JB/010/214/001

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Copied 29 May 1824Education. Wm. Maclur Esqr of U. S. to John Bowring Esqr 1st May 1824(Copy.)

Dear Sir, I wrote you some time ago since which I think of taking
your advice & visiting Britain before I finally leave Europe, for which purpose
I embark tomorrow in the only vessel bound there & shall land at Mowry in Ireland
& go to Glasgow in the steam boat & to Edinburgh and from Leith to London
my gravelly complaint having ceased for more than a year & fearing
caused by fatigue in the regions of the kidneys by traveling on rough roads &
passing thro' Spain & France might renew the mineralogical propensity, induces
me to go by sea & benefit by the steam boats than run in all directions. I may be
in Ireland next month & in London the month after as I mean to examine
geologically the disputed mineralogical phenomenons of the North of Ireland, as it is
almost the only place in the of Europe I have not seen. Not having visited Britain
since 1794 most of my acquaintances are gone where we must all go & where too many
of us live as if they were tired of this world and wish to try the next as speedily as
possible. I do everything I can to remain on this globe, for all to me is utter darkness
beyond it, tho' I have been straining my eyes ever since I began to think trying
to discover some beacon but could never discover any other than an ignis
inflammable engendered by the putrid exhalations emanating from
priestcraft working on the superstition of ignorance of their fellow creatures. I feel
strong enough on my present regimen to my propensity to rolling & the
affairs of this country having much decreased the specific gravity of my person makes
me light for the course, & depriving me of occupation I expected, elsewhere, I shall
thank you for a few lines of introduction to any of your scientific friends on my road
or who amuse themselves with promoting the happiness of their fellow creatures by
pushing forward civilization & elevating the human species to that dignified
altitude they are capable of taking, the shortest road to which I have always thought
was, the improving the system of education. Madam Tretugat who keeps a girls'
school in Philadelphia writes me that she finds so many inveterate prejudices even
at the age of 5 or 6 years that she wishes to begin before they can speak; what a
lesson for mothers who ought to be the first & perhaps the only teachers of
girls as fathers ought to be for boys. If you send me any letters inclose them
to me, care of Mr. J. Wilson Merchant, . You need only write one
letter and put the names of your different friends & places of residence at
the bottom: for men of that description a list is enough it will save you
trouble & me the postage for frugality & economy is the foundation of happiness
honesty, honor & probity & is one of the lessons I have been trying hard to make
use of in education. If you see Dr Charles Maclan inform him that I'm
coming to Britain, we sometimes correspond & may prevent him from writing me.
The school at Hazlewood is a change from the old absurd practice & merely as such must

Identifier: | JB/010/214/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 10.
Date_1	1824-05-01	Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	010	Main Headings	chrestomathia
Folio number	214	Info in main headings field	[[info_in_main_headings_field::education wm maclure esqr of us to john bowring esqr […?] 1 may 1824 (copy)]]
Image	001	Titles
Category	correspondence	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering
Penner	richard doane	Watermarks
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public	[[notes_public::"copied 29 may 1824" [note in bentham's hand]]]	ID Number	3650
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