Page:History of the Radical Party in Parliament.djvu/342

 328 History of the Radical Party in Parliament. [1841- the 2Oth of June Crawford returned to the charge, with a resolution to repeal the Septennial Act He was supported by twenty-three votes, amongst which were those of Cobden and Villiers, and opposed by forty-six, Russell and Wood being in the majority against him. There has been no subject dearer to the Radicals, or more constantly striven for by them, than that of national education. We have seen how, early in the first reformed Parliament, the question was raised by Roebuck, whose effort was appre- ciated by the whole party, and of whom one of its ablest writers, John Stuart Mill, wrote at the time " In the case of Roebuck, it is his title to permanent remembrance, that in the very first year during which he sat in Parliament he originated (or re-originated after the unsuccessful attempt of Mr. Brougham) the Parliamentary movement for national educa- tion." * It was unfortunate, therefore, that during this session Roebuck himself and other leaders of the party were compelled to appear in the character of opponents to a scheme for extending education. Their objection, it is scarcely necessary to say, was not made to the extension of education, but to the violation in the proposal made by the Government, of that principle of religious equality and freedom without which no really national system could be established in this country. In the controversy which has been raised by the proceedings in 1843, the extent of the ministerial plan has been exaggerated, and the stand taken by the Radicals has been misunderstood. The scheme was developed early in the year. On the 28th of February Lord Ashley moved that an address be presented to the Queen, asking her to take into consideration the best means of diffusing moral and religious education among the working classes. In speaking to this resolution, Sir James Graham sketched the outlines of the measure which he intended to introduce. It would provide for the compulsory education only of pauper and factory children. It proposed to limit the employment of factory children between the age of eight and thirteen years of age to six hours and a half per day, and to
 * " Autobiography, " p. 195.