THE BIBLE AS A SCHOOL BOOK.

Before I state my arguments in favor of teaching children to read by means of the Bible, I shall assume the five following propositions:

I. That Christianity is the only true and perfect religion, and that in proportion as mankind adopt its principles, and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy.

II. That a better knowledge of this religion is to be acquired by reading the Bible than in any other way.

III. That the Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world. IV. That knowledge is most durable, and religious instruction most useful, when imparted in early life.

V. That the Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life.

My arguments in favor of the use of the Bible as a school book are founded, first, in the constitution of the human mind. The memory is the first faculty which opens in the minds of children. Of how much consequence, then, must it be, to impress it with the great truths of Christianity before it is preoccupied with less interesting subjects! There is also a peculiar aptitude in the minds of children for religious knowledge. I have constantly found them, in the first six or seven years of their lives, more inquisitive upon religious subjects than upon any others; and an ingenious instructor of youth has informed me that he has found young children more capable of receiving just ideas upon the most difficult tenets of religion than upon the most simple branches of human knowledge.

There is a wonderful property in the memory which enables it, in old age, to recover the knowledge it had acquired in early life, after it had been apparently forgotten for forty or fifty years. Of how much consequence, then, must it be, to fill the mind with that species of knowledge, in childhood and youth, which, when recalled in the decline of life, will support the soul under the infirmities of age, and smooth the avenues of approaching death! The Bible is the only book which is capable of affording this support to old age; and it is for this reason that we find it resorted to with so much diligence and pleasure by such old people as have read it in early life. I can recollect many instances of this kind, in persons who discovered no attachment to the Bible in the meridian of their

lives, who have, notwithstanding, spent the evening of them in reading no other book.

My second argument in favor of the use of the Bible in schools, is founded upon an implied command of God, and upon the practice of several of the wisest nations of the world. In the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, we find the following words, which are directly to my purpose: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them. when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." ** I have heard it proposed that a portion of the Bible should be read every day by the master, as a means of instructing children in it. But this is a poor substitute for obliging children to read it as a school book; for, by this means, we insensibly engrave, as it were, its contents upon their minds ; and it has been remarked that children, instructed in this way in the Scriptures, seldom forget any part of them. They have the same advantage over those persons who have only heard the Scriptures read by a master, that a man who has worked with the tools of a mechanical employment for several years, has over the man who has only stood a few hours in the workshop, and seen the same business carried on by other people.

We hear much of the persons educated in free schools in England turning out well in the various walks of life. I have inquired into the cause of it, and have satisfied myself that it is wholly to be ascribed to the general use of the Bible in those schools.

I think I am not too sanguine in believing that education, conducted in this manner, would, in the course of two generations, eradicate infidelity from among us, and render civil government scarcely necessary in our country.

In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes, and take so little pains to prevent them. We profess to be republicans, and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible; for this divine. Book, above all others, favors that equality among mankind, that respect for just laws, and all those sober and frugal virtues which constitute the soul of republicanism.

ALEXANDER WILSON, 1766-1813.

Ir one's nationality is to be determined by the country where he was chiefly educated, by the soil which proved kindred to his genius, by the scenes which called forth his powers, and by the field where he won his fame, then is Alexander Wilson, though of foreign origin, truly an American.

He was born in Paisley, Scotland, on the 6th of July, 1766, of humble parents, who could afford to him but the mere rudiments of an education, and at the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to a weaver, with whom he worked till he was eighteen. He early evinced a taste for literature, spending all his leisure time in reading and study, and from his youth to the day of his death, presents an eminent instance of the successful pursuit of knowledge under difficulties. The genius of Burns, who was but six years older, had just burst upon his countrymen, and the spirit of emulation so fired the breast of Wilson, that he soon put forth a volume entitled "Poems, Humorous, Satirical, and Serious." But it was not received with much favor, and certainly "put no money in his purse," so that he returned to his trade as a more sure means of gaining a livelihood. In a few years, he became disgusted with it, and resolved to try to better his fortune in the United States. Working hard and living very economically, he soon saved enough to pay for his passage, and sailing in a vessel from Belfast, he arrived at New Castle, Delaware, on the 14th of July, 1794, but without a shilling in his pocket. Shouldering his fowling-piece, he set forward on foot towards Philadelphia, and on his way shot a woodpecker. This little incident was doubtless the germ of his future fame, for the peculiar habits and rich plumage of this native of our forests made a deep impression upon his mind, and led him by degrees to that train of thought and those plans of action which resulted in placing him at the head of American ornithologists.

At Philadelphia, he at first worked at his old trade; but as soon as he became acquainted with the people and their manners, and had made a little money, he resolved to devote himself to the pursuits of literature. To this end he taught a school at Milestown, about six miles from Philadelphia, where he remained several years, studying diligently, and adding something to the income from his school by surveying land for the farmers in the neighborhood. He then travelled into the Genesee country in New York to see some friends, and on his return accepted the invitation to become the head teacher of Union

School, in the township of Kingsessing, a short distance from Gray's Ferry, on the Schuylkill, on the banks of which river Audubon likewise caught his inspiration. Here he contracted an affectionate intimacy with the venerable naturalist, William Bartram, whose magnificent botanic garden was in the vicinity of the school-house.

From this time (about 1803) must be dated the beginning of his history as an ornithologist. Seeing the imperfections of books on the subject of the birds of our country, how imperfectly and often falsely they were represented in drawings, he determined to devote himself exclusively to the pursuits of a naturalist, with a glimmering hope of giving to the world a complete work on American Ornithology. Still, how could he accomplish an undertaking so vast, ignorant as he was of drawing, and other requisite branches of knowledge? But to an enthusiastic and determined spirit nothing seems impossible. He at once devoted himself to the study of drawing and engraving, and soon made very commendable progress in those arts. In October, 1804, he set out on foot for the Falls of Niagara, making everything on his journey subsidiary to his favorite pursuit. On his return, he published an account of his journey in the "Port Folio," in a poem called "The Foresters," and continued in his vocation as a teacher, devoting all his spare time, as before, to his favorite science. By the spring of 1805, he had completed the drawings of twenty-eight birds, mostly residents of Pennsylvania, and at the close of the next year entered into an engagement with Mr. Samuel F. Bradford, a publisher in Philadelphia, to publish his AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY, the first volume of which was given to the world in September, 1808. Immediately he set off on a tour to the Eastern States to exhibit his work, procure subscribers, and at the same time add to his stock of ornithological science. But the price of the work completed (one hundred and twenty dollars) was so far beyond anything the public had been accustomed to, that he did not meet with the encouragement he hoped. Still he was not disheartened. He returned home, and then made an extensive tour through the Southern States, of the state of things in which he gives a very amusing, though a very sad picture. He returned the next year, and in January, 1810, appeared the second volume of the ORNITHOLOGY. He then set out on a Western tour, going to Pittsburgh, and then down the Ohio, and through Kentucky, Tennessee, &c., to New Orleans, whence he embarked for New York, and arrived at Philadelphia on the 2d of August, 1811. He then took another tour through the Northern and Eastern States, and on his return, made unceasing efforts to complete his great work. As soon as the seventh volume had left the press, he went to Great Egg Har

bor to collect materials for the eighth. He took cold from exposure; dysentery ensued, and he died on the 23d of August, 1813.

In his personal appearance, Wilson was tall and handsome; rather slender than athletic in form. His countenance was expressive and thoughtful, his eye powerful and intelligent, and his conversation remarkable for quickness and originality. He was warm-hearted and generous in his affections, and through life displayed a constant attachment to his friends, even after many years of separation.

Few examples can be found in literary history equal to that of Wilson. Though fully aware of the difficulty of the enterprise in which he engaged, his heart never for a moment failed him, and his success was complete, for his work has secured him immortal honor.'

PLEASURES IN CONTEMPLATING NATURE.

That lovely season is now approaching when the garden, woods, and fields will again display their foliage and flowers. Every day we may expect strangers, flocking from the South, to fill our woods with harmony. The pencil of nature is now at work, and outlines, tints, and gradations of lights and shades that baffle all description will soon be spread before us by that great master, our most benevolent Friend and Father. Let us cheerfully partake in the feast he is preparing for all our senses. Let us survey those millions of green strangers just peeping into day, as so many happy messengers come to proclaim the power and the munificence of the Creator. I confess that I was always an enthusiast in my admiration of the rural scenery of nature; but, since your example and encouragement have set me to attempt to imitate her productions, I see new beauties in every bird, plant, and flower I contemplate; and find my ideas of the incomprehensible First Cause still more exalted, the more minutely I examine His works. I sometimes smile to think that while others are immersed in deep schemes of speculation and aggrandizement, in building towns and purchasing plantations, I am entranced in contemplation over the plumage of a lark, or gazing, like a despairing lover, on the lineaments of an owl. While others are hoarding up their bags of money, without the power of enjoying it, I am collecting, without injuring my conscience, or wounding

Read Sketch of his Life, by George Ord; Life, by Wm. B. O. Peabody, in Sparke's "American Biography;" and an article in the 8th vol. of the "American Quarterly Review."