enter upon married life in the same spirit as that which animated our first brethren in Jerusalem, when they ate their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Rejoice freely in the happi think as we think, before we love them. For that which is impossible-a unity of intellectual conviction-we are ready to contend even unto death; whilst in respect of that which is attainable, a unity of charity, we display a lament-ness that God has permitted you to find in a able and culpable indifference. Yet love-love to God as God, and love to man for God's sakeis the sum and substance, the life and essence, of pure religion, as well as the divinest testimony to its unearthly origin.-Life of Robert Hous-ceeds from the imagination, and by that kind of man. For Friends' Review. well-assorted union; bless the Lord from whom are all things, and to whom all things have to be accounted for. Rejoice with simplicity; do not seek to heighten your enjoyment by what pro excitement which belongs to the natural man. Our first parents received permission to eat freely of the fruits of the garden. I think this signifies they might eat enough to satisfy their Glancing over the list of marriages in a recent hunger, and enjoy the sweet and refreshing number of the Review, my attention was drawn qualities of these fruits. I think that in so using to the distance which separated the parties them, they preserved a good conscience, and mentioned from each other. It was pleasant to this it is which makes us feel that we are within me that this journal was the common record of the bounds of enjoyment, permitted by God, and these important eras in the lives of our friends, that thus we can rejoice in His presence without very widely scattered as respects their dwelling fear. But if they ate to excess, or if they sought places, yet united, I trust, by the tie of a com- to relish with a feeling of daintiness or sensual mon faith, and by those common privileges which the organization of our religious Society secures to all its members wherever situated. An excellent and beautiful letter, recently published, was recalled to my recollection, and I thought our editor could not perhaps offer to his young friends, whose entrance upon the duties and enjoyments of married life he had announced, a better testimonial of his kind wishes. Written by one who perhaps knows little of the religious body to which we belong, it breathes a truly Christian spirit, and its advice is in somewhat remarkable harmony with that which our Society has so often promulgated-the fruit, obviously, of an intimate acquaintance with the operations of Divine Grace. RS From the (London) Friend. LETTER TO A RECENTLY MARRIED MY DEAR SISTER, It is with real pleasure and sincere interest that I have received intelligence of your marriage. I have heard also much that is good of him whom the Lord has given you for a husband; and from what I know of you, I hope you will be to him a good and faithful companion, and a true helpmate in the things of time and in those of eternity. May the blessing of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ rest abundantly upon you; may He grant to you the desires of your renewed heart, and cause all of your right plans to succeed. May the name of the God of Jacob be your sure refuge, and keep you in his sanctuary. May He answer you in the day when you are in distress. May His grace be sufficient for you, and His strength be made perfect in your weakness. May He lead you not into temptation, but deliver you from evil. May He turn His face upon you, and give you peace. Dear Sister, It is my desire that you may indulgence, the taste of each fruit, it is my belief from that time they had sin, and that they might no longer eat freely. I believe that this example may be used to explain the position in which we ought to stand in relation to all those enjoyments, whether of the heart or otherwise, which God permits us to partake of upon earth. There is a point to which we may allow ourselves liberty, because it is within the limit assigned to us by God, as "using the world and not abusing it." But if we exceed this boundary, if we idolize our pleasures or affections, or if we pretend to be free, this is only a factitious liberty which we, under the power of delusion, make for ourselves, and which hinders our peace, and especially our spiritual progress. It is for want of keeping within the bounds of this permitted liberty, that I have seen, more than once, the most legitimate affections themselves, become the greatest snares to the children of God. There is much in those words of the apostle, "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient;" and in those of John, "Little children keep yourselves from idols." The path is slippery; the most valiant have fallen; "watch and pray, for the spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak." I think I need not remind you, my dear sister, of that scripture, "Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands." I am sure that you feel it would be to your own hurt that the wife should seek to occupy a place that is not her own, and that you will never unite with those who ridicule that submission which God himself has established and ordained. A blessing always rests upon those who fill the position which God has appointed to them; but it is as certainly withheld from those who depart from it, because such departure has its origin only in pride. You must seek earnestly from the Lord for "that which is not corruptible, even the orna ment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price," and which by the word of inspiration, is especially commended for the adorning of women. You have an open disposition, it is a good quality, but take care that it does not degenerate into a fault. Open-hearted people allow that which is passing within them to be seen by others, but sometimes they show too much. All the evil that is within us ought not to escape from us. The wise man restrains his passion, and casts it behind his back. The apostle says those who are married "shall have trouble in the flesh." Think not, then, all your path will be strewn with flowers. Moreover, with many others, I think that we are drawing near to the last time, when evil days shall come. Go, then, to the contest, taking the whole armour of God," that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." If the day of trial should arrive for the servants of God, take care never to oppose your husband, as Peter did, in a moment of carnal affection for his Lord, when he embraced him, and sought to deter him from suffering, saying unto him, "Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee." On the contrary, rather encourage him, in language like this, Suffer in the power which God gives thee; for if we suffer, we shall also reign with him." You know well, dear sister, that simplicity in dress, in furniture, and in manner of life, becomes the wife and the house of a servant of Him" who had not where to lay his head," who "did not come to be ministered unto, but to minister," and who, "being rich, for our sake became poor." For the life of a servant of Christ and the ordering of his house to be in harmony with that which he preaches, adds greatly to the force of his ministry. The want of this harmony has a contrary effect, and tends to foster among his hearers that dull formal religion, that religiousness, void of practical life, which is so agreeable to our natural heart, and against which we must wrestle with all our strength. To say much in a few words, if you wish everything to go well with you, and if you would live always closely united to one another, dwell near to the Lord. Here is the great secret. It is impossible that two persons who live near to God, should not live near to each other. In all cases where there is something which does not go well amongst the members of a Christian family, it may certainly be said there is something that is not right between them and God. Without him we can do nothing; this is true in the duties of a household, as in everything else. Will you permit me to give you the advice which I have given to many wives; it is that you reserve a few minutes every day for retirement into your chamber, in the middle of the day. It is a means of recalling us into the presence of the Lord, if we have wandered from it, of dispelling that agitation of mind which may have taken possession of us, and of renewing our ability to sustain the combat of life. Adieu, my dear sister; receive my affectionate salutation in Him who is our common hope. A. ROCHAT. Les Archives du Christianisme, Nov. 27, 1847. SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION. The history of intellectual education in Europe may be said to commence with what is generally termed the revival of letters in the fourteenth century. Up to this time the nations of Europe were engrossed in warlike affairs. Few amongst the laity, and those only the most favoured by nature or position, attained even the rudiments of reading and writing, and the clergy were only less ignorant than the laity. Of vernacular literature, properly so-called, with the exception of ballads and romances, there was none; and the huge tomes, written in the barbarous Latin of the period, which occasionally made their appearance, were occupied with the abstruse absurdities of the scholastic theology. The physical sciences, with the exception of such amount of empirical chemistry as was hoarded up in secret by the "alchemists and magicians," were unknown, and natural history and geography were a mass of fables. Many of the principal authors of Rome, we may almost say all those of Greece, were unknown even by name; and in fact the language of the latter had disappeared from western Europe. When, however, something like order had succeeded the anarchy of the middle ages, when cities arose and peace was occasionally enjoyed, men quickly turned their minds to intellectual pursuits. The revival of letters began in Italy, in the golden days of the republics. The cities of northern Italy were at that time both richer and more civilized than any other portion of Europe; intellectual pursuits were more congenial to the people of that classic land than to the ruder spirit of the Gothic nations; and the destruction of the Greek Empire, by scattering abroad the learning and the learned men of Greece, afforded facilities for acquiring a knowledge of the ancients which had before been unattainable. In looking back on the history of education, as it is understood now, and as it was spoken of till within a comparatively recent period, we shall see that opinions have changed rather with regard to the theory than the practice of this science. Every propounder of a system of education, and every schoolmaster, however closely he may stick to the antiquated system in the method of teaching, will tell you that his ultimate object is the general training and expanding of the mind, the strengthening and cultivation of the faculties, and the fitting of the youth for the business and the duties of the man. As to the best means to this end, we have many questions, In fact Luther seems to have been the first and the only man of his time who understood this matter aright, who saw that education is not comprised in Latin and Greek, and that if the classics are to be studied at all, they should be studied not as the end, but as the means for at but all agree that school learning is only the | the classics aright, rather than to the establishmeans by which their object is to be attained, ment of the principle, that the teaching of the not the object itself, and in that object they agree. classics is not the object of education. This distinction, merely verbal though it may at first appear, between the object and the mode of education, is not unimportant, since it is to the confounding of the two-in consequence of the overweening admiration of the ancients, entertained by the revivalists-that we are to ascribe all the inconsistencies which have infected edu-taining the end. He found education in Gercation down to the present day, rendering it a many of the crudest and most useless kind. Inteaching of vocabularies instead of a training of struction was chiefly in the hands of the monks, the mind. It was not perhaps wonderful, es- and little or nothing of real knowledge was impecially of the Italians, that an undue admiration parted by them. The study of the classics was should have been aroused by those beauties of cramped by the Ciceronian folly, and what was style and manner in which the classical authors taught as science was the fanciful absurdities of so immensely surpassed the crabbed theologians the ancients. In place of these vanities, Luther of the middle ages. Carried away by this ap- strove to introduce a sound system of practical preciation of mere external excellence, they ex-instruction, not only for the higher orders, but ceeded the absurdities of later times, and not only for the people in general; and it is to his efforts imagined that the study of the classics com- that we may trace the origin of that system of prised everything necessary for education, but education which now renders German schools actually thought that the attainment of a Latin the models for those of Europe. His views on style was all that was to be looked to. Select- this subject were most extensive, and he strenuing one or two favourite authors, Cicero in par- ously enforced the necessity of education for ticular, they directed all their efforts to a slavish every class. It will not do, he writes, to say imitation of him; and the sole object of education, that the children of the poor have no time for both in theory and practice, was held to be, not attending school; my opinion is, that the boys even the learning of Latin as the most valuable should go to school for an hour or two every branch of knowledge, but absolutely the writing day, and bestow the rest of their time at home, and speaking of Latin in the style of Cicero. in working or learning their future trade. Surely, too, a girl may give an hour a day to the school, and yet have time enough for her household business. And therefore it is, he argues, the duty of the state to provide instruction for all. For since these children whether instructed or ignorant, must grow up amongst us-and the well-being of a state does not consist merely in riches and military strength, but in good and orderly citizens; yet besides those whose parents are too careless, there are many whose parents, though willing, are unable or unfitted to instruct-it is no less the interest than the duty of the government to care for those who otherwise must grow up without any instruction whatever. Thus Luther's idea of education was not that of arbitrary teaching without reference to utility, but the imparting of such instruction, and the carrying out of such a system of training, as would best fit the youth of both sexes to fulfil their respective duties as men and women. fact the extension of sound education was essential to the great object of Luther's life. Founded as his reformation was on intellectual enlightenment, he saw the necessity, if his reformation was to be permanent, of extending and preserving that enlightenment. So he pressed the necessity of a real study of the classics, with a view to the thorough examination of his views on religion, whether correct or otherwise. It was in Germany that the first resistance was made to this education in shadows. It was maintained that the perfect imitation of the style of any author, how excellent soever, was not the only thing to be sought for in education; and that classical studies would be of little value until they were entered on in a very different spirit. The celebrated Erasmus was the bitterest enemy of the Ciceronians. He exhibited in the most ludicrous light the folly of placing the sum of literary excellence in the aping of the same words and turns of style as those used by Cicero without any regard to the alterations necessitated by change of circumstances, or any consideration of the intrinsic merit of the work. But though Erasmus gave a fatal blow to Ciceronianism, and so far did good service to the cause of education, he did not touch the principle which was the root of all the evil-namely, the teaching of the classics for themselves alone. He only showed how to impart the best knowledge of the classics, not how best to educate the man. Thus the sum of his argument is contained in the question, Whether he is the better master who, in reading an author, only loads the memory with individual niceties of language, or he who, whilst he impresses his pupils with the full spirit of his author, at the same time instructs them in every point of history, physics, or literature necessary to the complete understanding of that author? His efforts were directed to the overthrow of the Ciceronian system, because it did not teach In So great were the improvements effected by Luther, that he was scarcely more the reformer of religion than of education in Germany. His coadjutor in this, as in his other labours, was Melancthon, who reduced to practice the theory which Luther expounded; and having first qualified himself for the task, composed several books for the use of learners, and acted as teacher in many of the higher branches. Of the many teachers who, incited by the exhortations of Luther, strove to supply an education suitable to the increasing enlightenment of the age, the most characteristic, both as regards the man and the time, was Trotzendorf. He was born in the year 1490, and was for thirtyyears rector of the school at Goldberg in Silesia. There was no point on which Luther was more decided than the inexpediency of severity in discipline, and the practicability, as well as advisableness, of leading aright by moral influence, instead of deterring from wrong by terror of punishment. Trotzendorf's system was founded on this principle. His ideal of a school was, that it should be a republic, in which the scholars should assist the master in the task of government. With this view he constituted himself perpetual dictator, and promulgated a code of laws which all were bound to obey. Officers were appointed from amongst the boys, with various duties; some to see that the proper hours for rising and going to bed were preserved, that the clothes were kept clean, &c.; others, that order was maintained at meal-times, and so forth. Besides these, there were monitors, chosen weekly or monthly, for assisting the teachers in their labours. The government of the school was quite constitutional. It consisted of a consul, chosen by the master every month, twelve senators and two censors. Every scholar accused of a fault was cited before the senate, at the meetings of which Trotzendorf was always present in his character of dictator. The accused was given eight days to prepare his defence, and if he failed, was subjected to such punishment as was appointed in the laws for his offence. This system, of officers chosen from, and judieial functions exercised by, the scholars themselves, was in great measure the same as that practised in our own day at Hazlewood school; and Trotzendorf's method of teaching was in so far a foreshadowing of the Lancasterian, that he availed himself, in the instruction of the lower classes, of the aid of monitors chosen from the higher. We have introduced this sketch of a school of the sixteenth century, not so much from the coincidence of its system with some of those of the nineteenth, as because the system was founded on a principle which is still too much overlooked-the principle of self-rule and self-responsibility-the uniting of the scholars with the master in the task of government. If the real object of education be the formation of the mind, such a system is well deserving of consideration which, constituting the pupil himself the judge and the reprehender of wrong, leads him to look to principle as the basis of action. In point of fact, the great difficulty in the moral regulation of a school, is the difficulty of producing the feeling of responsibility. If we are to have moral principle, we must have self-responsibility; and there can be no feeling of responsibility without self-government. If, then, as men, we are to be actuated by principle, the sooner we begin to look within ourselves for our motives of action the better. After all, a school is, as Trotzendorf said, but a collection of youthful men, and in the same circumstances the same results may be predicated with regard to both. Nothing is more trite than the observation, that the essential advantage of a constitutional, over a despotic government, does not consist so much in any direct superiority in the external well being of the subjects of one over those of the other, as in the general elevation of mind and principle produced by the habit of self-reliance and self-control. The same may be said of a school. Under the despotic sway of a vigilant master, a boy may commit fewer acts deserving punishment than if under the control of his fellows; but the effect on his mind will be far inferior. In the one case, he acts aright from fear, not from conviction; in the other, he is elevated to the position of judging for himself; he feels that it is wrong to do wrong; and his moral principle is gradually strengthened under the influence of the same motives which are to guide him in manhood. Nor are the benefits arising from this union of the pupil with the master limited to indirect improvement. We believe that many of the problems which now vex us in the practical details of school management, can only be solved by resorting to a system which, by identifying the interests of the master and the scholars, shall lead them to support, instead of thwarting his authority. But then, if such an attempt is to be productive of any advantage, it must be fully carried out. The pupils must feel that it is they themselves who act, and not their master through them; they must be the allies, not the servants of their governor. To say that such a system would be attended by many difficulties, and would require the most judicious and unremitting attention, is merely to say what is true of every scheme of education which is to produce any good whatever. That such a plan is not impracticable, the writer has witnessed. In the case alluded to, the idea originated entirely with the scholars themselves. A code of laws was drawn up for the regulation of their conduct towards each other, and officers were appointed for the enforcing of them. Regular meetings were held at stated periods, at which the rules were altered according to the opinion of the majority. The matter went on for some time without even the knowledge of the master. On his being informed of it, he recognised the self-created authority, and ultimately referred to his pupils the investigation into many matters of dispute and of offence which would otherwise have come under his own cognizance, and which were adjudged on as much to his satisfaction as, and far more so to that of the pupils, than if they had been left to his own individual decision. The practical details of the system were but imperfectly concocted from the first, and its full operation was much impeded by extraneous circumstances; but the beneficial effects produced on the moral feeling of the school were such as to be remarked by all who had any opportunity of judging of it before and after the introduction of this principle of selfgovernment.-Chambers' Edinburg Journal. FRIENDS' REVIEW. PHILADELPHIA, FOURTH MONTH 8, 1848. QUAKERISM. The third point on which it is designed to offer a few considerations, in which the doctrines and practice of our early Friends came in collision with the opinions and practices of their cotemporaries, was their unwavering testimony in favour of a free gospel ministry. This testimony, rousing the antipathy of an influential and numerous class, exposed them to a larger share of suffering than any of their other peculiarities. Their refusal of the customary oaths of the time was very often the immediate and ostensible cause of the penalties to which they were subjected; but a careful examination of their history cannot fail to convince us, that their open and unqualified opposition to the claims of a mercenary priesthood, gave an edge to the persecuting laws of their day, and to their merciless execution. And here we may observe, as was noted in relation to oaths, they had been so completely interwoven into the system of government, that many well-informed individuals no doubt believed that governments could not be supported or justice administered without them; so in regard to a beneficed clergy, the people of western Europe had been so long accustomed to ecclesiastical establishments supported by law, and to a ministry prepared by schools and colleges, that a general belief unquestionably prevailed that Christianity itself must lose its hold on the people, if these supposed indispensable auxiliaries were withdrawn. Hence, it was both natural and easy for those who were interested in maintaining the existing ecclesiastical establishments, to brand the advocates of a free gospel ministry with the character of enemies to Christianity. We accordingly find that the fiercest opponents of the rising society, and most strenuous supporters of the penal laws, were the professed ministers of the gospel of peace. And these interested efforts were no doubt rendered more effective by the show of zeal for religion under which they were cloaked. Their case indeed was not new, for we find the scribes and pharisees-the high professors of the day-with the High Priest at their head, the most forward in the persecution of our Lord and his Apostles; and with a similar pleathe suppression of irreligion. Behold, said Caiaphas, he hath spoken blasphemy; what need have we of further witness against him? The craftsmen of Diana could urge the danger of having their great goddess set at nought, and her magnificence destroyed, yet the real stimulus to their zeal was their fear for their craft. Our Saviour, when he sent his disciples to preach the gospel and heal the sick, admonished them, "freely ye have received, freely give." He also directed them to eat such things as were set before them. This was an indication, easily understood, that the ministry of his gospel was to be free. The apostle Paul declared to the elders of the Ephesian church, that he had coveted no man's silver, or geld, or apparel, and appealed to themselves as witnesses, that his own hands had ministered to his necessities and to those that were with him. And this he of fered as an example, testifying, I have showed you all things, that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Here were both precept and example in favour of a free gospel ministry. When Simon of Samaria offered to purchase with money the power of conferring the Holy Ghost by the imposition of his hands, the apostle Peter administered a severe rebuke, and exhorted him to repent of this wickedness, and pray to God, if per haps the thought of his heart might be forgiven him. This case furnishes evidence entirely conclusive that spiritual endowments are not objects of purchase and sale. These particular passages, as well as the undeniable fact that throughout the New Testament there is not a solitary precept which authorizes the exaction of a compulsive maintenance for the ministers of the gospel, might have been expected to settle the question, among those who professed that Scripture was their rule of faith and practice, in favour of a ministry wholly free, or dependent upon voluntary support. Yet such is the tenacity with which existing institutions are maintained, that among the various denominations of Christian professors, anterior to the appearance of Friends, the question in relation to the support of the ministry was not whether it should be free, but what particu lar form of religion should be established and supported by law. This society adopted at their rise the evangelical standard in regard to the call, the qualification, and the maintenance of gospel ministers. One of the subjects which opened at an early period of his course, to the mind of George Fox, was the conviction that an education at Oxford or Cambridge, (those reputed eyes of the British nation,) was not |