CHURCH AND EDUCATION.
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has ceased to be a state establishment. By 32 and 33 Vict., can. 42, 'An Act to put an end to the Establishment of the Church of Ireland,' which obtained the royal sanction on July 26, 1869 it was decreed that ' on and after January 1, 1871, the Union created by Act of Parliament between the Churches of England and Ireland shall be dissolved, and the Church of Ireland shall cease to be established by law.'
Public education has made vast progress in Great Britain within the last quarter of a century, though, according to the test of educa- tion supplied by grown-up persons signing their names or having to make their mark, a great difference exists in the prevalence of elementary knowledge in different counties of England. The last returns issued, for 1868, show that among the men who married in that year only 65" 1 in 100 marrying in Monmouthshire wrote their names; 66 - l in Suffolk, 66*5 in Staffordshire, 67 - 8 in Bedfordshire, 68-5 in North Wales, 69-8 in Herefordshire, and 69-9 in South Wales. On the other hand, 85 - 4 in 100 marrying in Northumber- land in 1868 wrote their names, 86"1 in Rutland, 86-6 in extra- metropolitan Middlesex, 88*7 in Westmoreland, and. 909 in London. Among the women in Lancashire only 58 - l in 100 wrote their names, only 57 - 9 in Monmouthshire, 57'6 in Staffordshire, 56-2 in North Wales, 53*2 in South Wales ; on the other hand, as many as 82-1 women in 100 wrote their names in Oxfordshire, 83 in Kent, 84-6 in Hampshire, 85 -8 in London, 86*6 in Sussex, 87:2 in West- moreland, 88 in Middlesex, and 88*1 in Surrey. A full-comparison of the lists shows that the uneducated are found in greater numbers among mining and manufacturing populations than in the agri- cultural portions of the kingdom. The returns, as a whole, show a decided improvement. Thirty years ago, in 1841, only 67-3 in 100 of the men marrying in England signed their names upon the register, and 5P2 in 100 of the women ; 20 years ago, in 1851, 69"2 of the men and 547 of the women signed their names; 10 vears ago, in 1861, 754 of the men and 65 - 3 of the women signed;" and in 1868, the latest return, 79'9 of the men and 72-2 of the women signed their names. Out of 100 men marrying, the marriage register was signed in 1868 by 13 more than in 1841 ; in 100 women by 21 more than in 1841. In round numbers, it may be stated that the last returns show one out of every five grown-up persons in England with- out education, as far as measured by the test of writing their names. An important measure towards the further spread of education in England was passed by Parliament in the session of 1870. By 33 Victoria, cap. 75, entitled 'An Act to provide for Public Elemen- tary Education in England and Wales,' it is ordered that ' there shall be provided for every school district a sufficient amount of accommodation in public elementary schools available- for all the children resident in such district, for whose elementary education.
