LB 695 .P88 Copy 2 -ft* 1 5K "V* Ot» J}l^ fr>~v± \ PRESENTED HV a t Pf g X AN ESSAY ON EDUCATION: BY CALEB ATWATER, A. M. // AUTHOR OF WESTERN ANTIQUITIES, TOUR TO PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO, ETC. ETC. STEREOTYPED BY SHEPARD & STEARNS, CINCINNATI: PRINTED BY KENDALL & HENRY. 1841. - ■K2. \ °S N Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred forty-one, by Caleb Atyvater, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Ohio. Gift Judge and Mrs.'saac R. H'rtt duly 3, 1933 DEDICATION TO THE PARENTS, GUARDIANS, AND INSTRUCTERS OF YOUTH, IN THE UNITED STATES, THIS ESSAY IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BT THEIR TRIERD AST) FELLO-W-CITIZEX, THE AUTHOR. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. Preface, . 5 Introduction, 9 Chapter I., 15 Physical Education, 18 Mental Education, 19 Moral Education, 24 Chapter II., Female Education, 38 Fashionable Female Education, 39 What Female Education should he, 39 Female Fanatics, 45 True Religion, 46 Chapter III., A Dandy, .48 A worthy, well educated Young Man, 50 Chapter IV., Instructers, 57 Their Qualifications, 59 A Clergyman 66 A Lawyer, 68 . A Physician, ( 69 Chapter V., Books, .... 70 Those which we need, 74 Chapter VI., Female Manners in the North, and the Influence of our Women on Politics, Morals and Religion, 87 Chapter VII., The necessity of Education, arising from the tendency of this age to innovation and change; from the peculiar character of the people of the Western States, their youth, activity and energy, consisting of emigrants from the older States, and from Europe — the vast domain to be filled up with people, in a short period of time, and the ultimate grandeur and glory of this Republic, provided its citizens are all well educated, ....... 99 PREFACE It has long been my intention to publish an essay on educa- tion, as my last work. In the meantime, men of learning have been engaged, from the most disinterested motives, in the same field. They have done much good, for which they have received the thanks of every true friend of our common country. This essay will not, nor is it intended, to supersede the use of what others have heretofore published on the same subject. But, although all that has been published on education is valuable, yet the whole mass is too voluminous for common readers. A condensation of much that has appeared into a small space, seemed to the author to be a desideratum, and that is all that this small volume pretends to be. It has been my object to condense as much useful matter as possible into a small com- pass, adapting it to the age in which we live, and to the repub- lican institutions of our country. It is quite common for authors to name the authorities from which they have drawn their information. Having read almost every work on education as soon as it was published, during the last forty years, I have not retained the books themselves, nor any extracts from them. Having thrown the ingredients into my own mental crucible, I have, from the liquid mass, produced this essay. Where I have quoted any author, I may not have used his precise words, and, in other instances, the words of an author may have been used without my recollecting VI PREFACE. him, or knowing when I have used his language. My object has been to do good — to disseminate useful truths, and sound literary, political, moral and religious doctrines. How far I have done so, is left to the judgment of the public. Having long been patronized liberally as an author, by the people of the West ; and knowing that, in a few short years, my race will be run ; and hoping, too, that all my old patrons will at les.st read what may be my last volume, relating to a matter of the greatest importance to the people of this country ; all these considerations united, are my inducements for producing and publishing this work. Public opinion governs the civilized world, not the puny party politician, whose frail bark floats a brief space of time upon the surface of the foaming billows, until it is dashed into fragments and disappears from our sight. To enlighten that public opinion, and direct it to proper objects, is the duty of every friend of human happiness. To resist the onward movement of the human mind is impossible. It always has moved forward as a great whole, and it always will move in the same direction, to its ultimate triumph over ignorance, vice and crime. History teaches us this truth, our own expe- rience confirms it, and the Divine Being has promised his aid in accomplishing, through human means, the certain and glorious destiny of man. Our free form of government, our vast domain, our means of instruction, our benevolent institutions, our pure religion, our love of liberty, the example of our ancesters and the high aspi- rations of their posterity ; our distance from the old world, our soil, climate and productions, and the energy and sleepless enterprise of the American people ; seem to promise the world that this nation is to be the greatest and the most powerful one PREFACE. VII on earth. To its vast numbers, wealth and physical power, may its moral power be as vast, benevolent and good. But, if our free institutions must perish, through our suicidal neglect of education, may the day of their death be hidden from my eyes, by that God who has been our cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, during our entire national existence. I see before me, in the harvest-field, the Pickets, father and son, Dr. Beecher and Professor Stowe, Dr. Aydelotte and Pro- fessors Ray, Mansfield, Walker, Eells, Hamline, Purcell, Montgomery, and a long line of reapers, with their sickles, cutting the grain, and joyfully binding the sheaves and bearing them home. I take my place behind them all, and ply my sickle in the same vast field. If my through is a narrow one, I have endeavored to cut clean where I have reaped, and I have laid down the grain carefully, so that none of it shall be lost through my unskilfulness and neglect. When those who are ahead of me shall stop a moment to take breath, and look back and see me behind them, I shall expect them to smile, and not frown upon me, who with unequal steps and slow, am follow- ing them. While they continue to move forward, running a race, I do not expect to overtake them, but I hope to be able to keep in sight of them, though I shall be the very last reaper to get through the field. Those before me reap and bind as they move forward, but I leave my grain to be bound and carried off the field by others. I have cut and bound the tares into bundles and have prepared them to be burnt on the stubble-field, aftei the wheat is safely housed. CALEB ATWATER. Galt House, Cincinnati,} January 1, 1841. \ INTRODUCTION We, Americans, have been taught from our infancy to love our country, as the seat of liberty and laws, under a mild and happy form of government. The ends for which men unite in society, are, to enjoy security for their pro- perty, freedom for their persons, and protection in all their inalienable rights, from force and violence either domestic or foreign. Our form of government presupposes that we have a right to manage our affairs in our own way so long as we injure no one; and we may think as we please, and maintain our opinions orally or through the press without restraint, so long as we injure no one's reputation or pro- perty. The more completely these ends are answered, with the least diminution of personal liberty, at the least expense of time and money, to the individuals of any na- tion, the more perfect is any form of government. Abso- lute perfection, in any thing human, is not to be expected, because it no where exists on earth. During the entire period of time which the first six Pre- sidents of the United States occupied and adorned their high stations, under this government, we may justly chal- lenge all the historians and annalists of all other countries, in any age, to produce any other example, of such a mul- titude of people, as the American people, held together by so few restraints; with the enjoyment of so much liberty; so prosperous, at home and abroad, conquering the forests, building up towns, villages and cities; making roads and canals, whitening every sea, lake and ocean, with our can- vass, and visiting with our vessels, every port in the world; and thus extending our commerce, multiplying our manu- factories and improving our agriculture. The arts were fostered and our people were happy. Under the auspi- cious rule of our first six Presidents, all the advantages to be derived from any human government were fully enjoy- ed by all our citizens. 2 10 INTRODUCTION. On the exercise of any honest and honorable talent no restraint was laid; no odious distinctions between the rich and the poor were made; no exclusive privileges were pos- sessed by the former to the injury of the latter, but merit in every walk of life, had the freest scope. A vast num- ber of examples were every where seen, of persons rising by their talents, from the very humblest walks of life to the very highest distinction and eminence. Such happiness, prosperity and success, had their origin in the pure patriotism, intelligence and virtue of our rulers, and of our whole people. Vice, and all iniquity were ab- horred; virtue, honesty, sobriety, and industry, were es- teemed and honored. In those palmy days of this republic every man came forward and acted his part with vigor and energy; and, by the exercise of his talents, if prosper- ous, rose to the heights of wealth, learning or power. The people of Europe gazed with wonder on our prosperity, our increase in numbers, wealth and power, under a form of government so free from personal restraints, so cheaply administered, and yet, possessing an energy which enabled its people to repel all foreign invasion, and suppress all internal commotions. During the first forty years of our existence as a nation, under our present constitution, we passed through peace and war, generally healthful, except in our new settlements, though sickness sometimes raged in our eastern cities. We had, as many of our older peo- ple boasted, been tried in all situations and circumstances, and our ship of state had weathered every tempest, and it had ridden out every storm, in safety. At the time when our nation began its existence, nearly all the Monarchists of Europe gave it as their opinion, tha^t of all the forms of government on earth, the republican form was the worst for those who live under it. In a small state like that of San Marino, where the whole people resembled only a large family, they admitted the mere possibility of its existence and permanency, but for a people occupying a vast, widespread domain, they de- nied the feasibility of maintaining such a government for any length of time, and the possibility of its conferring happiness on any portion of the people who lived under its sway. In such a country as this, so large, occupied by INTRODUCTION. 1 1 people of different fortunes, different tastes, different opin- ions on religion, civil policy, science, literature, and almost every other subject, the writers of Europe could not see how we could get along without an established church, an aristocracy, and a king! These writers declared openly, that in such a country, governed as we were, there always had been, and there always would be a constant contest between the rich and the poor, the oligarchy and the mob — between a few popular demagogues, who aspire to do- minion, and an unruly multitude who set all wholesome restraints at defiance. In such states such an internal warfare, they said, had almost always been carried on, attended by violent convulsions and party animosities, which produced more misery than any other form of gov- ernment. They said it was to no purpose for us to quote the heroes of Greece and Rome. Amidst such turbulence, agitations and commotions, occasions might happen, they said, which would produce men who would shine with un- fading brilliancy; but, notwithstanding a few such shining examples, the great mass of the people were truly misera- ble. These writers declared it as their opinion, that even the most cruel despotism was preferable to a Republic, because, although the few men near the throne, under a despotism, might suffer from the capricious cruelty of the reigning tyrant, yet the great mass of the common people at a distance from the throne, were left unmolested, to pursue their several employments in peace and safety; whereas in a popular government the great host of rulers of all sorts, more extensively oppressed the whole mass of the common people — penetrated into the interior of fami- lies, and this republican oppression and cruelty reached the humble and obscure as severely as it did the rich and exalted, under the most cruel and unrelenting despotism. Such were our prosperity and success as a nation during the first forty years of our existence, under our present constitution, and such, in substance, were the predictions of nearly all the European writers, whose opinions of us and our institutions have reached us. But at the end of this happy and prosperous period, a change for the worse was suddenly effected; it seemed as if all the very fountain heads of liberty were poisoned. 1 2 INTRODUCTION. The evils of which we now complain are an ultraism, by which demagogues deceive the people, inflame the public mind, and lead astray a generous, brave and confiding nation. These evils extend themselves even beyond their common political limits. They extend their baleful influ- ence into families, they destroy men's private fortunes, ruin them in all their lawful pursuits, and pervert all the ends of good government. These evils are exemplified in the diminished respect of children for their parents; in the loose discipline of families and schools; in the declining respect of youth for age; in the low estimation in which learning, talents and genius are held; in the excitement of the poor against the rich; the country people against those who live in villages, towns and cities; and in array- ing one section of the Union against other sections; state against state, town against town: and, in embroiling the whole community about the fitness of candidates for offi- ces, not one of whom, perhaps, is fit for the station to which he aspires. During the last ten years, the wisdom of the country has been induced to stand back from po- litical affairs, because all good men saw nothing but con- tests for offices among worthless men. This view of the subject prevented the very best men in the country from taking an interest in results, which at best was a choice, and a poor choice, among evils. Our object in this essay is, to bring all good men back into the arena, to take their places in the ranks of the common people, and do their duty and never despair of the Republic; but, by their pre- cepts, example and influence, save this generation from destruction, and raise up a wiser one, to govern this coun- try, and hand down all our valuable institutions from age to age forever. To effect this object, universal education is the only remedy, in a country governed by the whole people. On the very brink of political and moral ruin, as a free people, once moral, patriotic and quite too confiding, all hearts are imperiously called on to unite in the common cause for the common safety. We cannot expect to be saved as a people, by a miracle. Our destiny is in our own hands, and if we will neglect to do our duty, we can- not expect that He who governs the world will reverse all bis laws, to save our Republic from ruin. The histories INTRODUCTION. 13 of all former, free nations, are but so many flaming torch- es which light us to the mouldering tombs of freedom. Shall we basely surrender our birthright? Have we paid the debt which we owe to our ancestors? Is our debt to our posterity paid? What will they say of us, if we neg- lect our duty to them? Loaded with chains and bowed down in slavery, will they not curse us for our neglect, our pusillanimous neglect of our duty to ourselves, to them, to our country and our God? Can freedom long dwell where ignorance and vice prevail? No, she will not, can- not tarry in such company. Her last footsteps may be tinged with blood, on every hill and plain of our country, but unless intelligence, virtue and patriotism constantly associate with her as inseparable companions, her flight will be from earth to heaven. Extinguish the lamp of freedom in our country, and all the lights of liberty now burning in Europe, may also be immediately extinguished on that continent. ESSAY ON EDUCATION. CHAPTER I. Education is the development of all the powers of our bodies and all the faculties of our minds. Man is a three- fold being — phy sical, mental and moral. To develop the whole man, to fit him to be happy himself, and to diffuse all around him as much happiness as he is capable of dif- fusing, is the proper business of education. Man is an immortal being, placed here for a short period, in a state of preparation for an eternity of weal or wo beyond the grave. He is a social being, and owes duties to his fellow- men — his parents, children, brothers, sisters, friends, and all mankind. He is a dependent being — on his Creator for his existence; on his parents, guardians and friends for his education. His nature, then, is three-fold — physical, mental and moral ; and, it is the business of education to develop all his powers, and teach him to perform, and how to perform, all his duties as a dependent, social, physical, mental and moral being. Education is necessary for man, inasmuch as without it, he is the most helpless, and even the most useless animal in the world. When first born, he can neither walk one step, nor speak one word; yet this same helpless, feeble, dependent being, after having been nursed and nourished by his mother — after having grown up and been educated, can visit in person every portion of this globe of earth and water. Properly edu- cated, he can walk abroad and every where behold and feel the beauty or the grandeur and sublimity of nature. He can move over the plain, and behold the waving har- vest, the verdant meadow, the luxuriant orchard, the gar- den, the grass plat, the cultivated field, the farm-house and the forest. He can ascend the mountain, and from its summit look down on the far distant river, winding its devious way along its banks, until it descends into some 16 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. lake or ocean. He sees the landscape diversified by hill and dale, copsewood and forest. Or he stands entranced, looking down on some boundless prairie or boundless lake, sea or ocean. Such is the natural world, presenting the self-same aspect to savage and sage, pagan and christian, whether old or young; but how different are the sensa- tions which are produced by beholding the same objects in different minds ! This difference is owing, mostly, to the different degrees of mental and moral culture of those who behold the same objects. Even the savage who has arrived at a mature age, who has been properly taught, sees what he believes was created by the Great Spirit; but how feeble and few are his ideas, on the occasion, compared with those of a Newton ! The savage can look up to the starry heavens, admire the beauty, wonder at the sublimity, and adore the Author of all he sees; but Newton could calculate our distance from the sun, and from every planet. He could foretell, to a moment, a new moon, or an eclipse of the sun or the moon, not merely for a year, but for millions of years yet to come. He could calculate the periodical returns of all the planets. He discovered all the laws by which all the planets are held in their orbits and are moved around the sun. He could travel back, down the long lapse of ages past, through the aid of history, and correct our chronology, so as to clear up all the doubts of the incredulous, as to the times of certain great events happening on our globe. Although the savage is greatly educated in the arts of warfare, of fishing and the chase; yet what is his education, compared with his, who uses the printing press, the steam engine, the telescope, the compass, the axe, the hammer, the saw, the plane, the auger, the screw, the wheel, the loom, the mill, the plow, the harrow, and all the machinery moved by steam, by water or by air? Admirable as all these things are, who would compare them with the sublimities and beauties of the moral world? Is not the soul with its capacities for eternal happiness, and its glorious destiny, more awful and sublime than all the beauties and sublimi- ties of the natural world? Is not the soul with its thoughts that wander through the universe and through eternity; its intellectual wealth and power, more valuable than all ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 17 this world of land and water, hill and dale, pond, lake, sea and ocean? Can the richest scenery of the landscape ri- val the heart in its purity and in the pathos of its affections? The same God who made the landscape, created the world of man. Looking on all the beauties and sublimities of this lower creation, and listening to all the sounds sent forth by babbling brook or thundering cataract; by sing- ing birds or musical man, what are they all but manifesta- tions of His wisdom, goodness and power, who created all things and governs the universe? What are all these things but so many volumes, forever speaking to the eye and ear of man? What are all the objects that we behold, the sunny plain, the breezy hill, the lofty mountain, the boundless prairie, and the boundless ocean, the prattling rill, and the madly rushing cataract, the lofty and wide-spread heavens, the smiling village and the crowded city — what are all these objects, we say, but faint images, yes, faint and imperfect images of the attributes of the incomprehensible Creator? - And what are the mind, the soul, the heart of man but "the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the dwelling place of Him who inhabiteth eternity?" How then can we com- pare the world of nature with the world of man? the won- ders of nature with those of grace ? the outward works of creation with the inward works of grace and mercy on the heart, the mind, the soul of man ? Man is represented to us by God himself as a fallen being, fallen from a state a little lower than the angels; and, as the very image of his Creator, to a state of moral degradation, beneath even the vilest animal of this lower creation. All history and our own experience confirm and fully prove the truth of this sad account of our fallen condition. How to develop all the powers of such a com- plex, fallen, dependent, social and immortal being, and restore him to his original purity and prepare him to be a blessing to himself, his friends, hi« country, and the world at large; and to prepare him for his high destiny in the realms of bliss, beyond the grave, is the business of edu- cation. Having made these preliminary remarks, we proceed, 3 18 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. as briefly as possible, on so vast a subject, to consider what we ought to do to effect an object, of such infinite impor- tance. We shall endeavor, as we proceed, to point out some of the great and awful defects in the education of our youth, and hint at the remedies which should be ap- plied to cure what may be called a national disease. First, then, man is a physical being. To develop all his natural, bodily powers, and bring them to maturity, requires proper food, nutricious, yet easy of digestion — or, his mother's milk. He requires pure air, proper clothes, and suitable exercise. He requires kind treatment, and the fond caresses of his parents. He who created the parent and his offspring, has implanted in the breasts of both the disposition to give and receive that kind of treat- ment most proper for both to render and enjoy to make them happy. As the child comes forward, and goes to school, every thing should be done to render his situation agreeable and happy at school. He should be brought along by degrees, as his strength of body and mind can bear it. Intense and long continued study pales the cheek, dims the eye and melts down the mind into a liquid mass. In such a case) what is the school-room but a mere prison, and the whole system of education but one of mental tor- ture? In that case, when fatigue, inattention to study, listlessness and languor are apparent to the teacher, the pupil should be permitted to exercise a few minutes only in the open air. A drink of pure water, and the applica- tion of some of it to the hands and face, will prepare the scholar for entering on some new study, or the resumption of the task which was left unfinished. Thus new life and new vigor will be infused into the whole system of mind and body. Long- continued and severe bodily exercise, at play, is equally pernicious as long-continued study, and both should be equally avoided. These matters belong to the teacher, who has the student under his eye, and they must be left to the discretion of the instructer. Where children are permitted to play one hour at any one time in a day, they learn no good in that day. This we well know. But we need say little on this branch of our sub- ject, because our object is, not so much to find fault with parents and teachers of all kinds, relative to the physical. ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 19 as to the mental and moral education of the present gen- eration. And, besides, whole volumes written on the health and diseases of children; how to preserve the one and heal the other, are within the reach of all, who wish to consult them. We pass on to the second part of our subject: — MENTAL EDUCATION. This should be various, interesting and valuable; such as will invigorate and enlai'ge the mind, and strengthen the memory. It should store the memory with good pre- cepts, apt illustrations and striking allusions. It should expand and elevate the sense of duty, refine and purify all the affections of our nature. We should study know- ledge, not so much for the sake of remembering it, as for the sake of applying all the principles necessarily involved in it. We should not only treasure up a great many use- ful facts, but having developed them fully in all their rela- tions, they should enter into the very structure of our minds, and become a part of the mind itself. These facts, thus treasured up, would enhance the faculty of thinking, improve the discipline of the intellectual powers, and en- large the mind itself. Thus educated, every man and woman in our country might not have the opportunity, the time and the means of becoming very learned, but they might have real wisdom and skill, and no inconsider- able share of intellectual power. A profusion of learning, without order or method, may hang loosely about a per- son, like the drapery thrown over a marble statue: but give us a mind which is master of its knowledge; that en- ters into its very essence, and forms a part of the mind itself. Education should be such, that it should be not a mere mirror, reflecting its own image, but a crucible, that melts down, decomposes and forms anew all its materials into other beautiful and useful forms. And here we stop, by the way, to say, that we have in Ohio, several hundreds of teachers, of both sexes, who pur- sue methods of instruction, well calculated to produce all the effects which we have been recommending. From what we have said already on this subject, it will 20 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. be seen, that by education we mean that discipline and instruction, which commences in the cradle, and ends only in the grave. It is the education of circumstances, which is constantly, though sometimes almost imperceptibly, go- ing on, in and around us; at home, abroad, while we are alone, in a crowd, at our tables, in our counting rooms, in our study, in the street, at the fire-side, at church, or in whatever place we are; superadded to the discipline which the mind is subjected to, in literary or scientific pursuits, whether they refer to the lower studies, such as reading, writing, grammar and arithmetic, or to the higher ones, such as the mathematics, the classics, and the more eleva- ted ones, such as the physical sciences, the exact sciences, and morals. All these, correctly and thoroughly pursued, under propitious circumstances, impart to the intellectual and moral faculties strength, correctness and elegance. In this broad view of the subject, we are all scholars, all our lives, and we are either preparing ourselves for entering into the society of just men made perfect above, or we are preparing ourselves for joining the vast assemblage of those who reject their God, their Saviour, and all good- ness. Having taken this broad, though comprehensive view of education, we now proceed to point out some few, though awful defects as we believe, in our system of edu- cation, mental and moral, now, and for many years past, quite too prevalent in our country — our whole country. But although there are many and great defects in our men- tal education, yet the greatest and most appalling defect has been, and is now, in our setting a higher value on men- tal than on moral instruction. The cultivation of the moral faculties has been neglected more than the mental faculties. DEFECTS IN MENTAL EDUCATION. One defect in mental education exists, in passing through studies without thoroughly fixing in the mind all the im- portant ideas belonging to such studies. One wretched pretender follows another, over our country, offering to teach writing, reading, arithmetic, book-keeping and gram- mar in a few lessons! Even those teachers who are in ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 21 some sort located among us, teach their scholars, like par- rots, to repeat answers to a number of questions. The end of the term arrives; the questions are asked; the pupil, parrol-like, answers them; medals and ribbons are distribu- ted; a display is made; the parents are enraptured; the pupil's vanity is flattered; but, in one short month's space, all the knowledge acquired at school is gone, and gone forever. A great improvement in our system of education, as it respects both the physical and mental education of our children and youth, might be made by introducing into every school in our country the study and practice of vo- cal music. It is not, but it certainly ought to be, consid- ered as a necessary branch of education, and as such, studied and practiced daily, in every school in all the land. Mr. Salomon, the principal of the German Immigrant Friend's Society school, has introduced this branch of education into his school of two hundred children, at Cin- cinnati. His school is commenced and concluded by sing- ing in German and English a verse or two of some hymn, after having first repeated, audibly and distinctly, the Lord's prayer. All the scholars stand up, the teacher pointing with a long staff to the gammut, or notes of music, plainly printed on the ceiling or a board, which is in full view of every scholar. There also are several full tunes printed on the same board. The teacher sounds the proper note, at which he points, and every pupil follows the instructer, singing through the eight notes backwards and forwards, until he strikes off into some tune, which is sung, first by note, then by the words set to it. This exercise having occupied but a few minutes, in the morning, the pupils all go to their several studies, but as soon as the teacher discovers that listlessness and languor prevail, calling them off from their several pursuits, he rises, and his staff points to the gammut board again. All the pupils arise at once upon their feet. The eight notes are sung, and soon two hundred voices are heard, singing with cheerfulness, life and glee — "Germany, sweet Germany," or some other song, that re-animates every soul, crimsons every cheek, and lights up every little sparkling eye in the school-room. In this way, new life is infused into the whole school. All 22 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. return to their several studies again, and continue on for a long time, perhaps until their labors fatigue them, when they are permitted to go out into the open air, wash their faces and hands, and drink a cooling draught of pure water. They then return to their labors with renewed vigor and successful application. Besides the re-animating effects of singing, such as we have described, the practice of vocal music strengthens the lungs. Dr. Rush, somewhere in his essays, we believe, says that one reason why the Germans are so seldom af- flicted with pulmonary complaints, is owing, in a measure, to their study and practice of vocal music; these being universal, prove a universal antidote, among that people, to that appalling disease. The neglect of this branch of study in our schools, we set down as a great defect in our system of education in this country. Some persons appear to doubt whether all children can learn to sing. If their physical, mental and moral faculties are good, there is no difficulty in the way of teaching them this art. If their hearing is good and correct; their organs of speech perfect, and if they are in good bodily health, they certainly can easily learn to sing. Let us consider, for a moment, what is required of a child to enable it to learn vocal music. First, the pupil must learn his letters and the characters used in music — 2ndly, he must learn to sound the musical notes, high or low, soft or harsh, swift or slow, long or short. And 3dly, he must learn to keep time. And is this, all this, more than is re- quired of him, to learn to be a good reader, or a good speaker? Certainly not. Whoever tried to learn to sing, under a good teacher, that did not succeed in learning music? None. If education be' the development of all the powers of our bodies and all the faculties of our minds, musical pow- ers being one of them, they must be improved and devel- oped, by studying its theory and practising on its principles. Are there any powers or faculties given to us in vain? We say no. Then we should all learn and practice vocal music in early life. Provided we learn and practice it as a relaxation from severer studies, and as an innocent and elegant amusement, it is highly to be prised. But it rises ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 23 in dignity still higher, when we consider its benevolent effects on the mind, the heart and the soul of man. It softens care, enlivens mirth, lulls the angry passions into rest, awakens all our sympathies towards those who suffer pain, either physical, mental or moral, and it tunes into harmony and love every discordant feeling. It can enno- ble, dignify and exalt into ecstasy, almost divine, all our moral feelings. It can raise all our desires from earth to heaven, and transport us, in all our feelings, so that our souls can join that high, holy, happy, and innumerable throng of saints and angels, who, with their golden harps and heavenly voices, continually sing the praises of God and of the Lamb, that was slain for us. And whoever is learning to sing such praises on earth, is preparing him- self, when his heart and flesh fail him, and he sinks into the grave, to join that happy throng around the throne of God in heaven, where sorrow never comes nor joy departs from them. Let us consider for a moment, what the consequences may be, if we neglect to teach our children to sing cor- rectly good moral pieces, set to music. Not a few of them will learn to sing incorrectly, and their songs may be im- moral and of wicked tendency, because, unless we appro- priate these musical powers to the service of God, they may be, and probably will be pressed into the service of the devil. In all ages and in all countries, these powers have been used by the conqueror to rouse up every angry feeling in the breasts of his warriors, to quicken their foot- steps, and to redouble their exertions in the battle field. What mighty armies have rushed on death, and crimsoned the earth with human blood, moved by martial music? What hosts of men have been corrupted, lost and ruined, by listening to obscene songs? Obscene songs and obscene paintings have done a vast deal of mischief in the world. Of every nation, civilized or savage, in all the world, ours is the only one which has no national music — not even one tune, which we can truly call our own ! We have a multitude of tunes, called original, but on a careful examination of them, not one of them will be found to be really American! Why this deficiency? It is owing to the mortifying fact, that we have neglected to cultivate 24 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. music in all our schools, as other nations have done. Let us open our eyes to this great defect in our system of edu- cation, and apply the remedy immediately. Why some Biitish traveller among us has not mentioned this deficiency of national music in his book, we cannot divine. Probably the hostlers at our inns did not know the fact. We proceed to consider the third, last and most impor- tant branch of education, which is, the cultivation of the moral faculties of man. The text books, contained in the Old and New Testaments, are to be carefully perused as the first in value of all books, which is emphatically called THE BOOK, OR THE BIBLE. This book teaches us that we are poor, fallen beings — fallen from our original purity, and that, unless we are born from above* we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. This same Book informs us what we are to do, in order to secure our everlasting salvation. It requires us to repent of our sins and believe on the Saviour of men, who died for us, to make an atonement for our transgressions: To put our trust in Him and his merits, following his example and obeying his commands. The essence of the christian religion is love — love to God and love to men. Faith, hope and charity, but the greatest of these is charity. In this holy volume life and immortality are brought to light. It gives us correct views of life, death and eternity; of God and his attributes; of the adorable Son of God; of the ruin and redemption of man; of the spirits of just men made perfect; of the innumerable company of angels; and of a new heaven and a new earth. One of its precepts requires us to do to others as we would that they, under similar circumstances, should do to us. In a few words, it requires of us that we should so conduct ourselves, that we should not be injured by our conduct — so as not to injure others in their health, mind, reputation or estate. That we should reverence, fear and love God, and obey him. Within these few, simple and plain bounds lies our whole duty, from the cradle to the coffin. Other religious *Our translation of the Greek word, anothen, is erroneous. JLnothen does nut signify again, but from above, as we have said, in the text. ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 25 systems have either gone down to the grave and perished forever, like those who adhered to them, or they are now mouldering away and falling down in the dust, before the onward march of Christianity; whereas the latter, perfect in itself, from its very first appearance on earth, is spread- ing wider and wider, and prevailing more and more, until it shall finally triumph over all its foes. The progress of Christianity is a standing miracle. Against the superstition of Jews and Pagans — against the influence of their priests, the ridicule of their wits, the reasonings of their sages, the craft of then politicians, the policy of their kings, and the prowess of their armies; against the axe, the cross and the stake; in an early age of its march, its conquests had extended from the banks of the Jordan to those of the Thames. Her laurels were alike gathered on the steppes of Tartary, the green fields of Europe, and the sands of Arabia. The altars of impiety crumbled down into dust, and fell prostrate before her onward march, and the feeble lights of philosophy disap- peared in the full blaze of the Sun of Righteousness. She looked with a mere glance at all human power, and its arm withered and fell lifeless by its side. In a short time, she who had gone mourning from the cross on Calvary to the tomb of Jesus, ascended the imperial throne and waved her broad banner, in triumph, over the palace of the Cae- sars. Her victories were as benign as they were triumph- ant, over all that pollutes, degrades and ruins man, subduing his understanding to truth, his habits to rectitude, and his whole soul to happiness. The more sublime, pure, comprehensive and enduring any religion is, the better fitted is it to elevate, purify, ex- pand and strengthen the soul of man. Such a religion is the better fitted also, to draw out from the depths of the human heart all the purity, loveliness and goodness that dwell there. How utterly insufficient is any other religion but Christianity to purify the affections, subdue our evil passions, and fill the soul with high aspirations to do our duty to ourselves, to our country and our God? Go to ancient Greece and ancient Rome, and converse with their heroes, sages, artists, philosophers, orators, 4 26 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. statesmen, poets, historians and men. What profound intellects, what acute tastes, what splendid geniuses did they possess? The Greeks dwelt in an insulated and strong position. Their climate was delicious, their scenery was sublime and beautiful, and their form of government was, at times, comparatively free. Their mythology contained much in it that was grand and fair, and yet how inferior was all their literature to that which Christianity has intro- duced into the world? Of the immortality of the soul they had some few, faint hopes; but of the resurrection of the body they knew noth- ing — no; in their wildest reveries they never even dream- ed that this mortal body would ever put on immortality. In the language of Thomas S. Grimke, Esq. " On the basis of Christianity stand all our institutions, civil, politi- cal, literary, religious, benevolent and social. Hence, the necessity of studying the scriptures, even if we only wish- ed to understand our duties as citizens, and be reputable among men. As a fountain of noble thought, of high as- piration to do our duty and be happ^ even in this life, let us study our Bible. But let us also ;Rtidy all our civil, lite- rary, social and benevolent institutions. If the develop- ment of a power to enlighten the conscience, purify all our affections, banish vice and crime, establish peace and con- cord throughout the world, be calculated to fill the soul with sublime thoughts and noble sentiments, who will deny that all our benevolent societies are so many pure foun- tains, from whence flow streams of pure and morally healthful rivers, rivulets and rills, that water, refresh and adorn the whole field of human life. " By raising the character of woman, Christianity has done a vast deal of good for her and itself in the world. In countries where Christianity does not prevail, a woman, if virtuous, is the slave of her parents and the captive of' her husband. The poetry, the eloquence and the litera- ture which have sprung up, in christian countries, from the character and influence of woman, may be compared to the starry heavens; whereas, all that appears in the lite- rature of Greece and Rome, derived from a similar source, scarcely deserves to be compared to a garden of flowers." The Greeks were admirers of whatever was beautiful ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 27 in nature or exquisite in art. The most beautiful pictures and statues have been produced in those parts of Europe where pure Christianity has made the least progress. These decorate and adorn religion* but they neither pro- duce nor advance it. They are the refreshments on the way, not religion itself, nor any part of it. Athens was the most learned and polished city in the world, when Paul first preached in it. It was so devoted to the fine arts, that it was said to contain more statues than men. Yet, in this polished and learned city, Paul's eloquence made but one proselyte, an Areopagite, a judge. Having thus far said little more of Christianity than a pagan might have said, who had become somewhat ac- quainted with Christianity one thousand years ago, we now proceed to look more deeply into its vivifying principles, their very essence, their benign influence, their origin, and their ultimate objects, consequences and necessary results. Without faith, such as the Gospel requires us to possess, we cannot have even one particle of Christianity in our hearts. Faith is the evidence of things not seen; it works by love and purifies the heart. It is the gift of God. This is the christian's faith. In its common acceptation, it im- plies a belief in the testimony of some witness, but the faith of Christianity is a faith more comprehensive in its meaning. We may believe all that the Bible contains, and yet not possess one particle of true faith. The devils believe, and they even know, that all that is contained in that Book is true. But their wills are not subdued to the will of God, nor are their hearts purified by their belief. The word heart is used in scripture for the moral faculties — for the will, the affections, the conscience and the un- derstanding. These are all defiled and polluted, like a poisonous fountain; and until the salt of Divine grace has been cast into them, poisonous waters will flow from them. Yes, the pollutions of sin have pervaded all our moral faculties, and they need, they all need, the purification of Divine grace. At the head of this guilty tribe stands a guilty conscience, stern, gloomy and hateful, and it cannot abide the presence of a pure and holy God, yet lashes the sinner with a whip of scorpions. To purify the guilty offender, pardon must intervene, and shelter it from the 28 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. curse, which rouses its fears and its resentment. This is effected by the atonement made by Jesus Christ, which purifies the heart from an evil conscience. The will is purified, when it is subdued to the will of God, and deliv- ered from its rebellion against its Creator, and most cor- dially submits to his good pleasure. The understanding is purified, when its errors are corrected, and all the mists and delusions which naturally darken its vision, and lead it astray, are dissipated, so that it clearly beholds the light of the Sun of Righteousness. It can then duly estimate the sinfulness of sin, and the loveliness of holiness; things carnal, and things spiritual — time and eternity. The af- fections are purified, when they are removed from base, low and unworthy objects, and placed on those which are high, holy, pure and good. They then cease to be at the command of every low desire, and every vagrant lust. They then loathe those profligate appetites, in the gratifi- cation of which the ungodly place their supreme delight — their paradise. They breathe after heaven, become chas- tened, and are the temple of the Holy Spirit. This reno- vation is effected by what the Bible calls faith. Unless it accomplishes all this, it is not a scriptural faith; it must work by love, and it must purify the heart, that is, the conscience, the will, the affections and the understanding. But it is the gift of God, of his free grace, through the atonement for our sins, made by His Son, Jesus Christ. But to all repenting sinners, who come to him with their whole hearts, He, who withheld not his own Son from death, but freely gave him up to suffer and die for us, will as freely give us faith, hope and every other blessing which we need, and ask him for its bestowment. And what are the fruits of this faith? In the first moment after receiv- ing such a gift from God as faith, the soul that so believes is ingrafted into the true vine, and receives all its nourish- ment from it, thenceforward and forever. " I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman," says our Saviour. By nature we are sour, wild, uncultivated vines, producing only sour, or bitter and poisonous fruit; but by being in- grafted into the true vine by faith, we produce good, and even delicious fruit. We obtain a well-founded hope of heaven, because, having obtained all the dispositions which ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 29 qualify us for the most perfect enjoyment in the society of angels and of just men made perfect, we shall carry with us, ourselves, our purified conscience, will, understanding and affections; and they will make us happy. Chanty, though called the greatest of all our virtues, flows neces- sarily from faith — it is social, and fits us for the immediate presence of God, his Son, his Spirit, the holy angels, and the spirits of the redeemed throng, who continually sur- round the throne with their songs of adoration, of praise and love. Such, in as few words as we can use, are our moral faculties; such, their natural, ruined condition; such is the manner of their restoration to their original purity, and such are its effects. These are our moral faculties, which have not been cultivated as much in this country as they ought to have been, the awful effects of which neglect we see all around us, in the ruin of multitudes of both sexes. Among our mental faculties may be enumerated, our natural love of justice; our sympathy with the afflicted; our admiration of the beauties and sublimities of nature and art; of great and noble actions, either in public or private life ; of great and splendid efforts of human genius, at the bar, in the pulpit, in the professor's chair, or in the popular assembly — in sacrificing one's self-interest on our country's altar; in forgiving and overlooking injuries from our enemies, &c, &c, &c. These great and noble facul- ties of the soul are exerted by the orator, the poet, the musician and the warrior. The exertion of these facul- ties, when they are great and successful, draw after them the admiration of mankind. Instead of a large volume on this head of our Essay, which might be written, and will one day be written, by some future author, we bring forward a few remarks, to set our ideas on this matter in the light in which we view it. We condemn not the admiration of the beauties of either nature or art. To admire the broad expanse of the starry heavens, in a clear night — of the boundless prairie and the boundless ocean, is a natural impulse of savage and sage, young or old, in all countries and all ages. So of the sub- limities exhibited in the falls of Niagara; in the mighty 30 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. conflicts of great and powerful fleets and- armies, as at Trafalgar, at the battle of the Nile, on lake Erie, and on Champlain. So of battles on the land, as those of ancient and modern times, wherein mighty armies contended for liberty, for empire and dominion. All mankind may justly admire the eloquence of Cicero and Demosthenes, of Sheridan and Burke, of the Earl of Chatham, and his son, William Pitt; of James Otis, Patrick Henry, the elder Ad- ams, and all that host of orators, statesmen and patriots, that adorned and ennobled our revolution. So of the beauties of nature and art; we may be delighted standing on some breezy hill, and looking down on the landscape be- neath us, diversified with hill and dale, copsewood and forest — the flowery meadow and the well cultivated field; the running brook, and the prattling rivulet; the gently flowing river, the unruffled lake or pond of pure water; the neat, white cottages of the farmers; their orchards, fruit yards and gardens; and we may listen to the lowing of their herds of cattle; the bleating of their sheep and lambs; the sweet songs of the birds in their groves, build- ing their nests or feeding their young ones. We may behold the distant city, the Queen of the West, thronged with thousands of human beings — all busy, all moving, all active, laboring at their daily toils. We may see the lofty spires of their churches, and listen to the melodious sounds of their bells. We may descend from the eminence, where we have stood delighted, and enter the church, and see the splendor there; see the choir of singers, and listen to their sweet and melodious voices, singing songs of praise, ac- companied by the organ and other musical instruments — all moving in a harmony which delights and enraptures our souls with exquisite pleasure. We may proceed from thence to some collection of statues and paintings, and behold with exquisite pleasure the labors of the best art- ists, glowing with almost real life ; showing every limb of the body, and every feature of the face; and all the pas- sions of human beings depicted in their very eyes, which seem to follow us, as we move about the room, where they are placed. We may look upon and converse with the most polished, refined and exalted living persons in all the land, and behold all the workings of a soul of the finest ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 31 mould, on whatever subject it dwells. The very eye of such persons reveals all the thoughts that enter into the mind. Of all the works of God, in this lower world, the human face of a good, well-educated man, or woman, in conversation, lighted up with thoughts pertaining to pure, high, great and good objects, is the most beautiful, inter- esting and delightful object which we possibly can behold. Man, as he was originally created, or as he may become, by rising to the purity and dignity from. -which he has fallen, is the most beautiful, noble, and morally sublime object, which this world presents to our sight. We may shed a tear of sympathy over human misery; we may be just in our dealings, from a natural sense of justice; and we may perform many of our duties to our wives, children and friends, moved by natural affection, as a pagan does, and yet be far from the kingdom of heaven. Or, in other words, unless our righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, we shall- in nowise enter into the society of the blessed spirits made perfect above. The Greeks and Romans equalled us in their admiration of all such objects, sublime and beautiful, as we have above mentioned. Their history exhibits to us many great men of splendid genius, and fine taste; and who expressed many noble thoughts and patriotic sentiments; who performed prodigies of valour, wrote beautifully, and reasoned inge- niously and acutely. They were powerful in debate, eloquent in the forum and in the mixed assembly. As generals, as poets, orators, statesmen, fathers and mothers, and men and women, they present to our view objects of noble thoughts and refined sentiments. They cultivated the mental faculties only, because, though the common people had some faint glimmerings of the immortality of the soul, and of a future state of existence — and although their poets indulged in some fictions on that subject, yet the great mass of the Greeks and Romans never dreamed that the soul existed after the death of the body. So that the nations of antiquity never cultivated the moral faculties of man, nor believed that they possessed such faculties. But we live in an age and country, in which life and im- mortality are brought to light in the Gospel ; and yet how many parents, guardians and instructors of youth, in our 32 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. country, our whole country, seem to have overlooked this most important of all facts in the education of the rising generation ? Thus we have stated what we call the physical powers of our bodies, our mental and moral faculties, and we have placed the whole subject in that point of view, as far as we have gone, in which a nation calling itself christian, should behold it. We will now proceed to point out some of the great, prominent defects in our system of education, to which we, as a people, and a whole people, are chiefly indebted for the prevalence of much of all the vice and misery now abounding in a country more highly favored than any other on the globe in its climate, soil and productions — whose form of government is as free as heart can desire it to be; and yet, our citizens are as far from being happy as almost any other people on the globe. Mortifying as this fact certainly is, yet a regard for truth compels us, however reluctantly, to admit the fact. Yes, with grief and shame, we admit the fact. Notwithstanding all our physical, mental, moral and political advantages, which are superior to those of any other people, in this or in any other age or country on earth, we are a most unhappy people. No foreign enemy has ravaged our cuntry with fire and sword, nor even set his hostile foot upon our peaceful shores — no pestilence has wasted us with disease and death — no king, under that title, has oppressed us with exorbitant taxes — no priests have collected even one cent of tythes from us — no press-gang has dragged our sons on board our ships of war — no monarch has, as yet, levied his conscription on our young men, and dragged them away from their homes, to serve in his armies in times of peace. But, on the other hand, a profound peace reigns among us — no disease wastes us, and we possess the fairest land beneath the sun; heaven has blessed us with an abundance of food and raiment; and yet, through the weakness and wicked- ness of our rulers and our people, we are, mentally and morally, a most miserable nation. Would that this was a mere fancy sketch, and not, as it truly is, a stern, sad, humiliating, heart-rending reality. All our evils grow out of our great and dreadful j ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 33 DEFECTS IN OUR MOKAL EDUCATION, AS A PEOPLE. There are, and certainly must be, some great and capital defects «in all our systems of education in this entire na- tion, otherwise, there could not exist among us, every where, so much vice and crime. These vices and crimes produce a vast amount of physical, mental and moral evil and misery. Some of these defects originated in commonly received opinions, and have been handed down to us through ages past, and not a few of them have grown up among us within a few years. But, the greatest and the most prominent defect in our system, is the universal pre- ference of menial over moral excellence. Nothing is more common than a belief, that early wickedness shows talent and genius; whereas, docility, gentleness, affection for parents, brothers, sisters and friends show stupidity. Gen- erally speaking, the very reverse is true — witness George Washington. How often do we see worthless men teach- ing youth to swear, to drink spirits, and learn them other vicious practices? Where depravity is permitted to take root, in early life, reformation is all that can be hoped for; and how seldom does reformation, in that case, appear, except, like a ghastly spectre, it approaches the miserable^ ruined wretch on his death-bed? It is an awful error to cultivate the mind, and neglect the heart* It would seem as if not a few of our wealthiest men in the nation wished to so educate their sons, that they may become the mere sport of their passions; and their daughters, so that they may resemble the meteor, flash, shine, spai-kle, glitter and glare, for a moment, and then vanish from our sight, and be forgotten forever. Look all over the Union, and be- hold the immense wreck of mind, of health, of happiness and of all the moral affections, and then tell us, whether the thousands and tens of thousands of wretched, ruined human beings whom we see, have not been awfully and shamefully neglected in their early education, by their pa- rents, teachers or guardians. Look at the sons of quite too many of our rich men: Early in life, even while they are beardless youths, quite too many of them practise 5 34 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. every manly vice, for the purpose of gaining the appella- tion of men. They are idle, they drink and gamble, asso- ciate with lewd and vicious persons of both sexes, and visit all the places where all sorts of vices are practiced. By all their conversation and all their actions they show us, that they are thoroughly initiated into all the fashionable vices and sins of these degenerate days. Dissolute in their manners, they either die very young, or at most, they live only a few years, but generally long enough to squander away on their vices all the property left to them by their parents. Their fathers have generally, before the decease of such sons, gone down with sorrow to the grave, dying of broken hearts. The lives of such worthless sons, are vain and wicked, and they die unpitied and unforgiven of God and man. Oh! who would envy the parents of such sons, however wealthy they might have been, or however high in office? Oh! what parent would not prefer to be poor, and strug- gle along through life, to give his children a plain, sound, good, common education, and rear them up in the fear of God, and have children that would eventually become honest, industrious, plain, useful citizens, than to give them great riches, and afford them great opportunities of be- coming learned professional men, and thereby run the great and awful risk of their becoming dissipated, vicious and worthless creatures? Look all over the nation, and see who are the very first men, in every prominent station in society, (except political stations) — in mechanical skill, in mercantile pursuits, in agricultural wealth, in learning, in civil, naval or military stations. Those men, so high, so rich, so learned, so respected, caressed and honored now, were once poor boys, mostly, and have seen the time, and can remember the day, when they neither had, nor knew where they could procure, even one dollar. In all ages and in all countries, we see the same good Providence governing the world in the same way. What was Homer, the greatest poet of all antiquity, but a blind beggar and strolling ballad singer? So, in modern times, what was Columbus but a poor wanderer from one coun- try to another, until Isabella sold her own jewels where- with to raise funds enough, to fit him out a small numbei ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 35 of crazy vessels, with which he discovered America? What was Martin Luther originally, who effected the Re- formation, but a poor, despised monk ? What were Milton, Locke and Newton? Those great and mighty men were school-masters. What was Shakspeare? A low player at the theatre in Drury lane. Now, he is England's boast and glory. Returning to our own country, the time would fail us, as well as our readers' patience, to tell of Franklin, Wirt, Monroe, and a long list of men, who have raised themselves from the depths of ignorance, poverty and de- pendence, to the heights of fame and usefulness. Gene- rally speaking, we may safely affirm that our men, most distinguished for wealth, honor, fame, skill, learning, wis- dom, and success in any calling, belonged either to parents who were poor, and so were driven to straits, and they struggled hard, to educate their children in the best way they could, teaching them to be industrious and skillful in their business; to be honest, faithful and kind to their fel- low-men; and, above all, to fear God and keep his com- mandments: or such distinguished and prosperous men were once orphans, without any father to educate them, though belonging to pious widows. Of such men, it may be said, that their temperance, industry, honesty, fair deal- ing, attention to their business, promptness, kindness and respect for their fellow-citizens, their strict integrity in all their dealings, their careful observance of all the duties which they owed to themselves, their friends and their God, procured them confidence, friends and patronage. Whatever they attempted to do, whether they aimed at the pinnacles of wealth, learning, fame, or honor, ascend- ing step by step, they finally placed themselves on the very summit of all their wishes. Arise, young men of the United States, whether rich or poor, and travel along through life in the road which we have pointed out, and success will attend you on your way, and crown you with comfort and happiness in old age. Thus we see, that poor parents, widows and orphans, who are struggling to do their duty faithfully, need not despond in their straits, be* cause, if they faint not by the way, success shall one day crown all their efforts with joy; their last days shall, as- suredly, be their best days, and the child, and every child, 36 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. that is trained up, in early life, in the way he should go, when he .is old, he will never depart from it. So that faithful parents and dutiful children, however poor they may be, need not despair in their straits, but casting all their load of grief and despondency and care on their heavenly Father's arm, He will come to their relief in due season. Why is it that the sons of rich men so often come to ruin, whereas, poor men's sons so frequently succeed in the world? Is it not owing, mostly, to the preference of the rich for mental cultivation to the moral culture de- manded by God, as well as by reason and true wisdom? And why do such men persist in such a course, regardless of the certain and the awful consequences of such a trea- sonable abuse of their high and holy trust of educating their offspring in the fear of God? Parents should govern their children, and teach them to govern themselves. Without the strictest self-government, we resemble a ship at sea in a storm, out of sight of land, without sails, rudder or compass. At the mercy of every wave of the sea, and every blast of air, we are ready to be dashed into pieces on some iron-bound coast, or foundered and lost in some whirlpool. The want of good, strict pa- rental government, we fear, is one of the great defects in education, at this time. To the reading of good books, and the keeping of good, virtuous company, and good in- struction from parents, should be added the good example of the parents themselves. Precept without example is many times useless. During a life of more than sixty years, spent mostly in public life, and among the crowd, consisting of all sorts of people, from the most savage and ignorant and barbarous people in North America, up to the very first in learning, science and literature: from the poorest to the most wealthy — .from the worst to the best in all the land, I can say, that I have never known even one young man go to ruin, except it was owing to the conduct of his parents, guardians or instructors. The reader will perhaps indulge us in saying that, not many years since, we visited, on business, one of the wealthiest families in our Great Western Valley. Our business being finished, and we were about to leave the house, when we were urgently pressed to remain a few ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 37 minutes in private, with the heads of this family. The doors were ail closed, when a tale, the most heart-rending, was told us by the afflicted parents. Their sons had ill become drunken, dissipated and worthless. " I have often read," said the father, " in my bible, of children who brought down the grey hairs of their parents with sorrow to the grave, and I know, with my whole heart, what that means." The tears flowed freely from both parents' eyes, bedewing the carpet where they sat, and they were convulsed with the most heart-rending sorrow. Their deep sighs, groans and tears pierced my very soul. At length I inquired if they had done all their duty to prevent the awful calamity which had overtaken them? They replied " that they had done all they could to prevent it. They had warned, ex- horted and commanded their sons to reform, but all in vain. In vain had they besought their sons, with tears, to reform their lives." But, on further inquiry, I ascertained that before they became very wealthy, in order to turn their abundant crops of corn into ready money, they had erected a distillery on the back pax't of their farm, wherein their grain was distilled into whiskey, so that every fifty cent's worth of corn had been made to yield them one dollar. The sons were permitted to spend every Sunday at this distillery, instead of going to a church, which was two miles off. Before the parents were aware of it, the sons had become drunkards, and nothing could be done to prevent their final ruin afterwards. The parents went down with sorrow to their graves, and the sons are ruined forever. How unwise, how wicked is it in parents to la- bor only for their children, by laying up and leaving to their offspring a large property, consisting of houses and jands, goods and money, and neglect " to lay up for them treasures in heaven, which no moth can corrupt, and no thief steal" from them? Had those now lost and ruined young men been sent to some Sunday School, instead of going to the distillery — had their parents taught them the truths of the Gospel, and set them a good example, in all human probability, they would now have all been alive, instead of being dead ; all prosperous and all happy, a bless- ing and a comfort to each other, and to all around them. Where the parent teaches one thing, but practices the 58 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. very reverse, the son, generally, follows the example, and neglects the precept of his father. If the father drinks to excess a very few times in his life-time, the son oftentimes becomes a confirmed drunkard and perfect sot. So of all other vices — the son finds them all out, and follows them, in his whole life afterwards. To those who feel all the paternal affection which belongs to almost every father in the world, this consideration ought to have, and will have, an influence on every action of his life. This considera- tion will lie heavy on his soul, at all times, and in all situa- tions in life. It tends to make us feel our own weakness and inability to do all we should do, and lead us to pray for the aid of our Great Father, to assist us, poor, frail, erring hu- man beings, in the discharge of our parental duties. CHAPTER II. FEMALE EDUCATION. The treatment and education of females, in this country, compared with the treatment and education which they receive in any other country, form a most striking con- trast. This subject, so important in itself, as it affects not only our females, but our whole community, demands our serious consideration. We are aware of the fact, that much has been written on this subject, especially of late years. Some writers, more particularly female au- thors, have said many excellent things, touching this mat- ter; but, we are equally well aware, that nearly all that has appeared in novels, or in silly periodicals; written, or conducted, mostly by frivolous young men, are utterly unworthy of women; and injurious, and even disgraceful to our country. Having said thus, we leave to them- selves such self-conceited and frivolous authors, and their readers and admirers. ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 39 In all countries, except in this Union, whether in Eu- rope or America, the females labor out of doors in the open air. They drive or hold the plow, and sometimes draw it, beside an ass or a mule, (as in Italy.) They rake hay, they use the hoe, the axe and the saw; they sow and reap the grain; and, in fact, perform all sorts of labor on the farm. They make long journies on business, and carry it on in their houses, shops, and store-rooms. At court, they are politicians. Forty years since, the far- mers' wives and daughters labored on the farm, in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and in all the settlements where Germans or Irish people dwelt in considerable numbers. The arrival of the New Englanders among them, banished the females from the fields to their houses and fire-sides. The change was beneficial to both sexes; but, from one extreme, how prone are we to vibrate to the other ! Are our females to be either kitchen-maids, without a particle of information, except it belong to mere labor of body, without any mental cultivation? A FASHIONABLE FEMALE EDUCATION. If they are taught any thing more, shall it be only, how to play on the harp, The guitar, and the piano-forte, to draw figures on paper or cloth, with a painter's brush or a needle? To dance a waltz; walk gracefully on their toes; make a handsome courtesy; keep an album; sing a fashionable song; wear a corset-board, false curls and ar- tificial flowers; hold a silly conversation on nothing; leer and look languishing; and, — act the fool? We have banished the former state of things, as to the treatment of females, and we now anxiously desire to see driven out of our land, the present frivolous practices which we have named. They are a disgrace to this en- lightened age. The main objects of educating females are precisely the same with those of educating the other sex — to de- velope all their powers and faculties, and, to prepare them for happiness and usefulness. We take it for grant- ed, because we know it is in fact so, that females are as 40 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. capable of attaining all sorts of knowledge as the other sex. Indeed they learn more easily, and at an earlier age, than the other sex. They are more easily governed and more plastic. We have already hinted at a fashionable female education. We now proceed to state what we wish our females to learn. In addition to the common branches of education, such as reading, writing, English grammar and arithmetic; we wish to see superadded, geography, chemistry, botany, vocal music, astronomy, algebra, rhetoric, mineralogy, geology, mechanics, natu- ral and moral philosophy, geometry, and all the branches of the higher mathematics; civil and ecclesiastical his- tory, biography; including more especially, the lives of great, good and distinguished women. By raising the character of woman, Christianity has aheady done a great deal for her, and itself. We wish to see it do more still, for her education, especially in our own country. "The dignity, purity, and loveliness of woman, ought to be made the study of both sexes. We ought to breathe into the very souls of our youth of both sexes, high and holy thoughts of the mother, sister, wife, daughter, and female friend. We should kindle into flame, a high, pure and holy admiration of a truly good, and, well-educated woman. Let us strive to make all hearts thrill into tenderness at the fidelity, fortitude and tenderness of woman. Civiliza- tion and Christianiiy owe much to women; to American women, in savage lands."* As we admit of no differ- ence, in the capacities of the two sexes for attaining know- ledge, so we know of no difference in the modes of con- veying it to their minds. What food is to the body, knowledge is to the mind; it adds to its dimensions, ex- pands, strengthens, elevates, ennobles, and, invigorates it. Right education of either sex, forms good habits and era- dicates bad ones. And, as good, nutricious food taken into the body, becomes incorporated with the body and forms a part of itself, so knowledge taken into the mind, and properly digested, becomes a portion of the soul it- self. To such a sound, thorough and extensive educa- tion of females, as we are recommending, we are well * Thomas Smith Grimke, Esq. ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 41 aware that there are numerous objections in this country; and we will proceed to state and answer some of them. It is objected, "that such an education occupies too much time, and, costs too much money." We reply, that by following up our plan of education to its end, would not occupy as much time, nor cost as much money as are now expended on acquiring the showy, frivolous and fool- ish education now in vogue. The present fashionable education, can, at best, only render happy its possessor for a few short years, which are happy enough, generally, without it. It then vanishes, and, disappears for ever; whereas, our system affords an education that lasts for- ever. At the very most, the first lasts until the female is married, whereas, the other endures forever. The early education of the daughter, ought to be more thorough, deeper, clearer, sounder, more extensive and bet- ter, than the education of the son; because the daughter, early in life, becomes a wife and a mother; retires from the world, to her own peculiar empire — her home. The son, if not thoroughly educated for his calling, at first, is compelled by circumstances, by the world, all around him — by rivals in business — by his own shame and emulation, to educate himself. Indeed, he is always learning some- thing, either by good or bad luck, useful for him to know. It is not so with the daughter who must learn in early life or never learn. Be a woman ever so wealthy in this country, she must know how to cook her food, to wash and iron her clothes and those of her family; to nurse her children and teach her daughters to do the same. If she have servants they may be ignorent, lazy, and worthless; and, there may be times when no servants can be pro- cured. She may be too poor to hire servants. So that every housekeeper must know all these arts of house- keeping. But, it is often objected, " that a sound substan- tial education, makes women pedantic, and disagreeable companions." Were that the case, we say, then make female education common. We never boast of having any thing which is common to all around us. Whoever boasted that he had two eyes, two arms, or ten toes? Although we admitted the validity of this objection, for the 6 42 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. purpose of showing that it destroyed itself, yet we deny the assertion altogether as applying more, or even as much to women as to men of learning, who are sometimes quite rough and rustic, if not pedantic in their manners. The farmer, the mechanic, and even the horse jockey, have as much pedantry, in their way of showing it, as the lady or the man of learning. Nay they have more of that com- modity which we may call pedantry. Vanity and obtru- siveness of knowledge and skill, resemble the noise, of shallow and small streams of water, which belongs not to large and deep ones which are silent and still. We take no notice of the crack and the flourish of a horse jock- ey's whip, because he is beneath ,our notice, but if a learned woman or a learned man should be vain of her or his knowledge we should notice and wonder at it, because it is so uncommon a sight, for us to see. So this objec- tion destroys itself, and, proves the contrary of what it affirms. It is objected "that good, sound, substantial knowledge in women, prevents their attending to their domestic duties, of wife, mother and friend." Can it be supposed, for a moment, that such an educa- tion, can so operate on her mind, as to make her forget her appropriate duties; make her hate her husband; will she cease to love her child and forget the duties which she owes to her God and her neighbor? "Credat Judaeus Appella — non eg-o." But if learning, even profound learn- ing can blot out connubial love and maternal affection, can ignorance give its Cimmerian votary, order, method prudence, discretion, industry, frugality, love, affection and all the domestic virtues? It is a common, maxim, "that we cannot have too much of a good thing," but if ig^ norance among women, is a good thing, we certainly have quite too much of it, at present. And finally, as to this objection to learning and consequent love of ignorance, can the latter make a good, kind, benevolent, industrious, intelligent, and faithful wife ; a fond, affectionate and faith- ful mother? We hold the very reverse of such an opinion. As it now too often happens, that, women of forty, know, actually less, than many a boy, only twelve years old! Even the lovers of ignorance in women, will hardly dare ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 43 to argue in favor of such a disparity of knowledge be- tween the former and the latter. For the consolation, however, of men, who fear that our system of female educa- tion will soon become so perfect that they cannot find igno- rant women enough for wives and companions for them, we can assure them, that do all we can, to educate them, yet, there will always be ignorant women enough for all such men. We hope this idea will console them. To another class of men, we say, consider, for a moment, the solitary state, in which women are placed; — the ill treatment which they sometimes receive, and which they are compelled to bear, in silence, without the power of complaining; and, these men, will be compelled to acknowledge, that the happiness of such women, must be drawn from their own minds. In such a case, who will be the happiest? the well read and well educated, or the ignorant women? Again, if pompous men, who fear women as their rivals in knowledge, prefer ignorant women, yet men of liberal minds and true politeness, prefer, enthusiastically prefer, a learned woman, as their wife, companion and friend, and for the mother of their children. They prefer a wife, whose conversation is agreeable; who forgetting herself, can strive to please them; can sympathize with them; soothe all their sorrows and render them happy. Such a woman can suggest a thousand amenities, and thereby fix her empire in the heart. She can render herself so agreeable and so necessary, that she may rise in the domestic circle, becoming its cement and its charm. .Domestic life is her proper sphere, and it is there, that she is most happy and most useful. Society too, owes to her, its ballance and its tone. In the circle in which she moves, she may correct what is wrong, moderate what is unruly, and restrain indecorum. She may prevent excess, check vice and protect virtue. Domestic comfort is the chief source of her influence, and nothing tends so much to improve the character of men, as domestic peace. Her smile can drive away and dissipate the cloud on her husband's brow and gladden his heart. The feudal system is gone forever, so that to secure respect, a woman must now effect that object by her 44 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. intrinsic qualities. For her real, intrinsic excellence, her usefulness and the happiness which she confers, on her husband, her children and the domestic circle, she is now most highly appreciated. To be happy, however, a woman must be pious. If religion be necessary in common troubles, how shall she be able to pass through graver sorrows, from which she is by no means exempt? Nothing is more affecting than a Woman's chastened sorrow. Her ties may all be dissolved, her fond hopes all withered, her affections blighted, yet peace may dwell in her heart and heaven in her eye. Such a woman, overwhelmed with deep sorrow, will retire to her chamber, her closet, and go with her whole heart to Him, who has said, " Ye that are weary and heavy laden, come to me, and I will give you rest. " It is in her silent chamber, she learns to look her sorrows in the face, encounter and subdue them: she thus becomes familiar with the features of her grief; she communes with affliction, as if it were a heavenly messenger, sent down, by her heavenly Father, to warn her that this is not her better home; and, that she should so pass through time, as to prepare for her eternal home. By thus communing with her affliction, her own heart and her God, she learns to cast all her burdens of grief, on that Almighty arm, that can, and will sustain her, lighten her load, and, make it easy to bear. Religion is exactly what a woman needs. It is the best and almost the only elevating principle. It identifies itself with all the actions of her life, because, all her actions flow from a heart, that has become a pure fountain, into which, the salt of divine grace has been cast. Heligion gives a woman, that dignity, which best suits her dependance; a dignity of feeling, not of station: she may be morally great, though her station be a subordinate one. Religion, in woman, is never more lovely, nor more dignified and morally sublime, than when it causes her to wipe off the tear, from the sufferer's brow; impart a martyr's courage to the humblest spirit; teach us, in the stillness of the sick chamber, to bow our heads in submission, to the Author of our being; and, endure our trials with christian fortitude. The greatest blessing attending female influence is the ESSAT ON EDUCATION. 45 promotion of religious feeling. A religious woman may, by gentle persuasion, enforce truth and cause religion to be loved for her sake. By her example she can best persuade others to love goodness. By witnessing its good effect on her, men may be brought, to correctly appreciate its real value. How efficacious has been such a silent appeal, when an open and direct one, would have failed? A woman may be so pious towards her parents, so affectionate towards her husband; so devoted to her children: she may so grace the family and private circle, that her religion is no longer condemned, even by the vilest of men. Many a pious son, has acknowledged with tears of gratitude, what he owed to his mother. Such a woman has witnesses of her goodness, in the hearts of all around her; but whatever she attempts to do, should be accompanied by humility. This remark, equally applies to both sexes. Jesus himself has set the example and all must follow it. We should doubt the success of any one, who attempted to use his or her influence, without humility, — without the lowliness and gentleness of the Saviour. The subject is so vast, and our capacities are so limited, that assumption only shows our weakness, where we should strive to follow and learn of our great Teacher. FEMALE FANATICS. What can be more disgusting, than to see women, some- times, even, very young women, arrogating to them- selves, not merely, the right of private judgment, but of dictation, in matters of great, conflicting, doubtful ques- tions of national importance? Do we not sometimes see them become the tools of some fanatic, some zealot, whose ever-varying opinions they blindly adopt and follow, in his erratic and eccentric orbit? The religion of such women, consists wholly of impulse and feeling. Their domestic duties are forgotten and neglected. They wan- der about from house to house, retailing the errors of the day; dealing out their favorite drugs and nostrums to 46 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. weak and wayward Christians. They travel around, car- rying with them specifics, which, if used, will produce the identical, mental and moral diseases which they pre- tend to cure! In this way, they may kindle, for a mo- ment, a little blaze, but it is not a fire which originated in the sanctuary. The coals which kindled it came from the empiric's furnace, not from off the altar. To such persons, we would say, that fanaticism is not true religion. It is a noisome weed, not the Hose of Sharon. Fanati- cism is ever bold and walks with long strides, unveiled in the broad street; tells her tale aloud, and courts display. She runs to the rich and to the poor, to the learned and the ignorant, stirring up strife and party spirit. How different is the modest and quiet mien of y^ TRUE RELIGION. She shuns the crowd of idle gazers, and opens not the garrulous mouth of fame. Known by few, seen by few, she may be found in the retired village, the private circle, or solitary chamber; but, wherever she is found, whether seated on a throne, or on a molehill; whether dwelling in a lofty and splendid palace, or in a lowly and sordid shed; whether commanding an empire, or, sold into slavery; whether adorned with diamonds, or, clothed in rags; whether in prosperity or adversity, joy or sorrow; peace and purity dwell in her heart, heaven in her eye, and in all her actions, dignity and love. One of the most important duties of a mother is due to her children. In infancy she is their best nurse, in child- hood and youth, she is their best teacher. No matter how many teachers the children may have, their mother cannot be dispensed with, because she is better than all others. She must teach the first lessons, and so teach them, that they will never be forgotten in after life. She must give life and energy to the whole system of educa- tion. She will teach her children either good or bad, be- cause her children will follow her example. It is the mother's duty to watch the early bias, to regulate the tem- per, and to mend the heart; to teach its young spirit to ascend to heaven in prayer, and to turn all the little in- KSSAY ON EDUCATION. 47 cidents of a child's life into lessons of wisdom. On the mother the child most sweetly smiles, confides most in her, and goes to her, in all its little trials, for sympathy, consolation and relief. To that great and good Being who has given her the child, should she teach it to go, as its heavenly Father, as its best friend, and rely on Him, his care, protection and love. These facts being so, the necessity of such a female education, as we advocate, is apparent. She may be placed where, unless she educate her children, they cannot be educated by any one else. She may be left a widow with children, and an estate un- settled and left in confusion, so that unless she is well ed- ucated, she may be defrauded out of her last dollar. Our laws do all they can do for widows and orplians, but they cannot do every thing. She must learn her rights, and maintain them. In all her trials, and in all her griefs, on. account of herself and her orphans, she may — she must go to Him who has promised her and her orphans that he will be her God, and her children's Father. To Him we may safely commend them. In political affairs, our females possess a great and commanding influence in this country. During our revo- lutionary struggle and the last war with England, this influence operated powerfully on the other sex. This same influence was felt and it prevailed in the Presi- dential elections of 1828 and of 1840. From the crest of the Alleganies to the Mississippi river, they and their chil- dren put down the then existing administration of the ge- neral government, in 1840. They sung, "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," into office, and most effectually "used up Van" Buren. 48 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. CHAPTER III, a dandy: or, a fashionably educated young man. See him, with his dumb watch, made for show, sus- pended to a gilt chain, of the value of twelve and a half cents, descending gracefully from his neck, over his bo- som, to his vest pocket, where it is gracefully deposited! With a cigar in his mouth, from which volumes of smoke are issuing, as from an active volcano! We see him, on a Sunday morning, stepping high, with long strides, pas- sing along the street and stopping at, and walking into, every grocery that is kept open, and there taking his drink. He can swear as profanely as any full-grown sin- ner of a man. He can walk, when sober, on week days, gracefully on his toes, in his shrieking boots or shoes, and, if his stays will permit him, he can stoop so low that, with his little graceful cane, he can pick up his pocket hand- kerchief, which purposely he had let fall! Converse with him, he talks big, looks big, feels big, and acts big. He is a man, and a great man, in his own estimation ; but he cannot tell us how many states there are in the Union; how many planets belong to our solar system; nor the difference between a monarchy and a republic. He can rail against the administration of the general government or praise it, as is the fashion of the party to which he be- longs. He can rail at all priests, scoff at all religion, and blaspheme the name of God and of the Saviour who died to save him. He prates of his acquaintance with every fashionable young lady, and well remembers the very name of her lap-dog! What a surprising memory ! But, can he remember the Lord's prayer and the ten com- mandments? No; these he has never learned. He fan- cies that his looks, his dress, his address, his slender per- son and leaden eye, can captivate all hearts, especially KSSAT ON EDUCATION. 49 those of the ladies. He is determined to marry a fortune. And when he goes into business, all the world will cei - - tainly come to his store to purchase their goods — or to his shop for* medicines — or to his law-office for advice. His father, he says, was educated when the world knew no- thing, and so taught him nothing. He knew not how to captivate all hearts by a mere look, by the dangling of a watch-chain, and the cut of his hair, and so he failed to amass a vast fortune for his son to waste. His wiser son says to himself, that he will soon show us how a fortune is to be made by his cleverness in business. He must begin the world, though, by a runaway match, and thus he gets an heiress for his wife. Her parents are over- whelmed with the calamity at first, but loving their daugh- ter, they relent, and set him up in business. Extrava- gance, and want of care and foresight, involve him in diffi- culties of all sorts, and finally he fails, and becomes a ruined bankrupt — bankrupt in fame, character, health, and money. His wife dies with grief, and her parents follow her and des- cend into their graves, leaving their worthless son-in-law a monument of his own folly, self-conceit, and wicked- ness. He totters around a few short years, out of busi- ness, out of health, and an object of scorn, which no one pities and no one aids. He dies and disappears from hu- man sight, and is soon forgotten, without even a stone to tell us where he is buried. And this end of a fashionable young man and a fashionably educated young lady, is the very best and most correct one that can be drawn, with truth and impartiality. By far the greatest number of both sexes do not live long enough in the world to pass through such a life, opening with a farce and ending in a tragedy. No; ninety-nine out of every hundred such young men and young women run a shorter race on their way to the grave. The young man by drinking, gam- bling, and lewdness, contracts diseases which carry him off at an early age. The young lady, as she is polite- ly called, by tight lacing, by exposure to the night air, after leaving the ball-room, the theatre, or the crowd- ed assembly-room, contracts a violent cold, which ends in a pulmonary consumption that carries her off to the 7 50 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. grave, her long home. Such is a fashionable education for both sexes, and such is the fashionable end of it. The sooner such persons disappear from our sight, perhaps, the better for them and for the world; but we advocate a system of education which shall prevent the whole play, consisting of such a farce and ending with such a tragedy. THE WORTHY, WELL-EDUCATED YOUNG MAN. Let us consider for a few minutes, the character of a worthy young man, from his early years until he is ready to settle himself down in the world, in the western states. He goes to school when he is four years old, loves his book, his school, his teacher, his parents and friends. He is anxious to learn every thing that is useful for him to know. He obeys his parents and teachers, and relies upon them, and feels grateful towards them for all their kindness, care and attention to his wants. His confiding disposition, his anxiety to learn, and the consequent rapid progress in all his studies, encourage the hearts of his in- structors to redouble their exertions to teach him. His industrious habits and success in learning conciliate the esteem of his equals, and draw towards him # a favorable notice from all persons who happen to know him. Such conduct, such success, and, accompanied too by such a good disposition of mind, are considered by all his friends as certain presages of future greatness, goodness and emi- nence. The confidence in himself is encouraged by all the tokens of regard that flow in upon him, owing to his good behavior, and he presses forward in his course learn- ing more and more, faster and better as he proceeds from study to study. He stores his youthful mind with use- ful facts, apt allusions, and striking ideas, which he knows that he can draw out of his storehouse, his mind, as he needs them in after life. All that he learns he thoroughly learns; thinking closely, intensely, and for a long time, until he has methodically laid away in their place, in his mind, all the ideas belonging to all the studies which he pursues. He looks at all these, to him, new ideas, in all their relations and bearings, until he has melted them down in his own mental crucible, so that he can, from this liquid ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 51 mass, produce new and beautiful forms, such as his pecu- liarly constructed mind can bring forth and exhibit as his own. From his earliest years, he has been taught to read his Bible, to go to church and attend a Sunday school. In that Bible, in that church, in that Sunday school, and at the fireside, and in all the good books which he reads, he learns his duty. He diligently attends on the Sunday school, and becomes acquainted with the evidences in fa- vor of the truth of revealed religion, and becomes sincere- ly attached to the Christian system, and is not ashamed to avow his attachment to it and its Author. To his parents, instructors, and superiors, in age or station, he renders all proper respect and deference, on all occasions. To his equals and associates he is bland and open-hearted, kind and conciliating, and to his inferiors he is condescending, courteous and polite. These are his manners. His dress is plain and neat, and he is neither the first to follow the fashion, nor the last to leave it, avoiding all extremes, and all singularity in his dress, manners, and appearance. His politeness springs from real goodwill and a desire to please and oblige all with whom he has any intercourse or dealings. He is honest and scrupulously just. Rec- titude of intention, honesty of action, and an aversion to all deceit, from a sense of justice, prevent him from in- juring others in thought, word, or action. Dishonesty is becoming so common in the world, that every young man should look into his own bosom, and there subdue all in- clination to be guilty of it. It arises from a wish to ap- propriate unjustly to our own use, what belongs to ano- ther, regardless of the means of acquiring it. A noble and a generous spirit will scorn to use base means by which to acquire either reputation or property. Dis- honesty is the greatest sin of not a few people. It leads them to wrong others, by fraud, by theft, forgery, perjury, and a long list of crimes which degrade and wholly ruin the dishonest man. It leads them into lawsuits and quar- rels — into the jail, the house of correction, and the peni- tentiary, and some times even to the gallows and to an ignominious death. Strict integrity and undeviating rec- titude are the bond, and the best bond, of social life, and 52 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. the hinge on which individual respectability and domestic happiness are constantly turning. Intemperance in drinking to excess he will always avoid. This dreadful vice now fills many a family with misery — the jail with inmates, and the penitentiary with criminals. It originates frequently in respectable com- pany, who drink a cheerful glass of some weak beverage to pass off a few minutes ot leisure; but, increasing in the quantity, and in the quality, and in the frequency of taking it, the victim is at last a confirmed drunkard and loses his reputation, his friends, his business, property, and health. He finally sinks into the grave, a wretched, ruined man. In the language of Dr. Blair, "Sobriety of mind includes in it moderation, vigilance, and self-government. The whole state of the youthful mind is opposed to this com- prehensive virtue. To the young man, the world often presents in prospect, the most flattering scenes of happi- ness. The field of hope presents blossoms on both sides of the path that leads through it. Impelled by desire, youth madly rushes forward, credulous, vain, and head- strong. But the considerate young man will see, that all are not equally prosperous who are apparently born to the same fortune. Some, by wise and steady conduct, attain to honor, comfort, and happiness; while others, by bad conduct, by mean and vicious behavior, involve them- selves in misery, and they end their career by becoming a disgrace to their friends and a burden on the communi- ty. The wise and considerate young man will hence see, that much of his own happiness or misery, honor or infamy, must depend on his own conduct. At such a mo- ment, the young man must form his plan of life before he has committed any irretrievable errors. If at such a cri- tical period of his existence he gives himself up to sloth and pleasure — if he attend to no counsellor but pleasure — if he allow himself to float along down the stream of time without any plan of life, but to enjoy himself in fri- volous amusements, and criminal pleasures, what can he expect from such a bad beginning? Shall any one find wealth, fame, learning, honor, or success in any calling, without labor, care, diligence, and great efforts? Will God reverse all his laws for him? No, my young friends, no; ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 53 because, He has said, "Seek me early and ye shall find me;" — "Take heed to your ways, and ponder on the paths of your feet;" — "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth;" — "Whoso refuseth instruction, shall destroy his own soul." By taking heed to these admonitions, young men of the United Stivtes, you may live the rest of your days in prosperity and honor; but by delivering up yourselves, in your youthful days, to levity and giddiness, you will lay a bi-oad and durable foundation for heaviness of heart. In the course of human affairs, you will always find, that a plain understanding, with a good common edu- cation, accompanied by a good character for sobriety, honesty, industry, and strict attention to business, will do more for you than great learning and splendid genius, "without such virtues as we have named, can do for you. Such plain, substantial men have acted the principal parts on our theatre of action. Such a character is vigorous; it breathes a generous spirit, quickens diligence, is free from pernicious pursuits, and lays a foundation for all that is high, noble, and honorable among men. Such a man was George Washington, the father of his country, and such was Benjamin Franklin. In the language of Dr. Blair; "Feeble are the attractions of a fair form without, where it is suspected that all is worthless within. By whatever arts any young man gains a little celebrity at first, he cannot expect to keep the hearts of men, except by constantly showing the world that he really possesses intrinsic good qualities. Such a worthy young man as we are portraying, is cheerful, kind and social. Superstition does not cloud his brow, shai*pen his asperities, deject his spirit, nor teach him to fit himself for the other world by neglecting this. By attending to all the duties of this life, we best prepare ourselves for the next life. Modesty and docility in youth are sure indications of rising merit. Rashness, self-conceit, and obstinacy are great faults, which every ingenuous youth will carefully avoid. Sin- cerity and truth are the basis of every virtue. Dissimu- lation in youth is likely to grow up into perfidy in old age. It degrades the character into meanness, dims all the lustre of learning, and brings the offender into con- tempt with God and man. To stoop to no meanness, and 54 ESSAY. ON EDUCATION. to no dissimulation, are indications of a great mind des- tined for eminence and distinction." Let him consider well his own genius, the situation and circumstances of his parents and friends, the place where he lives, the peo- ple where he dwells, his own education and inclinations, before he fixes on his occupation for life. Let him con- sult his parents and the friends whom God has given him for his advisers, on a matter of so much consequence to him. At the opening, the spring-time of life, however fair tjie field of life may be, all blooming with flowers of every hue, the streams may all be full, sparkling as they flow; but the summer of middle life shall dry them; all the flowers shall fade, die, and fall off, hoary autumn shall come, 1 and "the pale concluding winter" of old age "shall shut the whole scenery at last."* Having fixed on a plan of life, whether it be to cultivate the earth as a farmer; follow some trade, as a mechanic; some profession, as a lawyer, doctor, minister of religion, merchant, civil or mi- litary engineer, an officer in the army or navy, or a teach- er of youth, they all call for, and imperiously demand, all the virtues which we have recommended. They all re- quire us to cultivate good dispositions, in our hearts, and, unless we constantly show the world that we possess them, the hold that we may have on the hearts of others will be found frail indeed. To all professional young men, we say: No matter how learned you are already, unless you exert yourselves every moment to keep pace with the world around you, your rivals will outrun you in the race. No matter how wealthy you are at the start, un- less you watch carefully, all your business, your riches will take to themselves wings and fly away. In this republic, all honest, useful callings are honorable, and it requires a good sound education to be useful, very useful, in any of them. All persons may not need great learning, but they all certainly need true wisdom, and a considerable share of intellectual power. We should know, and well know, all that our occupation demands us to know. Agriculture is an art, and a great art, which should be well understood by all that follow it. The pro- * Thomson. ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 55 per culture for the earth, how to prepare it, how to ma- nure and mix it with other earths, or cover it with com- post or manures; what grain or plants the farm will best produce; what crop will be most profitable; what cattle, sheep, or hogs we should rear, and how to cross their breeds, are all matters of importance. And, above all, the farmer should discard from his mind all envying and hatred of the people who live in towns, villages, and ci- ties. Such a wicked feeling corrodes the heart in which it dwells, and leads its narrow-minded votary to oppress his fellow-men. There are those who flatter such illi- beral men, and appeal to such wicked prejudices for the purpose of procuring their votes at our elections. Let our farmers beware of such sycophants, who often boast of their success, and despise those whom they have de- ceived. We are all one people, one body; and a man will be as free from pain with his arm, his leg, or, if you please, with his little finger, cut off, as the farmers would be happy and prosperous could they effect the destruc- tion of the merchant, the mechanic, the lawyer, the doc- tor, the minister, or school-teacher. They are all neces- sary, and may be all useful to each other. Banish from our country all the occupations but that of the farmer, and blot out all the towns from our political map, and we should revert back to the state of pastoral life; or be- come perfect Arabs on our wide-spread and boundless prairies of the Far West. Every man who has sworn to keep our constitution, has in effect sworn that he will pro- tect all the people in their just rights. His duty and in- terest arc the same, precisely the same, in this matter. These remarks seem to be called for, at this time, and we make them, moved by the most friendly feelings towards those who follow the same occupation which our own father, and father's father, followed for a living. As it now often happens, the farmer comes into town, and with envy sees the tailor dressed in a sleek new coat; the shoe- maker and his family he sees wearing handsome new shoes; the blacksmith's horse is well shod; the carriage- maker is riding out with his family in a new carriage. The farmer walks into the dwelling-house of the cabinet- maker, and there sees new bureaus, tables, and bedsteads, 56 ESSAY ON EDUCATION'. and all sorts of beautiful household furniture, and envy, if not hatred, fills the mind of the beholder. But the tailor, the shoemaker, the blacksmith, the carriage-maker, and the cabinet-maker, procured and made all these things, at night, after their customers' work was done, when they had nothing else to do, while the farmer and all his family were asleep — fast asleep. To procure these fine things for his family, the mechanic labors two hours to the far- mer's one hour of labor. Or, if the envious farmer should walk through the apparently rich man's house, in a city, and see all his large mirrors and splendid chandeliers, his .sofas, his carpets, and his glittering furniture, his nume- rous servants, and all the show, glitter, and glare around him, it is ten chances to one that he is in the house of a perfect bankrupt then on the very verge of ruin. Soon shall the marshal or the sheriff sell all these showy ar- ticles at a public sale, and all the inmates of such a house be scattered to the four winds, poor, pennyless, unpro- vided for, and miserable. And, in losing all the property he had, if this man has not lost all the reputation and all the friends he ever had, he is more fortunate than most such men are. And, as to the envy which a farmer feels while he is in a town or city, when he sees some fashion- able young lady tripping along on her toes, with her little parasol for a staff, and her person all covered over with spangles; her face surrounded with artificial flowers, while she looks every one full in the face; — or, if he sees some young man lounging about — a real loafer (a young gentle- man !) — dressed in the height of the fashion, with his gilt watch-chain adorning his bosom, fastened to a worthies? watch in his pocket, — we say, that such creatures are as far beneath the farmer's notice, as a lady's lap-dog or a baboon. ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 57 CHAPTER IV. INSTRUCTORS. But education presupposes teachers; and who are they? Although it may be thought by some of our readers to be a mere repetition, yet we answer the question, by saying, that our teachers are our parents, and all, and every one, who instructs us — teachers of youth by profession — mini- sters of religion; the books which we read, the company we keep, the circle we move in, the business we follow, the institutions with which we are surrounded — civil, so- cial, literary, religious, political, and benevolent. Let these be good or bad, elevated or low; be we old or young, rich or poor; whether we bear rule or be bowed down in slavery, under good or bad masters, we are all learning something good or evil, or both, every day of our lives, from the cradle to the grave. As wave urges wave forward, so all these things are moving us onward, to- wards the shore of the eternal world, on which we shall all soon land, either in safety, or be wrecked and destroy- ed on the coast. And, our school-room is in every place, in the whole world, wherever we may happen to be, du- ring our whole lives. Just so numerous are our teachers, and, so large is our school-house. Such, too, is the length of the term of going to school — it is during our whole lives. But, although our teachers are so numerous, yet our parents, and our teachers by profession, of all sorts, are under more and stronger obligations to attend to the duty of instructing us, than any other persons. They can do more for us, too, than any or all others. He who made us parents and gave us children, has commanded us to train them up, in early life, for Him, and, He has made it the duty of children to obey, love, and fear them and 8 58 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. Him. It is the duty of all persons to aid us in this holy work of educating the youth of our country. But it is the duty of men of wealth, learning, and high stations in society more especially to educate the youth of the nation. Keeping in view the great, general objects of educa- tion, some of our duties as teachers grow out of the cir- cumstances which surround us, such as the country and the age in which we live, and the dangers to which we are peculiarly exposed. Our government is republican, where the only sovereign who reigns in the country is, The Sovereign People. To make this sovereign a wise and a good one, he must be so educated and brought up, that he will be wise and good. In such a country, it is not enough to have in it a few wise men, a few good ones; but a majority of the whole mas® must be wise and good, or the sovereign will rule us with the rod of op- pression. Suppose, for a moment, that we had one-fourth or even one-third of those who vote at our elections, (and so rule the country,) well-educated, intelligent, virtuous, and patriotic, and the other two-thirds of the voters, if ignorant, vicious, and worthless, we might have the very worst government in Christendom. Hence the necessity of universal education, where universal suffrage governs any country. The teachers of such a country are, in fact, the most important persons in the land, because the liberties of the country are in their safe keeping. They are the real, and, indeed we might say, that they are the only officiating priests in this temple of freedom. They are of more importance than the uneducated warrior, because, without instructors, in this age of science, in the art of war, all our exertions against a foreign enemy, would be useless and unavailing. And, besides, that day we hope is not very distant when wars will cease; when a Sun shall arise, eclipse all the glare of military glory, and wither all the laurels on the bloody heroe's brow. We have in the state of Ohio alone, at least four hundred thou- sand parents, — we have two thousand preachers of the gospel, and twenty thousand teachers of youth, in our week-day and Sunday-schools. What a mighty host of teachers of youth! If all these teachers did their duty to ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 59 themselves and to their proper pupils, what a vast amount of useful knowledge might be conveyed into the minds of our people? We have merely hinted as yet, at the high, important, and dignified station which the professional teacher occupies in a nation like this, from the political institutions of this country. He should be thoroughly ac- quainted with all our institutions of all sorts, inasmuch as he can draw no, or almost no aid from foreign sources, because no European lives in a country governed as this is, by universal suffrage. No one has told us enough, of the moral, literary, scientific, and political dignity of the professional Teacher. Those who are educating either themselves or others as they ought to be educated, are preparing themselves or others to become useful, prosper- ous, and happy citizens. They are doing more — they are preparing themselves and others to enter on a state of fe- licity, never-ending, such as no tongue can tell, no ima- gination conceive. Without a host, a great and mighty host of good teachers, constantly employed in every por- tion of our country, in training up our children and youth in the ways of truth and righteousness, our republican institutions will, and must perish, and we, as a free people, be blotted out of the list of free nations. As to the qualifications of teachers, we desire them to possess an intellect, strong, vigorous, prompt, and in- quisitive, — a temper open, generous, cheerful, noble, for- giving, condescending and kind; full of tenderness, and alive to every social feeling, ardent, and at the same time en- terprising and persevering. They should love their employ- ment and be fond of children. They should be industrious, active, vigilant, and easy of access. They should always be ready to enter iuto all the little incidents of a child's life, so as to turn them all into lessons of wisdom. They should maintain a strictly impartial government over their pupils, and never permit any of their scholars to tyrannize over their fellow-pupils. Teachers should govern their own spirits on all occasions. The very first step towards go- verning others is to govern ourselves. This remark ap- plies to all who command men. Those great and mighty men, who have commanded armies and navies which have achieved victories, great, splendid, and glorious, were 60 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. cool, collected, and calm in danger, and in the battle. Without possessing this self-government, no one is fit to teach a school, govern a family, or pass through life in any station with reputation, honor, or usefulness. Their lite- rary and scientific acquirements cannot be too good nor too great to fit them to teach even the youngest child. To teach any one of our common schools, the teacher should be a good reader, one who could spell and pro- nounce correctly, every word in our language, write every sort of hand in use, understand book-keeping, Eng- lish grammar, arithmetic, geography, history, especially of our own country, and be well acquainted with our con- stitution and the institutions, resting on its provisions as a foundation. All these things should be entirely familiar to the teacher, so that he or she perfectly understands them. In addition to all which knowledge, there should be a faculty of conveying all their information to their pupils, so that they may entirely and perfectly understand and fully comprehend all the ideas belonging to the seve- ral branches of learning which they teach. We have seen teachers who appeared to know more than they could well teach others. We do know some teachers, how- ever, who possess the faculty of conveying knowledge in so clear and perfect a manner, that we have sometimes feared that their scholars would rely too much on the teacher's instruction, at recitation, and so would neglect to study their lessons as thoroughly as they ought to do. Such instructors, as those whom we have last referred to, being confined mostly, in this state, to Cincinnati, we need say no more on that failing, if it be one. There is more danger to be apprehended, perhaps, in this state, of young men being employed as teachers, while they are studying some profession themselves ; and, of their study- ing their own lesson and neglecting to teach their scholars theirs! For parents to spend their money in educating the young men who travel over the land teaching school, to collect the means of educating themselves, and study- ing, instead of teaching, is neither just nor profitable to those who are thus imposed on by such young men. Every teacher should understand vocal music well, and be able to teach that branch of learning. Every school should ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 61 be opened with the Lord's prayer, every scholar standing on his feet and audibly repeating it. This being done, the teacher should point to his gamut-board, sounding every note, backwards and forwards, every scholar accompany- ing the teacher with his or her clear voice until the in- structor points to the notes of some full tune, which being sung by the notes correctly, it may then be sung by the words set to it, while every little eye in the school-room sparkles with delight, and every little voice is heard clear- ly joining in the song. In his or her manners, every teacher of any school should be, if a man, a perfect gentleman — if a woman, a perfect lady. Children always catch the manners of their parents, their teachers, and their associates; more especially all their singularities, rudeness, and every thing vicious or bad. Hence, we see the absolute necessity of employing only persons of good manners, good principles, and pure morals, as instructors and companions of children and youth. So apparent are these truths to all persons of reflection and observation, that we need only mention them in order to gain the assent of all well-informed pa- rents and guardians. But, however apparent these truths are, we feel it our duty to add, that teachers of youth can only teach what they themselves thoroughly understand and know; and what they love and are imbued with; how then, can a rough boor of a man, or a coarse virago of a woman, teach gentleness of manners, mildness, kindness, benevolence of disposition, respect for superiors, condes- cension to inferiors, and politeness to equals? How can a vicious man, or woman, teach virtue? Example is better than precept, and, unless they accompany each other, we should doubt the success of the latter, where the former was wanting. Thousands have been everlastingly ruined by being placed under the instruction of unprincipled teachers. A drunkard, a gambler, a profane swearer, a sabbath-breaker, an infidel, and a dishonest man, should never undertake to instruct children or youth; even to teach them their letters^ much less any profession, art, or trade. Such wicked men will have enough to answer for, when called on to account for the destruction of their own souls, with- 62 i ESSAY ON EDUCATION. out superadding to their guilt, the ruin of the souls of others, who were placed under their care and superin- tendence. How often are orphans apprenticed to men, for. the purpose of learning some trade, whose education and morals are shamefully neglected? The laws of the land may never reach such delinquents, but their punish- ment is sure, and not very distant. There is an Eye that sees all their sins, and a Hand that will reach them and punish them. The orphan's tears, sighs, and groans, un- der the oppression of cruel and unfeeling masters and mistresses, are all numbered, seen, heard, and every one of them is taken down in a book, which will be opened and read to the guilty, before an assembled universe. But we return to the professional teachers of youth, and say, that for them and their pupils to copy after, in their manners, morals, principles, precepts, and examples, we propose to them, the Great Teacher of mankind, Jesus, their friend and Saviour. He was patient to hear and answer all the questions put to him by his disciples, al- though these often showed the most profound ignorance of the inquirers, yet he bore with them, and brought them along by degrees in knowledge. He was kind to them, mingling in all their griefs, and sympathising with them in all their sorrows. He was sociable and accessible to all around him, the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the learned and the ignorant. He was dignified without hauteur or pride, condescending, without mean- ness or subserviency. Open-hearted and sincere, he con- cealed no danger from his disciples, to which their adhe- rence to him would expose them. To his friends, he was kind and affectionate, to his enemies noble and forgiving. And although he well knew, that one of his disciples would betray him for thirty pieces of silver, yet he bore with him to the very last; set before him a good example, and taught him as well, and as faithfully, as he did the rest of his followers. He even indulged Judas in his favorite propensity, avarice, so far as to permit him to carry the common purse, which contained all the treasure which Jesus and his disciples possessed. The indulgence and forbearance towards Judas, show Jesus in an amiable point of view, as a kind and indulgent master. We may ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 63 see all around us, every day of our lives, persons whose habits and wicked propensities, we may well suppose, will certainly lead them to ruin here and hereafter, and yet, our warnings, reproofs, and examples ought to be the same to them, as if we had the strongest rea- sons to hope, that our labors of love, would produce the most salutary effect on them. In other words, we must always do our duty, be the result what it may. We may, and we shall, if we love them, weep over them, as Jesus did, over Jerusalem, when he beheld that wicked city, and foresaw its awful doom. We may, we must beseech them with meekness, to turn from the error of their ways, although they appear to us to be incorrigible sinners. And in such cases, it is the teacher's duty to labor the more with such, apparently lost human beings, to save them, if possible, from everlasting ruin, so that, if they will perish, through obstinacy and rebellion against the laws of God and the rules and regulations of the school, their final destruction shall rest on their own guilty heads. Even severe punishment in such cases may be resorted to, and necessary sometimes, when all milder means have wholly failed to reform such offenders. But mildness, kindness, indulgence towards persons of natu- rally good dispositions, except in extreme instances, are best. Anger, rashness, and precipitancy, should always be avoided by the teacher, in the government of his school. We proceed and say of our Saviour, that He has taught us by his example, to respect our superiors, be sociable with our equals, and to our inferiors be condescending and polite. From first to last, he maintained the most rigid self-government. His whole public life was one of trial. Although he went about doing good, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, hear- ing to the deaf, soundness of limbs to the lame, casting out devils, and even restoring the dead to life, without fee or reward ; yet, few persons believed on him, scarce- ly one even thanked him, for his benevolent services, and few followed him; but he was always himself, never re- pining or complaining on account of their unkindness to- wards their Lord and Master. In fine, he governed him- self, on the most painful and trying occasions, even in his 64 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. last agony. Go to Gethsemane, and hear him order a few of his disciples to watch, or, keep guard for him, un- til he returned to them. He left them on guard, but when he returned to them, he found his sentinels fast asleep! And what did he say? "What! could ye not watch with me one hour?" was his mild rebuke. He used just means enough to keep the most perfect order, and no more means were used by him. Not a spiteful or angry word did he ever utter on any occasion. A mere look, when that was sufficient, was all the rebuke which he gave. A mere look, though, on Peter, when he denied his Lord, the third time, brought tears into his eyes and contrition into his heart. "He went out and wept bitterly." When a mere look was not sufficient to convey his full meaning, just words enough were added to the look, to answer his purpose. Just before he expired, his aged mother and his beloved disciple stood near his cross, sympathizing with him, in his dying agonies. He wished to provide a home for his mother, and looking at John, he said, "Behold thy mother;" and looking on her, he said, "Behold thy son." From that day forth, during her life, Mary became an in- mate of John's family, the same as if she had been his real mother. He used no whips on his scholars' backs, and kept none in his school-house. Though he had his parti- cular favorites, yet he never suffered any one scholar to tyrannize over the rest. Though he was condescending and kind, yet he was faithful in his rebukes. Generally, he was mild in these, yet sometimes he spake with stern- ness, when he said to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of man." Naturally of a good disposition, yet warm in his temper, Jesus bore with him, and was patient but reprimanded him when hasty. He was industrious in his calling, devoting up all his time to its duties. He loved his profession, he so loved it, and his pupils, that he gave up, even his life itself for them. He had nothing of auste- rity about him — in his dress, address, or manners. He practised no arts to gain applause, affected no singulari- ties of behavior, but every where, whether standing on the mountain, addressing assembled thousands, or in the temple performing miracles, or in his fishing-boat on the ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 65 lake, or seated at table, surrounded by his small school, he was always the same, sedate, dignified, mild, amiable, kind, faithful, patient, sell-poised, exemplary, and devoted Teacher. He has thus ennobled and sanctified this high, holy, useful, noble calling. Let all those who are now, or, ever become teachers, go forth in his spirit and always follow the example, set by the great Teacher of mankind. Whatever precepts they lay down for their scholars to observe, the teachers must show that they live up to their own rules. This remark applies to parents too. Let a father warn his son against any vice, ever so faithfully, yet if he, himself, is guilty of it, in a small degree, the son will find it out, and, disregarding the faithful warning, he will run to total ruin by following the vicious example. How often has it happened, that, when the son had done some wicked act, the parent, though he reprimanded him for it, yet by his smile, showed that he considered it quite smart in the young offender? The boy moved forward in his wicked course, until he was ruined forever. There is an awful mistake, we fear, sometimes made by parents in making professional men of their sons, who are utterly unfit for any such employment. A farmer finds his son a cripple, or infirm in body, or lazy, slothful, or naturally dull, stupid, and rather below par, as to mental faculties, and so he must be educated for a doctor, a law- yer, or a minister! No words can sufficiently convey our condemnation of such folly and madness as this. To be a professional man, it requires a snun I mind in a sound body. What! set up a cripple, a fool, an ass, a mare dolt, to be the world's laughing-stock! To rendor him miser- able for life, and fin illy en I it, as a burden on the com- munity, and a disgrace to his parents! Shame on such folly. We do not say, because we do not know, that such a case ever occurred in the \Wsf, but wc do know that such instances cou'd be found in New England, and they one and all have proved the folly which produced them. To send out such a poor creature, as a missionary of any sort, either into our own, or foreign lands, is worst? than sacrilege. Such a creature, should he ever be sent 9 66 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. to the heathen, would go out, occasionally, we suppose, and give away a pamphlet, to some pagan, who would light his pipe with it; the missionary would set down in his journal, this benevolent act of his! He had given away, what never cost him any thing, but it had cost somebody one half cent! He sounds his trumpet on the occasion of giving away a few leaves of paper, so that all the world hears it, — "May the Lord add his blessing!" Oh! it is loathesome to see such a profession so shamefully prostituted ! The same God who formerly required a sa- crifice to be without blemish, requires the same unblemish- ed sacrifice now. The halt, the maimed, the blind, the lazy, the dull, the stupid, the self-conceited, the obstinate, the overbearing, proud, impudent, low-minded, and mean, should never officiate at the altar, teach a school, plead law, practise medicine, or keep a store. Such a creature is but poorly qualified even for our penitentiary. Our In- dians keep all their deformed people out of sight, as much as possible — so of their idiots and silly people, of both sexes. In so doing, they show their wisdom. They have towns where the dwarfs, idiots, and naturally deformed people dwell by themselves, instead of making profession-, al men of them, or sending them to the legislature. Some parents ruin their sons by placing them in some particular profession or calling, for which they are in no- wise fitted by nature, although they are well fitted for some other profession or calling. For instance, if the son be stupid and dull, they make him a clergyman: if of a sly, roguish turn, they make him a lawyer: and, if given to impure and low desires, they make him a physician* As well might the parents get a cowardly son appointed an officer in the navy or army. The minister of religion should be, if possible, the most brilliant orator in all the land. To a beautiful person, should be added a beautiful mind, polished and brilliant as the diamond, whose light would shine into far distant countries; whose voice would be heard by listening and enraptured thousands on thou- sands, proclaiming the glad tidings of the everlasting gos- pel; drawing around him throngs, eager to hear him; whose precepts and example would turn thousands to righteousness, so that he who performed such wonders ESSAY ON EDUCATION. ~" ■ 67 would shine like a star of the first magnitude in the hea- vens, forever and ever. Such a man should be a clergy- man. But, although we have said that such a splendid man should be a clergyman, we by no means would say, that none but such a gifted man should follow that profession. Doubtless, many clergymen of inferior qualifications, to such splendid ones, may be, and often are, very useful ministers of religion. St. Paul was the most learned and eloquent of all the apostles, and he accomplished a great deal more good, than any other one of them; yet Peter, who was quite unlettered, as his writings show, was high- ly useful as a preacher. He traversed many countries, and he was instrumental in planting many churches, and, of doing a vast deal of good. His zeal, warmth, activity, energy, and enterprize, carried all before them, wherever he preached, and not a few Christians look on Peter, as "the chiefest apostle." Wherever we find a minister of real piety, zealous, ardent, energetic, and enterprising, going about and doing good, we hail him, as a useful la- borer in his Lord's vineyard. And, besides, it is not al- ways certain, that the most talented, learned, and elo- quent preacher is the most useful one. Such an one, in any large city, will draw crowds to hear him, out of mere curiosity, or, because it is the fashion to do so; but it does not follow, as a matter of course, that of all the crowd who hear him as they do a favorite actor or actress on the stage, even one soul is converted under his preach- ing. It is not the preacher, but the Saviour who converts sinners. Paul tells us, that he preached Jesus and him crucified. Some ministers appear to preach themselves, not their Saviour. It requires something more than a mere beautiful, well-written discoiu'se, eloquently deliver- ed, such an one as all shall praise who hear it, as they would were they to hear Cicero or Demosthenes in the forum, to do much good — to reach the hearts of sinners and turn them to righteousness. "Paul may plant, and Apollos may water the good seed, but it is God who giv- eth the increase." Unless accompanied by the good in- fluences of his spirit, all preaching is in vain, and worse than in vain. How often have men of inferior talents, 68 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. but of real piety, who besought sinners in meekness to see the error of their ways, been wonderfully blessed in the results of their labors, whereas, men of great talents, learning, and eloquence, have sometimes done little or no good? It requires something more than mere human learning to qualify any man to become a good, efficient, and successful minister of the gospel — it requires a hea- venly birth, and a heart purified by divine grace, a will subdued to the will of God, and affections placed su- premely on Him, his Son, and Spirit. Without this last qualification, his preaching will be vain, and himself must finally be excluded from heaven, and be cast into outer darkness forever. His learning, eloquence, and all the applauses of men will not save him, nor his hearers from perdition. A sly rogue, a lawyer! Who would employ such an one? No one; and he would be compelled to turn poli- tician, playing off his tricks and deceiving the people, pre- tending to be deeply in love with them. Why, we might as well deliver over our purses full of gold to a pickpocket for safe keeping, as place such a man in power. He would deceive us, plunder and rob us of all the public money, which reached his light fingers. Our lawyers, in addition to robust, sound, well-formed, vigorous bodies, should possess quick, sharp, deep intellects, and a finished education — one that should embrace every art, and every science. They should be thoroughly acquainted with all sorts of people, of every calling, sect, station, and age. Every law, written or unwritten, should be familiar to them. To the men of this profession, we are greatly in- debted for our revolution, our several state constitutions, our national Union, our laws, and almost all our institu- tions, civil, social, and benevolent. The lawyers were among the first to resist the oppressions of the British Par- liament, and to rouse the people into activity and resist- ance against the encroachments on the rights of freemen. By their eloquence, energy, and noble daring, they shook down England's throne, in these then colonies. 'The lawyers of whom we are speaking, resisted the efforts of the English Parliament to enslave us, in the popular as- semblies, in the legislative hall, and finally, in the field of ESSA7 ON EDUCATION. 69 cattle. Their eloquence enlightened our people, so did their writings and their official reports. Every speech delivered by them, and every essay which they wrote, told on the hearts of their countrymen, and every blow which they struck on our enemy, aided to prostrate him in the dust. Liberty and free government in every clime, is indebted to their exertions in the holy cause of freedom. A lawyer — a tricking politician! Such lawyers were not Patrick Henry, John Jay, John Adams, Robert R. Livingston, Alexander Hamilton, and a long, long list of patriots, heroes, and sages, who achieved our indepen- dence. No; they were nature's noblemen, who scorned all iniquity. They stooped to no intrigues, no dissimula- tion, and no guile, to accomplish their noble and glorious purposes. They loathed all cupidity, and so open-heart- ed were they, that all the world were welcome to see and know all that their hearts contained, and all the thoughts that dwelt in them. Give us more such law- yers, and not tricking, truckling, political knaves, who gain a living by professing unbounded love for the people, and, by holding offices, for which they have not even one well-founded pretension. The slippery elm is the only tree in our forests which they should ever be permitted to use as their emblem. The physician, the doctor, should be the most pure- minded man in all the land, otherwise, who would em- ploy him as his family physician? Should a physician, of a loose moral character, even venture to step into the house of a wealthy and reputable matron, would he not be instantly requested to walk out of it? Certainly, and he would soon become so chaste, as to be driven away from every decent man's door. As a model for the imi- tation of all doctors of medicine, we would refer them to the great Physician of mankind. He went about heal- ing the sick of both sexes, and of all ages, acting as their family physician. His patience, sympathy, kindness, and benevolence, are far above our feeble praises. Let the physicians follow Him in his intercourse with the sick. Ho readily entered into all the sorrows and afflictions of his patients, and sympathized with them. See him at the grave of Lazarus, when "Jesus wept." He knew that in 70 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. a few minutes more, Lazarus would be raised to life and health, and be restored to his friends, yet, sympathizing with the afflicted friends, he wept for their affliction and grief. Let our physician follow his example, and go about doing good, sympathizing with their afflicted patients, and their relatives and friends. All this is necessary for the physician to do, in addition to closely studying all that has been written on medicine, by the great, learned, benevolent, and good men of his highly honorable and useful profession. The whole business of a physician, is nearly allied to that of the Great Physician, especially, where the patient is poor and unable to pay for medical aid. Hence it is easy to see, that an unkind, morose, unfeeling, avaricious man should never practice medicine. CHAPTER V. BOOKS. These are our instructors and companions. It follows, as a matter of course, that they should be full of sound instruction, be entertaining, agreeable, interesting, good, and pure. To be such, they must be the offspring of sound, sensible, well-informed, sociable, agreeable, good, and pure minds. Like begets its own likeness, so that a light, trifling, illiterate, self-conceited, rash, obstinate, headstrong, inexperienced young man, will either purloin from other men's works, or, he will produce his own like- ness. Such creatures often combine together, and praise each others' puerile trash, and in that way gain a mo- mentary ascendancy, but in the end, they must all go ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 71 down into oblivious night, and be forgotten. The read- ing of such books is a defect, and no small one either, in our day. Not a few of our books have been produced by just such worthless men as we have above described. Their self-conceit is unbounded, and their impudence is equal to their self-complacency. Illiterate creatures, who are mere printers, have sometimes set themselves up as "Reviewers" of other men's writings! which, from their ignorance and destitution of talents of all sorts, they pos- sessed not the means of understanding the authors whom they pretended to review. It is matter of regret, deep regret, that men of genius, science, and sound literature, do not oftener write books for children and youth. Men of sound learning, and exquisite taste, of pure morals and good principles, should write books for young people. Such men act as if they thought such labors beneath their dignity. He who has said, "Suffer little children to come unto me," lost none of his dignity by saying so, nor by condescending to teach and bless them, and even to lay down his own life for them. No man or woman in our country, no matter how high in station or wealth, however wise, learned, pure and good he or she may be, will lose a particle of dignity by writing books, good books for children and youth. Who thinks the less of that great, good, pure, and patriotic man, Chief- Justice Marshall, be- cause he wrote a life of General Washington, for the use of schools? The more learned, pure, patriotic, and good any man or woman is, the better fitted is he or she to write books for the youth of our country to read. Con- nected with such a man's or woman's memory, which will follow him or her into his or her grave, will be the love and veneration of parents and children. Such men and women best serve God and their country, and they de- serve more honor, love, and veneration from posterity, than all the politicians that ever lived on earth in any age or country. Such men and women shall have a higher seat in heaven, than all the mighty conquerors who have filled the earth with strife and misery. In Europe, of late years, the greatest men there have turned their attention towards instructing the great mass of the people, and their labors shame us, republicans, who 72 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. pretend so much to love the people — the dear people. We do not call on our politicians to write books for any man, woman, or child to read, because they are unable to produce any thing worthy of being read. But our older professional men, such as have retired from their profes- sions, might devote their last years to the good of their country, by becoming authors for posterity. Among the errors in mental and moral education, we may, with propriety condemn the manner of writing nearly all the books now used in our schools. Many of these works, contain only pictures, questions, and their anwers. All such works deserve to be thrown into the fire forthwith, or be used as waste paper. In the first place, these books occupy just about double the amount of paper and bulk that they ought to do — they swell the little volume into a size, which the intrinsic matter would not make large enough to sell for a certain price. And, secondly, such books aim at loading the memory with words, which the scholar never understands. To im- prove the memory, at the expense of all the other facul- ties, is bad indeed. But many of these worthless books, such as consist of pictures, and the answers "yes" and "no," do not even improve the memory. In one short month, the pupil forgets both questions and answers. Until parrots are sent to school to be educated, such school-books should never be introduced among us. Rea- sonable beings should be taught to exercise their reason- ing faculties, to store their minds with useful facts, and to love useful knowledge. Those who have only learned words, at the expense of much time and labor, are gene- rally vain of their superficial acquirements, and are quite pedantic in their manners. A mere repetition of words, makes pedants; but a deeper learning makes men modest in the view of how little they know-, compared with what they have not yet learned. To be able to pour out a de- luge of words, without any ideas, except very superficial ones, implies something very different from profound knowledge. Which is preferable, the wordy orator, or the profound and learned one? Parents, teachers, and books should begin right with the pupil — they should lead along the child in the right road, as far as they go; so that when ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 73 he is left to his own exertions, after they have turned buck, or stopped by the wayside, he will have nothing to do but to proceed onward in the samn path in which he has been already conducted. In that case, he is led by easy steps in the right road, and, whether he proceed a great or a short distance, his steps are always in a direct line towards the goal of all his wishes. He sees things on the way clearly, as he walks in the clear daylight. In the former case, when he merely learns the words of an answer, the pupil walks in a dense fog, sees nothing clearly, and wanders far from the right road, and never arrives at the temples of either knowledge, usefulness, or fame. Such a young man, with such a superficial education, generally joins some debating society, and on all occa- sions, without a particle of correct knowledge, rises and pours forth a copious shower of words, without ideas, sense, or reason. This volubility, however, strikes the imaginations of "the ignorant groundlings," as something extraordinary, and he soon reaches the bar, as a great talker. He next becomes, in his own opinion, a great politician, a great republican, and a great man. He is elected to the House of Assembly, and there makes his wonderful display of — words! Here, his self-conceit, his cool impudence, his hard words, but soft ideas — his lofty gait, and overweening ambition, raise him to the Speaker's chair! Having raised himself to this bad eminence, his folly, and utter worthlessness become too apparent to be concealed from the eyes even of the most superficial crea- tures in all the land; and, he sinks into his own original nothingness, never to raise his head again above the sur- face of society. We refer to no particular case here, be- cause there have been several such cases in the state of Ohio. All who wish to have the name of being learned, without the labor of really obtaining much useful knowledge, are fond, and always will be fond, of such question and an- swer books. And all such teachers as wish to have the name of great and successful teachers, without the labor of teaching their pupils any thing, so that it will be well 10 74 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. understood by them, will always praise such books as we are condemning. So of those authors and booksellers, who wish to save themselves labor and expense in com- piling and publishing books, will continue to deluge the country with such worthless trash. Besides, such books are losing all their credit in the East, and will be shoved off into the West, for sale. All such persons will cry out against any valuable improvements in our school-books here, as Alexander the coppersmith did, when Paul preach- ed at Ephesus against the worship of idols — "Great is Diana of the Ephesians! great is Diana of the Ephesians!" We set down all the question and answer books, used in schools, among the defective modes in education, and highly injurious to the cause of sound learning among us. Such a combination, however, in their favor, as we have named, will fight hard for their ill-gotten gains; but, like the idols at Ephesus, they will finally cease to be the ob- jects of popular veneration, and they will go down to the grave of oblivion with their authors and worshippers — the sooner the better for us. We want a history of the United States, for the use of schools. The histories we now have are poorly written. They dwell long on trifles, and pass over too lightly the most important events. In fine, they have not even one good quality, whereas, we have among us, a native au- thor, who, with all his witchery of style, could write a history of the United States, which would be read by every man, woman, and child in this country. It would continue to be read, for ages, in all our schools, and do a vast deal of good. If we consider the reading of history merely as an ele- gant amusement, it is highly valuable, but its uses are higher, nobler, and better than what merely amuses us. Even in that case it is preferable to novel reading, which inflames the passions and gives us false views of human life. The reading of history enlightens the judgment upon subjects of utility and comfort to us as individuals; and, to the whole community. We learn to view man, in all his social relations, and to duly estimate the dif- ferent systems of government as they operate on whole nations. History warns nations of all the quicksands, ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 75 rocks, whirlpools, currents, and dangers on the ooean of human life. It points out all the safe harbors, and be- comes a great revolving light, placed on each summit of the beacons which it rears on the promontories, jut- ting out into the sea of human life. It too often happens, in the transactions of life, that the men in power, who are guilty of corruption and depravity of all sorts, are not condemned, as they deserve to be, and they are some- times even hailed with applause by their sycophants, supple tools, flatterers, and partisans. Such creatures even affect to treat with scorn honest integrity and faith- ful public services. Such wicked men deny the doctrine of those who tell us, that political iniquity will be punish- ed sooner or later. History furnishes an antidote to the maxims of such pernicious men. It exhibits the whole career and final catastrophe of error, vice, and wicked- ness. It shows us Haman hanging on the very same gal- lows which he had erected for Mordecai. It exhibits the wily politician caught in the very toils which he had spread for his honest rival's feet. In our history should be recorded, not merely the actions and doings of Wash- ington, and the sages and heroes of his time, but it should tell us what they said, on great and trying occa- sions. In this way, our youth might be led' to properly estimate the characters and principles of those pure and disinterested patriots; and a history conveying such a knowledge, would lead them to imbibe all the high, noble, and holy aspirations of our ancestors. However appli- cable our remarks may be to the few in high offices, yet they are not inapplicable to all classes of men in a coun- try where all have an influence on all the operations of the government. This consideration shows us, that all our people should well understand our whole history. So long as our people remember the sayings and doings of John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and the patriots of both sexes, of that day, no worthless politician can enslave us. History makes us love our countiy more, and prize our liberties higher, when we read of the battles of Bunker Hill, of Saratoga, of Yorktown, of Bridge- water, of Tippecanoe, of Fort Meigs, of the Thames, and of New Orleans. The blood moves swiftly through oui 76 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. whole system when we read of the victories of Wayne, on the land, and of Perry, McDonough, Hull, and Bain- bridge on the waves. The history of any country, which has been signalized by great displays of human genius, either in arts or arms, interests all mankind in their fate. History transports us to Greece and Italy, and there ex- hibits to us the council of the Amphyctions and the Ro- man Senate — the fleets of Greece, and the battle of Ac- tium. "We hear the thunders of Demosthenes against Philip, and of Cicero against Cataline and Mark Antony. We see the splendid temples of these nations, their sta- tues, their paintings, and we become acquainted with the manners, the institutions, and laws of those ancient re- publics. We see them rise from small beginnings to great- ness, renown, and glory, by the practice of the sturdy virtues, and we see, too, their decline, fall, and final ruin, through their vices. Whoever sees an Italian, without thinking of Cicero, Horace, Virgil, and Julius and Augus- tus Caesar? or a Greek, without remembering Athens, Ho- mer, and Demosthenes? When our own history is known all over the world: whoever shall see, in any part of it an American, he will remember Washington, and think the better of the individual for being his country- man. Our institutions are so different from those of any other nation, that our youth should all early read our his- tory, and imbibe all the principles lying at the bottom of them. It must be our care to educate all our youth, so that they may become American citizens. Simple as our state and national governments are, in theory and prac- tice, yet not one in ten thousand of the best-informed men in Europe understands them. Our history must be writ- ten by an American; and we are so fortunate, in this re- spect, as to have among us a native-born American who is one of the very best writers now living in the world. He must write a history of this nation, for all our youth to read in our schools. We have another reason to offer, for our anxious de- sire to see a well-written history of the United States placed in the hands of every youth of both sexes in the nation. Our history, correctly written, would show us how often we have been solely indebted for our preserva- ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 77 tion to the interposition of Divine Providence in our fa- vor. We will recal to the reader's recollection a few such interpositions in our favor. When Washington was on Long Island, with our whole army there stationed, to protect the city of New York, he was assailed by an over- whelming force of the enemy, and nothing could have saved him and all his army from total ruin, but a thick fog, which concealed him, his army, and all their move- ments, from the view of the enemy, until our defenders made their escape to the main land in safety. So when the nation was overwhelmed with discomfiture in all di- rections, without money, food, or raiment for their army — without the means of defence, their spirits were bro- ken, and they were ready to despair of success. Their army consisted of only three thousand, ragged, starving men, whose feet were without shoes, but bound up with old rags, and dyed with the blood of the feet which they covered. Their march might be traced by the blood which stained the snow, the ice, and the frozen ground on which they walked. In dead winter's dreary night, Washington, at the head of such an army, crossed the De- laware, then providentially in a state to be forded, and captured the enemy's outposts in New Jersey. The spirit of the nation revived, and our fathers moved on- ward to new enterprises, and they successfully contended with their enemy until our independence was secured. In these, and in ten thousand other instances, we see an Almighty arm, reaching down from heaven to earth, to sustain us, when otherwise we must have been crushed to death the very next moment! At West Point, just as Arnold had left that post, and before he had time to lead on the enemy to the attack; before Andre had reached the force, which he was to have commanded, Washington -providentially returned to the fort, Andre was captured by three of our men, and West Point was saved from capture. Gratefully, devoutly, and truly may we say of our God, that "He hath not dealt so with any other people." Indeed, our whole history from its commencement down to this moment, is filled up with interpositions of Divine Providence in our favor. And what is all history but a 78 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. true record of the dealings of God with men? In all the commotions, turbulence, war, devastation, misrule, op- pression, and bloodshed, with which this earth has been filled and afflicted, God has been seated on his throne, and He has thus far overruled all events, and brought good out of evil. Let us not despair, my countrymen, of the future, but learn to put our trust in Him, doing our duty, and leaving it all in His hands to dispose of us and ours as He sees best. In a moral point of view, we thus see, that the reading of history is no less valuable than it is in its social and political bearings and uses. How often, in all times, and in all countries, has this same Providence overthrown all the devices of the wicked, however worldly-wise they might hav.e been, however prudent, careful, and cautious in laying their plans, or in carrying them into execution? How often, too, have weak men, of feeble intellectual powers, and, few in number, been enabled to overcome mighty hosts? How often have the most untoward circumstances been prospered, and the wisest counsels been turned into foolishness? These are some of the ideas to be derived from reading history; but to be useful to us, we must "inwardly digest" it, reflect upon its events, and draw from its conclusions the wisdom which it teaches us. In ancient Rome, no one was sup- posed to be qualified for any office, until he thoroughly understood all Roman history. If that were so, how much more reason have we, Americans, to require every citizen of this great republic to understand our whole his- tory? And what is history but a picture of human life, which tends to refine the moral sense, and to correct the evil passions of men, by exhibiting vice in all its defor- mity, and virtue in all its dignity, purity, and loveliness? If Gulian C. Verplanck, of New York, has given us the very best work on the evidences in favor of the truth of Christianity, will not Washington Irving, of the same state, give us the very best history of the United States, for the use of our schools? We respectfully request him to write one. One great reason why rich men's sons so often come to ruin, may be found in the worthless books which their parents permit them to purchase and read. Having read ESSAV ON EDUCATION. 79 these worthless books, they become thoroughly imbued with all the pernicious ideas which they contain. Vi- cious books are as injurious and fatal to the mind as vicious company. Licentious books produced a revolution in France, and deluged the fairest portions of Europe with blood. And that parent who permits his children to read bad books, is guilty of the destruction of the souls and bodies of his offspring. For this destruction, he will be called into judgment by the great Judge of all the earth. For such a delinquency, what reason can any parent offer to his God, his country, and his offspring? None — and better for such parent would it have been^ never to have been born. It is a common maxim, that "a man is known by the company which he keeps;" to which should be added, "and the books which he reads." But it appears to us, that nearly all the books published of late years, both in Europe and America, if they are not filled with vicious principles and loose ideas, yet they contain nothing but mere trash and verbiage — one hun- dred bushels of chaff, and but one quart of wheat. What other description can we give of all our "Annuals," "Sou- venirs," "Compends," "Outlines," "Conversations," "Abridgments," "A Child's Lessons in Geometry," "In- troductions," "Explanations," "Libraries of useful and entertaining amusement," &c, &c? In the language of; President Picket, — "In this mechanical age, the helps to learning are multiplying so fast, that we have reason to fear that our youth will cease to help themselves." As a people, we need neither books nor instructors to help us along in the pernicious road in which we are all travel- ing. We all love our ease quite too much — that is, all our business and professional men in the non-slaveholding states. Our laborious employments tend to produce su- perficial reading. The farmer, the mechanic, the mer- chant, the doctor, the lawyer, and the divine, come home at night fatigued, care-worn, and weary of their hard la- bor through the live-long day. They feel perfectly ex- hausted; and not a few such men, never read any thing the year round; but if they do read at all, is it not quite too often some worthless newspaper, filled with gross libels on the very best men in the country, and with ful- 80 ESSAY ON EDUCATION some and ridiculous panegyrics of some of the most worth- less politicians — some office-seeker or office-holder? Or, they read some fashionable novel — some trifling periodi- cal, filled with trash and nonsense. On all such occa- sions, instead of such useless stuff, far better for us would it be to read some solid and substantial author, whose thoughts would reanimate our spirits, light up the little sparkling eyes of our children, and redden their cheeks with smiles of complacency and delight: some book that would rouse up our lost energy, elevate, ennoble, and dig- nify our whole souls; natural and civil history, geogra- phy, biography, voyages and travels; discourses on che- mistry, botany, rhetoric, and such other books, as have been written by profound, original thinkers. Better read nothing, or listen to the innocent prattle, and behold the plays and pranks of our children, than to read or listen to the reading, of any such matter as is found in the works of Scott, Bui we r, Byron, and all that class of au- thors about dukes and duchesses, lords and ladies, grooms and lap-dogs. Our people have suffered themselves to be wonderfully offended at the libels on us, by British tra- velers, such as Marryatt, Miss Fanny Kemble, Miss Mar- tineau, Fanny Wright, and a long list of most contemp- tible writers. Even that old virago, Mrs. Trollope, has so far been noticed, as to be sneered at! The fault is all our own. Such creatures should not have been noticed at all, and then they would not have been read. Captain Marryatt had a public dinner given to him at * * * * *, whereas, an American author would not have been ten- dered scai'cely a drink of cold water! So long as we fawn around English authors while they are here, and complain of their libels on us, and of their ingratitude to- wards us in their books, so long shall we be libelled and abused by John Bull on his return home. We must stand on our own legs, not caring much what the European world says of us and our's. For ourselves, we prefer old Euclid, Playfair, La Place, and Bonnycastle, to all the modern abridgments: old Horace, Homer, Virgil, Cicero, and Demosthenes, to all their translators. So of. all our great modern writers, give us the whole of them, instead of selections from ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 81 them. It is matter of deep regret, that many of our school- books are no better; and that in particular, we have not now, and never had, a good geography of our own coun- try, especially of the western states of the Mississippi Val- ley. Our geographies, what are they? They tell us of the "Huron Territory," the "Missouri Territory," the "Oregon Territory," and several other "districts" and "territories," which have no existence on earth, except in the imaginations of Eastern book-makers. Had these authors left the entire Valley of the Mississippi a blank, we would prefer the blank to the errors, not to say positive falsehoods, which fill up such geographies. These au- thors have quoted as genuine authority, the novels called "Ross Cox," and the "Life of Daniel Boone!" "Ross Cox" is a novel, gotten up at *****, by some dozen persons in that city. The London book-makers have en- larged the work, and made two large volumes of it, ac- companied by maps and cuts, &c, and they have praised it highly ! Our Eastern writers have denied the existence of all our "ancient works" in the Western states, not- withstanding we had surveyed and described them with mathematical accuracy, more than twenty years since. But we have said, that we greatly need, what we have not, and never had yet — a good geography of the United States for the use of our schools. It should describe cor- rectly all the great natural features of our country — its rivers and mountains; its valleys and almost boundless prairies; its Lakes, islands, and bays; and all its wild ani- mals; its people of all sorts, and all our institutions, civil, social, benevolent, and religious. In fine, it should be an encyclopaedia of geography. Such a work should be written by an American, who has seen all that he de- scribes. We have in the Western states not a few just such men, who could produce such a work, and our whole body of reading people must patronize him liberally, other- wise he should not undertake it. Such a work, being a desi- deratum, let us hope that some enterprising man will come forward and publish it — soon. It must come from a mind as large, noble and grand as the country is, which he de- scribes. Among our good books for schools, we have 11 82 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. Picket's school-books, in three parts, and McGuffey's "Eclectic Reader," in four parts. We have two histo- ries of Kentucky; one by H. Marshall, and the other by Butler. "The Historical Society of the State of Ken- tucky," it is expected, will add largely to the history of that noble state. The society itself is composed of the very best and the most respectable men, now, or ever citizens of that state. From their age, and their long re- sidence in the state — from their learning, and the high stations which they have always occupied since the first settlement of Kentucky, we shall always rely on any statement of facts emanating from such high authority. Of our history, natural and civil, of the state of Ohio, be- ing its author, we only say, that it is extensively read, as a school-book, in this state. We have a history of Michi- gan, by Lanman, an arithmetic and other school-books, by Dr. Ray, and some other school-books, written by Western men, McClung, and other authors. The Rev. Dr. Blake's Historical Reader is an excellent book for schools, but it is not as much read as it deserves to be. Murray's English Reader has long been used, and deserves to be continued in all our schools. Dr. Blair's Sermons should be read by every body. It is a work that, is filled up with true philosophy and true religion. For its style and matter, it stands almost alone and solitary, a tree of life, bearing fruit and flowers on the same tree all the year round, like a fruit-tree within the tropics. Biographies are highly entertaining, and highly useful books. They are very numerous in this country, and many of them are very well written. Irving's "Columbus," and his "Companions of Columbus," are more entertaining than any novel can be. Every child, and every youth, and every man and woman in our whole country, should read these books. The dictionaries now in use, are Webster's, Johnson's, and Walker's — they all have their excellen- cies, and they all have their defects. But, after all that we have said concerning books, the BIBLE is emphatically THE BOOK for children, youth, and age. It contains a revelation of the will of God* the way of life and salvation, and it opens to our full view, heaven and all its glories. It directs us, to travel in the ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 83 narrow path, running along on a ridge, and on the very- edge of a frightful precipice, which leads up to that holy, happy place. It shows us the doom also of the incorri- gibly wicked. It exhibits to us a God, pure, holy, just, benevolent, good, and merciful; so just, that he abhors all iniquity, even in our very hearts, before it has exe- cuted its wicked designs; yet, that He so loved us, that he gave up his only begotten Son, to die for us, and atone for our transgressions ; and having so loved us, he prays us to be reconciled to his law, and his government. He even aids us, by his good Spirit, to turn from the error of our ways, to him, to truth and righteousness. But, if af- ter all that he has done to redeem and save us — after all his entreaties, mercy, aid, and kindness, we will persist in our rebellion, obstinacy, unbelief, and ingratitude to him; if we will go to ruin, he permits us to go down to the pit of destruction, with all our sins resting on our own guilty souls. This BOOK, containing all these sublime, high, and holy truths; these great and glorious offers of life and salvation; all these awful warnings; should al- ways be read every day, at least once, in all our schools, of all sorts. It is the Book of Books, without reading which, and becoming thoroughly imbued with its prin- ciples, vain shall be the reading of all other books in the world; and we are lost, lost for ever; lost to all goodness, all happiness. No matter how learned, how rich, how honored, dignified, and adorned, even with crowns and diadems, sceptres, mitres, and crosiers; and surrounded by all the glories of this world: they shall all fade and wither, die, and come to nought, and be forgotten; or be remembered only to our shame and disgrace, as so many gifts of God, which we have abused. The Sunday School is the best means of affording mo- ral and religious instruction to children in this country. Although many of the books read in these schools are not what they should be, not having emanated from clear heads and sound learning; and, although nearly all of them, originating in Europe, are not at all adapted to our state of society, where the abject poverty of the poor does not exist, and where there are neither lords nor ladies, by title, yet even some of them are adapted to all 84 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. lands, and all conditions of society, and so may be read here with profit. The works of Baxter, and those of that holy race of ministers, who rose with the Reformation, out of persecution, like gold purified in the furnace; and who spake like prophets of old times; they should be read forever, as standing next in eminence to the writings of the apostles, and of the fathers of the church in primitive times. It is matter of regret, that men of talents, learn- ing, and genius, do not write religious books for children. So far as the Sunday School teachers use the scriptures, and sensible comments on them, they are doing good, and deserve well of their country. The evidences in fa- vor of the truth of Christianity should be thoroughly studied and understood by every teacher and every scho- lar. The more our religion is examined, and the better it is understood, the brighter it will shine. It is a great defect in the education of the youth of both sexes, for them to be permitted to read the frivolous, vain, vicious, and wicked books with which the whole country is filled to overflowing. Got up on poor paper, printed by a power press, and glued together, and bound in a wretched manner, they are sold for very little more than about what they actually cost the bookseller. Such books are circulated and read by persons who never read any better books. Some of them contain not one new idea, and others contain the errors and the libels on Chris- tianity, which have already been triumphantly refuted a thousand times. We lay down this broad proposition, that no book, however written, or by whomsoever, whether in verse or prose, which contains even one im- pure thought, or even one idea, tending to weaken our reverence for God, the Saviour, or his religion, should ever be placed in the hands of youth. Books filled with ob- scene pictures, or allusions, by leaving blanks to he filled up by the reader, in his imagination, with impure ideas, come under the same condemnation. Such books, we fear, are more read in these United States than the Bible: — yes, the writings of Voltaire, Paine, Scott, Bulwer, and Byron, are more read than the Word of God ! If such seed be sown in the youthful mind, what kind of a crop will that seed produce? Look all over the nation, and then tell ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 85 us, whether the tares do not cover the whole field, with only here and there a few stalks of good wheat, and al- most choked by the tall weeds and poisonous plants grow- ing all around the good grain? Do not we see, in plain language, myriads of lost, wretched, and mined youths of both sexes, wherever we travel? They read vicious books, but rarejy read their Bibles. They go to the the- atre, the race-course, or the inn, the grocery or the coffee- house, but rarely go to the chui^ch or the Sunday School. They are idle, they dress in the height of the fashion, they drink and gamble, and sing obscene songs, but they never say their prayers, nor sing the praises of God. In a few, short years, their worthless lives will be closed on earth, and will be begun in a world of woe, that shall never end. Would to God, that, when this worthless race of youthful reprobates, shall go off the stage, no such other like wick- ed generation should grow up among us, and follow in their footsteps, which lead down to hell. But this cannot be expected, unless we remove from the hands of our youth, all the vicious, light, trifling, and obscene books and pictures, which have corrupted and ruined so many of the youths of our own day. And, what shall we say of the authors of such books? of those who sell them, and of the parents who permit such books to be read by our youth? For such wickedness, how will they be able to answer to their God and their country? In the world to come — aye, often in this world, such guilty wretches, "are beaten with many stripes." "Their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched" — no, never, never, never. j\ T ot a few of our truly great men, who set up this go- vernment, bore their testimony in favor of the truth of our religion. They wrote, and often spake in its favor; and, their lives were such, that no one could doubt their sincerity; but, they are gone down to their graves. In vain do we look over our country for their successors, in all this purity of sentiment, and piety in practice. Where is the man, now in any high, civil office, in all the land, whose doctrine and practice correspond with those of the Washingtons, Jays, and Clintons of former times? How mortifying to our feelings, as citizens of this repub- lic, is the humiliating contrast between the present and 86 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. past men of our country ? Should no reformation take place among our men in power, can we expect to con- tinue to prosper as a nation? Will God reverse all his laws to save us from national degradation and ruin? What good man's heart faints not, at the future, unless repentance and reformation intervene and save us from destruction, as a free people — forthwith ? My hand trem- bles, and my head aches, while I thus write, for the con- sideration of my readers. Rouse up, men of learning, genius, and patriotism, and furnish our youth good, use- ful books, for them to read. Aid us, in purifying all the fountains of literature, so that our youth may drink only the morally pure and healthful waters which origi- nate in cool, pure, moral springs. Let us burn with fire, or cast away as useless, all the vile trash, under whatever form or title it issues from polluted presses. Let us encourage our own authors, to write on subjects, adapted to our own state of society, to these times, to our present circumstances, wants, and views, and to our own political creed. Our destiny, as a nation, under Pro- vidence, is committed to our own safe keeping, and it behooves every man and woman to do his and her duty, to preserve the liberties of this country, its institutions, its morals, its religion, its reputation and honor. Heaven has prospered us, and enabled us, once at least, recently, to pluck up our drowning liberties by their drowning locks. "To whom much is given — of them much will be required." Men in years, affluent, learned, wise and good, can best serve their country, by furnishing morally pure, whole- some food for the minds of our children and youth. Calm, collected, experienced, and disinterested in all the little petty strifes and rivalries of young men, just entering on their career, our aged citizens are best qualified to pro- duce works well calculated to instruct youth and be read by posterity. Such men, once entered the senate-cham- ber of the United States, as members of that body; but that theatre is now generally shut against such men, so we invite them into the fields of literature, which are left open for them to walk in, and there gather fresh laurels for their brows. Forthwith join us in the labors of this field. Hasten your footsteps hither. Among the many ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 87 useful books which may be safely recommended to our youth, is Watts' "Improvement of the Mind." It teaches us how to learn, how to improve the memory, and all our mental and moral faculties. Dr. Johnson, in his biogra-* phical sketch of Watts, seems to have admired that au- thor, and every thing belonging to him, "except his non- conformity." I can bear testimony in favor of the book which we have mentioned, as having been of great use to myself during the last forty years of my life, in im- proving my mind, and storing my memory with many useful facts. Mansfield's "Political Grammar," should be read and thoroughly studied by every American youth, of both sexes. Its information is important, to every youth in the Union, who wishes to understand all the rights and duties of an American citizen. CHAPTER VI. FEMALE MANNERS IN THE NORTH, AND THE INFLUENCE OF OUR WOMEN ON POLITICS, MORALS, AND RELIGION. Want of courtesy is a great defect in the manners of ladies. In all our non-slaveholding states, we see, quite too often, almost every where, a shyness towards the rougher sex, among our ladies. On looking over the tra- vels of foreigners among us, we discover that they have noticed this fault in our female manners, and they have, one and all, entirely mistaken its origin, and have con- demned it, as a roughness growing out of our republican form of government. We will endeavor to explain what S8 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. we mean by shyness in our Northern women, in the hope that they may be taught by their mothers and instructors, to correct a habit which injures the reputation of our free form of government in the eyes of foreign nations. All our men, young and old, in steam boats, in canal boats, in public stage coaches, and in all public places, al ways and every where give a preference to ladies, — they have the best chair, located in the most comfortable place; in winter, by the fireside; in summer, where it is- cool, airy, and neat — the best seat at the table, the best room at the inn, in the steam boats and canal boats, and the back seat in the stage coach. When any lady, though a mere stran- ger to all present, enters any room where gentlemen are, every one vies with the rest of the company to give the lady the best seat, located in the most comfortable place. But, no matter how much of his own comfort any gen- tleman has sacrificed at this lady's shrine — one whom he never saw before, and never will see again, our Northern lady, quite too often, receives the favor without showing, by words or even by a grateful look, any, even the least recognition, of such an act of disinterested benevolence. A few words, a grateful look, are all the acknowledgment which it will ever be in her power to bestow on her be- nefactor. The foreigner calls such discourtesy, cold dis- dain, moroseness, and a ferocity belonging to our republi- can manners. The young man deems it an evidence of her hatred of his own fair form; while the old man thinks it originates in her disrespect for his grey hairs! The de- mocrat suspects her of hating him, because, he has not yet fallen into the overwhelming mass of men who sup- ported "old Tip;" whereas the elated Whig accuses her in his mind of being, at heart, a real "loco !" But there she sits, poor woman, abashed and disconcerted, truly grateful in her heart, (and she is neither a British bank- bought whig, nor a loco foco,) wholly unconscious of meaning or doing any thing wrong by quietly receiving the favor, without saying a single word, or raising her grateful eye on her benefactor, in recognition of his polite attention to her wants. Such apparent coldness and in- sensibility to kindness, as a Frenchman would call it, is certainly a defect, and a great defect, in Northern female ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 89 manners. If the lady be too bashful, in the presence of gentlemen, to utter a "thank you, sir," she might raise a grateful eye on her benefactor, and show her rosy cheek, crimsoned with blushes. These features would "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," which every beholder would instantly believe, know, and feel. Justice to her heart would be done, and she be fully ac- quitted of ingratitude. But such discourtesy is nothing more nor less than a shyness, or a reserve, in the presence of men. It grows not out of our republican institutions, as a monarchist believes; nor are our Southerners correct in charging it on the coldness and dreariness of our Northern climate, except in New Hampshire. We dis- agree in opinion, too, with those who derive such an ap- parent insensibility to kindness from our Puritanical an- cestors, who severely punished by fine and imprisonment, as an audacious felon, every sinner of a man, who, with- out a particle of malice in his heart at the time, honestly kissed his wife on a Sunday. How great a portion of the manners of Southern ladies is derived from those of the gay cavaliers of Charles the Second's time, who were the first settlers in the Southern portion of this Union, we will not pretend to state, because we do not know; but, we see enough in the present state of society, differing as it does, in the Northern and Southern portions of this country, to account for all the difference of manners ex- isting in the Northern and Southern sections of this re- public. There may be some slight foundation for the opinion, that the ancestral origin of our Southerners, dif- fering as they did from the fathers and mothers of New England, in religion, politics, literature, and manners, has produced and kept up female manners different from ours in the North. Our knowledge of Southern female man- ners is too limited and imperfect, to qualify us to sit in judgment on that case. In the South, the rich planter and his numerous family and guests, rise early in the morning. They all dress themselves handsomely, and all sit down to their break- fast. The company at table consists of both sexes, and of all ages. Having finished their meal, they go, in sum 12 90 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. mer, into their wide and lofty hall, through which passes a current of cool air. There they sit in conversation to- gether until dinner. In the afternoon, the whole assem- blage, seated in the hall, continue in conversation until tea-time; supper being despatched, they reassemble in the hall, and converse there until bed-time, when they all go to rest. They arise early the next morning, and pass the next day as the former one was passed. In this manner do the rich Southerners pass their lives. Attend- ed by servants, comparatively devoid of care, they are not compelled to labor hard for their daily bread; their spirits are buoyant, their conversation flows along down the stream of life, sometimes gently, sometimes rapidly, through flowery meadows and pleasant groves. This state of society, made up of both sexes and of all ages, is best calculated to polish the manners, and render human life happy. The waywardness of childhood and youth, is checked by the gravity and wisdom of age. The lat- ter, too, is enlivened and rendered happy by the innocent gaiety, vivacity, and sprightliness of the former. The presence of the females checks all indecorum in the males, while the presence of the latter gives a certain de- gree of manliness of character to the former, which not a few of our Northern females do not appear to possess. The heads of such a family, often call their children into a private room, when any stranger of distinction is at . their family mansion, and inform them who is to be pre- sent in the haM, or in the best room; they instruct them how to behave before him, and especially to listen to all he says, and lay up, and store away in their memory, all his wise remarks. Such parents set an example for their youth to follow; they call the stranger by his name, often, in conversation, in a tone of kindness, that delights and fascinates the guest* Such a family is a school, and the best school in the world wherein to learn politeness, good manners, good morality, and good every thing which is calculated to improve, polish, and adorn youth and age. Our Northern people, of both sexes, labor hard for their living. Rich or poor, old or young, from morning until night; our men are engaged in labor of body or mind, or both, until they retire to rest, without spending scarcely ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 91 a moment in conversation with the other sex. The fe- males are engaged in their proper business, in-doors, while their husbands, brothers, and sons are employed at their several callings, out of doors. They rarely spend an hour's conversation in the society of each other, and when they do meet for conversation, their labor has worn down both body and mind. Languor, corporeal and mental, renders conversation languid, listless, and a burden, in- stead of its being a pleasure and a relief to a depressed spirit and a fatigued body. Unaccustomed to the society of each other, even at parties composed of both sexes, they can hardly be said to meet together, each sex form- ing a distinct group by itself. By such habits of living, it might be naturally expected that our females would have precisely such manners as they have — a shyness and an awkwardness in the presence of the men, with whom they so rarely associate, in public. Cramped in their feel- ings, embarrassed and confused in their manners, the fo- reigner attributes, what he calls moroseness, roughness, and cold disdain to our form of government. The South- ern man condemns such icy manners, and charges them on our Northern climate. Such manners in women pro- duce awkwardness and bad manners among the men. The wholesome restraints, however, which well-educated women might impose on the manners of the rougher sex, are not wanting in the Northern states. We have thus stated what we deem a defect, and a great one, too, in female manners, in the non-slaveholding states; and we have followed up this little rivulet to its main head-spring. Its other branches, that is, their ori- gin from the Puritans, who first settled in New England; and the gay Cavaliers of Charles the Second, who spread over all the Southern parts of our Union, we do not feel competent fully to discuss, and so we leave to others, the task of ascending these streams to their fountain-heads. A few remarks on the ancestral origin of the females of Virginia, Maryland, and of all the states north, east, and west of the Potomac river, may not be inappropriate, and we cheerfully add them at this time. But, although we have explained, and thereby led the reader, to the principal fountain-head, of one of the mere 92 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. rills of the main stream of Northern female manners; yet there are other small streams, which pour their volumes into the common great river. The females in the North are descended from the Puritans, who were the founders of the New England states, and from the Dutch in New York, and the Quakers of Pennsylvania. And the early matrons of Maryland and Virginia had no superiors on earth. Better mothers no people ever had than all those were whom we have mentioned. Neat, tidy, industrious, kind-hearted, vigilant, careful, prudent; they faithfully performed all their several duties, as wives, mothers, sis- ters, friends, and neighbors. They were patriotic, too, almost to a fault. When their country called for soldiers to defend it, these mothers gave up, without a murmur, to the army, their husbands, sons, and brothers, whom they dearly loved. They did more, they armed their sol- diers, by breathing into their whole souls a love of coun- try, an ardor, a courage, a fortitude, which rendered our little armies bands of brothers, of patriots, and soldiers, whom no danger could appal. And no army of equal numbers were so hard to be conquered as ours. These mothers taught their daughters to labor with their own hands; to oversee all their household affairs, and to be virtuous, true, and faithful, as wives, sisters, and female friends. And such virtue, truth, and fidelity were amply- rewarded by their husbands, sons, brothers, and friends, who gave their whole hearts to their female connexions. Love, kindness, and confidence reigned throughout our old, pure, and truly happy community. Through the blessing of God, which has so abundantly followed us, as a nation, in all our wanderings in this American wilder- ness, we may, and we ought, to attribute to such mothers no small portion of the good spirit, good feeling, kindness, and benevolence which make us to differ from the older nations of Europe. Our soldiers and sailors, though they always fight like lions in the battle, yet always, in the next moment, when the enemy is conquered, they be- come lambs — their prisoners are treated kindly, and those who had given their enemies such warm broadsides, now give them as warm firesides — they receive and treat them as friends and brothers. The reader will instantly re- ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 93 collect General Schuyler's reception and treatment of Burgoyne and his officers, who had, in carrying on their warlike operations, out of sheer malice, burned down into ashes Schuyler's large family mansion. But why need we recur to instances of this sort, because a whole large volume would not contain them all? Harrison, and all our officers, have behaved like Schuyler on all similar oc- casions. In the war of the revolution, the wife of Washington often visited his head-quarters, and bound up the wounds of the bleeding soldiers. She would have shared all the dangers of the field, had her loved husband permitted her to do so; but, she was a wife, and she obeyed his injunc- tions, and retired from danger, when he so commanded her to do. Franklin's daughter made clothes with her own fair hands, for our soldiers, and even mended their ragged, tattered, and almost worn-out garments, on all oc- casions, when any opportunity offered her the chance to be thus employed. From such mothers, my loved countrywomen, are you nobly descended. They wore crowns of glory, composed of a deep, abiding, and patriotic sense of duty. Its dia- monds, shone with a brilliancy that filled our whole coun- try with light and life and joy. During the last war with England, our females did their duty bravely, nobly, and well, — they rewarded the brave with swords, with thanks, and waiving their white scarfs from their windows, they scattered flowei's in abundance in our streets, for our soldiers to walk on when they re- turned home. Having made a few, we hope not inappropriate, re- marks, on the character of the sainted, pure, and patrio- tic matrons of the early times of our republic, we scarcely need say, that, like the men of those days, their memory is, as it deserves to be, blessed b}^ their posterity; and, should times, perilous to the liberties of this nation, ap- proach us, our females, our virtuous females, who are, thank God, not only the legitimate descendants of such ancestors by blood, but in spirit and in truth; assuming the armor of truth, righteousness, and patriotic devotion to the cause, the holy cause, of liberty, they would rise 94 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. up, with one accord, and come forward, by thousands and hundreds of thousands, and attend all our public meet- ings, where patriots met, and encourage, by tokens not to be mistaken, every effort made, or to be made, in favor of liberty and free government. Yes, from the Mexican Gulph to lake Erie, and from the river Mississippi to Nova Scotia, (the cold and dreary and snowy region of New Hampshire, always excepted.) they would war against all our enemies, domestic or foreign. In other words, the females of Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, St. Louis and environs, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachu- setts, and Maine, would be instantly in the field, in the vast congregations of patriots; at the fireside, in the stage coach, in the railroad car, in the steam boat, canal boat, and in all public places, arming all hearts, and nerving all arms for the conflict. Nor would the females of good old Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia be missing in such perilous times. We care not who were your ancestors, my country- women, whether they were Puritans, Dutch, Quakers, Ca- valiers or Roundheads, you are as brave, patriotic, pure, and good as they were, in their best days. While you keep your eyes fixed on the operations of this govern- ment, and you are properly educated, by virtuous, intel- ligent, and patriotic mothers, our republic is safe, because no worthless politician can enslave us. Your songs, smiles, and frowns can do more for us than "an army with banners," to put down or drive 'away wicked men from power, and put honest men in their places. We thank you, ladies, for your courage and patriotism, which have steadied the ark of our political safety, and put all hearts at rest as to the permanency of our free institu- tions for one half century to come. Female influence is, as it ought to be, inseparably con- nected with female manners. Even the downfall of the Roman empire is often attributed by historians to a de- cline of female virtue and patriotism at Rome. Horace and all the writers of the Augustan age, foresaw and fore- told the fatal catastrophe, unless a reformation, in female ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 95 manners, habits, and customs took place. Nothing but a good, sound, virtuous education can save us from ruin as a free people. Now, we are safe, let us keep safe, by educating in the best manner possible, every female in our country, so that when our liberties may be, assailed by foes within, or foes without our republic, all our mothers, sisters, and daughters may defend, by their good influ- ence, our altars, our firesides, and all our free institutions. Our females are officiating priestesses in the temple of liberty. They give the early bias, either good or bad, to every child that is born in our country. Thus far, their influence has been healthful in morals, religion, and poli- tics, on their offspring. May their education be duly at- tended to, and valued above all price in dollars and cents! But we forbear to press home this idea here, having done so in other portions of this essay. Generally speaking, where the males of any commu- nity are well educated, so are the females of the same' community. Along the Potomac river, from its utmost springs to its mouth, forty miles in width, the river pas- sing through the centre of that strip of land, both sexes are among the very best educated, hospitable, polite, and benevolent people of this whole Union. That people have always educated their daughters in the very best manner, ever since that country was first settled by their ancestors. And, in any portion of our country, where we find polite, well-bred men, we shall find polite well- bred women. Without such women, we need not look for well-bred polished gentlemen in any country. On the part of our Northern women, as to their man- ners, when compared with Southern female manners, it is a case in Chancery before a single judge, who is too deeply interested in the decision of this case, perhaps, to retain it in his court. Born of a Northern woman, nearly related to Northern women by the ties of consan- guinity, love, and affectionate regard, and made happy through a long life by a Northern woman, who is, and always has been, my wife; by kind and affectionate daughters, by female relatives and female friends, I con- sider myself as objected off the bench, as a partial judge^ so resuming my old profession at the bar, putting on my 96 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. gown> and laying aside my wig, I will take this case into a court of law, by an appeal fiom the court of equity to the highest court of law, before judges fully competent to try it, and there, in answer to the allegations in the plain- tiff's declaration, in this behalf made, J proceed under a regular notice, already filed in this case above, to prove as an offset to the plaintiff's charges, all the virtues, good deeds, good dispositions, and good hearts of my clients, and pray this honorable court to certify a large balance in favor of the defendants, against the plaintiff's demands, over and above an entire and full satisfaction of all the claims and demands aforesaid shall have been rendered and made to the plaintiff. It is therefore considered by this court, now here, that after satisfying all the just and legal charges against the females of the North, on account of some defects in their manners, yet, nevertheless, they are faithful wives, kind and affectionate mothers, good sisters, good daughters, good neighbors, and faithful friends; and that they per- form all their duties, in all the relations of life, with a zeal and a fidelity which render them ornaments of society, dear to their friends, and dear to their country. And the plaintiffs in mercy, &c. Well-educated ladies will always act like ladies, all the world over. We therefore address our petition for relief, in this case, to the mothers and matrons of our common and beloved country. We pray them to teach their daughters good manners ; to imbue their minds and hearts with good principles, from which shall flow good morals, pure patriotism, and sound republican doctrines. And if our females, in this great valley, continue to wield the sceptre of political power, we pray them never to forget the maxim, that "good mistresses make good servants;" and that the foundation of all good government should rest on wisdom, truth, and justice, which we pray they may mingle with mercy and benevolence. We find no fault with our Western women for the part they have taken in politics, we happening always to agree in opinion with them; but we pray them to inform themselves thoroughly of all the circumstances of any case, where they interfere in great conflicting questions of national importance, be- ESSAT ON EDUCATION. 97 fore they embark on such a tempestuous sea, because my- self and all belonging to me, are on board of the same ship. Navigating the same vessel, sailing from the same port, under the same flag, and bound to the same place, one voyage, and the same destiny await us, one and all. Unless you employ experienced, brave, and faithful offi- cers and crew, to navigate our ship, named the "Tom Bow- ling," it may be wrecked and lost on the tempestuous sea of liberty. Walking in the grave-yard of all former and present republics, solitary and alone, the traveler, when he arrives at the spot where our Long Tom, this repub- lic, lies buried, his only pathetical remarks, perhaps, may be, — "Alas! alas! "Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling, The darling of our crew. His form was of the manliest beauty His heart was kind and soft: Faithful below had he done his duty— But, ah ! he's gone aloft !" Those readers who know the writer well, as many do, will pardon us, we know, for telling those who do not know us personally, what follows, as a conclusion of this desultory chapter, made up of miscellaneous matter. All our preceding remarks, in this chapter, apply only to native born American women, and to those of pure morals and good principles." It has been my happy and blessed lot, to be intimately related to, connected, and personally acquainted with, none but such women, through a long life. My domestic relations have been most for- tunate and most happy, and it is entirely owing to that cause, that, at this age of my life, I am alive, instead of being dead, and that I am in the very best health of body and mind that I ever experienced since I was born. My cup of gratitude overflows, towards my wife, daughters, female relatives, and female friends. Virtuous women, every where I have travelled, and at all times, in prospe- 13 98 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. rity, but more especially in sickness, trouble, and afflic- tions, have been my best friends, comforters, counsellors, and advisers. I owe my female friends a debt which I never can pay; but I can, and do, with my whole heart, sum up all my good wishes for them and theirs in a sincere, pure, and fervent prayer — that God may bless them, keep and pre- serve them from all sin; and enable them, by the influ- ences of his good Spirit, to perform all their duties, as wives, mothers, daughters, relatives, friends, neighbors, and patriots, during long, happy, and useful lives. And, that they may always, by precept and example, train up the rising generation to fear God and keep his command- ments. And may they be rewarded constantly by the resp*ect, esteem, and love of all good men; by an appro- ving conscience, and an approving country: and may the purity of their lives recommend goodness, for its own sake, and for its good effects on our females. And, finally, when their hearts and flesh shall fail them, may they be enabled, through grace, to ascend to heaven, and join the redeemed throng of saints, made perfect by the blood of the Lamb, who was slain for the remission of their sins. We ask all these blessings for them in their Saviour's name, Jesus of Nazareth. ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 99 CHAPTER VII. THE NECESSITY OF EDUCATION, ARISING FROM THE TENDENCY OF THIS AGE TO INNOVATION AND CHANGE; FROM THE PECULIAR CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WESTERN STATES, THEIR YOUTH, ACTIVITY, AND ENERGY, CONSISTING OF EMIGRANTS FROM THE OLDER STATES, AND FROM EUROPE. THE VAST DOMAIN TO BE FILLED UP WITH PEOPLE, IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, AND THE ULTIMATE GRANDEUR AND GLORY OF THIS REPUBLIC, PROVIDED ITS CITIZENS ARE ALL WELL EDUCATED. Our duties sometimes spring from our dangers. We live in an age of innovation and change, and the signs of the times are awful and portentous. Looking all over Christendom, we discover that the fountains of the great deep, of the political and moral world, are broken up, and that the spirit of inquiry has gone forth; restless, feverish, impatient of restraint, and reckless of consequences. It is abroad in the world, accompanied by error, delusion, and destitution of all moral principle. They offer all goodness, and all good men, a pitched battle, and, they must be met, in hostile array, and conquered in the high places of the field. The champions of innovation and change have assailed the head of antiquity, for the pur- pose of pulling off all his venerable curls, which six thou- sand winters had whitened with their snows. Having succeeded, they would try next to replace these vene- rable white hairs, by fixing on his bare head a few young, graceful, artificial locks. Youth, self-conceit, inexperi- ence, obstinacy, rashness, giddiness, and levity, wish to see fixed on old Time's bald pate a few silken, shining, youthful curls. These champions of change are every where assailing, with ceaseless toil and fury, all the old- 100 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. settled principles of our fathers — all our old, well-esta- blished maxims of government, morality, and law. Every institution in the land, always heretofore deemed safe, and found to be so by our fathers, by Washington, Jeffer- son, Chase, Adams, Jay, and Marshall, are now assailed by innovators, by restless, rash, inexperienced and wicked men. All these battlements, erected for our defence and protection by the sages, patriots, and heroes of the last age," now tremble, assailed as they constantly are by the champions of what they call — Reform. The spirit that animates these innovators, stalks like a ghastly spectre over the whole of Europe and America. Its head reaches up to the clouds above us, and the world trembles under its feet at every step it takes. In Europe it has pulled down thrones, snatched the diadem from many a mo- narch's brow, and the crosier from the hands of the priest. In our own country, this evil spirit has excited mobs and riots, occasioning destruction of property and loss of lives. It assails the freedom of opinion, the liberty of speech, and of the press. It attempts to govern our country, and our whole country, for the sole benefit of a few. It flat- ters and serves one part of the people, and excites them against another portion of the people, and the latter are sometimes the very best and most peaceable and unof- fending citizens in all the land. It tears into pieces whole sects of professing christians, who quarrel with and abuse each other, contending about the merest trifles in doc- trine and practice. And to this intolerance and want of charity, are we not largely indebted for the successful in- roads which the apostles of misrule, confusion, and irre- ligion are making upon our old, well-settled maxims in re- ligion and morality? In political matters, we may safely affirm, that peculation, fraud, and the robbing of the pub- lic treasury, on too many, quite too many occasions, have "become so common, that such delinquencies have ceased to excite even our surprise; so frequent is their occur- rence, and so vast are their amounts. Such is the Evil Spirit, and such are the awful signs of these times. In the full view of such a spirit, and beholding such signs, what is our duty, naturally growing out of the dan- gers which threaten us? So far as Europe is concerned, ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 101 we have little to do with that part of this matter. We do not belong to that set of politicians and pretended phi- losophers, who have heretofore, and still do, we believe, pretend to such a vast store of philanthropy, as to believe that we ought to embrace with equal affection all the people on the whole globe: and that we ought to assist every people, in every country, to overthrow their several forms of government, and set up a republic in its place. That being a business of their own, we have no right to meddle with it, directly or indirectly. A government may be perfect on paper or parchment, as we know to our sorrow and shame, and in practice be excessively bad. A nominal republic, without its ipirit, resembles a marble statue of Venus; however it is dressed and adorned with costly jewels, and even with the most splendid drapery; yet by far the greatest number of men would certainly prefer a body that had life, and flesh, and blood, even if it were not quite so well proportioned in form, or if her drapery was inferior in quantity or quality to that of the marble statue. God has given us a country, and he has given us wives, children, and relatives, friends and neigh- bors, who live with and around us. He has given us cer- tain institutions, civil, religious, social, and benevolent, and he has made it our duty to protect, preserve, and de- fend ourselves, our families, our country, and its institu- tions. Whoever tells me, that I ought to love France as well as I should this Union — or, that I ought to love his wife, his children, and family, as well as I should my own wife, my own children and family, tells me whatl will not believe. And such philanthropists would find but few men who would thank them for their pretended love. We are placed in our several orbits just as the planets and their satelites are placed in their orbits; and our af- fections towards our country, our wives, parents, chil- dren, relatives, and friends, are precisely the same to us, and they were given to us by Him who created all things, for the same purposes that the laws which the planets obey were given to them. It is our proper business to perform our several duties daily, as much as it is the duty of the earth to perform its diurnal motion; and, as the earth revolves annually around the sun, so it is our duty, 102 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. annually to perform our annual round of duties. We shall serve God best by moving around in the orbits in which he has placed us. As well might our moon leave its orbit, and wander off to enlighten Saturn or Herschell, and leave us in the dark all night, as for any considerable number of us to wander ofF into far distant lands to en- lighten their people. Hear an apostle: "He that pro- videth not for his own household, hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." Besides, those who pro- fess so much to love all people exactly alike, love no one. Let us keep revolving daily on our own axis, in our an- nual circuit around the Sun of Righteousness, deriving our moral light and warmth from His invigorating beams. We come back to our own country, our home, and to those who cry out "Reform," "reform," we reply: that if we have any institutions which need reform — if they are not founded on christian^, on the equal rights of man, we are willing to pull away the rubbish beneath them, dig deep, and place, as a chief corner stone, The Rock of Ages, in its proper situation, and let the building be erected in the best manner, of the best materials, on such a foundation. But, if the building be already erected on such a foundation, let it stand, repairing it when neces- sary, with durable materials, and continue to use and to occupy it. For ourselves, we are satisfied with our in- stitutions, and we do not like the perishable materials with which many innovators desire them to be rebuilt; and we have a poor opinion of the science and skill of those who propose themselves as the architects to rebuild them, even if they would work for nothing and keep themselves while they were engaged in so useless a labor. Even then we should refuse to employ them. One inno- vator wishes to throw aside all the classics, the Greek and Roman authors, because they were heathens. Another would banish the higher mathematics from our schools. The Greeks and Romans possessed splendid geniuses and exquisite taste; and, by reading their writings, we have sharpened our genius, and polished our taste. They be- held the same heavens and the same earth that we do. They had the same natural feelings that we have; and, by reading their writings, we discover that man, in him- ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 103 self, is the same being in all ages, so that after reading their writings, seeing their statues, and their paintings, and then looking all around us on the people of this day, we discover Greeks and Romans every where. They were very religious, too, more so — much more so, than we are. The high priest at Rome was one of the highest officers of the government. He conducted the religious ceremonies with awe; and the most consequential persons in the state, of both sexes, aided him with zeal and so- lemnity in the public worship; but their religion was founded on narrow, selfish principles, and did not purify the human heart; and so it failed to sustain their empires in the times of trial. They are awful beacons for us to look at. ' Their gods were partial, changeful, passionate, unjust, Whose attributes were rage, revenge, or lust." For a beautiful style of writing, for genius, and taste, the Greek and Roman authors of the Augustan age stand, as they will for ever stand, unrivalled and alone. And whoever wishes to write well, must read them, and imbue his mind thoroughly with all the rules of criticism which they have laid down for us. Show us an author who writes in a beautiful style, one that is embellished with all the graces of composition, and we will show you one who has drank often and deeply from a Roman or a Grecian fountain. To say that our youth will become heathens in principle by reading the childish fables of the Greek and Roman poets; it would, in effect, be to tell us, that our youth are destitute of sound common sense. Nobody believes a single word of these fables. But, say these in- novators — "All these writings are translated, and we can see all their beauties in the translation." As well almost might you show us the leaves of a book, made of the thickest kind of paper, printed only on one side of each leaf, and permit us to read only the blank pages of such a book, and having thus perused it, demand of us to give our opinion of its contents, and the beauties or blemishes of the author's style of writing. We wish our youth to catch the style, the beauties, and the taste of the Greeks and Romans, not their puerilities as to their goddesses 104 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. and gods, more than we would wish our youth to become enamoured of the ladies and lords, or duchesses and dukes found in nearly every work of the English authors. If that were all the matter such writings contained, they would be, indeed, below the capacities of almost any child four years old. As to the higher branches of the mathematics, which innovators wish to banish from our schools, we can say, that if we wish to add method, order, discrimination, ac- curacy in reasoning, strength and vigor to the mind, there is no substitute for the mathematics. The practical land- surveyor, the civil and military engineer, the astronomer, the philosopher, the sailor, the musician, and the warrior, are not the only persons who ought to study the mathe- matics. The chemist, the doctor, the lawyer, the author, the reasoner, and the profound thinker, must be well ac- quainted with the mathematics, or they cannot compete with rivals in their business who have studied this branch of learning, and so have acquired the art of studying long, and thinking accurately, reasoning closely, methodically, and correctly, until a conclusion is arrived at. We there- fore conclude, that the white hairs on the head of Old Time, are preferable to the youthful, silken, shining, grace- ful curls of the innovators. But, we are not of those who would make educa- tion a bed of Procrustes, by cutting off the legs of those who were too long for it; or by means of vices, screws, and pulleys, drawing out the legs of those who were too short for it, until they were as long as our bedstead. The genius, the inward desire, the ciicumstances of the pa- rents and friends, and their wishes; the bodily constitu- tion of the youth and his prospects, should all be consult- ed, and well considered, before he determined what busi- ness he should follow for life. Having determined on that most important matter, his education should conform to it, so as to prepare him thoroughly for his particular call- ing or profession. If his early age, his mental and phy- sical powers, and his estate, would permit it, his course might embrace the whole circle of literature and science; but, if not, then we should fit him for his proper occupa- tion, or business; we should give him good moral and re- ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 105 ligious principles; imbue him with correct notions of our republican institutions; let him study our history, our geo- graphy; teach him to govern himself, and to do his duty always in every station in which he may be placed; to be industrious, active, and benevolent, and then send him forth into the world, to act his part in it. Such studies as have been pursued for ages, and have produced useful, good, and great men, we would never throw away, nor banish them from our schools; but if any new discoveries were made in them, or any new branches should spring out and grow on the tree of know- ledge we would cheerfully allow all our youth to eat the fruit that grows on them, until their craving appetites were fully satisfied. And, to those reckless, rash, obstinate, self-willed, self- conceited, and wicked men, who have surrounded our for- tress, which contains within its walls all our institutions, assailing our citadel with the incessantly roaring of their artillery, we would spring a mine, and make a sortie upon them, and drive them out into the open plain, where they would be surrounded by a numerous host, now marching under the expanded banner of the cross, to conquer all such foes of civil order and domestic peace. We would drive all such enemies not only beyond the bounds of our coun- try, but out of the world. The Evil Spirit who is their leader, should be chased down into the pit from whence he ascended into this world. Our teachers are our com- manding officers, their pupils are our soldiers, and the whole army is commanded by the Great Teacher of man- kind. But it may be said, that, according to our own show- ing, "the gospel says nothing of the love of country, at least, of any country but our own." It is not so. We say, that the gospel requires us to love our own country best, and, that we should move in, and not out, of our own orbits. But, although that be the fact, yet, were the prin- ciples of the gospel universally to prevail, wars would cease, the nations of the earth would blend and harmo- nize, and patriotism would be lost in universal philan- thropy. The present value of patriotism depends on the 14 106 . ESSAY ON EDUCATION. continuance of the present state of things in the world. When they change, and christian benevolence covers the world, as the waters do the sea, then patriotism will be swallowed up and lost in universal philanthropy; but not until then. This is what we say: Until that glorious pe- riod arrives, it is our business to move onwards, in our se- veral orbits, and, by doing our duty, prepare the world for the universal reign of The Prince of Peace. Educa- tion is the means with which this moral revolution is to be produced. The age of miracles has passed by, and human exertions are, henceforth, the only means of evan- gelizing the world. But, in conclusion, on this branch of our subject, we say: that, though we ought to love our own country best, yet we should hold other countries in due respect. We should admire the beauties of nature and art in all countries. We should cherish a regard for the people of all countries; honor virtue, though found in the wandering Arab or the turbaned Turk. This is chris- tian patriotism. Those who profess so much benevolence that they love all mankind with equal affection, love no people. The French revolutionists have set this matter in the clearest light, by enslaving, plundering, and op- pressing every people who believed and confided in such hypocritical professions. Because we love our own coun- try best, it by no means follows that we should hate any other country. We should love virtue wherever we find it, and hate vice and crime, wherever they exist, either at home or in any other place. This is true doctrine among all good men, in every age, and every country. As to those, who, in every sentence which they utter, profess unbounded love for the people, we have been of- ten in their company, and were always involuntarily led forthwith to secure our purse, and every thing valuable about our person, to prevent our pockets being picked by a thief. "Actions speak louder than words," is a homely maxim, but a true one; and whoever boasts much of any virtue, he well knows that he does not possess it, and so he is trying to hide a weak part of his character. But we proceed to say: That, as to the intolerance among professing christians, our remedy would be, to recommend to all the parties ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 107 I concerned, persecutors and persecuted, love, harmony, peace, and mutual forbearance; "each preferring the other," as the gospel requires of them. While a foreign enemy lies entrenched all around the walls of the holy city, let quiet, peace, and harmony reign within its walls, among those who dwell within it. Christians! yonder are the enemies to be assailed! you will best show your courage, your fortitude and patriotism, by uniting ali hearts, all hands, and all your energies, and by manfully fighting against them. Either subdue all your angry feel- ings within your own bosoms, or spend all your strength on the open, avowed enemies lying in their entrench- ments, all around your outside walls. As it now too of- ten happens, professing christians have just religion enough to make them hate each other most cordially. We have arrived, in the course of our remarks, at an- other danger of these times — that is, parts- spirit in po- litical matters; and the peculation, the fraud, and the rob- bery of the public treasury. To undertake the restora- tion of the patient's health, several quack doctors have come forward with offers of their services, for a very small fee each. Having no confidence in, or good opinion of them, and of their professional skill, we cannot advise their services to be accepted, even without a fee. Opiates in small, weak, bi*oken doses, might lull the patient's pain a few moments, but we prefer to see all the bile carried off, by administering copious emetics and purges, before we undertake to raise the patient to his feet by the ex- hibition of strengthening medicines. Laying aside the figure: the removal of the seat of the national govern- ment into the West, would merely act as an opiate for a short time. The same families, whose worthless sons and relatives are now sent out into the West to be receivers of the public monies, for the purpose of stealing them, would follow the seat of government to Cincinnati, Louis- ville, or St. Louis, or to any other point or place where it would be located. Just as certain as it is, that all the carrion crows and turkey buzzards will follow after a dead carcass that is drawn off to a distance from the spot where the animal died, just so certain is it, that all the broken down, wortless, old families, that now furnish the nation 108 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. with office-seekers and office-holders, would remove with it, or soon after its removal, be the seat of government lo- cated where it may. Remove it to Cincinnati, and all the political carrion crows and turkey buzzards of the East, with all their young ones, would fly after it, and build their nests under the eaves of the Treasury located in Ohio. We are now, comparatively speaking, an honest, simple, plain, republican people; but, locate the seat of the national government in Cincinnati, and all the vices, wickedness, and depravity of the East would be trans- ferred to the West. Our youth would be corrupted, and we in the West should be disgraced by having officers created at home, here, to be sent from Cincinnati as col- lectors of the public monies at Boston, New York, Phila- delphia, and Baltimore, who would rob the public of every dollar which they collected, unless we sent an army along with them to prevent it. We say, no — let us first so educate one whole generation, that no man would be pla- ced by them in office, unless he was too honest to covet what did not belong to him. The same advocates of a removal of the seat of government tell us, "that by pas- sing severe laws against public defaulters, our public monies would be secured and safely kept." Thus, by enacting two laws, they tell us, "all will be well with us." We say, no. As to laws, we have two very old laws, and never repealed either, which, if obeyed, would furnish all the laws which we desire. The first act says, "Thou shalt not steal;" and the other act says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, his ox or his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's." We wish to train up a generation who would scorn to steal, or even to covet, what did not belong to them; nor stoop to any meanness, fraud, or dissimulation to accomplish their wicked ends. To ask for the passage of any additional laws for the pun- ishment of theft, presupposes the appointment of thieves to office, and that is the very thing which we wish to avoid, by putting men in office who will not steal. This is our remedy, and every other one would be unavailing — a mere opiate at best, and would not effect a cure for what may be not inaptly called "A Raging Epidemic." "A right education," in the language of Alex. Campbell, ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 109 "not only prevents a great deal of moral evil, but it creates a vast deal of real good. It not only prevents the com- mission of vice and crime, but it promotes the cause of virtue, morality, and religion. It saves all the expense of punishing crimes, and, were all our people well edu- cated, moral, and truly religious, we might dispense with our penitentiary, our jails, our quarrelsome lawsuits, our dungeons, our gallows, and even the locks, bars, and bolts, to protect our property, now on our doors. All the money now raised by heavy taxes to pay for the punish- ment of felons, would not be needed for such a purpose, and might be either retained in honest men's pockets, or be poured out into and flow in the streams of national im- provement and prosperity." At all events, we need not wish for a change in the location of the seat of the na- tional government very soon, because we are not prepa- red for its location among us, until we have reared up and educated a generation so wise, so good, and virtu- ous, that they would not be corrupted by the vices of those who certainly would follow it. But, while we are preparing a generation to receive what is their patrimony, and will fall to them, as a matter of course, within a few years, if the tide of emigration continues of such worth- less officers from the East, it will be our duty in the West " to place men in power at Washington, who will cease to send any one across the mountains with a commission in his pocket, authorising him to govern a people who, it seems, are deemed unworthy of self-government; or, if we must submit to such a degradation, let only honest, capable, and faithful men be sent out from the East into the West, and not plunderers of the public money. These are our remedies. We proceed to consider another danger to our peace, our repose, and even to the continuance and permanency of our republican institutions, and, indeed, of all freedom of thought, word, or action: We allude to mobs, riots, loss of property, and destruction of human life, by riotous and unlawful assemblages of the people. We are an exci- table people, easily roused into action. It were madness to close our eyes on the fact, and folly and useless to deny it. There was an insurrection in Massachusetts, 110 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. fifty years ago, called "Shay's insurrection;" two insur- rections in Pennsylvania, the first in Washington's pre- sidency — called "the whiskey insurrection," and a second rebellion, in the elder Adams's day, called "the hot water insurrection." There have been two mobs in Baltimore, two in Philadelphia, and one in the city of New York. Flour became scarce and dear in the last-named city; so, to increase its quantity, and reduce its price, a mob wisely destroyed the most of it on hand! There was a mob or two at Vicksburgh, who administered the halter and the gallows to a number of gamblers, black-legs, and scoun- drels. At Cincinnati, there was a mob who destroyed a printing-press, to punish it for printing some abolition papers. No lives were lost, nor was any person injured by the assemblage. This is the first and the last mob in Ohio. But, at Alton, in Illinois, two persons were killed and a press destroyed, by a mob. In South Carolina there was one mob who undertook to protect the mail by de- stroying its contents. In the same state, the great Nul- lifier threatened to dissolve the Union, and his servile tools went so far as to raise a separate flag, with only one little star on it. The Nullifier got into the United States Senate, and the flag was folded up and laid aside as use- less. The author of the threatened rebellion rode peace- fully along on his faithful hobby-horse, until it carried him to the opened door of the Senate-chamber, when it threw its rider slick over the horse's head into the Senate, and then lay down and breathed its last breath. We mention these things, merely for the purpose of showing our read- ers, that we, Americans, are a very excitable people, and easily moved by designing men, especially political de- magogues. If these things have been done while we are so few in number, in a country where we have full employment for all ivho ivill labor, what shall we not do, when our numbers have increased to three hundred millions, in a country so thickly settled, that millions must be unemployed, idle, and so may become worthless, and ready to engage in any wickedness? Let us look over our unsettled territory, and try to as- certain how many people will inhabit it within one cen- ESSAY ON EDUCATION. Ill tury to come. Wisconsin Tei'ritory contains eighty thou- sand square miles; or, it is twice as large as the state of Ohio, and it must become a state very soon. Iowa Ter- ritory will contain sixty thousand square miles of the most beautiful and fertile territory on the whole surface, of the earth. This territory is populous enough even now for a state, and will be one forthwith. Above it, on the north, is territory enough for a large state, and will be one soon. On the Yellowstone, along its valley eleven hundred miles in length, from latitude 40 deg. north, to latitude 50 deg. north (our northern boundary,) we have territory enough, and more than enough, for four large states, which, from their elevated position, pure air, pure water, healthful climate, and most fertile soil along the Yellowstone River, and its numerous beautiful, and high- ly valuable tributaries, must become the largest, and fi- nally they will be amongst the most populous states in this Union. Seven new states, without a single slave in them, are yet to be added to the confederacy within fifty years. East of the Rocky Mountains, at their Eastern base, and adjoining it, there is a strip of well-watered, well-timbered country, whose soil yields to few parts of the Union in fertility. It is one hundred miles in width from East to West, and extending from the heads of the Yellowstone River to Texas. Back of and adjoining Mis- souri, Arkansaw, and Louisiana, is another strip of land, well timbered, well-watered, and of good soil, more than one hundred miles in width from East to West, and ex- tending from the Missouri River to Texas. Betwen these strips of land, back of the three states now in existence, and the country adjoining the Rocky Mountains, there is one vast prairie, which, being divided longitudinally in its centre, and extending from the Missouri River to Texas, and running a line of latitude between the equal portions of latitude of this vast country, will give us four new, large, and eventually populous and powerful states. Flo- rida will become a state very soon. So we see, that twelve new states, and those the very largest in all the confederecy, must be added to this Union — say, at the farthest, within fifty years. We say nothing of the Indians now in the country in 112 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. question, because the government, its agents, our army, and our whiskey, aided by the small-pox and other dis- eases, will kill every one of them within twenty years years from this time. Twelve new states, whose contents of surface are equal to all the rest of the Union, are to be added to the confe- deracy within fifty years ! We say nothing of the crowd- ed state of our population at that period, in the now states, eight millions of them, at least will dwell in Ohio alone; nor of the deterioration of morals by the removal of the seat of the national government into the West; but, taking our people as they are, so easily excited into mobs, un- less we arise in a mass, as instructors of youth, and move forward with zeal, energy, and industry, will not some Cromwell, some Ctesar, or some Bonaparte, seize the reins of government, at the head of millions of soldiers, and sweep away all our institutions as so many spiders' webs, and rule this mighty nation with a rod of iron? We have said nothing of our territory west of the Rocky Moun- tains, calculated for eight large, populous, powerful, and mercantile states, because our government has so far aban- doned its claim on it, as to permit Great Britain, under the specious name of a company, to occupy it in peace- ful possession more than ten years! It is intended by England to occupy that vast and important country, so as to give them the entire command of the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and commerce. This tameness, submission, and subserviency to England, as to that vast and most important portion of our territory, will not always last, on our part, because the time may come, when the young Lion of the West, as soon as he gets his growth, may arise in his wrath, and shake off the company's go- vernment from our territory, as easily as he now does the dew-drops from his mane. It is useless to close our eyes on the future, and it may do harm. This nation will spread and extend itself, either as one nation; or, it will nominally be divided into separate states, progressing, un- til it occupies all North America, and covers the Pacific with our ships of commerce and of war. These people will all speak our language, and copy our institutions of all sorts. This is the last, and it will, one day, be the ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 113 greatest, most numerous, most wealthy, and most power- ful empire that now exists, ever did, or ever will exist on the globe. To its physical, military, naval, and political greatness and power, shall it become as great in moral goodness, force, and power? What a sublime spectacle, in that case, would mankind behold; a nation, consisting of five hundred millions of people, governing the whole world in peace, doing justice, loving mercy, fearing God, spreading the benign principles of the gospel, the lights of science and literature over the whole world! Yes, that day shall come, unless, by our own madness and folly we destroy ourselves by abusing all the gifts of God to us, by neglecting the proper education of our youth. Be it, then, our care, as it is our duty, to so educate every ge- neration as it comes forward on the stage of human af- fairs, that there always shall be a race of men who will stand up between the living and the dead, of successive generations, as witnesses for the truth, and who will edu- cate the youth of each successive generation so thoroughly, and so imbue them with the love of our republican insti- tutions and with the pure principles of Christianity, that our institutions may be handed down to our posterity, until time shall be no longer. This wide-spread Western Valley is the largest one on the globe, and it is the most fertile, the best watered one, and its rivers are the longest, the best adapted to naviga- tion, and they are so gentle, yet so resistless in their mo- tion, that they resemble the foot of time in his motion. See our vast lakes in the interior, spread out before us like so many seas, tempting us to industry, to enterprize, and to the acquisition of wealth. Their waters are stored with fishes, and they contain many islands. These inland seas are surrounded now by forests, and they are refresh- ed and kept full by rivers. Millions of men can dwell on these great deeps, and make them their home. See our mountains. The Alleghanies bound this Valley on the East, and the Rocky Mountains bound its Western side. The elevation of the former may be set down at three or four thousand feet in height, while we estimate the height of the latter at fifteen thousand feet, that is, its loftiest 15 114 ESSAY ON EDUCATI0IS% peaks, covered in most places with everlasting snows; intersected by wide-spread, deep, long valleys, in which rivers of pure, cool waters flow. Between these moun- tains, parallel with the Alleghanies, and occupying just about as much space as these mountains do, is a region containing the richest lead mines in the world. St. Louis is near the centre of this region of lead ore. This mine- ral is so abundant and rich, that it will last for ever, for all the world. And we have iron ore, and salt water, and coal enough, to last for ever. And the soil of this great Valley is generally so rich, and so fertile, that this Missis- sippi Valley may be made so productive of meat and bread, that it could and would furnish enough of all the necessaries of life to support five hundred millions of people. With such vast resources of natural wealth, let us see what men inhabit this Valley. The people have recently located themselves in it, and they mostly consist of young, vigorous, active, enterprising people. They came from the old states, to settle in the new ones, and make fortunes for themselves and their children. One half million of them came here from Europe, but they, too, are young, robust, active, and vigorous. We here see an unnatural state of things, — youth without age, en- terprise without sloth, vigor without decrepitude ; so that the whole mass of the people are such a compound as never was found any where else on the globe; and thus far their successful career in internal improvements in peace, and their splendid victories in war, know no par- allels in the history of man. Such is now this compound- ed mass of mental activity and bodily vigor; and such will it continue to be for ages to come. The youthful, the en- terprising and vigorous, will continue to press forward into this vast valley for ages yet. To get rid of serving in the standing armies of Germany, the young men of those states will come here, and their youthful sweet- hearts will come with them, and fill up this vast valley with millions on millions of vigorous, active, and indus- trious people. With these facts before us, what is out duty? Shall all these millions of people, so young, so plastic, be moulded into our mass, and become good, use- ful citizens? or, shall they be neglected, and be suffered ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 115 to grow up in ignorance of our laws, our institutions, and of our God and theirs? We say, no; we must do as we are doing in Cincinnati — we must educate them, and make them useful citizens. The Germans, by thousands, and hundreds of thousands, are emigrating from their native country to this valley. Who are these Germans? Are they the same people whose ancestors invented the clock, the watch, the print- ing press, and printing on stone? Are they the same people who practice vocal music from their earliest years? Were their ancestors the sturdy authors of all the civil and religious liberty now in the world? Was Martin Luther a German monk? Do our Germans belong to a people whose inventions and investigations have done more for the human race than the inventions and investi- gations of all other people in the world? Yes; our emi- grating Germans belong to a people whose deep and va- ried learning, whose inventions and investigations, whose early defence of civil and religious liberty have reared for them imperishable monuments of renown and glory. Were the science and literature originating with all other nations, dashed out of existence in a moment, enough of German origin would remain in existence to illuminate the world, and place us where we are at this day. And, this people so gifted, excelling all others in their inventive genius, their profound researches in history, music, paint- ing, printing, and every other art and science, are emi- grating from their native homes, and settling down here among us. And the emigration is almost wholly confined to the youth of both sexes. To stop the progress of this mighty host of emigrants, or turn its current into some other channel, is beyond our power, and so we must make the best use of it, by so educating the whole mighty mass of emigrants, that they may become a blessing, not a curse to us. At Cincinnati, there was recently a large school, containing from two hundred and thirty to three hundred scholars daily ; it was kept by Mr. Salomon and his as- sistants, for German emigrants' children of both sexes. Great exertions have been made, and are making, to edu- cate these German children. This school was supported wholly by benevolent individuals. The children made 116 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. rapid progress in learning. In all the public free schools in that city, the German children are taught without cost- ing their parents anything. These pupils are as active, as docile, and as easy to learn, as any children in our schools. They are as ambitious of eminence and dis- tinction, as any other children can be. Their feelings are as tender, and they are as sensitive as any children need be. Would it not have been better for the people of Pennsylvania to have treated all their German and Irish children, when they first landed on their soil, as our people are treating our emigrants' children in this respect? Shall we meet what might be an evil, in such a way as to turn it into a great blessing? Then we must, every where, do as they are doing in Cincinnati — educate every German child and youth within our reach. Of the greatest num- ber of these emigrants, it may be affirmed, that German steadiness, patience, perseverance, and energy prevail among them, and they all love music. Many of them have a taste for military life. They, too, generally pos- sess fidelity, sincerity, and industry. Their bodily powers are vigorous, and their frames are robust, which qualify them for hard labor. Their only national fault is avarice, but generally they do not descend to criminal pursuits to obtain money. They love to smoke, and they are fond of beer and wine, but rarely drink to excess. These are the Germans now emigrating to this great Western Val- ley. Properly educated, they make the very best citizens in the Union; otherwise, they will be as bad as any other uneducated people are. What is to be done with them, and for them, by us? We must educate and instruct them forthwith. Teach them, as they always have been taught, vocal and instrumental music, the Lord's prayer, and their catechism. Assist them to build churches, and to support their clergymen; imbue them with the love of our republican institutions, and prepare them to sustain these institutions in all future times. Of the next most numerous class of emigrants, who are leaving Europe for this valley, they are Irish people; but they easily fall into our mass and amalgamate with it. The next in number are, just now, English people of the better sort, too. They are agriculturists and gardeners, ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 117 manufacturers and mechanics. They are generally sober, industrious, well-educated, moral citizens, and they are, on the whole, about the very best emigrants now coming here. Many of them have property enough to begin with, and they soon acquire a competency, and sometimes wealth. Of the Scotch, we may make the same remarks that we have applied to the English people. They are welcomed here by all good citizens of the West. As to the youth of New England, New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, as soon as they get old enough, they will naturally seek their for- tunes in the delightful regions of the West. If they are industrious, moral, vigorous, and good, they will settle down in the Western states; but if they are not so, Texas will be their home. And there let them go. Such is this vast country, and such are the people who are now settling in it, superadded to our natural increase. Settled by young people, who generally marry young, it is easy for us to see that our whole country which is occupied by us, is filled up with children and youths. Hence the ne- cessity of great and uncommon exertions by us to educate the rising generation. This unnatural and uncommon state of things, calls on us for corresponding exertions, to meet the pressing emergency. If that be great, and de- mand immediate attention, we must instantly arise, in our might, and go to work, and follow up our exertions, until we have made ample provision for the education of every child that is born or comes to live among us. "We must go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come into" our schools and seminaries of learn- ing, so that they may all be full. Instead of repining at our lot, we should rejoice and be grateful for it to God. No man in his sober senses will dispute the proposition which we lay down — that the intellect of their people, is the most valuable portion of any nation's inheritance; be- cause, of what value would our fossil coal be, unless we possessed the knowledge, skill, and industry, to enable us to use it in our fire-places, our manufactories, stores, shops, and offices? So of our lead and iron ores, unless we learn how to produce lead and iron from them, they will be useless to us. Of what value to us would be all 118 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. our salt waters, deep in the earth, unless we knew how to bore into the earth and bring them up to the surface, pour them into our salt-pans, and produce salt from them by evaporation? So of our forests, our hills, and dales, our vast prairies and plains, unless we improve, use, and cultivate them skilfully, their worth would be trifling, in- deed, to us. Of what value to us would be our vast lakes, and our long, placid, deep rivers, unless we possessed the genius, skill, industry, enterprise, and energy to enable us to navigate them? And, unless we possess the science and skill, industry, wisdom, and patriotism which shall lead us to make a proper use of all our natural, political, and moral advantages, of what use to us, and to our pos- terity, will be our wide-spread, vast, and fertile domain, our balmy air, our delicious climate, our great and in- creasing number of people? The science and skill, courage and patriotism, enterprise, industry, and energy, intelli- gence and virtue, of any people, are the chief glories of those who possess them. Shall we add all these chief glories to our vast lakes and long rivers ; our hills filled with coal, iron, or lead ore; our vast plains and boundless prairies; our lofty mountains and low vales? In addition to so vast a domain, shall we leave all this virtue, intelli- gence, and patriotism, and all our benevolent, social, lite- rary, and free institutions, to our posterity as their inheri- tance? Of the value of such an inheritance what tongue can tell us? What mathematician can calculate its value? What imagination can conceive its value? None. It is invaluable. No tongue can tell us, no figures can calcu- late, and no imagination can conceive its value. All North America, the islands of the Pacific — the world, are spread out before us, to fill up with people, to subdue, to cultivate, occupy, and enjoy forever; in peace, without a rival in morals, in free institutions, in knowledge, num- bers, wealth, or power. Patriots, philanthropists, chris- tians, philosophers, republicans, men of learning, of ge- nius, orators, poets, and statesmen, look on this vast field, now ready for the harvest! Arise, and come forth with your sickles, and assist us to gather it into our garners. Yes, now, let every man and woman in all the land arise, in one great and mighty host, and aid us in the high and ESSA7 ON EDUCATION. 119 holy work of education. Teach our youth to fear God and keep his commandments — to be honest, industrious, kind, benevolent, just, and good. To respect the laws, and place in authority honest, capable, and faithful men. To obey those who are in authority over them — their parents, teachers, the officers of justice and the ministers of religion: teach them to govern themselves, and let their love of power be, a power over themselves, over their passions, over their inner man. Without exercising such a power constantly, they can neither be happy themselves nor useful to others. Let us, one and all, forthwith, ac- quire and always exercise such a power as this. Could such an education, physical, mental, and moral, as we have merely hinted at in this essay, be afforded to every citizen of this great republic, we should live in a new world. By far the greatest portion of all the suffering of mankind, physical, mental, and moral, flows from that poi- sonous fountain the uneducated, wicked, human heart. Purified by education and the grace of God, its streams would be rendered healthful, and flow in ten thousand brooks, rivulets, and rills, irrigating, refreshing, and adorn- ing the whole field of human life. It would for ever re- main the sworn duty of the legislative General Assemblies of all the states north-west of the Ohio river, "to provide the means of instruction, and promote the cause of vir- tue, morality, and religion," because all the constitutions of these states expressly so declare. Were our entire community so educated, what a community should we be, compared with ours now, or with any other on the globe ! Its wealth, its fame, its healthfulness, its happi- ness, and moral influence, w r ould attract to it the esteem, admiration, and love of the whole world. We have expressly called on our ministers of religion to aid us in this holy work, and no day is too sacred for its introduction into their desks. As we are not of the number of those who would confine religious instruction to the Lord's day, and keep religion up in the pulpit to be looked at, and worshipped as an idol on Sunday only, as a Hindoo would do; so we would never exclude the sub- ject of education from the pulpit, on any day of the week. Our Saviour had two objects in view in coming into the 120 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. world — firstly, he came to make an atonement for the sins of mankind, by his sufferings and death. Secondly, he came to teach mankind the way of life and salvation. In this latter character — that of a Teacher, our ministers are his successors in office, and it is their duty, to officiate constantly as instructors — and that is their whole duty. The same narrow-minded men, who would exclude education as a subject of discourse from the sacred desk, and confine it to week-days, and to some school-room, would object to any man's writing on religious subjects, unless he is a clergyman. We are of a different opinion on this whole matter. We believe that all men, of every profession and occupation in life, may, with propriety, write on religious subjects, and that, if they can, by their writings or speeches, throw any useful lights on religion, education, or morals, they have not only the right, under our free form of government, but it is their duty to place their candles where all in the house may see their light. We belong neither to the sect of the Pharisees, nor that of the Sadducees. But, there are errors abroad in this country, which deserve to he combatted and put down. The fear of our clergymen and the love of demagogues, are equally erroneous. Let us look at these errors for a few moments, and duly consider and weigh, and then stamp their weight on the boxes which contain them. Some persons appear to entertain a dread of this influ- ence of the clergymen on our political affairs; and this feeling seems to pervade many parts of our country. Im- bued with this feeling, many seem anxious to charge our present ministers of religion with all the faults, vices, and crimes of their predecessors even in the dark ages! We know better than to fear any evil from their influence. No; our danger lies in a very different quarter. We need not fear the ministers of religion; but we may fear, and we do fear, the influence of political demagogues on our very excitable people. We arrive at this conclusion, whether we look back on the past, or on the present state of things. The future appears as if such creatures will become more and more not less dangerous to our peace and repose as a nation. Although our present Absaloms may have made some ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 121 improvements, for which they may claim a patent right, yet, on the whole, they are mere copiers of the conduct of the original inventer — Absalom of old times. He could, stand, all day long, by the principal gate of the city, ta- king every Israelite by the hand who had visited his father the king, and was going home, disappointed and dissatis- fied with the administration of the general government. Yes, he could warmly and cordially press every such man's hard hand, kiss him, and with a deep sigh coming from the heart, and a big tear in his eye, regret that he, Absalom, were not made a judge in Israel, and so be in a condition to extend his patronage to his dear friend, whose hard case he so deeply commisserated. He procured and prepared horses and chariots, accompanied by fifty men to run before him as outriders; and, in this style of living, he moved about the country, flattering and de- ceiving the people. However, he never went so far, we suspect, as to have great public dinners given to him by his friends on his tours through the country. Nor, after having ate a dinner consisting of the daintiest viands, diluted with the most sparkling wines, did he, instead of thanking God for his bounty, arise, and in long-winded speeches, abuse all his enemies, and praise all the dema- gogues who were friendly to his ambitious projects. These dinners and speeches are an improvement on Ab- salom's old patent right, and they are the only ones made since his day worth naming. After having stolen the hearts of the people, this same Absalom murdered his own brother, sought to take the life of his own father, and place himself on his father's throne. He violated his fa- ther's nuptial bed, and committed all sorts of enormities in order to get into office. He did all these things (if he could be believed,) out of love for the people — the dear people. Such a man was Absalom, and such as he was of old, would not a few of our table orators become had they the means of becoming such demagogues as he was? Let us so educate our whole people, that no such crea- ture can steal away their hearts and lead them to destruc- tion. In Europe, they may fear military despots, but, in our country* we may fear political demagogues and party 16 122 ESSAY ON EDUCATION. strife. Oar parties may become so embittered towards each other, that our whole land may -be covered with misery by enacting bad laws, or by badly and partially executing even good laws. These are our dangers which must be met and prevented by universal education. A great and splendid university at the seat of the national government, surrounded by the vices of a corrupt court, would only corrupt the whole mass of our youth; where- as, the pure morals of the fireside, of the country school, the county academy, and the Sunday school, daily and weekly assembling at the sound of the church-going bell, would tend to produce, and would produce, the happiest effects from age to age— for ever. Our government was erected for the benefit of all the people, and it is our duty to so educate all the people, that they may all make use- ful citizens. As to the objection that the poorer classes have more children than they can educate, and that the rich must be taxed to educate the children of the poor; we believe, that, in point of expense to the rich, it always has, and always will, cost them more money to educate even one man or woman to serve the devil, than it will to educate one hundred men or women to serve God and their country. No problem in Euclid can be more clearly- demonstrated than our proposition — and so we dismiss it with a "quod erat demonstrandum," annexed to it. Could such an education as we advocate be extended to every citizen of this republic, should a war ever occur be- tween us and all the monarchs in the world, what an army should we be able to send into the field! what navies of ours would cover the seas! And these armies and navies would fight our battles, and defend our liberties, and hand down to our posterity such renown and glory, as the his- tory of no other people records. At the bar, in the halls of legislation, in the pulpit, in the professor's chair, and in the popular assembly, what bursts of eloquence would convince the judgment, vivify and move along with them the human passions and the human heart! what painters, statuaries, musicians, mechanics, merchants, teachers, far- mers, soldiers, and sailors should we possess! what states- men, authors, naturalists, and profound, original, and deep thinkers would this nation produce ! Made up, as we are in the West, of the youthful vigor of the world, all thrown ESSAY ON EDUCATION. 123 into one mass, living under such a free form of govern- ment, and occupying as we do, so large a portion of the very best part of our globe, it is not enough for us to boast of what we have already done, though it by far ex- ceeds all that any other people ever achieved in any similar period of time, as that during which we have lived in the West. But, we repeat it over and over again, that the richest portion of our estate lies in the intellect of our people. Shall this portion of our inheritance become a paradise, or remain a waste? Let us all arise, clear, and cultivate this vast field, and fence it; surrounding it with a durable, strong wall, high as heaven; so that we may forthwith begin to reap an abundant crop of moral health- fulness and social happiness. Our vast region would mo- rally resemble a tropical one, producing fruits and flowers at the same time on every tree. Looking down the long vista of future ages, on the millions, and millions of millions of human beings, who will yet dwell in this vast Western Valley, from age to age for ever! Who can estimate the vast amount of physical, mental, and moral evil to be pre- vented; and the vast amount of positive physical, mental, and moral happiness to be conferred by education on the myriads of human beings who are to come after us? Who can compensate us for neglecting, even for a day, to do our duty towards the rising genex*ation? Let us all arise now, and lay a foundation broad, deep, and high, building on it the means of instruction, which shall eventually, like a crucible, melt down the whole mass.of our citizens into one lump of liquid, living, active, moving virtue and in- telligence. Finally, _ ' Fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, relatives, friends and neighbors, ministers of religion, doctors of law and doctors of medicine, professional teachers, rulers and ruled, and every man and woman in all the land — arise, and go forth, aiding us in the high and holy work of edu- cation: Save our free form of government from destruc- tion, and immortal souls from ruin: rouse into activity every power of your bodies and every faculty of your souls, and apply them vigorously in your endeavors to dif- fuse knowledge, and increase the physical, mental, social, and political happiness of mankind.