212 THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE NOT BELIEVED IN.

found necessary, to preserve the oldfashion means for inducing people to allow themselves to be taught; but the case is very different, when we come to institutions, which pretend to have thrown off those old systems, and to have opened a vein of instruction, from which knowledge flows in abundant streams, carrying with it intrinsic interest and delight. When we hear men boast at every street corner of the value of knowledge, nay, and of its power too, we expect to find some practical proof, that they believe in that value and power. Now it so happens, that I have lately been to the Hall of the London University, with a friend of mine from the country, who wished to see the building, and, to my great astonishment, I beheld there a list of rewards and prizes, distributed to the pupils of the different classes. Is it possible, said I to myself! Can "the schoolmaster" have so mean an idea of the charms, and of the stimulating power of knowledge, that rewards are deemed necessary to induce these young men to accept it from his hands?-Indeed this is, with so many other facts of a similar description, a clear proof, that it is easy to raise a new institution, but difficult to fill it with a new spirit!

And whence does that difficulty arise, but from the general ignorance and the general perversion of right principles. In a land, in which every good thing is done for hire, and hardly any thing without hire, it is but consistent with the general feeling, that children should be taught to do, whatsoever they do, for hire's sake. A father likes his boy to have a reward in view, when he exerts himself, that he may always know, for what he does it. Improvements, on this head, will not so soon be relished by the mass, and therefore they will not so soon be made by schoolmasters, who themselves have nothing in view, but to serve the mass for hire's sake; nor by institutions raised on so extensive a scale, as to require the support of great popularity, whereby they become, of necessity, subject to the public prejudices. Here is the very root of the evil.

DIFFICULTIES OF A PRACTICAL EXPERIMENT.

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The ignorance of the public, and the obstinacy with which every one, individually, opposes, whatever is calculated to enlarge his notions and to correct his errors, is the cause, why practical improvements are so difficult of introduction. I have often heard the outcry : "What use is it preaching these things in theory! why not exemplify them in practice, that we may be convinced by the results ?" Very true! I grant, that a practical illustration would act most powerfully; but where is the possibility of it, in the present state of public opinion? Where are the children to come from, and who is to provide the means for their education? As to the wealthier classes, where the means are at hand, I think that most parents would rather lose their lives, than permit their children to receive an education independent of, or opposed to, their own prejudices and party feelings. Poor children you might certainly have, easily enough, if you undertook to provide for them; but this involves an expense, for which the purses of the rich must again be resorted to; and there is no hope of getting the assistance of their guineas without the impediments of their narrowmindedness. In this position of things, I say, it is better for a man to leave a great work undone, than to defeat its purpose, by doing it after the fashion of the world—and, if he be confined to preaching, well, then, let him preach! Let him preach against the ignorance of the public, and the perverse principles of society; let him proclaim pure and holy principles, let him bear witness to that light, which shineth in darkness, to that strength, which is made perfect in weakness: and, surely, his words will not be lost; the dawn of a better day will break in upon education, as sure as it is impossible for the weakness and narrowmindedness of man, to stifle the life, and light, and power of God!

Before concluding this lecture, I must beg leave to call your attention, for a few moments, to the second part of our question, viz., "By what means can the education of

214

CLASSIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE.

both, poor and rich, be made to produce, in the course of time, a more harmonious state of society?"

The answer to this question is, in a great measure, contained in what I have already said, respecting the principles, by which education is at present governed, and respecting the foundations on which it ought to be placed. If we were to make the living power of God, within the soul, the groundwork of education, both for the poor and the rich, there can be no doubt, but that a harmonious state of society would be the result. Supposing, then, that you bear this cardinal point in mind, and likewise, that you recollect the application, which the general principle received, when contrasted with the false principles hitherto prevailing, I shall take this opportunity of saying a few words respecting the different branches of instruction, which ought, upon the basis laid down in my fourth lecture, to be employed for the purpose of developing and cultivating the mental and moral faculties of the pupils.

The whole range of knowledge, whatever be its object, or the source from which it is derived, is to be divided into three classes, corresponding with the three classes of faculties, viz.

1. Knowledge of the outwara creation, including man himself, as a material being.

2. Knowledge of human existence, as regards man's immaterial nature.

3. Knowledge of the divine being.

There is an important distinction to be made, under each of these three heads, which, if it were clearly kept in view, might contribute much to render the instruction of different branches of knowledge more harmonious, by assigning to each its proper place, and exhibiting it in its true relation to others. As regards the knowledge of the outward world, in the first instance, we ought to distinguish between the law by which it exists, and which is immaterial, on one hand, and, on the other, the things which exist under that law. In a pure and perfectly spiritual state, there

can be no doubt, but that the apprehension of the law of the visible world would be identical with the immediate intuition of the Godhead, inasmuch as that all-pervading power, by which the world was made, has never been separated from God, but has ever been, and ever will be, one with him. In that imperfect and corrupted state, however, in which man enters this present stage of existence, he is incapable of that comprehensive and sublime view ;-nevertheless, he is not cut off from the perception of the living law of God, in the visible creation; for God has granted him a sight of it, adapted to the present finite state of his faculties, whereby he is permitted to apprehend the divine law in creation, gradually, and, as it were, in different refractions of one undivided ray. All that exists outwardly, exists both in time and in space, and occupies in each a certain extent; and man is rendered capable of understanding its existence, by the faculties which he has for developing, that is to say, gradually apprehending, within himself, the laws of space and of time, and which are, as all his faculties, distinguished as faculties of understanding and of feeling. The law of time, as apprehended by the understanding, is expressed in the science of numbers, i. e. arithmetic and algebra; enabling man to distinguish and fix individualities in the indefinite progress of time; whilst the union of all these successions in one harmony, is represented in music, the analogy of which to the existence of things in time, generally, is less obvious, only because its true nature is less understood than that of number. As Haydn's Messiah is music to the ear of man, so is the progressive development of the human race, and its ultimate restoration to its pristine state, music to the ear of the Most High. As no piece of composition can be understood, until it be completed, so likewise is the music of the world unintelligible to man, and must be so to every other created spirit, not endowed with prescience, until God's purpose in that part of his creation be fulfilled; but to Him, before whom time shrinks into nothing, and eternity is no more than the

twinkling of an eye, all his countless worlds are ever sounding together in one eternal harmony.

The same reference which the science of number, and the art of music, have to time, as expressions of the divine law in it, exists likewise from space to the science of form, i. e. geometry, trigonometry, &c., and to the plastic arts, which differ from each other only as to the material, on which their creative power is exercised, and, consequently, as to the means of attaining their common object, the representation of harmony in form and space. Hence it is sufficient that one of them, and that the simplest, viz. drawing, which is the foundation of all the others, should be generally taught; and, in the same manner with regard to music, all that is generally required, is the art of singing, which is not only the simplest, but also the purest and most expressive music, and that, on which all instrumental music ultimately rests. Thus we obtain four branches of instruction, which are generally applicable to the education of all classes of society, and with which no human being ought to be totally unacquainted, viz., number, form, drawing, and singing. These ought to be taught, without any reference to outward circumstances; and, in the first instance, likewise, without any view to what is called the practical purposes of life, in order to make them effectually subservient to the attainment of their true purpose, viz., the enlargement of the faculties of the soul, and their development in harmony with, and knowledge of, the divine law, in that part of creation to which they refer. Let the pupil get acquainted with number and form, with their properties and internal connexions; let his mind acquire acuteness of perception, clearness of distinction, firmness of conviction, in following their intricate, and yet simple, relations, their characteristic features, and their immutable laws; let him, on the other hand, be enlivened and elevated by the influence of beauty and harmony, not by the mere cultivation of his eye and hand, of his ear and voice, but by the unfolding of that sense and power of beauty in