Here, certainly, there are no signs of educational improvement; on the contrary, the last year, with but one exception, exhibits the greatest amount of ignorance. But in case this list should not be thought a fair one, it being quite possible that education may not yet have penetrated so low as the class of society which affords the largest contribution to crime, let us adopt another, which is liable to no such exception. The following is an abstract of the number of persons in England and Wales who at their marriage signed the register by marks, in consequence of their being unable to write; and it extends over precisely the same period. The average annual number of persons married was 261,340:-- NUMBER OF PERSONS MARRIED IN ENGLAND AND WALES UNABLE TO WRITE THEIR NAMES. Year. Number. 1839, 100,616 1840, 104,335 1841, 99,634 1842, 94,996 1843, 101,235 1844, 107,985 1845, 118,894 1846, 117,633 1847, 104,306 1848, 105,937 The result of the whole is, that out of every hundred persons married during the above years in England and Wales, _forty could not write their names_; and the ignorance in 1848 was much greater than in 1839! Really, with these facts before us, we cannot but wonder at the temerity of Lord John Russell in using the following language on the occasion of the introduction of his measure:-- "But there is another ground which I confess has great influence on my mind, and it was that ground which formed a case for the original proposition of reform in 1822, namely, the growing intelligence and education of the people. _I could prove, if I were not afraid of wearying the House by going into statistics--I could show_ by the number of newspapers and of books, by the great number of schools established since 1831, that a great increase has taken place in intelligence among the people. _But I do not think the proof necessary_, as the experience of every honourable member is sufficient to induce him to concur in my statement, and to say that the franchise given in 1831 might be made more extensive at the present time."