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 obnoxious.  According to my experience, a layman is just as likely to launch out into sectarian views, and to advance clashing doctrines and violent, bigoted prejudices, as a professional preacher, and even more so.  Every objection to professional religious instruction applies with still greater force to lay teaching.  As in other cases, so in this, the greatest degree of candor is usually found accompanying the greatest degree of knowledge.  Nothing is more apt to be positive and dogmatical than ignorance.

But there is no provision in any part of Mr. Girard’s will for the introduction of any lay teaching on religious matters whatever.  The children are to get their religion when they leave his school, and they are to have nothing to do with religion before they do leave it.  They are then to choose their religious opinions, and not before.