Belfast Monthly Magazine

Ninth Report from the Commissioners of the Board of Education, in IrelandSource: The Belfast Monthly Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 29 (Dec. 31, 1810), pp. 404-409Published by: Belfast Monthly MagazineStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30072799 .

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401 Ninth Report of the Board of Education. [Dc.

prodigal are perimhing with hunger, shall v e not gi e him a refut e ? Shall We not, hbiTe i et be is a great mnay off see him, and have combpassion (n him and run and nmeet him, befoi e despar y rompt him to the commnission of new enot nmt es, and haiden his heart to the fcelingS of sympathy and the consciousness of conr a,&ion or do mye wish to promote thee [ublic good, is theie a way more etlehcual than arnestit g the pio. giess of vice anld lmitimg its con- tamiration ? or do we desne the applause of an approving cor,-

s(;enve there are no means so

certin of procuring it, as in this Vay, like the forgiving father in tie paiable,' making merry and being glad," for can therbebe a pare r somuce of joy than " that this our brother

, ho was dead, is alive

again ; who was lost, is found." I reconin end this essay to your

w-idely extended miscellany in the stiong ho e that it WINl meet the cye of somne who a;e able as nell as vuI'hug to lay 'he foundations of such an establislhment as I hIave rec,mmenfed : the first ex-. reue iNill be but small, nor can the dibutssurn ns in any evert be consde able, as those only can teconee chects of its protection who ame i Iling to assist them- seles. I shall only add, that so tlholeubhly am I persuaded of the

ut.lity of such a scheme, I pledge

n xself to subscin-e towards its su port an annual contribution fiom the moment I can ascertain that there is a reaonahle thance of its permiament e3tablihimert

w. 4.

For the elefast Montl y 1Maazrne.

NINTH RIPORT IROM1 THE COYNMIS-

s1ON1ERS OF THE BOARD OF EtUCA-.

TICN, IN IPELPND.,

To his Grace, Charles Duke of Rich- mond and Lenox, &-c. Lord Lieu. tenant general, and g eneral govei nor of Ireland.

1AT IT PLFASE YOUR GRACE,

W E the undesigned Commission- ers, appointed for inquiring in-

to the several funds and revenues granted by public or private dona- tions for' the purposes of education, and into the state and condition of all schools upon public or charitable fd;und-tions, in Ireland, beg leave to lay bhefre your grace our report up- on the schools founded by Erasmus Smith, Esquire.

The governors of the schools founded

h'y Erasmus Smith, were

-erected into a corporation by a char- ter of Charles the second, granted in the year 1669. The charter ie- cites that Erasmus Smith, Esq. had intendled to erect fiN e grammar schools in Ireland, and endow them with con- vemnent maintenance for schoolmas- ters, and to make provisions for other charitable uses. 'Ihat on due consi- deration of the necessity of settling a nmo~re liberal maintenance for the schoolmasters, and making provision for clothing poor chi'dren and bind- ing them out appientices, he had thought fit to reduce the fii e intend- ed schools to ithee, but yet to conti- nue and settle the saade lands and tenements, uhich were intended for the maintenance of five schools and other chanitable uses, to be a perpe- tual revenue for matittaining thrce schools, and for car rying on the cha-.. ritable uses afoi ceaid, '1 hat a bill for this purpose had beca cert died and transmitted to England under the great -seal of Ireland, but had not yet passed into law. ' hat in pui-

sante of the acts of settlement and

e <i,lana (wn, certain persons ne mina. tedain the latter as trustees for the said Erasmus Smith, did, for him, and on his behalf, in the 3 ear 1664,

preoent their petition to the commis-

sionzers for executing the act of settle-

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18 10.] Nhth Rprtr: of t e Board af Ercatton. 405 ment,_setting .dith, that tinder the act

of, explanitid~ they *etrehtiTleCd to t4e several lands, ,tetiaenfert

And hereditaments mentioned in their said petitifn, under eertait trimi~

aid li- mitations, and praying ~A djtidieS- tiof thefrdf, ta a cettifiette of the cotnmissiaers, in oderP to thtirf ts- sing patent for thde fate. TI't the couthissiodsn dides6tpddilIy terdtl. ft*nd dclidtr that ft sAidd inIds, s&e had b od iisi And seqteifitr#i

on bccodat of thrie'bllni6 it:106411 and thiermby vested in th retown; and thathe sa md ere assigned and set Apart to the said Erdsatmt Smith, or tchose under whoni he claiian, tiOr theit respective adventures, -bot 6fi- de Oaid

fOr'iands tr4fei.tid if lrelnid, and did theitofd'r djudE tnd d6e04t that thesaidttitdi.;ixete lawfilly entitled to the aid Itads, teanuents and hereditacints, accordinig the tenor of th*oats of the 161': and 17th of Chale ithd feifL Thiat: the said trusteps had, in contqoience, obtaindd letters, patent under the great seal of Ireland, granting to them the said lands, &c, on thi' several trusts and intents-theiteon nmientiodied, andamong othets, that thei" should receive the profits of the said lauds, and employ -them for the aforesaid charitable

use,, until a corporation'

ahould be legally erected and esta- blished, under the name of't" The goveriors of the ichools founded by Erasmus Smifth, Esq.' and that when such a corporation shookI be erected, the said trustees should coa~ey thie lands in'entioand in the letters patent to the kaid corporation aid their sue- cessors frkfrer' to the ases aid trusts thetiia 1 1,and that Erahsmus Smith bad sine ptesented a petition to the king, praytng the erection bof such a corporation. The Charter the-n in the first place grants to Erasnius Smith, his ieirs, executors, &c. fill power, licence and authority to eistaa blihh threefre6 gramiiiiar seifo~l, one

in' Drogheda, another in Galvway, and tbhethird ia Tippierary ; anId e:n- poWeriktint during his lire, and after hit dbcbse, "or

during" his sickaess

or abc frost nlr lairad, the gover- nof dft'he s id dcheodh or any Seven of f&er, (the6Ltr

ureurer being one,) to

pite so Etady, not exeeediag twera-

ty M6ot thildrei, ih ea-h or any of the*r il lt4al S eth coavenient, be. sid6a

the etildidre of Eraasmu Smith's tedmaat, *hd' ar'e tit limited to any nuofibe;__an directs the appoint- metr S of a schoolmaster ahid usher to eadihs6hdol, who are to teach writ- ing~ aid Aecounts, the latini, greek a ad ebr*w tongues, and to fit their aectIfaCt for the ii lversity if desirel : It thda proeeedl t6 incorporate thir- ty-tSo persons by riame (of wh:nin

tht p'fidtat, the archbishop of Dab- lin, the chancelor, the three chief

juddet tod the provost for the time

being are always

to be seven) into one &dy p6litic and corporate, to be6 t4a1ed, "'The governors of the sch"tls fountided by Erasmn:b Smith, esi"' They and the sarvivors of the&t, and such as should from ti:ne to tfiie be ele;ted, to make up the said number, to be a iorporation for eve";,With power to purchase and hold lands, &6c. to sue and be sued, to u;e a comimoift seal, and to make letass for twenty-one years aid no longer, and that in possessina on y a.n I notin reversion, and without t iag fi:e, and at the highest yeaily reits that had beda paid within seveer years be. fore'the maiaking or renewing any such leasei. It then directs, that vatan. qies aiong the governors are to be filld "up within six month by elec- tioti 4 the relmainiug goverotrs, or the greater number of the:n as e:n- bled

ft" that purpose. That Eras-

mus Smith, during his life, and after his death, or during his absence or sickiness, the governors or any seven of them, shall in the first instance, audaifteiatrads frbin tifme td timhe i

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406 Ninth Report from the Board of Education. [Dec. vacancies may occur, have power to choose and appoint schoolmtnasters, uhers, scholars and officers for the said free schools, (such vacancies to be filled up within six months, or otherwise the king to elect) and to order, direct and visit, to place or displace, censure or punish the said masters, ushers and scholars, accord. ing to such itles and statutes as shall be devised and established by Eras- Smith during his life, or after his death by the governors, or any se- ven of them, to whom a power and authority to make such rules is ex- pressly granted by the charter. And it further exempts the said masters, &c. from any other visitation; but directs, that both masters and ushers shall on their appointment be ap- proved by the archbishop or bishop of the diocese, oh subscribing the two first canons, of the church of Ireland. It further authorises the governors to receive from Erasmus ,Smith, his heirs, &c. and from his trustees before mentioned, the se- veral lands, &c. granted to them by- letters patent, and thereafter to be conveyed to the governors, to be em- ployed for the maintenance of the said free schools, and the other cha. ritable purposes aforesaid, chargea- Vte however with the payment of one hundied pounds per annum to the governors of Christ's Hos- pital in Londoa; and also to pul- chase and receive any other lands, te- nements, &c. so as the same do not exceed two thousand pounds per an- num. And it directs a treasurer to be appointed annuaily for receiving the rents thereof, who shall have six- pence in the pound on such receipts, and account yearly for the sums Tre- ceived and distributed by him be'fore the primate, the chancellor, and the three chief judges, or an) two of them. It fixes the salary of the mas. ters at

onje hundred marks per an-

num, and that of the ushers at twen-

ty ponnds per annunm, provided the yearly rents of the lands amount to three hundred pounds per annutm; and if they exceed that amount, the overplus is directed to be applieid, first, to iepair and beautify the schools and school-houses; secondly, to the establishment of an Hebrew or other learned lecture in Trinity College at thirty pounds -per annum; thirdly, to the binding out of poor-children to he apprentices to protestant masters,

and. to the cloa-

thing them while in the schools, and to such other charitable uses as Erasmus Smtith by deed or will shall appoint. Lastly, the charter ap- proves and confirms cirtain rules and orders drawn up and submitted by Erasmus Smith, in his petition afore- said, for the regulation of the Schools, and the conducSt of the masters and ushers, and restrains the governors from making rules, orders, or bye- laws contrary to the same.

In the tenth year of George the first, an act was passed " for the further application of the rents and profits of the lands, &c. given by Erasmus Smith, esq for charitable uses," which, after reciting the dis- position of the said rents and profits 'made by the charter of Charles the second, and subsequently by the go- vernors in founding thirty-five exhi- bitions for poor students of Tri- nity College, and that the said lands now yeilded a yearly surplus rent over and above the sums thus an- nually paid thereout, enacts, first, that three ntw fellowships shall be established in the said college.- Secondly, two public lecturers, one of oratory and history, and the other of natural and experimental phi- lisophy, with salaries of thirty- five pounds per annum. Thirdly, confines the foundation of the thirty- five exhibitions, and diretts that they shall be continued to the students -holdistg the same till otherwise

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1810.] Ninth Report from the Board of Edtcation. 407

provided for, or till they are of the standing of A. M. Fourthly, empowers the governors to apply the cash now in theih' treasurer's hands to erect neW buildings in the College. Fifthly, it confirms an a- greement made by the. governors with the governors of the Bluecoat Hlospital in Dublin, to the following eflbct, " that, iwnconsideration of the sum of thiee hundred pounds gi- veia by the governors of the schools to the governors of the hospital to- Wards building an infirmary, pro.

Vrik,on should be made in the hos-

pital for the i eception of' twenty boys to he placed therein by t'he governors of the hospital schools, and maintain- ed by them at the same rate with the other boys, and to be apprenticed by them at their own cxpence, giving the same apprentice fee that is paid by the governors of the hospital with the boys they apprentice; that the lord mayor, recorder, and two aldermen of the city of Dublin, to be thosen by the governors of the hospital, shall be standing governors of the schools, and that four of the go'vernors of the schools by them to be chosen, of wl.om the treasurer to be one, shall be standing governors of the hospital." Sixthly, it autho. rizes and empowers the governors to apply any furthet or future overplias at ising firom any increase of the rents and profits of their lands, towards some public work, or use in the col. lege or bluecoat hospital, to the put- ang out more poor children to school or apprentices, and founding one or more English schools whenever they shall think proper or convenient.

In pursuance of the powers thus vested in them, the governors have been enabled, by the successive rises in the value of the lands coaveyed to them, not only to found several Englhsh schools in different parts of lieland, but to increase the number of grammar schools to foruv, anld to

enlarge the appointmerits of the .mass ters and ushers. The additional grammar school is at Ennis, and the English schools at pfesent estabhshed are at Nenagh, Tarbert aud Temple, derry, besides one on the Coombe in the city of Dublin, on! a much lat- ger scale, and mainutained at a con'. siderable expence. They have also added ten to the number of boys maintained by them in the bluecoat hospital, endowed two new profes- sorships in trinity college with liberal salaries, and a further allowance for assistants, and increased the ap. pointiments of the lecturers there es- tablished by the 10oth of George the first; and; a charter school having been erected in the, neighboulhood of their lands, in the county of Sllgo,, they contribute two hundred and fif- ty pounds per.annum towards the maintenance of that establishn-ent, besides prevailing with one of theue tenantsto let the master have four- teen acres of ground adjoining the school, at the same rent which he pays to the governors.*

It appears fiomr the rental of the lands now in possession of the gover- nors, and which lands are situate in the couuties of Limerick, Galway, Tipperary, Westmeath and Sligo (in- cluding a rent charge of one hun- dred pounds in the coulnty of Clare, and a fee farm of X-25 per annum in the King's County,) that the year- ly rent payable thereout at May 1808, amounted tosix thousand se~ven hundred andi seventeen pounds one shilling ; and that a rise in the coun- ty of Galway estate was to commence flora that period, amounting to eight hundred anfd sixty-seven pounds fif- teen shillings per annum, It further appears by the return of the register, (which together with a copy of the rental is herewith submitted to your

BELFAST MAG. NO. XXIX . e e

* The governots have alsb, in addition, given to this charter school for 'several years past, seventeen acres of their lands adionaing it, EaNTr Rsa .

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408 Ninth Report from the Board of Education. [Dec.

grace,) that the stated annual expen- diture of the governors (exclusive of repairs and buildings and treasurer and agent's fees,) amounts at present to about four thousand- pounds per annutm. That, in consequence of this excess of income above the ex- penditure for a great numberof years, and notwithstanding very considera- ble grants* of money from time to time made fobr building and o- ther uses to Trinity College and the bluecoat hospital, so great an oveiplus has accrued, that the go- vernors have purchased government stock to the amount of six thou- sand pounds, in the five per cents, and twenty-nine thousand pounds in the three and an half per cents, producing an annual income, at this time of thirteen hundred and fifteen' pounds, besides in the a- gent's harids, on the Ist of May, 1809, a balance of-----.

The accutnulation of so very large a surplus fund ,deseives, and has of late engaged the serious attention of the governoars, who are certain. ly called on to devise means, of appropriating it, agreeably to the provisions and injunctions of the charter and act of tenth of George the first. Some of their plans tor this purpose have been communi- cated to us by their register, and by such of the governors them- selves as are members of this board. Thev have resolved on founding an additional number of English schools, on a plan which bids fAir

to be generally and extensively useful, whenever any proprietor of land rs desirous of having one es- tablished on his estate; provided the situation is otherwise eligible, the governors agree, on his con- veying to them in perpetuity, a certain proportion of land, not ex- ceeding two acres, to contribute a sum not greater than three hun- dred pounds towards erecting a school-house thereon, and to grant an endownment to the master of thir- ty pounds per annum. Eleven such schools have been already appro- ved of by the governors, and ap- plications for many more have been received, and may be extpected, es- pecially if an act should be pas- sed by the legislature for enlarging the powers of parsons tinder set- tlement to make cqnveyance of land foi the purpose of endowing schools. They have also determined on building a new school-house at Gal- way, the plan and estimate for which have been approved of; and which with the expence of inclo- sing the ground, and other neces- sary works, will not be compleat- ed for less than between fix e and six thousand pounds. It has also been proposed by the treasurer, and is now under the consideration of the governois, to grant a coniMder- able suin to the govenors of the- bluecoat hospital, towards com- pleating the plan of its buildings, and tor the iepair of those aheady erected. Another extensive English school is* also to be immediately established in the city of t Dublin, on the plan of that already men- tioned. A plot of ground in St. Maik's parish has been taken for the putpose; and a plan of the building has been submitted to the governois, but not yet appioved of; and it is their intention to found one or two more, as soon as pro- per sites cen be obtained, in the

* One of these grants to Trinity Col. lege was of no less a sum than eight thousand pounds British, for the purchase of the Library of Mr. Fagel, pensionary of Holland, who had removed it to Lon- don, on the invasion of that country by the French in the year 1794. A separate apartment has been fitted up for its re- ception in the college library, to which it forms a splendid and most valuable addition.

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poorer and more populous districts of the city. The success of that which has now been carried on for some years on the Coombe, is such as to encourage them in the institutiop of such establish- ments. Still, after all these propo- sed measures shall have been car- ried into effkct, there will remain a large and increasing surplus of income, for which it is hoped the

g-vernors will provide a timely

and adequate application, so as to prevent its ever again accumulating to its present amount.

To be Continued.

For the Belfast Monthly Magazine.

AN ATTEMPT TO ACCOUNT FOR THE ORIGIN OF THE IRISH.

9uid non longa dies, quid non con. sunatik annz P

N reviewing the annals of the original population of every

country, whether rude or civilized (indeed the former character has once stigmatized all that we lead of,) there must needs be some mix- ture of doubt entertained with re- gard to their authenticity. Ever since the confusion of tongues pre- vailed at the building of the Tower of Babel (for prior to that time, one language was common among the then limited tribes) mankind began to settle in different colo- nies, their progeny multiplied, their numbers daily increased, and the taculty- of speech, with multipli- cated sorts of it, soon extended over numberless tracts of the habi- table globe. In some manner like this, di'd mankind, after the uni- versal inundation of the woild, dis- tinguish themselves into several tribes or colonies; and the places they had hitherto Ilved in together, being grown too strait for them, it was agreed upon, which way

each several tribe or colony should steer its course, beginning with the countries that were next them, and designing to proceed further and further as the increase of their several companies should require. But, in process of time, accord- ing as the human race enlarged in their primitive numbers, some contented themselves with the spon- taneous produce of the earth, such as herbs, plants, &c. to be expos- ed to the inclemency of the sea- sons, the injuries of the air, the ravages of wild beasts, and somp.e times to hunger and dold ; and to be compelled,to take shelter in sub- terraneous caves, formed without manual art or dexterity; hilst others, again, not willing to con- form to this mode of subsistence, chose to emigrate as a banditti, into foreign districts, to live up- on the produce and industry of their neighbours. Sometimes, how. ever, if the country had been stor. ed with inhabitants of the same institutions, customs, and laws; in a word, if they bore a pretty exact resemblance to one another, a sort of bond, or union would be imme- diately formed between them, for the most part through interest and self-defence, in order to continue without hurt in these possessions, or to ptotect themselves from the fury of their contending adversa- ries. Hence it follows, that they would be more susceptible of trans- mitting their name and transactions, to succeeding ages. For instance, in England, though the anczent Bri- tons weare so harrassed and oppressed by the invasions of their northern neighbours the Scots and Picts, as to solicit a speedy assistance from the Saxons, a warlike people, intha. biting the north of Germany, which last did not long remain in tranquil possession of the kingdom, till they weie vanquished by the Danes

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