ABSTRACT
The central social fact, what may be called the implicit major premise of Griffith Jones’ argument in favour of catechetical schools, was the alienation of the eighteenth-century Welsh peasantry from the Church of England. The social purpose of the schools is not uppermost in Griffith Jones’ mind, to judge from the small number of times he discourses on the theme. The duties of the teacher in the circulating schools were exactly specified; various sanctions, including instant dismissal without appeal, were attached to violations of the role-expectations. The main desideratum aimed at in the rules was that nothing should be done by the schoolmaster in violation of the established practices and laws of the Established Church. In the course of ten or so years of operation, the schools settled down so that the organization was able to devote itself to the task of multiplying the provision of facilities.
