with the Protestant dissenting denominations are attended by the children of parents who pay higher fees than schools connected with the Church of England. It remains to consider each source of income by itself, and to point out the circumstances connected with it, which appear to require notice.

1. Government Grants for the Annual Maintenance of Schools.-The Government contributes, as has been already observed, about a quarter to the income of the schools which receive annual grants. It must, however, be remembered, that this contribution is made upon terms which secure its expenditure upon the improvement as distinguished from the direct provision of education. The annual grants improve the quality of schools, but except in so far as the prospect of obtaining Government assistance may operate as an inducement to private persons to subscribe, they cannot be said to increase the number of schools. A question has been raised how far the Government grant has produced an increase of private liberality. That such an increase has taken place contemporaneously with the grant, there can be no doubt; but it is impossible to give direct proof of the proposition that it would not have taken place if no grant had been made. But though the supposition that it would is possible, it is opposed to almost all the opinions which we have collected. The reports of the assistant commissioners furnish abundant evidence on this head. Mr. Cumin's experience in Bristol is particularly valuable, because that city appears to be better provided with the means of education than any other into the state of which we have inquired, whilst there is none in which it is more liberally supported by all classes of the population. Now, Bristol has recived from the education grant upwards of 32,000l. ; yet all the witnesses connected with Bristol agree that the Government aid has stimulated local exertion. So, too, in Devonport, the Rev. Æneas Hutchinson, who has had very great and varied experience in the matter, cited to Mr. Cumin the contributions to the schools in his own parish in proof of a similar assertion. They rose from 1849 to 1857 as follows:-30l., 36l., 50l., 71, 864, 85l, 107, 96%., 100%. Similar evidence is given by most of the assistant commissioners.

It appears to be well established that the number of persons who entertain conscientious scruples to the acceptance of Government aid has greatly diminished since the first establishment of the system. The aid given by Government is at present accepted by members of all denominations and by the population of all districts. The only exception is to be found in the case of those Baptists, Independents, and Friends whose views upon public education are represented by the Voluntary School Association, and the Congregational Board.

It is, however, easier to get a school built than to get it supported, and there is more evidence that the Government grants promote subscriptions for the former than for the latter purpose. Where a single effort is to be made, the prospect of Government assistance will induce private individuals to contribute; but where there is a fixed annual charge, the local interest is apt to flag, and great difficulty is experienced in obtaining subscriptions for what is looked upon as an established institution.

2. School Fees.-Fees supply a proportion of the total income of the schools varying from about a quarter to as much as three fifths. Minute information respecting the fees in schools in receipt of annual grants has been collected by the committee of council, and is contained in a table in

the statistical part of our report. The payments vary in the schools of different denominations.

The following table gives the results in an abridged form :

CENTESIMAL PROPORTIONS of the TOTAL NUMBER of CHILDREN of each of the undermentioned CLASSES of RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS paying certain stated FEES.

Whether the rate of fees denoted by this table could be raised is a question on which our inquiries have not enabled us to express any general and decided opinion. The rates differ widely, not only in the schools of different denominations, but in different districts. In Church of England schools in Yorkshire only 16 19 and in Lancashire and the Isle of Man only 22.95 per cent. of the children pay so little as 1d. a week, whilst in Buckingham, Cambridgeshire, and three adjoining counties, the proportion is 60 95, and in the western counties 66 53 per cent.

Mr. Watkins, the inspector of schools for Yorkshire, stated that throughout his district the fees were usually a little over 2d. a week, that the experiment of increasing that amount had been hardly ever tried; and though he would not give a positive opinion as to the possibility of raising the fees, the general tendency of his evidence seemed to be unfavourable to the prospect of the success of such a measure. Mr. Scott, the principal of the Wesleyan Training School, said that "except in rural and infant Wesleyan schools," 3d. a week was usually charged; he thought that 4d. would be "a very great strain" upon the poor. Mr. Unwin, speaking of the schools connected with the Congregational Board, which reject State aid on principle, said that though the suburb in which the model schools connected with the Board are situated is one of the poorest in London, the parents paid about 128. a year, which for a school year of forty-four weeks would be more than 3d. week.

As the whole expense of the education of each child is about 17. 10s. a year, including the share of grants for teachers and central and office expenses, and as the attendance of the children lasts at the utmost for only forty-four weeks in the year, no parent can be said to pay fully for the education of his child, unless he pays at least 8d. a week. The difference between what he actually pays and 8d. a week is in the nature of a charitable donation. There is therefore reason for raising the rate of payment as nearly to 8d. a week as the ability of the parents will permit. The question whether such a course is possible in any particular case will of course depend upon a variety of local circumstances. The ability of a poor agricultural district can be no guide as to that of a rich manufacturing town; but the evidence seems to prove that an increase in these payments is practicable in many cases, and that it is not so unwelcome to the parents as might be expected. Almost all the evidence goes to show that though

the offer of gratuitous education might be accepted by a certain proportion of the parents (and, in fact, in ragged schools it is necessary to take precautions against their being used by persons for whose benefit they were not intended), it would in general be otherwise. The sentiment of independence is strong, and it is wounded by the offer of an absolutely gratuitous education. The feelings, which tend to make the offer of gratuitous instruction unpopular, tend also to incline the parents to pay as large a share as they can reasonably afford of the expense of the education of their children. Several instances are given, both by the inspectors and by the assistant commissioners, in which the parents willingly concurred in an increase of the school pence. "So far," says Mr. Norris, " from high fees emptying a school, I have found that of the schools in my district (Chester, Stafford, and Shropshire) the most expensive are the most popular;" and instances are given, both by Mr. Norris and by Mr. Cumin, in which the raising of the fees was decidedly popular with the parents, and was followed by an increased attendance of children. This, of course, cannot go beyond a certain point, which must be ascertained by experience in each district. If the fees are too high the poor will be driven from the school, and it will be frequented by children of a higher class, for whom the Government grant is not intended.

Some of our witnesses have gone so far as to assert broadly that high fees are more popular with the parents than low ones. This appears extremely improbable. The truth probably is that the parents, or at least the large majority of them, mistrust the value of a purely gratuitous education; that they prefer paying a comparatively high fee to an efficient school to paying a low fee to an inefficient; and that they believe a high fee to imply peculiar efficiency or at least peculiar attention. There can be little doubt that a school which combined high fees with a reputation for inefficiency would soon lose its pupils.

An arrangement is occasionally made with respect to school pence, which deserves notice. The payments are graduated according to the position in life of the parents, farmers, and shopkeepers being charged more than mechanics and labourers. This plan is favourbly spoken of by several informants. It has the advantage of affording an additional security for the efficiency of the school, as the richer class of parents would never continue to pay the higher scale of fees unless they represented an adequate advantage.

Upon the subject of the mode of payment, Mr. Fraser's report contains an observation of considerable importance. He says:-"It would be a great improvement on the system of school fees if the payments were made monthly; or, still greater, if quarterly, instead of weekly. The weekly payment has this difficulty about it. If a child is unavoidably kept from school, perhaps only for a single day, at the beginning of the week, the whole week is often lost, because the parent does not think it worth while to pay the fee, on which, of course, from its amount, no discount can be given, for four days' schooling; so that if a child is absent on Monday or Tuesday, it is ten to one if the master sees his face again till the following Monday. This difficulty, which is not felt in the free schools, would be certainly obviated if the payments were for longer periods, in advance; and I am persuaded that a considerable reduction might be made in consideration of possible contingencies; e.g. a shilling, or even tenpence, a quarter, instead of a penny a week, or one shilling and ninepence a quarter, instead of two

pence a week; and the school income still be a large gainer by the change. Having had eight years' experience of the system in my own parochial school, I ventured to advocate its adoption whenever I had the opportunity."

It should be added that the managers do not in general appear to be so strict in enforcing the payment of fees, as to be unwilling to make exceptions to meet particular cases. In reference to schools which are almost entirely supported by school pence, or by the subscriptions of the parents, and which are thus much in the nature of proprietary schools for the lower classes, Mr. Lingen says:-"I think that you would almost invariably find that no person would be turned away from such a school if he wished to enter on payment of a lower fee. If you were to put it before the managers, A.B. can pay 2d. a week, but cannot pay 4d. a week, and wishes to come to this school, I do not think that you would ever find that they would turn that child away." It is also a common practice to charge a reduced fee for the attendance of more children than one belonging to the same family. Private schools are supported exclusively by the payments of scholars. The fees charged in them often vary according to the subjects taught, so that it would be impossible, without very minute statistics, to show the average payments. Light is thrown upon the subject by two tables in the statistical part of our report, constructed from the returns collected by the assistant commissioners, and showing the number and centesimal proportion of scholars attending schools in which the highest fee stands at various rates, from 1d. to 1s., and the number and centesimal proportion of schools in which they are charged.

It appears that in 68.95 per cent. of the schools, containing 66 77 of the scholars, the highest charge is from 2d. to 6d., that in 16 57 per cent. of the schools, containing 17 73 of the scholars, the highest fee ranges from 7d. to 18.; and that in 13.82 per cent. of the schools, containing 14.72 of the scholars, the highest charge is upwards of 1s. a week.

3. Subscriptions.-Subscriptions are the next source of income; their payment is the condition upon which the existence of the Government grants and school pence depends. The proportion which they bear to other sources of income has been already shown to vary from one-third to onefourth of the total income of the school. The principal point of interest connected with them is the question as to the source from which they are derived.

A distinction must be drawn between different parts of the conuntry. Subscriptions stands upon a different footing in manufacturing districts, in large towns, and in agricultural districts.

In manufacturing districts, and especially in those parts of the country in which manufactures are carried on in large establishments, the employers of labour exercise a supervision over the education of the workpeople in their employ which is unknown elsewhere. Not only do they contribute themselves a very large proportion towards the annual support of schools, but they not unfrequently compel the persons in their employment to contribute also, by means of weekly stoppages from their wages. Mr. Foster's experience in Durham and Cumberland supplied several instances of this practice, and Mr. Jenkins met with it also in the ironworks in South Wales. "In South Wales," says Mr. Jenkins, "a charge on the earnings of the workman, in the form of a poundage, or a deduction of a sum amounting from a penny to three halfpence per head, from their weekly wages," is

made for the support of schools connected with collieries and ironworks, and is levied on all alike, even young and unmarried men and boys. Mr. Foster constructed a table with respect to forty-nine schools in his district (Durham and Auckland), showing the proportions in which various persons contributed to the support of the schools. The result shows the deep interest which, in that part of the country, large employers of labour take in the education of the persons in their employ.

In Bradford and Rochdale, and generally in towns to which the half-time system applies, the effect of legislation has been, in many instances, to force the manufacturers to provide schools in connection with their factories, and in other cases the consciousness that it would be necessary for them to do so, unless a school which could receive the half-time children connected with their factories could be established by other means, has induced them to contribute liberally to the establishment of such schools.

In rural districts, a state of things exists less favourable to education. In the first place, the schools are relatively far more expensive than in the towns, because they are smaller; the school fees are lower, seldom exceeding 1d. a week, and thus private subscriptions are more important. In the second place, the landowners do not contribute to the expenses of the schools so liberally as the wealthy classes in mining districts or large towns, so that the burden of supporting the schools falls principally on the parochial clergy, who are ill able to support it. This is set in a strong light by a letter published to Mr. Fraser's report, from which it results that 4,5187. contributed by voluntary subscription towards the support of 168 schools was derived from the following sources:-169 clergymen contributed 1,782l., or 10l. 10s. each; 399 landowners contributed 2,127l., or 5l. 6s. each; 217 occupiers contributed 2007., or 18s. 6d. each; 102 householders contributed 1817, or 1. 158. 6d. each; 141 other persons contributed 2281. The rental of the 399 landowners is estimated at 650,000%. a year.

The heaviness of the burden borne by the clergy is imperfectly indicated even by such figures as these. It frequently happens that the clergyman considers himself responsible for whatever is necessary to make the accounts of the school balance, and thus he places himself towards the school in the position of a banker who allows a customer habitually to overdraw his account. He is the man who most feels the mischief arising from want of education. Between him and the ignorant part of his adult parishioners there is a chasm. They will not come near him, and do not understand him if he forces himself upon them. He feels that the only means of improvement is the education of the young; and he knows that only a small part of the necessary expense can be extracted from the parents. He begs from his neighbours, he begs from the landowners; if he fails to persuade them to take their fair share of the burden, he begs from his friends, and even from strangers; and at last submits, most meritoriously