are precisely similar to the two we have extracted from; and several, if they do not excel them in the placid beauty of their style, in the richness of their imagery, in the admirable propriety with which they adhere to Syrian manners, at least are equal in these high qualities, and present them under new aspects. We would select from among them for its force of painting, and for the strange beauty of its subject," The Wilderness Gladdened." It is the healing of the lepers by prayer. What a country is England! where a young lady may put forth a book like this-quietly, modestly, and without the apparent consciousness of doing any extraordinary act, and what is more, where talent and knowledge are so universal and so generally reckoned upon, that others see as little to be surprised at in the circumstance, and receive the boon with the indifference of an ordinary courtesy. London. ART. VII.-Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, instituted ALL our readers are doubtless aware that in the year 1827, a Society was instituted for the "Diffusion of Useful Knowledge among the People." "The object of the Society," says their prospectus, "is strictly limited to what its title imports, namely the imparting useful information to all classes of the community, particularly to such as are unable to avail themselves of experienced teachers or may prefer learning by themselves." Again in the same prospectus, it is stated that "it is the object of this Society to aid the progress of those branches of general knowledge only, which can be diffused among all classes of the community." From these passages, and from the general tenor of the Society's statements, as well as from the proposed cheapness of their publications, the public were led to believe, that the great object of the Society's endeavours, would be, to instruct those who are, for distinction's sake, denominated the people. The Society has in many cases since asserted, that such was really their chief aim; and in the Address of their Committee on the 20th of May 1830, the question is discussed, "whether the matter of several of these treatises (viz. those published by the Society) may still be thought by some above the level of that numerous class of readers whose information the Committee have especially in view." To effect this their purpose, the Society proposed to publish periodically certain treatises, "under the direction and with the sanction of a superintending Committee." The various publications of the Society now are divided into the following classes, 1. Treatises of Useful Knowledge. 2. Those that are termed the Farmer's Series. 3. The Library of Entertaining Knowledge. 4. Maps. 5. Almanacks. 6. Tables relating to Benefit Societies. 7. Journal of Education. 8. Working Man's Companion. Such was the end proposed by the Society (and none could be more important) and such was the sort of machinery which they employed to attain that end. The object of the present article is, to learn the extent of their success in the execution of the plan thus proposed. When endeavouring to educate a man or set of men, the first inquiry made by a wise teacher is, what are the circumstances on which the welfare of the given individual or individuals will eventually be mainly dependent; what, in other words, will probably be their situation in life and what circumstance chiefly influence the happiness of that situation. By this means he learns the knowledge which is most essential to these persons -he learns in fact the end which as a teacher he ought to have in view, what knowledge he ought to endeavour to impart. The next inquiry is as to the means of imparting it; what mode is most efficient to the attainment of his end. In order that he may be enabled properly to frame these means, he must inquire into the actual state of the individual to be taught he must discover the degree of his knowledge, his frame of mind, his feelings, his prejudices, his habits, his wants; in short hist whole situation moral, physical, and intellectual, should to the greatest possible extent, be learned by him about to undertake the task of instruction, otherwise the wrong sort of knowledge will be conceived to be necessary, and the wrong means taken to impart it. It is evident, for example, that the instruction requisite for a savage must be of a description totally different from that which is needed by an ignorant member of a civilized community. To reclaim a man from the wild life of the forest, to teach him the benefits of union into a social body, is not the same task, as raising from the lethargy of his ignorance the degraded member of a society already formed, who knows full well the power of the law-who from habit yields it obedience-who knows no other state, than that of men united together into a political society; and who is ignorant of, and sighs not for, the precarious yet exquisite delights of a roaming, independent savage. Again, to enlighten the embruted labourer of a civilized community requires far different means and matter of instruction from those necessarily called for in imparting knowledge to him whose mind has already been trained and accustomed to intellectual labour; who has learned the main circumstances on which his welfare depends, and who pants after further knowledge as the certain means of bettering his condition. Moreover a wise teacher, having learned the probable station and actual condition of the individual to be taught, will be greatly influenced in his manner of instruction, by the fact of that individual being an adult or a child: for although, whether he be a man or a child, the first great object must be the same, viz. to create in him a desire for instruction, yet there is a grand difference between the child and the man as respects the mode to be employed in creating such a desire. The child requires for the most part amusement and excitement, in order that he be rendered laborious, docile, and willing; but a man must be made to feel, that knowledge will have an immediate influence on his well-being. The amusing tales, the varied picture of the fortunes of mankind, as depicted in the romances called histories, which delight a child's imagination, and which by degrees lure him from one step to another, silently creating a habit of study, and thus eventually a desire to be instructed -these things would be rejected by the man, intent on his own immediate wants, pressed by misfortunes, and seeking for relief. That which interests him, that which will alone be listened to by him, is that which promises him relief. When "The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge" first entered upon its labours, what was the situation of " those numerous classes of the population whose information the Committee had especially in view?" What may be supposed to have been the results of an inquiry into their situation conducted upon the principles above indicated? What, in other words, was their position in society; what the circumstances on which their welfare chiefly depended, what of these could be influenced by education? What, in fact, was the matter of instruction which they first needed? What besides was the situation of the people, physical, intellectual and moral-In other words what instruction could they, should they have received. The following we believe to be a correct though general description of the mental, moral, and physical, state of the people of this country at that period,-a mental and moral state dependent chiefly on the physical circumstances by which they were surrounded. The knowledge which they required will be learned, first from a consideration of the situation which they held in society, the part which they were called upon to perform, and secondly from the description of the moral and intellectual condition which immediately follows. The means of instructing people so situated, will be the second and main practical matter of inquiry. The community at large may be divided, as regards education, into two distinct classes, the one being composed of persons the main business of whose youth, has been the receiving instruction; the second being composed of those with whom the receiving of instruction has been during youth a matter of secondary if any consideration. With the moral and intellectual state of the first class, our present purpose has no concern: our business now is with that far more numerous section who, from deficiency in means, that is in money-means, have been imperfectly educated. The members of this class, though connected by the one circumstance of being imperfectly educated, are still exceedingly dissimilar on all the points which we are now endeavouring to investigate. The small shopkeeper or the skilled mechanic, is a being widely distinguished from the husbandman. He is a person having wants of a higher description, his mind though comparatively uninstructed is of a much more elevated order, than that of the poor agricultural hind;—and even when pressed by want, and broken down by misery, from the mere fact of living in a crowded city, the mechanic is always, and must always, be as compared with the agricultural labourer in the same want and misery, to a high degree intelligent and sagacious. The character of his mind is one usually well fitted to receive instruction, while that of the labourer is for the most part stubborn and intractable. Not only is the sum of knowledge, then, diferent in these two classes of men, but so also is their whole mental condition. The one set are eager after instruction and value it highly, the others are careless respecting it, because ignorant of its importance. The persons usually termed operatives added to the various tradesmen living in town, may be considered as completely bisecting the portion of the population of whom we are now speaking, and as forming a distinct class, while the agricultural labourers may be viewed as the remaining section, and by their habits, by their degree of knowledge, their physical condition, also forming a distinct class. When viewing the situation of these two sections of the population, it must be evident, that however different may be their mental and moral culture, the welfare of their condition is dependent mainly on the same set of circumstances-that their own influence over those circumstances is nearly, if not precisely, the same, and that, consequently, the matter of instruction that ought to be received by them is identical, however different should be the manner in which it should be conveyed. All these persons live by the wages of labour; and in proportion to the amount of these wages, is the happiness they are enabled to enjoy. On this single circumstance their whole condition depends; an error on this matter is a fatal error, fraught with woe and misery not only to themselves, but also to the whole community. The first grand subject, then, on which the labouring population ought to be instructed, is, what are the circumstances on which the rate of wages depends. The knowledge of these circumstances must precede anything like comfort in their condition, and consequently must precede the acquirement of any knowledge that has not an immediate and palpable application to obtaining the means of subsistence. It may safely be asserted, that considering the situation of the labouring classes, with a desire to discover the knowledge most important to them, that which ought most immediately to be conveyed, that most fertile in beneficial consequences, is a knowledge of the various circumstances on which the rate of wages depends; how and to what extent these are under their own control; how intimately they are connected with their own happiness, and that of all whom they hold dear. This knowledge is, and must be, the foundation-stone of all others; without it the labourer must be poor, must be miserable, must be degraded. If he have it not, all attempts to better his condition (all attempts not based upon imparting this instruction) must be futile. The subject matter of instruction here proposed embraces a wide field. In it are included the importance of the existence of property, and by necessary implication, of government, and of rules of morality. The necessary obedience to law, the necessary practice of virtuous conduct, of frugality, kindness, and beneficence. In short, to this one subject, many, if not most of all the general portions of the moral sciences are closely allied. When the labouring population have been made to comprehend what influence is exercised by wages over their own happiness, when they have learned in how much that rate depends on their own conduct, in how much on that of other men; when by this means (the only effectual means) they are made to see the necessity of a strict adherence to morality and law, and are consequently made moral, and obedient, and easy in their condition, then is the time when we may hope to succeed in conveying a knowledge of those physical sciences, on which also their welfare, as well as that of the community at large, is so greatly dependent. Let no one, however, suppose it to be here asserted that the various classes of knowledge above mentioned may not go hand in hand, and in great measure be imparted at |