Shaftesbury, Earl

of, was educated at Harrow School; was an ecclesiastical commi ioner from 1841 to 1847. His first public philanthropic effort was in 1833, when he introduced in the House of Commons a bill limiting the hours of children's labor in factories to ten a day. It was defeated; but a Government bill enjoining that with the exception of silk and lace mills, no children under nine were to be employed in the factories, while those under thirteen were to work not more than forty-eight hours a week, and were to receive from their employers at least two hours schooling a week, was carried. But it proved so imperfect and ineffective, that in 1838 he introduced another bill on the subject. This the Government also opposed. The outcome of the agitation was, however, that in 1850 he carried his point; and in 1853 Lord Palmers ton gave the measure its present shape, viz., that children between eight and thirteen years of age must not be employed more than six hours and a half daily, or ten hours on alternate days, while those of tender years must do their work between ten and six o'clock. In 1840 he secured a royal commi ion to inquire into the condition of the children not protected by the Factory Act, e.g., those in mines; and, on the strength of its revelations, introduced two bills in 1842, one removing female children from the mines and collieries, and the other providing for the care and education of children in calico-print works. In 1844 he founded the Ragged School Union in London, which has done so much for the outcast children there. In 1864 he introduced in Parliament measures which ultimately led to the prohibition of chimney sweeping by boys, and the compulsory employment of machines for the purpose. He was in 1834 one of the founders of the London City Mi ion; and in 1842, of a society for the construction of model lodging-houses. He was president of the British and Foreign Bible Society from 1851 till his death, as also of the Young Men's Christian A ociation. He was largely instrumental in reforming the treatment of lunatics. 278 He did much to elevate the costermonger cla . But it would be impo ible to estimate the good he did in the course of his long and active life. He was connected with nearly three hundred religious societies, and with many other philanthropic institutions. In 1884 the freedom of the City of London was presented to him. The secret of his succe was his humble piety. For a full account of his extraordinary usefulne , see Edwin Hodder: The Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, K.G., London, 1886, 3 vols. *