with them, and which too often the master's sensuality presents in a more alluring light. Are we then to wonder that our servants are covetous and vicious, when we have taken care to exclude from their bosoms every nobler feeling, which might be a safeguard to them against the snares of evil; and if, by way of reconciling them to such degradation, we hold out direct temptations to covetousness and to vice? The feelings of humanity and religion have, after a long slumber of dulness, been aroused to an unequivocal condemnation of negro slavery, which is a thraldom of the body more than of the soul; but it may well be questioned, whether negro slavery is in itself worse, and it must at all events be admitted, that it is far more consistent, than that slavery, which I have been describing, which, under the forms of freedom, demoralizes the soul, robs it of all liberty and of all dignity, and, by the bait of licentious self-indulgence, entices man to descend, of his own accord, below the level of the brute.

That such a relationship should be endured by beings bearing the features of human nature, that it should be inflicted by men calling themselves Christians, is a disgrace to the land in which fashion has sanctioned the abuse; it is a matter, both of astonishment and of grief, to a mind untainted by the contagion of that fashion. But that to beings so artfully degraded and corrupted, to beings held in such alienation and contempt, parents should entrust their offspring, the tender objects of unremitting love and anxiety, is an abomination, which the sight of the fact only can make credible to the uninitiated in the mysteries of human perversity, and to which nothing, but utter thoughtlessness and moral indolence, can ever reconcile the minds and hearts of those, who commit so glaring a violation of their responsible position, as the instruments appointed by Providence, to convey to the child the blessings of time and eternity. Can a stronger proof be given of the low estimation in which parents hold their children, than that they put them under the control and care of those, upon

1

NATIONAL SPREAD OF THE EVIL.

43

whom they never cast any other looks but those of pride and contempt, and with whom they never exchange a word except in the tone of command or of anger ?-that they render not only the present existence, but likewise the future welfare of their offspring, dependant on the influence of those whom they scorn to recognise as their fellow-creatures?

If these evils were confined to the higher ranks of society, they might be passed over without much notice, as inevitable consequences of that vanity and folly, of which the great of this world hardly ever divest themselves; but when we see them rapidly spreading among the middling classes, they assume a far more alarming aspect. They then become, in the full sense of the word, national evils, inasmuch as they infect the vitals of society, from which the life of the whole social body takes its origin, and which, if in a healthy state, always tends to correct the diseases, under which the upper and lower extremities may labour. This salutary reaction from the middling classes upon the higher and lower ranks, can no longer be expected, if we see them giving way to the same evils, by which the others are overwhelmed. If we see that in the middling classes the interest in pecuniary pursuits, as fully absorbs the attention of parents, as the inexorable necessity of a hard-earned livelihood does among the poor, or that the selfish pride of fashion renders their children an encumbrance, of which they rid themselves, by consigning the charge of them to the hands of domestic slaves, -as is the case among the rich,-how then shall we any longer hope, that, by the better education of the middling classes, the higher ranks will be restrained in the indulgence of their follies, and forced, by the fear of sinking lower in the balance of society, to exert themselves for their own improvement ?—or what reason have we to expect, that those who refrain their hands from the duty of educating their children, will stretch them forth in charity, to provide for the education of the poor? To whom, then, shall a man

44

THE CAUSE OF EDUCATION HOPELESS.

direct his voice, when pleading the cause of the infant forlorn and forgotten, in the midst of a community in which the boast of improvement, of charity, of Christian exertion, re-echoes from meeting to meeting, and from streetcorner to street-corner, suffocating, in the clamour of selfapprobation, the feeble cries of the helpless, whose very condition is a witness against the Pharisaical hypocrisy of this generation?

And yet, hopeless as the cause appears to be, it must not be given up. Neither must we allow our hands to sink down in idleness, nor must we lean upon the broken reeds of half-way improvements. A remedy is required,— I care not how limited the extent of its application, provided it go to the whole root of the evil, and provided it be founded upon the root and source of all good. The introduction of such a remedy lies with those individuals, who have arrived at a better conviction on the subject; for as long as society is constituted upon principles, as uncongenial with Christianity, as those which are the groundwork of most of the existing institutions, no reform can be anticipated to originate with society as a body, however ample the outward means may be, which it has at command. For I do think it an inadmissible plea, that there are not funds sufficient to provide for the education of every child born in the land. Not to mention the numerous charitable foundations, the notorious misapplication of many of which, has become the subject of parliamentary inquiry; there is the enormous sum of seven millions and a half levied each year, in England alone, under the head of poor rates, of which by far the greater proportion goes towards the support of such paupers, as are encumbered with children. But the question is, whether or not, the present mode of distributing parish relief be calculated to ensure to the children those temporal and moral advantages, which might be provided for them, at such an expense? That this question is unfortunately to be answered in the negative, must be agreed upon by all that are in the

PECUNIARY MEANS.-PAUPERISM.

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least conversant with the present state of parochial administration, and with its demoralizing influence upon the poor. There is no reason, however, why the same expenditure should not be applied in such a manner, as to make provision for the proper education of pauper children, and, at the same time, to attempt the improvement of the parents themselves, partly by interesting them in the arrangements made for their children, and partly by encouraging them in industrious pursuits. But to produce this effect, parish relief ought to be proffered as a gift of Christian charity, with a careful attention and regard to the peculiar situation, and the consequent wants, of every individual that receives it,-instead of being, as it now is, tendered in a spirit of contempt, as a boon extorted from an unwilling hand, by the extreme of necessity; in other words, the parish ought to go in search of their poor, rather than paupers in quest of the parish. I am perfectly aware of the ridicule, to which this view of the subject lies open, on account of the singular contrast which it forms with the present state and tone of society. But I can easily bear the scornful sneer of the indifferent, as well as the complacent smile of over-prudent benevolence,-being well conscious, that the ridicule arises from the circumstance, that the mode proposed is founded upon a truly Christian principle: whereas the present practice, with many more of a similar description, has for its basis a system of society essentially anti-christian. All I desire, is, that the subject may not be passed over with a smile; but that, before dismissing it from your minds, you may give to yourselves a satisfactory answer to the question: which is more conformable to the Christian character, that spontaneous charity which seeks the distressed in their own abode, and gives to every one accordingly as he wants, without asking, or that unwilling assistance, which is given, because extorted, in self-defence against the annoying intrusion of pauperism? And if that question be settled, as it easily may be, then I would farther ask: whether the

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POLICE.-PRISONS.

circumstance of a number of Christians being united together in a body, can at all diminish the duties, which individually devolve upon them, or whether, on the contrary, those duties are not more binding, in proportion as their strength is increased by their union?

But to return to our subject. The poor-rates are not the only head of public expenditure, which, if applied in a more judicious manner, might answer the purposes which it now does, and at the same time be made available for the discharge of that important duty, the neglect of which is rendering the state of society every day more embarrassing. What sums are not expended every year for police establishments, criminal prosecutions, prisons, houses of correction, and many more of those admirable institutions, of which we are so proud on the score of public justice, and of which, on the score of Christian love, we ought to be so deeply ashamed? It is true, I grant, that we cannot dispense with them all at once,—that they are necessary evils. They are, however, evils, not only of urgent necessity, but also of increasing magnitude. We are approaching, with rapid strides, to a state of things, in which the maintenance of what is called public security, will almost amount to an impossibility, whilst the resources of society will be inadequate to the supply of the means, which this useless effort will absorb. Some efficient measures must therefore be adopted for the prevention of those crimes and vices, which we now vainly endeavour to suppress, by retaliating evil upon them. Instead of institutions for the apprehending, sentencing, and executing those criminals, who are, after all, but the victims of the present system, we must form establishments, in which the children of the destitute, of the vicious, and of the criminal, may be educated to a contrary course of life, and to different circumstances. The means at present expended upon measures of public vengeance, by which the evil is only increased and multiplied, must, by degrees, be appropriated to measures of public charity, by which