as the grants of money, to be disposed of in aid of building schools, to the British School Society and the National School Society; and the attempt of the Government to obtain returns as to the statistics of education for each town, chapelry, and extra-parochial place in England and Wales. The first of these two measures contained in it the principle that the state might profitably grant money for the education of the poor beyond this it is of little value. The second measure may be construed to mean that the State considers it within the duties of administration to know how many people are receiving education. It was easily foreseen that the answers to the government questions on education would neither be complete, nor exact as far as they were complete : it was obvious also that the information, if collected, would not be of much value. Still the design was good, the object of those who interested themselves in it was praiseworthy, and the information, considered as part of the whole information as to the state of education, useful: but being only a part, and not the most important part, it cannot directly lead to any important result. But it has indirectly led to some valuable results. A committee of the Manchester Statistical Society was formed for the purpose of ascertaining accurately the numbers of children taught, and the way in which they are taught in that populous borough. This committee was formed mainly in consequence of the great inaccuracy of the returns made to government. In the news department of this Journal we have given an abstract of their Report, which is one of the most valuable contributions that have been made of late years on the subject of the education of the poor. Similar inquiries, we are informed, are making in Birmingham. The result of such inquiries will be a conviction almost universal, that only the State can take measures efficient enough for securing good instruction to all classes, and especially to the poor. the very essence of such measures to provide proper teachers for all schools under the superintendence of the State, and to allow no others to teach in them. One immediate consequence of such a measure would be, that private schools, especially those for the poor, would either be discontinued or improved. It is of The Glasgow Educational Society, recently established, has, among other objects, that of soliciting parliamentary inquiry and aid on behalf of the extension and improvement of the Scotch parochial schools. By the third rule of its * See Journal of Education, No. VII. p. 79; and No. XVII. p. 66. constitution, the society "shall consist of persons attached to the principles of a National Religious Establishment, and approving of a connexion between the parochial schools and the National Church." The labours of this society, we confidently hope, will tend immediately to the improvement o education in Scotland: the only two publications of the society which we have seen are entitled, Scotland a HalfEducated Nation,' and 'Hints towards the Formation of a Normal Seminary in Glasgow.' They are both well worth reading. Out of such elements of improvement we may hope that in a few years the Government will be prepared to form a complete system of education, so arranged as to furnish to each class the education that is most useful for it, and so administered that local authorities shall harmoniously co-operate with those to whom the State shall intrust the general superintendence of the whole. All the schools, and all the teachers will thus be united in one body, of which the several members will all work to one general end, each performing their appropriate functions. Instead of being disconnected as now, they will all look to one point as the centre of their movements, and as the source from which spring their security and their success. Belonging to one body, in the general welfare of which each member is interested, the teachers and guardians of public schools will look to the periodical reports of the superintending functionaries for information as to the workings of the whole system, and the ameliorations which particular parts have received. Such a body of teachers and guardians, from their number, their superior knowledge, and their strong interest in the successful administration of that department of government with which they are more immediately connected, would require periodical publications as the organs to give expression to their opinions, and as means of learning the experience and opinions of others. Under such circumstances not one but several Journals of Education, would constantly find a sale sufficient to meet all their expenses. Different Journals might be adapted to dif ferent kinds of schools and teachers; and the objects of each being clearly defined, it would be a comparatively easy matter to render these periodical publications much more useful than, under existing circumstances, this Journal has been, or any other can be*. *The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is preparing for publication two volumes, entitled 'The Schoolmaster,' which will contain a selection of articles from this Journal and other works on Education. Should these volumes find a reasonable sale, it is to be hoped that the Society may occasionally think it useful to publish other similar volumes. INDEX. ABERDEEN, public schools in, account Algiers, advance of education in, 375 Anatomical dissections, number of in Ashford, free grammar-school at, 61 Auburn Penitentiary, New York, ani- Bacon, Lord, remarks by, on innova- Baden, Jewish schools in, 363; na- Basle, university at, 171, 356 Denison, Rev. E., extracts from a Dublin University honours, 199 Ealing Grove school, notice concerning, 196 East, periodical literature in the, 374 Education, observations on the proper sent practice showy and superficial, Education in England and Wales, Egypt, advance of science and litera- Endowed schools, account of those . Etymological Researches, by Dr. A. F. Faversham, endowed grammar-school Finisterre, department of, state of edu- Flogging, question discussed whether Foreign museums, libraries, and lite- Forsell, Colonel Carl, account of the - France, banishment of the patois from Frankfort-on-the-Main, museums, li- Freiburg, Germany, number of stu- Galicia, statistical survey of, 357 |