cautious how he repofes confidence in report; he should act upon a certainty, for if he err, great will be the injury that his children muft fuftain. But parents, in general, are not competent to judge of the qualifications of profeffed teachers, and, therefore, it was wifely enacted, that every schoolmaster shouldbe obliged to take out a licence for the exercise of his profeffion, under pain of forfeiture and imprisonment *. But alas! that

wife

*Extract from the Act of Parliament for the Unifor

mity of Public Prayers, &c. 14 Car. II.

"And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every dean, canon, and prebendary, of every cathedral or collegiate church; and all masters and other heads, fellows, chaplains, and tutors, of or in any college, hall, houfe of learning, or hofpital, and every public profeffor and reader in either of the universities, and in every college elsewhere; and every parfon, vicar, curate, lecturer, and every other perfon in holy orders; and every schoolmaster, keeping any public or private school, and every person instructing or teaching any youth in any house or private family, as a tutor or schoolmaster, who, upon the first day of May, which shall be in the year our Lord God One Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-two, or at any time thereafter, shall be incumbent, or have poffeffion of any deanery, canonry, prebend, mastership, headship, fellowship, profeffor's place, or reader's place, parfonage, vicarage, or any other ecclefiaftical dignity

of

ог

wife act of parliament hath been, for many years, either but little regarded, or elfe totally

or promotion, or of any curate's place, lecture, or school, or fhall instruct or teach any youth, as tutor or schoolmafter, fhall, before the feaft-day of Saint Bartholomew, which fhall be in the year of our Lord One Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-two, or at or before his or their refpective admiffion, to be incumbent, or have poffeffion aforesaid, fubfcribe the declaration or acknowledgement following, fcilicet:

"I A. B. do declare, That it is not lawful, upon

any pretence whatsoever, to take arms against the "King; and that I do abhor that traiterous pofition of

taking arms by his authority against his perfon, or against those that are commiffioned by him; and that "I will conform to the Liturgy of the Church of Eng"land, as it is now by law eftablished. And I do de"clare, That I do hold there lies no obligation upon me, "or any other person, from the oath, commonly called "The Solemn League and Covenant, to endeavour any 66 change or alteration of government either in church or "state; and that the fame was in itself an unlawful cath, "and impofed upon the subjects of this realm against the "known laws and liberties of this kingdom."

"Which faid declaration and acknowledgement fhall be fubfcribed by every of the faid mafters, and other heads, fellows, chaplains, and tutors, of or in any college, hall, or house of learning, and by every public profeffor and reader in either of the universities, before the vice-chancellor of the respective universities for the time being, or his deputy: And the faid declaration or acknowledgment

fhall

tally forgotten; and, therefore, in this public and folemn manner, as a father of a fa

fhall be fubfcribed before the refpective archbishops, bifhops, or ordinary of the diocese, by every other perfon hereby enjoined to fubfcribe the fame; upon pain, that all and every of the perfons aforefaid, failing in fuch fubfcription, thall lofe and forfeit such respective deanery, canonry, prebend, mastership, headship, fellowship, profeffor's place, reader's place, parfonage, vicarage, ecclefiaftical dignity or promotion, curate's place, lecture, and school, and fhall be utterly disabled, and ipfo fatto deprived of the fame: And that every fuch refpective deanery, canonry, prebend, mafterfhip, headfhip, fellowship, profeffor's place, reader's place, parfonage, vicarage, ecclefiaftical dignity or promotion, curate's place, lecture, and school, shall be void, as if such person, so failing, were naturally dead.

"And if any schoolmafter, or other perfon inftructing or teaching youth, in any private house or family, as a tutor or schoolmafter, fhall inftruct or teach any youth, as a tutor or fchoolmafter, before licence obtained from his respective archbishop, bishop, or ordinary of the diocefe, according to the laws and ftatutes of this realm, (for which he shall pay twelve pence only) and before such subscription and acknowledgement made, as aforefaid; then every such schoolmafter, and other, inftructing and teaching, as aforefaid, fhall, for the first offence, suffer three months imprisonment, without bail or mainprife; and for every fecond, and other fuch offence, shall fuffer three months imprisonment, without bail or mainprife, and also forfeit to his Majefty the fum of five pounds."

mily, as a lover of my country, I do call upon the legislature of this kingdom to enforce this wife act, and to render it more obligatory, by compelling every schoolmafter, who profeffes to teach the claffics, to be duly examined by the bishop of his diocefe, with regard to his learning and other qualifications, before he receive a licence for the educating of youth. If this were the energetic law of the land, our children would receive abundant benefit, and the poor, but able teacher, would be amply encouraged and rewarded.

4thly, Confidering the prodigious power of prepoffeffion, and also the inability of a youth to judge, wifely, for himself, I think that I do not err in advifing parents, early, to inftil into the minds of little children a prepoffeffion for that ftate of life, which they shall determine to be most proper for them. The common cuftom of pointing a child's education to no particular trade or profeffion until he be fourteen, and then of abiding by his crude judgment for a right choice, is, unquestionably, a great mistake; for how can he judge aright, without having felt the difficulties and fatisfactions of any particular courfe of life? Indeed, a strong and a natural bias of mind

may

may be an exception to this general rule; but, commonly, the human mind is found to be most strongly susceptible of the earliest, although, perhaps, in the parent's eye, the flightest impreffion. A mind, when young and pliant, if duly inclined to any fide, will, of course, grow to it; cuftom and habit will fo fix its regard, that time, and even difficulties, fo far from removing it, will render it more firm and lafting; this love causes. industry and perseverance, which must, in the end, triumph over all oppofition, and be crowned with fuccefs.

5thly, I come now to confider particularly the high expediency of an early and regular inftruction of our children in the principles of religion and virtue; for if these be not deeply rooted in the heart, individuals must be wretched, and mighty kingdoms must fall into ruin and reproach. Our most. excellent church of England hath judged this duty to be of the highest importance; and, prefuming that many parents may be faulty or careless herein, to the great injury of the r children, it hath appointed godfathers and godmothers to difcharge this folemn and important truth. But how little regarded is

2

this