THE DUTY OF SOCIETY TOWARDS OFFENDERS.

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lature, the judge, and the jury, can, each of them, plead that they do not judge their fellow-creature; but, nevertheless, their several acts taken together, amount to a judgment upon their fellow-creature, inasmuch as they hold him guilty, and inflict upon him, what they consider a meet recompense for his guilt. If this is not judging, I should like to know what is? And if it must be admitted to be judging, I should like to know what excuse can be pleaded for thus flying in the face of the Saviour's command? I know that this cuts deep at the root of the present institutions; but I care not; if, what I say, be not true, if it be not founded upon gospel principles, I know that it will not stand; and, if it be true, it is better that it should be said, than that we should go on longer in our blindness. If there is something bad at the foundation of the present institutions, it is right to point it out, lest the whole structure should give way, and bury us under its ruins. It is in vain that we conceal these matters from ourselves, and bow our heads to an authority, which owes its whole weight to the silent and thoughtless consent of ages, more or less barbarous. Those institutions are upheld by the powers that be. I know it; and, therefore, I am ready to submit to them most cheerfully, as far as passive obedience goes, on the same ground, on which the first Christians were enjoined to obey even the heathen emperors; but when these things are done in the name of Christ, and by virtue of his authority, then it is the duty of every Christian to enter his protest against the misappropriation of the Christian name to things, which are essentially unchristian. And what can be more directly contrary to Christ's religion, than judging our fellow-creatures? If society acted in His spirit, what would be its conduct towards offending members? Their temporal necessities, which operate in the way of temptation, would be relieved; their moral state would be considered as an object of deep commiseration, calling, not only for forgiveness, but for an active exertion, to convince them of their evil

P

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LEGAL FALSEHOOD.

condition, and to induce them to choose a better path. The agents of society, if society were constituted on Christian principles, would heap coals of fire on the heads of offenders, by coming forward as their kind benefactors and instructors-not as their judges-and, if they did so, they would not be compelled, as they now are, to sanction a solemn lie in the mouth of every guilty individual, who is put to their bar, and who, by setting up the false plea of “not guilty," and, at the same time, asking to be tried by "his God and his country," commits a denial of his guilt, aggravated by the use of the divine name, at the very moment when he ought to repent, and when his fellow-christians should earnestly entreat him to do SO. This circumstance alone, that humanity renders a legal falsehood necessary, one should think, might be sufficient to arouse the suspicions of conscientious Christians, respecting the consistency of the existing laws with the principles of our religion. But there are other points, equally plain, by which the matter might be decided. A Christian, for instance, must admit, that man has not his life and liberty given to him by God, for the maintenance of social order; whence it follows, that they ought never to be sacrificed to it, by virtue of the simple principle, that nothing can lawfully be sacrificed to any other purpose, than that for which it is intended. On this principle, society itself becomes a means for the attainment of that spiritual purpose, for which man is created, and for which he is placed in society; and, therefore, no sacrifice that society might bring, for the attainment of that purpose by any one of its members, could ever be too great. I am fully aware that this view, in which society is represented as the debtor of those, whom it has been accustomed to brand with ignominy, and to visit with penal inflictions, is, in a certain measure, impracticable; that is to say, that, in the deep corruption in which society is merged, a return to Christian principles is not possible, otherwise than gradually; but this, conclusive as it might be against a pro

PREVALENCE OF AN HIRELING SPIRIT.

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ject of abolishing all the existing laws by one stroke, proves nothing against him, who only states the principle as one, to which the present state of things is opposed, and which ought to be urged upon the public mind with a view to improvement. And by what can we have more hope of advancing towards an improved state, than by educating the rising generation in purer ideas, respecting the purpose of society, the nature of justice, and its subordination to charity? But to effect this, we must first banish the false principles, to which the present generation pays an idolatrous homage, from the field of education; that both, doctrine and practice, may co-operate, to render our children better men than we are, and thereby able to form, and to live in, a better state of society than that, through which it is our lot to drag a painful existence.

Another leading vice of society, which I cannot pass over without some mention being made of it, as it has an eminent share in corrupting the education of the wealthier classes, is the habit of presenting a selfish and interested end as the prize of every exertion. I have already, touching the education of the poor, animadverted upon the mercenary spirit in which it is conducted, and what I have there said, is fully as applicable to that of the rich. The sixpences and cakes, by which the fathers and mothers reward the application and good behaviour of their sweet darlings, the books, and other examination prizes, distributed in public and private schools, the scholarships and fellowships, in the gift of the Universities, are all of one piece with the reward tickets of the Borough Road, and the three two-pences in the Clergyman's pocket. The origin of these artificial inducements to mental activity and the acquisition of knowledge, is not difficult to be accounted for, if we but consider the dryness of the monastic education of the middle ages, which was more a deadening, than an enlivening, of the mind. Hence, wherever the oldfashion methods of teaching are preserved, it is by no means astonishing, that it should be

212 THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE NOT BELIEVED IN.

found necessary, to preserve the oldfashion means for inducing people to allow themselves to be taught; but the case is very different, when we come to institutions, which pretend to have thrown off those old systems, and to have opened a vein of instruction, from which knowledge flows in abundant streams, carrying with it intrinsic interest and delight. When we hear men boast at every street corner of the value of knowledge, nay, and of its power too, we expect to find some practical proof, that they believe in that value and power. Now it so happens, that I have lately been to the Hall of the London University, with a friend of mine from the country, who wished to see the building, and, to my great astonishment, I beheld there a list of rewards and prizes, distributed to the pupils of the different classes. Is it possible, said I to myself! Can "the schoolmaster" have so mean an idea of the charms, and of the stimulating power of knowledge, that rewards are deemed necessary to induce these young men to accept it from his hands?-Indeed this is, with so many other facts of a similar description, a clear proof, that it is easy to raise a new institution, but difficult to fill it with a new spirit!

And whence does that difficulty arise, but from the general ignorance and the general perversion of right principles. In a land, in which every good thing is done for hire, and hardly any thing without hire, it is but consistent with the general feeling, that children should be taught to do, whatsoever they do, for hire's sake. A father likes his boy to have a reward in view, when he exerts himself, that he may always know, for what he does it. Improvements, on this head, will not so soon be relished by the mass, and therefore they will not so soon be made by schoolmasters, who themselves have nothing in view, but to serve the mass for hire's sake; nor by institutions raised on so extensive a scale, as to require the support of great popularity, whereby they become, of necessity, subject to the public prejudices. Here is the very root of the evil.

DIFFICULTIES OF A PRACTICAL EXPERIMENT.

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The ignorance of the public, and the obstinacy with which every one, individually, opposes, whatever is calculated to enlarge his notions and to correct his errors, is the cause, why practical improvements are so difficult of introduction. I have often heard the outcry : "What use is it preaching these things in theory! why not exemplify them in practice, that we may be convinced by the results ?" Very true! I grant, that a practical illustration would act most powerfully; but where is the possibility of it, in the present state of public opinion? Where are the children to come from, and who is to provide the means for their education? As to the wealthier classes, where the means are at hand, I think that most parents would rather lose their lives, than permit their children to receive an education independent of, or opposed to, their own prejudices and party feelings. Poor children you might certainly have, easily enough, if you undertook to provide for them; but this involves an expense, for which the purses of the rich must again be resorted to; and there is no hope of getting the assistance of their guineas without the impediments of their narrowmindedness. In this position of

things, I say, it is better for a man to leave a great work undone, than to defeat its purpose, by doing it after the fashion of the world—and, if he be confined to preaching, well, then, let him preach! Let him preach against the ignorance of the public, and the perverse principles of society; let him proclaim pure and holy principles, let him bear witness to that light, which shineth in darkness, to that strength, which is made perfect in weakness: and, surely, his words will not be lost; the dawn of a better day will break in upon education, as sure as it is impossible for the weakness and narrowmindedness of man, to stifle the life, and light, and power of God!

Before concluding this lecture, I must beg leave to call your attention, for a few moments, to the second part of our question, viz., " By what means can the education of