ous condition. There is a passage in one of the discourses of the celebrated Scotch patriot, Fletcher of Saltoun, written in 1698, only two years after the act for the establishment of parochial schools had been passed, that sets the wretched state of the country in the most striking point of view.

"There are, at this day in Scotland, besides a great many families very meanly provided for by the church boxes, with others who, by living upon bad food, fall into various diseases, two hundred thousand people begging from door to door. These are not only no way advantageous, but a very grievous burden to so poor a country. And although the number of them be, perhaps, double to what it was formerly, by reason of this present great distress, yet in all times there has been about a hundred thousand of these vagabonds, who have lived without any regard or subjection, either to the laws of the land, or even those of God and nature. No magistrate could ever discover which way one in a hundred of these wretches died, or that ever they were baptized. Many murders have been discovered amongst them; and they are a most unspeakable oppression to poor tenants, who, if they do not give bread, or some kind of provision, to perhaps forty such villains in a day, are sure to be insulted by them. In years of plenty many thousands of them meet together in the mountains, where they feast and riot for many days; and at country weddings, markets, burials, and other the like public occasions, they are to be seen, both men and women, perpetually drunk, cursing, blaspheming, and fighting together. These are such outrageous disorders, that it were better for the nation they were sold for the gallies or the West Indies, than that they should continue any longer to be a burden and a curse upon us."

No country ever rose so rapidly from so frightful an abyss. In the autumn circuits or assizes for the year 1757, no one person was found guilty, in any part of the country, of a capital crime. And now, notwithstanding the increase of population, and a vast influx of paupers from Ireland, there are very few beggars in the country; nor has any assessment been imposed for the support of the poor, except in some of the large towns, and in the counties adjoining England; and even there it is so light as scarcely to be felt. This is a great and signal change. We can not, indeed, go quite so far as those who ascribe it entirely to the establishment of the parochial system of education. It is, no doubt, most true, that this system has had great influence in bringing about the change; but much must also be ascribed to the establishment of a regular and greatly improved system of government; to the abolition of hereditary jurisdictions, by the act of 1748; and to the introduction of what may, in its application to the vast majority of cases, be truly said to be a system of speedy, cheap and impartial justice. Certainly, however, it was the diffusion of education that enabled the people to avail themselves of these advantages; and which has, in consequence, led to a far more rapid improvement than has taken place in any other European country.

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has ever taken an active interest in the parochial schools. Immediately after the passage of the act of 1696, the Presbyteries were instructed to carry it into effect, and Synods, to make particular inquiry that it was done. In 1704, the Assembly undertook to supply schools to such part of the highlands and islands as could not be benefited by the act of 1696. In 1705, ministers were ordered to see that no parents neglected the teaching of their chil

dren to read. In 1706, it was recommended to such as settled schoolmasters, "to prefer men who had passed their course at colleges and universities, and have taken their degrees, to such as have not." In 1707, Synods and Presbyteries were directed to send into the General Assembly returns of the means and condition of the parochial schools.

The internal dissensions of Scotland and other causes, however, withdrew the public attention from the schools; and the advance of society in other respects, and the want of a corresponding advance in the wages of teachers, and the internal improvement of the schools, all combined to sink the condition of parochial education. In 1794, the General Assembly became roused to the subject. Visitation of the schools was enjoined on the clergy; and they were particularly instructed to inquire into the qualifications of the teachers. In 1802, the Assembly issued the following declaration, &c.:

"That parochial schoolmasters, by instilling into youth the principles of religion and morality, and solid and practical instruction, contribute to the improvement, order, and success of people of all ranks; and are therefore well entitled to public encouragement: That from the decrease in the value of money, their emoluments have descended below the gains of a day laborer: That it has been found impossible to procure persons properly qualified to fill parochial schools: That the whole order is sinking into a state of depression hurtful to their usefulness: That it is desirable that some means he devised to hold forth inducements to men of good principles and talents to undertake the office of parochial schoolmasters: And that such men would prove instrumental in counteracting the operations of those who may now, and afterward, attempt to poison the minds of the rising generation with principles inimical to religion, order, and the constitution in church and state.'

In consequence of this declaration by the Church of Scotland, and of the complaints which were sent up from all parts of the country, Parliament, in the course of the next session, passed the famous act of 1803, which ordains as follows:

"That, in terms of the act of 1696, a school be established, and a schoolmaster appointed in every parish, the salary of the schoolmaster not to be under three hundred marks, (167. 13s. 4d.,) nor above four hundred, (221. 4s. 5d. :) That in large parishes, where one parochial school can not be of any effectual benefit, it shall be competent for the heritors and minister to raise a salary of six hundred marks, (331. 6s. 8d.,) and to divide the same among two or more schoolmasters, as circumstances may require: That in every parish the heritors shall provide a school-house, and a dwelling-house for the schoolmaster, together with a piece of ground for a garden, the dwelling-house to consist of not more than two apartments, and the piece of ground to contain not less than onefourth of a Scots acre; except in parishes where the salary has been raised to six hundred marks, in which the heritors shall be exempted from providing school-houses, dwelling-houses, and gardens: That the foregoing sums shall continue to be the salaries of parochial schoolmasters till the end of twenty-five years, when they shall be raised to the average value of not less than one chalder and a half of oatmeal, and not more than two chalders; except in parishes where the salaries are divided among two or more schoolmasters, in which case the whole sum so divided shall be raised to the value of three chalders; and so toties quoties at the end of every twenty-five years, unless altered by parliament: That none of the provisions of this act shall apply to parishes, which consist of a royal burgh, or part of a royal burgh: That the power of electing schoolmasters continue with the heritors and minister, a majority of whom shall also determine what branches of education are most necessary and important for the parish, and shall from time to time fix the school-fees as they shall deem expedient: That the presbyteries of the church shall judge whether candidates for

schools possess the necessary qualifications, shall continue to superintend parochial schools, and shall be the sole judges in all charges against schoolmasters, without appeal or review."

In the year 1828, as the statute had provided, a small addition was made to the emoluments of the parochial schoolmasters, the maximum salary having been increased to 341. 4s. 4d., and the minimum to 25l. 13s. 3d.

The deplorable scenes of outrage and murder, which occurred in the streets of Edinburgh on the 1st of January, 1812, made the city clergy anxious to devise some means for diminishing the mass of crime and misery which was then brought to light. The scheme first proposed, and carried into execution, was to establish sabbath schools in all the parishes within the royalty, to which they gave the name of the Parochial Institutions for Religious Education. It was soon found, however, that the usefulness of these institutions was greatly limited, in consequence of a very great number of the children, for whose benefit they were intended, being unable to read. It was therefore proposed that, in connection with the sabbath schools, a day school should be established, which was accordingly opened on the 29th of April, 1813. This day school took the name of the Edinburgh Sessional School, from the circumstance of its being superintended by a minister or an elder from each kirk-session* in the city. The object of this school is to give instruction to the children of the poor in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Five gratis scholars may be recommended by each kirk-session; but the charge to all the others is sixpence per month. For many years the average attendance has been about 500; so that the school-fees, together with occasional donations, and a small share of the collections made annually at the church doors for the parochial institutions, have hitherto been sufficient to meet the ordinary expenses of the school. At first, no particular regulations were laid down for conducting the Sessional School; but after some years, the system of Dr. Bell was partially introduced. In the year 1819, circumstances led Mr. John Wood, Sheriff-deputy of the county of Peebles, to take an interest in the institution; and that benevolent individual began by degrees to give so much of his time and attention to it, that it soon became almost identified with his name. Under his superintendence, a large and commodious school-house was erected, and the system of teaching entirely re-modeled. In the latter department of his meritorious labors, Mr. Wood did not adopt the particular views of any one writer on education, but collected from all what he thought useful, and arranged it into a method of his own. So judicious is this plan of tuition, that it has not only been crowned with complete success in the Sessional

* A kirk-session is the lowest ecclesiastical court in Scotland, and consists of the clergymen of each congregation, with a small number of lay elders: it generally meets on Sunday, after public worship. The next court, in point of judicial authority, is the presbytery, which consists of all the clergymen within a certain district, with a lay elder from each congregation: this court meets once a month. All the presbyteries within given bounds, form a still higher court, called a synod, which meets twice in the year. The General Assembly is the supreme judicial and legislative court of the Church of Scotland; it consists of clerical and lay representatives from the several presbyteries, of a lay elder from each royal burgh, and of a Commissioner to represent his Majesty, and holds its sittings at Edinburgh, once a year, for about a fortnight.

School, but has been introduced, either partially, or entirely, into many other public and private seminaries, and has, in fact, given a new impulse to the work of elementary instruction throughout Scotland.

In 1837 the Sessional School was, with the approbation of Mr. Wood, constituted the Normal School of the General Assembly, and persons intending to offer themselves as teachers in schools aided by the Education Committee, were furnished with opportunities of conducting classes daily, and of being instructed with pupils of the same standing with themselves. Previous to this movement, in 1835, the Educational Society of Glasgow had been formed, among other purposes, "for the training of teachers for juvenile schools." In 1842, both of these institutions were placed under the direction of the Educational Committee of the Church of Scotland, and the Committee of Council on Education, in that year, made a grant of $50,000 toward providing a new building for the Normal School at Edinburgh, and completing a building already commenced for the Normal School at Glasgow. The two buildings cost about $130,000. In the same year the General Assembly appointed a superintendent to visit the schools aided by the education committee, and voted to aid in the erection of not less than five hundred new schools in connection with destitute parishes.

In 1841, William Watson, Sheriff-substitute of Aberdeenshire, commenced a system of Industrial Schools in Aberdeen, which embraced within its comprehensive grasp, all classes of idle, vagrant children, and in its beneficent operation, cleansed in two years a large town and county of juvenile criminals and beggars. Out of this experiment has grown the system of Ragged and Industrial Schools, which are now found in many of the large towns of England, Scotland and Ireland.

The permanent support of public, and in some cases, free schools, is provided for in certain localities by the income of funds left by will or donation for this purpose. It has been estimated that the annual income of these funds amounts to near $100,000.

There are a number of local societies, such as that for "Propagating Christian Knowledge," founded in 1701, the Gaelic School Society, that of Inverness, Ayrshire, &c., instituted for the purpose of supplying destitute parishes with schools, and of aiding those already established. The sums annually appropriated by the societies, amount to about $75,000.

The Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland, together, appropriate, out of permanent funds and contributions collected in the churches for this purpose, the sum of $50,000 in aid of schools in destitute parishes, and in educating teachers for the parochial schools generally.

In 1836, the sum of $50,000 was voted by Parliament in aid of private subscriptions for the erection of school-houses, and the establishment of Model Schools.

Notwithstanding all these efforts, the extension of the system of parochial schools has not kept up with the growth of the population, especially in the manufacturing towns, and the quality of the education given has not met the demands of educated and wealthy families.

One of the most interesting facts in the history of parochial schools in Scotland, wherever they were adequately maintained, was the attendance in them of children from families widely separated in outward circumstances the rich and the poor, the laborer with his hands and the laborer with his head. The presence of the children of the better educated and wealthier classes gave importance to the school in the estimation of the poor, and raised the whole tone and standard of manners and intellectual culture within the school and village. It created, too, a bond of union in society, which is thus beautifully noticed by Lord Brougham, (then Henry Brougham,) in some remarks at a public dinner in Edinburgh, in 1825.

"A public school, like the Old High School of Edinburgh, is invaluable, and for what is it so? It is because men of the highest and lowest rank in society send their children to be educated together. The oldest friend I have in the world, your worthy Vice President, and myself, were at the High School of Edinburgh together, and in the same class along with others, who still possess our friendship, and some of them in a rank of life still higher than his. One of them was a nobleman, who is now in the House of Peers; and some of them were sons of shopkeepers in the lowest parts of the Cowgate of Edinburgh— shops of the most inferior description-and one or two of them were the sons of menial servants in the town. There they were, sitting side by side, giving and taking places from each other, without the slightest impression on the part of my noble friends of any superiority on their parts to the other boys, or any ideas of inferiority on the part of the other boys to them; and this is my reason for preferring the Old High School of Edinburgh to other, and what may be termed more patrician schools, however well regulated or conducted."

*

Another distinguished pupil of this school remarks: "Several circumstances distinguished the High School beyond any other which I attended: for instance, variety of ranks; for I used to sit between a youth of a ducal family and the son of a poor cobler." This fact will distinguish good public schools of a superior grade, provided they are cheap, every where. The High School, like the parochial schools of Scotland, generally is not a free school, but the quarterly charge for tuition is small as compared with the actual cost of instruction in private institutions of the same grade. The fees payable in advance are £1. 1s. per quarter. The course of instruction embraces all the branches of the liberal education suitable to boys, from eight to sixteen years of age.

In connection with this mention of the High School of Edinburgh, we will introduce a few historical facts, which point back to a very early period for the origin of the system of parochial schools in Scotland. The funds out of which the edifice now occupied by the high school was built, and which was completed in 1829, at an expense of £34,199, were derived, ✓ in part, from endowments belonging to the Abbey of Holyrood, founded by David I., in 1236, with which this school was connected as early as 1500. The school came into the management of the magistrates of Edinburgh in 1566. Prior to that, a grammar school had existed in the Cannongate, under the charge of the friars of the same monastery, "past the memorie of man," as is stated in a memorial to the privy council, in 1580. In the year 1173, Perth and Stirling had their school, of which the monks of Dumfernline were directors. Authentic records introduce