Conclusion.

IF a person has not been fortunate enough to receive what the world calls a good education, if he yet possesses piety, he will be assisted by his heavenly Father where he is deficient; accordingly, we find that many of the disciples of our Lord were fishermen. We do not look among this description of persons for literature, and what the world calls learning; and yet, it cannot be denied, they exhibited talents of no mean cast, and were gifted, by their divine Master, with such abilities as fitted them for the work he intended they should do. "How mysterious are thy ways O God, who was ever disappointed that asked of thee in a right spirit?" Prosper thy work which is begun in the world, we beseech thee, O Lord; may thy gracious providence so encircle and protect the rising generation, that there may be no more complaining in our streets. Protect them, O Lord, from the many dangers that surround them, as soon as they draw their breath in this vale of tears, and put into the hearts of those who have the means, to consider the state of the infant poor, and to give them the assistance they need. Grant that thy blessed example may be followed by

many, for thou didst desire that children should come unto thee, and not be forbidden, and thou didst take them up in thine arms and bless them, declaring that of such is the kingdom of heaven. May thy creatures therefore not be ashamed to notice little children, but co-operate hand and heart with each other, and endeavour to teach them all good. May thy divine hand be seen in that glorious institution "The Bible Society," where men of various opinions are joined together, to forward the blessed work, which thou hast begun; so may they also join hand

and neart in endeavouring to rescue infant race from danger; that so these tender plants may be nurtured with the dew of thy divine blessing, and thus made fit subjects for thy heavenly kingdom, where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. May thy divine influence descend abundantly upon all those who have hitherto turned their attention to infant children; may they feel great pleasure in doing good; may they receive thy grace and protection abundantly, and when their days of probation are ended, may they find a place in thy heavenly mansions, and there glorify thee throughout the boundless ages of eternity. Amen.

APPENDIX.

Reply to Dr. Pole's strictures, and those of the Edinburgh Review, on the Author's mode of punishment, and the adopting of prayer and praise in Infant Schools.

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THE general utility of coporeal punishment, when it shall ho he found necessary, арpears to me to be justified both by Scripture and experience, and consequently, that teachers must either have recourse to it, or expel refractory children from their schools. Now, I ask, which is the best, to expel a child, and thereby deprive it of the benefit of instruction, or to have recourse to slight coporeal punishment? If children are to be allowed to do as they please, and the whole system is to consist in mere amusement, (as stated in the Edinburgh Review, for May, 1823, page 448), then I admit that coporeal punishment may be unnecessary; but I never understood, that the system was to consist in amusement merely, I had always thought, before I had read this document, that education and amusement were to be combined,

I beg leave, therefore, to notice some of the remarks which have been made against one or two particulars in my system. The punishment which I stated that I occasionally adopted, was, that when all other plans had failed, I gave the offender a slight tap with a small twig on the hand. Dr. Pole observes, that "no such instrument of correction should ever be admitted into these schools, that our own tempers, under much provocation, are not always to be trusted." But if this instrument is to be prohibited, and our own tempers not to be trusted, what is to prevent us from lifting up our hand, and giving a child a box on the ear; and is it not better to permit a lesser evil to prevent a greater? No one, surely, will assert, that a box on the ear is less objectionable than a slight pat on the hand.

I beg to add, that I have dispensed with the cage and green baize, not from a conviction of their barbarity or absurdity, but from a desire to prevent controversy, and to unite in endeavouring to form a system fit for general adoption. A slight tap on the hand appears to me to be far preferable to handcuffs and stocks, as used in the Bristol school. I am sure they never saw those things adopted at the parent institution. To prove that my system has not been marked by severity, I may remark, that, during the months of June

and July, 1823, there was upwards of fifty persons applied to have their children admitted, all of whom we were obliged to refuse, so that my remarks, on the ground of experience with this class of children, will go as far as those of my opponents. From the time I commenced my duty down to the present time, I have had eight hundred and sixty-six children pass through my hands, which may be seen by reference to the books that are kept for the purpose, and some of the children that have been sent to other schools, are now in the highest class, who can read and write as well as I can. We are told by the Edinburgh Review, that the best way to cure a quarrelsome and refractory child, is to take him on the knee and reason with him. What effect reasoning will have upon children, at the tender age they are admitted into an infant school, I will not pretend to determine, especially when they are in a passion. We know that few men will pay much attention to reason, when they are in a passion; still less can we expect it from young children. However, we are told, this is an infallible rule to go by, and that it is only necessary to be known, to become generally adopted. I must confess that punishing a child is the most disagreeable part of one's duty, and will be viewed as such by all persons with the least spark of humanity; and