Page images
PDF
EPUB

officer of the court, you shall answer, "Not guilty," with what a transport will that glorious negative be welcomed! How will you be blessed, adored, worshipped; and when, retiring from this scene of excitement and of passion, you shall return to your tranquil homes, how pleasurably will you look upon your children, in the consciousness that you have left them a patrimony of peace, by impressing upon the British cabinet that some other measure besides a state prosecution is necessary for the pacification of your country. SHEIL.

ON EDUCATION.

THE subject of national education is one which gives room for much of serious reflection and of grave consideration as to the duties which devolve upon us. The times have been when this great duty of the people, this great duty of the church and in naming the church I do not mean the clergy only, but the laity also-there have been times when this great duty of providing for and promoting the education of the humbler classes, has been shamefully, disgracefully neglected. We have been guilty — there is no need to deny it there is no use in palliating or concealing it - we have been guilty of a national sin, and have drawn down upon us, in the ordinary course of God's providence, the national judgment which follows on national sin. And may God grant that the sense of the national judgment and the national reproach may produce that effect which they ought to produce — which it is the design of Providence they should produce, the amendment and correction of the sin. The days have been when England, proud and prosperous, advancing in commerce, unrivalled in arms, proud of her flag, proud of her military trophies, proud of her increasing revenues, proud of those great ports, from which—and especially from the one in which I am now speaking the flag of Great Britain is sent to every sea, and which receive within their harbors the flags of all other countries in the world. The time has been, I say, when England has forgotten the warning which Holy Writ gave to the Israelites on entering the

promised land, "Beware lest when thou hast eaten and art full, thou forget the Lord thy God, and say, Mine hand and mine arm hath gotten me all this wealth." We have been proud of our power, of our wealth, of our commerce, of our fancied superiority; and the very causes of our pride have been the sources of our chastisement and our judgment. We have boasted of our advances in science, of the strides we are making in philosophical attainments, of the genius, the riches, the industry, and the researches of our people, and we have forgotten that that knowledge which is unsanctified by religion is a two-edged sword, the blade of which is likely to cut the wearer. We have been proud of our population, as the source of our wealth, and have omitted to consider that this growing population, without the means of religious instruction, without the means of spiritual education, was no source of strength, but a source of weakness, a reproach, a disgrace, and at length a serious impediment to our national prosperity.

I believe that these days have gone by. I believe that the spirit of education has gone forth; the spirit of inquiry is irresistible; the thirst for knowledge is not to be quenched. Let us not seek to quench it. Let us not seek to diminish it. Let us—and permit me, my lord, to appeal to your lordship, and say, let the members of the church, and the clerical members of the church especially, set themselves at the head of this great movement of inquiry and investigation. Let them not shrink from imparting to the people increased knowledge; but let it be their duty to sanctify that knowledge by that which alone can sanctify it: to imbue the people with the spirit of religion, in conjunction with the spirit of science and education. Let the church place itself at the head of the march of instruction—and when we remember the vast multitudes congregated to-day in the streets of Liverpool, when we behold this vast assembly, when we consider the enthusiasm with which the call of the church has been responded to in every part of the country, who is there that does not feel, that if the church will so take and so maintain that lead and guidance which of right belong to her, the people of England will never desert they will always be proud to follow Establishment?

the National

STANLEY.

DIALOGUES.

CANUTE AND HIS COURTIERS.

Canute. Is it true, my friends, as you have often told me, that I am the greatest of monarchs?

Offa. It is true, my liege; you are the most powerful of all kings. Oswald. We are all your slaves; we kiss the dust of your feet. Offa. Not only we, but even the elements, are your slaves. The land obeys you from shore to shore; and the sea obeys you.

Canute. Does the sea, with its loud boisterous waves, obey me? Will that terrible element be still at my bidding?

Offa. Yes, the sea is yours; it was made to bear your ships upon its bosom, and to pour the treasures of the world at your royal feet. It is boisterous to your enemies, but it knows you to be its sovereign. Canute. Is not the tide coming up?

Oswald. Yes, my liege; you may perceive the swell already.

Canute. Bring me a chair then; set it here upon the sands.

Offu. Where the tide is coming up, my gracious lord?

Canute. Yes, set it just here.

Oswald, (Aside.) I wonder what he is going to do!

Offa. (Aside.) Surely he is not so silly as to believe us !

Canute, O mighty ocean! thou art my subject; my courtiers tell me so; and it is thy duty to obey me. Thus, then, I stretch my sceptre over thee, and command thee to retire. Roll back thy swelling waves, nor let them presume to wet the feet of me thy royal master.

Oswald. (Aside.) I believe the sea will pay very little regard to his royal commands.

Offa. See how fast the tide rises!

Oswald. The next wave will come up to the chair. It is folly to stay. We shall be covered with salt water.

Canute. Well, does the sea obey my commands? If it be my subject, it is a very rebellious subject. See how it swells, and dashes the angry foam and salt spray over my sacred person! Vile sycophants! did you think I was the dupe of your base lies? that I believed your abject flatteries? Know, there is but one Being whom the sea will obey. He is Sovereign of heaven and earth, King of kings, and Lord of Lords. It is only he who can say to the ocean, "Thus far shalt thou go, but no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." A king is but a man, and a man is but a worm. Shall a worm assume the power of the great God, and think the elements will obey him? May kings learn to be humble from my example, and courtiers learn truth from your disgrace!

BARBAULD.

THE TWO ROBBERS.

Alexander. What, art thou the Thracian robber, of whose exploits I have heard so much?

Robber. I am a Thracian, and a soldier.

Alex. A soldier !—a thief, a plunderer, an assassin! the pest of the country! I could honor thy courage, but I must detest and punish thy crimes.

Robber. What have I done of which you can complain?

Alex. Hast thou not set at defiance my authority; violated the public peace, and passed thy life in injuring the persons and properties of thy fellow subjects?

Robber. Alexander! I am your captive-I must hear what you please to say, and endure what you please to inflict. But my soul is unconquered; and if I reply at all to your reproaches, I will reply like a free man.

Alex. Speak freely. Far be it from me to take the advantage of my power to silence those with whom I deign to converse!

Robber. I must then answer your question by another. How have you passed your life.

Alex. Like a hero. Ask Fame, and she will tell you. Among the brave, I have been the bravest: among sovereigns, the noblest : among conquerors, the mightiest.

Robber. And does not Fame speak of me too? Was there ever a bolder captain of a more valiant band? Was there ever But I scorn to boast. You yourself know that I have not been easily subdued.

Alex. Still, what are you but a robber-a base dishonest robber? Robber. And what is a conqueror ? Have not you, too, gone about the earth like an evil genius, blasting the fair fruits of peace and industry plundering, ravaging, killing, without law, without justice, merely to gratify an insatiable lust for dominion? All that I have done to a single district with a hundred followers, you have done to whole nations with a hundred thousand. If I have stripped individuals, you have ruined kings and princes. If I have burned a few hamlets, you have desolated the most flourishing kingdoms and cities of the earth. What is then the difference, but that as you were born a king, and I a private man, you have been able to become a mightier robber than I?

Alex. But if I have taken like a king, I have given like a king. If I have subverted empires, I have founded greater. I have cherished arts, commerce, and philosophy.

Robber. I, too, have freely given to the poor, what I took from the rich. I have established order and discipline among the most ferocious of mankind; and have stretched out my protecting arm over the oppressed. I know little of the philosophy you talk of; but I believe neither you nor I shall ever repay to the world the mischiefs we have done it.

Alex. Leave me- - take off his chains and use him well. (Exit robber.) Are we then so much alike?-Alexander a robber?Let me reflect.

BARBAULD.

« PreviousContinue »