCATION. 

cheerful  obedience  to  duty,  of  consideration  and  respect 
for  others,  and  of  honour  and  truthfulness  in  word  and 
act."  l  This  summary  in  one  form  or  another  remained 
for  many  years  a  guide  in  determining  grants. 

Two  years  later  we  find  it  asserted  in  the  Instructions  to 
Inspectors  that  the  intention  of  "  my  lords  "  had  always 
been  to  promote  the  development  of  general  intelligence 
rather  than  to  seek  to  burden  the  children's  memories,  and 
"  to  encourage  such  training  in  school  on  matters  affecting 
their  daily  life  as  may  help  to  improve  and  raise  the 
character  of  their  homes." 

The  intention  of  the  "  Merit  Grant  "  of  1882  to  encourage 
a  higher  standard  of  school  organisation  and 
discipline,  more  intelligent  teaching  and 


1882 

greater  thoroughness  in  the  work  done  has 

already  been  referred  to.  Schools  were  to  be  classed  as 
"  fair,"  "  good,"  or  "  excellent  "  for  the  purpose  of 
participating  in  this  grant.  The  description  of  an 
"  excellent  "  school  —  one  of  distinguished  merit  —  is  worth 
quoting  as  embodying  in  practical  form  the  ideals  of  the 
time. 

"  A  thoroughly  good  school  in  favourable  conditions  is  character- 
ised by  cheerful  and  yet  exact  discipline,  maintained  without 
harshness  and  without  noisy  demonstration  of  authority.  Its 
premises  are  cleanly  and  well  ordered  ;  its  time  table  provides  a 
proper  variety  of  mental  employment  and  of  physical  exercise  ;  its 
organisation  is  such  as  to  distribute  the  teaching  power  judiciously, 
and  to  secure  for  every  scholar  —  whether  he  is  likely  to  bring  credit 
to  the  school  by  examination  or  not,  a  fair  share  of  instruction  and 
of  attention.  The  teaching  is  animated  and  interesting,  and  yet 
thorough  and  accurate.  The  reading  is  fluent,  careful,  and  expres- 
sive, and  the  children  are  helped  by  questioning  and  explanation  to 
follow  the  meaning  of  what  they  read.  Arithmetic  is  so  taught  as 

1  For  important  changes  made  in  the  curriculum  at  this  time  see  ante, 
p.  302. 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  3l5 

t  o  enable  the  scholars  not  onljr  to  obtain  correct  answers  to  sums, 
but  also  to  understand  the  reason  of  the  processes  employed.  If 
higher  subjects  are  attempted,  the  lessons  are  not  confined  to 
memory  work  and  to  the  learning  of  technical  terms,  but  are  de- 
signed to  give  a  clear  knowledge  of  facts  and  to  train  the  learner 
in  the  practice  of  thinking  and  observing.  Besides  fulfilling  these 
conditions,  which  are  all  expressed  or  implied  in  the  Code,  such  a 
school  seeks  by  other  means  to  be  of  service  to  the  children  who 
attend  it.  It  provides  for  the  upper  classes  a  regular  system  of 
home  exercises,  and  arrangements  for  correcting  them  expeditiously 
and  thoroughly.  Where  circumstances  permit,  it  has  also  its  lend- 
ing library,  its  savings'  bank,  and  an  orderly  collection  of  simple 
objects  and  apparatus  adapted  to  illustrate  the  school  lessons,  and 
formed  in  part  by  the  co-operation  of  the  scholars  themselves. 
Above  all,  its  teaching  and  discipline  are  such  as  to  exert  a  right 
influence  on  the  manners,  the  conduct,  and  the  character  of  the 
children,  to  awaken  in  them  a  love  of  reading  and  such  an  interest 
in  their  own  mental  improvement  as  may  reasonably  be  expected  to 
last  beyond  the  period  of  school  life."  : 

A  fair  picture  of  the  actual   work  being  done  in  the 
schools  is  given  in  the  Report  of  the  Cross 
Primary  Commission,    which    specially    calls    atten- 

Education  in  ^on  ^°  ^e  ^act  "  that  witnesses  of  all 
1886.  classes  testify  to  the  imperfect  hold  of 

knowledge  gained  in  elementary  schools." 
With  regard  to  instruction  in  the  three  R's,  it  recorded  the 
conviction  of  the  Commissioners  that  the  practice  of  pro- 
viding only  three  reading-books  for  each  standard  for  the 
year  was  a  mistake.  More  reading  material  was  desirable, 
and  a  stop  ought  to  be  put  to  the  practice  of  converting 
the  reading  lesson  into  a  spelling  lesson  and  the  reading- 
book  into  a  spelling-book.  Far  too  much  importance  was 
attached  to  spelling  as  a  separate  subject.  Again,  reading 
had  to  do  with  the  sense  of  the  printed  page,  not  with  the 

1  Instructions  to  Inspectors. — Report  of  the   Committee   of  Council, 
1882-3,  p.  158. 


316  TH«  NEW  SPIRIT  iN  EDUCATION. 

individual  words  and  letters.  "  A  child  who  has  thoroughly 
acquired  the  art  of  reading  with  ease  has  within  its  reach 
the  key  of  all  knowledge,  and  it  will  rest  with  itself  alone 
to  determine  the  limit  of  its  progress.  Good  reading  is, 
however,  at  the  present  time  often  sacrificed  to  instruction 
in  spelling." 

Very  little  was  said  about  the  teaching  of  writing.  With 
regard  to  arithmetic  there  was  great  need  for  a  more 
practical  type  of  work,  such  as  would  deal  with  the  situa- 
tions that  are  met  with  in  every-day  life  and  in  local 
industries.  There  was  too  much  juggling  with  figures, 
too  much  teaching  of  rules,  and  too  little  attention  to 
establishing  principles  and  training  the  children  to  think 
mathematically. 

The  teaching  of  the  four  class  subjects,  English, 
geography,  history,  and  elementary  science,  came  in  for 
a  good  deal  of  criticism.  English  was  too  much  a  matter 
of  formal  grammar,  of  learning  prefixes  and  of  word- 
building,  altogether  beyond  the  capabilities  of  children. 
Much  more  attention  needed  to  be  given  to  English 
literature,  and  especially  to  getting  the  children  to  learn 
by  heart  suitable  passages  of  poetry.  It  had  been  sug- 
gested that  the  intelligent  reading  of  standard  authors 
might  be  allowed  to  take  the  place  of  grammar,  but  this 
was  not  recommended;  rather  the  Commissioners  favoured 
the  retention  of  parsing  and  analysis. 

In  geography  the  need  of  alternative  syllabuses  suited 
to  different  teachers  was  emphasised.  Too  much  of  the 
geography  teaching  was  nothing  more  than  lists  of  names, 
brute  facts  and  definitions  without  any  content.  The 
aridity  of  much  of  the  work  would  be  removed  if  teachers 
confined  themselves  to  fewer  countries  and  to  the  striking 
distinctions  between  the  different  areas  of  the  earth,  and 
dealt  with  them  in  a  more  descriptive  manner.  At  the 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  317 

same  time  the  intimate  connection  of  geography  and  ele- 
mentary science  was  pointed  out.  In  Standard  VII.  some 
specialisation  was  highly  desirable,  for  example  a  study  of 
the  causes  that  contribute  to  the  distribution  of  animal 
and  plant  life,  the  influence  of  the  physical  features  of  a 
few  countries  on  the  density  of  population,  habits,  pursuits, 
character  and  history  of  the  people. 

In  history  teaching  the  importance  of  studying  special 
epochs,  typical  personages,  the  growth  of  national  institu- 
tions was  emphasised. 

Finally  the  Commissioners  recorded  their  conviction 
that  great  elasticity  was  needed  in  grading  children,  and 
that  progress  would  be  furthered  by  giving  less  attention 
to  results  and  more  to  the  conditions  that  made  the  attain- 
ment of  any  lasting  results  possible.  It  is  on  these  lines 
that  advance  has  been  made. 

In  1902  the  Board  of  Education  ventured  for  the  first 
time  to  state  for  the  guidance  of  teachers 
The  Aim  of  and  parents  the  proper  aim  of  the  public 
elementary  school. 


"  The  purpose  of  the  public  elementary  school 
is  to  form  and  strengthen  the  character  and  to  develop  the  intel- 
ligence of  the  children  entrusted  to  it,  and  to  make  the  best  use  of 
the  school  years  available,  in  assisting  both  boys  and  girls,  accord- 
ing to  their  different  needs,  to  fit  themselves,  practically  as  well  as 
intellectually,  for  the  work  of  life. 

"  With  this  purpose  in  view  it  will  be  the  aim  of  the  school  to 
train  the  children  carefully  in  habits  of  observation  and  clear 
reasoning,  so  that  they  may  gain  an  intelligent  acquaintance  with 
some  of  the  facts  and  laws  of  nature  ;  to  arouse  in  them  a  living 
interest  in  the  ideals  and  achievements  of  mankind,  and  to  bring 
them  to  some  familiarity  with  the  literature  and  history  of  their 
own  country  ;  to  give  them  some  power  over  language  as  an 
instrument  of  thought  and  expression,  and,  while  making  them 
conscious  of  the  limitations  of  their  knowledge,  to  develop  in 
them  such  a  taste  for  good  reading  and  thoughtful  study  as  will 


318  THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

enable  them  to  increase  that  knowledge  in  after  years  by  their  own 
efforts. 

"  The  school  must  at  the  same  time  encourage  to  the  utmost  the 
children's  natural  activities  of  hand  and  eye  by  suitable  forms  of 
practical  work  and  manual  instruction  ;  and  afford  them  every 
opportunity  for  the  healthy  development  of  their  bodies,  not  only 
by  training  them  in  appropriate  physical  exercises  and  encouraging 
them  in  organised  games,  but  also  by  instructing  them  in  the 
working  of  some  of  the  simple  laws  of  health." 

The  Code  goes  on  to  point  out  that  the  school  should 
enable  promising  children  to  pass  on  to  the  secondary 
school,  and  that  moral  training  should  never  be  lost 
sight  of  by  the  teacher.  The  elementary  school  should 
inculcate  habits  of  industry,  self-control  and  perseverance, 
implant  ideals  of  purity,  truth  and  honour,  and  through 
its  corporate  life  instil  notions  of  fair-play  and  loyalty. 
Further,  the  school  and  parents  should  work  together 
so  that  the  pupils  may  become  "  upright  and  useful 
members  of  the  community  in  which  they  live,  and 
worthy  sons  and  daughters  of  the  country  to  which  they 
belong."  l 

It  remains  to   consider    briefly   the    improvements    in 
school   staffing    since    1870.      It  has    been 
pointed  out  ~   that    the    originators  of    the 
pupil  teacher  system  contemplated  only  two  types  of  in- 
structors, the  pupil  teacher  and  the  trained  certificated 
teacher.     From  the  outset,  however,  a  class  of  uncertificated 
ex-pupil  teachers — "  assistant "  teachers  they  were  called — 
had  gradually  won  a  place  in  the  schools,  though  every 
inducement  was  given  them   to  become  certificated.     In 
1870  the  number  of  certificated  teachers  was  insufficient  to 

lln  1905  the  first  edition  of  the  "Suggestions  to  Teachers"  was  pub- 
lished. 
2  Ante,  p.  272, 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  319 

provide  one  for  each  school  department  under  inspection. 
The  New  Code  (1871),  however,  made  the  employment  of 
such  a  teacher  a  condition  of  grant,  and  by  1877  we  find 
that  the  total  number  of  certificated  teachers  was  slightly 
in  excess  of  the  number  of  departments.  Immediately 
this  happened  it  became  possible  to  attempt  to  improve 
the  standard  of  staffing.  The  value  of  an  adult  over  a 
pupil  teacher  was  already  beginning  to  be  recognised.  In 
1878  an  additional  adult  teacher  was  required  in  depart- 
ments exceeding  220,  and  in  1882  a  further  step  was 
taken  by  limiting  the  number  of  pupil  teachers  to  thi'ee 
for  the  head  teacher  and  one  for  each  certificated  as- 
sistant. At  the  same  time  the  class  of  "  supplemen- 
tary "  or  "  additional  woman  "  teacher  over  eighteen 
years  of  age '  was  called  into  existence  and  allowed 
to  count  for  staffing  purposes  at  the  same  rate  as  the 
pupil  teacher.  To  encourage  further  the  appointment 
of  certificated  teachers  the  following  scale  of  staffing  was 
drawn  up: — 

Principal  certificated  teacher  .  60  children  in  average  attendance. 
Other  ,,  ,,  .  80 

Uncertificated  assistant  teacher    60 
Pupil  teacher     .         .         .         .40 

Candidate 20 

Additional  woman  teacherover  18  40 

From  this  time  staffing  received  a  good  deal  of  attention, 
and    complaints    of    the    excessive   size   of 
Cross  classes    were    reiterated    again  and    again. 

Rewmi88i0n       The  Cross  Commission  reviewed  the  whole 
mendations.       question    in     detail.        Already     advanced 
opinion  was  in  favour  of  limiting  the  num- 
ber of  children  to  twenty-five  in  the  lowest  infants'  class 

1  The  present  Supplementary  Teacher  Schedule  I.D, 


320  THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

and  at  the  top  end  of  the  elementary  school.  In  other 
classes  forty  was  the  ideal  number.1  It  was  shown  that 
the  general  level  of  staffing  over  the  country  was  con- 
siderably in  excess  of  the  Code  minimum,  which  the  Com- 
missioners wei%e  of  opinion  ought  to  be  raised.  All  the 
evidence  emphasised  the  great  gain  in  teaching  power 
that  came  from  staffing  with  adult  teachers.  With  regard 
to  the  question  whether  or  not  a  head  teacher  should  be 
responsible  for  a  class,  opinion  was  divided.  It  was  a 
point  to  be  settled  on  the  merits  of  each  case.  The  out- 
come of  the  Report  was  that  in  1890  a  new  scale 
of  staffing  was  issued.  The  staff  value  of  certificated 
assistants  was  cut  down  from  eighty  to  seventy,  that  of 
uncertificated  assistants  to  fifty,  of  pupil  teachers  and 
supplementary  teachers  to  thirty,  and  a  special  scale  was 
devised  for  small  country  schools. 

Four  years  later  the  first  attempt  was  made  to  restrict 
the  size  of  classes  by  limiting  the  number  of 
Limiting  the      children  on  the  register  under  the  control 
Classes.  °^  one  teacher  to  a  number  not  exceeding 

15  per  cent,  of  the  staff  value  of  the  grade 
to  which  the  teacher  belonged.  This  condition  was  relaxed 
the  following  year  by  substituting  the  "  number  habitually 
present."  In  1897  the  values  of  head,  certificated,  and  un- 
certificated teachers  were  reduced  to  fifty,  sixty,  and  forty- 
five  respectively.  These  changes  are  a  necessary  con- 
sequence of  the  new  attitude  towards  education  that  was 
creeping  over  the  schools.  The  result  was  that  Voluntary 
schools  could  not  keep  pace.  What  the  staffing  was  like 
at  this  time  can  be  seen  from  the  table  given  on  the 
opposite  page. 

1  Matthew  Arnold  thought  forty -five  in  average  attendance,  or  fifty  on 
the  register,  would  be  satisfactory. 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  321 

1897.  1902. 


Voluntary 
Schools. 

Board 

Schools. 

Voluntary 
Schools. 

Board 
Schools. 

Number  of  departments  . 

20,656 

10,191 

20,385 

10,987 

Number  of    scholars  in 
average  attendance     . 

2,471,996 

2,016,547 

2,546,217 

2,344,020 

Average       number      of 
scholars  to  a  depart- 
ment .... 

120 

198 

125 

213 

Head  teachers  :  — 
Certificated 
Others 

20,557 
56 

10,152 
26 

20,107 
251 

10,919 
49 

Assistant  teachers  :  — 
Certificated 
Uncertificated  . 
Additional  women 

7,886 
14,182 
11,412 

20,219 
11,024 
2,743 

9,226 
20,116 
14,073 

27,476 
15,796 
3,515 

Pupil  teachers 

17,002 

15,596 

P.T.'s  and  "  Provisional 
Assistants  " 

13,501 

15,815 

Probationers  . 

1,781 

827 

All  teachers   . 

71,094 

59,760 

79,095 

74,397 

Number  of  scholars  per 
teacher  :  — 
All  teachers     . 
All  adult  teachers   . 
All           certificated 
teachers 

35 

46 

87 

34 

46 

66 

32 
40 

87 

32 

41 

61 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Departments  in  Voluntary  Schools  were 
smaller  than  in  Board  Schools.  (See  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
1909-10.) 

In  1903  to  the  numerical  test  of  good  staffing  was 
added  that  of  its  suitability  and  efficiency  for  each  par- 
ticular school,  and  in  later  Codes l  stress  was  laid  on  the 


1  1908  and  1909. 


H.  ED. 


21 


322  THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION. 

arrangement  of  the  premises,  the  nature  of  the  curriculum, 
and  the  special  qualification  of  the  teachers  for  their  several 
duties.  At  the  same  time  (1909)  the  size  of  classes  was 
limited  to  sixty  on  the  register.  This  means  rather  more 
than  fifty  in  average  attendance.  (Steps  have  also  been 
taken  to  supersede  supplementary  teachers  by  refusing 
to  recognise  them  for  any  but  the  lowest  classes  of  the 
primary  school,  and  for  infant  schools.)  Many  localities, 
however,  staff  on  a  much  higher  scale,  and  uncertificated 
teachers  are  being  replaced,  more  and  more,  by  those  with 
higher  qualifications  Of  the  various  influences  working 
in  favour  of  smaller  classes  none  is  more  important  than 
the  tendency  to  substitute  more  practical  methods  of  study 
and  instruction,  but  we  are  still  a  very  long  way  from  the 
ideal  staffing  advocated  before  the  Cross  Commission. 
Alongside  the  improvements  in  staffing  have  gone 

developments  in  building.  As  the  pupil 
Buil°di  teacher  gave  way  to  the  adult  assistant, 

class-rooms  became  more  common.  The 
type  of  school  building  with  a  room  for  each  class  open- 
ing out  of  a  central  hall,  adopted  by  the  London  School 
Board  in  1873,  was  obviously  of  limited  application  in  the 
absence  of  an  adequate  supply  of  adult  teachers.  Accord- 
ingly the  majority  of  the  early  Board  schools  were  built 
with  a  large  room,  from  which  opened  off  two  or  three 
class-rooms.  In  some  of  these  rooms  the  old  gallery 
arrangement  was  commonly  retained.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, these  rooms  have  been  partitioned,  and  new  schools, 
built  on  the  class-room  plan,  have  conformed  to  one  or 
other  of  two  types,  one  with  central  hall,  the  other  with- 
out it.  Of  these  types  there  is  endless  variety.  There  is 
no  such  thing  as  a  standard  school  building,  for  the 
arrangements  must  vary  according  to  the  changing 
demands  of  the  day  and  the  particular  neighbourhood  in 


THE    NEW    SPIRIT    IN    EDUCATION.  323 

which  the  school  is  placed.  The  practical  movement  in 
education  has  led  to  the  demand  for  workrooms,  and  the 
conversion  of  one  or  more  class-rooms  for  this  purpose. 
Hygienic  considerations  have  wrought  many  changes  in 
furniture  and  planning.  There  is  a  demand  for  school 
baths,  for  open-air  class-rooms,  and  for  beds  in  infant 
schools.  Much  greater  stress  is  laid  on  adequate  play- 
ground accommodation.  With  a  growing  sense  of  the 
responsibility  of  the  school,  there  has  been  a  demand  for 
bright  and  tastefully  decorated  class-rooms,  for  good 
pictures  and  the  like.  More  attention  is  being  given  to 
grading  and  to  keeping  schools  within  manageable  size. 
There  is  not  and  cannot  be  any  finality  in  these  matters  so 
long  as  educational  thought  is  alive  and  active. 

In  Wales  a  new  era  began  with  the  founding  of  the 
Welsh  Department  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 

Recent  tion   in   1907.      The  Welsh  language   had 

Developments     ,  -in          •  -,  •    ,       ,-, 

in  Wales.  been  gradually   winning  its   way   into   the 

schools.  For  some  years  it  had  formed  a 
subject,  and,  in  a  greater  degree,  a  medium  of  instruction 
in  some  at  least  of  the  elementary  schools  in  almost  every 
county  of  Wales  and  Monmouthshire.  The  first  Welsh 
Code  crystallised  the  aspirations  of  many  in  the  Princi- 
pality by  requiring  that  the  Welsh  language  should,  as  a 
rule,  be  included  in  the  curriculum.  Any  subject  might 
now  be  taught  in  Welsh,  and  stress  was  laid  on  provision 
being  made  in  every  school  for  teaching  the  literature, 
history,  and  geography  of  Wales.  The  full  results  of 
this  departure  have  yet  to  be  seen,  but  it  has  undoubtedly 
had  the  result  of  infusing  a  new  spirit  into  the  educational 
life  of  the  Principality. 


PART  III. 
CHAPTER  X. 


THE    TEACHEK. 

"  Any  boy  who  can  read,  can  teach." 

— LANCASTER  :  Improvement*  iu  Education. 

"  I  think  you  would  be  more  amused  if  you  saw  those  who  were 
kings  and  satraps  upon  earth  reduced  in  the  nether  world  to 
beggary  and  forced  to  sell  kippers  or  to  teach  the  elements  of  read- 
ing and  writing." — LUCIAN  :  Ndmomanleia. 

"In  all  cases  the  success  of  a  school  depends  mainly  upon  the 
character  of  the  teacher.  ...  I  concede  the  institution  of  schools 
for  masters  to  be  at  the  very  foundation  of  all  improvement  in 
national  education." 

—Professor  PILLANS  :  Report  of  Select  Committee,  1834. 

Demosthenes  in  abusing  his  rival  Aischines  taunts  him 

with    having    been    a  schoolmaster — "  You 

The  Menial        taught  letters,  I  went   to  school  " — and  he 

Schoolmaster,    proceeds  to  remind  him  how  he  used  to  be 

employed  "  grinding  the  ink  and  sponging 

the  forms  and  sweeping  out  the  schoolroom,  the  work  of 

a  servant,  not  of  a  free  boy."  1     To  find  a  parallel  in  our 

own  country  to  this  menial  view  of  the  office  of  the  primary 

teacher  we  need  go  back  little  more  than  half  a  century. 

It  was  then  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  the  headmaster 

1  Cf.  Schools  of  Hellas,  Freemaii,  pp.  81-3. 
324 


THE    TEACHER.  325 

even  of  a  National  school  combining  in  bis  person  the 
duties  of  teacher,  caretaker,  messenger,  and  general 
handyman.1 

The  question  of  the  professional  and  economic  status  of 
the  teacher  is  inextricably  associated  with 

The  Status  the  history  of  elementary  education  in  this 
of  Teachers  ,  .  ,  ,  T 

in  1800.  country  during  the  nineteenth  century.     In- 

deed it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  no 
other  factor  has  had  so  determining  an  influence  on  the 
progress  of  the  schools.  The  educational  literature  of  the 
century  is  one  loug  record  of  the  fact  that  the  primary 
school  has  been  unable  to  offer  social  and  monetary  in- 
ducements adequate  to  retain  the  services  of  its  best  men. 
The  problem  was  already  so  acute  in  1800  that  one  of  the 
claims  of  the  monitorial  systems  to  the  gratitude  of 
philanthropists  was  that  it  afforded  a  steady  supply  of 
cheap  and  relatively  efficient  labour.  Thus  Sir  Thomas 
Bernard  wrote  in  1799  in  describing  the  Kendal 
Schools- : — 

"  It  has  been  observed  that  whenever  ushers  of  mature 
years  are  completely  fitted  for  teachers,  they  are  capable  of 
earning  a  greater  salary  than  the  school  can  afford ;  so 

'  Thus,  according  to  the  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  the  Stockport 
National  School  (October  2nd,  1846),  we  find  that  the  duties  of  head- 
master of  the  boys'  department  included  superintending  the  (school)  build- 
ing, lighting  the  fires,  keeping  an  account  of  the  gas,  cleaning  the  school, 
and  undertaking  the  general  charge  of  the  building — all  for  a  salary  of  £65 
a  year  with  house,  coals,  and  gas — a  condition  of  things  that  lasted  for 
another  eleven  years  until  the  school  came  under  Government  inspection. 

Such  a  combination  of  duties  is  in  no  way  derogatory  to  the  Committee. 
The  post  of  caretaker  was  eagerly  sought  after.  The  practice  had  been  to 
award  it  to  one  of  the  conductors  of  the  Sunday  schools  for  meritorious 
service,  but  with  the  advent  of  a  day  school  the  post  had  been  claimed 
by  the  headmaster  as  a  perquisite.  The  Minute  referred  to  was  merely 
continuing  with  a  new  master  a  well-established  custom. 

2  Digest  of  Reports  (Education)  8.B.C.P.,  1809,  pp.  135-6. 


32G  THE    TEACHER. 

that  all  who  are  really  fit  for  the  situation  are  looking 
out  for  something  better.  A  similar  circumstance  may 
attend  those  selected  from  the  pupils  themselves,  but 
what  is  an  evil  in  one  case  operates  as  a  benefit  in  the 
other.  The  spirit  of  the  establishment,  which  has  raised 
one  boy  above  the  situation,  has  fitted  and  prepared  others 
to  succeed  him." 

Few  institutions  have  received  such  universal  condemna- 
tion as  the  dame  schools  and  common  schools  of  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Macaulay's  rhetorical 
description  of  the  common  schoolmaster  is  well  known — 
"the  refuse  of  all  other  callings,  discarded  footmen, 
ruined  pedlars,  men  who  cannot  work  a  sum  in  the  rule 
of  three,  men  who  do  not  know  whether  the  earth  is  a 
sphere  or  a  cube,  men  who  do  not  know  whether  Jerusalem 
is  in  Asia  or  America.  And  to  such  men,  men  to  whom 
none  of  us  would  entrust  the  key  of  his  cellar,  we  have 
entrusted  the  mind  of  the  rising  generation,  and  with  the 
mind  of  the  rising  generation,  the  freedom,  the  happiness, 
the  glory  of  our  country."  1  There  were  of  course  many 
schoolmasters  of  a  very  different  calibre,  but  in  the  main 
the  indictment  was  only  too  true.  But  Lancaster,  a 
private  schoolmaster  himself,  leaves  us  in  no  doubt  as  to 
the  reason.2  Of  all  occupations  school-keeping  was  one  of 
the  most  precarious,  attendance  was  very  irregular,  fees 
were  very  uncertain,  and  mean  parents  have  been  a  bye- 
word  since  the  days  of  Theophrastus.  In  an  age  when  an 
educational  reformer  like  Pestalozzi  believed  that  anyone 
who  could  read  could  teach ;  when  teaching  was  an  un- 
skilled occupation ;  when  Rousseau,  along  with  the  men  of 
the  enlightenment,  taught  that  the  poor  have  no  need  of 

1  Speech  in  House  of  Commons,  1847. 

2  Cf.  Improvements  in  Education,  passim. 


THE    TEACHER.  327 

education  ;  it  is  useless  to  expect  a  highly  organised  or 
expert  body  of  common  school  teachers. 

In  the  haste  to  bring  the  elements  of  letters  within  the 
reach  of  all,  the  supreme  importance  of  the 

Personality        personal  factor   in  education   tended  to  be 
v.  Mechanism  ..  .  .  .         , 

in  Education,     overlooked.      Almost  without  exception  the 

attention  of  reformers  was  directed  to  the 
machinery  of  instruction.  Pestalozzi  hoped  that  his 
ABC  books  would  be  infallible  educative  instruments  in 
the  hands  of  the  most  ignorant  parent.  The  ingenuity  of 
Bell  and  Lancaster  was  turned  to  devising  a  great  teach- 
ing machine.  Similarly  a  State  mechanism,  designed 
among  other  things  to  manufacture  teachers  in  normal 
schools,  was  the  ideal  of  the  advanced  reformers.  It  is 
doubtful,  for  example,  whether  Brougham,  with  all  his 
knowledge  and  enthusiasm  for  popular  education,  ever 
realised  the  relative  importance  of  personality  and 
machinery.  Speaking  in  1820  he  said  that  "  he  looked 
upon  the  schoolmaster  to  be  employed  in  an  honourable 
and  useful  capacity — so  honourable  that  none  was  more 
highly  esteemed,  if  the  individual  were  faithful  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty — so  useful  that  no  man,  he  believed, 
effected  more  good  in  his  generation  than  a  good  parish 
schoolmaster.  That  class  would  not,  however,  be  offended 
when  he  observed  that  they  moved  in  an  inferior  situation 
of  life." *  Accordingly,  he  considered  a  salary  of  from 
,£20  to  <£30  per  annum  adequate  remuneration  for  their 
sei'vices,  and  would  leave  any  augmentation  of  it  to 
private  initiative.  To  improve  the  quality  of  the  educa- 
tion given  in  schools  all  that  was  needed  was  to  train  the 
teachers.2 

1  Speech  in  House  of  Commons,  1820. 
2  Cf.  Evidence  before  Select  Committee,  1834. 


328  THE    TEACHER. 

The  evidence  of  the  period  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the 
mischief  exerted   by  this  ban  of  social  in- 
The  Social         feriority.      Dunn  emphasises  it  in  his  evi- 
Teachers  deuce  before  the  Select  Committee  (1834), 

and  the  feelings  of  all  self-respecting  teachers 
are  portrayed  in  such  indignant  protests  as  the  following : 
"  Point  to  an  individual  as  a  physician,  a  clergyman, 
or  a  lawyer,  and  though  his  cranium  be  as  devoid  of 
eminences  as  the  surface  of  a  plate  of  glass,  yet  you  give 
him  a  passport  to  the  name  of  gentleman  and  the  best 
society ;  but  let  any  one  be  named  a  schoolmaster  and  a 
feeling  of  insignificance  and  disrepute,  and  the  idea  that 
he  is  a  fit  companion  for  the  vulgar,  will  be  the  con- 
sequence." 1 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  efforts 

towards  self-help  that  were  being  made  by 

Early  the  teachers  at  this  time.     Before  the  pro- 

Ma<rovement     Ject  of  a  State  Normal  School  was  launched 
Societies.  in  1839,  teachers  up  and  down  the  country 

were  banding  themselves  together  into 
societies  for  mutual  improvement,2  and  giving  expression 
to  ideas  that  have  still  to  be  realised  in  this  country.  One 
of  these  schemes  for  professional  advancement,  drafted  by 
a  teacher,  appears  in  the  Belfast  Christian  Patriot  (1839). 
It  proposes  the  establishment  in  every  district  of  a 
Teachers'  Library,  "  consisting  exclusively  of  works  on 
education  and  school  books.  In  this  way  for  a  few  shillings 
annually  the  treasures  of  Edgeworth,  Hamilton,  Pestalozzi, 
Wood,  Wilderspin,  Wyse,  The  Journal  of  Education,  The 
Educational  Magazine,  The  American  Annals  of  Education, 

1  See  Educational  Magazine,  1839,  p.  84. 

2  E.g.  The  London  British  Teachers'  Society ;    cf.  the  Berne  Society  of 
Teachers,  with  Fellenberg  as  President,  founded  1832 ;   see  Letters  on  the 
Educational  Institutions  of  Fellenberg,  p.  360. 


THE    TEACHER.  329 

etc.,  etc.,  would  be  laid  open  to  all.  Ere  a  new  work 
would  be  completely  dry,  it  would  be  in  the  hands  of 
thousands  of  teachers  " — a  plan  common  enough  in  America 
at  the  present  time.  "  Poverty  would  not  then  stamp  its 
victims  with  the  seal  of  eternal  ignorance,  good  schools 
would  no  longer  stand  like  oases  in  the  desert,"  school- 
keeping  would  no  longer  be  the  refuge  of  the  economic 
mis-fit,  and  the  teacher  would  secure  that  recognition  that 
his  pastoral  work  entitles  him  to.1 

The  need  for  training  teachers  in  Charity  schools  was 

recognised  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 

The  Training     century,  and  a  plan  for  establishing  a  training 

S  h   T*  ^          school  for  masters  and  mistresses — probably 

Teachers.  inspired  by  Francke's  Training  Institute  at 

Halle — was  discussed  by  the  Committee  of 

the  S.P.C.K.  in  1712.2     Although  nothing  came  of  it,  it 

points  to  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  method  of 

initiating  novices  into  the  art  of  school-keeping  that  had 

been  hitherto  recommended  : — 

"And  here  it  may  be  noted,  That  it  will  be  adviseable  for  any  new- 
elected  Schoolmaster  to  consult  with  some  of  the  present  School- 
masters of  these  Schools,  for  the  more  ready  Performance  of  his 
Duty.  And  it  is  recommended  to  them  to  communicate  to  such  new 
elected  Master  their  Art,  and  the  divers  Methods  of  Teaching  and 
Governing  Scholars  used  according  to  the  different  Capacities,  Tem- 


1  As  long  ago  as  1581  Mnlcaster  had  urged  the  dignity  of  the  teacher's 
profession,  its  specialised  character,  and  the  need  for  training  schools.  "  Is 
the  framing  of  young  niindes  and  the  training  of  their  bodies  so  meaue  a 
point  of  cunning  ?  ...  He  that  will  not  allow  of  this  carefull  provision  for 
such  a  semiuarie  of  maisters,  is  most  unworthy  either  to  have  had  a  good 
niaister  him  selfe,  or  hereafter  to  have  a  good  one  for  his  (children).  Why 
should  not  teachers  be  well  provided  for,  to  continue  their  whole  life  in  the 
schoole,  as  Divines,  Lawyers,  Physicians  do  in  their  severall  professions  ?"- 
Positions,  Quick's  Edition,  p.  248.  2  Ante,  pp.  14-16. 


330  THE    TEACHER. 

pers,  and  Inclination  of  the  Children.  And,  moreover,  it  will  be 
convenient  that  such  new-elected  Master  have  Liberty,  on  certain 
days,  to  see  and  here  the  present  Master  Teach  the  Scholars,  and 
upon  Occasion  to  be  assisting  to  them  in  Teaching  ;  that  such  new 
Master  may  thereby  become  yet  more  expert,  and  better  qualified 
for  the  discharge  of  his  office.  The  due  and  faithful  Execution 
whereof,  as  it  is  a  Matter  of  very  great  importance,  so  it  does  deserve 
much  Commendation  and  may  hope  to  meet  with  a  proportionable 
encouragement. " ' 

It  is  significant  of  the  educational  thought  of  the  time 
that  Robert  Nelson  included  in  his  list  of  fit  objects  of 
charity  (1715)2  the  founding  of  superior  schools  of  secon- 
dary type  for  the  training  of  Charity  school  teachers.  A 
similar  proposal  was  made  by  Mrs.  Trimmer  some  70  years 
later,3  and  seems  to  suggest  the  Bursar  system  that  has 
arisen  since  1902. 

With  the  advent  of  the  monitorial  systems  the  first 
movement  in  the  direction  of  special  prepara- 
The  Monitorial  ^jon  for  ^e  teacher's  office  in  this  country 
Schools.  began.  A  complicated  piece  of  mechanism 

had  been  invented,  the  successful  working  of 
which  demanded  considerable  skill.  To  obtain  this  the 
inventors  sought  to  improve  the  method  of  "training" 
already  familiar  in  Charity  schools.  Lancaster  accordingly 
opened  a  "  training  "  institution  in  connection  with  his 
school  at  the  Borough  Road.  There  he  lodged,  boarded, 
and  clothed  a  number  of  picked  monitors  who  were  trained 
to  organise  and  conduct  similar  schools  as  required.  He 
also  established  a  training  school  for  country  teachers  at 
Maiden  Bradley  in  Somersetshire.  To  his  lavish  expendi- 
ture on  this  branch  of  his  activities  was  due,  in  no  small 

1  An  Account  of  Charity  Schools  lately  erected  in  those  parts  of  Great 
Britain  called  England  and  Wales,  1708. 

2  Kirkman  Grey  :  History  of  Philanthropy,  p.  84. 

3  (Economy  of  Charity,  1787. 


THE    TEACHER.  331 

measure,  his  bankruptcy  hi  1808.  Various  schools,  for 
example  Mr.  Davis'  school  at  Whitechapel  and  the  Barring- 
ton  school,  Durham,  similarly  initiated  teachers  into  the 
working  of  Bell's  system.  These  masters  left  fully  trained 
at  the  age  of  15  to  17. 

But  "  schoolmasters  and  others  of  good  character"  were 
also  admitted  to  these  institutions  at  their 
own  exPense  to  be  instructed  in  the  new 
method.  The  practice  of  the  Barringtou 
school  affords  a  typical  example  of  training  in  1810. l  First 
the  manual  explanatory  of  the  method  used  in  the  school 
was  studied.  This  being  in  some  degree  mastered,  prac- 
tice began.  Each  individual  was  put  in  charge  successively 
of  every  class  in  the  school,  beginning  with  the  lowest. 
This  occupied  some  6  or  8  weeks.  They  were  also  sub- 
jected to  occasional  examinations  to  test  their  knowledge 
of  how  to  adapt  the  system  to  different  conditions,  the 
mode  of  teaching  particular  lessons,  of  examining  and 
classing  scholars,  etc.  They  were  next  examined  suc- 
cessively in  the  initiatory  processes  and  books  of  the 
school,  and  required  to  say  their  lessons  just  as  if  they 
were  in  the  actual  classes,  beginning  with  the  mono- 
syllabic spelling-book.  Mistakes  were  inevitable,  and 
promotion  and  degradation  followed  exactly  as  in  one  of 
the  ordinary  children's  classes,  the  idea  being  thoroughly 
to  familiarise  them  with  the  lessons  and  to  initiate  them 
into  the  difficulties  the  children  were  likely  to  meet  with. 
In  short,  school  management,  wooden  and  inelastic  in 
character,  and  wholly  divorced  from  principles,  was  the 
end  and  aim  of  the  course.  Along  these  lines  all  attempts 
at  training  teachers  proceeded  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century. 

1  Sir    Thomas    Bernard :     The   Harrington    School,     Third    Edition, 
pp.  131-3. 


332  THE    TEACHER. 

With  the  founding  of   the  National  Society  and  the 

British  and  Foreign  School  Society  a  great 

Development      imp6^8  was  given  to  training.     More  teach- 

of  Central          ers  were  needed,  and  one  of  the  principal 

Training  objects  of  these  societies  was  to  supply  school 

Schools. 

masters  and  mistresses  trom   their   central 

training  schools  at  Baldwin's  Gardens  and  the  Borough 
Koad.  Other  schools  of  similar  character  under  district 
societies  were  gradually  established  up  and  down  the 
country,  each  contributing  its  quota  of  teachers.1 

Meantime  the  practice  of  lodging  and  boarding  a  number 
of  picked  monitors  until  they  were  old  enough  to  go  out 
as  schoolmasters  seems  gradually  to  have  disappeared. 
The  system  was  very  costly,  and  with  the  advent  of  new 
ideas  the  young  master  of  15  to  18  years  of  age  was  no 
longer  popular.  At  the  time  of  the  first  Parliamentary 
grant,  no  teacher  under  21  years  of  age  was  admitted  to 
the  central  school  of  the  National  Society.  A  few  entered 
the  Borough  Eoad  under  19,  but  the  usual  age  was  between 
19  and  24.  Dunn  entirely  disapproved  on  the  grounds  of 
immaturity  of  any  attempt  to  begin  training  anyone  under 
18  years  of  age,  and  even  then  he  held  that  the  period  of 
training  should  last  for  three  years  instead  of  three  months. 
Under  these  conditions  he  would  devote  the  first  and  last 
period  of  three  months  to  practice  in  school,  and  would 
devote  the  whole  of  the  third  year  to  a  study  of  the  "  science 
of  teaching."  • 


1  By  1834  2,039  teachers  had  been   sent  out  from  the  central  training 
school  of  the  National  Society,  and  35  district  schools,  e.g.  at  Durham,  York, 
Norwich,  Bath,  Bangor,  etc.,  were  in  existence.      (Select  Committee  on 
Education,  1834,  also  Reports  of  National  Society,  1828-1833.)     Four  years 
later  they  had  increased  to  47,  but  as  a  rule  they  only  trained  two  or  three 
teachers  a  year.     (Select  Committee,  1838,  Evidence.) 

2  Select  Committee,  1834,  Evidence. 


THE    TEACHEU.  333 

The  method  of  training   prospective  schoolmasters  at 
the  Borough  Road  at  this  time  is  thus  de- 
Training  at        scribed.1     "  They  ai-e  required  to  rise  every 
Borough  Road  .  ^         »  i     i  u 

in  1834.  morning  at  five  o  clock,  and  spend  an  hour 

before  seven  in  private  study.  They  have 
access  to  a  good  library.  At  seven  they  are  assembled 
together  in  a  Bible  class  and  questioned  as  to  their  know- 
ledge of  the  Scriptures ;  from  nine  to  twelve  they  are 
employed  as  monitors  in  the  school,  learning  to  communi- 
cate that  which  they  already  know  or  are  supposed  to 
know ;  from  two  to  five  they  are  employed  in  a  similar 
way  :  and  from  five  to  seven  they  are  engaged  under  a 
master  who  instructs  them  in  arithmetic  and  the  ele- 
ments of  geometry,  geography,  and  the  globes,  or  in  other 
branches  in  which  they  may  be  deficient.  The  remainder 
of  the  evening  is  generally  occupied  in  preparing  exercises 
for  the  subsequent  day.  One  object  is  to  keep  them  inces- 
santly employed  from  five  in  the  morning  until  nine  or  ten 
at  night.  We  have  rather  exceeded  in  the  time  devoted  to 
study  the  limit  we  would  choose,  on  account  of  the  very 
short  period  we  are  able  to  keep  them,  and  we  have  found 
in  some  instances  that  their  health  has  suffered  on  account 
of  their  having  been  previously  quite  unaccustomed  to 
mental  occupations."  • 

1  Select  Committee  on  Education,  1834  :  Minutes  of  Evidence,  p.  232. 

-  These  conditions  remained  practically  unchanged  in  1846.  See  Fletcher's 
Report,  Minutes  of  Committee  of  Council,l&LQ,  Vol.  II. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  comparatively  few  of  those  who  trained  at  the 
central  schools  had  been  brought  up  under  the  monitorial  systems.  A  few 
had  kept  private  schools,  but  the  great  majority  had  been  engaged  in  some 
other  occupation.  Some  had  been  teachers  in  Sunday  schools  and  had  ac- 
quired a  genuine  liking  for  the  work.  (Select  Committee  on  Education, 
1834 :  Minutes  of  Evidence,  p.  232.)  The  cost  of  training  was  borne  by  the 
candidates  themselves  or  by  some  local  committee.  In  the  competition  for 
headships  of  monitorial  schools  the  candidate  who  promised  to  train  at  a 


334  THE    TEACHEK. 

The  condition  of  entry  to  a  training  school  was  a  certifi- 
cate of  character,  and  ability  to  read,  write,  and  cypher. 
The  first  fortnight  was  a  probationary  period  to  weed  out 
those  who  were  unsuited  to  the  work.  A  certificate  was 
awarded  on  successfully  completing  the  course.  The  mode 
of  training  in  schools  connected  with  the  National  Society 
was  similar  to  that  in  vogue  at  the  Borough  Road,  though 
it  seems  to  have  been  less  arduous,  and  attention  was  con- 
fined to  practice  in  the  three  R's  and  religion.  Moreover, 
there  does  not  seem  to  have  been,  at  this  date,  any  general 
feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  system  such  as  Dunn 
expressed.  It  was  during  the  next  few  years  that  criticism 
grew  apace.1 

We  are,  in  fact,  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  era.  The  in- 
fluence of  Pestalozzi  and  Fellenberg  abroad 
in  Training  an(^  °^  Woods  and  Stow  at  home  was  leading 
to  a  new  view  of  education.  It  was  some- 
thing more  than  mere  ability  to  read  and  write  badly.  It 
demanded  of  the  teacher  knowledge,  maturity,  and  personal 
qualities  to  a  degree  hardly  realised  twenty  years  before.2 
The  result  was  a  feeling  of  intense  dissatisfaction  and  a 
quickening  of  the  educational  conscience  of  the  nation  that 
was  reflected  in  every  branch  of  education.  At  the  same 
time  increased  attention  was  given  to  educational  methods 
abroad.  Men's  eyes  were  turned  to  the  Ecole  Primaire 
Normale  of  France,  and  to  the  Normal  schools  of  Switzer- 
land and  Prussia.  The  woi'd  "  training  "  had  acquired  a 
new  meaning,  so  much  so  that  the  Secretary  of  the  National 
Society  was  fain  to  admit  (1838)  that  in  "  the  high  sense 

central  school  at  his  own  expense  not  infrequently  triumphed  over  his  more 
needy  rivals. 

1  Select  Committee  on  Education,  1834  :  Minutes  of  Evidence,  passim. 

2  Cf.   Select   Committee  on  Education,  1838  :    Minutes  of  Evidence, 
passim. 


THE    TEACHER.  335 

which  is  now  attached  to  the  words,  '  model  or  normal 
schools,'  "  the  district  central  schools  of  the  Society  could 
not  be  said  to  train  at  all.1 

Indeed,  at  this  date  there  was,  according  to  Dr.  Kay,2 
only  one  genuine  training  institution  in  the 

The  Glasgow      country — the    Glasgow     Normal   Seminary, 

Normal  J  ,  ° 

Seminary.          the  home  or  Stow  s  training  system.     Here 

two  objects  were  kept  in  view :  (1)  to  con- 
vey general  knowledge  to  the  candidates ;  and  (2)  to 
make  them  acquainted  with  the  principles  upon  which  the 
methods  of  instruction  were  based,  at  the  same  time  giving 
them  practice  in  putting  these  principles  into  execution, 
first  in  a  small  school,  and  then  from  time  to  time  in  a 
larger  school  conducted  on  the  same  plan.  The  qualifica- 
tions of  students  entering  and  the  time  spent  in  the 
seminary  varied  considerably.3  Thus  of  forty-one  men 
admitted  in  18404  one  was  a  preacher,  twenty-one  had 
been  teachers  in  small  adventure  schools,  one  had  been  a 
carpenter,  one  a  teacher  of  dancing,  one  a  portrait  painter, 
one  a  baker,  three  shopmen,  and  five  students  at  colleges. 
The  previous  occupation  of  the  remaining  seven  was  not 
ascertained,  nor  was  that  of  the  fourteen  women  students. 
The  average  duration  of  the  course  was  eight  to  nine 
months.  A  minimum  period  of  eighteen  months  was  felt 
to  be  necessary  for  those  who  came  with  poor  academic 
qualifications.  The  course  was  divided  as  follows  :  out  of 
forty  hours  a  week,  sixteen  were  devoted  to  academic 
studies — physics,  natural  history,  geography,  arithmetic 

i  Select  Committee,  1838 :  Minutes  of  Evidence,  889.  An  expression 
of  this  unrest  is  found  in  the  vote  of  £10,000  in  1835  for  the  erection  of 
model  schools.  The  money  was  not  allocated,  however,  until  four  years 
later.  2  Kay-Shuttleworth. 

3  Select  Committee,  1838  :  Minutes  of  Evidence  (265-6). 

4  Committee  of  Council,.  1840,  Minutes. 


336  THE    TEACHER. 

and  algebra,  English  grammar,  sacred  history — together 
with  elocution,  music,  drawing  and  gymnastics.  The  pro- 
fessional work  included :  I.  Observation  in  the  model  schools 
(8  hours),  II.  Practice  lessons  in  gallery  and  class  (11| 
hours),  III.  Bible  lesson  to  fellow-students  (1  hour),  IV. 
Public  criticism  lessons  (3^  hours).1 

All  sorts  of  schemes  were  in  the  air  and  awaited  being 

put  to  the  proof.2     Stow  had  not  preached  in 

Need  for  vain  the  great  truth  that  all  real  education 

mprpvmg     e    depen(js  UpOn  the  interaction  of  the  cultivated 

Teachers.  with  the  less  cultivated  mind,  and  that  to 

teach  meant  to  incite  to  learn.  Admitting 
this,  a  new  method  of  school  organisation  was  necessary  ; 
.school  staffs  must  be  increased  by  the  addition  of  assistant 
teachers  who  should  exhibit  a  greater  degree  of  culture  and 
increased  professional  skill.  Reformers  looked  eagerly  to 
an  improved  training  college  course,  beginning  at  18 
years  of  age  and  lasting  for  two  or  three  years,  and  to 
ensure  a  steady  supply  of  good  material  men  were  seeking 
for  some  means  of  retaining  the  services  of  picked  monitors. 
The  economic  aspect  of  the  teacher  question  was  recognised 

1  A  critical  account  of  the  system  of  training  is  given  in  the  Minutes  of 
the  Committee  of  Council,  1840,  pp.  412-424.     Some  ten  years  later,  under 
the  system  of  Treasury  grants  to  training  colleges,    Stow  bewailed  the 
fact  that  the  entry  of  younger  pupils  less  well  prepared  had  resulted  in  the 
gradual  encroachment  of  academic  studies  to  the  detriment  of  the  purely 
professional  work.     Less  interest  was  shown  in  this  part  of  the  course,  and 
he  was  forced  to  the   conclusion    that   the  only  solution  was  a   two-year 
academic  course  followed  by  one  year  devoted  to  purely  professional  work. 

2  The  erection  of  Normal  schools  with  model  schools  attached  held  a 
prominent  place  in  the  Chartist  plan  of  educational  reform  as  propounded 
by  William  Lovett.     They  were  to  be  adequately  staffed,  supplied  with  the 
best  works  on  physical,  mental,  moral,   and  political   training,  and  with 
proper  apparatus.     Certificates  should  be  awarded,  and  no  one  should  hold 
a  post  in  a  Chartist  school  without  one.     The  length  of  training  was  not 
stipulated.     (Lovett  and  Collins  :  Chartism,  p.  41.) 


THE    TEACHER.  337 

as  serious,  and  palliatives  had  to  be  discovered.  The 
following  proposals  emanating  from  the  National  Society 
will  serve  to  illustrate  the  trend  of  opinion  at  the  time  : 
"  Probationers  should  enter  at  the  age  of  18  into  a  normal 
school  in  London;  that  they  should  remain  two  years; 
that  after  two  years  they  should  undergo  an  examination 
as  to  character  and  acquirements,  and  if  they  went  through 
it  creditably,  receive  a  certificate,  and  be  appointed  as 
assistant  schoolmasters  in  the  first  instance ;  that  having 
passed  that,  they  should  receive  a  second  certificate,  which 
should  entitle  them  to  promotion  under  the  (National) 
society ;  that  if  they  acquitted  themselves  well  in  their 
situations  as  schoolmasters,  at  the  end  of  a  certain  number 
of  years,  say  every  ten  years,  they  should  be  entitled  to  a 
small  increase  of  salary,  or  to  promotion  to  some  higher 
school ;  and  that  when  they  were  in  a  state  which  required 
them  to  be  superannuated,  they  should  be  entitled  to  a 
retiring  pension  from  the  Consolidated  Fund."  : 

Under  the  influence  of  the  new  religious  spirit  in  the 
Church,  and  with  the  growth  of  opinion  in 

Activity  in         favour  of  a  State  system  of  education,  the 

the  National  .  J     . 

Society.  .National  bociety  had,  in  tact,   awoke  to   a 

new  sense  of  its  responsibilities.  In  1838  a 
Committee  of  Inquiry  and  Correspondence  was  appointed 
for  the  purpose  of  stimulating  local  interest  on  the  subject 
of  education,  and  of  bringing  various  orders  and  classes 
throughout  the  country  to  act  together  in  a  combined  plan 
for  extending  the  operations  of  the  society.  One  of  its 
main  objects  was  to  devise  means  "  to  provide  a  better 
class  of  teachers,  by  improving  the  education,  condition, 
and  prospects  of  schoolmasters."  To  carry  out  this  object 
it  was  proposed  at  once  to  connect  training  schools  with 

1  Select  Committee  on  Education,  1838,  Minutes  of  Evidence. 
H.  ED.  22 


338  THE    TEACHER. 

the  cathedrals  in  several  dioceses,  and,  if  sufficient  funds 
could  be  raised,  to  found  "  an  Institution  of  a  superior 
order  in  London,  for  still  further  improving  the  education 
and  training  of  masters."  Other  plans  were  under  con- 
sideration as  indicated  in  the  preceding  paragraph  for  im- 
proving the  status  and  prospects  of  teachers  and  providing 
for  their  old  age.1 

The  real  difficulty  was  concisely  put  by  the  Secretary  of 

the  Committee  of  Council  a  few  years  later.2 

Poor  Salaries     "  There  is  little  or  nothing  in  the  profession 

the  Obstacle      of    an     elementary    schoolmaster,    in    this 

to  Educational  . 

Progress.  country  to  tempt  a  man  having  a  respectable 

acquaintance  with  the  elements  of  even 
humble  learning  to  exchange  the  certainty  of  a  respectable 
livelihood  in  a  subordinate  condition  in  trade  or  commerce 
for  the  mean  drudgery  of  instructing  the  rude  children  of 
the  poor  in  an  elementary  school. 

"  For  what  is  the  condition  of  the  master  of  such  a 
school  ?  He  has  often  an  income  very  little  greater  than 
that  of  an  agricultural  labourer,  and  very  rarely  equal  to 
that  of  a  moderately  skilled  mechanic.  Moreover  it  is 
beset  with  uncertainties.  He  tries  all  manner  of  means 
to  eke  it  out,  and  even  if  he  be  successful,  these  additions 
barely  keep  him  out  of  debt,  and  in  old  age  he  has  no 
prospect  but  helpless  indigence  and  dependence."  He 
added  :  "  The  first  business  of  the  State  is  to  improve  the 
lot  of  the  teacher.  To  build  spacious  and  well- ventilated 
schools,  without  attempting  to  provide  a  position  of  honour 
and  emolument  for  the  masters,  is  to  cheat  the  poor  with 
a  cruel  illusion.  .  .  .  Whilst  their  condition  remains 
without  improvement,  a  religious  motive  alone  can  induce 

1  See  National  Society  Report ;   also  abstract  Educational  Magazine, 
November  1838.     See  also  ante,  p.  258. 
-  Kay-Shuttleworth  :  Four  Periods  of  Public  Education,  pp.  4"4-5. 


THE    TEACHER.  339 

the  young  men  who  are  now  (1847)  ti-ained  in  Normal 
Schools  to  sacrifice  all  prospects  of  personal  advancement 
for  the  self-denying  and  arduous  duties  of  a  teacher  of  the 
children  of  the  poor."  l 

This  candid  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  supply  of 
efficient  teachers  is  first  and  foremost  an  economic  question 
marks  a  great  advance  in  the  educational  thought  of  the 
day  and  the  beginning  of  a  new  movement.  Hitherto  all 
the  attention  had  been  given  to  improving  such  teaching 
material  as  was  available  by  seeing  that  it  was  properly 
"  trained."  Thus  the  first  proposal  of  the  Committee  of 
Council  in  1839  was  to  set  up  a  State  Training  College. 
This  tendency  to  magnify  the  importance  of  mere  training, 
rather  than  the  quality  of  the  individual  who  was  to  be 
trained,  was  perhaps  inevitable  at  a  time  when  the  need 
for  bringing  about  a  change  in  existing  methods  was 
acutely  realised,  and  before  the  nature  of  the  problem  had 
been  very  clearly  understood. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  attention  was  given  to  the  im- 
provement of   teaching    in    infant   schools. 
The  Training      Previous  to  1836    no   provision  existed    in 
School^  England  for  the  systematic  training  of  this 

Teachers.  class  of  teacher.     Although  the  training  of 

teachers  was  the  chief  object  in  view  in 
founding  the  Infant  School  Society  in  1824,  no  central 
training  institution  had  been  established,  though  use  had 
been  made  temporarily  of  the  schools  at  Spitalfields  and 
Walthamstow.  Lectui'es  were  also  given  on  infant  educa- 
tion by  the  secretary  of  the  society,  J.  P.  Greaves,  but  it 
was  to  the  "  missionary  "  journeys  of  Wilderspin  that  the 
spread  of  the  system  was  mainly  due.  Wilderspin  acted 

1  The  yearly  stipends  of  the  234  head  teachers  in  Lancashire  schools 
whose  salaries  were  ascertained  in  1846  amounted  to  £9,676  10s. — Report 
on  the  Northern  Division,  1846. 


340  THE    TEACHER. 

as  a  sort  of  organising  master,  and  travelled  up  and  down 
the  country  in  response  to  invitations  from  local  com- 
mittees who  were  interested  in  the  movement.  He  would 
expound  his  system  and  then,  if  the  committee  were 
agreeable,  he  would  undertake  to  open  and  organise  a 
school  on  their  behalf,  and  conduct  it  until  he  had  initiated 
the  teachers  who  were  to  take  charge  of  it  into  the  method. 
These,  for  the  time  being,  acted  as  his  assistants.  His 
stay  in  one  place  varied  considerably,  but  six  weeks  was 
an  average  time  for  planting  a  school  and  training  the 
teachers.  The  defects  of  such  a  system  were  soon 
obvious.1 

The  Home  and  Colonial  Society,  founded  in  1836,  put 
infant  education  and  the  training  of  infant  teachers  on 
a  somewhat  more  satisfactory  basis.  A  central  model 
school  was  established,  to  which  students  of  both  sexes 
and  married  couples  were  admitted  for  a  period  of  not 
less  than  12  weeks.- 

Meantime  an  experiment  that  was  to  have  far-reaching 

results  was  about  to  begin.  With  the  pass- 
menfs^th"  ing  of  thePoor  Law  Amendment  Act,  1834, 
Pupil  Teachers,  considerable  difficulty  was  experienced  in 

getting  suitable  teachers  who  were  able  at 
once  to  give  both  the  intellectual  and  industrial  training 

1  In  spite  of  all  Wilderspin's  exertions  the  system  was  scarcely  known  by 
name  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  while  in  London  infant  education  was 
under  an  eclipse.     "Without  means,  without  methods,  without  common 
sense  to  guide  those  who  took  upon  themselves  the  office  of  instructors,  the 
veriest  drivelling  and  nauseating  gibberish  .  .  .  the  most  stupid  masses  of 
imbecile  twaddle  (called  intellectual  training)  was  attempted  to  be  crammed 
into  the  minds  of  children  by  the  most  absurd  methods."     The  wonder  is 
that  the  infant  system  had  not  utterly  disappeared. — Educational  Maga- 
zine, 1838,  p.  429. 

2  So  ill  supported  was  the  society  at  the  outset,  that  by  January  1838 
the  total  donations  and  subscriptions  received  were  only  £383. — Educational 
Magazine,  1838,  p.  7. 


THE    TEACHER.  341 

that  was  demanded  in  workhouse  schools.  It  was  the 
practice  to  send  teachers  to  certain  picked  schools  of 
industry  to  study  organisation  and  to  acquire  the  neces- 
sary industrial  proficiency.  The  need  for  a  special  type  of 
teacher  for  schools  of  this  nature  influenced  Dr.  Kay,  at 
that  time  one  of  the  Assistant  Poor  Law  Commissioners, 
to  suggest  the  apprenticing  of  a  number  of  picked 
monitors  as  pupil  teachers  for  a  period  of  five  years.  In 
this  way  it  was  hoped  to  ensure  a  supply  of  teachers 
inured  from  their  earliest  years  to  industrial  occupations, 
and  yet  possessed  of  the  necessary  intellectual  attainments. 
The  plan  was  successfully  introduced  into  the  Norwood 
School  of  Industry  and  elsewhere.1 

In  1840,  with  the  abandoning  of  the  plan  of  a  State 
Normal  School,  Dr.  Kay — now  secretary  of 
£nthe  Tracing  the  C°mmittee  of  Council  on  Education— in 
of  Teachers.  conjunction  with  Mr.  Tufnell,  began  a  fur- 
ther experiment  in  the  training  of  teachers. 
He  was  profoundly  convinced  that  the  first  business  of  a 
training  college  was  to  turn  out  teachers  of  character. 
At  the  same  time  it  had  to  develop  the  intelligence  of  the 
students,  and  provide  appropriate  training  in  industry,  and 
in  the  methods  and  principles  of  teaching.  He  was  also 
anxious  to  show  that,  "  without  violating  the  rights  of 
conscience,  masters  trained  in  a  spirit  of  Christian  charity, 
and  instructed  in  the  discipline  and  doctrine  of  the  Church, 
might  be  employed  in  the  mixed  schools  necessarily  con- 
nected with  public  establishments,  and  in  which  children 
of  persons  of  all  shades  of  religious  opinion  are  as- 
sembled." '•  What  was  wanted  was  an  entirely  new  system 
of  training.  To  conceive  that  a  few  months'  attendance 
at  a  Model  School  should  make  a  man  of  the  humblest 

1  Select  Committee  of  Education,  Minutes  of  Evidence,  1834. 

2  Four  Periods  of  Public  Education,  p.  426. 


•3-'  THE    TEACHEH. 

academic  attainments  acquainted  with  the  theory  of  its 
organisation,  convert  him  into  an  adept  in  its  methods,  or 
even  to  rivet  on  his  memory  any  but  the  least  significant 
factors,  "  is  a  mistake  too  shameful  to  be  permitted  to 
survive  its  universal  failure."  * 

The  training  college  was  to  be  imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  Pestalozzi.  It  was  to  train  a  race  of  teachers  who, 
with  the  expectation  of  little  pecuniary  recompense,  were 
to  devote  their  lives  to  the  education  of  poor  children  in 
workhouses  and  elsewhere.  Hence  they  must  be  trained 
to  habits  of  frugality  and  inured  to  manual  occupations. 
The  model  was  found  in  the  work  of  the  Christian 
Brothers  in  France  and  in  Vehrli's  Training  School  in 
Switzerland.  A  manor  house  with  five  acres  of  land  was 
purchased  at  Battersea,  and  two  types  of  students  were 
admitted  :  boys  over  13  years  of  age — pupil  teachers — 
from  the  Norwood  School  of  Industry,  and  young  men  20 
to  30  years  of  age.  The  former  were  to  stay  some  five 
years,  first  as  pupil  teachers  and  then  as  assistant  teachers. 
The  men  entered  only  for  one  year.  .  The  academic  attain- 
ments of  the  candidates  were  not  high.  They  were  formed 
into  two  groups  and  instructed  in  English,  mathematics, 
heat,  natural  history,  geography,  history,  religion,  draw- 
ing, music,  and  gymnastics,  according  to  the  most  ap- 
proved methods,  and  always  with  an  eye  to  the  practical 
utility  of  the  course  for  their  future  work.  Thus  arithme- 
tic was  taught  on  Pestalozziau  lines,  mechanics  by  dis- 
cussion of  every-clay  contrivances ;  heuristic  methods  were 
the  order  of  the  day ;  excursions  in  connection  with  the 
natural  history,  geography,  and  history  lessons  were  a 
recognised  part  of  the  work,  and  so  on.  In  addition  the 
students  were  given  a  practical  training  in  such  industrial 
occupations  as  were  suited  to  rural  districts — gardening, 
1  Four  Periods  of  Public  Education,  p.  410. 


THE    TEACHER.  343 

trenching,  management  of  animals,  putting  up  simple 
buildings,  etc.  They  were  also  required  to  perform  all 
the  domestic  duties  of  the  establishment.  Food  was 
plain  and  the  appointments  were  of  the  simplest.  Prac- 
tical training  in  teaching  was  provided  in  the  village 
school.  At  the  outset  of  the  experiment  the  working  day 
lasted  from  5.30  a.m.  to  9  p.m.,  variety  of  occupation  and 
a  good  deal  of  outdoor  work  taking  the  place  of  any 
interval  for  recreation.1 

The  foreign  note  about  the  whole  scheme  is  very  strik- 
ing. Experience  soon  proved  that  without  considerable 
modification  it  would  not  serve  its  purpose  in  this  country. 
The  founder  still  believed  in  the  soundness  of  the  under- 
lying principles,  but  the  scheme  as  arranged  turned  out 
teachers  unsuited  to  schools  save  in  quiet  rural  areas. 
In  large  towns  the  young  teachers  found  themselves  lack- 
ing in  the  worldly  wisdom  that  was  needed  to  adapt  their 
training  to  the  complicated  conditions  with  which  they 
were  confronted.  The  result  was  to  strengthen  in  the 
mind  of  the  founder  a  belief  in  the  pupil  teacher  system 
as  opposed  to  the  practice  of  secluding  students  from,  an 
early  age  in  a  college.  What  was  lost  in  this  way  was 
more  than  made  up  for,  he  felt,  by  the  familiarity  gained 
of  the  peculiar  circumstances  the  young  people  would 
later  have  to  deal  with.  Moreover  the  experiment  had 
convinced  him  that  a  training  college  course  begun  before 
18  years  of  age  was  of  very  little  value  owing  to  the 
immaturity  of  the  student.  In  1843  the  College  was 
transferred  to  the  National  Society.2 

1  See  Kay-Shuttleworth  :  Four  Periods  of  Public  Education,  pp. 
293-431. 

-  Ibid.  Compare  the  interesting  experiment  in  training  masters  for  work- 
house schools  at  Kneller  Hall.  See  Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Council, 
Vol.1.,  1851-2. 


344  THE    TEACHER. 

Meantime  great  activity  was  going  on  in  other  quarters. 
The  two  great  societies  had  been  definitely 
entrusted  ty  the  Committee  of  Council  with 

Training  the  work  of  training  teachers,  and  the  Govern - 

College  ment  grant  of  £10,000  had  been   divided 

Movement  .     . 

after  1839.         between  them.     Both  societies  set  to  work  to 

improve  their  central  training  schools  at 
the  Borough  Eoad  and  at  Westminster.  At  the  same 
time  the  National  Society  put  into  operation  its  scheme  for 
extending  the  facilities  for  training.  Many  of  the  provin- 
cial Model  Schools  were  improved  and  Diocesan  Training 
Institutes  were  immediately  established  in  the  Dioceses 
of  Chester,  Exeter,  Oxford,  Salisbury,  etc.  St.  Mark's 
College,  Chelsea,  was  opened  in  1841,  Whitelands  early 
in  the  following  year,  and  from  this  time  the  founding 
of  training  colleges  was  steadily  pushed  forward,  assisted 
by  a  capitation  building  grant  from  the  Committee  of 
Council  of  .£50  per  place  in  1844.  Model  schools  were 
also  assisted  on  the  same  terms  as  ordinary  schools.  A 
further  grant  of  <£10  per  head  was  contributed  by  the 
National  Society.  Homerton  was  opened  by  the  Congrega- 
tional Board  of  Education  (1845),  and  other  Nonconformist 
training  colleges  at  Eotherhithe,  and  for  Welsh  teachers 
at  Brecon — the  latter  being  afterwards  removed  to  Swansea. 
St.  Mary's,  Hammersmith,  was  established  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  Poor  School  Committee  in  1847,  and  two  colleges 
for  women  came  into  existence  eight  years  later. 

It  was,  however,  one  thing  to  open  training  colleges  and 
another  to  fill  them.  It  was  the  experience  of  the  next  few 
years  that  taught  men  that  the  first  step  towards  raising 
the  general  level  of  efficiency  in  schools  was  to  make  teach- 
ing more  attractive.  It  was  useless  to  attempt  to  fill  the 
colleges  with  students  who  were  physically  and  mentally 
unfitted  for  the  work,  who  had  "too  often  no  further 


THE    TEACHER.  345 

education  than  what  can  be  obtained  in  an  elementary 
school  of  average  character  during  the  usual  period  of 
attendance  till  13  years  of  age."  But  ill-adapted  as  this 
class  of  student  was,  their  number  was  barely  sufficient  to 
keep  the  schools  alive.  There  was  no  opportunity  for 
selection,  the  supply  was  imperfect  and  precarious,  and  the 
opening  up  of  other  sources  was  a  matter  of  urgency. 
Many  more  teachers  were  needed.  Schools  still  existed 
with  upwards  of  200  children  in  charge  of  a  single  master 
or  mistress,  while  the  average  number  of  pupils  per  teacher 
in  inspected  schools  in  the  North  of  England  was  80.  It 
was  necessary  to  reinforce  the  school  staffs  as  cheaply  as 
possible  and  to  replace  the  monitor,  now  fallen  into  dis- 
repute, by  something  better.1  In  order  to  appreciate  the 
difficulties  of  the  situation  we  must  remember  that  what- 
ever dignity  the  primary  school  has  to-day  was  altogether 
lacking  at  the  middle  of  last  century.  People  had  not  yet 
realised  that  elementary  education  is  necessarily  costly,  and 
even  if  they  had  realised  it,  there  was  nothing  like  adequate 
secondary  school  accommodation  to  provide  a  race  of  well- 
educated  teachers.  Indeed  the  movement  for  the  higher 
education  of  girls  even  of  the  middle  classes  had  not  yet 
begun. 

It   was  at   this   stage  that  the  Committee  of  Council 
definitely  took  in  hand  the  work  of  creating 

A  Semi-State     an  efficient  teaching  profession.     The  most 

Service  of  .   . 

Teachers.  promising  way   seemed   to    be    to    capture 

picked  boys  and  girls  and  apprentice  them  to 
the  head  master  or  mistress  as  had  been  done  at  Norwood, 

1  \Vith  the  general  school-leaving  age  being  very  low,  especially  in 
agricultural  and  manufacturing  districts,  the  monitorial  system  had  broken 
down  in  spite  of  valiant  efforts  to  secure  efficient  monitors.  The  youth  of 
these  individuals  had  shaken  the  confidence  of  parents  and  had  reacted  very 
seriously  upon  the  attendance  of  even  the  young  children. 


346  THE    TEACHER. 

and  at  the  same  time  to  improve  the  prospects    of   the 
teachers.     This  step  was  taken  in  1846. 

In  every  school  under  Government  inspection  one  or  more 

of  the  brightest  scholars  might  be  apprenticed 
The  Beginning  to  the  head  master  or  mistress  for  five  years 
Pupil6 Teacher  ^rom  ^  ^°  18,  providing  that  the  teacher  was 
System.  competent  to  conduct  the  apprentice  through 

the  stipulated  course  of  instruction  and  that 
the  school  conformed  to  certain  requirements  as  to  organi- 
sation, apparatus,  etc.  The  pupil  teachers  had  to  present 
themselves  for  examination  yearly,  and  if  they  acquitted 
themselves  creditably  the  Government  paid  the  master  or 
mistress  by  whom  they  had  been  trained  the  sum  of  <£5for 
one,  of  £9  for  two,  of  ,£12  for  three  pupil  teachers  and  £3 
per  annum  more  for  each  additional  apprentice.1  In  special 
cases,  where  a  head  teacher'  was  unable  to  conform  to  the 
whole  of  the  necessary  conditions,  "  stipendiary  monitors  " 
serving  for  a  period  of  four  years  might  be  appointed.  These 
were  required  to  pass  easier  examinations,  and  the  master 
drew  a  smaller  bonus  than  in  the  case  of  pupil  teachers.  The 
stipends  of  pupil  teachers  and  monitors  alike  were  paid  by 
the  Government.  These  ranged  from  £10  to  £20  and  from 
c£5  to  £12  10s.  respectively  according  to  the  length  of  ser- 
vice. In  many  cases  some  small  additional  rewards  of 
clothes  and  books  were  given  by  the  school  managers. 
At  the  close  of  the  apprenticeship  pupil  teachers  might 

submit  themselves  to  a  competitive  examiua- 

ScholarshiDs      ^ou  ^or  Queen's  Scholarships  which  would 

admit  them  to  a  training  college  for  three 

years.     Unsuccessful  candidates  who  had  acquitted  them- 

1  Au  additional  grant  was  given  for  training  the  pupil  teacher  in  gardening, 
workshop  practice,  or  in  the  case  of  girls  domestic  economy,  including  cookery 
and  laundry  work.  Head  teachers  were  required  to  instruct  pupil  teachers 
Is  hours  per  day  out  of  school  hours. 


THE    TEACHER.  347 

selves  creditably  might  be  offered  posts  in  tbe  Civil  Service. 
At  the  close  of  each  year  of  training  a  Certificate  Examina- 
tion offering  three  degrees  of  merit  was  to  be  held,  on  the 
result  of  which  large  grants  were  to  be  paid  to  the  training 
college.  The  object  of  this  was  to  produce  greater  efficiency 
and  at  the  same  time  to  give  much  needed  financial  assist- 
ance to  training  colleges.1 

A  similar  Acting  Teachers'  examination  for  granting 
certificates  to  those  who  had  not  been  through  a  Normal 
school  was  provided  for. 

In  connection  with  these  certificates  liberal  grants  were 
paid  by  the  Government.  These  grants  were 
Attempts  to  intended  to  provide  a  basis  for  a  scale  of 
Attractive.  salaries  that  was  calculated  to  make  elemen- 
tary teaching  more  attractive.  According 
as  a  teacher  had  spent  one,  two,  or  three  years  in  a  train- 
ing college  he  received  grants  of  ,£15-18,  =£20-23,  and 
<£25-30,  the  actual  sum  depending  upon  whether  he  held 
a  first,  second,  or  third  class  certificate.  These  payments 
were,  however,  subject  to  the  condition  that  the  school 
managers  provided  a  house  and  a  further  salary  of  at  least 
twice  the  amount  of  the  Government  grant,  and  that  the 
teacher  continued  to  receive  a  satisfactory  report  from  the 
inspector.  The  scale  of  payments  to  schoolmistresses  was 
two-thirds  of  that  to  men.  At  the  same  time  a  pension 
scheme  was  proposed  for  teachers  having  a  minimum  of 

1  The  average  expense  per  student  per  annum  in  a  Normal  school  was 
estimated  at  £50.  Under  the  new  conditions  the  training  college  would 
obtain  for  every  student  grants  of  £20  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  £25  at 
the  end  of  the  second,  and  £30  at  the  close  of  the  third  year,  providing  he 
obtained  in  each  year  the  Government  certificate  of  merit.  In  other  words, 
the  Government  proposed  to  spend  in  educating  a  male  teacher  £190 ;  £/5 
during  apprenticeship,  £20  to  £25  as  a  scholarship,  £75  paid  to  the  training 
college,  besides  an  additional  £15  to  £20  paid  to  the  master  of  the  school 
where  he  served  as  a  pupil  teacher.  The  value  of  a  scholarship  in  women's 
colleges  was  in  1850  made  equal  to  two-thirds  that  awarded  a  man. 


348  THE    TEACHER. 

15  years'  service.  This  did  not  come  into  operation  until 
five  years  later.1  Within  two  years  over  2,000  pupil 
teachers  had  been  apprenticed. 

At  this  time  a  great  deal  of  variety  existed  among  the 

different  training  colleges.  In  the  absence 
General  of  tradition  to  guide  them,  they  showed  wide 

ProfesSnaT  differences  in  the  nature  and  length  of  the 
Training.  training  they  offered,  in  the  character  of  the 

curriculum  and  in  the  age  at  which  students 
were  admitted.  Some  provided  a  course  stretching  over  a 
period  of  from  one  to  three  years.  In  others  students 
might  leave  at  the  end  of  three  months.  Borough  Road 
concentrated  attention  on  professional  training,  St.  Mark's, 
Chelsea,  and  the  majority  of  the  other  colleges  devoted 
their  energies  to  advancing  the  general  education  of  the 
students.  Thus  we  are  told  that  in  1846  there  was  little 
to  distinguish  St.  Mark's  "  from  the  schools  of  the  upper 
and  middle  class  or  as  a  place  for  the  education  of  teachers 
rather  than  any  other  class  of  persons,"  and  the  question 
that  troubled  the  onlooker  was  how  far  all  this  was  fitting 
the  students  for  their  work  as  teachers.  The  problem  of 
the  relative  emphasis  to  lay  upon  academic  and  upon  pro- 
fessional work  had  in  fact  already  arisen,  and  within  the 
next  few  years  it  was  decided  in  favour  of  furthering  the 
general  education  of  the  students  and  putting  the  study  of 
"  school  management "  on  a  level  with  any  other  subjects. 

1  The  amount  to  be  distributed  in  pensions  was  limited  to  £6,500  per 
aim  inn  and  the  maximum  pension  to  £30.  These  various  benefits  were 
extended  as  a  result  of  a  petition  from  the  British  Schoolmasters'  Associa- 
tion to  untrained  certificated  teachers.  See  Minutesof  Committeeof  Council, 
1846,  pp.  16-17-  Lord  Lingen,  in  evidence  before  the  Cross  Commission, 
maintained  that  the  purpose  of  this  pension  scheme  was  to  aid  in  the  removal 
of  inefficient  teachers,  just  as  the  augmentation  grants  were  to  aid  in  attract- 
ing better  teachers.  (Report,  p.  83.)  It  is  certain,  however,  that  the 
teachers  themselves  did  not  read  it  in  this  way. 


THE    TEACHER.  349 

The  students  were  picked  up,  as  it  were,  by  accident. 

Many  had  no  previous  experience  of  teaching 

The  Low  an(j  few  kaci  more  than  they  might  have 

Attainments         i  ,    •      j    i  i  •         •  a      j  LI 

of  Students.       obtained  by  teaching  in  a  Sunday   school. 

Their  age  might  vary  anywhere  between  16 
and  33.  They  had  generally  everything  to  learn  and  the 
qualifications  for  admission  were  uniformly  low.  At  St. 
Mark's,  for  example,  one  of  the  best  colleges  of  the  day, 
they  were  required  "  to  read  English  prose  with  propriety, 
to  spell  correctly  from  dictation,  to  write  a  good  hand,  to 
be  well  acquainted  with  the  outlines  of  Scripture  history, 
and  to  show  considerable  readiness  in  working  the  funda- 
mental rules  of  arithmetic."  The  reports  of  inspectors 
show  that  even  these  meagre  attainments  were  imperfectly 
acquired.  Thus  we  read  of  colleges  where  "  few  students 
could  read  with  correct  emphasis  or  just  expression,  who 
had  not  overcome  the  mechanical  difficulties  of  reading, 
and  whose  compositions  showed  such  a  defective  education 
as  to  make  it  questionable  whether  they  ought  to  be  allowed 
under  any  circumstances  to  teach." 

In  spite  of  this  the  training  college  curriculum  was 
generally  conspicuously  ambitious.  In  1844 
Defects  of  we  find  colleges  attempting  to  teach  four  or 
CoUee^  ^ve  subjects  such  as  algebra,  Euclid,  tri- 
Curricula.  gonoinetry,  mechanics,  chemistry,  and  land- 
surveying,  Greek  and  Roman  history,  Latin 
and  Greek,  etc.  The  work  was  necessarily  characterised 
by  superficiality  ;  it  appealed  entirely  to  the  memory  and 
ignored  principles.  The  following  is  typical  of  the  criticism 
directed  against  these  establishments  in  1847.  "  Why 
should  we,  in  our  Training  Colleges,  set  at  nought  the 
principles  on  which  instruction  in  our  best  schools  and  our 
Universities  is  founded,  viz.,  that  of  teaching  well  a  limited 
number  of  subjects Let  us  see  that  the  trained 


350  THE    TEACHEE. 

master  possesses  the  knowledge  which  he  will  be  called 
upon  to  communicate  ;  and  more,  let  us  lay  in  his  mind 
a  sound  scientific  foundation  for  every  part  of  this  know- 
ledge to  rest  steadily  upon  ;  so  that  the  structure  may  have 
connection,  unity,  and  completeness,  as  far  as  it  extends. 
If  we  send  forth  the  teacher  to  the  discharge  of  his  lowly 
but  momentous  duties  with,  in  most  cases,  only  a  moderate 
range  of  attainment,  let  us  provide  that  he  have  acquired 
such  a  readiness  on  all  that  concerns  the  art  of  teaching  as 
will  render  his  knowledge  at  once  available.  Nothing  like 
this  has  yet  been  satisfactorily  realised,  by  any  of  our 
Training  Colleges,  and  perhaps  they  might  have  approached 
more  nearly  to  it  had  their  aim  been  more  strictly  limited, 
to  a  range  defined  by  the  practical  objects  for  which  they 
have  been  instituted."  1 

Whether  the  colleges  were  entirely  to   blame  in   this 

respect  is  doubtful,  for  at  this  time  the  Corn- 
Responsibility  mittee  of  Council  itself  had  adopted  an  over- 
Committee  of  sangui116  view  of  the  situation.  The  exami- 
Council.  nation  questions  set  to  individual  training 

colleges  were  often  highly  absurd  and  calcu- 
lated to  perpetuate  wrong  standards.  Thus  we  find  candi- 
dates being  required  to  outline  the  history  of  China  in  a 
question  on  a  geography  paper,  "  to  trace  briefly  the  changes 
of  government  which  Athens,  Sparta,  and  Rome  underwent 
previous  to  the  commencement  of  modern  history  "  as  the 
first  of  seven  questions  on  general  history,  and  the  like. 
After  six  years'  experience  of  this  sort  of  "  training,"  the 
Committee  of  Council  made  provision  for  the  establishment 
of  a  three  years'  course  for  all  students,  an  ideal  that  has 
still  to  be  realised  for  the  majority  to-day,  and  at  the  same 
time  it  proposed  a  certificate  examination  which,  in  view 

1  Committee  of  Council  Minutes,  1S17-8,  II.,  p.  537. 


THE    TEACHER.  351 

of  the  defective  state  of  education,  seems  to  spread  itself 
somewhat  unnecessarily  and  did  little  or  nothing  to  check 
the  waste  of  energy  that  was  the  cardinal  weakness  of 
training  college  instruction.  Thus  candidates  were  to 
exhibit  in  writing  a  competent  ability  in  religious  know- 
ledge (in  Church  schools),  English  grammar  and  para- 
phrasing, English  history,  general  geography,  especially 
the  descriptive,  physical  and  historical  geography  of  the 
British  Empire  and  Palestine,  arithmetic,  Euclid,  Books 
I.  and  II.,  algebra  as  far  as  simple  equations,  the  elements 
of  mechanics,  popular  astronomy,  and  the  composition  of 
the  notes  of  a  lesson  or  some  observations  on  the  practical 
duties  of  a  teacher.  One  or  two  of  the  following  might, 
however,  be  substituted  and  indeed  were  necessary  for 
a  higher  class  certificate — vocal  music,  drawing  from 
models,  history  and  etymology  of  the  English  language, 
modern  history,  ancient  history,  physical  science,  higher 
mathematics,  Latin  and  Greek.1 

Much  was  hoped  from  the  pupil  teacher  system  which 
The  Trainine  was  *°  ^ring  the  first  batch  of  Queen's 
Colleges  Scholars  into  the  training  colleges  in  1852 

between  vrith  attainments  much  in  advance  of  what 

1846  and  1856.    .,,,,.,,  ,  .,  ,  ^     ^     f 

it   had   hitherto  been  possible   to  look  tor. 

Besides  skill  in  vocal  music,  drawing  and  teaching,  these 
students  would  have  passed  through  "an  elementary 
course  in  religion,  in  English  grammar  and  composition, 
in  the  history  of  their  country,  in  arithmetic,  algebra, 
mensuration,  the  rudiments  of  mechanics,  in  the  art  of 
land-surveying  and  levelling,  in  geography,  and  such  ele- 

1  Women  substituted  natural  history,  bookkeeping  and  needlework  for 
the  more  mathematical  part  of  the  men's  syllabus.     At  St.  Mark's,  Chelsea, 
Latin  and  Greek  were  still  included  in  the  curriculum ;  at  Chester,  optics 
and  the  properties  of  bodies,  land-surveying  and  agricultural  chemistry 
at  York,  natural  philosophy  and  natural  history,  logic,  Latin  and  Greek. 


352  THE    TEACHER. 

merits  of  nautical  astronomy  as  are  comprised  in  the  use 
of  the  globes."  Additional  accommodation  was  provided 
to  meet  the  anticipated  demand,  but  the  results  were  dis- 
appointing. There  was  nothing  like  the  readiness  to  enter 
the  training  colleges  that  had  been  expected.  Moreover 
few  students  showed  any  willingness  to  stay  more  than 
12  months.  Accordingly  the  colleges  were  experiencing 
severe  financial  strain,  and  at  the  same  time  the  value  of 
the  work  that  they  were  doing  was  being  more  and  more 
called  in  question.  First  their  syllabuses  were  restricted 
so  as  to  emphasise  the  study  of  those  subjects  that  are 
taught  in  primary  schools.1  A  common  examination  was 
set  to  all  colleges,  and  grants  were  made  to  encourage 
more  efficient  staffing.  The  Queen's  Scholarship  Exami- 
nation was  thrown  open  to  all  over  18  years  of  age  regard- 
less of  whether  they  had  been  apprenticed  or  not.  Every 
inducement  was  made  to  get  ex-pupil  teachers  to  enter  the 
colleges  and  to  stay  there  at  least  two  years.  To  begin 
with,  the  number  of  Queen's  Scholars  in  any  college  was 
restricted  to  25  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  taking 
courses  of  one  year  and  upwards.  This  restriction  was 
now  abolished.  Efforts  were  made  to  induce  training 
colleges  to  cease  acting  as  secondary  schools  and  to  bestow 
more  attention  on  professional  training.  Such  was  the 
position  in  1856. 

1  Subjects  of  examination  1856. — Religious  knowledge,  arithmetic, 
grammar  and  English  language,  school  management,  reading,  spelling, 
penmanship,  class  teaching,  history,  geography,  drawing,  music, 
geometry,  mechanics,  algebra  or  Latin  (these  four  in  first  year  only), 
physical  science,  higher  mathematics,  English  literature  or  Latin  (all  in 
second  year  only).  In  the  third  year  one  of  the  following  subjects  might  be 
taken  in  addition  to  religious  knowledge,  school  management,  vocal 
music  and  drawing,  viz.  mental  science  as  applied  to  education,  experi- 
mental science,  higher  mathematics,  languages — Latin,  Greek,  German 
or  French,  history,  English  literature. 


THE    TEACHER.  353 

The  Rev.  F.  Temple's l  Report  on  Church  Training  Col- 
leges for  this  year  presents  a  masterly  survey 
Report  81856  °^  ^ie  situation.  The  work  in  these  institu- 
tions was  characterised  as  generally  good 
and  steadily  improving,  and  the  limitation  of  the  training 
college  syllabus  had  been  beneficial  to  both  lecturer  and 
students.  The  practice  that  had  been  instituted  of  testing 
the  proficiency  of  the  actual  training  by  making  second 
year  students  teach  before  an  inspector  had  had  the  result 
of  checking  undue  attention  to  academic  subjects.  Various 
changes  were,  however,  still  necessary.  Far  too  much  of 
the  training  consisted  in  acquiring  facility  in  giving  oral 
lessons,  and  no  other  type  of  lesson  was  ever  presented  at 
a  training  college  inspection.  This  was  a  mistake,  seeing 
that  the  business  of  the  schoolmaster  was  "  not  so  much 
to  teach  as  to  make  the  children  learn."  Equal  attention 
ought  to  be  given  to  the  other  activities  that  enter  into 
school  work,  not  only  as  far  as  different  types  of  lessons 
were  concerned  but  with  regard  to  the  general  mangement 
and  organisation  of  the  school.  Again,  every  training 
college  needed  to  have  associated  with  it  two  types  of 
school,  one  a  demonstration  school  in  the  highest  sense 
of  the  term  under  specially  skilled  teachers,  where 
students  went  not  to  teach  but  to  study,  where  they 
went  with  definite  questions  in  mind  and  sought  for 
an  answer  to  them.  The  other  was  a  practising  school, 
where  they  might  endeavour  to  put  into  practice  what 
they  had  learnt  both  in  lectures,  by  reading  and  by  obser- 
vation. 

Moreover,  far  more  attention  needed  to  be  given  to 
presenting  students  with  good  models  of  teaching  by  the 
training  college  staff.  No  member  had  a  right  on  such  a 

1  Afterwards  Headmaster  of  Rugby,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  Bishop  of  London, 
»nd  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 

H.  ED.  23 


354  THE    TEACHER. 

staff  who  was  not  himself  a  good  teacher,  and  each  lecturer 
ought  to  be  made  responsible  for  the  special  method  of 
his  own  subject ;  in  all  his  lecturing  he  ought  to  have  in 
view  the  special  needs  of  training  college  students.  So 
far  as  lectiires  on  teaching  were  concerned,  the  great  need 
of  the  day  was  simplicity,  the  abandonment  of  abstract 
verbiage  that  meant  nothing  to  anybody,  and  a  real  deter- 
mination to  come  down  and  study  the  problems  that 
actually  confronted  the  teacher.  Lecturers  required  a  far 
better  preparation  for  their  work.  He  would  have  them 
study  the  science  and  history  of  education  and  the  sys- 
tems and  methods  of  teaching,  but  he  was  sceptical  of  the 
value  of  contemporary  psychology.  "  Mental  Science  is  in 
general  too  abstract,  too  removed  from  all  practical  appli- 
cations to  be  of  much  real  value  to  a  normal  master." 
Indeed  he  would  altogether  discourage  the  study  of  psy- 
chology by  training  college  students.  The  position  is 
incongruous,  but  few  will  deny  that  psychology  is  better 
left  alone  than  taught  badly. 

Finally,  he  altogether  dissociated  himself  from  any 
attempt  to  relax  the  standard  of  the  certificate  examina- 
tions, on  the  ground  that,  in  spite  of  apparent  exceptions, 
an  ill-informed,  ill-educated  person  can  never  make  a  good 
teacher. 

By  1860  the  training  college  system  was  in  full  work- 
Superioritv  *u^  order,  and  some  34  colleges  were  provid- 
of  Trained  ing  accommodation  for  2,388  students,  an 
over  Untrained  increase  of  18  colleges  and  1,397  places  in 
Teachers.  HIT  •  •*  f 

ten  years.1  Oil  all  hands  the  superiority  of 

the  trained  over  the  untrained  teacher  was  admitted.  '  "  As 
a  class  they  are  marked,  men  and  women,  by  a  quickness 
of  ear  and  eye,  a  quiet  energy,  a  facility  of  command,  and 

1  The  number  of  pupil  teachers  in  1861  was  13,871 . 


THE    TEACHEK.  355 

a  patient  self-conti-ol,  which,  with  rare  exceptions,  are  not 
observed  in  the  private  instructors  of  the  poor."  l  This 
commendation  is  borne  out  by  results.  Taking  the  686 
schools  in  one  inspectorial  district,  470  under  trained  and 
215  under  untrained  teachers,  and  dividing  them  into 
good,  fair  and  inferior,  it  was  found  that  of  the  former 
24  per  cent,  were  good,  49  per  cent,  fair,  27  per  cent, 
inferior ;  of  the  latter,  3  per  cent,  were  good,  39  per  cent, 
fair,  58  per  cent,  inferior.2 

Much   of   the   credit   for   this  was  given  to  the  pupil 

teacher  system.  The  reports  of  inspectors 
The  Pupil  speak  highly  of  the  pupil  teachers.  Matthew 
System  at  Arnold  refers  to  them  as  the  "  sinews  of 
Work.  English  primary  instruction."  In  ordinary 

power  of  class  management  they  were  often 
superior  to  the  older  type  of  teacher,  but  the  system  was 
open  to  criticism.  It  was  being  used  as  a  means  of  cheap 
staffing.  To  prevent  this,  in  1859  the  number  of  ap- 
prentices allowed  was  one  to  every  40  children,  and  a 
maximum  of  four  under  any  one  master  or  mistress. 
There  was  also  the  objection  that  the  pupil  teachers  had 
too  heavy  a  day.  Some  5£  hours  were  given  to  teach- 
ing, half  an  hour  to  looking  after  books  and  apparatus, 
1^  hours  to  lessons,  and  whatever  time  remained  was 
available  for  private  study.  The  result  was  that  not 
uncommonly  a  great  accumulation  of  facts  would  be 
found,  allied  to  a  low  degree  of  mental  culture  and 
general  intelligence.3  This  had  an  inevitable  effect  on 
the  value  of  their  work  as  teachers.  They  are  described 
as  being  often  "too  pedantic,  too  mechanical,  and  too 
much  lost  in  routine."  Their  teaching  was  apt  to  be 

1  Newcastle  Commission  Report,  p.  151. 

2  Newcastle  Commission  Report,  p.  149. 

3  Matthew  Arnold's  Report,  1852,  quoted  in  Newcastle  Report,  p.  106, 


356  THE    TEACHEE. 

"  meagre,  dry,  and  empty,"  or  it  would  go  to  the  oppo- 
site extreme  of  "  presumption  and  ostentation."  How- 
ever well  they  might  "  manage  "  their  classes,  there  was 
little  of  the  elements  present  that  make  for  real  discipline 
and  for  inciting  to  learn. 

Important  changes  affecting  both  teachers  and  training 
colleges    were   introduced   by    the    Revised 
the^Revfsed       Code.     Mr.  Lowe  had  denied  that  there  was 
Code.  such    a    thing   as   a   science   of   education. 

Building  grants  to  training  colleges  ceased, 
and  a  new  and  narrower  curriculum  was  imposed.  It  was 
in  fact  an  elementary  school  syllabus  magnified  and  made 
more  difficult.1  The  same  syllabus  was  retained  for  pupil 
teachers.  Students  were  then  kept  grinding  at  the  same 
subjects,  each  very  limited  in  range,  for  seven  or  eight 
years.  Anything  more  deadening  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine.  A  premium  was  immediately  set  on  memoris- 
ing. The  most  trivial  details  were  attended  to  and 
learnt,  while  anything  calculated  to  broaden  the  outlook 
and  to  increase  the  cultivation  of  the  individual  was 
conspicuously  absent. 

For  the  old  agreement  between  the  master  and  appren- 
tice   was   substituted    one    between    pupil 
PupiPTeachers  teacher  and  managers.     Instead  of  continu- 
ing to  pay  the  salaries  of  pupil  teachers,  the 
Committee  of  Council  made  a  grant  to  the  managers,  who 
were  left  to  make  what  terms  they  liked  with  the  pupil 
teachers.     Under  the  old  conditions  salaries  had  averaged 
£15,  now  they  averaged  <£13  9s.  for  boys  and  ,£12  15s.  for 
girls.     This,  combined  with  the  withdrawal  of  payments 

1  It  comprised  for  men  religious  knowledge,  arithmetic,  reading,  spelling, 
penmanship,  history,  geography,  geometry,  political  economy,  music,  and 
drawing.  For  women,  sewing  and  cutting  out  and  domestic  science  took 
the  place  of  political  economy,  geometry,  and  algebra. 


tttE  TEACHER.  357 

direct  to  certificated  teachers,  resulted  in  makiug  elemen- 
tary teaching  less  attractive.  By  1866  the  number  of 
pupil  teachers  had  fallen  to  8,866,  a  drop  of  more  than 
one-third,1  and  the  standard  of  the  Queen's  Scholarship 
examination  had  to  be  lowered.  At  the  same  time  there 
was  a  fall  in  the  staifing  of  schools.  The  ideal  had  been 
one  pupil  teacher  or  an  equivalent  adult  teacher  for 
every  25  scholars.  In  1861  the  ratio  was  1  to  36,  by 
1866  it  had  fallen  to  1  in  54.  The  threatened  shortage 
of  teachers  induced  the  Government  to  give  an  extra 
capitation  grant  to  encourage  better  staffing,  and  extra 
grants  were  paid  on  the  results  of  the  scholarship  and 
certificate  examinations.  By  1868  the  number  of  pupil 
teachers  was  over  eleven  thousand,  and  by  1870  was 
14.621.2 

The  history  of  the  next  20  years  may  be  conveniently 

summarised  round  the  Report  of  the  Cross 
Doubts  about  Commission.  The  coining  of  the  School 
Teacher  Boards  had  done  something  to  restore  for 

System.  the   time   being   the   attractiveness   of    the 

elementally  teaching  profession.  Various 
attempts  were  made  to  improve  the  pupil  teacher  system. 
The  system  of  examination  grants  was  revised,  the  age  of 
apprenticeship  was  raised  from  13  to  14,  and  efforts  were 
made  to  attract  a  somewhat  different  type  of  pupil  teacher 
by  relaxing  the  number  of  years  of  apprenticeship  to  those 
who  had  attained  a  higher  standard  of  education.  The 
signs  were  unmistakable  that  the  pupil  teacher  system 
had  begun  to  raise  exactly  the  same  kind  of  doubts  in  the 
minds  of  many  observers  as  the  old  monitorial  system 
that  it  had  replaced.  Much  of  this  was  undoubtedly 

1  See  ante,  p.  35 1. 

-  Between   1860  and   1870   the   number   of   training   colleges   remained 
stationary  and  the  total  accommodation  ouly  increased  by  about  100. 


358  THE    TEACHEft. 

due  to  the  steady  rising  of  the  educational  standard  of 
the  day  and  the  competition  of  the  assistant  teacher. 
The  assistant  teacher  was  an  outcome  of  the  pupil 
teacher  system.  He  was  generally  an  old  ex-pupil  teacher, 
who  might  or  might  not  be  certificated,  and  was  ob- 
viously a  more  useful  and  efficient  member  of  a  school 
staff.  In  other  words,  a  higher  ideal  of  what  the  staff 
of  an  elementary  school  ought  to  be  was  coming  over 
the  country.  One  result  of  this  was  seen  in  the  demand 
that  first-year  pupil  teachers  should  not  be  counted  on 
school  staffs  at  all. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  realised  that  the  plan  of  making 

a  head  teacher  responsible  for  the  academic 
Rise  of  Pupil  education  of  the  apprentice  was  unwise,  in 
Centres.  that  it  presupposed  qualifications  that  only 

the  exceptional  teacher  could  be  expected  to 
possess.  The  result  of  this  feeling  was  seen  in  the  move- 
ment for  Pupil  Teachers'  Centres  that  arose  about  1875. 
Owing  to  various  causes  they  did  not  come  into  operation 
until  1881.  Further  advance  was  made  in  1884,  when  pupil 
teachers  were  not  required  to  teach  more  than  half  time, 
and  might  attend  classes  for  general  instruction  at  pupil 
teachers'  centres  during  the  day,  instead  of  as  hitherto 
during  the  evening.  The  system  was  one  that  was  par- 
ticularly suited  to  large  centres  of  population,  and  it 
spread  rapidly  to  all  parts  of  the  country.  It  was  the 
object  of  much  conflicting  opinion.  Many  saw  in  it  the 
germs  of  a  reformed  pupil  teacher  system.  Others,  among 
them  some  of  the  best  elementary  school  teachers,  con- 
scious of  the  interest  they  had  taken  in  their  pupil 
teachers,  were  opposed  to  the  change.  Looking  back,  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  doubt  that  the  establishment  of  Centres 
was  a  tacit  admission  of  the  breakdown  of  the  old  pupil 
teacher  system. 


THE    TEACHER.  359 

The  Report  of  the  Cross  Commission  (1888)  shows  a 
marked  divergence  of  opinion  with  regard  to 

Divergent  pupil  teachers,  and  affords    additional   evi- 

Views  of 

the  Cross  dence   that   the   system   was   being  rapidly 

Commissioners,  outgrown.  The  Commissioners  were  unani- 
mous as  to  the  value  of  central  classes,  and 
the  majority  concurred  with  the  senior  inspectors  of  the 
Education  Department  that  there  was  no  "  equally  trust- 
worthy source  from  which  an  adequate  supply  of  teachers  " 
was  likely  to  be  forthcoming,  and  with  modifications  for 
the  improvement  of  their  education  the  apprenticeship  of 
pupil  teachers  ought  to  be  upheld.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  minority  were  of  opinion  that  the  pupil  teacher  sys- 
tem was  the  weakest  part  of  the  educational  machinery, 
and  that  the  best  security  for  good  teachers  would  be  a 
prolonged  period  of  preliminary  education.  "  The  com- 
plaint is  general  that  the  pupil  teachers  teach  badly,  and 
are  badly  taught,  .  .  .  and  the  remarkable  thing  is  that  the 
witnesses,  while  complaining  generally  of  the  backward- 
ness and  ignorance  of  pupil  teachers,  lay  special  stress  on 
their  inability  to  teach  and  on  their  ignorance  of  school 
management."  They  emphasised  their  argument  by  point- 
ing out  the  crude  and  unprepared  state  in  which  students 
entered  training  colleges.  The  Centre  system  was  a  pal- 
liative so  long  as  the  hours  during  which  pupil  teachers 
were  required  to  teach  were  diminished,  but  it  could  not 
be  regarded  as  a  final  arrangement.  The  result  of  the 
Report  was  to  set  the  pupil  teacher  system  on  its  trial. 
Meantime  developments  of  importance  were  taking  place 
with  regard  to  the  training  colleges.  The 
Training  importance  of  training  was  being  more  and 

College  Ac-        more  recognised.     For  some  years  previous 
commodation.    to  188g  the  number  of  persOns  admitted  as 

pupil  teachers  varied  from  8,000  to   9,000   per   annum, 


860  I  UK    TKACHEtt. 

and  about  6,000  completed  their  apprenticeship  each 
year.  Theoretically  all  those  who  passed  in  the  first 
or  second  class  of  the  Queen's  Scholarship  examina- 
tion were  eligible  to  enter  a  training  college,  and  the 
colleges  who  were  free  to  do  so  usually  chose  those  who 
were  highest  on  the  list.  In  1888  there  was  training 
college  accommodation  for  about  1,600  students  per 
annum.  In  the  same  year  over  2,800  were  eligible  by 
their  place  on  the  scholarship  list  for  admission.  There 
was  thus  a  considerable  shortage  of  accommodation, 
although  there  were  nine  more  colleges  in  existence  than 
in  1870.1  The  situation  was  further  complicated  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  majority  of  the  colleges  belonged  to 
the  Church  of  England,  and  only  eight  were  undenomi- 
national. Of  these  six  belonged  to  the  British  and  Foreign 
Society.2 

With  such  a  choice  of   material  it    would  have  been 
surprising  if  the  training  colleges  at    this 
Growing  time  had  not  been  doing  good  work.     They 

Training  had  to  a  great  extent  outgrown  the  warping 

College  influence  of  the  restricted  curriculum  that 

was  imposed  in  1862.  Since  1870  it  had 
been  possible  for  students  to  enter  for  various  science  sub- 
jects under  the  Science  and  Art  Department.  Extra 
grants  were  earned  in  this  way,  and  additional  marks  were 

1  Allowance  must  of  course  be  made  for  those  who  had  no  intention  of 
entering  a  training  college. 
-  The  data  of  the  forty-three  colleges  were  as  follows  : — 

Colleges.          Accommodation.  Students. 

Church  of  England     30          2,232,  i.e.  66'3  per  cent.  2,210 

Undenominational         2              151     ,,     4'5         ,,  147 
Undenominational 

Brit.  &  For.  Soc.      6              517    ,,    15'3        „  515 

Wesleyan                       2              240    ,,     7'1        ,,  227 

Roman  Catholic             3             238    „     67  173 


THE    TEACHER.  361 

awarded  iu  the  certificate  examination.  The  effect  had 
been  to  give  a  somewhat  undue  importance  to  certain 
science  subjects  in  the  colleges.  Later  languages  and 
political  economy  also  found  a  place,  and  these  together 
with  science  were  allowed  as  alternative  subjects  in  the 
certificate  examination.  The  latitude  that  had  resulted 
had  enabled  the  best  colleges  to  prepare  students  for  the 
degree  examinations  of  the  London  University.  At  the 
same  time  the  demand  for  a  three-year  course  arose  in 
various  quarters,  and  attention  was  directed  to  the  question 
of  bringing  picked  students  directly  under  University  in- 
fluence. 

In  spite  of  these  results  a  good  deal  of  criticism  was 
directed  against  the  colleges  on  various 
Criticism  of  grounds.  The  working  hours  were  too 
Colleges.  long,1  too  much  was  done  for  the  students, 

many  of  the  colleges  were  very  ill-equipped 
for  science  teaching,  the  staffs  were  too  largely  recruited 
from  old  students,  with  the  result  that  there  tended  to 
be  a  certain  narrowness  about  the  work,  and  the  outlook 
was  too  parochial.  The  minority  report  of  the  Cross 
Commission  suggested  that  what  the  colleges  as  a  whole 
needed  was  "  not  a  more  extensive  curriculum,  but  a 
more  thorough  and  intellectual  study  of  the  matters  in- 
cluded in  the  curriculum ;  lecturers  who  shall  combine 
a  wide  knowledge  of  their  subject  with  the  technical 
ability  in  handling  classes."  Moreover  more  variety 
both  in  type  of  student  and  of  training  college  was 
required. 

What  the  colleges  at  this  period  were  like  as  viewed  from 
within  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  extracts. 
Speaking  of  women's  colleges  in  1886  Sir  Joshua  Fitch 

1  At  Battersea,  for  example,  in  1887  the  seniors  had  32j  hours'  lectures 
and  class  work  per  week,  and  22  hours'  private  study. 


362  THE    TEACHEK. 

reported :  "  The  teaching  staff  of  the  colleges  consists  very 
largely  of  certificated  governesses  selected  on  the  ground 
of  their  success  as  college  students  or  as  mistresses  of 
schools,  but  with  necessarily  limited  reading  and  intel- 
lectual experience,  and  often  with  salaries  inferior  to 
those  of  the  mistresses  in  Board  Schools.  The  teaching, 
therefore,  though  for  the  most  part  extremely  careful 
and  conscientious,  is  often  sadly  lacking  in  breadth  and 
vigour." 

The  following  is  a  description  by  an  old  student  of  a 
London  college  for  men  in  1875.  It  must  not,  however, 
be  regarded  as  applicable  in  detail  to  all : — 

"...  during  the  seventies,  the  students,  about  130  in  number, 
had  no  place  for  recreation  worthy  of  the  name,  no  library  and 
reading-room  ;  no  pictures  appeared  on  the  walls  of  the  dingy 
class-rooms,  and  there  were  no  facilities  for  sitting  out  of  doors  or 
meeting  in  the  open  air. 

The  paved  yard  of  irregular  shape,  surrounded  by  forbidding 
walls,  was  all  too  small  even  for  the  ordinary  drill  exercises  taken 
once  a  week,  in  two  sections  ;  whilst  the  small  and  badly-equipped 
gymnasium  could  only  be  used  by  a  few  men  at  a  time — the  en- 
thusiasts in  boxing  and  Indian  club  exercises.  In  short,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  College  authorities  made  practically  no  provision  for 
pli3rsical  exercises  and  games. 

Recreation  took  the  form  mainly  of  walking  through  the  neigh- 
bouring streets  for  an  hour  before  dinner  and  half-an-hour  before 
tea. 

The  ordinary  class-rooms  were  used  for  recreative  reading  after 
class  hours,  and  few  men  could  find  a  comfortable  place  in  which  to 
sit,  and  in  winter  the  fires  could  be  approached  by  only  a  small 
section  of  those  who  needed  warmth  and  brightness.  Magazines 
and  newspapers  were  purchased  by  the  students  from  funds 
subscribed  by  them  and  handed  to  a  committee  of  their  fellow 
students,  duly  elected  to  perform  the  necessary  duties. 

Similarly,  concerts  and  debates  were  organised  by  the  men,  and 
these  (all  of  them  interesting,  some  ennobling)  took  place  at  regular 


TEACHES.  363 

intervals  after  the  classes  were  closed  for  the  day.  The  resident 
superintendent  took  a  personal  interest  in  these  meetings,  and  the 
men  were  encouraged  by  his  presence  and  commendation.  The 
principal  class-room — '  The  Theatre  '—was  used  on  such  occasions. 

The  men  slept  in  cubicles,  separated  by  wooJen  partitions  some 
6  feet  high,  arranged  in  long  rows  down  the  corridor  '  landings.' 
The  rooms  were  plainly  furnished,  but  scrupulously  clean.  No  real 
privacy  was  possible ;  and  during  the  winter  the  bedrooms  were 
subjected  to  draughts  and  were  bitterly  cold."  l 

Much  criticism  was  directed  against  the  denominational 
character  of  the  majority  of  the  training  colleges,  but  the 
majority  of  the  Commissioners  did  not  see  their  way  to 
recommend  that  these  should  be  thrown  open  to  all  and 
made  subject  to  a  conscience  clause.  Instead  they  recom- 
mended that  experiments  should  be  undertaken  in  the 
establishment  of  Day  Training  Colleges  in  localities  where 
the  necessary  demand  existed.  Such  colleges  in  the 
opinion  of  the  minority  might  be  supported  by  local  rates 
and  popularly  managed,  or  they  might  be  attached  to  local 
Universities.  It  was  also  suggested  that  the  ordinary 
residential  training  college  should  open  its  doors  to  day 
students.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  all  the  Com- 
missioners were  of  the  opinion  that  some  system  of 
residence  was  a  very  valuable  adjunct  of  training  college 
life. 

With  1890  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  training  began. 
The  Education  Department  adopted  the 
Rise  of  suggestion  of  the  majority  report,  and  pro- 

Day  Training  vided  for  the  establishment  of  University 
Colleges  Day  Training  Colleges.  At  the  same  time 

day  students  were  admitted  to  residential 
colleges  and  a  third  year  of  training  was  sanctioned.  To 
begin  with  the  total  number  of  day  students  for  the 

1  See  Report  of  Board  of  Education,  1912-13. 


364  TttB    'TEACHER. 

whole  country  was  limited  to  200,  but  this  restriction 
was  removed  in  1891,  and  since  that  time  the  University 
system  has  steadily  developed.  By  1903  there  were  seven- 
teen Day  Training  Colleges  with  accommodation  for  2,000 
students.  To  begin  with  only  a  proportion  of  the  students 
entered  upon  full  degree  courses.  Several  important 
results  followed.  The  degree  and  sessional  examinations 
in  academic  subjects  held  by  the  Universities  and  Uni- 
versity Colleges  were  accepted  instead  of  the  certificate 
examination.  The  variety  of  curriculum  and  examination 
this  allowed  was  in  part  extended  to  residential  colleges, 
and  students  reading  for  degrees  were  admitted  under 
similar  conditions  to  the  Day  Training  Colleges,  and 
worked  side  by  side  with  those  reading  for  the  ordinary 
certificate  examination.  The  effect  of  this  multiplication 
of  syllabuses  and  examining  bodies  was  the  abolition  in 
1903  of  the  traditional  three  grade  classification  of  out- 
going teachers  and  the  publication  of  a  single  class  list. 
At  the  same  time  the  competition  of  the  Day  Training 
Colleges  had  a  beneficial  effect  in  improving  the  staffing 
of  the  older  colleges. 

During  this  period  the  pupil  teacher  system  was  the 

object  of  much    attention.       Special  steps 

The  Pupil  were  taken  to  improve  the  general  level  of 

educational  efficiency  of  the  apprentice. 
System  on  * 

Trial.  Between  1896    and  1898    a    Departmental 

Committee  made  a  careful  investigation  of 
the  whole  system.  They  reported  that  the  time  was  ripe 
for  a  considerable  advance,  and  though  the  pupil  teacher 
system  was  the  main,  it  was  not  the  only,  nor  indeed, 
ultimately,  the  cheapest  source  of  supplying  teachers  for 
primary  schools.  "  We  wish  to  record  as  emphatically  as 
possible  .  .  .  our  conviction  that  the  too  frequent  practice 
of  committing  the  whole  of  the  training  and  teaching  of 


THE  TEACHER.  365 

classes  to  immature  and  uneducated  young  persons  is 
economically  wasteful  and  educationally  unsatisfactory, 
and  even  dangerous  to  the  teachers  and  the  taught  in 
equal  measure.  We  do  not,  however,  wish  to  see  at  present 
the  entire  abolition  of  a  system  which  ensures  an  early 
acquaintance  with  the  process  of  teaching,  and  we  have 
felt  ourselves  bound  to  recognise  the  established  place 
which  an  existing  institution  has  made  for  itself."  Never- 
theless they  believed  that  the  efficiency  of  the  profession 
would  be  raised  by  recruiting  more  and  more  from  those 
who  had  passed  through  a  secondary  school,  and  they 
were  of  opinion  that  Pupil  Teacher  Centres  should  ap- 
proximate more  and  more  to  the  spirit  of  secondary 
schools  by  abandoning  the  "  class "  ideal,  and  giving 
more  attention  to  cultivating  a  social  and  corporate  life, 
by  strengthening  their  staffs  and  striving  to  give  a  liberal 
education.  Pressure  of  circumstances  had  compelled  many 
to  be  little  more  than  "  cramming "  institutions.  The 
Committee  looked  forward  to  the  ultimate  conversion  of 
the  best  of  these  Centres  into  real  secondary  schools. 
They  made  various  suggestions  for  liberalising  the  pupil 
teacher  examinations,  and  urged  that  the  age  of  apprentice- 
ship should  be  raised  to  fifteen,  and  ultimately  to  sixteen 
years  of  age. 

Effect  was  given  to  a  number  of  these  recommendations 
by  allowing  certain  Local  and  Matriculation 

Pupil  Teachers  examinations  conducted  by  Universities  to 
and  Secondary  ,  ,  .  „  ^J  ,  0  . 

Schools.  "Q  substituted  tor  the  (jueen  s  Scholarship 

examination  (1899),  by  reducing  the  period 
of  apprenticeship  to  three  years  (1900),  by  examining 
pupil  teachers  only  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  their 
course  (1902),  and  at  the  same  time  a  good  deal  of  at- 
tention was  given  to  improving  the  Pupil  Teacher 
Centres,  In  this  work  the  School  Boards  and  the 


366  THE    TEACHER. 

County  and  County  Borough  Councils  co-operated.  At 
Scarborough  the  joint  efforts  of  the  Borough  Council 
and  the  School  Board  had  led  to  the  establishment  of 
a  secondary  school  for  pupil  teachers,  where  they  were 
instructed  as  ordinary  scholars  until  16  years  of  age  and 
afterwards  continued  to  receive  instruction  in  the  school 
on  five  half-days  a  week.  Similar  though  less  complete 
attempts  at  rendering  secondary  schools  available  for  the 
instruction  of  pupil  teachers  are  met  with.  Any  con- 
siderable extension  of  this  movement  was  not  possible 
until  after  1902. 

The  Act  of  1902  opens  up  another  chapter  in  the  history 
of  the  training  of  teachers.  By  it  local 
The  Else  of  authorities  were  empowered  to  establish 
Training  training  colleges  at  the  expense  of  the  rates. 

Colleges.  The  need  for  some  such  step  had  been  long 

recognised.  The  Act  of  1870  had  greatly 
increased  the  number  of  elementary  schools  without  pro- 
viding any  corresponding  increase  in  the  facilities  for 
supplying  trained  teachers.  Some  relief  was  afforded  by 
the  institution  of  University  Day  Training  Colleges  in 
1890,  but  in  spite  of  this  the  annual  output  of  trained 
teachers  was  only  2,791,  while  the  average  attendance  had 
risen  to  5,030,21 9.1 

In  order  to  encourage  local  authorities  to  spend  public 
money  on  the  training  of  teachers,  the  Board  of  Education 
proposed  to  contribute  three-fourths  of  the  cost  of  build- 
ings. At  the  same  time  a  number  of  new  denominational 
colleges  came  into  existence.  The  result  of  this  policy  is 

1  In  1872  the  average  attendance  in  inspected  schools  in  England  and 
Wales  was  1,336,158  and  the  training  colleges  could  admit  some  1,500 
students. 


THE    TEACHER. 


367 


seen  by  the  fact  that  the  output  of  trained  teachers  between 
1900  and  1913  was  doubled.1 

In  1904  the  ti-aining  college  regulations  were  issued  for 
the  first  time  apart  from  the  Code,  and  the 
Board  of  Education  adopted  a  new  attitude 
towards  the  Colleges.  In  the  first  place  it 
assumed  control  over  appointments  to  the 
staffs,  and  in  the  second  the  general  curri- 
culum was  remodelled  on  more  generous  lines.  English, 


Recent 
Changes  in 
Training 
Colleges. 


The  progress  is  shown  by  the  following  table  : — 


Year. 

Number  of 
Colleges. 

Number  of  students 
for  whom  places  were 
provided. 

1850 

16 

991 

1860 

34 

2,388 

1870 

34 

2,495 

1880 

41 

3,275 

1890 

49 

3,679 

1900 

61 

6,011 

1905 

72 

8,987 

1910 

85 

12,625 

1913 

87 

13,093 

Cf.  the  increase  of  Government  grants  apart  from  sums  contributed  for 
building,  etc.,  viz.  £53  to  each  resident  man  student,  £38  to  each  resident 
woman  student,  and  £13  to  non-residents,  the  form  and  rate  of  which  grants 
have  remained  substantially  unchanged. 


Year. 

Grants  from 
Government. 

£ 

1860 

68,272 

1870 

78,485 

1880 

109,299 

1890-91 

126,429 

1900-01 

178,220 

1910-11 

355,210 

368  THE    TEACHER. 

history  and  geography,  elementary  mathematics,  and  ele- 
mentary science  were  compulsory,  but  alternative  schemes 
now  took  the  place  of  a  uniform  syllabus.1  A  comprehen- 
sive list  of  optional  subjects  was  also  included  to  provide 
opportunity  for  specialisation  and  more  care  was  exercised 
in  allowing  students  to  enter  for  degrees.  At  the  same 
time  students  in  training  colleges  were  no  longer  allowed 
to  take  the  ordinary  certificate  examination,  but  another 
specially  provided  for  them. 

By  the  Act  of  1902  "  model  schools  "  were  removed  from 
the  control  of  the  colleges  and  placed  under  the  Local 
Education  Authority.  In  1904,  in  order  to  make  the  pro- 
fessional training  more  real  and  to  give  wider  opportunities 
of  practice,  the  Code  required  all  elementary  schools  in 
receipt  of  grants  to  open  their  doors  to  students  for  the 
purpose  of  practical  instruction.  That  something  more  is 
needed  is  seen  by  the  movement  to  bring  the  demonstra- 
tion schools  which  are  assigned  by  the  local  authority  to 
the  colleges  more  immediately  under  their  control.  As 
was  pointed  out  by  the  Report  of  1856,  both  demonstration 
schools  and  practising  schools  are  necessary,  but  the  ques- 
tion has  been  thrown  into  relief  by  the  growing  interest 
in  the  study  of  education  and  the  problems  consequent  on 
the  decay  of  pupil  teachership. 

Two  interesting  developments  have  taken  place  of  recent 
years  in  the  direction  of  the  complete  sever- 

s  t  mUryear  ance  °^  Pr°fessi°nal  an(i  academic  studies. 
Complaints  of  overpressure  in  the  University 
Day  Training  Colleges  have  led  to  a  movement  in  favour 
of  prolonging  the  period  spent  by  students  in  this  type  of 
institution  for  a  fourth  year,  thus  leaving  the  students  free 
during  their  first  three  years  to  devote  practically  the  whole 

1  Since  1913  geography  has  ranked  as  a  subject  apart  from  history. 


THE    TEACHER.  369 

of  their  attention  to  working  for  a  degree.  The  post- 
graduate period  is  then  spent  exclusively  in  professional 
training.  The  system  is  only  in  its  infancy  and  has  for 
the  moment  to  struggle  with  the  poor  financial  prospects 
that  await  the  student  at  the  close  of  a  long  and  expen- 
sive course.  How  it  will  fare  under  these  circumstances 
in  competition  with  a  three-year  system  that  makes 
the  study  of  education  an  integral  part  of  a  degree 
course  and  is  spread  over  the  whole  period  remains  to 
be  seen.  In  spite  of  the  hard  things  said  about  it, 
the  three-year  system  under  the  conditions  described 
does  not  differ  in  principle  from  the  ordinary  two-year 
system  in  that  both  academic  and  professional  work  are 
followed. 

Another  interesting  experiment   has  been   the   partial 
abandonment  in  certain  two-vear  colleges  of 

\T        A    f  "* 

more  Variety  *ne  comDmed.  system  and  the  devotion  of 
more  time  to  purely  professional  work.  The 
objection  to  these,  and  in  fact  to  all  existing  schemes  at 
present  in  vogue  is  that  they  are  all  governed  by  a 
more  or  less  academic  outlook ;  there  is  nothing  of  the 
industrial  element  that  Kay- Shuttle  worth,  for  example, 
attempted  to  bring  into  the  work  at  Battersea.  That 
experiments  on  such  lines  will  arise  in  the  near  future 
is  hardly  to  be  doubted,  for  it  is  the  sequel  to  the  pre- 
sent demand  for  a  more  practical  and  vocational  edu- 
cation at  the  upper  end  of  the  primary  school.  To 
expect  the  school  to  take  on  a  more  practical  character 
while  every  training  college  aims  at  manufacturing 
nothing  but  students  is  clearly  absurd.  The  present 
regulations  with  regard  to  handwork  merely  tinker  with 
the  question.  Why  should  it  not  be  possible  to  enlist 
for  training  purposes  a  number  of  other  than  purely 
academic  institutions  ? 

H.  ED.  24 


370  THE    TKACHER. 

The  unifying  of  all  grades  of  education  under  one  local 
authority  by  the  Act  of  1902  was  the  signal 
The  Coming       for   the    breakdown    of    the    pupil   teacher 
and  Student1     system.     In  1903  the  new  movement  began 
Teacher.  with    the    issue    of    special    pupil    teacher 

regulations,  and  by  1907  a  new  system  was 
at  work.  Briefly,  two  principles  underlay  the  various 
changes  that  characterised  this  period.  The  first  was  to 
facilitate  and  continue  the  preliminary  education  of  future 
teachers  by  giving  them  a  good  secondary  school  education 
up  to  16  or  17  years  of  age.  The  second  was  to  limit 
strictly  the  employment  of  pupil  teachers  to  half  the 
number  of  school  meetings  and  to  provide  for  their 
education  at  other  times.  No  one  could  become  a  pupil 
teacher  under  16  years  of  age  and  the  apprenticeship 
was  limited  to  two  years.  During  these  years  he  had 
to  continue  to  receive  instruction  in  a  recognised  Pupil 
Teacher  Centre.  On  the  other  hand,  at  the  age  of  16 
any  boy  or  girl  who  had  been  thi-ee  years  in  a  secondary 
school  and  signified  his  intention  of  becoming  a  bona  fide 
teacher  might,  if  his  circumstances  required  it,  claim  a 
bursary  for  a  year,  at  the  close  of  which  he  might, 
providing  he  had  passed  the  necessary  qualifying  ex- 
amination, enter  a  training  college  straightway  or 
serve  for  one  year  as  a  student  teacher,  teaching  half 
time. 

The  result  of  these  changes  has  undoubtedly  been  to 
increase  the  general  efficiency  of  students 
entering  training  colleges,  but  they  have 
served  to  check  the  entry  of  many  into  the 
profession.  Many  parents  are  unable  to  afford  to  allow 
their  children  to  remain  non-wage  earners  until  16.  The 
more  stringent  conditions  of  pupil  teachership  have  practi- 
cally closed  the  profession  to  boys  and  girls  in  country 


THE    TEACHER. 


371 


districts.1  A  considerable  number  who  under  the  old  con- 
ditions would  have  become  teachers  are  attracted  by  more 
profitable  careers  that  open  out  to  secondary  school  pupils 
at  16  or  17  years  of  age.  At  the  same  time  the  cost  of 
training  has  steadily  risen  without  any  corresponding  in- 
crease in  the  return  to  be  looked  forward  to.  Indeed,  the 
prospects  of  headships  and  promotions  have,  if  anything, 
grown  steadily  less.2  These  and  kindred  causes  have 
resulted  in  a  great  deficiency  of  intending  teachers,  a 
decline  of  entrants  unparalleled  even  under  the  Revised 
Code.3 


1  In  1904-5  2,141  pupil  teachers  in  rural  districts  entered  the  profession. 
In  1911-12  the  number  had  fallen  to  29. 

•  In  1847  the  salaries  of  8,691  teachers  in  Church  schools  averaged  only 
£29  12s.  Od.  (masters  £35  11s.  4d.,  mistresses  £23  14s.  3d.),  independent 
of  the  augmentation  grant  from  the  Government.  In  1860  the  average 
salary  including  augmentation  was  £95  and  £65  respectively ;  in  1888 
£119  and  £72 ;  in  1912-13  £129  3s.  and  £94  6s.  for  assistants  and  £178 
and  £125  2s.  for  head  teachers.  See  Reports  of  the  Cross  Commission  and 
Board  of  Education  Report,  1912-13,  etc. 


3 

Pupil  Teachers 
Commencing. 

Bursars. 

Total 
Entrants 
(England). 

Boys. 

Girls. 

Boys. 

Girls. 

1906-7 

2,468 

8,560 

— 

— 

11,018 

1907-8 

2,092 

6,205 

637 

1,406 

10,340 

1908-9 

1,302 

3,907 

1,112 

2,393 

8,714 

1909-10 

894 

2,966 

1,090 

2,251 

7,191 

1910-11 

683 

2,029             723 

2,041 

5,376 

1911-12 

393 

1,662 

723 

2,135 

4,813 

1912-18 

296 

1,173 

614 

2,225 

4,308 

1913-14 

261 

1,203 

698 

2,434 

4,486 

In  Wales  the  decline  was  from  883  in  1906-7  to  646  in  1913-14.— Board 
of  Education  Report,  1912-13. 


372  THK    TBACHKB. 

To  remedy  the  evils  a  modified  pupil  teacher  system, 
accompanied  by  generous  grants,  was  reverted  to  in  1918 
in  rural  districts  where  neither  secondary  schools  nor  Pupil 
Teacher  Centres  are  available.  Grants  have  also  been 
made  in  aid  of  maintenance  allowance  to  children  in 
secondary  schools  who  are  intending  to  become  teachers, 
previous  to  their  Bursar  year.  Various  other  schemes  are 
also  on  foot. 

The  crux  of  the  situation  is  how  to  devise  inducements 
to  make  it  worth  the  while  of  good  people  to  enter  and 
remain  in  the  profession.  It  has  been  the  problem  that 
has  embarrassed  elementary  education  throughout  the 
century.  Originally,  as  we  have  seen,  the  solution  was  to 
dispense  with  adult  teachers  and  make  use  of  child  labour. 
That  is  no  longer  possible.  We  are  again  at  the  parting 
of  the  ways.  Unless  the  elaborate  system  of  professional 
training  that  is  being  built  up  is  to  collapse,  unless  the 
nation  is  content  to  see  the  millions  bestowed  to  elementary 
education  wasted,  it  will  have  after  more  than  a  century  of 
struggle  to  make  up  its  mind  that  the  teacher  is  worthy  of 
his  hire  and  be  prepared  to  give  him  a  return  in  some 
degree  commensurate  with  his  skill  and  responsibilities. 
There  are,  of  course,  misfits  in  every  profession,  but  they 
flourish  in  direct  proportion  to  the  number  of  good  men 
squeezed  out.  To  expect  universal  enthusiasm  among  a 
class,  many  of  whom  are  harassed  by  a  perpetual  struggle 
to  make  ends  meet,  without  prospect  and  without  hope,  is 
to  look  for  the  impossible.  If  the  history  of  elementary 
education  during  the  last  200  years  shows  anything  it  is 
this,  that  the  truest  economy  and  the  only  way  to  progress 
lies  in  considering  how  to  improve  the  efficiency1  of  the 

1  Whether  the  elemeiitary  school  is  attracting  man  for  mail  the  same 
class  of  material  as  formerly  is  a  matter  of  opinion. 


THE    TEACHEK. 


373 


teacher.     This  is  what  distinguishes  the  regime  of  a  Kay- 
Shuttleworth  from  that  of  a  Eobert  Lowe.1 

1  The  following  statistics  show  the  numbers  of  men  and  women  teachers 
in  1856,  1876,  and  1911-12  in  inspected  schools. 


Certificated. 

Assistant  Teachers. 

Pupil  Teachers. 

1856 

Men. 

Women. 

Men. 

Women. 

1 
M.             F. 

England 

1,948 

1,400 

140 

38 

4,189 

3,824 

Wales 

141 

35 

10 

3 

296 

145 

1876 

England 

9,834 

12,128 

1,022 

1,777 

10,487 

18,727 

Wales 

829 

471 

40 

78 

615 

709 

Trained. 

Untrained. 

Uncertifi- 
cated. 

Supplemen- 
tary. 

1911-12 

M. 

W. 

M. 

W. 

M. 

W. 

M. 

W. 

England 

23,016 

32,481 

8,982 

32,625 

4,813 

34,312 

— 

12,249 

Wales 

2,386 

1,948 

521 

1,556 

1,017 

4,320 

— 

1,616 

Student 
Teachers. 

Pupil 
Teachers. 

1911-12 

M. 

W. 

M. 

F. 

England 

509 

1,198 

916 

3,472 

Wales 

63 

71 

198 

560 

The  total  Training  College  accommodation  in  1911-12  : — 
England  11,797  places  in  80  Colleges. 
Wales  1,070  „  „  7 

For  other  details  see  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  1912-13. 


INDEX. 


A   BERYSTWYTH,    Uni- 

J\     versity  College,  98 
Accommodation,  school,  13,   15, 

17,  19,  51,  60,  73,  92,  95, 

97,    116,    123,    140,    149, 

150,  170,  182 
Account  of  Charity   Schools,   1, 

14,  15,  185,  330 
of  the  Edinburgh  Sessional 

School,  229,  230 
Adams,   Francis,   75,   104,    120, 

139,  140 
Address  to  Persons  of  Quality 

and  Estate,  8 
to  the  Working  Classes  on  the 

Subject  of  Education,  65 
Ad  hoc  bodies,'  69,  83,  92,   103, 

125,  130,  162f. 
Adventures  in  Socialism,  235 
Afflicted    children,     legislation 

for,  161 

Aikin,  Lucy,  195 
Aischines,  324 
Allen,  William,  43,  264 
Allen  and  McClure,  14 
Alphabet,  method  of  teaching, 

222,  241-2,  254 
Andrew  Bell,  47 
Anglican  revival,  32,  74,  77 
Annexation  of  education  by  the 

State,   64,   90,    130,    169, 

174 

Anscliauung,  228 
Apparatus,    deficient,     89,    99, 

256,257,  268,  277  ;  Grants 

for,  90,  117,  274-5 
Archbishops'  conference  on  edu- 
cation, 164 


Arithmetic,  method  of  teaching, 
206,  224-6,  241,  243,  253, 
254,  262,  267,  283-4 
Arithmetical  sheets,  218 
Armstrong,  Prof.  H.  E.,  293 
Arnold,  Matthew,  110,  114.  118, 
130,   158,  275,   276,   277, 
283,  320 

"Art  of  Teaching  in  Sport,"  196 
Ashley,  Lord  (Earl  Shaftesbury), 

81 

Assistant  teacher,  Bell's,  216, 
217  ;  Kay-Shuttleworth's, 
272 

Attendance,  school,  52,  54,  89, 
100,   106,   108,    109,    111, 
116,   117,    120,   140,    143, 
144,    147,    149,    152,    155, 
160,  180;  Prince  Consort's 
Conference  on,  108 
Attention,  training  the,  201.  204 
Autobiography  (J.  S.  Mill),  32 
of  a  Phrenologist,  236 


BACON,  283 
Bain,  Alex.,  32 

Baines,  Edward,  62,  85,  101,  119 
Baldwin's  Gardens,    school    in, 

50,    51,  332  ;   description 

of,  216-7 

Balfour,  Graham,  173 
Balfour,  Mr.,  164 

,  Education  Act  of,  169,  175 

Baptist    Voluntary     Edusation 

Society,  85 

Barbauld,  Mrs.,  5,  194,  195 
,  school  at  Palgrave,  194-5 


374 


INDEX. 


375 


Barbaiild's  Works  with  a  Memoir, 
Mrs.,  195 

Barnsley,  15 

Barrington,  Dr.  (Bishop  of  Dur- 
ham), 38,  49 

Barrington  school,  49,  331 

Barrington  School,  The,  49,  331 

Basedow,  197,  235 

Baxter,  Richard,  9 

Belfast  Christian  Patriot,  328 

Bell,  Dr.  Andrew,  28,  42,  43-4, 

214,  221,  224,  22S,  229, 
230,  245,  271,  327 

— ,  educational   aim    of, 

215,  226 

,  first  schools  organised 

by,  44,  49 

— ,  Madras  plan  of  school 

organisation,  216  f. 

-,  monitorial  system  in- 


vented, 44 
,  plan  of  a    national 

system  of   education,  41, 

47,  49 

Bentham,  31,  33,  53,  235,  258 
Benthamism,  31-32 
Benthamites,    26,    31,    33,    65, 

287 
Bernard,  Sir  Thomas,  8,  15,  22, 

38,  325,  331 

Bevan,  Madam,  9,  16,  17 
Bible  in  school,  use  of,   16,  99, 

103,  252,  277 
Binns,  H.  B.,  47,  262 
Birmingham,  120,  121,  123,  139, 

157,  192 

Education  Aid  Society,  120 

League,  120,  125,  126, 

138,  139,  140,  150 

,  state  of  education  in,  124 

Birrell,  Mr.,  175 

,  Education  Bill  of,   175-6, 

180 

Bishop  of  St.  Asaph's  Bill,  176 
of  St.   David's,  Letter  to, 

102 

"Block  grant,"  306 
Board    of     Commissioners     for 

Education,  71,  72,  74 


Board  of  Education,  72,  73,  74, 
154,  166,  167,  168,  171, 
172,  179,  297,  308,  317 

Act,  168,  169 

Consultative  Commit- 
tee, 166-7,  168 

Library  opened,  169 

Reports,  145,  168,  321, 

363,  371 

Special  Reports,  148, 


168,  296 

Statistics,  182 


Board  Schools,  147, 151, 153,  155, 

159,  164 
,  cost  of  education  in, 

130,  149,  170 
-,  progress  of,  140 


Bookishness  of  schooling,  re- 
action against,  136,  191, 
293,  294,  297,  300,  312 

Borough,  The,  5,  212,  232 

Borough  Bill,  106      . 

Borough  Road,  school  at,  45,  52  ; 
described,  217  ;  under  Mr. 
Crossley,  254-5  ;  in  1856, 
273-4 

Training  College,  97, 

330,  344 

Brad  y  Llyfrau  Gleision,  100 

Brailsford,  H.  N.,  25 

Brecon,  96 

Bright,  John,  128 

Bristol,  12,  53,  72,  243 

British  and  Foreign  School 
Society,  33,  52,  60,  70,  73, 
74,  76,  90,  91,  92,  97,  98, 
115,  252,  258 

,  District  and  Foreign 

associations  of,  53 

,  Rules  of,  52,  252 

British     and     Foreign      School 
Society  Handbook,  284     • 
Manual,  253 


British  Association  committees, 

273 
British  Quarterly,  289 

Review,  289 

British  School    at   Harp  Alley, 

254 


376 


INDEX. 


British  School  at  Lancaster,  254 
committees — attitude 

towards  education,  255 
British  Schools,  95,   182,  257-8, 

279 
in  North  Wales,  97 

— ,  Management  Clauses 

for,  91 
Brougham,   Lord    (Mr.    Henry), 

31,  33,  55,  57,  80-1,  327 
—  and  religious  teaching,  72, 

75,  89 
,  Commission     and     Select 

Committees,  39,  57-8 
,  Education  Bills  of,  59-60, 

72,  89-90 
— ,  educational  returns,  61 

,  Popular  Education,  61 

,  tribute  to  work  of  clergy 

and   voluntary    agencies, 

49,68 

Bruce,  Mr.,  119 
Bryce,  Mr.  (Lord),  Commission, 

166  f. 

Buchanan,  James,  55,  232,  236 
Building  grants,   school,  58,  66, 

69,  70,  82,  89,  111 
,  training  college,  114, 

366 

Burke,  Edmund,  24 
Burkwell,  W.,  220 
Bursarsand  student  teachers,  370 
Byrom,  Lady,  264 


/CAMBRIAN     Educational 

\J     Society,  98 

Cardiff,  101 

Carlyle,  32,  63,  66,  132 

Case  of  the   Manchester  Educa- 
tionists, 105 

Catechetical  schools,  9,  13,  16 

Catechising,  6-7,  10,  16,  193 
— ,  meaning  of,  186,  187 

Catholic  Emancipation,   63,   71, 
77 

Catholic  Encyclopaedia,  150 

Census     Returns  —  Education 
(1851),  92,  275 


Central  Authority,  reorganisa- 
tion of,  168 

control,   fear  of  increased, 

110-111. 

—  Society  of  Education,  63, 
65,  72,  74,  104,  262 

Central  Society  of  Education 
(Publications),  73,  253, 
255,  256,  258,  296,  301 

Century  of  Education,  A,  47, 
262 

Chamberlain,  Mr.  Joseph,  120, 
163,  165 

Charge  to  the  Clergy  of  the  Arch- 
deaconry of  Middlesex,  90 

Charity  education,  1,  3,  5-6, 
13  f. 

Charity  school  movement,  9  f. 

Charity  schools,  3,  5,  6,  8,  38, 
39,  183,  185,  193 

,  aim  of  education  in, 

10,  13,  14,  184 

,    cost  of  conducting, 

14-15,  45 

,  curriculum  and  rou- 
tine, 14,  185-6,  187-8 

Dissenting  and   Ro- 


man Catholic,  14 
in  Wales,  inefficiency 

of,  16 

— ,  industrial  occupations 

in,  11,  14,  191,  192 

— ,   investigations    into, 

39,  58 

— ,     masters'      qualifica- 
tions, 15 
,  popular    dislike     of, 

251-2 

prayer,  8 

reading  books,   188  f. 

,    training  of  teachers 

for,  14,  188,  329-330 
-,  variety  of  type,  5,  183 


Charity  Sermon  quoted,  11 

Charles,  Rev.  Thomas,  of  Bala,  17 

Chartism  (Carlyle),  66 

,  a  New  Organisation  of 

the  People  (Lovett  and 
Collins),  39,  66,  250,  336 


INDEX. 


377 


Cheam,  265 

Cheap  Repository  Tract*,  22 

Child  and  curriculum,  211,  309, 

311 
Child  labour,   11,   30,   82,     112, 

140,  143,  152,  174,  180 
,  minimum  age  for,  142, 

143,  152 

Child  Labour  in  the  United  King- 
dom, 142,  180 
Child-study  records,  200 
"Children  are  not  fools,"  203 
Children  at   school,  60,  61,  73, 

117,    123,    140,    145,   149, 

150,  366 

Children's  books,  195  f. 
Children's     Employment    Com- 
mission, 82 
Chrestomathia,  33 
Chrestomathic  secondary  school, 

33,  53,  54,  235,  258 
Church  alone  has  power  to  edu- 
cate, 48,  78  f. 
— — •,  compulsory  attendance  at, 

51,  53,56,  83,  118,  193 
—  distrust      of     Lord    John 

Russell,  92 
— -  expenditure  on   education, 

122,  138,  164,  165,  170 
—  monopoly      of      education 

challenged,  31,  60,  63,  65, 

69,  72,  74-5,  77 
party,  activity  of,  50 f.,  70, 

75-6,  89,  92,  96,  138, 164  f, 

337 
— •,  demands    of,    77  f., 

164  f.,  170 
schools,  management  clauses 

for,  91 
Church  and  Education  prior  to 

1870,  The,  75 
—  since  1870,    The,   165, 

170 

Churton,  Ed.,  50 
Circulating  schools,  5,  10,  16  f. 
,  training  teachers  for, 

187 
Citizenship,   education   for,   67, 

130-3,  137 


City  and  Guilds  of  London 
Institute,  founding  of, 
136 

Civic  ideal  in  education,  20  f., 
33,  68,  72  f.,  103,  150, 
154,  175  f.  (see  also  Bir- 
mingham Education 
League,  Brougham,  and 
Russell) 

Class  view  of  society,  6,  7,  29 
"  Clerical  yoke,"  the,  171 
Cobbett,  William,  3,  61 
Cobden,  Richard,  104 
Cockerton  Judgment,  169 
Code,  Mr.  Mundella's,  1882,  292, 
304 

,  the,    113,   145,    146,    156, 

160,  169,  296 

,  The  New,  1871,  146-7,  153 

,    The   Revised,    1862,    113, 

114f.,  137,  147,  278,  297, 
301,  356 

-  ,  effect  on  curriculum, 

282,  284 

,  effect  on  promotion, 

117,  153,  282 

,  Matthew  Arnold  on, 

283-4 

reaction   caused   by, 


280  f. 
of  1890,  159,  293 
of  1902,  208,  318 


Code  Reform  Association,  289 

Colbert,  205 

Coleridge,  32 

Colfe,  Rev.  Abraham,  6 

Collective  method  of  instruction, 
213 

Collings,  Mr.  Jesse,  120 

Com  be,  George,  the  phrenologist, 
104,  287 

"Combined"  system  of  educa- 
tion, 80,  83,  87,  102 

Committee  of  Council  on  Educa- 
tion, 64,  74,  81,  83,  90, 
92,106,107,  109,110,301, 
339,  344,  345,  350,  356 

,    concordat    between 

the  Church  and,  90 


378 


INDEX. 


Committee  of  Council  on  Educa- 
tion, controversy  around, 
75  f. 

,  educational  policy  of, 

75,   88  f.,    147,    154,    251, 
270 f.,  280 f.,  302 

manuals  and  lectures 

for  teachers,  270 

Minutes,  75,  106,  113, 

297 

— ,  suspicion  against,  89, 

101 

Committee  of  Council  on  Edu- 
cation, Minutes  of  the,  88, 
92,  94,  95,  99,  117,  125, 
148,  157,  216,  268,  270, 
272,  275,  276,  278,  333, 
335,  336,  343,  348,  350 

,  Reports  of  the,   140, 

141,  306,  315 

Committeeof  Public  Instruction, 
65 

Common  schools,  26,  95,  183,  184 

—  described,  95-6,  211-12 

Communism  in  educational  af- 
fairs, 130 

Compayre,  20 

"  Comprehensive  "  system  of 
education,  80,  87 

Compulsory  schooling,  22-24,  40, 
65,66,68,82,84,  119,  120, 
121,  124,  128,  133,  137, 
139, 142,  145,  150,  152,  160 

Concreteness,  238,  239 

Concurrent  endowment  of  the 
sects,  80,  94,  103 

Congregational  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, 85,  86,  344 
—  tracts,  85,  86 

Union,  the,  85 

Connection  of  Religion  with  Popu- 
lar Education,  The,  86 

Conscience  clause,  58,  83,  105, 
106,  118,  119,  121,  125, 
126,  143 

,  rights  of,  107,  164 

Considerations  on  the  increase  of 
the  Poor-rates  in  Kingnton- 
upon-Hull,  12 


Consultative  Committee  on  At- 
tendance at  Continuation 
Schools,  Report,  156 

Continuation  schools,  155-6,  160, 
174 

Contributions  to  the  Cause  of  Edu- 
cation, 213 

Correlation  and  concentration, 
309-310 

Corston,  William,  48 

Cost  of  education  per  child, 
14-5,  4.->,  51.  129,  130,  143, 
149,  170,  180 

Council  schools,  172,  175,  176, 
177 

County  and  County  Borough 
Councils,  establishment 
of,  162 

as     local    education 

authorities,  167,  169,  171 

Cowper-Temple  clause,  126-7, 
173,  175,  176 

Crabbe,  5,  183,211,232 

Crosby  Hall  Lectures,  85 

Cross,  Lord,  150 

Cross  Commission,  144,  150  f. , 
168,  292,  296,  299,  305, 
315 

and  payment  by  re- 
sults, 154 

,  arithmetic,  316 

,  buildings,  151 

,  curriculum,  153-4 

,  English,  316 

,  geography,  316-17 

,  history,  317 

,  majority  and  minority 

reports,     151,    154,    155, 
158,  159,  361,  363 

,  pupil  teachers,  359 

-,  reading  and  reading- 
books,  315-16 
— ,  religious  instruction, 
152 

Report*,  108,  116,  117, 

155,   156,    291,  315,   348, 
371 

-,  results  of,  159 

,  school  attendance,  152. 


INDEX. 


379 


Cross  Commission,  staffing,  319- 

320 

,  subjects  for  investiga- 
tion, 150 

training  colleges,  152 


361,  363 
Crown  of  Wild  Olives,  132 
Curiosity,  199,  204,  208 
Curriculum  at  New  Lanark,  233, 

234 

— ,  building  up  the  primary 
school,  301  f. 

,  Charity  school,  14,  185-6, 

187-8 

— ,  child  and,  309-311 
— ,  "class  subjects"  in,   148, 
302,  304,  305 

—  common  to  all,  134-5,  153 

—  determined  by  Clergy,  59 
,  early  nineteenth    century 

schools,  29 
early  Sunday  schools,  193 

—  minimum,  306 

—  modernising,  209 
Mr.  Roebuck's,  69 

-  previous  to  1862,  275,  276 

—  Ruskin's,  134-5 

—  school  of  industry,  12,  41, 

69,  191,  192 
— ,  "  specific  subjects  "  in,  147, 

301,  302,  305 
— ,  Whit  bread's  parochial 

school,  46 
— ,  widening,  69,  102,  145,  147, 

148,  149,  153-4,  250 
Cyclopedia  of  Education,  13 
Cygnaeus,  298 


New  Lanark  Institution, 
The,"  235 
Dale,  David,  57 

— ,  factory  school  of,  57 
D.ime  schools,  3,  55,  60,  95 

,  description  of,  232 

Day  industrial  schools,  143 
school    education  unpopu- 
lar, 12 


Day,  Thomas,  206 

Democracy,    enthronement    of, 

137 
Democratisation    of   education, 

33,  130,  157 

De  Montmorency,  J.  E.  G.,  6 
Denison's  Act,  107 
Denominational  Education  Bill, 

105 

—  feeling,    strength    of,    111, 

163,  169 

—  instruction,   facilities   for, 

59,  75,  83,  102,  164,  170  I, 
175,  176,  177 

—  management,  103 

—  position,  78-9,  164,  170 
,  Government  recogni- 
tion of,  126,  164,  175,  176, 
177 

—  schools,      transference    of, 

121,  176 

—  and  rate  aid,  104,  121, 

125,  128,  155,  164,  177 

— • -,     higher     Exchequer, 

grants  to,  128,  149 

—  system      competing     with 

State  system,  64,  122,  151 
—  defined,  80 
Denominationalists,  64,  119,  138, 

150 

Dessau,  197 

Dewey,  John,  2S5,  286,  300, 311-2 
Diary  of   the    Education    Bill, 

1902,  171 

Dickens,     Charles,    and    educa- 
tion, 63,  66 

Dickens  as  an  Educator,  66 
Didactic  verse,  241,  243 
Di'jest    of    Reports    (Education) 

S.B.C.r.,   8,    15,  22,  38, 

42,  192 
Diocesan  Boards  of  Education, 

96,  259 

Discipline,  212,  215,  227,  242 
Discourse  concerning  Schools  and 

Schoolmasters,  10 
on  the.  Education  of  Children 

and  Youth,  A,  197 
Discussions  on  Education,  287 


380 


INDEX. 


Disraeli,  Mr.,  and  religious  edu- 
cation, 77,  127 

Dissenters,  60,  63,  74,  81,  82,  83, 
84,  87,  104,  105,  140 

Diversity  in  schools  between  1833 
and  1862,  250 

Divine  Songs  for  Children,  10, 197 

Dixon,  Mr.,  120 

"  Doing,  '  204,  205,  244,  249,  300, 
308 

Domestic  duties,  training  in,  134, 
155,  185,  192,  256,  276 

economy,  291,  296,  303,  307 

—  (home)  education,  3, 5, 198  f., 
202 

' '  Draft "  lesson,  a  typical,  242-3 

Drawing,  88,  102,  134,  136,  139, 
159,  233,  254,  275,  305, 
306,  307,  308 

Dual  system  of  school  organisa- 
tion, 17o 

Dunce's  pass  (certi6cate),  143, 
144 

Dunn,  Henry,  258,  328,  332,  334 


EALING,  264 
Early    schooling,   import- 
ance of,  112 

—  Sunday  schools,  18,  192-3 
Early  Discipline,  56,  237 

Lessons,  206 

Ecclesiastical  control  of  educa- 
tion, 126  (see  Church) 
Edgeworth  family,  43 

,  Maria,   198,  200,  201,  206, 

208-9,  234 
— ,  R.  L.,  49,  198  f. 

,  conception  of  a  true 

education,  207-8 

,  practice  of,  defects  in, 

207 

and  his  son,  199-200 


Edinburgh,  104 

—  Sessional  School,  229 
Edinburgh,  Review,  47 
Education  a  civil  function,   36, 

66,  68,  74,   103  (*ee  Civic 

ideal) 


Education  an  ecclesiastical  affair, 

6,  74,  103 
and  philanthropy  (charity), 

1,  3,  12,  28  f.,  62,  184 

a  parental  duty,  143 

aright,  1,  30,  32,  68 

a  science,  63,  200 

as  police,  23,  37,  46,  61,  80, 

93 
,  class  system  of,  2,  6,  27, 

183 
,  fear  of  popular,  12-13,  22, 

26,  29 
—  for  all,  9,  23,  24,  26,  30,  46, 

65,  107,  124,  133 

for   citizenship,  67,  130-3, 

137 
,  importance  of,   1.  32,   37, 

42,  45,  66,  68,   107,   133, 

200,  251,  288 

ladder,  131,  166,  174, 

of  the  people,  1,  2,  5,  6,  9, 

20,  22,  33,  37,  42,  60,  63, 

65,  90,  102,  103,  129,  252 
of  the  poor,  1,2,  9,  29,  38- 

39,  41,  46,  50,  58,  59,  62, 

68-9,  71,  116,  184,  235 
through    bodily   activities 

(play),  196,  204-5,  298 
Education  Act  1870,    107,   119, 

130,   137,   138,    140,   149, 

150,  155,  157,  161 

1876,  143-5 

1902,    130,   131,  163, 

169  f.,  174  f.,  176 
(Administrative  Provisions) 

Act  1907,  179 
(Blind  and  Deaf  Children) 

Act,  Elementary,  161 

(Defective    and    Epileptic 

Children)    Act,    Elemen- 
tary, 162 

("Free   Schooling,"  1891) 

Act,  161 
(London)  Act  1903,  173 

(Provision  of   Meals)  Act, 

178-9 

Education  Acts — Commonwealth 
Parliament,  6 


INDEX. 


381 


Education    Acts :    England,  65, 

128,    142,    146,    162,    166, 

173,  178,  179 

— ,  Massachusetts,  6 

,  Scotland,  6,  15 

Education    Bills,    45,    59,    104, 

105-6,107,  119,122,  124  f., 

165,  166,  169,  171  f.,  175, 

176,  177 
Department,  113,  147,  153, 

154,    163,   167,   168,   280, 

291,  302,  304,  313 
Education,  article  on  (Mill),  30, 

32,  210 
Education,   Intellectual,   Moral, 

and  Physical,  288 
Education  Crisis,  The,  166,  171 
Education   et   Instruction  —  En- 

seignement  Primaire,  213 
Education  Magazine,  255,   256, 

328,  338,  340 
Education   of   the   Poor    in   the 

Eighteenth  Century,   The, 

14,  185,  188 
Education  of    the    Young,    The 

(Wilderspin),  237 
Educational  doctrine    of    early 

Radicals,  32 
finance,  problems  connected 

with,  180-2 

-    forces,    early  nineteenth- 
century,  31,  62 

free  trade,  62,  85 

ideal  of  eighteenth  century, 

26-7 
ideal   of    early   nineteenth 

century,  29 
position     of    the    Church, 

78-9 
—  Settlement  Committee,  177 

teaching  of  Ruskin,  132  f. 

Educational  Record,  47,  224,  254, 

258 
Educational    Systems    of   Great 

Britain  and  Ireland,  The, 

173 
Educative  process,   rival  views 

of,  32,  37,  210-211 
Educator,  The,  85 


Elementary  and  higher  educa- 
tion, relation  of,  151, 156  f., 
167,  168,  174 

—  science,  69,  294-5,  305,  306, 
307  ;  (experimental),  205, 
295 

,  method  of  teaching, 

206,  265,  291,  292,  293 

school,  definition  of,  124-5, 

157,  173 

school  standards,  278,  302, 

304 

Elementary  Education,  14,  75, 
165,  171 

Elementary  School  Manager,  The, 
284 

Emile,  1,  7,  198,  199 

Emilie,  235 

Emulation,  use  of,  215,  227, 
230 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica  Sup- 
plement, 210 

English,  194,  303,  305,  306,  308 

language  in  Wales,  93,  94, 

95 

Enquete  historique  sur  Fenseigne- 
ment  manuel,  299 

Enquiry  concerning  Political  Jus- 
tice, 25 

Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  103 

Epsom,  265 

Equality  of  educational  oppor- 
tunity, 2,  25,  27,  36,  65, 
67,  130,  133,  137,  265 

"Erudition  is  not  education," 
134 

Essai  d'e'ducation  nationale,  20 

Essay  on  the  Evils  of  Popular 
Ignorance,  29,  30,  42 

Essay  on  the  French  Revolution, 
24 

Essay  on  Population,  25 

Essay  towards  the  Encouragement 
of  Charity  Schools,  12,  14, 
186 

Essays  on  the  Formation  of  the 
Human  Character,  34,  35 

Evangelical  movement,  19 

Evans,  D.,  9 


382 


INDEX. 


Evening  schools,  3,  5,   112,  116, 

147,  155,  156,  160,  194 
Ei-ntimjs  at  Home,  196,  265 
Excursion,  Tht,  37 
Exeter  Hall  lectures  for  teachers, 

270 
Experiment  in  Education  made 

at  the   Male   A$ylum    at 

Madras,  An,  44 
Exposition  in  schools,  185,  186, 

187,  194,  230,  239 


FABLE  of  the  Bees,  7 
Factory  Acts,  56,  82,  84, 

121,  142 
Bill,  Sir  James  Graham's, 

82-4,  85 
—  children,  education  of,  56, 

57,  82,  84,  142 
Fearon,  D.  R,  123 
Feeding  of  school  children,  137, 

178-9 
Fellenberg,  262-3,  265,  269,  298, 

301,  334 
Fincham,  school  of  industry  at, 

191 

Findlay,  J.  J.,  311 
Firmin,  Thomas,  9,  10 
,   school  in  Little   Britain, 

12 

First  Catechism  (Watts),  197 
Fitch,  Sir  Joshua,  123 
Fletcher,  Mr.  H.  M.  I.,  333 
Floor  space  per  child,  111,  147, 

151,  182,  216 
Fors  Clavigera,  135 
Forster,  Mr.,  119,  122,  123 
Foster,  John,  29,  30,  42 
Four  Periods  of  Public  Educa- 
tion, 75,  90,  258,  272,  281, 

338,  343 
Fox,  Joseph,  48 
Fox's    Introduction    to    Spelling 

and  Reading,  189 
Fox  Bourne,  12 
France,  72 

Francke,  work  at  Halle,  16,  329 
Frank  and  Rosamond,  209 


Free  schooling,  39,  46,  105,  119, 
120,   121,    125,    128,    133, 
137,  152,  160f. 
-   trade,  doctrine  of  educa- 
tional, 62,  85 

Freeman,  Kenneth,  324 

Friends,  105 
— ,  Society  of,  45 

Froebel,  66,  276,  286,  294,  298, 
299,  307,  308 

Fry,  Elizabeth,  45 


r-(  ALLERY,  88, 239, 241,  242, 

VT         243,  272 

lesson  described,  241-2 

Games,  children's,  237,  297,  308 

Gardening,  205,  309 

Geography,  55,  88,  102,  134, 135, 
148,  192,  195,  196,  197, 
207,  231,  233,  275,  276, 
277,  282,  301,  302,  303, 
306,  309,  313 

• ,  method  of  teaching,  206, 

242,  253,  255,  256,  267 

Geography  (Mrs.  Sherwood),  253 

Geometry,  135,  255,  302,  313 

,  method  of  teaching,  240 

Germany,  294 

Gladstone,  Mr.,  77,  122,  149 

Glamorganshire,  95 

Glasgow,  244 

Godwin,  William,  23,  24-5,  26 

Gonograph,  240 

Gorst,  Sir  John,  165;  (Bill) 
165,  169 

"  Gospel  of  getting  on,"  edu- 
cational, 132 

Gouge,  Rev.  Thomas,  8,  9 

Government,  first  duty  of,  66 

grants   for   education,    85, 

87,  89,  90,  111,  114,  117, 
124,  143-4,  145,  146,   147, 
148,    149,    155,   159,  161, 
173,  176,  306,  307 
—  inspectors  (see  Inspectors) 

Goyder,  G.  W.,  236;  (infant 
school)  243 

Graham,  Sir  James,  80,  81-2,  83 


INDEX. 


383 


Grammar,  88,  148,  188,  196,207, 
231,  253,  256,  259,  275, 
276,  282,  301,  302,  305 

,  method  of  teaching,  242 

Greard,  213 

Greaves,  J.  P.,  339 

Green,  J.  A.,  228,  261 

,  T.  H.,  129,  131-2;  (Works) 

132 

Gregory,  A.,  19 

,  Robert  (Dean),  14,  75,  165, 

171 

Grey,  Kirkman,  6,  12,  19,  30,  330 

Griffiths,  Rev.  Henry  (Brecon), 
96 

Gymnastics,  307 


HALF-TIME  System,  14, 
112,  145 

Half-timers,  116,  143,  144,  146 

Halle,  16 

Hand  and  eye  training,  298,  300 

Handicraft,  134, 205, 275,297-301 

Handwork  movement,  137,  297- 
301 

Hansard,  72,  75 

Harris,  Howell,  19 

,  J.  H.,  19,  214 

Harry  and  Lucy,  196,  205,  208 

Has  the  Church  or  the  State  the 
Power  to  Educate  the  Na- 
tion ?  78 

Health  and  Morals  of  Appren- 
tices Act,  56,  82 

Helvetius,  21 

Herbart,  286,  309 

Heuristic  methods,  204, 206, 242, 
290,  293 

Higher  grade  schools,  131,  157-8, 
168,  169 

Hinton,  J.  H.,  105 

Hints  to  Parents,  236 

Histoire  critique  des  doctrines 
de  Veducationen  France,  20 

History,  102,  134,  135,  196,  197, 
234,  255,  259,  275,  276, 
282,  301,  302,  304,  306, 
307,  309,  313 


History  and  Present  Slate  of  the 
Education  Question,  The, 
75,92 

History  of  England  (Macaulay), 
11 

History  of  Philanthropy,  6,  12, 
19,  30,  330 

History  of  Philosophy,  A ,  33 

History  of  the  Elementary  School 
Contest,  75,  104,  120,  139, 
140 

Hobson,  J.  A.,  133 

Holidays,  care  of  children  dur- 
ing, 179 

Holland,  H.  W.,  121 

Holyoake,  J.,  38,  57 

Home  and  Colonial  Infant  School 
Society,  56,  266,  340; 
(Model  School)  266-7 

Hook,  Dr.,  102-3 

Hoole,  Charles,  43 

Horticulture,  307 

House  of  Convocation  confer- 
ence on  education,  170 

Household  Words,  66 

Housewifery,  307,  309 

Hughes,  J.  L.,  66 

Hull,  12 

Hullah,  John,  270 

Humanitarian  motive  in  educa- 
tion, 9,  37  f. 

Huxley,  T.  H.,  130,  292 

Hygiene,  69,  134,  287,  289,  295, 
307,  309 

Hygienic  condition  of  school 
buildings,  147,  151,  296 

Hymns  in  Prose,  197 


IMPROVEMENT  of  the 
Mind  (Watts),  197 

Improvements  in  Education,  41, 
45,  216,  226,  228,  324, 
326 

Individual  examination,  system 
of,  111,  113,  278,  307 

Industrial  influence  in  educa- 
tion, 136 

schools,  264 


384 


INDEX. 


Industrial  training  in  schools,  5, 
11,  12,  13,  31,  38,  40,  41, 
184,  191,  263-5,  *75,  276 
(see  Schools  of  Industry) 

Infant  education,  54,  232,  236  f., 
307-8,  340 

school  movement,  37 

School  Society,  339 

schools,   3,  29,  52,  54,  55, 

56,  68,  71,  112,  151,  230  f. 

,   Rev.    W.    Wilson's, 

56,  339 

,   Robert  Owen's,   55, 

233 

— ,  Wilderspin's,  56,  239, 

339 

Infant  Education,  237,  242 

Education  from    Two    to 

Six  Years  of  Aye  (Cham- 
bers), 242 
—  System,  The,  237,  241 

Initiative,  development  of,  201, 
203 

Initiatory  schools,  54,  232,  246 
(see  Dame  schools) 

Inspected  schools,  superiority 
of,  109 

Inspection,  right  of,  83 

,  school,  88,  119,  124,  147, 

169 

Inspectors  of  schools,  Govern- 
ment, 75,  82,  88,  90,  114, 
143,  147,  150,  152,  275, 
292,  302,  313,  349 

Inspectors'  Reports,  137,  215 

Instruction,  modes  of,  213 

,  rational  grading  of,  287 

Instructions  to  inspectors,  88, 
145,  147,  281,  307,  314 

Intellectual  education,  aim  and 
method  of,  203  f. 

Intellectual  system  of  John 
Wood,  229-231 

Intellectual  Education  (Wyse), 
262 

Inter-departmental  Committee 
on  Partial  Exemption 
from  School  Attendance, 
145 


Iiitenialioual  Exhibiticn    1851, 

136 
Inter-School    Athletic    League, 

296 
Inventiveness,  23,  199,  201,204, 

207,  208 
Ireland,  71,  81 
Irish  Commissioners  of  National 

Education,  71,  264 


JAMES,  William,  300 
James  Mill,  A   Biography, 

32 
Jews  and  education,  72,  79,  105; 

(Schools)  182 

John  Riiskin,Social  Reformer,  133 
Jolly,  W.,  135 
Jones,  David,  17 
Jones,  Rev.  Griffith,  of  Llnml- 

dowror,   10,    16,   19,   184, 

186,  187 

Joseph  Lancaster,  47 
Judgment,  business  of  education 

to  ripen,  203 


K 


AY  -  SHUTTLEWORTH, 
Sir  James   (Dr.    Kay), 
64,  75,  90,  101,  104,  105, 
258,  264,  265,  267 
-    as    Assistant    Poor    Law 
Commissioner,    77,     264, 
269,  341 
— ,    experiment     in    training 

teachers,  341-3 

,      "Gathercoal       Scuttle- 
worth,"  101 

,  ideal  of  school  staffing,271 

,  Minutes  on  method,  269 

—  on  teachers'  salaries,  328-9 

,  plan  of  school  organisation, 

272 

on  pupil  teachers,  272, 341  f. 

,  view  of  the  educative  pro- 
cess, 269-270. 

Keeling,  Frederic,  142,  180 
Kempe    Committee     on     Local 
Taxation,  181-2 


INDEX. 


385 


Kendal  schools,  44,  54,  192,  325 
Kenyon-Slaney  clause,  173 
Kerry,  Lord,  Parliamentary  Re- 
turn, 71 

Kildare  Place  Society,  71 
Kindergarten,  298 
Kingsley,  Charles,  296 
Kneller  Hall,  343 


LA  CHALOTAIS,  20,  21 
Lancashire,  109,  145 
Lancashire  Public  School  Asso- 
ciation, 103 

Lancaster,  Joseph,  5,  43,  44, 
45-6,  47,  52,  54,  214,  216, 
225,  226,  228,  271,  324, 
326,  327 

,  educational  aim,  215,  226 

,  "  improvements,"  218-9 

,  lecturing  tours,  49 

— ,  method  ot  spelling,  read- 
ing, and  writing,  222 
on  industrial  training,  41 

—  supporters,  48 
Lancasterian  Plan,  217  f.,  234 

—  school,  arithmetic  syllabus 

in  a,  224 

schools,  53,  54,  243,  254, 

255,  256  ;  (Secondary)  53 
(see  British  Schools) 

Languages  in  elementary 
schools,  302,  303 

Lansdowne,  Marquis  of,  74, 75, 79 

La  Salle,  16 

Laundry  work,  307,  309 

Lay  management  of  schools,  91 

Leeds,  73,  84,  85,  104,  120,  123, 
124 

Leeds  Mercury,  84 

Leek,  220 

Lessons  on  common  objects,  275, 
396 

Lessons  for  Children,  195,  205 

on  Objects,  265 

Letter  to  the  Welsh  People  on 
day  schools,  96 

Letter  to  the  Marquis  of  Lans- 
downe, A,  85 

H-.ED, 


Letters  on  Elementary  Educa- 
tion, 230 

Letters  on  the  Educational  Insti- 
tutes of  De  Fellenberg, 
263,  328 

Letters  to  Lord  John  Russell,  85 

on  Education  in  Wales, 

86 

Lewisham,  192 

Life  and  Letters  of  Sir  James 
Oraham,  81 

and  Struggles  of  William 

Lovett,  The,  65 

and  Times  of  Griffith  Jones 

of  Llanddowror,  The,  17 

and    Work  .of   Pestalozzi, 

228,  261 

and  Writings  of  Turgot,  21 

of  Francis  Place,  32,  52 

of  Gladstone,  128 

of  John  Locke,  12 

of  Sir  Hugh  Owen,  98 

Lingen,    Mr.    (Lord),    98,    280, 

281 
Liverpool,  state  of  education  in, 

123,  124 
Living    voice    in    the     schools, 

248-9 
Local       education       authority, 

171-2,  175,  176,  178,  179 
—  rates,  181-2 

Government  Act,  162 

Board,  169 

Taxation  (Customs  and  Ex- 
cise) Act,  162,  167 
Locke,  John,  11,  198,  287 
London,  14,  28,  53,  55,  179,  295 
Infant  School  Society,  55, 

339 
School    Board,     131,    293, 

296 
Lord   Sandon's  Education  Act, 

143 
Lovett,  William,  39,  63,  65,  66, 

181,  250,  264-5,  336 
Lowe,    Robert,    113,    115,    118, 

122,  123,  147,  356,  373 
Lowell,  285 
Lucian,  324 

25 


386 


INDEX. 


MACAULAY,  Lord,  11,  87, 
326  ;  (Speeches)  87,  326 
MacCunn,  32,  68,  132 
Macnab, '.Henry  Grey,  235 
Madras  plan  of.'school  organisa- 
tion, 216"f.,  274 

Madras  School,  The,  41,  215,  226 
Maiden  Bradley,  330 
Malthus,  22,  25,  26 
Management  clauses,  90-92 
Manchester,   34,   103,   104,   105, 
120,   121,    123,   139,   157, 
158,  259,  287,  295,  299 

—  and  Salford  Committee  on 

Education,  105,  106 

Church  Education  Society, 

259 

—  Education  Aid  Society,  119 
Bill  Committee,  119 

Literary  and  Philosophical 

Society,  56 
Mandeville,  7 
Manual  activities,  249-50 

instruction,   136,  155,   159, 

162,    298,    299,   307    (see 
industrial  training) 
Manual  of  the  System  of  Instruc- 
tion, Meadow  St.,  Bristol, 
243 

Marsh,  Dr.,  50 
Marvin,  F.  S.,  114 
Mathematics,  102,  134,  259,  307, 

313 

Maurice,  Frederick  Denison,  78 
Mayo,  Dr.  and  Miss,  265,  266 
McKenna,  Mr.,  176  ;  (Bill)  176, 

180 

Mechanical  spirit  of  eighteenth 

and      early      nineteenth 

centuries,  30,  32,  37,  260 

Mechanics,  291,  294,  303 

Medical   inspection   of    schools, 

137   179 

Meiklejohn,  Prof.,  47,  293 
Melbourne,  Lord,  74 
Memoir  of  Elizabeth  Fry,  28 

of  Joshua  Watson,  50 

Memoirs   of  R.   L.    Edgeworth, 
200,  201,  202,  207,  208 


"  Merit  "  grant,  148-9,  314 
Methodist  movement,  10,  19 
Metrop"litan  Church  Union,  75, 

92 

Miall,  Edward,  85 
Mill,  James.  30,  31,  32,  49,  53, 

55,210,211 
Mill,   John  Stuart,  32,  43,  65, 

67-8,  131,  160,  225 
Mines  Acts,  142 
Mitchell,  Mr.,  H.M.I.,  276 
"Mixed  method"  of  school  or- 
ganisation, 272 

Monitorial  schools,  38,  232,  249 
— ,  books  and  apparatus 

in,  254,  256,  257 

,  criticism  of,  251  f. 

— ,    method  of  teaching 

arithmetic  in,  224-6 
,  method  of  teaching 

reading  in,  221-4 
,    moral   training    in, 

226-8 
— ,    practice    in    later, 

252-5,  268 
systems,    30,    31 ,    42,    4.1, 

214  f.,  230,  271,  345 

theory,  215 

"Monitorial   Schools  and  their 

Successors  "  (by  W.),  224 
Monitors,  43,  44,  49,  101,   192, 

217,  218-9,  230,  239,  246, 

247,  256,  272 
Monmouth,  95,  96 
Moral  Tales,  209 
Moral    training,    134,    150,  153, 

209,245,  309,  313 
"  Moral  Training  System,"  245 
Morley,  J.  (Lord),  128 
Moseley,  Mr.,  H.M.I.,  268,  273 
M other's  Book,  The,  236 
Mulcaster,  Richard,  329 
Mulhaiiser  method  of    writing, 

270 

Mundella,  Mr.,  144,  292 
Mundella,  Mr.  A.  J.,  150 
Municipalisation   of    education, 

130,  169 
Munro,  Paul,  13 


INDEX. 


387 


Music,  69,  102,  134,  135,  254 
Mutual  instruction,  method  of, 
43,  215,  274 


•\TATIONAL    Education    As- 
1\      sociatioii,  150,  160,  178 
National      Education       Union, 

121,  122,  125 

National     Public     School     As- 
sociation, 103,  104 
National  school*,  15,  51,  52,  92, 

149,  170,  252,  256,  268,274 
National  Society,  38,  51,  70,  73, 

76,91,  115,  138,  149,  216, 

228,  337 
,  Committee  of  Inquiry 

and  Correspondence,  258, 

337 

District  Societies,  50 

Middle   Schools' 

scheme,  258-9 

•  principles,  50 

National  Society  Directory,  52 
National  Union  of  the  Working 

Classes,  63,  65 
Natural    history,    55,    69,    Hi6, 

233,  234,  255,  277,  304 

philosophy,  255,  277,  302 

Nature,  199 

—  study,  coming  of,  293-4 
—  work,  291,  294-5,  309,  313 
Needham  Marchamont,  7, 10 
Needlework,   148,  278,  297,  301, 

302,   306  ;  time  spent  on, 

277 

Nekuomanteia,  324 
Nelson,  Robert,  8,  330 
New  Discovery  of  the  Old  Art  of 

Teaching  Schools,  A ,  43 
New  Lanark,  33,  34,  55,  57,  236, 

295  ;     (New   Institution) 

233 

New  Vitw  of  Society,  A,  34 
New     Views    of   Mr.    Owen    of 

Lanark    impartially    ex- 
amined,  The,  '235 
Newcastle  Commission,  108-113, 

278 


Newcastle    Commotion 

112,  355 

Newport,  Chartist  riot  at,  93,  96 
Nonconformists,  83,  84,  93,  103, 

120,   122,    138,    143,  164, 

171,  175 
Non-provided  schools,   172,  174, 

175,  176 
Normal  schools,  68,  87,  96  (see 

Training  colleges) 
Number  of   children    in    school 

(see  Children  at  school) 


OAKHAM  School  of  Indus- 
try, 42,  192 

Object  lessons,  233,  295  ;  (speci- 
men) 265-6 

teaching,  242-3,  262 

Observation  lessons,  292, 295, 309 

(Economy  of  Charity,  40,  330 

On  Liberty,  67 

Open-air  teaching,  180,  229,  243, 
246,  296,  297 

Oral  class  teaching,  value  of, 
246 

Organised  Science  Schools,  157-8 

Owen,  Robert,  26,  31,  33,  55, 
233,  236,  2J3 

,  infant  and  elementary 

schools  described,  233-4 

,  influence,  235 

,  scheme  of  social  and 

educational  reform,  36-7 

,  teaching  of,  33  f. 

Owen,  Sir  Hugh,  efforts  on  be- 
half of  Welsh  education, 
96-8 


PAIDOMETER,  221 
Paine,    Thomas,     1,  '22, 
24  26 

Pakington,  Sir  John,  106,  108 
Palmerston,  Loid,  118 
Panthier,  A.,  299 
Parent's  Atttntant,  The,  209 
Paris  Exhibition,  1867,  136 
Parker,  C.  S.,  81 


388 


INDEX. 


Parliamentary  grant,  first,  61, 
62,  63,  69-70,  250 

Returns,  39,  41,  71 

Parliamentary  Debates:  Elemen- 
tary Education  Bill,  1870, 
122,  124,  127 

Parliamentary  Papers,  79,  113 

Parochial  Charity  School  move- 
ment, 9,  13  f.,  15 

Schools  Bill,  45 

Partition  of  education,  65,  67-8, 
129,  130  f.,  174 

Paternalism  in  education,  36-7, 
65,  133 

Pauperism  and  education,  8,  10- 
13,24,25,37,40,41 

Payment  by  results,  52,  111,  115, 
149,  153,  154,  169,  307, 
313  f. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  81 

Peripatetic  science  instructors, 
292 

Personality  v.  mechanism  in 
education,  327 

Pestalozzi,  56,  210,  228,  236, 
238,  243,  245,  260-1,  265, 
269,  286,  288,  290,  298, 
299,  326,  327,  334,  342 

Pestalozzi's  Intellectual  or  Intui- 
tive Arithmetic,  236 

Pestalozzian  influence,  examples 
of,  234,  236-7,  261-2,  265, 
266,  269,  270,  276 

Philanthropy  and  education, 
28  f.,  37,  184 

Phillips,  Sir  Thomas,  9,  96 

Philosophy  of  Education  (Tate), 
276 

Physical  Deterioration  Com- 
mittee, 178 

geography,  291,   302,  303, 

305 

—  training,  88,  134,  159,  199, 
237,  239,  242,  255,  275, 
287,  296,  307,  309 

Training  Commission  (Scot- 
land), 178 

Physiocrats,  21 

Physiology,  289,  291,  296 


"  Picturing  out,"  247-8 

Pietas  Hallensis,  16 

Pietism,  16 

Pillans,  Prof.,  213,  230,  258, 
324 

Pitt,  40 

Place,  Francis,  31,  53,  258 

Play,  196,  203,  204-5,  267,  291 

Play  fair,  Dr.  Lyon,  136 

Playground,  55,  88,  151,232,237, 
239,  245 

Pleasant  Pages,  276 

Pleasure  and  pain,  201-2 

Podmore,  Frank,  233 

Poetical  Nautical  Trip  round  the 
Island  of  Qreat  Britain, 
196 

Political  economy  in  the  school, 
26,  69,  277,  302 

Poor,  education  of  the  (see  Edu- 
cation) 

Poor  Girl's  Primer,  The,  8 

Poor  Law  Reform,  11,  40  ;  (Bill) 
26 

Popular  education  (see  Educa- 
tion of  the  people) 

divided  between  State 

and  Voluntary  associa- 
tions, 129 

handed  over  to  Volun- 
tary agencies,  90 

Portsmouth,  212 

Position  of  the  Catholic  Church 
in  England  and  Wales,  150 

Positions  (Mulcaster),  329 

Pounds,  John,  212-3 

Practical  education,  137,  199, 
204,  205,  291,  298 

Practical  Education,  200,  201, 
203,  204,  205,  206,  208 

Remarks  on  Infant  Educa- 
tion, 266 

Primary  Education,  Proposed 
National  Arrangements 
for,  121 

Principality,  the  93,  94,  98,  100, 
101 

Private  schools,  3-5,  58,  109, 
184 


INDEX. 


389 


Provided  schools,  175,  176 
Public  Education,  64,  104,  105, 

271 

Pullen,  P.  H.,  236 
Punishment,  215,  227,  230,  290-1 
Pupil  Teacher  Centres,  358,  365, 

370,  372 

Pupil    Teacher    System    estab- 
lished,  346  ;    decline   of, 

364-5,  368-370 
Pupil  Teachers,  87,  90,  110,  118, 

148,  152,  272 

— ,  Cross  Commission  on, 

359 
,      first      experiments 

with,  340-1 

-,  Matthew  Arnold  on, 


355 


-,   statistics,   357,    359, 


371 


QUARTERLY    Journal     of 
Education,  42,  301 
quarterly  Review,  47 
Queen's    Scholarships,  87,   346, 

352,  357,  360 

Questioning,  value  of,  230,  247 
Quintilian,  215 


RACE  parallelism  and  educa- 
tion, 287-8 

Ragged  schools,  213,  264 
Raikes,  Robert,  18,  43,  214 
Rate  aid  for  education,  6,  12,  45, 
57,  59,  64,  66,  73,  82,  102, 
103,   104,    105,    119,   120, 
129,   155,    157,    169,   172, 
177,  179,  180,  181-2 
Rational  Primer,  The,  205 
Reading    books,    187,    189-191, 
194,  195,  205-6,  218,  304, 
315 

,  method  of  teaching,   185, 

187,  189,  195,  205,  221f., 
231,  255,  270,  283,  315 

sheets,  218,  242 

Rebecca  Riots,  93 


Reflections  upon  the  Education  of 

Children        in        Charity 

Schools,  188 

Reform  Bills,  61,  68,  121,  137 
Reformatory  schools,  264 
Religion  as  a  "subject,"  76,  90 
Religious  basis  of  education,  11, 

13,50,78,81,89,  152,  164 
character  of   education  in 

charity  schools,  184-5 
influence  in  education,  6-7, 

8f.,   12,  14,  29,  31,  37 f., 

48,  50 
instruction,  50,  72,  83,  102- 

3,    105,   106-7,    111,    121, 

124,   126,   127,   151,    173, 

234,  240,  252,  255,  256 
"  Religious  difficulty,"  the,  47-8, 

64,    77  f.,    81,    175,    176, 

177 
Report  on  the  National  Sunday 

School  at  Stockport,  252 
Reports  on   Elementary   Schools 

(Matthew    Arnold),    114, 

118,  130,  284 
Reports  of  the   Church  Sunday 

Schools,  229 
Reports  of  the  Sunday  Schools 

at  Stockport,  13,  193 
Representative     local     manage- 
ment of  schools,  83,  91, 

103,     106    (see     Ad    hoc 

bodies) 

Revised  Code  (see  Code) 
Revolutionary  thought,  influence 

of,  20-22 

Riffhts  of  Man,  1,  24 
Rise  of  Democracy,  32,  128 
Robert  Owen,  a  Biography,  233 
Robert   Raikes,  a  History  of  the 

Origin  of  Sunday  Schools, 

19 
Robert  Raikes,  the  Man  and  his 

Work,  19,   194,  214 
Roebuck,  Mr.,  33,  68,  75,  80 
Rolland,  21 
Roman    Catholic    Poor    School 

Committee,  90,  344 
schools,  91,  92,  182 


390 


Roman  Catholics,  60,  72,  79,  91, 
103,  104,  105 

Rose,  J.  Holland,  32,  128 

Rousseau,  1,  7,  21,  198-199,200, 
202,  210,  326 

Rowlands,  Daniel,  19 

Royal  Commission  on  Educa- 
tional Charities,  58 

on  Secondary  Educa- 
tion, Report  of,  167,  168 

on  Technical  Instruc- 
tion, 136,  162,  299 

Royal  Lancasterian  Institution 
(Association),  38,  48,  49, 
52 

Rudimentary  subjects,  278,  282 

Runciman's  Bill,  Mr.,  177 

Ruskin,  John,  129,  132,  133, 
134,  135 

Ruakin  on  Education,  135 

Russell,  Lord  John,  72,  74,  76, 
79,  89,  106,  107 


SADLER,  Mr.  Michael,  169 
Salaries  of  teachers,  59, 
89,  97,   99,  104,  152,  257, 
325,  327,  338,  347 

Salford,  105 

Salisbury.  Lord,  150,  164 

Salmon,  Principal  (David),   14, 
47,  185,  188 

Salomon,  Otto,  298,  299 

Sandford  and  Aferton,  206 

Scarborough,  366 

Scholarships    from    elementary 
schools,  131,167,  168,  174 

School    attendance    (see  Atten- 
dance) 

Attendance    Committees, 

143,  144,  152,162,171,172 

Boards,  63,  104,   106,  124, 

125,  126,  129,  131,  138, 
139,  144,  149,  151-2,  162, 
163,  165,  166,  169,  171, 
172,  250,  274 

-  buildings,  88,  99,  135.  145, 
151,  155,  180,  322-3  (see 
Building  Grants) 


School  Canteen  Committees,  178, 
179 

exemption  certificates,  143, 

144 

fees,  3,  12,  24,  39,  51,  54, 

59,  69,  84,  89,  95,  105, 
112,  120,  121,  125,  126, 
139,  142,  146,  176,  192 

games,  296 

gardens,  275,  294  (see  gar- 
dening) 

leaving  age,  100,  109,  112, 

144,  145 

-  library,  135,  254 
life,  duration  of,  51,  54,  60, 

68,  73,  108,  109 
masters  described,  4,  324-5, 

326 
meals,  12,  14,  42,  133,  137, 

178-9,  192 

organisation, types  of,  271  f. 

staffing,  89,  90,   111,    114, 

145,  148,   152,  247,   250, 
31 8  f.,  345,  357 

—  studies  challenged,  287 

School  and  Society,  285 

School  and  the  Child,  The,  311 

Schools  Inquiry  (Taunton)  Com- 
mission, 157 

to  equip  for  life,  260 

,  ward,  5 

,  workhouse,  5,  12 

,  writing,  5 

Schools  of  Industrv,  5,  12,  13, 
31,  38,  40,  41  2,  48, 
54,  68,  69,  87,  183,  188, 
264 

,  children's  earnings  at, 

12,  40,  41-2,  191-2 

,  description  of,  191-2, 

cf.  69 

popularity  of,  12,  13, 


40 

Schools  of  Hellas,  324 
Schoolmistress,  The,  3 
Science,  136,  155.  159,  196  (see 

Elementary  Science) 
and  Art  Department,   136, 

157,  167,  168 


INDEX. 


391 


Science    of   Education  (Felkin's 

translation),  310 
Scientific  movement,  287,    291, 

295 

Scotland,  6,  15,  42,  81,  92 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  208 
Scriptural  alphabet,  254 
- — —  arithmetic,  253 

geography,  253,  254 

Secondary  education,    53,    131, 

156,   157,    158,   166,   167, 

168 
Secular  instruction,  22,  48,  74, 

83,  89,  92,  102,   103,  120, 

121,   12(5,   129,    139,   146, 

153,  255 

-  schools,  124,  127,  287,  295 
Secularism,  distrust  of,  74,  121 
Secularist  Bills,  104,  105,  107 
-  party,    64,    101,   104,    105, 

107,  119 
Select  Committees,    42,  51,  58, 

71,  73,  105,  328 

— .  Reports  of,  51, 58,  73, 

256,  324,   327,   332,  333, 

334,  335,  337,  341 
Self -Help    a     Hundred     Years 

Ago,  38,  57 
Sesame  and  Lilies,  136 
Sewing,  14,  46,  52,  54,  57,  114, 

185,   192,    215,  217,  234, 

256  (see  Needlework) 
Shackleton,  Mr.,  145 
Sheffield,  4,  5,  8,  120,   157,  158, 

190,  299 
Shelley,  Godwin,  and  their  Circle, 

25 

Shenstone,  3 
Sherwood,  Mrs.,  253 
Simultaneous  method  of  instruc- 
tion. 213,  274 

Sinclair,  Ven.  Archdeacon,  90 
Singing,  69,  88,   148,  233,  234, 

275,  308  (see  Music) 
Single  school  parishes,  176,  177 
Six   Radical    Thinkers,    32,  68, 

132 

Slaney,  Mr.,  72,  80 
Slojd,  298-9 


Small   Manual  for  the    Use  of 
Village  Schools,  A,  220 

Smith,  Adam,   1,  22,  23-4,  26, 

160,296 
— ,  Sydney,  32 

Socialistic  influences   in  educa- 
tion, 31,  33-7 

Society  for   Bettering  the  Con- 
dition of  the  Poor,  31,  38- 

39,  192 

for  Diffusing  Useful  Know- 
ledge, 33,  61,  287 
for    Promoting    Christian 

Knowledge,    9,   13f.,   16, 

50,  51,  185,  187 
for  the  Establishment  and 

Support        of       Sunday 

Schools,  19 
of  Industry  at  Caistor,  40  ; 

Reports,  40 

South  Kensington,  157,  168,  299 
Southwark,  53 
"Specific    subjects,"    147,    301, 

302,  305 

Spelling,  196,  206,  221,  241,  315 
"  Spelling  off  Book,"  223 
"Spelling  on  Book,"  223,  cf.  187 
Spencer,  Herbert,  36,  131,  286  f; 
Spitalfields,  infant  school  at,  56 
Spontaneity,  233,  260 
Standard  Seven,  147,  304 
State  and  education,  6,  20  f.,  36, 

40,  64,  65,  66,  67,  70,  74, 
84,  87,  92,   101,   103,  129, 
133,  161,  174  f. 

cannot  educate,  76-7,  78-9, 

85-6 
system,  struggle  for,  68 f., 

103  f.,  122 
—  training  college,    36,   339 ; 

(controversy)  75  f. 
State    Intervention    in    English 

Education,  6 
Statistical  methods,  use  of,  30 

societies,  71,  72,  73,  82 

Stephens,  W.  W.,  21 
Stipendiary  monitors,  346 
Stock,  Rev.  Thomas,  18 
Stockport,  13,  193,  228,  229,  252 


392 


INDEX. 


Stockport,  Minutes  of  National 

school  at,  257,  325 
Stow,    David,  228,  243,  244  f., 

271,  295,  334,  336 
Sunday    School    movement,    9, 

18  f.,  40 

Sunday  School  Union,  38,  40 
Sunday  schools,   5,  10,   13,   18, 

31,  38,  40,  43,  71,  85,  94, 

96,  184,  189,  192-3,  228 
Sunday  Schools  of  Wales,  The,  9, 

18 
Sunderland  Lancasterian  school, 

224 

Swedish  drill,  296,  307 
Swimming,  134,  307 
Swiss  Family  Robinson,  196 
Syllabus    of    Standards,      279- 

280 
"Sympathy  of  numbers,"  246 


TATE,  T.,  276 
Teacher's   Handbook    of 

Slojd,  The,  299 
Teachers,  a  new  sacerdotal  class, 

117 
as  Civil  Servants,  111,  114, 

345-6 

,  registration  of,  167 

should  be  the  first  care  of 

the  State,  338 
,  social  inferiority  of,  324-5, 

327,  328 
Teachers'  certificates,   102,   114, 

147,  336,  337,  347 

improvement  societies,  328 

National   Society,   scheme 

for,  337 

—  pensions,  337,  347-8 
Teaching    profession,  efforts  to 

make    an   attractive,  90, 

104,  346-7 
Technical  Instruction  Act,  162, 

167 
training,  demand  for,  136, 

162,  297,  298 
Temple,  Archbishop,  353 
Test  Acts,  63 


The  Enlightenment  and  popular 

education,  7 

The  Stones  of  Venice,  133,  134 
Theophrastus,  326 
Three  R's.,  11,  48,  54,  67,  68,  69, 

111,   114,    143,    147,    148, 

155,   232,  251,   259,  275, 

278,  281,   282,   298,   301, 

315. 

Tillotson,  Archbishop,  9 
Time  charts,  197,  234 
Time-tables,  147,  215,  284,  309  f. 
Tot  it  ing,    Lancaster's     boarding 

,'      school  at,  52 
Toi&rds  Educational  Peace,  178 
To  j  in  education,  196,  205 
"  "Training, "  meaning  of,  245 
Tra  ning  College,   age  of  entry 

to,  332,  336,  340,  349,  370 

— rs- ,  a  London  men's,  362-3 

,    Borough    Road,    97, 

330,  344,  348 

,  Brecon,  96,  344 

,  Carmarthen,  96 

,  Chester,  344,  351 

curriculum,    342,  349, 


351,  352,  356,367-8 

,  Diocesan,  344 

— ,  Durham,  332 

,  effect  of  Revised  Code 

on,  356 

,  Exeter,  344 

,  Homerton,  85,  344 

,  more  variety  in,  361, 

369 

,  Municipal,  172,  366 

,  need  for  demonstra- 
tion and  practising  schools, 
353 

,  Norwich,  332 

,  Oxford,  344 

,  Rotherhithe,  344 

,  St.  Mark's,  344,  348, 

349,  351 

,  St.  Mary's,  Hammer- 
smith, 344 

,  Salisbury,  344 

,  Vehrli's,  342 

,  Westminster,  344 


INDKX. 


393 


Training   College,    Whitelands, 

344 

— ,  York,  351,  332 
Training  Colleges,  statistics  of, 

354,  357,  360,  364,  366,  367 

— ,  Temple's  Report  on, 

353  f. 
— ,     undenominational, 

152,  363 

University  Day,  152, 


159,  363-4,  366,  368 
— ,  women's,  Sir  Joshua 
Fitch's  description  -      362 
Training  of  Teachers  at  th    liar- 
rington  School,  1810   331 
at  the  Borough       >ad, 


1834,  333-4 

•  at  the  Glasgow  N( 


•mal 
Seminary,  335~6 

—  by  the  Home  and  L/olo- 
nial  Society,  340 

—  by  Wilderspin,  339-40 
—  entrusted  to  voluntary 
agencies,  76,  344 

for     Charity    schools, 

14,  329 

—  for  Infants  schools,  56, 
339  f. 

for  Monitorial  schools, 

330-1 
in  Central  schools,  50, 

51,  52,  332,  333,  334 
,     Kay  -  Shuttleworth, 

experiment  at  Battersea, 

341-3,  369 
,    period    needed    for, 

332,  335,  336,  340 
Training  System,  The,  228,  245 
Treason  of  the  Blue  Books,  The, 

100 
Tremenheere,    Mr.,    Report  on 

South  Wales,  95  f. 
Trimmer,  James,  42 
Trimmer,  Mrs..  40,  47,  187,  188, 

191,  223 
Charity      School      Spelling 

Book,  189,  223 
Truant  schools,  152 
Turgot,  21 

H.  ED. 


Two  Hundred  Years:  a  History 

oftheS.P.C.K.,  14 
Typical  schools :  a  "bad  "  school, 

277-8 

— ,  a  "  fair  "  school,  277 
,  a  "good"  school,  276, 

306 

,  a  "poor"  school,  306 

,  an  "  average  "  school, 

250,  275 

-,  an  "excellent "  school, 


314 


UNCOVERED  school- 
room," the,  246 

Undenominationalists,  64,  138 

University  Day  Training  Col- 
leges, 152 

Unorganised  school,  213 

Unpopularity  of  day  school 
education,  12 

Unsectarian  education,  67,  83, 
89,  119,  120,140,  151,  153, 
177 

Useful  knowledge  v.  developing 
capacity,  '260 

Utilitarian  movement,  32,  287 


VACATION  schools,  179 
Value   of   school     inspec- 
tion, 109 
Variety  in  education,  plea  for, 

164 

Vehrli,  342 
Village  school   on    the   Madras 

plan,  219-220 
Virtue  the  result  of  education, 

200-1 
Vocational   training,    137,    154, 

157,  264,  297 

Voluntary  denominational  teach- 
ing, 83,  152 
Voluntary  schools,  123,  125,  140, 

155,    159,    163,    165,   172, 

175 
,     capital     value     of, 

163-4 

26 


394 


INDEX. 


Voluntary  schools,  financial  diffi- 
culties, 129,  149-150, 163  f., 
170,  256-7 

— ,   management    of,  90- 
92,  170,  172-3 

,  proportion  of  places 

provided  by,  141,  170, 182 
-,  transference  of,    124, 


175,  176,  182 

"  Voluntaryism,1'  mistake  of  ex- 
treme, 87 

,  results,  94,  97,  98 

,  resources  of  inadequate,  102 

"  Voluntaryists,"  64,  84,  104, 
105 

,  educational  position  of, 

85-6,  170 


WALES,  5,  6,  9,  13,  16,  19, 
40,   86,  93  f.,   144,   168, 

181,  306,  323. 

Wales,  North,  education  in,  97 
,  progress    of   education  in, 

93  f. 
,  Report  of  the  Commissioners 

of  Inquiry,    1848,  94,  95, 

99,  100-1 

,  scholarship  system  in,  168 

,  South,  education  in,   95-6, 

97 

,  Sunda}'  schools  in,  9,  18 

Wales  (Phillips),  96,  99 
Wallas,  Graham,  32,  53 
Walthamstow,  Infant  school  at, 

56 

Ward  schools,  5 
Watson,  Joshua,  50 
Watts,  Dr.  Isaac,  10,  13,  14,  186, 

197 

Wealth  of  Nations,  1,  24 
Welch  Piety,   16,  17,   184,   186, 

187 

Wells,  Algernon,  86 
Welsh  Circulating  schools,  16 f., 

184 

Code,  323 

Education  Alliance,  121 

Department,  323 


Welsh    EdiK-utiiiii    Commission, 

1846.  98-101 

Committee,  96 

Intermediate   School   Act, 

168 
language,  facilities  for,  306, 

323 
v.  English,  9,  16,  93,  94- 

95,  101 
Wesley,  10 

Wesleyans  7(5.  79,  91,  104 
West  London  I^ancasterian  As- 
sociation, 28,  53 
Westminster   Central    Training 

School,  52,  256-344 
Westminster  ltci-ieu\  289 
Whiskey  Money,  162 
Whitbread,  Mr.,  26,  45,  49,  58 
Whiteehapel  Chatitv  School,  49 
Whitefield,  George,  "l 9 
Whitehall,  168 
Whole  Duty  of  Man,   185,   188, 

189 

Wigram,  Rev.  J.  C.,  253,  256 
Wilderspin,  55,   56,  236  f.,  '243, 

245,  248,  295,  339 
Wilhem's    method    of    teaching 

singing,  270 

William  Goboett,  a  Biography,  3 
William  of  Wykeham,  43 
Williams,  Mr.',  M.P.,  98 
Wilson,  Joseph,  55-56 

,  Rev.  Wm.,  56 

Windleband,  33 
Wood,  John,  229,  245,  334 
Wordsworth,  30,  37,  62 
Workhouse  schools,  82 
Working    class    movement  and 

education,  27,  30,  57,  63, 

65,  130 
Classes,  National  Union  of, 

63,  65 

schools,  11.  12 

Wyse,  Mr.,  68,  72,  74,  262 


YORK,  Middle  School  at,  259 
Young,  Molly,  232 
Yverdun,  265 


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struction of  self  and  the  world  has  passed  are  illustrated  by  reference 
to  the  mental  condition  of  the  lower  races  of  mankind.  The  third 
edition  has  been  substantially  rewritten. 

Education. 

Principles   and  Methods  of    Teaching.     By   JAMES 

W ELTON,  M.A.,  Professor  of  Education  in  the  University  of 
Leeds.     Second  Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged.     6s.  6d. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  help  teachers  in  their  daily  work, 
and  to  assist  them  when  they  offer  themselves  for  examination  in 
that  work. 

The  Teaching  of  Modern  Subjects  (from  Principles 
and  Methods  of  Teaching). 

(1)  THE  TEACHING  OF  ENGLISH  (Reading,  Language,  and  Litera- 
ture). Is.  (2)  THE  TEACHING  OF  GEOGRAPHY.  Is.  (3)  THE 
TEACHING  OF  HISTORY.  Is.  (4)  THE  TEACHING  OF  MATHEMATICS 
AND  SCIENCE.  Is.  6d.  (5)  THE  TEACHING  OF  Music.  6d.  (t>)  THE 
TEACHING  OF  FOREIGN  LANGUAGES.  Is. 

Principles  and  Methods  of  Moral  Training  irit/t 
Special  Reference  to  School  Discipline.  By  Pro- 
fessor JAMES  WELTON,  M.A.,  and  F.  G.  BLAXDFORD,  "M.A., 
Lecturer  in  Education  in  the  Cambridge  University  Training 
College.  3s.  6d. 

•University  {Tutorial  press  £&„  lonDon,  TlU.C. 
2 


— continued. 

Principles  and  Methods  of  Physical  Education 
an  ft  Hygiene.  By  W.  P.  WELI-TON,  B.Sc.,  Master  of 
Method  in  the  University  of  Leeds.  With  a  Sketch  of  the 
History  of  Physical  Education  by  Professor  JAMES  WELTON, 
M.A.  4s.  6d. 

Throughout  this  work  the  standpoint  from  which  physical  educa- 
tion is  regarded  is  such  that  the  physical  and  the  mental  aspects  of 
education  are  brought  into  harmony. 

This  book  is  also  issued  without  the  chapters  on  Hygiene,  under 
the  title  Physical  Education.  3s.  6d. 

Psychology,  Fundamentals  of.  A  brief  account  of 
the  Nature  and  Development  of  Mental  Processes  for  Teachers. 
By  B.  DUMVILLE,  M.A.,  F.C.F.  4s.  6d. 

Child  Mind.  An  Introduction  to  Psychology  for 
Teachers.  By  BENJAMIN  DUMVILLE,  M.A.,  F.C.P.  2s.  6d. 

Text-Book  of  Hygiene  for  Teachers.  By  R.  A.  LYSTER, 
M.D.,  B.Sc.,  D.P.H.,  Medical  Officer  of  Health  for  Hampshire, 
and  Chief  Medical  Officer  to  the  Education  Committee.  4s.  6d. 

School  Hygiene.  By  R.  A.  LYSTER,  M.D.,  B.Sc.,  D.P.H. 
Second  Edition.  3s.  6d. 

ScJtool  Organisation.  By  S.  E.  BRAY,  M.A. ,  Inspector 
of  Schools  to  the  London  County  Council.  With  a  Chapter  on 
"  The  Place  of  the  Elementary  School  in  a  National  System  of 
Education,"  by  Sir  J.  H.  YOXALL.  Second  Edition.  3s. 

ScJtool  Training.     By  R.  E.  HUGHES,  M.A.     2s. 

This  work  is  concerned  primarily  with  the  aim,  and  ^condarily 
with  the  means,  of  school  training,  and  with  the  relations  of  school 
and  home,  actual  and  ideal. 

The  Life  and  Work  of  Pestalozzi.  By  J.  A.  GREEN, 
M. A.,  Professor  of  Education  in  the  University  of  Sheffield. 
4s.  6d. 

The   Educational   Ideas   of    Pestalozzi.     By   J.   A. 

GREEN,  M.A.     2s.  6d. 

The  Educational  Ideas  of  Froebel.  By  J.  WHITE, 
D.Sc.  is. 


tutorial  ipreee  2A,  lonOon,  1CI.C. 
3 


j£bUCfttiOtt  —  continued. 

Synthesis  of  Frocbcl  (tint  ITcrbart.     By  R.  D.  CHALKE, 
M.A.,  LL.D.     3s.  6d. 

The  chief  aim  of  the  book  is  to  trace  the  relation  of  Pestalo/./.i, 
Froebel,  and  Herbart  to  each  other  and  to  the  progress  of  modern 
education. 

Nature  Study,  the  A  hits  and  Methods  of.     A   Guide 
for  Teacher*.     By  JOHN  RENNIE,   D.Sc.,  F.  U.S.  E.     With  an 
Introduction  by  Professor  J.  Arthur  Thomson.     3s.  6d. 
The  greater  part  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  model  courses  and 

model  lessons  dealing  with  typical  studies  and  designed   for   all 
es  in  the  school.     All  branches  of  nature  study  are  included. 


Nature  Study,  the  Aims  and  Methods  of  (South 
African  Edition).  By  JOHN  KEN  ME,  D.Sc.,  F.R.S.E.,  and 
GEORGE  RATTRAY,  M.A.,  D.Sc.  3s.  6d. 

School  Lentous  iu  Plant  and  Animal  Life.     By  JOHN 

RENNIE,  D.Sc.,  F.R.S.E.     4s.  6d. 

A  course  of  eighty  lessons  in  Nature  Study,  with  full  guidance  to 
the  teacher  as  to  how  to  learn  and  how  to  teach  the  subject. 

School  Gardening,  ivith  a  Guide    to  Itortiraffnre. 

By  A.  HOSKINC.,  Lecturer  in  Horticulture  and  Chief  Supervisor 
of  School  Gardens,  West  of  Scotland  Agricultural  College. 
With  numerous  illustrations  and  plans.  3s.  6d. 

The  Teaching  of  Drawing:   its  Aims  and  Methods. 

By  S.  POLAR  and  H.  C.  QUILTER.     2s.  6d. 

The  scheme  of  the  work  falls  under  three  heads  as  follows  :  — 
(1)  the  aims  to  be  kept  in  view  in  the  teaching  of  Drawing,  (2)  the 
methods  by  which  a  teacher  should  try  to  realise  these  aims,  and 
(3)  the  use  of  Drawing  to  illustrate  lessons  011  drawing  and  on  other 
subjects. 

The  Teaching  of  Needlework:  its  Aim  a  and  Methods. 

By  Miss  H.  M.  BRADLEY,  B.A.     Is.  6d. 

Voice  Training  in  Speech  and  Song.  By  H.  H. 
HULBERT,  ALA.,  M.R.C.S.,  L.R.C.P.  Is.  6d. 

The  Science  of  Speech  :  an  Elementary  Manual  of 
Phonetics  for  Teachers.  By  B.  DUMVILLE,  M.A.,  F.C.P.  2s.  6d. 

Manual  Training.     By  A.  H.  JENKINS.     [In  preparation. 


TUniversttg  {Tutorial  press  llfr.,  lonoon, 

4 

27.10.13. 


UCLA-ED/PSYCH  Library 

LA633B53H1914 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


SUBJECT  TO  FINE  IF 


NO  I   KLIUKNtU  10' 

I  LIBRARY 


SEP  1      1955 

JUN  2  5  195* 


2  5  195T 


DEC  1  1  1957 
JAN  1  0  1958 


tfOVttMAHAMM^^^^^^^AA.       Ai 

^tHfr^yi  .^^ 


ngicnvc  ornim 


MAR     ? 


MAY  2  3  1961 


Form  L9-100m-9,'52(A3105)444 


Education 
Library 
IA 
633 
B53h