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NEW-HAMPSHIRE CHILDREN,
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FAMILIAR LETTERS

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FROM A FA.T}!ER.

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EXETER:
PUBLISHED BY FRANCIS 91u:~r:r~ '.
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1823.
8 , T . Muses, Pripte:n

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PR;EFACE.
'·
DISTRICT OF NF.W-HAl\'IPSHIRE, TO WIT :

/Jist,.frt C/c,.k"• (~I/ice .

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~ int•• Jt ••=

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SC \'Cnth y c ~ll' of the ludc pr.nd e 11cc of the l J ni. . . t.cd !:i tatcs of i\m ericn, FnANCIS GRANT,
f?istnct, hns deposited in this Oni cc the title of rt
llonlo, th t r1fi11t wh e1·eof he claims HS Pk·oprietor in the words
Jollo~ . . ~ng, viz." A Book fol' New-Hnmp~ liirc Children, in
F:urn1·.nt· Letters from a F:ilhcr.
lt: confo~·mity to the Act of the Co11g1·ess of th e Unite1l
Stritcs, ·~.1 ·l1th~1J, " :\II net for the E.11 cou1·a~c m e nt. o r Learning
by srcurt'•l' tloc Copies of M a ps, Charts nm! Rooks to the Authors .:i nd Proprietors of such Copic!-1, during the tim es th er ein
1nc ntmn cd ; nnd n~ so to nn net cntitlccl, J\11 Act supplc men tary to ~n Act, ''n~1tl e1l An Act for th e En courage mr.11t oC
l~enrnwg b_y seem·mg the Copi e ~ of l\inps, Charts nrui Il'loks
t~ the Anthors ant~ Prnprietors of such Copi es, during th ct11ncs the rc111 mention ed ; RnU extendi11 0- tl1 c 1J e11 c fits tli P- reof
to the Arts of D esigning, gngraving a~d Etching Historical,
and other Print.s." . : ·
: . ·,-;'JLLHM CLAGGETT,

of th e

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· . r:/e,·k of ~.'1e Dist1·ict of

A u ·uc copy ol

U~coril,

N ew-Hampshire.

. . Attest'. . . y'/ 1,:.Lil\M CLAGGF.TT, Clc1-k.

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TnE little ·work, which is here presented

to th e publick, hm1 been prepa!'ecl with consi<lerable labour a11cl care. lt is much more
uifficult, than might be at first imagined, to
clescPnd lo lhe level of the infant understanding, an<l at the same time, to write in tolerable English.
It will be perceived, on a slight inspectioR
of this book, ihat it is intended for children.
'.rhe objects l'roposecl in it, are the following.
It has been proposed to (nrnish the c ·1dren of N ew-Hampshire with a book weli
calclllated to tead1 them to read ; a book "'
which might take the place in the cbild 1 s library, of those foolish story books, which anSW F:! l' 110 valuable purpose Whatever, except fo
teach children to call words at Right; but
whicl1, at the same time, often effect the bad
purpose of giving them a distaste for books of
sober and useful knowled;?:e.
If this liltle work be w~·itten in a manner
sufficiently attractive to induce childreq. to
read it, it may then be valuable as a · rtlern

reading 'book.

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· it has moreover been pwposed to fore children of the Stilt(( ·with a book,

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vhicb, while it tearhes them to read, may
impart .to their minds imporlant information
concerning; their own conntry.
It has been thought, if the child's early attainments in knowledge, coul<l be intimately
a11sociated with the geography, history, object!' and concerns of his own State, or country, that this circumstance might bave a happy tende11cy fo cherish bis attarhment to it.;
to make him feel a deep interest in its welfare;
and to render him a good citizen in mature

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~EW-HAMJ>SHIRE

CHILDREN.

a!!;e.

~ Common books of geography convey little,
er no information to children. They are '
written in a style above their capacity ; and
they read thp · 1 with little interest.
An,,. •. "' ?' '•as been made in the following
or- .!(· '
·', •a geographical description
· ".3ing and intelligible to the
,.. , belong lo it; and if lhe attempt
• • <1 in any degree answer itR design, it will
vy no means have been made in vain.
It rnay perhaps be objected, that the book
is deficient in method. It is believed, however, that exact method would, in the present
instance, be of little importance. What th.e
child most w1111t!I, are fads; and if these can
in any way be imparted, he will at the profef
time arrange and melhodize them.

LE'l".l'ER I.
MY DEAR CHILDREN,

As you live in the State of NewHampshire, I think you ought to know a
great cleal more about the state than you
now do. I propose, therefore, to write ·
a good many letters to you, in order to
give you an account of it. I shall tell
you how long and how wide NewHampshire is ; what land lies along on
the north, what land lies along on the
south, what lancl lies along op. t~ eastp
--..:a what great river runs . alon1f ~.n,.t.h~
side of it. I shall t~ll..'ymf ~bcm.t
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Hillsb~rough

conn'y has just forty towns;
'l'he people of Hillsborough, fifty-three thousand.

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LETTER XXIX.
l\fY DEAR !ION,

The connly of Cheshire has thirty-seven
lowns;
'l'he people of Cheshire are forty-five thousand.
The county of Grafton has lhirly-six towns;
'l'he people uf Grafton are thirty-three thouS:lnd.

'J'he r.ounfy of Coos has twenty-one lowns;
The 11111nberofneuple is harrlly six thousand.

All the towns in the state are two hundrell
and tweh·e;
The people, two-hundred and forty-four thou!!and.

\Vhcn I began these letters, my dear
children, I proposed to write about thirty.
Two letters more will make just thirty;
which I shall write as soon as I can find
time. One of them I shall direct to my
son; the other, to my daughter. My
object in ·th :WO remaining letters will.i
be to giv
.}1 some good a<lvice. I
l10pe yo,~ . b e prepared to receive it,
as wel ~ as ,
ut it in practice.
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Youa A°FFEcT10NATE F ATHEtt.• .

In the course of these letters, I ha\'e
frequently spoken about the duties of
children ; yet it has seemec.1 to me very
proper, that I should ·write one letter of
advice, more directly to you. I hope,
therefore, you will read this letter more
often, and with more pleasure, than any
of the others. You are now able to read
pretty well in plain reading, and to understand good advice, if gi\'en in plain
language.
. I have taken considerable pams · to
give you an account of New-Hampshire ; because every child ought to be
made acquainted with the State, where
he lives; and because, when he is acquainted with his own State, he will
naturally wish to know sometJ1ing about
other States and countries. i: have made
. it appear, I think, that N:~,ftiampshire
is a land, for which we ou~ht to be tha1*- ·

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fol to God ; a land of hills and of vallies~
where virtuous people may be as happy
as in any part of the world. I wish )
therefore, that you would love NewHampshire, and be very desirous of its
prosperity in every thing good. And if
you do really wish that New-Hampsllire
may prosper ; you will be very glad to
know how it may be made to prosper in
the greatest degree.
Now, my son, one of the best ways
in the world, to make New-Hampsh~re
prosper is, to have all the children in it
behave themselves as well as they possi•
bly can. For, if they are good children>
it is very likely they will be worthy and
good rrien; and if so, they will wish t~
do every thing they can for the benefit
of the State.
Now you are young, you must re- ..
member, my dear, that you cannot tell
what is best for you so well as those that
are older,
ecause you have not had
opportunity, to hear and see and know

as much as they have. You must always obey your parents, your teachers,
and others, who have the care of you,
and be always willing to be taught and
advised by persons, who are older and
wiser than yourself.
If a child, like you, expects ever -to
be a worthy and useful man, he must be
desirous of learning to read. . A person
that is unable to read, . is very little
thought of in New-Hampshire; and if.
he try ever so much, he can do but little good. I hope, therefore, you will go
on learning to read better and better, till
you are able to read any book in the
English language.
At the proper time, I also wish you
to learn to write. No person, who is
unable to write, can expect to be a man
of much consequence. Do what he may,
he will pass for an ig·norant man. And
besides, he will not be able to do his
own business in a safe, ort respectable
mruiner. Many people have been sadly
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cheated by not being able to write. I
hope therefore you will be very desirous
of learning to write, and to write handsomely; so that neither you, nor your
friends may have reason to be ashamed
of your writing.
And while you are careful of learning
to read and write well, I beg you to pay
particular attention to your spelling. For
what a shame it would be for you, to
be able to write handsomely, and yet
not be able to spell half of your words.
Bad spelling always spoils good writing.
But a person, who can write and spell
with propriety, especially, if he understand figures, or .~ ciphering, may ahvays
find employment, and get a ,good living.
Ciphering is a very important part of
a boy's education; and as soon as it will
do for you, I wish you to begin the stu•
dy of Arithmetick. Indeed, I wish you
to learn the Multiplication Table as sqon
~ui possible. - I think every boy, that is
able to read these letters, ought to go to

learning his table immediately ; and, if
you have not learnt it already, do attend
· to it. If you should put off learning it,
till you are thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen
years of age, you will find it quite as
hard to learn then, as now ; and besides,
you will be very much mortified.
After a boy is able to read, write and
spell correctly, understands Arithmetick
well, has a pretty good knowledge of the
State in which he lives, and of mhcr
countries, and is well acquainted with his
native language, I consider him a .boy of
a good education. If the conduct of
such a boy be good, there is nothing to
hinder his becoming a respectable and
useful man. If pa~ents are careful to hire
good and able teachers, the greater part
of the boys in New-Hampshire may acquire such an education as I have here
:aoticed. And they can afterward go on,
and improve themselves at their leisure.
If they have the disposition to do it, they
oen read large books of Geography and

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History, books upon Farming and Gardening, and books of Philosophy, Morality and Religion.
By the time they are twenty-one years
of age, they may have a great deal of
knowledge. But I desire you would not
forget, that, if you would be a man of
knowledge, you must love your books
much better than play. · You can obtain
nothing good in this world without labouring for it. Corn and hay do not
come without people's labouring to raise
them. Neither will useful knowledge
come into your mind, unless you study
for it. Especially when you are sent to
school, I wish you to be very careful not
to play by the way, but to be there in
good season. And while you are at school,
sit still in your place and mind your les·
sons, without giving your master, or mistress, any trouble. Go to school' for the ·
sake of learning, and not for the sake of
playing.

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Those boys that study and behave
best, are always the happiest at school.
They love their master, and their master
loves them. But I have knowri boys,
that n·ent to school chiefly for play, and
that were very unhappy illl the :t!me 1·he) .;
were there.
TI1ey longed · to · be ·out
doors at play. Like a· wild anhnd, l:h::it
is chained, they were· very uneasy;.· arid
as soon as school was tl!'Smisst;'d,: '. ,h~y
would drive out of the house, just as the
same wild animal will run away, when
his chain is taken off. Such boys are
not only troublesome to their masters;
but are apt to be noisy at home, and
troublesome to their parents and friends.
While I am talking about school, I
will mention one thing more. I desire
you would avoid getting into quarrels
with your school-mates. Treat all your
school-mates well, and you will be likely
to find good treatment in return. It is a
bad sign to see a boy given to quarrelling. It is a sign that he will be an ill
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natured and quarrelsome man. But I
hope better things of you. I hope you
will be kind to your school-mates, and to .
all others ; and do what you can to render them happy.
: ;If yo·,nuirn.h1!1 I have now said in this
Jetter, I .shall be tlrnnkful ; but you will
not· be likely t;1 mind it, unless you remember your Creator; unless you think
e~'eri :da)', ~ha~· you ~re born to die and
to give an account. You must consider,
what your Bible and catechism teach,
that God sees and knows every thing you
do and iay; that he sees you always, and
that you cannot possibly hide yourself
out of his sight. You should be afraid
of offending God, because he punishes
those who sin against him, unless they
are sorry for their sins, and ask his forgiveness through Jesus Chri.st.
Children as young as you, have often
done evil ; and you will not deny, that
you have done wrong a great many times.
Children are apt to do wrong. But God is

so kindas to pardon all their sins, when they
are truly sorry for them ; and to give them
a mind and heart to serve him in future.
Now, my child, you are young; but
in a few years more, if you live, you
will be a man. In a few years more all
those, that are now children will be men,
and those, that are now men, will be in
their graves. You know very well, my
son, that you also must die. And you
know from the Bible, that there is a plac~.
of happiness, and _a place of punishment
after death. Good people after death go
to a place of happiness ; and wicked
people go to a place of punishment.
This I beg yeu to consider; and to consider likewise, that children of your age
very often die, and that you yourself may
not live to be a man. How important is
it then, that you remember your Creator,
now in the days of your youth !
I will now tell' you what I hope and
desire concerning you, should you live
to be a man. I hope and desire most of .

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all, that you may be a pious good man ;.
a man that fears God, a~d keeps his commandments. I hope and desire that you.
may be a respectable man in. the place
where you may live; that you may be a.
friend to good schools, to good ministers,
to good Rulers, and to good laws.
Should ) 'OU live to be a voter, I hope
you will never vote for bad men, if yoU:
know them to be such ; but that you
will always give your vote for wise and
virtuous men, who love their country,
and are willing to do what they can for
its prosperity. I hope you will be successful in business, and become a man
of handsome property; but I most earnestly hope, that you may never wrong
others for the sake of money. I pray
that ym.~ may always speak the truth, and
b~ honest and fair in all your dealings.
In short, my dear son, I earnestly
pray, in submission to God's will, that
your life and health may be spared ; that
you may liv~ to become so kind, wqrthy,

pious, and useful a man, that all acquainted with you, may highly esteem
you ; and when, at length, you shall go
down to the grave, that they may have
reason to lament, becauy>e so good a man
has been taken away.
I have written to you, my son, a very
long letter; but I hope, you will not be
sorry to find it so long; but that you
will read it many times with care, and
give me occasion to rejoice in all my exertions for your improvement and hap·
piness.
YovR

AFFECTIONATE FATHER.

LETTER XXX.
· Mr DEAR DAUGHTER,

As I have written a very long letter to
your brother. which you will have the
reading of, it will not be necessary
for me to write so long a one to you.
What I said in that letter concerning
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