The Infant System / For Developing the Intellectual and Moral Powers of all Children, from One to Seven years of Age

by Samuel Wilderspin

I have hitherto only being considering the prudential motives which should induce us to promote the education of the poor. I have shown, that it will be for the benefit of society, inasmuch as it is likely to decrease the number of those who transgress its laws—that it will prove a greater security to our persons and property than laws or prisons afford. But there are other motives which, if these selfish ones were wholly wanting, might be sufficient to advocate, in every humane heart, the same course of conduct. If the duty of promoting honesty amongst the labouring classes did not exist, that of increasing happiness and piety amongst them would not be the less imperative. That there is much room for an augmentation of both, few, I think, will be inclined to deny; the less so in proportion as they have had the greater opportunity of ascertaining their actual condition.

Let us now for a few moments consider how great a blessing an infant school is, even when regarded as a mere asylum to take charge of the child's bodily welfare. I have mentioned before, that the poor are unable to take that care of their children which their tender age requires, on account of their occupations; and have shewn, that it is almost certain, that the children of such persons will learn every species of vice. But there are other kinds of dangers which more immediately affect the body, and are the cause of more accidents than people in general imagine. I shall here notice some of the most prominent, and hope to be able to convince the unprejudiced mind, that it would be a charity to take charge of the infant poor, even leaving the idea of their learning any thing good at school entirely out of the question; and surely those persons, who disapprove of educating the poor at all, will see the propriety of keeping, if possible, their children safe from accidents, and preserving the lives of many little ones, who would otherwise be lost to their country, from their falling a prey to surrounding dangers.

It is well known that many poor people are obliged to live in garrets, three or four stories high, with a family of six or seven children; and it will not appear improbable that, when the children are left by themselves, they should frequently meet with accidents by tumbling down stairs; some breaking their backs, others their legs or arms; and to this cause alone, perhaps, may be traced a vast number of the cripples that daily appear as mendicants in our streets. When the poor parents return from their daily labour, they sometimes have the mortification of finding that one, or probably two, of their children, are gone to an hospital; which of course makes them unhappy, and unfits them for going through their daily labour. This dead weight, which is continually on the minds of parents, is frequently the cause of their being unable to please their employers, and the consequence sometimes is, they are thrown out of work altogether; whereas, if they were certain that their children were taken care of, they would proceed with their daily labour cheerfully, and be enabled to give more satisfaction to their employers than they otherwise can do.

Other parents I have known, who, when obliged to go out, have locked their children in a room to prevent them from getting into the street, or falling down stairs, and who have taken every precaution, as they imagined, to protect their children; but the little creatures, perhaps, after fretting and crying for hours at being thus confined, have ventured to get up to the window, in order to see what was passing in the street, when one, over-reaching itself, has fallen out and been killed on the spot. A gentleman said, at a public meeting at Exeter, when referring to this subject, "I have myself, twice in my life, nearly occasioned the death of children. In one instance, a child left to itself, ran out of the hedge by the road-side; I was fortunately able to stop, and found the child, unconscious of its escape, raising its hands to the reins of the horse. And on another occasion, my horse threw a child down, and I had but just time to pull up, and prevent the wheels from passing over the infant's head." And it was stated in a Bristol paper, that in the short space of one fortnight, seven children were taken to the infirmary of that city so dreadfully burnt that four of them died. Numerous cases of this kind are to be found in the public prints, and hundreds of such accidents occur which are not noticed in the papers at all. Many children, again, strolling into the fields, fall into ponds and ditches, and are drowned. So numerous, indeed, are the dangers which surround the infant poor, as to make a forcible appeal to the hearts of the pious and humane, and to call loudly on them to unite in rescuing this hitherto neglected part of the rising generation from the evils to which they are exposed.

It is much to be regretted that those persons who most need employment should be the last to procure it; but such is the fact, for there are so many obstacles thrown in the way of married persons, and especially, those with a family, that many are tempted to deny that they have any children, for fear they should lose their situations, though it is certainly an additional stimulus to a servant to behave orderly, when he knows that he has others to look to him for support.

Shall I close this appeal for the necessity of educating the infant poor by another and weightier argument? They are responsible and immortal beings. It may be thought that I should have given this plea the precedence of every other. I did not, because I felt more anxious to make good my ground with the prudent and the philanthropic—to show them that self-interest and humanity demand our exertions in this cause. I knew that when I came to urge such efforts upon the attention of the Christian, I could not possibly fail. No one who is a sincere follower of Him who said "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom;" no one who professes to abide by the maxims of Him whose commandment was, "Love thy neighbour as thyself," can turn a deaf ear to the entreaties of those who are necessitous and suffering. Thousands there are among those of whom we have been speaking, who are brought up in as great ignorance of God and religion, as though they had been born in a country where the light of Revelation had never shone—where the glad tidings of salvation have never been proclaimed. With examples of evil continually before their eyes, both at home and abroad, we see and hear its consequences daily in the wickedness with which our streets abound, and in the lisped blasphemy and profanity of those who learn to curse and swear before they can well walk.

Whilst I was at Lincoln, I was shocked beyond measure by the horrid language of the boys; to such a pitch had the evil come, that the magistrates were determined to fine all the men who were brought before them for profane swearing; and I had the satisfaction of hearing that four men had been fined whilst I was there. What a blessing it would be if other magistrates throughout the kingdom would follow their example!

Any person who has been accustomed to walk the streets of London, must have heard how frequently children take the name of the Almighty in vain; seldom or ever mentioning it but to confirm some oath. I have seen boys playing at marbles, tops, and other games, and who, on a dispute arising about some frivolous thing, would call upon the Supreme Being to strike them deaf, dumb, or blind, nay, even dead, if what they said were not true; when, nevertheless, I have been satisfied from having observed the origin of the dispute, that the party using the expressions has been telling a falsehood. Indeed so common is this kind of language in the streets, that it often passes without notice. I am inclined to think, that children accustomed to use such expressions on every trifling occasion, will, when they grow to riper years, pay very little respect to the sanctity of an oath. It is, perhaps, one of the reasons why we hear of so much perjury in the present day. At all events, little children cannot avoid hearing such expressions, not only from those who are rather older than themselves, but, I am sorry to say, even from their parents. I have known repeated instances of this kind. Many little ones, when they first come to our schools, make use of dreadful expressions, and when told that it is wrong, will say that they did not know it was so; others, with the greatest simplicity, have declared, that they had heard their fathers or mothers say the same words. Hence I have had much difficulty in persuading them that it was wrong, for they very naturally thought, that if their parents made use of such language, they might do the same. How great is the necessity of good example; and did parents generally consider how apt children are to receive impressions, and to become imitators, both in their words and actions, they would be more cautious than they are. There are many parents who make use of very bad expressions themselves, who would correct their children for using the same;—as a proof of this, I will mention one circumstance, out of many others, that took place in the school I superintended many years since. We had a little girl there, five years old, who was so fond of the school, that she frequently stopped after the usual hours to play with my children and some others who chose to stay in the play-ground. Many of them would stop till eight or nine o'clock at night, to which I had no objection, provided their parents approved of it, and they did not get into mischief; it being desirable to keep them out of the streets as much as possible. It happened, however, one day, that some of the children, offended this child, and she called them by dreadful names, such as I cannot repeat; and, of course, the others were terrified, and told me of them immediately. I was soon satisfied that the child was ignorant of the meaning of what she said, for, as an excuse for her conduct, she declared that she heard her father and mother use the same words. I told the child, that notwithstanding her parents might have done so, it was very wicked, and that I could not let her stay another time to play, if ever she did so again. Having sent for the mother, I informed her of the expressions the child had used, but did not tell her what she had mentioned relative to her parents, for if I had, she would have beaten her most unmercifully. The mother, after having heard me relate the circumstance, immediately flew into a passion with the child, and declared, that she would "skin her alive," (this was her expression,) and I had much difficulty to restrain her from correcting the child in the school. Having pacified her a little, I inquired where the child could have heard such wicked expressions. She said she could not tell. I then told her, I hoped the child did not learn them of her, or her father. To this she made no answer, but I could perceive that she stood self-convicted, and having said what I conceived necessary upon the occasion, I dismissed her, observing that it was useless for ladies and gentlemen to establish schools for the education of the infant poor, if the parents did not assist by setting them a good example.

I am happy to state, that the advice I gave her was not thrown away, as I never knew the child guilty of saying a bad word afterwards; and the mother soon brought me another child, of two years and a half old, and said she should be very glad if I would take it into the school, and that she wished a blessing might always attend the gentlemen who supported the institution. She also requested me to take an opportunity of speaking a few words to her husband, for she was thankful for what had been said to her. And here I would observe, that although it is most undoubtedly true, that the good taught to children in our infant schools is greatly counteracted by the conduct they witness on their return home, yet we occasionally see, that these little children, by the blessing of God, are made the means of reforming their own parents. What a gratifying fact it is, that the adult and hardened sinner, may be turned from his evil ways—from death unto life—by an infant's precept or example!

Nor is it only in profane expressions that we see the influence of evil. Some children I have known, in the same neighbourhood, who even beat their parents. There was a poor widow, very near the school, who was frequently to be seen with her face dreadfully bruised by blows from her own son. He had been taken before a magistrate, and imprisoned for three months, but it did him no good, for he afterwards beat his mother as much as ever, and the poor woman had it in contemplation to get the miscreant sent out of the country. One Sunday, I remember to have seen a boy, under twelve years of age, take up a large stone to throw at his mother: he had done something wrong in the house, and the mother followed him into the street with a small cane, to correct him for it; but he told his mother, that if she dared to approach him, he would knock her down. The mother retired, and the boy went where he pleased. These and many similar scenes I have witnessed; and I am afraid that many such characters have been so completely formed as to be past reformation. So essential is it, to embrace the first opportunity of impressing on the infant mind the principles of duty and virtue.