Middle-class education : scheme of the West of England examination and prizes, for June, 1857 : with introductory remarks addressed to members of the Universities / by T.D. Acland ; to which are appended the letters of the Rev. F. Temple, submitted to the Councils of Oxford and Cambridge ; together with letters from the Vice-Chancellors and other members of the Universities, and masters of grammar and commercial schools.

  • Acland, Sir Thomas Dyke, 1809-1898.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Middle-class education : scheme of the West of England examination and prizes, for June, 1857 : with introductory remarks addressed to members of the Universities / by T.D. Acland ; to which are appended the letters of the Rev. F. Temple, submitted to the Councils of Oxford and Cambridge ; together with letters from the Vice-Chancellors and other members of the Universities, and masters of grammar and commercial schools. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    32/66 (page 32)
    2. Letter to the Committee of Council on Education, with Mr. Lingen’a- Reply. Spry don cote, Jan. 23, 1857. Sir,—I have the honour to submit for the information of the Commit- tee of Council on Education certain Proposals (pages 35, 37) adopted at a Meeting held at Exeter, on the 7th January, for the purpose of establishing a System of Examination and Prizes for Boys educated with a view to employment in Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, and to express the hope of the promoters that the plans proposed may receive assistance from their Lordships. The Committee formed on the 7th instant includes, in about equal proportions, Magistrates, Professional Men, Tradesmen conducting extensive business, and Practical Agriculturists. It is composed prin- cipally, but not exclusively, of Members of the Church of England. Many of the promoters of the Prizes take an active part in another Society numbering above a thousand members, and having for one of its principal objects the diffusion of knowledge on subjects affecting Agriculture. Considerable interest on the subject of Middle Clas* Education has been awakened by the operations of this Society in the Western Counties, particularly in consequence of a memorandum written by Lord Ebrington and published in the Society’s Journal, together with a Prize given to the young Farmer who should pass the best examination ; so that what is now proposed is likely to be well received in this district. It cannot escape observation, that many persons in the middle ranks regard with jealousy and suspicion a Standard of Education for the poor, of which they themselves in their younger days had no ex- perience ; and that the fact of their own children deriving no benefit from the large sums expended in providing a supply of trained Masters, is to them a source of dissatisfaction. It is stated moreover by intelli- gent Masters of Commercial Schools, that the inducements held out by the Government to Pupil Teachers and Certificated Masters tend to limit to an inconvenient degree the supply of competent Assistants for the Schools of the Middle Classes. If it were possible to offer to the Middle Classes generally, on moderate terms, a sound English education, such as that given in Training Schools for Teachers under the inspection of their Lordships, it is believed that it would be hailed as a great boon, for which the annual charge would be readily defrayed. But peculiar difficulties surround the attempt to found new Institu- tions for this purpose at present, while other causes impede the en- deavours made in certain localities to render existing Endowments as efficient for the desired end as they might be. There is, however, good reason for believing that among the exist- ing Masters of Commercial Schools are to be found men of integrity and ability, who only need to be supported and encouraged to give an education at once solid, liberal, and practical; that examinations, such as are proposed, would in some degree supply the required encourage-