xxn A LARGE SUBSCRIPTION 283 



Much had now to be done. A London committee was 

 appointed, to which John Chorley, Fothergill's nephew, 

 acted as secretary. The house must be furnished ; a 

 tenant obtained for the land the pew-rights in the 

 church were relinquished ; a Friend to have charge of 

 the garden and its produce for the school use ; and, most 

 important of all, a responsible master and mistress must 

 be found. A grave leisured Friend was sought for, who 

 would come without salary, or " a sober couple, frugal, 

 sensible and religious " : the teaching, which was very 

 elementary, could be supplied by younger persons. 

 Fothergill and Barclay worked together in close intimacy 

 and consultation on these matters. " Which of us should 

 do it ? it ought to be done," writes Fothergill, in the 

 course of a long letter in October, concerned with the 

 many details that had to be thought of : bills of admission 

 for the children (eight guineas paid for education board 

 and clothing for a year, and this thought to be too high 

 by some), staff of helpers and their functions, clothing of 

 scholars, minute to inform country meetings, finance, and 

 applications to wealthy Friends : (" Kindly be pleased 

 to set them a good example : Providence has prospered 

 thee," he writes to Zachariah Cockfield.) There is a note 

 of his tired yet indefatigable mind in the concluding words 

 of his letter : "I had something else to say, but it is gone 

 from me : one thing however I hope will never leave me 

 whilst I retain my understanding a fervent wish for 

 thine and thy consort's happiness, both here and here- 

 after. Farewell. J. Fothergill." 



The first " General Meeting " was held at Ackworth 

 from the 2gih to the 3ist of July 1779, and the plans set 

 in order. On the i8th October the school was opened, 

 under the care of John Hill, treasurer and superintendent, 

 his wife Judith Hill mistress of the family, and Hannah 

 Little, teacher. John Hill was induced to come for a 

 few weeks, and stayed ten years. The doctor visited 

 the house ten months later, accompanied by his faithful 

 sister, whose interest in the project was no less than his 

 own : she dreamed of it, so she writes in her journal, 



