Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/433

 CHURCH AND EDUCATION. 397

whole ecclesiastical property, except churches and parsonages, in return for an equal amount of untransferable public debt certificates, beai'ing interest at the rate of 3 per cent.

In 18G2 there \vei*e in Spain 2,806 prelates and priests of cathedrals and colleges; 33,881 incumbents, or priests with paro- chial cures; and 3,198 assistant priests, without cure of souls. The numbers show an immense decline over previous periods. According to the official returns of the census of 1787, the ecclesi- astics of all descriptions, including 61,617 monks, 32,500 nuns, and 2,705 inquisitors, amounted to 188,625 individuals. Haifa century later, in 1833, the class still comprised 175,574 individuals, of whom 61,727 were monks, and 24,007 nuns. The total number of secu- larised religious persons or ' regulares exclaustrados,' amounted to 6,822 in 1858, to 6,323 in 1859, and to 6,072 in 1862. Of this number about 3,000 assist the secular clergy, and the rest make up the 3,072 assistant priests without cure of souls. The upper hierarchy comprises, since the year 1851, when a Concordat, settling the administration of ecclesiastical affairs, was concluded with the Pontiff of Rome, 43 bishops, and 9 archbishops, the latter of Toledo, Burgos, Granada, Santiago di Compostela, Saragossa, Sevilla, Tarragona, Valencia, and Valladolid. At the head of the Church stands the Archbishop of Toledo, Primate of Spain.

Up to a very recent period, the great mass of the population of Spain was in a state of extreme ignorance. It was rare, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and at the beginning of the present, to find a peasant, or an ordinary workman, who was able to read, which accomplishment, among women, was even held to be immoral. Until the year 1808, public education was entirely in the hands of the clergy ; but subsequent enactments, giving the instruction of the people in charge of the Government, have made a radical change in this respect. The State, however, pays but a very small sum towards public education, which is left mainly to the charge of the communes and the parents themselves : but the super- intendence of the Government over educational matters has led to vast progress. In 1797 only 393,126 children attended the primary schools, which Avere very imperfect. In 1812, the Cortes tried to introduce some modifications, but failed, on account of the war, in making a radical reform in popular education. Fresh efforts were made in 1820 and 1825, but still without much success. The law of July 21, 1838, enjoining the expenditure of considerable sums by the communes for the purpose of public instruction, proved a great step in advance. Since that time the laws have been several times amended, especially in 1847 and 1857, when the masters were subjected to examination, schoolrooms built, and different scholastic institutions founded. The result was, that in 1848 there Avere