Richmond Enquirer

Mr. Brougham in his bill for the better education of the poor in England and Wales, proposes that £500,000 shall be appropriated for the building of new School houses—no one to cost more than £500; that the salaries of the school masters, except what may be added by voluntary contribution, shall not be more than £30 nor less than £20, the amount to be assessed on the householders of the parish; the masters to be chosen by the householders of the parish, who may vote by proxy—the parson of the parish having a veto on the election, and the bishop of the diocese to have the visiting power, which he may exercise by his chancellor, by the Arch-deacon, or by a Dean in his Deanery; the masters to be entitled to quarter pence, as a stimulus to exertion, to be fixed by the parsons and parish officers not exceeding 4d. nor less than 2d. per week, and this to be paid as well by the poorest, as by the richest scholars; the masters to be of the church of England—the bible, but no other religious book to be read in school—the scholars to be required to attend church once on Sunday with the master, unless they attend some dissenting congregation with their parents.

There is provision at present in England for the education of about 700,000 children, including 100,000 at the Sunday schools, 150,000 at the schools of Bell and Lancaster, and 350,000 at dame schools. The whole number of children between 5 and 14 years of age, is estimated at nearly 1,500,000, and the number wholly unprovided with the means of education at from 200,000 to 300,000.