1,483,717

4,189,612 4,273,304 4,337,321

_Average Attendance._

Day Schools, Year ended August 31. 1882. 1883. 1884.

Church 1,538,408 1,562,507 1,607,823
British, &c 245,493 247,990 253,044
Wesleyan 125,109 125,503 128,584
Roman Catholic 160,910 162,310 167,841
Board 945,231 1,028,904 1,115,832

3,015,151 3,127,214 3,273,124

_Voluntary Contributions._

Day Schools, Year ended 1882. 1883. 1884.
August 31.

L. s. d. L. s. d. L. s. d.
Church 581,179 5 3 577,313 16 5 585,071 11 10
British, &c 75,132 11 8 71,519 2 9 72,978 10 0
Wesleyan 15,705 2 2 15,271 14 1 16,802 2 0
Roman Catholic 51,283 11 7 51,564 15 2 57,672 1 2
Board 1,545 2 2 1,420 1 3 1,603 7 10

724,845 12 10 717,089 9 8 734,127 12 10

From these Tables it appears that in spite of the surrender of some
Church Schools to Boards, a process which is always to some extent going
on, and which causes an increase in the number of Board Schools beyond
that produced by actual building, the accommodation in Church Schools
rose in 1884 by 41,112, and the average attendance by 45,316. The Church
was also educating about half as many again as were being educated in
Board Schools, and the amount voluntarily contributed during the year
was more than 585,000l., in addition to a large sum expended on
buildings and improvements.

This does not look much like speedy extinction, and we sincerely trust
that that event is still far distant. It is not so much that we are
opposed to Board schools on principle, still less that we disapprove of
the national determination that every child shall be educated, which
logically leads to some national machinery involving the principle of
Board Schools in some form or other,--not so much this, as that we are
persuaded that the existence of Voluntary Schools is an unspeakable
benefit even to the Board Schools themselves. We hold that a definite
system of religious teaching, according to which the religious studies
of the school an