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THE LIFE
OF
THE REV. ANDREW BELL,
D.D. LL.D. F. As. S. F.R.S. ED.
PREDENDARY OF WESTMINSTER, AND MASTER OF SHERBURN HOSPITAL, DURHAM.
COMPRISING
THE HISTORY OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE
SYSTEM OF MUTUAL TUITION,
THE FIRST YOLUME BY
ROBERT SOUTHEY, ESQ., P.L., LL.D.
EDITED BY MRS SOUTHEY.
THE TWO LAST BY HIS SON,
THE REV. CHARLES CUTHBERT SOUTHEY, B.A.,
OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD,
PERPETUAL CURATE OF SETMURTHY, AND ASSISTANT CURATE AND EVENING LECTURER
OF COCKERMOUTA.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
JOHN MURRAY, LONDON;
WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH.
M.DCCC.XLIV.
EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND IIUGHES,
PAUL'S WORK, CANONGATE.
CONTENTS,
Page
CHAPTER XIII.
Arrangements preliminary to Dr Bell's departure from India ---Offi.
cial and other Testimonials - State of his Finances
1
CHAPTER XIV.
Dr Bell's Journal of his Voyage home-Arrival in England
22
3
CHAPTER XV.
Dr Bell in London-Transactions with the East India Company-
Publication of the Madras Report- Revisits Scotland-Selection of
a Master for the Madras Asylum
32
CHAPTER XVI.
Purchase of Land—Introduction of the Madras System into St Bo.
tolph's, Aldgate, the Kendal Schools, &c.—Return to Scotland-
Residence in Galloway-Journey to London
47
CHAPTER XVII.
Dr Bell officiates for some time at the English Episcopal Chapel,
Edinburgh-Consequent Presentation of Plate to him-He attempts
to introduce the System into Edinburgh-His Marriage
VOL. II.
66
a
Ro-classad 2-11-39 AVM
ii
CONTENTS.
Page
CHAPTER XVIII.
Presentation to Swanage—The Village and some of its Inhabitants-
Introduction of the Madras System into Schools there—Separation
of Dr and Mrs Bell
78
CHAPTER XIX.
The Doctor vaccinates many of his Parishioners-Advocates Mr
Jesty's claim to this Discovery—The Manufacture of Straw Plait
introduced into Swanage—Intercourse with his Parishioners, &c.
95
CHAPTER XX.
Joseph Lancaster–His Letters to Dr Bell—His Visit to Swanage
Publications, &c.
116
0
O
CHAPTER XXI.
Correspondence with Mrs Trimmer-Dr Bell is induced to step for-
ward and assist in the dissemination of his System
131
CHAPTER XXII.
Mr Mackenzie-the System introduced into the Whitechapel Schools,
and into a new Institution at Gower's Walk founded for that pur-
pose
161
CHAPTER XXIII.
The System introduced into the Lambeth Charity School—The
Female Orphan Asylum and the Royal Military Asylum, Chelseą
--Mr Whitbread's Motion on the Poor-Laws-Dr Bell's con-
sequent intercourse with him
180
CHAPTER XXIV.
Schools in Marylebone and St James's-Henry Manwell Schools
at Winchester--Introduction of the System into Shropshire 209
CHAPTER XXV.
The System introduced into Ireland and the West Indies
233
CONTENTS.
li
Page
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Doctor visits Durham-the System introduced there the Bar-
rington School-Letter to Mrs Trimmer-Dr Gray-Mr Bouyer
-Mr Bernard
249
CHAPTER XXVII.
Dr Bell seeks an Exchange for Swanage--Is presented to Sherburn
Hospital-Difficulties respecting Dilapidations, Furniture, &c.-
Sketch of the History of that Institution-Swanage given to Mr
Gale, a nominee of the Bishop of Durham
258
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Further progress of the System-Lord Kenyon's scholastic proceed-
ings—Establishment of the Durham, Exeter, and Winchester Dio-
cesan School Societies
282
CHAPTER XXIX.
The System introduced into Christ's Hospital and the Clergy Orphan
School-Plan proposed for a Classical School on the System-Dr
Marsh's Sermon at St Paul's
302
CHAPTER XXX.
Lord Radstock's “ Vision”—Lancaster's Letters, and Dr Marsh's Re-
plies--Mr Marriot's Letter--Dr Bell's Explanation
321
CHAPTER XXXI.
Schoolmasters' Society-Meetings and Proposals for establishing a
Metropolitan Society-Mr Bouyer's Plan–Final Constitution of
the National Society
337
CHAPTER XXXII.
Correspondence between Dr Bell and his Madras Pupils—Reginen-
tal Schools established on the Madras System--Dr Bell's position
in the National Society discussed—He is made an Honorary Mem-
ber
365
iy
CONTENTS.
Page
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Mr Johnson appointed Assistant Superintendent of the Central
School-Diocesan Societies—Admission of the Children of Dissen-
ters discussed— Training Master sent to organize Schools Dr
Bell's first visit to Gredington-Lord Kenyon's Schools—Dr Bell
visits Grasmere
397
CHAPTER XXXIV. .
Dr Bell becomes acquainted with Mr Bamford-Goes to Keswick
and Rose Castle, and returns to London through Shropshire
Family Madras School The Central School Extracts from Bam-
ford's Notes–Diffusion of the System
423
CHAPTER XXXV.
Dr Bell's, Mr Johnson's, and Mr Bamford's Scholastic Journeys-
Correspondence between Bishop Barrington and Dr Bell respecting
Sherburn Hospital
452
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The Central School-Mr Bamford appointed Master-His Notes
respecting Dr Bell—English School dedicated to the Prince Regent
-Dr Bell's Interview with the Grand Duchess of Russia and the
Emperor Alexander
476
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Appointment of Master to the Foundling Hospital, Ireland-Mr
Bamford-Letter to the Speaker-Dr Bell goes to Ireland
A
Master appointed to Wilson's Hospital—Dr Bell visits the Bishop
of Meath and the Archbishop of Armagh-Goes to Dublin-His
Letter to Mr Peel
489
CORRESPONDENCE,
George Dempster, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Captain Wight to Dr Bell,
511
513
CONTENTS.
V.
c
W. C. Jackson, Esq., to Dr Bell,
General Floyd to Dr Bell,
The Rev. Dr Sandford to Dr Bell,
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to John Mackenzie, Esq.,
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to John Mackenzie, Esq.,
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to John Mackenzie, Esq.,
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell,
R. L. Edgeworth Esq., to Dr Bell,
Extracts from Dr Bell's Answer,
The Rev. Thomas Sikes to Dr Bell,
The Rev. Thomas Sikes to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to the Rev. Thomas Sikes,
The Rev. Thomas Sikes to Dr Bell,
Lady Apreece to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to G. W. Marriot, Esq.,
George Dempster, Esq., to Dr Bell,
The Rev. Thomas Sikes to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to the Rev. Thomas Sikes,
General Floyd to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to John Mackenzie, Esq.,
S. T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Bishop of St David's to Dr Bell,
S. T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell,
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell,
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell,
S.T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell,
S. T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to the Bishop of St David's,
Dr Bell to D. P. Watts, Esq.,
Dr Bell to D. P. Watts, Esq.,
Dr Bell to Mrs Trimmer,
Dr Bell to Alexander M‘Lean, Esq.,
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell,
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Sir Charles Oakeley, Bart., late President of the Male Asylum,
Madras, to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to Mr and Mrs Marriot,
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to Sir Charles Oakeley, Bart.,
Dr Bell to Mrs Cook,
Page
516
519
520
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536
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582
584
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590
592
592
596
599
601
603
605
611
.
vi
CONTENTS.
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell,
J. C. Curwen, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to J. C. Curwen, Esq.,
The Bishop of St David's to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to the Bishop of St David's,
The Rev. Thomas Fleming, Secretary, to General Diróm;
General Dirom to the Rev. Thomas Fleming,
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Sir James Miller Ridley to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.,
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.,
Dr Bell to the Rev. Dr Gray,
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.,
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to the Bishop of Ely,
Robert Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to J. Murray, Esq.,
Mrs Williams to Dr Bell,
D. P. Watts, Esq., to G. W. Marriot, Esq.,
General Floyd to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.,
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell,
S. T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.,
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.,
Robert Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Robert Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell,
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.,
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell,
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell,
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell,
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell,
William Davis, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Mr Andrew Hunter to George Dempster, Esq.,
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell,
George Dempster, Esq., to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon,
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon,
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon,
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon,
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon,
Page
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670
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673
6.75
676
677
CONTENTS.
vii
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon,
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.,
Dr Bell to the Rev. William Johnson,
Dr Bell to the Rev. W. Johnson and Mrs Rogers,
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon,
The Rev. Dr Walmsley to Dr Bell,
Dr Bell to Mr James Wilmont,
Dr Bell to William Disney, Esq.,
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon,
Dr Bell to Mrs Cook,
Page
678
679
681
682
683
687
688
690
692
693
ERRATA TO VOL. II.
...
...
...
...
Page 1, line 5, for “ Vice-President” read “ Vice-Presidents.”
12 in note, for “ 1793" read "1797."
13, line 13, for 6 more” read “most."
18 13, for “ministers ” read “minister."
23 4 from bottom, for « 350 " read “750."
26 .. 2, for 6 waters ” read “water.”
27 4 from bottom, for sare" read “is."
55 1, for 6 systems ” read “ system."
65 lines 5 and 6, for 6 communication (for it has two mouths with
the Mersey,) read “communications (for it has two
mouths) with the Mersey."
92 ... 10, for one fourth” read " one seventh."
118 7 7, for “In the following year” read “ In the year 1801.”
... 130 1, for “ Mr” read “Mrs."
133 13, for “cannot” read " can now."
144 22, for more
"more" read "
149 7, for “ Review” read “ View."
7 from bottom, for “read” read " sent.”
16, after 6 endeavours” delete inverted commas.
... 231
231 .. 8 from bottom, for “report” read “reports.”
13, for 6 was " read “ were."
... 286 ... 8 from bottom, for 6 1801 ” read “ 1810."
304 7, for “ W. M. Davis" read “ Wm. Dayis."
347 14 from bottom, delete inverted commas after “ number.”
17, for · Morris" read “Norris."
... 362 After the bishops of both provinces apply the term “ V. P.” to
the succeeding ten names.
410, line 3 from bottom, for « wert” read 's have."
Passim, for “Marriot "read Marriott,"
“Walmesley" read “ Walmsley."
worse."
... 203
... 212
... 282
... 358
The author has to apologise for one or two letters being inserted in the
Correspondence to this volume, great part of which also appears in the
text. The error was not discovered until the sheets had been struck off.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
CHAPTER XIII.
Arrangements preliminary to Dr Bell's departure from India- Official and
other Testimonials_State of his Finances.
My father having brought the work down to this
point, it now becomes my duty to proceed in continu-
ation.
In consequence of what occurred at a meeting of the
president, vice-president, and directors of the Asylum,
the secretary drew up the following resolutions, request-
ing, in the note which accompanied them, to be informed
in what ship it might be Dr Bell's wish to proceed to
Europe :-
“Egmore, 13th January 1796.
“ The president, vice-presidents, and directors of the
Male Orphan Asylum, taking into consideration the
intimation received from the Rev. Dr Bell of his
intended departure for Europe, by which the institu-
VOL. II.
A
2
LIFE OF DR BELL,
tion will be deprived of the further benefit of his
immediate care and superintendence, do come to the
following resolutions :-
“ I. That, under the immediate care and superinten-
dence of the Rev. Dr Bell, and the wise and judicious
regulations which he has established for the education
of the boys, this institution has been brought to a
degree of perfection, and promising utility, far exceed-
ing what the most sanguine hopes could have suggested
at the time of its establishment: and
“ That, therefore, the Rev. Dr Bell is entitled to the
fullest approbation of this meeting for his zealous and
disinterested conduct in the execution of so difficult
a charge since the commencement of the school; and
that he be accordingly requested to accept their best
thanks, which the secretary is desired to communicate
to the Rev. Dr Bell.
“ II. Resolved, that the directors of this charity take
it upon themselves to provide a convenient
passage
for
Dr Bell to Europe, in any ship he may wish to go by.
-By order,
(Signed)
« FREDERICK PIERCE,
Acting Sec., M. 0. Asylum.”
The following were Dr Bell's replies, which were
sent to the directors:
To Captain Pierce, Acting Sec., M. 0. Asylum.
Sir,
“ The obliging manner in which you have trans-
mitted to me the resolutions of the president, vice-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
3
presidents, and directors of the Male Asylum, at the
general meeting of the 13th January 1796, has my
warmest acknowledgments; and I request you will,
in rèply, lay before them the accompanying letter.
“I shall have no occasion to trouble you in the affair
of my passage to Europe, as, with the deepest sense of
the honour done me, I do not conceive myself at liberty
to accept this very honourable testimony, which has
been awarded me, of the approval of my conduct in
the charge of this charity.--I am, Sir, your most obe-
dient servant,
(Signed) 66 A. BELL,
“Egmore, 18th January 1796."
To the Right Hon. the President, Vice-Presidents, and Directors of
the Male Asylum.
My Lord and Gentlemen,
“ Your sentiments of the services I have been
enabled to render in charge of the Male Asylum, as
expressed at the general meeting after the annual
examination of the school, in your resolutions of 13th
January 1796, and conveyed to me by the acting
secretary, Captain Pierce, are pleasing and grateful to
me beyond expression. A testimony of such high
authority, and in such flattering terms, supplies what.
ever was wanting to fill up the measure of my satis-
faction in the office I have so long discharged.
“ When I have contemplated the uniform progress of
the school, and seen the vices incident to the former
situations of these youths gradually vanishing, their
morals and conduct approaching nearer and nearer
every year to what I would have them to be, and the
4
LIFE OF DR BELL.
character of a race of children in a manner changed,
I could not help imagining at times, that I regarded
the work in which I had so earnestly engaged with
the fond partiality of a parent, who beholds in a
favourite child beauties and qualities which escape
every
other
eye. The opinion, now solemnly announ-
ced to me, of those who have the best access to know,
and are the best qualified to judge, removes from my
mind all distrust of this kind, and leaves my gratifica-
tion unalloyed by any other consideration than the
necessity of separating myself for a while from this
happy scene.
“But it is not the feelings of the heart which alone
speak on this occasion. My sincere acknowledgments
extend to the most important interests of the school
under your patronage. The attention you have shown
to every proposal for improving the health, the morals,
and the right education of these youths, and the coun-
tenance and support you have given to my unequal
exertions, have enabled me to overcome difficulties
under which I might otherwise have sunk; to sur-
mount obstacles which often impeded my progress ;
and to reach that goal, of which I was at times afraid
I should be constrained to stop short—the completion
of that system which, with your consent and approba-
tion, I endeavoured to establish.
“ The tender made to me, on the part of the direc-
tors, of their good offices in providing a convenient
passage for me to Europe, in any ship I may wish to
go by,' I esteem as a substantial proof of their good
wishes, and I should, if at liberty, be proud to accept
this kind ofter.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
5
“When, on the foundation of this institution, you con-
ferred on me the honour of superintending this semi-
nary, I entered upon the charge with the stipulation,
which
you then granted to my request, of declining the
salary you had proposed to annex to the office; and, as
I have never changed my opinion on that subject, I
hope for your further indulgence on this occasion, when,
with the deepest sense of the delicate and obliging
manner in which you have awarded to me a remune-
ration under another shape, I continue to decline the
acceptance, from this charity, of whatever I could con-
strue into a pecuniary emolument. The state of the
school, the flourishing condition of its funds, and the
sanction of your approbation, are the rewards of which
alone I am ambitious to boast.
“ May Almighty God long prosper your endeavours,
and render this seminary a public blessing, by training
up the rising generation to integrity and industry,
veracity and temperance, and by instilling into the
infant mind the purest principles of our holy religion,
the best friend of our happy constitution, and of the
good order, the peace, and the welfare of society! I
have the honour to be, my Lord and Gentlemen, with
the greatest respect and consideration, your most obe-
dient servant,
(Signed) 66 A. BELL.
« Egmore, 18th January 1796.”
The following letter from the Masters of the Asylum
will show their kind feelings towards Dr Bell, and the
high opinion they entertained of the system of educa-
tion which he had introduced :
J
6
LIFE OF DR BELL.
To the Rev. Dr Beti.
“ Reverend Sir,
We, the Masters of the Asylum, who have had
the honour of being under your direction during the
time we have been employed as teachers, being apprised
of the loss we must shortly sustain by your declining
the arduous task of the tuition of this school, which
you so long upheld by your indefatigable attention, in
establishing the gentle and pious order which now sub-
sists throughout the whole; we therefore most humbly
request, Reverend Sir, you will be pleased to accept
our most grateful acknowledgments for your unex-
ampled assiduity in promoting our welfare, as well as
that of the whole school.
“ We have the honour to be, Reverend Sir, your
most obedient, humble servants,
(Signed) “ F. JOHNSON, J. MACKAY,
R. TAYLOR, and J. BLOOD.
“ Male Asylum, 22d January 1796."
To this he returned the following answer :-
To Messrs F. Johnson, J. Mackay, R. Taylor, and J. Blood.
“ This free-will offering of the Masters of the Male
Asylum is the more welcome to Dr Bell, as it affords
him a proof that they consider their interest and hap-
piness intimately blended with the progress of the school
in good morals, good conduct, and right education; and
they may be assured that the continuance of such sen-
timents, and acting upon them, will, with the blessing
of God, which they will never cease to implore, insure
LIFE OF DR BELL.
7
the happiest consequences to this infant establishment,
I and recommend themselves to the directors of this
institution, and the future superintendent, better than
any words he may be able to employ.
“ Egmore, 22d January 1796."
At a subsequent meeting, held on the 1st of March,
the regulations of the Asylum were read over, together
with some amendments suggested by Dr Bell; and it
was then agreed that they should be circulated for the
consideration of the president, vice-presidents, and direc-
tors of the Asylum, which was accordingly done; the
secretary stating in the letter which accompanied them,
that Dr Bell had suggested “ that a revision of the
existing regulations of the institution was highly desir-
able, and much required;" and at a meeting held on
the 16th of April, a committee was appointed to ex-
amine them, consisting of Mr Cockburn, Lieutenant-
Colonels Sydenham and Close; and the rules, as revised
by them, were read at the general meeting held on the
16th of June, when it was resolved “that the same be
approved, recorded, and henceforth considered in force,"
as well as that printed copies should be distributed to
those immediately concerned with the management of
the institution, and to the officers in command of the
principal army stations.
There still remained an object to be accomplished
previous to Dr Bell's quitting India, which he had much
at heart. This was to embody the result of his labours
and experiments in a final and authentic account of his
new system of education, preparatory to drawing up
which, he put into Lord Hobart's hands some “Extracts
8
LIFE OF DR BELL.
from the reports of the Male Asylum,” accompanying
them with the following note :-
• February 7, 1796.
“ Dr Bell wishes to follow up these reports with
some account of a system altogether new, which he
hopes, for the sake of this charity, to see perpetuated
under his lordship’s sanction, and diffused abroad in
the world under his lordship’s patronage, for the benefit
of other institutions of a similar kind."
To this Lord Hobart replied:
February 10, 1796.
“ Lord Hobart presents his compliments to Dr Bell,
and has the pleasure to acquaint him that he has read
with much attention the Extracts from the reports of
the Male Asylum, which he transmitted to him, and is
of opinion that the system is so good, and so well cal-
culated to promote the purposes of education in general,
but more particularly in establishments similar to that
which has evidently derived such important advantages
from it, that he considers its promulgation to the public
might be attended with the most beneficial effects.”
Some time after this, " in compliance,” as he states
in one of his subsequent publications, “ with the direc-
tions of the committee appointed to reconsider the
regulations of the Asylum,” he drew up a compendium
of the annual reports, with a summary of his new mode
of instruction and discipline, “ for the guidance of his
colleagues, and also for a model for his successors in the
superintendence of the school,” that the new system
LIFE OF DR BELL.
9
might be perpetuated in a situation where it had been
attended with such signal success.
This final report was laid before a general meeting
of the president, vice-presidents, and directors of the
Asylum, (June 28, 1796,) at which Lord Hobart and
Dr Bell were present, when it was resolved “that this
report become a record of the institution.”
The time fixed for Dr Bell's departure was now fast
approaching; and at a meeting of the president and
directors of the select committee, (August 3,) he signi-
fied to them his desire to deliver over to Mr Kerr the
charge of the school; and a resolution was passed to the
effect, that that gentleman should accordingly enter upon
his duties whenever it might suit Dr Bell's convenience
to give them up to him. At this meeting they also
took into consideration a former resolution of the 13th
of January, by which they were empowered to make
arrangements with Dr Bell for procuring a schoolmaster
from England for the Asylum. These minutes ran
thus :
Being fully sensible how materially the future
welfare of the school of the institution may eventually
prove dependent on a fortunate choice in the present
instance of a person to fill that station, they resolve,
with a view of affording sufficient encouragement to
induce a person of unquestionable character, well edu-
cated, and possessing talents to qualify him for so
responsible a situation, to embark for India, and remain
in it for five years; that a salary of £200 per annum,
or 41 pagodas 28 fanums monthly, to commence on his
arrival, together with a sum not exceeding £120 to
equip himself for, and defray the expense of, a voyage to
this country, shall be allowed to such person ; and that
10
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the Rev. Dr Bell be desired, as soon as convenient after
his return to Britain, to use his endeavours to procure
a person of that description, and in case of success to
make known the circumstance to the court of directors,
with a request from the committee that the honourable
court may be pleased to order such person a passage in
one of the company's ships, and grant him permission to
remain in India so long as he shall continue connected
with theinstitution of the Military Male Orphan Asylum.”
And it was also determined that copies of these resolu-
tions should be sent to Dr Bell, to the government,
and to the honourable court of directors.
Shortly after this meeting, Dr Bell sent in the
following final letter of resignation:-
*
Egmore, 5th Aug. 1796.
My Lord and Gentlemen,
Having permission of government to return to
Europe on account of my health, and being about to
go on board one of the ships now under dispatch, I am
under the painful necessity of resigning my charge as
superintendent of the Male Asylum.
“ To leave a school to which I have so intimately
attached myself, and where I behold such a number of
regular, orderly, and well-behaved boys, in a manner
not to be credited before the event, is to me at once
* On the 13th of August Captain Pierce informed Dr Bell, by desire of
the committee, that a remittance of £220 was made from the funds of the
Asylum by the ships then under dispatch for England, in favour of Mr
David Scott, for the purpose of paying the costs (computed at near £100)
of an order for stationary and books about to be transmitted to that house,
and for advancing, at Dr Bell's direction, to the schoolmaster to be pro-
cured from Britain, the sum of £120 to defray the expense of the voyage
to India.
LIFE OF DR BELL
11
a cause of the deepest regret, and a source of the sin-
cerest consolation.
“ The support you have been pleased to give to the
measures I have taken for the advancement of this
school, and the honours you have so often conferred
on my endeavours, require my repeated acknowledg-
ments, and will command my perpetual remembrance.
-I have the honour to be, my Lord and Gentlemen,
with the greatest respect, your most obedient and very
humble servant,
“ A. BELL."
On the same day that this letter was written, Dr
Bell, in obedience to the orders of Lord Hobart, trans-
mitted to his lordship copies of the account of the Male
Asylum, to be forwarded to the honourable the court
of directors, the supreme government, and the govern-
ment of Bombay, which were immediately transmitted
to their respective destinations, accompanied by the
following circular, the tenor of which shows the high
opinion in which the government of Madras at that
time held the new system of tuition:-
To the Honourable Sir John Shore, Bart., Governor-General in
Council at Fort-William.
- Dated 6th of August 1796.
“ Honourable Sir,
“ The Military Male Orphan Asylum at Madras
having flourished under a system of tuition altogether
new, we are desirous of diffusing, especially in India,
the report of its progress and present state, and the
mode of teaching practised here, with a view to extend
any benefits which may arise from this system amongst
LIFE OF DR BELL.
prepared to leave
12
that class of children to whom it seems peculiarly
adapted.
“ We have, therefore, the honour of transmitting a
copy of the Rev. Dr Bell's last report of the school,
extracted from the records of the institution, which
we recommend as deserving the attention of those who
interest themselves in the education and welfare of the
rising generation.
“ We have the honour to be, with respect, honour-
able sir, your most obedient humble servants.
(Signed) “ HOBART, ALURED CLARKE,
“ EDWARD SAUNDERS, E. W. FALLOFIELD.'
To the court of directors they wrote as follows in a
general letter:-
“ 1796, Aug. 16, Para 23.
“In the list of persons permitted to proceed to
Europe on furlough, transmitted with our last address,
the name of the Rev. Dr Bell appears, who was said
to have received an advance of six months' chaplain's
pay. This gentleman not being
India at that time, drew nothing in advance,* but now
avails himself of the permission we then granted under
the orders of the supreme government.
“ We have often had occasion to notice the merito-
rious conduct of Dr Bell, in his management of the
school for male orphans, (of which he has had the
* The following appears among Dr Bell's memoranda on this
subject :-
6 23d of Feb, 1793.—Left with Mr Wright (of the accountant's office,)
Benjamin Roebuck's certificate of my having received in India no pay or
allowance as chaplain, subsequent to the 20th of August 1796, and gave
him my pay-bill to that effect.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
13
charge from its first institution to the present time,)
as well as in his general character, which has been at
all times exemplarily correct. And here we must
observe, that the extraordinary degree of success which
has attended the mode of education introduced by him,
has gone beyond all expectation, and does him the
highest credit. But this will be better known by a
reference to the papers, of which we have the honour
to send a number in the packet. And in recommend-
ing them to your consideration, and the author to your
favour, we do no more than common justice exacts
from us, and what, we are well assured, both will be
found more particularly to merit.”*
His private friends were also equally ready to bear
testimony to the success of his labours in the Asylum,
and to the powers of the system he had introduced
there. In a letter to Dr Bell, dated January, General
Floyd writes—“I greatly admire what you say of the
children being taught by one another. On this occa-
sion, the instructor gains no less than the instructed,
and it does you very great honour to have accomplished
it; and I hope it will not escape the observation of
more discerning and more important eyes than mine."
And again, in the following March, he writes,
“ I have been exceedingly gratified and instructed
by the extracts of your reports to the president, vice-
* On the subject of this letter the government secretary, Mr W. C.
Jackson, remarked as follows in a note to Dr Bell:-“ My dear Doctor,
see what I have said in the general letters. It will be a pleasure to me if
it be considered by you as 'multum in parvo.' The truth is, that in a
letter of this sort we must be brief; had it been otherwise, I think, nay I
am sure, I could have written volumes in commendation of a man whom
I so highly esteem, and who is so highly deserving the esteem of all.”
t
14
LIFE OF DR BELL.
presidents, &c., of the Asylurn, and your letter to
them, and the regulations--all of which do you the
highest honour, and place you very high among the
most useful members of society. Your happy exertions
for that establishment must afford you the truest of all
satisfaction--the consciousness of having laboured, and
succeeded.”
Mr Cockburn also writes as follows:-"Sure you
will
, my good friend, ever reflect with pleasure on that
part of your life spent amongst us.
spent amongst us. You leave a monu-
ment behind you, as honourable as I trust it will be
lasting, of
your
anxious and successful zeal in promo-
ting the good and happiness of mankind. You may be
assured the Male Asylum shall, as far as in my power,
be guarded against innovation.” Colonel Hall writes
more at length on the same subject.
name of
“Fort St George, 19th August 1796.
My dear Sir,
“I have been favoured with your very obliging
note of the 18th, containing acknowledgments, in the
your pupils, for my attention to their welfare
at the Male Asylum.
“In reply, I must confess to you, my dear sir, that
I never visited the Asylum without experiencing the
most lively sensations, to see such a number of youths
snatched, as it were, from perdition, and deriving the
greatest satisfaction in observing the care that is taken
for their instruction, to form their morals, and preserve
their health : and that each of these objects, in regard
to the boys, were equally the object of
your attention.
It is to be hoped that the excellent foundation you have
laid for the improvement of these poor orphans, will
LIFE OF DR BELL,
15
produce the advantages they so eminently merit, and
which
you
have ever been so studious to effect—that
is, to make your pupils good scholars and honest men;
that they may be useful to society, and a credit to the
seminary in which they were educated. This the
governors and directors of the Male Asylum have fully
and amply been convinced of, as the records will testify.
« God bless you, my dear sir! That you may long
enjoy health, and every good this world can afford, is
the wish of your sincerely devoted servant,
66 GEORGE HALL.”
your friends.
Mr Chamier, another friend of Dr Bell's, also writes
to the same effect. “It has not been my lot to possess
the means of rendering much service to my fellow-
creatures; but you have reared a
have reared a good work in this
settlement, and established your character in a manner
highly honourable to yourself, and pleasing to the nu-
merous circle of
“ I hope Mr Kerr will have the good sense to adhere,
in the strictest manner, to the arrangements which you
have made for the government of the Male Asylum :
indeed, it would be an act of great folly to alter a plan
which has been crowned with success. It is true, as the
poet says-“ O Imitatores-
"; but this ought not
to apply to such an establishment as you have formed.
I believe no one here wishes that any part of it should
be disturbed. I sincerely hope that your expectations
in Europe will be fully gratified, and am, with much
esteem_dear sir, your very devoted servant.”
After drawing up the report, Dr Bell appears to
have been 'anxious to receive the opinions of some of
16
LIFE OF DR BELL.
his private friends as to its merits or demerits. Among
others, he wrote thus to Mrs Floyd at Tritchinopoly,
a few days previous to his departure from India, on
enclosing a copy :-
“ I am afraid I have been constrained to betray a
vanity, which, under other circumstances, I would have
concealed. If you are honest, as I have ever believed
you to be, and will honestly tell me, by the first packet,
what your opinion is of my narrative, you will do me
an essential kindness. I should be also glad of the
General's opinion; but men do not deal with you so
honestly as women on such points.”
No answers to these letters appear to have been
received, nor indeed could any have reached Dr Bell
previous to his quitting Madras.
In transmitting a copy to another lady, Mrs Roe-
buck, he says—“Might I venture to request the favour
of you, if at leisure, to look at the accompanying paper,
and give me your real opinion of it. On such occa-
sions men are not so honest as women, and I cannot
trust them with the same confidence to tell me their
real sentiments; and I have no confidence at all in
myself on a subject where my partiality is so manifest.
I fear, too, that I am betrayed into a show of vanity,
which, under other circumstances than those under
which these papers were written, I would have better
concealed.”
To this he received the following answer :-“I re-
turn you, with many thanks, the manuscript you did
me the favour of sending me yesterday, which I have
perused with much pleasure and attention. It has
raised, if that was possible, my admiration of
admiration of your zeal
and abilities in having brought this charitable and use-
LIFE OF DR BELI.
17
you find
ful institution to such a height of perfection. The pub-
lic voice will ever honour you, while the approbation
of your own heart will compensate the toil of so
many years bestowed so successfully on this humane
work.”
In forwarding a copy of the report to Sir John
Murray, at Calcutta, previous to sending one to the
government, Dr Bell evidently was desirous to pro-
cure, if possible, the introduction of his new system
into the Orphan House there. “I conceive,” he says,
“ I cannot put these papers into better hands, as Į
know, if you
any thing in them worthy of use, you
will be at pains to put them into such a train that the
proper use may be made of them;” and he goes on to
say, “ that he had only sketched out the outline of his
system,” and expressed his readiness to afford
any
fur-
ther information that might be desirable respecting the
details of it.
Dr Bell, it appears, had formerly been elected a
member of the Asiatic Society: he does not, however,
seem to have taken any active part in their proceedings;
and to this, in his letter to Sir John Murray, he thus
alludes :-“ However unworthy a member I may
have
been of your society, I have not been an idle one. If
you think this Essay, or any part of it, worth their
attention, you have my leave to make such use of it
as
you may see proper. Lord Hobart has ordered
copies of it to be prepared, that he may forward them
to the court of directors, to the supreme government,
and to Bombay. Will you have the goodness. to
mention this to Sir John Shore, and to present to him
my sentiments of the highest respect and estimation of
his character."
VOL, II.
B
18
LIFE OF DR BELL,
To this letter Dr Bell received the following
answer :
“ Calcutta, 3d Sept. 1796.
“ Dear Sir,
Though I expect to follow you soon to England,
I think it proper to thank you for the very interesting
communication received with your favour of the 28th
of July, which only reached me three days ago. The
best use I could make of it was to circulate it for the
notice of the managers of the Military Orphan Society
here, which I have done; and I doubt not that it will
afford them satisfaction, as it has done to me. I have
proposed that copies be prepared for each of the schools,
and I am persuaded that much good will result. The
credit that you have derived from your exertions in
that charitable and useful work, will be a great source
of lasting comfort to you."
“ We beg
That Dr Bell had likewise zealously discharged
his ministerial functions while he was so laboriously
employed in the Asylum, is fully. manifested by the
testimony of the ministers and churchwardens. In
answer to a letter from Dr Bell, after some preliminary
observations and expressions of regret on the cause
which obliged him to leave India, they say,
leave to express the very high sense we shall ever
retain of your conduct and attention during the period
you
have officiated as one of the ministers of this
parish, and chaplain of Fort St George, and remain,
with the highest esteem, Sir, your obedient and humble
servants,
“ RICHARD LESLIE, Chaplain,
“W. ABBOT, Senior Churchwarden,
65 Chas. BAKER, Junior Churchwarden."
LIFE OF DR BELL.
19
It will be proper to conclude the details of Dr Bell's
Indian career with a brief account of the state of his
finances at this time, the rapidity with which he had
accumulated money being almost unparalleled under his
circumstances.
It is not easy to state precisely what his annual in-
come was; some approximation, however, may be made
to it by the following calculation drawn from his Indian
account-books.
The chaplainship of the 4th regiment of European
infantry was of considerable value. The first year it
produced about 1186 pags., the second 1127. The
two next years together it seems only to have reached
to 1222 pags. The following two years and two months
it amounted to 1304 pags., which, ending in August
1793, was the period when some alterations in the
arrangements took place. Taking these together,
during these six years and two months, the emoluments
would average nearly 800 pags. a-year.
The chaplainship of the army was much more lucra-
tive. From the time of his appointment in July 1789,
till August 1793, the emoluments, including pay, batta,
allowance, subsistence, and house rent, amounted to
upwards of 1800 pags. a-year, if all the items here
enumerated belonged to that office.
From this period (August 1793, when some altera-
tions were made) the substituted salaries appear to
have stood thus :-150 pags. a-month as junior chap-
lain, 25 pags. a-month for the superintendence of the
undertaker's office, and about 26 pags. a-month for
subsistence and house rent, making about 201 pags.
a-month, being 2412 pags. a-year. His emoluments
reached this amount during the remainder of 1793 and
1794 ; but as the charge of the undertaker's office was
20
LIFE OF DR BELL.
then resigned, this income was reduced by 300 pags.
a-year. Accordingly, he received for the next year
2113 pags., and from January to August 1796, 1445
pags., which would give an average of about 2200
during the last three years.
His salary as minister of St Mary's, from his
appointment in 1789 till the time of his leaving India,
was 500 pags. a-year.
Of the income derived from his deputy-chaplainships,
that attached to the 19th light dragoons was the most
lucrative. It appears to have averaged upwards of
500 pags. a-year; perhaps, taking one year with another, ,
it reached 550 pags.
The income from the other three deputy-chaplain-
ships was but small in comparison. They averaged
about 150 pags. a-year each, or, taken together, above
450 pags. There are also sums amounting to 584
pags. mentioned in 1794-5, under the head of “ “ depu-
ty's account,” but what they belong to is not known.
Besides these sources there were the “ marriages,
baptisms, funerals, and monumental fees,” producing
on an average about 400 pags. a-year.
Upon the whole, his income appears to have averaged,
during the nine years he resided in India, nearly 4000
pags. a-year, which would amount to £1600 annually,
There are also set down in his account-books during
the years 1789, 1790, 1791, and 1792, sums amount-
ing to about 2878 pags. as received from Sackville,
&c., probably connected in some way with the under-
taker's office, but this cannot be all profit. Nor is it
known what these sums arise from. On the 31st of
Dec. 1795, when he supposed that he was about to
quit India, there is likewise set down as received for
LIFE OF DR BELL.
2.1
£.
S.
d.
" stock, box of furniture, outstanding debts, &c.,” the
sum of 1895 pags.
His lectures at Madras and Calcutta produced him
not less than 3329 pags. The interest of his money,
as it was laid out in the stocks, was the chief remain-
ing source of emolument, which was considerable, as
the interest was high.
His own account of the state of his finances, 20th
August 1796, on the eve of his departure from India,
is as follows:
Pagodas.
“ Remitted through the court
of directors in navy bills, or
otherwise,
9675 0 0
« Nabob's new consolidated debt,
principal, 15th July 1796, . 17,138
Interest,
2,122
« At 8s. per pagoda,
19,260 7,704 0 0
“ Grand total, 20th Aug. 1796, 17,379 0 0
“ Deduct Daly and Cockburn,
about
853 341 0 0
“ 20th Aug. 1796, balance,
£17,038 0.0"
The Indian remittances, it appears, were not all
completed until about 1800, in which year he thus
sums up his finances :-
“Cons. 3 per cents £1,914 18 O cost £1,800 0 0
“ £1,800 brought from India,
and remittances,
16,645 16 5
18,445 16 5
“ Beckshaw remittances, £5,890,
£1,600,
7,490 00
£25,935 16 5"
22
LIFE OF DR BELI
CHAPTER XIV.
Dr Bell's Journal of his Voyage homem-Arrival in England.
The time for Dr Bell's departure had now arrived, and
he accordingly went on board the Earl Fitzwilliam,
(Captain Tweedale,) which was to sail early on the
next morning. Of the voyage he kept a short journal,
from which the following are extracts :
“ August 19.-General Clark desires me to wait on
the Bishop of London* with his compliments; and, as
he interests himself so much in the instruction of children,
to present him with my account of the system of the
Male Asylum.
“ 20th.—Sailed early in the morning.
“ 21st.—The Carysford came down to inform us
that six French frigates were off Ceylon; and that she
had taken a sloop belonging to that fleet, and sent her
into-Madras roads. We returned; but by ill manage-
ment in 'not bearing up at first, missed the roads, and
anchored near Policete, too near the shore.
“ 22d.-- Bore up, and anchored in sight of the
Madras roads.
“ 23.-At one in the morning the Carysford sent
her boat on board of the commodore, the Wycombe,
Captain Wood, and ordered his sailing, which he did
almost easterly. The Henry Dundas was the other
* Porteus.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
23
ship in company. Captain Gardener, of the Heroine,
was to have been our convoy, and had gone to Trin-
comalee with troops, where we were to have found
him.
“ 24th.—Sailing easterly, and E.S.E. Mr Gar-
dener and Mr Adderley left the Dundas in the accom-
modation boat on the 22d, at night-10 o'clock.
Major Mandeville of the artillery also returned to
Madras, on our going up to Ceylon, for which he was
bound. Lieutenant F. Russell had no opportunity of
returning, and found himself, on the morning of the
23d, on the way to Europe instead of Ceylon, on board
our ship.
“ By sailing easterly at first, with a view to escape
the French frigates, of which accounts had just reached
Madras the night of our reaching the roads, we had
the monson (S.W.) very unfavourably, and a great
deal of squally, rainy weather, far more boisterous than
we expected, and once, at least, a calm, till we reached
within three degrees of the line (as we call it) on the
4th of September.
“ Sept. 15.—After calms and baffling winds, cross-
ed the line. Long. 94–44.
“ 18th.—Met with a fine strong S.E. trade, and
have since met with much rain and bad weather for the
poor sailors, till the 26th, when we had fine settled wea-
ther, and the pleasantest sailing as soon as the sea fell.
The thermometer has never been more than 86° or
87°, in common about 81° or 82°, till this day, when
it fell to 35°, and on the 27th was at 73° and 74°, when
it was very cool at night shut up close in cabin.
“ 28th.-Captain Neilson died on the - having
never recovered of his liver complaint, for which he
24
LIFE OF DR BELL.
had embarked for Europe, fúll of the honours he had
acquired, and the expectations he had entertained of
the reward due to his meritorious services in bringing
the cochineal froin Rio de Janeiro to Bengal and
Madras, and sending it to the Cape of Good Hope and
St Helena.
“ At five this evening Mrs Wynch, sitting at her
table writing, felt an agitation of the ship so unusual,
that she called the colonel, who was asleep, saying that
something must be the matter with the ship. At this
moment, in speaking the commodore, the ships had
approached alongside, and the driver boom of the
Wycombe had advanced into our ship a good way by
the side of the mainsail before, when luckily the helms
took effect, and the two ships receded, like two mag-
nets swimming in quicksilver, with their opposite poles
approached. Had either ship sailed faster than the
other, or had the effect of the helms been a few seconds
later, some damage must have happened. The sensa-
tion which Mrs Wynch felt, must have been owing to
the boom touching one of the ropes of our ship, or
vice versa. This will be a warning to the captains to
listen to the prudent cautions so often administered to
them by the colonel, to beware of approaching one
another so often; and in this view it is a lucky hit, or
rather miss.
“ Nov. 4.-Landed at the Cape of Good Hope.
« 3d.—Made a fruitless attempt to get on the
anchoring ground by tacking, and then put up a fore-
sail yard, when next morning we made a good berth.
Captain Grant and Mr Gordon came on board at two,
and informed me of Mrs Cockburn's being at the
Cape, and desiring that I should be at the same lodg-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
25
ings with her ;-landed in the afternoon-found the
place overstocked with strangers.
“ 5th.-Took up my abode at Mr Gee's, where was
Mrs Cockburn-encountered many old acquaintances.
“ 10th.—Began to read French with M. St Aigran,
who is a modest, genteel, and agreeable Frenchman, and
who went round the world with the Experience and
Research in quest of Monsieur Piroult, who is lost: and
has been eighteen months here expecting an account of
bis friends in France. They went to New Holland,
thence to the great South Sea; and having visited all
the islands in vain, returned to Batavia, where the
vessels were left.
“ 11th.--Very remarkable are the number of fine
large bullocks in a waggon. Sixteen I have seen carry-
ing two hogsheads; we see frequently twelve in hand
and the driver asleep; also eight horses in hand is
usual. It is wonderful how nicely the horses are
matched.
“13th.—Dined with General Craig, commander-in-
chief. Commodore Pringle there, Major Parkhill, &c.
&c. &c.
“ 14th.-Went up the Table-land, a most extraordi-
nary height above the sea—3460 feet, measured by De
la Caille, Topping, &c. The former gives 1200 yards,
the latter 1240. The fissure, the springs, the drop-
pings from over the rocks in different places, the dif-
ferent flowers in the way, the moss over the table soft
and moist as a sponge, owing to the very frequent
clouds which cover the mountain when all is clear
around, and in the very springs of these mountains.
The Table-land, the Sugar-loaf, the Lion's Rump, the
tops of these are enveloped in clouds, which they seem
26
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to attract from every part of the sky. The cavities of
the rocks on the tops were filled with waters. These
mountains serve as a barometer, and the smoke on the
top indicates a north-easter, &c.
“ 15th.--Went to Constantia.
“ A small silver bucket appended by two springs to
the mouth of a tea-pot, and perforated so that the tea
passes through the apertures, and deposits the leaves in
the bucket—a good contrivance.
“ This is a beautiful town all the houses white-
washed on the outside-said to be of stone below, and
for a few feet, and above of brick. The Calvinistic
church, where we have been, handsome and decent-
the candlestick and the sand-glass like a Presbyterian
church.
“ The garden houses most beautiful. Went to a
garden, where is the fountain, cool, clear, and pure as
crystal, whence the water is conveyed in pipes to the
town and wharf, and to a pump in every yard. Mr
F-'s, where is also a fountain and clear water spring
-Mr De Witt's garden, most beautiful, and elegant,
and artificial.-Mr Brida’s large garden, which supplies
the town with fruits and vegetables.—strawberries most
abundant—oranges and apricots not yet ripe.
“ 20th.-Embarked in the morning.
“ 22d.—Sailed at mid-day.
6 23d.-Saw Table-land mountain at seventeen
leagues distance, at 8 o'clock, A.M.
“ Déc. 2.—Passed through a thick surface, of about
a mile in length and half a mile in breadth, between
5 and 6 A.M. In walking the decks, the buckets were
found full of the spawns of fish-a transparent, viscid,
oblong substance, with a large dark speck for the head.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
27
Among them are some small ones, which, in motion,
are as light as the fire-fly. The animalcules of half an
inch in length, and of the same circumference, seem to
move at different heights in the water; but, when left
alone, conglomerate at the bottom of the bucket. This
seems to solve the phenomena of breakers, seen oftener
than once in the night of late, which can be nothing
else but these spawns giving electrical light in the nights,
which produced the luminous appearance.
These
spawns or fishes dart about in all directions. The
viscid skin, when washed, gives out a moisture like
water, and leaves only a thin skin. Some of the largest
have proboscises. I put several of them in a tumbler
of salt water, but they all died at night
6.Dec. 5.-Saw St Helena at half-past 4 A.m., and
lay by at 8; when the commodore sent a boat on
shore.
“ 6th.–Landed, and lodged with Miss Griffiths, and
boarded with Captain Griefstnal, with Colonel and
Mrs Wynch, Mr Brown, chief supercargo, Captains
Marjoribanks and Foy; and Captain Parks, our fellow
passenger.
66 7th.----Breakfasted at the Rev. Mr Wilson's coun-
try house. Visited the governor's (Colonel Brooks)
garden, &c. &c.; and Sandy Bay, a curious and novel
scene—an assemblage of hills, dales, valleys, rocks, and
stones; four or more upright stones are called Lot, his
wife and family. The country houses are beautifully
interspersed on the sides of the mountains. Mr Dove-
ton's are remarkably beautiful—Diana's Peak; whence
we beheld Sandy Bay, the highest point in the island-
Ladder Hill, only 600 feet high. The whole island,
consisting of fused and melted stone, clearly shows an
28
LIFE OF DR BELL.
eruption. The batteries on the sides of the rocks---
the Hill fort, (High Knowl)—a useless and wild scheme,
without provisions, water, &c. The island strong by
nature ....-The surf at the valley troublesome .
“ 9th. The want of water and rain is a sore evil in
this island. Since 1790 there has been a great failure
in the springs, and there was a severe drought for two
years. Corn has grown here, but failed in the end ;
also caterpillars, worms, insects, field-rats, and mice are
fatal. Trees planted again and again from seed and
suckers fail. The crops of potatoes, which are most
excellent, would be thrice-a-year with plenty of water,
but one or more often fail. Eat conger eels at the
governor's garden—a rich fish. Bullocks and potatoes
seem the principal staple. No corn whatever raised
on the island-Peaches abundant at one time; but
destroyed by caterpillars, which, as well as the droughts,
prove fatal to many trees
“ Embarked, after spending four days on shore; two
in the country and two in the valley; one at Mr Wil-
son's, the other at the governor's garden, with a select
party, given by Mr Brooks.
Sunday the 11th.Weighed in the morning, and
soon found that the China fleet, and other convoy,
sailed in general much worse than we did --in all,
nineteen ships in the fleet. The thermometer at St
Helena about 76°, and varied little.
6 18th.- Passed Ascension Island to the west, and
saw many sea-fowls; probably we should have seen the
island, if it had been daylight, at an early hour in the
morning.
* 19th.—A flying fish fell on deck.
“ 20th.---Larger fish or spawn than I have described
LIFE OF DR BELL,
29
before, of a cylindrical form, open at both ends, which,
as they swam either way, had the appearance of mouths
--a speck at one end, of a dark hue and thick consis-
tency. The thin substance of the cylinder is quite
transparent and soft, entirely hollow within. When
taken out of the water the hollow almost disappears,
and the animal contracts its size, and returns on being
put into the water. They died when kept half a day
in a bottle, as the former, of which they may be a spe-
cies, or the same in a more advanced state.
“6 21st.-A great number of flying fish pursued by
dolphins.
The weather quite temperate; the
thermometer never so high as 80° from St Helena,
where its utmost height is about 82º.
“ 23d.-Crossed the line. Thermometer at 79°,
noon, the highest it has been since the Cape. Lat.
15° N., long. 21° W. Sailing most delightful all the
way
from the Cape.
“ 25th.—Christmas-day. Prayers and sermon-
• Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou
find out the Almighty unto perfection ?'—Job xi. 7.
“ 27th.—The weather has been hotter, and, the
wind less, for some days past. Thermometer at 83º;
lat. 5° 14".
“28th. The sea luminous, as agitated by a ship; to
a very high degree all night long—Lightning all night.
Took up a bucket of water, and found it highly lumi-
nous when agitated. Saw distinctly the fiery particles,
and poured them on the deck, where they shone for
some time as well as in your hand-put the water in
a tumbler this morning, but did not exactly discern
what the particles were which gave light,
“ 31st.–The sea luminous again last night-took up
.
30
LIFE OF DR BELL.
a bucket of the water, and again spilt the water on deck,
and saw the fiery particles, which, on taking them up
in
your
hand out of the water, slipt over it every way.
Poured the water through a linen handkerchief into a
tumbler, and found the fiery particles did not go through, ,
and that the water lost its luminosity—the light particles
being now on the top of the handkerchief. The sky
one while cloudy, thunder and lightning, and one while
clear, and no appearance of lightning, when these expe-
riments were made.
“ 1797, Jan. 3d.—Flying fish to-day much smaller
than before—the water as luminous as ever last night;
but when examined, shows no signs of spawn, or what-
ever is the cause of the luminosity. I poured it through
a cloth, and examined the cloth with a microscope and
telescopic tube; but could not ascertain what it was
which was luminous on the cloth in the night, and did
not pass through it with the water.......
“ 11th.— These two days past the sea-weed, called
gulf-weed, said to be from the Gulf of Mexico, has
been seen passing the ship. To-day, a piece is taken
with fine ramifications and berries, which are round,
and empty in the middle. This weed is a yellow green
colour.
“ 14th.-Calm for the first time since we left St
Helena—the gulf-weed taken up, covered with small
crabs and little fish, which examined seem shrimps.
Some of the weeds have an incipient petrifaction like
coral the crabs on the weed seemed alive in a tumbler
of salt-water more than two days.
“ 17th.—Yesterday. Captain Walker, our commo-
dore, spoke an American ship, and sent us word to-day
that there was a Spanish war !
LIFE OF DR BELL.
31
“ 30th.-Lost two days ago, in a gale of wind, the
Three Sisters, Ameliabourg, Brunswick, and Harriot ;
and this morning, after a moderate night, three ships
parted, but rejoined.
“ Feb. 1st.--Got soundings.
“2d.—Landed Purser-Major Macdonald, Mr Wal-
cot, &c., at Dartmouth, and sent a letter to Jessy.
“ 3d.---Landed Colonel and Mrs Wynch, Captain
Parks, Mr Stale, and Mr Rowles at Portsmouth, which
opportunity I missed, not being ready.
“ 4th.Calm in the morning—contrary winds.
66 5th.-Went back to Portsmouth, and landed there.
Saw the dockyard, fortifications, &c., and spent next
day; and on the 7th arrived in London. Prince of
Wales' Coffee-House, Conduit Street—having set out
at 8 o'clock in the morning from Portsmouth—72 miles
at 7 o'clock in the evening-Post coach, 28s.
*11th.-Dined with Lady Dacre, Mr, Mrs, and
Miss Pelham, a beautiful girl ; Mrs Munster Bos-
"
cawen, &c.”
32
LIFE OF DR BELL.
:
CHAPTER XV:
Dr Bell in London—Transactions with the East India Company-Publication
of the Madras Report-Revisits Scotland-Selection of a Master for the
Madras Asylum.
MR DEMPSTER had first heard of Dr Bell's arrival in
England by the public papers, which, he says, in writ-
ing to congratulate him, gave him great pleasure ; and
added—“ I hope you will soon come to Scotland, where
we shall expect to see you at Skibo. I think
you
will
be quite in love with this place. I dare say you will
buy land with your money : with a part of it you
cannot do better. First, when you buy land, more than
3 per cent. cannot be expected; bụt in a very few
years you will get great interest, if the French don't
take the country from us. The next best security is to
lend your money on land in Scotland. However, all
the people you meet with in London will advise you to
try the stocks.”
Mr Dempster must, however, immediately have re-
ceived a letter from Dr Bell himself; for on the follow-
ing day he writes to him, thanking him for announcing
his return, and adds—“ Promise to consult me before
you buy an estate, as I am a doctor about land.”
Soon after his arrival in London, he took up his
abode at Mr M‘Taggart's, who was one of his earliest
friends, and had accompanied him to America. He
LIFE OF DR BELL.
33
found him married to an English lady, possessing a
handsome fortune. “ From his family,” he says, in
writing to General Floyd, “and the families of his
wife's sisters, I enjoyed, during my stay in England,
the happiest society at their town and country houses,
and in some measure I had the command of their car-
riages, horses, &c. Never was I so charmed with an
English spring. Scotland has no spring: and the daugh-
ters of the spring were so enchanting. But I begin to
fear my susceptibility of beauty is not so quick as it has
been. Many of my old friends," he adds, “I met in
London ; several of them I was much with, and many
more I did not and could not visit. Your introduction
to Mr Johnson was a lucky hit for me, as it
gave me
the means of communication with the India House,
and I have this favour, among the many more impor-
tant obligations I owe to you, to acknowledge.”
Dr Bell had lost no time in communicating with the
India House, having on the day after his arrival written
to Mr Ramsay, the secretary, requesting him to ac-
quaint the directors that he had returned to England
for the recovery of his health, and that, as soon as this
was re-established, he should request permission to
return to his duties, without prejudice to his rank and
station in the service.
It seems, however, that, on further consideration, he
abandoned all idea of returning to India, fearing again
to encounter a climate which, he says, “ had proved
altogether uncongenial to his constitution;" and having
come to this determination, he began at once to take
measures for securing a retiring allowance from the
East India Company, making application at the same
time for permission from the directors to publish the
VOL. II.
C
34
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ Report of the Asylum,” which he was most anxious
to bring before the notice of the English public. He
appears first of all to have consulted Mr David Scott,
the chairman, and to have written to Mr Dempster to
request his interest with him, from whom, however, he
received but little encouragement. “ I have as little
interest,” he says in reply to this application, " as you
with Mr Scott. The very little I have, I would rather
reserve to help the helpless, than in adding more rupees
to the enormous heap you have brought home with
you.” Nothing daunted by this, he proceeded to draw
up a memorial addressed to the court of directors,
which he enclosed to Mr Scott for his approval, telling
him at the same time, that he had received permission
from Mr Inglis (one of the directors) to print copies
of the report.
This memorial, which was drawn up at great length,
set forth in strong colours the extraordinary success
which had attended his labours in the Asylum, and
stated that this success was, “ by the government of
Madras and the directors of the Asylum,” entirely
ascribed to the new system of education he had intro-
duced there, and to the disinterested conduct he had
shown in refusing, while so employed, to accept any
salary or remuneration; and also in having declined all
private tuition, which had been much pressed on him
by his friends. He stated also, that when Mr Kerr
succeeded to the charge of the Asylum, a salary of 140
pagodas a month was assigned him, * and “ that the
amount of this salary, together with the interest on the
* At this rate, the sacrifice which Dr Bell had made would amount to
upwards of 16,900 pagodas, or about £6700.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
35
parts of it as they fell due, was the sum which the Asylum
had benefited by what he had given up.” He further
gave as his reason for now coming forward to request
what he had for so many years declined, that he con-
sidered, while actually in charge of the Asylum, that his
influence would be increased, and his endeavours to
introduce a new mode of education assisted, by his
gratuitously performing the duties of his office; and
that another consideration which at that time operated
powerfully on his mind was, that his salary must have
been deducted from funds applied to the use of orphans
and other destitute persons, whereas now no additional
expense would be incurred, since the number of the
chaplains at Fort St George was reduced to two, and
there was, consequently, a retrenchment of the salary.
of one chaplain.
After presenting the memorial, Dr Bell proceeded
without loss of time with the printing of the report,
that it might be ready for private distribution or publi-
cation, as might be afterwards determined upon; and
from an entry in his account-book, it seems that 1000
copies were ready before the 22d of April. This
pamphlet contained merely the report, with an appen-
dix containing the resolutions and correspondence which
took place after his resignation. In the following month
it was thus noticed in a publication, entitled “ Plans for
the defence of Great Britain and Ireland, by Lieutenant-
General Dirom:"_“The Male Asylum was, from the
time of its institution till last year, under the charge of
the Rev. Dr Bell, who declined receiving either salary
or emolument for his trouble. It has succeeded beyond
his most sanguine expectations, and has afforded an
..
36
LIFE OF. DR BELL.
opportunity for a learned and ingenious man to intro-
duce a new mode of teaching and regulation, which he
has lately communicated to the public, and which will
probably be found to suggest some great improvement
in the discipline of schools.”
In the following July he received an answer to the
memorial he had sent to the court of directors, stating
that, “having referred to the repeated testimonies of
the Madras government in approbation of his conduct
during the period of his superintendence of the Male
Asylum at Madras,” they had resolved to allow him a
pension of £200 per annum ; but that, if his health
should permit of his returning to his duties as chaplain
at Fort St George, and he should obtain leave to return,
this pension should cease.
To this letter he returned his acknowledgments, but
without expressing any intention of returning to India ;
in fact, as has been said, he had entirely changed his mind
on the subject, fearing the effect of a return to a climate
which had latterly seriously affected his health. Shortly
after this he quitted London for Scotland, on a visit to
Colonel Dirom at Mount Annan, where he arrived
on the 18th, and left it on the following day for Edin-
burgh. About that time he visited the Lanark Mills,
with which he was much pleased, and shortly after
wrote as follows to Mr Dale the proprietor, enclosing
a copy of the Madras report; evidently with the hope
of his new system of education being introduced into
that establishment.
*. Since the property of the notorious socialist, Mr Owen.
LIFE OF DR BELL,
37.
;
* 18, Great George Street, Edinburgh,
August 10, 1797.
« Sir,
“ About a fortnight ago I had the pleasure of
seeing your works at the Lanark Mills, and was gra-
tified by the sight beyond description. This is real
science. Here is practical philosophy diffusing its im-
mense blessings far and wide. Yours are Christian
works, and cannot fail to attach the mind of every good
man, and deeply touch every generous heart. In the
midst of the happy scene, I felt no regret but thật I
missed the satisfaction of seeing there the person to
whose head and heart the country round are so deeply
indebted. But I hope for some future occasion of pay-
ing my personal respects to such a character as that of
David Dale. Meanwhile I beg leave to present to you
a small essay, which I
which I request you will đo me the hon-
our of looking into, when at leisure from your impor-
tant avocations. If it contain any hint which
consider useful in the management of such a family of
children as yours—an object to which, you will notice,
I have given up much of my mind and time—it will
add to the satisfaction I feel in having spent so many
years in this occupation. I am, sir, with much esteem,
your most obedient servant,
« A. BELL."
you shall
Although so many copies of his pamphlet had been
printed, Dr Bell had hitherto been undecided as to its
publication. He had written to Principal M-Cormick
of St Andrews on this subject, from whom he received
the following gratifying answer :-
38
LIFE OF DR BELL.
your natale
" St Andrews, August 29, 1797.
66 Dear Sir,
“ I have to return you my own warmest thanks,
and those of my nephews, for your flattering remem-
brance of us, after so long an absence from
solium. What you call your A B C specimens of your
industry in India, does you great credit, and reflects
honour on your Alma Mater.
Alma Mater. You have hit
You have hit upon the
best method of instructing young persons of the de-
scription of your pupils in the first principles of science;
and I am convinced it would answer equally well upon
a larger scale.
“ I have no great hopes of the success of certain
plans for the conversion of Gentoos; but if even the
well-meaning but ill-judging patrons of such plans
bring them to bear, it must be by adopting your system
of A B C education. To attempt to teach Chris-
tianity to the natives of Bengal by preaching its doc-
trines slap-dash, without any previous knowledge of our
language, manners, and customs, is driving the plough
before the oxen.
“I shall long to see your intended publication, which
I doubt not will produce both honour and profit, and
(what you esteem far preferable to both) will contribute
to diffuse the blessings of knowledge, virtue, and reli-
gion amongst the inhabitants of that distant region.
“ Meanwhile, I hope you will not suffer your appli-
cation to this or any other pursuit to make you neglect
your old friends. You certainly mean to visit this part
of the world soon; and if you can dispense with the
luxuries of Asia, and put up with Fife kail and Scotch
hotch-potch, you will find a hearty welcome, which is
LIFE OF DR BELL.
39
better than good cheer, under the roof of your old
friend."
1
In replying to this letter, Dr Bell expressed his
agreement with the opinions contained therein, on the
difficulty of introducing Christianity among the Hin-
doos-a task which he appears to have considered more
hopeless than subsequent experience has proved it to
be. “ No apostles,” he says,
,
« who do not carry
with
them the gifts of their original predecessors, especially
the power of working miracles, can ever throw down
the barriers which enclose their sacred shrines, or gain
any converts whom a rational divine or pious Chris-
tian, who sets any value on a good life, would not blush
to own. My pupils, (for every man reserves a loop-
hole for himself,)” he adds,“ are not of this descrip-
tion. The sons of European fathers, whether them-
selves born in Europe, America, Africa, or Asia, re-
garded by the native Indians as the outcasts of society,
as, by birth, incapable of any religious sentiment or
impression, and prohibited from approaching the altars
of their gods, which their presence or touch would
desecrate and pollute, they must be assigned over to
ignorance and vice, misery and slavery, but for our
timely interference and provision.”
Dr Bell had now finally determined on publishing
the report, which he entitled “ An Experiment in
Education, made at the Male Asylum at Madras, sug-
gesting a System by which a School or Family may
teach itself under the Superintendence of the Master
or Parent,” and had made considerable additions to it,
containing the correspondence and resolutions which
had been passed in India concerning the Asylum. He
40
LIFE OF DR BELL.
he says,
also determined on dedicating it to the East India
Company, to the president of Fort St George, and to
the directors of the Madras Asylum. In his preface,
«« The experiment thus made at Madras has
appeared to those who have witnessed the result, con-
vincing and decisive in regard to charitable establish-
ments; and the plan of education there adopted has,
after the experience of several years, been, by those
whose opinions are likely to have the greatest weight,
recommended to similar establishments. How far such
a system will apply to education in general, may be
inferred from the tenor of the following report. That
further and similar trials may be made, and the suc-
cess in every instance ascertained by experience, is the
aim of this publication.”
Anxious as Dr Bell had now become for the publica-
tion of this report, he did not anticipate its obtaining
a rapid sale, or attracting at first general attention.
“ These 830 copies,” he says in his letter of instructions
to Mr Bensley the printer, “will
, I apprehend, be a great
deal more than sufficient for an edition; for I imagine
that such an humble publication will produce little
attention, less credit, and far less profit. But, on the
other hand, should this by any chance attract notice
and sell, I shall publish another edition in such a form
as shall be most eligible;” and he adds in another letter
_“I desire that so humble an essay may not be adver-
tised in the London newspapers oftener that thrice in
all, viz.monce in the Times, 23d October; once in the
Sun, 30th October; once in the Star, 6th Novem-
ber.”
Mr Bensley, as appears from one of his letters,
had been struck with the novelty and utility of the sys-
tem of education developed in the report.
“I cannot
LIFE OF DR BELL.
41
help saying,” he writes, “ that after perusing your new
method of instruction, I secretly wished you
had been
inclined to institute a seminary upon a similar plan
near the metropolis, that my little boy might have had
the advantage of such a plan, far preferable in my
opinion to the old one.”
Professor Hill also wrote to him in commendation of
the additions he had made. “I am much pleased,”
says he, “with the preliminary part of what you mo-
destly call your alphabet. An introduction of some
kind, as you observe, was absolutely necessary; and
nothing could serve that purpose better than the strong
attestation of the merit and success of your plan,
which have been given by gentlemen every way quali-
fied to judge of the praises which your exertions
deserve.”
It is not to be inferred from Dr Bell's previously hesi-
tating to publish this report, that he was not at that time
aware of the inherent powers of the system he had dis-
.covered, or the important objects to which it was ca-
pable of being directed. It has, indeed, been asserted,
that until Mr Lancaster took up the subject, and
brought it into general notice, Dr Bell had given up
the cause as hopeless. This, however, was far from
being the case. No man was ever more sensible of
the value of his own discovery than he was; and his
hesitation seems to have arisen chiefly from his doubt-
ing whether the period had arrived when it would meet
with due attention. Its ultimate success he never doubt-
ed. “I have printed my essay,” he says, in a letter
to General Floyd, “on the mode of teaching at the
Male Asylum, and have now a design of publishing
it. By the end of next century I hope it will be gene-
42
LIFE OF DR BELL.
*
says-“ You will mark me for an enthusiast ; but
rally practised in Europe ; but it is probable that others
will fall upon the same scheme before this be much
attended to.” And in one of his letters to the printer,
he
if you and I live a thousand years, we shall see this sys-
tem of education spread over the world. “What he
meant by the system,” says the author of The Origin,
Nature, and Object of the New System of Education,
“is apparent both from the title and the whole tenor of
the pamphlet—not writing in sand, not syllabic reading,
nor any of the improvements in detail
, but the main prin.
ciple and main spring of the whole—the new mode of
conducting a school by the medium of the scholars
themselves. Had Dr Bell done no more than conceive
the idea of this system, and publish it to the world,
he would have done enough."
Previous to his quitting India, he used to say that
the visitors of the Male Asylum, when they had them-
selves examined the scholars, and ascertained the regis-
ter of their age and admission, would often exclaim
« Tell it not in England ; nobody will believe you if
you do ;” and he was reminded of the ridicule cast on
those who had first carried to England the accounts of
the common juggling feats of India.
“I must have been composed of extraordinary
materials,” he remarks, in one of his later publications,
“ if such prohibitions had not created the resolution,
supposing it had not been entertained before, of telling
it to England and the world. These precautions,
however, were not entirely without effect. They served
to correct and restrain the natural ardour and impetu-
osity of a man inexperienced in the world, when
* A small volume thus entitled, which my father published in 1812.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
43
describing an engine which he had hit upon, of simple
and easy construction, fitted for common and popular
use, and giving that facility, expedition, and economy,
to the education of youth, which physical machinery
had given to the arts and manufactures. If they did
not lead me to expect the incredulity of the present
age, they at least tended to strengthen and confirm
my
resolution to take away all scruple from the incredulity
of future ages; not to hazard in my first report those
speculations which occupied my thoughts, and which
might give room to a contrariety of opinions ; but to
confine my narrative to facts of public notoriety, wit-
nessed and attested by men first in character, in sta-
tion, and in respectability. I did not, therefore, expa-
tiate upon any theory, in which a system of tuition
altogether new may be supposed to have originated ;
· nor did I enter upon any premature discussions as to
the extent to which it might be carried, or produce any
preconceived schemes respecting the ends to which it
might be applied.” And in the conclusion of the
report,
he
says,
my object is only to detail, conform-
ably to the instructions of the committee, what has
passed here, with a view to perpetuate this system at
a school where it has proved so beneficial, and to give
it a chance of that diffusion which may produce a fair
trial in other situations ; so that its comparative value
may be ascertained by experiments fairly made, the
only just criterion of every theory of science, or politics,
or education."
Unless Dr Bell had abandoned all clerical duties and
made education his profession, he could not have pro-
moted the extension of his discovery more than he did.
He had spared no pains in rendering the report perfect
44
LIFE OF DR BELL.
in all its parts; and having thus laid before the public
a clear description of the system, together with most
abundant testimony to its success in the only establish-
ment where it had been tried, he had done his part, and
it remained for the nation, and especially for those
engaged in education, to discharge theirs.
He also sent copies of the report to most of the
influential persons in the kingdom-to the Dukes of
York, Portland, and Montrose, to the Archbishops of
Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, Durham,
and Llandaff, the Earls of Mornington and Bathurst,
Viscount Belgrave, Lords Grenville, Hawkesbury, and
Loughborough, the Marquis Cornwallis, Right Hons.
H. W. Wyndham, Pitt, and Douglas; the leading
members of the societies for promoting Christianity,
&c. &c.
Meanwhile he had not been unmindful of the com-
mission given him to procure a schoolmaster for the
Asylum, though he had been hitherto unsuccessful. “I
have encountered no one as yet,” he writes to Mr
Kerr," whom I would willingly recommend ; but I
have been long, and am now, in daily expectation of
being able to leave London and go to Edinburgh, where
I have great reason to expect I shall meet with a per-
son properly qualified and suited to the office.” This
expectation was shortly after realized, Colonel Dirom
having recommended to him a young man of the name
of James Cordiner. He was the son of the Rev. James
Cordiner, minister of the Episcopal chapel, Banff, and
having taken the degree of M.A. at the university of
Aberdeen, was then a candidate for orders in the
English Church. This gentleman Dr Bell engaged,
soon after his arrival in Edinburgh from Mount
LIFE OF DR BELL.
45
66 He
Annan, conformably to the powers granted to him at
Madras, and took much pains both in proving his
capabilities for the office, and instructing him in the
principles of the new system of education. He thus
writes concerning him in a testimonial addressed to
the president and directors of the Asylum.
comes to me recommended from the most respectable
quarters, as well qualified in point of talent, literature,
and science, for the task proposed to him; and what is
still more valuable, his character stands high as a man
and a Christian, as well as a scholar and a divine. On
these grounds I have made the appointment.
Having now also proved, for almost two months, his
excellent disposition and temper of mind, his diligence
and attention, I cannot but indulge the pleasing hope
that he will approve himself highly useful to the insti-
tution, and worthy of that favour and protection which
in India so generally await good conduct.”
In writing on the same subject to Mr Kerr, he says,
66 the certificates and testimonials with which he is
loaded, will speak for him and for me. You will soon
be sensible of the talents which he brings with him to
his charge; and I trust you will experience all the
advantages I look for to the school, from the services
of this most deserving and amiable young man.”
Dr Bell had previously written to Mr Wright, the
auditor of the East India accounts, requesting him to
assist Mr Cordiner in procuring a passage in one of
the first ships to India. There was, however, some
difficulty on this point which he had not anticipated
permission not having actually been granted by the
court of directors for Mr Cordiner to proceed to take
charge of the Asylum; and in consequence of this Mr
46
LIFE OF DR BELL,
Wright recommended Dr Bell to write to the court,
recalling to their recollection their having allowed
him to nominate a master, and requesting their sanction
for Mr Cordiner's proceeding immediately to Madras ;”
but before this letter could be sent, permission had been
obtained, and he wrote informing Dr Bell that he had
taken a passage on board the Anna, for Bombay, for
one hundred guineas, and that he was to embark imme-
diately.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
47
CHAPTER XVI.
Purchase of Land-Introduction of the Madras System into St Botolph's,
Aldgate, the Kendal Schools, &c.--Return to Scotland Residence in
Galloway-Journey to London.
Early in the month of February Dr Bell went to
Dumfries, where he soon after was enabled to fulfil his
intention of investing part of his capital in land—an
eligible estate being at that time offered for sale near
Castle Douglas, belonging to Mr Copland of Collies-
ton. He thus records this transaction in one of his
memoranda :
66
Dumfries, 13th of February 1798.—Purchase of
land. Bought of William Copland, Esq. of Collieston-
Northfield of Clarebrand, and Southend of Halferne,
amounting to about 56 acres, on lease at £56.
The
farm of Ernamerie, and part of Upper Clarebrand,
amounting to 150 acres, rent £170, 14s. The liferent
pendicle of Robert Conchar, of 22 acres, rent about
£5, 6s. Total rent, £232--for £4120.
“ 16th.—Bought Halferne, 182 acres, on lease at
£146 per annum, for £2300. Total acres, 415—rent,
,
£378---for £6420."
Major Wight also purchased another portion of the
same estate, and performed many good offices for Dr
Bell in his absence, in the arrangements and winding
48
LIFE OF DR BELL.
up
of the business. In reference to this purchase, to
which Dr Bell gave the name of Egmore, the scene of
his labours and foundation of his fortunes, Mr Dempster
remarks, “ It has the advantage of being near two or
three very good neighbours—Balmaghee, my brother-
in-law, Mr T. Gordon, and Mr Gordon, the sheriff of
Campbelltown. The high price of cattle will, I trust,
support the rental; but never forget Soam Jennings
difference between an estate in the funds and one in
land—the one is interest without capital, the other
capital without interest.”
That this purchase was considered a good one,
however, is plain, from the letters he received from
other friends. “ I sincerely congratulate you," writes
Colonel Dirom, on your purchase in Galloway,
and am exceedingly happy to find that you and our
friend Wight had got so great a bargain. For my
own part I did not think it possible you could have
purchased land on such terms; and indeed you have
made one of those lucky hits which seldom occur, even
in these times, when the scarcity of money might be
expected to affect the price of land so materially.”
Captain Dempster also writes strongly on the same
subject. “I was charmed,” said he, “ to learn from
Col. Dirom, some time
you
and Major Wight
had bought £10,000 worth of land at eighteen years'
purchase. I hope the rent is good; if it is, this is the
greatest bargain of land ever known: but you were
always lucky.”
On the 18th of Feb. Dr Bell quitted Dumfries, and
proceeded by way of York to London, where he arrived
about the end of the month. He had not been long
there before he was invited to dine with his friend Mr
ago, that
1
LIFE OF DR BELL.
49
Buckham, in Whitechapel, to meet D. P. Watts, Esq.,
who was then one of the trustees of St Botolph's,
Aldgate, the oldest Protestant parochial school in
London, to whom he presented a copy of the Madras
report. This Mr Watts immediately placed in the
hands of Samuel Nichols, the master, and desired him
to read and consider it, and to be prepared to give his
opinion on it at the next meeting of the board.
Shortly afterwards he wrote to Mr Watts, informing
him of the steps he had taken, which were highly
creditable to his judgment. “I have perused Dr Bell's
plan,” he writes, “ with much attention and pleasure,
and do declare to you, that I conceive it to be a most
facilitating, as well as the most effectual, mode of in-
structing children that can be adopted. The dividing
the children into classes, and placing a senior boy over
them, is productive of many advantages. It instructs
the younger ones with more rapidity, because to the
monitor they can read and spell twice or thrice in the
morning and afternoon, when to the master not more
than once. The elder boy, while he is teaching his class,
is also instructing himself, by riveting in his mind by
repetition those lessons which he had formerly learned.
“ It is an infallible method for the preservation of
order, to the almost entire exclusion of corporal pun-
ishment, by the monitor being responsible for the good
conduct of his class, by the effect on the minds of the
class, arising from the reproach or punishment which
will fall on their monitor through their misconduct, and
by the general competition of classes, each being num-
bered or descriptively named; and it renders the task
of superintending a school thus regulated at once plea-
.
sant and easy.
VOL. II.
D
50
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ I am at this time trying the effect of teaching the
alphabet with the finger on sand, which, for the short
time it has been in practice here, promises the most
marked success.”
> >
From this time the system appears to have been
acted upon in this school; for, in 1803, we find a
letter from Nichols to Mr Watts, in which he thus
speaks of the use of sand as one of the auxiliary prac-
tices :—“The sand I continue to use, it being the most
facilitating as well as the most saving method that ever
was conceived. The following is an instance of its
efficacy :—'I had a boy, who is the dullest, heaviest, and
the least inclined to learning I ever had, who, having
for six months past wrote upon sand, and read alter-
nately and constantly while at school, is now able, not
only to spell every word, but can tell me many words,
let me ask him where I will, and he appears now to
have an inclination to learning, to which, when he first
came, he had an utter aversion.'»
No further account of this school appears until 1807,
when Dr Bell visited it twice, and was so much pleased
with an addition which Mr Nichols had made to the
minor practices, that of the boys counting the time of
the stops in reading, that he immediately had the prac-
tice introduced into Lambeth school.
In 1811, we again find this school mentioned in a
letter from Mr Nichols to Mr Watts, where he says,
“ I hereby most respectfully inform you, that the parts
of Dr Bell's plan adopted in the above school have
been-classing the children, and placing them under
teachers and assistants, and writing with a pen upon
damp sand;" and he adds, “ I became an admirer of
LIFE OF DR BELL.
51
Dr Bell's plan the moment you honoured me with its
perusal, and have considered it ever since a most de-
lightful and encouraging method of instruction.” In
another letter to Mr Watts, in 1812, he also says,
“
It
would have been a happiness to me, as well as an
incalculable benefit to the school, if you, sir, had con-
tinued an active trustee
This school has been
literally upon the Madras system from the time you
first delivered the Rev. Dr Bell's book into my hands,
in the year 1798."
The next circumstance we come to, in connexion
with the Madras report, is a criticism which appeared
on it in the Analytical Review for January 1799, by an
anonymous writer, at that time quite unknown to Dr
Bell. The manner in which the subject was there
mentioned and recommended to general notice, showed
that the principles were sufficiently, obvious to the gen-
eral reader. “ The importance of this publication,”
writes the reviewer, “is not to be estimated by its
size, or the merit of the author to be ranked with that
of the writer of a speculative pamphlet. One such
practical experiment in education is worth a thousand
ingenious, but fanciful, theories fabricated in the closet,
and often little calculated for any other sphere.” After
quoting a passage descriptive of the principle of the
system, and the success which had attended it, the
writer proceeds as follows :-“ We cannot enter into
particulars ; but we earnestly recommend this pamphlet
to the consideration of all who are concerned with
public charities, to which institutions the plan seems
more particularly applicable, confident that they will
not think the time bestowed on the perusal of it thrown
away. As to Dr Bell, when we consider the object he
52
LIFE OF DR BELL.
had in view, the ingenuity and perseverance displayed
in accomplishing that object, his disinterestedness in
declining all pecuniary reward, and the success with
which his endeavours have been crowned, we feel re-
joiced in the opportunity of acknowledging his deserts,
and thus anticipating the opinion of all the true friends
of mankind. For, while their esteem and applause were
bestowed on Howard, who visited prisons, and Count
Rumford, who has reformed workhouses, a portion of
it will not be withholden from him who has successfully
endeavoured to render these abodes of guilt and wretch-
edness less necessary, by the influence of early tuition
on the minds and manners of the destitute and aban-
doned orphan.”
Following closely on this review was the second
practical experiment of the system, which was intro-
duced into the schools at Kendal by Dr Briggs, an
eminent physician, and mayor of that town. Here the
system was fully acted upon, and its success attracted
the early attention of Mr Bernard, who, in September
1800, spent some days in inspecting these schools, and
in consequence drew up a detailed account of the new
method of instruction practised there, which he pub-
lished in the “ Reports of the Society for bettering the
condition of the Poor.” It will here be necessary to
give some account of the management and arrange-
ments of this second trial of the new system in Eng-
land, both from the interest it excited at the time, and
the importance subsequently attached to it, when it was
appealed to, in conjunction with St Botolph's, as one of
the first examples given of the efficacy of the discovery
in this country.
Early in 1799, Dr Briggs appears to have taken a
LIFE OF DR BELL.
53
lively interest in the welfare of these schools, and to
have suggested some alterations in them to the gover-
nors, chiefly in regard to the system of rewards and
punishments then in practice.
First, he objected, not merely to the degree in which
corporal punishment was inflicted by the masters of
the school, but to their power of inflicting it at all,
except by the authority, and in the presence of, the
visitors of the school. He also recommended an increase
of rewards, to be promptly bestowed, not so much for
natural talent, or even marked proficiency in any par-
ticular branch, but for general regularity of attendance,
cleanliness of person, habitual diligence, and orderly
behaviour, considering these as affording a fair field of
competition to every scholar, as well as being the surest
and easiest points whereon to form a just opinion of
individual merit.
These suggestions were adopted, and attended with
much success, and shortly after Dr Briggs proceeded
in his labours on a more extended scale, and pro-
posed that public schools should be established where
all the children of the poorer classes should be em-
ployed in various kinds of work, returning to their
homes at night, and that being divided into classes, each
class should be instructed in reading and writing for
one hour each day, by a master provided for that pur-
pose—that they should be entitled to the whole of
their earnings, subject only to a slight deduction for
the necessary expenses of the school, and that annual
premiums should be offered for the best specimens of
the different sorts of work.
This plan was adopted, and the committee appointed
54
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to carry it into execution, gave notice that “ these
schools would be opened for the employment and
instruction of children of three years old and upwards,
with the addition of a penny ordinary for those who
chose to partake of it.” They were, consequently,
opened on the 1st of July, and the Madras system
was then introduced. These schools contained 112
children, whereof the elder girls were instructed in
sewing, knitting, spinning, and household work, and
the boys in different trades, and the scholastic depart-
ment was conducted by a master aged 18, and an usher
of 14, who, together with the assistance of the more
intelligent boys as monitors, were found fully adequate
to the task.
The experiment of giving the children occasional
lessons in geography was also made here, a set of maps
having been presented to the school, and with admira-
ble results. Many persons,” says Mr Bernard,
may doubt, as I did, the propriety of making this part
of the education of poor children ; but I found that
those who answered best at this examination were the
same who carried off the prizes of industry—and I had
reason to believe that, from the information and pleasure
they received in this instance, they transferred a spirit
and energy to all their occcupations.” Dr Briggs had
also in view, in the introduction of geography, the pre-
paring of the minds of the children for a system
of religious instruction on a similar plan, and at the
time of this survey the children had made great pro-
gress in scripture history. After giving an account of
the arrangements in these schools, Mr Bernard pro-
ceeds to make some observations on the peculiar features
LIFE OF DR BELL.
55
of the new systems of education, and gives a long account
of the benefits to be derived from its use, adding, “ Let
the reader beware how he ventures hastily to reject all
this as impracticable theory; for it is a plain and literal
account of the Male Asylum at Madras, as it existed in
1796, under the superintending care of the Rev. Dr
Bell."
In the blue-coat school a circumstance occurred
which fully proved the practical utility of the new sys-
tem. The schoolmaster was obliged to be absent from
his duties for a fortnight, and it was agreed that the
school must be shut up. One of the governors, however,
determined to try the effect of putting the care of the
school, during the master's absence, into the hands of
monitors selected from among the boys, he and some
others of the governors occasionally looking in. The
result was that the school was as well conducted during
that time, and the progress as great, as when the master
was present.
The expenses of this establishment in salaries, fire,
candles, rent, &c., amounted to about £55 a-year.
We must now return to Dr Bell, whom we left in
London, where he remained until the second week in
March, when he went down to Bath, and having spent
about a fortnight there, made a rapid journey through
Birmingham and Manchester to Dumfries, Glasgow,
and Edinburgh.
On the 8th of June he again went to Dumfries and
Mollance, and on the 12th set out for Harrowgate,
where he arrived on the 13th. Here it is probable he
remained until the 6th of July, for we find in his memo-
randa a note of an excursion to Ripon, Studley, Hack-
56
LIFE OF DR BELL.
fall, and Newby, and on the following day he appears
to have
gone to Scarborough, whence, on the 31st, he
went to London; here he remained till the end of the
month, when he again set out for Dumfries, where he
arrived in the beginning of September.
On the 16th, having visited Mount Annan, the seat
of his friend Colonel Dirom, he proceeded to Edinburgh.
During his last visit to his estates he seems to have
endeavoured to introduce the Madras system into a
school in the neighbourhood, of which, however, we
have no other record than what is contained in the
following extract of a letter from the master, George
Fulton, to Dr Bell, after his return to Edinburgh:-
“ Dee Bridge, Castle Douglas, Sept. 26.
6 Rev. Sir,
“I hasten to free myself from the charge of ingrati-
tude, as soon as properly it is in my power. The rea-
son I have not before acknowledged the great kindness
I experienced at your hand, was the truly generous
and gentlemanlike conduct you showed, in first bestow-
ing favours, and then leaving me altogether at a loss
who my benefactor was. But worthy characters and
generous actions will be held in everlasting remem-
brance, and the good deeds done in private will be
manifested and brought to light in due time. I have
followed the plan of education laid down in your sys-
tem, as far as it is practicable in a situation such as
this, and have found it to be of great utility. But the
partial attendance of scholars in this place, is a capital
hindrance to the improvement that might be expected
from such a prudent and well-conducted scheme of
LIFE OF DR BELL.
57
education as is therein recommended. I can scarce
ever find a boy fit to conduct a class that attends above
two or three days in a week. This circumstance pre-
vents, in a great measure, the salutary effects that
might be expected from such a mode of teaching. My
emoluments in this place are very considerable, but I
lament that my sphere of usefulness is so confined. If
you, by your respectable and extensive connexions,
would recommend me to a settlement in a more popu-
lous situation, I apprehend that, by the assistance of a
kind Providence, I might spend my days more to the
glory of God and the good of mankind, than there is
any probability of my doing here.
I would have no
objections to settling in any part of the united kingdom
where there is a prospect of usefulness. I return you
my hearty and most sincere thanks for your past favours;
and hope, by your benevolence and disinterested assist-
ance, soon to be in a situation where I shall have it in
my power to make that plan of education known which
alone can make learning easy and agreeable.
Had all the Scotch masters been as free from pre-
judice as Mr Fulton appears to have been, the new
system would probably have made rapid advances in
Scotland previous to the extensive diffusion of it which
subsequently took place in England.
From Edinburgh Dr Bell proceeded again to Dum-
fries, where “several affairs, arising from his purchase,
required his attention.” Here he and his sister Jessy
6 took up their winter-quarters in such lodgings as
they could obtain.” On this subject Mr Dempster
thus writes to him :-
1
58
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ October 15.
“I cannot object to your spending the winter in
Dumfries. It is a pleasant town in itself, near your
excellent friend Colonel Dirom, and near your terri-
torial business. But still St Andrews, the seat of the
muses and the spot of your nativity, has its claims, that
I could wish to have been attended to, especially this
winter, when I am to be there myself, and want a hand
at whist, tricktrac, backgammon, and the golf; and a
friend, whose fortune being already made, would have
as much leisure as myself—a friend, omnium horarum,
the more necessary from Colonel Duncan's situation,
which, in point of health, is far from being what I and
all his friends, and all the world, could wish.”
In the following February, Dr Bell writes thus to
one of his friends concerning his sojourn in Dum-
fries :--- We find the place very social, pleasant, and
hospitable in the extreme; but our lodgings are so
small that we have not a spare bed in them, and I
have been prevented from writing to my friends to be
with us; but I trust you will excuse this circumstance,
and favour us as soon as possible with a visit, letting
me know when you may come, that I may have a room
for you as near this as possible, and that you may be
one of this family :” and in another letter he says,
Wight has been here for the winter, as major of the
10th regiment of militia, with his sweet wife and two
fine children. We are now within seventeen miles of
Mount Annan, Colonel Dirom's, and Girthead, the
major's first purchase, and of Mollance, where his and
my late purchase lies."
LIFE OF DR BELL.
59
Of his mode of life at Dumfries we have not much
information; he seems to have mixed a good deal in
the society of the place, and, towards the end of his
sojourn there, to have kept a carriage and horses, to-
gether with a coachman and footman. He also occa-
sionally occupied himself in the study of agriculture,
concerning which he thus speaks, in a letter to Colonel
Dirom :-
" February 20.
“My agricultural pursuits advance slowly. At first
the new science had great entertainment, and every
page I read was full of information; but after reading
one or two books, the rest lost much of the charm of
novelty, and I shall not soon, I fear, acquire confidence
to engage in practical farming."
He seems, indeed, at this time to have been doubt-
ful as to what course he should chalk out for him-
self. · My future residence and destiny," he used to
say, in writing to his friends, “ are still uncertain ;
they are as unfixed as ever." It appears, however,
from the following letter to Mr Mac Taggart, that the
bent of his mind was still towards education.
>>
I
[Probably about February 1799.]
My dear Sir,
“ Your favour brings to my recollection the sub-
ject on which we had formerly conversed, and a very
important subject it is to you. It is now drawing to-
wards the completion of the second year since we first
treated this subject. Busied as your mind is, and occu-
60
LIFE OF DR BELL.
pied as your time is, it is not easy for you to make up
your mind, amidst the conflict of opposite systems and
different plans of education, between the views of the
man and the feelings of the parent. The danger is,
that, in such a situation as yours, the time which should
be employed in action, be lost in deliberation. The
danger is, that the period when early habits should be
formed, and first impressions made, be passed in com-
monplace. Referring yourself once more to me, I
must imagine that you are not entirely satisfied with
their present situation. It is not probable that, in any
public or private school, all that could be wished for
your sons can be readily obtained; and if not, I would
recommend to you to come to an early decision as to
their destination. It would be highly gratifying to me
if I could assist, as you are pleased to think I may, your
deliberations. I can only promise for my willingness
to attend to any request of yours, and especially in a
concern to which my mind leans from early habits and
long-established custom. I would lay down my agri-
cultural books, in which I find that delight which ever
arises in the mind from new objects, and the multipli-
cation of ideas, and an addition to the stock of know-
ledge. Having introduced my present pursuit, I may
say that I question whether I shall not, for some time
at least, rest in the theory of this new science; and whe-
ther I shall ever attempt any thing practical in the way
of farming, is extremely doubtful. Though never idle,
I have yet no appropriate employment, and no prospect
of professional duty to discharge. How unsuitable such
a state is to my mind, you can readily imagine. It
would be highly pleasing to me if my idleness could, in
LIFE OF DR BELL.
61
any way, be useful to
you
amidst
your constant occu-
pation. My opinion is, that your sons should have the
classical education of gentlemen and the science of men
of business, fitting them for the senate or the cabinet,
for the counting-house or the exchange, for a town or
a country life. Considering your fortune, and their
prospects, no expense should be spared, no time lost, in
commencing such a course as is most fitting for them—
such a course as shall at once render instruction fami-
liar, pleasing, and successful, under the eye of able
teachers. In England or in Scotland, a French abbé,
of gentle manners and good education, can be found to
carry on one essential branch of their education; and
a tutor, who, with the abbé, shall be able to undertake
the classical, commercial, and scientific studies. But
such is the state of human affairs, that even then you
cannot be assured that the object you have in view will
be attained. To secure this
To secure this grand point it were advi-
.
sable to commit the scholars and the masters to a super-
intendent, who shall have full power to employ such as
he shall see proper, and, on trial, shall find to succeed
to his wish. This man, if such a man can be found,
ought to unite the tenderness of a parent with the fami-
liarity of a companion ; the heart of a friend with the
authority of a master.
“ But the misfortune is, that you have no leisure to
direct the filling up of the plan, far less to execute any
part of it; and you lose valuable time in irresolution.
But if you will come to any fixed determination, and
make up your mind to an English or Scottish educa-
tion, and give me the outline, I will, as well as I can,
fill up .
the plan for you. My life, I flatter myself, has
62
LIFE OF DR BELL.
not hitherto been entirely useless, and I should be
sorry to pass the remainder of my days in inglorious
ease.
“ The recommendation of the system is, that it is far
easier to direct and see executed than to perform the
task yourself. Masters are, in most instances, as idle
as scholars. A great scholar and able tutor gave his
pupil the 119th Psalm to get off by heart. The lady
with whom both lodged remonstrated in behalf of the
boy. The tutor honestly confessed that he did not ex-
pect the boy to get it; but while the scholar was at it,
the master was undisturbed, and at liberty to prosecute
his own studies,
Believe me, &c.
66 A. BELL."
Dr Bell was now quickly on the move again, and
reached London in May. From Oxford, through which
he passed, he wrote the following letter to Colonel Wight,
which, containing as it does, an interesting account of
his journey, may be fitly inserted here :-
“ Oxford, May 12, 1799.
My dear Friend,
“After trying every machine for conveyance, I find
an appropriate advantage in each. The velocity and
certitude of the mail, recommend it to the man of busi-
ness who travels on his affairs, and to the impatient
man who cannot brook delay. The post-chaise, to the
man who would give up something of rapidity to gain
in point of accommodation; and the humble stage, to
the man who would spare the expensive part, and enjoy
many of the benefits of the other two. To a contempla-
LIFE OF DR BELLA
63
tive man, who enjoys leisure and seeks instruction as
he goes along, I suspect my present mode of travelling
would not be unsuitable. I must not, however, decide
from so short a trial as I have made, especially a trial
attended with so many favourable circumstances.
“ My fellow travellers from Edinburgh to Dumfries
could not fail to shorten and smooth a longer and a
more rugged road than that we passed over. Again
happy in my excellent companion and guide to Liver-
pool, I should again have travelled the Penrith and the
Shap roads without finding it tedious or irksome; but
when a new and a better road opened to our view, (for
which I desire to thank our friend, Mr H. Maxwell,
who put it into my head to enquire about the passage
of the Solway at Annan,) a road which, during a great
part of its track, presented before our eyes, if we did
not shut them, the most delightful scenery and the most
admired objects, what must the journey have been ?
To those who follow out our track, for I would have
all summer travellers from your quarter to Manchester
or Liverpool take the same course, let me recommend
them to step aside one mile from the road to the inn
at Ouse bridge, on the northern extremity of Bassen-
thwaite lake; which, though obscure or little noticed by
travellers, is yet deserving of much notice. From the
window of the inn, built for this purpose, and from an
adjacent bridge, where the lake terminates, is a beauti-
ful prospect, a full view of the commencement of the
lakes. He must again turn a quarter of a mile to the
right of his road, to an inn and a church, whence he is
to view the charming lake of Grasmere—the rest of
.
“ From the hospitality, splendour, and luxury of
course.
64
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Liverpool, which appeared to be endless, I was fain to
tear myself, that I might proceed before the season was
too far advanced to the great metropolis, where I mean
to gratify myself with the debates in Parliament, should
any question occur in which the minister may have
occasion to display his wonderful abilities.
My original apprehension of Bonaparte's eastern
expedition, drawn from the comparison of our European
army in India with those of the Indian powers, might
revive, if it were not that I now trust that, instead of
his conquering Great Britain in India, the Emperors
will conquer him in Europe. I have wandered wide
of my road from Liverpool to London, when I take
Egypt and India ; but this follows of writing without
thinking, or rather writing as I think.
“ At Liverpool, to which I return, the docks struck
me as at once the cause and the effect of the opulence
of that rich town. The spirit of enterprise and com-
merce is carried to its greatest height. With the best
of guides, I saw every thing Liverpool has to boast of
to the greatest advantage; and, by the chance of a new
acquaintance of some old friends of mine, I saw what
has long been prohibited from being seen an immense
prison, planned by Howard, who also saw it executed,
where are 4000 prisoners, whose food I partook of,
and whose spirit I in some degree observed. The
billiard table, hazard of a morning, and gambling of
every species, besides the general appearance, did not
indicate the change I expected in the national charac-
ter. Their general civility to my guide did not savour
. of the brutal and unmannerly republican, and I would
yet hope that this savage beast may be again turned to
humanity. No bread can be better than theirs, baked
LIFE OF DR BELL.
65
without yeast, with dough only. I hope my good friend
and companion will carry the receipt with her, for the
benefit of the families who bake their own bread.
“ I have left no room for the Duke of Bridgewater's
canal and its interesting communication, (for it has
two mouths with the Mersey)—for the curious and
singular city of Chester, with its walled walk and
covered galleries—for Birmingham, with its various
manufactories—for Stratford-upon-Avon, where lived
and where died two of the greatest poets our own or
any country has produced-or for Oxford, where I
this day arrived, having travelled four hundred and ten
miles in thirteen days,"
VOL. II.
.
E
66
LIFE OF DR BELL.
CHAPTER XVII.
Dr Bell officiates for some time at the English Episcopal Chapel, Edinburgh
-Consequent Presentation of Plate to him—He attempts to introduce The
System into Edinburgh-His Marriage.
DR BELL probably remained in and about London until
the 10th of June, when he left it for Dumfries. From
hence, on the 13th of August, he went to Edinburgh,
where he no sooner arrived than an opportunity of
temporary professional employment occurred, which
he gladly availed himself of. The application was
made to him in the following letter from Sir William
Forbes:-
“ Bantastaine, August 16, 1799.
“ Sir,
“ As I understand you are just now at Edinburgh,
I use the freedom to mention to you, that the gentle-
men of the vestry of the English Episcopal chapel have
been anxious to procure the assistance of a clergyman
for that chapel, the care of looking out for whom they
left with me. I therefore use the freedom to ask
you,
if, without inconvenience to yourself, you can have the
goodness to lend your aid in the discharge of the duty
of the chapel, while you remain in Edinburgh or the
neighbourhood, until the gentlemen of the vestry again
assemble in the beginning of winter, which I know
they will consider as doing them a very particular
LIFE OF DR BELL.
67
favour at this time. I remain, sir, your obedient and
faithful humble servant,
6 W. FORBES.”
To this Dr Bell returned the following answer :-
“Edinburgh, August 17, 1799.
6 Sir,
“I am this moment honoured with your letter of
yesterday, expressing a desire that I would lend
my
aid
in the discharge of the duty of the chapel, while I remain
in Edinburgh or the neighbourhood.
Having-till lately that I resigned, on account of
ill health, the civil chaplaincy at the Presidency of Fort
St George, and my other appointments at that station
-having hitherto passed an active, if not useful life,
and being always desirous, in every situation, not to be
idle and unprofitable, but to be usefully and officially
employed, I shall have great satisfaction and comfort in
complying with your requisition.
“ On this ground, I shall hope that you, and the
gentlemen of the vestry for whom you act, will allow
me to observe, that your attention in giving me occa-
sion of discharging official duty, and endeavouring, with
the blessing of God, to be useful in my professional
capacity, confers on me a real favour and kindness;
and I trust you will not think that I lay you and them
under any obligation in doing, at your request, those
offices, which I have on no occasion declined when
required of me.*
* We find, in his memoranda, a list of twenty sermons, preached by him
at different places in the course of his travels, from May 1797 to July
1799.
68
LIFE OF DR BELL.
« I have the honour to be, sir, with great respect,
your most obliged and humble servant,
66 A BELL."
In reply to this, Sir William “ begged leave to return
his best thanks, in the name of the gentlemen of the
vestry as well as his own, for his so very readily agree-
ing to lend his assistance in doing the duty of the Eng-
lish Episcopal chapel—a favour which (he added) was
enhanced by the very polite manner in which it was
conceded."
With the exception of a short absence, during which
he provided for the performance of the duty, Dr Bell
remained in Edinburgh, officiating in this chapel, until
the following January, when he wrote to Sir William
Forbes, requesting to be informed whether a clergyman
had been appointed to the chapel, and, if so, when he
was likely to enter upon his charge; adding, that if the
appointment was not yet filled up, he should have great
pleasure in continuing his services “ without salary or
emolument."
To this proposal he received the following answer :-
February 3, 1800.
Dear Sir,
“ The very obliging offer which you made of giving
your assistance towards carrying on the service of our
Episcopal chapel during the present vacancy, and the
great share of duty which you have taken in conse-
quence, demand on our part, and on that of the
congre-
gation at large, the warmest acknowledgments. You
LIFE OF DR BELL.
69
you that
were informed some time ago that we had written to a
respectable clergyman of the Church of England regard-
ing our chapel, with whom we had formerly been in
correspondence on the subject, and which we renewed
on occasion of the present vacancy. That negotiation
is still pending, nor is it likely, from circumstances un-
necessary here to be detailed, that it will be brought to
a close for a few months yet to come; neither can we
at present form any judgment what may be the result.
We cannot presume to request any thing of
should put you to inconvenience, or encroach on any
arrangement of your time, which you might otherwise
be disposed to make. But if, with perfect convenience
to yourself, you could continue for some time longer
your services in the chapel, you would confer a very
sensible obligation on us, and on the congregation.
“ Meantime permit us, as a small mark of our esteem
and gratitude, to request your acceptance of a piece of
plate in the name of the vestry, with an inscription, tes-
tifying our sense of your merits, and the high respect
we entertain for you.
“ We have the honour to be, dear sir, your most
obliged and most obedient humble servants,
(Signed)
« Dav. RAE,
WM. NAIRNE,
R. E. PHILIPS,
WILLIAM FORBES,
ROBERT JAMIESON,
ALEX, FRASER TYTLER,
John Smyth,
JOHN HUTTON.”
70
LIFE OF DR BELL.
The following is the inscription referred to :-
" TO THE REVEREND DR ANDREW BELL,
FROM
THE VESTRY OF THE ENGLISH EPISCOPAL CHAPEL
AT EDINBURGH,
IN TESTIMONY OF THE SENSE THEY ENTERTAIN
OF HIS MERITS,
AND GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS SERVICES
TO THE CONGREGATION.
A.D. 1800.”
Sir William Forbes and Mr Jamieson called upon
Dr Bell, by the direction of the vestry, for the purpose
of delivering him this letter; but not finding him at
home, Sir William enclosed it to him, with a note,
stating, " that had they seen him, they wished to have
just mentioned to him, as individuals, that Mr Gard-
ner, the silversmith, had orders from the vestry to put
the inscription on any piece of plate of £50 value that
may be most acceptable to him ;” adding, “ that if
Dr Bell would have the goodness to favour Mr Gard-
ner with any hint to that effect the first time he was in
the Parliament Close, it would be very obliging, as it
may prevent Mr Gardner from conveying to him some-
thing less acceptable than the vestry could wish.”
Dr Bell's reply to this letter will show how little he
had looked forward to any remuneration for his services.
Edinburgh, February 6, 1800.
“ My Lords and Sirs,
“ Your letter, by the hands of Sir William Forbes
and Mr Jamieson, fills my mind with the utmost sur-
prise.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
71
“ Conscious of having only granted, to the request of
Sir William Forbes, what I have at no time refused
when required of me-pleased with an occasion of
exercising, at a season of leisure, my professional func-
tions—with the idea of being in any shape useful to the
respectable congregation under your management; and
having expressed these sentiments fully at the time, I
did imagine that I had provided against any remune-
ration, and looked for no other acknowledgment than
an early notice of the probable period when the vacancy
was to determine.
“ As it is, I have no words to express the high sense
I entertain of the honourable testimony with which you
have been pleased to distinguish my imperfect services,
if it be not that I do not decline the very flattering
expression of it which you have presented to me.
“ Still more gratified, if it be possible, with your
opinion that I may be further useful in the temporary
charge committed to me, it will be my study to make
such arrangements as may enable me to continue my
assistance in the duty of the chapel for the period that
it may probably be required.
“ In any event, I shall not fail to communicate the
earliest notice, if circumstances do not admit of giving
full effect to my proposed arrangements.
“ I have the honour to be, my Lords and Sirs, with
the highest respect and esteem, your most faithful and
obedient servant,
“A. BELL."
In a note of the same date to Sir William Forbes,
he says—“ Deeply sensible of Sir William Forbes's
earnest and polite attentions, Dr A. Bell desires to
72
LIFE OF DR BELL.
offer his sincere and respectful acknowledgments, and
to thank Sir William and Mr Jamieson for their good-
ness in calling on him on an errand so flattering : Dr
Bell will not fail to avail himself of Sir William's hint,
and to do as he directs.”
The plate, which consisted of a teapot, cream-jug,
&c., was accordingly presented to him, and he still
continued performing the duties of the chapel for a
short time, the whole period during which he was so
employed being about six months.
About the middle of March he went to Dumfries,
but appears shortly after to have returned to Edin-
burgh, and from thence to have again proceeded to
Dumfries and Castle Douglas; and it is probable that
he remained in this part of the country till the end of
May, when he set off for the South. We find from
his note-book that he remained a short time in Chel-
tenham, and proceeded thence to London, which he
reached on the 17th of June ; here he remained till
the 11th of July, and then made a rapid tour, by
Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, Porchester, Chichester,
and Brighton, and back to London, which he reached
on the 30th. Early in August he set out for Scotland,
and arrived in Edinburgh before the end of the month.
While in London a letter had reached him from Sir
William Forbes, informing him that the Rev. Mr Ali-
son had been appointed to fill up the vacancy in the
chapel where Dr Bell had officiated; and this is the
last time we find this subject mentioned. It appears,
however, from a letter which Dr Bell received while
at York, from Mr Whyte, that “ some of the most
respectable families in Edinburgh wished for his appoint-
ment to St George's chapel ;" and that there was every
LIFE OF DR BELL.
73
probability of his being elected, if he would allow him-
self to be put in nomination. On this point there is
no further information; and it seems that Dr Bell, not
being anxious to fix himself in Edinburgh, took no
steps in the matter.
During his absence in this last journey, he had been
elected a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,
at a general meeting held on the 22d of June. This
information was conveyed to him in London by Pro-
fessor Playfair, who says,
6 You are considered as a
resident member, but the class into which
you may
choose to enter--that is, the Physical or Literary--not
having been specified, you may make choice of either.
By this election you incur an expense of one guinea
annually, together with the price of such volumes of
the Transactions of the Society as may be hereafter
published.” We do not, however, find that Dr Bell
took much interest in the Society, his place of residence
being subsequently too remote to allow him to avail
himself of his privileges as a member, and his time and
attention too much occupied in his various duties to
leave room for attention to science, to which, in early
life, he had applied himself with considerable success.
During Dr Bell's residence in Edinburgh, he was not
inattentive to the subject which had occupied his mind
so long. He considered, not without reason, that Scot-
land was well prepared for the introduction of
any
im-
provement in education. For upwards of a century
before the discovery of the Madras system, this country
had possessed peculiar advantages for the general edu-
cation of the people. The legal establishment of paro-
chial schools, under the superintendence and control of
the clergy, formed an institution in an eminent degree
74
LIFE OF DR BELL.
adapted to the reception, application, and diffusion of
the Madras system; and the cheapness of academical
education, and the national character, furnished school-
masters well qualified for their office. On Dr Bell's
return from India, he was told that the task of intro-
ducing his new discovery into his native country would
be comparatively easy, on account of the facilities and
advantages of which it was already possessed. To this
he replied, that “what had been already well done would
only increase the difficulty of getting more done.” He
was not, however, at that time fully aware, “how many
barriers would be opposed to any innovation in scholastic
rules by the consciousness of superiority, the prejudices
of professional men, and the attachment of the people to
those modes of tuition by which they had been educated,
and their dislike of their children being instructed by
children."*
He accordingly made many proffers of his services to
introduce his new system into the Edinburgh schools, and
visited many of them with that intention. He fondly
imagined, that if he could have obtained a permanent foot-
ing, under influential auspices and able support, he might
have regenerated the parochial and other schools of Scot-
land, and raised them to that pre-eminence to which, as
he thought, they seemed destined, by their legal establish-
ment, ministerial superintendence, and the qualification
of the teachers. Nor was he without hope that Edin-
burgh might have been rendered as attractive and famous
as an elementary and classical, as she was as a medical
school. He found, however, that the obstacles previ-
ously mentioned existed in an eminent degree ; and at
this period, also, they were much occupied in Edinburgh
* See Dr Bell's Letter to Sir John Sinclair, Bart. Rivington, 1829.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
75
in making provision for the poor during the then exist-
ing scarcity; and it was considered as an unfavourable
period for the introduction of a novel undertaking, how-
ever desirable.
It has been seen that Dr Bell returned from London
to Edinburgh towards the end of August. In the course
of the next month he again went to Dumfries and Castle
Douglas, and, early in October, returned to Edinburgh.
We now come to the subject of bis marriage,* con-
cerning which there is but little information. The first
notice of it is contained in a letter from Mr Dempster,
where he says—“ We fly to the Edinburgh article in
the newspapers, in the daily expectation of seeing your
marriage there; for it is the general opinion of all my
female friends, that you could only hire so dear a house,
and keep a carriage, with a view to fascinate some coy
damsel.”
It does not, however, appear that there was any spe-
cific foundation for this supposition. But in the follow-
ing August, after his return from London to Edin-
burgh, when he was on a visit to his friend, the Rev.
Dr Robert Bell, he became acquainted with Miss
Agnes Barclay, eldest daughter of the Rev. Dr Barclay
of Middleton. To this lady he was married on the 3d
of November (1800,) by his namesake Dr Bell, at
whose house he was staying.
* In a letter from Major Wight to Dr Bell, dated July 11, 1798, we
find the following passage, which would seem to intimate that, at that
time, some fair lady had attracted his notice. 6. What shall you make of
your widow-bewitched ? My guess is that she is not what she seems. You
have not raised her in my estimation by mentioning that Dr Darwin is her
most intimate correspondent, and Lady Audley her acquaintance and
friend. I don't like learned ladies. They are most generally deficient in
that delicacy and correctness which render a woman most truly amiable.”
76
LIFE OF DR BELL.
By a previous disposition and marriage settlement,
Miss Barclay made over to Dr Bell all property, heri-
table and moveable, of which she was possessed, or
should fall to be possessed of, in any manner of way,
amounting to L.7500, burdened with annuities of L.60
per annum : And Dr Bell settled on her L.2500 in
fee, and L.600 per annum in the event of her surviving
him. Immediately after their marriage, they made a
tour through Glasgow, Lochlomond, and Stirling, and
returned to Edinburgh about the middle of November.
Among those who sent him letters of congratulation
were Mr Dempster and Colonel Wight.“ In the name
of your friends at Dunnichen," writes the former, " and
especially in my own, I congratulate you on your mar-
riage, and I request you to make my congratulations
acceptable to Mrs Bell. May every good thing be the
fruit of your marriage! To repeat common-place com-
pliments and wishes on the occasion would be to mis-
place them, only I wish your late excursion had been
to the southward, and had terminated here. If ever
you bend this way, you know how welcome guests you
would prove."
Colonel Wight also wrote thus :--
" Ayr, November 19, 1800.
My dear Friend,
“ It is but just now that your return to Edinburgh
has been intimated to us. I delayed sending Mrs
Wight's congratulations and my own to you and Mrs
Bell upon your nuptials, until we learnt of your return.
We heard, through several hands, of your having
appeared incognito at Glasgow, and we had hopes that
you might have swept Ayr in your course. Mrs W.
.
LIFE OF DR BELL,
77
and Mrs B. have been long acquainted, and, I make no
doubt, will have much pleasure in meeting again. At
Christmas we remove to Dumfries, to remain for at
least three months. During that time we trust you will
think of a journey to Dumfries and Galloway, and that
Mrs B. and you will be our guests. You are now, Doc-
tor, to give us an example how far the attainment of the
things which, by universal consent, are deemed the
most valuable, are capable of affording contentment and
positive happiness. You are now placed in your native
country, in the midst of your friends, in unembarrassed
affluence, and married to the wife of your choice, aided
by science, and by an ample acquaintance with practical
manners.”
78
LIFE OF DR BELL.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Presentation to Swanage-The Village and some of its Inbabitants-Intro-
duction of the Madras System into Schools there-Separation of Dr and
Mrs Bell.
DR and Mrs Bell continued in lodgings in Edinburgh
until the middle of May 1801, when they went into
Galloway, and stayed in the neighbourhood of his
pro-
perty, and at Dumfries, until the 1st of September,
when they set out for London. Here they remained
until late in October, when they went to Bath.
During their stay at Bath, through the interest of his
friend Mr MacTaggart, he received and accepted the
offer of the rectory of Swanage, Dorset, from the patron,
Mr Calcraft, with whom he had not been previously
acquainted. Its value was upwards of L.600 per
annum ; and there was attached to it the patronage
of the parish of Worth, of from L.150 to L.200 per
annum.
Early in December they accordingly quitted Bath for
Swanage, which is distant about seventy miles, when
he took possession of his preferment, and preached his
first sermon on Christmas-day.
Swanage is a village, famous for its quarries of Pur-
beck stone, situate close to the sea, at the termination
of a pleasant valley, and consists chiefly of one street.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
79
There are also many detached houses adjacent to the
village, which, with their gardens and orchards, tend
much to beautify the place.
The tower of the church, which, though of consider-
able size, is not now sufficient for the population, is
said to be the most ancient building in Purbeck, Corfe-
Castle not excepted.
From a paper, dated Aug. 1804, containing a rough
draft of Dr Bell's answer to a circular of queries to the
clergy, sent by the Bishop of Bristol previous to his
holding his primary visitation, we find that the parish
at that time contained 303 families, amounting to 1463
persons; there were three Roman Catholics in the
parish, and about twenty Methodists, who, however,
generally attended church. Dr Bell was accustomed
to say that the inhabitants of Swanage were an intel-
lectual race, and full of science, but that they wanted
cultivation. They were orderly and well disposed, and
from their insulated position preserved much of primi-
tive simplicity and hospitality.
One of his earliest duties, on coming to Swanage, was
to visit his parishioners; and it will be necessary here
to give a brief account of those whom he more especi-
ally noticed, both as showing his discrimination of
character, and as affording a key to his operations in
the parish, as well as on account of their connexion
with his subsequent scholastic proceedings elsewhere.
Among those whom Dr Bell first visited was Mr
Thomas Manwell, who lived close to the rectory, and
who was one of the most extraordinary men in Swan-
age, having originally been a quarryman. On first
entering his house, Dr Bell was surprised at seeing a
great number of books in the room, and on expressing
80
LIFE OF DR BELL.
his astonishment to Mrs Manwell, was informed by her
that “there were ten times the number up stairs,” and
that her husband had long been in the habit of spend-
ing all his spare money in the purchase of books, and
all his leisure time in their perusal.
This person was the son of George Manwell, quarry-
man, whose history, and that of some of his ancestors,
is sufficiently interesting to claim some notice here.
The following account is taken from a letter of George
Manwell, jun., to his son Henry, March 2, 1814_“I
can trace the family no further back,” he sa
says,
66 than
to my grandfather on that side, and but little more on
my grandmother's. After London was burnt some
years, and the city began to be rebuilt and flourishing,
there was an uncommon call for Purbeck stone, and
paving was sold at so high a price as 30s. per cwt.
This, of course, attracted the notice of the neighbour-
hoodround; and numbers of boys from different parishes,
at the distance of twenty miles, were apprenticed here
to the stone trade, and premiums given. This increa-
sed the inhabitants greatly, and other tradesmen were
wanting. Our grandfather, Joseph Manwell, was then
a young man, a carpenter by trade, and came to Swan-
age from the parish of Stickland, near Abbey Melton,
and as there was no carpenter in Swanage, thought it
a good opening for business. He then married our
grandmother, Elizabeth Abbot, youngest daughter of
farmer Abbot of Worth. Our great-grandfather Ab-
bot was very wealthy for that time. He gave all his
children livings except grandmother, to whom, being
about to marry a man intended for trade, he gave
£100 for her fortune. This was a capital sum in those
times, for her father had then carried twenty-one bush-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
81
els of wheat, great measure, from Worth to Pool, and
sold it for forty shillings.
Father was not one year
old when his father Joseph died. The carpentering busi-
ness dropped, and his widow was left with three young
children. However, with the little property she had,
and her own industry, she bred them without any
assistance. Father, of course, under these circum-
stances, had scarcely any education, and at the age of
eleven was put an apprentice to a quarryman, with a
premium, by the Rev. Mr Lewis, rector of Margate,
who was, by the best information I can obtain, either
uncle to grandmother, or cousin.
Father was a
man of uncommon strong memory, could easily have
learned any thing, but no chance for improvement, and
scarcely, or never, wrote his name till after he was a man,
when working in Portland about Westminster bridge.”
The individual here mentioned, George Manwell,
was the chief means of introducing music into Swan-
age as a science, little or no attention having been
previously paid to it. He first learned the art of sing-
ing by notes from a person who had come there for the
purpose of giving lessons in music; and who, perceiving
that Manwell was possessed of an excellent ear, gave
him some gratuitous instruction.
The knowledge he had thus acquired he was anxious
to disseminate, and under his tuition his three sons
soon made great progress; he also gave similar in-
struction to numbers of the young men of the place,
and a foundation was thus laid for that musical
knowledge which has since been much cultivated in
Swanage.
VOL. II.
82
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Of Thomas Manwell, the eldest son, often called the
Swanage philosopher, it is said that he never attended
any school after he was eight years old, at which time
he was taken by his father to the quarries, to learn the
stone-cutting trade. He was of a delicate constitution,
and his father perceiving this, and his great love for
reading, kindly supplied him with a few books, and
avoided putting him to the severer labours of the quar-
ries.
By the time he was fourteen years of age, he had
instructed himself fully in the theory of navigation, and
before he was seventeen he had constructed a sundial
on one side of his father's house, and he afterwards
made another for the church, which still remains.
He continued to follow his trade as a stone-cutter,
devoting all his leisure moments to study, until after
the French Revolution, when from the excellent cha-
racter he bore, and from his scientific knowledge, he
was appointed to the situation of midshipman under
the lieutenant of the signal-post off Swanage, called
Round Down, which appointment he held, except
during the ten months' peace of Amiens, until after the
battle of Waterloo, when the signal-posts were discon-
tinued. The solitude of this place was well suited to
his habits and feelings, and the leisure which the situa-
tion often afforded, gave him an opportunity of follow-
ing his favourite studies, which were now botany and
astronomy, although he also paid much attention to
mathematics, history, chemistry, and philosophy.
On these subjects he not only studied but wrote,
having compiled upwards of twenty volumes of different
LIFE OF DR BELL.
83
sizes, all closely written in imitation of printing. These
chiefly consist of extracts from books on philosophy,
history, science, and mathematics, interspersed with
his own observations.
The following is the title of a work believed by his
son to be original:-
“ The art of Projecting the Sphere in Plano, Or-
thographically and Stereographically, also the Con-
struction of Maps and Planispheres.
“ To which is added the Solution of Geographical
and Astronomical Problems, by Logarithmical Calcu-
lations."
There is also “ A History of the Isle of Purbeck, in
Dorsetshire,"__" An Account of Lulworth Castle and
the Isle of Brownsey,”—“The Arms and Genealogies
of most of the Proprietors, compiled from Hutchins's
History of the County of Dorset : with some addi-
tional information, by T. Manwell.”
It appears,
indeed, that he had furnished Hutchins himself with
some information; for in his second edition he makes
his acknowledgments for the assistance Manwell had
rendered him.
He had also kept a regular diary of the weather,
with many curious meteorological observations, from
the
year
1801 to 1821.
He appears to have been a man of retiring habits,
and of a very abstracted turn of mind, passing much of
his time alone, and avoiding all intercourse with any
but his own family and most intimate friends. Even
when engaged in his stone-shed he rarely conversed
with his fellow workmen, having few subjects of com-
mon interest with them, and being unwilling to com-
84
LIFE OF DR BELL.
)
22
municate his knowledge where it could not be under-
stood or appreciated.
This reserve and taciturnity, however, entirely dis-
appeared when he met with men of congenial tastes
and habits, and this was the case in a remarkable
degree in his intercourse with his two brothers, who
were also men of no ordinary powers of mind. They
were in the habit of meeting occasionally at the house
of one of the brothers, and here they used to spend
hours in conversing on philosophy, astronomy, history,
the arts and sciences, &c. &c. “ Thomas,” said an
old lady who was well acquainted with him, “was
always talking about thunder and lightning, earthquakes,
mountains, eclipses, (which he calculated with great
exactness,) and numbers of other matters which we
could not understand.”
Had Manwell received a liberal education, and had
better opportunities of pursuing his studies, he would
doubtless have distinguished himself in scientific pur-
suits; he does not, however, seem to have possessed
much ambition, or indeed ever to have wished to quit
his native place.
Dr Bell having been struck with the number and
subjects of the books in Manwell's house, became desi-
rous of seeing the owner, and subsequently had much
intercourse with him; never failing to pay him a visit,
or ask him to the rectory, whenever he came from his
duties at the signal-post. On these occasions, they
used to spend many hours in conversation on philo-
sophical and scientific subjects; and Dr Bell used
often to say that Manwell possessed more actual know-
ledge on the theoretical, and, in many instances, on
LIFE OF DR BELL.
85
the practical parts of philosophy, than almost any man
he ever knew.*
Joseph Manwell, Thomas Manwell's brother, was
much celebrated in Swanage for his knowledge of
music, in which he was eminently skilled, considering
the few advantages of instruction he had received.
Having learned the rudiments from his father, he soon
improved himself so far as to become the chief musician
in the place. He did not himself play on any instru-
ment but the violoncello; his chief talent being in the
composition of sacred music. He used to select from
a magazine or other book, such pieces of poetry as
suited his purpose, and then composed the music to
suit the words, which he did with great facility. He
frequently composed tunes while at work in the quar-
ries, and kept humming them till it was time to go
home, when he would make all possible haste to write
them out while they were fresh in his memory. It is
said that, when very young, having composed a carol
tune, which he was anxious should be played at Swan-
age, and thinking there would be no chance of its being
* Manwell died in 1822, and the epitaph on his tomb, in Swanage
churchyard, is as follows:-
- Near this stone
Lie the earthly remains of
MR THOMAS MANWELL,
Who, (unassisted by education,) by the strength of a superior genius, and
nature for his guide, broke through the barrier to literature, and
acquired a degree of knowledge which might have ranked him with
the first philosophers of the age. But being a child of solitude, his
retired meditations were far dearer to him than the acquirement of
fame; and if Charity, Humility, and Meekness, with Faith in a
Redeemer, be Christianity, he was a perfect Christian.
Obiit 4th February 1822.
Anno ætatis 70."
86
LIFE OF DR BELL.
1
chosen if it were known to be his, he directed it to one
of the singers, and sent it to the post-office at Corfe
Castle. It was chosen and sung, and one of the band
said to Manwell, “ Joe, I could almost have sworn this
had been thy handwriting, if I had not known better.”
It appears, however, that he never mentioned the cir-
cumstance to any but his own family.
There was also another family of quarrymen, who
require to be mentioned here on account of their con-
nexion with the Sunday school, in which, as will be
seen, Dr Bell took much interest, as well as from their
subsequently being employed as schoolmasters under
the “New System.” These were the Sticklands. The
father, Thomas Stickland, was noted as the most skilful
stone-cutter in Swanage, and his work always bore a
higher price than that of any other of the quarrymen.
The sons, of whom there were four, were, like the
Manwells, remarkable for their musical talents, and
especially for their powers of singing. One of these
sons, John, was master of the Sunday school at the
time of Dr Bell's appointment to. Swanage, and of him
we shall presently have occasion to speak more par-
ticularly.
The Sunday schools, of which there were twoma
boys' and a girls' school—had been established chiefly
by means of Mr Moreton Pitt and Mr Everett, for
some time previous to Dr Bell's obtaining the living of
Swanage. They had not, however, met with much
encouragement; the original salary having only been
£1, 10s. a-year for both! This was afterwards raised
to £2, 12s., and then the subscribers entirely fell off ;
and John Stickland, who was the master at that time,
collected a scanty pittance as he could. A Mr Taylor
LIFE OF DR BELL.
87
and his sister then took some trouble about the matter,
and from time to time raised small subscriptions.
Afterwards the churchwardens, and the curate, Mr
Gent, established a regular annual subscription, which,
however, does not appear to have exceeded the former
salary; Mr and Mrs Gent also often afforded their
personal assistance in the school.
Much credit is due to Stickland for having perse-
vered in his exertions under such discouraging circum-
stances. In some cases he even furnished the children
himself with books, &c., rather than that they should
be deprived of the means of instruction for want of
these requisites. He also gave them many instructions in
sacred music; and this being a relaxation andamusement
to them, combined with his kind and indulgent treat-
ment, tended to attach them to him in a great degree.
He was a man of a grave and thoughtful turn of mind,
and of very retentive memory, having large portions of
the Scriptures by heart, and almost all the Psalms. He
sometimes officiated as clerk, when he rarely had occa-
sion to refer to the Prayer-book, and frequently closed
it altogether.
Dr Bell visited the Sunday school on the first or
second Sunday after his arrival, and from that time
became a constant attendant. He seems, however, to
have been cautious in not too hastily breaking in upon
Stickland's plans of education, and at first to have satis-
fied himself with going from class to class, hearing
them their lessons, and asking them questions or ex-
plaining passages,* and to have waited till a favourable
opportunity occurred for introducing his own system.
* It is related by one of those who were then scholars, that, as Dr Bell
was one Sunday afternoon pacing up and down the school-room, observing
88
LIFE OF DR BELL.
When he had been nearly a year at Swanage, the
peace of Amiens took place, and the signal-posts being
no longer required, Thomas Manwell was released from
his duties there, and this gave Dr Bell an opportunity
of transferring one branch of the Sunday school (the
boys) to his and his wife's care; the girls still remain-
ing under Stickland, as before.
As soon as he had effected this division, which was
in 1802, he proposed the adoption of his “ New Sys-
tem” in both schools, conceiving that each would act
as a stimulus to the other; and both Stickland and
Manwell agreeing to it, a commencement was at once
made ; Dr Bell arranging, at the same time, that a
certain number of the gentry of the place should visit .
the schools in rotation.
Manwell did not long hold this charge, being obliged
to resume his duties at the signal-post when the war
again broke out; his wife and family, however, con-
tinued to carry on the school.
Dr Bell now bestowed much time and attention on
the organization of these schools, although he still pro-
ceeded cautiously. He first appointed monitors to
some of the classes, and introduced by degrees the
simpler practices, until in course of time he had esta-
blished the system as far as he then found it practicable.
This was not done without much trouble, and his
energetic endeavours to make his scholars comprehend
the system, are still well remembered. He was most
minute in his directions, and gave the strongest in-
what was going on, and giving his directions, the children's attention was
more fixed on him than on their books, which, not pleasing Stickland, he
said, with a very grave countenance, “ Sir, will you be pleased to pitch
yourself."
See pot
LIFE OF DR BELL.
89
>>
junctions not to deviate from the laws he laid down.
“ He hammered it into them,” Stickland used to say,
6 like a blacksmith on an anvil."
In September 1803 he thus speaks of his labours in
a letter to Mr Johnstone, minister of Crossmichael
parish_“ Every minute of my time since my receipt
of yours of the 10th, I have been occupied in digesting
and maturing the system of Sunday schools in my
parish. The first earnest I had of their reviving cre-
dit, was a subscription fourfold what it had been the
preceding year; and now it is increasing still further.”
In 1804 circulars were also sent to the principal persons
concerned, containing an account of the progress the
schools had made, and soliciting their further assistance.
In the year following, some changes took place in
the arrangements of the schools. Mrs Manwell finding
the boys troublesome, was desirous to transfer them to
Stickland, and to take the girls under her care. This
exchange was accordingly made. Stickland, however,
did not long remain in charge, and soon after kept a
Sunday school of his own, consisting of about thirty-five
children, where he taught reading and writing, the for-
mer only being taught in the original schools. The
exact cause of his quitting Dr Bell's school does not
appear; but he was doubtless too much prejudiced in
favour of the mode of education he had always been
accustomed to, to adopt readily a new system, which
must have run so counter to all his former ideas on
the subject.
His successor was also a quarryman, Warren by
name, who had received a better education than Stick-
land, and was probably not imbued with the same pre-
judices. He continued in charge of the school until
90
LIFE OF DR BELL.
1809, when he was appointed to a more important
scholastic situation by Dr Bell.
We do not gather from Dr Bell's letters at this
time, that he was on the whole well satisfied with the
progress he had made in introducing his system into
these schools.
He seems, however, to have proceeded more rapidly
since the change of masters. In one of his letters, dated
February 1806, he says--“ My Sunday schools improve
to my mind, since my last change. The master of the
boys has two sons, who labour incessantly with their
pupils, and my schoolmistress goes on beyond expecta-
tion.”
In the following May he writes again to a friend on
the same subject thus“ I shall be proud of your com-
pany at the parsonage house, Swanage, and of showing
you my Sunday schools, and what I have done. I
lament daily that this situation does not admit, upon
any scale of example, the repetition of the experiment
made at Madras; though it has given me an opportu-
nity of satisfying others, as well as myself, that nothing
is wanted but an appropriate institution for this pur-
pose. Believing, as I do, that I have made a most
useful discovery, I long every day, more and more, to
lend a helping hand to forward what I believe will, in
length of time, without my aid, establish itself.”
An annual examination of the school children was
held at the rectory in September, when the parents,
and most of the neighbouring gentry, met there, and
the children were regaled with tea, &c., on the lawn
before the house. On these occasions Dr Bell was
the busiest and most pleased of the party, assisting to
amuse the children in every way, and delighted to see
LIFE OF DR BELL,
91
them enjoying themselves. His love for children
never left him, and of his kindness to them, when he
was advanced in life, I can personally speak, from
having, as a child, often experienced it.
The number of scholars, however, seems at one time
to have been temporarily reduced; for, at the examina-
tion held in 1804, the number of children in the two
schools amounted to 183, being more than one-eighth
of the population; while in 1807 the number in the
three schools was only 145. How the numbers came
to be so reduced at this time is extraordinary, for the
schools still maintained their reputation, and on the
following anniversary were fuller than ever, there being
193 scholars present, including Stickland's school.
This was the last anniversary which Dr Bell held
there, and it is thus mentioned in a letter from Joseph
Manwell, jun., to one of his cousins :-
« October 9, 1808.
“ On Friday, the 30th of September, there was an .
anniversary of the Sunday schools here in Swanage. It
consisted of seventy-five boys, and one hundred and
seventeen girls. In the afternoon they assembled before
the Rev. Dr Bell's house, when they received their
usual civility and kindness from that benevolent gentle-
man. All the gentry, both far and near, attended on
the occasion, and seemed very well pleased to see and
hear the children read; and I think the people in gene-
ral have more regard for that laudable institution than
ever."
Dr Bell also thus speaks of the same occasion, in a
letter to his friend Mr Marriot:
92
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Swanage, October 1, 1808. .
“ Yesterday was the anniversary of my Sunday
schools. The day was fine, and my green was covered
with one hundred and ninety-three children, all well
dressed, and in perfect order, and the house full of de-
lighted spectators, adorned by my young patronesses, to
behold the wonderful improvement of the infant gene-
ration. Strange to tell, our numbers of boys under
fourteen, and girls under twelve, assembled, amounted
to one-fourth of the whole population of the parish.
Yet no clothes, or other inducement than recti cultus'
is held out, the cakes, tea, and fruit dispensed on this
occasion excepted.”
Little further appears on the subject of these schools.
After the removal of the master in 1809, a new one was
appointed, who remained there about a year, when the
children were again put under the care of their old
master, John Stickland, who continued in charge till
his death, which occurred in 1813. He was succeeded
by his son Thomas, whose name appears in the books
as master until 1828.
We find that, in 1807, there were no less than
thirteen day-schools in the parish, in addition to the
three Sunday schools, so that it certainly could not be
said that Swanage was deficient in the opportunities of
education. One of these schools requires a brief no-
tice. It was kept by a person of the name of Gover,
who appears to have held a variety of offices besides that
of schoolmaster. He was clerk and postmaster, man-
ager of the benefit club, attorney, collector, and account-
ant, and, in short, seems to have been one of the most
useful individuals in the parish. The number of his
LIFE OF DR BELL.
93
scholars amounted to about forty-five ; and his time was
so much taken up by his other manifold occupations,
that his school was generally entrusted to the care of a
mere boy, and, in consequence, was in a most disorderly
state.
Into this school Dr Bell made several attempts to in-
troduce his system, and, in 1806, succeeded beyond his
expectations. Of this he gives the following account, in
a letter to one of his friends :-
Swanage, December 23, 1806.
“ About a month ago I determined, at all hazards,
to make the experiment here, and never did I see so
disorderly a school as that in which alone I had the
opportunity of trial. As oft as the master was absent,
and his avocations led him much off, the scholars sel-
dom read singly more than one lesson a day, sometimes
not one.
I set the master (a man of capa-
city) to work, left him a week to himself, and found
things go better than I expected. I then set about
completing the arrangement, and looking a little into
the execution, and, enthusiastic as I am, I was astonished
at the event. My master I knew well
, and could com-
mand his mind; and, whenever he was at a loss, he
applied to me. I know not how to write to you what
is the conversation of all here. It is like magic; order
and regularity started up all at once. In half an hour
more was learned, and far better, than had been done the
whole day before. A class which could only get one
line to a lesson a fortnight ago, now gets eight, and all
say their lessons well, and come on in like proportion.
The ludus literarius interests them. They quit the
school at dismissal with reluctance, and they return
94
LIFE OF DR BELL.
before their time to renew the competition. Several
boys ardently exert themselves in the hope of being
appointed teachers, in the event of the present ones
being displaced. In a word, the school astonished me,
and, in breaking up this day, I had many reward-books
to give for desert."
Afterwards, when Dr Bell's avocations called him
often
away from Swanage, some slight prejudices seem
to have sprung up against the system, and two or three
boys were removed from this school on that account.
Gover, notwithstanding, still persevered in his efforts;
but we do not find any further accurate information on
this subject.
Before concluding this chapter, I may briefly state
that some unhappy dissensions had arisen between Dr
and Mrs Bell, which ended in the final separation of
the parties in April 1806.
I have stated, in my preface, the reasons which have
prevented me from entering at length into any domes-
tic details, and need not, therefore, repeat them here.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
95
CHAPTER XIX.
The Doctor vaccinates many of his Parishioners-Advocates Mr Jesty's
claim to this Discovery--The Manufacture of Straw Plait introduced into
Swanage—Intercourse with his Parishioners, &c.
ANOTHER object to which Dr Bell paid much atten-
tion, soon after his arrival at Swanage, was the intro-
duction of vaccination among his parishioners, in place
of inoculation. He had seen something of the effects of
inoculation at Madras, and that, probably, paved the
way
for the interest he subsequently took in the sub-
ject.
Somewhat more than a year after Dr Bell's appoint-
ment to Swanage, he was called to Edinburgh by urgent
business, which required his and Mrs Bell's presence
there, and on his return he brought with him some vac-
cine matter; but the surgeons of the place being very
averse to the introduction of this new practice, Dr Bell
determined on personally vaccinating those of his pari-
shioners who would consent to it-so convinced was he
of its superiority over the dangerous practice of inocu-
lation, to which he had himself, when a child, very nearly
fallen a victim, having been one of the first who under-
went that operation at St Andrew's. He accordingly
enquired of Gover if he knew of any healthy children
whose parents were likely to consent to their being vac-
cinated, and was by him directed to a person of the name
96
LIFE OF DR BELL.
of Webber, who consented that her two children, a boy
and a girl, should undergo the operation, which was per-
formed the same day at the rectory-Dr Bell vaccina-
ting the boy, and Mrs Bell the girl.
These two cases having turned out favourably, a day
was appointed for vaccinating others from them, and a
large number attended, all of whom were operated on
by Dr and Mrs Bell. These cases succeeded so well,
that the inhabitants generally became desirous of expe-
riencing the benefits of this new preventive; and in the
course of this spring, Dr and Mrs Bell vaccinated up-
wards of 300 persons. He used to devote two hours
a-day, for two days in the week, to this object, besides
regularly visiting those who were within his reach, to
mark their progress.
Among his patients was Thomas Stickland, father
to the schoolmaster of that name, whose horror of the
small-pox was so great, that, whenever the disease was
in the neighbourhood, he used to go away with his
family until it ceased. Notwithstanding this precau-
tion, however, all his family had taken the infection
except himself. Dr Bell now urged him, although he
was seventy-eight years of age, to undergo the opera-
tion, and at last obtained his consent. His arm was
unusually inflamed, and he was laid up for more than
a week, during which time Dr Bell visited him daily.
By the great attention he paid to his patients, and the
success that had attended his operations, he succeeded
ultimately in eradicating the prejudices which had ex-
isted against vaccination.
On this subject, he thus speaks in a letter to a friend:
Sunday the 15th, (June 1806,) I did what was never
done before in Swanage-preached twice, and the same
LIFE OF DR BELL.
97
.
sermon, both forenoon and afternoon, on cow-pock.
The consequence is, that I have now this year vacci-
nated 211 subjects, which, added to the three former
years' list, make 604 I have vaccinated. A mother has
brought a second child from Portsmouth, on purpose
for my vaccination, because the elder had resisted the
small-pox in every way, whom, being accidentally here,
I had vaccinated with my parishioners and neighbours ;
for I sent none away. Among other causes, I am
detained by the vaccination (brought on before the
usual period by the natural small-pox breaking out in
the neighbourhood) from returning to London so soon
as I intended." And in the course of the next month
he writes—“ I have now almost finished my fourth
annual vaccination for the cow-pock, amounting in all
to 658 subjects, from seventy-eight years of age to
twelve months; and have set old women, schoolmis-
tresses, &c., in neighbouring parishes, inoculating with
vaccine matter."
Dr Bell had been remarkably fortunate in all his
cases; and few instances will be found of vaccination
having been so widely and successfully practised by
individual who had not made medicine his study. A
few years ago the small-pox was very prevalent at
Swanage, and a minute enquiry was made by the late
rector, Mr Bartlett, as to whether any had taken the
infection who had been vaccinated, and more espe-
cially concerning those who had been operated on by
Dr Bell, as being those of longest standing; and he
found that there was not a single instance of an indi-
vidual who had been vaccinated by Dr Bell having
taken the disease.
Connected with the introduction of vaccination into
VOL. II.
G
98
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Swanage, are some curious particulars respecting a
farmer of the name of Benjamin Jesty, who, it appears,
had discovered and practised vaccination previous to
Dr Jenner. Jesty, who was a plain farmer of ordinary
education, with no pretensions to skill in any thing but
his own agricultural occupations, held at one time an
extensive farm at Yetminster, in Dorset, and carried on
a large business by sending cattle to the London mar-
ket. He subsequently removed to the farm of Down-
shay, belonging to Mr Calcraft, and situated in the
neighbourhood of Swanage. Dr Bell had not been
long there before he became acquainted with Jesty,
who, finding the practice of vaccination was then mak-
ing much noise in the world, became anxious to make
his claims to the original discovery known; and ac-
cordingly gave Dr Bell an account of his proceedings,
at the same time representing that he thought himself
entitled to some reward as well as Jenner. Dr Bell
was much struck with his narrative, and drew up the
following paper on the subject, telling Jesty at the same
time, that he was afraid he was too late in making his
claim, as he had not made his discovery known at the
time, or followed it up beyond his own family.
« Of the Vaccine Inoculation, as performed thirty
years ago.
1
- 1st August 1803.
“ The inoculation with vaccine matter, as taught by
Dr Jenner, and diffused over the globe by the ability,
industry, and well-directed exertions of that great bene-
factor of the human race, now rests on such universal
LIFE OF DR BELL.
99
experience, as might seem to require no further support
or illustration. Sir Isaac Newton, Dr Franklin, Mon-
sieur Lavoisier, (or, if you choose, rather Dr Black,)
and Harvey, could not, in the same short period, boast
of equal success in the spread of their respective disco-
veries. Still
, however, there are some who question
the efficacy of vaccination as a preventive of the small-
pox.
“ After I had last spring, by way of introducing
(for that was all I proposed in the first instance)
the practice into this peninsula, inoculated with vac-
cine matter, which I brought from a distance of five
hundred miles, upwards of three hundred persons,
men, women, and children, in my insulated parish
and neighbourhood, (isle of Purbeck,) where the visi-
tation of the small-pox is a stranger, having only occur-
red twice in forty years, once by infection and once by
inoculation, I have the mortification to find that the
efficacy of this disorder is still disputed, and that
parents still decline to submit their children to this
simple operation. Even learned and able physicians
have argued that Dr Jenner's discovery is not of suffi-
cient standing, to establish that the vaccine inoculation
is a security against the variolous infection for a longer
period than his practice extends.
“ It may not, therefore, be altogether useless to bring
forward a fact, which, in an earlier stage of Dr Jenner's
practice, would (had it been known to him) have given
weight to his doctrines, and which still, perhaps, maj
be thought not unworthy of a place in the history of
the cow-pox. If it should have any influence with
those parents who decline the offer made to them of
having their children vaccinated, my object is attained;
100
LIFE OF DR BELL,
and let Mr Jesty have that share of credit (whatever
it may be) which attaches to his bold and successful
experiment.
“ In the spring of the year 1774, farmer Benjamin
Jesty, then of Yetminster, Dorset, now of Downshay,
isle of Purbeck, inoculated with vaccine matter his wife*
and two sons, Robert and Benjamin, of three and two
years
of age, and all three now alive. Mrs Jesty was
inoculated in the arm under the elbow; her sons above
the elbow. The incision was made with a needle, and
the virus taken on the spot from the cows of farmer
Elford of Chittenhall, whither Mr Jesty carried his
family for that purpose. The sons had the disorder in
a favourable way: but Mrs Jesty's arm was much in-
flamed; and the boldness and novelty of the attempt
produced no small alarm in the family, and no small
sensation in the neighbourhood.
“ Fifteen years afterwards, (1789,) the sons were
inoculated for the small-pox by Mr Trowbridge, sur-
geon of Cerne Abbas, along with others who had not
had the cow-pox. The arms of the former inflamed,
but the inflammation soon subsided, and no fever or
other variolous symptom was observable: the latter
went through the fever eruption and usual course of
the inoculated small-pox. Mrs Jesty and the two sons
have often since been exposed to the variolous con-
tagion.
“ It may be enquired by the future historian of the
cow-pox, what led to this early essay of introducing
the vaccine virus into the human frame ? and how it
happened that this successful attempt fell still-born
* He is said to have had the infection himself, by casually taking it from
the cows before this.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
101
from the cow ? Mr Jesty's relation is to this ef-
fect:
“ When the small-pox raged in the vicinity, and
inoculation was introduced into the village, (Yetmin-
ster,) alarmed for the safety of his family, he bethought
himself of this expedient. There had been in his family
two maid-servants, Ann Notley and Mary Read, who,
after having the disorder from the cows, and knowing
this to be a preventive of the small-pox, had attended,
the one her brother, the other her nephew, in the
natural small-pox, without taking the infection. This
circumstance led Mr Jesty to communicate by inocula-
tion the disorder of the cows to his family. For this
purpose he carried them to the field of a neighbouring
farm, and, as has been related, performed the operation
on the spot.
“ To the other question, how did it happen that this
discovery expired at its birth, a ready solution will be
found in the character of the ingenious farmer, whose
pursuits were widely different from those of medicine,
or literature, or science, and in the natural prejudice of
mankind, strengthened by the alarm which the inflam-
mation of Mrs Jesty's arm had excited. To such a
height was this prejudice carried, that a neighbouring
surgeon, whose name I have not been able to learn,
had almost lost his practice from the bare proposal of
following up Mr Jesty's bold and successful experi-
ment.
“ With those who objected to introducing a bestial
disorder into the human frame, already liable to so
many diseases, the farmer has been often heard to say
that he argued after this manner :
“For his part he preferred taking infection from an
102
LIFE OF DR BELL.
innocuous animal, like a cow, subject to so few disor-
ders, to taking it from the human body, liable to so
many and such diseases; and that he had experience
on his side, as the casual cow-pox was not attended
with danger like the variolous infection; and that,
beside, there appeared to him little risk in introducing
into the human constitution matter from the cow, as
we already, without danger, eat the flesh and blood,
drink the milk, and cover ourselves with the skin of
this innocuous animal."
This paper was some time afterwards transmitted
to the Jennerian Society; and a copy was also for-
warded, at the same time, to the Right Honourable
George Rose. In a note which accompanied the lat-
ter, Dr Bell says,
If
you
think it worth the previous
notice of your friends, Mr Pitt, Sir H. Mildmay, &c.,
or of being otherwise disposed of, you have my leave. .
I have many apologies to offer for obtruding upon you
at this time; but as this affair has long lain dormant,
and is now to be forwarded to the R. J. S., I am ex-
ceedingly desirous of presenting to you this simulta-
neous communication."
An answer was immediately received from the se-
cretary of the Jennerian Society, stating “ that he had
received Dr Bell's very interesting paper of the vaccine
inoculation, and that he should have an opportunity of
laying it before the two boards at their meeting on the
following evening." He also sent him a copy of the
pamphlet of the society, and gave him his address, “ in
case he should have occasion to honour him with any
further communication.” Mr Rose also wrote, express-
ing great interest in Dr Bell's communication,
97
LIFE OF DR BELL.
103
At the time Dr Bell drew up this document, he had
not seen Dr Pearson's pamphlet, in which Mr Jesty's
name had already been mentioned. It fell into his
hands, however, shortly afterwards, when he thus wrote
to the secretary of the Jennerian Society:
6
Central House, Salisbury Square, July 7, 1804.
Sir,
“ In Dr Pearson's pamphlet, which has just been
put into my hands, I read as follows:
-Mr Justins,' (a
mistake for Jesty,)“ a farmer at Yetminster, in Dorset,
inoculated his wife and family with matter taken from
the teat of a cow that had the cow-pox. In about a
week from the time of inoculation, their arms were
very much inflamed: the patients were very ill, and
the man was so much alarmed as to call in medical
assistance—(Mr Read of Cerne.) The patients soon
got well ; and they have since been inoculated for the
small-pox by Mr Trowbridge of Cerne, but without
effect.
«« I cannot inform you at what period Mr Justins
inoculated his family, but I have no doubt it was pre-
vious to Dr Jenner's practice.
«« The farmer alluded to in Mr Pultney's letter to
you,
who inoculated his wife and children with matter
taken from a cow, and the person mentioned in Mr
Drew's letter, viz. Mr Justins, is the same person,
Both Mr Pultney's and Mr Drew's intelligence came
I am not certain at this time as to the
year,
but believe it was on or before the year 1786. The
farmer is still living, of whom I can have the par-
ticulars.
«¢ In a subsequent letter to Dr Pearson, dated
Chattle, June 15, 1802, Mr Dolling informed him that
from me.
104
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Mr Benjamin Jesty (not Justins) performed the ino-
culation above mentioned as early as 1774,* and he is
still living
I know a medical man in this country who was
greatly injured in his practice by a prejudice raised
against him, long ago, for his intention of substituting
the cow-pox for the small-pox.'
“ These extracts, had I seen Dr Pearson's pamphlet,
should have preceded the statement which I forwarded
you
late letter; and you will, perhaps, agree
with me in opinion, that they should still be subjoined
in a note. The facts which I have detailed were com-
municated to me by the parties themselves, and their
accuracy may be depended on.”
Mr Banks, also, the member for Çorfe Castle, wrote
to Dr Bell as follows on the same subject :
to
in my
" October 16, 1804.
66 Sir,
“ A fact, relating to a farmer in Dorsetshire,
which I take to be the same that is mentioned in the
enclosed papers, † was given in evidence before the
Committee of the House of Commons, to whom Dr
Jenner's petition was referred, and, if I am not mis-
taken, was printed in their report. There was, I am
sure, abundant proof of the disorder being known, and
of its preventive power, long before Dr Jenner's name
was heard ; nor at this moment do those who continue
to doubt the complete efficacy of the cow-pock, deny
its success in innumerable instances.”
The result of Dr Bell's communication to the Jen-
* Dr Jenner is said first to have considered the subject in 1775, but it
was not until 1796 that he made his first experiment,
† Dr Bell's statement.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
105
66
nerian Society was, that they became anxious to see
Mr Jesty, and in the same year application was made
to him for the purpose of inducing him to go up to
London; but being apprehensive of an attack of gout,
to which he was subject, he declined undertaking the
journey at that time. In the course of the next year
the following letter was addressed to him by the secre-
tary of the society:-
“ London, July 25, 1805.
Sir,
“I am desired by the medical establishment of
this institution to propose to you, that-provided you
will come to town at your own convenience, but as
soon as possible, to stay not longer than five days,
(unless you desire it,) for the purpose of taking your
portrait as the earliest inoculator for cow-pock, at the
expense of the institution—you will receive fifteen
guineas for your expenses, and the members of the
establishment will be happy to show you any civility
during your stay in London, on which account it is
hoped you will be put to little or no expense. I have
the honour to remain, Sir, your obedient humble ser-
vant,
“ WILL. SANCHO."
This invitation Mr Jesty accepted; and accordingly
went to London, taking with him his son Robert, who
had been vaccinated in 1774. They met with great
attention from the members of the society, who were
much amused with Jesty's manners and appearance.
Before he left home his family tried to induce him to
attire himself somewhat more fashionably, but without
106
LIFE OF DR BELL.
effect. “ He did not see,” he said, why he should
dress better in London than in the country,” and
accordingly wore his usual dress, which was peculiarly
old-fashioned. In order to prove their statement, Mr
Robert Jesty willingly consented to be inoculated for the
small-pox, and his father for the cow-pock, but neither
took effect. Mr Jesty was presented with a pair of very
handsome gold-mounted lancets, and his portrait was
also taken by Mr Sharp; but he proved an impatient
sitter, and could only be kept quiet by Mrs Sharp's
playing to him on the piano.
This portrait, from which an engraving was taken,
was exhibited at Somerset House, and afterwards
placed for some time in the Vaccine Institution. It
then fell into Dr Pearson's hands, and on his death
came to his son-in-law, who, finding that Jesty's family
were anxious to possess it, presented it to Robert Jesty,
and it is now in the possession of his widow at Wraxal
House, near Maiden Newton.
A testimonial, which is still in the possession of the
family, was also drawn up and signed by the members
of the society, attesting the fact of Jesty's having dis-
covered and practised vaccination in 1774; and of its
efficacy in his and his sons' case having been proved
by their frequent exposure to infection, and by their
having undergone inoculation for the small-pox with
perfect impunity.
Jesty's visit to London had satisfactorily established
his claim as the earliest discoverer of vaccination.
But here the matter ended; nor does he at that time
appear to have pressed his application for a pecuniary
recompense. In the
In the year following, however, he wrote
LIFE OF DR BELL.
107
to Mr Pearson on this subject, who communicated his
letter to the members of the institution, in answer to
which the secretary wrote to Jesty, stating that they
would endeavour to promote his views, but that they
feared it was very improbable that any such reward
could be obtained. On this he appears to have given
up all expectation on the subject, and indeed his cir-
cumstances were such as to render it a matter of little
importance to him.
On his tombstone is the following inscription:
6 SACRED
To the Memory of BENJAMIN JESTY, (of Downshay,)
Who departed this life, 16th April 1816,
Aged 79 years.
He was born at Yetminster in this county, and was an upright, honest
man, particularly noted for having been the first person (known) who
introduced the Cow-pox by inoculation, and who, from his great
strength of mind, made the experiment from the cow on his wife and
two sons, in the year 1774."
His second son, Mr Benjamin Jesty, was also an
enthusiast in the same cause. In 1809 he vaccinated
great numbers, and kept a regular register of the names
of the individuals, and of the progress of the disorder
in each.
The two eldest sons are dead; but the rest of the
family now reside in the neighbourhood of Dorchester,
and are all in flourishing circumstances, holding some
of the largest farms in the county.
We must now return to an early period of Dr Bell's
residence in Swanage, in order to notice the introduc-
108
LIFE OF DR BELL.
tion, through his means, of the manufacture of straw-
plait, which has since afforded employment to a large
portion of the female inhabitants there, and has proved
a considerable source of emolument.
This manufacture was introduced into the town of
Christchurch, Hants, in the year 1803, under the ex-
pectation that it would materially assist the parish in
reducing the poor-rates, which were then very heavy.
A Mr Millard, of London, had been engaged to give
instruction in this art, and a small training establish-
ment was formed for the purpose. It was also set on
foot in the parish of Wyke, near Weymouth. These
attempts became the subject of conversation in the
neighbourhood; and the principal inhabitants of Swan-
age, Dr Bell especially, became anxious to follow the
example thus set them. There seems, however, to
have been much difficulty at the outset, and the object
was ultimately accomplished by a curious train of acci-
dental circumstances, which merit a brief notice here.
The two daughters of Mr Cole, stone-merchant of
Swanage, hearing this manufacture talked about, be-
came very desirous of making bonnets for themselves;
and accordingly, having pulled an old one to pieces,
and examined the fabric, set to work with all possible
industry. Their first attempt was made with common
threshed straw ; but this not answering their expecta-
tions, they procured some proper straw from London,
and a machine for splitting it, and renewed their labours.
About this time Dr Bell happened to call, and sur-
prised the young ladies at their work, which they had
been desirous of keeping a secret. He was highly
delighted with their skill and perseverance, and carried
LIFE OF DR BELL.
109
off a portion to show to some friends, and to Mrs Bell
and his sister, who was then with him.
An attempt had been just then made by the com-
mittee for managing the affairs of the parish, to have
some of the children instructed in this art by the same
person who was employed for that purpose at Christ-
church. His terms, however, were too high, and the mat-
ter seemed likely to fall to the ground, when Mr Cole
proposed to the committee, that if they would place the
parish children under the tuition of his daughters, allow-
ing sixpence a-week for each child, and their work for
three months, he would have them properly instructed
in the business.
This proposal was accepted, and the Misses Cole
were placed at Wyke, where they applied themselves
so diligently to the art, that they soon returned to Swan-
age, having made themselves well acquainted with it.
They immediately opened a school in their father's
house, and twelve children were at once placed under
their care: after which Dr Bell commenced organizing
this infant establishment on the Madras system. For
this purpose he visited the school almost daily, and his
instructions met with ready attention and prompt fulfil-
ment from the Misses Cole.
He soon succeeded in regularly arranging the scho-
lars, according to the quantity and quality of their
work, and appointed monitors to each class, the number
now amounting to thirty. The first part of each day
was devoted to instructing the children in reading,
writing, &c., and the remainder to the primary object
of the school.
One of the sisters, unhappily, soon after died, and
the other continued to carry on the school alone. It
110.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
now occurred to Dr Bell, that the utility of the esta-
blishment might be increased by a new arrangement of
the terms of admission ; and he suggested to Miss Cole,
that it might answer to her to instruct the children with-
out remuneration, under the condition of their remain-
ing for a longer time with her, and placing their work
at her disposal.
This was agreed to, and Dr Bell, with several other
of the inhabitants, went about, urging the parents to
send their children. The school, in consequence, in-
creased at once to nearly ninety, and Dr Bell's labours
in organizing it were renewed. He visited it daily, and
took such interest in the manufacture, that, on going to
London, he made enquiries from different dealers in
straw-plait, and brought back many patterns for the use
of the school. He was also the first person in the parish
who set the fashion of wearing a straw hat, which at first
excited much notice. The custom, however, was soon
followed by others in great numbers.
Miss Cole, who was obliged to give up the school
from ill health, subsequently married Mr James Stick-
land, stone-mason; and as his business required him to
move about a great deal, she extended the sale to many
of the surrounding towns. In 1822, however, Mr and
Mrs Stickland permanently took up their residence at
Swanage, where she still resides. From that time the
demand for this manufacture continued to increase; and
it is said that from 4000 to 5000 bonnets have been
annually sold, and plait sufficient for from 8000 to 10,000
more.
Previous to the introduction of this manufacture,
knitting seems to have been the chief employment of
the female part of the population. There were schools
;
LIFE OF DR BELL.
111
where knitting was taught, and numbers of stockings
were annually disposed of. The introduction of straw-
plait, however, completely annihilated knitting, and,
being a much more profitable occupation, soon found its
way into almost every house in the village, and the trade
was rapidly extended to all the neighbouring places.
Many bonnets were also exported to Newfoundland,
the Cape of Good Hope, Madras, Calcutta, &c.
In many ways this manufacture has materially bene-
fited the inhabitants of Swanage; unfortunately, how-
ever, the persons who take the goods off their hands in
the first instance, rarely pay them in money, preferring
to give in exchange clothing, &c. This barter is much
to their disadvantage. Their health is also injured by
the sedentary nature of their employment; and, as their
hands must not be hardened by work, they are precluded
from attending properly to their domestic concerns.
There were many other objects, in addition to these
that have been now described at some length, in which
Dr Bell interested himself. Some of these may be
briefly mentioned here, not so much from their pos-
sessing any intrinsic importance, but as tending to
throw light on the character of his mind, and as proving
how constantly he employed himself in whatever he
thought would benefit his parishioners.
There was a friendly society established in Swanage
previous to Dr Bell's arrival, and in the year after his
appointment he preached their annual sermon, a copy
of which he sent to Mr Rose, who, it appears, had been
the originator of these societies. On this subject Dr
Bell thus writes to him some time afterwards—“As
the founder and patron of the friendly societies dis-
-
112
LIFE OF DR BELL.
persed over the kingdom, independently of the interest
which you took in the Swanage society, indebted to
you for the benefits which they derived from your pub-
lications, communicated through my hands, you will
not be displeased to learn that the society now consists
of two hundred and sixty-five members, and increases
daily; and that their funds now amount to £2400
three per cent consols, and £201 cash, which I have
recommended to be immediately invested in the funds
also.” To this Mr Rose says in his answer—“I
rejoice very sincerely in the success of your society,
and I am sure you will hear with pleasure that there
are now, in England only, upwards of 880,000 mem-
bers of similar ones, male and female; and, previous to
the passing the act which I framed and brought in,
there were not 100,000, according to the best informa-
tion that could be obtained.”
In 1806 this society contained 306 members, and
their funds amounted to £3000. On Whit-Tuesday in
this
year Dr Bell preached a sermon for them, and after-
wards a deputation presented a short address to him,
thanking him for the interest he had always taken in
their welfare, and especially “ for his generous offer of
assisting them in any case of difficulty.
To his conscientious and zealous performance of his
duties as a parish priest, his parishioners bear willing
and ample testimony. He was constant in his attend-
ance on the sick, and on all occasions kept up the most
friendly intercourse with his parishioners, visiting fre-
quently the poorer classes, and interesting himself both
in their spiritual and temporal welfare. He was also
bountiful in his charities, enquiring particularly after the
LIFE OF DR BELL.
1
113
wants of the poorer members of his flock, and supplying
them with a liberal hand.
One of his parishioners, an old man of eighty-four,
thus spoke of him in 1838, after passing a high eulo-
gium on his general character, and bearing witness to
the reformation he had worked in many respects in the
parish. “ You may,” said he, "travel far and near
without finding his equal ; it is true he was irritable
and passionate in his temper, but there are none with-
out their faults. ... We are all,” he went on to say,
6 made
up of a compound matter-earth, air, fire, and
water--and Dr Bell had certainly more of the fire
than of the other ingredients in his composition. But
if the blaze was larger and more fierce, it was sooner
over; and people of this description are more loving,
and have better and warmer hearts, than generally
falls to the lot of others. Those in whom air prepon-
derates are apt to be flighty--those having too much
water are easily excited to weeping. They shed tears
as soon as you speak of any thing touching ;--but on
those having too much earth, you can make little or no
impression.” This old man's ludicrous theory was cor-
rect as regards Dr Bell, whose temper, though some-
what fiery, does not seem to have prevented many of
those with whom he associated from becoming strongly
attached to him.
Another of his parishioners, a lady with whom he
was on intimate terms, thus lately wrote of him—“I
feel much satisfaction in speaking of the late Dr Bell,
having been for many years honoured with his especial
friendship. I have, for many weeks together, been ari
inmate of his house during his rectorship at Swanage ;
and I think no one of his friends could, with more con-
VOL. II.
114
LİFE OF DR BELL.
fidence, speak of his indefatigable zeal in promoting the
welfare of his parishioners. His exertions were un-
bounded to establish sobriety and industry in Swanage,
which he most happily succeeded in ; and I am fully
persuaded that, to this day, the inhabitants, especially
amongst the working class, are indebted for much of
their present prosperity to his unwearied exertions in
establishing the straw-plait manufactory. He was the
greatest advocate for industry of every kind, and for
every person, I ever met with. He would not tolerate
idleness in any one, either rich or poor; and for him-
self, he never rested from his favourite pursuit, scarcely
night or day-his system of education was connected
with the whole of his thoughts, which he often did me
the honour to explain to me; and he presented me
with copies of what he had published on his system
of education. I have much comfort in remembering
many of his sermons preached in Swanage church,
where I was a constant attendant during his minis-
try.
Dr Bell, although the most hospitable
man in his house, and to all his friends, was of the
most frugal habits himself. He was remarkably ab-
stemious, and his own expression was, ' that he fre-
quently dined with Duke Humphrey;' which I really
believe was the truth, for his own gratification seemed
to be the last thing thought of by him.'
Dr Bell was also very desirous of promoting social
and friendly intercourse among the higher classes in
his parish, there being but little society when he first
came to Swanage. He appears to have set an excel-
lent example, in this respect, by his constant hospitality,
and a greater spirit of socialty seems soon to have
spread itself in the neighbourhood.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
115
He took great interest in improving the rectory gar-
den, and stocked it with choice fruit-trees, which still
remain; he also frequently sent presents of fruit, &c.,
among his parishioners. His gardener, a man of the
name of Peter Notley, was an especial favourite with
him ; and, on leaving Swanage, he told him that he
would shortly send for him, when he had settled
himself in the north, leaving at the same time eleven
guineas with the clerk of the church, to be given at
different times to him, in case he should not wish to
quit Mr Gale, Dr Bell's successor, with whom he left
him. Dr Bell subsequently sent to Mr Gale, to see if
Peter would come to him. He had, however, become
equally valuable to his new master, who was very
de-
sirous of retaining him; and he remained, though re-
luctantly. In several of the wills Dr Bell made many
years afterwards, a legacy of £20 was left to Notley,
and another of the same amount to one of his maid-
servants, Sarah Manwell; but their names were omitted
in the last will, probably through inadvertence.
It appears that Dr Bell had taken charge of the
son of his old friend Mr MacTaggart, for some time
while at Swanage; and that an application was made
to him to know if he was inclined to receive a second
pupil, a son of Mr Bosanquet, formerly chairman to
the East India Court of Directors. What answer was
given to this proposition, we do not know; but it was
not carried into effect.
116
LIFE OF DR BELL.
CHAPTER XX.
Joseph Lancaster--His Letters to Dr Bell-His Visit to Swanage_Publica-
tions, &c.
controversy.
We have hitherto been relating Dr Bell's personal
labours at Swanage. It will now be necessary to take
a wider field, to trace out the progress which the “ New
System of Education” had already made, and to relate
the course of events which led to Dr Bell's subsequent
efforts for the general diffusion of the discovery.
The earliest examples given of the system in this
country, were, as we have seen, at St Botolph’s, Aldgate,
and at Kendal. Joseph Lancaster follows next in order
to these; and we must now enter at some length on
this subject, concerning which there has been so much
Lancaster himself, in one of his publica-
tions, gives the following account of the circumstance
that first led him to turn his attention to the subject of
education :
“I was walking from Deptford to Greenwich when
my attention was attracted by this inscription—' To
the glory of God, and to the benefit of poor children ;'
and while I was pleasantly meditating upon the founder
giving glory to God, the children burst forth into sing-
ing his praises. My heart was melted; and it pleased
God to implant within me a fervent wish and desire
that I might one day thus honour him, and through all
the vicissitudes of the intervening period, my hope was
LIFE OF DR BELL.
117
seldom long clouded. I knew not how it was to be
accomplished; but being assured that it was a divine
impression, my mind was constantly endeavouring to
find out a way. In 1798, I proposed something of this
kind to a number of gentlemen, but it failed. I had
not long entered into the straw-hat business; but I was
persuaded this was the channel to accomplish my wish.”
His first commencement as schoolmaster was at his
father's house in London, in 1798. At this time he
was eighteen years of age, his father was in business,
and some of his friends were desirous that he should
become a clergyman of the established church, while
others wished him to go to a dissenting college. He
seems to have been himself somewhat undecided as to
his religious opinions. “ The doctrines of spiritual
worship,” he writes, “and an inward witness for God
in
every human heart, attracted my attention, and com-
manded my assent. For some time I frequented the
meetings of Friends, and finally sacrificed my prospects
of usefulness and preferment, to obtain that inward
peace which only results from a faithful discharge of
duty, a dedication of the heart and the answer of a
good conscience towards God and man.”
Having first opened a school in his father's house,
and fitted it up, as he says, with his own hands, he
gave instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, and in
the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and the number
of his scholars soon amounted to upwards of eighty.
For several years the number increased and diminished,
according to the ability of the parents to pay
the weekly
sum, which was 4d. for each child :-“ In summer, one
hundred and twenty was common; in winter, they
would sink to fifty or sixty. In a trying season of
118
LIFE OF DR BELL,
66 into
recent scarcity, many of them were provided with din-
ners gratis, chiefly at the expense of a noble and
gene-
rous-minded body of friends."
Such was Lancaster's first establishment,
which,” he says,
“ he had for several years essayed to
introduce a better system of tuition, and every attempt
had failed.'
In the following year
“ this school was instituted as
a free school,” and he seems to have lost no time in
availing himself of the “ Madras Report.” In June
1802, he says-“ By simplifying the usual methods
of tuition, considerable benefit has arisen to the in-
stitution; and from establishing a regular system of
order, with correspondent and reciprocal checks on
each dependent part, much of its energy, usefulness,
and reputation has been derived.”
“ Tuition in this school is conducted solely by the
senior boys employed as teachers ; the master treating
them with peculiar attention, and not sparing suitable
encouragement when merited. Such is their activity
and diligence, that no other assistance is necessary at
present, or likely to be so in future. J. L. can say
with truth,” he continues, " that owing to these advan-
tages, he has no more labour with two hundred and
fifty children than he had formerly with eighty, and can
do them superior justice in tuition. Having thus suc-
ceeded beyond expectation, he looks with pleasure to
the public, and those benevolent persons who have
hitherto aided his designs, for future and energetic
support, and trusts the result will prove a similar grati-
fication to their minds in the future prosperity and
usefulness of the institution.
1
“ James Street, Borough Road, June 1802."
9
LIFE OF DR BELL:
119
: In the following year, he again reports thus of his
school —“ During the last year the progress of the
institution towards maturity has been rapid, the orga-
nization of the system greatly improved, and the intro-
duction of the new modes of tuition, in spelling and
arithmetic, productive of very important advantages to
the scholars." *
Hitherto Lancaster had made no reference whatever
to the source whence his improvements were derived.
In a pamphlet published by him in 1803, however, he
makes ample acknowledgments of the benefits he had
derived from the Madras report. But before we take
notice of them, it will be necessary to make some brief
extracts from the commencement of this pamphlet,
wherein he proposes a system of education which, if
carried into effect, would have been of the most per-
nicious tendency.
After making some remarks on the necessity of gentle
measures in all matters relating to a reform in society,
and more especially in education, he proposes that a
society should be formed for the purposes of education.
This,” he
“ should be established on general
Christian principles, and on them only. Mankind are
divided into sects, and individuals think very differently
on religious subjects, from the purest motives; and
that common gracious Parent, who loves all his children
alike, beholds with approbation every one who worships
him in sincerity. Yet it cannot be reasonably sup-
posed that conscientious men should promote a religious
opinion directly contrary to their own: a Presbyterian,
» he says,
* These extracts are taken from Lancaster's “ Improvements in Educa-
tion," published in 1805, wherein the dates I have given are affixed to
them.
120
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Baptist, Quaker, or any other, cannot, with sincerity,
sacrifice their opinions to those of their amiable and
Christian brethren in the Establishment; neither can
the last conscientiously unite entirely in opinion with
those of any other denominations; but the grand basis
of Christianity alone is broad enough for the whole
bulk of mankind to stand on, and join hands as children
of one family.
Ah! then, let all the friends
of youth, among every denomination of Christians,
exalt the standard of education, and rally round it for
their preservation, laying aside all religious differences
in opinion, and pursue two grand objects—the
promo-
tion of good morals, and the instruction of youth in
useful learning, adapted to their respective situations.
Indeed,” he goes on to say, “ it is not
to be wondered at that no general plan of this kind has
been adopted : there are few things in which it would
appear, at first sight, that the different religious inte-
rests of sectarians would clash more; and so they must,
if a plan of this kind is eagerly pursued by one or more
parties with a view to increase proselytes, or make it a
vehicle to convey their favourite tenets. It has been
generally conceived that if any particular sect obtained
the principal care in a national system of education,
that party would soon be likely to possess the greatest
power and influence in the state. Fear that the clergy
should aggrandize themselves too much, has produced
opposition from dissenters to any proposal of the kind;
on the other hand, the clergy have opposed any thing
of this nature which might originate with dissenters.
However, there is yet hope left; the com-
mon ground of humanity is adapted to all--none can
conscientiously scruple to meet there. All are agreed
LIFE OF DR BELL,
121
that the increase of learning and good morals, are
great blessings to society. If they cannot unite to do
good in every particular instance, yet let them be fellow-
helpers as far as they can, and cordially assist to do it
with one mind, that society at large may no longer suffer
loss by a set of the most valuable and useful men our
nation can boast, employing themselves to little better
purpose than to declaim against, or make
wry
faces at
each other.”
“ I conceive any person,” says Lancaster a little
further on in this pamphlet, “ whose moral character
and abilities were likely to make him serviceable to the
rising generation, should be an object of the society's
protection, let his denomination of religion be what it
may, and let him pursue whatever method of religious
or other instruction his sincere and best intentions
may dictate.”
It is evident that Mr Lancaster had no more wish
to make proselytes to Quakerism than to any other
form of belief. According to the principle just laid
down, the Romanist, the Socinian, the Unitarian, the
Deist, or the Atheist, might be eligible to the office
of schoolmaster under his proposed national scheme of
education.
After this somewhat lax test of admission, he goes
on to relate the improvements which he had lately
made in his school, more especially in the system of
rewards and punishments; after which he says—“ My
school is attended by three hundred scholars. The
whole system of tuition is almost entirely conducted by
boys. The writing-books are ruled with exactness, and
all the writers supplied with good pens by the same
means. In the first instance the school is divided into
122
LIFE OF DR BELL.:
after he says,
classes ; to each of these a lad is appointed as monitor ;
he is responsible for the morals, improvement, good
order, and cleanliness of the whole class.” And soon
“ the system of rewards, and the new
method of teaching to spell, are I believe original.”
It is evident, therefore, that at this time he did not lay
claim to the invention of the grand principle of the
system. It is highly improbable, at the least, that he
would have claimed originality for some of the minor
practices, and not done so in regard to the mainspring
which
gave him all his powers, had he meant to assert
that he was the discoverer of it. Exceptionable as his
pamphlet is in some respects, it is not so on the score
of pretensions ; for he concludes with the following
acknowledgment of Dr Bell's prior claim to the merit
of this discovery “ I ought not to close my account
without acknowledging, the obligations I lie under to
Dr Bell, of the Male Asylum at Madras, who so nobly
gave up his time and liberal salary, that he might per-
fect that institution, which flourished greatly under his
fostering care. He published a tract in 1798,* entitled,
* An Experiment on Education, made at the Male
Asylum at Madras, suggesting a system whereby a
school or family may teach itself under the superinten-
dence of the master or parent. From this publication
I have adopted several useful hints. I beg leave to
recommend it to the attentive perusal of the friends of
education and of youth. I am persuaded nothing is
more conducive to the promotion of a system than
actual experiment. Dr Bell had two hundred boys who
* This is an erroneous statement on Lancaster's part, the Madras
Report having been published in 1797.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
123
instructed themselves, made their own pens, ruled their
books, and did all that labour in school, which, among
a great number, is light, but resting on the shoulders
of the well-meaning and honest, though unwise teacher,
often proves too much for his health, and embitters or
perhaps costs him his life. I much regret that I was
not acquainted with the beauty of his system till some-
what advanced in my plan; if I had known it, it would
have saved me much trouble, and some retrograde
movements. As a confirmation of the goodness of Dr
Bell's plan, I have succeeded with one nearly similar,
in a school attended by almost three hundred boys.”
In the appendix to this pamphlet, he also says,
after speaking of the imperfections of some of the old
practices—“ Dr Bell was fully sensible of this waste
of time in schools, and his method to remedy the evil
was crowned with complete success. I have been en-
deavouring to walk in his footsteps in the method of
teaching about to be detailed.
I again
refer the reader to Dr Bell's pamphlet; he cannot do
better than to procure one, and read it himself, which will
save me going more into detail, and afford him
greater
satisfaction.” These acknowledgments are sufficiently
explicit, except where he says “ he was not acquaint-
ed with the beauty of Dr Bell's system till somewhat
advanced in his own;" whereas it has been shown,
that he only commenced teaching in 1798; that he
had essayed, during several years, to introduce a better
system of tuition into his school, and failed; and that,
in 1800, a copy of the Madras report fell in his way.
Granting, however, that Mr Lancaster might possibly
have stumbled upon a plan similar to that of Dr
Bell's before he had seen the Madras report, still this
124
LIFE OF DR BELL.
cannot, in the slightest degree, affect the Doctor's
prior claim ; for, as we have seen, the system was dis-
covered and matured at Madras between the years
1789 and 1796, and that the Report containing an ac-
count of it was published in London in 1797, the year
before Lancaster opened a school of any kind. .
In the year 1804, Mr Lancaster became anxious to
have some personal communication with Dr Bell on the
subject of education, and wrote to him as follows:-
« Free School, Borough Road, George's Field,
“ Southwark, 21st of 11th Month 1804.
Respected Friend,
“ I hoped and intended, long before this, to have
done myself the pleasure of coming down to Swanage,
in order to take a lesson from thy superior experience;
but so many unpleasant circumstances have happened
to hinder it, that I almost gave up the idea, in despair
of being able to pay my respects in person, at least not
very speedily. I have been situated very differently
from thyself. I was formerly assistant at two schools,
one a boarding, the other a day school. Of course, I
was well acquainted with all the defects attendant on
the old system of tuition in both kinds of schools. In
1798 I began a day school. The methods I pursued
soon became popular, and people sent their children in
crowds. This plunged me into a dilemma; the com-
mon modes of tuition did not apply; and in puzzling
myself what to do, I stumbled upon a plan similar to
thine : not, however, meeting with thy book till 1800,
I have since succeeded wonderfully, yet not equal to
my
desire, for several reasons :
“ 1st.-Mine being a day school, the children are
LIFE OF.DR.BELL.
125
1
much at their parents' command, are often absent, or
attend late-an evil that could not possibly occur at
the Madras Asylum, or in any well-regulated boarding
school, where all the scholars begin their lessons toge-
ther, being assembled at one time.
“ 2d.—The price of sand in London, 9s. the load, and
the room it takes to teach a great number of children
by that mode. This induced me to substitute slates
with many of the classes.
“ 3d.—The poverty and bad principles of the chil-
dren's parents often operated to hinder their learning,
by removing their monitors to place, or other schools,
by being prejudiced against the plan of a school taught
by boys, and by their bad example and ignorance.
4th.—By having, when I opened it as a free school,
which was not till 1801, not only the school, but the
funds to establish, and no individual to assist me with
advice, influence, or capital. Again, the number of
scholars so increased, that more room than I had was
wanting for their accommodation. The Duke of Bed-
ford nobly began a subscription to promote my design;
yet the labour of raising it cost me much time, fatigue,
and walking many scores of miles. I had to seek aid
from the haughty and powerful, as well as the amiable
and benevolent; and nothing but having committed
myself could have made my independent spirit submit
to the yoke. The time spent thus in obtaining aid
was so much lost to the institution. I was obliged to
commit my business to others; and my designs were
in many instances retarded, in others completely sus-
pended or rendered abortive, although the very consti-
tution of a day school, united with the circumstance of
126
LIFE OF DR BELL.
having new subscriptions to seek, especially for build-
ings, still continues an impediment to our progress; yet
I have so far succeeded as to bring it to a considerable
state of perfection. If thou wilt favour me with any
original reports of the Asylum at Madras—for nothing
is more essential than minutiæ I should be much
obliged.
“ I could wish for further information on the use of
the sand, whether dry or wet, and how the boys were
first taught their letters ; also upon thy method of
training monitors. I hope that the proposed subscrip-
tion for my book will be sufficient to raise £100, or
perhaps £200, for the service of the institution ; but
every thing depends upon the number of subscribers.
I hope thou wilt condescend to honour me with an
answer, and to aid the yet infant design as thy bene-
volence may dictate, when thou art satisfied it is wor-
thy thy attention.
“ It is with great respect I subscribe myself thy
obliged friend and admirer,
66 JOSEPH LANCASTER.'
It does not appear what answer Dr Bell returned to
this letter, but Lancaster thus shortly acknowledges
it :
“ Free School, Borough Road,
" 13th of 12th Month 1804.
66 Dear Friend,
“ I have not answered thy most acceptable letter,
because I intend being down at Swanage within four or
five days, to pass two or three days with thee, if, under
LIFE OF DR BELL.
127
the blessing of Providence, my health and the roads
admit of travelling. With great respect, I remain thy
obliged friend,
“ J. LANCASTER.”
On Lancaster's arrival at Swanage, he eagerly en-
quired of the first person he met, if Dr Bell was at home,
saying, “He would go to Madras to see him.” He
remained there several days, and had much conversa-
tion with the Doctor, who thus notices this visit in a
letter to Mrs Trimmer, written a little more than a year
afterwards :
January 13, 1806.
“ During this visit, Mr L. placed before my eyes his
subscription papers ; then put them, in various shapes,
into my hands; then descanted on the manner, &c.;
and, last of all, solicited my subscription oftener than
once, which I flatly declined, on the score of confining
my offices to the schools under my own immediate eye.
He also interrogated me about my mode of
training teachers, and seemed not disposed on this
point to copy, as he did in every other. My teachers
were trained as every other boy in the school was, and
selected according to their abilities. Every child in the
school witnessed every process in the mode of conduct-
ing matters, and understood it well. But this did not
answer his purpose of raising money by a new and addi-
tional subscription. Nothing was ever so burlesque as
his forming his teachers by lectures on the passions.
Let his teachers, created by his Promethean fire in one
year, enter upon their task—what can they do; or
what would my little teachers have done, without a man
128
LIFE OF DR BELL,
of
age, authority, influence, and ascendency to direct
their operations, and to keep them steady to their
purpose ? It is by attending the school, seeing what is
going on there, and taking a share in the office of tui-
tion, that teachers are to be formed, and not by lectures
and abstract instruction. Even in the plainest practical
points, you cannot expect to be understood but by the
most minute details."
Dr Bell had long been urged to publish a further
explanation of the Madras system, as the Report of
1797 was said not to enter sufficiently into details for
common purposes ; and early in 1805, he determined
upon publishing a second edition, with additions. It
was not, however, without much consideration that he
made
up
his mind on the subject. He was told, on
the one hand, that the facts recorded, and the proofs of
its success which were adduced, were, in a great mea-
sure, lost to the reader for want of a more particular
explanation of the auxiliary practices, as well as of the
principle to which this success was attributed ; and
that it was in vain to expect that, without minute
details, the several processes in the economy of the
school could be understood by the generality of readers.
On the other hand, he was himself perfectly satisfied
that the diagram or scheme of the Madras school, which
had been printed in the original Report of 1797, would
prove, as it had already proved, a sufficient guide
to those not imbued too strongly with prejudices against
it. He was unwilling to depart from the plain, simple
statement of facts which he had given, and feared lest,
by too great eagerness in pressing the subject on the
public mind, instead of allowing it gradual progress, he
still
LIFE OF DR BELL.
129
.might injure, rather than aid, the cause he had so much
at heart. . Having at length come to the determination
of publishing a second edition, he wrote to Mr Buck-
ham stating his intention, and requesting him to nego-
tiate with Mr Bensley the printer. This was done
accordingly; and Bensley wrote to Dr Bell, telling him
at what he estimated the cost of printing, &c. The
pamphlet, however, was not published till the end of
April
, some delay having occurred from a violent
combination of that part of the journeymen called press-
men, “ in consequence of which," writes Mr Bensley to
Dr Bell, “ the masters and the booksellers have agreed
to suspend all works until the dispute shall be at an
end."
In the advertisement to this edition he states his
reasons for publishing the Madras report in 1797, and
refers the reader to the original documents, which were
not reprinted here.
Leaving, then,” he says, “ the original documents
where they may readily be found, the following extracts
are, for the most part, confined to facts, and the details
of the system. A familiar scheme is prefixed ; illus-
trations, sought for by those who interest themselves in
charity, Sunday, and other free schools, are annexed;
and a suggestion of a board of education and poor-rates
is subjoined.”
Shortly after this pamphlet came out, Dr Bell, being
in London, presented Lancaster with fifty copies of it,
who sent a deputation of his scholars to wait on him
and return him thanks; and not long afterwards he
visited Lancaster's school in the Borough, when he
found him preparing the third edition of his “Improve-
ments in Education” for the press. “On this occasion,”
VOL. II.
I
130
LIFE OF DR BELL.
A
Dr Bell observes, in a letter to Mr Trimmer, he re-
newed his application (for subscriptions) in the most
indelicate manner; and not being prepared to refuse the
purchase of his book, which I understood was then in
the
press,
I said he might send me four copies, and was
not a little surprised when I saw my name in the list of
subscriptions."
Lancaster's pamphlet was published in July 1805,
about three months after Dr Bell's second edition came
out. It was dedicated “ to the Duke of Bedford, and
Lord John Somerville, in testimony of the cheerful,
generous, and important assistance they have repeatedly
given to the institution and system of instruction de-
scribed in the ensuing pages ;” and it contained a list
of subscribers, among whom were the Archbishop of
Dublin, the Bishops of London, Durham, Chichester,
Lincoln, Exeter, St David's, Kildare, and Kilmore.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
131
CHAPTER XXI.
Correspondence with Mrs Trimmer—Dr Bell is induced to step forward and
assist in the dissemination of his System.
In the month of September a correspondence took
place between Mrs Trimmer and Dr Bell, who were
then not personally acquainted, of which the following
letter was the commencement :
* Brentford, September 24, 1805.
66 Reverend Sir,
“ As I have not the honour of being personally
known to you, I am apprehensive that I shall appear to
be taking a great liberty in addressing you by letter;
but I am desirous to convey to you a number, which
will be published next month, of a periodical work
called the Guardian of Education, which contains
copious extracts from the second edition of your · Expe-
riment in Education;' and, before you receive it, I wish
to account to you for inserting these extracts.
“ From the time, sir, that I read Mr Joseph Lan-
caster's · Improvements in Education,' in the first edi-
tion, I conceived an idea that there was something in
his plan that was inimical to the interests of the Esta-
blished Church; and when I read your Experiment
in Education, to which Mr L. referred, I plainly per-
ceived he had been building on your foundation. You
know, without doubt, how the public mind is, I may
.
132
LIFE OF DR BELL.
say, infatuated with his plausible appearances, and I
judge, by the republication of your · Experiment,' that
you are not an unconcerned spectator of this perversion
of what you have applied to so excellent a purpose.
Engaged, as I have long been, in striving to promote
the interests of the Church, by the exertion of my
little
talents for the instruction of the rising generation, and
the prevention of the mischief that is aimed against them
in various ways, I cannot see this · Goliath of Schis-
matics' bearing down all before him, and engrossing
the instruction of the common people, without attempt-
ing to give him a little check. Indeed I told him a
year ago, that I should, at my first leisure, attempt to
analyse his system, and this I shall soon set about. But,
preparatory to it, I thought it might answer a good pur-
pose to point out in an incidental way, by means of
a review of your work, that Mr Lancaster was not the
original inventor of the plan. If the sale of your pam-
phlet is extensive, I may perhaps have done what was
unnecessary; but, knowing my motive, you will not
think me impertinent.
“ I have the honour to be, Rev. Sir, your most obe-
dient and very
humble servant,
“ SARAH TRIMMER."
To this Dr Bell replied:
“Swanage, Dorset, September 28, 1805.
66 Dear Madam,
“I am very sensible of your polite attention, and
much obliged by your kind communication, and by the
purpose of your sending me your publication.
“ Of Joseph Lancaster the first tidings I heard were,
that he was doing my work for me-educating the
poor
LIFE OF DR BELL:
133
up, so
on my plan. Last November I had a letter from him,
soliciting reports of the Asylum at Madras, and en-
quiring into the minutiæ of the system practised there
of writing on sand, &c.; and this was followed by a
visit at Christmas last. During his stay with me, which
was of some days' continuance, I detailed many parti-
culars of my practice, and many opinions on the con-
duct of a school, with which he was in some points
totally unacquainted. I observed his consummate
front, his importunate solicitation of subscriptions in
any and every shape, his plausible and ostentatious
guise; and, in his third edition, I think I see some-
thing which indicates that he is confident he cannot
stand alone, basking in the sunshine of royal counte-
nance and popular applause, forgetting, for a while, his
own presentiment, 'That as much as he is cried
much will he be hereafter traduced.'
“ The plan of instruction in a public charity, by
teachers, assistants, tutors, as I have styled them—or
monitors, as he denominated them—appears to me,
who am an enthusiast, so simple, so natural, so beauti-
ful, and so true, that it must sooner or later have ob-
tained a footing'; and all I ever expected by my humble
essay, printed rather than published, was, that it might
fall into hands which would bring the System forward
sooner than might otherwise happen in the course of
things. J. L. has certainly contributed to this con-
summation. How far he has directed it to the best
purposes, and whether he has intermixed much quack-
ery, conceit, and ignorance, is another question.
“ You need be under no apprehension that any
thing you have done by extracts, &c., is superfluous.
No means whatever have been taken to give circulation
to the pamphlet, except the common advertisement of
134
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the bookseller. The circulation and estimation of your
Guardian will give any part of it which you may have
thought worthy of being quoted, a chance of utility
which it could not otherwise expect.
“I have now in my hand your second volume; and
I cannot reflect on the tendency of all your writings,
their wide spread, and the good they have already done,
without tendering my sincere acknowledgments to so
active, benevolent, and successful a friend and advocate
of humanity, morality, and religion.
“ I am, dear Madam, with great respect, your sin-
cere friend
“ A. BELL."
In her next letter, Mrs Trimmer enters into various
circumstances connected with this subject, and also
gives a more particular account of the mode of
pro-
ceeding which she proposes to adopt” in her intended
work on Lancaster. It was as follows:-
" Brentford, October 1, 1805.
" Reverend Sir,
“ Before I enter upon my new task of examining
Mr L.'s system, I will reply to your very obliging
letter of the 28th September, as I wish to give you a
more particular account of the mode of proceeding
which I .
propose to adopt. But, first, let me express
my satisfaction at finding my humble labours are
honoured with your approbation.
“ I can truly say, that I have laboured with zeal
;
and it has pleased God to give me success far beyond
my merits and expectations. In respect to the books
which I have written for the poor, they are the pro-
perty of the poor. I have no lucrative views in writing
LIFE OF DR BELL.
135
them. My pen is a devoted one; and after endeavour-
ing to furnish books which might contribute to supply
the deficiencies of common teachers, and lend assistance
to ladies who might be diffident of their own abilities
to give religious instruction—I do not mean to give
way to sectarists of any denomination, without defend-
ing my principles. Of all the plans that have
appeared in this kingdom likely to supplant the
Church, Mr Lancaster's seems to me the most formi-
dable. I will not say that he has any ill intentions ;
but his plan is favourable, in an eminent degree, to those
who may have. And after what I have read in the
• Abbé Barruel's Memoirs for the History of Jaco-
binism, concerning the use made by the Illuminati in
Germany, &c.,' of schoolmasters and school-books, I
cannot but view with a very jealous eye a system
which proceeds upon the same generalizing plan,
which has been resorted to so fatally against the
interests of revealed religion on the Continent. As
you condescend to read my Guardian of Education,
I beg leave to refer you to vol. i. p. 21, where you
will
find a translation from a work of an excellent man, M.
DeLuc, who gives there the history of the origin of the
Philanthropines, which have done so much mischief ;
the consequences of which you will see in a translation
from the same author, in the number of the Guardian
which I have the honour to send you, (viz. M. De
Luc's Letter.) Mr Joseph Lancaster's school is, in
my estimation, a direct philanthropine, and he has
seized upon your admirable plan of instruction, as an
engine to give it a speed, and a consequence, which he
could by no other means have obtained without it.
136
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ He certainly has brought your excellent plan for-
ward; and, had I the power, I certainly should not
have the wish, to do any thing that should have a ten-
dency to stop the progress of it, nor would I deprive
Lancaster himself of the merit of having brought it
into operation in this country ; because he may really
be considered, so far at least, as an instrument of good,
if he prepares the first teachers of this kind, provided
they are under proper inspection and control after-
wards. But as for his central school, and his organized
plans to educate the whole body of the common people,
without any regard to the religion of the nation, I will
certainly do my utmost to check him there, in hopes
that others of more ability than myself will be roused.
And this is the way I mean to proceed: I will give
him all possible credit for the utility of his mode of
instruction in reading, writing, &c.; if I mention Dr
Bell, it will probably be incidentally only; or I may
even say, “ That, in some respects, J. Lancaster has
improved upon your plan.” I will urge the admission
of Lancaster's plan into all charity schools, &c., under
certain limitations. In short, I will strive to write so
that his numerous subscribers may not think I mean
to attach blame to them for the patronage they have
given him ; which, indeed, is not properly given to
him, but unknowingly to the inventor of the plan.
Having done this, I mean to show what the education
of the lower orders ought to be in respect to religion
and morality, and the necessity there is for giving them
sound principles in their early years. I shall then
examine Mr Lancaster's system of morals and religion,
as displayed in his different pamphlets, and speak
boldly in defence of the provision made for the proper
LIFE OF DR BELL.
137
instruction of the young members of the Church and
State, by the Act of Uniformity. Perhaps I may
venture to show, from authentic documents, the effect
of such a generalizing plan as Mr Lancaster's on the
Continent, &c.
“Our friend Joseph knows very well what I have
long had in my mind to do: Two years ago, or more,
I believe, he sent me the first edition of his Improve-
ments, which I said something about in the second
volume of my Guardian,' (p. 117, I think.) I heard
he was very angry, and said, 'S. Trimmer was a bigot,
and, having set up to herself that golden image, the
Church, she wanted every knee to bow down to it.
Some time after this, I had an opportunity of speaking
my mind pretty freely to Mrs Priscilla Wakefield, a
Quaker authoress, who told him, at my request, what
I had said; and soon after I had an invitation to go to
his school, which at that time consisted of about six
hundred scholars, I believe. And highly gratified I
was with the order and management of it. Well, my
good sir, may you be an enthusiast to the plan, for it
is indeed beautiful; and I hope and trust you will live
to see it generally adopted. If I can contribute in the
least towards it, my satisfaction will be inexpressible.
I know and feel the necessity of such a plan. Many
years have I been labouring by writing, and by per-
sonal attendance in a school of industry and Sunday
schools, to improve the children of the place I inhabit;
but, for want of teachers, such as your plan would fur-
nish, very little has been done comparatively. I am
determined, however, if it shall please God to spare my
life, to try what can be done in a new school, for which
a room is going to be built immediately. As soon as
138
LIFE OF DR BELL.
it is fit to use, I will dismiss the present scholars, and
begin again upon a new plan, admitting those only
whose parents will comply with the rules and that
plan shall, as nearly as possible, be Dr Bell's.
“ You flatter me, my good Sir, with the hope that
you will write further on the subject. I rejoice to hear
it; and my hope is, that, as soon as my pamphlet is
published, you will follow it up-perhaps, as well as
myself, you may choose to give Mr J. Lancaster some
merit; but
you
have certainly a right to claim your
own invention, and to point out in his plan what
you
think improvements and what you think the contrary.
“ It is a happiness to think that, corrupt as the
world is, the public voice is yet in favour of the Church
Establishment. A few years hence, were Mr Lan-
caster's plan to be fully adopted, the common people
would not know there is such a thing as an Established
Church in the nation.
“ I will now continue my narrative concerning my
personal acquaintance with Joseph Lancaster, which I
left unfinished. The order of his school, as I observed
before, was such as I could not but admire. He sat
upon his throne, I may call it, like a king ready to
receive the homage of his subjects, and in speaking to
me of his boys who are distinguished by the insignia
of his order of merit,' he actually said, “ These are
my nobles. These, however, were not the things I
admired. The quietness and diligence of the whole
school were what pleased me; nor could I help being
diverted with the military movements of his little sol-
diers ; for such they are in effect. Yet, upon reflec-
tion, I do not reckon this part of his plan an improve-
ment, I took the freedom of telling him then, that I
LIFE OF DR BELL.
139
thought the plan altogether not favourable to the Esta-
blished Church; that I feared the boys, so educated,
would be the children of habit; that they would have
no fixed principle, &c. Shortly after this he marched
his principal monitors down to Brentford, to pay their
respects to Sarah Trimmer, and brought his young
bride with him. We had some more conversation of a
similar kind; but parted in a very friendly manner,
However, the affair appeared of more and more im-
portance to me, as I turned it about in my mind; and
I determined to address the public upon this subject, as
soon as my leisure would permit; and as I wanted to
see more of his school, and am averse to any under-
hand proceedings, I told him, on paying a second visit,
that I should do so; and he promised, on his part, to
take no offence at whatever I might say, but said he
should reply to it. Being engaged last year from spring
till autumn, I could not put my design into execution;
and about this time last year, on my return home from
an excursion, I found a letter from J. Lancaster, taking
no notice of our former conversation, but requesting
my name to his list of subscribers for an enlarged
edition of his plan, to which he said, He made no
doubt I should, with pleasure, endeavour to procure
more names;' and he sent me a short list of some very
respectable ones, whom he designed as lures to me.
However, I returned an answer, in which, alluding to
our former conversation, I refused, in a civil way, his
request; since when I have neither seen him nor heard
from him, though I have been once more to his school,
probably when he was gone to some place or other to
solicit subscriptions. Several of my friends who have
visited the school, on asking " Whether he knew me?'
140
LIFE OF DR BELL.
have been told that I had a great respect for him ; but
that I was too much bigoted to my own opinions —
too narrow-minded. I expect he will make me another
visit, in consequence of the Guardian of this day ; but
I am prepared for him. A few days ago, my sons,
who have among their works a manufactory for tiles,
received a letter from him, desiring to have some for
his new building I suppose, or rather the extension of
his school in the Borough. His seal carried the im-
pression of Peace! It is a curious fact that he was
not originally a Quaker, but an Anabaptist, intended
by his father (who is a preacher himself in this town)
for what they call a minister. Whether he changed
for the love of a pretty Quaker, whom he married, or
whether the broad-brim was the best cover for his
scheme, I cannot say; but certainly, in the Quaker
habit, (from the too liberal indulgences of our Church
and State to that humbly supercilious sect,) he may
take liberties, and press forward to notice more than a
member of the Establishment could do, even with the
same degree of effrontery. I was told by one, to whom
he boasted of it, that, at his first interview with his
sovereign, he stood with his hat upon his head and
made a long oration, while his Majesty remained con-
descendingly uncovered, or at least holding his hat
above his head.
“ My good Sir, I have written you a long letter; but
I trust it will not prove an uninteresting one. I wish
to give you some idea, which, probably from
tance from the metropolis, you might not have received
from any other quarter; and I wish to know that
you
will stand by me, and consider me as enlisted in your
cause, which, in fact, is that of true Christianity. We
1
your dis-
1
LIFE OF DR BELL.
141
must not let sectarianism triumph as it does at present,
without trying to prevent it.
“ With high esteem, I remain, &c.
“ S. TRIMMER.'
“ P.S.-On reading the latter part of J. Lancaster's
third edition, I perceive plainly the effect of his con-
ferences with you.
Dr Bell
, in his answer to this letter, (on the 14th of
October,) enters at great length into the subject, and
gives a complete history of his own and Lancaster's
proceedings, pointing out those passages in their dif-
ferent publications which he conceived were worthy of
notice. “I do not mean,” he says in the beginning of
this letter, “ to enter personally into any polemical dis-
cussion or controversial writings in defence of my sys-
tem, nor even to reclaim my scholastic property, and
vindicate my literary rights. I do not, however, pre-
clude myself from publishing, if I should see an occa-
sion, a third edition, and still further digesting the
illustrations of the system, which the circumstances
under which I then wrote (and now write) did not
admit of being done to my satisfaction. But to the
system itself I have nothing to add, and nothing to take
away. I find nothing in the · Improvements' which
produces a new wish in my mind as to my Essay. It
must rest on its own basis. I have cast my gauntlet :
let them wield it who may. I know no one more
equal to the task, or better disposed to apply it to the
useful and pious purposes to which it is fitted, than
yourself. If founded, as I believe, on truth, it will
last for ever.'
142
LIFE OF DR BELL.
After referring Mrs Trimmer to many passages in
Lancaster's pamphlet, he continues, “In his hands
this beautiful system has the advantage of being con-
ducted with admirable temper, ingenuity, and ability ;
and he discovers much contrivance and even wit, in
the ramifications of its application, in adapting remedies
to every disorder which occurs, and promoting emula-
tion and exertion in every shape.”
Soon after sending this letter, Dr Bell again wrote
to Mrs Trimmer, entering still more fully into those
details of the system and its minutiæ, which he thought
would assist her in her object; and concluded by saying,
“ I cannot dismiss this subject without observing, that
though Mr L. does not, and cannot claim the palm of
originality for his system of tuition, yet he has displayed
much originality, both in its application and his indi-
vidual improvements, and much contrivance in adapt-
ing it to the situation and circumstances of the youth
under his charge."
No one could have been more liberal than Dr Bell
was in acknowledging Lancaster's merits. Much was
undoubtedly owing to him; not for having been the
first to adopt it in this country, for we have seen that
it had been practised, both at St Botolph's and at Ken-
dal, in 1798-9, while Lancaster's school was only open-
ed in 1798 ; and that, (to use his own words,)“ during
several years he had essayed to introduce a better sys-
tem of tuition into the school, and every attempt had
failed.” His merit, therefore, chiefly consisted in being
the first to exhibit it in this country on the scale for
which it was fitted, and where alone its peculiar
powers could be brought into full action. His zeal,
ingenuity, and perseverance deserved high praise, and
2
LIFE OF DR BELL.
143
this they obtained. He seems, however, to have been
bewildered by public applause, and not only to have
confounded the principle of tuition by the scholars
themselves with the minor practices, but to have con-
ceived that it was to his fertility of invention in these
matters that his success was chiefly owing. He had
so overlaid the system with minor practices, new modes
of punishment, (many of them whimsical in the ex-
treme, and some of them of the most degrading char-
acter,) orders of merit, medals, badges, &c., that the
grand principle was hardly to be discovered.
These are nothing more than “individual inven-
tions, or contrivances, which may be multiplied and
diversified at pleasure, and even set aside, without
essentially affecting the character of the system, which
is entirely independent of them.”
Meantime Mrs Trimmer was proceeding with her
intended publication, and she wrote thus to Dr Bell :-
“ Brentford, Nov. 2, 1805.
6 Reverend Sir,
“ Nothing but my close attention to our friend
Joseph Lancaster should have prevented my acknow-
ledging your former obliging favour; but it appears to
me a favourable crisis for beginning to open peoples'
eyes, and I am impatient to publish.
I
must be careful not to alarm the pride or vanity of those
who are so infatuated by him. In proceeding through
his works, I have seen plainly all you have pointed out;
that is, I mean I do see it by recollection, and I shall
have occasion to refer to your hints. What I have
already done is, in the first place, to trace the religious
and moral principles of his system pretty copiously;
1
144
LIFE OF DR BELL.
then to give, by way of contrast, a view of the national
system of education, which I have done in an abridge-
ment of Dr Talbot's - Christian Schoolmaster.” I am
going on to examine into the state of education among
the children of the lower orders. I shall endeavour to
show the great improvement there would be in adopt-
ing Lancaster's mode of teaching in all these schools ;
and shall show that it does not require all the plans L.
proposes to effect it, since its original author, Dr
Bell, united them in the first instance. I have been
epitomizing the “ History of the Borough School,” and
transcribed what he said in the first part concerning his
obligations to Dr Bell. In short, my good sir, I hope
to forward your admirable plan, without producing any
thing like rivalship between you and him. He can be
of great use in the matter, and I will endeavour so to
manage as to leave him room to act his proper part.
But not to pull down the church, which he would soon
do with both hands if he could. I design to dedicate
to the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge.
I endeavour at present to avoid hostility ; but the fur-
ther I
go into his book, the more I think of his prin-
ciples and his views.—With high esteem, I remain,
&c.
“ S. TRIMMER.”
>>
Before the end of the month the work was com-
pleted, and she wrote to Dr Bell
, informing him “ that
it was not only written but printed.”
This pamphlet was entitled, “A Comparative View
of the New Plan of Education promulgated by Mr
Joseph Lancaster, in his Tracts concerning the In-
struction of the Children of the Labouring Part of the
LIFE OF DR BELL..
145
66
Community ; and of the System of Christian Educa-
tion founded by our pious Forefathers for the Initiation
of the Young Members of the Established Church in
the Principles of the Reformed Religion.”
After Mrs Trimmer had discussed Mr Lancaster's
book, she proceeded to notice a work of Dr Talbot's,
which she had before alluded to in her letters to Dr
Bell. 66 This excellent work," she says, was pub-
lished early in the last century (I believe) by Dr
Talbot, who, at the time he wrote it, was chaplain to
the Duke of Somerset, and rector of Spofforth, in York-
shire.” This book contains a long disquisition on the
requisite qualifications for a schoolmaster, &c.; and, in
the following passages, the author lays down some
practices not unlike those of the Madras system :-
“ Since, therefore, it has pleased our good Lord to
ordain so much strength out of the mouth of babes for
the setting forth of his glory, that children are as soon
capable of memory as of speech, and of being fed with
the sincere milk of God's word almost as soon as they
are weaned from that of their mother's breast; that no
time may be lost by the master, if it has been neglected
by the parents, to instil these necessary principles into
the youngest of his scholars, it will be advisable that
even those who cannot read, should immediately, upon
their first admission into school, be taught to say the
Creed and the Lord's Prayer, with the explanatory
answers belonging to each, by frequent repetition,
either from the mouth of their master, or (which, per-
haps, may be as well) from some of the elder scholars;
both the teacher and learner, in the latter case, being
made accountable to their master for the progress that
is made." His instructions, in a subsequent part of his
VOL. II.
K
146
LIFE OF DR BELL.
work, for reading, are also worthy of notice, as being
much in accordance with those in use under the Madras
system.
“ The third part of instruction which is incumbent
upon our schoolmaster, viz. that of training up the
children under his care in such necessary parts of
learning as are most suitable to their condition and
capacity, and will be useful in every state and circum-
stance of their life, which are chiefly these three :-
“1. Reading. 2. Writing. 3. Arithmetic.
« In order to the first of these, after they have gone
through the letters of the alphabet, he must instruct
them in the true spelling of words, and the distinction
of syllables, by the help of some proper spelling-book
for that purpose. From this they may proceed to the
reading of words, as they are joined together in a sen-
tence; and great care must be taken from the begin-
ning that each syllable, and every word, may
be
pro-
nounced very plainly, distinctly, and audibly, without
muttering or stammering, (where that defect is not
natural and incurable,) and without any disagreeable
tone, which all children are very apt to learn from one
another, if it be suffered or encouraged in any. They
must likewise be taught the difference and use of the
points or stops, the due observation of which is
very
necessary towards their reading of each sentence dis-
tinctly and intelligibly, and also to make them mind
and understand what they read.”
Mrs Trimmer goes on to extract largely from this
work, saying, that “her chief object was to show, in a
satisfactory manner, what kind of persons should be
employed as teachers in schools for eleemosynary in-
struction attached to the Church of England, and in
what manner such an one ought to perform his office."
LIFE OF DR BELL.
147
My readers,” she continues, “ will observe that, in
some respects, Mr Lancaster's plan, as before described,
will be found to tally with it; but that in the most
essential part they widely differ, according to the foun-
dation on which they are respectively built, viz. the
national system on the Church Catechism, (to which
every part of Dr Talbot's work refers,) Mr Lancaster
on the basis of morality alone, under the name of the
leading principles of Christianity. The first teaching
duties, the latter creating habits; the one calculated
to regulate the passions, and subdue the evil
propen-
sities of the youthful heart; the other, in some things,
cherishing and indulging the passions beyond due
bounds. Such, upon examination, I presume, will be
found the different characteristics of the two systems
which I have endeavoured to display.”
On the 30th of November Mrs Trimmer sent a
copy of the pamphlet to Dr Bell, who had “requested
to be considered as a subscriber to all her future pub-
lications,” together with a copy of her Economy of
Charity; but not receiving any acknowledgment of
their arrival, she wrote to him on the 10th of De-
cember, expressing her fears that he had not received
her parcel, and tells him at the same time, “ that her
pamphlet was very honourably received at a full Board
of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. I
have also,” she says, “ had a letter from Dr Gaskin,
and another from Archdeacon Pott, who did me the
honour to consider the work as I could wish the friends
of the Established Church in general to do—as likely to
awaken the attention of the public to a great national
object. I have also presented a copy of the work to the
Bishop of London, who received it very graciously, and
148
LIFE OF DR BELL,
promised to read it with attention. In the course of
conversation, his lordship said he perfectly recollected
having read Dr Bell's experiment when it first came
out. I have likewise sent a copy to the Bishop of
Durham and St David's, and shall send one to the
Bishop of St Asaph, who have all of them paid great
attention to my humble labours. But I never wrote
any thing yet that I felt so anxious to get into the
hands of the clergy as this. The further I have looked
into Lancaster's work, the worse opinion I have of his
views and intentions. It is a great satisfaction to me
to find, by the last number of the Orthodox Church-
man, that he is attacked from another quarter. The
confidence of Lancaster is surprising. He is totally
ignorant of every principle of good education, and his
plan is a direct perversion of yours.
“ Amongst other persons to whom I have sent copies,
was one lady whose opinion many would take
up,
and
she thought me actuated by bigotry, &c. &c., in writ-
ing against such a liberal-minded man. She sent me
word, when she had read half the book, that she
thought I wrote candidly, though strong. But, my
good sir, it is not what this person or the other may
think of my writing, but whether there is any chance
of my exciting those of greater ability and influence
than myself to co-operate in something or other, for the
prevention of what I conceive to be a deep-laid plan
against the Church. My fear is, that the Methodists
will make great advantage of the plan. I was told by
a lady who visited the school last summer, that there
were thirteen of the principal Methodist preachers of
London there that day, and that Lancaster said they
came almost every public day.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
149
Dr Bell did not receive her pamphlet until about
ten days after it was dispatched, and in acknowledging
the receipt of it he wrote as follows:--
“ Swanage, Dec. 11, 1805.
- Dear Madam,
Yesterday I was favoured with your · Compa-
rative Review, and my old friend the · Economy of
Charity,' for which you have my best acknowledg-
ments. The latter book was recommended to me by
my Archdeacon Hall, on institution, and I immedi-
ately procured a copy; and I shall take care that, while
I retain your copy, my former is employed in the man-
ner most suitable to the wishes of the authoress. With
the former I can scarcely say how much I am charmed.
You have achieved a work of great national importance.
J. L. would not have been unmasked for years but
for
you.
Ever since I conversed with him, and read
some of his familiar letters, I have suspected that he
has much assistance in his published works of every
kind. He is illiterate and ignorant, with a brazen
front, consummate assurance, and the most artful and
plausible address, not without ability and ingenuity,
heightened in its effects under the Quaker's guise.
His account of his family in unguarded moments
Dissenters, Roman Catholics, Infidels-is most extra-
ordinary
While I am writing, I
am favoured with yours of the 10th, and rejoice ex-
ceedingly in the debut which your admirable produc-
tion has made. The great defects of J. L.'s system are
detected with such perspecuity, as must carry convic-
tion to every son of the Church; and
gone
a great way to show his want of originality, which may
easily be followed up.
you have
150
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ What you say of preventing the spread of this
scheme against the Church, is what some years ago
occurred to me; and I then said what I shall never
cease to repeat, that I know of but one way effectually
to check these efforts and it is by able and well
directed efforts of our hands. A scheme of education,
patronized by Church and State, originating in the
Government, and superintended by a member of the
Establishment, would most effectually promote our
views; and, in such a case, I know of no one who is so
likely to command attention, and produce the consum-
mation so devoutly to be desired, as yourself.”
In answer to this letter, Mrs Trimmer addressed to
Dr Bell the following long account of the effect which
her publication had produced :-
* Brentford, January 1, 1806.
66 Rev. Sir,
“ I have much wished for leisure to reply to your
last favour of the 11th of December. But, after finish-
ing my pamphlet, I had the number of my Guardian’ '
to compose, and various correspondence respecting the
former to attend to; so that I have really had no time
but such small portions as I was obliged to seize upon
for recreation. I have now. the pleasure to inform
you, that I trust our cause is going on well. I will
give you, in continuation of our confidential corre-
spondence, a few details. I do not know whether you
see · The Orthodox Churchman's Magazine,' or not.
I shall therefore begin with that. In the number pub-
lished the 1st of December, a note from a pamphlet
addressed to the Society for promoting Christian
LIFE OF DR BELL.
151
Knowledge was inserted, concerning Mr Lancaster's
plan, of which the writer seems to entertain similar
ideas with ourselves. In the number published the
first of this month, there is a long and very handsome
critique on my pamphlet, the writer of which has
exactly entered into my views of recommending the
method of instruction, and giving Lancaster credit for
all that he can possibly claim, (and much more, indeed,
as he is not the inventor,) but highly censuring his
sectarian system. At the end of the British Critic,
just published, there is a letter from an anonymous
writer, (who promises to give the publisher his name,)
in which some strong strictures are made upon Mr
Lancaster's plan, and cautions given against its adop-
tion. These, my good sir, are promising symptoms,
I
think. I have had some very pleasant letters concern-
ing my work from respectable persons, amongst whom
is a right reverend prelate, whose see is in a distant
county, and whose name is amongst Mr Lancaster's
subscribers. His lordship says, “that he subscribed
to Mr Lancaster's proposal, with the hope of seeing,
by its establishment, a more effectual mode of educa-
tion brought into common practice than has hitherto
prevailed; but that he did not certainly subscribe to
his principle, that the teacher should be independent
of the subscribers,' &c. &c.
“ I have also received a letter from a nobleman, of
whom I have no personal knowledge, who says, that
ó since reading my pamphlet, he rejoices that he with-
stood the variety of solicitations which have been made
to him verbally, as well as by letter, to become one of
Mr Lancaster's advocates and supporters ;' and I have
heard of several people of rank and influence who con-
152
LIFE OF DR BELL.
tinue to speak in high terms of the method of instruc-
tion, but disclaiming all ideas of intending to extend
their patronage beyond it; and I think, that when
the families come to town for the meeting of Parlia-
ment, the affair will be much canvassed, and that Mr
Lancaster will find his flight impeded a little. I hear
he is exceedingly elated by his surprising success with
the royal family, and such numbers of great people as
followed the royal example; but I have reason to
think there is a caution in that quarter. I also hear
that Lancaster has tired some of his first advocates by
his continual intrusions and supercilious airs. He was
told of my work by a reverend lord, whose title I
cannot recollect, but who went to see his school. Lan-
caster said, that "if my book was properly written, he
should answer it; if not, he should know what to do.'
The bookseller who gave me this anecdote, says, that
Lancaster sent to his shop for two copies that very
day-one for himself, the other for the friend who
apparently helps him, I suppose.
“I must now tell you, that I have in a corner
a wise and experienced friend, who has seen, with his
own eye, the sad effects of generalizing plans on the
Continent, and from whom I had some very valuable
advice, previous to the writing my pamphlet. This
gentleman sees the matter in the same light as I do
as a perversion of your excellent plan for purposes
deeper than meet the eye. On being applied to by
a friend in Ireland to give his sentiments concerning
Lancaster, he has written a French letter to him,
(which, were I near to you, I would communicate,) in
which he refers him to the works of the Abbé Barruel
and Professor Robinson for the prototype of Lancas-
. LIFE OF DR BELL.
153
ter's system, as it relates to religion, in their account of
the schools on the Continent.
“ Believe me to be, very respectfully yours,
“ S. TRIMMER."
Mrs Trimmer's labours in the cause at this time
must be considered as very important. She was already
well known in the literary world; and having for some
time made the subject of education, as it were, her
peculiar province, her present work was likely to fall
into the hands of exactly the right class of readers.
Her timely criticism on Lancaster arrested him, we
may say, in mid career, and called the attention of
those who had hitherto supported him to the real
merits of the case. It was, in fact, as will be seen,
in a great measure, owing to her that Dr Bell was
induced to leave his retirement at Swanage. At pre-
sent she was the chief means whereby he obtained in-
formation, as to how matters were proceeding. “I see
nothing," he writes in answer to her last communica-
tion, “ hear nothing, know nothing, but what you tell
me.
Having spent my life for the most part abroad,
I have no acquaintance among my metropolitan breth-
ren, and no wish, at my period of life, to form new
associations."
Her next letter brought him fresh intelligence of the
results of her exertions. “ I have now,” she writes,
“ the pleasure to inform you, that I think my pamphlet
has made considerable impression on the minds of many
people who had been led away by Lancaster's plausi-
bility, and in the right way. I have heard from several
quarters of a change of measures in respect to schools
about to be established or improved, in order to intro-
154
LIFE OF DR BELL.
duce your method of teaching, and omit what you very
properly call L.'s quackery, as well as to guard against
his innovation upon the national system. A lady from
Kensington told me there was a proposal for establish-
ing a school for training girls for schoolmistresses and
upper nurserymaids, by the society for bettering the
condition of the poor, in the forming of which Dr
Bell's plan, not Lancaster's, would be the model. I
also heard that a large charity school at Durham,
intended as a model for the whole county, was to be
regulated according to your plan, &c. &c. In short,
I have reason to believe that Lancaster has experienced
great mortification and disappointment. Last week
he accidentally met with Dr Rennel, (Master of the
Temple,) in a bookseller's shop, who attacked him
about not teaching his scholars to pray, and they had
a warm conversation. By way of excuse Lancaster
says, that I know he uses the first book of my Teach-
er's Assistant, in which the Lord's prayer is explained.
This is a poor subterfuge, because, though he may use
the book, it does not follow he uses the whole of
it.”
Every letter from Mrs Trimmer now brought him
some new information, and he urges her to write con-
stantly and unreservedly to him. In the following March
she again writes thus—“In respect to Lancaster, a greater
progress has been made towards opening the eyes of the
public to his plan than I expected, as I shall tell
you
in confidence. Through the well-directed zeal of an
excellent friend of mine, the Rev. Mr Plimley, who is
the rector of Windsor, the arrogant Quaker has been
disappointed in his attempt to set up a school there,
which was to be called the king's school, and I have
+
LIFE OF DR BELL.
155
same.
every reason to think that all which he included under
the term 6 Royal Patronage,” will be in future dis-
continued. The dignitaries of the church also, even
the highest, are fully convinced of the danger of the
plan of forming the children of the lower orders into
one organized body, &c. &c., and have consulted
together concerning the measures which
may
be
proper
to employ to prevent its taking effect. The Anti-
Jacobin Review has attacked Lancaster violently, taking
my pamphlet as the basis of their animadversions. The
Society for promoting Christian Knowledge are de-
sirous to take an active part against him. Many per-
sons of great weight in Ireland are inclined to do the
.
In short, his wings will be clipped in some
degree; yet I dare not form any very sanguine hope
that the mischief will be effectually done away.”
The effect of this correspondence was, that Dr. Bell
now began to feel anxious to have a wider field of
action than Swanage afforded him, in order that he
might personally assist in the dissemination of his sys-
tem, and no longer remain a mere passive spectator of
what was going forward.
The first wish of this sort is thus expressed in a
letter to Mrs Trimmer, of the 11th of December
1805:-
“ You have almost," he writes, “ inspired me with
a wish again to step forward into more active life than
in Swanage. I am fully persuaded that all the success
which has attended L.'s school, is solely owing to the
general principle of teaching by the pupils of the insti-
tution, and that we could produce the full effect with-
out his quackery and buffoonery, &c. &c., by the sim-
156
LIFE OF DR BELL.
ple arrangements of the Male Asylum at Madras, which
are sufficient for every purpose.”
To this she thus replies in her next letter :-
Brentford, January 1, 1806.
“ You say, sir, that I have almost inspired you with
a wish again to step forward into active life. I wish
you could do so, in some way that would put your own
genuine plan forward.
I hope you will
be induced to come to town in the spring. If you
could have conversation with some of the leading mem-
bers of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge,
you would be able to judge where your part lies. I
know of some very respectable characters who would
be glad to confer with you. Dr Gaskin, the excellent
secretary of the Society, you are probably acquainted
with. Should you be induced to visit the metropolis,
I hope you would favour me with your company; and
should
you
find it advisable to come in the spring,
when we hope to open our new room, what an advan-
tage would it be to us to have your advice! I cannot
presume to advise you; but I think, were I in
your
place, I should follow Mr Lancaster up a little, and
bring my own plan still forwarder to public observation
as the original one—not from motives which
your
mind
is above, as I trust my own is also—but that the public
might at once take up the matter at the right end, by
seeing that the experiment might be made in an easier
way than by following Lancaster's whimseys.”
Dr Bell seems at this time to have been in some
doubt as to whether he would let matters take their
own course, or appear himself on the scene of action.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
157
« You must not expect me to appear in opposition to
any system,” he writes to Mrs Trimmer, in January
1806, “or at all to mix in any controversy. If my
plan be founded in nature and truth, (be of God,) it
will prevail
, if not it will fall; and what could I have
done, what can I do, which you have not done with far
more effect and ability ?”
These feelings, however, were not of long continu-
ance ;
for in the course of the next month he wrote to
Mr Calcraft, requesting his interest in favour of his
either exchanging Swanage for some other preferment
more eligibly situated, or of some other arrangement
whereby he might be enabled to render his services
more available to the cause of education.
66 I seek
no new emolument,” he says, “ no increase of my
ample benefice, which has already turned out far be-
yond any expectations I had heretofore formed of it. I
seek only to be transferred into a more congenial soil,
where
my labours may yield a happier harvest. " He
then proceeds to state his reasons for making this appli-
cation, refers to his publications on the subject, and
to the success of Mr Lancaster's school. Speaking
of which, he says, “ Hos ego versiculos feci, tulit
alter honorem ;” and adds, “ After all, if the expe-
riment does not speak for itself, all that has been
said in its behalf will avail nothing; but if it deserve
ever so little, ever so little will content mean equiva-
lent living in exchange, or useful employment without
emolument, till an exchange can be affected.”
This application was immediately followed up by a cir-
cular letter, addressed to those members of the Govern-
158
LIFE OF DR BELL.
ment, &c., to whom, in 1797, he had sent copies of the
Madras report. In this, as in his application to Mr
Calcraft just mentioned, he refers to his pamphlet and
to Lancaster's school; and then thus clearly states the
object and grounds of his request :—“ It is not emolu-
ment which I seek for; it is useful employment; it is
an official post, whence I may be enabled to rear in
Europe the fabric of which I laid the foundation in
Asia. It was my official situation of minister of St
Mary's, at Madras, and chaplain of Fort St George, &c.,
that gave weight and influence to my gratuitous services
in the organization and superintendence of the Male
Asylum; and I now make a tender of my gratuitous
services in favour of any public institution where
Government may deem them useful; or, if no such
object be under the contemplation of Government, it
may suffice for my purpose to obtain a position which,
dispensing with
my
residence at this insulated village,
(where certain peculiarities, well-known to my patron
Mr Calcraft, preclude all improvement beyond what
has already been achieved,) may give me an occasion,
at my own instance, of demonstrating to future genera-
tions, that the plant grown at Madras may, in its ori-
ginal, simple, and undisguised form, be raised to matu-
rity in Britain."
It does not appear what answer was returned
either to his letter to Mr Calcraft, or to the circular
from which I have just quoted. In his next letter to
Mrs Trimmer, he makes the same statement as regards
his wishes to leave Swanage, and informs her of his
intention of being in London soon after Easter. This
intention he fulfilled; but the only information we have
LIFE OF DR BELL.
159
concerning his stay in town, is contained in a letter to
a friend, written some time afterwards, wherein he
says “ I spent a day with Mrs Trimmer en passant,
visited her Sunday school, and had an interview with
Dr Gaskin, secretary to the Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge;" and in one to Mrs Trimmer,
which chiefly contains observations on the necessity of
immediate action. Although it does not appear that
much was at this time effected by this visit, the work
was still progressing, and every letter from Mrs Trim-
mer brought him new and gratifying intelligence.
Several clergymen, in and near London, had begun to
turn their attention to the subject, especially Mr Gerard
Andrews, rector of St James's, who was very desirous
of introducing the system into that parish, and ex-
pressed, through Mrs Trimmer, his wish to be informed
how he could best forward Dr Bell's views. Mr Plim-
ley, also, curate of Windsor, who had taken much
pains to prevent Lancaster's establishing a school there,
was desirous of forming one on Dr Bell's plan.
The prospect, therefore, looked more favourable, and
Dr Bell became more and more desirous of personally
assisting in the dissemination of his system.
that I wish for," he writes, “ in undertaking the task
for which I conceive myself fitted, is, first, that I may
not be withdrawn from those professional occupations,
which are not more consonant with my duty as a
clergyman than necessary to my happiness as a Chris-
tian, but that I may have simultaneous duty to per-
form professionally, along with the scholastic super-
intendence.”
“ I certainly agree with you as to St James's being
an excellent field in which to commence operations; its
66 All
160
LIFE OF DR BELL.
central and commanding situation gives it many advan-
tages; and, if nothing better can be done, I beg you
will tender my services to Mr Andrews, whom I am
ready to assist with all my might as soon as I can visit
London. I hope to be soon able to be there and
pay
my personal respects to him; and if, in the mean time,
I can do any thing, I need not say what pleasure it will
give me.”
Mrs Trimmer communicated the contents of this let-
ter to Mr Andrews and Mr Plimley,“ both of whom,”
she writes, “are very sensible of the liberality and dis-
interestedness of this proposal, and are unanimous in
the wish that you were situated in a parish where you
could have full scope for your exertions." From what
she said in continuation, however, it appeared that both
she and Dr Bell had been too sanguine in their expecta-
tions. New obstacles now sprung up, from the schools
generally being under the management of trustees, who
were rarely unanimous in consenting to the adoption
of any new scheme; and some of whom, from ignorance
or prejudice, opposed every alteration, as an injurious
innovation. She had not communicated Dr Bell's last
letter to the Bishop of London, because “there was an
expression in it which seemed to cast some reflection
on his lordship for not paying greater attention to his
plan in the beginning;" she therefore requested him to
write another, containing a repetition of his offers of
assistance, “ which,” she says, “ I will take care is
conveyed to the bishop.” This was done accordingly,
but nothing further appears on this subject; and it does
not seem that his lordship, at that time, took much
pains in the matter, though he afterwards, as will be
seen, became very active in forwarding Dr Bell's views.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
161
CHAPTER XXII.
Mr Mackenzie—the System introduced into the Whitechapel Schools, and
into a new Institution at Gower's Walk founded for that purpose.
ABOUT two months after the commencement of this
correspondence with Mrs Trimmer, some letters passed
between Dr Bell and Mr Mackenzie a gentleman
who had much property in the Highlands--regarding
the practicability of introducing the system into that
part of Scotland. This correspondence was opened
by Mr Mackenzie, who, at the time, wrote to Dr Bell
as to an entire stranger; it came out, however, soon
after, that they had been class-fellows at St Andrews
in 1770.
Owing to the number of obstacles which occurred,
nothing was done in this matter; the letters them-
selves, which are interesting as showing what some of
the causes were, which at that time retarded the
pro-
gress of the system, will be found in the correspon-
dence.
Mr Mackenzie, curiously enough in one of his let-
ters, recommends Dr Bell to communicate with Mrs
Trimmer on the subject of his wishing to take an
active part in the dissemination of his system, not being
aware that they were already known to each other.
To this Dr Bell thus refers in one of his letters to Mrs
Trimmer :
VOL. II.
L
162
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Swanage, 28th June 1806.
“ It is not a little curious, that in letters from Dur-
ham and other places, I am again and again referred to
you, as to a person to whom I may be unknown, to
concert measures for a commencement of operations,
and grafting our system on the principle of our church
and kingly government. It is known to some of these
monitors, by this time, that you have roused me from
the state of inactivity into which the original reception
of my system had placed me, as to what passed beyond
the limits of my own parish. An old fellow-student,
deeply attached to the Church of England, but having
large possessions in the north of Scotland, wishes me
to recommend a place for training a young man of his
recommendation, at his expense, in our system. Such
a one I should like to have under my own eye, and in-
stantly employ as an assistant teacher-by far the best
mode of initiation-if I had any charge of superinten-
dence. I can also find a man and a boy whom I could
depend upon, if wanted, under my own instruction.”
Mr Mackenzie's labours in the good cause did not
end here. Not discouraged by the obstacles which had
opposed his intentions as regards Scotland, he now
turned his thoughts towards promoting the same ob-
ject in this country; and accordingly wrote to Dr Gas-
kin to ask his aid in promoting Dr Bell's views, not
knowing that any previous communication had taken
place between them. Having received his reply, he
wrote thus to Dr Bell :
“ Durham, July 6, 1806.
“ Rev. and Dear Sir,
Though I troubled you with a letter about the
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163
proper that
middle of last month, I think it right now to repeat
that trouble, in consequence of a correspondence I have
had with the Rev. Dr Gaskin, secretary to the Society
for promoting Christian Knowledge, which I think it
you should know. Being a member of
that respectable society, I have occasion frequently to
write to Dr Gaskin; and in writing him lately on some
matters, I took occasion to ask him what effect Mrs
Trimmer's address to the society on the danger of Mr
Lancaster's institution had produced. I then stated
the uneasiness which I knew Mr L.’s perversion of
your system had given you, and
your
anxious desire of
an opportunity of satisfying the public of the efficacy
of your system, on which the best principles, religious,
moral, and political, might be grafted with greater fa-
cility than those spurious principles of Lancaster. I
also, in justice to you and to the public, mentioned your
readiness to superintend any institution, so situated as
not to interfere with your present duties in Dorset-
shire. The Doctor, in answer to this part of my let-
ter, wrote me, that in some of the great parishes round
London, endeavours were making to form establish-
ments upon your plan. In a letter by last post, he
tells me— Your observations relative to Dr Bell,
have been communicated to a leading person in the
parish of Whitechapel ;* and I apprehend his assist-
ance will be solicited in forwarding the good works
going on in that parish. I wish this intimation of the
intended solicitation to you may reach you first, to give
you time more fully to prepare yourself for the request
* Early in 1806, a proposal had been made and adopted for doubling
the number of children in the charity schools in that parish, without
having any reference to the adoption of the Madras system.
164
LIFE OF DR BELL:
to be made. Should it turn to your and the public
advantage, my pleasure would be great."
Shortly after this letter was received, Mrs Trimmer
wrote to Dr Bell, informing him that she had seen Dr
Gaskin, and had had much conversation with him on the
subject of the charity school in Whitechapel, into which
one of the trustees, Mr Davis of Leytonstone, who had
seen the subject discussed in Mrs Trimmer's “Guardian
of Education,” had become very desirous of introducing
the Madras system. He accordingly wrote to Bishop
Porteus, who advised him and the other trustees to
apply to Dr Bell without delay; and, at his request,
the Rev. Dr Wright, the rector, being also a trustee,
wrote to Dr Bell, informing him that they were de
sirous of introducing his system into that parish, and
requesting that he would “ favour him with a few di-
rections for the schoolmaster.” Mrs Trimmer had
also informed him that she was about this time going
to open a new school at Brentford, “ where she intend
ed to aim at a classification, &c., as much as a girl's
school of industry would admit of;” and “ that she
would be glad to follow him exactly in the Sunday
school if she could, as also would her daughters in a
new Sunday school just set on foot at New Brentford;”
and at the same time expressed a hope that, when next
he came to town, he would see their proceedings, and
favour them with his advice. This, occurring at the
same time with Dr Wright's application for assistance,
determined Dr Bell to proceed to London in person,
in preference to giving directions by letter; and he
accordingly wrote to Dr Wright and to Mrs Trimmer
informing them of his intention.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
165
On his arrival about the middle of August, he was
somewhat disappointed in his expectations, finding
both Dr Wright and Mr Davis out of town, and the
school quite unprepared for the reception of the sys-
tem. Mr Davis, however, soon returned, and a meet-
ing of the trustees of the charity school took place,
when it was settled that a committee should be appoint-
ed to " communicate with Dr Bell upon the subject;"
and “ that they should be empowered to take such mea-
sures as should be proper and agreeable to the purposes
for which this trust is constituted, and that they should
report their proceedings at the usual monthly meet-
ings.”
Dr Bell accordingly commenced his labours, going
to the school every morning from Knotsgreen, where
he was staying with Mr MacTaggart, and Mr Davis át-
tending him almost daily. The task, however, was
not an easy one. The Institution had been conducted
on the old system to its fullest extent, and there were
many difficulties to overcome, and many prejudices to
eradicate.
In commencing the organization of the school, his
first object was the selection of teachers, and the ar-
rangement of the children into classes, according to their
proficiency. “ He first chose about twenty of the best
and cleanest boys, and having tried them in reading,
&c., selected ten or twelve of the best of these as teach.
ers and assistants for the different classes. He then
selected, by further trials, the two best of these for the
first class, and the two next for the second, and so on
till he had five or six sets of teachers.” He next ar-
ranged the boys into classes, and having found a boy of
the name of Tunstall to be the ablest in the school,
appointed him usher.
166
LIFE OF DR BELL.
When Dr Bell entered the school, he said, before all
present, " That at the same time he was going to assist
the scholars in teaching themselves, he was also going
to seek instruction at their hands,” &c. In less than a
fortnight, he had occasion to mark two boys who fell
upon improvements of his practices in the asylum. In
informing a friend of this soon afterwards, he says, “ It
is thus, if I were allowed to follow the bent of my own
inclination in the superintendence of a large seminary,
I would seek to fill up the outline of my plan with sub-
sidiary practices.”
Having written to Mrs Trimmer, informing her of
this promising commencement, she replied, “ I cannot
forbear writing, to express, in some degree, the pleasure
it affords me to hear that you have made so promising
a beginning. Mr Davis will, I hope, prove what Dr
Gaskin told me you would find him—the man;' and
I heartily wish you success. I hope you will find a
coadjutor also in the curate of Whitechapel, Mr Robson,
with whom I have had some literary correspondence,
and know him to be a good writer; but I have no per-
sonal acquaintance with him.”
In Mr Davis Dr Bell had found all he could wish.
“ He is indeed,” he says, in an answer to this letter,
" the man."
Towards the end of September he was obliged to
return to his duties at Swanage ; and some obstacles
having come in the way of the progress the system was
making in this school, he left town somewhat hopeless,
notwithstanding the success his efforts had met with.
Better prospects were, however, soon held out to him,
and in October he received the following gratifying
letter from Dr Wright:
LIFE OF DR BELL.
167
Whitechapel, October 8, 1806.
6 Dear Sir,
“ Yesterday being one of the periodical meetings
of the trustees of our charity school, the committee
who had been appointed to adopt a new system of edu-
cation in the school, made their report, which was every
way so acceptable to the trustees, that the following re-
solution was unanimously voted-
5. Resolved, That a letter be written to the Rev. Dr
Bell
, rector of Swanage, Dorsetshire, expressive of the
grateful feelings of the trustees, for the labour and
trouble he has so nobly and disinterestedly taken in as-
sisting their committee to put in practice his plan for
the better education of the children; acknowledging,
behalf of them and their poor parents, the obligations
they are under to him for so effectually promoting their
spiritual and temporal welfare ; thanking him, in the
name of the trustees, for his liberal donation of fifty
copies of his book; and requesting for their committee
his further advice and assistance towards completing the
humane and valuable work he has begun.'
“ Persuaded, sir, that this resolution will be accept-
able to your feelings, (from the opinion I have formed
of the temper of your mind, and your judgment rightly
to appreciate such affairs,) I, with great pleasure, un-
dertake the office of transmitting the same to you; and
avail myself, at the same time, of the opportunity of
expressing the high sense I entertain of your disinter-
ested benevolence and active zeal, in forwarding the
works of charity.
“ You will perceive, sir, by the resolution, that the
trustees consider still as our patron and visitor; and
I am not without hope, that when you again do us the
you stil]
168
LIFE OF DR BELL.
favour to look in amongst 'us, you will find occasion to
commend the progress and improvement we shall have
made.
I
am, dear Sir, your very obedient servant.”
In answer to this letter, Dr Bell sent to the trustees,
through Dr Wright, a long statement, containing a plan
of what he considered, if carried into effect, would be
the model for a school. In this prospectus, as he called
it, he recommended “ that instruction in the higher
branches of learning should be given to a select class of
boys, in order to fit them for higher situations than
those of mere manual labour.” “ Parents,” he says,
“will naturally be solicitous to have their children thus
educated, as it will qualify them for schoolmasters,
clerks, and other departments of business : and, to ob-
tain such eminent advantages, they will be ready to bind
them to the Institution till of age.”
Mr Davis had also written to Dr Bell at the same
time as Dr Wright, expressing his and Mr Hodgson's
regret at the obstacles that had occurred previous to
Dr Bell's leaving London, and informing him that it
had been resolved that an assistant schoolmaster should
be appointed, and requesting his advice on the subject.
To this Dr Bell thus replied:
Swanąge, October 9, 1806.
“ I beg leave to refer you, my dear sir, as you do
me, to my letter to your rector, and my reply to the
trustees in his hands. If I am not widely mistaken,
my ideas will be found to tally exactly with those which
you and Hodgson have uniformly expressed to me. I
rely then, with confidence, that you will enter into the
LIFE OF DR BELL.
169
spirit of my communication, and consider it as framed
to break the ice for you, and expedite your progress. I
wish particularly that Dr Gaskin may be consulted by
you, and you only in the first instance, as to his opinion
of the correctness and expediency of your views and
mine. For this purpose I trust you will furnish him
with a copy of the prospectus, and express my solici-
tude to be favoured with his sentiments and advice.
I wish, at any rate, that he may see the prospectus as
soon as possible; because, if it should meet his wishes,
and he should, in his sermon, give the scheme his public
sanction and recommendation, it would give life, health,
and vigour to your proceedings. I do not tell you
how much
my
heart is with
you, and how affected I am
by all that
you and our friend Hodgson have done, and
propose doing. With such men it is impossible, or
next to impossible, that I ever should not be agreed
in sentiment. I accept, with the most heartfelt satis-
faction and delight your repeated pledge, that your
work must go on,' and I am ready to exclaim: By-
meaning through and under-God, it will go on, and
flourish, and spread far and near!”
He
then proceeds to recommend a boy of the name of
Lewis Warren, an assistant in the Swanage Sunday
school, as an aide-de-camp for the Whitechapel
institution.” “In any event,” he says, “I warrant that,
if he do not degenerate when transplanted, you will
find him most valuable to you.'
S
So anxious was Dr Bell to carry the plan at once.
into execution, that, without waiting for a reply, he
dispatched Lewis Warren, who was then only thirteen
years of age, to London, with letters of recommenda-
170
LIFE OF DR BELL.
tion, &c., to Mr Davis, who soon afterwards wrote,
thanking him “ for the confidence he had placed in
them, in sending so promptly that interesting and
intelligent lad, whom,” he adds, “ I see we shall set
a high value upon, not only as coming from you, and
as being a pledge that you will again visit us, but from
his own qualifications, which, under the blessing of
God, there is every appearance of being usefully em-
ployed.” He also informs him that Dr Gaskin had,
in his sermon on that day, (Sunday,) “ embraced every
object relating to this school that could be desired;
and most pointedly and eloquently applauded the trus-
tees for adopting those means of facilitating education
and economizing time, which had been pointed out in
a book written by a divine of our own Church, and to
whom (he said) we were under such infinite obligations
for his generous and disinterested personal assistance,
in enabling us to put them into practice, and thereby
setting a great example to this metropolis in particu-
lar," &c. &c.
In consequence of Dr Gaskin’s having thus taken
up the matter, Dr Bell wrote to him at great length,
thanking him for the interest he had taken in the sys-
tem, &c.; but to this letter no answer appears. Shortly
after this Mrs Trimmer visited the school, and wrote
to Dr Bell that she had been pleased with much she
had seen ; but that there was more noise than she
expected. It seems, from the letters which passed at
this time between Mr Davis and Dr Bell, that great
difficulties now occurred in keeping order; and that,
although the school went on well when he and Mr
Hodgson were present to look after it, there was a fall-
ing off whenever they could not give their personal
LIFE OF DR BELL.
171
superintendence to it. Dr Bell's reply to one of these
letters, wherein Mr Davis informs him of these obsta-
cles, is very characteristic of the impetuosity of his
temper. Overlooking every thing in the letter (which
contained also much that was hopeful) except the
account of the failure of some part of the discipline, he
writes in the most desponding manner_“ Both you
and Mr Hodgson," he says, “ have done far beyond
what could be expected of trustees; but we may toil, and
fight, and bleed, and die, in the cause, and if our right
hand man is not earnest, or able, or willing, our
labour and death will not do. I long most earnestly to
be with you; yet were I with you what could I do that
will not be undone? We may make a cipher of the
master as to doing any mischief in our presence ; but
he can far more easily make ciphers of us as to doing
any good. How to give up the task, or how to pro-
ceed—I can't tell what to say or what to do!”.
He also expresses great fear with respect to young
W:
arren, owing to the unsatisfactory letters received
from him. On the following day, however, on further
reflection, he considered that he had written too hastily
and despondingly, and accordingly wrote again in a
more cheerful mood. “I was more affected than I
ought to have been,” he writes, “ by a piece of intelli-
gence so little expected; and, as usually happens in
such cases, I desponded beyond what was reasonable.
Allow me, my good friend, to correct myself; be of
good courage; when was any thing great or good
accomplished without difficulty, discouragement, and
opposition? What is your situation now compared to
mine, when I began without a guide, and without that
confidence which arises from experience ?”
Previous, however, to the arrival of the second letter,
172
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Mr Davis had written in reply to the first, explaining
more fully their arrangements, and giving a favourable
account of
young
Warren. " I long for your advice,”
he continues,
upon many things connected with our
school, not because it is in the parish of Whitechapel
,
but because its success or failure may be of the greatest
importance, not only to this populous and distressed
vicinity, but probably to the united kingdom. I do not
apologize for troubling you with these matters, knowing
that
you,
in
your generous temper, consider yourself
embarked in the great cause of humanity and charity."
Before the end of December, Dr Bell wrote to Mr
Davis, to inform him of a plan which he had in his mind
for overcoming the difficulties that existed in White-
chapel ; but which, he requested, might not be further
spoken of at that time. This was to go to London
himself for a month, bringing with him a schoolmaster*
from Swanage, whom he had instructed in the system,
and that they should proceed regularly to set the school
in the right train. “ I need not,” he writes, " tell
you.
of my services, that, as from the very beginning of my
entering into the service of youth till now, they will
continue the same: but I do not mean to offer to de-
fray the expenses of my schoolmaster; but I
to you ' no cure, no pay;' if he fail I will be at the ex-
pense, if he succeed the institution will if they choose.
This proposal was gladly accepted; and Dr Bell
went accordingly to London, taking his schoolmaster
with him; but we have not any particular account of
their proceedings. It appears, however, from a letter
to Mrs Trimmer without date, but probably written
soon after, that their exertions were successful. “Happy
* This individual, whose name was Gover, it will be recollected, has
been mentioned in the account of the Swanage schools.
but I propose
LIFE OF DR BELL.
173
>>
am I to say," he writes, “that we have obtained a com- ..
plete victory at Whitechapel, and a most wonderful
transformation is achieved. A new code of laws I was
compelled to compose for them, which depended not on
the master to execute. He is, after every struggle and
opposition, apparently conquered. We had the arch-
bishop and chaplains on Saturday to see the school,
and I believe they were delighted.”
Dr Bell remained in London till the beginning of
March, when he went to Swanage, intending to return
again after Easter. He had become acquainted, while
in town, with Lord Radstock, who, with many others,
had visited the Whitechapel school, and received from
him the following letter, which was forwarded to Swan-
age, having been written under the impression that he
was still in town.
* Portland Place, March 17, 1807.
66 Dear Sir,
Upon my return, the other day, from
your most
excellent and highly interesting school, I went imme-
diately to the Bishop of Durham, when I learned to my
great mortification that he had quitted town that very
morning. I next called upon the Bishop of Chichester,
with whom I had a long conversation on the subject of
your mode of teaching, as set forth in your book; when
the result was his lordship’s assurance, that he would
not only himself pay you a visit, but that he would
endeavour to prevail upon one or more of his brother
bishops to accompany him. I shall not presume to say
that I am certain of being of any real service in for-
warding your incomparable plan; but I am so thorough-
ly convinced of its utility, both as to the object of its
174
LIFE OF DR BELL.
forming good Christians and good subjects, consequent-
ly of its laying the surest, and in fact only solid, foun-
dation of that constitutional barrier which can alone
withstand the daily attacks which are making against
these, till now, enviable and happy realms, that I shall
most undoubtedly exert my best efforts to give you
that assistance of which you are so well deserving.
“ As I understand that you do not object to admitting
ladies to see your school, I shall, with your permission,
accompany Lady Radstock and two other ladies to
Whitechapel on Saturday next. I hope you will do
me the justice to be satisfied that I shall never think
of conducting persons to your school as a sort of pup-
pet-show; and be assured that, on the present occa-
sion, you will find my female friends to be of that de-
scription that you would be most desirous to see. Be-
lieve me to be, dear Sir, with regard and esteem, your
very
faithful servant,
“ RADSTOCK."
This visit accordingly took place, and Mr Davis
thus alludes to it in a letter to Dr Bell :-“ I attempt-
ed yesterday to become your shadow in exhibiting
your beautiful system to a greater number of visitors
than have yet been to visit it at Whitechapel. I copy
the list in the next page. I was pleased to find Mr
Nott, preceptor to the princess, take great interest in
every part of it. I paid him much attention, on ac-
count of his particular connexion with several of the
bishops, &c. &c.; and told him I should be happy to
meet him there any other morning when there might
be less company, if it was the wish of himself or any
friend to examine the whole again, and more minutely.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
1
175
I took an opportunity of impressing upon the mind of
Lord Radstock, and all the circle of ladies and gentle-
men, the advantage that might be derived to the higher
classes of the community, if some zealous young cler-
gyman of our universities would study this system with
a view to putting it into practice, and offered every
facility to them at Whitechapel if they should be desi-
rous of attending its operations."
Shortly after this, a report was published by the
trustees of this school, wherein the peculiar advantages
of the system, as proved by experience, were set forth,
and full acknowledgments made to Dr Bell for his as-
sistance.
The schools now, with occasional interruptions from
causes which it is not necessary here to enter into, went
on well; and in January 1808 the committee returned
a most favourable report, and stated that the progress
made by the children under the new system was so
much more rapid than formerly, that “one-fourth of
the time given to reading was sufficient, and the spare
hours they recommended to be devoted to some useful
occupation;" which recommendation was afterwards
carried into effect with considerable success.
In 1809 we find also a most favourable report of
this school; and in June of the following year, an ad-
dress, highly complimentary, from the trustees, was
sent to Dr Bell, by the Rev. Dr Mathias, who was Dr
Wright's successor in the parish. It will not, however,
be necessary to follow
up
the account of the school fur-
ther than this point; and we must now proceed briefly
to notice some other institutions into which the system
was introduced about this time. The first of these
which requires notice was one at Gower's Walk, founded
وز
176
LIFE OF DR BELL.
by Mr Davis, upon whom the exhibition of the powers
of the system at Whitechapel “ had so powerful an
effect, that he determined, with some assistance, to
found and endow a school at Gower's Walk, for the
purpose of showing the advantage of uniting industry
with the ordinary elements of education given to the
labouring classes, and also of giving to Dr Bell a place
where he might take his stand, and be independently
supported in the practice of his admirable invention.”
The foundation-stone of this school was laid by Mr
Davis on the 22d of June 1807, Dr Bell being the only
other person present; and it was completed on the 4th
of January 1808. The whole expense of purchasing
land for a site, building, fitting up, &c., amounting to
£5000, was borne by Mr Davis, with the exception of
£561 which was subscribed by a few friends; and he
also endowed it with £2000 three per cent consols.
The master and mistress appointed to the institution
were totally unacquainted with any mode of teaching
a considerable number of children ; but this want of
experience was not at all regretted by the managers,
as they had no old prejudices to contend with, and
were fully compensated by good tempers, willing minds,
and zealous attention. · They attended two or three
times at the parochial school of Whitechapel, where
the plan had been adopted nearly two years, and, for
some short time, had a boy from that school to assist
them in the practical part.”
The success of this institution was rapid.
numbers are increasing at Gower's Walk,” writes Mr
Davis a month after its opening; “ more rapidly than
our arrangements for industry yet allow, or than the
building will, as yet, accommodate. We are near a
66 Our
LIFE OF DR BELL.
177
hundred, but have only one room ready for both boys
and girls. The other will, however, be ready in a few
days, and then we can make room for three hundred.”
And, in January 1809, he again thus reports its pro-
gress to Dr Bell :-“ Nearly twelve months are now
elapsed since the school opened. Great numbers have
left it, and many received in their room--a business has
been raised; and your plan still triumphs. Mr Lovell
(the master) and myself are amply repaid for our pa-
tience and perseverance. All the teachers and assistants
read well ; a large first class very close upon them, and
the rest in proper progression.
But in industry
we shall boast. Our little fellows compose, distributė,
and work off to admiration. During the holidays we
had plenty of work, and plenty of volunteers to get
through it."
As this institution was intended to be a “ school of
industry,” shoemaking was first tried : this, however,
did not succeed well, owing perhaps to its being of so
sedentary a nature. Printing was then introduced ;
and the master, having been engaged previously in that
business, was enabled both to give instructions in
the art and to superintend its progress. The result
of this experiment is thus spoken of in a report pub-
lished in 1809—“ This part of the establishment (the
printing) is, as the statement of accounts exhibits, very
profitable ; but what is more important, it trains up
the boys in active and useful habits, and at the same
time facilitates all the other objects of the institution,
by being a great instrument of discipline. The boys
consider the work as highly amusing, as well as being
the means of obtaining rewards; and therefore a boy
VOL. II.
M
178
LIFE OF DR BELL.
prove his
must have a very good character for diligence, atten-
tion, and proficiency in school, and for orderly and
moral conduct out of school, before he is allowed to be
upon the list of workers.”
Dr Bell gave much time and personal superinten-
dence to the formation and modelling of this school-
“Here would he often come,” says Mr Davis in one of
his reports, “and, humbling himself to the capacity of
a little child, would take a class, and
power
by drawing out the infant mind, and giving invaluable
lessons to teachers and visitors-he wanted neither
cane nor rod, and nothing excited his indignation more
than the ignorance or obstinacy of masters, who, in
spite of his just and merciful system, would persevere
in the use of either."
The introduction of printing, after some time, proved
so profitable, that the annual expenses of the institution
were defrayed by it, as well as a fund laid by for the
purpose of introducing other trades into the school. In
1811 we find the following mention of it in a letter
from Dr Bell to Mr Davis—“ Many many thanks, my
dearest friend, for your letter, and the most delectable
information that you are going on with all possible
success. What a monument you have raised to our
system in all its characteristic simplicity and truth!'
And in another letter, written soon afterwards, he says,
66 Gower's Walk school will be a standard school, and
will raise a monument will be a monument to
your
name most precious and lasting. But for
your school, where should we have found an example
of industry worth notice by an individual ?"
The utility of this institution was not, however, con-
fined to its own walls; it was at this time the means of
you, but for
LIFE OF DR BELL.
179
extending the system to other establishments—“Either,"
as the report states, “ by furnishing competent boys
and girls to assist the master and mistresses, or by.
allowing them to attend until they feel themselves
qualified to carry the plan into execution at other
schools."
180
LIFE OF DR BELL.
CHAPTER XXIII.
The System introduced into the Lambeth Charity School—The Female
Orphan Asylum and the Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea—Mr Whitbread's
Motion on the Poor-Laws—Dr Bell's consequent intercourse with him.
VARIOUS other schools were meantime springing up un-
der the Madras system, of which the Lambeth charity
school first claims our notice, which commenced under
the auspices of the Archbishop of Canterbury, (Dr
Sutton.) Dr Bell, it appears, had called upon the
Bishop of London early in 1807, for the purpose of
offering his services to him; but not finding him in town,
he proceeded to Lambeth, “ not,” as he afterwards in-
formed the archbishop, “ with any premeditated hope
of success,
. but “that he might leave no new
or constituted authority unessayed.” The particulars of
this visit are not known; but the sequel shows that it was
favourable to the object Dr Bell had in view. It seems,
indeed, that the archbishop was, in some degree, already
interested in the subject; for Mr Marriot, in a letter to
Mr Davis, thus speaks of an interview between his Grace
and Lord Radstock, which took place some time pre-
vious to Dr Bell's visit to Lambeth. “ The archbishop,”
he writes, “ afterwards talked about your school, and
said he knew you very well by character. Lord R.
suggested that the best way of securing the universal
adoption of Dr Bell's system, would be for his Grace to
establish a school for two hundred boys at Lambeth.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
181
He thanked him for the suggestion, and said he would
endeavour to execute the plan.”
A commencement seems to have been made without
loss of time; for in a letter to Mrs Trimmer, written
when he was about to return to Swanage, at Easter,
Dr Bell says—“ I am ordered to return to town after
the holidays. There is a school in contemplation
under the excellent archbishop, whose zeal, resolution,
and activity, with every quality becoming his station,
cannot be surpassed. I doubt much whether either you
or myself are more in earnest in what we engage in
than this good, great, and able personage. The school,
as far as I understand, is for the education of the lower
orders; and I know of no proposal for a separate insti-
tution for teachers. The best mode of preparing these,
were that proposed, is in the common school.”
Having arrived at Swanage, he wrote to Dr Barton,
the archbishop's chaplain, in order to obtain the arch-
bishop's permission to remain there rather longer than
had at first been proposed. In reply to this, Dr Barton
said that he had consulted with the archbishop on the
subject of his letter, and that he was commissioned to
say, that there was no necessity for his return to Lon-
don before the latest date which he had mentioned for
his stay at Swanage; and, indeed, that he might remain
as long as it suited his convenience, as, in case his pre-
sence should be required at Lambeth, he should be
informed of it.
Dr Barton goes on to speak of the late change of
ministers, saying——“ It is certainly thought to be un-
favourable to the circulation of your book among the
privy councillors, and other high political characters,
with
any
chance of effect. But I trust the question
182
LIFE OF DR BELL.
will be discussed by the bishops, when they assemble
here on Tuesday next.”
To this Dr Bell replied as follows:-
Swanage, March 30, 1807.
6 Dear Sir,
"I purpose to avail myself of his Grace's permis-
sion to remain here, if not otherwise ordered, till the
second Sunday after Faster, when, my establishment
having been broken up for the present, my curate enters
upon the possession of this house.
“ The present ministry, as I conceive, are actuated
by sentiments congenial to the principles and views of
the Madras System; and if they are not, they would not
appear to me fitting ministers, at this eventful period, of
a king who is, in so eminent a degree, entitled to the
appellation of the father of his people. If they can
stand their ground and gain reinforcements, they will
not I trust postpone, until it be too late, the consider-
ation of a subject of such vast importance. Like the
mechanical engine with which Archimedes proposed to
move the world, the material and inanimate world,
this physical engine is fitted to move the intellectual
and moral world. The State will, I hope, follow the
Church, and, like the archbishop, furnish the ground on
which this new lever is to be placed.
“ It cannot be dissembled that thousands, in various
parts of the kingdom, are drawn off from the Church,
by the superior attention paid to education out of the
Church. The tide is fast setting in one direction, and,
if not speedily stemmed, it may run faster and faster.
Every day of delay adds in a duplicate ratio to the
difficulty of the task to be accomplished, by giving that
LIFE OF DR BELL.
183
accession to the strength of the one party which it
takes from the other; and if, while we are asleep, the
weapons formed for our defence are taken out of our
hands by our adversaries, turned against us, nay, claimed
as their own, and filled with deadly poison, what must
not the consequence be?
“ I beg you will present my respectful duty and de-
votion to his Grace.
I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully."
up his
Having returned to town soon after, he took
residence in Union Place, Lambeth, for the
purpose of
organizing this school. “ The archbishop,” he writes
to Mrs Trimmer, “ wishes to set the example in the
populous parish of Lambeth, and retains me for this
purpose ; but little has yet been done, and much is to
be done. When we have once begun, it is to be hoped
we shall make more speed than we have done hither-
to."
In the beginning of May, Dr Bell obtained a license,
signed by the Bishop of Bristol and the Archbishop
of Canterbury, “ to be absent from his benefice of
Swanage for two years, upon keeping a curate duly
resident, with such a salary as they shall think proper
to appoint."
The archbishop appears now to have taken much
interest in the diffusion of the system, and, about this
time, accepted from Dr Bell 2000 copies of his “ Ana-
lysis of his Experiment in Education,” for the purpose
of distribution amongst his clergy.
In this parish, indeed, Dr Bell's labours were well
seconded in every respect. With the master of the
school, Mr Reynolds, he was particularly pleased, and
used to allude to him as a memorable exception to
184
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the general run of schoolmasters, “ who at first resisted
every step of his progress, till resistance was beaten out
of doors.” “ Mr Reynolds,” he said, “ found and
made no difficulty, but carried every instruction into
immediate effect, with equal ease and success."
In June, Dr Bell preached a sermon for the benefit
of this institution, and afterwards published, at the re-
qụest of the archbishop and trustees of the school, that
part of it which more especially referred to the new sys-
tem. In allusion to this, Mr Marriot writes from Stoke
Newington—“ To this hospitable roof I came, as I led
you to expect, last night, and read, in the presence of
Dr G., and his son-in-law Mr Parker, (whose opinion
is no contemptible one,) a certain MS. entrusted to me
by you. They are hearty in their approbation of it, as
all my preceding auditors have been, and are anxious
that it may be published on the same grounds with
myself. At dinner, yesterday, I read it to one of the
most distinguished auditors of the English bar, and a
countryman of yours, (Mr Park,) and have precisely
the same report to make from him.”
He also again thus writes, soon after, on the same
subject—" I heard from Lord Radstock very many
instances of the favourable impression made among his
friends by the extract, which I hope they will carry with
them into different parts of the country. Depend upon
it, the orders from thence will soon speak for themselves.
I shall have great pleasure in bringing you, on Wed-
nesday morning, if I do not see you before, a pledge of
the great esteem you have excited in the breast of the
gallant admiral and truly Christian hero above alluded
to. He made me read the extract in his drawing-room
to an audience of seventeen persons.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
185
And, in another letter, he says—“ Lord Radstock
has got the extract on the table of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, after his brother, Lord Arden, had ex-
pressed high approbation of its contents. Mr Perceval
is more likely than most of his predecessors to read
it."
About the same time the system was also introduced
into the “ Female Orphan Asylum ” at Lambeth; but
we have not any particular information as to what steps
were taken for this purpose. The first allusion to it is
in a letter from Dr Bell to Mrs Trimmer, in which
he says—“ To-morrow I am ordered to convey Mr
Agutter, chaplain to the Orphan Asylum, to his Grace,
with a view to our system. But, with us, you inust
not suppose that done which we set about. In many
instances, I conceive I should be putting an end to a
good work before we can be said to have begun it."
A few days after this letter was written, he received
the following note from Mr Agutter :
* Asylum, May 17, 1807.
66 Dear Sir,
“ The Duke of Cambridge and the Archbishop of
Canterbury will be here on Thursday next, at eleven
o'clock, about your plan. I hope you are disengaged,
as I doubt not they will be glad to introduce you to
the committee.--I am, dear Sir, yours sincerely.
“ I am going to the duke this morning."
And again, two days after this, Mr Agutter writes
as follows“ The committee of this charity request
the honour of your company, and the benefit of your
advice, on Thursday next, at eleven o'clock.
186
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, and
his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, will be here
to give you the meeting.”
It appears, however, that the duke was unable to
keep this appointment; for the day before it was fixed
to take place, Mr Agutter wrote to Dr Bell, informing
him “ that he had just received a note from the Duke
of Cambridge, to put off the meeting with the Arch-
bishop till Thursday, May 28," of which he said he
had informed his Grace; “ but,” he adds, “as we shall
have a very full committee—for I have not time to
inform all—perhaps you would think it a mark of
respect to wait on them, and give them any previous
information before the duke came.
I have sent your
book to the treasurer and leading men; and I think
they would be more at liberty to ask you questions,
and receive information from you, without the duke,
than if he were present; but this I submit to your
better judgment.”
This meeting took place accordingly; and, at the
close, a vote of thanks was passed to Dr Bell “ for his
attendance on that day, and for the important informa-
tion on the subject of education, which he had kindly
communicated.”
It does not appear what took place at the subsequent
meeting on the 28th ; but the system, from this time,
was brought into full action in this Asylum, and at-
tended with considerable success. In April of the
following year, Dr Bell was constituted a perpetual
guardian, of which he was informed in the following
letter from Mr Agutter :-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
187
very able
Asylum, April 8, 1808.
6 Dear Sir,
“ I have the pleasure to inform you, that yester-
day, in committee, the Duke of Cambridge being in
the chair, the following resolution unanimously passed-
• That it be recommended to the general court to consti-
tute the Rev. Dr Bell a perpetual guardian of this cor-
poration, as a token of respect for his most useful dis-
covery in the mode of education, and for his
assistance in this charity. This recommendation of
the committee was confirmed the same day in the ge-
neral court; and I now have to congratulate myself
that you are one of us, and entitled to all privileges,
&c., as any other guardian. This might have been
done before, but the advantage of delay has been this :
if done at first, it would have been more from a per-
sonal compliment to the Duke and Archbishop, who
introduced the subject. Now, gentlemen have seen
and been convinced of the utility of the plan, and now
the distinction is on the ground of merit alone.—I am,
my dear Sir, yours sincerely,
« WM. AGUTTER."
It had been Dr Bell's intention, after finishing his la-
bours at this and the other institutions which have been
mentioned, to have returned to Swanage; but just as he
was about to quit London in August, “ he received,” as
he states in a letter to the archbishop, a summons,
to him irresistible.” This was a request, through Mr
Clark, the chaplain, that he would assist in remodelling
the Royal Military Asylum at Chelsea, which he had
previously visited at the archbishop's request.
task,” he adds in the letter just alluded to, “ I entered
“ This
188
LIFE OF DR BELL.
upon on Monday last. In my new curacy I have ex-
perienced every facility and assistance which a judicious
commandant, a zealous, and able, and willing rector,
good officers, and good discipline, which in the school
I purpose to render more lenient and more effectual,
can afford. The success, heretofore unparalleled, cor-
responds with so many advantages."
Very shortly after he had commenced his labours at
this institution, he received the following letter from
Mr. Calcraft, congratulating him on this favourable
opening for the diffusion of his system :-
August 27, 1807.
” Dear Sir,
“ It gives me much pleasure to find you are so
usefully employed in modelling the schools at the
Royal Military Asylum, upon your own system. You
will, upon so large a scale, and in that conspicuous and
laudable institution, have again a full opportunity of
verifying all that has been published or said in favour
of your beneficial discovery; and persons of the first
consequence in this country will have their attention
called to it, as blended with this most laudable esta-
blishment, and indeed as forming, in future, a part
of it.
« The commander-in-chief has the greatest merit
upon this subject, and, I dare say, you will find him a
zealous promoter of your wishes; and perhaps, through
his royal highness, his Majesty may hereafter be
pleased to favour your labours with his protection.”
No institution could have been better fitted for the
introduction of the Madras system than the Royal
LİFE OF DR BELL.
189
ܘܶܐ
Military Asylum. It contained, at this time, not less
than 1000 children, and, some time afterwards, num-
bered 1250 ; and being under the especial patronage
of the king, and government of his royal highness the
commander-in-chief, Dr Bell was employing his services
under the highest sanction in the State, as at Lambeth
under the highest in the Church.
He took
up
his residence in Sloane Square, Chelsea,
and gave his personal attendance daily at the Asylum
for many weeks. Nothing, in fact, was wanting, on
his part, to render the institution in every respect à
correct model of the Madras system. The commis-
sioners and directors seem also cordially to have co-
operated in his labours. “ We have,” said Mr Lewis,
one of the commissioners, only to satisfy ourselves
upon the expediency of any change in the detail of
business, to have it carried into effect without opposi-
tion. I really think the executive officers of the insti-
tution as free from prejudice and pertinacity as any I
ever met with."
This was just the field of action Dr Bell was so
anxious to meet with, and his success corresponded
with the advantages he enjoyed. “ The system of
education," writes Mr Lewis, two months after its in-
troduction, “ which you have invented, is at once so
rational, so simple, and so practicable, that it cannot
fail of making its way into general use; and I have in-
finite gratification in seeing the Royal Military Asylum
already profiting by your labours, and giving certain
promise of bearing public and powerful evidence of the
truth and value of your system.”
Dr Bell remained at Chelsea till about the end of
October, when, having succeeded in organizing the
190
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Asylum to his satisfaction, he thought it proper to re-
turn to his duties at Swanage. Hardly, however, had
he arrived there, when he was recalled, for the purpose
of showing the fruits of his labour in the Asylum to the
Duke of York. This summons he at once obeyed;
and some time after, in writing to General Floyd, gave
the following account of his visit :-“When I left the
Royal Military Asylum, .. which I had attended
for two months to remodel it, I was sent for by the
Duke of York, to meet his royal highness there, and
to exhibit the machine which I had put in motion
there. Next morning, when I had paid my duty,
and reported progress to the archbishop, he asked me
how I was pleased with my interview, and what the
duke, the president of the institution, thought of my
proceedings. I said, I was so little acquainted with
the language of great men, smiling and bowing to his
Grace, in whose presence and at whose table I had so
often sat, that I did not know how to interpret any of
the praises of simplicity, &c., which his royal high-
ness was pleased to bestow upon it; but when he said,
not only to me, but to my friends in my absence, again
and again,he only wondered that it had not been
found out before, I was sure 'we had him.'
“ I had the impudence to say I had borrowed my
system of his royal highness, that is, of his army-
that in India, Generals Floyd, Knox, Nesbit, &c., had
infused into me some of their military spirit; and that
my
teachers and assistant-teachers were my sergeants
and corporals, and my reports their orderly-books. It
has often occurred to me of late, that it was insensibly
in that school I learned what I taught.”
Dr Bell returned to Swanage a few days after this
LIFE OF DR BELL,
191
was.
meeting ; but he afterwards occasionally attended the
school when in town, and its success was equal to
his most sanguine expectations.
While Dr Bell was engaged in organizing this insti-
tution, he received an address from his old pupils at the
Madras Asylum, whom he had not seen or heard of for
eleven years. · No communication could have been more
unexpected, or more gratifying to his feelings, than this
To have so plain a proof how well his labours had
prospered, and how gratefully they were remembered,
after so long a period had elapsed, must have been most
pleasing to him, more especially as, at that very time,
he was employed in introducing the system into an in-
stitution in many respects similar to the one in which it
had originated. Heconsidered it as providentially intend-
ed to form a continuation to his reports of the Madras
Asylum, to bring down its history to the latest period,
and to consummate the evidence of the effects of the
Madras system; and it proved to him, that after so long
a space of time, those sentiments which it had been his
incessant aim to inspire had not evaporated; and that
those principles which his pupils had imbibed had
taken deep root, and continued to yield their natural
fruits.
This address was signed by upwards of fifty of his
original pupils, and was enclosed in a letter from Mark
Dunhill, one of their number. The letter and address
were as follows :-
" To the Rev. Dr A. Beri.
“ Madras, 5th March 1807.
66 Reverend Sir,
“ With the most heartfelt pleasure I address you,
192
LIFE OF DR BELL.
in the humble hope that you will have some remem-
brance of your poor pupil, although eleven years have
elapsed since your departure from this country; a time
which is almost sufficient to wear off all recollection of
me, from among the number of youths who had the
favour of a merciful Providence to be placed under your
charge in the Male Orphan Asylum at Egmore.
“ Under this idea, I beg to intrude myself again to
your notice; first requesting you will be pleased to
overlook any apparent neglect in not sooner correspon-
ding with my dear and worthy benefactor, for such you
have truly been to me, as well as to hundreds of other
poor orphans in circumstances similar to mine. As
one motive which has induced this letter, I hope I may
be allowed to express my grateful acknowledgments
for the unmerited kindness I have received at your
hands,
“ Through the goodness of Mr Thomas Cockburn, my
late worthy master, I am now situated in the Military
Auditor-General's Office, and am doing well ;—many
of your pupils are also doing well, filling situations in
life which yonr unwearied labours, and the system of
education you followed, could only have enabled them
to fill with so much credit to themselves; for there is
a wide difference now to be observed in the education
which has been afforded to the Egmore boys under
your superintendence, and those lads who were brought
up
in other schools about Madras. This difference is
purely to be attributed to the precepts which have been
inculcated on their minds in their younger days; as an
acknowledgment thereof, they beg you will have the
goodness to honour them with the perusal of the accom-
panying address.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
193
" It will not be proper in me to omit mentioning some
particulars of the welfare of the young men, who are
now supporting themselves in the means you first af-
forded :-Of them, I am sure you will be pleased to
hear-William Smith, the first boy in the school, and
Samuel Sawyer, are head clerks in the Paymaster's
Office at Palamcottah and Trichinopoly. In the Sur-
veying department, John Robinson and Samuel God-
frey have shown themselves diligent and good survey-
ors. George Stevens is agent to the government
press established by Doctor Kerr. Thomas Adamson
and William Faulkner are still ushers as you left them.
John Friskin is head printer to the Courier press in
Madras. My brother, Matthew Read, is in the Mili-
tary Board Office; in short, there is not a boy who was
placed under your tuition, that has not been brought
forward, and are now able to provide for themselves.
For
your better information I enclose a list of the boys
thus situated which has come to my knowledge, of those
now present at Madras as well as elsewhere.
“ That you may long live happy, is the humble and
fervent prayer of, reverend Sir, your very humble and
grateful servant,
6 MARK DUNHILL."
:
66 To the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell.
“ Madras, 25th Feb. 1807.
« Reverend Sir,
“ With much respect and esteem, we, your pupils,
who have had the happiness to be placed under your
immediate patronage while you were in charge of the
Military Male Orphan Asylum at Egmore, now pre-
sume to address you. This we are constrained to do
VOL. II.
N
194
LIFE OF DR BELL.
with hearts glowing with gratitude, when we reflect
that, orphans as we were, you have rescued us from
wretchedness and ruin, through your friendly and vo-
luntary
interference in the instruction of our tender
youth.
“ We sensibly feel the great and good effects of that
wholesome system which you began, and so invariably
supported, in the superintendence of that orphan insti-
tution, which so effectually promoted our education
during the most early stages of its helpless infancy.
We should, therefore, be devoid of every sentiment of
gratitude, were we to withhold this expression of our
thankfulness to you, whom we consider in the light of
our father and friend :—although this disposition is
manifested at this late period of time. Such of us as
are now resident in Madras, are thus unanimously de-
sirous of expressing our gratitude, while we are satisfied
that we are also fulfilling an incumbent duty on the
part of the whole of our fellow scholars, who have not
the opportunity of testifying, in like manner, their grati-
tude for favours received, in consequence of their ab-
sence in distant countries. Their intentions, however,
with respect to the subject of this address, we are satis-
fied, are consistent with our own.
“ Actuated solely by this principle, we, your pupils,
reverend sir, think it incumbent on us to offer you our
grateful, however humble, acknowledgments, as the first
step we would take on coming to years of discretion.
The excellent and instructive precepts we have re-
ceived; the labours which you have so disinterestedly
bestowed; the fatherly care and persevering attention
paid by you to the morals of our youth ; and, above
all, those charitable motives which influenced you to
LIFE OF DR BELL.
195
instruct us in the knowledge of the Christian religion,
we hope ever to remember. Whatever has been im-
parted to us by your pious endeavours, we humbly trust,
through the Divine blessing, we shall imbibe ; and that
the instructions afforded us will be productive of those
ends for which they have been bestowed, even to make
us good men and true Christians. These impressions,
we hope, will remain indelibly stamped on our minds,
under the strengthening support of that all-gracious
Being who has in mercy taken us under his powerful
protection, and brought us to the knowledge of his
Divine will, which, through his heavenly grace, will, we
hope, end in eternal happiness.
66 We are sensible that our case would have been
forlorn, and under less able hands we should have been
left destitute of those necessary attainments which are
requisite to guide us through life. With pleasing grati-
tude we now reflect on those excellent precepts you
gave us--the great lesson, ' to speak Truth, to leave
off Deceit, and to be a good Boy. We are now
thoroughly sensible of their advantages.
“ Conscious of the inadequacy of other exertions than
your own for perfecting the system of our education,
which you ever held up to our view in the above strik-
ing precepts, we therefore beg leave to assure you, that
we feel most sensibly the result which has arisen from
the mode of instruction which you followed, so profit-
able to ourselves and honourable to you. To your kind
patronage in our infancy, we are indebted for those
valuable advantages which we enjoy, and are through
your means now capable of acquiring ; by which we
are enabled to fill those important duties required of us
as members of society. Several of us are become the
heads of young families ; and to your paternal care,
196
LIFE OF DR BELL.
under the great Disposer of events, we ascribe our pre-
servation and comfort.
“ With sentiments of the liveliest gratitude for
favours received, and with expressions of the most
earnest desire for your real happiness in the decline of
life, we are, reverend Sir, your truly obliged, affectionate,
and humble servants,
“ Geo. Stevens, Matt. Read, Mark Dunhill, Thos.
Adamson, Wm. Bateman, John Sedgeley,* Sam.
Godfrey, Wm. Twigg, Geo. Hunter, Thos. Lukham,
John MʻRae, Wm. Mallis, John Friskin, Thos. Rit-
chie, Wm. Foy, John Gore, John Smith, Jos. Allan,
Wm. Sundt, Thos. Ross, Henry Webber, F. Louis
Martin, Wm. Frost, Edw. Price, Jos. Olliver, Jos.
Lynn, Thos. Moody, John Kave, Geo. Godfrey, Wm.
Ritchie, J. Crampton, Wm. Strange, Wm. Scott,
Wm. Crampton, Wm. Webbe, Wm. Faulkner, Fran.
Lawrance, Robt. Godfrey, J. Bateman, Hamilton M.
M Bean, Jos. Rodgers, Mich. Santineer, L. W. God-
frey, Jos. Taylor."
These documents were printed and transmitted by
Dr Bell to many of his friends, who expressed great
pleasure at their perusal. He also sent them to the
court of directors, and received from them the follow-
ing gratifying acknowledgment:
" East India House, 17th Oct. 1807.
“ Sir,
6 I have received and laid before the court of
directors of the East India Company your letter to Mr
Ramsay of the 5th instant, with the documents from
* Those in Italics were Boarders.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
197
your Indian pupils accompanying the same. And I
am commanded to express to you the high satisfaction
the perusal of those documents has afforded the court,
in learning therefrom how much the valuable institu-
tion over which you lately presided at Madras has
benefited by your labour and talents. I am further
commanded to convey to you the court's thanks for the
perusal of the documents in question, which are here-
with returned. I have the honour to be, sir, your
obedient humble servant,
JAMES COBB, Assist. Sec.
“ The Rev. DR BELL."
These letters, however, did not conclude the cor-
respondence between Dr Bell and his old pupils;
for some years afterwards he received a still more
gratifying proof of their attachment, which will be
mentioned in its proper place.
We now come to a subject more immediately con-
nected with the diffusion of the system at this period.
This was Mr Whitbread's motion in the House of
Commons relative to the poor-laws, wherein, as will be
presently seen, he introduced the subject of a national
system of education.
In 1805 Dr Bell had made some remarks on the
poor-laws, in his second edition of his “ Experiment
in Education.” And in October 1806, in a letter
to Mr Calcraft, he says—“ To you, as the patron to
whom I am most solicitous of attaching myself, I beg
leave to submit my prospectus for Whitechapel schools,
by which you will see what might be done in re-
gard to the poor-laws, as well as the education of the
poor.
198
LIFE OF DR BELL,
“ I have already given to the public a system of
education adapted to the poor, and founded on experi-
ence, and I now am ready to give my gratuitous
services at Whitechapel, with the co-operation of the
most able and willing committee of managers, in making
an experiment on the same principles in regard to the
poor-laws.
- If Mr Whitbread is to digest a system of poor-
laws, I think it would be most eligible for him to have
an experiment made, with no trouble or expense to
him, and I think you could readily suggest to him the
means of its being accomplished.
It does not appear what answer was given to this
letter ; but in the beginning of December Dr Bell put
into Mr Calcraft's hands various papers, &c., that ho
might lay them before Mr Whitbread for his perusal.
We find nothing more, however, on this subject until
early in the present year of our narrative (1807,) when
Mr Whitbread brought forward his motion on the poor-
laws. He stated, in the commencement of his speech,
“ that he rose to submit to the consideration of the
House, one of the most interesting propositions that
ever occupied the attention of any deliberative assembly
upon earth ;” and that “ he wished to engage them in
an attempt at the solution of the most difficult of all
political problems.----namely, how to reduce the sum of
human vice and misery, and how to augment that of
human happiness and virtue, among the subjects of this.
realm ;” and after arguing, at great length, in favour
of the beneficial effects of education, and giving the
details of the proposed measure, he proceeded to say-
“ I cannot help noticing to the House, that this is a
period particularly favourable for the institution of a
LIFE OF DR BELL.
199
national system of education, because within a few
years there has been discovered a plan for the instruc-
tion of youth, which is now brought to a state of great
perfection ; happily combining rules by which the
object of learning must be infallibly attained with expe-
dition and cheapness, and holding out the fairest pro-
spect of eminent utility to mankind. Sir, the merito-
rious person, with whom parts of the plan of education
to which I have alluded have had their rise, who has
also had the good sense unostentatiously to add the
acknowledged discoveries of others to his own, is well
known to many members of this House, and to a large
part of the nation, and he is patronized by persons of
the first distinction in this and a neighbouring kingdom;
he has further obtained the high honour of the royal
sanction and support. The gentleman whom I mean
to point out to you, is Mr Joseph Lancaster. Sir, I
know that he has been the object of much opposition from
bigotry and prejudice, but I believe him to be, on every
account, deserving of encouragement and protection;
and I am happy to find that the unfounded clamour
which has been raised against him has, in no degree,
prevailed; that he still enjoys that distinguished and
discriminating support I have before mentioned; and,
as it frequently happens, that what was intended to
overturn, has tended only to strengthen and support
him.”
No mention of Dr Bell's name appears to have been
made in the debate, except by Mr Calcraft, who rose
and said,
" that the system of education so much
recommended, was solely and wholly attributable to his
near neighbour and respected friend, the Rev. Dr Bell,
rector of Swanage.”
200
LIFE OF DR BELL.
On the morning after this debate Mr Marriot thus
wrote to Mr Davis:
“ February 20, 1807.
My dear Friend,
“ I am reading Mr Whitbread's speech on the
poor-laws, and cannot delay a single moment to write
to you, in order that you may communicate with Dr
Bell. If I had known where to address him I would
have done so, as I am sure he would have excused
that liberty.
“ Mr W. seems to agree so much with Dr Bell in
his system, viz. in wishing, not to abrogate, but modify,
regulate, and improve, our poor-laws and their adminis-
tration, that I cannot help thinking Dr Bell should
make himself known to him while his measures are
pending before the House of Commons. I see he
praises Lancaster as the founder of the Lancasterian
System, just as others, even those who profess to receive
his book, in which the real author is acknowledged,
have ignorantly done. See the last Edinburgh Review
but one.
I have a very slight acquaintance with Mr
W., but am intimately connected with some of his
wife's relations; and, if Dr Bell did not like calling
upon him without an introduction, would engage to
secure that advantage to him. Indeed we live in a
most interesting, as well as a most awful, era of the
world; and great improvements in the condition of the
least privileged part, in a worldly sense, of the human
species, seem daily gaining ground and approaching to
maturity.”
Mr Marriot and Mr Davis met the day after this
LIFE OF DR BELL.
201
note was written, and had some conversation upon the
subject; and on the Monday following Mr Marriot
again wrote to him, being still in ignorance of Dr Bell's
address, informing him that he had performed his pro-
mise respecting Mr Whitbread, and that “ he hoped
he should in some degree gratify him, by saying gene-
rally that many unexpected opportunities had arisen,
all of which he had used to make known Dr Bell, and
his past merits and present invaluable projects for his
mother church and mother country.” He then went
on to say—“ I found at Lord Grey's, whose daughter
Mr Whitbread married, that the archbishop had on
Friday, immediately after perusing Mr W's speech,
sent a copy of Dr Bell's pamphlet to him, requesting
an attentive perusal of it, and assuring him that he was
convinced that perusal would lead him to think Dr
Bell was much more worthy of public patronage than
Mr Lancaster. To this Mr W. replied very favour-
ably, and declared himself open to every conviction in
Dr Bell's favour. Things being so, I thought if I
communicated (as I took care to do) through one of
Earl Grey's sons, who is an exemplary and zealous
clergyman, a good churchman, and an intimate and
confidential friend of mine, the actual and very success-
ful experiment made at Whitechapel, that between the
archbishop and myself, every thing Dr Bell wished
would have been done. I now wait the effects in to-
morrow's paper.”
in consequence of this it was immediately arranged
that an interview should take place between Dr Bell
and Mr Whitbread : of which the former preserved the
following memoranda among his papers :-
“ Feb. 25.—Saw Mr Whitbread, who had a Mr
1
202
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Wiltshire with him, at eleven ; was at Leyton church at
three o'clock : said I was determined not to make an
apology for waiting on him on that day. If I could be
an humble instrument in diffusing knowledge and hap-
piness, then I was performing the duty of that day in
the most effectual manner.
“ Mr W. began by declaring that he meant to enact
no system of education. It would effectually stop it,
just as enacting vaccination would check it. He was
for giving it a free course, to find its own level, like
commerce or any thing else; but said it was one thing
to enact and another to recommend, and that this sys-
tem was such as deserved every recommendation. He
was for parochial schools under the parochial clergy-
my very idea. He inclined to Lancaster's idea, of
using the Bible and no Creeds, and averred that Lan-
caster had never made a convert. I quoted our Cate-
chism.
“ I proposed schools of industry. He objected, that
if we were to make tailors and shoemakers, &c.,
that those of that trade now would want employment.
I spoke of Sir Richard Arkwright, and the opposition
to him on that ground. He said there was this differ-
ence, that the machinery cheapened labour and increased
the sale ; but it would not be so with tailors. This
opinion I combated with great warmth, and insisted,
that by increasing work in every shape, we increased
the wealth of the state, and that with my tailors I
should cheapen work. I mentioned straw-plait, as in-
troduced at Swanage, for the sake of industry in one
shape or other. He illustrated, by the failure of the
straw, what would happen in my school of industry. I
combated, and I believe successfully.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
203
“ He had a letter from the archbishop, with my
third edition, saying that he had approved J. L.
Whitbread said, that he imputed prejudice and bigotry
to those who opposed L., yet he did not impute them
to the archbishop, but to Mrs Trimmer. He asked,
if I had seen the archbishop, and ascertained his opin-
ion of schools of industry? I did not pretend to know,
but I thought he must be friendly to them. After
urging the inexpediency of schools of industry, he then
argued the impolicy of bringing them forward too
soon, and that, if he lived twenty years, he might follow
it
up.
But the present was not the time, as by attempt-
ing too much, he might lose all in the present unen-
lightened state of the House. I conceived that there
were three for industry to one for education. He had
said that Lancaster had adopted the discoveries of
others, and was an original genius ; that he was not
rash in his praises of him; that he had not even seen
his school till lately; that he did not know whether he
was a subscriber, but that his friend the Duke of Bed-
ford had patronized him, Lord Somerville, and others,
and that he heard much of him ; that he approved of
his mode of teaching by the Bible; and when I spoke
of his imitations, he mentioned his posting up sheets of
paper, and the little expense of books. But he declared
that he never read any papers or system, neither those
delivered by Mr Calcraft, nor the book read by the
archbishop. Yet he begged as a favour that I would
meet Mr L. at his house. I desired time to give him
He persisted; for he was to print, and
wished to be satisfied on some points. I wished to
know what it was he wished for, but did not learn. He
wished to do us justice, and said that he would place
an answer.
204
LIFE OF DR BELL.
all up
me first; but might not Lancaster have discovered at
the same time that I did, just as I had thought with
him in the negotiation affair? ... I said, if he would
show me one improvement of J. L.'s which was not in
my system, or did not grow out of it, I would give
.
“ 26th.—Met Mr Whitbread by accident in St
James's Park. He persisted in my meeting L., but
would not give his reasons. He declared again he had
no intention of disputing my claim. My condition yes-
terday was, that he should read my analysis and papers.
To-day he again promised it in thirty-six hours. I said
mine was a most powerful engine, and he was an able
workman, I knew."
In the mean time Mr Lancaster had not been idle
in the matter; for, on the same day as this last meet-
ing took place between Mr Whitbread and Dr Bell, he
published the following advertisement in the Star news-
paper :-
66 IMPROVEMENTS IN EDUCATION.
Joseph Lancaster, of the Free School, Borough
Road, London, having invented, under the blessing of
Divine Providence, a new and mechanical system of
education for the use of schools, feels anxious to disse-
minate the knowledge of its advantages through the
kingdom.
By this system, paradoxical as it may appear, above
one thousand children may be taught and governed by
one master only.
Any boy who can read,
can teach arithmetic with the certainty of a mathema-
tician, although he knows nothing about it himself.
“ It is intended to publish an abridgement of the
LIFE OF DR BELL.
205
System of Education for the benefit of the poor in Ire-
land. It will be executed under the inspection of the
author of the original system.”
On reading this advertisement, Dr Bell immediately
wrote thus to Mr Whitbread:
“ London, 26th February 1807.
“ Sir,
“ In my newspaper, the Star, of this date, I have
just read — Joseph Lancaster, &c., having invented,
under the blessing of Divine Providence, a new and
mechanical system of education,' &c.
“ This advertisement will, I am persuaded, convince
you, as fully as it does me, that any personal interview
or conference, on a subject in which the parties differ
so widely in point of fact, would only lead to that con-
tradiction, and perhaps, in the earnestness of disputa-
tion, to that altercation which I am extremely solicitous
to avoid, especially with one to whose zeal, industry, per-
severance, and matchless address, the mechanical parts
of the system, which I have heretofore fondly imagined
was my discovery, are under so many obligations, and
who, had he stopped here, as I once understood he did,
would, as I conceive, have earned universal praise and
thanks.
“ With great deference I submit to your judgment,
whether, not only for the purpose of avoiding alterca-
tion, of which I am so solicitous, but also for the sake
of that substantial truth, of which I am far more soli-
citous, any questions which you have to put to him or
to me, would not be much more satisfactorily done in
writing.
206
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to intimate that there was other patronage than the
“ It is my anxious wish to give you every informa-
tion in my power, on a subject on which I have re-
flected long and much, and studied experimentally, and
to do this in the way which to me appears least ambi-
guous and equivocal; and to give every proof of the high
consideration with which I have the honour to be, Sir,
your obedient servant
,
66 A. BELL."
Dr Bell delivered this letter himself to Mr Whitbread
on the day after it was written, when he made the fol-
lowing memoranda of what occurred :—“ 27th-Pre-
sented in writing an answer to Mr Whitbread's request
to meet J. L. He was very sorry I had not come
sooner, as J. L. had just left him. He read to me
what he said of the system, and of J. L. He cajoled
and he threatened. He talked of many who had heard
of Lancaster but not of me; and he praised me. He
spoke of the little moment to whom it was ascribed, if
we got the thing itself, and not to defeat his object if I
was a philanthropist. I said it depended on him, not
on me, for success. It was by a candid and fair
report.
He showed me where he left a note for my name, and
said he would do justice to my discovery. He would
not see me, nor read my books or papers, till his mo-
tion was made, but he did see J. L. often. He seemed
I
!
archbishop's, but this obscurely."
The result of this was, that Mr Whitbread, in a sub-
sequent speech, gave a correct statement of facts; and,
on the publication of the substance of his original
speech, which was modified accordingly, he added these
remarks:
LIFE OF DR BELL,
207
“ Dr Bell, late of the establishment of Fort St George,
in the East Indies, rector of Swanage, claims the original
invention of the system of education practised by Mr
Lancaster. So early as the year 1789, he opened a
school at Madras, in which that system was first re-
duced to practice, with the greatest success and the
most beneficial effects. In the year 1797 he published
an outline of his method of instruction in a small
pam-
phlet, entitled,' An Experiment in Education, made at
the Male Asylum at Madras.' That pamphlet has
been extended, and very valuable details given to the
public, by Dr Bell, in two subsequent publications of
the
years 1805 and 1807. Mr Li's free school in the
Borough was not opened till the year 1800 ; so that
Dr Bell unquestionably preceded Mr Lancaster, and
to him the world is first indebted for one of the most
useful discoveries which has ever been submitted to
society.
6 Dr Bell and Mr Lancaster have heretofore had
much communication with each other; and Mr Lan-
caster, in acknowledging the obligation he has to Dr
Bell, wishes not to detract from his honour or merit,
nor to arrogate to himself any thing to which Dr Bell
is entitled ; at the same time he asserts that many of
the
very
useful methods practised at his school are ex-
clusively his own. On the other hand, Dr Bell, with
the feeling worthy of so great a benefactor to mankind,
allows, that to the zeal, perseverance, and address of
Mr Lancaster, the mechanical parts of the system are
under the greatest obligations.”
This statement certainly showed a wish, on Mr
Whitbread's part, to do justice to all parties; and
we find that, soon afterwards, he visited the White-
208
LIFE OF DR BELL.
chapel school, with the view of making himself ac-
quainted with the operation of the system. This
visit is thus mentioned in a letter from Mr Marriot to
Lord Kenyon—“ Whitbread has been there, (at the
Whitechapel school,) when nobody was likely to come
or did come, and probed into every thing with the eyes
of Argus for several hours. He could not suggest any
thing that was wanting, or gainsay any thing that he
saw or heard ; and yesterday he read, in the commit-
tee of the House of Commons, one part of the state-
ment above alluded to in manuscript. He also wrote
a letter to Mr Davis, (whom he never knew before his
visit to the school,) expressing, in the strongest terms,
the praise due to him and Dr Bell.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
209
CHAPTER XXIV.
Schools in Marylebone and St James's-Henry Manwell—Schools at Win-
chester-Introduction of the System into Shropshire.
MEANTIME, besides the institutions which have been
described, many other schools were now adopting the
Madras system, some of which it will be necessary
briefly to mention here. First in order of time comes
the Free Day School, Ogle Mews, Queen-Ann Street,
East Marylebone. This school, as appears from a
printed circular, dated May 12, 1807, was opened for
the reception of three hundred boys, under one mas-
ter only. We do not, however, find whether Dr Bell
gave much personal superintendence to it or not, al-
though it seems probable that he occasionally visited it,
from a letter from the master to him, wherein he re-
turns his sincere thanks for the instruction he had given
him ; and he adds—_“ I feel the greatest pleasure in
being able to inform you that the school continues to
increase in credit, and consequently in numbers. The
school was opened on the 25th of May 1807, with three
boys only. The numbers at present are two hundred
and fifty; and I am now under the painful necessity
of refusing admittance to twenty or thirty boys every
week, for want of room.”
We next come to the St Marylebone Day School of
Industry, which was established in 1791, and support-
VOL. II.
0
210
LIFE OF DR BELL.
ed by voluntary contributions and the profits of the
work done there—the boys being employed in plaiting
split willow for making bonnets, and the girls in house-
hold and needle work,
The attention of Mr Bernard was drawn to this in-
stitution in 1808, from the inconvenience of the build-
ings for the purposes of a school, and from its unhealthy
situation; and, chiefly through his exertions, a plan was
brought forward for establishing “a new society for the
general education of the poor in the parish of Maryle-
bone,” under which appropriate premises should be
procured in a more convenient situation than the pre-
sent school, and who should provide adequate funds
for the purpose.
The first intimation which we find on this subject,
is contained in the following extract of a letter from
Mr Watts to Dr Bell :-
6 Portland Place, February 26, 1808.
66 Dear Sir,
“ I met Mr Bernard to-day, who informed me that
there would be a conférence at the Bishop of Durham's
on the great and good work of opening a large school
in this quarter. On this subject (I do not mean the
school, but the conference) I will confide a private opin-
ion to you. I understood that there was a want of a pro-
per receptacle for the children, and that this difficulty
retarded the commencement of the business. My dear
sir, where is there a suitable building to be found in
the right spot ? Suppose a roomy edifice could be
found, it would necessarily cost some expense to ren-
der it complete. Why not lay this sum into a fund
toward a proper new erection ?"
LIFE OF DR BELL.
211
The meeting here alluded to, took place at the Bishop
of Durham's on the 3d of March, when it was determined
that the Bishop of Durham, Lord Robert Seymour,
Lord Radstock, Mr Bernard, and the Rev. Mr White,
should be a select committee, and that the address and
plan which had been determined upon should be circu-
lated by them. The address was to the inhabitants
of Marylebone ; and, after some preliminary remarks,
was as follows — “ A new mode has been recently
adopted, whereby the benefits of education may be
universally extended at a very small expense, and with
very little difficulty. The Rev. Dr Bell, with whom
this mode originated, and who has given it a full and
satisfactory trial at the Male Asylum at Madras, is at
present resident in the parish, and has made an unqua-
lified offer of his gratuitous assistance in introducing
his mode of instruction into Marylebone on a scale
commensurate with the population of the parish. The
system having been adopted with success in several in-
stances in this country, it is now proposed to be esta-
blished in this part of the metropolis in such a manner
as to afford a model, and the means of assistance, for
the formation of other similar institutions in the king-
dom."
In the rules which were circulated with this address,
it was stated « That the school should be conducted
upon the principle of the Male Asylum at Madras, as
detailed in the Analysis of an Experiment in Educa-
tion made by the Rev. Dr Bell;' that a separate class,
called the teacher's class, should be formed of those
boys who have behaved best and made most progress
should be instructed as schoolmasters;" and
that " a similar class” was “ to be formed of girls, to be
212
LIFE OF DR BELL.
instructed as schoolmistresses ;” and “ that the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury should be patron, and the Bishop
of London president of the institution.” Whether the
Archbishop became patron or not, does not appear.
The Bishop of London declined the office of president
from ill health, as well as from the parish of Mary-
lebone not being under his jurisdiction.
Meantime, the new society being desirous of uniting
this institution with the Marylebone school of industry
in Pardice Street, entered into communication with the
trustees of this school. They were, however, then un-
willing to enter into any scheme which might possibly
involve them in pecuniary difficulties, and, in conse-
quence, declined forming any union with them; but
shortly afterwards expressed their willingness cordially
to co-operate in their endeavours.”
The next steps taken by the committee, previous to
their establishing a new school, were at a meeting in
April
, when the following resolution was passed :
“ The Rev. Dr Bell having expressed his readiness
to introduce his mode of education into the charity
school and the school of industry, in case it should be
desired,
Resolved, That Lord Radstock be requested to
inform the governors of these schools, that if they are
desirous of taking the benefit of Dr Bell's assistance,
this institution will give any assistance in their power.”
It does not appear what answer was returned to the
offer made concerning the charity-school; but Dr Bell
occasionally attended it for the purpose of introducing
the system; and it was, perhaps, for the most part
adopted, though not exactly recognised, the master
having been much opposed to it. In the school of
66
LIFE OF DR BELL.
213
industry, however, it was attended with better success,
Dr Bell's offer having been promptly accepted, and
every facility given to its adoption.
The society now determined on erecting some new
buildings for scholastic purposes; and a meeting was
held (May 1808) to take this into consideration, when
a site was chosen, and the cost of the buildings estimated
at £5000. A proposal was also again made to form a
union with the school of industry, which was still de-
clined by that institution. They had adopted the sys-
tem on the recommendation«of the society, because they
had sufficient evidence before their eyes that it would be
beneficial to the institution; but, on the subject of the
union, they considered that it was their duty to be more
cautious, and not to entertain the proposition until the
society should show greater signs of stability and seču-
rity than it had yet done.
It was not, indeed, till a considerable time afterwards
that this union was effected. Meanwhile the school of
industry was proceeding successfully in its operations;
and on a change of masters taking place, Dr Bell ob-
tained the situation for a protégé and parishioner of
his, of whom we must here give some account, as he
was at this time, and afterwards, of much assistance in
the diffusion of the system.
His name was Henry Manwell, son of George Man-
well, quarryman, the youngest of the three brothers
already mentioned, and was educated at Gover's school
at Swanage, after which he learned stone-cutting under
his father, to whom he was apprenticed. In 1804 he
went to Portsmouth, having obtained employment there
in some of the government works; and in the follow-
ing year was, with a few others, sent to Calshot Castle,
214
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to execute some rep. there; after which he returned
to Portsmouth, where he remained a short time, and
after again going to execute some further repairs at
Calshot Castle, he revisited Swanage about the end of
1806. After remaining there about a year, he obtained
employment as a stone-cutter at the Royal Naval Asy-
lum at Greenwich, which was then being built, and not
long after was more advantageously employed at the
arsenal at Woolwich.
While working at Calshot Castle he had written a
long and interesting letter to his sister at Swanage,
which was shown to Dr Bell, who expressed himself
greatly pleased with it, and observed" It is a pity
this
young
man should have to work with his hands.
He ought to have a better situation, and I shall do
what I can to procure him one."
It does not appear, however, that any further notice
was taken of Manwell at this time; but after he went
to Woolwich his parents desired him, as a mark of
respect, to call on Dr Bell, who was then at Chelsea
organizing the Royal Military Asylum. This was
early in the spring of 1808, and shortly afterwards Dr
Bell wrote to the Rev. Henry Taylor, (who had most
handsomely undertaken to discharge the duties of his
parish for him, during his absence for several months on
his present scholastic expeditions,) making enquiries re-
specting Manwell, in consequence of which his father
desired him to call again on Dr Bell, who was desirous
of knowing his address.
Just at this time Dr Bell received the following note
from Mr Marriot:
LIFE OF DR BELL.
215
“ Inner Temple, May 27, 1808.
“ My ever dear Friend,
" I must not lose a moment in telling you that
Dr Andrewes, who has just left me, wants a Lewis
Warren (or, if it could be, one looking more like a
master) for the school at St James's. He will have the
appointment of under-master immediately; and, on the
death or removal of an old man, of head and only
master, with two rooms in the school-house. His
pre-
sent salary I am authorized to call £50 per annum.
Dr A. intends to call on you, and, if you go near the
rectory, I hope you will call on him. We are more
and more delighted with the Madras school. Heaven
prosper you!
66 G. W. M.”
Dr Bell having had an interview with Dr Andrewes,
the inadequacy of the salary was mentioned, and it was
afterwards arranged that it should be increased to £80.
Meantime Manwell had called on Dr Bell, and it
happened that at this very time both Dr Andrewes
and Lord Radstock were with him; and he accord-
ingly introduced Manwell as the candidate he proposed
for the situation, and the result being satisfactory, it
was immediately arranged that he should leave his
employment at Woolwich, and enter upon a course of
training for his new situation. He first went to the
school of industry, St Marylebone, of which he after-
wards became master, for about a week, and from
thence Dr Bell sent him to the Royal Military Asylum,
after which he went to the Naval Asylum at Greenwich,
where Dr Bell also attended at the same time, with a
view to introduce the system there. This attempt, how-
ever, was not successful, nor were any further efforts
216
LIFE OF DR BELL.
made, at this time, to overcome the difficulties which
presented themselves to its introduction into this insti-
tution. From thence Manwell went to Lambeth School,
to receive further training, and was soon afterwards
invested with the mastership of the Offertory School,
St James's. He was for some time after this in the
habit of visiting most of the principal schools in London
which had adopted the system, both for the purpose of
increasing his own knowledge of it, and also of intro-
ducing masters who were sent to him for instruction.
He soon became, indeed, one of Dr Bell's chief agents in
organizing schools and procuring masters, and had
much correspondence on these subjects with many dis-
tinguished and influential persons.
The following letter from Dr Bell to Manwell will
show how much pains he took to render him, in every
respect, master of the subject, as well as exhibit some
traits of character in the writer
Swanage, October 19, 1808.
“ Dear Henry,
“ I have designs in contemplation, failing the mea-
sures which I have first proposed, in which you may
be of use, in giving a wide and immediate spread to
religious instruction through the Madras system. I
hope you consider this your own cause, and the cause
of every well-wisher of the human race, as well as mine.
You must be a perfect master of the system in all its
phases. It is essential that you know intimately and
perfectly, all that is done, and may be done in regard to
it, and with it, wherever it is in action. At White-
chapel, in particular, I beg that
you
will
see, examine,
and study every thing. Every man should be thoroughly
master of his own profession. Lose no time in doing
LIFE OF DR BELL.
217
so. Go, if possible, next Saturday, at my risk, leaving
a boy, or no boy, in charge of your own school. A
holiday to them is better than that you should lose a
week more in sceing the boys' school at Whitechapel,
its register, black-book, and jury. Go, then, and be
there at eight o'clock, or soon after it, in the morning.
Leave it not till all be over for that day. Examine
with your own eyes into every thing. Attend to Mr
Davis, hear all he says, and all he has to say. Culti-
vate him. Be not only zealous, but show your zeal.
Whether it be well done or ill done, or wherever it be
done, do you know it.
“ I enclose a letter for Mr Davis; deliver it yourself
if you go on Saturday: if not, put it into the penny
post. Call on him at 81, Lambert Street, in the morn-
ing, and receive his instructions for the day. See the
new books, and small cards; and get some for your
school. The next thing you have to do is, to write
something daily about the system, leaving the alternate
pages blank for corrections and additions. •Write a
manual of instructions or directions from mine and
your
own; as much of your own as possible. Make free
with mine: copy them by little and little, altering every
part which you can improve or make plainer, or think
you can do so.
Write every thing that occurs to you
on this subject. Write on it as you do about other affairs
to your family and friends. Such may be of perma-
nent utility. Go on and prosper. Never alter
your conduct, and you shall do well.
“ I am hurt to hear that F. did not go to Mr Davis
at Whitechapel. It is no good omen! and a bad return
to me.
“ I am, dear Henry, your sincere friend,
66 A. BELL.
218
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ I was just thinking with myself
, whether there was
any chance of its happening to you, what has happened
to many a one, that you should be spoilt by the praise
bestowed on you, when I see by your letter that you
are on your guard against this danger ; and no small
danger it is, and the one against which you do well to
fortify yourself
.
“ You must reduce your school to quietness, except
as far as you are prevented by saying lessons. This
must go on aloud, but there should be no other noise.
I told your father to-night, that I meant you for my
secretary hereafter.'
The first school in which Manwell was called upon
to render his assistance, was in the parish of Chatham.
In October of this year (1808) the Bishop of Roches-
ter applied by letter to Dr Bell, requesting him to
select a master for a school which had been opened by
Dr Law, the archdeacon of the diocese. It does not
appear what answer was returned to this letter ; but
soon afterwards Dr Law himself wrote, making the
same request to Dr Bell, who immediately requested
Manwell to make enquiry concerning a friend of his,
whose name was Noyce, with whom he had become
acquainted when working at Calshot Castle. Manwel
accordingly wrote to Noyce, (then keeping a small
school at the village of Fawley,) who, after some hesita-
tion, and several letters between him and Dr Bell, ac-
cepted the situation, Manwell accompanying him to
Chatham to assist in organizing the school.
Manwell continued to give the greatest satisfaction
in his school, and it was not long ere he obtained a bet-
ter situation. . It happened about Midsummer 1809,
that the master of the charity school, Marylebone, was
LIFE OF DR BELL.
219
appointed collector of the parish-rates, and as this
obliged him to resign his school, Mr Cox, the master of
the school of industry in the same parish, was appoint-
ed his successor. Mr Cox having previously heard
that this change was likely to take place, informed
Manwell of it, and strongly urged him to come forward
and offer himself as a candidate for the vacancy it would
occasion. He accordingly addressed a circular to the
trustees, and took such other means as he thought likely
to effect his object; and having obtained high testi-
monials of his fitness for the situation from Dr Bell and
Dr Andrewes, (the rector of the parish in which his
former school was situated,) he obtained the appoint-
ment. The contest lay between himself and a young
man of the name of Mortimer, who, having previously
been engaged as an assistant at the school of industry,
was well known to many of the trustees, and in this re-
spect had the advantage of Manwell, who had been
situated in another parish, and was a comparative
stranger. The numbers for each candidate were equal,
and the chairman (who had two votes) gave the cast-
ing one in Manwell's favour.
On his election, Dr Bell thus congratulates him :-
cess.
“ Auckland Castle, September 11, 1809.
- Dear Henry,
“ I give you sincere joy at your extraordinary suc-
To another person I would recommend that they
studied to deserve it. Of you I entertain no doubt.
Still you have much to do; and I trust you will do
much, and look up to deserve more and more. Your
new task will require redoubled exertion. By begin-
ning your own duties and studies, or exercises, early in
220
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the morning, it will give you leisure the whole day, and
forward
your measures better, and more than you can
overtake by the hurry and bustle of the whole day.”
Manwell's opponent, Mr Mortimer, was appointed
to succeed him in the Offertory School, St James's, an
arrangement highly satisfactory to all parties.
We must now briefly notice some applications which
had been made a little before this time to Dr Bell
for assistance in remodelling schools in different parts
of the country. First of these is one from Sir George
Beaumont of Dunmow, who wrote, in July 1808, to
Dr Bell, requesting him to send him a master for a
new school that had just been established. Accord-
ingly, after some delay, a young man of the name
of Frost, assistant at the Marylebone Charity School,
was fixed upon. The next application was from Dr
Fisher of the Charter-House, who wrote thus to Dr
Bell :-
66 Charter-House, May 20, 1809.
“ Sir, ,
“ Having a desire that the children in a country
parish, of which I am the rector, should be instructed
according to your improved system of education, I take
the liberty of addressing myself to you, to know whe-
ther you are in the practice of recommending young
persons, who will undertake to go down into the
country for the purpose of settling and organizing a
school. If this should be compatible with your plan, I
shall think myself obliged to you
if
you
would inform
me how long a time a young person of this description
ought to remain in a parish, so as to furnish the neces-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
221
sary
instruction to those who are afterwards to conduct
the school, and what would be the expense attending
the adoption of such a measure. The parish I have in
view is Elton, in the county of Huntingdon, where I
am occasionally resident during a part of the summer ;
and you will be so good as to address your answer to
me at the Charter-House, of which institution I am the
master.—I am, sir, your most obedient humble servant,
“ PHILIP FISHER.”
Shortly afterwards, Dr Bell, on coming to London, had
an interview with Dr Fisher, and the result was, that he
visited the Offertory School, and that the usher there,
a boy of fifteen years of age, named Sheers, was sent to
Elton to organize the school there, which he succeeded
in doing to Dr Fisher's satisfaction.
Another application was soon afterwards made for
Sheers' assistance by the Rev. F. Merewether, rector
of Havershill, Suffolk, who was desirous of introdu-
cing the system into his parish. This request came
unfortunately just as the change of masters was being
made ; and as Dr Andrewes thought that Sheers
could not be spared at that time, an arrangement was
made that the young man Frost, who had been sent
down to Dunmow, should go from thence to organize
this school, which was successfully accomplished.
While the Madras system was thus progressing in
and near London, it was also being adopted in va-
rious more distant parts of the country, as well as
in Ireland and the West Indies; and, First, we must
notice the introduction of the system into some schools
at Winchester, through the exertions of the Reverend
F. Iremonger, chaplain to the Dowager-Countess of
222
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Essex, and minor canon of Winchester. He was a
friend of Mr Marriot's; and, in August 1807, had
been mentioned by him to Dr Bell as a person who
took much interest in education. Soon afterwards, Mr
Iremonger, being in town, called at the Whitechapel
School; and the result was that Lewis Warren was
sent to Winchester, for the purpose of organizing the
schools there. After Warren had been thus employed
for a month, he returned to town, carrying a note from
Mr Iremonger to Mr Davis, in which he says :-
“ Winchester, October 19, 1807.
“ As Lewis Warren is to return to town to-morrow
morning, I take the liberty of writing a few lines by
him. He has now been with me one month, and has
conducted himself, during that time, in a manner credit-
able to himself, and satisfactory to me. The boys' Sun-
day school has made so good a progress on Dr Bell's
plan as to give me the greatest pleasure, and to enable
me to show it to many people as a fair specimen of the
excellence of the system. A more rapid improvement
has been made than I could possibly have expected.
The girls have not done quite so well; but they have
improved, and I have no doubt whatever of ultimate
success in both schools. I am fully convinced of the
many advantages resulting from Dr Bell's system of
education for the poor, and I am doing all in my power
to promote it in Winchester and the neighbour-
hood.”
Dr Bell, at Mr Davis's request, answered this letter;
and Mr Iremonger, in his reply, says :-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
223
“ Winchester, November 14, 1807.
“ Sir,
“Be assured my endeavours shall not be wanting
to give publicity to the excellence of your plan, which I
have recommended to several in this town concerned in
the education of children; and I have lent them
your
Analysis and sermon. I have likewise, on Thursday
next, to preach before a society formed for the
purpose
of apprenticing poor children. At present they are
taken indiscriminately; but I mean to propose that,
in future, they should establish a school upon your
plan, and apprentice those of whom they hear the best
account from their superintendent. It will, at all
events, be making your system known; and, it appears
to me, that the advantages of this simple alteration
would be very great, particularly when compared with
the trifling additional expense. A brother of mine,
who lives in this neighbourhood, has been in town this
week, and intended to apply for Warren to superintend
a Sunday school of his; and I have the pleasure to in-
form you that the master of a day-school in my parish,
whom Warren and I in vain tried to persuade that the
old system of teaching was not the best in the world,
is now convinced, and instructs his boys on your plan
of reading at least, though he has not adopted the en-
tire system.”
In answer to a letter from Dr Bell, Mr Marriot
about this time says, in reference to this correspond-
ence—“ I am delighted that Iremonger writes to you.
His letters, his conversation, his manners, his conduct
as a man and as a clergyman, are most pleasing, con-
sistent, and exemplary. He shall not come to town,
when you are here, without knowing you better.”
224
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Mr Iremonger not long afterwards went to Swan-
age,* chiefly for the purpose of becoming personally
acquainted with Dr Bell, who thus speaks of his visit
in a letter to Mr Marriot :-
Swanage, December 2, 1807.
Strange to tell, while you were delighting yourself
that
your friend Iremonger was my correspondent, and
with the hope of making me known to him personally,
I had the heartfelt satisfaction of his society under this
roof, or I was attending him on the Nine-Barrow
Downs--the noblest ride, with the most unique, pic-
turesque, beautiful, and interesting scenery which this
country can boast-Brownsea Castle, famous in the
annals of fashion-Corfe Castle, renowned in history,
which Lady Bunker held out against Cromwell, the
last fort in the kingdom, and notorious for the bloody
deed of Elfrida, who, in penance for her sins, founded
the monastery where is now the estate of his family-
the Basin of Poole, which has no parallel in this island
—the Isle of Wight, the English Channel, &c. &c.
or I was showing him the fossils, or the quarries where
they are found. He was with me only two nights and
one day, and I may venture to say we parted with re-
gret. He was on his way to his Dorset living. He
came to the inn here; sent for Warren's father-being
in quest of fossils for his brother. I heard of him al-
most on his arrival, and picked him up in the streets
as I was going after him, and he was going to look at
Among some memoranda written by Dr Bell, not long before his
death, he says—“ It deserves to be recorded, that Mr Iremonger was one
of the earliest visitors to the author at Swanage, for the sake of informa-
tion on the new system of education."
1
225
LIFE OF DR BELL.
1
Warren's evening school, where he found some of our
Sunday scholars, who did not forfeit the character they
had gotten at the annual examination.
“ Mr Iremonger is deeply and incurably bitten, and
he is biting all around him. He preached for US,
and
is desired to publish, and the publication will soon be
at Hatchard's and at Swanage.
“ When his Sunday school had made a progress which
rendered Lewis Warren's stay unnecessary, the boys
came to him and said, “ They wished that a day school
might be established on the Madras system, for they
had learnt under it more in a month than they had
done in six months before. Though he attended the
schools diligently, yet he knew nothing of his scholars,
their dispositions, character, or attainments, till he fol-
lowed your prescription. Warren's brother-a firm
and steady boy-will perhaps go to the neighbourhood
of Andover, to Mr R. Iremonger's Sunday school.”
The sermon here alluded to was preached at the
cathedral at Winchester on the 19th of November,
being the “anniversary meeting of the Charitable So-
ciety of Aliens, established for the benevolent purpose
of apprenticing poor children :" and the profits of the
publication, if any, were to be added to the funds of
the society. It contained high praise of the Madras
system, and was considered by the friends of the cause
as well calculated to aid in its diffusion. Mr Marriot
said, “ he was engaged in circulating it to the utmost
of his power ;” and Lord Radstock says, in a letter to
Mr Marriot_“Whalley must have told you how highly
gratified I felt on reading Mr I.'s sermon.
I trust
that it will do infinite good to the cause, as I hope his
example will be followed by many."
VOL. II.
P
226
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Mr Iremonger having succeeded in introducing the
system into the free school at Winchester, wrote to Dr
Bell in high spirits at his success. My school at
Winchester,” he says,
“ continues to go on very well,
and I have much pleasure in informing you that I have
succeeded in an object I have had in view some time,
viz. to put a free school in this town upon the same
plan, where there are about seventy boys. I have ob-
tained the sanction of the superintendents, and the
school is now established on the principle of the Madras
system. I need hardly add this testimony to innume-
rable others, of a visible and material improvement
having, in consequence, taken place. The schoolmaster
was at once convinced of the excellence of the plan;
and he keeps particularly in view, that fundamental
object of carrying on the business of the school through
the agency of the boys themselves.”
While Mr Iremonger was thus engaged at Winches-
ter, an extensive scene was preparing for the reception
of the Madras system in Shropshire; and the first in-
timation of this is given by Mr Marriot to Dr Bell in
the following letter :-
.
“ Cotesbatch, Lutterworth, August 19, 1807.
“My very dear Friend,
“ I am both surprised and ashamed when I reflect
how long I have delayed to let you hear from me, and
that when I have important and satisfactory news to
communicate.
“ I shall not long persist in declining the high title
of your fellow-labourer, if the opportunities of serving
the cause increase to my hands as they have lately
LIFE OF DR BELL.
227
done. The very day I reached this sweet retirement,
where I expected any pleasure but that of active use-
fulness, I met the best of all the adepts I have hitherto
engaged in our mischievous designs. The gentleman
alluded to was my school and college fellow, and his
clerical lot has fallen into a chapelry, founded by Messrs
Gisborne and Hawkins Browne, in the midst of exten-
sive collieries and iron founderies, of Shropshire. He
was all qui vive to meet with some one to give him in-
formation with regard to Dr Bell ; and I assure you I
did not dismiss him without any which it was in my
power to give. Your extract (of a sermon) pleased
him in a very high degree, as it has uniformly done all
its other readers in this neighbourhood. He is fully
determined, with God's blessing, to adopt the Madras
system in a school of more than a thousand children;
and he trusts the plan will be pursued, if his trial is
successful, throughout the very populous district in the
centre of which he is placed. The Rev. C. Cameron,
of Sned's Hill, near Shiffnal, Salop, has my authority for
addressing you whenever he pleases, and my assurance
that you will aid and åbet his exertions with every in-
struction he may require. Believe me, my dear Sir,
your most faithful and affectionate friend,
“ G. W. MARRIOT."
In about a month after this Mr Cameron wrote thus
to Dr Bell :-
- Sned's Hill, near Shiffnal, Salop, Sept. 26, 1807.
66 Reverend Sir,
“ Ever since we heard that you were engaged in
establishing the Madras system of education in London,
228
LIFE OF DR BELL.
we felt a wish to have it established here. Having
lately met with my old schoolfellow, George Marriot,
and being encouraged by him to write to you on the
subject, I do it without preface or apology. The col-
lieries, in the midst of which my chapel is situated, are
very extensive, and the population immense, and our
means of instruction at present inadequate to the wants
of the district. We wish, therefore, to have them
increased, or rather, to have the means we possess so ap-
plied as to render us more efficacious and extensive ser-
vice; and, for this purpose, we should heartily thank
you for any assistance'you can afford us in establishing the
Madras system of education in this place. The children
here find work at so early an age that the schools in
this place have been chiefly night schools, which are
attended by the children after the day's work is over,
and have, I believe, been productive of much good.
For nearly a twelvemonth we have had a Sunday
school, in which a hundred boys and as many girls are
regularly instructed by masters and mistresses chosen
and superintended by Mrs Cameron and myself; but
there is upon our list about a hundred children who are
desirous of being admitted into the school, and we could
easily collect a much larger number. If your system
was once thoroughly established here, so that the
advantages of it might be seen, I have little doubt but
that we should be enabled to enlarge our plans of edu-
cation in this place, in any way in which it might seem
expedient to enlarge them.
And I cannot
help expressing my confidence that the system would
spread from hence among the neighbouring works,
some of which are still more extensive than ours. As
to the manner in which you can assist me in this great
LIFE OF DR BELL.
229
work, you, sir, are the best judge; but if it should be
possible for you to afford us any personal assistance
yourself (or even by a representative,) we should esteem
it the greatest favour and advantage to us, and should
be truly glad to receive you. I remain, Reverend Sir,
with much respect and esteem, your obedient servant,
6 C. R. CAMERON.”
Dr Bell's answer to this letter does not appear; but
Mr Cameron wrote again to him soon after, requesting
him " to send them such an auxiliary as he should
approve. We
e propose,” he continues,
” he continues, “ to receive the
person you shall send into our own family, the expenses
of his journey backwards and forwards would be paid
from the funds of our school, with any remuneration for
his trouble you might think proper.
We have no per-
manent fund for the support of our school ; but several
willing contributions and additional monies might, if
wanted, be easily collected.” Immediately on the
receipt of this letter, Dr Bell, who was at Swanage,
wrote to Mr Davis on the subject of this request, and
in consequence, Lewis Warren was at once dispatched
to Mr Cameron, and arrived at Sned's Hill before the
letter which announced his coming.
Soon after this (in December,) Mr Cameron, in
writing to Mr Marriot, says, speaking of Warren-
“We commenced our operations as soon after his arrival
as we could, and I give almost the whole of
my
time
and attention to him and the school, and think that I
am now nearly quite master of the system ; and have
great pleasure in saying that the children here, especially
the boys, have drank into the spirit of it, and seem to
be rapidly improving under its influence, in respect to
230
LIFE OF DR BELL.
their learning and outward behaviour. Our little in-
structor seems very well calculated for his office; he
carries authority with him, and makes boys twice his
own size stand in awe of him, but out of school is
as much a child as any of them.”
After finishing his labours at Mr Cameron's school,
Lewis Warren proceeded to organize one at Welling-
ton, and towards the end of January following, Mr C.
thus writes to Dr Bell :-
“ My cousin, Mr Thomas Butt of Trentham, Staf-
fordshire, was here last week, and I took him to see
the school at Wellington, in consequence of which he is
anxious to establish the system in Staffordshire. He
is in the midst of the potteries, which are very populous,
and has both a Sunday school and weekly school
under his own eye, so that it is a soil well fitted for the
system to take root and flourish in: but I did not feel
myself authorized to let L. W. go out of the neigh-
bourhood without consulting you first. Lewis begins
to long to see home again; but if you and his friends at
Swanage could spare him longer, and should approve
of his going to Trentham school, it would not make
him very unhappy, and would be the means of a much
further extension of the system.
The
Dean of Lichfield informs me, that he means to do
what he can for the diffusion of the system at Lich-
field.”
Lewis Warren was accordingly dispatched into
Staffordshire after he had finished his task at Welling-
ton; and in the end of the following March, Mr Came-
ron writes to Dr Bell that Warren "had almost finished
LIFE OF DR BELL.
231
his work at Trentham," and that “the system was likely
to spread into a very populous neighbourhood," and
soon afterwards, at Mr Butt's request, he wrote again to
enquire where Dr Bell would wish Warren to be sent.
The reply was, that he wished him to be sent as soon
as possible to Sunderland; but by the time the answer
reached Mr Butt, Warren's services had again become in
request in the neighbourhood of Trentham.
66 I have
ventured," writes Mr Butt to Mr Marriot, “to detain
Warren till I can receive an answer from the Doctor,
through the medium of your friendly offices, for the
following reason :-Mr Robinson, the rector of Stoke,
(whom I believe you remember at Rugby,) has suc-
ceeded in interesting some of the principal persons in
that place in favour of the plan. They think it may be
tried with advantage at Lane End, a populous town
where there is a large school and a good foundation.
As I think the prospect is now becoming a
fair one, and great good may follow if the system once
gets an established footing in the potteries, I hope
the Doctor will not be displeased at my detaining War-
ren till I can obtain an answer from him."
Dr Bell's answer does not appear; but the result was
that Warren remained for the purposes stated by Mr
Butt, who thus report progress to Mr Marriot in the
following July—“ Since I had the pleasure of address-
ing you, Warren has been employed at the day school
at Lane-end, and the Sunday schools of Hanley and
Stoke. In the two latter nearly four hundred children
are instructed, and I am informed by the respective
clergymen, Mr Aitkins and Mr Yeoman, that the plan
answers extremely well. As, therefore, we have now
232
LIFE OF DR BELL.
four considerable Sunday schools new-modeled, and
under the immediate inspection of the clergy, I trust
we may consider it firmly rooted in this neighbour-
hood."
LIFE OF DR BELL.
233
CHAPTER XXV.
The System introduced into Ireland and the West Indies.
WARREN having remained six weeks at Lane-end, re-
turned to Mr Butt, and soon afterwards proceeded to
London, being destined by Dr Bell for a scholastic
mission to a distant part of the world, which we shall
notice in its proper place. It will now be necessary to
trace out the progress which the system had made in
Ireland, where it had been introduced, and where it
might have been productive of most important advan-
tages, had it been sufficiently followed up.
The first application to Dr Bell from Ireland was
made by Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Esq., who wrote
to him in October 1806, saying that he had lately been
appointed, under an Act of Parliament, one of a com-
mission to enquire into the funds that existed, and into
the probable means which might be employed, to extend
the benefits of education among the people in Ireland;
and requesting some hints on the subject of education.
Dr Bell wrote, at great length, in answer to this appli-
cation, and enclosed both Mr Edgeworth's letter and
his answer to it to the Bishop of London, requesting
him to forward the answer, if he approved it, to Mr
Edgeworth. To this he received the following reply
from the bishop :-
234
LIFE OF DR BELL,
cover,
Fulham, 26th Nov. 1806.
" Reverend, Sir,
“I should certainly think myself culpable in with-
holding from Mr Edgeworth the many excellent obser-
vations and judicious rules, for the education of the
lower classes of our youth, contained in your letter to
him. I have, therefore, forwarded it to him under my
I have not had leisure to examine critically
every minute part of your plan; but, upon the whole,
it appears to me a very wise and useful one; and I
particularly approve your recommendation of that sacred
book, from which you profess to have drawn all your
knowledge, and your making your charity schools
schools of industry also, which is rendering them doubly
useful both to the children themselves, and the com-
munity.
“ I am, Sir, with great respect, your very faithful
servant,
“ B. LONDON.”
Here the correspondence on this subject ceased for
the present. In June of the following year, however,
it was thus renewed in a letter from the Bishop of
Meath—“ The Bishop of Meath presents his compli-
ments to Dr Bell, and solicits his protection and advice
for the
young man who will deliver this note to him.
66 He has been for some months at Lancaster's school,
and he has attended for some time a school of Lancas-
ter's at Deptford; but the bishop's wish is to separate
him entirely from Mr Lancaster, and to put him under
Dr Bell's protection and direction, that he may
be
pro-
perly qualified to set up a school on Dr Bell's plan in
the diocesc of Meath, for which Lord Sunderlin will
LIFE OF DR BELL.
235
defray the expenses. From having been so long at
Lancaster's, and seen so much of his school, the young
man thinks he can render himself useful, for which he
desires no return but the advantage of being suffered
to take a part in the school. Lancaster allowed board
and lodging, but Lord Sunderlin has taken that expense
upon himself.”
Dr Bell in reply stated, that nothing should be want-
ing on his part to accomplish the end his lordship had
in view; adding that, as regarded “ the young man's
admission into the school on the footing of being use-
ful there, the multitude of teachers which the system
provides for itself, precluded all foreign aid ;" but that,
notwithstanding, he would venture to promise that the
trustees would allow him to take such part in the tui-
tion of the school as would be most useful to himself.
The result of this does not appear; but it is evident
that considerable attention was now beginning to be
paid to the subject of education in Ireland; for in
the beginning of February 1808, Dr Bell received a
letter from Mr Bernard, requesting, “ on the part of
the Dublin Society for promoting the Comforts of the
Poor,” that he would permit his Analysis of the Expe-
riment in Education made at Madras, to be published
in Ireland, with a view to its general circulation through
that island.
The Doctor was highly gratified with this communi.
cation, and not only willingly granted this request,
but hoped that the Dublin Society would accept
“ all the copies of the Analysis then on hand.” This
handsome offer was, however, declined, as it was thought
better to publish; and the next communication from
that quarter to Dr Bell
, informod him of his having
$
236
LIFE OF DR BELL:
been unanimously elected an honorary member of
the Dublin Society. Not long afterwards, applica-
tion was made by the Bishop of Meath to the Lord
Primate, then in London, on the subject of the Mastership
of Wilson's Hospital, which was then vacant, to the
effect that, as his grace approved of Dr Bell's system, he
might wish to have a person educated under that sys-
tem placed in the situation, and that being on the spot
he might be able to procure one.
This letter was
transmitted by the Hon. Mrs Stuart, at the primate's
desire, to Dr Bell, with a note requesting to know if
he could recommend a schoolmaster.
After several persons had been thought of, the situa-
tion was offered to, and accepted by, James Wilmont,
another of Dr Bell's Swanage protégés. He was the na-
tural son of a man of property at Swanage, and, from a
child, had been noted forhis reserved and taciturn disposi-
tion, as well as for uniform steadiness and good conduct.
He had been well educated, and had kept a small school
at Swanage, where he had given much satisfaction by
his assiduity. The chief objection to him was his youth;
but this was waived, in consideration of the high cha-
racter he bore. He accordingly proceeded to London
to be fully initiated into the system, by attending the
different schools into which it had been introduced ; and
having remained there, where he received much atten-
tion from Dr Bell, till the middle of September, he
started for Wilson's Hospital. Here he seems to have
given much satisfaction. My patron, the venerable
Bishop of Meath,” he writes to one of his friends about
the end of 1808, “ was at my school on Saturday last,
with Lord Sunderlin and his chaplain, and likewise Mr
Ward, our parochial minister. His lordship (the bishop)
LIFE OF DR BELL.
237
several
went first to the boys at the sand-board ; afterwards to
the classes in rotation, from the last to the first. His
lordship heard with pleasure and satisfaction my
classes, and was surprised to find, and I am happy to
tell
you, that not one boy in either of the classes mis-
took letter, word, or syllable, although the lessons were
read some a month and others months ago. His lord-
ship, after hearing my first class read their lessons,
turned round to me, and condescended to say, 'I am
thankful to you. You have improved your time sinco
your arrival here;' and he likewise said he would write
to my friends.
Lord Sunderlin lives
seven miles from this institution. The bishop with
his family are staying there at present. Lord Sunder-
lin has a school conducted on Mr Lancaster's system of
education. Mr Radcliff and myself were at this school
on Tuesday sennight. He has an Englishman for a
teacher. I must beg leave to offer a few observations
on his system of education. I approve of it no better
than that of a school conducted on the old plan, (allow-
ing the boys in the old plan were in classes. It is
mere formality, and I will readily venture to say, that
cruelty is learned in his schools. For instance, when I
was there, there came a certain number of boys to the
master, two by two, to be examined in their writing,
and also for him to decide which of the two had per-
formed the best. Now, the boy who had written the
best copy was ordered by the master to pull the other's
hair, and so to do till they arrived at their seats in the
school again. Oh! this is odious in any reasonable
man's sight.
“ Thus far I have given my humble opinion of Mr
238
LIFE OF DR BELL,
Lancaster's system. A wise author observes, that by
others' faults prudent men correct their own.”
A few weeks after the date of this letter, Dr Bell re-
ceived the following one from the Bishop of Meath,
stating how highly he was pleased with Wilmont, and
requesting Dr Bell to procure him another master of the
same stamp for a school in his parish :-
“ Ardbraccan House, January 21, 1809.
- Dear Sir,
“ I have been long meditating a letter to you, and
had I not a multiplicity of avocations to plead, I should
think myself inexcusable for having so long delayed
making my acknowledgments to you, for the very sig-
nal advantages the institution of Wilson's Hospital is
likely to receive from the young man you sent over
to us.
“ Mrs 0. Beirne, who had an opportunity of forming
some judgment of him during an absence of mine
from home, on his first coming over, prepared me for
being pleased with him; and after having twice visited
the hospital since he began his functions, I have the
pleasure to tell you that he does the highest credit to
your recommendation, and is to us a great acquisition.
66 I have endeavoured to show him how much I am
pleased with him, and I trust he finds that every thing
has been done to make his situation comfortable. I have
communicated to the primate all that I have observed
of this young man, and the really surprising things
which he has not only done, but undone, in so short a
time.
“ From this account of young Wilmont, you will not
LIFE OF DR BELL.
239
“By the
be surprised that I should solicit your kind interference
in my favour to procure me a master of the same stamp
and character for the school of my own parish, in which
Mrs 0. Beirne and I take a particular interest.
“ But it will be necessary that the same person
should also act as parish clerk, and for this singing is
not an essential, although desirable, as we have a
charter school in the parish, the boys of which sing in
church.
way, Wilmont seems to understand psalmody
very well, and it is one of the things in which he has
greatly improved the boys of Wilson's Hospital. The
encouragement we have to offer, is forty pounds a-year
in money, a house and garden worth five guineas a-year,
and grass for a cow worth three guineas a-year, be-
sides the profits on the scholars, which, at a low esti-
mate, is to the present master worth twenty pounds
a-year; and with the reputation of a master recom-
mended by you, and instructing on your plan, there is
every prospect of being increased.
“ If on these terms you could procure us such a mas-
ter as Wilmont, and that he could make his
arrange-
ments so as to enter on his functions next Easter, you
may
be assured that he shall receive from me all the
countenance and protection I can extend to him ; and
I am persuaded he will have no cause to repent of the
general reception and treatment he will meet with from
the principal parishioners.
“ As early an answer as it can be in your power to
give me, will be thankfully received by, dear Sir, your
very faithful and obedient humble servant,
( T. L. MEATH."
240
LIFE OF DR BELL.
« The last time I was at Wilson's Hospital, I took
Lord Sunderlin with me, who was very much struck
with the superiority of Wilmont's manner, and the ef-
fects of his plan over that of the young man, who, if
you remember, was seduced from attending the school
at Whitechapel, to which Lord Sunderlin had settled
with me he should be removed from Lancaster's."
>>
1
In answer to this letter, Dr Bell promised to do his
utmost to procure such a person as his lordship wanted,
although he had not any one in his eye at that time.
We must now quit Ireland for the present, and re-
late an attempt which was, at this time, made to intro-
duce the Madras system into the West Indies, which,
though it unfortunately did not succeed according to
expectation, is important, as showing what exertions
were made to diffuse the blessings of education among
the negro slaves, and some of the causes which operated
in rendering those exertions of no avail.
As early as December 1807, the Bishop of London
appears to have been in communication with Dr Bell
on this subject, having written to him, requesting to see
him at dinner at Fulham, “ as he had something of im-
portance to propose to him respecting his parochial
schools.” What took place on this occasion does not
appear; but soon afterwards the bishop requested Dr
Bell to draw up for him a short account of his new sys-
tem of education, under certain heads which he gave
him, adding, “ It will be particularly useful to state, that
persons may be procured from this country to conduct
the parochial schools in the West Indies, at a very
trifling expense.”
77
LIFE OF DR BELL.
241
Dr Bell accordingly drew up a paper in reply to
the bishop's queries, and transmitted it to him, who,
in acknowledging the receipt of it, says—“ They are
written with considerable ability; but I see clearly that
I can form no opinion on the subject till I see the
whole together, and then you shall have my sentiments
at large.
66 There are two points I wish to have made per-
fectly clear :-
“ 1st, That the expense will be perfectly trivial.
2dly, That the attendance of the children at the school
will interfere very little, if at all, with their work on the
plantations.
“ These facts, if clearly made out, and confirmed by
actual experience, will be the most powerful argument
with the West Indians to adopt your plan. You will,
therefore, be so good as to specify very distinctly, how
much the expense will be for each child per annum for
learning to read only, and how many hours in the day
will be taken up in the school.”
These questions were answered to his lordship’s
satisfaction; and after some few letters had passed
between him and Dr Bell, respecting some further alter-
ations in the document the latter had drawn up, it was
printed in the form of an appendix to a letter from the
Bishop of London to the Governors, Legislators, and
Proprietors of Plantations in the British West India
Islands.
It was stated in this appendix, that the Madras sys-
tem of education was considered peculiarly well adapted
to the education of the negro children, for these rea-
VOL. II.
242
LIFE OF DR BELL.
sons-“1st, Because one master suffices for each school,
however numerous.
2d, Because, by its means, Sunday alone will
suffice for their education.
~ 3d, Because from amongst the book-keepers, or
other Europeans or natives in the employment of the
planters, may be selected schoolmasters, without any
interference with, or interruption of, their weekly occu-
pations, and thus the great expense of importing and
maintaining a new race of men, or body of schoolmas-
ters, will be saved.”
One of the earliest fruits of this publication, was a
letter from an influential West India proprietor, Dr
Holder, to Dr Gardiner, from which the following are
extracts :
“ Joes River, June 25, 1808.
“ Dear Sir,
“ I have perused the Bishop of London's letter
most attentively, and assure you it has made a due
impression on my mind. It is a subject I have often
reflected on. I have long regarded as one of our prin-
cipal sins of omission, the neglect which we have shown
to the spiritual welfare of our slaves, making no effort
to instil into them the practical duties of Christianity.
Such having hitherto been my opinion, you may suppose
that in me you will find no lukewarm seconder of the
bishop's wishes, and that I am ready to take an early
and active part in the good work he has undertaken.
I most fully coincide with the substance of his lordship’s
opinions, and think the plan of Sunday schools excel-
lent; but I trust he will allow me to suggest that the
LIFE OF DR BELL.
243
pro-
chief difficulty will be to obtain, in the first instance,
proper schoolmasters. You are as well aware as I am,
that we cannot look for these in the natives of this
country. Their habits and their ignorance preclude
the idea of their doing any good; and the attempt had
better not be made at all than be made with the
bability of a failure, which will operate as a discourage-
ment to the further prosecution of it. To Europe,
then, must we look for the sober and religious school-
master, who, with a mind already turned to the sub-
ject, and anxious for its success, may second with skill
and ardour the plan. A second difficulty his lordship
is not aware of, is the wide extent of the parishes; one
schoolmaster, fixed in the most central part of a parish,
could hope to do little general good. The younger
children could not travel five or six miles through rug-
ged or miry roads for instruction, and the same dis-
tance back. On the exertions of the individual planter,
it appears to me, must the hope of success rest.
I should, therefore, humbly suggest to his lordship, that
(at least as a beginning) the best plan will be to send
out to each applying planter a schoolmaster, whose
necessary qualifications and turn of mind I need not
hint at; and if none other can be found, there might
be a youth from one of the charity schools, to be resi-
dent on the estate of the planter so requesting his ser-
vices—that a certain number of hours in every week,
and the whole of Sunday, be dedicated to the instruc-
tion of, not only the negroes on the estate, but of all
the neighbourhood who can, or will attend; and that
his intermediate spare time be dedicated to the services
of the estate as a store or book keeper, or distiller, as
244
LIFE OF DR BELL.
may best suit his abilities. For these services it will
be in the power of the planter to allow him comfortable
board and lodging, and a salary, according to the size
of the estate, from L.15 to L.25 per annum.
You are at full liberty to convey, with all due and
chastened humility of opinion, to the bishop, my senti-
ments. Should they be approved by him, I shall feel
an honest and virtuous pride if he will allow this un-
dertaking to commence on my estate, by sending out;
as speedily as convenient, to me, at the expense of the
society of which he is the head, any person whom his
lordship may select as fit for the purpose. On his arri-
val I will receive him as a resident on my estate; and
he shall be lodged and boarded on the most liberal
plan, even at my own table, if the bishop so recom-
mends; and in return for his services (when not em-
ployed in the good work, which will be our first object)
either as a book or store keeper, or distiller, I will allow
him a stipend of L.20 per annum, and defray all the
expense of instructing the negroes.”
The contents of this letter having been communica-
ted to the Bishop of London, his lordship immediately
wrote to Dr Bell, who was then at Durham, asking him
if he knew of any well-instructed boy whom he could
recommend to be immediately sent to Barbadoes. The
result was that Dr Bell wrote to Lewis Warren's father
at Swanage, offering the situation to his son, and re-
ceived for answer, that although they were unwilling to
part with him, it should be left entirely to his own
option. He accordingly accepted the situation, and
proceeded to London to receive further instruction in
the system from Henry Manwell, as well as to be
LIFE OF DR BELL,
245
66
pray God
examined and confirmed by the bishop, who expressed
himself much pleased with him, and treated him with
the greatest kindness and liberality, supplying him with
money, and all necessaries for his voyage, as well as
taking the expense of his passage upon himself. He
accordingly left London for Falmouth early in Oc-
tober, and sailed shortly afterwards. I
to prosper his voyage and his mission,” writes the
bishop to Dr Bell soon after his departure ; “ if he
succeeds, he will be the greatest blessing that ever was
imported into the British Islands. He will make his
fortune, and immortalize his name. He will be ranked
among the greatest benefactors to mankind, and
(though it is a bold thing to say) he will be doing as
much good in the Atlantic Ocean, as Bonaparte is doing
mischief on the Continent of Europe.” These expecta-
tions were not, however, realized; but the bishop did not
live to witness the result. After his death, which hap-
pened in 1809, application was made by Dr Macleod
to Dr Bell, to know if he could recommend some
young men for the same purpose as Warren had been
sent out for; but no further steps of consequence appear
to have been taken, nor have we much information
respecting Warren's proceedings. Soon after his
arrival he seems to have succeeded tolerably well, but
no important results followed.* This is not surprising,
all things considered, especially the opposition which
any scheme for improving the moral and intellectual
condition of the negroes has generally met with from the
planters. The spirit in which they looked at this
* Dr Holder sold his estates in 1815, and his successor was
man of the island, who paid no attention to education."
a gentle-
246
LIFE OF DR BELL.
attempt may be gathered from the following extract
from à letter which has been preserved among Dr
It is without date, but was evidently
written about this time :
Bell's papers.
66 Sir,
“ Pardon the liberty I take in submitting the
sentiments of a respectable West India planter on the
subject of
your
intended pamphlet.
“ Are Dr Bell's labours completed here, and is
nothing further to be done in Great Britain and Ireland
in the instruction and civilization of the lowest classes,
that he must adventure the fruits of his imagination
to our side of the Atlantic? If he thinks he has done
enough for England, let him turn to Ireland, and pro-
vide against the evils which threaten us there, from the
barbarism of the poor, and from their proneness to be
influenced by Bonaparte's instruments. A Scotch
gentleman, who is now on my right hand, adds that the
Doctor may find employment enough for his benevolent
exertions in Scotland, notwithstanding so much has
been said of the bettered condition of its poor. But
no, the West Indians are the marked people! They are
to be the martyrs, if they can be deluded into the folly
of encouraging an innovation ruinous to themselves;
and perhaps, if they resist it, their kind friends who are
setting the Doctor at work will leave no stone unturned
to enforce the ultimate object of the measure—the
emancipation of our slaves. The exchequer is over-
flowing with money, so much so that Mr Perceval the
other day gave an order upon the Bank for L.400,000,
prompt payment, though he had a right of claiming a
LIFE OF DR BELL.
247
delay of some months.' If Dr Bell's friends can per-
suade government to buy our estates, they may then,
without injustice to any party, embark in their chime-
rical scheme; and I would venture to predict, after
the labours of his whole life under every favourable cir-
cumstance, his successor would exclaim, Nil actum sed
quod libet agendum! But the Doctor's questions were
read and argued on here, yesterday, by six planters
of St Kitts, Grenada, Tobago, and Nevis. The first
we answered thus :—The planters would certainly op-
pose it. Why should they encourage an innovation
expensive to themselves, not only by taking money out
of their pockets, but by curtailing the time of their la-
bourers' work, when their pecuniary situation is already
so deteriorated as to disable them from living in this
country? None remain who have not some de-
pendence here. To give you an idea of the falling off
we have sustained, my brother's estate, which used to
net L.3000 a-year, averaged for the last three years
L.740. When we proclaim our distresses, or urge the
impossibility of selling our sugar unless at ruinous
prices, this country is deaf to us—rejects our petitions
to use our sugars in the distilleries or breweries, though
the rejection is at a time when the inability to import
corn from the Continent might concur, with the varied
use of grain here, to induce a famine. England and her
colonies might establish a beautiful system of recipro-
cal services; but we are never thought of unless as an
object of taxation, or subject of capricious, wanton,
and dangerous reform. I entreat the Doctor to con-
template the miseries of St Domingo, and to decline
a measure that would probably precipitate us in the
same, and make him answerable in another world for
248
LIFE OF DR BELL.
so wanton and cruel a misapplication of his talents.
He would not be able to plead before our great ulti-
mate Judge, as a justification for the injury done us,
the benefits to our slaves, who are, I sincerely believe,
better off in their present condition than instruction in
letters would make them ; but we pronounce it im-
practicable-impossible.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
249
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Doctor Visits Durham—the System introduced there—the Barrington
School-Letter to Mrs Trimmer-Dr Gray-Mr Bouyer—Mr Bernard.
We now come to the commencement of Dr Bell's
labours in the county of Durham, and to the cir-
cumstances which led him into communication with
the bishop of that diocess, by whom he had been
ordained some twenty-four years previous to this time.
It is probable that he had met with his lordship
while engaged at the schools in Marylebone. The
first application, however, that was made to him for
assistance in the north, was from the Rev. Dr Gray,
rector of Bishop-Wearmouth, who, early in 1808,
wrote to him, saying that the Bishop of Durham
and Mr Bernard had communicated to him an offer
that Dr Bell had made of taking a journey northward,
for the purpose of assisting in the establishment of
schools upon the Madras system, and requesting the
pleasure of his company at Bishop-Wearmouth. Dr
Bell, however, was too much engaged in the south to
leave it at that time, and offered to send an usher from
one of the schools he had already organized. This offer
was gladly accepted; and, soon afterwards, two youths
were sent down to Bishop-Wearmouth, who commenced
operations under Dr Gray's superintendence. Shortly
250
LIFE OF DR BELL.
after this, Dr Gray proceeded to London, and having
met Dr Bell, it was proposed that they should travel
together to the north, on Dr Gray's return.
This was
not, however, carried into effect, Dr Bell having come
under an engagement to make an attempt to introduce
the system into the Naval Asylum, in which, as has
already been related, he was then unsuccessful. He
promised, at the same time, to proceed to Durham in
the course of the following week; which he accord-
ingly did, and immediately commenced organizing the
schools at Wearmouth and Sunderland. We have no
information of his proceedings in this matter; but it
appears from the following letter, which he received
from the Bishop of Durham about this time, that his
progress was satisfactory :
“ Mongewell, June 22, 1808.
“ Dear Sir,
“ Under a very heavy pressure of correspondence,
I cannot, however, allow myself to defer expressing the
real satisfaction which I feel on the report which you
make of the progress of the Bishop-Wearmouth's schools. .
· Nil desperandum Teucro duce et auspice Teucro.' I
therefore flatter myself, that before the end of the year,
with the assistance I trust you will be enabled to give,
the Madras system will be extended to most parts of
the county of Durham. My arrangements are of such
a nature that they cannot be broken, and it will not be
in my power to arrive at Durham till the 1st of August.
The interval between that and the 9th, when the as-
sizes commence, will be full of employment, and I shall
not be at liberty to sit down to business with you and
your friend Mr Bernard till the 22d, when I mean to
LIFE OF DR BELL.
251
devote myself altogether to you and your plan. With
such a substitute as Mr Smith, accompanied by such a
wife as Mrs Smith, your parish of Swanage cannot sus-
tain any injury by your absence.”
any extend
Dr Bell was not, however, able to make
ed stay in Durham at this time, although the bishop
offered to “ accelerate his journey, for the purpose of
meeting him either at Auckland Castle or Durham
Castle,” and Dr Gray much pressed his further stay.
He accordingly returned to London, where, as we have
seen, he had many pressing occupations and engage-
ments. There he remained until the beginning of
August, when he again returned to Durham, where he
remained at Dr Gray’s for a short time, and then pro-
ceeded to Auckland Castle to visit the bishop.
The demand for schoolmasters was now daily in-
creasing; and the bishop, having turned his attention to
this subject, requested Dr Bell “ to draw up a scheme
or plan of a school,” which might remedy this evil.
This he accordingly did at great length, and the result
was, that the bishop determined on establishing a kind
of collegiate school at Bishop-Auckland, which was to
combine the instruction of children with that of the most
promising scholars as schoolmasters. This Institution
was to be called the Barrington School; and it appears,
from an account of it published in 1812 by Sir Thomas
Bernard, that the bishop at first engaged Mr Birkett,
the master of the Auckland grammar school, and be-
gan by placing under him fifty boys, with an annual
allowance of L.75 for their tuition, which he afterwards
increased. The new college “ was to consist of nine
foundation boys, who were to be monitors of the Bar-
rington school, under the direction of the assistant mas-
252
LIFE OF DR BELL.
ter, and to be clothed, maintained, and educated at the
bishop's expense, ..
who, in order to provide for
the permanent support of the establishment, appropri-
ated the residue of the dividends of L.30,000 three per
cents, reduced annuities, which he settled by deed upon
four trustees for this and other similar trusts. This re-
sidue amounted to L.436 per annum."*
We find, by the following extract from an account
of the grammar school at Auckland, written many years
afterwards, that the bishop had at one time been favour-
ably disposed to Mr Lancaster :-
“ While the bishop resided at Auckland Castle, he
condescended to visit the grammar school there, and
took much interest in its success. In rebuilding the
chapel of St Anns, in that town, he enlarged the gram-
mar school, and not only contributed liberally towards
paying for the instruction of the poor children, but gave
a house and garden to be a residence for the master.
In this school his lordship first introduced the new sys-
tem of education, having employed a young man from
the Borough Road school to assist in the organization
of the school, and the adoption of the plan as there
pursued. The Lancasterian edition of the system con-
tinued in operation about eighteen months, when, on
account of the conviction of the master that it did not
make sound scholars, it was superseded by the Madras
system, Dr Bell having, on the invitation of the bishop,
rendered his assistance in the alteration."
Dr Bell returned to London early in September, and
soon afterwards wrote to Mrs Trimmer, giving some
* The Barrington school was completed and opened on the 26th of May
1810, on which occasion a sermon was preached by Dr Bell, and 129
scholars entertained at his expense; he also gave a dinner to sixty-seven of
the neighbouring gentry, who had attended the opening of the school.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
253
{
account of his proceedings in Durham. “In the north,”
he writes, “I have experienced much earnest disposition
to forward and facilitate religious education in the right
line of the church. In these measures our excellent
friend Dr Gray takes a considerable lead, and follows
up the true spirit of the Madrąs system with equal
judgment, energy, and liberality. Long I resisted every
solicitation to go beyond the metropolis and its envi-
rons, where I thought that I should be more usefully
employed, and whence the example and model must issue
into the provinces; and I did not yield to the importu-
nity of my friends to go thither till I was pressed by
Dr Gray, on the assurance of his making his school a
means of extending religious education, on its true
foundation, throughout the northern counties. On my
first visit to Durham, Bishop-Wearmouth, Bambo-
rough Castle, &c., I had every reason to be fully satis-
fied with the step I had taken; and when I was pre-
vailed upon to retrace my steps, I was greatly delight-
ed with beholding the venerable bishop not less earnest
than
you or I could be to establish a school for training
up masters in the right line. I hope and trust that I
witnessed the deep foundation laid, to establish and dif-
fuse the system in a style equally judicious, wise, and
magnificent, on a rock which I believe cannot be sha-
ken.
I must be at Swanage this day.
I am going to take some respite, for I know not how long,
from intense labour and toil, and to insure to myself un-
interrupted quiet and leisure for my studies and pursuits.
I am going to do my parochial duties without assistance,
or chance of assistance, having no curate.”
“ I need not say,” says Mrs Trimmer, in reply to
this letter, “how sincerely I rejoice in the success of
254
LIFE OF DR BELL.
your ardent and unremitting labours. What a blessing
is it to the nation, as well as to yourself, that you have
health and strength for such extraordinary exertions !
I may say to you, that the northern prelate you mention
as having entered so warmly into your plan, gives me
particular pleasure, because he certainly had a strong
predilection in favour of Lancaster, who, notwithstand-
ing so much is done, and with effect, to discountenance
him, still has a powerful number of partisans; but his
wings are clipped—he does not soar so high as for-
merly.”
Meantime Dr Gray had been zealously following up
the system in his own neighbourhood, though it did not
altogether proceed to his wishes. In writing to Dr
Bell in September, he says—“Mr Bernard staid with me
but one night, and was well pleased with both schools,
where certainly much is effected, though I cannot say
that Carstairs (the master) does every thing so entirely
to my satisfaction as I could wish. It is not long since
he told me that some of the classes, when they wrote on
the slate, marched up to him, and the best boy was
allowed to pull the ears of the inferior, and that it pro-
duced a good effect. I could have told him that it
would have been better if the victor had pulled the
master's ear for hankering after such Lancasterian fol-
lies-nevertheless, the school is in good order. They
have this week only as holidays. I allowed the boys at
Bishop-Wearmouth a fortnight, and at the expiration of
that time desired that those who wished to return im-
mediately should hold up their hands, and that the rest
might stay away a week longer. Above sixty of them,
however, immediately returned, and the rest all eagerly
assembled on the next week.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
255
Dr Gray was at this time in want of a master for
Sunderland school, and applied to Dr Bell to know if he
could recommend one. In consequence, after some
delay, he offered the situation to Mr Francis Warren,
Lewis Warren's father, who accepted it, the salary being
L.80, and proceeded without delay to Sunderland.
There still remains another person to be mentioned,
whose zeal and activity in assisting in the dissemina-
tion of the Madras system in the diocess of Durham
and elsewhere, entitle him to our notice. This was Mr
Bouyer, late archdeacon of Northumberland, and pre-
bendary of Durham, who was already well known to
those interested in education as the founder of the
schools of industry, which he set on foot in Lincolnshire.
Mr Bouyer and Dr Bell became acquainted during
the time the Doctor was engaged at the Naval Asylum
in June 1808, when he received the following note :-
“ Mr Bouyer, a very humble fellow-labourer in the
cause to which Dr Bell so nobly devotes his time and
pains, takes the liberty of presenting him with some
sketches and plans of education, in which he has been
engaged for about twenty-five years; not that he thinks
them in any degree worthy of Dr Bell's attention, but
merely as an act of homage due to his great merit, and
as an earnest of Mr B.'s desire to follow his steps as far
as he shall be able. Dr Gray has informed Mr B. of
Dr Bell's intention to set out from the south on Mon-
day next. It must appear very intrusive in a stranger
to desire an interview of a few minutes in a portion of
time so limited, and probably so much better appropri-
ated. Mr B., however, is encouraged to beg that fa-
vour by Mr Rose's kind promise to second his request.
+
256
LIFE OF DR BELL.
He will wait upon Dr Bell at any time he
time he may have
the goodness to appoint, except after eleven on Satur-
day next.” Nothing, however, is known concerning
this meeting ; but Dr Gray thus mentions him soon
afterwards as advocating the Madras system, in a
letter to Dr Bell :-“ Mr Bouyer, who is fully sen-
sible of the simplicity and powerful efficacy of your
plan, seemed pleased with the schools, which go on, I
trust, very well. He has taken Charles Farrer to
Bamborough, where he will, I hope, find a permanent
and desirable establishment.” And in the following
October Mr Bernard says, in a letter to Dr Bell;
“ Mr Bouyer was here (Auckland) last week, full of
approbation of your system, with which he has for five
weeks past been working two hours a-day in the instruc-
tion of forty-five children. His expression was, “ I am
astonished at the advantages of Dr Bell's mode, as now
demonstrated to me by my own experience.'
Of this experiment Dr Bell writes thus to Sir Charles
Oakley in December 1809—“ Mr Bouyer, preben-
dary of Durham, and father of the schools of industry
in this country, has instituted two schools at Durham
at his sole expense—one for boys, and another for girls;
by which he means to show that, on the Madras sys-
tem, two hours a-day for three years will suffice for giving
poor children an appropriate education in reading, wri-
ting, arithmetic, and religious instruction."
Mr Bouyer, it appears, was one of the trustees for
the school at Bamborough Castle, as well as trustee for
Lord Crew's charity; so that he was enabled to ad-
vance the cause more effectually than any private ex-
penditure could have done. We cannot, however, at
> >
LIFE OF DR BELL.
257
present carry on the account of his labours, as they
will come in more appropriately at a later period.
At this time Mr Bernard was engaged in preparing
one of his publications for the press, which was to
contain an account of the Madras system in the preface.
“ While I was in Scotland,” he writes to Dr Bell,
“ and on my road to town, and now at intervals, I
have been busied in writing a preface to the Selec-
tions on Education, which I am making from the
report; and in this I am endeavouring, not only to
consider the subject generally, but to give my view of
your system. It will not, however, be published with-
out that part, at least, being submitted to your eye.”
Shortly afterwards Mr Bernard sent the preface to
Dr Bell for his correction and criticisms, which it seems
were very carefully given, and adopted by the author.
This publication gave great pleasure both to Dr Bell
and the Bishop of Durham, who spoke of it in the
highest terms; and very soon afterwards Mr Ber-
nard, having had ample opportunities of becoming well
acquainted with the Madras system, during the organi-
zation of the schools at Auckland, at which he was pre-
sent, published a still more complete account of the
system in all its bearings. The commencement of this
account was also submitted to Dr Bell's correction;
but the latter part, containing Mr Bernard's views and
opinions regarding Lancaster's claim to priority of in-
vention, could not have met with the Doctor's approba-
tion. Indeed, he had already taken much pains, but
without effect, to set Mr Bernard right upon that
point.
VOL. II.
R
253
LIFE OF DR BELL.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Dr Bell seeks an Exchange for Swanage—Is presented to Sherburn Hospital
-Difficulties respecting Dilapidations, Furniture, &C.--Sketch of the His-
tory of that Institution-Swanage given to Mr Gale, a Nominee of the
Bishop of Durham.
1
We now come to the circumstances which immediately
preceded Dr Bell's appointment to Sherburn hospital.
His introduction to the Bishop of Durham was the
primary step to this, and his exertions in that diocess
and elsewhere, had doubtless produced a very favour-
able impression of him in the bishop's mind.
It will be remembered, that, soon after Dr Bell had
-determined to emerge from the retirement of Swanage,
he expressed a wish to exchange his living for one more
favourably situated. Several attempts were made to
carry this into effect; but it proved a more difficult
matter than was at first anticipated, and they were all
unsuccessful. The last of these is worthy of notice
here, as showing that the archbishop had somewhat
interested himself in endeavouring to aid Dr Bell's
views in this matter, which will be seen by the following
letter from the Doctor to the Right Honourable George
Rose.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
259
“ Manchester Street, Manchester Square, March 17, 1808.
6 Dear Sir,
By the death of Dr Gregory, the vicarage of
Westham, four miles from London, is vacant. The
facilities which that residence would offer to my pur-
suits are so great, that his grace the archbishop has
done me the honour to recommend me to the Duke of
Portland, in whose gift it is; Swanage, scarcely less
valuable, to be given in exchange to one not younger
than myself. The archbishop read to me the duke's
reply, and sent me to you. It is, that he had no imme-
diate call for such a living as Westham, worth from
£1000 to £1200; but two livings, one worth £500,
and the other worth £200 or £300, would be an
accommodation. Now it is evident, that it were vain
to search for such accommodation with any hope of
obtaining it for the present. You know something of
my claims, and the sacrifices I have made at a great
expense; and you know also the zeal with which I
have devoted myself to the king and church, and with
what success. Not thinking such an accommodation
as the duke desires practicable at present, the arch-
bishop commands me to exert myself in every way to
obtain recommendation to the duke for exchange on
the ground he proposed; and having named you to his
grace, he desired me to apply to you. There is no
great disparity in the value of the livings; and mine
stands higher in honour, being a rectory, with an ex
officio patronage of a vicarage of near £200 a-year.
The incumbent more than fifty, and a bad life.
Swanage is most ineligible for my occupations in
town; and it were of immense importance for me to
have Westhan, even if inferior in value. I humbly and
260
LIFE OF DR BELL.
earnestly solicit your good offices; and am, dear sir,
with high esteem, your most faithful and devoted
« A. BELL.”
To this letter Mr Rose replied--
" Old Palace Yard, March 22, 1808.
“ Dear Sir,
“ I missed your letter in Hampshire, where it was
sent to me, which has occasioned some delay in its
being answered.
“ I can assure you with the sincerest truth, that it is
not a fortnight since I told the Duke of Portland, I
never would apply to him for ecclesiastical preferment,
knowing the extent of the pressure on the minister in
that line-a conduct I observed towards Mr Pitt,
though I had a brother-in-law in the church without a
living. It is, therefore, impossible for me to solicit his
grace
for
you;
but if
any representation of mine, of the
public advantage that would be derived from your be-
ing placed near the capital, would have any weight
with him, I would cheerfully make it; because I have
a strong conviction that such a measure would be
pro-
ductive of most essential benefit to the community, by
affording you the means of not only giving your atten-
tion to your admirable system of education in your own
person, but of putting others in the way of being useful
in the same cause.
“ When I had the conversation with the Duke of
Portland to which I allude, he mentioned the living of
Westham being vacant, and I think he said it was
worth £1200 a-year.
“ The exertions you have made entitle you to re-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
261
ward, and I sincerely wish I could contribute to your
receiving it.
“ I am, dear sir, your faithful humble servant,
66 GEORGE ROSE."
Here this matter ended, nor does it appear that Dr
Bell took any further steps towards an exchange. In-
deed it is probable, that during his second visit to
Durham, in the following August, the bishop had held
out hopes to him of being enabled to promote his views.
From the following passage in a letter from Dr Bell to
the bishop, written some time after his return to the
south, it seems he had been nominally appointed one
of the bishop's chaplains. “ I think,” he writes, “ that
your lordship should be acquainted with the progress of
your junior chaplain through life. Contrary to my
rule, I beg leave to present such authentic records as
I have at hand.” To which the bishop, on returning
the enclosures, replied—“ The testimonials of your
character, returned herewith, though highly honourable
to you, might be wanting to those who do not know
you; but could not contribute to place it in a higher
light to me."
Shortly after this, Dr Gray, in writing to Dr Bell,
says—“ It affords me much pleasure to hear that every
thing has been arranged so entirely to your satisfaction.
You did not tell me, however, of the flattering compli-
ment which you personally received from the good
bishop, which I rejoice at the more, as it strengthens a
conviction from which much good must result, and
secures to us another visit, I trust, erelong, if not a per-
manent settlement among us. I have told Mr Bernard
that our object should be to make you a trustee of
262
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Bamborough Castle the next vacancy. The rest must
.
be left to the care of the bishop.”
Just at this time two valuable pieces of preferment
in the diocess of Durham became vacant, by the pro-
motion of Dr Dampier from the see of Rochester to
that of Ely. These were the twelfth prebend or
canonry of Durham, and the mastership of Sherburn
hospital, both of which had been held with the see of
Rochester; but which the bishop resigned on his pro-
motion to Ely. Accordingly, the Bishop of Durham
determined on presenting the mastership of Sherburn
hospital to Dr Bell; but an unexpected difficulty arose
regarding the right of patronage, both of the hospital
and the stall the question being whether the crown
or the bishop had the right to present. In consequence
of this, some communication took place between the
bishop and the Duke of Portland, as well as several
consultations with lawyers, &c., the particulars of
which do not appear. On this subject Mr Bernard re-
marks to Dr Bell, in a letter dated October 54" No
reply has come from the duke. But, in the interim,
the bishop has reason to believe that the present
patronage rests with himself; and a second letter has
been written accordingly. I hope he will now have
the pleasure of giving it you
himself.”
In reference to the hospital, he says in the same let-
ter “ I have reason to believe that the clear income
is not less than £1188. It is three miles from Dur-
ham. No residence required. The centre building is
the master's house; one wing the chaplain's; the other
for the brethren. The house is said to be in bad con-
dition."
Still no decision was come to, and a case was drawn
LIFE OF DR BELL,
263
up and submitted to Sir Samuel Romilly and Mr Ber-
nard, who gave it as their opinion that the crown had
a right to present to the stall; but that the presenta-
tion to the mastership of the hospital belonged to the
bishop
The first intimation of the report of liis having been
appointed (which, however, was not a correct one-
the matter being still in abeyance) reached him through
Dr Gray, who wrote thus to him--
6 December 31, 1808.
06 Dear Sir,
“I must express the pleasure with which Mrs
Gray and myself, and all here, have heard a report,
which reached us yesterday, that you are appointed to
Sherburn hospital. I must flatter myself that it is
true, though I have no correct assurance of it from
the bishop, sensible as he must be of the satisfaction
which it would afford us. It would be, or rather
I think it is, an appointment so honourable to the
bishop, and so perfectly adapted to your objects and
views, that I could have no doubt, were I informed
that his lordship has established his claim to the
patronage.
“We look with impatience for a confirmation of this
pleasing intelligence, and trust that you yourself will
not be the last to communicate
know would be so interesting and agreeable to us. ...
We shall all go on with great spirit when our archiepis-
copal visitor comes amongst us.”
The matter, however, still remained doubtful. “ Law
is a bottomless pit," writes Mr Bernard to Dr Bell, in
news, which
you must
264
LIFE OF DR BELL.
January following “ The question of the preferment
is not decided. But I am not less confident than I
have been at any period of the business. I I cannot
presume to hope that you will be canonized as a suffer-
ing saint.
Soon after this the bishop gave up his claim to the
stall, and Lord Stamford's son was presented to it; and
though the Archbishop of Canterbury told Dr Bell,
“ that he had it from good authority that the chancel-
lor had him in contemplation in regard to the hospital,”
the middle of February arrived, and it was still a dis-
puted point.*
In May Dr Gray again writes to Dr Bell—“ Mr
Bernard told me a few days since that the matter
changed its form every day, and that nothing could be
more perverse than circumstances which arose, though,
upon the whole, the prospect was not unfavourable.
I intimated that you would expect to hear from him ;
and he assured me that he had intended to write, but
was prevented by uncertainties. The bishop looks and
is well. I could only urge to Mr B. what I did to the
bishop, that nothing should be risked in confidence of
the good intentions of the duke; but that the bishop
should proceed regularly by summons, that the vacancy
* It was the opinion of many at the time, that, had the patronage fallen
to government, Dr Bell would certainly have been presented to it. The
Rev. Mr Evans of Andover, on writing to Dr Bell, says, after mentioning
that he had heard of his liaving been appointed, “ My pleasure on hear-
ing this was soon afterwards much lessened on being told, that the bishop
could not, in that particular instance, carry his good wishes towards you
into effect. At Oxford my hopes were again revived on being assured that
three of the ministers had individually declared to different persons, that,
though the patronage should devolve on the crown, you would still suc-
ceed to the vacancy.”
LIFE OF. DR BELL.
265
might not appear to result from translation, which
might put the patronage on a precarious footing, and
that this was a point not to be sacrificed to the feelings
of the Bishop of Ely. We must hope for a prosperous
and speedy issue of the discussion.”
Matters were now becoming more favourable. It
was, however, necessary for Dr Bell to resign Swan-
age previous to being appointed to Sherburn, which
had not, at first, been contemplated. This had been
hinted to him some time previous, and he had ex-
pressed his perfect readiness to do so; but we have not
any exact information of the time when this resignation
took place. It is probable, however, that it was as soon
as his appointment to Sherburn could be looked upon
as certain, when an arrangement was made that Swan-
age was to be given, in exchange for Sherburn, to a
nominee of the Bishop of Durham.
He was collated to the mastership by the bishop on
the 29th of May, " having previously signed a decla-
ration of conformity to the thirty-nine articles of the
faith and religion of the Church of England, and to the
three articles of the thirty-sixth ecclesiastical canon, and
to all things that are contained in them.”
He read
prayers
in the chapel of the hospital on Sun-
day the 4th of June, and a certificate of his having done
so was signed on the day following by the Rev. R.
Tatham the chaplain, John Lookup the farmer of the
hospital, and two of the brethren, Stephen Brass and
John Ayer. But although thus apparently put in
secure possession, it seems there was still a possibility
of his being obliged to vacate. “ In congratulating
you, my dear sir, on being put into possession of Sher-
burn hospital,” writes the bishop to him a day or two
266
LIFE OF DR BELL.
after this, " I must not leave you ignorant that it does
not yet appear whether that possession will remain un-
disturbed. Till this important point is settled, you are
too wise a man to adopt any measures which imply
permanency. You will
, however, make such enquiries
as you judge necessary, if the issue be such as I very
anxiously wish and hope.”
It appears that no further claims were made by the
crown, and Dr Bell remained in peaceable possession.
There were, however, still some troublesome points to
settle with his predecessor, the Bishop of Ely.
The first of these was the amount to be paid to Dr
Bell for dilapidations, which, from the great extent of
the property belonging to Sherburn hospital, was an
object of considerable importance. The first offer from
the Bishop of Ely was contained in the following extract
of a letter from the Bishop of Durham to Dr Bell :-
Mongewell, June 6; 1809.
that you
“ On the subject of dilapidations, I transcribe a part
of a letter which I have just received from the Bishop
of Ely. “I have now a favour to beg of your lordship,
will permit me to offer, through you, to Dr
Bell, the sum of two thousand pounds for dilapidations.
During my incumbency very great annual expenses have
been incurred by me in repairs, and I think the above
sum will amply cover any that Dr Bell may
find
sary. This offer, on the face of it, appears liberal,"
continues the bishop, “ and yet it may be prudent to
have an examination made into the state of the build-
ings before you accept it. From the opinion I enter-
tain of northern surveyors, I very much doubt whether,
neces-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
267
if employed, they would give you to that amount, as it
so greatly exceeds any valuation which they have been
accustomed to make. It may be discreet to con-
ceal the bishop's offer, except from very confidential
friends.”
This offer did not amount to one-half the estimate of
dilapidations which Dr Bell had made in consequence of
the advice contained in the bishop's letter. The par-
ticulars of this estimate do not appear; but Dr Bell
having sent his proposition to Dr Dampier through the
Bishop of Durham, received from his lordship an an-
swer to this effect:-
- June 18, 1809.
My dear Doctor,
“I must not permit you to remain, for a single
post, uninformed, that your letter, with its enclosure,
has reached me, and that I purpose conveying both to
the Bishop of Ely. The former will conciliate his mind
to demands so infinitely exceeding what he had formed
any idea of. What measures he may be disposed to pur-
sue I cannot guess ; but as I shall acquaint him that
you are in London, and where he will probably express
a wish to see you, matters will, I trust, be amicably
settled between you. In the mean time, I recommend
your stating your case to our common valuable friend
in Wimpole Street, and acting by his advice.”
Six days after this the bishop wrote again, saying,
that “ the Bishop of Ely had communicated his readi-
ness to extend his offer of dilapidations at Sherburn to
268
LIFE OF DR BELL.
three thousand pounds." This,” adds the Bishop of
Durham, “I consider liberal; and if you concur in this
opinion, you will probably think it handsome, as early
as may be, to signify your acquiescence. Accept my
congratulations on the amicable termination of the
business. Your estates will, I suppose, require looking
into; and, as the farm-houses will be put into good con-
dition, may be improved. I have something to suggest
upon the subject which may be reserved till we meet, as
I trust we shall meet in the north.'
It was necessary, however, before the matter was
ultimately concluded, that, owing to the still somewhat
unsettled state of the patronage, Dr Bell should agree
to indemnify the Bishop of Ely in the event of the
chancellor's succeeding in a claim," which,” says the
Bishop of Durham, writing to Dr Bell, “ I am persua-
ded he will never make;" and he adds_“I wish to
suggest whether any thing further be necessary than
your undertaking to lay out the money in the specified
repairs, as what is so expended would diminish the
demand on his lordship. This suggestion you will not
communicate as coming from me.”
It appears that some time still elapsed before the
matter was settled; as, on the 13th of September, the
Bishop of Ely himself wrote to Dr Bell, probably in
answer to a letter. He expressed his readiness to pay
L.3000, according to the Bishop of Durham's decision;
and as nothing more appears on the subject at this
time, it was probably now concluded. At all events,
this was the sum which Dr Bell ultimately received.
Another disputed point was regarding the period at
which Dr Dampier's interest in the mastership ceased,
LIFE OF DR BELL.
269
and consequently when Dr Bell was entitled to receive
the rents. Legal opinions were taken in this matter;
but ultimately, at the recommendation of the Bishop of
Durham, Dr Bell yielded the point. The bishop ap-
pears to have given the advice more for the sake of end-
ing the dispute than because he considered Dr Dam-
pier in the right; for he says, in a letter to Dr Bell
about this time, “ I hope matters between you and
the Bishop of Ely will soon be terminated in your
favour."
There was also some dispute respecting the schedule
of furniture, &c., which Dr Bell claimed on taking pos-
session. On this point the Bishop of Ely says, in a
letter of the 13th of September" In regard to the
inventory, I received none from my father, nor, I be-
lieve, will it be found that he had any from his prede-
cessor.' The goods which belong to the hospital are
subjoined in a schedule to the tenant's lease. Thus
I received them, and thus do I transmit them to
you.” This matter, however, was settled, after some
delay, by Dr Bell's taking the furniture in lieu of all
demands.
Having now fairly installed Dr Bell into the master-
ship of Sherburn Hospital, some notice of this institu-
tion will not be deemed out of place. For the follow-
ing account of it, I am indebted to the “ History of
Durham,” by the late R. Surtees, Esq. of Mainsforth,
a work of such acknowledged accuracy, that I need give
no other authority.
Sherburn is situate a mile and a half to the south-
east of Durham. The buildings form a quadrangle,
enclosing an area of about an acre. The chapel, con-
sisting of a nave and chancel, and west tower, occupies
270
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the south-east angle of the square, and is stalled on
each side for the use of the brethren.
It was founded by Hugh Pudsey, “ the Joly Byshop
of Durham,” for sixty-five lepers, over whom he placed
a steward to defend them and their possessions; and
was dedicated to Christ, the blessed Virgin, and La-
zarus, and his sisters Martha and Mary. The original
endowment must bear date before 1181.
The foundation was also added to, at different times,
by William de Hamsterly and Alexander de Kellawe,
who added a portion of land, and who released a rent-
charge of five shillings. And by charter, dated 1331,
John Harpyr, (son and heir of Sir Richard Harpyr,
Knight,) Lord of Thornlaw, gave to the master and
leprous brethren of Sherburn all his land in the vill
and territory of South Sherburn.
Lastly, in 1384, John Lord Neville of Raby gave a
messuage
in Ebchestre to the house of Sherburn; and,
in the same year, the master of Sherburn had a grant
of full warren in all his lands of Sherborne, Whitwell,
Garmondswaye, and Ebchestre.
Under Hugh Pudsey's constitution, revised and con-
firmed, with some additional regulations, by Bishop
Richard Kellaw, it appears that besides five convents
of lepers, (sixty-five persons of both sexes,) with a
steward or guardian at their head, there was an esta-
blishment provided for three priests and four attendant
clerks, one of whom at least was required to be a
deacon. Of these priests, two were destined to officiate
at the altar of St Mary Magdalene, and the third sang
mass at the chapel of St Nicholas, which adjoined the
habitation of the leprous sisters on the south. Bishop
Richard Kellaw built a new chapel, dedicated to the
LIFE OF DR BELL.
271
Virgin, at the north of the old chapel, and added a
fourth priest, who sang daily mass, somewhat later than
the usual service, for such of the brethren as were pre-
vented by infirmity from rising to hear matins, and
rose after their own service was concluded. All the
priests were required to attend. But on Sundays and
festivals, high mass was celebrated last in the principal
chapel, in the presence of the lepers of both sexes, who
entered on their respective sides of the chapel proces-
sionally, preceded by their prior and prioress ; and
after the conclusion, departed again within the veil of
separation. During Lent and Advent, all the brethren
were required to receive corporal discipline in the cha-
pel three days of the week, and the sisters in like
manner in the presence of their prioress.
The steward made up his accounts four times in the
year. He was required to be a priest of a religious
order, if a proper person could be found ; if not, he
might be a secular.
The daily allowance of the lepers was a loaf weigh-
ing five marks, and a gallon of ale, to each, and betwixt
every two a mess or commons of flesh three days in
the week, and of fish, cheese, or butter, on the remain-
ing four; on high festivals, a double mess; and in
particular, on the feast of St Cuthbert, in Lent, fresh
salmon if it could be had—if not, other fresh fish ; and
on Michaelmas day four messed on a goose, with fresh
fish, flesh, or eggs; a measure of salt, the twentieth
part of a razer, was delivered ; and when fresh fish
could not be had, red herrings were served, three to a
single mess, or cheese and butter by weight, or three
eggs.
In Lent each had a razer of wheat to make
frumenty, (simulam,) and two razers of beans to boil ;
272
LIFE OF DR BELL.
sometimes greens or onions, and every day, except
Sunday, the third part of a razer of bean meal; but on
Sunday, a measure and a half of pulse to make gruel.
Red herrings were prohibited from Pentecost to Mi-
chaelmas, and at the latter each received two razers of
apples.
The lepers had a common kitchen and common
cook, fuel and utensils for cooking ; and the sick had
fire and candle, and all necessaries, donec melioretur
vel morietur ; and one of the chaplains was assigned
to hear the confession of the sick, to read the Gospel
to them on Sundays and holidays, and to read the
burial service for the dead. The old woman who at-
tended on the sick had every day three wheaten loaves
and one mess of flesh or fish; and when a brother or
sister was buried, the gravedigger had his meat and
drink. Each leper had a yearly allowance for his
clothing of three yards of woollen cloth, white or russet;
six yards of linen, and six of canvass; and the tailor
had his meat and drink the day on which he came to
cut out their clothes. Four fires were allowed for the
whole community. From Michaelmas to All Saints
they had two baskets of peat on double mess days, and
four baskets daily from All Saints to Easter. On Christ-
mas Eve they had four yule clogs, each a cart-load
with four trusses of straw; four trusses of straw on all
Saints Eve and Easter Eve, and four bundles of rushes
on the Eve of Pentecost, St John Baptist, and St Mary
Magdalene; and on the anniversary of St Martin de
Sancta Cruce, every leper received five shillings and
fivepence in money.
Yet, before the lapse of a century, abuses were com-
plained of. The poor brethren were neglected, their
LIFE OF DR BELL.
273
revenues diverted into private channels, and the whole
establishment so rapidly hastening to decay, that Bishop
Langley interposed his visitatorial authority, and issued
his commission to his temporal chancellor to enquire into
the dilapidations of the hospital; and on receiving the
report of the commissioners, he applied to Pope Eugenius
IV., who granted him a faculty to make new rules and
ordinances for the better regulation and government of
the hospital. Under these new statutes it was required
that the master, or custos, should be a priest, or at least
that he should take priest's orders within one year after
his promotion to the mastership, that he might govern
the house by himself or deputy, and that he should main-
tain a chaplain, four clerks, and two boys, who should
be taught reading and plain song.
The hospital continued under Bishop Langley's sta-
tutes till 1557, when, on the petition of Antony Salvin,
then master, to Bishop Tunstall, Philip and Mary
issued a commission of enquiry.
In 1559, Salvin was deprived for adhering to the
Roman Catholic religion, (and confined at Kirkby
Moorside, in Yorkshire,) and his place was filled by
Thomas Lever, an exile at Geneva during the perse-
cution of Queen Mary, and some time master of St
John's College, Cambridge.
During the civil wars, Sherburn suffered, in common
with every establishment that had any thing to lose.
John Machon, the lawful master, was ejected, (to use
his own words, “ violently pulled and dispossessed,”)
and John Fenwick, a tradesman in Newcastle, was put
in his place by Sir William Emmyn and other parlia-
mentary commissioners. Fenwick, under an order from
Cromwell, transferred the mastership to his son, John
VOL. II.
S
274
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Fenwick, also a layman; and Machon, after having "in
vain demanded of the five next justices to put him in
possession of his said hospital, according to the statutes,"
retired into Staffordshire till the Restoration, when, on
his petition and the certificate of John Cosin, Bishop
of Durham, he was fully reinstated in his office.
Under Machon's mastership, an order was issued by
Bishop Cosin to admit none but maimed seamen and
soldiers into the hospital, pursuant to an order of the
king and council, August 7, 1666.
The following are Bishop Cosin's statutes, which are
still in force:-
* 1.—The master shall be always a person in holy
orders, of the degree of Master of Arts at least, a
licensed preacher, and one who is capable of business,
and applies himself to it, especially for the maintenance
and prosperous state of the hospital.
“ 2.—The master, or his deputy appointed by him
to act in his name, shall usually reside within the said
hospital, for the better ordering and governing the
members thereof, according to the ancient constitution
of Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, saving to the
said bishop his ordinary jurisdiction over them.
“3.—The master, if he be not constantly resident
in person, shall often repair thither, to preach and read
lectures on catechetical heads to them, and to enquire
and hear the complaints of the brethren, when they
have any, and to see them redressed.
« 4.-The common seal shall be kept by the master
only, in a box locked up, and not to be trusted with
the deputy ; and the master shall be always present
when the seal is put to any instrument.
“ 5.-The counterparts of the leases shall be pre-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
275
served in the custody of the master himself; and as
often as there shall be any occasion to trust any writing
out of his hands, he shall take a note for the safe
delivery of it.
“ 6.—No demise of lands anciently used to be de-
mised, shall pass otherwise than by the common seal; and
no demise of lands not demisable by Queen Elizabeth's
foundation, shall be counted valid in law, though it be
duly sealed with the common seal.
« 7.-Upon sealing of any lease, twelve pence and
no more shall be given to every member that attends
to sign the lease.
“ 8.–The demesnes at Sherburn shall never be
demised by lease for years or lives; but the whole, or
at least the greater part thereof, shall continue in the
possession of the master or his deputy, steward or
agent, so that there shall always be maintained on the
ground a full stock of young cattle of all kinds, and a
sufficient quantity of hay, and stores of corn and other
grain in the granaries to answer all occasions of the
house.
Upon the death, cession, or resignation of every
master, so much of his stock and stores of all sorts as
shall be prized to the value of two hundred pounds,
shall be delivered over to the succeeding master, his
heirs or executors, or the sum of two hundred pounds
being paid in lieu and in full satisfaction for the
same.
“10.–For the better securing of the two hundred
pounds, or stock or stores to the value thereof, every
master, soon after his induction, shall be bound to the
Bishop of Durham in the penalty of four hundred
pounds for the payment of two hundred pounds, or
276
LIFE OF DR BELL.
stock or stores to that value, to his lawful successor;
which bond shall be lodged in the registry of the
bishop's consistory court, to be delivered up and can-
celled upon the performance of the conditions by the
preceding master.
“11. An exact inventory shall be taken by every mas-
ter at his coming into his place of all the plate, house-
hold goods, kitchen and brewing vessels, utensils in the
dairy, cellar, and for husbandry, linen, bedding, and all
other furniture, as well belonging to the house of the
master as the houses of the brethren, and three copies
made thereof and signed by the master. The one to
be lodged in the register aforesaid with the bond for
L.200, the other to be preserved by the master himself,
and the third to be kept by the heirs or executors of
the preceding master, who is obliged to leave the same
as he received them on his entrance, according to the
same inventory.
“ 12. The original of these statutes to be safely lock-
in the same box with the common seal, to be
delivered with the said seal to the next lawful succes-
sor, by the predecessor, or his executors or adminis-
trators; and a book shall be prepared for common use,
wherein these statutes and ordinances, as far as they
concern the brethren, shall be fairly written, with Queen
Elizabeth's act of foundation in the 27th year of her
reign, and such other rules as shall hereafter be made
by any succeeding bishop. Those rules concerning the
brethren are to be read to the brethren at a full meet-
ing once a year.
“ 13. A quarto book shall be carefully kept by the
master or his deputy, wherein shall be fairly entered
the names of all the present members, and the time of
ed up
LIFE OF DR BELL
277
their coming in, and when and before whom they were
sworn; and as often as any of them shall die, the bro-
ther who succeeds him shall have his name entered, his
country, parish, his age, and the day of the year of his
being sworn, and by whom, and whom he succeeds, and
till that be done no person shall be reckoned a brother
or member of Sherburn house.
“ 14. As many brethren shall be lodged within the
house as the ancient lodgings will permit, and have
usually for many years existed there.”
Whatever advantage might accrue to Dr Bell from
his appointment to Sherburn hospital, it certainly was
somewhat extraordinary that the Bishop of Durham
should have sought to make it a matter of exchange
when it was discovered that it was untenable with a
cure of souls--especially as it placed Dr Bell under
the necessity of requesting it as a personal favour from
Mr Calcraft, that the bishop's nominee might be pre-
sented to the living of Swanage.
This gentleman's name was Gale; he was sixty-four
age and had held a small living of L.150
a-year in Yorkshire. He does not appear to have been
well fitted to succeed so active a clergyman as Dr Bell,
and the change seems to have been much regretted by
the inhabitants of Swanage.
The following letter, written by him to Dr Bell soon
after his taking possession, is curious, and characteristic
enough to be inserted here :
years of
1
• Swanage, Feb. 10, 1810.
My good Cousin,
“You begin yours with saying you hope I am in love
278
LIFE OF DR BELL.
The very
with Swanage. I told you the moment I saw it, and even
before we arrived at it, myidea of it. You talk of summer.
The fault is in winter, as you too well know you are
up to the neck in puddle and mire; and in summer you
are smothered with the dust, and roasted in those parts
where the houses are, by the burning sun.
sight of the country gave poor Mr Sanders (the curate)
the horrors. He is a most excellent man, and has this
advantage over me, that he can leave it without loss,
and seek out a more pleasant situation. I am in a sad
mess with the house and the out-buildings. Since I
have been here, the carpenters and bricklayers have
never been from the house, outside and in. They are
this day at work at the steps at the door which goes
into the garden, the wet winter having caused them to
give way more than they had before. Some of my
more understanding and distant neighbours, who have
called on me, say that I ought to have had L.400 for
the dilapidations of the place, and certain I am that
L.200 will do but little at it. Most of the frames of
the windows are so rotten that they must have new ones,
and one has been put in. I have told the bishop, that
instead of doing me a service, the expense of this place
will be the ruin of me; and I am most truly sorry that
I was so great a fool as to come to it without having
first seen it, and well for me had it been at the bottom
of the sea before I ever arrived at it.
. I
have had some pressing invitations from some truly
respectable persons to Lulworth, &c. &c., so that I
shall get out of this place probably for the whole of the
summer.
I wish I had a house at Landaff- it is as
pleasant as this is to the contrary. The bad roads, and
having to send a dozen miles for a common hack-chaise,
LIFE OF DR BELL.
279
makes this a most sad place for an old man. I cannot
see to make a pen, and this is one of Mr Gover's, which
I never can write with. I have no news of Swanage, as
I never come into the town, having not even exchanged
a dish of tea. Once I have borrowed a horse and been
to Mr Dampier’s, to look at his Devonshire cattle,
which he will soon have in high perfection."
Mr Gale's curate, Mr Sanders, who had been recom-
mended by the Bishop of Durham, was a man of ability,
and an active and exemplary clergyman. He had for-
merly been curate to Dr Gray, and was well known
to Mr Marriot, who thus wrote concerning him to Dr
Bell, previous to his going to Swanage :-
“Rugby Lodge, Sept. 9, 1809.
« My dearest Friend,
56 On our arrival at this place, after a tour of near
400 miles, yesterday afternoon, I was told that I must
write to you, according to the wish of a very valuable
neighbour, of all my many relations in these parts, who
is appointed under the recommendation of your bishop
to the curacy of Swanage. He is entirely unknown to
the inhabitants and vicinity, and would be obliged to
any body for any introduction that would be acceptable
to him, and particularly rejoice in any kind act from
you of this sort. If you are at the bishop's, I need
hardly say more; but should this be forwarded to you
elsewhere, you may be glad to know that I firmly rely
on Mr Sanders zeal in the cause he has engaged in,
for making good any deficiency arising from the rec-
tor's greater turn for antiquities and literature than for
clerical duties. I have no doubt he will zealously carry
280
LIFE OF DR BELL.
on the education of the poor, and it is not my fault if
he has yet to learn how to do this in your way. I do
not think his speeches and conduct always judicious;
but you and I have seen enough of mankind to adopt,
respecting men, Horace's candid rule with regard to
poetry—- Ubi plura nitent non ego paucis offendar
maculis, quas humana parum cavit natura. '»
Dr Bell accordingly supplied him with ample intro-
ductions.
“I was very cordially received,” Mr San-
ders writes to him after his arrival, “ by all the friends
to whom you favoured me with introductory letters,
and beg leave to return you my warm thanks for those
letters, and for the pleasing and valuable information
with which they were accompanied.”
Mr Sanders did not, however, remain long there;
and the only further information we have on this sub-
ject, is contained in the following extract of a letter
from Mr G. Manwell to F. Warren, with which we
must take our leave of Swanage :-“ I shall now
speak of the state of religion at Swanage, also of
our late and present minister, who certainly was and
is a man of singular character. The Rev. Dr Bell's
'loss is, I fear, irreparable in Swanage. His abilities
were eminent, blended with a generous spirit, so as
to be exceedingly useful in such a place as this. We
have now no more books given away, no encourage-
ment for learning, nó sympathizing discourse. The
Sunday schools are in a rapid decline, and no one to
stand foremost to assist or encourage the smallest de-
gree of useful learning. The Rev. Mr Sanders I
doubt not but you have had an excellent account of by
Mrs Warren ; his manner of life and preaching was
LIFE OF DR BELL..
281
truly evangelical, and had he continued here till this
time, the church could not have contained the people
that would have attended to hear him preach; and since
the weather was getting fine, it was no uncommon
thing for people to come near twenty miles on a Sun-
day to hear him preach.”
282
LIFE OF DR BELL..
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Further progress of the System-Lord Kenyon's scholastic proceedings
Establishment of the Durham, Exeter, and Winchester Diocesan School
Societies.
By the details already given, it has been seen what ad-
vances the system was making in various parts of the
country. Its growth, at first slow and gradual, had
rapidly quickened, and numberless coadjutors and advo-
cates were continually springing up. Still something
was wanting to render its diffusion universal. Individual
exertion, though strained to the uttermost, could not
accomplish this; and the minds of those who were most
active in the cause were becoming gradually awakened
to the necessity of union. Applications for schoolmas-
ters were made almost daily; and though Swanage had
supplied some, and the various institutions into which
the system had been introduced had sent out, and was
still sending out, others, still the supply was far from
adequate to the demand.
Of the progress that had lately been made, some idea
may be formed from the following letter from Mr
Davis to Dr Bell, written in September 1809:-
My dear Friend,
“ I heartily congratulate you upon the steady pro-
gress you are making in the north. I shall expect to
hear soon of the neighbouring counties flocking for
LIFE OF DR BELL.
283
assistance to the standard you are now erecting at
Sherburn house. I write principally to tell you how
rapidly we are going on in the south, and to say every
possible haste shall be made, at Gower's Walk, to for-
ward the new edition of your instructions, which is
called for here most loudly. In so many places is your
system establishing here, that I begin to dread it will
not go on as it deserves for want of a superintending
eye, or rather such a visitation as you have for the last
two years given the Whitechapel and a few other schools.
That you may judge a little of what is doing, I subjoin
a list of what has lately occurred.
Aldgate Ward. A deputation visited White-
chapel-sent the master there for a week-had the
head boy with them for about five weeks to about one
hundred children.
“ Brentwood. Rev. Towers sent for Sand-
ford, (head boy)—kept him a month, and planted the
system-recommended him to Sir Richard
Dagnam Park. Miss N. sent the mistress to G. Walk,
and now has asked for Sandford to go to a large school-
room, Salisbury, where a lady had begun Dr Bell's
plan.
Poplar.---Patroness of a girl's school and the mis-
tress came to G. Walk; had a girl from there, and all
going on well.
" Kensington.-Rev. W. Armerod and Dr Hamil-
ton sent a new master (a clever man) to both schools
for two weeks—then sent for a boy.
“ Marine Society.--Sir William Blizard and the
committee came to Whitechapel delighted with the
plan—letter of thanks to Mr D.-on Saturday last
sent the new master to walk the schools.-N.B. Five
at
284
LIFE OF DR BELL.
hundred or six hundred boys annually fed, clothed, &c.,
from the society's ships at Deptford.
“ Twickenham.-A letter from Archdeacon Cam-
bridge for permission for a master and mistress to attend
the schools, and further assistance. Mr and Mrs L.
receive them to-day at Gower's Walk, I believe for a
large establishment.
“ Plymouth.-G. W. Marriot's friend, Mr Saltan,
sent a man from a committee there-part were for Dr
Bell, and part for Lancaster; so he was to visit London,
and take the best of both. Caught by L.,
Caught by L., and persua-
ded to follow him. W. D. saw him but once.
“ Mr Oswell's brother, a clergyman from Shropshire,
his friends, &c., were at Whitechapel on Saturday; he
will want assistance in that county. I continue to report
very favourably of Whitechapel. I hope you will think
it approaches to perfection, and Gower's Walk is very
close on its heels."
It appears from this account alone that the demand
for teachers, &c., was rapidly increasing; and this Dr
Bell had foreseen, and in all his publications had more
or less alluded to. So early as 1805 he recommended
that a Board of Education, on a similar footing to the
Board of Agriculture, should be established. In 1808
he published a “ Sketch of a National Institution for
training up the Children of the Poor in moral and reli-
gious principles, and in habits of useful industry,"
wherein he enters at great length into the object
and nature of such an institution. After some pre-
liminary observations, and stating that, with all the
advantages England possesses, both as regards its pure
and apostolic government in the church, and its model
LIFE OF DR BELL,
285
of a free constitution in the state, “ the children of the
poor are not unfrequently bred in the grossest preju-
dice, ignorance, and error," he says—“ To remedy
this evil by an institution complete in its principles,
simple in its forms, effectual in its operation, cheap
in its provisions, and adequate in its end, is the grand
desideratum in the political, moral, and religious world.”
He then proceeds to develop his plan :-“ Now I say,
that for this establishment the church presents to the
state the most appropriate facilities and advantages
which the fondest friends of the system could have
framed on its behalf. Nothing remains to be added,
no new and unprecedented burden to be imposed, no
expense to be incurred for that without which every
system is of small avail—faithful, able, and professional
superintendence and control. The schools, with their
masters and mistresses, would naturally fall, and by the
spirit of the canon law and even in its letter, if adapt-
ed to the existing state of the church and of education)
do already fall, under the inspection and direction of
the parochial clergy.” He then proceeded to show how
well the Madras system was adapted to be under the
superintendence of the church; and how easy it would
be, in the first instance, for the legislature to establish
schools under the parochial clergy, who were bound to
see to the instruction of their parishioners, and who
might so easily effect this through the powerful aid of
the new system. He excused himself from subjoining
to this basis of a national institution what may be called
the
ways and means of carrying it into effect, &c., on
the plea of his numerous interruptions and avocations,
and that “his province was experiment, not speculation.”
In the same year, as we have seen, he drew up, when
286
LIFE OF DR BELL.
at Durham, a plan of an institution for training masters,
upon which, in fact, the “ Barrington school” was
established. In this paper, after speaking of the acti-
vity of the dissenters, and the inactivity of the church,
he thus continues—“ This I speak of the schools with-
in the pale of the church. Other societies, who are
more alive to their true interests, have for some time
acted on the principle of tuition by the scholars them-
selves; but not with full effect, because they have not
hitherto imbibed, or at least followed up, the true spirit
of the simple system. They are now sensible of their
error, and simplifying their instructions for schools,
stripping them of their quackery, and bringing them
nearer and nearer to the just standard as to the mode
of instruction, and have many agents giving to their
doctrines a wide spread; while we are idle and uncon-
cerned spectators, surrendering to the enemies of the
church those cannon which were planted on our citadel
for its defence and security.”
A train had thus, in some measure, been laid for the
National Society; but before we come to the realiza-
tion of these plans, we have some preliminary steps to
make, and the proceedings of several new and most in-
fluential advocates of the system to notice. Lord Kenyon
comes among the first of these, of whose exertions Mr
Marriot thus speaks in a letter to Dr Bell early in 1801:
—“ Lord Kenyon, in whose neighbourhood (Flintshire)
there was lately a great stir made by Lancaster, imme-
diately exerted himself with zeal to make the current flow
with the church under your auspices, and wrote to me
for a large supply of all the publications necessary to dis-
seminate a proper knowledge of what had been done
under the sanction of the establishment, and your guid-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
287
ance. I sent three · Elements of Tuition,' two dozen
Extracts, one dozen · Lambeth Sermons, one dozen
· Sketches of a National Institution, and two · Ber-
nards,' the latter with a caution. We cannot bear the
latter part of it, and Lord Radstock and Park are as
angry as we are. Surely he might, without incurring
the charge of bigotry, have made a distinction between
your plan and L.’s, as to their respective adaptation to
the purposes of the establishment, in a book dedicated
to a bishop.”
After these and some other preliminary steps, his
lordship commenced the establishment of a school in his
own neighbourhood, of which we find the following
account sent by Mr Marriot to Dr Bell :-
August 27, 1811.
“ My excellent friend Lord Kenyon is just bringing
all his good intentions to bear in a school for two hun-
dred children, which I saw yesterday. Davis's boy is
to be here on Michaelmas Day to set the good work on
foot, and the parish (one consisting of six different town-
ships, and of 18,000 acres of land, with a proportionate
population) is to be informed that the founder of the.
institution only wishes to be called upon by more nu-
merous applicants for an increase of the building; and
at the same time he announces to the clergy and his
other neighbours, that every facility shall be extended
from his school to any they may wish to organize ' à
la Madras.' A stone monument, with · Madras Edu-
cation' inscribed, and a Bible and Common Prayer-
Book beneath, is to appear in the centre of the front. I
ought to have added, that the school is so placed as to
be convenient for other parishes in which Lord Kenyon
288
LIFE OF DR BELL.
He was
has property, as well as that of Hanmer, in which he
resides. I found the rector of Chirk and Erbistock
(to which place he was preferred by the late Bishop
Horsley, whose chaplain he was) at Lord Kenyon’s when
I arrived, and he stayed two days with us.
almost uninformed on the right side of Madras educa-
tion, but we did not ‘leave him dead,' as the captain did
the sleeping sentinel. He appears a very promising con-
vert, and has pledged himself just as we could have wish-
ed, both as to his own parishes and the general cause."
The boy mentioned here, whose name was Clark, had
been educated at Gower's Walk since 1808. Before
going on
on his present mission he had been organizing a
school in 1810 at Buryton, near Petersfield, Hampshire-
Mr Davis having been applied to by the Rev. Mr On-
slow, vicar of that place. Here he remained about two
months, when he returned to Gower's Walk, and con-
tinued there as teacher till he was sent for to organize
this school for Lord Kenyon at Penley. Here he was
lodged at the master's house, and was fully occupied for
between four and five months, his lordship visiting the
school several times each week during this period, and
regularly examining the classes. After Clark had com-
pleted the organization of this school,* through his lord-
ship he assisted in introducing the system into several
other schools in the neighbourhood, at Whitchurch,
Overton, Shrewsbury, &c., remaining altogether up-
wards of six months in that part of the country.
* Lord Kenyon was so well pleased with Clark's services, that, on his
departure, he presented him with a silver watch, having a hive surrounded
with flying bees engraved on it, and inscribed with “ The reward of Me
rit," and " Learn to live.”. He also gave him a silver medal,
LIFE OF DR BELL.
289
The system was also introduced into Chester about
this time through Lord Kenyon's influence, which Mr
Davis thus alludes to in writing to Dr Bell-
6 October 30, 1811.
“ As I have room, I can now give you more gratify-
ing information than the above. Lord Kenyon has had
a boy from Gower's Walk, who has succeeded so well,
and has so delighted his lordship, that he has been
labouring to interest the Bishop of Chester, and with
no small success. The dean (Cholmondeley) has re-
quested a boy to assist in Madrassing a school at Ches-
ter of 100 boys, and afterwards to attend five other
schools where he has influence; and the dean had pre-
viously been joined to the new society by Mr Mathias,
and he is now corresponding with him, and is sending
the head boy of Whitechapel, a very smart and intelli-
gent lad."
After Clark returned from Flintshire, he was em-
ployed in organizing a school at Blyth, in Nottingham-
shire, under the auspices of the Dowager-Duchess of
Newcastle and General Craufurd; one under the Duke
of Newcastle in the same county, and another at
Tickel; and having thus spent about a year, he re-
turned to Gower's Walk, and was apprenticed to the
printing business there.
We must now return to Durham, where, as has been
related, the Madras system had already taken deep
The bishop of that diocess, in establishing the
Barrington school, had conferred a most important
benefit on the county; and the operations thus auspi-
VOL. II.
T
290
LIFE OF DR BELL.
ciously commenced, were now about to be followed up
on a more extended scale.
At a meeting of the clergy of the diocess of Durham,
held at Newcastle on the 5th of September 1811, the
Archdeacon being in the chair, a series of resolutions
were entered into, of which the following, being the
most important, are extracted here :-
“ That the facility of giving instruction to youth
has been much advanced by the discovery of a mode
of tuition, conducted through the agency of the scholars
themselves.
“ That the greatest benefit which mankind can
derive from this interesting discovery, consists in its
application to the purpose of moral and religious
instruction,
“ That the direction and superintendence of religious
instruction, and a diligent application of the means of-
fered for its improvement, constitute a very essential
part of the pastoral office.
“ That, animated by a strong sense of this impor-
tant duty, we have for some years contemplated with
thankfulness the zealous exertions and liberal contribu-
tions of the Lord Bishop of this diocess for the intro-
duction, support, and extension of the new system of
education at Auckland, Durham, and many other
places.
“ That, amongst other acts of munificence, we dis-
tinguish with a lively interest that ample and perma-
nent provision which his lordship has made, in the
Barrington school at Auckland, for training masters,
who are enabling themselves to employ their talents in
spreading, throughout the diocess, the application of
LIFE OF DR BELL.
291
this powerful method, under the direction and care of
the parochial clergy.
“ That it is highly proper that we should express to
his lordship our sincere gratitude for these efforts of his
paternal care, and our utmost readiness to contribute, as
far as shall be in our power, to the still further exten-
sion of the benefits which the rising generation may
derive from the due execution of this salutary system.
“ That, in order to give effect to these our senti-
ments and intentions, it is expedient that a society be
formed for the purpose of obtaining mutual advice and
assistance, and so producing uniformity in our endea-
vours to execute these charitable purposes; of opening
and maintaining a constant correspondence with each
other, and with any provincial or general society that
may
hereafter be instituted with the same views and
designs; and of giving, in the execution of this system,
all such information and other assistance as shall be in
our power.
“ That such of the laity as concur in the above
sentiments, be earnestly requested to unite with the
clergy in the formation and support of such a society.
" That this meeting do, and it does hereby, form
itself into a society for the purposes above mentioned ;
and that this Society be denominated, “A Society for
the Education of the Children of the Poor, according
to the System invented by Dr Bell
, and under the
superintendence of the Parochial Clergy.
" That these our resolutions be laid before the Hon-
ourable and Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of this
diocess, and that his lordship be requested to accept
the office of patron of the society.”
292
LIFE OF DR BELL.
To these resolutions a list of the clergy and others,
who had become members of the committee, was ap-
pended.
In addition to this, the bishop wrote a circular letter
to all his clergy, in which, speaking of this society, he
says" This appears to me one of the most eligible
and effectual means of providing for the poor in gen-
eral, such a degree of education as will enable them
to read the Holy Scriptures with benefit. I shall,
therefore, be much gratified by your giving to this
society all the encouragement and assistance in your
power.”
The society also circulated a “Sketch of their Regu-
lations,” which stated that the objects of the society
were to collect and make known information of the
wants of the poor inhabitants of the diocess of Durham
in respect to education, and to contribute by pecuniary
and other aid to the establishment of new schools ac-
cording to the Madras system, and to the remodeling
of others; and that their attention would be particu-
larly drawn to the providing of well-qualified school-
masters.
There also was to be both a central and a district
committee, which were to hold sittings on the second
Thursday in every month, and at any other times that
might be desired.
The design of this society being, as has been seen,
to promote the sound and religious instruction of the
poorer classes, their first object was to procure a gen-
eral list of those parishes which required assistance in
providing for the education of their respective poor.
This was now obtained through the bishop's exertions,
LIFE OF DR BELL.
293
and assistance was promptly afforded wherever the
population was most numerous, and the means of pro-
curing it least effective.
Circular letters were likewise addressed to the
ministers of towns and country parishes, apprising
them that the co-operation of the society, in the way
most acceptable to the parties concerned, might be
depended on, wherever a liberal subscription should
have been made by the proprietors of lands or mines,
or other persons of opulence, in their respective districts
---the plan of the society not being confined to the
establishment of new schools, but comprehending the
encouragement and conditional support of parochial
schools already instituted.
At the time that this society was being instituted at
Durham, another was rising up in Devonshire, chiefly
through the exertions of Sir Thomas Acland, who,
having several times visited the schools at Whitechapel,
sent for a boy from thence to organize a new school,
which had been built near his residence. Upon this
Mr Marriot thus observes, on enclosing to Dr Bell a
letter he had received from Sir Thomas-" I can-
not help adding a letter from Sir Thomas Acland,
whose admiration is not, like that of too many others, ,
found in his professions, but who built and established
a school on the jubilee day, for all the poor near his
country residence, and set the good work on foot with
a Madras adept."
This, however, was only a preliminary step; and in
August Dr Bell received a letter from Sir James
Riddell
, who was then staying at Killerton, (Sir Tho-
mas's seat.)
294
LIFE OF DR BELL,
you, that
My dear Sir,
“ Killerton, August 9, 1811.
" It is with very sincere pleasure that I have to
acquaint you, my
friend Sir Thomas Acland, with
that zeal with which he ever pursues whatever may
tend to the good of his fellow-creatures, is at present
employed in endeavouring to form a society for esta-
blishing schools on the Madras system of education,
throughout the county of Devon.
“ He has already influenced the Bishop of Exeter,
(who, by the way, in his primary charge, very earnest-
ly recommended to his clergy to adopt your system in
their respective parishes,) Lord Rolle, and several of
the principal gentlemen of the county, now assembled
at Exeter on account of the assizes, in his favour; and
yesterday a partial meeting took place, to consider of
the best mode of putting it into execution. On ac-
count of the shortness of the notice, the meeting was
not so well attended, and little business was done; but
to-day there will be a second, where I most earnestly
hope, and have every reason to believe, that all that Sir
Thomas wishes may be realized.
“ I now write to you, knowing with what pleasure
you will receive the above information, and to acquaint
you that you will, in a day or two, receive from the
secretary a formal communication of their plans, accom-
panied by an earnest request for your personal assist-
ance if you have at present sufficient leisure; if not, for
your advice, as to the best mode of carrying their plans
into effect, by letter.
• Sir Thomas wishes a school to be established, in
the first instance, at Exeter, as well for the education
of the inhabitants of that town, the schools there at
present not containing more than 300 or 400 children,)
LIFE OF DR BELL.
295
as for a nursery for schoolmasters and mistresses, the
same as at Bishop-Auckland.
“ The knowledge of the Bishop of Durham's plans,
for sending out the children when qualified, and of the
kind of assistance which he renders to parish schools
in his diocess, would, I should imagine, be of the great-
est use to them. I shall write to Mr Birkett for what
information he can give me on the subject, either re-
questing him to send it directly to Sir Thomas Acland,
or through me.
“ I believe that you are already acquainted with my
friend, if not, I must now introduce you to each other;
perhaps you may, if you have time, write to him: his
address is Killerton, near Exeter, Devon.
I must
just add, as a further reason for activity on the part
of the well-wishers of the establishment of Church and
State, that Mr Lancaster has said that he intends to
visit this county in October, and has made use of some
very extraordinary expressions; as, for instance, that
' he comes with royal authority,' and that he will
teach the people of Devonshire a lesson that will sur-
prise them, and such as they have not been used to.'
“It appears a strange infatuation that persons attached
to our Establishment should ever give any encourage-
ment, directly or indirectly, to such a man.
“ The person whom I had sent to Bishop-Auckland
has returned instructed to my heart's desire, and expe-
rienced such attention from Mr Birkett and the school-
master, as I shall ever feel grateful for.
“I consider myself infinitely indebted to you for
having paved the way for his reception, and request
that
you
will receive my best thanks. I am ever, my
dear Sir, your obliged friend and servant,
“ JAMES RIDDELL,"
296
LIFE OF DR BELL.
The society was accordingly at once formed on
principles nearly similar to those on which the national
society was subsequently founded. It was to be called
6 The Society for promoting the Education of the
Poor in the County of Devon and City of Exeter, in
the Principles of the Established Church, and on Dr
Bell's plan.”
The business of the society was to be conducted by
a committee, to consist of a president, six vice-presi-
dents, thirty directors, a treasurer, and two secretaries,
and five of them to be a quorum. A quarterly meet-
ing was to be held at the castle of Exeter, and an
annual one in Exeter, “ for the purpose of auditing
the accounts, electing directors and officers for the en-
suing year, and transacting the other general business
of the society.” In Exeter a central school was to be
established, “ for the united purposes of educating the
children of parents of all denominations, and instruct-
ing masters and teachers for other parts of the coun-
The Bishop of Exeter was to be president of
the society, and the dean and dignitaries of the cathe-
dral members of the general committee, ex officio.
At the time that this society was instituted, Sir T.
Acland wrote to Mr Davis, saying " That the com-
mission with which he was about to trouble him would
give him so much pleasure, that he should make no
apology for the liberty. It is,” he continued, “no
less than to request you to order of Mr Lovell five
hundred copies of Dr Bell's instructions for conducting
schools on the Madras system, and also the same num-
ber of copies of the 'New School' by Thomas Bernard,
Esq. With a recommendatory letter from our bishop
(and president,) these are to be sent to every clergy-
try.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
297
man in the county by à society this day established for
the purpose of diffusing the knowledge of Dr Bell's
plan in the county, for encouraging, assisting, and
establishing his schools to the utmost extent of their
funds, and more immediately for establishing a large
school in Exeter, as well for the inhabitants as for the
education of schoolmasters, and as a model for others
to follow. I trust you will think this an object worthy
of Dr. Bell's presence, and perhaps you will have the
goodness to forward a letter to him for me by the
shortest and most certain conveyance.”
In sending this letter to Dr Bell, Mr Davis informed
him that 500 “ Instructions” were sent off the day
before by coach, and that he had written to Hatchard to
send twenty copies of the “New School;" and added-
"I say to you in confidence, that I did not feel zealous
enough to recommend the extensive circulation of a
book which says so much of L. I wrote to Sir Tho-
mas, and told him what I had done, and merely said,
that, not being quite clear who was the publisher, I
had ordered twenty from Hatchard's; that I believed
there was a good deal in the book about Lancaster;
but if he received and approved of those, he could
order the next himself direct."
Sir Thomas Acland's letter to Dr Bell contained an
earnest invitation to visit him at Killerton, for the
pur-
pose of assisting them in their undertakings, and at the
same time informed him of what their plans were.
: To this the Doctor replied as follows-
“ Sherburn House, Durham, 17th August 1811.
« Dear Sir Thomas,
“I was going to acknowledge the notice which
298
LIFE OF DR BELL.
.
our friend Sir James Riddell had given me of your
proceedings, when I am honoured with your further
communications and resolutions. I need scarcely say
how much I feel gratified by the prospectus of all you
are doing, and how totally unnecessary any apology
must be for conferring on me so great an obligation, as
to enable me to be of any use, if any use I can be of,
to your noble and grand designs.
“ Nothing can be more auspicious than your com-
mencement with my late honourable prelate in the
chair, who has uniformly distinguished the cause of
religious education with his marked attention and
favour. My present honourable patron and diocesan
was here shortly after I had received your packet, and
was greatly pleased with seeing that his views were so
happily embodied in your resolutions and proceedings.
The resolutions, which I had just had time to run over,
his lordship’s chaplain carried with him to Durham, to
impart to Mr Bouyer, prebendary, who is most zeal-
ously and actively employed in this good work, and
who is himself the father of schools of industry in
Lincolnshire. Of the resolutions, I can at present only
say that they appeared to us—to them and to me-
most proper. I observed only a restriction as to books,
which, as it is worded and put so exclusively, might
give rise to objections, and would deprive your schools
of the most valuable and useful books published by the
Society for bettering the condition of the poor: Such
are, 1. The Life; 2. The Parables ; 3. The Miracles
4. The Discourses of our blessed Saviour. Packets of
such books are made up at Hatchard's, and sold for 5s.,
one guinea, and three guineas.
“ In carrying your scheme into effect, it seems ta
1
LIFE OF DR BELL.
299
me only requisite that you go on as you have begun.
Your great difficulty, your sole difficulty, need be in
regard to a master. This single obstacle has done
more mischief than can be imagined, by those who have
not, like me, experienced its unhappy consequences.
The want of a schoolmaster has defeated several
pro-
jects of schools, and unfit or improper ones have pro-
duced a great failure in the attempts of the best dis-
posed managers of schools. While I was at Swanage,
I was often able to dig youths out of the stone-quarries
there; but since I resigned that living, I have often
been most grievously disappointed in my attempts to
obtain fitting and qualified men. It was the first diffi-
culty I foresaw, and sought to provide against, in the
scheme of spreading education among the poor, and it
is the last I expect to remedy. In reply to the primary
address I received from the rector and trustees of the
Whitechapel schools, I urged the necessity of making
provision for future masters, if they sought to extend to
others the blessings which themselves felt and acknow-
ledged. At Lambeth, I dwelt long and much on the
facility of an establishment for training masters, which
peculiarities in the endowment of the parochial school,
on which was engrafted the new school, afforded. I also
pressed the consideration of this point on the men
highest in station and dignity, and was flattered with
the hope of a legislative measure to this effect. In the
prospectus of the Marylebone School on a large scale,
the training of masters constituted an original branch.
Still, however, the good Bishop of Durham has alone
acted on this principle, and is actually training boys
for this purpose, several of whom have already been
very useful in modeling schools, and several have taken
300
LIFE OF DR BELL.
charge of schools. It requires a length of time to grow
the boys, now on his foundation, into men; and there
is wanting in the metropolis an institution—a central
and model school, (such as my friend Davis's school at
Gower's Walk,) with an establishment for training, in
constant succession, two men, one of whom may be
ready to take charge of such schools as offered.
“ In this state of things it will be requisite that some
of the committee look out for a man of capacity, who,
above all things, should be docile, and he should go
where he can receive practical instruction. When he
has opened his school, and has made such progress as
he can, then it would be that I could probably be of
most use to your designs. It is much my wish to give
you my attendance when it can be of real benefit; and
I would fain hope that I may be able to be with you
when you are once fairly begun.
“ It were only to add unnecessarily to the trouble of
deciphering my hand, to give any other instructions for
the economy of the school than those which are pub-
lished. When I have again the pleasure of hearing
from you, I shall be able to say more definitely what I
may be able to do. In every event, the master, his
character, and capacity, and docility in learning, are of
the utmost moment. All else will be of no avail when
this is wanting
“ I have the honour to be, dear Sir, with high esteem,
your most faithful and obedient servant,
“ A. BELL."
Another diocesan society was constituted before the
close of the same year in the county of Hampshire, when
the bishop of that diocess convened a meeting at St
LIFE OF DR BELL.
301
John's House, Winchester, at which he presided. “The
full and respectable attendance of the clergy,” says Mr
Iremonger, in his suggestions, “ on this occasion, was
the surest earnest of the future welfare of the society
then forming for instructing the infant poor within the
county, on the plan of Dr Bell, in the principles and
doctrines of the Church of England, and in such other
learning as would be profitable for them in their condi-
tion of life. The lord bishop was elected president,
and the nobility, gentry, and laity were earnestly in-
vited to co-operate with the clergy in this charitable
and excellent undertaking."
In the middle of September, Mr Davis wrote from
Gloucestershire to Dr Bell, saying, that since he had
been there, he had received a long letter from Sir
Thomas Acland, requesting from him all sorts of infor-
mation respecting the proceedings of their society, and
the management and arrangement of the school, to
which he said he had “ given a long reply, which he
hoped would
Mr Marriot also, in a letter to Dr Bell, says-
prove useful."
“September 18, 1811,
“ I am told that the Exeter society have sent a copy
of your volume to every clergyman in the diocess.
Their fund is already from £500 to £1000; and the
annual subscription nearly £250.”
302
LIFE OF DR BELI..
CHAPTER XXIX.
The System introduced into Christ's Hospital and the Clergy Orphan School
-Plan proposed for a Classical School on the System Dr Marsh's Ser-
mon at St Paul's.
Such were the advances which the Madras system had
made, and was still making. Its general adoption,
which Dr Bell at one time thought would not occur till
a future generation, had taken place in his own time,
and under his own immediate superintendence. Mean-
while the advocates of the cause in the metropolis were
not idle; but before we proceed to follow out their
operations, it will be necessary, in consequence of the
first proposals that were made, to see what Dr Bell's
opinions and intentions were with regard to the appli-
cability of the system to the education of the higher
orders of society, as well as to notice some of the steps
which had hitherto been taken to promote that object.
The first classical institution that had adopted it, was
the preparatory school of Christ's Hospital; the trea-
surer of which, it appears from a letter from Mr D. P.
Watts to Dr Bell
, had visited Whitechapel school early
in 1807, and was “ convinced of the utility and excel-
lence of the plan,” which he had said " he would en-
deavour to adopt, if difficulties peculiar to the ancient
régime did not prevent it.” In March following,
LIFE OF DR BELL,
303
several of the governors visited the school, having heard
of it from the treasurer; and the system was some
time afterward introduced. Of its results there, Mr
Davis thus writes to Dr Bell
“Leytonstone, October 14, 1810.
My dear Friend,
“ I longed to say something to you about Christs
Hospital school at Hertford; but it was not till Friday
that I was able to go there. I took a passport from
the treasurer, which was lucky, as the grammar master,
being a man of some consequence, would probably have
referred me back to some authority for admittance. As
it was, I suspect he did not approve of my presumption
in examining his classes--these not being, as I suppose,
his first object, he hurried my wife and me to look at the
buildings and the children at dinner. You may be sure
I could not find much of Dr Bell's system with him,
or his poor, dear, neglected boys; but he said for my
consolation, (when I told him plainly what was the pur-
port of my visit,) that the system was practised in the
lower school. There, in the afternoon, we went, and
there I and my wife were delighted almost to tears.
An intelligent, well-disposed, unobtrusive master, able,
active, diligent, correct, cheerful teachers, happy boys,
all employed—the hum of industry, marked books,
registers, &c., beautifully kept; reading and ciphering
after your own heart—all bespoke the carefulness and
attention which had been paid to the directions given.
The few remarks which I took the liberty of making
were gratefully received; and the master, Mr Whitter,
is soon to come to Whitechapel, to see if he can take
or give any useful hint. I must shortly make this report
304
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to our friend Mr Watts, who, as a governor, will have
authority to move for some notice to be taken of such
a man, and that proper rewards be also bestowed upon
his admirable teachers. What a blessing to see the plan
thus taking root in the most important establishment in
the kingdom!
“ I am, my dear sir, your ever affectionate friend,
“ W. M. Davis."
Previous to the date of this letter, Dr Bell had
turned his attention more particularly to the subject of
applying his system to classical education; and we find
him thus writing on the subject to Mr D. P. Watts-
“ September 14, 1809.
By the by, I have taken a new work in hand. It
is to publish hints in regard to the application of the
Madras system to classical education
I should
say,
its
A B C, or first rudiments. For this purpose, I want
to collect, for the sake of selecting examples, and of re-
ference, if need be, all the Latin rudiments, grammars,
vocabularies, exercises, introductions to syntax, &c.
It is merely simple, easy, initiatory books, and not be-
yond these, that I mean to go. It occurs to me, that,
through your classical friends, you may perhaps be able
to recommend some which
may
suit
my purpose, and
which might escape my notice, and even order them
for me. Among these I would especially mention the
Latin grammar used at Christ's Hospital, and any
small vocabulary of radical words.
“ To any other person, I should make an apology
for troubling him with such matters; but though I
affix a very inferior comparative importance to this task,
LIFE OF DR BELL.
305
yet I conceive it will not be without its use, if it should
lead to a new economy of discipline in our inferior
schools.”
Mr Watts accordingly procured him some of the class
of books he wanted, and he proceeded with the prepa-
ration of his intended work as fast as his other mani-
fold occupations would allow. He does not, however,
appear to have succeeded according to his wishes; for
although, in February 1811, he had written to Mr
Murray concerning its publication, in August following
we find him thus writing to Mr Davis—“ As to the
Ludus Literarius, at which I so often toiled, and toiled
in vain, when the mind was engaged in other offices,
and distracted with various perplexities, invita Minerva,
nothing can be done to the purpose. In its present
state, it is altogether unfit for any eye. I must wait
the return, if ever it return, of a disembarrassed mind.
Till then nothing that is worth doing can be done.”
In November he again thus writes to Mr Davis
“ I still stop here, (Keswick,) finding plenty of occu-
pation, and being left quiet and undisturbed, which is
not always my lot, and able to give my mind to what
I am about. I have no doubt that I shall be able so
far to please myself with the Ludus Literarius, by lop-
ping off redundancies, being less minute and particular,
as to go to press with it as soon as the new edition of
the Instructions, and of the Madras School, are pub.
lished. I have given a pledge, and, independently of
that, it is not my custom to abandon what I have once
taken in hand, when I know it to be true and devout-
ly to be wished.”
About this time he appears to have written again to
VOL. II.
U
306
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Mr Murray, for we find the following remarks, on the
subject of Dr Bell's publications, in a letter from him
_“I think I agree in the propriety of stereotyping
your original essay, in order that it may remain, for
ever and unalterably, the memorial of your discovery ;
but as you have made already many improvements
upony our plan, and are likely to make more, this first
work will be bought chiefly from curiosity, every per-
son will naturally choose the improved edition for use;
therefore I would suggest that you not only stereotype
the original essay, but make it a fac-simile in type and
size. I do not quite understand your meaning to form
the "first part of the new Madras school, with hints
for classical schools. I presume that you intend to
publish an entirely new book; but this you can ex-
plain hereafter. I think it of great importance to
you, and essential to the general cause, that you should
not, upon any account, allow your books to remain
out of print; for, if yours be withdrawn from circulation,
others will be insinuated. I have now sold every
copy of the Madras School, and, indeed, I have dis-
posed of more than two hundred copies of the Instruc-
tions sent yesterday.
Therefore your improve-
ments in both, but perhaps more particularly in the
Instructions, should be made instantly; for this is the
precise moment when, by availing myself of the public
attention to the subject, and of the favourable impres-
sion excited by our able review of it, I would thrust it
into every corner of the three kingdoms. We might
print 5000, and certainly not less than 3000; and, as
well to demonstrate as secure my heartiness in your
cause, I will pay all expenses of this and the other
works, and place half the profit to your account; but
LIFE OF DR BELL.
307
you will never again have the tide at the ebb as it is
now. Avail
Avail yourself of it, therefore, I beseech you.”
From a list at the end of this letter, it appears there
were only thirty-eight copies of the original “ Experi-
ment” remaining, on which Dr. Bell thus remarks
in his reply—“ You must retain for me all the thirty-
eight copies of the first edition—the original experi-
ment of 1797—or as many as you have left. I want to
bind them, and send them to public and private libra-
ries throughout the kingdom. If, indeed, for any par-
ticular purpose a copy should be wanted by a friend or
a foe, I would lend or give (not sell) it, so that at least
twenty-four copies be retained for my disposal ;-no-
thing but these original copies—no stereotype—no fac-
simile will serve my purpose.”
It seems, from a rough draft of a dedication to the
Bishop of Durham, dated 1811, that Dr Bell intended
to have published the “ Ludus Literarius” without
loss of time. It was not, however, published, from
some cause or other, until 1815.
Meantime the system had been introduced, chiefly
through Lord Radstock’s exertions, into the Clergy Or-
phan school at Lisson Grove. We find the first account
of this in a letter from his lordship to Dr Bell, dated
August 23, 1810—“I am very sure," he writes, “ that
I must have told you that I am as hot and bent upon
introducing the Madras system into the Clergy Orphan
school as ever was its most illustrious founder to esta-
blish it elsewhere. More I could not say, and to have
said less would have fallen short of my feelings.
“ Besides having been once to the Asylum to enquire
into the improving state of the Bellonean system, I
have been often at the Clergy Orphan school to spur
308
LIFE OF DR BELI..
SQ.
up and put upon full stretch the desires and most ardent
wishes of its mistress to see the above system carried
into execution at Lisson Grove. For this
purpose
I
have twice carried her and two of her pupils to Gower's
Walk, by way of at once seizing the bull by the horns.
This way of going to work will, I well know, meet the
approbation of your manly and enterprising spirit. The
girls were delighted, and the mistress, if possible, more
In order to tighten the cord, I yesterday invited
the Davises, Mrs Case, (schoolmistress of Lisson
Grove,) Mr Embry, our worthy secretary, Mr White,
Sir T. B., and Archdeacon Cambridge, to talk the
matter over at my house.
Mrs Case is gone
this day to Gower's Walk with no less than five of her
as I wish all the teachers to see, that they may
believe, for young persons are often as incredulous as
credulous; therefore, when we are anxious to fix se-
rious truths in their minds, 'tis ever best, when prac-
ticable, to bring the matter home to their senses. To-
morrow I shall go once more to Gower's Walk, as it
will be the last opportunity I shall have of seeing that
most indefatigable and most excellent of men. I mean
to take Mrs C. and the girls again with me; for I am
confident that the more these little creatures see of this
system, the more they will be convinced of its pleasant-
ness and utility. Mrs C. and the girls are just arrived,
as I desired her to make my house a baiting-place for
her on her return.
“ I know not, my dear friend, when my heart has
been more truly gratified than during the last half hour
that I have been passing with our young pupils—the
poor little souls appear so thankful and grateful, and so
anxious to see the machine put in motion. In a word,
LIFE OF DR BELL.
309
Providence seems to smile upon us, and promise that all
will go right. With what heartfelt joy I contemplate
this heavenly prospect, none can judge better than your-
self. But, amidst all the joy and transport, I had
nearly forgot one thing, and that certainly no trifle. It
is, that I-I-I (ought I to blush at my pride in saying
it?) may have the honour of adding the name of the
never-to-be-forgotten Andrew Bell to the list of my
subscribers. Sir T. B. will give you one of the society
books, which will let you into all its mysteries. I fear
that I shall have tired you to death with this endless
scrawl; but I should find it no easy task to quit either
you or the subject, even taken separate, but when
united, it is a thing that nothing but necessity could
render practicable.'
A few days after the date of this letter from Lord
Radstock, Mr Marriot writes to Dr Bell on the same
subject—“ You have, I believe, participated in the
plan lately set on foot by the excellent Lord Radstock,
for making all the clergy orphans Madrassians, at least
in the joy which all their well-wishers must have felt,
that such an improvement should be brought to bear
in the discipline of that important seminary. You
should have heard from me, whether I could have found
time or not, had not his lordship's letter informed me
that you were apprised of the design. I find it has
ended in visitings between Lord and Lady R. and Mr
and Mrs Davis, who are to dine in Portland Place on
Tuesday next, and meet a party of governors of the
charity. This character, by the by, Davis has just
assumed, and I hope will actively engage in, at least
till the Madras system, in masters and scholars, is
thoroughly rooted and established. I think the great
310
LIFE OF DR BELL.
29
boon never yet made so important a conquest in this
country, as the citadel now proposed to be stormed.
The school at Lisson Grove is the only charity school I
know, of any extent, which would form a stepping-stone
between ordinary schools for the lowest rank and the
classical ones, to which I trust you yourself are still
determined the infection shall be carried. If the plan
is consummated, Lord R. will be the happiest of
men.'
“ I cannot tell you," writes Dr Bell in a letter to
Mr Davis, “ how happy I was made by a report of
our invaluable friend, Lord Radstock, of what he is
doing in regard to the orphan clergy, and of your being
employed for the purpose : every where we get forward,
and shall get forward."
The system, from this time, succeeded well in this
institution, and, in April 1811, we find the following
account in a letter from Mr Watts to Dr Bell:-
“ Our mutual friend, my noble neighbour (Lord
Radstock,) has called just as I was preparing to seal
my letter, and desires me to insert—. That her Majesty
has consented to be the patroness of the school for
the clergy orphan daughters, since it has been put
under the Madras system ; that the good effects of
the new system are apparent; that thirty or forty
ladies of quality, and of known attachment to the
interests of the poor, especially to the education of their
children, will become superintendents of this good
institution; and that a printed report will soon be cir-
culated on this auspicious event, in which the name
and merits of the author of the Madras system will be
mentioned with marked acknowledgment.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
311
“ It is understood that the patronage of the Queen
is the result of the representation from the committee,
through the mediation of the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, and the concurrence of some prelates. I believe I
may venture to say that our noble friend has been
active in furthering this desirable event."
The Queen accordingly became patroness, and the
Bishop of London president of the institution ; and soon
afterwards a report was published, stating—“ That an
important alteration had been made, since the last anni-
versary report, in the mode of instruction pursued in
the school, by the adoption of the Madras system of
education ;” and, after giving a brief account of its
origin and results, it continued—“ No plan has yet
been proposed, from the general application of which so
much and such unmixed good can be expected, as that
for which this country and many other parts of the
habitable globe are indebted to the piety, philanthropy,
and unexampled labours of Dr Bell.”
Here, then, was a successful experiment of the work-
ing of the new system in a school for the higher
classes. Something, however, was still wanting to
fulfill the wishes of Dr Bell, and those persons whose
views were gradually more and more enlarging on this
subject, and it was not long before this object was
accomplished. Mr Davis, who was then, next to the ori-
ginator, the most indefatigable advocate of the system,
had been anxiously revolving the matter in his mind
and, in February 1811, we find him thus describing
his views to Dr Bell, having previously urged his
coming to London—“ I must reserve all I have to say,"
he writes, “ till I see you, on the subject of training
312
LIFE OF DR BELL.
young men and women. I want nothing to stimulate
me in the cause but seeing my way clear, which I con-
fess, at present, I do not. I have a strong suspicion
that nothing will be sufficient for this purpose but a
classical establishment, to which this might be an appen-
dage. Such an establishment we must have. My
idea is for ten or twenty gentlemen to subscribe from
one hundred to two hundred pounds each, buy pre-
mises, &c., and obtain a proper classical master, (who
should be under your superintendence;) that there
should be a matron to attend to the domestic concerns,
and that as many children should be received as possible.
Subscribers of course to have a preference. I have
no doubt but the moment such a plan was made pub-
lic, applications for admission would be numerous.
I have not yet named this idea to any one; but I am
anxious to see your classical work and receive your
advice."
In reply to this Dr Bell wrote—“ It is not only by
what you have done that I am so much delighted, but
also by what you are going to do. My mind is full of
classical schools, and in search of something practical.
Your mind is turning on the same subject, and has
produced what is so much wanted. It is through a
classical school we are to come on, and, as I will show
in my new book, fulfill our work, and reflect back in
four ways on the charity schools for the
poor.
perfectly satisfied from the imperfect essay at perfect
teaching of the classics, already made with the monitors
of the Barrington school, though they are entirely
without the helps which I propose,
how much
may
be
done. Such a contrast between these boys and those of
a certain classical school I have visited, can scarcely be
I am
LIFE OF DR BELL.
313
any other
could get
imagined; but my work in hand convinces me more
and more theoretically, as the Auckland school does
practically, what may be done.
As to your scheme of a classical school, I defy you to
go wrong
in
way
than by the delay of a
moment. Begin. Go to work. Success will follow.
All you have to do is to get a Mr and Mrs Lovell—a
married man, if it can be done, for your master ; if not,
the best you can get. Lose no time. If you
the master of a school somewhat established; if
you
could
get into a school begun or beginning, and convert
the master to your use, it would save time, trouble, and
difficulty; if you cannot, do not think of buying and
building premises—this is too tedious—but rent. The
master should be a respectable scholar. He must be
capable and willing to compose (compile) my A B C
books for me. Recollect what I wrote to you from
Swanage about your little devils, errand-boys, and type-
boys. Now I do aver you need digest nothing, as,
after all your digesting and consulting, you will just end
(if you end rightly) as you had begun, and chalked
out to me. Nothing more is to be done: it is well done
if it be soon done. The only point that occurs to me
at this moment is to consider whether your subscrip-
tion should be a donation, as you only proposed, or
annual, or both, because many might give you an
annual subscription who would not, or could not advance
you a hundred or two pounds. But of this
you
have
means of information which I have not. With such a
scheme training masters would admirably incorporate.
All must depend upon the master.
master you cannot go wrong, if
you can get a sufficient
number to form classes. As to my being in town, I
With a proper
314
LIFE OF DR BELL.
hear of your
can say nothing positively yet, but that it cannot be
long delayed. It must not be that you are absent when
I am present in London. I can now do nothing with-
out you: know only that the moment I know, you shall
know the time.
A few days after the date of this letter from Dr Bell,
Mr Davis wrote again thus to him-
Leytonstone, March 10, 1811.
“My dear Friend,
“ Since receiving your letter, I believe I have
thought and talked of nothing but a classical school,
and you are not to be surprised if you
friend being placed under the care of Dr Willis : truly,
however, your kind expressions of approbation of what
has been done, and your encouragement to go on in
what ought to be done, are most powerful stimulants
to me and my wife—for without her I can do nothing.
“ In this business we have taken up our ground, and
I trust have proceeded with all possible despatch; but I
feel a grievous loss in Marriot being out on the circuit,
where he will be for four weeks longer. Hodgson,
Coope, Turner, Rowcroft, and W. Cotton, are ours for
any subscription that may be required; but, what is
better, in the latter name I have a zealous co-operator.
We are going to lay the plan before the Bishop of
Durham and Lord Kenyon, and perhaps one or two
more friendly and tried characters, thinking it impor-
tant to have, if possible, some high sanction. We ex-
pect to have one or two Powells, and we hope for your
name as well as superintendence. I have cast about
for a proper master—a member of the Church of Eng-
land, who has taken a degree at one of the universities
—of unaffected piety, sound learning, and engaging
LIFE OF DR BELL.
315
manners. We are conscious that every thing depends
on this point. We hope to have three or four applica-
tions by the time you come; and, with your judgment
and advice, we shall conclude upon this, as well as upon
many matters which I perceive will thicken upon us as
we advance. We will not throw down the gauntlet till
we are sure of victory. We consider that from £2000
to £3000 will be wanting to furnish the house, and pay
contingencies, before any thing of consequence can be
received. We think it should be subscribed in shares
of £100. Those gentlemen (with myself) would rea-
dily take two each ; interest to be paid upon the sum
advanced, and the principal to be liquidated out of the
profits. I shall be very shy of an extended subscription,
or of even admitting any person among us who would
be likely to interfere with your superintendence, or the
control of those who know the system, and have it at
heart. It will be a grand thing indeed, if, when your
Ludus Literarius should go forth into the world, it
can nearly, at the same moment, be practically exhi-
bited.”
In the course of this month a prospectus was issued
for a classical school upon the Madras system, in which
it was proposed that a house should be hired near
London, capable of accommodating from 50 to 100
gen-
tlemen's sons; that the master should be a graduate of
Oxford or Cambridge, and that he should be under Dr
Bell’s especial superintendence; that the first expenses
should be met by the sum of £3000, being raised by
thirty shares of £100; and that the interest on this
money should, together with the expenses of the esta-
blishment, be paid from the sums received with the
316
LIFE OF DR BELL..
scholars; from which also a fund was to be formed for
paying off the shares.
This scheme, however, was not carried into execu-
tion; and the next step we find taken to call public
attention to the subject of national education, was at
the “ yearly meeting of the children educated in the
charity schools in and about the cities of London and
Westminster," when it was arranged that Dr Marsh
should preach the annual sermon at St Paul's. In this
discourse, he commenced by dwelling on the impor-
tance attached by the Reformers to this subject, “ who
had themselves laid the foundation of a system of reli-
gious education, to be conducted under the superin-
tendence of the parochial clergy.
The
plan, therefore, of conducting a Church of England
education,” he continued, “ is very clearly prescribed,
and prescribed also by authority. Now the Liturgy,
the chief of this authority, is confirmed by the law of
the land; it is the repository of the religion · by law.
established;' and the religion by law established, must
always be considered as the national religion. But in
every country the national education must be conduct-
ed on the principles of the national religion ; for a
violation of this rule would involve, not only an absur-
dity but a principle of self-destruction—it would coun-
teract by authority what it enjoins by authority. No
education in this country can be entitled to the appel-
lation of national where the Liturgy is discarded, or
where the children attend not the services of the Esta-
blished Church. Indeed, the parochial and charity
schools, which were either founded or new-modeled
after the Reformation, were invariably conducted in
such a manner as to educate the children for the
LIFE OF DR BELL.
317
national religion. They were trained in habits of affec-
tion for the Church of which they were members; they
were taught to reverence its rites and ordinances; and
regular attendance at the parish church on the Sab-
bath, was no less required than attendance at the
parish school on other days. Had this system of
parochial education been carried to a greater extent,
or had it been more generally retained, the defection
from the Established Church would never have been
raised to its present height.”
The author then, after saying that the arguments he
was about to use apply only to the members of the Esta-
blished Church, and that those who dissent from it
“not only have full liberty of applying their own
principles to their own education, but act wisely in so
doing,” proceeds thus—“ But do the members of the
Establishment show the same wisdom with the dissen-
ters in promoting plans of education, where no pro-
vision is made for the national religion, where the
Liturgy is disregarded, or where it is a matter of indif-
ference whether the children on a Sunday frequent the
conventicle or the church? Is such conduct consistent
with the solemn vow, promise, and profession, which
we make at our baptism, and renew at our confirma-
tion? Do we act consistently, if, while we profess to
• believe all the articles of the Christian faith, we en-
courage a system of education from which those articles
of faith are excluded? Can the clergy especially, who
not only subscribe to the Liturgy and Articles, but even
hold their preferments by this very tenure, conscien-
tiously support any other than a Church of England
education? Can they do it without betraying the
cause which they are pledged to defend ? It may, in-
318
LIFE OF DR BELL.
وو
deed, be asked, whether every man, from the lowest to
the highest, who holds an office of trust or power,
whether religious or civil, which he could not have
obtained but by professing himself a member of the
national Church, is not bound by such profession, if
not openly to discountenance, at least not openly to
promote, a system of education from which the na-
tional religion is discarded ?”.
Mr Lancaster's claim to the system is then dis-
cussed; and the writer proceeds to argue that the
effect of education cannot be neutral—that it is “ hos-
tility to the Church to deprive our children of that
early attachment to it which an education in the Church
cannot fail to inspire;" and that, if educated in no
fixed principles of religion, they will probably not
choose any, or, if they do, “ it will be by accident they
choose the right one.” He then speaks of the dif-
ferent institutions into which the system had been
introduced by Dr Bell, and asks why the Church
should adopt this mode of education in a dissenting
form, when it is offered to them in an orthodox one-
“ both are alike accessible, both alike practicable.”
“ The Church and the State," he continues,
separable in their interests; since their alliance at the
Reformation, they have neither fallen alone nor risen
alone.
Unless men reject the opinion that
religion advances the good of civil society, they will
pause at least before they contribute to the dissolution
of an alliance which has so long and so usefully sub-
sisted. They will be cautious how they treat the insti-
tutions of the Church as unnecessary ingredients in the
plan of national education. They will be cautious how
they patronise seminaries, from which the doctrines and
are in
LIFE OF DR BELL. -
319
discipline of the Church of England are openly and
ávowedly discarded. But if such patronage is be-
stowed where we have most reason to expect support
to the Establishment, we may then despair of being
able to fulfil the conditions of our alliance. Our utility
will cease.
We shall lose the power of doing good.
No residence, no preaching, no catechising will further
avail. Our flocks will have deserted us; they will
have grown wiser than their guides; and the national
creed will have become too narrow for minds accus-
tomed to the liberal basis.
But whatever
be the circumstances,” continues Dr Marsh, “ in which
we may hereafter be placed, let us endeavour to fulfill
the duties of our station while we have duties to .per-
form. If we cannot recall the thousands who have
deserted the Church, let us double our efforts to retain
the faithful band which rally round her standard. Let
the union of the latter increase with the defection of
the former. Let both the clergy and the laity who
are still attached to the Church, combine for mutual
defence. It is a union of churchmen with churchmen,
which must promote the welfare of the Establishment.
We cannot, indeed, expect that dissenters should be
willing to co-operate with churchmen, when the object
in contemplation was the interest of the Church. For
this purpose we must associate among ourselves. We
must retain the strength of the Establishment in its
own channel, for its own preservation. We must not
divert it into other channels, where the current may be
turned against us.
This admirable discourse, which was printed with
an appendix containing an account of the Society for
320
LIFE OF DR BELL.
promoting Christian Knowledge, together with a list
of the subscribers to that society, was the means of
drawing the attention of many persons to the subject
of national education ; but still no definite plan was
fixed on. Many of the persons who might have been
expected, from their station, to have stood foremost in
promoting this object, still hung back. Admitting the
evil of Lancaster's principles, they shrunk from oppo-
sing him because he had been favoured with royal
countenance. All that had been hitherto done was the
work of a few individuals; and, successful as their
exertions had been, it required a more general and
powerful co-operation to place education on a national
basis.
“ August 10, 1811.
“ I was very much delighted,” writes a friend of Dr
Bell to him at this time, “ a few days since, with a
conversation with Lord Radstock at Mr Davis's; a
few such lords would save the nation, and yet he acts
without hope of preferment, except in a better world.
Would that the bishops were actuated by similar mo-
tives! We should not then hear of so much adoration of
the rising sun; nor would it have been replied to a
noble lord, who observed to one of the bishops their
inactivity in the sacred cause of educating the poor,
when the best interests of the country were so much
endangered— My good lord, what can we do, when
the princes all support Mr Lancaster?'
On a
more alarming occasion they may possibly exert their
principles and independence: on one that more nearly
affects the stability of our Church than the present
occasion, I think they never can."
LIFE OF DR BELL.
321
CHAPTER XXX.
Lord Radstock's “ Vision ”_Lancaster's Letters, and Dr Marsh's Replies -
Mr Marriot's Letter—Dr Bell's Explanation.
The controversy was now brought before the public
more prominently than it had hitherto been; for, in
the end of August, the following extraordinary rhap-
sody, from the pen of Lord Radstock, appeared in the
Morning Post.
August 27, 1811.
66 THE SLEEPERS AWAKENED.-A VISION.
1
5 A Fragment.
“ I had no sooner passed this last porch, than I
found myself in a vast Gothic hall, on the one side of
which I immediately espied, as I then conceived, the
whole bench of bishops in a reclined posture. They
were dressed in their robes, had their mitres on their
heads, and were all of them seemingly in a most pro-
found sleep. Whilst I was contemplating the singu-
larity of this scene, a chubby-faced little man, in an
entire drab-coloured suit and a broad-brimmed hat, came
and placed himself directly opposite the venerable group,
VOL. II.
X
322
LIFE OF DR BELL.
when, after eyeing them for a while with a sort of su-
percilious and insulting air, he suddenly exclaimed, in
a slow and sonorous tone of voice_Ye slothful and
mouldering puny dignitaries, have ye not slumbered
your fill? But be that as it may, ye have slumbered
long enough for my purposes; so now I command you
to awake, and to take up this gauntlet if ye dare, for I
here bid
ye all defiance. On saying this, he dashed a
scroll he had in his hand to the floor with violence,
and then vanished. A terrible flash of lightning in-
stantly followed, accompanied with such a tremendous
peal of thunder as shook the whole of the massy fabric
to its very foundations. The reverend fathers, roused
by the dreadful re-echoing sounds, started up all at once,
looked aghast at each other, then turned their eyes to
the scroll that lay at their feet, in part unfolded. This
sight seemed to increase their consternation: they
again looked at each other with augmented signs of
dismay, then clasping their hands as if by one accord,
they lifted up their eyes to heaven, and the whole of
thein rushed out of the hall together, in no less appa-
rent agony than with precipitation.
It may readily be conceived that my own mind was
not at this moment in the most tranquil state : to say
the truth, I was scarcely less terrified with this scene of
wonder than the good bishops had been. I'now, in my
turn, cast my eyes upon the scroll, when I instantly read
the following words—' Joseph Lancaster, the inventor
of the Lancasterian system. That which followed being
written in a much smaller hand, I could not make out;
but in the next two lines the character was of such un-
common magnitude, that the following words might
have distinctly been read at double the distance To
LIFE OF DR BELL.
323
be dedicated, by permission, to the Prince Regent.'
Fain would I have taken up the scroll to examine the
whole of its contents, but a sudden fear came upon me
each time that I attempted to move forward for the
purpose. However, a few moments reflection led me
into a general tendency of the matter, and after fetch-
ing a deep sigh, I uttered these words— Well-a-day,
then perhaps I may yet live to see that fatal hour, so
forcibly and prophetically described by Joseph Lan-
caster in his own book, p. 185, that if any particular
sect obtained the principal care of the national system
of education, that part would be likely to gain the
greatest power and influence in the state. At this
moment a gentle tap on the shoulder made me suddenly
turn to see from whence it came, when I perceived a
lovely youth standing by my side clad in white, and of
heavenly mien. He spoke as follows :— Be of good
cheer, thou friend to the Established Church, and fear
not. Thou thinkest that thou beheldest all the reve-
rend fathers of the bench as if entranced, but in that
thou wert mistaken, for many were absent who never
sleep when danger to the Church is at hand. Look to
that pattern of virtue and goodness, that in every shape
benevolent and truly pious, and no less zealous prelate,
Barrington: Behold the indefatigable, ever work-
ing for godly ends, Burgess; the laborious and acute
Tomline; that stanch pillar of the Church, Randolph;
Dampier, the mainspring of the Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge; and last, though not least, the
second David, who, though he slew not a giant in sta-
ture with a sling and stone, yet did he grind to powder
one of gigantic form in mischief and wickedness. I
speak of that arch-fiend, Tom Paine, of impious me-
و
324
LIFE OF DR BELL.
mory; also the puffed-up-with-conceit, no less noto-
rious Gibbon, whose learning and talents served but
to render him a traitor to his God, and a hideous bea-
con to the vainglorious and mock modern philosophers.
These and a train of servile and despicable imitators
did this all-vigorous and most-powerful prelate, with
his mighty arm, level with the dust. And shall this
great defender of the Holy Scriptures for ever lie dor-
mant ? Shall he not once again, think ye, dash
forth his double-edged sword as the champion of
the Established Church ? Shall the ingenious and
original inventor of the Madras system cease his
hitherto unremitting and matchless labours ? Shall
the eloquent and argumentative pen of a Marsh sleep
for ever in its new and justly acquired laurels ? Shall
the sturdy and active Bouyer, after having been roused
to the field of action, fly from his post ? Shall our truly
apostolic Andrews, our Hodgsons, our Gardners, our
Matthews, our Van Milderts, our Stephens, our T. G.
Taylors, our Daubenys, our Norrises, our Gaskins, our
Hollingsworths, our Bartons, and the numerous band
that compose this formidable and stanch phalanx ?
I could here add to the list of worthies the name of one
of modest worth—a layman, indefatigable in his exer-
tions to mould the tender mind to that which is good
in every sense; but he is as anxious to keep from the
eye of the world his good actions, as others are to con-
ceal their vices--who that knows him can doubt of his
reward hereafter! In the meanwhile let the goodly work
of Gower's Walk speak his merits. I
say,
shall these,
and the numerous band that compose this formidable
phalanx, turn their backs on the enemy in the hour of
danger? Perish the thought ! Be calm and temperate,
LIFE OF DR BELL.
325
united, steady, true to each other and yourselves, and,
above all, true to the church. Do but this, and this vain-
boasting, presumptuous, swerving-from-truth, motley
harlequin, and every thing but true churchman-all his
misguided and misled adherents, and simple followers
--shall be dispersed,like the chaff which the wind
scattereth away from the face of the earth ;' and the
talisman being once broken, the scales shall fall from the
eyes of a most cruelly deceived prince, and then that
church, the main pillar of his future greatness, and the no
less firm and surest support of our blessed constitution,
shall rise to sink no more. These angelic words had
no sooner reached my enraptured ears than the heavenly
messenger spread his swift wings, and with a look of
sweet benignity, at the same time waving his hand as
if to bid me a kindly adieu, he took his airy flight for
the celestial regions. Here, alas ! I awoke, and found
myself safe in my arm-chair-A true Friend to Church
and King.”
At the conclusion of this “ vision” is the following
remark by the editor of the Morning Post :-“ The
above subject being of considerable importance to the
public, it is scarcely necessary for us to state that we
shall leave our columns open to the fair and liberal dis-
cussion of it.”
This permission was no sooner given than Mr Lan-
caster availed himself of it, by addressing a series of
letters to “ The British Public,” in which he arrogates
to himself the sole merit of discovering the new system.
“ It was not,” he writes in the first of these, “ till the
moment my venerable sovereign, his consort and family,
sent for me, unsolicited and unexpectedly, to hear the
326
LIFE OF DR BELL,
details of the system from my own mouth--it was not
till they honoured me with their names, and with their
patronage—that Dr Bell was dragged out of his retire-
ment to claim a plan, the merit of which I assert is
not his; and, but for the glitter and sound of that
patronage, I believe he would have had no attraction
to have left his solitude, and his occasional employ
of planting cabbages, when, for several years, no one
child in the nation, no not one in his own parish, had
the benefit of his boasted system. This is a fact to
which himself has given a date, having had no school
prior to the one in 1804, in his own parish; his love
for its poor, for education, for the children of the nation,
may be fairly questioned from his own supineness, from
which nothing but the pealing reports of the success of
my plan roused him !”
He then proceeds to quote a passage from Dr Bell's
third edition, in which he says..." It is not proposed
that the children of the poor be educated in an expen-
sive manner, or even taught to write and to cipher. ...
Parents will always be found to educate, at their own
expense, children enow to fill the stations which require
higher qualifications; and there is a risk of elevating,
by an indiscriminate education, the minds of those
doomed to the drudgery of daily labour above their
condition, and thereby rendering them discontented and
unhappy in their lot.”
This passage, which was inadvertently inserted by
Dr Bell, is certainly quite at variance with both his
principles and practice, as well as liable to bear a
construction which the writer never meant; and ac-
cordingly Mr Lancaster takes full advantage of it, as
if it had been the basis and principle of Dr Bell's sys-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
327
tem, instead of a casual remark. He accuses him of
being the advocate for “ the universal limitation of
knowledge,” and sets forth his own merits in glowing
colours. The first notice we find taken of his attack,
is in a letter to Dr Bell from Mr Watts, who says-
more for
your mental
peace and
.:
September 5, 1811.
“ Having read an extraordinary letter in the Morn-
ing Post of yesterday, which cannot but give you some
uneasiness should you see it, and which, from some
quarter or another, will find its way to you, I take the
few minutes of this very busy day to offer this frank
opinion to you—namely, that it may, in the end, be
personal health, not to
enter the lists of literary controversy.
“ But this, as well as any opinion of mine, I only
offer as tributary to your own final judgment, to which
I submit it in the event.
“ The style of the letter, so published and so
strangely expressed, will perhaps, in the result, be its
own refutation, in such respects as affect yourself. The
principal edge of its severity is not against an indivi-
dual, but against many individuals, against a great
body, who are able to defend their order and the Esta-
blishment.
“ If you read the letter which has given rise to mine,
you will find a construction put upon a passage
in
your
tract which it was not intended to bear, but which, in
the perversion of an antagonist, it will bear, and it has
caused the name of “ Mandeville” and “ Bell” to be
paired together by an unjust sophistry. However, it
is to be deplored that Dr Bell, the friend of the poor,
the harbinger of the best benefits to them, by bringing
328
LIFE OF DR BELL.
instruction within their reach, and who countenances
writing and arithmetic, should inadvertently have
seemed to discountenance both these acquirements, and
to express it in words so liable to misapplication as
* doomed to drudgery,' &c.; this handle has been
seized and insidiously distorted, and turned to the dis-
credit of its author.
I repeat my
counsel, respectfully submitting it to your superior ver-
dict; that it will be more conducive to your health and
happiness to be passive in controversy, and active (as
you ever will be) in the culture of the
young minds,
and to leave to your friends and advocates your pure
cause. “Magna est veritas et prævalebit.
99
“ I cannot sufficiently thank you," says Dr Bell, in
reply to this letter, “ for the kind interest which
you
always take in whatever relates to the new system of
education and its author, and especially for the very
friendly counsel and salutary advice on the occasion of
the
paper in the Morning Post. It was sent to me,
and read to me by our friend in Durham, with whom I
happened to be at the time; and without looking at it
further, I left it in the hands of another friend, to satisfy
his curiosity, as mine fully was.
“ If I had felt any disposition to swerve from my
constant resolution of not engaging in polemical divi-
nity or controversial writing, I should have been much
wanting to your kind interposition, as well as what I
consider due to the truth and to myself
, if I had taken
up the cudgels with such an adversary, so regardless, I
must say, of veracity."
Meanwhile, Mr Watts had heard that Dr Marsh in-
tended to undertake Dr Bell's vindication, and thinking
LIFE OF DR BELL.
329
it desirable that he should fully understand what the
Doctor's meaning was in the passage on which Mr
Lancaster had so strongly animadverted, wrote to him
on the subject; in answer to which Dr Marsh thus
observed—“ I return you many thanks for your
kind
letter and its inclosure. It is, indeed, lamentable that
Dr Bell was ever induced to insert the paragraph which
has done him so much harm—a paragraph wholly in-
consistent with his principle of tuition.
“ Something must be done to vindicate the system
of Dr Bell in this respect, or all our efforts to promote
it will be useless. I do not despair of success, not-
withstanding the unfortunate paragraph. I have drawn
up several letters on the subject, the first of which
goes by this night's post for insertion in the same paper,
with my own name, wherein Mr Lancaster's attack was
made. I hope it will be inserted on Saturday, or, at the
latest, on Monday.”
In Mr Lancaster's second letter of September 9th, he
had spoken as follows of Dr Marsh's sermon—“ Much
has been said about Professor Marsh. His reward awaits
him; he will not be disappointed ! Infatuated man, to
stand up among seven thousand children and say not one
word of love or religious instruction to them! What will
the nation say to such a want of Christian charity in a
man professing himself a Christian minister ? · If a man
see his brother have need, and have no compassion on
him, how dwelleth the love of God in him ? What à
glorious sight! Seven thousand children hailing the
morning of an annual solemnity, honourable to the
Church of England, and to the munificence of the
British nation ; athirst for religious instruction, and,
alas, not one word of religious instruction given to their
330
LIFE OF DR BELL.
receptive minds! The pulpit, too, the vehicle of slan-
der! The consecrated ground, and none other, thought
worthy for the champion of defamation to launch forth
his invective from! To attack a man by name who
cannot reply in the same way: How handsome! how
courageous! The professed messenger of the gospel
of peace polluting a temple of worship, damping the
arising of pealing anthems from hearts full of praise to
God for so glorious à mercy, devoting his sermon to
the exhibition of his spleen against an individual who
does not even know him ; an individual, too, whose
work is considered by interesting alarmists as danger-
ous to their repose, solely because, as a friend of youth,
he devotes his life to the education of poor children in
the knowledge of all that Christ, with the patriarchs
and apostles, lived and died to do, to say, and make
known."
This attack Dr Marsh does not condescend to notice,
further than by stating, that it is his intention to con-
duct the controversy in his own name, and that then
Mr Lancaster will perceive that he is ready to combat
him on equal terms, adding—“He will have less reason
to complain of my sermon at St Paul's, in which he
thinks it was ungenerous to notice him from the pul-
pit, as he could not reply to me in the same way. Mr
Lancaster, however, knows that a church is not the
only place where a lecture may be given on education,
that when a sermon is printed its publicity is derived
from the press, and that the press is as open to Mr
Lancaster, as to me.” He then, in a series of six
letters, undertakes to vindicate Dr Bell's system from
the aspersions cast upon it. Having overthrown in his
sermon Mr Lancaster's arguments, that the neutral
59
1
LIFE OF DR BELL.
331
>
character of his religious instruction, if not favourable,
is not hostile to the Church Establishment, he now
proceeds to show that Mr Lancaster's system has no
advantage, either in its mechanism or construction;
that Dr Bell's is, in principle and practice, equally ex-
tensive; and that, so far from really applying a pro-
scriptive principle to writing and arithmetic, both
the one and the other are taught in the schools where his
system is adopted—that the boasted superiority in ex-
tensiveness of instruction is devoid of foundation; and
that, therefore, the argument derived from religion must
turn the scale in favour of Dr Bell, with all who are
attached to the present Establishment.
Dr Marsh having concluded his vindication, Mr
Marriot was desirous of appearing in the lists against
Lancaster, « The newspapers,
he writes to Dr
Bell, “ evidently court documents on this subject of
universal curiosity; and, as the race has begun, they
should be crammed with them from our side, as they
certainly will be from the other. I only wait for in-
formation from you on that part of Lancaster's impu-
dent attack upon yourself, which relates to the four
salaried masters in the Madras school. I am sure you
can answer it, and with your aid on this point I am
not afraid to say that I can answer all the rest.” In
reply to this Dr Bell gave him the required informa-
tion, together with many references to his publica-
tions, and he added—“ As to any thing done in this
country by A. B., it is not to be mentioned, because,
independently of it, the system rests on a discovery
which, once made, the author claims with all its fruits.
A. B. sticks to the original discovery, and to the brief
report which was written in India. In it every thing
332
LIFE OF DR BELL.
will be found to the point, and nothing is wanted be-
yond it.”
A long letter, from Mr Marriot's pen, was accord-
ingly published in both the Morning Post and Courier,
after which a great number of letters appeared in the
papers on both sides. About this time we find the
following explanation of the passage concerning the
limitation of the education of the poor, in a letter from
Dr Bell to Mr Watts:
“ The Madras system of education, and its capabili-
ties, stand altogether independent of the author's sen-
timents or wishes in regard to the application of them;
and, had his opinions been what they are represented
to be by those who know better, the engine of his in-
vention would not be one whit less useful or less
power-
ful in teaching writing and arithmetic. If, indeed, he
had ever refused instruction to the poor in writing and
arithmetic in any school where the managers would
admit it, it would be lamentable that the man, who had
spent his life in devising a machine, should be so want-
ing to his own contrivance as to withdraw it from the
very use for which it seems to have been contrived.
This, however, would take nothing from its usefulness
in the hands of others. The machine is given to the
world. He has no patent for it, and they may use it as
they please. How I have used it, and what my senti-
ments are in regard to the use of it, are well known;
and to none better than to those who industriously mis-
represent them. Every school in which I have entered
will speak for · me. So far, indeed, did I
my
career was nearly checked by a clamour, that I was an
enthusiastic speculator, seeking to instruct the poor
of
go, that
LIFE OF DR BELL.
333
this country in the sciences and higher branches of
study, as I had done the pupils of the Madras Asylum.
It was in answer to this accusation, or intended as an
answer to this accusation, that, in pleading for schools
of industry, I said, “It was not proposed,' &c. But,
in owning the effect of an indiscriminate education, I
spoke, or meant to speak, of the higher branches of
education, and not of writing and arithmetic, though I am
sorry to see that the words admit of that construction.
At that period I had the high promise of obtaining
what I asked, if I did not ask too much; but it seems
I did ask too much, and not too little, and was left in
the lurch. But if, on the other hand, I had succeeded,
what a progress would have been made before this time,
towards writing and arithmetic among all the poor !
But, after all, shall one insulated and detached sentence
be so construed, as to give the lie to every word a man
has uttered or written, to the whole tenor and practice
-of his life ?-and all be blotted out, and one unhappy
expression be interpreted, not by himself, but by the
enemies of the Church for their own purposes ?”
:
In Mr Watts' reply, after some remarks on the pas-
sage in question, and on Dr Marsh's defence, he thus
proceeds to speak more generally :-
* 33, Portland Place, September 26, 1811.
“ It is much to be lamented that the government did
not give more patronage to the education of the people.
It was a national act in Scotland, the last act of the Scotch
-national legislature, and it has done credit to its authors,
and might have suggested similar measures to the Bri-
tish senate. But, as the state did not attend to it, it
334
LIFE OF DR BELL.
became so much the more obligatory on the hierarchy.
And, in this view of the subject, we may perhaps be
allowed to consider (under a certain construction) the
good society in Bartlett's Buildings (the Society for
promoting Christian Knowledge) as representative of
both Church and State in this particular; because, by
their own constitution, they had declared that their
first and principal method was to procure and encou-
rage the erecting of charity schools in all parts of the
kingdom.
That this venerable society
has done many good works, is most true; but that it
has done as much as was necessary or consistent with
their declaration, is not equally so, and the consequence
of their remissness is now apparent. The advantage
has been taken by an active sectarist, who has sedu-
lously procured and encouraged the erecting of charity
schools in many parts of the kingdom, and has, in his
acute discernment, perceived that schools could not be
opened without masters or teachers; and he has pro-
vided a seminary to qualify them to go out and under-
take the charge. It is understood, by his printed
declarations, that he has thus instructed a considerable
number; and it appears that persons in the country
disposed to establish schools, send to his seminary, of
course, for a supply of teachers.
“ It is not necessary to use words to point out who
should have taken precedence in this work—who should
have prepared teachers of an approved description, not
only qualified in reading, writing, and arithmetic, but
in the knowledge of the Catechism, (proscribed at the
other place,) and in the principles of the Church,
(counteracted there.)
The intrepid
herald (Dr Marsh) has sounded the trumpet and pro-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
335
claimed the cause. The reflecting part of the com-
munity are apprised of the state of things; and now a
well-ordered plan, emanating from a venerable society,
whose very title or prerogative has been the guardian-
ship of charity schools, and whose professed first
and principal method has ever been avowed from their
origin to procure and encourage the erection of charity
schools in all parts of the kingdom, may, under the
favour of Divine providence, produce a happy result to
the general welfare."
Dr Bell, in a letter to Mr Marriot at this time,
speaking of Dr Marsh, says“ By the by, I hope
to surprise him whenever I have the honour of meet-
ing with him, by an interpretation of the ill-fated
and ill-worded passage, which, with all his ability and
ingenuity, he could not hit on, and none else has
hit on, because it depends on a knowledge of facts,
and allegations, and accusations about my intentions
at the time, which no one could now develope with-
out being told, and going back to that time--an in-
terpretation which will show it less inconsistent than
it appears, and has been represented, even by those
most desirous of construing it favourably. I much
admire that any person should be. so acute as to
explore, and bring forward, the general defence in the
very way I intended, of all my speculations, (suited to
the then state of things, and of mens' minds,) which
followed these words— Here my experiment ends !'
None but Dr Marsh could have made this discovery.
For the rest I have no room.
I only say, without
adverting to the context, and the drift of
tion, (for argument I cannot call it,) that I was
generally accused, as you know, of enthusiasm, and the
my declama-
336
LIFE OF DR BELL.
most dangerous designs of educating all the poor at
the public expense, in all the sciences said to be taught
at the Asylum at Egmore---of entertaining my Utopian
schemes for the universal diffusion of general know-
ledge, not meaning, whatever the unlucky construction
may be, reading and writing, but what general
knowledge actually does mean—literature and science.
I was also alleged to wish for an - indiscriminate
education’ for the poor and for the rich, in letters and
science : and it was of such purposes I spoke, or meant
to speak. I had no apprehension (and, therefore, did
not weigh my words on that side of being accused of
wishing for, and asking, too little, nor has any one
ever brought that accusation against me, but for other
purposes than setting forth the truth. I am not, how-
ever, ignorant, that there is more than enough in the
whole paragraph (even after I shall have explained its
context and drift) for my enemies to take hold of,
and perhaps to puzzle my advocates to defend. It is
only you, and those who know me as you do, that know
how much I have sacrificed to truth and consistency,
without which no man, in the long run, will ever
accomplish any great object, or bring about any general
reformation."
The subject was now, and had been previously, taken
up by several Reviews. A most violent article against
Dr Bell appeared in the Edinburgh Review for Nov.
1810, which was replied to in 1812 by the British
Review. An article also appeared about this time
by my father in the Quarterly Review, which, in
1812, he much enlarged, and published in a small
octavo, under the title of “ The Origin, Nature, and
Object of the New System of Education.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
337
CHAPTER XXXI.
Schoolmasters' Society--Meetings and Proposals for establishing a Metro-
politan Society, Mr Bouyer's Plan--Final Constitution of the National
Society.
WHILE this controversy was going on, the cause was
gradually progressing in other ways.
A“ School-
masters' Society” was in progress of formation, which,
though of little ultimate importance, was still a link in
the chain. This club or society was to be composed
of schoolmasters who taught on the Madras system--
none others being eligible; and was chiefly intended as
a sort of benefit club for the support of the members
when sick or superannuated, and for the relief of their
wives and children. Dr Bell, having been informed of
its establishment, wrote the following letter to the
members :
“ Hartlepool, October 4, 1811.
My Friends,
“I feel a deep interest in your society, and I
hear with great satisfaction the progress which you
make; but, in regard to the measures most advisable
for pursue to promote its growth and success, I
do not presume to think that I can suggest any thing
that will not be better done by the able and worthy
you to
VOL. II.
Y
338
LIFE OF DR BELL.
counsellors and associates who happily take a lead
in your concerns. But I know you too well to enter-
tain a doubt of your indulging me, if I avail myself
of the privilege which you have often granted to my
long experience, of repeating to you at this important
crisis, an observation which I think it of the utmost
importance to be deeply impressed on your minds and
hearts, as you value the satisfaction and approbation of
the directors and visitors of your schools, the profit and
delight of your pupils, and your own ease and comfort.
On you, my friends, much depends, not only as to the
present race of poor children, but also to future genera-
tions, who will experience the benefit of what you are
now doing."
He then, after laying down a number of rules for
conducting and managing schools, &c., proceeds---
“I purpose being in town erelong, if it be only to
visit you, my friends; and if the above rules be strict-
ly and undeviatingly observed from the time of your
receiving this letter, we shall have a pleasure in meet-
ing, even more than heretofore. If any of you have not
yet experienced the gratification which yourselves and
your pupils might derive from the benefit of perfect
instruction, I promise you that it will exceed what
you can before have imagined.
“ With every good wish for you and your pupils'
welfare, I am, gentlemen, your sincere friend,
66 A. BELL.”
Dr Bell afterwards became an honorary member of
this society, and an annual subscriber to it of four
guineas. It is not, however, necessary to enter further
into its history here.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
339
Meantime those friends of the cause who were desi-
rous of establishing a “ National Institution,” had not
relaxed their efforts. A meeting had been held on the
16th of May, previous to which Mr Marriot had drawn
up a paper, which had been submitted to the arch-
bishop, whose chaplain, Dr Barton, thus wrote to him
the day following the meeting-
cause.
“ Lambeth Palace, May 17, 1811.
66 Dear Sir,
“ Your absence from the meeting yesterday was a
disappointment to me, and I was truly sorry for the
I had previously submitted your paper to the
consideration of his grace, who expressed his
expressed his approba-
tion of the plan generally, but seemed to doubt whe-
ther it called the attention of the public in a way suffi-
ciently pointed. I observed to him that it was a sim-
ple statement of facts, making known the priority of
Dr Bell's claim. It is also, I might have added, in
perfect harmony with the publications of our friend,
who studiously kept out of sight that there was a com-
petitor. My opinion, however, is, that active exer-
tion alone will meet the danger. These are the means
by which the opposing party have attained their pre-
sent alarming size. Equal activity must be employed
on our side. But how? In the very way pointed out
by our friend full four years ago—through the hierarchy
itself. From Lambeth 'palace the stream might be
conveyed in a regular, established, and acknowledged
course, to the remotest and most obscure corners of the
kingdom. In its immediate neighbourhood also might
have been formed, according to the original plan of the
same mind, a seminary for teachers qualified to carry
340
LIFE OF DR BELL..
the system into effect, wherever their services might be
required.
“ Dr Bell is to have an audience of the archbishop
on Sunday. Will it not be better to wait till
acquainted with the result of the conference ?"
you are
What took place on this occasion does not appear.
But, on the 4th of July, another meeting was held, of
which Mr Marriot gives the following account in a let-
ter to Dr Bell, who had returned to Durham :-
“ London, July 5, 1811.
My much-loved Friend,
“ You will probably have a much better report of
our proceedings yesterday from Davis or Mr Bouyer;
but I must send you a hasty sketch. We had a very
small meeting-only nine persons, but those certainly
choice ones—and five of them (Messrs Bouyer, Mat-
thias, Norris, Cumming, and Bowles,) are on Monday
to prepare a circular for distribution, explaining the
society's objects. I believe we shall not advertise till
we have gained a considerable list of names. Norris
is desired by the archbishop to report to him every
thing, and received so much encouragement in an inter-
view last Monday, that he intends requesting his grace
to recommend all the bishops of his province to join
the society. He assured Norris that he had lately ex-
pressed his sentiments, as fully and freely as he did at
Bartlett's Buildings, to every one of the royal family,
who had patronised the system of L. If this is any
thing like truth, good must come of it. We had Dr
Price, (your bishop's nephew,) Mr Powell, rector of
Hornden in Essex, and Davis, at the dinner, besides
LIFE OF DR BELL.
341
those I have mentioned above. Lord Kenyon and the
Bishop of Durham deputed Bouyer and myself to sub-
scribe what we pleased for them; and Lord Kenyon
sent a long string of hints for resolutions, which we all
liked. One of them obtained from Davis a very useful
offer to the society, viz. that of his committee rooms for
a day residence for our secretary, a person we must
certainly obtain without delay. Till we have any other
metropolitan exemplar of the system besides G. Walk,
no residence can be more appropriate for the secretary.
But I trust we soon shall have a central public semi-
nary. Mr Bouyer persuaded us that the conversion of
the present race of masters by fair lure was more likely
to prove practicable, than the training up a set of young
men to fill their places; but this was reported to be
contrary to your opinion. In many instances, where
the masters are very old, they must, it was allowed, be
pensioned off. Bouyer's charge is in the press, and a
proof of Marsh's sermon was exhibited at Bartlett's
Buildings last Tuesday.”
Shortly after this Mr Davis writes thus to Dr Bell
concerning these proceedings—“ We have had two
meetings on the subject of the new society for encou-
raging the spread of the system, and for assisting the
schoolmasters. I am well aware that it is no easy
matter to combine every thing needful, so as to go
forth with eclat; but I really think something will now
be done. I find Mr Norris able, zealous, persevering,
and independent. The archbishop has not yet been
decisive; but he is most vigorously pushed to give his
patronage. I understand he offers money, but declares
against taking any step that may appear to be in
342
LIFE OF DR BELL.
opposition to the Prince Regent. It is not quite clear
that the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge
may not be the proper and ready instrument for effect-
ing every thing that is desirable, and it is by some
thought they ought to be first formally requested to
undertake the work. Dr Marsh's sermon is out. I
daresay the clergy in your neighbourhood will read and
spread it. It is a powerful production. The notice
taken of your Whitechapel friends and their reports,
cannot fail of being truly gratifying—if they wished
any reward in this world, they certainly have it. What
can be greater than in hearing from high authorities
that they have been instrumental in the support of
their own pure Church establishment? If this sermon
is read by those who ought to read it, the new, or the
renovated society will find but little difficulty in carry-
ing forward all their plans. I anticipate a grand school
to receive, accommodate, and instruct masters from all
parts—to furnish means to all who want them, and to
provide for the cases of superannuations, orphans, and
widows."
In all these proceedings and suggestions Dr Bell
appears to have taken a deep interest ; and though
then far distant from the scene of action, he continually
assisted those who were more immediately engaged in
forwarding this object with his advice and encourage-
ment. « My proposal," he writes to Mr Davis early
in August, “ would be, not to omit in your schemes
the giving immediate encouragement to meritorious
masters, and so, to create such, there should be a quar-
terly, half-yearly, or annual report of every master,
and of the progress of his school, authenticated by
visitors ; prizes should be given to those who culti-
>>
LIFE OF DR BELL.
343
vate the infant mind and immortal spirit, and not be
confined to beautiful flowers and fat oxen.
We shall never thrive as we ought, till we have one
school in perfect order in the metropolis, where masters
may be trained, and to which they may be referred.”
And again, soon afterwards, he says—“What we have
wanted ever since I entered Whitechapel school, and
what we want more and more, is masters; the
way
to
obtain them, and they are the groundwork, or ought
to be, of every plan from every quarter,) is by having
two in constant training, I say, in Gower's Walk
school, so that when one goes another may succeed.
They are only to be found by advertisements, in which
qualifications and character are to be particularly speci-
fied, all their expenses to be borne while training, and
to be sent out as called for, and most requisite. This
surely, so exceedingly desirable, might be begun with,
and if more than two were admitted in the first instance
it were still better. Through them your school might
be rendered perfect in all its branches."
The next information we find on this subject is in a
letter from Mr Norris to Mr Davis, in which he says
-“ I am glad to see by your former letter that you
concur in opinion with myself and several others, whose
opinions are of much more value than mine, that we
cannot do better than commit ourselves to the guidance
of Dr Marsh, in the momentous design we are project-
ing; and I have much pleasure in assuring you, that
he enters with all the zeal of the most fervent amongst
us into our design, and at the same time displays
every talent requisite for building it upon a substantial
basis, and for carrying it on to perfection. He has
bestowed uncommon pains upon the circular we are
314
LIFE OF DR BELL.
preparing, having first, as I told you, sent up a
rough draft entirely of his own, and having patiently
considered and reconsidered alterations and improve-
ments which have been submitted to him, and having
set himself down doggedly to work upon every hint that
has been suggested. In a few days I hope a few proofs
of the circular will be struck off, that it may be privately
circulated amongst a few persons, to have the benefit
of their remarks previous to its publication. What
Lord Radstock suggests I trust Mr Rivington will
attend to, as much benefit may be expected from it.
This experience has proved; for the idea originated
with me, and I published it in the Chelmsford and
Ipswich papers, and I know it has promoted much
conversation upon the question in the counties."
This letter Mr Davis enclosed to Dr Bell for his
information, observing at the same time—“ This great
society is so likely to go beyond any thing the school-
masters had contemplated, and is likely to take so much
time to complete, that they appear to be better satisfied
to go on with their own benefit plan.”
On the 27th of this month a meeting was accord-
ingly held, at which a prospectus for a new society was
agreed to, and a variety of resolutions entered into,
among which were the following “ That it should be
called the Metropolitan Society for promoting the Edu-
cation of the Poor in the Principles of the Established
Church, according to the system invented and practised
by the Rev. Dr Bell. . .
“ That for the purpose of supplying masters wherever
they may be wanted, a central institution be established
in the metropolis, at which the present masters of the
parochial and charity schools, as also any other masters
LIFE OF DR BELL.
345
who are members of the Church of England, if they are
willing to learn the new method of instruction, shall
receive every encouragement and assistance.
" That the executive power of this society be vested
in a president, vice-presidents, and a committee consist-
ing of persons subscribing one guinea annually, or ten
guineas at one time, and being members of the Society
for promoting Christian Knowledge; of whom one-
third shall be beneficed clergymen, having their prin-
cipal residence in or near the metropolis.
“ That copies of these proceedings be sent to the
Most Rev. the Archbishops and the Right Rev. the
Bishops, with letters respectfully soliciting their patron-
age of this society.” Agreeably with the last resolution,
Dr Marsh communicated the contents of this prospectus
to the archbishops and bishops, applying first to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who not only promised his
most cordial support, but assured them that they should
be patronized by the Prince Regent, with whom he
had communicated on the subject.
“ The Archbishop of York,” writes Dr Marsh to
Lord Kenyon at this time,“ is zealous for the society,
also the Bishop of Ely. The Bishop of London likewise
promises his support, but with his usual circumspection,
if placed in proper hands, which I trust it will. The
Bishop of Norwich also is hearty in the cause, as well as
the Bishop of Bristol. I have received also this morning
a letter full of good wishes from the Bishop of Win-
chester. From the other bishops I have not yet heard,
but expect answers daily."
Notwithstanding this apparent progress, there was
still some uncertainty on the subject. • It now seems,"
says Mr Marriot in a letter to Dr Marsh, “ that
346
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Norris's * communication of good tidings from the
Bishop of London (of which I think I apprized you)
was not quite correct. The archbishop's request was
only general, and the Regent's answer of course of the
same kind. By this time, however, according to what
the Bishop of E. told Lord R. last Saturday, I trust
the primate has done all that was wanted, by a personal
interview with the Regent."
And a few days later, he writes—“ The Prince has
accepted, and we hoped yesterday to appear to-morrow
in the Morning Post. It is thought due to the late
sacrifices of the editor, to give him our first advertise-
ment alone, and to order an immense impression for
our use for general circulation.”
There still
, however, seems to have been some deli-
cacy in bringing the Prince Regent's name forward in
this advertisement. In a letter written at this time by
Mr Marriot to Lord Kenyon, he says—“ I am led to
hope, that when the subscription list is printed and ad-
vertised, the Regent will occupy his proper place. It
seems they have been acting with intended delicacy in
the late advertisements, because they had not accepted
the gracious offer, but they had requested it, and with
royalty we do not stick to the common rules of con-
tracts. I wish we may not have offended his Royal
Highness."
While these arrangements had been making in Lon-
don, Mr Bouyer, who, having been present at some of
the early meetings which had been held, had returned
to Durham, had been also forming a plan for a society
for the promotion of national education, not being aware
* Mr Norris had undertaken the office of secretary to the society, pro
tem.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
347
of the progress which had been made in London since
his departure.
The chief features of this scheme were-That the
society was to consist of annual subscribers, limited to five
shillings each ; that benefactors of £5, and under £10,
were to be governors as long as they continued annual
subscribers; and that benefactors of £10 and upwards
were to be governors for life. As soon as the governors
for life should amount to twenty-five, each of them was
to undertake to procure three other governors, (bene-
factors of £5 or upwards.) The number of
governors
being thus increased to one hundred, each of the said
governors should engage to procure eight annual sub-
scribers, of either sex, willing to be admitted on the like
condition of procuring each three annual subscribers ;
and lastly, these twenty-four new subscribers should
each procure an additional subscriber. All subscribers
afterwards were to be earnestly requested to endeavour
to extend the society in their respective neighbourhoods,
but were not to be under any particular engagement as
to time or number."
As soon as the above recited part of the plan should
be executed, a general meeting of governors was to be
called in London, to choose a treasurer and other officers,
and to deliberate on the best mode of forwarding the
intentions of the society.
A copy of this plan he forwarded to Mr Davis, with
a letter requesting him to appoint a meeting at which it
might be read and discussed, and proposing, at the same
time," that Mr Bowles’intended circular, or an abridge-
ment of it, or extracts from Dr Marsh's sermon, or his
own charge, or any other compilation, showing the danger
of Lancaster's proceedings in a clear and forcible man-
ner," together with “ a short account of the intentions
348
LIFE OF DR BELL.
of the society,” should be drawn up and sent round
to the clergy and others, as a necessary preliminary
step.
Neither the scheme nor the letter accompanying it
are dated in the copies sent to Dr Bell; but from an
allusion to it in a letter from Dr Bell to Mr Davis,
of August 6, it is evident that it must have been
prior to that time. “Mr Bouyer's scheme,” he says,
you have received. It requires his energetic presence.
Without the conviction of those into whose hands it
may go, that it is practicable, their best exertions will
not be drawn forth. He feels all the enthusiasm of an
inventor, and without enthusiasm nothing can be done
with effect; and even with enthusiasm there must be
co-operation.”
And again, on the 27th of August, in a letter to my
father, he
says, “I cannot deny myself the satisfaction
of informing you, that there are several schemes on the
tapis for spreading religious instruction through the
church. In none of them do I take the lead, or even
a part, so as to commit myself. One of them, by Mr
Bouyer, I send confidentially to you. It has been in
the hands of the Prime Minister, for the purpose of
obtaining his authority for its circulation under a go-
vernment cover.
He has corrected it most properly,
(by altering what alluded to the sanction of the Prince
Regent and his royal brothers to the L******n schools,)
with a view of putting it into the hands of the Prince,
and of informing him on a subject where he thinks he
had acted inadvertently. That, in the end, justice will
be done and the truth prevail, I entertain little doubt.”
“ Bouyer's plan,” writes Mr Marriot to Dr Bell, “ is
incomparable, except as to his selection of twenty-five
pioneers, who ought to be, as I have told him, all public
LIFE OF DR BELL.
319
men. Lord Kenyon has accepted a place in the first
list, and has applied to others of similar or higher rank
to do the same, and put B. in the way to do more. I
have begged to join the seventy-five, and must positively
decline any higher honour.”
Matters did not, however, long proceed so smoothly;
and as might have been expected, where two different
plans came, as it were, in contact, some misunderstand-
ing arose between the two parties. The following long
letter from Mr Bouyer to Mr Norris, (the acting secre-
tary for the metropolitan society,) will show clearly how
the case stood, and what was the difference between the
two opposing schemes.
66 1811.
6 Dear Sir,
“ I cannot help expressing some concern and
regret, that for want of a freer and more open commu-
nication of the measures you were taking, I found my-
self not only deprived of the opportunity of suggesting
my thoughts upon your plan before its publication,
which probably would have been but of little use,
but
chiefly that my total ignorance of your proceedings has
been the cause of my going on with mine, to a degree
which has given a great deal of unnecessary trouble and
some disappointment to several gentlemen, many of
them of high rank, and all of great respectability, who
honoured my proposal (visionary as it seems to have
appeared to my friends in London) with their most
flattering approbation, and were even sanguine in their
hopes of its success. My wish was to establish, not a
metropolitan, but a national society for the education of
I had contrived a mechanism for it, which
was, ready mounted, and the materials for which I col-
the poor.
350
LIFE OF DR BELL,
lected with a good deal of labour, time, and expense.
But I beg leave to assure you that I could, with the
utmost cheerfulness, lay them by with much similar lum-
ber, remaining from other ineffectual projects, and co-
operate zealously for the accomplishment of your views,
if they were consistent with, or reconcilable to, those
broad principles upon which I have hitherto acted. As
it is, my reliance on your candour does not permit me to
suppose that you will be offended with me for declining
to recommend what I cannot approve, or charge me with
obstinacy for adhering to my grounds of dissent, though
I should fail to convince you of their solidity. They
are as follows:
“ This plan may be well calculated for the meridian
of London, but I do not suppose it will (nor, to say the
truth, do I think it ought to succeed without very con-
siderable amendments. The adoption of the new sys-
tem of education will involve local exigencies, which
cannot be fully known, nor easily described to the inha-
bitants of London, who are always miserably deficient
in the knowledge of country affairs. Great expenses
must be incurred for buildings, considerable annual sums
must be raised for pay of masters, fuel, stationary,
rewards to teachers, &c. All these are great under-
takings, quite out of the reach of any general society, and
must, in each place, be provided for on the spot where
they are wanted by those immediately concerned. It
cannot be supposed that the persons who have either
made such sacrifices, or are preparing for them, will
make themselves dependent on any society in London
for those minor succours which may be expected from
the union of schools, and which they have readier and
better means of effecting at, or near, home. I will con-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
351
sider this with regard to three objects mentioned in the
prospectus, and these almost the only ones which will
call for any expenditure worth mentioning-benefit
society for schoolmasters and families—instruction of
masters——supply of books and tracts.
“ 1. How could a schoolmasters' association be formed
in London, from which the objects of its relief, in distant
parts of the country, could reap any certain, permanent,
or equitable advantage? How could its funds be so
applied at a distance as to provide for real merit, and
guard against fraudulent applications ?
“ 2. For what assignable reasons should candidates
for instruction in the new mode of teaching, put them-
selves or the society to the expense of a London journey
to attend the central school, and remain in that expen-
sive place two or three months, when the inhabitants
of the north may have recourse to the Bishop of
Durham's munificent foundation at Auckland, and
those of the west to the school springing up in the
diocess of Exeter, and when, all over England, every
school, when established, may serve as a seminary for
the masters wanted in its neighbourhood ?
“ 3. As to the supply of books, it has of late been
discovered, that the tracts most in use may be reprinted
in the country, in a more convenient form for the
Madras schools, and at little more than half the price
at which the Society for promoting Christian Know-
ledge can afford them to its members, which would be
an advisable step if it saved only the carriage. Is it
then to be believed that in these, or any other instances
where property is concerned, the people of the country
will subscribe their money to a society in London, to
which they must afterwards turn humble suitors, under
352
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the disadvantage of becoming competitors with those
whose circumstances, from their vicinity, will of course
make a far deeper impression on the minds of the ad-
ministrators in London? Are the gentlemen who pro-
pose such schemes aware of the daily increasing com-
plaints occasioned throughout the kingdom, by the over-
grown influence through which almost every county in
England is governed by a junta, holding its meetings at
some tavern, or other place of rendezvous, in the metro-
polis, and more and more excluding the resident gentry,
clergy, and yeomanry from that share which they may
reasonably expect in the management and control of
their own concerns ? And do they really believe that
with such feelings of grievance, whether real or imagi-
nary, the country will lay itself under contribution to
encourage the transaction in London of any business,
of which the inhabitants of the several diocesses would
be infinitely better qualified to judge on the spot ?
How, then, will the plan of the Metropolitan Society
for Education be received ? where the very first notice
of it is accompanied by laws, attempted to be made
fundamental by the enactment of the unknown pro-
jectors, the express purport of which laws is, to
exclude the country subscribers from any possible
share in the administration and distribution of the
funds which they are thus called upon to furnish,
without so much as a mention of any diocesan or other
country society or committee : all to be managed by a
fixed committee in London, in which no country sub-
scribers can have a vote, unless, first, he be also a member
of a society, the late proceedings of which are far from
meeting with general approbation even of its warmest
friends and well-wishers; second, unless he also suc-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
353
ceed in his endeavours to become a member of that
committee, and after all, as if these restrictions, exclu-
sions, and discouragements were insufficient to keep
country folks at a distance, one third part of this so
prematurely described committee, must consist of cler-
gy resident in London. Surely the facilities of their
attendance should, by the Fellows of Sion College, &c.,
be considered as a very sufficient security for their
obtaining what others would call an undue preponde-
rance, in a concern acknowledged to be national.
“ These, my dear sir, are my objections to the
metropolitan society, as announced in the prospectus
with which
you
have favoured me. If they could be
obviated by any modifications which you, or the gentle-
men acting with you, may think of, I should be
very
glad to hear from you on this interesting subject; if not,
with hearty and sincere good wishes for the success of
the grand object which we all have in view, I shall feel
it necessary to confine my little operations and contri-
butions to that small circle in which alone I can hope
that they will produce any perceptible advantage.”
In his reply to this letter, Mr Norris, after vindicating
himself and his associates in London from the charge
of a want of openness in communicating with Mr
Bouyer, proceeds to defend the plan of a metropolitan
society, upon the ground that they had not laid them-
selves under the restrictions Mr Bouyer complained of,
and that in their title they “ had provided, though
unobtrusively, for a ramification, should it be deemed
expedient, into every corner of the kingdom.” “ Our
work,” he went on to say, “ we considered as limited
to merely laying the foundation, and sketching the
VOL, II.
2
354
LIFE OF DR BELL.
1
outlinc of the plan, and the superstructure will be mat-
ter of consideration for the committee, when the society
is embodied; and I am perfectly certain it is the general
desire of all with whom I am acting, and they now
become a host, without any personal considerations or
prepossessions, to rear such an edifice as shall, in the most
effectual way, accomplish the grand object—the general
dissemination of religious instruction according to the
accredited formularies of the Church of England; of
course your suggestions will then be taken into considera-
tion, with all that deference and respect which is due to
a person who has such a length of time so zealously and
so judiciously conducted, though upon a narrower scale,
similar concerns, and has there acquired so much
experience in their regulation. This explanation will,
I hope, make you relent from your resolution of with-
holding your countenance and co-operation ; for surely,
when the enemies of the Church are suppressing all
fundamental differences among themselves, that they
may overpower it by concentrated opposition, it is most
unseasonable for its advocates to reduce their strength,
and least excusable to suffer trifling jealousies and
dissatisfaction to produce that reduction.”
“We
Mr Bouyer had also written to Lord Kenyon, stating
it as his chief ground of objection to the metropolitan
society, that no foundation had been laid for it.
are very apt to imagine,” he writes, “ that a subject
extremely familiar to ourselves is known, at least in some
degree, to all the world; and the means of communi-
cation in London are so many, and so much in
every
body's power, that its inhabitants have no idea of the
want of information which pervades the remote parts
LIFE OF DR BELL,
355
of the kingdom. The country clergy in general see
only their own provincial papers, which are under the
necessity of omitting topics of long discussion, for want
of room. More than three-fourths of them have never
heard of the two new systems of education. Those
who are furnished with some account of them have the
common prejudices of age, and of their own supposed
experience against novelties. The old schoolmasters
are violent in their opposition to this improvement as
soon as they hear of it; and the idea which, in
many
places, I have myself found very prevalent among retired
clergy, even after all that has been done in this neigh-
hood, (judge then what it must be where nothing has
been done,) is this—that it is nothing but a contest
between two rival schoolmasters, each of whom has his
puffers, who fill the London papers with letters that
nobody reads, any more than the advertisements of
quack medicines.”
Lord Radstock had also received a letter from Mr
Bouyer on the same subject, on the receipt of which
he thus writes to the Bishop of Durham :
Brighton, Oct. 10, 1811.
My dear and good Lord,
“ How is all this? I thought we were all sailing along
with a flowing sheet, and with as favourable a gale as
ever blew out of the heavens, and that in less than a
week we should, under God's good providence, be
safely moored in Bishop's Harbour, secure from every
perilous blast. But in these joyful and seemingly well-
founded hopes how was I mistaken! The post has just
brought me a huge packet from the worthy Mr Bouyer,
which threatens to take us all aback; for he says, with-
356
LIFE OF DR BELL.
out mincing the matter, that if we do not conduct the
expedition according to his plan, he shall haul off from
the fleet, being sure to be followed by his friends; and
then he shall alter his course and steer for a haven of
his own choosing.
But, my dear lord, will you forgive me for thus
wasting your time, for you must have known all this,
and far more, long ere any part of it could reach my
ears? I beg I may be clearly understood as not having a
thought of accusation against Mr Bouyer; for his plan,
for aught I know to the contrary, may be not only
admirable, but absolutely necessary for the furtherance
and stability of the grand object we all of us have in
view. All I at present lament is, that we should be of
two minds when there ought to be but one.
As to
my own judgment, I boast nothing more than the
ability of distinguishing black from white: in other
words, I want no friend to point out to me the differ-
ence between Bell and Lancaster. But when I see so
many wise heads, probably not a little puzzled them-
selves, but, at any rate, puzzling others, I turn first to
one side and then to the other, and after having done
this so often that my poor head becomes completely
addled, I determine, like the worthy knight, that
' much might be said on both sides.'
“ What, then, my good lord, is to be done? If my
correspondents do not deceive me, the Lords Spiritual
are in readiness to place themselves at the head of the
Bartletts, or rather the Metropolitan Society. The
Prince Regent approves, that wisest and best of men,
Mr Perceval, will give it his best support, whilst such
laymen as my friends Park, Sir Thomas Plumer,
George Marriot, &c., are not less anxious to promote
LIFE OF DR BELL.
357
its best interests. Most certain it is, that we all mean
the same thing; for the honour, then, of the Established
Church, or, more properly speaking, of religion in
general, do not let it be said that ambition, vanity, and
countless secret petty self-interests, are the real motives
of our boasted zeal.
“In a word, my good lord, I find myself lost in a laby-
rinth; and therefore knowing not where to look for
a surer guide to set me in the right road than yourself
,
you must not be surprised at my thus imploring your
assistance.—I remain ever yours, &c.
“ RADSTOCK.”
This difference of opinion, however, although it
unfortunately was the means of a division among the
friends of the cause at a very critical period, did not
retard the progress which it was making in London; for,
on the 16th of this month, a general meeting was held,
at which the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of
London, the Solicitor-General, and about thirty other
gentlemen, were present. The intended object of this
meeting was to have merely arranged a further and
more public one. But Dr Marsh having come with a
string of resolutions ready, and urging the greater
difficulty of preparing them at a larger meeting, where
dissentient and even hostile persons might attend, it
was determined that a committee should be appointed
for the purpose of framing resolutions to be proposed
to the next meeting. They also discussed the proposed
limitation of the government of the society to members
of the Bartlett's Buildings Society, which had been so
strongly objected to by Mr Bouyer. It was stated
that it would be very injurious to the interests of the
358
LIFE OF DR BELL.
new society if this restriction were continued, and that
Lord Liverpool had expressly stated that the existence
of this rule was his only reason for not seeking to be a
vice-president. After much discussion, in which Mr
Park, Mr Marriot, and Mr Davis, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, and the Bishop of London took parts,
this rule was expunged, Mr Morris being the only per-
son who supported it.
The term “ metropolitan” was also taken into con-
sideration, and it was proposed, instead, that the title
should be, “ The Society for promoting the Education
of the Poor. throughout England and Wales in the
Principles of the Established Church.” A few persons
thought, that the term Metropolitan having once been
adopted, should be retained, to prevent confusion;
but Mr Marriot urged the ambiguity as a sufficient
reason against it, and also that it might be con-
strued, as indeed to his own knowledge it had
been, as distinguishing the society from a national
one. This, the Bishop of London said, was well worth
attention, and expressed his persuasion that no one
present could think of forming any but a national
institution. To this there was no dissentient voice.
His lordship, also, in reply to a question from the
Solicitor-General as to the object to which the funds
were to be applied, stated that a large central school,
or probably two or three, to include a great num-
ber of the London poor, and from which masters
might be supplied, when required, to every part of the
kingdom, was the chief object; and that the parent
society would, of course, afford any aid in its power to
any subordinate institutions in the country.
The special committee which had been appointed at
LIFE OF DR BELL.
359
this meeting having met twice—the Bishop of London
being in the chair—for the purpose of framing resolu-
tions, determined upon the following ones :-
“1. That the title of the society now constituted be,
* The National Society for promoting the Education
of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church,
throughout England and Wales.
“. 2. That the sole object of this society shall be to
instruct and educate the poor in suitable learning,
works of industry, and the principles of the Christian
religion, according to the Established Church.
“ 3. That his Grace the Archbishop of York, and
the right reverend the bishops of both provinces for
the time being, be vice-presidents, together with ten
temporal peers or privy councillors, to be nominated
by the president and other vice-presidents for the pre-
sent, and as vacancies may happen in future.
« 4. That a committee of sixteen, besides the pre-
sident and vice-presidents, who are members ex officio,
be appointed to manage the affairs of the society.
“5. That the appointment of the sixteen, for the pre-
sent year, be left to the president and the Bishop of
London, and such other bishops as shall be in town;
and on all future occasions to the president and vice-
presidents, according to the manner hereinafter spe-
cified.
“6. That the sixteen now to be appointed continue
in office till the first general meeting.
“7. That a fourth part of the said sixteen resign
their office at the end of the year, but be capable of
immediate re-election. That a double list be formed
by the president and vice-presidents, out of which the
annual general meeting shall elect the persons who are
to fill up the vacancies.
360
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ 8. That a general meeting be holden annually, in
the month of May or June, or oftener, if the committee
shall think it expedient.
“ 9. That at the same a report of the society's
proceedings be made, a statement of the accounts for
the year be laid before the meeting, and the vacancies
in the committee filled up, as above stated.
< 10. That all subscribers of not less than one
guinea annually, or benefactors to the amount of ten
guineas, be qualified to attend such meeting.
“ 11. That a treasurer and secretary be appointed
by the committee; the former to be ex officio a mem-
ber of the committee.
“ 12. That Sir Thomas Plumer, solicitor-general,
and J. A. Park, Esq., be auditors for the present year,
and that new auditors be elected at each general meet-
ing for the ensuing year.
“ 13. That the committee have power to make such
rules and regulations as may be expedient for carrying
into execution the designs of the society.”
These regulations having been fixed upon, a general
meeting was held on the following Monday at Bow
Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury being in the
chair. Here the report of the special committee was
read, and the foregoing resolutions were unanimously
approved of. It was also resolved, in addition, that
“ His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury be request-
ed to lay the proceedings of this meeting before his
Royal Highness the Prince Regent.” This was accord-
ingly done, and the prince signified his entire approval
of the regulations which had been drawn up.
The next object was the selection of a committee,
on which Dr Marsh thus writes to Mr Marriot:-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
361
“ November 4, 1811.
my
“ With respect to the appointment of the sixteen,
I still apprehend that the very persons whom you and
I think the most proper, and who, I hope, are already
appointed, will be unpalatable to those gentlemen with
whom I have been acting during the whole time in
close concert. Why they are so, I do not know; nor
is it business to enquire. But as I am thoroughly
convinced, not only that the services and assistance of
Mr Harris and Mr Davis will be most important in
the conduct of the National Society, but that, when the
committee once begins to organize schools on Dr Bell's
plan, they can hardly do so without the assistance
of Mr Davis, who of all men in the kingdom, is, next
to Dr Bell himself, best qualified to lay the foundation
of schools on Dr Bell's system.
“I made no hesitation, as soon as I arrived at Cam.
bridge, to write to the Bishop of London, and state all
that I had heard in favour of those gentlemen. Hav-
ing taken great pains to preserve the governance of
the national society from falling into improper hands,
whereby a measure intended for the protection of the
church might be perverted into an instrument of de-
struction; and this end being most effectually secured
by the power intrusted to the bishops, I was decidedly
of opinion that we should only go halfway toward the
attainment of our grand object, unless to security in
point of religion, we add a due proportion of intelli-
gence in respect to the mechanism of Dr Bell's system.
If you attend only to the former, and neglect the lat-
ter, our operations are rather negative than positive.
Unless to the prevention of mischief, we add the pro-
362
LIFE OF DR BELL.
duction of positive good, our society will sicken at its
very birth; but that positive good can be produced only
by those who possess the knowledge and ability which
is necessary to produce it. Mr Davis, therefore, is a
man whose services ought to be courted; nor should
the zeal and intelligence of Mr Harris be much less
regarded. The Bishop of London wrote me word he
had anticipated my wishes by appointing them both.”
The following noblemen and gentlemen composed
the committee:-
The Archbishop of Canterbury,— President.
The Archbishop of York,
The Bishop of London, and the
Other Bishops of both Provinces -
Vice-Presidents.
The Lord High Chancellor.
The Earl of Shaftesbury.
The Earl of Hardwicke.
The Earl of Liverpool.
Lord Grenville.
Lord Kenyon.
Lord Redesdale.
The Right Hon. the Speaker of the
House of Commons.
The Right Hon. Richard Ryder,
Secretary of State.
The Right Hon. Sir William Scott,
Knight, Judge of the High Court
of Admiralty.
ELECTED MEMBERS.
Lord Radstock.
The Rev. Dr Weston, Canon Resi-
Right Hon. Sir John Nicholl, Dean dentiary of St Paul's.
of the Arches.
The Rev. Dr Barton.
Sir Vicary Gibbs, Attorney-Gene- F. Burton, Esq., M.P.
ral.
The Rev. Archdeacon Cambridge.
The Very Rev. the Dean of Can- G. W. Marriot, Esq.
terbury.
The Rev. H. H. Norris.
The Very Rev. the Dean of West- The Rev. R. Lendon.
minster.
Quarles Harris, Esq.
The Rev. Dr Wordsworth, Dean William Davis, Esq.
of Bocking
James Trimmer, Esq.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
363
The committee having been formed, and other pre-
liminaries arranged, the next thing to be taken into
consideration was the establishment of a central school.
It was accordingly resolved, on the 3d of December,
that the society should at once take measures to effect
this object; and that a sub-committee, to consist of the
Bishops of London and Salisbury, Lord Radstock, the
Rev. Archdeacon Cambridge, Mr Quarles Harris, and
Mr Davis, should be appointed to enquire into the
best means of establishing an institution of this kind,
and that they should report the results of their enqui-
ries to the board.
This sub-committee recommended that a central
school, for the education of 1000 children, should be
established as near the city of Westminster as pos-
sible; and that, “ until such central school could be
provided, it was desirable, for the immediate purpose of
training masters, to obtain the co-operation and assist-
ance of the trustees and managers of the several schools
of Lambeth, Mary-le-bone, and Gower's Walk, White-
chapel.” It was also proposed " that another school
should be established in or near the city of London,
as soon as the funds would allow.”
It was, however, soon arranged instead, that a spa-
cious building, situate in Baldwin's Gardens, Gray's
Inn Lane, should be taken for a school. It was to
be formed into two school-rooms, the one for 600 boys
and the other for 400 girls, with a good dwelling-house
attached; and until the building could be put in pro-
per order, a temporary room was engaged on Holborn
Hill, in which about 100 children were received from
the neighbouring parishes. Here the school remained
until the 19th of June, when the buildings in Gray's
Inn Lane were ready for its reception.
364
LIFE OF DR BELL.
A permanent secretary and treasurer were also ap-
pointed—Mr Norris having only temporarily under-
taken the former of those offices, on resigning which
he received “the thanks of the society for the zeal and
ability with which he had filled it.” He was succeeded
by the Rev. T. T. Walmsley, who, having been a curate
in the diocess of Rochester, was, by his bishop, pre-
sented to the living of Woolwich, which he subse-
quently exchanged for that of St Martin's in the city.
The office of treasurer to the society was offered to,
and accepted by Joshua Watson, Esq., the choice
having been delegated to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
365
CHAPTER XXXII.
Correspondence between Dr Bell and his Madras Pupils—Regimental Schools
established on the Madras System-Dr Bell's position in the National
Society discussed—He is made an Honorary Member.
The preceding account of the formation of the National
Society, in order to prevent confusion has been carried
down so far without intermixing any other matters
with it. There are, however, several other circum-
stances connected with Dr Bell, which occurred during
its progress, which we must now relate. It will be
remembered that, in 1807, Dr Bell received a most
gratifying address from his old pupils at Madras. In
the course of the next year (1808) he received the
following acknowledgment of his answer :-
Madras, 22d October 1808.
“ Reverend Sir,
“ I avail myself of the present opportunity of
informing you that your kind and affectionate favours,
with their accompaniments in duplicate to myself and
the rest of your pupils, have been received, and they
afforded to us a pleasure it is not possible for language
to describe. All of us who are at this presidency have
formed a resolution, by a regular meeting, to communi-
cate them to our fellow scholars abroad, wherever they
may be, and with that view obtained permission from
the chief secretary of the government to have the
366
LIFE OF DR BELI..
papers printed. We are at present employed in circu-
lating them, and we hope that by the fleet which sails
from hence in March next, we shall be fully enabled
to write again to our dear and much esteemed bene-
factor, the reason for our not doing it by the present
opportunity being in consequence of wishing to have
the unanimous approbation of our distant friends to
other parts of our resolution. In the meanwhile, I
shall conclude in their name, as well as my own, in
expressing our sincere wishes for your real happiness,
and that you may always enjoy the blessings of health
undisturbed, and that it will please God to keep you
in his holy keeping.--I am, with much respect and
esteem, Rev. Sir, your very humble, obliged, and affec-
tionate servant,
66 Mark DUNHILL.'
.
This intended meeting took place early in the pre-
sent year, 1811, when it was resolved—“ That a ser-
vice of sacramental plate, and a gold chain and medal,
be made up and presented to the Rev. Dr Bell, from
his pupils at Madras, as a testimony of the gratitude,
respect, and affection they have for their worthy pre-
ceptor and kind benefactor; who for a long period of
years had engaged his whole attention in rearing up
their infancy in the irksome toils of education, in the
Military Male Orphan Asylum at Egmore.
“ Resolved also, that one hundred copies of the
Rev. Dr Bell's miniature, on copperplate engravings,
be procured, which are to be distributed to his pupils
on their arrival here; and that the Rev. Dr Bell be
requested, in an earnest address from his pupils, to
permit the execution of the same by an artist in
LIFE OF DR BELL.
367
England—a gratification they will hold dear to them,
as expressive of their attachment to his person, and
regard for his worth.”
These resolutions were accordingly transmitted to
Dr Bell, accompanied by the following address signed
by six of the pupils, who were deputed by the rest for
that purpose :
“ Madras, 13th March 1811.
66 Reverend Sir,
“ We feel it our bounden duty to acknowledge
the receipt of your much-honoured and affectionate
letter, addressed to your pupils of Egmore, under date
19th September 1807. In doing this we beg to state
our sincere concern that circumstances totally unfore-
seen, and which it would be superfluous here to detail,
should have intervened to interrupt the dispatch of
our present communication, and we trust you will
kindly overlook this unintentional delay.
“ With reference, however, to the pleasing task
assigned us by our fellow pupils, contained in the accom-
panying resolutions, which we feel a peculiar pleasure
in forwarding to you, we regret our want of ability to
express, in sufficient
in sufficient terms, those emotions which the
perusal of your valued letter, and its accompaniments,
tended to excite in the breasts of those to whom it was
addressed. Suffice it to say, that as the humble instru-
ments of expressing their dutiful sentiments on this occa-
sion, we beg to convey to you, Rev. Sir, the individual
and united sense of the whole of our fellow pupils, added
to their high obligation and esteem for the strong,
zealous, and affectionate professions with which you
have been pleased to regard their first efforts, notwith-
368
LIFE OF DR BELL.
standing the great lapse of time, with their unceasing
remembrance of you as their first preceptor and friend,
and the liveliest sense with which they continue to
appreciate the real benefits derived to them from your
truly benevolent and indefatigable labours. These they
shall ever reflect upon with the truest sense of gratitude,
and which it will severally be their study and pride to
evince, by a strict adherence to the precepts and examples
you had so incessantly inculcated and marked out to
them ; an assurance in which your pupils respectfully
trust you will discover their endeavours, not less of
meriting your lasting approbation and regard, than that
the credit of your active and laudable exertions, which
still continue to employ your head and heart for the
welfare of rising generations, may more and more shine
with additional lustre, as well in the
eyes
of their
pos-
terity as of the world at large.
“ Influenced with these sentiments, and after a full
review of the forcible facts, matter, and circumstances,
delineated in the most warm and interesting terms in
your honoured communication, it is with the greatest
satisfaction your pupils of Egmore subscribe to all its
conclusions; and they confidently flatter themselves,
reverend sir, that this unqualified expression of their
sentiments, offered under a sense of justice due to you
will not be the less acceptable to your feelings as coming
from your own pupils ; and that the unaffected impres-
sion on their hearts of the parental affection, solicitude,
and regard with which they have been honoured by you,
will confirm in your mind the unalterable attachment
and dutiful esteem of the Egmore pupils to their patron,
the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell.
“ Captain Charles Raitt, a friend of Mr Dunhill's, has
LIFE OF DR BELL.
369
been solicited to carry (with your previous permission)
the enclosed resolutions into effect, to whom we have
delivered charge of this address to be forwarded to
you.
“ We beg to conclude, reverend sir, with our best
wishes, in which all your pupils sincerely join, for your
welfare and happiness, now and hereafter, and with
praying that the blessing of God may ever attend your
zealous labours for the public good. We remain, with
great respect and esteem, reverend sir, your very
dutiful and affectionate servants,
“ MARK DUNHILL,
SAM. GODFREY,
66 GEO. STEPHENS,
THOMAS ADAMSON,
56 JOHN ANCHANT,
Matt. READ."
This was accompanied by the following letter from
Mark Dunhill :
Madras, 14th March 1811.
66 Roverend Sir,
“ I feel real pleasure in having again an oppor-
tunity of conveying the grateful recollection of your
pupils in this part of the globe, as manifested in the
accompanying address; and the happiness to me is the
more heightened, when I reflect that it has pleased
God to spare my life to this period, to be the channel
of another communication.
“On my own account, permit me, reverend sir,
most respectfully, to assure you, that the sense of grati-
tude and esteem I have always entertained, and now
warmly feel, for the unmerited goodness I have received
from
you, is in common with theirs, and which shall
only cease when frail nature is no more.
VOL. II.
2 A
370
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“The gentleman alluded to in the address herewith
forwarded has been advised, by the departure of the
present ships, of the intention of your pupils, and
requested to communicate with you for carrying their
resolutions into effect.
“ That God, in his goodness, may ever confer the
choicest of his blessings upon you, in the establishment
of health for carrying on the great work in which you
are engaged, for the spiritual welfare of the rising gene-
rations, shall never cease to be the prayer of, reverend
sir, your very obliged, and affectionate servant,
“MARK DUNHILL."
To these Dr Bell returned the following answers :
!
1
Reply to Mr Mark Dunhill's Letter of 1811.
“ In requesting you, my dear Mark, to communicate
the accompanying letter to my pupils and friends, I
have the most entire conviction that you and they will
enter into the feelings, and partake of the satisfaction,
with which it is dictated. Having already fully express-
ed my sentiments of your principles and conduct, I
have only further to say, that you can in no way so
effectually requite my services in your education, as by
persevering in that line of conduct by which you have
so happily distinguished and raised yourselves above
those who went before you. Continue, I beseech
you,
to prove a true blessing to your families, and to make
the best recompense to the society to which you are
indebted for your Christian education, and for the
advantages which your meritorious behaviour and
attainments, derived from that education, have secured
to you.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
371
“ Accept, my dear Mark, individually, my thankful
acknowledgments of all your goodness, and of the great
regard and consideration with which I am your sincere
friend,
6 A. BELL,"
97
To Messrs Mark Dunhill, George Stephens, John Anchant, Samuel
Godfrey, Thomas Adamson, Matthew Read, &c. &c. &c., Pupils of
the Military Male Orphan Asylum at Madras.
My dear and good Pupils,
“The perusal of your address, and the resolutions
which accompanied it, completely overpowered me. The
continued assurances which they convey to me
of
your
deep sense, and lasting conviction, of the important
benefits conferred on you by the measures pursued in
your early education, are the richest recompense of all
my labours and solicitude for your welfare. No addi-
tional proofs were wanted to confirm the truth, so
deeply interesting to me, that time, distance, and the
certainty of our meeting no more in this world, cannot
efface the impressions which it had been my earnest
study to implant in your infant minds. With this feel-
ing, I could not refrain from expressing to your worthy
friend, Captain Raitt, my sentiments, that the costly
tokens of your affection and esteem might, and ought to
be, dispensed with. I was confident that you were well
assured of the estimation in which I regarded every
offering of your piety to God, and every proof of your
gratitude to me. I trusted that you would think with
me, that the actual possession of your precious gifts
could not enhance the entire gratification with which
the tender of them had filled my breast. I was confi-
372
LIFE OF DR BELL.
dent, that
you would not impute my respectfully decli-
ning the acceptance of those rich presents, to any other
motive than that which had determined me to decline
all salary and remuneration in any shape, however
delicate, from the funds of the Asylum at Madras.
“ But your faithful commissioner could not be
brought to think that
you
would
agree with me. He
thought that he should not stand acquitted of the charge
entrusted to him, if he admitted of
any
deviation from
your orders. He insisted that I should not defeat
your
pious purpose and disappoint your reasonable expecta-
tions. He said, that, for his part, he would do what
depended on him, by the fulfilment of your instruc-
tions; and called on me, in your name and his own, to
give that effect which depended on me to the requisi-
tion of your generous and disinterested friendship.
“ What, then, could I do? To you—to your name,
I
could refuse nothing. It is the best proof I can give of
my esteem and regard for you, that I have granted to
you, what I had often refused to great and good friends.
I have consented to sit for my portrait to an eminent
artist, fixed on by Captain Raitt; and I now feel a
secret complacency in having indulged all your wishes.
It cannot, indeed, but be grateful to me that, when all
hope of our meeting again in this world is at an end,
you should desire to have a likeness of your old preceptor
and friend, which may remain with you after that period
(which cannot be far distant) when he shall be no more
seen.
“ It is also most pleasing to me to think that I shall
have, in the medal which you have presented, a perpe-
tual memorial of your duty and affection—a token of
the first fruits of the new system of education—and an
LIFE OF DR BELL.
373
I consider your
earnest of its future effects on those who shall enjoy the
benefits of the same mode of instruction,
“ But it is, above all, gratifying to me, that among
your gifts you should have fixed upon an offering of
sacramental plate—an offering which is peculiarly em-
blematic of the sacred bond of union between you and
myself—of my having trained you up in the principles
of the gospel of Christ, for the commemoration of whose
dying love these are presented to a Christian minister,
who, in the office of his ministry, is to show forth his
death, even until he come again.
choice of this gift as a proof that my labour in the Lord
has not been in vain—as a proof that you continue to
act upon the Christian principles in which you were
early instructed—and that you not only know what is
most valuable in this world, but, after an absence of
fifteen years, can duly estimate what I should deem
most valuable at your hands.
“ In the dedication of these sacred gifts, I shall take
especial care that your pious intentions in presenting
them to me may be best fulfilled, and that the religious
appropriation of them may be secured in the church to
future generations.
“ It will be most satisfactory to you to learn, that
your letters and communications to me make a deep
impression on the minds of my readers, some of whom
regard them as the highest commendation of the new
system of education. It will also be acceptable to you
to be informed, that this system, of which you, with my-
self, laid the foundation, has spread of late to such a
degree, as to hold out a good promise that, in due time,
it will carry with it over all the world the knowledge of
the Bible and of our holy religion, enabling all the inha-
374
LIFE OF DR BELL.
bitants of the earth to obey our Saviour's injunction,
· Search the Scriptures;' to peruse the oracles of the
living God; and to reap the holy fruits of life and in-
mortality, which they were given to afford; and thereby
hastening the period when all the kingdoms of the
earth shall be filled with the glory of our God, when
all the children of the world shall be taught (as you
have been taught) of the Lord, and of his Christ.
“ Such are the signs of the times.
Happy indeed, happy beyond imagination, for you,
and for me, if, under the good providence of God, we
should, in any degree, be made the lowly instruments of
his grand designs! With such aspirations I look upon
all that has a tendency to complete the blessed Reforma-
- tion, to spread the glory of the Lord, and fulfill his
pro-
phecies, as of infinite importance.
“ In this light I regard what is passing in the world,
and especially the progress of the discovery made by me
at Madras. I cannot forbear continually dwelling on
the prospect which, day and night, is present to my
mind; and which my letters, by every post, seem to
bring nearer and nearer to my grasp.
“ You will share in the joy which I have in telling
you, that it is likely that the new system of education
will, at no distant period, not only give instruction to
all the poor of this kingdom, but also gain a footing in
our superior and grammar schools--an event which
must lead to its early, as well as universal adoption in
the education of the people all over the world. A com-
manding and illustrious precedent is exhibited in the
conduct of this country, to which it seems given by
Providence to dispense its richest blessings to all the
nations of the earth.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
375
“ With the gracious sanction of H. R. H. the Prince
Regent, his R. H. the Commander-in-Chief has esta-
blished regimental schools for the moral and religious
instruction of all the children of the army, according to
this system. And under the same exalted patronage
the National Society, consisting of the primates, bishops,
and the first men in the kingdom, has taken measures
to instruct the children of the poor on the same prin-
ciple.
“ It is to you then-to the success of the measures
contrived and pursued in your early education,* and to
the results in your lives, conversation, and fortunes, that
the world is indebted for the facts and events on which
the new system rests its solid and permanent basis, and
which has given birth to the great work now carrying
on over the world, of most effectually supplying, together
with the distribution of the Bible, the most ready and
cheap means of making the life, doctrines, and miracles
of our blessed Saviour and his apostles visible, as it
were, to all the nations of the earth, and thereby com-
pleting the glorious work of the blessed Reformation.
“ In this view, the facts which you transmit in regard
to the sentiments, the principles, the conduct, and the
stations of my original and favourite pupils, are most
valuable to me. Every thing, indeed, which comes
from
you,
is endeared to me beyond all price.
“ What more can I say than that I regard the fruits
of
my
labours in India, as exhibited in your character
“ With such an instrument in our hands, and such a precedent before
our eyes, can a doubt be entertained as to the most effectual means of
spreading Christianity in the East as well as the West ? for which see a
pastoral letter of Dr Porteus, late Bishop of London, with the Appendix
written by me at his Lordship's desire.” Cadell and Davies; 1808. Ele-
ments of Tuition. Part. II; 1814.
376
LIFE OF DR BELL,
and conduct, and in your testimony of my services, not
only as the most honourable remuneration made to me,
but also as having given rise to the numerous monu-
ments raised, and now raising to the Madras system of
education throughout this kingdom? In every quarter
of this island school-rooms are erected and erecting, on
an enlarged scale, for the education of all the poor
children in their respective neighbourhoods, who
(whatever be their number) are, by a single master
under the new system, instructed with a degree of
economy, and with an effect, of which no conception
could have been formed, previous to the experiment
made in your education at Egmore.
“I have delayed this answer, till, with the prints
which
you have been pleased to order, I might offer
these my heartfelt congratulations, as I returned my
formal acknowledgments, in an open and public man-
ner, knowing that I offer the only requital acceptable
your communications, by making that use of
them which will be most profitable to the rising gene-
ration, and most conducive to the grand event, of
which
you may be said to be the harbingers, and in
which
your piety will anxiously sympathize with me.
“ I have also waited, that I might be able to send
to you copies of the fruits of that work, which had its
origin with you, and which but for you, might not for
ages have existed.
“ That God
may
bless
you
with his best blessings
in this world, and that we may all meet in the next,
where we shall part no more, is the fervent prayer of,
my dear pupils, your sincere well-wisher, and affec-
tionate friend,
“ ANDREW BELL."
to you
you for
LIFE OF DR BELL.
377
The next circumstance which occurred during this
year, and about the same time with the proceedings
which have been related, as leading to the foundation
of the National Society, was the introduction of the
Madras system into the army, by the establishment of
regimental schools.
The Duke of York had, in 1807, and afterwards,
witnessed the complete success of the system at the
Royal Military Asylum, and, in consequence, had
become very desirous of extending this mode of edu-
cation generally throughout the army. An exchange
of chaplains-general, which took place early in 1811,
furnished greater facilities for accomplishing this ob-
ject than had previously existed, the gentleman who
had hitherto held this important office not having
been favourably disposed towards the education of the
children of the army.
His successor held different
opinions on this point; and, early in November, we
find the following letter addressed by him to Dr
Bell :
“ My Dear Sir,
“ The Prince Regent, at the request of his Royal
Highness the commander-in-chief, has ordered that
every battalion in his Majesty's service shall have a
sergeant, with suitable allowance, to act as school-
master.
66 Lieutenant-General Calvert has directed me to
request your opinion, for leis royal highness's informa-
tion, of the best mode of instructing these sergeants in
the use of your system. The instruction intended for
the children is to a moderate extent only; the advantage
.
378
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to be derived from it, however, can be appreciated by
no one better than yourself.
“ A sergeant will require the most distinct manual
for his guidance. Will you, sir, permit me to request
your assistance in this great purpose ? You, sir, are
able to judge how the principles of your system may
be presented to the schoolmasters in the most concise
and intelligible form. Whatever you are pleased to
convey on this subject, will be very thankfully received,
and his royal highness the commander-in-chief will
instantly order it to be printed. You probably will
annex a list of the proper papers and books.
“ I have the honour to be, my dear sir, your most
obedient servant,
« JOHN OWEN,
“ Chaplain-General.”
92
1
In reply, Dr Bell expressed great pleasure at hear-
ing of his royal highness's intentions, and promised to
afford every assistance in his power, both by personal
superintendence, and by drawing up such a manual as
was wanted for the instruction of the sergeants who
were to act as schoolmasters. This he at once pro-
ceeded to do; and, in five days from the date of his
answer to the chaplain-general's letter, he sent a rough
draft of a manual ; and, shortly afterwards, proceeded
himself to London.
This manual was entitled_“ Instructions for Esta-
blishing and Conducting Regimental Schools upon the
Rev. Dr Bell's System, as adopted at the Royal Mili-
tary Asylum, Chelsea.” It was printed by the military
authorities, and issued on the 1st of January 1812,
LIFE OF DR BELL.
379
with a general order from the Horse Guards, to the
effect that the commander-in-chief, with the sanction
of the Prince Regent, “ called on all general officers,
colonels of regiments, and commanding-officers of corps,
to take under their special superintendence the regimen-
tal schools belonging to their respective commands.”
That the regimental schools should be conducted on
military principles, and that, as far as circumstances
would permit,
“ their establishment should be assimi-
lated to that of a regiment, and formed on a system
invented by the Rev. Dr Bell, which had been adopted
with the most complete success at the Royal Military
Asylum.”
Dr Bell's time and attention were now much em-
ployed in training the sergeants for their new duties as
schoolmasters, for which, and other purposes, he re-
mained in London until the following June.
We must, however, now return to the proceedings of
the National Society, as more immediately connected
with Dr Bell. Hitherto, his name had been rarely
mentioned in connexion with the society; indeed,
it appears somewhat strange, that, in the formation of
an institution, one of the chief objects of which was
the promulgation of the system of education which he
had discovered, his name should neither appear as a
member, nor indeed have been prominently brought
forward.
None could be so fit to direct the movement, and
regulate the mechanism of the machine, as he who had
invented it; and the somewhat marked neglect with
which he had been treated in the proceedings of the
society, now began to attract the notice of his friends.
“ There seems,” writes Mr Davis to Lord Kenyon,
380
LIFE OF DR BELL.
after a committee meeting on the 3d of December,
“ wonderful delicacy at present in all they say and do
about the Doctor. I suppose all is yet not quite smooth
about royal favour towards him: this entre nous.” Lord
Radstock also felt very strongly on this subject, and
accordingly addressed the following letter to the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury :-
“ December 7, 1811.
“ My Lord,
66 I I was, last night, honoured with your grace's
letter, for which I have to request you will be pleased
to accept my best thanks. Your grace having had the
goodness to give me freely your opinion respecting the
measure I had proposed to you concerning Dr Bell, I
must now trust to your candour to pardon my saying,
with all due deference, and the highest respect for your
grace's character and exalted situation, that I humbly
conceive that when you say that the committee, con-
sisting of a president, &c. &c. &c., " was constituted
by a general meeting, and cannot, you apprehend, be
enlarged without the same authority,' your grace was
fixing shackles upon the committee that never were
intended. But even admitting, my lord, that in favour
of the question to which I now allude, we (the com-
mittee) should be exceeding the powers delegated to
us by the general meeting of the society—what have we
to fear? What was it that induced the above meeting
to leave the nomination of the present committee to
your grace and the bishops residing in and near Lon-
don? Surely it was the confidence they reposed in
your grace and their lordships, that you would form
such a committee as would be found capable to carry
LIFE OF DR BELL.
381
into immediate and rapid execution every measure
for the benefit of the society which their wisdom and
zeal for the cause should suggest. If then it should be
found, my lord, upon the most mature deliberation of
the committee, that the powers which have been thus
delegated to them are incompetent to carry the designs
of the society into that speedy effect which the world,
from its munificent contributions, has a just right to
expect, shall it be said that we feel so little confidence
in the liberality of the public, and so meanly of our-
selves, that we have not dared to venture, for the benefit
of the society, to break through those limited bounds
which would never have been prescribed to us but for
form's sake alone? May I be allowed to say, my lord,
with all humility, I know more of the Madras system
than many of your lordships on the committee—whether
spiritual or temporal; and for this plain reason, that
leisure has given me ten times more opportunity of
studying it than your lordships can possibly have had.
Yet, notwithstanding my saying this, so far am I from
feeling any conceit concerning my knowledge of this
matchless system of Dr Bell, that I really and truly
consider myself comparatively in a perfect state of igno-
rance as to its details. Under this conviction, my lord,
I think it is my duty, as being at the head of the com-
mittee, to declare to your grace my thorough belief,
that were we to proceed of ourselves to put forward this
vast machine, without consulting Dr Bell as to its daily
course, we should soon be lost in a labyrinth from which
we should never be enabled to extricate ourselves without
his assistance. I will not waste your Grace's time by
commenting upon the disgrace, and numberless no less
painful consequences, which would necessarily follow
382
LIFE OF DR BELL.
man, I
such retrograde proceedings. Your grace might, indeed,
tell me that all this would be readily avoided by our fre-
quent communications with Dr Bell; in fact, your grace
says, in your letter to me, "We are certainly at liberty
to communicate as frequently and as largely as we please
with Dr Bell. And, moreover, you do me the honour
to say, that you quite agree with me that both commit-
tees will do well to take advantage of Dr Bell's residence
in town. This, no doubt, my lord, might answer the
purposes of the committee; but then, my lord, are we
to have no regard for the feelings of the man to whom
our society owes its very birth, rise, progress, and actual
existence ? Shall such a man, after having devoted so
many years of his life to bring to perfection the noblest
and most blessed of all human inventionsshall such a
say, my lord, after nobly acquiring an honest
'independence, be treated by our committee as a mere
gentleman in waiting, to dance in and out of the com-
mittee-room at the ringing a bell, or the nod of the
president? In truth, my lord, I blush at the very
thoughts of it. No, my lord, for justice sake, for our
honour and credit's sake, let us not sully our proceed-
ings by any such disgraceful measure, whilst the most
simple and honourable mode of conducting this business
stares us in the face. In a word, my lord, let Dr Bell
be made an honorary vice-president, and all our diffi-
culties will not only in a moment vanish, but we shall,
by thus uniting firmness, wisdom, and liberality, gain
the applause of the world, the heartfelt thanks of the
society, and those of the last general meeting in parti-
cular. I have the honour to be, my lord, &c.
< RADSTOCK."
What answer was returned to this letter does not
LIFE OF DR BELL,
383
appear; but at a meeting of the committee, which took
place a few days afterwards, the Archbishop being in the
chair, it was resolved—“That the resolution respect-
ing the schools of Lambeth, Marylebone, and Gower's
Walk, be communicated to the Rev. Dr Bell, and that
this society, wishing at all times to avail themselves of
his important services, at present request them in fur-
therance of the objects of that resolution.”
Concerning the adoption of this resolution, Mr Mar-
riot wrote thus, on the following day, to Lord Kenyon
_“It is most extraordinary that the Bishop of London
wants to exclude Dr Bell altogether from the national
schools, except as an occasional adviser. I moved the
resolution respecting Dr Bell, knowing this, and some
of the strongest parts of it were dictated, in addition
to my words, by the Archbishop and the Bishop of
Durham; and it was a matter of concert between me
and the Bishop of Salisbury, that I should bring it for-
ward, and he support it, because the Bishop of Lon-
don was likely to knock up the whole scheme by this
perverseness. Never was there such self-defeating folly
to be sure. It is through his agency alone that the
national schools can set a fit example to all the diocesan
schools. Davis cannot attend them enough. On
all other points, yesterday, I happened to be able to sup-
port the Bishop of London. For this he will hate me,
but that is more his business than mine.
Dr Bell's position, however, was still far from what
was due to him but for whom the society would pro-
bably never have been founded. What his own feelings
were on this point may be gathered from his reply to
the communication by the committee of the resolutions
passed concerning him.
Jr.
384
LIFE OF DR BELI..
“ Dr Bell to the Committee of the National Society.
“ With the deepest sense of the goodness of Almighty
God to this kingdom, I contemplate the constitution
of the National Society. Believing as I do, that by the
education of that people in the principles and in the
system which they have been pleased to adopt, the sum
of human virtue, individual happiness, and national
strength and prosperity, will be augmented far beyond
what the generality of mankind can yet imagine, with
all humility and reverence I undertake the task which
their committee has thought proper to assign to me.
Believing also that these ends will be attained in pro-
portion to the means which are employed in the
prosecution of this plan, the first duty imposed on me
is humbly to represent, in the only way open to me,
what I conceive requisite to fulfill their views in the
functions with which I am charged.
« The foundation of the new system, I thank God,
is now deeply and securely laid. The superstructure
is yet to be raised. What has hitherto been done in
the formation of the society was of easy execution,
requiring no more than the conviction of the powers of
the machine, a sense of its utility, and a determination
not to withhold from the nation the boon which it is
calculated to confer. What remains to be done in the
execution of these purposes is of a widely different
description.
“ When the scheme of the national education begins
to be carried into effect, then only difficulties begin to
arise. In order to give stability and permanence to
the designs of the society, not only right measures
must be pursued but success must attend those mea-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
385
sures. With all the dignity, all the influence, all the
authority of the National Society, if the new system be
not founded in nature and truth, and if a proof of this
be not given by its being carried, in the economy of
time and labour, to a degree of perfection which can-
not yet be said to be attained in this country, other
nations will yet outstrip ours in this goodly career ;
and other societies will rise up, and reach before us
the goal which we contemplate. As the system already
acted upon in several quarters of the kingdom, appeared
visionary and impracticable to almost every person, in
every rank and station in life, whom I attempted four-
teen years ago to interest in its behalf; so, on the
other hand, by many will these apprehensions of mine
be treated as imaginary, and the difficulties and pre-
judices which I had to encounter in the outset will be
considered as already entirely obviated.
“ With heartfelt gratitude and thankfulness I ac-
knowledge the incalculable progress which is made ;
and that it is no longer left to the powers and means of
one or two individuals to do what will now be seen
to require the united powers and means of one of the
grandest societies which was ever formed, and to which
nothing short of legislative powers and means seem
fully adequate. The high and commanding example,
exhibited in the enlightened orders of their Royal High-
nesses the Prince Regent and the Commander-in-Chief,
in regard to the army, can scarcely fail to produce their
due effect on the councils of the nation. History
rarely affords an example, even of the most patriotic
and beneficent sovereigns extending their paternal
solicitude and concern for the spiritual and temporal
welfare of the children of the army, in a manner which
VOL. II.
2 B
386
LIFE OF DR BELI..
the parents were not prepared to expect, and of which
nothing but mature experience can fully teach them to
appreciate the value, even to the life and health of their
offspring. I thank God that the thing is completely
done in regard to the army! In the army, orders and
their execution are simultaneous. But it is not so
with the National Society. It is not by their resolutions,
as the committee well know, but by the due execution
of those resolutions, that the object they have in view is
to be attained. As far as the execution depends on me, I
must not so far forget my duty as to dissemble, that in
the very outset some difficulties occur, and many more
present themselves to my mind, as contingent, which
this is not the place to enumerate. I speak not thus
to magnify mine office. I speak from long experience
of the subject, as well as from a practical knowledge of
the state of the existing schools in this metropolis. A
good deal of arrangement and management are necessary
to make these schools a just model of the system, in
which the schoolmasters of the society are to be prac-
tically instructed; and there are some points of so deli-
cate, as well as difficult a nature, as it behoves not a
person who has not even a deliberative voice in
your
councils to touch upon. But it may be justly said,
where I cannot be present to reply, that far greater
difficulties were to be encountered in the origin of the
new system at Madras, and that there I did not, at the
outset, possess the great benefit of that long experience
which has since fallen to mylot. I could answer, that at the
Asylum at Madras, with official responsibility, I possess-
ed official authority, influence, and weight. Acting in
the double capacity of director and superintendent, I
was called upon to execute no measures which did not
LIFE OF DR BELL.
387
either originate with me, or obtain my previous con-
currence and approbation. A member of every general
meeting, and of every committee, I had constant oppor-
tunities of explaining the measures to which I resorted
in the discharge of my functions, and their practical
effect, as well as to meet whatever objections might
arise; nothing was impracticable to me which was
given me to do, because nothing was given me to do
which appeared to me impracticable, or beyond the
powers with which I was invested. Feeling the connexion
between the means which I employed, the powers which
I possessed, and the end which, in communication with
the government of Madras and the directors of the
Asylum, I had in view, success followed my steps.
66 In a matter of such immense consequence as the
good or ill success of the first measures in which my
assistance is required by the committee, I have thought
it incumbent on me to suggest on what, in my humble
opinion, the success hinges. The obstacles (were
they even greater than they are) which long experience,
an intimate acquaintance with the new machine in all
its springs, and with the natural prejudices of men
grown up in other practices and habits, have taught me
to feel, to foresee, and to expect, will serve but to ani-
mate my exertions in the discharge of a duty so near
to my heart. If, however, after my utmost efforts in
the service of the society, I should fall short of what
appears to me essential for the completion of the
objects which they have in view, and by consequence
for their stability and permanence, I trust that my failure
will be ascribed to the causes which I have pointed out,
and that a successor will be appointed to whom these.
observations do not apply, or rather that, to prevent
388
LIFE OF DR BELL,
this issue, there may be united to me a colleague, who
has a seat in your councils, and of mature experience,
who will of course feel the truth and the weight of all
I have written, and be prepared to meet and to obviate
it. ' Such a man may be found in your committee, and,
perhaps, there may be deemed a propriety in associating
with a clergyman a layman in this delicate and arduous
undertaking.
“ To detain the committee no longer than the neces-
sity of the case seems to me to demand, I shall only add,
that whatever in your wisdom shall be determined upon, ,
I shall bow to with deference and submission; and
shall, by those means of which the success shall appear
to me least problematical, and the failure least detri-
mental, bend every effort of mine to further the event-
ful designs of the representative of the sovereign, the
head of the church."
This letter was read before the committee in Decem-
ber, and Mr Marriot thus observes upon it to Lord
Kenyon—“ The effect produced by Dr Bell's letter
was wonderful. Davis expressly declined to act with
him, because he was unfit, and because Dr Bell alone,
with full powers conveyed to him over subordinate
agents in the national schools, could effect the great
work assigned to him. The answer is referred to the
committee of correspondence, with an express and mark-
ed notice from the archbishop, that he trusted those of
them who were present at the committee on Thursday,
would be directed by what had fallen from individuals,
and seemingly with the unanimous consent of all, as to
our great desire to meet every wish suggested by Dr
Bell, as far as our delegated powers would allow. The
LIFE OF DR BELL.
389
ور
Bishop of London, I fear, was really an exception to this
unanimity; but he dared not say so, and was markedly
civil, both to myself and Davis, who had been most for:
ward in supporting the high claims of Dr Bell to the
attention of the committee.. Oh, that you could be
at the correspondence committee on this occasion! But I
will hope, till I see the contrary, (of which Lord Rad-
stock is afraid,) that they will do all that they ought.”
The result of this meeting seems, on the whole, to
have been favourable. “I am well pleased,” writes
Mr Marriot to Lord Kenyon, “ with the result of our
great question--that is, on the answer by the committee
of correspondence to Dr Bell's letter, which was as
improper as it could have been. Lord Radstock begged
I would come forward, and I did, and the Bishop of
London was honest in saying, at the end of my
speech, that he differed from me entirely; and thought
we should want no aid whatever from Dr Bell. The
archbishop thanked me for a perspicuous statement of
the subject, and expressed his full assent to Lord Rad-
stock, who made the motion shortly, which I sup-
ported, and to me The Bishops of Durham and
Carlisle, and Harris and Davis, all followed most
strongly on the same side, and not one voice was raised
for the Bishop of London; and I have no doubt full
superintendence will be given to the Doctor in the
National School. The Bishop of Durham, who could
do it with propriety, was very pointed in his notice of
the Bishop of London's sentiment, which alone justi-
fied my part in this business in every one's mind.”
The Bishop of London himself, in a letter to Mr Mar-
riot, dated 19th January 1812, thus writes concerning
this meeting—“On the other subject I did not mean to
390
LIFE OF DR BELL.
express a decided disagreement with what you proposed,
but merely to check the tendency which it seemed to me
to have, of encouraging those who so unfortunately press
us to throw every thing into the hands of Dr Bell;
and, to say the truth, I do not think your argument about
superiority in technical skill, a good one. We shall
not get Mr Lancaster and his friends to acknowledge
this: they will boast of improvements which Dr Bell
will call quackery, and I believe justly, certainly matters
of little consequence. If the children are taught well
and summarily, it is enough for us. But I am perfectly
satisfied, if Dr Bell will rest within the limits which
you now assign him ; only in that case I must say that I
think his letter was a very indiscreet one; it made very
high claims, seemingly as a condition of his services.'
“ It never was in my thoughts," writes Mr Marriot,
in reply to this letter, “ that Mr Lancaster and his
friends could be brought to acknowledge our superiority
in technical skill; but with regard to the great body of
the public to whom I did allude, to the parents who
send their children, and to the children themselves, I
must still adhere to my opinion. I think we cannot do
our part faithfully by the sacred principles of which we
know the inestimable value, but of which too many are
ignorant, and to which the ignorant are generally
averse, unless we secure to them every adventitious
advantage, and protect our seminaries from a compa-
rison in their disfavour, with those which set up the
false but specious attractions of liberality in religion.
“ I have no authority whatever to assign limits to
Dr Bell's claims, but I believe he would not admit that
he has made any claim at all; and that he has done so
e as a condition of his services,' I take upon myself to
LIFE OF DR BELL.
391
say, your lordship would find, on a perusal of his letter,
to be an inference not only unsupported, but most ex-
plicitly guarded against.
“ In what I have above said as to our superiority in
technical skill, I mean, not that the children should be
carried into the region, or even to the borders, of what
may be properly called science, but merely that what
is taught may be perfectly taught; and that no doubt
may exist where the new system is to be exhibited in
the utmost perfection. In the contest for this, which
still remains, it seems to me that we want the more of
real claim to public support, because we set up no
false ones.”
· Meantime a general meeting had been fixed for the 22d
of January, at which Dr Bell's attendance was request-
ed; and the following resolutions were then passed :-
“ That Dr Bell be requested to act, under the direc-
tion of this society, as superintendent in the formation
and conduct of the central and other schools, to be
established by this society, in the metropolis and its
vicinity, with power to engage such persons, as masters
and mistresses, as shall be adequate to carry the pur:
poses of this society into effect; and to retain, suspend,
or dismiss such masters and mistresses.
“ 2dly, That Dr Bell be empowered to engage per-
sons to be trained as masters and mistressess.
“ 3dly, That the trustees of the several schools of
Lambeth, Mary-le-bone, and Gower's Walk, White-
chapel, be immediately applied to by the school com-
mittee to be hereafter appointed, to enable this society
to give Dr Bell sufficient power to train masters in
those schools, according to the former resolution to this
effect.
392
LIFE OF DR BELL.
4thly, That a sub-committee be appointed for the
general management of the central and other schools,
and to assist Dr Bell in carrying into execution the
foregoing resolutions; and that such committee do con-
sist of the Lord Bishop of Salisbury, the Right Hon.
Lord Radstock, the Right Hon. Sir John Nicholl, the
Rev. Dr Barton, and William Davis, Esq.; three of
whom to be a quorum.
5thly, That Dr Bell do report his proceedings,
from time to time, to such committee; and that such
report be submitted to this committee.''
Such was the position Dr Bell now held in the
society; and in the first published reports he is thus
cautiously mentioned—“ The better to forward these
measures, Dr Bell's assistance (whose very long expe-
rience and zealous exertions in this system, as origi-
nally practised at Madras, are well known) was
requested.” And a little further on it is said." To
promote the formation of their schools, and the training
masters, till they could be formed, the assistance of Dr
Bell was, at an early period, requested as before men-
tioned; and another sub-committee was appointed,
under whose directions, and by whose authority, he
might act. He readily undertook to give them his
assistance gratuitously, and has since acted in their
service with great zeal and ability.”
Though the value and importance of Dr Bell's ser-
vices are here acknowledged, it must be confessed
that he did not yet occupy his proper position in the
society. It was not, however, long before steps were
taken for rectifying this. The following letter from
Lord Kenyon to Mr Marriot will show his lordship’s
LIFE OF DR BELL.
393
feelings on the subject, and the interest which he took
in it:-
“9, Portman Square, 25th April 1813.
“ My dear Marriot,
“I cannot help wishing to explain to you more
distinctly than our time would admit yesterday morning,
my feelings on the subject to which you alluded. I
mean the desirableness of Dr Bell's being desired to
be in our committee in the National Society. We both
entirely agree in thinking, that whatever the society
could do, the most strongly to mark its sense of its own
absolute unimportance but for Dr Bell's invaluable
discovery and direction of its powers, would be most fit
and most efficacious towards securing the great object for
which alone it exists as a society; but the question I
feel is, how that is best to be done? I have thought no
little on the subject, and though I had nothing to do
in the formation of the first committee, yet having
named two on the second, I should assuredly have felt
myself deeply responsible, if I had not done my best to
obtain to us the honour of Dr Bell's name, had I
thought it would have been a due respect to him, or
likely to add to his consequence or usefulness in his
and our cause. On the fullest consideration, both then
and ever since, I have not thought it would have been
so, and still hold the same opinion. As far as the
operations of the school committee extend, I conceive
Dr Bell ought, on every account, to be supreme, and in
the most dignified manner, I have felt hurt at the
form of words in which his labours bestowed on our
joint cause there are acknowledged; but knowing as
we do, the high sense which the school committee so
394
LIFE OF DR BELL.
unanimously entertain of his inestimable value, I am
not disposed to criticise mere words, though I never
have liked them, being sure that the school committee
meant only to express their acknowledgments for
zealous, gratuitous, and invaluable services. In point
of fact, I consider Dr Bell's situation, in condescending
to aid the school committee by his advice, to be one of
far more dignity than being a member of it, and one
infinitely more effective as to ensuring the adoption of
such rules as he lays down for them to act upon; as the
moment any one of the least importance is not adopted,
he has nothing to do but to decline giving further
advice, which would bring the committee to their
senses ; but he could not at all properly retire from the
committee itself in such a manner, unless they violated
some principle which was important; for, as a member,
he would only be unus inter plures. In truth, I con-
sider that, as far as the school committee is concerned,
he has, by his present condition of condescending assis-
tance, granted to it a state of efficacy and dignity, the
nearest that could by any mode be obtained to what
he possessed in India. I consider him to be made by
it much more supreme over all the schools in this
country, and especially over the central school, than he
.could be by any other state in which he could be
placed, and it is only as far as the schools are concerned
that, in my opinion, the cases are similar. The society,
as such, composed as it is with the Prince Regent at
its head, and all the episcopal bench, and receiving
contributions, as it does, from all ranks and parts of
the country, has duties to perform of a very different
nature from those of the Asylum at Egmore; and which,
if our excellent friend was to apply his invaluable time
LIFE OF DR BELL.
395
in controlling, would occasion a most lamentable waste
of it; and then, not laying more distinctly within his
province or knowledge than of others, he could not, on
such occasions, have more weight than other indivi-
duals in the society; and I am free to confess that,
whenever his time is employed otherwise than to ena-
ble us to profit by his own choice of its application,
and with full power as to means, the public do not
gain the full benefit from him which another applica-
tion of it would afford. It is on these accounts that I
feel it would not be desirable to promote his being pro-
posed for the committee. Your supposition, that if he
was to be proposed, it must be by the president and vice-
presidents before the day of the annual general meet-
ing, is quite correct; for the rule states distinctly, that
the president and vice-presidents shall make a selection
of eight, out of whom exclusively the four are to be
chosen. After all I have said, if Dr Bell should wish
to be nominated for the committee, (I don't mean that
I wish to have him asked the question distinctly,)
I should, doubtless, support that wish, or any wish
on such subject which he might have, most zealously
and most affectionately; but I must confess that, as
two years have passed in which he has not been in the
committee, I should feel his being so on the third, would
be any thing rather than a distinction; and I am well
convinced that many of our members have felt as I
have, (though, perhaps, not in the same degree, from
the personal attachment and obligations which I feel,)
that, with a view to his own importance and usefulness,
it is not desirable to propose his being appointed on
the general committee. Let me know what
you
think
of my opinions. If I see Davis, I will speak to him
396
LIFE OF DR BELL.
if I can. To myself personally, it would be a great
delight to have Dr Bell with us."
What was done immediately afterwards is not known,
but in a letter to Dr Bell early in June, his lordship
informed him of the names which were put down for the
general committee, to be held on the succeeding Wed-
nesday, and then added—“ The Archbishop of Can-
terbury intends also to propose to the general committee
your admission as a supernumerary member at the
annual meeting. As far as any such proposal can be
supposed indicative of a due sense felt of
or of our national debt to you, no one can more heartily
approve it than, my dear sir, &c.
“ P.S.--Such as were present when the Archbishop
made the notification, entirely concurred in thinking it
the only possible mode of showing distinction.”
your merits,
The result was, that “ Dr Bell was unanimously
elected an honorary member of the general committee,”
whereby a permanent appointment in that body was
given him, and a position different from that of every
other member of it; and this distinction he enjoyed
during his life.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
397
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Mr Johnson appointed Assistant Superintendent of the Central School-
Diocesan Societies--Admission of the Children of Dissenters discussed
Training Master sent to organize Schools-.Dr Bell's first visit to Gre.
dington--Lord Kenyon's Schools Dr Bell visits Grasmere.
AFTER the preliminary arrangements already noticed,
there still remained an important object to be accom-
plished. This was the appointment of a head master or
superintendent; and a meeting was accordingly held
on the 24th of January 1812, at Lord Radstock's
house, to take this subject into consideration, at which
all the members of the school committee were present,
and which Dr Bell also attended.
Here it was resolved—“ That it was expedient to
make enquiry, without delay, for a proper person to
be trained as head master, and to assist in training
others, and to act for the present as assistant secretary
and in other business of this committee; and that a
salary, not exceeding £100 a-year, should be allowed to
such person.”
The committee also made the following observations
on this point in their first report :-
“ The committee saw at once the inconveniences
which would arise, unless they were provided with a
person properly qualified to assist Dr Bell in the labo-
398
LIFE OF DR BELL.
rious duties which he had gratuitously undertaken, as
well as to supply his place during his occasional ab-
sence.
“ Their attention, therefore, was early directed to
this object.
“ In considering how the designs of the society, in
this particular, could be carried into complete effect, it
appeared to them that such assistant should be called
upon to act as the principal master in the central
school-to have the control over those persons who
should engage to be trained to take minutes of the
proceedings of the committee under their direction—to
receive and to answer all applications for masters—to
assist in the formation of schools in the country—to
give instructions to those masters--to receive their
reports, and to audit their accounts. For the dis-
charge of such duties, a man of education was re-
quired; and when it was found that the children of
the central school could not be accommodated in
any
church or chapel in the neighbourhood, the committee
looked forward to the probable necessity of having
divine service performed on a Sunday in the school
room, if approved by the diocesan, and therefore they
deemed it expedient that the person whom they en-
gaged should also be in holy orders.”
The chief duty of engaging such a person as was
wanting to fill this office, naturally devolved upon Dr
Bell, who happened, from the following circumstance,
to have had one previously in his view.
Having been staying at Keswick, in September
1811, he chanced to go over to Grasmere one morn-
ing on a visit to Mr Wordsworth. At this time
the Rev. W. Johnson, the curate of the parish, was
LIFE OF DR BELL.
399
master of the endowed village school there, into which,
on Mr Wordsworth's suggestion, (three of whose chil-
dren were then under his tuition,) he had introduced
the Madras system. This school Dr Bell now visited
for the first time, and was both pleased and surprised
at the proficiency of the scholars, and the successful
adoption of the system, and was also struck with Mr
Johnson's manner, and kindly method of teaching.
Although the National Society was not established at
this time, yet Dr Bell appears to have been fully con-
vinced that measures of the highest importance in regard
to education would shortly be matured, and that Mr
Johnson was just the person likely to be of especial ser-
vice; and he observed at the time, that his talents were
fitted for a larger sphere of action, and that he should see
what could be done in placing him where his peculiar
turn of mind would find a wider scope.
" I must have
him,” he characteristically remarked to Mr Wordsworth.
This occurred, as we have seen, in September 1811,
and when, in the following January, Dr Bell was com-
missioned to procure a superintendent for the central
school, Mr Johnson at once occurred to him, and he
wrote to Mr Wordsworth, enclosing a copy of the reso-
lutions of the general committee, and of the school com-
mittee, and saying that “ if Mr Johnson had faith to
put himself into his hands, and make a tender of his
services, he had little doubt they would be accepted;
and that he thought he could promise, at first, a salary
of L.100 per annum, and perhaps a house.
To this letter Mr Wordsworth thus replied :-
- Dear Sir,
I was much gratified by your obliging letter, which
400
LIFE OF DR BELL.
mere,
I received this morning; I showed it immediately to
Mr Johnson, and am happy to find this evening that
he has determined to propose himself for the office or
offices which are about to be instituted. I need scarcely
here repeat what I said upon the character of Mr John-
son when I had the pleasure of seeing you at Gras-
As a moral man he is eminently conscientious;
as a Christian he is humble-minded, pious, and zealous ;
and as a schoolmaster we have found him active, intel-
ligent, and fond of his employment.
“ It may be proper for me to state, that I learn from
Mr Johnson that, having made an accurate calcula-
tion, he finds that his present situation, as curate and
schoolmaster of Grasmere, brings him in between L.90
and L.100 per annum; so that certainly, in a pecuniary
point of view, (the expenses of living here and in Lon-
don being compared,) he would be no gainer by being
appointed to the office of master of the central school,
unless an appointment to that of chaplain, with an ad-
ditional salary, were likely to follow. I have thought
it necessary, in justice to Mr Johnson, to make this
representation; and, in other respects, he would make
much more considerable sacrifices, as he must leave very
valuable friends here, and in the neighbourhood, and
give up the peace of a country life in a beautiful district,
to which he is much attached.
“I am happy to hear that the great work goes on so
well; it is some consolation to think, in the present
afflicted state of Europe, that there is at least one small
portion of it where men are acting as if they thought
that they lived for some other purpose than that of
murdering and oppressing each other. With many
thanks and good wishes, I remain your obedient servant,
“ W. WORDSWORTH."
i
:
LIFE OF DR BELL.
401
Mr Johnson also wrote in reply, making a tender of
his services in the way Dr Bell recommended ; adding,
“I cannot confine myself to this formal offer of my
services without expressing, that if I have the honour of
being approved by the committee, I shall esteem it as
one of the happiest circumstances of my life, that I
shall thereby have an opportunity of cultivating your
acquaintance, and, I hope, of benefiting by your in-
structions and advice. Long before I had the happiness
of seeing you in my little school at Grasmere, I had
been accustomed to think of you with respect and ad-
miration, in consequence of your great and successful
exertions; and allow me, sir, to say, that that short
interview greatly contributed to confirm the sentiments
which I had previously entertained.”
Shortly afterwards, Dr Bell again wrote thus to Mr
Wordsworth — “I am equally delighted with your
letter and that of your friend Mr Johnson. A can-
didate, of no small merit and powerful recommenda-
tion, had started before I received your answers, one of
which (his) I have already shown to several members
of the School Committee, before which I shall lay it on
next meeting, (Tuesday next.) I have little doubt of
his services being accepted, and that, in one way or
other, the office will be rendered more deserving of his
acceptance than I represented it, and such as you seem
to wish for him. I approve highly of the moderation
of his letter, his not soliciting additional emoluments or
advantages, and throwing himself upon the considera-
tion and generosity of the committee. One thing on
his account, and every account, I am most solicitous
about, and that is, that he may be immediately, or as
soon as possible, at his post. The central school in its
VOL. II.
2c
402
LIFE OF DR BELL.
say how
first state, till the great room is finished, is to be
opened in such a room as we have been able to get.
Be so good, then, as request Mr Johnson to write di-
rectly to me, that not a day may be lost, and say
soon he can be here.
“ If, in this transaction, I can be found in the event
to have done a service to a meritorious clergyman,
whom I hope to see my assistant as superintendent, as
well as chaplain, and to have performed a good office
to his friend, the friend of Southey, and may I proudly
say, my friend, it will be no small addition to the
gra-
tification which I already feel at the present state of
our progress.
Every thing," writes Mr Wordsworth, in reply to
this letter, dated the 1st of March, “ will be done here
to enable Mr Johnson to depart as soon as he receives
the bishop's permission. I have a pleasure in repeating
my opinion, grounded upon a year and a half's
know-
ledge, that the institution will find in Mr Johnson a
most excellent servant. I know you will esteem it a
strong recommendation of him when I say, that he is
extremely fond of teaching, and much attached to his
pupils, and they in their turn to him. I believe many,
I may say most, of the boys will shed tears at his de-
parture. And I assure you, such is my sense of the
good which he has done in this place, that I deem the
availing myself of this opportunity to recommend him
to your kindness as one of the most disinterested acts
of my life. For besides his general usefulness to the
parish, I feel how much my own children will lose in
him."
Mr Johnson signified his readiness to leave Grasmere
as soon as he could obtain the bishop's consent; and short-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
403
ly afterwards, Dr Bell wrote to him, informing him that
his appointment was definitively fixed. Having received
an answer in the affirmative from the bishop, he preach-
ed his farewell sermon on Sunday, the 8th of March,
to a large congregation, all of whom expressed much
regret at parting with him.
After service Lady Diana and Lady Fleming of
Rydal Hall, the patronesses of the living, expressed
great regret at Mr Johnson's departure; and the for-
mer said, addressing a friend_“You know this would
not have happened had we not been over-persuaded by
Mr Wordsworth’s eloquence, that it would be greatly
to his advantage in future life. Being so well satisfied
with Mr Johnson's attention to the duties of his parish,
I had intended to present him to the first living that
became vacant in my gift; and, during the interval, we
were prepared to make up an equivalent to the addi-
tional emoluments he is to obtain in his new appoint-
ment.” And, as a token of their good feeling towards
him, they presented him with a purse of gold on his
departure. Mr Johnson accordingly proceeded to
London without delay, and entered at once upon his
new duties in the temporary schoolroom in Holborn,
where a master of the name of Grover had been placed
in charge until his arrival.
“ Thus,” says Mr Bamford,* in some notes on this
subject, written long afterwards, “ was Mr Johnson to
leave his few scholars and his solitary retirement, those
few sheep in the wilderness, and assume the charge of an
* Of Mr Bamford I shall soon have occasion to speak more fully. I am
indebted to his widow for permission to publish these and other extracts
from his papers respecting Dr Bell, and beg here to return my acknow-
ledgments for her courtesy.
404
LIFE OF DR BELL.
establishment in the metropolis of the kingdom, and
under the direct cognizance and inspection of the high-
est personages in church and state.
Perhaps no other person in the kingdom, who had
been in Mr J.'s circumstances, could have undertaken
the charge with more adroitness and with less sensible
inefficiency. A young man—he was then twenty-
eight—who had seen little of the world, who had been
chiefly immured among the mountains and wilds of
Westmoreland, whose charge at Grasmere probably
seldom exceeded thirty or forty country scholars of
both sexes, whose rearing, education, and habits had
been formed amidst? many disadvantages, and whose
intercourse, with a few late exceptions, had been with
those who could conduce little to refinement ... was
at once placed at the head of a novel, intricate, distract-
ing situation, which absolutely required the clearest
head, the ablest hands, the most inflexible perseverance,
the most laborious and unremitting activity.
The difficulties of the situation few can understand,
and still fewer can duly appreciate exertions of so
extraordinary a kind, which were necessary in the
establishment of the institution. Not only had he to
encounter the opposition of a strong and violent party,
who were planting schools around him, the prejudices
of the public, who had been primarily filled and
charged with various accusations and unjust calumnies
against the views of the National Society; but he had
to establish and prove to the world the superiority of
the pure Madras system, then labouring under many
heavy and unpopular imputations, and to fulfill in
prac-
tice—no easy task—the grand views and high expec-
tations of that society.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
405
The society now lost no time in the formation of
diocesan societies, which Mr Bouyer had so strongly
advocated. As early as December the 3d, at a
meeting of the committee, it was recommended “ to
form societies in the several diocesses upon the same
general plan with the National Society;" and that
“ such societies should communicate with the National
Society, in order to preserve, as far as circumstances
will admit, an uniformity in their negotiations and
proceedings.” It was also said, “ that this society will
be glad to enter into correspondence with such socie-
ties, to give them any assistance in their
power,
and to
co-operate with them in any measures conducive to the
great end proposed.” With this view, a sub-committee
of correspondence was soon after appointed, and an
address was published, dated January 29, 1812. In
this address it was stated, that the reception which
“s the society had already found from the public had
been so favourable, and the calls upon the society to
proceed in this important work so general and so
urgent, that the general committee found it necessary
to call the attention of the friends of the society to these
circumstances, in order that the funds requisite to carry
on an institution which promised such extensive public
benefit, may be effectually provided.” They also observed,
“ that the adoption of the Madras system by the society,
had proceeded from the experience, not only of the
facility by which this system communicates instruction,
but of the influence which hitherto it was found to
have on the morals of the children."
About this time some difference of opinion existed
as to the admission of dissenters into the schools under
1
406
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the direction of the society. This question was dis-
cussed in the general committee early in January; and
it appears that, while Mr Marriot and the Bishop of
London stood out for attendance at church being made
an indispensable condition of admittance, the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Durham, and the
Speaker, were for dispensing with this attendance in
the case of the children of dissenters.
Before the next meeting, however, the Bishop of
London had somewhat modified his opinion on this
point. “I understand," he writes to Mr Marriot,
“ that the archbishop has been prevailed upon to pro-
pose the reconsideration of the resolution of last week
on Wednesday next; you may still, perhaps, have an
opportunity of giving your opinion upon it. I acceded
to it, as the best that could be done under the circum-
stances, and because I thought that it would be better to
admit of some relaxation, and therefore rather to re-
quire the attendance as a private rule than to proclaim
it as rigidly to be enforced, and thereby cause an alarm.”
My lord,” writes Mr Marriot in reply,
sons of
your accession to the resolution have great
weight with my mind. But if the discussion is renewed,
I cannot better satisfy myself than by stating, with all
due deference to the great authorities on the side of the
more lax rule, the arguments which have appeared to
me to outweigh those on which their conclusions are
grounded. But I feel the great importance, and, ex-
cept as one of principle, the great difficulty and delica-
cy of the question, and am fully prepared for another
discussion; and, indeed, had I known we should ad-
journ only for a week, I should originally have proposed
this question for at least the second ensuing committee.”
66 the rea-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
407
Shortly after this, a plan of union with the diocesan
societies and district committees was issued by the
National Society, in which it was said-
66 That whereas the establishment of such committees
and schools, is the principal mean by which the society
purposes and hopes to carry into effect the great end
and design for which it has been formed, the society is
desirous of forwarding the progress of them by con-
necting them with itself, and by such assistance as the
present means of the society will allow.
“That the foundation of this union between dio-
cesan and district committees and schools with the
parent society, being understood to be a general con-
formity, on their part, with the principles on which
the society itself is constituted;
“ Therefore, for the purpose of giving assurance of
such conformity, the plan of such committees and
schools shall be, in the first instance, transmitted to
the diocesan or district committee, if there be any,
and
from thence to this society through its secretary, or
immediately to this society where there shall be no
diocesan or district committee; and that afterwards
annual, or, if desired, more frequent communication be
made, in like manner, of their state and
progress.
“ That in such diocesses as have already, in confor-
mity with the designs of the society, formed central
committees, under the superintendence of the respective
bishops, with which subordinate schools correspond, it
is recommended that the communications to this society
respecting the state and progress, as well of the central
as the subordinate schools, be made from such central
committees only; and that the same course and order
408
LIFE OF DR BELL.
be observed in every other diocess in which a central
committee may be formed, subsequent to the establish-
ment of local schools.
“ That it be also recommended, that wherever funds
for the establishment of schools are provided, or in the
way of being provided, such schools be formed without
delay.
“That it is the wish and intention of the National
Society to render, from time to time, pecuniary aid to
the diocesan and district societies as far as may be in
its power.
“ That it will also assist them in procuring books,
and a master for their central school at its first esta-
blishment; recommending, at the same time, that all
diocesan and district societies once established, shall
endeavour, as far as possible, to provide for the wants
of all the schools under their superintendence, and for
that
purpose,
shall establish a proper collection of books,
and train up teachers.
" That the society itself being instituted principally
for educating the poor in the doctrine and discipline of
the Established Church, according to the excellent
liturgy and catechism provided for that purpose, it is
required that all the children received into these schools
be, without exception, instructed in this liturgy and
catechism; and that, in conformity with the directions
in that liturgy, the children of each school do constantly
attend divine service in their parish church, or other
place of public worship under the establishment, wher-
ever the same is practicable, on the Lord's Day, unless
such reason for their non-attendance be assigned as
shall be satisfactory to the persons having the direc-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
409
tion of that school; and that no religious tracts be
admitted into any school but such as are, or shall be,
contained in the catalogue of the Society for promoting
Christian Knowledge.
“ T. T. WALMSLEY, Sec.”
On the subject of the admission of dissenters, men-
tioned in this last resolution, some letters passed at this
time between my father and Dr Bell in reference to a
passage in “ The Origin, Nature, and Object, of the
New System of Education.”
“Keswick, 6th March 1812.
“I have advanced it as my opinion,”
writes my father, “ that the point of attending church
should not be insisted upon, because it may,
without
any concession, be dispensed with, and there are good
reasons why it should not be compulsory. It may be
dispensed with, because in schools where the boys are
not lodged, there is no necessity that the authority of
the master should extend beyond the school. It ought
to be, because, by dispensing with it, you open your
doors to the orthodox dissenters, whom the catechism
(the proper and indispensable test) does not exclude:
and it is very likely, that if they are left at liberty to go
to what place of worship their parents may choose, many
of them will be won over to the church. This I have
not said: not choosing to tell the dissenters so; but I
have said that wherever it can be done, it is better that
children should accompany their parents to church, than
go in a body as schoolboys. Attention in the one case
is acquired from respect and imitation : in the other the
boys are only restrained from play, or from mischief, by
410
LIFE OF DR BELL.
fear, and there can be no surer mode of giving them a
dislike to religion.
“ Believe me, my dear Sir,
“ Yours most truly and respectfully,
“R. SOUTHEY."
To this Dr Bell thus replied
1
" London, 10th March 1812.
My dear friend,
“I write to acknowledge your favour,
and under great anxiety, which I am in haste to ex-
press, in regard to your decisive opinion as to church-
going. In what I say I have no other view but to ren-
der your book useful and not obnoxious to any party or
set of opinions. Whatever side you take in a question so
questionable, you will give great offence to the other
side, and create a jealousy of all else you write. I am
free to confess, that I think we should draw the children
to church by cords of love, and not drag them by chains
of iron. But in this opinion I differ from many of the
wisest and best men. Now all the rest of your com-
position appears to me so liberal and popular, that I
should be grieved to see any decisive opinion which
may be controverted and made use of to cry down the
book. How was I grieved to read Dr Marsh's pamphlet
against the Bible Society! I immediately saw how it
would be made a handle of, and that it would be mixed
up with another question, towards which it had no al-
liance, but stood in opposition. I write to give you
those opinions which you may not hear at other hands;
but want no further desire to influence your choice,
than I think it connected with the circulation, useful-
ness, and popularity, of the book among all descriptions
LIFE OF DR BELL.
411
of good churchmen. You see I do not, as with Dr
Marsh, controvert your opinion: far from it, only I would
have no appearance of what will be called low or even
high church, from your pen, which might in any de-
gree detract from its great utility.
«« You have, in all else, settled all that can be disputed,
so as no dispute can remain; but on this point, what-
ever side or opinion (if decisive) you take, it will, I
fear, draw upon you and your work the discountenance
of many of our best friends.
66 Ever yours,
“A. B."
To this letter my father replied :-
“ Keswick, March 13, 1812.
“My dear Sir,
“ I cannot think that the manner in which I have
expressed myself upon church-going can give offence to
any person. A letter from my friend Charles W. Wynn
happened to arrive the same day with the proof. Не
spoke of this test as if he supposed that I favoured it.
It had never entered into my thoughts that such a test
was to be insisted on, except at schools where children
are lodged, and where, of course, as they cannot attend
worship with their parents, they must go with their
schoolmaster-and I was anxious not to be misunder-
stood; and to show that while I stood up as resolutely
as Herbert Marsh himself could do for the rights and
duties of the church, I desired nothing more than it
was her indisputable duty to exact, and her undoubted
right to require. I had carefully (as I thought) guard-
ed against giving offence, by making the distinction be-
412
LIFE OF DR BELL.
tween day schools and boarding schools. High and
low church are no more to me than Whig or Tory, or the
Shanavests and Caravats of the wild Irish; and if there
be any persons who can be offended at such an opinion
so expressed, and on such a plea, why I am sorry for
them.
The passage occurs just where I have been
repeating the arguments of others, to show that the
parents cannot give religious instruction; and adding
others of my own to show that it is not the business of
the clergyman, but (for the children of the lower class-
es) that it must be the business of the schoolmaster.
“ The cry which will be raised against the book is
that of intolerance and illiberality, and that you will see.
But I have all my life long been careless what accusa-
tions might be brought against me for speaking
thought right. It will be too late to remedy the error,
if error it be, which I trust it is not.
“The subsequent sheets will have been struck off,
and if the leaf were to be cancelled it would be neces-
sary to supply precisely the same quantity of matter as
that which should be expunged. How difficult this is,
it must be needless to remark. Besides, I should
rather incur the disapprobation of such persons as are
capable of disapproving the expression of such an opinion,
than be suspected of agreeing with them. My own
opinions bear so strongly towards what it is the fashion
to call intolerance, that it especially behoves me to take
care that there be no shadow of a reasonable charge on
this head.
“ God bless you, my dear Sir,
“ Yours very truly, with unfeigned respect,
“R. SOUTHEY."
LIFE OF DR BELL.
413
The following is the passage in question :-
“They who cry out against a principle of exclusion,
represent it as the wish of those who contend for the
establishment of National Schools, to introduce a com-
pulsory regulation requiring the children to go to church. .
But such a regulation is neither necessary nor wise.
The children should be allowed to accompany the mas-
ter to church, not required to do it; and this not merely
for the sake of the orthodox dissenters, (to whom, how-
ever, it ought to be allowed, but because it is better
that they should go with their parents than with their
schoolfellows and their master. In the one case ex-
ample is as likely to be mischievous, as it is sure to be
beneficial in the other. Every one will understand
this who recollects with what different feelings the
church service impressed him, when he attended in his
own parish church by his mother's side, and when he
went among a drove of schoolboys.”
It
appears from the first report of the National So-
ciety, that institutions were now springing up in all
directions; and it consequently became necessary that
emissaries should be sent out from the central school for
the purpose of assisting in their organization. The
first person employed by the society for this purpose
was Mr Grover, the master already mentioned, who
had formerly been a sergeant-major in the East India
Company's service, and having become acquainted with
Mr Davis, was by him induced to enter the service of
the National Society, and accordingly attended Gower's
Walk school for the purpose of being initiated into the
Madras system. His first mission was to Newport, in
414
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the Isle of Wight, at the request of the Reverend Mr
Geary, where he gave great satisfaction.
“ I have great pleasure," writes that gentleman to the
secretary of the National Society, in March 1812, “ in
reporting the flourishing and promising state in which Mr
Grover left our schools, of whose great zeal and assidu-
ity in the cause I cannot say too much, as he merits our
warmest thanks, and it was with much regret we
parted with him. Our schools in Newport are receiving
almost a daily increase. We have 172 boys, and 109
girls in a separate school. A school has been esta-
blished at Yarmouth, and another at Gad's Hill, and
we hope to have another very speedily at Arreaton.”
From this time Grover continued to perform very
essential services to the National Society in different
parts of the country, returning during the intervals to
the central school. Shortly after his return from the
Isle of Wight, he went to Derby to organize the
national school there, of the accomplishment of which
the committee reported most favourably on his de-
parture. He also performed the same office for many
other institutions; but previous to giving an account
of these, we must follow Dr Bell's footsteps during the
present year.
From the time of the institution of the National So-
ciety, until the second week in July, Dr Bell spent most
of his time in London. He seems for some time to
have contemplated taking a journey for the purpose of
visiting and inspecting schools, but was somewhat un-
decided as to his route. Ultimately, however, at the
pressing instance of General Dirom, he proceeded to
Liverpool on a visit to him. “ Here,” he writes to Mr
LIFE OF DR BELL.
415
Johnson, “ I find some of the most delightful instruc-
tors and instructresses I have ever met with; all of
them much to learn, but all of them most desirous to
learn, and most apt in learning. Here, too, I am with
an old friend, who saw the new system in its infancy
at Madras; and it is most remarkable that he should
be in command of this district, and corresponding with
the commander-in-chief on the subject of the Madras
schools. There are few events in history more extra-
ordinary than such occurrences. While I delight in
what I am doing, and can do, here, my heart pants
after Baldwin's Gardens; but when I reflect in whose
hands it is, I rest satisfied that all goes well. Let me
hear by James, if not before. Devise about managing
your masters, and all will be well.”
On the 18th of July he went to Chester, and took
up his quarters at Dr Currie's. Here the school did
not promise well. “The schoolmaster,” he writes, “had
not done one thing as it ought to be done. But the
members of the committee studied, formed themselves
into classes, and will do the work for him, which he was
not likely to do for himself.”
Meantirne he received a letter of invitation from
Lord Kenyon, dated July 9, but which, owing to some
mischance, did not reach him till the 17th.
My dear Sir,
“ As I trust I am not likely to be forced to leave
this place again for London, which nothing can effect
hardly but the repetition of the hateful Roman Catholic
question, I will hope to hear soon, when I may expect
the gratification of seeing you here. I will hold myself
quite at your service to promote the object nearest your
416
LIFE OF DR BELL.
of your
patriotic heart, and very dear to my own, to promote
the general education of this nation, as far as my influ-
ence extends, in true principles, by means of
admirable system; and trust I may be able to render
much service, through your medium and especial assist-
ance, while you can favour me with your society here,
to that most charitable object. I trust your health and
spirits will be thoroughly renovated by your summer
excursion, and that we shall all meet in good health
and spirits, in the winter, in the great centre of action,
London; but what I long for first, is the pleasure of
seeing you here, and making your presence, I trust,
materially forward the great cause.
For the good
which
you enabled me to begin hereabouts, as well as
for the great national good for which we have such
cause to feel indebted to you, believe me to be, dear
sir, your much obliged and faithful servant,
« KENYON.
“ My school, I think, feels the want of me; but
I trust the beauty of the system is still very visible in
it.”
“ I hasten to say,” writes Dr Bell, in reply to this
letter, " that I
go
this morning to Chester, where I mean
to remain only a few days, and where I shall be happy
to receive your lordship's commands, and shall hold
myself in readiness to attend your summons, either
now, or when I shall return from Bishop - Auckland,
where I must be in September. Your school, perhaps,
would not show so well in your eyes after the speci-
mens in London, though I know well that it could not
be expected to flourish during the temporary night to
which it was subjected, as in the preceding day.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
417
Lord Kenyon, still pressing him earnestly not to
postpone his visit to September, and having also ex-
pressed a wish that Dr Currie, (with whom Dr Bell
was then staying,) or any of his family, would accom-
pany him, he proceeded with Mr W. Currie to Gre-
dington on the 22d. This being his first visit, Lord
Kenyon, being desirous to mark the coming of a per-
son of whom he had so high an opinion, gave orders to
his butler to present every man-servant and labourer in
his employment with a guinea. On the list being
given in to him, Mr Lloyd (his butler) said—“ My
lord, I am afraid I have produced too long a list.”
To which he replied—“ Oh no! you cannot do so on
such an occasion, when the great and good Dr Bell
makes his first visit to Gredington.”
Here Dr Bell remained about a week, being busily
engaged all the time in visiting the principal schools
within reach, including Shrewsbury, and in attending
Lord Kenyon's school at Penley, of which he said, in
a letter to Mr Johnson, that “there, under a noble
master, he had already seen the best specimen of arith-
metic he had yet seen, and all else seemed to corre-
spond.” And again, after returning to Chester, he
writes to Mr Johnson -“ The labours of Lord
Kenyon, with his schools at Overton, Ellesmere, Whit-
church, and with that of Shrewsbury, as well as his
own school at Penley, exceed belief. He is at once
the most indefatigable and the ablest of the labourers
in this vineyard, and the fruits of his labour are most
distinguished. Even during my attendance on his
lordship, I saw the rapid growth, under his zealous
and unwearied culture, of his young plants. Oh, that
we could infuse such a spirit and such skill into our
2 D
VOL. II.
418
LIFE OF DR BELL.
92
professional masters !
Every school, and
every place within his reach, enjoy the benefit of his
personal superintendence and of his
purse.
In the same letter he also speaks of his own proceedings
since he left London --- “ During the first three weeks
of my journeying, I visited nearly as many schools, in-
cluding the multitude of institutions at Liverpool. In
some of them I took such measures as, I believe, will
suffice to plant the system ; in others, to correct what
was amiss; in all
, to forward the grand object which
the National Society has in contemplation. It is
curious to remark the difference between
's
school, who had enjoyed good opportunities, and that
of the sergeant schoolmaster, who had scarcely any
other guide than his instructions. On a second visit
to the school of North Lincoln, I am still more de-
lighted than with the former. The drill-master had
neglected none of my instructions. Military discipline
has a grand charm. The child of an officer, distin-
guishing himself in the ranks of the school, was a
gratifying sight.”
6. To-morrow morning
(3d August) I go to Warrington, thence to Manches-
ter, then to Preston, where I pick up Dr Briggs, and
take him with me to visit the schools at Kendal, whence
I proceed to my headquarters of repose and study, at
Grasmere. One day only have I had rest since my
departure from London.” The only further informa-
tion we have concerning his tour, is contained in a
letter to Lord Kenyon written after his arrival at Gras-
mere, wherein he says—“At Warrington I found the
military school admirable—the sergeant educated at the
Royal Military Academy. One proof will suffice. Eight-
een scholars of the town (as many as the room would
LIFE OF DR BELL.
419
hold with the regimental scholars) attended this school
of the army. Observe civil children going to a military
school in preference to all the numerous schools of the
place. At Manchester nothing was actually done, wait-
ing for two noble school-houses in a superior style to
what
your lordship and I would require. I did all I
could to induce them to begin a preparatory school next
day; and they promised that they would next week.
This was all I expected when I proposed next day,
knowing, if I said next week, they would have said
month.
“I have left no room or time for the captivating
beauties of Llangollen, with which I was enchanted.
6. I went to church at Grasford without a sermon in
my pocket, and without the most distant idea of preach-
ing. A lady, the daughter of Dr Currie, the fair and
beautiful Mrs Williams, met me at the church door,
presented me with a sermon, and desired that I would
preach it; and preach it I did, for who would refuse
any thing to such a lady? From church I was carried
to Miss Hamond, and transported with her vale (Gras-
ford) in the midst of picturesque hills, completely Welsh
scenery, opening between two promontories into Eng-
land, which meets the valley at its mouth, and presents
a beautiful champaign country to Chester.”
On his first arrival at Grasmere he remained a short
time at Mr Wordsworth's, and then removed into lodg-
ings close by the rectory, where Mr Wordsworth was
then residing, as it was his intention to remain there
some time.
“On my arrival at this sweet and peaceful vale,” he
writes to Lord Kenyon, “where I have enjoyed a re-
pose from action, though not from study, I should have
is
420
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to
made such acknowledgments to your lordship as I never
had occasion to make before. While I was in your own
school at Penley, or at your other four schools, I felt a
delight in all I did, which I do not always feel to the
same degree. I felt that not a word was uttered, or
not a thing done, but told ; that there was, at least,
one person present who felt as I did, and, as I flattered
myself, thought as I did; and would do as I did, if I
did right. But, as if this were not gratification enough
my heart and soul, I must forsooth be followed by
acknowledgments, as if I had conferred, not received,
obligations—as if I had been doing my Lord Kenyon's
work for him, and not my Lord Kenyon doing my work
for me. Indeed, my lord, I begin to grow jealous of
your lordship, as well I may, and not without full and
sufficient grounds, which I am ready to produce in any
court: I apprehend you mean to take my trade from
me,
and set aside, as well you may, if you go on as you
are going on, both Mr Lancaster and Dr Bell.”
One object which he had in view, in seeking the re-
tirement of Grasmere, was, that he might have leisure
to proceed with a new edition of the Madras School of
1808, on which he was then engaged. The original re-
port of 1797 he had re-published during his stay in
London, with a long dedication to the Duke of York,
which he had sent to my father for his corrections, who
said in returning it—“After thrice reading the dedica-
tion, not with as much will to find fault in it as an
Edinburgh Reviewer feels when he takes up a book of
yours or of mine, but with as much attention to discover
any, the alterations I can suggest are few and trifling.”
He had also requested the assistance of Miss Wordsworth
(Mr Wordsworth's sister) in the correction of the Ma-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
421
dras School, more especially as regarded the language,
for he always distrusted his own powers in this re-
spect. She accordingly spent much time and labour in
remodelling the work for him, and, indeed, entirely re-
wrote it, much to his apparent satisfaction at the time;
subsequently, however, he threw this manuscript aside,
and published it nearly as he had originally composed
it, under the title of “Elements of Tuition, Part II.
The English School.”
He was also at this time proceeding with the "Lu-
dus Literarius,” or the “Classical and Grammar School,”
which he intended to publish immediately after the
English School;" so that he appears to have been
fully employed.
Meanwhile he was continually receiving the most gra-
tifying reports of scholastic operations in various parts,
and especially from Lord Kenyon, who was now, and
continued till his death, his most frequent correspon-
dent. “I have just given orders,” his lordship writes,
“for building one, if not two, new school-rooms at the
farther end of this parish. I met about ten or twelve
farmers about it yesterday, who seemed highly pleased,
and all who had children promised to send them; so
that I hope for a school bigger than the Penley one.
But still, as that will be my first-born, I hope to keep it
at no lower credit than it has been.”
Early in September Lord Kenyon writes to him re-
specting the Chester schools, which were proceeding
favourably; he also told him that he expected, in a
day or two, to begin “ his second private school,”
which was to be capable of holding one hundred chil-
dren; and that, if he could find numbers sufficient, he
would “ build another by it for one hundred more;”
422
LIFE OF DR BELL.
and he adds-“Mr Burton writes of Davis, ' he is a
truly valuable man, and I think will become better
known, and his example followed in many places.'
1,100 boys on the lists of the Central school a fortnight
back, and 317 girls—at least 2,200 children in White-
chapel, above seven years old, are receiving no educa-
tion."
Mr Currie also writes to him of the schools at Ches-
ter, from which account it appears that they were not
progressing so well as could be wished, owing to the
master being prejudiced against the system.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
423
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Dr Bell becomes acquainted with Mr Bamford-Goes to Keswick and Rose
Castle, and returns to London through Shropshire-Family Madras
School- The Central School-Extracts from Bamford's Notes—Diffusion
of the System.
Dr BELL remained at Grasmere until the end of Sep-
tember, where he, a few days previous to his departure,
writes thus to Mr Johnson—"Now for the sweet and
peaceful vale which I am doomed to take leave of on Mon-
day or Tuesday. I have stayed four days longer than
I could spare conveniently, to attend the school with the
new curate, who arrived on Tuesday morning. Bam-
ford had relinquished it some days before. I immedi-
ately collected all the children, and set to work. The
ladies (of Mr Wordsworth's family) attended me, and
we have come on to my mind. We like the young
man, but on the first evening all friends attacked me to
know whether the curate was willing to follow the
sys-
tem, and were surprised when I told them that I never
asked, and did not know; that during my short stay I
had no time for such questions; that I could only do
my part, and leave him to his. Contrary to rule I dined
at Rydal Hall, and solicited Lady Fleming in behalf of
the schools ; saying I had a strong claim on them, ha-
ving deprived them of two masters whom they liked.
The ladies there, and all others, desire to be remem-
bered to you."
+
424
LIFE OF DR BELL.
The young man Bamford,* here mentioned as having
had charge of the school previous to the new curate's
arrival, had at this time fallen under Dr Bell's especial
* notice, and subsequently became of much importance
in the dissemination of the system.
Of his introduction to Dr Bell, we find the following
account, written some time after by himself :-
“ In the spring, (about the end of May or beginning
of June 1812,) Mr Johnson's situation as curate and
schoolmaster of Grasmere not having been filled, I was
sent, being the head boy of the grammar-school at
Ambleside, by the master, to take charge, at the request
of the trustees, of the school at Grasmere till Mr J.'s
successor should be appointed. Having been also the
class-fellow of Hartley Coleridge, who was chiefly under
the friendly care of Mr Wordsworth the poet, then
residing in Grasmere, and whose little boy (Mr W.’s
second son) was under my charge, I was frequently at
the house of Mr Wordsworth. The school at Gras-
mere is situated at the north corner of the church-
yard. It is a very low, dark, and poor building, though
it had been honoured by the children of the great-
est poet, and was still attended by the children of
many an honest and wealthy Westmoreland yeoman.
There was a long flat table, a few forms, and a chair
at one end for the master. I was sitting one day, read-
ing Baptista Mantuarius, while a little brat was squeak-
ing his letters before me, when an elderly, venerable-
* Mr Bamford was the great grandson of the Rev. Robert Walker, many
years curate of Seathwaite in Cumberland, of whose remarkable life Mr
Wordsworth has given a most interesting account in the notes to his poems
on the river Duddon; and of whom Mr Bamford himself published a
notice in the Christian Remembrancer in 1819.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
425
looking gentleman entered the school, and, after a few
preliminary questions, entered into a new and interest-
ing field of scholastic information. I confess I was
much pleased with his attention and condescension. I
had followed the common routine of other country
schools. The children came up generally individually
four times in the day, and managed, some way or
other, to get through as many lessons. But no sooner
had this gentleman questioned me as to a division
of time, method of teaching, and perfect instruc-
tion, than I at once felt my deficiency, and expressed
my desire to learn, and my gratitude for what he
imparted. That same evening I spent at Mr Words-
worth’s with the old gentleman, who I then learned was
the celebrated Dr Bell, of whom I, of course, had heard,
but knew nothing of him or his pursuits. In the course
of the evening he paid a good deal of attention, and
addressed his discourse frequently, to me, and at length
put into my hands his Instructions for Conducting
Schools. The composition of parts was such as to
captivate me. Having a warm imagination, and hav-
ing read little except school-books and novels, I was
charmed with the antithetical style of the disquisitions,
and felt an undefined propensity to read, admire, and
repeat from memory various passages. Of the system
itself I could form no opinion. It was sufficient that I
was taken with those detached portions, which seemed
to find a congeniality in my own breast. As the doctor
lodged at the house nearest to the school, I saw him
frequently; and he also condescended to read to me
the manuscripts he was then writing.
“ I was at that period in my seventeenth year, and
free from all kind of prepossessions, except an extreme
426
LIFE OF DR BELL.
love of nature, and an ardent and burning desire to see
London. I had heard and read so much of the metro-
polis, and I felt so anxious to begin the world, that any
opening would have then been seized with the greatest
readiness.
“In August or September, Mr Wordsworth men-
tioned to me, that if I was desirous of leaving home, Dr
Bell could provide the opportunity ; but that, at first,
I must not look for more than a bare subsistence : all
else must depend upon myself. Dr Bell would
pro-
mise nothing. The prospect of going to London was
enough. It was determined. I never enquired what
situation, income, &c., I was to have; nor, in fact, gave
myself any concern about these things. Dr B. wrote
to the society, and gave me a letter to my former mas-
ter and friend, the Rev. W. Johnson, assistant-super-
intendent of the central school.”
Speaking of his first introduction to Mr Johnson,
Bamford says — “When the Rev. Mr Cracket re-
signed the school and chapel at Ambleside, the trustees
engaged Mr Johnson, then curate and schoolmaster at
Grasmere, to perform the duty till a successor was
be appointed. I was then one of the head boys in the
school, and received many kind attentions from Mr J.,
who was in general much beloved by the boys. They
were exceedingly anxious that Mr J. should obtain the
school; but the trustees appointed the Rev. Mr Dawes,
a good classical scholar, who also obtained the chapelry.
Mr Dawes brought his private pupils to the grammar
school; but in a year he gave up the school, retaining
the church, which had never before been separated, and
which he got by being appointed to the school, and
resumed his own private academy. I resided with
LIFE OF DR BELL,
427
him at his express desire; and I was the only one
belonging of old to the grammar school who accom-
panied him. Hartley and Derwent Coleridge were
my classfellows; the former was superior to me in
Greek* and in composition. In Latin I felt superior
to him, as well as in figures, &c.
· Hartley was very irregular in his time of attending
school. He used to run in about ten o'clock, with his
hat on his head, chewing a slate pencil in his mouth,
“Where have you been?' Hartley, laughing, “ I really
don't know. “You are a strange fellow, Hartley, to
go on in this way. Get me forty or sixty lines of
Homer in such a book.' * Shall I say them now,
sir ?'"
Bamford at once proceeded to London, where he was
charged with the superintendence of the registers of
the central school, in which situation, according to his
own testimony, he met with much kindness from Mr
Johnson. We must now, however, leave him for the
present, and return to Dr Bell, whom we left on the
point of quitting Grasmere for Keswick.
While there, he had written to the Bishop of Car-
lisle, (Goodenough,) with whom he had probably be-
come acquainted through their mutual connexion with
the National Society, proposing to pay him a visit in
passing. “Had I known," writes the Bishop in reply,
“ that you were so near to me as Keswick, I should have
anticipated your writing to me, by being beforehand
with
you in begging you to come on to Rose Castle.
Pray do me that favour, and stay with me while it can
be made convenient to your plans. I can promise you, ,
first, all due welcome; next, freedom without interrup-
* Hartley Coleridge commenced learning Greek before Latin.
428
LIFE OF DR BELL.
tion, case, and retirement. I shall also be proud to
show you our central school at Carlisle; where, by the
help of a master from the Barrington school, we are
educating a hundred and forty boys and eighty girls.
Their progress has exceeded my most sanguine expec-
tations; and I trust, under the blessing of God, the
next generation here will show a sense of religion and
sober demeanour lately unknown in Carlisle. We can
visit the school from my house as often as you wish to
do it; and it will be highly gratifying to me to receive
your “euge? to our endeavours. We are not going from
home, (our dinner hour is five,) and shall be happy to
see you as soon as you can make it convenient. We .
are nine miles from Wigton, at which place any of the
inns (I use Irving's) will direct you on to Rose Castle.
“I am assured that, since our school has been esta-
blished, the Lancasterian school in this place (Carlisle)
has gone back, as they say, very much.”
At Keswick he remained about a week, spending
his time at my father's, where he had become a favou-
rite with all ages. In referring to this visit in a letter
written to Dr Bell some weeks after, my father
says
of
my sisters—“The twins (my eldest sister and my cou-
sin, Miss Coleridge) pricked up their ears just now
when I mentioned your name, and asked what they
Their eyes sparkled, as they both at
once cried out, "Tell him to come again.' Even Kate
says, ' Dr Bell gone, must come again.'
From Keswick he went, on the 7th October, to Rose
Castle, where he remained till the 12th, when he left
for Gilsland; here he took up
his
quarters for a week,
and then proceeded by Haltwhistle to Durham, where
he arrived on the 22d. He continued at Durham till
had to say.
999
LIFE OF DR BELL.
429
myself to hear from you as often as convenient to you;
the end of the month, dividing his time between the
duties of the hospital and the neighbouring schools.
Every where Lord Kenyon's letters followed him,
written in the most friendly strain. " If will
pre-
scribe to me," writes his lordship to him at Durham,
“how
many letters I must send you for one, I will entitle
you
but if I do not, and if any thing occurs which I think
likely to be interesting to you, or if I want instruction
from you, which will happen now and then, I don't pro-
mise but you may have more letters than
you
choose
to claim.”
On the 27th he was again on the move for London,
where he expected to arrive in about a fortnight; and,
passing through York and Derby, reached Coleorton
Hall, the seat of Sir George Beaumont, who was a
stanch promoter of the new system, where he had
been invited to pass a few days the first week in No-
vember. While here, a letter from Mr Marriot reached
him, urging him much to visit Cotesbatch, near Lut-
terworth, (Mr Marriot's native place,) where he tells
him he will“ find several parishes rendered compara-
tively a heaven upon earth by teaching.” But whether
he accomplished this visit or not does not appear.
He also received, at this time, a pressing invitation
to Ludlow, from Captain Ferguson.
“ The aggregate
wisdom of Shropshire," writes that gentleman, “ is
found unequal to the task of organizing a small school
upon your plan.
“ Recorder, corporation, &c. &c., are, therefore,
anxiously desirous of seeing you here, as soon as you
can possibly make it convenient.
“ Upon submitting my letter for approval,” he adds,
430
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ I am desired to repeat, that Lord Powis and the cor-
poration of Ludlow, having determined to establish a
school upon your principle, are most desirous of seeing
you at Ludlow.”
This invitation he accepted; and leaving Sir George
Beaumont on the 16th, proceeded to Dr Outram's at
Birmingham, where he probably remained about a
week, as he did not reach Ludlow till the 24th No-
vember. “ Every where,” he writes to my father after
his arrival, “I have been gratified beyond measure
with the zeal which I have witnessed in the good cause.
It would require a quire of paper to enter into details.
Your friends at Coleorton Hall are second to none in
zeal, activity, and personal exertions." Here he
received several letters from Lord Kenyon, urging
him to pay another visit to Gredington. In writing to
express his inability to accept the invitation, he says-
“ It is utterly impossible for me to express the conti-
nually increasing sense which I have of your lordship’s
goodness and condescension, nor how delighted I should
be to accept Lady Kenyon's and your gracious invita-
tion, and to carry on, under your auspices and with
your aid, the important work which I have in hand.
In it will be seen how impossible it was for me, with-
out full powers, and before any body of your lordship’s
mind, and station, and character understood the sys-
tem in its details and minutiæ, and gave it entire coun-
tenance, favour, and support, I could exhibit the
machine as it really is. But time, alas, cannot be
arrested! And the Elements of Tuition, Part II., or
English School, have imposed on me the severe task of
not losing in travelling a single day more than has
been already lost by me till it is completed.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
431
For the same reason, he seems to have been unwill-
ing to quit Ludlow until he had finished what he had
then in hand. Indeed, the amount of time and of
labour that he now and afterwards spent upon his
publications, seems extraordinary, considering their size,
and the small quantity, comparatively speaking, of new
matter that the latter ones contained. In later life,
this anxiety about correcting and re-correcting became,
as will be seen, almost a disease. Night after night he
would sit up, or, what was worse, make others sit
up, to write out again what he had rendered almost
illegible by his corrections, and this process would
be again and again repeated. His anxiety to forward
what he considered the one object of paramount im-
portance, was even now beginning to render him
too careless how hard others were worked in this
service. This, though not exactly selfishness, was near
akin to it; and it seems to be the natural tendency of
applying the mind exclusively to one object, that
the relative importance of others should be forgotten,
and that the individual should appear to live for that,
and that only. How remarkably this ultimately became
the case with Dr Bell, will be seen as we proceed.
From Ludlow he writes to Mr Johnson, in refer-
ence to the postponement of his visit to London-
“ Anxious as I am to see you and your school, I am
precluded from quitting my present occupations. I
still find so much to do, to be ready for the press,
which I must dispatch here, that I am detained as
much with my own concerns, if I may so style my
English School, as the concerns of others, if I may so
speak of the schools around me.
“ Do you hear any thing of Mr Russell and the
432
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Charter-house? I know that if I reach town prema-
turely, I cannot expect for one year longer to redeem
the pledge, which I am determined, if possible, to
redeem, and as early as possible.”
6 Had
you told me,” writes Mr Johnston in reply,
“ when you left London, that you would be six
months absent, I should have been almost tempted to
despair. But having been always kept in a kind of
suspense, I have by degrees become reconciled to my
forlorn condition. Let me not, however, complain; for
I am sure that your time has been spent to the best ad-
vantage, and your presence has already told where
you have been.”
In answer to Dr Bell's enquiry
regarding the Charter-house, he told him that Dr
Russell had been frequently at the Central school, and
that considerable progress had been made in intro-
ducing the system into the Charter-house.
Meantime, the Madras system had been tried, on a
small scale, among the higher classes, and its utility in
private as well as in public education had been satis-
factorily shown. Mr Marriot, in a letter to Dr Bell
of the 12th of November, says—“I also delight peculi-
arly to tell you that Mr Frere has begun his family
school in Brunswick Square, 'at which my eldest and
Park's youngest son attend. George got a ticket of at-
tention the first day of his attendance, (the second he
gained three,) and is as eager to go to school as he
ever was for a new plaything. Selina is about to esta-
blish a second in this house, for the benefit of all whom
it may concern in this square; and Lord Radstock is so
pleased with the plan, that he will indisputably carry
it
on to the west. What has been done was mentioned
yes-
terday in the general committee with great applause. A
LIFE OF DR BELL.
433
most charming monitor boy comes from the Central
school to act as master.”
Mr Johnson also writes to Dr Bell on the same sub-
ject shortly afterwards—“ Perhaps I am not the first
to inform you, that after the Madras system has taken
deep root downwards, it has sprung up, and introduced
itself into the higher walks of life. I had, about a week
ago, great pleasure in laying before the school com-
mittee the request of a party of ladies to have a teacher
from amongst our boys, to teach their children; which
was received with as much delight by the committee
as it was important, and of course the request was
granted. You know the names of Marriot, Park, Frere,
Hobhouse, Richardson, and Morris. Then, these all
have children now benefiting by the Madras system of
education. I think it is as pleasing a sight as I have
often seen, to see the anxiety of these children to excel
each other. It is only exceeded by the over-anxiety
of the superintending mothers. The wish of all parties
is to have this little Madras school in full order, to
compliment the venerable parent on his arrival in
town.”
As they advanced, this scheme seems to have succeeded
equally well, to which Mrs Marriot thus bears testi-
mony in the middle of the next month—“I wish you
could have seen your little friend George at the head of
his class this morning : never was child half so pleased
and delighted. You have no idea what your system is
doing for my boy; and it is well if, after all, I am not
terribly jealous of you, for doing for him in a month
what I had been endeavouring to effect for three years
without success.” After this time, however, we do not
find this experiment again alluded to.
VOL. Il.
2 E
434
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Dr Bell was now much urged by Mr and Mrs
Marriot to meet them at Oxford, whither they were
then going, which he was ultimately persuaded to do;
and accordingly, having remained a month at Ludlow,
proceeded to Oxford on the 24th of December. Lord
Kenyon, in a letter of the 17th of December, writes
in reference to this visit, which was then in contempla-
tion -- “ If a word may be said for the ignorance of
erudition at Oxford, (if you are not determined, be-
cause it has steadily resisted Lancasterianism and is
anxious to imbibe light from the East, to give it up,)
let me request for my Alma Mater, notwithstanding
all her demerits, which her learning, her general sound
principles, and her loyalty, may extenuate, at least to
an ancient British mountaineer, that she may have to
boast of a well-conducted Madras school. You should
help to illuminate one of the eyes of Britain. Sir F.
Burdett has been there first, so it the more becomes
you to bestir yourself.
Of what was done there in the scholastic line we
have hardly any account: it would seem, however,
that something must have been accomplished, by a
letter from Judge Park to Mr. Marriot, written at
this time -"Your account,” he says, “ of Dr Bell's
success at Oxford, and of the advancement of his
grand scheme, is highly interesting to me. I really
think that his plan, if rightly conducted, is one of the
most stupendous engines that ever has been wielded,
since the days of our Saviour and his apostles, for the
advancement of God's true religion upon earth. It
never has been my opinion that Dr Bell is infected
with vanity; but there never was a man, who, from
seeing his plans taking a wide and deep root in the
”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
435
earth, has had more just cause to be vain than our
excellent friend. I am not sure that this is not the
commencement, by his means, of that glorious era,
when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth,
as the waters cover the seas."
On the 31st of December he left Oxford on a visit
to some friends at Bourton on tlie Water, Gloucester-
shire, where he had been pressed to go as early as the
previous May. There he remained until the 17th of
January, when he went to London, where he had been
so long expected. He had travelled about 1100 miles
since July, and was as desirous himself to reach Lon-
don as his friends were to see him there.
On the 9th of January Mr Marriot had written
to urge his coming “Dr Carey,” he said, “ told me
yesterday he was impatient to see you, and quite an
enthusiast about you and the system. Some of the com-
mittee are anxious also, I find, on the same account, as
Selina expresses in her letter to you, for your return to
the Central school. There the grand work on foot lives
or dies, and you know it.”
We must now return to the proceedings at the
Central school, the chief information concerning which,
at this time, is contained in the letters which passed
between Dr Bell and Mr Johnson during the period
that the former was engaged in travelling.
Early in this year (1812) Dr Bell appears to have
had the formation of some new elementary books for
spelling, &c., in contemplation; and at the committee
meeting held on the 24th of January, it was resolved,
“ That Dr Bell be requested, with the assistance of
such other person or persons as he may
think
proper,
to revise the existing elementary books, and to report
436
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to this committee whether any, or what, improvements
can be made in such elementary books, to be printed
for the use of the National Central School, and other
schools, when approved by the general committee.”
And they also observed, " That in all the lists of books
which had come under their view, it appeared that
some improvements might be made, either by omissions
of unnecessary repetitions, or by an alteration in their
order and gradation.”
It does not appear what progress was made in this
matter during the winter and spring; but it seems to
have been ultimately arranged that the wishes of the
committee should be carried into effect chiefly by Mr
Johnson and Mr Davis, with such assistance as they
could receive by correspondence with Dr Bell. In
reference to one of these books on which Mr Johnson
had been engaged, he thus writes to Dr Bell in July,
“ The monosyllabic reading-book remains nearly in the
same state in which you left it, and I shall not be able
to send you a proof-sheet till more are struck off. Our
dear good friend Mr Davis has come home again, and it
is to be hoped we shall now do something. He came to
town this morning on purpose to see me, and to make
some arrangement about forwarding your wishes respect-
ing books, &c. He stopped with us nearly two hours.
He examined and was much pleased with our school.
I then went with him to Rivington's, and I can now
assure you that it will be forwarded with all speed,
and, with Mr Davis's assistance, I trust, to your mind.
But
pray
let me have no more to do about books, for,
if you believe me, I have really more to do than I can
possibly do, as it ought to be done; and I wish I could
any
effectual assistance. The Central school
say I had
LIFE OF DR BELL.
437
is now a weighty, it is a mighty concern, but it is also
a glorious one, and I hope it will do well; indeed, it is
doing so. But if you wish it, we shall set to work, and
do our best in forwarding the polysyllabic spelling-book.
It ought to be done. The reading book is long since
out of our hands, and we conceive ourselves no longer
responsible for its delay.”
These books were shortly after ready for publication.
“I am desired,” writes Mr Walmesley to Dr Bell,“ by
the school committee, to acquaint you that—in conse-
quence of directions which they have received from the
general committee, to submit to the public a set of ele-
mentary books, and other articles, to be used at the
first institution of schools on the Madras system—they
have prepared the enclosed advertisement."
“ As to the books,” Dr Bell writes shortly in reply-
“I do not, for the present, think of imposing any new
burden upon you ; but the difficulties and blunders
which every where occur, and which, with common
masters, are inconceivable, render the leaf-books, the
monosyllabic spelling-book, and the polysyllabic spell-
ing-book, indispensable. With these I shall rest con-
tented till we meet, and perhaps long after our meeting.
It will not be easy for the stupid schoolmaster to mis-
take his instructions with these books in his hands.”
We next come to the subject of training masters,
which was, in fact, one of the grand objects of the
Central school. At this time they retained at least
ten persons in their
pay
who were qualified to assist
when required in the organization of other schools; and
to prevent difficulties as to the remuneration which
these were to receive, a regulation was adopted that
none of the society's masters, engaged in the service
438
LIFE OF DR BELL.
of
any local society or school, should accept more than
a guinea and a half per week for his expenses, or any
gratuity without the special permission of the school
committee.
Subordinate to the training masters, an indefinite
number of probationers were admitted, upon producing
approved testimonials, who were gratuitously instructed
in the system, and received into the pay of the society,
as vacancies occurred, upon being reported competent
by Mr Johnson. A third class under this department
consisted of masters and mistresses sent from the coun-
try, to be qualified to conduct schools to which they
had been respectively appointed.
In the early stages of the institution this was one of
the most troublesome branches of it. The persons
sent were, for the most part, taken from other occupa-
tions, wholly ignorant of the system, and probably pre-
judiced against it, from having been educated under so
different a one; while those who had been accustomed
to tuition, had much to unlearn as well as to acquire.
In one of Mr Marriot's letters to Dr Bell, he says-
“We came to a resolution, on account of Grover's re-
porting that the masters and mistresses were, in many
instances, unable to write, and in some even to read,
that either a certificate of their having these qualifica-
tions must be required, or an examination by us take
place before they are admitted to be trained; and,
when found incompetent, that they be sent to an adult
school first."
In other ways the Central school seems to have gone
on satisfactorily. “We should all be glad to see you
again in town,” writes Mr Johnson to Dr Bell in July
1812 ; " but do not take any thought about us and our
LIFE OF DR BELL.
439
little folks so as to render yourself uneasy, for all goes
on remarkably well. If I had been writing to any
other person but yourself, I should have said things
could not possibly be better. However, we cannot yet
boast of complete perfection, but are making every
effort to attain to it."
“ Seldom, my dear friend," writes Dr Bell in reply,
“ have I met with such a cordial to my anxious mind
as your letter. If I entertained any apprehensions of
your being overwhelmed by the multitude of masters,
(not of scholars,) these apprehensions are done away.
The spirit in which it is written delights me, as it does
my
Lord Kenyon, with whom I am.
“ If I had not meant to visit Grasmere, your letter
would have led me thither. That scene will now have
an interest in my eyes which it has not to others. Ifi
can be of any consolation to your weeping parishioners
to tell them how much more profitably for mankind
you are employed where you are, than it was possible
for you to be with them, or elsewhere, they shall not
want for consolation.”
Mr Johnson's reports of the progress of the school
at this time gave Dr Bell great satisfaction, and many
letters passed between them concerning the details of
the system, which it would be out of place here to enter
upon.
One of Dr Bell's letters while at Gredington, in
July 1812, had contained an account of Lord Kenyon's
schools; and, in his reply to it, Mr Johnson remarks
_“Every line that I receive from your pen inspires me
with new life and vigour. How great, then, must be the
support and encouragement you will readily judge,
that I derive from your copious and instructive letters.
Especially your last has been most salutary to my
440
LIFE OF DR BELL.
doubting, yet anxious mind. The delightful account
that it contained, I trust, has had the desired effect.
It operated as a stimulus with us; and at once we
determined, if possible, to equal, if not to exceed, Lord
Kenyon in his performances. We have certainly done
something; but I am afraid our little is not yet to be
compared with the flattering accounts you give of his
lordship’s schools. But believe that we are doing our
best.
After admitting 610 boys, (besides
those we had in the preparatory school, the admission
book was closed last Friday. It was really affecting to
see the solicitude and disappointment of the parents
that could not have their sons admitted, and we are re-
ceiving applications every day. There are more than
one hundred and fifty vacancies yet in the girls' school.”
On the 15th of September Mr Johnson again writes
last I was so much hurried that I forgot to
tell
you
what a kind letter I had received from the
Bishop of Hereford. About six weeks ago Mr Peploe,
a particular and most intimate friend of the bishop's,
called to see our school, and, not knowing who he was,
we showed him every thing as well as we were able.
And it appears from his lordship's letter that he had
been particularly pleased with our kindness, and every
thing that he had seen; so much so, that he had been
induced to engage a master at his own expense, and to
send him up to be instructed with us. This is one in-
stance, among many others, that has come to our ears
again of our having given satisfaction to visitors, and of
their having been pleased and delighted with the school.
I only mention these things, in order that your mind may
rest assured that nothing is left undone that we possibly
can do to recommend your admirable system. Dr and
“In my
LIFE OF DR BELL.
441
must
Mrs Carey, with another lady, have been here to-day for
some time, and it gives me great pleasure to say
that
these worthy people were highly delighted. Indeed, I
say
that I myself am astonished at the progress of
the higher classes in order and perfection. I do not
think we get fast over the ground; but what is done is
done so effectually and perfectly, that I think it will bear
the strictest examination, and happiness is depicted in
the countenance of every
child."
Lord Kenyon also reports favourably of the Central
school, which he visited after his arrival in town in
August, and spoke most highly of Mr Johnson's super-
intendence.
Meantime a “ Ladies' Committee had been appoint-
ed to superintend the girls' Central school, Mr Davis
having represented to Lord Kenyon, that the mistress
stood in need of “the countenance and support of some
ladies to assist her in arranging plans for work," &c.
Accordingly his lordship proposed, at a general meet-
ing, that a committee of ladies should be appointed,
which was readily agreed to. This measure met with
Dr Bell's full approbation, which he expressed to Lord
Kenyon, who in reply says—“I do heartily concur
with
you in rejoicing at the ladies' school committee
being formed, and take some little credit to myself
at having moved and carried it at the last general
committee. I most fully expect that they will make
the girls' school a most delightful sight, and know ex-
perimentally, by the want of such aid at my girls' school,
the immense value of such assistance, or I should per-
haps say, of such a creation as it will afford to the girls'
school; and I hope, too, that the ladies themselves will
be inoculated with the system, and if it engages their
442
LIFE OF DR BELL.
hearts, as it must do when not engrossed by any
other
paltry considerations, perhaps they may talk about it.”
The report of the meeting at which this resolution
was passed, runs thus :-
“The committee have further to report, that they
conceive much advantage to result from the general
admission of visitors, whose names are set down in a
book kept for that purpose, both as showing the inter-
est with which the school is regarded, and because the
degree of perfection which, under the unwearied care
of Dr Bell and his assistant, the school exemplifies,
must tend to assist others in founding and conducting
such schools in their respective neighbourhoods. In the
mean time it was suggested, that a committee of ladies
would be useful in regulating and inspecting the em-
ployment and work of the girls; and the following reso-
lutions were, for that purpose, offered to the general
committee, and afterwards approved of by them :-
“ First, that a committee of ladies be formed for the
purpose of inspecting the girls' school.
“ 2dly, That such committee consist of the ladies of
members of the general committee of the national so-
ciety, who are disposed to undertake the duty, assisted
by ladies to be appointed by the school committee.
“ 3dly, That such ladies be appointed annually at the
meeting of the school committee next preceding the
25th of March, and all vacancies be filled up from time
to time as they arise.
4thly, That three ladies be appointed monthly
visitors in rotation for each month; and, in order to
render the arrangement convenient, each lady shall be
requested to set down those months in the year du-
ring which she can attend.
6
LIFE OF DR BELL,
443
“ 5thly, That the general duty of the committee of
ladies be to repair to the school on uncertain days and
hours, and to note, in a journal to be kept for that pur-
pose, whatever they observe worthy of censure, or of
particular praise, or of wants to be supplied; which
journal shall be laid before the school committee at
each of their meetings.
“6thly, That it be the special duty of the monthly
visitors to attend the weekly examination of the girls, in
order to watch over their progress in learning and reli-
gious instruction, to inspect their work, and to see their
rewards duly distributed ; such weekly examination to
take place every Friday, or such other day in the week
as shall hereafter seem most desirable.”
We must now return to Dr Bell, whom we left on
the point of reaching London after his long scholastic
This was in January 1813, and he remained in
and about London until the following June, busily en-
gaged, for the most part, in preparing his new publi-
cations, and in superintending the Central and other
schools. The information, however, which we have of
these proceedings is very scanty and imperfect. .
Among other things, it appears that he had inter-
views with Dr Russell on the introduction of the Madras
system into the Charter-house, where it was soon in full,
and, as appears from the following extract of a letter to
Professor Hill in May, in successful operation
Archbishop of Canterbury,” he writes, “ entertained me
for an hour with eulogiums on the effects produced ini
the Charter-house school by the Madras system ; and
his
grace yields implicitly to all my arguments, which he
formerly controverted, on this subject.” That he also had
attended the Family Madras school, which has already
tour.
66 The
444
LIFE OF DR BELL.
been mentioned, appears from a letter he wrote at this
time to Mrs Frere and Mrs Richardson, (two of the
ladies who had established it,) in reply to one received
from them. “I am much gratified,” he writes, “ by
the letter with which I am this moment honoured, and
beg to be allowed to express my humble acknowledg-
ments. You have delighted me much with the expres-
sion of the affection of my children, which, I assure
you, is mutual. I regard them with great complacency,
not only because they seem to me peculiarly interest-
ing, but because they are, as it were, the first fruits of
the Madras system of education in the higher order of
society, and as the offspring of parents who appear to
me to discover superior discernment in bestowing a
new boon on their children, and who seem to me to
deserve well of mankind by the example which they
have set, with so much zeal, industry, and exertion,
not only to those around them who avail themselves of
their pious offices, but to all who shall hereafter (as I
believe millions will do) follow their precedent. Ac-
cept for them and for myself my best thanks, and the
consideration with which I have the honour to be,
ladies, your most faithful servant.”
During this visit to London he paid much attention
to young Bamford, whom he seems to have had con-
stantly with him, and to have employed much as an
amanuensis. Of this period Bamford made copious
notes, some extracts from which will not, I trust, be
thought uninteresting in this place, affording, as they
do, almost the only clue we have to Dr Bell's habits
and proceedings at this particular period.
“ When Dr Bell came up to town,” Bamford writes,
“ he took particular notice of me, and immediately
LIFE OF DR BELL.
445
withdrew me from the Central school, and occupied
me for some months in copying his MSS., and giving
my observations and opinion of his productions. I used
to be with him about six or seven in the morning, and
with little interruption continued till night. Sometimes,
when he was at home, I stayed till eleven o'clock; but
when he dined out, which happened frequently, I return-
ed to my lodgings, and my own pursuits in reading, &c.
“ At that time he was busily engaged in preparing his
Elements of Tuition, Part II., and Ludus Literarius.
He sat up late, and rose very early. About noon he
visited schools, which he continued till near three or
four, when he slept till five or six; and then, when
invited, went out to dine.
“ In his treatment of me, he exercised that mixture of
severity and apparent good-will
, which, however at
times unpleasant to my feelings, had so much influence
over me, that I adhered to him most exclusively; and,
as he impressed upon me, looked upon all others who
spoke kindly to me, or wished me to seek some relax-
ation, as insidious enemies. He professed to have no
other object in view but my good; and by opening
mysteriously to me the power of future patronage, with
the necessity of implicit reliance, I was encouraged to
expect a reward proportionate to any exertions I should
make, however laborious or supererogatory. To him,
therefore, I devoted myself. He found me docile,
tractable, affectionate, and without guile or suspicion.
He wished to train me up in that exclusive attachment
to him and his pursuits, which rendered me a useful
and necessary instrument for his present purposes, and
which would prepare me for any future operations. He
therefore exacted of me the prostration of the intellect,
446
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the affections, and the actions. All were to be at his
disposal. Private views, and opinions, and friends,
were to be discarded; and, with a pure admiration and
dependence, I yielded myself solely and wholly to his will.
Severe and hard to endure was his course of discipline.
He soon found that, with the more gentle qualities of
my nature, there were also united a warmth and impetu-
osity of temper, with a pride of spirit, which could be
with pleasure led by gentleness, but which was fretted
and wounded by harshness. But what could the vain
ebullitions of youth avail against the cool and practised
aims of age? By raising expectations without directly
promising—by manifesting a parental care for my wel-
fare, by professing sincere regard, by holding up in-
ducements and future advancement, by candidly and
honestly telling me my faults, by an air of the strictest
justice, by enforcing unequivocal veracity, and every
moral virtue, with a rigid industry-he bent and warp-
ed
my
mind to such a degree, that all my power, and
thoughts, and sentiments, were employed exclusively
to please him, and fulfill his directions. I viewed no-
thing in the world but through the speculum he pre-
sented. Of himself he gave me a picture, which I
loved. He represented himself as delighted with truth
a lover of candour—the patron of merit; and he
signalized me out as his little Lake boy, his protegee, nay,
as his son, whom he regarded and trained up as his
own. This, notwithstanding the many bitter moments
of discipline which were used to try me, could not but
gain upon such a heart as mine, particularly so inex-
perienced a one. I remember I viewed with, I had
almost said hostility, every one who spoke lightly of
the doctor, and would not suffer a word to his dis-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
417
paragement. I used sometimes to visit Dr Pearson,
who had one of the most splendid academies in Eng-
land for young noblemen, &c. He offered me a
situation in his own establishment, which I declined;
but when he made some severe remarks on the doctor
and his system, I desisted from visiting him; and so
with others.
“ The doctor was always extremely jealous of my
forming any acquaintance or friendships ; and so in-
quisitive about those whom I did visit, that, for my
own peace, I found it better to confine myself to him
entirely.
Things went on bluffly enough. He scolded at
crooked writing, at wrong paragraphs, at an unintelli-
gible mark, and such like minor imperfections; and
triumphantly displayed the mighty advantages with
which I was favoured in being allowed to copy and
transcribe, from little scraps of paper and backs
of letters, the chaotic effusions of his ardent mind.
This was real training, far better than being at the
University; and nobody knew where it might end, or
what you may come to, if you give yourself up to this
thing. He would remark, after he tried my fidelity-
* Now you know all my concerns : other people re-
quire oaths of secrecy: no man engages a common
clerk without having security for his faithfulness; but
here I allow you to see my papers, and trust only to
your honour. Though I do not ask you to swear, yet
you
will consider yourself as fully bound
you were sworn to secrecy. With the indefinite
prospects which he held out for the future, I was satis-
fied. He encouraged me, by showing me letters
wherein applications or situations were mentioned in
I expect that
as if
448
LIFE OF DR BELL.
reference to himself or friends. Though, whenever he
found fault, I was roused to relent, or to weep, yet I
preferred the easy kind of life I spent in his room to
the noise and disagreeable vexations of the school.
Such was Bamford's account of Dr Bell, and his
position under him, at this time. I shall, from time to
time, have occasion to quote from his notes, when they
tend, as in the present case, to throw light upon inter-
vals of time, concerning which our information from
other sources fails. In fact, during this and other visits
to London, we are shut out from our chief sources of
information, owing to almost all Dr Bell's correspon-
dents being also in town.
His attendance at the Central school at this time
was constant, and, on the whole, he seems to have
been well pleased with its condition :-“ We come
on rapidly;" he writes to Professor Hill; “ beyond
all example. My daily colleagues are the Countess-
Dowager Spencer; bishops' wives and daughters;
Sir John and Lady Nicholl and daughters; Lord and
Lady Kenyon; the daughters and grand-daughters
of Judge Blackstone; the wife and daughters of the
Dean of Canterbury. I am just going with Sir John
Nicholl's family to meet the Bishop of Durham, the
Speaker of the House of Commons, &c. &c., at the
Free School, Westminster. I leave town in two or
three weeks to go every where—such are the urgency
and number of demands upon me.”
The records of the society at this time also show how
well the Central school had answered the expectations
which had been formed of it. In the second report, it is
said, “The school was opened June 15, 1812, consisting
LIFE OF DR BELL.
449
then of 100 boys; other admissions took place gradu-
ally, making the whole amount 710 boys, and 283 girls,
by October 9, 1812, independently of the 100 boys
brought from the school in Holborn. In recommend-
ing a clergyman to be the assistant superintendent,
the school committee had chiefly in view the necessity
of providing in the school for the children's attendance
on the service of the church on Sundays; and such
persons as have been present, and have witnessed the
orderly and attentive behaviour of the children, will
have been convinced how materially this regulation has
tended to promote the great object of the society. In
the Rev. Mr Johnson, an assistant has been found,
who, in this and other respects, has rendered essential
benefits to the society. By him the religious service
has been duly administered; and it is owing to his
exertions, jointly with those of Dr Bell, that the
pro-
gress in learning has been rapid and accurate, and that
every distinguishing character of the system has been
fully exemplified; such as the happiness and cheerful-
ness of the children, the delight they find in their learn-
ing, and the interest they take in each other—produc-
tive, taken together, both of solid improvement and
good dispositions. In their reading, the mode of teach-
ing has been found even to correct habitual stammer-
ing; and the whole has been so easily conducted, as
not to want any invention of new punishments, or
application of the old, by way of correction. A few
rewards skilfully distributed, and marks of disgrace
judiciously applied, are found sufficient to keep the
machine in order.
They have further to report, that they conceive
much advantage to result from the general admission
VOL. II.
2 F
450
LIFE OF DR BELL.
X
of visitors, whose names are set down in a book kept
for that purpose, both as showing the interest with
which the school is regarded, and because the degree
of perfection which, under the unwearied care of Dr
Bell and his assistant, the school exemplifies, must tend
to assist others in founding and conducting such schools
in their respective neighbourhoods.
The manuscript report of the school committee also
bears such high testimony to the efficacy of the new
system, that an extract from it here will not be inap-
propriate.
“ The pleasure and delight children take in their
school, wherever the Madras system of education is
introduced, is a well-known and gratifying fact. When
it is recollected what are the description and number
of children admitted into the central school since its
first commencement, it will readily be allowed that
there has been the most extended and ample opportu-
nity of judging of its excellency, in the effects it has
produced on the moral and orderly conduct of the
children, as well as their improvement in other re-
spects; and the school committee are glad they can
state, for the information of the general committee,
that there really does appear to be in the system an
inherent charm and excellency. Children who had
acquired, at their admission, the most disorderly habits
and ungovernable conduct, have actually been reformed.
This is not only visible in the school, but it has been
observed by the parents at home, many of whom have
not been backward in confessing the same with tears
of joy and gratitude. However, had this been the
effect of coercive measures, the school committee would
not have been so ready in pointing it out to general
LIFE OF DR BELL.
451
year into
observation; but as flagellation has not once been re-
sorted to, they feel desirous of making it known, to
show that self-discipline, as well as self-instruction, is
produced by the new system of education.”
The diffusion of the system throughout the country
was also proceeding most rapidly. The printed report
for 1813, gives the following list of societies and schools
which had been received in the course of the
union with the National Society.
Diocesan Societies.
Wandsworth,
Carlisle,
Forest of Dean--two,
Norwich and Norfolk,
Oswestry,
Lincolnshire,
Bexley, Kent,
Lichfield.
Crayford, Kent.
Henfield, Sussex,
District.
Peckham, Surrey,
Guernsey,
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire,
York, East Riding,
Louth, Lincolnshire,
Langburgh, West,
Winsham, Somerset,
Leicestershire,
Chiswick, Middlesex,
Derby,
Kensington, ditto,
Hants,
Great Coggeshall, Essex,
Trowbridge,
Mitcham, Surrey,
Leeds,
Oxford University School,
Manchester.
Croydon, Surrey,
Bengley, Yorkshire,
Schools.
Richmond, Surrey,
Limehouse,
Tallern Green, Flintshire.
From this report, it seems that the schools in con-
nexion with the society, which in 1812 were 52, had
increased to 230; and that the children taught in them,
which in 1812 were 8,620, now amounted to 40,484;
and as many other schools were founded or re-esta-
blished, with considerable enlargement, on the same
plan, it was presumed that the whole number of chil-
dren taught might be estimated at double that number
or more.
452
LIFE OF DR BELL.
CHAPTER XXXV.
Dr Bell's, Mr Johnson's, and Mr Bamford's Scholastic Journeys Correspon-
dence between Bishop Barrington and Dr Bell respecting Sherburn
Hospital.
Dr Bell having remained in London from January to
the end of June 1813, went to Winchester, having it
in contemplation to make a somewhat extended tour in
the west of England. Here he remained a few days
with the Rev. Mr Iremonger, and then proceeded by
way of Southampton, where Mr Bamford then was, to
Ryde, whence he writes to Mr Iremonger, pressing him
to pay him a visit there, and also thus reports of his
scholastic proceedings:--" At Southampton I expe-
rienced the same kind reception and attention as else-
where, and have to celebrate the zeal and diligence of
the
young
ladies—Crewe, Bowles, Mackie, Harrison,
&c. &c. I demolished their democracy, and established
a monarchical government, appointing Crewe superin-
tendent directress. We made converts. I found much to
be done, and derived great benefit from making a whole
class repeat, at one and the same time, the giving out of
the lesson, and saying it, &c. It immediately made those
speak out (aloud) who never spoke out before; and at
once made that a play and amusement, rendering it easy,
which before had been difficult and tiresome; and
commanded attention, which was before wanting; and
LIFE OF DR BELL,
453
prickt up the ears, and brightened up the eyes, and
did all those wonders that the new system does when
in full feather.
“ This morning I arrived at Cowes, at half-past nine
o'clock. I found no school, and nothing to be done,
and therefore proceeded directly to Newport, and, at
eleven o'clock, accompanied Mr Geary to the school.
Bad as the school at Derby was, this was still worse,
not a single practice, except that a number of boys
stood up together, while all the rest of the school were
completely idle. And one boy said the lesson to the
master, close to him, in a voice which not above four
of his fellows-all of whom were inattentive-could
hear. Seeing this, I immediately changed my order
of proceeding-left it for Bamford to new-model ab
initio—came hither, and shall return as soon as I hear
that they are ready for my inspection and further ser-
vices, in which I hope to have your assistance.”
At Ryde Dr Bell remained some time; but Mr Ire-
monger could not avail himself of his invitation, owing
to other pressing engagements. Dr Bell chiefly divided
his time between Ryde, Portsmouth, and Newport,
where Bamford was then staying. Mr Johnson was
also, at the same time, in this part of the country on a
tour. At Ryde the doctor found a most active coad-
jutor in Lady Spenser, who took great interest in the
school there, and had several meetings on the subject
with him. A few days before his departure, he thus
wrote to Lord Kenyon concerning these matters :-
“ I write only to have the satisfaction of giving you
the satisfaction of seeing a proof of my progress at
Ryde, contrary to the expectation of Mr Iremonger,
and all others. I dined on Saturday at Lord Spen-
ser's, and met there some old Madras friends-Captain
454
LIFE OF DR BELL.
see.
and Mrs Page. I preached on Sunday.
At Newport I found things improved and improving.
I was to have met Mr Johnson and some old friends
at Portsmouth this morning, but am prevented, as you
I have sent entreaties to Mr Johnson to come to
this island, as I have gotten access for him to the
House of Industry near Newport, which, as your
lordship knows, is for the whole poor of the island.
The school is not ill-conducted; but with the machi-
nery of — I wish to surprise as well as improve them,
by a new classification, &c. &c., and hope Mr Johnson
will assist.”
On the 17th of July, Dr Bell quitted Ryde for Ports-
mouth, having left Mr Bamford to assist Lady Spenser
in the school. Here he preached on the following
morning, (Sunday,) for the benefit of the schools; and
in the afternoon at Portsea, for the same purpose. At
both places he had overflowing congregations, and
large collections were made.
While at Portsmouth he received a letter of invita-
tion from Dr Mant, wherein he thus writes-
Southampton, 17th July 1813.
6 Dear Sir,
“ When I had the pleasure of seeing you in
Southampton, I did not think that your stay in and
about Portsmouth, and other places, would have been
so long. Report says, that you do not yet think of
returning to London, and we have not forgotten that
you gave us some hopes of seeing you here again in
your retrograde course. I cannot help hoping that
that will be about the time that is fixed for our annual
sermons for the benefit of our schools—viz. Sunday
the 8th of August. I cannot resist the inclination I
LIFE OF DR BELL.
455
feel, to offer you my pulpit on that day, if you can
make it convenient and agreeable to yourself, to give
us a sermon on the occasion. To myself it would be
highly gratifying, and I can answer for it to my pa-
rishioners in general, as well as to others who frequent
my church; not to say that I think it would be the
means of filling our plates at the doors afterwards, as
well as my church.”
This invitation Dr Bell accepted_indeed his route
lay in the direction of Southampton. In a letter to
the Bishop of Durham, written from the Isle of Wight,
he said he was going from Portsmouth, after his sermon
on the 18th, to Dorchester, Weymouth, and Exeter,
to Sir Thomas Acland's, and to General Mercer's at
Exmouth. He was then to visit Bath and Bristol; and
from thence, after paying Sir John Nicholl a visit in
South Wales, he intended to proceed northward.
He accordingly left Portsmouth on the 19th of the
same month; and from Exmouth he writes to Lord
Kenyon, giving some account of his journey; and adds,
« This day I visit the school here, where I have, at last,
met my good old relation, whose mother, the sister of
my grandmother, was the guide of my youth.” While in
this neighbourhood he received a letter from the Bishop
of Exeter, expressing much regret that he was not at
Exeter to receive him; and he added, “ I hope that
you
will not find much to condemn in our schools;
but I beg of you to be free in your observations and
most gratefully shall we receive any hints you may
give us; and most willingly, I am sure, will they be
adopted. I trust you have no thoughts yet of leaving
Devonshire, as I am sorry to say, from other engage-
ments, it will not be in my power to arrive at Exeter,
456
LIFE OF DR BELL.
at the very earliest, before the 14th of next month
and truly disappointed shall I be, if I find you are
gone when I come into the West."
From Exmouth Dr Bell again wrote to Lord Kenyon,
(who had previously expressed a great wish that he
should meet the Bishop of Exeter,) and enclosed the pre-
ceding note, saying he should certainly wait the bishop's
arrival, if it did not prevent him from fulfilling his en-
gagement to be at Gredington on the 1st of September.
He then went on to speak of his proceedings at Exmouth
“This morning," said he, “ I have met a Calcutta
friend, Colonel Murray, brother to Sir John Murray
Macgregor, and have, I doubt not, determined him to
establish a Madras school at Dawlish, where he has
taken a house for a year, for the benefit of one of his
sons' health.
I have set many good and
able people—the niece of Sir F. Baring, &c. &C.-min
earnest motion, But I am turned a complete idler
myself, having rode out one morning to look at Daw-
lish and Teignmouth, and going this day with my
General to look and dine at Sidmouth. What shall
I come to if I go on so?” He left Exmouth on the
3d of August for Sir Thomas Acland's, Killerton,
where he remained upwards of a fortnight; and the
bishop having arrived in the mean time, he dined with
him at Exeter, but does not appear to have remained
there more than a day.
Before proceeding further with Dr Bell's travels,
we must here briefly notice some of the scholastic
operations in which Mr Johnson and Mr Bamford had
been engaged during the summer. After Bamford's
arrival in London, his time, as we have seen from his
anda, was divided between the central school,
Dr Bell, and his own studies. Early in the summer,
memora
LIFE OF DR BELL.
457
His own
however, it was thought desirable that he should be
occasionally employed in scholastic tours.
notes on the subject of his first journey commence
thus :
“ As the summer of 1813 approached, the doctor
was anxious to secure my labours in the way most
likely to advance the general success of his object,
particularly the extension of his system. After some
consideration, it was determined that, under the direc-
tion of Dr Bell, I should visit, for some months in the
year, those schools which, in his estimation, were re-
garded as at the time most important; and then I was
to return to my duties at the central school. My first
expedition was to Southampton, on my way to the
Isle of Wight. Here I met with but little encourage-
ment. I had brought no credentials; and was rather
surprised by a formal note from the committee, to this
purport, that if there were any particular points which
I wished to recommend, they would take them into
consideration. Of course I declined to present any
communication, but afforded to the master what help
I could. His school, as too many others were, was in
à very rude and disorderly state.
From
thence I went to the Isle of Wight, whither also the
doctor soon followed me.'
From the Isle of Wight Bamford proceeded to
Bristol, where his exertions were unremitting and
“ We cannot thank you and the
committee too much," writes the Rev. Mr Eden from
hence to Mr Johnson, early in October, “ for send-
ing us so able and assiduous a visitor of our school as
Mr Bamford has proved himself to be. We certainly
wanted the assistance of such a man; and though we
were partly sensible of our deficiency before he came,
very successful.
458
LIFE OF DR BELL.
we are become much more convinced of it since he has
been amongst us.
His attention to the improvement
of our establishment here has been steady and uniform,
and the effects of th at attention very apparent. All we
have to wish for now is, that he may not be called away
from us too soon.
Our earnest desire is
to arrive at as near a resemblance as possible to the
National Society Central school—to exhibit a speci-
men to our neighbours of the Madras system, and no-
thing but the Madras system. I am persuaded that
it is of the greatest consequence to all this quarter of
the kingdom, that our school should be a fair and legi-
timate transcript of yours; the extension and preva-
lence of the system in these parts depends greatly on
this circumstance, as, indeed, must be very obvious to
you and the committee. It would give us great plea-
sure if we could be favoured, erelong, with a visit either
by Dr Bell or you, and it would unquestionably have
a most desirable influence on the institution we have
established here."
Mr Bamford remained at Bristol till the beginning
of December, when he returned to his duties at the
Central School. Meantime Mr Johnson, not content
with his already most laborious employment, had been
making a short tour, at his own expense, during the
vacation, for the purpose of affording his assistance in
any schools where it might be wanted. After spend-
ing about a month in this journey, he returned to his
duties at the central school, whence he wrote at great
length to Dr Bell, giving an account of his proceedings.
In this letter, after speaking of the schools at Ports-
mouth, Winchester, Southampton, &c., he says_“At
Bristol they are aiming at great things. They have erect-
ed a noble room, and there is no lack of boys. The ma-
LIFE OF DR BELL.
459
nagers are zealously devoted to the system, but the dis-
tinctness and order are certainly not good, partly owing
to the bad arrangements and fitting up of the school.
I was much pleased with two schools in his
Majesty's Forest of Dean, Monmouthshire, which are
under the direction of two clergymen, Mr Proctor and
Mr Berkin. The schools are attended by 600 or 700
of the Forest children. I think the reformation which
has already taken place in this insulated district is
great, and, from the peculiar situation of the place, the
good that may be expected is incalculable. The Forest
contains about 4000 inhabitants, all extra parochial,
and, of course, hitherto a neglected race; but they now
enjoy for their children a Christian education, under the
benign and salutary influence of the Madras system.
The countenances of the children begin to brighten; and
the parents are instructed through their means, so that,
in another generation, one may reasonably expect that
not a trace of barbarism (for which the Foresters were
famed) will be found in the Forest of Dean."
Meantime Dr Bell, having left Exeter about the 18th
of August, had proceeded, by way of Ulfracombe and
Swansea, to Sir John Nicholl's, at Bridgend, Glamor-
ganshire. While there, he received several pressing
invitations, and, among others, one from the Bishop of
St Davids, who had seen his name in the Swansea
papers. He was not, however, able to accept any of
these, being very desirous of reaching Gredington as
soon as possible, where he was to meet Mr and Mrs
Marriot. He accordingly left Merthyrmawr on the
6th of September, and passing through Chepstow
and Hereford, arrived at Ludlow on the 8th, where
: Lord Kenyon had arranged to meet him. Dr Bell,
however, it would seem, was not able to return
460
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to Gredington with his lordship, but followed him
thither in the course of a day or two. The Bishop
of Chester having been invited by Lord Kenyon to
meet Dr Bell, and not being able to come for some
little time, the doctor prolonged his stay at Greding-
ton beyond what he had originally intended, and made
some extensive scholastic journeys, with Lord Kenyon
and Mr Marriot, in North Wales, and to Chester,
Liverpool, Manchester, &c. From Chester he wrote
to General Dirom, saying, that he should visit Liver-
pool with Mr Marriot and his lordship, whom he
wished to introduce him to, and received, in reply, a
pressing invitation to his house, but how long they
remained in Liverpool does not appear. They return-
ed, however, to Gredington early in October, where
Dr Bell remained till the 15th, when he left for Sher-
burn Hospital, where his presence was then particularly
required. Of his proceedings, however, there, we have no
account; but of his visit to Auckland, where he had been
invited, he thus speaks, in a letter to Lord Kenyon :-
“ I found my bishop at Auckland Castle on Mon-
day evening, having left Leeds in the morning. He
goes to-morrow to Mongewell by Bishopsthorp. He is
to introduce the new bishop, of whom he has the high-
est opinion, into your House (of Peers.) The bishop
spent the most part of Tuesday, and part of yesterday,
with me in school. The right spirit is now in the
school, and all will go on charmingly. Excellent mas-
ters (though young) will be produced and forthcoming.
The new master promises far better than the former."
His stay in Durham was but brief, as he had an
engagement to be at Mrs Rice's, at Bourton, Glouces-
tershire, to officiate at the marriage of his cousin, Cap-
tain Mercer, to Mrs Rice's niece, which had been fixed
LIFE OF DR BELL.
461
for the 10th of November. He accordingly left Dur-
ham on the 28th of October, and proceeded at once to
Birmingham, where Lord Kenyon had intended meet-
ing him, but was prevented. What occurred during
his stay there does not appear; but, from a letter he
then received from his lordship, we find that the
schools in that place were not going on satisfactorily.
“I hope and trust,” his lordship writes, “ notwith-
standing that
you
do not find the Madras schools at
Birmingham in a promising state, that the poor church
there will flourish, and that you will witness its owing
much of its prosperity to the Madras system, the most
powerful means vouchsafed, since the Reformation and
the discovery of printing, to diffuse principles good or
bad. I entirely agree in your opinion, that new modes
of thinking ought to be promoted; for I am well con-
vinced that, by long disuse, the old primitive principles
of Christianity and the church of Christ would be new
to the world in general--to archbishops, bishops, and to
laity of all degrees, as well as to the great body of the
clergy. I am very well assured, likewise, that, with
respect to the interests of the church, nothing could
so much promote them, as every clergyman making
himself master of the Madras system, and overlooking
the education of his parishioners; it could not but
secure that confidence and affection between pastor and
flock, without which preaching or publishing never can,
in these days at least, be expected to produce muchfruit."
From Birmingham he proceeded to Bourton, where he
arrived on the 5th of November. Here he paid much
attention to the school, and was highly satisfied with
the proficiency of the children, although it had only
been opened the preceding May. From hence he also
462
LIFE OF DR BELL.
dispatched a letter, which he had drawn up at Lord
Kenyon's suggestion, to the Bishop of Salisbury, which
was to be laid before the school committee, contain-
ing a summary of his travels, and his suggestions for
improving the schools under the National Society. It
ran thus
“ Bourton-on-the-Water, Nov. 6, 1813.
“ My Lord,
“ Last year, by my servant's account, (for I have
no time to keep any myself,) I rode my hobby-horse
1282 miles; and this summer I have already dispatch-
ed 1228. During this period, I must needs have had
a good deal of experience, the result of all of which is
to rivet my old opinions in regard to the object of my
pursuit. It is, that if we would have the Church and
true religion to possess that predominancy to which
they are entitled, we must train up our children in her
bosom. To this end is directed the National Society.
But to the due attainment of this end there are three
essential requisites, without which the National Society
will wander far wide of its aim.
“ The first is, that the duty and interest of the
master coincide. Every one has observed the difference
between those lectures which are read for a stated
stipend, and those where the revenue depends on the
number of the students. The constitution of most of
the English charity and free schools is in direct oppo-
sition to a known truth, and to that of the parochial
schools in Scotland. It ought not to be expected,
that where the masters receive the same stipend, whe-
ther they perform or whether they neglect their duty,
they will, in general, be either earnest in qualifying
themselves for their office, or active in the discharge
LIFE OF DR BELL.
463
66
of their functions. This opinion is founded on the
knowledge of human nature, and is confirmed by daily
experience.
Secondly, There should be for every school one or
more visitors, fully acquainted with the new mode of
education, to direct and superintend the master. For
want of this, many schools of long standing are not
now in decent order; and some of those schools which
once gave favourable promise, have greatly fallen off.
The consequence is, that the scholars will and do
abandon the schools which are ill-conducted. In no
way can a minister so effectually serve the cause of
true religion on earth, as by directing and superintend-
ing the “training up of youth in the nurture and ad-
monition of the Lord.'
Thirdly, Masters of character, ability, and well
trained, are wanted.
“ For this purpose, as well as for a grand prototype
of the national system of education, the central school
of the metropolis should ever be pre-eminent, and the
standard of reference.
“ Take away all these three, and the National
Church must fall : take away any one, and she must
greatly suffer.
“ Three things, then, I would write in letters of
gold.
6 1st, Let the interest of the schoolmaster be inti-
mately blended with, and dependent on, the faithful
discharge of his duty, and he will study to qualify
himself and perform his functions well.
“ 2d, Let there be an able and earnest superinten-
dent or visitor to watch over his conduct.
3d, Let there be a prototype of the national system
i
66
464
LIFE OF DR BELL.
of education, to which all can appeal; and let masters
of character be duly trained. The former—the pro-
totype-I trust you now have: the latter—the train-
ing masters—I have still doubts about.
“ I have much of my present publication to write,
which requires leisure and quiet; much to visit and
much to do before I reach town, if not ordered thither,
which breaks in upon my time for composition.
“ In no part of the kingdom have I seen more hap-
pily illustrated the advantages and the effects of the new
system of education than in this village. Here it has
filled a church, before empty, of children ; and pro-
duced those reforms of good morals, order, and civility,
&c., which are its natural and genuine fruits.
“ I have the honour to be, my Lord, with the highest
esteem, your most faithful and obedient servant,
6 A. BELL.”
We must, in this place, touch upon a subject which,
both now and hereafter, was a source of much trouble to
Dr Bell, as well as a cause of no small obloquy. This was
the management of Sherburn hospital, which he cer-
tainly had accepted, on the understanding that it was
a preferment the duties of which did not require more
than his occasional presence.
It appears that the
brethren, who received their allowance of food from the
tenant of the principal hospital farm, under a con-
tract with Dr Bell, had expressed themselves by no
means satisfied, and that these complaints had reached
the bishop; in consequence of which, some letters
passed between him and Dr Bell, which I shall insert
here, as the fairest mode of showing the true state of
The first letter that we find relating to
the case.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
465
this subject, is one from Dr Bell to the Bishop of
Durham, which seems to refer to some previous cor-
respondence, which is not forthcoming.
“ Killerton, August 15, 1813.
“ My Lord,
“ I beg leave to submit to your lordship my answer
to Mr Philpotts; and to add, that, having left the
brethren, last autumn, in a state, as I thought, of
unusual satisfaction and contentment, I cannot help
thinking that, if their complaints had originated with
themselves, and not with those who are ever in search
of something wherewith to annoy and oppress me,
they would, in the first instance, have been made to
me.
“ The crime, which will never be forgiven me, is,
that a man, who has not given himself up to party,
should have made a discovery, and prosecuted that dis-
covery at every hazard and expense.
“I ought, perhaps, to inform your lordship that,
in answer to a late question, I took into account the
receipt of a most extraordinary fine of £3000, which
can scarcely ever again occur in the history of the hos-
pital, of which the increasing and accumulating expenses
are enormous."
To this the bishop replied-
Bamburgh Castle, September 8, 1813.
My dear Doctor
“ That some persons may be influenced by a spirit
of
envy
and ill-will towards
you
in
many instances, I
VOL. II.
2.G
466
LIFE OF DR BELL.
readily believe; but you will hardly suspect me to be
of the number, and I do not conceive it has been felt
at all in this. My esteem for those talents which gave
rise to your wonderful discovery in education, and for
your zeal in prosecuting that discovery, continues undi-
minished. Rest assured, therefore, that the opinion
which I have formed respecting the necessity of enquiry
into the situation of the poor brethren at Sherburn hos-
pital, is the result of cool deliberation, of the sense of the
duty imposed upon me as visitor, of solicitude for your
credit, and for the real interests of an important cha-
rity, which I confided to your care, under a persuasion
that those interests would neither be neglected nor
abused. The mode of improving the situation of those
old men should be matter of your serious consideration;
but let me earnestly recommend that this consideration
be not too long delayed. The measures which were
adopted at my suggestion, to quiet the irritation which
prevailed, will I trust, for a certain period, have their
effect; but, beyond that period, there is no answering
for the consequences. Let me, therefore, entreat you
to apply your mind to the subject, and to remember
that the sooner you decide, and the more there appears
in your decision of voluntary exertion in favour of those
who have claims, both on your justice and your kind-
ness, the more meritorious will your conduct be held in
general estimation.
“ You will also, I should hope, give the situation in
which I am placed its full weight, and be disposed to
loan against any doubt you might otherwise entertain,
the consideration that, if Parliament should institute
enquiry into charities of this description, (which, by
its late act, seems probable,) I might be charged with
LIFE OF DR BELL.
167
not having exercised the authority which belongs to
me.
“ Believe me, my dear doctor, with true regard, your
sincere friend,
“ S. DUNELM,"
This letter reached Dr Bell at Gredington, from
whence he thus replied to it-
- September 18, 1813.
My Lord,
“ I consider it as peculiarly unfortunate that I
should have received your lordship's commands at a
time that, conformably to former instructions and ad-
vice, I had pledged myself to duties which I should
have thought it dishonourable and disgraceful to aban-
don; and was also harassed and distressed with studied
and multiplied persecutions, which are no less imperious
on my time-in allusion to which, as well as to Mr
Philpotts’s reference to the attacks made on me, was
my reply.
“ Now, again, I am honoured with your lordship’s
letter, which has found me here, just as I had hastily
finished one part of my tour, as far as the south and
western counties, and South Wales, from which I was
obliged to tear myself, without being able to comply
with many requisitions made to me, or even to obey the
summons of the good and excellent Bishop of St David's,
who, hearing that I was in the neighbourhood, laid his
commands on me-commands which I felt the utmost
reluctance in not being able instantly to obey; and I
am now engaged in North Wales, and the great towns
of the north, in company with Lord Kenyon and Mr
468
LIFE OF DR BELL.
G. W. Marriot. But I can do nothing to my mind,
while the task which is in hand at the hospital is
undone.
“ As soon as I can consistently shake off my positive,
immediate, and imperative duties and obligations, which
I hope to do in little more, if not less, than a month,
I shall hasten to the spot, and beg to avail myself of
every suggestion, advice, and assistance, with which
your lordship may be pleased to honour me; and
shall particularly hope for the able counsel of Mr
Philpotts.
“ In the mean time, it will be a great consolation to
be favoured with any previous hints, and to find any
immediate measure adopted, which may be found ne-
cessary while the work of improvement and ameliora-
tion is going on.
“ I am this moment setting out with Lord Kenyon
and Mr Marriot to Chester, Liverpool, Peel, Manches-
ter, &c., and all the while I have important and harass-
ing affairs to attend to.”
We do not find any answer to this letter from the
bishop; nor does any thing further appear on this sub-
ject until the following March, when the bishop wrote
again to Dr Bell thus-
- March 18, 1814.
66 Dear Sir,
“ After what has come to my knowledge respect-
ing the allowances at Sherburn hospital, I feel it
incumbent on me to obtain such information as will
enable me to express myself perfectly satisfied. At the
same time, I am very desirous this should be done
LIFE OF DR BELL.
469
between you and me without the form of a visitation,
to which I have many objections in the present in-
stance.
I wish, therefore, to have a statement of the several
advantages which the old men enjoy from the hospital.
1st, As to those in the house; 2d, As to those out of
the house; and what have been the weekly or other
allowances, for twenty years past, to those in the house,
and to those out of the house ; and from what period
the out-members have had no increase; and how many
persons there are of each class—of those in the house,
and those out of it.
“ In addition to the above, I shall be glad to know
what are the weekly sums you propose to allow them.
With this information before me, it will be my duty
to add such enquiry and consideration on my part as
will enable me to convey to you my sentiments on the
subject, without its being made a matter of public
notoriety.
“ I am, dear sir, with much regard, your sincere
friend,
66 S. DUNELM."
In reply to this Dr Bell wrote, saying he was wait-
ing for information from Durham, in regard to some of
the points concerning which the bishop had enquired,
and that, as soon as this arrived, he would answer his
lordship’s queries at length.
Accordingly, early in the ensuing month, he drew
up a long statement on the points in question, which I
think it necessary to insert here.
470
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ London, April 7, 1814.
"My Lord,
“ Deeply impressed with the importance of the
enquiries to which your lordship has been pleased of
late to direct your attention, I have from the beginning
resolved in
my mind by what means I could best pro-
mote the temporal, as well as the spiritual welfare of
my brethren. In this enquiry it was soon made a
question, whether an augmentation of their fixed allow-
ances, as settled by authority, and paid by my pre-
decessors, would, in reality, add to their comfort and
happiness.
“ Acting on this principle, I began with making an
addition to the dress of my in-brethren, who, being in
the house, fell under my immediate notice; and also
such an increase to the provision for their maintenance,
as it appeared to me could be done without en-
dangering good order, or furnishing means of those
excesses and disorders which arise from having money
at their disposal beyond what their immediate wants
required.
Again, on a late occasion, when your lordship was
graciously pleased to recall my attention to this sub-
ject, I took such further steps in regard to them,
as, under existing circumstances, seemed most expe-
dient and safest. As before, so then also, I complied
to the full extent with every wish which they express-
ed, and have never refused any request which they
have made to me.
“ The out-brethren, on the other hand, not residing
in the hospital, did not show themselves there, and
never placed themselves under my observation. Still,
however, I think it most reasonable that attention
+
LIFE OF DR BELL.
471
should be paid to their situation. But to take the
queries in order. The advantages which the in-brethren
enjoy are-chambers with beds, bedding, furniture,
fuel, bed-linen washed for them, and attendance. They
have also a suit of clothes once a-year. Of late, there
has been added a spot of ground for each of them to
cultivate, under the name of potatoe-ground. A brew-
house and brewing utensils are kept up, that their table-
beer
may be such as ordered, and unadulterated. They
have an apothecary to attend them, and medicine found
them. Each brother has also a small gratuity on signing
a lease. Their diet and allowance are set forth in the
accompanying paper, on which I observe that some of
them use no beer, and none of them, I believe, small-
beer, the table-beer alone being sufficient for their
daily beverage. Cheese they find unnecessary.
Their
meat, milk, and other allowances, are much more than
they can consume. They sell a part, and some of
them lay up the money; several die possessed of
considerable funds; others give to their relations and
friends; and others spend the money, to the injury of
their morals and their health, at the public-house or
elsewhere. If it were not for the objection which
attaches to the interference with established regula-
tions, a more suitable, and, at the same time, less
expensive, scheme of diet might be made; but it does
not appear expedient to interfere with long usage. On
the whole, the diet is, in general, far more ample than
it need be for men of their age; not that I would, on
any account, diminish
any
allowance to which they are
entitled, or which they have hitherto received.
“ It appears that, by the constitution of the first
founders, each brother's portion or dividend was 6s. 8d.
(six shillings and eightpence) a-year. The act of
472
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Queen Elizabeth added ten shillings more to that por-
tion, and it has since been raised to twenty shillings,
then to thirty shillings, and lastly, to forty shillings,
at which rate it was when your lordship was graciously
pleased to confer the mastership on me. The other
allowances appeared to me superabundant. This alone
seemed unequal. Nor was it thought sufficient that it
was amply compensated by the superabundance of the
other articles. After consulting with the brethren, I
raised it to the full amount which any of them desired
---far above what the majority of them requested. By
this arrangement, each brother, instead of £2, receives
£4, 14s. per annum, or £2, 14s. in addition to the
allowances they had before my time. And I am fully
persuaded that any further augmentation would be
attended with injurious consequences to their health
and to their morals.
“ The number of the brethren are the same as by the
Act of Parliament-viz. thirty in all. Fifteen of these
are in, and fifteen out-brethren. The allowances of the
former are as mentioned above. The fifteen out-
brethren follow their former occupations; and their
state is, in all respects, as before their enrolment,
except as to the portions which they receive, and which
are forty shillings per annum, the same as those of the
in-brethren were on my collation, and have not been
altered for many years. Not entitled to any allowance
from the hospital beyond their pension, they are not,
like the in-brethren, dependent on it, or expectants on
it, further than the fixed stipend.
“ They have scarcely fallen under my observation, as
they are entirely detached from the hospital, and do
not make their appearance there, and never have
brought themselves in any way to my immediate notice.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
473
I have, however, ordered their stipend to be doubled;
so that, instead of £2, they now receive £4 per
annum.
“ A calculation of the expense of the maintenance of
the in-brethren, (exclusive of lodging, &c.,) as well
as the table of their diet, will suffice to show what ample
provision is made for them, amounting to not less than
£40 each per annum—a sum much greater than they
would require to support themselves. This expendi-
ture might, no doubt, be reduced, greatly to their satis-
faction, and, in some instances, their accommodation
promoted by a new arrangement; but to this, as I
have said, I see strong objections, besides that it would
tend to foment those evils which I am most anxious to
prevent.
“ From the above statements, I trust that your lord-
ship will observe, that I have not been inattentive to
the comfort and welfare of my brethren, and that I
have not only done what none of my immediate pre-
decessors have done, but have made a higher aug-
mentation or rise, even in proportion to their former
advanced allowance, than was ever made at any time,
of my predecessors. But after all I have done
or ever can do, I am too well acquainted with the fate
of those who have dared to act such a part as I have
done in life, regardless of common usage and received
opinions; and I am also too well taught by experience
to expect that I shall ever escape those attacks of ma-
lice and envy, to which they who follow the beaten
track are not liable.
“Let me not be mistaken, my lord, as if I meant to
allude to any persons whatever with whom I have had
communications on the subject of the hospital. To
by any
474
LIFE OF DR BELL.
them I feel much obligation, as far as they chose to
inform, advise, or assist me. No; it is to those name-
less persons who have gone secretly, and without com-
munication with me, not to allay, but to foment, dis-
content. Those who have not confined their inter-
ference to the brethren—such men as, in all ages, (for
I speak not here of my enemies, and those of my own
pursuits,) themselves standing high in general estima-
tion, or at least in their own estimation, ever show
a marked jealousy of any modes of thinking and act-
ing, of which they do not form the standard-such men
as ever have been, and ever will be, envious of
any
distinction which is not their own.
“Happy, however, thrice happy, in acting under the
immediate auspices and authority of a personage, with
whose sentiments I have the high satisfaction entirely
to accord, the only personage who has distinguished my
services by actual remuneration, and has furnished me
with leisure (as far as the distraction of my situation
will admit) to carry on the work in which I am en-
gaged, and which neither malice, nor envy, nor perse-
cution, can divert me from following up to the best of
my ability. These plans require incessant vigilance
and study, and continued occupation, if, at my age,
I
am to try to finish what I feel it an imperious duty for
me to do. Their completion, as far as depends on me,
and general diffusion, with your lordship’s approbation,
will furnish consolation and support under all the toils
and troubles incident to the life which I lead—toils and
troubles which none, who do not look to the immense
consequences of those measures, not to a few but to all,
would undergo."
This statement appears to have been satisfactory to
LIFE OF DR BELL,
475
the bishop, since no other letters passed on the subject
for some years, nor was there any cessation of the
friendly intercourse which had previously existed be-
tween Dr Bell and his lordship.
476
LIFE OF DR BELL,
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The Central School-Mr Bamford appointed Master His Notes respecting
Dr Bell—English School dedicated to the Prince Regent Dr Bell's in-
terview with the Grand Duchess of Russia and the Emperor Alexander.
We must now return to the Central School, which
was ever an object of first importance in Dr Bell's
mind, and to which he continually gave his attention,
however pressing his other occupations might be.
Mr Johnson, it will be remembered, had been absent
for somé weeks during the summer of 1813 on a scho-
lastic tour, and Dr Bell had expressed his fears that the
school would suffer from his absence, and so it proved;
for on his return he found much that was in disorder.
It was not long, however, before "harmony and regularity
were again restored through his exertions.” For several
months from this period, many letters passed between
Dr Bell and Mr Johnson respecting this school, and
several minor alterations in the arrangements were sub-
mitted to, and approved by, him. Some rules for the
employment of the scholars were also drawn up and
printed; and an alteration was made as to the length of
time during which the children were to be consecutive-
ly employed, which was thus noticed in the school
committee report of 1814:-
“ Since the last report was made, the indefatigable
mind of Dr Bell, acting on experience in this instance,
as he professedly has in every other, has added an im-
portant addition to his invaluable system. The tui-
LIFE OF DR BELL. .
477
tion, by the scholars themselves, was, from the first, to
be conducted by short, easy, and perfect lessons; they
were to know all they had gone through, and never to
quit a lesson till it was said perfectly; but Dr Bell now
finds that the continued attention of the children
may,
with great ease and advantage to them, be kept up for
a longer time, without any intermission, by standing
whilst they are learning their lessons : providing there-
by against a great loss of time, securing the certainty
of their knowing what their lesson is, and preventing
the disturbance necessarily created by going to their
seats, and returning again: taking care, however, that
the children should not be kept so long at a time as to
produce lassitude or other inconvenienoe, although,
from all the experiments hitherto made at the Central
School, no inconvenience whatever has been observed
from the children remaining at continued lessons, even
two or three hours together; and again the school
committee consider the improvement to be so striking
and important as to demand peculiar notice, removing,
as it does, great difficulties which experience had proved
to exist in many district schools, in respect to giving
out and saying lessons; and in this, and in all such
like cases, the importance of the Central School to fur-
nish an example to all others, must be very manifest.”
Another arrangement at the Central School, which
we must here notice, was the appointment of Mr Bam-
ford as master under Mr Johnson. He had returned
to town from Bristol about the end of November 1813,
and continued there in his usual employments until the
following March, when, without having given him any
previous intimation, Dr Bell one morning told him he
was to be master of the Central School. 6 I received
478
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the intelligence,” he says in his notes, “ with real
grief. I complained of not being well-of not being
qualified as to age and personal influence. I shed tears ;
but
go
I must, and that very morning."
This appointment was made for the purpose of re-
lieving Mr Johnson from some of the duties of the
school, as the number of visitors who attended, and the
training masters, required so much of his time. It was
also thought desirable that he should be enabled occa-
sionally to afford his personal assistance in other schools
in and near the metropolis.
The training masters have been mentioned before
as much impeding the progress towards perfection
which the Central School would have otherwise made.
In August 1813, there were between twenty and thirty
masters in training, among whom was a young Persian,
who, although quite ignorant of the language when he
first came to the institution, rapidly acquired it, and
soon became a very hopeful pupil in the system.
The great desideratum now was, that a superior
class of persons to those who had hitherto attended,
should if possible be induced to enter the school, and
this they had then some hopes of partly accomplishing,
as four young men, of good education, were coming
from Carlisle, having been examined and approved of
by the bishop of that diocess. Others also from the
higher classes of society were expected from different
parts of the country. As regards Dr Bell's discharge
of the duties of superintendent of the Central School,
an office which involved much intercourse with, and di-
rection of, the training masters, it will not be inappro-
priate to quote here from Mr Bamford's notes :-
“ Acting as general inspector of all the schools united
LIFE OF DR BELL.
479
with the society, and anxious for the diffusion of his
system, he apparently sacrificed every comfort, by con-
tinuing to undergo, in traversing from school to school,
great bodily exertions and great mental excitements.
The gratification which he derived from the display of
a particular kind of knowledge, from the reception of
praise and respect, the tribute due to his discovery and
public reputation, encouraged and fed his restless vanity
to such a degree, that his feelings, unless relieved by
indulgence, would have made him intensely miserable.
He had become so accustomed to bustle and change,
and to new faces with new admiration, that he could
never be happy for any length of time in one place.
His fame, too, was spread, and a monument of renown
erected, by the establishment of every school. The
fervour of travelling, and the excitement of fresh com-
pany, were necessary to carry off that exuberance of
passion which, if not thus spent, would I think, even
if he were alone and in solitude, have accumulated and
overflown in vehement and fiery fits. Food, too, was
continually required to nourish those notions of his
self-importance which stationary friends, by too great
intimacy, might neglect or refuse to gratify. It is true
that, disregarding all personal care, and toil, and ex-
pense, wherever his services could be useful, however
distant the place or unknown the applicants, no self-
considerations restrained his zeal, or came into compe-
tition with his eager desire to bring his system into
public notice and favour, and to keep up its character
and reputation with others. In process of time, how-
ever, this craving for admiration from diversity of per-
sons increased into a strong and overpowering feeling.
It was not surprising, therefore, that he wrought himself
480
LIFE OF DR BELL.
into a belief that, as he was signally appointed by Pro-
vidence to be the means of bringing to light such an
instrument for the education of the body of the people,
and the consummation of the blessed Reformation,
so it was his duty personally to give his assistance
wherever it was desired, or likely to advance his great
object. Still, perhaps, it had been better for himself
and the cause in which he was engaged, either to have
confined his instructions to fewer places, or to have
communicated them with more grace. Previously to
his arrival in any town, he was, from his public charac-
ter and his disinterested employment, regarded as highly
as his own pretensions could desire; but a first or
second visit most commonly lessened the respect or
checked the ardour of those who had given their time
and money towards the establishment of the schools, and
who found themselves and their labours frequently depre-
ciated, censured, and offended. Many anxious friends of
schools, who had welcomed his coming in the hopes of
being assisted and encouraged by the sanction of the dis-
coverer of the system they were patronizing, became dis-
gusted and disheartened, and have now either given
up their interest in schools altogether, or only attend in
spite of the reflections that he, who should best know
and judge impartially, could find nothing to commend
in their exertions. I do not mean to say that he found
fault where there was no reason; but his manner of
examining schools, and addressing visitors and masters,
was in general so opposite to the courteous and com-
placent behaviour by which great men become beloved,
that many unkind feelings have been excited against
him, which he might very easily not only have pre-
vented, but in their place have established unalloyed
LIFE OF DR BELL,
481
admiration. Instead of delivering his instructions and
making his remarks in a gentlemanly and conciliatory
mode, so as to gain upon adult masters by his suavity,
his personal behaviour was such, that he was almost
universally dreaded and disliked. His treatment of
them in their schools, in the presence of their pupils,
was frequently calculated to create any other sentiments
than respect and attention. His conduct, not only at
the time, alienated them from him, but it created a dis-
like which embittered and rendered heartless all their
subsequent endeavours. It might be commonly true
that there was ground for his observations; but his
style of talking to them, and his remarks, with a
kind of boundless rage and bluster, were, in their esti-
mation, not only unkind and unnecessary, but vexatious
and oppressive. These were evils which, in a great
measure, he might have avoided, without exhibiting
less earnestness or producing less benefits; besides,
clothed as he was with authority, the tyranny was the
more galling. It was right, and it was his duty, can-
didly to utter his opinion on the state of any school;
and masters, though accounted a class of persons not
very willing to be guided by the direction of others,
might probably have been induced, by a gentle manner,
and a more complacent conduct, to have given their
minds to their work, and thus attain the end and
the advancement Dr Bell wished. Again, the system
was his own, and thus, by acting so furiously, what-
ever the occasion might be, he created durable disgust,
not only against himself personally, but against his sys-
tem of teaching. Certainly the characters of the mas-
ters of the National Society at the commencement, were,
in general, by no means such as to make one imagine that
2 H
VOL. II.
i
482
LIFE OF DR BELL.
they might be governed and stimulated by any thing
more refined than what palpably touched their worldly
interest; and the mean opinion the doctor entertained of
them, was seldom removed by enquiry into their previous
conduct. He often lamented the necessity of employ-
ing men as schoolmasters, who were so little qualified,
by education and character, for their honourable and
important office.
"He regarded money as the primum mobile, and
only efficient stimulant in the world. He excited
masters by a negative kind of threat. He did not say,
“Do this, and you shall have so much beyond your
regular and fixed salary:—which at best might be
barely sufficient to command the necessaries of life-
but, 'Do this, or you shall be mulcted, or lose your
situation. He would have had all the masters under
such an arbitrary kind of control, that, if the school did
not weekly and monthly increase in numbers, and order,
and attendance, and improve in progress, the masters
should be subject to weekly and monthly fines, and be
paid according to the periodical state of the school.
' I can do more, said he to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, taking a half-crown out of his pocket_' I can do
more with this half-crown than you can do with all
your fixed salaries.'»
There were several other objects to which Dr Bell
had turned his attention during his present stay in Lon-
don, which must here be mentioned. The first of these
was the final preparation for publication of the new
edition of the Madrás School of 1808, which had been
so long delayed. On this he had spent much time
and labour, especially on the dedication to the Prince
· Regent, which he sent to my father for his corrections,
T
LIFE OF DR BELL,
483
who, in returning it, wrote—“I have read, re-read,
and re-re-read, your dedication ; it would require more
augments and duplications to the verb than a Greek
plusquam perfectum, to.express how often. You have,
in pencil
, such omissions and substitutions as I could
persuade myself to make. There is a modesty in pencil
criticism which has many advantages over the presump-
tuousness of indelible ink. In truth these suggestions
were made, not so much from any conviction of their
propriety, still less from any opinion that they were
wanting, as for the sake of showing you that I had
done my possible (in French phrase) to gratify you by
finding something to alter. You are over-anxious about
these things, and, lynx-eyed as you are in other things,
do not see that in matters of this kind the author him-
self is the only person who thinks them of importance.”
He had obtained permission through Lord Liverpool
to dedicate this edition to the Prince Regent, and now
enclosed the address which he had written for his
approval, with the following note-
“Ever since your lordship obtained for me the ex-
alted privilege of dedicating my Elements of Tuition-
Part II. the English School—to the Prince Regent, I
have been employed, wherever I have been, in endea-
vouring to render this work less unworthy of his Royal
Highness's patronage. This is the reason of the long
delay of the publication. The dedication has, in par-
ticular, cost me much labour; and now that all else is
completed, I am fearful of errring from inexperience, or
from ignorance, if I published without submitting a
proof of it to your lordship, and humbly begging to be
honoured with your commands as to any alteration that
may be proper or expedient.
484
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“The only apology that can be offered for such a
request, is the immense importance I attach to the sub-
ject. The principle is maintained by moral and politi-
cal writers of all ages.”
Lord Liverpool having signified his approval of the
dedication, Dr Bell was desirous of personally presenting
the book to the prince. It was not, however, until May
that an opportunity occurred for this purpose, when
Lord Liverpool informed him that the prince would
hold a levee on the 11th, and that he might then pre-
sent his work. He accordingly called at Lambeth, and
requested the archbishop to present him, which he did.
London was at this time crowded with foreigners,
among whom were the Emperor Alexander and his
sister the Grand Duchess of Russia, the latter of whom
had expressed her intention of visiting the Central
School, which was notified by Lieutenant-General
Turner to Dr Bell, who had just left town for Andover,
whither the intimation followed him. He had, how-
ever, by that time gone to Salisbury and from thence to
Bath, where a letter from Lord Kenyon, on the same sub-
ject, reached him. He accordingly returned to town im-
mediately, and the Grand Duchess attended on the
ap:
pointed day; but the only allusion to this visit that we
find, is contained in a letter from Dr Bell to Mr Mac-
lean, his land agent in Scotland, in which he says—“The
Grand Duchess I had the honour to attend at the Cen-
tral School of the National Society. She is a handsome
pleasing woman, speaks English well, and exhibited, in
every part of the process of the school, a degree of in-
telligence beyond what I have before met with; investi-
gating every branch of our scholastic operations, and,
not contented with what she saw and heard there, she
LIFE OF DR BELL.
485
has laid her commands on me to attend her at her
hotel to-morrow morning.”
On this occasion he had requested Lord Kenyon to
accompany him, but his lordship declined, on the plea of
not having received a special invitation. What passed
does not appear but on the 12th of May Dr Bell had
a second audience of her imperial highness, when he
presented her with all his publications.
In the course of the next month he addressed to
her the following letter-
* June 10, 1814.
“ Dr Bell presents his humble duty to the Grand
Duchess of Russia,
“ Having found a copy of the original publication of
his · Experiment in Education,' he requests to be
permitted to present this official record from the Go-
vernment of Madras, with other authentic documents,
to the Emperor.
“ If his Imperial Majesty will condescend to visit
the exhibition of this system at the Central school of
the National Society, Baldwin's Gardens, Dr Bell will
be happy to receive his Majesty's commands for that
purpose.
“ Dr Bell is preparing a brief statement of the his-
tory of the new system of education, and its introduc- .
tion into the schools of this country, and among them,
into the Royal Military Asylum at Chelsea, which he
will beg leave to submit to his Imperial Majesty.
“ Dr Bell can conceive no means of so effectually
advancing the grand object, at which he has laboured
for twenty-five years, as committing the fruits of his
labour to that august personage who has given peace,
486
LIFE OF DR BELLA
repose, and tranquillity to the nations; and has
pre-
pared the world for the general reception and universal
diffusion of that system of education, by means of
which the National Society (under the patronage of
his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, the bench of
bishops, and the first authorities and characters in
the kingdom) express a hope,” already in some
degree realized, ' of giving a new character to society
at large.”
1
Whether any answer was received to this letter or
not, does not appear; but, on the 19th of the same
month, he wrote again to the Grand Duchess, saying-
“ That he begged leave humbly to remind her Imperial
Highness, that he had prepared and inscribed to his
Imperial Majesty, Alexander of all the Russias, a
manuscript account of the new, or Madras, system of
education ; that he had also another copy of his origi-
nal publication of 1797, and of his last work: all of
which he asked permission to lay at the feet of his
Imperial Majesty, at any hour as he goes out or re-
turns, so as not to occupy a moment of that time
which was so fully employed;" adding, “ Dr Bell hum-
bly requests that her Imperial Highness will be gra-
ciously pleased to acquaint him with his Imperial High-
ness's pleasure and commands.”
On the following day he received a note from Lieu-
tenant-General Turner, saying—" That he had the
honour to inform Dr Bell, by command of the Grand
Duchess, that he was requested to attend at Pulteney
Hotel, on Tuesday morning at nine o'clock.” It hap-
pened also, that on this day the Emperor and the King
LIFE OF DR BELL.
487
of Prussia, and other distinguished foreigners, were to
visit the houses of Parliament, and Lord Kenyon had
procured admittance for Dr Bell, who thus writes to
his lordship shortly afterwards-
“ Knot's Green, June 24, 1814.
“ After waiting five hours before the Emperor was
up and had breakfasted, I was shown into a room with
a foreign gentleman-French. The Grand Duchess
soon brought in the Emperor, and after a while left us.
After a time the Emperor and myself were left alone,
and I acquitted myself, on the whole, very badly; but
had a very gracious reception, and very gracious leave.
Every wish to promote the education of the people was
expressed, but nothing specific was pointed out or
required. Of course, I presented my original publica-
tion or Madras School, and the English. School, with my
manuscript.
“ In a great degree, if not entirely, I owe this to your
lordship. It was your lordship who commanded me to
write to the Grand Duchess, and it was the Grand
Duchess who obtained my audience for me. I have to
thank you in so many ways, and for so many acts of
goodness and condescension, that it would be in vain to
attempt to enumerate them. One of the last--the last,
I believe-was your introduction to the House of Lords,
where I had a sight of the King of Prussia, the Princes
of Prussia, and Blucher. When the house was break-
ing up, I went round to get a nearer view. Luckily I
intercepted the archbishop going out, who seemed to
take a pleasure in turning back, and showing me into
the room which enters into the house on the right of
the throne, where were only two persons beside myself.
488
LIFE OF DR BELL.
The king and his son soon passed; then came Blucher.
I attached myself to his left side, which was vacant, and
followed him into the House of Commons, and was there
seated immediately above him.
“ In coming from my audience with the Emperor,
Platoff was in close converse, hand in hand, with a lady
to whom I had been made known in the course of the
morning at Oldenburgh House—Mrs Parr Bulkely—a
Russian, personally known to the Emperor and all the
foreigners. Through her I was presented, and remained
by Platoff for some time.”
LIFE OF DR BELL.
489
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Appointment of Master to the Foundling Hospital, Ireland—Mr Bamford
Letter to the Speaker-Dr Bell goes to Ireland—A Master appointed to
Wilson's Hospital Dr Bell visits the Bishop of Meath and the Archbishop
of Armagh-Goes to Dublin--His Letter to Mr Peel.
It will be remembered that, in 1808, application had
been made to Dr Bell, through the Bishop of Meath,
for a master for Wilson's hospital in that country, and
that a young man of the name of Wilmont had accept-
ed the situation, which he held for two years; but,
finding the duties rather onerous, and his health failing,
he resigned in April 1810, notwithstanding Dr Bell's
most earnest advice to the contrary.
From this time, until the spring of the present year,
(1814,) little appears to have been done towards the
further extension of the Madras system in Ireland. In
March, however, an application was made to Dr Bell
by the Bishop of Derry, for a person to undertake the
mastership of the Foundling Hospital school, at Dub-
lin. This institution had previously been under the
care of a clergyman; but, as the chaplain now resided
in the house, it was not thought necessary that this
should continue to be the case. It contained nearly
1000 children, from eight to fourteen years of
age, and
490
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the salary and emoluments amounted to about £200
per annum.
Some delay occurred before any arrangement could
be made to meet the wishes of the bishop and com-
mittee of this school, in respect to a master; but in May
Dr Bell wrote, saying he would shortly send the best
training master that was to be found at the Central
school; and that he had also applied to the committee
for permission for the master, Mr Bamford, to assist in
organizing it; saying at the same time, that it was his
intention to go himself to Dublin to inspect this and
other schools, if it should be in his power to do so.
As regards Mr Bamford, some slight misunderstand-
ing seems to have taken place at the time, as Dr Bell
regarded him at his disposal more than the committee
approved of; it was, however, ultimately arranged that
he should accompany the person selected for the Found-
ling school, and remain for a short time, to assist in put-
ting things in a right train. The new master's name was
William Flenley, who had been well educated, and had
been for some time in an attorney's office; but wishing
to adopt the scholastic profession, had, in the preceding
April
, written to Dr Bell, requesting to be admitted
into the Central school, for the purpose of acquiring a
knowledge of the system. This request was acceded
to; and, when the application just made was mention-
ed to Dr Bell, he fixed upon Flenley for the situation,
and, in June, he and Mr Bamford set off for Dublin.
They found the school in considerable disorder; but,
after a time, succeeded in establishing a better state of
affairs.
We must, however, now take notice of Dr Bell's
movements at this time. He had been applied to in
LIFE OF DR BELL.
491
April
, by the Bishop of Meath, for another master for
Wilson's hospital; but, before one could be found, he
had determined on visiting Ireland, and had signified this
to his lordship, who wrote thus, inviting him to pay
him a visit :-“I am charged by the ladies of this house
to tell
you, how sincerely they rejoice with me in the
prospect of your coming this summer to Ireland. They
bid me tell you, that, of course, they consider your com-
ing as a certain pledge of their seeing you here; in
that you will not be so near a family who esteem and
value you so much without paying them a visit. This
house is within twenty-four miles of Dublin, and there
are daily very comfortable public coaches, that pass
with-
in a quarter of a mile of the gate. From this I could
accompany you to see Wilson's hospital, to which I
hope you will become one of its best benefactors, in
your choice of a master for it; and I promise you, that
you will be much pleased with an establishment which,
when properly managed, must contribute so exten-
sively to what you have so much at heart-the im-
provement of the industrious poor.
determine on coming over, I hope you will favour me
with a line; and, in the mean time, be assured of the
kind wishes of all mine, as well as of, deår sir, your
very faithful, humble servant,
« T. L. Mratu.”
Whenever you
Dr Bell, however, had not finally determined on
what route he should now take-whether he should
go
to Ireland, to Ryde, or to Gredington first. His health
had suffered much from incessant occupations during
his stay in London; and he found it absolutely neces-
sary to rest and recruit it. Ryde was especially re-
492
LIFE OF DR BELL.
commended to him, and he had this additional induce-
ment to go there, that his friends from Ludlow were
at that time staying there. Meantime, Lord Kenyon
wrote, urging him to go to Gredington; but by this
time he had fixed on Ryde, from whence, shortly after-
wards, he writes to Lord Kenyon:
“I am here, my lord, in the daily acquisition of
health and strength, notwithstanding that I have thrown
myself back two days by attending the examination, and
giving instruction to the Portsmouth schools, which, I
hope, I have put in a still better train than they were
before. Your lordship would be the very
first
person
to blame me, if I were to run the smallest risk of inter-
rupting my convalescence—for such indeed it is. Your
lordship holds me fast to my duties; and for that, as well
as many other good reasons, I stick fast to your lord-
ship. Now, the recovery of broken health is a
very essential requisite to carrying on either my literary
or my active pursuits. It may be that all of these ends
might be as well attained at Gredington as at Ryde. But
it might be otherwise; there is now a kind of experi-
mental proof of the efficacy of this place, which might
not be found elsewhere. Whether I shall forego all
this, and fly prematurely to your lordship before you
set out for Lancashire, or whether I shall wait your
lordship's return thence, before I visit Gredington;
whether I shall consult my inclination, and wait the
progress of my health, and my play of letters,' I can-
not positively say. I will say, however, that I hope to
be with you, if not before your departure from, at
least on your return to, Gredington.
Often, often, and often am I ashamed of the trouble
LIFE OF DR BELL.
493
I give your lordship, which would not be continued
one instant if I did not know that this trouble was a
gratification to your lordship. Many of my letters, but
for your lordship, would travel, as they were wont to
do, from north to south, and south to north, backwards
and forwards, in every direction where I have been.
On this ground, among others, I apologise even for the
gratification I give, as well as the expense to which, no
doubt, I often unwittingly put your lordship, and of
which I hear nothing.
“ Now that I did not myself begin with the Found-
ling, I conceive the best thing I can do is, to leave
them there people to find out their own error; so that
they may be prepared for that thorough and complete
reformation, which otherwise, I fear, they will not come
into, and which I now see necessary.
Another application from Ireland for a master was
made to him at this time, from the Reverend H. Moore,
nephew to the Earl of Drogheda; but the salary named
was too low to procure an efficient person from the
Central school, and nothing ultimately came of it. For
Wilson's hospital he soon procured a master, applica-
tion having been made to him, some months previous,
in favour of a young man named Sowerby, from Cum-
berland, who had, in consequence, come to the Central
school, and who was now fixed on for Wilson's
hospital.
Dr Bell remained at Ryde until the beginning of
August, when he went to London. From hence he
had intended to visit Gredington; but Lord Kenyon
being at this time on the move, he could not carry his
intention into effect. It had also, at one time, been
contemplated, that he and Lord Kenyon should visit
494
LIFE OF DR BELL.
6C
Ireland together; but this plan also fell to the ground.
Concerning his visit to Ireland, he had had some cor-
respondence with the Speaker of the House of Com-
mons, (Abbot,) who ultimately was the means of pro-
curing him several valuable introductions, and to whom
he had thus written from Ryde-
'Ryde, 31st July 1814.
“ Dear Sir,
“ As my recruiting of health and strength, worn
out and broken down by the winter campaign in Lon-
don, and my Ludus Literarius, go on apace, I feel
myself almost ready to undertake my Irish campaign.
How far the schemes now on foot in Ireland will be
forwarded by my visitation there, must depend on cir-
cumstances. Of these, such as you were pleased to sug-
gest to me cannot fail to have a beneficial tendency, and
to advance the common cause. I now, therefore, inform
you, that I purpose to set out from hence on my Irish
errand in seven or eight days, and shall be most happy
in being the bearer of any commands which you may
have for me.
“Lord Sidmouth has well and truly said, that what
Ireland wants is 'emancipation from ignorance. Lord
Liverpool, in the House of Lords, has said, that what
the Irish want are habits. Now that the only mode
of communicating this emancipation and these habits
is education, the education of the people, cannot be
questioned. The effects of a good education have not
been unnoticed by any political writer of eminence, from
Aristotle to Adam Smith. Plutarch gives a practical
illustration of them in the fate of the humane institu-
tions of Numa, and the unnatural institutions of Lycur-
gus. The former died with their founder, because he
LIFE OF DR BELL.
495
forgot to train up youth in the knowledge and practice
of them. The latter survived 700 years, because the
children of Sparta sucked in a zeal for them with their
mother's milk. Hume mentions incidentally that the
Irish ‘had all the vices of a nation not tamed by edu-
cation. The Board of Education was intended to
remedy this evil, but what have they done? Teach
the Irish to read, write, cipher, and train them in the
principles of morality and religion, as the Scots, Swiss,
and Swedes are trained, and they will resemble in cha-
racter and conduct the Scots, Swiss, and Swedes. But
to look nearer home. Compare the children of your
school of Orchard Street, previously to Dr Carey's taking
them in hand, with the same children under his train-
ing there; they scarcely appear to belong to the same
race.
“For the opinions of Aristotle, Plutarch, Smith, Til-
lotson, Atterbury, &c., see quotations in my English
School. For all this to the Speaker the author has
many apologies to make. But when a man mounts
his hobby, he forgets every thing else. I forget that I
am writing to one who feels as I do, and knows far
more than I do. Yet what use is there in writing thus
to those of a different description? If the money and
time expended by that heterogeneous mass, the Board
of Education for Ireland, had been laid out in the actual
instruction of the children of that country, Ireland
would begin to wear a different aspect. I have the
honour to be, my dear sir, with high esteem, your most
faithful and obedient
CA. BELL."
To this the Speaker replied-
496
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“ Kidbrooke, August 3, 1814.
“My dear Sir,
“ Many thanks for two letters, which I should have
acknowledged sooner, but the numberless occupations
that belong to the close of a session have prevented me.
Your two letters, however, being duplicates, I have
kept one, and beg leave to return the other.
“ Commands for Ireland I have none that your own
purposes will not more than outrun. But if
you are
not provided with proper letters to the Irish govern-
ment, I will send to your house in London, upon any
day you will appoint, a letter to Mr Peel, and also to
the deputy keeper of the privy seal, Mr Dugald Camp-
bell—the former of whom in a public situation, and the
latter in private life, will, I doubt not, render you every
service that you can need. You should have an intro-
duction also to the lord-lieutenant, either from the
primate, or from the secretary of state for the home
department; and, if the primate has not provided you
already with such a letter, I will desire Lord Sidmouth
to do what is necessary. I beg you to believe me ever,
my dear sir, most truly and faithfully yours,
“ CH. ABBOT."
Dr Bell's visit to Ireland was looked forward to with
much interest by many persons, as likely to be produc-
tive of important results. From the Bishops of Meath
and Derry he received letters containing high antici-
pations of the benefits which they hoped would accrue
to Ireland from the presence of an active and influential
advocate of education; and it was now expected by
the friends of the cause, that something effectual would
LIFE OF DR BELL.
497
be done towards planting that system in the sister
country, which had struck such deep root and flourished
so well in England. He arrived in Dublin about the
middle of August, and shortly afterwards wrote to the
Bishop of Derry, informing him of the satisfactory pro-
gress which Bamford and Flenley were making in the
Foundling Hospital school. « On every account,” he
says, “ I cannot but lament your lordship’s absence.
This day I waited on the lord-lieutenant, who is at
his country-seat, delivered to him a private letter with
which I was charged by my Lord Sidmouth, and had
a most gracious reception. He regretted that he had
left Dublin; and promised, on his own part and that
of the duchess, countenance, favour, and support to
our doings. I should be sorry to trust the event to a
single experiment, which may fail, or in the end be de-
feated. Is there another school here, such as Erasmus
Smith's, where one of our masters, during his stay,
might make a simultaneous attempt ? Could a society,
like the National Society for England and Wales, be
formed in Ireland, where it is so much wanted ?"
To Lord Kenyon he writes—“Every thing here is
to be done. I have the higher powers with me. But
how far I shall go, or be able to go, I cannot say. To-
day I have dined with Sir George Hewitt, the com-
mander-in-chief. To-morrow I attend Lady Hewitt
to the Foundling, and then Sir George to the Hibernian
school, the military asylum of this place. Bamford and
Flenley have done well. I expect to send Bamford to
the Hibernian school for a week or two, before he goes
to Wilson's hospital, where probably I shall go. I was
yesterday at Mrs Latouche’s. It would require time
t
VOL. II.
2 I
498
LIFE OF DR BELL.
and opportunities to get the new system into the fashion
here."
The Bishop of Derry arrived in Dublin soon after
he received Dr Bell's letter, in answering which he
said, that “ he would, on the receipt of it, have set off,
but that he expected the primate that day, to hold his
visitation to-morrow.
Notwithstanding the favourable reception which Dr
Bell met with in Dublin, he seems greatly to have re-
gretted having left Ryde so soon, partly on account of
his health, which had not been sufficiently re-establish-
ed, and partly because, had he somewhat delayed his
visit, matters might have been further advanced to-
wards the promotion of the object he had in view.
To Miss Lind, one of his Ryde friends, he writes
“ I thank you, my dear Mary, for all
dear Mary, for all your goodness
and kindness to me, and for your letter, and for your
most humane protection of me from my numerous
tyrants. In spite of all we are doing here, and
go-
ing to do, I regret every day, and every hour of the
day, as far as my own health, and comfort, and profit
to my Ludus Literarius, are concerned, that I left
Ryde. : The tyranny, the luxury, the sobriety, all con-
duced to a good end. If I had had common regard
to myself and to my studies, I should have remained
there one month longer; but, alas! I am always a
slave—a willing or unwilling slave—to one thing or
other connected with my A, B, C.”
He had also written to the Bishop of Meath and the
Archbishop of Armagh, soon after his arrival in Dublin;
the former of whom wrote in reply, urging Dr Bell
to visit him, and expressing his intention of going with
LIFE OF DR BELL.
499
him to Wilson's hospital, and also of accompanying
him on a scholastic tour. The archbishop also gave
him an invitation to visit him at Armagh Palace, ex-
pressing, at the same time, his regret that, in conse-
quence of his being then engaged on his visitation, he
was prevented from seeing him immediately.
By this time Sowerby, the new master for Wilson's
hospital, had arrived, and was attending the Hibernian
school and the Foundling hospital for his improve-
ment, previously to entering on his new charge, which
he was to do without delay, accompanied by Bamford.
Of himself Dr Bell writes to Lord Kenyon—“I go
when I can, and if I can (probably the middle of next
week, when the Bishop of Derry leaves Dublin) to
Ardbraccan House, the Bishop of Meath's, near Navan,
Westmeath. Thence with the archbishop to Wilson's,
and thence I know not where. All is covered with
uncertainty; and all I know is, that I shall act for the
best, according to the best of my judgment, as circum-
stances require and things turn out.”
After having remained in Dublin a fortnight Dr Bell
proceeded to Ardbraccan House, from whence he visited
the neighhouring schools, of which he says, in writing
to Lord Kenyon, “ that there are fine fields open there
for education in the Charter schools and Erasmus Smith's
schools ;” and he adds, “ Nothing seems wanting but
a new order of books, a right system of reading and
learning them, and a visitor to see it done, and a new
mode of public examinations, which at present consists,
as usual, in only rehearsing the Catechism. These
schools are scattered over the island, and could be remo-
delled at no expense. The saving in books would go
a great way. But will what is so simple and easy be
500
LIFE OF DR BELL.
» he says,
“ Our progress,
done? It would need a residence in Ireland, and see-
ing it followed up.”
· The primate, it appears, was to be at Ardbraccan
House on the 6th of September, and on the day follow-
ing was to hold his triennial visitation at Navan, two
miles distant, where Dr Bell purposed attending him;
and on the 8th it was arranged that they should go
to
Wilson's hospital. Here Dr Bell remained some days,
having accepted an invitation from Lord Sunderlin,
whose seat was in the immediate neighbourhood, from
whence he writes to Lord Kenyon, giving a favourable
report of his proceedings.
seems rapid beyond example. Here I have every
advantage, being invested by the primate with full
power to do as I think fit.” In this letter he states
ķis intention of returning shortly to Ardbraccan House,
and from thence, after a day or two, of proceeding to
Armagh.
In another letter to Mr Disney, about this time, he
writes thus respecting Wilson's hospital—“ There is
every thing here to strike the mind and touch the heart.
The magnificence of the building, the commanding situa-
tion, the lough under the eye, with the mountains ter-
minating the prospect. The union of the aged and the
young-—the refuge of the infirmities and misfortunes of
life—and the provision to guard, as far as human wis-
dom can guard, against the vices and wants which arise
from bad education. Add to these the greatness of the
revenue, and, above all, the immensity and the impor-
tance of the object to which the funds are now to be
directed.
“ Placed in such a situation, invested with full
powers, by the primate and the bishop, to act as
LIFE OF DR BELL,
501
me.
I see fit, it was impossible not to feel a more than
usual interest in the task which was here assigned to,
It was impossible not to look back with deep
regret to the neglect and abuses which, under the late
superintendent, had been suffered to prevail at this hos-
pital-the miserable state of the education of the youth,
and the terrible severity of the discipline, which drove
the children to run away from the place. Scarcely
had the institution time to recover from these evils,
under the wise and able administration of the present
superintendent, when I have it in charge to introduce
the new system of education, with a view to render this
institution a nursery of schoolmasters, to disseminate
moral and religious instruction, useful knowledge, and
habits of industry and activity over the kingdom.”
Having returned from Lord Sunderlin's to Ard-
braccan House, he remained some days, and, while
there, received a very gratifying communication from
Dublin. Immediately after his departure from that city,
a meeting was held at the Foundling Hospital, and the
following resolution was passed-
« That the cordial thanks of the governors are due
to the Rev. Dr Bell for the assistance he has so zeal-
ously and uniformly afforded them in their design of
introducing the Madras system of education into this
hospital, and particularly for his having visited the insti-
tution, and lent his personal aid in carrying the design,
into effect.
“By order,
A. BAILLIE, Reg."
This was accompanied by an acknowledgment of the
obligations of the hospital to the National Society,
which ran thus-
502
LIFE OF DR BELL.
“Resolved, that the Rev. Dr Bell be requested to
convey to the committee of the National Society for
promoting the education of the poor in the principles of
the Established Church, the high sense they entertain
of the noble design in which they are engaged, and
their thanks for the prompt and liberal disposition they
have manifested, to co-operate with the governors in
their endeavours to extend the benefits of the Madras
system to the children of this institution.
“Resolved, that the governors are particularly sensi-
ble of the kindness manifested towards them, in allow-
ing Mr Bamford to assist in the formation of their
school; and they trust they will experience the con-
tinued co-operation of the committee of the National
Society, till the plan shall have been carried into full
effect.
"By order,
“ A. BAILLIE, Reg.”
In the letter which inclosed these resolutions, he was
informed that Mr Flenley had been appointed superin-
tendent of the male schools, with an annual salary of
£80; and £20 additional at the end of every year,
in the event of his school being approved by a visitor
appointed by the committee of the National Society.
They had also voted him £20, in consideration of the
expenses of his removal, &c. £50 was also voted to
Mr Bamford, as a remuneration for his services and
expenses."
Having left Ardbraccan House, Dr Bell proceeded
to the primate's at Armagh, and, having remained there
upwards of a week, accompanied his grace to Wilson's
hospital, where the Bishop of Meath was to have met
them, but was prevented by a sudden attack of illness.
LIFE OF DR BELL.
503
put into its
From hence he went to Dublin, where we find him
writing as follows concerning Wilson's hospital, (of
which Sowerby had now been finally appointed master,)
to the Rev. Mr Browne, the superintendent:-
“ It is a grievous mortification to me, that I was at
last hurried off from you without a full conversation on
the important arrangements which ought to follow the
setting up of our machine. I am most thankful to you
for your able and zealous co-operation. Much has been
done, but much remains to be done. The foundation
is well laid, but the structure remains to be erected.
In this work I look to you as the future benefactor of
your country. I am confident you will leave a memo-
rial of your name in the hearts of your disciples; and I
trust that your grateful country will duly avail itself of
the means of improvement which you
shall
hands. The following is the principal measure which
I meant to have recommended to your adoption; it
has the sanction of my lord primate, and has been often
practised with entire success. By its means £20 a-
go
farther than £200 would in salaries to
regular ushers, &c. Select from among the boys an
usher and sub-usher, and give them, as well as your
teachers, including assistant teachers, not a regular
salary, for this will not produce the same effect, but,
according to their performance and the result, a weekly
allowance, the greater part to be entered in a fund-
book, and to be paid to them on their being bound out
or afterwards, and the lesser to be given them in hand.
The proportions you can best judge. The primate
thinks, justly, that the less the proportion of the latter
to the former, the better. At the same time, it must
be confessed, that if a distant reward be not a sufficient
year will
504
LIFE OF DR BELL.
inducement to zeal and diligence, so much must be
given for the present as is found requisite to create the
most active and successful exertion.
“ To ensure to you the cordial and zealous services of
the master of the school also, it is considered by the
lord primate and by myself, essential that his situation
be rendered as comfortable as can be, consistent with
the duties which he has to perform, and indispensably
call for his personal attendance. The offices of the
master of such a school as Wilson's, are far more labo-
rious, and require closer confinement, than those of
our English schools. Add to this, that he is cut off
from his friends, and, in a degree, from all society,
and even the converse of any person in his own station.
Under such circumstances, he may sink into discontent
and lethargy. Verbum sat. If you see matters as the
primate does and I do, you will act as your experi-
ence on the spot, your discretion, and your feeling
direct.”
To this Mr Browne replied, expressing his full in-
tention of carrying Dr Bell's wishes into effect, and
giving a very favourable report of the school. These
promises were realized, and the result was commen-
surate with the labour that had been bestowed by Dr
Bell and others on this institution, which ever after-
wards was reported to have afforded an admirable
example of the system. In all Mr Browne's subsequent
letters to Dr Bell, Mr Sowerby is represented as an
able and highly meritorious master.
Of Dr Bell's visit to Dublin, there are scarcely any
particulars among his papers. He seems to have met
with some opposition in the Foundling Hospital; but
this did not ultimately prevent the introduction of the
LIFE OF DR BELL.
505
system, through Mr Flenley's exertions, who discharged
his duties as master in the most satisfactory manner.
During this visit, he had an interview with Mr
(now Sir Robert) Peel, then secretary for Ireland, to
which, however, we do not find any further allusion
than is contained in the following letter written to him
on that occasion:
“ Dublin, October 1814.
“Dr Bell will have the honour of attending Mr Peel,
as desired, this day at three o'clock. To-morrow he
meets the governors of the House of Industry at ele-
ven, and proceeds thence to take leave of the lord-
lieutenant.
“ Dr Bell requests that Mr Peel will cast his eye
over the accompanying papers.
“ Dr Bell was desired, by the primate, five or six
years ago, to visit Ireland, and he has had numberless
invitations from individuals both before and since. But
he saw no footing on which to stand, and he thought it
wiser not to attempt the introduction of the new sys-
tem into Ireland, than to fail in the attempt. At last
two openings were officially presented in two of the
institutions of this country; and though one of them,
and that one as a model school, important to the sal,
vation of this distracted country, is likely to fail, from
causes which may perhaps be better known to Mr
Peel than to Dr Bell, yet the other, he trusts, will not
disappoint his expectations, but it is remote from
view. Mr Peel will form an idea of it from an accom-,
panying copy of a letter written by command of the
primate.
“ Dr Bell is fully sensible of the countenance and
506
LIFE OF DR BELL.
support of the heads of the Church and State here, as
well as in England.
“ As to the education of the Protestant (and even-
tually of the Catholic, of which nothing is said here)
population of the country, the public institutions, the
noble endowments of individuals in the hands of the
State, the liberality of Parliament, and of these most
especially the Charter and Erasmus Smith's schools,
several of which Dr B. has visited by command, pre-
sent facilities which no other country ever possessed.
“ One of the obstacles to the establishment of the
schools of the “ National Society for the Education of
the Poor” in England, of which Dr Bell is superin-
tendent, arose from the want of funds. But a far
greater obstacle appears to present itself in this coun-
try, from the superabundance of funds, more than suf-
ficient, if rightly directed, and rendered efficient to the
purposes for which they were, and are, given. There,
Government have given nothing (except in the
army) but their patronage, countenance, and favour.
Here, Government have been liberal beyond what is
wanted. Ill-fated country, where such generous dona-
tions have been, and are, so misapplied! Unhappy
country, where the most powerful and effectual means
of its civilization, its good morals, and industrious habits,
are often employed as an effectual bar to these ends !
Unhappy country, where enquiries by boards terminate
in reports and waste of paper and money, and (what
is far more precious in this country) time, and not in
actual reform or efficient measures! Unhappy coun-
try, where the sums destined for its emancipation from
ignorance, and its attendant disorders and vices, are
often employed to rivet its fetters !
Dr B.
LIFE OF DR BELI..
507
will remain here for a day or two longer, if he could
attend Mr Peel to Wilson's hospital. But if this be
too distant, and Mr Peel will allow Dr B. to attend
him to one of the schools in Dublin, where the new
machine is attempted to be introduced, he will see
enough to satisfy him of the value of the instrument
now proffered for the emancipation from ignorance and
the idle disorderly habits of this unfortunate country.”
Nothing further appears on this subject; but we find,
from some notes of Mr Bamford, made at this time,
that Mr Peel ultimately visited the Foundling Hospital
with Dr Bell, who shortly afterwards left Dublin for
Bangor, from whence he went to Chester, where he
remained a few days, and then proceeded to Liverpool.
Here he remained until the end of the month, (Octo-
ber,) and during his stay received, through Lord
Kenyon, some valuable information from Dr Marsh,
respecting an early edition of Lily's Latin Grammar,
in answer to some enquiries he had made. The letter
containing this information will be found in the cor-
respondence.
CORRESPONDENCE.
CORRESPONDENCE,
George Dempster, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Skibo, August 7, 1797
My dear Sir,
I heartily wish you joy. I considered
your appli-
cation as quite fruitless; but you have given a strong
proof of the truth of the school adage—“Nil tam diffi-
cile,” &c. Our stay is so precarious, that I would by
no means have you to take the trouble of coming this
length for so short a stay. This paradise merits being
viewed at leisure; and when the minds of its inhabi-
tants are in a suitable mood, and in unison with the
beauty of the place, we begin already to be on the fidget.
Some of us return by water; some by land. Ourselves
and baggage make a caravan, as difficult to be put in
motion as an Indian army.
You are now a very rich man. There is a little obli-
gation you can confer, which will be very grateful to
your captain, and will ultimately cost you little or no-
thing. We are making a seaport town here,called Balnoe,
512
LIFE OF DR BELL.
you to
or Anglicè Newton, in the firth of Dornoch; a fine
harbour, and the more precious that it is the only one in
the country. We have established a little linen manu-
facture there, and we want weavers' houses. The truth
is, this charming town has but three houses in it, nearly
one for every year of its age. About £50 sterling will
build two more, for which a rent, from four and a half,
four, or perhaps five per cent, for the money, will be re-
ceived. To the above extent I would have
to go in
becoming a landed proprietor in Sutherland. A lot will
be feued to you, and the house built, all without giving
you any further trouble. It is part of the plan that you
should give a power to a friend here to sell those houses,
whenever a purchaser offers; with the money more
houses would be built; and so on, toties quoties. You
do not know what size your £50, with that of a few
more friends to whom we mean to apply, may raise this
town. From a town it may become a city, and the
emporium of the north—the future mart of the com-
merce of Europe. It is in your own way too: it is
helping to improve an infant town. Unless your heart
goes kindly to the work, don't undertake it. You have
full conviction that neither of us look for, or expect, any
return of any kind, but good-will for the trifling fa-
yours which chance has put it in our way to confer on
you.
(
CORRESPONDENCE,
513
Captain Wight to Dr Bell.
Ormiston, Tuesday evening,
29th Aug. 1797.
My dear Friend,
I sit down, now tired as I am, to answer yours
of
this date, because I shall have no opportunity of doing
it to-morrow. I was awaked this morning at four
o'clock by a message from the lord-lieutenant, desiring
me to send my troop to Haddington, to attend the
execution of the militia bill there, while I was myself
to repair directly to St Germains, to concert with Mr
Anderson and others what was necessary to be done
previous to assembling our own subdivision meeting
this day at Tranent. Soon after eleven o'clock the
deputy - lieutenants (Mr Anderson, Mr Cadell, Mr
Gray, and myself) proceeded from St Germains to
Tranent, escorted by twenty-four dragoons of the
Cinque-port cavalry, and Mr Anderson's troop of
yeo-
manry; two troops from Musselburgh camp met us at
Tranent. We knew beforehand that the utmost acti-
vity had been used throughout the six populous parishes
of our subdivision to collect the body of the people
together, for the purpose of forcibly preventing the exe-
cution of the law, most of the schoolmasters having
been already mobbed and rifled of their papers, and all
of them violently and openly threatened. As we pro-
ceeded into Tranent, the most unequivocal proofs of a
fixed design to obstruct our proceedings appeared. The
dragoons were posted in the street of Tranent in two
parties, each at some little distance from the house of
VOL. II.
2 K
514
LIFE OF DR BELL.
our meeting. The women were at first most forward
-clamorous with their tongues, and throwing stones.
Notwithstanding this we went on with our business,
and had nearly got through three parishes, when a peti-
tion from Prestonpans, signed as around-robin bytwenty
or thirty people, was delivered in by a sort of half-idiot.
It was perfect sedition from beginning to end, saying that
they unanimously disapproved of the militia bill, and were
united to obtain its repeal; and that, if the meeting
attempted to put the law in execution, the petition-
ers would use force against us. We were about to
commit the man who delivered the paper, at which he
was greatly terrified, declaring that he knew nothing
about its contents, and named the persons who put it
into his hands. After severely reprimanding this man,
we dismissed him for the time; but soon after this the
body of the women suddenly disappeared, a symptom
which we understood: a furious assault was made on
our house, on both sides, by the men, (chiefly colliers,)
who battered the windows with stones, and endeavoured
to force in upon us.
After vain endeavours to prevail
on them to desist, in doing which we were like to be
stoned to death, the dragoons were employed. At first
they scoured the streets with their swords drawn; but
that produced no effect, for the rabble fell back into the
doors and narrow lanes, and from these poured volleys
of large stones upon the dragoons as they passed, and
did not cease to batter our house of meeting, which
was directly opposite to two narrow entries. Some of
the rioters mounted the tops of houses to throw huge
stones into the street. The dragoons, one of whom
was by this time mortally wounded, and many others
severely bruised, next took to their pistols ; afterwards
CORRESPONDENCE.
515
a party were brought behind the house, some of whom
were ordered to dismount and use their carbines. Af-.
ter a tedious and incessant conflict for more than an
hour, in which several of the mob, both men and women,
were killed, and many wounded, the streets were
nearly cleared. At this time the deputy-lieutenants
came down into the street with a view of re-establish-
ing order, when several of the rioters came out of their
retreats, particularly one man whom I knew, and
whom we had all seen acting as a leader: an attempt
was made to seize him. I was nearest to him, and
chased him into a court-yard, followed by my brother
deputies and several constables. On getting into the
yard the fellow found himself among his friends, when
he turned upon me, and, as I was endeavouring to col-
lar him, he struck me a good blow on the head with his
bludgeon. Mr Cadell, who was at my elbow, instantly
knocked him down, as he did two or three more, and
the constables were, several of them, very active. The
dragoons arrived instantly, when we secured those we
found in this yard. After this the rabble made no
further offensive efforts; and the dragoons, who were
indefatigable, scoured all quarters in and about the
village, and made many prisoners. About this time
Mr Anderson, who thought that no more business
could be transacted that day, was prevailed on by his
brother-in-law, Captain Finlay, to ride towards Mus-
selburgh. After the enemy had been subdued and
silence restored, as a proof of our victory the three
remaining deputy-lieutenants re-assembled, and pro-
ceeded again to business, when the whole of the remain-
ing lists were gone through in the most regular manner.
We next made a minute, narrating the particulars of
:
516
LIFE OF DR BELL.
the assault and interruption, and their consequences;
inserted the names of the prisoners, (thirty-four men,
two women;) and sent them off, escorted by the dra-
goons, to be confined in the county jail until to mor-
row, when a precognition is to be taken. I must, of
course, attend at Haddington upon that business, and
when, or how soon, the whole can be concluded I do
not know. You will readily perceive that at present I
cannot command my own time, consequently cannot
fix any thing about a journey to Annandale. The coun-
try is in much agitation, but I believe completely sub-
dued, and that we shall have no more riots here on the
score of militia bills. I lost my spectacles in the scuffle,
and was afterwards robbed of my great-coat, which had
been left at the inn. How many of these foolish
people have been killed in this affray, I do not know.
One report says nine, another says twenty-four. Their
treatment of the soldiers was such as to render the lat-
ter furious and implacable.
W. C. Jackson, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Ramnad, 8th December 1797.
My dear Doctor,
This is the third letter I have written to you since
your departure from Madras. Yesterday I had the
satisfaction of receiving yours of the 15th of April. It
was with no small gratification that I read the last
paragraph relating to Mrs Jackson. Her conduct
CORRESPONDENCE.
517
throughout has been equal to my best hopes, and I
shall soon begin to make preparations for my return to
England. I think to be there in 1799; for I begin
now to see the folly of overgrown wealth, and am
resolved to be satisfied with what I shall have at the
expiration of the next year; which, though it will not
enable me to indulge in the luxury and dissipation of
the times, will still afford all that a rational man could
wish to enjoy. The cloud that is suspended over
Europe makes me tremble for what is to come; and
whilst I talk of enjoyment and comfort, at the end of
two years, in my native country, I may behold her
distracted with civil contentions, and perhaps at the
mercy of an implacable and bloody foe.' The unhappy
spirit which prevails amongst our seamen, the over-
whelming debt of the nation, and the internal enemies
we have to combat, added to the miserable state of
Ireland, portend calamities of the most alarming nature.
These of themselves sufficiently darken the prospect.
But when we consider the ambition of France, the
wide-spreading devastation which her principles have
occasioned, and the influence which she now commands
from one end of the continent of Europe to the other,
God only knows where the mischief will terminate. I
am, however, glad to see that the present administra-
tion stands firm; and that Mr Grey's dangerous mo-
tion, of the 26th May, 'for a reform of Parțiament, was
lost by a great majority. Had it been carried, it would,
in my mind, have been rapidly followed by the destruc-
tion of the constitution. But enough of this.
I
got to this place, as I told
you in my last, early in
the month of March; and I do not repent the exchange
I have made. Here I am my own master, free in the
518
LIFE OF DR BELL.
exercise of my own judgment, and neither an abettor,
promoter, nor observer of any great public measure. I
hear little of what is going forward, and I do not regret
it. My time is happily divided between business,
amusement, and study; and I have not had less of
approbation in the discharge of my duties as a collector,
than what fell to my lot as a secretary.
I trust you have no intention of taking up your resi-
dence for good and all in Scotland. One of my highest
pleasures would be in having you for a neighbour, as I
have
you for a friend; and I hope, therefore, you will
give due consideration to the very wise proposition sub-
mitted to you by my wife, and to which her husband
most heartily accedes.
I should have been glad to have had it in my power
to have said something to you on the subject of the
Male Asylum ; but I now know nothing of it. May
the attempt you are making to obtain a just remunera-
tion for your services, be attended with success!
Old A-R- has at length quitted this mortal
scene, to the manifest satisfaction of the worshipful
mayor and worthy aldermen of Madras, and I believe
without the regret of any honest man.
The report is current in India that Lord Hobart is
to have the supreme chair, and that Lord Mornington
is to succeed him at Madras.
Adieu, my worthy friend, &c.
CORRESPONDENCE.
519
General Floyd to Dr Bell.
Chalk Farm, near Bromley, Kent,
March 13, 1802.
My dear Bell,
Your letter of the 6th soothes and gratifies, and
does me far more good than any attempt to convey
consolation. As to philosophy, if I had any, it is of
no avail. The tears will flow where the affections are
deeply wounded. After a considerable period of tran-
quillity, I was yesterday thrown into an agony of grief
for some hours, by accidentally meeting with a trifling
parcel, that brought on a most distressing chain of
thought. The children, seeing my distress, came to
comfort me; but Miranda, with extraordinary good
sense, observing their assiduity had an opposite effect,
immediately took them away, and shut the door; and
at some time after came and tapped at it, and asked
admittance alone.
The melancholy office I mentioned to you, on which
occasion I should have been happy to have had your
assistance, and which, perhaps, is not yet too late-s0
dilatory is the workman—is an epitaph. Unskilled in
such matters, and not satisfied with the ordinary style,
I sent a paper to the operator, of which I enclose a
copy, and beg the favour of you to correct, or alter, or
give me something entirely of your own—and soon.
The narrative is but too true. The materials, a
white marble oval, in a square of grey marble, for a
wall or a pillar. At top, a bunch of roses; at bottom,
a bunch of myrtle.
520
LIFE OF DR BELL.
The Rev. Dr Sandford to Dr Bell.
Edinburgh, January 18, 1805.
Dear Sir,
Our excellent friend Mrs Dirom flatters me that
you will not unwillingly receive a letter from me, and
some of our clerical news from the north. I am happy,
therefore, in bringing myself to the recollection of a man
whom I respect and esteem.
The enclosed little paper will show you the part
which I have taken in promoting an event, which is so
important to our comfort and edification, as the union
of Episcopalians in this country into one body, under
their legitimate and proper governors. I had ever con-
sidered the political objections which had been made
to this union, as done away by the praying for the
reigning family by name, which has been long prac-
tised in the Episcopal Church of Scotland; and there-
fore, as soon as the bishops and clergy of this Church,
by their subscription to the thirty-nine articles of the
United Church of England and Ireland, removed the
only hinderance which, in my opinion, existed to our
uniting, I thought it my duty to come forward, and
submit myself and my congregation to the spiritual
superintendence of the primus, who is at present our
diocesan.
What I have done has, I am most happy to say,
been unanimously approved by my congregation; and
I have good reason to believe that, in no long period,
the congregation of the Cowgate chapel will follow
our example. The clergyman who has St George's
CORRESPONDENCE.
521
chapel is, I am informed, averse to the measure; but
he is so irregular in many of his practices, that I can-
not imagine that his example will have much weight.
When the convocation at Lawrencekirk had finished
their business, they appointed the primus Bishop Skin-
ner, at Aberdeen, to communicate an account of what
had been done to the Bench of Bishops in England and
Ireland; and, from many of those prelates, he has
already received the most satisfactory replies to his
letter. I mention also, with great pleasure, that I have
had two letters from the Bishop of St David's, (Dr Bur-
gess,) highly commending my conduct; and I have
testimonies to this purpose also, from some of the most
learned and respectable men in the church in England,
particularly from Mr Daubeny, whose name no church-
man pronounces without the utmost respect.
I am glad to tell you that our worthy friend, Mr
Alison, is recovering happily from his late dangerous
illness. I was much delighted at seeing him the other
day: though much reduced in flesh, he is not so thin
as I had been taught to expect. He is not able to
exert himself in the pulpit, and it may be a good while
before he ventures on so great a trial as preaching in
the Cowgate. The pulpit there is still in the hands of
Moyes, assisted by occasional clergy, as no person is
yet appointed to the vacancy. Moyes, I am told, is
very much displeased with my union with the Scotch
Episcopal Church
But as I never was more con--
vinced of any thing in my life, than of the propriety of
my
conduct in this matter, I am not hurt at his dis-
pleasure, nor that of any body else.
Of myself and my concerns I have little to say. I
am delicate in health, as usual; but, thank God, am
522
LIFE OF DR BELIA
able to do my duty, and every day find more satisfac-
tion in it. Mrs Sandford and her seven children are
well. We are removed into a house, in the new build-
ings opposite to Queen Street, which we are much
pleased with, and where it would give me very great
pleasure to have an opportunity of assuring you, in
person, how truly I am, my dear sir, your very faithful
and humble servant.
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Durham, 20th November 1805.
Reverend Sir,
The account of your (say successful) experiment
made in education fell into my hands last spring. I
was quite charmed with it. I wished much to have
had a conversation with the author of it, whom I ex-
pected to have found at Edinburgh last summer, on my
way to the Highlands; but I was mortified to find that
you had left that city some time before. Ever since I
have been daily intending to write to you, but till now
have been disappointed. And now that I am set down
to write, it must appear to you, as it is, a very forward
step on my part to write to you, both of us being total-
ly unacquainted with each other. I have nothing to
say for myself for the liberty I take, both in writing
and expecting an answer to my letter, unless your good
nature shall find it in the object and motive which
prompt me to give you this trouble.
CORRESPONDENCE.
523
To let you into my object and motive, then, allow
me to inform you, that though I at present live in
Durham, my property lies on the western coast of
Ross-shire, in Scotland, where you will find it in
your
map under the name of Applecross, Lochcarron, &c.
&c. You perhaps know that the Presbyterian Society
for propagating Christian Knowledge, has established
charity schools in different parishes of the Highlands,
where their great extent rendered the benefit of the
parochial schools very limited indeed. Both the paro-
chial and society schools are conducted on the plan
which you know uniformly prevails over Scotland,
and, I may add, England. You know also how slow
and tedious in their progress such schools are—an evil
more severely than elsewhere felt.
In the Highlands the ignorance of the parent makes
him at all times send his child reluctantly to school,
and his poverty renders it difficult for him, when will-
ing, to bear the expense of it. Could your method be
introduced, I am satisfied that it would go far to remove
these objections to the present system; for ignorance
would thus more rapidly disappear, and poverty would
have its expense diminished by the abridgement of time.
Does
any measure occur to you, sir, likely to facilitate
the introduction of your plan into the Highlands, through
the medium of the existing system? Your ideas on
this subject would be highly gratifying to me, natu-
rally and indeed interestedly concerned in whatever
tends to the improvement of the Highlands especially.
I trust the Presbyterian of the present day is too
liberal to object to an improvement because of Episco-
palian origin. The time was when such origin would
damn the best measure ; but we must suppose it past,
524
LIFE OF DR BELL.
and that the Presbyterian eye can borrow a large por-
tion, though not the whole, of Episcopal light. Hence
I should hope the society would be induced to adopt a
well digested improvement for their schools, when the
clergy in general would, seeing the benefit of it, soon
follow and adopt it in the parochial schools chiefly under
their direction. When lately in the Highlands I met
with one evil in their schools, which I am afraid is very
difficult of cure. It arises from the children speaking
only the Gaelic language when put to school. Thus, I
found boys who read and spelt well every word in a
piece of English, but of the meaning of which they were
totally ignorant. In fact, they were little better than
parrots in English. Could any modification of your
plan, do you think, be formed which might facilitate the
removal of this evil? Could there, it would be an
inestimable discovery for the inhabitants of the High-
lands, Wales, and, I believe, Ireland—in all of which
the native tongues powerfully repel the English--a cir-
cumstance which retards the civilization and improve-
ment of the three countries, more perhaps than all
other circumstances common to the three put together.
My object and my motive being thus stated, I must
leave the matter for your consideration, and shall
lament sincerely, if you do not find in them a justifica-
tion of my conduct in troubling you with this letter,
and in subscribing myself, with much regard, Reverend
Sir, your most obedient and very humble servant.
CORRESPONDENCE.
525
Dr Bell to John Mackenzie, Esq.
Swanage, 26th November 1805.
Sir,
Nothing could be less wanting than an apology,
when
you favoured me with your interesting communi-
cations on a subject so near to my heart. I need scarce
say how consonant it was to my feelings, if I dare
flatter myself that I could, in the least, promote the
benevolent purposes in which you are occupied. Dun-
nichen, in Forfarshire, the seat of my friend Mr Demp-
ster, being the boundary of my travels northwards, I
am ashamed to confess my personal ignorance of the
local circumstances which impede the progress of edu-
cation in the Highlands. But I see in
your statement
enough to satisfy my mind of the difficulty of the enter-
prize in which you are engaged. The remedy of the evils
which
you have explained is not so easily found. But,
ту
sentiments on the subject, I must say,
in general, that it is impossible for an enthusiast, such as
I am, not to believe that the general circulation of the
scheme of the school on the model of the Male Asylum,
with other extracts of my last edition of the Experi-
ment, published 1805, among all the schoolmasters of
the Highlands, might do some good; and I know of no
possible harm it could do. Such extracts, if thought
eligible, I am ready to make, and to print in any man-
ner that may be thought most useful to the public: a
system founded, as I conceive, in truth and nature,
must there, as it has happened elsewhere, meet with
some congenial minds, who may prove its justice, and
as you desire
526
LIFE OF DR BELL,
ascertain its advantages, and gradually give it a spread.
But, when we come to particulars, the great difficulty
is, to make a successful beginning, and even to find a
person who will be persuaded of what I know to be
true, that, by teaching one or more children, and mak-
ing them to teach the rest, all will be more effectually
taught them than in any other way; and I fear that
complete success cannot be expected in the first instance
but in a charity school, where all the children are
withdrawn from their parents and homes, and placed
under the same roof with the master. I observe, by
the reports of the Society for bettering the Condi-
tion of the Poor, that the system of which we speak is
introduced into the School of Industry at Kendal; and
you will judge whether any assistance can be drawn
from that quarter in your incipient operations.
In regard to the children's reading a foreign lan-
guage, I can venture to say, that, if you had once esta-
blished a successful plan, this would obviate itself. Of
the children admitted into the Asylum at Madras, a
great part were entirely ignorant of the English language;
but, as no other was spoken there, the only complaint
we had, was that of forgetting their native tongue.
The same thing would happen in a charity school,
where the children are lodged, and nothing but English
was spoken by those in charge, and by the children
trained as teachers and assistants. Partially to intro-
duce the English language into schools of any descrip-
tion, I imagine it necessary to commence with teaching
one or more scholars to speak it, and employing them
to teach the rest, prohibiting any Gaelic in their oral
communications, under certain penalties. But this,
CORRESPONDENCE.
527
,
and every thing else, depends so much on the address,
the ability, and the zeal of the master, that no expe-
dient will succeed where these are wanting; and, with
these, I conceive the hints in my scheme will suffice,
as they may always be modified according to circum-
stances.
I have, with
you, little apprehension of
any difficulty
being made on the score of Episcopalian origin. The
enlightened men of the Church of England and of the
Kirk of Scotland, appealing to the standard of their
common Bible, are agreed in the great articles of faith
and practice. They differ chiefly in points of church
government; and to forms of government, the wise of
both establishments do not attach main importance.
But I know that every difficulty will be started, and
every obstacle arise, in the prosecution of a design in-
consistent with the habits and prejudices of early life.
Still, I believe that time and experience will dispel this
prejudice, and give diffusion to a system which can
scarce fail of success, when faithfully adopted, ably
conducted, and undeviatingly prosecuted. With every
good wish for good success to your scheme, I am, &c.
P.S.-I shall be happy if I can, in any shape, assist
in digesting your future plan of operations.
528
LIFE OF DR BELL.
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell.
+
Durham, 22d April 1806.
Reverend Sir,
I am afraid I must appear to you in an unfavour-
able light, never to have acknowledged your very inte-
resting and obliging letter in answer to my former letter.
I wished, however, when I was returning you my grate-
ful thanks for your kindness, to have given you an
account of what I had been doing in the way of for-
warding my favourite object. I am sorry to say, my
success hitherto has not been very flattering. When I
wrote you, I thought it might answer to get the Chris-
tian Society to take up the measure; but, upon sound-
ing how far this was likely to succeed, I had reason to
believe that, whatever the society might be induced to
do when the scheme was proved in this country to
be practically useful, they would not choose to make
the experiment themselves, lest probably it might
derange their own established system. I next be-
thought me of our Highland Society; for I hold it
to be of great importance that the experiments shall
be made at the instance of a public body, rather than
of an individual.
I found the Highland Society,
however, so enamoured of the Gaelic language, that
it would be in vain, at present at least, to expect
them to give up this favourite idea. They are even
thinking, I am told, of instituting a professor of the
Gaelic language at one of the universities. Ossian is
the only inducement to this attempt. But I am not
yet without hope, that while the society indulge their
CORRESPONDENCE.
529
2
lander and his fellow subjects
taste in cherishing it as a dead language, they may be
induced, in mercy to the poor Highlanders, to join in
efforts to supersede it as a living language. As a living
language, it clearly creates a barrier between the High-
ment of all kinds, and robs the country of the benefits
it would otherwise more completely derive from this
part of its population. Measures, I believe, are in con-
templation, by which the Highland Society may be
made to perceive the error of doing any thing to pro-
long the life of the Gaelic language, when we may next
hope for their aid in forwarding a scheme, which pro-
mises to give a quicker conquest to the English language
over it. You have taught me to feel that the plan is
not indifferent to you; and you
therefore encourage me
to hope that you, at your leisure, will turn the subject
in your mind, and kindly give me your instructions.
From my review, I have learned that you are of the
same side of the Tweed with me. Joining this cir-
cumstance with your name, Andrew Bell, I am induced
to ask, if you were, in the year 1770, or thereabout, a
boy—for you were not, I think, fifteen—at the college of
St Andrews ? I remember well a boy of your name,
of excellent parts, and of peculiar excellency in mathe-
matics, there, about that time, in Mr Vilant's mathema-
tical class. You must think me a rude fellow, first,
brevi manu, to open a correspondence with you; and,
next, so closely to catechise you on matters of so per-
sonal a nature. The first rudeness you have kindly
forgiven me; and I trust you will be inclined to forgive
the second, in consideration of the pleasure it would
give me to recognise in you my very early acquaint-
2 L
VOL. II.
530
LIFE OF DR BELL.
ance, recovered so unexpectedly. At all events, I
subscribe myself, &c.
Dr Bell to John Mackenzie, Esq.
Swanage, 8th May 1806.
Sir,
Your report of the ill success of your incipient
attempt does not surprise me; and the obstacles you
may still expect to encounter will not, I trust, discour-
age you.
You seek on the north of the Tweed what I do in
the south—a place on which to rest your lever. Any
national establishment can scarce be expected to be
moved by an engine of which they have had no expe-
rience; and a society who, fired with national enthu-
siasm, would spend thousands in teaching the infant
tongue to lisp in Ossianic strains, will scarce descend
at once to the humble office of instructing the rising
generation in the elements of letters and principles of
religion. But when the event, which you anticipate,
shall occur, and men divert their attention from objects
of curiosity and amusement to what is useful and in-
structive, you are ready to avail yourself of any open-
ing which may present itself.
Joseph Lancaster, whose fame must have reached
your ears, has reduced the Madras system to practice
on an extensive scale. But his religious principles are
questioned, and his religious doctrines defective. After
CORRESPONDENCE.
531
making every use of my former edition, he came to
Swanage, when I was at great pains to explain to him
the classification of a school, &c. In Mrs Trimmer's
Comparative View, you will see this subject discussed. I
have a most earnest wish of carrying into effect in this
country, what I established in India, and must look out
for some professional situation or preferment, however
inconsiderable, or even, if any such there be, without
emolument, which I could hold with this benefice, and
where I might fix my lever, and direct an institution
on the simple principle, and unvarnished practices of the
Male Asylum, without any of the trappings and garnish
of the Lancasterian school.
But I must hasten to my present object, which was
chiefly to make my acknowledgment for your obliging
enquiries. I have no doubt that the humble boy, of
whom you retain so flattering recollection, is grown up
into the man, whom you have so unexpectedly encoun-
tered. And if length of time and distance of place
have approximated two contemporaries, whose spheres
of action were originally so widely different, I should
be happy in a personal interview, and—while our con-
temporaries of the General Assembly of the Kirk of
Scotland, not much unlike the French Convention,
choose to debate on the existence of GoD-talk over the
best mode of improving the morals and forming religi-
ous principles and habits of industry in the rising gene-
ration. If, therefore, you shall soon visit the South, I
shall be proud of your company at the parsonage-house
of Swanage, and of showing you my Sunday schools,
and what I have done. I lament daily that this situation
does not admit, upon any scale of example, the repeti-
tion of the experiment made at Madras, though it has
532
LIFE OF DR BELL.
given me an opportunity of satisfying others, as well as
myself, that nothing is wanting but an appropriate
institution for this purpose. Believing, as I do, that I
have made a most useful discovery, I long every day
more and more to lend a helping hand to forward what
I believe will, in length of time, without my aid, esta-
blish itself. Allow me, dear sir, to subscribe myself
your fellow student and friend.
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Durham, 18th June 1806.
Reverend and dear Sir,
I was duly favoured with your friendly and inte-
resting letter of the 8th of May, and have delayed
acknowledging and thanking you for it-not from want
of good-will, but from various circumstances over which
I had no control, preventing me. It is no less flatter-
ing to my sagacity, than interesting to my feelings, to
have discovered in you my little, early class-fellow.
Be assured, that if ever I cross the Thames again, I
will not willingly stop short of Dorsetshire, where I
should be happy, not only to renew old acquaintance,
but to see your scholastic establishments at Swanage,
and to converse upon subjects very interesting, I am
persuaded, to both of us. Should, however, your op-
portunity of visiting the North arrive sooner than mine
of visiting the South, I trust you will, in the distribu-
tion of your time, not forget to allow at least a few
days to Durham.
CORRESPONDENCE.
533
It is not the least of the evils of the present day, that,
from the violence of the times, self-defence and war
almost absorb all other considerations, however impor-
tant, which otherwise ought to meet with attention from
both Government and individuals. But for this cause,
I am disposed to believe that your interesting plan of
education, among many other things, must have, ere
now, met with that encouragement which it appears to
me so richly to merit. That the public have been
struck forcibly by the practical success of it is very
evi-
dent, from the countenance Lancaster has met with,
notwithstanding the perverted purposes to which he
has turned it. Surely the merits of your plan must be
of a very luminous nature, that such defects as Lancas-
ter has tacked to it should have been hid in the glare
of them. Had the plan been first brought forward by
yourself in this country, it would have proved irresis-
tible; but Lancaster has certainly thrown difficulties in
the
way of its progress--which, however, I trust, are
but temporary. I am persuaded that, if
zeal and disinterested inclinations were known to some
leading characters, you would soon have your wish
gratified of an opportunity of conducting an institution
to put your plan in its true light. Are you not, medi-
ately or immediately, acquainted with Mrs Trimmer,
the very acute impugner of Lancaster's adulterations ?
For, did she know your real sentiments, I am per-
suaded that she would gladly let them be known to the
public, and might be very instrumental in forwarding
your wishes. If no other better means could be fallen
· on, might it not be contrived to communicate it to her
by letter, to be inserted by her into her Guardian of
your noble
I
534
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Education, either by yourself in your own name, or
anonymously, or by an anonymous friend? The letter
would thus, if inserted, answer the double purpose of
informing her and the public at the same time, while
she might annex such remarks on it as would attract
attention. Turn this suggestion in your mind, and do
not let your modesty prevent your giving it fair play.
I am very much obliged to you for your friendly offer
of bringing on an acquaintance between me and Gene-
ral Dirom, with whom I am not personally acquainted,
though well acquainted with his patriotism (in its true
sense) and public zeal; and, before Christmas, will
probably call upon you to do me this kindness. At
present, I apprehend, the general is not much acquaint-
ed with the real causes retarding the improvement of
the Highlands; but I am led to think that, before
Christmas, there will be some elucidations published on
the subject, which will save a tedious explanatory cor-
respondence on the subject, necessary, perhaps, at pre-
sent, to enable the worthy general to enter into the
advantages likely to arise from the interference of the
Highland Society, whose chief business-meetings are
held always about the end or the beginning of the year.
There is at present one of the society schools vacant
on my estate; and, though the appointment of the
master is vested in the society, yet the recommendation
and security flow from the heritor. Though taxes, a
parcel of boys, and family keeping, leave me little
money to spare for other purposes, yet did I know
where to place a young man for six months, which, I
apprehend, would be sufficient time, where he could see
your system practised accurately, I would be strongly
CORRESPONDENCE.
535
induced, on finding a promising young Highlander fit
to pass muster with the society, to stretch a point to
give him the previous benefit of such information. The
attempt at Durham is yet too feeble and incomplete to
answer my purpose. But if you know where, on either
side of the Tweed, the system is regularly pursued, I
would thank you to let me know, when I would set
the double enquiry on foot—for a properly qualified
young man, and for the best mode of establishing him
there, at the easiest expense, for six months; in which
time, I should suppose, with moderate abilities, he
would acquire the method as practically pursued, which
instructs more perfectly than any verbal or written
directions. Should the Highland Society take up
the
idea, they will here have a ready prepared instrument
to make their experiments with; and should they not,
I shall certainly, I think, succeed in getting him ap-
pointed to the vacant school on my property.
I must regret, with
you,
lever is so weak,
and my fulcrum so inadequate. But a slender plant
may grow to strength; and, with time, who knows but
both
ту
lever and fulcrum may become useful and fit
for our object? In unpromising, but desirable, pursuits,
my motto is always spero meliora. I am sure that I
am troublesome, and, I am afraid, fatiguing to you;
but however this may be, I am, &c.
that my
536
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Dr Bell to John Mackenzie, Esq:
Swanage, July 1806.
Dear Sir,
Your friendly letter of the 7th forbids me to delay
any longer my acknowledgment of your former favour
of June the 18th, though the same reason for delay still
exists--that I cannot yet give a satisfactory reply to
your interrogatory. It is not, you may be assured,
that I am not deeply interested in your beneficent
purpose of introducing a system, to which I am natu-
rally so partial, into a country to which I cannot be
indifferent. It is not that I am not as solicitous as you
can be to rescue this system from hands, which, with
the single merit of retaining its practical effect, have
disguised its simplicity, varnished its beauty, and per-
verted its moral and religious tendency. But I have
waited in expectation—an expectation which your com-
munication has not discouraged—that something would
turn up to enable me to educate such a youth as you
would select for your purpose, under my own eye, and
in a situation where it may be done to advantage.
This can only be done as it ought to be done, not by
reading lectures to him on the passions, à la Lancaster,
but by practical instruction, by setting him to teach,
and by pointing out, as you go along, what no previous
instruction can provide for, or accomplish. I did speak
to my Sunday schoolmaster, a quarrier, (or stone-ma-
son,) somewhat educated, to board him for £25 per
annum, as one of his family; but here he would only
have the experience of Sunday teaching, where neither
CORRESPONDENCE.
537
arithmetic nor writing are taught. It is therefore I
wait till I see if any thing occur, before I offer to take
upon myself the task of training practically a school-
master. In the superintendence of any considerable
establishment, such a youth would be most profitably
employed for himself, when he was doing service to the
school; and I should like to see several such youths at
an incipient institution.
Mrs Trimmer sent me a copy of her review of
my
essay with a polite letter, which led to a correspon-
dence; and I spent a day with her en passant, on a
late visit to town, and visited her Sunday school. She
is as zealous as either you or I can be, in subverting
quackery and establishing truth.
I shall not fail to avail myself of your good disposition,
in recognising a class-fellow, and to pay my respects,
and attend to your interesting plans of public utility, if
it should be my lot to visit the north, or reach Durham,
before I have the satisfaction of seeing you in the
south. I am, &c.
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Durham, 23d September 1806.
My dear Sir,
It is with the utmost pleasure I learn that you are
trimming your lamp in the capital, from whence, I make
no doubt, that the light will rapidly diffuse itself, at
538
LIFE OF DR BELL.
least over the British isles. “ Quæ felix faustaque
sit”-i, e. lux.
I thank you for thinking of me amidst your present
busy operations. I am afraid that whoever is to carry
your torch across the Grampians must himself speak
the Gaelic, to enable him both to teach and to live
happily; hence, I fear, a London-made torch would
not answer our wishes. Should we send up one from
the north to be kindled in Whitechapel, the expense,
the hazard of his losing relish there for his native
mountain life, and the difficulty of having him illumi-
nated, if of such advanced age as would enable him to
conduct the system in the north, stand in our way. It
would be a difficult matter to find a schoolmaster liberal
enough to take lessons from a boy; and a boy, whether
of London or Highland breed, would not be fit of him-
self to manage a school. These are my difficulties in
the view
you
have opened to me. Perhaps means of
obviating them may occur to you, though, at present,
they do not to me; and should they, I will trust to
your experienced goodness to communicate them to
me when you are at leisure. I will be very anxious to
learn the progress made in Whitechapel. It does not
surprise, though it pleases me much, to find that Lan-
caster's ignis fatuus disappears before your purer light.
It is clear that your plan must be most successful,
where pupils are under one regimen, as in hospitals,
asylums, &c.; but I trust it is capable of being so
modified as to suit the common school system, other-
wise it will, though still very valuable, fall short of its
full utility, especially in poor districts, where no accu-
mulations of young folks can be expected under a gen-
eral regimen. The short time I spent at Edinburgh
CORRESPONDENCE.
539
having been completely filled up by the distressing
cause of my visit to it, I had no opportunity of enqui-
ring after your friend General Dirom, or of making
your friendly introduction to him. I am, &c.
use of
R. L. Edgeworth, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Edgeworthstown, Ireland, 31st October 1806.
Sir,
As we have ventured, not only to use your name,
but to introduce you as a character in one of our
Popular Tales,” (by we, I mean Miss Edgeworth
and myself,) I presume still further on your goodness,
and request you to send me any loose hints that your
observations, since you came from the East, may have
furnished, relative to the education of the
poor.
I have been lately appointed, under an Act of Par-
liament, one of a commission to enquire into the funds
that exist, and into the probable means which may
be
employed, to extend the benefits of education among
the lower orders of people in Ireland. To whom can
I apply for instruction with more propriety than to Dr
Bell, from whom Lancaster, Colquhoun, and Trimmer
have borrowed their most useful ideas?
Have you seen “Barruel sur l'Instruction Publique,”
Chaptal, or Sicard, or a valuable little pamphlet
Christison of Edinburgh? Can you have the goodness
to point out to me any new sources of information?
540
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Extracts from the Answer.
Though I cannot flatter myself with being able to
give you any assistance in your enquiries and momen-
tous pursuits, yet I can safely venture to give you
much encouragement. There is a noble field open.
Begin. Go to work. Success will follow. Wher-
ever I have seen the scholastic ground duly cultivated,
there I have found an abundant crop of good fruit.
To recommend books on the subject of education to
those who have read so much and so well, were no easy
task to any one, especially to one who has read little,
and has approved of less. Of the books which you
have mentioned I have seen none; but shall look out
for them when I begin my course of reading on this
subject.
There is only one book which I have studied, and
which I take the liberty to recommend to you. It is a
book in which I learned all I have taught, and in which
you will find all I have taught, and infinitely more than
I have taught. It is a book open to all alike, and level
to every capacity. It only requires time, patience, and
perseverance, with a dash of zeal and enthusiasm in the
perusal. This book you have filled me with the hopes
of seeing soon in your hands.
In reading this book, my way is to submit every hint
which it suggests to the test of experience; and I have
transcribed into
my
humble
essay no observation till I
had established its authenticity, and demonstrated its
truth, in the mode best adapted to my capacity, most
CORRESPONDENCE.
541
:
congenial to my habits, and most satisfactory to my
mind, viz. that of facts and experience.
Since my return from India, my observation and
experience have been very confined; but I have entire
satisfaction in observing that, in every instance, where
the principle of the Male Asylum at Madras, of con-
ducting a school by the scholars themselves, as teachers
and assistants, has been partially attempted, it has par-
tially succeeded; and wherever it has been adopted in
full force, and carried to its just length, it has been
accompanied with complete and wonderful success. I
was lately occupied in new-modeling the charity
schools of Whitechapel on the simple principle of the
Madras Asylum, ingrafted into the bosom of the church
and state; but was soon constrained, by my immediate
duty, to leave the work I had begun to other hands
the trustees. And as they bring every recommendation
for the task, (except only previous practice and expe-
rience,) I entertain high expectations of the conti-
nuance of that success, which they were pleased to
attribute to my endeavours, when I had the pleasure of
being a co-operator with them.
When I entered the school, I said before all present,
that at the same time I was going to assist the scholars
in educating themselves, I was also to seek instruction
at their hands. In less than a fortnight I had occasion
to mark two boys, who fell upon improvements of my
practices in the Asylum. It is thus, if I were allowed
to follow the bent of my own inclination in the super-
intendence of a large seminary, I would seek to fill up
the outlines of my plan with subsidiary practices.
Our Saviour tells us, that if we would enter into the
kingdom of heaven we must become as little children.
.
542
LIFE OF DR BELL.
.
It is thus, that among children, and from them, and by
becoming as one of them, we are to learn those simple
doctrines of nature and truth, innate in them, or which
readily occur to their minds, as yet unbiassed by autho-
rity, prejudice, or custom. It is in this school of nature
and truth, pointed out by the Son of God, himself God,
that I seek for knowledge. It is among the children
and youth of the school, not among their masters, some-
times as prejudiced, bigoted, and perverse, as their
scholars are ingenuous, ingenious, and tractable. It is
in this book. I have said that I acquired what I know;
and it is in this book I have recommended you to study
-a school full of children.
What remains to be done, could be done by thou-
sands better than by me, if they could be brought to
give their mind to it, and take pleasure in it; but it is
a drudgery to most men from which they seek only to
escape. And, alas ! insulated in my situation, and de-
tached from every regular or established seminary, I
have little opportunity of finding that further know-
ledge which I seek for, and no means of reducing to
practice, and submitting to the test of experience, what
nightly occurs to my mind; but on which I stamp no
character, while it remains an unprofitable theory, and
which I cannot even digest to my own satisfaction,
without the agency and aid of my little masters.
That a foundation is laid for you in the system and
principle, of which I can never lose sight for a moment,
and that this foundation can never be shaken or under-
mined, but will last while nature and truth endure, is
a conviction on my mind inferior to none which is pro-
duced by any demonstration in ethics, or experiment in
physics, or even by any ethical or physical axiom.
CORRESPONDENCE.
543
Of the funds which exist for schools in Ireland, and
of the state of the country, I know nothing but at
second hand. Of the adaptation to circumstances, pre-
judices, and localities, I cannot therefore judge. But
be assured, that no circumstance, or prejudice, or local-
ity, can be found where what is natural and true, ad-
apted to the genius of youth, and depending on the
purest principles of humanity, will not, after a fair trial,
be acceptable and successful.
Children, by nature active, delight in the occupation
given to them by this system, are pleased by being, in
a great measure, their own masters, are gratified in a
high degree by seeing the reason, feeling the justice,
and perceiving the usefulness, of all that is done to
them, for them, and by them.
They of themselves, in the hands of an impartial
superintendent, fall upon what is easiest and best to be
done.
An example of the genuine effusions of the youthful
heart deserves to be recorded. A jury was forming to
try the boys whose names had been entered in the
black book of the Whitechapel School. A teacher or
assistant was selected out of each class, and each of
these were to name for their colleagues the best boy of
his class. When one boy was named, there was at
once a general outcry, “He is a bad boy, his name was
in the black book last week!” On enquiry it was
found that it was for a serious offence, and that the
general conduct of the boy was reprehensible. Accord-
ingly the assistant, who nominated this boy, was him-
self disgraced by being erased from the list of the jury.
In a well regulated school there are daily occurrences
of this sort.
544
LIFE OF DR BELL.
In the discharge of my professional duties, I have
often occasion to state, that it is seldom for want of
knowing what to practise, but generally from default
of practising what we know, that we offend. In like
manner, I beg leave to endeavour to impress on your
mind the conviction, which is rooted in my heart, that
you already know enough, and more than enough, for
the interesting work in which you are happily engaged,
and to the progress of which you will believe I shall
look forward with a peculiar interest. You will grow
in the necessary knowledge as you go along. Do not
harass yourself in pursuit of new information. Do not
distract your mind by hunting for a variety of schemes.
Lose no time. In the course of your proceedings, you
will learn what you can nowhere else learn.
Look'at a regiment, or a ship, &c., you
will
beautiful example of the system which I have recom-
mended for a single school. Look at the army and
you
will see the grand system
of
super-
intendence which pervades all the works of men, and
which will guide you in the general organization of
your schools. Only yours is a far less complicated
machine. A single inspector-general, with his secre-
tary, both nominated by government, and removable
at pleasure, will suffice to new-model the schools, re-
ceive reports, visit them, detect deficiencies, point out
the cause of failure, and see that they are conducted
according to the system chalked out for them, and the
principles of the institution. In their various progress,
in their subsidiary and subordinate improvements, and
the additions to our present practices which will occur,
a wide field of practical knowledge will be opened.
see a
navy, &c., and
CORRESPONDENCE.
545
Of the new creation which it will raise to religion,
to society, and to the state, I shall say nothing.
In each school classify, appoint, or rather where the
scholars have made any progress, let them appoint
teachers and assistants to each class. Short lessons,
short books. Never put into the hands of beginners
spelling-books formidable by their length, and by
being beyond the capacity of the teachers, as well as
the scholars. Mrs Trimmer's Spelling-Book, first part,
is brief. Her books are sterling. Let the alphabet be
made in sand (or on a slate, or with chalk) before the
scholar proceed to spell or read. Let the progress be
secure in every step, and you will be astonished at its
rapidity.
With new schools and untaught children you will
have an easy task. Nothing is so facile and pleasant
as to teach ab initio—nothing so difficult and ungra-
cious as to unteach those who have been ill taught.
Place into a well-regulated institution a boy who has
been ill taught two or three years at an ill-conducted
school, and a boy of the same age and capacity, who
does not know a letter of the alphabet, and in a twelve-
month I shall expect to see the superiority inverted.
The reformation of schools is often impeded or
totally obstructed, by the prevailing tenderness and de-
licacy towards the nominal master, whatever his con-
duct be, to the entire disregard and dereliction of
the scholars. The temporal interest and emoluments
of one must be solely studied and respected; and to
this feeling must be sacrificed the formation of the cha-
racter, and the temporal and spiritual welfare of thou-
sands in succession.
I shall esteem myself happy in your communication
2 M
VOL. II.
546
LIFE OF DR BELL.
of proceedings, in which I cannot but be deeply inte-
rested; and if any case arise, or difficulty occur, in
which
my experience can be of use, you
cannot do me a greater kindness than by commanding
you conceive
my services.
I must not conclude without beseeching you to in-
troduce into your schools every practice on the records
of the Male Asylum. For nothing has a place there
but what was demonstrated, confirmed, and riveted
by approved experience; and you may save yourself a
great deal of time and perplexity, and perhaps many
wanderings and frequent recurrence, by going no fur-
ther in the beginning.
Lay well and deep your foundation. Of the rest it
will be time to consult at a future period.
The Rev. T. Sikes to Dr Bell.
Hackney, near London,
March 30, 1807.
Dear Sir,
My acquaintance with you has indeed been short,
but it has served to persuade me that you possess those
respectable qualities of head and heart which ought to
make me desirous of improving it. It would give me
much pleasure, and I doubt not profit too, to discuss
any important question with you; but there is one in
particular, which I am very anxious to offer to your
attention, and to beg your opinion upon it I mean
CORRESPONDENCE.
547
you think
the Scotch Episcopacy.
I have taken considerable
pains to obtain a thorough knowledge of this subject,
and, as far as I am able to judge, it appears to deserve
the respect and the pity of all sound Christians, and
particularly of English Episcopalians. When it was
mentioned the other day, you appeared to me to speak
of it with disapprobation, and some degree of contempt.
I presume, therefore, that you view it in a very differ-
ent light from that in which I see it. Do
me wrong? Do you judge that I speak too highly of
it? If you do, it would give me great satisfaction to
hear your reasons for a different opinion. You admit,
I believe, that many points of doctrine of the greatest
importance are involved in the subject of the Scotch
Episcopacy. It is, therefore, of prime importance to
have correct notions of that. You seemed to me to
have strong objections against the Scotch Episcopal
Church. At present I can see none. Perhaps you
have those to urge which have not come before me. .
May I expect the favour of a statement of them
in reply to this intrusion? It will very much oblige,
&c.
- P.S.- I suppose it is no news to tell
it is no news to tell you, that Mr
Davis has had several visits from great folks at his
school.
When do you see London again?
548
LIFE OF DR BELL.
The Rev. Thomas Sikes to Dr Bell.
Hackney, April 11, 1807.
Dear Sir,
I am not ashamed of having deferred my notice
of your obliging letter of March 31st; nor will
you
disallow my reasons for it, I daresay. The fact is,
that I have been very much engaged in affairs of a
very different nature from that of a deliberate discus-
sion of sacred subjects; and I do not choose to trouble
you with crude and inconsiderate opinions upon a sub-
ject which involves very serious points. I am very
much obliged to you for your frank and ready acqui-
escence with my request, and am not a little flattered
by your good opinion of me as a schoolmaster upon
this subject. This superiority of station, however,
which
you have assigned me, I must utterly disclaim;
and, if I can so far obtain your confidence and good-
will as to entitle me to the name of schoolfellow, I
must confess it will give me considerable pleasur
Let us then resort, first, to the school of Christ
himself. Where, in this school, doubts and ambiguities
may arise, (and when we remember that his teaching
was very circumscribed and brief, we cannot wonder
at the fact, that many doubts and ambiguities have
arisen,) let us seek for illustration and direction from
his apostles the proper commentators upon their
Master's doctrines and designs: and where further
instruction is necessary, where can we go with better
prospect of success than to those holy men who them-
selves were the apostles, disciples, and successors, and
sure.
CORRESPONDENCE.
549
some of whom had most probably seen Christ in the
flesh? I must confess, sir, that this has been the me-
thod of my schooling throughout my professional life;
and thus instructed, I feel myself upon ground so firm,
that I have more than once presumed to dissent from
very high modern authority, when I have found it evi-
dently dissenting from the apostles, and the illustrious
fathers of the primitive church. I never yet could
bring myself to give up my Ignatius or Clemens to any
bishop of the present day, however high he might
stand in the world's esteem, or my own.
No doubt,
you
will admit the reasons to be too evident to re-
quire a detail of them from me. I certainly am a little
surprised, as you suppose, that you have not gone
“more deeply into the enquiry." I am surprised that
you should have skipped over some articles of the
Creed, and should have attended only to others; for
we certainly have it not in our choice to receive and
believe only certain doctrines of the Sacred Scripture,
and to reject what we please. The same authority
which has enjoined us to believe in God the Father
Almighty, and in Jesus Christ our Lord, and in the
Holy Ghost, enjoins us also to believe in the holy
Catholic Church and Communion of Saints: and if it
be our duty to be ready to give to any one who asks
it the reason of our faith in the blessed Trinity, it
appears equally necessary to be ready to give the reason
of our faith in any other doctrine, enjoined by the same
authority: and we cannot give a reason without having
previously acquired some correct knowledge of the
subject. We read, in Sacred Scripture, that the
church is the pillar and ground of truth—that we are
550
LIFE OF DR BELL.
not to look for salvation but in the church-that it is
the exclusive object of our Saviour's love, and that he
gave
himself and died for the church. All this makes
it a most important subject; and I mention all this
to justify my early anxiety and pains to become well
acquainted with its nature and constitution, its privi-
leges and its powers; and I entertain the hope that
the view in which I have now placed the importance
of this subject, may induce you not to leave “ to a
leisure time the investigation” of an article of the
Creed, in which are involved consequences of unspeak-
able moment.
I verily believe, that when you fairly and learnedly
investigate the subject, (in which laudable labour I
should be happy to afford you any assistance in my
power, but it is not in my power to afford you much,)
you
will find that the Scottish Church is a true church,
and a very pure one too: that any one, therefore, who
separates from it, throws himself into a state of schism.
That the bishops of the Scotch Church are rightly
consecrated, according to the usage and canons of the
primitive church, and are therefore each, in his re-
spective diocess, to be, for conscience sake, obeyed by
all Christians within the diocess. That, in all respects
piritual, they are exactly as good bishops as the Eng-
lish, (or any others in Christendom,) although they do
not, like them, enjoy the favour and protection of the
State. That this circumstance, however, ought not,
in the eyes of sincere Christians, to produce any pre-
judice against them, as it does in the eyes of many
who are ignorant or forgetful of the nature of Christ's
kingdom. On the contrary, it should excite their pity
CORRESPONDENCE.
551
and their charity, knowing that a cup of cold water,
given to any of the family of Christ, for Christ's sake,
shall in nowise lose its reward.
You are perfectly correct in stating that a Scotch
priest could not be admitted to the cure of souls in an
English diocess; but we must remember that this re-
striction is purely political : his priesthood is as good
as that of any man in the English Church. Again,
you say~" I have no purpose of becoming a member
of the Scotch Church in any other way than by the
authority of the church to which I do belong.”
I have carefully attempted to collect the meaning of
this sentence, but I cannot. I will take it as a favour,
if
you
will just explain it a little in your next. (If I
have been obscure in what I have written, I will do
the same.) You seem to consider that you may be-
come a member of the Scotch Church by authority of
the English Church. How can this be? Is it so? In
hope of soon hearing from you, I now put an end to
my long, and, I fear, a tedious scrawl. I remain, &c.
Dr Bell to the Rev. Thomas Sikes.
4, Union Place, Lambeth, 20th April 1807.
Dear Sir,
Having received your learned and able communi-
cation on the eve of my setting out for the metro-
polis, I have not, till this day, had it in my power to
sit down with a pen in my hand to acknowledge this
-552
LIFE OF DR BELL.
new obligation laid on me. I am very sensible of the
earnest attention you show, in furnishing me with the
best information on a subject which you have digested
and matured to your own entire conviction; and I hope
that, like all learned and deeply read men, you will be
always ready to make ample allowances for the weak-
nesses and infirmities of those who have either given
less diligence, or have been less successful in their en-
quiries; and who cannot so readily and so fully make up
their minds to the same standard of entire satisfaction
and conviction on such points as neither our Saviour nor
his apostles, nor those of far inferior authority in my
apprehension, however venerable and revered—the fa-
thers of the church, nor our church, nor our present
ecclesiastical superiors, from whom I have never seen
reason to differ-have furnished us with instruction. It
is, therefore, not from any predilection to such questions,
but in acquiescence with your requisition, and as a mark
of the estimation in which I hold your character, and
the deference with which I regard your opinions, that I
have brought myself to withdraw my mind this evening
from the great and practical duties in which I am en-
gaged, to give you all the satisfaction which I can give
you in the objects of your enquiry: and here, if I should
again, as must inevitably happen in writing without
previous reading for the purpose, or due deliberation,
overlook many points which your great learning and
extensive knowledge embrace in one grasp, I beg you
will impute the omission, either to my unacquainted-
ness with the subject, or my purpose of only speaking
to those precise articles to which you have directed my
attention, and in which you seem to think we are not
agreed.
CORRESPONDENCE.
553
The first remark to which you call my attention is,
that you are surprised I should have skipped over some
articles of the Creed, and should have attended only
to others? This I never did intentionally; but if in an
impromptu and extempore answer to your enquiries,
while
my
mind was full of other and immediate duties,
I was guilty of many omissions, I can trust that you
will now impute those omissions to the real cause. I
greatly suspect that it is not in the omission of any article
of our Creed, but in the interpretation or rather) appli-
cation of it to specific points, where we are left without
guidance, and direction or authority, as to these spe-
cific points, that we differ, if we do at all differ. In every
point which in my eyes seems material, and in every ge-
neral proposition you have uttered, I am entirely agreed
with you: and I do not know any one point in which
I differ, if it be not in an application of one article of
our Creed, which you construe, (and perhaps with
more light than I possess,) with many of our able and
best divines, to denounce schism against our poor,
unprotected, and suffering brethren of the English
Episcopal Church in Scotland, who, in general, appear
to expose themselves to obloquy, and even to temporal
and spiritual privations for conscience sake; and who, I
believe, have declined temporal advantages rather than
attach themselves to a church, where they neither felt
the necessary conviction, nor could obtain the authority
of their own church, which to them appeared essential,
and where they did not know but that they might
thereby incur the censure of schism from, or dissolve
their union with, the church to which they belong.
This much I do know, that a worthy and conscientious
minister of the English Church, officiating in Scotland,
554
LIFE OF DR BELI..
did consult his archbishop, who happened to be also
his bishop, on this very question, and was not advised
to enlist under the banners of the Scottish Church.
With these and other facts well known to me, I do not
disapprove of those who, for conscience sake, go over
to the Church of Scotland: nor do I condemn those
who, for conscience sake, submit to a comparative state
of degradation, rather than do what to them appears
a dereliction, without the requisite authority of the
church to which they do belong: and to them I dare not
impute the sin of schism on the ground you seem to
have taken, that of "separating themselves from the
Scottish Church;” for this is a crime which it seems to
me impossible they should commit who never did be-
long to the Scottish Church, and, therefore, cannot
separate themselves from it. At the same time I am
here, as every where, perfectly, and with entire convic-
tion, agreed in your general
your general propositions, that “any one
who separates himself from it throws himself into a
state of schism." Any of its own members, who with-
draw from it, are guilty of schism, provided it be not to
enter the Church of England; but I do not think in like
manner of those my brethren of the Church of England,
who do not think themselves warranted in so far renoun-
cing the church to which they belong, as to enlist under
the banners of a sister church, however pure and Chris-
tian. These, my sentiments, I offer with great diffi-
dence, and only at your request, and am willing to
confess, that it is a subject attended with considerable
difficulties, and on which I think it wise to suspend my
opinion, and to look with no less regard on those who
differ from me, as those who agree with me.
This, I am persuaded, is the only real difference of
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555
opinion between you and myself; and it is a point on
which I am so diffident of my own opinion, that nothing
but
my desire of proving myself not altogether unwor-
thy of your confidence, your good wishes, and good
intentions, towards me, would have led to this exposi-
tion of my sentiments.
I am aware that there are other questions in which
you may think we are not so entirely agreed as I have
supposed. But it seems to me scarce necessary to
return to these, as I am persuaded that you have either
mistaken my sentiments, or that the difference is of a
speculative or metaphysical complexion, and an object
leading to polemical divinity, of which I am little
capable, and to which I am less inclined. For your
satisfaction, however, I must say, that so far from
"skipping over one of the articles of our Creed,” I
profess it as necessary as you do, to “ believe in the
holy Catholic Church and Communion of Saints, as
well as in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus
Christ our Lord, and in the Holy Ghost.” But in
my humble conception, there is a wide discrimination,
which may be readily conceived, but the explanation of
which borders so nearly on casuistry, and appears to me
of so little moment, either to be felt or explained, that
I only mentioned it in conversation, as an apology for
not explaining the former article as you do. Of the
belief in the ever-blessed Trinity, and the application
of that belief to great spiritual purposes, and, as I think,
to great practical duties, we are agreed with the Church
of Rome and the Reformed churches, so are we like-
wise with most, if not all, of these, in our belief of the
holy Catholic Church and Communion of Saints; but, in
the application of this doctrine, how widely do they dif-
556
LIFE OF DR BELL.
fer from us! The Romans confine the Catholic Church
and Communion of Saints within the pale of their own
church. Other churches are more liberal in their sen-
timents and interpretation; and we ourselves, I verily
believe, differ from one another in regard to the nature,
extent, and mode of this belief. Some, if not all of
us,
will embrace our sister Church of Scotland, and others
will not exclude our brethren in Scotland who have not
united themselves to that church. Whence arises this
difference; from the nature of the thing, or from pre-
judice, or from caprice? The sublime doctrine of the
Trinity is revealed to us by the infallible oracles of
God, as far as it is necessary for our comprehension
and its application; and all the faithful spread over
the wide world who receive this revelation acquiesce in
the belief of this mystery, and we of the Church of
England are satisfied with the exposition of it which our
creeds furnish her sons; and we are left without excuse
if we debate or dispute. The doctrine is independent
of earth, and every thing earthly. Of a kin to this is
the invisible and inward Catholic church and spiritual
communion of saints. Every man can tell whether he
himself belongs to this number, but he cannot predi-
cate with certainty whether any other does, or does not.
Of the visible and outward church, of which I conceive
you to speak, and of which only I speak, the case is
widely different. Here every one considers his own
church of this description exclusively, or inclusively, as
his tenets or disposition leads; and our church has not
thought it necessary to enter into any precise or specific
description, by which we can certainly form our opinions
of the nature, extent, and mode of this belief.
After writing so long, and to a late, or rather early
CORRESPONDENCE.
557
+
hour, and tiring you with my crude and undigested
notions, I find a categorical question yet to answer, and
yet I have to say in what sense I said, “ I have no
purpose of becoming a member of the Scottish Church
in
any
other
way than by the authority of the church
to which I do belong.” In a letter, written at the
moment of receiving yours, without premeditation, and
without weighing the words, or the meaning of the
expressions, you will not be surprised at any inaccuracy,
and if I should not recollect the context sufficiently to
say what was passing in my mind at the time. But if
this sentence was meant at once to qualify and appre-
ciate
my
sincere approbation of the Church of Scotland,
and at the same time to mark my obedience to, and
veneration for, the “ church to which I do belong,” and
my ignorance, whether I am left to myself to say that
I belong to any other church, however pure and holy,
than the Church of England, or owe obedience to any
other ecclesiastical superiors than those set over me by
the canons and constitution of the church-then I should
consider the sentence as merely hypothetical, and that
it is not necessary to have any distinct apprehension
how this can be done to understand me as saying hy-
pothetically, if this should fall out, then, such is my
opinion of the Church of Scotland, nothing more would
be wanting to satisfy my mind, and I would conscien-
tiously acquiesce. In this hypothetical sense, it is not
even necessary to show that the thing is not impossible.
But it is not unlikely that, looking forward, as we
sometimes do in contemplations such as were then pré-
- sent to my mind, and regarding the apostolical cha-
racter of the Church of England, and even its superior
adaptation to a "monarchical government, compared
558
LIFE OF DR BELL.
with the perhaps not less pure and spiritual doctrines
and the republican form of the government of the Kirk
of Scotland, in the General Assembly of which we have
lately seen a question publicly agitated, in the presence
of the people, little short of what occupied the French
Convention--I say, that, contemplating the character
and government of the Church of England, I some-
times indulge the fond hope, that, if I were to live a
thousand
years,
I should see it established over this
island, just as I am fully persuaded and convinced that
a system of education founded on nature and truth
will, in the course of ages, spread over the civilized
world. It is not unlikely that, regarding it as an event
not impossible in the course of ages, Episcopacy may
be reviewed in Scotland as more congenial to the apos-
tolical and primitive churches, and even to the genius
and character of her enlightened sons; and that our
church should declare the bishops of the Scottish
Church duly consecrated, and entitled, as well as their
English brethren, to the duty and obedience of all her
sons; or (what you may, perhaps, conceive nearer at
hand, and I as wanting to remove the scruples of
several sons of our church) should order all her minis-
ters, while in Scotland, to put themselves under the
dominion of the Scottish bishops, I then, in either case,
or any other such, express my willingness to conform
myself to this decree.
I cannot conclude this tedious letter, without again
thanking you for your obliging offer of assisting and
directing my studies in this subject, and assuring you
that, as soon as I can spare the time without interfe-
ring with my occupations, I shall give every attention
to your recommendation and instructions. But if, en-
CORRESPONDENCE.
559
gaged as I am in pursuits which appear to me fitted
to retain and bring into the bosom of that church thou-
sands of her children, and train them up in its practical
doctrines and discipline, I should not give all the time
you may think requisite, you will recollect that this
subject is at present a matter of speculation, and an
unprofitable doctrine, as to me; and I can trust that
you will dispense, for the present, with my offering any
further opinions on this difficult question, and wait till
I can say that I have made up my mind, if I should
make it up to my own satisfaction. At the same time,
if, in this hurried reply, for I really cannot spare time
to examine, digest, and mature and condense, I should
have committed many errors and blunders, I shall be
your correction. You will have the goodness
to dispense with my writing again on a subject on which
I never wrote till desired by you, and which, I am afraid,
borders on that controversial and polemical divinity,
which I industriously seek to avoid, while I have im-
mediate and important offices to perform. With the
greatest respect for the studies and pursuits in which
you are engaged, I trust for equal indulgence to those
which occupy my mind; and that you will believe
that, in the beautiful variety of characters and talents,
each is employed in the province appropriate to him.
In hopes of seeing you soon, I am, &c.
happy in
560
LIFE OF DR BELL.
The Rev. Thomas Sikes to Dr Bell.
Guilsborough, near Northampton,
May 15, 1807.
Dear Sir,
In the close of your last, (for which I am very
much obliged to you,) you observe that the subject
before us," is at present a matter of speculation, and,
as to you, an unprofitable doctrine.” I cannot admit
that any article of the Creed, or the right interpretation
or application of any article of the Creed, can be called
a matter of speculation, or an unprofitable doctrine to
any one, especially this of the Church and Communion
of Saints, in which, we are agreed, are involved so many
weighty points of doctrine, and so many important
duties. But your observation, I think, makes it proper
for me to state to you the motives which made me desi-
rous of discussing the question with you, who now have
little to do with the north and Scottish affairs, and are
residing upon, perhaps, the most southern extremity of
the kingdom.
First, then, I certainly liked my acquaintance, and
I shall endeavour to deserve a reciprocal sensation. I
imagined, likewise, that I saw in him a liberal mind
and a professional zeal, which is not every where to be
found united; and lastly, I apprehended that, from
your respectable connexions in the north, and in Eng-
land, occasions might occur, which, in your present
state of mind, you might use to the disparagement of
the Episcopal authority in Scotland, but which I am
in great hopes you will see good reason to improve,
CORRESPONDENCE.
561
for the promotion of the unity and the welfare of the
Scottish Episcopacy; for I am very certain that you
are the last man living, knowingly and wittingly to
lend a hand for the overthrow of Church discipline,
or to justify the unlawful endeavours of those who
would do it, either in our own church, or in any
other.
The case before us is this :-You are of opinion
that the English ordained clergy now officiating in
Scotland, without license from the Scottish bishop of
the diocess, and altogether rejecting his jurisdiction
and authority, are to be justified. I am of a contrary
opinion, and deny that they can be justified upon any
Christian principle; and am ready to charge thém di-
rectly with schism, the effect of which is the destruc-
tion of any church whatever; and, indeed, I am so
much at a loss even to guess upon what ground you
would attempt to justify them, that I know not, till
I know that, what it is that I should suggest, or in
what manner I can suggest any thing worth your at-
tention; for all antiquity, and present practice too, is
against them. Let us, then, suppose ourselves in Scot-
land, and that you and I, if you please, have just lighted
upon a clergyman at the door of the Episcopal chapel,
lately arrived from England, and about to enter and
officiate in the congregation. I maintain that he ought
not to enter. You are of a different opinion, and are
about to defend him. I would then ask him these two
questions-Pray, sir, what brought you here? and by
what authority do you claim the right of ministering in
this congregation ?
I apprehend that these two questions, with the an-
swers that may be made to them, will nearly include
VOL. II.
2 N
562
LIFE OF DR BELL.
all the circumstances of the case. If you will be so
good to state, in a simple and direct answer to the two
queries put to our supposed gentleman, what appears
to you to be his justification, I shall then see at once
where it is that, according to my judgment, you may
perhaps fail: and so shall be able more satisfactorily to
submit to you, according to your request, my objections
or corrections. With confidence and with pleasure I
shall submit them, because I can believe that the sacred
truth, upon any article of faith, is as much an object of
your regard as it can be of mine; and because, likewise,
I believe that any thing that I shall submit to you, in
the decent spirit of a Christian, will be sure to meet with
your attention and regard.
I have again, you see, taken my time to reply; but I
do so in consequence of what you say respecting your
avocations connected with the subject of education. I
hope this will find you (not, I trust, at leisure with
respect to that weighty subject, but) sufficiently at lei-
sure to return me an answer in the manner I have
desired, perhaps in a short time, as I imagine such an
answer will give you little trouble, but will serve the
purpose of directing my thoughts to those points which
yourself will have to bring forward. Yours, &c. .
P.S.—I shall be very happy to see you here. If
you cannot make me a visit, at least make me a vis, if
you can, before your return to Swanage. .
CORRESPONDENCE.
563
1
Lady Apreece to Dr Bell.
a similar one,
June 1, 1807.
The scheme of a school on the model of the Male
Asylum at Madras, has lately fallen into the hands of a
lady, who, impressed with the most exalted idea of the
superior excellence of the plan, is solicitously bent on
having her son's education conducted
upon
if it be possible. Presuming, therefore, on that kindness
and benevolence that so eminently distinguishes the char-
acter of Dr Bell, she is tempted to request the favour of
him to inform her if there is, in any part of this kingdom,
a classical school conducted upon the same model? If Dr
Bell can answer this question in the affirmative, the lady
will wait on him any day and hour he will have the good-
ness to appoint, and communicate all the particulars of
the case in question. If, unhappily, no such school is
to be found, (for those youths who are intended for col-
lege, learned professions, or are in a rank of life that
make a classical education indispensably necessary,) she
hopes and trusts that Dr Bell will find no difficulty in
excusing her for wishing not to commit herself, for
reasons which, in case of a meeting, shall be fully and
satisfactorily explained. It has this moment occurred
to her, that, if not altogether so perfect, something per-
haps may be found that approaches nearer to Dr Bell's
plan than any that is indiscriminately adopted in our
schools, both public and private; and if so, she begs
leave to add, that any communication from Dr Bell on
the subject will be most thankfully and gratefully re-
ceived.
564
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Dr Bell to G. W. Marriot, Esq.
Leytonstone, 1st Aug. 1807.
My évèr dear Friend,
Having been from home when your latest (God
forbid it should be your last !) token of your inviolable
attachment to our common occupations reached Union
Place, and having wandered with my friends, and in
the midst of scholastic and professional duties ever since,
I fear I have missed the opportunity of making my
personal acknowledgments of your good offices, your
well-timed, and well-directed, and well-tempered ser-
vices, and of your earnest, and, as I feel, honest and
sincere, attachment to my pursuits.
Our military friend, by whose side I now write, and
who is making his returns, would, as well as myself,
have been at the Temple, end of this week, if we had
not thought you gone. When you go, if I had had such
a fellow-labourer from the beginning, I should have felt
myself unconscious of being able to go on without you,
and, though assisted by our common friends and fellow-
labourers, your fair cousin, and your cousin's husband,
I should have thought it time to shut up shop till your
return; and where my destiny may be, in the interim,
I cannot now conjecture. Having, from the commence-
ment, no assistance, no associate, till of late, and having,
not only without aid, but at times, under every circum-
stance of resistance, opposition, combination, and con-
spiracy, not only gone on, but even gone on successfully,
I am not entirely without hopes that I may be able to
keep inatters alive till your return, for you. But, much
as I shall miss you, and much as I shall want some one
CORRESPONDENCE.
565
your studies. I
who will listen to me when I think aloud, who will
enter into all my views and projects, bear with all my
inequalities, my weaknesses, and infirmities, and for the
sake of the object, or its author, excuse the many need-
less troubles and obtrusions, and the multiform errors
brought upon him—nay, much as I shall lament that
he is not now at hand, whom I could consult on every
emergency, or interrupt with every trifle, and whose
unsolicited, and temperate, and warm assistance was
never wanting, who was pleased and smiled when others
would have complained and frowned: still I rejoice that
you are to have a temporary respite from the severity
of your pursuits, and the intensity of
rejoice that, in consulting for your relatives and friends,
you will necessarily consult for your own health and
repose. Above all, I rejoice, whatever the event
may
be to my pursuits, or to me, that you are to spend the
your life under far more endearing ties, and far
more interesting duties. Upon these nearer and pri-
mary duties the colour of your future pursuits will de-
pend. Whatever they be, may they be auspicious! I
know not, you know not, how far we shall, in future,
be fellow-labourers, but I know you will always have
my best wishes, in whatever laudable and beneficent
objects you shall be engaged; and I hope I may say
without vanity, that I shall ever have your good wishes
and prayers in behalf of spreading industry, morality,
and religion, through the kingdom and the world.
No man, perhaps, ever received such multiplied ex-
pressions of the partiality of patrons and of friends as
have fallen to my lot, in the North, the West, the East,
and the South. But certainly, strong as the impression
they have left on my heart is, I can still feel with re-
rest of
566
LIFE OF DR BELL.
newed and increased vivacity the pledges which have
proceeded from you, and through your hands. Your
affectionate and friendly frontispiece—your friend Mr
Cumming's masterly, partial, and benevolent criticism,
and good wishes--Lord Radstock's most flattering and
yet most gratifying register-laudari a laudatis viris
are memorials which I shall preserve for ever in the
cabinet of my memory, if we are allowed, as I doubt
not we shall, to retain in a future state, the remem-
brance of what is most worthy of being recorded in a
present world.
George Dempster, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Dunnichen, Forfar, 15th September 1807.
Reverend and dear Sir,
I am deep in your debt, first, for your letter of
last year from the west of Scotland; next, for your
treatise on Education; and lastly, for your sermon
preached at Lambeth. I own the debt, and beg par-
don of my creditor.
creditor. Your sermon,
Your sermon, which I read last
Sunday, pleased me exceedingly. You deliver your
own sentiments in Scriptural phrase—which I think
very energetic and proper, both in sermons and prayers.
I rejoice that your discovery, as to education, has
attracted so much notice; because I hope you may
build upon it, not only ecclesiastical fame, but prefer-
ment, which is a solider good, superadded to honour.
I hope you will get yourself presented at court, and
CORRESPONDENCE.
567
now and then attend the levees; and get better ac-
quainted with the hierarchy of the church-Archbishop
of Canterbury, Bishop of London, &c., &c.; and bustle
to be made canon or prebend. Sic itur ad astra.
Such is the road to a bishopric, which, that you may
reach, is, I do assure you, my sincere wish. By the
way.
however, you must expect to meet envy, malice, and
opposition. You have already laid a solid foundation
to withstand their malignity. I hope you and Mrs
Bell enjoy good health. You have gotten the best end
of the island for the next seven months, and I envy you
for it. I have just recovered from the jaws of death.
Seventy long summer days have I been confined to
bed; but now, thank God, I have got up, and am as
well as I can expect at an age, long before which most
of my contemporaries have been carried to their graves
_75 A. E. My wife is very well, and remembers you
kindly. Farewell, my dear Rev. Sir, your affectionate,
humble servant.
The Rev. Thomas Sikes to Dr Bell.
Guilsborough, October 29, 1807.
Dear Sir,
I had the pleasure, a long time ago, of scrawling
a few lines to you upon the subject, which, I trust, is
as interesting to you as it is to me; at the same time
desiring that
you
would give me a reply when you were
at leisure. I requested you to give me the solution of
two generics, which I said would suggest to me what
568
LIFE OF DR BELL.
sort of matter I should want for your satisfaction, if
haply I am to satisfy you, upon any point upon which
we may have a different opinion. Either my letter has
miscarried, or you have been otherwise employed, and
have forgotten me. Some friend told me that you were
now at Swanage, and so I trouble you where I waited
to catch you at leisure. Do soon favour me with a line,
for I do not forget you, or the subject before us; and,
when
you write, be so good to inform me to what extent
your plan of education has been adopted at Lambeth.
Is it extensive? Yours, &c.
Dr Bell to the Rev. Thomas Sikes.
November 6, 1807.
Dear Sir,
I blame myself far more than you can do, for not
replying to your last letter, as I did to your former let-
ters, on its receipt; for (were I to reflect for ever) the
truth is, I have no leisure for deliberation or consulta-
tion, on the subject to which you would kindly draw
my attention; and I fear that my head is not logical
enough to enable me to distinguish, whether two parallel
churches should be called the same church, or equal
churches; or to explain to your satisfaction, on what
ground it was that I thought the Bishop of Carlisle
ordained me priest, for the express purpose of officiating
to an English Episcopal congregation in Scotland. Such
questions, and every other question of polemical divi-
CORRESPONDENCE.
569
nity or political controversy, are alike foreign to my
disposition, my capacity, and the duties which are given
to me to perform by more than human authority, as far
as every man is accountable for the peculiar talents given
to him, and for their application to the purposes for
which they are given.
You mistake widely when you suppose that I am
here at leisure. Besides various duties, I have brought
with me more work to perform, than I expect to be
allowed time to perform it in. I send you a specimen
of the manner in which I have been employed, that
you may have a positive and better apology in facts,
than any I can make in words; and I can only add,
that while I have urgent, and, as I conceive, impor-
tant practical and indispensable duties to perform, I
cannot give my attention to questions which, as to me
at present, I must aver are merely speculative, without
a manifest dereliction of my sacred obligations. In
these points, in which you are so deeply versed, I can
only seek for information at your hands, and show my
willingness to comply with your requisition, in the
plain and lowly line in which I act. But as this is done
to my hands in the accompanying papers, I see no
occasion to add any thing to the authentic information
which they contain.
Some time ago I sent you a sermon from Mr G.
W. Marriot, taken by one of your friends, and offered
it as an apology for my not entering into any other
subject of discussion; and I hope you will think with
me, that I should do wrong, if I, who have real and
present, and interesting and indispensable duties to
perform, were yet to enter into speculative and abstract
questions, whether two churches are the same and iden-
570
LIFE OF DR BELL.
tical, or similar and equal. Let the result of such
investigations be what they may, my mind and my con-
duct are unchanged. Were I to change my scene of
action for another country, such enquiries might be-
come essential to my right conduct, and then I must
dispense with such duties as could be dispensed with.
General Floyd to Dr Bell.
Cork, 27th January 1808.
My dear Dr Bell,
The sight of your well-known handwriting of the
15th instant, from Swanage, gave me very particular
pleasure. I had been talking of you for some days,
and had designed writing to you at this time for some
account of yourself. A respectable and an old friend
like
you is not to be dropped, for want of a little pen
and ink, and it would hurt me to think that I was lost
to your remembrance.
I pass my time in such ignorance of the proceedings
in England, that I did not know of your having made
arrangements in the R. M. Asylum, which, I suppose,
is at Chelsea; but I rejoice to see modest merit called
forth in the cause of humanity and of the public, and I
trust that the great men with whom you are now con-
versant, will not forget that merit, however retired and
modest, ought to meet reward. I well remember your
declining a very handsome pecuniary compliment offered
you by the government of Madras, upon your retiring
CORRESPONDENCE.
571
from the charge of the establishment there, and from
that country. Your motives were most generous, most
honourable. Nevertheless, your friends will love you
none the less, or diminish any thing of their esteem for
you, were a good fat benefice imposed upon you. It
would enlarge your means of doing good, and of enjoy.
ing the society of those
you
value.
Your account of the Archbishop of Canterbury, of
your interview with the Duke of York, and your com-
plaint of want of a glossary to understand great men’s
compliments, were not lost upon Lady Denny and upon
me; and I daresay they did not escape the notice of
your most respectable and revered friend the arch-
bishop, whom I have the honour of knowing only by
reputation. You did me great honour by mentioning
my name to the Duke of York, as one from whom any
thing was to be learned. I only wish I could feel my-
self more entitled to it than I do. Alas, poor Knox !
whom you mention ; but I do not recollect whom you
intend by Nt. as one of the three generals of whom
you
make honourable note.
I aimed, in our military performance, at your system
of extending the number of instructors, perfectly aware
that he who instructs, not only confirms and roots in
his mind what he has already learned, but discovers
many new objects as he goes along, highly advantageous
to his general designs, and this in proportion to the
degree of genius with which he is endued. More at-
tention ought to be paid to the instruction of our offi-
cers, and these officers ought to be more employed in
instructing; for want of this you see the sergeants and
corporals, whom you mention, employed in performing
the functions of officers. They ought all to be em-
572
LIFE OF DR BELL,
ployed in giving lessons, each according to his rank.
Here
you
will
say, “ Halt, my good general, halt !”
I admire the postscript of the Bishop of London, in
his pastoral letter on the education of negro children in
the West Indies.
I partake, my dear Bell, in the gratification you
must receive, from the address of your ancient pupils at
Madras, no less honourable to them than to you, and
the best and noblest testimony that could be given of
the morals you inculcate, and of the science which en-
ables them to express themselves on the occasion.
The Bishop of Meath preached a sermon at Dublin,
on a charitable occasion, when I was present, and di-
gressed considerably in abuse of Mr Lancaster and his
system of education. The bishop afterwards wrote a
letter, recanting what he that day said, at which I could
not avoid expressing much indignation to Lady Denny,
whom I informed of the real author of the system, and
the scene of its practice. It pleases me to find the
bishop, who is really an able man, is now more truly
informed on the subject, and, I make no doubt, well
disposed to do you justice. You know, I suppose, that
the bishop renounced the errors of the Romish, and
became the champion of our, church. He was chaplain,
I think, to Lord Howe. His brother is now a priest
in West Meath.
Mr Lancaster made a visit to Dublin, and was ex-
ceedingly sought after there, and I was disposed to
feel great respect for the author of so much good to
society upon your plan, being also much disposed to
respect the inoffensive and peaceable principles of those
of his persuasion. I saw him different times at the
Duke of Bedford's, and at Lord Harrington's, and was
CORRESPONDENCE.
573
astonished and disgusted at his impudent and exceed-
ing ill-bred manners, and that he should have been
suffered to enter their doors a second time. He was
usually attended by a Turk, said to have been secre-
tary to Elfy Bey. He also was much in fashion at
Dublin; but his manners had nothing in them of the
Mussulman gentleman, nor were they different from
those of our debauchees or our mounshies.
Write to me, my dear Dr Bell, when you can, and be-
lieve me, &c.
Dr Bell to John Mackenzie, Esq.
22, Manchester Street, Manchester Square,
27th February 1808.
Dear Sir,
I hope for your excuse, if I again return with
you
to the system of the Male Asylum at Madras, by put-
ting into your hands a specimen of the first fruits of
that school. It is most pleasing to me to behold my
pupils filling the very stations which, by their educa-
tion, I had trained them for; and I cannot but contend
that there is nothing wanting, but an education (on the
principles of tuition by the scholars themselves, the
grand hinge of the Madras system) adapted to the con-
dition of the lower orders of youth in this country, and
the exigencies of this government, to produce effects
analogous to those produced in India, by an education
adapted to the condition of the youth there, and the
exigencies of that government.
574
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Your great and good friend, who sends this under
his cover, will give you some account of the late spread
and progress of the simple and unvarnished system, of
which it is its great boast, that it produced, in other
hands, its effects, not as was, and is, by some believed,
by the quackery and artifices with which it has been
decorated, but in spite of those meretricious ornaments.
I recollect, in a former letter of yours, that you enu-
merated the difficulties which were likely to attend the
only methods of remitting the Madras system to a great
distance. Of these I felt the full force at the time,
but did not then, and do not now, speak to them, well
knowing, that it is not by any arguments I can adduce,
I can hope to obviate such objections. 'Tis by acting,
and not by writing, I expect to do any thing; and the
only good answer I can make to the numerous difficul-
ties, which must present themselves to every intelligent
mind, in regard to the diffusion of the system, is, by
multiplying examples of its success. These, by means
of agents, apparently the most unqualified in every
respect, but their practical knowledge of my mode of
tuition, have multiplied so much through various parts
of England, as well as in several schools of the metro-
polis, that it were tedious to enumerate them. I am, &c.
CORRESPONDENCE.
575
S. T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell.
15th April 1808.
My dear Sir,
A concurrence of intelligence from my friends
in the North, has not only made it difficult for me
to force my mind away from dreaming about them,
but has employed me in running about after my
friends day after day; yet even this would not have
prevented my commenting (according to my judgment,
which, on such a work, is but another word for
my
feelings) on the sheets you have sent me, if I had seen
aught which appeared to me likely to diminish its
pre-
sent utility. I confess that I seem to perceive some
little of an effect produced by talking with objectors,
with men who, to a man like you, are far, far more
pernicious than avowed antagonists. Men who are
actuated by fear and perpetual suspicion of human
nature, and who regard their poor brethren as possible
highwaymen, burglarists, or Parisian revolutionists, ,
(which includes all evil in one,) and who, if God gave
them grace to know their own hearts, would find that
even the little good they are willing to assist proceeds
from fear, from a momentary variation of the balance of
probabilities, which happened to be in favour of letting
their brethren know, just enough to keep them from the
gallows. O, dear Dr Bell, you are a great man! Never,
never permit minds so inferior to your own, however
high their artificial rank may be, to induce you to pare
away an atom of what you know to be right. The sin
576
LIFE OF DR BELL.
that besets a truly good man is, that, naturally desiring
to see instantly done what he knows will be eminently
useful to his fellow beings, he sometimes will consent
to sacrifice a part, in order to realize, in a given spot,
(to construct, as the mathematicians say,) his idea in a
given diagram. But yours is for the world—for all
mankind; and all your opposers might, with as good
chance of success, stop the half-moon from becoming
full—all they can do is, a little to retard it. Pardon,
dear sir, a great liberty taken with you, but one
which my heart and sincere reverence for you impelled
---as the apostle said, Rejoice !—so I say to you, Hope !
From hope, faith, and love, all that is good, all that is
great, all lovely and “all honourable things,” proceed.
From fear, distrust, and the spirit of compromise—all
that is evil. You and Thomas Clarkson have, in addi-
tion to your material good works, given to the spiritual
world a benefaction of incalculable value. You have
both --- he in removing the evil, you in producing
good—afforded a practical proof how great things one
good man may do, who is thoroughly in earnest.
May the Almighty preserve you !
P.S.--If, in the course of a few days, you could send
me the same, or another copy of, the sheets I now send
back, they would be useful to me in composing my
lecture on the subject. Sir G. and Lady Beaumont
are very desirous to see and consult you about a school
at Dunmow. Be assured, while I have life and power,
I shall find a deep consolation in being your zealous
apostle.
I write in a great hurry, scarce knowing what I
CORRESPONDENCE.
577
write; but, before a future edition, I will play the
minute critic with you, and regard your book as a lite-
rary work for posterity.
Bishop of St David's to Dr Bell.
you, if
if you
Durham, April 23, 1808.
Dear Sir,
I have enclosed a copy of the Lord Chancellor's
decree on a very important charity, which has been
lately liberated from Chancery. I think
I think your method
of education may be applied with great advantage to
this charity. I should, therefore, be greatly obliged to
would give the subject a good deal of con-
sideration, and inform me, at your leisure, in what
manner you think we might best avail ourselves of
your improvements in education.
The schools were originally conducted by twenty
masters, who circulated through the principality of
Wales, and taught the children of so many different
parishes for three months, or six months, as the state
of the parish appeared to require. They then proceeded
to other parishes. This mode of education was in use
from 1733 to 1779, from which time the funds were in
Chancery till July 1807. The time of continuance
for the schools in the respective parishes is now at the
bishop's option. I wish, therefore, to have your opi-
nion about the time that may be necessary for a school-
master's continuance in a parish, and how his place
VOL. II.
2 o
578
LIFE OF DR BELL.
may be supplied by your method of boy ushers, and
whatever else may occur to you for the benefit of the
charity. I am, &c.
S. T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell.
April 1808.
Dear Sir,
I have been more than usually unwell; and I
trust that it will be of no material result, if I send you,
as I assuredly will do, the sheets to-morrow, or (that
being Sunday) on the day following. I have another
motive, unwell as I am. I am preparing to go out to
my honoured friends, Sir George and Lady Beaumont,
and I wish to interest them, who have so great influ-
ence on the minds of the higher classes, in this great
duty.
Dear sir, no man can either have conceived or real-
ized what you have both conceived and effected, with-
out a good heart. With far less fear, therefore, than if
I were writing to most other men, I dare tell you, and
I request you to take for granted, that, much as I
should be pleased by any diffusion of your deserved
fame, my conscience is far more interested in the spread
of your utility. I wish to make you acquainted with
Clarkson. You and he have given the sublimest proofs
I am aware of, how much good one man can effect.
Excuse the paper, for I write in bed.
CORRESPONDENCE.
579
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Durham, April 20, 1808.
Reverend and Dear Sir,
When your packet, under the good Bishop of St
David's cover, reached me, I was so unwell as not to
be able to thank you for it. Thank God, I am now
better, and avail myself, before the bishop leaves us for
Wales, of his cover, to tell
you,
that I read your enclo-
sures with much interest. The address of your late
pupils was truly affecting and gratifying to me, and
must have been still more so to yourself. The progress
your system is making affords me very sincere pleasure;
for, from the moment I first read your account of the
success of it in the Madras Asylum, and before I was
aware, to give it new interest, that it was by my old
college contemporary, I augured well of it, and wished
to see it introduced at home. When you have time to
allow you, it will be very gratifying to me to hear the
progress you are making. The Bishop of St David's
tells me, that the Bishop of Durham and you are plan-
ning an establishment on your system in Mary-le-bone
parish. I trust it will succeed to the full wishes of the
good bishop and yourself. I have read the Bishop of
London's letter to the West India proprietors, &c., and
your letter annexed; and I confess I read it with
increased pleasure, from an impression it has given me,
that
you
have been able to surmount the chief obstacle
to the success of your system in the Highlands. My
idea is, that the West India negroes and their children
understand only their native African tongue, or, at
580
LIFE OF DR BELL.
least, but a smattering of English, which is precisely
the situation of the Highlander, between his native
Gaelic and the English. Now, if you succeed in
making your system effectual in the West Indies, I can
see no difficulty in its becoming so in the Highlands.
But I may labour under some mistake on this point,
and must not allow myself to get too sanguine in my
hopes. The Bishop of St David's showed me Dr
Buchannan's most interesting account of the ancient,
unadulterated church of Malagala, which, with the
doctor's letter on the expediency of a church establish-
ment in the East Indies, gives Christian views in the
East that are highly pleasing. Some objections have
been made to Dr B.'s plan of an establishment; but it
requires such local knowledge as you have, to judge of
the force of the objections to what otherwise must be a
most desirable object. What think you of them? I
will thank you to send me, if you can do it without
trouble, a few copies of Dr Buchannan's Report of the
Church of Malagala, as I should like to send it down to
some Presbyterian friends in Scotland, whose anti-
episcopal prejudices are so strong, as nearly to lead
them into great injustice. I think the circumstances
of the Malagala church are well calculated, if not to
cure, at least to abate, such animosity, as I fear, in
some instances, is entertained against the patient and
unoffending Episcopal Church of Scotland. The fund
for some relief to this church, I am glad to see, grows,
though more slowly than I could wish. It has, how-
ever, already exceeded what, in the time, I expected,
when I joina in urging the propriety of attempting
something for the relief of so many worthy, suffering
men as the clergy of the Scotch Episcopal Church.
CORRESPONDENCE.
581
Ireland, I trust, will appear in the list; and I have
some hopes that the East Indies may lend a little aid,
for applications have been made in that quarter. I am
afraid you will be kept so busy, that I cannot hope for
the pleasure of seeing you in transitu this year. But
I must relieve you from the fatigue of reading my
scrawl.
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell.
33, Portland Place, May 5, 1808.
Dear Sir,
I shall have great satisfaction if you will allow me
to place a small token of my esteem in your posses-
sion, in the form of a seal, after a device, and with a
motto, of my choice, and having your initials. The
motto is from a line of Horace, “Recti cultus pectora
roborant.” Whether
Whether you will make this seal occasion-
ally useful, or suspend it only on your watch-chain, or
deposit it in your drawer, I shall be gratified, if it is
but acceptable to you, and retained in your possession
as a small memorial of my personal regard for you as
a friend, and my veneration for your character, as the
first author of the invaluable system of education esta-
blished by you at Madras, and transplanted, under
your auspices, into this land. I have endeavoured,
under a simple figure, to render my tribute of attach-
ment allusive to the subject which suggested it; and I
582
LIFE OF DR BELL.
address it to you with the warmest wishes of your
faithful friend.
S. T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell.
fear, you
17th May 1808.
Dear and truly honoured Sir,
I write these few lines to you for two purposes--
1st, To know when, as far as you have intelligence,
your system was first known in England; and 2dly,
To assure you that I am not so much to blame as, I
think
me,
in connecting your revered name
with that of such a wretched quack as Lancaster. For
not two hours before my lecture of Tuesday, (for which
I have been made to suffer very disproportionately to
the offence, had I been, which I cannot admit, guilty
of any,) Lancaster came to my door, with a Quaker
with whom I am somewhat acquainted. The latter
came up and asked permission to introduce Mr Lan-
caster, which I refused, and indeed satisfied the
friend's reason, that it was very improper that I should
go to an extemporaneous lecture of two hours, perhaps
fretted and agitated. He, however, repeated the me-
naces which one of Lancaster's zealots had made to me
on the Monday—“Take care of yourself; you are mis-
led by a Mr Bernard, and the rascally Bishop of Dur-
ham; but only take care of yourself, or you may suffer
for it. There is now a pamphlet in the
will show that all the merit is Mr Lancaster's; and a
press, which
CORRESPONDENCE.
583
mere trifle that of Dr—what's his name?-Bell.” These,
dear sir, were the very words, as far as I can remember
-assuredly the meaning, and very nearly the words.
Can you then wonder, my dear sir, that I was warm,
indignant, at a liar—an ignorant, vulgar, arrogant char-
latan, whom (I know) the most respectable part of
his own sect have given up as an unworthy brother?
However, dear doctor, be assured, and I solemnly
promise you, that though forced to publish my lecture
I
say, though forced to publish the substance of it-
I shall, as truth and duty dictate, hold your name
sacred, and, in short, say the truth-namely, that neither
directly nor indirectly had I ever had any the slightest
impulse from you respecting Lancaster; that the lec-
ture began wholly independent of you; and that, on
the two or three) times in which I had had the plea-
sure of meeting you, you had evidently waived all dis-
cussion on that subject, with the dignity belonging to
you. What interest can I have? I would not have
a place if it were offered me; I dare not go into orders,
though, of all other things, the character of a clergyman
would most gratify me; but I am desirous to prove
that I am a zealous subject, and a convinced and fer-
vent son of the Church of England. Do not let me
lose your esteem.
}
584
LIFE OF DR BELL.
S. T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell.
May 1808.
My dear Sir,
I thank
you
for
your
letter. Your name and cha-
racter shall be ever held sacred by me. I was assur-
edly hurried away by warmth of provoked feeling, and
was guilty of a breach of trust to the Royal Institution,
in my (the most impersonal) personality on Lancaster.
This I confess, and will confess; but that, abstracted
from the time, and the place, I said any thing false in
reason, or in fact, I cannot confess. Having read
your
work, and then reading Lancaster's publications, and
lastly, hearing that there was a pamphlet in the press,
the object of which was to depreciate you, had I never
seen you, I am quite certain that I should have done,
what I am now compelled to do. Indeed, I almost
wish I never had seen you, in order that vulgar minds
might not be able to suppose, what good minds will be
incapable of thinking, that I had been, in the slightest
degree, influenced by you.
I have been openly charged, among other things, and this
in a large company, by a man of high rank and charac-
ter, with “ base cowardice, in calumniating a man in a
place and mode, in which he could make no reply.”
This I cannot submit to. But all my reasonings will
be perfectly impersonal, and wholly deduced from pas-
sages of works in the possession of the public. Surely
I have the same right that any Monthly or Edinburgh
CORRESPONDENCE.
585
,
reviewer has, and, I trust, shall exercise it with honester
motives, and more love.
The more I think, the more do I accord, with Dau-
beny and Mrs Trimmer, (though, Heaven knows, far
enough from assenting to all their arguments or notions!)
that Lancaster's schools are a very dangerous attack on
our civil and ecclesiastical establishments, at a time
when they want all that support, which, before God
the Omniscient, I declare that, in my belief, your sys-
tem would give, beyond any plan conceivable by me.
Dear Dr Bell, it is my comfort that, independent of
me, you would have been basely attacked.
Surely it
is better that, wholly independent of you, some other
should come forward : as to any controversy between
Lancaster's and your system, in its modes and minutiæ,
I shall nakedly and coolly give the history of the dis-
covery, and then state the value of the additions to it,
and what I conceive likely to be the results final of
Lancaster's schools.
Dr Bell to the Bishop of St David's.
About 26th May 1808.
My Lord,
I have at last dispatched, in a rude shape, “ The
Madras School, or Elements of Tuition;" and have
been able to give a less distracted attention to the very
interesting “ Welsh Picty.” A grand era rises up in
586
LIFE OF DR BELL.
my mind, while I contemplate the work in which your
lordship is engaged. I see Wales emerging from the
condition in which Scotland once was, and rising to
that distinction, which it now claims for general educa-
tion.
The Madras system, which has a wonderful power
of
adaptation to every case, is, in a peculiar and prominent
degree, suited to your lordship’s purpose; and the
Principality of Wales furnishes an open and unsophis-
ticated field for its powers and energies, and for spread-
ing moral and religious instruction among all the peo-
ple. Happy people! to fall under your lordship’s
pastoral care at such an era.
The schools should, in my humble opinion, be sta-
tionary in all populous parishes and districts; and in
no cases circular, but for want of what your lordship
may conceive, a sufficient number of pupils to require
constant attention. All the schools
may
be conducted
and taught by the scholars themselves. Large schools,
of fifties, or hundreds, or thousands, may have one
steady man as master. Smaller schools may do well
under a steady youth. Two or three schoolmasters,
well instructed (which can soon be done for any
edu-
cated youth in our schools in London) in the system,
may be circular to form the new schools, and instruct
the masters and boys. I should delight in lending my
helping hand, if higher duties did not interfere; but
if I live, and be commanded, I should be most happy
to make the tour of the chief schools of Wales, when
established.
Of the attention of the parochial clergy, I have spoken
in the sketch. Your visitors may be made much good
use of, if duly instructed in the system.
CORRESPONDENCE.
587
One school begun upon may supply masters for the
rest. Young men destined for holy orders, in a hum-
ble line of life, might perhaps, as in Scotland, be
employed in teaching schools while carrying on their
own studies. This may now be done with far greater
ease than heretofore, in consequence of the task of the
master being rendered far less difficult and laborious
than heretofore.
Such are some of the measures which occur to me,
in regard to the general establishment of schools in
Wales. Your lordship may begin with one or more
schools. You may either obtain a master, or, if neces-
sary, educate one here, or take one of the boys of the
schools here, who might either instruct a tractable and
ingenuous native master; and from one good central
school many others may emanate.
But I have entered upon the last part of the task
which I had assigned to myself. I should know some-
thing of the previous measures, which your lordship has
concerted for your schools; the general plan you mean
to adopt; and the agents you mean to employ. All I
say with confidence to your lordship is, that the Madras
system will never fail, when duly administered in the
internal economy of the school; that where there is not
a steady boy who can be depended upon, and who can
maintain the discipline or authority necessary, a master
possessed of these qualities will be wanted. Of all
other points I should be advised by your lordship, to
whom I submit, with all deference, these hints. I have
the honour, &c.
588
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Dr Bell to D. P. Watts, Esq.
which you
Auckland Castle, 14th September 1808.
Dear Sir,
I am equally gratified and obliged by your letter,
which I received here, where I have chiefly, almost
solely, resided since I left town. I could not help
communicating the sentiments, so happily expressed in
your letter, to those who interest themselves most in
the welfare of the rising generation, and the diffusion
of the gospel. Abating your partialities towards him
and his doings, says a great personage, and abating
your partialities towards him and his doings, says a
lowly individual, your opinions are striking and for-
cible; and the line of proceeding to effect the objects
have in view, is chalked with precision and
accuracy. But we must not expect that the work will
go on, either as fast, or as direct, as it could be planned
out. While we do our part, time and experience, and
we humbly trust a good Providence, will
, in the
way
which is best for us, advance the work in hand. By
the bye, I have taken a new work in hand. It is to
publish hints in regard to the application of the Madras
system to classical education—I should say, its A B C,
or first rudiments. For this purpose, I want to collect,
for the sake of selecting examples, and of reference, if
need be, all the Latin rudiments, grammars, vocabu-
laries, exercises, introductions to syntax, &c. It is
merely simple, easy, initiatory books, and not beyond
these I mean to go. It occurs to me that, through your
classical friends, you may, perhaps, be able to recom-
CORRESPONDENCE,
589
mend some, ,
which may
any other
suit
my purpose, and which
might escape my notice, and even order them for me.
Among these I would especially mention the Latin
grammar used at Christ's Hospital, and any small voca-
bulary of radical words.
Το other person I should make an apology for
troubling him with such matters; but though I affix
very inferior comparative importance to this task, and
though it be only secondary magno intervallo proximus,
yet I conceive it will not be without its use, if it should
lead to a new economy of discipline in our inferior
schools. Here the work of the new schoolhouse ad-
vances; and we are busied in arranging and forming a
code of laws, &c. The venerable prelate's munificence
knows no bounds; and Mr Bernard exercises it. I
have a letter from Carlisle for a master, whom I cannot
find. I am glad to hear of Manwell's success. He will
be a treasure to you. I beg my best respects to the
good and noble lord, to Miss Watts, and Miss Taylor.
Dr Bell to D. P. Watts, Esq.
Offertory School, in haste, on the wing,
15th September 1808.
My dear Sir,
I grieve much that I have it not in my power to
obey your summons, and attend the enemy and her
friend. I should have enjoyed your quiet society in
the country exceedingly, as well as giving my assistance
590
LIFE OF DR BELL.
to your schools, &c.; but my time is expired. My
duty falls into my own hands on Tuesday next, and I
must bid farewell—a long farewell—to all my friends
of the metropolis. Among them I need not say what
a place you hold. Your seal is never out of use, when
I can get wax, which I cannot now, writing in school.
It is in the school of my right hand man, Mr Henry
Manwell of Swanage. He is an excellent youth, de-
serving of the notice of the friend of worth, and genius,
and merit.
See him and his school! It is the Offertory School,
Little Vine Street, Jermyn Street, St James's. You
will see there a school in order, in all its parts, and a
man to your mind.
Dr Bell to Mrs Trimmer.
Andover, 16th September 1808.
Dear Madam,
After all my resolutions and struggles, I was so
occupied and so detained in and about London, as not
to be able to fulfill my purpose of waiting on you. I
regret this the more, that I have much to communicate
of our progress in the north, as well as the south. A
young parishioner of mine, in whom I have the utmost
confidence, is in charge of the Offertory School of St
James's, Westminster, under the excellent Dr Andrewes,
and succeeds as I could wish. Another youth is gone,
at the instance of the Lord Primate of all Ireland and
CORRESPONDENCE.
591
Mrs Stuart, to take charge of the school at Wilson's
hospital, Ireland. A third, of the same parish, goes,
under the good Bishop of London, to set the system
afloat at Barbadoes, under an opulent and respectable
son of the church. I yesterday engaged a master for a
school at Dunmow, under Sir George Beaumont, &c.;
and, in spite of difficulties, and discouragements, and
disingenuity, perhaps necessary to stimulate our exer-
tions, and rouse us from lethargy, our success seems not
only gradual, but rapid.
In the north, I have experienced much earnest dis-
position to forward and facilitate religious education, in
the right line of the church. In these measures, our
excellent friend Dr Gray takes a considerable lead, and
follows up the true spirit of the Madras system with
equal judgment, energy, and liberality. Long I resist-
ed
every
solicitation to go beyond the metropolis and
its environs, where I thought I could be most usefully
employed, and whence the example and model must
issue into the provinces; and I did not yield to the
importunity of my friends to go thither, till I was press-
ed by Dr Gray, on the assurance of his making his
schools a mean of extending the religious education, on
its true foundation, throughout the northern counties.
On my first visit to Durham, Bishop-Wearmouth,
Bamburgh Castle, &c., I had every reason to be fully
satisfied with the step I had taken; and, when I was
prevailed upon to retrace my steps, I
was greatly de-
lighted with beholding the venerable bishop not less
earnest than you or I could be, to establish a central
school, for training up masters in the right line. I hope
and trust that I witnessed the deep foundation laid, to
establish and diffuse the system, in a style equally judi-
592
LIFE OF DR BELL.
cious, wise, and munificent, on a rock which I believe
cannot be shaken. “ Great is the truth, and it will
prevail."
Dr Bell to Alexander M Lean, Esq.
Swanage, Dorset, 25th April 1809.
Dear Sir,
I rejoice in the option you have given Mr
;
because, though I would have a full rent for my land,
yet I should be far more distressed at letting it above
what I thought its value, than below it.
With the other landlords, whom you quote, it may be
that the farms are already arranged, and their views
are different from mine; but let them do as they
please. I have long thought for myself, and shall, I
suspect, continue to do so to the end.
.
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell.
33, Portland Place, August 26, 1809.
Dear Sir,
It will be acceptable to you to hear that I have
this day been at the Whitechapel school, with a com-
CORRESPONDENCE.
593
mittee of the Marine Society, to inspect Dr Bell's
system, and judge if it can be introduced among the
boys in their ship. I should inform you, that the
Marine Society have a large ship moored at Deptford,
with a schoolmaster on board, where the poor boys,
taken from the helpless condition of inaction and
penury, are sent and harboured, until they can be
draughted into the ships of war respectively. This
seminary has one trait adverse to any systematic plan-
another auxiliary to it. The first arises from the fluc-
tuating stay of the boys, who remain a short time only,
before they are distributed among the navy, while new
recruits are as constantly coming in. Thus, suppose
a case of an ignoramus, he would scarcely have learnt
to figure in the sand before he would be sent off.
This alternate change of fresh boys from the streets,
workhouses, &c., and removal of the juvenile crew,
defeats any methodical progress, yet renders it so much
the more desirable, that boys who have so short a time
to learn, should be taught on the most expeditious
principle. The advantage, on the other hand, is, that
in aid of the master's authority, there is the captain of
the ship, mate, boatswain, &c., to enforce strict order,
discipline, and duty.
This extensive parish, or, as it were, little kingdom,
of Marylebone, is unfortunately circumstanced with
respect to its Church concerns: the whole patronage
and impropriation being claimed by one individual,
not a step can be taken towards building a church, or
chapel of the established religion, without the delay and
(I fear) discouragement of the patron. I use the word
discouragement only in the sense of legal punctilio and
private right; but how fatal these difficulties to the
VOL. II.
2 P
594
LIFE OF DR BELL.
welfare of the Church, and in so much to the State!
While the friends of the Church are kept back from
active exertion, the sectarian body, restrained by no
shackles, are pre-occupying the eligible spots of ground,
and building chapels rapidly. You will recollect the
piece of ground, on which it was proposed to build the
new school-house of the Marylebone institution. This
is now the site of a spacious chapel, finishing for the
Methodist connexion. There is an ample fund, and
the active and zealous managers do not stop for the
high price of building materials, or of labour. They
proceed promptly, and while we deliberate they act.
At length, when the discussions on our side, and the
conferences with lay patrons, seem to draw to a con-
clusion, the ground will be occupied, and there will
not be an eligible spot on which to lay a foundation.
Is this a comment on an admired and approved con-
stitution in Church and State?
A correspondent of mine writes to me from a village
in Staffordshire :-“ The school here is now filled, but
the Dissenters and other sectarians have larger schools,
and are increasing around us. Had the Society for
promoting Christian Knowledge done, forty years ago,
what these have done the last twenty years, it would
have left no vacant occasions for other actors, and
would have been a great benefit to the Church.” You
know my mind on this subject, and how much I thought
such a direction of the valuable talents and means of
the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, would
have been preferable to the India missions of German
missionaries, allowing that great good was designed
and done; yet greater would have resulted from do-
mestic patronage. This is not vain opinion, but posi-
CORRESPONDENCE.
595
tive fact, verified by the indisputable test of experience
--sad experience. However, better are schools of
sectarians than blind ignorance. If I was seriously
asked a question, whether the danger of the Establish-
ment, or at least its anxiety and anticipation of danger,
proceeded from misfortune, or from fault, I should not
be at a loss for a direct answer. I write very frankly,
and it is with equal frankness, that I offer my humble
tribute of praise to your individual energy, industry,
utility, and real patriotism; but “ one swallow makes
no summer.” I refer to generalisms.
Our country's best hope is in education in the edu-
cation of the bulk of the people, in giving them a right
bias on the side of the Established Church, and in
attachment to the State, and on the grounds of our
excellent Catechism. I will add, without fear of being
accused for flattery when it is truth, that one of the
main anchors of our national hope is Dr Bell's plan of
tuition.
I have heard so many handsome things of the vener-
able Bishop of Durham—acts of liberality done in so
honourable a manner—that I consider that respectable
prelate the most munificent person of this age.
596
LIFE OF DR BELL.
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Weymouth, October 6, 1809.
Dear Sir,
There is an encouraging passage in your letter,
which should be in the minds of those who attempt to
serve the cause of morality, especially through the me-
dium of schools, (a slow but sure medium,) to sustain
them in the patient endurance essential to such under-
takings. I will repeat it, as it cannot be repeated too
often; and it would adorn, as well as serve, the respec-
tive schools for the poor, were copies of it affixed to
the interior of each of such seminaries, especially in
that part of the room which most directly meets the
eye of the patrons or visitors :-“ While we do our
part, time and experience, and, we humbly trust, a
good Providence will, in the way which is best for us,
advance the work in hand.” For want of some such
consoling voice, the ardour of once zealous attendants
abates; or, if the quotation may be allowed, “ the love
of many waxes cold :” and from this defection all is
lost. Withdraw the visiting, inspecting, and superin-
tending, and the teachers relax; the system is para-
lysed; and the very parents, seeing the better sort of
society recede, catch some of the spirit of apathy, and
detain their children, or get indifferent in all that con-
cerns their own side; and without some co-operation
on the part of the parents, a school cannot be upheld
to any effectual purpose. In this sense, however, the
energy of a single trustee or patron is important, hap-
CORRESPONDENCE.
597
pily, for the welfare of society, which so materially
emanates from schools. The personal vigilance of one
individual may uphold the whole; and, as the great
Author of all good would have been pleased to spare
the city for the five's sake,” so may we humbly trust
(and not blindly, but upon the test of experience) that
the pauper school will be spared for the one's sake.
This sentiment cannot be expressed without leading
our reflection to Egmore, to Whitechapel, and to other
Bells and other Davises.
You will allow me to be prolix on this topic. I need
not draw your attention to the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th
verses of the 78th Psalm, but indulge me with license
to comment on the 9th verse, which does not strike me
as improved in the Liturgy, by translating the word
“ faithless” for “ rebellious," as in the Bible; but the
word which I would particularize, and which is the
same in both translations, in the 9th verse, is “ stub-
born ;” and here I would say that, if no other effect
whatever followed the education of the British and
Irish people than what the Hebrew lawgiver calculated
upon, in " teaching their children," namely, that they
should not be “a stubborn generation,” the end would
justify the means, and the product repay the expense ;
for, of an untaught natural peasant or pauper, it is too
true a remark, that “ stubborn" habits grow up, and
are inveterate. Let any farmer or manufacturer be
appealed to for the reality of this fact.
I am truly sorry to have it in my power to report to
you, that, on my first visit to this place, (Weymouth,)
upon asking a question habitual to me in my journeys,
when resting at any town or village—“ Is there any
school here for the education of the poor?
» I was
598
LIFE OF DR BELL.
answered in the negative. My surprise was great, as
there are many indigent parents, and numerous poor
illiterate children; and the more so, as there are two
Separatist chapels of distinct tenets, both of which
offer instruction to the poor children who will join
them, and the votaries of each respectively show a per-
sonal zeal in teaching poor children; while in the
Church connexion, not a single child was gratuitously
taught, or any institution formed for teaching them.
No time was lost in obtaining an interview with the
officiating minister, and conferring with him on the
subject, who expressed his concern, that there had
been no school, and his earnest wish that one should
be opened, which he would superintend: That he
knew of a proper master and mistress, but that he
knew not of any funds : That he saw no hope of
raising a subscription under the existing circumstances
of the immediate time; for that the various subscriptions
for M. C. balls, libraries, and all the addenda of water-
ing-places, occupied the purse; and there was also a
new collection just opening for an afternoon sermon at
the church, in which he was so peculiarly circumstanced
as a suitor, as to preclude a contemporary appeal. The
result has been, that the clergyman has recommended,
as a preliminary step, to open a Sunday school, and to
provide for the certain expense of this undertaking for
one year, in order to give a specimen to the inhabitants,
and the observers of the good effects of training the
lower classes of children; and that, when this fair evi-
dence shall be afforded, the force of ocular conviction
will operate on the parishioners to raise a settled day
school. This idea and advice of the officiating curate
has been adopted, and a sum has been deposited, sub-
CORRESPONDENCE.
599
ject to his discretional appropriation, to clear the charge
of a Sunday school, for the ensuing twelve months;
and as it commences about the time of commemorating
the entrance into the fiftieth year of the reign of his
Majesty, the new school is to open with fifty boys and
fifty girls. It is to be hoped that this germ of future
fruits will thrive and fructify.
Sir Charles Oakeley, Bart., late President of the Male
Asylum, Madras, to Dr Bell.
The Abbey, Shrewsbury, Dec. 2, 1809.
Dear Sir,
I congratulate you very sincerely upon the general
and high approbation given to your experiment on
education at the Male Asylum. Having myself witnessed
this trial, I can readily estimate its advantages, and shall
be happy to see the same principles of teaching adopted
in all institutions of a similar nature.
It were to be wished that this powerful engine of
instruction, recommended as it is by a fair experiment,
had been earlier and more actively employed, with a
view to the public establishments in church and state.
The education of youth in general, is an object of too
much national importance to be left to the speculative
and floating opinions of individuals. What is called a
free mode of instruction, where no particular tenets are
inculcated, seems likely to produce almost as many
opinions as there are scholars, and to give birth to the
600
LIFE OF DR BELL.
most latitudinarian principles, both in religion and
government.
When, therefore, schools are publicly advertised for
teaching a thousand children at once, by a single mas-
ter, and with very little expense beyond that of the
building itself, I conceive it high time to give to your
plan a constitutional aim; to place it under the pa-
tronage of those, who are likely to employ it for the
support of the existing establishments; and, instead of
that free mode of instruction, which is too much en-
couraged, to adhere strictly to the system of our fore-
fathers, which is calculated, not only to make good Chris-
tians, but peaceable and contented subjects to the state.
It was an original and favourite object of the Society
for promoting Christian Knowledge, to patronize cha-
rity schools for the instruction of the poor in the prin-
ciples of pure Christianity; and the laudable designs of
that society could not, perhaps, be more effectually
answered than by giving every encouragement to such
schools, for the adoption of your plan upon an extended
scale.
Some respectable persons of the clergy, and others
in this populous neighbourhood, seem well disposed to
forward these views. I shall be happy to afford them
every aid in my power; and if your observations have
supplied you with any new hints that may be service-
able, you will oblige me by communicating them. I
wish, among other things, to know, whether
remarked any particular age for the admission or dis-
charge of children, as most conducive to your object of
extending elementary instruction as widely as possible.
Lady Oakeley desires me to make her best compli-
ments to you; and we both join in good wishes for
you have
CORRESPONDENCE.
601
your health and happiness, together with a full measure
of success in all your undertakings. I am, with great
regard, &c.
Dr Bell to Mr and Mrs Marriot.
Sherburn House, Durham, 5th Dec. 1809.
My dear Friends,
Indeed I am deeply sensible of your indulgence,
as well as attention. For one thing, however, I must
chide
you. I mean for saying much of my brethren.
What can I have written to you to send such messages
to St Cross or elsewhere? Here I have an entire new
trade to learn, and, whatever my wishes or endeavours
may be, you cannot look for much success, in giving
new direction to the minds or to the hands of fifteen
brethren, whose age, at an average, is seventy-six years.
Some from infirmity of health, some from weakness of
sight, some from disinclination and habit, and some from
want of appropriate employment, can do but little bodily
work. For others, who may be more able, it is not
casy always to contrive appropriate employment; and
we must not, at any rate, set that down as done, which
is attempted : far less compare ourselves with those
who, I have no doubt, have done more, and have been
more successful, than I can hope to be. At all events
I have done nothing to boast of, or be told; and what-
ever I say on this subject of my feeble endeavours, must
not be sent to those to whom I mean to go to school.
602
LIFE OF DR BELL.
It is not, you must know, my belief, with men grown
old in habits, that any practicable change is to be made
by willing or trying it, as is the case with children in a
school; and it is by waiting opportunities, and not by
attempting too much at once, that any thing is to be
done. The very name of work, when it came from the
highest authority, struck alarm here, not long ago, as if
it were converting our hospital into a work-house. I
must not, however, leave you ignorant that I am not,
therefore, diverted from my calm and uniform measures,
as occasion occurs. Thus, I am able to find occasional
employment for a carpenter, or even two; and prepar-
ing a Christmas gift of great-coats (never before allowed
here) to my brethren, I engage a tailor here in assisting
in making them up.
A true knowledge of human nature will lead us to
expect least harmony where most is wanted. Thus, in
every village, in proportion to the fewness of the fami-
lies, there will be found a multiplicity of parties. It is
no uncommon thing to see three parties in a village of
three (otherwise) social families; and in all places,
where men are thrown closely together, and idle, they
have opportunities, which they too well cultivate, of
quarrelling. I speak this in general. I have no par-
ticular fault, on this score, to impute to my brethren;
at least I have imputed none. We are, indeed, I am
told, much better than we have been; though, you will
readily believe, not what we ought to be.
CORRESPONDENCE.
603
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell.
33, Portland Place, December 9, 1809.
Dear Sir,
While I was at Weymouth, an event occurred
which excited much alarm. A boat, with a midship-
man and two seamen in it, coming on shore from the
royal yacht, in a high wind, was overset. The
young
officer was drowned. The two men clung to the boat
to save their lives. The wind increased to a violent
storm, and the waves were fearfully raging. In this
perilous state did two boats put off from the harbour,
with five men in each, and one boat from a ship at
anchor, with four men. Such was the danger, that the
attempt was considered desperate, and the enterprize
was an heroic display of intrepidity and humanity.
The first boat going out encouraged the others; that
from the ship was the third. The first saved the two
seamen, who had clung to the sides of the upset boat,
till they could no longer retain their hold, but were just
ready to drop. They were conveyed on shore—one
speechless, the other almost dead. It was some time
before they could be restored to animation. A collec-
tion was made; and a subscription-paper opened at
the public library, to raise a sum to reward the intrepid
boatmen, who had ventured in the storm. About £50
was soon gathered and divided. A thought occurred to
me, that I would examine if these brave boatmen could
read and write, and I took some pains to ascertain the
604
LIFE OF DR BELL.
facts; and it proved that, of the five first boat's crew,
four could read and write, and, of the second crew,
three could read and write. The facts could not be
known of the third boat, the ship to which it belonged
having early sailed to Plymouth. But it is proved, by
the strong evidence of facts, that the pretext some-
times urged by the adversaries of the education of the
lower orders, that reading, &c., abates their energy,
relaxes their laborious exertions, and damps their
ardour, is wholly groundless. I was an eyewitness to
the violence of the storm, and the hazard of the ven-
ture. The boatmen were most valiant, and merited
prompt reward. They did not hesitate or stop for a
previous bargain, or assured prize, but boldly dashed off
to save the lives of the two seamen, which they effected
at the imminent risk of their own.
As another strong evidence that education does not
diminish the energies of man, especially in his best
qualities, the Forty-Second, or Highland Regiment,
which so heroically withstood the French Invincibles in
Egypt, had each man a Bible, on going out on the ex-
pedition, as I am credibly informed.
The topic of education, even in its humble walk,
is ever of considerable import. It is a great engine in
human life, and perhaps the only power, under divine
rule, which can uphold this country, through the me-
dium of morals, without which no valour nor weapons
can save it; so that the “ school” is our “ shield.”
When we enter its doors, and view the little tyros at
their “ sand”-books, imagination may figure a citadel
well garrisoned, which shall firmly stand a siege, repel
an enemy, and preserve a state. What has overwhelm-
CORRESPONDENCE.
605
ed other states in Europe - French superiority or their
own moral infirmity? The stability of a country
begins in the school.
If from the first step we ascend the ladder, it leads
to the universities, which, as great schools, might be
made more conducive to morals; but this is a reach
beyond my compass. Mere learning, as limited to
languages, may be too partially preferred, honourable
as it is.
Oxford is now in a great heat, agitated by all the
contending interests, and, in truth, in another form,
our city of London is convulsed with politics. Poor Bri-
tain with theological, and civil, and cabinet perplex-
ities, is a mine of combustibles. You are choosing
the good part,” not “ troubled about many things,
but pursuing “the one thing needful.”
Dr Bell to Sir Charles Oakeley, Bart.
Sherburn House, Durham, 14th December 1809.
Dear Sir,
It were not easy to express the gratification that I
derive from your letter, which has followed me hither,
having resigned Swanage to enable me to hold this
hospital.
Among my multitudinous correspondents on the
subject of the Christian education of the poor, I have
seldom seen the sentiments and opinions, which I have
ever entertained in common with you, so happily, so
606
LIFE OF DR BELL.
concisely, so perfectly expressed. It cannot but be the
more grateful to me, that these sentiments continue to
be felt by an original founder, an early director, and
late President of the Madras Asylum, where they were
uniformly acted upon and followed up. If it had not
been for such patronage as my endeavours experienced
at Madras, you would not have to regret the cold recep-
tion, and slow progress of the Madras experiment in
this country; for that experiment would not have
reached its maturity, (been fairly made,) when my
state of health rendered my return to Europe indis-
pensable. And I suspect it would have required a
great length of time to have matured such an experi-
ment, had the project been first entertained in an
European establishment, and under confirmed preju-
dices, if the prototype had not been before the
eyes
of
the copyist, and its success demonstrated beforehand.
Though, at the Royal Military Asylum, my early efforts
experienced every support and success, as they had
before done at Lambeth, I was glad to escape with
impunity from the Royal Naval Asylum, where I had
been sent by one of the commissioners, and, as I was
made to believe, with the authority of the board. If
this happened to a man giving his own gratuitous ser-
vices, and often those of the youths he employed and
carried with him, what must have befallen the man
who might be supposed actuated by interested con-
siderations ?
In India, the system had none but friends. In this
country, with many great and good exceptions, it owes
more to enemies. While the enemies of the church
and state act with consistency, with union, and with
effect in the use of this engine, the friends of the church
CORRESPONDENCE.
607
and state have no fixed opinion, no steady purpose, no
rallying point, no uniform principle of action; and have
chased from their banners many, who were desirous of
enlisting under them, if they had but met with the
least encouragement or countenance.
I am proud, however, to say, that I have oftener
than once flattered myself with the hope of your senti-
ments being acted upon with legislative authority.
The Archbishop of Canterbury and Mr Rose had pre-
pared bills for this purpose; but that session drew to an
end, and it was too late, and though the measure has
not been revived yet, sooner or later, from one quarter
or other, it must proceed.
There cannot be a doubt that the Society for pro-
moting Christian Knowledge have in their hands the
means of doing immeasurable benefit to the church
and state, and to the best interests of Christianity, if
they were to revert to the first principles of their insti-
tution, and to the letter of their foundation. But while
thousands of children in this country are suffering, in
every shape, for want of Christian education, are bred
in open hostility to the church and state, and are habitual
pests to society-most of whom nay, almost the whole
-might be gained and saved at a very inconsiderable
expense--what sums are lavished on the conversion,
or pretended conversion, of a few adult Indians ! I do
not mean to disparage this attempt. But I speak to
one who knows the real degree of its success. I speak
of the difficulty and uncertainty of effecting it, in any
other way than by early education, such as at the Asy-
lum of Madras, and such as the late apostolic Bishop
of London has commenced with West Indian negro
children. And I have seen many proofs of the ready
608
LIFE OF DR BELL.
and immediate success of such measures in this coun-
try, as through the government, the legislature, or even
through the Society for the promoting Christian Know-
ledge, or even, perhaps, a new society pro re nata,
which I have often wished to see established, but have
always been diverted from the proposal, by considering
the hands into which, after a while, such societies often
fall; and yet, without something more effectual and
general than is yet done, it requires no prophet to say
that the mischief will not be easily remedied. When
the enemy is in possession of the walls, we will fly to
the citadel.
When our excellent friend Dr Duffin—the most inti-
mate friend of the patriarchal Schwartz, and of Gericke,
and John-read the letters of my Indian pupils, he
wrote to me, “ You have done more to spread Christi-
anity in India than all the missionaries that ever went
there, or, if things go on as they have done, ever will
go there.” When I sent to the late Bishop of London
a report of the first opening of a school by my young
parishioner, whom he had sent to the west Indies, his
lordship was pleased to write to me, “He will be the
greatest blessing that ever crossed the Atlantic. It is
a big word to say; but he will do more good in the
Western World, than Buonaparte is doing mischief in
the European.”
Nothing will ever so effectually counteract his doings
in this country, as the early education of all our youth.
England will show a new race of labouring poor and
domestic servants, whenever appropriate means are
taken for this purpose. How easy were it for one man,
invested with authority, to raise up a new generation;
but if this cannot be done till all in power are agreed
CORRESPONDENCE.
609
on its utility and necessity, when will it be done? If
the system had been presented to his Majesty, when it
might have been, at the end of the last century, pure
and undefiled as it flowed from the Madras school, and
suitable measures had been then adopted, what a diffe-
rent scene might we now witness in the sentiments and
principles, habits and opinions of the youth of the na-
tion? And what might not yet be done, if it were set
about as it ought?
To
your enquiries, I reply, that I have scarcely any
thing to add to what is to be found in the “ Elements
of Tuition,” and the “Instructions for conducting a
School on the Madras System.” I am now engaged
in preparing “ Hints for a Grammar School, on the
Madras System.”
As to the age of initiating children into their A B C,
and instilling into the infant mind early principles and
habits at Madras, we did not think, or find, four years
of
young; but children are more forward there.
Here the same progress, without the same lenient and
effectual discipline, can scarcely be expected at five.
But beyond six or seven, the business of education
ought not to be deferred. When there is room in the
school, the expense of additional children is next to
nothing, especially if the sand-board was used, and
carried to the length to which I carried it at Madras.
And this, indeed, is what I have chiefly to add to the
instructions. For want of the skill of my trained
teachers at Madras, and of the perfect discipline of
the Asylum, I have never seen the alphabet taught in
any thing like so short a time as is really requisite for
that purpose; and scarcely any where the scholar con-
tinued at his sand-board till he can make his mono-
age too
VOL. II.
2
610
LIFE OF DR BELL.
syllables, &c. If this were done, as it ought to be
done, there would be no occasion for suspended tablets;
and all the difficulties, which so long arrest the progress
of charity scholars, and often consume the most part of
their time at school, might be overcome in a few
weeks.
As to the age of children being retained at school,
where our discipline is at all established,
you
have
such a perfect command of every mind, that a youth,
by remaining with you, is always useful. If otherwise,
get rid of him soon. The truth is, I would not limit
age, if I could help it; but if a limitation be thought
necessary, I would
say five, and not beyond twelve for
girls, and fourteen for boys, except retained as teachers,
or for future schoolmasters.
I do not forget the generous and noble exertions of
Lady Oakeley, which drew tears from Dr Anderson, in
behalf of the Asylum; nor the liberal present of books,
which, at an early period, you sent to the school, nor
the favour and kindness, which you ever showed, while
president, both to it, and its superintendent.
Mr Bouyer, prebendary of Durham, and father of
the Schools of Industry in this country, has instituted
two schools at Durham, at his sole expense, one for
boys, and another for girls, by which he means to show
that, on the Madras system, two hours a day, for three
years, will suffice for giving poor children appropriate
education in reading, writing, arithmetic, and religious
instruction; and enough is already seen to warrant the
conclusion. He is now publishing 1500 copies of a
set of books for Madras schools, of which the managers
of such schools may have any part of the impression, at
the bare expense of the printing.
CORRESPONDENCE.
611
I am under the double necessity of employing an
amanuensis : for want of time, part of this letter is
dictated at dinner, and to save my correspondents the
deciphering of my pothooks, which my friends depre-
cate.
I take
up
the
pen to beg my best respects to Lady
Oakeley, my best wishes to the family, and to assure
you, &c.
Dr Bell to Mrs Cook.
Sherburn House, January 9, 1810.
Dear Madam,
For this purpose,
One of my new duties, or rather my new duty,
requires some different contrivances from those of the
Madras school. My fifteen new pupils (in-brethren)aver-
age seventy-six years of age each; and though it is not
by pursuing exactly the same measures, yet I entertain
good hope of being able to contribute, both to their
temporal and spiritual comfort.
among others, I have fixed myself here, before I have
any accommodation or establishment at all, suited to
the master of this hospital—a preferment which has
heretofore fallen to the first dignitaries of the Church,
and which was sought after, on the late vacancy, by
the first in rank and station.
If you knew with what satisfaction I listen to all
you tell me -of St Andrews, especially of aught that
612
LIFE OF DR BELL.
regards the happiness of my hospitable and kind Mrs
and Miss M‘Cornick, you would not make an apology
for filling your sheet. I must always be interested in
the city of my nativity, though I can scarcely hope to
be able (even though entirely at liberty by my new
office) to lay out £1000 for a house, and to join my
townsmen, and fellow-Indians, on the Links of St An-
drews. I ever am, &c.
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell.
33, Portland Place, February 5, 1810.
Dear Sir,
I have the satisfaction to report to you, that I have
recently received a letter from the resident minister at
Weymouth, giving a good account of the little colony
planted there, that the progress in learning is ap-
proved, and that petitioners are applying. There were
seventy-five boys and twenty-nine girls at the parish
church last Sunday, in regular order, as belonging to
the incipient Sunday school, which is training young
minds for a day school, upon a large scale, into which,
when established, this infant undertaking may merge,
or remain isolated and separate, as circumstances pre-
scribe, or as its utility requires.
You mention your fifteen new and young pupils,
whose ages average seventy-six years, and
derate solicitude for them. Much depends on their
your consi-
CORRESPONDENCE.
613
early education-on the seed sown in seed-time. A
very strong ground of argument for schools, may be
drawn from old age--from the difference between a
cultivated and untutored grey-head—between an en-
lightened and a dark mind. To see an ancient fellow-
creature, confined to his chair or cottage by impotency
of limbs, reading the Bible, and,“ by patience and
comfort of that Holy Word,” verifying the concluding
passage of the Second Collect in Advent; or to see
another fixed in his seat with a vacant look, and, with
listless indifference or apathy, senseless to all intellec-
tual character--forms a contrast, which must stamp
conviction on the sceptic to schools, that the wisest of
mortals was not wrong when he said " Train up a
child in the way he should go, and when he is old he
will not depart from it.” It will be his very staff. In
speaking of this extensive parish of Marylebone, com-
prising not less than 65,000 souls, it cannot but inte-
rest the mind to think that the lay patron, the late
Duke of Portland, and the minister, the late Rev. Dr
Kay, both died within a short time; and although the
spiritual interests of so comprehensive a cure requires
vigilant solicitude, and could not be personally aided
by the late aged and infirm minister, who resided at
Lincoln, yet the present Duke has given the benefice
to a clergyman seventy years old-(Rev. Dr Hislop.)
These proceedings tend to weaken the staħility of the
Establishment, and to give advantage to sectarists, who
are on the alert, “ in season and out of season"--who
do what we sometimes omit.
Your former protegé, Mr Hill, called on me the
20th January. He is settled at Clapham, as a master
of a considerable school for poor children on subscrip-
614
LIFE OF DR BELL.
tion, and under the patronage of the Rev. Mr Venn
of Clapham. He showed me a cheap way of mak-
ing monosyllabic tablets, by cutting two conjunct let-
ters out of hand-bills, lottery-bills, and such printed
papers as are given away gratis, and pasting them on a
pasteboard: for example, recommendation makes
re-com-men-da-ti-on, &c. His former school in Ogle
Street, which he transferred to another person, dimi-
nishes in numbers, through the greater vigilance of a
Methodist school in the vicinity, which thrives, is well
managed, and evinces zeal and energy, while our
orthodox systems are comparatively supine and luke-
warm. They beat us by the fair dint of diligence
and earnestness.
J. C. Curwen, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Workington, February 17, 1810.
My dear Sir,
To show you we are not idle, nor the parents of
children ungrateful or insensible of the benefits of
education, I take the liberty of sending you my reply
to a number of most delightful letters. I am on the
point of establishing a second school, at a farm of
mine, two iniles from hence, where I hope to be equally
fortunate. Let me cordially and shortly thank you
for the greatest source of pleasure I enjoy, every Sun-
day, by my school visits here, and I frequently attend
them to church. The change already made is asto-
CORRESPONDENCE.
615
nishing. I have seldom less than from 160 to 200
boys, and 50 girls, who attend divine service, not
one of whom previously ever thought of such a thing.
Their progress has been very great, particularly in
figures. I have several boys, under thirteen, learning
navigation. Why should there be a sailor in Britain,
who is not able to navigate a ship to any part of the
world ? Uniting knowledge with nautical skill, will
make our brave tars still more invincible.
Dr Bell to J. C. Curwen, Esq.
:
in
Sherburn House, Durham, 12th March 1810.
My dear Sir,
Nothing can be more grateful to me than the com-
munication with which you have favoured me, of the
success of your plans for the education of the children
your neighbourhood, and of your purpose to extend
that benefit still further. Whenever measures are con-
certed and followed up, as you have done, they never
fail of producing the events which you have happily
experienced.
Go on and prosper with your
new school, and your ulterior designs. I have long
thought as you do, that every British sailor ought to be
a navigator. The mass of knowledge is the national
security and the national strength.
In the French armies it is said that every soldier is
fitted to be a general, and, in our navy, every sailor to
be an officer, and every officer to be an admiral, and why
616
LIFE OF DR BELL.
not a master and navigator ? Of our losses at sea you
can tell, better than I can, how many are owing to sheer
ignorance, one of which I experienced, and while re-
monstrating in regard to the course we held at sea, &c.,
was shipwrecked.
Most of our new schools are yet in the first stage of
infancy, and it is proper that you should know what,
in general, remains to be done to bring the English
schools to a comparison with the Madras school at Eg-
more, and to produce the effects recorded in its minute
books and official documents.
The school in Sunderland was left about nine months
ago, through the entire neglect of the late master, in
such disorder that, even after I had sent such a man as
I could find at Swanage to take charge of it, it was the
general sentiment that the Sunderland boys were
so ungovernable and refractory, that they could not be
reduced to order by the Madras method; and if I had
not been at hand, I believe the attempt would have been
given up, or entirely failed. My first step in this
emergency was to point out where the errors lay, and
to carry with me the master and monitors of the Wear-
mouth school to assist in bringing into some train the
Sunderland boys. I left the Wearmouth teachers in
the lower school, while the master and I went to the
upper. The first thing the Sunderland boys did was
to give a good drubbing to the Wearmouth boys, and
beat them off the field. Of course other measures
were to be pursued, the consequence of which is, that
the Sunderland school is, at this moment, as much
superior to the Wearmouth, as the latter heretofore was
to the former. In any class above the sand-board, the
trustees and visitors are desired to lay their hands on
CORRESPONDENCE.
617
any, or every, boy or class, and to desire them to turn
up to any page, &c., and read at any line or column
there, and then, shutting the book, to spell the hard
words; and this is done with a success approximating
to the Madras school, to the no small astonishment, as
well as delight, of the auditors who enter into the spirit
of the system. Still, however, the classes at the sand-
board are inferior, and I can scarcely any where get
the alphabet and monosyllables taught, as they ought
to be; because the masters cannot, for years, be brought
to register the progress of each class and individual, as
directed, and see the novice perfectly instructed in his
daily and hourly lessons. More time is often spent at
the sand-board, with the letters and monosyllables,
(and, after all, it is quitted far sooner than it ought to
be quitted, if we look to the progress of the scholar,)
than is required to make a good reader, with much
greater ease and satisfaction, both to the child, and if
he could be brought to do it, the master.
To ascertain the ability and attention of a master it
is an infallible rule :-Lay your hand on any scholar,
froin the first letters of his A B C, to the branches of
arithmetic, or whatever else is taught, and if there be
one, who is not master of all he has been taught, it is
not a school conducted as at Madras. There is loss
of time, as well as of dissatisfaction to the scholar, who is
never so much pleased, as when he says his lesson with
accuracy and precision. I need not tell
easy,
as well as pleasant, a matter this is. It is not you: it
is God and nature who do it for you. Every boy is
suffered, like water in an open vessel, to find his own
level; and no one page is passed over, or aught else,
till it be well mastered.
you how
618
LIFE OF DR BELL.
in town,
I shall have great pleasure in waiting on you
hearing more of your proceedings, and tendering you
my best acknowledgments for your great services in
the cause of moral and religious education, and, if I
dare presume, to offer my mite of praise to your agri-
cultural pursuits and improvements, &c.
I wish you to write, using my name if you see proper,
to William Davis, Esq., 81, Lambert Street, Goodman's
Fields, Whitechapel, and to offer to meet him any
Thursday at two o'clock (or other day, if more conve-
nient) at Gower's Walk school, and see what one man
can do, in uniting industry and letters. He will send
you his last report, if you wish it. I am, &c.
The Bishop of St David's to Dr Bell.
Abergelly, 30th June 1810.
Dcar Sir,
I have received by yesterday's post, from Mr Mar-
riot, an extract from your letter to him. My wish is to
bring about a meeting and conference between you
and
the trustees of Mrs Bevan's charity schools, who have
(I think I mentioned to you) £18,000 to employ in
promoting the education of the Welsh poor. I shall
distribute largely through my diocess, this summer,
copies of a report of Mr Davis's school, in the hope
that it will produce a good impression on the commu-
nity, and lead to some extensive and uniform measure
for the regulation of the schools. My visitation will
CORRESPONDENCE.
619
give me a good opportunity of talking with the trus-
tees; and I shall endeavour to bring them to some
arrangement, of which I will inform you, and should be
most happy, if it could be made convenient to make
your tour to Wales before the year be too far advanced.
But the whole depends on the good disposition of the
trustees, and your convenience.
If the proposed conference should take place, as I
wish, I should be happy to have you my guest here, for
as long a time as you could make it convenient to stay.
Dr Bell to the Bishop of St David's.
your lord-
Sherburn House, 6th July 1810.
My Lord,
I have the honour of your lordship’s letter, and
the most anxious solicitude to comply with
ship’s wishes. Such a field for the religious education
of the lower orders, as your lordship’s diocess presents,
with such an endowment as Mrs Bevan's for charity
schools, appear to me most desirable and interesting.
With these sentiments I cannot, however, promise that
immediate duties, and prior engagements, may not anti-
cipate the time which may be appointed for attending
your lordship, and meeting the trustees of the charity.
But it is no slight cause, or ordinary engagement,
, which
will prevent me from obeying your summons.
I take the liberty of sending a copy of a letter from
the rector of Whitechapel and trustees of the parochial
620
LIFE OF DR BELL.
schools, as illustrative of the reports of Mr Davis's
school, and of the objects of your lordship's pursuit.
I wish to send from hence to your lordship one hun-
dred copies of my late instructions, if I knew how to
convey them, or whether it were better to reserve them
for my own bringing, if the proposed meeting take
place.
The Rev. Thomas Fleming, Secretary, to General Dirom.
Buccleuch Place, 2d Oct. 1810.
Sir,
The Edinburgh Lancasterian School Society, in-
stituted for the purpose of facilitating the education of
the poor, have resolved that you should be requested
to do them the honour of filling the office of an extra-
ordinary director of the society. This resolution I am
appointed to intimate in their name, and, at the same
time, to express their earnest wish that the request
which is thus made may be favourably received.
General Dirom to the Rev. Thomas Fleming.
Charlotte Square, 4th Oct. 1810.
Sir,
I beg you will take the first opportunity to men-
tion to the Edinburgh Lancasterian School Society,
CORRESPONDENCE.
621
that I am very sensible of the honour they do me, in
desiring, by your favour of the 2d instant, that I should
fill the office of an extraordinary director of the society;
and I am also much indebted to you for the earnest
manner, in which you have the goodness to urge me to
accept of that appointment.
Be pleased to assure the society, that I should be
happy in giving any assistance in my power, in promo-
ting their laudable endeavours for facilitating the edu-
cation of the poor, but I feel a difficulty in joining the
society, under its present name, as that excellent plan
of tuition, however it may have been promoted by the
zeal and talents of Mr Lancaster, owes its origin en-
tirely to my learned and worthy friend the Reverend
Dr Andrew Bell, whose able and successful exertions I
had occasion to witness, about twenty years ago, when
he introduced that mode of discipline into the Male
Asylum, at Madras, in the East Indies.
The merits of Dr Bell have, for several years, been
fully acknowledged in England and Ireland, where he
has been solicited to take charge of considerable esta-
blishments on that plan, which are now flourishing
under his indefatigable and disinterested superinten-
dence. An account of some of these seminaries will be
found in a late publication by Sir Thomas Bernard,
that learned and liberal patron of the poor, who, whilst
he does ample justice to the acknowledged claims of
Mr Lancaster, recognizes Dr Bell as the original founder
of this admirable system, and the ablest teacher in that
line.
These circumstances have probably not been hitherto
brought under the consideration of your society, other-
wise they would have been desirous to make an inves-
622
LIFE OF DR BELL.
tigation into the rise and progress of a plan, which they
are justly so anxious to promote; and, should they find
that it owes its origin, and best support, to our worthy
countryman, Dr Bell, they will, doubtless, be disposed
to do him due honour in the designation of their
society. I have the honour, &c.
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell.
33, Portland Place, 31st January 1811.
Dear Sir,
I accidentally met with a fragment, of a sermon
preached before the University of Oxford on Act Sun-
day, July 8, 1733, on Deut. xxxii. v. 46, 47, in which
is this extract:-
“ They who object against education, as instilling
prejudices, should consider that virtue, honour, decency,
are prejudices just of the same sort. But, in truth,
God himself, not man, hath planted these preposses-
sions in the heart, and all that education does is to
favour their growth. The enemies of religion will, of
course, be enemies to those who teach it. The adver-
saries of our constitution will look ill on schools designed
for its support. More private motives will excite inju-
rious treatment of them from some persons, and even
those of better meaning may be engaged, by misinfor-
mation, to pass harsh judgments, and say unfriendly
things; but reasonable men will always distinguish by
CORRESPONDENCE.
623
what person, on what grounds, with what temper and
views, disadvantageous reports are raised.”
In my random reading, the Edinburgh Review has
come in for its share, and I meet with a review in it of
some publication, on the education of the poor, avow-
edly and partially to extol Mr Lancaster, and to give
him priority as an inventor, assuredly not to compli-
ment Dr Bell; but the spirit, the motive, and the
object of the reviewer are easily seen.
He cannot be
content with detecting a “ blunder," but he must call
it a “clerical blunder.” From this specimen, the whole
may be judged. But with such bias, there is yet some-
thing commendable in the defence of the education of
the poor, against the misanthropy of Mandeville ; and
from page 58 to 66, before the scrutiny into the origi-
nality of Dr Bell or Mr Lancaster begins, the observa-
tions on Mandeville, and other anti-educationists, are
ingenious.
With respect to the question of originality, I happen
to have the written testimony of Samuel Nicholls, mas-
ter of the school of St Botolph, Aldgate, (the first
Protestant parish school,) that he received your tract
on the 12th of March 1798, and only waited the consent
of the committee, which assembled on the 2d of April
1798, when he instantly commenced teaching in sand,
classing, and other methods pointed out in your tract,
and which have been continued, and are now in prac-
tice, under the same master. I apprehend this pre-
cedes all in England.
At Weymouth, I read in one of the newspapers, of
the death of a schoolmaster in Swabia, who had superin-
tended a seminary fifty-one years with severity. It had
been inferred, from recorded observations, that he had
624
LIFE OF DR BELI.
given 911,500 canings, 124,000 floggings, 209,000
custodies, 136,000 tips with the ruler, 10,200 boxes on
the ears, 22,700 tasks by heart, 700 stands on peas,
600 kneels on a sharp edge, 500 fool's caps, 1700
holds of rods; and this report closed with this quota-
tion from Martial :-
- Ferulæ tristes, sceptra pedagogorum, cessant."
Sir James Miller Ridley to Dr Bell.
Edinburgh, March 11, 1811.
My dear Sir
I look forward with much pleasure to a time, when
I shall be enabled to engraft a little woollen manufac-
tory on my school for instruction, at least to the length
of spinning the wool into yarn, and exporting it in that
less bulky shape than in the raw materials. Knitting
stockings and spinning hemp will also be excellent
employments for the girls: as an indulgence for good
behaviour I might, perhaps, employ the boys in assist-
ing in the cultivation of waste ground, or in any other
way which shall give them such habits as will form
them into useful and industrious members of society
hereafter. Highlanders have no idea of the value of
time, and are sadly rooted to old prejudices. Every
man is his own tailor, shoemaker, carpenter, mason,
&c. &c. My ambition, I confess, is to teach them, in
the first place, the value of time, and to give them
CORRESPONDENCE.
625
habits of industry; to remove their prejudices, and to
divide the labour. They are honest, attached, and
grateful for any the smallest services. The men under
the age of thirty, for the most part, can speak English
and read. They marry early, of course have large
families, and, I think, are very religiously inclined; só
that if, with such good materials, I do not raise an
edifice combining the utile et dulce, but of which the
utile shall preponderate, it must be my own fault.
I remain yonr obliged friend and servant.
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.
Leytonstone, 2d May 1811.
Dear Sir,
Hearing that you are expected soon in London,
in the neighbourhood of which I have been for the last
month, and where I mean to remain for at least a fort-
night more, I take the liberty of requesting to know,
whether
you have fixed on any precise time for being
there, or when you purpose to set out for London.
I wish much for the pleasure of meeting you, and
having some communication on a subject of general
interest, in which, as in all else that is fitted to benefit
and improve the rising generation, you do more than
feel.
I will thank you to favour me with any notice you
can give me of your purpose. So solicitous am I of
seeing you, that if I be (which I seldom am) my own
master, my movements may, in some measure, depend
VOL. 11.
2 R
626
LIFE OF DR BELL.
on yours. At any rate, the earliest answer you can
conveniently give me will be thankfully acknowledged.
I am, dear sir, with great respect and esteem, your
most obedient.
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Keswick, May 4, 1811.
Dear Sir,
I am this evening honoured with your letter. Ι
shall be in London the first week in June, and continue
there and at Streatham from four to five weeks. Press-
ing employment, which seems to lengthen under my
hands, and which cannot be deferred, detains me thus
late in the spring; otherwise it was my intention to
have been at this time in the south. It will grieve me,
if this unavoidable delay should deprive me of the plea-
sure of seeing you. If, however, that should unfortu-
nately be the case, any communications with which
you may favour me by letter, shall be received with the
attention which every thing coming from Dr Bell must
deserve. Few circumstances could be so gratifying to
me, as to be made in any way instrumental in further-
ing your most important plans for the improvement of
society.
The late events in Portugal have given me more joy
than I can express, from the peculiar interest I take in
every thing relating to that country, and the affection,
as it may be called, which I have acquired for the
Portuguese people, from my long and intimate ac-
CORRESPONDENCE.
627
quaintance with their history. I hope and trust that
this successful campaign has firmly established the pre-
sent ministry, and delivered us from all danger of seeing
the Greys, and the Grenvilles, and the Whitbreads in
power; from that crew, good Lord deliver us! And
then, with his blessing, we shall deliver ourselves and
the world also from this barbarian, who is labouring to
extinguish the light of liberty and of knowledge.
Believe me, my dear sir, yours with the highest
respect.
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.
Leytonstone, 17th May 1811.
Dear Sir,
Your obliging communication has determined me
to wait and watch, if I can, and as far as I can, your
movements, or rather to endeavour to shape my own
movements, so that I may fall in with you as soon as
may be. May I then request to know, whether the
day of your arrival in town is fixed, or can be nearly
fixed, or be yet contingent; how long you expect to
remain in and about town; and whether you return
thence to Keswick, to make some stay there?
I trust you will forgive my particularities, when I
tell
you,
that there is a field in my view, almost uncul-
tivated, and the due cultivation of which is of the most
general interest and importance, entirely worthy of the
time and talents of a man of letters, of philanthropy, of
high honour, of sound principles, of zeal in the cause of
628
LIFE OF DR BELL.
sure, if
his country and of mankind, and of ability equal to the
mighty task of pre-occupancy. I can apologise to you,
as the late apostolical Bishop of London did to Dr
Andrewes, when he offered him St James's church-
“ If I had known another equally possessed of the cha-
racter and genius suited to the work,” (of which I can
see the bearings, and foresee many of the consequences,)
66 I would not have mentioned it to you.”
If you have leisure and inclination—inclination I am
sure you have, if you see the subject as I see it-new
and lasting honours, I predict, await the name. Lei-
you are not engaged in some work of imme-
diate and pressing necessity, I think you will contrive
to have. A week (or two) might suffice, in the first
instance, where, I believe, most of the materials could
be found ready for your hands. But this is only the
pioneers. A task, mighty in its importance, compre-
hensive in its object, as embracing the state of educa-
tion in ancient and modern times, and its influence on
society and manners, and government and religion,
would form a pretty large volume for the literary world,
or rather reading world. A review of such a work,
composed by such an author as I think would do such
justice to the subject, would form a future article in a
review, which might interest and instruct those, who
do not read beyond reviews, and do not choose to think,
or cannot think, for themselves.
On getting our friend's address, I called at South-
ampton Buildings, and left my card, and purpose to call
when I can get to Brumpton.
I wait your reply, and beg to be excused for all the
freedom I use, and to be believed to be, my dear sir,
with true esteem, your most faithful.
CORRESPONDENCE.
629
If there be a chance of your being still a month
longer at Keswick before you get to town, be so good
as say so. If coming to town on June 1st, or the first
week in June, be so good as say where you are to be
found on your first arrival.
Dr Bell to the Rev. Dr Gray.
Leytonstone, 11th June 1811.
My dear Sir,
We are now doing much, and advancing little.
At the east end of the town much good has been done,
and is doing. At the west end, the Marylebone
school at last begins to rear its walls on high.
I preached at Quebec chapel, for the School of In-
dustry, on Sunday last. The collection was unusually
great-upwards of £70. The Bishop of Salisbury,
with whom I spent the day, was of the congregation,
and gives me a good account of their proceedings at
Salisbury. I have been pressed by more than one of
the bench to be presented. But I do not choose to run
a race with any one, in courting as a favour, what I
shall never accept but as a right. I beg, &c.
630
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.
Sherburn House, Durham, 27th August 1811.
My dear Sir,
I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of informing
you, that there are several schemes on the tapis for
spreading religious instruction through the church. In
none of them do I take a lead, or even a part, so as to
commit myself. One of them, by Mr Bouyer, I send
confidentially to you. It has been in the hands of the
prime minister, for the purpose of obtaining his autho-
rity for its circulation, under a Government cover. He
has corrected it most properly, (by altering what allud-
ed to the sanction of the Prince Regent and his royal
brothers to the Lancasterian schools,) with a view of
putting it into the hands of the prince, and of informing
him on a subject, where he thinks he had acted inad-
vertently. That, in the end, justice will be done, and
the truth prevail, I entertain little doubt.
The Bishop of Exeter, Sir Thomas Acland, &c., are
acting with great spirit in Devonshire. They have
begun with circulating among the clergy the instruc-
tions for conducting Madras schools. They are to
establish a central school in Exeter, to train masters,
and to assist throughout the country, in the formation
of schools. I am strongly importuned to go thither,
which it is very possible I may do, and very soon; but,
first, I would fain hear from you. If you will return a
single line, by return of post, it will be a guide to me.
I beg my best respects to Mrs Southey, and am, my
CORRESPONDENCE.
631
dear sir, with sincere regard and esteen, your most
faithful servant.
The enclosed is the copy printed, as corrected by Mr
Percival
Every where they represent me as a competitor with
Mr Lancaster in forming schools in this country! This
were a most unequal contest. My appropriate task is
seen in my original essay; and my claim is, of giving
birth to every school, by whomsoever formed, which is
conducted through the medium of the scholars. And
my ambition is, to see the system applied in the man-
ner which I think most conducive to the welfare of the
people, the state, and the church.
R. Southey, Esq. to Dr Bell.
Keswick, Sept. 5, 1811
My dear Sir,
On
my return home, after an absence which has
greatly, but unavoidably, exceeded its proposed length,
I find your welcome letter with its enclosure. One
from Murray has also reached me, which is to the same
purport. I have not yet got through the bustle of
unpacking and arranging my books and papers. To-
morrow, however, I gird up my loins for the contest.
The Quarterly waits for me, and I promise you ample
vengeance upon your Edinburgh enemy and calumni-
whether Scot or English borderer, makes no
ator
632
LIFE OF DR BELL.
see.
difference. I shall convict him of falsehood, and deal
with him accordingly.
Should you go into the west, there is a school at
Enmore, about eight miles from Bridgewater, and as
many
from Taunton, which it would gratify you to
It was established by the clergyman, Mr John
Poole, under the Earl of Egmont patronage, and is
under his immediate superintendence. I was affected,
as well as delighted, to see how excellently the children
profited by your invaluable discovery. Go on, my dear
sir! These are the true reforms, for which they who
understand their duty towards God and man must be
strenuous. When I think of you and of Clarkson, it
gives me a feeling of pride, beyond any other circum-
stance of my life, to think that I have the honour of
numbering among my friends, the two greatest benefac-
tors of the human race who have appeared since Mar-
tin Luther. Yours most truly, &c.
Dr Bell to the Bishop of Ely.
Sherburn House, September 7, 1811.
My Lord,
I beg leave to offer my sincere gratulations on
the success of your lordship's measures at Wisbeach,
and on your purpose of following up these measures in
your diocess.
Your lordship’s application, however, adds to the
distress I have long felt on the inability, on my part,
CORRESPONDENCE.
633
of finding masters for the schools which are established
in various quarters. My former parishioners yielded
a full crop. My present brethren are not equally
tractable and available. But even in my former sta-
tion, I was not unaware of the embarrassments and
obstacles, which must arise in regard to the diffusion
of religious education, in the principles of the Church.
This point I laboured more earnestly and anxiously,
but with less success, than any other. I have acci-
dentally laid my hands on a rough draft of a paper on
this subject, written in 1808, and presented to some
of those, whose station and influence were most likely
to give weight and effect to the proposition. With the
exception of the Barrington School, at Bishop-Aucland,
nothing to the purpose has been done; and the boys
on that foundation cannot be grown into men fast
enough to bear any proportion to the continual de-
mand: and if some means are not taken of establish-
ing, under respectable auspices and high authority, a
society for the purpose of furnishing and instructing
masters for the multiplied demands, it is easy to see
what the consequence must be. For
my
sentiments
on this head, I refer to the paper mentioned above, of
which I have taken the liberty of putting an extract
into your lordship’s hands. A central school in the
metropolis, where the Madras system of education
may appear in all its simplicity, under a society, who
may
find out, and instruct, masters in that school, is
what is most requisite in the present emergency. .
I trust I need not add how great my satisfaction
will be, if I can any how be assisting to your endea-
vours. I have long been under the necessity of recom-
mending an advertisement for masters, to those who
634
LIFE OF DR BELL.
have applied to me; and Sir Thomas Ackland has
adopted this recommendation. I shall not fail, how-
ever, to make every enquiry; and if I can discover
any person that I think would suit your purpose, you
may depend upon being informed of him. But on this
I can scarce place any reliance, having long exhausted
all my stores, and having no peculiar means but those
which the bishop and the bishop's school afford.
Robert Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Keswick, October 6, 1811.
My dear Sir,
This evening I have sent off the conclusion of a
long, and, I trust, conclusive article to the Quarterly.
Had there been time, it should have passed under your
eye; but it has occupied me much longer than I ex-
pected, because I have been very solicitous to strike as
hard a blow as possible: it is so hard, that you will
see your desire upon your enemies.
I have managed better about the passage, which has
been the occasion of so much false accusation, than the
British reviewer did; for I have admitted its inconsis-
tency, shown in what manner your very zeal for the
furtherance of your great object betrayed you into it,
and then made a thundering charge of malice and
calumny, against those who argue, from this single pas-
sage, in direct contradiction to the whole tenor of the
book.
CORRESPONDENCE.
635
Your book is gone to Cadiz. The government are
meditating upon plans for national education, and I
have sent it over, as the best and surest guide.
Believe me, my dear sir, with sincere respect.
Dr. Bell to J. Murray, Esq.
Keswick, November 6, 1811,
Dear Sir,
You must retain for me all the thirty-eight copies
of the first edition, the original experiment of 1797, or
as many as you have left. I want to bind them, and
send them to public and private libraries, throughout
the kingdom, If indeed for any particular purpose, a
copy should be wanted by a friend or foe, I would lend
or give (not sell) it, so that at least twenty-four copies
be retained for my disposal. Nothing but these origi-
nal copies--no stereotype, no fac-simile, will serve my
purpose.
It is a common mistake that great improvements are
made, or are making. The improvement (alone worth
mentioning) was in the discovery. The rest is buck-
ram and prunella—explaining its application.
636
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Mrs Williams to Dr Bell.
Priory Cottage, Old Windsor,
17th November 1811.
Sir,
Since
you
visited Cheltenham, and were so good
as to write to me, I have had the happiness of establish-
ing a charity school upon the same plan, though on an
infinitely more confined scale, for her Royal Highness
the Princess Elizabeth, at Old Windsor, which is going
on, thank God, as well, and promises to be truly useful,
if one may presume to form an opinion on so recent an
establishment, as it was founded by her royal highness
on the day of the jubilee. I am now called upon to
employ a legacy of £35 a-year, with a house of two
rooms and a garden, in the support of a boys' school,
or boys and girls' school, in the same parish; but as
the princess's school takes in a sufficient number of
girls, and the habits and morals of the bigger boys
are so excessively bad as to call for reformation, I have
been turning it in my mind to employ the legacy in a
boys' school—the number twenty. The Church of
England, of course, will be the basis of its religious
principles ; reading, writing, and arithmetic, according
to the Madras system; but I am totally inadequate to
form an idea of what, on that plan, the expenses would
be for the instruction of twenty boys, independent of
the master's salary, which is £20 a-year, house, and
garden. If you would have the goodness to give me a
little information, you would do me a very great favour.
CORRESPONDENCE.
637
1
As I am particularly anxious to have your mode of
instruction introduced into this neighbourhood, I should
hope that perhaps a man, or a man and his wife, cap-
able of the situation, might be known to you, or that
you might hear of such by the time the school is form-
ed, and might assist by recommending them. You
will, I trust, forgive me, if I trespass so much on your
time, as to give you a general outline of the plan.
I have generally observed, that in villages, where
schools are open from nine in the morning till six in
the evening, that they are of little use, as none hardly
attend but infants of four or five years old; while the
ploughboy, and other boys employed in field-work, go
on in utter ignorance; and when their labour is done,
those hours that ought to be dedicated to improvement
are spent in swearing and profaneness, on the village
green, in this place particularly. For this reason, I
should wish the hours of attendance, at what would be
called the free school, to be, in the summer, from six in
the evening till eight, or half-past eight; in the winter,
from four till five or six. Five of the senior boys to
have a small portion of land allotted to them for agri-
cultural pursuits; a premium will be given them for
the best and earliest crop produced, and the crop given
the parents. The junior boys, who have been two years
in the charity, to be taught shoemaking. Something
of industry is required by the letter of the will. A
manufactory, in a village, seldom answers. Besides, I
confess that twenty years' close observation and expe-
rience, among the poor and the middling classes, have
convinced me of what is now thought illiberality, that
it is not necessary for the comfort and happiness of
society at large, that every individual should have the
638
LIFE OF DR BELL.
same sort of education; that wherever a true genius is
found, it will make its way to eminence, seek very
little assistance, and that villages, country towns, manu-
facturing towns or cities, will require different modes
of education, and employment for their poor, which
ought to be observed, as, without it, confusion will be
the result, as there will be too many of one class, and
too few of another, to fill the different occupations in
life. Therefore, the four first rules of arithmetic only
will, in general, be taught at the Old Windsor School;
and different days assigned to writing, reading, &c.
There is a Sunday school and a day school; but those
this institution is not to interfere with, as that would
create opposition.
You will excuse, I trust, this long detail, and have
the goodness, perhaps, to favour me with an early
answer, as my stay is now only till the 28th or 29th.
After that I shall be at Williamstrip Park, Fairford,
Gloucestershire.
Allow me again to apologise for this intrusion, and
believe me, &c.
D. P. Watts to G. W. Marriot, Esy.
33, Portland Place, November 23, 1811.
Dear Sir,
No lodgings, &c., yet hired-all to be done.
On my asking Dr Bell what rent he would be
CORRESPONDENCE.
639
!
inclined to pay, his answer ism“Don't ask me—give
what you please."
On my saying—“ Doctor, I would have you fix a
maximum and minimum-say, from £100 to £120, or
£120 to £150, or, if you please, £8 to £100,” his
reply is—“ I leave it to you.”
Here is a trait of character, as you well observed in
.
your letter
General Floyd to Dr Bell.
Cork, 24th November 1811.
My dear Dr Bell,
I have not, for this many a day, been so agreeably
surprised, as with seeing your well-known handwriting
from Keswick, Sth November, and the contents of your
letter gave me great satisfaction.
I knew nothing of the Mastership of Sherburn hos-
pital, which had been presented to you; but truly rejoice
that it was so, in the hope of its being, not only an hon-
ourable testimony of merit, but that it is also both
agree-
able and convenient.
Your return to a connexion with the army is of great
consequence to that large body, and very satisfactory to
me;. for I have the same zeal for the military, and for
military matters, that I have always had, notwithstand-
ing my seniority in his majesty's service is about to lay
me on the shelf, for the rest of my life. You are to
understand by this, that the next promotion of lieu-
640
LIFE OF DR BELL.
tenant-general to be general, will remove me from the
staff, and leave me to moulder at my leisure. I do not
like the thoughts of losing my occupation, in which I
have been diligently employed upwards of fifty-one
years.
I look
upon
it
you will find it necessary to assemble
all the schoolmaster sergeants, for the necessary in-
struction, in the mode of education you propose to
employ; the foundation of which, I take for granted,
will be the same simple, excellent, and economical plan
you established at Madras, and which cannot be too
much admired and followed; and which, notwithstand-
ing your jokes about my own plans in field education,
is purely and originally yours. If, with the rudiments
of learning, you could lay a foundation of morals in the
army, you would, indeed, to use the French phrase,
“ Deserve well of the country.”
I perceive your object would be to instruct young
soldiers, and older soldiers' children, in reading, writing,
arithmetic, and drawing lines in forms of returns. Per-
haps a small collection of national war-songs might be
recited, copied, learned by heart, and give a little dash
of enthusiasm, without which nobody becomes great in
his line. Upon recollection, I find that sergeants and
corporals, as well as young soldiers, did, in the 19th
dragoons, learn enough of the rudiments to make out
returns very fairly; but it is very hardy in me to
attempt to tell
what
may be done. My old friend
and patron, the late General Elliot, never would allow
that any thing was impossible; and you have shown
that very extraordinary things may be performed, by a
judicious plan of education.
I am very glad to hear there is a National Society
you
CORRESPONDENCE,
641
formed for the Education of the Poor, under the patro-
nage of the Prince Regent, and headed by the most
respectable prelates. Would it were possible to form
a plan for preventing schisms in the church! I think
the members of the Anglican Church are falling off
fast, and that the body of the people is breaking into
innumerable sects. I never shall forget the answer of
one of our primates to a body of clergy, who brought
him an address, complaining of the increase of sectarian
and itinerant preachers, asking his advice what they
should do. “ Gentlemen,” said the revered man,
“ outpreach them--outlive them !” There is, in fact,
no other way. The moment the hand of power inter-
feres in matters of opinion and speculation, opposition
and fury succeed.
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.
33, Portland Place, 24th November 1811.
My dear Friend,
On Sunday last I dined with your friends at
Streatham-all well—and such as your friends should
be. I have not yet been able to see Mr Coleridge, nor
to attend his lectures, for which I have a ticket for
my-
self and a lady. It is delightful to me to be able to tell
you that all goes on to admiration. I found the mili-
tary, in the expressive language of their orator, “ more
impatient for me than I was for them.” To-morrow
2 s
VOL, II.
642
LIFE OF DR BELL.
we have a grand meeting at dinner, at the adjutant-
general's, when all will be arranged.
The civil service does not, from the very nature of
the thing, proceed with equal velocity; and some of
our noblest and best friends are exceedingly impatient,
and even distrustful. But, for my own part, having
had a peep behind the curtain, and having been clo-
seted with his grace the archbishop two hours, on
Tuesday, I really do not conceive there has been any
unnecessary delay. True, you, and even I, could have
pointed out how the delicacies and etiquette of the
president and vice-presidents might have been main-
tained towards the supreme powers; and the committee,
mostly composed of our best and most earnest friends,
have been put into activity, in regard to the primary
and immediate wants, both as to masters and schools,
&c. But though this be the way that humble people
(like you and me) go to work, yet great men and
courtiers must be intrenched in forms and ceremonies.
The Prince Regent must again be applied to for his
subscription; and till it is granted, (£200 or guineas,)
they cannot go to the Duke of York, and not, till his
answer, to the rest of the royal brothers. All this is
now done, and a favourable answer, as far as answer
has yet been given, is received. The rest is waited
for. And having confined the vice-presidents of the
nobility to so few in number, there is a serious delicacy
and difficulty about the last.
It is thought advisable to have all these delicate
matters arranged, and not to meet, or to publish, till
the royal names and noble (presidencies) be full,
and all may appear in due form, and in their proper
places.
CORRESPONDENCE.
643
I desired Murray to obtain for me Fox, and to send
it to you. He made a mistake; but it is enough, it is
gone, and I have rectified his mistake.
I read just—“ It matters not whence it came, and
such frivolities,” &c. What! matters it not which of
the minds conceived it, and which falsified and adul-
terated it? What! matters it not to know the train
of thoughts, and the course of proceeding, which led to
it? and which may guide to future discoveries and
improvements ?
The two universities have subscribed £500 each.
The amount (and it is only begun) is £8000, and
£800 per annum.
I am impatient to hear of you, the ladies, the twins,
and Herbert, of whom, as well as the rest, I had so
much to say, as well as to hear, on Sunday.
The Review has done its work. Murray says he
will publish 6000 or 7000 copies of the new work.
He is in raptures with Gower's Walk School, which
he and his friends saw for the first time lately; and
declares that you can have no conception how com-
plete and perfect it is. I tell him your powers of
conception are not like his and mine, or those of other
people.
Ever most affectionately your friend.
644
LIFE OF DR BELL.
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Keswick, November 29, 1811.
My dear Sir,
Idle forms and endless procrastinations seem to
be the curse of our nation in all its concerns, from the
most momentous war down to the pettiest lawsuit.
However, these great people have set their hands and
ideas to the work, and that is of great importance.
Under their countenance, there will be no lack of those
who will set their shoulders to it. Murray sent me a
large packet soon after your departure. Among other
things, it contained the choicest specimen of Dragon
spawn, which has yet come in my way—“The British
System.” Here I found the knight of the rod, and
some choice new invented punishments, more Lan-
castriano, which will not a little enrich the list of that
worthy's inventions. Murray has not sent me the
Bishop of London's letter, nor Mrs Trimmer's book,
which I much wish to see, having a vehement sus-
picion that some parts of it have been misrepresented.
My main care is to make every thing as clear as
possible: it is but to arrange the facts in their right
order, and place them in their true point of view, and
the conclusion necessarily follows.
There is a letter of Gilbert Wakefield's in the last
Monthly Magazine, (published, as it appears, for the
first time,) in which he recommends the same philo-
CORRESPONDENCE.
645
sophical plan for a dictionary as that which you have
conceived.
S. T. Coleridge, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Mr Pople's, 67, Chancery Lane, Holborn,
30th November 1811.
My dear Sir,
The room I lecture in is very comfortable, and of
a grave academic appearance; the company highly
respectable, though (unluckily) rather scanty ; but the
entrance, which is under a short passage from Fetter
Lane, some thirty doors or more from Fleet Street, is
disagreeable even to foot-comers, and far more so to
carriages, from the narrowness and bendings of the
lane. This, and in truth the very name of Fetter
Lane, renowned exclusively for pork and sausages,
have told against me; and I pay an exorbitant price
in proportion to the receipts. I should doubtless feel
myself honoured by your attendance on some one
night; but such is your distance, and such is the
weather, that I scarce dare wish it, much less ask or
expect it.
I wrote a long letter to you concerning the sophis-
tications of your system at present
in
vogue,
the inevi-
table consequences on the whole mass of moral feelings,
even of the dissenters themselves, and the courage, as
well as fortitude, required for the effort to do one's
646
LIFE OF DR BELL,
A
duty. But I asked myself why I should give you pain,
and destroyed it. Yet come what will
Yet come what will come, the sub-
ject shall be treated fully, intrepidly, and by close
deduction from settled first principles, in the first
volume of the recommencing Friend, which I hope to
bring out early in the spring, on a quarterly or four-
monthly plan, in partnership with a publisher, who is
personally my friend; and who will take on himself all
the business, and leave me exclusively occupied in the
composition. Even to this day I have not received
nearly one-half of the subscriptions for the former
numbers, and am expiating the error by all sorts of
perplexities and embarrassments. A man who has
nothing better than prudence is fit for no world to
come; and he who does not-possess it in full activity,
is as unfit for the present world. What then shall we
say? Have both prudence and the moral sense, bu
subordinate the former to the latter; and so possess
the flexibility and address of the serpent to glide
through the brakes and jungles of this life, with the
wings of the dove to carry us upward to a better?
May the Almighty bless and preserve you, my dear
sir! With most unfeigned love and honour, I remain-
and till I lose all sense of my better being, of the veiled
immortal within me, ever must remain--your obliged
and grateful friend.
CORRESPONDENCE.
647
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.
33, Portland Place, 14th December 1811.
My dear Friend,
On my arrival, I got for a lady and myself a ticket
to our friend's lectures. I soon went to Hammersmith
to see him; but found only Mrs Morgan's sister, whom
I claimed as an acquaintance. I next attended a lec-
ture, and took my friend Mrs Marriot with me. I
then engaged him to breakfast with my friend here
next morning. He is in good health and good spirits
_his lectures well attended, and himself punctual; so
that there may be no apprehension on the mind of a
certain very good lady, as to disappointing his audience.
The Morgans, I believe, are most attentive, kind, and
indulgent; and he is deeply sensible of their kindness,
attention, and indulgence. They accompany him to
town and to his lectures. His
purpose is to go home
when the lectures are finished.
I have not had an hour's leisure since my arrival,
even to get into lodgings; but I certainly shall
Monday to No. 30, York Buildings, which is to be my
future address. What a scene of bustle I have been in,
and am in! How gladly (were not duty and con-
science concerned) would I fly from it, and to you,
and
recommence my sweet lectures to the twins !
This day I have finished the military instructions.
There was an objection, in one quarter, to the military
assimilation carried so far, and great alterations are
made, founded on my printed instructions. In the
go on
648
LIFE OF DR BELL.
greatest hurry, I ever am, my dear sir, your most affec-
tionate friend.
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.
80, York-buildings, Baker Street,
26th December 1811.
Now, my good and dear friend, I am going to ask a
proof of your friendship and confidence, and give you
the best I can give you of mine. Since my arrival here, I
have had an occasion of seeing wonderful changes. The
battle which Dr Marsh began, and you ended, (for so
all think,) has been so completely successful, that every
one thinks the thing so completely done that nothing
remains to be done, except only myself
, who thinks that
a just explanation of the system is yet due. But then
I do most readily confess, that every day has brought
me over more and more to the opinion of all our friends,
without exception, that there is real and extreme danger
in mixing any thing more than the attic salt, which you
know so well how to administer, with our righteous
We feel we have lost something by Dr H.
Marsh's impolitic attack on the Bible Society, in a let-
ter to the senate of Cambridge. The substance of this
letter had been written in his sermon, but having luckily
mentioned the fact to G. W. Marriot, he was able,
though he had never seen him before, to influence him
to expunge it; but the doctor, delighting in controversy,
must have it out. The letter was immediately answered
cause.
CORRESPONDENCE.
649
by Mr Vansittart, though no one has been hardy enough
to bring his name in competition with the hardy doc-
tor, on the other ground: yet if ever our Edinburgh
friends do so, they will begin with the British Bible, and
FAIRLY, as usually, argue and infer to the Dragon.
Every body feels that he has done for himself, that his
lectures have done what nothing but his letters could
have done, and nothing could have so effectually con-
summated as his speech at Dublin, (see Times of yes-
terday.) But to ourselves, to whom I do not mean to
apply the case of our friend, the noble doctor:–I confess
that I am become an entire, complete, and thorough
convert to the doctrines of all your friends and all
my
friends; and I have even gone so far as to make a confi-
dant of my friend M-LL
-L- on this subject, because
he was not likely to be influenced by the vortex. The
unvarying opinion of one and all is, that we stand now
on ground, which requires no offensive measures; that
we may add works of defence, but we have no occasion
for offensive weapons. My own opinion is, that we
stand so very high, that we shall have a difficulty of
maintaining the ground we hold. The universal opin-
ion is, that we should enjoy our victory with modera-
tion and thankfulness, and not lose many whom we
have gained, by retaliating, however justly and truly,
on our enemies. The time was when it might have
been of the utmost benefit so to have drawn the public
mind to our righteous cause. That time is past, and
new duties are imposed on us. You may imagine the
battles I have fought, the struggles I have made, the
obstinacy I have displayed, before I could be brought to
think and write so. You must be here to feel it as I
do. Mixing any great degree of acrimony and severity
1
650
LIFE OF DR BELL.
of expression, however just and merited, will, I do
believe, and all believe, do us harm, and cannot now
do us good. The allegations are so false, scandalous,
and base, that an able, perspicuous, and ornate state-
ment of facts (such as yours always are) will gain all
the unprejudiced, and offend and hurt none whom we
ought to care about. The book should be a text-book
of the system—its defence and elucidation in the least
offensive and most conciliatory style. Just what you
write when your friends here draw out the sting. But
they are all as anxious as you can be, to have the full
force of all your arrows, and slings, and stings, concen-
trated—but removed from the Review, or any thing
connected with the Review, which they feel it will
injure—and from the new system, now so triumphant
and victorious, that nothing remains to be done but to
guard against provoking the enemy, or giving him any
ground on which to renew the attack. What you have
projected is much wished for. There all you may leave
out in your present work will come in with advantage,
and will not, like Dr Marsh's address to the senate,
hurt your former essay, but support and confirm it,
without any of that danger which is foreseen in the other
mode. We look to the countenance which
may be given
to it at all hands, and from all quarters, and that there
may be as little as possible of party in it. You see in
what a hurry and confusion I write. I have for some
time contemplated this letter, but at length my mind is
so entirely made up, that I should forego a sacred duty
of friendship if I delayed it one day longer. I know
not that I shall in the least convince you, or shake your
resolution, which I shall respect, whatever it be, as I
know the principles and motives which weigh with you,
CORRESPONDENCE.
651
in all you do; and I think that you will impute all I
have written, or rather attempted to write, (having
left
you to find out what I meant to express-from
what I have no time to express,) to the real motives
which weigh with me; and that you will excuse your
friend, though you should not agree with him.
I hear that Bel and the Dragon is, in the print-shops,
intended to be complimentary, and that I have a large
wig, and that there are no spectacles or resemblance.
I have no time to look out for it, and nobody has
brought it to me.
Your book of the church and of the constitution are
most desirable, and would be now in time for our mili-
tary, as well as civil schools. I wish I dare put them
down among our books. They will get you universal
fame.
Do not, I pray you, delay these books. Their
sale will surpass all example. Leave out as much as
you can of stings and personalities to our enemies in
our statement of defence. Reserve them all and many
more for another place, where they will do infinite
good.
The last proofs of the general orders and the instruc-
tions are gone to press, and will please you much, and
give universal satisfaction.
.
652
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Robert Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Keswick, December 27, 1811.
My dear Sir,
To put in all the matter of which I was in pos-
session was impossible, without making meya Bißasov,
and in that case, you know what would have been the
consequence. But unless I deceive myself the detec-
tion is complete in all its parts; and the gross false-
hoods and misrepresentations, which I have exposed,
are sufficient, not merely to justify, but to require the
bitter sarcasms, which they have occasionally provoked.
Nevertheless you know I am not obstinate; and wher-
ever you think it advisable to soften any thing, it is but
to say so, and I am ready to do what may be thought
most convenient.
Upon the sight of Fox's Martyrs I felt myself, in
some degree, pledged to the work, concerning which I
talked with
you
and the Bishop of Meath. Murray is
now in possession of the plan, and if he encourages me,
I shall think of setting seriously to work, and of accom-
panying it with another work, upon a corresponding
plan, designed in like manner to show the progressive
melioration of our civil institutions. The one would be
the book of the church, the other the book of the con-
stitution. Were they executed according to my second
sight of them, and put into the hands of the rising
generation, the one would serve as a vaccination against
Papal and Puritanical, the other against political dis-
content.
CORRESPONDENCE.
653
A society has been formed at Bristol, in consequence,
as it appears, of my article upon the Evangelical sects,
for the purpose of circulating extracts from the homi-
lies and the writings of the Reformers, and tracts of
church history. I am afraid that the homilies and the
writings of the Reformers had better be left for the
learned. The feelings of the people must be addressed,
as well as their understandings. A society is not, in
fact, required for this purpose. They should begin with
the rising generation. Little is to be done with those
whose habits are already formed; yet one is glad to
see that the dry bones are shaken.
So the Dragon is in Ireland, and the devil of vanity
could never have tempted him to commit a more egre-
gious absurdity than what the Times of this evening
records. The king a friend to Catholic emancipation,
and this a secret which was known to nobody but
Joseph Lancaster!
I give you joy most heartily of your metropolitan
proceedings. The seed which has so long been sown
is now springing up, and God grant you long life, that
you may rejoice in the increase !
Robert Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Keswick, December 30, 1811.
My dear Sir,
A letter of mine, which crossed yours upon the
road, will have shown you that, however disposed I
654
LIFE OF DR BELL.
might be to inflict upon our enemies as severe a chas-
tisement as they deserve, I was, nevertheless, ready to
conform to the advice, or even inclination of others.
Do not give me any credit for this. The fact is, that
though, whenever I write, it is with all my heart,
and with all my strength, I write too much and
too variously to have any overweaning affection for
what is written, especially in a case like this, where the
object is, that the essay should do its work, not that I
should gratify myself by any display of superiority.
The question itself gave me that. You are right in
your views and feelings; and I will pick out all which
might counteract those views, as carefully as Jack did
the embroidery from his father's coat.
They may have new falsehoods to advance, but can
have no new arguments, and their irritation will only
act as an emollient upon me, and teach me, by example,
the great importance of appearing perfectly cool. As
for the question itself, it is settled. The Dragon is now
in the same state as the old serpent at Wantley-when
Moore of Moore-Hall had given him the last fatal kick.
His after-dinner speech at Dublin has completely ex-
posed him. This was in vino veritas—any thing rather
than veritas.
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Keswick, January 31, 1812.
My dear Sir,
I have received all your memoranda and correc-
tions, and duly attended to them; following them, I
CORRESPONDENCE.
655
1
believe, without any exception. The passage which
you now point out, where the Dragon confesses that
the sand has all the advantages of the slate, is intro-
duced somewhere; and, unless I am mistaken, in one
of the sheets already printed. However, sure I am
that it is pointed out and placed in its proper light.
The last address of the boys delighted me greatly.
It came to hand after the sheet in which it might have
been introduced, had been corrected; and I am not
sure that it will not have more effect by being placed
in an appendix—as having arrived while the work was
in the press--because it will there call the reader's
attention a second time to a point on which it is very
desirable to impress him as much as possible.
My name had better not appear. I know experi-
mentally, as well as by observation, that anonymous
writings have tenfold the effect which they would have
if they were avowed publicly by the writer, except in
cases where the writer has a name, which, from party
circumstances, will give currency to any thing.
I am very anxious to have the book published before
the tide of public interest slacks, which it must very
soon do. The writer in the Philanthropist has writ-
ten exactly as I could wish mine enemy to write. He
shall have a note in the appendix, in which I shall
answer him very mildly; remind him that his quarrel
lies more with Hooker and with Warburton than with
me; and exhort him to confute the ecclesiastical polity
and the alliance: when he has done that, I am at his
service for the contest.
656
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.
London, March 10, 1812.
My dear Friend,
I write to acknowledge your favour—(as to the
dedication, it may be as well that it be on a level with
all else written by the author: the first draft has lain
by some days)—and under great anxiety, which I
am in haste to express, in regard to your decisive opin-
ion as to church-going. In what I say, I have no
other view but to render your book useful, and not
obnoxious to any party or set of opinions. Whichever
side you take in a question so questionable, you will
give great offence to the other side, and create a jea-
lousy of all else you write. I am free to confess, that
I think we should draw the children to church by
cords of love, and not drag them by chains of iron.
But in this opinion I differ from many of the wisest
and best men. Now, all the rest of your composition
appears to me so liberal and popular, that I should be
grieved to see any decisive opinion which may be con-
troverted and made use of to cry down the book. How
was I grieved to read Dr Marsh's pamphlet against
the Bible Society! I immediately saw how it would be
made a handle of, and that it would be mixed
another question, towards which it had no alliance, but
stood in opposition.
I write to give you those opinions which you may
not hear at other hands; but would no further desire
to influence your choice, than I think it connected
with the circulation, usefulness, and general popularity
up with
CORRESPONDENCE.
657
of the book among all descriptions of good Churchmen.
You see I do not, as with Dr Marsh, controvert your
opinion. Far from it; only I would have no appear-
ance of what will be called low (or even high) Church
from your pen, which might in any degree detract from
its great utility.
You have, in all else, settled all that can be disputed,
so as no dispute can remain ; but on this point, what-
ever side or opinion (if decisive) you take, it will, I
fear, draw upon you and your work the discountenance
of many of our best friends. My respects and love to
old and
young.
Ever.
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Keswick, March 13, 1812.
My dear Sir,
I cannot think that the manner in which I have
expressed myself upon church-going, can give offence
to any person. A letter from my friend, Charles W.
Wynn, happened to arrive the same day with the
proof. He spoke of this test, as if he supposed that I
favoured it. It had never entered into my thoughts,
that such a test was to be insisted on, except at schools,
where the children are lodged, and where, of course,
as they cannot attend worship with their parents, they
must go with their schoolmaster. And I was anxious
not to be misunderstood, and to show that while I
stood up as resolutely as Herbert Marsh himself could
do, for the rights and duties of the Church, I desired
VOL. II.
2 T
658
LIFE OF DR BELL
nothing more than it was her indispensable duty to
exact, and her undoubted right to require. I have
carefully (as I thought) guarded against giving offence,
by making the distinction between day-schools and
boarding-schools. High or low Church are no more
to me than Whig or Tory, or the Shanavists and
Caravats of the wild Irish; and if there be any per-
sons who can be offended at such an opinion so ex-
pressed, and in such a place, why I am sorry for them. .
The passage occurs just where I have been repeating
the arguments of others to show that the parents cannot
give religious instruction, and adding others of my own
to show that it is not the business of the clergyman ;
but (for the children of the lower classes) that it must
be the business of the schoolmaster.
The cry which will be raised against the book is
that of intolerance and illiberality, and this you will
But I have, all my life long, been careless what
accusations might be brought against me for speaking
as I thought right. It will be too late to remedy the
error, if error it be, which I trust it is not. The sub-
sequent sheets will have been struck off, and if the
leaf were to be cancelled, it would be necessary to
supply precisely the same quantity of matter as that
which should be expunged. How difficult this is, it
must be needless to remark. Besides, I should rather
incur the disapprobation of such persons as are capable
of disapproving the expression of such an opinion, than
be suspected of agreeing with them. My own opinions
lean so strongly towards what it is the fashion to call
intolerance, that it especially behoves me to take care,
that there be no shadow of a reasonable charge on that
head.
see.
CORRESPONDENCE.
659
+
I congratulate you most truly upon the opening of
the Preparatory School. You have now the reward of
your long labours in sight. God grant that the go-
vernment may do their duty, and establish the system
upon a secure and permanent foundation ! for I cannot
conceal from myself, that what we see doing on the
part of the heads of the Church, has been forced upon
them, and that they are doing that from fear of the
enemy, which they would never have done for love of
the system. An establishment of parochial schools
would be the best outwork of the Church; and, God
knows, it needs all the defence that can be given it!
Never was there such a monstrous coalition as is now
formed against it. Calvinists and Arminians, Soci-
nians, Quakers, Papists, and Unbelievers, all acting in
concert for her overthrow. I can do her good service
against all her enemies, except the most dangerous of
all-her intemperate friends.
Young and old join in the kindest remembrance.
God bless you, my dear sir! Yours very truly, and
with unfeigned respect.
R. Southey, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Keswick, March 23, 1812.
My dear Sir,
You misunderstood me in supposing that what
was said in my last, was designed as a universal and
660
LIFE OF DR BELL.
unqualified censure. Collective bodies must be spoken
of collectively. Their general character must be taken
from the conduct of the majority, be the virtues of in-
dividuals what they may; and thus I meant only to
say that the heads of the Church have done their duty
at last, not because they have been persuaded to it by
you, but because they have been frightened and shamed
into it by the Dragon. Your bishop and a few others
have been zealous and sincere well-doers; and their
good deeds have sprung from that principle which gives
them their value. As for certain other persons, we
must be thankful for what they do, and bless God for
the harvest, however unworthy the hands may be,
which have sown some of the seed.
John Mackenzie, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Durham, April 1, 1812.
Dear Doctor,
From various causes, I have been prevented from
answering your kind letter sooner.
It gave me very
great satisfaction to learn that the school system goes
on so prosperously, and I considered it as a great mark
of your regard, that amidst the multiplicity of objects
at present demanding your attention, you should have
thought of poor Ralph Hutchinson, in whom you knew
that I was interested. The encouragement you hold
out is certainly very great, and, with a different person
and in different circumstances, would be very desirable.
CORRESPONDENCE.
661
}
In Ralph's case, however, I am afraid it would not prove
so; for, from an awkwardness of manner, and strong
Durham dialect and accent, I fear that he would not
thrive on transplantation, while an old mother, wholly
dependent on him, would considerably add to the diffi-
culties of the case. He has been for some time attending
the new school, under instruction from Messrs Veitch and
Hope; so that I am persuaded that, were a situation
opening in this diocess, he would now be fit to do the
duties of it, and there would be no difficulty in pro-
curing all necessary attestation to his character and
abilities. I know not how it is in the South, but in
the North there seems a schism appearing, likely to
retard, if not entirely to prevent, success. The dis-
pensing with the children's attending church, which it
is believed the managers have dispensed with, is gene-
rally, considered as destructive of one great object of
the institution, viz., breeding them members of the
Church, or even securing them in steady moral and
religious habits; for there is no reason to expect gene-
rally, that parents of the poor children intended to be
educated at the national schools, will carry their chil-
dren to any place of public worship, when, in fact, the
literary knowledge communicated will only make the
unprincipled a more wicked person and dangerous sub-
ject. Should the compelling of the children to attend
church diminish the number sent to school, still we are
gainers by having this diminished number bred in sound
principles, while the whole are in danger, by giving
church attendance up, of being unprincipled. I have
myself no fear, after your system has fairly got into ge-
neral action, and the merits of it seen, that the attendance
at church would be a bar to children of even Dissenters
662
LIFE OF DR BELL,
1
joining school. I am almost disposed to envy you
the
pleasurable sensations which the continued gratitude of
your Indian pupils must give you.
The month of March has been a severe winter with
You know I keep close to my fireside ; so. the
Winter, in his rudest efforts, affects me but little.
us.
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell.
33, Portland Place, June 25, 1812.
Dear Sir,
There are two material observations which I wish
to make; and, having made them, to submit them to
your better judgment
One is, to attend to your health, which indicates a
want of rest, of retirement, and of recruited strength.
The very air of town—the unremitted labours, both
mental and personal—the zealous application which
redoubles those labours-the momentous nature of the
great work—all tend to wear the coroporeal machine,
without whose co-operation the energies of mind prey
on their auxiliary instrument, “so fearfully and won-
derfully are we made.”
You know how to prescribe for yourself. If you are
inclined to go with me into the country to-morrow, and
stay four days in Surrey, I will undertake that you
shall have all that is set down in the following inven-
tory:
CORRESPONDENCE.
663
1
Pure air ; simple dict; quiet chamber; liberty; early
hours; solitude and society ad libitum ; riding; walk-
ing; good nursing; ease; and, though“ last not least,”
a commodious seat in the country church on Sunday.
The next observation also is of high and interesting
moment, not to you only as Dr Bell, but to our country,
and the rising race of our succeeding fellow-subjects.
The National Society does not, indeed, languish–I trust
it never will—but does it sufficiently live in the daily
and hourly notice of the public at large, except to its
immediate and meritorious executive. Who has read
or heard of it for some days past? The common en-
quiry of the conversable circles begins to be, “ What
are the National Society doing? Have you read any
thing recently of their proceedings, of their numbers,
of their collections ?"
There is an economy in the expense of printing,
which is a species of prodigality, because it loses more
than it gains.
Amidst the multiplicity of institutions and objects
crowding on the public attention, and, with its natural
consequence, a degree of dissipation or division of that
attention, there is danger of the retiring, unobtruding
cause, resting on its own merits, however real and
great
these merits, faring the fate of that trite adage, “ Out
of sight, out of mind.”
Can
you,
dear sir, by your persuasion, propose that a
reiterated report in the daily papers should be fre-
quently revived, and that sermons and collections for
the funds of the National Society should be recom-
mended, in all the churches and chapels of the Esta-
blishment throughout England and Wales, shall I say,
664
LIFE OF DR BELL.
annually? Not so much for the pecuniary aids, which,
however, are essential means for the effectuating the
great national object—for it has visibly been the ap-
pointment of Providence to decree human means as
instrumentalities—but more especially for the impor-
tant national good, which would result from the exhor-
tations from the pulpit in behalf of education, and of
the poor objects of it; a subject which is become hap-
pily a popular favourite in these times, and should be
impressed by occasional stamps, in order to perpetuate
it. It were to be wished that the great design of the
National Society was to be urged from the respective
preachers of the National Establishment, as an inva-
riable annual appeal, perhaps appropriately, on the
Sunday next following the date of its origin.
I am aware that I should apologise for suggestions,
which must be comparatively old to your own earlier
conceptions—your active mind being ever awake to all
that interests the religious and useful instruction of the
people. I am, &c.
William Davis, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Leytonstone, 23d August 1812.
My dear Friend,
I have now before me a most interesting statis-
tical report of the middling and lower classes of chil-
dren, in the parish of Whitechapel, made by desire of
CORRESPONDENCE.
665
Mr Hodgson and myself, upon which something impor-
tant must be founded.
It
appears
there
are, in the poorer streets and dis-
tricts of the parish, 6403 children, of which 3923 are
under seven years of age, and 2480 above.
There are several little schools, called Dame's Schools,
which are attended by about 400 children. The White-
chapel and Gower's Walk receive 400, and there are
two or three Sunday schools, (dissenters,) making
about 190; so that, it is evident, there are full 1500
children above seven years old, who probably receive
no education; and if, as I believe, most of those attend-
ing the Dame's Schools are from five to seven, the
number will be considerably larger.
The accommodation of places of worship for the
parents of these poor children, as well as for the parish
at large, is lamentable. The parish contains 28,000
inhabitants; the church holds about 2500: of that
number not more than 200 or 300 poor persons could
possibly be seated. There are six meeting-houses, con-
taining (calculated by actual attendance) together
about 2000 persons.
The books with these statements were only given
me yesterday, and they fill my mind with the urgent
necessity of forming some establishment immediately.
If a school-room can be made or hired to hold 1000
children—if a clergyman is appointed the master--if
the bishop will license the school, why cannot their
parents attend with them to hear divine service on Sun-
days? Thereby a part of the difficulty will be over-
come, and an example be set for similar institutions in
this and other parishes, where a poor and uninstructed
population prevails
666
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Mr Andrew Hunter to George Dempster, Esq.
Letham, 4th September 1812.
Respected Sir,
Peggy is against the chaplainship. A man, when
married, is no longer his own master. I comply with
the fashion of the world, and decline it, preferring the
Church of Scotland to that of England. Your friend
Dr Bell has a very coarse hand of write, to have gained
so much fame as schoolmaster; but his epistolary style
is beautiful and easy, and thereby very much resembles
your own.
I am, respected sir, your much obliged and most
obedient, humble servant.
D. P. Watts, Esq., to Dr Bell.
33, Portland Place, September 5, 1812.
Dear Sir,
Having read an extraordinary letter in the Morn-
ing Post of yesterday, which cannot but give you some
uneasiness, should you see it, which, from some quarter
or other, will find its way to you, I take the few minutes
of a very busy day to offer this frank opinion to you
namely, that it may, in the end, be more for your men-
tal
personal health, not to enter the lists of
literary controversy.
peace and
CORRESPONDENCE.
667
But this, as well as any opinion of mine, I only offer
as tributary to your own final judgment, to which I
submit it in the event.
The style of the letter so published, and so strangely
expressed, will perhaps, in the result, be its own refu-
tation, in such respects as affect yourself. The prin-
cipal edge of its severity is not against an individual,
but against many individuals-against a great body
who are able to defend their order and the establish-
ment—not that the goodly order of the establishment
has been faultless, or that a venerable society, known
and respected by us both, and which may, in one sense,
be said to represent the establishment and the order,
has been without fault, as you and myself have seen;
but when I look into myself, and survey my own
numerous errors, I can excuse the errors of others.
Had, however, that venerable society, some twenty
years ago, suspended, if but for an interval, their
foreign correspondencies, and have bent the full force
of their zeal, attention, and abilities to their own pro-
fessed “ first and principal method;” or had they che-
rished the humble warning once obtruded on them;
or had they instantly and ardently adopted you and
your system, on your arrival in this kingdom, much of
the inconvenience now felt, and of the alarm now dread-
ed, might have been averted and prevented.
This, my dear sir, is a serious consideration : it is, as
it were, losing, by procrastination, what might have
been saved by promptitude ; and at the last hour, when
the peril is at the very threshold, to begin to act on the
defensive. I think much, and could say much, on the
momentous subject which engages, or rather engrosses,
so much of the present conversation of the public at
668
LIFE OF DR BELL.
large—viz., “education of the poor.” Only refer to
the earlier reports of the Sunday school society, and see
in what condition their missionaries report multitudes
of the poor children, in various districts of this island;
and this at an era, when there existed a respectable
society, whose primary rule enjoined “the encour-
aging and promoting the erection of charity schools in
all parts of the kingdom.” I am aware of the defence,
which
may be urged on the terms “ encourage and pro-
mote ;” and I am prepared and disposed to acknow-
ledge, with due deference, the degree to which the
society carried into effect, this their “first and principal
object.” I use the word degree, because it is not
necessary to argue it in words, when an appeal can be
made to facts. Look at the Sunday school lists, at the
sectarian seminaries, and at the itinerary of the most
active teachers of this age, who among other strong
observations, has asserted in the face of the public
repeatedly at open lectures, that he found the poor
children of one of the university towns, less docile, less
cultivated, less apt than at one of the sea-ports, where
he should, from the local habits of the lower classes,
have expected to have found them the furthest removed
from docility and aptitude.
My dear sir, the whole argument lies in two words,
and they are indifference and lethargy. I write only
for your own eye. What have I heard of one of
your
favourite schools, where the public might expect from
its site, as well as its once promising aspect, that it
would be the very exemplar and model of others ?—that
it has no patronage, no encouragement, that it is relax-
ing. The indifference and lethargy alluded to are not
single in their effects, they act in a twofold ratio:
CORRESPONDENCE.
669
They do not solely paralyse existing institutions, but
they invite assailants. May it be allowed to compare
great with small ? Let a trader indolently leave his
trade to its own course.
He has a name, a capital,
established connexions, he sleeps at his post and sup-
poses
all is well; but he will find his interest gradually
wane, and rivals set up in opposition to him. The
one grows out of the other. Who can read the
expos-
tulation to the Church of Sardis," and Laodicea, and
not be mournfully impressed with a train of reflections ?
I do not indulge my pen in the path of censure for
any pleasure in it: on the contrary, it is painful at
every step.
Among the many adversaries of the interests of the
church, it is to be feared some leading agriculturalists
are found, who conceive they are actuated by prudential
motives. Perhaps, with the common prejudices of
mankind, they resent the controversies on tithes, which
sadly cut asunder the ties of pastor and parishioners,
though in a legal sense the question bears one aspect,
in a moral, and much more in a religious sense, an-
other; but this is a sore place.
I repeat my counsel respectfully, submitting it to your
superior verdict, that it will be more conducive to your
health and happiness to be passive in controversy, and
active (as you ever will be) in the culture of the
young
minds, and to leave to your friends and advocates your
pure cause.
“ Magna est veritas et prævalebit.”
670
LIFE OF DR BELL.
George Dempster, Esq., to Dr Bell.
Dunnichen, Forfar, April 14, 1813.
My dear Doctor,
I was duly favoured with your letter some time
ago. Carey prefers teaching a school in Arbroath.
As to your plea, it is desperate, and doomed never to
end while a shilling of the subject of it remains uncon-
sumed. You may try all the agents in Edinburgh, and
be only the further from your purpose. Since a suit
of my own and yours have engaged my attention, and
prompted my enquiries, I have discovered a circum-
stance which I now communicate to you, and not in
confidence. The whole fraternity of agents, those in
the bailie's town courts, the sheriff's .county courts,
the admiralty and commissary courts, the two courts
of session, the court of exchequer in Scotland, the
court of appeal from them all in England, where in-
decision personified presides—all, all are now incor-
porated in one great fraternity. They have a common
seal; and their motto is procrastination. They copy
the rules of the foxhunters. A cause is their
chase is their sport. Covers are formed to protect the
animal, and prolong the sport. Worrying at starting
is penal. They give the game law in both senses of
the word. They glory in the length of the chase, but
seldom insert its duration in the newspapers. Here
the metaphor ends. They regularly inform their client,
they hope next session the cause will make an impor-
tant step. They submit patiently to have the blame
thrown on their shoulders, and retaliate by throwing it
off their own backs on the adverse agents shoulders;
game. The
CORRESPONDENCE.
671
and, O God have mercy on the poor client! He re-
minds me of a pool in summer. Evaporation imper-
ceptibly dries him up. Let the constant copies for your
scholars be-law is a bottomless pit.
Beware of it.
I offer you no more of my advice. Accept my pity,
and bestow on me your compassion. Let clients into
our litany; besides, all people travelling by land or
water, for women labouring with child, all sick persons,
have a chance for delivery and recovery. Let us clients
have a we beseech thee to hear us by ourselves. I have
now written myself blind. If you can read my letter
it is more than its writer can do. I hope you may
read that I remain, affectionately yours.
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon.
Ryde, Isle of Wight, July 12, 1813.
My Lord,
It were almost as difficult a task for me to express
my sense of all your lordship has done for the good of
those around you, for the good cause, and for the good
of your country, and eventually of the human race, as
it would be for your lordship to be ungrateful to a man
for whom you have done so ably, and so successfully,
so much of what is dearest to his heart, and to his feel-
ings.
For all your letters, and more especially if one can
672
LIFE OF DR BELL.
select where all are so exceedingly delightful, for your
prize letter, I am filled with gratitude and admiration;
and for your gracious condescension in communicating
to me what is so delightfully encouraging to me in my
pursuits, I am at once oppressed and humbled, and ex-
alted and proud; oppressed and humbled toward you,
exalted and proud to myself.
Yesterday I preached here; and could not help allud-
ing to our gallant commanders, by land and sea, (on the
continent of Europe and the American seas.) In my
humble opinion, your lordship is doing more for your
country, than ever was done by any battle fought and
won. The dreadful evils of military domination correct
themselves. The evils of our manufactures, of increased
luxury, but especially of profligacy among the lower
orders, know no other cure than that which your lord-
ship has stood foremost in applying.
My second report to my master, F. Iremonger, will
have reached you before this letter. You did not start
so early as he did. You have not the same professional
calls as we have; but you yield to none of us in grace,
in good works, and in knowledge; and in influence and
power, you can, and do, leave all of us behind.
When our nobles shall in general copy the example
which
you have set, (and which will be handed down
to remote posterity, with my cock-boat accompanying
the man of war,) what a country will this be !-what
a start shall we have of the rest of the world where
shall genuine religion and industry so prevail ?
I am most proud to hear that Lady Hanmer, with
all her ability, power, and influence, is not behind her
son and daughter in zeal and enthusiasm. What a
CORRESPONDENCE.
673
country shall I revisit, 1st September, if possible! All
the children taught of God and of his Christ! What a
blessing to Wales !
Mr Johnson came into church from Portsmouth,
after I had begun my sermon. I am setting out for
Newport, where I expect to give up in despair of the
present, if I do not rouse some one or other. Here I
am most successful. I attend Lady Spencer at school
on my return. It is unhappily Portsmouth fair, and
therefore I do not go thither to spend some days; but
am to visit the schools from hence, and to set out west-
ward, after my charity sermons there and at Portsca,
next Sunday.
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon.
Exmouth, 2d August 1813.
My Lord,
Every day increases the prodigious sum of the
obligations of the Madras discovery and its author, to
their noble patron and friend. Nothing can rejoice
me more than your lordship’s condescension in visiting
the schools. I know no other person whom I can so
entirely rely on, for his complete knowledge, for his
zeal and enthusiasm, and for the cause of his earnest-
ness—a just and comprehensive view of the subject
and its consequences; and still more for the influence
which all these, as well as rank and character, give
him. Nor must I forget that honesty, which is so rare
VOL. II.
2 U
674
LIFE OF DR BELL.
a quality, as well as that boldness and independence of
mind and spirit. It is extremely grateful, as well as
flattering to me, that your lordship should condescend
to this good work. I would, I do assure you, much
rather that your lordship visited a school than I did, as
to the good I expect to result from such visits. My
lord knows, I trust, that I never flatter on this subject,
nor will le suspect me in any other. I do not pretend
to say that something, which my experience and intimate
acquaintance with this only subject have taught me,
may not have escaped you; but I do not know that
you have overlooked any thing. When I am visiting,
a wild and inordinate enthusiasm, violent prejudice,
&c., may be imputed to me, and may detract from all I
do and say. Not so with you. I promise to obey you,
not only in letter and in spirit, in regard to the ladies,
who so graciously permit me to attend on them. I add
no reasons to those so well put by your lordship,
though I could add several and many All I
it shall be done, when it can be done; and that it
shall be the pride of my heart to obey these your com-
mands.
But I am turned a perfect idler, having rode out
one morning to look at Dawlish and Teignmouth,
and going this day with my General to look and dine
at Sidmouth. What shall I come to if I go on so? ....
say is,
CORRESPONDENCE.
675
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon.
Leeds, 17th September 1813.
My good Lord,
Tell George Marriot, teach George Marriot, when
he laughs at the want of memory where the mind and
the heart have no concern, that, when they are inter-
ested, feeling, or, if he will, sentiment, supplies the
place of memory. It was no marvellous matter for a
man to see Mrs
and see her perform no one act
(though, no doubt, equal to have performed many)
which could distinguish her from the herd of women,
and forget that he had seen her; but to have seen the
Misses Parke, and see them every day and hour en-
gaged in offices which marked character, and distin-
guished them as the chosen of the earth, and to have
forgotten them, would have augured want of sense-
not of memory only—I mean to forget them, not their
names, which were forgotten. Does he see the differ-
ence, and learn to discriminate between memory and
mind, or heart ? Well, then, take it another way.
Does any one of common sense ever forget my niece,
or her husband, who has once seen them? Memory
is one thing, heart another, sense a third. Happy the
man who, like his friend and him, possesses all three
inestimable gifts. If we cannot all have all, let those
be thankful who have a heart to feel the worth of their
friends, and sense to estimate it; for such will not for-
get them, whatever else they may forget. Why, then,
676
LIFE OF DR BELL.
is my niece my niece? Foolish man, did he never
know this before?
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon.
My Lord,
I had no sooner dispatched my last scrawl than I
recollected the ambiguity of my mode of expressing
myself, in regard to the Emperor of Russia and Paris ;
but I cannot regret my error, since it produced a letter
replete with such sentiments and observations, as no
one, to whom it could have been addressed, could feel
more, if so much, as myself. Assenting, as I most
heartily do, to one and all of them, it behoves me to
explain my erroneous expressions, and to bring forth a
sense reconcilable to these declarations. What I did
intend to have said was, that if these emperors went on
at the rate they have heretofore done, and nothing
seems to hinder them, that military prowess would dis-
play such a brilliant lustre as would dazzle our weak
eyes for a while, and throw our doings into the shade;
and that nobody (except your lordship) would be able
to keep pace with my elevation of the latter above the
former. Not looking beyond the immediate consequences
of the one and the other, no comparison will be ad-
mitted; and my advertisement will have to hide its
diminished head. My opinion, my sentiments, and
even my language, will not indeed vary or differ; but
2
CORRESPONDENCE.
677
the impressions I may make, and the sympathy of those
whom I address, may be greatly weakened. This, if
it be now intelligible, is what I would have said—that
the imperial standard would raise its head so high as to
overshadow our infant plant.
The Bishop of London is, at the very least, as gra-
cious as was Dr Howley, and is earnest to take up,
when the arrears and press of business will admit, the
West Indian plan of his former predecessor, suspecting,
as he does, that of late the design must have not ad-
vanced much.
Given at Kennington, this second day of December,
1813, two ladies talking all the while.
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon.
A
10th January 1814.
(This moment from Wandsworth.)
Accept, my lord, my best thanks for
your favour
from Manchester. I trust that you left the Peel young
ladies well by your silence. What has happened in
Manchester often happens, whoever models a school.
But Grover, who excels so much, and who has laid the
society under great obligations, and who improves upon
himself daily, acts by personal authority and individual
exertion, more than by general principles. The one
falls off with the occasion, much more readily than the
687
LIFE OF DR BELL.
other. He does by slow steps and unnecessary cir-
cumlocutions, what might be taught almost at once,
and by a single example in arithmetic, and by a prin-
ciple which has no limits, which is a perpetual guide,
and which it is next to impossible to forget; and so
with other steps. Still he is the most valuable man
we had, or perhaps have. Now, however, I am re-
joiced to tell your lordship we have gotten a superior
and seemingly excellent set of (young) men.
And I
trust we shall come on far better than ever.
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon.
London, 26th January 1814.
My good and dear Lord,
Our examination is over. The Duke of York
attended. It has done Mr Johnson's school much
good.
I grieve about Manchester. I want to consult
deeply with your lordship.
The giving up of the beginnings and endings, (super-
seded by continued lessons,) has done all I expected
and predicted. It is to be carried further. To-morrow
the alterations of tasks recommended in the instructions,
and little practised, is to be begun. With those schools
and masters who come on badly, it would ensure a good
deal being done, if the letters and monosyllables were
taught as the digits and ciphering. Something must
CORRESPONDENCE.
679
be done with, and for, our bad schools. While the self
tuition—the imitation—the emulation—the perfect in-
struction—the short, easy, perfect, (and continued)
lessons are duly seen to, there is the Madras system.
If any step (not included in these) be found difficult,
simplify it. You gain, and do not lose.
Grover is a champion; but I should like to follow
him with the principle.
I thank your lordship for the enclosed letters, which
find me from correspondents who otherwise could not
tell where I was to be found, east, west, north, or
south.
Dr Bell to Robert Southey, Esq.
London, 1814.
My dear Friend,
I am this moment harassed by my occupations,
as well as distractions, more than ever. I enclose a
specimen of my most satisfactory employments, next to
the central school, which now exhibits a beautiful
spe-
cimen of the new system, almost, if not altogether, such
as I would have it. I want only such an institution
as the Foundling Hospital at Dublin, where the chil-
dren are our own, within our walls, and able to give
constant attendance, &c.: uninterrupted and undis-
turbed by all that is foreign to ourselves. But of those
680
LIFE OF DR BELL.
who visit Baldwin's gardens, few will believe that more
can be done than is already exhibited there.
At the last levee, the first that has taken place since
my book was ready, the archbishop presented it and
me; and having now presented it myself to the Duke
of York, it is ready to be circulated by me ; for, as to
any other circulation, I count not upon it. My hetero-
geneous composition does not suit the public taste;
and in the fashionable world instruction is not sought
for, but amusement. I send the earliest copies to you
and Miss Wordsworth.
Whether I go to Ireland, to the Continent, or
whithersoever I go, I shall grieve if my annual visit to
my twins, my god-daughter, my young, as well as my
old friends at Keswick be interrupted.
I fear that even your Origin, in spite of all that is
done individually by giving it, has not the circulation
it would have if it were known; but how to make it
generally known, as it ought to be, is the question. The
last copy I gave, was to the grand duchess, who has
been with us at Baldwin's gardens. I have been com-
manded to wait on her, and have had long interviews.
She is the most inquisitive and intelligent person I have
All her enquiries are directed to objects of real
utility and interest.
seen.
CORRESPONDENCE.
681
Dr Bell to the Rev. William Johnson.
up. All
Ryde, 28th July 1814.
Dear Sir,
I am much indebted to you for the gratification
which I have derived from your very able letter, in par-
ticular for your distinct and apposite observations in
regard to Sowerby, which I shall not fail to treasure
you tell me (except the scarlet fever and the
fire) in regard to the school, is pleasing. Your visita-
tions appear to me well arranged, and fitted to do as
much good as such visitations can do; and though I am
well pleased that you are to be so usefully and profitably
employed, yet I consider as a drop in the bucket what
you can thus do, in comparison with the most interest-
ing, eventful, and Christian duty which you have in
hand at the Central School. Your services elsewhere,
be they as great as they may, I would count as nothing,
yea infinitely less than nothing, if they at all interfered
with your primary, essential, and indispensable duties.
I am happy, on your account, that, on this point, you
are now agreed with me; for you may depend upon it,
that let all the world tell you otherwise, all the world
will tell you wrong, and that the only way whereby any
man (almost) can render himself respectable, as well
as useful, is by a faithful discharge of his first and pro-
fessional duties; and that no other occupation can
atone, in any degree, for the neglect of these, as long
as a man is charged with them.
682
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Dr Bell to the Rev. W. Johnson and Mrs Rogers.
Ryde, August 8, 1814.
My dear Sir and Madam,
This letter will be handed to you by the lady
(Mrs Rothman) who, ten years ago, was a parishioner
of mine at Swanage, and of whose family I have had
the honour to be one, during my long stay at Ryde.
Add to this, that she talks of taking up her residence
in Switzerland for a short time, and is most desirous
that my young friends, whom I leave to recommend
themselves, should leave traces behind them of their
short stay on the Continent, by laying the foundation
of the new system of education in the place of their
abode. With this view they are anxious to attend the
central school, and acquire an experimental knowledge
of the mode of teaching practised there, in all its .
branches. I should do you injustice if I were to add
a word more to interest you, as I am interested in my
young friends, and to recommend them to your pecu-
liar attention and assistance in the very important
work, in which they propose to honour us with their
co-operation—a co-operation from which I expect the
most interesting and beneficial results.
I am, dear sir and madam,
Your most faithful friend.
CORRESPONDENCE,
683
1
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon.
Commercial Buildings, Dublin,
26th August, 1814.
My dear Lord,
The Bishop of Derry arrived this day, and was
immediately with me for two hours. You will have
seen by his letter to me, that he is not a little in ear-
nest. He is every thing I could wish. In a few days
we shall have digested something: and I need not say
that your lordship shall be the first to hear, as you
always do, of what is passing or passes. You delight
me by your account of, and attention to, the Liverpool
Blue-coat School. If I had not thought your lordship
understood me better than you seem to do, I should
not have curtly written--as I remember, or think I re-
member, though I remember nothing else that I did
“it is out of the question.” Must I then interpret to
your lordship, as I would to any other man? Must I
say that it is out of the question for a man, whose mind
is so distracted as mine, to pretend to think of the
wants of others, and who have, and who have not,
knowledge of the books, &c. &c. &c. But that I
could not have thought that such a school was without
what they wanted, and would be of use to them, I would
not have slept till I had taken measures, &c.; but to
enter upon such correspondence, run the hazards, and
take the consequences, were to abandon my A B C for
something else, however connected with it.
« Cetera
carent."
684
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Now of Bamford (prematurely) for your lordship.
He is at work at the Hibernian School, with full autho-
rity. This is not premature; nor that Sowerby ar-
rived two days ago, and is at the Hibernian and
the Hospital for his own improvement. He goes with,
or without, Bamford to Wilson's Hospital, if nothing
require his assistance here, in a few days. Bamford
goes also thither, if he can, and when he can. I go
when I can, and if I can, (probably middle of next
week, when the Bishop of Derry leaves Dublin,) to
Ardbraccan House, the Bishop of Meath's, near Navan,
Westmeath. Thence with the bishop to Wilson's, &c.,
and thence, and thence, and thence, I know not whi-
ther. All is covered with uncertainty, and all I know
is, that I shall act for the best, according to the best
of my judgment, as circumstances require, and things
turn out. Of my own future course, if it interest my
lord and my lady, I shall not miss them, if I can help
it, in returning, as I did in coming. If I could have
divined beforehand, and without going to enquire, when
I had not a moment for going or enquiring, where Hoy-
lake was, I should at least have seen the lady, and the
children in my way hither.
Next (as to the spread of the system) Liverpool, and
the Blue-coat School, Liverpool, if I can have my own
way there. Think only, my lord, that I recollect, and
your lordship never mentions my Taylor, the Taylor,
the élève of the Blue-coat Hospital, the triennial trea-
surer, who was willing to pay the expense of sending
a master to town, or getting one from town. We
want no lady (so little does your lordship know me)
at the Blue-coat Hospital. All a lady could carry
CORRESPONDENCE.
685
there is there already—the spirit of a lady. Your lord-
slip must know that we can depend upon the ladies
doing as they are bidden, and feeling as well as under-
standing what is right. They were not at Grammar-
Schools and at Universities (I will not write to explain
this, if your lordship will not understand and approve)
to contract prejudices. We want not a lady at the
Blue-coat, nor at Dr Carey's; but where else do we
not? (need I except, always except your lordship’s
schools ?) Really, my lord, you must not, during my
involuntary length of absence, forget to understand, and
to interpret me. Your account of Miss Anne Parke
(good girl) delights me much. I do long to see her,
with her renovated looks, such as I first saw her, before
I uglified her. On purpose to write to your lordship,
to whom only I write, even though your lordship does
not or will not understand what I write, I dine with
Duke Humphrey to-day, otherwise I could not even
write to you, to whom I never fail to write, when any
thing certain occurs. To tell all our plans would be
as tiresome as unprofitable. Suffice that we are at
work, and what can be done will be done.
To return to Bamford. I know not well how to
proceed. If, &c.—if, &c.—if, &c.—then I should like
to have him at Liverpool and at Manchester with me,
if it would not be vain to attempt the latter without
more time than I can give it; but, above all, I would
have him at Bishop-Auckland. What (will your lord-
ship be so good as find out and tell me) will the National
Society say to this ? For I must follow their course, not
my own, though I may think my own not unworthy.
I have not told you that, if I had known the very
.
686
LIFE OF DR BELL.
day your lordship was first to have been at Liverpool,
returning from Peel, that I should have perhaps been
there also, so that you see I think one man as neces-
sary to me as any one lady.
Now as to when and where, I trust your lordship
sees that I cannot tell more than I have told. I shall
meet the primate on his triennial visitation, next week.
Whether I go to Armagh, to Belfast, &c. &c. &c., will
depend on my seeing an imperious call, a most impe-
rious call with good prospects of success.
I am suffering every day for having left Ryde six
weeks, or at least a month, sooner than I ought for my
health, and comfort, and progress. But if all the good
is done here which a first attempt, and a summer visit,
admits, I must not regret what is left undone as to my-
self.
How is, I pray you always tell me, how is my niece?
I had almost gone to see her, and should, perhaps, if
she had been at a place accessible to me.
William Disney is a counsellor—a judge of nine
courts, and a Davis. Lady Hariott is goodness itself.
She, her daughters, and family, will attend the Hiber-
nian. She is a superior woman in mind and heart.
Here is the letter-press of a dozen letters. So I am
now far in advance. Letters, Post-Office, Dublin,
will follow me. When shall I have another such din-
ner, and, even if such, another two hours for a let-
ter and tea?
I thank
you
for
every thing you do and write, and
especially for the Blue-coat, Liverpool. The Brandreths
now and always were your lordship’s and not mine, and
not even next to your lordship’s, but G. W. M's.
CORRESPONDENCE.
687
The Parkes I still hope you have left me some interest
in, and not taken entirely and solely to yourself. Even
them I give up, if they should find out or believe what
I believe, and say that your lordship knows the mad
instructions better than, my lord, your lordship’s most
affectionate and devoted.
The Rev. Dr Walmsley to Dr Bell.
Clifford's Inn, September 3, 1814.
My dear Sir,
Agreeably to your directions, I lost no time in
hunting out Dr Spurzheim, and was so fortunate as to
find him almost immediately. He has been at our
school several times, and has brought there Monsieur
Cuvier, brother to the president of the National Insti-
tution at Paris, the Austrian ambassador and his lady,
&c., all of whom expressed themselves in terms of high
admiration. Dr Spurzheim has promised to use his
utmost endeavours (and, I have no doubt, with suc-
cess) to have your admirable system introduced into
Paris. He has already written to some persons of
consequence for that purpose. I am happy to inform
you, that we are in beautiful order in Baldwin's Gar-
dens. I must do Johnson the justice to mention, that
he sticks very close to his post. I rejoice most sin-
cerely to hear, that you are doing well in Ireland; and
I look forward with confident hopes, that the poor
688
LIFE OF DR BELL.
people of that country will, through your benevolent
exertions, experience that emancipation from ignorance
under which they now labour.
I have received a letter from a female, who calls
herself a younger sister of Mrs Siddons, offering her
services in the Madras system, which, she understands,
is about to be introduced into France, and for which,
from her perfect knowledge of the French language,
she deems herself not inadequately qualified. The
letter is well written; and I intend to make enquiries
about her.
Dr Bell to Mr James Wilmont.
Lord Sunderlin's, Westmeath,
September 10, 1814.
My dear Wilmont,
This letter will be delivered to you by our fellow
parishioners of Swanage, and our fellow parishioners
in the Madras vineyard, Mrs Rothman and her daugh-
ter and friends. They have been following up the
studies which they commenced at Swanage, at the
central school, under Mr Johnson and Mrs Rogers,
and purpose to complete their Madras education under
Mr Wilmont and Mrs Graham, to whom
you
will
pre-
sent them in due form.
If I have not already interested you in their behalf,
I know I shall do so when I inform you that their
CORRESPONDENCE.
689
motive in going through all this discipline is solely to
“ do good.” They purpose, with this view, to visit
the Continent early—missionaries of the new system
of education, which they intend to plant and propagate,
wherever they shall find the best field for its cultivation
and dissemination. I need not tell you that I am not
a little interested in their success, as well as in them-
selves, and that you must display your utmost urbanity on
this important occasion, and send them forth from your
seminary, with all the learning of the West. I promise
for them, that they will be as apt to learn, as you to teach.
I shall add to your interest, on this interesting com-
munication, when I tell you that, though this letter is
written from my Lord Sunderlin's, my present head-
quarters are at that noble and magnificent institution,
in which your first Madras doctrines were delivered.
All agree in the merits of my young friend, and that
he performed his duties there in an able and exemplary
manner. Many recollect you with sincere affection.
More are ignorant of the conduct of the superinten-
dress, and of the ill treatment which you experienced.
Bamford, Sowerby, and myself have begun our labours
under better auspices, and have every prospect of com-
plete success. I expect to see Wilson's Hospital rival
the Westminster National School,
Pursue the career in which you have entered ; cul-
tivate good studies. And believe me to be, dear Wil-
mont, your sincere friend.
VOL. II.
2 x
690
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Dr Bell to William Disney, Esq.
Wilson's Hospital, September 17, 1814.
My dear Sir,
For upwards of a week I have been at work,
with my fellow-labourers, at this noble and grand in-
stitution. There is every thing here to strike the
mind and touch the heart: The magnificence of the
building; the commanding situation; the logh under
the eye, with the mountains terminating the prospect ;
the union of the aged and the young; the refuge of
the infirmities and misfortunes of life, and the provision
to guard, as far as human wisdom can guard, against
the vices and wants which arise from bad education ;
add to these the greatness of the revenue, and, above
all, the immensity and the importance of the object to
which the funds are now to be directed.
Placed in such a situation-invested with full
powers,
by the primate and the bishop, to act as I see fit—it
was impossible not to feel a more than usual interest
in the task which was here assigned to me.
impossible not to look back with deep regret to the
neglects and abuses which, under the late superinten-
dent, had been suffered to prevail at this hospital, the
miserable state of the education of the youth, and the
terrible severity of the discipline, which drove the
children to run away from the place.
Scarcely had the institution time to recover from
these evils, under the wise and able administration of
the present superintendent, when I have it in charge
to introduce the new system of education, with a view
It was
?
CORRESPONDENCE.
691
to render this institution a nursery of schoolmasters, to
disseminate moral and religious instruction, useful
knowledge, and habits of industry and activity, over
the kingdom.
It is a great satisfaction, that the progress of the
school has completely answered my expectation. Much
benefit is derived from the zeal and diligence of the
superintendent, Mr Browne.
I
purpose to return to Ardbraccan house on Tues-
day next, and thence, after a day or two, to proceed
to Armagh, whence I attend the primate in his visitation
to this hospital. By that time I trust I shall be able
to restore Bamford to Dublin, there to prepare for my
revisitation of your hospital, the Hibernian school, and
St Mark's. The last, if something more effectual than
I witnessed was not done, I fear cannot have made
much progress.
I had the pleasure of drinking a glass of wine with
your brother at the visitation dinner; but, to my mor-
tification, who intended to have intercepted him, he
made his escape in silence without my being able to
be presented to him, and converse with him. I am
anxious to hear how the Foundling School goes on.
Have the goodness to give me a line directed Ardbrac-
can, Navan.
692
LIFE OF DR BELL.
Dr Bell to Lord Kenyon.
Wilson's Hospital, September 22, 1814.
My Lord,
I have thought it best to remain here beyond the
time intended, and have much satisfaction in having
done so. Never has such progress been made in the
time. Bamford is invaluable; steady, firm, able, and
honest. To-morrow I go to Ardbraccan, thence on
Monday to the primate at Armagh, return with his
Grace, if he do not change his mind, to Ardbraccan, and
to this hospital, which I expect to find in perfect order,
and to visit with the Edgeworths, and perhaps Borristown,
my kind, and good, and hospitable Lord Sunderlin,
who is a kind of an old friend, at least acquaintance.
Did I tell you that Lord Whitworth had written to
the governors of the Foundling, and given all the weight
of government, the whole weight of this country, to the
new system. I want nothing here but your lordship,
or one who has the influence and knowledge of your
lordship, to tell them, as I do, that resolutions of gover-
nors or trustees will not do the whole business. If
I were to be in Dublin in the winter, I think I might
do much.
My Ryde (or Kensington) friends have been a
month in attendance at the Central School, have had
honours paid them, I know not what, by the committee,
I know not whom, and are determined on spreading
the system, you know which, on the Continent. .
Richard, a first rate genius, is of the party during Dr
Carey's vacation, and is wisely appointed by Mr John-
CORRESPONDENCE.
693
son usher.
The ladies have gone once through the
girls' school, and are now to go through the boys'
school. They have offered to take charge of the girls'
school, that Mrs Rogers may go to the Queen. But
your lordship not being there, I cannot tell what will
be done. I hope I have now opened your lordship’s
eyes to my visit at Ryde. I begin to suspect that your
lordship is not so much superior to all other men, as
I thought, and that you must be told a thing in order
to know it.
Dr Bell to Mrs Cook.
Palace, Chester, 21st Oct. 1814.
My dear Madam,
Your melancholy letter has had a long journey.
It travelled in search of me from England to Ireland -
from Dublin to Ardbraccan house, the Bishop of
Meath's, whom you know—from Ardbraccan house to
Wilson's hospital, from Wilson's hospital to the palace
of Armagh, thence, after many windings, to Dublin,
and to the palace of Bangor, when at last it found me
here.
In the distribution of books was a share allotted to
the other master, of whom I hear well, as well as to
Mr Smith, my friend? But it is not acquaintance or
friendship that do at all influence me in my A B C
proceedings.
I trust I have laid a foundation stone in Ireland
which will be built upon.
END OF VOLUME SECOND.
EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES,
PAUL'S WORK, CANONGATE.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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