136 



WASTE OF LABOR. 



The clergy ought to labor on their high vocations as cor- 

 rectly and laboriously, and with the same devotion of time, 

 as the laity do theirs. I am no favorer of Roman Catholic 

 religion, but I confess that the entireness of the devotion of 

 their clergy to their people, excites in me great admiration 

 and respect, and contrasts most unfavorably with all the 

 supineness of a large number of ours. I know not how it 

 is, that with all the avowed checks of bishop, archdeacons, 

 commissaries, vicars, &c, &c, so much usefulness should 

 remain from year to year neglected. We are entitled to 

 look to the clergy for some account of the low condition of 

 our people mentally, socially, and religiously, and of the 

 utter falling to pieces of the social fabric under their charge. 

 There ought to be a Mixed Court, consisting of lay as well 

 as clerical members to look after the whole subject of pub- 

 lic instruction, and those who minister to it. Power has 

 never been safe in the hands of ecclesiastics alone : they 

 must not without aid govern each other. 



" Sir Charles Lyell, in his valuable book on America, 

 states, that in Massachusetts where education is diffused in 

 abundar. ce throughout the whole body of the people, the 

 labor done in their trades and other avocations, by those 

 whose province it is to labor, is excessive. The truth is, a 

 civilized man, in a well-constituted society, will exert him- 

 self almost to death, rather than fail in securing for him- 

 self and his family the comforts and the decencies demanded 

 by the habits of the society in which he lives. What 

 amount of fatigue and suffering are not many educated 

 men amongst ourselves now enduring to uphold the decen- 

 cies and comforts of life to their families ! The higher the 



