endowed and made the state religion. This preposterous arrangement subverts every argument alleged in defence of an establishment. Its ablest defenders, Drs. Warburton and Paley, distinctly admit that it is not instituted to promote the interests of what government may suppose to be the true faith; and that its only legitimate object is to furnish instruction and consolation, according to their own religious faith, to the bulk of the population, and especially to the lower classes, many of whom are so poor as to be unable to furnish it for themselves. But in Ireland we act in the teeth of this principle, and indeed, of the obvious dictates of common sense. There the adherents of the Established Church do not exceed one ninth part of the population; and this small minority consists almost entirely of the wealthier classes, who could, without difficulty, supply themselves with religious instruction. While, however, we have amply and, indeed, lavishly provided for the spiritual interests of the rich and the few, we have altogether neglected those of the poor and the many! We leave the clergy of the Catholics, that is, of more than five-sixths of the people, without any countenance from government, to depend for support on the voluntary contributions of their flocks, consisting, for the most part, of the poorest and most beggarly peasantry in Europe. And we have also seen that the Catholic population have not merely been left to provide themselves with religious instructors, but that they were farther compelled, down to a very recent period, to pay tithes ; that is, to make over a tenth part of the produce of their farms and potato gardens to the established clergy, who, at the same time, were, and continue to be, in possession of all the extensive estates and glebe lands that formerly belonged to the Catholic clergy! Can we wonder, under such circumstances, at the rooted dislike and hostility evinced by the Catholic population to the Established Church? They do not look upon it as heretical only, but as the badge of the conquest of their country by England, and as being bottomed upon and upheld by injustice and oppression. The improvement in the assessment of tithe, and the reform of the Church, may lessen the dislike to it; but the radical objection to it is one of principle. So long as it exists, it must produce a sense of degradation and of unfair treatment on the one side, and of superiority and preference on the other. A majority may submit without much reluctance to see the same privileges conferred on a minority that they enjoy; but it is a contradiction and an absurdity to imagine that a decisive majority should ever willingly submit to be deprived of privileges enjoyed by a minority. A distinction of this sort is at variance with every principle on which society is founded: and, so long as it is kept up, it must necessarily be productive of violent animosities.

"It is ever to be remembered, in discussing the ecclesiastical state of Ireland, that the objections of the Roman Catholics to the Established Church of that country are not of more or less; that they would not be removed by the abolition of a few bishoprics, or the paring down of a few benefices; but that they lie against its very existence,-against the principle of making a public provision in Ireland for the clergy of the small minority, so long as the clergy of the large majority is left wholly destitute of aid from public funds. No im

provements in the internal economy of the Established Church, in the distribution of its revenues, or the discipline of its clergy, tend to lessen the sense of grievance arising from this source; the objection is of principle, not of degree; and nothing short of perfect equality in the treatment of all religious sects will satisfy the persons whose discontent springs from this source. The effect of the preference in question is, that the whole body of Roman Catholics in Ireland are more or less alienated from the government, the author of their wrong, and are filled with jealousy and ill-will towards the more favoured Protestants. This feeling is the stronger, as the Roman Catholics are the most numerous sect in Ireland, and have, therefore, the better claim on the consideration of government. In England, where their number is insignificant as compared with that of the entire population, they defer to those superior claims for public support which the clergy of the Established Church are so fond of resting on-the numerical preponderance of their persuasion; but in Ireland, six and a half millions out of eight millions naturally feel that they have at least as good a right as any other sect to any endowment for ecclesiastical purposes which may be at the command of the State." *

For these and other reasons that will readily occur to the reader, we are clearly of opinion that the preferences that have hitherto existed in Ireland in religious matters should be put an end to. If there is to be only one endowed or favoured religion in Ireland, common sense would say that the Roman Catholic should have the preference. Why should it not enjoy the same favour in Ireland that the Presbyterian enjoys, because it is the religion of the majority, in Scotland? It is true, indeed, that the Catholic leaders, and even the clergy, pretend to disapprove of the proposal for the endowment of their church, and affirm they would be satisfied with the general establishment of the voluntary principle. We, however, attach little or no value to this opposition. Those who of late years have had the ascendancy among the Catholics, have rarely supported any measure fitted to promote the real interests of the country. They know that an endowed clergy would, most likely, be opposed to their projects; and the clergy are themselves compelled from their peculiar position to appear to approve of what, under other circumstances, they could hardly fail to condemn. But, admitting that the establishment of the voluntary system would be a vast improvement upon the present preposterous arrangements, the question is, would it be good policy to leave the Catholic clergy to depend in time to come, as they have done since the Reformation, on the stinted contributions of their flocks? The public interests require that they should be attached to the government; and does any one doubt that this will be best effected by providing, at the public expense, for their liberal support? At present they are in a state of degrading dependence on those who attend their ministrations. They dare not, how much soever they may disapprove of many of their opinions, publicly oppose them, except at the risk of being mulcted of a portion of their incomes.

&c.

Wherever they are kindly treated the Catholic clergy are the firmest See the valuable work of G. C. Lewis, Esq, on Disturbances in Ireland, p. 513,

friends of government, and of the laws; and no doubt they would be so in Ireland were they patronised and paid by the public. The countenance many of them have given to the Repeal agitation, and their opposition to the National System of Education, are the necessary results of their false position. Had they possessed a "stake in the hedge," and been directly interested in the stability of the present order of things, their conduct would, no doubt, have been widely different; and the demagogues who wish to dismember the empire, as well as those whose baser object is to enrich themselves by agitation, would have encountered the opposition, instead of having the support, of the majority of the Catholic clergy. Hence in our view of the matter the best interests of the State require that ample provision should be made for the latter. And having already conceded the principle in providing for the better education of the aspirants to the priesthood, we are bound, in consistency, to carry it out by making a provision for the priests. Unless this be done, the clergy will continue to be exposed to the full force of all the sinister influences which have had so powerful an effect upon their conduct; which have made them the slaves rather than the guides of their hearers; the abettors and not the opponents of agitation. Notwithstanding the many prejudices it will have to overcome, our conviction is, that in the end the establishment of the Catholic clergy will be found to be indispensable to the tranquillity and security of Ireland. At all events no means should be left untried by which their affection and good-will may be conciliated. And, certainly this desirable end will be more likely to be effected by their endowment than by the universal establishment of the voluntary principle. The latter would be a measure of doubtful policy; and though we incline to think that it would be decidedly preferable to the existing system, we have no idea that it would be half so beneficial as an endowment. There is a wide difference between being attached to the State by substantial benefits, and being left, in common with others, to shift for oneself without countenance or protection of any kind.

PART V.

MISCELLANEOUS PARTICULARS.

CHAPTER 1.-ESTABLISHMENTS FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION.

SECT. 1.-Education in England and Wales.

No public or general provision has ever been made in England for the education of the great bulk of the people. Until a late period all that had been accomplished in this way had been the work of benevolent individuals and associations; and it is astonishing how much has been effected within the present century by their exertions. Still, however, there is much room for improvement. The different associations act frequently on contradictory principles; and being necessarily confined to

towns and populous districts, no inconsiderable portion of the children of the agricultural classes are yet either entirely without the means of school instruction, or are but indifferently supplied with it. And, how extensively soever charity schools may be supplied, they are accompanied with some considerable drawbacks. Something of degradation always attaches to the idea of being educated at a school supported either wholly or in part by voluntary subscriptions. Those who send their children to such schools, and even the children themselves, cannot but feel that they are admitted to them only because they are, in some degree, paupers, indebted to the bounty of others for what they cannot obtain for themselves; and this feeling has a tendency to weaken that sense of independence, and of self-respect, for the want of which the best education cannot fully compensate. In other respects, too, the charity system is open to various objections. Mr. Malthus did not scruple to say, that it was a national disgrace to England that the education of the bulk of the people should be left to Sunday and other schools, supported by the subscriptions of individuals, who may give to the course of instruction in them whatever bias they please. We are disposed to concur, with but little qualification, in this opinion. The attention of the legislature cannot, as it appears to us, be too early or earnestly directed to this subject. The experience of Scotland, Prussia, the United States, and various other countries, is decisive in regard to the vast advantages to be derived from the establishment of a well contrived system of national education—a system that should bring education to the door, as it were, of the poor man, and supply individuals of all classes with the means of obtaining really good and useful instruction at a reasonable cost.

At the same time, however, it must be admitted that it is exceedingly difficult to suggest any plan for a national system of education against which many weighty objections may not be fairly urged. Suppose it were enacted that a school for the elementary branches of education should be founded and endowed by government in every parish, or other convenient district, the knotty questions would immediately occur, whether shall any, and, if any, what system of religious instruction, be introduced into these schools? To whom shall the drawing up or choice of class books be intrusted? Shall the same class books, and the same plan of instruction, be adopted in all the schools, or, if not, how and to what extent shall they be varied? Shall it be compulsory on parents, as in Prussia, to send their children to school, or shall it be optional? In whom shall the appointment of schoolmasters be vested, and what shall be the test of their qualifications? These and other questions of the same kind, involving considerations of the highest importance, must all be investigated and disposed of, in one way or other, before any system of national education can be established. But so many and such formidable objections, originating partly in the difficulties inherent in the subject, and partly and principally in the discordant views and prejudices of the different religious sects and political parties amongst us, might be, and no doubt would be, made to every proposal for a national system of education, that, however beneficial, there are but slender grounds on which to hope for its establishment.

* Essay on Population, 5th ed. vol. iii. p. 204.

Various charity schools for the elementary instruction of the poor were founded at different periods between 1690 and 1780; but it was not till about the latter epoch that the desultory efforts of benevolent individuals began to be systematised, and that exertions were made on a large scale, to procure for the poor the inestimable advantage of elementary instruction.

At present the primary instruction of the great mass of the population is principally supplied through,-1. Sunday-schools; 2. National Schools; and 3. British and Foreign Schools.

1. Sunday Schools. These excellent institutions, which have contributed essentially to the improvement of the lower classes, were projected by, and owe their origin to, the sagacity and active benevolence of Mr. Robert Raikes, a printer of Gloucester. Mr. Raikes established Sunday schools in Gloucester in 1781 and 1782. The plan was soon after patronised by Dr. Barrington, then Bishop of Salisbury, and by many other reverend and learned individuals. Though still capable of much extension, it has been eminently successful; and has been carried to an extent which, at the outset, no one could have anticipated. The pupils are instructed in the principles and duties of religion, and are taught to read and write; they consist of adults as well as children. The meetings are generally in the afternoon of Sunday; so that, while they supply valuable instruction to the poor, they do not encroach on their employments, but make that time be devoted to the acquisition of knowledge that would otherwise be, most probably, wasted in idleness or dissipation.

2. National Schools.-Under this term is comprised a great number of schools, both new and old, conducted under what is termed the National System. This system originated in the efforts of various district societies, in different parts of the kingdom, to apply the principles of Dr. Bell, of Madras, to the government of the existing paroIchial free schools. In 1811 the different district societies were incorporated as members of a central association, for the education of youth in the doctrines of the national church. This society having acquired large funds, has been able, in the course of the present century, to found a large number of additional schools, in which education is given at a slight expense to the parents; with model schools (such as on the continent are termed Normal schools) for the instruction of masters and mistresses. The schools, therefore, under the management of the National Society are of two classes: the old parochial and free schools, and those of modern foundation, consisting of daily and Sunday schools. The characteristic of the system is, the use of the church catechism, and attendance on church worship by the children. The progress of the National Schools, since 1813, two years after the formation of the society, has, if we may depend upon their accounts, been as follows:1813, 230 schools, with 40,484 children; 1820, 1,614 schools, with about 200,000 scholars; 1830, 2,609 places, containing 3,670 schools, with about 346,000 scholars; and since then their progress has been quite as rapid. But though there can be no doubt that these statements are much exaggerated, it must be admitted that the National Schools have contributed most materially to diffuse the advantages of