Vital Statistics of the Spinners and Piecers employed in the Fine Spinning Mills of Manchester. By John Shuttleworth, Esq. On the Influence of the Factory System in the developement of Pulmonary On the Moral and Industrial Workhouse School about to be erected by the Guardians of the Poor of the Manchester Union. By Ner Gardiner, Esq. 280 On the Increasing Operation of Loan Funds in Ireland. By Henry John On Accidents in Coal Mines in Belgium, and the Provident Institutions attached to the Mines. Abstracted from the Report of the Minister of Public Works to the King of Belgium, by C. R. Weld, Esq. Notices of the Commerce of Russia. Abstracted from a paper by A. Slow- Page 88 line ވ މ وو 88 ވ މ 1-for "principal " read "municipal." 8--for "investigation" read " inquiry.” 2 from the bottom-for "governments" read "government." 22-after" during each month," omit all the words following, and read" of the same period, and during the quarter ended 231-Table of the Prices of Corn, in the fourth column, after the date when the new duties came into operation, are inserted the duties gazetted as having been actually paid in each week of the months of May and June; but all the earlier entries being of the duties which the averages of the six weeks preceding dictate shall for the future be paid, this later portion of the Table is repeated, with entries, in like manner, of the future duties, at p. 310. 233-Table of Bank Liabilities and Assets, first column, 1841-before QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE STATISTICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. APRIL, 1842. Report on General Education, Superior, Secondary, and Primary, in France. By the Rev. H. L. JONES, M.A., late Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Communicated by the Statistical Society of Manchester. THE state of general education in France, like the condition of the political and social systems of that country, is so different from what exists in England, that a comparison between the two kingdoms in this respect is difficult to be drawn. In France the spirit of the nation is democratic in the highest degree, the forms of the charter or constitution are monarchical, and yet the actual administrative government of the country is an almost unmixed military despotism, arbitrary and nearly irresponsible. In the same way the spirit of the educational system is one of perfect openness and equality, and yet it is under the direct and absolute control of a practically irresponsible functionary, who wields the staff of Grand Master of the University with unchecked authority in virtue of his functions as Minister of Public Instruction. The aristocratic and clerical elements of educational institutions have totally disappeared, in the same way as they have arrived at virtual nullity in the system of the state; the old institutions and forms of proceeding, as far as education is concerned, have all been swept away and remodelled, and all the various universities and colleges of the country have been united into one uniform system.* * The general plan of education in France is one of essentially a lay nature, a separate branch of it being reserved for ecclesiastics, another for military, and a third for naval pupils; ecclesiastics have as little as possible to do with what is termed the "University," not merely because they are not encouraged, but because they dislike it; and there is a perfect absence in the system of all religious distinctions. The main faults of the system are that it is too uniform, and not sufficiently well adapted to the wants of the nation, from its not paying sufficient regard to local interests and local ideas; that the different branches of French society, civil, ecclesiastical, and military, are not enough amalgamated; and that it is too much under the control of the Government for its superior officers ever to act with spirit and independence. On the other hand it is so far in harmonywith the condition of French society that it gives a certain degree of education, and that too of considerable value, to all who like to apply * See vol. iv. part 1 of the Quarterly Journal of the Statistical Society of London, P. 50. VOL. V.—PART I. B for it, on cheap and favourable terms; that it places education' of various degrees within the reach of almost all who are likely to profit by it; and that by the despotic administration of its democratic constitution it is suited to the anomalous condition of the nation in general. Whether superior education be carried to a higher pitch in France under the present system than it would have been under the old plan, had that plan continued to exist to the present day, is equally problematical with the question whether the French nation is now better governed than it would have been had the ancien regime been allowed to exist, and to modify itself according to the increased intelligence of later times. The fact, however, is, that the system works tolerably well in most points, and in some is productive beyond dispute of the most advantageous results; another point equally certain is, that it is highly approved of by the people for whom it is intended, and that by the majority of the French nation it is considered to have reached the utmost limits of perfection. Notwithstanding this excusable prejudice of national partiality, the system, especially the upper and the lower portions of it, is receiving improvements every day; and, should greater liberty of action he given to the various members of it at any future period, it may expected to produce much more beneficial results. The general system of education is briefly this. All the educational establishments of the country for civilians are formed into one united body called the University, under the supreme control of the Minister of Public Instruction. This University consists of several academies, established in the capital and the principal cities of France, each comprising one or more of the learned Faculties, or else a commission of Examination in Letters. In all the chief towns and considerable places of the departments (including the capital) there are established colleges, either royal or communal, (according as they are supported by the state or by the municipal authorities,) under the administrative direction of the academy within the jurisdiction of which they happen. to be situated; in each department there are either institutions or pensions subordinate to the colleges; and for every department in France there is a system of primary or parochial instruction more or less extensively organized. The academies and their faculties come within the definition of establishments of superior instruction; the colleges, institutions, and pensions compose the class of secondary instruction; and the normal, primary, and infant schools, are included in the class of primary establishments. The total number of academies in France is 27; of faculties 40, viz. 6 of Roman Catholic Theology; 1 of Lutheran Theology; 1 of Calvinistic Theology; 9 of Law; 3 of Medicine; 10 of Sciences; and 10 of Letters; of Secondary Schools of Medicine 18; of Commissions of Examination for the Baccalaureate in Letters 17; of Royal Colleges 44; of Communal Colleges 312; of Private Colleges (at Paris) 2; of Institutions 106; and of Pensions 991. The total number of functionaries of all classes in the University, (not including the teachers in primary schools, nor any females,) is rather under 6,000. There are no exact published returns of the numbers of students and pupils. The Budget of the Minister of Public Instruction for 1842 is as follows: ་ Budget of the Minister of Public Instruction for 1842, voted by the Chamber of Deputies in May 1841. Chapters. I. Salaries of Central Administration II. Other Expenses, ditto III. Royal Council and Inspectors General V. Academic Administration VI. Inspection of Primary Schools VII. Superior Instruction VIII. Secondary Instruction.* 79,720 IX. Primary Instruction (from general funds of the Budget) 80,000 X. Ditto (according to the sums voted by the Municipal Councils.). 157,200 XI. Ditto (granted on the Special Funds for Normal Schools.) 14,000 XII. The Institute. 22,480 XIII. The Collège de France 6,481 XIV. The Museum of Natural History in the Garden of Plants, XXI. Encouragements to Learned Men 10,800 XXII. Publication of Documents on National History XXIII. Addition to Pensions 6,000 11,200 Minister of Public Instruction.—This officer is one of the principal functionaries of the French Government. He is, ex officio, Grand Master of the University, that is to say, chief of all educational establishments whatever in France; and he has in his appointment the nomination to all the principal posts connected with public instruction throughout the country. He has also supreme control over the courses of studies, and the subjects of them to be pursued in all colleges, schools, and faculties whatsoever; and he decides, as a last resort, upon all appeals from the jurisdiction of inferior authorities. He is assisted by a royal council of public instruction, comprising eight members, of which he is himself the president or chairman, and he consults this council on all acts connected with the administration of the University. Besides the persons employed in his ministerial department he is assisted by three committees; viz. the Committee of History, Charters, and Moral and Political Sciences; the Historical Committee of Sciences; and the Historical Committee of Arts and Monuments. The Minister of Public Instruction has a separate chapter of the general budget of the state to himself, and pays the salaries of the various functionaries and officers under his authority. All the libraries and the literary and scientific societies in the kingdom are under his control; as likewise the School of Charters attached to the Royal Library of Paris. The administrative organization of this minister's department is as follows: *This is independent of the sums paid by the communes for the support of communal colleges. (a) The Secretariat; consisting of a chief secretary: a bureau of registration for the reception, preparation, &c., of correspondence and documents: a bureau of proceedings and archives: and a librarian. (b) 1st Division, for the superintendence of the persons engaged in establishments connected with the university, and for the administration of the same. It is under a director, and comprises two sections. The first section includes all establishments of superior and secondary instruction, and is divided into-a Bureau of Academic Appeals, which is for the nomination of academic functionaries, the regulation of their salaries, &c.; the allotment of bursarships, &c.: a Bureau of Faculties for the nomination of professors of faculties and secondary schools of medicine; the regulation of their salaries, &c., the subjects of lectures, &c.: and the Bureau of Colleges for the nomination of functionaries, professors, &c., in the same; the regulation of their salaries, course of lectures, &c. The second section includes all establishments of primary instruction, and is divided into-a Bureau for the nomination and control of all functionaries, teachers, &c.; and a Bureau for regulating salaries, aids, and expenses of all kinds connected with primary schools, &c. (c) 2nd Division, for the superintendence of scientific and literary institutions. This comprises-a Bureau of Public Libraries, for superintending those of Paris and the departments, literary and scientific subscriptions and aids, literary and scientific commissions, &c.; a Bureau of Learned Societies, superintending the institute of France, the garden of plants, collège de France, school of oriental languages, school of charters, course of archæological lectures, British foundations, bureau des longitudes, observatories of Marseilles and Toulouse, medical affairs, &c.; and a Bureau of Historical Operations, directing the search for and publication of inedited documents concerning the history of France, the historical, scientific, and monumental committees, &c. (d) 3rd Division, for the control of all matters relating to the payment of salaries, the keeping of the general accounts of the department, and the settlement of all matters in contention. It comprises-a Bureau of Central Documents, which draws out all warrants of payment, forms the general estimate for the budget, and verifies general expenses; a Bureau of Accounts for Academies, which regulates the payment of salaries to academical functionaries, fees paid to the academies,`matters of contention, &c.; and a Bureau of Accounts for Royal Colleges performing the same functions for all persons connected with those establish ments. The appointments of all persons employed in public instruction are either made directly by the minister himself or are obliged to receive his sanction in order to be valid; and in the same way they are either removable from their offices by him, or the decrees for their removal require his sanction. The nomination to scientific societies, committees, &c., under the minister's control, are either made directly by himself or require his sanction, and, in some cases, as that of the Institute, require the royal approbation. The powers of the Minister of Public Instruction, as will have been seen, are very extensive, and indeed almost unlimited, since he is subject to no supreme control, except that of the Sovereign and the Legislature, and to no inspection except that of the Royal Council of Public Instruction. His parliamentary duties consist, besides the general political business of the Cabinet, in bringing forward all Government bills connected with public instruction, scientific and literary subjects, &c., in carrying them through their several stages in both Chambers: and the personages chosen for this post in the Cabinet are almost always such as have distinguished themselves in the literary or scientific world. The most eminent Minister of Public Instruction of late days has been M. Guizot, who gave an extraordinary impulse to all the establishments under his control, originated many most important reforms and improvements, and founded numerous establishments, such as the three committees mentioned |