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be particularly required of her , a neat mode of repairing linen and making her own clothes . She may be able to read hqr Bible ; but unless she has met with instruction from some other source than her school , she will seldom do sobecause her mind has been so
, little cultivated ; and she may possibly have the comfort of being able to communicate with her friends , by having been taught to write . But in what respect does jhe possess any advantage
which the girls from the National Schools do not equally possess ? And if not any , why should the societies contribute so much , and perhaps , also , have given their lime and attention to their little establishment ?
If it is replied , that these schools were founded before the National Schools were thought of , and that , having subsisted so long , it would be a matter of regret to relinquish the old custom ; or if it is considered that the class of children who go to
them rank rather higher in society than those who attend the larger establish tnents , and are therefore conveniently separated ; or if it be observed that the care of these schools link in the most agreeable way the members
of the society together , giving to the rich a common interest , and making rich and poor feel as one family when they assemble for public worship ; or that they are desirous of keeping in their society those whom they can
innueuce and guide to the adoption of such views as these individual societies believe to be the truth ; then every motive which induces us to keep up these establishments , ( except the simple one of continuing them because they are of long standing , ) might stimulate us to a desire of greater moral good and usefulness in the mode of conducting tliem .
It seems that the qualii ^ es and powors of iniud most desirable for the well-being of tjhe labqtmng classes , including house-s ^ ervants * are those of i \ quick perception , present attention ,
with ready memory and discrimination . For the cultivation of these powers of the mind , it appears desirable that th ^ ir time should be so fully occupied as not to admit of passive insensibility , nor of trifling and careless habits .
It is next to be considered how , during the six or sev ^ n years which they spend under the care of these
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societies , their time could be sufficiently occupied to call out and keep in exercise these qualities . It must , doubtless , be according to the circumstances under which thjei r still ea $ li § r education began , ; for if thb earlfer period was passed UV , < $ t \ £ listjtessuess of neglected helplessness * ( owing to the necessary avocations ; , of the
parent , ) or under tUe injudicious cob - troul of those who rather needed guidance than possessed the means of guiding , the faculties of the mind would be necessarily much slower in their developement than under more favourable circumstances , especially as
the temper would also require more regulation to prevent its impeding the progress of the mind . But why consider what pursuits would best betit them , when the difficulty is solved by the motives given for keeping up these establishments ? The children are
thought to rank somewhat higher in life than those of the other schools . If so , give them , then , more knowledge y let them have more to raise
them above mere objects of sense ; and if you wish to retain them hereafter in your congregations , if you wish them to have with yourselves the same hopes , the same religious views , teach them the reason of the faith
that is in them ; and if you would have them join with you in your worship here , that they may partake of blessings hereafter , then teach them , also , every moral and religious duty , inquire respecting them at their homes , teach them the law of kindness amontf
each other , and every where lead them to submit their wills to the will of their heavenly Father . Let the concern be to cultivate every social and religious duty in sincerity : amf then , whether they have attained much knowledge , or little knouiledge 9 so as they have in the cultivation or their
minds acquired habits of industryevery apparent object in the Congregational Schools will be obtained , and it appears there will be reason to hope s-uch education will help to fit them for the purposes of life to which it may please the gx ^ at Father of all to destine them . W .
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274 On . Congregational Schools *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1822, page 274, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2512/page/18/
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