—–­ {174} Our lawyers (barristers) are probably superior to those of any other nation, and the clergy are, at least, equal.  This is not, indeed, saying a great deal; but it is so difficult, in matters of religion, to temper zeal, and draw a line between emulation and fanaticism, that, perhaps, it is better that they should be a little remiss than righteous overmuch.  It is not in the education of churchmen, but in the manner of paying and providing for them, that the error lies; and that subject is treated elsewhere.

{175} Cervantes, in his admirable romance of Don Quixote, paints the mind of a gentleman, which all countries will acknowledge to be like the truth.  The madness apart, the manner of thinking and acting was that of the gentleman of Spain, France, Germany, or England.  Neither was he the gentleman of the fifteenth or eighteenth century, but of any other century.  His dress was Spanish; his madness and manners belonged to the ages of chivalry and romance, but the mind and principles of the gentleman suited all ages and all countries.

Sancho, again, barring likewise his oddities, is the peasant of all countries; studying to live as well as he can, and labour as little as he may.  In short, a mind continually occupied about personal wants, and alive to personal interest.  In the middle ranks of society there is no such similarity. -=-

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apply at all to the middling classes, nor even to the most wealthy class of labourers in a manufacturing country:  in those we can find no fixed character; it is as variable as the circumstances in which the individuals are placed, and it is there that a government should interfere.  It should interfere in guiding the richer classes of working people, and the middling ranks, in the education of their children, and in assisting those of the lower orders, who are too much pressed upon by indigence.

The end in view in all education is to make the persons, whether men or women, fill their place well and properly in life; and this is only to be done by setting a good example, instilling good principles, accustoming them, when young, to good habits; and, above all, by teaching them how to gain more than they are habituated to spend.

It follows from this, that industry, and a trade, are the chief parts of education, that reading and writing are not, being but of a very doubtful utility to the labouring class of society.

On this subject, it is absolutely necessary to advert to what Dr. Smith says relative to apprenticeships; the opinion of so great a writer is of too much importance not to be examined, and refuted, if found wrong.