Before leaving Peru, I wish to notice one of the articles of the constitution of that state, as it has an important bearing upon the cause of education. The article in question states, that the elective franchise is open to all, but with the express preliminary qualification, that the voter be able to read and to write. It is, however, added that in consequence of the ignorance in which the Spaniards have kept the people in general, this pre-requisite shall not be required until the year 1840. The measures which the Government is pursuing for promoting general education, bid fair, I think, to qualify all by the given time, in the manner referred to.[9]
In regard to education in Colombia, I have hitherto said but little, and that little is contained in a letter to you from Quito, in November 1824. In that communication, I mentioned a plan for establishing a seminary for the education of the female sex in that city. The difficulties of converting a monastery into such a seminary are considerable, and although I am pretty confident of the ultimate success of that measure, I cannotspeak definitely as to its progress. The last notice I had upon the subject, was in a letter from one of the members of Congress, in which he says, that the question was to be forthwith discussed in Congress. I hope no long time will elapse before we have the gratifying intelligence of the complete success of this measure, and, in expectation of this, I suggest the propriety of having a well qualified person ready to occupy this station. I am thus particular upon this point, as I conceive the carrying into effect the proposed plan, will have a most beneficial tendency on the welfare of that large city (the largest in Colombia), and on that of the populous and interesting district in which it is situated.
In passing along from Quito to Bogotá, I found three schools established on the British or Monitorian System; one was in Yahuará, and the other two were in Popayan; one of the latter was for boys, and the other for girls. The establishment of these schools, in the provincial parts of Colombia, is the result of a general plan of education upon this system in connection with a central school established some time ago in Bogotá, the capital. On arriving at that city, I visited this model school, and hoped to meet there the director of the establishment, to converse with him in regard to the number and efficiency of the various provincial schools. I was however disappointed of seeing him, as he was then actually engaged on a tourthrough some of the provinces to promote the formation of new schools. I cannot, therefore, state how many schools were then in operation, but I have good reason to think the existing number is calculated to encourage the friends of education, and that it goes on increasing.
I received from Mr. Restrepo, the minister of the interior, a set of the lessons used in the schools. One regrets to find the Scriptures not there, nor any extracts from a volume so much calculated to benefit us, in youth and in age, in time and in eternity. With this important exception, the lessons are good, and every way superior to the trash formerly used in the schools of South America. One part of the lessons is worthy of notice. The constitution of the country is divided into portions and sections, and is read in the schools. By this means the children get acquainted in early life with the real nature and circumstances of their native land, and thus become better citizens, and more useful to each other. This plan is worthy of imitation in other quarters. It is to be hoped that ere long this judicious plan, which has been adopted for imbuing the early mind with a knowledge of the statutes of their country, will be adopted also with regard to the statutes of God unfolded in the Holy Scriptures.
The next part of what was formerly called Spanish America is Guatemala. This is properly neither in North nor South America, and ithas, in consequence, been denominated Central America. Not having visited that quarter, all I have to say of it in regard to education is but little, and that is, of course, from the information of others, I understand several schools have been established in the capital and elsewhere, but none of these are on the monitorian plan. In conversing with Mr. Zebadúa the envoy of that government in London, and with Mr. Herrera, a gentleman from that country who feels a great interest in education, I have learned that they are very desirous of obtaining a person thoroughly versed in this system, in order to establish a central and other schools in that republic. I hope the Committee will have this quarter in view as well as the others recommended above, when properly qualified teachers can be obtained.
The only other part that remains to be noticed is Mexico; and for information respecting the state and prospects of education there, I beg leave to refer you to the interesting communication of our excellent friend, Don Vicente de Rocafuerte, Chargé d’Affaires from that government.[10]
In reviewing the state and progress of education in South America, there is undoubtedly much that is calculated to gratify and to cheer the hearts of those who delight in the progress of knowledge, and in the welfare of man. Besides the pleasure that arises from seeing what has actually been done in the few years in which these new states have enjoyed the boon of liberty,—there is yet more to cheer us in contemplating the general feeling which pervades the country upon the important subject of education. During my seven years’ residence in that country, I have had intercourse with all classes of society there, and, through repeated conversations and otherwise, have come, I think, to understand what are the actual feelings and desires of the people upon this point.I have no hesitation in saying, that the public voice is decidedly in favour ofuniversal education. I never heard, even once, what is still to be heard elsewhere, “that the poor should not be taught.” The very opposite feeling most undoubtedly exists and prevails among the clergy and the laity, the governors and the governed. On a survey, therefore, of the whole scene, and in looking into futurity,the brightest views may, I think, be entertained as to the progress and best interests of man in that large and interesting continent; and, from this view of things, I am sure none will derive more real gratification than the Committee of the British and Foreign School Society.
Report of Mr. Rocafuerte, Chargé d’Affaires in England from the Government of Mexico, delivered in a Speech at the Twenty-first Annual Meeting of the British and Foreign School Society, May 15th, 1826.The independence of South America is the consequence of that growing spirit of modern civilization which, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the wings of trade, has penetrated into those remote countries, and liberated them from the Spanish yoke. What more gratifying picture can there be for a true and liberal Christian, than that which the new world now presents, overturning a bad system, and establishing a good one, without being attended with scenes of violence and cruelties. It may truly be said that the characteristic feature of the Mexican revolution is that spirit of moderation and generosity which the maxims of the Gospel recommend, and which are the best means for establishing true liberty. Our revolution, in its object, its means, and end, is very different from that of France: among us, it is not an overthrow of all principles; it is a natural tendency to create a new order; it is a general combination to promote the happiness of a vast continent;it is a necessary transition from darkness to light, from superstition to christian morality. From the ruins of Greece and Italy, sprung some rays of light, which, illuminating the darkness of the middle age, prepared the epoch of the discovery of the printing-press, the mariner’s compass, and the new world. From that time, the constant progress of the arts and sciences has converted knowledge into power, and nations have been more or less opulent and happy in the ratio of their scientific attainments, of their industry, and above all, of their moral and religious principles, which form the solid basis of true freedom. To these effects of liberty, England owes her greatness, her happiness, and that very first rank which she holds in the catalogue of civilized nations. Spain, that beautiful country, worthy of a better fate, has been ruined by her ignorance and monkish superstition; she has only one advantage over the Turkish nation, and that is, that she lives under the glorious standard of the cross; and this standard, I hope, will soon lead the valiant and heroic Greeks to victory, and thus enable them at length to spread Christianity over the land of their tyrants.Those lessons shall not be lost in South America. We are convinced that the foundation of our future and permanent prosperity rests on the moral improvements of the lower classes of society. It is not enough for a man to know how to read and write, and gain a livelihood; he must have religious habits, must know exactly his duties towards God and towards society; and no institution is so well calculated for obtaining those great objects as the British and Foreign School Society. What an admirable undertaking it is, to bestow the blessing of scriptural knowledge on all mankind,to unite all the nations of the globe, by the brotherly ties of science and religion. Ye noble promoters of this institution! be assured you have many warm friends in South America. The general desire with us of all true and enlightened patriots, is for education; the general cry all over our continent is,give us education. This is the reason that the Lancasterian System has been immediately adopted in almost every part of South America.Mr. Lancaster is now living at Caraccas, and promoting public instruction there.In Mexico, the first Lancasterian School was opened on the 22nd of August, 1822; and by one of those singular occurrences in revolutions, the halls of the Inquisition, so inimical to this Institution, were converted into a public school, into a nursery of free men, into a true temple of reason. Three hundred children are taught to read in this school according to this new system of education, a system which will lead to the moral perfection of the world, as the mariner’s compass led to the geographical perfection of the globe. This first school was calledEscuela del Sol.Some time afterwards the Government granted to the Lancasterian Association of Mexico the large and beautiful convent of Bethlehem, and a second school was formed there. This establishment is divided into three departments, and directed by two professors well acquainted with the system; one of them is a Frenchman, who went purposely for that object from Paris to Mexico.The first department is calculated for six hundred and sixty children; they learn to read, write, andcypher; they are also instructed in the political andreligious catechism, orthography, arithmetic, and Spanish grammar. The parents of the scholars who can pay, give a dollar a month, which is about two pounds ten shillings a year; the children of the poor pay nothing.The second department will contain four hundred scholars, who pay two dollars per month, or nearly five pounds a year. It is a model or central school for forming teachers and good professors; and these are afterwards to be sent into the different provinces, in order to fulfil the desire of our Government, which is, to place in every village throughout Mexico a Lancasterian school, a printing-press, and a chapel.The third department will contain three hundred scholars; and these pay three dollars a month, or seven pounds a year. The object intended in this department is, to teach Latin, French, geography, and drawing, on the principles of the Lancasterian system. This trial has been made, but I am not sure whether it has answered or not.In 1823, there were introduced into the Lancasterian school of Mexico, the lessons used in your school in London, taken from the Bible, without note or comment. Some old priests opposed the introduction of these, stating that it was prohibited to read extracts from the Bible without notes. The Secretary of the Lancasterian Association, Mr. Gandéra, a very enlightened clergyman, and distinguished for his virtue and zeal in the cause of religion, supported the opposite opinion, and succeeded in establishing in the school the use of these extracts. The consequence is, that our children are acquiring a taste for the perusal of the Scriptures, and they are hence learning to be virtuous,charitable, tolerant, and free. This moral education will promote the cause of religious toleration, and will effect that regeneration which our new political system requires. We cannot remain as we are; we must go forward; and, as said in Parliament by Mr. Canning, (whose name is dear to all our hearts in South America,) “we must go forward, and keep pace with the growing spirit of the times, and the great change that has been wrought in the opinions of the world.” This great change in the general opinion is, that nations can only be happy under the banners of liberal sentiments and true morality; that, in short, the combination of political and religious freedom is as necessary for the moral happiness of mankind, as that combination of the two gasses, forming the atmospheric air which we breathe, is to our physical existence. This vast plan of human improvement is the great object of your noble Institution, an Institution which truly deserves the gratitude of the world, and the most cordial support of all who are influencedby the love of their country, and the principles of Christianity.
Report of Mr. Rocafuerte, Chargé d’Affaires in England from the Government of Mexico, delivered in a Speech at the Twenty-first Annual Meeting of the British and Foreign School Society, May 15th, 1826.
The independence of South America is the consequence of that growing spirit of modern civilization which, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the wings of trade, has penetrated into those remote countries, and liberated them from the Spanish yoke. What more gratifying picture can there be for a true and liberal Christian, than that which the new world now presents, overturning a bad system, and establishing a good one, without being attended with scenes of violence and cruelties. It may truly be said that the characteristic feature of the Mexican revolution is that spirit of moderation and generosity which the maxims of the Gospel recommend, and which are the best means for establishing true liberty. Our revolution, in its object, its means, and end, is very different from that of France: among us, it is not an overthrow of all principles; it is a natural tendency to create a new order; it is a general combination to promote the happiness of a vast continent;it is a necessary transition from darkness to light, from superstition to christian morality. From the ruins of Greece and Italy, sprung some rays of light, which, illuminating the darkness of the middle age, prepared the epoch of the discovery of the printing-press, the mariner’s compass, and the new world. From that time, the constant progress of the arts and sciences has converted knowledge into power, and nations have been more or less opulent and happy in the ratio of their scientific attainments, of their industry, and above all, of their moral and religious principles, which form the solid basis of true freedom. To these effects of liberty, England owes her greatness, her happiness, and that very first rank which she holds in the catalogue of civilized nations. Spain, that beautiful country, worthy of a better fate, has been ruined by her ignorance and monkish superstition; she has only one advantage over the Turkish nation, and that is, that she lives under the glorious standard of the cross; and this standard, I hope, will soon lead the valiant and heroic Greeks to victory, and thus enable them at length to spread Christianity over the land of their tyrants.
Those lessons shall not be lost in South America. We are convinced that the foundation of our future and permanent prosperity rests on the moral improvements of the lower classes of society. It is not enough for a man to know how to read and write, and gain a livelihood; he must have religious habits, must know exactly his duties towards God and towards society; and no institution is so well calculated for obtaining those great objects as the British and Foreign School Society. What an admirable undertaking it is, to bestow the blessing of scriptural knowledge on all mankind,to unite all the nations of the globe, by the brotherly ties of science and religion. Ye noble promoters of this institution! be assured you have many warm friends in South America. The general desire with us of all true and enlightened patriots, is for education; the general cry all over our continent is,give us education. This is the reason that the Lancasterian System has been immediately adopted in almost every part of South America.
Mr. Lancaster is now living at Caraccas, and promoting public instruction there.
In Mexico, the first Lancasterian School was opened on the 22nd of August, 1822; and by one of those singular occurrences in revolutions, the halls of the Inquisition, so inimical to this Institution, were converted into a public school, into a nursery of free men, into a true temple of reason. Three hundred children are taught to read in this school according to this new system of education, a system which will lead to the moral perfection of the world, as the mariner’s compass led to the geographical perfection of the globe. This first school was calledEscuela del Sol.
Some time afterwards the Government granted to the Lancasterian Association of Mexico the large and beautiful convent of Bethlehem, and a second school was formed there. This establishment is divided into three departments, and directed by two professors well acquainted with the system; one of them is a Frenchman, who went purposely for that object from Paris to Mexico.
The first department is calculated for six hundred and sixty children; they learn to read, write, andcypher; they are also instructed in the political andreligious catechism, orthography, arithmetic, and Spanish grammar. The parents of the scholars who can pay, give a dollar a month, which is about two pounds ten shillings a year; the children of the poor pay nothing.
The second department will contain four hundred scholars, who pay two dollars per month, or nearly five pounds a year. It is a model or central school for forming teachers and good professors; and these are afterwards to be sent into the different provinces, in order to fulfil the desire of our Government, which is, to place in every village throughout Mexico a Lancasterian school, a printing-press, and a chapel.
The third department will contain three hundred scholars; and these pay three dollars a month, or seven pounds a year. The object intended in this department is, to teach Latin, French, geography, and drawing, on the principles of the Lancasterian system. This trial has been made, but I am not sure whether it has answered or not.
In 1823, there were introduced into the Lancasterian school of Mexico, the lessons used in your school in London, taken from the Bible, without note or comment. Some old priests opposed the introduction of these, stating that it was prohibited to read extracts from the Bible without notes. The Secretary of the Lancasterian Association, Mr. Gandéra, a very enlightened clergyman, and distinguished for his virtue and zeal in the cause of religion, supported the opposite opinion, and succeeded in establishing in the school the use of these extracts. The consequence is, that our children are acquiring a taste for the perusal of the Scriptures, and they are hence learning to be virtuous,charitable, tolerant, and free. This moral education will promote the cause of religious toleration, and will effect that regeneration which our new political system requires. We cannot remain as we are; we must go forward; and, as said in Parliament by Mr. Canning, (whose name is dear to all our hearts in South America,) “we must go forward, and keep pace with the growing spirit of the times, and the great change that has been wrought in the opinions of the world.” This great change in the general opinion is, that nations can only be happy under the banners of liberal sentiments and true morality; that, in short, the combination of political and religious freedom is as necessary for the moral happiness of mankind, as that combination of the two gasses, forming the atmospheric air which we breathe, is to our physical existence. This vast plan of human improvement is the great object of your noble Institution, an Institution which truly deserves the gratitude of the world, and the most cordial support of all who are influencedby the love of their country, and the principles of Christianity.
[7]Though this letter was not written in South America, as all the preceding were, yet its evident bearing upon the subject in hand entitle it, perhaps, to the place it occupies.[8]Atpage 32, it is stated that religious liberty was publicly acknowledged in Peru, under San Martin. This acknowledgement, in Peru, of this sound principle of policy and of justice, certainly preceded the one here referred to in San Juan. But the circumstances were different. In Peru it was the single act of General San Martin, as Protector, or Dictator of Peru, and the people of the country had no share in it, whereas in San Juan, the declaration of Religious Liberty was a legislative act.[9]This notice, I find, is mentioned in a preceding letter, yet I leave it here also, as I think the subject is not unworthy of a repetition.[10]This communication, bearing upon the subject of education in Spanish America, will be added at the close of this letter. When this communication is considered as the production of a native of that country, a gentleman intimately acquainted with its concerns, and actually holding a high official situation under the Government of the most populous of these new states, it may tend to confirm the favourable accounts from that quarter of the world contained in the preceding letters.The enlightened and liberal mind of Mr. Rocafuerte, and his truly zealous endeavours to raise his country high in political wisdom, in literature, in morality, and in pure religion, are truly praiseworthy.
[7]Though this letter was not written in South America, as all the preceding were, yet its evident bearing upon the subject in hand entitle it, perhaps, to the place it occupies.
[7]Though this letter was not written in South America, as all the preceding were, yet its evident bearing upon the subject in hand entitle it, perhaps, to the place it occupies.
[8]Atpage 32, it is stated that religious liberty was publicly acknowledged in Peru, under San Martin. This acknowledgement, in Peru, of this sound principle of policy and of justice, certainly preceded the one here referred to in San Juan. But the circumstances were different. In Peru it was the single act of General San Martin, as Protector, or Dictator of Peru, and the people of the country had no share in it, whereas in San Juan, the declaration of Religious Liberty was a legislative act.
[8]Atpage 32, it is stated that religious liberty was publicly acknowledged in Peru, under San Martin. This acknowledgement, in Peru, of this sound principle of policy and of justice, certainly preceded the one here referred to in San Juan. But the circumstances were different. In Peru it was the single act of General San Martin, as Protector, or Dictator of Peru, and the people of the country had no share in it, whereas in San Juan, the declaration of Religious Liberty was a legislative act.
[9]This notice, I find, is mentioned in a preceding letter, yet I leave it here also, as I think the subject is not unworthy of a repetition.
[9]This notice, I find, is mentioned in a preceding letter, yet I leave it here also, as I think the subject is not unworthy of a repetition.
[10]This communication, bearing upon the subject of education in Spanish America, will be added at the close of this letter. When this communication is considered as the production of a native of that country, a gentleman intimately acquainted with its concerns, and actually holding a high official situation under the Government of the most populous of these new states, it may tend to confirm the favourable accounts from that quarter of the world contained in the preceding letters.The enlightened and liberal mind of Mr. Rocafuerte, and his truly zealous endeavours to raise his country high in political wisdom, in literature, in morality, and in pure religion, are truly praiseworthy.
[10]This communication, bearing upon the subject of education in Spanish America, will be added at the close of this letter. When this communication is considered as the production of a native of that country, a gentleman intimately acquainted with its concerns, and actually holding a high official situation under the Government of the most populous of these new states, it may tend to confirm the favourable accounts from that quarter of the world contained in the preceding letters.
The enlightened and liberal mind of Mr. Rocafuerte, and his truly zealous endeavours to raise his country high in political wisdom, in literature, in morality, and in pure religion, are truly praiseworthy.
FINIS.
Dennett,Leather Lane, London.