former nevertheless prevented that spark from becoming extinct from which we have at once derived our light and our wisdom. They alone were the depositaries of those inspired records, from which the only salutary knowledge can be derived, and which in their convents were preserved from the sacrilegious hands of barbarian invaders. If we trace the means by which the great intellectual revolution was effected, which has exalted this country to such a distinguished elevation among the nations of the earth, we shall discover it to have originated in those institutions which were the prolific branches from the conventual stock. It is to the establishment of our universities, then to our numerously endowed schools, which, from the reign of Henry the Seventh, have been progressively founded in this country, and finally to the establishment of charity schools for the education of the poor, that we are to ascribe the rapid march of knowledge among our daily increasing population. To these we owe the diffusion of that information which has been extending among us in proportion as these institutions have been established and supported. By means of similar institutions abroad, we now see those regions overspread with an industrious and enlightened population, whence on the decline of the Roman power issued those desperate hordes of barbarians, whose savage ferocity was the terror of

civilized Europe. The German forest, where in earlier times the stern Druid has reeked with the blood of human sacrifices, is now peopled by a race illustrious for their learning, their religion, and their virtues. Even in this distinguished land of liberty, the same revolting horrors have been witnessed-the same atrocious rites solemnized; and where the wicker idol once inclosed its victims, devoted to the flames, a race has sprung up which has attained a remarkable pre-eminence among the nations of the earth. Up to so late a period as the Protectorate, the people of England were, as a nation, the most filthy, besotted, and ignorant of any country in civilized Europe. Their habits were coarse and licentious; they were turbulent, rebellious, and immoral; strangers as well to the refinements of civil as to the amenities of social life. But now, what a contrast! I repeat it— they stand at this moment conspicuous for all that is nationally great and good among the kingdoms of the earth.

Such are the effects of instruction among the communities of the world. They who are hostile to the education of the poor will do well to contrast the social state of nations professing the Christian faith, during the middle ages, with their present progress in mental and moral improvement; for I do contend that there is an immense improvement in both. "By the knowledge of the

Lord,” they are now distinguished, whilst they then only "professed a wisdom which they had not."

In proportion as education has extended, society has everywhere improved; for, in proportion as a people are ignorant, they are savage and what is true of nations will be found, in most cases, equally true of individuals. Is there a single exception upon the whole surface of the globe, where national barbarism is not the handmaid of national ignorance? If, as some cold political calculators contend, ignorance in a people is the best safeguard of a constitution, then may we look to the Huns of the fifth century, under the renowned but ferocious Attila, and to those northern savages, who subsequently deluged with their warriors the Roman world, as the best patterns of national and political prosperity. We must then assent to the lively sarcasm of the poet, "if ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." But let us consider dispassionately what has been the effect of educating the poor, beyond the mere improvement of their minds and of their morals. It has tended in no small degree to advance also the improvement of the rich. This must ever be its ultimate effect. In proportion as the lower classes become enlightened, the higher ascend the scale of intellectual illumination. Society will always maintain its proper gradations-even

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among the most savage tribes, there is some distinction of classes,-and where the poor of any country increase in knowledge, we shall find the higher orders improving also in an equal ratio. The poor are, indeed, advanced by education only as a part of the social mass, since the rich rise with them in regular progression. Both portions still maintain their respective stations, as the ascent of each in the scale of improvement is alike accelerated.

A well ordered society has been happily compared to a pyramid, of which the commonalty form the base. In proportion as this base is raised, all its parts, from the foundation to the summit, must regularly rise with it; and if this maxim be true, the converse of the proposition will equally hold, that if the base of the structure be depressed, the summit must also sink with it. So that, where the large majority of a people continue in that state of mental degradation, which a total absence of education cannot fail to cause, a relative ignorance will pervade all ranks; and thus, the more ignorant the lower classes, the less enlightened will consequently be the higher. For a proof of this I need only refer you to the history of those times to which I have already alluded. We see that education even within the last century has greatly improved among all the different orders of the community. In the higher, formerly, reading

and writing, with the more domestic arts of housewifery, comprised almost the total amount of education among women: whilst, now, not only are the most elegant accomplishments acquired in a very high degree of perfection, but, besides a general acquaintance with what is termed polite learning, the less recondite branches of natural and moral philosophy are looked upon as essential to a polished female education. Thus it is that the education of the poor gives a spur to the mental acquirements of the rich; since the latter know and feel that a superiority over the former is absolutely necessary to support their civil distinctions, and in order to maintain that superiority, they must really possess it. This is the stimulus which keeps them up to their proper elevation. To educate the poor, therefore, is to advance the united interests of the community. Let us then, as the Apostle recommends, "follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."

It is not by educating the poor, as some contend, but by educating them improperly, that any political evil is to be apprehended. Where they are merely advanced in useful knowledge, and brought up in the principles of the Christian religion, which in our charity schools forms a main feature in the education of the lower classes, they are much less likely to become