Cloucesters/iiret 
1811.] 
^vhich business proving unfortunate, the re¬ 
mainder of his voyage through life has been 
passed iu quicksands and in misery. Seldom 
has there been greater vicissitude in the 
case of one man; from being in the full 
possession of abundance, respectability and 
well cultivated abilities, he became a wan¬ 
derer and an outcast; frequently commit¬ 
ting acts of vagrancy, ebrity, and almost 
idiocy, that rendered him obnoxious to every 
class of society; and perhaps 
“ Deserted in his utmost need. 
By those his former bounty fed.” 
Mrs. Pace, widow of Mr. P. surgeon, of 
Gloucester. 
Mr. Charles Beak, 7d. South-farm near 
Fairford. 
Wm. Parsons, esq. of Brislington. 
Maria, the beloved wife of Philip John 
Miles, esq. of Naish House. 
Mrs. Moore, 81, relict of Qlr. Charles M. 
of Tewkesbury. 
Miss Hay ward, of Tewkesbury. 
Mrs. Osborne, of Marshfield, 66. 
Mr. Thos. Howse. He was drowned in 
the river Avon, near Batheaston. 
Mr. Robert Raikes, lately deceased at 
Gloucester, wasol a very respectable family, 
and was born at Gloucester in the year 1735. 
His father was of the same business as 
himself, a printer, and conducted for many 
yeais with much approbation, the Gloucester 
Journal Theeducation Mr. Raikes received 
was liberal, and calculated for his future de¬ 
signation in life. At a proper season he was 
initiated into his father’s business, which he 
afterwards conducted with punctuality, dili¬ 
gence, and care. Several pieces, among 
which may be pointed out the Works of the 
Dean of Gloucester, are such as will suffer 
nothing by any comparison with the produc¬ 
tions of modern typography. The incident! 
of Mr. Raikes’s life are few, and those not 
enough distinguished from the rest of the 
world to admit of a particular detail. It is 
Sufficient to say, that in his business he was 
prosperous, and chat his attention was not so 
wholly confined to it, but that he found time 
to turn his thoughts to subjects connected 
with the great interests of mankind and 
the welfare of society. By his means some 
consolation has been afforded to sorrow and 
imprudence; some knowledge, and conse¬ 
quently happiness, to youth and inexperience. 
The first object which demanded bis notice, 
was the miserable state of the county bride¬ 
well within the city of Gloucester, which 
being part of the county gaol, the persons 
committed by the magistrates, out of sessions, 
for petty offences, associated, through neces¬ 
sity, with felons of the worst description, with 
little or no means of subsistence from labour ; 
with little, if any, allowance from the coun¬ 
ty > without either meat, drink, or clothing ; 
dependent chiefly on the precarious charity ot 
such as visited the prison, whethei brcught 
Momuly Mag. No, 217» 
thither by businesi, curiositv, or compassion* 
To relieve these miserable and forlorn 
wretches, and to render their situation sup¬ 
portable at least, Mr. Raikes employed both 
his pen, his influence, and his property to 
procure them the necessaries of life; and find¬ 
ing that ignorance was generally the princi¬ 
pal cause of those enormities which brought 
them to become objects of his notice, he de¬ 
termined, if possible, to procure rhem some 
moral and religious instruction. In this he 
succeeded, by means of bounties and encou¬ 
ragement, given to such of the prisoners who 
were able to read ; and these, by being direct¬ 
ed to proper books, improved both themselves 
and their fellow prisoners, and afforded great 
encouragement to persevere in the benevo¬ 
lent design. He then procured for them a 
of work, to preclude every excuse and 
temptation to idleness. Successful in this ef¬ 
fort, he formed a more extensive plan of use¬ 
fulness to society, which will trans.mit his 
name to posterity with those honour? which, 
are due to the great benefactors of mankind. 
This was the institution ol Sunday schools, s 
plan which has been attended with the hap¬ 
piest effects. The thought was Suggested by 
accident. “ Some business,” says Mr. Raikes, 
“ leading me one morning into the suburbs 
of the city, where the lowest of the people 
(who are principally employed in the pin 
manufactory) chiefly reside, I was struck 
with concern on seeing a group of children, 
wretchedly ragged, at play in the street. An 
enquiry of a neighbour produced an accounE 
ot the miserable state and deplorable proff-gacy 
of these infants, more especially on a Sunday, 
when left to their own direction.” This in¬ 
formation suggested an idea, “ that it would 
be at least a harmless attempt, if It should 
be productive of no good, should some little 
plan be formed to check this deplorable profa¬ 
nation of the sabbath. An agreement was 
soon after made with proper persons, to re¬ 
ceive as many children on Sundays as should 
be sent, w'ho were to be instructed in reading 
and in the church catechism, at a certain 
rate. The clergyman who was csurate of the 
parish at the same time undertook to super¬ 
intend the schools, and examine Che progress 
made. This happened about 178l, and the 
good consequences evidently appeared in the 
reformation and orderly behaviour of those 
who before were in every respect the opposite 
of decency or regularity. The effects were 
so apparent, that other parishes in Gloucester 
and in variou* par's of the kingdom, adopted 
the scheme, which has by degrees become 
almost general, to the great advantage and 
comfort of the poor, and still more to the 
security and repose of the rich. Since the 
first institution, many tiiousands of childrera 
have ’oeen employed, to their own satisfac¬ 
tion, in acquiring such a portion of know¬ 
ledge as will render them useful to society, 
without encouraging any disposition unfavour- 
2 s -ble 
