order and decree shall be a sufficient warrant anddischarge as well to the said particular receiver of our said Sovereign Lady the Queen's Majesty her heirs and successors of her and their possessions, parcel of her Highnesses dutchy of Lancaster in the said county of York for the time being, both for the true payment yearly to the said schoolmaster of and in the said town of Pontefract and his and their successors for the time being, being schoolmaster of the said Grammar School for the said sum of twentypounds, during so long time as he or they or any of them shall continue schoolmaster or schoolmasters of the said Grammar School. And also to the usher there for the time being for the true payment yearly of the said sum of five pounds seven shillings and twopence, during so long a time as the said usher shall continue there. And also to the auditor of the possessions of the dutchy in the north parts for the time being, to make unto the receiver due and reasonable allowance yearly of and for the payment of the said sums or yearly pensions accordingly. Provided always that if at any time hereafter it shall be thought good to her Majesty her heirs and successors to determine afterwards to withdraw or diminish this her Majesty's most gracious gift, or that the said mayor or brethren shall be negligent or remiss in the well repairing or maintenance of the said school-house, or in furnishing of the same as is before premised and appointed, that then it shall and may be lawful for the chancellor and council of the said dutchy for the time being either to see the same redressed and reformed,

or else to call in and make frustrate this present order and decree, any thing herein contained or specified to the contrary notwithstanding. We have given and specified by these pre. sents the form of the aforesaid decree and order, at the request of the aforesaid Boniface Savage and other inhabitants of Pontefract. In witness of which we have made these our letters patent. Given at our palace at Westminster, under the seal of our dutchy of Lancaster, the last day of April in the twenty-fifth year of our reign."

From this period the school continued to flourish, or otherwise, according to the talents and industry, or inattention and neglect, of the various masters appointed. The above grant or charter took from the mayor and comburgesses the right of appointing the schoolmaster, and such right remained with the chancellor of the dutchy. The schoolmaster was only to be properly qualified for his office; nor was he in the least bound or restricted to any particular branches of instruction.

In the lapse of a century the school again fell into decay, and for some years no schoolmaster applied for the appointment. The inha bitants, desirous to restore this foundation, and to render it permanently useful, again petitioned the dutchy court, and engaged to rebuild the school and to purchase or erect a house for the residence of the schoolmaster. The petition of the inhabitants was graciously received, and in the thirty-second year of his present Majesty, the school was refounded; and a charter was granted containing rules and regulations for its better government in future.

By this charter the mayor, recorder, aldermen, and the vicar are appointed curators; and their office is to superintend the said school, and to see that the rules and regulations, annexed to the said charter are strictly observed.

The appointment of the schoolmaster is reserved to the chancellor of the dutchy; but as a necessary qualification for such appointment; he must have taken the state and degree of mas ter of arts or bachelor of laws in one of the universities *.

The number of boys on this foundation is fourteen, one of which is to be taken from the Charity School, and educated free from all expence; the remainder are to pay one guinea per annum for being taught the Greek and Latin languages; and such as learn writing and arithmetic are to pay one guinea more. The admission of such boys is made by ballot among the curators, and the boy that has a majority is elected. But no boy can be chosen unless the parents are legally settled in the townships of Pontefract or Tanshelf.

The schoolmaster is not permitted to teach

This clause of the charter, by limiting the objects of choice, must uniformly operate against the prosperity of the institution. Those clergymen who have been trained up in the habit of teaching, and to whom the instruction of youth has become the chief object of attention, are generally much better qualified for such an office than graduates in the university. Should such graduates have devoted their time to the study of the classies, and should they have attained general knowledge, their inexperience in the art of teaching will render it an irksome task, in which they engage with reluctance, and from which they depart with pleasure. Whoever framed this charter, if they had consulted the interest of the town, should have appointed any clergyman, properly qualified, eligible to the office.

Ggg

*

the English Grammar, Writing and Arithmetic, separate from the learned languages; but is obliged to take any other boys, besides those on the foundation, belonging to the towns of Pontefract and Tanshelf, for the additional sum of one guinea.

All the children are to be instructed in the Protestant religion, according to the rites and ceremonies of the church of England.

John Friestont, of Altofts, in this county, gave some lands in this town to the University College, Oxford, for the maintenance of one fellow or exhibitioner, to receive out of them ten pounds a year; besides the use of a chamber and exemptions from all decrements. He built and endowed a Free School at Normanton. He left five hundred pounds to purchase twenty five pounds a year, for the maintenance of one fellow and two scholars in Emanuel's College, Cambridge; the said fellow and scholars to be sent out of Normanton, and for want of such there, then out of the Free Schools of Ponte

*This rule narrows and confines the advantages of this school. Many in the town might wish to have their children taught English, writing and arithmetic, without being put to the expence of a classical education. By this rule the children of the greatest part of the inhabitants are wholly deprived of any benefit from this Grammar School. Would it not be a general advantage to this school if such clauses were disannul led? Would it not be wise and prudent in the inhabitants to apply to the Dutchy Court, that such other regulations might be adopted as would render the Free Grammar School an institution of general utility? While this charter remains, and the limitations it contains are in practice regarded, it will never be of any essential advantage to the town.

† He was descended from an ancient family, the Lords of Mendham, in Suffolk, and died the 37th of Elizabeth, 1594.

fract, Wakefield, Leeds and Rotherham, or any part of the county.

The Charity School.

J

It is not certain when, or by whom, this school was first erected. There is no mention of such a school prior to the year 1709. William Earl of Strafford, by will, dated the 9th of September, 1695, out of his favourable and charitable disposition to this town, gave and devised unto the mayor and aldermen the sum of two hundred pounds, towards the repairs of the great church, if the trustees, named in his will, should be well assured on payment thereof that the said church would be repaired, and constantly used as other churches were for the performance of divine service.

In the year 1709, there being no likelihood of this church being repaired, the Honourable Thomas Wentworth, the residuary legatee of the said Earl of Strafford, in regard to the memory and pious intentions of the said Earl, and wishing that the said two hundred pounds might be employed for charitable purposes, for the benefit of the poor of Pontefract, instead of applying it to his own use, as he certainly might have done, paid this sum to the corporation, on their giving a proper indemnity, to the intent that the interest thereof might be annually employed in and about some good charitable undertaking within the said town, either in setting up a school or a workhouse.

In consequence thereof the corporation, by