this, delivered as it was by Vincent, was no" scriptural doctrine."

Clarkson, after going more at large into the subject, adds, "it will not be necessary to detail the arguments brought forward in this controversy, in which nothing was settled;" but he describes the great intemperance betrayed by several of the Presbyterians, so that it was impossible to obtain a hearing. This then was the cause for William Penn's writing the "Sandy Foundation Shaken," which gave offence, from its being entirely misunderstood, as his "Innocency with her Open Face" will amply testify.

And now suffer me to make some remarks upon the Unitarian preface to the "Sandy Foundation Shaken," wherein there are (excuse me for saying so) two instances of an entire want of candour in the author. He mentions the commitment of William Penn to the Tower, by Lord Arlington, the then Secretary of State. Can we then suppose him iguorant of the letter which William Penn addressed to Lord Arlington, wherein he says, "truly were 1 as criminal as my adversaries have been pleased to represent me, it might become me to bear my present sufferings without the least resentment of injustice done, and to esteem a vindication of my cause an aggravation of my guilt; but since it is so notorious that common fame hath maliciously belied me, and that from invincible testimonies, I stand not guilty of what my adversaries would have so peremptorily fastened on me, confessing that eternal deity of Christ"? Certainly no man will assert this is Unitarian doctrine, the "eterual deity of Christ."

And now let me transcribe one of these "invincible testimonies," which William Penn speaks of. They are not isolated passages to be hunted for through his works, but are to be found every where, where he speaks upon the subject; indeed one characteristic stamps both his life and writings, that of being led and guided by the spirit of Christ. But let his letter to John Collynes, dated 1673, speak for itself.

"I will tell thee my faith in this matter: I do heartily believe that Jesus Christ is the only true and everlasting God, by whom all things were made that are in the heavens above, or the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth, that he is omnipotent, omniscient, therefore God; this coufest by me in two books printed a little before the Sandy Foundation Shaken, viz. Guide Mis taken' (p. 28) and Truth Exalted,' (pp. 14, 15,) also at large in my Innocency with her Open Face.' I think I have

dealt very honestly with thee; I am sure to the satisfaction of my own conscience, and it is not my fault if it be not to the better information of thine."

The other passage in the Unitarian preface is the following: "During this close imprisonment, the loud and general clamours against him reached Penn's eyes or ears, and induced him to write a small tract, which he called an Apology for the former, not with an intention of recanting any of those doctrines which he had so recently professed to lay down on the immoveable basis of Scripture and right reason, but to clear himself from aspersions cast upon him for writing the

Sandy Foundation Shaken.'" Yet, in this very Apology, which the Unitarian author considers as no recantation of the doctrine which he ascribes to the " Sandy Foundation Shaken," are to be found these unequivocal expressions: "I am constrained, for the sake of the simplehearted, to publish to the world of our faith in God, Christ and the Holy Spirit : We do believe in one holy God Almighty, who is an eternal spirit, the creator of all things, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son and express image of his substance, who took upon him flesh, and was in the world; and in life, doctrine, miracles, death, resurrection, ascension and mediation, perfectly did and does continue to do the will of God, to whose holy life, power, mediation and blood, we only ascribe our sanctification, justifi cation and perfect salvation. And we believe in one Holy Spirit that proceeds from the Father and the Son, as the life and virtue of both the Father and the Son, a measure of which is given to all to profit with; and he that has one has all, for these three are one, who is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, God over all, blessed for ever. Amen."

Now if this be not a recantation, does it not clearly prove to every candid lover of truth, that William Penn's "Sandy Foundation Shaken" was totally misconstrued and wrested from its genuine meaning? But if, on the other hand, the editor's preface is to be regarded as truth, wherein he says, he is not acquainted with a more manly and able vindication, in that peculiarly fanatical age, of the pure Unitarian doctrine than the Sandy Foundation Shaken ;'" then it necessarily follows, that the apology is a recantation, or disavowal of his former sentiments, it being in direct opposition to the principles which constitute Unitarianism.

Let any unprejudiced mind read the following vindication of himself, in "Innocency with her Open Face," and then

declare if there be any ambiguity in his expressions: "How much I have been made an instance must needs be too no

torious to any that holds the least intelligence with common fame, that scarce ever book took more pains to make the proverb good by proving himself a liar,

than in my concern, who have been most egregiously slandered, reviled and defamed, by pulpit, press and talk, terming me a blasphemer, Socinian, denying the divinity of Christ, the Saviour, and what not, and all this about my late answer to a disputation with some Presbyterians, but how unjustly, it is the business of this short Apology to shew."

Now I think it must be allowed that the publication of the "Sandy Foundation Shaken," by Unitarians, without taking the least notice of William Penn's vindication, or of his open and unequivocal avowal of a doctrine totally opposite, or of his declaration of the injustice in terming him a Socinian, and a denier of the divinity of Christ, is at once disinge nuous and unjust, and a departure from that principle which teaches us "to do as we would be done by."

We are averse to discussions of this nature, from a belief that they do not generally promote vital religion; yet in entering into this subject, we trust we have not been influenced by any unchristian disposition, but with unfeigned good-will towards thyself; and most sincerely do we wish that in this important point, as in every other, thou mayest be guided by the spirit of truth into all truth.

On Congregational Schools, and Considerations to what extent the Minds of the Labouring Classes may be advantageously cultivated. SIR,

W

March 27, 1822. WHEN a religious society united formerly in a contribution for educating that class of their community who might otherwise have remained wholly untaught, the distinct and specific objects were unquestion ably to instruct the boys in reading and writing, with a slight knowledge of numbers, and the education of the girls was confined to needle-work and reading; and when their funds enabled them to do so, the benefit to the children was increased by gifts of clothing, and occasionally a dinner was provided for them.

The same necessity for these schools cannot now be deemed so immediate as they were before the general establishment of the national schools,

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which, admitting all denominations of the poor to the above advantages, adds that of greater promptitude and a more lively attention, (perhaps from the emulation induced by numbers learning together, than can be well attained among a smaller number, even where the same plan is adopted,) as is generally observed by those who compare the National with the Congregational Schools.

If, then, the Congregational Schools have no further object than the simply instructing children in reading, writing, arithmetic and needle-work, it becomes a question why the societies incur the expense of these establishments, when there are others at least equally efficacious of comparatively no expense.

Female education having most occupied my attention, I shall confine my observations particularly to the degree of instruction which girls now receive in these schools. I learn that the object in view is to make good houseservants of them. On visiting their school-rooms, with this impression, I find that sitting at needle-work occupies most of their time, and that in knowledge they attain as much as just enables them to read mechanically a chapter in the Bible, and some of them add to this a little of writing and arithmetic. The girls also scour and clean their school-room, &c., and thus otherwise would; yet, perhaps, not acquire a little more activity than they sufficient to compensate for the sedentary mode in which they spend the rest of their time during the most important period of their lives, as relates to health and habitual activity. funds are frequently insufficient to maintain the establishment without considerable aid from the work done in it, and in consequence it is often observable that more vigilance is exerted in getting work completed to be sent home, after being entrusted only to a few who are qualified for the nicety it may require, than care in instructing those who require immediate superintendence. By degrees, perhaps, a good knowledge of shirtmaking is attained; and at fourteen, a girl whose last six or seven years have been devoted to the purpose, quits the school able to execute plain work promptly and neatly, but without having been taught, what would most likely

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be particularly required of her, a neat mode of repairing linen and making her own clothes. She may be able to read her Bible; but unless she has met with instruction from some other source than her school, she will seldom do so, because her mind has been so little cultivated; and she may possibly have the comfort of being able to communicate with her friends, by having been taught to write. But in what respect does she possess any advantage which the girls from the National Schools do not equally possess? And if not any, why should the societies contribute so much, and perhaps, also, have given their me and attention to their little establishment?

If it is replied, that these schools were founded before the National Schools were thought of, and that, having subsisted so long, it would be a matter of regret to relinquish the old custom; or if it is considered that the class of children who go to them rank rather higher in society than those who attend the larger establishments, and are therefore conveniently separated; or if it be observed that the care of these schools link in the most agreeable way the members of the society together, giving to the rich a common interest, and making rich and poor feel as one family when they assemble for public worship; or that they are desirous of keeping in their society those whom they can influence and guide to the adoption of such views as these individual societies believe to be the truth; then every motive which induces us to keep up these establishments, (except the simple one of continuing them because they are of long standing,) might stimulate us to a desire of greater moral good and usefulness in the mode of conducting them.

It seems that the qualities and powers of mind most desirable for the well-being of the labouring classes, including house-servants, are those of a quick perception, present attention, with ready memory and discrimination. For the cultivation of these powers of the mind, it appears desirable that their time should be so fully occupied as not to admit of passive insensibility, nor of trifling and careless habits.

It is next to be considered how, during the six or seven years which they spend under the care of these

societies, their time could be suffi ciently occupied to call out and keep in exercise these qualities. It must, doubtless, be according to the circumstances under which their still earlier education began; for if this earlier period was passed in the listlessness of neglected helplessness, (owing to the necessary avocations of the parent,) or under the injudicious controul of those who rather needed gnidance than possessed the means of guiding, the faculties of the mind would be necessarily much slower in their developement than under more favourable circumstances, especially as the temper would also require more regulation to prevent its impeding the progress of the mind. But why consider what pursuits would best befit them, when the difficulty is solved by the motives given for keeping up these establishments? The children are

thought to rank somewhat higher in life than those of the other schools. If so, give them, then, more knowledge; let them have more to raise them above mere objects of sense; and if you wish to retain them hereafter in your congregations, if you wish them to have with yourselves the same hopes, the same religious views, teach them the reason of the faith that is in them; and if you would have them join with you in your worship here, that they may partake of blessings hereafter, then teach them, also, every moral and religious duty, inquire respecting them at their homes, teach thein the law of kindness among each other, and every where lead them to submit their wills to the will of their heavenly Father. Let the concern be to cultivate every social and religious duty in sincerity: and then, whether they have attained much knowledge, or little knowledge, so as they have in the cultivation of their minds acquired habits of industryevery apparent object in the Congre gational Schools will be obtained, and it appears there will be reason to hope such education will help to fit them for the purposes of life to which it may please the great Father of all to destine them.

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moral philosophy to be derived from it is the same: some parts are evidently figurative or dramatic. We may have heard in Christian pulpits portions introduced from this book, as indicative of the writer or the hero's disbelief of a future state. "There is hope of a tree-but man goeth down to the grave, and where is he?" But this is "wresting the Scriptures," and not explaining them; it is quoting imperfectly, or by halves, without regard to the connexion; and, therefore, such arguments are built only on the sand. "Man," says Job, "lieth down and riseth not again, till the heavens be no more;" till then “ they shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep. If a man die, shall he live again?" No, certainly, not in this world; but what follows? "All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come!" But there are other passages still more explicit, without alluding to that controverted text, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Job had, upon the whole, comfortable views of the Divine providence and government, which convinced him that "the righteous should hold on his way, and he that had clean hands should wax stronger and stronger;" and induced him to cry out, in the midst of his sufferings, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him!" This text alone is in itself " an host." Solomon, though not a prophet, was endowed with extraordinary natural powers; and, in his bright and golden days, was furnished with the most copious stores of religious wisdom. In his beautiful personification of this divine quality, Prov. viii. &c., he says, "Whoso findeth me, findeth life." In ch. xxiii., denouncing those that remove the ancient land-marks, and enter the fields of the fatherless," he observes, Their Redeemer is mighty, he shall plead their cause with thee" and in ch. xiv. 32, "The righteous hath hope in his death!" In the book of Ecclesiastes, generally supposed to have been written by him, and of which it bears the strongest internal testimony, he is more precise

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and emphatic: "If thou seest oppression and violent perversion of judgment, marvel not; for He that is higher than the highest regardeth it, and there be higher than they. Re

but forget not that for all these things" (if misapplied and abused) God will bring thee into judgment." And he sums up the whole in these remarkable words: "For God will bring every work into judgment, wh every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil."

But, in this view of the Old-Testament writers, David appears with a peculiar lustre. Thus, in a serene and silent midnight sky, though every star shines with a distinct flame, yet some emit a more vivid brightness, and irresistibly attract the eye of the beholder: hence the pious hymns of the royal poet will remain among the chief standards of a rational and sublime devotion to the end of time. "To the poet," says a modern lecturer, *-"To the poet ever remain the lovely forms of animate and inanimate nature; all that is interesting to humanity, to sympathy, to imagination. While there is a star in heaven, it shall speak to the poet's eye of another and a better world. In poetry is to be found a reservoir of the holier feelings of our nature. It is as a robe of light, spread over the face of things, and investing them with super-human splendour. There is in poetry a sort of intrinsic revelation, leading man to consider this existence as the wreck of other systems, or the germ of a future being!" But the Psalmist of Israel was a prophet as well as a poet and a philosopher; hence he became eminently qualified for the most profound researches into the history of Providence, the works and ways of the Almighty; for magnifying his name and celebrating his praises; and in this delightful work, when loosed from the bondage of iniquity, and rejoicing in a sense of the Divine favour and acceptance, he pours out his soul before him in the most ecstatic transports, and calls upon universal nature to unite with him in the great design. But the powers of language are exhausted before him in the prosecution

* Mr. Campbell, at the Royal Institution.