Extract from the Fourteenth Report of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland, for the year 1847

The subject of Evening Schools was for the first time referred to in our last report, We stated that many had been opened in different parts of the country, which afforded the means of instruction to adults and other persons, engaged during the day in their several occupations. We announced, at the same time, the establishment of an Evening School on our premises in Marlborough-street, which has been conducted much to our satisfaction. The average attendance during the past year was about 200, composed partly of boys who could not attend school during the day, and partly of adults.

The anxiety evinced by boys, and by young men from eighteen to twenty-five years of age, to participate in the advantages afforded by this school, confirms our opinion that such institutions, if well conducted, will be of incalculable benefit to the working classes; and that, if established in large towns, or in populous localities adjoining them, they will form an important step in the education of the artisan between the common National School and the Mechanics' Institution. After the toils of the day, the humble laborer and the tradesman, will find in Evening Schools the means of literary and moral improvement, and a protection against temptations to which, at their age, this class of persons are peculiarly exposed. We received during the year numerous applications for aid to evening schools, the majority of which we rejected, being of opinion that our grants for this purpose should as yet be confined to large towns, in which trade and manufactures are extensively carried on, and where alone we at present possess the means of inspection. We made grants to 12 evening schools in the course of the year. It is probable that the number of applications for assistance will gradually increase. Should this be the case, we shall take the necessary steps to ascertain that the evening schools are properly conducted, and that the system of education carried on in them, is adapted to the varied occupations of the artisans, mechanics, and others, who are desirous of obtaining the special instruction which their several trades and avocations require.

Extract from the Second Annual Report of the Evening Free School in Salem Muss., presented May 15, 1849, by Mr. John Ball, Principal. The school was opened on the evening of January 1, 1849, and closed May 14. Four evenings in every week have been devoted to instruction, viz: Monday and Tuesday for females, and Wednesday and Thursday for males. The books used have been Worcester's Primer, Worcester's Readers, Emerson's Second Part, and Davies' Arithmetic. The progress made by the scholars has been as wonderful as last year. Men and women, girls and boys, from ten or twelve to 35 and 40 years of age, have attended, many of whom commenced with the alphabet. Some merely knew their letters. Numbers knew nothing of the formation of a letter with a pen, nor had any knowledge of figures. These individuals have learned to read, write and cipher, with a facility that surprises every one. The success which has attended the efforts of the teachers is most gratfying, and for years to come will numbers of the pupils remember and love the kind teachers who have so patiently and perseveringly instructed them. Among the many instances of successful effort, one may be stated. A man, 36 years of age, entered on the 18th of January; he only knew his letters, and commenced with Worcester's Primer. In two months he could read page after page of Worcester's third part Reader: His teacher watched his efforts, and noticed repeatedly the perspiration on his face, from his eagerness to gain knowledge. The pleasure manifested by him while reading in my hearing, on the 22d of March, I am unable to describe.

The improvement made by the females, in reading, writing and ciphering, has been very rapid. Scholars from 15 to 30 years of age, who were unable to read, as well as those who were taught their letters last year,

have learned to read with much ease. Many who now write a plain, decent hand. with a pen, were first taught by their teachers the formation of letters with a pencil on the slate. This method has been found very successful, and their writing books are so neat and clean that they excite the admiration of all who examine them.

In the Male Department we suffered for the want of about twenty Gentlemen as deeply interested as the Ladies, and could we have had that number from the first evening to the close of the school, a greater improvement would have resulted in every particular, as each teacher would have become acquainted with the disposition, the wants and propensities of those under his care. This improvement is very perceptible in the Female Department, wherethe same teachers have been present nearly every evening.

The Scholars in general deserve much praise for their good behavior and close application to their studies.

is,

The whole number of names entered on the REGISTER of the School

The average attendance has been

every week.

223 Males, and 303 Females.

Highest number in attendance on one evening, was 133 Males, and 175 Females.

Average attendance of Teachers has been 12 Gentlemen, and 23 Ladies. Average attendance of Scholars each month, has been,

January, 102 Males, 128 Females,

February,
March,
April,

105 do.

126 do.

making it evident that from about the 1st of November to the 1st of April is the best time for such a school, as during the cold weather many of the men and boys are unemployed.

Extract from Report of the Committee of the Board of Education on Evening Schools in the City of New York, for 1848-49.

The number of Evening Schools opened the past season, and continued for the term of seventeen weeks, was eleven for males, and four for females. The actual expense of conducting the Evening Schools the past season, after deducting the estimated value of the property now on hand, will be found to be $11.861 45.

The number of pupils that entered these schools was 5,219 males; and 1,757 females; in all, 6,976.

There were 581 that entered these schools who were over 21 years of age; 2,944 between the ages of 21 and 16; making 3,525 who were too old to attend day schools. The number that could not read was 872: that could read but imperfectly, 1,508. The number that could not write 1,390, and 3,967 were not acquainted with the simple rules of arithmetic. Your Committee would impress upon the minds of all this one important fact,—that Evening Schools are designed more particularly for those who cannot attend the day sessions of our well-provided Public Schools, and whose only leisure time is after the close of the labors of the day. It is amongst this class we see the greatest amount of human misery, ignorance, and suffering. A free school might be erected upon every block of this great city, and the doors thrown wide open for the reception of all who might choose to enter, yet this vast, increasing, and deserving class of our population, from the circumstances of their condition, would not be benefitted thereby. It has been the object of all our efforts to offer every inducement to those who cannot attend the day schools, to be present at the night sessions, by making them attractive as well as instructive.

REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS,

RELATING TO THE HISTORY AND CONDITION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE SEVERAL TOWNS.

PROVIDENCE.

1. HISTORY OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

[The following historical notice of the efforts made by individual citizens or by the town and city of Providence, to establish and perfect a system of public instruction, are gathered mainly from Staples' Annals of Providence, and from the Reports of Nathan Bishop Esq., the Superintendent of Public Schools, and documents in the possession of the last-named gentleman. To Judge Staples, and Mr. Bishop, for permission to use the results of their labors, the thanks of the Commissioner are due, and most cordially returned.]

"In May 1663, the proprietors passed the following order: "It is agreed by this present Assembly, that one hundred acres of upland and six acres of meadow (or lowland to the quantity of eight acres, in lieu of meadow) shall be laid out within the bounds of this town of Providence; the which land shall be reserved for the maintenance of a school in this town; and that after the said land is laid out and the bounds thereof set, it shall be recorded in our town records, according unto the bounds fixed, and shall be called by the name of the School Lands of Providence." This is the earliest grant now to be found in the records, and the earliest reference to a school, or any means of education. From a petition of John Whipple, Jr. in the files of the city clerk's office, presented to the town January 28, 1684, it appears, that a whole purchase right of land, had long before that time, been set apart for the use and benefit of a school. The prayer of the petition was, that lands might then be laid out under it. It does not appear what was done with this petition, nor is there any mention on the records of the grant refered to in it, unless it is the grant first recited, and it would not seem probable that the petitioner could have confounded these grants, or misrecited the one intended by him, for he was town clerk in 1670, 1671, 1677, 1680 and 1681.

The first schoolmaster in Providence, of whom any memorial remains, was William Turpin. When he came, is not known, but he was here the 11th day of June 1684. On that day he executed an indenture with William Hawkins and Lydia his wife, in which he covenanted to furnish Peregrine Gardner with board and schooling for one year, for six pounds; forty shillings of which in beef and pork; pork, at two pence, and beef, at three-pence half-penny, per lb; twenty shillings in corn, at two shillings per bushel, and the balance in silver money. He was to be instructed in reading and writing. This instrument is in the hand writing of Mr. Schoolmaster Turpin, and exhibits plenary proof of his ability to teach writing. It also proves conclusively that schoolmasters in those days were not very exorbitant in their demands.

The following January, Mr. Turpin presented a petition to the town, in these words:

"The humble request of William Turpin, now schoolmaster of the said town, is, that whereas there was a parcel of land formerly granted by the ancestors of said town and was to be to the use and benefit of a schoolmaster, as by the records of the town book will more at large appear, which said order or grant was read to me in the presence of several gentlemen, that were the occasion of my settling at this town, who promised to be instrumental in the perform ance thereof. Gentlemen, my desire is, that the aforesaid land may be forthwith laid out, ac

cording to the said order or grant, and that the said master or his heirs may be invested in the said land, so long as he or any of them, shall maintain that worthy art of learning. Thus leaving it to you, gentlemen, to give a speedy answer, according as you shall think meet, I rest yours to command, WILLIAM TURPIN."

There is no memorandum what answer, if any, was returned to this petition. How long the petitioner "maintained that worthy art of learning," does not appear. It was to him, as it ought always to be to those who engage in it, the stepping stone to honors, if not to fortune. In 1722 and 1723, he represented the town in General Assembly; in 1727, he was town clerk; and died, town treasurer, in 1744. He held the last office from 1722 to 1736, and was again elected to it in June 1743. He died in 1744, and before April.

In January 1696, John Dexter, William Hopkins and others, petitioned the town for a piece of land on Dexter's lane, or Stamper's hill, on which to erect a school house. The petition was granted, and there our information ends. Dexter's lane is now called Olney street.

When the proprietors divided the land lying on the west side of North and South Main streets, into warehouse lots, they left a lot opposite the west end of the court house parade, for a school-house lot. The first reference to it, is on the plat of the warehouse lots in the proprietor's office, bearing date in 1747. How long before this date, the lot was set off for this purpose, whether it was set off in pursuance to the grant referred to in Mr. Turpin's petition, or in answer to the petition of John Dexter and others, cannot be ascertained. Nor can it be ascertained when a school house was first erected on it. The first notice I have been able to find of it on the town records, is in 1752. In that year, Nicholas Cooke, Joseph Olney, Esek Hopkins, Elisha Brown and John Mawney, were appointed "to have the care of the town school house, and to appoint a master to teach in said house." The school committee the following year were Nicholas Cooke, John Mawney, Nicholas Brown, Elijah Tillinghast, and Daniel Abbot. The next year the school house was leased by the town to Stephen Jackson, schoolmaster, for three months from March 1st. There is no further reference to the matter until 1763, when the town clerk was directed to lease the house again. The schoolmaster probably received all his compensation from his pupils; the town, as a corporation, simply furnishing a room at a fixed rent. There were at least two other schools in town, as early as 1763. Mr. George Taylor, in 1735, had the use of a chamber in the state house, to keep a school in; and in 1751, Gideon Comstock, Alexander Frazier, Joseph Potter, Thomas Angell, James Field, Barzillai Richmond and Nehemiah Sprague, had permission to build a school-house on the west side of the river," on vacant land a little above Joseph Snow Jr.'s dwelling house, the street being wide enough." They stated they had then subscribed enough to erect a house. The location of this house must have been near the public pump in Broad street. After the court house was burned, in 1758, the town endeavored to possess themselves of the lot on which it had stood, in lieu of the one on Main street. There were great difficulties in the way, the court-house lot having been originally granted only for the use of a colony house, and the school-house lot, only for a school-house. The difficulties were, however, overcome, and in February 1765, a committee of the town transferred the fee of the school-house lot, and purchased the other.

In 1767, the town again took up the subject of education, with the apparent design of providing schools for all the children of the inhabitants. At a town meeting holden December 8, they resolved to purchase or build three school-houses for small children and one for youth, to provide instructions and pay the expense from the treasury, and these schools to be under the supervision of a school committee. John Brown, John Jenckes, Nathaniel Greene, Charles Keene and Samuel Thurber were appointed a committee to select locations for the houses, to purchase land and make contracts for their erection. Darius Sessions, Samuel Nightingale, Jabez Bowen and Moses Brown were appointed to prepare an ordinance for the building, supporting and governing the school. These committees reported to an adjourned meeting, holden on the 1st of January 1768. The record states, the reports were both rejected. Neither of them is on file or recorded.

That made by the last named committee, in the hand writing of the late Gov. Bowen, I have lately found, accompanied with a memorandum in the hand writing of the late Moses Brown. They are as follows:

"The education of youth, being a thing of the first importance to every society, as thereby the minds of the rising generation are formed to virtue, knowledge, and useful literature, and a succession of able and useful men are produced, with suitable qualifications for serving their country with ability and faithfulness; and, institutions of this nature are the more useful, by how much the more liberal and free, the enjoyment of them is.

This town having taken the same into consideration at their last meeting, held the 2d day of December last past, voted to purchase and erect three small school-houses, for the education of children, and one larger one for the education of youth, and that proper masters should be provided and keep for each house at the town's expense.

Upon consideration whereof, be it enacted by the town of Providence, and by the freemen of the same it is hereby enacted, that four school houses be erected or purchased, within the compact part of this town, as soon as may be. That one be purchased, or a new one built, on the west side of the great bridge, at or near the place where the school house at present stands; that one be erected at the southerly part of the town, in the back street, near Power's Lane; that one other one be built at the northerly part of the town, in the back street, near Richard Brown's lot; and that one larger one be erected on the lot where the old court-house formerly stood. The three small ones not to cost more than three hundred pounds, lawful money; to be built of wood, and pretty near the form and dimensions of that one over the great bridge already

built.

And be it further enacted, that the large school-house to be built on the old court-house lot, shall be built with brick, according to the plan presented to this meeting by the committee, and that the finishing and completing the same, shall not exceed the sum of four hundred and eightyfive pounds lawful money, and that the same shall be finished on or before the first day of December, next after this date. And whereas, there is a sum of money, in the hands of the town's committee, which arose from the sale of the old school-house and lot, be it further enacted, that the whole of the said sum of money be appropriated towards building the several school-houses that are to be erected at the town's expense.

And be it further enacted, that this town will take the remainder of the expense that shall accrue by building the several school-houses, on itself, and that the town will from time to time, and at all times hereafter, supply said houses with good and sufficient masters, at all times to come, and that fire wood shall be supplied said schools at the town's expense.

And be it further enacted, that the sum of five hundred and twenty pounds, lawful money, be assessed and levied on the polls and estates of the inhabitants of this town, on or before the first day of February next, and that the same be collected and paid into the town treasury, by the collector of taxes, on or before the day of next, to be applied for defraying the expenses, providing materials, and building the said four school-houses.

And be it further enacted, that the following rules, orders and regulations, shall be observed in the governing the said schools, that is to say:

That the school-house already built on the west side of the great bridge, shall remain under the direction of the present proprietors, till such time as all the other houses shall be finished, and fit for the reception of scholars; that then, all the four houses shall be furnished with masters at the expense of the town.

That a school committee shall be anuually chosen, of persons dwelling in different parts of the town, who are hereby clothed with ample power and authority, from time to time, to appoint masters and ushers, in all or any of the schools, fully qualified to do the duties of their respective stations, to agree with each for their several salaries, and to pass certificates to the town treasurer, for their receiving the same; which agreements, in writing, shall be obligatory on the town, at all times, and said committee's certificates thus passed, shall be a sufficient warrant to the treasurer for his payment of said wages.

And further, in case of any complaint to said committee against any of the masters or ushers, as to insufficiency, neglect, partiality or misconduct, said committee for the time being, are required to take the same into immediate consideration, and act thereon as shall to them seem just and right, either for the acquittal or removal of said masters or ushers, and the appointing of others, in his or their room, or stead. That any repairs or alterations that may be at any time hereafter thought needful in said houses, shall be laid before said committee, and be by them inquired into, and if found fit, and reasonable, shall be laid before the town for them to act and determine upon.

That every inhabitant of this town, whether they be free of the town or not, shall have and enjoy an equal right and privilege, of sending their own children, and the children of others that may be under their care, for instruction and bringing up, to any or all of the said schools. And that each and every scholar, before they be admitted into any of the small schools, shall have learnt their letters and acquired some acquaintance with spelling. And before they be permitted to enter the larger school, they must have gained considerable knowledge in reading and writing, and that all those who may be thus qualified, shall and may be admitted to all the advantages of education that may be taught in either of the respective schools. And in case any dis