SECTIOr IV. 545 By the art Of reading we learn a thousand things which our eyes can never see, and which our own .thoughts would never have reached to : we are instructed by books in the wisdom of ancient ages ; we learn what our ancestors have said and done, and enjoy the benefit of the wise and judicious remarks which they have made through their whole course of life, without the fatigue of their long and painful experiments. By this means children may be led, in a great measure, into the wisdom of old age. It is by the art of reading that we can sit at home, and acquaint ourselves with what has been done in the distant parts of the world. The histories and the customs of all ages and all nations are brought, as it were, to our doors. By this art we are let into the knowledge of the affairs of the Jews, the Greeks, and the Romans, their wars, their laws, their religion ; and we can tell what they did in the nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa, above a thousand years ago. But the greatest blessing that we derive from reading, is the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, wherein God has conveyed down to us the discoveries of his wisdom, power and grace, through many past ages ; and whereby we attain the knowledge of Christ, and of the way of salvation by a Mediator. It must be confessed that in former ages, before printing was invented, the art of reading was not so common even in polite nations, because books were much more costly, since they must be all written with a pen,, and were therefore hardly to be obtained by the bulk of mankind : but since the providence of God has brought printing into the world, and knowledge is so plentifully diffused through our nation at so cheap a rate, it is a pity that any children should be born and brought up in great Britain with- out the skill of reading ; and especially since by this means, every one may see with his own eyes, what God requires of him ira order to eternal happiness. The art of writing is also exceedingly useful, and is now grown so very common, that the greatest part of children may attain it at an easy rate : by this means we communicate our thoughts and all our affairs to our friends at ever so great a distance : we tell them our wants, our sorrows, and our joys, and interest them in our concerns, as though they were near us. We maintain cor- respondence and traffic with persons in distant nations, and the wealth and grandeur of Great Britain is maintained by this means. By the art of writing, we treasure up all things that concern us in a safe repository ; and as often as we please, by consulting our paper records, we renew our rememberance of things that relate to this lite or the life to come : and why should any of the child- ren of men be debarred from this privilege, if it may be attained at a cheap and easy rate without intrenching upon other duties of VOL. VII. M M
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