".... last Thursday was indeed an exhilairating - a triumphant day, for all the real friends of the old Church of England in this city and neighbourhood. The large number of children (more than 1,300) assembled in the House of God - all of whom are being educated in the good old paths of Christianity, or, in other words, in the doctrines of the Established Church of this country; the sound of the voices of these little ones, poured forth to the praise and glory of their God and Father, in the words of that beautiful .... Christian psalm the 16th; - the crowded Congregation of all ranks of society, met to give their support to so entirely unexceptional an Institution as the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; - and though last , by no means the least, the truly sound, judicious, and impressive sermon of the Archdeacon of Totnes, - all together conspired to excite, within the minds of those present, unmingled sentiments of delight and gratitude."
Thirteen hundred 'little ones' chanted this good old 'Christian!?' psalm of David whereby they declared that the sorrows of people who hastened after other gods would be multiplied and that they, the children who sang, would refuse to drink the offerings of blood that these same 'others' drank. Moreover they declared their gratitude to God that he would not leave their souls in hell. I wonder what sense the many 'little ones' made of Psalm 16.
The representative of The Exeter Flying News (26th September 1822) and the rest of the crowded congregation were, we are told, grateful for and delighted by this Gathering of Charity School children in Exeter's Cathedral in 1822.
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