$ 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
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