ontents of the ocean;--nay, between a grain of sand and the whole
physical universe. The truth of this observation, when viewed in the
abstract, is never questioned; and yet the educational principles which
it naturally suggests are too often jostled aside, and practically
neglected. It plainly teaches us, that the young ought to be made aware
of the comparative nothingness of temporal and sensual objects, when
placed in competition with those which refer to their souls and
eternity; and that the subjects which are to be taught them in the
school, should tend to produce these feelings.--But this is not always
the case; and even when the subjects are in themselves unobjectionable,
the methods taken for teaching them frequently neutralize their effects.
The national evils which have arisen from this neglect are extensive and
lamentable, consisting in an almost exclusive attention among all
classes to temporal matters, and to sensual gratifications. These
characteristic, features in our people may all be traced, from their
exhibition in general society, to the want of a thorough knowledge of
those truths which tend so powerfully to deaden the influence of the
things of sense and time, and to moderate our pursuit after them. It is
in a particular manner at this point that the reckless cupidity, and
the debased and short-sighted selfishness of the lower classes, ought to
be met and removed, by the enlightened and kindly instructions of more
capacious minds. Society, as at present constituted, acts as if there
were no futurity. Time is the eternity of thousands; and therefore they
think only of time. Had they, as rational creatures, but a correct
view,--however faint,--of their destination in eternity, their conduct
and pursuits would very soon be changed, and their selected enjoyments
would become, not only more rational, but much more exquisite. Education
is the instrument by which alone this can be effected, whether in the
church or in the school; and to this point, both parents and children
should be assiduously directed for their own sakes, and for the sake of
the community.

Hitherto there has in education been too much of the mere shadow of
rational knowledge, without the substance; and the consequence has been,
that many parents in the lower classes have never been able to perceive
their _own_ best interests, and therefore it is that their children by
them have been equally neglected. Nor is this only a partial evil, o