As to the doctrines themselves thus revealed by the Spirit, first to the Apostles, that they might proclaim them with an authority which is Divine, and still to us, as men "go on from the principles of the doctrine of Christ to perfection, and as men advance in the unity of the faith and of the full knowledge (ETIуvúσews) of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ," we can but briefly describe them as consisting of all those truths which the Apostles evolve in their writings out of the Divinity of the Son of man, and their applications of those truths to the conduct and life of men; the doctrines of justification and sanctification, the doctrines of atonement and propitiation, the grace of the sacraments as means of union with a living Christ, the Church as the body of Christ and the fulness of Him who fills all in all; the nature, in fact, of the life of God in man, in its origin, its manifestation, its growth, its end. And one remark may be added. Each of the two classes of truth, the rudimentary and the higher, is grouped around a sacrament as its centre. 'As the ordinance of baptism," says one whom we have lately quoted, "was that round which the first principles of Christian doctrine and discipline were to be gathered, so would the other sacrament of the gospel be the central point, not only of the practical life of the Christian, but also of all those mysteries of godliness," the wisdom of them that are perfect, "which are necessary for the growth and the maturity of the Christian life."

66

And now it will be evident what faculty of our nature is chiefly engaged in this acquisition of the higher knowledge. The Holy Spirit's seat is in the reason of man, which He enlightens, so that it shall both intuitively see the deeps of truth itself, and shall throw light on the inferential processes of the understanding as it reduces the truths which reason gives it into its own forms. Of such enlightenment of the reason as enables us to see the deep things of God by intuition St. John's mind is the highest example, and St. Paul not less signally

illustrates the inferential and logical processes of the understanding, when it shines with the light of reason, which is illuminated by the Spirit of God.

These explanatory statements are sufficient, we hope, to show what is involved in our principles, and now we are in a position. to apply these principles to the methods which are used among ourselves in educating unbelievers.

LETTER VII.

The system generally adopted in Mission Schools in India-To which there are exceptions-The system criticized in no hostile spirit-Mission Schools a characteristic of modern Missions-Education used as the chief instrument for conversion-The efforts of Missionaries to educate have been followed by Government-Spread of general intelligence, of which the Church may avail herself-Might not Missionary Societies now reserve their funds and their agents for the cultivation of their converts? The existing system of Mission Schools described—Their general inefficiency in gaining converts-Contrast between the principles of such schools and the system of our Lord and His Apostles, and of the early Church-Statement of five principles deduced from the argument.

HAVING ascertained, as we believe, the principles which are applicable to the question before us, we are now to apply them, and to state what we regard as mistaken and erroneous in the educational system of Mission schools, as carried on in India. That system, of course, has its varieties, and we do not mean to imply that every school is chargeable with the supposed faults which we are to point out, but there is a general system so widely spread that we may characterize it as the ordinary system, followed in missions both of the Church and of bodies external to us; and it is to this ordinary system that our criticisms are addressed. Our criticisms, as we have already stated, are offered in a friendly spirit, and with a single desire to promote that object which missionaries in general have at heart. Our sole object is to help, in however small a way, that great work which now is moving as if with wheels which drag heavily through the impediments which hinder their

progress. If we can drop a little oil upon the axles, we shall be satisfied; and if, in trying to do so, we should ourselves make mistakes, and suggest things which will not tend to remove the impediments, we shall not be unwilling to admit our errors, or quarrel with the sound reasoning which points them out.

Mission schools, then, are the chief characteristic of what we may call Protestant Missions. Education during this century has been a prominent feature in the work of all religious associations in Great Britain; and education has been used in India as the chief instrument of conversion. As, too, Scotland has been distinguished ever since the Reformation for the efforts which the Kirk has made to spread education among the poorer classes, so in India Scottish Missions have espoused the cause of education among the heathen with especial earnestness, and, under the influence of men so deservedly esteemed as Dr. Duff and Dr. Wilson, have taken a very decided lead in this kind of work. How far this work has been a good one we cannot now stop to consider, we can only now give it as our own opinion that in being so forward in educating the masses of the people, missions have inaugurated a movement which, by producing general intelligence, has laid the foundation which the Church of Christ asks for in order that it may build up its own edifice. The kingdom of God is a reasonable kingdom, and not only does not fear true intelligence, but at once creates it and flourishes where it is found. Now however, when the lead of the missions has been followed by Government, and schools are spreading rapidly into every town and village, the time, we think, has come when the missionary bodies may do well to reserve both their funds and their men for the cultivation of their converts, and to spend their chief energies on the sanctification of the intelligence which is being otherwise diffused.

But, however this may be, the system of Mission schools may be thus described. Christians and unbelievers are mixed

together, no difference being made between them.

The school is opened with prayer through Christ to God as a Father, in which Christians and unbelievers, at least outwardly, take a common part: religious lessons are given founded on Holy Scripture, during which Christians and unbelievers stand according to their places in the class, and are taught in all respects together. What and how far they read is a matter dependent only on their age and intelligence; if they have intelligence to follow his reasoning, the Epistles of St. Paul, treating as they do the profounder mysteries of religion and the special privileges of a Christian, are studied and analysed, hymns and Christian poetry, expressing the devouter thoughts and even the rapturous emotions of a true believer, are learnt, and even sung, by young persons who pass from this atmosphere of piety to homes in which the Divinity of the Son of God is rejected with Mahomedan abhorrence, and the abominations of idolatry scatter their pestilential influence on all around. We have heard "Oh that will be joyful" sung in the vernacular, and the first chapter of St. John's Gospel read, by elderly girls, most of whom were married already to heathen husbands, and of whom it was absolutely certain that their life would be spent amid idolatrous customs and observances, without a chance of deliverance from them, even if deliverance was desired. And all this is compulsory. In all but an insignificant minority of the pupils there is an active enmity to Christian truth, an enmity derived from inherited corruption, and fostered by the stimulating influences of false beliefs and moral pollutions; but the school is sought for the secular advantages which it provides at a cheap rate, and the religious instruction is tolerated, because neither parents nor children have any fear of its effects, and because the missionary, as a good man, is kind and zealous for the instruction of the children, and teaches so well that English tongue which is the high road to public and other high employment. As to the view taken by the promoters of the schools, they seem to think