piness of the world, that he should do so.-. Those whose lot, and heritage fall among the lowest, fulfil the duties entailed upon them, and ever must fulfil those duties, from the dread of want for themselves, and for others dearer to them than themselves: Our poorer brethren do not toil because they are ignorant; neither would they cease to toil because they were instructed; the fabric of human happiness God has placed upon much stronger foundations; they labour, because they cannot live without labour; this has ever been sufficient to stimulate,and to continue the energy of man,and will, and must ever stimulate it, and secure its continuance, while heaven, and earth remain.`

The next objection, urged against the education of the poor, is, that the most ignorant poor, in country villages, are the best; and that the poor, of large towns, as they gain in intelligence, lose in character, and become corrupt, as they become knowing; but the country poor, it should be remembered, are the fewest in number; they are not exposed to all those innumerable temptations which corrupt the populace of large towns; this,

and not their ignorance, is the cause of their superior decency in morals, and religion; it is uncandid to oppose the poor of a confined village to the poor of a wealthy, and a boundless metropolis; but taking subjects of comparison from the same spot, and under the same circumstances, do we find that the ignorant of that place are better than the instructed of that place ?-Does any man's experience enable him to assert, practically, that there is a connexion between uncultivated minds, and righteous actions? If we want to make a human being do that which is just, is it necessary to make him think that which is sordid? If we wish him to lift up his soul, in pious adoration, to his Saviour, and his God, is it necessary to brutalize that soul which his God has given, and his Saviour redeemed? Is there, Is there, can there be, any human being who wishes that these children, who come here to return their thanks for the Providence that has watched over them, had been forsaken, passed over; left to the influence of such principles as those by which the minds of the deserted poor are impressed?-No reasonable doubt can be raised; it cannot, with any colour of justice,

be contended; every effect of their education which we witness, is a solid gain to society; . if temperance can be so called; if truth; if honesty; if a solemn, and deep, adoration of the name, and of the laws of our Saviour Jesus Christ are worthy of that appellation.

In considering the effects of educating the poor, we must not merely dwell upon the power, but upon the tendency which we have created to use that power aright; not merely ask if it is a good thing for the poor to read, but to read such books as are full of wise, and useful advice.-A mere instrument for acquiring knowledge may be used with equal success, either for a good, or a bad purpose; but education never gives the instrument without teaching the proper method of using it, and without inspiring a strong desire to use it in that manner; it raises up powerful associations in favour of righteousness; it gives a permanence of opinion, not to be blown about by every idle breath - of doctrine, and some deep life-marks, by which a human being may recover himself, if ever he does wander. To teach a child how he many acquire knowledge, is neither a

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.

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