school at Gower's Walk, Whitechapel, which has been conducted with particular attention to all Dr. Bell's instructions, and at which from 160 to 170 scholars are educated, supports ail its expences by uniting industry with education, with the addition only of an endowment of sixty pounds per annum. The perfection with which the higher classes in this school read and understand the bible, has been witnessed by many able judges with satisfaction and admiration.

. We think ourselves now entitled to lay down the following positions by way of summary.

1st. "The merit of devising the new system of education belongs" to Dr. Bell, and not " to Joseph Lancaster;" who has plainly admitted, since the full establishment of his school, that he borrowed the system from Dr. Bell. Joseph Lancaster's subsequent denial of this fact, which is implied in his assumption of the whole merit to himself, can no more invest him with it, than it can divest him of the praise or blame of having discovered several auxiliary practices, concerning the utility of which there is a great difference of opinion.

2dly. Not" to Joseph Lancaster alone belongs the praise of introducing the new system into practice," but to him, with the assistance of, and in conjunction with, the eminent exertions of Dr. Bell. We are as willing, as any persons can be, to bear testimony to the zeal and assiduity of Joseph Lancaster in extending the knowledge and the practice of it.

3dly. The plan pursued by Dr. Bell has many " peculiarities which entitle it to a preference." It has, upon the whole, equal merit on the score of œconomy; it is highly preferable in the efficacy and liberality of most of its practices; and decidedly superior in its attention to the moral and religious improvement of the children.

We have thus ventured to take up a cause, which can only be supported, it seems, by "bigots and time-servers." In this age of nick-names, the most inert and unprofitable neutrality is the only security from some one or other of the many that are in vogue. We are warm advocates for the education, (nay, even for the indiscriminate education) of the poor, in spite of an ingenious plan suggested by a member of parliament, who recommends, that "the clergyman, the magistrate, and principal persons in the parish, should select such children, who apparently from natural faculties, or other causes, appear to them most likely to profit, and from circumstances are best suited for education." (See Observations on Parochial Schools, p. 28.)

To this plan we shall become converts as soon as ever we are convinced, that "the clergy, the magistrates, and the principal

persons" in all parishes are endowed with a miraculous power of discovering innate genius, analogous to that by which some gifted persons have been supposed to discover springs. In the interim, we shall steadily support the cause of general education, though we had rather that it should come before us, in future, in any shape than in that of controversy. We lament sincerely, that any controversy should exist on the subject; but we avow, without hesitation, our decided preference of the system, which we think most favourable to the cause of christianity, and to the welfare and support of our admirable establishment. We do not shrink from the imputation of being influenced by the "fear of dissent," as well as by that of "infidelity," however "pitiable" such an apprehension may be deemed. But our sentiments on this head have been so well expressed by another hand, that we will avail ourselves of the permission which has been kindly granted to us, and quote a passage from an able sermon preached recently at Whitechapel, for the benefit of the parish school.

"It is your peculiar praise, that when you had determined to adopt that comprehensive plan of education, which was best calculated to diffuse the benefits of religious instruction throughout the immense population of your parochial poor, you did not take it up as it had been planted, almost at your doors, in an open and common nursery; but it was your first care to rear it safe, amidst the inclosures of the church, under the auspices of one of her own ministers; who, having planted this goodly tree in the east, and seen its rapid growth and abundant produce, brought back the scyons of it to his native land, and has raised them to their highest beauty and perfection here. It is indeed essential to the well-being of the church, that the poor should be brought up, from early life, in the way of her ordinances; that the instruction which they receive should not be such as to make it appear a thing of no consequence to what christian communion they belong; whether to that, which, as members of the church of England, we believe to be the purest, the most true, and most perfect church; or to the various orders and denominations of those who have separated from it. I do not complain, if these prefer, as it is natural for them to prefer, an education of their own; if they wish their children to walk in the same paths, in which they have been trained themselves, where the road to heaven may seem to them either easier and more simple, or more characteristic of the right way. Let the conscientious dissenter educate his children in that religious persuasion to which he belongs: but let not the church commit the instruction of her youth to any other than the wise and virtuous among her own sons. I do not object to that attachment, which all men feel for their respective institutions, more especially in divine things; but I do object to that generalizing system of christianity, which, by admitting a preference to no form of religion, generates, for the most part, an indifference to all; and instead of

making an impression on the youthful mind, so strong as not to be effaced by the temptations of the world, leaves it a fearful blank for the world to make its impression upon, and commits it to chance, or perhaps to evil counsels to determine, what of all things is most im portant in life, the choice of religion. It is a hazardous experiment under all circumstances, but more especially to the cause of the establishment it is fraught with danger, and inevitable injury. For however it may have become the fashion of the present day to commend what is termed the liberal basis of all public education, it is evident, from its very professions of impartiality, that it is unfriendly to the just pre-eminence, which the church holds in all the concerns of religion within these realms. And if we had as much of the wisdom of the serpent as the innocence of doves, we should not be led, under specious notions of false candour, to compromise her interests, by consenting to have all things in common with those who envy her superiority, and would rejoice to subvert her power. While I there fore call you, as christians, to the cultivation and exercise of general beneficence, I may exhort you, as members of the church, to distinguish this charity in particular, by marks of your especial favour and good-will; which, while its enlarged sphere of action may be brought to comprise the greatest multitudes, is so well ordered, that all may be trained up in christian unity, and numbers added to the church daily."" (Extract from a Sermon, preached at Whitechapel, by the Rev. Thomas Grimwood Taylor, Vicar and Lecturer of Dedham, Essex, February 18, 1811.)

In the same spirit which breathes throughout the foregoing extract, praying for the peace of the church, but praying no less fervently for its prosperity, we conclude this article with an earnest recommendation of the following passage from Dr. Bell's book to the attention of the clergy: Yet, in the outset, my hope of success in achieving such important objects by a new experiment was faint, compared with what I should now entertain of producing, through the medium of the Madras system, if placed under the superintendance of the parochial clergy, (an order of men fitted for the purpose) a similar reformation among the lower classes of youth in this country, by a moral and religi

• It has been said, that "the children are to learn religion from their parents." But who are their parents? The poorest, and therefore the most ignorant of the poor; who, instead of being qualified to teach others, have the greatest need to be taught themselves, what are the first principles of the doctrine of Christ. It has been a practical benefit of our Sunday, and other charity schools, that the religious instructions which have been given to the children, have often been found, in a greater or less degree, communicated to the parents. But if this new system is to prevail, if our charity schools will not teach religion, and the parents cannot teach it, what will be the state of the rising generation among the lower orders! Will they not be in a condition infinitely more dangerous to themselves, and to society, than under all their former ignorance? Because they will be learned without being religious, and wise unto every thing but unto God.

ous education, and by habits of useful industry adapted to their condition and rank in life, to the demands of the army and navy, to the exigencies of the community, and to the state of agriculture, the handicrafts, and arts. In every instance under my observation in this kingdom, and in every report with which my brethren have honoured me, of the effects produced by the Madras system in their parishes, the improvement in the subordination, orderly conduct, and general behaviour of the children, has been particularly noticed, and must be regarded as infinitely the most valuable feature of its character." (Page 10.)

ART. XI. Grounds of Union between the Churches of England and Rome, considered, in a Charge delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Durham, at the ordinary Visitation of that Diocese, in the Year 1810. By Shute Barrington, Bishop of Durham. Sold by T. Payne, Pall Mall, &c. 1810.

Substance of the Speech delivered by Lord Viscount Castlereagh on the 25th of May, 1810, upon Mr. Grattan's Motion for a Committee to take into Consideration the Roman Catholic Petitions, to which are annexed Copies of the original Documents therein referred to. Printed for J. J. Stockdale, No. 41, Pall Mall, 1810.

To

o the venerable prelate who has led our thoughts to the subject of this article, we render the homage of our sincere thanks. It is impossible to peruse his charge without having our thoughts enlarged and corrected on the question we are about to examine, our prospects cheered, and our dispositions improved. We are obliged also to the speech above referred to, for pointing our attention more particularly, to some special topics, on which the fate of the question seems greatly to depend. While the reasoning of the noble lord presents an exterior view of the subject, and principally in its bearing on political arrangements, the considerations of the bishop, in the spirit of his holy vocation, are directed to the intrinsic differences between the two churches, and to the hopes and means of reconciliation; into the examination of which, he carries, together with the dignity and authority of his station, the characteristic gentleness of the Christian profession; limiting the controversy to substantial points; majutaining with Christian firmness, what, as a Christian, he could not surrender; and asserting the cause of truth in the language of peace.

The benefit to the public arising from the marshalled 'opposition of party arrayed against party, on all questions relating to the goverument of the country, is become almost an axiom among politicians: but it is a state of things which has also its inconveniences; and among these the most considerable is, its tendency to coerce the natural play of the understanding, and disfranchise it of the right of thinking for itself. It produces a subjection, which deprives all the topics to which it extends of every chance of being honestly inquired into and impartially discussed. The best education is ineffectual to secure our moral and religious principles against the vitiating prejudices of faction. With venal docility, we submit our faculties to the drill and dress of the regiment in which we enlist; and adjust the movements of our understandings to the word of command.

On the subject of the claims of the Roman Catholics to be relieved from their remaining disabilities, party considerations have had their usual undue influence. Political partizans have puzzled the subject with the common places of their puerile, declamation. Minds however, of a better cast, have sometimes raised the subject above the medium of distorting prejudice. But it never escapes from the intermeddling of party reasoners, without being disfigured by the abuse of terms, and aggravated beyond its natural difficulties by sophistry and misrepresentation. Emancipation, toleration, establishment, and many other terms of leading import, have been used to convey ideas very foreign to their proper signification, and for the purpose of erecting on fallacious foundations an argument which affects our latest posterity.

Emancipation applies to the case of those, who living in a free state, and charged with no transgression against its laws, are withheld from the enjoyment of some or one of the essentials of civil freedom. If this be really the case of the Roman Catholics either in England or Ireland, they have a good right to the term as descriptive of the object of their petition.

It may be allowed too as the language of complaint in the mouths of the parties interested, as it serves to express the view they take of their own situation figuratively and emphatically. But it can never be properly used by others in discussing the merits of the question; as in stating the question, it assumes that which if true decides it.

There was a time, when laws of exclusion and restraint, with penal sanctions, were found necessary to be adopted, for securing and perpetuating the deliverance of the country from its subjugation to a church, which experience had shewn to be at variance with civil and religious liberty. The line of the Stuarts was excluded, not because the bad conduct of the sovereign had forfeit