clined to continue those efforts in the same direction. The question in this case was, whether the increase of knowledge, the more general diffusion of it amongst all classes of the community, tended to prevent the commission of crime? He was far from being able to come to the conclusions, which had been somewhat more dogmatically stated, than he should have expected, in the report of two French gentlemen sent out by the French king, 'that it was now universally admitted, that those parts of the world where knowledge was most diffused were not the most exempt from crime, but rather the contrary.' Who ever expected, that increasing the knowledge of the community would immediately and directly have the effect of diminishing crime? Whoever did entertain such an expectation, had no right to complain of disappointment, when he found the effect did not follow his meri. torious labors, because he had formed groundless and unreasonable expectations. The tendency of knowledge, that is, its ultimate tendency, was, to improve the habits of the people, to better their principles, and to amend all that constitutes their character. Principles and feelings, combined, make up what is called human character. And that the tendency of knowledge is, to amend this character by the operation of knowledge, and in proportion to its diffusion, there can be no doubt. Its tendency is," continued the Lord Chancellor," to increase habits of reflection, to enlarge the mind, and render it more capable of receiving pleasurable impressions from, and taking an interest in, matters other than mere sensual gratification. This process operates likewise on the feelings, and necessarily tends to improve the character and conduct of the individual, to increase prudential habits, and to cultivate, in their purest form, the feelings and affections of the heart. Now," he said, "it hardly required any illustration from fact, or any demonstration from reasoning, to show, that the consequences of such a change in the human character must inevitably be, to diminish crime. The effects of knowledge are not new; they were well known to the ancients, who had said the same thing in much better words;

'Emollit mores neç sinit esse feros.'

"Knowledge increases the prudential habits, and improves the

feelings and dispositions. That it is the tendency of education to diminish crime, is not matter of argument, but of fact. Let any man go into the gaols, and examine into the condition of the criminals, whether they were well-educated or not; and he was perfectly certain, that the well-educated would be found to form a very small proportion indeed of the criminals under apprehension, and a smaller still of those under conviction. But the way in which this. mistake had been committed was this, that, in reference to this question, knowledge and education had been too frequently confounded. It often happened, that what was taken for instruction and education, was merely the first step towards it; and many persons were considered as educated, who, in reality, were possessed of nothing worthy the name of knowledge and instruction. Reading, writing, and accounts have, during the last thirty years, too often been held to imply education. A person possessed of these, may, indeed, have the means of educating himself; but it does not, by any means, follow, that he will exercise these means.

"It is too much to assume," continued he, "that, because in the agricultural districts, where fewer means of education exist, crime is not so abundant as in the better educated and most thickly populated manufacturing districts, therefore education has no influence in diminishing crime. No one ever said, that reading meant instruction and education; still less did any one ever say, that reading alone would produce the effects of instruction. His noble friend (Lord Melbourne) who spoke last, and who had spoken so eloquently, had entirely expressed his views. Knowledge is power, in whatever way it is used; but whether that power will be available to virtue, depends on the kind of education which may be given. If a people be educated without any regard to moral instruction, it is only putting instruments into their hands, which they have every motive to misuse. But it is asked, Why does not education put a stop to the commission of crime? Education certainly exercises a great influence over the moral character; but he never yet heard it asserted, that knowledge (of itself) would alter the nature of the human being, or convert him into something of a higher or purer order than the ordinary race of mortality."

Such are the well-matured observations of three of the leading minds of the times in which we live, on the relation of education and knowledge to the formation and preservation of character. They seem to me, in a masterly manner, and in very brief terms, to do full justice to the subject. They show, that education and knowledge are not always a sufficient guaranty against the commission of crime, but are mighty instruments for either good or evil, according as they are directed; and that the great object of education ought to be, the cultivation of the moral feelings, habits, and character.

*

There appears no reason to doubt, that crime is increasing in Great Britain and Ireland; and there is too much reason to believe, that this is the case in the United States. The tendency of the age is almost entirely physical, mechanical, and utilitarian, not moral and religious, and moral education has been too much neglected, both in this country and in England. Our best educated men must be conscious of this defect in their education, if they will reflect on the subject. While, in our universities and colleges, the classical, physical, mathematical, and physicomathematical chairs are ably filled, and a large portion of several years is devoted to instruction in these sciences, a small portion of time, perhaps a single session, or more probably a remnant of a session, is assigned to the study of moral philosophy. This physical and mechanical tendency of our times, ought to be firmly resisted and counteracted; otherwise it threatens to draw every thing within its sway, and to overwhelm whatever of the intellectual, the moral, and the religious still remains to us.

3. Next to the reforming and purifying influence of Christianity, and the elevating and conservative tendency and effect of knowledge, we must rely upon the progress of freedom, maintained by well-regulated free governments and free institutions, for the improvement of morals. Nor is this view of the beneficial influence of general (political) freedom new, — it is at least as ancient as Longinus. This celebrated author observes, that almost all distinguished writers had been born and flourished

* See the American Almanac for 1837, pp. 69-72; Walsh's National Gazette, 19th and 21st of August, 1834.

in free States, and that this class of men became extinct with the extinction of freedom in every country. "Freedom," says he, "is fitted to nourish high thoughts, to inspire energy and vigor of mind, and a healthful tone of moral feeling." The encouragement, too, with which talents and character are rewarded in countries where free institutions prevail, is an incitement to those exertions, without which the best natural abilities must waste away and perish. He complains, that in his time (the third century), every thing was imbued with a spirit of (political) servitude; that not being permitted to taste of freedom, which he calls the most natural and beautiful fountain of intellectual excellence, the authors of his time were qualified for nothing but adulation and grandiloquence. He compares them, under the withering influence of the servile times in which they lived, to the fabulous dwarfs, whose growth was hindered by their being kept constantly enclosed in cases (λwrтozóuata), and whose limbs were contracted by binding them strongly in swathing-bands. He calls all despotism the prison of the mind, and quotes the celebrated saying of Homer," that servitude takes away half the virtues of the man. ""*

The position now under discussion, has always been acknowledged, and ever assumed, both in this country and in Great Britain, the principal countries in which free institutions have permanently flourished, and, therefore, does not seem to require further illustration.

4. The effectual prohibition of gaming of every kind, of the lottery system, of the ordinary manufacture and sale of spirituous liquors, and the general discouraging of theatres, would contribute, beyond measure, to advance the cause of good morals. Gaming, intemperate drinking, and the spirit of lottery adventure ruin immense numbers directly, they indirectly bring many more to their ruin. They are the great avenues which lead to "the broad road to destruction," which are thronged by the young, the rash, and the inexperienced, as well as by the hardened, the unprincipled, and the profligate, and from which, having once entered, they very seldom return. The constant or frequent attendance,

* De Sublimitate, Sect. 44. - Odyssey, XVII. 322.

too, on theatrical amusements, is a waste of time and substance, a most unwarrantable exposure to temptation, a countenancing of folly, extravagance, and sin, and has been the occasion of the fall of multitudes, never to rise again. All these are the younger branches of the great family of evils and vices; — they have a most intimate relationship with infidelity, suicide, duelling, unbridled debauchery, and abandoned profligacy, assassination, and every enormity and atrocity which can degrade and ruin mankind.

5. But, above all, we must rely for the improvement of morals, on correcting public opinion through the press, the pulpit, and every other suitable instrument, which can be brought to bear on the subject.

The press not only makes known public opinion, it does much to form and guide it. It has been continually augmenting in efficiency from the first invention of printing, and has now become "the most powerful engine, for good or for evil, on earth. It checks, controls, and governs the mighty men of the nations, and preserves the rights and freedom of mankind. It leads the way to reformation, to scientific and practical improvement, to good manners and morals, and to all the blessings of social life.” Men, who have neither "feared God nor regarded man," have been overawed by the animated and sustained assaults made by literature, and especially by the periodical press. Among the many instances which might be adduced to illustrate this remark, the case of the late celebrated Emperor of the French is, perhaps, the most striking and instructive. With an ascendency over nearly all Europe, he had succeeded in silencing the Continental press by intimidation and menace. But the British press was still free, its voice was still heard above the tumults of war and convulsion of every kind. It was the only earthly power which he did not feel himself strong enough to silence, or set at defiance.

"He attached, at all times," says Sir Walter Scott, "much importance to the influence of the press, which, in Paris, he had taken under his own especial superintendence, and for which he himself often condescended to compose or correct paragraphs. To be assailed, therefore, by the whole body of the British newspapers, almost as numerous as their navy, seems to have provoked him to the extremity of his patience." Again, he says,