extinguatur lucerna eorum ante viventem, in secula seculorum. Fiat. Fiat. Amen.

Hæ Excommunicationum formulæ sequuntur Emendationes legum, quas Gulielmus Conquestor edidit, in libro vocato Textus Roffensis, MS. et videntur sub eo ipso ævo condita; quia in superioribus nusquam, quod scio, reperitur beatæ virginis Mariæ invocatio.

In Gorton's "Biographical Dictionary,” vol. ii., in a notice of Sir Henry Spelman, I find the following language: "He printed a specimen in 1621, and in 1626 appeared the first part, entitled, ' Archæologicus in modum Glos sarii ad rem antiquam posteriorum folio.' The sale of this valuable work was so unpromising, that the second part was not published till after the death of the author." "His death took place in 1641, and his body was interred in Westminster Abbey."

See also Hale's "Analysis of Chronology," 4 vols. 8vo., London, 1830, at p. 341 of vol. iii., where reference is made to Boxhornius' "History of the Low Countries," and Brandt's "Abridgment," vol. i. p. 6, where the said form may be found.

Here, then, we have the grand point decided. Bishop Hughes alleges that the form first quoted was a fabrication of Sterne's. Now, books can be referred to which were published eighty-seven years before the birth of Sterne, and one hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty years prior to the publication of "Tristram Shandy;" and the volume on the table before me is of the third edition, which was printed twenty-four years before Sterne was born.

In the scenes above narrated, personages of more importance than Yorick, Obadiah, Captain Shandy, and My Uncle Toby, played their parts, before any of them had even the ideal existence which Sterne gives them. I know not how Bishop Hughes can set aside such proof, except on the principle that "coming events cast their shadows before," and, in this case, casting an unusually long one.

It will be seen, by the extract from his speech, that he charges the Public School Society with circulating and approving the "Brief Review,” because they do not disclaim it.

Because they do not officiously disclaim and condemn the murder of Thomas á Becket, they must be held responsible! Because they do not disavow the murder of Queen Anne, they must be held responsible for the conduct of Henry VIII.! Because they do not condemn the burning of the Alexandrian library by Caliph Omar, it is their act till they disclaim it—or, at least, they approve of it! And, on the same principle, until the Roman Catholic Church disclaims the curses above given we hold them responsible! A politic denial by Bishop Hughes is not sufficient; it must come from popes, cardinals, bishops, and priests; for those dignitaries authorized and sanctioned them. The reverend speaker must admit my application of his argument, or retract his unwarrantable abuse of the Public School Society in relation to this matter.

If he persists in denying the truth of my evidence, as I have proved my side of the question, if he thinks it desirable, he must produce the excom

munication which was used in the case of Mr. Hogan. This is the alternative; and, in the mean time, I shall not be overawed by the legal, literary, and ecclesiastical array of gentlemen whose research can pierce no farther into the gloom of antiquity than the "Life and Character of Tristram Shandy." AMERICUS.

[For the convenience of the reader the following translation of the form of excommunication as given by Sir Henry Spelman is inserted.].

EXCOMMUNICATION.

By the authority of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and of the holy canons, and of the pure and holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and of all heavenly intelligences, angels, and archangels, thrones, dominions, and powers, cherubim, and seraphim, and of the holy patriarchs, prophets, and all apostles and evangelists, and holy innocents, who in the sight of the Lamb have been found worthy to sing the new song; and of the holy martyrs and holy confessors, and holy virgins, and of all the holy and elect of God together, we do excommunicate and anathematize this thief, the malefactor N., and do separate him from the threshold of the holy Church of God, that he may be given over to be tormented with everlasting punishments, with Dathan and Abiram, and with those who said unto the Lord God, "Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways;" and as fire is extinguished by water, so let his lamp be extinguished, world without end, unless he shall repent and make satisfaction. Amen.

Curse him, God the Father, who created man. Curse him, the Son of God, who suf fered for man. Curse him, the Holy Spirit, who is poured forth in baptism. Curse him, the holy cross, which Christ ascended for our salvation, triumphing over the enemy. Curse him, the holy mother of God, and perpetual virgin, Mary. Curse him, St. Michael, the receiver of holy souls. Curse him, all angels and archangels, principalities and powers, and all the host of the heavenly army. Curse him, the worthy multitude of patriarchs and prophets. Curse him, St. John, the forerunner, and particularly the baptizer of Christ. Curse him, St. Peter, and St. Paul, and St. Andrew, and all the apostles and disciples of Christ, together with the four evangelists, who by their preaching converted the whole world. Curse him, the wondrous company of martyrs and confessors, that have been found acceptable unto God by their good works. Curse him, the bands of holy virgins, who for the sake of the honor of Christ have counted worthless the vanities of the world. Curse him, all saints, who from the beginning of the world unto the end of time, are found beloved of God. Curse him, heaven and earth, and all holy things abiding therein.

Cursed be he wheresoever he shall be, whether in the house, or in the field, or in the way, or in the footpath, or in the wood, or in the water, or in the church.

Cursed be be in living, in dying, in eating, in drinking, in hungering, in thirsting, in fasting, in slumbering, in sleeping, in watching, in walking, in standing, in sitting, in lying down, in working, in resting, [in the calls of nature,] and in blood-letting.

Cursed be he in all the powers of his body. Cursed be he inwardly and outwardly. Cursed be he in his hair. Cursed be he in his brain. Cursed be he in the crown of his head, in his temples, in his forehead, in his ears, in his eyebrows, in his eyes, in his cheeks, in his jaws, in his nostrils, in his teeth, in his gums, in his lips, in his throat, in his shoulders, in his arms, in his wrists, in his bands, in his fingers, in his breast, in his heart, and in all the inner parts of his body to his stomach; in his veins, in his groin, in his thighs, in his genitals, in his hips, in his knees, in his legs, in his feet, in his joints, and in his toes. Cursed be he in all the structures of his limbs; from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot; let there be no soundness in him.

Curse him, Christ, the Son of the living God, in all the authority of his majesty; and let heaven, with all the intelligences that abide therein, rise up against him for his damnation, unless he shall repent and make satisfaction. Amen. So be it. Be it so. Amen.

EXCOMMUNICATION.-By the authority of God the Father Almighty, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and of the blessed Mary, mother of God, and of all the saints, and of the holy Canon: We excommunicate, we anathematize, and we separate from the threshold of the holy mother Church, these malefactors, N., and those who sympathize and participate with them; and unless they shall repent and render satisfaction, let their famps be put out before the living, for ever and ever. Be it so. So be it. Amen.

These forms of excommunication follow the emendations of laws, approved by William the Conqueror, in a manuscript volume called the Textus Roffensis, and appear to have originated at that very period, because nowhere in earlier times, so far as I know, is found the invocation of the Virgin Mary.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE SCHOOL QUESTION OF 1842.

Hon. John C. Spencer-The Legislature of 1842-Appointment of Committees-Committee on Colleges, Academies, and Common Schools-Hon. William B. MaclayHon. John I. Dix-Governor Seward's Message-Report on the School Question— Proceedings of the Legislature-Mr. Maclay's Bill Passed.

THE disappointment of the advocates of Mr. Spencer's school bill was very great. Mr. Spencer, with the perseverance which formed a prominent feature of his character, had sought to win support to the measure by the elaborate report presented to the Legislature in April. He was charged by opponents with having "coquetted with the New York delegation all winter, to obtain their aid in its passage." He had appeared, on one occasion, before that delegation, to whom he submitted and advocated his plan, Dr. William Rockwell, Joseph B. Collins, and Theodore Sedgwick being present on behalf of the Public School Society.

The postponement of the question by the Senate until January, 1842, caused the election of the members of the Legislature for that year to be regarded, as already stated, with more than usual interest by all parties. The candidates of the Whig, as well as those of the Democratic party in the city of New York, were respectively addressed by the friends of the Public School Society in a series of interrogatories. Their support was withheld from any candidate in favor of any change in the existing system of public instruction, and a refusal to reply to the questions proposed was deemed as favoring such change.

The excitement in respect to the "school question" was very great, and the election of the successful candidates turned upon that issue. Upon the assembling of the Legislature in January following, and before the organization of the two Houses, the question engaged the thoughts, and was the topic of constant conversation among leading Democrats at the Capitol. As a

party, they had much to lose by the continued agitation of the question; and yet, having a majority in both branches, they had. also to incur the responsibility of its settlement. With this view, and anticipating that the subject would be laid before the Legislature by Governor SEWARD, in his message, more than usual care was taken in the organization of the Committee on Colleges, Academies, and Common Schools, to which that portion of the message was referred. In the House of Assembly, as soon as the new Speaker (Levi S. Chatfield) had been chosen, he announced among his political friends his determination of appointing William B. Maclay, of New York, as chairman of the Committee on Schools. Horatio Seymour (afterward Governor of the State), and other leading men, were then members of the body. Mr. Maclay had already served in the House during the sessions of 1840 and 1841. At the preceding session, the House of Assembly had chosen, by ballot, three of its members as a committee to investigate the affairs of the New York and Erie Railroad Company. Mr. Maclay was a member of this committee, and was absent from the city of New York in the prosecution of the duties assigned him during the election of the past autumn, and had been elected without any pledge or committal to any of the parties. The presumption was, that, under his direction, a full and dispassionate inquiry would be made in relation to the public schools in the city of New York. He at first declined to act as chairman of the Committee on Schools, and urged that Gen. JOHN I. Dix, then a representative from the county of Albany, should be appointed, alleging that his capacity and integrity would inspire confidence, among those who were either unwilling or unable to examine for themselves, in the conclusions at which he should arrive, while the committee. would have the advantage derived from his past experience as superintendent of the schools of the State. This view was acquiesced in, but, on consultation with General Dix, he declined to accept the position, and the programme of the committee remained as originally proposed by the Speaker, with the advice of Michael Hoffman, and other experienced members of the party to which he belonged.

As had been anticipated, Governor Seward devoted a considerable portion of his message to a discussion of the subject of public instruction in the city of New York. The recommenda

tions thus presented are given in full in the following extract from the message:

It was among my earliest duties to bring to the notice of the Legislature the neglected condition of many thousand children, including a very large proportion of those of immigrant parentage in our great commercial citya misfortune then supposed to result from groundless prejudices and omissions of parental duty. Especially desirous, at the same time, not to disturb in any manner the public schools, which seemed to be efficiently conducted, although so many for whom they were established seemed to be unwilling to receive their instructions, I suggested, as I thought, in a spirit not inharmonious with our civil and religious institutions, that, if necessary, it might be expedient to bring those so excluded from such privileges into schools rendered especially attractive by the sympathies of those to whom the task of instruction should be confided. It has since been discovered that the magnitude of the evil was not fully known, and that its causes were very imperfectly understood. It will be shown to you, in the proper report, that twenty thousand children in the city of New York, of suitable age, are not at all instructed in any of the public schools; while the whole number in all the residue of the State, not taught in common schools, does not exceed nine thousand. What had been regarded as individual, occasional, and accidental prejudices, have proved to be opinions pervading a large mass, including at least one religious communion equally with all others entitled to civil tolerance-opinions cherished through a period of sixteen years, and ripened into a permanent conscientious distrust of the impartiality of the education given in the public schools. This distrust has been rendered still deeper and more alienating by a subversion of precious civil rights of those whose consciences are thus offended.

Happily, in this as in other instances, the evil is discovered to have had its origin no deeper than in a departure from the equality of general laws. In our general system of common schools, trustees chosen by tax-paying citizens levy taxes, build school-houses, employ and pay teachers, and govern schools which are subject to visitation by similarly elected inspectors, who certify the qualifications of teachers; and all schools thus constituted participate in just proportion in the public moneys, which are conveyed to them by commissioners also elected by the people. Such schools are found distributed in average spaces of two and a half square miles throughout the inhabited portions of the State, and yet neither popular discontent, nor political strife, nor sectarian discord, has ever disturbed their peaceful instructions nor impaired their eminent usefulness. In the public school system of the city, one hundred persons are trustees and inspectors, and, by continued consent of the Common Council, are the dispensers of an annual average sum of $35,000, received from the common school fund of the State, and a sum equal to $95,000, derived from an indiscriminating tax upon the real and personal estates of the city. They build school-houses chiefly from the public funds, they appoint and remove teachers, fix their compensation, and prescribe the moral, intellectual, and religious instruction which one