mi* www WTO* WTO 8MB glj jj WTO 1 Wlv?j £££ WTO WWW WTO WTO WIWj wro* Biro AN ADDRESS or THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY IN THE CITY OF NEW- YORK, TO THEIR FELLOW-CITIZENS, RESPECTING THE EXTENSION OF THEIR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. NEW-YORK : PBINTED'bT J. SEYMOUR, JOHN-STREET. 1828. wro* 8MB MR MH WWW am w^w^ WW wnv wro 1 WW wis £$£ WTO dug WWW wro 4 wro" wro> WIWo wro 1 WW WTO 1 W^W" wro 1 wro 1 t/JIIVt ouzo "wffej WTH3 wro* wro 1 wro 1 WTO 1 Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gin 01 Si ymour B. Durst Old York Library You are requested to use your influence in carry- ing into effect the Plan proposed in the following Address. Ex IGtbrtfi . SEYMOUR DURST When you leave, please leave this book Because it has been said "Ever thing comes t' him who wails Except a loaned book." AN ADDRESS or THE TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY IN THE CITY OF NEW-YORK, TO THEIR FELLOW- CITIZENS, RESPECTING THE EXTENSION OF THEIR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. NEW-YORK : PRINTED BY J. SEYMOUR, JOHN-STREET. 1828. CLAJ51C5 H\ ?3 mi* ADDRESS. The Trustees of the Public School Society, feel con- strained to appeal to their fellow-citizens upon the importance of enlarging the means of Common Education. A full know- ledge of our condition cannot but produce a universal con- viction that our present system of instruction is inadequate to our wants. There is no part of our state which has the means of more ample endowments for public instruction ; nor is there any part of it where the common welfare, not to say the common safety, so imperatively demands them — and yet we are com- pelled to confess, that there is not within the state a single district of any magnitude, with which we could institute a favourable comparison. It is an object of primary importance to ascertain, as nearly as may be, the number of our children within the proper ages for instruction, who are entirely destitute of it. It is impossible with the data which we possess, to arrive at a precisely accurate result ; but it will be perceived by the following statement, that if we have fallen into an error, it is not that of exaggeration. Provision is made by law for ascertaining in all other parts of the state, the number of children between the ages of 5 and 15, and also the whole number annually instructed ; and it is much to be regretted that it does not extend to this city. It appears by the Report of the Secretary of State for 1827, that in other parts of the state, the ratio of scholars in the public and other schools to the whole population, was as 1 to 5 — 1 to 4 — and 1 to 3; and that these are about the average ratios which prevail throughout the state, with the exception of this city. In this city this ratio is less than 1 to 7, suppo- sing the population to have advanced with the same rapidity since 1825, as in the preceding five years. If we adopt for our city the proportion furnished by the above report, and founded upon actual official returns, be- tween the whole population, and the children within the ages above mentioned, the result will be that we had 45,300 of these children in 1825, when our population was but 166,000. If the increase of our population since 1825 has been in the same ratio as from 1820 to 1825, we must add to this num- ber of children more than 7000, making the whole number 52,300. About 10,000 children are taught at our public and charity schools. It was ascertained by a committee of teachers, about four or five years since, that we had 200 male schools. It is a liberal allowance to suppose the female schools equally numerous. If we add to these numbers 100 schools, and allow 35 scholars to each school, which we are persuaded is an over estimate, we have 17,500 for the private schools.* * This estimate corresponds with the opinions of those best acquainted with this subject. 5 We have no means of ascertaining the number of Sunday scholars who go to no other schools. But it is evident, that this number cannot be large, because the whole number of scholars in the Sunday schools does not exceed that in the public schools by more than 2000, and because we know that a large proportion of Sunday scholars attend private schools. From the best inquiries we have been able to make, the number of those scholars who attend no other schools does not exceed one in twenty, or GOO in the whole. The result of these estimates is, that we have twenty-four thousand two hundred children, within the ages of 5 and 15, who attend no school whatever. A large number of children, principally boys, are taken from school as soon as they arrive at 14, and some even at 12 years of age, to be bound out to service, and others are withdrawn even at ten years of age for other purposes. If we allow one half of the whole number above mentioned to have been withdrawn from school before the age of 15, though perhaps one third would be nearer the truth, the re- sult will be as follows : Whole number of children between 5 and 15 years of age, . . . 52,300 Ditto, attending public schools, . 10,000 Ditto .. private do. . . 17,500 Ditto .. Sunday do. not before in- cluded, .... 600 Ditto, withdrawn before the age of 15, 12,100 40,200 Leaving 12,100 Twelve Thousand Children, between five and fifteen years of age, entirely destitute of the means of instruction. G This computation leaves out of view all those children of tenderer years, who ought to be introduced into infant schools. The density, magnitude, and character of our population, give to this subject a deeper interest here, than it can have elsewhere. The single fact that 20,000 emigrants arrived within our city during the past year, presents this subject in a sufficiently striking point of view. Believing that the relative importance of our city in the state and national councils — that the security of our rights, of our property, nay of our lives, depends upon the charac- ter of the people, and essentially upon their intelligence — the Trustees cannot, under the present state of things, suppress their anxiety and alarm. In many of our sister states, the deep interest of the peo- ple in common education may be traced back to the very formation of their earliest institutions. They regarded the proposition that our republican institutions rest upon the ge- neral intelligence and virtue of the people, as something more than a mere theory. In our own state, the towns in the several counties have been authorized to provide by tax- ation for the erection of school-houses, and " for fuel and appendages," and have also been empowered to levy, in the same way, a limited amount, annually, over and above the sum necessary to secure a participation in the common school fund. In the city of New-York, there is no legal provision whatever for the support of common schools, except from the state fund ; and that is on the condition that the city shall raise an amount equal to that received. It is time for us to pause, and inquire whether this sub- ject has yet received the consideration to which it is en- titled, and whether our public schools occupy their merited station among our political institutions. It appears to the Trustees, that the due order of things has been inverted ; that our common schools are not the pro- per objects of a parsimonious policy, but are entitled to an endowment not less munificent than the best of our institu- tions. Neither the sick nor the destitute have higher claims upon us than the ignorant. The want of knowledge is the most imperative of all wants ; for it brings all oth- ers in its train. If education be regarded as a charity, it is the only one whose blessings are without alloy. It de- mands no jealous scrutiny as to the claims of its appli- cants, nor does it require to be so stinted as not to mul- tiply their number. The obligations which rest upon us, in regard to this great interest, both as men and chris- tians, are sufficiently obvious and imposing. To these are to be added, the peculiar claims which are addressed to us as the citizens of a free country. If we would preserve our free institutions, the means of education must be co-exten- sive with the right of suffrage. Although the knowledge of an individual may not always be accompanied with corresponding virtue, yet we hold it to be certain, that politically considered, the community will always be more or less virtuous as they are more or less en- lightened. All private interests harmonize in the public good, and the more clearly this is perceived, the more will a single view to the public welfare be regarded as the test of public spirit, and the just measure of popular favour. If it be not true that the political power of the people is generally employed for what seems to them their own good, we must abandon all the theories of a republican govern- 8 menu If this power be thus employed, we need only en- lighten the mind which directs it, and it is our fault if it be not found on the side of virtue and patriotism. Let it not be supposed, that we would separate the power of knowledge from that of morals and religion. The remarks we have made, we wish to be understood as applied to the people in their civil relations. But if we go farther, and regard reli- gion and morals as the highest objects of education, as they truly are, it certainly will not be denied that education fur- nishes the principal and almost the sole means of their dif- fusion. On the other hand, let it be remembered that the uneduca- ted and unenlightened must necessarily be the mere play- things and tools of political ambition. Those base men who pervert their station, or abuse the public confidence for pri- vate purposes, have nothing to fear but from just sentiment and enlightened opinion. Prejudice and ignorance are the very elements from which proceed all popular error, confu- sion, and violence. It is the business of education to purify this atmosphere, and to drive out the pestilence. The hand which perchance may wield the public destinies, is nothing in itself; it is the terrible engine which it puts in motion which alone is to be dreaded. It may not be without just cause that, in some other coun- tries, it is considered a dangerous thing to enlighten the peo- ple. But, with us, the question of their political power is settled ; and, if they are true to themselves, it is settled for ever. We wish to keep that power in their hands, and to en- able them to exercise it with wisdom. The labouring classes have been justly called the back-bone and sinews of the re- public. It is not enough that they know how to read, write, and cast accounts. We wish to provide for them better ex- citements than they now have. We wish them to enjoy the pleasures, as well as other advantages, of intellectual occupation. We wish them to be able to understand and admire the beneficence of the Creator in the works of his hands. We wish them to feel that virtue is the first distinc- tion among men, and knowledge the second, and to be themselves the great exemplar of these truths. Entertaining these views, we hold that there is no object of greater magnitude within the whole range of legislation — no more imperative demand for public revenue, than the estab- lishment of competent schools and seminaries of learning. We hold that, in the nature of things, nothing can be better entitled to a share of the public revenue, than that from which private and public wealth derive all their value and security. In short, our schools are the very foundation, upon which rest the peace, good order, and prosperity, of society. It is time to pass from this general view to a more parti- cular consideration of the necessity and nature of the re- form which is called for. We conceive that our present es- tablishments are altogether inadequate to the wants of the community. The money expended upon public schools in Boston, in the year 18*26, amounted to upwards of $54,000, exclusive of all expenses of building. From the best information we can obtain, the expenditures of that city, for the same object, during the past year, amounted to $70,000. The whole revenue of the Public School Society of New- York, exclusive of about $4,400 received from pay-scholars, for the year ending on the first of May last, was less than 1* 10 $20,000. This sum includes all the public moneys expended upon common schools, except $2,155 50 cents distributed to the Mechanics', the Orphan-Asylum, and the Manumission societies. It would be a waste of time to attempt to strengthen this statement by any comments we could make. We shall hereafter point out those particulars in which we conceive that our plan of public education needs to be en- larged. We have already stated, that our present system does not harmonise with the spirit of our political institutions. It is well known that the schools of the society were formerly ex- clusively " free schools." It was thought that a reluctance naturally arising from a general spirit of independence, to re- ceive even instruction as a charity, would exclude many from the benefits of education. The removal of this impediment, by receiving compensa- tion from such as choose to make it, has doubtless been at- tended with very beneficial consequences. Public instruction has been, to a considerable extent, freed from its degrading associations with poverty and charity. Still these consequences have not been so extensive as was hoped. About two-thirds only of the whole number admitted into our schools are pay-scholars. It is not certain what portion of these would have been excluded if the old system had continued. It is now in the power of the public to remedy this evil entirely, and to introduce a corresponding benefit, which the pay-system was never competent, nor even designed, to pro- duce. We desire to see our public schools so endowed and pro- vided, that they shall be equally desirable for all classes of 11 society. To effect this, the means of instruction, which are offered to the poor, should be the very best which can be provided. They may not all be able to proceed so far in the patli of learning as others in happier circumstances. But to the extent of their progress,let them have all the helps which the present state of knowledge affords. This is no mere fanciful theory. The advantages of a free intercourse and competi- tion between persons of all ranks and conditions in life, as exhibited in the Edinburgh High School, have been admira- bly illustrated by one of the first British orators of the age. He regarded such an institution as invaluable in a free state; because, to use his own language, men of the highest and lowest rank in the community sent their children there to be educated together. The practical beneficence of this sys- tem is attested by the noble institutions of a sister city. It is by such an union and intercourse, that the real worth of outward distinctions is perceived — that the highest rewards of merit are felt to be equally offered to all — that the jealou- sies, which are too apt to arise from difference of condition, are melted away — and that the relations which subsist be- tween the different classes of society are felt to be relations of mutual advantage and dependence, and not those of hostility. We are aware that it will be regarded by many as im- practicable, that these advantages should ever be realized to the full extent we have contemplated under the peculiar local circumstances of this city. This objection is not with- out foundation ; but we are satisfied that it will be found to grow less and less, the more our system of education is im- proved ; and that it will be principally confined to the lower schools. But if it be admitted, that an equal distribution of 12 the blessings of education to all classes of society can never be realized, this surely does not lessen its importance to those who cannot receive it without our aid. If we would make our schools what they ought to be, we must offer higher rewards for the qualifications of teachers. The dignity of the office of teacher has been too often mea- sured by the subjects of instruction. It has been thought that those pursuits which are level to the capacities of boys, do not require the talents which are called forth by the active competition of men. This estimate proceeds, in part, from the idea that education consists in teaching certain truths, as it were by rote — whereas its highest office is to instil prin- ciples and call forth the powers — to instruct us how to think — to teach its pupils how to make that which they derive from other sources, their own, not by the mere tenure of memory, but by incorporating it with the very substance and strength of their faculties. We hasten to present to the public some changes in our system, which we think necessary, and others which we hope to see adopted sooner or later. It is obvious, from what we have already said, that these schools should be supported from the public revenue, should be public property, and should be open to all, not as a charity, but as a matter of common right. We propose, that Infant Schools should' be established throughout the city, to receive children from three to six years of age. The separation of these from older children is necessary, to prevent disorder, and to economise time and labour. The instruction of these children is peculiar ; its expense is very trifling, and is much more than repaid by the great domestic economy which results from it. We need not enlarge upon its benefits. It is obvious that the recep- tacles of these children must be numerous, and be dis- persed throughout the city, and that they should be under the charge of females. The difficulty of sending very young children to places of instruction, is among the principal obstacles which debar them from its benefits. The most important consideration respecting these schools is, that they appeal to parents before they have any apology, or even motive, for keeping their children at home, and that when these children are once in the way of instruction, they are likely to be kept there. In the next place, we would greatly enlarge the number of schools in which a common English education is taught. A very great majority of the scholars will leave these schools at the age of 15, or at an earlier period. These schools should be provided with such means of instruction as are best calculated to fit their pupils for the various departments of mechanic, mercantile, and agricultural industry. They should be amply provided with teachers of pure morals, and sound learning ; with men who are capable of inspiring and directing a just ambition. The schools abovementioned form the basis of the plan which we propose, and until its foundations are firmly and amply laid, we would not proceed another step. Let these schools be increased and improved until they shall be equal to the necessities of the community — until all the wants which are now felt, or which the people can be made to feel, shall be fully supplied — until, if possible, the 12,000 children who can now neither read nor write, shall be gathered into their folds — and until our instruction shall correspond, both 14 in kind and degree, with the capacities and opportunities of the people. About minor points their will, of course, be differences of opinion. Whether those who may have the means of con- sulting their inclinations on this subject shall choose to send their children to the public schools or not, is comparatively of no moment. But that ample means and inducements should be provided for all who would be otherwise destitute, is of the last importance ; and we trust that for this object the opinions and efforts of all will be united. Next in importance to this object, is the establishment of one or more High Schools, in which should be taught practi- cal mathematics ; natural philosophy ; book-keeping ; and in short, all those branches which are desirable, for the active business of life in any of its departments, the learned profes- sions excepted. We would also recommend, if the means to be provided should be sufficient for that .purpose, a Classical School, in which the ancient and modern languages should be tho- roughly taught. To all these should be added, a Seminary for the educa- tion of at least such Teachers as are required for common schools. Thus we should present to the public, establishments for education which would afford ample and permanent encou- ragement to all the talent of the community, instead of hold- ing out a short-lived patronage, to be withdrawn when most needed — which would make that talent public property — and which would open to universal emulation the path to all public distinctions. This plan is not without example, and is substantially, with 13 the exception of a school for teachers, in successful practice in a neighbouring city, to which \vc have before alluded. To effect this object, the Trustees would recommend a tax of half a mill upon the dollar, on the amount of property in the city, according to its valuation in the present estimates of assessment. The fund thus to be raised should be for ever kept separate from all other taxes, and sacred to the purposes for which it was created. It is well known that the estimates just mentioned fall far short of the actual value of the property embraced in them, and that there is a vast amount of property which they do not touch. If no allowance were made for these circumstances, this tax would amount to 5 cents on a $100— to 50 cents on $1,000— to $5 on $10,000. It is true, that the poor man who puts in 5 cents, has the same direct interest in the fund with the rich man who contributes $50 ; but this difference is more than made up by the indi- rect advantages of the latter. We submit to the liberal con- sideration of the rich, whether their proportion of this mo- ney, expended for the purpose of disseminating wholesome knowledge and pure morals, would not be a profitable invest- ment for their children ; and whether their bonds and mort- gages, and public stocks, are altogether beyond the reach of public opinion, and of that which must ultimately depend upon public opinion, the administration of the laws. We may go still farther and say, that in so far as the ex- penditure proposed is necessary for the establishment of common or English schools, it is recommended by the prin- ciples of economy, in the strictest sense of that word. Those who are without education, must always be a degraded caste. Having no prospect of a material improvement in their con- 16 dition, they are without the common incentives to industry, and hardly know what frugality means. Those who are unac- quainted with the habits and pursuits of humble life, do not know how generally education is connected with independ- ence, and the want of it with abject poverty. Add to this, that the caste of which we are speaking, for such it unhap- pily is, is necessarily removed from all wholesome social in- fluences, and that they are the natural prey of the cunning and profligate, and it will be perceived, that with regard to a great portion of them, and particularly the children of emigrants, we must choose between the expenses of their education, and the cost of their maintenance in our alms- houses and penitentiaries. It is proof enough of this, that small as is the proportion of those who cannot read and write to our whole population, they constitute the majority of our convicts and paupers. The more the community is enlightened, the. more equally will its burdens be borne. It has not, perhaps, been suffi- ciently considered by political economists, that national wealth chiefly proceeds from the activity of mind ; and must there- fore be proportioned to the extent and universality of its developement. There is a striking illustration of this truth, in a lecture not long since delivered by Baron Dupin before one of the Institutes of Paris. It appears by his statement that in some parts of France, those who are educated are l-10th, in others l-'20th, in others only l-2*29th part of the whole population ; and that the national revenue of these districts is nearly in corresponding ratios. Nay more, that these proportions are not materially varied by the most strik- ing superiority or inferiority of soil and climate. 17 It may be said that we have mistaken the effect for the cause. Wealth and education undoubtedly act and re-act upon each other. But it is certain, that there would be little or no capital without education, and that capital derives its power of accumulation from education ; which points out ifs uses, and creates a demand for it. If it were necessary to add any thing to these considera- tions, the Trustees might claim the support of all the mid- dling and even wealthier classes of society, on the ground of private interest. The amount of their taxes would be re- paid to them fourfold, by the greater cheapness of educa- tion, even supposing they were to avail themselves only of the higher schools ; and it will doubtless be an object of consi- deration to some individuals of these classes, that the cheaper education is, the more they can afford to purchase. It would be impossible, without going too much into de- tail, to show how great a saving in the expenses of educating our children would result from large establishments, under a proper superintendance. Suffice it to say, that, as far as experiments have been made, the results have been greater and more satisfactory than could have been expected.* Is it necessary that the Trustees should offer any further apology for proposing that a small portion of the public wealth should be devoted to the great objects of education ? * The expense of teaching 7,044 pupils in Boston, in 1826, in the public schools, was $54,417. The expense of 3,392 pupils, in private schools, was $97,305. Something ought, probably, to be allowed for there being a greater proportion of scholars in the private than in the public schools engaged in the higher grades of education. We perceive no evidence of a parsimonious spirit in our public councils in regard to the ordinary objects of public revenue. There is no lack of taxation for lighting and guarding our streets — for our alms-house and penitentiaries. The expen- ditures for these objects, to say nothing of the enormous ca- pital invested in these establishments, amounted in the year 1826 to upwards of $196,000. The expenditures for the same objects during the past year, amounted to $221,000. We might refer to inferior objects for proofs of equal public liberality. In short, whenever revenue is wanted for any purpose deemed important to the comfort or character of the city, it is a matter of course to raise it by tax. We hum- bly suggest that a similar liberality ought to be shown to- wards an object inferior to no other. We will not anticipate objections. It is impossible that there can be two parties in this community, one in favour of education, and one against it. We have none among us who are the avowed advocates of popular igno- rance. The blessings of generations yet unborn await the success of our efforts. In their behalf, as well as our own, we make our solemn appeal to all classes, in the name of religion, of humanity, and of freedom. We would say to those who are in the most prosperous conditions of life, that the best security for their prosperity and their privileges, is to be found in their greatest possible diffusion. To those who belong to its humbler ranks, we would suggest, that no more honourable occasion was ever offered for the exercise of that political power which our free constitution has given equally to all. OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY FOR 1828. L)E WITT CLINTON, President. LEONARD BLEECKER, Vice President. GEORGE T. TRIMBLE, Treasurer. L1NDLEY MURRAY, Secretary. TRUSTEES. STEPHEN ALLEN, Esq. HEMAN AVERILL, MICAH BALDWIN, SAMUEL BOYD, JOHN L. BOWNE, JAMES B. BRINSMADE, ARTHUR BURTIS, WILLIAM BURTSELL, BENJAMIN CLARK, WILLIAM W. CHESTER, ISAAC COLLINS, ISAAC U. COLES, ROBERT C. CORNELL, SAMUEL COWDREY, ISRAEL DEAN, JAMES F. DEPEYSTER, CORNELIUS DU BOIS, ERASTUS ELLSWORTH, WILLIAM W. FOX, JOSEPH GRINNELL, JOHN GROSHON, Jun. CALEB 0. HALSTED, ELEAZER LORD, DANIEL LORD, Jun. DENNIS MCCARTHY, HENRY MEAD, m. d. THOMAS R. MERCEIN, SAMUEL F. MOTT, RALPH OLMSTED, JAMES PALMER, DRAKE B. PALMER, ELIAKIM RAYMOND, THOMAS RICHARDS, GEORGE S. ROBBINS, J. SMITH ROGERS, M. d. J. I. ROOSEVELT, Jun. HENRY RUTGERS, Esq. ROBERT SEDGWICK, SAMUEL W. SETON, FREDERICK SHELDON, BENJAMIN L. SWAN, KNOWLES TAYLOR, NAJAH TAYLOR, WILLIAM TORREY, STEPHEN HASBROUCK, m.d. J. VAN RENSSELAER, m. d. RENSSELAER HAVENS, WILLIAM HOWARD, JOHN R. HURD, JOHN E. HYDE, JOHN W. LEAVITT, FLOYD SMITH, GEORGE PARDOW, JOHN GRAY, JOHN R. PETERS, JOSHUA UNDERHILL, EZRA WEEKS, ANDREW C. WHEELER, MARINUS WILLETT, Jun. m. d. SAMUEL WOOD, LEWIS WILCOX, JOHN N. WELLS, TIMOTHY HEDGES, JAMES McBRAIR, NATHANIEL RICHARDS. ♦