when we look at our factions, that the lower orders will be surrounded with pernicious as well as beneficial instructors; and when we look at human nature, we cannot be ignorant that they will generally prefer the former. We cannot be ignorant, that if in our endeavours to educate the working orders we injure their industry and morals, and give them tastes and habits discordant with their situations in life, we do both them and the empire very grievous disservice. These are facts which no "liberality" can impeach, which are above controversy; they convince us, that however desirable the "edu cation of the people" may be, it is a thing which, by mismanagement, might be rendered destructive to the nation; and therefore that it ought to be commenced and proceeded in with the utmost caution and wisdom-that those who take the lead in it ought to be the objects of very great jealousy and unremitting watchfulness to both the government and the country at large.

Mr Brougham is so far from being cognizant of these facts, that he builds upon the reverse throughout his pamphlet. He flounders along at a furious rate, and can see danger in nothing, save the intermeddling of the govern ment and the upper classes. The learned gentleman is, notwithstanding, called a statesman.

Thinking as we have stated, we in the first place hold it to be incontrovertible that all party-leaders-all violent party-men-all innovators-all teachers of things that tend to revolution-all who assail our constitution and general system-should be scrupulously prevented from interfering in any shape with the "education of the people." We make no exceptions; we apply this to ALL parties. Such men may be very wise and able; they may contend for things that are very necessary; but still they ought, on no account, to become the schoolmasters of the people. They would think of nothing but making proselytes; to this they would make all tuition subservient; and instead of educating the people, they would fill them with party delusion and rancour, and combine them with political faction. The opinions and schemes of these persons are things to be judged of by the educated, but not to be taught to the uneducated, who cannot possibly decide whether they be right or wrong.

Holding this we say to be incontrovertible, we very naturally ask, Who and what are those who are modestly exalting themselves into the directorsgeneral of the "education of the people?" One is Mr Brougham, an Opposition-leader in the House of Commons; a political writer in the Edinburgh Review; a lawyer; and, without question, the most fanatical and outrageous party-man in the three kingdoms. Another, it seems, is a Mr Place, one of the writers of the Westminster Review. And a third, it appcars, is Sir F. Burdett, another Oppo sition-leader in Parliament, and, next to Mr Brougham, the most fanatical and outrageous party-man in these realms. These are assisted by various other members of the Fox and Bentham schools. If these men were merely the active opponents of the ministry, it would positively disqualify them for directing the education of the people; they are not only this, but they are likewise the active enemies of a very large portion of our political and social system. We suspect that not half of Mr Brougham's creed is before the world; but, however, we know sufficient of it for our present purpose. On all great questions he differs from the leading Whigs, by pushing his opinions much farther into Liberalism than they do. In the present session, he has indirectly held up those to derision who dissent from the opinions of Thomas Paine; and he regularly supports everything that the Liberals call for. We need not enlarge on the party creed of the Westminster Reviewers; and in regard to Burdett, we need only say, that he is the father of Radicalism, and the advocate of universal suffrage and annual parliaments. These men can touch no earthly subject without tainting it with party politics; they can say and do nothing without attempting to make proselytes; their whole history proves that they would not bestow a thought on the education of the people, if they did not expect it to enable them to fill the people with their party opinions.

We of course maintain, that if such men as Messieurs Brougham, Burdett, Place, and Co. be suffered to direct the education of the people, they will pervert it into the misleading and deluding of the people-into a national curse; we maintain that such men ought to be driven by the voice of the

country from intermeddling with the education of the people, or that such education ought, on no account, to be commenced; we maintain, that to be successful and beneficial, this educacation must be exclusively in the hands of men who stand aloof from partywho have no party interests-and who are without temptation-to pervert it into an instrument of evil.

We will now open the pamphlet"I begin by assuming, that there is no class of the community so entirely occupied with labour, as not to have an hour or two every other day, at least, to bestow upon the pleasure and improvement to be derived from reading or so poor as not to have the means of contributing something towards purchasing this gratification." "It is, no doubt, manifest that the people themselves must be the great agents in accomplishing the work of their own instruction. Unless they deeply feel the usefulness of knowledge, and resolve to make some sacrifices for the acquisition of it, there can be no reasonable prospect of this grand object being attained."-" But, although the people must be the source and the instruments of their own improvement, they may be essentially aided in their efforts to instruct themselves."" Their difficulties may all be classed under one or other of two heads-want of money, and want of time."

Thus speaks Mr Brougham, and this forms his ground-work. He does not inquire whether the people have generally a natural relish of reading -or whether, if they have not, it be possible to endow them with such a relish; whether they, in general, possess sufficient capacity to understand and turn to profit what they may read-or whether the bulk of them are capable of being educated by such means as may exist, or be created for the purpose. On these matters he is silent. This is, we think, a radical defect in his publication; in our poor judgment, a statesman and philosopher would never have dreamed of publishing a line on the Education of the People, without giving these things a very ample discussion, in order to obtain a solid foundation for his scheme. Whatever may be Mr Brougham's reputation, he cannot satisfy us on a subject like this with assumptions and assertions. When the people are to

be "the great agents in accomplishing the work of their own instruction," and when they are to accomplish this principally by voluntary reading, it must be proved to us that they will read and understand, before we can believe that they can be reasonably well educated.

It is unquestionable, that the natural powers of the poor are quite equal to those of the rich; and it is alike unquestionable, that they are not more than equal. The same variety in natural taste and capacity is to be found among the working classes which is to be met with among the upper ones. Now, how stands the question with men, in general, touching the love of reading? Perhaps one in fifty shows a decided passion for books from his childhood-perhaps one in twenty is led to love general reading by natural bias and habit conjoined-perhaps one in ten becomes a plodding, mechanical, general reader, for the sake of improvement, although he has scarcely any natural taste for reading-perhaps one in three finds pleasure in reading books of amusement, but cannot look into those of a different kind without falling asleep and perhaps three-fifths of the people at large have no relish of reading, and cannot 'acquire any, so far, at least, as regards works of general instruction.

A strong thirst for the acquisition of general knowledge can only spring from such a share of natural ability as very few men are endowed with, and without this thirst, men will never read what is necessary for education, when their reading is altogether a matter of choice. There must be the ability to understand, or there will not be the will to read; and the mass of books, putting aside those of mere amusement, are above the understanding of the mass of mankind. A man, a poor as well as a rich one, must read a great deal before he can comprehend the style and allusions, and relish the thoughts, of our best writers. In addition to this, he must have a very strong memory, great powers of perception and judgment, and very accurate taste, or his reading will render him but little service. Many men of great genius have been unable to force themselves into the acquisition of general, and more especially of scientific, knowledge. The working classes are compelled to devote at least

twelve hours per day to labour, and they must either not read at all, or devote those moments to reading which are thought to be necessary for due recreation and rest. Even if they possessed the requisite powers of understanding, it cannot be expected that, with the fatigue of twelve or fourteen hours of severe labour upon them, they would devote their scraps of leisure to reading, if they should not either find it to be the most pleasant amusement within their reach, or feel it to be beneficial to their personal profit. With regard to amusement, there is, and for ever will be, the utmost difference of taste touch ing it; to the few, reading will be the most pleasant amusement; to the many, it will be a stupifying toil not to be thought of. In respect of personal profit, certain of the mechanics may be impelled by their avocations to study one or other of the sciences, though not to read for general knowledge; but the lower artizans, and the mass of the labourers, comprehending together the chief portion of the working classes, will find nothing in books connected with their callings, they will have no reason to hope that they can better their condition by reading, and very few of them will read at all.

Why is Mr Brougham a great reader? He was born with a taste for books, and the powers of mind necessary for understanding them. Instead of having to acquire his education after he began the world, and after his memory and other faculties were blunted by bodily labour, age, and the want of proper exercise, he was fully instructed in his youth, and he could comprehend any book whatever when he entered upon his profession. His avocations have been constantly of a nature to stimulate him to pursue general knowledge, and to assist him in the pursuit. He is a lawyer, a reviewer, a pamphleteer, a partyleader in the House of Commons, a candidate for the higher kind of office, &c. &c.; and, in all these characters, the possession of such knowledge is of the first importance in regard to both fame and profit. His various occupations are, in reality, the acquisition and use of general knowledge. When he is not reading, he is repeating, reasoning upon, or otherwise employing, what he has read; VOL. XVII.

and rendering his farther reading a matter of imperious necessity. But whatever his advantages may have been in early life, and whatever his avocations may be, he would not be a man of much reading if he had not received from nature a literary genius and good abilities. Now, what is the case with the generality of working men? They are, by nature, men of no literary genius, and of ordinary capacity-they are put to callings which compel them to devote to labour almost every moment of their lives that is not wanted for rest, before they acquire sufficient knowledge of their native language to be able to understand well-written books. Their avocations call for no readingrivet the mind on things that are hostile to it-afford no scope for the employment of knowledge, and are often very injurious to the memory, and the intellectual powers generally; and they can only find reading to be a toil, while they are anxious to spend their little leisure in amusement. It would be contrary to the laws of nature if Mr Brougham were not, and if the generality of readers were, partial to reading.

What we have said is abundantly. proved, not only by other testimony, but by Mr Brougham's pamphlet. The learned gentleman's scheme is to form the working classes into "Book Clubs, or Reading Societies." This scheme, it seems, was carried into effect in Glasgow about twenty-five years ago; although it has been so long in operation there, it appears that not more than one-tenth, or one-fifteenth, of the working classes have associated together for purposes of reading and education. In Edinburgh, the proportion is not greater. In London, about a thousand working men are members of the Mechanics' Institute; that is, perhaps, about one in two hundred. In Liverpool, the number of working readers seems to be perhaps one in sixty or eighty. And it does not appear, that in any of the places specified by Mr Brougham, more than one in ten of the working classes can be induced to read. It must be remembered, that a working man must be a member of a reading society many years before he can be said to be educated. He can only, according to Mr Brougham himself, devote six or eight hours in the week to reading;

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and read-not study, and commit in substance to memory-but hastily read between ten and eleven volumes in the year. Of course he cannot read in effect one day in the week, or twentysix days in the year; and with blunted faculties, and a mind distracted with the cares of life, he must be from fourteen to twenty years in reading that which a young man of uninjured powers, and free from the anxieties of business and labour, will read in a single year. These reading societies, therefore, cannot be like schools or universities, which impart education in a few years. The members must belong to them for life, or reap very little profit from them, and this justifies our calculations.

It is now of importance to know what those members of the working classes are who form these reading societies. Mr Brougham does not profess to make any distinction; he does not say that this portion, or the other, of the people cannot be educated; he asserts, that his scheme will "educate" the whole of the working classes. Certain of his coadjutors, indeed, say that it is only practicable to educate the inhabitants of cities and towns; and they thus doom the bulk of the people to eternal ignorance; but here they are opposed to the worthy lawyer. What he says, however, touch ing the country population, is anything but satisfactory. He speaks of parish, cottage, and itinerant libraries, having been established in England and Scotland amidst the peasantry; but he gives no information in respect of the rank of the readers; and we, therefore, suspect that these consist chiefly of the farmers, the small gentry, and the tradesmen. He evidently cares not a straw-we shall by and by guess at his reasons-for the education of the country people; and his attention is principally directed to that of the people of cities and towns. Now, what are the members of the city and town reading societies? Almost exclusively mechanics. The associations throughout are called Mechanics' Institutions, or Mechanics and Apprentices' Libraries, or Mechanics' and Apprentices' Libraries and Institutes; and their very names, therefore, declare, that labourers are virtually excluded, and have nothing to do with them. It is not said that a single labourer can be found among

the members of any of them; and the education which they profess to give is principally such as can only be useful to the higher classes of mechanics.

It is not necessary for us to prove, that the labourers, and those members of low trades, who, as well as the labourers, are excluded, of London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and the other places, where these Mechanies' Institutions have been established, form the vast overwhelming majority of the working classes. We may say, that they are in proportion to the higher classes of mechanics, as three, four, and five to one. Now Mr Brougham cannot be ignorant of this; he must know, that notwithstanding his boasts, no effective provision has been made in any of these places for educating the mass of the working classes; he must be aware, that, in London, the institution of which he is a member does not mumber among its "students" a single labourer, notwithstanding the myriads that surround it; that its very name implies that it is not meant for labourers; and that the education which it imparts, is as ill adapted as possible to the needs and comprehension of the labourer. Mr Brougham, we say, cannot possibly be unacquainted with this; and yet, in this pamphlet, which professes to unfold a plan for educating the whole of the working classes, he never mentions the labourers and lower artizans of the metropolis and other large places, and he labours to produce the belief that these mechanics institutions are educating all the working classes.

As Mr Brougham's scheme of education thus practically leaves full three-fourths of the working classes of large places without any education at all, we will now ascertain which needs education the most-the quarter to which it is given, or the three quarters to which it is denied. The higher classes of mechanics, those whom the learned gentleman's scheme will erclusively educate, are almost wholly the children of decent parents, who have been tolerably well brought up. The better trades require a premium with an apprentice, which none but parents who have a little money can pay; whether premium be, or be not, required, the parents have to supply the apprentice with clothes and pocket-money during his apprenticeship and a master will rarely take a boy as

an apprentice who has not received such mathematical or other instruction as his trade calls for. In addition, scarcely any one will take a dull, stupid boy, as an apprentice, on any terms. The mechanics in question, therefore, when children, are reasonably well tutored; they are several years at school; and they are selected for the goodness of their parts. When they leave home, they enter the families of respectable masters, who guard their morals, and put many means into their hands for acquiring knowledge. When their apprenticeship expires, they obtain wages, which place them quite above the rest of the working classes. We suppose that the mechanics who belong to the London Institution have all from eighty to two hundred pounds per annum income; the mass of them, taking into account not only wages, but dress, and manner of living, have far better incomes than the mass of our officers, officiating clergymen, clerks, &c. &c. The greater part of them, between the ages of 28 and 40, become masters; get into good society; and are enabled to obtain books, and to resort to any sources of knowledge they please. Those, therefore, whom Mr Brougham will educate, are precisely those members of the working classes who need his assistance the least, and who would be intelligent and good members of seciety without him and his institutions. Let us now look at those whom the learned gentleman's scheme excludes -at the labourers and low artizansin truth, at the great body of the work ing classes. These are generally the offspring of very poor and ignorant, and often of very profligate parents. While children, they are taught scarcely anything at home, many of them are not put to school at all, and those who are sent thither, are perhaps taken away again as soon as they can stammer through the Reading-madeEasy. They leave home when they are little better than barbarians, to go to masters, who take small care of their morals, and who merely teach them to labour. They have no means of getting into other company than the lowest and the most ignorant; and they continue through life at the bottom of society. They are, therefore, precisely that portion of the working classes who are the most ignorant whose need of good instruction is the

most urgent; and who are the most destitute of the capacity and means necessary for instructing themselves without assistance.

Now, if Mr Brougham, Dr Birkbeck, and Co. be really anxious for the education of the working classes generally, why do they in London pass by the tens of thousands of coal-heavers, carmen, dustmen, bricklayers, labourers, porters, and servants and labourers of all descriptions, tailors, shoemakers, &c. &c. in order to educate the better mechanics-men who, in comparison, are educated already? Recommendations to read cheap books, and to form themselves into reading clubs, will no more suffice for the former than the latter. Why do not these gentlemen devote their time and their money to the formation in different parts of the metropolis of reading societies among the labourers and lower artizans, as well as to the formation of mechanics' institutions among the higher mechanics? Why do they not specially recommend the formation of such societies in other large places, as well as of such institutions? Why do they give only worthless advice to the labourers, &c. when they give time and money to the mechanics? And why do they in effect proclaim to the world that they are educating the working classes generally by their mechanics' institutions, when they know that these institutions are not educating one-hundredth part of the working classes of the nation, and that they leave the remaining ninety-nine hundredths without taking any effectual means for educating them? We cannot tell; but we can discover that this educationscheme is at present as much a bubble as any scheme that can be found in the money-market.

We will now travel a little farther into Mr Brougham's pamphlet. In arguing that the money and time of the working orders should be economized as much as possible, he recommends the encouragement of cheap publications. He says

"Lord John Russell, in his excellent and instructive speech upon parlia mentary reform, delivered in 1822, stated, that an establishment was commenced a few years ago by a number of individuals, with a capital of not less than a million, for the purpose of printing standard works at a cheap rate; and he added that it had becn