the religious ;-as if the book were God, and to read were the whole function of a soul; as if God had concentrated himself in a book, and left the field of operation wholly in its hand. This gross error on the part of the religious, hath given such encouragement to the liberal part of the nation, that they speak of it as a thing never to be doubted, that knowledge of any kind must be favourable to religion, must bring the people a step nearer to God, and make them a degree more apt to the operation of the Holy Spirit so much the more trust worthy, so much the more obedient to law and government. And if you begin to interpose any conditions concerning the subject of the instruction, and the materials of the knowledge, they snuff at it as the most intolerable bigotry, or the most unaccountable blindness: against which I solemnly protest, as a most gross error and dangerous fallacy, and take leave to state my broad and firm conviction, that the natural mind in a state of grossest darkness, and the natural mind in a state of greatest illumination, and in all and every state between these two extremes, is enmity, bitter enmity, to God's mind and will, and utterly unable of itself to receive God's word; that there doth most frequently attend upon the acquisition of knowledge, as upon the acquisition of any thing else, a proud consciousness of power, a selfish feeling of distinction, and the vulgar avarice of possessing more, with vanity, jealousy, and presumption and other vicious feelings, holding of pride and avarice, which cause it to be experienced that the steps and degrees in the invisible kingdom of mind, like the steps and degrees in the visible kingdom of rank and

worldly state, are often so many removes away from the humility, sincerity, and child-like simplicity of the spiritual temple; into which you enter neither through the stately porch of the academy, nor through the unfolded portals of the palace, but by the narrow way and strait gate of repentance and self-abasement, which there be few of any rank that find; but certainly fewest of those who are wise after the wisdom of the present world. So that if a palace, the high place of visible power, be generally the stronghold of falsehood, intrigue, and sensuality, then a university, the high place of invisible power, is generally the strong-hold of indifference, hatred and contempt, towards the humbling truths of the Gospel, and all well-grounded morals;—either a focus of most hot and violent rage against spiritual religion, or an ice-berg of cold indifference, concentrating death within itself, and radiating chilling cold to the region round about. Having uttered this our conviction with respect to knowledge of the nature of things, taken separately from the law of conscience, which is morality and the obligation of God's revealed will; namely, that the carnal mind, with all its works, is enmity against God, and that knowledge of itself puffeth up, and cannot build up, but by the addition of the strong band of charity or Christian love, when the cold moon-beam of knowledge is converted into the cherishing sun-beam of wisdom; I were content to rest here, but that there hath started up in this unprincipled and changeable generation, a class of objectors of a very peculiar kind; who, with much affectation of good nature, allow all that hath been said, yea, become all at

once very puritanical, and with an earnest countenance exclaim, 'Oh yes, there can be no doubt religion is a most necessary part of instruction; but it is too important, it is too sacred, to be left in the hands of any teacher, and must be remitted to the parents; for it is so sacred, that people are jealous of it, and cannot agree to confide it to any single man or body of men. The best way,

therefore, you can take, and the most respectful, is to exclude it from the public schools altogether.' Now I have resolved to give this objection a fair hearing, and try it thoroughly.

First, I must begin by saying, that our mutual jealousies of one another hath deserved this clever retort of the liberal party against us: and that it is a most sad and humiliating proof of the narrow and sectarian spirit which still rules and reigns beneath the outward garb of charity, that so favourable an ear should be given to so wicked a conclusion as that the principles of revelation are to be excluded from the schools which have an eye to the great body of the rising generation. How it hath come to pass, that now, for the first time in the history of nations professing Christianity, it should be deemed impossible to organize any method of teaching it that shall be acceptable to all, and be thought better to forego it altogether, is to me utterly unaccountable upon any other principle than this; That the love, and reverence, and pertinacious adherence which we have to our several peculiarities, is become greater than the love and reverence which we owe to our community of belief and practice. At the Reformation they found no difficulty in this matter, but easily coalesced, notwithstanding their differences

upon the subject of religion; and, accordingly, all schools then founded had a special eye to the cultivation of the mind and character, by means of religion. And yet the creeds, and catechisms, and other formularies of the church, have received no material change; in this country, no change at all since that time. Either, then, they were not so well informed on the subject of religion, and less careful of its purity then than we now are, which I think nobody will dare to allege; or we are become more attached to particular dogmas, and minute distinctions than they were; in our excessive jealousy of which, we are willing to forego the advantage of any national system of education which shall contain religion as a constant and essential part. I have oft protested before the Christian church, that we are more closely entrenched in our sectarian peculiarities than ever; and I give this as the sufficient proof of it, that though many attempts have been made to give us an all-embracing system of schools, which should contain religion as a capital object, it hath always failed through the unwillingness of one party to trust their children to the tutoring of the other. And in the midst of our sectarian contentions, the enemy of our religion hath come in with his sophistical and poisonous principle: Oh yes, religion is too sacred a matter to be trusted to the public teachers: therefore, in all our schemes for education, let us agree upon the reverend and most respectful exclusion of it altogether.'

But a great inheritance is not to be lost because the two sharers of it cannot agree upon its division; no more are our children to be escheated to the prince of darkness, because we are not

agreed upon the best way of investing the Prince of Light in their possession: at least, I for one, will lift up my protest against so gross a fraud committed upon God's right in them, and their right in the Gospel, as this false principle involves, and that for the gravest reasons.

Because in a Christian land like ours, all things are acknowledged to be God's: and from the king upon the throne, unto his meanest subject, all hold their tenement of place and power, their talents and opportunities, as stewards in Christ's household. The king supreme, being as much Christ's vicegerent with respect to government, as the minister of the Gospel is his witness with respect to holiness; all magistracy, with all authority of law and political institutions, being as much the responsible institution of God for the administration of natural justice, and the protection of religion, as the church is his responsible institution for the maintenance of the Gospel. So that if it be true in law, that all property is held of and under the king; it is true in divinity, that the king and all other constituted authorities, hold their power of and under God. For this is the fundamental principle of Christian religion, that the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, which Christ hath purchased from under the curse by the sacrifice of himself; that he is now become the Prince of the kings of the earth, sitteth amongst the gods, and doth with them according to his will. And wherever the Christian religion is acknowledged, this, which is one of its first principles, must be acknowledged; and is acknowledged in our land, notwithstanding the modern maxim, that all power originates from the people, and is