330 



EDUCATION. 



elegance, and to profit by the moral lessons which they 

 convey. 



This, too, u the period, when he should be made 

 acquainted with the relation in which he stands to his 

 Maker and to mankind ; with tin- obligations of mora- 

 lity, and the duties of religion. In communicating 

 this branch of instruction, we arc aware that much 

 caution and judgment are necessary. It is so difficult 

 fur children to form any projier notions of the uncrea- 

 ted Sovereign of the 1'm'vcrse, that we should per- 

 haps allow their faculties to have advanced far towards 

 maturity, before we attempt to explain to them the na- 

 ture of God, or the sublime tenets of the Christian 

 faith. Vet their hearts are, at a very early period, sus- 

 ceptible of religious impressions ; and though it may 

 not be proper to sj>eak to them of the incomprehen- 

 sible attributes of God, we see no harm, hut we think 

 many advantages which might result from teaching 

 them, even from the dawn of reason, to regard him 

 ns the Creator, not of themselves alone, but of the 

 whole human race ; to refer to him all their comforts ; 

 to look up to him as the inspector of all their actions ; 

 and to cherish the sentiments of love, and gratitude, 

 and submission, which these considerations are fitted 

 to inspire. In the mean time, these religious impres- 

 sions must be aided and confirmed by the unifonu te- 

 nour of our own example. Let us shew them our re- 

 verence for piety and virtue ; let them often listen to 

 us, while we discourse, though not directly to them- 

 selves, of the existence of a Being, who is the creator, 

 preserver, and governor of the world ; let us speak of 

 the constant dependence of all creatures on the graci- 

 ous care of their Creator ; let us descant, with ardour, 

 on the gratitude and obedience which we owe to him, 

 as our Great Parent and unwearied Benefactor. From 

 such discourses, well-timed and properly conducted, 

 they will catch insensibly the glow 01 piety, and will 

 be prepared for a fuller explanation of the great doc- 

 trines of religion. 



Religion to There is one caution which we would most earnest- 

 ly enjoin with regard to the religious education of chil- 



be connect- 

 ed with 



dren. Let religion be associated in their untainted 

 minds, only with what is lovely, cheerful, and invi- 

 ting. Let her never assume the frown of austerity, or 

 be armed with the terrors of vengeance. Let her ne- 

 ver be ushered in as an unwelcome intruder upon their 

 innocent joys ; nor, even in the moment of transgres- 

 sion, let their hearts be appalled by the dread of her 

 unrelenting severity. Let her speak to them only in 

 the accents of gentleness, and captivate them with the 

 smile of benignity. Let them be taught to regard her 

 as their best friend ; rejoicing in their happiness ; in- 

 terested in their welfare; and watching with tender 

 affection over their progress in wisdom and virtue. Let 

 them learn to regard the duties which she enjoins, not 

 as irksome restraints, from which they would be glad 

 to escape, but as directions which have no end in view 

 but their own advantage, and with which it should be 

 their delight, as it is their privilege, to comply. Let 

 hr sometimes be admitted to their parties of pleasure; 

 but let it only be to give zest to their enjoyments, and 

 to heighten, while she refines, the native gaiety of their 

 hearts. 



Auodationi Whoever has considered the influence of early as- 

 ofanoppo- (ociations, will at once admit the propriety of con- 

 rite nature ,, ec ting religion in the youthful mind with the most 



' / pleasing ideas, and the most grateful recollections. 

 cause of in- f . . 



fidelity. Who has not ocperupceq the power of association in 

 biassing the affections, and determining the conduct. 



even in opposition to the plainest dictated of reason, mid Ktlucmtio*. 

 the decided conviction of the under.-landing ? Who S ""Y"^*' 

 has not felt his heart re\olt again.-t persons and object , 

 which his sober reason represented as in all u - 

 estimable, merely because they had at first been con- 

 nected in his imagination with something unpleasant 

 or unlovely ? Who has not seen the children of the 

 most pious and exemplary parents, when they came to 

 be the masters of their own conduct, exulting in their 

 emancipation from the restraints of religion, triumph- 

 ing in the sophistry of scepticism, and plunging with 

 eagerness into the depths of vice and profanity ? Wliat 

 could there be in that religion, which speaks peace and 

 goodwill to the children of men, which breathes a spi- 

 rit of universal benevolence, which unites earth with 

 heaven in the bond of mutual love, which OJRMIS every 

 avenue to happiness in the human heart, and fortifies 

 it against every evil ; what could there be in such a 

 religion, to excite their aversion, and make the escape 

 from its influence appear so happy a deliverance? 

 Alas! it was not the religion of Jesus which they were 

 taught : it was a religion obscured by prejudices, and 

 clouded by fears, which the Saviour of the world would 

 disclaim ! a religion, in which the malignity of human 

 passions mingled with divine goodness, and the voice 

 of mercy was lost in the voice of accusation and of 

 ve'ngeance. Their obedience to this religion was found- 

 ed on the most degrading principle in their nature, the 

 principle of fear ; and all the duties which it enjoined 

 were regarded as so .many restraints, which inclination 

 must resist, and which reason did not sanction, but 

 with which, as the unquestionable mandates of divine 

 authority, a regard to their own safety rendered it ne- 

 cessary to comply. Is it wonderful, then, that they 

 should be impatient of a religion connected in their 

 minds only with the most painful associations ; that 

 they should eagerly embrace the first opportunity of re- 

 covering their native freedom of action ; and, instead 

 of raising their minds in habitual devotion to their Hea- 

 venly Father, should endeavour to escape from the re- 

 collection of a Being, whom they had been accustomed 

 to regard as a relentless and avenging tyrant, the ene- 

 my of every social joy ? 



But is religion, it may be asked, a system of un- 

 limited indulgence ? Does it impose no restraints on 

 our evil passions ? Does it denounce no punish- 

 ments against transgressors ? Does it not speak of 

 the justice as well as of the clemency of God ; and 

 does it not deter us from .sin by the dread of his 

 wrath, as well as allure us to virtue by the hope of 

 his favour ? Unquestionably. To creatures imper- 

 fect as we are, a system which recommends unsullied 

 purity in thought, word, and deed, must certainly be a 

 system of restraint. Punishments, dreadful in magni- 

 tude and duration, are denounced against the obstinate 

 offender ; and the same voice tliat proclaimed from hea- 

 ven the tender mercies and long-suffering of God, pro- 

 claimed likewise that justice whicii can by no means 

 clear the guilty. But is there any thing in all this in- 

 consistent with that character in which the Almighty 

 delights to be represented, the character of a gracious 

 sovereign, an affectionate parent, an unceasing bene- 

 factor r Parental authority, even in its mildest form, 

 must certainly he a species of restraint, while the pro- 

 pensities and passions of children require to l>e con- 

 tnmled or sulxlucd. It it. not restraint, but the mode 

 of imposing it, from which the human heart revolts. 

 Once convince a child of the unbounded kindness of a 

 parent, mid of hia solicitude, even while he forbids or 





Regard to 

 Divine au- 

 thority to 

 be founded 

 on love. 



