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 | LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE, 
 
 | EQUATE AND UNIVERSAL EDUCATION 
 ENGLAND AND WALES. 
 
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 BY 
 
 Wea oMeAC KT, 
 
 VICAR OF ARDELEY, HERTS, 
 
 LONDON: 
 GEORGE BELL, 186, FLEET STREET. 
 
 Price Sixpence. 
 
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 5 Hon. Sir.—Though the address of a judge at assizes is made to the 
 
 “ grand jury, yet there is much in it to make all of us parochial clergy think 
 
 over the matter, and ask—‘‘ Why are these things so ?” 
 
 . In such an address, Sir, you said not long ago, that there was an increase 
 “of crime in this county, and that it was the duty of gentlemen in their 
 position, z.e., the nobility and gentry, to regard with a jealous eye every 
 thing that looked like an increase of crime, endeavour to trace it to its 
 _ source, and do away with the cause of it; you expressed your opinion, that 
 
 nothing would be found more effectual to this end than improving the 
 , moral condition of the people. You added, that it was found that there 
 ©) Was an increase in the number of prisoners who had received an imperfect 
 ~ education, but the returns also showed that there were very few prisoners 
 indeed who had received what might be termed a good education. From 
 the ages of the prisoners you observed, it was clearly shown that education 
 ought not to end with childhood, and that some steps should be taken by 
 those who had charge of the young not to lose sight of them on their being 
 released from their more immediate care. Finally, you showed, that for 
 the happiness and well-being of the people, it is necessary to give them 
 an education founded upon and combined with religion in every part of it, 
 and to keep them in check by an education of this description being carried 
 on at that period of life when the passions are most warm, and most require 
 to be kept under subjection. 
 
 The grand jury were then discharged to perform the duties required of 
 them incourt; but after what you had said, they must have felt that their 
 duties as christian gentlemen were to extend beyond the jury room—even 
 to trace the source of the increase of crime, and do away with the causes 
 of it. Hard, indeed, would be the task of the grand jury, if you told them 
 to purify the source without pointing out to them the means of doing so ; 
 but while you complain of the bitter water you show them the healing tree 
 —‘ sound religious education.” 
 
 The mode of operation which you recommend must be doubly estimable 
 in the eyes of the nobility, gentry, and clergy, when they consider that it 
 is gathered from that Word which makes us wise unto salvation. The Great 
 
 = Judge of all has said: ‘‘ Out of the heart (of men) proceed evil thoughts, 
 * adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, false witness, blas- 
 = phemies.” (Matt. xv. 19.) But He sent forth his ministers, saying, ‘‘ Go 
 <~ye and teach all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
 “the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things what- 
 
 soever I have commanded you.” And this teaching was to be continued 
 <s— after them, for He added: ‘‘ Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end 
 of the world.” As then this Word is truth, unless there be this kind of 
 teaching, those defilements will and must prevail in the hearts of men. 
 For those whom you immediately addressed, our Church prays in her 
 Litany, that they may be endued with grace, wisdom, and understanding, 
 
 TS os Ps 
 
 Awe 
 
 i 
 
 Gow Pur Se. 
 
9 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 
 
 and that they may ‘‘ execute justice, and maintain truth.” In order to 
 maintain truth, they must, according to the above quotation from holy 
 writ, maintain an efficient and sufficient ministry of Christ’s church, and 
 take measures for the training up of the young in the way they should go. 
 
 In the first place: for the ministry of the Church to be efficient, there 
 must be more bishops. The population of England and Wales is stated 
 to be about 18,000,000; there are, with the archbishops, 27 bishops, so 
 that each bishop has to see over 666,666 souls on the average. When 
 we consider the several duties of a bishop, the above disproportion must 
 appear intolerable and unchristian. To take, for instance, the office of 
 confirmation, and the carrying out of its holy intention, by receiving 
 annual reports of non-communicants in every parish, according to the 
 112th canon, which canon, no doubt, shows (besides what is said in the 
 Catechism) that our Church considers the receiving the second sacrament 
 —the holy communion as necessary for a Christian people as the first— 
 baptism, and that the bishops should be furnished with a check against the 
 neglect of the one as well as of the other. Then as to the duty of inter- 
 course with his clergy; how much the junior clergy at least, after the lay- 
 ing on of hands, ‘‘ need the episcopal control, pastoral friendship, and pa- 
 ternal advice of their bishop.” A plan might be devised without much 
 difficulty, were there but willingness to carry it into effect, to add at least 
 100 bishops to those at present existing. ‘They need not have rank, or 
 vote as peers in the House of Lords, but only execute those endearing and 
 pastoral duties, which the people of England, by their very nature, love. 
 At the utmost it must be allowed, that the average population to each 
 bishop ought not to be more than 200,000, which gives 90 bishops for 
 England and Wales; we have 27, so that 63 more are required at least. 
 There was the same number of bishops, within one or two, in Queen Eliza- 
 beth’s time, when the population was six millions, instead of 18 millions. 
 To speak only of this county of Hertfordshire: by the census of 1841 its 
 population was 162,422; from the increase of five years, we may reckon 
 it now at 170,000; in 1539 King Henry VIII engaged to erect new 
 bishoprics out of the funds of the suppressed monasteries, in addition to 
 the 24 or 25 already existing; the list still exists in the king’s own hand- 
 writing, and it is given by Bishop Burnet, vol. i. p. 525. There were to be 13, 
 but six ovily were erected; that of Hertfordshire, out of the Abbey of St. 
 Alban’s, was one of those neglected to be made. According to the com- 
 parative general population of those days, we may estimate that of this county 
 at about 56,000; if it was considered as requiring its own bishop then, how 
 much more now with its 170,000. As the wealthy among the nobility 
 and gentry build and endow churches, there is nothing to prevent their 
 endowing a bishopric of St. Alban’s; the abbey church might become a 
 cathedral or seat of his see, the endowment would provide him with 
 chaplains. These arrangements completed, the appointment of a bishop 
 could not be denied. ‘There are, I see, by the map of this county, about 
 140 seats of the nobility and gentry in it, many of these are wealthy. 
 
 Reckoning the bishop’s salary at £1000 per annum. 
 Four chaplains at £200 each, 800 55 
 Others, servants of the choir, 200 x 
 
 £2000 per annum. 
 
 Surely such asum might be spared from these estates, in due proportion to 
 their extent, to provide such a desideratum. 
 
‘A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 3 
 
 Mr. Palmer, in his pamphlet on Church Extension, calculates the defi- 
 ciency of parochial clergy on the basis of a demand of one to every 1000; 
 no one can say, this is beyond the mark. He proves, according to the 
 census of 1841, that the number of population without pastoral aid is six 
 millions, and hence that six thousand additional clergy are needed. Some 
 think, it would be difficult to provide funds for the required increase of 
 bishops and incumbents, but what has been done once can be done again; 
 if there be only the will and prayer for God’s help, he will give the ability. 
 If our ancestors provided enough for their thousands, why should not we 
 for our millions? With the increase of population our wealth has in- 
 creased ; the incomes above £150 a year gave, at 7d. in the pound last 
 year, £5,303,521 net revenue. 
 
 When a Blackstone and a Stowell have written against the alienation of 
 tithes from the Church, and when we see how much she is hampered in the 
 work of evangelizing the people, owing to this being done in more than 
 4,000 parishes, it is hardly necessary for me to observe, that a restoration 
 of these resources would be not only a great step towards effecting the 
 wished-for social. improvement, but also, as making amends for a wrong 
 done to Christ and his Church, would, without doubt, bring down a bless- 
 ing with it. How many of the nobility and gentry whom our judges ad- 
 dress among the grand juries, are holders of these alienated tithes, which 
 were originally given up by the lords of the soil for the religious instruc- 
 tion of all, for the support of the Church and relief of the poor. All of them 
 are men of property; it is for them especially, who, from the amount of 
 crime, must see the necessity of something being immediately done to 
 check the evil—it is for them to call on their wealthy brethren, in the first 
 place, to join them as far as possible in restoring to the Church what has 
 been taken from her, and never to rest till an adequate episcopacy, presby- 
 tery, and diaconate, be provided all over the land. This would soon be 
 done, if the rich of the present day would only follow the example of our 
 ancestors in giving up an adequate portion of their incomes to increase the 
 ministry of the Church in proportion to the population. The only differ- 
 ence required is, that the generous spirit that animated the breast of one 
 baronial lord, must now be stirred up in a number of landlords and owners 
 of other property. If there is a railroad to go through a county, how soon 
 the noblemen and gentry meet to consult upon it. If there is a gaol to be 
 built, or any temporal county work to be engaged in, how quickly they 
 assemble to effect the object. But here is an object of far more lasting 
 importance to be gained, one that is necessary not only for the spiritual 
 -but also for the temporal welfare of millions, (I say temporal also, because it 
 may be proved to be so, when pastors reside among manageable flocks) —one 
 that would improve their property because it would improve the people that 
 work on it, and diminish the depredations of crime; one that, though it 
 would incur a present outlay, would be a saving in the end, for the ex- 
 pense of imprisonment and criminal proceedings would be diminished. It 
 has been officially stated, that, where those dreadful outbreaks occurred 
 in the north some years ago, and when so much expense was incurred by 
 sending troops, and by special legal measures; in localities where the peo- 
 ple had the advantage of the ministry of the church, and were a church- 
 going people, there was no disaffection. There then is an object to be gained 
 which affects the very safety of the State, and which will tend to the pre- 
 sent and eternal happiness of millions, for ‘‘ godliness has the promise of 
 the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come.’ ‘The object is 
 to afford an adequate ministry of the Church of Christ, so that his behest 
 
4 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 
 
 may be carried out, ‘‘ Go teach all nations.” His Word—the experience 
 of ages—the condition of the people before our eyes—the pastor often lost 
 among the numbers of his flock—the addresses of the judges,—all go to 
 prove to the upper or wealthy classes of this country, that in each county 
 they must combine to eradicate the evils which proceed out of men’s hearts, 
 by more fully providing this authorized and sacredly ordained mode of 
 teaching. Nor are we without the means of making this combination: by 
 the ancient and happy constitution of our land we have all the machinery, 
 it only wants setting to work in this direction. The address goes forth 
 from the judge ; the foreman of the grand jury has his colleagues, who at 
 once form a committee for operation; the high sheriff is the one to calla 
 county meeting; he may be assisted by the lord lieutenant in calling toge- 
 ther their fellow nobles and gentry and proprietary, urging them to join in 
 proportion to their means in making provision for bishops and clergy, ac- 
 cording to the extent and number of the people. Thus, only let the com- 
 mon spirit of Christianity animate once more the wealthy brethren, we could 
 not only touch, but remove the spiritual destitution which prevails ; for by 
 these means, and in this spirit, a hundred men, consisting of nobles and 
 gentry, whether living on funded or landed property, and others engaged in 
 manufactories, or wholesale or retail merchandize, could provide for the 
 desired object, just as well as one baronial lord dic in times of old. 
 
 In the second place: in order to ‘‘ maintain truth,” and drive out those 
 evil qualities which defile the heart of man, it behoves the magistracy to 
 see that there are sufficient and efficient schools for instruction of the young 
 amongst all the people. ‘The above supply of ministry of all grades is the 
 foundation for teaching as laid by the Great Head of our religion, but their 
 teaching cannot be accomplished unless schools spring up suited to these 
 several classes of the population, and according to its numbers. If the 
 lambs be not attended to, the flocks will be imperfect. 
 
 In your address, you declare to the grand jury that a sound religious 
 education is necessary for all the people; I believe they would at once 
 bestir themselves to supply it, if they had a system given for doing so. 
 Now, by the rules of our Established Church, the system is given ; 
 it only wants the attention and the money of those who have property 
 and intelligence to carry it out. It is done with regard to the more 
 wealthy classes, by means of the universities, foundation schools, gram- 
 mar schools, proprietary and private schools, and private tuition, in al- 
 most all of which the teaching is conducted by clergymen,—in all of 
 which the ‘‘education is founded upon and combined with religion,’-— 
 and which, with the domestic instruction also given, ensures the child- 
 ren of these classes being taught according to the engagements entered 
 into at their baptism, viz., that each child shall be taught, so soon as 
 he shall be able to learn, the solemn vow, promise, and profession then 
 made; that he shall hear sermons, and learn the creed, the Lord’s prayer, 
 the ten commandments, and the catechism, on which teaching there neces- 
 sarily follows instruction in the holy scriptures, for the daily reading of them 
 is ordered by the church ; of course, the secular learning, according to the 
 manners and customs of these classes, is added in the course of education. 
 Thus, the system of the church for teaching the young is carried out in the 
 wealthier classes, and accordingly we do not find them amongst the lists 
 of criminals, or if we do now and then hear of one of them had up for 
 shop-lifting, or riotous behaviour, it is put down to monomania,—a sudden 
 ebullition most rare and unaccountable. Go to the next grade, the middle 
 classes, the farmers and tradesmen; they can and do command education 
 
A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 5 
 
 for their children, but their teachers too often depart from the system laid 
 down by the Church, and required by the solemn engagement at baptism,— 
 ‘*the form of sound words,” which is intended to keep us together in the 
 bonds of christian charity. They cannot command the teaching of the 
 clergy, as the rich can in their schools; and the clergy are, as already has 
 been shown, so few, that the demand in this quarter cannot be supplied. 
 True it is, we do not much oftener find members of this class in the list of 
 criminals than we do those of the upper ; but from want of a sound religious 
 education amongst them, and also from want of a concomitant mode of se- 
 cular teaching, to increase the intelligence according to what is due to 
 their position in the country,—from this class, generally speaking, pro- 
 ceed those various winds of doctrine, which all must allow are inconsistent 
 with the peace and well-being of a christian community, as being a source 
 of religious strife and division. Formerly, the lords of the soil, and the 
 thrifty merchants, gave up tithes of the soil, or portions of their gains, for 
 the teaching of all in religious knowledge; there were then ministers of 
 the church in proportion to the number of people, so that every child was 
 under their eye, and could be, and was, taught the christian duties, and 
 the moderate secular knowledge then customary; then there were gram- 
 mar schools and foundation schools for those of moderate means, but those 
 schools are now beyond the reach of the classes I am speaking of ; in short, 
 their education is neglected, contrary to the intention of those who en- 
 dowed our cathedrals and churches, and founded our schools. 
 
 Fresh schools are therefore now wanted, for farmers’ and tradesmen’s 
 children. Such schools, however, these classes cannot or will not provide 
 for themselves. Let, then, the nobles and gentry, for this object also, meet 
 together by the constitution of our shires, and found, or assist in founding 
 such yeomen and commercial schools, as shall be sufficient for each district 
 and town. When once founded, we may hope they will be kept going, by 
 the growing demand for this kind of education. 
 
 The farmers are an honest and an industrious class; physically they are 
 the flower of the land; here then is good ground for the seed of sound edu- 
 cation to be sown in. For want of this seed the higher principles of our 
 religion do not spring up in them, and this is a great loss to themselves and to 
 others who are beneath them,—to themselves, because piety and devotion, 
 added to the above qualities, would bring down a blessing upon them here and 
 hereafter ; to the others, because the influence of these principles would be 
 felt by the labouring classes—to use a popular saying ‘‘like master like man.” 
 Inculcate these principles, and then we should not hear the complaint that 
 the clergy are forced to make in almost every parish, viz., the absence of the 
 yeomen from the second sacrament, the Lord’s supper, equally necessary 
 to salvation with baptism. ‘The rich, the educated come; the aged poor 
 come, who are no scholars; but the farmers who are imperfectly educated 
 do not—in many places the churchwardens do not come; yet by the 112th 
 canon the churchwardens are the persons appointed to present all non- 
 communicants to the bishop. 
 
 Models of such schools to help the gentry in each county and district to 
 supply them, are not wanting; e.g., take the one at Walthamstow, founded 
 about 1517, by Sir G. Monox, a large landowner, who then and there 
 founded 13 almshouses and a school for 20 boys,*—afterwards extended 
 by Sir H. Maynard to 8 more. It is, I understand, under the control of 
 the vicar, and for farmers’ and tradesmen’s sons; the foundation is for day 
 scholars, and they pay 10s. a quarter ; they are instructed in religion accord- 
 
 * Vide Appendix A. 
 
6 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 
 
 ing to the engagement entered into at their baptism, and besides the com- 
 mon items of secular instruction, they learn Latin. ‘The master receives, I 
 believe, £40 a year, and has a house provided. Contrast with this the only 
 means of education farmers have now ; from instances I know, where for 
 mere reading, writing, and arithmetic, the day scholars pay 10s. a quarter, 
 and if geography and grammar be added, 15s. a quarter, and religious in- 
 struction (if any) is given on the dangerous no-principle of every man going 
 his own way. 
 
 Foundation schools, then, for farmers and tradesmen’s children, should 
 be established all over the country. The districts already formed under the 
 poor laws, will be a very good guide for the magistrates where to establish 
 these schools; the same distance that the poor have to go for relief, the 
 farmer’s son could walk or ride to school. The proper appointment of 
 masters for the boys’ schools, and mistresses for the girls’, must be of primary 
 consideration; and this might, I should hope, for the sake of decency and 
 order, be regulated according to the 77th, 78th, and 79th canons of the 
 Church of England ; for the provision of the 78th, that those in holy orders 
 should teach in such schools, will soon be acted up to, if they be set on 
 foot on a scale commensurate with the power of our landlords, and worth 
 and station of our yeomanry and tradesmen. ‘‘ Every one who has attended 
 to the subject must know, that as is the schoolmaster so is the school.” 
 
 The necessity of education among the third or poor class, is sufficiently 
 shown by your charge to the grand jury ; therefore it only remains for me, 
 in this letter, in order to second your recommendations, to humbly offer 
 my suggestions: firstly, as to the kind of education required for the poor. 
 Secondly, as to a system of providing it 7m perpetuo and also in eatenso. 
 
 In an assize sermon, preached before Mr. Baron Parke, at Bury St. Ed- 
 mund’s, by the Rev. G. Sandley, I find these words :-—“ Preserve the people 
 POO CTIME LAs. 252. 208 by early instruction; by impressing on their minds 
 principles of morality ; by inculcating sound truths; by encouraging reflec- 
 tion; by pre-occupying the mind before inclinations and habits creep in: 
 preserve them by schools, preserve them by education extending to every 
 cottage, bye street, and lane, throughout the length and breadth of the land. 
 What else can stop the progress of crime so frightfully increasing ? It can 
 alone be done by some grand plan of national education.”’ ‘There appears 
 to be a mischievous spirit of antagonism against the church of this country 
 which now prevents this plan being carried out. It not unfrequently hap- 
 pens that, if it is proposed to establish a “national school,” in which reli- 
 gious Instruction must be given according to the tenets of the Church of 
 England, and according to the solemn engagements entered into by the 
 sponsors at baptism, an opposition school is immediately set on foot under 
 “The British and Foreign School Society,” which allows no religious 
 tenets to be taught; the Bible isread but there are to be no “ decrees,” no 
 ‘articles,’ no creeds, which even the apostles themselves could not do 
 without! In short, each scholar is brought up to judge for himself, to do 
 that which is right in his own eyes! A system, in fact, of no system, a lati- 
 tudinarianism, whence must inevitably arise “false doctrine, heresy, and 
 schism.” There the catechism, explaining the meaning of the sacraments of 
 baptism and the holy communion, appointed means of grace, is not allowed! 
 How then, shall those brought up there, know how to get God’s grace in 
 their hearts ? Even the Lord’s prayer is not recognised as necessary to be 
 learnt ; and if the children know it, they are not to learn what the mean-. 
 ing of it is, as so ably shown in the catechism. Moreover, the ten command- 
 ments are not taught, nor the duties towards God and our neighbour— 
 what then can we expect from those who are neither taught to pray, 
 
A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 7 
 
 nor the first principles of obedience as laid down in God’s word? From 
 an absurd and unscriptural abhorrence of all forms, the Dissenters (for 
 it is to please all sects this no-system is allowed and encouraged by 
 Government) would throw our people into the confusion of undisciplined 
 troops before the arch-enemy of mankind. To the shame of churchmen it 
 must be said that, in some places, the establishment of these antinomian 
 schools has taken the lead—pre-occupied the ground. I repeat that, as I 
 am informed by managers under the British and Foreign School Society, 
 even ‘‘ the ‘l’en Commandments” are not taught; they say they read them 
 in due course of reading the Bible, without note or comment, but is that 
 ‘* teaching” the children ‘‘ to do all things whatsoever are commanded ?” 
 Yet these schools are supported by grants of money from a state which is 
 pledged to uphold the teaching of the Church! Under the sanction of the 
 state, the poor are persuaded to send their children to these schools, and 
 thus they are blindly induced to break through the solemn engagements 
 entered into at the baptism of the child, that he shall ‘‘ learn the creed, 
 the Lord’s prayer, and the ten commandments, and all other things which 
 a Christian ought to know and believe to his soul’s health ;” led to despise 
 the solemn injunction, that he is to ‘‘ be further instructed in the Church 
 Catechism,” for the purpose of confirmation. Some say, it is for the 
 parents to teach these things themselves at home; but owing to past 
 neglect the parent cannot read, and how can they teach what they do 
 not know? Some again say, this is part of the clergyman’s duty on Sun- 
 days: but not to speak of the frequent disproportion of the numbers of the 
 clergy to the size of the flocks; not to speak of the spirit of disregard for 
 the sacred ordinances of the Church and its ministry, which is engendered 
 at these schools,—how can the clergymen catechise the children to any pur- 
 pose, either according to the 59th canon “ before evening prayer,’’ or 
 according to the ]st rubric following the catechism, ‘‘ after the second 
 lesson,’ unless they be prepared for it during the week ? Besides, it might 
 be proved, that when this order was given, there were often deacons to 
 assist the priests. I say, then, that these Latitudinarian Schools, mis- 
 called British, but well called Foreign, instead of bringing up the children 
 in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, produce a people to be false to 
 their engagements entered into at baptism, false to their church; and if a 
 man be false to his church, he will be false to his parents, false to his friend, 
 false to the powers that be;’’ and instead of truth he will imbibe error. 
 But the magistrate is “‘ to maintain truth.” I would humbly suggest, 
 then, that this antagonism in education so injurious to our country be no 
 longer kept up, and that schools of one kind, and on one plan, be provided 
 for the third class of the people, by whose labour all are clothed and fed. 
 True, there are all sects in parliament; but they are there on condition of 
 upholding the Established Church, as appears by the oath on which they 
 take their seat, and the rules of the plan should be founded on that, the 
 Church being the ordained teacher of all. There may be exceptions to rules ; 
 but the exception to the rule of teaching the great tenets of our faith as 
 set forth in our catechism, should only be made in behalf of those children 
 who have not been baptized in the Church, and then only on the strength 
 of a formal declaration * from their parents (or, they not being alive, the 
 
 * Tf the exception be not strictly made in this way, there will be ‘ those who cause 
 divisions,”’ ever ready to tamper with the parents, and keepchildren from learning the 
 tenets of the Church. 
 
8 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 
 
 guardians) that such is the case, and that, therefore, they do not desire 
 that part of the catechism which speaks of the answering of sponsors, to be 
 taught the child, and even then no exception should be made from teaching 
 the creed, the commandments, and the duty towards God and our neighbour 
 (as laid down in the catechism), the Lord’s prayer, and the nature of the sacra- 
 ments. Why, when [had charge of districts in India, in a revenue and ma- 
 gisterial capacity, I had the ten commandments translated into Mharatta, 
 and they were taught in the village schools, both of Mahomedans and Brah- 
 mins. And shall children be denied them ina Christian land, when the New 
 Testament, the gospel of Christ, plainly directs, that they should be learned ? 
 (Matt. v. 19—xxii. 40; Mark, x. 19; Luke, xviii. 20; John, xiv. 20.) 
 Attending the service of the Church, too, is by consequence agreed to 
 by the sponsors on the part of the child at baptism; and that should 
 (where it can be had) be hence insisted on as part of the education of all 
 the children ; again relaxing into exception only where a formal declaration 
 is made by the proper persons, that the child was not baptized into the 
 Church, and that they consequently do not consent to his or her attend- 
 ance there. ‘These exceptions are absolutely necessary, and the necessity 
 is brought on the country in great measure owing to the Church not hav- 
 ing been extended to all the people; therefore, it would be unfair to keep 
 such children from the advantages of the general education; and who 
 knows, whether, by coming in contact with the other children, and learning 
 with them, they may not in time be led to see and to try the beauty of the 
 one Sion, under the new commandment of Christ to ‘‘ love one another ;” 
 and so all may at length be joined together ‘‘ in the same mind, and same 
 judgment, and speaking the same thing,” and that there shall, by help of 
 that wisdom and power which is from above, be no longer any division 
 among us, further than must needs be in this imperfect state? (See 1 Cor. 
 xi. 19.) It was one of the maxims of Julian the Apostate, when he tried 
 to subvert Christianity in the fourth century, to encourage all sects, so 
 that he might prove the fallacy of a religion which professed as its main 
 principle love and unity. Oh then that our state, with the Queen, both at 
 the head of it, and temporally at the head of the Church, would stop a 
 system of education which is not only antinomian, but tending to the same 
 result that only an apostate could desire! It is surely enough to tolerate 
 dissent from the unity of the Church, without encouraging it. 
 
 I come now to speak of the imperfect manner in which even the national 
 schools that are allowed us are supported. If we have an acknowledged 
 good way of maintaining truth, surely, it ought to be liberally supported 
 by the magistrates and wealthy of the nation. Hooper, bishop of Glou- 
 cester, one of the early bishops of the reformation, and of most tolerant 
 views, said in a sermon, ‘‘ I would likewise pray and admonish the magis- 
 trates to see the schools are better maintained, for the lack of them shall 
 bring blindness into the Church of England again.” (Sketches of the Re- 
 formation, by Haweis, p. 283.) The same preacher quoted above, in his 
 sermon before Mr. Baron Parke, at Bury St. Edmund’s, speaking of the 
 need of some grand plan of national education, well said—* not an educa- 
 tion depending upon the resources of the parochial clergy; not an educa- 
 tion flourishing here and there under the precarious bemevolence of some 
 good man (like an oasis in the desert) ; not an education owing its partial 
 success to the vigour of a diocesan, or the efforts of a central society, 
 which, however judicious, must necessarily be limited, and amidst the vast 
 body of solid ignorance existing unfelt ; not an education depending on the 
 
A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 9 
 
 competition of rival sects, empty in itself, and having its origin in casual 
 controversy ; but a national education founded and fostered by the state, 
 free from sectarianism of all sorts, and directed to the general enlighten- 
 ment of the great body of the people. In any such system the first move 
 would be to raise the schoolmaster in the scale of society, and then send 
 him forth with his Bible and his primer to sow intelligence in every lane, 
 and field, and factory, in the United Kingdom. Nothing but that—a sys- 
 tem fostered by the state—can overtake the striking and stalking evil that 
 fills our prisons...... or arrest that cruel advance of crime increasing with 
 our population.” Perhaps part of this quotation refers more to that section 
 of this letter wherein I spoke of “‘ the kind of education required,” but not 
 to speak of my unwillingness to break the thread of such an eloquent ap- 
 peal, it appeared to me a good word to put in here as an argument directly 
 in favour of zealous support from magistrates and parliament, inasmuch as 
 reckoning the Church to be no sect, and the great portion of our people 
 being members of the Church by baptism, and there being a law already 
 existing (canon 77), for providing sound and able schoolmasters, (and by 
 parity, schoolmistresses), the recommendation of such a system must be 
 grounded on general consent of all unprejudiced minds and constitutional 
 principles, as long as church and state stand together. We now build school- © 
 houses by aid of government, the National Society, and private subscriptions 
 —I know that the said aid from government is not given, unless it be stated 
 by the promoter of the school that there is a fair prospect of the school 
 being kept up, but for the want of system to secure funds in regular sup- 
 ply and the regular attendance of the poor children, there is no certainty of 
 keeping them up ‘‘ zn decency and order.” 
 
 And firstly : as to the want of funds in regular supply. The clergyman and 
 those with him who are the promoters of the school hope that the rich 
 landlords and residents will continue their subscriptions, but there is no 
 guarantee for this; though all allow that such subscriptions ought to be 
 kept up, yet the managers of the school (and very often the clergyman is 
 sole manager) may be left at any time to their own resources. H.g. a vicar 
 receiving about 2 or £300 a year hasa population of 800 or 1,000 under his 
 spiritual guidance, aschoolroom is built for 100 children: at first everything 
 goes on well, it is a new thing, all are anxious to support it, and by dint of 
 importunity, perhaps he gets subscriptions up to £80 a year, the expenses 
 being full £40; he thinks himself fortunate to have to pay only £10, while 
 the support of many village national schools falls almost, if not altogether, 
 on the clergyman. Yet by these schools being kept up, the property in 
 such localities is rendered more valuable, the people being brought up more 
 orderly, more managing, and more industrious; it is for the good of the 
 landlords and farmers, for the good of manufacturers and trade; it must 
 tend to diminish the county rates as decreasing crime, and the poor rates 
 as decreasing poverty; it is good for the statesman, as it must tend to 
 strengthen the bonds of society: but to take a higher ground, ‘‘it will 
 purify the mind of the people, it will elevate their souls and lead them 
 nearer to heaven.” (Rev. J. Sandley’s Assize Sermon.) ‘This want of 
 system in supporting the parochial school under my charge being evident 
 to me; indeed, it having been kept up by my predecessor, entirely by his 
 own and his family’s funds; and feeling that it was only in common justice 
 the proprietors’ business, I drew up a circular to the landowners, containing 
 a scale of annual contribution, according to the value of each one’s property. 
 Some have fully responded to the appeal, some have not; indeed, what- 
 ever plan we may invent, it can have no stability unless it be enforced by 
 
10 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE,. 
 
 the law of the land. First, give them the opportunity of contributing, by an 
 annual statement of the demands for educating the poor being set before 
 them, and after a stated time call on them for their proper shares. And what 
 could be fairer than for the laws to insist on these schools being supported by 
 a rate on the acre or in the pound, of whatever property calls the poor toge- 
 ther, the receipts and expenditure being annually audited by some duly ap- 
 pointed person ? Iam encouraged in this suggestion for some such systema- 
 tic support of schools for the people, putting them on a lasting foundation, by 
 the bishop of my diocese having approved of my plan, by the archdeacon of 
 my deanery having done so too, and also by the late government inspector of 
 schools in this district, Rev. Mr. Allen, writing to me, in reply to my lament 
 over the present uncertain and imperfect support of my parish school and 
 others, and saying—‘ How are the clergy to have good schools, if the land- 
 owners will not subscribe a sufficient sum to remunerate proper teachers 
 and to supply the necessary materials ?” In Scotland there is a regular edu- 
 cation rate on property, just what I am recommending for England and 
 Wales, which was laid on by Parliament, I believe, in Queen Anne’s reign. 
 Some persons argue from the great efforts already made, that reliance may 
 be placed on voluntary efforts, but landlords die, proprietors change, ‘‘ an- 
 other king comes that knows not Joseph,” and hence what guarantee is 
 there for the support being permanent? Besides, instead of arguing for re- 
 liance on voluntary support generally over England and Wales, from the 
 exertions of some few right-thinking and liberal proprietors, does not the 
 conviction on their part, and the good results flowing from it, prove the want 
 of that which they do, being rendered obligatory on all others, who are just 
 as able but not so willing? It was on this principle of sacrifice for public 
 good from a part being made to extend to all, that our national Church has 
 been endowed for ages; for at first men were only bound to pay their tithes 
 by moral obligation, as the minimum offering for the support of the Christian 
 Church and the poor, but afterwards by legal obligation under laws passed 
 by the Saxon kings and the Wittenagemots. In things for the body, the 
 supply will quickly come up to the demand under common circumstances, 
 but it is not so in things for the soul; and it remains for a paternal go- 
 vernment, especially as it is connected with the religious welfare of the 
 people, by the connection of Church and State, to furnish this supply from 
 the sources which are pointed out by the spentaneous efforts of those who 
 are fit to judge. Thus frequently the spontaneous productions of a soil, 
 indicate to us what we are to sow or plant. Mr. Williams, speaking only 
 of Wales, exhibits a district containing 850,000 inhabitants, where there 
 are only 47 schools, of which many are presided over by uneducated and 
 inadequate schoolmasters; of the adult population a very small portion 
 could read or write, yet they were most desirous of receiving instruction, 
 and then, to prove that there was no lack of supply for this vast demand, 
 if only developed, and furnished by some regulated system, he stated that 
 this population is in the receipt of excellent wages, that the ‘‘ masters of 
 these labourers count their wealth, the work of their hands, by tens of 
 thousands, and yet speaking of them as a body, they did nothing to im- 
 prove the intellectual condition of this vast population—then comes the 
 ‘how to direct this supply to the demand ?’ If the landowners’ and mill- 
 owners and miners, in. Wales, and we may add, England too, had been 
 compelled as in Scotland, to not only erect but endow schools by a regular 
 charge on their estates, or mills, or mines, they would be repaid tenfold by 
 the improved habits and conduct of the population around them.” And Mr. 
 Williams thus quotes Scotland as a precedent for this system,—‘‘ How 
 
A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. ll 
 
 much had been done for Scotland, in respect of education, owing to which 
 her population was not to be excelled in Europe. Soearly as 1633, paro- 
 chial schools had been established in the country, supported by assess- 
 ments on the landowners, who had been amply repaid by the improved 
 condition of the people.” Yet even in Scotland it had been officially re- 
 ported, that more schools were requisite; showing the necessity of extend- 
 ing the provision of an act passed more than 200 years ago, to suit the 
 increased population and means of wealth; proving, perhaps, that this 
 assessment for education, must not only be on land, but also on manufac- 
 tories, and other modern sources of income. 
 
 Secondly: Some system is required to secure the attendance of the 
 children of the poor at such schools, to be supported by the owners of 
 property ; the funds coming from them, they will have a right to expect a 
 sound and efficient education to be given, and that it shall embrace the full 
 extent of the people’s children ; 1 mean those of the labouring classes. For 
 the public benefit to be fully obtained, there must be a system of ensuring 
 regular attendance of all children at and up to a proper age; for then only 
 the magistrate will find education of the people a perfect means of ‘‘ main- 
 taining truth.’ We want no new law to be made for this purpose; the rules 
 in the liturgy of our national church are part of the law of the land, con- 
 firmed by act of parliament, and under royal consent ; and there are two 
 of them after the catechism (which is to be learned by every child baptized 
 into the Church,) which, if only acted up to, would ensure the regular 
 attendance of the children at school. ‘The first is, ‘‘ The curate (7.e., he 
 who has cure of souls) of every parish shall diligently upon Sundays and 
 holy days, after the 2nd lesson at evening prayer, openly in the church in- 
 struct and examine so many children of his parish sent unto him, as he 
 shall think convenient, in some part of this catechism.” The second is, 
 «© And all fathers, mothers, masters, and dames, shall cause their children, 
 servants, and apprentices (which have not learned their catechism) to come 
 to the Church at the time appointed, and obediently to hear, and be ordered 
 by the curate, until such time as they have learned all that is appointed for 
 them to learn.”’ And, moreover, at baptism, the sponsors are charged, that 
 besides the catechism, &c., the child shall ‘learn all other things which a 
 christian ought to know and believe to his soul’s health, and be virtuously 
 brought up to lead a godly and a christian life.’ Now for these laws to 
 be carried out it is necessary, as I said before, for the children to have in- 
 structors during the week; this is as necessary towards these laws being 
 obeyed, as police or constables are towards the criminal law being obeyed ; 
 the parents, the sponsors, cannot give them this instruction; they are toil- 
 ing all the day, from morn till night, in their various works: nay, so in- 
 capable are they that, as the Bishop of St. David’s has said, ‘‘ the ignorant 
 parents are often indebted to their instructed children for the inculcation 
 of the first principles of morality and religion.”” ‘The parents and masters 
 all see the necessity of this instruction being given through schools; Mr. 
 Foster, the commissioner of the Times newspaper, remarked that the great 
 evils which he had seen among the people (speaking of Wales) were only 
 to be ‘‘ cured by an extensive, sound, and reasonable education, for such an 
 education the farmers and people were anxiously desirous.” The deplor- 
 able results of spiritual and educational destitution in many places in Eng- 
 land, even where the greatest wealth is amassed, may be seen by referenc2 
 to the reports of the National Society, particularly in the long list of ap- 
 plications for aid made to the National Society through Archdeacon Sin- 
 clair. (Vide the Society’s Report for 1843, p. 42.) 
 
12 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE, 
 
 But having pointed out in a former part of this letter the means of sup- 
 plying the material for schools, it remains for me now to point out the way 
 for setting the people in a position to demand this supply—in short, to 
 create the demand from the supply being ready—and for this end it will 
 be requisite to show them,—Ist, That there is something more than the 
 walls and furniture of the school houses, viz., competent teachers; in 
 short, that the supply isa good supply, one worthy of theirdemand. 2ndly, 
 That they must demand the supply in obedience to the Church and State 
 law for the christian education of all, quoted above, and that, failing there- 
 in, they will be compelled to use the supply for their children just as they 
 are compelled to obey any other law. 3rdly, That, as from poverty many 
 of them will be unable to satisfy either the willing or compulsory de- 
 mand, means must be taken to do both, by giving them, in certain cases, 
 education gratis, and not only so, but also making up to them the loss of 
 the children’s labour, which is their bread. 
 
 Firstly then, as to furnishing competent teachers for the schools. For 
 this too, we want no new law; the law exists, which, if carried out, would 
 satisfy the contributors to the schools that they did not pay their money in 
 vain, and the parents of the children that they would be well and orderly 
 taught; not to mention its giving security and honour to the situation of 
 teacher, making it more worthy the acceptance of competent and respect- 
 able persons, both male and female. The law I speak of is in the 77th 
 Canon :—‘‘ No man shall teach either in public school or private house, 
 but such as shall be allowed by the bishop of the diocese, or ordinary of 
 the place, under his hand and seal, being found meet as well for his learn- 
 ing and dexterity in teaching, as for sober and honest conversation, and 
 also for right understanding of God’s true religion.’’ And as for the duty 
 of these teachers, it is set forth in the 79th Canon, which, if acted up to, 
 would insure a sound and religious education. The license for the before 
 mentioned commercial schools might proceed from the bishop; and that 
 for the national or parochial schools, which I am now speaking of, from the 
 archdeacon or rural dean, by authority delegated from the bishop. ‘There 
 can be no doubt that the district commercial schools (those for farmers’ and 
 tradesmen’s sons above recommended,) would furnish many teachers for the 
 parochial schools. For both kinds of schools the precaution of previous 
 examination and regular license for the teachers is absolutely necessary, 
 to give confidence to their supporters, and, what is more, to ensure the 
 teachers their situations— ‘‘ quam diu se bene gesserint.” With this sim- 
 ple restoration of the proper order of teachers, we shall be able to say with 
 the prophet, ‘‘ Thy teachers shall not be removed into a corner any more, 
 but thine eyes shall see thy teachers ; and thine ears shall hear a word be- 
 hind thee saying, this is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right 
 hand and when ye turn to the left.’’—Isaiah, xxx, 20. 
 
 Secondly.—Having by law established and endowed school houses and 
 teachers, we are to see that the children of all are sent to school, 7. e., that — 
 the parents or guardians be called on to act up to the baptismal injunction, 
 that the child be taught all that a Christian ought to know and believe to 
 his soul’s health. Now this is a natural consequence of what has already 
 been said :—an education rate must oblige the feeding the souls of the 
 poor, as a poor rate obliges the feeding of their bodies. In many union 
 workhouses in England and Wales, the pauper children are regularly 
 taught; here, then, is a precedent for compulsory education by a compul- 
 ~ sory rate. Why should not the children of the working poor have the 
 same advantage? Though parochial schools be provided, yet thousands 
 
A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 13 
 
 neglect to send their children to them. It may be said, “‘ they may do 
 what they like with their own;” but surely they must give their own, their 
 lawful, their covenanted right, and that is, as proved above —education ; and 
 when the schools are ready, they should be first invited to send their chil- 
 dren, and then on their failing to do so, compelled. 
 
 “The Prussian system of education is a compulsory one; all parents are 
 compelled to send their children to the parochial schools, which are built 
 and supported by the government. ‘The education to those who do not 
 pay is limited to reading, writing, and the rudiments of arithmetic and 
 singing. Besides the parochial schools, every burgh or town having a 
 certain population, has what is called a Gymnase: these are of two kinds, 
 elementary, and what may be called collegiate.” These gymnase answer 
 to the commercial schools recommended above. ‘‘ There is a tax upon 
 every parent in Prussia (whose child, boy or girl, exceeds six years of age) 
 which must be paid, whether the child go to school or not; indeed, if it 
 be found that the child does not go to school after a certain age, a fine 
 is added, which goes on increasing, and after a certain time magistrates 
 may interpose and compel attendance at the school. But such is the habit 
 of obedience in Germany, that there is seldom any case of this kind.” 
 
 In Scotland the force of opinion compels parents to send their children ; 
 it would be thought odd and contrary to custom to keep them from school ; 
 but what a help they have in the expenses of the schools, being almost, if 
 not entirely defrayed by the heritors.* 
 
 Surely, with all the wealth of England and Wales, the village school 
 could be so endowed that the poor labourers, only earning the common 
 wages of 7s. or 8s. or 9s. a-week, might send their children gratis. If 
 this were done, all that I have conversed with on this subject agree that 
 they would not object to their children being ordered to school by law; 
 and as this process weuld only be adding one penny per head to the en- 
 dowment, the advantage of having universal educaticn would be cheaply 
 bought. 
 
 Why, for the sake of a penny a week for each poor child (which it is 
 often not possible to get from the poor parent being out of work), should 
 we lose the great advantage of universal education? ‘Till the feeling is 
 here as in Scotland, that a parent robs his child of its right unless it be 
 sent to school, there must be the obligation to send. It will never do for 
 fifty children of a village to be educated, and ten or twelve not; a little 
 leaven leaveneth the whole lump, (1 Cor. v.6). Muchof the good done at 
 school will be undone, if this be the case, as it is now; it would neither 
 be fair on the children sent, nor the parents sending, nor on the proprie- 
 tor, &c., supporting ; it would be injustice to the public. In lieu, then, of 
 the penny, or any payment from common weekly labourers, oblige them 
 by law to send their children to school, at least after six years of age. 
 First enjoin, then command; if parents will not act parentally; if they 
 will not see their children ‘‘ christianly and virtuously brought up,” as bound 
 by the solemn service of matrimony, then government must act the pa- 
 ternal part, and the parish officer, though perhaps not now bound to see 
 that all the people go to church, as the canon has it, might at least see 
 that the children go to school and church too, as a general rule—the only 
 exceptions being under the circumstances already specified in this letter. 
 
 * For an account of the system in Scotland, see the answers of a minister of the 
 Scotch Kirk to queries addressed to him by the writer—as given in Appendix B., 
 p20; 
 
14 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 
 
 I beg here to introduce a plan for supporting a parochial school, reckon- 
 ing the land at the average rental of £1 per acre. 
 
 Proposed Rate for z= 2 
 f School 
 Names oF OWNERS. ere pie lad ee &5 
 in the Pound. S & 3 
 Spee Si 
 gO ay E g a 
 863 habe! %§ 3 
 288 2 8 0 50 8 
 273 3 2°90 aod 
 27 4 6 Ne - 
 72 12 0 S=Y 
 76 12 8 26 a 
 68 ier gaa 
 i2 12 10 6 58 
 18 3 0 = A 3 
 aR 
 Pair 
 50 8 4 BOS 
 54 oa) aS § 
 44 Tid, a an 
 41 6 10 oa 
 re ear Wa beer 
 gag 
 Oe 
 Titel Acres Heke serge | ales 4g aoly aloe 229 
 Add great and small tithes at same rate. 828 
 Alienated great tithes per annum, say £500. 4 3 0 Soe 
 Vicar’s small ditto, per annum, say £150. L640 thee 
 A Ma Oo 
 ne | 
 Oem ame A 5 Ba 
 Amount from Charitable Bequests Fund 10 0 0 Ss a 
 Suppose estimated children’s pence*.... 4 0 0 ‘uS 
 Estimated Collection at Annual Sermon and 2m y 
 DOtHCTISOULCCS fo yn los & «455g be wie 5/7 02.0 ae 
 " 8 
 £40 2 0 
 
 The present holders might bequeath and fix it for those that come after 
 them, so as to make the rate permanent, or increasing, if required, I be- 
 lieve it is a system which might be adopted all over the country, the rate 
 fluctuating according to circumstances, and agreed on from all other pro- 
 perty besides land. 
 
 On my sending this plan to the Bishop of Lincoln, he approved of it, 
 and said he would recommend it to his clergy. The Rey. F. C. Cook, 
 Her Majesty’s Inspector of Schools, wrote to me, after perusing this letter 
 to Judge Coleridge :—‘ If the feelings of the opulent laity were warmly 
 enlisted in the cause, all other difficulties would be speedily overcome. I 
 think your plan of estimating the value of properties, and calling on all 
 for proportionate contributions is really excellent.” 
 
 The parochial church system might be brought in to aid in this work by 
 the names of sponsors being registered at the time of baptism, and, failing 
 the parents, they might be called on to fulfil their engagements by causing 
 the children to attend school, 7.e., using their proper influence. More- 
 over, the churchwardens might provide themselves with annual lists of 
 
 * Poor day labourers to be helped in this as suggested above. 
 
A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 15 
 
 children of proper age for instruction, and see to their attendance. As for 
 the school books showing the number of children under instruction now, 
 nothing is more fallacious ; there may be 100 names onthe book, but not 
 more than 50 in actual weekly attendance. 
 
 Thirdly.—On account of the poverty of the parents, who are only day 
 labourers, education must not only be given gratis, but the loss of the 
 children’s labour made up to them. The Bishop of Salisbury in a charge 
 to the clergy not long ago, said, ‘‘ You all agree that 8 or 9, or at most 
 10 years of age, is as late as boys can be retained at school in agricultural 
 districts, and girls perhaps l or 2 years more. Itis useless to lament this, | 
 however much we may regret the pressure of poverty, which is its cause. 
 It is useless to strive against it, or to blame parents for it, as if they were 
 indifferent to the education of their children because they are constrained 
 by urgent necessity to avail themselves of whatever trifling assistance even 
 little hands can give in providing a scanty supply for their bodily wants.” 
 (Copied from English Journal of Education.) Thus we find that boys of 
 9 and 10 years of age are employed to drive plough horses, and other daily 
 farm work, and receive ls. 6d. or 2s. a week. I have known many crip- 
 pled and stopped in their growth from this early abuse of their little limbs. 
 Girls in this county of Hertfordshire earn 6d. or 1s. a week by platting 
 straw from morn till night. They perhaps send the child to school for a 
 few weeks and then stop; there is no regularity, no certainty, in the edu- 
 cation ; they may come or they may not; and many apoor boy or girl thus 
 early at work, (perhaps, too, when arrived at the age of 13 or 14, employ- 
 ed with horses, cattle, or sheep, on Sundays,) will hardly be able to answer 
 who Jesus Christ is, what is the reward of the good, or what the punish- 
 ment of the wicked ; having no idea of prayer or of the commandments of 
 God, (I speak from facts). Thus, in Lord John Russell’s speech on the 
 condition of the labouring classes in Parliament in May, 1845, adverting 
 to the jail returns, especially to that of one county, which abounds with 
 the seats of wealthy noblemen and gentry,—‘‘ out of 879 prisoners there 
 were 141 who did not know the Saviour’s name; 498 who knew it, but 
 knew little more ; 179 who had a confused sort of acquaintance with his 
 history ; and only 6 per cent. of the whole returns had any reasonable 
 knowledge of the Christian faith. Some said they had occasionally been 
 within a place of worship; but all was dark and confused to them, and so 
 they gave it up, and all of them were strangers to any pleasures but those 
 of the grossest sensuality.” 
 
 The poor parents are often weeks without work; they then eat their 
 bread on trust to the shops; they have not even the penny to pay for the 
 weekly schooling of one child, the minimum rate at our national schools; 
 often they are ashamed to send them even to the Sunday school for want 
 of decent clothing or shoes! 
 
 Looking on this state of things, Iam sure the only certain way is to 
 grant them, i. e., the poor labouring classes who have low wages, and live 
 from hand to mouth,* gratuitous education for their children, at least so 
 far as the injunction at baptism requires. But after they are able to work, 
 their going to school would be a palpable pecuniary loss to the parents, 
 they would lose ls. 6d. or 2s. a week—the cost of their food at least—and 
 
 * A noble example has been set by Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, ana 
 His Royal Highness Prince Albert, for gratuitous education of the children of the poor. 
 The children in Her Majesty’s Schools in Windsor Great Park are now boarded as well 
 as educated ; the boys have plots of ground for gardening, and the girls will be exercised 
 in domestic occupations, —(Sitatement in the English Churchman.) 
 
16 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 
 
 this they cannot afford todo. Again, the farmers say they cannot afford 
 to pay the labourers more wages in lieu of the boys or girls’ work, on ac- 
 count of the heavy local taxation. 
 
 It is by the property of the wealthy nobility. and gentry (I speak of 
 owners of mines, and manufacturers, &c., as well as owners of land) that 
 these labouring people are brought together, and encouraged to dwell on 
 the estates, to marry and have families; they are, in fact, the production 
 of wealth, and the producers of wealth, and thus, for a double reason, the 
 wealthy proprietors should consider themselves called on to provide for 
 their spiritual and mental welfare, which is the first step to improve their 
 temporal. And as for the children of these labouring people, by parity of 
 reasoning, they are or may be called the adopted children of the proprie- 
 tors; at any rate, as the wealthy pay for the education of the children of 
 their own bodies, let them do as much for the children of their wealth, 
 who have no other means; and till the working age, let them pay for 
 their schooling; and from that age till twelve or thirteen, let them, 
 besides their due share to the education, make up what the children 
 would earn, either in money, or in food and clothing; and so bring them 
 up to be good members of Christ’s Church, good subjects, and honest 
 servants. And the schools should be so constituted as hinted above, to 
 admit children of dissenters, the only exception to the rule of the National 
 Church to be allowed, being on the written or positive declaration of the 
 parents or guardians;—nothing herein said preventing poor dissenters 
 from educating their own children in their own way, only the authorities 
 must be satisfied that they are receiving instruction. To this end, as it is 
 for the public good, and as it is now an acknowledged fact that the poor 
 must be educated, and that by the improved behaviour of those that are 
 properly educated, and the better management introduced into their homes, 
 all property is benefitted, one proprietor must not hang back while an- 
 other comes forward. Let each one produce a list annually of the 
 labourers and their children on his estate, to go before a diocesan board 
 of education. A rich landlord gives £300 or £400 a year for the educa- 
 tion of his son, he surely could give 2s. a week, or £5 4s. a year for each 
 poor boy on his estate for four years, from nine till thirteen, and half that 
 sum for each girl. Suppose there were ten boys in the year and ten girls, 
 £52 for the boys, and £26 for the girls, total £78 per annum, for twenty 
 boys and girls, over and above his share-to the common support fund of 
 the schools; only this to secure, under God, the maintenance of truth. 
 It might come in shape of county rate on property or income. How much 
 better to pay this, than perhaps £100 for police and jail, to apprehend and 
 punish those who never learnt—‘‘ Thou shalt do no murder,’—‘Thou 
 shalt not steal.’ The expense of the Herts’ county police force was in one 
 year £6,476; in 1846, expense of gaol and prisoners, £3,208. 
 
 I repeat, that the proprietors of all kinds only want a system laid down 
 by law to effect this desideratum throughout England and Wales. Ninety- 
 nine out of a hundred of them, recognize the necessity ; they have the will, 
 they only want the way to be pointed out; and that way must draw in the 
 eccentric and niggardly opposer of this boon to the poor. So it was truly 
 said by Sir E. L. Bulwer-Lytton, at the Herts’ Agricultural Society’s 
 Meeting on the 30th September, 1846,—‘ The faults of the labourer are 
 the faults of the law, and his virtues are his own. It is the fault of the 
 law, if the labourer is left ignorant. It is the fault of the law, if he is not 
 taught in his youth a feeling of independence, the misery of intoxication, 
 the fatal results of disorderly habits...... which will lead him step after step 
 to the workhouse, the hospital, or the prison. These are the faults of the 
 
A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 17 
 
 law, not those of the proprietor; and the faults of the labourer are the 
 faults of the law in not providing the means of sufficient education for this 
 great community.” In the debate on the motion for the repeal of the sen- 
 tence on Frost, &c., March, 1846, it was well observed by Lord J. Man- 
 ners, M.P., that ‘there was never any popular insurrection or disturbance 
 without some great evil at the bottom, and he fully believed that if that 
 house would pay more attention to the social position and improvement 
 of the people, and less to economic and philosophical notions, it would tend 
 infinitely more to the strength and prosperity of the nation.” Also, in 
 March, 1846, Mr. Williams, M.P., in his speech on the state of education 
 in Wales, said—‘‘ What had been done by all civilized nations in the 
 world? They might take the democratic governments of America and 
 Switzerland, or the constitutional governments of Europe, or the despotic 
 governments of Austria and Prussia, and they would find that the system 
 of education in those countries was founded on the most efficient princi- 
 ples. A very large sum had been voted during the last year by the French 
 ministers for the purposes of national education. He felt confident that 
 parliament would never have heard of these lamentable occurrences which 
 took place at Newport, and would not have been at the expense of sending 
 down a special commission to try the prisoners, nor been at the expense of 
 establishing military stations where the soldier or the standing army had 
 never before been known, nor been at the expense of building barracks at 
 Newport, Brecon, and Bristol, which alone occasioned an outlay of £14,000, 
 had a proper system of national education been established. He thought 
 that if the police of that country were dismissed, and the amount of their 
 cost laid out upon English schoolmasters, the peace of that country might 
 easily be maintained by the old parish constable. The present want of 
 education was a very great obstruction to the operation of the laws.” 
 
 But besides insuring education for all the children of a certain age, other 
 things remain to be done afterwards, still further to strengthen the magis- 
 trates in ‘‘ maintaining truth.” e.g. 
 
 Those marplots of all exertions for good, the numerous ‘“ beer 
 shops,’ must be diminished, and the poor encouraged to brew among 
 themselves, by joining in the supply of brewing utensils. Occupation for 
 the leisure hours of the labourer should be provided by garden allotments 
 in every parish, not binding them down to the growth of potatoes, but 
 leaving them to choose their crops. Mecreation should be allowed the 
 working classes, by their masters giving them holidays, say six or eight 
 during the year: such days being chosen as are connected with events in 
 Church or state: our church plainly intends this, and here, as in other 
 things she would be, as her Great Head, the friend to the poor. More fa- 
 cility and encouragement should be given to the poor to attend at public 
 worship in their several parish churches, by giving them the best places 
 for hearing and praying, instead of (as is too often now the case) the 
 worst ; places and though for the upper classes and farmers and tradesmen 
 there might be appropriated places for each family or house, yet there 
 should be uniformity in the accommodation of that house, where “ rich 
 and poor meet together, for the Lord is maker of them all.” We must 
 look on God’s house, and his sacred ordinances, as the great fountain 
 head of education, and maintenance of truth, but as long as one class is 
 here exalted and the other debased, pride is nourished, and kindly feelings 
 are checked, the poor feel themselves slighted and deprived of their rights 
 in the most sacred and precious thing, and so the stream through the daily 
 
18 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 
 
 course of life is muddled.—See for this also the Epistle of St. 
 James, il. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 And as connected with this part of my subject I would recommend 
 that in every parish the injunction of either the Rubric gr the Canon, as_ 
 to catechising, (taking the different times, as convenience suits) should be 
 obeyed, so that all the young persons, male and female, should be kept 
 strictly and constantly under religious instruction till they be confirmed, 
 _d.e., from thirteen, the time of their leaving school, till about sixteen. As this 
 
 is the law of the land, the solemn engagement of sponsors, and required by 
 God’s word, it would be only part of our parochial system to require the 
 churchwardens to see to the due attendance of the young, and well would 
 it be for all masters and mistresses to assist in this good work, by obeying 
 the church’s rule in the Prayer book, above quoted, to enlist extra sidesmen 
 or assistants for this purpose. Where, from the paucity of clergy, difficulty 
 arises in giving obedience to this law, it must be removed by the imme- 
 diate increase of those spiritual officers, as recommended in the first part 
 of this letter. 
 
 Thus, my Lord Judge, I conclude this letter, humbly submitting no theo- 
 retical, no new means of eradicating the cause cf the increase of crime, but 
 plain, practical, lawful, and old established, though long neglected means, 
 only requiring resolution, co-operation, and slight sacrifice on the part of 
 our magistrates and other nobility and gentry, and a system of manage- 
 ment in ‘‘ the sinews of war,’ to carry them out; showing that to attain 
 a common benefit, all must make common cause; as we are all propor- 
 tionably and voluntarily taxed to keep up the standing army and the 
 wooden walls of old England, for defence against foreign earthly powers, 
 so we must contribute to defend our nation ‘‘ against the principalities, 
 the powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked 
 spirits in high places.” 
 
 I am aware of the imperfect manner in which I have treated this im- 
 portant subject; but when it is looked upon as the produce of a few hours 
 snatched necessarily at various times from those of my incumbency in a 
 very poor parish, I trust the imperfections will be excused. | am persuaded, 
 and therefore have I spoken, and I am, with the greatest respect, 
 
 Your humble obedient servant, 
 W. W. MALET. 
 
 APPENDIX A.—MIDDLE SCHOOLS. 
 
 It is proposed to found two schools for yeomen and tradesmen’s chil- 
 dren, one for boys at , one for girls at , so as to ensure sound re- 
 ligious teaching and useful instruction. The master of one and mistress 
 of the other, to be appointed under the provisions of the 77th, 78th, and 
 79th Canons of the Church of England, making license of the bishop ne- 
 cessary, and allowing clergymen to undertake the office of schoolmaster. 
 No parent to pay more than 10s. a quarter for a day scholar, nor more 
 than £20 a year for a boarder. 
 
 Expense of Foundation of Boys’ School, 
 
 £ £ 
 Building schoolroom, &c. . ; : , - 400 
 Master’s house : : ; 3 2 | 1,050 
 Boarders’ hall and bed rooms, Re! : : . 400 
 Aid from National Society : 100 
 Privy Council 10 | 1,050 
 Remains to be given by the Founders ‘ : 850 
 
A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 19 
 
 Income and School. 
 
 * Seventy day boys, at £2 a year ? : : 140 P 
 Twelve boarders, at £20 a year . : : . at pate 
 
 Expenses. 
 Master’s salary, per year. 4 ; : 3 200 
 Expense of boarders, per year . : ; 160 i nae 
 
 Leaving £120 to the proprietors, which, if they would forego, or only a 
 part of it, might be devoted to an under master, or to teaching deserving 
 boys gratis, or to exhibitions. 
 
 There are already commercial or agricultural schools established in 
 Essex, to serve as examples which yield a good return to the founders, and 
 answer the purpose required. To speak of a foreign specimen, ‘‘ There is 
 an excellent agricultural college established in an old country palace about 
 six miles from Stuttguard, called Hobenheim, where there are about150 stu- 
 dents from all parts of the world, excepting England; there is a Greek from 
 Smyrna, a Danish Creole from St. Thomas. They have about 1,200 acres 
 under cultivation, and the students who generally remain from 3 to 4 
 years, go through a complete course of practical husbandry, including the 
 management of forests, and all known branches of rural economy, not ex- 
 cepting chemistry. This establishment nearly pays its own expenses, the 
 annual charge on the budget of the state being somewhere about £350, 
 and the professors are liberaJly paid. I cannot help thinking such an es- 
 tablishment in England would make an excellent joint stock speculation, 
 to say nothing of its utility, and at this moment, when agriculture is strug- 
 gling with so many difficulties might render great national service.”— 
 Private letter from Sir Alexander Malet, H. M. Minister, &c., at Stuttgardt. 
 
 Form of District Return preparatory to the Foundation of District or 
 Commercial Schools.—No. 1. 
 
 5g erent Number of Amount of such eR EN it: 
 Parm cr O'| Number of Proprietors, Monied Interest Purndaien 
 Districr.| Parishes. 7, °rS "Children eligible &e., in one year R; 6d 
 Tradesmen for the School. | willing to | willingly rate- |. Bie ee 
 in each. undhinesn Ne in the pound, 
 Pale A | Lee el heme ec Hee caes 
 Boys. | Girls. £ em eS 
 B: Ay 9 15 10 5 2,900 72°10 
 BE. 12 12 5 3 4,000 100 0 
 Tons 6 3 3 2 1,500 37 10 
 INE 20 10 10 8 6,000 150 0 
 Pa 8 2 6 3 1,800 70 0 
 | oa 5 3 2 7 1,500 37 10 
 Ce. 15 4 Il 6 2,000 50 0 
 irs 30 22 10 5 4,000 100 0O 
 Die. 11 5 3 2 1,500 37 10 
 De 8 6 3 4 2,000 50 0 
 82 63 £705 OF 
 
 ee ee 
 
 * Many farmer’s boys from 10 to 12 years of age, now walk 4 or 5 miles daily to 
 schools where very inferior instruction is provided; many of them have ponies to ride 
 
 to school. 
 + To be increased, if requisite, by extra rate. 
 
20 A LETTER TO JUDGE COLERIDGE. 
 
 Form of Parochial Return preparatory to the Foundation of District or 
 Commercial Schools.—No. 2. 
 
 Annual 
 
 Amount of 
 Farmers or Trades- |Number of | Independent Monied /|thatInter-| Rate in the 
 Name of men who will Children of| Interest; i.e., Resident| est on |pound 6d. for 
 Parish. | avail themselves of | Teachable and Absent which wil-|Founding the 
 such schools. Age. Proprietors, &c. ling to be| Schools. 
 rated. 
 Boys.| Girls £ EONS: 
 A. Messrs. F. M. 2 1 Earl of E., Res. *500 12 10 
 Joe. 1 2 
 . R. M. oon Col. G., Ab. 800 20 0 
 * J.L — 2 E. F., Esq., Res. 1,000 25° 0 
 A E.J.M.| 2 a 
 et ky 1| 1/|¢%- E. Esq. 600 15 0 
 - R. C. 2\|— 
 % EP, ae er! |r, N.M. Rector.; 400 10 0 
 R. G. is 2 
 15 | 10 ‘£3,300 | £82 10 
 
 B.—ScHooits In SCOTLAND. 
 
 Queries regarding schools in Scotland, addressed to a minister of the 
 Scotch Kirk, with the answers :— 
 
 Q. 1.—-Is the tax for support of schools on the land, and how levied? 
 
 A.—On land solely, levied from the heritors (landholders) of the parish. 
 The heritors may have recourse upon the tenants for one half, but it is 
 presumed they seldom or never avail themselves of that power. 
 
 Q. 2.—Is it on all land, cultivated or not? 
 
 A,—On all land. 
 
 Q. 3.—Who appoint the teachers, and are they male and female? 
 
 A.—All parochial teachers are male. ‘The minister and heritors of the 
 parish appoint the teacher, subject to examination by the presbytery of the 
 bounds, who must be satisfied as to his qualifications., 
 
 Q. 4.—What are the children taught in the parochial schools? 
 
 A.— The minister and heritors decide upon the branches to be 
 taught. In all parochial schools the common branches are taught, and all 
 higher branches according as they may be required. 
 
 Q. 5.—If they are of different religious persuasions, 7. e., Presbyterian 
 and Episcopalian, are they all taught the same way in religious instruc- 
 tion? 
 
 A.—They are all taught in the same way. Roman Catholic children 
 are not required to repeat the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism; but there is 
 no rule on the subject. 
 
 Q. 6.—Are the poor labouring people obliged to send their children ? 
 
 A.—Not compelled. But the teacher is under obligation to teach the 
 children of the poor gratis, at the sight of the minister and heritors. 
 
 — 
 
 * This, of course, is not to be arrived at by any income tax scrutiny, but by willing 
 answer to application from the committee of management, stating the necessity of these 
 schools, and the advantage they will be to both landlords and tenants—as they will pro- 
 duce a more intelligent yeomanry. It will also be seen that this plan is only reducing 
 voluntary support to something like a system, and it would follow that these contribu- 
 tors would become proprietors of the schools.