VI 



" I could not rest until I had simplified the subject and brought my 

 joy and my light within the ken of others." His interest in Poinsot's 

 work resulted in the publication of a little treatise on the ' Theory of 

 Statical Couples,' which was sufficiently popular to run through two 

 editions, and to be adopted in the general University teaching. 

 About the same time he contributed to the Cambridge Philosophical 

 Society a paper on " The Figure of the Earth," consisting of a sim- 

 plification of the final propositions in the mathematical treatment of 

 the Earth, considered as heterogeneous. 



In 1833 Pritchard accepted the post of Head Master of a new pro- 

 prietary school at Stockwell one of those founded about that time 

 in the suburbs of London under the auspices of King's College. The 

 tenure of this office was, however, in no way an agreeable one, for, 

 from the date of his appointnient, his relations with a minority of the 

 Committee were unfortunate. The school nourished numerically, 

 notwithstanding the ceaseless interference and sundry small annoy- 

 ances to which he was subjected. As time went on, these personal 

 differences increased, until they became so unbearable to Pritchard 

 that in June, 1834, he resigned his office, and had serious thoughts of 

 returning once more to the more peaceful occupation of a University 

 life. But, owing to the prospect of an early marriage, by which his 

 Fellowship would be vacated, and finding that some of the leading 

 men in Clapham, and also many of the parents of his pupils, had ex- 

 pressed a strong desire for the establishment of a new school under 

 better and more liberal regulations, he, after some consideration, 

 consented to superintend such an institution. On this basis the 

 well-known Clapham Grammar School was founded in August, 1834. 



In this school Pritchard continued to be the central and controlling 

 spirit during the following twenty-eight years, labouring in the 

 cause of high middle-class education with untiring energy and 

 success, by which he obtained very rapidly a high reputation as a 

 successful teacher. The many schemes he devised during this period 

 for the thorough training of his numerous pupils have been highly 

 appreciated. Some of them have been adopted with advantage in 

 other schools. In an article contained in the ' Nineteenth Century ' 

 for March, 1884, the Dean of Westminster, Dr. Bradley, who re- 

 ceived his early education at Stockwell, and afterwards at Clapham, 

 bears personal testimony to the enlarged and generous views of his 

 old teacher. The article gives a most interesting description of the 

 early days of the school, and of the practical methods employed by 

 Pritchard to interest the boys in their studies : " He, first of all, at 

 a time when the real study of comparative philology was almost 

 unknown in England, gave us some glimpses into what I may call 

 the science of language ; he taught us to try to group together facts 

 for ourselves, and to form, laws from what we observed and met. 



