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 604 LONDON maximum not exceeding 3d. in the pound, or by extra parliamentary grants. The charges to parents are remitted in well attested cases of pecuniary disability. The school boards have the power of either providing new schools or as- sisting those already established, provided the latter are in good condition and adopt the requi- site conscience clause establishing the widest religious liberty and banishing sectarian differ- ences. They are authorized to compel the at- tendance of children between the ages of 5 and 12. As lately as 1869-'70 there were 30,000 children out of 40,000 within the space of a square mile in the East End growing up in com- plete ignorance ; and of 45,000 children in the ragged schools in 1870, only 900 attended for a whole year. The education act of 1870 defines the school age between 3 and 13, and includes both sexes, though they are instructed sepa- rately. The number of children of school age within the districts was estimated in 1874 at 782,000. Besides hundreds of schools under the direction of the district boards, London contains a vast number of other district, paro- chial, ward, national, industrial, and charitable public schools, besides. about 50 exclusively for Roman Catholics, and over 600 private schools of various grades for boys and girls. The uni- versity of London confers degrees on the pupils of all the proprietary collegiate institutions of England. (See COLLEGES.) Its new buildings were opened May 11, 1870. University college, Gower street (originally London university), opened in 1828 for persons of all religious de- nominations, was attended in 1873-'4 by 1,542 pupils (893 in the college and 649 in the school). A new wing was added to it in 1873. King's college, Somerset house, opened in 1831, is a similar institution, except that divinity is taught there under the auspices of the estab- lished church. The school connected with the college was attended in 1873-'4 by 521 students, against 456 in 1872-'3, and the evening classes in the former year by 550. The royal com- missioners' report for 1874 recommends to King's college to apply for a new charter, cancelling the moderate proprietary rights of its shareholders, and abolishing all religious restrictions on the selection of professors ; and it is hinted that any aid from government will be conditional on such a reconstruction of the college as will effect these objects. Measures for its enlargement were instituted in 1874. The college for Independents possesses a faculty of theology and a faculty of arts. St. Paul's school, founded in 1509, where Milton was educated, was rebuilt in its present form in 1823. The new Eoman Catholic college in Kensington was opened Oct. 15, 1874. Among the other noteworthy educational institutions are St. Peter's college, or Westminster school, where Ben Jonson, Dryden, Locke, and Gib- bon received their education ; the Charter- house school, removed in 1874 to the hilly region of Godalming, a new chapel being in course of construction ; the school called Christ's hospital (see CHEIST'S HOSPITAL) ; and Merchant Taylors' school, founded in 1571, supported by that company, and instructing 260 boys at an annual rate of 10. The City of London school for the respectable middle classes was established in 1835. A government school of design or department of practical art dates from 1837, and the new female school of art has 200 pupils. The Wesleyan normal col- lege, Westminster, was established in 1850; and there is another normal school at Fulham. Medical and surgical schools are attached to the great hospitals, and there are several dis- tinct colleges for these and other sciences, in- cluding among other new institutions one for civil engineers, and the Indian civil engineer- ing college, Cooper's hill, instituted in 1871. The royal school of naval architecture and marine engineering was opened in 1864, and closed at the end of April, 1873, owing to the establishment of the royal naval college at Greenwich. The college of physicians in Pall Mall and that of surgeons in Lincoln's Inn Fields hold examinations for licenses or diplo- mas. Besides many valuable private libraries, there are nearly 50 accessible to the public, that of the British museum being the largest. Among various interesting libraries is the In- dia library, East India house, with 3,000 San- skrit and 5,000 other volumes of manuscript ; and many libraries are connected with col- leges, clubs, and various institutions and so- cieties. The new City library was opened in the guildhall in 1873, and one is projected for the mansion house. London is particularly rich in circulating libraries, one of the largest (St. James's square) containing 80,000 volumes. Mechanics' and various other institutes and as- sociations for promoting knowledge are con- stantly increasing, as well as periodicals and newspapers of every description. (See NEWS- PAPERS, and PERIODICALS.) The palace for the learned societies, in the new Burlington house, which is nearly completed, is to be occupied by the royal, Linnsean, geological, astronomical, and chemical societies. The geographical so- ciety has a wide celebrity for its promotion of explorations ; and other important institutions are the antiquarian, Asiatic, ethnological, phi- lological, statistical, archaeological, microsco- pical, and zoological societies, the social sci- ence association, and the British association for the advancement of science. The last two have annual sessions in different cities. The royal society, incorporated in 1663, is among the oldest and most distinguished on account of its connection with Newton, Herschel, Sir Humphry Davy, and other illustrious men, whose portraits adorn its rooms, together with interesting scientific relics. It consists of about 800 fellows, and awards periodically to essays or discoveries of the highest merit in various branches of science two royal medals, a gold medal founded by Count Rumford, and another by Copley, which last was characterized by Davy as the ancient " olive crown of the royal