Sunday-schools but no day school, was 1042, making a total of 3706 places without a day school of any description! The Rev. John Allen, one of the Government inspectors of Schools, in the Report which he presented in 1844, states that the number of parishes in the three counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Huntingdonshire, in which there are either no schools at all, or only of the very humblest class, are in Bedfordshire sixty-five; in Cambridgeshire, fifty-seven; in Huntingdon, forty-nine-total, 171. And a similar statement would hold good in respect to almost every other English and Welsh county. Now we find from these statements, that more than ONE MILLION CHILDREN are annually growing up in this so-called Christian land, without even the semblance of a regular education! Their minds uninstructed in religious principles, open to every evil suggestion that may present itself to them, and ripe for every crime. In Manchester alone, it is calculated that there are 1500 children annually added to what have been emphatically called "the dangerous classes." We must also consider the quality of the education afforded to those who do receive it, and we shall thus see that the evil is far greater than it would otherwise seem. "Of this fact, however unwelcome, no doubt can exist on the minds of those who have paid any close and practical attention to it. And this is not a local failure, but one almost universally prevalent. Of one of our chief manufacturing towns, an eminent Government Inspector (the Hon. and Rev. B. W. Noel,) reports, that in the first classes of the schools he visited, he received such answers as these: Q. Who was the eldest son of Adam? A. Abraham. Q. What is a Levite? A. Gethsemane. Q. Who wrote the Bible? Q. Who were the Pharisees? Q. What was the chief city of the Romans? A. Jerusalem. Q. What is Liverpool? Q. What city did Jesus live in? Q. What country was Nazareth in? Q. Of what religion was Paul before he was a Christian? A. A Roman Catholic. Q. What other countries are there in Europe besides England? A. America. Asia." 66 While, of the state of instruction in a totally different district, not twenty miles from the metropolis, and within sight of the royal palace of Windsor, the following account is given by an excellent clergyman (Rev. T. Page) who resides in the district: During the last winter I collected together some of the lads of my district, employed in various farming occupations, for the purpose of giving them some evening iustruction. I succeeded in prevailing upon between 20 and 30 of these youths to come to me two evenings in each week. Of the whole number I found, upon inquiry, that every one had been for a longer or shorter time in one of the National schools, or in the endowed school for boys which exist in this parish. All of them would be included in any parliamentary or ecclesiastical returns as educated." Some of them had even attained the highest class in their respective schools, and most of them were accounted by their still more ignorant relatives, to be "bits of scholars." And yet of the whole number there was not one who could read well-not even tolerably, so as to be above the necessity of repeating the longer word twice or thrice over, and often of spelling them, in order to pronounce them aright. There was not one who appeared to have the least notion of punctuation-even the best readers regulating their pauses, rather by the necessity for respiration than the construction of the passage. To suppose that, under such circumstances, there was any capability of taking an intelligent interest in, or properly comprehending, 66 what they read, would be unreasonable in the extreme. Low as my estimate had previously been of the sterling utility and abiding advantage of the sort of instruction usually afforded in our parochial schools, I must confess I was not fully prepared for the amount of ignorance, both as it regards mind and manners, which these poor fellows displayed; nor can any one who has not made such an experiment be fully alive to all the difficulties with which it is attended." (See "Remedies for the Perils of the Nation." Pp. 140-143.) And we find what we might naturally expect would be the fruits of such a state of things. Crime is fearfully on the increase. The committals in 1820 were 13,710, while in 1838, they were 23,094; and it is a melancholy fact, that the progress of crime in Scotland has been more rapid during the last thirty years than in any other State in Europe. Now it has been repeatedly proved, from returns made to Parliament, that crime bears an exact and immediate proportion to the amount of education; and the following statement is a striking instance of the truth of this assertion. In the Report of the British and Foreign School Society for 1845, the following passage occurs: "Those incessant witnesses against ignorance and neglect, the gaol returns of the kingdom, have borne fearful testimony to the extent of moral darkness which still brood over large portions of our population. age, "Of the criminals of Berkshire, one-third have again been found unable to read; in Cambridgeshire and Staffordshire, one-half were in this condition; in Denbighshire, twothirds; in Devon, out of seventy-one offenders under sixteen years of only four could read well; in Essex, one-half were in total ignorance; while of 212 convicted prisoners, forty-eight had never been at school at all, forty had been there less than one month, forty-five less than two months, forty-three less than four months, and only thirty-six above six months; Hereford, out of 385 prisoners, only one could read well; in Sussex, out of 877 prisoners, 141 did not know the Saviour's name, 498 just knew his name and no more, 179 had a confused acquaintance with his history, and only six per cent. of the whole number had any reasonable knowledge of the Christian faith." From the return of the commitments in Manchester for the half-year ending in July, 1842, it appears that 8,341 persons were taken into custody; of these, it appears that the number who only read, or who read and wrote imperfectly, was 2,862; of those who neither read nor wrote, 4,617. Thus, in the whole number of 8,341 persons arrested, there were only 862 who could read and write even tolerably perfectly. I will now pause for a few moments in order to mention some few statistics of the population of Manchester in 1843. There were then→→→ 129 Pawnbrokers. 769 Beer-houses. 498 Public-houses. 309 Brothels. 119 Brothels lately suppressed. 163 Houses where prostitutes were kept; and 763 Street walkers. The thieves known to reside in the Borough, and who did nothing but steal, were 212; the persons who followed some lawful occupation, but augmented their gains by some habitual violation of the law, were 160. There were sixty-three houses for receiving stolen goods. But mere education, worldly education, will not effect much change in the condition of our population. We must give them a religious education no other will effect any change for the better. "Education," says M. Cousin, "if not based on religious tuition, is worse than useless." And every day's experience is adding additional confirmation to this eternal truth. The Almighty has decreed that man shall not, with impunity, forget his Maker, and that no amount of intellectual cultivation-no degree of skill in the mechanical arts-not all the splendours of riches, or the triumphs of civilization, shall compensate for the want or neglect of this fundamental condition of human happiness. The proofs of this great truth are overwhelming, universal; they crowd in from all quarters, and the only difficulty is to select from the mass of important evidence what bears most materially upon the question at issue.* We will now conclude the narration of these few facts by an extract from a sermon by the Rev. Hugh Stowell, before the Church Pastoral Aid Society : "It is a startling reflection, that whilst we have been sending forth the Scriptures of truth, and the am-, bassadors of peace to remotest nations (and in doing so we have done rightly, would we had done a hundred-fold mo more!) yet it is a startling reflection that there has not been a proportionate strenuousness of aggression on the heathenism, profligacy, and atheism which have been allowed to settle down upon extended districts of our own country; so that it would not be exaggeration to aver,TM that something analogous to Missionary effort is no less intensely needed by our heathen at home, than are the heralds of salvation by the heathen abroad. Nay, brethren, it would not be an exaggerated assertion, that if you sought to discover the darkest specimen of alienation from every thing like religious sentiment, you must not direct your researches to the wild savages of the torrid, nor to the stupified barbarians of the frigid, zone; but you must explore some of your own forgotten hamlets, or some of the frightful recesses of your own vast metropolis; for investigate where you will amongst uncivilized nations, you will find, that however brutalized or abandoned, they yet entertain some consciousness of a supernatural being, they accord somewhat of homage to some power superior to themselves; but there exist in this Christianized land many who only know the name of God to blaspheme it, who never bow their knee in sign of adoration, who recognize no preternatural existence, nor entertain so much as an apprehension of a hereafter. It is a fact fully ascertained, that there are numbers in our manu * Alison on Population, vol. 2, p. 292. facturing districts who have never crossed the threshold of a place of worship, who have never been baptized into the faith of Christ, who have consequently no pretension to the name of Christian, and who are absolutely and emphatically Godless, though comprehended in the bosom of a land that glories in her Sabbaths and her sanctuaries, and to whom the eyes of all nations are directed as the light of the world." - And again he says— "By our responsibility, therefore, as members of the community, we ought to be aroused. The perverted maxim that charity begins at home, is emphatically true, although it is no less emphatically true, that it ought not to terminate there. What saith the Scripture? If a man provide not for his own, especially for those of his own household, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an Infidel. Hence, duty demands that our sympathies and our charities should circle foremost and deepest around our own centre, and yet, as we have opportunity, expand to the circumstances of the world. But if the stream do not first fertilize and beautify the little valley whence it springs, it has no right to issue forth and exhaust its waters on the distant wilderness. If, brethren, after our own souls have been lighted with the wisdom from on high, we do not primarily seek to irradiate our own family circle, we do not strive to bring our kinsfolk, our friends, our acquaintances, and our neighbours, to the salvation which we have tasted, we shall assuredly be self-condemned in transporting our compassions to the ends of the earth. Indeed there cannot be a more strange and anomalous paradox than that which sometimes, we say not frequently, obtains amongst professing Christians, their sympathies and their solicitudes are drawn forth towards the idolaters of the Antipodes, whilst they are frozen up from those who are perishing before their eyes; adopting and accommodating the language of Scripture, might we not appeal to such?" If ye love not your neighbour whom ye have seen, how can ye love the heathen whom ye have not seen. ”” not stay. "And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried." GENESIS viii. 13, 14.8 52 10 DIB WE may learn much from the smallest portions of God's Word. The patri arch teaches us first, to use the faculties which God has given us. He removes the covering from the ark, and looks to see if the waters are dried up from the face of the ground. He finds that they are. But Noah was one of those faithful persons of whom the Prophet says," He that believeth shall not make haste.” He could well afford to wait God's time for his removal. Another month to him was only an opportunity for "patience to have its perfect work." What at the end of this time causes' his delay The want of the Divine command. Until this be given, he dare not move; when given, he will With what confidence must he have led forth his family, and every living creature out of the ark, again to people a world of desolation! (Verses 17, 18.) With the awful consequences of sin so immediately before his eyes, how consistent was his first act of building an altar unto the Lord, and offering burnt offer ings upon it, as a type of Him who alone could atone for that guilt which had only been, as it were, shewn by the destiny of man daundy do. BT HIPTIL 1.6GDP_C-tise ad ziomie "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant be tween me and the earth."-GEN. ix, 13. What a source of comfort must this memoriale of God's faithfulness have proved to Noah and his immediate descendants With the judgments of God still fresh in their remem brance, and the consequences of them before their eyes, how unwilling would they have been to listen to any such suggestions as Satan puts into the mind of the modern neologist Daily experience proves that infix delity, in all its forms, is a disease of the heart. The desire for the lie is first felt, and then its belief is established. I 66 But we may learn another experimental lesson from this cloud. To the family of Noah it would often recal the destruction of the earth; and were it not for the bow, which God so graciously speaks of as His, (because he delighteth in mercy," they would have trembled at its appearance. The bow, however, was dependant upon the cloud for its formation, as well as upon the sun. And not all the promises of God in a measure connected with the trials to which they are adapted, for their value? The "bow" is God's; but we must be thankful for the "cloud" which has caused it to be visible. How little should we have are God's attributes whilstave known of on earth, if the dispensations of his providence had not brought his purposes so visibly before us! "There was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald." REV. iv. 3, 22 What tender mercy" God has shewn towards our weakness and our sinfulness, by retaining some of our earthly emblems, in the description of the heavenly Jerusalem! He treats us as his children, and allows us to retain our earthly pictures, until we can really estimate our heavenly portion. The rainbow," under the old dispensation, was a token of the covenant of mercy, as it respected the body; and here it seems used for the same purpose, only with reference to the soul. When "this mortal shall have put on immortality," the first fear which the awakened sinner might have, would probably be excited by the "throne of God." Power and justice are the attributes which it awakens ; and well might " the sinners in Zion be afraid." But He 66 who knoweth our frame," has graciously added the emblem of mercy; and lest any dread of his fiery indignation should remain, he gives us the colour of the "emerald." Upon this the eye of faith may repose with the greatest comfort, and the faithfulness of our covenant God will ever be the security of our brightest hopes. (1 John i. 9.) A QUESTION FOR THE SPEAKERS AT THE MAY MEETINGS. MR. EDITOR, I have been much struck by the following passage in a letter from a friend of mine, a missionary from India, at present on a visit to this country. "The best missionaries of the Church of England all over the world, are not Englishmen, but Germans. It has delegated the most honourable part of its work to foreigners." If this be really the case, with what deep shame ought the clergy and laity of the Church of England to confess the truth of the charge! What! does the Church of England, like Carthage of old, and Venice in modern times, pay foreigners for doing by proxy the work which her children ought to do themselves ? While the soldiers and sailors of England are found in every clime, are we forced to hire Germans to do what we cannot find men amongst ourselves to do, to carry Christ's Gospel to the heathen? On a cursory recollection, I am inclined to think that my friend's statement is not exaggerated. Look at Sierra Leone. The early missionaries, Butscher, Nylander, and Düring, were all foreigners. So also in India were Swartz and Rhenius, and a host of others. I hope some abler correspondent will take up the point, and endeavour to answer this question Why cannot the Church of England send out educated and able men-English born-to supply the wants of her missions abroad? I lately proposed this question to an eminent and justly esteemed clergyman, and he, acknowledging the truth of the statement, could give no solution of the problem. I believe there are various reasons which may be assigned. Let us frankly confess, that there is an idea widely prevalent amongst the clergy, even the best of them, that their only concern with Missionary work is to raise pecuniary funds, each according to his ability, to support either or both of the Missionary Societies of the Church of England. They take pains to explain the nature of missions to their people-form missionary associations have an annual sermon, and perhaps a well attended meeting, where the neighbouring clergy, and a deputation from the parent Society, lend their aid in exciting an interest for the eternal welfare of the heathen, and here they stop. But surely the clergy of the Church of England ought not to think, that their duty ends here. Funds, inindeed are wanted for the missionary work, but men are wanted also; aye, and the demand for men is at this moment tenfold more urgent than the demand for funds. £10,000 have been raised by the Church Missionary Society for their China Mission; and yet a properly qualified man cannot be found to act as a missionary! In this shameful state of matters, I hold that every clergyman in the Church is bound to put this question to his conscience-Am I qualified to be the Lord's messenger to the heathen, and if so, are my employments at home of such a nature, that I can with a clear conscience declare before my God, that I think I am doing more service to the Church by remaining at home, than by going abroad? Doubtless there are many clergymen whose spheres of duty at home are so distinctly marked out, that there is no call upon them to go abroad. But how many are there in the Church, well-educated, able men, strong both in mind and body, admirably fitted in every way to carry the Gospel to the heathen-who live in spheres, where they feel that the endowments with which God has gifted them can never be thoroughly developed and yet who will not allow themselves even to entertain the thought as a possibility, that God may be calling them to occupy a foremost place in the conflict with Satan which is at present going on throughout the heathen world! Humanly speaking, I do not think |