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    Untitled Article

    titidn $ f tlte friirket ; If # e e ± 6 ept a fett profession * , Sucii as physicians , and schoolrna&erfr , tn which the purchaser h riot a competent judge of the quality of the dtticle . Bat all instruction which i& jjiven , not that we nifty live , but that we may live well ; all which aims at making tts vri&e and good , calls for the care of Governnient : for the very reason given by the Lord'Chancellor ; that the majofitt have neither the desire , nor any sufficient notion of the means , of becoming * mudi wiser or better than

    they are . * When we say that instruction of all kinds , connected with tlie great interests of friati and society , ought to be provided by the State , we by no means ( as we have already observed ) except religious instruction . We gee , indeed , in the present state of the public mind , formidable obstacles to including in any course of public teaching , such religious instruction

    as shall not be worse than none . But difficulties arising not from the nature of the case , but from the literal and dogmatic character and sectarian spirit of English religion , must not hinder us froth asserting in speculation , if we cannot realize in practice , a great principle . An important , if not the most important pari of every course of public instruc- ^ tion , is thai vthich Is intended td awaken and to enlighten the conscience * , or principle of duty . This essential part of national instruction tnudt either be omitted entirely , or it must be such as does not cla&h with the

    moral convictions of the majority of the educated classes . A country ttiii&t be in a wretcfted state , in Which the be&t moral instruction which can be afforded consistently with this condition , id not better than none at all . But in all Christian Countries , the prevalent moral convictions , the best conceptions popularly entertained of the rule of life , ate thoroughly interwoven with , and in great part founded upon , religion . To exclude religious instruction , is therefore to exclude moral instruction , or to *

    garble it , and deprive it of all systematic consistency , or to make it of a kind decidedly objectionable to the majority of the educated classes . It ib true mankind differ Widely on religion ; so widely that it is impossible for them to agree in recommending any set of opinions . But they also differ on moral philosophy , metaphysics , politics , political economy , and even medicine ; all of which are admitted to be as proper subjects as any others for a national course of instruction . The falsest

    ideas have been , and still are , prevalent on these subjects , as well as on religion . But it is the portion of us all , to imbibe the received opinions ** first , and start from these to acquire better ones . All that is necessary to render religion as unexceptionable a subject of national teaching as any of the other subjects which we have enumerated , is , that it should be taught in the manner in Which all rational persons are agreed thatbe taught in the manner in Which all rational persons are agreed that

    every other subject should be taught—in an inquiring , not a dogmatic bpirit—so as to call forth , not 60 a * to supersede , the freedom of the individual mind . We should most strongly object to giving instruction on any disputed subject , hi schools or universities , it it were done b y inculcating any partfculaAet of opinions . But we do not conceive it to be the object of instruction to Inculcate opinions . It is the grossest * Very tatoty doe * the editor diflfet from the cotretyontfeiit to * frrin our readers are indebted for these note * , and lor « th $ ? eontobttfionji to our pages * It 19 , however , i $ c ** panr 10 ea ^ lhaijb 6 puutjibi beheld twonyfrte % « ny f ^ ciM ^ ajaDD ^ or 6 *» i « ssion , in thaTprese ' nt note , which mky be ^ n&roe ^ uajto M iulb iraujce fit ffr * rfffafc ** political authenritief to legislate in matters of religion .

    Untitled Article

    Lord Broughatff * P ^ kiidi 0 / tftf Chntbh Establishment . 44 &

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1834, page 443, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2634/page/61/