Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/349

Rh Sunday-school of to-day. The teachers, who were paid 1s. 6d. for the Sunday, assembled the children at 8 a.m. For two hours they were taught the alphabet, spelling and reading, with lessons from the New Testament, catechism, and Watts's Divine and Moral Songs. The children then went home, to reassemble in the afternoon, when they were taken to church for public catechism, returning to their lessons till 5.30, when they were dismissed for another week. Attendance was insured by the distribution of sweets and gingerbread.

"It is my wish that every poor child in my kingdom should be taught to read the Bible," said the poor King, before he was "put away" in the padded room at Windsor, there to drone his own dismal hymns in the intervals of madness. The wish was more practically echoed by Hannah More, who struggled manfully against the prevailing prejudice with regard to learning. She would personally visit cottage after cottage among the poor, explaining, arguing, and endeavouring to overcome scruples. The only benefit to themselves that the short-sighted parents could see was that their apples would get a chance of ripening in the orchards, for the