The Advantages of Knowledge to the Lower Classes

1 HROUGHouT every part of this book, the author is copious and even profuse in the praises of knowledge. To stimulate to the acquisition of it, and to assist in the pursuit, is the professed design with which it was penned. To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; to give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.

Though it is evident from many passages, that in the encomiums to which we have referred, the author had principally in view divine knowledge, yet from other parts it is erjually certain he by no means intended to exclude from these commendations, knowledge in general; and as we propose this afternoon to recommend to your attention the

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Sahbath-day School established in this place, a fevr reflections on the utility of knowledge at large, and of religious knowledge in particular, will not be deemed unseasonable.

1. Let me request your attention to a few remarks on the utilily of knowledge in general. It must strike us, in the first place, that the extent to which we have the faculty of acquiring it, forms the most obvious distinction of our species. In inferior animals, it subsists in so small a degree, that we are wont to deny it to them altogether, the range of their knowledge, if it deserve the name, is so extremely limited, and their ideas so few and simple. Whatever is most exquisite in their operations, is referred to an instinct, which working within a narrow compass, though with undeviating uniformity, supplies the place, and supersedes the necessity of reason. In inferior animals, the knowledge of the whole species is possessed by each individual of the species, while man is distinguished by numberless diversities in the scale of mental improvement. Now to be destitute in a remarkable degree of an acquisition w hich forms the appropriate possession of human nature, is degrading to that nature, and must proportionably disqualify it for reaching the end of its creation.

As the power of acquiring knowledge is to be ascribed to reason, so the attainment of it mightily strengthens and improves it, and thereby enables it to enrich itself with further acquisitions. Knowledge in general expands the mind, exalts the faculties, refines the taste of pleasure, and opens innumerable sources of intellectual enjoyment. By means of it, we become less dependent for satisfaction upon the sensative appetites, the gross pleasures of sense are more easily despised, and we are made to feel the superiority of the spiritual to the material part of our nature. Instead of being continually solicited by the influence and irritation of sensible objects, the mind can retire within herself, and expatiate in the cool and quiet walks of contemplation. The author of nature has wisely annexed a pleasure to the exercise of our active powers, and particularly to the pursuit of truth, which if it be in some instances less intense, is far more durable than the gratifications of sense, and is on that account incomparably more valuable. Its duration, to say nothing of its other properties, renders it more valuable. It may be repeated without satiety, and pleases afresh on every reflection upon it. These are self-created satisfactions, always within our reach, not dependent upon events, not requiring a peculiar combination of circumstances to produce or maintain them, they rise from the mind itself, and inhere, so to speak, in its very suitstance. Let the mind but relain its proper functions, and they spring up spontaneously, unsolicited, unborrowed, and unbought. ¥jwa the difficulties and impediments which obstriict the pursuit of truth, serve, according to the economy under which we are placed, to render it more interesting. The labour of intellectual search, resembles and exceeds the tumultuous pleasures of the chase, and the consciousness of overcoming a formidable obstacle, or of lighting on some happy discovery, gives all the enjoyment of a conquest, without those corroding reflections by which the latter must be impaired. Can we doubt that Archimedes, who was so absorbed in his contemplations as not to be diverted by the sacking of his native city, and was killed in the very act of meditating a mathematical theorem, did not when he exclaimed iv>ix.ce.^. svaxecl feel a transport as genuine as was ever experienced after the most brilliant victory?

But to return to the moral good which results from the acquisition of knowledge; it is chiefly this, that by multiplying the mental resources, it has a tendency to exalt the character, and, in some measure, to correct and subdue the taste for gross sensuality. It enables the possessor to beguile his leisure moments (and every man has such) in an innocent at least, if not in a useful manner. The poor man who can read, and who possesses a taste for reading, can find entertainment at home, without being tempted to repair to the public-house for that

I have found it! I have found it J purpose. His mind can find him employment when his body is at rest; he does not lie prostrate and afloat on the current of incidents, liable to be carried whithersoever the impulse of appetite may direct. There is in the mind of such a man an intellectual spring urying him to the pursuit of mental s,ooi; and if the minds of his family also are a little cultivated, conversation becomes the more interesting, and the sphere of domestic enjoyment enlarged. The calm satisfaction which books afford, puts him into a disposition to relish more exquisitely, the tranquil delight inseparable from the indulgence of conjugal and parental affection; and as he will be more respectable in the eyes of his family than he who can teach them nothing, he will be naturally induced to cultivate what ever may preserve, and shun whatever would impair that respect. He who is inured to reflection will carry his views beyond the present hour; he will extend his prospect a little into futurity, and be disposed to make some provision for his approaching wants; whence will result an increased motive to industry, together with a caie to husband his earnings, and to avoid unnecessary expense. The poor man who has gained a tasle for good books, will in all likelihood become thoughtful, and wlsen you h.ave given the poor a habit of thinking, you have conferred on them a much greater favour than by the gift of a large sum of money, since you have put them in possesion of the jprinciple of all legitimate prosperity.

I am persuaded that tle extreme profligacy, improvidence, and misery, which are so prevalent among the labouring classes in many countries, are chiefly to be ascribed to the want of education. In proof of this we need only cast our eyes on the condition of the Irish, compared with that of the peasantry in Scotland. Among the former you behold nothing but beggary, wretchedness, and sloth: in S^^otlaud, on the contrary under the disadvantages of a worse climate and more unproductive soil, a degree of decency and comfort, the fruit of sobriety and industry, are conspicuous among the lower classes. And to m hat is this disparity in their situativpn to be ascribed, except to the influence of education? In Ireland, the education of the poor is miserably neglected, very few of them can read, and they grow up in a total ignorance of what it most befits a rational creature to understand; while in Scotland the establishment of free-schools in every parish, an essential branch of the ecclesiastical constitution of the country, brings the means of instruction within the reach of the poorest, who are there inured to decency, industry, and order.

Some have objected to the instruction of the lower classes, from an apprehension that it would lift tiicm above their sphere, make them dissatisfied with their station in life, and by impairiisg the habit of subordination, endanger the tranquillity of the state; an objection devoid surely of all force and validity. It is not easy to conceive in what manner instructing men in their duties can prompt them to neglect those duties, or how that enlargement of reason which enables them to comprehend the true grounds of authority and the obligation to obedience, should indispose them to obey. The admirable mechanism of society, together with that subordination of ranks which is essential to its subsistence, is surely not an elaborate imposture, which the exercise of reason will detect and expose. The objection we have stated, implies a reflection on the social order, equally impolitic, invidious, and unjust. Nothing in reality renders legitimate government so insecure as extreme ignorance in the people.. It is this which yields them an easy prey to seduction, makes them the victims of prejudice and false alarms, and so ferocious withal, that their interference in atimeof public commotion, is more to be dreaded than the eruption of a volcano.

The true prop of good government is opinion, the perception on t!)e part of the subject of benefits resulting from it, a settled conviction, in other words, of its being a public good. Now nothing can produce or maintain that opinion but knowledge, since opinion is a form of knowledge. Of tyrannical and unlawful governments, indeed, the support is fear.

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to which ignorance is as congenial as it is abhorrent from the genius of a free people. Look at the popular insurrections and massacres in France: of what description of persons were those ruffians composed who, breaking forth like a torrent, overwhelmed the mounds of lawful authority? Who were the cannibals that sported with the mangled carcases and palpitating limbs of their murdered victims, and dragged them about with their teeth in the gardens of the Thuilleries? Were they refined and elaborated into these barbarities by the efforts of a too polished education? No: they were the very scum of the populace, destitute of all moral culture, whose atrocity was only equalled by their ignorance as might well be expected, when the one was the legitimate parent of the other. Who are the persons who, in every country, are most disposed to outrage and violence, but the most ignorant and uneducated of the poor; to which class also chiefly belong those unhappy beings who are doomed to expiate their crimes at the fatal tree; few of whom, it has recently been ascertained, on accurate enquiry are able to read, and the greater part utterly destitute of all moral or religious principle.

Ignorance gives a sort of eternity to prejudice, and perpetuity to error. When a baleful superstition, like that of the church of Rome, has once got footing among a people in this situation, it becomes next to impossible to eradicate it: for it can only be assailed, with success, by the weapons of reason anil argument, and to these weapons it is impassive. The sword of ethereal temper loses its edge, when tried on the scaly hide of this leviathan. No wonder the church of Home is such a fiiend to ignorance; it is but paying the arrears of gratitude in which she is deeply indebted. How is it possible for her not to hate that light which would unveil her impostures, and detect her enormities?

If we survey the genius of Clristianity, we shall find it to be just the reverse. It was ushered into the world with the injunction, go and teach all nations, and every step of its progress is to be ascribed t«» instruction. With a condescension worthy of its author, it oiFer’- information to the meanest and most illiterate; but extreme ignorance is not a state of mind favourable to it. The first churches were planted in cities, (and those the most celebrated and enlightene<l) drawn neither from the very highest nor the very lowest classes; the former too often the victims of luxury and pride, the latter sunk in extreme stupidity; but from the middle orders, were the largest portion of virtue and good sense has usually resided, wn remote villages, its progress was extremely slow, owing unquestionably to that want of mental cultivation, which rendered them the last retreats of superstition; insomuch that in the fifth century, the abettors of the ancient idolatry began to be denominated Pagani

S6 ‘ivhirli properly denotes the inhabitants of the country; in distinction from those who reside in towns. At the Reformation, the progress of the reformed faith went hand in hand with the advjincement of letters; it had every where the same friends and the same enemies, and nexl; to its agreement with the Holy Scriptures, its success is chiefly to be ascribed, under God, to the art cf printing, the revival of classical learning, and the illustrious patrons of science attached to its cause. In the representation of that glorious period, usually styled the Millennium, when religion shall universally prevail, it is mentioned as a conspicuous feature, that men shall run to and fro, and knoicledge shall be increased. That period will not be distinguished from the preceding, by men’s mind| being more torpid and inactive, but rather by th consecration of every power to the service of the Most High. It will be a period of remarkable illumination, during which the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun as that of seven days. Every useful talent will be cultivated, every heart subservient to the interests of man, be improved and perfected: learning will amass her stores, and genius emit hei* splendour;, but the former will be displayed without ostentation, and the latter shine with the softened elTulgence of humility and love.

2. We have hitherto spoken of the advantages of knowledge in general; we proceed to notice tl’.e ulility of religious knowledge m paitieular. Religion, ou aceouiil- of its intimate relation to a future state, is every man’s proper business, and should be his chief care. Of knowledge in general, there are branches which it would be preposterous in the bulk of mankind to attempt to acquire, because they have no immediate connection wilii their duliesj, and demand talents which nature has denied, or opportunities which providence has withheld. But with respect to the primary truths of religion, the case is different; they are of such daily use and necessity, that they form not hie materials of mental luxury, so properly, as the food of the mind. In improving the character, the influence of general knowledge is often feeble, and always indirect; of religious knowledyo the tendency to purify the heart is immediate, and forms its professed scope and design. This is life eternal to know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. To ascertain the character of the supreme Author of all things, to know, as far as we are capable of comprehending such a subject, what is his moral disposition, what the situation we stand in towards him, and the principles by which he conducts his administration, will be allowed by every considerate person to be of the highest consequence. Compari’d to this?, all other speculations or inquiries sink into insigniricaucc: because every event that can befal us. in in his hands, and by his sentence, our final condition must be fixed. To regard such an enquiry with indifference, is the mark not of a noble but of an abject mind, which immersed in sensuality, or amused with trifles, deems itself unworthy of eternal life. To be so absorbed in worldly pursuits, as to neglect future prospects, is a conduct that can plead no excuse, until it is ascertained beyond all doubt or contradiction, that there is no hereafter, and that nothing remains but that we eat and drink, for to-morroiv ice die. Even in that case, to forego the hope of immortality without a sigh; to be gay and sportive on the brink of destruction, in the very moment of relinquishing prospects, on which the wisest and best in every age have delighted to dwell, is the indication of a base and degenerate spirit. If existence be a good, the eternal loss of it must be a great evil: if it be an evil, reason suggests the propriety of enquiring why it is so, of investigating the maladies by which it is oppressed. Amidst the darkness and uncertainty which hang over our future condition. Revelation, by bringing life and immortality to light, affords the only relief. In the Bible alone we learn the real character of the Supreme Being, his holiness, justice, mercy, and truth, the moral condition of man, considered in his relation to Him is clearly pointed out, the doom of impenitent transgressors denounced and the method of obtaining mercy, through the t05

interposition of a divine Mediator, plainly revealed. There are two considerations which may suffice to evince the indispensa1)le necessity of scriptural knowledge.

I. The Scriptures contain an authentic discovery of the way of salvation They are a revelation of mercy to a lost world; a reply to that most interesting enquiry, what we mmt do to be saved. The distin2;uishin2; feature of the Grospel system, is the economy of redemption, or thp gracious provision the Supreme Being has thought fit to make for reconciling the world to himself, by the manifestation in human nature of his own Son. It is this which constitutes it the Gospel, by way of eminence, or the glad tidings concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ, on the right reception of which, orits rejection, turns our everlasting weal or woe. It is not from the character of God as our creator, it should be remembered, that the hope of the guilty can arise; the fullest developement of his essential perfections could afford no relief in this case, and therefore natural religion, were it capable of being carried to the utmost perfection, can never supersede the necessity of revealed. To inspire confidence, an express communication from heaven is necessary: since the introduction of sin has produced a peculiarity in our situation, and a perplexity in our prospects, which nothing but an express assurance of mercy can remove.

In v.’l)at manner, the blessed and only Potentate, may ihiuk fit to dispose of a race of apostates, is a question on which reason can suggest nothing feaiisfactory, nothing salutary: a question, in the solution of which, there being no data to proceed niion, wisdom and folly show alike, and every order rlinlellect is reduced to a level, for icho hath known ike viind of the Lord, or heing his counsellor hath taught him. It is a secret which, had he not been pleased to unfold it, must have for ever remained in the breast of the Deity. This secret, in infinite mer.,’y he has condescended to disclose: the silence, irot that which John witnessed in the Apocalypse, of bf’lf an hour, but that of ages, is broken, the e jrkness is past, and we behold, in the Gospel, the astonishing spectacle of God in Christ reconciling the icorld unto himself, not imputing to them their trespasses, and sending forth his ambassadors to intreat us in Christ’s stead to be reconciled to God. To that strange insensibility with respect to the concerns of a future world, which is at once the indication and consequence of the fall, must we ascribe the languid attention, with which this communication is received, instead of producing, as it ought, transports of gratitude and joy in every breast.

This, however we may be disposed to regard it, is unquestionably the grand peculiarity of the Gospel, the exclusive boast and treasure of the Scriptures, and most pmpliatieally the way of salvation, not only as it reveals the gracious intentions of God to a sinful world, but as it lays a solid foundation for the supernatural duties of faith and repentance. All the discoveries of the Gospel, bear a most intimate relation to the character and offices of the Saviour; from him they emanate, in him they centre; nor is any thing we learn from the Old or New Testament of saving tendency, further than as a part of the truth as it is in Jpsiis. The ne2;lect of considering revelation in this light, is a fruitful source of infidelity. Viewing it in no higher character than a republication of the law of nature, men are first led to doubt the importance, and next the truth of the discoveries it contains; an easy and natural transition, sin-ce the question of their importance, is so complicated with that of their truth, in the Scriptures themselves, that the most refined ingenuity cannot long keep them separate. It gives the kiioicledge of salvation by the remission of sins through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the wry of peace. While we contemplate it under this its true character, we view it in its just dimensions, .lud feel no inclination to extenuate the f.;rce (?f those representations which are expressive of its pre-eminent dignity. There is nothing will be allowed to come into comparison with it, nothing we shall ?iot be ready to sacrifice for a participation of its blessings, and the cxiehsiou of its iniiiience The veneration we shall fee! forliie Ii;b1e. as the depository of saving knowledge, will be totally distinct, not only from what we attach to any other book, but from that admiration its other properties inspire; and the variety and antiquity of its history, the light it affords in various researches, its inimitable touches of nature, together with the sublimity and beauty so copiously poured over its pages, will be deemed subsidiary ornaments, the embellishments of the casket, which contains the pearl of great price.

S. Scriptural knowledge is of inestimable value on account of its supplying an infallable rule of life. To the most untutored mind, the information it affords on this subject, is far more full and precise than the highest efforts of reason could attain. In the best moral precepts issuing from human wisdom, there is an incurable defect in that want of authority which robs them of their power over the conscience; they are obligatory no farther than their reason is perceived, a deduction of proofs is necessary, more or less intricate and uncertain, and even when clearest, it is still but the language of man, to man, respectable as sage advice, but wanting the force and authority of law. In a well-attested revelation, it is the Judge speaking from the tribunal, the supreme Legislator promulging and interpreting his own laws. With what force and conviction, do those Apostles and Prophets address us, whose miraculous powers attest them to be the servants of the Most High, the immediate organs of the Deity! As the morality of the Gospel is more pure and comprehensive than was ever inculcated before, so the consideration of its divine origination, invests it with an energy, of which every system not expressly founded upon it, is entirely devoid. We turn at our peril from him who speaketh to us from heaven.

Of an accountable creature, duty is the concern of every moment, since he is every moment pleasing or displeasing God. It is a universal element, mingling with every action, and qualifying every disposition and pursuit. The moral quality of conduct, as it serves both to ascertain and to form the character, has consequences in a future world, so certain and infallible, that it is represented in Scrip, ture, as a seed, no part of which is lost, for 2vhat- soever a man soweth, that also shall he reap. That rectitude which the inspired writers usually denominate holiness, is the health and beauty of the soul, capable of bestowing dignity in the absence of every other accomplishment, while the want of it leaves the possessor of the richest intellectual endowments a painted sepulchre. Hence results the indispensable iiGiessity, to every description of persons, of sound religious instruction, and of an intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures as its gfuuine source.

It must be confessed, from melanelioly experience, that a speculative acquaintance with the rules of duty, is too compatible with the violation of it« dictates, and that it is possible for the convictions of conscience to be habitually overpowered by the corrupt suggestions of appetite. To see distinctly the right way, and to pursue it, are not precisely the same thing. Still, nothing in the order of means promises so much success as the diligent inculcation of revealed truth. He who is acquainted with the terrors of the Lord, cannot live in the neglect of God and religion with present any more than with future impunity; the path of disobedience is obstructed, if not rendered impassible, and wherever h* turns his eyes he beholds the sword of divine justice stretched out to intercept his passage. Guilt will be appalled, conscience alarmed, and the fruits of unlavs ful gratification embittered to his taste.

It is surely desirable to place as many obstacles as possible in the path to ruin: to take care that the image of death shall meet the offender at every turn, that he shall not be able to persist without treading upon briars and scorpions, without forcing his way through obstructions more formidable than he can expect to meet with in a contrary course. If you can enlist the nobler part of his nature under the banners of virtue, set him at war with himself, and subject him to the necessity, should he persevere, of stifling and overcoming whatever is most characteristic of a reasonable creature, you hav« done what will pro-Sll

bably not be unproductive of advantage. If he is at the same time reminded, by his acquaintance with the word of God, of a better state of mind being attainable, a better destiny reserved, provided they are willing and obedient, for the children of men, there is room to hope that wearied to speak in the language of the prophet, in the greatness of his way, he will bethink himself of the true refuge, and implore the spirit of grace to aid his weakness, and subdue his corruptions. Sound religious instruction is a perpetual counterpoise to the force of depravity. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making zvise the simjile; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever; the judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

While we insist on the absolute necessity of an accpiaintance with the word of God, we are e(]ually convinced it is but an instrument, which like every other, requires a hand to wield it, and that important as it is in the order of means, the spirit of Christ only can make it ciTectual, which ought therefore to be earnestly and incessantly implored for that purpose. Ojjen mine eyes, saith the Psalmist, and I shall behold wonderful things out of thy law, AV’e trust it will be your care who have the conduct of the School we are recommending to the patronage of this audience, lo impress on these children a duep conviction of their radical corruption, and of the necessity of the agency of the spirit, to render the knowledge they acquire, practical and experimental. In the morning sow your seed in the evening withhold not your hand; but remember that neither he that soweth, nor he that water eth, is any thing, it is God that giveth the increase. Be not satisfied with making them read a lesson, or repeat a prayer. By every thing tender and solemn in religion, by a due admixture of the awful considerations drawn from the prospect of death and judgment, with others of a more pleasing nature, aim to fix serious impressions on their hearts. Aim to produce a religious concern, carefully watch its progress, and endeavour to conduct it to a prosperous issue. Lead them to the footstool of the Saviour, teach them to rely, as guilty creatures, on his merits alone, and to commit their eternal interests entirely into his hands. Let the salvation of these children be the object, to which every word of your instructions, every exertion of your authority, is directed. Despise the profane clamour, which would deter you from attempting to render them serious, from an apprehension of its making them melancholy, not doubting for a moment, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and that the path to true happiness lies through purity, humility, and devotion. Meditate the worth of souls: meditate deeply the lessons the Scriptures afford on their inconceivable value and eternal duration.

While the philosopher wearies himself with endless speculations on their physical properties and nature, while the politician only contemplates the social arrangements of mankind and the shifting forms of policy, fix ijour attention on the individual importance of man, as the creature of God, and a candidate for immortality. Let it be your highest ambition to train up these children for an unchanging condition of being. Spare no pains to recover them to the image of God; render familiar to their minds, in all its extent, the various branches of that hgl’iness, without which none shall see tJie Lord. Inculcate the obligation, and endeavour to inspire the love of that rectitude, that eternal rectitude, which T^^ with God before time began, was embodied in the person of his Son, and in its lower communications, will survive every sublunary change, emerge in the dissolution of all things, and be impressed, in refulgent characters, on the new heavens and the new earth, in which dwelleth righteousness. Pray often with them, and for them, and remind them of the inconceivable advantages attached to that exercise. Accustom them to a punctual and reverential attendance at the house of God: insist on their sanctiiication of the Sabbath, by such a disposal of time, as is suitable to a day of rest and devotion. Survey them with a vigilant and tender eye, checking every appearance of an evil and depraved disposition the moment it springs up, and encouraging ttie dawn of piety and virtue. By thus training them up in the way they should go yon may reason a]^y hop& that when old, they will not depart from it.

JWe congratulate the nation, on the extent of the XeJOFortgieinployeil, and g means set on foot, for the fmpvementyof tlnyer classes, and especi-, ally the ciiWriBn of the poor, in moral and religious knowledge whi(^ we hope much ;good will

parties concern, but to the hese are the lj|^iiest, or raents that can te adopted, pulace; ai 11 m tlielure, IB which s yramid, it is oiiymem it chiefly depends: the elaborate on^uit mthewilllbe a w retched compensation for solidity in the lower parts of the structure. These are not the times, in which it is safe for a nation to repose on the lap of ignorance. If there ever were a season, when public tranquillity was ensured by the absence of knowledge, that season is past. The convulsed state of the world will not permit unthinking stupidity to sleep, without being appalled by phantoms, and shaken by terrors, tu “which reason, which defines her objects and limits her apprehensions, by the reality of things, is a stranger. Every thing in the condition of mankind, announces the approach of some great crisis, for which nothing can prepare us but the diffusion of knowledge, probity, and the fear of the Lord. While the world i;^ impelled, with such violence, in opposite directions; while a spirit of s;iddiness and rajiolt is shed upon the nations, and the seeds of mutation are so thickly sown, the improvement of the mass of the people will he our grand security, in the neglect of which the politeness, the refinement, and the knowledge accumulated in the higher orders, weak and unprotected, will be exposed to imminent danger, and perish like a garland in the grasp of popular fury. Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation the fear of the Lord is his treasure.