but not fluently;
and only 1085 (_less than one half per cent. of the whole_) were what we
call educated persons.

In nine consecutive years, beginning with the year 1837, only 28
educated females were brought to the bar of criminal justice in England
and Wales, out of 7,673,633 females then living in that part of the
United Kingdom; and in the year 1841, out of the same population, not
one educated female was committed for trial.

In a special commission, held in 1842, to try those who had been guilty
of rioting and disturbance in the manufacturing districts, out of 567
thus tried, 154 could neither read nor write, 155 could read only, 184
could read and write imperfectly, 73 could read and write well, and only
one had received superior instruction.

In 1840, in 20 counties of England and Wales, with a population of
8,724,338, there were convicted of crime only 59 educated persons, or
one for every 147,870 inhabitants. In 32 other counties, with a
population of 7,182,491, the records furnished _not one convict_ who had
received more than the merest elements of instruction.

In 1841, in 15 English counties, with a population of 9,569,064, there
were convicted only 74 instructed persons, or one to every 129,311
inhabitants, while the 25 remaining counties and the whole of Wales,
with a population of 6,342,661, did not furnish one single conviction of
a person who had received more than the mere elements of education.

In 1845, out of a total of 59,123 persons taken into custody, 15,263
could neither read nor write, and 39,659 could barely read, and could
write very imperfectly.

In the four best taught counties of England, the number of schools being
one for every seven hundred inhabitants, the number of criminal
convictions was one a year for every 1108 inhabitants. In the four worst
taught counties, the number of schools being one for every 1501
inhabitants, the number of convictions was one a year for every 550
inhabitants. That is, in one set of counties, the people were about
twice as well educated as in the other, and one half as much addicted to
crime. In other words, in proportion as the people were educated, were
they free from crime.

Thrift and good morals usually keep pace with the spread of intelligence
among the people. This has been the result in all those countries of
Europe where good common schools are maintained, as in Iceland, Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and most of the German S