concerning the Education of the Poor. Feeling, in common with every true friend of his country and of mankind, the unspeakable importance of diffusing the blessings of instruction among the lower orders of the people, our only anxiety was to see the most effectual means employed for this great purpose; and, so far from taking any lively interest in the discussions between Mr Lancaster and Dr Bell, we were disposed to concur in Sir T. Barnard's benevolent wish, that one half of the poor might be educated by the one plan, and the remainder by the other. It was with infinite reluctance, therefore, that we saw ourselves forced, into the controversy carried on by the friends of the two systems; nor should we have descended at all into the arena, had it not become pretty evident, that an effort was making by a religious (we believe it would be more correct to say a political) faction, to cry down Mr Lancaster and his supporters; not because his method was inferior to Dr Bell's-for the heat of controversy has never, we believe, excited any one to this pitch-but because, although acknowledged by all to be both the cheaper and more efficacious of the two, it was invented and propagated by a Sectarian. For an ample account of the two systems, and a statement of the claims to the merit of invention, which both the worthy persons in question undoubtedly have, we must refer, once for all, to the article in our Number for October 1810. The reader will there find, in what particulars Mr Lancaster's method is superior to the other; and an estinate, from facts, of the degree in which it possesses that superiority. Indeed, a word may suffice to turn the scale wholly in its favour;-it embraces every thing contained in Dr Bell's method, by which the work of instruction either is, or is pretended to be, facilitated; and it comprehends, in addition to Dr Bell's inventions, (if we are to call them his, for the sake of avoiding a dispute about words, it being abundantly plain that many of them are neither Dr Bell's nor Mr Lancaster's *), a number of inventions which no one has ever denied to Mr Lancaster, calculated, in an eminent degree, both to expedite the work of tuition, and to diminish its expense. We have no other ground for preferring Mr Lancaster's method to Dr Bell's, except

In addition to what has already been said on this point, we would only refer the reader to the account of the Chevalier Paulet's establishment at Paris, contained in the Literary Repository for April 1788, and republished by Mr Lancaster in 1809. The most important and fundamental of the methods claimed for Dr Bell by his friends, are there detailed minutely, many years before he opened his school.

except only this, that it teaches reading, writing and accounts, better and cheaper. Its enemies cannot deny this; nor do they attempt to deny it; but they say, Mr Lancaster is a dissenter; and he does not, together with the branches of education just mentioned, teach a fourth branch, viz. theology; that is, the doctrines of the, Church of England. This is truly, and in a few words, the present state of the question.

Having, in the article referred to, brought down the history of the system, and of the controversy arising out of it, to the time when Mr Lancaster had completed his discoveries, we now resume the subject, in order to make our readers acquainted with the progress which it has made in the country,-the condition in which it is now placed, the new efforts which are making by its baffled adversaries, and the means of promoting it, which are within the reach of almost every one who uses these pages.

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It is already known to our readers, that for many years Mr Lancaster laboured alone, and almost unassisted, in the promotion of his great plan for the universal diffusion of education. In 1798, his school in the Borough was opened: by degrees it increased in size, and, with its increase, his methods of saving expense were gradually invented and perfected; until, in 1805, when it had been converted into a free school, it was the means of instructing and training to habits of industry, as well as of knowledge, a thousand poor children at one and the same time. During this period of solitary exertion, the expenses of his undertaking were defrayed partly by the profits of a printing press attached to the school, and the sale of his publications, and partly by the subscriptions of public-spirited individuals, in whom benevolence is instinctive, and the love of their country regulates their care for the welfare of its humblest inhabitants. Among these, we must give the first places to the Duke of Bedford and Lord Sommerville, the two earliest patrons whose kindness it has been the fortune of Mr Lancaster to experience. In 1805, the King began to inquire into his inerits, and those of his plan. The result was perfectly satisfactory; and obtained for the new system that liberal and ample support which his Majesty has uniformly bestowed upon it, with the steady consistency so pe-liarly belonging to his character. The Prince of Wales, and the other branches of the Royal Family, followed the example set by the illustrious head of their house; and the patronage thus secured to the system, increased the funds destined for its maintenance, and secured it, for a while at least, from the interested or ignorant calumnies of bigotry.

While the school under Mr Lancaster's immediate superin

tendance was thus thriving, and affording, not only the means of instruction to those immediately frequenting it, but the mo del for similar establishments in other parts of the country, its in defatigable founder was spreading the new system still more effec tually through the kingdom, by repeated journeys to the great provincial towns, where he superintended the formation of schools, and by educating in the Borough a number of young men, who might act as masters in these new seminaries. Notwithstanding the utmost skill in economizing the expenditure, and a frugality and self-denial, as to personal expense, perhaps without any example, the sums required for these enlarged undertakings so far exceeded the profits of the printing press, and the donations of the patrons, that a considerable debt was accumulated. Mr Lancaster was on the point of meeting the fate of almost all benevolent projectors, whom ridicule and distrust may have spared in the outset of their career; and the ruin of his plans would in all probability have been involved in his own. It may be proper to state, somewhat more particularly, the ori-. gin of his embarrassments.

The sums expended in erecting the necessary buildings, at the institution for training schoolmasters, amounted to above 3500l.,-excceding, by 2876l., the sums subscribed for this purpose. The expenses of boarding the young men during their education for schoolmasters, were about 1200l. a year; while the annual fund, begun by the Royal Family-for this purpose, was for some time only 600l. An attempt had been made, at Maiden Bradley, under the patronage of the Duke of Somerset, to establish an institution for training village schoolmasters; but it unfortunately failed, and produced a loss of 12007. The failnre of a person at Camberwell to defray, as he had engaged, the expenses of a school erected there, burthened Mr Lancaster with a further debt of 4007.; and by these, and some other outgoings of inferior note, he was indebted to the amount of 64491., while his whole property was only valued at 3500%.

Such was the almost hopeless state of his finances early in 1808, notwithstanding the respectable patronage which he enjoyed, and the rapid progress which his great plan was making. Surrounded as we are by the blind zealots of a religious faction, and the interested politicians who would turn their fury to account, and employ it in the encouragement of ignorance and servility, we feel it necessary to guard, with a scrupulous caution, against every misconception, and to anticipate, at each step, the falsehoods which the enemies of education will not fail to invent. Lest, therefore, they should continue to pervert their hireling press to the abuse of this good man and his works,

and

and accuse him of extravagance, of squandering away the funds of his institution, and thus loading it with debt, (nor would such a charge be in anywise more false and shameless than the calumnies with which their writings daily teem against him), we shall present an extract from one of the reports made of the state of his affairs by a committee of his creditors themselves; and we do so the more willingly, because this passage offers one of the most affecting pictures any where to be found, of virtuous industry, and honest, enlightened zeal, struggling against the hard necessities of a poverty occasioned by excess of charity and benevolence. It states, that the committee, when, in 1808, they first examined into his affairs, and the nature of his embarrassments, were exceedingly gratified to find, that his debts ⚫ originated from engagements entered into with different tradesmen for accomplishing the various objects of rendering his system for the education of the poor an institution for national benefit. The principal of these were for bricklayer, timbermerchant, carpenter, typefounder, stationer, furniture, and other necessaries for such an establishment. They found, that although there were at that time in the family twenty-four persons to be boarded, there was scarcely a debt owing to any butcher; for the family, during a considerable time, had only enjoyed the taste of butcher's meat when an occasional donation at the school furnished them with the means of pur'chasing a small quantity. The family had subsisted chiefly on bread and milk; and, to the honour of a Baker in the neighbourhood, to whom there was a considerable debt owing, it must be mentioned, that when a degree of surprise was mani⚫fested at having given so large a credit, he replied-" The "good which Mr Lancaster has done to the poor of this neigh"bourhood is such, that, as long as I have a loaf left, I will "give the half of it, to enable him to continue such beneficial "exertions."

We believe that there are few readers of this touching passage who will not regret that the name of the Baker has been concealed from them. The rest of Mr Lancaster's creditors, however, (and we say it without any insinuation of blame) were not of the same description; and he could no longer hope to enjoy his personal freedom. Writs were out against him in different counties; and, not to give our readers the pain of going through such afflicting details, his own fate and that of his system was at hand, when, most fortunately for the community, the state of his affairs attracted the notice of a few private individuals, most of them in humble stations, but endowed with an lightened zeal and generosity which would adorn a throne.

At the head of this most honourable list, we must place Mr Joseph Fox,-a man by no means in affluent circumstances, but earning a comfortable income by the labours of his profession. Impressed with a strong belief in the excellence of the new system, and foreseeing the incalculable benefits which must result from its universal diffusion, he was resolved, at the risk of involving his own affairs, to stay, if possible, the ruin which seemed impending over Mr Lancaster's. Upon inquiring into the state of his debts, and finding that the sum of three thousand six hundred pounds would be required in the first instance to relieve the concern, this generous and courageous man instantly gave bills to that amount; and it has fallen to the lot of him, who now pays this feeble homage to such rare virtue, to see those very bills preserved, with the proofs of their punctual payment, and, as a frugal mark of respect, bound together in a small volume, of eloquence far surpassing the eloges of academicians, or the chronicles of kings aud conquerors. Together with Mr Fox, five other worthy and enlightened men joined in relieving Mr Lancaster from his difficulties. These were, Mr Jackson, member of Parliament for Dover, Mr William Allen, Mr Corston, Mr Sturge, and Mr Foster. They examined the whole state of Mr Lancaster's affairs-undertook the entire management of his pecuniary concerns-advanced, partly by way of gift, partly by loan, considerable sums of money, repaying, in this way, some of the large advance originally made by Mr Fox-obtained, by soliciting their friends, a loan of no less than 4000%. for the use of the Institution-and thus put the new system upon the same footing on which it stood before the commencement of Mr Lancaster's difliculties. To particularize the time and labour bestowed by these six individuals, and especially by Mr Fox and Mr Allen, in promoting this great scheme of beneficence, would require an enumeration far too Jong for the bounds of this present article. Since the beginning of 1508, it is perhaps no exaggeration to say, that each of them (certainly each of the two whom we have particularly mentioned), has in this good work doubled whatever previously formed the business of his active life. The money which these individuals

In the delightful task of bestowing unqualified praise, we would fain avoid expressing ourselves more warmly of one individual than another, where all are so eminently deserving; but the various employments of Mr Jackson, both in his public and private character, as a merchant, a senator, and an East India Director, in all which capacities he is equally respectable, make his exertions for Mr Lankcaster peculiarly meritorious.