Blair Collection > Practical grammar of the antient Gaelic, or, Language of the Isle of Man, usually called Manks

A SERMON. XXXIH
tY"esses wliich may and must always increase in proportion to the
extent, and to the prosperity also, of every community ; and, not
content to limit their attention to their corporeal wants, they
extend their care to their mental and spiritual concerns — " to
the poor in spirit ; to the blind in the truth and knowledge of the
Gospel ; to the ignorant, and those who are gone out of the way ;
to teach them the way, the truth, and the life.'^* And such i]i
particular is the nature of that institution which I am now called
upon to recommend to your patronage and protection, and to
exhort you " not to faint in this labour of love, nor be weary
of well-doing/'t
I have known but one wretched philosopher J who ever at-
tempted to prove that institutions for the instruction of the poor
were injurious to the community ; for that education (he reasoned)
rendered the poor, who were designed by nature to discharge the
meanest offices, superior to the duties of their situation. How a
man could thus abuse his feelings ! But as charitable institu-
tions are among the blessed fruits of Christianity, and unknown
to the world before its introduction, it is no wonder that an
enemy to revelation and Christianity itself should dare to deny
the utility of its best institutions. He might as w^ell have argued
that the poor should not be fed, because they might prove too
strong for the great to keep them in subjection, as that learning
would make them too wise to labour. The abuse of a blessing is
no argument against the use of it ; and experience shews that
learning is a friend to industry, especially that useful learning
which is generally taught and usually acquired at charitv-
schools. But, whatever objections may be made to the moi-e
public and greater hospitals and schools, they apply not to our
present charity.
The mode of education which you have chosen for these poor
children, and your manner of assisting their Vv^ants, must be con-
sidered as an excellent auxiliary, at least, to those more public,
and extensive foundations, and, in some respects, attended with
* Maf.v. 3. t Gal. iii. 13. * :^,Iai.(lcville.
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