the Lords of the several Commissions. So neither, we believe, does the Irish Secretary vacate, though he has six or seven thousand a year.

Another omission is that of many of the Commissioners appointed for temporary purposes-as auditing West India claims-Arcot debts-Danish Prizes, and so forth. Temporary they may be-but to all appearance they will last our time. Thus, the Arcot commissioners have been at work (so to speak) since 1806, and received salaries of 1500l. a year-an expense in salaries altogether of above 20,000l. to the Company (that is, the country), exclusive of the Secretaries, Officers, &c.; and to their discredit be it spoken, the Ministers of 1806, disregard ing Sir P. Francis's honest and constitutional remonstrances, introduced a clause contrary to the spirit of their predecessors the Whigs of the Revolution, and enabled those three new placemen to sit in Parliament.

The concluding remarks of this valuable Tract, deserve most serious attention.

It is not only that, in addition to all other sources of influence, there are seventy-six members with 156,000l. divided amongst them, who are quite certain to assist the Crown in all contests with us their constituents; but these seventy-six members are always on the SPOT; their office, as part of the House of Commons, is always within reach. There is a secretary of the Treasury in the House of Commons, who has a salary of 4000l. per annum for little else than keeping the placemen and other ministerial adherents in order; and if, by accident, a tax bill was to fail from the absence of any of these servants of the Crown, he would be severely reprimanded, and perhaps cashiered. So judge for yourselves what the state of the House of Commons must be as each Session of Parliament draws towards its close. At such a period, the patience of gentlemen from the country may very reasonably be supposed to be exhausted, and themselves to be on their return home: There are perhaps fifty, sixty, or seventy subjects to be discussed the same day, or rather night; The Minister of the Crown has the power, in the midst of all this confusion, of chusing the time he may deem most favourable for bringing on any grant of public money; and for this reason, the worst of his money jobs are generally withheld for the latter end of the session, and a late hour of the night. At such times, the guar dians of the public purse have become reduced to the faithful band of seventy-six placemen, with a few India and Bank Directors; and with such a body as this to constitute the only representatives of the people, can any one be surprised at their being too many for their constituents? Or is there any one who does not demand that the

principle of Lord Godolphin's Place Bill shall be again applied to them?

• Electors of Great Britain!' (he adds) 'I have stated to you faithfully the present condition of your representatives-the entire ascendancy that the Crown has acquired over them—and the means, by which the purposes of the Crown are accomplished. I have stated to you, likewise, what appears to me to be the only course by which our representatives are to be rescued from their present dependence on the Crown, restored to the confidence of their country, and united in interest again with us, the People.' pp. 40-42.

We have now made our readers acquainted with the substance, we may almost say with the contents, of this important Tract; and, we think, we have justified our general description both of its matter and its style. In truth, nothing can be more important than the subject is at the present crisis. Oppressed by burthens hardly to be borne, and aware how large a share of these is owing to continued misrule, the people of this country naturally cast their eyes towards every quarter from which real and permanent relief may be expected. In none do they find any ground of solid hope, except in the wisdom and patriotism of their representatives. If that hope fails, all are ready to exclaim, Then we are indeed undone !' But the discussions in which we have been engaged, show how many powerful causes are constantly at work to counteract the operation of whatever integrity or wisdom the Parliament may contain. To restore its integrity to the Constitution, by abridging the means of corruption, seems indispensably necessary for the salvation of the State. Nor would the improvement in the deliberations of Parliament be the work of any very long time, if the sources of evil influence were speedily dried up. Important direct effects would at once be produced; while the authoritative discouragement given to corruption by so wholesome an interposition, would less directly occasion a similar improvement, discountenancing the bad practices which have in past times proved so noxious. May the Legislature listen to such advice as the whole of this momentous inquiry presents at every stage! This is the true way to regain the confidence, and fix the affections of the Nation; the only sovereign remedy for wild or rebellious delirium.

ART. X. 1. Plan d'Education pour les Enfans Pauvres, de près les deux Methodes combinées de Bell et de Lancaster. Par le Comte ALEXAndre de Laborde. Paris, 1816.

2. L'Enseignement Mutuel; ou Histoire de l'Introduction et de la

Propagation de cette Methode, par les Soins du Dr Bell de J. Lancaster, et d'autres, &c. Traduit de l'Allemand de JoSEPH HAMEL. Paris, 1818.

3. Nouveau Système d'Education et d'Enseignement; ou l'Enseignement Mutuel, appliqué aux Langues, aux Sciences, et aux Arts. Par M. le COMTE DE LASTEYRIE. Paris, 1819.

4. Progrès des Ecoles d'Enseignement Mutuel en France et dans l'Etranger. Par Mr JOMARD, l'un des Secrétaires de la Societé pour l'Enseignement Elémentaire. Paris, 1819.

5. Compte rendu des Travaux de la Societé pour l'Instruction Elémentaire. Par M. le BARON DE GERANDO, SecrétaireGénéral. Paris, 1819.

IN

N the midst of great national sufferings, and of still greater apprehensions, it is some satisfaction to find, that we have been the means of diffusing, all over the world, the elements of instruction and improvement. In less than three years, the British System of Education has been spread over every part of Europe; and the first effect which followed the downfal of what Bonaparte called his Continental System, was the diffusion of light from that country which he had devoted to destruction. The methods of Bell and Lancaster have been carried from England into France, Spain, Italy, Piedmont, Greece, Switzerland, the States of Germany, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and even into the provinces of Turkey; in all of which, after various degrees and modes of opposition, they are at this hour established beyond the reach of further hostility. The works before us relate however only to France; and we shall confine ourselves, for the present, to the progress of the Lancasterian methods in that kingdom.

The Frenchman who appears. first to have become sensible of the superiority of this system, and of the advantage which France might derive from adopting it, was Monsieur de la Borde. A casual visit to some country schools upon the new principle, gave him a wish to become acquainted with those of the capital; and his presence at a meeting of the British and Foreign School Society, where His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent was in the chair, and Mr Fox reported the progress of the preceding year, confirmed his desire of seeing them established in France. He informs us, that upon a motion of his, a sum of money was instantly voted to open a communication with other countries. The epithet of Foreign, however, which the Society had adopted, we do not conceive was intended to remain an empty title; neither had it waited for the motion of

this gentleman, to fulfil the duty which such a denomination implied.-About the same time, Monsieur Jomard, so well known as principal conductor of the great work upon the Monuments of Egypt, came to England, and collected much information relating to the new schools. If we mistake not, he was in some measure commissioned so to do by the Abbé de Montesquiou, then Minister of the Interior. To these names may be added those of the Duc de la Rochefoucault, the Abbé Gaultier, Messrs Say, Lasteyrie, de Gerando, &c. At the desire of Mr Fox, the Protestants of Montauban sent M. Martin to London to study the method; and he was soon followed by others. The wellwishers to the system formed themselves into a Society, of which Monsieur de Gerando was named President, Monsieur de Lasteyrie Vice-President, and Messrs de la Borde and Jomard Secretaries. The Society opened a subscription, the first produce of which was-20 guineas!

6

When Bonaparte returned from Elba, he ordered a school to be founded on the plan of Lancaster; and Monsieur Martin, the Montauban deputy, was called to Paris to superintend it. It began with eight children only; but, in three months, the number increased to forty-one; and the Society for the Amelioration of Elementary Instruction,' now composed of 800 members, agreed that each of its members should subscribe 20 francs (about 16 shillings) yearly. On the second return of Louis XVIII., the number of schools and of pupils continued to augment; and, at the end of the year 1815, 28 were established in Paris alone. The Grand Aumônier, however, thought it necessary to express the wish of his Majesty, and of all good Catholics, that their religion should be the basis of public instruction; in consequence of which remonstrance, Mr Martin, and other Protestants, were dismissed, and their places supplied by Catholics. From that time, the crucifix, and the bust of his Majesty, became indispensable pieces of furniture in every national school-room. Those who dissent from this creed; however, are. (with some exceptions) not compelled to the former; and are permitted to be taught by masters of their own persua sion. Under these conditions, the King has liberally supported the progress of the new methods; and, in February 1816, a Royal mandate appeared, ordering that Committees should be formed in every Canton, to superintend elementary instruction throughout France. It is to an Englishman, Mr William Allen, a name equally known in the annals of science as of benevolence, that the Protestants of France owe much of the countenance which has helped them to surmount their first discou➡ ragement.

According to an official Report, made Nov. 1st, 1818, there existed at that time in the department of the Seine, including Paris, 67 schools, on the principle of Lancaster. Of these, 51 were in Paris, and 16 in the department; 18 of those in Paris were gratuitous, two of which were founded for Calvinists by Monsieur Delesseert, a Swiss gentleman, whose name is ever foremost among the contributors to public good in France. The number of children that can be admitted, in all these schools, is as follows.-In the gratuitous schools in Paris, 3128; in the schools where they pay, 2364; in the schools out of Paris, 1087: total, 6579 male and female pupils. Of this number, Paris contains, and the department. As to the rest of France, the returns of only } of the kingdom for 1818, had reached the Society when Monsieur Jomard wrote; and they are as follows-360 schools, capable of receiving 40,674 children, male and female. In July 1818, however, but 19,175 attended; in August, 18,777; in September, 20,665, or about half as many as there was room for. According to a further report, however, for the first three months of 1819, it appears that, in the whole territory of France, there might be at that time something more than 1000 schools, capable of teaching 123,000 pupils, of both sexes; two thirds of which, or about 80,000, were actually filled. The expense of educating each pupil in Paris, was estimated at 12 francs per annum; but in the departments it was only 9.

In the denomination which the French have adopted for this method of teaching, they have carefully avoided all mention of the names of Bell and Lancaster, and every sound which could call to mind that it is of English origin. Their plea for so doing has the merit of nationality, if not of justice; and we shall endeavour to make it known, in the following statement of their claim to a participation in the merit of the invention, what they have denominated Enseignement Mutuel.'

Among the wonders of the age of Louis 14th, was an institution for public education, founded by a religious fraternity, called les Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes, or, Frères Ignorantins, or, Frères de St Yon, at the head of whom was the Abbé de la Salle. Some of the peculiarities of their mode of instruction are thus described by Rollin. ، The school is divided into several ⚫ classes. Let the subject of the lesson, for instance, be "dixit "dominus domino deo," &c. One child pronounces the syllable di; another says xit; (by the by is this syllabification of the venerable Latinist quite correct?), and so on. The entire class must be attentive; for the master does not follow any regular order among his scholars, in his instruction or examination of them;