though not without peculiar trials and temptations, yet offer many securities for good conduct and religious advancement. Still, my Lords, while I feel this very deeply, and am glad to state my conviction that the character and attainments of school mistresses, as well as their social position, have been much raised by the influence of Whitelands, I feel bound to express certain misgivings which during the last two years have especially forced themselves upon my consideration. It is certain that the mistresses from Whitelands are likely to be religious, high principled, right-minded persons. But it does not appear to me to be certain that they will be in other respects equally adapted for the situations open to them. That they will be cheerful and contented in difficult circumstances, that they will quite sympathize with the parents of poor children, attach sufficient importance to industrial occupations, and live among the poor as persons raised above them by that refinement which is inseparable from mental culture, and yet not separated from them in sympathies and interests. I am anxious not to be misunderstood. I impute no blame to any one connected with the institution it is perhaps an inevitable result of any attempt to give a complete and intellectual education to young women in two short years of training, during which their minds are of necessity fixed constantly and exclusively upon general and abstract truths, and their hearts are withdrawn from the rough and grating yet not unwholesome discipline of household occupation and contact with the cares of ordinary life. But it is a point which ought to be at least clearly stated and well considered, whether the instruction of the daughters of our peasants and mechanics are to be young women of delicate, refined, and intellectual habits. If, my Lords, it should appear that such is a desirable result, and that such is the only system that is likely to succeed, no modification of the institution is to be recommended, all that remains to be done is to complete its organization, and to supply it with resources to carry on the work which has been so well begun.

I believe, however, that a contrary opinion is entertained by many well-wishers to this institution; that the managers and conductors themselves are far from desiring or contemplating such a result of the system. It has been generally understood that the pupils would be instructed in all the details of housekeeping, with a special view to the management of their own affairs, and to the intelligent appreciation of all points connected with the domestic economy of the poorer classes. And it will generally be admitted also that some share should be taken by all the pupils in turn in the domestic work of the institution. It is of course a question of degree, how often and under what limitations the pupils should be so employed; but most persons will admit that some active occupation would be

conducive to their bodily health, and still more to the formation of their character. If these objects be recognized as essential even in a training institution, which is not intended to be strictly speaking, of an industrial character, it must be confessed that the means for attaining them are strikingly inadequate, and that the tendency both of our examinations and of the system in the institution lies in an opposite direction. At present it is my object simply to submit the matter to your Lordships' consideration. I would only suggest, that if that tendeney ought to be counteracted, it can only be done successfully by adopting some or all of the following suggestions, part of which have originated with, and others have been approved by, the principal and managers of the place :

1. A complete range of buildings should be at once erected, in which all the details of cooking, baking, washing, &c., should be carried on under the superintendence of the principal, and with the assistance of the students.

2. The students should take part in the domestic employments, especially in those which may be useful to them in afterlife, or in which they should be expected to instruct their pupils.

3. That they should keep accurate accounts of what they do and observe in each department, and compare those accounts with the best manuals and treatises yet published on the subject.

And lastly, my Lords, I venture to suggest that the Inspectors should be directed specially to report upon the character which each of the candidates receives from the principal as a skilful, industrious, and well-informed housekeeper. The Papers on Domestic Economy have effected this good-they have made the students sensible that some importance is attached by the Government to proficiency in this branch of knowledge, but they have effected little more. The papers of the candidates were valuable on many accounts: they were fair indications of the good sense and the habits of observation in the most intelligent candidates, but they were no test of their industrial skill or economical knowledge. If something more be not done I fear that the candidates will continue to give all

* I extract this note from a letter of Mrs. Field:

"In order that young women intended for schoolmistresses may be fitted to discharge this important duty effectually, they certainly ought to have the means of acquiring, during their training, a practical acquaintance with every branch of domestic economy which they are likely to be called upon to teach hereafter. But in this point, I regret to say, Whitelands has in a great measure failed ever since the large addition to the number of its inmates; the offices being totally inadequate to the needs of the establishment, and affording no accommodation whatever for the instruction of the pupils in any domestic art. Their industrial training is, therefore, of necessity limited to theory and precept, to be practised when the emergency arrives; but this, I am sure, my lady friends (whose opinion merits great weight in the matter) will agree with me in thinking an unsatisfactory state of things, the importance of the subject being considered in all its bearings."

their attention to those subjects which will place them highest on the list of certified teachers; and I doubt not that the tendency of every change and modification of the system pursued in the institution will be to increase the amount of mental attainments at the expense of that which excites less interest, and secures a scantier remuneration.

I trust that the importance of the subjects which have been discussed will excuse the length of this Report, which I conclude with the expression of my very deep and sincere interest in the welfare of the institution.

I have the honor to be, &c.,

To the Right Honorable the Lords of the
Committee of Council on Education.

F. C. Cook.

Report on the Schoolmasters' Training Institution at York, in connexion with the York and Ripon Diocesan Boards of Education;-by Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, the Rev. FREDERICK WATKINS, B.D.

MY LORDS,

November, 1849.

IN compliance with the instructions contained in your secretary's letter, dated December 1848, I repaired to York on the 15th of January, for the examination of the York and Ripon Diocesan Training Institution for Schoolmasters. I found 39 young men prepared for the trial. Of these, 28 were candidates for certificates of merit; 8, as masters already in charge of schools; the other 20, as having resided a year and upwards in the Institution. The remainder of the students not yet having been 12 months in the Institution, could not, under your Lordships' Minutes of 1846, receive certificates of merit, but were desirous of preparing themselves by this trial for future examinations. I may remark here, that, both to the Principal of the Institution and to myself, the number of those candidates who were already in charge of schools appeared very small, and not at all in proportion to the number who have been trained there, and gone out to their work as schoolmasters. From a return made to me by the officers of the Institution, I find that the whole number who have been trained in it, and entered upon their duties as schoolmasters, is 147. Of these, 6 are dead, and 29 others withdrawn from the profession. Two others have not yet been appointed to schools. Of the remainder now in charge of schools, 24 had obtained certificates of merit previously to the examination in January. There were, therefore, at that time, 86 schoolmasters, who had been trained in the Institution, who did not appear as candidates for certificates of merit in the examination of this year.*

Various reasons were alleged for their non-attendance on so important an occasion. In some cases the managers of schools objected to the absence of their schoolmaster at so critical a season, i. e., just at the commencement of the school-term after

or 16 per cent. had obtained certificates of merit; 20 per cent. had gone away; and 4 per cent. (nearly) deceased.

the Christmas vacation. In others, the masters preferred a trial of the general district examination, which they fancied to be easier in its requirements. In many others there is reason to believe that teachers, fully occupied with the cares and demands of large schools, had not sufficient leisure to prepare themselves for a struggle of such consequence to them; honourable indeed if they succeeded in it, but very prejudicial to their interests if they failed.

The examination commenced on Monday, and was continued for eight hours on each day throughout the week. The subjects, and the papers in each subject, were the same as those given at the same time at all the other Training Institutions for schoolmasters, with the addition of a paper on Logic, which was added at the request of the Principal and by the permission of your Lordships. I make particular mention of this additional paper, because the subject of it is one to which careful attention has been paid at the Institution, and it is, therefore, satisfactory to observe that the answers made to the questions proposed in it seem, by their general correctness, to warrant the inference that the students are intelligently taught.

Before recording the opinions of Her Majesty's Inspectors (by whom the different examination-papers were revised) on the manner in which each subject was answered by the candidates, I must express my conviction that sufficient time was not allotted to each paper. It is, I am aware, very difficult so to arrange an examination, comprising many and important subjects, and to the whole of which one week only can be devoted, that each part of it may have its proper time and place; but it is surely too much to expect, as was the case in January, that men wearied with their week's work should, on the last day of it, answer satisfactorily questions in eight papers, viz., Trigonometry, Physics, Higher Branches of Mathematics, English Language and Literature, General History, Latin, Greek, and Logic.

In all the papers which came under my revision, it appeared to me that insufficient time had been allowed for thoughtfully answering the questions which they contained. I will now mention the different subjects of examination, in the order in which they were given, and attach to each the opinion of the Inspector who revised the answers given to the papers.

1. Scriptural Knowledge.-Of 28 papers sent in, 5 are good; 3, fair; 12, moderate; and 8, imperfect.

2. Church History. The papers are generally very unsatisfactory. I cannot suppose that the students have received any regular instruction in this subject. There are only 2 papers which rank above fair, viz., 1 excellent and 1 good: 1 is marked fair, 5 are moderate, 15 are imperfect, and 15, failure.

3. Arithmetic.-Of 28 papers, 6 are good; 6, fair; 10, moderate; 5, imperfect; and 1, failure.

4. Mensuration.-Of 28 candidates, the papers are marked thus: 2, fair; 7, moderate; 12, imperfect; 5, failure; 2, not attempted.