We have said that there are persons who suspect the "Central Society" of a Popish origin and tendency. All the world knows that there is no book on earth which Popery dreads and dislikes so much as the Bible. The "man of sin" can thrive any where except in a region of evangelical light and purity. Accordingly, as all history attests, it has ever been the favourite policy of Rome to keep the sacred writings out of the hands of the common people, and at this day she especially objects to the Bible as a general school-book. It is a coincidence which tends, in some degree, to confirm these suspicions, when we find the author of the Report before us affecting to have discovered, among these poor ill-taught and deluded people in Kent, a proof of the inefficiency of the Bible, as the instrument of an enlightened and moral education, and even of its tendency to foster dangerous mistakes in the human mind. tions of the day, which convey so much useful instruction and amusement to the populations of the towns. It seems incredible, but it is nevertheless true, that none of the cottagers examined had even heard position in the country, are chiefly called of such things. Those who, from their upon to charge themselves with the edu- and instil fallacious ideas. Thus ings may be turned, as they often have "It is beginning now to be admitted by all that it is to education we must look for the accomplishment of this great end. But the question remains, What is the kind and character of the education required? The occurrence of the deplorable events we have been considering, and the statements made relative to the nature of the instruction afforded to the peasantry of the villages in question, tend to show that the meager instruction usually given, is totally inade--such as that they are more than others quate to the object. The facts prove that merely religious instruction, of the kind obtained by these villagers, is not of itself sufficient to fit men for discharging their duties to society. It is shown by the foregoing statements that the majority of the persons so foolishly led into the commission of such grave offences, had in their youth gone to Sundayschools, were in the habit of attending church, and that those who could read, read and possessed only religious books; so that not only the instruction they received, but the only kind they had any opportunity of gaining, was entirely of a religious character. It is particularly to be remarked, that not in a single cottage was there found any one book (not of a religious nature) capable of giving any useful knowledge of men and things,not a Penny or Saturday Magazine, nor any one of the various cheap publica under the especial protection of Heaven, and likely to be favoured with especial communications and directions from above. Thus, Wesley, when in any doubt or dilemma, used to open his Bible at hazard, and take the first text which could by any ingenuity be applied to his case, and regard it as an especial direction; a conduct not a whit less silly and presumptuous than the appeals made to Heaven, in the feudal ages, by the wager of battle and ordeals of fire and water. Probably many of his followers copied this pernicious example; and, if we could get at the truth, we should find they often paid dearly for this rash and ignorant presumption." (Pages 49-51.) Yet the Author of the Bible, with "Vide Southey's Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 239." the full and distinct knowledge of all the "fallacious ideas" instilled by that volume into the minds of the " Covenanters," the "Anabaptists," the Methodists, and the people of Kent, has constituted it the universal school-book, and authoritatively recommended it to the special and ceaseless attention of mankind to the end of time: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deut. vi. 6, 7.) For" he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children." (Psalm lxxviii. 5, 6.) "Hear this, all ye people: give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world; both low and high, rich and poor together." (Psalm xlix. 1, 2.) It is pleasing to find that on this point, our author, notwithstanding his misgivings respecting the Bible, does not propose to come into direct conflict with his Maker: "But while objecting to this exclusive reading of religious books, I must not be represented as wishing to banish the Scriptures from the cottage. I know the consoling, the purifying, and ennobling effect of their sacred lessons upon the poor." (Page 51.) settled by law. God has commanded parents to teach, and children to hear and understand, his word. If we think that the "effect" of this upon the poor is to console, purify, and ennoble, well; but if not, still to teach the Bible will be the duty of the present generation, and to learn it the privilege of the next. It is the well-known policy of Rome, if possible, not to give the Bible at all, but when it cannot be withheld, then to give something along with it by way of qualifying its contents, and of counteracting its Protestant tendencies. Such, thank God, is the temper of the present age, that we believe it is in vain for any party to talk of banishing the Bible from our schools and cottages. The author of this Report accordingly allows it to remain, and even goes so far as to pay it a compli ment; but then he would not trust it alone, but proposes to accompany it with the " Penny Magazine," and the other cheap publications of the day," by way of correcting its tendency to narrow the mind, and instil fallacious ideas." 66 "What is wanted is the introduction of a useful and every-day kind of literature, calculated to arrest the attention and exercise the faculties of the labouring classes. If, when the out-door work is over, the cottage family, sitting by a cheerful fire, and engaged in some light and profitable handicraft, could be enter tained by a member of it reading some interesting particulars respecting the labours in which they are ordinarily engaged, or the natural objects with which they are conversant, their curiosi ty could not fail of being excited. In the same manner, tales of the lives of persons in their own sphere, showing the results of the prudential virtues and their opposites, could not but have the hap piest effects. Such recitals would call forth opinions and give rise to constant discussions,-the hearers would compare characters and actions, and the habit of doing so would do much to diminish that mental inactivity which is the great evil of rural life. Concise accounts of different towns and cities of the king. dom, giving the number of the inha they are chiefly supported,-short histo bitants, and showing by what means ries of distinguished men, especially of such as have risen by their own merits from obscurity, and plain accounts of particular trades and manufactures, would never fail of interesting. There is nothing in this at all calculated to displace the Scriptures from their rightful supre macy. On the contrary, it may be repeated, that the taste for reading, and the habits of investigating and compar ing, created by such exercises, would prove a great assistance towards a thoughtful and beneficial perusal of the sacred records." (Page 51-52.) 64 Yet, as if doubting the efficiency of all the cheap publications already in existence, this writer thinks another ought to be prepared forthwith, for the purpose of completing the intellectual and moral character of our peasantry : "One of the most useful presents that could be made to the people of these districts, would be a small book explaining, in a familiar manner, the legal rights and duties of persons as members of society. Such a book should contain a statement of the relations subsisting between master and servant, landlord and tenant, husband and wife, and parents and children. It should show the claims and obligations mutually subsisting be tween the parties, and the modes by which they may be respectively enforced. Other subjects, as particularly affecting the rural classes, are arson, bastardy, poaching, smuggling, petty thefts of wood, stealing corn, turning cattle into other persons' lands, and other varieties of trespass. A point of great importance is the nature of crimes, the distinction between principals and accomplices, and especially between accessaries before and after the fact. The rationale of the poorlaws should be distinctly explained: the grounds upon which the indigent are entitled to relief, the nature and extent of that relief,-the purpose for which it is granted, the duty of all to abstain from pressing upon the fund, except in cases of absolute necessity, should be forcibly pointed out. The nature of contracts and bargains, and the mode of compelling the performance of them, should be laid down. When the common relations which subsist between individuals have been examined, those between individuals and the State should follow. In treating this class, it might be advisable to reverse the usual order observed by writers, and commence with the authorities immediately in contact with the peo ple. Thus, the office and duties of Church wardens and Guardians of the Poor might come first; and then those of Constables and Magistrates. The mode of laying informations against and apprehending offenders and suspected persons should be given; and the nature of bail explained, and the cases in which it cannot be taken, pointed out. From this point the writer might proceed to the composition of courts of justice, and the forms of procedure observed by them, from the arraignment to the final judgment. This description would be appropriately followed by an exposition of the duties of witnesses and jurors. It is of importance that the nature of the trial the advantages of that mode of trial, esby jury should be clearly explained; and pecially the security afforded by it in po litical prosecutions to the liberties of the subject, carefully set forth. The objects and uses of government, and the advantages of our own form of government, might be added." (Pages 53, 54.) It is scarcely possible to read this paragraph, and then recollect that the book is written "by F. Liardet, M. A., Barrister at Law," without being reminded of the two men who gave their opinions in a very critical case, and of the "Currier, who, wiser than both these together, Said, Do what you will, there is nothing like leather." We are constrained to look with vast suspicion upon all this assumed tendency of the Bible to " narrow the mind, and instil fallacious ideas," and upon these proposals to qualify its lessons so that they may not, in the bands of "unlearned persons," be "turned," as, it is said, "they often have been, not merely into sources of error, but into authorities for wrong." The Pharisees thought the naked Scriptures had a tendency to instil fallacious ideas," and so they qualified them by tradition, until they had made the "commandment of God of none effect." "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;" for, in itself, as an instrument of moral reformation, it is "living and powerful;" but when qualified by tradition," it became powerless, and the consequence was, that the Jewish nation became more and more corrupt and wicked, until it was swept away as a nuisance no longer to be endured. The attempts of human wit and wickedness to qualify a few fragments of revealed truth have ended in that monstrosity which we call "Heathenism." And what is the system of Mahomet but some scraps of the Bible qualified by his own additions? Doctors, Councils, and Popes went on qualifying the Gospel by their own decisions, until they had produced all the bewilderment and depravity of the middle ages. German neology and scepticism is the Bible qualified by philosophy, with out being itself understood. We are by no means sure that this new proposal to qualify God's book by the "cheap publications" of the age does not come from the same source, and lead to the same end. After all, however much our author may dread " a course of exclusive religious reading," still there is an important sense in which the Bible must be read exclusively, and studied exclusively, and followed exclusively, if we are to enjoy the great benefit which it was designed to bestow. He says, indeed, the course of instruction for the peasantry, to which he has alluded,— -"would comprise some instruction in natural philosophy, with familiar explanations of the most striking phenomena, a concise exposition of those parts of chemistry which most affect the uninitiated, and a popular view of astronomy, with some explanations (if such indeed can be given to the unlearned) of the principles upon which scientific calculations are made, that the mind may regard such things without disbelief, or an unmeaning admiration. To these might be added an outline of modern history in short chapters, with a commentary at the end of each, contain ing some explanatory remarks on the nature of the events, and the characters and motives of the principal persons." (Page 52.) To all which there cannot be the slightest objection, provided the necessary time and money can be found. But then, if the Bible be true, even this well-instructed peasant would still be a sinner, and the wages of sin is death," and therefore he must still ask, "What must I do to be saved?" In obtaining an answer to this all-important question, his previous knowledge could not be of the slightest avail. He must practically forget all that he had learned, and listen exclusively to the words which proceed out of the mouth of God; who has promised to "bring the blind by a way that they know not, to lead them in paths that they have not known, and to make darkness light before them." (Isaiah xlii. 16.) Cheap publications," put into the hands of our peasantry, which would interfere with such an exclusive adherence to the Bible as this, instead of improving their character and condition, would only "spoil them through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Col. ii. 8.) Whatever were the "fallacious ideas" of the "Scottish Covenanters," the " Anabaptists," or the early Methodists," they were not "instilled" by the Bible; for it exposed, condemned, and finally corrected them. They all proceeded from that lingering darkness which had been fostered by a previous state of things, and which was not at once banished from their minds. The ravings of Thoms, not because they Kentish peasantry believed in the read the Bible, or because they read it exclusively, but because they did not read it enough, and scarcely understood it at all. Their miserably scanty stock of biblical knowledge did not need to be qualified, but to be increased. The "fallacious ideas" of which the man complained who said he saw "men as trees walking," restored sight, but by his remaining were not produced by his newlyblindness; and they were corrected, not by qualifying his little light, but by increasing it, till he "saw every man clearly." It is not by qualifying the religious twilight of our population, that its moral and social evils are to be corrected; for that might lead to greater obscurity, and perhaps back again to the midnight of Popery: but it is by bringing the public mind into closer contact with the Bible, placing it, by a better system of scriptural education, more fully under the sun, and thereby advancing its moral day; for Christ is the true "light of the world; and he that followeth him shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." Notwithstanding our deep distrust of the character, principles, and objects of the "Central Society of Education," there are some parts of their proceedings which every philanthropist, and the Methodists in particular, would do well to imitate. They are making the education of the poor a subject of especial attention and inquiry. Here are members of Parliament, Lawyers, and gentlemen engaged in other honourable and important pursuits, finding time to read, and think, and write on the subject of popular education. Instead of looking with indifference upon the swarms of little, ragged, unwashed urchins, who run about our streets, and who are annually sent in such fearful numbers to our prisons, they are anxiously inquiring how these are to be made intelligent, moral, orderly, and happy: a question, assuredly, entitled to the serious consideration of every friend to humanity. As Methodists, we are especially bound, by the example of our Founder, by our duty to Christ, by our position in the country, and by our call to evangelize the world, to make ourselves masters of the question in all its bearings. It deserves the best attention of the best minds in the Connexion. If ever the ignorance and wickedness of our country is dislodged, our jails are emptied, our gin-shops deserted, and the masses of the people rendered moral and devout, and Mr. Wesley's noble conception realized in the "spread of scriptural holiness throughout the land," it will be, in no small degree, by bringing Christianity more systematically and steadily to bear upon the popular mind, by means of a sound, general, scriptural, and efficient education. Nor will the most lofty minds, occupied by the most urgent and weighty affairs, be at all degraded by pausing for a while, in order to devise the ways and means by which such an education may be bestowed. The members of the " Central Society" are also proceeding to work in a business-like manner, by ascertaining the real facts of the case before them. With no small share of trouble and expense, they are exploring particular districts, going from village to village, and from house to house, and reporting after numerous, patient, and minute inquiries, how many children are taught, how many are half-taught, and how many are altogether untaught. It would be well if the friends of Methodism would go to work on the same plan, and collect the statistics of our several congregations and Circuits in reference to education. Something of the kind was attempted in 1836; but more ample and minute inquiries ought to be made; and although the result of what has been done was anything but flattering to our connexional vanity, and it is probable that further inquiry might lead to still more mortifying discoveries, these would at least stimulate us to action, and direct us what to do. Even the games and amusements of children and youth have not escaped the notice of the "Central Society;" and, although we think they have greatly misapprehended the matter, yet we thank them for calling attention to the subject: "Another and scarcely less efficacious preservative against these disorders of the mind is to be found in amusements, and other sources of innocent and healthful excitement. But, during my stay in the district, I did not once observe the peasantry engaged in any games or sports, notwithstanding the weather was unusually favourable for such exercises. On one occasion only I observed some persons playing at cricket, but they appeared to be above the class of the peasantry. tion of either an active or quiet characFor them there appeared to be no recreater, unless they resorted to the beer-shop, the only place open to them for enjoyment of any kind. Here, perhaps, they could have a game of bowls; but then they must play for beer, it being a gene |