Illustrated by the History of various Nations.

of the other parties their just weight, and willing to retain the gold and reject the dross in reconstructing any of the elements of society.

This, it is needless to inform you, was eminently characteristic of political parties in the several states of ancient Greece, and in the Roman Commonwealth. The history of politics in the republics of modern Italy, in France and England, and in various other countries both of Europe and America, affords many and striking examples of the same tendency in human nature. It is well that it is so. This, like all the other moral laws of the Creator, bears the impress of matchless wisdom and benevolence. For, while the obstinately prejudiced and the madly revolutionary are engaged in hot strife with each other, the one party for the old as it is, the other for the substitution of something entirely new, the mass of the people, almost always averse to violent innovations, but roused by the fierce din with which they are assailed, are incited to inquire, "What is the occasion of all this turmoil? Why such fierce contention? What abuses are to be corrected? What institutions modified? What changes wrought?" The representative intelligence of this class, bringing to the examination of these questions broader views and cooler feelings, is enabled to discriminate and weigh the arguments of

Precipitancy to be avoided.

each party, and, by the adoption of suitable measures, to effect such gradual improvements as the exigencies of the times seem either to require or justify.

There is not, I am aware, so much danger of excess in organizing a system of common schools, and therefore not so much necessity for inculcating moderation in reference to it, as there would be with respect to some other measures; still it is well to understand and avoid the evils of precipitancy. Bad as the systems adopted in many of the states confessedly are, and inadequate, as all are admitted to be, they may be made much worse by hasty and ill-judged legislation. Time,—much time, is necessary both for making the proper investigations as to the best plans of operation, and for preparing the minds of the people for all those ameliorations, which are demanded by the spirit of the age, and the circumstances of our country. Changes, good in themselves, are, when too suddenly effected, frequently attended with consequences more or less to be deplored. Festina lente, the celebrated motto of Augustus Cæsar, is on the whole a sound maxim in reference to any great undertaking, though capable of being abused to cloak indifference, or to justify inaction.

With these observations by way of introduction, I proceed to present some views, not alto

Popular Education a public Duty.

gether, it is hoped, inappropriate at the present time, on several points which seem to require consideration in organising a general system of popular education.

The first topic to which I ask your attention, and that of the public, is the duty of making adequate provision by law for the thorough instruction of all the children in the community. From a variety of arguments that might be urged in support of this position, I shall select only three, which seem to me sufficient to establish it to the satisfaction of every candid mind. Popular education is necessary, and therefore it is the duty of the several states to provide for it; first, because of its influence on national and individual character and happiness; secondly, because of its bearing on the pecuniary interests of the country; and thirdly, because of its connexion with the purity and perpetuity of our civil institutions.

That education, based on Christianity, is adapted to elevate the character and promote the happiness of its possessors, is a position which it cannot require any laboured argument to prove, in the nineteenth century, to the citizens of the United States. It is a truth attested by universal experience, and capable of complete demonstration. Were I addressing a popular assembly on this subject, I would say to them,-Cast your eyes abroad

Its Influence on National Character and Happiness.

on the world; consult time past and present; compare nations, families, and individuals respectively with each other;-your survey will lead you to this irresistible conclusion, that education, impregnated with the principles of true religion, is every where the great promoter of whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, lovely, and of good report; that it is the parent of virtue, industry, and order; that it is essential to the full benefits of gospel preaching; and that the want of it is the principal cause of the extreme profligacy, improvidence, and misery, which are so prevalent among the labouring classes in many countries.

A comparison between the Irish and Scottish peasantry would of itself be sufficient to establish this general fact. Among the former we behold little else than sloth, destitution, and crime; among the latter, even those who are in the worst comparative circumstances, a degree of comfort, the fruit of industry and order, is every where conspiTo what is this difference to be ascribed? The Irish possess as vigorous constitutions, and are as capable of enduring hard labour, as the Scotch. In the two great physical elements of prosperity, soil and climate, Ireland has a clear and decided advantage over Scotland. The difference, then, making every allowance which truth

cuous.

Comparison between the Scotch and Irish.

and candour can require for the evils of misgovernment in the former country, is owing to the prevalence of intellectual and moral culture in the one case, and the want of it in the other. No other cause can be named, adequate to the production of the effect; and consequently to assign any other would be, as you, gentlemen, well know, to violate one of the first principles of philosophy. In Ireland the education of the poor is deplorably neglected; few of them can either read or write; and almost all are ignorant of nearly every thing that it most befits a rational and accountable creature to understand. In Scotland an order of things exists essentially different. It is rare to meet with a person there who has not some education; schools exist in every parish; and the means of knowledge are brought within the reach of the lowest classes. The result, in each case, is such as has been already described; and such as must always take place under like circumstances.

The most illustrious example, with which I am acquainted, of the elevating and humanizing influence of Christian education on communities, is exhibited in the history of those mountain parishes in the Ban de la Roche under the pastoral care of the celebrated Oberlin-a name embalmed in every philanthropic and pious heart. He who attentively reads the simple narrative of the life