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ges of position, and some excellencies of character. But we make this boast with two little knowledge of ourselves, and a very limited acquaintance with facts. The truth is that as in theoretical education we are mere children, so in practical education we are only unskilful beginners. If the spirit of Plato were restored to this world, and instead of being transported to the classic soil of his native Greece, were set down in one of our villages, and after having been pointed to the place where our youth are prepared for the highest stage of their education, were told, "This is the Academy!" what think you he would say? It may not be easy to determine what he would say, (for the Greeks were polished men,) but as his mind reverted to the graceful proportions, the fluted columns, and the embowering groves of the original Academus, we are sure he must think that his eye had lighted on a very imperfect imitation. If a Grecian of the age of Pericles were shown one of our school-houses-standing on or in the street, its windows broken, its steps gone, its door creaking, its one chair wrenched out of shape, its desk reeling to its fall,-and were informed that this is the place where our children are educated-where their faculties are developed, their taste formed, their first impressions of science received, and their intellectual character to a great extent fixed,-should he speak out his thoughts, it would be strange if he did not exclaim, "No wonder they are barbarians !" He would undoubtedly suppose himself in Scythia.* There is among us a great

* Since this passage was indited, the writer has met with a description of the school-houses in one of the best counties of a state which, in respect to education, is second to none in the Union. It is by W. R. B. Hubbard, of Northampton, Massachusetts. A few sentences are here extracted: " In many districts, the poorest and most unsightly building that offends the eye of the traveller is the school-house. Is there some. where near the geographical centre of the district a gore of land unsuitable for cultivation-valueless as a building spot even for a blacksmith's shop-some sand bank, or some marsh, of which the frogs have held undisputed possession time out of mind, there you may expect to find a temple of science. There the youth of many generations are to congregate, and imbibe principles and acquire habits which will accompany

work yet to be done in education. And the first if not the most important part of the work is to acquire a competent acquaintance with the subject. Theoretical knowledge must precede or accompany practical efforts, or they will be sadly misdirected. The people of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and some other portions of the Union have already taken in this matter important steps. In some of these states Boards of Education have been established, officers created, whose duty it is to spend their time for the improvement of education, and appropriations more or less liberal made to colleges, academies, and common schools. A beginningimperfect though it is—yet a beginning has been made. But there are still some states even in New England, and a much larger number in other parts of the country, which have hitherto sat by in silence and looked idly on. It is to be hoped, however, that this indifference will not be much longer continued.

It may not be improper, in concluding this article, to bring into view a topic which there is here no room to examine at length, but which seems to us to deserve a more extensive and thorough examination than it has yet received. We refer to the question, "What in a national view is the legitimate connexion between education and religion?" Some, while they admit that physical and intellectual education are not sufficient to produce national morality, because this is not their object, nevertheless imagine that the end in view can be attained by the introduction of a code of ethics, and a suitable attention to moral education. If religion exists in the

them through life. Most of the dwelling houses have an air of neatness and comfort; many have shade trees and ornamental shrubbery about them. But if you find a weather-beaten building, with its blinds swinging upon one hinge, or lying upon the ground-with clapboards flapping in the wind-with window panes filled with hats and shawls-with a pile of logs before the door, without a tree or shrub to relieve the eye, and every thing around indicating the march, not of mind, but of the destroyer; depend upon it, that is the place selected for the wooing of the muses. Some may think this an overdrawn picture, but it is from real life. Would that it existed only in imagination."

community, it is, they think, sufficient without an attempt to introduce it into systems of education. Others believe that if national morality is to be secured, religion ought to be and must be a constituent element of national education. Even if they admit with M. Guizot,* that morality in its elements can be distinguished from religion, yet they deny that it can *be sustained without religion by education of any kind or of all kinds. To us it appears that on this subject much is to be learned from antiquity. The importance of religion and the insufficiency of education without it to secure morality and give permanence to free institutions, are abundantly illustrated. by the history of the two nations of which we have been speaking. Greece was educated, but her columns fell. In the midst of the most splendid developments of Grecian genius, the eloquence of Demosthenes could not save his country, because her morals were destroyed. Respecting the moral impotence of education in Greece we have the testimony of Professor Meiners., "But a sad observation is this, that in the very position in which the number and extent of the acquirements and arts in which the youth were instructed increased, education itself grew worse, and that the more their minds were accomplished with beautiful and rare arts and attainments, the more their morals and hearts were corrupted." Rome, when she knew but little, was virtuous and free. On the other hand, when she knew much, she was corrupted by vice and oppressed by arbitrary power. At the most enlightened period of Italian history, previous to the despotism of the Cæsars, Cato Uticensis, despairing of the liberties of Rome, bared his bosom to his sword. We have said that the Roman education was in a moral view superior to the Athenian. The cultivation of the principle of reverence, the constant appeal to some rule of right or of decorum, and the elevation of maternal influence gave to the Roman education in this respect an advantage over the Greek. The moral tendencies of the mode of training youth at Rome were not without their salutary influence. But after all it was not these that fixed the moral character of the Romans, for that was formed by the religious institutions of Numa. It must be

* History of Civilization p. 117.

† Geschichte der Wissenschaften II: 63.

SECOND SERIES, VOL. VIII. NO. I.

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remembered that in the best days of both Greece and Rome, education and religion were inseparable. If the Greeks in the midst of all their science were corrupt, the reason was not indeed that they had no religion, but that their religion was corrupt. It is a mistake to suppose that the religions of Greece and of early Rome were the same. For, while the former, aiming at the imagination and not the heart, was sensual in its character and debased by the most revolting fables of the Gods, the latter contained many elements of a sound natural theology. The absence of images, the overseeing providence, if not the unity of God, the immortality of the soul, the accountability of man, and the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, were elements of the early Roman religion which gave it no small amount of moral influence. The first Romans were an eminently pious race, and therefore they were moral. But this subject cannot here be pursued. We therefore close with the expression of the hope that since the agitation of the questions, "Shall religion be incorporated into our systems of education ?" "And if so, in what way shall this be done?" has been commenced, this agitation will be continued till the momentous bearings of the subject are fully understood. For on the solution of these difficult problems depend in our country the prevalence of morality, the stability of freedom, the security of right, and the safety of life itself.

*

*For authority respecting the character of the religion of early Rome, and its superiority over that of Greece, the reader is referred to Plutarch's Life of Numa; August. De Civitate Dei IV: 31, I: 131; Tertull. Apologet § 25; Dion. Hal. II: 18, 19, 75; Polyb VI: 54; Cic. De Harusp. Respons. § 9; Bolingbroke's Works IV: 427; Kreutzers Symbolik II: 992, 993; Hegels Werke (Vorlesungen Ueber die Philosophie der Geschichte) IX: 297. "According to the common idea, the Roman religion, with a change of name only, was the same as the Greek. Upon a closer inspection, however, the most striking difference shows itself." "In all circumstances the Roman was pious," etc. For a contrary view see Meiners De Vero Deo p. 17: Buchholz Philosophische Untersuchungen ueber die Römer I: 35.

ARTICLE III

EXAMINATION OF PROF. STUART ON HEBREWS, IX: 16-18.

By Rev. Albert Barnes, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.

16 Οπου γὰρ διαθήκη, θάνατον ἀνάγκη φέρεσθαι τοῦ διαθεμένου. 17 Διαθήκη γὰρ ἐπὶ νεκροῖς βεβαία· ἐπεὶ μήποτε ἰσχύει ὅτε ζῆ ὁ διαθέμενος.

18 Οθεν οὐδ ̓ ἡ πρώτη χωρίς αἵματος ἐγκεκαίνισται.

THIS is rendered in the common version, "For passage where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood."

It is rendered by Prof. Stuart (Com. on the Hebrews, p. 607*) "Moreover, where there is a testament, it is necessary that the death of the testator should take place; because a testament is valid in respect to those only who are dead, since it hath no force while the testator is living. Hence, not even the first [covenant] was ratified without blood."

In the explanation of this passage two interpretations have been proposed. The first is that which is found in our common version, and which is defended by Prof. Stuart, by which the word dat is rendered testament or will; and the other, that which regards the word as meaning covenant. Distinguished names may be found defending each of the interpretations proposed, and though the current of authority has been in favor of the interpretation defended by Prof. Š., yet is not so decided as to make it improper to enquire into the validity of this exposition.

As the meaning of the whole passage, as well as of many other important passages in the New Testament, depends on the sense affixed to the word diathan, it will be proper to precede the particular examination of the passage, by a brief enquiry into the meaning of this word.

Perhaps there is no single term in the Bible that is more

Second Edition of the Commentary.

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