A MISSION FOR THE LAITY.

Ashton, Somerset, 28th October 1856. Sin—You have done service to the cause of religion and education by makinka proposition respecting them which has at least the merit of being intelligible. You proposed in a recent number, "to restrict scholastic in- stitutions to the teaching of those things alone which are capable of actual proof, logical or experimental ; so that religion may be protected against any interference on the part of the schoolmaster, and the right boundary placed between the two authorities, episcopal and educational."

The more general complaint in this country is, that the schoolmaster suffers from the intrusion of clerical influences. But that pass ; your Fo- lioed is a thing to be thankful for as a stand-point in the vortex of fruitless discussien.

The imposition of a restrictive law I do not believe to be practicable. I will go the length of saying that the separation. you have in view is desir- able, but let us know exactly what we propose doing. All progress is connected with the development of the religious instincts. I shall not occupy space with illustration or proof : history contains the re- cords of this truth, which is further attested before our eyes by the almost perfect unanimity of the demand for religion, in one form or other, to enter into every scheme of general instruction. It is therefore somewhat start- ling to find one of the most sage and temperate journals of our time advocat- ing their severance by legislative enactment. I can only infer that you are driven to this expedient in despair of ever seeing any good come out of the practice of jumbling them together (in a mixture as incongruous as oil aud water) after the manner of the religionists of the present day. I can- not doubt that your object is the increased efficiency of both ; but I should pity the schoolmaster whose "be-all and end-all here " was logic, and dread the clergyman who was invested with a monopoly of the powers he so per- verts.

It is n to regard religion in two aspects ; practically, as the go- verning principle in the affairs of this life, and doctrinally, as the warrant for hope in a future. Religion and education, it is said, interfere with each other. They do so, because doctrine and practice have no agreement; be- cause doctrine per se must be always out of place in the school-room ; and practical religion is at variance with the established codes and principles both of the school-room and society. Take the best-known, simplest, and most, comprehensive Scripture precepts. 1. " Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness, and all these things (worldly goods) shall be added unto vou." 2. " No man can serve two masters : ye cannot serve God and Minemon." 3. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy mind, and all thy soul, and all thy strength, and thy neigh- bour as thyself." 4. "Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Are these precepts wrought into the life of the people ? are these, words, we are all ready to avow, of eternal truth, laid down broadly and unflinchingly as the basis of our educational systems ? does a shadow of their spirit prevail in our school instruction ? does more than a mere shadow of them influence even the best of us in our well-pondered daily course ? or are they not kept bottled up, like the blood of some old mythical martyr, to be paraded on Sundays and other church fes- tal days, to be made the subject of sermons, and prompt the wonder and admiration of the crowd beyond the veil, who feel that for them such sim- plicity is unintelligible, such singleness of purpose unattainable, and are glad of the consolation afforded them by the next discourse they hear on " the infirmity of human nature"? Religion and conduct have made a com- promise. Separate them, and good may arise from their independence and antagonism ; but I cannot contemplate without alarm that intermediate path that must be trod before they unite,—for united they must be, and religion direct every inspiration of man's genius, every act of his will, and every work of his hands. How widely we have strayed from such a prin- ciple, while continuing to pay a hypocritical homage to it, I shall not pause to inquire. One man tried its application to education, and effected much good ,- but the cleansing of the Augean stable of an English foundation- school was a task beyond one man's strength, and the heart of Arnold broke in the effort. The experiment must be tried again where no traditions ex- ist. Mr. Hill's school at Tottenham would seem a more hopeful field, and perhaps we may yet see the crown put upon the rational and humane system there established ; but at present it appears, in the new mode of religion, to be little distinguished from other well-conducted schools ; religion (in the shape of the ritual of the Church) being tacked on as a fringe, instead of being interwoven with the whole fabric.

But I labour under the misfortune of using words without meaning.

How many will agree in the definition of the term "religion"? It is the old story of the chameleon, and the truth is not in the object itself but in the light which reflects it to the heart and understanding of the beholder. The hearts of all men are open to the reception of religious impressions ; but on this subject their understandings and judgments are swayed by the clergy; and these, split into factions, utterly powerless to grapple with social

ignorant gnorant of human nature and common affairs, one great section en-

grossed by nepotism, the other in bondage. to the most sordid interests, create for themselves a false and pernicious influence by a fussy energy in the region of " National Schools,' and by exciting the minds of their hear- ers upon abstruse doctrinal points, legendary titles, and traditional forms, while the flood of human misery rolls unheeded before them, bearing far from their ears, cries, curses, and appealing prayers.

In such extremity where are we to look for help ? The laity have the

matter in their own hands. What is their Protestantism worth if it does not enable them to act independently of creeds and articles which it takes a "forty-parson-power" to expound ? Leave these wranglings, these world- shaking disputes upon extra-mundane subjects, and come to the plain busi- ness of life. What rules does Scripture give for this ? We have our pretty ancient code called the Ten Commandments, but modern interests and so- cial necessities have quite superseded the Decalogue. Its place now is at the back of the communion-table--or, I beg pardon, on the face of the chancel- arch—not in the hearts of the people. That is emphatically a law by which comes the knowledge of sin, and there is an end of it. We have seen al- ready what base uses the Gospel precepts are reserved for. Our social state is acted upon indirectly, I admit, but not founded. upon these great principles. We cannot help being born, and in nonage (as we have seen) we are no- toriously ill-cared for. The first healthful natural impulse of ma- turity is checked by selfish admonitions. Marry we dare not till we have gained a position, or our friends will cut us. To attain this posi- tion, how many rehgrous precepts are violated ! To maintain it and secure it for our children, how many more ! We are embarked; we have east off moorings ; we are at sea, our rudder our desires, our beacon the worldly ap- plause, our haven worldly respect and wealth. In the midst of this our course, like Mother Carey 's chickens, come twittering around us the clergy, telling us what we know full well, that the storm has overtaken us, and that if we would escape destruction we must take their wings and flee our stronghold. Alas! we cannot : we can only cry, "Lord save us—we pe- rish.'

To give a practical shape to the longing desire which has agitated

the hearts of the devout in all ages, which even now stirs the mass which waits, sad, reserved, unmoved, but hopeful, in the midst of the strife of parties, is a task, I fear wholly beyond my power. I can only indicate an initiatory step. An association might be formed of laymen of every Christian denomination ; their single bond of fellow- ship being the Scripture precepts I have quoted, and their motive of association the resolution to probe their meaning and act upon the con- clusions arrived at. Except by one or two fanatic sects who have pretended to illustrate some dogma, a purpose like this has not been formed since the days of the Pharisees. Will any one venture to assert, that to the literal obedience of the Pharisee may not be superadded the larger faith, the deeper insight of the Christian ? Let a beginning be made in faith and con- fidence. If the Bible is true, we may look for results such as the world has never yet seen, for godliness has the promise both of this life and of that

i which is to come.

It would be necessary that such a society should make a declaration of its principles, and put forth a new confession, not exactly of faith, (for the pro- per province of "faith" I propose not to trench upon,) but of its views of action. Nor is it necessary that the movement, though of lay origin, should exclude the clergy. On the contrary, every minister who can bring himself to regard the movement without prejudice, and who may be willing to leave the beaten track of barren admonition or the more popular arena of polemical discussion, for that of active warfare against deep-seated social corruptions, should be invited to take part in it. In particular, should be courted the cooperation of divines who, like Mr. Maurice, are already pre- paring the way for a more hearty acceptation of the truth that God is re- vealed to us as the light of our steps in this world, and that there is already a certain initiatory harmony between the human impulse and the Divine intention—that, in the words of the greatest living poet, " Our wills are ours, we know not how;

Our wills are ours, to make them Thine!"

By proceeding this way, the clergy (I speak of the mass as they now exist) would be isolated in the department they have chosen. They have left "battling for the true, the just," and intrenched themselves in myste- ries. Against these I have nothing to say ; they include the highest elements of religious belief and religious hope. Let them make as much of these as they can, and give up the farce of pretending to direct the operations of so- ciety. Society must work its own reformation, by means of the Christian leaven among its own lay members.

Let us draw yet one more lesson of instruction from the fertile history of the foremost nation of the ancient world.

" Among the Greeks," says an eloquent writer, " the childlike intellect first stirred itself in poetry, which with them was a daughter of Nature—a mystery of that inspiration which it was thought descended from the gods into such human hearts as the Divine Nature deigned to inspire. As the whole culture of the Greeks proceeded from poetry, so did the lustre which surrounded it penetrate into the whole life of the people, embellishing, in- spiring,and animating by its contact every occupation of this intellectual race. Hence it was, that even where the tendencies of mind took different directions, that singly they might attain greatness in separate departments —hence it was that there never arose that thorough isolation of faculties, or that hostile antagonism of head and heart, of imagination and reason, which we find in modern civilization ; but every faculty, even when it seemed to work singly, still refrained from breaking that mysterious bond which united them all." This ideal of a social state passed away, to make room for a better—how far are we yet from realizing it ! What poetry was to the Greeks, religion—that religion which the pious mother whispers to her child—must become to the Christian nations of the earth. It will not do so till we feel and acknowledge the supreme necessity of making religion the centre of all cultivation and the mainspring of all action. H.