ife, is dissolved naturally.

Edward VI, "monstrificus puellus," was a precocious child of nine years
old when he succeeded to the throne. The first "Injunctions" issued in
his name gave distinct promise for educational bodies, as they comprised
an order, compelling all chantry priests to teach the children reading
and writing. Thus at one stroke of the pen he converted a body of men,
who had insufficient work to do, into National Schoolmasters. Such a
measure would tend to improve the quality of the chantry priests, who
would no longer run "unto London, unto St. Poules" seeking for a chantry
of souls, seeing that the toil of a Schoolmaster would be their lot.

But within a year a fresh Chantries Act was passed and a new Commission
appointed by the Protector and his Council. The Act contained a
prefatory statement which maintained that "a great part of superstition
and errors in Christian religion has been brought into the minds and
estimations of men" and this "doctrine and vain opinion by nothing is
more maintained and upholden than by the abuse of trentals, chantries,
and other provisions made for the continuance of the said blindness and
ignorance." They therefore determined to dissolve the chantries and at
the same time continue Grammar Schools, where they existed. The results
belied the early promise. The clauses relating to the endowment of
Grammar Schools have gained Edward VI a widespread fame as a founder of
most of the schools in England. But that fame has been wholly
fictitious.

Henry VIII had wrought great damage to elementary education, although he
had professed "I love not learning so ill, that I will impaire the
revenues of anie one house by a penie, whereby it may be upholden." But
it has been calculated that in 1546 there was probably one school for
every eight thousand people, whereas three hundred years later, the
proportion was thrice as small. Yet Edward VI did not found one school
in Yorkshire, and many, which had previously existed, he deprived of all
revenue. So diminished were the means of education in 1562 that Thomas
Williams, on his election as Speaker of the House of Commons, took
occasion to call Queen Elizabeth's notice to the great dearth of schools
"that at least one hundred were wanting, which before this time had
been." In other words in a period of less than thirty years the number
had decreased by a third. And this was in spite of a six years' reign of
Edward VI., the supposed pr