in our Father's house, where we shall all be one in Christ."

The other speakers at this anniversary were, James Montgomery, esq., Rev. E. Ray, Rev. Richard Watson, Rev. Eustace Carey, Rev. Rowland Hill, Rev. A. James of Birmingham, Rev. John Burnett, and the Rev. G. Redford. This was the largest concourse of people that we have witnessed at any anniversary during the present season. In every department the utmost harmony prevailed, and the collection is stated to have amounted to £500, including some donations that were presented to the meeting.

RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.

The anniversary of this society was held at the City of London Tavern, on the morning of Friday, May 13th. The friends of the society took breakfast together, at 6 o'clock, like those of the Sunday School Union. The chair was taken at half-past six, by S. Hoare, esq.

The report stated among a variety of interesting particulars, that, during the year, 11,090,259 tracts of various kinds had been thrown into circulation. The total amount of the society's receipts during the preceding year, was £25,062; but during the present, they had increased to £27,050. Of the advantages resulting from the distribution of tracts, whether given or lent, many pleasing instances were mentioned, all tend ing to prove, that the society had been highly beneficial to various classes of society. The meeting was addressed by the Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, Rev. Dr. Cox, Rev. Dr. Steinkopff, Peter Jones, Rev. E. Craw. ley, Rev. Eustace Carey, Rev. Mr. Woodroff, James Montgomery, esq. and the Rev. J. Smith, from India. The speeches of all the above gentlemen were received with much attention and approbation; but that of Peter Jones, the Indian chief, commanded the deepest interest, as he entered into a brief detail of the modes of life, worship, views of an hereafter, and ideas of the abode of departed spirits, peculiar to his own tribe.

HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The anniversary of this institution was held in Exeter Hall, on the evening of Tuesday, May 17th. This spacious room was densely crowded in every part. Thomas Thomson, esq. was called to the chair. It appears from the report, that this society employs thirty-five missionaries, who, in the character of itinerants, go from village to village, calling upon the inhabitants to repent, and prepare for death. In addition to the above missionaries, about twenty pastors and stated ministers lend occasional

aid; so that their agents of various descriptions amounted to sixty;-that schools, preaching, and the distribution of tracts, were among the means employed; that two hundred villages were regularly visited, and about four thousand children were under their care; that much ground still remained uncultivated; but that, notwithstanding the liberality of contributions, the society was encumbered with a debt of £700.

The great object pursued by all the gentlemen who addressed the meeting was, the necessity of diffusing throughout our native country, the light of that gospel which we were so anxious to communicate to the heathen nations of the world. Never perhaps, was "home, sweet home," sung with more genuine, more patriotic feelings. Among the speakers were the Rev. W. Henry, Rev. Dr. Winter, W. A. Hankey, esq., Rev. Dr. Bennett, Rev. E. A. Dunn, Rev. C. Wyatt, Mr. Maitland, Rev. Dr. Townley, Rev. Dr. Morison, Rev. J. Burnett, J. Wilks, esq., Rev. J. Jackson, John Dyer, esq., J. Wilde, esq., and the Rev. J. Edwards. These gentlemen pleaded the Home Missionary cause with much earnestness and eloquence, and we hope also with much good effect.

NATIONAL SCHOOL SOCIETY.

At a general meeting of this society, held after their half-yearly public examination of the children at the Central School Rooms, Baldwin's-gardens, on Wednesday, May 18, it appeared by the report, that, during the last year, 328 schools had been newly received into union with the National Society, carrying up the amount of schools in union to the number of 2,937; and £6,643 had been voted in aid of building school-rooms, in 104 places, the total expense of the buildings being estimated at £20,000. The society had recently made a general inquiry into the state of education under the church in all parts of the kingdom, and an account had been obtained concerning 8,650 places, which were found to contain about 11,000 schools, with 678,356 children. In England and Wales, there are about 710,000 children under the care of the clergy.

Having extended our account of these benevolent anniversaries to a considerable length, we must desist from pursuing the subject farther for the present. Many other meetings, besides those already noticed, have taken place during the two preceding months, equally interesting with several that have been distinctly mentioned, and only varying from them in the localities of objects and application.

On the spirit of intolerance and unhallowed zeal that obtruded itself on the Bible Society, we cannot reflect without the sin. cerest regret. Its bigoted purpose was indeed defeated by the good sense and firmness of an overwhelming majority; but so far has it tended to unhinge the public mind, that we consider the death-warrant of that noble institution to have been signed, amidst the uproar which orthodox bigotry unhappily generated. Some time may elapse before it will actually expire, but we have our fears that the wound inflicted will prove incurable.

In the Naval and Military Bible Society, we apprehend that the propositions have been adopted, which, at the general anniversary, the British and Foreign Bible Society decidedly rejected; and, at a meeting which took place at 32, Sackville-street, on May 20th, it was resolved, that measures should be adopted to induce the British and Foreign Bible Society to reconsider the decision of the last anniversary. Should this be done, and finally a different result be obtained, a moderate share of ingenuity may foresee, that those who remain will easily find occasion to anathematize one another. By furious Calvinists, the Arminian Methodists have long been associated with the Unitarians; both are deemed heretics, only differing in degree and the same spirit that withholds communion with the latter in a work of godlike charity, will soon say to the former, "Stand by, for I am holier than thou!" With the hot-headed Arminians, the case towards the Calvinists would be as quickly reversed. The torch of warfare would speedily be lighted, and the palm of orthodoxy reward the successful champions. Every attempt at exclusion is an attack on that broad basis on which the Bible Society originally took its stand. One innovation will easily lead to another. The foundation sapped, the building will totter, and ultimately fall; and when its broad pyramidical glory has departed, what remains will speedily dwindle into sectarian monopoly.

AN ESSAY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATING THE CHILDREN OF THE POOR.

"THAT the soul be without knowledge, it is not good," is not merely the words of one of the greatest, wisest, and best of menit is the declaration of Deity itself. Yet, although emanating from so high authority, and of such antient date, no moral maxim ever gave rise to so much controversy, or has been so long and obstinately disputed. 2D. SERIES.-No. 7. VOL, I.

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Even to this day thousands maintain an opposite opinion, although the clearest reasoning, borne out by the testimony of facts, has been advanced in its support. Such being the state of the question, it may appear presumptuous in me to attempt to advocate the cause of universal education; but having long had my attention directed to this important subject, and believing that much of the opposition displayed against it, and indifference towards it, arises from mistaken views respecting it, and ignorance of the advantages resulting from it, I am induced to take up my pen, under the persuasion that a clear and explicit statement of the case will be sufficient, not only to remove the scruples of every candid and conscientious objector, but to rouse every well-wisher to his country, and friend to mankind in general, to a more lively interest in this most important cause. In doing this, my task will be far from arduous, as, while the objections to universal education are few and hackneyed, the evils of ignorance are so evident as hardly to require enumeration; and the advantages arising from moral instruction and mental cultivation are plain and obvious to every attentive observer.

It has been stated, by a few narrowminded and ignorant individuals, that if the poor are taught, they will rise above their condition in society, and consider that a cultivated mind ought to procure an exemption from manual labour! Can any thing be more absurd? This infers that an increase of knowledge and mental improvement will be attended with a decrease of common sense.

It has been insinuated, that the rich object to the education of the poor, from a fear that the poor may acquire a greater degree of knowledge than themselves, and then regard their superiors with contempt. But I cannot believe such a slander; and even allowing it to be true in a few solitary instances, education among the poor will stimulate the ignorant among the higher classes to greater self-cultivation, and thus the good resulting from it will be twofold.

The next objection to the education of the poor is, that learning and knowledge are useless to those whom Providence has designed to occupy menial and laborious situations in life, since, while it cannot improve their circumstances, or add to their comfort, it may render them not only less useful-but less happy; as a man possessed of a highly cultivated intellect, and wellinformed mind, would, if doomed to spend his days in a low and laborious employment, repine at his hard lot, and be filled

with discontent; while an ignorant and unlearned individual would be contented and happy. This objection is one of those ingenious sophisms which wear the appearance of plain truth; but the premises being false, the conclusion drawn from them falls to the ground.

In this objection it is asserted, that ignorance is the parent of contentment and happiness. But from whence could such an idea arise? The idea is opposed to reason, experience, and revelation. But let us examine the proposition. In doing this, we must observe, that things are not always what they are called. The state of feeling enjoyed by an ignorant individual, here designated contentment and happiness, is not what men usually understand by those terms, but something externally like it, though in its real nature widely different.

It is commonly believed that the labouring classes, being in a state of ignorance, feel no wants except food and rest, and while they get a reasonable supply of these, they are contented and happy. Admitting the correctness of this opinion, as it regards their animal wants, and the contentment arising from the supply of them, will any reasonable being say that this is happiness, or that such a state is a fit state for a rational and intellectual being? If so, where is the difference between man and the bruteswhere is the distinction between the plough. man and his horses? Is there a man who would see his fellow-man in such a state of degradation, and not stretch out his hand to raise him to the station in existence which his bountiful Creator intended him to fill?

But the correctness of this opinion is denied. Man is an intellectual being; and as such, he cannot rest satisfied with mere animal enjoyments: however he may be sunk in ignorance, and degraded by sensual indulgence, he is still possessed of mind; there is something more than animal in his composition, and that something, being a living principle, will act; desires will rise beyond the mere cravings of animal nature, and he will endeavour to gratify those desires. If reason is clouded by ignorance, error will attend his actions, and that which was given him by his bountiful Creator for his good, will pruduce only evil; that which, if cultivated, would be a blessing to himself and all around him, will, in a state of ignorance, produce misery and ruin. Thus it is evident, ignorance cannot be productive of good in any degree ; at best it can only generate a state of apathy and want of feeling, not to be desired by any means, but rather to be deplored. Such are the evils

of ignorance, and such is the true nature of that state of mind so falsely depicted in the objection. Knowledge cannot, therefore, be altogether useless, if it only in some degree corrects those evils.

It will, however, be easy to prove, that learning not only prevents the evils attendant on ignorance, but is fraught with the choicest blessings; for, while ignorance degrades man to an equality with the brutes, knowledge, acquired by education, and improved by the contemplation of general truths, and the comparing together of different things, elevates the faculties above low pursuits, purifies and refines the passions, and helps our reason to assuage their violence. Nor will such acquirements render the poor labouring man discontented with his station in society; it will raise him above low indulgence as a source of genuine gratification, but not above his condition in life; for the greater progress he makes in real knowledge, the more will he value his independence, and the more will he prize the industry and habits of regular labour, whereby he is enabled to secure so prime a blessing.

And here I would observe, that I am not contending for mere reading and writing: that system of education is lamentably deficient, which does not introduce the pupils to the elements of science, and train their minds to the pursuit of knowledge in after life; for indeed there is hardly any trade or occupation in which useful lessons may not be learned by studying one science or another. To how many kinds of workmen must a knowledge of mechanical philosophy be useful? To how many others does chemistry prove almost necessary? Nay, the farm servant or day-labourer, whether in his master's employ, or tending the concerns of his own cottage, must derive great practical benefit, must be both a better servant and a more thrifty, and therefore comfortable cottager, for knowing something of the nature of soils and manures, which chemistry teaches; and something of the habits of animals, and the qualities and growth of plants, which he may learn from natural history and chemistry together. In truth, though a man be neither a mechanic nor artisan, but only one having a pot to boil, he is sure to learn from science lessons which will enable him to cook his morsel better, save his fuel, and both vary his dish and improve it.

In the present age, all, or nearly all, admit the propriety of teaching the children of the poor to read, write, and cipher; but while they admit this much, a very great number are strongly opposed to a further extension of the blessings of education to

the poor. But I would ask, what benefit do the poor derive from such a partial and limited system of instruction, and what advantage is such a monopoly of learning to the rich? Will any one pretend to say, that the mere knowledge of letters will improve the mind, that to know that certain arbitrary marks or signs represent those sounds whereby we express our thoughts one to another, will expand our thinking faculties, and strengthen our reasoning powers? The art of reading is only the key to knowledge, and what is the use of a key to a person who does not know what it is to unlock, who neither knows the treasure to be obtained by it, of what it consists, where it is deposited, nor how it is to be procured? I contend that something more is necessary than what is frequently taught at present, if we would benefit mankind by education.

It has been said, that teaching the children of the poor to read is productive of evil, as they are thereby enabled to read pernicious works; and not being possessed of that judgment to discriminate between right and wrong, are led astray. To this I give my ready assent. But what is the reason? Are the poor naturally deficient in judgment? No; children are taught to read, but not to examine and judge for themselves; they therefore grow up in the habit of taking for granted whatever is laid before them; they admit, without scruple, every argument to be correct; and where they meet with conflicting opinions, from the evil bias existing in the human breast, they are sure to take the wrong side; and to this source the spread of infidel and revolutionary principles may be traced. If children are taught merely to read, infidelity and rebellion will be promoted; for while the best of men advance what they call education, the worst of men will take advantage of it.

A presumptuous political demagogue, well known by his inflammatory writings to the lower orders of society, amidst all his wickedness and folly, has shewn himself not so deficient of sense as not to perceive the effect that the intellectual improvement of the age will have upon the principle he advocates. He sees it, and I have no doubt he begins to feel it, by people beginning to be too wise either to purchase or read his weekly trash: he therefore places himself foremost in the rank with those who ridicule and oppose what they sneeringly designate "the march of intellect;" and he who wrote a grammar for ploughboys has now become the opposer of education. Of this the reason is obvious. He now finds that education, instead of making men believe his jargon, opens their eyes to see things in

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their true colours. But he does not, he never did, and perhaps he never will, object to people being able to read. Teach them to read his trash, but do not teach them to detect his sophistries, and you most effectually aid his cause, and secure his approbation. In a free country, like this, the welfare of the state requires that all classes should be so educated that talent may be elicited and improved; but ignorance is as detrimental to a free state, as it is essential to a despotic one.

Nature is an impartial parent, and her gifts are not confined to a particular class. Her favours are scattered indiscriminately among her children. Natural talent and genius are to be met with among the poor as well as the rich; and if we see but little of it among the former, it is because

"Knowledge, to their eyes, her ample page,
Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unrol;
Chill penury repressed their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul."

It may be objected, that this is all very fine theory, but only theory, unsupported by facts or experience; and some may be ready to assert, that experience proves the contrary, as the general diffusion of learning and knowledge has been attended with a most fearful and unprecedented increase of crime. To this I would reply, that, before we can appeal to facts or experience, we must see the children of the poor educated. I affirm, and none can deny the fact, that the poor have never yet been fully taught, and until that is done, and the experiment tried, no appeal to facts can be made.

What has hitherto been termed education, falls far short of what education ought to be, to produce any benefit to society in general. Every well-informed person must know, that there is a difference between an actual knowledge, and a mere acquaintance with elementary principles; and enough has already been said to prove, that elementary acquirement is only the means of obtaining real knowledge; and therefore, a person indulging in vice, and running to every excess, while possessed of mere elementary knowledge, will not affect our argument. Let, then, the stores of wisdom which have been so long withheld from the bulk of mankind be thrown open to all; permit all to come and partake freely of the pure streams of knowledge, seeing that thereby evils will be mitigated, good promoted, man exalted, and God honoured.

And who is it that objects to what is here proposed? Not the christian; because he knows, the more the mind of man is cultivated, and his intellectual powers are improved, the more able he will be to appre

ciate the value of true religion, and the more readily will he listen to the precepts of pure morality.

A cultivated mind alone can perceive the justness of the arguments, and force of the evidences, advanced in favour of Christianity, and detect the sophistry of its opponents. An ignorant man may believe divine revelation, but an educated man alone can give a reason for his belief.

A true patriot will not oppose education, because he knows anarchy and rebellion are the offspring of ignorance. Disaffected individuals may mislead an ignorant people, who are incapable of examining the arguments advanced in their inflammatory harangues; but in proportion as a man is taught, his reason will be exalted, his passions brought into subjection, his mind impressed with the importance of order and government, and thus his reason and interest will unite to make him a loyal and a peaceable subject.

Who then, I would ask, are the opponents to universal education? In some instances, a few mistaken individuals; but by far the greater number are infidels and political demagogues, who, conscious of the influence they possess over weak and ignorant minds, oppose all improvement, knowing it must prove fatal to their power and interests. No true friend to his country would wish to be found on the same side with such infamous characters; or feel ambitious to be enrolled in the same cause, and to advocate the same principles? Yet such has been the case with all who oppose education, and such still will be the case with all who continue that opposition.

G. Y.

ESSAYS. ON THE EVIDENCE, FROM SCRIPTURE, THAT THE SOUL, IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE DEATH OF THE BODY, IS NOT IN A STATE OF SLEEP, ETC.-NO. V.

(Continued from p. 254.)

II. THAT the soul, at death, is immediately happy or miserable, may be proved from metaphors and parables in scripture:

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me," Psal. xxiii. 4. In this elegant metaphoric language, death is compared to a valley, which connects this with the other world. The soul of David, when leaving the body, walks through this valley, and enters upon a new scene of existence. It is neither lost, nor bewildered in the valley, but passes safely through it. Had king David thought of his soul falling asleep at

death, he might, in that case, have called it a boundary wall, which would have been a much more appropriate epithet.

"To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," Luke xxiii. 43. The insult which some offer to common sense, by attempting to alter the punctuation in this passage, with a view to establish a favourite hypothesis, is a melancholy proof, that party prejudice too frequently assumes the office of sober reason. The time when the penitent malefactor should be in paradise, was the very day on which our Lord uttered these words. Paradise was the favourite term which the Jews used, to denote the heavenly state. It was used in allusion to the terrestrial paradise in which the first pair of the human race were put, when in a state of innocence, which was a state of happiness. Manasseh Ben Israel says, that "the experienced in the cabala unanimously declare, that one paradise is above, and another here below; and they speak the truth. There is a paradise above in heaven, and a paradise here below upon earth." "There was evidently no time for the soul of this penitent to sleep, between his death, and his entering paradise, or heaven; for it was very near the conclusion of the day, when the soldiers broke his legs, to put an end to his earthly existence, Luke xxiii. 44. John xix. 32.

"For we know, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," 2 Cor. v. 1. In these words, the apostle has evidently an allusion to the tabernacle in which the Ark of the Covenant was deposited, and in which Israel worshipped Jehovah, when they were in a migratory state. If the original word karaλvŋŋ were translated, "taken down," which is one meaning of the verb Karaλvw, the allusion would be still more obvious. The reference is, in all probability, to the final taking down of the Tabernacle; and the removing of the Ark from it, to the Temple at Jerusalem. Here then, we have the striking analogy between the taking down of the Tabernacle, and the immediate conveyance of the Ark to the Temple; and the taking down of the earthly human frame, that the immortal spirit may be immediately conveyed to a mansion of heavenly rest.

"We are confident and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Cor. v. 8. Barker's edition of the Bible, in 1585, renders the passage plainer to our purpose. "Nevertheless, we are bold, and love rather to re

* Allen on Modern Judaism, ch. x.