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at present is this : in furtherance of this good work , is it more efficacious that the various religious parties should educate their own poor , and teach their respective catechisms and
peculiar tenets of religion to as many as are willing to embrace them , or that persons who differ in their religious views should unite in forming establishments for children to be
simply taught to read and write , leaving them to the exclusive care of their parents and friends witti respect to religion , in order to embrace all parties , and be obnoxious to none ? The first is the plan of the Church of England in the . schools for the poor ,
miscalled National ; it is also adopted by various dissidents from the Church , all of . whom , I doubt not , make it an essential part of their system to teach their peculiar points of faith . I have no objection to this being done , provided due and adequate pains be first
of all taken to prevent any children from remaining ignorant of reading and writing . In the present state of this country , the elementary know-Jedge I contend for can best be
attained , I apprehend , by establishing large schools , each to contain from two to five hundred children , but not more . This b ^ fng accomplished , let all religious parties superadd their establishments to teach their various
doctrines and points of faith and practice . I have no objection to the exertion of any zeal and persuasive efforts on their part to make prose-Jy te »; being confident that religious freedom , combined with the ability tp read and write , is highly conducive to the cultivation of truth , and the
consequent advancement of human happiness . But I object to the establishment of sectarian schools , whether supported by Catholics , members of the Church of England , Unitarians or any others , until provision be made
for the instruction of all the juvenile members , of the . community . The possession of the means of cultivating truth ought to be the birth-right of every one ; and in a country so far civilized as our own , it is surely very possible to impart so great a benefit .
As this paper is already , I fear , too Jong , I shall merely add a word or tyyojon an objection frequently urged to the plan 1 propose , that it is mitii ^ eligiou s . If ignorance be the best
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companion and friend of religion , T admit the force of the remark . But if the contrary be true , ( and what religionist , whose opinions may be worth a moment ' s consideration , will openly deny it ?) I catinot imagine how those who exert themselves to cause poor
children to be taught to read and write , can , with any show of truth , he said to act prejudicially to religion . Happily , I trust , the duty of educating the poor is already warmly felt by a considerable portion of the most
enlightened part of the public . That this feeling may continue to operate till the beams of knowledge irradiate and warm the hearts of the rising generation , as far and extensively as the warmth of the sun is felt , is my hearty wish .
But wishes , Mr . Editor , for the improvement and increased welfare of those around us , are vain and contemptible , if having it in our power , we do not second them with our personal efforts , and exert ourselves in the cause to which we profess to wish well . JAMES SILVER .
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Sir , February 12 , 1819 . IN your first Number for this year I find two articles on the introduction to John ' s Gospel , ** and yet no light , but rather darkness visible . " The one signed J . T . [ p . 41 ] proposes a reference to the Old Testament for
the solution of the phrase , " was with God . " Now it seems plausible to illustrate one part of a book from another part of the same ; but to those who do not admit the grammatical inspiration of the Scriptures , the Gospel of John and the book of Genesis are very different books : I shall not quote
Greek or Hebrew ; 1 know but little of the one , and less of the other ; but I know enough of both of them to be well aware of the . extreme difficulty of translating any thing of an abstract complexion from them into the Gothic tongues , or even into Latirt , an <\ the two languages differ not less from one another than from ours . The Timeeus
of Plato might probably be done into English , but a translation of it into Hebrew , even in its best days , I can hardly conceive to be possible * J * T . speaks of Hebraisms in the New Testament ; there are so ; there are also
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246 Rematks on the Criticisms on John i . !•
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1819, page 246, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1771/page/34/
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