GENERAL HISTORY. 



[143 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Bili respecting the Education of the Poor. — The Prince Regent's Speech 

 at the Close of the Session. 



EARLY in this year, a com- 

 mittee was formed in the 

 House of Commons to consider of 

 a bill proposed by Mr. Brougham 

 respecting the education of 

 the Poor. In its progress, that 

 gentleman moved that the com- 

 mittee should be deferred till he 

 had been able to ascertain some 

 facts which had come to his know- 

 ledge, which proved the necessity 

 of strictly enquiring into the ap- 

 plication of charitable funds. A 

 gentleman of Berkshire had stated 

 that the returns under the act of 

 1787-8, commonly called Mr. 

 Gilbert's act, had not been faith- 

 fully made ; and that in his own 

 county the incomes of the chari- 

 table funds had been returned at 

 7,000/. a year, whereas their real 

 income was 20,000/. a year. This 

 statement would show (Mr. B. 

 said) the futility of calling for 

 returns, without a strict local in- 

 vestigation. 



On April 27th Mr. Brougham 

 moved for the committal of this 

 bill, concerning which he said, 

 that many misrepresentations had 

 taken place. Of these he made 

 some corrections. 



Mr, Canning rose to say, that 

 he did not intend to oft'er any op- 

 position to the House's going into 

 a committee, but he desired that 

 this should not be construed into 



an approval of the bill, to many 

 parts of which he had strong 

 objections. 



Lord Folkestone said, he should 

 object to the exceptions in the 

 bill in favour of Oxford, Cam- 

 bridge, and the public schools, in 

 consequence of which, he under- 

 stood, that farther exceptions were 

 to be proposed. 



Mr. Brougham observed, that 

 neither the right hon. gentleman, 

 nor the noble Lord, by permitting 

 the bill to go through this stage, 

 pledged to give their support to it 

 in any other stage of its progress ; 

 and the question might be argued 

 upon the principle of the bill 

 whenever it was proposed to re- 

 commit it. 



After some other observations 

 had been made respecting the bill, 

 it was committed ^roybrwza. 



On the 8th of May, the order 

 of the day for going into a com- 

 mittee on this bill being read, Mr. 

 Brougham made a long speech, 

 the general effect of which was to 

 the following purpose. In con- 

 sidering, he said, the want of 

 education among the poorer 

 classes of society, and the best 

 measures for supplying it, we siiall 

 do well to regard the subject in 

 two distinct points of view; first 

 to the situation of the people in 

 cities and considerable towns; 



♦ secondly 



