action appear to Socrates, or Plato, or Ariftides?" The parochial minifter may with equal advantage fuppofe the ocular infpection of his fpiritual Overfeer, and anticipate with greater feeling his cenfure, or his approbation. If the fear of folitude, or vanity, or idlenefs, fhould draw him from the fcene of his duty to the provincial town, to the camp, or the capital, he may feem to hear the voice of his elder brother-With whom haft thou left thofe few sheep in the wilderness? The reproach may poffibly vibrate in his ear, till it rife to the expoftulation of a higher Friend and Monitor---Simon, fon of Jonas, loveft thou me? Happy is the Clergyman, who, under the impulfe of all thefe motives, difcharges with unabated diligence the facred, ufeful, honourable office of a parishprieft; and bleffed is the congregation, who receiveth and heareth him with a grateful and attentive mind.

The day will come, when the Son of God, the great Teacher of Chriftianity, will appear to judge the world in righteoufnefs. His minifter, who has thus been an example in word, in converfation, in charity, in fpirit, in faith, in purity, who hath taken heed unto himself and all his flock, over which the Holy Ghoft hath made him overfeer, may then meet his congregation in pious hope, that his labours, through the mercy of an all-gracious Redeemer, will be accepted;-and what tongue can

Dr. Napleton's Confecration Sermon, p. 107.

defcribe

defcribe, what imagination can conceive the ecftatic tranfports of him, who, because he has turned many to righteousness, fhall shine as the ftars of heaven for ever and ever, and fhall be welcomed to the realms of eternal glory with thefe gracious expreffions of acceptance, "WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT; ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD!"

1 Tim. iv, 12. Dan. xiii. 3. Matt. xxv. 21,

THE

THE CONCLUDING CHAPTER.

IN the preceding pages, I have endeavoured to execute my propofed defign, by sketching the outlines of general knowledge, and opening the various profpects of Religion, Learning, Science, and Tafte to the young and ftudious reader; and in the dif cuffion of every subject I have omitted no fair opportunity to increafe his zeal for the fervice of true Religion, and strengthen the ties of genuine Patriotifm. My plan however would be incomplete, were I to conclude this work without fubjoining a few confiderations, which will be ftated with more freedom, and urged with greater earnestness, because they have not been fufficiently infifted upon by the numerous writers upon thefe fubjects, although I am fenfible, from long experience and attentive observation, that they are of the highest importance.

To all who feel a proper regard for the deareft interefts of fociety, Education must appear to be a fubject of the moft ferious concern, as it has the moft powerful influence in forming the character, inculcating the principles, and promoting the happinefs of the rifing generation. And fuch are the peculiar circumftances of the prefent times, and the numerous and unprecedented dangers, to which young men are now expofed, that it can hardly be queftioned,

queftioned, whether there was ever a period in our hiftory, when greater docility and obedience were neceffary on their part; greater circumfpection on the part of their parents; or greater diligence, aided by all the advantages of learning and experience, on the part of their inftructors.

Writers of eminence and refpectability, who were remarkable for their accurate obfervations upon the conduct of mankind, have drawn very gloomy pictures of the depraved manners of the laft century. Berkely, the celebrated Bishop of Cloyne, and Hartley, the ingenious author of the Obfervations on Man, did not hesitate to attribute much of this national degeneracy to neglect in the conduct of education, particularly among the higher ranks of fociety. But had thefe writers lived in the prefent times, can it be feriously afked, whether they would have found no additional fubjects for their complaints; or rather would they not have apprehended that greater and more alarming dangers than thofe, which impended over their contemporaries, would arife from the prevalence of evils now exifting? and would they not naturally, from their peculiar habits of thinking, have been led to predict the growth of the most luxuriant mifchief from the introduction of thofe foreign feeds of impiety and infubordination, which the enemies of our religion and our government have of late years laboured with increased affiduity to fow in our English foil?

Such

Such conjectures are confirmed by thofe authors who have recently remarked the various and confiderable changes, which have taken place in the opinions and the conduct of their contemporaries". "In confequence of the tide of wealth, which our extenfive commerce has caufed to flow into this country, the luxury and diffipation of the higher orders of fociety have reached an unprecedented height; while the public opinion of high birth and hereditary honours has funk far below their former eftimation. The rage for public amufements, and for crowded affemblies of perfons of fashion, who meet for no purpose but to deftroy time, and encourage the felfifhnefs of gaming, has gone far to extinguish their domeftic pleasures, and to banish rational and refined converfation. The diftinctions formerly preferved among the different ranks, which were once reputed the great prefervatives of decorum and order, are now neglected as unneceffary, and ridiculed as formal. The doctrines of liberty and equality are not confined to fpeculators on government, or political declaimers alone, but are introduced into common habits of thinking, and general modes of acting among other mifchiefs, to which they have given rife, they have encreafed the felf-fufficiency of young men, encouraged the indulgence of their paffions,

m See Mrs. H. More on Female Education; Bowdler's Reform or Ruin; Bowles's Reflections on the State of Society; Mrs. Weft's Letters to a Young Man; and Dr. Barrow on Education.

3

fattered