Transcribed by David Price from the A. Applegath (c1800’s) edition, email ccx074@pglaf.org
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No. 18.
TO A YOUTH AT SCHOOL.
London: Printed by A. Applegath, Stamford-street; and sold by
J. Davis, 56, Paternoster-row; and by J. Nisbet, 21, Berners-street, Oxford-street.
Will you permit one, who was once in a similar situation with yourself, to present a Paper, the design of which is to promote your best interest?
Your parents regard you with tender affection and anxious hope. Should it please Almighty God to spare your life, you will certainly be an instrument of increasing the great mass of sin and misery, or the small sum of piety and happiness. How desirable to increase the latter! It is at present uncertain what station you will fill, what influence you will possess, or by what circumstances you will be surrounded. Man is born ignorant of every thing. Education is necessary, because you have every thing to learn. Impelled by duty to God and to you, your parents have placed you under the care of those whose instructions and admonitions, if rightly improved, will make you respectable and happy. Next to Christian ministers, your teachers and governors sustain, in various respects, the highest and most important office in the world. And since the time you will spend with them is short, you are under so much the greater obligation carefully to improve it.
When you rise in the morning, fail not to acknowledge your dependence on God, whose watchful kindness continually preserves you. Adore him for his greatness and goodness. Confess to him your guilt. Beseech him to bestow pardon and purity of heart, through his Son Jesus Christ. Pray earnestly for an increasing aptitude to learn, and for such continued aid as may enable you to realize the best wishes of your friends. And while you pray for yourself, include your teachers, your schoolfellows, your parents, your friends, and all mankind.
Appear among the earliest in school. A habit of punctuality indicates some fixed principle, and will be eminently to your advantage through life. While in the school, maintain silent attention. Let the foundation of your grammar-learning be laid deep: you are not to think it unreasonable that you are required to learn the same rules once and again. This repetition fastens them in your memory.
Indulge a generous spirit of emulation, aiming to excel in every useful acquirement. Be careful in the formation of intimate friendships. If any of your schoolfellows discover bad dispositions, prudently avoid them. Attach yourself to those chiefly who are diligent, thoughtful, and amiable. Behave always in the most respectful manner to your teachers, and to all that occasionally visit you. Avoid the extremes of bashfulness, and bold presumption; frankness and modesty form a happy union. In diet, be moderate; in apparel, neat; among your companions, cheerful and kind. The law of God is a law of love indeed; for it requires you to love every body; and every body to love you. Never tell a lie, nor conceal one when it is your duty to make it known; at the same time, remember that a tale-bearer in a school is an odious character.