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STREET EAST. 1 m\. \s\ CANADA NATIONAL LIBRARY BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE w3 SEVEN LETTERS ■)N THE NON-RELIGIOUS COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM up CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES, ay AL'AM TOWNLEV. PRESCTTER CT I'lli: DI0CE3F. OF TOROM'J. TORONTO : HENRY ROWSELL, KINO STREET EAST. 1853. ADVERTISEMENT. The followiug Letters, founded ou the Chief Superintoudent'.'^ Appendix to his Common School Report for 18-31, appeared first in the Canadian Churchman and other provinciul papers, and latterly, with important additions, in the Kfw York Churchman ; these addi- tions Ijoing composed principally of further statistical information and of answers to the most popular objections which have been made to the writers views in the provincial papers. The whole series is now reprinted, in the hope that, however deficient in literary merit, the truths and facts which they contain may serve to draw incrcaj:ed attention to the infinitely important question which they discuss. In thus seeking to give them more extended circulation, the writer has been guided by the wishes of those whose opinions he is bound to respect. A. T DuNNviLLE, July, 18-33. THE NON-RELIGIOUS COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM. !llt .- t iu rly. idi- tion leen lole iu ■rve :iou led LETTER I. Af<-Himption of ihr ChUf SuperiiUmdini. — Defence of England. Dear Sir : The riiiof Superintendent of Schools, in the Appendix to iii^ recent Report lor 18;"*], lieaded " Question of lieligious Instruction in connection with our svj^teni ol' Puitlic Instruc- *!on,"' endeavours, in what I consider a most fallacious manner, to defend tlie jiresent Common Scliool System, in opposition to those numerous, highly rcs[)ectahle, and ear- nest-minded Christians of this Province who desire not only intellectual but rcUgmis schools. And furthei', helieviny the plan, so generally ado})ted on this Continent, of instructing tlie masses of the people in --ecular knowledge, altOLrether apart iVom religious training, to he alike dislionourable to God, ^ubver«i\e of national morality, and awfully dangerous to indivitlual happiness, both })resent and future, I beg to sub- mil a lew thoughts upon the subject through the columns of your paj)er. In proceeding therefore to notice the Appendix tv i!.e Common School Report for 1S51 ; First, I protest against a jniblic document of that nature lieing made the vehicle (>f egotistical declamation, of theolo- gical discussion, and of a singularly autocratical lecture to the ministers and pastors of this Province. It is a most un- fair use of the public money, thus to enlarge what ought to be a mere otVicial statement o^ school alTairs, for the piu'pose of enunciating the private views of an individual on a dis- putcd rt'ligi()\is question. Furtlier, uiuler our j)resent tsysteni of legislation, ii is to all, i)ut the ultra-liberal religionists, wiiom he happens to repre:-ent, a grievous denominational wrong, for Provincial funds lo he thus used in disseminating one class of doctrinal sentiments, since to those who liold oppo- site views no such means of defending their opinions is ofiercd. While the Government repudiates the very idea of state-ministerial support, it has surely no right to put the Province to the expense of printing the sectarian religious lectures ot one of its odicers ! Besides, the whole thing is an arroL'ant abuse of Dr. Ryer- son's office, and an insult to the ]Ml!ii;-try of all denomina- tions in the Province. He is not appointed lo inculcate his particular sentiments u|)ou tlie question cf religious educa- tion ; he therefore takes a most unconstitutional advantage of his olficial position in thus endeavouring to bring all his un- derlings, particularly those important classes, School Trus- tees and Teachers, to adopt his rationalistic theories on that vital ([uestion. N(jr is he commissioned to lecture, and to denounce before the public those .Ministers, and that very numerous and intelligent ]iorti('»n of the lay community, who venture to differ from his most unscriptural doctrines. If such is to be the method of jirocetlure adopted by a Chief Superintendent of Common Schools, it need be no matter of surprise if ere long a moiit influential portion of the i^eojiie, disgusted at seeing themselves and their pastors tlius iloiiiineered over, should demand the entire abolition of the ollice. But we must hasten to consider the document itself. 1. Dr. R. opens by an attack upon England, thus: '' The (juestion of religious instruction ' ' ' has hitherto de- prived England of a national system ol education, permitting to it nothing but a series oC petty expedients in varying forms of government grants to certain religious denominations, while the great ma>s of the labouring population is unreach- ed by a ray of intellectual light, and is < perishing for lack of knowloileo/- aniKisi i!ie >tiH ot r?ectanaii war about • reli- gious cduraliori,' and uiuifr iju- very shailows of the cathe- dral and the ehiioel/' Tlio Chief Superintendent well understands the \ luo of Inriie assertions, boldly made, in swayinj: the public mind, especially u here •• his adversary, who, coniint,^ after, would s(^ai-ch him,"' has nut. the same means of makin^r himself hcanl. Tliat in a country so densely populated as Eni^iand much ignorance, both moral and intellectual, will jirevail, is certain ; at least until that brotherly love which is, ordinarily, only the result o[ early religious training, is much more prevalent than, alas, it is anywhere at present. But that this ignorance prevails to the extent, and from the causes, which the pre- cedin- in a subsequent letter. Still, the need of a far more general and thorough educa- tion of the masses, especially as it tends to advance their moral ami religious [>riiu:i[4es, no one accptaintetl with Eng- land will ilcny. Let, however, Dr. R. and all who support liim, remember, that it is owing to men of their principles that England is not now rejoicing in a more ellicicnt system of C'lucation, reliLnous and secular; as it was the bitter * What a straiii;'e iitTvorsion of IToly Scripture. Tho ■'•' knowlojjco"' li'»ro spoken oi iii an'tu'mly rchyiiius, luit •• iulullr'-uuii ;" aud verily it is Ibr lack cf this /io/y knonl(M,if.'o that the nntious are fulleriuf'. B 2 6 oppnsition of tho lihcral party to t!io Churcli of England vvliitli overthrew the Factory Education Bill. But the Chief Superintendent will triuiTij)liantly say, that this was the very consequence of insisting on a system of .scc^r/na?* education! 1 grant it; yea, and will plead guilty, not only on behalf of the Church, but of England also, to the charge, that they i\\\\\\\ it safer to give no education than to give an irrdlgious one! Let, then, the shame, aye, and the deep sin of an uneducated people rest upon those whose mihohj haired prevents them from being educated as men and as CJirislimis. England fully admits the principle thai " knowledge is power ;" antl, thank Goil, she has, as yet, acied on the fur- ther belief — founded on that sacred volume which was for so long the basis of her legislation — thai '' pou-er,'' without the grace ami wirtlom to use it aright, is a fearful weapon of im- piety towards God, aiid of misery and amrchy in the com- monwealth I Hence she has hitherto iciused to aid in imparting earthly and intelb.M'tiial knowledge unless accom- panieil by that religious iu-tniction and (raiuiiiij: which is the oft/i/ guarantee for its riiihi u>c. jMay she ever continue to follow this courrio, sanctioned as ii is by the Wisdom that is from on High ! And, with al! England's evils and (liults, we challenge Dr. Ryerson to j^oiiit us out among the nations who have put intellectual instructioti dissociated from reli- gious training, in the fore rank of their national policy, one in wliich scriptural, religious principle is at this moment so gcnciTil'v dill'used, ami which under the Divine blessing, has ridden so triumphantly over the political storms and social convulsions of the last sixty years ! But that neither England nor England's Church under- values education in the proper sense of the term — that is, religious and intellectual training — I will adduce the testimony first, of an American prelate, and then of an English Wes- ieyan Minister. That noble hearted prelate, the Right Rev. Samuel A. McCoskry, D. D., D. C. L., Bishop of Michigan, thus expressed his sentiments at a meeting in Exeter College, :iiief very tion ! ilf of they ',ious f an Urcd ns. ^e is Vur- )r so . the im- om- 1 in om- thc } to It is we ons ■eli- 3ne i so :iai er- is. )n y es- cv. an, Oxford : •< On (.eiialf, ilien, vl \\ic American CiiuiTli. I noar- tily thank you Cov yom- kind o:\i>ro<>inri of f.-tocni ; mid per- mit me to ^ay, that one of the iireatc-t (■(•nir>rt> (w the jire- sent and the future, with regani to yourselves, is flic amnrc- tion /rhic/i I scp. every irhcrc in En inland bvtinrii n/i^ion and education. It is this which is the scnirit//, and irdl he the security, of your land. Dijisever them — I IjcIu'V" it ua^s the remark of an eminent inihvidu.'d in youruv.n iand, \\ho.se name is ahvay.-; rcmcmh-red with LM-atitude, the Duke of VVelHngton — I heheve it was he w!io said, ^'' Disscvey reli^ gion (ind cducntion, and you only mahc men chver devils /" It las ahvavs hoen so: and if ther ^ IS (iiie iter, ii is liiai -everane V Such ire t!it iti merits uith respect to the i /is'^pamblc union whi(;ii ou^ht to subsist hetu'cen i-eligion and etlucotion, and sucli his admiration of the conduct of England herein, of an ADicriccni Bish(>p. How heautifullv it contrasts with t!ie Ul! landers of a Canadian Ciiief Siiperint>Mi lent, oi' Common Schools! In a letter recently reprinted in the Christian Guardicui, and supposed to he written hy the Rev. Doctor Hann;ih,one of the most able of the i'mglish Wesleyan ^Ministers, lan^ruage almost c(iua!ly !-:trorig with the above is \\<'Qi\, as to the energy and success with whicli the Anglican Chui'cli i^- (Mideavour. ing to educat."" her people ; and to t!iis,as one ediiel' cause, he attributes the rapiti increase of the Church. I regret that the iaper in wiiicn I aw I! 10 CNtr; from tl letter les- troved ; hov»-e\er, the D>)ctor concludes ih u^ rom inis th it will be seen that the relati in^ngth of the reliiziour parties in this country (England) ha^-, dm'ing tlie period referred to, been very much ciuinged ; the C'liu'ch having in that time sained nuich ground: and il' the non-conformist bodies have not actuallv lost LM'ound, thev ha\'e reiativ ely lone so v tht e trrowth of t'leir ,1 (the C lurcti o! • m- land, \" Again, c()ntra>l the candor of the Enf,di?;h Wetileyaii Min- ister wil!i the want of it in the Canadian pohtico-Methodist Miniifter. Adieu tor the present. Yours truly. A. T. LETTEU 11. No7i-f-rcl(irit!ii schoo'fs nrccs.^,iri?i/ loichrislun} — /)/■. li.'s fl>'finition of a '■'■ jialriuL" — Xu/ioits (Iesi;ly i?icreased. Education has been made a matter of State policy in Prussia, and every child is, by the B 14 I t compulsion of government, sent to school, and yet serious crime is about fourteen times as prevalent, in proportion to the population, in Prussia as it is in France, where about two- thirds of the whole inhabitants can neither read nor write. In France itself, it appears from the ' Statistique Morale de la France,' that the amount of crime in all the eighty-three departments is, with one single exception, in proportion to the amount of instruction received. By far the jireater pro- portion of the ladies of pleasure in Paris come from the dis- tricls to the north of the Loire, the most highly educated in France. In Scotland, the educated criminals are to the un- educated as 4'\ to 1 ; in Ireland they arc about equal. In America, and in most of the States of the Union, three times the uneducated. These facts, ^o all jicrsons cfqntble- oj yield- irtg assent to evidence in oj)pos2t.io'/i to 2))rj\idice, completely settle the question." '' E.\'perience has now abundantly verified the melancholy truth so often enforced in Scripture — so constantly forgotten by mankind — that intellectual culti- vation has no cJJ'crt in arresting the sources of evil in the human heart ;" l)ut xhui, irliile it niters the direction of crime, it aha increases its (imou/it. Hence, " the jirccept of our Saviour was to preach the (Jospel to all nations, not to educate all nations," With these unnn.-^werablc ihcts and (onrlusions staring us in the face, would it not be the height of unpardonable pre- sumption — a very tempting of the judgments of a holy God — allow me respectfully to ask — for the Christians of this Pro- vince to permit the dearest interests of their children to be any longer sacrificed to so unholy a method of instruction; one which has already been productive of so much evil in other lands? I say " permit," because, I repeat, if we are earnestly united in the matter, we have the power consti- tutionally to wrest a better system from the hands of the Government. i 15 serious )rtioii to lilt t wo- lf write, oralc de ty-three irtion to ter pro- the (lis- ?ate(l in the iin- lal. In :c times oj yield- Tipletely indantly cripture lal culti- il in the )/ crime, t of our , not to a ring us ble pre- y God — this Pro- en to be ruction ; I evil in f we are r consti- s of the LETTER III. ON DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS. Plan for—Erpen.if' ofprfxenl system— UnKHlisfartory workinr/ of— Sep- arate Schools better cared for and lens exjJens'ire—Thc rijht of the poor — Opinion of Popish Paper, Dear Sir: I proceed to notice the Chief Superinlendoiii's most cer- tainly rockle-ss asi Chief Siiporinteiidrnt— that Denominational Schools would <•(« I fur-fold as murii as the present system — that tliey would he op;uvssive to '• tlie minor religious per. suasions,' and t.) tlie poor, hy leavln^r d, em without educa- tion, unle-s indi\d a.> pa'ipers, or ;is traitors to their faith! Believe me, these asMMMions were not made Imt as the result of subtle oii.-^ideratioii: Ibr if true— and who would doubt the word or tlu; accurate iiiibriiiatioM, on such a subject, of the Reverend Chief Siipeiiiiti^ndeiit ! — the inas.s of an irreligious people — and are not all people majorically irreligious? — would never conse.it to Denoininalioiinl School::^, were they proved to be holy as Heaven and necesj^ary as the Gospel. No one knows b( Iter than the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, D.D., the telling etfects of such insidious statemems, contain- ing appeals lo the low arrogance of idle pauperism, to the bitter pride of the mere sectarian, and even to the sincerity of the pious amongst the "• nh.ior religious persuasions." Alas that he should condescend to use such weapon.s, regardless of the great inaccuracy of his assertions. The gross impropriety of the ; atements under considera- tion I intend to prove in this letter, by showing — 16 '► ! li-it, That Deuominatioal Schools will .not " cost the peo- ple five-fold more than they now pay." - 2ntl, That "the youth ot minor religious persuasions" will NOT " he left without the means of cilucation,save at the ex- pense of their faith;" hut that on the contrary they will have more educational ami religious advantages than under the present system. 3rd. That a " large portion of the poorer youth of the coun- try" will NOT "he left without the means of education save as paupers ;" but that, on the contrary, the education, secular and religious, of the poor, will he much more efiicicntly cared for than under the present system. I will proceed then, fn'st, to state a plan for condjining the religious ana secular education of our youth by the establish- ment of JOenominalional Schools — a plan wliich will, if it be ever fairly carried out, I am convinced, vindicate the accjjracyof these statements. I propose then, that a Pro- vincial ScliOo!-hnv shall be oiacted in sultstance as follows: 1st. That any religious demonjination, or separate congre- gatioji, which desires to establish a Common School of it? own in any particular locality, shall have the legal right to claim for tliat purjiose the school assessment of its own members, and their corresponding share of the Provincial or local edu- cational grant. 2d. That the aj)pointment of the Teacher, with all other internal regulations of such school, jjhall be in the Minister and lay otficials, " as churchwardens, elders, or class leaders,'' &c., of said denomination in such locality. 3d. That such Denominational School shall not interfere with the right of the school. section in which it is situated to establish other denominational, or non-religious schools. 4th. That where in any school-section there are only De- nominational Schools, then, the parents or guardians not be- longing to the denomination or dei ominations unto whicii such school or schools belong, shall have a legal right to send their children to such denominational schools, provided lliere 17 be no other within Ji.-tnnco : Provided always, that in tiuch. ■: case the school assessment of parents ^o sending their children, and their corresponding share of the Provincial grant, shall then he jiaid to the denominational school to which they send their children ; such parents also paying their equal share of sucli further tax as the managers of the school may find it necessary to impose. r)th. That parents or guardians not belonging to the Denom- ination to whose school they send their children shall liave a legal ritrht to require that they learn no catechism, or otiier religions lormiilary, the Bible only excepted, but such as they, the parents, approve. Gth. That the |)()or shall, without payment, have tlie same legal right with those who pay to send their chiidren to any school, upon their solemn declaration of their inability to pay: the authorities of such school having a claim upon a j)ublic fund, to be established li)r that purpose for a certain rate of payment for all such scholars. In case of supposed inij)osi- tion,an apj^eal laying to the council of the township in wiiich such school is situated. 7tb. That where there is but one school in a section, whether it be denomiiuitional or otherwise, it shall have the right to the use of the schoolhouse for the time being ; but that, where there shall be i;iore than one school, and only one schoolhouse, it shall rest with the majority of the inhabitants of such section to say, iV.'in year to year, which school shall have the use of it. 8th. That parents or guardians, not belonging to any de- nomination which shall have established a school of its own under the sanction of tliis Provincial law, shall not have a legal right to send their children, under the exemptions afore- said, to said school, if there be a school of their own denomi- nation, or one non-religious, either in their own or a neigh- boring school-section, within distance. Nevertheless, be it enacted that, if such parents shall be content to subject their children to all the regulations and teachings, religious or B 2 IS fj'n ollicruiso, oCsucli school, ilicii ihcy shall liave a legal right to send their children to said denominational school, even tliough tliev, the parents, do not helong to that particular de- nomination — siihject rdways to payments hcreinbelbrc pro- vided in such cases. 9th. That where no denominational school is established, then the majority ofthc inhabitants ^ihall have a legal right, as now, to establisli a school on such basis as they sec fit, anil to assess all the inhabitants for its support, excepting only such persons as may be sending their children to some neigh- boring denominational school, under the conditions hereinbe- fore provided. lOth. That all Common Schools, denominational or other- wise, .shall jmblish annually, in the nearest newspaper, a statement of their entire receipts and expenditure. 11th. That it shall be competent for the Government to appoint inspectors o( all schools receiving public money, de- nominational as well as others, whose duty it will be to see that the teachers are of competent ability, that the schools are properly conducted, and that the advance of the pupils in secular knowledge is satisfactory. Such is the outline of the plan for denominational schools, which I earnestly recommend to serious and unprejudiced consideration. I do not, of course, pretend that it is per- fect in all its details — still less do I think that it is all that Christians, and Christian legislators ought to desire ; but I do most earnestly contend, that it is immeasurably better than our present system, and capable, even in this religiously- divided land, of being beneficially and satisfactorily worked. That the scheme I have thus propounded fully supports the statements with which I set out, to the complete confusion of the startling assertions of the Chief Superinteudent with which this letter commenced, is, I hope, sufficiently clear; a little additional evidence on some of the particular points I wish to substantiate, and a few further explanatory remarks, however, may not be thrown away. 19 ;al ritjht ol, even ular (le- )rc pro- iblisliedj right, as lit, and ng only neigh- ereinbe- )r other- laper, a iment to ney, de- e to see schools pupils in schools, ejudiced t is per- ali that but I do Iter than ligiously- worked. supports confusion lent with clear ; a points I remarks, First, as f I) the expense. The plan I have proposed, instead of *'('t>stiii;:;thc people five-fold more than the present system does not as!; one farthing more than their oivn just jiroportion of the pul)lic fundrf. Again ; where there are not children enough to form two schools; and yet a denominational school is established, I provide that such school shall be bound to receive the rest of the children in .such school-section ; con- sequently there is no plea for increased expenditure ; the only difTerence in such case, between the present system and the one I propose, being that the school is under especial religious direction, instead of being entirely secular. While in towns or villages no increased expenditure will be needed, because there will be a sufficient number of children of diflbrent de- nominations to form schools abundantly large, especially in- eluding the children of the minor sects, and those of no denom- ination, who would from choice attend the denominational schools. But it seems probable, taking into consideration the vastly increased etliciency which would be given to our Common Schools by the religious supervision I am advocating, that their cost would be absoliitehj less, perhaps very much less, than under the present system ; and for these reasons ; first because the ministers and lay officials, taking a much deeper, because religious interest in the schools, than is done by the present townshij) superintendents, trustees, &c. &:c., the Schools would be much more efficiently and economically managed; and secondly, because from the personal effijrts of the various Ministers and their friends, excited to exertion by the religious as well as intellectual advantages which they would hope the children would derive from their schools, a much larger average of attendance ivould he secured throughout the Province than is noiv the fact \ and thus the average expenditure would be lessened, instead of increased five-fold, while the benefits of a sound education would be much more generally diflused than at present. The fact is, that our present Provincial system of Common k 20 School Etlucation is most expensive, and is causing great (lissalisfaction throughout the Province. — From the manner in which the Rejioit of Conmion Schools is pubhshed, it is perhaps (piitc impossible for the jjcople in i^eneral to arrive at a knowledge of what is the real cost to the Province of education in proportion to the instruction given. For instance, from the unceriain manner in which the returns are made, the real attendance of children caimot be discovered ; so, from the like uncertainty, in the account of local school expenses in the diderent sections, the actual aver- age exj)ense is a mystery; all of which incertitude is most fortunate for the reputation of the Government Education Onice,and especially of its principal Oflicial,the Chief Super- intendent ! Ijut,that it is so costly that Denominational Schools may be sought on the score of mere economy, two or tliree brief facts may show. In 18-M) the Chief Siijicrintendeiit of Education gave the average of attendance on the schools throughout the Province at 8.^ to 10, and the average cost of education for each child as 15s. l^d. per annum. Now a friend of mine, a staunch Reformer, tleep in the mysteries of local legislation during the short-lived days of District Municipal Councils, was starUed at these returns, believing them, from his previous know- ledge, to be totally inccjrrect; he therefore probed the matter thoroughly as respects the Niagara District; and found the results, from the public returns of the "Niagara District School Report," to be as follows: — Average of attendance as 4 to 10, and the average expen- diture per child to be £1 10s. T.^d. per annum. And this is exclusive of the cost of fuel, school-houses, and superinten- dence, local and general. The gentleman who kindly gives me these statistics, declares that 40 per cent ought to be added for extras, the average expense given above being merely calculated from the teachers' salaries. These statements he has published in nu- merous letters, and defying contradiction, has not received it, .as to any of his staple facts. 21 iig great manner ed, it is () arrive tince of ucli the iiriot be onnt of inl aver- is most ducation f Super- Schools or tlirec uave (he lovinc'c ch child s^taunch iring the startled ^ know- e matter und the t School ! expen. d this is erintcn- Jeclares average >m the i in nu- 3ivcd it, a The expensive and at the same time the very unsatisfactory working of our present School system was also ably exposed in a letter of Mr. Angus Dallas, a few weeks ago, to the British Colonist. He state- I'lot in Toronto the average of the attendance of the children between 5 and 1(3 years of age upon the Common Schools is only 18 j)cr cent.! In Hamil- ton only IG per cent.! In Kingston only 25 per cent.! While the average cost of Common 'School education, exclusive of the expense of School apjiaralus, rent, repairs, building, and Government Eiluoationu! INIachinery, is in Toronto 18s. S.^d. per head ; in Hamilton 33s, 2.^(1.; in Kingst<'U £2 Is. lid.! These are the facts," he adds, " witli respect to the average attendance and the cost, agreeable to the criterion established by the Common School Act." He (piotes as follows from the Report of tlio Toronto City Scho; I gi'anl, hi Ilk we tors and ge their 1 ton dent e estab- .1 be left of their y would inalions ■eligioub 'd, as I esirablo ;nt : for il status under be in. 3 j)lan ; and that oven the religious training ot' the child would be cared for, so far as non-lMterfercnce with the particular re- ligious vit ws of its parents would admit. The last of the three assertions ot the Chief Superintendent which I undertook to answer u as, tliat denominational schools "would h'iive a large portion of the country without any means of education save as paupers;" this, I think, I have successfully uict by showing bow they would be admitted, without payment, into religious t-chools. But there is a cun- ning in this objection unpleasant to a disingcifious mind. For, while it is cnlculateil to flatter the pride of the urdioly poor, it is not honestly a denominational, but a free-school objection ; as in no;i-religious schools, if oot free, the poor must be educated by a charitable rate, just as much as in de- nonfmational schools. Hence, the respectable Superintendent would meet this dilficult}', by educating the whole jH'ovince as {)aupers. In (act, Denominational Schools are the peculiar right of the ])oor; because in the church oC God the faithlul poor arc not regarded as paupers, but as fellow mend)ers with their wealthier brethren of Christ; hence th(?y and their children are cared ibr as brethren ! Ye.':, give us religious schools, and we will answer lor ii, thai the children of the poorest would not only have an education they now too often do not know how to value, olTered them ; but thev would be sought out by the ministers ol the dillerent denonfinations, if sotne- times with a mixture of sectarian zeal, yet still oftener, I trust, with the holy and patient earnestness of faithful and loving shepherds. In cither case the poor would profit, being by the persuasion of love brought under secular tuition combined with religious training. Oh, non-religious schools, whether Free or otherwise, are a heartless frautl upon the rights and the happiness of the \)oov ! J3ut more of this in my subse- quent letters. Surely it will not be considered as a valid ob- jection to this scheme, that sometimes the chiMren of smaller denonfinations would have to ije educated at the schools of the itl. 24- larger ones ; especially as I have provided that ihe'ic doctrinal teachiiii^ shall not be interfered with; and surely some reli- gious training is better than none ! Permit me, on this point, to quote authority whom none will accuse of being toounsec- tarian, or too liberally inclined. Listen to what the Shepherd of t/icValleij, a Popish journal of the United States, says, on this theme : '' It would be better to send children to Methodist or Presbyterian schools, if such were in existence, than to these educational institutions of the State. The reason is plain. At the one, your child will be taught that a false re- ligion is true — at the other, that every religion is false." Ag.'iin, the same journal says — "It is not lawful to take that which is holy and cast it to the dogs. Your children are the children of God by baptism — members of the sacred and mystical body of vvhich Christ is the head. Education for them must not be mere learning to read and vv-rite and reckon up. This may do for those u-iio accc])! this world and the things of this u'orld as man's last end and greatest hope. God does not require that your children should know these things, and he will not send them to hell lor ignorance in these res- pects. The education of a Christian child must be the teach- ing what he must do for his soul's health, and the acquisition of those habits whereby a Christian life is secured. That your children must learn those things at home, is very true ; but that they must not be made to uidearn, and laugh at you for teaching them, at school, is another truth which it will not do to overlook." sir, I blush lo think how much more scriptural and cvan- gelical are these sentiments, than those low and earthly prin- ciples from which oiu- Frotestant Common School law sprang. Adieu. 1 "25 i'lc doctrinal r some reli- m this point, g toounsec- le Shc2)herd es, says, on to Methodist rice, than to 10 reason is it a false rc- lulse." iful to take children arc } sacred and lucation for I and reckon rid and the hope. God these things, 1 these res- le the teach- ; acquisition ired. That ; very true ; aiigh at you liirli it will il and cvan. artlily })rin- School law LETTER IV. 77.C " Wcitminstcr' — Imporvince of incidental religious teaching. — DuUj of School Teacher.?. — Tiji-'inivj of Chief Superintendent. — Inetjiciency of Stindaj/ Schools. — Fali-e charge against the Clvrgy. " Whom shall he teach knowledge? antl whom siiall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast. "For precept must be upon precept, prccepi upon precept ; lino upon line, here a little and there a little," — IsaiaJi. " Whether therefore ye cat or drink, or ichatevcr ye do, do all to the iz!oi-y of God." — I. Cor?iithinns. Sir, — Let religious educationists thank God and take cour- age; for not only have they the Church, the whole Church, but most assuredly they have also the Bible, the whole Bible, on their side ; hence, since He who inPi)ired the one and dwells in the oihoi-, knows no change, without all questir,n they are fighting the battle of the Saviour, of the Church, and of the Bible, anil must therefore, if true to themselves and to their cause, be ultimately successful. The truth of this statement is strikingly pxempliiied in a recont article on " Secular Education" in the semi-infidel Westminster Review. The Rcviciv takes the impudently honest ground (and verily in these days of humJ/uq lionesty in any shape is refreshing!) that a religious education is not fitted to suit men for the active duties of life. Thus he says, " The leading aim of Bib;o religious instruction is to communi- cate such principles of f^ith and practice as may ins-.ire the salvation and happiness (.i'the life to come. That of secular instruction, to impart such knowledge and habits of action as may conduce to well-being in ihe world in which we now live." O, ye fools and blind ! Either Christianity is a lie, or the surest method of securing those habits of serious reflection and enduring energy of action which are necessary to tempo- ral success, is to imbue the mind deeply with a feeling of Christian accountability. Christian hopes and Christian love. Hence, however, in undeniable consistency with the view-- c J I! ly o CG 1l above enunciated, the "cviewer draws tins bold conclusion against religious schools and their managers: '^JNIoreover, from the overwhelming importance attached bj- the Clergy to eternity in comparison with time, they would lie under a constant temptation, often unperceived by themselves, unduly to subordinate secular lo spiritual instruction." I had thought to put portions of the above sentence in italics, but it is all loo Kisrniiicant of "secular education" tendencies, as dissociated from religious training, to admit any distinction of its parts. Yet a little further, and the reviewer, who evidently fjels that Christian faith and tlie Bible are sore obstacles in his way, thus writes ; "After a few generations shall have enjoyed this improved instruction, modifications in religious faith may be expected to follovv'. The Bible is undergoing a criticism of reason such as it was never before exposed to, and the discoveries! of the science are daily shaking the established interpretations of it to the foundations." — Thus since, thank God ! the religious tone of England forbids the ribald sneer, or open contempt of Christianity and its Bible, both are to ho '•'modified," that is, in plain English, to be explained away, to be deprived, by neological rationalism, of all authority, of all hope, and of all salvation ! And all to clear the way for secular education! Such., be it remembered, are the senti- ments of one of the great organs of the party, who, with our Reverend Superintendent of education, supports secular, as separatccUx'om religious education. I do not say as oj^poscd to religious education, for even our dcistical reviewer would, like the Hevd. Doctor, graciously permit separate religious schools ! How significant is the fact that the almost sneering critic should l)e equally ready with the Rcvd. Doctor to sanction rellsiouij training, if only he be permitted to secure his non- religious teaching first! Yet how sad is such a fact ; for does it not prove that the sceptic feels that he need not fear what must be the feeble eflbrts of Christian training when thus separated. Yes, unquestionably the sceptic is wise in his generation ; for most certainly the natural tendency of the •27 i conclusion " Moreover, ' the Clergy lie under a ves, unduly liad thought ut it is all too dissociated of its parts, idently f^els s in his way, ave enjoyed )U3 laitli may g a criticism d to, and the ! established since, thank ribald sneer, oth are to be allied awav, authoritv, of 'he way for ire the senti- •iio, with our s secular, as as Giiimscd to r would, like ious schools ! eering critic to sanction ire hiiD non- ict ; for does ot fear what \ when thus wise in his lencv of the separate secular education scheme is to ignore Christianity, and to make the Bible despised. How bitterly are the men of this generation proving themselves children, " after their own likeness and image" of those, wiio, [irelLTring mieZ/ccY to /ore', eat <'f the forbidden fruit uf the tree of knowledge of gooil and evil. The above observations have been suggested by the third " remark" of the Chief Superintendent, in the extract from his report which has called forth these Letters. It is to this elfect — "but the estaijlisiiment of denominational schools is altogether unnecessary, because common schools are not board- ing but day schools." Hence he argues that time sulficient wii! be ieit for religious instruction to be given by parents and pastors in the morning, or after schools are dismissed, and upon Sundays. What does the Chief Superintendent under- stand by religious training \ Surely he does not suppose, aa the "Westminster" appears to do, that it merely consists in teaching the creed and catechism, albeit these may be important portions of its foundation. — Religious training pre- eminently requires to be given in the manner intimated by Divine wisdom, in the passage placed at the head of this letter — "'precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little," and this training is to begin, be it remem- bered, as Johovah there commands, with the youngest, "those weaned from the milk and drawn iVom the breast." Of religious instruction that which is incidcntly given is, perhaps, the most elfective ; and for t'lis, the hours spent at school alTord t'le lUirest opportunity. Thus the routine read- ing of Holy Scripture must anV)i\l frequent opportunities of plainly cnlorcing, on the young mind, its practical teaching; such as their own connectiini with the pri\ileges it declares, the duties it enjoins, and the hopes it reveals. Of c na'se 1 am not supposing or wishing any course of polemical instruc- tion to ije given by our school masters, but it cannot be sate to our children's feelings of veneration, nor reverential to Almighty God, to permit His ^Vord to be read by a pupil to his M. I 'I I ! i! 28 lutor, and that tutor, to ba either unable or unwilHiig to use It, as opportunity serves, for his pupils' reliifiou.s benefit. So in all their reading aloud to their master, what innumerable ojiportunitiesofprofitabie remark, in elucidation of exclusively chriEtian principles, must occur? Also tlie intercourse of scholars one with another, — their courtesy, tlieirevi! tempers, their brotherly kindness, their inte^^rity, 6cc., will all call, al- most hourly, not only for moral, but Christian instruction. For what is the only true fnmJation, for instance, of love either to God or man, but tins, '' Herein is love, not that we loved God, but lie loved us, and sent His son to be the pro- pitiaticn for our sins." — I mlLjht, of course, go on multiplying examples without end'; for how fe.v moral and religious positions, of which a child is susceptible, are there in which he may not be sometimes placed, even in a day school : but let these suffice. Can then such exclusively Christian training as this be received under our present school system ? And yet it is nothing but bare Bible Christianity ! — Nor, let it be answered that I am extravagant in expecting such teaching from denominational school teachers. I do not exj^ect, nor indeed desire, I repeat, that in Church Common Schools, for instance, we should have teacliCrs who would givethoological treatisesto the children upon the doctrineof the New Birth, Episcopacy, or the Resurrection ; but I do expect and desire, that we should obtain teachers who, when a child had committed some flagrant fault, would endeavour to bring him to repentance by reminding him Whose child he was ; or, who, when a Confirmation was approaching, would speak to the children of the great privileges of such a rite and who in hearing their catechism would impress upon them, if only by one word, the nature of the vows which they were about to take. In short, in Church Schools, I should hope to see Christian teachers, who, like Christian parents, would seize every suitable opportunity of making Christian impressions upon the minds of the children entrusted to them. To such schools, from the parish to the university, England, uuder I, -^ v'illiiig to use benefit. So innumerable )f*exclusively itcrcourse of evi! tempers, II all call, al- i instruction, ince, of love not that we ► be the jn'o- I multiplying inJ religious ; in which he lool : but let tian training stem ? And in expecting 3rs. I do not ch Common ; who would octrineofthe I I do expect vhen a child 'our to brinff ihl he was ; .vould speak ite and who lem, if only were about hope to see -vould seize impressions . To such dVC'. u:ider 29 God, owes most of her greatness and of her reverence for Christianity. fJut, had religious schools been the failure which some falsely pretend, even that could form no det'ence of a legislature for enacting — much less of a Christian minister for suggesting, — a system of national educatior in open opposition to Christian accountability, and in scoi li'ul neirlcct of the holine.is of Christian trainincr. Really to a sincere believer in Chris* anitythe matter may be brought within a nut shell. Wl ' i man sent here for] Is it not first to bring glory to God ; secondly, to use this life so as to procure for himself an inheritance in a better? Is it reason then, to loose sight for a moment of the isigher motives, to expect such a believer to be willing to place his child during those years when it Is most susceptible of impression, for seven or eight hours daily, where the glory of GoJ, and that eternity w iiich iiive its value to its own present lite, are practically {org otten I But we lake higiier ground and ask, can a Christian do so ami be guiltless? Would not such con- duct 1)0 a llngrant violation of that positive commantJ, — with which I have also honoured this letter by placing it at its head — " Wiiether therefore ye eat or drink, whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God?' But the Reverend Superintendent dv.-ells much upon the impoi'tance and sulHcicncy of Parental and Pastoral inslruc- tion. It is well ! most important are they, and it is precisely for interfering with these that we denounce our present Common School system. Our Chief Superintendent, in effect, says to the parent — You may train your child in religion as you like on the Sabbath and during the mornings and evenings of other days ; but on the chief part 'f each week day I will have him taught as I see fit ! So to the Clergyman, he says, — It is your duty to teach the child religion, but I will only allow you to do so, as best you may, on the Sabbath ; all the rest of the week I will appoint such teachers for him as I choose! If this be not the bitterness of tyranny — atyranny most recklessly interfering with the closest relations of life — I know c'2 II ■ p ■ r '1 30. not what is. I am quite aware that our Educational Despot Tir.}.' answer: — It is not I, but the trustees, who appoint the teachers. I acknowledge the fact j but he is the author, and the hand that guides the helm of the whole system, and there- fore he is personally responsible for its whole eifects. — But) especially are his remarks with respect to the Pastoral in- struction of our youth a mockery. This will appear by con- sidering : 1 — That his own Common School system is greatly sub- versive of Sunday-School influence. In England Sunday. Schools have been so popular and useful because they are the only means offered to a large body of the people of attain- ing any education at all ; hence it is natural that they should be numerously attended ; and although a very considerable pr(>portion of the parents are actuated l)y secular o -I not religious motives, happily this does not prevent their children from receiving the benefits of the religious instructions there given. But in this province the ease with which secular instruction is obtained in our Common Schools does away with this motive lor parents sending their children to Sunday- Schools ; consequently, as most parents are not religious, (I suppose Dr. Ryerson will admit this!) and do not therefore care for their children being religiously taught, it is but a small proportion of those unhappy little ones who need such teaching most, that can reasonably be expected to attend them. I indignantly complain, therefore, of the disingenious- ness which proposes to rely so much on Sunday religious teaching, when the very circumstances to which it maiidy owes its success and usefulness at home do not exist here- 2 — That by preventing the connection of ministers with Common Schools, the law takes out of their hands one very chief means of causing the children to attend their Sunday religious instruction. In the Canon which the Chief Superin- tendent so unfairly quotes, setting forth the duty of the Clergy to catechise, it is also declared to be the law that parents and masters and mistresses shall cause their chihh-en and servants 'li ( !l 31- ional Despot appoint the author, and 1, ami there- iTects. — But> Pastoral in- pear by con- grcatly sub- uid Sunday. ISC thev are ¥ pie of attain- t they should considerable liar a d not leir children ictions there hich secular does away 1 to Sunday- religious, (I lot therefore It, it is but 10 need such ?d to attend lisingenious- Jay religious h it mainly exist here, inisters with ids one very leir Sunday ief Superin- f the Clergy parents and ind servants to attend. Upon this part of the law he carefully says nothing ; l>ul in England, even since law has ceased to enforce these things, the relation of the Clergy to the parochial schools liat- been a great means of enabling them to secure attendance on their Sunday teaching. Now all such inlluence is, by our iniquitous school system, denied to the ministers of this Pro. vince. Tlie Reverend Egerton Ryerson, D. D., will surely admit the truth of the scriptural declaration, that " men love darkness rather ilian light;" what then, when all the motives connected with secular instructiou are withdrawn, i^s to induce irreligious parents to send their children to receive ''the light r' 3 — That the Clergy are so few, and so over worked, that — even if [\\c attcntlanco of the cliildren could be secured — they have sekloni the time or the strength, on a Sunday, to comply with the ino;^t desirable requirements of the Canon, at lea.st in any satisfactory manner. The Reverend Super- mienilenl himself belongs to a large and respectable !)ody of Christians: I would respectfully ask him how many hours, ill a week, month, or even year, the ministers of his own denomination devote to the exclusive religious teaching of t!ie youths of their flock ? If then, as I venture to believe, his own lirethren find little or no time, and least of all on Sunday, frd' this duty, is it Christianly honest, does it manifest that iiodly jealousy for the glory of God and the salvation of his fellow men becoming a professed minister of Christ, to oiler such Sunday teaching as a substitute for religious or denomi- national schools? Equally hollow and hypocritical is the senii-infidel plea that Sunday-School tuition will meet the religious wants of our children. I say semi-infidel, because, if there were any force in the argument, it would go far to show that, with adults Sunday religion is sufficient to serve for the whole week ! Nay, but, as regards our j)oor children, it is even more cruelly ina])plicaiile than to adults; for, from their yc^ung minds, impressions, especiallyof a serious nature, are but too certain 'o pass away as the " morning cloud and early dew," unless UK V' -si '! ,( 32 they arc hourly renewed, and they themselves almost momcn. tarily watched over, to guard them from the snares, and to snatch them from the power, of temptation. But the whole pretension is as false as it is foolish, since it must be known to thoje who make it that it is a mere fraction of the children of the Province who attend Sundav Schools at all. Once more I must quote the Chief Superintendent, and then I have done trespassing on your patience for this week. He says, "the demand to make the teacher do the canonical work of the Clergyman is as impolitical as it is selfish." This is simply an unworthy slander ; and such, I fear. Dr. Ryerson knew it to be when he penned it. In truth, the ministers of any denomination, in contending for distinctive schools, arc thereby seeking to increase their own labours, since they will be greatly resjtonsible for the conduct of both master and children ; having the oversight of both tlie secular arid reli- gious training of the latter; attending certain d-'ys of tl.t week to give special religious instruction, See , besides the puljlic catechising on Sundays, which there iiiight then be some hopes of accon)j)!ishing with profit, both to the children and to the congregation. ti i, I: •( il LETTER V. Despotism — Secular Governments no rigJit themselves to educate the peo- ple Jiut should aid with friends — Better done li/ private ijlhrte — Folli/ of Canadian Government — Opinion and vote af Canadian Church — Non-religious because ir-relijious education — Injidelizing ejTccts of, in United States. Dear Sir. In the fourth section of the appendix to the Chief Super- intendent's Report for 1S51, which lam thus hastily reviewing, he says — " But, it may be asked, ought not religious instruc- tion to be given in the day schools, and ought not Government to re(}uire this in every school 1 I answer," he proceeds, "what mayor ought to be done in regard to religious instruc- tion, and what the Government ought to require, are two 33 most momen. narc:?, and to But the whole iihe known to f the children all. ntendent, and for this week. » the canonical selfish." Thi3 r, Dr. Ryerson he ministers ol /e schools, arc since they will th master and ■cular and reli- tys of tl.t week des the public then bo some le children and to educate the pco- vatc (forts— FoU^ iiiHuUan Church — ■ Uzinj effects of, in le Chief Super- astily reviewing, eligious instruc- not Government ;' he proceeds, reliifious instruc- •equire, are two dinV'rent tilings.'' Afier declaiming upon the ditTereiice ir the powers of despotic and free governments, in a manner the ])oint of which, as resi)OCts the moral obligation to gi\' religious instruction in day schools,! confess myself unaljle to discover, he cf>ncludes,'''who then are to he judgesof tlie nature and extent of the religious instruction to be given in scliools ; thL'ir parents and pastors, or the Executive Government, Sic., 6cc. r' Oh, Dr. Rverson ! Y>i\ ilverson! when will vou ar^ue Willi Christian simplicity and manly o])enness ? Right well Co you know tluit it is this very privilege of parents and |)astors 10 educate their chiUlren as they choose for which we wiio advocate Denominational Schools ar'3 contending: ami, Willi equal clearness you ought to know that by denying us such schools you are, in the present divided state of the religiour world, forbidding us to exercise the most common and yet dearest right of Christian freemen — the power of edu- cating our own children in the way and manner that we our- selves, their parents and pastors, consider most conducive to their present and eternal well-being. 0, most execrable oppression ! Otlier despots may occasionally require an op- pressive degree of state service from the sons of their subjects, but your despotism seeks to compel its, if possible, either to leave our sons and daughters uneducated, or to yield them to be taught under a system, which we l^elieve most injurious to the noblest faculties of their souls in his life, and awfully perilous, if there be truth in nature's a])horism, that "as the twig is bent, the tree iticlines," — to our hopes of rejoicing over them in the "■life to come" And this bitter religious tyranny is the boasted ireedom of democratic Canada in the nineteenth century ! But I [)niceed lo notice the mistake in principle, with respect to Government interference in oiiucation, into which the Chief Superintendent falls, in his remarks. Because the Executive, from its own non-religious character, and the multitudinous sectarian division so unscripturally existing amongst us, is unhappily prevented from adopting any uniform f i. ■ I I 34- system of Christian training in our common schools, he seems to regard it as a necessary consequence that therefore they can in no way be suhjected toa diftinctive religious teaching. The fallacy of this su})posed consequence, I liave however, I trust, successfully proved in my third letter, wherein I laid down a scheme of Denominational Schools, whicii, lidtwitli- standingthc sore evils above alluded to, while it aids the governmeutin securing the best secular education of the peo- ple, secures at the same time distinctive Christian training. 1 — But the Chief Superintendent's error lies deeper. He does not seem to know that the education of the human mind is in every department, and at each progressive step, a distinctively religious work ; as is most clearly pro /ed by the express teaching of Holy Scripture, and by all but common consent of mankind, whether Jewish, Christian, Mahomcdan or Pagan, in every age of the world. And that such universal consent is in strict accordance with every reasonable and honest understanding of true Christian obliiiation I have pre- viously shown in these letters. Consequently, 2/:hcre a goV' ernmcnt ceases to he distiiictivehj religwus, it loses evenj right — save that of oppression — to interjerc 'ivith the details of the 2^eo2^lc'* s education; hence that must, in common con- sistency, be left to those to whom such government has abandoned the moral and religious care of the people. It follows then, that in such a case, and it is that of this Province, the only ofiice of the rules in the matter of education, is'to assist the various religious denominations from public funds in establishing schools, and to sec that the aid so granted is honestly and etHciently used, so far as the secular instruction given in such schools is concerned. The only exception to this principle would be, where the Clergy and their people so neglected their duty as not to establish schools when they had the ability to do so, then perhaps it might bo permiss- ible for a government, through its own ofllcials, to establish a mere secular school ; if indeed, even then, such a non-religi- ous school would not be more of a curse than a blessing; for 35 )(>ls, he secm3 herefore they ^KHis teaching. ave however, vhorein I laiil t'.icii, hotwith- le it aids the on of the peo- iaii training. i deeper. He ^r the human res.sive step, a pro/cd by the I hut connnion ijMahoniedan such universal easonable and on I have pre* yivhcre a gov- it loses every vith the details I common con- 3vernmcnt has le people. It f this Province, iducation, is'to n public funds . so granted is ular iniitruction ly exception to d their people 3ols when they lit be permiss- s, to establish a ch a non-religi- a blessing; lor we repeat, tliat " knowledge is power," for evil as well as for good; and that naturally "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." It ir.ay, huwever, be objected that if a government is not 10 direct the eilucation of its youtli, it ought not to be expected to assist such cducatiublic revenue. But this objection is based on an entire misconception. Our argimient is not, that tiie education of the people can be a matter of indilVoreiice to ;' :iy rational government, but that when a government is itself grounded on no positive distinct Christian principle, and presides ovcv n religiously divided people, it is, both in its own nature, ami circumstantially, unable to conduct such education; and it is so, from this fact, that vitally important as is a right religious and intellectual educa- tion of the people (o the well being of a nation, yet, there are so indissoliiOli/ conncctc^d with it, interests of so infinitely more iniiiortant and holier a nature, that mere secular poli- ticians may not dare to guide it, nor may a sj)urious liberalism presume to drop various portions of revealed truth in order to vaunt a system of barely nominal Christian education, in the hope of securing the support of discordant sects. Still, though from these causes governments, such as that of this Province, are unai.)le themselves to direct t!ie education of the ])eople, they must have their people educated, and ri gJit! i/ cducmcd, or the nation is ruined ; consequently, their only alternative, Ls to help the diHerent religious bodies to educate their people, si7icc, by trai7ii)ig titon as Christirnis they arc talina; the surest mctJiod of m'tldna them nood citizctis! Hence, the wisdom and political honesty, as well as the moral obligation, of even non-relicrious L'lA-ernmcnt to assist Denominational Schools out of the pul^lic revenue. 2. Again : it is the grossest fully in any Government to make public works of those matters which umdd be more efficiently accoiiipUshrd, and at less eventual cost, by jyrivate energy and skill. Now this is precisely what the govern- ment of the Province has done ir rLsard to Common Schools. in f 4 36 1 ' .1 t'l' It has sanctioned a very expensive central establishment, it pays Local School Superintendents all over the country ; it puts power to expend tiie public money into hands of illiterate men as school trustees. The consequence is, that school-houses are built in unsuitable situations and at unneces. sary cost, and other useless expenses are incurred from want of due knowledge ; by the patronage also, which Government has given to Free-Schools, a premium is otTered to the drunken and idle, at the expense of the hard-working man, especially of the farmer. No wonder therefore that the people are miserably dissatisfied ; and more especially as the real average attendance is after all, as I have shown, most unsatisfactory. All this extravagance is the result of having the schools in the hands of those who have no high principled interests in their welfare. Did the Government really understand the true educational interests of the country, and care to save the Provincial revenues ratlier than to increase its own patronage by the multiplication of unnecessary ofliccs, a very large proportion of this oificial educational expenditure might l)e saved by having the Common Schools, as f^r as possible, in the hands of the diilbrent religious denominations ; at the same time, the interests of the schools would be a vast deal better attended to than at present. Thank God, with all our evils we are not yet a sceptical people ; whatever may be the amount of the genuine piety of the land, certain it is, that the religious feelings of our people are the strongest which they possess ; hence when our common Schools shall be connected with those feelings, or may we not say princi. pies, they will take an incomparably deeper interest in them than at present. But especially, will the minister and oiTicial members of the different sects feel both their religious affections and personal honor concerned in the success oi their various schools. Thus, by establishing denominationai schools, instead of our present inefficient and most expensive system, the Government would secure a numerous body of the most respectable and earnest-minded men of the province '1 t 37 ablishment, it e country ; it Id IkuuIs of uence is, that lid at iiiineces- eJ from want 1 Government ,0 the drunken an, especially le people are e real average .insatisfactory, the schools in ed interests in nderstand the ire to save the 3\vn patronage , n very large iture might l)e as possible, in ations; at the be a vast deal God, with all whatever may d, certain it is, the strongest 1 Schools shall not say princi. iterest in them minister and their religious the success ol lenominationn! nost expensive lerous body ol of the province as the unpaid ofHcials and guardians of the common schools, with the certainly of their expending upon them an amount of earnest zeal and personal care which no mere money could ensure. It', therefore, our Government longer refuse the demand for denominational schools, will they not prove themselves as selfishly reckless in their political economy, and as regardless of the real educational interests of the peojile, as tliey will bo scornfull) tyrannical in their religious oppression ? With two or three general remarks, I will close this letter. 3. The Chief Superintendent has publicly made this state- ment, " I <\^ not believe that even a considerable ^)ar^^ can be fomented :n the Church t)f England itself, much less in the country at large, against our system of Public Schools." — This assertion very forcibly remiiids me of the days when the same reverend gentleman used so recklessly to speak of the Church in this province as " a miserable faction, not a tithe of the people," Aic. &c. He is still rper Canada, while the Romish Communion is upwards of Oi.e-sixth ] these twu denominations therefore, together, form considerably above cmc-third of the entire population, and they ha\-e alreatly decidedly expressed their deep conviction that the care and oversight of the eiiucation and training, both for time and etei'nity, of our youth can only be safely or scrii)turally entrusted to their Pastors. The former, in the Diocese of Toronto, after having earnestly petitioned, without avail, to have distinct schools, did at her semi-Synodical meeting, composed of her Clergy and Laity, in May 18 j1, uyianimounly pass the foHowing resolution, which was moved liy the Rev. .F. E. Boswell, Rector, Williamsburgh,and seconded by Lawrence Lawrason, Esq., of London. — '< That this meeting desires to express its sense o{ the paramount duty of connecting religion with secular D ■"it 38 ''"" "t-, 'I' 1 1 ;.t; i I'l;, education ; and, in order to carry out this obligation, they deem it to be necessary to petition the Colonial Legislature to permit the establishment of separate Church Schools ; and that the assessments ordinarily paid by Churchmen for the support of Common Schools to be applied to the maintenance of such as are in connection with the Church, where such appropriation is practicable and desired ; and that the Committee aforesaid be empowered to draft the same." The Romish Communion in C anada West has recently advocated the same principle through its Bishop. But, Clergymen act as school superintendents, trustees, cVc, Dr. R. will say. True, I have done so myself; but let not the Chief Superintendent suppose that we therefore approve of the system. Far, very far from it ; but we sought to stem, as far as in us lay, th-;:; torrent of evil. I, for one, however, have long ceased to be connected with a system, that I have been compelled conscientiously to believe is hopelessly, irremediably, bad ; nor did I ever meet with one Clergyman, or one earnest-minded Church layman, amongst the numbers I have known connected with the Common Schools, who, so far as my memory serves me, did not think the system radically defective. Thus in a letter which I have lately received from a Rector, who is at this moment, I believe, acting in his township as school superintendent, he says, speaking of our present common school law, ^'anything would be an improvement upon the miserable system we have at present." And this senlin:ent — Dr. Rycrson to the contrary notwithstanding, — is, I think, largely shared by the well- informed and earnest-minded men of other denominations ; as indeed several of my former statements tend to show. The fact is, that sincere and enlightened christians, in addition to their deep conviction of the necessity of positive distinctive Christian instruction in our common schools, are further satisfied that non-vcWgxows, must, very soon, become ir-religious education ; if indeed, the terms arc not identical, at; was taught by our blessed Lord liimself, when he told his 39 Dligation, they al Legislature Schools ; and :hnien for the ; maintenance , wiiere such and that the ft the same." has recently Bishop. But, trustees, lVc., If; but let not 'efore approve •ought to stem, one, however, m, that I have is hopelessly, ne Clergyman, >t the numbers Schools, who, nk the system I have lately ent, I believe, Jent, he says, uiything would m we have at to the contrary by the well- enominations ; d to show. christians, in iity of positive n schools, are soon, become ; not identical, len he told his disciples. '^He thatgathercth not with me, scatterelh abroad." Thuse, therefore, who, in the simplicity of their hearts, believe in the literal truth of tl 'ir Divine Master's teaching, cannot choose 1)ut tremble as they contemplate our School system ; since those tenchers to whom we are required to commit our children's training for so long and important a I)ortion of their lives are not even expected to aid in "gathering" them to Christ; conse([uently, if he who is '•'the Truth" is to be believed, such teaching wast tend to " scatter" our little ones " abroad" from him ! Yea, and already does our experience of the present School system most painfully teach the same melancholy truth. My decided impression is, that onlij a syjiall iyroportio}L of our teachers are regular attenda7its Kpon any i)lace of icorship, and tJiat a oncrc fraction oftkera arc accredited members of any religious hody ; for the most pnrt, tiioy are young people, without any fixed religious principles, with whom the Sunday is a mere holiday ; while not n few of the older ones are more or less given i.o intoxication. Ctnisequently, the children under such teachers have the continual irreligious example of Sunday desecration, if not of other flagrant vices ; while it is evident that the teaching must be most chillingly void of any thing approaching to Evengelical purity and truth. And the crowning evil is, that these teachers and schools being freed by law from all ministerial or other religious control, no correctives can be administered at the fountain from which the evil llows. As irreligion, even in its mildest form, necessarily leads to contemptut)us dislike of Christian truth, our painful convic- tion is, that, if perseveretl in, our j)resent Common School system must eventually raise up a large body of ill-informed sceptics, putTed up with the miserable cant of a maudlin rationalism. Such aj-qymrs already to have bcefi some of its effects 171 the 7ieighbori7ig States, where, it is stated, that there are already 7,000,000 i6'/io make ?w distinctive profes- sion of Christian faith ; and I fear it is beyond a doubt that m 40 t?iC 2^roporiion tvhich these scmt-injidcis bear to the e?itire pojoulalion is rajndhj increasmg. In truth it is but too evident, as tlie wise and good in all ages have taugiit, that, if God is to be honored and man l)lesscd, secular and religious instruction must go iiand in hand. Never was there a more dangerous or a more foolish idea propounded, by men profes- sing to believe Revelation, than that mere intellectual culture will make men morally better: man never did, and never will, " bv wisdom find out God." Nothing naturallv increases the unholy pride of man's heart like the consciousness of intellectual power. Hence, where this power is imparted, unaccompanied, and thereiore unrestrained, by religious instruction, it is at once almost necessarily dedicated to the service of self and Satan. U)isanctificd iniellcct, despoiled Heaven of one-third of its glorious hosts, desolated Paradise, and, it is awfully to be feared, lias destroyed not a few of the mightiest minds among the sons of Adam. ! Sir, shall we not ]>ut shoulder to shoulder in order to drive this subtlest scourge of Hell from the land, ere it prove our children's ruin ! LETTER VI. Ejfect of non-rclijious Schools in the United States. — Illiterate Managers, cJT. — Answers to common fallacies and objections. — Vauzhall Factory Schools. Dear Sir, — Fearing to weary the patience of your readers, I last week omitted to notice one of Dr. Ryerson's chief arguments in favor of his non-religious Common Schools, namely, their sup])os€d success in the United States. This is indeed the common topic with all the advocates of our Provincial Common School law ; when every other argument fails, they triumphantly point us to the United States as affording the most satisfactory evidence of its excellence. To this test, then, I am perfectly willing to bring the contro- versy between merely secular and religio-secular education j ers, lief ools, ^. 41 and only regret that in doing so I shall be compelled to give so dark a picture of a nation whose Church 1 love, and so many of whose people I do very highly esteem. But the unpleasant task is forced upon me, by the incessai)i appeals which are made to the supposed excellent effects of non- religious education in the neighbouring Republic. I admit, then, that in the United States, 7nefe intellectual instruction, dissociated from all religious training, has accom- plished, to an extraordinary degree, the object for which it was instituted ; and that the Americans are distinguished by a mental activity, alike remarkable for its acutcness and its general diffusion — a character not inaptly styled by them- selves, smartness. But alas ! for the contra. Flow deplo. rably deteriorating to their high principle, and to the moral tone of their national character, has this miserably worldly training in their Common Schools proved. Thus — Is there any people of equal commercial wealth, in the trading honor of whose majority there is less confidence ? Is there any people amongst whom fdial alTectionand reverence are so low \ Is there any amongst whom wealth is more generally the sole object of pursuit ? Is there any nation in which the Christian Ministry, amongst all denominations, has so little intluence in guiding the j)eople in their daily walk aiul conversation, or where they are, in general, so miserahhj supported Z Is there any portion of the Anglo-Saxon race, so large a proportion of whose males are habitual nciilcctors of piuhlic ivorship ? Is it not the fearful fact, as I staled last week, that the very profession of distinctive Christian Faith is numerically decreasing amongst you, as compared with the increase of population? Is there any people amongst whom human lite is BO recklessly risked for the sake of commercial speculation 1 Finally, is there any Protestant communion in which personal violence is so frecpient amongst, what ought to be, the respectable classes I Alas, then, for the ellects of mere secular education upon the masses. Indeed Legislators seem to have forirottcn that the immorality most destructive to o. D 2" 42 people is not that which comes within reach of the criminal law. It is very possible, yea probable, that the general diffusion of even bare human wisdom may so increase the cunning of the wicked as to enable them to keep their necks out of the halter, without making them on«. whit better members of civil society ! Fromtlie following extract, how- ever, which I lately cut from one of the United States liberal papers, it would appear that non-religious education, notwith- standing its intellectual excellence, is rather filling than emptying their prisons ; — " In one Slate Prison of onr Union are twelve graduates of colleges — a greater portion to the whole number of convicts in the prison than the entire number of college graduates in our country to the whole American population. Everybody knows that the most depraved beings in our country are among those upon whom most is expended for their education ; also, that thieves, midnight assassins, and incendiaries, have come from our schools by hundreds and thousands." In view of these astounding facts, all must agree that our schools are not so good as they ought to be — probably not so good as they may be. If so, the great question is, how they can be improved." It becomes not creatures to guide their conduct, in matters of principle, by its apparent results for good or evil. We are under the laiv of implicit ohcdmncc to what God commands ; and he has commanded us to begin, continue, and end all our works in them, and especially in every possible way and under all imaginable variety of circumstances, invariably, and at all times to train our children in the nurture and admo- nition of the Lord." But yet, so far as it is lawful for us to judge by results, I mourn to think that the United States already afford a melancholy proof of the ruinous effects, moral and religious, of mere secular education j and that they are apparently, if Providence does not graciously interfere, rapidly sinking into a condition that must for ever silence the advocates of non-religious State education. Indeed, America 43 ites cts, ley jre, Ithe rica affords powerful evidence of the striking correctness of the principle laid down by one of the ablest writers of the present day, when he says — "Education (non-religious) and civiliza- tion, generally diffused, iiave a powerful effect in softening the savage passions of the human breast; but they tend rather to increase than dhm/iisJi tJiosc of fraud a?id gain, because they add strength to the desires, by multiplying the pleasures which can be attained only by the acquisition of property." 2. A minor, though still very serious objection to the present Common School laws of this province, is, that they almost necessarily throw the management of the Schools into the hands of illitCiate people. They do this because not only the most uneducated, but also the idle and the dissolute, vote on all school matters, and hence, as like loves its like, they delight to exalt one another into otPce ; or at least to appoint those who will do their bidding ; thus, ns is notorious, the more cilucated portions of our community are not generally connected with our Schools, and this evil is deeply felt amongst the betterdisposed, because, in small lucaliuos, many persons fit to fill school oliices, are not to be found : were, on the contrary, the management in the ministers and official members of the nearest prevailing denominations, such ignorant, injurious management would be greatly avoided. I beg further to observe, that the following are amongst the most common fallacies adduced by our opponents: 1. They lose sight of one of the chief ends of government, which is, to secure the contentment and happiness of the people, b?/ maintaining i?ivioiatc their personal and social rights. Now they may cut a canal or lay down a railroad in opposition to my wishes, without interfering with either of these rights ; but tiiey cannot compel me to educate my child contrary to my own principles, or even tax me for this purpose so as to :ender me unable to educate him in any other way than that provided by them, without trampling under foot my dearest social rights. 2. They confound mere worldly preferences and the deep 4* religious principles of conscience. I may not approve the railroad which the Legislature projects, but that is no reason why I should be exempt from paying my share of its cost, because it can neither ofl'end my conscience nor does it in- terfere with my personal or social privileges. But if the government compel me to support a Roman Catholic school, for the very purpose of educating my own and my Pro- testant neighbor's children at it, even though they think it — as a Roman Catholic Government certainly would, for the benefit of the country at large — would not our opponents consider this as oppression and religious tyranny of a very flagrant description ? 3. They charge the advocates of rcligio-secular schools with resisting the right of Go^-ernment to apply public money for the purpose of education. This is a strange mistake. What we complain of, is of ourselves being specially taxed for education, and then the taxes being applied to schools which we cannot use. The Churchman or Methodist is educationally taxed, 7iot to accomplish some national object, such as a railroad or canal, which cannot be obtained without his bearing his share of the burden. On the contrary, the school-tax is distinctly designed to educate the children of those who }>ay it, for the poor are too few to allect the argu- ment. To tax, therefore, four or five hundred thousand peojtle for educational purposes which they do not a-pirrove, in order to please a like number, of opposite sentiments, who could accomplish for themselves the objects they w'sh, with- out the aid of the former, is, I repeat, sheer high-handed o})pression : and this, I need not to say, is exactly the case with the common School Question ; as those who wish to have mere secular, non-religious. Schools, could have them even though the religious portion of the community obtain the right they so indignantly claim of Separate Schools, — I speak, of course, of the general working, not of exceptional cases. •%. Thev assume the monstrous fallacv that, if the State 45 does not educate after its own fashion, the youth of a country, they will go uneducated. Why, I have already publicly stated, and do so again, on behalf of all the advocates of sepa- rate schools, that we, willingly, nay, desiringly concede to government the right to see that every fraction they give, or even sanction, for the support of sectarian schools, is properly and elTiciently used. 5. They lay down a principle which they devoutly hope the Autocrat of all the Russias would blush to acknowledge. They say, " the duties of a governmeut and a legislature are, in our opinion, to adopt such constitutional means as they shall deem most propt-r for securing the safety and happiness of the community they rule, and in their clioice of means, to be injliicnccd hy 7iotJiing, save their ow?ijU(lg7?ie?it.^^ Why, really, sir, 1 am almostout of breath at the sight of absolutism so fearful. What, are there no eternal laws of justice ? no natural rights, superior to all legislation ? Suppose a Lower Canadian Legislature, for instance, were constitutionally to confiscate all Protestant Lower Canadian property to the use of the Romish Church, because in their bigotied wisdom they thought it for the good of the whole Province. Would that be equity ? And yet, sir, that would be law, and not much more flagrant robbery tlian that of our Common School Law, which forcibly takes my property, professedly to establish a school for my own children, although I am all the time pro- testing against it, as being contrary to my wishes and con- science to seiul ::iy children to such a school as the Govern- ment is establishing, with )ni/ means and iJiose of my neigh- bours who agree with me in sentiment. Finally. One of the most popular objections against Denominational Schools is — that they will increase the bitterness of religious party strife. It appears to me that the objection is so groundless, that it must be made either in culpable thoughtlessness, or, hypocritically ; especially as the parties making it are often those who most vehemently urge the influence of Sunday Schools as a substitute for 46 week-day religious instruction. But clearly, if Denomina- tional SchoT/ls on a week day will increase religious strife, they must do the same on n Sunday! I repeat, then, the objection is little better than clear hypocrisy ! But what is the design of religious instruction ? Why, however seriously the dillerent denominations may difler as to the means of accomplishing it, their aim is 07ie ; namely, to implant in the human bosom love to God and man. Where sin yet lurks, earnestness, on any subject, will sometunes produce bitterness towards those who oppose it. But in order to remedy this evil, shall we train our children i7i zittcr indiffer- encc, not only to all distinctive religious truth, but to whatever else can excite any interest in either head or heart? And yet this indiiferencc is the only method by which those who advocate secular, as opposed to religious training, can hope to lessen party strife. Verily, the cure is infinitely worse than the disease ! Nay, rather, let the Christians, Pastors, Parents, and Members of the Province, insist upon religious and secular training being inseparably combined, as the only true method of uniting, in our youth, the meekness with the earnestness of Christ. Allow me again to rem.ark, that against the common objections, of mcreasedexpenditure,of the clashing of religious interests, of the minor denominations being neglected or oppressed, or of small and religiously divided places being left without schools, und^^r the Denominational School system, against all these evils, I flatter myself, I have satisfactorily guarded in the scheme propounded in my third letter. Permit me, in conclusion, to point your readers to a beauti- ful example of the happy eflects of religio-secular teaching, and that under circumstances exceedingly adverse. I allude to the " Vauxhall Factorv Schools," a sketch of which will be found in the London Quarterly Revieiu for Jariuary last. Mr. James Wilson, the managing director of Price's Patent Candle Company, Belmont, Vauxhall, ''thought it possible," :says the reviewer, " without loss or hurt to the candles, to ( I aCh ^P^ain for {/j e/i ic (on »' J (( opted h ^i a CO; v^•iJoie or ^cii u^«e of (/j( ^ome£iooQ e«ie includi ng s I a-year/»? 4.S of whicli £900 appears to he for the schools. In proposing this grant, one of the principal Directors remarked, "The good cflects of tliat (t^chool) system promote and pervade the entire working of the factories. Not long since I took a friend, himself a manufacturer on the largest scale, over our factories. But I shall not soon forget his words and looks on cnlcrlng our night-light Victory, where the large proportion of our child-labor is employed: as he looked on the healthy and happy laces and clean and tidy dress of our girls, and watched trieir intelligent and smiling faces, as (evidently amused at our inspection of their work) they looked from the tasks which busied their rapidly glancing fingers, he exclaimed, 'I never even imagined ihat factory labor couhl present a scene so cheerful and so pleasing !' " So much lor the blessed results of religious training as connected even with factory labor and foctory ma hi- schools. I should very much like to see the entire article extensively copieil into the papers. If an evil generation, — too proud to be taught, too ignorant to know, — will be jealous of the teachers whom God has sent them, pcrhajis they will listen to this layman ; and those who fear the cost of religion may perhaps be captivated by the ^'gaiii of godliness," as evidenced in the case of the Vauxhall Factory Schools! LETTER VII. DENOMLNATIONAL SCHOOLS DEMANDED BY POLITICAL CON- SISTENCY AND DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS. Democratic education in France — Man horn to labor, heficc nature of (rue education. — Dcmocraic rights to Separate Schools — Jiot inter/ere with others. Dear Sir : In bringing before your readers the momentous subject of the Christian Education of the masses, and especially of the youth of our rhi.i- u Chnsi,,-,,, principle. To-,1h- I, "<'«-^'"y an,l .oun.l l"S"Tan,l l,„li,,. p,i,„.iple»„ ic-h r , ' '"'"" "'»" "'»»e J'«ncy of cl,, ul„.a.,lo,uocra, ! Scf '""^*''""' '"'^^-Pe- '•^'■"S '" Canada, and indeed „," V" "' ""»'•"" '- ■no 'nv.te aliention ,„ ,|,e ,bll„"i ' " """"'"' e^"'^™'ly, Ic '-;• I. i. .aken f,,„ ,he a.-.iefetf ri t""" '"'■ *'«'"'-"• »"J •!- danger. „r En^l^n,,.!::.'^"^ ''™-^i.e... of Franc; 'ho interior ,vorking. „r ,„,.,;,, ,„ f .""° " '" ''"'•^ "'alclied -". "0 inclined ,o aUribu.e nlf;;;;' ""^ ?'■" "'-e a, This ,s considered to m^huA^ ,.,. ,' '"" ^"^'CAiioM orvvhich are dangerc. S ™ ; ^-'^"^ ^"■"■- "»'" J"-ecl,on-it is ,00 merarj- and ,„o li»|'' , "'""' '" "'« =•■"«<•■ ;;J i' is .00 u„i.,r„. ror all cla" ' '^f ''^'™'«"^ •"''"-■-- liose who attend it acquire, it i.saij , f ^'''"' P'-opo'tion of J«.^t sumcien, ,„,ive then, ^ di . ^ .";: '"'"f,"'""'^™'"-' oMiipniKms of iheir parents -, , ''^'"™Wo'"iJ"»eful "- . - ...i^oellaneora ;;:■;: ^ '7"--' excite- "»": • Mheir ou-n f„nes, Z'l ""^ ''«"ip'ion. and a -i-"-'l a reallyliberaUndc , :r""' T'"'^^^''™-^ '^'"'"' an.1 on the same sulnects ,„ T, '" ' '" ""^ '"""'o ™<»les, exatnple here. If tie 1; 1 '^^^ "' '^''-'' "'e have no scrape together a little „,„„« i, ^"■'""■' "•■ ""' '="''"• '^"n in the same .eminarv as I „ !:."!!" ^^'"^'^''•' '"» 'raini, "--nn of tl,e proprietor wh mg ose land 50 !• he cultivates, whose sugar and coflee he supplies, and whose coat he makes. The boy who ought to be a labourer, or a petty tradesman, sits on the same bench and learns the same lesson as the boy wiio is destined for the bar, the tribune, or the civil service of the State,, This system arises out of the passion for equality, and fosters it in turn ! The result is, that cadi one 7iaturaUy learns todesphc hisoivn estimatirm, and to aspire to that of his more fortumtte school-fellow ! The grocer's son cannot see why he should not become an advocate, a journalist, or a statesman, as well as the wealthier and noble-born lad who was often below him in the class, whom he occasionally thrashed and often helped over the thorny places of his daily task. Hence numbers who might have remained useful, respectable, and contented citizens in their own humble line,are tempted to 'rush out of their sphere,' and emulate those whose wealth and social position give them most advantage.-; in the race. Defeated competition with thof?e of higlier rank becomes in their ill-regulated minds con- spiracy against the rank itself, and the state of society to which they attribute their defeat. Instead of following their parents' career, they aspire to that of their companions, and their parents' ambition often stimulates them to the unequal strife. They go to Paris or some large provincial town, become stu- dents of medicine, or of law, or, if still more ambitious, and gifted with any superficial cleverness, attempt the ruinous and disappointing channel of the press. They fail from in- capacity, indolence, imperfect education, dissipated habits, or want of means to continue the struggle ; they become hommes mmiques, and degenerate into emeiitiers, chevalier-^ de^ indus/rie (Anglicc sharpness), or malignant penny-a- liners !" Such tlien is the cIToct of ultra-democratic, mere "super- ficial " secular education in France ! And do we not already see abundant evidence that such also tmist be its results on this Continent; our ample territoiy being all that has saved us from its ruinous elTects hitherto? It must be so: even a J"ea^e■ < rnestly wish, according to my poor ability, to aid "in stirnng upthe pure minds" of all sincere Christians upon this question of the combined religious and secular in- struction of your youth. In it, I must believe, is involved the destinies, " for weal or woe," of this entire Continent! Where the glory of God is concerned, /Ao^' the purity of His Church and the welfare of the nations must be deeply, awfully concerned. Much do I rejoice to see the movement already taking place both in the United States and in this Province, on this question : may it be speedily brought by the blessing of Almighty God, to a speedy and successful issue. ours, as ever Diocese i)f Toronto, JulVt 1853 A. T. id el 54 POSTSCRIPT. The Law concerning Separate ScJtools. Tiicro seems to be an idea abroad that the svipjtlenientary School Act of 1853 has made the establishmept of separate religious schools easier than heretofore. The opposite is the fact; and in this the Reverend Siii)crintendent apparently exults in his " Journal of Education" for June last. It is true that where a Romish teacher is employed, Pro- testants en masse may establish a separate school; but no distinct denomination, excepting Romanists, can do so ! In truth, the whole thing, as regards the Ciiurch of England, is not only gross oppression, but a derisive insult. 1st. Wc protest against being classed, in the matter of our schools, under the general term *' Protestant," with every sect who, in common witli ourselves, acknowledge that ne- gative appellation. We can assure the Reverend concocler of oiirmost insidiou^^ly irreligious Common School Acts, that Churchmen have consciences almost as tender concerning distinctive religious truth, as those of the followers of the Pajjacy ; and that, conie(iuently, we v/ould sooner entrust our children to the care of even the idolatrous wor- shipper of the blessed Virgin t'lan to the cold neglect of a Protestant sectary who would keep them from the arms of their Saviour, by denying them the blessed Sacrament of baptism. Or, that wc would immeasurably prefer their heing educated by a believer in the supiemacy of the Bishop of Rome, than by a member of a Protestant community which denies the divinity of the Lord that boi.ght them ! we protest against, 2ndly. The sup{)orters of separate schools being j)laced, as it were, under the ban of the law, by refusing to let their school rates be collected by the proper municipal olTicer. Do they not pay their share of that oflicer's salary, even as others 1 3rdly. The uncertainty attending the continuance of aggre- gate Protestant schools, makes even them a mockery, inas- much as the moment the Romish teacher is withdrawn, it appears that the right to separate Protestant schools ceases. In fact, had the object of the Reverend Dr. Ryerson and his coadjutors, our Sabbath desecrating Provincial Ministry, been to devise the bitterest insult which they could oiler to the religious earnestness of the Province, they could scarcely have n:) r ,1 n 1 ">_ *; s- ii s. is Ml le ^'C been more successful than in their laws respecting separate schools. Truly, 1 ain very much of the opinion of a Free. Church Presbyterian friend, who remarked to me that he would rather see the establishment of openly infidel schools than the present system, which will admit of socialism or any other abomination being inculcated, and that under the hypo- critical pretence of a religious sanction. We repeat, then, our demand as loyal British subjects and conscientious Christians, for Protestant Denominational Schools — schools which shall not only be snecringly per. ?««7i(?f/ by law, but which shall receive every aid and suj)- jiort therefrom { that it gives to those secular schools that are uncorrupted by the least taint of positive religious influence ; especially seeing that the advocates of distinctive religious schools are, at least, as loyal, peaceable, well-informed, and conscientious a3 their opponents. Since the foregoing letter.^ were written, the evidences increase upon me of the almost def-^niring feeling of many of our neighbcnu'ri in the United States, as to the ultimate eflects of their own irreligious Common School System. I much regret that want of space prevents my adducing any of them here. I cannot therefore better conckule, than by the followingextract of a tu)te I lately received from a high digni- tary of the Anglican Church, who has personally witnessed n he so severely condemns, and whoso name, were ^Vi I in circumstances to obtain his leave to use it, would add no small weight to his opinions. The italics are his own : — a T( o educate nnmortal spirits on exclusively wordly prm- ciples, or what is speciously called morality not absolutely 7ior exclusively built upo?i the Gusj^el, is, in my oj)inion, to train him up, not for God or Heaven, but for the world, the flesh, and the devil." Oct< ir\o s:>