not for all that might be taught in the schools conducted generally on its principles up and down the country. The committee boldly stated that they knew of no deviation from the original principles which governed the institution. They selected their teachers on the score of their intellectual and moral character, and ability for teaching, and on no other. And with regard to the committee, it was not selected on the basis of a representation of the various religious communities, but on the ground of confidence in individuals. He did not see how Mr. Phillips's proposition could be put to the meeting as an amendment; it should come, if at all, as a substantive resolution.

After some remarks by Mr. PRESTON, in favour of the amendment,

Mr. JAMES YATES, who spoke from the body of the room, entered at some length into detail respecting the past history of the Society, and his own connexion with it. He said, that he was a Unitarian, and one of the oldest contributors to the Society's funds. Many members of that religious community had been attached friends of the Society, and one or two had served on the committee. He desired to express the most friendly interest in the Society's welfare, and suggested that it would not be desirable to press the amendment.

The CHAIRMAN also thought the better way would be that the amendment should be withdrawn, and that any gentleman who objected to the course of the Society should avail himself of the right of seeing the system in operation from day to day, as the school was always open to visitors; and if he found that in his opinion a fundamental rule of the Society was broken, let him state it in writing to the committee, and if he did not get a satisfactory answer, let the question be brought to issue at some future special or ordinary meeting.

Mr. PHILLIPS said,—

He was quite sure that nothing but what was conciliatory would proceed from the noble Chairman. Was there any objection to putting two gentlemen on the committee, his friends Mr. Price and Mr. Lawrence? He would not propose it if it were displacing other gentlemen; but there were twelve vacancies annually created. He did not like the suggestion of an individual going into the school-room to ascertain what was taught: it would look like a system of espionage.

Mr. FORSTER, on the part of the committee, thought the request unreasonable, inasmuch as it was a request that the committee should admit two gentlemen avowedly as the representatives of a religious denomination, when the very principle of the British and Foreign School Society was that it recognised no religious denomination, as such, in its management. Moreover, those new members whose names had been proposed by the existing committee were gentlemen who had the confidence of that body. It would amount to a serious censure, not only upon the committee, but on the whole of their past management of the institution, if two gentlemen, hitherto unknown to them, were added to their number, for the avowed purpose of effecting a change in their proceedings.

Mr. GURNEY HOARE thought it too bad, when they had gentlemen who had acted on the committee for years, that they should have two gentlemen put upon. them who never were subscribers till a month ago. It would be a melancholy day for England when the doctrines of the Atonement and of the Divinity of our Lord should be explained away. He denied that they were sectarian doctrines, and asserted that they lay on the very surface of the Scriptures.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL then put Mr. Phillips's motion, which was negatived by a large majority.

Mr. PHILLIPS then said he would make no further draught on their time. He would not press the question of the two gentlemen being on the committee. He hoped they should not be misunderstood, though they might be misrepresented,

GURNEY HOARE, Esq., then moved,—

"That this meeting, impressed with the growing importance of this Society, would urge its claims to support, both on account of its liberal character and its wide-spread influence in the promotion of Scriptural education."

He said:-They had all been extremely interested in the examination which took place in the morning, and in no part of it more than in that which had reference to the Scriptures. Many of the boys manifested a great knowledge of the meaning of the passages in which they were examined. With respect to general knowledge, it was also evident that much valuable acquisition had been made. He had ever been a friend of this Society, and his father before him; and when quite a lad he had often heard Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. William Allen, and others express their delight in the fact, that, in their time, the great truths of the Gospel were taught in the school, but without creed or catechism. He trusted that the Society would go on and spread its influence far and wide, and make its liberal principles everywhere felt. He greatly admired the basis of this Society, and never gave his aid to any school of a decidedly sectarian nature, or in whose deed a clause was not inserted that the children of Dissenters should not suffer in any way because they were Dissenters. He trusted that nothing he had said would be interpreted to mean that he possessed any other than the most catholic feeling towards all the friends of the British and Foreign School Society.

The Rev. WILLIAM CADMAN, Rector of St. George's, Southwark, in seconding the resolution, said

That there were two features of the Society which especially commended it to his regard; it was liberal and scriptural. On the one side they were liberal; they did not impose any test or creed, or catechism of any kind whatsoever. But true liberality did not require that men should give up their individual opinions, any more than force their peculiar views upon others. With reference to the discussion of to-day, it must be determined entirely in accordance with this principle, and the fact seemed to him to be simply this: that the scripturalness of the Society had been maintained. While he believed the doctrines of the Atonement and the Trinity to be essential doctrines of the Gospel, and maintained his opinion, he was bound to give gentlemen who differed from him the right to their own views. The real question before them seemed to be whether they should have the Scriptures in the schools at all; for it was impossible for the teacher who taught the Scriptures to the children at all, not to communicate his own convictions upon such great doctrines as the Trinity and the Atonement. And, for himself, he believed that if the Scriptures were read, these doctrines would be found to lie even on the very surface. At the same time, he did not believe that the schools could be said to be sectarian. They were thoroughly comprehensive and liberal; from what he had seen of the actual working of the schools, he could testify that they were both liberal and scriptural. He knew cases in which children were driven out of the national schools, because their parents did not allow them to attend the Church of England; but although himself a clergyman, he did nothesitate to say that that system was wrong. He held that no child ought to be prevented from obtaining a sound moral and religious education, because his parents might object to a particular system of religion. In such cases as those he had mentioned, if the Society did not step forward, the children would get no education at all, and therefore he cordially supported it.

The Rev. JOHN KIRK, of Walworth, Wesleyan Minister, supported the resolution, which was unanimously adopted.

Lord CHARLES RUSSELL moved a resolution expressive of the gratification of the meeting that her Majesty and Prince Albert continued their support and patronage of the Society.

Sir WALTER STIRLING, Bart., seconded this resolution, which, like the former one, was unanimously agreed to.

"That the thanks of the meeting be presented to the Duke of Bedford for his munificent subscrip tion, and to Lord J. Russell for his attendance on that occasion."

He expressed his conviction, that nothing but a religious education would prove really valuable and elevating.

Mr. FORSTER seconded the resolution.

Mr. PRICE expressed his admiration of the conspicuous kindness of the Duke of Bedford, and his gratitude to Lord John Russell for his courteous and conciliatory conduct at that meeting.

The resolution was then carried unanimously.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL said :

He begged to return to the meeting his most sincere acknowledgments. He did not wish again to revert to a discussion of the peculiarities of those doctrines in which they had already been engaged, but he thought that the case on the part of the Unitarians had been stated fairly, and with great temper, though he did not see that they ought to attach any authority to Mr. Dunn's pamphlet. There were some things, however, which could not be departed from by the Society, such as the full and free interrogation on the sacred Scriptures, in order that those that learnt them might understand them also; and he should be sorry to think that anything that had happened that morning could be considered as showing that the principle of religious toleration, on which the Society was based, had been encroached upon. Such an encroachment would be a loss of character, for the very principle on which it stood was religious liberty and religious toleration. By religious liberty he understood that all men were free to choose and follow whatever religion they preferred as most true; by religious toleration he understood that every man was to bear with the opinions of others, and look with Christian love upon those who differed from him, provided he was convinced that they were honest and sincere in their convictions. Those principles would be maintained by the Society to the fullest extent. He would not detain the meeting with any lengthy remarks, but merely add that he did not think that any system of education could be established in this country which would be really useful to the people, unless it was based on religion. If religious instruction was not admitted, they must exclude all moral instruction whatever, and so injure the better half of man's nature, and merely cultivate his intellect, forgetting his heart, his duty, and obligations to his fellow-creatures, or they must take another course entirely. The other course was to teach morals from the works of approved moralists, but moralists not deriving their authority in any way from the Holy Scriptures. By this method the difficulty was apparently got over, but in reality it would only be to fall into a yet more serious one-namely, that of attempting to teach morality without admitting that all morals derived their sanction from the immortal bookthat our duties and obligations were derived from a higher than natural source. Secular education was a scheme which at first appeared plausible, and which caught the sanction of many; nevertheless, he believed it was worse than impracticable. If it was impossible for all religious persuasions to combine in one system of education, then let there be total separation, which would be a far less evil, and would lead to lesser evils than might be feared from purely secular education.

The proceedings then terminated.

AGENCY AND INSPECTION.

North of England.-In addition to visits which Mr. Davis has made to schools in Manchester and other towns in Lancashire, he has been engaged in the counties of York, Chester, Durham, Cumberland, Northumberland, Lincoln, Nottingham, and Derby. Forty-two towns and villages have been visited, and some of them more than once. Forty-nine separate educational institutions have been inspected. Public examinations have also been conducted, meetings addressed, and conferences held with committees.

Eastern Counties.—Mr. Baxter has now completed his tour of inspection among the schools of this district. He has visited fifty-five towns and villages, examined seventy-two schools, addressed ten public meetings, and conducted six public examinations.

Metropolitan.-In and around London, Mr. Saunders and Mr. Milne have been actively engaged in the inspection of schools. Several places lying beyond the London district have also received visits from Mr. Saunders for various purposes in connexion with education.

North Wales.-Forty-four towns and villages have been visited by Mr. Phillips for the delivery of lectures, holding public meetings, conferences with school managers, and the inspection of schools. He has also been much engaged in the advocacy of the new Normal College for Wales. At Carnarvon, the foundation stone of new school rooms has been recently laid, which will be the largest British school premises hitherto erected in North Wales. The meeting was presided over by R. D. Williams, Esq., of Carnarvon, and the proceedings of the day were highly satisfactory.

South Wales.-Mr. Roberts has been engaged among the agricultural districts of South Wales, where he has visited twenty places, and some of them repeatedly.

SCHOOL ORGANIZATION.

At the request of several teachers, we make one or two extracts from a paper which was read at the last meeting of the British Teachers' Quarterly Association by Mr. White of Bethnal Green.

Arrangement of Furniture.-The main room may be divided into three equal sections by means of moving partitions or curtains. At one end of the room there should be an open platform, two feet high, and from four to six feet wide. The three sections of the room may be fitted up differently, in accordance with those plans which experience has shown to be the most convenient; and as children work better when under the eye of the master, these different kinds of arrangement should be so contrived that, throughout all the sections and in all the exercises, the scholars face the platform, from which it is presumed the master can see them.

The section of the room nearest the platform, if occupied as a reading station, will not require seats or desks. Here the scholars may be drawn up in a standing posture, either in large or small groups, according to the teaching power of the school. Each draft station should be provided with a strong hard-wood box, capable of containing the reading books belonging to the several classes that may in succession assemble there; when closed, these form seats for the monitors or teachers.

The middle section of the room, used chiefly for those exercises which are quiet, and which require the scholars to be in the writing posture, must be fitted up with one or more groups of parallel desks, according to its dimensions. Generally speaking, a group should not consist of more than five desks, capable of accommodating eight or nine scholars each; these will form a compact body, being nearly square when properly placed. An open space should be left, so that the teacher may pass freely round the group; in front this space should be from four to six feet broad, that an object table, or a black board may be used conveniently. The desks and seats should be moveable, but always set to the same places, which places may be marked on the floor by copper nails.

The third section of the room, farthest from the platform, adapted to oral instruction, and those other school exercises which are working largely as an educational instrument, may be fitted with one or more galleries, according to its size. These galleries, not merely seats rising one above the other, should consist of a series of moveable seats and desks, like those in the middle section of the room; but instead of being arranged on the level floor, may be placed on stages, elevated one above the other, for they will stand just as firmly there as on the level floor.

By thus dividing the room into three sections, it may be arranged so that, while the scholars occupying the two extreme sections are in the one case employed in reading, and in the other in receiving oral instruction, those in the middle sections may be employed in writing, or other exercises producing scarcely any noise. Such arrange. ments, together with the use of curtains or partitions, greatly reduce the inconvenience arising from the noise consequent on teaching large numbers in one room.

Besides the main room, there should be class-room accommodation equal to onefourth of the entire superficial area provided for the whole school. This may be divided into one or two rooms, according to the magnitude of the school.

Where there are two class-rooms, one should be fitted in a manner similar to that section of the main room adapted to oral instruction, but with a space of at least ten feet in front of the group of parallel desks; the other room may be left with open floor, or provided with one line of seats all round. These rooms, if used for those exercises which on the one hand are too noisy for the great room, or on the other require more quietness than can be reasonably demanded there, will prove of great value.

Agency. In British schools at the present time this consists of four grades of workers; the master, assistant, pupil-teachers, and monitors. All these grades are not found in every school, but are found among all the schools. My business is chiefly to show where they are to be placed in the school, how occupied, and subordinated to each other, so that the greatest possible amount of their educating power may be brought to bear upon the scholars. The assistants and pupil-teachers should not be individually responsible to any party but the master. The monitors of each class should be responsible, first to the teachers of the class where they are employed, and, of course, through him, to the master. The entire agency should act together, be animated by the same spirit, and subject to the same will, namely, that of the master.

An assistant, or pupil-teacher, should be appointed to every division consisting of about fifty scholars on the book. Of this division he should have the general charge, subject, of course, to the more general charge of the master. Four monitors should