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Untitled Article
tliein and rather than not have them at all , put tip with any shadow , or counterfeit of them , and then ' lay the flattering unction to our souls / that we have accomplished great good .
Not only is this fact observable in our intellectual disci pline , which , instead of being a series of steps , is a mass of rugged rocks , hard to climb , and with many a chasm between the heights , to be leapt with blind and life-consuming energy ; but likewise in religion , and in morals , the reproach of the old poet is deserved by us ,
They strive to seem , But never care to be . ' Long would it be to trace the evils which flow from this source , but , in a word , there is little of the hypocrisy so common amongst men which has not its origin in the practical lying to which children are forced . Yesterday I was witness to a scene which gave rise to these remarks . Mrs . is very anxious ( as every right minded mother must be ) that her child should be reli gious , and no pains are spared to make him so , as will appear by jvhat follows . The boy ( not four years old ) was brought down to the dessert . In due time nurse came in to take him to bed , when this conversation ensued : Mamma . ' Say your prayers , my darling . ' Boy . ' I won ' t . ' Mamma . ' Oh , yes — now be good . Show Miss how prettily you can say your prayers . ' Silent , pouting lips . Mamma . f Come now , you don ' t know what grandmamma has 1
for you . Boy . < What V Mamma . ' An oran ' ge . *
Grandmamma . There ' s Shamrock / ( the dog , ) ' now make haste , or we'll get Shamrock to say pretty prayers . Mamma . ' Yes , dear , now do—because af the orange , you know . ' Will it be believed that this chattering had the desired effect on the boy . Worked upon by greediness and vanity ,, he lisped the Lord ' s prayer in a sulky muttering manner , was called a good boy , and went to bed , but—without the orange . When he asked for it , to-morrow' was the answer . And this is teaching relig ion ! and after such education as this , we wonder that men are—what they are . Here are lessons in plenty—an exquisite ' multum in parvo' this ; here , in five minutes , are inculcated impressively , greediness , stupid surrender of the understanding , vanity , lying , and hypocrisy . In morals , as in religion , how fatal is mannerism . Oh , if you would have a being progressive and noble , teach no manifestation ; try to improve its nature , and then let that nature freely manifest tself . There is no hope of improvement but for those
Untitled Article
690 Memoranda of Observations on Rducatioi ? .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1834, page 690, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2638/page/14/
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