Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/colloquiesonreliOOmorgricli €^t ^Irffinix Cihran). THE PHCENIX LIBRARY: 7C^Ft±m UK RSJT7 ORIGINAL AND NTED WORKS, BEARING OX THE RENOVATION AND PROGRESS OF SOCIETY, Erliginn, 3Jlnnilitt[, mii Irirarr. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. MDCCCXLIX. l^nOon : l^inteti bp fetter. 23uff. anO €o. iCxme (Court. jFlret Street. COLLOQUIES ON RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AS A SUPPLEMENT TO "HAMPDEN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY." LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. MDCCCXLIX. m'^ THE PH(ENII LIBRARY; A SERIES ORIGINAL AND REPRINTED WORKS, BBARIKG OV THB RENOYATION AND PEOGRESS OF SOCIETY, Etliginn, JJinralilq, ul $nnxt. SELECTED BY J. M. MORGAN. LONDON: | CHARLES GILPIN, 5, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT. lonlion : fttntcB fcu fetter, ©uff , & Co. Crane Court, ;fUei Street. n V\->i M I y ii&y Ho-rj- COLLOQUIES ON RELIGION ASD RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AS A SUPPLEMENT TO "HAMPDEN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY." LONDON: CHARLES GILPIN, 5, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT. ff„ . MDCCCL. ^ US' ADTERTISEMENT* Those apparent discrepancies between religious faith and the principle upon which the character is formed, that impeded one of the individuals whose exertions are recorded in the following" pages, having, through subsequent inquiry, been reconciled, a further issue of the work cannot be allowed without this prefatory- declaration, and a supplement explanatory of the con- siderations by which his confidence has been restored. As the objections advanced were met by arguments derived from the most able polemical writers in theo- logy, it was thought by some that the circulation of the work could not fail to be useful, even unaccom- panied by the Supplement ; for truth, and more espe- cinlly the truths of religion, can never suffer from the candid avowal of doubts, or even from opposition, which, on the contrary, often proves most beneficial by stimulating thought and closer examination. The ♦ This Advertis^ement is addressed to those only who may possess the Work itself, as well as this Supplement. Vm ADVERTISEMENT. interests of religion are far more likely to be injured by the supineness and negligence into which mankind are liable to fall, until roused by the approach of danger, real or imaginary; and we are perhaps in- debted to its assailants for some of the most beautiful and profound expositions of the Christian scheme and doctrines. In no part of this work, however, is religion introduced but with respect and reverence, and we are not aware that in supplying a deficiency there is one sentiment to retract. There are so many who, with conscientious scruples, are animated by a sincere desire for truth, that it is difficult to account for the harshness and acrimony with which scepticism is indiscriminately pursued ; but so general is this practice, that theologians the most distinguished for mildness upon other occasions, display a different spirit whenever encountering an opinion at variance with their own : we cannot, therefore, be sur- prised that similar feelings should pervade society at large: the natural consequence is, that for one who ventures to express his doubts, there are a hundred who, deterred by their fears, suppress them, and remain for ever dead to the vitality of religion, and observers only of its outward forms; yet to these pecuharly should kind encouragement be given; for, being of a reflecting turn of mind, they would in time become ADVERTISEMENT. IX pre-eminently fitted to aid the progress of others, and it is not improbable that men of the ^eatest genius have been confirmed in their first shght aberrations by the indiscretion and violence of mistaken zeal. This hostility substituted for friendly advice is so utterly repugnant to the benevolence of Christianity, to the example of Christ himself, and to His express prohibitions, — ^for He reproved those who condemned even heinous offences, — that zeal for the propagation of the Gospel is a plea totally inadmissible. No one can exhibit true credentials who persecutes ; and censure for opinions conscientiously held is, to the sensitive mind, the most painful of all persecutions: besides, experience has long since proved that reproach, though it may impose silence, never convinces. After all, we know not how much of scepticism, as well as luke- warmness and immorality, called by Archbishop Tillot- son practical atheism, are to be traced to the imperfect development of the religious principle in early Hfe, and the necessary result of the inefficient systems of teaching and training in our schools and colleges. Not only diversity of sentiment regarding the nets of religion, but conflicting opinions as to the plication of its acknowledged duties to the objects society, even among ecclesiastics who may be >j)posed to have studied the subject most profoundly. X ADVERTISEMENT. ought to suggest motives for mutual forbearance and Christian charity. The ibllowing instance of such colHsion between two distinguished Prelates occurred not long since : — " The Right Reverend Prelate (the Bishop of Exeter) had said that the laws of a Christian country ought to be a transcript of the laws of God. He (the Bishop of London) wished they were so ; but it was quite clear, that so long as human nature and human society were constituted as they were, it was impossible that such should be the case."* Here we have a Bishop the most decidedly opposed to recent reforms maintaining a universal piinciple which ought to constitute the basis and rule of all improvement, and one which would give general satisfaction ; while another Bishop, deemed the most liberal on the Bench, and in reality the most active in promoting every use- ful innovation, taking the partial and conventional side, apparently not perceiving that the bad constitu- tion of human nature arises partly, and that of human society entii'ely, from the disregard of the laws of God in establishing or in repairing the institutions of the country. If there is a single principle advocated in the following pages not in accordance with the excel- lent and unexceptionable standard set up by Dr. * Bishop of London's Speech on the Poor-law Bill, July 29, 1834. ADVERTISEMENT. XI Phillpotts, it shall upon detection be instantly re- nounced. Wearied with unprofitable strife, let us hope that all will soon perceive the necessity of devoting- in fervent charity a united and undivided attention to the urgent claims of ignorance and poverty, and that a great and enlightened nation will put an end to those degrading contentions of sect and party, fi'om which no class or profession, however dignified and holy, has been entirely exempt. Too long has the worldliness of our systems of education and religion deferred that improvement and happiness, which a more pure and elevated spirit of Christian philosophy is destined to advance. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. I'AGJ FiTzosBORNE mects with a German Mystic on the ram- parts of Cadiz — Returns to England, and takes up his residence in the neighbourhood of Kingston — Is there visited by Charles Bertrand, to whom he ex- plains his views on reliijion 1 CHAPTER II. I itzoshorud continues his explanation — The will of God — Erroneous and too literal interpretations of Scrip- tural passages — Meditations upon the . attributes of Deity — Failure of mere moral characters — Arch- bishop Tillotson : his enlightened views — The Phre- nologists — The study of nature insufficient .... 20 CHAPTER III. <' walk on the banks of the Thames — Isaac Walton — Dr. Paley — Bridgewater Treatises — Norris — Dr. Henry More — Defective education the cause of infi- delity — The pilgrimages — The exemplary ministers— «■ Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury — The High XIV CONTENTS. PAGE Church, Evangelical, and Usefiil Knowledge parties — Imperfect education of the poor — The Bible should not be used as a task-book — The ancient languages — The Greeks — Chatterton — Pestalozzi . 43 CHAPTER IV. Pestalozzi's Letters — Thomas a Kempis — Richmond Park — Cardinal Wolsey — Roger Ascham — The profes- sion the most important — The preliminary educator . of the conscientious teachers of infant schools — Educators badly paid and not held in high estima- tion — Greater necessity for education in the people when armed with more political power 74 CHAPTER V. An-ival of Hampden — Discussion in the garden — The Evangelicals — Lord Bacon — Improved education the best precursor of political reform — Rev. Dr. Bryce — Mr. James Simpson — Mr. Thomas Wyse, M.P. — Separation of religious and secular instruction — Dr. Alison — The idle and dissolute should not be aban- doned — The Litui^y — The Bishops — ^Milton's Prose Writings — The parish schoolmaster — The Prize — London University College — Self-devotion of reli- gious reformers 90 CHAPTER VI. The visit to Hampton Court — Dr. Paley and Lord Brougham — Regeneration — Benevolence mistaken CONTENTS. XV PAQB for religion — Kingston schools — Dr. Bell — Gardens should be attached to parochial schools, and in- dustry connected with instruction — Mr. David Stow — Tlie Bishop of Norwich — The intellectual powers of all were designed for cultivation — Sir Walter Scott — Distress in France — The vice of intolerance . . 127 CHAPTER Vir. Dr. Paley — Bernard Nieuwentyt — Useful Knowledge So- ciety — Dr. Chalmers — Astronomy — Supremacy of religion — Foundling Hospital and Colston's School — Wordsworth — Exeter Hall — Professional education — Dr. Channing and Dr. Tuckerman — Archbishop Sale — Departure of Hampden ....... 159 > OP THE COLLOaUIES ON RELIGION RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. CHAPTER I. " So much the rather thou celestial light Shine inward ; and the mind through all her powers Irradiate; there plant eyes ; all mist from thence Purge and disperse ; that I may see and teU I Of things invisible to mortal sight." Milton. At the close of a sultry day, whilst enjoying the , cooling breezes of the evening on the ramparts of I Cadiz, my attention was attracted by the exquisite I beauty and grandeur of the setting sun ; the r clouds, in gorgeous array, were lit up with that brilliancy and variety of colour so peculiar to the Mediterranean. Absorbed in the contemplation i of the enchanting scene, I had remained for some- time riveted to the spot, until the last vestige of tlic sun disappeared : at that moment I was aroused by the word " Beautiful !" uttered with emphasis in a deep-toned voice, but with a foreign accent. I turned suddenly round, when a stranger B 7i A GERMAN PHILOSOPHER. bowed as if in apology for his intrusion, and was moving away. I recognised in him the German, who had been discoursing with much animation the day before, with some Englishmen at the table d'hote. I reiterated his admiration, and, gliding into more familiar intercourse, we pursued our way along the ramparts. Several of his remarks bespoke a thoughtful mind; among other subjects, reference was naturally made to the contest at that time going on in Spain between the Queen and Don Carlos. " Go where you will," I observed, "and the same contention for power, regardless of the sufferings of humanity, prevails; no wonder that some reflecting men have degenerated into misanthropy: the wonder is, how any one can contemplate these scenes without his enjoyments being disturbed by melan- choly reflections." " How many," replied the stranger, " are there, even among the innocent victims of this strife, who are borne up against the saddest vicissitudes — the deprivation of the very means of subsistence, and the loss of relatives — ^by their reliance upon Providence, and who soon return with cheerfulness to their daily avocations !" " Employment," I said, " is doubtless one of the best means of dissipating unpleasant reflections, and those are most happy who are compelled to be occupied." " That," he replied, " is far from my A GERMAN PHILOSOPHER. 3 condition, and few have had more cause for dis- appointment than myself." " Perhaps/' said I, " you have served your country, and your honour- able service has been unrequited ; in that case, a cultivated mind has, in its o'vvn resources, abundant means of gratification left." " I have sought rather to serve mankind in general ; and although I have been repeatedly baffled, I have never been discouraged." " I would fain," said I, "know somewhat of your philosophy ; my own endeavours have been united with those of others, in exposing the false instititions of most countries called civilised, and which, so long as they remain, will frustrate every effort to improve individuals." " And so long," he replied, " as individuals remain unim- proved, so long will defective institutions con- tinue. My philosophy is very simple ; it consists in living in union with God." " But does not," said I, " all Europe profess Christianity ? and yet . what discord everywhere prevails !" " Professing Christianity," he replied, "is not serving God." " Is it possible," I said, "for an individual to serve God in any other way than by aiding his fellow- creatures ?" " He cannot," rejoined the German, " effectually aid either himself or his fellow- creatures, unless he first seeks and forms an union with God ; hence the despondency of which you complain. You will pardon my freedom, but I 4 DEEPER REFLECTION. know that a despair of social improvement can exist only in the absence of this union." " It has not been from want of arduous inquiry," I answered, " that I have not been successful." ** Perhaps," said he, ^' you have missed your way by going abroad in your search, instead of looking inwardly." " I have reflected often and deeply on this subject," I observed. " Not deeply enough, sir, or you would have derived more satisfaction and support." We continued this discourse for an hour, during which I was much impressed with his earnestness, but more particularly by many of his remarks, which had the effect of awakening more vivid conceptions ; and I retired thoughtful and full of admiration of the singularly interesting character I had met with. On the following day I was anxious for the arrival of the dinner hour, when I resolved, if possible, to renew our inter- course; but great was my disappointment upon learning that the stranger had departed in the early part of the day. The English party, hearing his name repeated, began to pass their comments upon his singular doctrines and solitary habits, adding, that he was nothing but a German Mystic. Having frequently heard this word used, but always in the way of reproach, without thinking of the precise meaning, and observing it applied, in THE MYSTICS. the present instance, to one whose whole conversa- sation manifested unquestionable ability and benevolence, I was induced to inquire into the real import of the term, and to look into the writings and history of those who by general consent have been denounced as " Mystics." I was suprised to find, that although in the former were some things hard to be understood, yet was there much which all profess to understand but seldom practise, and that their lives were peculiar only because they resembled that which it was the duty of all to | imitate. ' So long as the Mystic seeks seclusion, though known, he is unmolested — satire will never follow him to hi^ retreat ; but let him by his opinions or 1 conduct proclaim his aspirations after a more ! spiritual religion, and yet remain in society a Hiding reproof upon mankind in general, and ne speedily becomes the object of ridicule and i buffoonery ; — such was the fate of Mr. Wilber- ' force, who, although he regarded the conduct of individuals according to the degree in which they j approached the strict requirements of religion, appeared to want either penetration or courage to apply the same test to the institutions of his coun- ^ try. Nothing is more common than to evade what is not agreeable, by giving it a repulsive name, and dismissing it ; scarcely is there a page B 2 6 THE LITURGY. in our Liturgy but contains sentences tlie meaning of whicli is mystical, if they imply anything. " A new birth unto righteousness," " heavenly gifts," " the influence of the Holy Spirit," and "the grace of God," — are these not mystical, although far more real than things tangible and temporal ? Whoever possesses these in any pleni- tude, will manifest such an entire renovation of character as would be totally irreconcileable with the usages of society, and subject him to the charge of religious enthusiasm : by tacit consent, the words are, therefore, too often used without much signification. In different ages since the Christian era, and under different denominations, an order of men has arisen, who, struck with the mere outwai'd observances of religious forms, have shrunk from such lifeless exhibitions, and contended for the cultivation of a deeper feeling of devotion. Each has held out a sacred lamp to light his generation on theu' way, and all historians, notwithstanding the extravagance of some of their speculations, have united in bearing testimony to their ardent piety and exemplary characters. Although they have been classed with various opinions, according to the sectarian bias of their respective admirers, yet was it their distinguishing glory to resemble each other — to be almost as one, in the improve- THE MYSTICS. 7 ment and excellence of those qualities wliich raise man in the scale of created beings, and proclaim his capacity for a higher state of existence. Mosheim says : " If any sparks of real piety subsisted under the despotic empire of superstition, they were only to be found among the Mystics : for this sect, renouncing the subtilty of the schools, the vain contentions of the learned, with all the acts and ceremonies of external worship, exhorted their followers to aim at nothing but internal sanctity of heart, and communion with God, the centre and source of holiness and perfection." Another historian observes : " In a religious society, the purest characters are commonly those which shun celebrity and court oblivion. The noblest patriots in the kingdom of Christ are men who serve their heavenly Master in holiness and in peace. They have their eternal recompense ; but it is rare that they rise into worldly notice, or throw their modest lustre on the historic page. On this account it is, that while the absurdities of Mys- ticism are commonly known and derided, the good effect which it as had in turning the mind to spiritual resolves, and amending the heart of multitudes imbued with it, is generally overlooked." On my return to England soon after, I took up my residence in the neighbourhood of Kingston, where my friend Charles Bertrand, with whom 8 CHARLES BERTRAND. I had kept up a correspondence, came to spend a few days with me ; and as the views which led to some alteration in my sentiments were discussed during our rambles, they shall be detailed as faithfully as memory will permit. On the evening of his arrival, he was all an- xiety to know the cause of my sudden and unex- pected return to England. " I cannot express to you," said he, " how much I am delighted with the renewed and greater confidence in your earlier impressions ; but you mentioned in your letters that there were some other considerations that weighed much with you before the pleasant rencontre on the ramparts of Cadiz, and which you promised to explain when we met." Fitzoshorne. — To you, Charles, I conclude the observation is not new ; but one or two signal failures in personal conduct on the part of those who had distinguished themselves by great mental and moral powers in their writings, drove me back to renewed investigation ; but as the argu- ment may be rather long, we will enter upon it to-morrow. The first morning was spent in the grounds. Bertrand. — Siuce we parted last night, I have recollected several instances of great moral tur- pitude among those who might have been the least suspected, and I have observed in others little WEAK PHILOSOPHY. 9 weaknesses and venial faults, which would have passed unnoticed, if their conduct, in other res- pects, had not been excellent. Fitzoshorne, — You shall hear a man discourse jirofoundly on morals, with an ardour that assures you his whole soul is embarked in the cause ; his audience adore him for his great qualities, for not only shall he elevate them by an eloquence almost superhuman, but his conduct in private life endears him to his friends, and commands the applauses of the world ; he " sits among mortals like a descended god :" notwithstanding which, there shall be some tenacious but most insignificant propensity that mars the whole ; and though he may have raised to himself a monument of extended fame, — is con- scious of superior virtue, — animated with the hope of rendering future and eminent service to mankind, — though his mighty and far-seeing intellect clearly discerns the dreadful consequences, the infamy and disgrace to which he will be con- signed, yet all will not avail to save the splendid victim from yielding to a trifling temptation, which the merest child could with ease resist. Bertrand. — And this Goliah, laid prostrate by a pebble, convinces you that something more than moral science is required to sustain the individual ! ^ am glad that you have at length come to such a inclusion. The phrenologists would say that 10 PHRENOLOGY. some counteracting quality or organ should be cultivated. Fitzoshorne. — They may be so far right ; but not to them can be assigned more than a subor- dinate part in the work of education, although they, like many others, would wish to reign supreme. Bertrand. — Others will maintain, that when society is properly organised, a confluence of favourable circumstances from childhood will carry forward the individual in the right path, in spite of any defect of natural disposition. Fitzoshorne. — To them I will concede much, but they also shall have a subordinate part. Bertrand. — This is indeed a revolution in the mind of one who has so long contended for the exclusive sufficiency of well-selected circumstances in moulding the character. Fitzoshorne. — That for which I have hitherto contended may still be essential ; circumstances may deform, but cannot form the character ; cir- cumstances are to the individual, what the soil anc the atmosphere are to a plant ; they may facilitate or obstruct the expansion of his powers and the unfolding of his character, but the energy thai triumphs over all circumstances, and gives matu- rity to the noblest sentiments, comes from a deepei source. PHILOSOPHY OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 11 Bertrand. — But to return to your fallen hero ; you must at least admit, that he has not been trained under the best possible combination of circumstances. Fitzosborne. — Certainly not; but recollect he is supposed to possess great natural genius, and the advantage of external circumstances of no common order. Devoted from his youth to study, he has sought, in the shades of retirement, high converse with the wise and the good of all ages ; their excellence, heightened by contrast with the practice of the world ; the elevated minds of the few with whom he has chief intercourse confirm- ing and sustaining his virtuous resolves; the very disorders and turmoil of society seen through '' the loopholes of his retreat " have still more endeared to him his quiet enjoyments, and, serving as a useful beacon, have suggested ad- ditional motives to subdue selfishness, and to persevere in dedicating his acquisitions to the good of others: in short, I know not whether the antithesis presented to his mind of the world as it is, and the world as it might be, is not an advantage, in his peculiar case, equal to that of a judicious and more perfect arrangement of cir- camstances for all. Bertrand. — A distinguished writer of the present day accounts for this inconsistency by 12 THE DOUBLE CHARACTER. assigning to men of genius a twofold character : " An author has two characters, — the one be- longing to his imagination, the other to his experience. From the one come all his higher embodyings : by the help of the one he elevates — he refines ; from the other come his beings of * the earth, earthy,' and his aphorisms of worldly caution." And again : " In Shakspere the same doubleness of character is remarkably visible. The loftiest ideal is perpetually linked with the most exact copy of the commoners of life. Shakspere had never seen Miranda — but he had drunk liis glass with honest Ste- phano."* Fitzoshorne. — ^Were the golden link by which the loftiest ideal is united with the Deity never dissevered, the sublimity of genius would be immeasurably heightened, and shine forth in the conduct of the man, as well as more intensely in the effusions of the author. Bertrand. — Would you hope to out-Shak- spere Shakspere ? That which appears to have been an obstruction in his course might have been the cause of liis power. Fitzoshorne. — As soon will I believe that the rocks which ruffle the surface of the majestic ♦ Mr. Bulwer's "Student." BEAUTIES OF NATURE. 13 tide of a mighty river augment its waters, as that power can be derived from an impediment. Bertrand. — See how your analogy fails, since waters, by being dammed up, acquire additional force. Fitzoshorne. — That is nothing but a concen- tration of the same degree of power spread over a wider surface ; but while genius is obtaining continual supplies from the fountain-head, no obstruction is required as a warning of the necessity for more vigorous exertion. Bertrand. — Even of things temporal we sel- dom choose the best; for, notwithstanding the luultuous confusion of society renders the scenes of nature so much the more inviting, we are perpetually neglecting them for trifling and un- satisfactory objects of amusement. Fitzoshorne. — Such, indeed, is the effect of familiarity, that great learning and comparatively enlightened institutions are insufficient to pre- vent an insensibility to the highest enjoyments of which our nature is susceptible. Look around at this moment ; what beautiful variety in the forms of the trees, on which there is not a single leaf but exhibits mechanism that confounds the under- standing ! The magic by which the sweet music of that thrush is produced, and the organ of hear- ing by means of which its delightful harmony is c 14 INTERIOR TRUTH. imparted to us, how wonderful the contrivance ! Not a blade of grass, an animal, a bird, or the minutest insect, but displays, not merely in its entire structure, but in every part of its frame, a subject of curious inquiry in many branches of science ; yet, dwelling in the midst of mir- acles, compared with which the creations of the sublimest poetry are feeble, we care to know little of the beings that surround us, and still less of ourselves. Bertrand. — It is because we know not our- selves that all our enjoyments are so imperfect. The admonition that the kingdom of God is within is rarely thought of; that once found, our eyes would be opened, and we should duly appreciate all externals. Fitzoshorne. — But the externals nearest to this interior sense of the Divine presence must first be subjugated; the appetites and passions must be placed under beneficial but rigorous control and direction ere the intellectual faculties can be fitted for higher purposes:* unless we extir- * " But Truth will not be so consulted, or if she be, she will not give an answer. To consult her oracle as we oug-ht, and with success, we must retire from the world (for she is not to be asked in a crowd or in a court), and into ourselves; we must silence our passions, divest our- selves of our prejudices, recollect our thoughts, and apply DUTIES TO GOD AND MAN. 15 pate all — all our injurious habits, even the darling propensity — ^we shall be in continual danger. Bertrand. — After all, the conditions upon which happiness is proffered do not seem to be hard ; on the contrary, they are such as a rational being would select without any reference to future rewards, for temperance alone preserves the tone of the appetite, secures that great blessing, health, promotes longevity, is favourable to intellectual enjoyments and cheerfulness of disposition ; and what is there in kindness to others but the most grateful of all emotions to ourselves ? So simple, and apparently so easy of execution are the rules prescribed for right conduct, that it is really ex- traordinary that our practice is not more uni- formly good. Fitzoshorne. — When you further consider, Charles, that our duties to God and man are not only so easy, but that the steady and zealous per- formance of them would render the individual so ourselves to the inquiry with the most inward reflection and the most awakened attention. We must silence the voice of our passions, that we may hear her soft still voice, and. attend, without prejudice or prepossession, that we may understand it when we hear it. The attention of the mind is the natural prayer which we make to interior Truth, that she would discover herself to us. But this Sovereign Truth does not always answer our desires, because we know not very well how to ask her as we ought."— NoiiRis. 16 MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT. attractive, that all would love — nay, almost adore him ; that the more they are followed out, the higher he rises in physical, intellectual, and moral power, and the more enlarged his sources of happiness ; yet, with all these inducements, where is the man who stands so conspicuously before the world? That which seems so easy for all to attain, none attain. Bertrand. — Familiar with the ancient philo- sophies and with the most sublime axioms of moral truth among the Greeks and Romans, with the benefit of their experience and heroic examples ; with all the accumulated knowledge of by-gone times, with an astonishing rapidity of discovery in modern science ; acquainted with all the religions of the world, and professing a belief in Divine revelation, what use have we made of this prodi- gality of materials for improvement ? * * The following- is from a poem, now out of print. The author ventures to introduce, chiefly in the Appendix, other portions also refering to the subjects discussed. 'Twas autumn last, when on a genial day Through Richmond's fields we bent our joyous way ; The sun was up, the grass with verdure bright, The Thames flow'd sparkling with reflected light; Luxuriant woods, in beauteous tints array' d. Their richest robes of varied hues display' d ; The lark ascending pour'd a grateful note; AU objects seem'd conspiring to denote RELATIVE IMPROVEMENT. 17 Fitzoshorne. — We cannot boast of instances of greater mental or moral achievements, individually or nationally. Bertrand. — We must except, however, the charitable endowments of this and other Christian countries. Fitzoshorne. — When the great increase and general diffusion of wealth are considered, these Harmonious order : such our bosoms felt, As on the glowing scene we fondly dwelt. Too soon you changed, as if a sudden thought Back to your mind had sad reflection brought. *' that the moral world this peace could share — " This joy and beauty I that man coidd wear " A heart responsive to this heavenly scene 1 " Then would a paradise on earth be seen." Such were your words ; and then, in spirit mild, You spoke of man as of a wayward child ; Imputed all his errors to the schools. To institutions and fallacious rules ; Pardon' d aUke the peasant and the peer ; But now you censure in a tone severe. AUTHOR. I thought with grief upon my country's woes, And whence such complicated misery flows. I look around, behold unbounded wealth, And ample skill to give the body health; Recorded knowledge of all ages past ; Experience dearly eam'd by labours vast : But yet, from aU these rich materials, none Th' inductive code of moral truths had won ; Disease and penury oppress mankind. And folly triumphs o'er the prostrate mind. ATTICUS. Alas, too true ! can you define the cause, Why mtin has miss'd so long kind nature's laws ? C ^ 18 RELATIVE IMPROVEMENT. will be found to be little more than the crumbs which fall from our exuberant tables. If plans are brought forward for the prevention of poverty or evil, affecting in appearance only, and that remotely, our individual interests, what becomes of our self-sacrifice and devotion ? Bertrand. — No change in our institutions can be effected until reUgion has prepared the minds of men. Fitzoshorne. — There is no lack of a self-com- placent religion, more solicitous to mend the faith With 80 much wealth why poverty is found, And why with wisdom, folly should abound ? Astounding climax this, for hist'ry's page ! A rich and poor, a wise and foolish age I AUTHOR. More than two thousand years have pass'd away Since Grecian arts and vadour bore the sway : What wonders since has science not achieved 1 And yet — the fact will scarcely be believed — Without her treasur'd lore the Spartan sage Surpass' d the wisdom of this latter age. ATTICUS. 'T is strange the learned can 80 little see Of means to rescue us from misery ! AUTHOR. Learned in many words, and not in things, Study to them no useful subject brings. Seldom in copious linguists will you find A judgment ripe, or phUospphic mind. * * Hobbes used to say, that if he had read as much as others he should have been as ignorant as they. He probably adopted the of one of the Plinys, who read non tnulta, sed multum. TRUE REFORMERS. 19 of others, than to guard its own purity of life, which, after all, can be secured only by an inces- sant union with God. Bertrand. — Attention to the regular ordinances of religion, adoring the Creator, and obeying his commandments, supplication and prayer, are what I understand by your expression. Fitzoshorne. — The observance of the duties you have mentioned is by many conscientious persons substituted for an entire submission to God. My meaning I will explain more particu- larly in our walk to-morrow morning. It may not be acceptable to reformers, political or religious -, for they find it more easy to remodel institutions, and to rail at others, than to begin with their own amendment ; but this is the mantle indispensably necessary to be worn by every reformer, deservedly so called. 20 PROFESSING CHRISTIANS. CHAPTER 11. " If these are Christian Virtueg, I am Christian ; The Faith that can itispire this generous change, Musi be divine — -and glows with all ita Grod I Friendship and Constancy and Right and Pity, All these were Lessons I had learn' d before, But this unnatural grandeur of the Soul Is more than mortal, and outreaches Virtue ; It draws, it charms, it binds me to be Christian !" Hill's Alzira. The weather on the following day proving un- favourable, the morning was past in the library. As we entered, Charles observed, " It has occurred to me, that instead of your being any longer my refractory pupil on religious subjects, you have now assumed the teacher." Fitzoshorne. — Too presumptuously, I fear; however, I am actuated by no other motive than a desire for truth. Bertrand'. — Now, as to submission to the wiL of God : is it not the very foundation of Christi- anity ? Fitzoshorne, — And do you seriously think, tha if professing Christians were really living in unioi with God, there would at this time of day be much disorder or a single inequitable institution ii society ? To be really a Christian is to possess TRUE CHRISTIANITY. 21 least a portion of the spirit of Christ, and upon all occasions to act as we conceive he would have acted under the same circumstances. Bertrand. — But as Jesus Christ was both God and man, there are occasions when we should not be justified in exercising equal authority. Fitzosborne. — Well would it be if our devia- tions from the rule were always on the side of humility ; but we err in exceeding the authority to which our great Exemplar compassionately con- fined himself, and our transgression is often aggra- vated by a severity totally foreign to the meekness of his divine character. Bertrand. — From whence has this new light broken in upon you ? Fitzosborne, — You know that I was some time 1 in suspense by those confused, indistinct, and itradictory associations formed in youth, with iin implied intimation that to doubt was sinful: : '^n great and obvious truths, of the utmost im- 1 tance to the welfare of mankind, were rejected sincere professors of religion; when I saw a rariety of sects, all, upon other occasions, repelled Ml each other, combined to oppose where they J aid have assisted, and that upon the plea of me isolated text, militating, through misconstruc- .1, against plans of universal benevolence, — such, ifj]- instance, as " The poor ye shall always have ^Z% UNIVERSAL BENEVOLENCE. with ye," — I must confess that I was still more perplexed. Bertrand. — The poor in spirit, — in physical strength, — in mental power, — temperament ; — these words, uttered by One who knew neither rich nor poor but as brothers never to be disunited without abjuring their religion, — whose every sentiment breathed the spirit of unbounded sym- pathy, and who was all love, cannot be understood in a sense at variance with those great eternal principles, constituting the foundation of that all- embracing and glorious system, of which He was himself the head corner-stone. Fitzoshorne. — Feeling, however, the want of some support to feeble reason, with the greatest admiration of the beauty and sublimity of the Sacred Writings, and always remembering the number of superior minds that had borne testimony to the truth, I expressed to a friend the conviction that there must be some internal substantial evi- dence overlooked, or some dormant faculty in ourselves, to be awakened : he directed my atten- tion to a class of writers in whose works are to be found the profoundest philosophy, united with rational but ardent piety. Bertrand. — Which work had the principal share in satisfying your mind ? Fitzoshorne. — Norris on the *^ Ideal or Intel- THE LETTER THAT KILLETH. 23 ligible World/' because it chanced to be the first read: this, alone, was sufficient to refer to the attributes of the Deity for a right interpretation of the Sacred Volume. Meditating upon these, we acquire a more just and comprehensive view of our duties and of the Christian scheme, and feel it incumbent upon us to improve our cha- racters and talents, whatever they may be, in order to assist our fellow-creatures in every way possible, and, as far as we are able, imitate the Divine goodness. Bertrand. — Is not this to be learned from the Scriptures ? Fitzoshorne, — Had we been trained in "the Spirit that giveth life," we should rise superior to " the Letter that killeth ;" but of all the innu- merable sects into which Cliristianity is split, where is there one, taking this high and indepen- dent ground — making common cause with every • individual, of whatever religion, who is striving : for the good of others ? Where the letter does 1- not absolutely kill, it contracts ; then the narrow € spirit jealously watches the discoveries of science, a and, with some favourite sentence detached from its context, reproves and silences the sincere 1 inquirer. There is many a Galileo still impri- joned by fear within his own breast, to the i ietrimerit both of science and religion. 24 NATURE AND REVELATION. Bertrand, — Sometimes you hear from sucli parties, in refutation of the attractive mode of instruction, Solomon's maxim, " He who spareth the rod, hateth his son," as if no boy, whether docile and studious, or otherwise, could be well educated without sound flagellation. Fitzoshorne. — There is another serious diffi- culty for those who, in reading the New Testa- ment, penetrate not beneath the letter : convinced that the material world, with all its wonderful contrivances and beauties, was intended for their use and enjoyment; and, observing the conve- nience and progress resulting from scientific pursuits, they look for specific directions en- joining such investigations as a duty, and findin< none, have been sometimes led to question whe- ther the Books of Nature and Revelation had a common origin. The youth of the poor ai- recommended to attend to the duties of theii station, and to read the Bible only: should any of them reflect, and it is not probable that manj will, under the present system, what will be tin effect of the literal reading ? They find them- selves in the midst of a wonderful creation soliciting them on all sides to examine and ad mire, and they cannot comprehend why tha book, which is exclusively to be read, should b silent upon a subject so intensely interesting SPIRITUALITY. 25 "When they encounter any works on astronomy, they are startled with its truths, but dare not inquire how the apparent discrepancies between the allusions to the heavenly bodies in the Scrip- tures, and the motion of the earth and other planets round the sun, are to be reconciled, or in what sense the expression of " the heavens above " is to be understood, when opposite points of the firmament are alternately in the zenith, as the rth turns upon its axis; unable to distinguish the figurative from the literal expressions, they fall an easy prey to those who have themselves been led astray, either by their passions, or by similar difficulties. Bertrand. — They could not too soon be made to understand that the sole object of the New Testament is to lead us immediately to God. » This Jesus Christ constantly inculcated in all His iching, and illustrated by His Divine example; '•u in His beautiful allusion to the lilies of the Id, He did not say "study," but "behold," as He would have said, those spiritual emanations, )ceeding directly from the Deity, could never equalled by Solomon in all his glory. Fitzosbome. — Equally injudicious are prints representing the Deity in the human form, as if man, because made after the image of God, could be supposed to resemble the Deity in his bodily 26 DIVINE JUSTICE. frame : the Deity can only be known through His attributes. Bertrand. — I gather from many of your remarks that you have a more vivid impression of the Godhead than formerly : have the goodness to explain this. Fitzoshorne. — As we have a clear idea of a mathematical line, which cannot be an object of sense, for it is utterly impossible to give to it a visible existence, so of the Divine attributes, which, although we can contemplate them, and exalt our views and feelings by the meditation, we never can reach their perfection. We have a clear idea of perfect justice ; we conceive it to be immutable — eternal. Bertrand. — I can think of perfect justice with- out being improved by it. Fitzoshorne. — You can think of it without emotion as an intellectual abstraction, but meditate upon it in silence and solitude, resign yourself earnestly to. its influence, with an ardent desire to be guided by it in your general conduct, and the efifect will be widely difierent to the mere intel- lectual recognition. Suppose you were caUed upon to adjudicate between two parties ; doubt- less you would decide according to your generi ideas of right ; but intense meditation upon the beauty, the eternity, and the unutterable perfec- MATERNAL LOVE. 27 tion of this attribute of the Deity, would raise in your mind clearer views of justice than if volumes were read on the subject, and to these views would be joined a fervent desire to realise them, to the utmost extent possible in your decision. The same maybe said of aU the attributes of Deity; but there is one by which he is so pre-eminently dis- tinguished, made known, and endeared to us, that it has been emphatically repeated as synonymous with the Godhead, — " God is Love." This sen- timent, the germ of which is the first developed even by the infant at the mother's breast,* is required to soften the rigour of Justice ; but, alas ! for poor human nature. Justice agaiu is needful to correct the partiality or exclusiveness of Love. Thus are we tossed about by appeals first to one, and then to another virtue, in the vain attempt to find the path of rectitude. At length we discover * If there 's a motive soaring far above Our i'uling passions — 't is maternal love. Ah ! one I knew, so self-devote to all, Whether in prosperous state or adverse fall — But chiefly those whom fortune least had bless'd, Their claims most favour'd who were most distress'd : One, at whose name such grateful feelings spring, And bland encouragements to virtue bring ; Whose precepts all in love and duty rife, But more the bright example of her life : Whose long-remember'd cares again impart A sweet but pensive pleasure to the heart. 28 THE GLORY OF GOD. that it is only by contemplating that Unity in which all the attributes concentre, even God him- self, the Source of all Power and Goodness, and by yielding ourselves up to His guidance, that we can be sustained by love divine, receiving and communicating, and go forward with consistency and happiness. Bertrand.— " To do all for the glory of God," is an expression familiar to us from our youth ; but whether, from the habitual repetition of the words, they have been less considered, or from a vague- ness in my original conception of the idea, it certainly now presents itself in a more palpable form. May not the contemplation of a single attribute, even in the mind of one indisposed to acknowledge a Deity, sometimes engender a moral enthusiasm bordering on inspiration ? It struck me as a profound and beautiful remark of a lecturer, that the creed of the most eminent of the Materi- When through the midnight gloom she watch'd her child, Her tender cares the tedious hours beguil'd, — Soothed the keen pangs as throbh'd his aching breast, Cheer'd him with hope, but all her fears suppress'd ; Duty preferr'd to all that wealth could give, And but to succour others cared to live. No less to him who all her virtues shared, The kindest parent, were her duties spared ; Her faithful partner, and the best of friends. Whose worth my praise, but not my love, transcends. Reproof of Brutus. CONTENDING PARTIES. 29 alists, who were active in promoting the French Revolution, was falsified by the Spirit within them calling out for Liberty. Fitzoshorne, — I fear it must be regarded as the voice of one crying in the interior wilderness ; nevertheless it is worth the attention of all reli- gionists to consider how it arose, that those who had renounced the established creeds, were the warmest advocates of equal enjoyment and universal benevolence. Bertrand. — The Sceptics made no distinction between the corruptions of Christianity and Christianity itself, and attempted to build upon a hollow foundation. Fitzoshorne. — Their opponents, who acknow- ledged the right foundation, should have taken the superstructure out of their hands, and placed it upon its legitimate base ; but as they loved not God with all their heart, with all their mind, and with all their strength, nor their neighbour as themselves, they were less in possession of the right foundation than many who were heterodox in opinion. Bertrand. — Thus both were defeated; and it woidd be well if the contending parties in these, our days, would take warning from their fate. But >ou have not replied to my remark as to the con- iiiplation of one only of the attributes of Deity. D 2 30 THE PHILANTHROPISTS. Fitzoshorne. — I quite concur in your view. One man of benevolence forms a theory of society so just in principle, and so harmonious in all its parts, that, elated with the conviction of its immu- table and everlasting character, with the moral grandeur which future generations may attain, he appeals to assembled multitudes with a sublime enthusiasm that thrills through his hearers, who respond in acclamations of wonder and admiration. The eloquent harangue concluded, the orator descends, and, mingling undistinguished in the crowd, scarcely can be recognised as the same individual. Another, overlooking the petty dis- tinctions of society, sees in all mankind neglected faculties of a higher order demanding cultivation, while the lower propensities are weighing them down to a level with the beasts that perish: his soul expands with the glorious prospects which the idea of mind, universally emancipated, spreads before him : — he would rouse the people to sense of their degradation, and in leading them on through yet untravelled paths, his irresistible energies bear down all opposition. Such is the majesty imparted by the creative power to his wonderful energies, that friends and foes alike confess the splendour of his genius. Brief, how- ever, will be the hour of inspiration, should we soon find him forgetful of the common courtesies IRRITABILITY OF GENIUS. 31 of society. Such resemble the sun breaking through the clouds for a moment, and then dis- appearing. Bertrand, — ^Whence is it that those who are sometimes below par, can rise so high upon par- ticular occasions ? Fitzoshorne. — Because, when advocating an eternal principle, they are lifted above ephemeral and mere earthly interests, and, whether conscious of it or not, are employed by the Deity in carrying forward his designs ; — these are the only men who are truly eloquent, and so easily to be distinguished from the practised debater contending with rhetorical flourishes, in verbose and studied oration, for some insignificant tech- nicality. Bertrand. — Irritability is considered as the inevitable concomitant of great talent and genius. Fitzoshorne. — Many instances might be quoted in refutation of that position, even where no par- ticular aid has been sought from religion ; and hough it may not be possible for the individual, any course, to obtain equal power for each of qualities, yet would an entire union with God Id much to the strength and energy of all, and only without the diminution of, but with ater and more enduring energy to, those by ich he was most distinguished. S2 THE PEACE OF GOD. Bertrand. — Proceed we now to some other attribute. Fitzoshorne. — At the close of day, when the western sky scarcely retains the last faint streaks of departing light — when all nature seeks the refreshment of repose — ^how feeble, in comparison, are the most appropriate, the most touching, and sweetest strains of poetry, in recalling to the mind the heavenly tranquillity of the scene, and the ideas which then arise ! Bertrand. — " The peace of God, which passeth all understanding." Fitzoshorne, — What I have described is the image only of the peace which is implied in that sentence — it is the calm of the passions — the precursor of that ineiffable peace which an entire union with God can alone impart ; at the same time, it is a condition necessary to the germina- tion of a more Divine principle and feeling, and on that account the turbulent and the boisterous are its greatest enemies. Not only love, justice, peace, but all the attributes of the Divinity, by meditation, yield a power corresponding to the earnestness and aspiration with which their aid is sought. The beauty and wonders of nature to which reference was made last night, awakec in the mind ideas of beauty void of blemish — th€ very perfection of beauty. TRUE SCIENCE. 33 Bertrand. — I remember that you admitted, in a former conversation, that when you repeated the word " God," it represented the idea in your mind of the concentration of all that is lovely, wise, and excellent, and presented a standard to which we should continually appeal for the regulation of our conduct. Fitzosborne. — True ; but it was the mere intellectual recognition before referred to, unac- companied by the consciousness that power could be derived from aspiration and prayer for Divine assistance. Bertrand. — The man of science has called this sentiment the mere refinement of an overwrought and finely-attenuated intellect, calculated rather to enfeeble than invigorate the understanding, if not in itself an evidence of imbecility. Fitzosborne. — " Science," says Norris, "is of f ssary and immutable things. But things in r natural state are all mutable and contingent. Therefore things in their natural state cannot be idmitted as the objects of science. Therefore lice must be of things as they are in their ideal :itelHgible state." If this statement is correct, \ are most truly the men of science in whom eternal principles are most influential; they the best prepared to descend into the lower nd fleeting world, whose minds are strengthened 34 INTELLECTUAL BEAUTY. and purified by a holy purpose. Wordsworth, will give me suitable language :* — "Science then Shall be a precious visitant ; and then, And only then, be worthy of her name." Bertrand. — But such individuals cannot ne- * "And indeed wherein should the intellectual perfection or accomplishment of a rational creature lie, but in those thing's which perfect his Reason, the noblest faculty of his mind, and improve his Science, the most perfect form of that most noble faculty. Men may set an arbitrary value upon thing-s, and by the prescription of custom, or stamp of authority, make some kinds of knowledge precious, as they do some sort of stones ; but when all 's done that those measures can do, what are lang-uag-es, histories, or any other matters of fact, to clearness of thoug-ht, exactness of judgment, and a distinct and enlarged view of those standing and settled relations, dependencies, and coherences, which things eter- nally and immutably have with one another in the vast and immense system of the intellig-ible world 1 These are the truths which God himself eternally contemplates, and foi the contemplation of which our reasons and understanding! were given us, and which are most worthy of our study, anc which g-ive the g-reatest perfection to our understanding when known, and that because the knowledge of them ii true science, than which nothing-, except the love of God can more exalt the dignity or excellence of a reasonabl nature. And therefore St. Austin adds very well, '■ Divine amore conjunctus.' For then indeed is the soul of mai arrived to the accomplishment of her nature and in the ver heig-ht of her exaltation, when her moral perfection accom panics her intellectual, and when to the contemplation o the eternal Truth, she joins the Love of the Eternal God* — NORRIS. \ THE ELGIN MARBLES. 35 gleet the ordinary means of observation and discovery. Fitzoshorne. — True ; but they would use them with tenfold effect ; and the probable reason why such characters have not directed their attention to material objects is, that the neglected state in which they found the moral condition of mankind demanded their exclusive and arduous exertions. Bertrand. — I perceive you have Sir Joshua Reynold's Works upon your shelves ; there is a passage in one of his Discourses somewhat in accordance with your view. Here it is : — "The beauty of which we are in quest is g-eneral and intellectual ; it is an idea that subsists only in the mind ; the sig-ht never beheld it, nor has the hand expressed it ; it is an idea residing* in the breast of the artist, which he is always labouring to impart, and which he dies at last without imparting" ; but which he is so far able to communicate, as to raise the thoughts and extend the views of the spectator." Fitzoshorne. — How completely is that remark Uustrated by the Elgin marbles, even in their i Dresent mutilated state ! Scarcely a single frag- nent but bespeaks the work of an idea far tran- ;c ending the representation, and awakening in the nind of the beholder higher conceptions of the mman form and character. You will find a [uotation from Cicero, when speaking of Phidias, n one of the Discourses : — 36 PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY. " Neither did this artist, when he carved the image of Jupiter or Minerva, set before him any one human figure, as a pattern which he was to copy ; but having a more perfect idea of beauty fixed in his mind, this he steadily contemplated, and to the imitation of this, all his skill and labour were directed." Bertrand. — But this view of the subject seems to dispense with Christianity itself, for such medi- tations prevailed prior to revelation. Fitzosborne. — And for that reason we find, that in all ages and in all religions many have sacrificed their lives to what they deemed the cause of eterna^ truth ; the Deity was no less in the world before, than after, the Christian dispensation, the design of which was to direct us in a more intelli- gible manner where to seek him, and to give us an example in every way worthy of imitation ; and it may be further observed, that* those virtues which could not be contemplated as attributes of the Deity, and therefore not so clearly discoverable by Natural Religion, were those which shone forth with peculiar lustre in the character of Christ — meekness and humility. Bertrand. — It is somewhat difficult to account for the general disposition among ecclesiastics to decry philosophy, unless it may be traced to the numerous writings against Gibbon which appeared soon after the publication of the " Decline and Ft of the Roman Empire." As that celebrated authoi PIuiTONIC PHILOSOPHY. 37 covertly but vainly attempted to exalt, in the esti- mation of his readers, the ^^ elegant mythology" of the Greeks, his opponents may have deemed it necessary to repudiate that which he extolled; and the sublime speculations of Plato, and the popular religion, have been confounded in one indiscrimi- nate censure. Fitzoshorne. — From the manner in which Gib- bon speaks of the Platonic philosophy, it is evident that he had not deeply studied it. You have probably pointed to the real cause why the Athe- nian philosophy has been so much neglected and impugned. There is a passage in Tillotson, who preceded the historian nearly a century, where a just tribute is paid to their aspirations : — " The truest and most substantial practice of religion consists in the imitation of the Divine pcr- fectionSy especially the moral perfections of the Divine nature, which the Scripture is vsront to com- prehend under the name of holiness ; and which are the gx)odnes8, and mercy, and patience of God, his justice, and truth, and faithfulness. To imitate God in these is true relig-ion ; or, as St. James expresses it, ^ pure religion and undefiled,' without any flaw or blemish, alluding* to precious stones, the greatest commendation of which is, to be clear and without flaw. Religo est imitari qucm colis : this is religion, to imitate him whom we worship. This the heathens, by the light of nature, did discover to be the great end of religion, and the best worship of the Deity, to be like God. Pythagoras was wont to say, ' That we honour Ood most when we are most like him in 38 CICERO. the temper and disposition of our minds ;' and Plato to the same purpose, ^ That the heig-ht and perfection of g-oodness is, to resemble God as near as is possible ; and that we resemble God in being* just and holy and wise.' So likewise Hierocles, *■ That a good man imitates God in the measures of love and friend- ship, who hates no man, and extends his benignity to all mankind.' Plutarch has an excellent discourse about the patience of God towards sinners, and gives this as one reason why God doth not presently punish olfenders, — that he might give an example to us of gentleness and patience, and check the fury and violence of men in revenging injuries upon one another ; which nothing will do more effectually than to consider that gentleness and forbearance are an imitation of the Divine perfection." Bertrand. — Cicero, who wrote on the nature of the gods, should be added. It is not to philo- sophy, but to the sole dependence upon it, that the ministers of religion are opposed ; and cer- tainly there is a very considerable number besides those who openly avow their opinions, who seem to consider tliat man can derive no aid from improve- ment, but through an acquaintance wdth physical causes, not recognising even the natural religion to which the archbishop refers. Of this class are the phrenologists, who, with some exceptions, utterly disclaim the transcendental as nothing but the result of an over-excited imagination. Fitzoshorne, — But to frown upon their inqui- ries is not the best mode of correcting them ; on THE PHRENOLOGISTS. 39 the contrary, it creates a suspicion, and perhaps a just one, that the religion of their opponents fears the light. True religion, or a participation of the Divine nature, regards all the investigations going forward in every department of science, as destined to advance, directly or indirectly, the best interests of mankind, and by encouraging and even joining in the study, renders the discoveries and the discoverers alike tributary to the highest end; as the missionaries who first assisted the Indians in making their nets, while they were thus performing a duty to their fellow-creatures, secured by their kind assiduities a friendly attention for their holy doctrines. Bcrtrand. — I am not greatly surprised at the reluctance on the part of earnest Christians to coalesce with the advocates of phrenology, seeing the self-importance with which they gravely advise the unlucky mal-organised being to cul- tivate assiduously the qualities in which he is most deficient, without any admission of a power superior to that which their own sage counsels may engender. Fitzoshorne. — They may perchance, by their little schemes, produce the little virtues, but the great virtues are of celestial origin, and can never be found by penetrating the arcana of nature. Bertrand. — It is, however, to be feared that a 40 CELESTIAL VIRTUES, considerable number are seeking truth in that direction alone. Fitzoshorne. — Their search must end in dis- appointment. If indeed the moral feelings were improved with every new discovery ; if he, whose comprehensive mind, possessing the most ample stores of knowledge, was also most distinguished for exalted virtue, there would be some induce- ment to persevere. Let us observe, however, him whose conduct is to be regulated solely through the intellect ; a long period transpires before he can collect sufficient data to enable him to form a sound judgment; should he escape the dangers that beset him in this defenceless interval, he at length discovers that the convictions of the under- standing have but a slender influence upon the feelings of the heart, and that his system of ethics is of httle practical value, Bertrand. — ^Perhaps he would not be more successful in his theological system, Fitzoshorne. — In that pursuit he embarks, and difficulties soon overtake him. Manifestations of design convince him there is a God; and, little suspecting the insufficiency of his o"svn reason, he perceives many things in nature which he thinks might have been more wisely ordered, and his perplexities begin; he goes on toiling and struggling through increasing difficulties, in the deceitful hope SIR ISAAC NEWTON. 41 of finding some resting-place ; but as he advances, the horizon flies before him, while each successive elevation that is laboriously reached, displays a still wider field. The interminable prospect over- whelms him with despair ; but he has lost the clue by which he can retrace his steps and regain that degree of composure and simplicity with which he first set out. Bertrand. — After expending a long life in ex- ploring the works of the creation, he is compelled to confess with the philosopher who had measured out the heavens, and defined the laws of the universe, that he had seemed to be only as a little child picking up pebbles on the sea-shore. Fitzoshorne. — ^And probably not with so near an approach to the artlessness and tranquil enjoy- ments of childhood as the immortal Newton. Bertrand. — ^Who looked through nature up to nature's God. Fitzoshorne. — Rather say that he looked through nature with the creative power, and met with con- firmations of his early intuitions ; for it does not appear that from the commencement of his career he was agitated by any doubts, or at least that he ever avowed them ; nor could this arise from indiiference, since we are informed that he was "^profoundly religious." Bertrand. — You have drawn a picture of him E 2 42 INTUITIVE PERCEPTIONS. who studies nature for the moral law ; how does the man who strives to be united with the Creator first examine the creation ? Fitzoshorne. — ^Accustomed to meditate upon the perfections of the Deity, he expects to find those perfections only shadowed forth for a time; imperfect and transitory as they are, compared with their bright original, yet he sees that they are admirably adapted to the end for which they were designed ; su^cient are they to awaken and keep alive those intuitive perceptions of a more enduring and immortal beauty. Even the instances of benevolence in the passing scene, become subser- vient to holy aspirations for a more perfect love. ISAAK WALTON. 43 CHAPTER III. *' There are those Who deem these thoughts the fancies of a mind Strict beyond measure^ and were well content, If I would soften down my rig^d nature, Even to inglorious ease, to honour me," SOUTHET, Charles having expressed a desire to see Pope's Villa, at Twickenham, we strolled down to the opposite bank on the following morning, and from thence by Teddington Locks to Kingston ; as we passed the Locks, there was one solitary angler patiently watching the bobbing of his float. " I have been often puzzled," said Charles, " to re- concile the love of rural scenery and the mild tone of moral and religious reflection in Walton, with his apparent unconsciousness of cruelty in the sport of fishing."* * Delightful Bramford I where my earliest hope In youthful ardour sought too wide a scope ; For oft when lingering in thy verdant fields, Whose healthful breeze a calm enjoyment yields, T was Nature's beauties playing* round my heart That gave the wish such feelings to impart. The world unknown, I vainly sought to find Congenial sympathies in all mankind ; — Too soon I learnt that all were bent on gain — Too soon compelled to join the sordid train. 44 DR. PALEY. Fitzoshorne. — It is the more difficult to account for, upon observing that his sentiments are breathed forth with so much genuine feeling, such piety and benevolence: with less surprise may we regard the print of Dr. Paley in his clerical hat and fishing-rod in hand; it is perfectly characteristic of his conventional Christianity, too prone to re- duce and accommodate the universal and supreme obligations of religion to local institutions. Yet still, whene'er the struggling toil allowed A respite brief from competition's crowd, I flew once more to Bramford's sweet retreat, Where memory fond had fixed her chosen seat. Patient, on yonder bridge, in boyhood's days, I strove with art the finny tribes to raise ; — The silvery eel, the perch, the cautious roach, The ravenous pike that darts at near approach ; Till, on a sultry day, excessive heat Drove me for shelter to a neighbouring seat ; Beneath th' umbrageous oak, the poet read, Who first my thoughts to this reflection led : — Why seek thy pleasure in another's pain ? Ne'er could I throw the artful hne again. Or view the prey, without compunction, lie Gasping for breath — with tedious torments die : Nor all the eloquence of Walton's book Could fix one tortur'd worm upon the hook. And thus aroused, I first was taught to rove For purer pleasures in the peaceful grove. " Hie vivimus ambitiosa Paupertate omnes : quid te moror ? Omnia Romae Cum pretio." Juvenalis, Sat. 3, LORD BROUGHAM. 45 Bertrand. — Lord Brougham might have intro- duced your principle into his work as a branch of natural theology. Fitzoshome. — Certainly, had it been conform- able to his views. The enlargement of Paley's design was almost a work of supererogation ; neither of these writers evinces much consciousness ^ of the spirituality of religion. Had they fully recognised this spirituality, or rather had it recog- nised them, for this is a most important distinction, the one would have thrown aside his fishing-tackle and conventional morality, and the other would not have fallen from his pinnacle of greatness. Bertrand. — ^What will you say, then, of all the Bridgewater Treatises ? Fitzoshome. — ^That they are more to be esteemed as valuable contributions to science, than for their juperfluous proofs of the manifestation of design in he universe. Were this knowledge required for he poor and ignorant, illustrations could be X)inted out in their own cottages, in the structure ind habits of the spider and the fly: for the learned, aore than sufficient has long since been done in his way ; the chief want is a work that will show hem how they may become better acquainted with Designer whom they acknowledge. Bertrand. — Tell them to search the Scriptures. Fitzoshome. — If that were deemed sufficient. 46 NORRIS AND DR. MORE. whence the necessity for Bridgewater Treatises For whom were they composed ? Not for th< believer, but for the sceptic; not for the immora and sensually irrehgious, for they seldom read ; bu to correct the aberrations of the intellectual. Fo: them, a reprint, with emendations, of such work as "Norris on Love," his "Reason and Faith,' "Chistian Prudence," and several other com positions of this admirable author, would b( particularly useful. If knowledge in those day was not so widely spread, it had greater depth still the number of readers of abstruse works, anc such as demanded the most riveted attention, mus have been considerable, since we are informed tha Norris's books " passed through many editions, an( enriched the author." A new translation of th " Enchiridion Ethicum," of Dr. Henry More would also be useful, and probably some of hi other pieces. Both these writers, to great eruditio: and just and profound views, added much that wa fanciful and extravagant ; nevertheless, they presen to the mere intellectualist, the best suggestions fo raising himself, or being raised, to the condition c the spiritualist. Bishop Burnet, speaking of Dj More, says he was "an open-hearted and sincer Christian philosopher, who studied to establis men in the great principles of religion agains atheism, which was then beginning to gai VOLTAIEE, HUME, AND GIBBON. 47 ground." Dr. Outram said publicly, that he looked upon him " as the holiest person upon the face of the earth ;" and Hobbes said, *' that if his o>vn philosophy was not true, he knew of none that he should sooner like than Dr. More's." Even Lord Shaftesbury observed of his "Enchiridion Ethicum," that it was " a right good piece of sound morals." It is, however, something far above Lord Shaftesbury's system of morals, by ascending to a Divine source for its motives. Berfrand. — Know you not that many ministers leprecate a departure from preaching the Gospel n simplicity and as it is in Jesus ? Fitzosborne. — But when the best of feelings lave been stifled, and the mind confused by )er verse systems of education, prejudice upon el>rejudice has accumulated, and this it is abso- '\- necessary to remove ere truth in purity can clt and understood : had mankind been trained veil as taught to love one another, they could -ajavc received the Gospel as a little child ; such lining might have enlisted in the very cause •h they opposed, the powerful minds of Vol- , Hume, Gibbon, and many others, and would dave rendered scepticism almost, if not altogether, ossible. To expect that the toilsome study of .. dead languages ; the confusion of ideas arising J ui/i early erroneous associations ; the demoralisa- 48 THE PILGRIMAGES. tion and sometimes rioting of a public school ; the dissipation often incident to a collegiate life ; and, above all, the overwhelming influence of vicious example in all its various degrees and modifica- tions in society, should mould the mind aright, and produce the genuine Christian character, is preposterous. The principle of society cannot be speedily altered without danger, but that of edu- cation can, and here should reform begin. — But we are coming within sight of Kingston, that ancient town, were Saxon kings where crowned, and where the pilgrims to the shrine of Becket crossed the Thames. Bertrand. — Notwithstanding the immorality and perversion that prevailed in some of the pil- grimages, numerous are the instances of arduous and dangerous joumeyings undertaken and pre- served in, with the most enthusiastic zeal and devotion. Fitzosbome. — The perils encountered may assure us that, notwithstanding our boasted acquire- ments, religion had as deej) a root as in the presen' age. Let us pause here, for one of the mos picturesque views on the banks of the Thames and remember when you bring your pencil for sketch, this summer-house in the grounds of Si John Broughton will mark the spot; you hav« here the best view of the elegant bridge and of th' THE KINGSTON SCHOOLS. 49 fine old tower of Kingston Church, surrounded with ivy, as if standing in the midst of a wood : the quiet beauty of this scene is not a little en- hanced by reflecting, that in that church a minister officiates, who, if his income was doubled, would spend it all luxuriously. Bertrand. — Luxuriously J Fitzoshorne. — He would so much the more enjoy the luxury of doing good. Bertrand, — The idea heightens the interest of the scene, and forms a delightful association ; it seems like the harmonious blending of the natural, moral, and spiritual worlds. Fitzoshorne. — If the Establishment was in all places served with the same charity and devotion as at Kingston and its dependence Ham, we should hear nothing of Church spoliation: Church aug- mentation would probably become more popular. The poor schools, a short distance out of the town, are substantial, commodious, and handsome build- ings, and, to avoid any sectarian or exclusive denomination or character, are called " The Kingston Public Schools;" at the village of Ham, where the clergyman is indefatigable in the discharge of his duties, there is also an excel- Jlent school; and the infant' school, which he has ^■^•TTned in his own grounds, is watched over by family. 50 EXTRACT FROM LETTER TO THE Bertrand. — It cannot be said that the clergy are opposed to education in this quarter. Fitzoshome. — Yet here, where so much prepa- ration is made for promoting the welfare of the people, to a degree which no political change could scarcely exceed, the schools are inadequately- supported ; I must confess, that when those who are indifferent to this most important of all their duties to their neighbour, are calling out for reform, their motives, to say the least of them, become rather equivocal. "Were they zealous in this cause, their claim to attention would be great indeed, and they would win the confidence of many of their opponents. Here is a positive good within their reach, neglected ; neglected, too, in a great degree, by all parties ; while each, conceiving itself to have truth on its side, might be certain, that the most effectual way of finally securing public opinion in its favour, is by improving the faculties of the rising generation. — Let us retrace our steps to the fallen tree beside that elm at the bend of the river : I wish to read to you an extract from a letter, addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, in- tended for a popular journal, but never published. Bertrand. — Most willingly, and indeed I should be glad so linger here ; the tranquil and scarcely audible flow of the river, although so rapid in this narrower channel, gives animation to the scene. ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 51 "NVTien Lord Brougham, in 1835, broug-ht forward his resolutions on the subject of National Education, the Bishop of Gloucester expressed his " concurrence in most of the views taken by the noble and learned lord in his able and eloquent speech ;" your Lordship prefaced your remarks by saying", " In the greater part of the eloquent and instructive speech of the noble and learned lord I entirely concur;" and in allusion to a caution from the Bishop of Gloucester, you added, " I have always proclaimed it as my conviction, feehng- that it was a duty which I owed to the public, that in order to make education real and useful, it must be founded on the basis of relig-ion." As the defects in Lord Broug-ham's plans of edu- cation, which excited these precautionary remarks, have been elsewhere noticed,* permit me, with defer- ence, upon the present occasion, to inquire what are the essentials of a religious education, properly so called, and whether the national system, under the immediate superintendence of the clergy, can justly come under that denomination. Before the Christian Dispensation — before the Mosaic Covenant, the Deity manifested himself throug-h the skill, contrivance, and mechanism of his wonderful creations, and by his beneficence to all his creatures. As Jesus Christ expressly declared that he came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfil, so it may be presumed that no revelation was intended to supersede or dispense with the study of those unchang-ing- laws of nature, which are ever proclaiming the existence, the power, and the good- ness of God. In the National Schools established throughout England, the instruction is confined to reading, writing, and arithmetic; the reading is restricted to the Bible. * See Appendix A. 52 EXTRACT FROM LETTER TO THE If the intention is to promote efficient education, we shall not rest satisfied with instituting a mere outward form destitute of any animating" spirit ; if the object is to excite a love of the Scriptures, greater pains will be taken to unite interest to the duty of studying them : not one in fifty of the children, upon leaving school, gives a preference to that book. As a proof of the little care that prevails in regard to the real improvement of the children, a visitor entered one of the largest and best appointed schools for the poor out of London, and requested the conductor to permit the ten monitors to read the 13th chapter of St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians : they were then asked what St. Paul meant by the word charity ? " Giving money to the poor" was the only reply. The same experiment was made in another school with the first class, consisting of twelve boys : the , answer of " love" was given by one boy only ; and so long as the mere mechanical process is pursued, so long will the judgment remain unimproved, or rather be impaired, the moral feelings become obtuse, and all the faculties deadened. The art of reading will, in after-life, be exercised upon writings minis- tering to the worst passions, and not upon such as are instructive and calculated to heighten the enjoy- ments of domestic and social happiness. An education excluding any of the means placed at our disposal by the Deity, for the development of the higher faculties, can neither be completely eflfectual in good, nor strictly termed rehgious. Sir Isaac Newton remarked, that " If natural philo- sophy should be continued to be improved in its various branches, the bounds of moral philosophy would be enlarged also." The more the individual observes in the general phenomena of the universe, and of the beings by whom he is surrounded, the more will his best faculties be developed, and his means of useful- ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 53 ness enlarged. A knowledg^e of the rudiments and of the general principles of the various sciences is sufficient, at an early period, to expand the mind and improve the feelings, and this can with facility be now imparted by means of excellent treatises and catechisms, adapted to the humblest capacities.* Such instruction would destroy the monotony of the present reading, and greater interest would be given to Scripture History, to which such instruction could always be rendered subservient. Those who consider that education has already advanced too far, because the result has disappointed expectation, will hesitate at this suggestion. I must proceed, therefore, to explain the limited but useful extent, to which this auxiliary religious instruction is proposed to be carried, and it will be found so far to su})ply the deficiencies of the existing system, as to render the pupils more contented, more truly re- ligious, and in every respect better members of * " I am persuaded that nothing could tend so directly to dignify and improve those classes of men engaged in mecha- nical labour, as the knowledge of the principles of the art which the^^ exercise. They would hence be peculiarly in- terested in their respective employments, and from the ])leasure thence arising, their hearts and minds must be (enlarged and improved. But the interest with which they "^vould engage in, and perform their mechanical labours, were they acquainted with the just principles of their pro- ion, would render them much more attentive to the ;K'r execution of those particular pieces of workmanship, in which they are occupied. Benefit must hence not only accrue to the mind of the artist, but to the society of which he is a member. It becomes, therefore, a duty incumbent on those who direct and regulate the concerns of the com- munity, to provide for the education of the mechanical classes of society."— Dr. Cowan. F 2 54 SUBJECTS FOR INSTRUCTION. society, in whatever situation they may be subse- quently placed. The trite remark, that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing," is not true ; a Httle knowledge is better than none, provided that little is correct, and imparted in such a manner as to excite a desire for more, and renders further acquisitions of easy attainment ; provided, also, the right use and end of all knowledge is well under- stood. The simple elements of Geometry, scarcely extending beyond the definitions and axioms, with some of the following subjects, could be taught \ without books, by means of diagrams on the walls I of the school-room. /' 1st. A chart of the world, a map of the British Isles, and maps illustrative of sacred history. , 2nd. A human skeleton, or figure, drawn on canvas, to be occasionally unrolled, for teaching the outlines of anatomy and physiology, and the eflfects of intemperance upon the body and mind. 3rd. The laws of mechanics. 4th. The theory of springs. 5th. The nature of different soils ; agricultural geology. 6th. Agriculture in general, and botany, illus- trated by field flowers. 7th. The elements of music, vocal and, for some of the children, instrumental, &c. &c. It is not proposed to impart this species of know- ledge as a substitute for that which is far more im- portant, but to aid the latter by calling into exercise correct habits of thinking, and thereby promote with greater vitality the development of the religious principle.* Bertrand. — I did not observe any allusion to the latent principle before spoken of. • See Appendix B. THE THREE PARTIES. 55 Fitzoshome. — But you remarked the serious consequences of the old method in the examina- tion of the boys : not only is an acquaintance with natural history neglected, but there is a positive failure in that which is, professedly and exclusively, attempted. What ai*e the characteristics of the three systems of education, moral and religious, prevailing at present ? 1st. The High Church party disregard natural philosophy, especially in the education of the poor. 2nd. The Evangeli- cal party not only neglect, but decry, the pursuit of natural philosophy as unworthy of beings born for eternity, and to whom all the mysteries of nature will soon be revealed. 3rd. The Useful Knowledge party neglect the particular study of religion and morality, conceiving both to be the certain consequence of general intelligence. Bertrand. — Although there are many distin- guished exceptions in each, you have given the prevailing character of the three parties. Fitzoshome. — If the theory and practice of any one had been true, the result would have been 80 striking, as to have commanded the assent of all. Bertrand. — In the third party you have that ■^'hich is requested of the Archbishop. i Fitzoshome. — The necessity for it is acknow- ledged, but in practice it is held subordinate to the acquisition of languages, and this is the bane of aU 56 INEFFECTUAL INSTRUCTION. improvement. In the spring of life, when the faculties should be expanding with delight amid the congenial objects and the scenes of nature, children in a cramped position are immured in close and crowded rooms, and, under the fear of punishment, painfully labouring to decipher hiero- glyphics, of the meaning of which they may re- main ignorant long after they can give them their right names ;* there being no natural connexion between letters and words and the thing signified : if the Bible is used for this purpose and under such circumstances, we must not wonder if, in very many instances, it is viewed with early and with lasting prejudice, and that " line upon hue and precept upon precept," prove ineffectual in after-life, in making them understand ** that the ways of religion are ways of pleasantness." Bertrand. — Instances are recorded of indi- * As long as teachers will not take the trouble, or will not be found qualified, to inspire their pupils with a living interest in their studies, they must not complain of the want of attention, nor even of the aversion to instruction, which some of them may manifest. Could we witness the in- describable tedium which must oppress the juvenile mind; while the weary hours are slowly passing away, one by one. in an occupation which they can neither relish nor under- stand its use ; could we remember the same scenes which our own childhood has undergone, we would then no longei be surprised at the remissness of the schoolboy, ' creeping like snail, unwillingly to schooV'—Pestalozzi's Letters. ENGINEERS AND MUSICIANS. 57 yiduals who have been heedless of religion, and of others who have led immoral lives, being awa- kened to a sense of duty, in consequence of some precept, repeated often in childhood and at school, recurring to their minds at a later period. Fitzosborne. — And can this be deemed suffi- cient, after the great stir and strenuous efforts to form the religious character, to the entire exclu- sion of all other subjects that might by possibility distract attention ? Twenty boys are sent to an engineer for seven years to learn the theory and practice of the art ; at the termination of that Iperiod they know little of the theory and nothing , |of the practice, but one of them, when far advanced p life, remembers some of the rules repeated iurmg his initiation, and which he can now apply )iit imperfectly to practice, in consequence of con- radictory opinions or injurious habits subsequently xjquired ! Bertrand. — If it was proposed to make musi- 1 s of children, we should not be satisfied with ir ability to name the notes and repeat the rules tausic, for this could be done correctly, with- the least comprehension of its principles ; and her, the principles might be known while the \ cr and sweetness of harmony were imperfectly Icrstood and felt. Fitzosborne. — And as there are few who are ii 58 SUPERIOR EDUCATION. insensible to the harmony of music at an early- period, so are there none, in whom Love, the principle of harmony in the moral world, could not be awakened, cherished, and increased from infancy, so that long before the animal passions had required sufficient strength to oppose any formidable obstacles to the exercise of the higher faculties, they would have been in a great degree subjugated, and both the physical and intellectua nature rendered subservient to the Divine. Bertrand. — And this, doubtless, is what Solo mon meant when he said, " Train up a child in th< way he should go, and when he is old he will no depart from it." Fitzoshorne. — In those days there were, fortu nately for youth, no books ; but similar was thi original meaning of the word education, to lea< forth or draw out, from educo ; but how strangel; it is now perverted ! The teaching of languages, i the manner and at the period in which they are noi taught, so far from expanding the mental powei and the moral feelings, absolutely impedes them and there are some of the North American tril particularly the Osages, who exhibit superior ci ture and training in their general character, tl those of the working classes, and perhaps of class in this country. Curiosity, or the love knowledge, is inherent in man, and by pro] INFANT SCHOOLS. 59 management would assuredly lead to a love of those means by which it could most easily be ac- quired ; when, however, the child is coerced pre- maturely to the study of the means, he associates knowledge itself with those means, and becomes indifferent to both ; by the time he is able, he has lost the inclination to read, and least of all the Bible. Bei'trand. — If your position can be substan- tiated, it involves a most serious charge against the effects of the present system, making use of the Word of God, not to quicken but to quench the ^Spirit.* Fitzoshorne. — The evil, I fear, is descending e'S'cn to the Infant Schools, which are too frequently K bung round with texts from Scripture, excellent in 1 • " The Bible, instead of being prostituted to the pur- '1)0>es of teaching children to read, and thereby rendered 51 irdinary or dig-usting, should be preserved, as it is, a sacred took ; and seeing that it abounds with all the various 'f^'inties of the Greek and Roman classics, it should be read considered as the first and best of standard classics. T— ^oes shines unrivalled both as a poet, an orator, and histo- jHq ; David as a poet ; Solomon as a moralist and pastoral mter ; Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Nahum, and some other f the minor prophets, as orators or poets, or both ; the four Evangelists as orators and historians ; St. Peter and St. James 3 writers of extraordinary rank ; and St. Paul as the most iblime of authors and eloquent of orators." — See Lowth's lebrated Prcelectianes de Sacra Poesi Hehrcsorum. 60 DEFECTIVE EDUCATION. themselves, but totally unintelligible to little chil- dren : take an example, " Pray without ceasing ;" the only idea a child has of prayer is the repetition of the Lord's Prayer or some other petition; and as he must suppose it means repeating prayers from morning to night and from night to morning, and not conceiving such an uninterrupted employment possible, he accustoms himself to repeat the words without attaching any intelligible idea to them ; to explain to him that it means heavenly-minded- ness, or continual aspiration and dependence, woulc be difficult, if not impossible, at that tender age. Bertrand. — I have often observed the tone o; voice and manner of children when giving the following answer in the catechism, " An outwarc and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace,' and have been convinced that they might as wcl repeat some words of a language totally unknowi to them, for the benefit they can derive : an( indeed it seems to be a mockery of God, worsi than taking his name in vain, to teach little chil dren to utter sounds connected with religion, c the meaning of which they cannot have the mos distant conception ; it is laying a broad foundatio: for indifference, inattention, and insincerity. I they even understood the meaning of the word.' the repetition of them is no assurance that the felt their importance. UNPROFITABLE SERVANTS. 61 Fitzoshorne. — Suppose our servants were re- quested to rehearse their duties, saying, '^We should clean the tables and chairs, prepare the coffee for breakfast at the proper time," and cor- rectly detail the duties of the day ; if, when the morning arrived, we found the furniture covered with dust, and no breakfast ready, or . if, instead of cleaning and arranging the furniture, they had put it in greater disorder, and provided nauseous and unwholesome beverage in lieu of coffee, we should not be slow to pronounce them unprofitable ser- vants. Let us further suppose, that to be waited upon, we were exclusively dependent upon them or their children, and that the education of the latter was entirely under our control ; should we be then satisfied with the bare recital of their duties ? Bertrand. — We should be most anxious so to Strain them, that they would have both the incli- non and ability to discharge their duties with uiigence and fidelity. Fitzoshorne. — Thus a little personal inconve- aience would urge us to attend to that, which the ly injunctions of religion cannot prevent us from ^decting ; and we hesitate not to hear with indif- ference the careless repetition of God's command- nents ; because now, if one servant does not suit , we can dismiss him, perhaps to be irretrievably iifirmed in his evil courses. 62 EARLY ASSOCIATION. Bertrand. — If not directly, we are indirectly disturbed by the disorders of society ; at least, we cannot escape the fear of them. Fitzoshorne. — The fault lies in the omission to aid the development of the faculties at an earlier period, so that they would be enabled to compre- hend and feel, at the time they were required to repeat the Catechism, its real import; but long before that time arrived, the judicious teacher of an Infant School would surrender his little charge, with all the most valuable qualities germinating or unfolded. Conscious already of a spiritual existence, the Sacred Volume would be opened, there to behold, as it were in a mirror, its own resemblance ; the inimitable relations of the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, the Woman taken in Adultery, and others, would sink deep into the mind and feelings at a period, when the sensibilities of youth are exquisitely alive to all that is beautiful and lovely : these moral lessons, so full of tenderness and truth, would become interwoven with the earliest associations, and be recurred to with emotions of delight, in every stage of their existence ; harmonising with the primary processes of education, they would be incorporated with their very being, and, fostering the living principle of religion, enable the future man to rise above the cold dead forms, by which it is now supplanted. EDUCATION OF THE ARISTOCRACY. b3 Bertrand. — So mucli for the poorer classes. Fitzoshorne. — If we inquire into the education of the rich, we shall find them worse off than the poor. For them no Infant Schools are provided, and as they are seldom good managers of children themselves, even if their engagements permitted, to persons ill qualified is the task assigned ; their caprices humoured by excessive indulgence, the faculties are perverted at that precise period which usually determines their future direction. When sent to Harrow, Eton, or other large schools, how is the religious principle attended to there ? Not even their morals, many degrees lower, claim attention ; the substitute is demoralisation : and the fagging system, making them by turns slaves and tyrants, is admirably calculated to generate antipathy instead of love. Besides the hiero- glyphics indigenous to our soil, by which, in common with the poor, they have been previously perplexed, they are now tormented by others still more difficult, and after toiling through syntax and prosody, they retain, without a competent know- Ic^e of its philosophy, a cordial dislike for gram- 1.* If, perchance, a very limited number pant • 'Die grammar, like the dictionary, is only a book of •eference : " to read it, therefore, by itself is," as Ascham »bserves, " tedious for the master, hard for the scholar, cold ind uncomfortable for them both." 64 STUDY OF THE CLASSICS. with ardour to rival the heroes of Greece and Rome, they are sorely puzzled to reconcile their youthful enthusiasm with the meekness enjoined in the Gospel. The result of this heterogenous compound is, that the duel, alike repugnant to the genius of classical and sacred history, is sanctioned by society. Bertrand. — ^Would you reject the study of the classics altogether ? Fitzoshorne, — Certainly not; youth properly instructed in the history of Greece and Rome, would in due time study with avidity, but with discrimina- tion, the classic authors.* What says Locke? — "When I consider what ado is made about a little Latin and Greek, how many years are spent in it, and what a noise and business it makes to nc^ purpose, I can hardly forbear thinking, that the parents of children still live in fear of the schoolmaster's rod, which they look on as the only instrument of education, as if a languag-e or two were its whole business. Reading-, writing", and learning in general, are necessary, but not the chiei business of education." Milton also remarks: — "And though a lingiust should pride himself to have all the tongues that Babel cleft the world into, yet if he have not studied the solid things in them, as well as the words and lexicons, he were nothing- sc much to be esteemed a learned man, as any yeoman oi tradesman competently wise in his mother dialect only. " Hence appear the many mistakes which have mad« learning generally so unpleasing and so unsuccessful ; first we do amiss to spend seven or eight years merely in scraping together so much miserable Latin and Greek, as might h learned otherwise easily and dehghtfully in one year." * See Appendix C. TRUE HEROIC SPIRIT. 65 Bertrand. — But the absence of moral discipline at the public schools is the chief subject of regret. Fitzoshorne, — Only a few years since there de- parted one of those mighty spirits, which it seems to require the revolution of ages to produce ; but such were the varied sensations of admiration and alarm excited, as he wielded his vast powers, that some have been led to question, whether his brief existence upon earth, was a blessing to mankind or not : but let those who are disposed to condemn with harshness, pause and consider how large a share in any misdirection of his wonderful talents, may be traced to the injurious systems of training in childhood, and of education in youth, under which the infant Hercules was reared. "Who can \ calculate the enormous amount of good society has M lost, in neglecting the timely and judicious culture that extraordinary mind, so rich in natural lowments ! Bertrand. — The stupendous genius to whom you allude was at least ardently emulous of ancient heroism. Fitzoshorne. — A spirit far more congenial with O'c celebrated among the ancients, is displayed by Ml who, weighing the probable course of their ^conduct had they lived in our days, by a determined [moral courage and a noble self-devotion, consecrates jcenes before undistinguished by wisdom and G 2 66 THE GREEKS. virtue. But the truly great man is no copyist in the deeds by wliich he is renowned — his inspiration is drawn from a deeper source ; and the bard who towered above all his contemporaries as a poet, was often below mediocrity in a career not native to his genius.* Bertrand. — The Greeks never committed the error to which you object, by subjecting their youth to the study of dead languages ;t if they • See Appendix D. t Two hundred years have passed since the following- remarks on schools and universities were written, and it is to be feared without witnessing- much improvement : — " As for the usual method of teaching- arts, I deem it to be an old error of universities, not yet well recovered from the scholastic grossness of barbarous ages, that instead of beginning with arts most easy (and those be such as are most obvious to the sense), they present their young unma- triculated novices, at first coming, with the most intellective abstractions of logic and metaphysics ; so that they having but newly left those gramatic flats and shallows, where they stuck unreasonably to learn a few words with lamentable construction, and now on the sudden transported undei another climate, to be tossed and turmoiled with theii unballasted wits in fathomless and unquiet deeps of contro- versy, do for the most part grow into hatred and contemp of learning, mocked and deluded all this while with raggec notions and habiliments, while they expected worthy an{ dehghtful knowledge; till poverty or youthful years cal them importunately their several ways, and hasten them with the sway of friends, either to an ambitious and merce nary, or ignorantly zealous divinity ; some allured to th trade of law, grounding their purposes, not on the pruden CHATTERTON. v\-^ borrowed any of their spirit of improvemenT^^i^^l ITl results from the Egyptians, they did not, in conse- quence, doom their children to the premature study of the tables and chronological characters of Egypt. Fitzoshome. — On a recent visit to Bristol, I was reminded of one of the most melancholy in- stances of neglected genius, in the sad fate of the unhappy Chatterton. We are told in a description of that city, that "His life thoug-h short was eventful: it com- menced as it ended, in misfortune. By the premature loss of his father he was deprived of that careful attention which would probably have conducted his early years through all the difficulties that circum- and heavenly contemplation of justice and equity, which was never taught them, but on the promising and pleasing tboug-hts of litigious terms, fat contentions, and flowing fees ; ethers betake them to state affairs, with souls so unprincipled in virtue and true generous breeding, that flattery, and court-shifts, and tyrannous aphorisms appear to them the highest points of wisdom ; instilling their barren hearts with a conscientious slavery ; if, as I rather think, it be not feigned. Others, lastly, of a more delicious and airy spirit retire themselves (knowing no better) to the enjoyments of ease and luxury, living out their days in feast and jollity ; which indeed is the wisest and safest course of all these, unless they were with more integrity undertaken. And tjiese are the errors, and these are the fruits of misspending our prime youth at the schools and universities as we do, either in learning mere words, or such things chiefly as were better unlearned." — Milton on Education. 68 GOD IS LOVE. Stances or disposition might oppose to the attainment of knowledge, and by the unpromising- aspect of his infant faculties, he was excluded a seminary which might have aflforded advantages superior to those he afterwards enjoyed. His father had been succeeded in the school in Pyle-street by a Mr. Love, and to his care Chatterton was committed at the age of five years : but either his faculties were not yet opened, or the waywardness of his genius, which will pursue only such objects as are self-approved, incapacitated him from receiving instruction in the ordinary methods, and he was remanded to his mother as a dull boy, and incapable of improvement." And this was the youth with whom it was a favourite maxim, that " man was equal to anything, and that everything might be achieved by dili- gence and abstinence !" Bertrand. — In that sentence the spirit was breaking forth, which, had it received in early life the culture you require, would have enabled him to triumph over the adverse circumstances into which he was afterwards thrown ; his fate might have been ^videly different, had he been in the school of Pestalozzi, if that also wiU not faU under your animadversions ; for he seems to have directed his pupils to seek their religion in the study of nature. Fitzoshorne. — It was the glory of his system, and the secret of his celebrity, that he pursued a course the very reverse of this ; he himself declares, that he made use of the material world to develop the spii'itual; the visible for the invisible; by PESTALOZZI. 69 training children in Love, " God is Love," he led them to see all things in God ; and is not this in harmony with Natural Religion, as well as the Christian dispensation, both radiating from the same centre ? Love being the most delightful of aU our instincts. Then, as regards the comprehensive view preceding the detailed inquiry, the child opens its eyes upon all within the range of its vision — it sees the whole before it examines the parts — it beholds the landscape previous to the individual objects of which it is composed — it views the entire tree before its branches and leaves are inspected. Bertrand. — But they say the reputation of the Pestalozzian system is on the decline. Fitzosborne. — It is we who are on the decline, and unable to appreciate it. Men destitute of his spirit, and with only a fragment of his method, may have brought a name, unworthily assumed, into discredit ; but so long as Christianity lasts, the name of Pestalozzi will be held in reverence, as the Author of the only Theory of Education in accor- dance with the Instructions of Him who said, *' Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not." There are, however, in this country, some highly respectable establishments, where his spirit to some extent successfully presides : sensible signs have been substituted for verbal descriptions ; great improvements upon the old methods have 70 HIS LASTING FAME. been introduced ; but that heavenly devotion to the sacredness of his employment, that heart overflow- ing with love to God and man, that more than parental regard for his pupils, will be rarely found among those who have themselves been necessarily trained under defective systems. Bertrand. — It seems unaccountable that fame so extended, and acquired so unostentatiously, should not be lasting. Fitzosborne. — There could scarcely be a more convincing proof of the truth of Pestalozzi's views, than the fact that, when announced, they touched a consenting chord in the hearts of all the reflect- ing ; and his principles, despite his own repeated failures, have since continued to spread and to reform education even where his name was un- known. What such men as Thomas a Kempis, Baxter, Fenelon, Dr. Henry More, Norris, and others were to adults, Pestalozzi was to children in particular ; like those pillars and ornaments of the Church, he not only led those whom he taught to the '* living waters," but drank of them him- self. These exalted natures were all distinguished by the simplicity and the purity of their lives, by the absence of all sectarian spirit ; and although known under some peculiar denomination, accord- ing to the age in which they lived, in the leading features of their characters and opinions they were FAITH OF PESTALOZZI. 71 one and the same : they were probably called Mystics by those who could not comprehend them, as Plato is denominated the divine by some, while others in derision speak of his reveries. Pestalozzi, however, so far differed from all of them, that he mixed up with his theory no extra- vagant or even speculative opinions. Bertrand. — Did he not profess any particular faith? Fitzoshorne. — The generally received meaning of faith is confined to the belief in miracles, in par- ticular tenets, or in certain interpretations of the Scriptures ; but the faith of Pestalozzi, and of those wrriters I have before alluded to, more particularly implied and manifested a confidence in the fatherly 'oodncss of the Almighty, and that He would mpart his Holy Spirit to those who devoutly eek His support. The former are controversia- ists, deeming it their highest duty to correct the aistakes, real or supposed, of others ; and in this nterprise they often make shipwreck of their own tetter feelings, and show that, whatever may be li(iir creed, their hearts are far from the truth, — iff )r ding another proof of the inefiiciency of the llect looking outwardly to the letter rather than inwardly for the spirit, in imitation of those r^ribed by Dr. Milner in referring to the early iistians : '* Whoever at this day lives in the 72 HIS COADJUTORS. same sincere hostility against all sin, and in the exercise of the same charity, patience, and heavenly-mindedness as they did, will undesign- edly, yet assuredly, excite, in a similar manner, the displeasure of the rest of mankind." Bertrand. — Fortunate would it have been if his coadjutors had been able to supply his deficiencies. Fitzoshorne. — Should an individual appear, ani- mated by his beautiful spirit, fully comprehending his views, and possessing adequate power, he will prove to mankind that the rudiments only of the science of education have been hitherto under- stood or reduced to practice. Bertrand. — When such a system becomes general, we shall, I trust, see more of the Chris- tian spirit abroad. Fitzoshorne. — The simple habitual worship, the conscious feeling of the Divine presence, and ardent aspu*ation after goodness, will so consecrate every movement, individual and collective, that the achievements of all past ages would sink into com- parative insignificance ; for the religious principles thus developed, wiU prove a compendious system of substantial and elegant education, excelling in every respect all others, and would supersede the necessity of laboured treatises upon various subjects, by becoming in itself a substitute for some, and ren- dering the mind a better recipient for others. Lord GEXIXJS INVIGORATED. 73 Chesterfield's Letters, and tomes of regulations as to manners, to those early accustomed to the con- temptation of the graceftd and the beautiful in their most perfect forms, would be useless : per- nicious they could not be, to minds capable at a glance of detecting their spurious and artificial character. Fed by a heavenly stream, the lamp of genius would burn with a brighter and always with a purer flame ; not only would the arts and sciences, with all that adds real embellishment to life, be studied with more perseverance and ardour for moral ends, but the faculties would be so pure and unclouded, so unimpeded by prejudice or ani- hiKil passion, that perception would be more vivid, lllie memory more retentive, and all the powers of fthe mind invigorated, and its acquisitions conse- crated to the highest objects ; the imagination well rc.^gulated, and exalted far beyond the reach of earth-born jealousies and petty ambition, would be upheld by that pure principle of Love, which would he felt as the beginning and the end of our being. J Bertrand. — Why, you are as much of an en- isiast as ever. Fitzoshorne. — Before, however, such an educa- m can become general, there is a Preliminary lire quired. But enough for to-day ; in our walk ough Richmond Park to-morrow, this Prelimi- y shall be considered. H 74 SUPPER LITTLE CHILDREN. CHAPTEE IT. " England I model to tby inward greatnea^ Like little body with a mighty heart, Wliat might' at thou do, that honour would thee do, Were all thy children kind and natural I But see thy fatJt !" Shakspb Arb. As I opened my chamber window on the follow- ing morning, Charles was crossing the lawn with a book in his hand: he looked up and requested me to join him speedily. " It was long," said he. " before I could sleep last night, so much did youi system of education take possession of my thoughts I am convinced that it must work the most ini portant and beneficial changes ; but I have founc among your books one which bears directly on th< subject, so pray descend and come to me in th- flower-garden." It was not long before we wer seated together in the hermitage. Bertrand. — It is a page in Pestalozzi's Letter to which I must call your attention — " Among the passages of the Sacred Volume whic throw most lig-ht on the state which is best fitted f* the reception of Christian truth, I have always con dered as one of the most illustrative, these words the Saviour : ^ Whosoever shall not receive the kini dom of God as a little child, shall in no wise ent therein.' "What can there be in a ^fittle child' d serving to be compared with a state of readiness f THE SYLLOGISM. 75 the Christian faith ? It cannot be an effort of morahty, or an attempt at high perfection, for the infant is incapable of any ; it cannot be any degree of know- ledge or intellectual refinement, for the infant is a stranger to both. "What, then, can it be, except that feeling of love and confidence, of which the mother is for a time the first and only object? That feeling is analogous in its nature and agency to the state of mind described by the name of faith. It does not rest on a conviction of the understanding ; but it is more convincing than any syllogism could have been. jVot being founded on it, it cannot be injured by reasoning ; it has to do with the heart only ; it is prior to the development of all other faculties. If we ask for its origin, we can only say that it is instinctive ; or if we mean to resolve an unmeaning expression into the truth, it is a gift of Him who has called into life all the hosts of the creation— in whom ' we live, and move, and have our being.' " A.nd yet it is for tlie syllogism that sectarian con- Toversy prevails, and from which Love (God) withdraws, because it has been said, " Him that is veak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful li imputation." Perhaps as much has been written convince the understanding as ever will be, and t is to be hoped that contests regarding the Letter bout to terminate. Fitzosborne. — Wherever I find antipathy to "Itthers on account of their opinions, I cannot re- vise Christianity : the dislike of others in jLisequence of their opinions, generally exceeds love for them as Christians or as men. 76 SINCERITY AND PURITY. Bertrand. — It has been justly remarked by- some one tbat we must learn to tolerate intolerance. Fitzoshorne. — Let us shut out the world and its disputes ; and since you have given me a passage from your book, allow me to read one out of mine, which is often my early morning companion. " There are two win^s by which a man soars above the world — Sincerity and Purity ; the former rejrards the intention, the latter the affections ; that aspires and aims at a likeness to God ; this makes us really like him. "We should find no difficulty in any good action, were but our minds free from all intemperate passion and desire. And this perfection of freedom we should not fail to attain, did we in all our desigiis and undertakings propose no other ends than obedience to the will of God, and promoting the good of our neighbour.* Were but our minds thus fixed, and ( intentions regulated, everything would strangely contribute to our edification. We should study the volume of nature with profit, and every line in that book would tend to our instruction. The very * With what force and beauty is this sentiment expressed and illustrated in the following passage! "In the whole business of man's redemption, wonderful in all it^ parts, in its beginning, its progress, and completion, the most won- derful part of all is the character of Christ ; a character nol exempt from those feelings of the soul and infirmities of thf body which render man obnoxious to temptation, but ir which the two principles of piety to God and good will U man maintained such an ascendancy over all the rest, tha they might seem by themselves to make the whole. Thi. character, in which piety and benevolence, upon all occasions CONDITION OF THE MIND. 77 smallest, and, in common esteem, most despicable creature would represent, as in a glass, the goodness of God to us. And the reason why these things are seen with so useless speculation, is because our minds are not rightly disposed to draw those profitable and practical inferences, which vefy naturally result from them. For, as colours appear to our minds as they are painted in the eye, so the judgment men make of all outward objects depends upon the condition of the mind; and we argue and pronounce of them differently, as we happen to be differently affected beforehand. If there be such a thing as true pleasure in the world, the pure in heart enjoy it,"* Bertrand. — Could we realise these feelings, your garden would become a paradise. Fitzoshorne. — Upon the same principle as the fields and common lands may be converted into a paradise, by striving to improve the " condition of the mind." €nd in all circumstances, overpowered all the inferior I'assions, is more incomprehensible to the natural reason of the carnal man than the deepest mysteries ; more impro- !)le than the greatest miracles ; of all the particulars of the spel history, the most trying to the evil heart of unbehef ; very last thing, I am persuaded, that a ripened faith ves ; but of all things the most important and the most ecessary to be well understood and firmly believed, — the most efficacious for the softening of the sinner's heart, for qaelling the pride of human wisdom, and for bringing every thought and imagination of the soul into subjection to the righteousness of God." — Bishop Horsley. * Thomas a Kempis. 78 MORAL INSTINCTS. " Love refines * The thoughts, the heart enlarges, hath his seat In reason, and is judicious; is the scale By which to heavenly love thou mayst ascend." Milton. Bertrand. — '' Still harping upon love." Fitzoshorne. — Because there is not an error more fatal to all improvement than that which sup- poses that persevering and effectual moral power and happiness can be acquired by exploring the external world alone. I recollect a passage from Baxter somewhat to our purpose : " He that hath made love the great command, doth tell us that love is the great conception of his own essence, the spring of that command ; and that this com- manded imperfect love, doth tend to perfect heavenly love, even to our communion with essen- tial infinite love." Observe that bee, with what un- erring judgment it selects the appropriate flower, and extracts the honey : though emerging from its pupa state perhaps but yesterday, it comes forth with all its instincts perfect : so in man, may there not be moral instincts, intuitive feelings, lying dormant for a time, but which, when once awakened, instantly produce a foretaste of happi- ness, and first regulating the passions, renders, them fit instruments to guide the intellect in the search of knowledge, not as the end of our being, for that we should " know even as we are known," : PRELIMIXARY DEFERRED. 79 but as means to be employed and dedicated to that end.* Bertrand. — The bell announces breakfast, just as I was about to ask for your Preliminary. Fitzoshorne. — That we will reserve for the park. Bertrand. — This mysterious reluctance to commence heightens curiosity ; will it involve some protracted discussion ? — Your servant ap- proaches with a letter. Fitzoshorne. — I must enter upon the Prelimi- nary with caution and sobriety, or you will think me inclined to plunge again into controversy ; for I must confess it is a subject which I cannot at all times contemplate with sufficient calmness. This handwriting, it is Hampden's ! I wrote him a long letter in reference to the transcendental , and invited him, should he come to London, to visit this neighbourhood. He writes me from town, and says that he is there upon urgent business, and will come down and spend to-morrow with us, and only to-morrow, as he must return to Suffolk on the following day. He adds : '* I have looked o some of the authors you mention, at a library old books at a clergyman's in an adjoining parish * " Nemo est expers ccelestum beneficiorum : nemo est, ad HI aliquid manaverit non ex illo beniguissimo fonte." — SE5ECA. 80 RICHMOND PARK. to my own : I am no convert to your views, but more of this anon." Bertrand. — I shall expect a battle royal be- tween you, and, as formerly, I must interpose, should the contest become too animated. As we entered the park after breakfast, Charles observed, " Now that we have reached our desti- nation, the grand secret will be disclosed." Fitzoshorne. — From the eminence a little beyond Lady Stewart's, there is a beautiful view of the Thames, Kingston, and Hampton Court Park, — ^there will I open my budget. Bertrand. — The deer gaze upon us as objects of dread, and are bounding away. Fitzoshorne. — They know as well as the students of Cuvier that we belong to the carnivorous tribes ; but the disciples of Pythagoras could scarcely allay their fears while the park-keeper carries his gun : it is not very flattering to humanity that birds and animals fly our approach. We are nowj on the height whence you can perceive one of the objects seen from the banks of the river the other evening, the old tower of Kingston Church. Bertrand. — Hampton Court calls to mind the aspiring Wolsey, he whose whole life was a more weary and dangerous pilgrimage than that of the most devout worshipper at the shrine of Becket the melancholy spectacle of fallen greatness and o: ROGER ASCHAM. 81 the instability of human grandeur, whicli his history presents, is one of the most useful beacons on that " sea of troubles," where for so many ages men ^'have ventured like little wanton boys to swim on bladders." Fitzosborne. — With his unhappy end, let us remember his parting words — '* Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king", he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies." If it wiU not impair your dignity to recline upon the grass, here will we sit awhile. Bertra?id. — Now have I some hope that the ret will transpire. Fitzosborne. — It was the daughter of the mon- arch to whom the cardinal presented that magnifi- cent palace and domain, who desired Roger Ascham to write a Treatise on Education, and in obedience to the command of his sovereign and former pupil, he published his " Scholemaister," from which I shall take my text : in that celebrated jierformance he pronounced a most caustic censure upon the age in which he lived ; when we recollect that this work was published in 1540, and that the reproof is equally applicable to our own times, is it not sufficient to make us despair of any practical reform in education ? Bertrand. — Let me hear this text. 82 THE PRELIMINARY. Fitzoshorne. — " Ye do give ten crowns to him who trameth thy horses and dog's, and ye do scruple to give one crown to him who traineth thy child. God who is in heaven laughs you to scorn : He grants you tame and tractable horses, while ye have wild and un- governable children." Bertrand. — Truly the educator is but ill re- quited; and your Preliminary, I presume, is that he should be amply rewarded. Fitzoshorne. — Eloquent and profound Treatises on education have been written, and have remained, and will remain, a dead letter, until that profession, second to none in real and intrinsic importance, is not only well remunerated, but takes its legitimate station in the ranks of Society.* Bertrand. — "Where would you place it ? Fitzoshorne. — Above all the others, without a single exception. Bertrand. — Not above the Church ?t * " How can a man whose employment scarcely main- tains him, think of anything worthy or generous ? How is he to inspire his pupils with sentiments which his pinching circumstances will not suffer to rise in his mind? Ever anxious concerning his private economy, ever in dread of bankruptcy and poverty, how should he apply a due atten- tion to what is sufficient alone to engage the whole man, with the abihties of an angel, and undisturbed by every other solicitude ?" — Crito, Essays on various Subjects. t •' I take schoolmasters to have a more powerful influ- ence upon the spirits of men than preachers themselves, for THE PRELIMINARY. 83 Fitzoshorne. — Either it should be indentified with the clerical profession and deemed the most sacred and imperative of the minister's duties, or rank before it. Is the preaching to adults of the same effacacy as the training of youth ? are superior abilities and exemplary conduct less useful and influential in the former than in the latter ?* Bertrand. — Some of the clergy have quite enough occupation already, according to your own account. Fitzoshorne. — Such conscientious ministers would find their labours diminished, and far more agreeable ; and if not so in the first instance, their incomes should be largely increased to enable them to procure competent aid.f as much as they have to deal with young-er and tenderer minds, and, consequently, having the advantage of making the first and deepest impression upon them." — Dr. South. • " Amongst the usual causes of moral improvement, education hath ever been considered by the judicious and tiie discerning as of the veryjirst importance ."—^^y. N. T. KOLLTNGSWORTH. " The force of education is so great, that we may mould the minds and manners of the young into what shape we ■^' i.se, and give the impressions of such habits as ever after- . ds remain." — Bishop Atterbury. ft In Scotland, the minister is the personal friend and iser, even in secular affairs, of his flock, and is aided by elders and deacons of the congregation. The Pastoral 84 THE PRELIMINARY. Bertrand. — " Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined — " Fitzoshorne. — . . . is one of those maxims uni- versally assented to, and almost as universally denied in practice. To those Avho from the nature of their duties vainly attempt, with few exceptions, to alter the inclination of the full-grown tree, an ample revenue, however inequitably distributed, is assigned ; but those whose province is favourable to success, who can bend the pliant twig, and promote the healthful and luxuriant growth, are held in no estimation, and obtain a bare sub- sistence. Bertrand. — But unless the teacher is governed by higher motives, he will rarely succeed in his arduous undertaking. Fitzoshorne. — ^When it is remembered that he has to stand in the relation of parent to all the children, his duties are indeed arduous, and no less grateful ; but upon what ground are we to expect that this neglected class is to exhibit a more disinterested and exalted virtue than the similar assistance, which might be enlarged and directed with great advantage to the improvement of the schools. " It is by no means sufficient," says Dean Collet, in his Epistle to Lilye, " that I have instituted this school, unles? < I likewise take all possible care to nurture it in good letter? and Christian manners, and bring it on to some usefu maturity and perfection." INFANT SCHOOL TEACHERS. 85 rest of mankind ? When lawyers and physicians, contented with the pleasure which the exercise of benevolence affords, give advice without a fee, we may look forward to the time when such benefi- cence shall descend to those whose feelings have been less refined, and whose minds have been less expanded by superior education ; but to suppose that such individuals, struggling to support their families, and with all their efforts often compelled to endure great privations, can take the lead in gratuitous exertion, is most unreasonable. Never- theless, I have seen teachers of Infant Schools, who, with a scanty pittance, have laboured with such affectionate zeal throughout the day, that when night came, they have sunk exhausted, complain- ing less of their miserable salary than of the absence of all sympathy and kind encouragement from those whose duty it was to bear testimony to their virtues and to their success. Sustained, however, by a consciousness of the good they were effecting, the love of the children, and of an .e a])proving conscience, in spite of this cold indiffer- ence, they have cheerfully persevered. Bertrand. — Then why substitute inferior mo- ^aves ?* * " Our Saviour tells us that if we would enter into the i>|an^dom of heaven, we must become as little children. It 8 thus that among" children, and from them, and by becom- I 86 TEACHERS ILL REWARDED. Fitzoshorne. — So far from supplanting, I would cherish the higher motives, by securing their possessors against want, and the necessity of re- linquishing their avocations. There have been numerous instances of boys who were selected for their great abilities, and trained as teachers, aban- doning the profession very early upon discovering some more profitable use for their acquirements ; and while so much folly and injustice prevails in regard to the just claims of teachers, it wiU be an idle speculation to perfect plans of education, or to hope for any general improvement. Bertrand. — To watch the dawning of the infant mind has long been a favourite theme with the poets. Fitzoshorne. — And to aid the first feeble efforts of childhood, when innocence and love are in their purest state, affords, independent of the reciprocal ing as one of them, we are to learn those simple doctrines of nature and truth, innate in them, or which readily occur to their minds, as yet unbiassed by authority, prejudice, or custom. It is in this school of nature and truth, pointed out by the Son of God, himself God, that I seek for know- ledge. It is among the children and youth of the schools, not among their masters, sometimes as prejudiced, bigoted, and perverse as their scholars are ingenuous, ingenious, and tractable, — it is in this book, I have said, that I acquired what I know ; and it is in this book I have recommended you to study — a school full of children" — Mr. Edgbworth' Letter to Dr, Bell. EDUCATION OF SERVANTS. 87 regard which such an intercourse produces, the most exquisite delight, and this seems to be in ac- cordance with the benign dispensations of the Deity, who to the performance of our greatest duties annexes the greatest pleasures ; and surely no duty is more necessary and important, than that which requires each generation to well train and lead forth its young successor; that that which ought to yield the highest gratification is now a drudgery, only proves that, of education, properly so called, we are stiU most lamentably ignorant. Bertrand. — The artificial state of society will still present obstacles to the skilful teacher. Fitzoshorne. — That consideration only proves the necessity for greater abilities and attention. To educate a servant so that he shall be contented and diligent in his situation, and resist its peculiar tem^Dtations, demands more skill than to train the child of richer parents, who can be more easily guarded from external influences, and who will have no reason to be dissatisfied with his condition. Bertrand. — You seem determined to exalt the character of the teacher : whether society can be induced to consider the Preliminary, and give him that just remuneration and lofty station you claim for him, is to be doubted. Fitzoshorne. — I cannot conceive it possible for 88 THE educator's qualifications. any reflecting person to point out an office more dignified and holy than that which belongs to the Educator ; this, properly filled, would soon render other professions less necessary. When Plato was asked how it could be ascertained whether a town was well governed, he replied, " By inquiring whether physicians and judges were necessary;" substitute " educated " for " governed," and the reply may remain.* Bertrand. — To form an Educator to correspond with your standard seems to require a combination of accomplishments so rare that it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find. Fitzosborne. — And for that reason we hold out the most paltry inducements, and affect to look down upon a profession of unparalleled importance * " Generally subjects are, and will be, such as school- masters breed them ; so that I look upon an able, well- principled sclioolmaster as one of the most meritorious subjects in any prince's dominions that can be, and every such school, under such a master, as a seminary of loyalty, and a nursery of alleg-iance." — South. " But when Numa expired, the great end and aim of his government, which was that Rome should continue in peace and amity, immediately perished with him : and thus one of the finest and justest constitutions in the world was not able to subsist for any (even the least) considerable time, because it wanted that cement in which it should have kept all firm together — that is, a good education of youth."- Plutarch. INEVITABLE CHANGES. 89 to the temporal and eternal interests of man. Cer- tainly, the Educator should bring to his employment endowments of no common order. To a knowledge of human nature, he should unite general informa- tion, piety, and great benevolence. The apathy of the public in general upon this all-important subject is much to be deplored, nor is there one party regarding it with adequate interest. Political changes without previous elevation of character among the people, may well be viewed with appre- hension ; and although such changes appear to be inevitable, small is the number of those inclined to prepare for them by means which would at least diminish their peril, if not render them an unmixed good.* • "From the late improvements in trade and wages, whereby the temptations arising from want are, of course, less urgent, pubhc crime, extensive even as it is at this moment, is, no doubt, less apparent than it otherwise would have been : but let a depressed state of commerce follow, and from what we know of the fermentation and present reckless state of society, fearful may be the results. It is an important, we might almost say it is a solemn ques- tion, — Have the mass of the working population in this 30untry received sufficient religious or moral training to '""Tulate them, in the event of a famine or extreme stagna- 1 of trade ? Let the Legislature look to this, and answer Lie question." — Moral Training, hy David Stow. " Amidst all the shocks and revolutions of empire and )pinion, a good system of pubhc instruction would serve as I common insurance of this realm. And if it occupied the I 2 90 THE BEST aUIDE. CHAPTER V. " Religion ! the sole voucher man is man ; Supporter sole of man above himself: Ev'n in this night of frailty, change, and death, She gives the soul a soul that acts a god." — Youno. We had just comenced breakfast when Hampden arrived : he was surprised to see Bertrand, who he thought was still on the Continent. He came early in order to take a drive to Hampton Court, as I had proposed. We had no sooner risen from the table and strolled into the garden, when Hampden, having previously manifested some impatience to begin, by throwing out remarks which elicited replies bearing upon the anticipated subject, opened upon me as follows : — Hampden. — Well, Fitzosborne, you do indeed attention of governments as much as the incitements to avarice and the ambition of false glory, we might, to use 8 metaphor, admire the future prospect of Astrcea descending from heaven, and reviving the reign of innocence anc concord among men. Hitherto the earth can only b« examined as a vast theatre of depopulation and waste ; i is surely time to contemplate the dawnings of reason happiness, and humanity, rising from among the ruins o a world, which still reeks with the blood of its people civilised as well as savage." — York. O'- M FACT AND EXPERIMENT. ""^"-^^^SJC surprise me ; after the long period you had devote to the advocacy of truths derived from the unerring conclusions of observation and experience, that you should, for notions purely speculative, abandon a course so fruitful in all useful discoveries. Fitzoshorne. — Tp stop on the road for a safer and more certain guide, is not abandoning the course.* Hampden. — What guide can be equal to fact and experiment ? Fitzoshorne. — That which directs us to fact and experiment. Hampdeit. — Of that overwhelming and myste- rious Power which regulates the minutest atom, and * ''It is the God of Nature who is also the God of Reve- lation ; and the God of Providence who is the God of Grace. God has not revealed Himself by one method exclusively, but by many ; and God does not work in one domain exclu- sively, but in all. And, therefore, we must have an eye for all His revelations of Himself, and our total impression of His character must be collected and compounded from them all. Each is imperfect, taken by itself, but each contributes something to the grand and perfect whole. Let the man of observation, and the man of experiment, and the man of science, and the man of historj'', and the man of the Bible, admire, each one in his particular sphere, the marvellous revelations of Divine power, and wisdom, and goodness : but let the man of large devoutness, standing in the centre of a sphere which circumscribes them all, trace up by faith, wherever sight may fail him, all these several rays of glory into that stupendous Being* who is power, and wisdom, and goodness, all in one.''— Griffith's Sinritual L^fc. 92 PROCESS OF INQUIRY. hurls into space tumumbered worlds, alas ! what can we know ? Bertrand, — Much, if we sincerely desire it. Hampden. — But where, if not in the works of the creation ? Bertrand. — ^Within you i| the Kingdom of God, if you will endeavour to realise it. Hampden. — Does it not look like presumption in any one to suppose that he is the favoured one of Heaven, and knows more of the supernatural than the rest of mankind ? Bertrand. — Yet you consider that you know more of the formation of character and the in- fluence of circumstances than the great majority in society. Hampden. — Simply because I have studied the subject, and they have not. Fitzoshorne. — You have adopted that process in your inquiry which you deemed essential to a satisfactorily result : now, a knowledge of spiritual things requires also the observance of its peculiar process before it can be understood. Hampden. — Is not the intellect the noblest gift of God, — that which raises man above all the animal creation ? "What can he do more than improve it by exercise ? Fitzoshorne. — What avails the improvement of the intellect, without its moral use ? The student THE HOLY SPIRIT. 93 who in retirement from morning to night regales himself with the finest productions of ancient Greece and Rome, and with the most approved models in modern literature ; who derives his chief amusement from refined and elegant speculations in philology, without a single efibrt to impart, deserves no higher rank than the bacchanalian who spends most of his time in the cellar: the former is equally selfish, and less useful, since his conduct offers no beacon as a warning for others.* " There is some soul of g-oodness in things evil, Would men observingly distil it out ; For our bad neighbour makes us early stirrers, Which is both healthful and good husbandry : Besides, they are our outward consciences. And preachers to us all." f Hampden. — But what was the process you re- ferred to ? Fitzoshorne. — Meditation upon the attributes of the Deity, and a fervent desire for the assistance of God in our endeavours to imitate them, as far as our earthly condition will permit. Hampden. — Of old it was said, " Ille honorat Deum optime, qui facit mentem suam similem Deo, * " Gaudeo aliquid discere, ut doceam ; nee me ulla res lelectabit, licit eximia sit et salutaris, quam mihi uni sci- ;urus sum."— Seneca. t Shakspeare, King Henry V. 94 THE EVANGELICAL PARTY. quantum potest fieri;" and we want no supernatural communication to tell us that the more the virtues are strengthened by exercise, the happier we shall be. Fitzoshoime. — But we want a Spirit that shall keep alive our holy desires and aspirations amid the solicitation of the appetites, the conflict of the passions, and worldly temptations, by which we are surrounded. I may retort upon you from Seneca, " Nemo vir bonus est sine Deo." Hampden. — Do you possess that spirit ? Fitzoshorne, — If I did, my conduct would be more sustained and consistent ; it is something, how- ever, gained, and I am thankful to have been brought to the renewed consciousness of the want of it. Hampden. — Then why have not the evangelical party accomplished more ? If they are guided by a purer spirit, why have they not denounced the unchristian character of many of our institutions j — the impediments which they present to indi- j vidual improvement — the evils of competition, \ with its frightful catalogue of miseries and crimes ; ( — if this spiritual guidance is reaUy so superior, ' why have they not been led to the discovery of the true principle of society, or hailed it when an- nounced by others ? * * " When Christians should have been making- common cause against the world, selfishness is calling on its followers to arm, and turning each section of the Church into a battle- COLONIAL SCHOOLS. 95 Bertrand. — Their attention has been latterly occupied in the spread of rehgion and education throughout the world; and even in Africa and the West Indies, Infant and other schools have sprung up ; but the limited good which their own country exhibits, compared with the efforts that have been made, begins to attract their notice. Hampden. — So, then, the inductive methods are to be rejected, that true philosophy by which the great Lord Bacon achieved so much, and by which his faithful followers achieved still more ; that undeviating path trod by the immortal Newton is to be forsaken! and for what? for vague conjecture in the enless mazes of wild imagination. merited fortress frowning" defiance on all the rest : it is blind to the fact that God, meanwhUe, is employing* them all, and smiling- upon them all ; or, if compelled to behold it, eyeing it askance with a feeling- which prevents it from rejoicing m their joy. When the Church should have been spending it.^ energies for the good of man, devoting its passions, hke 8C' much consecrated fuel, for offering up the great sacrifice ol" love, which God is waiting to receive, it is wasting its feelings in the fire of unholy contention, till that fire has almost become its native element. And thus Christianity is made to present to the eye of an indiscriminating world, the unamiable and paradoxical spectacle of a system which has the power of attracting all classes to itself, but of repel- iiig them all from each other ; forgetting that in the former hey see Christianity triumphing over selfishness, and in the atter selfishness defeating Christianity." — Mammon. 96 THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIMENT. Fitzosborne. — I appeal to you, Hampden, upon your own grounds; and I ask you to adopt the inductive and experimental course in this matter. Hampden. — How is that possible ? You not only wish to carry me beyond the substantial base of the material world, where alone experiment can be made, but you desire me to hold in light estimation the intellect by which alone experiment can be essayed. Fitzosborne. — I wish to withdraw you from neither, but to place both under a guidance which would add immeasurably to their utility and im- portance : you contend for fact and experiment, and when I ask you to try the experiment, you condemn the theory, without applying the only test that can enable you to decide correctly. Suppose a person in a vapour-bath so constructed as to be particularly restorative to health, assuring you of its salutary qualities; you give him no credit for his assertions, because you consider the theory unsound; he replies that he will not attempt to convince you, but entreats you to try it yourself: your refusal is not very Baconian. Hampden. — The cases are not parallel ; the one can be reduced to practice, not so the other. Fitzosborne. — They are precisely alike in their essentials, a mere desire to make the experiment being all-sufficient in both : the only difference is, FORCE OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 97 that in one case tlie individual must yield himself up to the experiment, and in his own person feel and exhibit the result. Hampden. — So far experiment ; but how is the inductive process involved in this ? Fitzoshorne. — Because we have abundant testi- mony that those who have devoutly sought this aid have always found it. Hampden. — Do you think that the attention of mankind should be directed to this subject, rather than to improved Institutions?* " The ancient legislators understood the power of leg-islation, but no modern Government seems to have per- ceived that men are as clay in the potter's hands. There are, and always will be, innate and unalterable differences of individual character ; but national character is formed by national institutions and circumstances, and is whatever those circumstances may make it — Japanese or Tupinamban, Alg-erine or Enghsh. Till Governments avail themselves Df this principle in its full extent, and give it its best direc- non, the science of policy will be incomplete." — Southey. ' No one denies that the moral and political characters )f men are in a great measure formed by the institutions mder which they live." — Professor Sedgwick's Discourse m the Studies of the University. In this discourse there is also a passag-e adding another eas(m for the opinion expressed in page 34 respecting the bore fervent Christians who have written on religious u^ies: — "The single-minded writers of the New Testament, aving their souls tilled with other truths, thought little of lie laws of nature ; but they tell us of the immutable per- |?ction3 of our Heavenly Father, and describe Him as a jleing ' in whom is no variableness or shadow of turning.' " J 98 TRUE REFORM. Fitzoshorne. — Improved education would be the necessary consequence of such attention, and the rising generation would in due time be better qualified to legislate than the present ; indeed, this should seem to be the safest and most practicable reform that can be contemplated. * • " We are engaged in a mighty cause — the cause of edu- cational reform — that greatest of all reforms, upon which must repose every other ; for, clothe it with what name they may, give it what outward appearance they choose, whether it be the institution of this time or of another, of this good or of that, unless constitutions be based upon the intelligence and moral character of a people, they are but phantoms of a day, building-s upon the sand, washed away by the first flood, or crumbling* to pieces in the first blast Raise up the minds of a people first, and then you may build upon that foundation what edifice you choose. . . What are they afraid of, in giving education? What it their apprehension 1 That the people become too enlight- ened ? Too enlightened for what ? Not for the people the people do not suffer by their own enlightenment. Shov me the workman that works ill by putting his mind as well as his hand into his work : show me the operative that ij worse for learning ; and by learning I mean not merel; reading and writing, but the spirit of instruction and educa tion. Where is the operative that fails in his duty becaus of learning these things ? In France, in 18.'3 they organised a complete society and system of nation education. In Italy you see education extending, even tl Pope's States not excepted, upon a Hberal scale and a natio; system. By the latest information from Switzerland, find national education made compulsory in the republic- cantons of that country ; and we have found those \w states giving four times as much for the people's instructic POLITICAL PARTIES. 99 Hampden. — To say nothing of the spirituality for which you contend, to which of the political parties do you look for assistance in education ? The Tories never admit the existence of abuses until the cry for reform has become too general and too loud to be resisted, and then the sincerity as the amount of any other charge upon the state, thus put- ting* a right value upon education. Prussia, you know from Mrs. Austin's translation of Cousin's work, has also been active in the cause of national education; but they have made great advances even since the publicalion of that work, as later works show. In Germany they have made great strides ; Bavaria is still more educated than Prussia; Denmark has a similar system ; even llussia is moving in this great march ; and in Belgium a national law of educa- tion was passed but the other day in their new Chambers. In America, there is not one state but has its provision for the education of its own people, sanctioned by its own sepa- rate legislature. Great Britain is the only country in the civilised world which has not a national system of education. Then, gentlemen, let me entreat you, as you value your own interests, as you value the interests of the generation that is fast rising around you, put your hands earnestly to the v.ork. Ivemember the words of Scripture, ' He who putteth his hand to the plough, and holdeth it back, is not worthy of the kingdom of heaven.' I know not how to separate education from religion : it is a part of that holy faith which ^e profess, to enlighten the ignorant, and in doing so, we do that which most benefits our kind. The friend of educa- tion extends its influence to future generations, and if the present is passing away from him, he at least makes sure of tliose which are coming after it."— Speech ^Thomas Wyse, Esq., M.P., at the dinner given at Manchester to James Simpson, Esq. 100 PRACTICAL IMPROVEMENTS. of their avowed intentions to repair is doubted ; among their antagonists are some leading and superior minds devoted to the subject, but there are in that party too many enamoured of emulation in colleges and competition in commerce, too anxious that the empire should monopolise the spinning and tinkering for all the nations of the earth, to harmonise with your views ; with regard to the disunited Radicals, each has some favourite plan by which his whole attention is absorbed. Fitzoshorne. — I wish not to be identified with any party, but from among all, individuals are to be found who will give an impartial hearing, and others who are strongly impressed with the necessity of reform in education ; besides several unconnected with party, who have already dis- tinguished themselves by instituting practical improvements, there are those who have arrested public attention by able and eloquent lectures : in this way, the Rev. Dr. Bryce, of Belfast, has aided the cause much, as well as Mr. James Simp- son : the latter, to great practical experience adds a fluency and felicity of language, and above all, he is urged on by an ardent benevolence, which renders his services highly valuable. His last work on the Philosophy of Education is an admi- rable production, written in a popular and inter- esting style. Mr. Thomas Wyse, the member for WYSE ON EDUCATI0J4 , REFORM. 101 Waterford, has entitled himself to the gratitude of his country, by the unwearied assiduity with which, as an able chairman of the committee appointed chiefly through his own exertions, he has collected a mass of important evidence ; for his able and eloquent advocacy of the cause upon numerous occasions in the Senate and elsewhere ; and re- cently by an elaborate work of great eruditioji upon the science of education, in which the sub- ject is considered, not only with reference to its universal principles, but also as applicable to the immediate condition and necessities of the country.* * " If religious and moral teaching could be strictly confined to the generalities of Christianity, no difficulty could be apprehended, even where various sects of Christians were assembled together, from the general perusal of th« Scriptures ; but where this is impracticable, there is no alternative but to separate the different persuasions, or to leave the reading of the Scriptures to separate, or out of school hours, under the direction of the pastors of the respective communions. Each of these expedients hii-! been adopted, according to the temper of the people, or the f ecuHarities of the case, in different countries To class our national schools under partial designations of 1 'rotestant, and Catholic, and Presbyterian, is a contradic- tion. By becoming sectarian, they cease to be national : by thus parcelling out our people in lots, by thus keeping them * Parques,' in their respective pasturag-es, we recognise a sort of inherent incompatibility ; we tell the child that it is in his nature and in his duty to live apart and hostile : wn g:row Protestants and we grow Catholics for future conflicts : and lest, if confided to their own untutored feehngs, they J 2 102 ,. , M0;BAL . DEVELOPMENT. Hampden. — But how are the different sects to be accommodated in a plan of national education ? should seek in religion only that in which all agree, we take care to point their attention to that in which each differs. We convert into a law of hate what Heaven gave us as a law of love, and degrade seminaries for the universal mind of the country into rival garrisons for a faction. Half our animosities arise from ignorance of each other : we imagine everything evil, for we are not allowed, either by our pas- sions or by those of others, to discover what is really good. ' We hate,' as Schiller says, ' until we love.' The moment we come into contact, these phantasms disappear." — Wyse on Education Reform. ^' But there still remains the conclusion, the perfecting of this moral development. It is necessary that these feel- ings of ' Order,' 'Justice,' ' Generosity,'— this elevation and extension of the sympathetic affections,— this sense of the * Noble,' and ' Pure,' and ' Beautiful,' in morals, should receive its highest character from the feeling of * Religion.' These may do much : they may prepare, they may dispose ; but it is only by this last that a really wholesome and steady direction can be impressed upon the will. The individual will of man is subject to his individual fluctuations and en'ors. The most perfect means of securing it from either is the placing it in true harmony with the universal and eternal will of God. This is the rule of duty, — these the means by which he is to aim at that final perfection, which we have already seen is the true end of all education, of all existence. This it is by means of which he can declare himself undauntedly, with a full sense of all its obligations of all its difficulties, for truth and virtue. This it is which truly vivifies the heart, which dignifies the intellect, which elevates the simple desire of moral good, the simple aspira^ tion towards its attainment, to a profound and inflexibh resolution, to the full height of true morahty. This it is which establishes a real unity between all our duties, whicl REPORT ON EDUCATION. 103 Fitzoshorne. — By separating the religious in- struction from the secular.* Bertrand. — Here he will be opposed, since the evidence given before the Committee in favour of such a measure has already excited alarm. Fitzoshorne. — Lately I had an opportunity of hearing the sentiments of several divines on this subject, at a meeting where no adverse argument would be listened to : one reverend divine stated the opinions of the witness to whose evidence you allude, very fairly ; but in a lengthened speech against the measure he pointed out no course by which the difficulty was to be overcome. To renders nothing indifferent, nothing distant ; and, from the jirst step in the path, conducts unceasing-ly to the point where hfe itself seems a natural inspiration of the conjoined influences of intellect, morality, and religion." — Wysb on Education Reform. * " The department, then, of the teacher of religion \mder a wiser system of education is obvious ; and it is the liig-hest as well as the holiest behest of mortal man. When the secular teacher has, to the extent of his own attainments, read to his pupils from the Book of God's works, and demon- Btrated the present God in them all — His power in their vast- ness, His wisdom in their harmonies. His goodness in their adaptation to the happiness of sentient beings — He sends them to their respected pastor, who opens to them the Book of Life, with its good tidings of great joy, its method of salvation, and its beautiful preceptive morality applicable to both worlds ; and with the book of nature also open before him, makes clear the powerful light which the one sheds upon the other." — J Philosophy of Education^ hy James Simpson. 104 MR. JAMES SIMPSON. argue upon abstract grounds, tliat religion should be at the foundation and root of every study and employment, is easy enough and indisputable ; but to decide what is practically best for the inter- ests of religion amid hostile creeds, in a compli- cated state of society, is a more onerous task. Hampden. — I have seen a portion of the Edu- cational Report. It is impossible to contemplate a divine reading the valuable evidence of Mr. Simpson, with the attention which the reverend gentleman had probably devoted to the Report, without supposing him deeply impressed with the Christian charity and zeal of this intelligent wit- ness, and without concluding that the assistance of an individual of so much activity and experience, in framing a system of national education, would not be most desirable : if those who, seeking the I same objects, but differing as to the means of attain- ing them, were to confer, and endeavour by mutual concession, without compromise of principle, to consolidate a plan, instead of pouring forth argu- ments where no opportunity is afforded for a reply, I and without a single gracious word in approbation / of what they could not fail to admire, they would ( surely manifest a more conciliatory spirit. But no ; points of difference, and not of contact, must be sought, as if the country was not already suffi- ciently distracted by sectaiian and jjarty broils. BIGOTRY. 105 but the advocates of religious and moral education must share in the uproar.* The man who is most competent to teach the arts of reading and writing, and the most skilled in arithmetic, may not be the fittest person to impart religious instruction. * " Bigotry is another of the forms in which an inordinate self-love delig-hts ; the selfishness of the creed. In this capacity, as in the former, its element is to sow division where nothing- should be seen but union — among- the mem- bers of the family of Christ. The great scheme of mercy originated in a love which consented to overlook the enmity and fierce rebellion of its objects; or, rather, which looked on that enmity only to pity and to provide for its removal : but those who profess to have been the objects of that love, will not allow each other the liberty of the slightest con- scientious difference, without resenting that difference as a personal and meditated affront ; as if the natural enmity of tlieir hearts against God had only changed its direction, and had found its legitimate objects in His people. Under a pretence of zeal for God, bigotry violates the sanctuary of conscience, and creates an inquisition in the midst of the Church. Erecting its own creed into a standard of uni- versal belief, it would fain call down fire from heaven, or kindle a furnace seven times hotter than an ordinary anger would demand, for all who presume to question its infal- Ubility ; thus justifying the world in representing- the odiutu theologicum as a concentration of all that is fierce, bitter, and destructive in the human heart. The Lord they profess to obey would have them to embrace with a com- prehensive affection all who exhibit the least traces of His in J age ; but the strongest traits, the most marked con- formity to His likeness, is a very uncertain introduction to their hearts compared with a likeness of creed." — Mammon, 106 UNANIMOUS EFFORTS. Bertrand. — He must be a religious man. Fitzoshorne. — Doubtless ; but the labour alone which is imposed upon him by his other duties, is sufficient to prevent that life and earnestness so necessary in explaining a subject of the first importance, especially to children. Bertrand. — The lay assistance proposed by the Pastoral Aid Society might be usefully employed for an hour or two in the day at the schools, and they would then feel a stronger interest in recom- mending to the parents the careful training of their children. Fitzoshorne. — I quite agree with you, and should rejoice in any arrangement that would suspend the contentions of sects, parties, and classes, rivet the attention of the clergy and laity to the most effica- cious means of permanently improving the morals and virtue of society, and direct all their energies to a point from which they could harmoniously commence a reform that would benefit all, and rapidly increase the number of its votaries. Hampden. — I had thought, Fitzoshorne, that by this time you would have ceased to calculate upon the possibility of uniting sects and parties ; their animosities seem to increase rather than diminish. * It would be well for controversalists to hear what an old divine says upon the subject of Dissent : " But instead of enlarging any further, let me persuade both you and my- CHILDREN OF THE JEWS. 107 Fitzosborne. — I am persuaded that the time is almost arrived when numbers of different opi^iions would be anxidus to meet upon some neutral ground where there was no contravention to poli- tical or sectarian tenets, and a better ground than that of education could not be chosen. What sincere Christian would not be delighted to see the children of the Jews trained up in moral habits, or would hold back in promoting it ? Bertrand. — I recollect a sermon of Alison's, in which he deems the religious instruction of the Church very insufficient for the young.* self to turn our arguments against Dissenters into heart}' prayers to Almig-hty God in their behalf, that of his infinite mercy and compassion he would open their eyes and unde- ceive them ; that as there is but ' one body and one spirit, onp Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,' ■;e would brings them into that one sheepfold which the Shepherd has appointed ; and instead of hating them ..;i!*e they differ from us, let us love them and pray for .1, that they may be one with us. And if we Und it im- licable to convince them by arguments, let us endeavour (.; i>iclaim them by the holiness and purity of our lives, that they seeing our good works, may be provoked to imitate them, to full in love with our Church and communion, that both they and we may glorify our Father which is in heaven."— Dr. Innes's Sermon, picMishcd 1726. * " The public education of the Church can teach indeed a ' form of sound words,' but it can teach them as a form only. It can furnish the minds of the young with general ])rinciples of belief; but it is incapable of furnishing- those continued and particular illustrations which alone can bring 108 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. Fitzoshorne. — Perhaps it may sometimes have an injurious tendency, and create repugnance to religion : a service not long enough for some adults may far exceed that which would be suffi- cient for childi'en, who require one not only of less duration, but more intelligible to their im- mature conceptions.* Hampden. — Such a suggestion would never be assented to, and if you are not more moderate in your desires, you will be considered as much of a visionary as ever. them home to their imagination and their hearts ; and what, I fear, is its worst consequence, it is apt to familiarise the minds of the young too early to conceptions of which their nature is then incapable; and to give to the great truths upon which the happiness of time and of eternity depend,^ no higher solemnity than that which belongs to a common lesson." — Aliso>''s Sermon on lieligioiis Education. * " Abstract lectures, which my schoolmaster at Madras tried for a while, are little attended to, and still less under- stood, by the children. To reach their minds, and touch their hearts, you must give a visible shape and tangible form to your doctrine. When meritorious conduct is displayed, or crimes perpetrated, and yon can thus give a body to your lecture, it is listened to, understood, and felt. My lectures were all of this sort, with the subject under my hands, and before the eyes of all his schoolfellows, assembled on the oc- casion." — Dr. Bell. " With regard to religion," says Hooker, " it fareth as with other sciences ; the first delivery of the elements thereof must, for like considerations, be formed according to the weak and slender capacity of young beginners." ODIUM THEOLOGICUM. 109 Fitzoshorne. — No one who has observed chil- dren at church, but must be convinced that it is nothing but mere drilling and fear that keeps the attention alive, and of course without that interest and devotion which it is wished to excite. Hampden. — You had better confine yourself to the reform of the schools, if you wish to escape the odium theologicum. Fitzoshorne. — I have certainly been surprised at the severity and misconstruction of motive, with which proposals for promoting the amuse- ments of the uneducated, in order to gain their sympathy and win them over to better things, have been treated ; scarcely is an idle boy to be found in a parish, whose history, if inquired into, will not disclose gross neglect in his training Dii the part of parents, perhaps stiU more ignorant md vicious. To urge religion upon such parties n their present state, is useless ; and if, for some nterested motive, they attend the church, they rould understand but little, and that little would »e heard with indifference : to follow such indi- iduals to the beer-shop would be absurd, but J aid them in what might be comparatively termed innocent amusements, would at once induce tn to regard you with a friendly feeling, and n^pare the way for more useful communication. Bertrand. — But no amusement would be con- 110 GAMES OF THE POOR. sidered innocent that consumed time uselessly, nor can the end always justify the means. Fitzoshorne. — This would be a most useful, nay, a religious employment on the part of those who were prompted by the higher ulterior aim : to expect to alter long-estabHshed and deeply rooted habits in any other way is contrary to na- ture. That under circumstances apparently the worst, the Deity may, occasionally, awaken the unfortunate suddenly to a sense of their misery, is no justification for the neglect of means which reason, experience, and even religion recommend. Bertrand. — There is always contagion to be apprehended from contact. Fitzoshorne. — Undoubtedly caution is neces- sary, but those who wander most in error, whether in conduct or opinion, have the strongest claims upon the solicitude of their fellow-creatures, being i most in need of aid, human and Divine : the bad are worse because the good are not better. Dis agreeable it must be to mingle with those ol uncongenial and depraved habits, and it sometimes happens that our disinclination may arise as mucli from conventional fastidiousness as from religious principle. Hampden. — ^You have no better chance union now, than when you directed your attentioi more exclusively to the influence of circumstances CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT. Ill you will attach too much importance to philosophy, "spoiled by vain philosophy," for the religious, and too much to spirituality for the scientific ; and least of all, expect no voluntary movement from the Church party : in every reform they are dragged on reluctantly. Fitzoshorne. — I am too well convinced by its internal evidence, that the liturgy was composed and the Church Establishment instituted, by men of profound knowledge of human nature and of ardent devotion, to desire anything more than the revival of its ancient spirit, with such omissions and modifications of the forms as would be sanc- tioned by many of the clergy, and accord with the increased intelligence of the age. Hampden. — What do you require less than the generality of Dissenters ? Fitzoshorne. — That these forms should be modi- f cd, not by separation and proceedings of hostility, but by strengthening the spirit of religion both in old and young ; where no principle is involved by adherence, this course would be the most effica- cious : the opponents of the Church confine their objections chiefly to the incomes of the clergy, ■w hile you hear little or no demand for improved discipline and more fervid piety. Hampden. — It seems to me one of the most extravagant of all speculations to expect that the 112 CHURCH REFORM. bishops should take in hand any reform in educa- tion ; look at the state of the great public schools, the same as for centuries past, and without any symptom of approaching amendment. Can they plead ignorance of these defects, when protests against them were placed upon record two hundred years back by those master spirits who, for the age in which they lived, have never been surpassed in the boldness and comprehensiveness of their views ? Fitzoshorne. — Since my attention has been turned to the subject of education, I have been astonished to find that so many of the suggestions now brought forward as novelties, were advocated in works of great research and ability, but which sunk into oblivion almost as soon as published, in consequence of the prevailing darkness and apathy. Those important truths, however, which were despised by the prejudiced and dominant party, wiU soon be taken up by society at large. Milton's prose works, not inferior in vigour and genius to his poetry, and so long unknown, except to the book collector, are now circulating widely ; but I must not allow you to include Archbishop Tillot- son in your sweeping censure of the dignitaries of the Church. Hampden. — He belongs to a distant era. Fitzoshorne. — ^Would that such an era could revive. That eminent prelate has two admirable ARCHBISHOP TILLOTSON. 113 sermons upon the education of children, and it would be well if two or three times in the year they were preached in every parish church in the empire. At the commencement of one I recollect he makes this remark : " It requires great wisdom and industry to advance a considerable estate; much art, and contrivance, and pains to raise a great and regular budding ; but the greatest and noblest work in the world, and an effect of the greatest prudence aud care, is to rear and build up a man, and to form and fashion him to piety, and justice, and temperance, and all kind of honest and worthy actions. Now, the foundations of this great work are to be carefully laid in the tender years of children, that it may rise and grow up with them.*' Hampden. — All this is very easily said, but where is the man to be found combining almost all the quaUfications of the clergyman, the physician, and the man of science and of general information ?* * Can we read in the prospectus of the '* Home and Colonial Infant School Society" the following just descrip- tion of the requisites, relig-ious, intellectual, moral, and physical, of a teacher, without inquiring, not what pecu- Eiary remuneration he is to receive, but in what esti- mation he is held, and how high his profession ranks in society ? It is undoubtedly one of the happiest discoveries of modern times, that children are capable of instruction from tlie earhest age; that you may then hope to mould and 114 teacher's requisites. Fitzoshorne. — Hear ! hear ! hear ! Bertrand. — Hampden, had you been with us yesterday, you would have heard this Profession lauded so highly that if Fitzosbome's views were form them according to your desire, as you bend the pliant twig", and train the young" plant. But it is equally true that this discovery has been well-nig-h marred by an opinion which has almost universally followed, that this early instruction is the most simple and easy thing" imag"inable ; that because the mind with which the teacher has to deal is uninformed, it is comparatively unimportant how little knowledge, judg-ment, or insight into character he may him- self possess. " No opinion can be more mistaken ; and the committee may, without fear of contradiction, assert that few situations in life require so much discretion, so much energy, so much tenderness, so much self-control and love, as a teacher of babes. That to guide and govern an Infant School well calls for wisdom to discern, versatility to modify, firmness to persevere, judgment to decide ; and that no uneducated or undisciplined mind is fitted to encounter the incessant care, the watchful diligence, the unwearied patience neces- sary to manage young children." With great pleasure I quote the following, because it shows that the clergy justly appreciate the consideration and respect due to the profession. " It can hardly be expected that any very large addition can be made to the ordinary pay of those who educate the poor. In some cases, the extent of the numbers educated, or the opulence of the neighbourhood, may furnish an ade- quate compensation ; but, generally speaking, the office, if filled as it ought to be, must be held by some one whom the love of educating the poor, and the hope of doing good, induces to engage in a task which can never be very highly remunerated. IMPORTANCE OF THE PROFESSION. 115 realised you would expect all the world to bow to its supremacy, and humbly resign to its members the most honourable seats.* Hampden. — It would require an angel from heaven to accomplish aU the Archbishop de- scribes. Fitzoshome. — This angel is often considered the parish drudge, and so ill requited that even our butlers are better paid.f " Under these circumstances, then, it is of the utmost '"^'n frequence that the situation should be paid as much as -ible by consideration ; and the friends of education will uo well to use their endeavours that the office be regarded with all possible respect." — Rev. T. V. Short, Rector of Bloomsbury, on National Education. * " A parsonage, or parochial schoolmaster's house, it niay be here observed, affords, in various points of view, the line.it opportunities of displaying taste and enjoying happi- ness, provided the occupant, with Cowley, prefers a small fltyle of living to a great one. ' A little convenient estate, a llir.tle cheerful house, a little company, and a very little •east,' are the desidemta of this amiable man. The quan- tity of land added to a parsonage house, or to what we trust RriU in a short time be a similar description of residence, the mirlsh schoolmaster'' s house, ought not to be less than what m\\ keep a horse and cow, and supply vegetables and fruit 'or a large family." — Encyclopcedia of Gardening, i " Various our day-schools : here behold we one Empty and still ; the morning duties done. Soil'd, tattered, worn, and thrown in various heaps, Appear their books, and there confusion sleeps ; The workmen all are from the Babel fled, And lost their tools, till the return they dread : 116 THE FACTORY CHILDREN. Hampden. — The more reform is attempted without an entire change of system, the more difficulties will there be to encounter; correct principles must be brought into action simul- taneously : for instance, how can you hope to reach the factory children forming now so large a portion of your manufacturing population ? Fitzoshorne. — It would be quite sufficient to give a superior education to the rest of the com- munity, to ensure a speedy deliverance for them. If we are unable to accomplish all we could wish, we must do all that we can. Schools must be placed under more efficient management.* Edu- Meantime the master, with his wig awry. Prepares his books for business by and by : Now all th' insignia of the monarch laid Beside him rest, and none stand by afraid ; He, while his troop light-hearted leap and play, Is all intent on duties of the day ; No more the tyrant stern or judge severe, j He feels the father's and the husband's fear. | Ah I little think the timid, trembling- crowd. That one so wise, so powerful, and so proud, Should feel himself, and dread the humble ills Of rent-day charges and the coalman's bills; That while they mercy from their judge implore, He fears himself— a knocking at the door ; And feels the burthen as his neighbour states His humble portion to the parish rates."-»-CRA.BBB. * To the question — " Is it not a very common practice in Scotland, tiat a clergjmaii begins by being a schoolmaster? " — IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION. 117 cation is the great, the only lever by which we can throw off the enormous errors that now weigh down the energies and dissipate the resources of the country. It is impossible to contemplate youth rising into manhood, under the genial influ- ence of beneficent and judicious training, without foreseeing the prompt removal of injustice from W. Wright, Esq., Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen, replies : — " Tliat is considered by many as one of the most useful parta of our ecclesiastical system. It is a custom not so much kno\vn in the South as in the North of Scotland [meaning the whole country to the north of Montrose], many students of divinity who have received university education, hold parish schools for a few years ; a comparatively small number of them remaining in that situation beyond the age of 25 or 30." And again : " Is it not found that the circumstance of their appointment as schoolmasters being considered only temporary, has a tendency to make them look to other avocations and to other studies and pur- suits, rather than to those in which they are immediately en- gaged?" He replies : " Their acting as schoolmasters certainly is a mean of their rising in the world, and obtaining better situations ; and I think that their being fresh from ending their own education at coUege, they are upon the whole well fitted for the instruction of youth. At the same time, it is to be observed, that the temporary nature of the appointment to schools is in a great degree the consequence of the extreme poverty of the living. If you had a larger living, you would have a more permanent schoolmaster. In the southern parta of Scotland a considerable proportion of the schoolmasters have not had an university education, and are consequently in so far inferior to those in the northern parts." — "Ueports on Education, Ireland. 118 THE LORDS SPIRITUAL. our institutions, and an improved tone of moral and religious feeling throughout society.* Hampden. — Notwithstanding all you have said, I still feel the necessity of some political changes before any scholastic improvement suf- ficiently extensive to efiect such objects can be introduced: while measure after measure is de- feated by the Upper House, what progress can be made ? There is no question that the Lords could at once alter the moral discipline of the public schools, and there ought not to be any doubt, on your part, at least, that the Spiritual Lords in particular would be most anxious for such reform. Bertrand. — It is well, perhaps, that the Lords interpose in the reckless enterprises of some of the Reformers, and afford time for more mature delibe- ration. Fitzoshorne. — We must not forget to make al- lowances for the position in which the bishops are placed, how many conflicting interests they have to reconcile, how uncongenial the atmos- phere of a political arena for the growth of the spiritual life. Hampden. — Admirable arguments these for the departure of the bishops from the Upper House ! • See Appendix E. THE PRIZE. 119 Fitzosbome. — It is not far better for them to remain there to respond to the call from without, when the public mind is sufficiently advanced ? Hampden. — You admit, then, the transcenden- tal is not to be found where it ought to be, and that Church and State (it would be more correct to call it State and Church), instead of imparting to, are to derive from, the people a virtuous impulse. Fitzosbome, — I have not said that it dwells with any class, party, or description of men ; and it would be great presumption to say with whom it is not ; but it manifests itself transiently and obvi- ously with some of every denomination, and more particularly, and perhaps more permanently, among the religious retired characters who " keep the noiseless tenor of their way." Hampden. — But what will you, of all others, say ta their adherence to the prize in schools and colleges ?* They wait, peradventure, for the peo- * The following- appeal to the Bishop of London is from tlie same poem as the former extracts : — '' I eame not forth to raise an hnmble name, Or ask unmeaning sounds of dubious fame ; For who with any judgment now would seek The vain applauses of an age so weak ? Some truths important I desired t' unfold, That genius might the sacred cause uphold ; Then, when success should all my labours greet, Return rejoicing to my blest retreat. 120 BISHOP OF LONDON. pie to petition its abolition — tiQ those who are sitting in darkness shall discern that which is not obvious to the children of light ! Is it not mon- Unlike your favourite Jischylus i I live, Careless to whom the flattering prize they give, If Sophocles succeed, or high reward To Blomfield's^ splendid talents they award; Too happy if those talents I engage To aid the people and their griefs assuage. But say, my lord, on that auspicious day, When high in rank you bore the palm away, Were aU your triumphs o'er the slanders by Embittered not by disappointment's sigh From those who, wasted by laborious toil. Debarred from rest, consumed the midnight oil. For months, perhaps for years, on honours bent, But to whom nature had less genius lent ? Or were you, by the joys that swell'd your breast, Much too elated to regard the rest ? Felt not your heart some kind of inward birth. Some faint emotion of superior worth ? So faint, indeed, I scarce can find its term, An early shooting of ambition's germ; I'm far from meaning sacerdotal pride, But yet a something distantly allied ; Feeling, as all compeers you soared above, Not quite in unison witli Christian love. If so, these golden medals must impart An impulse baneful to the youthful heart ; Envy and jealousy in some excite, And foster arrogance in learning's spite. « • « • * 1 At the Athenian games, in which the tragic poets tried their skill, the youthful Sophocles brought his first performance to the theatre. The dignity of the judges caused an extraordinary emulation among the candidates : Sophocles gained the prize ; at which -^schylus was so much grieved that he could no longer remain at Athens, but retired in anger to Sicily, where he died. 2 Dr. Blomfield, the present Bishop of London, had several acade- mical honoius conferred upon him at Cambridge, and subsequently published a classical edition of the Greek poet ^schylus. THE SATANIC PRINCIPLE. 121 strous that the dignitaries of the Church, elevated to high places as spiritual guides to those who rule the destinies of nations, should sanction a principle, the prolific parent of almost all the ills of humanity ; one not confined to the most distinguished rank, but imitated and spreading its baneful influence downward, through all the gradations of society ; one so diametrically opposed to the benign spirit of Christianity, that it may be truly called the Satanic Principle, filling the world with strife, pride, emulations, abominations, envyings, and wickedness of every description. Fitzoshorne. — Why, Hampden, you are as boisterous as ever. Hampden. — My wife tells me that I am become a moderate man. Bei'trand. — With some occasional relapses, however ; but the presence of a meek spirit, com- My thonghts you underrate, since all I know Came froni where neither Cam nor Isis flow. But though not lieedless of scholastic lore, I've studied yet the book of nature more ; And seen that learning might in love confide, Without the smallest particle of pride : For do the body's appetites require Impulse more strong than natural desire? Never in health ; and only when the mind By injudicious treatment is confined, Thwarted and bent in uncongenial course, Loses its pleasures and its native force ; Demands new motives to excite its power, To gather knowledge from the passing hour." L 122 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE. bined with an intelligent mind, keeps you in better order at home. But why complain of the bishops upon that question? The prize is as rife and flourishing at the college in Gower Street,* and they cannot be accused of exercising much influ- ence there. Fitzoshorne. — I suspect that it is still more deeply rooted in Lord Brougham's college, al- though his own attachment to the principle is not so certain as that of the political economists. Desist, therefore, from joining the cry for partial organic changes, endangering the whole fabric ; besides, the change at which you glance might prove the worst of all. It is impossible to read the speeches of the bishops without being struck with the mild spirit by which they are character- ised, and the salutary check their presence must prove upon the impetuosity of others. f * See Appendix F. t "It is in consequence of an education too exclusive and professional, that men the most profound in some depart ments of learning are less able than others of inferior talent, but of more general acquirement, to recognise universal principles. " Let any one read the charges of the bishops to the clergy of their respective dioceses during the late war, and they will be found to breathe such a fervent desire for the happi- ness of man, that the most determined enemy to the Estab- lishment would be constrained to acknowledge the sincerity of their intentions ; yet so partial were their views, that thej FRUITS OF EMULATION. 123 Hampden. — If that were really the case, the bench is often deserted. Bertrand. — "Were it generally known what use the bishops make of their incomes, inflammatory writers would encounter more difficulty in excit- ing a prejudice against them ; since there would, upon inquiry, be found among them some strik- ing examples of Cliristian munificence and of exalted piety. Fitzoshorne. — It is totally at variance with your own principles to assail those who, equally vnXh. the poorest and the most abandoned, have been influenced and their characters formed under the old system : had they risen superior to the natural consequences of the prize, your arguments against it would be less cogent. These considerations, and directed and joined the nation in offering* up praises and thanksg-iving-s to a God of mercy and of peace for superiority in the art of war ; while an impartial observer would per- ceive, in the composition of two contending" armies, an igno- rant and deluded multitude, whose condition could not be altered by the issue of the battle, led forth to destroy each other for the imug-inary benefit, or to gratify the caprices or tlie ambition of a few. For delivery from their enemies, Tc Beuvi was sung alternately by both nations ; while from those who sincerely joined in these acknowledgments of Divine mercy, the real 'character of the conflict was disguised by the duties they owed, and the love they bore to their own communities, and by the long-settled conviction, that 38 war had always been a scourge to mankind, so it would always continue." — Moboan on the London University. 124 SEPARATION OF CLASSES. the general amenity of their conduct, should miti- gate the severity of your remarks, if not restrain them altogether. Hampden. — So, then, millions of my feUow- creatures are to endure the proud man's contumely, be trained in crime, exposed to famine and misery, and be slaughtered by thousands, as a fruition of the tree of knowledge, cherished if not planted in our schools and colleges by the vicegerents of God upon earth ; and why ? because the sensitive and tender feelings of about half-a-dozen mild and gentle gentlemen delicately brought up, should not in the slightest degree be disturbed ! Bertrand. — "Worse and worse ! ReaUy, Hamp- den, we must send you home to your wife, who alone can calm these paroxysms, or prevent their recurrence. Fitzoshorne. — There are quite enough to do the work of the Radicals, and that too rapidly for the unprepared state of the public mind with regard to a better system. Bertrand, — I must not allow you to press our friend too hard on this point by giving to the sub- ject a political turn, and for which we know his disinclination : it would be far better to endeavour to re-establish a more friendly intercourse between the different classes of society by amicable over- tures for conference and mutual exertion for the VISITS TO THE POOR. 125 common good,* than thus to prolong the fruitless contention of parties. * "But how is the reality of indig-ence to be ascer- tained? Not by investig-ation, commonly so called, for innumerable examples have been adduced to prove that isolated visits of express inquiry, whether made by the parish officer, or by opulent individuals in a private capacity, are most frequently illusory in their results. If you wish to become acquainted with the character and circumstances of a neighbour in your own rank of life, you do not expect to learn them by sending a messenger to his house, or by paying a single formal call. iNo, you go j'ourself; you cultivate his acquaintance ; you share in his hospitahty ; and if you are of a benevolent disposition, a thousand nameless opportunities will occur in the sequel of your intercourse, for contributing to his enjoyment, or promoting his welfare and prosperity. " Live amongst the poor. Dare to surmount the bamers which an artificial reserve has erected : enter their cottages in your daily walk, not as a dictator, not as a mere giver of a 1ms, not as a spy upon their household arrangements : go as their equal. Carry with you no sense of superiority, but that which a more elevated tone of piety and a more en- lii^htened intellect may claim ; and if you possess courtesy to charm, and knowledge to instruct, and eloquence to cultivate the polished circle, disdain not to employ all these »mplishment8 to win the confidence, and purify the -sections of the humblest of your fellow-beings. Then 11 you learn what no well-digested rules can teach, — how ney can be given, and yet be felt as the least of the efits conferred, — how the stream of munificence may ■gely flow, and leave no pollution in its course, — how the erous harvest of humiUty and love may spring up in the ace of servile dependence or of sordid grasping seltishnegs. y try the experiment ; and instead of complaining any l2 126 THE RELIGIOUS REFORMERS. Fitzoshorne. — And as all bodies of men are made up of units, the public interest being once fully aroused by zealous moral and religious re- formers, each will see the necessity of thencefor- ward striving after individual as the only sure basis for general improvement. Hampden. — Beautiful theory! but unhappily not likely to be realised. Fitzoshorne. — See what a Luther, Wesley, and zealous missionaries have accomplished, by going forth with singleness of heart and hardy resolution. All moral reforms have had their origin in self- devotion and undaunted perseverance. long-er of the ingratitude of the poor, you will discover that wherever your lot may be cast, you have it in your powei to make a heart's home ; and should sickness or misfortunt overtake you, they will be soothed by the affectionate sym- pathy, and cheered by the fervent prayers of those whost attachment you have purchased, — not by costly donations but by that simple lang-uage of brotherly love which find its way to the heart aUke of the cottager and the noble, an( which softens, purifies, and expands every soul within reac' of its influence." — Essays on the Principles of Charitai>l Institutions. PALEY AND BROUGHAM. 127 CHAPTER VI. " She had a mind, Deep and immortal, and it would not feed On pageantry. She thirsted for a spring Of a serener element, and drank Philosophy, and for a little while She was allay' d, till presently it turned Bitter within her, and her spirit grew Faint for undying waters. Then she came To the pure fount of God ; and is athirst No more — save when the fever of the world Falleth upon her, she will go and breathe A holy aspiration after heaven." — N. P. Willis. Having some letters to write, and other affairs to attend to, which occupied about two hours, Hamp- den and Bertrand were alone ; and when we set out for Hampton Court, I found that Charles had been recapitulating much of our conversation of the preceding days, as the following will prove. Ha7npden. — So I find you have been passing sentence upon Paley and Lord Brougham. The ibrmer I hold in veneration for his happy simile of the flock of pigeons ; and the latter, in the sacred cause of education, may be regarded as the foremost in of all the world. 1 Fitzoshorne. — Your estimation of these bene- factors to mankind cannot be higher than mine. In referring to them, it was for the purpose of 128 SUICIDES. showing that if those who have achieved so much more than their contemporaries, evince any con- spicuous but slight deficiencies, they, as well as the rest of mankind, cannot dispense with constant aid from the Fountain of all Good. Hampden. — They may not, as some are wont, invoke the blessing of God upon every occasion, but they may be no less regardful of religion in general. Fitzoshome. — It was necessary to refer to emi- nent characters, for the most striking proofs of the necessity for a more sedulous and judicious culture of the religious sentiment. Of late years, we are not without melancholy instances, in public men of extraordinary talent, of an over-excited intellect, terminating in self-destruction: this, it may be presumed, would have been prevented if the pre- sence of the Deity had been daily and habitually realised. Hampden. — ^Whether it is that my intellect is I more obtuse, or that there is some deep mystical meaning beyond the reach of ordinary apprehen- sion, I am at a loss to determine. Fitzoshome. — Unless you will bring down the supremacy of intellect, you will never comprehend it ; Shakspeare has said, " My brain I'll prove the female to my soul ; My soul, the father : and these two begat x.i^^. SELF-EXAMINATION. ^^V^^^^ ' •^^ A generation of still breeding thoughts, And these same thoughts people this little world In humours like the people of this world, For no thought is contented. The better sort, As thoughts of things divine— are intermixed With scruples, and do set the word itself Against the word."* Such is the soul of natural man when allegiance to the Creator is thrown oiF, or his constant support relinquished : believe me, Hampden, there is more profound philosophy in regeneration, than man can impart, or will ever be revealed through the mere accumulation of knowledge. Hampden. — Now you are becoming still more obscure: where are these immaculates to be sought ? Fitzosborne. — As I before said, it is not for one so deficient as myself, or for any man, however great his moral attainments, to pass judgment upon others, or hastily to form unfavourable opinions; m c are, however, apt to be too lenient in self- mination, and too severe in our strictures upon . others : could we reverse this, the world would sooni^e reformed. e Hampden. — Some of the philosophers, and \ more particularly the phrenologists, have extoUed icnevolence as the greatest of the virtues, and by ^2fU. * KiTig Bichard the Second. 130 KINGSTON SCHOOLS. making it the ruling principle in their systems, seem to consider that they have thereby indentified them with religion. Fitzosborne. — Such systems will be found totally deficient in that sustaining power that can alone insure their permanence, the difference in the de- gree of power to be derived from a resignation to the Divine will, -with a feeling of constant reliance upon God, and that which can be derived from the mere exercise of a passion, is not to be calcu- lated : the former is a never-failing source of help universally available; the latter liable to all the chances and changes that flesh is heir to. Bertrand. — The schools we are now passing, are those you were speaking of the other evening. Fitzosborne. — The same; they are quite an ornament to the country. Hampden. — How many children are there at a time in the schools ? Fitzosborne. — I believe from one hundred and fifty to two hundred in each. Hampden. — And how many teachers in the boys' school ? Fitzosborne. — One. Hampden. — He must be a clever man if h« succeeds in preserving order, without doing any thing else. Bertrand. — From their external appearance DR. BELL. 181 you have all the completeness and solidity in the buildings that you could desire. Fitzoshorne, — Nor are there wanting talent and good feeling, in the directors, for a better method ; but the National system, as originally instituted, obtains there, as in all other schools, perhaps for no other reason than because it is general; and, like the great public schools, has not undergone any revision since its first establishment : if, how- ever. Dr. Bell was still alive, and were consulted, he would counsel something better.* Hampden. — But is it not his system ? Fitzoshorne. — An intelligent youth lately gone to Switzerland to investigate the principles of education established there by Pestalozzi, writes somewhat despondingly to his friend, that *' Pesta- lozzi left his forms, but carried his spirit along with him ;" and if Dr. Bell's spirit presided in any vigour at the Central Society, it would be ♦ Dr. Bell judiciously observes : " To read without under- ^ riding is a useless waste of time : it disgusts and rebuffs render mind ; and devotes the boyish years to discontent lid misery, as far as learning- is concerned. Under it the tuclent feels himself in the situation of Sisyphus, doomed to oil up hill a stone, which continually recoils upon him ; or if the Danaides, to pour water into a vessel, through which ins as fast as it is poured, and never rises to fulness. It es the youthful student to seek resources and relief in )ther employments ; and to turn, for a due exercise of his ;.t uvenile faculties, to objects of a very different tendency." 132 AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. more or less felt throughout all the National Schools, reanimating, and, where necessary, re- modifying the forms. Bertrand. — But it not sufficient that you object to the mode and time of learning to read, you must point out what way is necessary. Fitzoshorne. — Learning to read would be greatly facilitated by the previous progress in spelling, and the improvement of the faculties at the Infant School,* where they would learn the use and importance of language before they began its study. The boys' school should be partly a school of industry in agriculture, gardening, and other manual employments, combined with in- • To the question, " Is it not the case, that children who have been educated in Infant Schools, have a greater facility of reading-, than children of the same age who have not ?' — the Bishop of London gives the following reply : " Yes they come to the National Schools already able to read ; they have a greater facility of reading, and a greater facility o paying attention to anything. I have been making inquirie>> lately as to the effect of Infant Schools upon the scholars wh( are drafted into the National Schools ; and they say the} learn more quickly, and are better behaved : the only diffi culty arises from this, that in Infant Schools an importan feature is the bodily exercise of the scholars, and the com bining a sort of mechanical exertion with the process o learning. In the National Schools, the children rather mis that excitement ; but, upon the whole, there cannot be an; doubt that Infant Schools are an important preparation." Education Report. EALING-GROVE SCHOOL. ISS struction in the laws and phenomena of nature, upon the principle of an admirable school, formed and supported by a noble personage of unwearied benevolence, at Ealing Grove, near Brentford : these establishments would afford an opportunity of showing the harmony of natural and revealed religion : children would be then trained to be thinking beings, and be able to give some reason for the hope that was in them ; the affections would be cherished by reason and religion, or rather by religion and reason. I could scarcely do better than refer to an excellent little book, written by Mr. David Stow, of Glasgow, entitled *' Moral Training,"* for an elucidation of the principles as well as for practical directions ; the philosophy and application of Pestalozzi's system to the education of the children of all ranks are I more elaborately explained in his Life, by Dr. ^ 'ber, one of the most interesting and able works our language, independently of the masterly nner in which the essentials of a superior ication are expounded. A Bertrand. — But land is not to obtained in all Tplaces. J Fitzoshome. — ^When that is the case, there is reason why some employments should not be • See Appendix G. M 134 THE BISHOP OF NORWICH. introduced, and the instruction varied : the rudi- ments of Geometry, Geography, Astronomy, &c., are now introduced in Infant Schools ; and for the spirit that should direct the whole, let me try to recollect the admonition of Coleridge : — " O'er wayward childhood would'st thou hold firm rule, And sun thee in the light of happy faces, Love, Hope, and Patience, these must be thy graces, And in thine own heart let them first keep school. For as old Atlas on his broad neck places Heaven's starry globe, and there sustains it ; — so Do these upbear the little world below Of education, — Patience, Love, and Hope. Methinks I see them grouped in seemly show, The straightened arms upraised, the palms aslope, And robes that, touching as adown they flow. Distinctly blend, like snow embossed in snow. part them never I If Hope prostrate lie. Love too will sink and die. But Love is subtle, and doth proof derive From her own life that Hope is yet ahve ; And bending o'er, with soul-transfusing eyes. And the soft murmur of the mother dove, Woos back the fleeting spirit, and half supplies ; Thus Love repays to Plope what Hope first gave to Love. Yet haply there will come a weary day. When overtasked at length Both Love and Hope beneath the load give way. Then with a statue's smile, a statue's strength. Stands the mute sister. Patience, nothing loth, And both supporting does the work of both." Bertrand. — I can inform you in plain prose., that the present Bishop of Norwich wiU probahly sanction your scheme of parochial Mechanic In- CHRISTIAN UNION NECESSARY. 135 stitutions, as it is not long since he himself delivered a lecture at one formed in Chester.* Fitzoshorne. — Something is absolutely necessary to bring the different classes more in friendly contact. The poor and working classes do not like to be regarded merely as objects of charity : they are taught every Sunday that all men are equal in the sight of God, and they distrust the sincerity of those whose manner plainly shows that they deem their visit less a duty, than a conde- scension, f • "The Rev. Edward Stanley, Rector of Alderley, Cheshire, recently delivered a lecture at the Chester Mechanic's Institution, on the uses of studying" natural history. The rev. gentleman, in dilating on natural history, pointed out in the most g-lowing colours, and with his accustomed energetic eloquence, the vast advantages to be derived in the increase of moral and religious feehng-, as ^vell as general knowledge, from the study of this subject. The whole of his discourse was listened to with the utmost attention; and at the close the Bishop of Chester rose and thanked Mr, Stanley for his admirable and very instructive lecture." — Annalist, t " It is, in truth, only by means of a more frequent and friendly interchange of feeling than has hitherto prevailed among the different orders of the community, that the bond of social union can be permanently strengthened. Thus alone may the more advanced civilisation of the educated ranks be brought to bear upon the tone of morals and manners which pervade the nation at large ; and thus alone can the higher classes acquire that intimate knowledge of n l\m wants and habits of their inferiors, which will qualify 136 INTELLIGENCE FAVOURABLE TO CHARITY. Hampden, — You may endeavour to obtain converts to your plans, but the result will disap- point you : those who by their supineness are chiefly instrumental in keeping the working classes in gross ignorance, are the first to ridicule all attempts to enlighten their minds as chimerical and absurd. Fitzoshorne. — And yet if they will but inquire who are in the habit of visiting their sick neighbours, of administering consolation and any other aid, in the absence of pecuniary means, they will find that it is not the labouring class ; and even in the workhouses the aged and infirm, confined to their solitary chambers, are rarely cheered by the voluntary visits of others in health, and under the same roof. Hampden. — How can you expect any refine- ment of feeling, it is said, from persons of that description ? Fitzoshorne. — "What is that but admitting that their religious culture is not properly attended to, since it is unproductive of genuine charity them wisely to adapt their various plans of beneficence to the real necessities of those whom they desire to serve. " Few among the rich are aware how easily they mig-ht thus surround themselves with an impregnable barrier of attachment, — a barrier which no political convulsion would be able to destroy." — Essays on the Principles of Charitable Institutions. THE SACRED WRITINGS. 137 Obtuseness or coarseness of feeling would seldom prevail, if the people were not debarred from that knowledge, for the attainment of which the Deity has bestowed faculties equally upon all ; which is eminently calculated to improve the sensibilities of our nature, and render the mind more susceptible of religious impressions.* Hampden. — The opponents of universal edu- cation are chiefly the champions of classical studies, who forget the oft-repeated example in their Eton grammar, *' Ing-enuas didicisse fideliter arfces Emollit mores, nee sinit esse feros." Bertrand. — Without some degree of intellec- tual improvement, the beauty and sublimity of the Sacred Writings cannot be sufficiently admired. Hampden. — As soon would I believe that the earth was designed to lie fallow, as that the mental powers of a single individual were intended to remain dormant and uncultivated. f I* " If the generous seeds of religion and virtue be not carefully sown in the tender minds of children ; and if those s be not cultivated by good education, there wiU certainly i^-iiig- up briars and thorns, of which parents will not only jl the inconvenience, but everybody else that comes near m." — TiLLOTSON. t " When education for the many is pleaded for by the ids of reason, religion, and humanity, the same selfish r, tinding in the mass of their fellow-men an immense M 2 138 SESSIONAL SCHOOL, EDINBURGH. Fitzosborne, — Mr. Wood, in his interesting account of the Edinburgh Sessional School, quotes power of living" machinery, ministering daily, self-moved, to their luxurious wants, will not perceive that even all this would be better done by reasoning- beings, but, dreading all change, cry, * We did very well in the days of our grand- mothers, before educating the multitude was so much as thought of!' Let us then leave the bulk of the people (as we have always done) to tread the roughest paths of Ufe in darkness, and hang those that stumble, as a warning to the rest to step more carefully ! Besides, are they not expressly told from our pulpits every Sunday not to stumble ? what occasion then can they have for light ? " And then we say, ' God gave no moral sense ,• look at the depravity of man 1' As well might we say, ' God gave no bread ; look at the sterility of the earth y because our loaves fall not from the clouds, like the manna of the wilder- ness! " If the earth must be cultivated before bread can be eaten, so must that seed of the Spirit of God in man (the power of reasoning) before happiness can be enjoyed. "If men have hitherto been depraved, what does it prove ? That man without a more universally diffused cul- tivation, and a more practically moral application of his reasoning powers, than has ever yet obtained, is, by such abuse of free-will, reduced to the most imperfect of God's works, being, when thus wronged of reason, a portion only of a compound creature, rendered, by this wilful mutilation of its intended nature, at once the most helpless and the most mischievous animal in creation, necessarily furnished with insufficient instincts, because destined to possess a better guide. " Had God intended, as the blinded by selfishness, un- corrected by reason, would have us mad enough to believe, that certain classes of men destined to perform certain la- SIR WALTER SCOTT. 139 a speech delivered at the annual meeting of the School of Arts in that city, in 1824, by Sir Walter Scott, one of the last to advocate innovation : he says, " He should consider it as a great crime to hide such knowledge from the people, as it would be to hide from them the light of the sun, if we had that in our power." borious avocations, should use only their physical powers, and live and die without calling- the mental faculties into play, would it not have been strictly analog-ous to the whole course of God's providence, to have created orders of beings without reason : but from the hour of their birth, perfect by instinct in agriculture, architecture, and manufactures, as the bee in the preparation of honey and construction of the honeycomb, or the spider in the weaving of its web ? But (rod has evidently created one order only of men, by giving reason, on the average, equally to all the artificially distin- guished ranks of men : he has even made the use of a por- tion of that reason necessary to the discovery of the common arts indispensable to subsistence, evidently to sugg-est to man tliat the higher moral attainments must also be sought tJiroug-h the instrumentality of reason. "The mere fact, however, of God's having bestowed r«Mson on all men, is in itself a sufficient revelation of his \ii\\ that all men should cultivate their reason ; for, surely, it is impossible for a single moment to suppose that God, ■who does nothing in vain, has bestowed on millions and tens of raiUions of beings, that bright, that precious emanation of own Spirit, that mysterious seed of intellectual nature, u^h constitutes the power of becoming a reasoning-, sym- liising:, benevolent, immortal being-, to be returned back lim on the great day of judgment, like the talent of the ujij.rofitable servant, undeveloped." — Philanthropic EoO' runny, by Mrs. Loudon. 140 INSTRUCTION' BEFORE THE REFORMATION. Hampden. — But it will be asked, how fared the people with regard to religious knowledge before the Reformation, and the art of printing was discovered ? Bertrand. — Much worse, of course ; but at that period it was the interest of the Roman Catholic clergy to train the people well, in order to promote peace and contentment : whatever may have been the superstition and abuses in the professors of that religion, there were not wanting devout and bene- volent characters whose sentiments, orally commu- nicated with earnestness and affection, would excite more interest and make a more durable impression than books and sermons. I apprehend that the good conduct of the people in the Catholic uneducated countries, uninstructed at least, in the art of reasoning, is to be accounted for in this way ; in Austria the peasantry have been long distin- guished as a quiet and industrious race. Fitzosborne. — We condemn the Catholics for performing their service in a language not under- stood by the people : are we not guilty of the same or a greater error, in accustoming children to repeat words without then* comprehending the meaning, and thereby creating not only indiffer- ence to the truths of religion, but a distaste for reading even their native language ? Hampden, — Even here, fifty years back, before WANT OF EMPLOYMENT IN FRANCE. 141 tlie establishment of manufactures, the population scattered over the country were fully occupied, as well in agriculture as in making their own linen and clothes ; ere machinery had been introduced, and they had no idle time, there was no great difficulty in preserving order ; but now, when em- ployment is precarious in the agricultural districts, and the people are congregated in large masses of some hundred thousands in towns under the most demoralising circumstances and in unhealthy occu- pations, subjected also to a fluctuating demand for their labour, it must be a very superior education that wlQ uphold the moral and religious character, and entirely prevent occasional ebullitions dan- gerous to the peace, if not subversive of the insti- tutions of the country. Fitzoshorne. — Yesterday, I observed an account in the newspapers that twenty thousand workmen were out of employment at Lyons, and a greater number in another town in France. Hampden. — Then why think of improving ducation, while these counteracting causes remain m full operation ? It was the harmony which the 5]iartan legislator preserved between the discipline )f the school and the laws of the State, that insured Jtability to his institutions for so many centuries.* * " The care which Lycurgns took in the matter, would lave signified but little, if he had not, by Discipline and 142 EDUCATION AND INSTITUTIONS. Fitzoshorne. — Because it arises from defective education, that mankind know not justly to appreciate the beneficent use of those gigantic powers with which science and mechanism have armed them. Twenty years have elapsed since those measures of social arrangement were pro- claimed, which were not only calculated to meet the exigencies of this particular era, but to set at rest for ever the contentions of competition, by establishing immutable institutions, suited to the nature of man, and in harmony with Christianity . another twenty years may pass away, and as much ignorance, prejudice, and confusion prevail, un- less better care is taken of the rising generation. Hampden. — The political economists are, after mature consideration, friendly to what you have denounced as the Principle of Evil, and deem it most conducive to the best interests of man. Bertrand. — While the religious party sanction Education, as it were, infused his laws into the manners of the children, and made them suck in a zeal for his political instructions with their very milk. So that, for above five hundred years tog-ether, the fundamental and principal point? of his legal establishment continued in force, as if it had taken a deep and strong' dye, which could not easily be washed out." — Plutarch. Hippel, a German author of the present century, being asked why the ancient Greeks were in some respects s( superior to modern Europeans, replied, " Because they were not compelled in their youth to study Greek." IMITATION AND EMULATION. 143 competition, and retain emulation, from incon- sideration. Could they be prevailed upon to investigate, there would be great hope of its aban- donment.* * " To imitate an example is one thing ; to rival any person, and endeavour to obtain a superiority over him, is another. It is very true, as is maintained by the defenders of emulation, that it is impossible to make progress towards excellence, without outstripping- others. But surely there is a great difference between the attainment of a superiority over others being; a mere consequence of exertions arising* from other motives, and a zeal to attain this object being" it.sf'lf a motive for exertion. Every one must see that the effects produced on the mind in the two cases will be extremely dissimilar. Emulation is a desire of surpassing- others for the sake of superiority, and is a very powerful Mve to exertion. As such, it is employed in most public lis, but in none, I believe, ancient or modern, has it I so fully and systematically brought into action, as in oliools of Dr. Bell and Mr. Lancaster. Whatever may the merits of the schools of either of these g-entlemen in )t- ler respects (a question on which it is unnecessary to enter), n this they appear to me to commit such an offence against Illiri.stian morals, that no merits could atone for it. I ;r.iiot but think emulation an unhallowed principle of • ...n, as scarcely, if at all, to be disjoined from jealousy and y, from pride and contention ; incompatible with loving I ijeighbour as ourselves : and a principle of such potency to be likely to engross the mind, and turn it habitually violently from the motives which it should be the great uess of education to cherish and render predominant ; ely, a sense of duty, and gratitude, and love to God. ad of enlarging on this subject, I beg leave to refer the er to Mr. Gisborne's remarks upon it in his * Duties of .' If emulation is an unhallowed motive, it cannot 144 INTOLERANCE. Fitzoshorne. — Some of the evangelicals are hard to be understood, uncompromising in many in- stances, very subservient in others : intolerance contracts their feelings, and where you might ex- pect the most, you find the least of the expanding and genial influence of the Holy Spirit ; deeming themselves the chosen ones of Israel, and sitting apart in judgment upon others, they utter com- plaints of persecution, themselves the chief ag- gressors. innocently be employed, whatever g-ood effects may be expected from it. We must not do evil that good may come. But if an}' Christian should deem it not absolutely un- hallowed, few will deny, I think, that it is questionable and dangerous. Even then, in this more favourable view of emulation, ought it to be used, except it can be shown to be necessary for the infusion of vig-our into the youthful mind, and for securing- a respectable progress in literature ? I can say, from experience, that it is not necessary for the attain- ment of those ends. In a numerous family, with which I am well acquainted, emulation has been carefully and suc- cessfully excluded, and yet the acquirements of the different children have been very satisfactory ; I can bear the same testimony with respect to a larg-e Sunday School, with which I have been connected for many years. I have often heard of virtuous emulation ; but can emulation ever be so characterised in a Christian sense ? Whether it may in that loose sense of virtue which those adopt who take the worldly principle of honour for their rule, I will not stop to inquire.'' — Practical View of Christian Education, 1th Edition, by Thomas Babington, Esq. " The aristocracy and gentry of England have now n( THE NEGLECTED. 145 Bertrand. — It cannot be denied that the world is ready enough to stigmatise them as the righteous overmuch. Fitzosborne. — " The World," as it is called, should be more properly termed " The Neglected," consisting of those who, from natural temperament, early acquired habits, bad education, and bad example, have been excluded from the favoured few, whose theory and practice will not allow of any intercourse.* other alternative but either freely to dispense the treasures of useful knowledge to the poor, or suffer them, in the exercise of their own ill-directed efforts for liberty and enlargement of mind, to become willing and active instruments in the hands of a restless and indefatigable body of men, who can breathe only the elements of discord, and who delight in the destruction of everything that is morally beneficial. The more experience I have among the poor, the more am I convinced that they cannot he educated too much or too generally. When the subject first came under my observa- tion, J ^Aow^/ii £?(^er£?w^Zy,- but I now see that to attempt to limit the rising efforts of a being possessed of a reasonable soul — the image of the Allwise Creator — is absurd in prin- ciple, and ruinous in practice. And to deprive him alto- gether of the ' key of knowledge,' bound as he is for an A eternal state of existence, is as wicked as it is cruel." — Rev. D. Cupper. * " It is our fashion," says Plutarch, " to discuss and to doubt whether discretion and virtuous habits and upright lining are things that can be taught ; and then we wonder Dhat skilful orators, good navigators, architects, and farmers ire in plenty, but good men are things known only by re- jort, and are as rare as centaurs, giants, and cyclops." And N 146 THE VICIOUS DISREGARDED. Hampden. — And thus are they consigned as irreclaimable to their vicious course ; it would spoil the theory to admit that such are, at least in part, the victims of inferior organisation or un- favourable circumstances ; pity and unwearied efforts to reform would be required in lieu of con- demnation and dismissal. Fitzosborne. — In self-examination such consi- derations might be misapplied, and induce a neglect of the true remedy ; but when judging others, we cannot be too compassionate in tracing the causes of aberration. Bertrand. — It is the sin and not the individual that excites repugnance. Fitzosborne. — Were that really the case, a very different feeling would subsist between the accuser and the accused.* further, he says : " We learn to play on musical instruments and to dance, and to read, to farm, and to ride the horse ; we learn how to put on our cloths, and our shoes; we are taug-ht how to pour out wine, how to prepare food, and all these are thing-s that, without some instruction, we cannot do well. But the object for which all this is done, to live a g-ood and happy life, remains un taug-ht, is without the direction of reason and art, and is left altog-ether to chance." * " I remember, many years ag-o, being- struck by a little incident in a parish, where the incumbent, a man of most extraordinary Christian benig-nity, when in company with a clerical friend, rebuked in very plain terms one of his parish- ioners, for gross misbehaviour ou a recent occasion. The MORE POPES THAN ONE. 14T Hampden. — One leading objection to the Romish faith is the assumed infallibility of the Pope ; but there are many popes in miniature, whose territories are separated by such thin parti- tions, by lines of demarcation so fine as scarcely to be defined, except by the faithftJ followers ; and woe be to him who oversteps the boundary. Fitzoshorne. — In nothing have I experienced more perplexity than in endeavouring to reconcile the aversion which even good, and, in other respects, most exemplary men, manifest towards others of different persuasions, with that charity which appears, by the display of great and disin- terested virtues, to animate their general conduct ; because, in proportion to the alarming conse- (juences of the error, real or supposed, to which Dissenters are said to be exposed, should they become more exciting objects of brotherly love and anxious solicitude.* reproof was so severe as to astonish his friend, who declared tiiat if he had addressed one of his own flock in similar lan- gung-e, he should have expected an irreconcileable breach. The clerg-ymen of the parish answered him, with a g-entle jiat on the shoulder, and with a smile of Christian wisdom, * my friend, when there is love in the heart, you may say anything.' " — Christian Education, &y Thomas Babtngton, £SQ. * " Of all spectacles which the world exhibits, not one would be more sublime and lovely than the Church of Christ, if it was what he intended it to be. Rescued at an incalcu- 148 THE LITTLE FLOCK. Bertrand. — They have the first examples in Jesus Christ and the great apostle of the Gentiles, in considering the Church as a little flock. Hampden. — Are you speaking of the Church which takes the State within its fold ? If so, its flock is anything but little. Fitzoshorne. — " The little Flock" comprehends those who have renounced all and taken up the cross ; and as Christ commanded them to love even their enemies, and those who despitefuUy use them, small as is the number, it will be found to consist lable cost from inconceivable ruin, by Divine love, Christians are meant to represent, in the midst of the prevailing selfish- ness of the world, the love of Christ. ' By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love to one another.' Millions of persons, with every conceivable variety of opinions, temper, habits, and interests, attached to every class of society, tilling" all sorts of situations, speaking diflFer- ent languages, and inhabiting widely separated countries, all united in brotherly love, living to promote the glory of God, in doing the greatest possible good to each other and to the world — that is what the Church should be. Now what is it ? " Professed Christians are denying each other's right to the Christian name ; labouring to extort from the most scanty, or rather the most unfavourable evidence, proof that Christians are no Christians ; they are contending about money ; they are attributing to each other the basest motives where the motives are not apparent. They are widening those differences which have already, for gloomy and dis- graceful centuries, made an impassable gulf between them." — The Unity of the Church, hy the Rev. Baptist W. Noel. RELIGION OF CHILDHOOD. 149 of individuals from almost every sect; these are they who do some good in their generation, who stamp their own characters on the age in which they live, and who help to dispel some of the darkness with which ignorance and prejudice have invested the truths of religion.* A friend of mine * " I assert, then, that you cannot develop religious feeling in the boy by pressing on him the truth of this or that creed, and the duties it enjoins. " Go back to the days of your infancy and boyhood ; you hung with delight over the simple tales of the Bible ; but your ideas of God and man, were they orthodox Christian- ism ? I do not ask what you said you believed, what was your nominal creed ; but whether you had a creed, and what that creed was ? " You had no creed ; but indelinite notions, and recurring at distant intervals, of a Being high, and powerful, and good, and to be propitiated and honoured by good deeds ;" — " live for Christ, even to tears ; for him who loved little cliildren ; who did good to the poor and the sick, and the kme, andthe bhud ; him who hungered and thirsted, and had not where to lay his head, and whom wicked men beat, and betrayed, and crucified. " This was your rehgion, and a religion good and true ; a religion which, allowed to develop itself naturally, might have shed a kind and beneficent influence over your whole life ; but your parents would bore you with a catechism, the summary of their creed and its forms, both matters in- ;omprehensible und unintelligible to you. They would force you to listen to the service of a Church, over which, liid you dared, you willingly had slept; and insisted upon ihe performance of acts as duties, which in your eyes were iurposeless and burdensome ceremonies. '' Now, what is the natural consequence of this soi-disaiit 150 MR. OWEN. last year visited Newgate, and witnessed a most interesting scene. He found a party, consisting of Mrs. Fry, with a lady of the Unitarian sect, a Dissenting clergyman of another sect, a Christian not attached to any particular denomination, and Mr. Owen. Here were five individuals, all differing from each other in opinion on the subject of religion, but united in the work of benevolence. After the minister had addressed in a conscientious manner about seventy convicts under sentence of transportation, in the general terms of solemn religious exhortation, but without producing any apparent effect, Mr. Owen was requested to say a few words to them ; when such was the feeling and commiseration with which he deplored their unhappy lot, and reminded them how much they might alleviate their sufferings, by the exercise of kindness to each other, that all were in tears, and seemed to regard him with emotions of gratitude and veneration : the matron or superintendent said that she had never before beheld in the prison a scene so affecting.* religious education ? You have a superstitious respect for the externals and trappings of a religion to whose soul you have never penetrated."— 0?r prejudice, thereby rendering their religious xhortations less intelligible, and when compre- lendcd, less influential. 156 PROFESSOR MCCULLOCH. Fitzoshorne. — \Yhenever you assail the clergy, I shall thrust before you the University CoUege of London, open to all Dissenters, with or without religion, and demand what superior principle pre- vails there. The ancient colleges retain the stimulus of emulation in deference to the wisdom of the olden time, and because it is established; the University College of London upon principle : and a most profound exposition of its efficacy may be seen in the writings of their Professor of Political Economy, and which, unless he mends his morals (his system of ethics), may expose the coUege to the imputation of having omitted religious instruc- tion, less on account of discordant creeds, than; because the higher motives to action are alone enjoined. In that which philosophy, experience, and religion justly designate as the root of all evil, Mr. M*Culloch discovers the " source of aU that is great and elevated."* * " We incline to think that the great inequality of for- tune that has always prevailed in this country has power- fully contributed to excite a spirit of invention and industiy among' the less opulent classes. It is not always because t man is absolutely poor that he is persevering-ly industrious and economical : he may have already amassed consider- able wealth, but he continues with unabated energy- t( avail himself of every means by which he may hope t( add to his fortune, that he may place himself on a leve with the great landed proprietors, and those who give th« PARTIAL VIEWS. 157 Hampden. — Political economists, like all pro- fessional men, take an isolated view of their own subject, which is deemed the all in all ; and in proportion as they esteem themselves profound in that, is their inability to enter upon more general views. Bertrand. — Then why so severe in your cen- tone to society in all that regards expense. No successful manufacturer or merchant ever considers that he has enough, till he be able to live in something" like the same style as the most opulent persons. Those immediately below the highest become a standard to which the class next to them endeavour to elevate themselves ; the impulse extending in this way to the very lowest classes, indivi- duals belonging to which are always raising themselves by industry, address, and good fortune, to the highest places in society. Had there been less inequality of fortune amongst us, there would have been less emulation, and industry would not have been so successfully prosecuted. It is true, 5 that the desire to emulate the great and the affluent, by embarking in a lavish course of expenditure, is often pre- maturely indulged in, and carried to a culpable excess ; but the evils thence arising make but a trifling deduction from ;he beneficial influence of that powerful stimulus which is ^ven to the inventive faculties, and to that desire to im- prove our condition, and to mount in the scale of society, ; .h is the source of all that is great and elevated. Hence, hould disapprove of any system which, like that of the ;i>v- of equal inheritance established in France, had any ten- tucy artificially to equalise fortune. To the absence of y such law, and the prevalence of customs of a totally [ferent character, we are inclined to attribute a consi- erable portion of our superior wealth and industry." — ' I'CULLOCH. 158 INFLrENCE OF INSTITUTIONS. sures ? It is so much at variance with your avowed opinions, to attack the character of bodies of men, which, quite as much as that of individuals, nay, more, is the necessary result of the progress of society, that you will lose all credit for con- sistency.* Fitzoshome. — Political economists and the clergy, equally with the laity, are the growth of perverted institutions, and we may all err in attacking systems, rather than press forward with energy and zeal in the advocacy of better. * Sir William Jones's remark upon the British Constitu- tion is no less applicable to the Established Church : — " Englishmen have an honest prejudice in favour of their established system, without having" in general very distinct ideas of it. That constitution consists of form and spirit — of body (if I may so express myself) and of soul ; but, in a course of years, the form is apt to deviate so widely from the spirit, that it becomes expedient, almost every century, to restore its genuine spirit and loveliness." — Speech at Crown and Anchor, May 28, 1782. EVIDENCE OF DESIGN. 159 CHAPTER TIL " Wouldst thou on metaphysic pinions soar ? Or wound thy patience amid logic thorns ? Or travel history's enormous round? Nature no such hard task enjoins : She gave A make to man directive of his thought ; A make set upright, pointing to the stars, As who shall say, ' Read thy chief lesson there.' " Dr. Youxa. We prevailed upon Hampden to defer his depar- ture to the following morning, and as it would be necessary for him to start too early to renew our discussions on that day, the evening was lengthened cut by greater reluctance to separate until a late hour. The sun had gone down, and the last vestiges of day were still upon the western horizon, as the stars came forth to teU of other systems and adorn our own : we sauntered involuntarily upon the lawn. Fitzoshorne. — There is one evidence of design in the universe which I am not aware has been ever referred to by those in search of additional proofs. Bertrand. — Are you, then, disposed to add to :he superfluity of proofs to which you objected in Paley and Brougham ? Fitzoshorne. — I offered no objection to what 160 "the religious philosopher." they had done in urging the necessity for that which was left undone. Hampden. — No profound or uncompromising sytems, either of theology or morals, would suit the meridian of the universities. Fitzoshorne. — Not until the spirit in which some of the colleges were founded shall be once more revived. Paley contributed to lower that spirit, and reduce Christian to conventional morality ; the whole system of his philosophy is based upon the implied assumption that mankind can never be trained to love one another, and that a rich and luxurious few, and a poor and laborious many, must for ever constitute the component parts of society. He acknowledges his obligations to Ray, Derham, and some others, but he omits Bernard Nieuwentyt, a celebrated Dutch author and mathematician of the sixteenth century, whose work entitled, " Le veritable Usage de la Contem- plation de rUnivers, pour la conviction des Athees et des Incredules," was translated by Chamberlayne, and published in three volumes, under the title of " The Religious Philosopher." In the work even the analogy of the watch is to be found, and Paley appears to have borrowed more largely from this writer than from any other.* * The passage in the Preface to " The Religious Philo- sopher" is as follows : — " Let us suppose that in the middl* USEFUL KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY. 161 Hampden. — It is said that he lost a mitre through his candid statement of the relative posi- tion of the rich and the poor ; had he not deemed them immutable, perhaps the fortunate mistake would never had been made. A charge has been against the Useful Knowledge Society that they have severed the morality of the Scriptures from its parent stock ; but they have applied it more comprehensively to men in their collective capaci- ties, to classes, to the institutions of mankind. This is rarely done by the soi-disant faithful, who, while they could arrest the torrent of iniquity, and prevent thousands from falling into poverty and temptation, content themselves by waiting for their inevitable doom, under existing but controllable circumstances, and then \ender a scanty and pre- carious relief to a few.* of a sandy down, or in a desert and solitary place, where few people are used to pass, any one should find a watch, showing" the hours, minutes, and days of the months ; and having examined the same, should perceive so many dif- f(;rent wheels, nicely adapted by their teeth to each other, and that one of them could not move without moving the rest of the whole machine; and should further observe, that those wheels are made of brass in order to keep them from rust, that the spring is of steel, no other metal being so proper for that purpose ;" &c. * " Society, such as it is at present, will not continue to exist. As instruction descends to the lower classes, these will discover the secret cancer which has been corroding O 2 162 PROGRESS OF SOCIETY. Fitzoshorne. — You must withhold your ap- plause from many members of the Society — social order ever since the beg"inning of the world ; a com- plaint which is the cause of all popular discontent and commotions. The too great inequality of conditions and fortunes has been able to uphold itself so longf as it was hidden, on the one hand by ig-norance, on the other by the factitious organisation of the city ; but no sooner is this inequality generally perceived, than a mortal blow is given to it. Enforce again, if you can, the aristocratic tictions. Strive to persuade the poor man, when he has learned to read — the poor man, who is daily prompted by the press, from time to time, from village to village — strive to per- suade this poor man, possessing the same knowledge and understanding as yourself, that he ought to submit to all privations, whilst such-a-one, his neighbour, possesses, without labour, a thousand times as much as he needs ; — your efforts will be useless. . Expect not of the multitude virtues that are beyond nature. The material development of society will advance the development of mind. When steam communication shall be brought to perfection, when, jointly with the telegraph and railroads, it shall have an- nihilated distance, not merchandise alone, but ideas also, will travel from one extremity of the globe to the other with the rapidity of hghtning. When the fiscal and commercial barriers between different states shall be abolished, as they already are between the provinces of one and the same state ; when wages, which is but a prolonged slavery, shall have emancipated themselves, with the assistance of the equality established between the producer and the consumer ; when the different countries adopting each other's manners, for- saking national prejudices, the old idea of supremacy or conquest, shall tend to an unity of nations, by what means will you make society turn back to worn-out principles 1" — Chateaujbkiand. EVIDENCE OF DESIGN. 163 increased production forms th.e acme of their achievements, and with them the wealth of nations is another name for happiness. Hampden. — They may err in their views as to what are the best institutions, but they recognise their important influence upon the welfare of man. Bertrand. — The title assumed by the Useful Knowledge Society, in which are many of the modern sect of political economists, obviously im- plies that all knowledge not patronised by them is useless. Hampden. — But what is your new evidence of design in the universe ? Fitzoshorne. — So long is it since I read Dr. Chalmers's work in reply to the objections against Christianity, derived from the supposed discre- pancy between the truths of revelation and those unfolded in astronomy, that I am not certain if it is I' there noticed. I allude to the position of the Solar, in relation to other systems, being so regu- lated that the maximum of size, in the appearance of the stars, is insufficient to disturb the economy of light dispensed to the earth, and probably to the other planets. Notwithstanding the vast magni- tude of our own sun, and the numberless others, the distance is equally astonishing, and there would b«: as little chance of two insects, sporting in fields some miles apart, crossing each other's path, as 164 REVOLUTIONS OF THE GLOBE. of one system interfering with the economy of another. Hampden. — Astronomy presents a boundless field of inquiry in which I dare not trust myself; the truths which it declares are so vast and over- whelming, the comparative insignificance of man, nay, " of the great globe itself," and our span of life so short, that all we can do seems seems scarcely worth an efibrt. Let the ruins of Pal- myra, of Syria, of Greece, and Rome proclaim the triumphs of time over man's most splendid and gigantic work ; should they be saved amid the revolutions of empires, what can rescue them from the revolutions of the globe? All the arts and sciences, the accumulated discoveries of ages, perhaps unknown in the records of time, may be swept away in an instant, and man himself thence- forward exist only in the fossils remains of a departed world. Fitzoshorne. — It is almost sufficient to leave you to your own reflections for your own con- viction; — ^behold what the Study of Natural Phi- losophy can do for us without superior guidance, terminating in despair, and leaving us, like the mariner in the midst of the ocean, without a compass. Hampden. — And what gave the compass to the mariner, what enabled him to calculate the tides NEW CONSTITUTION OF SOCIETY. 165 and render even the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites subservient to his use, but Natural Philosophy ? Fitzosborne. — And is man the happier because he can traverse the ocean from Indus to the pole ? Bertrand. — Nautical discoveries have enabled us to circulate the Scriptures in the most remote quarters of the globe. Hampden. — And therefore the evangelicals should regard secular as a part of religious in- struction — they are glad enough to avail them- selves of all the conveniences which the progress of science may present, without regard to the religious sentiments of the man of inventive genius ; but if a better constitution of society is projected, one that would break up the masses of wretchedness in St. Giles, Spitalfields, Huddersfield, Manchester, Glasgow, Ireland for ages, the projector is assailed by all manner of obloquy upon pretence of religious zeal,* but * The following" just remarks are from an admirable letter that recently appeared in one of the Morning Papers upon the Church Question : — " It is time that these verbal provocatives to Dissent should be offered up on the altar of Christian love, that we should go and be reconciled to our brethren, in order to make our own gift acceptable. Scruples as to the details of public worship must be treated tenderly, as long as it is beheved by the majority, both of Churchmen and Dissenters, that what is done and said in church concerns their salvation niore than what is done and said out of church. He who 166 POWER OF RELIGION. because forsooth of some fancied intrusion upon existing enjoyments. This is the religion d la mode; each with all his holiness has some com- fortable reservation ; if the distribution of tracts fails in producing reformation, if preaching avails not, the depravity of human nature is the cause! if you point to the deplorable con- dition of the mass of the people, it is the dis- pensation of Providence ! Fitzoshorne, — I remember that very early in life it often struck mc, that if religion was deserving of any attention whatever, its demand was absolute and overpowering, that it would admit of no com- promise, and that nothing could be allowed to come into competition with it ; it seemed to lay claim to every thought, to every feeling and sentiment. Hampden. — What, to the exclusion of science ? Fitzoshorne. — By no means, but by carrying its talismanic power into every department of scientific research, and that, not so much by illu- minating the subject of inquiry, as the inquirer himself, by purifying the affections, and by con- was the arch-heretic in the opinion of the contemporary priesthood, lived his creed — his life, to adopt what was said of Sir Philip Sidney, was religion in action. He aimed by his example to form a community of Christians; we are content with a congregation !" THE MEN OF SCIENCE. 167 verting the passions, which now interpose clouds and prejudices and hindrances, into powerful accessories, and blending their strength with the bright radiations of the spiritually enlightened mind. Hampden. — But do not men who appear to be indifferent to the interest of religion frequently make the greatest discoveries in science ?* * " And let not any one now be so vainly nice as to despise thing's for being" common, since the greatest excel- lencies have also the greatest community, nothing being so common as those two most charming and pleasant objects, light and truth ; and yet as common and as accesssible as the latter of them is, as brightly as she shines, and as loudly as she sometimes speaks (for does not wisdom cry and un- derstanding put forth her voice ? Prov. viii.), she is not to be consulted to any great purpose, nor seen with any clear- ness, nor heard with any distinctness, without the applica- tion of an attentive and recoUective mind ; nor will that do alone, the siudious head must also bring with it a pure heart, and a well-rectified spirit. For every irregular passion or vicious habit is a prejudice, and every prejudice is a veil over the face of truth, or rather a beam in the eye of him that beholds it. He that contemplates truth with an ill-tempered and morally indisposed mind, weighs in an unequal balance, and if his balance be wrong, how can his n.easure be true? Viciousness not only proceeds from ignorance, but also causes it (every lust being a cloud be- \\v\xt us and our intellectual sun) ; and so, on the contrary, ity of heart and life, not only proceeds from light and jwledge, but is also productive of it, and that in so high a measure, and in so simple and direct a method, that were it not for offending the men of art with the paradoxical air of 168 Colston's school. Fitzosbornc. — But that is no reason why their discoveries would not be still more successfully prosecuted under the guidance of the highest motives. Before we separate, I must request you to accept an extract from the writings of Bishop Sale; it is in a frame, and by hanging it up in your chamber, you will see it every morning before you enter upon the duties of the day. Hampden. — Something referring to education, I conclude. Bertrand. — The best opportunity for insti- tuting your system of education is afforded in the Foundling Hospital, as the children are there under the entire control of the managers until the age of fourteen. Hampden. — But there, as in too many instan- ces, the inclination and opportunity are not found in conjunction. Fitzoshorne. — At Colston's school at Bristol, where the boys must remain seven years, without the expression, I could almost say that ethics is the best logic. For besides that the morality of the will does even naturally assist and clear the eye of the understanding- for the contemplation of truth, that Eternal Wisdom that became incarnate in a Virg-in's womb, delig-hts to dwell and shine in pure and virgin hearts ; so that in this regard also that of our Saviour will be in great measure true, that if thy eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light." — NORRIS. REVOLUTION OR REFORM. ied> any vacation, the Pestalozzian System could be introduced, and the managers should recommend that a Preparatory Infant School, upon a similar principle, be established, where the children should be previously trained, and in order to avoid an apparent deviation from the regulations of the charity, the children might be drafted from thence into the juvenile or more advanced school, to which they could be elected a few yeps earlier. I hope the intelligent and benevolent citizens of Bristol, who are numerous, will think of this. Bertrand. — There are those who will exclaim against the care of illegitimate children as an en- couragement to licentiousness. Hampden. — Let their exclamations be given to the wind; until the proper means are employed to prevent illegitimacy, until institutions are re- formed, or impediments to improvement are removed, your system of training will never ob- in ; nor until convulsions ensue, or dissoluteness nd disorder increase beyond all endurance, will he advocates of things as they are make the lUest concession. Bertrand. — I cannot see upon what principle justice the illegitimate child is to be neglected ; (stitute of parental care almost as soon as born, ; le becomes an outcast of society, although pos- essing the strongest claims upon its protection. 170 FANATICISM. I would have every influential member of society taxed for his support, each in a ratio increasing in proportion to his influence in the state. Hampden. — Even that would fall far short of the Chinese regulations of punishing the Man- darins for the disorders committed in their re- spective provinces. Bertrand. — " The discipline of slavery is unknown Among" us, — hence the more do we require The discipline of virtue ; order else Cannot subsist, nor confidence, nor peace. Thus, duties rising out of g-ood possest, And prudent caution needful to avert Impending evil, equally require That the whole people should be taught and trained. So shall licentiousness and black resolve Be rooted out, and virtuous habits take Their place ; and genuine piety descend Like an inheritance, from age to age."* Fitzoshorne. — I thank you, Charles, for bring- ing to our aid your favourite poet ; if all our pulpits resounded with the heavenly spirit that breathes thi'oughout the "Excursion," there would be greater probability of united eflfort in educational improvement: it is such enlight- ened piety as Wordsworth's that will renovate the world. * Wordsworth. EXETER HALL. 171 Hampden. — I am glad that you do not intend to hand us over to those gloomy and ignorant fanatics, whose whining and canting tone has such an effect even upon the physical frame, as to produce a kind of nausea. Bertrand. — It serves to illustrate for your edification the intimate sympathy between body and mind. Hampden. — I should prefer some more agree- able illustrations. Fitzoshorne. — Philosophy will furnish you with no antidote, you must seek it at the perennial fountain. Bertrand. — You would do well to be present during the month of May at every meeting in Exeter Hall. Hampden. — ^When I shall perceive the same eager and full attendance at the charitable as at the sectarian meetings, when the institutions of society are there tested by universal principles of Christian benevolence, and not by isolated texts to suit the fondly cherished prejudice, I will listen with delight to their harangues ; but alas, the city of Exeter Hall is also the city of a thousand vulgarly termed gin palaces, rising with a rapidity outstripping the issue of religious tracts : what right, then, have the evangelicals to anathematise those who are trying to explore and remove, by 172 DR. BLAIR. substituting better institutions, those very im- pediments which mar the effects of their own preaching ?* Fitzoshorne. — On the 14th of August, 1837, twenty years will have passed since the first public announcement of an effectual remedy for political disorders. It is well remarked by Dr. Blair, that " a sense of justice should be the foundation of all our social qualities. In our most early intercourse with the world, and even in our most youthful amusements, no unfairness should be found. The sacred rule of doing all things to others according as we wish they shoidd do unto us, should be • " Gin is at this time absolute monarch of Britain. Parliament stands bareheaded before it, as if waiting* to know its pleasure ; and although it plainly tells them, they appear not to understand its lang-uag-e. The rabble, in pure stupidity, worship and adore it. Nor Oxford nor Cambridge can arg-ue with it. There is nothing at Woolwich that can hurt it j the army cannot conquer, the navy sink, the law bind, nor the Gospel tame it. It is fire to the head, ice to the heart, corruption to the flesh, poison to the blood, rottenness to the bones. It is a Pandora's box, but without any hope at the bottom of it. Gin has dethroned Satan, and usurped the supremacy of evil. The old tempter used to put on disguises ; he would sometimes give alms, look demure, and go to churches and meeting; but gin, in derision of him, has erected temples for his own worship in all parts of the town, surmounted by flaming clocks, to mock those that are bhnd, and to reproach those that can see"—Sc}iool of Beform. AN INTOLERANT SPIRIT. 173 engraved on our minds. For this end we should impress ourselves with a deep sense of the original and natural equality of man."* Hampden. — A public meeting should be con- vened on that day, in the same room, as a revival of the first grand meeting which belonged to another generation. But as for the hope of recon- ciKng conflicting sects, I have none : look to the opposition which was shown, by the dominant party in particular, to every projected improve- ment, whether of schools or mechanics' institu- tions ; to the latter, because religion was not suffi- ciently encouraged. Fitzoshorne. — What precluded them from joining the institutions, and supplying the defi- ciency ? Bertrand. — The fear of contagion. Fitzoshorne. — Had they really possessed what they pretended to have, the power from above, it » "The more we embody ourselves and our happiness with the interest of others— the interests of the whole — the more in reality we consult our own happiness. In the })ursuit of any merely solitary schemes, we shall reap only disappointment ; if we attempt to detach ourselves from the f;-eneral mass, to individualise ourselves from the community of our species, we shall be imprisoned and pent in. When the barriers of selfishness are broken down, and the current of benevolence is suffered to flow generously abroad, and circulate far and near around, then we are in a capacity of the greatest and best enjoyments."— Hale. p 2 174 CENTRAL SOCIETY OF EDUCATION. is idle to suppose that they could have been deterred by such fears ; they would have gone in the spirit and the power of truth, and speedily have gained an ascendancy that would have con- secrated all the proceedings : but while this party has been doing some good in distributing bibles and tracts with one hand, they have been scatter- ing the seeds of discord and animosity with the other ; and of all the corruptions of Christianity that have turned good into evil, and have contri- buted most to unsheath the sword sent into the world, that presumption which denounces others for opinions conscientiously held, is, without ex- ception, the most flagrant and the most extensive in its direful consequences. Hampden. — You have at last that which you long wished for — a Society for promoting im- provements in education. Fitzoshor7ie. — But how unlike the sugges- tions, in which it was proposed, in the first instance, to form a nucleus composed of different sects and parties, upon the principle of the Bible Society!* Hampden. — Still chimerical: had you neither sects nor parties, the education and training of men in the mechanic arts, in the sciences, or in * Appendix H. CENTRAL SOCIETY OF EDUCATION. 175 the learned professions, would incapacitate them for general views ; for, as society advances, and a minute division and subdivision of labour pre- vails, each, in order to become more expert, and to excel, is compelled to concentrate all his attention upon an isolated department ; — each be- comes, as it were, a small wheel, competent only to perform the very subordinate pai't that is as- signed to it in the great machine, ignorant of the moving power, and with Httlc or no regai'd to the object for which the machine is constructed. Bertrand. — In the earlier progress or revival of civilisation, we find a greater proportion of cultivated minds possessing* the power of gene- ralisation, than when the factitious wants of society have become more complicated and multifarious. Some hundred years since the chiefs combined in their own person the offices of kings, priests, legis- lators, and the judicial functions; or it may be said that they held but one office, — that of guar- dian of the people ; and all that is now considered as the duties of various professions were consoli- dated, and never considered separate and apart from each other. Fitzoshorne. — Such characters held a position, in intellect at least, much nearer the Divine Law- ^ ver ; their views were more comprehensive, and their feelings more expanded, than those whose 176 CENTRAL SOCIETY OF EDUCATION. field of vision has been contracted by the subdi- vision of intellectual employment. Hampden. — But under any system, resort must be had to a division of labour to facilitate both discovery and production. Fitzoshorne. — One of the greatest concomitant, but not unavoidable, evils arising from this sub- division of pursuits in the progress of society, is that of professional prejudice. Now, it is not that I would object to professional studies, pro- vided the mind is first and always upheld by Unity ; then it could descend with discrimination into the minutest details; then could it contract itself to the smallest Sphere, without losing any of its power of expansion; then would habits, cir- cumstances, appetites, all bend to this supreme director ; old injurious habits would be discarded ; new and beneficial habits as easily formed; ex- perience proves that no mere intellectual process can accomplish this. Hampden. — But of what aid can this union, or being one with God (for such I understand you mean by the term Unity), be to the lawyer, whose chief eminence is built upon an accurate know- ledge of precedents, not one of which may be allied to justice ? Fitzoshorne. — He would be more likely to be- come an advocate for their abolition, and for the AECHBISHOP rSHEK. 177 establiskment of new precedents more just and equitable. Hampden. — And of what use can it be to tbe profound theologian, who having deeply read and cautiously examined a huge body of divinity, has thence derived his immutable and orthodox opinions ? Fitozshome, — It would make him more tolerant to others, and more true to himself; it would give more vitality and practical efficiency to his religion;* it would raise him above the conven- * " There is a story of Archbishop Usher, that he went about and visited his clergy unexpectedly, and saw how they were employed, and how their flocks fared. It is said that on one occasion he went in disguise, and begg-ed alms at a curate's house. The curate was out upon his duty ; but the prudent wife soundly lectured the old man, thoug-h she gave him relief. ' For shame, old man, at these years to go begging ! these are not the usual fruits of an honest, industrious, and godly life . Tell me, old man, how many commandments are there V The old man, with seeming confusion, stammered out 'Eleven.' *I thought so,' said ; 'go thy ways, old man ; and here, take this book with ' <;, and learn thy catechism ; and the next time you are asked, say ten.' The archbishop took his departure, and had it formally announced that he should preach the next day ♦ he parish church. The morning came : little thought tjie good woman that the archbishop was the old alms- beggar, till he gave his text and comment, — * A new com- mandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.' * It should seem,' begins the sermon, ' by this text, that there are eleven commandments.' The old man was recognised, and the 178 DR. CHANNING AND DR. TUCKERMAN. tional forms and literal constructions, shed a new light upon his path, and speedily place the true Church in the ascendant. Hampden. — One can scarcely help smiling at the horror with which the Unitarian is regarded : when such men as Dr. Channing and Dr. Tucker- man of Boston are recollected, if " by their fruits ye shall know them," many a Trinitai'ian must, in the presence of those characters, hide his dimi- nished head.* Fitzoshorne. — The most satisfactory arguments in favour of the Trinity are to be found in Dr. curate's wife acknowledg'ed, with some shame to herself, that there was another and anew commandment. Now, how shall I apply this, but by recommending the bishops, in- stead of sending" round printed circulars of inquiry, to g-o themselves and preach from the same text, and thus, instead of encouraging Dissent, teach both pastors and their flocks to love one another ?' " — Blackwood. * " If different men, in carefully and conscientiously examining the Scriptures, should arrive at different conclu- sions, even on points of the last importance, we trust that God, who alone knows what every man is capable of, will be merciful to him that is in error. We trust that He will pardon the Unitarian, if he be in error, because he has fallen into it from the dread of becoming an idolater— of giving* that glory to another which he conceives to be due to God alone. If the worshipper of Jesus Christ be in error, we trust that God will pardon his mistake, because he has fallen into it from dread of disobeying what he conceives to be revealed concerning the nature of the Son, or com- manded concerning" the honour to be given him. Both n THE MEMENTO. 179 Clark's work; but in all spiritual matters espe- cially, we have every reason not only to be tolerant, but to exercise the greatest kindness towards those we think in error. Bertrand, — I believe, after all, there is much less difference in their opinions than is imagined : all must admit a mystery, and should be charitable towards each other's opinions. Fitzosborne. — I had thought that this tranquil scene would have silenced all reproof, and have given birth to nought but what was somewhat allied to heavenly influences. Hampden. — " How charming is divine philo- sophy !" Fitzoshorne. — It teaches by experience the power of sympathy and love, and responds to the command that we should love one another. Bertrand. — Let us then depart in peace ; and since philosophy and religion can have but one common source, let us pray that the disciples of either, and of both, may be taught to fulfil that great commandment. Hampden. — Farewell, my good friends ; but let me have the memento. actuated by the same principle — the fear of God : and tliough that principle impels them into different roads, it is our hope and belief, that if they add to their faith charity, they will meet in heaven." — Tillotson. 180 THE MEMENTO. Fitzoshome. — Here it is ; read, mark, and in- wardly digest it this very night, and may happy dreams attend you ! " In all thy business, rely wholly upon Grod's Providence, by which alone thy designs must prosper ; labour never- theless discreetly on thy part to co-operate with it, and then believe that if thou trust entirely in God, the success which foUoweth shall be always the most profitable for thee, seem it to thee good or bad according to thy par- ticular judgment. Do as little children, who with one hand hold fast by their father, and with the other gather strawberries or mulberries along the hedges: so thou, gathering and managing the affairs of this world with one hand, with the other hold always fast the hand of tliy Heavenly Father, turning thyself towards him from time to time to see if thy employments be pleasing to him: and take heed, above all tilings, that thou let not go his hand and his protection, thinking to gather more; for if He forsake thee, thou wilt not be able to go a step without faUing to the ground." ["The Record of a School exeraplifjing the General Principles of Spiritual Culture " — is the title of an American work, which it is hoped, for the benefit of teachers in this country, may be reprinted. The school is conducted by Mr. Alcott, who complains of the want of books suitable to chil- dren. He says : " Modem works, whether for children or adults, are ^eatly deficient both in depth and purity of sen- timent ; they seldom contain original and striking- views of the nature of man, and of the institutions which spring from his volition. There is a dearth of thought and sterility of sentiment among us. Literature, art, philosophy, life, are without freshness, ideality, verity, and spirit Seldom do we see a copy of Spenser, Jeremy Taylor, and Dr. Henry More, to say nothing of other writers of a highly spiritual character, whose names are not so familiar. . . . I do not at this moment think of any writers, since the days of Milton, excepting Coleridge and Wordsworth, whose works r(;quire a serene and thoughtful spirit, in order to be under stood. Most works since this date require little thought; they want depth, freshness ; the meaning is on the surface ; and the charm, if there be any, is no deeper than the fancy ; the imagination is not called into life ; the thoughts are carried creepingly along the earth, and often lost amid the low and uncleanly things of sense and custom."] APPENDIX Appendix A. Be/erred to in page 51. From Address to the Proprietors of the London Univer- sity j ly J. M. Morgan.— 1833. " To Lord Brougham, in particular, our obligations are great, for the good he has eifected in the cause of education ; but far greater would have been that good, had he at all times enforced in his systems the necessity of developing the best feehngs, if not before, at least simultaneously with, the cultivation of the intellect. In all Lord Brougham's speeches and writings on the subject of education, there is a manifest disregard of the affections, but as a consequence of acquirements in knowledge ; and yet, if they were made the primary object of attention, knowledge would spread as widely in one year, as in ten years upon the frigid systems hitherto adopted. Had this principle been sufficiently appreciated, means would have been devised to prevent any insubordination in the University ; and had it been generally acted upon in village and parochial schools, the question would long since have been set at rest, whether crime had diminished with the extension of education. " I have been the more surprised that the Lord Chancellor f*hould have overlooked this superior plan of education, since my own attention was more particularly directed to it many jejirs since, by a most interesting account, written by him- self, of the establishment of Mr. Fellenberg at Hofwyl, in 184 APPENDIX. Switzerland. It was sent to the Committee on the Educa- tion of the Poor ; and as His Lordship has recently moved for these documents to be sent from the Commons, perhaps his interest in this principle may be revived. — The follow- ing- is an extract, and it refers to the Poor School. " ' These children were taken from the very worst description of society, the most degraded of the mendicant poor in Berne and other Swiss towns. With hardly any exception, they were sunk in the vicious and idle habits of their parents, a class of dissolute vagrants, resembling the worst kind of gypsies. The complete change which has been effected in them aU, is one of the most extraordinary and affecting sights that can be imagined. When I saw them, there were some who had been there for several years, and had grown up towards manhood ; but the reformation in all took place during from one to two years, or a very little more, according as they were taken at an earlier or more advanced age. The remark which I made, is that which immediately strikes all who visit Hofwyl : — the appearance of the children alone, their countenance and manner, impresses you with a conviction of their excellent dispositions. To describe all the steps of the process by which this reformation has been effected would be impossible, as much depends upon minute circumstances, and upon the greait skill and judgment of Velirli, a yoxmg man who has devoted his life, under Mr. Fellenberg, to the superintendence of this part of the establishment, and to whose extraordinary virtue and ability its success is principally owing. " ' The first principle of the system is to show the children gentleness and kindness, so as to win their affections, and always to treat them as rational creatures, cultivating their reason, and appealing to if. It is equally essential to impress upon their minds the necessity industrious and virtuous conduct to their happiness, and the ine\ table effects of the opposite behaviour, in reducing them from tli.' comfort in which they now live, to the state of misery from wlucli they were rescued. A constant and even minute superintendence at every instant of their lives, forms, of course, part of the system ; and, as may easily be supposed, the elder boys, who have alrea ' profited by the care of the master, aid him in extending it to t new comers, who, for this purpose, are judiciously distributed amon^^ them. These are, I am aware, very general principles ; and upon their judicious application to practice, in each particular instance, according to the diversities of individual character, their whole virtue depends.' APPENDIX. 185 " ' To diffuse useful information, to further intellectual refinement, sure forerunner of moral improvement,' was the language of Lord Brougham in his Inaugural Address at the University of Glasgow, and proclaims the general views of his plans of education. It accords with all he has said or written on the subject : but if he could once be persuaded to adopt the principle of Vehrli, — reverse the order of this pro- ceeding, and begin by furthering ' moral improvement,' he would soon discover that it would be an inevitable precursor not only of useful knowledge, but of intellectual vigour, as well as refinement. Let this great truth be demonstrated at the London University, and there will be found no indivi- dual more incHned or so able to enforce its general adoption with commanding eloquence, as Lord Brougham. "The effect, if not the object, of education at pubUc schools and colleges, has been to give to the individual an isolated character : hence he has become the mere classic, lawy^er, mathematician ; or, if a proficient in natural philo- sophy, it has been in some single branch, and we look in vain for the substratum of an enlarged mind or of generous sympathy : he has been severed from his species ; his views and his affections have been contracted : even when an attempt has been made to impart general knowledge, the pupil is consigned first to the instruction of one, then to another, Professor, each deeming his own the most, if not the all-important, object. The consequences are, a desultory habit of reading, deficient energy, and an indecision as to any fixed object of pursuit. " Upon the neglect or application of a correct principle in developing the moral faculties, may depend, whether thousands of classical scholars among the rising generation are doomed, as heretofore, to while away their time in lite- rary indolence, in antiquarian research, or in philological (Speculations of little comparative utihty either to themselves or to society; or whether, conformably to the increased measure of their knowledge, they shall at least, by aspiring to higher objects, surpass the greatest men of ancient Greece 186 APPENDIX. and Rome, and, merging" patriotism in the love of their species, be foremost in the ranks of those who are ardent in the cause of humanity, and bold in the promulgation of truth . " So far from the principles of Pestalozzi having been refuted, all have concurred in extolling them, and almost all have concurred in neglecting them : if they are really so pregnant with unheard-of benefits, let them no longer remain a dead letter, but apply them instantly to practice. We complained of the foundations of ancient colleges as im- peding the advance of knowledge, and we long continued as inert as tliose who are confined by the restrictions of the darker ages ; but since the appointment of the Senate a reviving spirit has been manifest, and we may confidently hope that the London University will yet be regarded as the noblest monument of an enlightened era. Patronising and adopting useful discoveries in the science of education, it may become a powerful auxiliary to other Universities by a liberal communication of its improvements. "A reform in education, more especially such as is now proposed, carries with it, in a safe, quiet, but undisguised manner, all other reforms ; it invades no vested interests ; oflFends no prejudice ; it conciliates sects and parties, by offer- ing one common ground upon which all could meet, and discover in each other more good qualities and better inten- tions than had been imagined. *' And how much more joyous an aspect would human society assume, how many unjust prejudices would be corrected, and how many obsta- cles to the progress of truth be removed, could men of different sentiments lay aside their animosities, and mingle freely in amicable intercourse I' " Appendix B. 'Referred to in pa