began in 1799 to undertake the dissemination of religious knowledge.
Sunday schools, through the energy of Mr. Raikes, were rising in various
parts of the country; the poorer classes were learning to read; and
nothing in the shape of cheap literature was provided to meet their new
craving, except mischievous broadsheets and worthless doggerel. Hannah
More set to work to supply something healthy to amuse, instruct, and
edify the new order of readers. She produced regularly every month for
three years, three tracts--simple, pithy, vivacious, consisting of
stories, ballads, homilies, and prayers. She was sometimes assisted by
one of her sisters and two or three friends; but the burden of the work,
including heavy correspondence with local committees in almost every
district of England, fell upon her shoulders. In order to issue the
brochures at a cheap rate and to undersell pernicious publications, she
found it necessary to raise a subscription. Her appeal met with a
liberal response; and very shortly the lively tracts, with a rough
woodcut on the title-page, came by thousands from the printer's hands.
In the first year no less than two millions were sold. Amongst the
tracts were _The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, Black Giles the Poacher,
History of Mr. Fantom, The Two Shoemakers, History of Tom White the
Postilion, The Strait Gate and the Broad Way;_ and amongst the ballads
_Turning the Carpet, King Dionysius and Squire Damocles, The Honest
Miller of Gloucestershire, The Gin-Shop, or A Peep into a Prison_.

It would be difficult to over-estimate both the direct and secondary
value of the Cheap Repository Tracts. Their beneficial influence must
have been incalculable; and for this reason they should be placed
amongst the greatest and best work of Hannah More's useful life.

By 1798 Miss More had withdrawn almost entirely from London society,
contenting herself with a yearly visit of two months, which she divided
between Mrs. Garrick, Bishop Porteus, Lord Teignmouth, and one or two
others. Her schools occupied the best part of her time; but frequent
attacks of illness often interfered with her duties.

In 1799 her active pen was at work again. Her third ethical publication,
_Strictures on Female Education_, came out, forming yet another
counterblast to the corrupt systems in vogue amongst the
wealthy classes.

It would have been marvellous had Miss More escaped persecution in her
work amongst rural populations. Combating