Norris to see Mr. Rache; and Mr. Stukeley came thither to us; and then we came away with him, called at the coffee house for Mr. Holmes, and so went all together to Mr. Stukeley's, where we supped, and Sir John Norris, Mr. Holmes, Mr. Quass, and I lay all night at Mr. Stukeley's; and about twelve o'clock at night, an express came to Sir John Norris to leave the squadron under my command, and for him to go to London forthwith. Sir John and I lay together, and had several discourses about this matter, and slept very little.

66

Monday, 5. This morning several of the Captains came to see Sir John Norris; and, when dressed, Sir John and several of us went to Sir Thomas Hardy, where we saw Governor Hooke, his father-inlaw. From thence we came aboard the Exeter, where came most of the Captains and dined with Sir John Norris, and staid all the afternoon. Captain Hosier and Captain Morrice staid all night; and several of them went with Captain Cavendish.

66

Tuesday, 6. This morning Sir John Norris gave me all my orders, and then Captain Raymond and I went with him ashore to the Dock to see the Commissioner, and staid with him till near twelve o'clock; then went to Mr. Holmes's, where we saw Captain Hosier, Captain Morrice, Captain Scott, Captain Cavendish, Captain Hagar, and Captain St. Lo, and we all dined with Mr. Holmes. After dinner, Captain Evans, Mr. Stukeley, and Captain Hopson came to us, and we staid till evening; and then we all went, except Captain Evans, to Plymouth, to the coffee house, and staid there till about seven o'clock. Then went to Mr. Stukeley's house. Sir John, Mr. Holmes, and I lay there all night. I writ a tre (letter) to my wife, and another to Sir John Jennings.

"Wednesday, 7. This morning Sir John and I got up very early, and Captain Hopson came to us. We all went to the place where Sir John was to take horse; and Captain Evans, Captain Hosier, Captain Morrice, Captain Walton, Captain Scott, Captain Hagar, Captain St. Lo, Captain Raymond, and Mr. Holmes had got horses, but there were none ready for Sir John, nor his servants, so that we all staid till past nine o'clock, before Sir John was mounted, and I could not get a horse. So when they were all gone, Mr. Stukeley and I went to see Mr. Martin, the minister. We staid with him and drank some tea. Then Mr. Stukeley and I came together to his house. Soon after, Captain Cavendish came, and then Mr. Martin the minister, and we all three dined with Mr. Stukeley; and after that I went to the Dock to the Commissioner, and talked with him concerning cleaning the ships, and desired him to let me know whether there would be any occasion for my writing, in order that he might have orders concerning his receiving the ships I should send in to be cleaned. He told me he thought not, and sent for the builder, Mr. Lock, to know of him how many ships he could clean in a spring, and he said six. Then I went to see Mr. Addis. He not being at home, I went to him to his office, and he returned home with me, and with us Mr. Lock. I staid to drink a glass of wine or two, and then came on board. Wind w. to w.s.w. Strong gales with rain."

This diary of the opening week of the year 1708, notwithstanding its gossiping character, and the introduction of many things of a light and unimportant nature, curiously intermingled with the public concerns,

so characteristic of the manners of the age, is not by any means destitute of interest, either to the local or general reader; and in extenuation of the homeliness of its style, it should be borne in mind, that the volume from which it was taken, was only the private diary of the writer, kept for his own individual satisfaction, and never designed to travel beyond the limits of his immediate relatives and descendants.

To the local reader it presents a view of Plymouth, contrasting somewhat strangely with the vast extent of ground now occupied by the three towns; two of which may be said to have been called into existence by the public establishments, which have been formed since the time of which it treats. Stonehouse, we believe, for we have not any of the ancient records of the neighbourhood at hand to refresh our memory, claims, indeed, a greater antiquity than Devonport; but in the populous town known by that name at the present day, it would be difficult to trace a vestige of the small assemblage of houses which bore that denomination one hundred and thirty eight years ago; nor, indeed, do we recollect to have met its name once in the volume before us. As for Devonport, which less than thirty years ago, was only known as a dependency on the Dockyard, by the name of Plymouth Dock, it consisted, we are inclined to believe, merely of a few houses erected in the immediate vicinity of the Yard, for the private residences of the officers, with, perhaps, a few shops for the supply of their more immediate wants. But the town, if indeed it deserved the name, at 1708, could hardly have claimed the name of hamlet, when placed in competition with the important borough which has shaken off the last shadow of its dependence upon its parent town, with the assumption, within the recollection of most of us, of a new name. Even Plymouth in those days was but a small and inconsiderable seaport. In this year, we find the guardians of the poor of the town first incorporated, in their present form, by act of parliament. St. Andrew's Church was presented with a ring of six new bells, by Colonel Jory; who, in the following year, was equally munificent to the parish of Charles; and a severe thunder storm took place, during which one of the pinnacles of St. Andrew's tower was destroyed. These particulars connected with the year under consideration, and little likely to obtain a place in the diary of a sailor, have been collected from the chronological memoranda given at the 281st page of this Chronicle; and are all the facts for the year connected with the history of the town, at present within our reach. Possibly our Plymothiana may be the means of eliciting further details of the ancient occurrences of those days, which will add not a little to the interest, value, and utility of the Chronicle. At that time there appears to have been no resident Port Admiral, nor any residence for his accommodation; and the command of whatever ships chanced to put in devolved upon the senior officer, as in the present instance where Captain Walker, who appears from his journal to have been Flag Captain to Sir John Norris, on board the Exeter, was left in charge of the squadron on the summons received by the former to proceed to London : but his command at this time being only temporary, he did not take up his residence on shore, but continued to make the Exeter his home. It was not before July that he was appointed to a permanent command; and his family did not arrive from London before August, as will appear

from the diary of those months when we reach them. This part of the Journal will furnish another amusing illustration of the manners of the age.

In the diary of the events of Saturday, the 3rd, we find that the beautiful grounds of Mount Edgecumb possessed sufficient attractions to entice visitors even in the gloom and darkness of the winter months. The owners of this lovely spot, although long in possession of it, and having at the period of the civil wars been distinguished by the rank of knighthood, were not elevated to their present rank before the year 1789; so that the Mr. Edgecumb spoken of in that and various other places of the present volume, was not improbably grandfather, or at least father to the first earl: but for this information we must refer our readers to the English peerage, a copy of which we have not the good fortune to possess.

Sir John Norris, of whom an account will be found in the lives of the Admirals, had, in the previous year, served under the distinguished but unfortunate Sir Cloudesly Shovel, in the abortive and costly attempt to take Toulon; on his return from which, during hazy weather, and from some mistake with respect to the light on Scilly, the ship in which Sir Cloudesly Shovel was, struck upon the rocks known as the Bishop and his Clerks, and in less than two minutes after went down, with all on board, and not a particle of her was to be seen. The ship in which Sir George Byng had his flag, narrowly escaped sharing the same fate with the Commander in Chief, but for the coolness and presence of mind of the Admiral, who wore her at the moment when one of the rocks was nearly under the main chains, and Sir John Norris and Lord Dursley, had almost as narrow an escape.

The account given in the record of events on Tuesday, the 6th, of Sir John Norris's departure for London; escorted out of town by a party of Captains, belonging to his squadron, on horseback, will no doubt excite a smile on the countenances of those who compare it with the rapid and luxurious modes of travelling, at the command of even the poorest members of society at the present time: but they will be still more amused, when they come to that part of the diary which describes the two-day journey of the Commodore's family from Exeter, in the month of August.

The Mr. Martin spoken of in the extract now given, and of whom frequent mention occurs in other parts, was the rector of Stoke Damerell, and one of the canons of the Cathedral of Exeter. He was, we have reason for believing, connected with the family, whose descendants occupy the seat near Starcross, known by the name of Oxton.

For the history connected with the other individuals named in the extract, we must rely on the antiquarian researches of such of our readers as may feel disposed to aid us in collecting materials for our reminiscences of this town and neighbourhood.

Many descendants of individuals named in the course of these pages are doubtless to be found among the existing inhabitants of these towns, and if these our Plymothiana should have the effect of extracting any curious illustrations of their ancient or semi-ancient history and condition, our labours will not have been vain.

RAGGED SCHOOLS.

THERE are 75,000 children in Devonshire whose education is unaccounted for! You are astonished; but it is really true, at least, according to the statistics lately prepared by a committee of wellinformed gentlemen chosen from among the members of the " County Conference on Popular Education," held in Exeter, but a week or two since, and sanctioned by the authority of the chairman—the talented and respected member for Exeter, E. Divett, Esq. The fact is really astounding, and requires repetition. We make an extract from the Western Times of the 19th December, 1846 :

"The Rev. H. Madgin, reading the report of the provisional committee, stated that in 1841 the population of the county was 533,462; allowing the usual rate of increase, 1 per cent. per annum, it is now about 573,500 persons, of which children between the ages of 5 and 12 are calculated as one-sixth of the whole population. According to this calculation, 95,580 children ought to be receiving instruction in this county. From enquiries, there are 90 National Schools; 48 British; 8 Infant; 50 not described; 17 Grammar; Endowed, 51: in all 264. On the supposition that this number were doubled, the supply will still be felt to be distressingly small; and, including private schools, it is calculated there can hardly be 20,000 children receiving instruction.”

The chairman, in answer to some expression of surprise at the numbers given, said "he believed that the statements which had been made as to the deficiency of education, were consistent with the truth, and with what was known of the whole county."

This is certainly a state of things far from reflecting credit on our own management of our own affairs, and warranting the severest criticism, when it is recollected that many thousands are annually sent out of our county and country for the education of strangers, who do not appear to be more benighted, more ignorant, than our own countrymen. But, however just, mere criticism is valueless as a remedy, which the really benevolent and humane mind must immediately seek for to alleviate such wide-spreading and distressing darkness, that, ere long, perhaps, may so increase as totally to extinguish the light we now appear so proud of. Is this possible? Yes. We must not deceive ourselves. It is possible that ignorance may so increase as to overwhelm and swallow up, in a wilful abandonment to the viler and more selfish feelings of our nature, all religion, justice, and right, unless some wide and energetic measures be speedily taken to arrest its onward march.

- The superficial thinker may wonder, perhaps, why it becomes so much more imperative now to take these necessary steps than heretofore. Statistics, says he, show that the per centage of the educated population gradually increases, and consequently, that we are in a right road, and need not trouble ourselves. But he forgets that if

the population increases at the rate of 15 per cent. in ten years, and the educated only at the rate of 2 per cent. in the same time, there must be added 13 per cent. the first period, 28 the second, 46 the third, and so on; which, if applied to millions, actually produces a frightful

deficiency. Thus it is that the 45 per cent. in the sixteen millions of 1,800 leave 8,800,000 uneducated; whilst the 55 per cent. on the 28,000,000 of the present time leave 12,500,000 uneducated, and therefore dangerous co-citizens and countrymen.

Of this number, Devonshire, as we have seen, comes in for 75,000 children; and our own neighbourhood, Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse, taking the population to be one-sixth of the whole population of the county, which it fully is, gives 12,500. This we take to be exaggerated, or rather, inapplicable; as, in large towns as these are, a greater attention is given to a little learning by the parents. Let us say, then, one-half, 6,000; and still the number is very great, and some effort must be made to diminish it.

Now, government, it is to be feared, whatever plan it may propose, will never be able to educate even a small portion of these poor outcasts, unless some more stringent regulations be adopted to compel the attendance of the children than would be considered compatible with English freedom. This, of course, can never be; and consequently we are afraid there will be but little progress, considering the immense number for whom education is required.

What, then, is to be done? Why, the voluntary system must again be called into operation to fill the chasms which any national scheme, even if framed for us mortals by angels themselves, will naturally leave.

One of the ways for which this voluntary aid could be demanded, appears to us to have been already struck out, as by a wonderful dispensation of the Almighty, in the creation of these really useful and admirably-adapted establishments-the Ragged Schools.

It is needless here, no doubt, to relate the how, why, or when, these benevolent and valuable educational institutions were first originated. All this is well known already, as also that the most beneficial results may be confidently predicted from their present progress, not only in the capital, but also in several of our large provincial towns. They are destined, it is hoped, with certain modifications, to become valuable and efficient auxiliaries to the cause of civilization; particularly as within their walls will be received all those who are unable to go to any establishment, gratis or not, requiring a stated and regular attendance in their pupils. That there are many such, there can be no doubt. Indeed, at the conference above-mentioned, it was stated, that the grand cause of the want of attendance was that the parents themselves were too poor to lose the trifling return received for the toil of these poor little uneducated creatures.

It now behoves us to ask whether in our neighbourhood, or in any part of Devon, any attempt has been made to establish schools of this kind? There is room and to spare, and we confidently hope our question and insinuation will not pass unregarded. We wish we could have to relate that a meeting had taken place in this vicinity, and that, in the regular newspaper-phrase, the following resolutions had been adopted :

1st. That it was expedient to make an immediate effort to form a Ragged School in each of the three towns of this neigbourhood, Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse, to be supported, both in expenses and services, on the voluntary system.