GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Litherland.-Inspected 17th July, 1849.-1. Satisfactory. 2. Children docile and well
mannered. 3. Mainly those of the Christian Brothers. 4. Skilfully conveyed, might be
extended to a wider range of subjects. 5. Intelligent, well conducted, and devoted to his
work. 6. The results of prudent management and judicious] instruction are beginning
to appear in this school, which will certainly take a place, at a future day, amongst the
best of its class.

Girls.-1, Satisfactory. 2. Gentle but quite effective. 3. Irish National Board. 4.
Too limited at present. 5. Fully competent to direct a school of this class with the best
results. 6. When sufficient time has been allowed for the development of the plans now
carried out in this school, there is reason to believe that the work of education will be
found to have been really accomplished. Considering the circumstances of its position
and origin, I do not know a school of which the condition is more creditable to the
managers, or more full of promise for the future.

Stockport.-Inspected 18th July 1849. It is to be regretted that the managers of this
school should have applied for aid to the Committee of Council before any attempt to
avail themselves of the resources which are already at their disposal. With two excellent
school-rooms capable of accommodating 400 children, besides class-rooms and library,
they have been content to retain the services of an utterly incompetent teacher, under
whose feeble direction the school has dwindled away to a state which deserves to be
called disgraceful. Such a school is not in a position to deserve any assistance whatever
from their Lordships. The necessary steps will be taken without delay to supply what
is necessary for the re-crganization of the school. (This has been since done.)

Macclesfield.-Inspected 19th July, 1849.-1. Satisfactory. 2. Children apparently
attached to the master and anxious to please him. 3. Mainly those of the Christian
Brothers. 4. Too limited at present, but carefully conveyed. 5. Belongs to a high class
of elementary teachers, and discharges his duties with zeal and good sense. 6. The
monitors have hitherto been chosen from the second class, in consequence of the objec-
tion of the parents of some of the boys in the first to their employment as auxiliary teach-
ers. Representations were made which will probably have the effect of removing this
mistaken feeling.

Girls.-The school is at present without a teacher.

Wigan.-Inspected 23rd July, 1849.-1. Very satisfactory. 2. Good. 3. System of
the Christian Brothers. 4. Fair in amount and quality. 5. Moderately qualified. 6.
The canditates for apprenticeship were under the required age; the factories in the town
offer employment to children as soon as they reach their twelfth year, and it is found to
be almost impossible to retain them at school in consequence of this temptation.
Fleetwood-on-Wyre.-Inspected 24th July, 1849.-1. Organization has not yet been
attempted, and does not exist, even in the most rudimental form. 2. Far from
satisfactory; incompetent teachers have hitherto failed to secure the respect of the
children, or to exercise auy influence over them. The presence of 25 children under 7
years of age, many of them between 3 and 5, is an occasion of disorder and confusion.
3. Nominally those of the Christian Brothers. 4. Hitherto very feeble and meagre. 5.
Has entered upon her duties within the last ten days; is intelligent and energetic, and
seems determined to improve the character of the school, which I am inclined to think
she is fully capable of doing. 6. The work of education is now only beginning in this

school. A new organization, suitable to the age of the children, is indispensable. Sug-
gestions were made on this subject, and will, I have no doubt, be acted upon. Ground
has been purchased for the erection of new school-buildings, and every effort will be
made to elevate the character of the school.

Dumfries.-Inspected 26th July, 1849.-1. The arrangements of the desks and benches,
and the too scanty supply of the former, does not admit of a really effective organization,
yet the classes are formed quickly and with method, and it may be expected that exist-
ing defects will be shortly remedied. 2. Not at this moment entirely satisfactory, but
gradually improving. 3. Irish National Board. 4. Fair; the children read with remark-
able fluency and correctness, and even the younger ones spell with accuracy. The prin-
ciples of knowledge are not sufficiently explained. 5. Fairly qualified, and very zealous
and energetic. 6. This is a mixed school, and the managers are of opinion that good
results follow from the intercourse, prudently watched and controlled, between the
boys and girls. The school-rooms are excellent. It is intended to provide a mistress,
when the girls will be removed from the present school-rooms, and will occupy another
room already prepared for their use. Many of the children show much intelligence,
and I have no doubt that the school will become a very efficient institution.

Edinburgh, St. Andrew's.-Inspected 30th July, 1849.-1. Apparently complete of its
kind, but the room was too much crowded by the children and their friends to enable
me to judge satisfactorily. The plan followed is that of the Edinburgh (General As-
sembly) Model School. 2. Entirely satisfactory. 3. Mainly those of the Irish
National Board. 4. Not deficient in amount, and very carefully and successfully con-
veyed. 5. Possessing considerable intelligence, and entirely devoted to his duties. The
assistant master is particularly skilful and energetic. 6. Everything in this school indi-
cates the action of a vigilant and prudent supervision, and'there are probably few educa-
tional institutions of its class in which the most important results of primary instruction
are more fully attained. Both clergy and laity feel and show the greatest interest in its
progress and welfare; and apprentices are eagerly sought for, by merchants, tradesmen,
and others in the town, from amongst the boys who have frequented it. The subjects of
instruction may be profitably extended, and suggestions were made to this effect. The
attendance is steadily increasing, and when the new buildings shall have been completed
this will probably become one of the most efficient schools in the empire.

Liverpool, St. Nicholas.-Inspected 31st July, 1849.-1. Upon the plan of the English
National Society, the desks being placed against the walls, and the classes formed in
squares. The movements are performed with order and method, and without undue loss
of time. 2. Very effective, without the least harshness or severity. 3. Mainly those of
the Irish National Board. 5. Has just retired from school. A trained teacher will be
provided in her place. 6. It is necessary to explain, that, the school being closed for
the vacation, it was found impossible to assemble a larger number of children on the day
of my visit than 96. The average daily attendance, as I found from an examination of
the books, and from the testimony of various persons, is fully 220. There is a great
want of maps in the school, and it is surprising that many of the children should exhibit
such an accurate knowledge of geography, being so ill provided with this requisite. Books
and apparatus:-books tolerably abundant; maps and apparatus scanty. Desks and fur-
niture tolerably good.

Tabulated Reports, in detail, on the Roman Catholic Schools visited by T. W. M. Marshall, Esq.-continued.

Stella, R.C. Boys 1 to 6f
Girls

Houghton-le

31

1g23f 69

Spring, R.C.Boys 4 g 5f

General Reports for 1848-9, on Schools in Scotland connected with the Established Church, by JOHN GORDON, Esq., one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools in Scotland.

MY LORDS,

Edinburgh, February, 1850.

In the course of the last year, your Lordships' Minutes of 1846 have given rise to many applications for aid to schools in connection with the Church of Scotland. I have found much occcupation in examining the claims thus presented; and, in regard to these, have already transmitted a general Report. Some of these applications were from Sessional Schools; and as many more schools of that class had been inspected, though not on occasion of their seeking aid, I have presented also a general Report on the Sessional Schools of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other large towns. Among the schools that sought apprenticeship of pupils, there were two differing in essential points from ordinary schools: on these, the Aberdeen Female Asylum, and Milne's Free-school at Fochabers, I have appended special Reports. Such other schools as have been both aided and inspected in the course of the last year, are shortly noticed in the appended Table.

To the Right Honorable

I have the honor to be, &c.,
JOHN GORDON.

The Lords of the Committee of Council on Education.

General Report by JOHN GORDON, Esq., Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, on Examination of Candidates for Certificates of Merit, and on Apprenticeship of Pupil Teachers, in Schools in connexion with the Established Church of Scotland.

MY LORDS,

Edinburgh, December, 1849. YOUR Lordships have required of teachers who seek to benefit by the provision for increase of salary under your Minutes of 1846, that they appear, upon examination, to have attained a certain proficiency in such branches of knowledge as are commonly taught in the class of schools which they occupy. You have desired, also, to be informed in regard to their experience and skill in teaching, the opportunities of instruction which they have themselves enjoyed, and other particulars affecting the estimate of their merits. On these and other points, detailed reports have been already laid before your Lordships; and I have now the honour to present, by way of summary, the following statements in reference to the examinations of this year.

1. The total number of Candidates examined in the course of the year was 109; 84 male and 25 female; the examinations taking place at Edinburgh in Spring; at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness in Autumn; and continuing at each place six hours daily for five days.* The cases in which your Lordships have already decided, are only those of the Female Candidates examined in Spring; three fourths of whom have succeeded in obtaining your certificate of merit.

2. It is required by one of the rules on which these examinations were conducted, that all candidates should be, at the time, in actual employment or office as teachers: the admission was regulated accordingly, and the numbers occupying schools of the different descriptions are as follows:

Female.

Candidates.

22'

Privately endowed

2

do.

Edinburgh Normal School students
Glasgow

15

do.

That so few of the privately endowed schools are in this enumeration, may be owing to the circumstance that private

Spring examination, Edinburgh, attended by 12. Female Candidates.
Autumn

13 Male.
8 Female.
46 Male.
10 Male.
5 Female.
15 Male..