That a short paper, stating the advantages of education, the privileges of members, &c. shall be printed and circulated amongst the poor. That after the divisions are agreed upon, means be taken to procure a large and respectable committee in each; and that these committees shall subdivide their department into streets, &c.; and a sub-committee shall be appointed for each of these smaller divisions, which shall be furnished with books ruled in columns, with heads of inquiry, as to names, residence, occupation, religious denomination, number of children above six years of age, how many educated, and where; how many without education; whether willing to subscribe, and how much, &c.; and that the printed papers, descriptive of the plan, shall be distributed to every house a few days before the inquiry is begun. That these committees meet as frequently as they conveniently can, in order to receive the report of their sub-committees. That the information thus obtained of the state of the districts, be transmitted to the committee of the Auxiliary Society, which shall thereupon take measures to provide school-rooms for the accommodation of the children, and shall give notice to the Parent Society to provide suitable teachers, lessons, slates, &c. That by extended subscriptions of small sums weekly, from all who are willing to contribute in the division, a fund shall be raised, not only sufficient to defray the current expenses of the school, but also to provide articles of clothing for the most deserving of the scholars. Every subscriber of one penny per week or upwards to be a member of the association, and have the privilege of recommending one child to the school for every penny per week subscribed. Persons in all ranks of society to be also invited to subscribe. That by an arrangement of sub-committees, chosen from among the subscribers, application shall be made at every house in the dr vision, and the subscriptions be collected weekly: these collectors to pay the money to the treasurer, and report regularly to every committee, with a list of the contributors. That all the subscriptions raised by the association in any division, be expended upon the children in that division. That the general committee of the division shall appoint a chairman and secretary, and meet at least once a month, to consider the reports of the visitors of the school, the collectors, &c.; the secretary having power to summon a meeting at any intermediate time, on a written application signed by three members. That the accounts of the school be balanced every half year, or oftener if the committee shall see fit, and a report of the state and progress of the school made in writing to a half-yearly general meeting of the subscribers; and the surplus, after defraying the current expenses of the school, shall be invested by the committee in the purchase of useful articles of clothing for the children, or in any other way which the committee may judge most for their benefit, 2 That the providing the clothing be entrusted to a committee of females, who shall make their report to the general committee. That the girls' school shall be under the management of a female committee, who shall conduct it according to the general rules, and shall report regularly to the general committee of the di vision. That all the children, on their entering the schools, shall be registered under the religious denomination to which their parents belong; and that they be required to assemble at the school-house at an early hour, say nine o'clock on every Sunday morning, where they are to be met by certain persons from the different religious denominations, who shall attend the children of their own sect to a place of worship; and that these persons be furnished with tickets, one of which they shall deliver to each child after the worship is over, as his certificate to the master of the school, on Monday morning. That the regular attendance of the children at some place of divine worship be essential to the receiving of prizes. That the distribution of prizes shall be made publicly in the school-room, at each general meeting, and at the same there shall be a public exhibition of the school. That a printed report of the state of the school, with the names of those who have received prizes, &c. shall be published immediately after every general meeting; but the cost of each report not to exceed one halfpenny; and those to be regularly distributed by the collectors throughout the division. That the distribution of prizes shall be as general as possible. That the committee shall establish a gradation in the value of prizes, founded upon the number of tickets each scholar may acquire. That the school be regularly visited by two members of the committee of the association, in rotation, who shall enter into a book, to be provided for that purpose, the date of their attendance, the number of children present, and the state of the school at the time; this book to be kept in a box or drawer in the school-room, under lock and key, accessible only to the committee. That the committee keep a list of those children who, having distinguished themselves for good conduct, shall have nearly completed their education, and endeavour to find suitable places for those who may need it; and that children so placed out be occa sionally inquired after and visited; and that also the auxiliary committee be solicited to appropriate a part of its funds in bestowing rewards upon those who shall have supported a good character for one, two, or more years. That every half year a conference be held in the district, con. sisting of deputies from the committees of all the divisions in the district; and to this meeting every association shall send its report, stating the number of scholars, their progress in learning, general conduct, distribution of prizes, &c. and an abstract shall be prepared from these reports for the auxiliary committee of the district. That a report from the Auxiliary Society be sent every half year to the Parent Institution. That a library be attached to every school; the books to be lent out to the scholars under regulations to be fixed by the committee. That no books shall be admitted into the library, but such as are approved by the Parent Society, or by the Auxiliary Society of the district. That no religious opinions, peculiar to any sect or party, be taught in any of the school-rooms." Are you acquainted with the establishment of the school in Spitalfields?-I was concerned in the first foundation of it. In the course of the proceedings of the soup-committees established to assist the poor during seasons of scarcity, it occurred that the same class of individuals who superintended that charity, would extend their benevolent exertions to procure the means of education for the objects of their care; this being suggested to them, a special meet, ing of the committee was called, which proceeded immediately to form a school society on the British system, and to erect a school-house, which cost about 17007. This school has already educated 2000 children. What year was it established in?-In the beginning of 1812. How many can it educate ?-If the children could be proeured, it would contain full 800. How many actually attend?-On an average 320. What should you take to be the cause of the deficiency? -One cause in that district, is the employment of the children in the manufactures; but I have no doubt that if the school associations were made to operate, that the school would not only be filled, but a necessity would appear for another being established. From what you know of the state of education in different parts of the metropolis, do you consider there are a great. number of poor children without the means of education? From what I have seen, which is principally founded upon the investigation, which took place a few years ago, into the circumstance of fifteen hundred poor families in and about Spitalfields, who received assistance from the soup institution, it appeared that a great proportion of the parents were totally unable to read; and I beg to state, that in some cases there was clear evidence of persons dying through scanty and insufficient food, which brought on incurable maladies. The following is the general result of the investigation above alluded to. [It was read.] TOTALS-- 1,504 2,682 1,069 4,524 1,085 723 623 492 279 34 693 351 640 216 31 Can you form any North-West 611 1,083 457 1,837 331 290 225 217 118 16 336 193 278 129 278 20 estimate of the number of poor children in this metropolis, who are without the means of education?—It is almost impossible to answer this question until the inquiries now on foot shall be further advanced; but I have every reason to believe considerably more than 100,000. I beg this to be considered merely as a vague estimate, arising only from the opportunities that I have had of witnessing the want of education. I am confident that one half and upwards of the children of the poor are destitute of the means of education, and that a large proportion of them, through the neglect of society, are actually training in vice. |