A

CHILD'S Christian Education;

OR,

Spelling and Reading made Easy.

BEING

THE MOST PROPER INTRODUCTION TO THE PROFITABLE READING THE

HOLY BIBLE, &c.

IN FIVE PARTS.

CONTAINING

I. An ALPHABET, illuftrated with IV. RULES for SPELLING.
Cuts; and eafy Leffons of Mo-
nofyllables, leading Children gra-
dually from Spelling to Reading
in a very fhort Time,

II. TABLES of WORDS, from two
to five Syllables, with their pro-
per Divifions and Accents.
III. A plain and impartial Account
of the whole FAITH and DUTY
of a Chriftian: Collected out of
the Writings of the Old and
New Teftament: Digefted under
proper Heads, and delivered in
the Words of Scripture, &c.

The

Ufe of Stops, Bishop Kenn's three Hymns. Questions, with Anfwers out of the Scripture. Prayers for Children. The Bishop of Sodor and Mann's Admonitions to Mafters of Families, &c. V. An ExPOSITION of the Church Catechifm, collected from the best Divines; namely, Archbifhop Wake, Bishop Williams, Bishop Burnet, Bishop Beve ridge, Dr. Worthington, Dr. Isham, Dr. Stebbing, Dr. Bishop,

&c.

THE SIXTEENTH EDITION.

By the Reverend Mr. FISHER,
(Late of WHICKHAM)

Now Master of the GRAMMAR SCHOOL in COCKERMOUTH.

Defigned for the Ufe of Schools and Families.

N. B. This Book is in the Lift of those recommended by the SocIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

Train up a Child in the Way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. PROV. xxii. 6.

LONDON:

Printed for F. and C. RIVINGTON, Bookfellers to the Society for premoting Chriftian Knowledge, No. 62, St. Paul's Churchyard; and by the Bookfellers in Great-Britain

Y little children come to me,

F333 MY

1809

And learn the chriftian A, B, C.
Thus JESUS would his children bless,
And them with heav'nly fweets carefs.
How good is he, O come and fee;
Your JESUS calls you to his knee.
My little ones, O come away,
And do not spend your time in play.
Come fee what learning here doth flow:
Let none despise the criss-cross row.
Come now, O come, my children dear,
Come to my arms, and do not fear;
Your loving JESUS doth you call,
Come now, come, my children all;
And I will teach you how to live,
If you to me yourselves will give.
You must the devil now defy,

You must the world and flesh deny;
With all your heart renounce these three,
And my dear children you shall be.
Believe my Gofpel, and be wife;
Me always fet before your eyes:
And on your mind now let me draw
The living and life-giving law:
In it always be your delight,
To ponder well both day and night:
And iofs of all the world count gain,
So that ye may but me obtain,

From T. à Kempis, recommended by Robert Nelfon, Ef

Printed by Law and Gilbert, St. John's Square, London.

THE

IT

PREFACE.

T is a general complaint, that children are trained up in reading idle romances, which fill their heads with wild and unnatural fancies; while the facred fcripture, the lively oracles of God, are neglected; though their usefulness and excellency, preferable to any thing else, both for informing the understanding, and fecuring the morals of children, be evident to every body. To remedy this complaint, was the defign of drawing up this little book; and in favour of this method, the judicious LOCKE well obferves, "That the promifcuous reading of the Holy Bible, by chapters, as. they lie in order, is fo far from being any advantage to children, either for the perfecting their reading, or principling their religion, that perhaps a worfe could not be found.

"For what pleasure (fays he) or encouragement can it he to a child to exercife himself in reading those parts of a book whereof he understands nothing? And how little are the law of Mofes, the fong of Solomon, the prophecies in the Old, and the epiftles, and the apocalypfe in the New Teftament, fuited to a child's capacity? And though the hiftory of the evangelifts, and the Acts, have fomething, eafier, yet, taken altogether, it is very difproportionate to the underlanding of children."

Now, though this misfortune does attend the reading of all parts of fcripture indifferently, yet, at the fame time, it must be granted, that children are to be principled in their religion: and that thofe principles may be best drawn. from fcripture, and delivered in its own words.

And in order to this, nothing more is neceffary than to propofe fuch portions of the Bible to children as are short, A 2.

and

and at the fame time fuited to their weak capacities; for by this means, that facred book may be ftill retained in schools, and all the inconveniences that arife from the promifcuous use of it avoided.

For this end it was, that the third part of the following Book was drawn up, wherein many of the moft useful. branches of holy writ, whether they be matters of belief or practice, and all the feveral parts of our duty, are ranged under proper heads; and fome few fuch paffages as are most fhort, eafy, and weighty, are respectively placed under that part of the duty they are intended to explain: So that although fome paffage may occur in this book, the scope of which is lefs obvious to the capacity of a child, yet the difficulty will in a great measure vanish, and the generalmeaning at least will appear, when the mafter explains to his young fcholar, under what head it is placed, and what branch of duty it is intended to enforce.

In profecution of this defign, it is fuppofed, that the paffages quoted under each head, where they are few, will, the first time of reading over, be fufficient exercife for the child at one leffon; and though each lesson may be thought fhort, yet no doubt the advantage may be greater, than from a much longer, where the matters treated of are obfcure: And befides being fhort, they may both be better understood at prefent, and fome of them poffibly, that are moft taking with the genius of the child, treasured up in memory as fo many ftanding and facred rules of his life and actions ever afterwards.

And by this means children may learn many of the noblest and moft ufeful parts of fcripture, without that tedious obfcurity which muft needs render the reading of the Bible at large fo ifkfome and difcouraging to them.

In the use of the feveral paffages of fcripture, is followed the interpretation of a late excellent * prelate of our church in his Christian Institutes, whose authority must be unexceptionable to all candid readers.

* Dr. Gaftrell, late Bishop of Chefter.