Publication
s.l.: s.n., n.d.
Physical description
32 p.; 21 cm
Notes
This title is found among the Hume Tracts [Joseph Hume, 1777-1855], and that copy bears the publication date of 1829. Our copy does not have a publication date. A PDF of this tract is available from the PCA Historical Center.
Opening words:
"The importance of the general diffusion of religious knowledge, seems now to be universally admitted. No longer is it pretended, that ignorance is the mother of devotion; or that real knowledge can be injurious to any portion of the community. Experience teaches, that the more ignorant men are, the more liable are they to be hurried into acts of violence and excess; or to be seduced into vice by the persuasions and example of the wicked. Most malefactors, who are condemned by the laws of the country, are exceedingly ignorant of religious truth: the mob, often influenced an led on to acts of shocking outrage, is every where composed of the least informed of the people. An ignorant multitude is always liable to be misled by designing demagogues, or seduced by artful imposters. A regard to character, and a respect for the opinions of others, is greatly strengthened by an increase of knowledge, and this is one of the strongest barriers against infamous vice. Conscience, the most powerful of restraints, possesses force in proportion to the light of truth in the mind. Superstition may, indeed, be promoted by ignorance, but true religion, never. Fanaticism also is closely allied to ignorance, but the most effectual remedy against enthusiasm, is genuine piety. Skepticism, it is true, is often associated with a considerable extent of knowledge; but the cure of infidelity must be found in a correct acquaintance with the truth; and the best preventative of this evil is, early religious instruction. It cannot be doubted, that the manners of men are polished by education. Where do you find manners the most sordid and brutal, but among those who have never been instructed? Ferocious passions naturally spring up in minds entirely uncultivated. And it need not be feared that instruction will render the poor more miserable, by making them more sensible of their humble condition. Sound religious knowledge will teach them, that happiness may be enjoyed as fully in a cottage as in a palace; that contentment with our condition is the duty of all; and that want and affliction furnish a very salutary disciplilne, by which faith is tried, virtue improved, and the soul prepared for a better world. The discontented, envious poor, are not commonly those who have been religiously educated, but the ignorant and profligate. It can admit of no doubt, therefore, that the diffusion of knowledge, and especially of religious knowledge, among all classes of people, is a thing to be desired; and that no pains and labour can be considered too great, which are the means of accomplishing this end."
Opening words:
"The importance of the general diffusion of religious knowledge, seems now to be universally admitted. No longer is it pretended, that ignorance is the mother of devotion; or that real knowledge can be injurious to any portion of the community. Experience teaches, that the more ignorant men are, the more liable are they to be hurried into acts of violence and excess; or to be seduced into vice by the persuasions and example of the wicked. Most malefactors, who are condemned by the laws of the country, are exceedingly ignorant of religious truth: the mob, often influenced an led on to acts of shocking outrage, is every where composed of the least informed of the people. An ignorant multitude is always liable to be misled by designing demagogues, or seduced by artful imposters. A regard to character, and a respect for the opinions of others, is greatly strengthened by an increase of knowledge, and this is one of the strongest barriers against infamous vice. Conscience, the most powerful of restraints, possesses force in proportion to the light of truth in the mind. Superstition may, indeed, be promoted by ignorance, but true religion, never. Fanaticism also is closely allied to ignorance, but the most effectual remedy against enthusiasm, is genuine piety. Skepticism, it is true, is often associated with a considerable extent of knowledge; but the cure of infidelity must be found in a correct acquaintance with the truth; and the best preventative of this evil is, early religious instruction. It cannot be doubted, that the manners of men are polished by education. Where do you find manners the most sordid and brutal, but among those who have never been instructed? Ferocious passions naturally spring up in minds entirely uncultivated. And it need not be feared that instruction will render the poor more miserable, by making them more sensible of their humble condition. Sound religious knowledge will teach them, that happiness may be enjoyed as fully in a cottage as in a palace; that contentment with our condition is the duty of all; and that want and affliction furnish a very salutary disciplilne, by which faith is tried, virtue improved, and the soul prepared for a better world. The discontented, envious poor, are not commonly those who have been religiously educated, but the ignorant and profligate. It can admit of no doubt, therefore, that the diffusion of knowledge, and especially of religious knowledge, among all classes of people, is a thing to be desired; and that no pains and labour can be considered too great, which are the means of accomplishing this end."