praise and glory to Him, so, from his sense of duty to Him, was every exertion deduced. "Rien sans Dieu," was his favourite maxim, and its influence was extended over his entire life. We could have wished that more accurate memorials had been preserved of the manner in which he effected the moral and religious change in the character of his parishioners; but enough remains to show his entire dependance on Almighty God for assistance, the ardent faith with which he cast himself upon his protection, and the deep humility th which he contemplated his success.

"He had an unbounded confidence in the goodness of his heavenly Father, and was convinced, as he often said, that if he asked for any thing with faith, and it was really right that the thing should take place, it would infallibly be granted to his prayers. When, indeed, are our plans more likely to succeed, than when we enter upon them in humble and simple dependence upon God, whose blessing alone can render them successful?'"-pp. 85, 86.

In this spirit he commenced, soon after his arrival, a school-house, contrary to the wishes of his parishioners, who forced him to enter into an engagement that neither the building nor repairing of the edifice should ever come upon the parish funds. The Lord assisted his endeavours, and not only was the projected school-house erected in Waldbach, but in the course of a few years, one in each of the other four villages, to assist in which the inhabitants came voluntarily forward. To Oberlin we owe the first conception of that admirable plan which, by the institution of infant schools, has conferred so great a benefit on both parents and children. subjoin some extracts on the subject.

We

"Observation and experience had convinced him, that, even from the very cradle, children are capable of being taught to distinguish between right and wrong, and of being trained to habits of subordination and industry; and, in conjunction with his wife, he therefore formed conductrices for each commune, engaged large rooms for them, and salaried them at his own expense. Instruc. tion, in these schools, was mingled with amusement; and whilst enough of discipline was introduced to instil habits of subjection, a degree of liberty was allowed, which left the infant mind full power of expansion, and information was conveyed which might turn to the most important use in after life. During school hours, the children were collected on forms in great circles. Two women were employed, the one to direct the handicraft, the other to instruct and entertain them. Whilst the children of two or three years old only, were made at intervals to sit quietly by, those of five or six were taught to knit, spin, and sew; and, when they were beginning to be weary of this occupation, their conductrice showed them coloured pictures relating to Scripture subjects, or natural history, making them recite after her the explanations she gave. In addition to this, she taught them to sing moral songs and hymns. Thus she varied their employments as much as possible, taking care to keep them continually occupied, and never permitting them to speak a word of patois."―pp. 87, 88. From these schools the children passed into the higher, where reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, the principles of agriculture, astronomy, and history are taught, while Oberlin reserved for himself the religious instruction of the whole.

"Every Sunday the children of each village, in rotation, assembled at the church, to sing the hymns they had learned, to recite the religious lessons which they had committed to memory during the week, and to receive the exhortations or admonitions of their common father.

"Besides this Sabbath service, with a view to excité a spirit of emulation between the several schools, and to improve the modes of instruction by comparing those of the several masters, Oberlin established a weekly meeting of all the scholars at Waldbach.

"The success that attended these benevolent and interesting exertions, induced his friends at Strasbourg to increase their subscriptions; endowments were even added, (which were lost at the Revolution,) and Oberlin was thus enabled to establish a library of valuable works for the private use of the children; he also made a collection of indigenous plants, and procured an electrical machine, and other philosophical and mathematical instruments. Prizes were likewise awarded to both masters and scholars; and various works upon natural history and other branches of science, some of which he printed at his own expense, put in circulation on the plan of a little book-society.

"Oberlin knew how to blend amusement with instruction in the wisest and nost judicious manner; and whilst his primary object ever was to ground the young people in the principles of our Christian faith, and to induce them to consider religion as the guardian and inspirer of their happiness, he had also the talent of diffusing amongst them that taste for pastoral and agricultural life which their circumstances rendered so peculiarly desirable.

"In order to familiarize the children of twelve or fifteen years of age with these pursuits, they were accustomed to write, under the direction of their teachers, short essays on agriculture and the management of fruit trees, selected and extracted from the best authors.

"The Ban de la Roche presented a delightful field for botany, and they were, even at a still earlier period, initiated in the principles of that pleasing science, being allowed to ramble in the woods, in summer, in search of plants, of which they had learned the names and properties during the winter, and to transplant them into little gardens of their own, which their parents had been induced to give them, for the exercise of their industry and skill. They were also taught to draw the flowers; an art in which some of them succeeded remarkably well. "From what has been related, it will be supposed that the schoolmasters were, at this period, persons of a somewhat different description from the shepherd schoolmasters in Stouber's time. Individuals of the first distinction in the village were generally fixed upon for the office, now become a very im. portant one.

Among other things, the regents were required to impress upon the minds of their pupils, that from the peculiarity of their local circumstances, (their maintenance depending almost entirely on the products of the valley,) it was a duty incumbent upon them to contribute their share towards the general prosperity; and, previously to receiving religious confirmation, they were expected to bring a certificate from their parents, that they had planted, in a spot described, two young trees.* The day on which the first fruit was presented to their be

It is the injunction of the Apostle that "whether we eat, or drink, or glory of God,1 Cor. x. 31. The views

Weve which Oberlin we do, we do all toained, made him bring the greatest principles

of

to the minutest operation. Take, for instance, a direction to his people on

VOL. IX.

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loved pastor, was an interesting and useful festival.”—pr. 89, 90, 91, 95, 96, 97, 98,99.

Under this singular and interesting plan of Christian education, ignorance and misery were gradually dispelled from the Ban de la Roche; and Oberlin has the honour of having been almost the first in Europe to perceive that, when founded on Christian principles, and interwoven with Christian teaching, knowledge is pre-eminently useful to the lower orders. To this was, doubtless, owing the remarkable gentleness and suavity of manners for which Oberlin's parishioners were conspicuous in the midst of their poverty and privations, and by its influence were they enabled to struggle against that poverty and these privations, and to struggle with resignation and humble confidence. Knowledge thus sanctified, expands and directs the mind, without inducing pride or presumption;-it calls out that intelligence which is peculiarly useful to the struggling poor, while it assures a power of abstraction from, and superiority over, the occurrences of life best fitting them for their arduous task. Thus blessed, the intellectual habits, secure their possessor from the recklessness that leads to vice, the indolence that conducts to intoxication, and the man who feels himself to be an intellectual, while he knows himself to be a responsible being, is not likely to suffer either mental or bodily oppression. Hence do we ardently desire the extension in our own country of general and scriptural education, being convinced that, with awakening of the intellect, spiritual emancipation is connected; and knowing too, that apart from its spiritualizing and sanctifying tendencies, there is no book that possesses so awakening an influence as the sacred Scriptures, that so unlocks the springs of mental energy, and by appealing to the diversified feelings and relations of the moral constitution, excites it to a sense of its powers and its duties. By means of that book, revolutions the most decisive have been, and will be again, accomplished; while there is no danger of error, or enthusiasm resulting from its pages;-its light is light from Heaven.

A valuable correspondent of the Examiner has, in a late number, argued for a literary, to the exclusion of a Scriptural education; not as being the best system, but the best that can be procured in Ireland, under existing circumstances, and as calculated to produce in time the spiritual emancipation of the peasantry. We have too

planting trees. This, with other men, would be an affair of convenience; with him, in his circumstances, it was a religious duty. He thus addressed his parishioners: "Satan, the enemy of mankind, rejoices when we demolish and destroy. Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the contrary, rejoices when we labour for the public good.

"You all desire to be saved by Him, and hope to become partakers of his glory. Please Him, then, by every possible means, during the remainder of the time you may have to live in this world.

"He is pleased, when from the principle of love, you plant trees for the public benefit. Now is the season. Be willing then to plant them. Plant them also

in the best possible manner. Remember you do it to please Him. "Put all your roads into good condition; ornament them; employ some of your trees for this purpose, and attend to their growth."

often declared our sentiments on the subject to require repetition; but we would briefly remark, that we do not think the system he proposes could be applied that if it could, it would be successful, or even if we could flatter ourselves with its apparent success, that it would be our duty to have recourse to it. We have had some experience of the Roman Catholic Priesthood, and we feel convinced that their objection to a school patronised by a Protestant, and under Protestant superintendance, is extended even to those that are purely literary in their character. We have known it applied even to some where the only object was to instruct the female children of the peasantry in needle-work; and the principle boldly avowed by the late Bishop Poynter, that it was better the Catholic poor should be without education, than receive it from Protestants, pervades the entire system. In no instance has the compromising plan succeeded; while the bold and open avowal of Scriptural Education has in very many. We would say too, that the influence of the Roman Catholic Priests over minds unacquainted with the Scriptures, and from their earliest period taught to regard it as an unnecessary or dangerous book, must go far to neutralize the effect of the very limited literary education that can ever be communicated to the lower orders; while, to deter us from looking for the accomplishment of our wishes by such means, so clogged with improbability, we have what we deem the direct sanction of the Scriptures enforcing Scriptural education. We would shudder, we confess, at giving the lower orders learning, without the inculcation of Scriptural doctrines and Scriptural duties ;it would seem to us to be a separation of what God had united,—a Satan-like rending of the tree of knowledge from the tree of life. We rejoice to believe, that these which we own to be our convictions, are generally being acted on at present, and we trust that Protestant schools, which we feel convinced the peasantry will frequent, will ever be found acting in the plain and uncompromising system of direct Scriptural instruction.

Our limits will not allow us to pursue, in the present number, the interesting subject of our notice, through his pastoral and domestic labours. We hope to continue our abstract on a subsequent occasion, convinced that by seeing the power of Divine grace manifested in such characters, and the success they experience in the Lord's work, those who, though in different circumstances and situations, have to contend against similar or equal obstacles, may receive suggestions from their experience, confidence from their triumphs, may" thank God, and take courage."

RELIGIOUS COMMUNICATIONS.

BIBLICAL CRITICISM-Roм xi. 31.

TO THE EDitor of the christiaN EXAMINER.

SIR-In your number for April, a letter appears, under the head of Biblical Criticism, with the subscribed initials L. B. The writer finds some difficulties in the explanation of the 31st verse of Romans, 11th chap. as grounded on the authorized version of that passage; and, in proposing, with great humility, his own views on the subject, requests more satisfactory information from some of your correspondents, better versed than himself in the critical interpretation of Scripture.

It is not from a confidence of possessing the critical knowledge and acumen necessary for examining and elucidating abstruse and involved contructions, that I trespass on you with these remarks, but because I am unable to discover any difficulty or obscurity in the English version of the passage alluded to, authorizing or warranting the changes proposed; and unwilling, unnecessarily, to tamper with the authorized version, I am disposed to vindicate it as agreeable to the drift of the Apostle's argument, and formed on a construction usual and intelligible in the Greek of the New Tes

tament.

L. B. regards the authorized version of the 31st verse of the 11th of Romans as incorrect, and his judgment rests on the following considerations: First-the punctuation of the passage in the Greek being different from that of the English version, and that pointing believed the true one from the situation the conjunction iva holds. Secondly the English version does not exhibit the different objects of the belief of the Jews and Gentiles; and thirdly-it does not formally and explicitly convict the Jews of unbelief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Before entering on an examination of these reasons, I feel it necessary, for the sake of clearness, to quote the whole verse in the original Greek.

31. Οὕτω καὶ ὅτοι νῦν ἠπείθησαν, τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ἐλέει ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθῶσι.

The punctuation suggested as the true one is to place the comma at ἐλέει, and thus make the words τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ἐλέει, dependant on rel@udar. The new version growing out of this arrangement would then be, "even so have these also now not believed what proved a merey to the Gentiles, i. e. the Gospel."

With regard to the punctuation, little needs to be said; only it is plain that the copies of the Greek Scriptures examined were very Jimited. It is plain also, that L. B. concluded all Greek copies and versions to be similar in pointing to that one he consulted. They do not, however, all agree; for, according to our own version, and that of Theophylact, the comma should be placed at reinoav.