found would be too closely connected with the Established Church, and that the doctrines of the Establishment would be likely to be inculcated there. On the other hand, the measure was opposed by the adherents of the Established Church, because they thought it was not sufficiently connected with the Establishment, and that the schools would be too open to Dissenters. At present it was almost impossible to reconcile these two parties; but he hoped, when the subject came to be more fully discussed, and better understood by the Dissenters, the great difference of opinion which prevailed would have the effect of teaching both parties, that liberality on the one hand ought to be met by concession on the other. The controversy had been carried on (with few exceptions) for the most part by persons on either side who were sincerely anxious to promote the great common end-the advancement of education of the people. The improvement of the education of the people was, he was convinced, the object of the wishes of both Churchmen and Dissenters, and only a little further time was necessary to afford both these parties an opportunity not only of coming to a clear understanding of the points of difference between them, but to bring them nearer to a common understanding of the operation of the measure proposed by him. Discussion was the best means of making known the nature of his plan; and in order to afford an opportunity for further discussion to arise on the subject, he had come to a resolution to postpone his Bill till next session. He would here beg to remind both parties that great concessions were expected from each of them. He would first remind those who were of opinion that his plan would open the door too widely to the admission of the children of Dissenters, that they were asking Dissenters to support schools from which their own children were excluded. Dissenters were obliged by the payment of parochial rates to contribute to the support of schools from which they were in effect debarred from receiving any benefit. It was a necessary part of his plan that the schools should be, to a certain degree, connected with the Church Establishment; but he thought the Church ought not to desire the exclusion of Dissenters, not only on the general principle of justice and liberality, but for the sake of the Establishment itself, which would be most effectually injured by an adherence to intolerant doctrines. To the Dissenter he would say, that the principle of the Bill was such, even if it should receive no modification whatever, that it must be considered a great sacrifice made by the Church to the peculiar opinions of the

Dissenters to allow it to pass. He was not without hopes that one or two points in the plan which had given the greatest umbrage to the Dissenters might be modified without much difficulty. Those points were not of much importance; and even if he thought the objections which were made to them were wrong, he should still be of opinion, that it would be proper for the legislature to defer to a general prejudice, when it might be done without any substantial sacrifice of principle. The Dissenters had always made the most strenuous endeavours in the cause of education; and speaking to them in their character of friends to education, he would ask them to reflect upon what the principle of the Bill gave countenance to. The principle of the Bill had been involved in all the disputes between the Dissenters and the Established Church for the last twelve years-namely, whether Dissenters should admit the doctrines of the Church. The Church had always said, we insist on the reading of the Catechism and the Liturgy in schools, and that the children should go to Church. The Dissenters, on the other hand, said, that it was much better to omit the reading of the Catechism and the Liturgy, and the going to Church, and to devote the schools merely to the teaching of reading, writing and accounts, which would enable persons of all sects to attend them. The Bill to which the Dissenters'now objected sanctioned their principle in opposition to that of their opponents. The Bill proposed that no peculiar creed should be taught in the schools; that the Liturgy should not be read; and that there should be no compulsory attendance of the Church. He hoped that this statement would produce effect in any after-discussion on this subject. Great national good might be effected if both sides would exhibit an equal share of lberality and concession. Should cach party continue determined to yield nothing to its adversary, he must then come to the painful but inevitable conclusion, that the legislature could do nothing in the cause of education, and that the undertaking must be eventually abandoned. This led him to the last point on which he would trouble the house. Some persons entertained an opinion that the interference of the legislature in order to promote education, was not at all useful. This was a most extraordinary argument. Doubts might exist respecting the manner, but very little doubt could prevail respecting the nesessity, of the interference of the legislature on this subject. In order to support the opposition to the Bill, it had been contended that the parochial returns were incorrect, and could not be relied on. Some persons had gone so

far as to say, that the whole mass of information, so industriously collected by the resident parochial clergy, was a mere bundle of errors, and that all the conclusions drawn from it must necessarily fall to the ground. His answer to this was, that he would delay his measure: he would not call on those who impeached the accuracy of the information to take one step on the assumption of its correctness; but he would tell them to investigate the returns on the table, and to compare them with the facts-and he would presently shew them how that might be done; and if, next session, they should still be of opinion that they were incorrect, he would then resort to other materials from which to draw the conclusion, that the means of education were deficient. He was one of those who placed great reliance on the parochial returus. The respectability of the persons who made those returns was not called in question; and as all those persons lived at the places from which the information was sent, it was almost impossible that it could be considerably or generally incorrect. He chiefly relied on the evidence of the want of education in country parishes. Parishes consisting of only five or six hundred inhabitants must be without those means of promoting education which were possessed by larger townshe alluded to societies supported by pri. vate subscription. He believed the returns from these small parishes to be accurate, because the clergyman must know every individual in his parish, and it was impossible that a school could exist without the circumstance being known to him. Parishes containing a population of 600 and under, formed a very large proportion of the parishes of England; he might say four-fifths. The number of unendowed schools was continually varying from year to year, indeed from month to month; and it might happen that, if inquiry were to be made respecting the number of schools of this description in a particular place, the result might be different from the returns, because this should be recollected the returns were made three years ago. He would request the opponents of the Bill to look at the statements in the returns respecting the endowments, which were schools of a description less liable to fluctuation; and if they found perfect accuracy in the returns with respect to endowments, it was reasonable to conclude that accuracy prevailed in other particulars. The returns had been found to be perfectly accurate on the subject of endowments. Comparing the statements in the returns on this point with the report of the commissioners, appointed under the bills passed two or three years

ago, he found not a unit of difference between the two sums-total. The Commissioners stated, that they found the returns the best guide to their inquiries, and they were proved to be accurate to an astonishing degree. He thought that if the returns were inaccurate in any particular, they were most likely to be so with regard to the number of Sundayschools; and yet in the only instance in which the state of a district with respect to Sunday-schools had been compared with the returns, it would be necessary to come to a conclusion of an opposite nature. Some gentlemen connected with Sunday-schools in a district of a northern county, doubting the accuracy of the returns respecting the number of schools of that description in their district, made some inquiries on the subject. They found that the number of Sunday-schools in their district amounted to 38, whilst the returns only gave 20. It appeared, however, that 20 of these schools had been established since the returns were made in 1818; so that, supposing two of those existing in 1818 to have dropped, the correctness of the statement, in the returns, was evident. If there were errors in the returns, they could only be those of omission; but the increase of the population had been so large since they were made, as to make the total result as nearly as possible_correct. He was of opinion that it would appear, from the census which had been lately taken, that the population had increased about a million since 1811. The honourable and learned gentleman then referred to the evidence contained in the returns respecting the state of education in Wales. It appeared that in that Principality there were 220 parishes in which the means of education were entirely wanting, and where the poor, although desirous to obtain knowledge, were compelled to remain in ignorance. Under these circumstances, it did not signify whether the returns were accurate to a unit or even to a hundred; but unless it was meant to be contended that the persons affording this evidence were not entitled to any credit at all, it must be confessed that this was a deplorable state of things. The circumstances he had stated, were the grounds which induced him to think that the returns were generally correct, and that the inference which he had drawn from them was, therefore, also correct. He would now shew the House, as he had promised, how the correctness or incorrectness of the returns might be ascertained. A copy of the digest of the returns had been delivered to each member of both houses of parliament. He was, afterwards, persuaded to bind up separately certain numbers of the digest with

the tables for each particular county. Many of these copies had been circulated for the express purpose of bringing to the test the accuracy of the tables, but many remained still uncirculated. If, therefore, any person in any county would take the trouble to write to him (Mr. Brougham) for a copy, he would take care to send him a copy of the digest for that county by return of post, and free of expense, as it was a parliamentary paper, He hoped no person would make an application to him from a spirit of idle curiosity. Any person really desirous of entering on an inquiry, would find in the digest the names of all the persons mak. ing the returns. He would ask those gentlemen who might turn their attention to this subject, to bear in mind, should they discover any apparent omissions in their returns, that they were made in 1818, since which time he had reason to believe many schools had been established. He trusted that this notice would have its effect, and that in the course of the summer it might be discovered what part of the returns was incorrect, and that the house would be enabled to enter on the subject next session with satisfaction to all parties. He hoped that this subject would be met in a spirit of amity and good-will for the sake of the common object which all parties had in view; and here he was ready to shew that concession should not be wanting on his part, for although his plan was the result of the most deliberate reflection, both with regard to its general principle, and even its minuter details, for two or three years, yet if any part of it, after a fair consideration of the subject, should be deemed inefficient, or likely to be attended with danger, he would be the first to abandon it. And even if the whole should be considered inefficient, he was not so wedded to his plan as to the great cause of religious and moral instruction, and he would, therefore, if necessary, abandon the whole. He had turned his mind to this subject with calmness; he had weighed all the objections which had been urged against his plan; he had read again and again every line that had been written on the subject; but up to the present moment he saw no reason to depart from the fundamental principle of the Bill which had received the sanction of the education committee, on the report of which, as nearly as possible, the details of the Bill were founded. No modifications could be expected to be made in favour of one party which would be sufficient for the success of the measure, unless they were met by an equal spirit of liberal concession on the other. The

hon. member concluded with stating, that unless he were convinced of the inefficacy of the plan, he would continue steadily to pursue it. (Hear, hear.)

Mr. BRIGHT thought that religious liberty was attacked by the Bill before the House.

Mr. BROUGHAM here observed, that there was no Bill before the House.

Mr. BRIGHT continued. He thought the honourable and learned gentleman ought to have stated more distinctly what was the nature of the modifications of his plan. The effect of the Bill, if it passed, would be to place the management of all schools in the hands of the Established Church. He thought education a great good, but he did not think education in error a good. He was astonished that the Bill was still persevered in. The honourable and learned gentleman had, by his own statement, shewn that education was rapidly advancing; and he (Mr. Bright) had yet to learn that it was more desirable to promote education by legislative enactments, than to allow it to proceed by its own spontaneous operation. The honourable gentleman then proceeded to complain of the inaccuracy of the returns, as an example of which he stated in the digest, that the number of persons educated in Northumberland was only 5,551, whereas it appeared that the number amounted to 9,400. The honourable gentleman concluded with expressing his intention of opposing any measure which would have the effect of placing the system of education, in this country, under the controul of the clergy of the Established Church.

Mr. BROUGHAM thought the honourable gentleman who had just sat down, ad no right to presume that the advocates of the Bill wished to do any thing offensive to the feelings of any class of religious Dissenters. The report of the Committee, on which the Bill was founded, was drawn up by gentlemen, many of whom were Dissenters themselves, and others who were as favourably disposed towards Dissenters as the honourable gentleman, or any other member of that House.

Mr. BRIGHT said a few words, the object of which we could not collect.

Mr. BECHER expressed his satisfaction that the attention of the House had been drawn to the state of education in Ire land. He thought that a Parliamentary recognition of the principles contained in the Report upon the table, would be attended with the most beneficial effects.

After a few observations from Mr. GRATTAN, Colonel FRENCH, and Mr. W. SMITH, the Report was ordered to be reprinted.

No. CLXXXIX.]

[Vol. XVI.

DR. JOHN HUXHAM.

E was born in Totnes, of very

father was a Dissenter in principle, and a butcher by trade, and a very careful man. He had a small estate in the parish of Staverton, which he left to this his eldest son, which was disposed of when he came of age, in order to defray the charges of his education. The Doctor was young when his father died, who left him to the sole care of Mr. Thomas Edgley, a Dissenting Minister in Totnes, who was empowered to bring him up to any profession that he inclined to, or was fit for. It soon appeared that he was capable of letters, and therefore Mr. Edgley placed him to a grammar school. The most of his time in this way was spent with Mr. Gilling, of Newton, where he acquired a very good knowledge in the classics, and it was discovered that he had a great memory, though assisted by very little diligence or application. From Mr. Gilling's he came to Mr. Hallett's Academy in Exeter. I had been there a year before, and staid two years afterwards, and by that means became thoroughly acquainted with him. He was always esteemed to have very good parts, and to perform his exercises well; but, at the same time, careless, somewhat deceitful in some things, but very honest in making no pretensions to religion. While I staid he behaved decently, and having finished his courses he was sent to Leyden to study physic under the learned Boerhaave. He did not remain there more than one year and a half, his circumstances not admitting any further expense; but it appeared that by his great application, added to his abilities, he had got more in that small time, than some would or could have done in thrice the time. In short, he studied hard, read a great deal, and made the best of his advanLages; and after he had gone through all the lectures, he went to Rheims, in France, to take his degree, because

that could be had much cheaper there than at Leyden. Thus furnished, he returned to Totnes, waiting for a place

a

did not wait long, for one Dr. ***, thick-head physician of this town, dying, Edgley thought it was an opening for him, and accordingly brought him directly for Plymouth. I remember I came home one evening, and found the parlour full of company, and at my entrance was accosted, to my very great surprise, in the grand French air, and with the minuet step, by my old friend and acquaintance Mr. Huxham, who, with a very profound reverence, told me that he was come to throw himself at my feet. I was not a little confounded at this unexpected salutation, and began to be under some difficulty of replying to it, but Mr. Edgley stepping forth to speak to me, and my father saying that Mr. Huxham was come to live with us, I immediately understood what he meant, and accordingly bid him welcome and wished him success. His coming recommended by Mr. Edgley was sufficient to put him under the protection of the Dissenters, who were immediately his friends. And that he might appear in lodgings suitable to his quality, he was taken to lodge and board with Mr. Mordecai Cockey, who was then one of the best men in Mr. Enty's meeting. In this station he continued some time, having as yet little practice, for Dr. Seymour had the general run of the town. Business not immediately answering expectation, he began to think of marrying into some family which might have interest to promote it. It happened that Mrs. Ellen Corham was then in town, and not provided for, so he made her an offer, and she accepted it, and being settled in a house of his own, he began to look bigger, and to affect much more gravity than usual. And here was the beginning of that stiff and affected behaviour for which he hath been so very remarkable. He pretended to believe, that his awkward strut and an

unnatural gravity, would gain him respect, though he freely owned tome once, when I was speaking to him about it, that he laughed at himself for doing it: "je moque de moi-même," was his expression. But dissimulation and hypocrisy were so natural to him, that he could wear any disguise, or make any outward profession, without seeming the least uneasy, or out of countenance, provided it contributed to his interest. He began to be much out of humour, a little after he was married, because business did not come in as he expected. He said, Plymouth was a quacking place, because some people were better pleased to trust themselves in the hands of an old apothecary, than of a young physician who had never been used to them. He used every little art he could think of to make people believe how much he was employed. He would often appear in boots, though he had no place to ride to; he would often ride out at one gate and return by another, though he had no patient to visit; and he scarce ever went to Church but his boy must be sent to call him out, though he had nothing in the world to do. And thus he went on, abusing himself and cheating the world, and inwardly cursing the apothecaries, who did not think it worth their while to recommend him, till, luckily for him, Dr. Seymour's first madness broke out. He then began to be taken notice of by the Church party as well as the Dissenters, upon which he began to shew his gratitude to the latter, by declaring that he never thought himself the least obliged to them. His practice increased daily, and in very few years he got an estate. And that he might be known the better, he wrote up several cases which he met with, to Dr. Jurin, Secretary to the Royal Society by this means he contracted a correspondence with him, and at last got himself chosen a Fellow of that honourable body. Thus he was soon introduced into the best business both of town and country, and was thereby enabled to live in that splendour which he once never expected, and which on many accounts he never deserved. For he was a man that seemed to be actuated in most

parts of life by craft and treachery: he would do almost any thing for his interest, and seemed to have very little

regard to truth in any thing that he said. He was naturally proud and ungrateful; for nothing could mortify him more, than to be spoke to by a relation or a friend who knew any thing of him or his pedigree. If he could not shun such a person, he would pretend not to know him, and if he was made sensible at last who the person was, he would receive him with great shymess and indifference. He affected much to talk of God and religion to his patients, though I have seen and heard such discourse come so very fulsome from him, that the common sort of people have despised him for it; and very justly, for I doubt he never much regarded either any further than he could make tools of them to promote his interest. As a scholar he was allowed to understand Latin well, and to be thoroughly acquainted with books. As a physician he would have shined more, if in his prescriptions he had consulted the interest of the apothecary less and of the patient more. He was very indefatigable in his business, and spared no pains by night or day to visit if occasion required. Nor was he griping for his fee like Seymour, but was generally esteemed moderate in his demands, and very compassionate and generous sometimes to the sick poor. He was very tenacious of his opinion and practice when contradicted by any physician, and would rather sacrifice a patient than suffer himself to be thought mistaken or another in the right. He kept a decent character with regard to his morals, and was guilty of very few excesses in any shape. He was reckoned a very good anatomist and natural philosopher, and had, upon the whole, knowledge and learning sufficient to support his character in business, but neither honesty nor virtue to make him esteemed or respected.

Copies of Original Letters from Mr. (afterwards Archbishop) Secker, and Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Chandler, to Mr. Fox.

From Mr. Secker.

London, May 15th, 1716. DEAR SIR,

I received your letter just as I began to feel the first disorders of a fever,

which has held me for some time, and obliges me now to seck a little fresh air in the country. But neither could my