MINISTRY OF FULFILMENT |
| DIRECTOR Cleopatra Vass |
ABOUT
Learning flourished from the end of the first to the middle of the fourth century; but afterwards declined, and on the arrival of the Saxons in England, it fell lower and lower in the esteem of the people. From this period until the seventh century, little or no education was given. Several schools were then established, it is true, among which that founded by Augustine stood pre-eminent; but so destitute of erudition had the people been, that it is doubted whether one solitary book could be found in England on his arrival. Thus, books had to be imported from foreign lands at a great cost, so that none but the most opulent were possessed of them; and schools were consequently established in palaces, bishops' residences, and monasteries only. These, in their turn, were destroyed by the Danes ; and when Alfred came to the throne, in the ninth century, he had to effect their restitution,—to which end he planted a school in every monastery. In these schools the youths were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, music, rhetoric, theology, and the Latin language. This full scheme of tuition was necessary to clerical youth then— because, when they arrived at manhood, all public offices were filled by them, and the laity were left to grow up in ignorance; but Alfred, desirous that they, as well as the clergy, should be educated, founded the two universities for that express purpose.