various denominations, at the same school, have been the principal causes of the continued exclusion of the Bible, from our plans of general education.

But has not the time come, when a change may be advantageously and properly made? Is it credible, that no change ever will be made, that the Bible never will be an inseparable part of all education, from the earliest and the lowest, to the latest and the highest? For myself, I have no doubt, as to the answer to be given; and believing as I do, that one of the first duties of the Reformation was to have incorporated the Bible into the whole course of instruction. I trust that the time is not far distant, when this principle will be universally acknowledged and acted on, "that the Bible is the only good basis, and the only safe, enduring cement of all education."

Peculiar circumstances incident to our own country, and to the age, in which we live, indicate the present as the time, and the U. States as the place, to take up and consider this deeply interesting and important question. Let us then proceed to do so, not daring, however, to hope, that much more can be accomplished now than to direct attention to the subject, yet feeling that even that little is an object worthy of accomplishment.

Our country must be acknowledged an appropriate place; when we consider its freedom from every species of intolerance and persecution, the equality of all sects, under our laws and constitutions, the absence of superstition, of church establishments, and of priestly nobility, the total separation of church and state, the general dependence of the clergy upon the people, and the extensive participation of the laity in church concerns. When we consider, also, the civil and political equality, which prevail among us, our state of society, so natural and inartificial, the general diffusion of knowledge, the constant approximation towards universal education, the unshackled freedom and all-pervading influence of the press, the plain practical character of all our institutions, the share of the people in the administration of government, and the paramount authority of popular sentiment, we cannot but see a vast difference between our own and every other country, that has ever existed. Should the question be asked, "why is such a country, the appropriate place, to consider and act upon the question, as to Bible Education?" I would answer thus. It is peculiarly a fit place; because we are a plain, practical people, all our schemes are founded on principles of natural right and duty,

all our reforms are of the same description, and have utility for their object, religious truth, duty, and usefulness are above all others, every thing depends on individual and social enterprise, popular patronage is the only one known, the people are the beginning, middle, and end of every thing.

But, not only is our country the fit place, the present is, in an eminent degree, the suitable period. It is an æra of unexampled light, in all that regards the social condition and political improvement of man. It is equally an extraordinary æra, in whatever belongs to Science and Literature, and to all the various Arts, which contribute to adorn and refine society, to multiply the comforts, exalt the happiness, and enlarge the usefulness of man. Nor is it less a remarkable period, in a religious point of view, when we bear in mind the institutions, that have arisen, and the spirit that has prevailed more especially, within the last five and twenty years. The Sunday School and the Bible Society, Tract and Missionary Associations, with those for meliorating the spiritual and moral condition of the Mariner, and many others of a kindred character, have arisen every where to honor and to bless our American Christendom. The spirit of the age is of the same noble order; for it is liberal in contributing both time and money, for all christian purposes; and still more liberal in the christian temper and feelings, which are influencing more and more, both clergy and laity. Now, it is obvious that Christian Education is fitted to refine and dignify public sentiment, to enlighten men on subjects of personal and social, of private and public duty; *to afford a higher, and purer standard of usefulness; and by its combination with all other means of improvement, to make THE PEOPLE, wiser, and better, and happier, than they would otherwise be. Let the Bible then be brought to bear upon the affections of the heart, upon the powers of the understanding, upon the immortal aspirations of the soul, and upon the whole character, in its interior and exterior relations, and if we have either the faith of religion, or the faith of experience, we must believe, that the happiest consequences will be the result. Hitherto, like the fabulous streams of Alpheus and Arethusa, secular and christian education have existed entirely independent, though like them, they commence at the same point, extend, as it were, parallel through life, and terminate at the same place. But let them be inseparably blended, from infancy to manhood, and

as the waters of Marah became sweet from the tree, that was cast into them, so shall the bitterness of secular be forever banished, by the purifying influences of Christian Education.

We have thus considered the origin of that practice, which excludes religion from schemes of general education, and the causes of its continuance. We have seen that our country is peculiarly the appropriate place, and that the present is, in a remarkable degree, a suitable period, for considering and deciding this interesting question. Let us now proceed to inquire into the motives, which invite to a fundamental change in this matter.

The limits of this Address will not permit me to do more, than assign the reasons, which are derived from the principle of DUTY. As a spiritual, and not merely a material being, man consists of a conscience, an understanding and a heart. Religion is the sphere of the first, knowledge of the second, and the affections of domestic and social life, of the third. On the first, essentially depend our happiness and perfection, here and hereafter: on the second, chiefly rests the business of life: on the third, the greater part of our enjoyments and comforts, in the family circle, and in social intercourse. As the combination of all makes the most finished character, in the sight both of God and Man, so the same union must of necessity, make the most complete scheme of education. How extraordinary then is the fact, that the first and last should have been so carefully excluded from schemes of general education! From these are banished the enlightenment of that conscience, which is the peculiar empire of God himself; and the cultivation of those affections, which here below, embosom the whole human family, and ascending to heaven, commune with God, and Angels, and the spirits of the just; while the understanding is cultivated, as if this were the only important element, in the moral constitution of man.—' -The course of study in every school, academy and college, attests the truth of the remark, that almost the only object of all schemes of general education, is to make scholars and men of business. But to cultivate the conscience and the affections, out of which are the issues of life and death, of happiness and misery, forms no part of the scheme. A moment's reflection will satisfy every one, that almost the whole of education is devoted to the classics and mathematics. If we take, as the average years of education, from six to eighteen, a

period of twelve years, we shall see at once, that threefourths of them are dedicated to these two branches. Of the other three, at least five-sixths are allotted to studies, which have little if any influence at all, on the conscience and the heart. Thus, in a christian country, in christian schools, academies and colleges, under the sanction, and and even administration, to a great extent, of the Christian Ministry, and of Professing Christians, we behold the appalling truth, that in a scheme of general education, not more than one-twenty-fourth part of it is devoted to the enlightenment of the conscience and the cultivation of the affections. In point of fact, then, those things, which even the Angels desire to look into, are neglected or carefully excluded, as though it were intended to demonstrate practically, how little they were esteemed. So complete has been the banishment of the Scriptures from all academic and collegiate instruction, one might almost imagine that Infidel rulers had forbidden the use of the Bible, in schools and universities, in imitation of the Apostate Julian, who prohibited the Christians from studying the Books of the Gentiles.

Duty is the great business of Man's life; it is the only standard of usefulness, the only guide to happiness. In exact proportion, as it is correctly taught, justly appreciated, and faithfully practiced, individuals and communities will be prosperous and happy. The Spartan principle, to which they adhered with inexorable fidelity, that may well shame the christian, was this-to teach that, which would be most valuable to the youth in manhood. Hence, the children of Sparta were regarded as Public Property, and trained for the service of the State. War being the whole end of their institutions, education was accordingly moulded as a means to its attainment, with a skill as iron-nerved, and a spirit, as merciless and uncompromising, as those, which characterize the Indian of North America. During the supremacy of Napoleon, as every young man in the Empire had reason to anticipate a summons to the Army, the first object of education naturally was, to fit him for the field." The Persian children, while at school, "employed their time as diligently in learning the principles of justice, as the youth in other countries did to acquire the most difficult arts and sciences." Diderot, though an Infidel, carefully instructed his daughter in the New Testament, as the only code of morals. Disbelieving its divine origin, he acknowledged the perfec

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tion of its practical morality; and not only desired, but labored to give to its purity and beauty, a transcendant influence over the character of his child.

Such are the lessons, which the Christian learns from the Heathen, the Despot, and the Unbeliever. He confesses that duty is the very life of life, the fountain of all good, private and public, of all happiness, individual and domestic, social and national. He acknowledges, that his children are indeed public property; but he rejoices that they are such only because they are in a higher and nobler sense, the property of God: that he is their Creator, Ruler, and Judge; that his Scriptures have brought life and immortality to light; that they are the only genuine standard of truth and obligation; that all are bound to study them, to imbibe their spirit, and to practice their precepts: and that the whole fabric of all our institutions, and of our society and government rests upon them.

"In te omnis domus inclinata recumbit."

The Heathen, the Tyrant, the Infidel march onward to the accomplishment of their purpose, sustained by a correspondent energy and perseverance; but the Christian profits not by the lesson. Like Demosthenes, who loved to swear by the mighty dead of Marathon, but shrunk from the imitation of their glorious deeds, the Christian has banished from his plans of education, the Holy Scriptures; as though to be deeply read in the Oracles of God, were not the chief end of life. Plato excluded Homer from his scheme of a Republic; and, as though the Bible were a pestilent and dangerous book, the christian has rivaled silently, and, I believe for the most part, undesignedly, the example of the Homer of the Poets; for the Bible is no where taught, as a part of a complete course of general education. While the Arabians studied the mathematical and metaphysical science of Greece, they rejected her Orators and Poets: the former, because Grecian eloquence had neither part, nor lot in Mahomedan despotism: the latter, because Grecian Idolatry was "married to immortal verse," in Grecian poetry. The Saracen acted consistently, whether we look to his politics or his religion; but how inconsistently does the Christian

* See Note D.