these enactments were potent for mischief and powerless for good. They treated the bare idea of publishing a periodical as an incipient act of sedition, and put all persons connected with the current literature of the day without the pale of that common law to the protection of which they were as much entitled as any other class. On these grounds he asked the leave of the House to introduce his Bill.

made up their minds to embark in a cri- | ed or not they must read it; whereupon minal career; for the person who meditated they received a host of other pamphlets committing a crime was not likely to go with a request that they would be good and inform the Government, or to furnish enough to peruse them, and then say whethem with evidence by which to secure his ther they would register them. He found own conviction. On that ground alone the by returns presented to Parliament, on House ought to repeal these obnoxious his own Motion, a wise note of the Commisstatutes. It might have been thought, as sioners, "that no answer was given to these enactments were only passed to faci- these applications." There was great litate the collection of the revenue, that uncertainty about this matter, the fact when the duty was taken off periodical being that the Commissioners seemed to publications, the executive officers would have authority either to enforce the law or have ceased to enforce them. They were not, as they pleased: but if it were a nenot, however, suffered to fall into abeyance. cessary precaution against libels, then The late Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. these very stringent provisions should be Humphrey Brown) moved no doubt by enforced against every publication without a very high sense of morality, in 1856 reference to its being a few pages in addressed a remonstrance to the Commis- length or low in price. Why should these sioners of Stamps, pointing out that, in statutes be kept in existence for the the borough which he represented, publi- amusement of a body of gentlemen whose cations were issued which tended to de- functions had been practically done away moralize the people, and calling for the with by the repeal of the tax on newsenforcement of the penalties of the law papers? He hoped the Government would against them. The Commissioners there-arrive, like himself, at the conclusion that upon consulted the Attorney General, and afterwards sent out a circular informing those connected with the press that they had been advised that it was their duty to enforce the law, and requiring publishers to comply with its provisions, or they would be subjected to its penalties. Upon this, innocent publishers in the country, who had hitherto thought the proceeding unnessary, were obliged, in several instances, at great inconvenience, to appeal to their THE SOLICITOR GENERAL said, the friends to become security for them, there- hon. and learned Gentleman had called by incurring a great deal of annoyance and their attention to a number of Acts at trouble; while some of their brethren in present on the Statute-book relating to the London, understanding these matters much publication of pamphlets and newspapers. better, took no notice whatever of the cir- Some of those enactments might now cular. To test, however, the determination safely be said to be obsolete, while in reof the Commissioners, a publication called gard to others, considering the date of the Free Press was thrust upon their at- their origin, the term obsolete could not be tention, accompanied by a challenge to justly applied to them. They were still them to prosecute it; but fearing they among the modern statutes of this counwould find in that journal something try, and it was apparently to these that the like a hornet's nest, the Commissioners hon. and learned Gentleman's Motion was answered with much dignity, "that they principally directed. Whatever opinion would deal with it as seemed to them might be entertained as to the necessity meet." It was also pointed out to the for these enactments at the time they were Commissioners that pamphlets, equally first passed, most people would agree as to with newspapers, were by the statutes the utter absence of any necessity for conthey were putting in force subject to tinuing them at the present day. He did registration, and that the publishers of not wish to commit himself as to all the them were required to give security, and enactments in those statutes. Many of somebody sent them a pamphlet, ask them were in this position, that no law ing them to register it. Now, the Com- officer of the Crown would be found willing missioners committed themselves to a fatal to put them in force. The consequence error; for they replied, that before they was that the Statute-book contained could say whether it ought to be register-threats of penalties which were practically

estimates would be presented in such a form as that they might know how much had been expended in England, how much went to the Free Church, how much to the Established Church, and how much to the Episcopalians or any other denomination. Why the schools belonging to the Established Church and those belonging to the Free Church were separated quite surpassed his comprehension. There was no difference in the doctrines that they taught, and surely the children could take no harm by being educated together. Under the present system there were double expenses incurred in every respect, and with no reason for it.

Motion made and Question proposed, "That the annual Vote of money for Education in Great Britain be henceforth divided into two Votes; one Vote to be taken for England, and

another for Scotland."

House; or he could bring in a Bill on the
subject, which he was sure would receive
every attention. The tendency of this
Motion, however, must be, if it had any
practical effect, at all to introduce a di-
versity between the Scotch and English
systems of national education.
At present
there was no diversity in principle between
them, and it was, in his opinion, desirable
that there should be none. The noble Lord
had tried to draw a distinction between the
two, but he had entirely failed to show the
existence of any real difference between
them. It was true that there had long been
a tax levied on landholders of above a cer-
tain rental for the purposes of education;
but it must be borne in mind that owing to
change of circumstances this was quite in-
sufficient for the general purposes of educa-
tion, and that in Scotland as in England the
chief means were derived from voluntary
contributions subsidized by Government
grants. The heritor's tax, though at one
time, no doubt, an important provision, had,
by the lapse of time, become only analogous
to the school foundations in England; and
the other circumstances noticed by the
noble Lord-namely, sparseness of popula-
tion in some parts of the country, and the
absorption of the major part of the grant by
the towns-were common to both England
and Scotland. The system in both coun-
tries were essentially the same-namely, a
denominational system resting mainly upon
voluntary contributions. Another objection
to the noble Lord's plan was, that if the
estimate were brought forward in two divi-
sions instead of one, it would be almost im-
possible to prevent its creating an erroneous
impression that Scotland was unfairly dealt
with in the distribution of the grant. A
great part of that grant was expended
upon the staff expenses of the office in
London, the benefit of which was common
to both England and Scotland; and under
the noble Lord's scheme how was that
expenditure to be divided between the
two countries? The only way to carry
fully out the noble Lord's idea would
be to have another rental office at Edin-
burgh, which, as the office in London was
quite sufficient for both kingdoms, would
be a needless and gratuitous waste of
money. That there should, under the ex-
isting system, be any partiality in the dis-

MR. ADDERLEY said, he had anticipated that the hon. Gentleman who had just sat down was going to ask him to separate the Vote for the Scilly Islands from that for the rest of England; and, certainly, it would be much more reasonable to bring in a separate estimate for the Isle of Man, the Legislature of which had levied a rate for educational purposes, and imposed a fine upon all parents who did not send their children to school, than for Scotland, the system in which country was precisely similar to that which obtained in England. The noble Lord's proposition seemed to amount to this-that the Education Vote should be divided into two, one for Scotland and another for England. Now although it was with great reluctance that he opposed any proposition which came from the noble Lord, who had always shown so earnest and honourable a zeal for national education, and although he must admit that there would be no difficulty, as far as the office was concerned in carrying out his proposition, yet its object and its ultimate tendency were so dangerous that he could not accede to it. If the object of the noble Lord was to obtain information as to the distribution of the Parliamentary grant, and by a separate debate to bring under the notice of the House the pecu liar bearing of the existing system upon his own country, he would have ample opportunity of discussing the question-tribution of the Parliamentary grant was he could give notice of any Motion he chose on going into Supply, and he could then bring the educational grant for Scotland separately and singly before the

utterly impossible, because it was distributed according to fixed rules which were embodied in Minutes and annually presented to that House. There was at

the central office a staff of officers who, both from knowledge and ability, were quite capable to distribute the grant according to these Minutes, and no one had ever complained that they were inefficient to discharge their duties. For all these reasons he must, although exceedingly unwilling to differ from the noble Lord, oppose this Motion, and advise the House not to assent to it.

hoped the Government would maintain the rule already laid down-continue to take the vote in one, and apply the same principle to both countries.

MR. BLACK maintained that the objections which had been urged against the Motion by the Vice-President of the Council. for Education were inconsistent with each other, because, while the right hon. Gentleman had told the Scotch Members that MR. BUCHANAN said, he regretted if they wanted to know how much money that, as the right hon. Gentleman ad- was voted to Scotland in each year they mitted that there would be no difficulty had only to look at the returns embodied in separating this Vote, he did not accede in the minutes of the Education Committee; to the Motion of the noble Lord. A con- he had also dwelt upon the difficulty of siderable amount of misunderstanding ex- keeping separate accounts for the two isted as to the motives on which the noble kingdoms. The annual statement which Lord's Motion was founded. In stating was laid before Parliament, as he had the reasons for that Motion, he, for one, ascertained last Session, showed not the would make no secret of his wish to do amount which was to be voted for Scotland away with these Privy Council grants for the ensuing year, but the sum which altogether. His reasons for supporting had been granted in the previous year. the Motion were that they were superin- He regretted that the denominational sysducing a new system on an old system tem was to be perpetuated by a continuwhich was totally unsuited for it; they ance of the Privy Council grants. The were also forcing upon them a denomina- people of Scotland did not want Parliational system which was narrow in its con-mentary grants; they wished to be left ception and contracted in its foundation. alone, and to be allowed to educate their The effect of this denominational system own children at their own expense. It thus forced upon them was a mere waste had been said that the Motion would lead both of public and of private money, for to a diversity of system in the two kingschools were planted in unnecessary lo- doms. He regarded that as one of its calities. A school of one kind in a district chief recommendations, because he bewas sure to be rivalled by another of a lieved the Scotch system to be better different denomination next door. The than that of England, and he was not locality did not require both, but voluntary without hope that if the people of Scotcontributions were raised, and a public land were permitted to pursue their own grant was obtained to no good purpose. plan of education, it might ultimately The effect of separating the Vote would come to be adopted in England. be to enable the Scotch Members to place on record every Session anything they might object to, and so force it on the notice of the Board of Privy Council. He wished the House would refuse the Vote altogether for Scotland, as that would compel the Government to bring in a Vote for Scotland alone.

MR. BLACKBURN said he was disposed to regard any difference in legislation between Scotland and England as an evil, and thought therefore that the Vote should not be divided in the manner proposed. Even the bribe which the noble Lord had offered himself and other hon. Members, that they were likely to have a larger sum in consequence for Scotch education, would not induce him to support the Motion. He neither wished to get nothing at all for Scotland, nor did he wish that Scotland should have more than its fair share. He

a

VISCOUNT DUNCAN suggested, as mode of meeting the views of all parties, that one Vote should continue to be taken, as hitherto, for the two kingdoms, but that the statement laid before Parliament should show how much was intended for Scotland and how much for England.

MR. DUNLOP objected to the denominational system as strongly as the hon. Members for Edinburgh and Glasgow; but until Scotland was provided with a national plan he could not consent to give up the Privy Council grants. As long as supplementary grants were necessary, it would be injurious and wrong to separate the Vote.

MR. W. WILLIAMS opposed the Motion, because it would lead to annual contests for increased grants to Scotland, which had already fully more than her fair share.

THE LORD ADVOCATE stated, that and which resolved themselves principally in the Estimates for the Civil Services into matters of expense. there was, under the head "Education," an explanatory table showing the precise sums applicable for the purposes of the grant to the schools connected with the Established Church in Scotland, the Free Church schools, and other schools.