(Excerpt from Popular Lectures on Ethics, or Moral Obligat...)
Excerpt from Popular Lectures on Ethics, or Moral Obligation: For the Use of Schools The endless combinations Of motives and actions are, as we have Observed, so resolvable into a few elementary principles, that constant reference to these is unavoidable. That such a book is called for, no teacher can doubt. Not being able to Obtain one for my own pupils, first led me to write a course Of familiar lectures; and a hope that their usefulness may be extend ed induces me to publish them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Margaret Mercer was born on July 1, 1791, in Annapolis, Maryland. She was the daughter of John Francis Mercer and his wife, Sophia Sprigg. Most of her childhood was spent in Annapolis, while her father filled various public offices, or at "Cedar Park, " the estate of her maternal grandfather in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, which was the country home of the Mercer family for many years.
Margaret had a superior mind and a strong scholarly bent, and her education, carefully supervised by her father, was exceptional for a woman of her period.
From a religious motive, Margaret began in her early youth to devote herself energetically to altruistic service. To Sunday schools which then offered elementary education to the poor, as well as religious instruction she gave time and money, working in connection with her church, the Protestant Episcopal. For the Greeks, then struggling for independence from Turkey, she also helped raise funds. Through many years, however, her chief interest was probably the antislavery cause as represented by the activities of the American Colonization Society, which aimed, through the removal of free negroes to Liberia, to encourage manumission and thereby ultimately to eliminate slavery from the United States. She urged emancipation upon others and after her father's death set an example by freeing her share of the family slaves and sending to Liberia those who were willing to go. She also raised money to purchase the freedom of other slaves, and for educational work in Liberia. Much of the later part of her life was given to teaching. Cedar Park Institute, her first school, was conducted in her home; but later she moved her school to Franklin, near Baltimore; and, finally, settled at Belmont, near Leesburg, Virginia. The Belmont school, that Margaret established, soon developed into what was virtually a social settlement, including a little church built from money she had raised. The humble inhabitants of the region brought their problems to the leaders of the school, and sent their children to the free classes which it offered in primary subjects and agriculture. During most of Margaret Mercer's busy life she was handicapped by frail health, due to a tendency to tuberculosis; and from this disease she died in the home which she had developed in Virginia.
Mercer started a boarding-school for girls which soon became noted for its high academic standards and strong religious and moral influence. Mercer helped reduce the number of deaths and illnesses on the local plantations from poor sanitary practices by teaching them ways to improve their well designs and by educating them in the latest agricultural techniques. She also contributed to several similar projects involving the Liberian experiment. A ship, built for the purpose of transporting black American settlers to Liberia, was named the Margaret Mercer in her honor as was the Mercer School in Monrovia.
(Excerpt from Popular Lectures on Ethics, or Moral Obligat...)
Mercer opposed slavery and saw that all black persons in her employ (or working on her own and neighboring lands as sharecroppers) were taught to read and write and were welcomed at worship services at the plantation.
Mercer's background shows that she was a person with great strength, perseverance and, conviction. She gave her life to educating and helping people without prejudice.
There is no information about her personal life.
