1800.] 
to chufe his religion, involve himfelf in 
the abftrufe queftions of original fin and 
focial order ? Muft he wade through the 
various fyftems of falfe or erroneous reli- 
gions, that have divided the world ?—lIt 
is impoffible.—Neither the time nor the 
inclinations, nor the abilities, nor the ne- 
cefiary ca!lings, of men will admit of this: 
and if it were practicable, half a life would 
probably be confumed in deciding upon 
their merit or demerit ; and old age would 
have extinguifhed the paffions, before the 
neceffity of reftraining them were deter- 
mined. On the boundlefs ocean, with- 
out fome guide, the directing helm were 
of little ufe: Reafon is indeed the rud- 
der of our bark, but Religion is the compafs 
that points out the welcome fhore. 
Thefe reflelions were occafioned by a 
comparifon between two recent works 
upon the fubjeé of education; rivals in 
point of utility, as well as of literary 
merit. Hannah More teaches us to ex- 
pect vifible and tangible bleffings and com- 
forts from the Holy Spirit, if we faft and 
pray from the time of our birth: but 
while fhe inculcates methodifm, the forgets 
Chriftianity. Perhaps fhe believes a!! that 
fhe writes; I hope fhe does. But too 
much violence on any fubject, changes an 
advocate into a partizan 3 and, therefcre, 
that part of the Strictures on Female Edu- 
cation will be laughed at, laid afide, 
and forgotten by fome, whilft it will ferve 
to prejudice many againft che whole work, 
Maria Edgeworth, on the other hand, 
omits the fubje& entirely. 
Sincere in my attachment to religion, 
convinced of its truth, and of the import- 
ance of its being early impreffed on the 
mind, I obferve with equal concern the 
rudundancy of the one lady, and the de- 
ficiency of the other. 
Milfs E. fays, in her preface, that fhe 
purpofely avoids treating of religion, be- 
cafe every parent may and will teach it, 
according as the principles and judgment 
of each may direét, and ¢ the wifhes not 
to make profelytes.’” But why then dif- 
culs the art of teaching at all? Every pa- 
rent. may provide his child with toys ac- 
cording to his fancy ; or may regulate the 
tafks of his young pupil, as his judg- 
ment fhall direct ; or may follow former 
maxims, and afcribe as much importance 
to fuperficial accomplifhment in the tui- 
tion of the daughter, as her mothers’ 
fchoolmiftrefs would probably have done. 
But in thefe matters it is acknowledged 
that parents are liable to error, and that 
increafed attention, and additional expe- 
On Religion as a Branch of Female Education, 
$1 
rience may provide ufefal rules for their 
dire&tion. And yet in a matter of infiz 
nitely greater moment than any one of 
thefe; in that which fhould ferve as the 
polar ftar in the voyage through life, and 
which points to the haven of eternal reft; 
that where truth is but one, and, how- 
ever our ignorance be prene to miftakes, 
there is no room for variety of fancies, for 
every deviation muft be error, greater or 
lefs 5—there, it is left to the ignorance, 
or the careleffoefs, or the caprice of every 
parent to guide, or not to guide, the mind 
of youth, 
If religion can have any hold on the 
mind, it muft be early infiilled. If reli- 
gion be of any ufe, it muft be taught ra- 
tionally. If religion be defigned to ree 
firain the paffions, it muf have its foun- 
dation fixed before ithe paffions rife in an 
impetuous phalanx to refift its approach, 
We laugh at the abfurd pofition, when 
Godwin tells us gravely, that 2 man 
fhoufd not meke choice of a profeffion till 
the age of twenty-five: it is not lefs irra- 
tional to fay that aman muft be left in 
the dark, with regard to religion, till he 
becomes old enough to chufe and decide for 
himfelf which he will embrace, It very 
rarely happens that men who have attained 
that period of manhood, unacquainted 
with religion, will then foop voluntarily 
to impofe on themfelves its reftraints ; or 
will take the pains to inveftigate what 
their early habits muft have led them to 
difpife, and their prefent defires muft urge 
them fo reject. 
But, it is faid, religion fhould be 
founded on reafon, not on prejudice;— 
moft afluredly. The fame caution is to 
be obferved in teaching religion, as in ex- 
plaining any fcience. Let not its proofs 
be taught, let not its do€trines be exas 
mined, till the child have reafon to com- 
prehend ; but let it be laid open to young 
reafon, and wait not till ‘old reafon fly to 
it, to read its own condemnation for a life 
of mifconduét, and meet every incitement 
te reject its authority. Let religion be a 
egimen for prevention, not a prefcription 
for an obfiinate difeafe. 
Yet I cannot confent to condemn as 
prejudice (a fafhionab'e word of great la- 
titude) that predifpofition to regard the 
fubject with reverence, and to acknows 
ledge its importance, which can aljone 
arife from the early care of the attentive 
parent, and which leaves a tinge upon the 
whole courfe and tenor of life. This it is 
which, in the untutored and the ill dif 
poled, grows into fuperftition and weak- 
ne!s 5 
