it is so but why? Simply because the only associations of a certain class of people lead to such applause as the object of desire. Society, instead of having a common object, contains its clans and antagonisms in the same manner that the world contains its hostile nations. The will of the majority may be opposed to the desire of the thief; but the thief's world will applaud him for duping or robbing the majority, just as warmly as Circassian patriots extol their hero who has defeated the Russian army. The object of society, not only politically, but in a social and moral point of view, should be to instil so generally the doctrines of truth, as to deprive the thief of even that miserable countenance he now commands; to lessen the ranks of ignorance and vice as much as possible, and, by so doing, gradually to extinguish the contempt of virtue and the toleration of vice. I believe that the principle of Mr. Mill's theory here embodied is a sound and philosophical view of the question, and submit it the more readily, because it was penned before the national education I am advocating, had been brought forward in Great Britain. I trust that many will agree with the theory, and will be inclined to exclaim with Wordsworth : Oh! for the coming of that glorious time, When, prizing knowledge as her noblest wealth To all her children whom her soil maintains The rudiments of letters, and to inform The mind with moral and religious truth Both understood and practised-so that none, However destitute, be left to droop By timely culture unsustained; or run Into a wild disorder, or be forced To drudge through weary life without the aid Of intellectual implements and tools? A savage horde among the civilized, A servile band among the lordly free! This sacred right, the lisping babe proclaims To be inherent in him by heaven's will, For the protection of his innocence; And lifts his wilful hand on mischief bent, Or turns the godlike faculty of speech To impious use-by process indirect Declares his due while he makes known his need. This sacred right is fruitlessly announced, To eyes and ears of parents who themselves Did in the time of their necesity Urge it in vain; and therefore like a prayer Who, if indeed she own a mother's heart And be not most unfeelingly devoid Of gratitude to Providence, will grant The unquestionable good. * * * The discipline of slavery is unknown That the whole people should be taught and trained. Then, when the poet has sketched, as only a poet can sketch, the glorious effects which would spring from the adoption of his views, he adjures the Senate of England, in burning words, which may well be applied to the Legislature of every British Colony. I trust that I have exhibited no undue presumption in be a advancing my personal opinions in this work, and that the frequent references I have made to great names may guarantee that my object has been rather the promulgation (in a concentrated form) of authentic data, than to obtrude my own crude conclusions upon the weighty topic I have in hand but I cannot refrain from remarking here, that never was there a community which more required the aid of Educational Institutions, than that of Victoria;—never had any country greater need of banding together all that is virtuous and patriotic in its social, political, and domestic concerns; and never was there a crisis in any country more glorious to be availed of, or more dangerous to neglect, than the one which now convulses the scarcely organized social system, in which the portentous treasures of Mount Alexander have been revealed. Let any one scan but cursorily our streets, and pronounce whether opportunities of mental culture are within reach of, or accepted by the people. If the schools are filled, whence come the droves of idlers that waste their young energies in a monotony of empty amusement, or sharpen their wits by the reception of the deadly tuition of the veteran in debauchery and crime? If the schools are not filled, of what avail is it that during its first Session the Legislature voted upwards of £10,000 for the promotion of Education? or more than double the money required in America to educate all the youth of a State containing a similar population? They are blind indeed who think that "the let alone" of one or other system of Education "lies in their good will." Education of some sort is always going on with every intelligent being: the capacities of a school truant are not torpid; his passions exist, his keenness of imitation is impulsive, as strongly as in the most studious of his play-fellows; and there are not wanting companions to urge even the conscientiously disposed. The schools of folly are always open, and never need students or professors; and those who would abandon to his fate any child in the community, far from leaving him in a fair position as regards a search after truth, are in effect casting him upon the training of street casualties, evil desires, and mischievous associations. Yet of those few who oppose National Education, it is conceivable that some do not perceive that their principles are daily sending students to matriculate in the University of Fagin." "'* *To accomplish the great purposes of elementary instruction, experienee has in fact shewn us that it must be made to assume another form (than that of the voluntary system.) A more effectual guidance must be given to it, and the majority of the community must be brought under its influence; for however good may be the education which we give to any small proportion, it is contrary to experience to suppose that its influence will not be lost in the preponderating ignorance, or that whatever may have been done for the religion and morality of the few, will not yield to the demoralization and the irreligion of the many.-REV. H. MOSELEY, Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, 1850. CHAPTER XV. BUT it may be said, why, since there is a Denominational System, why support the introduction of a National one? I answer, because the Denominational System has been proved to be a failure: and I take my stand on the opinion of Sir George Gipps in 1839, and the Report of the Committee of the Legislative Council of New South Wales in 1844. There was then no rival system to distract the efforts or weaken the influence of the Denominational Schools, and yet they are admitted to have failed: it may be conceded that now, while there is a National System in operation, neither system can fairly be estimated as regards expense: and it must also be conceded that only by giving the National System a trial by itself, can it be proved as fairly as the Denominational had been tried in 1844. I shall find ample condemnation of the principles of the system without travelling away from the figures of the census, and the admissions of the Bishop of Newcastle. The census of New South Wales exhibits the following distribution of the population in 1851, as regards religion. |