Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/95

 CnURCH AND EDUCATION. 59

One quarter of those pupils were admitted gratuitously — viz. 130,210 in the lay, and 490,094 in the congregationist schools; total 620,304. The emoluments of the female public teachers amounted to 9,169,030 francs, giving an average annual salary of 655 francs, or 26/. per head.

The amount of general education of the French people may be judged to some extent from the military statistics. According to a report of the Minister of War, published in 1866, the number of conscripts unable to read amounts to 30 out of every hundred, for the whole of France. But the degree of education varies greatly in different parts of the empire, instruction being far more general in the eastern and northern than in the southern districts. Among the 89 departments, there are 14 in which out of every hundred conscripts, from 90 to 96 can read. The departments so distinguished are the Doubs, Haute-Marne, Meuse, Bas-Rhin, Meurthe, Jura, Moselle, Vosges, Aube, Seine, Haut-Rhin, Haute-Saone, Cote d'Or, and Iiautes-Alpes. The next are the Marne, Ardennes, Seine-et- Oise, Rhone, Seine-et-Marne, Manche, Oise, Calvados, Haute-Savoie, Yonne, Eure-et-Loir, Isere, Orne, Hautes-Pyrenees, or 14 depart- ments in which from 80 to 90 out of 100 conscripts can read. Those which show from 70 to 79 per cent, who can read are the Ain, Somme, Aisne, Savoy, Eure, Herault, Gard, Drome, Basses- Alpes, Charente-Inferieure, Bouches-du- Rhone, Deux-Sevres, Loiret, Aveyron, Pas-de- Calais, and Gironde. The departments with from 60 to 69 per cent who can read, are Cantal, Seine-Inferieure, Vaucluse, Lozere, Gers, Saone-et-Loire, Aude, Basses-Pyrenees, Lot-et-Garonne, Nord, Haute-Garonne, Var, Charente, Maine-et- Loire, Corsica, Loir-et-Cher, Mayenne, Sarthe, and Creuse. Twelve depai-tments — namely, the Lot, Loire-Inferieure, Ardeche, Indre-et- Loire, llle-et-Vilaine, Puy-de-D6me, Tarn-et-Garonne, Alpes- Maritimes, Vendee, Tarn, Pyrenees-Orientales, and Vienne show from 50 to 58 per cent, of conscripts not quite illiterate. The list closes with the Nievre, Haute-Loire, Landes, Ariege, Dordogne, Cher, Morbihan, Indre, Cotes- du -Nord, Correze, Finisterre, Haute- Vienne, and Allier, where the proportion of the conscripts who can read varies from 34 to 49 per cent. It is calculated that another generation will be required to extend the benefits of education to the whole population of France.

The state of education of the civil population of Paris, numbering 1,799,980, was ascertained to be as follows at the census of May 15, 1866 : —

Children under 5 years .... 111,729

Persons unable to read or write. . 218. 381 Persons able to read .... 38,771

Persons able to read and write. . 1,421.871

1,679,023

Not ascertained 6,228

1,799,980