this capital unjustly against those whose principal capital is their industry; and thus wealth becomes a monopolist, and the striving and the industrious who are seeking for bread only, are forced out of the field of exertion, while the capitalists themselves pursue their greedy objects with blind infatuation, and engage in undertakings far beyond their powers, and eventually involve and ruin each other, because they have never learned to know the true meaning of " enough," nor made themselves acquainted with the philosophy of contentment, or the religion which denounces the inordinate love of money as the root of all evil.

The divine spirit of Christianity seems not to bear upon this serious evil at all; many of the otherwise most pious men think it right, nay praiseworthy, to add to already large possessions by trade, as eagerly as the most irreligious. It seems to be an established law to take every advantage of another's inferior judgement, to overreach him in bargain, to circumvent him in an agreement, and to keep the word of promise to the ear but break it to the hope,-in short to leave out as a thing of course in money transactions, and in dealings of trade, the very principles and spirit of the religion of their divine Master, and to proceed in their heedless course of aggrandizement, with no reproach of conscience, but with the contrary feeling indeed, that they are doing no more than what they have a right to do. Wealth therefore in this country is set up like the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar all must bow down to it; virtue, talent, and even rank, are alike laid under the universal homage, and the man who should attempt to act in trade on the divine principle of "doing to others as he would be done unto," would be laughed at for his simplicity, and rewarded with poverty and its attendant, contempt. This principle is carried further still, it is carried into the dearest seat of the affections and hearts that are formed for each other, and are united by the pure heavenly instinct of love, are prevented, by the "incongruity of fortunes," from union. A young man who has even a competency is not taught to search for one whose qualities of mind and heart are superior and amiable, and where his fortune and himself might be a reward, but for one who has got a fortune; and thus wealth becomes the source of much of the misery we behold in married life, where dissimilar tastes, feelings, and sentiments are yoked together; but which continually jangle and clash, though linked by a golden chain.

If we take into consideration the motives that actuate this class in their doings, public or private, we shall find (with some glorious exceptions to be sure) that they are those of the most paltry selfinterest; and even much of the good that is done, is done more from party spirit and sectarian spirit, than from the pure motives which should alone regulate and govern the actions of a christian community. Education itself owes its progress to these feelings. Private bickerings, scandal, malevolence, and an everlasting warring between politicians and religionists of every class and shade of opinion, condemning, 'abusing, and hating each other on account of some non-essential which neither party can comprehend, seem to fill up the sad outline of the middle rank of society in this country. It becomes then the inquiry, how much of this is to be attributed to a false education, i. e. the almost

20

RELIGIOUS AND MORAL INSTRUCTION IN ENGLAND.

exclusive cultivation of the intellectual faculties. It seems to have been hitherto overlooked, that the moral and intellectual powers require the same attention, and to have been the opinion, that the cultivation of the former, must inevitably follow that of the latter. Fifty years ago the thing was better understood than for these last twenty years, during which time nine-tenths of the educational books published have been of an intellectual rather than a moral character. It seems as if a knowledge of physical fact was the one thing needful, and taking up moral cultivation as a science has never been once thought of. The powers of observation have been brought out, the reasoning faculties have been enlarged, while the higher qualities of the soul, and the cultivation of the understanding to the perfection of true wisdom, have been left for the infixing of mere dogmas. The tone of instruction has been on these points-this thou shalt believe, this thou shalt reject; this will make thee good, and this will make thee evil. The mind has not been directed to look into itself, to inquire into the natural state of its machinery, and to seek out the prime mover of the whole; 'the almost divine maxim, "know thyself" has seldom been the text of the instructor, the superstructure has been raised on a foundation of sand, and the stature of the mind has arisen, like the image in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, whose head was of fine gold, but whose feet were of clay.

Those who are generally said to be religiously educated, and who are sedulously instructed in its doctrines, are lamentably deficient in the divine knowledge of how to live well, and the true value of the pursuits of life, the institutions of society, and the relation of all these to the religious and moral faculties of man. Society is not looked upon as a common brotherhood, but as the arena of combat and a field of war. The pursuits of life are valued according to the supposed benefits they confer, not for the benefits they would enable us to confer on others; and civil institutions are therefore considered on the principle of expediency, rather than that of philanthropy and justice, and bowed to for form, rather than from a conviction of their justice. It follows, therefore, that there must still be something of a different kind necessary in the religious and moral instruction of the people; that new habits must be engendered, and that a great change, both in the plan and kind of instruction must take place. Christianity must, indeed, be the basis of instruction; but Christianity must be enforced, through the reasoning powers, systematically and vitally; it must, in fact, be demonstrated, and every moral quality which it enjoins, be as regularly proved and fixed in the mind as a mathematical problem; but it must not be done so as to lose sight of its essence: Christianity is a religion of motives, and, if properly taught, is calculated to bring out all the higher and better feelings of our nature, our affections, our sympathies, our hopes, our joys, our love. In connection with its study, should also commence a study of ourselves, our natures, our propensities, and our passions. The true nature and quality of the Christian virtues should be analyzed, and amalgamated with the mind by a healthy process of mental digestion; while the vices that beset the path of man in his pilgrimage should be set forth before

him in all their horrid deformity of character: and this should be the first and main purpose of instruction. To do this a systematic development of the faculties of the mind must be entered upon; for it is upon this development that the improvement of man essentially depends. The first moral faculty is, undoubtedly, that instinctive one that exists between a mother and her child-the feeling of love; and this feeling should never be lost sight of in all the subsequent training. To this must only succeed an idea of responsibility towards God, as the first link of the chain in the long course of tuition then commenced. The teacher, before he begins his work, must perform a series of experiments, to draw out a child's propensity and character; and he cannot begin it too early. The character is generally formed before six years of age. The mother, therefore, must be the teacher, and henceforth consider it an important part of her education as a female, to understand how to rear, manage, and educate her infant. Every child is, or would be, a tyrant; she must make it, therefore, her first business to teach the child that self-control is necessary to its own comfort.

We shall not now, however, enter further into the subject; but shall, in our next number, sketch out a plan of moral, intellectual, and physical training, applicable to the general instruction of the young; that education may be what it ought to be, a process by which all that is good may become the property of the individual, and all that is evil may be shunned and detested. We are of opinion that the religious education in our schools for the poor, might be fixed upon a more certain and uniform basis; that the tone of society requires a more general, a more liberal, and a more careful system; that unless other measures are taken than those which have been used, with scarcely any visible improvement for thirty years, education, instead of doing good, will eventually do harm to society; but that if now taken up, modified, improved, and extended, it will become the greatest of all blessings to England as a nation, and to the whole individual fraternity of man in particular.

SCHOOLS OF INDUSTRY.

THE Common objections made by the enemies of education, are, that it unfits the people for labour; that the acquisition of the mechanical knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic, tends to make those who acquire it above their situation in life; that those who would otherwise handle the sledge hammer, and follow the plough, become inspired with the desire of clerkship, and would rather live by their wits than by their hands. That too many boys, who have been at our national schools, aspire to be clerks or shopmen; and that too many girls, so educated, give a preference to the precarious but more genteel employment of dress-making, is very likely; but these arguments may be made without any prejudice to the cause of education generally; and it is certain that they would not hold, if the systems we advocate

were brought into operation, and that the meed of instruction was imparted to all.

We hold, that the object of all education is to fit the educated for their duties in society. Boys should be educated so as to make intelligent and useful handicrafts, labourers, and servants; and girls should be instructed in the way most essential to their performing well the duties of provident, neat, and intelligent wives and mothers: and if a system is generally acted upon, which has a direct tendency to disqualify those educated for these duties, the error is calculated to produce all the evil consequences that the enemies of education pretend to foresee.

The system of uniting labour with education is one calculated to remove, in degree, many of the charges thus brought against instruction, as also to interest a larger portion of the community in its behalf. But there are many difficulties besetting the adoption of any general plan, having this object in view, which are only to be overcome by great circumspection in commencing, and a steady perseverance in carrying on, schools of this nature.

Schools for female servants have often been established on a small scale in various places: there is one at Cheltenham, and one also at Brighton, called the Brighton Asylum for Poor Female Orphans. In London there are also several, and one in Wellclose square, called The Sailors' Female Orphans' Home, under the patronage of the Princess Victoria, instituted and mainly supported by the exertions of a lady named How. This latter is conducted in a manner so satisfactory as to demonstrate, that a little care, no great expense, and proper management, will secure at least the object of industrious habits and modest deportment, in connection with Christian education. The children belonging to this establishment are from the very lowest class; they are instructed in reading and writing, have Christian principles imparted to them, are made good plain needle-women, and are taught all kinds of household work; in fact, they are educated for household servants, and those who have left the establishment give the most pleasing evidence of the good that has been afforded them. The value of this kind of education ought to be appreciated. By establishing good habits more will be effected than by mere precept. The value of establishing these in females is of much more importance than to males; the female, in after life, being principally charged with the care of her offspring; and the habits thus acquired will be insensibly imparted to these. Besides, neatness, comfort, and intelligence, make the home of the labouring man a comfort and keeps him within doors; while the slattern and ignorant partner drives him to the alehouse and other resorts of idleness and dissipation.

Several schools for boys also have from time to time been opened in various parts of the country, with this object in view; one at Kingsland has been in existence several years, where the boys have been taught to mend their own clothes and shoes, to repair doors and windows, and work at other carpentry work. More recently Mr. Montague Burgoyne opened a large school at Brighton, with this object; and basketmaking, net-making, tailoring-with washing, ironing, and household

work for the girls. The results of these experiments do not appear to be so decisive as to warrant an advocacy of their more general adoption, without considerable modification. In some the parents of the more respectable of the children often objected to their sons being put to work, and those who were put to it were not satisfied with the remuneration afforded them; so that other establishments, where instruction of a more literary kind was imparted, obtained the boys who were the best qualified to act as monitors; but these are circumstances of a kind ever likely to arise in all changes, and would not be of sufficient importance to prevent the adoption of the plan in many places. Objections have arisen of various kinds, and the more general of these have been answered satisfactorily in the Appendix of the National-School Society's Report, No. 22.

Object. 1.-Children leave school too soon to learn perfectly any art or trade; on an average perhaps few scholars remain after attaining their eleventh or twelfth year.

Ans. They leave so early because they have then generally learnt all that is taught. If there were employment going on which delayed their progress in this, they would probably remain longer.

Object. 2.-Not necessary, as the children are generally engaged by their parents in works of industry and habits of diligence at home.

Ans.-This is true, but many children will take readily to work, who dislike learning and whose parents indulge their humour, and suffer them to leave the school altogether.

Object. 3.-The expense of establishing such works-the little profit to be expected from them.

Ans. The objection only shows that caution is necessary, that the plan should be proceeded with gradually, and nothing undertaken but upon a clear estimate of the cost to be incurred; two items only are to be covered by the produce of the work, first the bare expense of carrying it on, second some little reward to the children employed.

Object. 4.—The danger of overstocking any branch of trade beyond the average demand for the article produced, and of exciting jealousy by apparent competition.

Ans.--Occupations likely to produce such feelings may be avoided; what evil at all commensurate to the good has resulted from the employment of the girls in the schools at needle-work?

Object. 5.-The difficulty of finding employment for the children.

Ans.-Difficulty admitted often to be great, but instances are quoted to show that it has been and may be surmounted.

Object. 6.-Few of the children would retain in after life the trade thus learnt.

Ans. The least objection. The formation of a habit of industry is the great object considered.

These objections apply principally to the union of such trades as have already been alluded to with instruction. To agricultural labour and agricultural schools, fewer objections have been made; these are calculated to produce wealth, occupation, and profit. A benevolent individual at Potton, has allotted a field to the purposes of hedging, ditching, levelling land, &c. In this the boys are allowed to cultivate vegetables and fruit, they are taught the different kinds of budding, and engrafting, and other horticultural knowledge. The instruction of boys in this way, renders them fit for the allotment