church in heaven purified spirits, who will go to dwell forever with the Lord. O let me entreat you to be faithful to your own souls, faithful to the church, faithful to the Redeemer of men, faithful to God. May divine help be granted you in answer to your humble supplications; and may heaven at last reward your fidelity, fulfil your ardent desires, and richly gratify your pious hopes!

SERMON XXIII.

[Preached at the Annual Thanksgiving, 1831.]

EDUCATION.

PROVERBS XXIII. 12.

APPLY THINE HEART UNTO INSTRUCTION.

By the providence of God our lot is cast in an age of wonders. What mighty changes has half a century wrought in the civilized world! What engines are now at work to carry on mighty revolutions in the period, which is yet to come! I am not more struck with the magnitude of the changes, which have taken place, than with their rapidity. In this respect they have set at nought all the calculations of wisdom, guided by the lights of previous experience and of history. The most gifted minds have been baffled and astonished. Nor am I among those, who seem to imagine that every change has been for good, that no evil will stain the annals of the present period, that the race of men now on the theatre of the world are in all respects gloriously distinguished above those who have gone before them. Future generations will mourn over many a dark page of the story, which shall transmit to them the doings and characters of their predeBut what shall the future disclose as to the fortunes of men? What shall be the condition of the world to those, who shall be busied with its cares and immersed

cessors.

in its turmoil fifty years hence? That Mind alone, which beholds all causes and all effects, which sees the end from the beginning, can answer this inquiry. But much as we may find to lament in the past and the present, a broad view of human affairs is, on the whole, full of encouragement. There is much cause for gratitude in the mighty changes which have taken place. The progress of man in his intellectual, moral, civil and religious condition we are persuaded has been, not indeed so rapidly onward as many imagine and as all would wish, yet on the whole onward. It may, therefore, be anticipated that the future will present a similar progress; and why may we not hope, with the light now enjoyed, that it will be more rapid and more glorious than any thing which the past has disclosed?

There is one bright feature of the present age, which, more than any other, seems to demand attention and gratitude; which inspires hope, and which ought to be regarded and dwelt upon, if not with enthusiasm, yet with the most elevated and joyful religious feeling. This is an age of education. The best minds are awake to its momentous importance. The most gifted men are pouring forth their efforts to promote it. It is not the education of a few only that is calling forth exertion; but the education of all classes of men, the diffusion of knowledge through the great mass of society. This object, held steadily in view as the leading interest of men, cannot fail to produce glorious results. These in their progress may be mingled with much evil; but the dawn of man's true glory will grow brighter and brighter, till the millenium of the human race shall come, till knowledge shall run down our streets like water, and righteousness as an overflowing stream, till Jesus shall establish his empire of light and love over the whole earth.

It belongs to us, as individuals who are to consult for our personal welfare, and as members of the great family of man whose interests are intimately connected with our own,

to enter heartily into the cause of education, and to contribute to its advancement. In this way, we may meet the demands of an age of high excitement, contribute to the production of happy results, and lay a broad foundation for our own personal improvement and welfare.

I am not now going to give you a dissertation upon education. Yet I shall offer a few remarks upon its purposes and the means of conducting it. I wish to give you such views upon this subject as shall excite you to pursue it in your own meditations, such as will give you an impulse to labor for your own improvement and for that of others.

1. The purpose of education is often most wretchedly misapprehended. It is thought to be to communicate a certain quantity of information upon such subjects as are deemed important to the individual in the particular situation, in which he is destined to move in life. If these lessons are learned, it is imagined that education is acquired. But how often are lessons learned, when no intellectual or moral power is communicated! There may be, notwithstanding the acquisitions made, no ability to apply the knowledge obtained to any useful purpose, or to evolve new truths from those already in the mind. The process may stop at the very point where the teacher suspends his instructions. This is not education. It is only laying up in the memory truths, which he who possesses them has no power of turning to any account. He may, notwithstanding all that his mind contains, be an useless and a degraded being. True, one purpose of education is to afford the mind the materials on which it may act; but a far more important purpose is to train it to a skilful and vigorous use of its own powers. Teach a man how to use his mind; and he will hardly want employment for it. So far as intellectual training is concerned, this is the great object of education. As, in the developement of the energies of the body, it matters little what the exercise used

may be, provided it call forth all its powers; so in that of the mind the great purpose is to secure a vigorous and healthy exercise of its faculties. Then it has an inherent consciousness of power, and can in any situation pursue its own course of improvement.

But the intellect is not all in man that is to be educated. There are moral feelings and powers, which claim culture. Even the intellect cannot gain its appropriate nourishment, if the moral faculties are neglected. There are passions and appetites to be disciplined, and affections to be cherished. If the appetites are not governed, man becomes their slave; and the spirit, destined for immortality, is crushed by a body which will soon become a part of the earth which he treads beneath his feet. If the passions are suffered to grow wild, self-control is lost, and with it the power of improvement. If the affections are undirected or misdirected, man's social obligations are not fulfilled, he becomes the object of pity or the instrument of evil to others, and suffers the misery of internal anarchy. It is the purpose of education to give power and harmony to all the faculties of the soul; to make reason and passion, affection and moral feeling, all contribute to the happiness of the individual, and to the welfare of those with whom he may be associated.

Education has a still higher purpose. This world bounds not the existence of man. The soul is to pass on through other scenes. Its career it to be eternal. By teaching man how to use his powers, education not only makes him happy and useful on earth; it lays the foundation for his endless progress. It is the great agent in preparing him to pursue his improvement, and to advance his happiness through eternity. How glorious its purposes! Earth and heaven, time and eternity, are to witness its blessed fruits. It has been justly observed upon this subject: "The life of man is in reality but one continued education, the end of which is to make himself perfect." What impor