S. s VV.^.^'N.S, . Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924030617512 Cornell University Library LF795.A185 T47 A history of Ackworth school during its 3 1924 030 617 512 liliiWiiMi HISTORY AcKWORTH School DURING ITS PRECEDED BY A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE FORTUNES OF THE HOUSE WHILST OCCUPIED AS A FOUNDLING HOSPITAL. By henry THOMPSON. WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARY HODGSON. ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY EDMUND EVANS. PUBLISHED BY THE CENTENARY COMMITTEE, ACKWORTH SCHOOL, 1879. S: SAMUEL HARRIS AND CO., 5 BISHOPSGATE ST. WITHOUT, LONDON. 1 JM'.1'*'^' Y f; h fi I I .' B ^770 ^6/ JOHN BELLOWS, PRINTER, GLOUCESTER. \ \ o Cist of 3IIu5tratton5. DRAWN SPECIALLY FOR THIS WORK BY MARY HODGSON, (an ackworth scholar.) ENGRAVED BY EDMUND EVANS. Ackworth School, from the Great Garden Old Elm, Church, Lych-gate, and Village Cross, High Ackworth The Seed House and Dial, Great Garden, Ack- worth School Car Bridge, River Went, from the Canal Bank, Great Garden, Ackworth School View in Went Vale ; Noah's Ark Field, Brocken- dale Pontefract Castle The Inn, Ackworth School Bracken Hill, Wakefield Road, near Ackworth Moor Top The Mill Dam, near the Old Bath, Ackworth Hemsworth Dam, near Ackworth Moor Top m 309 NOSTELL PkIORY AND LAKE, FROM THE BRIDGE, Wakefield Road - n 33^ The Old Chalybeate Bath, NEAR Ackworth School i. 345 p- 24 " 65 " "3 M 145 172 II 208 ,, 225 288 The Views are distributed throughout the book irrespective of the descriptive text. INDEX. PAGE PAGE Abbatt, William 292 Apprentices "on duty" in Abscond, Four boys 83 " Number Two" 239 II Two boys 130 Architects — Watson 2 Accidents, Fatal 248 II — Lindlay 32 Accounts, First Abstract of .. 48 Arithmetic 151, 279 Ackworth, High 302 Arthington, James, his Hay- M Low 308 time visits 198 Old Hall 304 Arthington, Robert 31 II Park 304 Artists 314 II Moor Top... 307 Arts, Society of 212, 276, 278 "Gazette" 164 Asphalt on playground 275 11 "Review" 214 Association for the Improve- II " School Fund" .. 298 ment of the Mind 139, 160, Actor's opinion *of the Reading ' 133 184, 206, 214, 215, 242, 349 Adjourned General Meeting Association Library ... 216 abolished 353 Atkins, Thomas 349 " Admission, Bill of" 27 Admission extended to Non Members 291 Bads worth 7, 309 Advertisement of Sale o: Baker, John Gilbert 314 Hospital 23 "Banking" 167 Age of the boys 297 Barclay, David 9 Airey, Elizabeth, her marriage 277 " Barnsley Poet " 164 Alexander, Henry, and the Barnard, Charles, 212, 223, 350 monitorial system 156 Barritt, Thomas 164 Alexander, William, his Bath at 6 a.m. ... 175 "Brief Catechism" 128 Bath, New Swimming 270 Algebra .. iji, 262, 279, 294 „ The Old... 345.350, 352 Alsop, Robert, founds a Baths, Tepid 263, 297 Literary Association 139 Batt, Richard 164 ' * American Fund " 30 Beacon at Upton 309 Analysis of the Water 258, 259 272 Beds, Single 180 Ankle-boots 350 II Double, abolished 352 "Answering" 128 Bed-room, Additional, for girls 193 Andrews, Frederic 298 "Bed-rollers" 232 "Apartment," The ... 147, 156 Bell-close water supply 155, 257 Apprentice System (Hospital) 9 Beer ... 37, 44, 82, 89, 92, 209 Apprentices, Early arrange- Bevans, John, his " Christian ments for 49 Religion" 127 Apprentices, High "class of ... 134 Bible given to each child on II their Classical leaving School 126 studies conducted by a Bible given to each child at Clergyman .. 134 School 136 Apprentices, Care of the Com- Bible, Chapter of, read each mittee towards the 235 morning 128 Apprentices, their gardens ... 235 Bills of Admission 27 VI INDEX PAGE Bills of Admission, Form of 30 Bill of Fare 92 Binns, Dr. Jonathan, Super- intendent ... ... ... 85 Binns, Dr. Jonathan, his troubles ... 98, lOl, 109 Binns, Dr. Jonathan, his dis- cipline ... ... ... 104 Binns, Dr. Jonathan, retires ... 109 ,1 II compiles the " Vocabulary " 166 Binns, Thomas, a Master 46, 71, 83 Birkbeck, Joseph ... 127, 131 " Black Eagle," The 277 Bleakly, Mary 189 "Blocks" for punishment ... 57 Eoadle, Wm. Barnes 314 Boarded Floors 351 " Bondsmen " for good be- haviour ... ... ... 57 Books, Difficulty in obtaining, suitable for school use, 93, 95, 103, 104, 179, 193 Books suitable for religious instruction 128 " Boot and Shoe '' Inn ... 307 Boring for Water ... 258, 271 Botany 277 Bottomley, George ... 349, 350 Bowman, Eliza 124 Boxes examined 350 Boys' shed built 67 Bracken Hill 306 Bradshaw, Thomas ... ... 117 Brady, Henry 134, 146, 173, 184, 188, 189, 348 II George Stewartson ... 314 II Henry Bowman ... 314 Brayley, Edward 249 Bread carriers ... ... ... 232 Breakfasts 93 Breeches, Leathern ... ... 150 Brewin, John ... ... ... 85 "Brief Historical Catechism" 128 Bright, John 206, 323 Broadhead, John ... 184, 199 Bronchocele, its prevalence ... 176 Brown, Maria 351 Brown, Richard ... ... 90 Brown, Thomas 134, 146, 184, 189, 201, 239, 26;, 276, 348 Brown's Foundlings ... ... 10 Buckets, Fire 351 Buck's Lectures 249 "Budget," The 184 Building era ... ... 250, 260 PAGE Bull, Use of 120 Burlingham, Daniel Catlin ... 216 Burning, Death from ... ... 248 Burton, ■William 350 "Camera Obscura'' . ... 184 Cammage, William .. • 235, 350 Canal ... 264 Cane, Use of the ... 117 Caps, Boys' ... 181 M Girls' ... ... 219 Carlton ... ... 308 "Castle, Ackworth" . ... 59 Celebrities .- ... 312 Cellar, Knife-cleaning... ... 227 "Censor," The ... 160, 184 Charges, Adverse ... 50, 78 Chester Hospital ... i, 5, 20 Chilblains, Martyrs to 120 Cholera 196 Clark, Joseph, pays his "footing" 120 Clark, Lucy 207 Clark, William 349 Class arrangements, 40, 75, 191, 201, 224, 252, 254, 262, 291, 296 Classical Studies of the appren- tices ... 134 " Clatty-sides " ... ... 210 " Clatty-vengeance " ... ... 118 Clock (turret) made for the School ... ... ... 22 Clock ( turret ) minute - hand supplied ... ... ... 180 Clock (turret) new one obtained 275 II II belonging to the Hospital sold ... ... 22 Clothing, Cost of, in 1780 ... 65 I, 1799 ... 92 II II 1836 ... 217 Coaching Days ... ... 33 Coar's Grammar ... ... 104 " Codger Tommy" ... ... 117 Cole, John, the first apprentice 49 Collars (loose) introduced ... 219 Committees, London and Counti-y, formed ... ... 27 Committees, London and Country, first met at Ack- worth... . ... ... 28 Committees, London and Country, their difference of opinion on dress ... 38 Committees, London - and Country, their misunder- standings ... ... 64, 67 INDEX PAGE Committees, London and Country, a joint visit and report 138' Committee, The London, its first members ... ... 28 Committee, Tlie London, dis- solved ... ... 27, 353 Committee, The Country, its first members ... ... 28 Committee, The Country, de- fends its lady members ... 38 Committee, The Country, its first report to the Yearly Meeting ... ... ... 45 Committee, The Country, its generosity to its officers 47, 85 Committee, The Country, its care for the future of its scholars ... ... ... 49 Committee, The Country, re- plies to mischievous reports 53 Committee, The Country, sits in the "Courts" ... ... 55 Committee, The Country, observations on punishments 6g Committee, The Country, pro- poses to dissolve the London Commiltee ... ... ... 79 Committee, The Country, its expedients for obtaining scholars ... ... ... 71 Committee, The Country, pre- sents J. Hipsley, jun., with an old horse ... ... ... 86 Committee, The Country, its views on dress ... . . . 1 1 1 Committee, The Country, its care about reading-books ... 193 Committee, The Country, re- ports on the satisfactory state of the School 159, 182, 192 Committee, The Country, its appeal to parents for more religious training ... ... 267 Committee, The Country (spe- cial), to inquire into the dis- cipline ... ... ... 60 Committee, The Country (spe- cial), to inspect the general state of the School ... ... 67 Committee of Economy ... 91 ,1 Origin of " Monthly" and "Quarterly" ... ... io5 Committee to investigate the causes for the unpopularity of the Boy.s' School 235 PAGE Committee (special)for arrange- ments... ... ... ... 199 Committee-room used as a bed- room 108 " Compendium of Religious Instruction" 128 Complaints 50, 82 Conchology ... ... ... 277 Constable, Joseph Miller ... 276 Constant-menders ... ... 234 Copies (writing), J. Donba- vand's ... ... ... 103 Corporal Punishment 54, 117, 176, 242 Cost of Provisions, Clothing, &c., in 1780 65 Cost of Provisions, Clothing, &c., in 1799... ... ... 92 Cost of Provisions, Clothing, &c., in 1836 217 Cost of Provisions, Clothing, &c., in 1855 269 Cost of Buildings ... ... 3 Cost of Teaching ... 257, 291 Cotton first used ... ... 114 "Courts," The Masters' ... 54 ri Amusing incident connected with the .. . ... 55 Cowper's Poems ... ... 179 Cows, number kept ... ... 91 Cricket ... ... ... ... 277 " Culling Seats " ... ... 57 Curriculum of Studies... ... 62 "Dark Ages" 225 Davis, Wm. B. A., examines the School ... ... ... 278 Davy, Abraham ... ... 286 Davy, Dennis ... ... ... 351 Deane, Henry ... ... ... 1 64 Dear Bread, Days of . . . 87, 96 Death, Causes of ... ... 352 Death-rate 352 Denton, Robert ... ... 200 " Desiderius, Plato" 215 Desks, Mahogany ... ... 351 Diet, 53, 93, 118, 1 75, 195, 294 Dietary Committee ... ... 294 Dimensions of Rooms... 23, 260 DiningArrangements, Teachers' 294 Dining-room, Girls' New . . . 228 Diphtheria 287, 347 Discouragements, Early 50, 53 " Disgracing," an early punish- ment ... ... ... ... 57 viii INDEX PAGE PA'GE Discipline, State of the 54, 56, Education, State of, amongst 58, 59. 67, 74, 139, 144, 147. the Girls 261 i52> 153. 154. 182, 203, 204, Education,, State of, amongst 225, 23s, 237, 239, 243, 254, the Boys 261 269, 281 Education, Thos. Pumphrey's Doeg, William 139, 146 theory of 268 ir II his Engraving Education, , State of, in the of the School 146 School 218, 268 Doeg, William, his List of the Education, its influence ... 312 Scholars W Elhs, John, of Gildersome ... 26 Doeg, Robert 201, 202, 209, Ellis, Mrs. 315 212, 223, 350 Engine-pumping 259 Domestic Reforms 219 EngUsh History 150 Domestic Work, Employment " English Reader, The " ... 95 of girls in 67 Entomology 277 Donati's Comet 277 Entrance, The Old :?23 Donations, Early 29 " Eo ad Pontefractutn " ... 1 7 1 Donbavand, Joseph 35, 115, E^gsay Society 277 116, 147, 156 Euclid ... 262, 279, 294, 351 • 11 „ his Copies 103 Evans, Josiah 295, 298 M John 115, 116, 166 Evens, Samuel — 115 II 11 drawnforthe " Evenings at Home " ... 179 Militia and imprisoned 129, 130 Examinations, Mode of con- Donbavand, John King 213 ducting 122, 151, 249, 278 Door-keepers 232 Examinations, Special, of boys Double-beds abolished 352 leaving School 192 Downie, Matthevi', the old gar- Examinations, Written, intro- dener 156, 349 duced 249 Drains, State of the 75, 264, 293, 350 Examinations, by Wm. Davis, Drawing encouraged 124 B.A 278 Dress of the Foundlings 7 Examinations, by Walton & 11 that of the Scholars 43, Morley 293 45, no, 177, 1,78, i8i Examinations of Boxes ... 350 II Opinion of the two Com- Exhibitions of the Society of mittees upon 38 45 Arts 212, 276 DrilUng introduced 352 Exhibitions, Horticultural ... 211 Drinking Fountain 271 Expelled, Boys 119, 130, 204 Dudley, Charlotte 152 Eyebright, Robert 215 II Robert, his visit and impressions 43 Duke of Gloucester visits the Falsehood ... 58, 140, 183 School 165 II Penalties for ... 183 Dumbleton, Hannah 99, 123 Fancy-work for sale 177 Mary, dies 188 Fare, Bill of ,. 92 " Dutch Kite," The 277 Farm, Model of a ... ... 119 II Work on the 120 Rental of the 129 East Hardwick 308 II Profit on the 129 "Echo, The" 215 „ How occupied, &c. ... 200 Economy, Committee of 91 Farmer's House, a new one ... 270 Education in the Society of Farrand, Joseph S 214 Friends 24 Farrer, Hannah, dies 188 Education, State of, amongst Fatal Accidents 248 the youngest children 94 Fessant, Sarah 207 Education, State of, in the Fever, Scarlet 107, 221, 223, School 152 229, 263, 293, 298 • INDEX ix PAGE PAGE Fever, Typhus... i66, i86, 193 Girls, "Officers'- 233 Finance ... 256, 270, 290, 291 II state of their Education 261 Pirst Master 35 Gloucester, Visit of the Duke ri Superintendent 36 of 165 II Governess 35 Goldsmith, Joseph, Samuel, II Pupils ... ... 32, 36 and Isaac 286 M Apprentice 49 Goouch, Benjamin B. A. 296 11 farm Stevi'ard 44 Goodwin, Samuel 44 II Latin Class 173 Governesses, Hannah Reay ... 35 11 II II Its books ..". 174 II Miss Hill ^36 Firth, Thomas 23s 11 Mary Martin ... 107 II II his recollec- II Isabella Harris... 107 tions 115, 117 II Catharine Naish 175 Five-class arrangement 295 II Priscilla Kincey "Flags" The 84 175. 217 Flannel- vests introduced 181 II Hannah Richard- Flogging 176, 242 son 217, 253 Flour, Price and consumption Governesses, Jane Oddie 253 of 270 II Mary Ann Spe- Food, Complaints against 53 ciall 253, 293 " Footing," Committee-men Governesses, Rachel Elizabeth pay 120 Stone... 293 Ford, John 250, 284 Government of the School 27 Fothergill, Dr 26, 29 Governors of the Hospital, II Ann ... 29, 30 their zeal, objects, and aims 2 Freeman, John... 202, 218, 223 Graham, John ... 352 Freeston's Lectures 249 II Robert ... 198, 200 French 253, 262, 294 Grammar, The Schools' own II Limited teaching of. 104 in early times 76 Garden, The Great 308 Grammar, Proficiency iri 104, II Boys' work in 66 151. 279> 293 Shed 157 Great Garden 30S Gardens, The Apprentices' . . . 235 Greenbank, Professor 259 11 The Boys' 119, 209, 212 GuUey, John, M.P 304 Gas, Introduction of 220 Gurney, Joseph John 135, 137, II Works reconstructed 353 150, 177, 206, 245, 350> 351 Gates, Barton and Ann, the Gurney, Samuel, his dnnking first pupils 36 fountain 271 "Gazette" 164, 184 Gurney 's Hymns 179 General Meeting instituted ,27, 170 Gymnasium 352 II II Stimulus to... 152 11 11 Holiday prior ' to the 170 Hardwick, East 308 General Meeting, A Lady's re- Hare, Samuel 249, 350 collections of the 176 Hargreaves, John, Hospital General Meeting omitted 263 Steward 4 Geography 103,114,218, 279, 293 Harris, Isabella, Governess, 107 Giberne, Charlotte E. 349 174, 175. 191 Gildersome School 29 Harris, Isabella, jun., her Gill, Samuel, Marriage of 277 reading and her general Girls' School, Popularityof 218, 228 influence 133 Girls' Wing, Disturbed state of 191 Harrison, James 198 ,1 II Re-arrangement of Harvey, Thomas, his essays . . . 164 classes in ... 192, 261, 296 „ II his Recol- Girls' Wing, enlarged 193, 228, 260 lections 175 ; N n E X Haslam, Thomas Hattersley, John, M.A. PAGE 254. 255 ... 160 his verses on skipping 161 Hattersley, John, M.A., his after career ... ... ... 162 Hattersley, Thomas 185 Hattersley, William :3i Hawley, Henry, and the Moni- torial School 156, 184 Hawley, Henry, goes to Raw- don School ... ... ... 195 Hay-making 66 Health, • Influence of Weather upon ... ... ... ... 344 Health, Relative, of Boys and Girls 346 Health, at various periods ... 346 Hemsworth 7, 310 Hertford Monthly Meeting, its charges against the School ... S3 Hessle Green '73, 3°$ Hewitson, Wm. 271 Hill, John, the first Superin- tendent ... ... ... 36 Hill, John, his difificulties ... 52 II 11 his failing health 71 „ II retires 73 Hipsley, John, Superintendent 74 M I, restores the dis- cipline ... ... ... 75 Hipsley, John, his right to sit with the Committee assailed 80 Hipsley, John, retires 85 IP II jun. , a present from the Committee of an old horse ... ... ... 86 Hipsley, John, jun., his ac- count of the years of scarcity 96 Hird, Sarah 38 History 150,218,279,293 Hobson, Dr 193 Hockey... .'. 278 Hodgkin, Thomas, a Master 46 II II his baby 73 II „ supplies John Hill's place temporarily 73 Holiday, A whole day's ... 170 Holidays 46, 219 ,1 ^ Teachers' ... 227, 247 II Annual, considered 246 II II thought in- expedient ... ... ... 179 Holidays, First Annual ... 255 „ Christmas ... ... 297 Horticultural Society 209, 212, 214 PAGE Houndhill Hall 308 House-keeper's Room ... 98 House Steward, Office of, created 296 Houses erected ... ... 251' Howard, Luke, F.R.S., Boys' visit to ... ... ... 168 Howard, Luke, F.R.S., his account of J. Donbavand's imprisonment ... ... 120 Howard, Luke, F.R.S., assists in time of fever ... ... 191 Howard, Luke, F.R.S., "The Old Potecary" 191 Howard, Luke, F.R.S., Anec- dote of 195 Howard, Luke, F.R.S., pre- sides at Celebration of the Liberation of the Slave ... 260 Howitt, William, his Recollec- tions 116 Howitt, William, his descrip- tion of a walk ... ... 172 Howitt, William, his career ... 328 Hunton, Thomas, 185, 195, 212, 214. 349 Hustler, Christiana 38 Hymn Book, The Foundlings' 13 Ignorance amongst new comers 147 Ilkley, Foundlings go to ... 20 Imprisonment of John Donba- vand... ... 129 Income and Disbursements, Table of Annual, from 1779 338 Inn, The School 200, 208 209 Investments a source of moral anxiety ... ... ... 106 Jews, A present from three ... 286 Johnson, William, a patron of the Society of Arts .. . ... 213 Jones, James, gardener 210, 352 " Judge Parker " ... ... 119 " Juvenile Association" ... 349 Kekwick, James ... ... 351 Kendal School... ... ... 25 II ■ „ specimen of a School-bill •■ 25 Kincey, Priscilla, Governess, 191, 192, 217 King, Henry 134, 147 INDEX PAGE King, Maria 352, bis. Kitchen, new cooking appara- tus 166 Kitching, Alfred ... 214, 215 Kites 106, 277 Knife-cleaning... ... ... 227 Knitting, Boys taught 61 II Excess of 102 Lancashire and Cheshire, Defi- ciency of Subscriptions from 292 Lancaster, Joseph ... 114, 155 Lancastrian System, 114, 155, 202, 208, 223 Land-tax, Difficulties connected with the 107 Latchmore, Edward 213 Latin Class, 135, 173, 201, 262, 279, 294 Laundry, Great improvements in the... ... ... ... 294 Lavatory arrangements 180, 181 Lavatories, New ... ... 297 Leathern breeches ... 43, 150 Lectures ... ... 243, 249 Lee, Dr. Timothy ... 2, 5, g, 18 Leisure-time, Arrangements for 124 Leprosy, A case of ... ... 75 Letters, Cost of in the olden time 1 78 Levitt, Isaac ... ... ... 349 " Liar, " A Badge for a ... 183 Liberation of the Slave cele- brated ... ... ... 206 Ijibrary, none in early times ... 95 II established ... ... 95 II enlarged ... ... 126 II The Boys' 262 II The Association ... 216 License withdrawn from the Hotel 209 Light and Airy Rooms suggested 141 11 II II described 142 II 11 11 First boy incarcerated in the ... ... 143 Light and Airy Rooms, A boy confined in, .night and day . . . 242 Light and Airy Rooms demol- ished ... ... ... ... 252 Lindley Murray 95, 103, 104, 128 „ Wm., Architect of the Old Meeting House 32 Linney, Albert 296 II Geo. Frederic ... 349 Lister, Thomas, "TheBarnsley Poet" 164, 2o5 PAGE Literary and Scientific Associ- ation ... ... ... ■•• 351 Literature, A taste cultivated for 179 Loan obtained from York Re- treat ... 291 " Lob-scouse'' 118 Lodge-keepers... ... ... 232 Lomax, George, an early mas- ter 36 Love affair ... ... ... 100 Low Ackworth... ... ... 308 Lowther, Sir James ... ... 15 Lying 58, 140, 183 II Penalties for ... ... 18; Manufactory, Woollen, in the Hospital ... ... ... 7 Martin, Mary, Governess ... 107 "Master Joseph" ... ... ii6 "Master on Duty," Office insti- tuted ... ... ... ... 201 Masters, their "Courts" ... 154 II their Monthly Meet- ings ... 61 Masters, Superior staff of ... 159 Mason William ... ... 351 Mathematics ... ... ... 261 May, Edward ... ... ,..215 Measles I2i, 155, 220, 222, 223, 287 Meat, Consumption of ... 92 II diet improved ... ... 195 II how supplied ... ... 198 II Contracts for ... 200, 257 11 Increased price of ... 290 Meeting House provided ... 31 II II its attractions for the idle ... ... ... 119 Meetmg House, discomfort in cold weather ... ... 121 Meeting House forms pro- vided with backs ... ... 180 Meeting House floor boarded. . . 180 II II new one erected 251 II „ used for "par- ties" 280, 283 Mensuration ... ... ... 294 Mental Calculation ... ... 279 Meslin 92, 121 Milk, amount used in 1797 ... 90 Mill purchased ... ... 352 Miller, William Allen 185, 243, 314 Mischievous Reports ... ... 53 " Mistress on Duty " ... ... 351 Mistresses, their Salaries ... 112 INDEX PAGE Misunderstandings between the Committees 64, 77 Model of a Farm 119 Moline Sparks, Treasurer ... 348 Monitorial System (Lancaster's) IS5. i9i> 201, 223, 224 Monitors 49, 113, 148, 244, 245 * rr their duties... ... 147 Monthly Committee, Origin of the 106 Morning Bible Reading ... 128 " Morning Meeting" The ... 127 Morley, James and John ... 164 " John 349 Mortality amongst the Found- lings 17 Mortality, Rate of, amongst the Scholars 222, 346 Murray, Dr., lectures... ... 249 Murray, Lindley 95, 103, 104, 128 If I, his opinion of Isabella Harris's Reading ... 133 " Mutual Correspondent, The " 184 Naftel, Paul J., the Artist ... 314 Nash, Robert ... ... ... 164 Nasturtium leaves used as a condiment ... ... ... 211 Navy Bonds ... ... ... 30 Neave, Henry Reynolds, his Death ... ... .. 248 Needle-work of 1821 157 II good ... ... 261 New'by, John, 184, 201, 212, 213, 214, 223, 239, 243, 250, 251, 252, 288, 349, 351 Nick-names ... ... ... 155 Nield, John Cash 349 Night-shirts introduced ... 181 Non-members admitted ... 291 Nostell Priory ... 303, 305, 310 Number of Foundlings ... 21 Number of Children fixed at three hundred 37 Number of Boys small ... 236 M Children small ... 290 "Number Two" ... ... 239 Nurseries erected ... ... 166 Nurses, Hospital 5, 7 Oak, A fine Oddie, Jane Office garden II robbed 350 253 244 349 PAGE " Offices " withdrawn as a punishment 57 " Offices " performed by the children 231 "Offices," Time employed in performance of the ... ... 233 Oil lamps ... ... ... 220 Old Hall, Ackworth 304 II M at East Hardwick . . . 308 Opening of the School ... 36 Opinions, Adverse ... ... 50 "Orderly Class," The ... 244 Out-door labour ... ... 66 Overend, Dr. ... ... ... 193 Oxley and Muscroft, Medical Advisers ... ... ... 193 Palmer, Edward ... 207, 215 II Lydia, Governess ... 174 Parker, Charles ... 109, l2o " Parker, Judge " ... ... 119 II William Coor 207, 277 Parlour- waiters ... ... 234 ' ' Party, " Thomas Pumphrey 's 279 II 11 II another 283 Patching, Robert William ... 164 Payne, John William ... ... 212 II Isaac apprenticed ... 85 11 William 166 Pease, Edward... ... ... 127 " Joseph 294, 352 Peirson, Daniel ... ... 214 Penney, Harrison ... ... 297 Penny Notes ... ... ... 352 Penny Postage... ... ... 350 Permission to leave the premises disallowed ... ... ... 46 Pewter Dishes 118 Phonography ... ... ... 277 " Picking- wicks " 66,220, 350 Pilfering 184 Pillow-fights .'. 183 Pinafores, Boys' 219 " Pious" 205 Planting trees, Practice of ... 123 Play -ground asphalted ... 275 Pollard, William ... ... 352 Pontefract ... ... 7, 96 II Castle ... ... 172 11 Market in 1795 •■■ 96 11 Monthly Meeting- holiday ., 170 Pontefract Monthly Meeting, Mode of choosing boys to attend the 171 INDEX I'AGE Popularity of the Girls' School 236 Prices of Provisions in 1780 ... 65 II M 1855 ... 269 Prince of Wales, his marriage 287 " Principles of Religion," by Tuke, given to each child ... 126 Prizes ... ... ... ... 167 11 Mode of distribution ... 168 Pronunciation, Cultivation of correct ... ... ... 145 Proud, Mary 38 Provisions, Prices of, in 1780 65 II M If 1855 269 Pumphrey, Thomas, Superinten- dent, his duties . ... 200 Pumphrey, Thomas, assumes his post . . ... . . 203 Pumphrey, Thomas, his early difficulties ... ... ... 207 Pumphrey, Thomas, his favour tovi^ards holidays ... ... 219 Pumphrey, Thomas, his trials 229 11 II improves the discipline ... ... 245 Pumphrey, Thomas, supports annual vacations ... ... 247 Pumphrey, Thomas, his report on Bible instruction ... 265 Pumphrey, Thomas, his theory of Education ... ... 268 Pumphrey, Thomas, his health fails 279 Pumphrey, Thomas, his great treat in the Meeting-house 279 Pumphrey, Thomas, resigns ... 281 Pumphrey, Thomas, Commit- tee's minute on the event . . . 282 Pumphrey, Thomas, his retir- ing fete 283 Pumphrey, Thomas, lives at the bottom of the garden ... 284 Pumphrey, Thomas, his death 284 Pumphrey, Thomas, his ' ' Scenes in the Play-ground " 353 Pumphrey, Rachel, Death of.. 229 Pumping Engine ... ... 259 n M new one ... 2,71 Punishments ... ... ... 40 11 Corporal 54, 55, 176, 242 It Various methods of 56 Punishments by " disgracing " 57 Punishments, Observations upon, by the Committee ... 69 Punishments in "Number Two" 239 Purston Jacklin "Quicksight, Isaac'' PAGE ... 304 211, 215 Radish, Cultivation of the 211 Rag, Tag, and Bobtail ... 33 Rainfall 344 " Rash Judgment," Extract from Masters' minutes upon 205 Rawdon School opens ... 195 Reading Masters ... 40, 146 II Schools (girls') ... 192 It Books for class work , , . 62, 93, 103 11 for leisure ... 62, 93 11 The, vmsatisfactory 131 II M Character of ... 132 It II of the girls ... 133 , II It of Isabella Har- ris, jun. ... ... ... 133 Reading, The, Teaching of ... 145 ^ II M Story of "Ris- ing Cadence " ... ... 132 Reading, The state of the 147 151, 152, 218, 259, 261, 278, 293 Reading-room constructed ... 229 Reading, First-day Evening 229, 266 Reay, Hannah, Governess 35, 36 Recollections, Thomas Harvey 's 175 II Rebecca , Thurs- field's 176 Recollections, Thomas Firth's 115 " Record of Offences " ... 139 Reafern, Richard ... ... 314 " Reference Meetings " ... 150 Reforms, Domestic ... ... 219 Religious Instruction 126, 135, 147, 149, 182, 300, 265 Reports, Mischievous... 53, 78 Rewards ... ... .141, 167 II Mode of distributing 168 Rheumatism, Greater preva- lence of, in recent times ... 347 Rice, Use of, in the dear years 98 Richardson, Hannah, Gover- ness ... 217, 228, 236, 253 Ricliardson, Wm., lectures ... 249 " Rising Cadence " ... ... 132 Robinson, Christopher ... 214 Rod, Use of the ... ... 141 Rolfe, Elizabeth, an old Foundling ... ... ... 349 Rooks build in the Elms at the garden gate ... ... ... 352 Rous, Lydia ... ... ■•. 3Si ; N D EX PAGE Routh, Samuel, and the Inn License 209 Rowntree, John 235 Rowntree, Joseph ... 235, 278 Runaways 83, 130 Salaries 66, 257, 29 1 ir Early Servants' ... 44 II M Officers' ... 47 M of the Mistresses ... 112 Salary of the first Master ... 35 Sams, Joseph ... 115, 116 Sanders, George 127 Sanders, Wm 215 Satterthwaite, Geo. and Rachel 282, 287, 294 Scarcity, The 87, 96 Scarlatina, 107, 221, 223, 229, 263, 293, 298 "Scenes in the Play-ground" 353 School at Gildersome .. . ... 36 II II Kendal ... ... 25 II M Sowerby ... ... 25 II II Books 95, 103, 104, 179, 193 II opened... ... ... 36 II its government... ... 27 II its general condition in 1817 138 School, Best Engraving of the 307 School -room. The first used by the boys ... ... ... 37 School-rooms, Cubic content of the 266 Scripture Instruction 176, 2i8, 266 Seeds, Distribution of ... 210 " Seed-time and Harvest " ... 334 "Sequel, The" 103 " Serious Boys " ... ... 118 Sewell, Joseph Stickney 224, 239 II William 212, 230, 239 Sewing 103 Shed built 67 Shed in the boys' gardens built 157 Shillitoe, Thomas 178 11 M censures the new cap ... ... ... 181 Shoe-cleaning 232 Sholl, James, his journey to School 34 Shrewsbury I, 5 Sim, William Fisher 206 Single beds ... ... ... 180 Singleton, William ... 115, 116 PAGE Skipping 161 Slaves, Liberation Commemo- ration... ... ... ... 206 Small-pox 51, 75, no, 121, 346 11 Rule in reference to 52 Smeaton, John... ... ... 3 Smith, Bartholomew ... ... 276 11 Henry Ecroyd 215, 216 II Till Adam 350 II William, sends advice on the value of time ... 125 Smithson, Thomas ... ... 243 "Smugglers"... ... ... 278 Snowdon, Mrs. ... ... 141 Society of Arts... 212,276, 278 " Solid Benjamin '' ... ... 215 Sowerby, School at ... ... 25 Sparkes, Henry, his survey of the estate 351 Speciall, Mary Ann, Gover- ness ... 253, 233 Spence, Joseph, his analysis of the water 258, 259 Spelling ... 151, 278, 293 II amongst the girls ... 102 II by dictation intro- duced... ... ... ... 115 Spelling-book used on First Days 348 "Spice-money" ... ... 141 Spinning ... 40, 102, 147 Squire, Sarah Ann ... ... 191 " Stag- warning " ... ... 353 Stansfield, John ... ... 214 II Thomas ... 207 Steam as a heating medium ... 221 Steward of the Hospital ... 4 Stickney, Mennel ... ... 248 II Sarah (Mrs. Ellis) ... 315 Stone, Rachel Elizabeth, Go- verness ... ... ... 293 Sttata pierced in boring for water 258, 271 Subscriptions, Appeals for larger 72, 88, 122, 292 Supeiintendent, Election of 28, 36 Superintendent, Question of salary or no salary ... ... 80 Superintendent, Duties of the 200, 295 Superintendent, Duties of, re- arranged ... ... ... 295 Survey of estate ... ■ • • 35 1 Swimming Bath 270 11 II Improved water supply for the ... 272 INDEX Table-cloths . . . Tailoring Taylor, John ... II Joseph... II William Teachers, Early PAGE 219, 351 ... 92 ... 215 ... 214 ... 214 35 of the Teaching, Increased cost of 257, 291 Tea-party in the Meeting-house 280, 283 " Telegraph, The " ... 211, 214 Ten-class system (bovs') ... 252 11 M (girls') ... 260 Tenth Class, New School-room for 264 Tepid Baths ... ... 263, 297 Terms, Proposal to raise the 8, 97 Terms, raised 90, 256, 257, 291 bis. David Barclay's opinion 90 Terms, Richard Brown's opi- nion of the ... ... ... 90 Thistlethwaite, William 252, 254 Thomson's "Seasons" ... 179 Thorp, Dr 188 "Thorough-cleaning" ... 121 Thursfield, Rebecca, her re- collections ... ... 176, 190 Ticket system ... ... 167, 225 ti M Operation of the 226 Tjmber, Sale of ... ... 349 Time, Curious advice on the value of ... ... ... 125 Tin, The Age of 118 Towels, none at the balh ... 175 Travelling, Perils of ... ... 33 II in the Hospital days 5 II Cost of, in the Hos- pital days ... ... ... 6 Travelling, James ShoU's expe- rience of ... ... ... 34 Travelling expenses allowed 32, 256 Trencher, Wooden ... iiS, 181 Trough, The common washing 180 "Tugging" 20s Tuke, Esther ... ... 38 II Henry, his "Principles" 126 II II his services ... 127 II James Hack, and written examinations ... ... 250 Tuke, Samuel 127, 235 II 11 his Papers on Education ... ... ... 23 Typhus Fever ... 166, 186, 193 Unpopularity of the Boys' School ... ... ... 235 Upton Beacon . . . PAGE •• 309 Vacations, Early 46 „ deemed inexpedient 179 11 one granted to Edward Latchmore 179 Vacations, Annual, considered 246 11 First general vaca- ,/'™. 255 Vacations, Proposal for one of six weeks 269 Vacations, Occasional special 219 II Christmas ... ... 297 Ventilation ... ... 221, 222 View of the School by William Doeg... .. 146 " Villa " Visit to the 168 Village-green ... ... ... 303 11 Story of its Cross 303 "Vocabulary" ... ... i66 ,, used on First Days ... ... ... ... 348 Wages of Workmen ... ... 5 II Servants 44, 47, 76, 112 Waiters..., ... ... 229, 231 II Tailor's and Shoe- maker's ... ... ...231 Walks, The ... ... ... 302 II by Schools, introduced 350 II to Plessle-green ... 172 Walker, John ... ... ... 349 Walton and Morley's Examina- tion ... ... ... ... 293 Warming of School-rooms im- perfect 120 Warming of School -rooms. Steam adopted for ... ..120 Warming of School-rooms, Hot water for ... ... 223 Warming the Meeting House... I2i " Wars of the Roses " ... 183 Washing-mill erected ... ... 123 II II improved ... 294 Washers ... ... ... 231 Water-supply ... 3, 155, 257, 271 II works, cost of ... ... 259 II II extension of ... 271 11 Closets introduced ... 264 Watson, the Architect 2 II W. ].... 277, 290 Weeding the Green ... ... 170 Went-bridge, Scotch Cattle at 198 11 River ... ... ... 309 xvi INDEX PAGE PAGE Went Vale . ... 309 Whitaker, Hannah, Committee's West, Edward 246 estimate of 196 M Leonard 349 White, Dr 17 11 Theodore 297 Whitlark', John, the oldest Westerham I, 5 scholar living ... ■ ■ 348 Wetherald, William 207 "Wick-picking" ... 66, 220 Wheeler, Edmund 351 Wiffin, Benjamin B 328 Whitaker, Robert, enters as „ Jeremiah Holmes ... 325 book-keeper 86 Williams, Dr., his report on Whitaker, Robert, his early life 86 Sanitary matters 222 „ „ refusesdona- Williamson, Dr., his report tions ... 108 on Ventilation 221 Whitaker, Robert, performs the Williamson's account of Revel Superintendent's duties 109 the foundling ... ... 16 Whitaker, Robert, becomes Wilson, Henry 180, 213, 254, Superintendent no 255, 262, 276, 282, 350, bis. Whitaker, Robert, his success Wilson, Walter 33 115, 122, 138 Rt. Hon. James, his W^hi taker, Robert, marries ... 123 career 316 i. „ over-worked 131 Winns, The, of Nostell ... 310 ir „ his success- Winn, Sir Rowland 2, 8 ful training of teachers 134 Wooden trencher 181 Whitaker, Robert, his garden- Workshop established... ... 219 shed 156 II improved ... ... 278 Whitaker, Robert, Treasurer Woollen manufactory in the of the Association 160 Hospital 7 Whitaker, Robert, his report Wragby 7, 311 of the fever . . 188 "Wreath, The" 179 Whitaker, Robert, ill 196 Wright, James... ... ... 164 „ „ resigns 197 Writing-masters ... ... 40 ri IP his habits 197 Writing, The ... 103, 278, 293 M Ti assists Thos. Written Examinations intro- Pumphrey 231 duced 249 • Whitaker, Robert, TI105. Har- vey's Recollections of 175 Whitaker, Robert, takes charge Yearly Meeting ... 23, 26 of the School during Thos. IP ,1 its appeal for Pumphrey's absence 350 more liberal subscriptions ... 88 Whitaker, Hannah, ill of fever 188 York Retreat, Loan from ... 291 PI „ dies at Young's " Night Thoughts" ... 179 Welchpool 196 • PREFACE This work — written at the request of the Committee which was constituted for the purpose of promoting a suitable cele- bration of the Centennial Anniversary of the opening of the School, the portrayal of whose history has been attempted in its pages — has been prepared solely with the view of supplying to old scholars some account of an institution whose career is interesting to all, and dear to the affections of many of them. It may perhaps, also, prove of some minor interest to other members of the Society to which the School belongs ; but to all beyond this larger circle its pages will be caviare. Writing for a special class, I have pre-supposed that almost every little historical incident that could be wrested from the grasp of a past, some of whose years are fast retiring into a dim distance, might have an interest for it. I trust I may not have presumed too much upon its appetite for trifles. To those loyal hearts, one of whose choice delights is to sit by the evening fire-side with an old and sympathetic school- fellow, whilst reminiscences innumerable — grave and gay, humorous and tragical — absorb the unconscious hours, and youth is once more realized, without its pains and with more than its proper poetry, I am painfully conscious that this little XVlll PREFACE work can be little more than a new frame to their old pictures. Its pages do not contain their stories, they do not laugh with their fun ; yet I trust their local colouring will rather excite than check the happiness with which a retrospect of their school-days is wont to fill warm-hearted and kindly spirits. If the latter miss much which they hope to find and, regretting the absence of oft-told tales which time has improved and imagination gilded, should feel as if much of a good story had been with- held— "As if a child in glee, Catching the flakes of the salt sea froth, Cried ' Look, my mother, here's the sea' " — I have to beg them to consider that this little work is simply a history— perhaps all too grave a history — of the chief events and incidents which have guided or influenced the fortunes of the little Cosmos and that, with the space at my disposal, I could not have dealt with much of that great mass of common property — the semi-mythical reminiscences of generations — even had I had time to test its value or probe the measure of its veracity. I may remind my readers, also, that the finest school episodes are those whose most aromatic quality is derived from personal association. Every old scholar has his own history of Ackworth School with which the stranger intermeddleth not. Other of my readers may admire at my silence respecting great patrons of the School — men and women who have made its successful operation not only a labour of love, but one of the great efforts of their benevolent lives — whose devotion to its interests has been amongst the great facts of its career. That PREFACE XIX silence has arisen neither from lack of appreciation of their work nor indifference to the justice of a recognition of their claims. When I have considered this question, the array of names which has fronted up to my view — the Gurneys, Tukes, Smiths, Peases, Rowntrees, Barclays, Braithwaites, Harveys, Birkbecks, Priestmans, Hutchinsons, Richardsons, Robsons, Thorps, Smithsons, Spences, and a host of others who, in their generations, have been the active support of the Institu- tion — has presented such ' an embarras de richesses, that I have been fain to shelve it, in the hope that some more adven- turous spirit might be willing to expend upon it the research necessary to the performance of justice to the various benefac- tions of these friends of the School. To the great and good man whose happiness it was to discover Ack worth School, so to speak, I should have endeavoured to devote some pages but that the appearance, in a companion volume, of an elaborate and valuable paper upon his life and work, by James Hack Tuke, has rendered any notice of him unnecessary in this. The Illustrations which embellish this volume, and which are after water-colour drawings made expressly for the work by Mary Hodgson, an old Ackworth Scholar, were executed some time after the MS. was in the printer's hand. This circum- stance has rendered it necessary that they should be distributed in the volume without reference to the proximity of kindred matter in the text. The Artist's first desire has been to present a faithful portrait of the scenes depicted, and she has, with self- denying fidelity, abstained from tampering with the views in favour of pictorial effect; whilst her brother (Joseph Spence A 2 ICX PREFACE Hodgson), who has superintended the work of the Engraver, has scrupulously exacted a like fidelity from him. I feel it no small honour to have this little history associated with such excellent work, and desire to acknowledge my obligations to Edmund Evans for his able efforts to render every justice which his art commands to the original drawings. I take this opportunity to return my warm thanks to all who have assisted me in the preparation of the work. Whilst such friends are too numerous to particularise, I cannot omit a public acknowledgment of my indebtedness to my friend Joseph Spence Hodgson, of Manchester — than whom, perhaps, no one living has taken a warmer interest in all that pertains to the past history of the School — who has kindly given me every aid in his power, most liberally and generously placing all his MSS. at my service. I would also thank John Bellows, of Gloucester, in whose office the work has been printed, for the care he has taken in his department of the work. It is a satisfaction to me to think that, however soon the History may become valueless, the owners of the volume will still possess a typographical treasure. In deference to the sentiments of some of the Friends of the Centenary Committee, and in opposition to my own taste, I have retained the terminology of the days and months once all but universal amongst members of the Society of Friends. HENRY THOMPSON. Arnside, near Milnthorpe. CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS. CHAPTER I. 'hospitium infantum expositorum" Page 1 CHAPTER II. HOSPITAL PURCHASED BY THE FRIENDS — FORM OF GOVERNMENT — BILLS OF ADMISSION — ALLOWANCE FOR TRAVELLING EXPENSES — ^JOHN HILL, THE FIRST SUPERINTENDENT — BARTON AND ANN GATES, THE FIRST PUPILS — ^JOSEPH DONBAVAND — RAPID INCREASE OF SCHOLARS — RULES AND REGULATIONS — COSTUME — PIALCYON DAYS — ACTIVITY OF THE COMMITTEE — DIFFICULTIES — THOMAS BINNS— JOHN HODGKIN — GENEROSITY TOWARDS OFFICERS — ABSTRACT OF EARLY ACCOUNTS — JOHN COLE, THE FIRST APPRENTICE — DISQUIETING REPORTS — SMALL-POX — MORE TROUBLES — DISCIPLINE AND MODES OF PUNISH- MENT Page 23 CHAPTER III. committees' MISUNDERSTANDINGS — EARLY EXPENDITURE, COST OF PROVISIONS, ETC. — OUT-DOOR LABOUR — ERECTION OF THE BOYs' SHED — DECLENSION IN THE DISCIPLINE AND TEMPORARY DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF THE SCHOLARS — PROPOSALS FOR EXTENDING THE AREA FKOM WHICH CHILDREN SHOULD BE RECEIVED — RETIRE- MENT OF JOHN HILL — TEMPORARY OCCUPATION OF THE TREASURER'S OFFICE BY THOMAS HODGKIN — ELECTION OF JOHN HIPSLEY AS SUPERINTENDENT — LIBERALITY TOWARDS SERVANTS — KATE OF WAGES — WANT OF HARMONY BETWEEN THE TWO COMMITTEES Page 64 CHAPTER IV. THE "flags" — ^JOHN HIPSLEY RETIRES — IS SUCCEEDED BY DR. BINNS — DONATIONS TO RETIRING OFFICERS — ROBERT WHITAKER ENTERS AS "book-keeper and ASSISTANT IN THE SCHOOLS" — DEFICIENT INCOME— HIGH PRICE OF FOOD — TERMS RAISED — OPINIONS THERE- UPON — A COMMITTEE OF ECONOMY AND ITS SUGGESTIONS — BILL OF FARE — SCARCITY OF READING-BOOKS — A LIBRARY FOUNDED — YEARS OF DEAR BREAD — SOCIAL DIFFICULTIES AMONGST OFFICERS... Page 84 XXll CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS CHAPTER V. SPINNING, KNITTING, SEWING— READING-BOOKS— GEOGRAPHY— JOSEPH DONBAVAND's WRITING COPIES — GRAMMAR — THE AGE OF LAW — MONTHLY AND QUARTERLY COMMITTEES — DIFFICULTY ABOUT IN- VESTMENTS—THE GOVERNESS, MARY MARTIN, RETIRES— IS SUC- CEEDED BY ISABELLA HARRIS — SERIOUS EPIDEMIC OF SCARLET FEVER— DR. BINNS'S DIFFICULTIES WITH THE COMMITTEE— HE RE- TIRES— IS SUCCEEDED BY ROBERT WHITAKER— SMALL-POX— GARB OF THE CHILDREN— REVISION OF THE MISTRESSES' SALARIES... Page 102 CHAPTER VI. MONITORS— JOSEPH LANCASTER — IMPROVED STATE OF THE SCHOOL UNDER ROBERT WHITAKER— REMINISCENCES OF THOMAS FIRTH OF HUDDERSFIELD — INSUFFICIENT PROVISION AGAINST INCLEMENT WEATHER— EXAMINATIONS— ROBERT WHITAKER's MARRIAGE— WASHING MILL— PLANTING— ARRANGEMENTS FOR LEISURE PURSUITS— RELIGI- OUS INSTRUCTION— OFFICERS DRAWN FOR THE MILITIA IMPRISONED IN WAKEFIELD JAIL Pag*^ ''3 CHAPTER VII. COMPLAINTS MADE AGAINST THE BOYS' STYLE OF READING— SUPE- RIORITY OF THAT OF THE GIRLS — ISABELLA HARRIS, JUNR. — VALUABLE SERVICES RENDERED BY APPRENTICES— RELIGIOUS IN- STRUCTION — JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY — PROSPEROUS TIMES — DISCIPLINE — "RECORD OF offences" — "LIGHT AND AIRY ROOMS" — CASES OF DELINQUENCY — BAD IMPRESSIONS GET ABROAD ... ... Page 131 CHAPTER VIII. CHANGES IN THE TEACHING DEPARTMENT — SPINNING ABANDONED — — IGNORANCE OF CHILDREN ON ENTERING THE SCHOOL — MONITORS — CAUTIONS WITH REGARD TO RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION — BIBLE TEACH- ING — LEATHER BREECHES ABOLISHED — INTRODUCTION OF ENGLISH HISTORY — STYLE OF GENERAL EDUCATION — EXAMINATIONS — LONG VISIT FROM CHARLOTTE DUDLEY — INFLUENCE OF SCRIPTURE TEACH- ING — CONSIDERATION FOR DELINQUENTS — NICK-NAMES — WATER SUP- PLY — MONITORIAL SYSTEM INTRODUCED — JOSEPH DONBAVAND RE- TIRES — MAT'i'HEW DOWNIE — GARDEN-SHED ERECTED — CLASSIFICATION OF NEEDLEWORK EXECUTED BY THE GIRLS IN 182I ... Page I45 CHAPTER IX. committee's SATISFACTION IN ITS OFFICERS — ASSOCIATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND — ITS EARLY LABOURS — JOHN HATTERS- LEY AND OTHER ESSAYISTS — VISIT OF THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER — VOCABULARY — TYPHUS-FEVER OF 1824 — TICKETS — PRIZES — VISIT TO THE "villa" — WEEDING THE GREEN — PONTEFRACT MONTHLY MEETING — WM. HOWITT's ACCOUNT OF A WALK — LATIN CLASS CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS XXUI FORMED — ISABELLA HARRIS RETIRES— THOMAS HARVEY's OPINION OF THE PERIOD — A LADY's RECOLLECTIONS — HOLIDAY GRANTED — IN- CREASED FACILITIES FOR MENTAL CULTURE — MEETING HOUSE SEATS SUPPLIED WITH BACKS — WOODEN TRENCHERS ABANDONED — OTHER IMPROVEMENTS — DISCIPLINE — INTELLECTUAL PURSUITS Page 159 CHAPTER X. MALIGNANT FEVER — DEATH OF HENRY BRADY — UNSETTLED STATE OF THE girls' WING — PRISCILLA KINCEY — ALTERATION IN THE CLASSI- FICATION OP TPIE GIRLS — REPORT ON A SPECIAL EXAMINATION OF BOYS LEAVING SCHOOL — COMMITTEE'S SOLICITUDE ABOUT BOOKS — NEW BED-ROOM FOR GIRLS — FEVER AGAIN — RAWDON SCHOOL — DEA TH OF PIANNAH WHITAKER — ILLNESS AND RETIREMENT OF ROBERT WHITAKER — JAMES ARTHINGTON — JOHN BROADHEAD — NEW ARRANGE- MENTS — CLASS CHANGES — " MASTER-ON-DUTY " Page 1 86 CHAPTER XI. THOMAS PUMPHREY APPOINTED SUPERINTENDENT — STATE OF THE SCHOOL AT THE TIME — COMMEMORATION OF NEGRO EMANCIPATION — THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT'S DIFFICULTIES — ENLARGEMENT OF THE INN — TABLE-BEER DISCONTINUED — INN LICENCE DISCONTINUED — HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY — THE SOCIETY OF ARTS FOUNDED — OPERA- TIONS OF THE "association" — COST OF BOYS' CLOTHING — HANNAH RICHARDSON — CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS — WORKSHOP — EXTEN- SION OF THE "vacation" SYSTEM — GAS INTRODUCED — MEASLES AND SCARLATINA — DR. WILLIAMSON'S REPORT ON VENTILATION, ETC. — SCHOOL ENTRANCE IMPROVED — CHARLES BARNARD EXPOSES THE DEFECTIVE WORKING OF THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM AND IT IS DISCONTINUED Page 203 CHAPTER XII. THE TICKET SYSTEM — TEACHERS' HOLIDAYS — "KNIFE CLEANERS" — NEW DINING ROOM FOR THE GIRLS — READING ROOM — SICKNESS AND DEATH — WILLIAM SEWELL — DOMESTIC DUTIES PERFORMED BY THE CHILDREN — THE APPRENTICES — UNPOPULARITY OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL — POPULARITY OF THE GIRLs' SCHOOL — COMMITTEE OF IN- VESTIGATION — UNSATISFACTORY STATE OF THINGS ON THE BOYs' SIDE OF THE HOUSE — ANNUAL VACATION DISCUSSED — FATAL ACCI- DENTS — LECTURES — WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS — GREAT BUILDING ERA — TEN CLASSES — RETIREMENT OF HANNAH RICHARDSON ... Page 225 CFIAPTER XIII. THE DISCIPLINE — WILLIAM THISTLETHWAITE — THOMAS HASLAM — HENRY WILSON — FIRST GENERAL VACATION — GRADUATED SCALE OF TERMS — NEW VS'ATER WORKS — ANALYSIS OF THE WATER — STYLE OF THE READING — ,PROFESSOR GREENBANK — BUILDING OPERATIONS IN THE WEST WING — STATE OF THE EDUCATION — BOYS' LIBRARY I.MPROVED — CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS SCARLATINA — THE " CANAL QUESTION — THOMAS BROWN RETIRES — THOMAS PUMPHREY ON RELIGIOUS TRAINING — ADDRESS TO PARENTS ON THE IGNORANCE OF SCRIPTURE AMONGST CHILDREN ENTERING SCHOOL — ADMIRABLE STATE OF THE DISCIPLINE — HIGH PRICE OF PROVISIONS — SWIMMING BATH — ADDITIONAL WATER WORKS — ANA- LYSIS — boys' play-ground ASPHALTED Page 254 CHAPTER XIV. ACTIVITY IN THE SOCIETY OF ARTS — PHONOGRAPHY — ESSAY SOCIETY — THE GAMES — THE WORKSHOP — THE SCHOOL EXAMINED BY WILLIAM DAVIS, B.A. — THOMAS PUMPHREY's GREAT f£tE — THOMAS PUMPHREY's HEALTH FAILS — HE RESIGNS HIS POST — GEORGE AND RACHEL SATTER- THWAITE — A GRAND HOLIDAY — THOMAS PUMPHREY's LAST DAYS AND DEATH Page 276 CHAPTER XV. A PRESENT FROM THREE JEWISH GENTLEMEN — DIPHTHERIA — MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES — ^JOHN NEWBY RETIRES — THE TERMS ARE RAISED — SCHOOL OPENED TO NON-MEMBERS — DEFICIENT SUBSCRIP- TIONS — THE EXAMPLE OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE QUARTERLY MEETING — MARY ANN SPECIAL RETIRES — RACHEL ELIZABETH STONE SUCCEEDS HER — DRAINAGE — EXAMINATION BY MESSRS. WALTON AND MORLEY — EXTENSIVE ALTERATIONS — DIETARY COMMITTEE — GEORGE SATTERTHWAITE RETIRES — JOSIAH EVANS SUCCEEDS HIM — BOYS AR- RANGED IN FIVE CLASSES — THOMAS PUPLETT — AVERAGE AGE, ETC., OF THE BOYS — NEW LAVATORY AND WARM BATHS — WINTER VACA- TION — SCARLATINA — JOSIAH EVANS RETIRES — IS SUCCEEDED BY FREDERIC ANDREWS — THE " ACKWORTH SCHOOL FUND" ... Page 286 CHAPTER XVI. OUR WALKS Page 302 CHAPTER XVII. SOME CEf,EBRITlE^ Page 312 APPENDIX. TABLES OF ANNUAL INCOME AND EXPENDITURE FROM THE OPENING OF THE SCHOQI, TO THE PRESENT TIME— RAINFALL— HEALTH AND MOR- TALITY-MISCELLANEOUS DATES— " SCENES ON THE PLAY-GROUND OF A SCHOOL." HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. CHAPTER I. " HOSPITIUM INFANTUM EXPOSITORUM." In the early part of 1757, the Governors of the London Foundling Hospital or, to use a more correct denomination, the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children, purchased an estate at Ackworth for the purpose of there establishing a branch institution. Two objects chiefly influenced them in founding this country home for their young people — the opportunity of better coping with the sickliness of many of their charge, and the greater facility for satisfactorily apprenticing the children. They had already branch hospitals at Chester, Shrewsbury, and Westerham, but they contemplated great advantages from having one amongst the active and enterprising people of the northern counties. The estate which they had purchased from Sir John Ramsden and Richard Frank, Esq. (who represented a proprietary of some estates recently owned by Mrs. Lowther,) although not precisely conterminous with the property afterwards purchased by the Friends, was sufficiently so to be considered the same as the one first known as the Ackworth School Estate. It then consisted of nine " closes,'' and was known as the " Home Ring." There was upon it a farm-house, called, we believe. 2 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Seaton's Farm, and to this a number of the children were sent from the parent institution on the 19th of Eighth Month, 1757. It is impossible to peruse the documents and letters still extant, connected with the Hospital, without being struck with admira- tion of the thoughtful tenderness and gentle benevolence of those men who, if with misguided judgment, did certainly, with honest zeal, devote their lives to the advancement of the prosperity of their houses and the comfort and welfare of their inmates. They laboured not for the convenience of the careless and immoral, but to save life, to avert misery and cruelty, to train and fit for citizenship those who might otherwise fall victims to every vice which the parochial workhouses of the time proverbially bred. Although subordinate to the parent institution, the Ackworth hospital had its own directorate, which appears, so far as the disposal of the children was concerned, to have possessed a wide discretionary power, and much independence of action. On its first appointment, it comprised a marquis, an earl, five viscounts, and nine baronets. As the hospital grew in import- ance, and distributed its apprentices by hundreds amongst the manufacturers and farmers of Yorkshire and Lancashire, the committee was made to embrace large numbers of the gentry of the districts, with a view to their being centres of protection and appeal in case of oppression and injustice towards the "foundlings" settled in their vicinity. The farm-house was soon found too small, and plans were prepared for building what are now the centre and two wings of Ackworth School. Mr. Watson was the architect employed., but Timothy Lee, D.D., Vicar of Ackworth, has the honour of having planned the centre. The east wing (now occupied by the boys) was first built, and on the 7th of Fourth Month, 1759, Sir Rowland Winn, of Nostel, the treasurer, and a devoted patron of the hospital, informed the governors of the parent HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 3 institution that that erection had then cost ^^3,000, a large sum in those days, when the most skilled masons and carpenters never received more than two shillings a day, and labourers were paid generously at one shilling and four pence. The works were now urged forward with all speed, and Sir Rowland Winn, in reply to the request of the London governors for some estimate of the probable cost of the rest of the building, stated that that of the west wing would be the same as that of the east wing, and that of the centre ;^S,ooo or ;^6,ooo. He con- sidered that the building should accommodate, when complete, 500 children. On the 5th of Fourth Month, 1759, the centre was ordered to be staked out, and the building progressed so rapidly that it was covered in before the winter of the following year. The west wing was then built, and the connecting colonnades completed the general structure. The estate also increased in size, by various purchases and exchanges, until, in 1760, it amounted to 104a. zr. 3p., which had^cost altogether ^^3,829 IS. lod., the old rental of which was ;!£'io7 53. The general building account was kept open until 1766, but, in 1763, an estimate was made of the expenditure, past and prospective, by which it appears that the " cash distributed on account of the building, before 1763," amounted to about ^11,450, that there was then due to workmen for work done _;^5oo, and that it would require about ;^i,ooo more to finish the west wing and the north-west colonnade. It is here stated that the first of these items covered, besides the other work, " levelling the ground by carting earth from back to front, digging the haha, building the spaw, the bridge, the dam, and two cottages." The water supply was planned and worked out by John Smeaton, the great engineer and the builder of the Eddystone hghthouse. He first presented an estimate for an engine which should deliver 78 gallons per hour from a well in Bell Close — B 2 4 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the water to be raised zi% ^^^^i ^-'^d carried a distance of 2,104 feet. This he offered to complete for £i<)Z- His alternative plan was adopted, which was to fix a pump in the "area" by which a single man was able to raise 312 gallons per hour to a height of 51 feet, at a distance of 300 feet. The cost of this apparatus was ^{^64. When the property was purchased by the Friends, after lying many years unoccupied, Smeaton was called in to put his pump in working order again. But long prior to the completion of th6 noble pile, the young institution, first in its humbler dwelling, and then in such portions of the new house as were earliest prepared for its work, had been actively engaged in the fulfilment of its mission. Its first steward and mistress were John Hargreaves and his wife. The former was an active, energetic, and humane man, eminently qualified for his position. He possessed the entire confidence of Ijis committee, and, many years after his accept- ance of his duties, was highly complimented on " the great tenderness and humanity " with which he had performed them, by the secretary of the London house — Mr. Collingwood, himself a very benevolent and noble man. He held the ofiSce until his death, the year before the hospital was closed, when he was succeeded by his son, in whom the committee appears to have had equal confidence. His principal subordinates were the " chief matron," who directly superintended all the nurses, resident and non-resident; a "matron of the nurses," a "matron of the infirmaries," a school-master and a school- mistress. The number of women employed in the house was never large, usually about nine. These acknowledged the receipt of their wages in a book still extant, and it is noticeable that all sign the cross, as if unable to write, except one. The wage of a good superior nurse was ^3 los. per annum, but some of the servants did not receive more than ^1. Perhaps the liberal allowance of beer was supposed to increase the value of a nurse's position — that being two quarts per day. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 5. Large as the quantity appears, considerable dissatisfaction with it arose at one time, when some nurses, bringing down some infants from the parent house and lodging a few nights at Ackworth, declared that their daily allowance was four quarts. These bibacious women Hargreaves would never allow to enter the hospital again, but always sent them back to Doncaster the day they arrived. The supply of children for Ackworth was not derived from London alone. Large numbers were sent from the auxiliary houses at Shrewsbury, Westerham, and Chester, and from certain towns where the London hospital had " inspectors," who collected children suitable for the charity from their districts. The mode of conveyance from London was by a commodious "caravan,'' carrying usually sixteen or eighteen children, and two or three nurses. This vehicle must have been an elaborate affair, as it cost ^42 5s. It was afterwards supplied with the luxury of a hammock, ingeniously devised by Dr. Lee, of Ackworth Rectory. It usually made twelve or fourteen double journeys in the year, at a cost of from ;i^i6o to £110. In fine weather, the journey to or from London was usually accomplished in six or seven days. Bad winter weather was, as far as practica- ble, avoided, but there is at least one instance recorded of the caravan, containing twenty little girls, being unable to proceed, from the roads being blocked with snow, and of its being detained a week at Derby by the circumstance. A careful record was kept of the cost at each stage of these journeys, and the two following examples may, at this distance of time, have a historic interest. The former of the two contains the items of a single down' journey with a " cargo j'' the latter, a double journey, the section from Ackworth to London being probably performed with no other passenger than John Stanfield, who was going up for children. In the first account here given the caravan carried three nurses and fourteen children. The journey was performed in 1761. £ s. d. o S 4 o 14 2 7 14 6 6 10 17 4 7 14 2 7 14 2 8 3 13 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL July 20th. Hatfield „ 2ist. Stevenage » ,> Biggleswade „ 22nd. Bugden „ „ Stilton ... „ 23rd. Stamford ,, „ Grantham „ 24th. Newark... „ Drayton „ 25th. Doncaster Turnpikes ... Driver's wages ... ... ... ' • • • £(^ 8 9 The double journey, the account for which next appears, was made in 1769, the passengers being John Stanfield, eighteen girls and a nurse. £ s. d. Nov. 7th. Scrooby °33 „ ,, Drayton ... ... ... 076 „ 8th. Newark 043 „ 9th. Colsterworth ... ... ... o 7 5 „ Stilton 039 „ 10th. Bugden... ... ... ... 086 „ „ Biggleswade 033 „ nth. Welwyn 078 „ 1 2th. London ... ... ... 094 ,, 13th. Welwyn ... ... ... 082 „ „ Biggleswade ... ... ... 070 „ 14th. Bugden o 3 3 „ 15th. Stilton 080 1 6th. Colsterworth ... ... ... 07 5 2 2 Turnpikes, up and down ... ... ... i 611 Driver's wages ... ... ... ... o 16 o 17th. Newark... ... ... ... o 1 8th. Scrooby ... ... ... 07 The whole journey from Ackworth to London and back ... ... _^7 7 o On the arrival of the caravan at Ackworth, the country nurses of the district around trooped up to receive such of the infants and young children as should be apportioned to them. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 7 Great care was urged by the London governors in the selection of these women. They were to be " careful and tender." No instance is on record of their being unkind, negligent or cruel. Yet the number employed was very large. At one time (1766) there were thus placed out 233 of the sickliest children, viz., at Ackworth 64, at Badsworth 43, at Hemsworth 99, at Wragby 23, and at Pontefract 4. About this time there were from seven to eight hundred children at Ackworth. The price paid to these nurses was one shilling and ninepence a week. No nurse was per- mitted to have more than one unweaned child, nor more than one who could not walk. This created a considerable industry in the surrounding villages, and the amount of money earned by the villagers during one quarter of 1766 was ;^324 5s. The dress of the children was, of course, of the simplest kind, yet must, in its way, have been what the modern affectation for the antique and quaint would have found sufficiently picturesque. The boys wore a coat and waistcoat of coarse brown cloth, relieved by the badge of a red " welt," which, at an early day, was exchanged for a red collar. Their breeches were of leather, and as soon as the boys were put to work they wore leathern* aprons. The girls' outer garment was made of " printed linen cloath,'' and cost just sixpence. We need not tarry to picture little "Augustus Caesar," "James Verulam," "William Go wer," "John Overbury," and "William Shakspeare," at play on the well known " green," all reduced to their eighteenth century charity costume. No doubt these little fellows, as well as their sister hospitalers, did play, and play abundantly, but they worked hard too. It was one of the maxims of their governors that idleness was the parent of vice ; and one of their chief objects was to render their charge a boon to society and a useful aid to the development of the greatness and prosperity of the country. In 1759 a woollen manufactory was established in the hospital, where little hands spun and wove cloth, serge and blankets, and that so well that in half a 8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL year the cloth woven by the children was at least as good as any that could be obtained for the money, although the profit made per yard was one shilling and threepence. The selling price of this yard-wide cloth was three shillings a yard.* At this re- munerative figure the demand for theit cloth and blankets soon became greater than they could supply. The committee was much pleased by this speedy success, and Sir Rowland 'Winn writes in great enthusiasm about it, winding up with, " We shall convince all the world what may be done by children." The London governors were delighted, and ordered the Shrewsbury hospital to send twelve of its oldest and most intelligent boys to Ackworth to learn the business, for the purpose of establishing a similarly useful and profitable manufactory there. This after- wards proved a source of disappointment to the Ackworth committee, who thought it would have been wiser to devote the Shrewsbury hospital to some other business, in order that the various institutions might furnish to each other mutually advantageous markets. In 1762 the profits of the Ackworth manufactory were entered upon the balance sheet at ^500, which seemed a sum so incredibly large to some of the London board that Mr. Taylor White wrote down for particulars, "for the conviction of the hereticks." In addition to the work in the factory and on the farm, every child mended its own ■ clothes. This art was taught to the foundlings very carefully, being regarded as an essential thing that all of them should be able to keep themselves " tight."* It was an arrangement for economy, although, to Judge from the accounts, the original cost of these garments, and that of repairing them, was remarkably small. In 1759, before the mending had been systematised, the accounts contain the following items : — - " To 53 boys, for half a year, finding with breeches and mending their cloathes" . . . _;^8 12 3 The word " tight " still signifies, in some parts of Yorkshire, smart. HISTORY GF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 9 Other items from the accounts for this same year indicate very inexpensive forms of dress, making every allowance for the difference of the value of money of that time and of our own. To 13 boys' coats, making and trimming ... _;^i 12 6 To 2 1 girls' coats, making 200 To six pairs of new shoes 14 8 . To a pair of stockings ... ... ... 3 The number of children sent down to Ackworth, large as it was, was rarely equal to the demand for " apprentices " which quickly sprang up around. We find Mr. Hargreaves writing to the London board, very importunately, at times, for more children ; and, in 1770, Dr. Lee, than whom the institution never had a better or a kinder friend, writes to Mr. Taylor White, of the London hospital, " The eighty children you have ordered to be sent to us from Shrewsbury will not serve for one day's apprenticing." The demand had just then accumulated a little, no doubt, yet there is an instance of 166 leaving the hospital in a single day. Every reasonable care was taken to secure good masters ; no children were granted to persons who could not bring satisfactory certificates of character from responsible per- sons. The London gentlemen most interested in the welfare of the little people urged the greatest circumspection on the part of Mr. Hargreaves, advising him always, where possible, to test the applicants by the " care they had taken of their own children." But when the work attained such magnitude that this extreme care became impracticable, instances occurred of men utterly unsuitable for the trust, obtaining credentials dis- graceful to the giver, and treating the children they obtained on the strength of them with little short of barbarity, and in more than one case, of murderous cruelty. The children were some- times apprenticed, more especially girls, at the early age of seven years. In such cases it was usually expected that the mistress or master should have the child educated. One great object of the governors of these hospitals was to get as many children as possible through their hands by finding suitable lO HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL homes for them. It was no part of their policy to keep them longer than necessary, so enormous was the pressure upon them. During the early years the apprenticeship lasted until the articled person was twenty-four years of age ; and the indentures may still be seen at Ackworth of a foundling, who was apprenticed to a pavior of Pontefract, from the age of six to that of twenty-four. In 1768, however, an Act was passed pre- venting the extension of apprenticeship beyond the age of twenty-one. Before that bill had been produced the hospital authorities had always inserted a clause in the indentures of their children binding the master to give, in wage, to his apprentice _;^5 per year, after he had reached the ordinary majority. Although there was no clause in the rules of the London hospital and its allies forbidding the apprenticing of their children to "Papists," such a regulation was practically enforced, and, when advertising their apprenticeship system in the papers, the Ackworth committee expressly stated that " Masters must be of the Protestant religion." In consequence of this clause, on the occasion of a member of the Society of Friends, of Rich- mond, applying for an apprentice, that committee referred the question to the London governors, who quietly replied, " We have no sort of objection to a boy's being bound apprentice to a Quaker." They had, however, a most decided and well grounded aversion to boys being apprenticed to chimney sweeps, and, on observing that it was proposed so to dispose of one by the Ackworth committee, they forbade it, stating at the same time — " This committee has never placed a boy with one of that profession and does not think it for the credit of the charity so to do." Perhaps the largest number ever apprenticed to one individual was the seventy-four girls articled to Mr. Brown, of Leeds, a gentle- man whose ambition was to establish a manufactory of an article described as " Cloath like French cloath, which is iit HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL II for the East India service or the Turkey trade," and which was devised apparently for using up a low class of wool not service- able for the fine goods then made in that town. For the accom- modation of these children he erected a large room, 117ft. long and 26ft. wide, which he called the " Industrious FoundUng Hall." As originally proposed, Brown's business would not have been so utterly unsuitable to the children as it proved, the carding of wool and other processes attached to it, being to some extent relievingly sedentary. But when the business proved unremunerative he was obliged to resort to spinning solely, which employed the children on their feet all day. When he received them in 1765 they were all, apparently, about seven years of age. That year was, unfortunately for him, one of dear bread. Provisions were nearly double the ordinary price. The business, too, went from bad to worse, and, early in 1768, Brown wrote to the Ackworth committee, telling them that he was losing ^3 a week by the children, that twenty-two out of the seventy-four had died, and begging them to take some of them back. The committee communicated with the governors in London, who immediately ordered that some one should go to Leeds " to preserve the children, who seemed in a perilous condition." If Brown should object to deliver all the children up at once, proceedings were to be taken to compel him to release them. An inspection of the children revealed a dreadful condition of health. From standing all day long, all the more weakly had become so lame in their hips, thighs and knees, that they could only with difficulty crawl over the floor. Many had become scrofulous. The sanitary arrange- ments were in a shocking condition, and a putrid fever prevailed amongst the children. The beds were " corded, with a thin mattrass laid upon the cords," which, the report pathetically adds, " must be very unfit to refresh those weary limbs that have been kept the whole day to hard labour." Yet it would probably be a great injustice to Brown to charge him with cruelty. He 12 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL had apparently initiated his scheme with every desire to do justice to his charge. He had, on receiving them with their customary single suit of clothing, supplied them with another outfit, in order that they might attend church in decent attire ; and even the beds complained of compared not unfavourably with the accommodation with which many poor children were supplied, as may bejudged from the simple remark Brown made when expostulated with about them—" the children,"' said he, " preferred them to boards." As to the defects in the sanitary arrangements, to which the young people were exposed, he averred that he did not suppose they could have done them any harm. His inexperience in arranging for so large a company of children probably accounts largely for the state in which they were found, and his losing business may have prevented his being more generous. He was unfortunate ; and things had drifted into a state horrible beyond his appreciation. The fifty- one children who were still living were taken back to Ackworth. The prompt action taken by the governors on this occasion is only an example of the readiness they ever manifested to defend the suffering and oppressed ' amongst the apprentices, although they had no funds at their disposal, by virture of the foundation, either for that purpose or for the maintenance of any unfortunate ones amongst them who might lose their homes or be compelled to be removed from them. Their power of maintenance absolutely ceased on the commencement of a child's apprenticeship. When a foundling once went forth with his master, carrying with him his two extra shirts, his extra pair of stockings, and his Sunday shoes, the hospital authorities bade him and their legal responsibilities " good-bye " together. Two other articles of property every boy and girl carried away, besides their slender outfit, which, for that period, may be particularly observed as' an indication of the good wishes and blessings that followed the little ones, when more direct responsibilities ceased. Every child bore in its hand a Bible and a Prayer-book. In HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 13 their memories also they had some seed for future pious thought, in the hymns and anthems it was their wont, at stated times, to sing. The hymn book, especially prepared for their use, printed at York, may still be occasionally met with on second-hand book stalls.' At Ackworth is still to be seen one with the music. The first hymn, so arranged for, commences — " When parents, deaf to Nature's voice, Their helpless charge forsook, Then Nature's God, who heard our cry, Compassion on us took. " Continue still to hear our voice, When unto Thee we cry ; And still the infant's praise receive. And still their wants supply." At the close of this little volume, which, from its superiority to the ordinary edition, was probably the one used in the direction of the hymnal services, appears in manuscript, with music, the Song of Evening Praise — " Glory to Thee, my God, this night," &c. The trouble connected with Brown's children was by no means the only dark story of the time. Where nearly 2,700 children of this class were concerned, it would have been marvellous if many mistakes had not been made, and many hardships incurred. So far as absolute record assists us, the number of such appears remarkably small ; but as great numbers of children were settled far away from Ackworth, many buried in the lower parts of towns like Sheffield and Manchester, it is not improbable that oblivion holds in its bosom many a sad tale of cruelty and wrong. In all cases which reached their ears, the governors appear to have done their duty with energy and zeal. In 1767, in consequence of information received by an anonymous letter from Sheffield, they ordered Mr. Hargreaves to prosecute a man of that town for gross cruelty to his apprentice, Jane Humber. Another man of that town, a 14 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL tile-smith, was indicted for the murder of his apprentice— a boy named Nixon— but the charge was probably entered in too strong a form, for legal success, and he was returned " not guilty." In 1 77 1, another case of barbarous cruelty and sup- posed murder was made known by the following letter to Mr. Hargreaves : — " Sir, I am sorry I have occation to acquaint you with the untimely death of Jemima Dixon, one of the FoundUngs, which was occationed by the ill-treatment of her master, William Butterworth. The Coroner's Inquest has brought him in guilty of Wilful Murder, and he is accordingly sent to Lancaster. The three other Foundlings he had are taken to the Poorhouse ; and miserable objects indeed they are. But I hope that with proper care they will be preserved, so as to convict him by their concurrent evidence. I mention this that the Trustees of the Hospital may have the opportunity of joining the town of Manchester in the vigorous Prosecution of such a Monster of Barbarity, for he should be made an example of in order to deter others from the like practices. "Sir, your obliged humble servant, "Maurice Griffith. "Mr. Hargreaves." "Manchester, 22 April, 1771." Butterworth's treatment of his little orphans was simply in- human. He had starved them within little short of their lives, had beaten their heads with shuttles, kicked them in the most brutal of all methods, and had subjected the little murdered one to the most revolting punishrrients that an utterly malignant nature could devise. She had died by inches under the pro- tracted horrors of his cruelty. He was pronounced guilty of wilful murder by the jury, but appears to have been " reprieved by the judge." A case of continued barbarous treatment of a poor girl, apprenticed at Carlton-in-Royston, appears to have attracted much attention. This time the inhuman tormentor was a woman. Although the particulars of her cruelty are so hideous I HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 15 that they cannot be related and she was vigorously pursued at law by the hospital authorities, the issue of their proceedings does not appear. At the instigation of the Government of the day, the com- mittee, in 1765, introduced the practice of givir^g fees with their apprentices— the object being partly to'enable the hospitals to place out their more unsound children, and partly to get all out of hand at a cheaper rate by getting them off earlier. In addition to its grant of ;^28,ooo for the general purposes of the London hospital. Parliament that year granted ^1,500 for fees of this kind, and the following year increased the amount to ^2,000. Perhaps no more attractive plan could have been devised for bringing in unsuitable applicants for apprentices. Indifferent characters, living from hand to mouth, saw in it a temporary lull from their troubles and too frequently extorted, from easy vicars and municipal officens, certificates of conduct, and carried away apprentices and apprentice fees. The latter they soon drank or squandered, the former they too often cudgelled and starved. One instance occurs in which a success- ful scoundrel received three or four children at once, with the appropriate douceur. On the strength of the latter, he aban- doned his home for ever, leaving the children for his poor wife to keep. But these sad instances must not mislead. There is evidence enough to prove that they were exceptional rather than general. There is sufficient information to establish the belief that, over large country districts, where the children settled in great numbers, there was very little to complain of, either in the treatment of employers or in the conduct of the children. In 1772, Sir James Lovvther, who had had many children from Ackworth — taking boys for banksmen and overseers at his collieries, and for sailors and farm labourers, and the girls for servants and operatives in the carpet factory he had established 1 6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL near his own estate in Westmoreland— being present at the London board, spoke in terms of such praise of the Ackworth children, that Sir Charles Whitworth wrote to Dr. Lee, of Ackworth, saying—" Sir James paid great compliment to your hospital * '^ * in the goodness of the children and the cleanly and orderly marmer they were educated." If children found bad masters, good masters sometimes had allotted to them very troublesome children, although informa- tion of this kind is very rare. An example of the manner in which a child would no doubt sometimes turn out — destitute as it would be of all those gracious influences arising out of home and social ties — may be gathered from the following letter, addressed to Mr. Hargreaves by the Rev. Mr. Williamson, of Guisborough : — "Sir, — I received your letter yesterday, and in answer to it am sorry to tell you Thomas Revel, apprenticed to David Lincoln, of this place, does no credit to the Foundling Hospital. He is one of the most Subtile, Lyirig, Mischievous, Thievish, incorrigible Rasscals, perhaps, in the whole Kingdom. The only reason I know of for his going to Sea was because he was no longer fit to live upon land. He is addicted, I am afraid, to every vice a Boy of his Age can be capable of. After frequent complaints had been made of him, to no good purpose, it was thought proper by Mr. Turner and Mr. Dundas to make a Trial of him at Sea. Accordingly, Mr. Dundas (with the Boy's own consent) had him put on board one of Sir Lau™ Dundas's AUum Ships, from which I find he has deserted, and found the way to his old nurse. What sort of a Nurse she has been, or how long she nursed him, I don't know ; but if he had been nursed for two Seven Years in Bridwell you could hardly have supposed him a more compleat young Villain. It would be impertinent in me to advise how to dispose of him, ■ but I cannot help saying, I hope we shall never see him at Guis- borough again. "If the Governors should think fit to remit him to his former Master (who, by the way, I believe, was a very good one), he will be obliged to make use of such means as the Law directs to be freed from him, as he is a dangerous Person to have in his Family. And if he should be received again into the Hospital he will be a means of Corrupting the whole Society. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 7 He says, it seems, that he likes Land better than Water, but he will stay long upon no Ground, I promise you. I dare say he has taken leave of his Nurse Steere before this time, at least for a while. If he is manageable at all, I should suppose it must be on board one of his Majesty's Ships of War. The Boy I took from your Hospital is a very fine one. I beg my compliments to Dr. Lee, and am, Sir, "Your most obedient Servant, "W. L. WILLIAMSON." " Guisborough, March 10, 1771." Never, perhaps, did any institution, the offspring of another, give more entire satisfaction to the parent body than did the hospital at Ackworth to that at London. Although the medical record shews a great amount of sickness and cutaneous disorder amongst the children and the number of deaths amounted to 6.35 per cent, there is no hint that the London governors were disappointed on that account. The state in which great numbers came into the hands of the London hospital was such that it is surprising, not that so many died, but that so large a proportion was saved. But those of the very lowest type of health were probably sent into the country hospitals — notably to Ackworth. And in the latter there were at times large num- bers of infirm and incapable. In 1769, at a time when there were but 216 in the house, a list of those who are reported as likely to be difficult to apprentice, from some physical im- perfection, contains 66 names, 33 of each sex. Of these 15 were idiots, 8 had lost the use of their hands, 3 were dumb, 8 had lame or deformed legs, 5 had only one eye each, and the rest were all more or less painfully or loathsomely affected. These poor creatures had probably been accumulating for some time. On comparing the mortality of the hospital children generally with that of the " parishes within the bills of mor- tality," Dr. Taylor White, whose heart was devoted to the interests of this class, discovered, in 1771, that, in spite of the miserable condition in which they were presented to the hospital, the death rate amongst them was as low, if not lower, than amongst the public generally where the mortality was registered. 1 8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Firmly persuaded of this fact, and of other blessings the hospital had to bestow upon a certain class of poor children, Dr. White and the philanthropist Sir Charles Whitworth endeavoured to set on foot a movement for the compulsory entry into the hospital of all orphans, foundlings and illegitimate children thrown upon the "parishes within the bills of mortality,'' except the City of London, believing that it would greatly tend to mitigate juvenile suffering and to prevent contamination from the vice so inherent in the parish poorhouse of the day. The parishes were, of course, to pay a reasonable sum towards maintenance. The sum proposed was ^^7 los. per annum, which was probably as little as the parishes could have them- selves supported a child upon, whilst it would at Ack worth have amply sufficed, the cost there being, in 1769, ^^5 17s. 8d. per head. Whilst speaking of the general success of the institution, it would be a mistake to omit reference to Timothy Lee, D.D., to whom so much of that success, if not absolutely due, was much indebted. He was a gentleman who placed an intelligent and philanthropic mind almost entirely at the service of the young institution, and, living within the sound of its clock bell, was ever able to be upon the place at important and critical moments, unstintingly lavishing time and love upon its welfare. A letter, written by him on the occasion ofa visit to the London Hospital, in 1769, will not only shew his pride in his pet institution, but will indicate some of the satisfaction and confidence felt in it by the parent hospital, and is therefore quoted here almost entire : " To the Ackwortli Committee, the 1st May, 1769. " During my stay in town I spent most of my time at the Hospital. You will easily believe me when I assure you that I received a most secret Pleasure and Satisfaction when I found the Method of our conducting the Affairs of our Hospital at Ackworth in such high Estimation, both with the Members of Parliament that attend that Business, and those of the London Commiltee. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 9 " I told the Committee, or rather would have told them, some of Our Defects with respect to Impositions about Apprenticing our Children, but they referred them back to our own Consideration for Amendment, as better able to remove them. The two Hospitals at Westerham and Chester are to be broke up directly, and all the Nurserys about London, except a, few designed for Parish Children, taken into the Hospital at £<) per head per annum, paid by the Parish Officers to the Hospital. Shrewsbury Hospital won't remain long, I believe, but don't think there seems the least Prospect or Design of breaking up Ackworth, and am firmly persuaded that the Annual Returns I caused to be printed Every Xmas and distributed, made our Light so shine among Men that they saw our good Works, and gave them due Praise. If I mistake not we are likely to last as long as our mother Hospital, and go Hand in Hand. Mr. White thinks be can continue Shrewsbury, but I find he is Singular in his Opinion. " I am, gentlemen, your most obedient servant, "T. Lee." Dr. Lee's services at Ackworth were much on a par with those of Sir Charles Whitworth in the London hospital, and so general is the impression of neglect in connection with charities of this kind, that it may not be amiss to shew the indefatigable attentions paid to the poor orphans and out-cast by the latter benevolent gentleman and his lady, by a brief extract from one of his letters to Dr. Lee. Writing in July, 1772, he says : — " Lady Whitworth, as well as myself, attend the Breakfasts every morning at half after seven, and hear their public Prayers, and are frequently present both at the dinners, at twelve, and their suppers, at six, after the latter of which- they rehearse their Evening Prayers. I likewise hear the Catechism three or four times a week, all which attendants are amusements, and I flatter myself of Utility, as well as keeping the Children in Order and Decorum." As early as Autumn, 1769, we find, from a letter of Taylor White, addressed to Dr. Lee, that, in consequence of the probable withdrawal in a year or two of the Government grant, it would become impracticable to continue the hospitals on the large scale they had assumed ; and that, as it would be essential to maintain, as far as possible, the prestige of the mother- institution, by its being well maintained, kept full, and worked 20 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL attractively, in order to preserve the public interest undiminished in it, so that subscriptions, upon which it would have largely to rely, might be drawn into its coffers, the probability was that the children sent to Ackworth would greatly diminish in numbers. This announcement was the first toll of the funeral knell of the Ackworth hospital. In Seventh Month, 1770, the Chester hospital had been so seriously drained, to supply that at Ackworth, that there remained in it but 96 girls and 31 boys. The London committee therefore resolved to close it, and gave orders to the Chester executive to send all the boys and three caravans of girls, at once, to Ackworth and to consider the best means of disposing of the effects belonging to the London hospital. Within a month the remaining girls were sent to Ackworth and the doors of the Chester house were closed. The same month that this exodus took place, a hundred children were ordered from Shrewsbury to Ackworth. Every effort was made to maintain the latter in activity, and it lingered on for three years after this accession. But it now numbered many sick in spite of every exertion to attain health. One of the efforts made to remove certain apparently almost incurable disorders, was the sending of children to Ilkley for change, and to take the water. In 17 71, eighteen were sent thither, at a cost of ^58 8s., and the success of the experiment led to others. When the annual Parliamentary grant was discontinued, there was no course left but to prepare for the end. Every effort was made to place in the fittest condition for attracting masters and mistresses all the hale, the lame, and the blind— the accumula- tion of years. All but these were sent off to the London hospital on the 23rd of Second Month, 1773. They were retained, in hope of a country settlement, until Seventh Month 25th of that year, when the caravan, which had so often carried its cargoes along the great North Road, now, once more, freighted with its wreck of humanity, travelled the well-known road to travel it again no more. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 21 Their inability to keep open this hospital was a great dis- appointment to both committees, and especially to Dr. Lee, Taylor White, and Sir Charles Whitworth ; but the Government grant of about ^^30,000 a year had led original patrons to withdraw their subscriptions into other charitable channels — asylums, Magdalens, dispensaries for the sick poor, &c., and now that the Parliamentary supply had ceased to flow, the novelty of the institution also having passed away, it had proved impossible to attract either old subscribers or new, in sufficient numbers to do more than barely support the London house. The average expenditure had shewn greatly in favour of Ackworth, in spite of its large share of sick ; and this was no doubt one cause of regret for the necessity for closing it. A comparison of the relative cost of the necessaries of life in the two hospitals was called for in 1772, and shewed as follows : — Ackworth Hospital. d. Meat, 2/- per stone 3 per lb. Flour i}^ „ London Hospital. d. Meat, 2/6 per stone 3^ per lb. Flour Butter... Cheese Soap . . . Candles Beer ... Milk ... near 2 6 1Y „ 4 per gal. 7 Coals, 36 bush, to the chaldron 3 1/6 per chaldron. Butter . . . Cheese Soap . . . Candles Beer . . . Milk ... Coals, 48 bush, to the chaldron, 6/2 per chaldron. 6/2 „ 3 5 6^ „ 4 per gal. 4 From this list of provisions and groceries, it would appear that such articles cost in the country only 80 per cent, of the London price, whilst coals were, in the metropolis, nearly seven times the price they were at Ackworth. The total number of children received into the Ackworth hospital had been — ■ Boys .. Girls .. T327 1337 Total 2664 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Of these 2365 had been apprenticed. „ II returned to parents. „ 10 had been discharged, being 2 1 years of age. „ 169 had died. „ 109 had returned to London. 2664 The committees were greatly perplexed to know what to do with the property. The London governors long entertained the opinion that the estate would realize a better figure if the buildings were removed, but their country brethren opposed the view stoutly. Dr. Lee was earnest in his objections to a scheme which should destroy a structure so noble, of which, to use his own words, " the buildings were so strong and (well) constructed that they might be converted into a palace for a nabob or a barrack for a regiment." The property was therefore advertised in the York, Leeds, Newcastle, and other local papers. Part of the estate— a detached farm at some distance — was, after a while, sold and, what is perhaps more to be regretted, the turret clock, with its fine bells, was disposed of to the Marquis of Rockingham, for the sum of _£s°- This is said to have been a very fine clock. The hours were struck on a large bell nearly two feet in diameter and the quarters on two other bells, of the respective diameters of ift. 6in. and ift. 3in. It was heard distinctly all over the parish. When the Friends came into the property, they contented themselves with a much less magni- ficent apparatus. David Barclay was requested by the committee to contract with George Penton, of Moorfields, London, for a thirty hours turret clock, "at a price not exceeding ^£^40." This sufficed for the wants of many generations of Ackworth school boys, before giving place to the structure .which now affords, in addition to the performance of its ordinary duties, amusement and instruction to the members of the boy's first class, its works being enclosed in a glass case in their school- room. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 23 The advertisement of the house and estate was drawn up by a skilful architect. The following is a copy of it : — " Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children. " Shortly will be sold by Public Aution (if not disposed of by private Contract,) Tire Buildings belonging to this Corporation, with 127 acres of Land, 35 of which are arable, the rest Meadow and Pasture, at Ackworth, in the West Riding of the County of York, In a most delightful situation, 3 Miles from Pontefract, 12 from Doncaster, 8 from Wakefield, 9 from Barnsley, and 23 from Sheffield, in a good Coal country, and within half a mile of the Turnpike Road from Wakefield to Doncaster. The Buildings are all of good Ashler Stone, have been finished within these few years, and may, with a little Expense, be made a convenient Dwelling House for a very large Family, an Academy, or Manufactory. The Edifice consists of three different Buildings, a. Center and two Wings, joined together by Col onades (exclusive of the Offices). The Center Building Fronts the South, has (a Committee Room or) Hall in the Middle, well finished, 40 feet by26. On one side thereof, in the same range to the South, may be by building one partition wall a Dining room of 42 feet by 24, and a common Parlour of 28 by 24, and on the other Side, in the same range, to the South, by building only another partition Wall, may be n Drawing Room of 42 by 24, and a Library 28 by 24, the Height of these Rooms are 1 8 feet. The Attic Story, over the rooms mentioned, are 1 1 feet high and 184 feet long, at present in three Rooms, but may be with ease divided into Eight bed chambers. The back part of this Building is conveniently divided into eight rooms on the Ground Floor, proper for a Steward's Room, Housekeeper's Room, Store Room, Butler's Pantry, Billiard Room, Servants' Hall, &c. , over which are other two Stories, one of which is 9 and the other 1 1 feet high. The Cellars under one half of this Building are 184 feet long by 24 feet wide. Adjoining to the back part of this Building, are the Kitchens, Laundry, Slaughterhouse, Cowhouse, Barns, Bakehouse, Brew- house, Stables, and other Offices. The wings are each 140 feet long by 44 feet Wide, are built with Ashler Stone, and finished in a plain neat manner ; the rooms are commodious and large, the materials of which may be taken down and disposed of, if not wanted. " There is excellent Water conveyed into all the Offices, supplied by a Pump and proper Reservoir. Contiguous to these Buildings are 83 acres of Rich Meadow and Pasture Land in a ring Fence, well watered by the River , Went, which runs through the middle of it, and 44 acres of Arable and Pasture land at the distance of about one Mile. " For further particulars enquire of Mr. Hargreaves, at Ackworth, or of the Steward of the Foundling Hospital, London." CHAPTER II. HOSPITAL PURCHASED BY THE FRIENDS — FORM OF GOVERN- MENT — BILLS OF ADMISSION ALL6wANCE FOR TRAVELLING EXPENSES JOHN HILL, THE FIRST SUPERINTENDENT BARTON AND ANN GATES, THE FIRST PUPILS JOSEPH DONBAVAND RAPID INCREASE OF SCHOLARS RULES AND REGULATIONS — COSTUME HALCYON DAYS ACTIVITY OF THE COMMITTEE DIFFICULTIES — THOMAS BINNS JOHN HODGKIN— GENEROSITY TOWARDS OFFICERS — ABSTRACT OF. EARLY ACCOUNTS JOHN COLE, THE FIRST APPRENTICE DISQUIETING REPORTS — SMALL-POX — MORE TROUBLES — DISCIPLINE AND, MODES OF PUNISHMENT. As this is not a history of education in the Society of Friends, it would be out of place to intrude a digression on the subject, but the writer may, perhaps, be permitted to remind his readers of the fact that the existence of Ackworth School is only one of numerous instances to be found in the history of the Society, of the solicitude of its members for the right training and educa- tion of its youth. Its efforts have been admirably epitomised by the late Samuel Tuke, of York, in a series of papers read in the five years 1838-42, to the members of the Friends' Educational Society, at their annual meeting held in connection with the Ackworth General Meeting, to which the writer recommends all who desire information on the general question. It remains for him merely to attempt to shew the raison d'etre of this particular institution. This will be found in the society's demand through the medium of the Yearly Meeting, reiterated every two or three years throughout the three quarters of last century, prior to its satisfaction by Ackworth School, for better means of educating HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 25 the children of its poorer members. Scattered throughout the country, chiefly in rural districts, and for the most part engaged in agricultural pursuits, were hundreds of families of Friends, ■who had literally no opportunity of obtaining for their children any mental education but that of the simplest and rudest village schools. When we think what many of these must have been, a hundred years ago, we are reluctantly driven to the conclusion that, however vital the interest in secular education amongst the more favourably circumstanced, there must, in the body at large, have been something of the paralysis of indifference on the subject. There were, perhaps, at all times, suitable, sometimes excellent schools for Friends in afiluence, and in some meetings Friends were strong enough and enterprising enough to support day schools of their own, in their meeting houses, but all these were comparatively few. The difficulties of travel doubtless had their influence in preventing Friends sending their children from home to the schools that did exist, the terms of some of which were sufficiently low, we should suppose, to be no very serious obstacle to a considerable class of those who could not be styled affluent. Samuel Tuke mentions a school at Sowerby, near Thirsk, where boys were, in 1760, boarded and educated at j^io per annum. There was one, in good repute, at Kendal, whose terms must have been sufficiently modest, as may be judged by the following copy of an account rendered for half a year and eleven weeks, i.e. for three quartersof a year, according to modern school computation : — Trustees of Richard Willan, Drs. To boarding and schooling for Langlot Willan. N.B. — The payment discharged to 2o-4th month, 1734, since which — 20th. loth month, 1734, one half year ... ;£^ o o nth. 1st month, 173-!, when he left, ii week and upwards more ... ... i 14 o Vulgar arithmetic, los., merchants' accompts, ^T. IS. ... ... ... ... ... I II o 26 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Firing at home and school, is. 6d., oil lamb black, 4d i lo Worsted and thread for a long season ... i o £l 7 1° Kendal, 14, 3rd month, 1735. Received of James Wilson the contents of this note in full by me. Thos. Rebanks. The school at Gildersome, conducted long and satisfactorily by John Ellis, at very moderate charges, was in good repute in the district immediately round Leeds. Samuel Tuke mentions many other schools of the time when that of Ackworth was established, but several of them would certainly not then have been adapted to the means of poor Friends. But whether opportunities of education for this class did exist or not, it is very clear that the generality of Friends in humble circumstances did not avail themselves of them. The Yearly Meeting of 1777 came to the conclusion that no sufficient pro- vision existed for the satisfactory training of the children of Friends " not in affluent circumstances," and requested the " Meeting for Sufferings " to devise some plan for the encourage- ment of boarding-schools having special qualifications for meet- ing the requirements of the case, and to report to the following Yearly Meeting. So often had the Yearly Meeting's efforts in this direction proved abortive, that it is not improbable they would have done so again but for the circumstance that it became known to Dr. Fothergill that the estate and house at Ackworth were in the market at a comparatively small price. He had the boldness and sagacity to grasp this fact and act upon it with such prompt energy as to lay all subsequent generations of Friends, down to the present time, greatly in debt to his wisdom and zeal. He rallied round him men likeminded, and they, on enquiry, having found that the estate might, if taken at once, be secured for ;£iooo, laid the desirability of immediate action HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 27 before the Meeting for Sufferings. That Meeting having no executive power for such a purpose, it became necessary for individual Friends to purchase and stand as guarantors for the disposal of the property, in case the Yearly Meeting should object to the scheme. That body, however, accepted it cordially. Something like enthusiasm spread through the Meeting. Subscription Lists were opened on the 13th of Sixth Month, 1778, in four various forms — ist. for donations; 2nd. for annuities, by which any subscriber of not less than ;^s° might receive interest at 5 per cent, per annum during his or her life, or during that and that of one nominee in addition, at the termination of said lives the principal to go to the institution ; 3rd. for the sale of "Bills of Admission," at eight guineas each, entiding a child to one year's education, board and lodging ; 4th. for ordinary annual subscriptions. The following curriculum of education was at the same time shadowed out : — " It is proposed that the principles we profess be diligently inculcated and due care taken to preserve the children from bad habits and immoral con- duct. That the English language, writing, and arithmetic be carefully taught to both sexes ; and that the girls be also in- structed in housewifery and useful needlework.'' The govern- ment of the school was vested in the yearly meeting, which deputed its administration to a General Meeting, consisting of representatives from the quarterly meetings, which was to assemble annually at Ackworth, and to hold an adjournment immediately prior to, or at the time of the Yearly Meeting, which was to report to the latter the state of the school during each previous year. To the General Meeting pertains the nomination of the active executive, which down to 1869, when the London committee was dissolved, consisted of a London and a Country Committee, the members of the latter being appointed at the annual gathering at Ackworth; those of the former at its adjournment. As no General Meeting was held in 1778, the two committees, each consisting of twenty members, were formed by the " Meeting for Sufferings." The number of 28 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the members of the Country Committee was at an early period in- creased to twenty-eight. One-fourth of each committee retired by rotation annually, but the Friends whose terms of office had expired were eligible for re-election. The Ackworth or Country Committee originally met every month, but this frequency was found unnecessary, and it arranged to meet once a Quarter for important business, deputing to a small section called the " sub- committee," the duty of meeting in the intervening months for the transaction of minor matters and current finance. The General Meeting has always retained in its hands the election of the Superintendent, but other officers are chosen by the committee. The first London committee consisted of the following Friends, and made its first minute on the loth of Seventh Month, 1778 : Timothy Sevan, Thomas Corbyn, John Eliot, Abraham Gray, Jacob Hagen, Robert Howard, Jacob Agar, James Healey, John Masterman, Jeremiah Waring, John Wright, Joseph Talwyn, John Fothergill, Gilbert Thompson, David Barclay, Mark Beaufoy, Morris Birkbeck, Richard Chester, John Chorley, Samuel Darby, Berry Marshman, Daniel Mildred, Henry Sterry, and George Wheeler. John Crorley was their first clerk. The first country committee met at Ackworth on the 31st of Seventh Month, 1778. It consisted of the following Friends, the first ten of whom were then present : — Joseph Eglin, John Barlow, Robert Arthington, Joseph Wright, John Thistlethwaite, John Leatham, William Empson, Joseph Birkbeck, Isaac Whitlock, William Tuke, John Hustler, William Fairbank, Nathan Dearman, Edward Horner, John Paynej William Hird, Thomas Bland, John Payne, jun., James Harrison, and William Smith. The first business was, on the part of the London committee, to meet the liabilities of the purchase, that of the country body HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 29 £ s. d. 100 100 100 10 10 to prepare the house as rapidly as possible for use, the Yearly Meeting having advertised its intention to open it on the 25th of Third Month, 1779. Donations and subscriptions came in rapidly. The first entered is a donation of ^^300 from Dr. Fothergill, who also subscribed, at the same time, ^^200 in the form of an annuity, the interest of which was to be payable during the life of his sister, Anne Fothergill, as well as his own. As in this important transaction it must certainly have been felt that h's dat qui cito dat, we give here the other subscriptions entered at the same time : — Richard Brewster, by way of annuity . . . John Routh, ditto John Chorley ditto James Backhouse, donation The first bills of admission sold were — Nos. I and 2 to Robert Howard. Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6 to Nathan Dearman. Nos. 7 to 16 inclusive (lo bills) to William Tuke. Within two years, donations had been received to the amount of ^6,965, and subscriptions for annuities to that of _;2^3,ioo. It may also be suitable to mention here that Dr. Fothergill, dying almost within a year of the opening of the school, made a valuable bequest to it. The London committee's minute made on the occasion will be read with interest : — "John Chorley brought in the Copy of a Clause in the Will of our late friend John Fothergill, Doctor of Physick, who departed this life the 26th of the 1 2th month, 1780, which is as follows : — " I give to the Trustees for the tiine being of Ackworth School, in the County of York, One Hundred Pounds per annum for five years certain, from the time of my Decease, payable half-yearly, for the use of the Charity, and then to cease, and from the End of the said term of Five Years after my Decease, 1 give the sum of Fifty Pounds per annum to the Trustees for the time being of the said school for ever, for the use of that Charity, the said Annuity to be paid half-yearly, and to be secured by my sister in such real Government or Personal Securities as she shall think fit and no other.'' 30 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Ann Fothergill lost no time in fulfilling the desire of her brother, and her decision must have been satisfactory to all interested in the security of such a bequest. Towards the close of 1782, she purchased on that account ;£ 1,666 13s. 4d. in the Three Per Cent. Consolidated Annuities, which cost ;£'966 13s., and produced ;£s° P^r annum. The method of subscription by the purchase of "bills of admission," although first devised under the pressure of the prospect of an early paym.ent for the estate, continued in operation for some years as the only means of entrance into the school. The form of the bill was very beautifully engraved, and a copy of it may still be seen at Ackworth. It bears the following statement : — "No " Ackworth School. "Received the day of the Month, 17 The Sum of Eight Guineas, for the use of this Institution, for which a child, not under Seven nor exceeding Thirteen Years of Age, being a Member of the Society called Quakers, is entitled to Education, Board, and Cloathing for One Year. " " Day of the Month, 17 " Admit a Child aged Years and Months, a Member of Monthly Meeting. " To the Treasurer of Ackworth School, in Yorkshire. "Before this Bill of Admission can be made use of the Order above must be properly filled up and signed by an Agent to the School, in whose Name the Child's Account will be kept ; and it] will be most agreeable to receive all future Payments and directions concerning the said Child thro' his Hands." The first subscriptions were temporarily invested in Navy Bonds, which, when the time came for payment of the purchase money for the estate, could only have been sold at considerable loss. In their difficulty, the trustees appealed to the " Com- mittee of the American Fund " for a loan, which should tide them over the depression in the -price of the bonds. This HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 31 committee had the management of a fund raised by subscription amongst Friends in this country for the relief of their poor brethren suffering from persecution in the States of North America. It had accumulated at this time to a considerable sum, and the committee was able to lend to the Ackworth account ;£^2,893 .9s., which it did at 5 per cent, per annum. The Friends were not able to effect the purchase of the estate as early as they expected, on account of some difficulty on the part of the vendors in giving a perfect title before the lapse of a certain time ; but this item, varying, at times from the accumulation of interest, at others from honouring bills drawn against it, appears in the Ackworth school accounts for twenty years. At one time it amounted to ^4,396 iis. 3^d. ; but in 1798, it had become reduced to ;^i,879 16s. lod., when the American Committee, having for some time had no legiti- mate call upon its funds, relinquished its claim in favour of the school. The first visit of the Country Committee was probably spent in a survey of the premises, as it minuted no business, but simply adjourned to "the 9th of the eighth month, at the eleventh hour," when it had the company of three members of the London Committee — David Barclay, John Wright, and Morris Birkbeck. On that occasion Robert Arthington consented to take up his residence at Ackworth for the purpose of superin- tending the alterations and numerous repairs necessary, and the committee minuted the offer, which it " kindly accepts." The important topic of its deliberations, on that occasion,, was the provision of a meeting house for the establishment. As a temporary arrangement, the committee-room was devoted to the purpose, but it was, at this time, proposed that the rooms constituting the portion of the east wing, south of its pediment, should be sacrificed to the formation of a room suitable to the requirements of the large family in prospect. This proposal was adopted, and, in Spring of the following year, a contract was 32 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL made with Bernard Hartley, whereby he agreed, for the sum of £1^8 4s. 3d., to take off the roof and remove the partition walls, also to re-roof and place the room in a satisfactory condition. He further contracted to fit up the room with seats for an additional sum of ;^i3S 13s. sd. It is said that the roof with which Hartley spanned the new room, about 40ft. in width, was very ingeniously contrived, and that it elicited much admiration from all concerned in its removal in 1848, when a new meeting-house was built and the east wing was raised. The architect employed was William Lindlay. An important question in reference to the travelling expenses of children likely to come from a distance early engaged the attention of the committees, who felt that the cost from very remote places would be prohibitory to Friends in very humble circumstances. The issue of their deliberations was to offer two pence per mile for every mile exceeding fifty, and the same on the return journey, provided only that the child had been two years at school. The value of this arrangement was speedily felt, for it is a fact, somewhat striking, that a large proportion of the first scholars were from distant counties. The two who entered first were from Poole, in Dorsetshire. In the report for 1780, the amount shewn as paid for this purpose is ;!^i83 3s., and as, up to that time, but 314 children had entered the school, afld only five had returned home, it is probable that the average distance of the homes of the children was little less than 120 miles. It is not a little difficult, in these days of railways, annual holidays, penny postage, and the telegraph, to imagine the trial of faith and affection which parents must often have experienced in those early times, and long afterwards, in parting with their children for the purpose of obtaining an education for them at Ackworth school. To many of them, the separation signified burying their offspring out of sight — practically, almost, HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 33 out of all communication — for years, at an age when childhood is peculiarly impressionable to new influences, and prone to forget the past in the present. The perils of a long journey, too, could not be despised. Telford and Macadam had not yet converted the sloughs and rough hummocks of tracks, very imperfectly adapted even for the passage of the heavy lumbering wagons of the period, into the carefully graded and well metalled roads of the high coaching days ; nor could a timid mother always forget the graver perils of the attacks of armed highway- men. Exactly a century prior to the purchase of Ackworth school by the Friends, the first coach that plied between Edin- burgh and Glasgow was established by Provost Campbell, who advertised that it would be " drawn by sax horses," and that it would "leave Edinboro' ilk Monday morning, and return (God willing) ilk Saturday night ;" but when the first children entered this school, no regular mail coach had yet been organized to run from London to Edinburgh, and, nearly thirty years later, Walter Wilson tells us that it took him four days to travel from Hawick to Ackworth. ■ When children came from London and the vicinity, it was usual to arrange that several should travel together, and sometimes a whole coach was chartered to bring down a "cargo," under the guardianship of some Friend. The cost of a coach, taken in this way, for tlie single down journey, was ;£i2. When children made the journey alone, or in small companies, they were met 'at Wentbridge — one of the stations on the North Road where horses were changed, about three miles from the school — and transferred from the coach to a cart, usually drawn, tradition says, by the school bull. Children going to Ackworth were not favourite " fares " with drivers and guards. They were not an fait in " tips," or clever in providing the little warming treats which the coachmen of the time are said to have so highly esteemed. It is related that on one occasion, when a party of three was being escorted by a wide- awake matronly Friend, the coachman was overheard, by the latter, describing the young travellers to a companion on the 34 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL box, as nothing better than " rag-tag and bobtail." On appearing at the door of the coach, on its arrival at Wentbridge, to solicit his douceur, the humorous lady presented him with three small coins, which she described as being one from " Rag," another from " Tag," and the third from " Bobtail." By the time that James Sholl, now of Congresbury, went to school, in 1815, the mode of travelling from London had been greatly expedited, Yet, even then, he tells us that he left the " Saracen's Head," Snow Hill, at six o'clock one morning, and, although the horses were changed every nine miles, he did not reach Ackworth until noon of the next day. Nor was the road then considered sufficiently safe -to dispense with " a powerful guard, armed with a blunder- bus of three-quarters-inch calibre, in case of highwaymen." But these travelling difficulties, however alarming to anxious mothers, were trifles compared with the trial of a separation for years from children, from whom many had never been parted for as many days. In some instances, the stay at Ackworth was prolonged to seven years. But in childhood a much shorter absence is sometimes sufficient to produce a forgetfulness dis- astrous to filial affection, and instances are on record in which children became so changed in personal appearance before again being seen by their relatives as to be no longer recognisable by them. We well remember one tender mother, whose circum- stances were so greatly changed, soon after her boy went to school, by the death of her husband, that she was obliged to take a baby-linen business, the exigencies of which confined her so closely that she was unable to leave home to visit her boy. His terra of three years having expired, he returned home, with a joyful heart, and, entering through the shop, he presented himself before his mother, who, although expecting him that day, leaned over the counter to enquire his business, when his voice, trembling with emotion, uttered the word, " Mother !" The anguish that word produced, she afterwards described as unutterable. That she should not have been able to recognise her own son, whose image had ever been before her night and HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 35 day, weighed upon her spirit like the incubus of a great crime. Years afterwards she could not contemplate the circumstance with calmness. It proved impracticable to open the school at the time the yearly meetings had proposed. From long disuse, many things had run to decay, and a year and a half were required to place things in working order. The appointment of suitable officers presented great difficulties, especially in the case of a head- master. The institution was on so exceptionally large a scale, that it was doubtless felt that its chief teacher should have had an exceptional training. Yet teachers of mark and ability, willing to accept such a post, were probably exceedingly rare in the Society of Friends of that day; and it is interesting to remember that he who had so admirably pointed out the value of the Ackworth hospital to Friends found also its first teacher, and that that teacher was so successful that, although a young man on his entrance on office, he did not leave the establishment until bent with age. This was Joseph Donbavand, whose name, even to the youngest generations, must be familiar, from his long service and his great fame as a caligraphist. Like all officers, down to the scullery maid, he came on trial — no officer, for years, being received without performing a term of probation. His first salary was £^20 per annum, at which, or some very similar figure, it remained for seven years, when it was raised to ^35. When he was making his arrangements for his marriage, in 1787, the committee agreed to give him ;^So per annum, a house rent free, and to supply him with coal. The Friend who was appointed to the similar post on the girls' side entered with the same salary that J. Donbavand did, with an additional allowance for her expense in removing. Her name was Hannah Reay, a widow lady, whose youngest child, then aged seven years, was allowed to enter the school at the same time, as a pupil. This lady's health very soon proved unequal to the post. She retired, but her heart had become bound up in the place, D 2 36 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL and, in an affecting letter, she proposed to the committee, on being restored to comparative health, to occupy any position however subordinate in the institution. In the Sixth Month, 1780, we find she came, in the words of the minute, "to nurse such children as may be indisposed, and assist in mending the children's linen." The committees abstained from the appointment of a Superintendent, in the hope that some well quaHfied Friend, of leisure and experience, might feel himself drawn to offer his services as Treasurer, live in the school, and exercise the happy control over the household which they at that time appear to have thought they could scarcely expect from a regularly appointed and salaried officer. Such a Friend did present him- self in the person of John Hill of London, who, with his wife and daughter, came to reside in the school in time to receive its first pupils. John Hill's daughter was installed as governess when Hannah Reay's health proved unequal to its duties. The principal offices being now filled, and the premises in a tolerable state of preparedness for its occupants, the school was declared open and received its first pupils on the i8th of loth month, 1779. Two of the same family. Barton and Ann Gates, from Poole, were the first arrivals. Little is known of their after history, and such information as exists respecting the boy does not tempt us to linger upon it. For those who are interested in this first Ackworth school-boy there yet exist, in the muniment room, his broken indentures. There was no sudden rush of pupils in the first days of the newly-opened school. A week did not bring a score. But as early as the 6th of the following month the committee found the number of boys already too large for one master, and arranged with George Lomax, an attender of Friends' meetings at York, but not a member of the Society, to assist in the school HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 37 temporarily, for doing which he was to receive, in addition to board and lodging, ten shillings a week. This arrangement is suspiciously indicative of a great paucity of well qualified teachers amongst Friends at that time. George Lomax gave considerable satisfaction. He was shortly after his arrival pro- moted to the charge of the beer, the Committee desiring him to take an account of the quantity then (3rd of First month, 1780) in the cellar, and to register at every brewing the quantity of malt consumed and how much small beer and strong ale were made from it. So well had he estabhshed himself by the time he had been four months in the school that he then brought his family to Ackwbrth, and was fully accepted as a member of the staff, at a salary of ^40 a year. The girls' classes were, probably, from the first, taught in their rooms in the west wing, but the boys had their first schoolroom in the Centre on the opposite side of the passage to the dining room. The room has since been divided and formed into the store room and the " little kitchen." For two years the school appears to have glided on smoothly and happily. The teachers were energetic and kindly, the superintendent (or treasurer, as he was called) and his wife were eminently amiable, genial, ' warm-hearted and earnest people, exercising over all an in- fluence productive of much good feeling amongst the children, the novelty of whose position in so noble an establishment had itself, perhaps, some beneficial control. After the turn of the year the number of scholars increased rapidly. By the Fifth Month there were 123 children in the school; at the General Meeting there were 219 — viz., 134 boysand85 girls; and before the school had been open twelve months the scholars numbered 256, when the Committee felt they must fix a limit, which, on deliberation, they concluded should be 300 — the number originally suggested, but never before settled. The proportion of each sex was arranged by the proportion of the two classes in the school at the time. The maxima were settled to be 180 30 HISTORY OF ACK WORTH SCHOOL boys and 120 girls. The rule was not very strictly observed, but the nuinbers were a guide, and Friends were at once advised through the agents, not to buy "bills of admission" before ascer- taining that there were likely to be vacancies. In spite of these resolutions and efforts the numbers increased, and on New Year's Day, 1781, there were 309 children in the school. During the first year it was the practice of members of the committee to spend much time at the school, lending their aid, in every way they could, to promote the satisfactory settlement of good order in every department, and to strengthen the hands of all who had assumed responsible posts in it. The gentlemen of the committee took this duty by rotation, whilst, amongst the ladies, Esther Tuke, Sarah Hird, Christiana Hustler, and Mary Proud especially distinguished themselves by their interest in all that concerned the place, but more particularly in guiding the regulations and arrangements of the girls' wing. In connec- tion with these they brought into the men's committee some proposals towards a contemplated " Table of rules and orders for the government of the family and school," an abridgment of which, having been forwarded to the London Committee, drew from that body some remarks, reflecting on some of the pro- posals -as calculated needlessly to lower the quality of the costume of the children, and to give more of the character of a' charity badge to it than they thought at all desirable. The country committee defended their women Friends with spirit, as their minute on the occasion will shew : — London Committee on Clothing.— MmvAe: of Committee held at Ackworth 7tli of 2nd mo, 1780. "The remarks of the London Committee on the proposed regulations made by some Women Friends of this County, and sent to London by order of our last, have been read, and it appears to us necessary to remark on the following Expressions (viz.), 'It would be injurious to the credit of the House to return them to their Parents in coarser and meaner Cloaths than thosethey brought with them.' This appears to us not agreeable to the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 39 original plan of this institution, which was Frugality and Moderation, for sonie may be sent here in Expensive Cloathing^ And we think it necessary that when Either Committee proposes any matter for the Consideration of the other, that it may not be hastily rejected or altered, without fully know- ing the motives for the other's Propositions. We therefore request our friends Sarah Hird and Mary Proud will correspond with the Women Friends in London respecting some things mentioned for the dress of the Girls, as they stand upon the London Committee's Minutes, that they may be further consideifed before they are Established." To this communication, which has almost the ring of a challenge, the London Committee replied with great courtesy, and referred the question of the children's dress entirely to the judgment of the Country Committee. The latter body, however, declined the responsibility, and in its turn referred it to the General Meeting. "The rules and regulations" here referred and contributed to were not hastily concocted, but developed as experience from time to time suggested, and it was not until 1785 that they were, in their most complete form, codified ; but as many of them were in operation almost from the commencement of the school, it may be proper to refer more particularly to them before proceeding further. These rules are incorporated and engrossed in a volume of vellum sheets, which is in fine preservation, and worthy of the attention of old scholars. It contains a complete code of laws for all sections and depart- ments, beginning with those referring to the general constitution. It contains rules and regulations for the guidance of the com- mittee's agents, as well as others for that of the treasurer (superintendent) and the mistress of the house. The school- masters and schoolmistresses have their laws. There are rules for the boys and others for the girls, and, as if diet itself were to be ruled by the rigidity of immutable law, a bill of fare for each day of the week completes this body of institutes. Few of these need claim our attention, but amongst those referring 40 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL to the schoolmasters and schoolmistresses may be given one or two extracts, yielding some information on the school arrange- ments of early times, and on the care exercised in the administration of justice. " That the boys be divided into four classes, under the care of four masters. That before breakfast each of the Reading Masters shall instruct a class in reading and spelling, and each Writing Master examine a class in arithmetic; that after breakfast two classes attend the Writing Masters to be instructed in writing and accounts, and the other two classes to attend the Reading Masters to be instructed in reading, spelling, and English grammar. That after dinner the boys who attended the Writing Masters shall attend the Reading Masters, and the boys who attended the Reading Masters shall attend the Writing Masters ; that twelve boys most properly qualified be nominated monitors, to assist the masters in the business of the school." " That the principal master teach the girls writing and arithmetic." " That the girls be taught reading, sewing, knitting and spinning, and that a proper number be sent alternately to the writing school to be taught writing and arithmetic." " In order that punishments be inflicted with coolness and temper, and in proportion to the nature of the offence, the following method is agreed upon, viz., that the treasurer and each master keep a book and minute down offences committed within the day ; that once a week or oftener they meet together and inspect these books and administer such punishments as may be agreed upon, using their endeavours to convince the children that the only purpose of correction is for their amend- ment, and to deter others from the commission of Hke offences." " That the principal mistress be careful that punishments, when necessary, be inflicted with coolness and temper." HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 41 The rules for the boys are here given in full, but as those for the girls are similar in spirit, and, with slight variation, in words also, they are omitted ; — ■ "General Rules to be Strictly Observed by all the Boys at AcKwoRTH School, and to be Read to them once a Month." " 1st. That they rise at 6 o'clock in the Summer and 7 o'clock in the Winter, and dress themselves quietly and orderly, endeavouring to begin the day in the Fear of the Lord, which is as a fountain of life preserving from the snares of death. "2nd. That they wash their faces and hands, and, at the ringing of the bell, collect themselves in order and come decently into the school ; that they take their seats in a becoming manner, without noise or hurry, and begin business when the Master shall direct. "3rd. That they refrain from talking and whispering in the schools, and when repeating their lessons to the Master, that they speak audibly and distinctly. " 4th. That they should not be absent from school or go out of bounds without leave. " 5th. That when the bell rings for breakfast, dinner, or supper, they collect themselves together in silence and in due order, having their faces and hands washed, their hair combed, &c., and so proceed quietly into the dining-room. " 6th. That they observe a Solemn Silence, both before and after meals, that they eat their food decently, and refrain from talking. "7th. That they avoid quarrelling, throwing sticks, stones, and dirt, striking and teazing one another, and they are enjoined not to complain about trifles, and, when at play, to observe moderation and decency. " 8th. That they neither borrow, lend, buy nor exchange without leave, and they strictly avoid gaming at all times ; that they never tell a lie, use the Sacred Name irreverently, or mock the aged or deformed. That when strangers speak to them they give a modest, audible answer, standing up and with their faces turned toward them. That they shall not be possessed or have the use of more than one penny per week ; that if any other money be found upon them it shall be taken away. " gth. That they use a sober and becoming behaviour when going to, in, and coming from religious Meetings. 42 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL " loth. That their whole conduct and conversation be dutiful to their Masters and kind and affectionate to their schoolfellows, and that in all cases they observe the command of Christ, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do ye even so to them." " 1 ith. That in the evening they collect themselves and take their seats in the dining-room and, after answering to their names when called over, and attending to such parts of the Holy Scriptures as may be read to them, they retire to their bedchambers and undress with as much stillness as possible, folding up their Clothes neatly and putting them into their proper places ; and they are tenderly advised to close, as well as to begin the day with remembering their Gracious Creator, whose mercies are over all his works.'' Such is the code of general rules for the boys, consolidated within a few years of the origin of the school, and, with little variation, maintained in active existence to within about thirty years of the present time. Those whose memories go back to the monthly rehearsal of these well-intended advices will generally confess that their frequent repetition soon rendered their reading a lifeless performance. The bold spirit who first proposed to abandon their time honoured perusal shewed as much sagacity as daring. But the period in which these regula- tions were prepared was an age of rules, and within half a year of the commencement of the school the Country Committee made a rule for itself which, if really needed, indicates the existence of singularly free and easy notions of the habits suitable to so august an assembly. On the 3rd of Fourth Month, 1780, the following appears in their minutes : — " In order that the Business of this Committee may be solidly and expeditiously transacted. Friends are requested to be careful to attend at the time appointed, and as much as possible avoid going to and fro during the sitting of the Committee ; also that those who have anything to offer do stand up and speak deliberately and audibly, keeping to the matter in hand, and that no interruption be given by others whispering or conversing together, but that all steadily attend to the Business of our Meeting. This minute to be read at the opening ol every Committee.'' No fixed and unalterable laws were made in reference to costume. That in vogue at home amongst the class who chiefly HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 43 constituted the school was probably not far from the pattern first employed in the institution, but as corporations of that time usually deemed it necessary to regulate the dress, and as sumptuary laws usually display little elasticity, but often stiffen by usage, costume originally prescribed for very wisely often becomes, after a time, singular, if not ridiculous. Whilst the institution was young, the children were probably little aware oi much peculiarity in their own appearance — in fifteen or twenty generations they must often have felt themselves exhibiting hot a little. Yet the girls, at least, must have made a very pretty and picturesque sight when gathered in companies. Thomas Pumphrey has carefully described the dress of both sexes as it appeared about this time, and we venture to appropriate his language : — " In the early days of the school its juvenile groups might have reminded us of the pictures of olden time, when the cocked hat, the long-tailed coat, the leather breeches, and the buckled shoe were the dress even of boys. The girls figured in white caps, the hair turned back over them, or combed straight down on the forehead, checked aprons with bibs and white neck handkerchiefs folded nearly over their stuff gowns in front. Their walking costume was a kind of hat, the pattern of which we are unable to indicate, and a long cloth cloak, with coloured mits reaching to the elbows." This picture of the young ladies is dainty enough, and the returning tides of fashion have some- times more nearly approached their costume than that of the boys, though it might be difficult to choose between the leather breeches of a century ago and the knickerbockers of the present type, as a matter of taste in the picturesque. We have alluded to the smooth and happy channel in which the first two years of the school flowed, so far as its internal life was concerned. That it presented a satisfactory aspect to such as sought for indications of a serious, sober spirit in its youth, may perhaps be gathered from a letter written by Robert Dudley, which is, however, too long for quotation. He paid a 44 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL t visit to the school in the Seventh Month of 1781, and appears to have been exceedingly pleased and deeply impressed, on several occasions, by the spirit Ije found about the whole place, but especially by the solemnity he observed at the times of silence before and after meals. He mentions having visited many other schools without seeing anything so striking. His spirit was much affected by all he saw, and he expresses a strong confidence that the school would, to use his own words, "prove a lasting blessing to our Society when we are all gone to our Lotts in Eternity." During this halcyon period, the committee and treasurer had very busy lives, whilst working in, as requirement arose, the various subordinate officials of the place. We find them con- stantly enlarging their staff. Now they are engaging cooks at ;£y per annum, chambermaids at -£^, housemaids at ^£4 ; then they are making arrangements with an " expert shoemaker," to take the general charge of the shoe (Jepartment, for which he is to have a " tenement in the farm-yard, coals, and ten shillings and sixpence a week." Wm. Snowden and his wife are engaged, the former as tailor, tho latter as, mantua-maker ; they also are to have a " tenement," and one shilling and fourpence a day each. The farm occupied their attention, and a young Friend, of Uttoxeter meeting, was appointed to its charge, at a salary of ^10 per annum, but whether he had a " tenement " is not said. He probably lodged in the house. His name was Samuel Good- wyn. The garden required much time and thought also, and even the burial ground had its share of them. The appointment of additional teachers was a weighty business, in which the London Committee took an active and prominent interest. Regulations of the diet and the supply of beer were often before them, and it would appear that, in reference to the last-mentioned article, they either thought its virtues only needful to an active life, or its evil properties not conducive to the right performance of the duties of First Day, for, in 1780, they forbade its use on that day HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 45 altogether. Then they had reports to render, not only to the London Committee, but to the Yearly and General Meetings, and, as a further illustration of the satisfactory and encouraging state which was early prevalent in the school, may be quoted their estimate of it in their report of Fifth Month, 1780. After informing their London Friends of the number in the school, and particularising tha't the children were from twenty-two English counties, and that two came from Scotland and one from Wales, they conclude : — i' The want of such an Establishment seems clearly evident, from the ready disposition with which Friends have Embraced the Privilege of providing their Children with the means of obtaining a pious, guarded Education, insomuch that many have been sent hither at very great distances, in the midst of a severe Winter ; and nothing could more fully demonstrate the necessity of it, than the good Effects that have already been conspicuous in the minds and manners of divers, who at their first Admission, seemed utterly unacquainted with good order, and of very unpromising Dispositions. These Encouraging Circumstances, and the great satisfaction attending the minds of many Friends who have been led to visit this place, and the openings they have found in the flowings of Gospel Love, to impart Counsel and Admonition to the whole family, are Confirmations to us, that the Establishment, if conducted under a due regard to divine Direction, may be rendered a blessing to the rising Youth of the present and Succeeding Generations." The Country Committee had its occasional difficulties. Al- ways more particular than its London brethren in the matter of dress, the country Friends were much annoyed by some of the parents, who were evidently not quite satisfied with the style in vogue in the school, for sending clothes to their children. Expostulation did not check the practice, though it would appear a change of ground took place in the reason presented by those who persisted in it. They sent them " under pretence of doing good to the institution.'' But the Committee would have none of it. " To prevent every appearance of distinction," they refused to have any more on any plea. Another practice, which we moderns should think innocent enough, did not 46 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL accord with their views of propriety, and there may have been then good reasons for the objection they took to it. They refused, in 1780, to allow children, in future, to leave the premises with their friends, or even parents, when on a visit to them. It was considered sufficient that they should see them on the premises. They accordingly minuted their decision, and referred the suitability of its being incorporated in the standing rules to the consideration of the following General Meeting. Holidays or vacations, also, soon began to give them concern. When children had been a year in the school many of them had been permitted to go home for a while, but from time to time the Committee discoverd evils attendant upon the practice, whilst they do not appear to have perceived any compensating advantages in it, and as " several disagreeable circumstances " had already attended the Uberty, they urged upon the London Committee, in Seventh Month, 1781, to join them in forming a rule absolutely prohibiting it. The Committee appealed to probably felt less strongly the propriety of so drastic a measure, and, whilst yielding the general point, reserved to John Hill discretionary power, on "extraordinary occasions," to grant permission of absence. The increasing demands on the boys' teaching staff led to the appointment of two masters, whose quahfications gave great confidence to the Committees. These were Thomas Binns and Thomas Hodgkin ; the latter of London, the former from Looe, in Cornwall. Of the expectations caused by these Friends something may be judged from the salaries they were to receive. The arrangements in both cases were conducted chiefly by the London committee. It engaged to pay to Thomas Hodgkin ^100 per Siinum, and to Thomas Binns 80 guineas, to provide the latter a house rent free, and to give him ^30 towards defraying the expense of moving his family from his distant home. In the Tenth Month of 1780, when the school had been open one year, the committee took a careful review of the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 47 conduct of their officers. It issued in a resolution of generous liberality towards those who had served them well in important stations. As the minute embodying the items of their donations not only shews their very generous treatment of their officers, but affords some information on the rates of payment of the period, it is here quoted entire : — " In consideration of the weight of business which has fallen under the care of the following persons, and their diligence in discharging it, it is agreed that the several sums following shall be given to them respectively as gratuities, viz. : — To Geo. Lomas ... ... ... ... ... ^5 o o ,, Joseph Donbavand ... ... ... ... 500 ,, Ann Hill 500 ,, Eleanor Abrahams ... ... ... ... 400 ,, Samuel Goodwin ... ... ... ... 300 "This Committee likewise, considering the great care and attention that is unavoidably necessary in properly conducting the School and Family, which has increased so much beyond the Expectation of Friends in general,, it is proposed that the following additions shall be made to the salarys of the Teachers and others, for the year ensuing, viz. ; — George Lomas, £10, making ... ... ;^5o o o Joseph Donbavand, ^10, , 30 o o Ann Hill, £St >> 25 o o Eleanor Abrahams, £4, making £iz this year, and^i5 y, ensuS. Samuel Goodwin, ;^Si iri^king ... ... ... /^i^ o o Wm. Snowdon and wife ;£'5, ,, 35 o o "And it is also agreed that the wages of the following Servants be advanced the ensuing year, viz. : — Hannah Robinson to ;fio 10 o Elizabeth Brady „ ... 800 Margaret Hodgson,, 700 Judith Foster ,, ... 500 And Matthew Downing, the Gardener, to 15 shillings a week." At the close of the year the first abstract of the accounts for the time the school had been open was prepared, and a copy of it may have its interest for our more statistical readers : — 48 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL ABSTRACT OF THE ACCOUNT From the Commencement 9th mo., 1778, to the 31st of the 12th mo., 1780 Receipts. £ s. d. Donations, as per List 6965 o 3 Annuities, ditto, at 5 per cent, per annum on the life of the Subscriber and a nominee 3100 o o Legacies, viz. : — John Hoyland, 10 John Girdome, 40 — SO o o Bills of Admission — 385 at 8 guineas ... ... ... 3234 o o American Committee borrowed, at 5 fer cent '... ;^2893 9 Interest due thereon 135 2 8 3028 II 8 Interest and Profit on Government Securities 1002 3 6 John Hill, Treasurer, due to him ... ... ... 50 13 11 Barclay, Bevan, and Co., Bankers, due to them ... 194 19 i Payment':. 17625 8 5 £ s. d. Repairs and alterations, including the meeting-house, with seats, &c., &c. 931 6 6X Fui-niture cost ... ... ... ... ... ... 1333 12 i Clothing 700 3 2?/ House Expenses ... ... ... ... ... ... 1424 14 c"^ Stationery, books and printing 259 5 7 Farm 259 12 9^ Garden balance ... ... ... ... ... ... jgo o o Salaries 154 5 q Conveyanceof children, 2d. per mile exceeding 50 miles 183 30 Contingencies 297 8 ii|^ Interest account 841 ^ o Government Securities cost 11090 13 9 17625 8 5 ;^2S2 17 283 3 9 17 2 277 I 16 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 49 Note. — The report states that there is — Clothing m hand of the value of Provisions, coal, &c. Books, paper, &c. Stock on Farm Drugs 846 I II The activity of these early committees was very great. Busy as they were with the thousand services demanded from them by the exigencies of a new establishment on so large a scale, and absorbed as they were in the immediate interests of their charge, they were not unmindful of the future of their young people, nor blind to the facility with which the good influence of the school might be eradicated by injudicious apprenticing ; and, in the prospect of many of their boys leaving, they deliberated much, in the early part of 1 781, on the establish- ment of some plan of enquiry for places for such as were becoming eligible for them, and, in the meantime, resolved to hold in abeyance the rule limiting the age to which a child should remain at school to thirteen years, so enabling a pupil to stay one, two, or three quarters of a year, as might be necessary, beyond that term, in order to avoid a period of idleness, or an undesirable home. We do not find that the boys' school was largely oflicered by apprentices or junior assistants for some years. The extensive use of monitors in the school may partly account for this. As early as the middle of 1781, however, arrangements were made with the friends of a promising boy, then in the school, that he should remain a year longer than the usual time, with a view to his becoming an apprentice at the close of it, if he should still prove suitable. This period of probation proved satisfactory, and John Cole became the first Ackworth School Apprentice. He was articled to one of the masters— Thomas Binns — and his successors for six years. " In consideration of his faithful services," he was, in addition to being provided with 50 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL all necessary board, clothing, laundry service, &c., to be paid the sum of sixpence on the first of every month during the first three years, apd one shilling on the first of every month during the last three years. At the expiration of his apprenticeship he was also to receive the sum of £\o. John Cole appears to have given great satisfaction as an apprentice, and on the expiration of his term, he was retained as a master, at a com- mencing salary of ^20 per annum. The year 1781 did not terminate before disclosing the fact that the most successful of institutions have their trials, and that prosperity itself sometimes developes its own chastisement. A shy and suspicious disposition manifested itself towards the youthful establishment amongst Friends in various parts of the country, as wide apart as Dover and Newcastle. An opinion became prevalent that not only were many parents sending their children to it for whom the institution was not intended, but that they were, in many instances, doing so without supple- menting the charge of eight guineas by donations commensurate with the cost of their children. On deliberation, the Committee came to the conclusion that the charge was not unfounded, and cast about for a remedy to the irregularity, which had doubtless arisen, partially, from the facility with which " bills of admission could be purchased," and from the difficulty which agents felt in refusing to endorse, when Friends had once pur- chased them. There were also not a few Friends who con- sidered the whole scheme of the institution of too ambitious a nature, and as a departure from true humility. One Friend, writing apparently as the representative of those in his vicinity, when forwarding the annual subscriptions, says — " Few give any room to expect they will give another year. Many of us think the thing too glaring, pompous, and great for either our appro- bation or encouragement;" and he concludes with an opinion, for which it is to be hoped he alone was responsible, that, for such as were the true objects of the school, " No large share of HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 5 1 learning in figures or letters nor fine hand-writings are needfiil for them, but may be injurious to them, touch their vanity, and infect them with the disease of taste and refinement that too much prevails amongst us." To dim, still further, the first brightness, the small-pox broke out in the school towards the close of 1781. Forty of the children took it in the usual form, and twenty-five, by request of their parents, by inoculation. Three deaths occurred from the visitation. The Country Committee made no further allusion in their books to these losses than the laconic entry — " Died of small-pox, three boys, in the natural way.'' Nor does this serious attack of' an illness, only too well known then, appear to have materially shaken the confidence of the public in the school, as there were more children in it at the close of the following year than at its commencement. That it may have spread some temporary timidity is probable, from the circum- stance that, whereas, in the early part of 1782, there were so many children on the "hst for admission" as to induce the Country Committee to propose to the London Friends the opening of the school to a larger number, viz., 2 to boys and 140 girls, the proposal was not carried into effect. It is possible that the extension may have become unnecessary, in conse- quence of the appearance of a disposition among Friends to be a little cautious in consequence of the illness. The wide prevalence 'of that disorder in our country a hundred years ago may be inferred from the statement made to the Committee, at the end of First Month 1782, which notes that the disease had nearly spent itself, that there were still two cases in its earlier stage, but that there were very few others who had not had the complaint. So serious was an attack of this nature in a large school, that the Committee, at another time, even questioned whether a rule should not be made forbidding the admission into it of any , child who had not had the disease, but it finally concluded that the parents of such children as might have it in the school E 2 52 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL should make some reparation for "the extraordinary trouble and expense to the institution." The regulation was embodied in the vellum book of rules, where it assumes the following dismal form : — "For every child \vho takes the Small-pox in the natural way or by inoculation, one guinea shall be paid to the Institution ; and in case any children die of that complaint, or any other disease in the School, the Treasurer may restore two pounds and three shillings for every whole quarter unexpired, deducting one guinea for the expense of the burial. " Before the close of the year, there sprang up some little spirit of dissatisfaction amongst certain officers, in various departments, leading to a little neglect of the courtesy and allegiance due to the Treasurer. Appeals w»re made to the Committee, over his head, and discomfort crept in. In the Eleventh Month of 1781 the Country Committee endeavoured to strengthen the authority of John Hill and his wife, by making known that it would, in future, receive no proposal or complaint from any servant until it had been properly laid before the Treasurer. We approach a period now indeed when the harmony and successful condition of the school suffered a declension. A special committee of inspection was organised by the Country Committee in 1782, which, in the Eighth Month presented a report, stating its general satisfaction with the condition of the school, but suggesting various changes in the out-door depart- ments. It also urged the importance of cultivating a plain and unaffected style of reading, and, especially, more solemnity in the reading of the Scriptures and religious books. The members of this small committee had reason to desire that particular attention should be given to the suppression of improper publications, which might be sent to, or come with, the children, and they concluded by expressing their desire that " the officers and servants (may) weightily consider the importance of their example, that a consistent plainness may be manifest throughout the family." HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 53 Admirably as the institution had, in the main, been conducted, zealously as the noble men, who guided afifairs, had laboured to render their young institution as perfect as was possible, no sooner did small troubles arise, within the precincts of the establishment, than the breath of misrepresentation blew upon it from without. Mischievous report, as usual, spread rapidly, producing injurious and disturbing apprehensions. Rumour has usually some foundation, yet in this instance it is probable that the only ground for its existence is what is conceded in the manifesto which the Committee found itself obhged to issue, in defence of the management The charges were made in their most direct form by Hertford Monthly Meeting, which deputed three of its members to communicate with the Committee on the subject. Those Friends were informed that, on strict enquiry, the allegations had been proved false, but, to restore the credit of the school, which was felt to be in peril, these noble Friends, whose duty they felt it to be to guide it through troubled as through still waters, resolved to address their refutation of the charges to a wider circle. In their report to the adjournment of the General Meeting held in London, they say: — " As various reports have been spread prejudicial to the reputation of this institution, in particular that a great number of the children in the School were infected with llie Itch, we judge it proper to inform you that strict examination was made at the time and no symptoms of that disease found in the Family, and that great and constant care is taken by way of precaution. " There hath also been a. rumour that the children are not allowed sufficient Food, for which there is likewise no Foundation in Truth, but it seems to have arisen from those whose imprudent Indulgence at home hath rendered almost every regulation irksome, and necessary restriction a Punishment. We therefore think it necessary that Friends Everywhere may be cautioned against encouraging or spreading such ^vil Reports, tending to depreciate the reputation of this useful Institution, and reflecting Imputations of gross Neglect and Inattention on the Committee, as well as our friends John Hill and his Wife, whose arduous, disinterested labour for the good of this Institution, and affectionate Attention to the welfare of the children, hath ever given us great satisfaction. " • 54 HISTORY OF ACK.WORTH SCHOOL There was never, perhaps, a time when attention to the discipline of the school was more fraught with important issues than in its early years. For the first two, as has already been said, little appears that would suggest that it was not eminently successful. There is indeed every reason to believe that its administration was characterised by a much more enlightened and kindly policy than was in vogue in most large schools of the time. The difficulties of the disciplinary department were probably greater than in our times, in certain directions. It is perhaps idle to speculate whether the modern school-boy is a more reasoning and reasonable being than his predecessor of a century ago, but when we bear in mind that, when Ackworth School was founded, the children of Friends were much more extensively of the peasant type than now, that, if surrounded by the sweet simplicities of rural life, they were open no less to the depraving influences of a free admixture with agricultural servants and others of a type little less ignorant, and, conse- quently, alike self-opinionated and stubborn, we shall probably not err if we conclude that they were more self-willed and unmanageable than now. Many of the modes of punishment then in use were such as to confirm, rather than remove the obnoxious elements of a disorderly boy's nature. Corporal punishment was probably the chief method of repressing the unruly everywhere. Very literal was the rendering of Solomon's advice about the rod. But from the first, as we have seen, its application was very carefully hedged about at Ackworth. From the condition imposed on the master, of abstaining from its use on his own responsibility and authority, it was doubtless pre- served from much abuse. As, at first, all offences were to be judged in the weekly '■'■courts" of the masters — a precaution chiefly devised in the interests of justice, probably, but intended also, we may guess, to secure chastisement, when corporal, from being handled in hot blood — punishment would seldom err on the side of severity, according to the standard of the day. The delay, sometimes entailed by this judicial process, had some HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 55 serious disadvantages, however ; and, when the school came to contain nearly 200 boys, it was believed, by some of the masters, that a swifter method was, at times, almost absolutely necessary. They appealed to the Committee, and obtained some modifica- tion of the standing regulation, which provided that, in cases of disobedience to a master's orders, or contempt of his authority,' the master might at once call in two of his fellow-teachers, who, with himself, might jointly decide on the amount of correction adequate to the offence, and " inflict it with the rod with due caution, not exceeding three strokes, to be done by one of the masters not offended." Any conduct requiring more serious treatment was, as before, to be referred to the weekly " court." No records appear to be extant of the proceedings of this assembly, except one slender volume, which covers a period of about four years and ten months, viz., from the eighth of First Month, 1781, to the twentieth of Tenth Month, 1785. From the latter date, all information of the joint disciplinary action of the masters is missing for a period of thirty years. From this solitary little manuscript volume, we have endeavoured to cull information on the nature of the offences prevalent in the early years, and of the methods by which it was sought to correct and remove them. It may be here mentioned that members of the Committee were frequently appointed by the body to sit in the "courts" for the double purpose of seeing how things were going in the school and of advising with the masters on difficult points. How far these visitors were permitted to see into the mysteries we are not told, but, on one occasion, when some bad business should have come before the " court," the transactions, minuted in the page for the day, are of a very simple character ; but, upon a piece of paper, carefully pasted into the book opposite this record, runs a memorandum naively noting — "Favoured with the company of some Friends, it was judged most prudent to postpone the Examination of our Delinquents to a future Sitting, and not expose our Weaknesses before our Visitors." During the first two years dehnquencies of a very 5 6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL venial character chiefly constituted the calendar— unless we are to suppose that offences, bearing simple names, were only reported when obstinately persisted in. The consideration shewn to delinquents, during the two first years of the record, is highly creditable to the humanity of the masters. If excuse could be found for a boy, it was apparently rather readily placed to his credit, and even offences of a some- what grave character are often treated leniently. When, as in early times was not infrequently the case, no offenders were brought up, the minute of the day often acknowledges the masters' pleasure in the circumstance in such words as " it is much to the credit of the children, and to our satisfaction." Even chastisement with the rod was not always a very severe suffering at their hands. In one instance it was limited to " one stroke." Boys were often excused their faults on promise of amendment, sometimes on the appeal of a visitor. Indeed it is doubtful if leniency and forgiveness did not sometimes pass the limit of prudence, and whether they were not the parent, in some measure, of subsequent disorders. One boy, charged with " stealing worsted," was considered to have expiated his offence by being put into the " new prison " for half an hour. The j>rison may have had terrors for the boy which are not now easy to gauge, or, possibly, the term " stealing " is here a strong rendering for an act which the boy scarcely understood to be theft. In the early times, offences of a minor character are constantly reported. Troublesome talkativeness, noisy ways, burning shoes, cutting desks, using disagreeable names, et hoc genus omiie, were usually punished by brief terms of confinement from play, with an occasional memory-task — the subject being usually some of the rules of the school or arithmetical tables. And this form of punishment, in an aggravated form, is throughout the five years constantly applied to serious disorders, especially on Seventh Day afternoons, which occasions wiped off many old scores, and sometimes created new ones. For HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 57 offences of rudeness, striking, teasing, wilful disturbance, cruelty, &c., a season of durance in the "new prison" was often pre- scribed. For damaging school books (and tearing out their leaves was a frequent offence), a boy usually "forfeited one week's spice." Old Ackworth scholars will wonder that the crime was ever committed a second time. A form of correction was devised from the practice in vogue of using the boys, in rotation, in the performance of some domestic duties, but it was not by imposing additional ones upon an offender, but by striking out his name from the , " Book of offices,'' and this proved a punishment of much virtue. Nine boys ran out of bounds t5 bathe in the river, and some of them had done it many times. Their names were removed from the privilege-book, and they were not long in appealing to have them reinstated. This punishment was used to a considerable extent. Various ipethods of " disgracing " were at one time in fashion. Two troublesome boys, convicted of " disturbing the school," were condemned to be "disgraced round the "green," under a guard, and afterwards confined, if it seemed not to have the desired effect." Other two thoughtless ones were "dis- graced round the court" for taking flowers out of a school- fellow's garden, and some were "disgraced in the dining-room until they behaved better." For abusing one of their school- fellows — a bad case of bullying probably — four boys were " disgraced round the green," the ring-leader wearing, during the performance, a rod hung to his neck, which was to be used upon him if the disgrace were not deterrent. Occasionally boys were " disgraced at dinner time, with their hands tied behind them." In some of the school-rooms were " blocks," on which troublesome boys stood to learn their tasks, whilst two boys are mentioned as having been ordered to take their places on the '^ culling seats " — whatever they may have been — until their conduct was to their master's satisfaction. Requiring an offender to find " bondsmen " for his good behaviour was common, as was also compulsory public acknowledgment S8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL of offences. A. B. " struck a schoolfellow," and was " ordered to make a public acknowledgment of his offence, to ask excuse of his offended schoolfellow, and find security for his good behaviour for two weeks. Samuel Bleekley and John King giving in their names for that purpose, he is to be excused." There is nothing in these records to justify any impression that stealing and lying were extensively prevalent at any time, although painful individual instances of confirmed habits of the character appear. These crimes were, of course, very variously punished, according to the enormity of the case. For lying, one boy was sentenced to " learn by heart the rules in the ' School Orders ' against telling untruths, and also the first eleven verses of the fifth chapter of the Acts, and repeat them with an audible voice before his schoolfellows some suitable evening when collected together." Occasionally a boy makes his appearance in these records in a manner which points to the existence of a very low type of individual character in reference to these grave offences, but such boys are not in any sense common and are chiefly found about the year 1784. The rod and the "prison" were the forms of retribution administeted to these, and it is far from clear that they had either a repressive or a restorative effect. They probably had more persuasive influence upon wavering spirits who did not experience them than upon the culprits who did. Towards the close of the period under review there are many instances of wilful disobedience, "attempts to throw the school into confusion," and there were spirits who bent all their powers to set law and order at defiance. Indeed, as we approach and enter 1784, we find a marked increase of the heavier charges, whilst the small delinquencies of the early pages no longer appear. The further we proceed the worse things become until, towards the close of the little volume, the sense of breathing a thick and heavy moral atmosphere becomes absolutely oppressive. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL ' 59 Floggings, which were rarely mentioned before, become pain- fully common at the close of the period, and the reader shuts the book with a sense of having entered upon times that were evil. Whether the little record from which these details of dis- ciplinary action are culled is any guide to the extent to which corporal punishment obtained is, perhaps, doubtful. It^ men- tions only forty or fifty cases of whipping and beating with the rod, sometimes in the "court,'' but more frequently, perhaps, in public, either in the dining-room, schoolrooms, bedrooms, or elsewhere. Nearly twenty cases of "imprisonment" are entered. This does not appear a large number, but it should be mentioned that the term "confinement" may possibly signify incarceration, in which case the number would be considerably increased, as we have not so interpreted the term. One instance occurs in which a boy was condemned, for stealing an orange from a schoolfellow, to be "put in Ackworth Castle." "Whether this be a fancy name for the " vif^ prison " we cannot learn. The infirm condition into which the discipline had fallen attracted the serious attention of the Committee towards the close of 1783. A lawless spirit pervaded the boys, with which the masters appear to have been unable to cope m ith success, probably because they were not at all in harmony with each other as to the methods of government most suitable to so large a school. It would be most unjust to forget that these men were at the helm of a concern of a character totally novel to their experience, and to that, indeed, of all teachers in the Society of Friends. It must be also remembered that their action was much limited by Committee legislation. Whatever power of government any of them may have possessed must have been much cramped and, perhaps, warped by this influ- ence, nor would the irritation which an able man experiences when obliged to hold some of his best power in abeyance, at 6o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL all smooth the nature of his governance, and, when his move- ment was still further crippled by difference of opinion amounting to dissension amongst his fellow officers, his effective force would be reduced to a minimum. To the sufferings and failures of these pioneers of our public school education, we owe more than we are probably aware of In the Autumn of this year the Committee nominated eight Friends to enquire into the nature of the disorganization, and requested them to spend a few days at the School, for the purpose of " strengthening the Masters and Treasurer in their endeavours to restore good order." The staff of teachers at that time consisted of five adult masters and one apprentice, but one of the former, in the midst of these troubles, requested to be released from his position. He was probably not a very strong or skilful disciplinarian, and had been originally engaged as a " School-master for the girls." In their first report, the eight Friends allude especially to the troubles amongst the masters, but do not state what success they had had in their "endeavours to promote a proper autho- rity over the children, and better understanding amongst the respective masters.'' The appointment " to visit the Schools, in order to assist in the restoration of order and government," was continued. Whilst their investigations were proceeding, there are indications, as might be supposed, that the unsettled state of the discipline had relaxed the efficiency of the teaching department, and whereas the Friends who each month examined the children about to leave the School had hitherto invariably reported that they had done so to " good satisfaction," there now crop into these reports qualifying phrases, remarking on " some deficiencies," &c. Perhaps the times had rendered the Examiners more critically disposed, but there are other proofs that the whole machinery had run down. The "Eight" made their final report in Fifth Month, 1784, and as it may help to shew the state of things in the School, as well as the style of action taken by the Committee, it is here given : — HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 6 1 " We proceeded, after the rise of the Committee, to a Conference with the Masters separately, and ^afterwards with the Treasurer, to enquire into the present state of Discipline, and the cause of the decline thereof, who appeared unanimously of opinion that a manifest declension had prevailed for a considerable time past which they generally attribute to the want of more Unanimity and Firmness. " We spent seven days in this visit, in which time we had religious opportunities with the Masters, Mistresses, and the sundry other Classes in the Family; with the Monitors, with the Girls in their Schools, and in the Boys' Schools often, we hope to some good effect. " We inspected the Records of Complaints and proceedings thereupon, at what they call their Courts, which, with some other matters, convinced us that lor want of proper Discipline, Evils increased among the Boys. ' ' Wherefore we propose that the Masters, in the Execution of their Office and in their respective Schools, should have a discretional Power to correct the Boys ; and that, considering the state of things amongst them, it appears most suitable that a Meeting of the Masters be held once a Month, on the Evening of the Committee Day, that they may have the opportunity of bringing up Cases, asking Advice, receiving Counsel, &c., as occasion may require, and the Members of the Committee have opportunity of becoming more early and familiarly acquainted with the State of Things, and by this we think the Masters' Authority may be supported ; such as abuse it may not pass unobserved, and Punishments become less necessary." Hovy much of the laxity of the school order of this time was due to imperfect or limited arrangements for the employment of the boys' leisure, it is probably now impossible to discover ; but that there were very few resources for an active-minded boy, besides play and mischief, is clear enough. The very small range of studies in vogue in the school-rooms must also have tended to increase the monotony of general life amongst the children. Indeed the difficulty of maintaining anything like real life in the classes must have been considerable. So perplexing was the provision of sufficient employment in School, that the Committee resolved, in 1792, to introduce knitting amongst the younger boys. It was first proposed by the London Committee. 62 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL That in the country did not like it, anci postponed the trial, but, after a few months, worked into harmony with the suggestion, and gave orders that the matron, or knitting mistress, should appropriate a few hours a week to instructing the boys, under nine years of age, in the art. The curriculum of studies still comprised nothing, in either wing, but reading, spelling, writing and arithmetic, with a little English grammar in the upper classes ; and the addition of this means of passing a few hours a week was probably a considerable relief to the little fellows, as well as to their teachers. The attention of the Committee had often been devoted to the consideration of the supply of books suitable for reading in class, as well as for such as might be read by the children in their leisure. The members were very desirous that everything read in public should be free from all false sentiment, no less than that what was provided for private perusal should be sound and useful. From the long period over which this business spread, it may be judged that great difficulties were experienced in making satisfactory provision for the latter department. Those best acquainted with the literature of the time will be able to sympathise with the Committee, though perhaps few would be quite so fastidious in their tasti;. The Report of the .Select Committee, which had this subject more especially in its care, is, unfortunately, nowhere given in extenso, but the list of books as finally proposed is amusingly meagre, according to our modern ideas, and does not represent a class of mental pabulum to which we should now think of confining our children. This is not the place for enquiring whether our modern liberality in reference to the works we place before our children may not threaten to run into licence, or how far that licence may be prejudicial, but a tribute of pity must rise in every heart for the litde fellows of 1783, for whom no greater variety could be proposed, after months of deliberation, than the following, of each of which, as if despairing of ever improving or enlarging the selection, the Committee proposed to obtain ten copies :— HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 63 John Richardson's Journal. John Woolman's ditto. Richard Davis's ditto. The last edition of Dying Sayings. Wm. Penn's Travels through Holland and Germany. John Roberts's Life. Thomas Sweeting's Fighting Sailor. Sewell's History. In this list we recognise a kindly sympathy for the needs of the young, but it is the sympathy one would expect to find in the heart of a rigid Puritan father ; but better Puritanism than licence. CHAPTER III. committees' misunderstandings — -EARLY EXPENDITURE, COST OF PROVISIONS, ETC. OUT-DOOR LABOUR ERECTION OF THE boys' shed DECLENSION IN THE DISCIPLINE AND TEMPORARY DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF THE SCHOLARS — PROPOSALS FOR EXTENDING THE AREA FROM WHICH CHILDREN SHOULD BE RECEIVED — RETIREMENT OF JOHN HILL — TEMPORARY OCCU- PATION OF THE treasurer's OFFICE BY THOMAS HODGKIN ELECTION OF JOHN HIPSLEY AS SUPERINTENDENT — LIBERALITY TOWARDS SERVANTS — RATE OF WAGES — WANT OF HARMONY BETWEEN THE TWO COMMITTEES. The little misunderstandings and difficulties that are under- stood to have existed between the London and Country Committees before the close of the century — difficulties which have never recurred — had their origin within half-a-dozen years of the opening of the School. At this distance of time they bear no serious aspect. Each company was anxious for the welfare of its important charge. The one was always on or near the scene of action and had opportunities more favourable to the formation of correct opinion on some points, whilst its very proximity to its charge precluded the possession of some of the advantages of the cool judgment of the more distant Com- mittee in others. With more of northern straightforwardness than suavity the Country Committee advanced its propositions, which, with nwre silence than urbanity, the London Committee sometimes ignored or quashed ; occasionally, perhaps, because they thought them ill-advised, sometimes, possibly, because they conceived that the action of the Country Committee too much HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 65 savoured of a. disregard for their opinion. The misunderstand- ing arose out of the action taken by the Country Committee in reference to the discipline, when the Committee of " Eight" was using efforts to assist the masters. Some minutes made by the country Friends on the subject, and sent, as usual, for approval to their London brethren, were deliberately rescinded by the latter, to the evident irritation of the former, who protested in their next minutes, saying; — "We apprehend neither that Com- mittee nor the Country Committee has a right to reverse the conclusions of the other, and that whenever such a difference of sentiment occurs, as in the present case, the matter ought to be referred to the ensuing General Meeting, to be there deter- mined." This breeze passed over, but now and then little difficulties were occasionally warmly met by both Committees, until the unhappy feeling reached its culminating point in 1793, when the Country Committee first pressed, and afterwards almost demanded, the disclosure of the names of some in London who had, as they considered, spread evil and false reports of the management; which demand the London Committee refused to comply with. But we are anticipating. Having now endeavoured to trace the growth of this young Institution for the first five years of its existence, it may not be improper, before proceeding farther, briefly to allude to the cost of the children's education. By a memorandum made in 1780, soon after the gathering of the School, when there were 122 chil- dren in it, we find that the weekly cost of their board was three shillings and twopence three farthings each, or almost exactly eight guineas per annum, or the price of a "Bill of Admission." So that every other cost had to be supplied by subscription. The price of various articles of diet was low at that time. Wheaten flour was only one shilling and five pence per stone of 14 lbs., and a sack of the finest flour was but ^\ 4s. 8d. A sack of potatoes cost only two shillings and, early in March, 179 eggs were purchased for 3s. ii}'2d. : beef could be had at prices 66 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL varying from 3j^d. to 2^d. a lb., mutton at 3d., veal the same price, suet at 4d., and bacon at 3>^d. : sugar was however 7}(d. a lb., treacle about 2 J^d., cheese 3d. : rice was bought at 42s. per cwt., and we believe milk could be bought at 4d. the gallon. The cost of the other departments of a child's expenses may be learned from the Report issued at the close of 1780, and quoted previously. In 1784, when the number of the children was very large, at one time 326, the average cost of each was ;^i2 is. 8d., of which _£6 IS. lod. were for provisions, coals, and such house- hold expenditure, ^2 15s. 2'/2d. for clothing, and ;£i 4s. iid. for salaries. It is rather remarkable, considering the very limited range of studies pursued, that until 1787 very little use had been made of the boys in assisting in out-door labour, but in that year the Committee, believing that it would be both serviceable to the boysand some economy to the Institution, if more work were done by them in the garden, made an arrangement with the head gardener, the conditions of which were that, if he dismissed and so saveS the wages of one of his men, he might draw to a considerable, though we are not told what, extent upon the boys for assistance ; and that, in compensation for the additional trouble of watching and training this boy-labour, he should have his house rent free. It is very doubtful whether much came of this experiment beyond what remained the custom down to very modern times, viz., the practice of sending four boys, in rotation, for half a day's labour, and a whole school-room of them in " gooseberry picking time.'' In hay time, down to recent times, detachments of thirty or forty boys often turned out to assist in what was supposed to be the lighter work of the harvesting, but which, in consequence of the necessity to follow in the line, was often, to the weaker boys, a very severe toil. Forty or fifty years ago " picking wicks "* was performed by boys, and is said * Twitch or Couch Grass, Triticum repens. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 67 to have been a very obnoxious business to them. As various complaints had from time to time been made to the Committee that the girls who left Ackvvorth were very ill-trained, and "inactive" in household duties, a number of women Friends were requested to give the subject close attention. The first effort to remove the ground for the charge — viz., placing the girls to the servile employments of the house, in rotation — gave little satisfaction anywhere. The matter was then (1786) left with the women Friends to do what seemed best in the case, and the consideration of the question claimed no further atten- tion from the Committee for some years. The year 1786 was a notable one to the boys. They had long needed a covered play-ground, for bad weather. Their accommodation was very limited in the school-rooms, being confined to the four rooms north of the pediment of their wing, and two smaller ones over the matron's room and the " lobby,'' and as they frequently numbered 190 or upwards, they must have been sorely inconvenienced in wet weather. The Country Committee proposed to build for them a very plain shed, in stone ; the London Committee advised that it should be in wood, being under the misapprehension that it would be more cheaply constructed in that material. Although, as we know, stone gained the day, it may be mentioned that we owe the more artistic appearance of the present shed to the resolute plea of the London Committee for a pediment in the centre — an archi- tectural adornment of no small value to the structure. The shed was finished in the autumn. Although we have no very serious record of disorganised discipline during 1785 and 1786, there is nothing to suggest that any great improvement had followed the efforts of 1784 to place the discipline on a better footing, and by the beginning of 1787 the Committees again became concerned about the general state and management of the School. In the early part of that year they united in sending a Committee of Inspection, consisting of 68 HISTORY OFACKWORTH SCHOOL ten gentlemen and eight ladies, empowered to make a thorough investigation. The advent of this large and important body of censors must have struck something like panic into weak and disorderly departments, and could scarcely have been witnessed with composure by the better regulated. Their commission was lo examine closely into everything — to endeavour, in fact, to discover every weak joint — and they did not approach their task half-heartedly ; they came as people fully conscious of their responsibilities in a crisis. Their dissatisfaction with the boys' side of the house was complete. With the exception of one or two less important departments, which would easily be set in order on the first intimation of their intended visit — the granary, store-room, shoe-maker and tailor's shops, and the baker's store — everything seemed to them out of gear, unless the entire omission of all reference to the studies can be supposed to indicate satisfaction with them. The probability is that they had not much confidence in the soundness of class-work con- ducted amongst machinery so full of loose rivets. But if the studies are not alluded to, condemnatory judgment was expressed without stint against the lax discipline. The want of punctuality, everywhere and at all arrangements, was rebuked, the necessity for more decorum and quietness enjoined, and the neglect of the boys in the play-hours severely commented upon ; but the heaviest charge of all was laid against the large amount of punishment in vogue, much of which, the Committee considered might be either wholly avoided or greatly modified and amelio- rated in form. To defective arrangements for, and indiscriminate excess of severity in the punishments inflicted, the Committee very extensively attributed the " disorder which," says their Report, " we are sorry to observe so much prevails." The better to enforce their opinion on the subject, they drew up a paper embodying their views on the administration and objects of punishment, copies of which they desired the Treasurer to place in the hands of all present and future masters. The following is a copy of the paper, which the Friends entitled — HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 6g " OBSERVATIONS ON PUNISHMENT." " Punishment is intended as a restraint on Evil, and should be inflicted with Coolness and Resolution, without the least Appearance of Passion, for where Passion is discovered there is Reason to believe that Revenge has some Share in the Punishment, and that the Master is not influenced by a sincere Concern for the welfare of his Scholar. " The less Severe Punishment is the better, provided the End is answered, but in some cases it should be more severe than in others. "Telling a wilful Lye, taking God's Name in vain. Swearing, Stealing, and other gross Immoralities, may be punished with the Rod, which when- ever used should be done with much Solemnity. "Fighting regular pitched Battles is a great Offence and ought to be severely punished, though in a less Degree than the former Immoralities. " Accidental Quarrelling and Fighting is a much less Offence. "Disobedience to the Treasurer or Masters' general Orders, such as talking in School or at improper Times, disorderly behaviour at Meeting or at Din- ner, going out of the Bounds of the Premises, calling Nicknames, &c., may be punished with the Loss of Play, or Loss of a Meal, or in very particular Cases of Disobedience to Orders, with the Rod. "On some Lads Shame will have the best effect, and sometimes the Punishment of the Ringleader will be sufficient. "Forfeits are suitable Punishments for laying Cloathes, HatSj &c., in improper Places, blotting the Desks in School, losing Buckles, &c., but these Forfeits should be small, and divided amongst the Lads at suitable times. " It is of great Consequence to give Children a just notion of the Advan- tages attending Order and Neatness, but above all things they should have a religious Education. Their tender Minds should as much as possible be impressed with an awful Reverence of their gracious Creator, for certainly ' the Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom, and is a Fountain of Life to preserve from the Snares of Death.' ' ' If they keep to it, it will preserve them in the slippery Paths of Youth and give them the unspeakable Comfort of a good Conscience. " It will convince them of the Propriety and Necessity of keeping to Plainness of Speech, Behaviour, and Apparel, of being compassionate one to another, of loving as Brethren, of being pitiful and courteous. 70 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH i-CHOOL "The fashionable Manners of the World will bear no comparison with this simplicity of a true Christian, and therefore it is very desirable that Children should be most particularly instructed and confirmed in these Principles of a religious Education." The Report from the Women Friends gave a much more satisfactory view of the state of things in the girls' wing and in the women's domestic departments, every part of which they had evidently very carefully investigated ; and it is some relief to its picture of the boys' side to find in the Report a sentence like the following — "Things appear in good order and generally very agreeably conducted. The diUgence and care of those who are principally concerned in the weightiest parts, as school-mistress, housekeeper, etc., claimed our par- ticular attention, their conscientious concern being manifest to execute the great trust reposed in them, and they, with divers others, we believe deserve to be encouraged and their hands strengthened, which we have endeavoured to do, as also to administer admonition, information, and advice, 'as occasions seemed to require." The bloom of early prosperity had given place to a condition of things on the boys' side, which now began to raise fears in the minds of parents. In 1784, as we have seen, there were in the School 326 children. At the beginning of 1787 the number was 300, but from that time it steadily decreased, and by the end of the year it was only 267. It reached the lowest point of this period in the Fifth Month following, when it was 265 — viz. 159 boys and 106 girls. The ebbing of numbers quickly alarmed the friends of the School, whose minds had already become very sensitive from the results of their recent investigation. The Committee now began to scrutinise the capabilities of their masters, and, in Seventh Month, 1787, one of them was "tenderly acquainted" that he did not suit, and he left immediately. The following month another was thought "too young and inexperienced," and a substitute was advertised for. A few months afterwards a third, who had held an important HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 7 1 position in the School for half-a-dozen years, had fallen into disfavour, as we find from the following minute : — " This Com- mittee, being dissatisfied with Thomas Binns, is fully of opinion that his services had better be dispensed with;" but, as if anxious not to treat that Friend cavalierly, they "desired to have the concurrence of the London Committee to dismiss him after giving proper notice." But Thomas Binns was not to be ejected without remonstrance. He appealed to be heard, in person, at the next assembly of the Committee, which body, " having heard his defence, against divers complaints made against him," minutes its will that his case should be continued. Thomas Binns must have felt that his suit was half won, and two months afterwards a compromise was effected, by which the Committee and he were reconciled. He had evidently established an iinperium in imferio, as strong men are want to do under a weak rule, and it is no reflection on the Superin- tendent, John Hill, to say that he had now reached a venerable age, which carried with it its natural infirmities. He had often requested to be released, but the Committee, who greatly honoured him, as often urged his stay ; but there can be no question that, latterly, he had been unequal to the guidance of affairs, and it is easy to understand how Thomas Binns should have assumed a course too independent for the Com- mittee's ideas of a true balance of authority. The fact was, that that true and desirable balance had become impossible. Thomas Binns, however, abandoned the position he had taken up, and the Committee agreed " to continue him on trial in his present employ." Nor was this active scrutiny into the condition of their staff" the only effort the Committees made to restore the aspects of prosperity to their School. They retained children long beyond the usual limit of thirteen years. Several girls were allowed to remain until fifteen years old or more. The London Com- mittee proposed to open the School to children of eight years 72 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL of age, but to this proposition the Country Committee demurred, "being of opinion that great inconvenience would be likely to accrue from an alteration of that kind, and that some more eligible expedient of increasing the number of children might be adopted." Such an expedient the members of that Com- mittee themselves proposed the following month. They suggested that Friends in "middling" circumstances should be encouraged to send their children, also that Monthly Meetings should be advised to admit into membership " at an earlier period the offspring of marriages, contrary to the Rules of our Society," and, bolder still, " other children, not entitled to membership, who are in such situation that the Society can extend a proper care over them," that "such, then, might be recommended to this School, and make some addition to the number." In 1788, however, the subject attracted the attention of the Yearly Meeting, which, in a special appeal in favour of the School sent down to the country, lowered the limit of the age of admission from nine to eight years. Either from dissatisfaction with the management or suspicion of the mis- appropriation of the School to classes for which it was popularly supposed not to be intended, the subscriptions of Friends, having greatly decreased since 1784 when they amounted to ,5^1593 4s. od., made a sudden plunge in 1787 from ^^1053 13s. gd., collected the year before, \.o ;£\\\ is. od. — little more than one tenth. The Yearly Meeting of 1788 urged strongly upon Friends the great necessity for liberality, and the amount again rose that year, but only to £,<)i>'i i6s. 6d. It is pleasant to us not to have to close the account of this some- what unhappy aspect of affairs without a brighter feature. Confidence, if rudely shaken, was more quickly restored than might have been expected, and by the Tenth Month, 1789, the number of the boys had again risen to 191, when the Committee once more breathed freely, and minuted the desirability of "rather decreasing than increasing the number of boys, as the School is now too full, and exceeds the limited number." HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 73 In the autumn of 1789, John Hill, who had in the early years of the Institution administered its affairs faithfully and assidu- ously, and had for some later years, with failing faculties, struggled to accommodate a Committee perhaps, then, too little aware of the importance of the presence, in the head of such an establishment, of activity and energy, now, not for the first time, pleaded before the Committee his failing health, his extreme deafness, and, perhaps, his broken memory, (for it is well known that it had become very treacherous) as urgent reasons for his being liberated from his onerous post. He had served the School voluntarily, without remuneration, for ten years, and there is something pathetic in the manner in which the worn out old man, who had nursed this infant giant of our educa- tional system, yearned to deliver his still precious charge into stronger hands. The Committee saw that the strain upon him could not be continued, and, without any successor in prospect, yielded to his request, at the same time presenting him with two hundred guineas, as a mark of their esteem and gratitude. No Friend coming forward, voluntarily, to supply John Hill's place, the Committee requested Thomas Hodgkin to accept the post temporarily, in Fifth Month, 1790, and this he consented to do until a new Treasurer should present himself Thomas Hodgkin had entered the Institution as a master in First Month, 1 781, being then a married man. He and his wife had apart- ments in the School, with, the understanding that one of the domestics should wait upon them. But the Committee had not foreseen the birth of a little Hodgkin, and were, apparently, sorely perplexed by the problem of its advent. It was beyond their powers of solution, and they appealed for light to the luminaries of London. The latter cut the Gordian knot by declaring that the infant must be turned out, or, in their more euphonious language, "be put out to nurse." This plan of escaping from their unprecedented perplexity, the Country Committee was fain to adopt, and the decree for its expulsion y4 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL went forth. How the poor parents bore the sentence, our records do not say, but a teacher's lot at that day had many hardships, and it is not yet a bed of roses. We know that Thomas Hodgkin did not abandon his post in adverse times, but bravely served his generation in it until he had made himself so indispensable to the School as to be honoured, though for a brief hour, by the possession of its highest distinction. Within three months of this appointment, however, a sug- gestion was made to John Hipsley that he should take into consideration whether he could not accept the office, and the following month a deputation from the Committee waited upon him, to receive the result of his deliberation. He appeared to be prepared to enter upon the service, but deemed it desirable that a clear understanding should exist between himself and the Committee, in regard to some personal conveniences, before he did so. He requested permission to bring his horse and two-wheeled chaise, for his own use, with the understanding that they should be maintained at the expense of the Institution ; to bring with him his daughter, in addition to his wife, who was to assume the position of mistress of the family ; and, if need were, his son also, then a youth of fifteen. The Committee, having apparently accepted his conditions, John Hipsley sig- nified his wilhngness to enter upon the duties of Treasurer and Superintendent in the following Second Month. Meantime, a period of some disorder set in. In the middle of 1790 the School was very full, there being 197 boys and 109 girls, and the Masters became unequal to the disciplinary - demands made upon them. The friends of the boys became much concerned, and letters began to reach the Committee, complaining seriously of the state of things amongst them. On investigating the matter more particularly, the Committee came to the conclusion that there was considerable exaggeration in the outside reports, but, notwithstanding, dismissed two of HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 75 the masters. There is no question that the disciphne became at this time very loose, and continued so until John Hipsley assumed the reins, which he handled with no uncertain or feeble grasp. The establishment quickly perceived the vigorous, if not severe, energy which the new Superintendent possessed, and, not without a struggle, found itself obliged to yield to the master spirit. A great improvement was almost at the same moment effected in the sanitary arrangements of the Establish- ' ment. The old system of drainage had long been imperfect, and in 1791 a fine new drain was constructed. This structure was most carefully executed, and shewed an interior measure- ment of two feet wide by three feet high. It is perhaps singular that this improvement in the health arrangements should have been exactly coincident with a case of that loathsome disease — Leprosy — in the School, and also with the appearance of five cases of small pox. The former was a very bad case, and, as soon as its real character was known, the boy was removed into the village until he could be suitably sent home. On the appearance of the small pox, all who had not had the disorder were inoculated, — the number so treated being forty-seven. The Committee about this time became conscious that their classes on the boys' side were much too large and resolved to create a new or fifth School, which was opened in 1791, into which were drafted those who were the worst readers; reading, — from the frequency with which it appears to have been regarded as the most important of the subjects at that time taught, — being clearly considered the standard of intellectual excellency. This is almost the first organic change made in the class ■arrangements from the early times. The alteration does not appear to have produced any immediate improvement in the state of education or discipline, for before the following year ran out the Committee found it necessary to appoint some of their members to enquire, more particularly than the general body could do, into the state of things generally amongst the 76 , HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL boys; and these friends reported that "the situation of the Schools required a closer attention from the Committee than had been generally given thereto," and that they " found a deficiency in some of the masters, with respect to that religious care and exercise which gives true authority and creates, in the minds of the children, that due mixture of love and fear, whereby only they can be rightly instructed either in a civil or religious education." This severe censure they enforced by suggesting that some of the London Committee should be invited to unite with them in a further investigation into this and some other things. This suggestion was carried out, and it is interesting and satisfactory to find that the final report of the mixed Committee of investigation contains no such severe strictures, as the above, upon the style of discipline. In their report we learn something of the extent to which they desired English Grammar to be taught — the maximum number of boys whom they thought it needful to instruct in that subject being seventy, all boys under eleven years of age being strictly excluded from the privilege of learning it. We have already mentioned the generous liberality adopted by the Committee towards the domestic servants of the establishment. The extreme care it had ever exercised in the selection of them and the practice of receiving all "on trial," in the first instance, had secured a class of devoted people who appear rarely to have disappointed their employers. The latter, not content with giving presents, in reward for this faithful service, had so often raised the wages of their servants that their rates of payment were commented upon as being on much too high a scale. On enquiring they found that their standard was considerably above that of the country around. A small committee, appointed to consider the question, decided that whilst it would be unadvisable to make changes in the wages of the existing staff, it was important to have a recognised standard, in harmony with that in vogue outside, HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 77 and their proposition resulted in the arrangement of a scale of wages, which may be interesting for comparison with that of the present day. The houseman was to receive ;£io a year, the cook ;i^io los., the cook's assistant ^d los., the chamber- maid £,%, the up-stair's housemaid ^^6, the down-stair's maid £,(> 6s., the dairy maid £,1, the governess's maid £,(i, the kitchen maid ^5. In the enumeration of the duties of the down-stair's maid, attached to this scale of wages, occurs an item that indicates that the boys at that time had dining-room table-cloths — a luxury which some after generation forfeited, and which was not restored until comparatively modern times. The maid who had " to assist the boys in laying their table-cloth in a proper manner'' was required "to sweep the boys' dining-room immediately after every meal"— an indication of cleanliness which is interesting. Before passing away from the statistics bearing on the wages of the domestics, it may be well to state that, at this time, it was the practice to place in the accounts the supposed cost of living of various officers — that of a book-keeper, schoolmaster, mistress, apprentice and matron was put down at;^i2 each per annum. As an ap- proximation this may have been tolerably correct, but, a few years after this, the London Committee suggested to the Country body that the sum should be^^ao. The want of harmony existing, about this time, between the two Committees is often referred to, but we believe an ex- aggerated view of it exists in many minds, and, with a desire not lightly to recover what might perhaps with advantage be forgotten, but to remove suspicions of greater dissension than ever existed, it is probably best to give a brief outline of it here. As was quite natural, the two Committees could not always see eye to eye. In 1793, a friend, having sent a child to school and paid voluntarily a donatkin, in consideration of an opinion expresed by the Committee " that a distinction ought to be» made betwixt the children of those who are not in a 78 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL situation to require the charitable assistance of the Institution, nor yet in such circumstances as to render it prudent to be at the expense of other Boarding Schools," the London Com- mittee, observing the item, submitted that friends who could give donations must belong to a social class above the rank of those for whom the school was intended. With this theory the Country Committee disagreed and retorted that, until the Yearly Meeting should be pleased to express the objects of the Institution in terms different from that of " Children of Parents itot in Affluent Circumstances," they should think it right to receive the children of people in positions similar to those of the Friend referred to, and that, if such did present donations, intended to supplement the price of bills of admission, it was desirable to enter such gifts with a due description of their object. This matter was something of a bone of contention between the Committees, but the most unhappy source of disagreement arose out of some rumours prejudicial to the school, which obtained ground in the south of England, on hearing of which, the Country Friends, probably apprehensive or suspicious that some members of the London Committee were not free from blame in the matter, informed that Committee in the autumn of 1793, "that divers reports were circulated in London to the discredit of the management of the Institution, and we, therefore, desire that you will enquire more particularly thereinto and inform us the results thereof, in order that such reports may be properly investigated, and the Authors of them fnade known." We italicise these last words as those which probably most offended. The London Committee ignored the claim, and, the following month, the country Friends demanded that their request should be acceded to — " We require in the first place that the names of the authors of these charges be .produced, without which we can only consider them slander." Each month, this unpleasant business continued to engage much of the time arjd attention of the Committees the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 79 London Friends being unwilling to disclose the names of the offenders, the Country Friends still declaring that they could not consider such anonymous disseminators of charges, " as sincere friends of the Institution, as sincerity would have led to a different mode of enquiry, and, as we now stand charged, we think it indispensably necessary that our accusers ought to be made known, if not seen face to face ; this being complied with we are ready to meet the reports to the fullest extent." The London Committee would appear to have expected that their country brethren should minute on their books the various charges, but, as one of them reflected on the Treasurer, the Country Friends refused to do so but, almost in the language of indignant scorn, did refer to one of the charges in the following terms : " This Committee judges it a disgrace to our records to report charges of a trivial nature, such as the evaporation of the broth and the scraping of the trenchers." Harrassed by these attacks from unseen and irresponsible antagonists, weary with seeking, in vain, for satisfaction, mindful also of difficulties which had often before arisen with their London brethren whom, from their distance from the school, and their slender opportunity of understanding the actual working of its machinery, they could not but consider less able to judge of its details than themselves, the members of the Country Committee were early in 1794 betrayed into a desire, if not to get rid of the London Executive altogether, to seek for some new form of government, under which they might be delivered from the tangle of perplexities, of which they were so heartily weary. They entered on their books the following resolution : — "As it now appears, from the experience of a considerable number of years, that the government of this Institution, under the direction of two Committees so remote from each other, has been the source of frequent uneasiness and misunderstanding, as it is in many cases difficult to explain matters which come before us, with sufficient clearness in writing ; we 8o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL believe it is become necessary to represent the case to the ensuing adjourn- ment of tlie General Meeting, and suggest to the consideration of the London Committee the expediency of its uniting with us, herein, and preparing a proposition to the General Meeting for it to consider of some mode of government, less liable to the difficulties which unavoidably attend the present form." The London Committee, naturally enough, refused to entertain the proposition. The Country Committee resolutely maintained its attitude for some time, and also now addressed itself to the defence of its Superintendent — John Hipsley — whose practice of sitting with, and taking part in the de- liberations of the Committee, as one of its members cx-offido had been freely assailed. It is but right, that the deliberate record of the opinion of a Committee respecting the friend, whose management and position had been so seriously challenged, but which had given such entire satisfaction to the Home Committee, should here appear in full. At this distance of time it is not difficult to see how much was to be said in favour of placing at the head of an establishment, like Ackworth School, a man chosen for his ability to fulfil the duties of a Superintendent, paid for his discharge of them and held responsible for so doing, and the l,ondon Committee did great service to the Institution, not only by pointing out the desirability of this, but by fearlessly exposing features of the management, to the injurious influence of which they believed the Country Committee was not fully alive. But, on the other hand, the loyalty to their trusted officer displayed by the Country Committee, in the following resolution, is worthy of all admiration ; — " We cannot avoid believing that the proposition for excluding the Treasurer from sitting in the Country Committee originates in a want of the like knowledge as the Country Committee have of the acceptable manner in which he has filled and continues to fill the department he is placed in, and we hope the Friends of the London Committee, on duly adverting to the circumstances of his conduct being so much more im- mediately under our notice than theirs, will be satisfied that we are more HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 8 1 competent than they to judge of his abilities and care for preserving order, and for the discharge of the trust reposed in him, and that they will also see the danger that may attend the introducing a hired Treasurer, and the being deprived of a friend who serves the Institution disinterestedly, and who has the approbation of the Country Committee, in such a manner as the present Treasurer has." This defence did not improve the condition of things — on the contrary the breach widened. The Home Committee refused to make a reply to the " charges," and demanded the consideration ofa change of government; tlie London Committee resolutely refused to advance the latter and as firmly demanded the former. The Adjourned General Meeting came and issued the request that the Country Committee " do furnish their London brethren with the information desired." Before issuing this order, however, it expunged two of the complaints itself. Unconvinced, but loyal to the higher authority, the Home Committee addressed itself to its acknowledged duty. Wasting no words in vain regrets, hurling no darts at its criminators, it simply minuted : — " In compliance with, and condescension to that Meeting's judgment this Committee appoints to make enquiry into the several charges of complaint and prepare a report." It is impossible to withhold the tribute of admiration from the noble men, who had long laboured assiduously in the work of the Institution, had endured the calumnies (for such many of the charges proved) of men whom they were not permitted to meet or even to know, who had marked out and struggled resolutely for a reform in the government of the School, which they deemed of almost vital importance, who yet, in the hour of defeat, could quietly and dutifully acquiesce in and promptly execute the behests of a judgment which they must have disapproved. 82 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL The charges were originally ten in number. The report deals with the eight retained for explanation by the adjourned General Meeting. Three of these the Country Committee declared to be absolutely false. The remaining five contain complaints of the use of meat of an inferior quality, the increased use of salt meat, insufficiency in the supply of meat, insufficiency in supply of beer, and want of facility for obtaining drinking water at various times of the day. The replies furnished to these items are, that the best fresh meat was supplied, and that the proportion of salt meat had not increased ; the Committee acknowledged, however, that inju- dicious carving had sometimes resulted in " several being over-served and some rather short," but denied that this arose from insufficiency in the quantity placed on the table, except on rare occasions, as in bad-keeping weather, when the deficiency was made up in bread and cheese or bread and butter.- It stated that the beer supplied had not decreased in quantity (but the report suggested that more might properly be supplied as a larger number of the boys drank it than formerly) and that the boys had reasonable access to drinking water. The tolerably clean bill which it had thus been able to pre- sent encouraged the Country Committee to repeat its demand that the " Author or authors of these charges should be given up, in order that some measures might be taken to discourage such slanderous conduct in future." The words of the London Committee now became much more gracious and, without yielding the redress which their country friends would best have liked, its members shewed a disposition to smooth things down and declared their intention to "be more careful in future how they recorded reports injurious to the Institution." It was long before the Home Committee could settle down without a more express confession of the falseness of the charges, or without having the satisfaction of knowing who their detractors HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 83 had been. They were still in the mood for a moral pillory of the culprits, and returned again and again to the subject, impelled by their sense of outraged justice, but all in vain. Their London brethren would not yield up the desired names, and on the first of Eleventh Month, 1794, the country Friends, "■^for the sake of peace," made their last minute on the bad busi- ness, and it appeared no more. Whilst this perplexing matter weighted the Committee, a little circumstance occurred which was perhaps especially trying from its taking place whilst the School was under a cloud and when every untoward event might act with double force in the con- firmation of unfavourable impressions. Four of the boys absconded one night, after all had retired to their bed-rooms, and their absence was not discovered until the following morn- ing, when messengers were sent along all the roads in search of them, but without success. They were not found until the next day when a Friend, on his way to attend the Committee, fell in with them, and brought them back. The Committee carefully interrogated them — having " a close conference with them individually" — but could not elicit from them that they ' had any reasonable cause of dissatisfaction. Three of them were evidently very troublesome boys, as they had been reported to the Committee the month before for misconduct, and been censured by that body. They probably often attempted in after- times to glorify themselves through the story of their escapade, but, if legend does not lie, they had a very sorry and a very hungry time of it and were heartily glad to be led back to their home. We have already seen that the Committee and Thomas Binns had not been always able to act in harmony and, either from difference of opinion on disciplinary questions or a tendency on his part to a high-handed policy, in 1793, when he had occupied his important post for a dozen years, difficulties again arose between them, and the Committee thought it best that he should leave. G 2 CHAPTER IV. THE "flags" — JOHN HIPSLEY RETIRES — IS SUCCEEDED BY DR. BINfNS^ DONATIONS TO RETIRING OFFICERS ROBERT WHITAKER ENTERS AS "BOOK-KEEPER AND ASSISTANT IN THE schools" DEFICIENT INCOME — HIGH PRICE' OF FOOD TERMS RAISED ; OPINIONS THEREUPON — A COMMITTEE OF ECONOMY AND ITS SUGGESTIONS BILL OF FARE — SCARCITY OF READING-BOOKS — A LIBRARY FOUNDED YEARS OF DEAR BREAD — SOCIAL DIFFICULTIES AMONGST OFFICERS. -We must not pass by this period without referring to one feature of the premises which then had its origin and which has been associated with an amount of enjoyment which it would perhaps be impossible to over-estimate. To association with it, it is probable that numbers of old Ackworth Scholars attribute genial influences which, if they have not absolutely ruled the rest of their lives, have at least shaped many of their treasured feelings and preserved some of their best natural gifts from hardening into uselessness. In 1793 the Committee gave orders " that a path of flag-stones, not exceeding six feet in breadth, be made from the Committee room steps to the garden gates." If those " flag-stones" could record all that has passed upon them, what a sum of human happiness — what a roll of sacred memories —would shine upon their annals ! In this brief History of Ackworth School little is recorded of the doings on the girls' side of the house. The turbulent elements of human life usually attract the pen of the annalist more than the gentle influences that guide and control its best interests and its truer happiness ; and the documents, upon which the history of this HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 85 early period is chiefly based, deal little with the smoother and gentler life of the West Wing. Doubtless, moving events, passion- ate experiences, stories of suffering and mad struggles with the unconquerable, little tragedies and noble deeds, have all made a mighty history amongst the inhabitants of that part of the School, but in all things of this nature documentary evidence is silent. But of all the forces existent in human elements it is probable that not one has exerted an influence more powerful and permanent upon large masses of old Ackworth Scholars than the gracious and ennobling converse of the sisters and cousins of the West Wing upon the boys of all time since those " Flags" became their happy rendezvous. Towards the close of 1794 John Hipsley intimated to the Committee his wish to retire at an early date. He remained, however, until Fifth Month, 1795, when a prospect opened of the post being filled by Dr. Jonathan Binns, then a Physician in a large and lucrative practice in Liverpool. His appointment was made at the General Meeting, but he did not enter upon his duties until the 24th of Tenth Month. This year also Isaac Payne, who afterwards became a highly successful school-master at Epping, to whom Isaac Brown, late Principal of the Flounders College, was articled, entered upon his term of apprenticeship to Ackworth School. We have, at a former period, referred to the generous kindness of the Committee towards such of its ofiicers as distinguished themselves by faithful service. Whilst it gave its handsome purse of 200 guineas to men like John Hill and John Hipsley, as marks of esteem and gratitude, we have seen that it did not neglect its humble domestics ; and about the time of which we now write, John Brewin, having reached the termination of his apprenticeship, received a present of ;^ii, in addition to the ordinary apprentice's retiring fee of ;!^io, in consideration of his having done good service whilst the Institution was short of 86 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL one of its staff of- masters. Again, when John Hipsley jun., who had for some years filled the post of book-keeper, was about to retire, soon after this time, the Committee shewed its wonted consideration— though on that occasion in a novel but probably a very useful form — by " agreeing to give him a small horse, which (was) not of much use to the Institution, as a gratuity for his acceptable services." The Committee had just before voted thirty guineas to Joseph Birkbeck, who had very kindly spent much time at the School whilst the post of Super- intendent was vacant. And whilst its salaries were on a very liberal scale, it did not overlook the necessities of its humbler out-door officers. Seventeen hundred and ninety-six was a year of dear bread and we find it raising the wages of the chief shoemaker, Samuel Whalley, to eighteen shillings a week, in consequence of " the high price of the necessaries of life." The advent upon the stage of one who was long and faith- fully and ably to guide the fortunes of the Institution and whose name links a distant past of the School with days almost . modern, is foreshadowed in a simple minute of Fourth Month 1796, which will have an interest for the older generation of Ackworth scholars : — " It is agreed that Robert Whitaker come hither on Trial in the Situation of Bool<-keeper and Assistant in the Schools, or other matters wherein the Superintendent may think proper to employ him. Jonathan Binns is desired to request him to come as soon as he can conveniently. The Superintendent is desired to get the House repaired, where Thomas Binns lately resided, for his reception, and also the Garden palisaded, agreeably to the Direction of the Sub-Committee who viewed it." Robert Whitaker entered upon his duties on the nth of Sixth Month, 1796. The liberal conditions upon which he was received shew that the Committee had formed high expectations of him, and it was not slow to improve his position. He was born at Oakenhead Wood, near Haslingden, in the year 1766. He was the son of pious parents, of the Baptist persuasion, and, HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 87 in the years almost of infancy, displayed unusual intellectual promise. Having passed through the best schools of his native place with much credit, he was, at an early age, sent to a clergyman for the classics and mathematics, in which depart- ments he would appear to have made rapid progress. His delight in literary pursuits led him to choose, for his career, the profession of teacher; and the post of school-master in the Friends' School at Crawshabooth being vacant, he was appointed to it, when only eighteen years of age. The School was' held on the Meeting-house premises and, on the days when the mid- week meetings for worship took place, the School closed one hour earlier than usual, to accommodate them. Robt. Whitaker began to attend these, and soon found the views of Friends so much in harmony with his own that he joined the Society. He speedily became much associated with the Friends of that part of the country, many of them at that time people of much cul- ture ; and on the occasion of a visit of Priscilla Hannah Gurney to that district, she became acquainted with Robt. Whitaker, in whom she recognised a Friend suitable to conduct an enterprise which she and Richard Reynolds of Colebrook-dale had for some time desired to carry out — that of establishing a Friends' Boarding School in the Principality of Wales. Robert Whitaker, then a married man, gladly undertook the charge of the new establishment, at Llanidloes, in Montgomery.'^ Here he remained four years, when his wife, who had very keenly felt the isolation of her Welsh home, became so anxious for a change, that Robert Whitaker was induced to present himself for the post vacant in the office at Ackworth. The price of provisions having been very high in 1796 and the prospects being no brighter, in the Spring of the following * The School accommodated only twelve boarders — six boys and six girls — but it was well supplied with day scholars, many of whom came from a distance and were boarded in the town, for the purpose of securing the highly appreciated education to be obtained at the "English School." 88 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL year the Committee began to see that a time was approaching ■when the income of the School would become insufficient without additional sources of supply and proposed to the London Committee that the price of admission tickets should be advanced. Uniting in this opinion, the London Committee prepared a proposal to be submitted to the following General Meeting, in which it suggested that the charge should be advanced from £B 8s. od. to ^lo los. od., or that some method of relief should be initiated. The impecunious con- dition into which the School was drifting alarmed the General Meeting, which, instead of contenting itself with its usual diminutive Report to the Yearly Meeting, issued the following perspicuous and earnest appeal : — " From the great advance that in the two last years took place in several articles of provision, and other causes as mentioned in the printed Report of last year, the Institution has expended nearly ji'2000 more than its income ; and, notwithstandmg the apparently large balance of capital in favour of the Institution, as stated in the account of the present year,' is likely to be involved in very serious difficulties, without the vigorous exertions of Friends in their several Quarterly Meetings ; most of which, notwithstanding the advice of the Yearly Meeting, have been very far from coming properly forward in their support, to a School which is so evidently a benefit to society. " It has been, probably, some obstacle to the generosity of individuals to observe the large amount of the balance above mentioned ; but it must be remembered, that this is in a great degree made up of the prices which the buildings, land, and subsequent improvements have cost, and that the net annual produce of the whole is but about ;^220. The sums received with children is about ;f 2500 per annum, making together about ^■i.Ti.o. The remainder of the income, so as to make it sufficient to answer the expenditure, which, in common years, is about ;^4000, although no interest be paid to the American fund, and for the two last years has been upwards of ;^5ooo, is to be obtained from the uncertain supply of donations, legacies, and the annual collection. " Now, it has been proposed, as an expedient to increase the income, to raise the price of the admission of children to ten guineas each, which would produce, on three hundred, £(>'}P per annum ; but it is thought that this HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 89 would occasion so heavy a burden on such as are least able to bear it, as to make it expedient to waive it at least for one year, until other expedients shall be tried. "It is therefore hoped that the Quarterly Meetings in general will exert themselves in future in their annual collections, with a degree of vigour beyond that which they seem hitherto to have used ; and it is proposed to agents, when they recommend the children of those parents, who though not in affluence, cannot, from their circumstances, claim to receive a benefit for eight guineas, which has of late cost the School nearly double that sum to bestow, to put the parents upon supplying, through the channel of the Monthly Meeting Collections, a sum equal to what their circumstances will allow them to afford, above the usual price of eight guineas. ******* ' ' Signed in and on behalf of the General Meeting, the 29th of the Fifth Month, 1797. "JOSEPH GURNEY." This appeal was temporarily successful. The annual sub- scriptions which, in 1795, had been only ^£'801, and in 1796 ;^iii5, rose this year 10^^1550, whilst donations applicable to current expenditure suddenly sprang up from ^60 the previous year to £,i1A- Every reasonable effort was also made to reduce the expenditure. Indeed, prior to the Yearly Meeting, a sub-Committee had gone through every department very carefully, in search of means of economising. The Friends constituting this Committee reported that they found no serious extravagance any where, but that they did not feel satisfied with the large consumption of ale and beer. They found a consider- able increase in the expenditure for malt, and thought that 100 gallons of table beer and 50 gallons of ale were a large quantity to be consumed weekly. The amount of malt, used in the manufacture of the beverages, they thought very large for the amount produced, the beer being made at the rate of twelve and a half gallons to the bushel, and the ale at that of eight gallons and one third to the bushel. They also expressed their perplexity to understand how so large an amount of the stronger beverage could be disposed of Having also go HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL ' discovered that it was not the practice to measure out the malt to the brewer, they questioned whether all its virtue were extracted. They thought, too, that some loss had been suffered from thd* practice of buying an inferior quality of "stuff" for the girls' clothing, whilst they thought another article of their dress made of a material needlessly costly. But they concluded their report with the opinion that the very high price of " grain and meat " was the chief cause of the increased expenditure. Although they found that the amount consumed was greater, and also that the milk was subjected to " less admixture " than heretofore, they endorsed the Superintendent's arrangements in these matters, as being done with the view of raising the standard of health. Their report mentions incidentally that 13,386 gallons of milk were used per annum, at the price of sixpence a gallon, but it does not state how much of it went to the making of butter, which was included. In consequence of the increase in the subscriptions and donations, as well as some reduction in the price of several articles of consumption, the expenditure of 1797 was kept within the income but, the following year, the donations fell to £i,(i and the subscriptions to ;^ 11 29; the consequence of which was that the General and Yearly Meetings saw no alternative to raising the terms to ^^lo los. This was done with reluctance and not without opposition. Small as the original charge of eight guineas may appear to some of the present day, it probably seemed a large one to many who had then to purchase " Bills of Admission." The opinion of Richard Brown of Lothersdale, as expressed in a letter to Dr. Fothergill, addressed from York Castle where he was then confined for " conscience sake," was probably by no means an uncommon one in 1779. He declared that to charge eight guineas a year at a School intended for the children of Friends "not in affluent circumstances was a contradiction in terms." And David Barclay, than whom few Friends perhaps HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 91 shewed a deeper interest in the foundation and prosperity of the School, has left on record some observations on the subject, which manifest a similar view. When some Friends proposed early in 1799 to raise the terms, he expressed the opinion that even eight guineas were too high, saying, — "If prices advance, subscriptions will reduce. Many poor Friends, who will struggle to pay eight, will not attempt ten." "Advance would encourage Friends to send children who should not." ' ' When the Institution was established, the Bills of Admission were fixed so high as eight guineas, because the large sum of ;!f 10,065 h^c^ heen raised in one year by donations and annuities, to purchase, repair, and furnish the premises ; but ii was hoped that the Bills would soon be red-uced to six guineas, and then to four guineas, and I am of opinion that might now be done if Friends would exert their benevolence equal to their pecuniary abilities." The Yearly Meeting having less confidence than David Barclay, either in the benevolence or the pecuniary ability of Friends, and having raised the terms, resolved that all un- necessary sail should be furled now that their craft was to be worked under untried and doubtful conditions, and a "Com- mittee of CEconomy" was formed, which sat at Devonshire House and spent many days amongst the accounts, minutes and whatever other sources of information it could secure, which were calculated to throw light upon the finance, upon almost every department of Which it made suggestions. The salient points of its proposed reforms were not, however, numer- ous. Elaborate alternative plans for the working of the Farm were drawn out. Greater economy in, or closer investigation into, the use of butter was urged. The amount of that article consumed, in 1798, had been 2978 lbs., or 57 lbs. a week, which the Coinmittee thought a large quantity. Thirty cows were kept, of which twenty-two were in milk, and it thought the number might be reduced. In the item of bread it suggested that good wheaten flour would probably be more economical 92 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL than meslin, a mixture of wheat and rye, then in common use in the North. (This suggestion was not adopted then.) The Committee complained of the extravagant amount of coal burned, but the consumption of meat troubled it even more. It found that it had increased ten per cent, in three years — viz. from 30,049 lbs. to 33,124 lbs., and recommended a judicious use of soup, whilst it deprecated the use of weak broth as a "poor aliment." Although the members of this Committee appear to have found the ale and beer department in a much more satisfactory condition than a former Committee, when it was so bad that the brewer was dismissed, they considered there was still room for improvement. The cost of the malt and hops consumed in 1798 had decreased from the £26,-!, of two years before to ;^ 12 5, but this did not satisfy them. They found that ale was placed on the table at dinner and desired that the practice should be discontinued, stating, also, their belief that, " if the table beer came to be nicely managed, very little ale would be desired." The scale of salaries they con- sidered too high and desired that it should be reduced as early as possible. But nothing appears to have offended them more than the extravagant cost of the clothing department. The coat of 1799 cost one-third more than that of 1782, and one-fifth more than that of 1793, yet they state that no great rise had taken place in the price of cloth during the intervening years, and they ask "Is the tailor an experienced artist 1" So dissatis- fied, if not disgusted, with this department were they, that they expressed their inclination (not their intention) to send down three or four coats and waistcoats "to see whether you can make them as cheap." At a later sitting of this " Committee of CEconomy" a Bill of Fare for each day of the week was drawn up and, as this remained in force, with extremely little variation, for many generations of Ackworth Scholars, it has an interest for these pages. M A HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 93 " Breakfasts.— Every day Milk Porridge poured on Bread. " Dinners ; "First Day. — Boiled sweet Puddings with Currant.s. Sometimes Apple Pies, and in Summer occasionally other fruit Pies or Cheese- cakes. " Second Day. — Beef or iUutton, dressed by steam, (sometimes a little Pork) with Turnips, Carrots, Greens, or Potatoes, and Bread ; — no Butter — Roast Meat may be substituted occasionally, but not often. " Third Day. — Boiled Suet Puddings, with Sweet Sauce. "■Fourth Day. — Meat Soup. In Summer this Dinner may be occa- sionally changed for Bacon, with Beans, Pease, Lettuces, Roots or Greens, and Bread ; no Butter. " Fifth Day. — Baked batter Puddings, with Sweet Sauce ; (sometimes baked Rice Puddings) if Milk can be spared, if not, boiled Rice Puddings, with a few Eggs. "Sixth Day. — Beef or Mutton, dressed by Steam, with Potatoes, Greens, or other Vegetables, and Bread ; no Butter. " Seventh Day. — Meat Soup." Most old Ackworth Scholars, who have reached forty or fifty years of age, will recognise this simple arrangement, although more than one item they might know more readily had it borne the epithet more familiar to them in the old and happy days. Perhaps few of the details of the management obtained from the Committee more thought, during the first twenty years, than the selection of books suitable for class-reading. The range of studies being exceedingly limited, Reading assumed proportions of importance in the eyes of the Committee which overshadowed the consideration of all other subjects. Good work in that department was their ambition and upon it they expended most of the energy they brought to bear upon the class work. Yet their tools were few and often poor. The choice open to the careful mind of that day was very limited. So sternly was the moral sense of the Friend of the time set against frivolity in 94 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL any form that, had there existed comparatively harmless litera- ture of a gay and lively sort, it is not certain that it would have been admitted ; but as books of that type were then too usually objectionable from their moral laxity and, as the more morally suitable were often dull and heavy, the poverty of supply for the Ackworth children was extreme. Fastidiously nice the Friends who directed that department may have been, but we who live in an age in which, from our cradles, we are surrounded with every luxury of child-literature, from sumptuous alphabets emblazoned with gold and colour, and rich with work from the hands of the artist, from Robinson Crusoes in one syllable and Sir Roger de Coverleys toned down to infantile comprehension on the one hand, to the most complete compendiums of our best literature, grave and gay, tragic and comic, on the other — the range between comprising every variety a diverse taste and opinion can demand — can probably have but a feeble idea of the discouragement and difficulty arising from the dearth of books adapted to school use, eighty or a hundred years ago. It is not without interest to know that those which found most acceptance at Ackworth were Aikin's " England Delineated," " Reflections and Maxims," " Goldsmith's History of England," a book entitled " Extracts and Original Anecdotes," and, for occasional reading, towards the close of the century, " Collec- tions of Debates on the Slave Trade" and Guthrie's Geography. The last must have seemed to the young readers a wonderful repertory of marvels and knowledge. The difficulty of procuring suitable books for the youngest classes on both sides was especially great. From an accidental remark made by the Committee respecting the duties of one of the younger teachers, in 1793, we learn that his class of twelve or fourteen boys consisted of " only such as scarcely do more than know their letters," in which case the difficulty must have been at a minimum, but a stage or two beyond this .attainment the provision seems to have been most scanty. Frequent HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 95 complaints were made of the non-existence of books adapted to their capacity, or written in easy and familiar language. Sarah " Trimmer's works for children found a ready acceptance from thoughtful people and the Women's Committee obtained her " Introduction to the Knowledge of History" for the girls. They also introduced the reading of some Friends' Journals and Tracts, explanatory of the distinguishing views of Friends. The Men's Committee, more desperate or more philosophically inclined, obtained twenty-five copies of the "Beauties of Sturm," compiled by Eliza Andrews. Some of the works of that ponder- ous German had been translated into our language but a few years before and had attracted much attention; and the adoption of this selection from his writings was probably felt to be a safe march with the times. But brighter days were dawning and, before the century closed, the first selections by Lindley Murray made their appearance. In 1799, fifty copies of the "English Reader" were obtained for the School, to which they must have proved an inestimable boon, being probably much more in advance of any work, of a similar intention, which preceded it, than it falls behind any which have up to the present time followed it. Much as the Committee felt the deficiency of suitable books for the school-room, the boys and girls of a literary inclination must have felt that for their leisure still more. There was absolutely no thought of such a thing as a library for fifteen years after the establishment of the School and, although the question, then first mooted, was several times discussed in the Committee during the next two years, no action was taken until 1796, when the establishment of one was resolved upon, and it was proposed to appeal to the Society at large for contributions of books suitable to the purpose and for donations in aid of the object' All books presented were to be subject to a censorship of the Superintendent and four 96 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL members of the Country Committee, as well as of that of five members of the London Committee. A few months after this resolution was passed, the business had so far advanced as to necessitate a home for the books collected ; and the " Secretary's old office" was set apart for it. The Committee suggested that the room should be open to the masters and "apprentice boys" to "retire to during the recess from the schools." The present century opened, as the past had closed, with years of alarming scarcity. In 1791, the total cost of pro- visions of all kinds was only ^1880 os. 9d. In 1796 it had risen to £2^6"] iis. 4d. Henry Hipsley relates that his grandfather, who had resigned the superintendency of the School in the spring of 1795, but who was on a visit to it in the Seventh Month of the same year, recorded that wheat was then selling at from 96/- to 112/- per quarter and remarked in his journal that it was " doubtful whether corn would be found in the country at any price." Henry Hipsley further states that he had frequently heard his father, John Hipsley jun., who retained the post of Secretary at the School for a while after his father left, " speak of the year of scarcity, and of his being sent to the market at Pontefract to buy corn for the household, at any price, when — such was the competition — he had to place his hand in the farmer's sack, in order to secure the wheat, the moment the bell rang for the market to begin." And, although the prices of 1795 and 1796 were not fully maintained during the following three years, the cost of pro- visions was still very high. In 1800, however, the provisioning of the School cost ;!^3665 4s. lod., whilst in 1801 it reached the extraordinary sum of ;^378s 17s. 7d. — in the former year nearly twice the amount of 1791, and in the latter more than double the amount of that year. Happily for the School and for the country, foreign markets were able to supply England with large importations of wheat, during those two HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 97 bad years — the amount received from abroad in 1800, being 1,242,507 quarters, at an average price of 110/5 per quarter, and, in 1801, 1,396,359 quarters at 115/11. The price of this latter year has only been once exceeded, viz., in 1812, when imported wheat cost on an average 122/8 per quarter. But for this liberal foreign supply, it is difficult to know how high the prices of home grown produce might have ranged during the two years just referred to. In the spring of 1800, the Committee, in harmony with a recommendation issued by the government for reducing the general consumption of wheat, gave orders that, during the "scarcity," no wheat should be dressed for fine flour except such as was absolutely required for puddings and pies, and that the dressings of such wheat should, with the exception of the course bran, be put to the " bread- meal," from which the bread was to be made. And, that there should be no needless consumption of bread, the baker was enjoined always to bake sufficient to supply the house for a period extending at least one day beyond the following baking- day. With this serious additional pressure upon their re- sources, the Committee did not feel justified in listening to the cry of their out-door officers for increase of wages but, not closing their eyes to the extreme pressure to which this class was reduced, made such presents to them as might alleviate their temporary difficulties. The Country Committee, through- out these trying times, met their compHcated anxieties and difficulties with bravery and good spirit. In 1801, the London Committee proposed to raise the terms, but their country friends very thoughtfully considered that the class of Friends, from whose families the School received its children, must themselves be suffering so keenly from high prices and heavy taxation, that they would feel any additional charge a great burden ; and, although they anticipated a very heavy balance against them at the close of the financial year, they advised that it should be met by taking up a sum of money on interest, in the hope that better times would return, gS HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL when they might free themselves from the debt or when it would be more easy for parents to pay heavier terms. They instituted a rigid economy throughout the domestic department. Three hundred and ninety-seven stones of flesh-meat were saved, upon the consumption of 1799, and rice was liberally drawn upon as a substitute, as is shown by a comparison of the consumption of that article in the two years — 4 cwt. sup- plying the family in 1799, whilst nearly 23 were consumed in 1800, although the price in the latter year was nearly double that of the former. The cares of the Committee were not confined to dealing with the scarcity. Dr. Binns's administration, however able, appears about 1800, to have pressed somewhat heavily upon the susceptible mind of the West Wing. The leading spirits of that department rose against what they considered the harmful influence of the Superintendent and his wife. To consider the best means of coping with this serious want of harmony, the Country Committee desired the London Committee to appoint some of its members to unite with others of its own body to investigate the case. That these Friends came to the conclusion that injudicious interference had been practised, may be supposed from their suggestions. In their report to the general body they delicately, and, with lawyer-like euphuism, advised that " The Superintendent be allowed to take his meals in ordinary with his wife in their own parlour," instead of taking them as hitherto at the public table in the house-keeper's room with the masters and mistresses. They also suggested that the Doctor's wife, not being in a position of responsibility, should be requested not to interfere with the mistresses. Then, entering into a minuteness of detail for the regulation of the family, which was a part of the spirit of the time, they pro- posed that the senior school-master should sit at the foot, and the senior mistress and the housekeeper at the head of the teachers' table at dinner and supper and that they should HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 99 be "responsible for the orderly conduct of the family at meals." They further advised that " the family do not retire in a hurry after dinner but wait^t least till the cloth be taken away." This advice might be unjustly supposed to suggest the existence of discourteous habits, or a deficiency in the two sides of the house in the mutual enjoyment of each others society ; but the sub-committee which tendered it believed genial social converse to be promotive of a harmony which they deemed it all-important to establish throughout the Institution, as may be imagined from the import of the last phrase of their report which may act as a gloss upon the suggestion to the more general body of the teachers — "that the Superintendent and the principal Mistress do maintain free and frequent inter- course ; all shyness and reserve to be avoided as the greatest evil." That the General Committee thought these propositions alike wise and timely is certain, for, without exception or modification, it directed "that they shall be adopted immediately." That the issue of such an edict did not drive an independent man, like Dr. Binns, into an immediate resignation of his post, is perhaps the proof of an absence in his mind of all petty feeling and the existence in him of a lofty trust that twisted per- versions and misconceptions would be best rectified by patient- endurance and the illumination with which Time usually lights up the course of the past. It is perhaps also an indication of his deep interest in, and sense of responsibility towards the School, which may have fortified him to minimise the import of the painful reflections conveyed by the document of the Committee. The Friends who met in the Ackworth Committee Room at that period ascribed a potency of influence to the housekeeper's room which they greatly desired should be fully felt. A wise and judicious lady — Hannah Dumbleton — then presided there, and the Committee, no doubt, believed that the society of that room would have a refining influence upon the characters of H 2 lOO HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the bachelor portion of the community. This was probably well supported by facts, though whether the spasmodic effort made by the Committee at this time to promote a closer and more genial bond between the two sexes was, in all its issues, quite in accord with its calculations is doubtful. The Com- mittee had emphatically laid down the regulation that the housekeeper's room was to be considered by the masters and apprentices as a social resort— on one occasion of appeal minuting their opinion as follows : — " The Library is the proper place for the masters and apprentices to prosecute their studies in, and the housekeeper's room is the place for such of them as are inclined to relax from study." Forced social, like sumptuary laws, are ever liable to miss or over-shoot the intention of their framers, and it is rather curious that the only occasion on which the Committee minutes the excess of social enjoyment between teachers of the opposite Wings is when, shortly after this time, it records its dissatisfaction with one of the mistresses for being " of late unsteady in her con- duct, and associating improperly with one of the apprentices" on tke other side of the house. All the " dealing '' appears to have been expended upon the poor lady, for the Romeo of the story is no where brought to book. She was re- monstrated with, but in vain. Calculating on the strength of her tender passion she for some time refused to abandon it. The inexorable powers left her no alternative between doing so and retiring from her post. She then experienced, in all its bitterness, the force of Lysander's oft told sentiment about the " course" of such a love as hers and, probably, deeming it a less evil to remain on the scene of her happiness than to go out into the cold world, robbed alike of vision and hope, she yielded to an authority she could not withstand, and proniised "to avoid all intercourse with the young man.'' The Committee accepted the compromise and agreed " to try her again." The business-books do' not record the struggles and anguish of her blighted life, but they do tell us that in HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL lOI a few months she gave notice to leave, and it would, perhaps, not be very romantic to infer that a place, which the light of love had once illumined, grew to her every day more bitterly dark when it was withdrawn. In the spring of 1803, the Superintendent and his wife, having kept table separate from the family for three years, the Country Committee proposed, for the consideration of the London Committee, the propriety of inviting them to "take their dinners and suppers in the housekeeper's room as formerly." CHAPTER V. SPINNING, KNITTING, SEWING — READING-BOOKS — GEOGRAPHY- JOSEPH DONBAVAND's WRITING COPIES — GRAMMAR THE AGE OF LAW ^MONTHLY AND QUARTERLY COMMITTEES DIFFI- CULTY ABOUT INVESTMENTS — THE GOVERNESS, MARY MARTIN, RETIRES IS SUCCEEDED BY ISABELLA HARRIS SERIOUS EPIDEMIC OF SCARLET FEVER — -DR. BINNS'S DIFFICULTIES WITH THE COMMITTEE — HE RETIRES IS SUCCEEDED BY ROBERT WHITAKER — SMALL POX — GARB OF THE CHILDREN REVISION OF THE mistresses' SALARIES. It would appear that, in the early years of the century, attention was attracted to the large amount of time devoted, by the girls to handicraft work, during school hours. In 1800 a rule was made that every girl should be exercised in spelling at least one hour every day, and this was probably well observed, but spinning, knitting and sewing still absorbed a large share of time. The first of these three employments, indeed, received an accession of attention from the introduction, the same year, of new wheels which spun two threads. From some cause, knitting was allowed to encroach seriously upon time which the Committee thought might with advantage be devoted to other things and,, after much discussion, a re-arrangement of the girls' school-course was adopted, in consequence, chiefly, perhaps, of a suggestion from the Women's Committee, which contains a revelation of such singular devotion to the art of knitting as to be worthy of quotation ; — "It is believed it would be much better for the children to be in the , sewing School a part of every day and only knit an hour or two at a time instead of being kept in that School for two or three months together. " HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 03 The same Committee also suggested that some of the boys' shirts, which had hitherto been made by women in the village, at ninepence each, should be made by the girls, as affording more variety in work than girls' garments. " The re-arrangement of the course had been committed to two gentlemen, who no doubt found the varying claims of sewing and knitting sufficiently perplexing to themselves ; but if they had any clear idea how the plan they prepared for meeting them was to be worked, they probably had the advantage of the executive whose duty it became to carry it into execution. The aim of it was to ensure more sewing and less knitting, but as if reluctant to part with the reputation of the school for excellence in the latter art, the scheme proposed that the poor knitters should have two or three half-days in the week for it, whilst those more proficient in it should have but one. Reading-Books for the younger children, of both sexes, were still desiderata. The London Committee, in 1800, advised the introduction, for this class, of Barbauld's Hymns and the " Catechism of Nature," but the Country Committee rejected them, as unsuitable, and adopted the " Rational Dame." In 1804, however, Lindley Murray's " Spelling Book with Reading Lessons" was gladly adopted, as supplying a want long felt. In 1805, that author's " Sequel to the English Reader" was introduced for the use of the upper classes. But even more important still, as marking a decided step, into a comparatively neglected subject, a hundred copies of Evans's " Epitome of Geography" and some maps were obtained, at the same time; In these early times, however, nothing was introduced, which created more sensation or produced more striking immediate results than Joseph Donbavand's writing copies. Their publication in 1802 formed an era in the School's history. It may be safely said, without challenge, that nothing approaching their excellence had before appeared and nothing since has equalled their beauty. They combined I04 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL a marvellously simple grace with a fine and noble dignity which have made them the envy of all succeeding caligraphists. Joseph Donbavand was happy in securing a sympathetic and skilful engraver, whose pure and brilliant work left nothing to be desired. The early impressions may be fairly ranked amongst works of the Fine Arts. The School at once took 300 copies, for which they paid tenpence each. They were the means of supplying a standard of style in writing which, for nearly half a century, conferred upon the better writers among Ackworth scholars an enviable fame for superior penmanship. If the school was once renowned for its excellent writing, it was not less famous, perhaps, for its knowledge of English Grammar. Although possessed of a manual of its own, com- posed by some of the staff, and known, from its publisher's name, as Thomas Coar's Grammar, the School early adopted that by Lindley Murray. In the absence of the study of pure mathematics and the classics, English Grammar, under the luminous guidance of this Author, became a powerful aid to the reasoning faculties of Ackworth Scholars and proved a not unworthy substitute for the pursuit of the exact sciences. This work was introduced in 1805 and retained its ascendancy over all of the same kind for 50 years, rendering Ackworth scholars eminent for their exact knowledge of grammatical construction and, throughout a considerable part of that period, for their purity of composition and diction. Although but little information now exists from which to gauge the moral tone of the School, during the early years of the present century, there is no reason for doubting that the discipline was maintained in an efficient condition by Dr. Binns. It appears to have been an Age of Law, when multiplying rules was thought no evil ; and the excessive use of this method of guidance, in very trifling concerns, ranges occasionally within the limits of the ridiculous. Yet once adopted, it is surprising HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 05 how long a rule has sometimes been allowed to stand. Forty years after its adoption in 1801, the following regulation con- tinued to be read in public, once a month, and hundreds of old Ackworth boys will well remember the ring of the last words and the enjoyment with which the reader delivered their musically balanced syllables : — " The boys are desired not to leap any where within the bounds except on the ground below the pump or in the shed-court and, there, to avoid the pebbles, flags and channel stones." Of the same date also, is the following rule, the first part of which retained its place as long as the one just quoted: — "They are desired not to stop or play between the dining-room door and shed-court ; much less to peep through the dining-room door which shows bad manners ; to look in with a view of knowing what victuals are for the next meal betrays too much attention to what they eat." Either from compassion for the feelings of the poor hungry boys, who nightly drew, with instinctive interest, around the portal of the room where their simple supper was preparing, or from a dislike of the pungent jibes of the wags who maintained however unreasonably, the unreasonableness of being held responsible for the bad manners shewn by the dining room door, or from some now unknown cause, the framers of this law speedily rescinded its last two clauses. How long another law promulgated in 1803, was permitted to operate we cannot discover. We trust it was not long. It is as follows : — " It is apprehended that it would much tend to prevent the boys from transgressing the rules if they knew that other boys who are privy to it would inform of them : therefore, for the sake of good order in this Institution, it is requested that immediate information be given to the Master on Duty or the Superintendent, by every boy who knows of any other going out of bounds or committing any other considerable offence, or of their intention to do so : and it is agreed that any boy concealing things of this kind be considered as an accomplice in the crime and punished accordingly.'' It is almost incredible that good > Io6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL men could have framed such an injunction. Happily, its monstrous nature must soon have made it a dead letter. The passion for resorting to fixed and inelastic arrange- ments nearly made early shipwreck of one of the Fine Arts of the School. In 1796, a man was killed at Pontefract, from his horse having taken fright at a paper kite. Forthwith the Masters prohibited kites. But, as if suspicious that they were a little unreasonably listening to a clamour incited among the villagers by the accident, they, in their own minute book, fortified their action in the matter by alleging various other objections to the noxious toy, among which were, that " kites occasion considerable expense of money to the children which may be employed more usefully," that the " diversion endangers the children's taking cold by standing and prevents their taking exercise which is necessary for their health" and (happy thought !) that "it is a temptation to children to go out of bounds." In 1 86 1 , up to which time the Committee had nominally met in full every month, it was resolved that the heavier business should be conducted every third month, and that, in the intermediate months, such members as lived beyond a distance of thirty miles should be excused attendance. This arrangem.ent was the origin of the division of the Committee into monthly and quarterly sections. The Country Committee suffered con- siderable uneasiness about this time, as it had done on some previous occasions, from the practice of the London Friends, to whom the care of investing the funds of the Institution was naturally much entrusted, purchasing government stock, and particularly some classes of it which had been directly raised for purposes of war. In 1802, it made a very strong protest against the practice and enforced its objections by stating that many Friends in the North, so strongly condemned such investments, that it anticipated the withdrawal of their sub- scriptions, if other channels were not adopted. It recommended, especially, to the attention of London Friends the shares of HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I07 the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Another source of concern to the home Committee arose out of the desire of the London Committee that the land-tax on the estate should be redeemed. The business-like view taken of this matter by the Friends in the capital was very repugnant to the sensitive conscience of their country brothers. They saw in direct action, in reference to this tax, an unlawful compromise and, in 1803, respectfully but firmly urged their opinion by minuting for the inspection of the Meeting in London their " wish to lay before it the impropriety of voluntarily contributing (in the public situation in which the Committee was placed by the Society) to a measure which was expressly adopted for the purposes of war." On the retirement of Mary Martin from the post of principal misti'ess or governess, Isabella Harris was invited by the Committee in Fourth Month 1803 to take her place, and on the 2nd of Twelfth Month she entered upon ber important duties, which she was ably, and with great satisfaction to all concerned, to perform for nearly a quarter of a century. In the Spring of that year a malignant type of scarlet-fever broke out in the School. The Superintendent at once called a Special Committee, which, foreseeing, from the character of the disorder, a very serious visitation, made arrangements with Robert Whitaker and his wife for the use of their house, at the bottom of the garden, as a hospital. They were to enter the School or live at the Inn, at the expense of the School, as they thought best. Intelligence of the severe character of the fever spread alarm amongst parents everywhere, some of whom at once called home their children. Indeed the action taken by the friends of the children on this occasion was of the nature of panic, many continuing to remove their children long after the disease had got the [complete mastery of the place, to the great endangerment of their families at home. No fewer than forty- four were taken away in this manner by their affrighted parents, Io8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the frequent removals adding greatly to the alarm and unsettle- ment of those left behind, who had not been assailed by' the disorder. During the Spring and Midsummer months the fever YittxsXly raged. Two hundred had the disease, 171 having it severely and 30 more mildly ; and seven children died. Only about 50 escaped the sickness, for by the time the disorder had spent its force there were but 248 children left in the School. No sooner had the fever retired than the Committee resolutely set about to cleanse and purify the place. They invited the parents of such children as lived at no great distance to take them home for a couple of months, offering pecuniary compen- sation for expense and loss of school-time, but it would not appear that many felt comfortable to avail themselves of the opportunity. A month after the invitation the number of children had only diminished by twelve. As the School terms of some of the children terminated, the number of scholars, during the three months after the fever ceased, ran down to 229. The cleaning down of the place, with so many occupants still within it, was a great, and, to the children, a very amusing work. The bed rooms were all vacated for the purpose of being thoroughly aired, whitewashed, fumigated and painted, most of the children lodging, during the process, in the girls' dining room and the Committee Room. Suitable accommodation was procured in the neighbourhood for such as could not be conveniently housed in the School during the process. At the close of Ninth Month notice was given that children might return to or enter the School on the 24th of Tenth Month, but theygatheredveryslowly. Panic had seized parents ; and two years and a half intervened before the School was as full as before the appearance of the fever. The visitation cost the School upwards of £$00 in extraordinary expenses; besides which the Committee felt it incumbent upon them to make handsome presents to officers of all ranks, who had been heavily drawn upon for extra service. It is right to note that Robert Whitaker on this, as on some other occasions, refused the donation offered to him. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 09 The extent to which the Committee interfered in details of management which would, in these days, be unquestionably left to the heads of departments, must have been not a little irritating to the spirit of a man like Dr. Binns. The cumulative force of oft-repeated interference with his freedom of action led him at last to challenge, not only the expediency of such policy, but the right of the Country Committee to exercise it. He complained of its tendency to sap his authority and to render it impossible to preserve good order and declared his intention, in writing, of appealing to the London Committee or to the ensuing General Meeting of 1804, or to both, for their opinion whether such " interference were constitutional," and to induce them to take such steps as might " prevent future misunderstandings between the Committee and the Superintendent." This appeal was not made, for, instead of taking that course. Dr. Binns resolved, before the next Committee met, to resign his post. This was done in the Sixth Month 1 804, and he quitted the establishment on the 2 5th of the following Tenth Month. His retirement placed the Committee in a dilemma. Charles Parker kindly under- took to spend some time at the School, but could not do so continuously. The Committee availed itself of his offer of occasional attendance ; and arranged with Robert Whitaker to attend to the general concerns of the School until some friend should offer himself for the post of Superintendent, advising him to obtain from some of the older boys such assistance in the Office as might enable him to keep his booking work in order. The Committee made many efforts to induce him to reside in the School, but ineffectually. For eight months he, single handed, conducted his own special department and the more general duties of a Superintendent, to the entire satisfaction of the Committee. It had long been the conviction of many of the friends of the School, and especially of many of the members of the London Committee, that it was advisable to have at the head of the establishment a salaried officer ; and Robert Whitaker's efficient experimental administration pointed him out no HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL as the right man for the post. The Committee, in Seventh Month 1805, therefore, requested Sparkes MoUne to propose him for the office, for the consideration of the General Meeting just about to hold its sittings. That body accepted the nomination, and Robert Whitaker moved into the house on the 6th of Ninth Month, Joseph Birkbeck undertaking to reside temporarily in the School to assist him. In the Sixth Month of 1806 a case of small pox occurred in the School, which was at once removed into the village, and the disorder happily spread no further ; but thirteen of the children were inoculated with the vaccine virus, which must have com- pleted the absolutely fortified state of the School against any serious outbreak of the loathsome disease, for we are told, that there remained in the School but one child who had not either had the small pox or the cow pox. The parents of the excep- tional boy were unwilling that he should be inoculated. The School had now more than recovered its popularity with parents. In the Spring of 1806 there were 190 boys, i.e., ten more than the complement, and the Committee took measures for preventing further admissions. In the Autumn however there were 318 children in the house — 190 boys and 128 girls. This excess of numbers began to create inconvenience in the family, and the Country Committee had to urge upon the London Committee the necessity for more close attention to proper arrangements respecting admissions, which had become irregular beyond the Country Friends' control, and the untimeli- ness of which was proving oppressive to individuals who suffered delay from it. The dress worn by the children at this time, the fashion of which had probably altered little, if at all, since the foundation of the School, a quarter of a century before, had become dis- tasteful to parents. Many of them cast the garments aside HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL III immediately their children reached home, but some could not afford to do so, and their boys sometimes suffered no little persecution on account of their enforced peculiarity. The late Thomas Firth, of Huddersfield, relates how, soon after this period, when he went out in his Ackworth garb, as an apprentice, the boys would run after him in the streets and throw dirt at him. The practice of discarding these garments was a source of distress to the good Friends of the Country Committee, some of whom were extremely rigid in their views about dress, and, their opinions obtaining attention in the Yearly Meeting of 1806, that body was induced to make a minute on the subject, which the Country Committee printed and forwarded, with some observations of its own, to all the agents of the School and to the parents of the children. l"he document was as follows : — " This Meeting is sorrowfully affected with information that divers persons under our name, who have the care of youth, and who have had their youth educated at Ackworth School, have been so indiscreet as to cast aside the simple garb in which the children return from it, thereby laying waste, as it were with a stroke, the care of the Society, so far as it relates to plainness of apparel, and opening a ready way for other deviations from a self-denying conduct. " And the Committee, having been similarly impressed with this subject, earnestly press it upon parents and guardians not to weaken the impressions which may have been made on the minds of their children whilst at this School, by introducing them into the fashions of the world, and thus vio- lating the principles which Truth has led our Society into in this respect.'' If the Committee were not very charitable in its views upon dress, it fully retained the liberality which had from the first characterised its pecuniary dealings with its staff, as will be seen from its operations when revising the salaries of its female officers of the higher rank, in 1807. Although, to our modern ideas, the scale of payment for arduous services may appear low, it is but needful to compare it with the common standard of the time to discover that a very generous mind reigned in the Committee in this particular. On this occasion the salary of the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL housekeeper (with a present of 20 guineas) was raised from £,2'^ to ^31 i°> That of the Nurse was raised from Boys' Matron Principal Mistress Sewing, Mistress Reading ditto Writing ditto Knitting ditto Mantua Maker £\2 12 to £\d, 14 10 O to 12 12 25 o to 31 10 15 15 to 18 18 15 15 to 18 18 15 15 to 18 18 12 12 to 14 14 10 10 to 12 12 CHAPTER VI. MONITORS — JOSEPH LANCASTER — IMPROVED STATE OF THE SCHOOL UNDER ROBERT WHITA:kER — REMINISCENCES OF thomas firth of huddersfield insufficient provision against inclement weather examinations — robert whitaker's marriage — washing mill — planting arrangements for leisure pursuits religious instruc- tion — -officers drawn for the militia imprisoned in wakefield jail. To those old Ackworth Scholars who have held the honour- able office of Monitor it may be interesting to know that the Meetings which the masters held with them, once a week, originated in 1807. Great fluctuations appear to have taken place from time to time in the amount of esteem in which this office was held by the boys at large, no less than in the fidelity with which its duties were performed by its bearers. That there were periods when the monitors exercised a very valuable influence over the boys and were a very considerable assistance to the masters in the general discipline, is unquestion- able. When, however, the tone of the class ran down a little, as was natural that it frequently should do — for it must be ever remembered how young the members of it were — the very fact of the consciousness of trust unfaithfully occupied had in itself a demoralising effect, which was sometimes not a little disastrous to the individual. Much remissness in attention to their duties and great want of judgment in the exercise of their powers of control having for some time existed amongst the monitors, and the various efforts which the masters had repeatedly made to 114 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL encourage and stimulate them to greater diligence having pro- duced but little improvement in the staff, the masters concluded to hold an extra meeting every week, which the monitors should attend, at which business more especially bearing upon or affected by their office should be transacted. It was hoped, by this means, to infuse life and vigour into a force which the masters considered to be calculated to be of great utility, if its duties were properly discharged, and which they thought was sufficiently surrounded by privileges and dignities to make membership in it very desirable to boys worthy of it. On the girls' side of the house, this year was marked by the introduction of the study of Geography. If we could for a moment divest our minds of the intimate association this subject has ever possessed with our modern education, we might possibly be able to appreciate the significance to the girls of 1807 of the advent of this delightful study in their daily routine. No wonder that the Women's Examining Com- mittee should report that it had proved a very "agreeable addition to the other branches of learning.'' With, or at the same time as, the introduction of Geography, another article of very familiar use in our day was, for the first time, timidly brought into vogue amongst the girls. The Women's Com- mittee resolved to make trial of Cotton, but only to a very limited extent. It was to be tried in " repairing girls' under- hnen;" and their pockets, which had hitherto been made of " Calimanco," were in future to be made of " Cotton-fustain." This year also, and probably on both sides of the house, the first influence of the Lancasterian system of teaching made its appearance. Joseph Lancaster, an eccentric and somewhat intractable genius — " the Luther of the Schools," as he has been styled — was then attracting much attention by his advocacy of a radical change in the methods of conducting middle-class schools, and' many Friends gathered around him and gave him encouragement and material aid in the prosecution of his great HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I15 object. Amongst these patrons was David Barclay, who was very enthusiastic in regard to the new method, ' and who, by letter, recommended it to the Committee at Ackworth. No part of the system appears to have been adopted at this time, however, except the teaching of spelling by dictation. It is very interesting to observe, from the half-yearly Reports of the Examining Committees, that within two or three years of the accession of Robert Whitaker to the superinteridency, a marked satisfaction with things in general makes its appearance. Tracing the sentiment down the course of years, there is a steady but constant increase in the Committee's appreciation of, and confidence in their principal officer and in the admirable spirit he infused -into his subordinates of every department. His devotion to the duties of his post early attracted their admiration. Within a very few years, we find the Committee urging him to take more recreation, and, in 1808, after his return from an excursion in the South of England, it minutes regretfully that it is unable to induce him to allow it to defray his expenses. To the end of his career, this form of self- denying sacrifice never left him. One thing which ever gave great pleasure to the Committees, was the harmony which his influence produced in all sections of the officers and family. This chord runs through the general refrain of numberless Reports, commencing with that of Tenth Month, 1808, in which "general harmony" and "good order and regularity'' are referred to as everywhere prevalent. The principal Masters at this time were Joseph Donbavand — the Caligraphist — who had been in the School from its commencement, William Singleton, the Reading Master, Joseph Sams and John Don- bavand, Grammar Masters, and Samuel Evens, Assistant Master. The late Thomas Firth, of Huddersfield, who was a scholar in 1809 and 1810, in some notes of his recollections written only two or three weeks before his death in the early part of this year (1879), describes Joseph Donbavand as a very il6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL genial man, "kind almost to a fault," severe only when bad writing was concerned, quick to forget a quarrel, fond of a joke, and of— snuff! So far as the accounts refer to the same characteristics, this Report of Thos. Firth is in harmony with that penned by Wm. Howitt, who describes " Master Joseph " about the same period as a " tall, slender man, with a long, thin countenance, and dark hair, combed backward," and says, in reference to him, "What scholar does not remember his snuff-box, opened with its three systematic raps ; and the peculiar jerk of his elbow when he felt himself bound to refuse some petition? He was a most perfect master of penmanship ; and, in our opinion, not less so of the ars natandi, which he often told us he had been taught by a frog, having one end of a string tied to its leg, the other end in his mouth, and thus pursuing it and imitating its movements. It was his favourite humour to do a kind act with an air of , severity. "Get away with thee," he exclaimed, with an emphatic elbow jerk, to a very little boy sent ' to him to be caned ! " why, thou art a coward — thou art afraid to go into the bath ! Get away with thee !" Wm. Singleton, Thomas Firth describes as an excellent teacher of reading, who rejoiced in raising the enthusiasm of his pupils in the art, by setting them to repeat, simultaneously and with energy, passages like, "I'm monarch of all I survey," which was done to such purpose in the school-room, at the bottom of the colonnade, "as," says Thomas Firth, "to make the girls' wing ring again." But as a figure on the premises-, Joseph Sams was evidently the favourite with T. F. He pictures him as a " fine old English gentleman," who " wore a three- cornered looped hat — called a three-decker— \>\!ic!^t's, to his knee -breeches, and also to his shoes," all of which gave dignity to his .appearance. He however left Ackworth, soon after T. Firth went, and. had a School at Darlington for a time, but he finally abandoned the. profession of teacher for that of vendor of ■Antiquities, Books, 'M.S.S., and Curiosities, for which purpose he had a shop in Darlington, and another in Great Queen Street, HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I17 London. He travelled in Egypt and Palestine in search of MSS., and was generally regarded as a remarkable and eccentric man. Of Thomas Bradshaw, one of the .Masters not mentioned by Thomas Firth, Wm. Howitt gives a very interesting picture. . How far he intends it to be a faithful delineation we cannot say. . He was the senior reading-master, — " a little, stiff man, with a- round, well-fed face, and a very dry and sibilant voice. His hat was always three-cocked, his clothes always dark brown, his gaiters . black. We looked upon him with awe, for he had been a naval captain, and had heard the roar of battle, as one of his legs testified, having had the calf blown away by a cannon shot. Worthy old- man ! — in our anger we called him Toimiiy Codger, and forgot the Pomfret cakes he always carried in his pocket, to bestow if he heard a cough — and heaven knows he heard many a one — as he went his evening round through the bed-chambers, when on duty. At the bottom -of our soul, however, we loved him ; and he was more worthy of our love than we knew, for-he had- abandoned bright prospects in his profession, and encountered, knowingly and undauntedly, scorn and poverty from his con- viction of the anti-christianity of war. He had suffered much, and had we been aware of .this, we might have borne with him more' patiently when he grew old and cold, and kept a great fire in the school-room all summer ; -and sate close to it and, still feeling himself chill, could not imagine but that we must be so too, and, therefore, broiled us, and kept close door and window, and made us button up our waistcoats to the throat, till we were ready to melt away. Many a time did we wish him a thousand miles off, yet when he was compelled to succumb to age and its infirmities and to vacate his office, he wept, and we wept too." Of John Donbavand, Thomas Firth does not appear to have much remembrance, probably having been little under his care, and only remarks of him that he was "said to be severe and fond of .using the cane."' Apropos of the mention of this instrument of correction, it is w6ll to state that- Thomas Firth says, that he never saw it used Il8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL in the school-room, and only once in the Office, so that it was evidently not in public application very frequently. The offence for which T. F. witnessed its use was a refusal to eat certain food. At this time, some of the dishes brought to table do not appear to have been of an attractive character. High prices ruled for a long period, and the Committee were compelled to insist on rigid economy. The lob-scouse of Fourth and Seventh Days had then, as forty years afterwards, an unpopular character, and the thick batter pudding, served in great iron dishes, with treacle sauce, which constituted the Fifth Day dinner, and which, as a second course, long after- wards exercised the masticatory muscles of Ackworth Scholars, does not appear, at any time, to have been a favourite dish, as may be supposed from its sobriquet of datty or darty vengeance. There was, of course, always beer at table, served in little tin vessels. This was the "Age of Tin." Tin vegetable-dishes, tin pie-dishes, tin pudding-dishes, tin spoons (often with very little tin upon them, however,) and tin drinking vessels. The treilchers were of wood — some of a soft spongy nature, very objectionable — and the carving-dishes of pewter. The bread was always excellent and formed literally the staff of life ; and most generations of boys have spoken well of the hot milk of the morning meal. The plain boiled "plum-pudding" appears to have been long popular, and, in distant times, constituted at least one dinner of the week. When the season was fruitful and the yield of apples large in the "great garden," the First Day mid-day meal was a festive occasion; but apple- pie often did not appear for many weeks together, and rhubard had not yet been recognised as a refreshing substitute in the Spring months. Thomas Firth mentions that, in his time, there was a class of boys who went by the name of " The Serious Boys." They held a voluntary Bible Class, or something of that kind, at which there was always present a master or apprentice who, so far as HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL II9 can now be gathered, took no part in the direction of the proceedings. During this period, there were some fine boys of good judgment and fearless adherence to the right. One of these, Wm. Parker, father of Wm. Coor Parker, of Darlington, went by the name of Judge Parker, and was eminent as a referee whose decision was accepted, without hesitation, by the most quarrelsome boys in the School. That there were boys of a troublesome character, we may be sure, and one piece of blind mischief might have been perpetrated had not the scheme been discovered in time. The old Meeting House had a mysterious attraction, in dark evenings, for the more restless idlers of the School, at various periods ; but, on this occasion, the thought came into one foolish head that it would be a bright idea to set it on fire, and there seems to have been sufficient incipient incendiarism in his companions to enable them to entertain the idea agreeably. But mischievous projects are often, as on that occasion, baffled by deficiency of reticence amongst accomplices. It is very remarkable how few expulsions have taken place. In 1810, however, a boy who had been "for several years extremely disorderly" was brought up before the Committee, and by that body expelled. The boys' little gardens were probably always a pleasure to a certain class, but they appear to have been particularly valued at this period, probably from the outlets for ingenious invention or tasteful arrangement being fewer than in more recent times. We hear now of a wonderful model of a farm in one corner of the gardens, which appears to have existed down to beyond 1830. It comprised a model of the residence and the out- buildings appropriate to a very complete establishment ; and the ground around was fenced off into miniature fields, where ingenious arrangements were made for representing the various crops usually grown on a farm. But the boys of that time had other outlets for agricultural skill than playing at farming. I20 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Much Stiff practical work of the kind fell to some of them. Besides hay-making and weeding arable, which fell to the general lot, boys might still be seen driving the "big bull" with a great roller behind him, or harrowing behind a yoke of oxen. These youths should, according to the customs of the day, have paid their '■'■footing" on undertaking the mysteries of the craft, for without, that ceremony even a Committee man could not enter on his duties, and Thomas Firth records that, sometime about this epoch, the " youthful Joseph .Clark," of Doncaster, coming upon the Committee, was "the last to pay his footing as a colt" — the fine being five shillings for a bowl of punch, which the whole Committee partook of in the evening. Up to 1809 no attempt to warm the school-rooms was made, beyond keeping up a single fire in each, which was fenced off by a strong iron-guard, so that no one might approach it within three or four feet, and the opportunity of doing that was a privilege rarely to be enjoyed by any but the "School-sweepers." As most of these rooms must have been about fifty feet in length, and nearly twenty in width, and all of them had stone floors, it is easy to imagine that the comfort dispensed by a single fire cannot have been other than very limited. The suffering experienced by some boys from cold was excessive. Some of them were martyrs to chilblains ; and it would be little exaggeration to say that the Winter months were, to a few, one long agony. The proverbially obdurate heart of school- boys often melted into tender compassion at the sight of some of these crippled objects as they dragged themselves, at the summons of the bell, with slow and torturing steps towards school or dining-room. At the suggestion of Charles Parker, the Committee adopted steam-pipes for warming the school- rooms. These were placed very injudiciously, and, many years afterwards, medical verdict condemned .them as bad in principle throughout, but they brought relief to the frost-bitten boys, and few of them would feel very nice about scientific propriety so HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 121 long as their fingers were warm. The rooms were heated in this way, for the first time, in the Autumn of i8ro. Ten years elapsed, however, before any method of warming the Meeting House was adopted. Comfort in church and chapel was often much neglected in those days, yet the frequent movement and variety involved in their services had some influence in ab- stracting the mind from cold toes ; but in the three long, solemn, and often silent, services of the week, in the Ackworth Meeting House, the thinly clad and shivering little boys and girls had a good deal of leisure for reflecting on their misery. In or about 1820, hot-air flues were introduced under the floors and proved a great source of congratulation amongst those who had known the room without them, although never very satis- factory to others. It is somewhat remarkable that, with so much exposure to severe cold and so small a supply of flesh meat as was provided, there should have been so little general sickness in the. School. In 18 10 there were fifty-eight cases of measles, one of which terminated fatally, but, with the exception of an isolated instance or two of small-pox, no infectious disorder had entered the School for seven years before. This is the more striking because, although the Visiting Committees often dwelt with satisfaction upon the " cleanliness " prevalent, there appears to have been but little of what house-wives call "thorough-cleaning," for in 18 11 we find the Committee making arrangements for a general whitewashing of the premises, which their minutes expressly state had not taken place since the year 1803. The temporary inconvenience of such a process may have been allowed to operate against its needless frequency, and the extreme fulness of the School for some time past must have made it unusually awkward in a house where there were no holidays. The temptation to fill the place to over-flowing was great at this time, for not only were there occasionally on the list for admission nearly half as many children as there were within the walls, but the arrangements of the Agents were so irregularly enforced as to operate unjustly towards applicants 122 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL of prior claims, who appear to have been sometimes accepted by the Committee, almost out of necessity, when the com- plement was already exceeded. The Reports of the Examining Committees of those early times were usually very brief, but clear and pointed. The work they represented was not trifling, though it may have been superficial as regards the studies of the children. As the list of these was small, however, and the same Friends were often the Examiners, the verdict may have been nearer the complete truth than the process by which they arrived at it would, at first thought, appear to indicate. This was by examining each boy and girl separately, and of course the investigation must have been very brief Five or six gentlemen and as many ladies were usually engaged upon the work. As a specimen of such Reports we quote that of Fourth Month, i8ir, taken at random, yet interesting as indicating a view of things after Robert Whitaker had had nearly six years' experience of his post and may have been supposed to have placed his impress upon the style of the School. "The children in the Boys' and Girls' Schools have been examined, and the management of the house department and its appendages has been investigated. After conferring together, the joint Committee report that they have vi'ith satisfaction to remark that the House department continues to be conducted with good order, economy, and cleanliness. A very commendable attention seems continued by the Superintendent, Governess, Masters, and Mistresses to the improvement of the children in the several branches of their learning, and a satisfactory progress is mostly observable. Where deficiencies were apparent the individuals were admonished. And, from the orderly demeanour of the children in general, as well as from the accounts received from their Instructors respecting their behaviour, there is good reason to believe that the moral and religious education of the youth in this School continues progressively to improve." At the Committee which sat at this time, an appeal was made to the friends of the children for more liberal subscrip- tions in support of the School. The annual cost of each child HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 23 was Stated to be about ^20 ; and the Committee expressed its opinion that many who had children at Ackworth, who could not probably with convenience send them to more costly schools, were in such circumstances as should enable them, by subscription, to make up the full cost of their children in this. Robert Whitaker, having lost his wife soon after entering on the duties of Superintendent, became united in marriage, in the Spring of 18 12, with Hannah Dumbleton, who had long and with rare ability superintended the domestic departments of the School. For this lady the Committee had long felt great esteem, as the encomiastic references to her department, em- bodied in its various reports, show beyond dispute, and, on her marriage, it was not slack to show its desire to make her new position comfortable. Besides a marriage present of a hundred guineas to Robert Whitaker and herself, it gave her an especial servant to be entirely attached to her interests and convenience. It must have been a cause of rejoicing to all the friends of the Institution to see two such faithful and devoted officers joined in a still more intimate bond of common interests. The weekly washing for upwards of 300 persons was a great business in those times, and the old mill had, in spite of frequent adaptations, under which it had become much impaired, for some time proved very incompetent to perform its part in the work and, in 18 12, the experiment was made of trying the action of the machinery of a fulling mill, as a mode of cleansing linen. A week's washing was sent to a mill at Rawdon and the success of the operation was such as to induce the Committee to adopt the principle and erect a mill of a similar construction. To the thoughtfulness of this generation belongs not a little of the present ornamentation of the Estate. We have seen how, in the first years of the occupation of it by Friends, planting trees was resorted to, and, hke good stewards, the 124 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Committee kept up the practice so well begun. In J804 a thousand oaks, eight hundred ashes, a hundred elms and a hundred larches were planted on the corners of fields and other suitable places, and in 18 11 the "great garden'' was beautified by ■ extensive planting of trees of various kinds, a double row being placed down the east side, probably with a view to shelter. This practice of planting probably suggested the placing of two young trees at the top of the garden, in commemoration of the marriage of Robert and Hannah Whitaker on the 19th of Third Month, 181 2, which were long remembered in connection with the event. Amongst the papers of the late Eliza Bowman — an aged Friend of Bradfield, Essex — a short benediction was found, referring to the planting of these trees, which was probably familiar to a generation now fast passing away, as embracing words pronounced on the occasion : " May the earth nourish their roots ; May the'dews cherish their branches ; And may the sun ripen their fruits. May the union this day commemorated be blessed with the fatness of the earth, the dew of Heaven and the refreshing beams of the sun of Righteousness." It is interesting to find the masters, in the darkening days of the autumn of 1 8 1 2, making arrangements for the in-door accom- modation of boys who were inclined for sedentary pursuits. Those who were disposed for " drawing, reading, writing &c." were allowed to sit in the Grammar School on Fourth and Seventh Day afternoons. The old oil lamp was, doubtless,' a bright luminary to the industrious youth of the day, and it is per- haps to be regretted that no Literary Association or Society of Arts existed to hand down the memory of the work executed under its rays. But every thing has its beginning, and this movement was a step in the direction of good things in the future. But there, are always boys in a large school whose tastes lie, not in books or HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 25 drawing or severer mental pursuits, but in mechanical con- trivance and constructural skill ; and it is to the praise of the good men of the time that this class was not forgotten, and that the reading School was, on these occasions, placed at its service. It is probable that the good sense of the Masters and their interest in their charge prompted this arrangement ; but a curious document on " The right employment of time" had recently been presented to the attention of the boys and may possible have incited in them a disposition towards in-door employments. This document was sent to the Masters' Meeting by Wm. Smith, of Doncaster. It appears to have made a favourable impression upon the teachers and they caused six copies of it to be made for the use of the boys. As it remained for many years prominently before Ackworth Scholars, it may be pleasant to some to see it here : — " Time is precious but its value is unknown to us. We shall attain this knowledge when we can no longer profit by it. Our friends require it of us as if it were nothing ; and we give it to them in the same manner. "It is often a burden to us; we know not what to do with it and are embarrassed about it. " The day will come when a quarter of an hour will appear of more .value and more desirable than all the riches of the universe. God, who is liberal and generous in all His other gifts, teaches us, by the wise economy of His providence, how circumspect we ought to be in the right manage- ment of our time, for He never gives us two moments together ; He gives us only the second as He takes away the first and keeps the third in his hands, leaving us in an absolute uncertainty whether it shall be ours or not. "Time is given us that we may take care of eternity and eternity will not be too long to regret the loss of our time if we have misspent it." A magniloquent sententiousness had probably more- power over the youthful mind of 1812 than it would have upon that, of the present day. It was in accordance with the style of the literary models which it was taught to regard as of a high class ; and it is, perhaps, allowable to suppose that the above lines may have bred in the Ackworth boys some sense of their 126 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL own personal responsibility in reference to the employment of their leisure, for which the masters wisely provided the facilities above mentioned. Whethermoved to it by this activity of the boys or not, the Committee resolved soon after this movement to make considerable additions both to the boys' and masters' libraries. Besides advancing /^^o for the purpose from the funds of the Institution, its members raised a private subscription for it. Yet this liberality was in the terrible year of scarcity, when wheat was a hundred and twenty-six shillings the quarter and when the Committee must have been distracted to know how to meet the current expenses, for, that year (1812), the cost of provisions alone amounted to ^4018. At, or about the same time, the Committee commenced the practice of giving to every child, on leaving school, a Bible and a copy of Henry Tuke's " Principles of Religion." The members of both Committees were beginning to turn especial attention to the religious instruction of the chidren, and, in the second month of 1813, their views took definite form. The Country Committee, that month, held an adjourned meeting for the consideration of the subject but did not commit itself to a definite course on that occasion, although it minuted its " belief that some advantages might accrue by increased attention to religious instruction," and referred it to the further consideration of the following Quarterly Committee, requesting that, in the meantime, the Friends constituting the sub-committee for visiting the schools would keep their minds directed to the subject. The Friends on that examining Committee, bringing in an excellent report of the boys, ap- pended to it some observations on religious instruction, to which they expressed their belief that it was advisable to devote more time. By way of helping the discussion of the question they offered the following plan for consideration ; 1st. That such children as may be thought suitable devote two or three hours in each week to committing to memory and repeating " The brief HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 27 view of the principles of the Christian religion" by John Bevans, the " Selection of Scripture Passages" by Henry Take or some other suitable compendium of Christian knowledge. 2nd. That the children who are expected to leave the school in less than six months be furnished by the Superintendent or principal Mistress with suitable books illustrative of the principles of the Christian religion, and in particular of the Christian religion as professed by the Society of Friends. That these children devote at least half-an-hour each day to the study of the books with which they are furnished and that they be examined by the Superintendent or principal Mistress once in the week as to their com- prehension and recollection of what they have read." The principle of these suggestions was adopted by the Committee, but it was thought that some more suitable com- pendium of religious instruction might be prepared than those named in the report, and Henry Tuke and Josiah Forster were requested to essay such a work. The result of their joint labours was produced in 1813, and, after being carefully revised by the Committee, was adopted by it, subject to the sanction of the London Committee. The little work never came into use, however, the " Morning Meeting* having thrown some obstacle in the way of its introduction. For the encouragement of the movement, six Friends — Samuel Tuke, Josiah Forster, Edward Pease, George Sanders, John Hustler and Joseph Birkbeck — had been requested to make a selection * A Committee of the meeting of Ministers and Elders, held in London, and at that time exercising, amongst its various functions, the duty of maintaining a watchful oversight of the doctrinal publications of members of the Society, it being recognised by Friends at large that no work could be safely regarded as truly representing the doctrines of the Society which had not passed the censorship of the " Morning Meeting.'' The Committee had its origin in the times of G. Fox, when its chief duty consisted in arranging for the exercise of the Ministi-y, for which purpose it met early on First Day morning and again on Second Day morning. Hence its name of a morning meeting. 128 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL of works suitable to the object in view, and 1 813, they proposed the following list : — Bevan's " Brief View " Chalkley's Journal Gough's History Gregory's Evidence of the Christian Religion. . . Hoyland's Epitome of the Hist, of the World Murray on Stage Entertainments Paley's Natural Theology Olney Hymns Penn's " Advice to his Cliildren" „ " No Cross, no Crown" „ " Rise and Progress'' ,, " Travels in Holland, &c." " Piety Promoted," loth part Scott's Journal " Select Advices" Tukes' " Principles" „ "Duties" ,, " Life of Geo. Fox" Turford's Grounds of a Holy Life" Watt's " Short View of Scripture History" ... Woolraan's Journal in the Eighth Month, 4 Copies. 4 „ Sufficient on hand. I Copy. Supplied. 6 Copies. 3 .. 4 .. 12 ,, Sufficient on hand. Ditto. 6 Copies. 12 „ Sufficient on hand. Ditto'. Ditto. 12 Copies. 12 ,, 12 „ I Copy. Sufficient on hand Such of these books as were not already on hand were obtained and, a year after the suggestion was adopted of Catechising (" Answering" the children termed it) those who were shortly to leave School, Robert Whitaker reported that the system was in full operation, and he thought "the mode of instruction likely to be useful to the children." In furtherance of the general work of religious teaching, the Committee, about a year after the commencement of the new movement, obtained a hundred copies of Lindley Murray's " Compendium of Religious Instruction'' and the same number of William Alexander's " Brief Historical Catechism." We hear of the plan of " Catechising the leaving children," now inaugurated, as in existence more than twenty years after this time. In 1813, also, the practice of reading a chapter from the Bible after breakfast every morning was adopted. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 129 In spite of the unprecedented price of provisions in 1812, the income of the year exceeded the expenditure by ^2^2. This was principally due to the fact that the amount of donations, applicable to current outlay, was very large (^983), and the profit on the farm very good. The School was then managing 164 acres; and, after deducting for rent ^328 — i.e. £2 per acre— and ;^ii9 17s. 4d. for interest on capital employed, there remained a clear profit of ;^433. This was in bright contrast with the result of the previous year, when there was a loss of nearly ^120. In 1814, John Donbavand — one of the Masters — was, for the second time, "drawn" for the local Militia. In 1810, when in his twenty-first year, he had suffered a month's imprisonment in the Wakefield House of Correction for refusing to serve. On that occasion he only just escaped being thrown amongst the criminals and being put to hard labour. There were in confinement with him five others professing with Friends, though three of them were not members. The one who was first incarcerated was actually placed in the criminal ward, and for a while wore the garb of the place, but, remonstrance being made to Justice Heywood, who appears to have been well acquainted with Friends and their principles, he was " relieved, and the rest after him, from the needless infliction of penal severities, and they had only to suffer a confinement, which, mitigated thus, was not without its hardships." On the second occasion no fewer than three Friends belong- ing to the School were ballotted, John Donbavand's associates being an apprentice and a servant man, — all of whom were imprisoned for twenty-four days at Wakefield. Luke Howard, to whose writings we owe most of these facts, relates that John Donbavand was at this time "in weak health and lame from an abscess, so that he could not walk three miles to the appearance, but was obliged to ride ; yet the surgeon in attendance passed 130 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL him as fit and capable to serve. One of the others from 'the School, having on a pretty good suit with a hat somewhat high in the crown, was told that he was no Quaker by his appearance and that the clothes he had on were worth the fine ! " Luke Howard adds of John Donbavand that he was "an exemplary character, who had at times spoken and prayed in Meeting, exercising a religious care over the children,'' and that he " endured his second imprisonment with Christian patience ; thankful to the Almighty for his grace and goodness, at seasons extended to his spirit, and to his friends for their frequent attentions to him." Whilst the staff was weakened by the absence of the two teachers in Wakefield prison, and the work of the School was, in consequence, probably proceeding with less than its usual precision and regularity, two dissatisfied and disorderly boys absconded. They were, however brought back in the evening, and one of them, who appears to have been an exceedingly troublesome and irreclaimable boy, was expelled three months afterwards. CHAPTER VII. COMPLAINTS MADE AGAINST THE BOYS' STYLE OF READING SUPERIORITY OF THAT OF THE GIRLS^ — ISABELLA HARRIS, JUNR. — VALUABLE SERVICES RENDERED BY APPRENTICES RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY — PROS- PEROUS TIMES DISCIPLINE "record OF OFFENCES" — " LIGHT AND AIRY ROOMS " — CASES OF DELINQUENCY— BAD IMPRESSIONS GET ABROAD. The generally complimentary character of the Reports of the various Examining Committees began, in 1814, to be strongly tinged with dissatisfaction on one point — the reading of the boys. A weakness in this department was an offence the Friends on the Committee were not at all likely to condone, and they requested Robert Whitaker to see "whether an improvement in the manner of conducting the Reading School might not be introduced." But the duties already piled upon their honoured Superintendent would have required Herculean powers to support. He had hitherto, since being placed at the head of the establishment, transacted all the business of the clerk, in addition to his own still more important duties, and his health had been for some time sensibly suffering from the unreasonable load. The Committee alarmed by these indications of over-worked strength in their uncomplaining and selfsacrificing officer, urged him, in the Summer of 18 15, to take a few weeks relaxation, and desired him to take his wife with him, Joseph Birkbeck kindly offering to live at the School during their absence. This very needful recreation Robert Whitaker was induced to take. K 2 1^2 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Finding the reading still very unsatisfactory in the Autumn of that year, and, no doubt, discovering the impossibility o/ Robert Whitaker's giving the amount of personal attention they would have liked to the weak point, whilst so charged with other concerns, the members of the Committee, not a day too soon, resolved to supply the Superintendent with an assistant, ex- pressing their views in the following minute : — " It appears to the Committee that the duties that devolve on Robert Whitaker as Superintendent of the whole family, the Secretary and the Religious Instructor of the elder boys, are too great a load of care and employment for any one person, and they believe, especially as at present the Schools are mostly conducted by apprentices, that the interests of the institution would be still further promoted by Robert Whitaker having an assistant in the office, which would leave him more at liberty to attend to the manner of conducting the Schools, and for that general and paternal care over the children which they think was originally contemplated in the office of Superintendent, and for which the present officer is peculiarly qualified." In accordance with this minute, William Hattersley was soon after engaged as Robert Whitaker's assistant. The reading, however, continued to be unsatisfactory, for the root of the deficiency probably lay in the master of that department, who was finally discharged as incompetent to bring the art up to the high standard of the ruling authorities. As the reading for the following eighteen or twenty years appears to have usually given great satisfaction, it may be to this defective period that an anecdote, often related in the olden time, should be referred. At one of the General Meetings a discussion took place, in one of the Schools which was being examined, on the speciality of the defects in the reading, when a learned, school-master from the south of England, who was maliciously supposed to have come down " to spy out the nakedness of the land," gave it as his judgment that the fault lay in the " rising cadence;" an observation which gaVe infinite diversion to the wags. There is no question that the art of reading was cultivated during HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 133 Robert Whitaker's administration -with great assiduity and success. It is well known that the reading of Friends, once Ackworth scholars, who are now advancing towards the decline of life, was accepted as amongst the purest in taste and the most acceptable in style that was to be met with in the country. Two years ago a Friend travelling on the Continent met a well- known actor of one of the principal London theatres, who ascribed the facility with which he mastered his profession to the admirable training in reading (as the foundation of elocution) which he received when a scholar at Ackworth. This gentle- man's testimony to the character of Robert Whitakelr is also note-worthy. He remarked that " he loved his memory as he did that of his own father." Whilst the temporary cloud rested on the fame of the reading on the boys' side, that of the girls was attaining its highest excellence under the guidance of its young reading-mistress, Isabella Harris, jun. Whilst the girls' department generally was being administered by this lady's mother in a manner which ever gave supreme satisfaction to the Committee, the daughter very kindly devoted herself to the work of tuition, becoming in 18 13 the recognised authority in reading, and supplying the post of teacher in that department. As such, she attained a position which has become historic in the annals of the School. They who were privileged to listen to her reading have spoken of its grace and force, of its masterly rendering of her author's meaning, and of the delicacy of the readers' intonation and em- phases, as excellencies never approached in their experience and as affording an intellectual feast of the purest quality. The well- known influence, also, which she exercised by her gentle and graceful life over the girls, enhanced the wide-spread interest created by her reading, and it became the ambition of all culti- vated visitors to Ackworth to gain an opportunity of being present when it was Isabella Harris's turn to read in public. Experienced elocutionists — Lindley Murray amongst the number 134 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL — considered her reading of a very high order. She conducted this department for several years, " winning golden opinions" not only from the inmates of the house, to whom her daily life was ever a pleasant picture, but from a wide circle of parents who saw reflected in their children traits developed by her influence which they valued above all price. She left the School in 1818, when the Committee made her a handsome present, in token of their high appreciation of her work, and testified their sense of it by minuting their gratitude " for her valuable exertions in endeavouring to instruct the children in the paths of virtue and religion, and to promote the peace and harmony of the family." From a minute of the Committee quoted above we have seen that the boys' classes were at this time, to a considerable extent, taught by apprentices. Amongst the various gifts which charac- terized the Superintendent was that of being eminently skilful in drawing out the powers of his young ofiftcers, of imparting to them his own enthusiasm for culture, and of infusing into them a lofty sense of duty. Under his animating influence and guidance sprang up a band of able teachers, who adorned his period with intellectual lustre and activity of no ordinary kind, with a noble allegiance to the duties of their trust which has probably never been exceeded, and, in not a few instances, with the practice of a gentle life which, amidst the rough elements of the times, cultivated the " sweet reasonableness" of numerous sympathetic natures, which, in many schools of the period, would ' have been little developed. In their Autumn Report the Examining Committee of 18 16 called special attention to the valuable services rendered to the institution by its apprentices, paying a high tribute to their assiduity in the discharge of their duties and to their careful study of the welfare of the children. Henry King was then nearly out of his term, but Henry Brady was only eighteen and a half, and Thomas Brown not then eighteen years of age. The desire for self-improvement amongst HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I35 them led the Committee, a few months afterwards, to engage the services of a Clergyman residing at Ferrybridge, to teach the classics to them, a study which they embraced with avidity, and which led to the foundation of a classical . library in the School. It must not however be supposed that the dead languages had been' hitherto entirely neglected. Wm. Howitt mentions a teacher of his time, named Boxall, who was a great enthusiast in everything pertaining to Homer, and who so far infused his own admiration of that author into the, boys that they all became either "Greeks" or "Trojans.'' Up to the time above alluded to, however, little systematic study of these languages was attempted probably. In introducing a teacher of them, the Committee, had in view not only the desire to encourage the apprentices in their zeal for study, but also to prepare Henry Brady for being able to teach the future appren- tices of the School, which duty he efficiently fulfilled. His advocacy was also the means of introducing a Latin class amongst the boys, of which he was the first teacher. The course of "religious instruction," initiated by the Committee four years before, received a marked impetus and development in 1816 and succeeding years, from the active interest taken in it by Joseph John Gurney. Firm in his conviction that no selection from the scriptures, no compendium of religious instruction, no catechetical summary of doctrine and principle was comparable to the Bible in its completeness, as a means of drawing children, as well as those of riper years, under the living influence of Gospel truth, he suggested to the Committee the desirability of superseding the use of such manuals by that of the Bible itself This opinion was by no means so universal then as now. To the good men of that day the Scriptures were not a less sacred revelation, but it was, perhaps, too much the practice to avoid much discussion of' them, from a fear of handling their contents with injudicious freedom, and so injuring or weakening their teachings under 136 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the direct influence of the Holy Spirit. Hence the practice then in vogue at Ackworth of trusting much to furnishing the young mind with stores of disjointed passages, intended to fortify it on doctrinal points, — a practice which probably had in view rather the preparation for future correctness of opinion and belief than the supply of the immediate spiritual require- ments of the children. Imperfect as the system was, and dry and lifeless as it was calculated to be, still it rvas a system and one hedged about with the best safeguards that good and beneficent men could then devise. J. J. Gurney's broad and liberal mind — feeling forth in advance of its age — desired to see those of the children "properly cultivated on the subject of religion." He considered that the teaching of divine truth had been too exclusively regarded as appertaining to the Christian ministry. He sought to see it acknowledged "as a simple duty,'' performed "in the liberty of that Gospel which commands us to bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." The method in vogue he believed to "exercise the powers of memory whilst it left those of reflection untouched." " It flattens," says he, " the study of the Bible, from which it selects the most precious texts and, presenting them in a dry form side by side, as mere proofs of propositions, it takes away half their value, and renders the Bible itself far less interesting, by forestalling its chief beauties. Children should be taught to search in the original mines, to find these jewels for themselves, and then they would know how to value them. In short I long to have the children taught the Scriptures." His suggestions were carried out with zeal and cordiality by the Committee and Teachers. Bibles were at once procured. Joseph John Gurney himself prescribed the method of study for the first year. By his genial and affable manner, he quickly won the hearty co-operation of the children. He promised to examine them himself the following General Meeting, and to distribute prizes to those of them who should shew the greatest proficiency. The Children appear to have HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I37 entered upon the study with enthusiasm. Joseph John Gurney says : — They " took their Bibles to bed with them, read them by the early morning light, pored over them at leisure hours during the day, and especially on First Days. The Teachers rendered them their best assistance ; knowledge of the subject rapidly increased, and, with it, good ; and when I visited them, at the close of twelve months, the whole aspect of affairs was changed." The movement thus happily inaugurated, and of which a very full account, so far as it was influenced by Joseph John Gurney, may be found in J. Bevan Braithwaite's Memoir of him, did not proceed without challenge. There were not a few Friends who regarded it as an experiment of doubtful tendency, and others who saw in it a dangerous innovation, but they who had practical acquaintance with its operation were not long in discovering that its fruits were good; and, in time, its advantages and benefits were generally recognised. Writing in 1825, Robert Whitaker says — " All the doubts and scruples which were at first raised to our examination plan, have gradually subsided, and we now hear nothing, from any quarter, respecting our endeavours, but approbation and encouragement." For thirty years, Joseph John Gurney continued his interest in the School unabated. For many years he examined the children in the Scriptures at the General Meeting, and, by his charming handling of the subject, infused into the young people a spirit which placed them in a favourable attitude towards the farther and more earnest pursuit of it. Nor did he trust to these occasions alone for gaining an influence among them which might give authority and force to his efforts to promote the object so dear to his heart. He mingled freely and pleasantly, as old scholars will recall for themselves, with both boys and girls on their play-grounds, winning his way to acceptable hearing in moral and religious subjects, by playful and genial words which every listener felt, as if by a magic 138 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL sympathy, came from a large heart full of all kindliness. His appearance on the " green " immediately becaime the focus to which every hurrying foot sped, and upon which every smiling face concentrated. IJis facility of passing, by rapid yet gentle strides, from the playful badinage of his first words to questions of high import was wonderful, and no one had discovered that he was "preaching" when he was in fact delivering a powerful sermon on the grave responsibilities of life, or the bright reflec- tions its duties might be made to produce if accomphshed in the light of a Saviour's love. No one who ever heard him discourse, on these occasions, on the evidences of design manifest in the various organs of the human frame, will forget how happily and strikingly he brought out the salient points of his subject, and not a few probably date a life-long interest in such studies from his few appropriate observations and timely reflections. In the Spring of 181 7 a deputation from both Committees visited the School, and spent three days in a general investiga- tion. The recently introduced system of " religious instruction'' was very favourably reported upon, and the Superintendent and Teachers were encouraged to take further steps in the same direction, as occasion might suggest. The Committee concluded their report by recording their opinion of the general manage- ment as follows ; — " We have felt great satisfaction in the zeal manifested by the officers and teachers for promoting the best interests of the School, and in the general harmony of the family ; and we feel a confidence that the management of this institution is still progressively improving." This type of report of the general state of the School had now obtained for some years. The Committee had acquired extraordinary confidence in their chief officer — a confidence which never seems to have been at fault, and which appears to have been shared in an equal degree by Friends throughout the country. I'he School was always full beyond its nominal complement, and the pressure upon HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I39 the list of those desiring admission was often exceedingly per- plexing to the Committee. The range of studies remained limited, but the teaching appears to have been sound and thorough, and at this time conducive to considerable literary inspiration among the children. Although the " Association for the Improvement of the Mind" was not established until 182 1, there was a similar society inaugurated in 1816, by some of the older boys — the most active of whom was the late Robert Alsop — which, although not permanently successful in its organis- ation, led up to the more brilliant movement of the later date. At this distance of time it is exceedingly difficult to obtain satisfactory general information from which to form an opinion of the moral and religious tone ; but, if negative evidences may be relied upon, it would seem that there was very little to com- plain of in the former, whilst we must perhaps remain in a good deal of ignorance as to the latter, on which authoritative documents are almost expressionless. The Committee took much interest in the discipline, sometimes suggesting methods of administering it which did not, we think, always lead to satisfactory results. In 1 814 it had recommended the exercise of "paternal kindness" on the part of the teachers, as provoca- tive of a " filial affection" towards them from the boys. This suggestion initiated a policy of kindly and lenient discipline, in which the recovery of transgressors to the path of good order was sought for by a gentle treatment and kindly forbearance, which, from a deficiency of robust justice, proved something of a failure, inducing in the truculent a contempt which afterwards led to the necessity for much severity. Yet upon those children who were capable of appreciating the amelioration of the penal code, and whose sympathies were ready to reciprocate a kind intention, there is clear indication that, for some years, the system worked well. In a " Record of Offences" covering the years 1815 — 1820, we find that 166 cases of delinquency belong to the first four years and a half over which the record extends, and that no fewer than 144 occur in the year and a half that 140 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL close the period. We do not think that any one could peruse this document without being convinced that undue leniency, whilst for a time smoothing down some dissatisfied and often turbulent elements, opened a way for the certain development of a boisterous and unruly spirit, which saw in kindness nothing but weakness, and which, when once evoked, was neither easily nor quickly laid. Without being conversant with all the circumstances of the delinquencies reported in the record just alluded to, it would be empirical to express a decided opinion upon the state of the discipline of the period. That the tentative experiment of a rule by " paternal kindness" produced incongruities of punish- ment bordering on the grotesque is no proof that those who administered the awards possessed any obliquity of vision as to the deserts of the disorderly acts on which they pronounced judgment. Their object in moral delinquencies was to heal and restore. We may quarrel with their processes but not with their intention. Thomas Pumphrey, in later times, was wont to term " lying" the peculiarly besetting sin of childhood. We do not know that there was more of this sin in 1815 and succeeding years than at any other period, but there was enough of it to support Thomas Pumphrey's theory. It is indeed almost the, only offence of any import brought before the masters' meeting for the four years preceding 1820. In the last four months of 18 15 only one case of this offence is reported, but it involved two boys who were, on their promise to avoid it in future, " put on trial a little longer." In 1816, five instances of falsehood occur. In four of these cases no punishment was awarded, as the boys either " shewed some contrition" or " promised to be more guarded," and the fifth was ordered to " keep off the flags till he have leave." In 181 7, the number of cases of falsehood reported is the same as in 181 6, and, although the same kindly HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I4I attitude was maintained by the masters towards the weakness, the punishment of having to learn and repeat, either before the masters or the offender'^ class-mates or his school-fellows generally. Watt's hymn on lying was introduced. Whilst these moral offences were thus leniently dealt with, a boy who climbed the beams of the shed, in search of a sparrow's nest, was whipped, whilst another, for a similar offence, was " beaten with the rod," and a third " forbidden to go into the shed." And, that disobedience to human and divine law was ever held a very different thing and punished by methods then considered to be respectively appropriate, may be seen from another contemporaneous incident. Some of the boys, con- trary to rule, were found guilty of " buying, selling and exchanging" amongst each other. The chief of these incipient traffickers was caned. He evidently did not see the justice of his punishment, however, for he went away and revenge- fully " tore leaves out of several of his (school) books," for which act he was " closely confined." The " deputation'' from the two Committees which visited the School in 1817, and to whose report we have already referred, suggested the erection of those dismal abodes of woe called by a grotesque irony, the " Light and Airy Hooms." It also proposed the distribution of Rewards for good behaviour. The Committee adopted both suggestions and, at the same time, abohshed a punish- ment of long standing, regarded by the culprits as one of deep malignity, which consisted of depriving a boy of his spice-money, a term signifying neither coinage nor the " penny-notes" long after this in vogue, but simply the right to select, from the sweets, whip-cord, pocket-combs and other small wares which old Mrs. Snowden displayed once a week on a table in one of the school-rooms, a pennyworth of what his tastes or needs suggested. The " Light and Airy Rooms" were probably proposed in the hope that they might not only perform a useful function in 142 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the discipline but be in some instances a mild substitute for corporal punishment. They were not constructed until the Spring of i8ig. Three of them were placed over the old bakehouse in apartments which then constituted the ap- prentices' study and the press-room, where copy books, &c., were made, but which now form the Supermtendent's private rooms. They were (writing from recollection) about eight feet square. The window of each had a heavy louvre shutter, which excluded all view and nearly as much light, but through the bars of which the prisoner, so minded, could see a few strips of sky. In each of these rooms there was a strong chair with a wooden seat but no other article of furniture. Prior to being immured in one of these " dens,'' the culprit's pockets were deprived of all their contents. On entering, the door was closed upon him, a heavy bolt was drawn outside, and, as the culprit heard the foot-steps of his " jailor " rapidly retreating down the wooden stairs and dying away in the passage beyond, his heart must often have died within him. Hours would sometimes elapse before he again heard human voice or the tread of human foot. Temporarily his earthly possessions were gone, his friends, if he had any, were far away, his associates were probably amusing themselves with his fate, he had no company but his chair and his own unhappy thoughts. If his fault had been a serious one his fare would be as simple as his apartment — he would dine off bread and water. If he were an old offender and well acquainted with prison life, he might, spend his time in the ghastly diversion of cultivating a spirit of revenge against his " tyrants " or amuse himself by vainly trying to kick through the panels of his door, but time generally tamed his spirit, and the recollection of the s.unlight and pleasure outside led him back to a more reasonable mood. If the culprit were a boy of a timid or sensitive nature, if a dash of superstition mixed with his blood, or if the ghost- stories of the bed-room had sunk into his beliefs, imagination may depict, but no pen, the horrors that crept over such a HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 143 soul when the last faint light of day faded from the bars, and " thickest dark did trance the sky." The " Fourth Room" was on the floor below and was approached through a sort of store- room where hardware, old and new, mixed with blacking brushes and cheeses' If the other light and airy roorns were dismal, this was both dismal and barbarous. Its door was of unpainted slabs of deal, its floor was unpaved, its walls un- plaistered. Within this dreadful cell the culprit sat upon a log of wood. It was no doubt intended for the worst sort of offenders, but in it were incarcerated, long after 1840, boys whose worst offence was troublesome disobedience. The other rooms were warmed by steam pipes, within a few years of their erection, but this, we believe, never possessed even that modicum of civilization. Boys were often confined for whole days together in these rooms — at other times the punishment was mitigated by allowing the offender to attend his classes. The time of confinement varied greatly. At one period boys were often in these cells for six days together. Instances are on record in the masters' books of boys having been confined eleven and twelve days, and one of an incarceration of three weeks duration. The first boy who, so far as can be gathered from the records, was imprisoned was sentenced for " dis- obedience to a teacher,, taking a piece of bread out of the dining room, and telling several untruths." After being in- carcerated seven days, he penned the following petition to the Masters : — "By favour of the Masters' Meeting ' — would be much obliged to the masters if they would set him at liberty, for he thinks }ie has had sufficient confinement to make him behave better for the future and he will try to set a good example to his school-fellows and attend to the advice of his masters, and he will mind and speak the truth for the future. He has thought much about his past actions." This boy's supplication was successful, but, within two months, he was beguiled by his love of field-mice, into running out of 144 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL " bounds " and was condemned to be whipped for the offence. Whether this flagellation were more successful in the repression of his irregularities, than had been his durance in the "light and airy rooms," or he left the scene of his waywardness, is not clear but his name appears no more on the "Record of Offenders." The number of cases of delinquency of every kind reported in 1815, and the following two years was remarkably small. Towards the close of that period a little want of respect for the younger apprentices and the monitors began to crop up, and this spirit increased in 181 g together with a quarrelsome tendency amongst a few boys. In 1820 the spirit of dis- obedience and insubordination gained ground, and was not always directed against the junior authorities. The Light and Airy Rooms were in frequent requisition and floggings were not rare. The disorderly element does not appear to have had a large area in the school, but a certain clique appears to have indulged in a rather reckless display of antagonism towards law and order. Not content with private acts of disobedience, this class sometimes organised schemes of disorder which led to some severity, when, by action and reaction, a bad spirit was created in this section of the school ; but its influence does not appear to have seriously affected the boys in general. The necessary increase of punishment, however, gave a bad impression outside and produced some expression of dissatisfaction, which the Committee thought it best, after investigating the matter, to rebuke in the following minute which was probably made public: — " 1820, Tenth Month. Reports having obtained wide circulation that some boys who have lately left the school had been punished with undue severity, this Committee has enquired into the same and are fully satisfied that the discipline of the school has been grossly misrepresented, and that nothing more than a salutary degree of correction has been administered. " The floating of these reports and the necessity for a reply could not but operate unfavourably within the School, the spirit and tone of which did not improve much within the following year or two. But we are anticipating. CHAPTER VIII. CHANGES IN THE TEACHING DEPARTMENT' — SPINNING ABANDONED IGNORANCE OF CHILDREN ON ENTERING THE SCHOOL MONITORS — CAUTIONS WITH REGARD TO RELIGIOUS INSTRUC- TION — BIBLE TEACHING — LEATHERN BREECHES ABOLISHED INTRODUCTION OF ENGLISH HISTORY — STYLE OF GENERAL EDUCATION — EXAMINATIONS — LONG VISIT FROM CHARLOTTE DUDLEY INFLUENCE OF SCRIPTURE TEACHING — CONSIDERA- TION FOR DELINQUENTS —NICK-NAMES — WATER SUPPLY — MONITORIAL SYSTEM INTRODUCED — JOSEPH DONBAVAND RETIRES MATTHEW DOWNIE — GARDEN-SHED ERECTED — CLASSIFICATION OF NEEDLEWORK EXECUTED BY THE GIRLS i.v 1821. The Committee of Fourth Month 18 17, which so considerably influenced the disciphne, proposed, also, several changes in the teaching department. In doing so, its chief object was to influence favourably the Reading of the boys, to which it considered much too little time was devoted to produce the excel- lence which it regarded as the crowning glory of the School. On examining the curriculum, it considered that too much time was spent upon " the rules for punctuation,'' and " learning the sounds of the vowels.'' To make way for more practice in reading, it abolished the latter exercise altogether. As the teachers of that day, and for many succeeding years, were exceedingly anxious to maintain the purity of pronunciation which was then a marked characteristic of the School, this order was probably considered a step in the wrong direction. If the Committee thought much of good reading, the masters of Robert Whitaker's age thought quite as much of correct and 146 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL elegant speech. Every-day language was a study then ; gentle- men were weighed by the polish and grace of their pronunciation and the elegance and accuracy of their diction. Few things were less pardonable than slip-shod adjectives and slovenly constructions. The modern disease — slang — had not yet made its appearance. To effect its object with regard to the reading, the Committee placed it in the hands of two accomplished young men already well-known for their refined tastes and their love for elegant studies. Both were still serving the term of their apprenticeship. Henry Brady was under nineteen years of age, and Thomas Brown was not eighteen. To the former was given the charge of the Upper Reading School and to the latter, who was to have the assistance of a "judicious monitor," the Lower Reading School. They were advised to hear the boys read in " sets of eight," and were especially requested to question them carefully on the subjects of their reading and on the meaning of words. Those who were privileged to be Thomas Brown's pupils, a quarter of a century later, will not fail to recollect how skilfully he drew out, by this method, the intelligent reflection and vigorous attention of his boys. Henry Brady's vacated post in the Front Writing School, which was then presided over by William Hayward, was given to William Doeg, then only sixteen years of age. And it may be well to notice here, as an additional indication of the important services rendered by the apprentices of this period, that when William Hayward left Ackworth, shortly after this, William Doeg, then little more than seventeen years of age, was placed in his post, and continued to hold it for about nine years. He is said to have been a very clever man, and was, in his day, considered to have advanced to very high mathematical culture. His writing was exceedingly beautiful, and, in after life, it was one of his pleasant recreations to adorn and illuminate MSS. ; and numerous exquisite specimens of marriage-certificates written by him still exist. The best view of Ackworth School was drawn and published by him : it was engraved on steel and is HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 47 now very rare. It is perhaps the only view worthy of the place which has yet been taken, and is now historically valuable as depicting the aspect of the School prior to many important changes in the building. William Doeg also published a list of Ackworth Scholars down to his time. In addition to the modification of the class arrangements above-named, the Committee, with a view to the relief of the other classes, suggested that the junior department should be enlarged and placed under a senior master — Joseph Donbavand — whilst Henry King, an apprentice, should take the Back Writing School. Although this part of the plan was not carried out, in consequence of Henry King's health breaking down, Joseph Donbavand shordy after took charge of the junior boys, about twenty in number, whom he continued to teach, until he finally retired, in the "Apartment," — then the room over the stairs, in the centre of the boys' wing. The art of spinning, which in early times formed an important industry amongst the girls, had of recent years been gradually gliding into neglect and, the fashion having much gone out amongst the public and the wheels being now old and infirm, it was finally abandoned in 18 17. In the spring of 18 18, the Committee was able to con- gratulate itself upon the arrangements it had set on foot in the previous Spring. It found every department in excellent order, the only exception to good conduct being amongst boys of little influence. The reading had greatly improved and gave entire satisfaction. The " care to instruct the children in the principles of Christianity" had borne fruit in the increased interest of the boys in the perusal of the Scriptures. At this time the extreme ignorance of great numbers of the children who entered the School cried loudly for some action. It had become necessary to set apart a master for the especial pre- paration of this class for the general work of the School. The L 2 148 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL ignorance was by no means confined to those of the poorer sort. The General Meeting of 181 7 had severely commented upon it, and this Committee suggested to the Yearly Meeting the desirability of urging upon Friends, throughout the country, the duty of considering, as Monthly Meetings, the state of education amongst their young children, and of securing greater attention to the question. The' appeal issued by the Yearly Meeting met with considerable response and, within a few years, the condition of the children's education, on entering the School, was found to have improved. At no period, possibly, were the responsibilities of the monitors greater, or their duties more arduous, than at this period when so many of the teachers were very young. The members of the corps not infrequently succumbed to the ordeal through which they had to pass and were suspended or dismissed from their office. Others bore bravely the taunts of the disaffected elements of the school and were a great aid to the authorities, but their views of the duties of their office often required correction and, about this time or a little before, the masters found it needful to draw up a revised list of duties, in which their service was more definitely set forth. The following sections of this document will shew the spirit which the masters desired should rule the monitors and the general nature of the assistance required from them. " The general duty of monitors is to endeavour to prevent offences but never to punish offenders ; not to behave in an overbearing manner when giving admonition, but to try to persuade with gentleness and in a spirit of humiUty. "At the times of collecting, each monitor is to attend to the boys under his care, to see that their hands and faces are clean, their hair combed, stoclcings tied up, shoes fastened, &c., and to endeavour to keep them in quietness whilst going to and coming from the meeting house, dining room and lodging rooms, as well as in those places. They are also to use their best endeavours to assist the masters, &c., in bringing forward the children in learning. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL I49 "They are to admonish their school-fellows whenever they appear in danger of committing a fault or neglecting their duty ; but if their en- deavours should not prove effectual, they are then requested to report the case to one of the masters or to the Superintendent." Both the masters and the Committee appear to have come to regard the increased effort to impart religious instruction as an effective lever for elevating the moral tone of the School, but many of them did not fail to watch, with anxious attention, the operation of the movement and, whilst the Committee very warmly encouraged any true effort on the part of the teachers to develop the original scheme, it now and then dropped a hint of counsel or caution. The affectionate zeal for the best welfare of their charge sometimes impelled the ladies of the West Wing to overload their young people with work connected with this department and, in 181 8, we find the Women's Committee, whilst acknowledging the great value of the general effort to impart religious and especially Scripture knowledge to the girls, addressing the following judicious advice to the teachers : — " We do not see corresponding benefit likely to result from expecting or allowing the girls to commit to memory portions of Friends Journals or Sacred History, as we are apprehensive that which is designed for pleasure and profit may, by this means, be viewed by many as a task, and a dis- relish for these valuable writings be the consequence." Two years after this, the Women's Committee again dropped a word of caution : — " Impressed with the importance of religious instruction, we have again weightily considered it, and, while tenderly desirous of strengthening the hands of those engaged in this good work simply to do that which is right in this and in every other respect in which the advantage of the children is concerned, we are anxious to guard all from proceeding further than is consistent with the simplicity of our principles." We find no such caution addressed to the boys' teachers, though we discover abundant indication of the satisfaction of the 150 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Committee with the manner in which the masters performed their duty to the subject and with the results. Joseph John Gurney's scheme was not carried out in its entirety but its spirit was adhered to as closely as the exigencies of school-life probably admitted. He had much desired that Robert Whitaker should take the boys an hour every morning for Scripture instruction, regarding it as an excellent educational medium in addition to its special value, but this was never attempted. For some time, however, it was the practice for the boys to meet for one hour in the week in the Meeting House for the study of the Scriptures under one of the masters. The chief object of the hour was the comparison of passages of Scripture bearing on similar subjects and of those in the Old typical or prophetical of events or doctrines found in the New Testament. The master, with his reference Bible, directed the boys' attention to some passage, whilst they sought for parallel texts, but as they had no reference Bibles it usually fell to the master to name the references and call upon individuals to read the passages. It is easy to imagine that such an exercise might become dry and lifeless. This was probably the ex- perience of these " Reference Meetings," as they were called, for they were not very long continued. In 1820 an' old institution passed away in the disuse of leather breeches. The Committee, apprehending that the substitution of trowsers of velveteen or some other durable material would not seriously increase the cost of the boys' clothing, resolved to make the experiment. Whether the whistling corduroys, which succeeded the leathern garment, were better liked, we are not told. One specimen of the latter was long retained for temporary penal use by boys of all sizes who inked or otherwise abused their trowsers. The introduction of English History as a recognised study took place contemporaneously with the extinction of the old HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 151 fashion just referred to. That a Httle history had been taught prior to this date is more than likely, but it never before attained to the dignity of being reported upon by the Ex- amining • Committee. It must have been hailed with much pleasure by the boys of the period, but, like geography, was probably taught only to the first class in each room. The general education of the School at this time and for many succeed- ing years was, by common consent, much in advance, not only of similar Schools, but of establishments professing a superior rank. Its grand virtue was thoroughness. There was probably no such reading, no spelling so accurate, no grammar so sound, no arithmetical readiness and accuracy so general as those of Ackworth, in the country. True there was no study of the Classics, but, except that which was gained in the highest forms of a few public schools, most of the Latin of schools which then sacrificed everything to it was little more than the parrot- work of memory, to have imitated which would have been little benefit to the Ackworth boy. If he did not study Conic Sections or dive into the Calculus, he mastered the elements of arithmetic and mensuration, and did some good work in algebra and trigonometry. Hitherto the survey of the state of the children's education had been made by a rapid examination of each individual. This was a laborious and tedious process, and, although not without its advantages, was ill calculated to interest the companies which gathered to the great annual public examina- tions. The Committee, therefore, in 1821, resolved upon the following plan : — " That the boys, leaving out those of ' the Apartment,' should form four divisions and that the Examiners should of course be divided in the same way. That the boys should be examined in the several branches in their respective classes, instead of individually, and that the remarks of the Committee be made generally as to the acquirements of the . children in the various branches." This change gave a great 152 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL impulse to the interest Friends took in the General Meetings and led up to a proportionate increase of the influence of that gathering upon the general fortunes and development of the School. The Committee, in its more private examinations in the spring and autumn, retained its method of examining every individual. A great advantage of this plan lay in the opportunity it afforded to the members of the Committee, who were always acquainted previously with the state of each boy's conduct, of giving a litde encouragement to the striving, or advice and warning to the careless and wayward. In the winter of 1820-1, the Girls' Wing was favoured with a remarkably interesting visit of several months' duration from Charlotte Dudley. A strong conviction that it was her religious duty to offer herself for this service led the Committee to accept it with a readiness and confidence which were not disappointed. At the close of her long visit, it expressed its satisfaction with it in the following minute : — " During her stay here the influence of her example, under her tender solicitude for the welfare and improvement of the children, has been very grateful, and her services in the family at large useful and truly acceptable. We appreciate her services very highly." In spite of the exceptional disorderly elements before referred to, the spring Committee of 1821 was deeply gratified by its enquiry into the general state of the conduct and studies, as the following extracts from their report will shew : — "We have seldom gone through an examination of this sort with an equal degree of heartfelt satisfaction both as it regards the improvement mads and the general good conduct of the boys. "No relaxation has been observed in the endeavours of those who have the care of the children, with regard to the principal object the Society had in view in the establishment of Ackworth School, viz., a guarded and religious education of our youth . The children are particularly encouraged to peruse the Holy Scriptures with diligence, and the enquiiy, which HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 53 frequently takes place, leaves no room to doubt that their increasing acquaintance with the sacred writings has been a mgans, under the Divine Blessing of leading, them to a closer self-examination and a more circum- spect conduct : and we have the satisfaction of reporting several striking . instances of reformation among some of the most refractory boys in the School. The allusion to refractory boys warns the reader that, under the most roseate aspect of a school with so many inmates, there must ever exist some yet untutored and strong natures who delight to follow the devices of their own hearts and whose reclamation is, at the best, a work of time and care. That care and patient labour were not wanting on the part of the masters, the above report sufficiently suggests, but an instance, drawn from the masters' own books, and possibly having reference to one of the reclaimed of the Report, will show the operation of the consideration shown towards a class of delinquents, then much more .common than now, and one which was usually treated with little sympathy by school- masters. The minute recording the case is as follows : — ' ' This meeting is concerned to find that has again shewn signs of insubordination and decided opposition to the orders of the teachers. Since the labour bestowed upon him seven months ago, it has been gratifying to us to have to believe that he has taken pains with himself to correct such parts of his conduct as have so frequently been the means of bringing him into disgrace ; but, a few days ago, an instance of wilful disobedience seemed to render it necessary that he should again be brought under the notice of this meeting. He has been before it and has received such advice as the circumstances of his case seemed to require, accompanied with an intimation that a repetition of such conduct may subject him again to the punishment he received last Filth Month." Although this youth was, a month after this, reported for want of respect to one of the apprentices ( — he was an im- petuous boy — ) the kind consideration which the masters had for his weakness seems to have had a healing influence, for he never appeared again as a delinquent. 154 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL It was about this time that an occasion of a wider spread turbulence occurred which indicates that, under a generally quiet and orderly mood, the wilder spirit of the time would occasionally burst forth under provocation. In this instance it is clear that an impression (doubtless erroneous) of out- raged justice was the inciting cause of the disturbance. For some cause, not mentioned, the mistresses had punished the "girls by forbidding them to come , upon their "green." The boys missing the usual appearance of their sisters and cousins and probably receiving, surreptitiously, information from some of their young lady-friends who thought themselves much wronged that tyranny had got abroad in the West Wing, took upon themselves to resent, if they could not resist, the hand of oppression. Collecting upon their own green in large numbers whilst several of the mistresses were taking an airing upon that of the girls, the boys made an uproarious demonstration against them, no details of which are authoritively stated, except such as may be surmised of school-boys by the phrase " several of the mistresses were grossly insulted." The masters held a sort of Court Martial on the ring-leaders of the out- rage — fifteen in number — but whether they felt some sympathy with the movement themselves, which they brand with no more criminal description than " taking upon themselves to suppose that such deprivation was unnecessary and unjust," or whether they were loath to nip in the bud hatred of oppression, even when mistakenly directed, or they were non- plussed by finding three monitors among the fifteen who had been active in urging on the demonstration, can perhaps ' never be known. But none of the fifteen were caned or flogged or immured in the Light and Airy rooms, or even ordered to learn one of Watts's Hymns or a passage from those other works promoted to the service of punishing young culprits which retained in the minds of generations of school-boys an unenvi- able notoriety as instruments of torture — " The Economy of Human Life" and Blair's " Address to young Persons." HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 15$ Perhaps the masters desired, in a sly way, to intimate their opinion of the severity with which the girls were treated, by imposing upon the fifteen offenders the like punishment and so " forbade them to go upon the green." The prevalence of nicknames at this time gave the teachers extreme concern. It would appear to have been a new disease in the school and its appearance stirred the authorities deeply. Month after month they waged war against the invader. It did but extend its operations. It assailed the masters them- selves with sobriquets. Boys who adopted the use of these odious terms were punished in varied ways — they were caned — they were confined — they were immured in the Light and Airy Rooms (two of them for six long days each) but no paean records a victory over the barbarous foe. Measles entered the school about the same time as nicknames but proved neither so offensive nor so unconquerable. They attacked thirty-one of the children, all of whom recovered. Another circumstance which caused some anxiety in 1821 was the continued failure of the water supply from Bell Close. For two years the water had all been carted from the troughs at the side of the road leading to the Moor Top. Permission was given in the summer to Robert Whitaker, assisted by a sub-committee of five Friends, to ascertain by experiments, if possible, at a cost not exceeding twenty guineas, where and how a supply could best be obtained. In a few months these Friends reported that, by deepening the old well in Bell Close, and by cutting several lateral drifts into it, they had succeeded in obtaining a sufficiency. We have seen that in 1807 Joseph Lancaster's Monitorial System had been urged upon the attention of the Committee by David Barclay, but that it was not then adopted. The 156 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL General Meeting of 1821 re-opened the question, strongly recommending the Committee to try the method. Henry Alexander, of Ipswich, who was well acquainted with it, agreed to spend a few days at Ackworth to explain the working of it to the teacher who was to undertake it. Joseph Donbavand, who was in charge of the "Apartment," where the twenty youngest boys were taught, and who had been in the service of the School from its commencement, was feeling the in- firmities of age, and the Committee, desirous to see the new system worked with vigour, released their old officer on a pension of ;^So per annum, on which he retired with his devoted daughter to a quiet retreat in the village. Henry Hawley, one of the apprentices, was installed in the direction of the new school, Henry Alexander kindly remaining for some days to assist in its organization. For the purpose of seeing the practical working of the Lancasterian system, Henry Hawley was sent early in 1822 to Manchester where he had every facility for observing its working under the most favourable circumstances. It was at this time tried on a small scale only, and the "Apartment" still served for the junior boys, under the new arrangement. They numbered about thirty. The Committee for some time regarded the system as a success and little change was made in the character of the teaching there until the system was tried on a much more extended scale in 1834. It was usually directed by the eldest apprentice. In 1822, soon after the retirement of Joseph Donbavand, another officer of the Institution who had served it from the commencement resigned his post. This was Matthew Downie, the gardener. He is said to have been something of a character though in what direction his eccentricity ran we have not discovered. He figured in one of those school rhymes which boys of all time seem to cultivate, the saving quality of which appears to lie in their jingling meaninglessness : HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 157 ' ' Billy Farden.in the garden Under the gooseberry tree Matthew Doney, on his old Scotch pony, Made Billy Farden flee. In the summer of 1822 a shed was erected fronthig the boys' gardens and running from the end of the old Meeting House to the south end of the large shed. It was only six feet wide but it would be difficult to estimate the amount of happiness it conferred upon the boys of several generations. It was a kind suggestion of Robert Whitaker's that it should be erected, " that the boys might have a more convenient shelter from heat and rain" than they possessed before; and here, on sunny First Day afternoons, what adventures were related, what stories brightened the passing hour. Probably few nooks about the place have witnessed more true enjoyment than Robert Whitaker's garden shed. To an age in which piano and pencil, sewing machine and mechanical knitter threaten with extinction plain sewing and stocking-knitting, it may be interesting to know what the girls of Ackworth School accompUshed before it was ever dreamed that the two last mentioned might become lost arts. In 1821, in addition to earning, by fine work, ^^24 153. 6d., they made for the school the following articles : — For the Centre. For the Girls' Wing. 230 Shirts 81 Aprons 44 Counterpanes 151 Pocket-handkerchiefs 17 Sheets 120 Tuckers 20 Towels 177 Shifts 10 Cravats 98 Night-caps 4 Night-caps 29 Day-caps 8 Boys' Pinafores 12 Towels 126 Pocket-handkerchiefs 2 Counterpanes 3 Table-cloths 4 Pinafores 75 Bolster-cases 6 Cushion-covers 9 Pillow-cases 158 history of ackworth school Knitting. 91 Pairs of Girls' Stockings 60 „ II 11 footed 160 Pairs' of Boys' Stockings 82 ir 11 II footed. In all 1,620 pieces of work — an average of about thirteen pieces and a half to each girl in the year — besides the number, not defined in the accounts, represented by the work for which the school received payment to the amount above stated and all the household mending. CHAPTER IX. committee's satisfaction in its officers ASSOCIATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE MIND ITS EARLY LABOURS JOHN HATTERSLEY AND OTHER ESSAYISTS VISIT OF THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER — VOCABULARY TYPHUS-FEVER OF 1824 — TICKETS — PRIZES — VISIT TO THE " villa" WEEDING THE GREEN — PONTEFRACT MONTHLY MEETING — WM. HOWITT's ACCOUNT OF A WALK — LATIN CLASS FORMED — ^ISABELLA HARRIS RETIRES THOMAS HARVEy'S OPINION OF THE PERIOD — A LADY'S RECOL- LECTIONS — HOLIDAY GRANTED — INCREASED FACILITIES FOR MENTAL CULTURE — MEETING HOUSE SEATS SUPPLIED WITH BACKS — WOODEN TRENCHERS ABANDONED — OTHER IMPROVE- MENTS — -DISCIPLINE — INTELLECTUAL PURSUITS. At the risk of appearing guilty of an oft-told tale, we must here again refer to the Committee's confidence in and apprecia- tion of the masters of this period. They were, by the common consent of abundant testimony, for some years a class of remarkably superior men. Committee after Committee seems to vie with each other in generous praise of those who so ably and nobly wrought at the work. After examining the School in the spring of 1823, the Committee says : — " The harmony, zeal and assiduity of the teachers, the ability with which they communicate instruction and the persevering solicitude which they evince for the best interests of those under their care, continue to deserve our appprobation and encouragement." Under the influence and guidance of these able and cultured men, the intellectual activity of the boys was elicited with great l6o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL success. The dozen years immediately subsequent to 1820 form perhaps the most brilliant extra-class literary period of which the School has to boast. The " Association for the Im- provement of the Mind," which commenced its career in 1821 and which was the expression of a thirst for culture which the refined tastes of the masters had evoked, was carried on with an energy and unflagging zeal truly remarkable. All the masters and senior apprentices took active part in its operations, and most of them inspirited the young to con- tinued effort by well sustained series of bright sparkling articles of their own. Four hundred essays were produced by this Association of twenty-four boys and their teachers within the first three years of its existence and, of these, two hundred were copied and still exist to prove the skill and ability by which the movement was sustained. Robert Whitaker was the Treasurer of the Society, but the presidency rotated amongst the masters and senior apprentices. To give point to essay- writing and to afford a permanent means of criticism of the foibles or fashions that arose in the School, as well as of the doings and writings of the members, a Periodical entitled '■'■The Censor" ^■ds instituted without delay, and continued to appear with more or less regularity down to 1827. Its articles, which are always brightly and often brilliantly written, cover a vast variety of social and intelle'ctual questions. Whether on subjects like " Self-importance," " Exaggeration,'' " Minding one's own business" or on " Bird's-nesting, and " Grumbling," the articles are always kind and good-natured, happy and attractive, eminently calculated to draw reflecting boys up, and out of petty ways. They were probably written by many hands and usually, no doubt, by teachers. Of the early Essayists among the boys, John Hattersley was facile princcps. His work is very remarkable for so young a writer and must have been of great benefit to his fellow-members amongst the boys, in encouraging their aspirations after literary excellence and in giving tone and quality to their efforts. The most HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL l6l suitable example of his poetical effusions for quotation in these pages is his " Scenes in the Play-ground of a School" — the lines describing the pastime of skipping, then and long after so much in vogue amongst the Ackworth boys, having been so familiar to a by-gone age as to become historic. SCENES IN THE PLAY-GROUND OF A SCHOOL. From School released, the joyous bands betake To various pastimes : — part two bodies form, And front to front stand gazing ; till some bold And strong adventurer, burning to -win By stealth or strength or swift dexterity. Some trophy of his skill, on the other side Intrudes and, thro' a host of adversaries, Unfearful winds his way ; and, if success Attend his enterprise, returns in triumph, Exultant at the advantage he has gained. But if his speed betray him, or his foes Entrap his cautious steps, he stands alone — A captive hero gazing at their sport — Till some kind hand release him — then he speeds Back to his friends again. — Another part Leap o'er the ground and try their agile limbs In many a youthful frolic, springing high — And then descend and then rebound again With feet elastic as the Indian gum. — Aloof from these the dexterous skipper bounds And lifts his slender form and thrive revolves The cord ere on his feet again he lights : As if a friendly cloud sustained his frame Or grosser atmosphere kindly upheld him. And then he sinks and, rising gracefully, The self-same round keeps on until his blood Revolves a brisker current in his veins ; With emulation now his visage glows ; And, as again he rises and again. He feels the pride of conscious excellence Thrill in his heart and, on his fellows, looks With smiles of skill superior. — Other sports Fill up their happy hours ; but chief these three M 1 62 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Predominate, till the unwelcome bell, Harsh pealing in their ears, bids them retire Once more to School — where, poring o'er their tasks, They long to hail their fav'rite sports again — Unthinking that those tasks, so irksome deemed. Prepare them for the scenes of future life And fit them for the world." John Hattersley, Feb., 1823. John Hattersley cultivated the literary tastes which this "Association" first drew out and, some years after leaving school, pubHshed a volume of poems to which competent critics gave warm praise. When the little Society com- memorated, in 1 83 1, the tenth anniversary of its establishment, he sent some verses in honour of the occasion. Throughout these there runs a thread of sadness, which, if not born of morbid sentiment, would certainly betoken that disappoint- ment in what life had presented to him had entered his heart. Two quotations may here be given depicting his sense of indebtedness to the Association and his pleasant memory of some of those who, with himself, had been amongst its earliest members. " Ten years ago ! — in light and shade How fleetly have they rolled along Since first our youthful band essayed, In trembling strains, the voice of song ! 4' -^ * * * * * But where are they ? — It well may be On Life's tempestuous Ocean tossed. Sweet Scene !- -their memory turns to thee So lightly prized, so early lost ! But, roughly as their bark is driven. And dark as clouds may o'er them roll. Thankful for all that thou hast given. Earth's noblest gift — a cultured soul. " After pursuing his studies privately, in the intervals of business for some years, John Hattersley resolved to enter the University HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 63 of Cambridge and, in 1847, obtained the eighth place among the Wranglers. His letter to Robert Whitaker, announcing his success, is interesting as a testimony to the value he placed upon an Ackworth School training. Dear and Respected Friend, I cannot but write and tell thee of the favourable completion of my studies at Cambridge. On the 22nd inst. I learned my place in the Mathematical list — eight Wrangler. This is a much better degree than I had ventured to hope for ; it is in all human probability the introduction to a course of occupation of " character the most consonant to my tastes and pursuits — the teaching of young men of a high order of intellect (the picked men of England I must say) under circumstances the most favourable for success. I look forward with much delight to this prospect. At Ackworth School, and under thy government, I began that course of study which has ended in this success : to the sound elementary instruction I received there I am quite sure I have been indebted for my best habits — such as have done much to antagonise the almost inevitable evils of an after- course of self-instruction. As the first Ackworth Scholar, I believe, whose name has been published on the doors of our Senate House, I feel a pride and pleasure in making this acknowledgment of the benefits received from my first Alma Mater and will not affect to doubt that the acknowledgment of it will gratify one whom I have so much reason to love and respect. Believe me, dear friend, Most sincerely thine, Jan. 24th, 1847. JOHN HATTERSLEY. John Hattersley's after-career was marked by some dis- appointments. As a college-tutor he was not very successful, his skill in training others being unequal to his extraordinary power of acquiring knowledge. But he did much useful, if somewhat obscure, work for the book-sellers, in assisting in the preparation of works of reference ; and he was also employed by the British and Foreign Bible Society in translating the Scriptures into languages known to but few English scholars. He finally retired to Pau, on account of his health, and there employed himself in teaching European languages, with most of which he is said to have been familiar. M 2 164 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Amongst the boys who distinguished themselves by their essays, during the early years of the Association, may be especially mentioned Robert William Patching, Richard Batt, whose love of poetry in after years led him to publish a valuable selection of poems and verses, Henry Deane, whose article on " Peace and War" gave much promise, Thomas Barritt, Robert Nash, and James Wright, whose sensible and thoughtful articles were much admired. In 1823 the brothers James and John Morley began to shine and, soon after, the logical good sense and straightforward style of Thomas Harvey appears, not however without a certain rounded phraseology that suggests admiration of the Johnsonian epoch. Thomas Lister — the future "Barnsley Poet" — figures in verse at the same date, and his effusions already manifest that love of birds which afterwards dis- tinguished him and which was truly in his case a gentle passion. In his " Pleasures of a Morning in Spring " we find this incipient joy in the feathered creation displayed : — " The sylvan choristers renew their lay, Their pleasing anthems fill the listening grove ; From every tree and bush and tender spray Proceed ten thousand tuneful notes of love." Many of the early productions are allegorical-rafter the model of the " Vision of Mirza " — many others are in dialogue, also reflecting a style then much more used than now ; but most of them are distinguished by considerable originality, and a finish which is the unmistakable indication of exceedingly careful education, and the presence of a polished intellectual atmos- , phere. The skill in composition of the youthful members was also drawn out by frequent practice of phrases illustrative of a number of synonymous words or terms, and their thinking facul- ties were developed by the introduction of questions for general discussion, some of which must have exercised their intellects severely, they not unfrequently being of the following type — "What is it that regulates and fixes the wages of labour and the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 65 price of everything bought and sold ? " " Have middle-men in trade a tendency to make things dearer or cheaper ? " Another medium of instruction devised for the benefit of the members was a current register of events — chiefly in the great world outside — which, under the title of the "Ackworth Gazette," periodically infused its new blood into their minds. If it did not deal much in the seething political movements of the time, it discussed the fashionable Aeronautic science and adventure, told of the wonders revealed by the return of the long lost Parry or, perhaps, intrenched on the province of the "Censor,'' by assailing the home-manners of the time, as when a Committee Friend, resident for a while in the School and wearied with the constant banging of doors, obtained the insertion of the following doggerel : — "As every clashing, dashing din Invades our nervous pores, Therefore, dear boys, when you come in, Deal gently with the doors;'' The first number of the " Gazette " appeared on the 9th of Ninth Month, 1823, and an early number had the honour of presenting its readers with the following account of a visit paid to the School by the Duke of Gloucester and his suite : — "On the 1st day of the week and the last of the II Month (1823) about half-past twelve o'clock at noon, the Duke and a numerous company of attendants arrived in two carriages at the entrance of the Office Court and were straightway shewn into the Committee Room, whence they passed to the Girls' Dining Room and saw the girls at dinner. After a few minutes they were shewn into the Boys' Dining Room, and witnessed the mode of simultaneous stepping in which they repair to their seats. At the time of silence the Duke took off his hat and, turning round, made a motion to the rest of the company to do the same. In a short time the party left the room, and were successively shewn the' several parts of the Girls' Wing, the Lodging Rooms, Kitchen, Apothecary's Shop, and other parts of the premises. After dinner the boys had another opportunity of seeing the royal visitor as he passed through their Wing to inspect the Meeting House. 1 66 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Then, having seen as much of the Establishment as the time and weather "would permit, the day being very rainy, the Duke at half-past one o'clock returned to his carriage, expressed himself highly gratified with his visit, and ' hoped the Institution would long continue and prove a blessing to the Society,' " But having introduced this young " Association " to our readers, we must leave its future history to be renewed in its appropriate place in our narrative. In 1823 the '-'Vocabulary" which had been expressly com- piled for the use of the School, at the Committee's request, by Dr. Binns, assisted by Wm. Payne, and which was first printed in 1 80 1, had now reached a sufficiently extensive popularity in the country at large, to enable Samuel Darton to offer to supply the School with all the copies it might ever require on condition that he might have the use of the copyright. The Committee agreed to the arrangement, only stipulating that no alterations should be made in it without the sanction of the Committee. This year also extensive improvements were effected in the kitchen, into which a new cooking apparatus was introduced, at a cost of ;^i8o. Whilst the kitchen was upset, it was resolved to erect over it two long contemplated nurseries. Not many months after their completion, they were called into use by the first of those frightful attacks of typhus fever, which rendered the next decade so sadly memorable. It broke out towards the close of 1824. The medical attendant described the complaint as "a disease not contagious, but an inflammatory epidemic fever," and he averred that, in " three or four cases only had typhoid symptoms appeared.'' On the last day of the Eleventh Month John Donbavand, one of the Grammar Masters, died of the disorder and in the following First Month two of the girls succumbed to it. There were, at one time, seventeen cases and, in all, sixty. In referring, by minute, to HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 167 this visitation the Committee makes the following reference to one of the girls who died : — ' ' In recording this account which is calculated to raise some mournful reflections, we have been comforted in learning that one of these dear children, who was favoured with the full use of her mental powers to the end, experienced great peace and complete resignation to the Divine Will in her last moments. On being informed, about an hour before her change, that there was little probability of her parents reaching Ackworth while she was in mutability, she replied, with much composure, — 'The will of the Lord be done.' Slie then took an affectionate leave of her younger sister, putting one arm around her neck and advising her to be a good girl. She then added, ' Give my love to my parents and brothers and sisters, and say that- 1 am not afraid to die, I feel happy.' She also took a solemn leave of her teachers, one after another, expressing her gratitude to them for their kindness and their care in her education. Life was then fast ebbing, but she repeated the Lord's Prayer audibly and concluded, — ' Not my will but Thine, O Lord, be done ! ' She then expired like a person going to sleep. " The introduction of prizes, as rewards for good conduct, in 18 1 7, had operated in a manner which gave considerable satis- faction to the promoters of the system. The gauge of conduct was the accumulation of tickets obtained for punctilious observance of the regulations of the school. These tickets consisted of small square cards of various colours, those of each colour being stamped with the same numerical value. Until 1824 each boy preserved his own in his purse or elsewhere, but in that year a system of banking was introduced, partially, probably, to encourage a cumulative habit amongst the boys, partially to prevent certain risks of loss, but also probably having, as one object, the quality of affording a ready inspection into the state of every boy's conduct at any moment. The distribution of rewards to those who accumulated the largest number of tickets was not made with any great flourish of trumpets. No public character was invited to present, to the happy receivers, the prizes of self-sacrifice and virtue — no galaxy of fair ladies collected to smile approval upon them — no loud cheers greeted the winners. About the period of which 1 68 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL we are writing, the quiet hour before breakfast was chosen for the performance. At 6.30 a.m. the sound of the bell called all the boys into the shed, when they were requested to take into their various classes all their tickets, which were there surrendered to the masters, who noted the number presented by each boy. This accomplished, the boys were dismissed for a quarter of an hour — a space of time accounted sufficient by the masters to form, on the basis of the ticket record, a list of the sixty boys, or about that number, who should be rewarded. The bell then rang again and all the boys trooped into the dining room and were seated on forms placed down one side of the room, but swinging in a little at each end, the better to bring, under the eyes of all, the tables in the centre of the room whereon were displayed the prizes. They who were to re- ceive the coveted treasures having been called to the front seats then made, their choice in the order of merit. At the close of the ceremony each boy received five tickets with which to start ' him in life once more and then, amidst the rejoicings of the more successful and the groans of the less fortunate, the room was cleared and the tables were laid for breakfast. On the only occasion in which we find any statistics of the number of tickets presented for these rewards, the highest prize was won by a boy who had accumulated 1,294; whilst the lowest number for which one was received was 145. This was in 1823, and that year an additional pleasure was provided for forty of the prize holders, by the kindness of Luke Howard, who invited them to drink tea with him at "the Villa," in Low Ackworth. This was a treat of no small magnitude in times when for four, five or even a still greater number of years, an Ackworth school-boy might possibly never enter a private house, or sit at a private table. At the " Villa," he had a host and hostess proverbial for kindness and hospitality ; he sat down to viands ample in quantity and delicate in quality, in a room literally glowing with the fresco landscapes of the Italian artist Aglio. To the white-washed walls and sanded stone floors of HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 69 his dining-room at the school, the carpetted rooms of Luke Howard, with their 'treasure-adorned tables, must have been like fairy halls to the Ackworth scholar of three or four years' experience. The practice of giving rewards for good conduct continued for twenty years after this time, although the standards whereby merit was judged, were from time to time modified. It is now exceedingly doubtful if it were ever of real service to the tone of the school at large. Its greatest advantage was, per- haps,' the exhibition of a stimulus to care in small duties of order, which -produced in some boys a habit of obedience to regulation. It may have assisted the reign of Law. It is certain, however, that many of its tendencies were evil. It was a source of disappointment, irritation and discouragement, lead- ing to recklessness amongst a class whose restless and active teriiperaments needed to be led into self-restraint by something more attractive than a yearly prize, which too often entailed upon them a'daily vexation. The masters of later times con- tinually found themselves baffled ^to discover the line of demarcation between the meritorious and the undeserving. Sometimes, when guided by the hard and fast line of the system, a boy, who had the first half of the year acquired a large number of tickets, was able to retain sufficient to place him on the reward list after a second half-year of very unsatis- factory conduct. Wearied with battling with the anomalies which constantly presented themselves, the masters proposed to the Committee, in 1844, the discontinuance of the system, at the same time suggesting that the amount usually expended upon rewards should be placed at their disposal, by means of which they might be able to confer occasional privileges upon the especially deserving. The Committee adopted the sugges- tion to abolish rewards in the old form and granted ^30 per annum to enable the masters to carry out their proposed scheme. The money was usually spent, we beHeve, in procuring extra lyo HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL lectures from eminent men, assisting tlie masters in presenting more costly experiments when lecturing themselves, and in the purchase of apparatus. It was occasionally applied to the gratification of a deserving section of the school, but much more frequently for the benefit or pleasure of the whole. The greatest gaiety of the year was at this time, as at all others, perhaps, the General Meeting, when sometimes even by those pre-railway days as many as 300 visitors collected ; but only second to it was the day when the Friends' Monthly Meeting was held at Pontefract, in the Fifth Month. It was almost the only whole holiday in the twelve months. True there was one other day in the year called a holiday by one of those perversions of a grim humour which delights in the lucus a noil lucendo mode of speech. That was inaugurated for the purpose of weeding the large area of pebbles with which the upper part of the " green " was then paved and, if any time could be snatched during the day from this hated occupation, it was supposed to be spent in getting the little slips of garden ground into good order in prospect of the approaching General Meeting, and especially in building up or repairing their " clatty sides" as the edgings of the foot path were termed, the "clatty" being composed simply of a quantity of the earth of the garden worked up with water into a firm clay-like substance, with which some boys very deftly built up an edging that looked almost exactly like a line of polished flag. Of skill in this mystery the Ackworth boy was almost as proud as of his skipping. The weeding was apportioned to each boy by one of the apprentices who, early in the morning, scored the pebbled area with chalk lines which were supposed to contain, as nearly as a rough and ready guess admitted of, equal quantities of labour. Fortunate above his fellows M'as the boy who could, on that occasion, possess himself of a strong knife or a sharply pointed trowel. They who were obliged to abstract the stubborn weed — and surely no weed so stubborn ever grew — by dint of finger HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 171 and slip of wood, had a very weary time of it. From the constant abrasion which the upper spikes suffered from the daily play upon it of a hundred and eighty pairs of nimble feet, the little plant had a revengeful way of spreading itself through every crevice between the pebbles, and striking its tough roots to an unfathomable depth. We do not know whether any boy ever sufficiently overcame the solemnity imposed upon his spirit by the survey of the little weedy patch before his own eyes, to stand erect for a moment for the purpose of gazing upon nearly two hundred of his school-fellows struggling on their knees with a foe that seemed to many of them ineradicable. But if such a one did ever, with due reflection, look upon that singular scene, he must have reinem- bered it to his dying day. But if the work was sufficiently woeful to the multitude, there was ever one individual amongst it whose sorrows were more grievous than those of all the rest, for he bore the brunt of a hundred disappointments and, if his stock of patience ever lasted out that long weary day, he certainly belonged to the race of the good and the true, and might rightly be styled one of earth's noblest sons, for a very miserable duty was that of the Master who, constantly appealed to by boys ever easily satisfied with their own labours, was as constandy compelled to play upon their worst feelings by oft- repeated refusals to pass their work. But to return to the real holiday of the year — the Pontefract Monthly Meeting day. On that great occasion, eighteen or twenty boys were chosen by lot, from amongst those who expected to leave within the following year, for the privilege of going to Pontefract. As the Friends of that town were not numerous, a larger number of boys could not comfortably have been entertained by them. Great was the joy of those who drew the slip of paper containing the simple words " Eo ad Pontefractum" but greater still the delight of those of that select company who had the good fortune to be invited to dine at Thomas Firth's; for these had the range of his wondrous liquorice fields, and of the 172 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Pomfret cake manufactory behind his shop. But a visit to the ruins of the once grand old palace-fortress furnished the cream of the day's delight. Climbing its crumbling walls for the fine views its lofty site commanded, rambling through its terraced gardens, plucking the lilac blooms>; diving into its once frightful dungeons in search of the blood of the murderegL king ; listening to the story of the manner in which the Duke of Gloucester paved his way to the throne, as Richard III., by the foul murder, within its walls, of Earl Rivers, Richard Lord Grey, Sir Thomas Vaughan, Sir Richard Hawse, and others ; called to imagine the horrors it had witnessed in the Civil War ; the Ackworth school-boy, if he did not, in addition, visit the ruins of All Saints Church, and drink in the beauty of its old tower and crumbling aisles, gathered, in one day, associations that enriched many an after hour. Whilst this select band was thus engaged the boys who remained behind were by no means unhappy. An early bell summoned them after breakfast to assemble for a walk — not one of the ordinary promenades taken once every five or six weeks when, mile after mile, the unbroken column marched out and home again — but a walk to Hessle Green for the purpose of a free and joyous scamper amongst the brackens, bushes, and rabbits. William Howitt speaking of a period twenty years prior to this, gives a charming description of an occasion similar to the one to which we now refer, and applicable to it in almost every word, which, to those who have not his book at hand, will be again read with appreciative enjoyment : — " The bell rang,'' says he, "they ran to collect in the shed— they drew up in two lines facing each other, perhaps two yards apart. Large wicker baskets were brought forth from the store-room, piled with hats of all imaginable shapes and species ; for they were such as had been left by the boys from the commencement of the Institution ; they wear none except at these times : and there they were — broad-brims, narrow-brims ; brown, black, and white ; pudding-crowns, square-crowns, and even sugarloaf- crowns, such as Guy Faux himself wore. These without ceremony were HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 73 popped upon the boys, at random — little ones were left sticking on the very summits of great round-headed lads, ready to fall oif at the first move — and great ones dropping over the noses of little ones. Away they went, however, as happy and picturesque as possiljle. And oh ! the pleasant memories I have of these excursions ! The moving along green and bowering lanes, past cottages and cottage gardens ; past groups of villagers all radiant with smiles — and well they might be ; past great waters, and woods, and gentlemen's houses, to a common — such a common ! It seems to me that it was bound- less, and full of all sorts of pleasant and wonderful things. There, at the lifting of a hand, u shout broke out, like the shout of an army ; and we dispersed in every direction. There too, when it was time to return — a time alas ! that pounced upon us sadly too soon ! — a handkerchief hoisted on a pole, upon some eminence ; a shout raised by a little group, collected with some difficulty, became the signals of retreat ; and every minute the group grew and grew, and every moment the shout swelled louder and louder ; and parties of ' hare and hounds ' came panting up, all warmth and anima- tion ; and stragglers were seen toiling wearily from far-distant nooks ; till the last — some embryo poet very likely — roused at the last minute from some brook-side reverie, arriving we marched homeward." With this exquisite general description before us, we need not attempt to describe the joys of tliat morning at Hessle Common, on the Pontefract Monthly Meeting day. As this was, at the time now before us, the only occasion in the year when boys were allowed to break away, when out of their own premises, so we can imagine that their glee and gladness were proportionately enhanced. The afternoon of this great holiday was usually spent in amusements in the play-ground. On the death of John Donbavand, in the fever of 1824, Henry Brady took his place in the Grammar School. He had since 1821 conducted a course of classical instruction to the apprentices with ability and success, and in 1825 it was arranged by the Committee that he should teach Latin to twenty of the most advanced scholars. The first class formed consisted of the following boys : — Thomas Whiting Thomas Smith Michael Satterthwaite Edward Bracher John Smith Daniel Wheeler 174 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Thos. Naish' Chas. Wilson Joshua Thwaite Amos Bigland Richard Dell Stephen Taylor Henry Taylor Wilson Waterfall William Benson Robt. Marsh John Kitching Geo. Sharp Richard King John Cash Nield The books provided for its use were : — Valpy's Grammar Selectse veteri Testamento Historise It Delectus Cornelius Nepos II Vocabulary Csesar's Commentaries . 11 Dialogues Virgil Entick's Dictionary Cicero's Offices In the Summer "of 1825 the health of Isabella Harris, who had occupied the office of Governess since 1803, being con- siderably- shaken by her long service to the Institution, she intimated to the Committee her wish to retire, and that body penned the following minute : — "This Committee learns, with great regret, that our much valued friend Isabella Harris, who has so long served the Institution as principal Mistress, apprehends that it may soon be needful from her increasing infirmities, to resign her important situation ; the membeis of the Committee are requested to make private enquiry for a suitable friend to fill the office." Mary Cooper offered to take it temporarily, but in First Month, 1826, Isabella Harris's health had so much improved that she resolved to remain a while longer. In the spring, however, she again found it needful to ask to be released, and on the i6th of Fifth Month left the house, Lydia Palmer, widow of Thomas Palmer of Leeds, undertaking to fill the post temporarily. But Isabella Harris did not lose her interest in the school, and once and again came to its help in its emergencies. When the terrible fever of 1828 fell upon it, she hastened to give it that personal assistance which her character was so well calculated to afford in time of deep trial. In this service she had an admirable sister-helper in Elizabeth Armstrong, who also voluntarily de- voted herself to the aid of the distressed Institution. To these HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 175 ladies the Committee felt deeply indebted, acknowledging their timely and efficient assistance very warmly in their minutes. The following year, during Robert and Hannah Whitaker's, absence from home, Isabella Harris kindly supplied the place of the latter, and again in 1830, when Catherine Naish left the Governess's post, she filled it for five months prior to Priscilla Kincey's taking it. Before abandoning her position of Governess she, had the satisfaction of seeing completed an arrangement affecting the girls' comfort, which for more than eight years had been greatly desired by both herself and Robert Whitaker. This was the laying down in 1825 of two rows of flags upon the girls green — one running across it from the centre door of their wing to the "flags" separating the boys and girls play-grounds, the other branching from it a few feet from the centre door alluded to, and running parallel with their wing in the direction of their Colonnade which it finally joined. Writing of this period or the one immediately preceding it, for he left Ackworth early in 1825, Thomas Harvey says — " I can look back with deep interest upon the Superintendent — Robert Whitaker— and nearly all the teachers. The school was, I believe, accounted nearly perfect. He would have been a bold man who would have hinted that there was much that was defective.'' Yet "memory rests'' says Thomas Harvey "on a.rrangements that were in some respects Spartan.'' Without especially mentioning these, he refers to the fact that there was no difference, so far as he remembers, between the clothing in winter and summer, that from absence of holidays he did not see his home for more than three years, that no towels were provided at the bath to which the boys always'went before six o'clock in the morning, and that the dietary was unsatisfactory from a deficiency of good nourishing food at dinner. He adds with reference to the diet — " its redeeming feature was the excellence of the hot mild porridge breakfast, and the cold milk with bread at supper." But he thinks that the prevalence of 176 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Bronch'ocele amongst the children was probably due to the de- fective provision for the mid-day meal. Many years after this, it was the fashion to attribute that disorder to the water used, but this was probably speculation. Thomas Harvey considers that the " teaching was careful and thorough," and that " the scriptures were carefully taught." Although he characterises the discipline as severe and perhaps lacking discrimination in degrees of blameworthiness, and speaks of flogging as a " de- grading punishment" whose "stigma was most injurious," he attributes such defects to the times, and not to the men, con- cluding with the following interesting testimony to the. worth of the latter. — " I look back with respect and love upon the superintendent and teachers. They were able, wise and good men ; they were probably in advance of their time. They were thoroughly in earnest in their desire to give the boys the best education and training in their power, and to make Ackworth fulfil the intention of its founders." It is a matter of much regret that so little of written history pertains to the girls' department, and we gladly avail ourselves, at this point, of a few notes with which we have been kindly favoured, from the pen of a lady* who was a scholar at Ack- worth from 1825 to 1829. They refer more particularly to that grand festival of the year in those olden times — the General Meeting — as seen from a girl's point of view. After noting the eager anticipation of rare enjoyment with which the prospect of the occasion was wont to fill all hearts for weeks previous to it, the writer of these notes describes the general excitement of her school-fellows on the afternoon of the day preceding the General Meeting : — "In the summer of 1825 I found myself for the first time amidst this scene of interest and excitement, entering into it heartily, and looking out for the appearance on the green of friends either known or unknown. From *Rebeccfi Thursfield of Evesham. HISTORY OF ACICWORTH SCHOOL 177 time to time, as the day wore on, messenger after messenger arrived sum- moning one girl or another to some friend who enquired for her. These were the privileged ones, whom some of the others regarded, perhaps, with a pardonable measure of envy. But tliere was OTie arrival anticipated, in which all appeared to share with almost equal interest : and when it was announced that Joseph John Gurney had reached the school, the girls gathered with one accord upon the Green to receive him, clustering round him like a swarm of bees. ' ' To this day I have not lost the impression of delight with which we received his courteous and most kindly greetings. After the salutations and a few questions, followed the request that we would repeat a hymn. Surely it must have stirred that kind, yearning heart to its depths to have heard that chorus of young voices repeating his own stanzas beginning : — How blessed is the child of the Lord, When taught, by the Father to run ; When led by the light of His word. And cheered by the beams of His sun. "The Scriptural Examination he was to conduct was looked forward to as among the chief interests of the General Meeting. "Amongst the 'officers' told off for various little services during the oc- casion, two of the older girls had been deputed to have cjiarge of the tables placed on the Green with a small display of fancy work for sale — the occupation of girls in play-hours. Conspicuous among this were the pincushions knit in two colours, either of silk or crewel, some having the words ' From Ackworth School ' knit into one side. ' ' Third-day evening passed amid a variety of preparation for the much- thought-of morrow. We rose that morning later than usual, as there was no school before breakfast. There were no devotional or other meetings in those days in the early morning ; no gathering of First-day-school teachers, for as yet such schools were unknown in the Society. But at- ten o'clock the girls began to file out of the play-room, where they had collected, across the Green to the meeting house — then occupying the end portion of the opposite wing. They were dressed in their usual dark stuff frocks, with white muslin caps and tippets, the short sleeves of the frocks being supple- mented by long mittens, as covering for the arms and hands. We had to sit closer than usual on our backless forms to make room for the large influx of visitors ; and, then, when all were assembled, the usual solemn silence of 1 78 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL a Friends' Meeting gathered over the worshipping company, and much of earnest prayer and preaching doubtless followed, which my memory has failed to retain. "In the remembrance of the General Meeting of 1826, the figure of Thomas Shillitoe stands out conspicuously as he appeared in the gallery of the Meeting House in his simple drab costume and unburdened with a cravat." Many of the general arrangements of these annual gatherings of the fifth decade being very similar to those of the present day are briefly passed over in these notes. Referring to some of the general features of the time the writer of them says : — " How strange it seems, in these days of railways and of penny postage, to recall the infrequency of visits from near relations, and the rarity of receiving letters from home. I remember, after having been three or four months at school, being seriously reproved for having said I had had either a letter or a parcel every time a certain teacher had been on duty, which was once in four weeks : it was thought » thing incredible that I should have been so favoured beyond the most — for alas ! some poor children heard very little from their distant homes. A letter from my home, by post, cost elevenpence by the time it reached the school. Only four times in the year had we the liberty to write a letter, and that was a careful school production revised and corrected into due form and order. Sometimes, in order to saVe postage, two girls residing in the same town wrote on one sheet of post paper — the prescribed quantity, in those days, for one postage. " In 1825, one-fourth of the girls — those sitting at the First Table in the dining-room — wore small thick mushn caps. All had their hair cut short and just parted on the forehead. Before I left, in 1829, the caps had almost disappeared. Only a] few of the biggest girls continued to wear them, except that the parlour waiters were always expected to appear in them, Hannah Whitaker having a decided preference for that form of head-gear. They were still retained for going to meeting in, during the summer, I be- lieve ; while Friend's-bonnets and long cloth cloaks formed the winter costume on these occasions. A variety of beaver and straw bonnets, &c., did service when we went all together for our monthly walk in procession.'' A proposition was made at the General Meeting of 1826, that those children who were intended to remain at school for HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 79 three years should be allowed to visit their parents during that term. The Meeting entered into the question with interest, and it was referred to the Committee for their consideration. That body voted it in the following autumn, "quite inexpedient" and no further effort was made in that direction until 1835, when Edward Latchmore, having been three years at Ackworth and being likely to remain two years more, was allowed, ap- parently without much discussion or diversity of opinion in the Committee, to go home for a few weeks at the request of his father. An indication of the development of a desire on the part of the masters for more opportunity of cultivating the tastes of the boys in English literature may be found in an application made by them to the Committee for the following works, "as oc- casional reading books in the school,"— Young's "Night Thoughts," two copies; Thomson's "Seasons," two copies; Cowper's Poems, two copies ; " The Wreath," two copies ; Gurney's Hymns, six copies ; and " Evenings at Home," eleven copies. These were all granted by the Autumn Committee of .1826. The Committee was thoroughly , alive to the spirit of enquiry abroad amongst the masters and in the school at large, and made frequent additions to the library. The requirements of the children received much consideration, instigated doubt- less by the representations of the teachers. Since the foundation of the general library, the children had been permitted, to some extent, to participate in its advantages, but its remoteness from their own rooms militated against their free acquaintance with its contents and, in 1828, it was resolved to facilitate their access to books, by making a selection of such as were more especially adapted to their tastes and years, and removing them to the school-rooms. Some of these were transferred to the West Wing for the use of the girls, whilst those set apart for the boys were divided into four sets, one of which was placed in each of the four large school-rooms, under the care of its N 2 ISO HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL respective master, and for the exclusive use, for the time being, of the boys in his class. But in order to afford as large a range of reading as possible, it was arranged that these sectional libraries should rotate through the schools, the changes being made every quarter, by which scheme every book was sometime during the year accessible to every boy. This system remained in opera- tion for upwards of twenty years, when Henry Wilson, being then master-on-duty, suggested and carried out the amalgamation of these various libraries, the working of which, as a lever for raising the tone of reading amongst the boys, he most success- fully superintended in person so long as he remained at Ackworth. Whilst the intellectual needs of the children were accom- modated by these extended resources, their personal comfort was not neglected. Previously to 1826 the boys performed their ablutions in common in a long trough filled with water, but, that year, the primitive and semi-barbarous utensil dis- appeared in favour of copper bowls, which each boy could replenish for himself Two years after this improvement was introduced, the forms in the Meeting House were supplied with backs, and, the year following, that room, which was flagged like all the rest in that wing of the establishment, and which, in spite of the hot-air flues introduced in 1820, was far from comfortable in cold weather, was furnished with a boarded floor. In the same year — 1829 — the Committee discussed the desirability of supplying some of the boys with single beds and shortly afterwards they were procured for twenty-seven of the oldest boys and placed in bed-room No. i. It is an inci- dent indicative of the simplicity of early days that, prior to 1829, the turret-clock had no minute-hand, and it must have been no little pleasure to the boys, who witnessed its appear- ance, to be able when at play to do something more than make a rough guess at the time. The next year witnessed one of those changes which mark epochs. A suggestion had been HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 01 introduced into the deliberations of the Committee early in 1830, though from what quarter it came is not said, that the old wooden trencher was becoming an antiquated utensil and that it would be productive of cleanliness at least, if it were superseded by plates. But the Committee did not see the desirability of a change and made a minute to that effect. The voice of public opinion, however, found utterance in the ensuing General Meeting in a form not to be resisted and the old trencher was abandoned. In 1832, after the great fevers, the boys were supplied with night-shirts, which the Committee ordered to be washed fortnightly and, at the same time, " flannel waistcoats" were introduced for the boys' winter wear. The resort to the use of the latter article shews that a bitter ex- perience had opened the eyes of the Committee to the necessity of warmer clothing in the more inclement seasons and, from this cause also, no doubt, followed the introduction of caps, in place of hats, which might be worn on the play- ground, at any time, at the discretion of Robert Whitaker. The caps were ordered to be of " dark-brown worsted," and must have given a smarter appearance to the boys than the motley head-dresses inherited from antiquity, for they called down the censure of Thomas Shillitoe, whose spirit was wounded by what he thought their "too military appearance." These caps would appear to have been favourite articles of apparel with the boys, [for an early minute of the Committee forbids their general every day use, issuing an order that they should only be worn " on such occasions as hats had hitherto been." Late as some of these improvements may, to our readers, seem to have been in making their appearance, another, which had its origin with night-shirts and flannel- vests, will probably still more astonish them, not by its advent but by its previous absence. No lavatory provision appears to have existed for use during the day. In 1832 we find the Committee giving orders " to make accommodation for the boys to wash themselves occasionally, which it appears may be 102 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL conveniently accomplished in ['the narrow passage leading to the shed court." But we are digressing and must return to observe the con- tinued satisfaction which the Committee received from their frequent investigation into the state of the religious instruction, which had now evidently become the first subject in their interest and affections, and which was so admirably conducted as to be a constant source of pleasure and gratification to them. It would be tedious to repeat, in this little narrative, all their reports on the subject, but one quotation, showing how far the Committee looked for, and believed they found, practi- cal fruit from this instruction in the daily life of the boys, may be of interest. After speaking with great satisfaction of the admirable manner of teaching the subject, one of the reports of 1827 concludes thus : — "The importance of these instructions, under the divine blessing, is strikingly evinced by the reports in regard to the boys' conduct, and by the state of mind which, from our intercourse with them, we believe generally prevails." We believe that all testimony bears out the view here ex- pressed, and, if we sought only to leave a pleasant picture, it would perhaps be wise to observe the reticence which the Committee practices in reference to that darker side, which at almost all times, in so large a school, must exist somewhere. But a truthful attempt to delineate the times cannot wholly ignore the fact, that even in this very satisfactory period — and such the fifth decade undoubtedly was — the teachers did not repose on a bed of roses, the boys did not live in an elysium into which no temptation might enter, no dark spirit spread its snares, no evil passion lurk. The school was a little world, not unlike the greater one outside, constituted of good and evil elements. Happily the former appear to have predominated at the time of which we now write and, whilst many troublesome HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 83 faults cropped up from time to time in individuals or sections of the school, the mass appears to have remained sound — sounder probably from the fact that evil was visibly present, warning, like a beacon, from the shelving rocks of disorder, or, peradventure, sometimes |^of sin. Phases of conduct, like diseases, are to a certain extent epidemic. They vary in form and character as much as the fevers and agues that affect the physical man. Troublesome practices crop up and pass away. At one time disobedience to monitors prevailed, at another, disorder in the dining-room. A rage for pillow-fights, succeeded one for filling boys' beds with nettles. Stealing fruit from the attractive trees in the adjacent garden disturbed one autumn — purloining carrots from the farm, another. More grievous evils sometimes reared their heads and were not easily eradicated. Referring to the present period we should say in general terms that falsehood was the predominant evil from 182 1 to 1825, not unaccompanied by impertinence towards the younger apprentices and monitors, and habits of passionate outburst. It is reasonable to suppose that all this was confined within a tolerably limited circle, but the first-mentioned offence gave much trouble in a few instances : some boys were guilty of it again and again. One boy was so inveterate a liar that, after he had been flogged, and imprisoned in the Light and Airy Rooms, he remained as bad as ever. He was then punished by the following singular device : — for several days he stood at the head of the dining-room, whilst the boys were at dinner, with a badge on his back, bearing in huge black letters the word " Liar,'' visible to all in the room. We fear this did not cure him, but it may have deterred others. From 1826 to 1828 the caprice was love-making, and in 1829 the war-fever and much fighting, both tolerable diseases compared with that which pre- ceded, but each gave its own uneasiness to the masters, and the former no doubt to the mistresses. The martial fever assumed considerable proportions. The Wars of the Roses became a favourite historic episode, leading sometimes to great excitement 184 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL and some very hearty conflict. It was accompanied by a passion for collecting warlike passages of poetry and ballads that fired the blood. The masters laboured earnestly to lay this spirit by excellent advice, but it ran through its little day. One Stephen Jenkins could not lay aside his valour or his ardour even on First Day, and for thus unseasonably " reciting a warlike song to two of his school-fellows, he was ordered to be closely con- fined for one day, with a suitable task." To these somewhat heroic passions there succeeded that of pilfering, but this was undoubtedly confined to a very small number. But if there were at all times evil occurrent, there was cer- tainly very much more of good predominant. Intellectually there was much activity. We have seen how brilliantly the "Association for the Improvement of the Mind" commenced its operations, and it may be well now to glance at its subsequent action, so far as the present period is concerned. The boys continued their loyalty to this society in a manner almost remarkable. The selected essays give evidence that a vigorous vitality was maintained in composition amongst the boys ; and the continuation of the " Gazette" for some years, and that of "The Censor" down to 1827, shew no abatement of the first zeal of the masters. In 1825 a new medium of intercom- munication of ideas was established, called the " Mutual Correspondent," which, as its name suggests, consisted ' of communications in the form- of letters, most of which were probably written by boys, whilst "The Budget" consisted of a collection of essays by the masters chiefly. Many of these latter are in the form of dialogue— a style much in vogue then at Ackworth. The greater number of these essays was by Henry Brady and Thomas Brown, but Henry Hawley, John Broadhead, John Newby, and others contributed. The collec- tion is not large, and is comprised in one MS. volume. In 1829 — 1831 a series of playful articles appeared under the title of the " Camera Obscura" — chiefly consisting of reflections HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 85 of a lively character upon the Association and its members, and their doings, and written by the youthful members and one of the seniors, who had assumed the nom de plume of " Camera Obscura." Of the selected essays of the period the authors are very numerous, but it may not be out of place to mention that amongst them occurs the name of William Allen Miller, Professor in King's College, London, V.P.R.S., and author of the well-known work on Chemistry, which, when published and for long afterwards, was recognised as the best in the English language. He wrote on many themes in the time of his boy- hood and, amongst his essays, his love for the crucible already crops out In 1829, Thomas Hunton already began to shew promise of an elegant and poHshed style; and, in 1830, Thomas Hattersley was a copious contributor of clever essays. Whilst the members of the association monopolized the chief direct advantages of the literary life of which it was the exponent, the boys at large were kept alive to some of the great social questions — such as the Slave Trade, and the fearful prevalent distress of years like 1826 — by public meetings of the wliole School. CHAPTER X. MALIGNANT FEVER — DEATH OF HENRY BRADY — UNSETTLED STATE OF THE GIRLS' WING — PRISCILLA KINCEY — ALTERA- TION IN THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE GIRLS — REPORT ON A SPECIAL EXAMINATION OF BOYS LEAVING SCHOOL — COM- MITTEE'S SOLICITUDE ABOUT BOOKS — NEW BED-ROOM FOR GIRLS — FEVER AGAIN — RAWDON SCHOOL — DEATH OF HANNAH WHITAKER — ILLNESS AND RETIREMENT OF ROBERT WHITAKER — JAMES ARTHINGTON — JOHN BROADHEAD — NEW ARRANGE- MENTS — CLASS CHANGES — " MASTER-ON-DUTY." In the Spring of 1828 a malignant fever broke out in the School ; the cases were not numerous, however, until the end of the Seventh Month. The Committee then had a conference with their medical officers, and every effort was made to stem the progress of the disease, but it spread with such rapidity and' became so virulent in type, that Robert Whitaker called a special Committee for Eighth Month 25 th, to consider the state of the family, to which Committee he presented the following Report : — "STATE OF THE FAMILY AT ACKWORTH SCHOOL 25th of 8th Mo. 1828. " 8 Boys in the nurseries, 4 of these convalescent. "13 ,1 II 3rd chamber, confined to bed for the most part, but only 3 very poorly. "26 II under nursing care, up in the day time. "27 11 passed through the complaint, and are restored. "8 Girls in the nurseries, 2 convalescent. "14 II 11 a lodging room in the Wing, butonly 3 very poorly, and two or three of these sometimes sit up in the day for a little while. "13 11 under nursing care, up in the day time. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 87 " 47 Girls have passed through the complaint, and are restored. " Two cases of girls at present appear dangerous. " The nurse and one of the chamber-maids are confined to bed at present. " The cow-keeper and houseman are indisposed, but not confined to their beds. " Several of the boys' apprentices have had the complaint, and one of them is now confined to his bed. In the girls' wing Maria Bleckly, the Writing Mistress, is also confined to her bed. Several of the female apprentices have passed through the complaint with but little suffering. " The patient who has been the longest on the sick list now is Hannah Barritt, who was confined to her bed on the 12th of 7th Month. She is nearly well. ' ' Several have been recently confined to bed, but they have been sometime slightly indisposed previously." Having received this Report, the Committee called in the- two medical men in attendance, and elicited from them the following facts and observations : — " 1st. That there are at present only two cases of fever which they consider urgent, viz. -. those of Mary Dumbleton, the nurse, and a girl named Clemesha. " 2nd. That they consider the existing disorder to be an inflammatory fever, and, in- two of the cases which have occurred, attended with typhus symptoms. " 3rd. That it is infectious, and may be communicated by contact. "4th. That it is confined to the School, and does not exist in other parts of the village, as far as has come within the knowledge of the medical officers. "5th. Supposed to have arisen in the first instance from the peculiar state of the atmosphere. " 6th. No fresh cases have arisen within the past week. " 7th. Only two cases of relapse have occurred. " 8th. The fumigation seems to be effective and complete. " 9th. The medical officers or one of them attend twice each day, and they consider the cases receive the necessary medical attention. " lOth. The clothes of the children who have been ill are fumigated pre- viosly to the children going into the Schools. " nth. No danger of the attendants on the sick conveying the disease to the healthy children. " 1 2th. Fever similar to that now existing in the School may be produced [88 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL by the exhalations from stagnant waters, and frequently arises from obstructed perspiration. " 13th. Not imprudent to allow the children who are well, and whose time has expired to leave the School. " 14th. Not expedient to admit into the School any more children at present. " 15th. No danger from the present mode of washing the linen, &c., of the invalids, but recommend that it be brought from the chambers immersed in cold water. " i6th. No occasion to break up the School by sending home the healthy children ; and it is the opinion of the medical officers that there is a fair probability of the disorder being subdued without further extension ; and that the general state of the family is improving." Robert Whitaker was empowered to obtain all additional nurses he might require, and to call in Dr. Thorp, of Leeds, to consider the state of things, in connection with the medical officers attached to the staff. The Committee was informed at this time that on the 29th of the previous month a girl had died from apoplexy, supposed to have been produced by tumour in the neck, and that Hannah Farrer, of Kendal, a girl of fourteen, had died of the prevalent fever. On the sth of Ninth Month another special Committee was called, to receive the report of the medical conference and that of the state of the family. Dr. Thorp having been from home, . Dr. WilUamson, of Leeds, had paid three visits to the School. The joint report of himself and the School doctors was encou- raging as regarded the prospects of the fever, but gave no definite or satisfactory opinion as to the origin or cause of it Robert Whitaker's carefully prepared report of the progress of the dis- order since the previous meeting — eleven days before — shows that sixteen fresh cases had appeared and that the nurse, Mary Dumbleton, and two children had died in the interval. From his report we gather that, up to date, one hundred and four children had passed through the complaint and been restored to health, but that there still remained sixty-four cases under care, amongst which were Hannah Whitaker, Henry HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 189 Brady, Mary Bleckly, and two apprentices. The Committee, on that occasion, issued a circular to parents, in which they described the course of the fever's progress from the first, stating that for some time after its appearance the number of cases was very small, that in the middle of the Seventh Month they were but six, and that the character of the disorder was then very uncertain, that in the following month it had spread so rapidly that in the middle of it there were eighty cases. This document was perhaps more than explanatory — it was probably apologetic. Not being able to ascertain the exact character of the disorder before the gathering of the annual General Meeting, and hoping, no doubt, that it was non-infectious, the Committee permitted that gathering to take place, and several, some reports say many, of the Friends who were present at it took the disorder home, and some deaths ensued. At the end of the Tenth Month the fever was dying out, but there were still five cases, and before the School was entirely free a hundred and eighty- three' of its inmates had suffered from it. This terrible visit of disease and death was rendered still more melancholy by its robbing the School of one of its masters, who had adorned his station with almost every quality that could mark the perfect teacher. After a lapse of fifty years his name still lingers in the annals of the School as one of its fairest possessions. Henry Brady, having passed through the ordinary stages of the fever, so far recovered as to walk out in the sun, on the arm of his young wife, but suffering a relapse, he died on the 9th of Tenth Month, 1828. In writing to Thomas Hodgson, of Lancaster, two years and a half after the death of Henry Brady, his bosom friend Thomas Brown says, — " Those alone who had the privilege of his intimate acquaintance can be aware to its full extent of the loss experienced by this institution in his lamented and (as far as it was ready to appear to the erring judgment of his I go HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL endeared friends) untimely removal. He was indeed, as Ihou observes, a bright example of conscientiousness in the discharge of his various important duties. Indeed among the many excellencies of his character this certainly shone conspicuous. The continued friendship through a course of years of such an individual, highly gifted as he was too with intellectual endowments, ought certainly to be ranked among the most valuable of earthly blessings. We shall regard his memory here with mingled feelings of esteem and affection." The Committee, on being informed of his death, expressed its sorrow in an appropriate minute, and the .adjourned General Meeting, held in London in 1829, also noticed his death in their report, as follows : — " Henry Brady was brought up in the institution from a scholar. He was attached from choice to the profession of a schoolmaster, and had used extra- ordinary assiduity in qualifying himself for the employment. His mind also having become deeply impressed with religious principles, and his conduct evidently regulated by them, the Committee were glad to retain him in the service of the institution, to which he was sincerely attached. As he grew in years, his various qualifications as an instructor of youth became still more conspicuous. His talent for communicating knowledge was great ; and his patient and affectionate conduct towards children, united as it was with superior mental endowments, gained for him, in a remarkable manner, their love and respect, and had also a very beneficial influence on the younger teachers. It may, we believe, be safely said that the religious welfare of the children was the subject nearest his heart. In the inculcation of Scripture knowledge, with which his own mind was deeply imbued, he was peculiarly serviceable, and there is reason to hope that the seed thus sown in many youthful minds will spring up and bear valuable fruit." A lady, whose notes we have before quoted, and who was a scholar at the time of this visitation of fever, describing the melancholy aspect of the time, says : — ' ' As one after another sickened, the nurseries became filled to overflowing, and one of the boys' chambers, and one also of the girls' bed-rooms, were filled with the prostrated ones. As I was spared in comparative health through most of the time of greatest trial, I was in and out as office-bearer, both in the Wing and Centre. As ' Superintendent's Waiter,' I remember witnessing the distress of Robert Whitaker, as his overwhelming cares and HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 191 responsibilities pressed heavily upon him and upon his true-hearted, competent wife. The strength of the latter at length gave way, and for a little while she was confined to her chamber. There were doctors and nurses from Leeds, and Luke Howard most kindly rendered assistance in the ' Apothe- cary's shop' in dispensing medicne, requiring thereby, from one of the Leeds nurses, the designation of ' the old I'otecary.' Maria Bella Howard's cook, was continually busy, preparing delicacies suited for the invalids, which were sent from the 'Villa' morning by morning." During the long superintendency of the Girls' department by Isabella Harris, the Committee's reports of that section of the School were always eminently satisfactory ; but for some years after the retirement of that Friend, there was considerable change and unsettlement in connection with the office of governess, and these produced their usual results. In 1830, we find the Examiners' report couched in language so cautious as to leave no room for doubt that dissatisfaction with the state of things generally had sprung up. PrisciUa Kincey had occupied the office of governess for about half-a-year and had probably not yet mastered its duties. The report is very brief, but, under its curt phrases, lies a note of condemnation. The conduct of the girls is said to be " pretty orderly with some exceptions ;" the improvement in their studies is described as " rather less than heretofore ;'' and with the Scriptures they were thought to be " pretty well acquainted." These phrases are in striking contrast with many of the glowing eulogies of a former day. The pre- vious General Meeting had suggested the introduction of the Monitorial System on that side of the house; and the Committee now made the necessary arrangements for the change and placed this preparatory department, comprising about thirty girls, under the charge of Sarah Ann Squire. In addition to this radical change, this Committee made some suggestions and proposals for "alterations in the mode of instruction'' amongst the upper classes of the girls, but postponed the final adoption of them to their next half-yearly meeting. These proposals, combined with the low character of the report, greatly 1 92 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL disturbed the stafif of mistresses and, before the Committee could meet, three of them resigned their posts. The Committee pro- ceeded with its reorganization scheme. It distributed all the girls above the stage of the monitorial department into two schools, called Reading Schools, which were to be, in every respect, on a par. After leaving the monitorial room, each girl was to be drafted into one of these, and was to belong to it during the rest of her stay at Ackworth. In these rooms were taught reading, spelling, grammar, geography, , sewing and knitting. Writing, arithmetic, mental calculation and tables were taught to all these girls, in alternate sections, during certain hours every day, in a third room, called the Writing School, which was under a mistress who devoted herself entirely to instruction in these subjects. The change worked well : the tone of the girls improved. In the Spring of 1832 the Committee, after penning an excellent report of the girls' schools, concluded its observa- tions by saying — " It has been gratifying to observe the kind and affectionate attention of the principal mistress (Priscilla Kincey) to those under her care." Into the half-yearly examination of the boys, held in the Spring of 1831, a new element was introduced. After the School had been examined in the usual way, the boys who vs^ere likely to leave the School within six months were ex- amined together, and the report of this special investigation was as follows : — " The result appears to us very favourable as to the state of the School : the boys may all of them be said to be respectably prepared for trading situations and about one-third of them are fitted for any engagements for which the attainments to be acquired at Ackworth can be expected to prepare them." At another examination of this year the Committee remarked upon the " kind manner of the masters in their intercourse with the, boys," and did not fail to note the reciprocity of this feeling in the latter, in " their frank and open deportment towards their teachers." At this time a HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 93 considerable addition was made to the reading books in use. Four new works were adopted — Butter's " Gradations in Reading and Spelling," Ingram Cobbins' " Instructive Reader," " The National School Collection," compiled for the Edinboro' Sessional School, and " Instructive Extracts," pre- pared for the same purpose. But, ever mindful of the need for watchfulness over what was placed, by their sanction, before the children, the members of the Committee resolved to eliminate certain articles from the latter two works, before bringing the books into use. From the " National School Collection'' they removed pp. log, 115 and 1 1 7, and from the "Instructive Extracts'' pp. 191, 286, 306, 313,314 and 315, substituting for the omitted pages others considered more suitable and printing new tables of contents to the two works. . The Girls' lodging-rooms had frequently been complained of as very close and, in i83r, a room was erected over the girls' lavatory about twenty-two feet square, into which eight beds were transferred. This was an improvement so far as it went, but it is a source of no little wonder how a hundred and twenty girls and their teachers could have had their health within the limited bed-room accommodation of that day, when the rooms were four or five feet lower than now, and none of the ample extensions of recent times had been dreamed of. In the autumn of this year. Fever again broke out in the School. A case of an " eruptive " nature had occurred in the previous year, but the disorder did not then spread. This year, on the contrary, its progress was exceedingly rapid. Within about a fortnight of its appearance, it had prostrated seventy-eight children, forty-seven boys and thirty-one girls. To a special Committee then summoned, Dr. Overend, of Doncaster, Dr. Hobson, of Leeds, and Messrs. Oxley and Muscroft, of Pontefract, presented a report, describing the disorder as " Common Fever," accompanied in two cases by 194 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL typhoid symptoms, and as infectious. Ten days subsequently, there had been a hundred and twenty cases, one of which had terminated fatally, but the medical men then stated their belief that the fever was " got under," the type of the more recent cases having been milder. This was unfortunately a miscalculation. . A fortnight later, Robert Whitaker had to report that the fever had assumed a much more malignant phase, that there had been fifty-five fresh cases, and that a girl had died that morning. On the 30th of Twelfth Month, however, the medical men were able to report to a special Committee that " the cases were all assuming a most favourable aspect." Those gentlemen, at the same time, presented the following communication to the Committee : — " It is our opinion that this fever did not arise from local causes. It is the opinion of Dr. Hobson that the diet is sufficient. It is the opinion of Dr. Overend and Messrs. Muscroft and Oxley that an increase of animal food would be desirable. R. HOBSON, M.D. JOHN OVEREND, M.D. J. MUSCROFT, Surgeon. Aekworth, Dec. loth, 1831. R. OXLEY, They further informed the Committee that, whilst approving the warming of the school-rooms by steam, they thought the addition of fires in the rooins desirable for assisting the ventilation. They also recommended attention to some of the drains, &c. The recommendations of the medical men were adopted. The fever had attacked no fewer than two hundred and three inmates before the Committee was informed, on the 30th of First Month, 1832, that there was then but a single case. Of these, two girls and one boy had died. At that date there were but 239 children in the School, although when the fever broke out there were 299. In the following month, the number ran down to 233. In the Fourth Month there were HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 95 again 256 in the School; but Friends throughout the country- had been so seriously alarmed by the return of the terrible scourge that there were but 13 boys and 14 girls on the list for admission — an extremely small number for that period. The improvement both in the quality and quantity of the meat diet in consequence of the above recommendation, was, according to the testimony of Friends who were scholars at the time, not only required but much appreciated. In connection with this melancholy occasion of sickness, Thomas Hunton, who was a scholar at the time, relates a very characteristic anecdote of Luke Howard, F.R.S., who then lived in Ackworth and was ever a devoted friend to the School, and who, with his benevolent wife, was always active with his aid in times of illness. "I recollect," says Thomas Hunton, "on one occasion, Luke Howard, with his characteristic disregard of conventionalities, breaking up the week- day meeting after about half-an-hour, remarking, much in unison with our feelings, that, under the present circumstances he thought the children ought to have short meetings and a more generous diet. The mixture was a curious one and nevertheless judicious, and, in its effects, somewhat contrasted with an address delivered by a Friend from a distance. He came into the dining-room in the midst of our tea, and we were asked to suspend operations, while he began by saying that the fever was infectious, and that most likely some of us would die of it. It was a discouraging address, however well intentioned, and it was gloomy enough, without it, to find our school-fellows, day by day, removed from our classes, some of them never to return." In the spring of 1832, the school at Rawden was opened for the children of persons connected with the Society of Friends but not in membership with it, and Ackworth supplied its first master. The Commitee of Rawden School applied to that of Ackworth for the temporary assistance of the master of the Monitorial School in the organization of their new Institution. This request was acceded to and the arrangement terminated in Henry Hawley's permanent engagement at Rawden. o 2 ig6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL The year 1832 is remembered in the North of England for the prevalence of " spasmodic cholera." The Committee did not like to omit the General Meeting altogether, in consequence of it, but it issued a circular advising that the attendance should be very limited. The much dreaded disease happily did not enter the School, but it was nevertheless destined to affect its interests in a melancholy manner. In the summer of 1833, at the solicitation of the Committee, Robert and Hannah Whitaker were induced to leave home for the purpose of taking a few weeks' relaxation. Accompanied by their daughter and their friend Elizabeth Armstrong, they set out for Wales, pass- ing rapidly through Manchester, where Cholera was then rife, on their way. On reaching Welshpool, Hannah Whitaker was smitten down by the prevalent disease and died on the 4th of Ninth Month. The event was acknowledged by all as a calamity, not only to her husband and daughter, but to the Institution to whose wide and varied interests she had devoted her life. The sense of the general loss will be best appreciated by the simple yet emphatic minute of the Autumn Committee : — " The Committee has had under its consideration the loss which the Institution has sustained in the removal of our much valued friend Hannah Whitaker. We think it right to record our sense of her long and faithful services to this Institution. In her various situations she was distinguished by her diligence and ability ; but in the important one she occupied at the time of her decease, she was not only the careful guardian of the Institution's domestic affairs and the judicious director of the subordinate departments, but her truly Christian example and counsel diffused their influence over the whole family, by the various members of which she was looked up to as a mother.'' Previously much run down by too close application to the interests and multifarious cares of the School, Robert Whitaker was ill prepared for this sudden domestic disaster. The blow crushed and prostrated him. He was compelled to take the rest he had so long refused and which had now so little power to HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 97 heal. Concluding that his day of active service was over, he penned the following letter to the Committee resigning the office of Superintendent which he had now occupied, within a few weeks, for thirty years. " Dear Friends, As I have not for several months been able to perform the duties pertaining to the office of Superintendent in the School and as there is not any ground to hope that my health and strength will be restored, it appears incumbent on me to retire from the station ; and I hereby resign my charge, wishing to be humbly thankful to my Almighty Benefactor for his long- continued protection and loving kindness. "In thus giving up the care of the Flock, I feel deep regret, under a consciousness that I have done veiy little to promote the true interests of the School. But I trust that another Friend will soon be found for the important station, much better qualified to conduct its general concerns and to forward the religious and guarded education of the children. ' ' In taking leave of those with whom I have been long associated, I am desirous to express my gratitude to the two Committees and to the Treasurer for their uniform kindness to me and for their cordial co-operation with me in my feeble efforts to serve the Institution. I remain your much obliged and affectionate friend, ROBT. WHITAKER." Exthorp, 7th of 7th Month, 1834. The following Adjourned General Meeting held in London expressed its appreciation of Robert Whitaker's labours in their Institution by the following minute : — "We deeply regret the occasion of our dear friend's relinquishing an office which he has acceptably filled for nearly thirty years, and desire to record our sense of the valuable services which he has rendered to this Institution both by his conscientious attention to the economy of its funds and especially Ijy his paternal care over the Family, his watchful endeavours by example and counsel to maintain its harmony, and his study to promote the comfort and improvement of the Children and their moral and religious welfare. " From the foregoing narrative it will not have escaped the reader's notice that Robert Whitaker was alike eminent for igS HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL his self-denying nature and for his extraordinary activity in administering to the welfare of his charge. Nor were the operations of his vigilant mind bounded by the immediate circle of the intellectual, religious and physical demands of his young people. Everything connected with the Institution was full of interest to him and received his close attention. Not only did he take great pleasure in the cattle, but the very trees upon the estate received almost loving care from him. He studied the diseases of the former and the habits and the culture of the latter as thoroughly as if they had been the chief business of his life. Every year he went round the Estate with the carpenter in order to direct what trees should be pruned or felled ; and he annually superintended the cutting and renewal of the fences. He always attended the market at Pontefract that he might choose his own particular quality of wheat, which was then usually ground at the wind-mill in High Ackworth. The table was generally supplied with beef from small Scotch cattle, purchased from herds passing on their way to London by the great North Road, upon which it was Robert Whitaker's custom to meet them at Wentbridge. On these occasions he was usually accom- panied, for many years, by James Harrison and Robert Graham, the farm steward. The former Friend, who has been described as a " rustic genius and natural wit,'' and whose facetae were quoted long after his death, was long remembered for his shrewd intelligence and his deep interest in the School. An- other Friend, to whom Robert Whitaker ever acknowledged his indebtedness in connection with the farm, was James Arthington, a member of the Committee, who for many years regularly ap- peared at the School with his horse, as hay-time approached, and took up his abode there until every field had been housed — a period, often, of six weeks. Old scholars remember his visits with interest, and especially the favoured individuals who were each year told off to take the charge of his horse, upon HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1 99 which, as a reward for his services, the favourite of the year always had the pleasure of riding to the field behind its owner. Amongst the members of a Committee, so many of whom were ardently devoted to the interests of the School, it would be an invidious act to particularise individuals as eminently serviceable by the assistance they rendered to Robert Whitaker ; but it may not be inappropriate to mention that, in connection with such of them as became his personal friends, he always counted among his greater privileges the helpful influence of the converse and sympathy of John Broadhead, of Leeds. This Friend frequently visited Robert and Hannah Whitaker, and, whilst moving about the School, exerted a powerful influence, in his gentle and quiet way, upon the teachers and officers, stimu- lating in them the growth of a lofty sense of duty in a very encouraging manner. It would be a serious omission not to mention, amongst Robert Whitaker's numerous efibrts to master the details of every part of his position, the success he acquired in the know- ledge and treatment of the diseases of children, into which he was acknowledged by medical men to have a very clear and penetrating insight. A large Committee met in the Autumn of 1834 for the pur- pose of discussing the. general arrangements of the Institution, in the prospect of its management passing into the hands of another Superintendent. It appears to have discussed almost every existing arrangement connected with the instruction of the children, the disposal of the farm, the position and status of the apprentices, the clothing department and the system of banking. It had several conferences with the masters for the discussion of the details of their department, and minutes its pleasure in their openness and willingness to adopt any altera- tions the Committee might think desirable. It concluded that 200 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL a fresh Superintendent ought not to be burdened with the charge of a large farm, but that all the estate should be let, except so much of it as would be required to supply the School with milk. Hitherto all the meat used had been fed and slaughtered on the farm ; but a suspicion had arisen that there were grave objections to this practice, and the Committee now resolved to purchase all the meat from respectable butchers, who were invited to tender for contracts each quarter of the year. By the first contract entered into, meat " of prime quality " was supplied at six shillings per stone; but in 1835 two con- tracts were entered into for meat of the same class at five shillings and sixpence and five shillings per stone, rather under fourpence three farthings the pound in the former and little over fourpence farthing in the latter case. One hundred and nine acres were judged to be sufficient for the modified requirements of the School, for which the Institution was, in the accounts, to repre- sent the rent at £,■2■^o per annum, whilst it was to pay for the milk sevenpence a gallon. Of the rest of the estate, about eighty acres were leased to Robert Graham at a rental of £\ 1 6s. per acre, and forty-two or three acres were let with the School inn to Robert Denton at a rental of ;!^iio, inclusive of the inn, which was to be enlarged and improved. By reducing the responsibilities attaching to the office of Superintendent in this way, the Committee had especially in view the promotion, in their chief officer, of facilities for more complete devotion to the cultivation of the knowledge of the individual character of the young people under his charge, for larger opportunity for attention to their religious instruction and for giving them a "correct impression of the rehgious views and practices of Friends." Arrangements were also made whereby the admission of children was to be effected more immediately through the Superintendent than heretofore. Agents were instructed not to send any child in future until they should have received advice to do so from the Superintendent, HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 20 r to whom also all payments were to be made, or, if transmitted to the Treasurer, intimation of such payment was to be for- warded to him. But the most interesting results of the delibera- tions of this special sitting of the Committee were perhaps those which had reference to the conducting of the boys' schools. The lower school-room, fronting the green, was fitted up for the introduction of the monitorial system on a much more extended scale — being intended for nearly eighty of the younger boys — and placed under the care of Robert Doeg. The remaining boys were equally divided into two sections, which were to be considered on a par with each other in all respects. By this arrangement, on rising from the monitorial school, a boy remained in whichever of these two classes he was then placed until he left Ackworth. These sections occupied the two large upper school-rooms, — the one to the back being presided over by Thomas Brown and that to the front by John Newby who, since the death of Henry Brady, also gave instruction before breakfast to the twenty boys who learned Latin, ten of whom were chosen from his own and ten from T. Brown's first class. It was arranged that the out-door inspection of the children should still rotate amongst the three masters who presided over these school-rooms but that, in order to afford them some relief from the pressure of a double duty so severe, George Bottomley, the book-keeper, was requested to take the inspection periodi- cally with them. This latter scheme soon became inoperative. The pressure upon the masters was excessive. They appealed to the Committee in a few months for a reconsideration of it, and that body resolved on the establishment of the office of a perma- nent " Master on Duty" for the play-hours. The post was offered to, and accepted by John Newby. He undertook, in addition to the general charge of the children when not in school, to teach the classes of the masters when they took their holidays or were indisposed, to superintend one third of the work done by the boys in the field or garden and to teach the Latin class. For the last service, however, he received an additional 202 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Stipend. Robert Doeg moved up into "Number Three," as the room in which John Newby had taught was called, and, after some months anxious search, the Committee secured a successor to him in the monitorial room, in John Freeman, who at the request of the Committee, prior to coming to Ackworth, spent three months at the Borough Road School, where he obtained the required testimonial to his competency from the Secretary of the British and Foreign School Society. CHAPTER XI. THOMAS PUMPHREY APPOINTED SUPERINTENDENT— STATE OF THE SCHOOL AT THE TIME COMMEMORATION OF NEGRO EMANCIPATION THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT'S DIFFICULTIES — ENLARGEMENT OF THE INN TABLE-BEER DISCONTINUED — INN LICENCE DISCONTINUED — HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY THE SOCIETY OF ARTS FOUNDED — OPERATIONS OF THE " ASSOCIATION " COST OF BOYS' CLOTHING HANNAH RICHARDSON CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS WORKSHOP EXTENSION OF " VACATION " SYSTEM — GAS INTRODUCED — MEASLES AND SCARLATINA — DR. WILLIAMSON'S REPORT ON VENTILATION, &C. SCHOOL ENTRANCE IMPROVED — CHARLES BARNARD EXPOSES THE DEFECTIVE WORKING OF THE MONITORIAL SYSTEM AND IT IS DISCONTINUED. In the autumn of 1834, Thomas Pumphrey of Worcester offered himself for the office of Superintendent, which offer the Committee unanimously accepted as an arrangement provisional to its adoption by the Adjourned General Meeting and, on the 2nd of Twelfth Month, Thomas and Rachel Pumphrey took up their abode at the school, as Superintendent and mistress of the family. At the time of their accession to office the School contained only 276 children and there were in the "list," waiting for admis- sion, but one boy and two girls. The panic spread by the fevers of 1828 and 183 1 had probably not yet subsided. But the year which had elapsed since Hannah Whita'ker's death, when her husband became so prostrated that it was necessary that he 204 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL should seek quiet and rest amongst his friends, had been one of miscellaneous government, no one being either long in com- mand, or exclusively when professedly so, and the discipline had become so disorganised that Friends may have been discouraged from sending their children until they saw a strong guiding hand at the helm. Common testimony evidences that during this interregnum the worse elements of the School rose into injurious prominence : a spirit which rejoiced in finding its chief delight in lawless defiance of authority got abroad. From 1833 to 1835 or 6 there seem never to have been lacking five or six daring and rebellious boys whose attitude was offensive in the extreme. Ever going from bad to worse, these boys did not shrink from mixing up, with their open defiance of School regulations, the more grave offences of lying, stealing, and profanity. It is painful to speak of these things, and we refrain from entering into details of the disorder of a period whose character is fully recorded in the masters' own documents. Suffice it to say that it would be difficult to exaggerate the gravity of the evil spirit that ruled in these boys. One consolation in some measure compensates for the acuteness of the evil. It v?as so glaring and repulsive that it cpuld have been attractive to very few. Perhaps its worst form, as a contagious element, lay in its breaking down respect for an authority that was incapable of coping with it. Some months after Thomas Pumphrey becanie Superinten- dent, the Committee would appear to have recommended the expulsion of one of these boys but, either from a desire to win back by long-suffering kindness one who, if thrown upon the world, might suffer irreparable shipwreck, or from the hope that the fear of such a threatened exposure might restore the boy to orderly life, the suggestion was not at once carried out. He consummated his long course of disgraceful conduct by a still m.ore outrageous episode, for which he was locked up in the Light and Airy Rooms and never saw his school-fellows again, being expelled as soon as the Committee could be communicated with. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 205 Although the disciphne of the School was undoubtedly very seriously affected by the existence of conditions so inconsistent' with orderly government and the moral tone experienced a proportionate declension, things were not so bad that the more right-minded did not assert their prerogative of independence. It would be easy to mention the names of boys who as defiantly bore the banner of loyalty to all that was lovely and of good report as the baser spirits bore theirs against honour and upright- ness. But here we might become invidious, for the meek and quiet worker is not always fortunate in meeting with accidents which hand down his memory in stirring episodes which testify to his courage and fidelity. WJien "pious" and ^^ tugging'' were epithets of derision, spoken by the mouths of those whose hands were often practised in violence, it required no little courage to deserve them. It needed something better and bolder than priggishness in the boy who, when taunted, in those bad times, with reading a religious book, stood up and said " I wish to be able to give answer for the hope that is in me." The atmosphere was too fiery for prigs to exist in, and this defiant answer came from the old heroic spirit of better days. The unhappy state of the discipline appears to have fretted the over-worked and slender staff of masters into unwonted severity. This probably aggravated some evils : it begat a habit of antagonism, amongst too many of the boys, towards those in authority, whom they came to regard as their enemies. The customary use of the rod and the cane had doubtless some influence in reconciling the kindest of men to habits of rigorous severity. Yet it is only bare justice to the men who bore sway in the Schools at Ackworth at this time that it should be said that they were, without question, not only anxious to secure a right as well as an orderly spirit amongst their charge, but to obtain justice with consideration for all. In the pages of the masters' own minutes for 1832, and evidently in the hand-writing of the clerk for the time, we find an interesting paragraph on " Rash Judgment," adopted, doubtless, in the spirit of sacred desire not to deal 2o6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL ungenerously, unjustly, or inconsiderately towards delinquents, nor as if they were irreclaimable. " Let us not then censure things which are dubious as if they were certain ; nor reprehend even manifest evils in such a manner as to represent them as incurable. Of uncertain things those are most prompt to judge rashly who take more delight in inveighing against what is amiss than in correcting it." The paragraph concludes in the following hopeful strain : — " Despair not therefore of your children when they are unwilling to receive correction, or if they prove not speedily good ; for the labourer gathereth not the fruits of the earth as soon as the seed is sown, but he waits till the due season." The occasion was cruel which could render men severe who could adopt and endorse language so full of gentle wisdom. During the worst of this period the work of the " Association" collapsed entirely, but one interesting episode lit up the gloomy year 1834 and supplied some young minds with food for thought and work for a while. This was the Commemoration of the Emancipation of the Slaves in the British Colonies on the ist of Eighth Month. In prospect of a gala-day the children were stimulated to write verses for the occasion, for the best of which prizes were offered. When the day arrived a grand meeting of all the children and numerous visitors was held in the Meeting House, presided over by Luke Howard, F.R.S. Amongst the visitors were conspicuous Joseph John Gurney, Thomas Lister " the Barnsley Poet," and John Bright, then of course a young man. Various congratulatory resolutions were passed, (some of which were moved by boys,) amongst which William Fisher Sim proposed and John Bright seconded one to the effect — " That this meeting unites in the feeling of humble gratitude to the Author of all Good, who has condescended so to bless the efforts of all Christians of every denomination in this country, that the curse of slavery throughout the British Empire is this day ended and that all the slaves are free !" HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 207 It is not a little interesting that one who was afterwards so nobly to champion the welfare and freedom of the sons of toil in that senate-house which had just liberated the bondman, should have been present on an occasion so much in harmony with the work of his after-life. A resolution which produced some merriment was proposed by Thomas Stansfield — a very little boy — " That Joseph John Gurney do write some verses appropriate to the occasion.'' That Friend rephed that he was not prepared to comply with the request himself, but that he proposed to do so by proxy and insisted that Thomas Lister should perform the duty for him. Accordingly next morning the children were called together upon the Green to hear the verses. The diminutive proposer of the resolution, mounted upon the shoulders of his tall friend, Wm. Coor Parker, was addressed as follows by Joseph John Gurney : — Majestic friend of bold emprise And station tall and towering, Waste my poetic garden lies And long has left off flowering. The streams of Fancy cease to flow, My brain is no more pliant, The Muse rebels and answers " No,'' Although thou art a giant. Children, in vain your voices ring. Your hope delusive mocks ye, Then take, content, the gift I bring — Sweet verses writ by proxy. Besides the " sweet verses," referred to by Thomas Lister, and produced on the occasion just named, five " poems " had been written for the " Commemoration '' by boys and four by girls. The prizes were awarded to those by Sarah Fessant, Lucy Clark, William Wetherald and Edward Palmer. It will be clear to our readers that the new Superintendent did not find himself on a couch of roses. On the contrary his 208 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL difficulties were enormous. Entirely without experience in the training and management of boys, he had his way to feel, inch by inch, along a thorny path. But, possessed of a settled conviction that he was in his right place, he pressed on with no little courage and patience. The way was long and weary and taxed his every energy heavily. The suppression of stubborn wrong-headedness drew out the severity of his nature, but the refining arts of kindness were not unused. One who saw his early career notes affectionately his "pleasant words " dropped here and there, his kind christian discourses "not unmixed with tears," his practice of devising "little treats,'' as among the agencies before which broke down, with time, many of the antagonistic elements rife in the school on his arrival. As part of the programme of the large Special Committee of 1834, the School Inn, which had been let to Robeft Denton, was greatly enlarged and improved in 1835. Friends visiting Ackworth had long been very seriously inconvenienced by deficiency of accommodation — the old house being quite in- adequate to meet the demands made upon it, — and visitors were sometimes obliged to find hostelry in the beer houses or cottages of the village, often to their great discomfort. No room any- where existed where could be entertained those large parties, afterwards so much enjoyed, which visitors were often disposed to gather around them. Those delightful evenings, to which so many recent generations of Ackworth scholars look back as amongst the sunniest spots of memory when twenty, thirty, or even still larger companies of boys and girls mingled together in so much happiness — were then unknown because impossible. The improvements of 1835 rendered these practicable. The Inn was of course then a house licensed to sell spirituous liquors. The Temperance cause had not yet much disturbed the minds of Friends as to the propriety of the use of these beverages. This same year, however, the Country Committee minuted its opinion that " no injury would be sustained by 7Wt^ I HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 209 discontinuing the use of beer at the children's table except in cases where it should be ordered medicinally,'' and concluded to abandon it if the London Committee should approve. That body did not agree with the proposal, but the Country Committee requested it to give the subject further consideration. Where- upon the London Friends retired from the discussion of the question by empowering their Country Friends to act on their own judgment, which they did immediately by abolishing the use of the beverage. But the sale of wines and spirits in their own hotel was never challenged, apparently, until the year 1841, when Samuel Routh, of Exthorpe, addressed a letter to the Committee suggesting the desirability of the withdrawal of the license. The Committee was in no hurry to adopt the sugges- tion. After discussing it on two occasions, it only " inclined to the opinion" that no great injury would arise from its adoption, and referred the matter to the consideration of its London section. When that body replied, which was not immediately, it merely suggested that the sale of excisable liquors in the tap-room should be discontinued. This mode of shelving the general question removed the lukewarmness of the home Committee, which returned to the charge more vigorously ; and the London Friends, knowing pretty well, by this time, the unwearying persistency of the Yorkshire Friends, left the point to be decided by them. On this, Robert Denton was at once informed that the license would be withdrawn at the close of the year, and, he declining to remain under the altered circum- stances of the house, George Charlesworth became landlord of the Temperance Hotel. This change came into operation in 1842. In 1835 a number of boys fond of gardening formed, amongst themselves, a Horticultural Society, under the presidency of Robert Doeg, one of the masters. Its chief object was to encourage gardening and its concomitant arts, by establishing Exhibitions at which prizes should be given for the best plants 2 10 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL and flowers, for neat gardens, good "clatty sides," the best rockeries, grottoes, and bouquets. The boys were at this time encouraged to cultivate their Httle garden-plots, by being per- mitted, every Spring, to draw upon their accounts in the Office, to the extent of ten-pence each, for the purchase of seeds &c. from James Jones, the school gardener. Great was the excitement when this occasion came round. The lists were always made out in school-time, and their preparation formed the largest business transaction of the year. The long winter months had usually disturbed the memories of amateur gardeners a good deal. Most of them remembered that there were plants called Pansies and a little more reflection usually re-discovered the names of Stocks and Marigolds. Sweet-peas and Wallflowers were words whispered from form to form and, as matters grew more urgent, louder voices spoke of the Mimulus— a wonderfully favourite plant with Ackworth boys — of Prince's-Feather and Love-Lies-Bleeding. Candytuft and Mignonette helped to swell the tenpenny list of the unlearned, but the members of the H.S. ordered Auriculas, Anemones, the Lupinus and the Polyanthus. A few of the wealthier bought Fuschias, all glorious with bloom, or the newer Dahlias— the grand rage of young gardeners of that day. Anxiously was awaited the execution of these important orders. Each one, thinking only of his own little packet, declaimed against the tardy gardener who appeared to him a mortal most prodigal of the Spring days. To the enthusiasm of a few, his procrastination proved fatal. Their new-born zeal for gardening expired from lack of instant application. At length, a tap at the Office window, looking into the Colonnade, attracted the attention of some idler near — a wild and joyous cry of " Seeds !" flew round the play-ground, from every corner of which and from every distant school-room immediately hurried streams of young gardeners to participate in the long-looked for distribution. Then succeeded days of delightful anticipation. But Nature often proved as tardy as James Jones. Even mustard and HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 211 * cress did not grow in a single night. But, if those toothsome vegetables did not make their appearance in time for the first " butter-night," great was the disappointment, many the sus- picions that the head-gardener had palmed off upon the boys barren seed which had cost him nothing and out of which he was no doubt growing monstrously rich. But spring showers and summer sunshine usually corrected these notions ; and what Ackworth boy does not recollect the gay button-hole flowers and bouquets which sparkled everywhere on bright Sunday mornings and lit up with colour the dingy old Meeting House ? As the evening meal of that day^drew near too, how happy were the successful cultivators of the radish and the fortunate growers of nasturtium leaves — those piquant condi- ments which made the bread-and-butter a feast fit for epicures, although no beverage accompanied it but water. The Horticultural Society was worked with great spirit in its infancy. It sometimes held five exhibitions in a single summer. Two professional gardeners usually adjudged the prizes and, although their adjudication did not always escape criticism, the awards were a great stimulus to the recipients, who did not often question the justice of a decision in their own favour. A writer in the local " Telegraph " took note of the operation of the. prize system and waggishly remarked :— " One of the fashioris I have observed among my school-fellows is the readiness with which we do anything when a reward is offered. Our gardens lately have been better attended to than before, because prizes are given for the best flowers. We were told that the best grottoes would receive prizes, so nearly all of us put our hand to the work." Having struck on this satisfactory vein, Isaac Quicksight, as the young author styles himself, prosecutes his sarcastic teachings in other directions, hitting especially hard at a practice which we shall, of course, suppose to have been entirely imaginary : — "When a Friend comes to see us from whom we expect a P 2 212 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL present, we make up a fine large nosegay in a very ,few minutes and are eager to present it," and, as he "believes that the reward of money is the ruling motive of many," he suggests that the Editor of the " Telegraph" would " have correspondents enow" if "he would give a reward to those who write the best letters." In spite of Isaac Quicksight's merry-making over the love of money amongst his school-fellows, the Horticultural Society flourished for more than ten years, chiefly under the guidance of Robert Doeg and Charles Barnard. Towards the close of that period, William Sewell came to the presidency of the litde Society and, under his management, a system of weekly examination of the gardens of the members was instituted in 1845. Two boys and a teacher, nominated to the duty by the Society, took careful notes, every week, of the state in which each garden was found, and, upon their data, a series of prizes was based. This admirable plan was short-lived, however,^ and the operation of the Society soon after this effort to revive the drooping art of gardening, ceased altogether. The . inter- ruption of a general holiday, two years after this, must have seriously militated against successful horticulture. The Society of Arts was formed the year following that in which the Horticultural Society had its origin. At a general meeting of boys interested in the question, held on the 24th of Tenth Month, 1836, John Newby in the chair, it was resolved to establish an association for the encouragement of drawing, map- ping, laying down plans, ornamental penmanship, and modelling in card-board, wood, or any other material. John Newby was installed as president and Thomas Hunton as curator of the newly- formed society. John W. Payne and Thomas Puplett were its first secretaries. The members went to work vigorously, and within two months felt themselves strong enough to hold an exhibition of their work, 145 specimens of which were presented at it. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH ' SCHOOL 213 It was neither a large nor remarkable collection of art-produce ; but the society had commenced operations on a very modest scale. As its funds depended on the penny entrance fee and the penny quarterly subscription of its members, it had not been able to launch out extravagantly in the purchase of copies and its first efforts were surrounded by difficulties. These were not allowed to depress its hopeful fortunes and the first year of its existence was one of much activity. The number of speci- mens presented for exhibition quarterly gradually crept up until, in the autumn of 1837, it amounted to 401. The mem- bers who, perhaps, distinguished themselves in these early exhibitions above their school-fellows by their drawings, were John King Donbavand, Edw. Latchmore and Henry Wilson. But the work of the society was, in its infancy, by no means con- fined to drawing. Large numbers of models of cranes, mangles, lathes, brigs, clocks, steam-engines, &c. were produced, as well as Eolian harps and electrical machines. William Johnson, of Manchester, was a very kind patron to the society in its poorer days, frequently making himself responsible for superior prizes and, in many ways, encouraging its development. With its success, its aspirations rose and its patrons increased. Its chest of drawing copies was rapidly enriched. Presents of tools, casts, drawings and money flowed in abundantly. Under the active presidency of John Newby, the members, for some years, worked very assiduously. For want of a professional master who could direct and lead onward, assist over real difficulties and draw out the latent powers of the boys, the best service of the society lay, perhaps, in the encouragement it afforded to a better use of leisure time and in its finding an interesting hobby for active minds. It may have laid the founda- tion for some pleasant enjoyment of art in later life and, although its work was probably equal to most of that which schools of the time produced, it can scarcely, without flattery, be said to have done more than skirt the margin of good art- work. Imperfect as it was in this particular, it was a real 214 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL power in the School, at times energizing large sections of it into enthusiasm and stifling that nil admirari spirit which idleness amongst masses is so prone to cultivate. Like the Horticultural Society it drooped and almost collapsed in 1845 — to be, how- ever, afterwards reanimated with a still more progressive spirit ; but, of this, more anon. The " Association for the Improvement of the Mind " con- tinued its operations, although its pristine activity and brilliancy had passed away. In 1831 it started another periodical with the title of the "Ackworth Review." The objects of the paper were professedly threefold : — " ist. To correct wrong opinions among the members ; 2nd. To teach them to think correctly ; and 3rd. To excite a love of knowledge and improvement.'' These sections of its programme naturally suggest the question whether the society had not begun to need the spur. Its effusions support that suspicion. The number of young writers •of merit had become smaller. But there were still strong spirits who, for some years, bore the torch nobly through ranks whose courage or whose ability was not that of yore. Such were Thomas Hunton, Joseph S. Farrand, Henry Thorp, Daniel Peirson, John Stansfield, William Taylor, Christopher Robinson, Joseph Taylor and Alfred Kitching, all of whom, before the sad year of 1834, carried off prizes for excellence and left to future generations examples of their thought and skill. The year just referred to was nearly a blank in the society's opera- tions. Whilst the children of the School were rejoicing in the delivery of the negro in the British Colonies from slavery, they were themselves sliding under the yoke of indifference. Al- though the "Association " never, perhaps, entirely recovered from the influence of that temporary collapse, it returned to its work, under John Newby's presidency, in 1835 with considerable animation and maintained its honour until 1838 with some lustre. In the former 6f these years " The Telegraph " appeared, and continued to do so periodically until the latter HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 215 year, during which papers, filling two extant volumes, were thrown off in the form of letters from " Desiderius Plato;' and his youthful correspondents — " Isaac Quicksight," " Echo," '•'■Benjamin Solid;' "Robert Eyebright" and others. The early numbers, devoted chiefly to school politics and manners, are bright, sprightly and clever. The periodical afforded an excellent medium for rapping, slyly yet pleasantly, heavily yet unirritatingly — at absurd or undesirable customs and sentiments abroad in the School. But in the course of time one of its own correspondents discovers that the old vigour is dying out and, ' in a paper intended to goad his fellow-correspondents into in- creased activity, " Echo " really sounds the knell of the " Telegraph." Under the similitude of a sick person, he thus represents the state of the "Association :"—" Some very un- pleasant symptoms have appeared — a general derangement of the system from vis inertia, plagiarism breaking out in various parts and a general debility of the thinking organs," for which he prescribes " rectified spirits," to be followed up by a tonic course of " tincture of galls, dissolved in solution of logwood and iron." (N.B. — A recent essay had described the manufac- ture of ink.) The illness of the patient proved to be a rapid, though happily not a fatal, decline. Although great eifforts were made by the president, in 1838, to permeate the flagging system of the "Association" with fresh blood by holding numerous even- ing meetings, in which it was sought to rouse the members to new fields of effort, all was in vain. The society, as such, entered into a trance which continued for upwards of two years.. Those who brought most honour to the "Association" during this latter period — 1834-1838 — by their able essays were, perhaps, Alfred Kitching, Edw. May, Edw. Palmer, John Taylor, Henry E. Smith,* Thomas Puplett, William Sanders, * Devoting himself with enthusiastic zeal to antiquarian pursuits, Heniy Ecroyd Smith published, about 1848, a series of chromo-lithogi'aphs of the Roman-British tessellated pavements at Aldborough, near Boroughbridge in 2l6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL and Daniel Catlin Burlingham. Of the essays written by these young writers, all of whom received distinguished prizes, few were so highly commended as that on Belzoni, by Henry E. Smith, who thus early indicated a marked taste for a line of pursuit in which he has since become distinguished. The library of books belonging to the "Association," founded in its infancy and from time to time enriched with works of much interest and value to the young people, was ever one of the great attractions to membership. Many boys who never wrote an essay derived untold pleasure and advantage from the perusal of its treasures. In the "Association's " earlier years. Yorkshire, the first plate of which represents a discovery of his own — that of a well-executed and perfect floor of elegant design. Four years afterwards, he published a more elaborate work on the same subject, entitled "Reliquife IsuriansE, the Remains of the Roman Isurium," in royal 4to. with 36 plates. This work was recognised as of great merit by leading antiquaries, was favourably reviewed by the " AthenEeum" and was charac- terised by the now venerable antiquarian bookseller, John Russell Smith, as " the best illustrated work on a Roman Station in England." About 1862, he contributed some important chapters on Seals, Pilgrim Signs, Coins, Tokens, Pottery, Glass, Enamels &c. to Dr. Hume's work on "Ancient Meols," — an account of antiquities found near Dove Point, Cheshire. In 1870, he issued by private subscription, "Reliques of the Anglo-Saxon Churches of St. Bridget and St. Hildeburgh, West Kirkby, Cheshire," illustrated by numerous lithographed plates, in crown quarto. In 1871, appeared his "Antiquarian Researches and Discoveries in the Mersey District." Besides these works, Henry Ecroyd Smith has contributed numerous papers to the Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, of which, as well as of the Yorkshire Arch^ological and Topographical Association, he is an hon. member. His latest considerable production issued to subscribers in 1878, is his " Annals of the Smith family of Cantley, Balby and Doncaster and con- nected families," — an elaborate genealogical work comprising nearly twenty thousand names, with biographical notices of the more eminent individuals. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 217 the Friends on the Committee and other visitors were frequent attendants of its essay-meetings and acquired, by the practice, an interest in its welfare which was often indicated by handsome donations of money, much of which went to enlarge the library of the society. Great numbers of curiosities also were presented and, in 1838, these had accumulated so considerably as to demand a suitable provision for their preservation and display. An appropriate cabinet was that year obtained for them at a cost of ;^2 9. The cost of clothing the children having shewn, in 1835, some tendency to increase unduly, an arrangement was made in the boys' tailoring department, in 1836, which it was hoped would help to fix the range of expenditure. The making of the boys' clothes was contracted for at the following rates :- - 5/- for a coat and waistcoat, 4/- for a jacket and waistcoat and 2/- for a pair of trowsers, these prices being exclusive of the finding of any material ; the mending for all the boys was to be done for 18/- a week, including thread and sewing silk. It is rather remark- able that the cost of clothing varied so little as it did from the foundation of the school down to very recent times. Even the annual holiday system did not for some years affect it at all considerably. The average cost per head during the first twenty years varied only a few pence from that of years immediately preceding the present decade. The health of Priscilla Kincey, the governess, which had never been very strong, broke down in 1835 and it became necessary for her to leave her post. Early in 1836 Hannah- Richardson, of York, undertook to supply her place tem- porarily. Once in the office for which she was so admirably fitted, it would have been difficult for her to withdraw from it under any circumstances, but, as no one offered to release her from it, she retained it for upwards of ten years. Her kindness and gentleness combined with great force of character, her 2l8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL suavity and urbanity associated with much native dignity, united to give her a large place in the esteem and affections of the whole community, whilst her large heart and quick maternal instincts enabled every parent to feel that, in her, her girl had a true mother. The extraordinary popularity of the girls' school during her presidency, in marked contrast, as we shall see, to public feeling towards the boys' side during the same period, is itself the best evidence of the admirable management of Hannah Richardson and the teachers who worked so har- moniously under her leadership. But little expansion of the school curriculum of studies took place for many years after the introduction of the more extended monitorial scheme under John Freeman. Prior to that move- ment in 183s, Geography and English history were taught only to sixty of the upper boys, but the Lancasterian system demanded that these subjects should be extended to most, if not to all, who came under it. The plan lent itself admirably to map instruction ; and the drilling of the rudiments of geography, in the monitorial classes, was perhaps one of the most successful features of the system, leading up, in the higher classes and in later life, to an interest in, and acquaintance with, the subject not common amongst any rank of society. With the exception of this extension downwards, we know of no addition to, or im- provement in, any department for several years. A gradual doubt sprang up in the minds of some of the Committee, which slowly spread through the Society, that things were not all that they should be ; yet years were to elapse before any radical change was to remove a cloud of which all grew yearly more conscious. Nor was the standard of proficiency maintained in the subjects taught, to the satisfaction of the Committee. In 1836 it began to notice a falling off in the boys' interest in their Scripture studies and, in 1838, a still greater defect in their Reading. This latter subject was the source of complaint for many years and chiefly, we believe, from the prevalence of the faults noticed HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 219 in the report of the year just referred to : — " a want of greater modulation of voice and a more gently declining cadence at the end of a sentence." But if the studies were inelastic, an age of domestic reforms was initiated. Men's minds were not yet ready to abolish the Light and Airy Rooms, which were still to witness many painful and some ludicrous episodes, but a growing sense of the fitness of things forbade that they should be longer tenanted in severe weather without having the chill taken off their severe atmosphere. They were warmed by means of steam-pipes in 1837. The same year witnessed the discontinuance of the wearing of caps at Meeting by the girls. It was at the same time proposed to supply the girls' dining-room with table-cloths, but some Friends of frugal mind objected to the innovation and it was postponed sine die. That same year, however, Thos. Pumphrey secured the disuse of climbing sweeps, and the establishment of a work- shop for the boys. This was erected behind the colonnade, from which it was entered. It was not calculated to accommo- date many boys at once, being only 20 ft. long by 9 ft. wide, but it was an admirable stimulus to a certain class and a useful auxiliary to the -newly organised " Society of Arts.'' Thomas Pumphrey shewed much favour to the extension of permits for holidays to children who had been long at School and parents gladly availed themselves of the increased facility afforded by his sympathy for having their children home. In the Spring of 1838, leave was granted to fifteen children at once and, that year, no fewer than thirty-three visited their friends. Although many disadvantages arose from the increase of this practice, Thos.' Pumphrey always held that the balance of good was in its favour. In 1838, also, loose linen collars were introduced into the boys' side : these were changed on Meeting-days. The year before, pinafores were supplied to forty of the younger boys, for use at meals and, if they had been dealt out to a much larger number, it would have been to the advantage of their 2 20 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL personal attire. About the time of these various changes, the practice of employing boys in the fields to gather stones, to " pick wicks," (twitch grass) and to gather potatoes was discon- tinued. But the introduction of Gas as an illuminating medium surpassed in value all other domestic reforms of the time. Twenty years prior to its adoption, some of the Committee had proposed it, but the more cautious did not like the risks involved and, even in 1837, there were many unprepared to encourage it until the money should be subscribed for the apparatus by those who felt interested in its introduction. It was estimated that the erection of a gas-house would cost;^i5o, and the necessary fittings ;!^7oo more. Towards this ^£300 were promised in the Spring ; and in the Autumn, in response to a circular issued by the Committee, the sum promised amounted to upwards of _;^6oo. In the following Spring, the subscriptions having reached the sum of ;£(i2,^ i8s. 6d., the Committee gave order for the erection of the needful works. They were completed in the Autumn, at a total cost of ;^7i6. They who knew the day of the oil-lamp ask us to imagine one of the large bed-rooms (seventy feet long) lighted by a single dip — they invite us to picture a school-room, almost as long, dependent for its illumination, on dark mornings and evenings, on two solitary oil lamps — they dwell with some pride of memory on the brilliancy of a wonderful illuminating arrange- ment in the dining-room ; but their description of the Cimmerian darkness of the play-ground fills us with perplexity to understand how boys of those dark ages could pass their time, except in a perpetual round of enforced hide-and-seek. When the winter play-ground shall yield up its present, obscurity to the blaze of the electric light, another generation maybe almost as much puzzled with the conditions of the Present as we are with those of the Past. In the Winter of 1836-7, forty-four of the children passed safely through the rheasles. Two years afterwards, about a HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 221 hundredandeightyof them were attacked by scarlatina from which, however, a large proportion suffered but slightly. The occasion remains of interest chiefly from its leading the Committee to invite Dr. Williamson to meet Caleb Williams for the purpose of investigating the state of the premises. An accident prevented these gentlemen being at Ackworth on the same day, which circumstance gives us the advantage of two independent reports. That of Dr. Williamson was especially careful and elaborate. Although he thought it would be an advantage to the children to have some animal food daily, he did not consider that the School records of health warranted the opinion that the com- munity had been subject to more than an average amount of sickness, or that the school hours were injuriously long. Neither did he think that the local influences of situation, drainage, sub- soil, &c., accounted for the recent attack of scarlatina. The arrangements for ventilatioji he considered extremely bad. "I am compelled to say" — so runs his report — "that having examined carefully the several apartments at Ackworth, I regard nearly the whole of that establishment as extremely defective with regard to the necessary pre- vision for the introduction of the pure external air and the removal of the noxious results of respiration from so large a number of persons. " The want of ventilation in the bed-rooms struck him very forcibly. Referring to the windows as the only means existing for changing the air, he pointed out that, being situated two or three feet below the ceiling, a reservoir for foul air existed in the top of the room, which, pouring down its noxious contents to be re-inspired, was probably a fruitful source of injury to the public health. The system of warming the school-rooms he condemned still more decidedly. Old scholars will remember the large black iron piping which conveyed the heating medium — steam — through the rooms, at an elevation considerably above their heads. Dr. Williamson insisted that the heating surface should be as near the floor as possible — that fresh air should be admitted near them through numerous minute apertures, whilst an exit 22 2 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL should be provided for the foul air by a similar arrangement in the ceiling, supplemented by larger openings under control. He objected to the use of steam altogether, pointing out that pipes so heated must necessarily " always be at a temperature of 212", because at a lower heat the steam will condensp." He further states that as "the surface temperature of steam-pipes is about 200"," their use must produce a degree of heat " inju- rious to the air itself " and an atmosphere altogether too warm and close to be wholesome. He strongly urged the use of hot water in place of steam. Caleb Williams also objected to "warming by steam-pipes, as then employed," as being "inju- rious to the health of the children." He also considered the diet as probably too low ; and suggested greater frequency in some forms of personal ablution. But his condemnation fell most heavily upon the state of the boys' conveniences. In connection with this investigation it was shown that the deaths during the six decades of the School's existence had been as follows : — In the First ten years 14 deaths Second II II Third II 8 Fourth II 7 Fifth II 17 Sixth II 9 Total 66 deaths in 60 years. The Committee appears to have been much perplexed by the warming and ventilating schemes which now, from time to time, came before it. In the autumn, measles again broke out and thirty-five of the children had the complaint. A few ventilators were inserted in the boys' dining-room and in their monitorial school, which was then crowded with eighty boys ; and the girls' bed-room floors were supplied with similar com- munication with the open air, whilst their school-rooms, also, HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 223 had openings perforated in their ceihngs. Scarlatina again visited the School in 184 1-2, carrying off three victims, and again in 1844; yet still the Committee took no considerable action in reference to sanitary matters. Forty-four cases of measles in 1845 still left things much as they were but, in 1846, the girls' steam-pipe arrangements collapsed from old age and a complete change was made on that side ■ of the house, by the introduction of a system of warming by hot water. Prior to 1839, ^^'^^ approach to the School was between long high walls which gave a very dismal impression to the visitor who for the first time passed along the narrow flagged way towards the office, and, between which, the heart of many a fresh scholar, who had thitherto borne up bravely, must have been depressed by the prospect of what such an unattractive beginijing might end in. The wall between this path and the " Office garden" was now thrown down and replaced by a light iron rail ; and although the approach would still have com- pared very meanly with the present noble entrance, the change was a bright transformation scene to the generation that witnessed it. In 1839, John Freeman left, after having conducted the monitorial school for four years. The system pursued in that school had been, on the whole, highly satisfactory to the Committee; and Charles Barnard, having offered himself as John" Freeman's successor, was requested to spend a few months at the Borough Road School in order that he might acquaint himself with the most recent developments of the system. In the interim, Robt. Doeg took charge of the monitorial school, and John Newby took R. Doeg's school. The out-door "duty" was taken by each master in turn, as formerly. On Charles Barnard's arrival, these officers reverted to their own spheres. The monitorial school maintained 2 24 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL its prestige in the opinion of many of the members of the Committee who, although slow to adopt the system when first proposed, now regarded it with the affection due to a favourite idea. But the masters, who were more intimately conversant with its working, were not ignorant of its unsuitability to the general system of the School and, in 1841, Charles Barnard prepared a paper, the general substance of which was en- dorsed by the Masters' Meeting, in which he sketched for the Committee the objections to the use of the scheme at Ack- worth. He shewed that its application to a section of a School like theirs could not be expected to yield more than a very limited success. Being confined to about eighty of the least advanced boys in the School, its highest and most advanced pupils must necessarily be very young for the office of monitor, even had it been possible for them to practice teaching until they gained some little proficiency in the art, but this was impracticable because they were just the boys who were being continually drafted off for promotion to vacancies in the upper rooms. To remedy this defect in the teaching power, the plan had been adopted of obtaining the assistance of four boys from the Upper Schools, but as they could not, with any propriety, be absent from their classes more than a fortnight at once, they were very raw to the work and often proved wholly incompetent to the service. Disappointing as this disclosure was to some of the Committee, that body could not resist the force of the arguments against the system, and the following year the monitorial school was divided into two schools of equal standing, one of which was taught by Charles Barnard in old " Number One," the other by Joseph Stickney Sewell in " Number Two." Each of these masters^ had the assistance of an apprentice. CHAPTER XII. THE TICKET SYSTEM— TEACHERS' HOLIDAYS—" KNIFE CLEAN- ERS" — NEW DINING ROOM FOR THE GIRLS — READING ROOM — SICKNESS AND DEATH WILLIAM SEWELL DOMESTIC DUTIES PERFORMED BY THE CHILDREN--THE APPRENTICES UNPOPU- LARITY OF THE boys' SCHOOL POPULARITY OF THE GIRLS' SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION — UNSATISFACTORY STATE OF THINGS ON THE BOYs' SIDE OF THE HOUSE ANNUAL VACATION DISCUSSED FATAL ACCIDENTS LECTURERS WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS GREAT BUILDING ERA TEN CLASSES RETIREMENT OF HANNAH RICHARDSON. In the Committee's report on the state of the boys, in the autumn of 1839, we find a gentle intimation of a deficiency in the standard of order : — " The reports respecting the conduct of the boys generally are not quite so favourable as they have been at some former examinations, but this remark refers more to breaches of school discipline than to moral delinquency." Unhappily this was ominous of what proved to be a long period of disorder and bad feeling. The Boys' School was entering upon a section of its history — extending over some years — which may, without hyperbolism, be styled its Dark Ages. It was probably in consequence of a . growing tendency to petty disorder that a change in the ticket system had been made earlier in the year. The cumulative system, so long in vogue, and which had embraced class-work excellence as well as good habits of order, was abandoned. Instead of receiving tickets for school-work, a boy was credited with marks, registered in the usual modern style. Tickets were retained as more convenient 226 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL for marking delinquencies out of doors, by forfeiture. Thirty of these tickets or counters were given to each boy and, every week, an account was taken by the master of each school of the number each boy had in his possession, after which his complement of thirty was again made up. There were boys of careful, orderly habits who never forfeited tickets. They were never late to the collectings for meals, school or meeting; they never spoke a syllable on those occasions nor uttered a word at table nor whispered in the dark "narrow-passage." They were never late into bed or spoke there before the monitor gave permission, and they had always retired from their ablutions in the cellar, in the morning, within the pre- scribed twenty minutes from the ringing of the bell for rising. They never laughed at a wrong moment or put their hands down at table a second behind' time. At the collectings in the shed they " toed the line " with mathematical precision, keeping their line of vision exactly perpendicular to it until the command to " Turn" brought it swiftly into perfect parallelism with it. They never threw stones, put their heads out of windows, drew syrup out of the baker's pies, indulged in whistling or played the Jews'-harp. They never read Tele- machus or recited Chevy Chase. When the joys of a bolster- fight grew delirious around them they clave more closely to their restful pillow. When less scrupulous " sand-breakers'' fed sumptuously on turnips, they conscientiously preserved their hunger to a more legitimate season. By night and by day, these watchful spirits, full of masterful self-control, refused to be betrayed a hair's breadth to the right or to the left of the sharp line of absolute law. But there were boys whose mirth and fun bubbled up, in spite of themselves, at all unseason- able moments, whose tongues were always forgetting to take counsel with their heads, whose exceeding sociability would not be denied its vocation, whose highly strung nerves must be relieved by action at the cost of any known penalty — boys to whom life was more than tickets — and these often had few HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 227 enough of them at the end of the week. Others there were, no doubt, who forfeited all their tickets and would have for- feited many more, if they had had them — perverse spirits who would do the things they should not — boys not moved to irregularities by warm impulses, but incited to them by con- tradictoriness of soul. Happily these were in all generations, probably, a small minority. To the second and third classes, here referred to, the ticket system was provocative of much irritation. To the second, especially, the command to '■'■Forfeit" usually burst in so unexpectedly upon happy moments — it was so imperious — it was so frequent — so much like a tax, and the collector so much like a tax-gatherer — that the best hearted at last grew sore under the continual infliction. Yet the system had its advantages and it retained its place until 1848, when it was abolished. The amount of relaxation allowed to the masters and mistresses had never been more than a fortnight in the year, although those who cared to do so were permitted to allow the time to accumulate for two or more years. In 1840, the time was increased to three weeks, but the cumulative principle was prohibited, with the exception that a teacher might carry over a single week to the following year. The apprentices had still to content themselves with one week in the year ; but the prohibi- tion to accumulate was not made applicable to them. The same year witnessed a pleasant change in the arrange- ment for cleaning knives. Hitherto the boys who performed this office were relegated to a dingy cellar under the middle of their Wing for the purpose. The duty was not a pleasant one, and the place was odious. The latter was at all times gloomy enough ; but in wet weather and towards the close of winter days it was a fearful place to timorous natures. Whilst a goodly company was at work together no Ackworth boy cared much for either dirt or darkness ; but, as the older and more experienced Q 2 228 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL boys finished their allotted tale of knives and forks, the spirits of the thinning ranks of younger boys began to sink. Then the little fingers of the little fellows worked swiftly and nervously. To be late would be disagreeable, to be last would be terrible. As the daylight began to fade, eerie thoughts began to creep up. Was not the place haunted ? Did not all authority vouch for it ? Close at hand were other cellars darker still than this one. What mysteries might not the Dark reveal ? Harder still the little fingers scrubbed and scrubbed, but the soils were obdurate — not all the ashes of Ackworth would eradicate them. Still the occupants of the dismal cellar decreased in number and the terror of the remnant grew with every departure. Few would be so inhuman as to leave a little school-fellow all alone in such a place of terrors ; but inhumanity is not always confined to grown-up men, and cases have occurred of timid and nervous boys, whose fears had been worked up to fever heat, being left with no company but the shadows of their own all too lively imaginations. Many such boys have fled up those cellar steps too terrified to look back into the dark again. But now all this was to be withdrawn from the experience of future generations. A place was provided above ground for the knife-cleaners out of a portion of the tailor's shop. The Girls' School was at this time highly popular. In 1835 the number in the School was but 113, and there were not more than two or three " on the list." Since Hannah Richardson's advent, the lumbers seeking admission had greatly increased until, in 1841, there were 76 "on the list." The Committee began seriously to think of enlarging the girls' department. The London Committee, having been requested to consider the subject, encouraged the home Committee to procure plans for such an extension of the building as it might think desirable. These were prepared by Mr. Pritchett, of York. The plan was a bold one, including the erection of a new dining-room for the girls, with a large dormitory on the first floor, measuring 65 ft. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 229 by 21 ft, and good lavatory accommodation; and also the conversion of the girls' old dining-room into a lecture-hall or reading-room, seated for nearly 400 persons. The work was completed in 1842, at a cost of ^^1039 iis. 6d. Up to this time the boys' dining-room had to be arranged at the close of every day, by the " waiters," for the evening " readings," and on First Days the girls' dining-room forms were also brought in, as well as the chairs from the Committee-room for the accom- modation of the teachers and visitors ; for the boys and girls then, as now, met together on that day for their "Scripture reading," at which a master and a boy and a mistress and a girl each read his and her portion. Whilst these works were in progress, the School passed through a very trying time of sickness. During the summer months of 1841, several isolated cases of scarlatina appeared amongst the children and, in the autumn, the patients became more numerous. The number of serious cases was not large but three deaths occurred amongst them — one in the active stage of the fever and two from complaints consequent upon it. There were forty-six decided cases and twenty-one of a more doubtful type. The visitation was rendered still more melancholy by the death of Rachel Pumphrey early in 1842. The season was a very solemn one to the family generally. To the older members of it, it was one of deep trial — to the Superintendent himself it must have been one of almost over- whelming mental suffering. To add to the painfulness of his distress, the conduct of a section of the boys had given him deep concern. His cup of anguish seemed to on-lookers more than he could bear. One of these, writing sometime after the loss of his wife but describing his appearance during one of the scripture-readings prior to her death, says: — "he seemed plunged into the deepest exercise. I never myself witnessed anything so like an agony of soul — his very body seemed to bow and to writhe in unison with his wrestling spirit." " * """ " He 230 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL seemed withheld from vocal utterance; his public service appeared to consist, that evening, in being made a ' spectacle unto men ; ' and, judging from the impression made on my own mind, a more lasting effect for good was produced than would have resulted from a more usual exercise." Referring to an occasion a few days after his great loss, the same writer says : — " I was impressed with the expression of his countenance ; restrained sorrow, chastened grief, Christian resignation- seemed to be depicted there." It does not enter into the province of this little work to attempt to delineate the characters or modes of labour of the masters and mistresses who have occupied positions in the School, but those who were favoured at this time to be members of the First Class, in Old Number Three, will revert with interest to the lessons drawn from the sad events of the day by one who was, indeed, then a comparative stranger to them, having only entered the School in the autumn of 1841, but who, by his powerfully sympathetic nature, had already won many of their hearts. Of a quiet, retiring disposition, and possessed of a constitution with delicate tendencies, William Sewell did not, perhaps, possess those energies which seem requisite for swaying the masses, and consequently made no remarkable impress on the School at large. But in his own particular class, to whose mental, moral and spiritual well-being his life was devoted with something allied to self-sacrifice, he was the genuine, high-souled elder brother of each of its members. From him, all took a loftier and nobler view of duty and some learned precious lessons in a holier life. His kindness, his love, his zeal for their happiness were reciprocated, in no stinted measure, by the affectionate admiration and loyalty of his pupils. Indirectly he was a power in the School, for in his class was found much of the saving salt of a bad time. We rarely meet one of his old pupils whose heart does not melt into tenderness when his memory is discussed. He remained at Ackworth four* years. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 23 1 when symptoms of consumption compelled him to leave early in 1846. The Committee, which valued him very highly, kept the post open for him for some months, but in vain ; before the year was out his bright young career was finished. The employments in which the children were engaged but of School, by way of assisting in its industries and domestic offices, attracted the attention of the Committee in 1842 and, for its better understanding of the general question, it desired Thomas Pumphrey, with the assistance of Robert Whitaker, to draw up a schedule of the work done on both sides of the house in those departments. As very few of the boys and girls of this date did not extensively participate in the duties represented in the paper drawn up on this occasion, we have supposed it would interest many of them to be reminded, by a copy of it, of the manifold services of an old Ackworth Scholar. To more modern ears, some apology is perhaps due for the introduction of a document full of enigmatical matter and terms almost forgotten.' " ACCOUNT OF DUTIES PERFORMED BY THE CHILDREN. BOYS. " I. Dining Room Waiter. — Four boys nearly all their play fime and two quarter hours daily in school time. Changed every fortnight. " 2. Washers. — Two boys employed every morning for about half an hour and twice a week in the evening for the same time, to attend to the arrangements connected with the boys' washing. In play hours only. "3. Tailor'' s Waiter. — One boy employed twice a day for a week at a time in finding boys who have to change their clothes, which have been mended. "4. Shoemaker'' s Waiter. — Similarly employed as above, but rather more frequently. In play hours only. "5. Shed Sweepers. — Four boys employed for about two hours on Fourth and Seventh Day afternoons, in play time, in sweeping the shed, colonnade, stable-yard, channels, &c., in various parts of the premises. "5. Garden Sweepers. — Three boys employed about two hours on Seventh Day afternoon for eight months in the year, Play time only. 232 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL "7. Shoe Ckaners— Eight boys, two to three hours on Seventh Day afternoon (play time) in blacking and polishing boys' shoes, and two or three hours on Second Day, principally in school hours. "8. JiTni/e Cleaners. —Eight boys, two to three hours on Seventh Day afternoon (play time) in cleaning boys' and girls' knives. "9. Baik Cleaners.— Vom boys, employed two at a time every morning during the season, (five or six months) for about an hour in play time, to clean out the Bath. Only one third of the boys eligible. " 10. Bread Carriers. — Two boys for four hours, generally twice, sometimes three times a week or oftener, in the general assistance of the baker. They are also employed about three hours every other Seventh Day in carrying hot water for boys' ablutions. Partly school and partly play-hours. " II. Washing Mill Boy.—Ont boy to assist the hovise-man at the washing- mill every Third Day from 5 o'clock a.m. to 7 p.m. Thirty or forty boys eligible. " 12. Churners. — Four boys, employed two at a time, twice a week. In school-time. " 13. Door Keepers. — Two boys to ring the bell, kindle the fires in the office and lodge, attend on the Superintendent, finding boys for him, going errands into the village, to Pontefract, &c. A post of honour and confidence, but of much labour. A permanent office. " 14. Sheet Carriers. — Four strong boys employed about half-an-hour on Seventh Day evenings, after reading, in gathering up shirts and stock- ings for the washing and about an hour on Second Day mornings in giving out and exchanging sheets and bolster-cases. Very heavy work. Play-time. "15. Morning Waiter. — Two stout boys to assist the house-man in the boys' chambers, about an hour and a half daily, and two hours on Seventh Day afternoon. Play-hours. "16. Bed Rollers. — Four boys about three quarters of an hour (one quarter school time) twice a week to move the beds when the chambers are swept, and occasionally for five or six hours when they are washed. "17. Manglers. — Two boys every Fourth Day during Winter. "18. School S%aeepers. — About eighteen boys sweep and dust the Schools, open windows, fetch coals, keep and arrange books, slates, &c., &c. Play-time. A post of honour. Duties frequent, but not heavy. A permanent office. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 233 ' 19. Hair Teazers. — Twelve boys frequently. Play-time. ' 20. Stocking Menders. — Six boys every week from Fourth Day, middle of the day, to Sixth Day evening, in running stocking-heels, &c. About forty-eight boys first on the List are employed. It consequently comes to their turn once in eight weeks. ' 21, Boys employed at the Garden. — Four boys constantly, in school time and play-time and, in ' crop time, ' often six or eight. In summer, twelve to twenty or upwards (volunteers) on holiday afternoons. Employment various, from the heavier labours of digging and wheel- ing, forking manure, &c., to hoeing, weeding, gathering sticks, &c. Gooseberries, currants, and other small fruit, also peas, beans, &c., gathered in school-time by a whole school or large section of one, and occupies a good deal of time in the season. The garden labours are very useful to the gardener and are considered a privilege by most of the boys. ' 22. Hay-making. — For three or four weeks, occasionally for a much longer time, the regular school duties are so much interrupted by this employment as almost to be set aside. '23. Occasional Employments. — Assisting the carpenter — but seldom. When baker or house-man is from, home, many of their duties are entirely performed by boys. Two boys assist in moving the desks, &c., out of the school-rooms four or five times a year, when they are washed, and, once a year, the forms out of the Meeting-house. " GENERAL STATEMENT. " In school-hours. " Hay-making, each boy about " Garden, fruit-gathering 1? "Ditto, other work n " Domestic duties „ ' Total in school hours 7 days 5 „ 16 „ 5 " 33 „ "/k play- hours. " Principally in domestic operations... ... ... ... II 11 ' ' Total time occupied by each boy per ann. in scl|ool and play hours combined ... ... ... ... ... 44 days. •■' GIRLS. " I. Superintendent's Waiter. — One girl for a week in play-hours and about two hours daily in school hours. 234 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL "2. Parlour Waiters.— T^o girls to wait in the housekeeper's room and assist the housekeeper for a fortnight at a time. One of them all her time, the other all her play-time and for two hours daily in school-time. " 3. Dining Room Waiters.— Your: girls in play-time for a week. "4. Sheet Mender. —One girl all her time for three days. Changes weekly. " 5. Shirt Menders.— Zhi girls three days (three of them four days to assist in the washing) employed both in and out of school, and two girls who assist them only in play-hours. Change weekly. " 6, Mantua Maker's Assistant.— One girl all her time for a week. " 7. Constant Menders.— Tvfo girls five days for a week. " 8. Menders. — Six girls all their school time and nearly all their play-time, from P'ourth Day morning to Seventh Day noon. "9. Room Sweefers. — Six girls (four of whom are out of school each Second Day morning till 11 o'clock.) Employed in play-hours daily about an hour. " 10. Pie Makers. — Two girls to assist two mornings in each week in school- time. "II. Two girls to assist in washing the young children and in cleaning the Wing, a quarter of an hour every morning and the whole of two even- ings weekly. Play-hours. " 12. Laundress' Assistants.— 'Poor girls on Fourth Day afternoon. Play- hours. " 13. Paring Potatoes. — All the girls who are not in other offices, six morn- ings ill the week, half an hour before the morning school. " 14. Occasional Employments. — The girls' provide the coals for the school- room fires, which they make and mend. They keep the school-rooms in order, and some of the older ones occasionally assist the Wing-maid, ' chamber-maids, &c. They are much employed in topping and tailing gooseberries, shelling peas and beans, cutting and paring apples, &c. , during the season. They sweep the flags of their play-ground once a week in fine weather, and have numerous other incidental employments of a domestic nature, but which it would be difficult to particularize.'' The Committee does not appear to have taken any action on the receipt of this document, being probably satisfied that the duties therein specified were all of a character salutary to the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 235 individual and useful, economically, to the Institution. It displayed a similar interest in the unofficial pursuits of the Apprentices, also, about this time, especially in their recreations. In 1840 it had questioned whether their out-door exercises were of a sufficiently robust and interesting character and, by way of encouraging them to the practice of manual labour, it recom- mended that a plot of land should be placed at their service for garden-ground, at the top of the Washing Mill Field. These plots were greatly valued by some of the apprentices and as grievously neglected by others. Those of the former bloomed with roses and brought forth productive crops' of vegetables to the enrichment of the cultivators ; those of the latter, like the garden of the sluggard, were a by-word and source of mockery to all who beheld them but especially to Wm. Cammage the farm bailiff, who, loath to see so much good grass-land running to waste, lost no opportunity for jeering at the luckless owners. In 1843 the Committee renewed its attention to the welfare of the apprentices — devoting considerable time to the question of their health, their mental and moral training and the mode in which their leisure was spent. This discussion led to the prac- tice of receiving annual reports of the state of the apprentices. These investigations were doubtless due to the disturbed state of the mind of the Committee in reference to the unsatisfactory condition of the Boys' school and its growing unpopularity among Friends generally. The Examining Com- mittee had just reported the conduct of the boys low, " owing it would seem to the injurious influence of two or three of the elder boys." The small number of boys on the list for admission indicated, for a long period, that something was wrong. For the more certain yet unostentatious search into the causes of the unsatisfactory state of that side of the School, a select Committee of six Friends — Samuel Tuke, Joseph Rowntree, John Rowntree, William Taylor, Thomas Harvey, and Joseph Firth — was appointed to take the investigation in charge and 236 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL to report at its discretion. The London Committee was desired to nominate a few of its members to unite with these Friends in the service. That Committee did not bring in its matured report until 1846, when the tide of popularity had, in some measure, returned and the boys' side was once more full ; but its active labours in the interim, combined with the action of the General Committee in various directions, taken often at the advice of this select Committee, had borne their fruits. Every department had felt the gentle but resolved pressure of its probing spirit. Its influences were felt all along the line, long before it reported its operations; and the complement reached in the number of boys, when its report was issued, was, without doubt, largely the result of its activity. Nothing so forcibly awakened the anxieties of the Committee, in the first instance, as the striking comparison between the popularity of the boys' and girls' departments. For fifty years from the commencement of the School, when the maximum number for boys was 180, the complement was, with the exception of a few rare occasions due mostly to illness, steadily maintained. The Fever of 1828 depressed the number to 159 but it rose the following year to 173. In the autumn of 183 1 the School was full ; but fever again thinned the number and for many years it seldom reached 160, whilst in 1836 it ran down to 140. There was, in 1837-8, a brief flush, carrying the number up to 170, but, from that time until 1846, it never reached that number again. During the three or four years immediately preceding 1836, when Hannah Richardson took the post of governess, there was no heavy run on the Girls' school — the number on the " List for admission " being usually very low and, at one time none. But after Hannah Richardson's worth . had become recognised, which it was speedily, and during the years of depression on the Boys' side, the girls were always full and the number on the " List " heavy. For some years the number, in the School and on the " List " combined, was greater than that of the boys similarly treated, although the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 237 complement of the girls was only two-thirds that of the boys. Thus :— In 1840 there were i8i Boys and 184 Girls, rf 1841 If 166 IT 191 11 II 1842 II 166 II 174 II II 1843 II 150 II 164 II II 1844 II 150 11 153 „ The Committee naturally concluded that the long run of popularity enjoyed by the Girls' department was probably due to its admirable management and that the unpopularity of the Boys' side arose from bad arrangements or defective organiza- tion. The monitorial system, it was now allowed, had been a failure amongst the boys and that failure might have injuriously affected the numbers ; but, on the other hand, the same system had long been in vogue amongst the girls without any corres- pondingly unfavourable influence. Besides, on the system being abandoned on the boys' side of the house, there had been no reaction within a reasonable period. Referring to the masters, the Select Committee observes in its report : " We would freely and gratefully dwell on much that is excellent in the teaching and in the teachers — the zeal, the attainments, the high moral character and religious interest in their charge which mark the officers of this Institution." But, having admitted so much, and commendation not being its special business, it proceeded to give the result of its search for weak points. The want of due respect from the boys towards the masters and the de- ficiency of '' kindly relation" between the two, it considered to be established facts. The Friends composing the Committee did not doubt, either, that " the standard of moral and intel- lectual character'' was lower than at some former periods. Whilst the standard outside the School was increasingly higher, they believed that Friends generally were dissatisfied with that within it. Other schools had progressed, Ackworth had lagged behind. Formerly the result of a comparison would have been the reverse. The low tone of the School they largely attributed 238 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL to the small number of adult teachers in proportion to the scholars, the action of which circumstance was to weight the former unduly with care and anxiety which, in their turn, led to want of equanimity and its long train of evils— among which are the impracticability of cultivating close acquaintance with individuals, and the impossibility of securing hearty loyalty and obedience. This indifferent obedience being prejudicial to the moral tone, and moral deterioration being equally certain to produce indifferent intellectual conditions, they concluded that, of remedial measures, none was perhaps so immediately appli- cable as a strengthening of the staff. They further stated, as their opinion, that " the desire for knowledge, the love of any pursuit of art or science were, notwithstanding the zealous efforts of the teachers, small as compared with' some former periods," They observed that the number of teachers, inclu- sive of apprentices and the master on duty, was only one to nineteen boys ; whilst, on the girls' side, exclusive of the gover- ness and the mantua-maker and mending-mistress, each of whom often had considerable numbers under her charge, the number was one to fourteen girls. They, therefore, suggested that an addition should be made to the staff of adult masters and that a fifth school should be organised, which should con- sist of some of the upper boys and which might be stimulative as well as relieving. Whilst declaring themselves much more desirous of doing a little well, than of aiming at a wider sphere which might entail superficiality, they still thought it very desirable that the curriculum should be made to embrace Chemistry, Natural Philosophy and, perhaps, French. They suggested that the " negligent and dirty" habits of many of the children and the " untidy and dirty state of the boys' school-rooms" pointed to the importance of having an "efficient woman Friend " in the Matron's Room, who should make it her duty to attend to personal and local cleanliness and should especially make it her care to cultivate the nice habits and the comfort of the very little boys. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 239 They who knew this period will be conscious that the Com- mittee took no exaggerated view of the unsatisfactory state of things. The memory of the bad feeling that existed amongst large sections of the School must still press like a nightmare on the minds of many whose misfortune it was to fall on those unhappy times. The defects pointed out by the report of the members of the Select Committee will be recognised by many of that generation as only too tenderly depicted. Their kind words about the teachers did those officers, indeed, but scant justice. The graceful geniaUty, the dehcate gentleness, the almost womanly tenderness and the absolute blamelessness of a spirit like that of Thomas Brown, — the unselfish labours and affectionate Christian zeal of the brothers Sewell, — the almost Herculean efforts of John Newby to inspire some taste for Hterary culture, some love of art, some sense of the value of hobbies — and the ability and dignity and the lofty sense of duty which characterised some of the elder apprentices still shine down the years. But all these noble elements were weighted with an incubus that crushed and stifled their in- fluence amongst a large section of the School. This was the form and spirit of the out-door discipline. He who adminis- tered it has gone to his rest amidst the respect and esteem of those who knew him best, and, long before his day was spent, he had, like many other strong men, recognised that the wonderful complexity of child-mind requires more faculties for its right governance than high-handed repression of its evil tendencies. Whatever good intention, whatever conscientious principle underlaid the system which was adopted, its aspect, in practice, was inconsiderate, capricious, unreasonable. It appeared to over-ride, rough-shod, whatever did not at once adapt itself to a machine-like code of law. It appealed to no noble principle. It subsisted on penalty. Under its influence the sensitive plant — honour — shrivelled. Its banner seemed to have but one device — Repression. Order, in its mechanical sense, was apparently its first and only law. It is needless to 240 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL say that it reaped as it had sowed. Confidence and loyalty are not the fruits of suspicion and mistrust. The system often drove boys of spirit into reckless, when it did not force them into defiant ways. It made cowards, who brooded over their wrongs and nursed their little hatreds until their souls were black with venom. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that under this rtgime there were periods of almost complete stag- nation of extra-class intellectual aspiration. Boys' minds were often too much irritated by wrongs, fancied or real, to think of anything else. Their active brains were often seething with seditious thought and busy enough when they were supposed to be idle. The poverty of indoor accommodation during play- hours greatly complicated the difficulties and aggravated the evils of the system. In wet weather and dark, cold evenings, old " Number Two" formed the only sheltered resort of a large majority of the School. Seventy or eighty boys often crowded its benches and sometimes as many as a hundred took refuge in its foul and heated atmosphere. The pursuit of knowledge or the love of art was not encouraged by the companionship of a motley multitude, whose presence was only enforced by the rigours or the wretchedness of the weather outside, and whose powers of concentration of thought were more at home in amusing tricks than in serious study. An apprentice was always on duty there and, if he happened to be at all weak in tact or disciplinary skill, he often had a very bitter time of it. Had the mere preservation of the quiet and order which the rules prescribed for those who frequented the room been his sole duty, it would not always have been an easy task to perform it without frequent unpleasant friction ; but, in addition to this duty, it was customary to impose upon his charge all the dis- orderly boys — all the malcontent spirits — of the School. The most common of all punishments, in an age when there was abundance of it, was standing to a line in this room. Masters and apprentices sent their class delinquents there. Boys who misbehaved in the bed-rooms, were late to the collectings, talked HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 24 1 in the dining-room or played pranks out of doors, swelled the number of irritated minds who were confined there under his surveillance. With ten, twenty, or thirty boys expiating the misdeeds of the day by standing to the line with their hands behind them, the apprentice had a task very comparable to that of Sisyphus. When these boys had atoned for one offence, they often began the punishment due for another, and, ere that was accomplished, they had accumulated others for the ill execution of the previous ones. The fate of Ixion would sometimes have been a relief to him who had to insist on the tale of punishments prescribed by others and necessarily supple- mented by his own. But if this practice was grievous to the " apprentice on duty," it was still more mischievous to the boys. It was a means of generating cumulative irritation and disorder. No system of discipline, however bad, would succeed in re- ducing a hundred and fifty or sixty boys to one common level of disorder. There are too many graces in a childhood brought up with so much careful training as had fallen to the lot of many Ackworth boys at this time to be swamped altogether in a vortex of unfavouring elements. Throughout the period a goodly leaven might probably be found, which shrunk from the surrounding ill-feehng and longed for better times; but the lives of this class were marked rather by quiet absten- tion from active participation in, than by bold remonstrance with, the evil. A few noble spirits always remained to redeem the general indifference. The limits of this unsatisfactory period may be rudely defined as ranging from the autumn of 1839 to that of 1846, but its nucleus rested upon the years 1840 to 1845. The latter part of 1839 was an exceedingly disorderly time, characterised by a tendency to great insubordination on the part of individuals, amongst whom the spirit seemed infectious, and extending occasionally to more considerable demonstrations 242 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL of it. Its effect was very pernicious. The decorous habits of the School were seriously affected by it; and the year 1840 became marked by much practice of sly, underhand mischief. Breaking windows, disfiguring walls, wilful and deliberate abuse of property generally, including much damage to the gardens of little or more orderly boys, became seriously prevalent. Many boys became designedly troublesome, and a very culpable carelessness and recklessness crept over the masses. Much punishment was necessary, not only of individuals, but of the whole School. One boy was very severely flogged ; but the discipline was not corrective. Within three weeks his conduct was again so disgraceful that he was treated in a very exceptional manner. He was not only confined in the Light and Airy Rooms, on a bread-and-water diet, but he was kept there both day and night. The disaffection unfortunately spread amongst the monitors, whose conduct became very unsatis- factory. Two of them behaved so badly that they were con- fined in the Light and Airy Rooms. There was a serious disin- tegration of fine feeling, and, worse than that, much want of respect for sacred things. The following year, things were temporarily somewhat better. The "Association,'' which had slumbered for more than two years, was revived pn the 3rd of Third Month, 1841 — the twentieth anniversary of its origin. All its old members had passed away ; but four honorary members invited forty-four of the boys to meet them, on that day, and thirty of them were enrolled as members. During the following twelve months, there was a good deal of activity in the little society. Many essays were produced, the penning of which must have drawn considerable energy into useful channels. But perhaps the best work of the year lay in the evening meetings held for Readings, Familiar Lectures and Examinations, of Scientific Questions or interesting articles from the shelves of the Society's Cabinet. The most attractive of these gatherings HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 243 were some occupied by John Newby in a series of chatty lectures based on Catlin's new work on the North American Indians. William Allen Miller was present on one of these evenings and gave an interesting account of the Electric Telegraph, During' his visit to Ackworth on this occasion he gave a course of three delightful lectures to the elder boys and girls on " Pneumatic Chemistry," and a fourth, to the whole School, comprising the leading particulars of the course. In the middle of this year, Thomas Smithson left School. Throughout his career he had preserved a remarkably straight- forward, upright and manly way of life. He had won the respect and esteem of all his school-fellows as well as those of his teachers. Free from every particle of affectation of goodness, a boy amongst boys, his example must have been an incalculable benefit to many around him. The day on which he left, or the one preceding it, Thomas Pumphrey and the Masters, wishful to show their high appreciation of his character and services, gave the boys, along with much ap- propriate and seasonable counsel, a half-holiday in his honour. Unhappily neither the efforts of those who laboured to restore the prestige of the Association, nor the example of a few noble lives, sufficed to do more than give a temporary check to the unsatisfactory state of the School referred to above. Eighteen Forty-Two witnessed more than a return of the bad feeling, the grumbling, the disaffection and disorder of 1840. The boys' language reflected the unsatisfactory state of the general mind. Acts of wilful damage, cruelty to the young and weak, low and vulgar pursuits, became lamentably common. There were five or six excessively wrong-headed boys who, under another form of discipline, would probably have been, if not much more reasonable, certainly more powerless. Under a happier government they would have received but little of that R 2 244 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL sympathy from their school-fellows which fed their low ambi- tion. Our readers, who love so tenderly the old School, will, we trust, bear with us whilst we thus glance, as rapidly and as ten- derly as is consistent with truth, at its darker period. The records of the School do not throw any brighter light over the following three years. They add much dishonesty tothelist of offences; they record, what all of that time remember well, much disgraceful conduct in meetings for worship ; but no records that we find give an adequate picture of the unsatisfactory state of the School about 1843, as we remember it. A perpetual state of smoulder- ing iimtiny scarcely exaggerates the description of it. In 1844, after the boys had been forbidden from their own gardens, in consequence of numerous instances of apple-stealing, and the Masters' Meeting had recorded " the extensive use of profane language in the private conversation of the boys, some of the Monitors and many other boys being implicated," the Teachers, who must have been at their wits' end to know how to deliver themselves from the flood of unsavoury practices that had come into their midst, hit upon the idea of enrolling a sort of Legion of Honour, which should aid them in raising the moral and dis- ciplinary tone of the School. Considering that unity is strength, and desiring to win the allegiance of a set of the elder boys to a right life and a good example, they began by constituting a privileged guild which was called the " Orderly Class." Unfor- tunately, those who became members of it were not expected to " win their spurs" by deeds that shewed a strong arm and well- tempered courage. They were chosen from amongst those whose lives had been most inoffensive; and their sinews were prepared for the campaign against error by being nurtured with gifts of little plots of ground in the Office Garden for the cultivation of their flowers. This arrangement was made in the early months of 1845. It was a luckless experiment. Things grew worse rather than better, until, two or three months after the " Orderly Class" was organized, affairs culminated in a crisis which cleared the air a little. The boys, being in a wild, unsettled way, HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 245 practised great disorder in the bed-rooms, which the Monitors failed to report quite honestly. These boy-guardians of the public discipline were, for this delinquency, deprived of certain privileges pertaining to their order. This they resented in a bold, lawless manner, which had a very evil influence upon the disaffected classes of the School, who burned to imitate their example ; and, a week afterwards, the following entry occurs in the minutes of the Masters' Meeting : — " Some insubordinate conduct on the part of the Monitors, in consequence of the restrictions laid upon them some days back, led to rather an extensive display of a similar disposition in the School at large. The disorder was speedily suppressed, and there have been no subsequent symptoms of the like nature." Such is the brief record of an event which had lasting influ- ences. How it worked we are not precisely informed ; but it opened many eyes to the grave evils of a pressure which had borne heavily on all classes. The vested interests of long prestige were broken through. A change set in. Even schoolboys could feel that some power had interposed. Thomas Pumphrey's hand had fallen heavily on the School, but the School supposed it had also fallen heavily elsewhere and that he had at last himself seized the rein's of a department with which he did not usually meddle in public. A brighter day had . dawned for the Ackworth boy and, although the accumulated stains of years were not to be washed out in a day, the atmosphere he breathed was never again to be so hopelessly heavy. In 1845 the spirit of the school had decidedly improved but the order remained very indifferent, especially towards the close of the year when " there was much want of care in the general behaviour of a pretty large number of boys." Even when one of those welcome visits of Samuel Gurney took place, and he gave sixpence to each of the children, the Masters felt that they could only grant his request for a half-holiday to a por.tion 246 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL of the boys, the rest being kept in durance in discharge of accumulated penalties. Fifty-two children had been allowed to take vacations in 1844, and the desire was rapidly increasing, amongst parents, to have their children home for holidays. In First Month 1845, the Committee, foreseeing an increase of interruption from this cause, gave the subject close consideration and left the further enquiry into it to the Examining Committee for the following spring. That Committee reported that it was not prepared to recommend any change in the practice which had been in vogue for nine or ten years, of allowing holidays to children who had not been home for two years, beyond that of an extension of the privilege to those who had been eighteen months in the school. But the question was beginning to attract attention outside the Committee. Edward West of Banbury — then of Warrington — championed the cause of the Ackworth Scholar with much zeal and warmth, and undoubtedly helped it forward, by , rousing, to the appreciation of their advantages, many who might have otherwise remained luke- warm towards general vacations. The subject was discussed with much interest in the General Meeting of this year, and the Committee was requested to investigate the desirability of periodical holidays, by seeking the opinion of parents, agents and others, and to report the following year. Circulars having been issued to the agents, requesting information on special points bearing on the general question, the returns were sum- marised in the following form : — 3 cases were reported of children having no homes. 10 » !) >i >) in which vacations would be objectionable on pecuniary grounds. 29 )) >i >> >) in which they would be objectionable from other causes. 37 Agents report difficulties in respect of travelling expenses; but many of them do not state the number of cases to which they apply. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 247 28 Agents, recommending 118 children, report no pecuniary difficulties ; of these, eleven are agents recommending 57 children from Yorkshire. 24 Agents report in favour of an annual vacation. 32 ,, ,, ,, ,, biennial ,, 8 ,, ,, against either. 4 Furnish no reply. 67 Children are reported as paid for wholly or principally by Monthly Meetings. 20 Children are reported as assisted from School or other Funds. From these statistics, or from those on which this summary was based, the Committee concluded that " the great majority of parents were not desirous of fixed annual vacations ;" and, had it been guided solely by this consideration, it would probably have given its voice against them, especially as it suspected that the labour and the expense, particularly in the item of clothing, would be very great. Happily, Thomas Pumphrey, upon whom the pressure of an experimental holiday would chiefly fall, yet who had always cordially supported the movement, was able to point out two circumstances which proved of great weight in favour of it. He reminded the Com- mittee that optional vacations had greatly increased in number and had begun to affect the working of the classes unfavourably. He apprehended that the agitation in existence outside would materially extend the demand for them, if the periodical form were not introduced, in which case the efficient and satisfactory working of the classes, throughout the summer months, would be seriously interfered with. He also referred to the incon- venience and disturbance attendant upon the practice, then necessarily in operation, of each teacher being absent from his class three weeks in the year, during which his duties must be performed by proxy. These argunaents weighed no little with the Committee which, although it did not commit itself to a recommendation of the scheme, suggested to the General Meeting that, i/ the experiment were to be tried, it should be put into execution as early as possible after the 248 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL General Meeting of 1847. The supreme authority resolved to carry out this suggestion. The number of optional vacations of 1845 and 1846 fully justified the Superintendent's fears respect- ing their increase, being in the former year 59, in the latter, 103 ; thus proving that some modification of the system was im- peratively needed. The number of fatal accidents amongst the inmates of the establishment has been, we should imagine, very small in pro- portion to the ten thousan'd who have passed through it. In 1831, a boy was killed by the fall of some cart-shelvings, whilst he was assisting the farmer. And in more recent days, one of the apprentices —Henry Reynolds Neave — was fatally injured, by the breakage of a leaping pole, whilst vaulting over the hori- zontal bar. He was " a young man of great promise," and the following interesting paragraph was penned respecting his end, by the Clerk of the Committee. He lived twenty-eight hours after the accident, "enduring much pain with great patience and leaving behind him touching evidence that the all-important work of repentance and reconciliation with God had not been neglected in the days of youth and health. His remarkable readiness to meet this sudden summons, with peace and even joy, was felt to be a deeply solemn and instructive lesson both to those who were present and the whple family." The event occurred in Eight Month, 1864. But perhaps the most melan- choly of these sad occurrences was the death, by burning, of one of the girls. It is supposed that, whilst playing with' the fire, in a room by herself, her dress caught fire. She immediately rushed out into the passage, enveloped in flames, which were ex- tinguished by counterpanes, but not before she was so fearfully scorched that she died within eight hours. This deeply affect- ing accident occurred in the year of which we are now writing, 1845. In this year also died, under very different circumstances, from the effect of measles, Mennel Stickney. His end, which was one of perfect peace, was associated with circumstances HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 249 of considerable interest to his immediate companions; and a little memoir of his latter days was published at the time. One of the pleasantest features of the years 1844 — 1847 was the number of lectures by professional men with which the children were favoured. Of these a course of four on Elec- tricity, Pneumatics, &c., by William Richardson, twice de- livered during this period, was greatly enjoyed by the children. The lecturer had something of the Yorkshire dialect, which gave an interesting flavour to his speech ; his experiments were brilliant and uniformly successful, and his apparatus, all made by himself, and gorgeous with polished brass, was superb. Of this he was naturally very proud, and not infrequently referred to its superiority, which led Thomas Pumphrey one day to remark to him gaily, " Thy idols are brazen, William." The observation appeared to give the lecturer uhmingled pleasure. Dr. Murray was another great favourite. He gave three courses during this period, the first being one of seven lectures on Chemistry ; the second, one of four on the Physiology of Plants ; and the third, a series of four on Chemical Affinity and Agricultural Chemistry. William Freeston gave two lectures on Natural History ; Daniel Mackin- tosh two on Geology ; J. H. Buck a course on Physical Geo- graphy, illustrated by means of drawings shown by the oxy- hydrogen light ; and Edward Brayley five on Igneous Geology. Some of the chemical lectures were followed up by others on similar topics by Samuel Hare, who was then the clerk ; and the teachers themselves swelled the number of pubUc lectures, much to the gratification as well as the instruction of the chil- dren, to whom scientific teaching in class was at that time but little known. Another improvement, referable to this period, was the intro- duction of an important change in the mode of ascertaining the state of the children's studies. Hitherto the examinations had 250 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL been conducted orally ; and had been confessedly weak as a test of the standard of education in vogue. Attention was in the first instance definitely called to the defects of the system by the reading of a paper on " The Common Schools of America," by James Hack Tuke, before the Educational Society at its meeting in 1845. Whilst on a visit to the United States during the previous year, the author had given much attention to the systems of education in operation in that country and espe- cially to that of the class of schools a description of which formed the subject of his paper. In describing these, he called particular attention to the practice of examining the children by requiring them to answer papers of questions in writing, and discussed its advantages. The Ackworth Committee, perceiving the applicability of the system to their own school, invited James Hack Tuke, shortly afterwards, to assist in making arrangements for its introduction. Accompanied by John Ford, he met the teachers in conference. The modern mind is so familiar with the advantages of methods of examination which embrace at least some work on paper, that it may seem almost incredible that the introduction of the system should not have been accepted at once as a self-evident improvement on the wholly oral method ; but, strange to say, the proposal to introduce the foreign element met with a stout resistance from the conserva- tism of some of the elder teachers, led by John Newby. Happily, Thomas Pumphrey recognised the virtue of the system and, supporting it with tact and firmness, the experiment of its intro- duction was resolved upon. The method was speedily acknow- ledged, both by the teachers and the public, to possess great advantages. The Select Committee, which in 1846 reported on the causes which had operated to diminish the number of boys, having proposed an additional school, the Committee appointed a number of Friends to take the consideration of the matter in charge. This appointment initiated a great building era. The HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 25 1 Friends upon it boldly proposed either to erect school and class- rooms over the whole length of the great shed, which is 139 feet long by 181^ feet wide, and to turn the old Grammar School, alias " Number Two," into a play-room ; or to turn the old Meeting-house into school-rooms, first raising the whole of the boys' wing four or five feet to secure the improved atmosphere of its first-floor rooms, and to build a new Meeting-house. The latter plan having been adopted, it was further resolved to build a row of houses on the Pontefract Road, opposite to the boys' shed, for officers and masters, and a larger house at the top of the " great garden " for a residence for the principal master. It was also arranged to remove the high wall sepa- rating the boys' shed-court from their gardens, substituting for it an iron palisade. For carrying out these extensive schemes, the public were asked to provide ;^3ooo; and in Seventh Month of the same year orders were given to proceed at once with the houses on the Pontefract Road and with the new Meeting-house, which it had been determined should be erected on the site of the old houses occupied by the farmer and the tailor, the old stables adjoining and part of the stable yard. By First Month, 1847, the amount subscribed towards the Building Fund was ;^3649 los., and the following contracts were entered into : — Building House and Shop for the Tailor, a Dwelling-house \ £ s. d. for the Farmer, Coach-house, Granary, and Stables, for > 822 8 4 the sum of " ; The Erection of a new Meeting-house, Raising the Roof of \ the Boys' Wing, Converting the old Meeting-house into > 2,905 13 8 apartments, &c. - - - ; The scheme was considerably extended by the erection of a house for John Newby, another for John Walker, the baker, and the master's house at the top of the garden ; and the total cost of this extensive building operation amounted to ;£8424. This 252 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL included also the forming of a new suite of apartments for the Superintendent out of the old Study, the Fruit Room, the Light and Airy Rooms, &c. ; the enlargement of one of the houses at the bottom of the garden and that of the Office ; the construction of the large vestibule and the erection of new shoe-maker's and tailor's shops. Prompted, probably, by the Report on the state of the School already referred to, and a^ded by the suggestive theories of William Thistlethwaite, who had a few months previously become one of the staff, the masters, in the autumn of 1846, proposed a scheme of sweeping changes in the arrangement of the classes. The plan laid before the Committee for its con- sideration suggested that all the boys should be graded by their attainments into nine classes, each of which should be placed under a master or apprentice, who — and who alone — should be held primarily responsible for the conduct of its studies. It was adopted by the Committee, and came into operation at once. John Newby became the teacher of the Ninth or highest class, whilst William Thistlethwaite took the post of Master on Duty. The change infused new life into the teaching department and increased the boys' spirit for study by the stimulating influence of its more numerous progressive steps. The following year the number of classes was increased to ten. Nothing had been introduced for many years, probably, which gave such an impetus to the mental aspirations of the boys. The junior classes, under the younger apprentices, were taught in the rooms where the adult masters had their classes, in order that some superintendence might be exercised over them by the senior masters. This was the weak point in the scheme when it came into operation. Justice to his own class prevented the master from doing more than support the young teacher in the disci- pline, whilst the latter, from lack of experience, greatly needed advising and training, not only in the art of governing, but in that of educating the young. To remedy in some degree this HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 253 defect, these classes were consigned to the surveillance of the Master on Duty. It will be readily understood that it was impossible for that officer to devote much time to five classes in as many different rooms. From the first, the masters had always maintained that, to render the scheme successful, it would be necessary that one of them should devote himself entirely to these young teachers and their classes. When the study of French was introduced into the two highest classes in 1850, the Committee saw that the rudimentary courses of the lower classes must be worked more effectively than hitherto or that the English studies would suffer a declension in quality in the upper, and resolved to meet the demand for greater efficiency in the conduct of the younger part of the School by appointing Thomas Puplett to the superintendence of the four junior classes, comprising about forty-four boys. This arrangement proved a great advantage to the younger apprentices, an ines- timable blessing to the boys under their charge, and a fruitful means of raising the general tone of the rising generation of the School. In 1846 Hannah Richardson retired from the post she had for ten years filled with so large an amount of success, and her place was taken by Jane Oddie, who occupied it only for a short period, when Mary Ann Speciall entered upon its duties early in 1850. CHAPTER XIII. THE DISCIPLINE — WILLIAM THISTLETHWAITE THOMAS HASLAM HENRY WILSON FIRST GENERAL VACATION — GRAtlUATED SCALE OF TERMS NEW WATER WORKS — ANALYSIS OF THE WATER — STYLE OF THE READING PROFESSOR GREENBANK BUILDING OPERATIONS IN THE WEST WING STATE OF THE EDUCATION boys' LIBRARY IMPROVED — SCARLATINA THE "canal" QUESTION THOMAS BROWN RETIRES THOMAS PUMPHREY ON RELIGIOUS TRAINING — ADDRESS TO PARENTS ON THE IGNORANCE OF SCRIPTURE AMONGST CHILDREN ENTERING SCHOOL — ADMIRABLE STATE OF THE DISCIPLINE — HIGH PRICE OF PROVISIONS SWIMMING BATH — ADDITIONAL WATER WORKS — ANALYSIS — BOYS' PLAY-GROUND ASPHALTED. The modern class-system quickly bore some good fruits, in consequence of the increased personal influence the masters were enabled, by it, to bring upon their sections of the School. Unfortunately the out-door discipline did not improve pari passu. Its direction had fallen into hands inexperienced in the management of large masses ; and, whilst informed with liberal and generous theories of government, its occupant did not remain in the post long enough to apply them with success. Hence, whilst the moral tone of the School was beginning to rise, public out-door order literally collapsed. Subsequently to the retirement of William Thistlethwaite and the arrival of Henry Wilson to assume the office of Master on Duty, its functions were temporarily performed by one of the class- masters — Thomas Haslam. His resolute will and keen sense of order and obedience quickly converted a tangle of confusion HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 255 into a perfect machine. On Henry Wilson's advent, the Com- mittee testified its appreciation of the work of Thomas Haslam by voting him a gratuity " in acknowledgment of his efficient services." Henry Wilson entered at the beginning of 1848. He at once made his mark upon the School, by initiating a policy full of wise reasonableness, by exercising a generous con- fidence in the good sense and good feeling of the boys, by freely participating in their little interests, by skilfully turning their energies into safe channels and by his fertility of resource for the treatment of the varied minds committed to his training hand. Loyalty to the School and to what was right and true rapidly increased, and the records of the Masters' Meeting, from being annals of misconduct, became, from 1848, a register of lectures, of the establishment of societies, of arrangements for the pleasure or advantage of the boys, of the extension of the hbrary, of the consideration of the studies, &c. The influence of the introduction of the Annual Vacation was undoubtedly powerful for good. The 27 th of Seventh Month, 1847, is one of the most memorable red-letter days in the calendar of Ackworth School. On that lovely morning the School, for the first time in its long history of nearly seventy years, " broke up." The arrangements for such an exodus fell, of course, upon Thomas Pumphrey, whose foresight had pro- vided for every contingency. There was not a hitch in any department of the day's proceedings. Several wagons, each carrying thirty to forty children, all provided with tilts and seats, drew up about seven o'clock in the morning to receive their first cargoes of boys and girls, the former in new " cloth or plush caps,'' the latter in ''plain Tuscan bonnets.'' At half- past seven, amidst the ringing cheers of the whole School, the first detachment was despatched to the railway station. They who went farthest started earliest, but all had left by one o'clock, except one little homeless orphan boy, for whom a pleasant lodging was provided with Robert and Mary Graham 256 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL at the Low Farm. The railway companies had all agreed to carry the children by second class at the rate of a penny a mile. A care-taker accompanied each of the larger parties and was, in some instances, allowed by the companies to travel free. The cost to the Institution of the travelling, including the penny per mile to all parents who desired to accept it, was about ;^i5o. As soon as the children had left, the house was given over to builders and painters, whitewashers and char-women. For forty- four years " no general internal painting had been done." The expenditure of 1847 having exceeded the income by ;^i,262 14s. 2d., the Committee instituted a careful inquiry into the causes of the excess. The income had not been materially less than the average of the five previous years, but provisions had been high, and the experimental vacation had entailed considerable expense. To these two causes was attributable about one-half .the deficit. The other half was the result of fresh forms of expenditure which had every appearance of a permanent character — increase in salaries and in the number of the teachers being the chief. It appeared necessary, therefore, that this proportion of the increase, at least, should be met by some steady source of supply and it was resolved to adopt, instead of the uniform charge of ^10 per annum for each child, a graduated scale payment. Retaining the ;^io term, the Committee proposed that Friends who could afford a higher amount should be asked to pay ;^is or ^20, according to their ability. The proposal having obtained the sanction of the Yearly Meeting, it was put into effect in the Summer of 1848, and in the Autumn of that year Thomas Pumphrey reported that, in reply to his circular on the subject, he had received information from the parents of children in the School or on the list for admission that 65 Children would be paid for at the rate of £20 per annum. '°8 .. .. „ £\i 191 .. ., ,, £\o „ 364 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 257 producing an average of ;^i3 5 s. 6d. per child, and an increase of income from this source, on 290 children, of ;£95o. Although the cost of provisions was low in 1848 and the health of the School was good, the expenditure again exceeded the income by ;^i,402. In 1849, in spite of extremely low prices — meat being contracted for during one quarter at ss. sd. per stone of fourteen pounds, andduring another at 5s. 2d. — the balance was still on the wrong side. The constant rise in the cost of the teaching depart- ment was found to be the principal cause of the deficiency ; and the Committee again resorted to an increase in the terms, foresee- ing that there was no probability of this item of expenditure de- creasing. That it was this rapidly-increasing item which accounted for the excess of expenditure, and not any extrava- gance in the food or clothing departments, the Committee established by a comparison of the cost of various sections of the expenditure in 1849 with the same in periods considerably remote, in the following manner : — Average of s years Ending 1829. Average of 5 years Ending 1834. In 1849. Clothing per child ••■ .^303 £3 6 7 £2 19 10 PrOTisions, washing, &c. 9 18 10 9 19 8 8 17 9 Salaries and wages 322 390 5 17 S Furniture, repairs, &c ... 2 II 5 2 13 3 2 18 Taxes and insurance 024 025 066 .^18 IS £19 10 II ;£'20 19 6 Considering that all classes of the community ought to con- tribute in some measure to defray the cost of a department of so great import to the efficiency of the School, the Committee now raised the lowest payment to ;£i2, the ^^15 payment to ;^i6, and the ;^2o payment to ;^2i ; and at these figures the terms remained for fifteen years. We have already seen that the water supply was not infre- quently uncertain. Again in 1845 the Bell-close spring, which formerly had sent down 1,200 gals, a day, was reported to furnish 258 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL only 100. In the Autumn, however, the supply approached the old amount and the Committee, thinking that the deficiency had probably arisen from the drought of 1844, took no action for mcreasing the supply. In 1851, however, the water having again failed, it was resolved to seek a fresh source by boring in the Washing Mill Field. On reaching a depth of 100 feet a spring was tapped which projected its waters to within st few feet of the surface. The boring was then continued to a total depth of 140 feet. The strata through which it passed were as follow : — Clay 12 ft. 6 in. Sandstone 14 ft. o in. Shale 2 ft. o in. Sandstone 5 ft. o in. Clay 7 ft. o in. Sandstone 3 ft. o in. Clay 14 ft. o in. Sandstone 18 ft. o in. Shale 6 ft. o in. Sandstone 46 ft. o in. Clay 7 ft. o in. Shale 2 ft. o in. Sandstone An analysis of the water by Joseph Spence, of York, gave 50 grains of solid matter to the gallon, " 44 of which could be dissolved in distilled water, the. remainder being clay, with a trace of organic matter. Of the 44 grains nearly 10 were common salt and 34 carbonate of soda, with a little sulphate and oxide of iron. The water proved perfectly sweet at every stage of the process of evaporation. It is obviously suitable for domestic use and particularly' so for washing. On account of the absence of the sulphate of iron, lead would be acted upon by it and therefore pipes and cisterns of that metal should be avoided." The analysis being thought satisfactory, the rate of supply was tested. But, in order to prevent the water in the upper strata mingling with the lower spring water, the bore was first enlarged to a diameter of eight inches and lined with cast-iron HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 259 pipes down to the thick bed of sandstone, a depth of 80 ft. A large pump was then appHed to the bore and worked by the horse-mill. In eight hours and-a-half, 27,000 gallons had been raised, without lowering the water more than about a foot in the bore. At the commencement of the operation the water stood about eight feet from the surface and, after it, within nine feet — but it did not really fall at all during the last six hours of the pumping. It was therefore considered practically proved to be capable of supplying 80,000 gallons a day. An engine of four horse power was put down and the water was conveyed in a four-inch cast-iron main to a cistern over the centre capable of containing about 1 1,000 gallons. In 1852 the works were completed. The supply was reported to be abundant. A second analysis was made by Joseph Spence which gave 5 1 grains of solid matter to the gallon — viz. ; car- bonate of soda, 47 ; potash, traces; Ume, 1-5; magnesia, 0-2 ; iron, traces ; common salt, 2 ; silica, alumina, and iron (clay), o'3. Slight traces of nitrates appeared, but no iodides or bromides. The total cost of these water-works was ^^1050. The reading of the boys had been unsatisfactory for many years, but in 1848 the Examining Committees having reported upon it as follows — "The reading throughout the School we consider low, there being but few good readers, and many boys, even in the upper classes, read incorrectly, without proper, atten- tion to stops or emphasis, and provincialism is very prevalent" — • the Committee seriously commenced the search for a remedy. That was not readily found, however, and several years passed without improvement in the department. In 1851 the Country Committee appealed to the London Committee for assistance in •procuring temporary aid from some well qualified reader, but both bodies were fastidious, and shrank from introducing the various elocutionists recommended to them, "most of this s 2 26o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL class being associated with dramatic representation, who could not with propriety be brought into association with the young people." The prevalence of the defect continued to give them great concern. They held a conference with the teachers on the subject, but remained " of the judgment that the objec- tionable manner of the boys' style of reading was not likely to be eradicated unless assistance could be obtained from without.'' Not until 1854, however, did they succeed in .meeting with the desired aid. In that year they succeeded in securing the instruction of Professor Greenbank, of Manchester. In him they found all that they had desired — not only as a teacher of the art of reading, but as one who was in entire sympathy with them on moral questions connected with his profession. He spent, on two occasions, a week at Ackworth that Summer, working assiduously in the classes, and relieving the labour each day by one of his pleasant public readings to the boys and girls assembled in the Reading-room. His visits effected a great change in the reading; and in the Autumn examination of that year the Committee drew attention to the marked improvement throughout the School, attributing it to the able lessons of Professor Greenbank, and recommending his re-engagement. The advantages arising from the extension of the boys' accommodation by the building operations of 1847 suggested, as early as 1849, ^ desire for similar improvements on the girls' side, and Samuel Gurney having offered ;£'i,ooo towards a fund for raising the bed-rooms and for other extensions in the West Wing, the Committee opened a subscription list ; and the improvenients were effected in 1852 at a cost of ^^2,694. By the alterations made in 1847 on the boys' side, the school- rooms there were now nine in number, of which no room had a ceiling lower than 12ft. lin. nor smaller dimensions than 26ft. by 1 6ft. The cubic content of the nine rooms amounted to up',Yards of 80,000 feet, giving to each occupant (reckoning HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 201 170 boys and lo masters) fully 445 cubic feet of air. The girls' school-rooms were six in number, the smallest of which was 19ft. 6in. loqg by 14ft. 6in. broad. None of them was lower in the ceiling than 12ft. lin. The content of these rooms was over 41,000 cubic feet, giving to each inmate (reckoning them to be 130) about 316 cubic feet. As many of the girls are much employed in other rooms, the disparity in the allowance of space to each boy and girl is not really so great as these figures represent In 1849 the girls were divided into ten classes, after the plan pursued on the boys' side, and the arrangement answered remarkably well, especially in the upper sections of the School. The girls' Tenth-class early acquitted itself in a manner which gave great satisfaction. At the Spring examination in 1852, after reviewing very favourably its attainments in grammar, geography, history and general information, in all which subjects it is reported that its answers shewed " a good deal of thought well expressed," the Examiners mention especially that the papers clearly indicated that the girls "were alive to the interest and enjoyment of mental improvement." The Report shews that four of the girls were studying mensuration ; four, cube and square root ; and the rest of the class fractions. The needle- work was "beautifully executed." Referring to the Report of the boys' Tenth-class, at the same date, we miss the feeling of satisfaction experienced by the Examiners of the girls' highest class. The reading is described as " wanting discrimination in emphasis" and as in "general style heavy." The boys acquitted themselves "pretty fairly in spelling and definitions," whilst all that is said for their Latin is that " the same attention was paid to it as heretofore." " In arithmetic and mensuration the average attainment was respectable." The answers to questions upon the Scriptures are spoken of as neither so prompt nor so accurate as could be wished. Some subjects were better, but a tone of dissatisfaction runs through the Report. It is clear that mathematics had not yet formed an 262 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL item in the curriculum ; but the Committee had heard with pleasure that a large class of boys had voluntarily placed themselves, in play-hours, under the tuition of a young Master, fresh from the Flounders' Institute, and had " gone through the First Book of Euclid and made some progress in plane trigonometry and the rudiments of algebra," and it suggested that " these important branches might with advantage be regularly included in the routine of the Tenth-class." The General Meeting, which met three months later, also signifying its desire to see the studies of this class, and of the School generally, safely extended, a number of Friends were appointed to confer with Thomas Pumphrey on the subject and to report to the Autumn Committee. Those Friends submitted to the Committee a number of suggestions. Adding three-quarters of an hour per day to the school hours, they redistributed the hours of study, making provision for the introduction of algebra and mathematics to the four upper classes, to the extent of an hour and a half in the week in the Seventh-class, an hour and three-quarters in the Eighth, three hours in the Ninth, and four in the Tenth. They proposed that two hours a week should be spent upon French in the Ninth and three hours in the Tenth- class. An hour and a half were assigned to Latin in the Ninth- class, where it had not been previously taught, but unfortunately the time devoted to it in the Tenth was reduced from four to three hours in the week. They further suggested that forty or fifty of the older boys, and about as many of the girls, should not retire in the Winter months until nine o'clock, and that, during four or five of the Summer months, all the children should stay up until that hour. The arrangements were approved by the Committee which gave orders that they should commence " that day." At the same time the study of French was in- troduced into the girls' Tenth-class. In 1851 Henry Wilson laid before the Committee an account of the state and working of the Boys' Library, with a view to HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 263 shewing its inadequacy. The Library then contained only 480 volumes, large numbers of which are described as very unattrac- tive, of little value and ill able to compete for popularity with the light and racy reading the boys brought with them. Yet in ten months a thousand volumes had been borrowed and at the date of the Report they were being called for at the rate of 2,000 per annum. Hy. Wilson pleaded for the " enrichment of the library by well-approved and valuable works,'' observing that the few of that character which had been supplied recently had been much read and highly appreciated. He proposed a list of such works and the, books were readily granted. A Sub- Committee was appointed to aid Hy. Wilson in his endeavours to render the agency of the library a serviceable lever in the elevation of the tastes of the children. In 1853 this small Committee reported to the parent body that the boys' and girls' libraries had been greatly improved and extensively used, and at the same time suggested that the children should also have access, within suitable limits, to the Teachers' Library. A plan was proposed and adopted for carrying out this suggestion, but it did not work well, we believe. Thirty-four cases of scarlatina having occurred in the Autumn of 1852, the Women's Committee urged the desirability of providing Tepid Baths for the children. A subscription was commenced immediately, and in the vacation of 1854 baths were erected for the girls, but the boys were not supplied with them until two years afterwards. In the meantime scarlatina again visited the School. ^There was only about the same number of cases in the Spring of 1854 as on the previous occasion, but the type of the complaint was graver. One girl died from the effects of the fever and, about the same time, one of the boys was carried off by rheumatic fever. The General Meeting was omitted in consequence of the prevalence of the complaint, and a vacation of six weeks was given to afford the opportunity for a thorough investigation of the sanitary state of 264 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the premises. Mr. Pritchett, architect, was called in to assist with his advice. A very careful examination was made of the drains and they were found far from satisfactory. Many of them, badly built of stone, had fallen out of repair, were deficient in fall and over-run with rats. The imperfect drains were replaced by glazed earthenware tubes, carefully trapped, and several large water-closet cesspools were filled up. The conveniences on the girls' side being found irremediably bad, were removed and replaced by a service of fourteen water- closets, approached under cover but having no direct commu- nication with the interior of the house. The boys' arrangements were not altered, being in a much more satisfactory condition than those on the girls' side. The canal at the bottom of the garden was cleaned out. It had been at one time almost concluded to fill this up, but its water was found to be of use for flushing the stream into which it flowed and it was on that account retained. The bed of the stream beyond Car Bridge was found in a very offensive state, where it received the drainage of some adjacent cottages not belonging to the School. About 150 yards beyond these cottages the main drain of the School discharged itself into the stream bed, where in Summer there was often little, sometimes no water. A little further down, however, the principal land drain of the School property came in and was usually a copious flow. With this the sewage mingled and is described as " flowing in a slow, feculent, offen- sive stream till it reached the tail-water of the mill." As the Commi,ttee could not succeed at that time in purchasing the mill stream, for the purpose of turning it at a higher point into the bed containing the drainage, it resolved to retain the canal for the purpose above referred to and, also, to carry the School main drain in pipes until it could be discharged into the stream where the more vigorous flow came in from the mill. The ventilation of the boys' Tenth-class school-room having long been complained of, and the Investigating Committee having concluded that it was quite too small for twenty boys — being HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 265 only 31ft. gin. by 19ft. sin. — resolved to convert it into a sitting- room for the Teachers and to take the room which they had previously occupied, and which was over the Matron's room, for the Tenth-class, enlarging it by the addition of a portion of the room to the north of it, and thus making it 44ft. by 19ft. In 1854 Thomas Brown left Ackworth and retired to Stoke Newington. His health had been failing for some years and he had endeavoured to leave before but the Committee and Thomas Pumphrey, being exceedingly loath to lose his excellent influence from the Establishment, had arranged some work for him in the Office by which, without much strain upon himself, he was still able, for some time, by the noble example of a beautiful life, to do worthy service to an Institution and a com- munity of fellow-workers very dear to his heart. The Com- mittee, on receiving his note of resignation, state that they desire "again to record their sense of the value of his services during the long period of forty years, and would affectionately desire that the change may afford him the benefits he hopes to receive. John Pease and Robert Jowitt are requested to convey to him an expression of the feeling of interest and regard entertained by the Committee towards him." The Religious Training and Instruction of the children repeatedly claimed the serious consideration of the members of the Committee and, in 1856, they desired Thomas Pumphrey to draw up a paper which should supply them with definite infor- mation on its state and on the methods pursued to attain it. The document he presented, in response to their request, is, perhaps, more interesting as embodying the views and principles which shaped his own attitude towards the subject than as an epitome of the course practically pursued by the teachers to effect the object. It states that from four hours and a half to five hours and a quarter were spent in the classes, every week, upon the Scriptures. Of this time, an hour and a half were 266 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL appropriated to the private reading of them prior to the com- mencement of the work of the school — a quarter of an hour each morning. Three lessons, of three quarters of an hour's duration, were given in Scriptural instruction, and three quarters of an hour devoted to learning passages each week. Besides these, the master-on-duty devoted one evening-hour in the week to Biblical exposition, whilst the reading of the Scriptures always closed the day. On three evenings of the week, about half an hour was appropriated to the reading of religious works, chiefly selected from the fields of biography and history. Pass- ing somewhat cursorily over these arrangements, Thomas Pum- phrey dwells more particularly upon the occasion in which he himself took an important part — the First Day evening reading. Few, if any, will ever forget that hour between seven and eight o'clock, and few seasons exerted a more powerful Ufe-influence. All will recollect how first one of the masters read a chapter and one of the elder boys another, then how one of the mistresses, with a senior girl, followed with similar portions. The book was then closed and the company sat in a silence that was often deeply solemn, until broken, as it usually was, by Thomas Pumphrey in supplication or exhortation. To this occasion he refers in his paper as one in which he says : " I often find it my place to address the company in the line of the ministry as well as in what I may call Gospel liberty, under a lively feeling of religious concern. The duty, privilege, and value of prayer and its nature, the direct, perceptible influences of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and the importance and necessity of taking heed thereunto and of cherishing a tender and enlightened con- science; the corruption of the human heart in the Fall; redemption by Christ ; the submission of the will to the Divine Will ; faith and holiness ; truth-speaking and many other sub- jects are thus brought before the children." Then, after showing how, in an infinite variety of ways, on pointed occasions of personal interest, the watchful teacher will HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 267 ever be alive to the value of a word in season of counsel or encouragement, Thomas Pumphrey proceeds to show his estimate of the daily walk of an upright man, as a teaching principle. "Whilst these and all other appliances within our reach are to be diligently and faithfully used in the fear of the Lord, it must be acknowledged that one of the most powerful means of operating on the minds of children and of promoting the formation of religious character, is by the practical illustra- tion of Christianity in the daily life and walk of those who are placed over them. It is believed that there is, on the part of most of us, a conscientious concern to avoid putting any stumbling-block in the way of the children by our unwatchful conduct -y yet the acknowledgment can only be made under painful feelings of humiliation and a deep sense of multiplied unfaithfulness." Referring to the difficulties experienced by the -teachers in dealing with the religious training and instruction, he observes : " The low state in which many of our scholars (and we think within the last year or two in an increased degree) come to School is not an unimportant element. The gross ignorance of Scripture which some of them manifest is another lamentable fact. The small amount of parental restraint to which others appear to have been subject, before coming to school, and of religious interest in their welfare whilst here, as indicated by the little enquiry that is made respecting them, is also a discouraging circumstance ; but these remarks must not be regarded as of general application ; in numerous instances the reverse is the case.'' The cry of ignorance was not new, but this deliberate declaration of the Superintendent, in reference to the state of the Scriptural information and of the religious training of a large class of the children, on their entrance, touched the sympathies and the interest of the Committee most keenly. It 268 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL appointed five of its members to draw up an Address to Parents, which was printed and widely circulated in the summer. Starting with the premiss, that "education, for good or evil, commences in infancy," and appealing to parents in the sentiment of .the language, "Take this child and nurse it for me," whilst acknowledging their belief that many Friends were truly interested in the spiritual welfare of their children, the writers state that they have learned "with pain" that some children still enter our Schools "lamentably ignorant "of the Scriptures and "very imperfectly instructed in their religious and moral duties." The address ends in the language of encourage- ment, arguing that, " however inadequate Friends may feel for the service," the duty cannot be " transferred to any delegated educator," and that "He who has invested them with the authority" will, "in answer to their prayers," " grant the aid of His Holy Spirit to enable them rightly to fulfil it." Thomas Pumphrey's sound ideas of education may be gathered from the concluding words of his letter to the Com- mittee. "Our chief satisfaction," he says, "in reflecting on the education given in this Institution arises from the belief that it is not merely mechanical, that it consists less in charging the memory with words than storing the mind with ideas ; that it endeavours, not only to put in, but to draw out ; that its aim is to develop the intellectual powers, to cultivate good habits of thought and reflection and to cherish a love of self-improve- ment." And, although these are the words of Thomas Pum- phrey, they embrace the views of many of the sound thinkers on the Committee, many of whom thought much and deeply upon education and often, in private, imparted their views to the teachers of the day. Of the state of the general education in which boys at this time entered the School, some opinion may be drawn from the following statement : Of the forty-nine boys who entered in the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 269 summer of this year (1856), nineteen were placed in the First or lowest class and twelve in the Second ; of the remaining eighteen, six were placed in the Third-class, five in the Fourth, three in the Fifth, and four in the Sixth. It is interesting to find that, of the forty-five boys who had last left School, twenty-seven had reached the Tenth or highest class and only one was as low as the Fifth. The average stay of boys at School at this time had been, during the previous ten years, three years and eight months. The conduct of the boys • had now risen to a standard of excellence which ten years before had, probably, never been dreamed of. Thomas Puplett had succeeded Henry Wilson as " master-on-duty'' in 1855 and continued the generous policy of the latter, with an attention to detail peculiarly his own, and a persuasive kindliness full of gentle power. In April, 1857, the Examining Committee observed, with refer- ence to the general conduct of the boys, as indicated by data presented by the masters, that they had " great comfort in believing that its scale was higher than at any former period.^' A proposal, having been discussed by that Committee for ex- tending the annual holidays to six weeks, circulars were sent out for the purpose of eliciting the opinion of parents on the question. The replies, when tabulated, presented the following features : — 64. Friends decidedly preferred one of four weeks. 24 II preferred four weeks, but expressed a wish not to oppose one of six weeks, if thought best. 62 decidedly approved a six-weeks holiday. 15 preferred one of six weeks, but would not press it, if one of four were thought better. With these returns before it, the Committee did not think itself justified in making a change. The price of provisions in 1855 and 1856 was so high as to create considerable anxiety about the finances. In 1853 — the 270 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL year before the Crimean war — flour was obtained, by contract, for tlie first quarter of tlie year at 41/- per sack, superfine, and 38/- the sack, fine ; and for the next quarter at 37/- and 33/-, respectively, for these qualities. The sack contained twenty stones, and the consumption was generally about six sacks of superfine and twenty-five of fine flour per month. In 1855-6, flour rose to 54/8 and 51/8 for superfine and fine flour, whilst meat, which, in 1851, was 4^d. a pound, rose to 6d. The cost per head, in 1851, waS;^2o 12s. 7d., of which ^^8 los. lod. was due to provisions; but in 1855 and 1856 the total cost rose, respectively, to ;^23 igs. 3d. and;^24 is. gd., of which ;,£^ii 8s. rod., in the former, and ;^ii 7s., in the latter year, were due to provisions. The Committee appealed to parents with a view to inducing them to adopt higher rates of payment. The general pressure of the times was so severely felt that the rates of payment had materially decreased just when more money was required to defray higher expenses. The scale of payment which, in 1854, had averaged ;^i4 i8s. 2d. and the year be- fore ^15 ss. had, in 1855, fallen to ^^14 12s. 2d. Yet so heavily did the times press upon Friends generally that the Committee's appeal was only responded to in a limited degree — the average payment, in 1857, being only ;^i4 14s. 3d. The age for improvements in the premises, which the year 1847 inaugurated, still continued to furnish its almost yearly additional comforts or conveniences. In 1856 a house was constructed for the Farmer near to th^ farm-yard and buildings, ' some of which latter were improved at the same time. In 1858, in consequence of a kind intimation through Smith Harrison, of London, that a number of old scholars were pre- pared to defray the cost of a new swimming bath, the Com- mittee gratefully accepted the offer, made arrangements for supplying water from the School works and ordered its im- mediate construction. It was opened in the following spring. A general holiday celebration and great rejoicing among the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 271 young people welcomed the inauguration of its use. Its dimen- sions are 100 ft. by 35. It is supplied with dressing sheds and cost about ;^47o. In 1859, a Drinking Fountain was erected on the boys' green, the cost of which was discharged by Samuel Gurney. A more extensive improvement of the water- works was also resolved upon the same year, which was not however completed until 1863. Considerable inconvenience having arisen whenever the pump or its machinery required attention, it was proposed in 1859 to make an additional bore- hole and put down another pump ; but the small Committee, under whose charge the project was left, made no progress with the work until the spring of 1 861, when they were urged to proceed with it without loss of time. In the autumn a depth of 116 feet had been reached, when the engineer presented the follow- ing statement of the strata through which he had passed : — 14 ft. o in. I ft. 4 in. 14 ft. 8 in. Clay and Sandstone Light Shale Sandstone Black boss Pottery Clay Ironstone Light Shale Sandstone Light Shale Sandstone 9 ft. o in. 18 ft. o in. 8 ft. o- in. o ft. 6 in. 9 ft. o in. 9 ft. 6 in. 32 ft. o in. The work proved more extensive and costly than had been anticipated. A bore-hole of large dimensions was cut, and the supply proved ample. A powerful new pump was put down, the old one renewed and all the machinery placed in good order. When the report of the expenditure was made in 1863, it was stated that the outlay had been allowed to become very liberal from the circumstance that the engineer, William W. Hewitson — an old scholar — had intended, it was believed, to defray a considerable part of it himself. This had been io6 s. d. 33 77 300 10 "S 97 8 728 18 32 18 C 696 272 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL prevented by his unexpected death. Kitson and Hewitson's bill amounted to ^^768, of which the sum of ^^72 was due to other parties for work done for them. Reduced by this item, their account was as follows : — Repairs of boiler in 1862 Repairs of engine and cooking apparatus - Renewal of pump, machinei-y, and boring New pump, (added) 1863 Repairs to engine and new shafting - Repairs to old pump and new apparatus - Discount Total One of the great advantages of this improvement was the increased facility for changing the water of the swimming bath. Prior to it, that operation required fifty hours, whereas, by the use of both bores, it could be effected in eight. Richard Reynolds, of Leeds, F.C.S., and Lecturer on Chemistry at the Leeds School of Medicine, was requested to analyze the water of both bores, and as it is represented as " one of very uncommon occurrence^' we think our readers will be interested in the report of the analysis, and therefore give it in full :— Old well. New well. Carbonate of lime , i '5 i '6 Carbonate of magnesia 1-51 i-ji Carbonate of iron - trace only - trace only. Carbonate of soda - 35"43 32*44 (Equal to crystallised washing soda 95 "6) (87-52) Chloride of sodium 8-98 9-12 Silica and organic matter trace trace Grains of solid matter in a gallon 47 "42 44 '67 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 273 " The first conclusion to be drawn from this table is that there is no essential difference between the two waters. They are, for all practical purposes, the same, and neither can lay claim to any preference. It may safely be inferred that both are drawn from the well with but a trifling admixture of surface water, or much more salt of lime and magnesia would have been found. " Contaminations. — A rigid search has been made for impuri- ties derived from animal decay and for lead. The first of these would be found in the form of alkaline nitrates, if water con- taining these had percolated through the adjacent soil. No trace of these can be detected. No lead is present in either specimen. " General Properties,. — This water is one of very uncommon occurrence, since carbonate of soda is very rarely found in well- water and, in the few cases known, it is usually in smaller quan- tities than here found. The other constituents present no peculiarity and are only noticeable as being in small proportions compared with quantities usually found. The Salts of Lime and Magnesia may almost be said to be absent. It is, therefore, simply as an alkaline water that we have to consider it. Waters containing Carbonate of Soda are found in • London from the deep wells of the chalk. The following may be named : — ■ Wells at the Mint, Trafalgar-square, Guy's Hospital. The largest quantity of alkali recorded is in the last of these, being i2'36 grains per gallon (Odling), or just one-third of that at Ackworth. Leeds may be said to be the head-quarters of alkaline waters of the present type, i.e., of great strength and purity and, when freshly drawn, having a sulphurretted odour. In the southern district of Leeds there are dozens of wells raising such water, which is known by the name of ' Holbeck Spa Water.' The amount of Carbonate of Soda varies from 24 to 45 grains per gallon, the latter being the maximum. It 274 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL has been highly esteemed from time immemorial and has been carted about for domestic use. At the present time the district is also supplied with the ' town's water,' of good average quality, but a very large quantity of the alkaline water is purchased by the poorer inhabitants. They willingly pay for it for making tea and as a general beverage. I have specially consulted an intelligent surgeon, who has resided in this district for many years, and who has a very large practice, as to whether this extensive use of alkaline waters quite as strong as the present had, within his observation, produced any effect upon health or disease. He confirmed the statement I have made as to its extensive use and the preference given to it and said that he had it always brought to his own house for use both for drinking and making tea. He said that he had never heard even a suspicion of injury hinted against it, but frequently people had complained of the substituted waters not agreeing with them so well. He did not think that there was the slightest objection to it. My own feeling would be much as follows, with all due reserve on the question of its physiological action, to give an opinion on which is not my province. The search for evidence against such waters has failed; therefore there is no reason why its use may not be continued by the Committee with every feeling of confidence. But, the water is admittedly an exceptional one and, although the water supply of England generally exhibits the widest differences, still no one has studied the question so as to generalize upon it. It cannot be quite indifferent which of these many waters Man drinks and some day we may have data upon which to select. If anyone proposed adding 95 grains of Washing Soda to a gallon of water and giving it as a beverage to the School, the propo- sition would be scouted at once. Still we are accepting just such an exceptional water because it has a natural source. The unusual purity of the water . in all other respects has a compen- sating value worth recognising. The intelligent observation of the medical officer at the School may possibly lead to some HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 275 conclusions. I need hardly remark upon the great pecuniary gain which the possession of the water supplies for washing purposes. Every 100 gallons contains a pound and a quarter of Washing Soda, but the absence of Salts of Lime, &c., is still more important. It should be remembered that in the kitchen boilers a high degree of saline concentration may be attained if steam be withdrawn and fresh water admitted continually. The boilers should be run off daily. The turbidity of the small specimen from the tank is due to abundant confervoid growths, harbouring similarly low members of the animal kingdom. This tendency demands their frequent cleansing. "(Signed) RICHARD REYNOLDS, F.C.S., " Lecturer on Chemistry, Leeds School of Medicine.'' In continuation of the list of improvements of this time may be mentioned one of apparently minor but, practically, of great importance to the comfort of the boys. Their playground was asphalted in the summer of 1859. The work was so extensive that it necessitated a six weeks' holiday and, although executed at the comparatively low rate of eightpence per yard, cost ;^2i3. Another improvement was the erection of a fine new Turret Clock, the cost of which — £,^2$ — was defrayed by Jos. G. Barclay, Samuel Gurney, Henry E. Gurney, Jos. Pease, and Joshua Wilson Brothers. This was completed in i86r. T 2 CHAPTER XIV. ACTIVITY IN THE SOCIETY OF ARTS — PHONOGRAPHY — ESSAY SOCIETY THE GAMES — THE WORKSHOP THE SCHOOL EX- AMINED BY WM. DAVIS, B.A. THOMAS PUMPHREY'S GREAT FETE THOMAS PUMPHREY's HEALTH FAILS HE RESIGNS HIS POST GEORGE AND RACHEL SATTERTHWAITE A GRAND HOLIDAY THOMAS PUMPHREY's LAST DAYS AND DEATH. The reports of the boys' conduct since 1848 had (with some little exception about 1854, occasioned, we are told, by the unavoidable but frequent absence of various teachers from their duties) been eminently satisfactory and in 1859 we fiind the Committee passing high enconiums upon it and upon the teachers as the means of bringing about the happy state of the discipline. Considerable activity in useful pursuits during their leisure marked the boys of this period. The Society of Arts had been revived and remodelled by Henry Wilson in 1 85 1 and quickly became a leading power of culture, very successfully encouraging a love for art, whilst, as yet, Drawing was no part of the training in the classes. In the early years of its revival the diligence of its members was most praiseworthy. At one of their exhibitions there were no fewer than 705 specimens of work, all executed within three months. It was about this time, we believe, that Bartholomew Smith, of Thirsk, showed no little kind encouragement to the Society, amongst other acts of kindness presenting to it a beautiful oil painting of Norham Castle — his own work. Joseph Miller Constable, also about the same time, presented through Thomas Brown, formerly his teacher, an exquisite pen and ink drawing after HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 277 Landseer. The activity of the revived Society was vigorous for many years and, at the time at which we have now arrived, was doing some good work, although the rage for Phonography was rather elbowing it out of some circles and we believe that in 1 860-1 the Society suffered a temporary suspension in favour of natural history and the work of a vigorous Essay Society. This latter Society had its origin in 1852, but in 1859-60 it had reached a success unprecedented in its previous history. Its membership had, that session, been made con- ditional upon a position in the " First Division " in the monthly scale of conduct ; but this circumstance does not appear in any way to have militated against its success. Entomology was pursued with much ardour for two or three years about i860, its study being chiefly distinguished by the successful rearing of specimens. At one time there were fifteen caterpillar estab- lishments in the garden shed, a fertile source of interest, not only to their owners but to great numbers of their school- fellows. The appearance of Donati's comet was a source of great interest to the children in the autumn evenings of 1858 and gave a fillip to their astronomical pursuits. Many of the boys devoted themselves, with great ardour, to Conchology, soon after this time, under the inspiriting direction of John W. Watson ; whilst Botany was with almost equal zeal pursued by other boys. Nor did the games suffer from these numerous activities. Never did kite-flying attract more enterprise. The boys of this generation tell with pride of a " Dutch kite," with a convex surface, which was' able to dispense with a tail ; and of a wonderful effort called the " Black Eagle," whose ascent was considered a marvel of engineering skill. These creatures of the air must have surpassed the cunning of the curious twin kite made by William Coor Parker and his companions in the likeness of Samuel Gill and his bride (nee Elizabeth Airey) and in gratitude to them for the glass of wine given to each of the children, on the occasion of their marriage, thirty years before the time of which we now write. Cricket now became a more 278 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL perfect science. The game received a great impulse in 1859 from Joseph Rowntree's kindness in laying out a new bowling- crease for the boys, at his own expense. The following year, Hockey was introduced and ruled the affections of the boys like a master-passion, blotting out of existence that delightfully fearful game of " Smugglers," which had been the joy of more savage generations, and throwing into shade the labours of the Society of Arts. Happily for this Society, it possessed a Curator, in 1862, who so warmly devoted himself to its interests, giving up himself and his school-room twice a week to its service, that its fortunes soon brightened. At the same time, the workshop was made attractive by the introduction of eccentric turning. Indeed, the school appears, at this time, to have reached a happy state, in which appreciation of the dignity of labour and delight in athletic sports left but slender occasion for troublesome mis- chief or desultory and evil habits. At the request of the Committee, the School was examined, in the Spring of 1861, by Mr. WiUiam Davis, B.A., one of the British and Foreign School Society's Inspectors. He made examination, viva voce, into the state of all the classes ; and, in . addition, the 8th, 9th and loth classes on the boys' side and the 9th and loth on that of the girls' passed through a written examination. His report has all the appearance of a careful effort to place the Committee in possession of such information as should enable it to institute a comparison between the state of education at Ackworth and the standard of those schools with which he was most familiar. He appears to have con- sidered the school, as a whole, in a satisfactory condition. Its /(?«« he thought " excellent.'' He was highly gratified by the straightforward honesty of the children in their attitude towards the examination, in which he found not the slightest effort at surreptitious practices. The Reading was on the whole satis- factory to him. The Spelling and Definition of words were described as, in every class, good ; the Writing, as not remarkable HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 279 but passable ; History, Geography, English Grammar and General Information, all "satisfactory.'' The Girls' Tenth-class is reported to have done " remarkably well " in the last four subjects. Mr. Davis observes that, to be of any value to a boy, Latin should be commenced in a much lower class than the Ninth. He suggests that it should be begun in the Sixth and remarks that " the boys in the Tenth would then be prepared to read a Latin author with some advantage, whereas no boy is, at present, able to construe correctly a simple passage of C^sar.'' But the weak point of the school was, he considered, the department of Arithmetic, Algebra and Euclid. He observes, in his report : — " The Arithmetic is in an unsatisfactory state throughout all the higher classes '' and " I regard the examina- tion in Algebra and Euclid a failure." With the Mental Calcu- lation he was, on the contrary, much pleased and says : — " The rapidity and accuracy with which some of the classes, especially the Tenth classes of boys and girls and also the Ninth class of boys, perform, mentally, long calculations in the simple rules of arithmetic is very remarkable. Indeed I have very rarely met with pupils who could equal the Ackworth ones in this branch.'' He concludes his observations by saying : — " I cannot close this report without recording the high opinion I entertain of the teachers and of the spirit in which they perform their work. A remarkably good feeling seems to exist between every teacher and his or her class." In the autumn of i860, Thomas Pumphrey's health having been in a failing condition for some months, he was requested to take a long holiday for the purpose of recruiting it, if possible. On his return, after a three months' absence, learning that the conduct of the children had been everything that he could desire, he devised for them a treat, which was so effectively managed that we believe it is looked upon by those whO' had the pleasure of participating in it as one of the most delightful occasions of their school-days. He invited the whole 2 8o HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL family — boys, girls, and teachers — to an evening tea-party. The only room in the establishment in which he could receive so large a concourse of guests was the Meeting-house. In response to his kind proposal, willing helpers flew to his aid. The room where all were wont to meet for worship, and rarely for any other purpose, was by nimble and willing fingers transformed, in a few days, into a festive hall, whose walls and pillars were draped with evergreen festoons and half concealed by bosky bowers, amidst whose foliage stuffed birds perched and wild animals crouched. Amidst the verdant decorations might also be seen emblazoned the names of great patrons of the School and of the five. superintendents who for more than eighty years had guided its internal economy. They who witnessed the scene tell us of two wonderful piles of ornamentation which were erected at the entrances to the ministers' gallery — the one symbolic of the activities of the physical, the other of the intel- lectual, moral and religious life, as its good superintendent would have them to be. Amongst the decorative elements of the former were found the bat, the ball, the hockey-stick et hoc genus omne; amongst those of the latter, all the scholastic appliances of the class-rooms resting on a big Bible and crowned by the same holy Book. The village having been requisitioned for cups and saucers for this great multitude, the whole School sat down to a genuine social English tea-table for the first time in its history. Great was the enjoyment, many the pleasant memories of that eventful New Year's Day of 1861. When the tables were cleared, the evening was spent in addresses, readings appropriate to the occasion and written for it, others of a less local character, and in a general " feast of reason and flow of soul," until dessert came on, after which the usual Scripture reading and some afiectionate words of Christian interest from Thomas Pumphrey concluded the occasion about 10.30 p.m. The somewhat revived health of the Superintendent gave hopes at this time which were not destined to be realized. As HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 28 1 the spring approached, he felt that his day of active work was drawing to a close and prepared to take the first step for severing his connection with the scene of his great life's labour. To his friend Josiah Forster, after unburdening the painfulness of the prospect before him, he says : — " The best welfare of the School is very dear to us. We are closely aUied in love and friendship to our fellow-labourers ; and amongst the Com- mittee we number not a few of our most valued friends ; whilst to the Committee as a body, throughout the whole period of our connection with the School, we are deeply indebted for its unwavering support, as well as its cordial sympathy and generous confidence.'' A week after penning these lines, so appreciative of the value of much from which he was preparing to part, he sent in his resignation to the Committee. Thomas Pumphrey had the great happiness of delivering over his charge to his successor in a state of high disciplinary and moral excellence. Writing on the nth of Fifth Month, 1861, five or six weeks after he gave notice of his desire to vacate his post at the close of the year, he says : — " The School is at present in an agreeable state ; good order and kindly feeling prevail ; we are, upon the whole, well officered ; so that I hope, if things continue pretty satisfactory, our successors will enter upon office under favourable circumstances." Nor was this his own opinion alone. All authority unites its testimony to the prevalence of a satisfactory social and moral condition of the School. On the boys' side, this happy state had been the steady growth of many years. It was not the spasmodic issue of a few striking circumstances and experiences, or of an electric discipline. It was doubtless in measure the growth of a combined kindly activity and a zealous devotion to duty on the part of the staff generally ; but they who know the prepon- derating influence of the mode in which the out-door discipline of a large school is conducted will not be slow to recognise, in the wonderfully improved tone of feeling in the School from 282 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 1848 downward, the outcome of the steady, patient, far-seeing and generous policy of two remarkable men — Henry Wilson and Thomas Puplett — supported, in all their noble efforts for the elevation of the standard of life amongst the boys, by the appreciative sympathies and kindred aspirations of the Superin- tendent. In his Report on the state of the boys during the last year of Thomas Pumphrey's residence, Thomas Puplett stated that he could not recall the time when there was less in the school to cause anxiety. He also speaks of the religious condition of the school as giving much cause for thankfulness. A remarkable freedom, harmony and mutual trust appear to have existed between the teachers as a body and the children. On receiving Thomas Pumphrey's intimation of his intention to retire from his post at the close of the year, the Committee entered upon its books the following minute : — " The Committee, in receiving tlie tender of resignation conveyed in Thomas Pumphrey's letter, record their sense of sorrow that the health of our beloved friend should be such as to impress upon his mind the necessity of his discontinuing his official connection mth the school. In reviewing the long term of his administration, they can loolc upon it as a period of faithful, efficient and successful services. And whilst they sympathise with their friend in his estimate of the kind and hearty co-operation which he has received from the officers of the Institution, the Committee express their belief that his colleagues have been stimulated by his example and counsel to a diligent and conscientious discharge of their duties. They also reverently and thankfully recognise the Divine Blessing as having rested on their joint labours, without which they that build the house labour in vain. When the time of separation shall come, our dear friends— Thomas and Isabel Pumphrey— will carry with them the esteem and love of the Committee and Officers of the Institution, as well as the grateful recollec- tions of very many children who have been the objects of their Christian care and love. '' In 1862, George and Rachel Satterthwaite were appointed to succeed Thomas and Isabel Pumphrey, but did HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 283 not enter upon the duties of their office until the following Spring. On the loth of Sixth Month, 1862 — the 6oth anni- versary of Thomas Pumphrey's birth — a grand fete was given to the children by the retiring Superintendent and his successor. A whole day's holiday was given, but lest the juniors should experience ennui from having such an unwonted term of leisure on their hands, Thomas Pumphrey gave, in the morning, a suggestive lecture on the Great Exhibition of 1851, rendered appropriate by the repetition that year of a similar international gathering. The afternoon was spent in the fields, where, for a portion of the time, the boys and girls joined each other in their games, of which " Tirzah " formed the chief. Tea was prepared for all upon the " Green" but, soon after the company was seated, a heavy down-pour of rain burst upon it, driving the boys and girls in precipitate flight into the colonnades and other shelter. This sudden disturbance of their pleasant anticipa- tions of a repast al fresco did not prevent their having an interesting evening of mixed Readings and Addresses in the Meeting-house, John Ford being one of the chief speakers. The occasion derived a special interest from the presence of the two men who had united to give the treat, having such diverse stand-points in reference to the history of the school — the one looking back over twenty-seven years of varied experience and wrestling labour in its service, in which he would not fail to recognise, with thankfulness, that the tumultuous and turbid waves on which he had first launched his bark were then lost in the laughing ripples of a sun-lit tide ; the other, with face intent, turned on an untried sea, stretching forth to the myste- ries of an unknown future, not unconscious of possible storm and stress, yet confident in the guidance of a Pilot in whom he had long trusted. George and Rachel Satterthwaite had entered upon their duties on the last day of Third Month, and Thomas and Isabel Pumphrey, who had chosen for their future residence a house 284 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL at the bottom of the " Great Garden," went to Ilkley for a few weeks whilst it was being prepared for their reception. They were settled in it prior to the General Meeting — an occasion which Thomas Pumphrey, in his new capacity of visitor, appears greatly to have enjoyed, during an interval of better health than he had experienced for some time, but which, unfortunately for his friends, proved of brief duration. John Ford has presented the public with so full an account of the last days of this Christian Pastor, that it is unnecessary here to dwell upon them. There is something pathetic in the contemplation of the fact that this good man had exhausted his physical energies, had worn out his life in the service he so much loved. He may be said to have died in harness. The few weeks by which he survived the resignation of his office sufficed to show how he could have enjoyed, adorned and utilized a life of retired ease, but his memory was to be associated exclusively with the period of his active life. His retirement drew forth a very wide ex- pression of interest and affection from his old pupils who testified, in various ways, their sense of indebtedness to him and of regard for his future comfort. Among these evidences of esteem was a present in money from some of the old scholars of upwards of a thousand pounds. A few days before the close of Seventh Month a return of his malady greatly pro- strated him ; and his medical advisers, on the morning of the 31st, informed him that he could not survive this last attack of It. The following account of his last hours we quote from John Ford's memoir of him : — " On Fifth Day Morning, when the doctors came together he requested his wife and daughter to leave the room. On the former re-entering he said, ' I have heavy tidings for thee, my dear, the doctors say it is pnly a question of hours.' On the remark, 'It is not heavy tidings to thee,' he replied ' I feel it solemn— veiy solemn !' His wife said ' I hope we shall meet again.' He replied, ' Yes, trusting in Jesus' blood— press on and we shall !' To his friend and successor, George Satterthwaite, he said, ' I know in whom HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 285 I have believed, and I am able to feel that He can keep that which I have committed to Him. I have been long living on the confines of the eternal world, and I have never experienced the joys of religion so much as during the last few months. In social life, in business, in recreation, throughout all, I have felt my Saviour's presence in a way I never before witnessed.' In another brief interview, he said, 'The Lord has been gracious to me and full of love. He has covered all my sins and my manifold transgressions, and washed them all away for my Saviour's sake !' Inquiring of Dr. Oxley if his faculties would be clear to the end, his friendly physician replied, 'yes, they will almost survive the body.' And such was remarkably the case. On the Doctor observing that the pulse was almost gone, he felt it himself, and said, ' It is indeed, I can scarcely feel it !' After an interval of oppressive breathing, he said ' The lamp is loath to go out ; I thought I was gone.' Again he opened his eyes and said, ' Oh, the pain, the bliss of dying !' At another time, with a look of inex- pressible sweetness, he remarked 'Gently descending.' In one more interval of easier breathing, in answer to the suggestion, ' Hearing the haven,' he replied 'very near.' Shortly after this, about a quarter past twelve, the redeemed and purified spirit passed away to his heavenly inheritance." CHAPTER XV. A PRESENT FROM THREE JEWISH GENTLEMEN DIPHTHERIA MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES JOHN NEWBY RE- TIRES THE TERMS ARE RAISED — SCHOOL OPENED TO NON-MEMBERS DEFICIENT SUBSCRIPTIONS THE EXAMPLE OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE QUARTERLY MEETING MARY ANN SPECIAL RETIRES RACHEL EHZBETH STONE SUCCEEDS HER DRAINAGE EXAMINATION BY MESSRS. WALTON AND MORLEY EXTENSIVE ALTERATIONS DIETARY COMMITTEE GEORGE SATTERTHWAITE RETIRES JOSIAH EVANS SUCCEEDS HIM — BOYS ARRANGED IN FIVE CLASSES THOMAS PUPLETT AVERAGE AGE, &C., OF THE BOYS NEW LAVATORY AND WARM BATHS — WINTER VACATION SCARLATINA — JOSIAH EVANS RETIRES — IS SUCCEEDED BY FREDERIC ANDREWS THE " ACKWORTH SCHOOL FUND.'' To the first Committee which met after the duties of the superintendent had passed into the hands of George Satter- thwaite, it was his pleasant duty to give information that a sum of ;i^65o 3S., the proceeds of the sale of five shares in the Waterworks of Sheffield, had been presented to the School by three Jewish gentlemen of that town — Joseph, Samuel and Isaac Goldsmith. They were the heirs-at-law of Abraham Davy, who died intestate, but who was known to have expressed an intention of bequeathing a legacy to Ackworth School. This wish they desired sacredly to fulfil. The minute acknowledging this act is as follows : — "The Committee desires to record its grateful sense of the highly honourable and generous conduct of the said Joseph, Samuel and Isaac HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 287 Goldsmith in thus fulfilling the desire of their uncle, though under no legal obligation to do so.'' , But this agreeable episode was not the harbinger of cloud- less skies. If Thomas Pumphrey's advent on the stage had been amongst disturbed disciplinary forces, that of George Satterthwaite was amidst disease'and death. In the first school- year of his presidency four deaths occurred in the house. Diphtheria broke out towards the close of 1862 and continued its course during the first weeks of the following year. There were, in all, only nineteen cases, but the fatal character of the disorder spread much dismay amongst the parents and those connected with the establishment. No sooner had this much- feared disease disappeared than measles spread in the school. There were fifty cases of the complaint. Dr. Turner, of Manchester, was called in to inspect the premises and expressed an opinion that there was little or nothing unsatisfactory in their sanitary arrangements. The drains were carefully investigated ; such as were in any way defective were remedied and many additional traps were inserted. In spite of sickness and sorrow, Ackworth School was not behind the country at large in the expression of its loyalty to the house of our noble Queen, on the occasion of the marriage of the Prince of Wales on the loth of Third Month, 1863. The day was inauspicious ; and the three banners over the centre and that over each wing flapped heavily against their standards. George and Rachel Satterthwaite planted their commemoration trees in the Entrance Area, amidst pelting showers of rain and the loyal vivas of three hundred throats. But the dark winter's-day closed in early and the bright in- door festivities were not disturbed by the ungracious elements without. At 5.30 p.m., the whole family — boys, girls and 288 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL teachers— assembled for tea in the boys' dining-room, towards the appropriate decoration of which all the artistic skill of the establishment had brought its tribute. Chief amongst the interesting adornments were a portrait of the Prince at one end of the room and, at the other, that of the Princess ac- companied with the legend " Welcome to the Pearl of Denmark," whilst over one mantel-piece hung one of the Queen and, over the other, that of her lamented Consort under-scribed with the lines : — " Oh, silent father of our kings to be, Mourned in this golden hour of jubilee." Amidst the numerous improvements witnessed within the last thirty years, there has not yet come that spacious Salle de reunion wherein this large household may with comfort assemble on occasions such as this, with space for freedom of movement and bright and happy merriment. The complexion of the entertain- ments of such seasons is consequently less varied than might be desired. If all meet together at all, they must meet with close-packed elbows, and their pursuits must be sedentary. Yet we have never heard that the readings and addresses usually offered on such great days at Ackworth were other than pleasant, recreative amusements. But inasmuch as those pursuits in which the mind can experience the force of personal participa- tion — in which it can appropriate the language " Et quorum pars magna fur — are eminently the most enjoyable and exhilarating, it is perhaps to be regretted that so little opportunity exists for the mutual engagement of the whole household in recreations in which a more wide-spread share of activities may have a place. The evening in question, passed like others of its kind, was a happy success. In the Summer of 1863, John Newby retired from his long service to Ackworth School. As an officer in the Institution he had spent close upon forty-four years of his life. It was his good fortune to pass through the period of apprenticeship when HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 289 a fine spirit of earnest mental activity prevailed amongst the teachers, and many of the thorough habits then acquired remained with him through life, enabling him, long after the active compeers of his earlier years had passed from the scene, to hand on the torch of intellectual aspiration to generation? they never knew. To whole epochs he was the centre of almost every literary movement that had its place in the boys' leisure. Though remarkably deliberate in all his work — for the slightest approach to hurry in it seemed foreign to him — he accomplished an extraordinary amount of very finished preparations for his various lectures, societies, papers, &c. He accounted no time lost which was spent in bringing his efforts to their highest per- fection. The result of the influence of such labour it is almost impossible even for contemporaries and participants to gauge, but we apprehend that very large numbers of old scholars trace the germs of some of their best mental culture to agencies over which he presided, or to his own more direct teachings. We have already had to refer, questioningly, to the disciplinary policy of one period of his life, and we believe that, had its complexion been more genial, his training of the intellectual habits of those who came more immediately under his influence would have been even more successful than it was His views on education were eminently sound, and his teaching was strikingly distinguished by a demand full of wilfulness, for thorough work, and a skill in drawing out and quickening the latent powers of his pupils. All shams and superficiality he abhorred : cramming he despised. This quality of sincerity led him, perhaps all too defiantly, to mistrust and reject the demand for a more expansive and higher class education. What he accomplished, by adherence to his own views, we know was emi- nently good ; what he might have effected had he complied with the increasing desire for a more elastic system and a broader basis, we can only surmise, with a regret that he did not, at least experimentally, adapt his system to the scale of the advancing educational mind, that we might have had the opinion of his 290 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL ocperience on the comparative virtues of a limited and a broader range of study for a school like Ackworth, so large a proportion of whose pupils do not extend the period of study beyond the age of fifteen. John Newby's active life did not terminate with his retirement from the School. A glance at the notice of him in the "Annual Monitor" for 1877 will shew that he continued for several years a diligent and valuable labourer in many fields of educational, benevolent and religious enterprise. During this period, also, he edited for eight or nine years the little Annual just named. His death took place in 1876. On his retirement, Thomas Puplett became the teacher of the Tenth Class, and John W. Watson took the post of Master on Duty, vacant by the change. The Committee had now, for several years, had the satisfaction of knowing that their earnest and liberal exertions to elevate the tone of the School, to advance its educational style and to improve its premises were bearing much fruit. It had witnessed a ready and generous response from Friends generally, whenever it had asked for their pecuniary support for any great improve- ment ; proving, thus, the high confidence in which it was held by those who had delegated the great trust to its guidance. Yet one difficulty constantly beset it, now that it had secured a prosperous condition to the internal affairs of the School. The current finance grew ever more perplexing. We have seen that, in 1851, butcher's meat was but four-pence farthing a pound. In 1864, it had risen to upwards of seven-pence and, in 1866, was more than eight-pence, whilst the consumption was on an increasingly liberal scale. Many good private schools had sprung into existence and probably somewhat unfavourably affected the numbers at Ackworth. In 1862, there were 171 boys and 113 girls in the School, but there were but 1 4 children on, the list. In 1864, the number was still further reduced, there being only 157 boys in the school and no girls; whilst, in the autumn of 1868, there were but 151 boys and 104 girls and HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 29 1 only six children on the list. This reduction of the numbers told seriously upon the average cost per head, as some of the principal sources of expenditure continued in force, however low the numbers. Greater demand for a higher efficiency in the teaching department had, of course, proportionately driven up the item of Salaries, so that a department of expenditure, which absorbed only ^2 9s. per head forty years before, required ;^8 9s. to cover it in 1865. With the prospect of a con- tinual rise in this item, the terms were again raised in that year from £\2, ;^i6 and ^21, to £\t„ ;^i8and^24; and to these, in 1870, a fourth term of ^£28 was added. The number of boys was then so small that all were comprised in eight classes, and the nomenclature of the latter being no longer tenable, a complete change was made in it ; the numbers of the classes were reversed, the Tenth, or highest, becoming the First. In order to increase the number of children, the Com- mittee opened the School to those " from beyond the limits of Great Britain, being members of the Society of Friends, to be admitted at the highest rate for the time being, when the School was not full ;" and, also, to "a number of children carefully selected, not in membership with the Society of Friends, to be admitted, when the School was not full, at the highest rate of payment, at the discretion of the Committee." By virtue of this clause, seven children who were not members were voted into the School in the following Spring. Still, the expenditure was always in excess of the income and, three years after the ;^28 was added, a revision of the' 'scale of charges was made, when it was resolved that it should consist of the four sums — £\^, £20, ;^26 and ;!^32. This latter arrangement resulted, in 1874, in an increased average payment from each child of £2 6s. and an average payment per child of ;^2i 9s. 7d. But so large had been the deficiencies of some past years, that the Institution was so much in debt that it was thought advisable, in 1875, to obtain a loan from York Retreat of ;^4,ooo. By u 2 292 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the independent personal effort of William Abbatt, of Bolton, the sum of ^925 was obtained in donations towards the allevia- tion of this distressing state of the finances. In 1875, the income, for the first time for many years, exceeded the expendi- ture; but, in order to get the financial affairs of the School into a satisfactory condition, an additional rate of payment of ;^4o per annum was introduced in 1876 ; and the General Meeting, that year, appealed to Friends generally for an increase in the annual subscriptions, which, on the average of the last few years, would appear to have been smaller in amount than at almost any time in the experience of the Institution. This deficiency in the subscriptions probably arose from the in- creasingly prevalent opinion that many children were receiving the advantage of the contributions of Friends for whom they were not intended. To clear away this and some other mistaken im- pressions, the Committee drew public attention to the fact that the loss then sustained by the Institution upon the 180 children paying the two lowest rates was ;^2,g8o per year, which sum was greater than the income from all charitable sources, taking the average of the previous ten years, by ;^i36 ; whilst a loss of ^2, 019, or;^232 more than the subscriptions and donations combined, taking a similar average, arose from the 109 who paid the lowest rate. How far the deficiency existed in certain districts may be judged from an example prepared to sustain the force of an appeal to the Lancashire and Cheshire Friends for assistance from their wealthy Hardshaw Estate; and, in quoting this, we may mention that the case of Yorkshire was no better. It was shown that, of the 43 children from the Lanca- shire and Cheshire Quarterly Meeting — The cost at ;^33 17s. 8d. per head was ' ' 1,456 ,^g g 13 of these paid ^15 each ig^ o o 16 ri ri £7,0 4 .1 " ^26 10 „ „ £7,2 320 o o 104 o o 320 o o Total receipts from children 030 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 293 ;f s. d. £ s. d. Brought forward 939 o o 1,456 19 8 Annual Subscriptions for ordinary 1 expenditure from tlie Quarterly \ 181 6 6 Meeting ^ 1. 120 6 6 Leaving a deficit of 30 per cent, on their payments £ 336 13 2 Mary Ann Speciall, having occupied the post of Gover- ness for 17 years, resigned it in 1867, on account of ill-health, and was succeeded by Rachel Elizabeth Stone, who still occupies it, though about to retire, after a dozen years of acceptable service, from the failure of her health. After an attack of scarlatina, which necessitated the omission of the Autumn Examination of 1870, a very extensive scheme of drainage was carried out, under the superintendence of a practical man furnished by John Dunning, civil engineer, of Middlesborough. The work employed a large number of hands for some months and cost ;^4S9. A filtering service was also supplied to the main cistern. In the Spring of 1872, Messrs. Stanly Walton, M.A. and George Bently Morley, M.A., nominated by the Syndicate of Cambridge University, examined the School by request of the Committee. Their general opinion of its educational state may be gathered from the following Minute of the Committee, con- taining a digest of their report : — ' ' Whilst they candidly point out branches of instruction that appear to them insufficiently taught, they have spoken in terms of warm commendation of the important departments of Reading, Writing, and Spelling, in all classes, on both sides of the house. As regards English Grammar also, they report the knowledge of accidence is very good throughout the School. Elementary Arithmetic in the lower classes is also reported as very good, but they complain of a want of knowledge in the higher classes of the principles of the science. Questions were accurately worked, but solved by stated rules. The viva voce examination in Geography and History gave a more favourable impression than the results on paper. The Examiners put 294 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL a low estimate on the attainments in French and Latin. The Committee will have an opportunity of judging how far the questions proposed in Mensuration, Algebra, and Euclid were within or without the range of the teaching. The Examiners speak with unqualified disappointment of the results of the teaching in these departments. They suggest the expediency of adopting departmental teaching in the School." Very extensive alterations having been effected in the depart- ments of the laundry, washing mill, bakehouse, &c., the Committee was informed that the whole cost— amounting to ;^3,i20 — had been discharged by the liberality of Joseph Pease. In 1872, the members of the "Dietary Committee" pro- posed some important changes. They recommended, amongst other things, that, in the purchase of butcher's meat, good joints only should be taken, not " whole sides," as had been the practice, and that it should be bought in the open market instead of by contract. They suggested that pure unskimmed milk, only, should be given at the morning and evening meals, a pint and a half per child per diem, and that a wider range of green vegetables should be liberally supplied. They also proposed several changes in the service and utensils of the dining-room and advised that arrangements should be made for the teachers to dine with the children. These proposals were adopted but the new arrangement for the dining of the teachers did not come into operation until the following year. Having very acceptably filled the office of Superintendent for ten years and believing that it would be right for him to be more at liberty to serve his Divine Master, as a Minister of the Gospel, than his arduous and responsible duties permitted him to be, George Satterthwaite gave notice of his wish, in Sixth Month, 1872, to resign his post at the end of twelve months. Under the circumstances, the Committee felt it had no alternative to accepting the notice, whilst it expressed the " deep sense it entertained of the valuable services which had HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 295 been rendered by George and Rachel Satterthwaite, and of the conscientious way in which the varied duties of their re- spective positions had been discharged during the last ten years." It also confidently expressed its belief that " in retiring from their official connection with the School they would carry with them the love and esteem of very many for whom they had laboured, and of those with whom they had been associated in the management of the Institution." In passing rapidly over the events of recent years, feeling the ground too deUcately laid with the nerves of living men to risk the possibility of paining the modesty, or other sentiments, of the actors in the scenes of our little narrative, we have avoided everything not already patent to a large public, and, amongst other things, all reference to the admirable qualities of large numbers of officers, on both sides of the house, who have so long maintained, by their patient energy and con- scientious zeal, the efficiency of the School in a high condition. In recording the retirement of George and Rachel Satterthwaite, however, we feel very anxious that our reticence should, at no time or in any place, be ' misconstrued. With the ex- ception of periods of sickness, we believe the superintendency of these Friends was a time of almost uninterrupted prosperity in the Institution ; and, that much was due under the Divine blessing to the geniality and deep an^ tender interest in his young charge, manifested throughout his rule by George Satterthwaite, no one who knew his times will deny. JosiAH AND Mary Hannah Evans were chosen to suc- ceed George and Rachel Satterthwaite and entered upon their duties after the Midsummer Holidays of 1873. Unlike his two predecessors, Josiah Evans had been trained as a teacher from his boyhood ; had had lar^e experience in his profession and was familiar with the handling of large Schools. The Com- mittee, desirous to utilize these great advantages possessed by 296 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL their new Superintendent, re-arranged the duties of the office with the view of placing Josiah Evans more entirely at liberty to superintend, control and participate in the religious and intellectual culture of his charge. He was provided with a House-Steward who was to relieve him in every practicable way from mere household affairs, all farm and other business interests, general accounts and correspondence of aformal or routine nature. As was to be anticipated, Josiah Evans had formed his own views on school polity and, prior to entering the School, proposed, for the consideration of the Committee, a re-arrangement of the classes more in harmony with his own sentiments on scholastic government than the scheme in vogue. The Committee acqui- esced in his proposal to divide the boys into rivE classes of about thirty-five each and to place each of these classes under the charge of an experienced master, who was to be assisted by a junior teacher. The plan is still in operation, and has, we believe, worked satisfactorily. The girls' classes were arranged in a similar manner in 1874. Thomas Puplett's health being far from strong, he retired at this time from the mastership of the Tenth Class, but his influence was felt to be of such value in the establishment that the Com- mittee was very anxioi^ to retain him in some capacity and finally induced him to assume the somewhat less laborious charge of the lowest class or division, with the assistance of two junior teachers. Benjamin Goouch, B.A., was appointed to the First or highest class, over which he presided until 1875, when he was succeeded by the present head-master, Albert Linney. About a year after Josiah Evans assumed the charge of the School an enquiry was instituted into the age of every boy and the time he had been in his class and in the School, with the following interesting average results : — HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 297 Class. Age. Time in the School. Time in the Class 1st. . 13 yrs. II mos. ... 3 yrs. I mo. . 10 months. 2nd. . . 13 yrs. 2 mos. ... 2 yrs. 5 mos. . 7 months. 3rd. . . 12 yrs. 10 mos. ... 2 yrs. 2 mos. . 7 months. 4th. . . 12 yrs. 5 mos. ... I yr. 5 mos. . 5 months. Sth. . . 1 1 yrs. 3 mos. ... oyr. 9 mos. . Amongst the defective arrangements revealed by time and the advance of enlightened views on sanitary matters, those connected with the lavatory arrangements of the School long called for attention, but it had been foreseen that an effective and satisfactory supply of the requisite baths and lavatories would be a costly work and one which could not be effected without another of those public subscriptions which had, of recent times, become numerous. On the want being made known amongst Friends, a few months sufficed to raise nearly four thousand pounds and, early in 1876, the works were com- menced. A very handsome lavatory was constructed over the tailor's and shoemaker's shops for the boys, which is approached from the bedrooms by a corridor carried over the colonnade and, from the play-ground, by a flight of stairs in the " narrow passage" near the shed-court. Over the girls' colonnade, a suite of twenty-four porcelain baths was erected for the use of both sides of the house and, behind this, a lavatory for the use of the girls. All the appointments of these rooins are admirable; and the baths and lavatories now form quite a feature in the establishment. The cost of their erection was ^£4,4^0. Although a summer vacation had now been in vogue for nearly thirty years, there was still no recess at Christmas. Many Friends having often expressed their wish for the latter, a circular was issued by Harrison Penney and Theodore West, in prospect of a discussion of the question at the General Meeting of 1876, by which the following sentiments were elicited from the parents of the children : — 18 Friends strongly desire winter 2 Friends are undecided, vacations. 2 Disapprove conditionally. 298 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 4 Emphatically approve them. 13 Disapprove. 117 Approve them. 24 No reply. 8 Approve them conditionally. ^Total of approvals. 41 Adverse or indifferent to them. On the strength of these data, an experimental winter vacation of eighteen days was allowed to those whose parents desired to avail themselves of it, at the close of the year. Unhappily, scarlatina broke out in the School soon after the children re-assembled, and two deaths occurred from it ; but, we believe, that evidence that the fever originated in the vacation was not found, though sought for. In the summer of 1877, Josiah Evans relinquished the ofifice of Superintendent, and was succeeded in it by its present occupant, Frederic Andrews. The same year, the Committee's attention was called to the existence of a considerable investment, known to the initiated as the "Ackworth School Fund," and the following abstract of its history was entered upon its minutes : — " Isaac Smith bequeathed by his will, in 1797, a sum equivalent to ;^8oo Consols, for apprenticing boys educated at Ackveorth School to handicraft trades, and for providing them with tools at the close of their apprenticeship. To this Fund Isaac Walker and David Barclay each added, in 1799, a further amount of ;f 800, making together ;^2,400. In the following year the trustees issued an advertisement stating their willingness to receive further sums for the same object ; in response to which, Suffolk Quarterly Meeting sent up ;^6 1 l6s., and Richard Reynolds contributed ;^lo5. The original Trustees were — Joseph Smith, George Stacey, John Corbyn, Edward Janson, Joseph Foster, Anthony Home, John Pim, jun. By some of the early declarations of Trust, it appears that the term handicraft trades was to be liberally construed, and was understood to include most, except those especially excluded, which were Book-keeping, Shop-keeping, and the learned Professions. In case Ackworth School were discontinued, the funds were to be appliable for Boys who had been two years at any other approved 'school of the Society.' HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 299 " The amounts to be given were originally fij;e(l at ;^io for apprentice- ship (the Parents being expected to find a further sum of /5 for this purpose), and £t, for tools at the end of the term. In 1844, these amounts were increased from ^10 to ^15 for Fees, and from ;^5 to ^10 for Tools. "In 1801, subscriptions were raised, amounting to £<)2i°, for assisting Girls who had been educated at Ackworth School in going into service. The subscribers were limited in number, and David Barclay and Isaac Smith appear to have been most prominent in raising and contributing to the Fund. The trustees of it were the same as those of the Boys' Fund. The recipients were to be not more than 14 years of age. They were to have £t, to commence with— ;^2 at the end of the first year of service, fifty shillings at the end of the second year, and £t, at the end of the third, if their conduct had been good. If the income accumulated, the amounts given were to be increased, and the premiums extended in such way as the Trustees should judge expedient. In 1806, the age was extended to fifteen. In 1 813, Francis Freshfield, of Colchester, gave ^^200 to the Girls' Fund." Power v/2l% subsequently obtained for extending the benefits of the Girls' Fund to servants during their fourth and fifth years of service, at the end of vv^hich they might receive £,4. and ;^5 respectively, provided their so doing did not prejudice the objects of the original intention. During the last forty years the Funds have not been heavily drawn upon. Within that time, 170 apprenticeship premiums have been paid to boys, and 107 gratuities at the termination of apprenticeships. Within the same period, 125 girls have received premiums during their first year of service, 100 during their second year, 77 in their third, 26 in their fourth, and 11 in their fifth; whilst fourteen girls have received gratuities from the Freshfield Fund. At the close of 1876 the Funds stood as follows : — Boys' Fund. £ a. d. In 1854, the sum of £i^,tjOO Three per Centum Consolidated Bank Annuities of 1 726, paid oif at par, were re-invested in Three per Cent. Consols 5384 u 10 300 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL £ »■ d. Brought forward S384 " 1° Girls' Fund. In 1854, the sum of ;f2,8oo Three per Centum Consols of 1726, paid off at par, were re-invested in New Two-and-a-Half per Cents 3o8o o o Freshfield Fund. In 1852, this Fund stood possessed, as at present, of New Three per Cents 3°° o o From accumulations from all three Funds have been purchased as follows, viz. : — Feb. I2th, 1853. Three per Cent. Consols ... ;^looo Jan. loth, 1861. ditto ditto ... ;,flooo 2000 o o o Mar. 5th, 1867. Reduced Three per Cents 1000 o April30th, 1872. New Three per Cents. 15°° o o Nov. loth, 1876. ditto 1500 o o £14764 II 10 The Balance of Cash in hand on the 30th of Dec, 1876, was;^l88 l6s. 3d. The Income from these Funds is about ;^440 per annum. In closing this attempt to record some of the chief features and incidents of the history of Ackworth School during its first Hundred Years, it is pleasant to reflect that whilst, for reasons already mentioned, we have felt it difficult to avoid entering into much detail in reference to recent years, those years have witnessed an almost uninterrupted progress, socially, educa- tionally, and morally. The School's first century has closed in unclouded prosperity ; and, in the possession of such an Insti- tution, the Society of Friends commands a lever fully capable, we trust, of raising its next generations well upon the platform of that broader and more active intelligence upon which the aspirations of the age may place the masses of our countrymen. Since the introduction of annual vacations — themselves, per- haps, the most educational element ever introduced into Ackworth School — the growth of wholesome activities rarely appears to have flagged. The genial influences resulting from HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 3OI periodical visits to the family circle and the consequent realization amongst the children of wider responsibilities have, doubtless, been powerful agents in ameliorating, if not of remov- ing altogether, the ruder social elements of a prior epoch. But, whilst crediting vacations with so much virtue, we are much more anxious to acknowledge the value of the assiduous manner in which, under the consciousness of the advancing educational enlightenment of the country at large and, more especially, under the stimulus of a desire to elevate the sanitary, social and moral condition of the School, the members of the Committee have laboured to secure the welfare of their charge. Their efforts have received great support from the existence of the Flounders College, which, since its opening in 1848, has supplied it with a liberal choice of good teachers on the Boys' side. The comfort of the children and the promotion of everything calculated to furnish them with wholesome and useful aims in life have been eminently kept in view, whilst the education, if somewhat limited in range, has been studiously preserved from superficiality. How far the Committee and the staff will be able, under existing restrictions as to age of the pupils, &c., to train the children in the higher education now becoming so necessary to the leaders of society is yet to be seen ; but a school which has aided Friends of former genera- tions to keep, if not in advance of, at least abreast with, the intelligence of their times, will not, we feel sure, be allowed to lose anything of its influence without a struggle ; and we trust that, whilst much difficulty may be experienced in adapting the Institution to the new demands of a rapidly-advancing general culture, means may continue to be discovered for developing the intelligence of coming generations of Ackworth Scholars in such a manner as shall do more than sustain the reputation of a useful Past. CHAPTER XVI. OUR WALKS. As this little book is prepared for such as are familiar with the scene of its story, it would be a work of supererogation to attempt a general description of Ackworth School, or of the country in which it lieS'; yet it may not be altogether out of place to recall to our readers' memories, in a very cursory manner, a few of the features of the landmarks around which cluster the pleasant reminiscences of so many of them. In the rolling country around our old School, it may not be entirely unpleasant to them once more, in imaginatioa, rapidly to revisit with us some of the old haunts. We will not dwell on the quiet but cheerful prospect which presents itself to every lover of the country as he stands upon the playground itself, but will leave the busy hive around and, issuing from the premises by the noble modern entrance, turn our steps towards High Ackworth. Yorkshire villages are not proverbially beautiful ; but no visitor to this portion of Ackworth will deny that it has some charms. Seen from a distance, as from the top of " Robinson Close," it is always a picture. From this particular point it is very pretty, especially towards sunset on a summer's evening. As the eye sweeps down the green meadow- lands to rest upon its russet and purple roofs intermingled with abundant foliage and to follow the hnes of its old church tower which crowns the gentle slope up which the little village climbs, a well-timbered country bounding the view on either hand, it experiences a satisfied and restful sense of completeness which many villages in the county would not convey. Everyone who HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 303 has made hay in that field will remember the prospect well. Viewed more closely, few old scholars will have failed to notice, probably to admire, its comfortable cottages embowered in gardens where old-fashioned roses and fragrant lavender bushes, geraniums of primitive type and lilies — no less lovely for having been the favourites of a grandmother generation — still maintain the ascendancy over the pet cultures of our modern gardens. But perhaps no feature of the place rests so distinctly on the memory as its village-green. Who does not recall the old substantial almshouses which Mary Lowther built in 1741 for the use and comfort of six poor women and a schoolmaster ; and what old scholar has not, standing with his back to them, gazed up that village green, with its surrounding dwellings of the elite of the inhabitants, and fixed his eye with admiration upon its grand old giant elm, with its iron-bound cavernous trunk, its great naked arms telling of generations of seasons and storms, yet interspersed with luxuriant foliage testifying to the yet unquenched vigour of its constitution. The Cross under the shadow of this kingly tree has a curious history in its keeping. From its steps, in^ the pre-Reformation times, the monks from the neighbouring priory at Nostel were wont on Fridays and Sundays to preach to the people. One of these, a man of noble soul and kindly heart, won the affections of the people in a wondrous manner. Children clung to his skirts in delight and love — the strong man admired and revered him, the old and weak reposed upon him as a pillar of strength and a tower of refuge. But business or piety called him to Rome. The villagers gave him their tears and he gave them his blessing. Under the shadow of the Vatican he was smitten by the Plague and died. Such was the love which his brethren of the Priory bore him, that they could not rest without having him sepultured in their midst. In its transit, the body passed through Ackwortb ; and nothing would satisfy the ignorant but faithful love of his old hearers but once more to see, even in death, the face of one who had loved them so well. The leaden coffin was opened, 304 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the village was stricken" with the Plague and three or four hundred fell victims to the dread visitant. The villagers were taboo to all the neighbourhood ; and the great stone on Castle Syke Hill on the Pontefract Road became, for many months, the only point of contact between them and the outer world. Upon that stone the Ackworth purchaser dropped his money into a vessel of water, for which, a few hours afterwards, he found his return in merchandise. We make no idle comment on this history. We tell the tale as it was told to us. Crossing the village-green we pass, on our left, the Rectory, whose high garden wall and still loftier trees exclude the gaze of the passenger from the sanctum within ; and leaving, on the same hand, the noble grey tower and the handsome lych-gate of the old church, let us turn into the footpath leading across the foot of "Ackworth Park," once the residence of a gentleman whose career was originally that of the professional pugilist, but who, by the force of good sense, so ruled the circumstances of his life that his later years were crowned with a wide-spread respect and he finally attained the honour of a seat in Parlia- ment for the borough of Pontefract. From this path in the fields we have often witnessed the beautiful sunsets for which we cannot but regard Ackworth as somewhat remarkable — their characteristics being, not the gorgeous glories of those of more hilly or mountainous regions, but such tranquil and more tender effects as we see about the time of the vesper bell in the flats of the Fen district when long reaches and ribs of cloud take up an infinite variety of commingled hues and stretch their bands of blue and purple and gold behind long, level ranges of brown trees. But, turning on our path, we will re-cross the village-green and, entering the road leading to Purston Jacklin, soon reach Ackworth Old Hall. The dilapidated state of this once important manor-house fills the mind with a sense of desolation and de- parted bravery cognate with that which we suppose must have HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 305 taken possession of Tennyson when he sat down to pen his " Mariana." Yet the desolation of our old grange is one full of the picturesque; and dreary only from neglect, not from situation. Standing upon an eminence not far from the high-road and looking into and across the valley of the infant 'Went, this once handsome Tudor dwelling, with its lines of muUioned windows and its elegant gables, some of the latter now toppling to their fall, its roof in holes, its accessory buildings a heap of ruins, has just reached that hoary quality and suggestive weirdness which would have rejoiced the author of the " Castle of Otranto." In its old crumbling walls the white and the brown owl rear their broods and furnish appropriate music in the gloaming. It has, of course, long been haunted and has its secret chamber where the notorious high vayman Nevison was wont to baffle his pursuers. The fence still stands which surrounded the enclosure where gallant squires and dames of high degree were once wont to partake of such pleasures as bull and badger-baiting afforded to the country gentry of a rough and stormy day. By a foot-path through the fields, which passes by the Hall and crosses the Went, let us go on to Hessle Green. But one other haunt vies with this Common in the affections of old scholars. How full of memories are its brook and its marsh, its bushy hillocks and its tangled ravines ! How it used to delight us to dam up its stream and to weave its rushes into coronals and ornament them with forget-me-nots and wild roses ! How we stormed the wasps' nests on the sandy hillock and counted with pride our stings — how we sought to track the mole in his burrow — how we got sloughed up to the knees in the boggy ground whilst we fought each other with rag-wort, bracken and fox-glove stems — how we chased the great dragon-flies and devoured the luscious blackberries — all can tell. But chief amongst the de- lights of this happy holiday resort, most will remember the wild hue-and-cry which arose when a veritable rabbit showed its tail; and the joyous race, amongst the bushes, of extemporized hounds 2o5 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL after extemporized hares. With -what exultant glee we bounded over the greensward, dashed through the brackens, tore through the bushes— none can tell who have not been compelled to take their pleasures, for twenty-nine days every month, exclusively upon gravel and pebbles. Hessle Green had its accessories, too, and of these perhaps none surpassed, in its quiet rural attractions, the foot-path through the fields leading to the front of Nostel Priory. No lover of country scenes will forget that pathway by the babbling brook whose rounded grassy banks, over-shadowed by great wych-elms, seemed made for sunny days and the pages of an old poet. The old dis-used bridle road, into which the path runs, still, as of yore, has, in spring-time, primroses of the finest and, in autumn, blackberries of the sweetest. But, not to tarry here, let us leave Hessle Green by the road debouching upon its south-west corner and proceed to that other haunt dear to the memory of every old scholar— Bracken Hill. We say old scholar advisedly, for we have recently stood on that site of so much former pleasure and found questionable indications there. The brackens yet flourish, the blackberry still flowers there, the furze bushes wear their prickly mail as in days gone by. Even the hare-bell still grows upon its bosky knolls. But the spirit of rural quiet, once so pervasive, has fled for ever. The unceasing clank and clatter of quarrying machinery have invaded the neighbourhood ; ugly furnace-shafts pour out their deluges of black smoke upon a place whose atmosphere was once perfumed by the sweet-briar and the meadow-sweet. The grand mounds, where the "French and English" of an earlier and more warlike day contended for possession, bear no longer, like many another once sanguinary field, the marks of masterful strife. The wild rose and blackberry bush have taken undisputed possession of the hillocks ; and the greensward, in the hollow below, where defeated "forlorn hopes'' were wont to fling them- selves down for a repose only a little less delicious than victory, has been carved away by some vandal gardener. As if to remove HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 307 every vestige of poetry from the scene, the Parish Authorities have constructed on the spot a perfidious looking trap of split- rails intended to guide stray beasts into the adjacent pinfold. We passed by the tenement where, less than a century ago, the reputed witch once had her abode. Roses now bloom round the cottage door, trim muslin curtains garnish the windows, and one would scarcely be surprised to find against the pane a neat little card with the legend " Appartements k Louer.'' Yet, in spite of the smoke and noise of a prosperous industry and all that follows in their train, Bracken Hill still holds up the mirror pleasantly to the memory of past days. Returnmg towards the school by Ackworth Moore Top, the old scholar will still find the " Boot and Shoe " standing, and will recollect it as the hostelry where the last of the old coaches of the district stopped to convey them the first stages of their journey home. The hamlet, near, is sadly disfigured by the extension of its quarrying interests and retains few attractions ; but, as we descend the hill leading to the main village, we come upon what is usually considered the best view of the School buildings. Great as are the changes which have taken place durmg the last thirty years, their well-known features, as seen from this road, have been so little altered that, could the foundling of twelve decades ago look down upon them, he would scarcely discover the changes which have been made since his time. He might, possibly, observe the increased elevation of the two wings ; he would, un- doubtedly, see the once elegant colonnades, charged with piles of masonry they were never intended to carry, looking crushed and squat under their load, and he might question whether the tas.te of an age were much in advance of his own which could permit such dissimilarity in the roofs of these new supermcumbent buildings, in an edifice built in a style in which well-balanced regularity is an essential to beauty. All else in the fagade he would find exactly like the picture in his memory. The " Great X z 3o8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Garden "—so fertile in memories of toil and reward, so fruitful in varied produce, yielding in good years, as in 1864, amongst much, other fruit, 500 bushels of apples and pears and 300 quarts of stone fruit,— makes its best general display from this road. We will not stay to speak of its well-remembered summer nooks, but turning down Low Ackworth, whose sumptuous growth of roses and sheaves of white lilies are so notable, will take our way along the Darrington-road towards East Hardwick — a place of secondary interest to Hessle or Bracken Hill, but one which many will remember with pleasure on account of the picturesque features of the little village. Seen for the first time from the crown of the hill over which our way lies. East Hardwick presents a singularly continental aspect— looks, indeed, very much as if it had been imported from the heart of rural Germany. Although, in childhood, buildings do not usually attract our very close observation, unless their features are of a peculiar or striking type, we think few will be unable to recall to memory the picture of the huge old manor house, dwarfing the village — its extensive red tiled granaries —its length of lofty and substantial garden-wall — its mullioned windows, each of six equal lights — and, more beautiful than all and the pride of the place, its fine old gateway. In close proximity to, and in strange contrast with, this severely handsome old residence now fast falling to decay, stands a spick-and-span new church, hideous with cheap, purple Welsh slate.. Happily its lantern-spire gives character to the general mass of the village as seen from a distance, although everything modern mars the sense of the fitness of things amidst the irregularities and picturesque decay of the old village. Close by, stands the handsome old EngUsh home — Houndhill Hall — set, amongst its cedars and ancestral oaks. A mile distant, is the pretty village of Carlton, whose attractive situation under the shelter of a pleasant wooded ridge of land has led to a great extension, in recent years, of elegant and comfortable homes. Old scholars would here find themselves almost lost amongst changes they would, nevertheless, admire. Our school-walks in HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 309 this direction used to bring us tantalisingly near to the crumbling towers of Pomfret Castle, but our columns were, usually, suddenly wheeled to the left' on reaching the Ackworth and Pontefract Road. Let us now stroll down through the meadows and corn-lands which border the River Went, by the path which saunters along by the pleasant little stream, wherein the water-hen and the beautiful little water-rat still delight to disport themselves. This quiet path leads us_ to Went-bridge and its once comfortable hostelry on the "Great North Road "—one of those houses of entertainment where men, hurrying by stage-coach between London and York, could really take their well-earned " ease at their Inn"; where every arrangement was made for making the traveller at home ; where the well-bred host carved for his guests at the head of his own table ; where huge fires were always blazing in chilly weather ; and where all the discomfort which the traveller experienced in inclement or stormy seasons was temporarily cancelled and forgotten amidst the cheer and entertainment of an institution second, perhaps, to none of its day. The sylvan charms of Went Vale, close at hand, were, in bygone days at least, reser^'ed for a select class of excursionists — the few companions of the walks of some teacher or visitor or, at the most, for the members of the " Association." To such, a visit to this secluded valley counted amongst the red-letter day occurrences of a boyhood. From the pretty hamlet of Went- bridge a stout walker, passing through the village of Badsworth, with its fine old church and its handsomely-planted churchyard, may reach, about a mile beyond this village, the Beacon at Upton — a common object of our school walks. From its old tower, on its commanding eminence, the Ackworth scholar took his most extensive view of the great world beyond his own microcosm. A fine view, too, and one that helped us to draw a 310 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL longer and freer breath, a keener relish of the world of Nature than the habitual dweller in the valley can know. How we strained our eyes, too, to see, from its crumbhng battlements, the towers of York Minster ; but how much more anxiously still did we gaze, each one in the direction in which he supposed his own home to lie ! This was one of the many special influences of this naked old tower. It had power to fill the least sensitive with some tender feeling — to touch the most phlegmatic with a momentary glow of kindly sentiment. It brought us nearer to our own homes than any other place within the range of our walks and, to the minds of children who were debarred for years together from a nearer approach, this was no despicable attribute. An interesting cross-country road takes us from Upton to the reedy mere at Hemsworth, dear to the memory of all water- dabblers — a numerous race amongst school-boys of all time. Its grand old mill-wheel was once an object of admiration and wonder to our schoolfellows, amongst whom it was a current belief that that of Laxey, only, surpassed it in diameter. In more recent times, this little lake has acquired a still dearer celebrity as the best skating ground in the district ; and future generations will, pro- bably, on this ground, regard it with affection surpassing that which other generations have felt for its wooded shores and sedgy marge. The modern visitor to Hemsworth has another advantage over the older pedestrian. He may, by stepping into the rail- way carriage, include in his excursion, without taxing his walking powers, a visit to Nostel Priory. This handsome family resi- dence of the Winns, containing a gallery of Flemish paintings, stands in an extensive and beautifully-wooded Park and looks down upon a fine ornamental piece of water of about 70 acres in extent, across one portion of which the Wakefield and Doncaster Road is bridged and affords the traveller an excellent HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 3II view of the mansion and its attractive surroundings. The old Austin Priory has long since mouldered away, but an interesting little private church in the Park is worth a visit. Returning through the village of Wragby, we may take an early turn to the left and from a cross-country road which displays, between the masses of trees in the Park, a fine view of the north-east fagade of the Priory, we may either turn into the bridle-road leading to Hessle or may reach the School by turning to the right on reaching the Purston and Featherstone Road. Having now recalled most of the old local names familiar to generations which had to content themselves with a dozen walks in the year, we take leave of the subject without attempting to particularise the numerous quiet haunts familiar to the more favoured race which now possesses so much wider scope for rural research. To it, this list of popular haunts may seem meagre indeed, but, sympathising with its predecessors in their stinted range of country pleasures and not despising "the tender grace of a day that is dead," it may have some pleasure in reflecting that a brighter day has dawned upon its own times, wherein the facilities for simple and salutary intercourse with Nature are on a more liberal scale. CHAPTER XVII. SOME CELEBRITIES. From an institution which has educated nearly 10,000 children, either partially or exclusively, it is often reasonably asked what remarkable men or women it has sent forth. The question would be very inappropriately answered were another not previously discussed which should settle, in some measure, the nature of the preparation for public life which the education of Ackworth School has afforded to its inmates. It is clear that it would be unreasonable to expect from children trained more especially, by the plain character of their education, for the plainer walks of life, that they should, in large numbers, take possession of spheres of a much higher order. Genius will, undoubtedly, often assert itself in spite of every disadvantage, but schools cannot confer genius and should only be asked for such fruits as, from their nature, they may be expected to yield. Hitherto, Ackworth School has possessed no facilities for placing its pupils on the high road to distin- guished positions. It has never pretended to do much more than give a sound rudimentary English education to children whose school-life was supposed to terminate at the age of fourteen or fifteen years. That has ever been its mission and it may, perhaps, unflatteringly be said that it has largely fulfilled the demand made upon it up to the present time. Then, although a large majority of the families which have supplied its scholars may, perhaps, have occupied tolerably comfortable positions in life, they have rarely been sufficiently HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 313 wealthy to confer upon their children opportunities for carrying forward their studies to a point where, in finer minds, the ambition of literary distinction sets in, or for placing them in positions of life whose surroundings nurture the cultivation of bold aims or aspirations towards eminence in the -higher ranges of public life. For such usefulness as this School has been calculated to furnish, we must look to the middle walks of life. We shall then probably discover that its scholars have exerted an influence out of all proportion to the smallness of their number. In the exercise of benevolence and philanthropy, in the advancement of liberal opinion, in the championship of the rights of a common manhood, in the advocacy of temperance and justice ; by their generous pecuniary support of all things useful to their fellow- men, by their example of independence of thought and action — we shall find them, for great part of a century, exerting a moral force upon society at large of no ordinary kind. They have, undoubtedly, been a power in the State. Whilst, individually, few of them may have secured brilliant names, they have in the aggregate borne a distinguished place amongst the agencies that have moulded opinion, enforced the claims of justice, amelio- rated the condition of fallen humanity and promoted upright- ness and virtue. Many of them have had scruples which did not permit them to accept the office of the chief magistracy of their towns ; but, as aldermen and councillors, they have been widely useful in maintaining purity of municipal administration and in promoting movements for the improvement of the sanitary condition of our towns and the elevation of the moral welfare of the humbler classes. A glance at the index prefixed to the " List of Ackworth Scholars," published this year by the Centenary Committee, 314 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL will reveal a galaxy of noble family-names to which many of their bearers have done abundant honour in the manner above referred to. It would not be difficult to associate some old scholars with relatives more distinguished than themselves ; as in the case of Paul Naftel, of Guernsey, father of the celebrated artist, Paul J. Naftel, who attributes his adoption of the profession to his " father's great liking for Art and Artists " and who mentions* his father's early love of drawing while at Ackworth (1804-1808) but also his "difficulty in procuring drawing materials" whilst there. When referring to this artist, it may not be out of place to mention the names of two old Ackworth scholars who have adopted Art as a profession with eminent success — William Barnes Boadle and Richard Redfern — both of whom have been represented in recent exhibitions of the Royal Academy — the former in the department of Figure, the latter in that of Landscape. Of men more or less distinguished in the field of Science, several names might be mentioned — among which would appear that of William Allen Miller, author of " The Elements of Chemistry, Theoretical and Practical," in three volumes — on its appearance considered to be the most comprehensive and valuable work on the general subject in our language — those of George Stewartson Brady, M. D., F.L.S., Professor of Natural History in the College of Physical Science, Newcastle, and his brother, Henry Bowman Brady, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., both of whom have gained honourable membership in several learned societies both at home and abroad — and that of John Gilbert Baker, who has earned a wide celebrity in the Botanical world. * In a letter to Joseph S. Hodgson, of Manchester. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 315 In the fields of philanthropy the ladies have not been behind their brethren, but it has not been the fashion amongst them to seek literary or scientific distinction. In the pursuit of a noble purpose —that of elevating the tone of her fellow-countrywomen — one of them has indeed gained considerable celebrity by her pen. Mrs. Ellis — known to her school-fellows, about 1814- 1816, as Sarah Stickney — becoming impressed in early life with a keen desire to see the state of education among her own sex improved and the training of girls for after life raised by nobler aims than she thought prevalent, resolved to aid, through the press, the development of the floating aspirations, nascent among some ranks of society, towards a higher life amongst the women of our country. Her first efforts were embodied in her " Pictures of Private Life " — a series of wholesome stories intended, probably, to replace some of the objectionable fiction then in vogue amongst young ladies, without taxing too severely their powers of self-sacrifice in the reading tastes already formed, but supplying lessons in life of great practical value compared with much that was presented in the mass of the current literature. She speedily rose to higher flights, however, and it would probably be difficult to over-estimate the influence exercised over our countrywomen of forty years ago by her " Women of England " and its sequels — " The Daughters," "The Wives" and "The Mothers of England." Her "Sons of the Soil " also obtained a very wide popularity as did also, in a somewhat less degree, her " Education of Character." Mrs. Ellis is the authoress of several other well-known works, all of which are inspired by the same noble desire to serve her generation by attracting it to a useful and lovable life. She was married in 1837 to the Rev. William EUis — the well-known missionary and the author of " Polynesian Researches," " The History of Madagascar," &c. About the time that Sarah Stickney was leaving Ackworth, a little Scotch bo}-, of about eleven years of age, was entering 3l6 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the School, who was destined, as the Right Honorable James Wilson, to become one of the most distinguished financiers of his time. He was born at Hawick in 1805 and passed three years of his boyhood at Ackworth School where he already displayed an unusual passion for figures. He passed for an orderly, " good boy " amongst his school-fellows, having been very favourably impressed by the influence of Joseph John Gurney's efforts to interest the children in the study of the Scriptures. His ambition, on leaving School, was bounded by the desire to become either a school-master or a farmer. For the purpose of training in the former capacity he spent six months in the Friends' School at Earl's Colne in Essex, but, not finding the profession of teacher so agreeable as he had anticipated, he joined his brother William who was just establishing himself in business as a hatter in his native town of Hawick. In 1823, when only about eighteen years of age, he joined his brother and a young man named Irwin, of Carlisle, in partnership in the hatter's business in London. The firm was successful but, in 1837, by a speculation in indigo which turned out dis- astrously, James Wilson's losses were so serious as to necessi- tate an arrangement with his creditors. We mention this circumstance simply to shew the sense of honour which ruled his life. Having been able to hand over to his creditors securities which they considered of ample value, he was released from all further obligations. Several years afterwards, he discovered that these securities had proved deceptive, and that his creditors had been considerable losers. Unsolicited, he at once advanced every penny of the deficiency. In the home at Hawick, the family circle, whilst many of its members were very young, had taken deep interest in all great questions aff"ecting the public welfare— notably in those of Parliamentary Reform and the pressing need for a change in HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 317 the Corn Laws — -and, when the two brothers were settled in London, the links of interest in such questions were closely maintained between the various members of the family. James Wilson had very early manifested a literary turn of mind and about 1835 or 6, he began to write the leading money articles for the " Morning Chronicle." When, in 1838, the Anti-Corn Law Association of Manchester was formed, few men proved more ready or more able to adopt the advocacy of its aims than Mr. Wilson. The following year he published an effective pamphlet entitled " Influences of the Corn Laws as affecting all classes, especially the Landed Interests"; and, soon after the organisation of the Anti-Corn Law League, he again struck a heavy blow at protection in his " Fluctuations of Currency, Commerce and Manufactures, referable to the Corn Laws." When, in 1841, the Chancellor of the Exchequer found himself entangled in the meshes of a deficit of over two millions, Mr. Wilson, in preparing his usual article for the " Morning Chronicle," in which he assailed the principle in- volved in the proposals for meeting it, found the argument expand into the dimensions of a pamphlet which he published ■under the title of " What should the Chancellor do ?," in which he advocated, instead of further taxation, the remedy of Free Trade. As a first step towards the repeal of the Corn Laws, he proposed a uniform duty of eight shillings on imported corn, and this suggestion was adopted by Lord John Russell in the Corn Law Bill' he introduced that year but which was thrown out. Mr. Wilson had now resolved to devote his life to political economy, and, as the vehicle of his views, started the "Economist" in 1843, editing the paper himself for many years. This paper estabHshed him as one of the highest 3l8 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL authorities in political finance in the kingdom and paved his way to a seat in Parliament, to which he was elected, as member for Westbury, in 1847. His career now became rapid. The House at once recognised in him one of the most promising of its rising statesmen. He became one of the Secretaries to the Board of Control soon after entering Parliament and retained the office until the resignation of the Russell Mmistry. On the Liberals again taking office, Mr. Wilson became Financial Secretary to the Treasury. " During his tenure of this difficult office," writes Mr. Walter Bagehot* " he acquired, amongst the best judges and closest observers, a permanent reputation as one of the best administrators of the day." He held the post for five years. When the next Liberal Mmistry came to power, its energies were taxed to the uttermost by the desperate state of the Financial affairs ot India. The tangle into which all de- partments in that unhappy country had drifted, during and since the mutiny of 1857, was such that the Government at home felt that a crisis of the gravest character was pendent. Every day the difficulty and perplexity grew in magnitude. On coming to power, the Ministry had appointed Mr. Wilson Vice-President of the Board of Trade and, in the sumrner of the same year, 1859, Financial Member of the Council of India. All parties in the House looked upon him as the man most likely to cope with the disorganized finances of our great dependency and, on the 20th of October he sailed for India. He appears to have worked hard all the voyage and, on his arrrival at Calcutta, altogether forgetful of himself, he laboured assiduously as in the old days at the Treasury at home. " The gigantic difficulties," as he himself styles them, which he found himself called upon to encounter, exceeded his expectations; Encyclopaedia Britannica. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 319 but the generous and hearty assistance and co-operation he met with from his colleagues in council, from the heads of depart- ments, members of the civil service, leading commercial gentle- men. Native and European, supported by his fever for work, rapidly enabled him to gain a complete mastery of the situation. For the purpose of placing himself en 7-apport with native feel- ing and acquiring a personal knowledge of the country and people for whom he was called to legislate, he made a long journey from Calcutta to Lahore, visiting " every town and city over that extensive tract." In spite of this arduous journey, he was able, within little more than two months from landing, to present his Financial Statement to the Legislative Council in Calcutta, on the i8th of Second Month, i860. Rapidly glancing, in this statement, at the condition of the population of India as he found it by personal contact and from competently informed authorities, he declares that, " by the power of our arms and the courage of our civil administration, a well-founded feeling of greater security pervades India than at any former time, yet," he adds, " it is unfortunately no secret that an evil of the greatest magnitude is corroding the very heart of our political existence." " That financial disorder which so notoriously prevailed " displayed a deficiency of up- wards of nine millions and a quarter sterhng of income as against expenditure of the current year and, in the last three years, an aggregate deficiency of thirty millions and a half sterling. Dur- ing those three years, also, the debt of India had increased from fifty-nine and a half millions to nearly ninety-eight millions, implying an annual charge of four millions and a half. This " predicament " was further aggravated by the inconsistencies in the accounts arising out of the difficulties of "the tragic events of the last three years." Confronted by this gigantic deficit, Mr. Wilson first turned his attention to the consideration of the economy which might 320 HISTORY OK ACKWORTH SCHOOL be exercised in the administration. He was the last of men to entertain any scheme forsaving moneyat the expense of efficiency. The civil administration he considered to be workmg at the lowest figure possible. But the military expenditure he believed might be considerably reduced by " a better distribution of the forces," "by reducing the Army Finance to order," by the exercise of " control in the commissariat and military expenditure" and by transferring many duties then performed by soldiery to a weH-organised police force. But the utmost that could be saved in this and other departments was comparatively little. The revenue had, hitherto, been derived largely from the land-tax and the duty on opium, neither of which resources was very elastic. Mr. Wilson was conscious that additional taxation in some form could alone meet the difficulty. He appears to have considered the feelings and interests of the native community very tenderly when preparing this unpalatable part of his scheme. He even consulted " the ancient sacred authority of Menu and the version of the ancient Hindoo Law " that he might not un- necessarily or unwittingly tread upon native prejudice or religious scruples. Considering it of the greatest importance that the industry of the people should be encouraged in every possible way, he proposed to remit taxation where it threatened to inter- fere with the development of the resources of the country, and freed wool, hide, hemp, flax, jute and tea from all export duty. Indeed his general policy was to relieve exports, whilst more freely taxing imports. It was Mr. Wilson's belief that the populations of India were in an increasingly prosperous state. He found that, within a few years, wages had greatly increased in some districts — being in some two, in others three-fold what they were — and he resolved to suggest an Income Tax, " universal and equal in its applica- tion to all alike within a certain limit of income." In order to avoid unnecessary and obnoxious enquiry into the incomes of the .lower classes, he proposed that the income tax should, in HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 321 their case, take the form of a trade-license, by means of which artizans should be made to pay a Rupee (two shillings) per annum, retail shopkeepers, &c. four Rupees, small traders, bankers, manufacturers, &c. ten Rupees. All incomes above 200 Rupees and under 500 were to be subjected to an income-tax proper of two per cent, whilst incomes of 500 Rupees and over were to pay three per cent, to the public treasury and one per cent, to a fund for local purposes. This arrangement was adopted by the Government, for the whole Empire. A fortnight after presenting his Budget, Mr. Wilson delivered an elaborately prepared address in the Legislative Council in advocacy of a paper currency for India. He displayed a perfect passion for public work. Every de- partment of the Government machinery he studied with an energy he could not have exceeded had each one been his own special branch. Speaking of the enormous difficulties involved in his work, he says, in a letter to Mr. Bagehot of Seventh Month 19th, i860 — " The English Treasury is nothing to it for complexity, diversity and re- moteness of the points of action. Our great enemies are Time and Distance : — and with all our Frontier Territories there is scarcely a day passes that we have not an account of some new war or inroad. It is a most unwieldy Empire to be governed on the principle of forcing civilization at every point of it." After referring to numerous petty difficulties on the frontiers of Scinde and in Cabul, raids in the Punjab, misunderstandings with Nepal, inroads from savage tribes behind Assam, &c., &c., he continues : — "Besides all this, we have a thousand questions of internal administra- tion rendered more difficult by the ill-defined relations between the Supreme and the Subordinate Governments* — the latter always striving to encroach, * The Government of Calcutta and the two subordinate presidencies. 32 2 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL the former to hold its own. Hence, questions do not come to us simply on their merits but often as involving these doubtful rights. Then we have defective Courts of Justice to reform as well as all other institutions of a domestic kind — not to reform alone but to extend to new Territories * * *****! have now got a Military Finance Commission in full swing : a Civil Finance Commission also going : I am re-organizing the Finance Pay and Accountant General department, in order to get all the advantages of the English system of Estimates, Pay Office and Audit : — and these with as little disturbance of existing plans as possible. The latter is a point I have specially aimed at. On the whole and almost without an exception, I have wilUng allies in all the existing offices. No attempt that I see is anywhere made to thwart or impede. "You can well understand how full my hands are ; if, to all these, you add the New Currency arrangements, you will not then wonder that my health has rendered it necessary to come down here (Barrakpore) to get some fresh air." Alas ! It was all too late for fresh air. He had worked like a giant and too much despised the premonitory indications of the approach of illness. On the evening of the 2nd of Eighth Month he was taken seriously ill and rapidly grew weaker. Four days afterwards he insisted upon the doctors telling him the worst, saying that " suspense was worse than the worst they could tell him.'' On learning that he was in great danger, his son-in-law— William Stirling Halsey, who, although himself ill, faithfully attended him to the last — says that Mr. Wilson " prepared himself for death with as much decision and calm- ness as he had shown in every act of his life." He had long been urged to leave and get to sea and, even now. Lord Canning offered to delay the sailing of the steamer with the mails for some days if the doctors could say there was a chance of his going by it, but this they could not do. The disorder- dysentery— rapidly sped its course and he died on the nth of Eighth Month, i860. His death was felt to be a public calamity of the greatest magnitude and, says Mr. Bagehot in the article previously HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 323 referred to, "the regret felt at Calcutta was, perhaps, unex- ampled. The higher classes, without exception, and almost the whole population attended his funeral and, when the news of his death arrived in England, it was felt there, also, that in such a crisis, at such a post, the loss of such a man was hardly to be replaced." Amongst Indian Financiers the name of the Right Honorable James Wilson will last for generations and, not less honorable to him than his administrative ability, will so long shine his unswerving consideration for the welfare of the native com- munity. The influence of Ackworth School was probably much greater upon the character and career of the Right Hon. James Wilson than upon those of another great statesman whom all Ackworth scholars are proud to number amongst themselves. John Bright was at the school only a single year and it may be questioned if his after-life havp borne much, if any, impress of that brief sojourn there, but probably few sections of English- men have followed his career with more profound sympathy than Ackworth scholars. Having .assisted in making much important political history, we trust he may long live to make more. We shall, appropriately we think, limit our observations on his career to a few important data. Born at Greenbank, Rochdale, at the close of 1811, John Bright went to Ackworth School in 1822 and was placed, at an early age, in his father's business, which was that of a carpet manufacturer. His public life may be said to have commenced with the Corn Law agitation; and when that movement took definite national form by the inauguration of the Anti-Corn Law League in 1839, he threw the force of his ardent nature into the work. In association with Richard Cobden and others, he took an active part in the country campaign then commenced 324 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL for the promulgation of Free-Trade doctrines ; and when, in 1843, the League resolved to storm the Metropolis, for which purpose Drury Lane and, afterwards, Covent Garden Theatres were engaged, his eloquent and earnest advocacy created an extraordinary enthusiasm in the vast concourses which gathered there. Opposition of the most violent and, sometimes, most unscrupulous character beset the apostles of Free Trade in corn, but its advocates proved equal to every demand upon their resources. " Cobden and Bright were ubiquitous, holding meetings and carrying all before them wherever they went"* In 1843 John Bright was elected Member of Parliament for Durham amidst great excitement and opposition. His early Parliamentary career was marked, not only by his able advocacy of the cause which led him to adopt it, but by a vigorous onslaught upon the Game Laws and by an active interest in our commercial relations with India. At the general election of 1847 John Bright was returned for Manchester. After the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, he turned his attention to Financial Reform generally, but especially to that of the Army and Navy. The part John Bright took in connection with the Crimean War so offended the military interests and the martial senti- ments of the time that his popularity amongst his constituents was for a time sufficiently undermined to lead to his rejection by Manchester in the election of 1857, though the loss of his seat there was quickly more than compensated for by the unopposed election of him to one for Birmingham, which he has ever since retained. In the agitation for Parliamentary Reform which took definite shape in 1858, John Bright became the leader and life of the movement ; and so bold and decided became the voice of the country, through his agency largely, that both parties in the House were alike convinced that they * Molesworth. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 325 could no longer neglect the demand for a large extension of the franchise. When, at the close of 1868, the D'Israeli ministry collapsed and Mr. Gladstone was sent for to form a new administration, John Bright became President of the Board of Trade. It would be beyond the limits within which we desire to confine ourselves, to dwell upon the influence or the quality of the gift of oratory by which John Bright has, for forty years, been wont to stir the blood of his fellow-countrymen, to vitalise their intelligence and to energise their convictions ; but, as we write these notes, the AthencBum's review of his latest volume of Speeches, edited by J. E. Thorold Rogers, comes to hand and we are tempted to quote the opening lines of it : — "The speeches of Mr. Bright have a. greater literary value than those of any other orator of our time. They are finished in all their parts, resembling in this the masterpieces of Greece and Rome. So good are they as pieces of composition, that they may almost be called studies in oratory. Such an appellation, however, would misrepresent their intent and their effect. They are emphatically practical, and fitted to persuade or convince an audience to sanction and support a given policy. The earnestness ■ of the orator is, in this case, the characteristic of liis eloquence."* In the year 1802, Jeremiah Holmes Wiffen, then a little boy of ten years, entered the school, where he remained until 1806. He first saw the light under the shadow of the noble home of the Dukes of Bedford — Woburn Abbey — once an old Cistercian house, then the abode of the noble family which was to exert a powerful influence over the life of the child born to John and Elizabeth Wiffen on the 13th of Twelfth Month, 1792. He was a great favourite with his school-fellows from his capacity for the invention of moving stories, with which he enthralled his bedroom companions, and from his skill in *Athenceum, July 26th, 1879. 326 HISTOR.Y OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL repeating old ballads. By the masters he was equally esteemed. He was an admirable penman and one of the best mathema- ticians in the school. Living long before the days of Associa- tions for Essay Writing or Societies of Art, we do not hear of much literary or artistic work performed whilst at school ; yet we know that he might then have been eminent in both, for, apart from the more prominent work of his life, he found time to perfect himself in wood-engraving sufficiently to prepare a series of blocks for the illustration of an edition of yEsop's Fables, published at Leeds. On leaving Ackworth in 1806, he was apprenticed to Isaac Payne — school-master of Epping — for four years. Of studious habits and devoted to his adopted profession, he was at that early age obliged to cultivate his own pursuits by the midnight lamp, as his school engagements absorbed the whole day to a late hour. The habit thus laid continued with him through much of his life. We have heard the son of an old friend of his say that he not infrequently spent two, sometimes three whole nights in the *eek upon his literary work when busy with his translations for publication. In 1819, he settled in his native village of Woburn as a school- master and the same year published his "Aonian Hours and other Poems." He had, as early as 181 2, appeared in print as the author of a " Geographical Primer" and, a few years after that, had written for Parry's History of Woburn some " spirited stanzas " on the Russell portraits in the Abbey. These verses are said to have attracted the notice of the Duke; and, the " Aonian Hours " having still further favourably impressed him with regard to the author's taste and culture, he offered him the post of Librarian and Private Secretary in 1821, which appoint- ment Wiffen retained until his death. It would have been difficult to find an occupation more entirely in accord with his tastes; and, as the Duke was usually from home for seven HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 327 months of the year, during which Wififen always remained at the Abbey, his leisure for study'and literary pursuits was large. In the company of a superb library of books, surrounded by a magnificent collection of Vandykes and one little less remark- able of the works of Canaletti and other artists, with a sculpture gallery at his command enriched by the celebrated Lanti vase and the great Ephesian sarcophagus embellished with Homeric story, Jeremiah Wiffen settled down to the luxurious but busy life of a literary recluse. In 1820 he published his "Julia Apinula, the Captive of Stamboul, and other Poems ;" and during the next ten years continued, from time to time, to throw off", in periodicals, various original poems, the one now best known, perhaps, being " The Luck of Eden Hall," in the old ballad style. In 1833 he produced his " Historical Memoirs of the House of Russell," in three volumes — a work of great value as a faithful and vivid picture of the fortunes of a great House which has often in- fluenced the welfare of the country. But Wiffen's greatest literary labours were in the field of translation, in which, until recent years, he has had few equals. His rendering of the verse of Garcilaso de la Vega is considered by eminent judges as very masterly. In his translation of Sismondi's Literature of Southern Europe, Mr. Roscoe, a fastidious critic, refers to " Mr. Wiffen's very elegant and spirited translation of the works of Garcilaso,'' and mentions the " able Essay on Spanish poetry " prefixed to it. This translation of the great Spanish poet appeared in 1822; and, in 1830, Wiffen published his translation of Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered." The latterworkquicklypassed through three editions and, whilst not competing with the quaint vigourof Fairfax's translation, retains the first place in our language as a popular and readable presentment of the great Italian. Jeremiah Wiffen's knowledge of languages was more than usually extensive. Besides his scholarly acquaintance with 328 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Italian and Spanish, he was a great student of Greek, Latin and Hebrew, and was familiar with French and Welsh. From the last-mentioned he produced many admired translations. He died suddenly at the Abbey on the 2nd of Fifth Month, 1856, remaining to the last a staunch Friend. He was a Member of the Royal Society of Literature, of the Royal Academy of Madrid, and of the Society of Antiquaries of Normandy. Although much less extensively known than his brother, Benjamin B. Wiffen, also an Ackworth Scholar, has acquired a celebrity among the learned of every country by his literary labours among the Works of the Old Spanish Reformers, in whom he first became interested whilst visiting Spain, in company with Geo. Wm. Alexander, in 1839, and again in 1843, for the purpose of promoting the abolition of Spanish Slavery. Benjamin Wiffen also cultivated the Muses and, although he destroyed all his earlier work, he has left behind him poems giving evidence of a gift kindred to that of his brother. He was at Ackworth from 1803 to 1808. Contemporary at Ackworth with the brothers Wiffen, was one destined to speak to a far larger public in a much more popular literature. William Howitt was born at Heanor, in Derby- shire, in an old ancestral home, happily made familiar to the youth of two generations in that happiest piece of all juvenile literature — " The Boys' Country Book." His birth took place on the i8th of Twelfth Month, 1792. He entered Ackworth School in 1802 and remained there about four years. If his literary career did not commence at Ackworth, it was not from any deficiency in his imaginative activity. Like the elder Wiffen, he delighted his school-fellows by the recitation of charming stories coined in the mint of his own brain ; and he had barely left school when, in 1808, he began to pubhsh his HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 329 own verses. His literary bent was emphasised, if not determined, by his marriage, in his twenty-eighth year to Miss Botham, of Uttoxeter — the lady who, as Mary Howitt, has since become equally well-known with her husband in the world of literature. There is something very charming in the double yet united literary career of these two writers. With all the wide variety of independent minds, we yet speak of them as if they were one inseparable essence. The works of William and Mary Howitt are linked by a sympathetic bond of lofty aspiration for the weal of the public which they addressed and by a common appreciation of the beauty of simplicity which render them as much of one spirit as joint authorship could do. Their first work was, indeed, probably intended to announce to the world that they were about to tread one literary, as one conjugal path. In the "Forest Minstrel" they pubHshed, in 1823, a mixed collection of their own verses and, in the following years, they were much associated together in providing popular articles for the Annuals — a type of periodical which had a fashionable run at that time and towards the success of which their works materially contributed. They also wrote extensively for some of the Magazines of the day and, through this medium, became powerful agents in spreading a taste for pure and wholesome reading. In after life, William Howitt associated himself more decidedly in the management and ownership of periodicals of this class — in 1846 with the "People's Journal" and, in the following year, with " Howitt's Journal " — but these works were, unhappily, not successful as business enterprises. William Howitt's first important work of any magnitude was the " Book of the Seasons," for which, although it had ulti- mately a marked success and became very popular, the author had a singularly arduous search for a publisher. The " Athenseum " avers that so many had refused it that Wm. Howitt resolved, if " Colburn and Bentley also rejected it, to tie a stone round the manuscript and fling it over London 330 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL Bridge.'' This work was produced in 1831 and was followed, thfee years afterwards, by a work which produced some hostile commentators — " The History of Priestcraft in all Ages." About 1837, he removed from Nottingham to Esher, where he wrote several important works — the chief being a romance entitled " Pantika," " Rural Life in England" and " Visits to Remarkable Places and Scenes illustrative of striking passages in English History and Poetry." His next three important works were inspired by a residence in Germany, in which country he settled for a while for the purpose of affording to his children facilities for learning the language and otherwise advancing their special culture. " The Student Life of Germany" appeared in 1841 ; the year following, ''The Rural and Domestic Life of Germany;" and, in 1844, his "German Experiences." But perhaps nothing came from his pen for many years which so much attracted and charmed a large public as his next work — " Homes and Haunts of the British Poets" — published in 1847. His tender love for all poets and his passion for haunts made sacred to sentiment by the foot-prints of the great Dead gave him- peculiar aptitude for success in such a theme, upon which he entered con amore. The work will probably long out-live the two which succeeded it — " The Hall and the Hamlet" and "Madame Donnington." The former had we believe a considerable temporary popularity, but we imagine that Wm. Howitt's most enthusiastic admirers do not consider him a great novelist. During the residence in Germany, Mary Howitt had become deeply interested in the works of Frederika Bremer, all of whose novels she afterwards translated. Her love for the literature of Northern Europe widening, she and her husband united their efforts in the production of " The History of the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 33 1 Literature of Scandinavia" — a work described as " unques- tionably the only complete account of that interesting literature in any language."* Immediately after the issue of this important work in 1852, William Howitt sailed for the Australian Colonies. The outcome of that journey was a series of valuable and exceedingly interest- ing works on Colonial life, then assuming a feverish activity from recent discoveries of gold. The most permanently useful of these works was probably his "History of Discovery in Australia," but "Land, Labour and Gold" was, on its publication, read with great avidity by all classes. Several other works had their origin in the experiences of his Colonial travels, among which was his " Letters on Transportation." But of all his voluminous work, that which has probably done the greatest service to the world and the one in which he himself felt the deepest interest is the " Illustrated History of England," published by Messrs. Cassell in nine large volumes, the chief part of which is from Wm. Howitt's pen. The marked feature of this history is the entire absence of the glorification of ambition, the idolisation of unscrupulous heroism and the laudation of that ^selfish spirit which would sacrifice Christian principle to national aggrandisement. As the "Standard" newspaper observed of it, " it is not what Green the historian calls 'a drum and trumpet history ' but a history of the people written by one of themselves." The work has passed through eight editions, the first of which was one of a hundred thousand copies. Retaining throughout life an ardent attachment to the general principles of the Society in which he was born, it was to Wm. Howitt one of the great satisfactions of his last days to reflect that he had had the privilege of so widely presenting to the British Public, in this History, views of the great events of their country written in a spirit of sober christian responsibility in 332 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL harmony with principles which he had drunk in with boyhood and in the truth of which old age had confirmed him. That his interest in Friends did not abate with years may be supposed from the fact that the last work upon which he was engaged and upon which he had thought for ten years, but which he was unfortunately not destined to finish, was a "Life of George Fox and his Friends." Had his life been spared, Wm. Howitt had hoped to finish the work during the course of this year. A marked feature of Wm. Howitt's life was the retention of a clear and active intellect to the last. His interest in all that helped to promote the moral welfare of his fellow men increased with his'years, and the vigour and effectiveness with which, up to a few months of his death, he addressed himself to questions which he thought of consequence to humanity, may be seen by reference to "Social Notes" of last year, in which he attacks some practices associated with Vivisection in one article, the kindred evil of cruelty to animals in another, and in a third deals with the evils of smoking, especially amongst the young, in a most lucid and convincing manner. Of these three articles, a writer in the " Art Journal" for last May says they have " all the fire of his manhood and the enthusiasm of his youth ; it was difficult, in reading them, to believe they had emanated from the mind and pen of a writer past four-score." For many years William and Mary Howitt have resided in Rome. In the autumn of last year, the former was attacked by senile bronchitis which greatly prostrated him physically, though it robbed him of none of his mental clearness. No serious issue was apprehended from this disorder but, on the Third of Third Month, 1879, he passed calmly away from a life which had been full of a large personal happiness and one which had brightened and benefitted those of thousands of his fellow-men. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 333 His two daughters and his son-in-law— Alaric A. Watts— aswell as Mrs. Howitt, were with him in his last illness. By his daughter Mrs. Watts we are told that his " end was peace and that the spirit of perfect love, patience, gentleness, meekness and hope in a future life which he displayed throughout his illness can be pictured by those only who, like ourselves, were privileged to attend upon him during the last few weeks of his hfe. He met the approach of death with the same brave spirit and faith in the love of our Heavenly Father with which he had ever met trial in the course of his long life. Indeed he looked forward with joy to the approaching change. * * # jjjg last words addressed to us were thanks to the Almighty for all his infinite goodness to him and blessing upon us all upon his friends — upon, as he said, all the world." He was interred in the Protestant Cemetery of Rome, on the Fifth of Third Month. Large crowds of people, native and foreign, gathered round his grave to pay the last testimony of affection to one whose life had been so lovable and whose death was so much lamented. In commenting upon the life that had passed from their midst. Dr. Nevin, of the American Church in the city, referrred to Wm. Howitt's "steadfast adherence to the principles of the Society of Friends " and bore his " testimony to the beautiful Christian virtues which had rendered his career one so noble and useful and so universally beloved." If anything were needed to testify to the attachment Wm. Howitt ever retained for many of the principles of the Society in which he was born and educated, it would be supplied in a few words dictated to his daughter the day preceding his death with which we shall conclude this brief sketch of this good man's life : — "My Father says that, in looking back upon his life, nothing gives him more satisfaction than the recollection that in all his writings he has sought to carry out the principles of the Society of Friends and he has sought to 334 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL carry out always their principles in life as well as in his writings, believing them to be the complete expression of the pure Christianity of the Gospels." Since writing the above we have received a copy of a poetical review of the Hundred Years, bearing the signature E. B. P., which we are permitted to insert in this volume and which will, we feel sure, secure the cordial appreciation of our readers. SEEDTIME AND HARVEST. The record of a Hundred Years of sowing ; — Such is our Ackworth's Story ; — but no pen Of mortal can indite that Chronicle ; — And yet its Hundred Volumes all are writ, — An Everlasting History. Now and then A paragraph or section meets the eye, Perhaps a chapter, — and we see how seed. Sown painfully, with effort and with tears, Hath yielded a rich harvest to the praise Of Him who gave the increase, and thus blessed The faithful sower's work. Varied the fields. And varied too the increase ; thirty-fold Sometimes, and sometimes sixty-fold the gain ; A hundred even, where some special good Of soil and circumstance, of sun and shower, Wrought to a special blessing. Ackworth's sons And daughters have been scattered through the land. And there are of them whose careers have been So public we may trace them. First in rank We place the men and women who have filled The highest, noblest office man can hold, — "Ambassadors for Christ," the "King of Kings,' Or in their own dear land, or 'neath the palms Of India, or in Afric's Martyr Isle. Others, with busy hands, have wrought to clothe The naked, feed the hungry ; — with swift feet HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL 335 Have visited the sick, and sought to raise The out-cast from despair, or borne with joy, " The spoiling of their goods,'' and some have been " The prisoners of the Lord" for conscience' sake. Others have done good service to the State ;— Of such, pre-eminent, on England's heart And history, one name is ' ' vifritten large ; " Her "Tribune of the People," whose wise words. Truthful as eloquent, are weapons keen In the great strife for Freedom and the Right. And linked with him the Alpha of the League That freed from tax a Nation's daily bread : While one with them in aim, was he whose pen Wrote to good purpose, and who served the State In dusky India, where his ashes rest. Nor of less value to the State their work Who teach its children ; many such have gone From Ackworth, and their forming touch will tell For good, upon the England yet to be. The wide domain of Literature hath sent Its sheaves, full-eared and golden, by the hand Of him who sleeps in Rome, whose vigorous pen Death seized, ere he his loving tribute writ ; — The pen that could with genial grace pourtray The "Rural Life of England," — boldly write The " History of Priestcraft," or enchain The ear of boyhood with its country tales ; Also by him who felt the powerful spell Of the Italian Muse, and bade her sing In our more rugged English ; while the Muse Of Christian History claimed his brother's pen, And fired his spirit to recount the deeds Of Spain's Reformers ; and one gently sought The Women of her country to inspire With noblest motives and with highest aims. From the fair fields of Science precious spoil Hath been ingathered : one of Ackworth's sons Shared in the Chatmoss victory ; and one. 336 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL With dauntless courage, and with equal skill, Rescued, from icy grasp of Arctic Seas, The helpless remnant of a hapless crew, And brought them home. ,From out her ranks have sprung The skilled in brain and hand to bring relief To sufferings of the flesh, or minds distraught ; The wise in subtle chymic laws that rule The elements ; those who through crystals clear Revealed a world of wonder to our sight ; Or, who, on Nature's marvellous page, have read Creation's miracle in tree and flower. And precious too have been the harvests reaped In lowly fields unnumbered, all unknown To fame, the while they yield the daily bread Of our great Country's common, general life — That life on which depends, and out of which Must grow the higher, wider life of those, Who, called to special service for their kind, Stand forth conspicuous to the general eye. Thus ends the Century with thankfulness For Heavenly blessing upon earthly work ; Not only increase given to good seed. But finite errors and mistakes o'er-ruled By Power, and Love, and Wisdom Infinite. So stand we on the Present, looking back And forward, — to the Hath-been and To-be ; And with us two celestial visitants, Their bright wings furled as meaning to remain And dwell with us, sweet Gratitude and Hope. TABLE SHEWING THE ANNUAL INCOME FROM THE VARIOUS SOURCES OF REVENUE, FROM THE OPENING OF THE SCHOOL TO THE PRESENT TIME. Year. From the Children's Payments. From Annual Subscriptions. From Donations and Legacies. From Endowment, Rents, Dividends, less Annuities. BIB CO 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 179s 1796 1797 1798 1799 1 800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 2588 2639 2616 2712 2655 2564 2462 2310 2368 2491 2427 2520 2567 2686 2541 2559 2516 2592 2686 3146 3283 3696 3010 3'75 3616 3806 3678 3293 3186 3227 3198 6 6 8 2 3 3 14 IS 16 18 6 I 9 14 8 19 13 7 9 17 4 13 16 10 3 12 3 I 17 10 6 3 18 3 1382 877 1029 1593 1028 i°S3 III 963 872 873 871 670 1127 85s 801 1115 1550 1129 1259 1353 1221 1280 1259 1239 1346 1343 1158 1172 1 164 1134 "57 7 2 4 16 13 I 16 2 12 5 14 3 7 15 5 17 5 o 1 o 2 13 18 3 17 d. o o 6 o 9 9 o 6 3 6 £ s. d. 6 10 17 3 229 578 302 756 873 537 824 383 655 642 86 158 126 35 292 374 46 173 422 740 265 210 125 lOOI Sio 117 381 420 1021 925 o S 16 16 II 2 6 o IS 7 16 7 6 o 3 16 16 o o o 5 o 10 II o 10 I o 3 5 280 16 384 14 287 14 507 338 323 335 293 441 513 15 472 6 384 8 265 4 241 4 305 14 248 2 216 14 10 223 7 o 221 14 10. 221 14 10 215 II 4 445 13 II 474 12 552 7 487 8 707 12 8io 6 944 14 II 936 9-1 95° 9 9 468 15 5 318 314 314 323 299 300 270 273 293 288 299 294 3°4 305 299 303 298 3°5 300 302 299 292 251 286 300 299 303 300 3°3 302 TABLE SHEWING THE ANNUAL DISBURSEMENTS, ARRANGED [N DEPARTMENTS, FROM THE OPENING OF PHE SCHOOL TO THE PRESENT TIME. Year. For Provisions. For Clothing. For Salaries Wages. and For_ Repairs, Depreciation, and all other Incidentals. £ S. d. £ S. d. £ s- d. £ s. d. 1781 2011 18 I 781 19 I 616 s I 767 10 7 1782 1841 3 I 702 4 8 567 II S 648 19 2 1783 2061 5 I 827 6 600 8 7 676 IS 4 1784 1987 19 9 858 17 2 567 IS 5 595 14 II 178s 1991 12 2 896 4 II S48 19 10 703 4 10 1786 1838 3 890 12 9 S2S 7 10 760 12 c 1787 1994 II 9 993 7 5 570 16 545 3 II 1788 1891 17 I 771 12 II S27 I 445 7 3 1789 1813 14 10 932 4 2 570 18 4 477 6 9 1790 2007 9 I 973 10 8 594 18 8 717 I 6 179I 1880 9 831 16 8 545 4 10 502 I 1792 1873 12 6 871 18 S 491 IS I 484 s 10 1793 2109 4 7 866 6 II 469 4 6 459 10 5 1794 2074 4 10 953 8 8 434 17 6 S08 9 10 179s 2416 14 1 976 8 6 701 IS 9 596 12 s 1796 2967 11 4 1056 12 8 597 5 S 559 19 8 1797 2331 IS 10 104s IS 6 615 S 2 666 2 7 1798 2523 3 1078 19 4 620 2 447 II 1799 2305 18 1054 4 S 755 16 6 5°4 9 1800 3665 4 10 1131 2 7 477 II 6 559 2 6 180I 3785 17 5 1116 2 6 479 II 6 557 10 4 1802 3297 14 8 1084 4 6 454 II I 538 9 10 1803 2813 15 10 1056 IS 6 461 17 5 1020 2 7 1804 2784 15 10 922 18 6 414 12 2 584 4 8 1805 3312 5 3 95° 13 3 437 7 7 606 II 10 1806 3190 I II 1093 II 6 439 I I S24 18 1807 3168 17 I 1 103 12 2 490 8 4 513 9 8 1808 3307 6 8 1039 16 I 485 4 488 8 II 1809 3758 17 9 1 148 16 II 549 9 6 529 13 9 1810 3624 12 4 946 13 4 575 6 0. S6i 6 II 181I 3463 13 6 1076 II 558 15 3 729 14 4 Z 3 34 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX ANNUAL INCOME ( CONTINUED.) From th< From Annual From Donations From Endowment, ber of dren the Year. Children's Payments. Subscriptions. and Legacies. Rents, Dividends, less Annuities. Numl Chil in Sch £ S. d. £ S. d. £ S. d. £ s. d. l8l2 3223 5 10 1185 6 983 3 1065 6 10 305 1813 3225 IS 10 1454 II 6 325 1112 6 2 304 1814 3244 II 10 1466 4 6 359 5 8 278 16 6 3°5 181S 3248 12 1248 13 6 207 2 655 19 8 305 1816 3237 19 9 1426 9 915 715 16 10 307 1817 3246 9 6 1151 19 6 1033 2 833 14 3 306 1818 3283 16 4 1374 4 268 1113 I I 309 1819 3252 12 S 1321 9 493 6 I 674 7 I 304 1820 3228 5 3 1298 3 6 98 527 4 8 304 182I 3215 12 II 1217 7 6 567 II 581 18 10 303 1822 3250 17 6 115° 19 6 294 6 5 682 13 3 306 1823 3160 I 8 1028 19 9 613 4 9 775 19 7 300 1824 3080 12 6 1032 19 6 T07 983 12 302 1825 3°52 19 7 1264 13 237 lOOI 18 4 302 1826 3084 4 7 1202 9 3 290 523 4 9 3°S 1827 3041 13 8 1210 I 3 358 5 11 760 12 5 301 1828 2984 19 8 1036 14 6 6 6 1062 16 5 285 1829 2872 IS II 1457 8 I 749 4 502 II 5 297 1830 3017 3 2 1109 10 I 953 661 3 6 295 183I 2976 14 3 1181 7 6 666 I 10 823 17 7 290 1832 2624 2 2 1158 19 6 381 826 13 5 264 1833 2724 IS 4 1168 19 9 199 10 783 9 4 269 1834 2743 7 II 1117 17 3 42 2 498 16 7 267 183s 2627 15 8 1288 IS 166 10 6 308 3 3 259 1836 2600 3 II 1309 12 10 577 10 880 II 7 256 1837 2721 8 2 1189 I 6 238 14 533 18 9 271 1838 2845 7 7 1296 10 397 1179 12 2 281 1839 2840 10 II 1194 17 6 692 16 884 16 4 282 1840 2848 10 II 1281 279 10 965 17 II 281 184I 28SS 6 4 1179 4 6 239 4 10 1080 10 3 283 1842 2757 2 10 1107 I 6 683 7 663 19 2 274 1843 2790 3 7 1222 13 6 61 10 911 16 9 275 1844 2722 7 1615 19 6 139 I 988 8 270 1845 2811 4 8 1283 9 790 16 1165 4 10 277 1846 2983 19 I 1257 6 6 700 2 1025 5 5 297 1847 2850 10 3 1185 I 425 18 8 roS4 15 4 289 1848 3075 2 4 1087 18 149 13 3 906 14 6 288 1849 3721 10 10 984 16 356 12 544 8 6 289 1850 3942 9 4 979 4 6 268 733 19 2 289 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX 341 ANNUAL DISBURSEMENTS (continued.) Year. For Provisions. For Clothing For Salaries Wages. and For Repa Depreciation, TS, and all other I icidentals. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ S. d. £ S. d. l8l2 4018 16 2 1043 17 582 12 3 559 5 2 1813 4103 2 1033 19 II 536 14 9 690 16 I 1814 3409 10 8 1044 14 7 526 7 10 356 13 10 iSis 3356 II 5 1091 19 7 494 7 6 712 16 7 1816 297s 2 9 1037 5 6 465 19 3 642 10 10 1817 3757 19 1061 7 2 517 9 10 765 13 I 1818 3345 17 6 977 6 II 592 5 10 582 II 6 1819 3398 2 1 04s 3 10 568 16 9 726 12 II 18.20 3103 3 3 1020 15 II 610 19 10 465 15 II 1821 2920 3 7 952 4 3 626 8 4 689 3 3 1822 2414 9 I 962 6 10 816 19 10 651 6 3 1823 2388 14 4 886 18 824 16 8 801 9 II 1824 2674 18 8 878 14 6 935 13 10 836 II 6 1825 2961 19 I 910 18 6 841 13 3 911 15 8 1826 2932 8 8 915 2 I 871 6 2 785 4 9 1827 2846 2 6 915 I 5 943 18 5 784 13 7 1828 2594 16 9 852 II 948 2 5 768 2 9 1829 3091 IS 3 873 16 10 1145 10 984 14 5 1830 2619 8 9 893 3 10 909 854 II 4 1831 2981 II 8 930 15 8 1058 4 6 927 12 I 1832 2806 I 10 981 17 2 969 I II 926 7 7 1833 2689 14 4 869 4 10 836 5 I 710 12 10 1834 2442 8 I 910 16 8 989 7 736 2 8 183s 2247 .8 964 14 5 872 I 2 629 9 1836 2246 17 3 929 12 3 850 17 II 737 15 5 1837 2591 7 2 843 2 7 866 13 5 613 4 8 1838 2663 15 8 889 8 6 829 8 sY. 820 I 1839 3062 10 0^ 864 10 2 95° 10 dy. 738 18 6J^ 1840 295s 4 812 12 4 lOOI 14 iV. 726 18 6>4 1841 2952 13 i>^ 829 2 10 1003 II 5 752 15 4>^ 1842 2843 19 9'A 774 8 3 1076 9 724 18 4J^ 1843 2431 10 s% 803 17 7 1073 10 I 716 16 7 1844 2559 15 2 755 10 I 1089 3 8 775 9 4 184s 2566 15 6>^ 813 7 3 1185 15 951 19 II 1846 2805 5 aV^ 836 9 oy2 1263 19 873 6 2 1847 3008 17 7 1025 14 5 1499 19 7 1244 7 I0}<< 1848 2849 18 6 934 3 73^ 1693 7 II "43 16 2>i 1849 2603 8 ■8 877 I I 1720 12 10 957 5 2 1850 2467 10 900 5 I 1817 5,^^ 916 18 10 342 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX ANNUAL INCOME (continued.) Year. 1851 1852 1853 1854 185s 1856 1857 1858 1859 i860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 From the Children's Payments. £ 4147 4334 4461 4368 4222 4130 4178 4257 4098 4103 4434 4487 4302 4360 431S 4286 4547 4442 4475 4461 s. d. 5 5 2 4 6 5 12 o 19 14 10 O 2 14 2 14 5263 5428 6164 6314 6776 5843 7281 7 6 4 6 8 4 3 8 17 II 3 I 3 4 8 o 6 o 15 10 10 4 5 8 3 8 16 8 6 o 18 10 12 2 6 o From Annual Subscriptions. £ 939 996 1002 984 993 i°35 1 149 1086 105 1 1046 1033 1041 1064 1041 1025 937 1024 958 I02t 958 947 976 927 995 1180 1059 i°3S 977 s. 17 6 I 4 2 6 II 12 13 18 II 5 4 12 4 7 15 19 5 18 18 o 10 4 14 I 5 5 d. 3 o 6 o 10 3 6 o 9 9 o 6 6 o o 6 o 6 o 9 o 6 I o 3 9 o o From Donations and Legacies. £ 1342 30 177 1922 346 404 751 1044 1038 345 765 1064 153 323 399 979 543 423 231 579 1273 933 59° 940 883 199 1386 7°5 s. d. 18 10 o o o 2 2 18 17 O 4 o 3 5 5 3 2 2 II 2 3 4 o o I 5 7 6 4 7 From Endowment, Rents, Dividends, less Annuities. £ 820 806 1012 1042 1212 904 752 891 830 1007 1131 1092 1115 832 994 877 93° 779 946 730 1266 1041 1131 1129 1284 1092 1034 654 s. d. 8 II 5 2 10 4 3 8 3 2 19 19 5 I 2 17 16 10 19 19 10 13 5 8 10 o 10 6 IS I o I 5 4 16 2 4 7 9 8 2 II o 3 2 289 288 292 293 289 285 284 284 275 273 278 279 267 274 265 253 260 260 258 260 273 278 283 287 285 289 258 280 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 343 ANNUAL DISBURSEMENTS (continued.) Year. For Provisions. i 1 For Clothing. > P^or Salaries and For Repairs, Depreciation, and all Wages. other Incidentals. £ s. d. ^ s. d. £ s. d. £ s- d. 1851 2437 8 II 855 6 II 1790 14 8 940 3 7 1852 2547 2 4 762 19 II 1772 4 I 1107 13 3 1853 2822 18 10 833 10 II 1794 IS 6 1085 15 5 1854 3172 II I 916 14 II 1854 9 7 1025 II 10 1855 3282 5 8 835 15 3 1787 9 II 1091 16 3 1856 3209 14 9 881 10 9 1885 16 II 959 II ° 1857 3062 9 2 874 13 3 1963 4 8 945 II 3 1858 2732 9 881 6 I 199s 9 926 3 2 1859 2651 18 10 953 2 8 2057 6 5 99° 4 3 i860 3087 4 6 891 17 9 2081 17 3 967 7 7 1861 3156 2 7 926 3 6 2105 6 . 1063 16 8 1862 2849 8 4 945 6 5 2123 14 10 1244 9 8 1863 2869 14 6 891 12 2 2174 I 4 1202 I 9 1864 2908 7 I 850 IS I 2172 1 1 7 1024 I 1865 3003 I 5 948 12 9 2238 18 6 921 8 3 1866 3272 6 879 8 6 2236 II 2 923 10 8 1867 3342 6 908 13 10 2297 19 II 967 2 II 1868 3159 9 4 678 17 4 2377 3 3 1089 IS 3 i86g 3120 15 5 742 I 8 2215 7 9 876 8 6 1870 3040 18 688 6 7 2117 13 3 1024 7 8 1871 3181 2 7 634 2 II 233s 10 6 1154 2 6 1872 3890 14 9 607 I 5 2449 6 3 1429 8 1873 4445 3 I 669 7 3 2634 17 10 1372 14 9 1874 4611 M II 644 IS 2833 13 3 1532 II 4 1875 4631 II 3 645 I 8 2843 8 4 1536 14 9 1876 4297 9 4 577 19 8 2888 9 1482 7 4 1877 3938 13 532 14 2 2990 4 II 1866 3 II 1878 3995 6 6 568 7 3200 II 9 2397 16 s 344 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX TABLE OF THE RAINFALL AT ACKWORTH, FROM 1824 TO THE PRESENT TIME. INCHES. INCHES. INCHES 1824 30-51 1843 26-26 1861 18-26 1825 24'22 1844 18-82 1862 21-83 1826 18-74 1845 27-06 1863 21-09 1827 25-04 1846 25-90 1864 19-75 1828 32-35 1847 20-50 1865 23.20 1829 22-85 1848 32-08 1866 29-87 1830 31-58 1849 23-33 1867 26-79 I83I 28-37 1850 16-95 1868 23-07 1832 24-94 1851 20-13 1869 24-68 1833 25-06 1852 28-75 1870 20-83 1834 23-74 1853 23-80 1871 26-20 183s 21-19 1854 19-04 1872 39-80 1836 25-21 1855 21-33 1873 19-07 1837 25-39 1856 30-56 1874 17-96 1838 25-02 1857 24-59 1875 28-79 1839 33-16 1858 19-84 1876 28-39 1840 24-75 1859 23-46 1877 35-18 I84I 30-81 i860 30-15 1878 No return 1842 22-63 HEALTH AND MORTALITY. The above table naturally suggests the enquiry how far excessive or deficient rainfall has affected the health of the Institution. It would appear from such statistics of health as exist that there is less direct connection between the rainfall and the prevalence of disease than might be supposed.* * For instance, in i860, a very wet and cold year, there were only 13 nursery cases against a current average of 30 to 40, whilst coughs and colds were much less prevalent than usual. The year was cold throughout and in the Twelfth Month the thermometer ranged very low and on the night of the 24th reached 6 deg. below zero. In 1866, also a very wet year, there were but 23 nursery cases and good general health prevailed. "4^ If I- ^r ,:gV ',b HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 345 Thermal conditions, especially when characterised by sudden fluctuations, have probably exercised a much more considerable immediate influence upon the standard of health. The greater number of the throat affections, which at one time caused some uneasiness, was due, in Thomas Pumphrey's opinion, to the children's unavoidable exposure to sudden changes of tempera- ture in passing from over-heated school-rooms to cold, draughty passages ; and this has probably been a fertile source of colds which often led on to more serious disorders. Since the active era of improvements set in, some climatic influences have been materially robbed of their power. The liberal increase of meat diet, the introduction of warm baths, the substitution of boarded for stone floors, better methods of warming and ventilating, increased atmospheric content of the class-rooms, closer circum- spection in reference to drainage, &c. and the abolition of the practice of going, at six o'clock in the morning and often when the ground was covered with hoar-frost, to the " old bath," the water of which, a strong Chalybeate, was always excessively cold, are only some of the improvements which have doubtless influenced favourably the general health and which, by raising the standard, have proportionately secured from the attacks of disease. It is, nevertheless, difficult, from the statistics preserved at the School, to institute any very definite comparison of the state of the general health at different periods, as the record is seriously affected, from time to time, by changes in the method of regis- tration. So late as 1867, the complexion of the register was much changed in consequence of the adoption of the practice of sending into the nurseries numerous minor cases of indispo- sition amongst the boys which, prior to that date, had been treated in the Matron's room and so not entered among the nursery cases. Cases of indisposition not of a serious character, amongst the girls, still continued to be treated by the Matron of the West Wing, without being transferred to the nurseries. This 346 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX circumstance complicates the question of the relative amount of sickness amongst boys and girls ; but the number of heavier cases was probably always much larger amongst the former than the latter. An example of five years' experience, taken at random, will show how much more numerously they appear upon the Nursery Register : — In 187 1, out of 92 cases, 79 were boys, 13 girls. II 1872, II II 74 H 64 II II 10 'I II 1873, II II 67 M 51 11 •! 16 II II 1874, n M 78 11 61 11 11 17 M II. 1875, " " i°7 " 58 II II 49 11 Much of this disparity is undoubtedly due to the much larger amount of exposure the boys are subject to. The number of cases appearing upon the register imme- diately prior to 1867 was small compared with those just, quoted. The average of the five years 1850-4 was 37, that for the next five years 30, and that for the five following about 40 per annum. By reference to the following table of the deaths which have occurred during each ten years since the foundation of the School, it will be found that there has been a considerable diminution during the last few years; and the numbers are probably not an incorrect indication of the relative state of the general health of the periods to which they belong. Yet, taking into consideration the supposed advantages of modern times and the credit due to annual holidays, it will, perhaps, rather surprise the reader that the early years present so favour- able an aspect than that there should be so considerable an improvement in recent times. Whilst it is true that some disorders prevalent in the early periods, such as small-pox, to which four of the deaths of the HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX 347 first decade were due, have passed away from ordinary calcu- lation, Other diseases seem to have made their first appearance in more recent times, as is the case with diphtheria, which in the last decade but one accounts for four deaths out of six. Rheumatism was apparently but little known in the older times, whilst cases have been increasingly occurrent of late years. Whilst during the ten years 1820-9 only seven cases are reported, four times that number occurred in the four years 1872-5, twelve of which appear in the exceptionally dry year 1874. The total number of deaths amongst the children, from all causes, during the hundred years, has been 93. Distributed in decades, they occur as follow : — 1779 to 1789 14 deaths. 1829 to 1839 10 deaths 1789 ,, 1799 II 11 1839 11 1849 9 " 1799 II 1809 8 11 1849 1, 1859 6 II 1809 11 I8I9 7 II 1859 " 1869 6 1, I8I9 11 1829 17 II 1869 M 1879 5 " 57 During the first 50 years. Of which 25 were boys and 32 11 girls. 36 During the second 50 years. Of which 17 were boys and 19 11 girls. The causes of death were as follow Consumption Lung abscess Inflammation of the lungs Malignant sore throat Diphtheria Inflammation of the bowels Peritonitis ... Colic 9 I 2 3 4 2 4 I 348 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX Typhoid fever Typhus fever Fever Scarlatina ... Worm fever Smallpox ... Measles Brain affections Apoplexy ... Convulsions Rheumatism Erysipelas ... Affection of the spine Accident ... Total ... 5 4 3 13 2 4 3 15 3 2 7 2 I 3 93 MISCELLANEOUS DATES, &c., NOT MENTIONED IN THE TEXT. 1797. — John Whitlark, of Finedon, in Northamptonshire, came to school. He is probably the oldest Ackworth Scholar now living. His school-days were a terror to him and he was removed at twelve years of age. He associates extreme severity, as its chief feature, with the discipline. 1812. — Henry Brady enters on his apprenticeship. 1 81 2. — Sparks MoHne succeeds Wilson Birkbeck as Treasurer. 1813. — Thomas Brown enters on his apprenticeship. 1815. — A rule made by the Masters and recorded by minute that " The boys are not to read any books but such as are of a religious tendency on First Days, excepting their 'Spelling Book' before breakfast and after Meeting in the Afternoon." HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 349 1 8 16. — William Doeg apprenticed. 1816.— The original " Juvenile Association " founded by Robt. Alsop. First Meeting on the Ninth of Fourth Month. Number of Members 20. 1816.— Elizabeth Rolfe died. She had been a >z^;^d7z«^, had served the School for thirty years in the capacity of a domestic servant and, at her death, left all her savings to the School. 1820. — Leonard West, who had been, for thirty-eight years, the Principal Tailor, expressed a wish to be relieved from the most sedentary part of his employment, proposing that such reduction should be made in his Salary as might be deemed desirable in consequence of the change. His request was allowed and his Salary reduced from ;^28 to ^^20. He finally retired in 1829. 1822. — Matthew Downie, gardener from the commencement, retires and is succeeded by James Jones. 1825. — John Morley enters on his apprenticeship. 1825. — Geo. Bottomley, Book-keeper. 1827. — John Newby terminates his apprenticeship and becomes Writing Master at ;!^40 per annum. 1827. — Office broken into. Effects stolen to the value of jQ'^. 1827. — John Walker enters as House-man. 1828. — John Cash Nield enters on his apprenticeship. 1829. — Geo. Frederic Linney succeeds Leonard West. 1831. — Isaac Levitt comes as Chief Shoe-maker. 1832. — Thomas Hunton apprenticed. 1832. — Charlotte E. Giberne resided in the Girls' Wing for the purpose of teaching French to the Girls' Teachers. 1832. — Wm. Clark, Surgeon, becomes the Medical Attendant. 1832. — Door made from the Grammar School into the Shed. 1833. — Thomas Atkins becomes Chief Carpenter in place of Richard Smith. 1836-7. — Sale of Timber. ;^4o6. 350 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX 1 83 7. —Charles Barnard succeeds George Bottomley as Book- keeper. 1837.— Robert Whitaker takes charge of the School, for some weeks, whilst Thos. Pumphrey is from home. 1837.— Henry Wilson enters on his apprenticeship. 1838. — Picking twitch-grass abolished. 1838.— Thomas Puplett enters on his apprenticeship. 1838.— Walks "in schools " introduced. Not to be more than one in three weeks. 1839. — William Cammage engaged as Farm-bailiff. 1840.— Introduction of Penny Postage, prior to which event letters were regarded as of sufficient value to be entered on the " Inventories " of the Children's effects. Old scholars will remember how the Boxes were examined periodically and how every "Inventory" began "Box, Lock and Key, Two Cards of Advice," &c. 1841. — Robert Doeg leaves and is succeeded in old "Number Three " by Till Adam Smith. 1841. — A great many Boys manifesting a great dislike to the bath, the hour of bathing was changed from 5 a.m. to II a.m. 1 843. — Henry Wilson's apprenticeship expires and he goes to Bonn to study. 1844. — Charles Barnard leaves. 1845. — Large part of the Estate deep-drained. 1845. — High-topped Shoes or Ankle-boots adopted for the Boys. 1845. — Regulation made that Children might remain in the School up to fifteen instead of fourteen years of age. 1845. — Magnificent Oak felled in Bell Close and sold for £22 : I2S. 1846. — Joseph John Gurney gives his lecture on the Eye for the last time in the Eleventh Month. He died in the First Month of the following year. 1846. — Samuel Hare vacates the post of Book-keeper and is succeeded by Wm. Burton. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 35 I 1846. — The Museum belonging to " The Association " placed in the Committee Room. 1846. — Marriage of John Nevvby and Maria Brown. 1847. — Wm. Mason, Chief Carpenter. 1848. — A "Mistress on Duty" appointed. Lydia Rous first filled the post. 1852. — Edmund Wheeler gives his first course of lectures. 1852. — Study of Euclid introduced. 1852. — The "Ackworth Literary and Scientific Association" established. 1854. — Henry Sparkes reports the completion of his Survey of the Estate. His estimate of the Area was 274a. ir. 24p., being about half an acre less than that of Wm. Doeg. 1855. — Henry Sparkes takes charge of the Lower Classes. Wm. Pollard takes the Ninth Class. John Watson enters and takes the Eighth Class, and William Tallack the Seventh. 1856. — Boys' Bedrooms Nos. i, 2 and 3 are boarded. One of the Boys' Bedrooms for the first time furnished with iron-beds. Shed-court asphalted. 1856. — Samuel Gurney, for 40 years Treasurer, dies. 1857 1857 1857 1857 1857 — Tenth Class furnished with new mahogany desks. — Table-cloths supplied to the Girls. — Forty Leathern or Fire Buckets procured. — Fire in the Library. Damage ^16 los. 7d. Covered. — James Kekwick resigns his post in the Office in order to emigrate to Australia where most of his relatives were settled. Sensible of its great loss in the retire- ment of this Officer, the Committee states in its minutes that " in accepting the resignation and in the prospect of losing the services of a valued and highly appreciated Officer, it would express its desire that his best interests, as well as his temporal advantage may be promoted by the change he has in prospect." Dennis Davy succeeded James Kekwick in the Office. 352 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX 1857.— Joseph Wright, a very exemplary young man in the capacity of junior teacher, dies from the effects of gastric fever. 1858.— James Jones retires from the station of head gardener in which he is succeeded by Samuel Peaker. i860.— A pair of Rooks build in the Elms at the gate of the Gt. Garden. i860. — Drilling introduced, but confined to the four Upper Classes on the Boys' side. Joseph G. Barclay, having suggested it as an experiment, discharged the expense of it for the first year. 1 86 1. — Maria King resigns the Office of Teacher of the Girls' Tenth Class, which she had filled with great ability and success for many years. 1 86 1. — Old Bath House turned into a dweUing. 1862. — The Corn Mill, near the old Bath, with ten acres and a half of land, purchased for ^2000. This purchase enabled the Committee to improve the sanitary con- dition of the Stream-bed of the Canal below Car- Bridge, by utilizing the Mill-stream as a cleansing flush. 1863. — Hotel let to John Graham. 1864. — Double Beds abolished on the boys' side, except a few, retained for brothers. 1864. — Gymnasium established in a shed, in the boys' gardens, running along the wall of the high-road. 1864. — William Pollard's health breaking down, he is obliged to retire. 1866. — ^Maria King returns. Takes the post of "Mistress on Duty." 1866. — Penny Notes abolished, after being in use about 30 years. 1867. — An Exhibition of Works of Art, produced by old pupils, held in order to stimulate the love of such pursuits. 1867. — Joseph Pease presents a Telescope and a Microscope. HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. — APPENDIX 353 1869 — London Committee dissolved, at its own request. Eight of its Members were placed upon the Country Committee. . 1871. — "Adjourned General Meeting" abolished. 1872. — The Gas Works re-constructed at a cost of ;!^6oo. 1872. — Experimental utilization of Sewage introduced by irrigation of the " Flashes." SCENES ON THE PLAY-GROUND OF A SCHOOL.* In the following lines, to show the incongruities of English spelling, the second line of each couplet is spelled with the same letters as the first. 'Twas a fine winter's day ; — their breakfast was doiie, And tlie boys were disposed to enjoy some ^ooi^fone. Sam Sprightly observed " 'Tis but just half-past eight And there's more time for play than wlien breakfast is leight: And as all agree that so cold is the morning, We'll keep ourselves warm at the game of stag-worning. " "I'm Stag ! " — with his hand in his waistcoat he's off, And his play-mates are dodging him round the pump irqf. Sam's active, but still their alertness is such It was not very soon that e'en one he could tucA. The captive 's assailed by jokes, buffets and laughter, By the host of blithe boys quickly following aughter; But, joined hand in hand, their forces are double. Not for jokes nor for buffets care they a bmible. * Thomas Pumphrey's skill in throwing off z^jeu d' esprit was well known to his immediate friends and occasionally exercised for the amusement of his young people. As an example of his happy pleasantries we here append these lines. They were written for the pages of the "Phonographic Star" — a periodical edited by John Newby — where their raison d'etre had a double justification and where they were entitled "Illustrations of Orthography." 354 HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX All's activity now : for high is the sport : Reinforcements arrive from the shed and shed-cori. More are caught ; and their places they straightway assign At the middle or end of the lengthening Bgn; To break it some push 'with both shoulder and thigh But so firm is the hold that vainly they /ri^A. ! 'Tis broken at last ! Now scamper the whole To escape their pursuers and get to the ^o/e. All are caught now, but one, of the juvenile hosts And he, a proud hero, vain-gloriously iosis. But hark !— the clock strikes i then by their rules. They must quickly collect for their several schules. We'll leave them awhile at their books and their sums And join them again when the afternoon cums. Now dinner is over Sam Sprightly, says he, "Let us form a good party for cricket at thre." Says Joseph "I wish you'd begin it at two, For after our dinner I've nothing to dwo." But Thomas, he'd rather 'twere fixed an hour later : Because he's on duty as dining-room -water. And so they agreed to meet punctually at four On the Green, just in front of "Number One'' dour And they thought they should muster no less than a scour. Sam goes on recruiting — "Wilt' join us my hearty?" "Yes," says Richard, "I'll gladly make one oi'Csxz pearty.^' "Come Joseph, thou'lt join." Joseph languidly said ' ' I can't, for I've got such a pain in my haid, 1 think I should find myself better in baid. " "There's Alfred," said Sam — "I know he will chqose.'' He said he was sorry the pleasure to loose, But he was appointed to black the boys' shoose. They next asked a boy of more sober demeanour— But he's, too, in office — they call him "\vi\ie.-cleanoiir.^' "Well, Jim, thou'lt go with us?" — "No, asking thy pardon; I'd rather, by far, go work in the gardon: For there we get pay — perhaps a nice root, Or, what I like better, a handful of froot : So I'll not enlist me — I'm not a recrooi/" There's Charles ! — but alas I — Poor unfortunate wight, He's confined in the Lodge — he regretted it quight HISTORY OF ACKWORTH SCHOOL. APPENDIX 355 Though Frank 's a long lesson of grammar to learn, He'll set it aside — not to miss such a tearn. Some joitt in' the party, but some are too busy ; One does not like cricket, it makes him so dtisy. But no w there's enow : so, says Sam. ' "^irow my boys, Just listen to me, don't make such a noys ! The Highfield 's the place and I do not despair. If the teachers we ask, they will let us play thair. So while I get the bats and the ball, I propose That Alfred or Richard or somebody gose And presents our request, making this a condition We'll all be good boys, if they grant us permitiDn.'" "Here's the ball — and the bats — just look what a beauty ! Well Taff, what reply from the Master on deauty ? " " O ! Granted." — " That's right — that is capital news ! Indeed I knew well they would never refews. " So now they're at play . . and X think you've enough Of such spelling, such rhyme, such whimsical stough ! And, therefore, lest you 'gainst my verse should inveigh, I'll bid you farewell ; leaving them to their pleigh. " THOMAS PUMPHREY.