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FACTS PROVING THE NEGLECT.

it is to be observed, that more than one half of the children attending on Sabbath schools, do also frequent day schools, so that they appear twice in the above statement. From these data it follows, that of the children of the poor in England there is but one fourth that receive instruction both during the week and on the Sabbath; one fourth who are under tuition on week days, but not on the Sabbath; one fourth, who, attending upon Sabbath schools only, are left without instruction during the whole week; and one fourth who receive no education whatever, either in the week or on the Sabbath. It need not be added, that the parents who neglect to bring their children into contact with any of the public means of education, are not likely to supply that deficiency themselves, so that the inference is incontestable that the whole of the last named five hundred thousand children are growing up in the abodes of utter physical and moral destitution, and, worse than that, in the haunts of vice and criminality. Is it credible that a community calling itself a Christian community, nay, one that lays claim to the Christian character par excellence, should allow half a million of human beings to grow up, year after year, in its bosom, without any means being adopted to bring them to a consciousness of their state, and of their destination, and to a knowledge of the means which God has appointed for them, and the duties which he has imposed upon them, with a view to lead them to the attainment of the purpose of their lives? And is it to be supposed that so fearful a neglect of the most sacred duty will pass by unpunished? Or shall we doubt a moment, that the overwhelming flood of immorality, vice, and crime, which is setting in upon the framework of society, is the vengeance of God upon a nation, which, in the amply folded garb of profession, commits the most profane desecration of his holy purpose, in the dereliction of thousands and thousands of those little ones, whom He has commanded us to receive in his name?

LECTURE II.

CONTINUATION OF THE SAME SUBJECT.

I HAVE, in the last lecture, attempted to shew, on the ground of history, in what light the relative duties of the family, and of society at large, concerning the education of their children, have been viewed at different times, and by different nations; and I have likewise endeavoured to prove, on the mere ground of social principles, and of the selfinterest of the community, that the latter has a decided duty to assist and even to substitute parents in the discharge of the trust which is laid upon them, to bring up their children in a manner conducive to their own welfare and to that of the whole community. But, as I observed at the commencement of this subject, there is another ground on which it may be considered, besides that of mere human policy. Our question, to be satisfactorily answered, must be viewed in the light of religion; we must ask"What are the rights and duties of a Christian family, and of a Christian community, respecting the education of those children which God has confided to their care ?”

It is impossible for us entirely to separate our views on education from those religious considerations which, in a Christian country, more or less influence every department of life, and accordingly this string has been occasionally

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CHRISTIAN VIEW OF THE SUBJECT.

touched upon already in the first lecture. But there is a vast difference between a religious bias of our views on education, given, as it were, by a sidewind, from an inevitable association in our thoughts and feelings, and a view of education essentially founded upon the principles of religion. The former must, in a measure, cleave to the theories and practice of every one that has been brought up in a land which is under the influence of revelation, so much so, that I question whether even an infidel, however violently struggling against all that savours of religion, can entirely rid himself, in his system of education, of those associations and impressions, which he has imbibed in early life, and which are daily recalled to his mind and feelings by a thousand surrounding influences. On the other hand, education, essentially founded upon the principles of religion, requires so spiritual and vital an apprehension, not of the words and doctrines, but of the power and life of religion, that its theory and its practice are but rarely to be met with even among the religious, and most rarely of all, I fear, among those who most pride themselves in doctrinal superiority. It would be unjust and presumptuous to deny that approaches-very near ones, perhaps, in some instances have now and then been made to what might be called the ideal of Christian education; but it is certain, that the most popular systems fall far short of this pattern; nay, I would say more; it appears to me that we are only now on the eve of that period of Christian development, at which it will be possible to make the application of the principles of Christianity to general education. One of the reasons I have to form this opinion, is the confusion of terms and ideas which pervades the different sects and parties on that subject, which to me indicates the approach of a clearer and more enlightened epoch; for in the march of human civilization, as well as in the course of nature, every purest sky is preceded by a night of storm, and every brightest sunbeam by the gathering of clouds.

Taking this view of the subject, I am well aware that

1

MODERN IMPROVEMENTS.

27

I shall be obliged to venture on disputed ground, and I therefore request of you to divest yourselves for a moment of those preconceived notions, which, if allowed to influence your judgment on the present occasion, would clog the freedom of inquiry, and to follow me with no other guide than the highest standard of faith, the internal conviction of truth and error.

It is an observation which strikes me, as being applicable to almost every department of human knowledge at this time, that with a jealousy against the views which our forefathers entertained, and with a zeal, in many instances extravagant, to correct the real or supposed errors of their systems, our age combines a remarkably servile adherence to the premises from which those views and systems were merely the conclusions. Hence we have in our days a great deal of mending and patching in the details of every branch of knowledge, whilst a number of false premises remain unshaken, and mocking, as it were, the childish endeavours of the investigating and criticising multitude, continue to produce as many false positions, as are successively struck off the list of our articles of belief. This unsuspecting method of our modern philosophers, has the effect of causing the minds of their contemporaries to be tossed about on the boundless ocean of error, on which he, who disappointed in one direction, contents himself, without any positive guide, to steer in an opposite one, may for ever cruise about, without discovering the shore of truth. Too much reliance has been placed upon that negative spirit of inquiry, which under the semblance of truth beguiles mankind into errors more incurable, because they are accompanied with a self-complacent feeling of superiority to others, and of victory over prejudice and narrow-mindedness. To adduce one instance for the sake of illustration :-There has been a system of instruction prevailing for many years past, which consisted in nothing but dictatorial inculcation of the notions of the teacher into the pupils' mind, without

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ASSUMED RIGHTS OF SOCIETY.

any regard to their powers of inquiring and judging for themselves. This gross mistake has at length been found out, and, as it is supposed, corrected by a party which of all others, prides itself in the enlightened character of its measures; and what did the improvement consist in? The reasoning powers were now appealed to, exclusively, and on every subject; every other ground of conviction was thrown overboard as useless ballast, and the too much lightened vessel now floats over the restless waves of public opinion, an easy game to every wanton wind of doctrine. The mere discovery that this also is a mistake, is, again, not a sufficient ground to go upon in search of the proper mode of proceeding; from that point the way is open to an indefinite number of other mistakes; and there is no end to these wild wanderings of the mind, until we come to explore first principles, and, purifying them from all that is human alloy, take, for our sole guide and standard, the pure light of divine truth.

If we apply these remarks to the question now under consideration, we shall find that, whilst a variety of systems have at different times been built upon the supposition, that the family and society have certain rights to the children born in their bosom, there has never been so much as an attempt to found the whole system of education upon the sole basis of the duties which they have to discharge, without assuming any rights, but such as must necessarily be granted to render the fulfilment of those duties possible. In this, as in every other respect, we have founded our theory and practice upon the premises, that there are certain inalienable and incontestable rights, from which the whole constitution of society, and all our social duties are derived-but never has the question been asked: What is the foundation of those rights; where is the evidence that they are rights, established by the law of God, and not rights of our own assuming? So far, however, from our duties being derived from our rights, the latter are, on the contrary,