APPENDIX.

No. I.

EXTRACTS FROM A LECTURE

DELIVERED BEFORE THE EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW,

NOVEMBER 1834.

THERE is no subject by which the Fathers of the Scottish Church have established more indisputable claims upon the gratitude and admiration of their country and of mankind, than in that which relates to their enlarged views respecting the general instruction of the people, and respecting the means for insuring the accomplishment of this great end. It is matter of very general acknowledgment, that to the enlightened ideas which were entertained by our first Reformers, and which were carried into effect through the disinterested zeal of their successors, in regard to the universal diffusion of the blessings of education, we are to ascribe, more than to any other single cause, the high place which Scotland has attained in the scale of national greatness-a place so disproportioned to what might have been expected from her merely physical condition. And it may be safely asserted, that after the lapse of more than two centuries, with the benefit of the lights which have been shed by the development of the wants and capabilities of society during that protracted period, amidst all the means which

have been suggested for the general good, no better method has been devised for the intellectual, and moral, and religious culture of the great mass of the people, than that which is involved in the principle-a principle for which the Scottish nation is indebted to the Scottish Church, that in every parish there should be a resident pastor and a schoolmaster. In laying down this important position, in carrying it into effect, to a very great extent, by their individual exertions, and in finally procuring for it a legal sanction, the early ministers of the Church of Scotland secured for their country all that was requisite for the general instruction-upon two conditions, the fulfilment of which was all that they left for the attention of their successors. The first of these conditions was, that the territorial divisions should be accommodated to the varying circumstances of the population; and the second, that the qualifications of those employed in the work of public instruction, whether as ministers or schoolmasters, should be suited to the growing requirements of society: and a third is, that in the exercise of their duties they should be under an efficient superintendence.

It affords matter of deep regret that neither of these conditions has been entirely fulfilled.

These deficiencies are now attracting very general attention. The painful discovery has been made, that Scotland, instead of being the best educated country in the world, stands comparatively low among Protestant nations; and instead of being referred to as a model and example to all other countries, must itself be reminded that it needs to learn from other lands.

I conceive, then, that not only has the population far outstripped the machinery for general instruction, so that it is become indispensably necessary that new schools should be erected, but that the instruction conveyed is, in many in

stances, of an inferior description, and that a far higher standard of qualifications for the office of teachers should be required. I am unwilling, indeed, to say anything severe of that respectable body of men who are employed as parochial teachers, or who have engaged upon their own venture in teaching among the poorer classes of society in this country. I agree in all that has so often been said of all the obligations under which Scotland lies to them, and I believe that the great proportion of them discharge their duties, to the best of their abilities, laboriously and faithfully. I am also well aware that there have been, and that there still are, among the parish schoolmasters of Scotland, many men of superior talents, possessed of extensive information, acquainted with the best methods of tuition, and giving a higher tone to the district in which they live, by their own exemplary conduct, and by the zeal, and judgment, and success, with which they have devoted themselves to the intellectual and religious training of the youth committed to their care. I am happy also to be able to add, that a very marked improvement, within these few years, has taken place in the methods of carrying on the business of education in our parish schools. Still, however, after all these admissions, it is necessary, I conceive, that the truth should be spoken out, though it may be somewhat painful. The time is gone past when ministers, and schoolmasters, and people, identifying themselves with the system which we owe to our fathers, flattered one another into dreams of national and personal perfection. We have made the discovery that they are our best friends who point out our defects, with the view of helping us to correct them.

At the same time, then, that there are to be found schools in Scotland, conducted in a manner that would do honour to any country in the world, this is far from being the general character of our schools. So far, indeed, is it from being the case, that I feel assured that a very large proportion of our teachers would be rejected in other countries,