181 6.] Educalton C<mm\ltee. of 



cntcved the school-room, and dcmmidcd 

 permission to teach the Jlo>n:in C'athdlic 

 catechism in tlie school ; this was o'j- 

 Jccted io: the Sunday foHowing, he 

 j>reachcd ag;ainst the scliools, addressing 

 a Koman Catholic conijrcgation ; and 

 <hc efi'cct of the sennoa was, tl;e M'in- 

 dows of the school-house were broken, 

 my wife and I pelted wilii nuul, and a 

 few days after my child so beaten as to 

 become a cripple, and is sn to this day; 

 the usual cyiithel whereby wo are desij;:- 

 iiated, is, "The I'rotestant JJiblc School," 

 as a term of reproach. 



Has your number fallcn-oQ' since tliat 

 lime? — At the time, tiie number de- 

 creased from 230 to 38 for one week; 

 but the week following', the parents, sa- 

 (istied Avith the mode of instruction, sent 

 Ihcir children again ; and in the course of 

 six weeks our full number was coni- 

 plcted, and it has continued at an avc- 

 ra'^e ever since. The violence of the 

 priests is incesxant, they go from room to 

 room, cndcavourin;;- to persuade the pa- 

 rents not to send their chilciicn, and I 

 endeavour to be as active as possible 

 in pointin;;- out to the parents the ad- 

 vantages arising from a moral education, 

 considering there can be no true religion 

 that is not founded on the principles in- 

 eulcatfid from the Eible. 



What\vag;cs do those poor Irish in St. 

 Giles's cam a day?— Some of them have 

 oidy two shillings a day; but very few 

 cxf'ccd throe. 



\^'h:it do they work at? — Generally 

 thry work at labouring work, as paviors' 

 labourers, plasterers' and bricklayers' la- 

 bourers ; I know very few indeed have 

 more than three shillings a day. 



What do the wives employ themselves 

 in? — The greater part of them, in tiie 

 morning, carry loads from C'ovcnt-gar- 

 deii, and other markets, lor what they 

 can get. 



]\Ir. John Horwifinan. 



■^^^lat arc you? — A si!k-mamifactii- 

 rer of SpilalfieiJs. 



I'roui all that you liavc seen, do you 

 apprehend that there is a great want of 

 tlie means of education in yoiu' district? 

 — I think there is: there arc as many 

 uneducated as cdui-atcd ; there is a great 

 deal of poverty and distress among ihoso 

 jicrsons now ; want of chithing is a very 

 serious objection to their sending their 

 children to school. 



You reckon this a time of great dis- 

 tress.' — I do : I tJunk I could Uikv the 



the Home of Commom;. 34 1 



members of this Committee, within ten 

 minutes' walk of my house, and show 

 Ihcm 20,000 ha-.ids out of employ ; there 

 are about 7,00;) looms nncmjjloyed, and 

 each loom generally employs Uncc 

 hands. 



^Vliat arc tlie Poor Rates in yonr 

 neighbourhood? — i'i\o sliillings in th« 

 pound rack-rent, and they are going to 

 raise tiiem next (juarlcr anotiicr shilling; 

 we are relieving now about 1200 poor 

 every week, besides about 600 in the 

 workliousc. 

 jT/ie Rev. Tindall Thompson Wahnslry. 



You arc Secretary to the National 

 Society ? — I am ; and have been .so near- 

 ly from its coramcnccnieut, except about 

 a couple of mouths. 



Can you tell the Committee liow nrucT* 

 money you have received from yo^ir 

 commencement? — Fronj the establish- 

 iiieiit of the Society in 1811, to tlic be- 

 ginning of June 1815, the whole simi 

 was rather more than 24,000/. the 

 greater part of which had then been aji- 

 plicd in the erection and enlargement of 

 buildings for schools; since that time we 

 have recciv(al an additional 6000/. in 

 con.scquencc of a strong a]>pcal made to 

 the j)ublic on the exhausted state of our 

 resources. 



How many s(^^^ools have you cnniri- 

 butcd towards tiie creciion or extension 

 of? — Up toJmicl81o, a hundred aiitl 

 twenty-two schools have been Cicctcd or 

 enlarged by the partial assistance of the 

 National Society, in sums from 15/. to 

 500/. ; considerable snpj)lies of elemen- 

 tary books have been furnished ; 236 

 masters, and 8G mistressvs, have been 

 trained in the pi i;i<ip!es and jiriuiicc of 

 tlie jNutional system, and are now, with 

 fcvv excepiions, conilueling important 

 schools in town and cimniry ; whilst a 

 succession of masters has also been kcjit 

 ill constant j.ay at the Central SciiiHjl, lor 

 the purpose of being sent out wherever 

 tiieir services were re<piiied for the ibr- 

 ination of kcw, or t;i(! rcgulalion of old, 

 cstablislimcnts; and, lastly, besides (hat 

 great nund)er of children who have al- 

 rcaiiy (piitted the dill'erent nniional 

 schools alter having reeei\ed a eomiK- 

 tent share oi' inriliiiction, more than a 

 linndreil thousand ciiildren an; actually 

 returned to the Committee, as at this 

 time under a course of eduealion in ,')70 

 schools, formerly iiniled to the National 

 Soeiely. Since that period, 1 should 

 think about 1 tO scliools have beca 

 united, ill additiuti to tliut 670. 



C ranis 



