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    thorns and briars *> f controverted ' theology—but little $ f the pure gospel , little of any thing—of man ' s history or God ' s works—little but the merest rudiments , of knowledge , little that can expand the mind , form the heart , guide the conduct , raise and hallow the spirit . And yet , if the people ar ^ not grateful for what they never received ^ the dignitaries of the Church are the first to raise the voice of condemnation . If vice break out as a natural consequence of their own neglect , See , they exclaim , the effect of the much vaunted education of the many ! If , led by the native strength of their understandings , the people learn what are their rights , and , having learnt them , feel and give effect to a sense of duty , and in that effort assaH

    inveterate and foul corruption , and demand long-withheld but imprescriptible rights , See , they subjoin , the revolutionizing tendency of popular instruction—it threatens to level all that is venerable ; when they should have said , all that is corrupt . And if , by reason of the ignorance in which their professed teachers left them , the people , in the assertion of their rights , commit mistakes , or are hurried to excess ; Behold , they add , behold the consequences of popular education , and the verification of our predictions . Thus from their own wrong they draw a justification of themselves , and an impeachment of the people . They cause an evil , and throw the blame on the injured . They withhold good and denounce the bad which they thus occasion . They keep back knowledge , and ascribe the consequent evils to popular education .

    If the people are ungrateful , give them xnore knowledge , and under a change of circumstances their feelings will change . How can gratitude arise in the mind of him who , as soon as he is able to judge for himself , feels that he has been deluded with the shadow instead of enriched by the substance ?—who , if ever he is to be a man in understanding , has to unlearn much that is useless and detrimental , and to acquire for himself most of what is good and valuable to him ,, whether as an individual , a citizen , or a Christian ?

    If the people are mistaken , give them more knowledge , and cure their ignorance . If they are disobedient , remove the corruptions which cause , if not sanction , their opposition to the powers that be . I £ they are turbulent , take them from under the influence of demagogues , by that instruction which teaches them in the pursuit of their true interests to be peaceful as well as firm , apd calm as well as determined .

    But what has been done for the enlightenment ; of the adult population ? Little advanced beyond their ignorance when , as boys , they left the school , have they been instructed since in their rights , duties , obligations , and interests ? Now , thy hierarchy is the richest in the world . If leisure were needed , if funds were needed , to give effect to plans for the enlightenment of the many , leisure and funds they have in the most plentiful abundance . Is learning required for so desirable an end ? Whose , learning more vaunted than

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    The Question between the Nation and the Churoh . 829

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    vol . v . 3 o

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1831, page 829, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2604/page/33/