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he determined , if possible , to procure them some moral and religious instruction In this he succeeded , fey means of bounties and encouragement given to such of the prisoners who were able to
read ; and these , by being directed to proper books , improved both themselves and their fellow prisoners , and afforded great encouragement to persevere in the benevolent design . He then procured for them a supply of work , to preclude every excuse and temptation to idleness . "
Mr . Raikcs could not pursue his generous purpose , towards these forlorn outcasts from civilized life , without many serious reflections . His mind must have been * peculiarly affected with the sad consequences arising from the neglect , or rather the total absence , of
opportunities for early instruction among the poor . He was thus prepared to indulge a second pro . iect , the success of which he lived to see extending , probably , beyond his most sanguine expectations . The circumstances which led to the
invention of the Sunday School , and the just and liberal views of the Inventor , cannot be described so well as by himself . The following letter from Mr . Raikes was addressed to an enquirer in the North of England , and by him communicated to the Gentleman ' s
Magazine for 1804 . ( V . 54 . p . 410 ) . " Sir , v " Gloucester , Nov . ^ [ 1783 ] . " My friend , the Mayor , has just communicated to rne the letter which you have honoured him with , enquiring into th-e nature of the Sunday Schools .
The beginning o £ this scheme was entirely owing to accident . Some business leading me onempmjng into the suburbs of the city , where the lowest of the people ( who are principally employed in the pin-maniifactory ) chiefly reside , I was
struck a * ith concern at seeing a group of Children i wretchedly ^ gK ^ d , at play in tbe $ tre « t r I a $ ked an inhabitant whether * thpsc children bfcjonged to that part of the tayvn , and lamented their mi sery * nd ? idleness ,. Ah ' Six , said % hc vyornap t <* whpQn J w ^ 8 f ? ca ^ ing , xpuW you take
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a view of this part of the town on a So * . day , you "would be shocked indeed ; for then the street is filled with nrultitudes of these wretches , who , released on that div from employment , spend their time in noise and riot , playing at chuck , and cursing and swearing in a manner so horrid , as to convey to any serious mind an idea of hell rather than any other
place . We have a worthy clergyman said she , curate of our parish , who has put some of them to school ; but upon the Sabbath , they are all given up t § follow their inclinations without iestrain t , as their parents , totally abandoned themselves , have no idea of £ u . stilling into the minds of their children principles to which they themselves are
entire strangers . " This conversation suggested to me , that it would be at least a harmless attempt , if it were productive of no good , should some little plan be formed to check this deplorable profanation of tive Sabbath . I then enquired of the woman , if there were any decent well-disposed women in the neighbourhood , who kept schools for teaching to read . I presently was directed to Four . To these I applied , apd made an agreement with them , to receive as many children as I should send upon the Sunday , vrhom they were to instruct in reading , and in the chureh
catechism . For this I engaged to pay them each a thilling for their day ' s employment . The women seemed pleased with the proposal . I than waited on the clergyman before mentioned , and imparted to him my plan . He was so much satisfied with the idea , that he
engaged to lend his assistance , by going round to the schools on a Sunday aftcinoon , to examine the progress thit was made , and to enforce order and decorum among such a set of little heathens . " This , Sir , was the commencement of the plan . It is now about three yeais since we Began , and I could wish yoa were here to make enquiry into the effect . A woman who lives in a lane
where I Jiad fixed a school , told me some time ago , that the place was quite » heaven upon Sundays , compared to what it used to be . The numbers who have learned to read and say their catechW arc so great that I am astonished at it-Upon the Sunday afternoon * the mistresses take their scholars to church , ? place into which neither they nor tftcar Ancestors ever cjntered , with a view to the glory of ( J 04 . But wha , t i * y <* woi *
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57 S Memoir of Mr . Robert Raikes .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1811, page 578, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2421/page/2/
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