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THE WORKS OF THE REV. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. IN NINE VOLUMES. VOL. VI. CONTAINING AN ESSAY ON CHARITY SCHOOLS, THE ART OF READING AND WRITING ENGLISH, AND THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. . LONDON: PRINTED TOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, OE#IE AND BROWN, PATERNOSTEn- ROW; BAINES, ROBINSON AND SON, HARDCASTLE, AND HEATON, LEEDS; By Edward Baines, Leeds. 1813.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI. AN ESSAY TOWARDS THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF PACO. THE ART OF READING AND WRITING ENGLISH, ... 43 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY, ... ... 107 The Arian invited to the Orthodox Faith ' ... .., 207 Questions concerning Jesus the Son of God, . ... 391 On the Explication of the Doctrine of the Trinity, ... 474 The Glory of Christ as God-man ... ... ... ..: 484 Appendix (thereto) ... ... ... ... ... ... 649
ESS.1Y TOWARDS THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF CHARITY SCHOOLS. PARTICULARLY AMOÑG PROTESTANT DISSENTERS. ' VOL. vr,
PREFACE To " 'AN ESSAY TOWARDS THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF CHARITY SCHOOLS, PARTICULARLY AMONG PROTES- TANT DISSENTERS." To the generous Supporters of the Schools of Charity among the Protestant Dissenters, and particularlyto the Mana- gers of those Schools. GENTLEMEN, MY heartis with you in your pious and compassionate designs : Go onand prosper inyour charitable cares and labours for the education of poor:and un- happy children : Poor and unhappy children indeed, who have either lost their parents by death, or whose parents are not able to give them, orprovide for them any tolerable instruction in the thingsof God or man. It is fromocca- sional converse with some of you, that I have been better enabled to compose several parts of this defenceof the schools of charity. It is also by some of yournumber that I have been informed what mistakes may be committed in the conduct of these affairs, and what methods may be most successful to attain your most desirable ends, that is, to keep the poor from being a nuisance, to render them some way useful to the world, and to put their feet into the paths that lead to their own happiness here and hereafter. Give me leave therefore to set before you in one view, several of those things which seem necessary to support this cause of liberality, and which I have learned in some measure from yourselves. I. Let your great aims and designs in all your zeal and diligence in this matter, be very sincerefor the public good. Set your intentions right for the glory of God, for the increase of true religion in the world, forthe benefit of poor destitute children in soul and body, for the training themup to become blessings to thenation, forthe support and honour of thepresent government, and for the security and defence of the protestant succession. IL See to it that in every step you take, you keep as many of these things as possible constantly in your eye, whether you seekmasters or mis- tresses forthe instruction of children, whether you prescribe orders and rules for their behaviour, whether you appoint seasons for their examination, or whether you enquire after families in which they may be placed, when they go out of your schools ; and let no private ends or designs bias your thoughts andconduct in any of these affairs : Let it appear with bright evidence to the world, that thehonour of God, and the good of the public, are your only motivesin this work. III. Take good care of the character of the masters and mistresses, whom you chose for the instruction of the children. See that they be suffi- ciently skilled in the things which they pretend to teach : Admit none but those who are soberand religious in their personal behaviour, diligent and careful in all the parts of their proper duty, tender and compassionateto the children of thepoor, prudent to deal with them according to their temper, A2
4 TREFACE. age and capacity, solicitous for the welfare end improvement of their scholars, and faithful to the trust which you repose in them. Let them notbe persons of a hasty spirit, nor of an angry and rash temper: There have been some masters, I will notsay in your schools, so brutal and uncompassionate, that because the children arepoor, they are used with excess of rigourand severity. in thetreatment of them : Nor should the teachers be so familiar and easy, as to let their scholars trifle with them, or neglect their duty, orbe guilty of criminal practices withoutdue reproof orcorrection. They should notbe per- sons of sloth or indolence, that have no concern whether the children im- prove or no, so they do but receive their salary. Nor should they be persons that are guilty o£ any degrees of intemperance, or violence, nor ill language, nor unbecoming speech or carriage, but such as may give an example of piety and virtue, charity and goodness, at the same time as they teach the rules ofit. As I wouldpresume that no persons of anyof theseculpable characters, are entrusted with the education of children among you, on I am persuaded I need give no caution against the admission of persons into this trust, who are disaffected to the presentgovernment : For the very name and profession of a protestant dissenter, is utterly inconsistent with all the principles of those who have their eye to apopish pretender. - These things are not only to be consideredat first, whenyou admit masters or mistresses into your schools, but you mustcarefully enquirewhether they continue this prudent and pious behaviour, and act agreeably to their station and business, and are conforma- bleto your appointmentand direction. Remember that if teachers and go.. vernors behave ill, there is huge injury done to children thereby. It is a waste of their timeof life which is proper for learning, it is a deceiving of their parents, and a great disappointment to them, it is a cheat upon yourselves, and a loss both of your money and your care. IV. Be not contented merely to have them read the bible, and be taught the catechism at proper seasons, but let the truths and duties of it be explained to them in afamiliar and easy way, by taking the answers to pieces, and in- structing the children till they understand the sense of them. It would also be a very useful thing for the children to have a particular collection ofscrip- tures which might impress upon their tender minds, not only the duties of piety towards God, but also the duties of sobriety and temperance, of justice and truth, of humility and submission to superiors, of diligence and industry in their business, of kindness and love to all men, and especially to persons ofpiety and virtue, whatsoever sects or parties of christians they belong to. I am informed such a manual is partly composed, and will be published in a little time. They should be put in mind frequently, ofthe excellency of the christian religion in distinction from that ofTurks and Jews, and heathens: and ofthe excellency of the protestantreligion, in opposition to the papists, with all their idolatry and superstition, their cruel andwicked principles, their mischievous and bloody practices. They should be informed also, on every occasion, of the great and invaluable privileges of being born in Great-Britain, and t,f living under so excellent 'a government as ours is, wherein there is liberty of conscience to serve Godaccording to our own understandings, and wherein people are not punished and persecuted merely for their principles of religion. And on this account they should be taught tohonour our most excellent King George, our most gracious Queen Caroline, and all the royal family, and be
PREFACE. 5 ready to defend the protestant succession in this illustrious house, with their tongues, and their hands, and with all their powers. It may be useful also to put other little books into their hands, to assist thedevotion of their youn- ger years, and to encourage and confirm them in the principles and practices of all moral and divine virtues. Some of these may be written in verse as well as in prose, which will allure children to readthem and assist their me- mories in getting them by heart : They should all have lessons appointed in their books, and they should be required to repeat them to their teachers, at stated hours or seasons, once or twice in a week. V. As the children arenot constantly under their master's eye and care, but spend much of their time with their parents, so there should be some care taken to charge their parents to make them read at home, at least once or twice a day, and to keep them by due discipline to a regular behaviour, that they may not be guilty of profaneness or immorality, obsti- nacy, disobedience to superiors of any wickedness at home or abroad. VI. Let not the Lord's-day be spent by them at random, nor let them wander after their own wills where they please: But let them be obliged to attend at some place of public worship, either with their masters or mistres. ses, that they maybe under the eyeand observation ; or with their parents, who should be charged and engaged to take particular care of their religious observation of the Lord's-day. And wheresoever children go to worship on the Lord's-day, whether it be with their parents or with their teachers, let it be a constant part of the business on the Monday mornings, for their teachers to enquire what they remember of the sermons they have heard, at least, so far as to make them repeat the text by heart, on which the minister preached. VII. Let there be certain seasons of examination appointed, two or three times a year, not only to enquire into the state of the schoolin general, or fill up Vacancies as thechildren are dismissed, but to make a particular en- quiry how the children improve in their learning; and if there be any defect, to find out whether it be the fault of the scholars, or of the teachers : If the child's incapacity or low natural parts be the occasion of it, let him be excited and encouraged to double diligence: If the child has been negligent, reproofs and threatenings should be added : But if it be found that the non-improve- ment of children be owing to the neglect, or the mismanagement of the teachers, let there be due cognizance taken of it in a proper way, and new teachers bechosen, if two or three admonitions obtain no success. VIII. It would bea great and unspeakable advantage to these schools of charity, if you could contrive some methods whereby all thechildren of the poor, might be employed insome useful labours one part of the day ; that those who are to earn their bread by the labour of their hands, might be engaged inwork for this purpose even from the younger years of life. This would fix them betimes in such a manner of life, as the providence of God has suited to their circumstances in the world. This would have a manifest tendency to secure them from pride and sloth, andwould be the most effec- tual answer to a very common and powerful objection, in the lips of many persons against charity schools. IX. For this reason I would propose, that if the parents can and will employ their children one part of the day in useful labours toward their sub- sistence, this should rather be encouraged then forbidden; always provided that there be such due care taken dailyby the parents, that it may be no A3
6 PREFACE. excuse for idle children to absent themselves from the school and play truant, tó the disappointment both of their parents, their teachers, and their benefactors. X. When children have continued a proper time under the instructions of the school, and you find they have so much knowledge, as may lay some foundation for religion and virtue, and as may render them useful in some of the lower stations of life, endeavour then that they may be placed out, and fixed either in country -labours, in domestic services, in some inferior post in a shop, or in mechanic trades, that so they may notrun loose and wild in the world, and forget all that you have taught them, and lie exposed to tempta- tion and misery. If this cannot be done immediately, take some care that their parents or friendsemploy them in proper business at home, and keep them to reading, and writing, to knitting, sewing, or domestic work, that all your labours, and expences may not be lost. XI. Whensoever these children are to be placed out in families, see to it that these families have a due character for sobriety and diligence : Engage their masters or mistresses to take some care that these servants read their bible daily, and that they make use of any other part of their learning, as their post of service or employment will admit, that if possible, the benefits which you havebestowed on them may be lasting. XII. For this purpose, enquire now and then into their behaviour in those places where you have fixed them And if it appear they have behaved well, give them some tokenof your favour ; ten or twenty or thirty shillings the first year or two, after they are gone from the school. This will greatly encourage them to pursue the practise of piety and virtue. I know some of you do more than this. I wish it were the universal customof all the schools. In the last place, as I hope you pray for divine success in every good work in which you are engaged, so let your prayers accompany this your la- bour of love, for the temporal and eternal welfare of the poor children, who taste of your bounty. May the God of light and grace succeed all your de- signs to train up those young destitute creatures to be a blessing to the world, and that your schools maybe nurseries for the church of Christ : And may your liberality and your pious cares meet witha rich reward from heaven, in the abundant blessings of this life, and that which is to come. AMEN. 1728.
AN ESSAY TOWARDS THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF CHARITY SCHOOLS, Particulars among Protestant Dissenters. THE good education ofchildren is an important duty of parents, and a very valuable blessing to the rising age ; yet there are great multitudes of parents, in the lower ranks of life, who are so igno- rant, that they are incapable of instructing their own ehildren well in the knowledge of things, that belong to this world or another : Or, if they have knowledge, yet some are so exceeding poor, that they can 'hardly withhold time enough from earning their bread, to spend in the careful education of their sons and their daughters : And among these poorer parts of mankind, there are others, who are too careless in. this important concern, though the welfare of their children, here and hereafter, seems to de- pend upon it: And there are great numbers also who die in poverty, and leave their youngoffspring behind them untaught, and grievously exposed. What must be done in this case ? must all those children, who are so unhappy as to be born of poor or ignorant parents, grow up like the brutes of the earth, without education ? Must they be abandoned to the wilderness of their own nature, and be let run loose and savage in the streets ? Shall nocare be taken to inform their minds, to curb their sinful passions, and to make them speak and act like reasonable creatures, and live useful to the world ? When we see or hear of such unhappy objects as these, methinks our compassion and charity for these young crea- tures of our own species, should work powerfullywithin us, to reach out the hand of bounty, to train 'them up to some degrees of knowledge, and to the practice of virtue, and put them in a way to support by honest labour : Or, at least our zeal for the honour of God, for the good of our country, and for the welfare of the succeeding age, should inspire us with some sentiments of liberality, in order to redress this grievance, and prevent the growing mischief. Those that are blessed with a good competence of the things of this life, and have no children of their own, seem to be in- vited by Providence to take these opportunities of doing good to the miserable and distressed orphans, who have lost their parents, and the children of the poor and needy, who cannot maintain and instruct their own offspring. Those also who feel the tender sen-
$ AN ESSAY ON CHARITY-SCHOOLS. satins of parental love to their sons and their daughters, and, with zeal and delight, train them up in useful knowledge, should sympathize a little with those poor unhappy parents, who would fain have their children trainedup in piety and virtue, in dili- gence, and duty to God and man ; but their mere poverty with- holds them from giving their children the benefit of a school. Thus different persons should be led by various motives to pro- mote so pious and charitable a work. These were the springs, which at first moved the hearts of some pious and generous persons to erect schools of charity for this purpose, and particularly in the city of London. There was one set up in Gravel Lane, in Southwark, by the protestant dissenters, a little before the revolution, and our deliverance by King William of glorious memory. Many others were formed by persons of the established church, to which several dissenters subscribed largely. But at last they found by sufficient experi- ence, that the children were brought up in too many of these schools, in principles of disaffection to the present government, in a bigotted zeal for the word church,'and with a violent enmity, and malicious spirit of persecution, against all whom they were taught to call Presbyterians, though from many of their hands, they received their bread and clothing. It was time then, for the dissenters to withdraw that charity which was so abused : And since the favour of our rulers gives us leave to educate children according to our sentiments, and the dictates of our consciences, some generous spirits among us, have made attempts of this kind, and employ their bounty in the support of a few such schools. And as we hope this charity will be acceptable to God, and useful to mankind, so we are well assured, it will be a sensible service to the present government, which has no friends in the world more sincere, and more zealous than the protestant dissenters. Several excellent sermons have been preached among us, wherein persons have been warmly ex- cited to contribute their helping-hand, to this charitable and beneficial design. That which was published in the year 1723, by my worthy friend and brother, Mr. Daniel Neal, gives the most large and particular narrative of the management of these schools, and their methods of education, with an account of the advantages arising to the public thereby : And to this useful dis- course, I refer my readers who would be particularly informed in this matter. When I was desired to preach on the like occa- sion last November, after a short account of the benefit of good education, I undertook to vindicate these schools from many common and popular objections which ate raised against them : And I have here published this vindicatiòn a little enlarged, and descended into somemore particularcircumstances, at the earnest request of several gentlemen, who are concerned its the support
AN ESSAY ON CHAEITY-SCHOOL$. 9 and management of one of them, viz. that which is kept in Crutched-Friars near Aldgate.v I designed, indeed, to have prefaced this discourse with a short Treatise on Education ; but that work growing larger dailyunder my hands, and being much importuned to let this appear sooner in the world, I have at last consented to it. Be- fore I apply myself directly to answer the objections, I ask leave to lay down several propositions by way of concession : And when those who. raise complaints against our schools of charity, have seen how much I grant to them, this may perhaps have some good influence, to mollify their spirits, and abate their op position to these schools, and may prepare them to give a more favourable attention to the answers which shall follow: Proposition I. The great God has wisely ordained in the course of his providence in all ages, that among mankind there should be some rich, and some poor : And the sane providence bath allotted to the poor the meaner services, and bath given to the richthe superior and more honourable businesses of life : Nor is it possible, according to the present course of nature and human affairs, to alter this constitution of things, nor is it our design to attempt any thing so unreasonable. IL As the children of the rich in general, ought to enjoy such an education, as may fit them for the better businesses of life,' so the children of the poor, especially such as need the charityof their neighbours, should not be generally educated in such a manner, as may raise them above the services of a lower station. III. Yet surely there may be some exception made for the children of those poor parents, who have enjoyed plentiful cir- cumstances in life, and have behaved well in them, and per. formed the duties of justice and charity ; but by the wise provi- dence of God have been reduced to great degrees of poverty, andare hardly able to provide food and clothing for their own offspring, and much less to bestow a good education upon them. Some of these children are yet sunk deeper into distress, ,ind ,fire become orphans. Such misery has somewhat of a sacred tenderness belonging to it, and seems to claim the regards of sympathy and compassion from those who now enjoy plentiful circumstances, while theymeditate on the uncertainty of human affairs, and remember that they are liable to the like calamity. * Since that time, the Reverend Mr. Samuel Chandler has published his sermon, which was preached January I, 1728, wherein he defends these schoola of charity against the cavils which have been raised, and the censures cast upon them, by the author of the " Fable of the Rees." Upon the perusal of it, I find very solid and effectual answers given to the objections of that author. His discourse has touched upon several points which I had omitted, and has given considerableasseistance toward the support of this cause of charity and banefi. CRttce,
10 AN ESSAY ON CHARITY- SCHOOLS. And it is myopinion, that amongst all the poor, these children ought to have the chief advantage of the schools of charity. 1V. It seems also not unreasonable, that some distinction may be made between the children of the poor in great towns or, cities, and those who are born and bred in far distant villages. The poor who are born and bred in towns and cities, see and know more of the advantages of mankind, and the brighter side', of the world, and come into more acquaintance with the better parts and offices of life, and by this means are, as it were, natu- rally something nearer le them, and are sometimes occasionally called to assist in them : Whereas those who are born and bred afar off in country- villages, see and know little or nothing of this, and therefore, as they have less aptitude for these things, and have less need of them, so they have no tendency or reach of soul after them ; for providence seldom throws these objects or opportunities in their way. V. If therefore the poor who are bred in towns and cities, should enjoy some small advantages in their education, beyond those who are born in far distant fields and villages, if they should be taught to add and subtract a few figures, as well as to write a plain hand, it is but agreeable to, and correspondent with that providence which has determined the place of their birth, and " fixed the bounds of their habitation ;" Acts xvii. 26. But for the poorest of mankind in distant parts of the country, per- haps the art of reading, maybe sufficient, to answer most of their necessities : And if they are taught to read well, I will not urge the charityof my friends to bestow any higher degrees of learn- ing upon them, on supposition that they are to be engaged in the business of husbandry and day-labour. VI. And if it were possible, -I would have every charity- 'school soconstituted, that the children of the poor both in city and country, might be employed in some work and labour, ge- nerallyone half of the day ; that it might have partly the nature of a work-house, as well as of a school,' forall those who are to live by their hard labour, rather than by their learning. T men- tion several of these things but very briefly here, because I shall' have occasion to resume these subjects in the following parts of my discourse. I proceed now to give some answers to the coin - mon objections, against all our charity-schools for the instruction of the poor. Objection I. 'There is no need of any learning at all for the meanest ranks of mankind : Their business is to labour, not to think : Their duty is to do what they are commanded, to fill up the most servile posts, and to perform the lowest offices and -drudgeries of life, for the conveniency of their superiors, and common nature gives them knowledge enough for this purpose, They are born in the lowest station, and they ought always to
AN ESSAY ON CHARITY- SCHOOLS. 11 be kept in ignorance, that so knowing nothing but what they are bid, they may do their work without reasoning about it. Answer 1. Shall I argue a little against this objection, upon the mere principle of compassion and pity? .If weconsider how many thousands of the poor, both men andwomen in this nation, are stupidly ignorant of every thing that belongs to religion and morality, and know nothingof the true life of a reasonable crea- ture, who are almost perfect heathens in a christian country, surely it must raise some compassion in our hearts toward them ; have we any tenderness about our souls, and yet refuse to do any thing to prevent the young rising generation from being im- mersed in the same stupid ignorance and gross errors about the things of God and man ? Or, can we be content to see multi- tudes of mankind growing up wild and thoughtless of their best interests, and, perishing by thousands, from one generation to another, for want of light and knowledge ? 2. Give me leave yet farther, to talk with such objectors upon the foot of that golden rule, which our Saviour gave to all his disciples ; Mat. vii. 12. Is this dealing with others, as you would have others deal with you ? Is this advice concerning the poor, such as your yourselves would think reasonable and agree- able to the rules of christian charity and goodness, if you had been born in the midst of extreme poverty and ignorance, and had several wealthy neighbours near you, who could relieve your miseryat so easy a rate ? Turn the tables a little, and set your- selves for a moment in the place of the poorest creature, and then enquire, whether you would think it a kind and equitable con- duct in your wealthy neighbours, who call themselves Christians, tobind you for ever down to a state of darkness, and discourage the charity of others, who would give you a lift from the deeps of ignorance ? And must every soul of mankind who is born in poverty, be confined to live without knowledge? Suppose one in twenty should give some very promising prospect of an un- common ingenuity andsense, must lie be confined with his fellows to the same darkness and drudgery for ever ? Let it be consi- dered, that the God of nature has distributed genius, capacity, and sprightliness of mind with a promiscuous hand among the rich and the poor. The same God is the Maker of them both ; Prov. xxii. 2. and he has not always made the richest to be the brightest of men. There maybe here and there a fine and spark- ling genius born in cottages ; there may be some bright souls amongst the poorest of mortals : These may, perhaps, by good cultivation, grow up into honourable and useful members in the church or state : We have had surprising instances of this kind in our day. And why should not such sprightly children, if I may so express it, have their chance to rise in the world? And be put into a capacity of exerting their powers for the service or
12 AN ESSAY ON CHARITY-SCHOOLS. God and man ? Why should the world be deprived of all the benefit that might be drawn from such ingenious minds, under the care of a happy education ? Let them at least be taught to know their letters, and have a way made for their brighter talents to discover themselves. Diamonds of a noble lustre are taken from common earth, and every diamond is rough or cloudy, till it is cut and polished. Ifthere should happen to be a vein of silver mixed with the leaden ore, why should it be denied the favour of the refining-pot, since nature seems to bave made it on purpose to shine and glitter ? 3..A confinement of all the poor to such shameful degrees of profound ignorance, is the ready way to bring in confusion and slavery upon a whole nation. When the common people have no knowledge of any thing, they are the fittest tools for am- bition and tyranny, for treason and public mischief. Men of crafty and aspiring minds,know how to make use of persons bred up in such gross ignorance, to carry on their seditious purposes, and raise dangerous tumults in a peaceful state. Or if subtle and imperious men should ever obtain power among us, these poor, thoughtless creatures are soon turned into fatal instruments to enslave a rich and free people. Or finally, if a rude and un- taught multitude set up for themselves, and rise into tumult, or rebellion against our present sovereign King George, contrary to all right and justice, it would be found very hard to suppress them : They would never be convinced of their present folly, or of their true interest, because they were never taught to practise reasoning, nor to understand common sense. A silly noisyword or a foolish rhyme tost about through such a brutal multitude, has raised and fired a whole country into sedition and treason : Our British annals are the frequent witnesses of this madness, in those ancient days, whenour forefatherscouldneither read nor write. Let it be remembered, that knowledge is the truest spring of liberty among mankind. Had many of the foreign nations in Europe, Asia, or Africa, ever enjoyed such means of knowledge as Great Britain enjoys, they had never been immersed in such deeps of bondage and slavery. It is knowledge that pre- serves and secures a sense of true freedom in the minds of men. Sampson was not put to grind in the mill, till he had lost his eyes. And if we are agreed to prevent light from striking into the souls of the multitude, it is possible that, in some fewgenerations, it may come to our turn to grind in the mill too. 4. Such stupid ignorance will fit and prepare the minds of the poor for all the superstitions and iniquitiesof the popish church. Ignorance is the true and fruitful mother of such devo- tion. When persons are not taught the better principles of reli- gion they will become ready believersof all the lying tales and miracles of the Romig). clergy : they will quickly be induced to
AN ESSAY ON CHARITY-SCHOOLS. 13 practise all theirgay and senseless superstitions, though they are never so contrary to reason and scripture, when they are not ca- pable of saying any thing against them. They will be led blind- ly by the priests into any absurdities of faith, or any criminal practices which they please to consecrate by the name of religion. Besides, if there be no care of the instruction of the minds of the poor among us, whatsoever forms of worship, or of political ser- vice they happen to fall into, it is, as it were, by chance and without knowledge : It isalla mere matter of stupid mechanism : Whether they are in the church, or the street, in a fleet or an army ; it is like a croud of bodies without souls. And can such a set of creatures when they are grown up to the age of men, and know nothing, can they be either acceptable to God in their pretences to religion, or can they be useful to Great Britain in itsbest interests ? But this thought leads me to the next par- ticular. 5. If young persons have no manner of education, they will notso much as know the God that made them, nor what is their duty towards their maker. What lamentable profaneness, what irreligion,what horrid blasphemy, what swearing and cursing, and all manner ofimpiety would abound amongst us, it'the poorer part ofmankind werenever taught to read,nor instructed in the things of God ? And indeed the instruction which this sort ofobjectors would allow them, is so very small, bypermitting them to go to church once a week, that they would gain very little knowledge of God and Christ, and our holy religion thereby, if they were deprived of all other advantages of knowledge. I have some- times conversed with some of those miserablecreatures, and I have found them ignorant to a most amazing degree of the first principles of religion and the gospel. Has Great Britain been blessed of God with many rich conveniences, for the improvement of the mind, by writing or printing, books of every useful kind, and shall these blessings be made useless to so great a part of our nation ? This would be to practise much as the papists do, who rob the common people pf the bible, thebook of life, and permit none to enjoy it, but in the Latin tongue. It is a fountain ofheavenly grace, but it is a seal- ed one to the poor, that are educated in popish countries. And . is it not a shame in this protestant nation, that the scripture should be a fountain sealed to any of her children ? When the bible is translated into our mother tongue, is it not a lamentable thought and almost a scandal, that there should be any amongst us to whom it should be a useless book, because they have never learned to read ? And those that are unwilling that their fellow- creatures should attain the knowledge of reading; it isas if they sealed up the book of life. If I am not learned enough to read, it is all one towe, as though the book were for ever shut ;. Is.
14 AN ESSAY ON CHARITY- SCHOOLS. xxix. 11. What an envious creature is he who would obstruct the free entrance of the common light of the heavens to mortals who are born in darkness, or would forbid sight to be given to the blind ? What a provoking crime is this against the God of nature ? And is it not a heinous and provoking sin against theGod of grace, that when he has opened the hook of life amongst us, there should be any persons, who should forbid us to be taught to read it, because we happen to be poor ? Would it not be a most flagrant and complicated instance of ill- nature, prideand scorn, if we should hear a rich man say concerning his poor neighbours, Because they are born in extreme poverty, let them live and die in darkness? 6. If we lay the case of religion aside, and those important duties which all men owe to God, yet how ignorant will the poor be of the various duties which they owe to their fellow-creatures, if they have no manner of learning bestowedupon them ? . How. little sense will they have of justice, of truth, of honesty and faithfulness ? :How little,sense will servants have of the honour and obedience that is due to their ownmasters ? How little will they knew of that equity and righteous dealingwhich should be practisedbetween man and man ? What happy seeds of equity and truth, of labour, diligence and temperance are sown in the hearts of children by a wise and careful education in their younger years ? But how many young creature's have been easily allured to theft and robbery, to lying and deceit, and all manner of iniquity and mischief, for want of a virtuous educa- tion ? Their honest neighbours have been deprived of .theirjust property by pilfering and plúnder, and the criminals themselves . have run headlong to the destruction of body and soul. Tell me, you that forbid children the knowledgeof letters and would not suffer them to learn the art of reading, tell me, whether you can suppose they can ever become the worse labourers, worse servants, worse ploughmen or soldiers by reading in the word of God what duties they owe to men ? Are not all the principles and rules of virtue and goodness, of diligence and sobriety, of obedi- ence to superiors, of justice to their neighbours, of truth, faith- fulness and love to all men contained in his holy book ? And When the poor young creatures shall find all these things com- manded and required by the great God that made them, when they shall read many happy examples of these duties, and the vengeance of God against transgressors, will all this have no in- fluence upon their hearts, to lead them to practise these virtues ? Are there not many other little books drawn out ofthe holy scrip- tures, wherein these virtues of the civil life are, reduced to a shorter form, and set in a plain and easy view for those who have but little time to read ? And if childrenhave these manuals put into their hands, is it not the most likely way to train them up
AN ESSAY ON CHARITY- SCHOOLS. 15 in all the good qualities of the social life, and to guard against those vile and pernicious practices, against that sloth, that false- hood and lying, that thievery and drunkenness, rage and malice, which abound among the ignorant rabble of mankind, who never enjoyed the blessing of education, nor the benefit of a school, where their manners might' be formed to virtue and goodness? 7. Let it be considered in the last place, how wretchedly the poor will spend all their leisure time, when they are released at certain seasons from the drudgery oflife, if they are never taught to read. How do they stand prepared for every temptation, and for all manner of mischief, when they know not how to improve a few leisure moments ? Human nature rude and untaught is the more prone to wickedness. At best we can only suppose them to sit, whole families together, in the long winter evenings, and talk scandal of their neighbours, because their minds were never furnished with better subjects of conversation. They are tempted to fill up their empty hours of life with trifles or follies, or with wicked stories, because they were never taught to know letters. Howmuch happier would it befor the poor, iftheir sea- sons of leisure, could be employed in reading the holy scriptures, for their improvement in acquaintance with God,or in conversing with any useful books, that might furnish their minds with solid andprofitable knowledege ? This would refine their souls, and render them every way more useful in their stations as fathers, mothers, sons, daughters or servants. I have known such a poor family, where neither the grandmother, mother, father, nor any Childcould read And I have often pitied them in my heart, to think how impertinently or sinfully their long eveninghours must bespent after the work of the day is done : And they have gladly embraced the privilege of having their children taught to read in one ofour schoolsof charity, under a sense of theirown great unhappiness for want of this benefit in their youngeryears. Objection II. But some will say, if the poor have any manner of learning bestowed upon them, they grew proud and haughty ; they think they are immediately fit for better business, and they will not be content to do servile work, and especially the lowest offices, and the most laborious drudgery either of the house or the field : There is great want of plough- men and labourers in the country, and poor boys will never submit to this, if they once get acquaintance with books and knowledge. Answer 1. I would ask leave here, if it it were lawful to enquire, whether some of these very masters, who make this objection, would not keep the poor in profound ignorance, that they might turn their servants into perfect slaves ? But when some of the poorer sort of people have gained a little knowledge, perhaps, it has been found that, here and there, a morose rich
18 AN ESSAY ON CHARITY-SCHOOLS. man, or a çovetous and surly farmer, cannot make such mere slaves of them, as if they were asses or oxen ? Permit the only to propose a query, whether this may not be some ground of the complaint : Are there not some persons, that would subdue their fellow- creatures, of their own species, into a perfect brutal servitude and make them as much their tools and instruments of labour as their cattle are, and treat them as though they had no souls, as though they had no share in human nature, as though they were not formed of the same flesh and blood, and had not the same sort of immortal spirits as themselves. Now if the poor know nothing at all, but are bred up in gross ignorance,and constant stupidity, it is supposedthey are fitter to become beasts of burden all their lives, without ever thinking that they are men. If this be the case,. I pity the slaves indeed ; but woe to their lords and masters, who keep them all their lives in such profound ignorance, upon such wretched and inhuman motives. There is a day coming when the rich and the poor shall appear without distinction before that God, who is no acceptor of persons; Acts x. 34. 2.' Do some persons complain, that the plough stands still or drags heavily for want of hands ? But does the plough stand still no where but where there is a school of charity ? Alas, it is not such a slender education, as we can give to a few poor children in the city or the country, that hinders this work. We would not pretend to breed them too high for that station in life, for which their birth has designed them, nor to raise them above the labours in the country-villages, where any of our.schools are kept. And these villages also are exceeding few where we have schools. If there are any public schools of charity in such villages, whichbreed up the children ofthe poor, to such degrees and refinements in learning, whereby the tillage of the fields is prevented for want of hands, we disclaim all such sort of cha- rity, and leave those who support these schools to defend them against so just an objection. But if it may not be an offence, I would make a humble en- quiry, whether there be not a far more powerful allurement that calls hands from the plough, and that is, that such a great num- ber of persons, who had blessed their paternal seats in the country with their own residence, utterly remove their habita- tions and households to the city, and fix themselves near the court : May not this be a much greater occasion of draining the fields and villages of a multitude Of the poor, who scarce ever return to a country life again : They are tempted and allured to follow their masters, and, as they call it, to seek their for- . times in the town : And some of these tempt their poor neigh- bours hither too: This fills the city with many hundreds, if not thousands, of the lower rank: more than thecity itself produces:
Al tSSAY ON CHARITY- SCHOOiS. 17 Then several of these shift their places ofservice, or leave them in hopes to find better ; and by this means it comes to pass, that the very servants that are out of place in London, perhaps would sometimes be sufficient to plough up half, a country or a diocese: Far be it from me to blame all those gentlemen; whochange the country-seat of their ancestors, for a habitation in the city : Many of them may have a just call of providence for this change. It is not my province nor pretence to directothers in the choice of their dwellings : Yet I cannot but think if this practice should increase and become universal among the more sòber and religious part of the gentry, perhaps it may have an unhappy tendency to weaken their good influenceon the adja- cent country, todiminish the true strength of the nation, and endanger our civil liberties. But I recai myself from this hint: My present business is only to shew, that it is not our charity- schools, but thisconduct of many rich men in the country; whe- ther it be tightor wrong, that calls off such a multitude of hands from husbandry. 3. Suppose it should be granted for once, which is not always true, that none hut the ignorant will be brought to per- form the meanest services ; yet after all the education that is provided for children in our charity- schools, there will be stupid and ignorant creatures enough for those lower offices of life: There will be many in every country; who live not within the reach of these schools ; and there will be some whose parts, and study, and improvement in these schools; or in better, will never arrive above a fitness for the meanest services.- I confess I ant not of the opinion of these gentlemen, that none but blockheads will follow the'plough : But if I were of that mind; yet I might venture to say, the plough will never want hands, if it does not stand still till there be no blockheads. I add further, with regard to the charity-schools of this great city ; that those chil- dren of the poor who are born in London, are not born in a place to make ploughmen of them, even if they were left in the highest degrees of their native ignorance.' They would not leave the city, nor be tempted to go down to country pa- rishes to be employed in the business of the husbandman, though they should never have opportunity to learn their letters. 4. But you say, " They grow haughty and proud, by means of the little knowledge they attain in those schools." I would ask are there not as many as haughty and as proud, whohave no learning at all? I have seen some servants who have been blessed with a happy education, and have attained far greater degrees of knowledge bothof the things of God and men, than any of the rest of the family, and 'yet they have been morehum- ble, more diligent, more ready to put their hands to mean servile Vol- VI. I
18 AN ESSAY ON CHARITY-SCHOOLS. offices than others who have net had a tenth part of their capa- city or their improvement. I know at this time two servants in one large family, who were instructed in one of the charity- schools of thé'protestant dissenters, and yet according to their stations, they are as diligent, as humble, and as willing servants as any in the house. It is chiefly their temper, or their want of due instruction, rather than their learning, that renders servants either haughty or humble. Here perhaps, the great apostle shall be cited to counte- nance this objection ; 1 Cor. viii. 1. Knowledge puffeth up. Butwhy should not the next sentencealso be added, viz. that charity edifieth ? Let the charity of these gentlemen who make this objection, encourage these schools, where the pride of the poor may abated, where the souls of these young sinners may be edified, in humility and every virtue, where they may be taught their proper duty and behaviour both to God and man. 5. But I add in the last place, that if all the nation were as happy as I could wish, in the enjoyment of some degrees of good education, and if all the children of the poor were taught to read, then the art of reading would be as common as that of speaking, and no one would look on himself as superior to ano- ther, because he knows his letters, and could join syllables together. Then it would follow that no person would refuse to do the meanest services, if there were nonebeneath himself. For my part, I wish that there was not the meanest figure of man- kind in Great Britain, whether employed in the drudgeries of a family, or holding the plough, but knew how to read his bible, that he might be better acquainted with his duty in this world, and the way to attain happiness in the next. Objection III. But is there not a general complaint of bad servants in our clay ? Are they not high and haughty and wasteful ? Do they not claim larger wages, and at the saine time refuse to do the servile works that belong to their place ? And what can this be imputed to more than to their education in these charity-schools, wherein they are bred up to more learning and knowledge than the poor had in the days of our fathers. Answer 1. Give me leave in the first place to make a hum- ble enquiry, whether masters or mistresses are in our day so pious, so virtuous, so frugal, so regular in their conduct, and to humble as in the days of our fathers ? Whether families are regulated with so much care, and whether family religion is maintained with such a holy constancy ? Whether there be such wise government and order, as in the days of those who went, before us ? Whether children are educated in the practice of that modesty, that humility, that diligence as in the time of our
AN ESSAY ON CNAftITY- SCHOOLS: äs ancestors'? And if there be such a sad degeneracy found amongst the higher part of mankind, it is no wonder, if the lower ranks of human nature are corrupt, and grow degenerate too : So that you see this corruption among servants, may be accounted for; without laying all the load on our schools of charity. 2. SOtne persons who have made their observations otï human affairs, are ready to think that the luxury and finery of this age is very much increased, and that in one particular in- stanCe, which has no good influence on the temper and deport- rient of servants. " Do we not desire; say they, that oursee- vants now-a-days should make a better appearance and shine brighter than is necessary for personsof their rank ? Are there no masters who Hive to be waited on by servants in such apparel: as may make them think too well of themselves ? Have mistresses done nothing to support that pride, haughtiness and vanity of mind in servants, which they afterwards complain of? And it may be enquired, whether some servants have not been encou- raged to think themselves too good for the lowest and meanest offices of life, when at other seasons, they appear as gay, and glistering and as well dressed as their superiors, and can hardly be distinguished from them. " I would only hint this way of reasoninghere, not to undertake the vindication of it, but merely to be made the matter of further enquiry and consideration For I would not have those crimes of servants charged on our charity- schools, which perhaps may have their foundation in the impru- dence of their superiors: 3. If it can be laid at all to the charge of any charity- schools that they have been the unhappy instruments of increas- ing pride among some servants, yet I am well assured, that those schools amongst protestant dissenters have done very little or none of this mischief. For amongst the vast multitudes of servants that are in Great Britain', I am persuaded that there is scarce one menial servant in two hundred, which has been bred tip in the dissentingCharity-schools: And it is a very hard case, if' these schools must bear the accusation and the guilt of those crimes in general, whereof not one in two hundred can possibly belong to them. For my part, I could wish where there is one servant of either sea bred up in out charity-schools, there were twenty educated there : I should then hope for fewer complaints of this kind in the world; And if we do not take care to train up more children of the lower rank in our schools, in order to fit them for servants I have good reason to say that we shall scarce find servants who wilt comply with the religious customs of our families, and we shall see cause to repent it on more ac- counts than one.
20 AN ESSAY ON CHARITY- SCHOOLS. I would persuade myself, that the masters and mistresses of these schools among us, teach the children of the poor which are under their care, to know what their station of life is, how mean their circumstances are, how necessary it is for them to be diligent, laborious, humble and faithful, honest and submissive, what duties they owe to the rest of mankind, and particularly to their superiors, whensoever they shall be placed in families. I am sure this ought to be a part of their instruction, and their teachers should have this charge given them, that the children should be educated in such a manner, as to know and remem- ber, that they are bred up by charity, and to learn and practise humility upon all occasions*. 4. If there should happen once nowand then such an in- stance, if a child should grow vain and haughty under the ad- vantages of the instruction which he receives from the bounty of others, if a servant thus educated, should now and thenbe found unwilling to perform the duties of his place, this is to be reckoned an abuse of knowledge, and not a necessary effect of it. We are not to charge any useful constitution among mankind, with those unhappy consequences which are merely the effects of that constitution abused. There is nothing so well contrived, nor so happily managed in the affairs of men, but may be perverted to vile and unhappy purposes. Surelyno man would judge that the sun in the heavens should be blotted out, because it be- stows day-light on the practice of a thousand iniquities. The admirable art of couching a cataract and giving sight to the blind, should not be forbidden, because a man who had en- joyed this benefit, used his eyes to commit theft, or murder, or to write treason or blasphemy. To give knowledge to those who are born in ignorance, is but like couching a cataract, it is letting in the light to a blind soul : Cursed are they that so horribly ahuse this light : But they are not blessed that would withhold it from all, for fear lest some should abuse it. The inconveniences of having none of the children of the poor taught to read, would be vastly greater, and bring far heavier * On this occasion I cannot but transcribe a passage of the reverend Mr. Chandler in his late sermon on this subject, viz. " Undoubtedly pride and sloth ought never to be encouraged in any, especially not in the children of the poor; Who ar to maintain themselves, and become useful to thepublic by a modest, diligeis and industrious behaviour. And in order to prevent the effects complain-' ed of .Cis highly necessary, that besides their being taught the common princi- ples of religion in the catechism, they should have some particular instructions proper to their condition, continually inculcated into their minds ; - and-be taught such little portions of holy scripture as recommend labour and industry, fidelity andhonesty, modesty and humility, gratitude and submission and the like vir- tues -upon which their future usefulness more especially depends. I know not whether there be any body of such instructions drawn up for the use of the charityschoois. If not I am persuaded it is a defect that ought tobe supplted.r5 This I have taken notice of in the preface,. and have bad, some assistance given nie, that such a book will be published.
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