The speakers were Dr. Grey, Sir G. Rose, Mr. Latrobe, Dr. Hannah, Colonel Conolly, Mr. Chapman, Mr. Greer, Dr. Jenkyn, Mr. Angus, and other gentlemen.

Deeming the above Report one of the most valuable ever presented to a public assembly on a similar occasion, we have laid before our readers a very ample outline of it, in preference to extracts from the speeches, which, however, were, upon the whole, as usual at that meeting, very good, full of business, of common sense, and highly pertinent to the great object. There was among the speakers, too, an unusual, and a very seemly mixture of various denominations, a fact which might have relieved a portion of the gentlemen from the necessity they seemed to feel of spending their breath on the "Alliance," and enabled them to reserve it for the greater work of urging the claims of the perishing heathen. From the Report we learn, with regret, that our Wesleyan brethren have, in more than one instance, been receiving Government money, a deed for which, notwithstanding our general admiration of that Body, we praise them not. The sums received, moreover, are, in amount, contemptible, just enough to pollute the pure and noble stream which flows, with steadily augmenting force, from the heart of a numerous, zealous, and generous people. Such grants to such a people we hold to be as unnecessary as they are, in our view, derogatory. But the reception of such grants is not merely derogatory; it is paralysing; it concedes to Government a great principle. Never, never can a Protestant community, in the receipt of Government grants, consistently, or efficiently, oppose the endowment of Popery. Reason, justice, true philosophy, and just legislation, unite in demanding the endowment of all or of none! If the true Nonconformists of England shall ever be induced so to swerve from the path of pure and lofty principle, as to receive the gold of the Magistrate, we hope the sum may be such that its magnitude will, at least, to some extent, tend to dignify the deed, and hide the ignominy. As the world's history testifies to splendid robbers in the character of conquerors, so if it shall ever be that that portion of the church shall be conquered, and shall crouch for bread at the foot of thrones, let her aspire, at least, to be a splendid pauper! The views of the Wesleyan community, on this great question, form a subject of the deepest interest to the friends of religious liberty, and the advocates of New Testament church polity. Their views, on this matter, even at home, are a serious affair; because such views have divested them of nearly

all influence with the Government in opposing its patronage of popery. United with the Independents and Baptists in the struggle, their weight, from this circumstance, will be little more than as dust in the balance, whereas, with just principles, they might materially contribute to decide the contest. But when the fact is remembered, that their missions are rapidly surrounding the globe,- -a fact in which not a man among them more sincerely and deeply rejoices than ourselves,-their views on this vital matter become still more serious. While they are carrying with them the seed of the glorious gospel, and successfully sowing it under every sky, it is exceedingly to be lamented that they should mingle it with any portion of the Church and State tares, which have produced such a harvest of heresy, corruption, imposture, and crime as has distinguished the impious, oppressive, and cruel reign of ANTICHRIST.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. THE Forty-third Anniversary of this magnificent Institution was held in Exeter Hall, Lord SANDON in the chair.

The following statement presents a view of the Society's receipts, issue, and expenditure:

"The entire receipts of the year amount to £101,305 15s., being an excess over the previous year of £3,550 4s. 2d. This increase has chiefly taken place in the free contributions from auxiliary societies, and receipts for Bibles and Testaments. The receipts for Bibles and Testaments during the year have amounted to £55,976 10s. 9d., being an increase over the preceding year of £8,076 16s. 11d. The total sum applicable to the general purposes of the Society is £45,329 48. 3d., including £33,022 9s. 8d. free contributions from auxiliary societies; being an excess of £1,473 18s. 8d. over the free contributions from auxiliary societies of the preceding year.

"The issues of the Society have amounted to 1,441,651; viz., from the depository at home, 1,104,787; from depôts abroad, 336,864; being 525,840 copies more than in the preceding year. The total issues of the Society have been 18,324,487 volumes. The expenditure during the past year has been £105,851 2s. 9d.; being £20,033 7s. more than the previous year. The engagements of the Society exceed £56,730 Os. 7d."

The speakers were the Marquis of Cholmondeley, the Bishop of Calcutta, Lord Ashley, Mr. Blackburn, (of Claremont Chapel,) Dr. Grey, Professor Fleidner, Dr. Alder, Dr. Legge, Mr. Harford, and Lord Teignmouth. Of the speeches, which, as a whole, were good, that of Mr. Blackburn we consider the best, and give it entire.

The Rev. J. BLACKBURN said:-I have the honour, my lord, to propose the following resolution:

"That the thanks of this meeting be given to the Right Honourable the President, the Right Reverend, Right Honourable, and others, the Vice-Presidents, for their continued patronage and support."

In the days of Cowper, the poet of Olney, a peer who would stand on God's behalf before

the public was a rare spectacle; for he speaks of one who

"Wore a coronet and pray'd."

My lord, we have cause to bless God-to bless God on account of the individuals themselveson account of the institutions of our countryon account of the welfare of this mighty empire, that now there are not a few who bend the knee before their Creator in the highest walks of life, and who are willing to come forward and patronize a Society formed for the circulation of his revealed word amongst every nation and kindred and tongue and people. (Cheers.) I am sure that we are all this day too much imbued with the spirit of that book to allow flattering words to proceed from our lips; and we are told, indeed, in that book itself, that if we do "utter flattering words" God will "take away our breath." (Hear, hear.) I desire, therefore, my lord, not to say one word in reference to the venerable President of this Society, Lord Bexley, whose place you occupy to-day, or in reference to any of the Vice-Presidents of this Institution; but, as one who has so recently occupied office, allow me to congratulate you on having such an ally as Lord Ashley, seeing him take his place amongst you to-day, and on hearing from him an avowal of noble Protestant principles, not less striking than the constant manifestation by him of a patriotic and humane disposition towards the humbler classes of the community. (Hear, hear.) The course which that noble lord is taking in reference to ragged schools, to the vagabonds of the metropolis, as well as the operatives of Manchester and the north, must endear him to every one who, without regard to caste or station, respects man as man, and as a candidate for a common immortality. (Cheers.) Having made these remarks in reference to the motion which has been intrusted to my care, allow me to say further, that I did greatly rejoice to hear Lord Ashley allude to the Protestantism of this Institution. Assuredly this is a time when we should call to mind the views of the fathers and founders of this Society; and I was delighted the other day, on looking into a volume of that noble man, the lamented Dean Milner, one of your finest and ablest apologists-(hear, hear)— to find him saying with regard to the Reformation from Popery, "It was not Saxon confessions, neither was it Saxon liturgies, that broke the pillars of Popery on the continent of Europe, but it was the Bible translated and circulated by Martin Luther." This was the sentiment of one of your first advocates, and I am sure that whilst the entire sufficiency and sole authority of the word of God are maintained by us, we may confidently expect the fulfilment of that promise, "They that honour me I will honour; but they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." (Cheers.) Allow me to say, my lord, that it seems most important at this time, when in certain quarters such strange theological opinions have been revived, that we should hold to this opinion, and adduce, for the confirmation of our faith, instances of the sufficiency of the word of God to enlighten and sanctify men, irrespective of human ministrations. (Hear, hear.) You will not suppose, my lord, that, as a minister of one of the sections of the church of Christ, I stand before you and this meeting to depreciate what I account a Divine institution-the institution of the ministry-(hear,

hear)-but, at the same time, I must maintain, that the Lord the Spirit, by whose inspiration the blessed word was penned-can bless the perusal of the same, so that when an individual utters the prayer of the psalmist, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law," he shall find in the illumination of the eternal Spirit that which shall make the word of God "a lamp unto his path." I was looking a short time since into the autobiography of the Rev. Richard Baxter, and I am sure there is not a Christian here who does not venerate the memory of that excellent man, and who does not appreciate the great benefits which have been conferred upon the church of Christ and upon the souls of men by his incomparable writings. My lord, how did that man become religious? How did religion enter into his family? He tells us that he was living in a village in Staffordshire, on a little farm belonging to his father. He describes, in terms which I will not repeat, the state of the public ministry in that district; and then he adds: "But though we had no better teachers, it pleased God to instruct and change my father by the bare reading of the Scriptures in private, without either preaching or godly converse, or any other book but the Bible; and God made him the instrument of my first conviction, and approbation of a holy life." So that all that Baxter did instru mentally, he was indebted for to the paternal influence of his father, who had learned to know God, not by human teaching, but by the teaching of the Spirit of God through the inspired word. And, my lord, what is the work that has risen in France in connection with the labours of those most interesting and successful mission. aries, the colporteurs? The extraordinary revival of Protestant principles and Protestant feelings, both in France and in Switzerland, must surely be attributed to the fact, that the word of God is alone sufficient to inform, to enlighten, and, by the operation of the grace of God, to renew the minds and hearts of men. Aye, and when I think of some of the missionary stations,—— they are missionary stations no longer,-when I think of Madagascar, and of those poor inhabitants of the island who are bowed down under the tiger-like despotism of the sanguinary queen -I hope I do not use language which is offensive; but really, when I think of the atrocities which have been committed, I know of no language which can be too strong as a description of such conduct-when I think of those who are driven by iron despotism into the caves and dens of the island, to assemble at midnight there to read, by a feeble light, the pages of God's word, and have a hope full of immortality kindled in their hearts which enables them to brave all the terrors of their sovereign; and when I turn from that island to Tahiti, and see the Tahitians standing forth for the independence and liberty of their country against popish aggression and wrong-when I think of these doings, I cannot but feel how patriotism and piety are sustained by the mere use of those Scriptures which the Bible Society has been the instrument of sending again and again to those parts of the world. (Hear, hear, and, cheers.); My lord, these facts tend to confirm, in our minds, confidence in the result of circulating the Holy Scriptures, and may well make us thankful to hear of the unprecedented demand for the word of God. When we remember who, those

are that have asked for the Scriptures-the teeming population of the manufacturing districts, the operatives who have tried every system, and have found it to fail-(hear, hear)— it is delightful to find that they are willing to come to the word of God at last. (Hear, hear.) It seems as if man must have a religion. (Hear, hear.) These parties have been addressed by Rationalism, and by Deism, and by Atheism, and by all the other isms that come from hell; and, having found themselves disappointed in all their expectations, they are now yearning for something on which to build their hopes for immortality. (Cheers.) It was delightful to hear the conclusion of the Report speaking of the Spirit of God exciting in the minds of these people an appetite for the Divine word.

Oh

The

that many of them may at length say, "I found thy word, and I did eat it; and it was sweet unto my taste." And, my lord, if I am not trespassing too much upon the attention of yourself and of this audience, allow me to say, that now that we have attained the forty-second anniversary of this Society, we occupy an elevation from which we may look upon all the way by which the Lord God has led us. I do firmly believe in the apocalyptic announcement of "Him that sitteth on the throne,"-" Behold I make all things new." No man can take anything like an extensive view of the progress which has been made since the first formation of this Society, without perceiving that He who sits on the throne of heaven is, by his operations on earth, creating all things new. minutest circumstances connected with the issue of Bibles by this Society ought not to be overlooked. My lord, how is it that we can supply the prodigious demand which is made for the Bible? There is the invention of stereotypeplates; there is the invention of steam-power in connection with the printing press; there is the improvement in the manufacture of paper,these things have grown out of mechanical skill and chemical knowledge, and they are elements which He who sits on the throne is making subservient to the advancement of his cause and kingdom; and when, in addition to what I have mentioned, we see that venerable servant of Christ, Dr. Wilson,-once my honoured neighbour, but now connected with a distant post of labour,-brought home with such speed and in such comparative security, instead of enduring all the pains and perils of a long sea-voyage; and when we see other beloved servants of Christ also brought home by steam-navigation in a few weeks, instead of having to endure a tedious sail of several months; we cannot, I think, fail to see that God is, by these appliances, carrying on his great work amongst our fellow-men. (Hear, hear.) My lord, no individual can look at what has been done during the forty years which have elapsed since the formation of this Society, without perceiving that what I have advanced is sustained by facts. At that time the Egyptian hieroglyphics had not been explained, and all the infidels of France were declaring that something would be found there which would upset the Mosaic history, and prove the Bible to be a forgery. There was at that period no access to the chronology of China; but now, honoured brethren on the platform, Dr. Legge, and Dr. Hobson, can tell us that China has nothing to reveal which can invalidate the word of God, VOL. III.

or shake the faith of the Christian world. Then we were told that geology was sure to damage our faith in creation; but geology establishes the facts of creation, instead of endangering them. The regions of the East, the scenes of the poetry of Job and of David, were then inaccessible; the Turkish Government would not allow strangers to go to those parts, and therefore it could not be ascertained by observation whether the Bible had correctly described the scenery. Now, however, we find that the Bible is the best guide to Palestine, and that no man can employ a better instrument to direct him in his path to those scenes of ancient grandeur than the word of God supplies. (Cheers.) I glance at these things to show what progress has been made in reference to the authenticating, if I may use such a word,-of the Holy Scriptures. (Hear, hear.) "The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times;" and if you think of the various tests through which the word of God has passed, and of this antiquarianism, this geology, this literary test, and the critical examination of the text which has taken place, you must acknowledge that all this has tended to confirm our faith and to assure us that we possess the true words of the living God. (Applause.) My lord, although we have great cause to be thankful for the past, we yet have great cause to look to the future. I am now going to make a suggestion. You have done vast things for the masses, but I want something to be done for poor scholars and poor students, and poor pastors, who require learned books, but cannot afford to buy them at the price at which publishers usually issue them. Now, the Roman Catholic church has supplied the Polyglot of Paris and Antwerp, and our noble Walton has supplied the London Polyglot, which is a monument of learning honourable to the church of which he was a member, and to the country to which he belonged. In these days no publisher would venture to produce such books as those. Much has been done critically for the text of Holy Scripture since the period which I have mentioned; and as this Society marshals under its banners several most learned members of the Universities of Cambridge, and of the Dissenting communities, why, I may be permitted to ask, with the aid of your happily growing funds, should there not be produced a noble edition of the word of God in the original languages, which having employed the best scholarship that you can command should be a lasting monument to this Society; and be looked at 200 years hence as the Bible Society Polyglot? Surely it is high time that Protestantism took such a position in the literature of the world; it is high time that Protestantism were thus represented. (Cheers.) Though I own that Walton's book is an incomparable work as regards both its character and its learning, yet I think we should be anxious to do something, in our day, to hand down a similar volume to those who follow us. I doubt not, my lord, that on your paternal estate there are many noble trees; some of them, however, are growing old, and you are anxious to plant, that those who succeed you may walk under the shadow of trees which are at present nothing but saplings. So should we all seek to provide spiritually for the generation that is coming after us. (Hear, hear.) Our fathers have done nobly for us-(hear,

Τ

hear) and our Society having men of learning, and leisure, and wealth, it would be an honour to it to produce a work, the influence of which would be felt amongst all the colleges and schools of learning throughout the world. (Hear, hear.) Pardon me, my lord, for this suggestion. (Cheers.) Before I conclude, may I be allowed to say that I hope, though it may not be thought convenient or desirable to alter the course which has been pursued for years in reference to prayer, oral prayer, on this occasion, we shall all feel the duty of uniting more earnestly in prayer,-in secret, in the family, and in the church, for the blessings of the Holy Spirit upon the circulation of the word of God. (Hear, hear.) Assuredly the minds of those who are crowding to possess themselves of the Scriptures must be in an interesting state; let us, then, intercede for them, that that God, who is the Giver of every good and every perfect gift, would so enlighten, purify, and bless them, that they may know the glorious law of liberty and rejoice in the freedom wherewith Christ makes his people free. (Applause.)

CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION SOCIETY. THE Annual Meeting of the subscribers and friends to this important institution was held at Finsbury Chapel. The assembly was very large, and Mr. Alderman HUNTER took the chair.

Mr. PITMAN read the Report, which teemed with facts illustrative of the beneficial results arising from the operations of the parent society and its affiliated associations. It faithfully depicted the moral condition of London, and showed the vice and consequent misery in which multitudes of its inhabitants are still living.

The meeting was ably addressed by Mr. Green, Dr. Alliott, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Burnet, and Mr. Smith.

Mr. WILLIAM JONES, (Tract Society,) in seconding the resolution, said he would simply give them two facts, illustrative of the power of Christian kindness. A visitor heard that there was dying in his district a Roman Catholic young woman. He then went to the garret in which she lived, without any earthly comfort; but, on knocking at the door, for the purpose of conversing with her, her parents refused to allow him to do it. He then went and bought a jelly and a cake for the poor dying girl, and again visited her. Her mother again turned him away, when he said, "I thought your dying child might be refreshed by a little jelly and a cake." She was moved, and said, "Give them to me, and I will take them to her." "No," replied the visitor, "I must do that myself." He was then allowed to enter. (Hear, hear.) His words were blessed to the girl, and after three weeks' visitation she expired in the full and joyful hope of the gospel. (Cheers.) The second fact was this. A young lady visited a district near her father's house, without intermission, for four years. At one cottage in particular no impression appeared to have been produced. One night, going rather unexpectedly, she found the man, whose name was John Camomile, at home. She urged him to go to chapel, but he said, if he did, all the neighbours would say he was mad. "If that is all your objection," said she, "I will tell you what we will do. come on the week evening, and the gallery-door shall be left open; and so you can come in the

You

He

dark, and hear in the dark, and go away in the dark." He at length consented to do so. went, and in that dark gallery tears of penitence fell from John's eyes, and angels went to heaven with the intelligence that another sinner had returned to God. (Cheers.)

The Rev. JOHN BLACKBURN, at the close, said that the Society had not received the support it deserved. He and Mr. Pitman had served it for twenty-one years without any remuneration. (Hear, hear.) All they had asked was the support of a noble, disinterested, Christian public. Because they had not hired agency to dodge gentlemen for subscriptions, they had seen the Society's funds declining year after year, till now they were below £300. If that state of things was to continue, he would not remain their secretary. If they would sustain it, he was willing to be their servant. It was a state of things not reputable to the pastors and churches of the metropolis.

SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.

THE forty-third Annual Meeting of this invaluable institution was held at Exeter-hall on Thursday evening, the 7th ult. At an early hour the devoted teachers of the metropolis began to assemble, and the spacious hall was soon inadequate to contain the numbers desirous of being present. Hundreds, after a fruitless endeavour to obtain admittance, were compelled to submit to their disappointment. The chair was taken by JAMES KERSHAW, Esq., of Manchester. A hymn, especially selected for the occasion, having been sung, Mr. E, MANNERING engaged in prayer.

The CHAIRMAN then rose and said:-I will not detain you by offering any apology for having consented, at the request of your honoured Secretary, to occupy the responsible position in which I now find myself. I cannot but feel that a great honour is conferred on any one who is permitted to preside at such a meeting as this. I am oppressed by the unmerited distinction which is thus conferred upon me. Nevertheless I will here state my conviction that there is no institution by which this metropolis is distinguished and adorned that deserves a higher patronage, nor one that has superior claims upon the Christian liberality of the public. (Cheers.) I feel exceedingly happy thus to meet you, for the first time, in connection with so great a cause; and I trust that our meeting here tonight may be attended with considerable advantages. Happy as I am, however, delighted as I feel to meet you, I find that another class of feelings is rapidly stealing over my mind. I cannot look around upon the vast assembly; I cannot reflect upon the character which is here embodied and represented; I cannot think of the high and holy purpose to which you aspire ; and, above all, I cannot contemplate the conditions and claims of those whose welfare we design to promote, without being almost overwhelmed by a sense of the magnitude and responsibility of the work in which we are engaged. But the very considerations which seem for a moment to overpower us, are precisely those which, when viewed in another aspect, are calculated to cheer, to encourage, and to impel us onward in the path of duty, while we look to Him for help and guidance who is the rock of our defence and our high tower-(hear,

The

hear.) I am persuaded that, in addressing this assembly, I am speaking to those who are in the strictest sense of the term the friends of education. (Hear, hear.) You are anxious for the diffusion of useful knowledge; you would, if you could, banish ignorance for ever from the land. You are divinely taught that "for the soul to be without knowledge is not good." You are too enlightened yourselves to permit you to doubt, for one single moment, the advantages of knowledge, especially to the young; and even if it were otherwise, the people are determining this question for themselves (Cheers.) With regard to the younger portion of the population, and with respect to that class which is raised above the lowest in the community, I am persuaded, with regard to these, that a strong desire for education exists. people, indeed, resolve to be educated. (Hear, hear.) Now, if I am right in taking this view of the case, you cannot doubt but that the supply will be equal to the demand. The important question then is, By whom shall this education be communicated? Popery is competing with Protestantism, and infidelity with both. With what element will you feed the hungry mind? With what waters will you assuage its thirst? The current is set in on all sides; you cannot stem the torrent, the tide will flow on with resistless energy. Each competing party may appear to offer similar rudimental knowledge, each may apparently offer a similar description of mental food; but it is in the very nature of things that popery will seek to infuse into the heart its baneful superstitions, and infidelity its deadly poison; whilst a pure and holy Christianity would mingle with its elementary institution the doctrines and the principles of the Divine word, and thus seek at once to illuminate, to purify, and to save. (Cheers.) It is, then, for bodies, for combinations of Christian men; it is for the pure church of Christ to take this matter in hand, and in humble dependence upon God, and in confident reliance upon his grace, decree that wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of our times. (Cheers.) The present period appears singularly auspicious for this purpose. The public mind is prepared for an onward movement. Recent events have brought on inquiry and discussion. (Hear, hear.). The number of day-schools is greatly augmented; and, under proper regulations, such as I hope will everywhere obtain, they may become auxiliary to our Sunday-schools; they may act together for the advantage of each reciprocally. By means of the day-school the art of reading, essential to the purposes of the Sunday-school teacher, will be acquired. (Hear, hear.) The mind will be inured to some degree of mental effort, and thus your Sunday scholars will be better prepared to receive at your lips, and in the sabbath-school, the knowledge that maketh wise unto salvation. (Cheers.) Viewed, then, in connection with the existing state of feeling in this country, with regard to popular education, it is impossible to reflect upon the character and operation of this institution without being deeply convinced that it is an enterprise of the highest value, and one calculated, under the blessing of God, to produce the most momentous consequences both to the present and future generations. In the course of these observations I have incidentally referred to the purposes you cherish with regard to the instruction of the young:

permit me most sincerely to congratulate you on the Christian philanthropy which those purposes display. Nothing, surely, can be more important than that the young of our country should be instructed in the benign and holy principles of Christianity. It is essential to their present peace and future happiness. Its issues are not confined to time alone, they reach into eternity. Sensible of this, you are doubly anxious that the young should make the sacred Scriptures the subject of their daily study, that its sacred truths should be engraven on their hearts; that they should become the rule of their faith and the guide of their conduct, and that by them they should be led into the paths of holiness and of peace. You earnestly long and pray that by repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they may become heirs of eternal salvation. Persuaded that true religion can make the young useful and happy, you are desirous that its blessings should be enjoyed by all. For this purpose it is that you are willing to labour and toil in the selfdenying work of instructing in sabbath-schools the children of the poor. While you invite all who desire to be instructed, your sympathies are especially devoted to the children of the needy, and their very misery and wretchedness are the incentives of your benevolence and pity. (Hear, hear.) This is emphatically a mission of grace and mercy to the young. Again receive my warmest congratulations. You are amongst the greatest benefactors of the human race, the best friends of your country, the greatest contributors to the weal of the commonwealth; you bless the young for time, you bless them for eternity. (Cheers.) The measure of your success, although not equal to your wishes, is, nevertheless, so great and so valuable as to encourage you in the review of the past, and to animate you with hope in the contemplation of the future. Careful and diligent observers cannot but trace in the progress of the Sunday-school institute results which, in a large degree, have affected the tastes, the manners, and the habits of our people. Its moral influence may be seen in the amelioration of our laws and in the improvement of our social condition. By it and through it our country has been raised in the scale of nations, and has, in some degree at least, attained that true greatness which consists alone in the religion and the morality of her people. But not to dwell on this view of the subject, let us turn our attention for a single moment to another aspect of the case. By the Sundayschool system thousands have been reclaimed from paths of misery and of death, and have become themselves labourers, that others might be partakers of the like precious faith. The mind, by its instrumentality, has been imbued with knowledge, spirits have been rescued, immortal minds have been emancipated, the darkness of night has been dissipated, the slumber of conscience has been broken; the sweet accents of mercy have fallen upon the ravished ear of the trembling captive, the impenitent have wept at the cross, have knelt at the altar, have testified their allegiance to the cause of the Redeemer, and are now either serving him on earth, or dwelling with him in the mansions of light and joy. To ascertain the full amount of your success, you must go into almost every city, town, and village; be acquainted with the history of almost every one of your schools;