The Nonconformist. No. XXV. have received a common English education. 7. That the time destined to study be six hours in the week for three years. It was originally proposed that the time of meeting should be from seven o'clock in the evening to eight, in the winter; and from eight to nine in the summer; but experience has shewn that the distribution of the time must be left to the convenience of the class; although the best distribution of it undoubtedly is to meet one hour every day, either in the morning before the ordinary business of life commences, or in the evening, after it is over. The whole time for learning and teaching is divided into two equal parts during the first part, persons are students; during the second, teach ers. The course of instruction which was originally planned, and which has hitherto been followed as closely as possible, comprehends the nature of language in general, with a particular reference to an accurate acquaintance with the English; the Hebrew of the Old and the Greek of the New Testament; the geography and natural history of the countries in which the Scriptures were written, and as much of the history of the Four Great Empires with which the Jews were connected, as is necessary to the elucidation of scripture, the customs of the Jews and other Eastern nations. To this is added, when possible, Ecclesiastical History and the Evidence of Natural and Revealed Religion. From what has been said it will be seen, that in going through the above course each student is to be a learner three years, at the end of which time he is to take four pupils, and instruct them for three years in the different branches to which he has himself attended. The course proposed is very comprehensive, and it might seem impossible for any person who begins with nothing but a knowledge of the English grammar, and who devotes to this pursuit only one hour every day for three years, to complete it; but it must be borne in mind, that the period of study is in fact six years, and that much more knowledge will be acquired during the three years in 421 which the student is a teacher than during the three in which he was a pupil, and much more than he would have acquired had he continued a pupil six years. An accurate and precise acquaintance with the writings of the Old and New Testament is the great object which this course of study is intended to afford. While, therefore, with this view the student is acquiring the knowledge of the language in which the Scriptures were originally written, it has been found highly conducive to the attainment of this end, to read in private the English Version of these books regularly, chronologically and connectedly. And the method of reading them, which has been found admirably adapted to give a clear and connected view of their contents, is the following : First, to read through regularly the books of Moses, with the book of Job, to the history of the reign of David. After the perusal of the history of David, as recorded in the books of Kings and Chronicles, to read the Psalms of David. Next, the reign of Solomon, and afterwards the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Then pursuing the history through the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, to read the books of the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, &c., because the predictions of these prophets relate to the reigns of these kings. In like manner the book of Jeremiah should be read in connexion with the reigns that immediately preceded the captivity, and the books of Ezekiel and of Daniel during the captivity: while those of Ezra and Nehemiah should not be read until the history of the captivity and the writings relating to that period have been rendered familiar to the mind. In this manner the writings of every author should be read in connexion with the history of the times in which he lived. After the Old Testament has been thus read through, it is important to read the first and second books of the Maccabees, for these may be considered as important documents containing authentic history. With regard to the New Testament, the best plan appears to be to read regularly through the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Then the Epistles in the order of time in which they were written. Before reading any Epistle, if any thing be said in the Acts relating to the church to which it is addressed, or to any subject of controversy or doubt, in which it was particularly interested, it should be read. For example, the fifteenth chapter of the Acts should be read previously to the Epistle to the Galatians, and the tenth and eleventh chapters of the Acts previously to the Epistle to the Romans. respecting so novel a plan, it shews that that increase may advance with a steadiness and rapidity sufficient to entitle it to most serious attention. The plan has now been in operation some years, and its success has been as ample as could have been reasonably expected. It was first projected by Dr. Spencer, a physician residing at Bristol. It had long occupied the thoughts of this intelligent and benevolent man. He saw in it, or To what extent this plan is capable thought he saw in it, a means by of communicating the most interesting which knowledge of the most imporand important knowledge, is apparent tant kind might be easily and rapidly from the following calculation. If diffused over the face of the whole one teacher complete the education of earth. As soon as he had matured it, four pupils in three years, and these he determined to put it to the test of four pupils shall each of them have experience. Accordingly, on the 11th begun the education of four other of July, 1814, he commenced with pupils at the end of three years, the four pupils. Of these, one left at the education of these pupils will be fi- end of the first year on account of ill nished at the end of six years, and health: another left at the end of two they will have had in train sixty-four years on account of some embarrasspupils, whose education will be com- ment in business: soon after, a third pleted at the end of nine years; and was obliged to decline on account of so on till the whole world might spee- ill health, and is since dead: the dily be instructed in the knowledge of fourth continued steadily to pursue his the Sacred Scriptures in the languages studies till 1820. in which they were originally written. Thus : Superintendant Teacher 1 2 .... ..... 4..Years 3 ....16...... 6 64...... 9 256.. .12 1,024......15 4,096.... .18 16,384......21 65,536......24 262,144......27 1,048,576......30 4,194,304......33 16,777,216......36 67,108,864......39 268,435,456......42 1,073,741,824..... 45 In regard to this calculation there will, of course, be found in it in practice the same deficiency and failure which there always is, and always must be, in regularly increasing series when applied to human affairs. That which, without experience, we might have been sure could not take place, experience has shewn, must not be looked for. The regular increase of students in the above series, no one can for a moment expect: but as far as experience can establish any thing At the beginning of the year 1818, this gentleman took four pupils, who have continued steadily with him up to the present time. At the beginning of 1820 one of his pupils commenced with four pupils, who have continued steadily with him up to the present time. On the first of August, 1820, a second pupil commenced with four. And soon after, a third pupil began with two pupils, of whom no account has yet been received, but they appear to be going on well. The fourth has not yet taken pupils. The best means by which it is possible to convey to the reader an idea See the account which Dr. Spencer himself published of his Institution, entitled "The Plan of Dr. Spencer's lustitution in Bristol, for acquiring and communicating an accurate and critical Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures withter, (successor to J. Johnson,) 72, St. out Expense. London: sold by R. HunPaul's Churchyard; and by Barry and Son, Bristol. 1817." [The substance of this "account" was published in The Christian Reformer, Vol. II. pp. 368–372. ED.] The Nonconformist. No. XXV. of the course of instruction pursued, and of the spirit in which it is conducted, is by giving an extract or two from the account which has been drawn up by the pupils themselves. The first extract is taken from a letter, addressed to Dr. Spencer, written by one of the pupils of the first class, and is dated Bristol, Nov, 14, 1816. MY DEAR SIR, As you have requested from me some account of what has been done by us in the prosecution of your excellent plan for the diffusion of sacred knowledge, I present you with the following, which is as complete as my data have enabled me to make it. July, 1814. Commenced with the English and Hebrew Grammar. Read Exercises in Reading. Soon after began the Hebrew Scriptures, commencing with Genesis. Read Paley's Natural Theology and Gibbon's Rhetoric. 423 the Septuagint in connexion with the Hebrew, Up to this time we have read the Old Testament, partly in English and partly in Hebrew, from the beginuing of Genesis to the end of the second book of Samuel. And we have read the four Gospels and One of Dr. Spencer's pupils commenced Jan. 1815. Began the Greek Gram- On January 1, 1820, one of the pupils mar, and soon after to read the Greek of of the second class began with four pupils. the New Testament. Read also Watts's Up to the date of this paper, October Logic after finishing which, read the 23rd of the same year, they have read first volume of Blackstone's Commenta- the Hebrew Grammar, the four last ries, for the sake of the style and com- chapters of Deuteronomy, and the thirtyposition; and afterwards Harris's Hermes, fourth chapter of Genesis, Murray's Enor Philosophical Grammar. In October, glish Grammar, Watts's Logic, one quarbegan to read Prideaux's Connexion of ter of it In Greek to the sixth chapter the History of the Old and New Testa- of Luke, and in the English Scriptures ment. In November, commenced reading to the tenth chapter of Joshua. Abstract of the Business done by the Fourth Class, from 1st of August to the 28th of October, 1820: Of Watts's Logic, Of Murray's English Grammar, Of English Scriptures, Of Hebrew Grammar, has been read It has been stated that there was one of the pupils of the second class who, in the year 1820, had not taken any pupils. How that happened the writer of this paper does not know: but he has seen a letter from this gentleman, addressed to Dr Spencer, in which he speaks in the highest terms of the advantages he has received from the institution. He states that at the period at which he is addressing his instructor, the close of the six-and-twentieth year of his life, he could say, what he never before could say, that regular hours of the day had been spent in reading and di To the third Part of fifth Section. of Syntax. To the twenty-third chapter of Twice throughout. Eight chapters parsed partially and translated entirely. gesting the Sacred Scriptures, and in gaining the knowledge of the language in which they were originally written: that this pursuit has afforded him much profit and great pleasure; that it has brought him peace and quietness of mind; that it has produced a thirst for investigation which can be satisfied only by the endeavour to acquire accurate knowledge, and to arrive at a rational conviction of the truth: that, but for this course of religious instruction, he thinks it but too probable that he should never again have given himself any concern respecting the Scriptures, or the sub ject of religion in general, and that it is his earnest desire to shew, by a uniform attention to the subject, how sensible he is of the obligation which has been conferred upon him. From the preceding account the following conclusions will be admitted to be just. In the first place, that this plan is well adapted to teach an accurate, connected and critical knowledge of the Scriptures. Secondly, that it is no less calculated to inbue the mind with the principles, and the heart with the affections, which it is the great design of the Christian religion to impart. The tendency of the business and the pleasures of life to weaken those principles, and to counteract the influence of those affections, has been felt and lamented by every reflective and pious mind: but it is scarcely possible that in the early period of life, (and it is only by intelligent and ingenuous youth who have the wisdom to desire clearer and deeper information on the most important subjects, and ardour sufficient to enable them to make some sacrifices to accomplish the best and noblest wish of their heart, that this plan can be expected to be adopted,) it is scarcely possible that in the early period of life, the mind should daily contemplate, with seriousness, for the long space of six years, the enlightened and pure and benevolent principles of Christianity without the happiest effect. It is scarcely possible that a human being should grow up under an influence so truly benignant, without his heart becoming enamoured of whatever is really excellent; without his having a clear and strong and instantaneous and unerring perception of whatever is great and good in feeling and conduct; without his having an unconquerable aversion to every thing that is base and selfish and servile. That such a man should always be found on the side of whatever is humane in legislation, of whatever is free in political institutions, of whatever is pure in religion, is no more than that an effect should follow its cause. That he should ever be a slave, or a tyrant, or a bigot, or a persecutor, is no more possible than that the beam of the sun should cease to give forth light, or than that a mind im bued with the spirit of Jesus Christ should be capable of engaging in war, or of giving its sanction to the infliction of death on an erring fellow creature. Perhaps it may not be improper to add, that there is an obvious and important application of this plan which entitles it to the peculiar attention of the Unitarian body. Many Unitarian congregations are incapable of supporting a minister in comfort; but there is not one of these, however poor, which does not possess too much knowledge and cultivation to be satisfied with the services of a religious instructor who is not a person of education. It is obvious, that by this plan persons may be trained to fill such stations with perfect ease to themselves, without at all interfering with their ordinary occupations, and with exceeding satisfaction and advantage to the church. And it is probable that nothing will ever be devised better calculated to train up missionaries, to give them the information, and to form them to the habits which are necessary to enable them to perform the duties of their office with ability and zeal. There are many and great advantages in the institution of a separate order of men for conducting the public services of religion. It is on every account highly proper that such persons should have that regular and thorough education, that deep and accurate learning, and that clearness, elegance and eloquence of style, which will render their services attractive to men of literature and science, and qualify them to defend with success the cause of religion and truth, both against those who disbelieve and who misbelieve. But so rare are these endowments, and so much time and labour does it require to mature them, that, under institutions the best adapted to develope the faculties, and with the dedication of the whole of life to their cultivation, there are comparatively few who possess them in great perfection: it is, therefore, scarcely reasonable to expect that they would exist at all were that time and labour considerably abridged. But while the value of men thus gifted, must be admitted, it is difficult either to understand the principle, or Brief Notes on the Bible. No. XX. to sympathize with the feeling which would render them absolutely essential to the performance of the services of religion, and exclude all others, in their absence, from the exercise of their functions. It is surely as disgraceful as it is inconvenient, that when a minister is prevented by sickness, or any unavoidable engagement, from performing his stated duties, there should be in a Christian congregation, in the present day, no Christian man both able and willing to fill the office of his pastor with edification to the church. And were the excellent plan which has been stated, to become at all general in our congregations, such a state of things could not possibly exist. In the last place, this plan is obviously capable of being applied to the acquisition of any kind of knowledge whatever. Literature, science and philosophy might be cultivated in this manner with the greatest success, and without any material inconvenience by those who are actively engaged in the business of life. In a word, the more it is examined, the more it will probably appear to be one of the most simple and effectual means of unlearning what is erroneous, of acquiring what is true, and of diffusing the blessings of knowledge over the face of the whole earth, which the wise have yet projected, or the benevolent attempted to carry into execution. Brief Notes on the Bible. No. XX. S. S. "Be not righteous overmuch." HAVE been favoured with the 425 I know not what else his meaning could be than this,-Do not debase religion by spreading it ostensibly over the ordinary concerns of life, and, by making it of trite occurrence, lessen the veneration which would be attached to it, if less familiarly introduced and appealed to. As a man of real courage does not "wear his dagger in his mouth," neither is it, in ny humble apprehension, requisite for a Christian, habitual as his sense may be of the Divine presence, and of the necessity of conforming all his actions to the will of that Being whose inspection of them he is conscious of,-to make that consciousness the burthen of his hourly song. Religion is a subject that no man ought to shrink from, but, when superinduced upon all others, and as it were mechanically, it is apt to become a lambent flame, neither lighting nor warming. A talkative piety, in what differs it from that of the Pharisees? A deep and settled piety will be more felt than expressed. Religion is a concern chiefly between man and his MakerI had almost said a confidential oneand though a Christian should not be slow to avow the intimacy which he humbly cultivates in that quarter, when required by any serious occasion for it, I do not think those the best Christians, who are in the habit of professing to do all and every thing to the glory of God, which (whatever be meant by it) can have no connexion with a great majority of the transactions of life, and can only be implicated in such as involve morality of conduct." SIR, July 8, 1822. Tale," the production of a very amia-T is a practice to which I have long ble lady. It is from the school of sanctity; and, on returning the work, I took the liberty of appending to it the following note, which perhaps may be honoured, as of general application, by a place in your Repository. BŘEVIS. adhered, to search for knowledge wherever it is to be found; and if I can discern any chance of meeting with a satisfactory answer to my inquiries, I would consult the pages of the Unitarian Repository, or of the Evangelical Magazine, with as much of orthodox theology. Locke's Essay readiness as the more imposing tomes on the Understanding, you may probably know, is one of our standard books of examination at Cambridge, and hence the members of this University are sometimes found to indulge in metaphysical speculations which |