This missionary zeal was backed up by a stream of publications. An Address to Reformers on the Forthcoming Elections (the general election on death of William IV.) urged that only candidates who pledged themselves to Universal Suffrage "and all the other great essentials of self-government" should be supported. Next came an Address to the Queen on Political and Religious Monopoly, which the working men wanted to present in person to the Queen. They were told by the Lord Chamberlain that they must attend the next levée in court dress. This of course was out of the question, so they contented themselves with a spirited and indignant protest. An address on the subject of National Education, published late in 1837, is probably from the hand of Lovett as it contains the germ of the proposals afterwards developed in the book Chartism. It sketches a plan of state-aided, but not state-controlled, secular national education, based largely upon an older scheme of which Place has preserved the details.[1] Ignorance, says Lovett, is the prolific source of evil, as knowledge of happiness. Poverty, inequality, and political injustice follow inevitably from the fact that one part of society is enlightened whilst the other is in darkest ignorance. The fearful prevalence of crime and the callous severity of punishment are equally the fruits of lack of education.
Is it consistent with justice that the knowledge requisite to make a man acquainted with his rights and duties should be purposely withheld from him, and then that he should be upbraided and deprived of his rights on the plea of ignorance?
A true Lovett touch this!
The school buildings should be provided by Government, but the power of appointing teachers, selecting books, and the general management of the schools should be in the hands of a local school committee. This body should be elected by universal adult suffrage (women being enfranchised too), should sit one year and report every half-year. The expenses of maintenance, salaries, books, and the like should be met by a local rate, whilst a Parliamentary Committee, appointed ad hoc, should supervise the Government's disbursements. Five types of schools are recommended: infants' schools for pupils from three to six years old; preparatory, for children from six to nine; high schools for children from nine to twelve;
- ↑ Additional MSS. 27,819. pp. 13-14 and 236.
