be matter of deep regret to the philanthropic observer. Some individuals have entertained an apprehension, that it is possible that the prevalence Jhi of other schoo than those of our own persua sion,* and the zeal and activity of the conductors of those schools, may produce, on the rising generation, effects unfavourable to our national and established church. If it should * This case has come within my own observation,-where a parent zealously attached to the doctrines and ritual of the established church, and having long waited for her child's admission into the parochial school, has at length ac cepted the offer of admission into a Methodist school; preferring the benefit of a Christian education there, to the continuance of an hopeless application to her own church.If I should be asked how it would be practicable to extend, at a smail expense, the means of education to all the children of the poor, I should refer a subsequent part of this volume, and to THE SCHOOLS IN WEST STREET.—If the charity and other schools in England were opened to all the poor, on the same weekly allowance, as is regularly paid by the poor in that instance (presuming the master's duty to be properly performed) there would be very few of the poor, whose moral and religious improvement would be neglected. In cases where extreme poverty hath made the parent an object of parish relief, I can see no more objection to the magistrate being authorized to direct the weekly payment of three-pence each for children, between the ages of nine and twelve years, towards their education, and the improvement of their morals, industry, and religions habits, than to his having the power of granting six times the sum towards their mere animal subsistence. appear to temperate men, that such an apprehension is not entirely groundless, the consequences will be too important to be neglected: and the causes will appear to be too deeply founded in real and existing circumstances, to admit of any other prevention, except what I trust all our Christian brethren will rejoice in, -the adoption, on our part, of the same extended and general system of EDUCATION, regulated according to the rites and doctrines of the Church of England. Whoever, indeed, is anxious for the duration and prosperity of our establishment, whether in church or in state, must be interested in the adoption of a prudent and practicable extension of the means of education; so that its benefits may be offered to every individual; as a preservative, not only for youth, but for the other ages of the poor, against the taint of sedition, and the poison of ACCOUNTS OF SCHOOLS CHIEFLY EXTRACTED FROM THE REPORTS OF THE SOCIETY; WITH OTHER PAPERS, ON THE SUBJECT OF THE EDUCATION OF THE POOR. |