The monitorial system, which was devised by Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell at the end of the eighteenth century, was regarded as a "new" system by contemporary educationists. The monitorial schools were expected to take the place of charity schools and to supply the modern schooling for the great mass. The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the "newness" of the monitorial system by investigating the practice of Barrington School, which was opened in 1810 at Bishop Auckland by Shute Barrington, Bishop of Durham. The scheme of the school was drawn up by Bell himself, so it was very a monitorial school. On the other hand, it had close relation to 'Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the Comforts of the Poor', which was founded by Thomas Bernard in 1796. Firstly, it has been examined that the emphasis of the reports of the Society shifted from charity to education. And, through the analysis of the reports, the educational theory of Bernard has been clarified. The Society and Bernard aimed at the improvement of the character of the poor in order to facilitate'their future self-help. Secondly, the writer has attempted to find the characteristics of Barrington School in the formation of the school and the training of teachers. In this school the scholars were organized to instruct and discipline by themselves. Finally, the following conclusion has been drawn ; the monitorial system was not only an economical method of education which gave the poor the future self-help, but also a suitable mode of education for the modern schooling which enabled the poor children to practice the principle of self-help.
