School for the Education of Children of Boatmen.

for the education of the children of the boatmen ; in reference to whom the Committee of the Auxiliary Society observe:

"There are already more than 150 children, lately running about the wharfs in idleness and ignorance, but now making a progress in reading and writing, and especially in a knowledge of the Bible, which has been truly gratifying and surprising to all who have attended in order to examine them. It is but a just tribute to a humble and worthy individual, to state, that this school owed its commencement to the zeal and benevolence of a gentleman's. servant, who had frequently witnessed with regret the ignorance of these boatmen's children, and which induced him modestly to exert what influence he possessed with others in their behalf, in which he succeeded beyond his most ardent expectation. It should also be subjoined, as a fair addition to this sketch, that, besides certain small donations, this individual has tendered his name as a subscriber of not less than a guinea a year.”

In reference to this particular subject, it would be unjust to omit an allusion to the exemplary Committee of the Uxbridge Auxiliary Society, who adopted measures in the year 1812 for supplying this long-neglected class of men with the holy scriptures, by allotting a Bible of a large print to each of the barges navigating the canal between Brentford and Rickmansworth. In order more effectually to insure the object of this benefaction, they directed the Bible to be attached to the barge itself, by a printed label specifying its name, and inviting all persons employed therein to avail themselves of the privilege of reading it. It is earnestly hoped that those examples will be more generally followed by Local Bible Societies on the line of our numerous canals and navigable rivers; and that those who feel interested in the moral and spiritual welfare of this class of our labouring population, will co-operate in this work of mercy, anticipating His blessing, who hath said, "Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days,'

343

CHAP. VII.

LADIES' BIBLE SOCIETIES.

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SHE STRETCHETH OUT HER HAND TO THE POOR; YEA, SHE REACHETH FORTH HER HANDS TO THE NEEDY." PROVERBS, XXXI. 20.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

1. In no respect is the present age more peculiarly distinguished, than by the disposition so strongly and generally manifested by the Female Sex to co-operate in those extensive plans of mercy and benevolence, which have shed around it a lustre unknown to any former period. To those who are acquainted with the modern literature of our country, it must be evident that a great and important change has gradually taken place in the Female character;-that the intellectual powers have been more diligently studied and assiduously cultivated; the superiority of mental pursuits more fully appreciated; and that, without forfeiting a particle of that delicacy, for the sacrifice of which no attainment can compensate, Woman has assumed a higher title to our admiration and esteem. Nor is it less obvious, that this general improvement is owing, in no inconsiderable degree, to the admirable writings of many enlightened females, and especially to those of one venerable character, who may justly be entitled the Moralist of her Sex. But it is the practical application of the lessons thus acquired, which we are now called on to contemplate. The acquisition of knowledge, however extensive, loses half its value if it be not communicated to others; and that benevolence is of a very questionable nature, which can rest satisfied with a desire to be useful, but makes no sacrifice and no effort to accomplish the object of its wishes. Happily for the interests of our country and of humanity; happily for the children of poverty and wretchedness; the Women of Great Britain have afforded an illustration, unequalled in the annals of the world, of a truth which no sophistry can hereafter successfully assail,-that the cultivation of the mind

Improvement of the Female Character.

is not incompatible with the indulgence of the best feelings of the heart. We behold them assisting, with steady perseverance, in those various plans for the education of the poor, to which the public attention has been at length awakened: we see them ascertaining, by patient and painful investigation, the nature and extent of human suffering, in its most obscure abodes; and applying, with system and effect, those remedies which strike directly at its source: and we may follow their noiseless footsteps into the receptacles of guilt and miseryinto those gloomy mansions from which ours have too long shrunk back appalled-and mark the transformation which gentleness, wisdom, and religion, can produce within the walls of a dungeon. It is in the contemplation of scenes like these that Christianity appears in all her loveliness, because consistent with herself, by exhibiting the necessary and indispensable connexion of faith and works, of knowledge and obedience. Nor is there, in the records of Benevolence, a more striking evidence of this consistency, than that which now demands our consideration. Strange indeed would it have been, had the Females of Great Britain pursued the path of duty in any light but that which is reflected from the BIBLE; and stranger still, had they hesitated to co-operate in promoting its universal diffusion!

2. It cannot however be denied, that some real friends of the Bible Society have been disposed to question the propriety and expediency of Female exertion in this great and good work: and although their fears have almost invariably subsided, wherever Ladies' Societies have been established, the acknowledged importance of the subject, and the progressive extension of the system, not only throughout this kingdom, but in foreign countries, demand an investigation of the nature and extent of those doubts which have been suggested, and which, in many instances, have arisen from ignorance or misrepresentation of the plan adopted and pursued. To those who can perceive no impropriety in admitting individuals of the female sex to the participation of the duties and privileges of practical benevolence, this inquiry must appear altogether superfluous; since they cannot find, either in Scripture or common sense, an adequate reason for depriving one half of our species of the highest source of gratification of which it is susceptible-the manifestation of love to God, by "good-will to men." If it be right that they should assist in the education of the poor, it cannot be wrong that they should circulate that sacred volume, which is the only solid foundation of moral instruction, and by which they are enjoined to

Domestic duties not neglected.

train up children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." If it be proper that they should visit the habitations of indigence, for the purpose of alleviating the miseries of their fellow-creatures, it cannot be improper to refer the sons and daughters of affliction to the only source of consolation and support. If we behold with admiration the success of their persevering efforts, to reclaim the vicious, and reform the criminal, shall we withhold the tribute of praise, when the same zeal and prudence are displayed in circulating the everlasting Gospel of HIM who came "to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound?" If it be deemed consistent with the highest attributes of the Female character, to administer to the temporal necessities of the poor and destitute, but inconsistent to supply them with spiritual food, we admit a paradox which reason and Scripture alike reject,-that the evil is dependent on the value of the blessing conferred;-that it is right to dispense an inferior good, but improper to bestow the highest gift which one created being can communicate to another.

3. But it has been asked, whether Ladies could devote the requisite portion of time to these labours, without neglecting their domestic duties, relaxing in their attention to other benevolent establishments, or forfeiting some portion of that delicacy which is the peculiar ornament of the female character. These are questions which should be openly and candidly met, and satisfactorily answered; for no consideration can sanction a measure susceptible of the evils which such questions pre-suppose.

In reference to the first inquiry, it might well be asked, What are the purposes for which time and health are bestowed upon us? Is there no practical meaning in the Divine injunction, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself? Are sordid cares and pleasures to absorb every thought? or shall the current of benevolence be restrained within the narrow limits of a cold and heartless calculation, till it stagnate into selfishness?—But let the objection be fairly met: we have the best

• Should the reader perceive a similarity in some of these remarks to a passage in the Fourth Annual Report of the Henley Auxiliary Bible Society, it will be accounted for, by observing that the latter was drawn up by the author of the present work. He takes, however, this opportunity to disclaim an objectionable passage in the Appendix to that Report, which was penned by another hand; and cheerfully repeats the candid acknowledgment of the gentleman alluded to, that "no one more regrets the publication of the passage in question, than the person who unguardedly first committed it to paper."

Decorum and propriety strictly preserved.

evidence that of the Ladies themselves-that they gain time by this apparent sacrifice, in those habits of system, diligence, and attention, which they have acquired :-they have become economists of time, by perceiving more clearly its incalculable worth. To the fathers, the husbands, and the brothers of those who are thus occupied, the author would confidently appeal for a refutation of the objection involved in this question:-they are the only competent judges in such a case; and they are well aware that their family arrangements are not worse ordered and conducted, in consequence of the offering thus made on the altar of Christian charity.

The second inquiry finds its best reply in the present state of every district wherein a Bible Association is established. Never were the wants, the feelings, and the dispositions of the poor, so accurately known, nor their distresses so promptly and effectually relieved: and it should be remembered, that this investigation is made, and this relief extended, principally, by the active members of those institutions. As this part of the subject will be more fully considered in Sect. VI. of this chapter, it may be sufficient at present to observe, that Bible Associations have not only given a stimulus to local feeling, and thereby induced the establishment of philanthropic societies, but have also fed the flame which they were made the instruments of kindling.

With respect to the last question, it might, indeed, have some ground for support, if the public proceedings of these institutions devolved on females. But this is not the case: they are conducted, exclusively, by the gentlemen of the Auxiliary or Branch Committee with which the Associations are respectively connected; and at the general meetings of the latter, those on whom the previous labour had fallen are unknown and undistinguished. Is it then in the weekly visits to the habitations of the poor that we are to trace the elements of indecorum? If so, it must be wrong to visit them for any purpose; and benevolence is monopolized by one sex, to the total exclusion of the other. But where are the grounds for this fear, or the solitary fact by which it is supported? Would those who profess to entertain it, leave the industrious classes of society a prey to artful and designing men; and suffer the poison of infidelity to be infused or circulate through the veins of our country, without applying the antidote which God has provided, in that manner which the experience of nine years has confessedly proved to be the most efficient? If such objectors were influenced by right motives, and would only approach a little nearer, and examine