good, nor an evil;-but to fix in his mind, at the same time, a strong bias for the acquisition of that knowledge, which makes him a better subject, a better servant, and a better christian, is the inestimable object sought for, and gained, by the education of the poor. It is in vain to say we did well without educating our poor;---we should never be content with doing well, where there is a rational prospect of doing better.--Besides, what is doing well?---We do not do well while many of the poor are led to ignominious death for want of education; we do not do well while little children are left to perish; we do not do well while thousands of unhappy females are perishing in the streets, the victims of artifice acting against deplorable ignorance; -we do not do well while those whose bodies are nourished, are left ignorant of the name of Christ, and of the sacred duties which his gospel enjoins ;it is to do better than this, that this noble charity was reared; and that the great work of educating the poor is going on throughout this enlightened kingdom, under the protection of God, and by the labors of good and pious men.

Education may easily be made to supply,

hereafter, the most innocent source of amusement, and to lessen those vices which proceed from want of interesting occupation;—it subdues ferocity, by raising up an admiration for something besides brutal strength, and brutal courage. If we were told of a poor man's family in the country, that, after the completion of their labors, they amused themselves with reading, could any human being go there, after being acquainted with such a fact, and expect to find more blasphemy, more drunkenness, more indecency, and more ferocity, than among ignorant, illiterate people? The fact is so much the reverse, that it is impossible to know that a human creature can derive pleasure from books, without feeling towards him an increased security, and respect: It is some sort of proof that such a man is not a barbarous man; that he does not thirst for blood; that he has heard there is a God; that he has given away bread to the wretched; that he has an house, an altar, and a king.

We must remember, in this question, that all experience is in our favor; that the

experiment, of educating the poor in the gospel, as well as in the lower parts of human learning, has been tried in many countries of Europe, to the greatest extent, and with the greatest success.—We must remember, that the question of educating the poor, is not a question between a virtuous education, and no education at all; but it is a choice between a good education, and a bad one;--you cannot repress the inborn activity of these poor children, and render those minds stagnant, which are not progressive to a good point;—you will have weeds to eradicate, if you have not harvests to reap.-You must incur greater trouble, and expence, hereafter, in punishing their crimes, than you do now in cherishing their virtues, you must either teach them the word of Christ, and the law of everlasting life; or you must rage against them with gibbets and chains; and thrust them from the light of the world, into the torments of hell.

There are many methods in which a community is considerably benefited by the education of its poor;-a human being,

who is educated, is, for many purposes of commerce, a much more useful, and convenient instrument; and the advantage to be derived from the universal diffusion of this power, is not to be overlooked in a discussion of this nature.

The education of the poor, sifts the talents of a country, and discovers the choicest gifts of nature in the depths of solitude, and in the darkness of poverty;-for Providence often sets the grandest spirits in the lowest places, and gives to many a man a soul far better than his birth, compelling him to dig with a spade, who had better have wielded a sceptre; education searches every where for talents; sifting among the gravel for the gold, holding up every pebble to the light, and seeing whether it be the refuse of Nature, or whether the hand of art can give it brilliancy and price :-There are no bounds to the value of this sort of education: I come here to preach upon this occasion; when fourteen or fifteen youths, who have long participated of your bounty, come to return you their thanks; how do we know that there

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may not be, among all these, one who shall enlarge the boundaries of human knowledge; who shall increase the power of his country by his enterprise in commerce; -watch over its safety in the most critical times, by his vigilance as a magistrate ;— and consult its true happiness by his integrity, and his ability, as a senator? On all other things there is a sign, or a mark ;we know them immediately, or we can find them out; but man, we do not know; for one man differeth from another man, as Heaven differs from earth;-and the excellence that is in him, education seeks for with vigilance, and preserves with care.We might make a brilliant list of our great English characters, who have been born in cottages ;-may it ever increase ;-there can be no surer sign that we are a wise, and a happy people.

I would ask those, who place such confidence in the benefits of ignorance, how far they would chuse to carry these benefits? for, if the safety of a state depends upon its ignorance, then, the more ignorance the more safety;-and we ought to wish the