fections of the Deity it unfolds-the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ-the immortality of the soul-a future state of punishments and rewards-or the propriety of the moral principles it inculcates. These are the leading topics of revelation; and to insinuate that such subjects cannot be taught directly from the Scriptures themselves, without the aid of human formularies, is nothing short of throwing a reflection on the wisdom of God, on account of the manner in which he has communicated his will, and of affixing a libel on the character of the inspired writers, as if their writings were not sufficiently plain and perspicuous.

The efficiency of religious instruction deduced from the Scriptures alone, is clearly proved from the mode of tuition in infant schools. In these schools, religion is taught by familiar descriptions and details of scriptural facts-by illustrations, taken from Scripture and the scenes of nature, of the perfections of Godand by enforcing the moral precepts of the Bible on the young, and showing how they ought to be exemplified in all their intercourses with each other. Now, I appeal to every one who has witnessed the religious knowledge of the children in these schools, and its influence upon their conduct, if this mode of tuition is not infinitely preferable, as to its practical effects, to the usual method of instruction by catechism, or any other formulary. Let us take a number of children at random from any common school, who have learned the "Shorter," or any other catechism, from beginning to end, and compare their knowledge and feelings in regard to religion with those of the children of a well-conducted infant school, and the superiority of the infant school children will be strikingly apparent, even although they are much younger than the former.-Should parents, however, wish to inculcate upon their children the peculiar tenets of the sect to which they belong, they have an opportunity of doing so at home, or by means of the pastors belonging to that denomination to which they are attached; but, in public schools, to attempt the inculcation of sectarian opinions, would be equally injurious to the interests of religion and the cause of universal education. This was attempted by the Church of England, in the enactments contained in Brougham's "Education Bill," and the same principle led the dignitaries of that church to oppose the Lancasterian system of education, and to patronise that of Dr. Bell, in which the peculiar tenets of the Episcopal church were to be exclusively inculcated. That Christians of different denominations may cordially cooperate in the arrangements of education, appears from various existing facts. In the Northern States of America, as already noticed, education is far more general than in this country, and

conducted on more rational and enlightened plans; and persons of all denominations in religion co-operate in its superintendence. In the 24th" Annual Report of the Trustees of the Public School Society of New York, for 1829," it is stated, among many other interesting facts, that "The Board of Education consists of members of eight or ten religious denominations, all acting with entire harmony"—that "they discharge the important duties of their trust, with a single eye to the public good"-and that they received the sanction of "an independent set of examiners, who have repeatedly inspected the schools, and are acquainted with the operations of the Board"-who express in their Report "their full confidence that the literary, moral, and religious instruction, calculated to fit the young for the duties of life, and to prepare them for the happiness of futurity, is properly attended to, and the school monies strictly and most beneficially applied to their legitimate purposes." This board has the superintendence of "21 schools, with 21 principal and 24 assistant teachers, and 6007 children," the expense of which amounted to 62,000 dollars besides which there were above 450 private, charity, and other schools in the city of New York.-We know, too, that the "British and Foreign School Society" is conducted on similar principles-its Directors consisting of persons belonging to the established church and the various denominations of dissenters; and the same is the case with the institutions for infant education which have been lately established in many of our populous towns. The hand-bill, announcing the objects of the Model Infant School, Glasgow, which was framed by the Rev. Dr. Welsh, then of St. David's church, states, as one of the objects of this institution, that it is "for the reception of children from the age of two to that of six years, with the view of imbuing their minds with the knowledge of religious truths,"-and that "the plan of communicating religious truths is by the narratives, the precepts, and the plainest announcements of Scripture." In short, the liberal plan now suggested has been adopted in all its extent in the kingdom of Prussia, where a national system of education has been established in which all classes of religionists, whether Protestants or Catholics, have an equal interest, and which, fo more than half a century, has been conducted with the greatest regularity and harmony. So that there is no impossibility in persons belonging to different religious persuasions co-operating in the business of education, where there is a sincere desire to promote the improvement of the young, and the best interests of general society.

But should it be found impossible to induce the dominant see

in any country to co-operate with dissenters in the arrangements of education, perhaps the following might be the most eligible plan of procedure:-Let the government allot a sum adequate to the erection and endowment of all the schools requisite for an enlightened and efficient system of education-let this sum be divided between churchmen and dissenters, in a fair proportion, according to their respective numbers-and let the application of this sum, and the details respecting the patronage of the schools, the qualifications of teachers, and the mode of instruction, be left to the respective parties, to be arranged as their judgment and circumstances may direct-specifying, however, some of the grand and leading principles on which the schools must be established. A plan of this kind would, indeed, still preserve the invidious distinction between churchmen and dissenters; but it would be infinitely preferable to bestowing the whole patronage and superintendence of education on any one sectary or class of men whatever.-Should government refuse to grant any pecuniary assistance to such an object, dissenters and all others have it in their power, by coming forward, in one grand combination, with voluntary contributions, to accomplish this noble design, independently of aid from any power under heaven; provided they are willing to make some of those small sacrifices formerly suggested. (See page 350.) And if they will not stand forward as bold champions, with their purses in their hands, ready to be delivered up for the support of this good cause, they will declare themselves to be unworthy of the name of Christians, or of lovers of their species, and will deservedly be deprived of all the advantages, in time and eternity, which might result from the accomplishment of this object, to themselves and to their offspring, both in the present and future generations.

CHAPTER XIV.

Maxims, or First Principles in Education.

I. THE idea should go before the word which expresses it— or, in other words, A clear and distinct conception of an object should be impressed upon the mind, before the name or terms which express it be committed to memory.

This may be considered as the first and fundamental principle of intellectual instruction; and, if admitted, the following rule should be strictly adhered to in the business of education:-Let no passages of any book be committed to memory before the

leading ideas they contain be clearly understood. If this principle were universally introduced into education, it would overturn almost every system of instruction which has hitherto prevailed both in secular and religious tuition. An opposite principle has almost uniformly been acted upon; and hence, catechisms, psalms, hymns, grammar rules, chapters of the Bible, and speeches in the Roman senate, have been prescribed as memorial tasks, before any of the ideas contained in them could be appreciated. We may ask, in the name of all that is wise and rational, Of what use is it to stock and overburden the memories of children with a medley of words to which no correct ideas are attached? Although a child could commit twenty catechisms to memory, or could even repeat the whole of the Old and New Testaments, what purpose would it serve, if he did not enter into the spirit and meaning of the truths therein recorded? I have conversed with an individual who could repeat the whole Bible from beginning to end, and yet was entirely ignorant of the meaning of almost every proposition it contained, and its most interesting truths appeared to have made no impression upon his heart. As in the original formation of language, the objects of nature must first have been observed and known before words or signs were fixed upon to distinguish them; so, in communicating the elements of thought, the objects of thought must first be recognized and described before the terms and epithets which express their natures and qualities be committed to memory. Instead of obtruding a medley of words before they are understood, upon the memories of the young, they should be made to feel a desire for terms to express their ideas; and, in this case, the ideas and the words which express them will afterwards be inseparably connected.

II. In the process of instruction, Nothing (if possible) should be assigned to the young merely as tasks.

Every thing prescribed for the exercise of the faculties, should be represented both as a duty and as a pleasure; and if the young understand the nature and objects of their scholastic exercises, and the manner in which they should be prosecuted, they will find a pleasure in endeavouring to surmount every apparent difficulty. I once knew a gentleman, the Rector of a grammar school, who on his admission to his office, boasted that he would conduct his school without inflicting any corporal punishment-instead of which he prescribed from twenty to sixty or eighty lines of Virgil or Horace, as memorial tasks-and, when not accurately repeated, increased their number. But this practice had no other

tendency than to excite revengeful feelings, and to produce disgust at the process of learning.

III. Every thing that is cheerful and exhilarating to the young should be associated with the business of education.

Hence, school-rooms should be spacious, light, and airy-comfortably heated during winter, and erected in delightful and commanding situations. The school-books should be neatly printed, and enlivened with pictures and engravings coloured from nature -amusing and instructive experiments should frequently be exhibited-and the pupils should be occasionally gratified with excursions into interesting parts of the country, to view the beauties of nature and enjoy the bounties of Providence; so that all their scholastic exercises may be connected with delightful associations. IV. In the practice of teaching, the principle of Emulation should be discarded.

By a principle of emulation I mean, the exciting of the young to exertion from the hope of reward when they excel their com-, panions in intellectual excellence, or from the fear of punishment or degradation when they fall beneath them in industry and ac quirements. Many teachers have asserted that they could not conduct education with any effect without the aid of this principle. But, whatever effect it may have in an intellectual point of view, it almost uniformly produces an injurious effect on the moral temperament of the young, on their companions whom they excel, and on their parents and guardians, who are led to form false estimates of their progress and acquirements by the prizes they receive and the places they occupy in their respective classes. One grand end of instruction, which has been too much overlooked, is to cultivate and regulate the moral powers-to produce love, af fection, concord, humility, self-denial, and other Christian graces. But the principle of emulation has a tendency to produce jealousy, envy, ambition, hatred, and other malignant passions, and to exhibit intellectual acquisitions as of far greater importance than moral excellence. Besides, it is only a very few in every class that can be stimulated to exertion by this principle, and these few are generally of such a temperament as to require their ambitious dispositions to be restrained rather than excited. In the "American Annals of Education," for January, 1833, there is an excellent paper on this subject by Miss C. E. Beecher, of Newport, Rhode Island, a lady well known as an efficient teacher. After enumerating the evils which uniformly flow from the principle of emulation, she states the following motives, as those which she has found "not only equal, but much more efficient, in reference to all the objects to be gained in education:"-1. Personal influ