in writing, 4; in arithmetic, 2; infants claiming payment, 13; total received for both departments, £160 1s. 4d.

MINUTE OF COUNCIL ON ENDOWED SCHOOLS.

It is understood that the National Society have proposed a form of petition to the House of Commons against this minute, which proposes, after June next, to reduce, by the amount of any annual endowment belonging to a school, the payment to which any such school may be entitled out of the money voted by Parliament in aid of elementary education. The purport of the petition is that such reduction is both unjust and impolitic.

"That the minute is especially unjust with regard to those endowed schools, such as are commonly to be found, in which a certain number of children are, by virtue of that endowment, admitted to the school without payment; inasmuch as in such cases the endowment stands in lieu of school fees.

"That the minute is impolitic, as calculated to prevent for the future the founding or bequeathing of endowments for elementary schools.

"That the proposed minute will affect with peculiar hardship several hundreds of small schools in rural districts, the adequate maintenance of which class of schools in a proper state of efficiency is a matter of very great difficulty.

"That the Revised Code, as accepted by your honourable House in 1862, was regarded by your petitioners as a settlement of the terms on which the parliamentary grant for education was to be distributed; and they deprecate frequent changes in the minutes regulating such distribution, unless a clear case be made out for such changes-for which, however, in the present instance no reason has been alleged.

"Your petitioners therefore pray that the said minute of May 19, 1863, may not come into operation, but that the minute of the Revised Code on the subject of endowed schools, as agreed to by your honourable House, may continue in force, by which minute it is provided that no school in which the endowment exceeds 30s. per scholar per annum shall receive annual aid from the parliamentary grant for education.

"And your petitioners," &c.

AID TO NIGHT SCHOOLS.

A QUESTION has arisen on the subject of Government grants in aid of night schools, in which male adult scholars are taught by certificated mistresses. From a correspondence between a clergyman and the Secretary to the Committee of Council, it transpired that in the rural districts there exist many such schools so conducted.

This correspondence has resulted in the following circular addressed to her Majesty's Inspectors :

CIRCULAR TO HER MAJESTY'S INSPECTORS.

Night Schools-Female Teachers.

Committee of Council on Education,

Council Office, Downing Street, S. W.,
October 13th, 1863.

SIR,-My Lords have had to consider whether they could properly make grants under Article 40 for male scholars taught in evening classes by mistresses. Such scholars are usually upwards of thirteen years old, and the schoolmistresses who teach them are often little senior to some of the oldest of them. There is nothing in the Revised Code which expressly excludes such night schools from grants; and the question is, whether they present an objection of

that gross kind which is referred to in general terms in Article 51 c, and which, if established, causes grants to be withheld.

My Lords are of opinion that such night schools are not ipso facto excluded from such grants, provided that some steady man, or adult member of the clergyman's or other superior family, be always present at the lessons; or the Inspector report that the mistress's age and character do not require this kind of assistance in the discharge of her duty.

It will be your duty, when night scholars taught by mistresses are presented to you, to inquire and report specially whether this condition is fulfilled, and whether it is found sufficient.

My Lords have not had to decide upon the abstract merits of night schools organized in this manner; but whether, when they are so organized by persons who are on the spot, and are responsible for the moral consequences, and when no evil or inconvenience appears to have ensued, public grants must be withheld.

In small rural parishes the day school must often be taught by a mistress; and if she does not teach the night school also, it is not always easy to provide a certificated teacher for the latter.

You will bear in mind that a night school, no less than a day school, must be taught by a certificated teacher.

Paragraph 26 in the instructions of September, 1862, is a saving clause in favour of night school teachers continuing to act as under the Code of 1860.

My Lords are also ready to admit to examination for an ordinary teacher's certificate any person who satisfies Article 72 b (2) by service in a night school only, whatever may be his calling by day, and without requiring him to relinquish it. Such a certificate would be available for a day school, if he ever came to keep one under Government inspection.

By calling attention to these regulations you may be able to facilitate the employment of male teachers in night schools, and sometimes to attract very desirable candidates to the office of schoolmaster.

I have the honour to be, &c.,

R. R. W. LINGEN.

It will be observed that the last two paragraphs of the foregoing will render eligible to sit for a certificate a teacher of a night school only, provided he have "obtained at least two favourable reports, with an interval of one year between them, upon the school in which he is still employed."

OPERATION OF THE REVISED CODE.

WE resume this subject specially to furnish information to managers and teachers on points the importance of which has become apparent. The filling up of the Examination Schedule requires careful attention, a copy of which is supplied to managers, with the notice of the Inspector's visit, and is required to be filled up previously to the day appointed for such visit. The want of conformity to the instructions involves much trouble, and also pecuniary loss. The following supplementary rules, for guidance in filling up the schedule, have been issued by the Committee of Council on Education:

Rule 1.-In column II. of the Examination Schedule, the names of the candidates must be entered class by class, beginning with the lowest scholar in the lowest class.

Rule 2.-The entries in column VII. must show where one class ends and another begins. The number denoting each class is to be written only once; dots (,,,,) are to be put for each repetition of it, until the next higher class begins. There must be no intermixture of classes.

Rule 3.-The entries in column VIIIb. will show where one standard ends and another begins. The number denoting each standard is to be written only once; dots (,,,,) are to be put for each repetition of it until the next higher standard begins. There must be no intermixture of standards.*

* Vide Table on p. 41.

Rule 4.—The end of each standard in column VIIIb. need not (although they may) coincide with the end of each class in column VII. Compare the entries opposite to No. 6 who ends a class, but not a standard; No. 8 who ends a standard, but not a class; No. 16 who ends both a class and a standard (this is preferable).

Rule 5.-The managers need not present all the scholars, who in each class are qualified for examination by number of attendances; but those whom they present at all must be presented in the classes to which the school registers prove them to belong, unless they fall as "Exceptions" under Rule 6. Rule 6.-The children who, for whatever reason, are presented under a lower standard than that which an examination of the school, according to the above rules, assigns to their class, must be entered last in the schedule under the title of "Exceptions;" otherwise they will violate Rule 2 or 3. No child is to be placed among the "Exceptions" unless there is some special excuse for doing so, such as previous illness, &c. Primâ facie, every child who is not fit to be examined in its own class has been wrongly placed there for instruction.

Rule 7.-The Inspector is directed to refuse to examine schools wherein Rule 2 or 3 is violated. He will in such cases proceed to inspect the school, and will report to the Committee of Council why he has left column IX.

in the Examination Schedule blank.

Rule 8.-No grant will be paid to a school (not being one for infants only) unless one class—i. e., all who are to be examined as members of one class according to Rule 5-be presented at least as high as Standard III.

Rule 9.-A deduction of at least one-tenth will be made from the grant to a school (not being one for infants only) unless one class—i. e., all who are to be examined as members of one class, according to Rule 5-be presented above Standard III.

Rule 10.-Entries in column VI. have reference to Article 4 in the Revised Code,† and do not exclude children from the grant, whose parents, though not supporting themselves by manual labour, yet are of the same means and social level as those who do so; such as shopkeepers who have only petty stocks, and employ no one but members of their own family. Cases of doubt are to be determined according to the answers to one or more of the following inquiries :

a. Does A. B. work for himself, or for his master? If for himself, does he employ apprentices, or journeymen? This will apply to masons, carpenters, tailors, blacksmiths, mariners, fishermen, &c.

The class denoted by Article 4 supports itself by its own manual labour only, and not by profit on the labour of others.

b. Would it be unreasonable to expect him to pay 9d. per week for the
schooling of each of his children?

This payment equals about 30s. per annum, the estimated cost (Royal
Commissioners' Report, page 345) of elementary instruction in a day

school.

c. Does he rank, and associate with, the working men, or with the tradesmen of the place?

Simple policemen, coast-guards, and dock and railway porters, may commonly be regarded as labouring men. But petty officers in those services, excisemen, pilots, and clerks of various kinds, present more difficulty, and must be judged of according to the answers to inquiries a and b.

Every occupation which does not fall within the letter of Article 4 should be entered in column VI., but a well-marked line should be drawn under those entries which are thought to fall within the spirit of Article 4. See No. 12 in specimen schedule, supra.

* Vide Table on p. 41.

†The object of the grant is to promote the education of children belonging to the classes who support themselves by manual labour.

Rule 11.-To find the average number of scholars in attendance at a school for any period, ADD TOGETHER the total number of attendances (see Rule 12) made by all the scholars within the period, and DIVIDE the sum by the number of times which the school has been open within the same period; THE QUOTIENT is the average number in attendance. The names and number of individual scholars are to be disregarded in this calculation.

Rule 12.-Attendance at a morning or afternoon meeting may not be reckoned for any scholar who has been under instruction less than two hours, nor attendance at an evening meeting for any scholar who has been under instruction less than one hour and a half (Article 41). The Class Registers, at each meeting of a school, must be marked, and finally closed, before the minimum time constituting an attendance begins. The inspector will inquire whether this rule has been observed (Article 51, d).

LORD TAUNTON ON BRITISH SCHOOLS.

AT the recent annual meeting of the subscribers and the examination of the British School, Taunton, the Right Hon. Lord Taunton presided. His lordship thus referred to these schools, and the principle upon which they are conducted :

the

"It is always a pleasure to me to pay a visit to Taunton; but I do not know that I have ever visited it on an occasion more interesting and more gratifying to myself than the present. It is now twenty-seven years ago since I joined with many excellent friends of mine in this town, most of whom, unfortunately, are no longer alive, in founding these British Schools in Taunton. We did so in full expectation that great benefits would be conferred upon Taunton by means of such an institution; and I am happy, after so long a period has elapsed, to be able to come here and join, by such humble means as are in my power, in at once expressing our gratitude to Providence for the good which this institution has done, and to express our determination not to relax in any of our efforts to support and continue it. Therefore, very willingly I accepted the invitation which was made by some of my old friends to be present on this occasion. With regard to the principles of the institution, it is not necessary that I should detain you at any length in opening these proceedings, because you will be far more interested in the accounts of the officers and inspector of the schools, relating to their actual operation and what has taken place in them. From what I have been told since I have been here, I am very glad to be able to come to the conclusion that these schools have conferred great benefits upon youth of the town, and that they are continually doing so. I believe that during those twenty-seven years there have been thousands of children who have received here a manly and Christian education, and have been enabled to become good members of society, and, I hope, good Christians. In this way, therefore, much good has been done. With regard to the Parent Society, the British and Foreign School Society, I may say that I have always been a cordial and zealous supporter of it. Although I am a member of the Church of England, I have always believed that the large, general, and comprehensive principles of these schools are not only consonant with the principles of the Church of England, but also commend themselves to every Christian man, and are illustrative of that wide liberty which is one of the best and truest blessings which a Christian can enjoy. I have not any exclusive feelings upon this subject. It is a matter of the utmost importance that the youth of the country should be educated in a sound and Christian manner. The means are comparatively unimportant. We must take such means as the circumstances of the country, the state of feeling in the country, and the times in which we live, offer to us. I have told you that I am a cordial supporter of the Parent Society, but that does not prevent me from sup