don't you make it so? The parson afterwards spoke to the 'squire, and they joined together, and put up a stone over his grave, with this inscription:-Here lies the body of Jonas Hobson, formerly of this parish, now a saint in heaven. He was a pious man, and set a good example to a wicked place. You, who did not follow his example during his life, follow it now, after his death, and the Lord will yet be merciful unto you. His mortal life began July 3, 1705. His immortal life, Jan. 19, 1779.

3d May, 1805.

THE

HE POOR MAN, by sin and wickedness, will make poverty insupportable,

FOR,

LYING makes him despised:

DRUNKENNESS ruins himself, and his family:

IDLENESS produces Beggary:

DISCONTENT is Unhappiness:

SWEARING is serving the Devil without wages: STEALING leads to the Gallows:

AND,

What is worse than all, wICKEDNESS, which makes him unhappy in THIS world, carries him into everlasting misery in the NEXT.

On the other hand, by religion in low circumstances, he may become as happy, as this world can make him:

FOR

HONESTY gains him a character:
TRUTH makes his word respected:
SOBRIETY preserves his health:

KIND BEHAVIOUR makes his home pleasant:
CLEANLINESS makes it comfortable:

INDUSTRY drives out want:

CONTENTMENT is real happiness:

FAITH in CHRIST and HOLY PRAYERS make holy lives:

He generally sees his CHILDREN FOLLOW HIS

EXAMPLE:

A GOOD CONSCIENCE gives him peace at last:

AND

EVERLASTING HAPPINESS crowns all.

No. IX.

On the Effects of the legal Establishment of Parochial Schools in Scotland. By James Currie, M. D.

A SLIGHT acquaintance with the peasantry of Scotland, will serve to convince an unprejudiced observer, that they possess a degree of intelligence not generally found among the same class of men in the other countries of Europe. In the very humblest condition of the Scottish peasants, every one can read, and most persons are more or less skilled in writing and arithmetic; and, under the disguise of their uncouth appearance, and of their peculiar manners and dialect, a stranger will discover that they possess a curiosity, and have obtained a degree of information, corresponding to these acquirements.

These advantages they owe to the legal provision made by the Parliament of Scotland in 1646, for the establishment of a school in every parish throughout the kingdom, for the ex* F

VOL. V.

press purpose of educating the poor; a law which may challenge comparison with any act of legislation to be found in the records of history, whether we consider the wisdom of the ends in view, the simplicity of the means employed, or the provisions made to render these means effectual to their purpose. This excellent statute was repealed on the accession of Charles II. in 1660, together with all the other laws passed during the commonwealth, as not being sanctioned by the royal assent. It slept during the reigns of Charles and James, but was re-enacted precisely in the same terms, by the Scottish parliament, after the revolution in 1696; and this is the last provision on the subject. Its effects on the national character may be considered to have commenced about the period of the union; and doubtless it cooperated with the peace and security arising from that happy event, in producing the extraordinary change in favour of industry and good morals, which the character of the com. mon people of Scotland has since undergone.

The Church Establishment of Scotland happily coincides with the institution just mentioned, which may be called its school estab