Botolph's,  Aldgate,  in  1798.  The  moni-
torial system  was  not  really  new.  It  had
prevailed  largely  in  the  grammar  schools  of
the  Middle  Ages  and  the  sixteenth  century,
and  even  at  Winchester  and  Eton.  But
applied  upon  the  new  scale,  and  to  the  lower
orders,  it  came  and  spread  with  all  the
force  and  rapidity  of  a  new  discovery.
The  National  Society,  founded  in  1811
in  rivalry  with  the  undenominational  Royal
Lancastrian  Institution  established  in  1808,
and  merged  in  the  British  and  Foreign  School
Society  in  1814,  soon  outdistanced  its  rival.
By  1831  the  latter  had  490  schools,  the
National  Society  over  3000,  with  an  average
attendance  of  409,000.  Parliament  began  to
make  grants  for  building  schools  in  1832.
In  1837  it  was  stated  in  Parliament  that  the
National  Society  had  received  £70,000  from
Parliament,  had  raised  £220,000  by  sub-
scriptions, and  built  over  700  more  schools,
with  accommodation  for  130,000  more  chil-
dren. When  the  Education  Act  of  1870  was
passed,  it  was  ascertained  that  there  were
4165  National  Schools,  or  schools  in  connec-
tion with  the  Church,  which  had  cost  rather


more  than  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  money  in
Parliamentary  grants,  and  slightly  more  than
three  millions  in  subscriptions.  Of  a  total  of
8919  schools  receiving  grants  in  1870,  6954
were  Church  schools.  They  were  supported
by  £418,839  in  subscriptions,  £502,023  in
school  pence,  or  fees  paid  by  the  parents,  and
one  and  a  half  millions  in  Parliamentary
grants.  The  average  subscription  per  child
came  to  7s.  3Jd.,  as  against  9s.  7d.  in  grants.
