enterprise of which the object is the acquisition of glory into which an Englishman does not rush headlong? Mungo Park plunges into the waste interior deserts of Africa: undeterred by the misfortunes attending his first journey, he boldly undertakes a second, and perishes in the attempt! Captain Cochrane returns on foot from Kamtschtka to St. Petersburgh, a space of six thousand miles: he afterwards goes to America, crosses the Cordilleras, and dies there. John Howard, the justly-immortalized philanthropist, who visited all the cities of Europe, not to survey sumptuous palaces or stately temples not to gratify a thirst for intellectual knowledge by examining the ruins of Egypt, Greece, and Rome-not to collect medals of antiquity or to collate manuscripts, but to dive into the sad depths of dungeons; to plunge into the infection of hospitals; to remember the forgotten; to attend to the neglected; to befriend the friendless; and to compare, collate, and alleviate, as far as was in his power, the distresses of all men of every country. Having at length, prompted by humanity, visited one in

fected with a malignant fever, he was seized with the mortal malady, and fell a victim to his Christian benevolence. And how many perils did Sir Robert Wilson, and a host of other Englishmen, at different times and in different places, heroically encounter in behalf of the miserable and the oppressed!

What strikes one most forcibly in English education is the forbearance and vigilance which parents exercise towards their children; their carefulness to avoid exciting their angry feelings, and the corporal exercises by which they endeavour to compensate the loss of health and strength consequent on mental pursuits. The kindness of the father towards his offspring commences from their earliest age, and never ceases. This kindness institutes the right of reciprocity in favour of the father. An opprobrious expression never escapes the lips of the parent towards his child: his son's honour is to arrive immaculate in society, and, when it has so arrived, it must be boldly defended.

In the colleges youths are always treated as equals by their superiors; and are es

teemed and treated as men. The fruit of this most reasonable etiquette is, that the British youth becomes a man at an earlier age than the youth of any other country. The English, as a nation, are not brilliant wits, nor remarkable for great facetiousness they are, however, always sensible, and seldom indulge in trifling conversation. Some say the English have no blood in their veins, on account of their being habitually so cool; but, had they no blood in their veins when they shed it so freely in the civil wars of the "White and Red Roses?"-when, in the reign of Mary, they persecuted, even to death itself, so many thousands of their fellow-countrymen on account of their theological disputations?—or, when, during the wars between Charles I. and his Parliament, they continued the work of death for many years, by proscriptions, executions, and battles? If the English of our times be more tranquil and cool, it is because they have learned wisdom from those ancient extravagancies; and, perhaps, too, it may be truthfully asserted, that there is now no immediate occasion for excitement.

Satire and ridicule, which only serve to exasperate the angry passions of the young, are very rarely admitted into the family circle. A grave resentment expressed in decorous language is the proper weapon of an English gentleman.

The gymnasia of the English almost entirely subserves useful purposes. Foxhunting, horse-racing, cricket, sliding and skating on the ice, are all exercises that require strength, dexterity, velocity, and intrepidity, and which keep almost the whole population in perpetual motion. The greatest aim of all these exercises is to steel the human frame. No idea of danger can daunt the British lad. When the Spartans of old exposed their infirm children in the cave at the foot of Mount Taygetus, they were wont to say, "It is better that a boy should perish than live to be a useless citizen and a burden to the community." The English seem to judge with equal wisdom, when they permit their sons to expose themselves to almost inevitable danger on the half-frozen river-that it is preferable to run the risk of losing those so precious to them by a calamitous

accident, rather than to behold them grow up pusillanimous and timid characters. Thus, neither énervated by over-indulgence, nor discouraged by threats, the youth of Great Britain are free and nobleminded. In a word, if the education of the upper and middle classes of this country be not superior, it is, at least, equal to that of any other civilized nation. This cannot be said, however, of the lower orders. Since the time of Locke, Lancaster, Bell, and many other learned men have employed their talents in laborious efforts to ameliorate the great mass; but, alas! notwithstanding all their labours, the lower class still live in the most degrading ignorance. How, in fact, can the children of the poor be fitting recipients of intellectual knowledge if they be brought up in physical filth-if they scarcely ever see the vivifying light of the sun-if they always breathe the impure air of the wretched haunts of their squalid poverty?

The two factions into which England is divided on this all-important subject unfortunately prove an obstacle to the adoption of a truly reasonable and efficacious