THE REFORMATION. THE PRESENT AGE. 17

which a man was enabled, in plain speech, to knock down a greater number of his fellow creatures than his rival would either undertake or succeed in.

In this splendid division of the field of human labour between monastic hypocrisy, and haughty Vandalism, the great mass of the people were-fortunately for them, no doubt, under such circumstances-entirely forgotten; and it was not till the time of the reformation that notice was taken of the mental and moral barrenness in which by far the largest proportion of the community had been allowed to grow up. The new impulse which the reformation gave to the march of civilization, and the jealous watchfulness with which the reformers inquired into the causes of the national thraldom of mind, brought to light the fearful ignorance in which the lower classes had been kept, and caused some provisions to be made for the education of the rising generations to a more enlightened state. But it was not to be expected, that those, who had themselves hardly emerged from a state of pedantic instruction, in many instances, perhaps, worse than ignorance, should at once be enabled to devise, and to bring into practice, a free and enlightened mode of tuition. Hence it is, that the education, insured to the poorer classes in consequence of the reformation, was itself poor enough. Indeed, that of the rich remained not less defective; even at the present day, have we not to deplore, besides the narrowness of the instruction given in charity schools, the existence of a sad remnant of monastic spirit in Protestant seats of learning, and of Vandalism in the political and military career?

Within the last fifty years, however, these defects have been universally felt, and it is remarkable to see the efforts which have been making in the three principal countries of civilized Europe, Germany, France, and England, to ameliorate the state of education, so much the more, as they exhibit, in a very striking manner, the characteristic features of the three nations. In Germany,

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in which there was, and still is, the smallest proportion of practical knowledge, in spite of a great deal of learning, or at least teaching, an attempt has been made to introduce topics of practical utility in the instruction of youth, and at the same time to get rid of the heavy forms in which all knowledge was till then communicated. Since the time of Basedow, who, in this respect, broke the ice, a number of schemes were successively palmed upon the German public, which had all for their object to convey knowledge of natural science, and other topics of real life, in a pleasing, or rather in a trifling manner, by means of dialogizing tales, in which a great variety of matter is introduced, as it were, by the of à way order or propos, without any plan. In combination with this unprofitable reform of the intellectual part of education, the attempt was made to supplant the cane,-till then, and, in many parts, even till now, the great lever of moral discipline.-by a sort of sentimental moral-preaching, likewise in the form of childish stories, properly interlined with ingenious questions and answers. The looseness of knowledge, and laxity of moral feeling, produced by these new systems on one hand, and, on the other, the pedantry of the old mode of tuition, and the despotic sway of its barbarous discipline, gave rise to an opposition, equally directed against both. In the last popular excitement of Germany, occasioned by the war against Napoleon, when many a dream of immature reform was dreamed, the idea of educating the youth of the country, somewhat upon the system of Lycurgus and Plato, independently of all parental interference, under the authority, and for the purposes of the state, was abortively broached by those who, hoping to see a new era in the political state of their country, were anxious to secure durability to the vainly anticipated forms of civil liberty, by training up a sound and manly generation.

The changes made in France at the same period, and from similar causes, as they consisted chiefly in a violent emancipation from superannuated superstition, and from

the impostures of daring hypocrisy, partook, in their origin, too much of the character of infidelity, to produce real benefit. The attempt to inspire the nation with enthusiasm upon such a basis, could but degenerate into those deplorable excesses, which will for ever stain the close of the last century, and was of course not calculated to give a better impulse to education. Since the storm has been allayed, the prospect has, apparently at least, become clearer; but it is to be feared, that the pretended improvements will not bear the test of closer examination. The turn which the tide of public instruction, in France, has taken since the restoration of peace in Europe, seems to indicate a decided predilection for the superficial glitter of an extensive empiric knowledge; in the acquirement of which, the idol of human reason is not less profanely worshipped, than in the mad performances of revolutionary atheism; whilst the heart is left cold and indifferent, a prey to false sentiment or degrading passion.

And now, if we fix our looks lastly upon England, and ask, "What is the spirit of those changes which have been made in popular education within these last thirty or forty years ?"-shall we arrive at a more favourable result? I fear not. Here also the wish for improvement has received a false direction, singularly analogous to the cha→ racteristic bias of the nation. Whatever has of late been done in this country under the name of improvement in education, has invariably borne a manufacturing aspect. The question has not been-What must we do to give to every child the best possible education? but-What are the best means of educating the greatest possible number of children with the smallest expense of capital and of human labour? So that, without the slightest regard being paid to the nature of the treatment which the child's mind and heart receive, it has been considered as an unquestionable proof of a superior system, that one master should be enabled to drill a thousand children instead of a hundred, and that the movements of the mass should strike the eye

20

ADVANCED CIVILIZATION OF ENGLAND.

as more regular, and less interrupted by any expression of individual thought and feeling, than what had been exhibited before under a less perfect system of machinery. This false tendency is the more deeply to be deplored, as England is, of all the countries of Europe, and perhaps of the world, that in which mistakes on matters of vital importance are of the greatest consequence. The nations of the continent can, to use a common phrase, better afford to commit blunders, because in the slow march of their national life evils do not spread so rapidly, and there is more time left for their observation and correction. Not so in this country. Whoever has impartially observed and compared the state of things here and abroad, must be aware of the immense difference in the degree of development which society has attained; and I do not think this difference at all overrated in saying that England is from two to three centuries in advance in the march of civilization before the other countries of Europe. This superiority, whilst it is a subject for congratulation, is on the other hand also a cause for serious apprehension. The complication of all the relations of society, and the rapidity and superficiality of social intercourse, are a great drawback upon social morality, for which no other compensation can be found than a more strict, firm, and independent adherence to principle on the part of every single individual in the community. In countries in which civilization is in a less advanced state, there is a primitiveness and a simplicity in all the ties of society which form a happy substitute for that higher moral development which is generally wanting. The contact which every individual has with society is of such a nature as to render him, in the sphere in which he moves, perfectly well known, not only in his character, but also in his various concerns, and therefore dependant upon the moral suffrages which he may earn; in this manner a sort of public morality is created, by which the individual, however weak in his own principles, is supported like a faint man in a crowd. Nay,

THE CLAIMS OF SOCIETY.

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the whole of society resembles a crowd of faint men upholding each other, because they stand too close to allow to each other room for falling. The progress of civilization, on the contrary, has the effect of enlarging the sphere of every individual, and rendering him more insulated and more independent; and hence it is, that it has a tendency to weaken that mutual support which man gives to man in a primitive state of society. But it is not the pose of God that man should remain leaning upon man; he must learn to stand, independently of man, in the strength of the Lord; and the gradual breaking down of that social morality is therefore to be hailed rather than deplored, provided civilization take such a turn as will tend to render the individuals strong in the Lord; that is to say, provided society give to those whom it no longer upholds by the power of the mass, an essentially religious education.

This brings me back to the question from which I was led to this review of the history of education, the question-What are the rights and duties of the family, and of society at large, respecting the education of children belonging to them? Is it not evident from the consequences which the neglect of education produces in the inevitable progress of civilization, that society must have a positive duty to give it to every individual born in its bosom? This duty might indeed be inferred indisputably from the claim which society lays to the services of every such individual; for-(to take no higher ground than is taken by all moral philosophers, and even by political economists)—it is generally admitted, that every right produces a corresponding duty. Now, if society have, or pretend to have, a right to the services of every individual, it is clear that this right necessarily involves some duty; and what can that duty more obviously be, than that society should give to its children such an education as will fit them for the services which it intends to exact from them in after life?