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A A H V«^^/J '->• v«f. t^ t AN ,1 1 APPEAL, ■4 The present state of education in the province of Upper Canada consists of common schools through- out the different townships or parishes established under various acts of the Colonial Legislature, which are placed on a most excellent footing, and require no other improvement than the means of multiplying their number, which will be no doubt granted as the revenue becomes more productive. In about three hundred and forty common schools established in the different districts of Upper Canada, from seven to eight thousand children are taught reading and writing, the elements of arith- metic, and the first principles of religion ; and when it is considered that the parents commonly send their children in rotation, the younger in summer when the roads are good, and the elder in winter, it is not too much to say that nearly double this number, or from twelve to fourteen thousand chil- dren profit annually by the common schools. The consequence is, that the people scattered as they are over a vast wilderness, are becoming alive to the great advantage of educating their children, and are seconding with laudable zeal the exertions of the Legislature ; insomuch so, that the schools supported 4DAv^ A 2 ^ t 'i Hi M 11 4^ .^ by subscription are more in number than those es- tablished by law. Provision is made by statute for the translation of some of the more promising scholars from the com- mon to the District Schools where the Classics and practical Mathematics are taught. In these schools, eleven in number, there are at present upwards of three hundred young men acquiring an education to qualify them for the different professions ; and al- though they can seldom support above one master, several young gentlemen, who have been brought up in them, are now eminent in their professions, and would by their talents and high principles do credit to seminaries of greater name. But the time has arrived when the District Schools will become still more useful by confining them to the intention of their first establishment, namely, nurseries for an University, an institution now called for by the increased population and cir- cumstances of the colony, and most earnestly de- sired by the more respectable inhabitants. There is not in either Province any EngUsh Seminary above the rank of a good school at which a liberal education can be obtained. Thuj the youth of three hundred thousand Englishmen have no oppor- tunity of receiving instruction within the CanadaSj in Law, Medicine, or Divinity. The consequence is, that many young men coming forward to the learned professions are obliged to look beyond the Province for the last two or three po ^f:' to '¥ years of Ihcir education, undoubtedly the most im- portant and critical period of their whole lives. Very few are able, on account of the great expence, to proceed to England or Scotland, and the distance is so great, and the difficulties so many, that pa- rental anxiety reluctantly trusts children so far from its observation and control. The youth are, there- fore, in some degree, compelled to look towards the United States, where the means of education, though of a description fdr inferior to those of Great Britain, are yet superior to any thing within the Province, and a growing necessity is arising of sending them to finish their education in that country. Now in the United States a custom prevails unknown to or un- practised by any other nation ; in all other coun- tries morals and religion are made the basis of public instruction, and the first books put into the hands of children teach them the domestic, the social, and religious virtues ; but in the United States politics pervade the whole system of education ; the school books from the very first elements are stuffed with praises of their own institutions and ?: r-athe hatred to every thing English. To such a country our youth may go strongly attached to their native land and to all its establish- ments, but by hearing them continually depreciated and those of America praised, this attachment will in many be gradually weakened; and some may be- come fascinated with that liberty which has degene- rated into licentiousness, and imbibe, perhaps un- .ill c i () ■A consciously, sentiments unfriendly to things of which Englishmen are proud. It is indeed easy to perceive the danger of sending our most prominent youth to a country to finish their education where they hear nothing in praise of their notivc land and where every thing bespeaks hatred and defiance, where her merits are accounted defects, and all her virtues and glories soiled by the poison of calumny. Nor can it be expected that any of them on their return will give up their hearts and affections to their Parent State with the same cordiality that they would have done had they been carefully nurtured within the British Dominions. What indeed can be more important to the true prosperity of the Province, than the careful educa- tion of its youth ? In what other woy can we ever obtain a well-instructed population by which to pre- serve our excellent constitution and our connexion with the British Empire, and give that respectable character to the country which arises from an intelli- gent magistracy and from having public situations filled by men of ability and information. What has been already done to effect this pur- pose is highly creditable to the Province, the two prir^ary steps have been taken, and the third which is the most important is opposed by no serious im- pediments. The establishment of an University at the seat of Government will complete a system of education in Upper Canada from the letters of the alphabet « of which sending to finish in praise bespeaks ccounted d by the cted that eir hearts the same hey been )minions. the true il cduca- i we ever :h to pre- onnexion spectablc m intelli- lituations this pur- the two rd which rious im- the seat ducation alphabet to the most profound investigations of science,— » system which will bo intimately connected in all its branches. Already the common schools are con- nected with the District Schools, as they may send up a certain number of boys to be instructed gratis; and the District Schools may be connected with the University by means of Scholarships to increase in number as the revenues of the University shall admit, either by the sale of lands appropriated for its en- dowment, or grants from the Provincial Legislature ; and the University itself might in time become con- nected with Oxford and Cambridge in England, by possessing spme exhibitions at each for the benefit of its more promising sons. In this manner the door to a liberal education would be opened to all the inhabitants, and the children of the farmer and mechanic might be found deservedly filling the highest offices of the Colony to which they had arisen by their superior talents, fostered by the be- nevolent institutions of the Province, and Upper Ca^ nada might boast a plan of public instruction rarely equalled, and not surpassed by any in the world. This establishment, by collecting all the promising youth of the colony into one place, would gradually give a new tone to public sentiments and feelings; and should any portion of the people cherish a leaning towards our neighbours, it would be removed or checked by means not in their nature violent, but on the contrary, producing the most beneficial eifects tlirough the whole Province. It is indeed quite i^: prU evident that the consequences of an University es- tablished even on a very moderate scale, but pos- sessing sufficient recommendations to attract to it the sons of the most opulent families, would soon be visible in the greater intelligence and more con- firmed principles of loyalty of those who would be called to the various public duties required in the country. Nor is the number small that are thus called upon to fill the stations of magistrates, le- gislators, and the ranks of the different learned pro- fessions. There are, it is believed, at present between forty and fifty young gentlemen in the Province studying the profession of the Law, a profession which must in a country like this be the repository of the highest talents. Lawyers must, from the very nature of our political institutions, from there being no great land-proprietors, no privileged orders, become the most powerful profession, and must in time possess more influence and authority than any other. They are emphatically our men of business and will gra- dually engross all the Colonial offices of profit and honour. Is it not therefore of the utmost import- ance that they should be collected together at the University, become acquainted with each other, and familiar with similar views and modes of thinking, and be taught from precept and example to venerate and love our Parent State ? It is surely of great consequence that a class of intelligent men belongs ing to a profession which offers the highest induce- 1 D ersity ei- but pos- ract to it I soon be lore con- ivould be 2d in the are thus rates, le- ned pro- sen forty studying ich must ! highest ature of no great ome the possess They vill gra- ofit and import- ir at the iier, and iiinking, venerate >f great belong- induce- mcnts of reputation, wealth, influence, authority, and power, should be attached by sentiment and feeling to the British Empire. In regard to the profession of Medicine now be- coming of great importance in the Province, it is melancholy to think that three-fourths of the present practitioners have been educated or attended Lec- tures in the United States, and it is to be presumed that many ot" them are inclined towards that coun- try. But in Upper Canadc there is no provision whatever for attaining medical knowledge, and those that make choice of that profession must go to a foreign country to acquire it. . . There are only twenty-four Clergymen in Lpper Canada, the greater number from England, tlie re- mainder natives. Now unless we can get respect- able Clergymen from England, it is essential that the young men coming forward to the Church should be educated entirely within the Province, but for this there is no sort of provision. It is true the few Clergymen born in the country have been hitherto educated by their elder brethren, and the result has been the most satisfactory, for in some re- spects they have the advantage over their brethren from England, they are better acquainted with the people and can address them with more effect, and as they bring over to the Church their friends and relations, the power and influence of the Establish- ment are increased. But the wants of the Province are becoming great, and however much disposed I'i I »,, Dth 10 the elder Clergy may be to bring forward young men to the sacred profession, they have neither leisure nor the means of doing it with proper effect ; there can be nothing of that zeal, of that union and mutual attachment, of that deep theological and literary enquiry and anxiety to excel, which would be found among young men collected at the Uni- versity. Nothing can be more manifest than that Upper Canada has not yet felt the advantage of a reli- gious establishment, '".idt can twenty-four cler- gymen do scattered over a country of nearly six hundred miles in length ? Can we be surprised that under such circumstances the religious benefits of a church establishment are unknown, and that secta- ries of all descriptions have increased ? And when it is farther considered that the religious teachers of all other Protestant denominations, a very few respectable ministers of the church of Scotland ex- cepted, come from the republican states of Ame- rica, where they gather their knowledge and form their sentiments ; it is evident that if the imperial government does not step forward with efficient help, the mass of the population will be gradually nurtured and instructed in hostility to our institu- tions, both civil and religious. Were the young men destined for these profes- sions or any other liberal pursuits to have their minds formed at an University, they would certainly com- pose a body continually increasing, which in union. \ 'M rd young neither ter effect ; inion and gical and Ich would ; the Uni- lat Upper of a reli- four cler- learly six rised that nefits of a hat secta- \nd when } teachers . very few otland ex- of Ame- and form 3 imperial 1 efficient gradually Lir institu- se profes- lieir minds kinly com- in union» 11 respectability, and strength, would overmatch any tendency to disaffection that might appear, and gradaally produce a tone and feeling through the province altogether British. The Noble Lord at the head of the colonial de- partment, who has through life been the strenuous and upright friend of religion, and the liberal pro- moter of every measure that had a tendency to ad- vance the true prosperity of the colonies, having taken these circumstances into consideration, has not only commanded in his Majesty's name a royal charter to issue establishing an University in Upper Canada, whic-i shall have and enjoy all such and the like privileges as are enjoyed by the Universities of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire- land, and has declared it to be the munificent inten- tion of our Beloved Sovereign to grant a sum of money for the purpose of erecting the necessary buildings, and to confer such an endowment as shall in a few years place the institution in full and ac- tive operation. His Majesty's Government having thus done all and even more than could have been expected, nothing would remain but patiently to wait till the endowment yielded the means of com- mencing the business of instruction ; were not the wants of the province so urgent that the delay of five or six years, which must elapse before the Uni- versity under present circumstances can be put in activity, may be attended with evil consequences, which may never be retrieved. Under this appre- / tj 1-2 (i W hension I am Induced to appeal to the friends of religion that we may be enabled immediately to collect around us the youth of Canada for the pur- pose of instruction. Already has the Venerable So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, sensible of the urgency of the case, granted 500/. towards purchasing a library, and an equal or greater donation is confidently expected from the sister Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. It is chiefly on religious grounds that this appeal for the University of Upper Canada is made, which, while it offers its benefits to the whole population, will, for a century to come, from the peculiar circum- stances of the country, be essentially a Missionary College ; and the number of clergymen which it will be called upon to furnish will be more than double what any other profession can require. Table of the Religious State of Upper Canada as it respects the Established Church. DUtrictf. Length. 57 63 54 45 63 63 48 56 81 72 675 1 Breadth. Square Milei. No, Townthim or Paruhe* In each district Population. aergy- men. Additional clergymen required. Eastern Ottawa Johnston Bathurst Midland Newcastle Home Gore Niagara London Western Total 24 24 36 39 54 48 63 45 36 48 36 453 1368 1512 1944 1755 3402 8024 4599 2160 2016 3888 2592 12 11 18 19 35 26 51 17 17 as 21 20,000 3,500 20,000 12,000 35,500 13,000 23,000 18,000 24,000 22,000 9,000 2 3 2 5 2 1 2 4 1 2 13 3 12 6 17 7 14 10 12 14 4 28,260 2G0 200,000 24 112 V.i friends of liately to r the pur- jrable So- 1 Foreign , granted an equal 1 from the owledge. his appeal \c, which, )pulation, ir circum- (issionary which it lore than lire. Canada rch. nty- Addltiiinal clergymen required. 13 \% 6 17 7 14 10 12 14 4 4 I 112 Fhis table in respect to its measurements having been compiled from a njap, is not given as frac- tionally exact, but will be found in all its parts substantially correct. Assuming that there ought to be a clergyman for every 1500 inhabitants, it will be seen that 112 clergymen are at this moment required for the province of Upper Canada. But it is to be remarked that these 1500 inhabitants are commonly scattered over a surface of several hundred square miles, and that if confined to this number, every clergyman must, to be useful, itinerate, and have many places of worship to attend. Under such circumstances all the advantages of a sedentary and established clergy cannot be enjoyed. Even if one clergyman were settled in every towhship, of which there are already 260, his labours would be great, for these townships or parishes are commonly twelve by nine miles, containing more than 100 square miles, and consequently equal in extent to eight or ten parishes in this country. Again, the rapid increase of population must be taken into consideration, which will double every fifteen or twenty years for a century to come. Now if the population in \ 826 amounting to 200,000, re- quire 112 additional clergymen, which, with the twenty-four already in the country, make in all 136, then in 1846 the population, which will at least be 4-00,000, will require 136 more clergymen for their religious instruction, or about seven every year. This new demand, together with the number ne- i I 14 a h !■ I Si t cessary to fill up vacancies, will require during the early years of the seminary, a great and increasing number every season. The University of Upper Canada will therefore be essentially a Missionary College, and will have to furnish a greater num- ber of candidates for Holy Orders than for any of the other professions. In this point of view it appears equally deserving of assistance with Bi- shop's College at Calcutta ; for if the latter confine itself entirely to the religious instruction of those who are to become Missionaries, it is because there is another seminary supported by the East India Company, where laymen can acquire an academical education. In the Canada University both are com- bined, as sufficient endowments could not have been procured for two, but the wisdom of such separation may be well questioned, when it is considered that young men aspiring to the sacred profession are frequently a check upon their companions studying for other purposes, and are found exerting over them an indirect moral influence of the greatest advantage. Considering, therefore, this institu- tion in the light of a Missionary seminary, and the great want of clergymen in Upper Canada, it must be manifest to every one that to put it into imme- diate operation is of the most essential consequence ; and as his Majesty's government has done so well, it is not perhaps too much to expect from the friends of pure religion the assistance necessary for sup- porting the institution till the endowments become 16 luring the increasing of Upper Missionary ater num- n for any of view it with Bi- ter confine n of tliose lause there ilast India icademical 1 are com- have been separation iered that ession are } studying •ting over ; greatest institu- ^, and the a, it must ito imme- sequence ; J so well, he friends ' for sup- is become Available. For this purpose six or seven thousand pounds would be sufficient, a sum not exceeding what was collected by the American Bishops and their friends two years ago. It is not for the pur- pose of censuring the benevolence of my countrymen to the Sister Church in the United States that I recal the visit of Bishops Hobart and Chase to re- membrance, but to shew that the case of Upper Canada, even if it were not an integral part of the empire and inhabited by fellow-subjects and belong- ing to the same church, is much stronger than that of Ohio. In his appeal to the British Public, Bishop Chase detailed, with much truth, the many priva- tions to which he and his clergy were exposed, and the difficulties and dangers which they had to en- counter in disseminating religion through their dio- cese. To this affectionate appeal the hearts of the religious instantly opened, and the Venerable Bi- shop returned in triumph with ample means for establishing a seminary for bringing up young men to the ministry of the sacred word and ordinances. The writer of this paper is confident that the money thus bestowed will be appropriated in the most judicious and disinterested manner to joromote the great object for which it was given, and that it will yield a rich harvest both here and hereafter to the generous donors. But he confidently appeals to the same benevolence for like assistance in a case of still greater necessity. For no person can fail to perceive that our Missionaries in Upper Canada are 11 -If ■' f I A *!;'< V 16 exposed to greater hardships and privations than can possibly be met with in the state of Ohio. Upper Canada is 560 miles long, Ohio only 200, their breadth is I believe nearly equal. The population of Upper Canada scattered over this immense coun- try amounts to 200,000, that of Ohio to 800,000 ♦, or four times the number settled in a country not perhaps one quarter the area, thus making the po- pulation in Ohio about sixteen times more^dense than in Upper Canada. For every person that a missionary meets travelling through the woods in the British province, he will meet sixteen travelling, in Ohio, and consequently the roads are proportion- ably better. There are not in Upper Canada four persons to a square mile, in Ohio upwards of forty. The difference of wealth is perhaps still greater, because many of the inhabitants of Ohio are emi- grants from the neighbouring states who frequently bring with them large capitals ; whereas Upper Canada since its first establishment has continued the asylum of the poor and destitute. First, the refugee loyalists, who sacrificed every thing for their king and country ; next, discharged soldiers, who if not settled there would have become a burthen on this country ; and now, since the general peace, it is filling with paupers from the United Kingdom, by which vast sums are annually saved which had been * " The population in 1826 is estimated at 800,000." See Mellish's Geography, page 340. t '^'■-tt'y m ns than can 0. Upper 200, their lK)pulation lense coun- 800,000 •, auntry not ng the po- nore dense ft* on that a ! woods in travelling, •roportion- inada four s of forty. 11 greater, ) are emi- requently as Upper continued First, the J for their rs, who if irthen on eace, it is gdom, by had been )00." See n spent supporting them before their emigration. While, therefore, I praise the benevolence ex- tended to Bishop Chase, I am persuaded that all his benefactors will freely admit that our claim is yet stronger, and that, if their ability allow, they will feel conscientiously bound to extend to us simi- lar help. When it is considered that the Cunadas are capable of maintaining a population of twelve or sixteen millions, it is impossible to set limits to the influence which the University of the Upper Pro- vince, if wisely and piously directed, may acquire over this vast population — the greater portion of which may, through the Divine blessing, be brought up in the communion of the Church of England, A farther and most pressing reason for hastening the active commencement of the University will be found in the fact, that our Church in its present state may be said to be struggling for existence, attacked as she is by the Romish Church, and all the sectaries, who, though agreeing in nothing else, join in opposing her, because she is the establish- ment of England. ^Ve have to contend with four hundred thousand Roman Catholics in the sister province of Lower Canada, under a numerous and regular priesthood, headed by an Archbishop and four suffiragans, and assisted by three Colleges ; one at Quebec, one at Montreal, and one at St. Nicolet, where the different branches of an academical edu- cation, as well as theology, are taught. 18 Hie paramount influence of the Roman Catho- lics in Lower Canada, and their decided majority in the Legislature, render all expectations of a great increase of our Churcli, or of any solid im- provements in educating the people, for a long time hopeless. The stream of amelioration must flow from Upper ('anada, and the University must be the source of its supply. It will become the rally- ing point of the Protestant faith, the promoter of sound religious principles, and profitable instruc- tion, through both provinces. Nor is there a mo- ment to lose ; for the recent emigrations from Ire- land are daily adding strength to the Roman Ca- tholics, and diminishing the comparative superiority of Protestants even in Upper Canada. But appalling as these circumstances are, I can- not help feeling the greatest encouragement from an occurrence connected with the religious instruc- tion of the Canadas, which is now matter of history. The first step ever taken by the Imperial Legisla- ture towards a recognition of that obvious, but still unacknowledged principle, that the colonies of a country have as good a right to moral and religious instruction from the parent state as to her laws and government, was taken in favour of these colonies by appointing a Religious Establishment for their benefit, according to the forms and ceremonies of the Church of England. What, indeed, arc the great objects of coloniza- tion but to provide for tlic redundancies of popula- ti 19 Roman Cntlio- lecided majority pectations of a •f any solid im- . for a long time ition must flow ersity must ho come tlie rally- lic promoter of fitable instruc- is there a mo- tions from Ire- he Roman Ca- tive superiority 3. ces are, I can- •agement from igious instruc- tter of history, perial Legisla- vious, but still colonies of a I and religious her laws and these colonies lent for their ceremonies of 5 of coloniza- ;s of popula- tion, to afford to meritorious enterprise and indus- Ipry the means and opportunity of successful exer- iion, to recognize and improve the unheeded and ilpcultivated bounties of nature, to form at inter- «]Kdiate points links of connection between the mother country and the remotest lands to which Iter commerce can be extended ; and, in addition, to direct to beneficial purposes the talents and Wbours of those whom the offended laws have ba- nished from their native land. Now, these objects are beneficial to the parent state, producing settle- .l^ents in the most distant regions, notwithstanding t^e perils of unhealthy climates and unexplored iIas. And shall the various descriptions of emi- grants, of which they are conii)osed, encounter all j^e privations and dangers incident to the forma- tion of such settlements for tlio advantage of their jiative land, and be, in the meantime, deprived of j^eir most precious rights and privileges ? Surely, il they are entitled to all the comforts of a moral ^nd religious education by remaining ut home, limch more ought such comforts to accompany, or AS soon as possible, follow them to the remote set- tlements which they are employed in establisiiing. ^nd if any colony can have a paramount claim over ^mother to a privilege which is the common right jof all, it is Canada, more particularly Upper Ca- iiada, which was first settled by men driven from their homes by the enemies of their country, many of whom had sacrificed to principle the meanb « 2 '••fl M,. I I K I; 20 which would have enabled them to have procured for themselves and children the benefits of moral and religious instruction. It is to be lamented that this great country, in establishing colonies, has chiefly confined her views to pecuniary advantage, and seems entirely to have forgotten that the attachment of foreign settlements depends infinitely more upon moral and religious feeling than political arrangement or commercial profit. For it is evident that forty thousand pounds per annum, (which is scarcely the cxpence of a single regiment,) spent in the supjmrt of a zealous clergy in the North American colonies, would do more in producing good feeling and loyal attach- ment to the religious and political institutions of England than one hundred times the sum spent in any other manner. Religious instruction should be made sufficient and commensurate with the wants of the people in every part of the empire ; nor should it be thought a matter of indifference in colonial policy, or even of secondary consideration. It should take the lead of all others ; for to form colonies under the guidance of Christian principles is one of the noblest and most beneficial purposes which governments can fulfil ; nor are the present times, we confess, without some indications that a nobler policy may at length be adopted . For the Le- gislature which, in 1793, considered the claims of the colonies to religious instruction as the suggestion of visionaries and fanatics, although nearly half the vc procured of moral and country, in ed her views irely to have 1 settlements nd religious commercial isand pounds xpence of a of a zealous s, would do loyal attacli- istitutions of mm spent in ction should te with the the empire ; idifFerence in consideration. ; for to form an principles cial ])urposes ; the present ations that a For the Le- the claims of iie suggestion jarly half the 31 empire had been lost by its neglect*, has now sanc- /tioned the ado})tion of a uniform system of religious instruction for the colonics in the East as well as fin the West. And if it be followed up with energy ond skill, the British empire will be established on a foundation more absolute than any wliich unhal- iowed power can hold in subjection, for it will rest on the opinions and affections of two hundred mil- lions of men. Nor will such a policy, sublime and affecting as it is, and pregnant with tranquillity and happiness, increase the public expenditure ; for as the influence of Christian principles extend, the charge for physical coercion will become less ; mur- murs will give way to blessings and praise; and one-fourth of the human race being thus reclaimed, the remainder will gradually follow, and thus the whole earth become the garden of the Lord. But to return from this sublime and fascinating prospect, it may be reasonably asked by those whose aid we are soliciting, how the Clergy are to be sup- ported in Upper Canada after they are instructed ? I answer, from the produce of certain lands which have been appropriated for the maintenance of a Protestant Clergy, concerning which arrangements for making them available are now in progress ; — from subscriptions by the inhabitants of the more * Had tlie Church of England been adequately supported in the Colonics, now the United States, they would have retained their allegiance. , . ; .■.', % III .Jt # 'it .! ' 22 populous districts, wliith miiy now Iks oxj. ted to yield something, and to iiu-rcasc gradually in nniount; — from the sittings in the towns, which will soon be rcnsonnhly productive. Add to ull this, thiit the young Clergymen must nnd will serve for some years nt a very moderate allowance. The great difficulty, therefore, which we liavc to encounter is a delay of five or six your *i« r« "i- mencing our University, and the coiisc*jUenr increas- ing want of religious instruct: m. It i'us been shewn that 112 additional C'1( i <|aien are now re- quired, and by the time that our cndowjiients be- come available, 40 moi > will be necessary. Let then the friends of religion reHect that this ai)peal is in favour of the Household of Faith, and ought to be heard before that of the heathen, that it is our brethren who are perishing or falling away for lack of instruction. The corruption of hunum nature is strikingly visible in the change which frequently takes place among j)ersons settled in the wilder- ness. At first they lament their distance from Churches and Schools, but by degrees such lamen- tations die away as well as the religious feelings from which they emanated. Living without re- straint, and without the eye of those whom they respect, a sense oi u m ncy and religion liequently disappears. / ' ' ^: . the disniclination to holy things presents itself in all its deformity, a dis- taste for divine worshij), v \ neglect of every thing sacred make their appearance, and a total 15 * ^^i^' be cxj) ted to gradually in towns, which I. Add to all and will serve luwance. ich wc Imvt.' to Vfar '.V pr'i,. L'iiuent increus- It I'us been i3n are now re- do Wiiients be- ssarv. « Heet that this of Faith, and oathen, that it illing away for human nature leh frequently in the wilder- iistanee from s such lamen- ^ious feelings i; without re- ?e whom they on l.equently ation to holy rmity, a dis- ect of every > and a total 2a itrangenuMit f'^m God «*nsMes; and although mi their situation crimes against society ere few, Ihe heart hiAomes cntiioly dead to true jn^ty Md virtue. Were it not for the women, espe- irfally the mothers of families, little engaging or imiable would remain in many of the back settle- ments. It is in such situations that the • iHuence of the female sex is so beautifully cxempiiritil. To their exertions are wc often to attributi> all the hu- fluanity and softness that remain. The Bible, the Prayer-book, the sense of (iod and his providence, llie blessings of a Saviour, and the hopi- of immor- tllity, are by them preserved and introdi cd to the notice of their children, and brought bui k at times with effect to the recollection of their husbu uls. Arc not such entitled to cry to the religious of t i\is coun- try, come and help us? If we rejoice in every attempt to communicate the arts, sciences, and letters, how much more ought it to be matter of joy to publish the blessings of the Gospel ; for however precious the arts of civilized life, and precious the) must be confessed to be, they are infinitely inferior to those sublime truths which purify the afTectitns of the heart, suggest the noblest contemplations to the mind, and determine the destiny of the human race. If, then, we believe Christianity to be what it pro- fesses, a bright emanation from heaven, the har- binger of peace luul joy, love and felicity to nations, as well as individuals ; if we have found from ex- jwriiiue that it purifies and exalts our nature. I % ^ -»> . a . '•t 24i smooths the pillow of death, and opens the gates of immortality ; how shall we excuse ourselves from la- bouring, by every means in ^our power, to revive its energy in the hearts of those who have been, from their unhappy situation, deprived of instruction? Nor need any fear that their bounty will become like water spilt upon dry ground. No, it will, through the blessing of God, be as good seed sown, bringing forth fifty, sixty, an hundred fold. For the young men, whom such assistance will enable us to educate, and send forth among the people in the Spirit of the Lord, will not return empty-handed. There are times when the consolations of religion are desired by every man, moments of deep af- fliction, of heart-rending bereavements, when the weeping spirit bows to the voice of God, and at such times a pious and conciliating Clergyman can- not fail of making a deep impression. And, indeed, experience proves, that wherever such a clergyman is placed, he very soon collects around him the neighbouring settlers, and forms a respectable and increasing congregation. - - •- - -.- - •♦flyC Cfl r THE KM>. "ii ■"•'"'^^ H'^'.rf;. '■*._ w,t