d, without
any reference to the life which is to come; this is Mr. Girard's theory
of useful education.

Half of these poor children may die before the term of their education
expires. Still, those who survive must be brought up imbued fully with
the inevitable tendencies of the system.

It has been said that there may be lay preachers among them. Lay
preachers! This is ridiculous enough in a country of Christianity and
religion. [Here some one handed Mr. Webster a note.] A friend informs me
that four of the principal religious sects in this country, the
Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists, allow no lay
preachers; and these four constitute a large majority of the religious
and Christian portion of the people of the United States. And, besides,
lay preaching would be just as adverse to Mr. Girard's original object
and whole plan as professional preaching, _provided it should be
Christianity which should be preached_.

It is plain, as plain as language can be made, that he did not intend to
allow the minds of these children to be troubled about religion of any
kind, whilst they were within the college. And why? He himself assigns
the reason. Because of the difficulty and trouble, he says, that might
arise from the multitude of sects, and creeds, and teachers, and the
various clashing doctrines and tenets advanced by the different
preachers of Christianity. Therefore his desire as to these orphans is,
that their minds should be kept free from all bias of any kind in favor
of any description of Christian creed, till they arrived at manhood, and
should have left the walls of his school.

Now, are not laymen equally sectarian in their views with clergymen? And
would it not be just as easy to prevent sectarian doctrines from being
preached by a clergyman, as from being taught by a layman? It is idle,
therefore, to speak of lay preaching.

MR. SERGEANT here rose, and said that they on their side had not
uttered one word about lay preaching. It was lay teaching they
spoke of.

Well, I would just as soon take it that way as the other, _teaching_ as
preaching. Is not the teaching of laymen as sectarian as the preaching
of clergymen? What is the difference between unlettered laymen and
lettered clergymen in this respect? Every one knows that laymen are as
violent controversialists as clergymen, and the less informed the more
violent. So this, while it is a little more ridiculous, is equally