Just as the church discipline and organization are traceable to the hand of Fox, so also is the attitude on educational affairs. It has been said that the doctrine of the _inner light_ made all education unnecessary, and this perverted idea has doubtless possessed even some members of Quakers to the extent that they came to regard learning as an instrument of Satan, a thing to be carefully avoided. However true this statement may have been of some members of the group, it certainly is not representative of the belief and practice of the Quakers as a whole. Some of the more ignorant may have interpreted the _inner light_ to mean just that thing; but it is certainly true that such an idea was never expressed by George Fox, nor did it become the accepted belief of the organization, as is shown by their practices. The actual practice, educational, among Quakers is to be followed in this monograph. A later chapter will be devoted to a consideration of the views on education held by various individuals who have left some tangible monuments to their beliefs. In the present chapter, however, it is intended to indicate merely the position assumed by Fox in regard to the question at the outset of his labors. As has been previously mentioned (page 2) George Fox had the advantage of only a limited education. Opposition to the higher education, if he exhibited such, might find an explanation in this fact, assuming that not having shared its delights and advantages, he chose to deprecate it altogether. From a study of his utterances and his actions throughout his career it seems, however, that the facts point rather to a true appreciation rather than deprecation of education. The evidence appears to support, in a very satisfactory manner, the following points: [Sidenote: Fox’s educational creed] 1. That he placed a great emphasis on moral and religious training. 2. Education should be of practical value; apprenticeship education recommended. 3. That the establishment of schools was believed to be necessary. 4. The objection to classical training was its inadequacy to prepare for a minister of the gospel. 5. That the scope of education was not limited to Quakers alone, nor even to the Whites, but should include also Negroes, Indians and the poorer classes of society as well as the rich. The remainder of this chapter will be devoted to a brief consideration of the foregoing statements.