i 
 
 Mm 
 
 itfflm 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 OIF^T OF^ 
 
 Mrs. SARAH P. WALS WORTH. 
 
 Received October, 1894. 
 ^Accessions No.*rLt*7. Class No. 
 
 

 
 
w*** 
 
 

 INSTITUTE LECTURES. 
 
 
LECTURES 
 
 ON 
 
 MENTAL AND MORAL CULTURE. 
 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL P. BA^ES, A.M., 
 
 * t 
 
 SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC I N 8 T R U T I O X, 
 CRAWFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 " Whatever career you embrace, propose to yourselves an elevated aim, and put in 
 its service an unalterable constancy." Lectures on the True, Beautiful, and Good. M. 
 VICTOR Cousin. 
 
 "Knowledge is acquired with difficulty, with the sweat of the brow, at the price of 
 humanity's perpetual labor. Spontaneity is innocence, the golden age of thought ; but 
 virtue is worth more than innocence, and virtue reom|^_^^conriunal struggle.' 
 History of Modern Philosophy. ID. "^ 
 
 A. 
 
 NEW YOKK: 
 S. BARNES & BURR, 
 
 61 & 53 JOHN STREET. 
 1860. 
 
RE 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 
 
 A. S. BABNE3 & BUEK, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
 District of New York. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY PBINTED BY 
 
 THOMAS B. SMITH & SON, GEORGE W. WOOD, 
 
 82 & 84 Beekman-st. cor. John and Dutch-sts. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 DIGNITY OF THE TEACHER'S PROFESSION, 9 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 THE BOYHOOD OP NAPOLEON, 41 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 THE POWER OP SPOKEN THOUGHT, 84 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 VOCAL CULTURE, 122 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 THE STUDY OP LANGUAGE, 153 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 THE MEANS AND ENDS OP EDUCATION, 192 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 POPULAR EDUCATION, 230 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 THE EDUCATION OP THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES, 264 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY THE TRUE BASIS OF LIBERTY, . . 295 
 
U1TI7BRSITY 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE following Lectures, as the title indicates, 
 were prepared for the use of Teachers' Insti- 
 tutes, and have been delivered at intervals, be- 
 fore these bodies, during the past five years. 
 They were intended to be addressed to an as- 
 sembly of teachers and citizens, such as are 
 usually found at the evening sessions ; conse- 
 quently, they are not designed for the exclu- 
 sive reading of teachers. 
 
 The attempt has been, to make the opinions 
 developed thoroughly accord with the funda- 
 mental principles of our institutions and form 
 of government. The necessity to the safety 
 and prosperity of the State, that every child 
 should be educated, and that the wealth of 
 the country should pay for this education, has 
 been made a prominent feature. 
 
 There will not be found in this volume a 
 

 Viii PKEFACE. 
 
 systematic treatise for the special guidance of 
 the teacher, but those motives and incentives 
 to preparation, which may serve to awaken in- 
 quiry and stimulate thought. In the hope 
 that it may contribute to the development of 
 our noble school system, it is submitted to 
 the public. 
 
 MEADVILLE, June 6, 1859. 
 
THU7BRSITY 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 DIGNITY OF THE TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 
 
 T71YERY man should regard his profession with 
 J-^ pride. He should see in it something to chal- 
 lenge his admiration and win his affections. He 
 should seek to view it on its sunny side and in its 
 fairest aspects. He should feel that love and regard 
 for it that inspires him with energy and enthusiasm 
 in its pursuit, that enables him to triumph over its 
 difficulties, and to glory and revel in its charms. 
 
 He who looks upon his profession with disfavor, 
 who thinks meanly of its labors, and speaks dispar- 
 agingly of those who belong to it, will inevitably 
 be a drone. His labor will press upon him as 
 drudgery. The action of all his powers will be 
 sluggish, and in despising the pleasures of profes- 
 sional pride, he misses the finest enjoyment of active 
 life. There is no feeling more degrading to a man, 
 than the thought that he is engaged in a business of 
 which he is ashamed; than to feel that other men 
 look upon him with contempt because he labors 
 in it. It stifles every attempt to excel. It obscures 
 
10 DIGJTITYOFTHE- 
 
 Eemark of Milton. Members of the body. 
 
 every spark of genius and sinks him to the rank 
 of a slave. 
 
 In one sense there is no calling that possesses 
 claims to dignity above another. The man who is 
 engaged in the most menial occupation that is honest, 
 may possess as pure a heart, as he who has won for 
 himself the greatest earthly fame. The humblest 
 laborer, that lugs bricks upon his back the day long, 
 may possess the spirit and honor of a nobleman. 
 " If two angels," says John Milton, " were to be sent 
 from heaven, the one to be monarch of an empire, 
 and the other to be a chimney sweeper, the difference 
 in their minds would not be the value of a straw." 
 Earthly and outward distinctions would have no 
 weight. To do the will of Him who sent them 
 would be their only care. To perform with fidelity 
 the duties of the occupation to which, for the time, 
 Providence has called us, should indeed be the 
 object of our solicitude. 
 
 But when we compare the results which the dif- 
 ferent callings in life are capable of producing, we 
 discover that there are different degrees of dignity to 
 which each is entitled. Aside from the purity of a 
 man's heart, and the fidelity with which he dis- 
 charges his duties, there are the effects which his la- 
 bors may produce upon those about him and upon 
 society. The members of the human body are all 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 11 
 
 Ignorance a source of ills. Teachings of Providence. 
 
 equally necessary to its life and symmetry, but in 
 the results of their action we readily admit the supe- 
 riority of some in dignity and importance. The 
 callings of life also have their comparative value, 
 and exert their respective influences in the economy 
 of the world's progress. Beyond the claims of the 
 personal dignity of the individual, and of integrity 
 and honor which should be cultivated in every pro- 
 fession, there are grounds of distinction in the results 
 of his labors. It makes very little difference with 
 the progress of humanity, whether a shoemaker dis- 
 plays great skill in his craft, or whether he be an 
 awkward fellow. The result in either case will be 
 the commendation or curses of a few dozen pimps 
 and dandies. But the man on whose skill and en- 
 ergy the permanent improvement, the mental growth 
 of large numbers of human beings depends, has a 
 higher destiny. 
 
 The noblest object for which any man can live is, 
 without doubt, the cultivation of that part of him 
 which is imperishable. It is the mind that governs 
 and directs us in all things, and if we would have 
 our lives well ordered, and would be wisely gov- 
 erned, we should seek first of all, generous mental 
 culture. The many ills to which we are subject, and 
 the troubles and vexations with which our lives are 
 beset, result principally from ignorance. If we look 
 
12 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Man created for improvement. Mental development only begun in this life. 
 
 abroad in the world, we see those classes of society 
 enjoying least of the rational pleasures of life who 
 have least knowledge. Those nations and tribes are 
 most barbarous and brutish who are the most igno- 
 rant. Self interest and present gratification, if these 
 only were consulted, would confirm us in this opinion. 
 The teachings of Providence point us to the same 
 conclusion. We are created with the special design 
 of improving our gifts. Had this not been the pur- 
 pose of our existence, the Creator would have en- 
 dowed us with instinct, and thus'have put us for ever 
 under the control of an iron necessity, like the beast 
 of the field, the bird of the air, and the insect that 
 flutters in the sunbeam. These can not improve 
 their gifts, and they have no need of improvement. 
 The cattle of to-day know no more than the cattle 
 in the time of Abraham. The bird builds her nest, 
 and the bee fashions its cell, as they did at creation's 
 dawn. Were these to live a thousand years they 
 would develop no new faculties, they would make 
 no improvement. Their knowledge is just sunicient 
 for their needs. They eat, and sleep, and then lie 
 down to die. But not so with the soul of man. It 
 is endowed with faculties susceptible of indefinite 
 expansion and improvement. At the earliest dawn 
 of existence development begins, and from infancy 
 to trembling age, he may by diligence and judicious 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 13 
 
 Obstacles to universal culture. Lord Bacon. 
 
 culture, add strength and knowledge to his increas- 
 ing stores. The accumulations of the fathers may be 
 handed down to the sons, and thus from generation 
 to generation, and from age to age, the soul of man, 
 profiting by all that has been before it, may go on 
 growing in strength and increasing in knowledge to 
 the last syllable of recorded time. 
 
 Nor does development cease here. There is a 
 more exalted view that opens beyond. The teach- 
 ings of Nature and the direct testimony of Kevela- 
 tion unite in proof, that the mortal life of man is but 
 the beginning of his mental training. It is only the 
 childhood to that more perfect development which 
 shall succeed. It will be the business of eternity 
 to unfold the height and depth of that knowledge 
 which we can here see but dimly, and with a vision 
 obscured by all those weaknesses to which flesh is 
 heir. Our best acquirements are comparatively in- 
 fantile and weak. The farther we advance in knowl- 
 edge only makes our weakness and folly more appar- 
 ent ; for the light which we gain, serves to show the 
 boundless extent of that which remains to be learned, 
 and leads us to that which it is not possible for us to 
 know with our present light. The shortness of life 
 prevents us from prosecuting at length those subjects 
 even which our present powers and helps fit us to 
 pursue. The great majority of mankind are pre- 
 
14 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Does God create for naught ? Employments in the future. 
 
 vented by their position in society, by the necessity 
 they are under of toiling early and late for the 
 maintenance of themselves and families, from devot- 
 ing the small space of this life to the development 
 of their spiritual natures. But the man who gives 
 his life to study is only able to master a few of the 
 elements of knowledge. Look at the mind of such 
 a man as Lord Bacon ! Possessed of a comprehen- 
 sion and a grasp which seemed to look upon the laws 
 of the material world as with the eye of a God ! 
 which seemed to range the universe at will, and 
 pointed out those sound rules of investigation which 
 have conducted to the splendid triumphs of modern 
 science, and have reared so proud a trophy to his 
 name ! And yet he felt when he died that he had 
 but just entered the vestibule of knowledge ; that he 
 had only torn aside a few of the obstructions from 
 the field of discovery, and had set up an occasional 
 landmark to point the way ; that he had only 
 picked up a few pebbles upon the sea-shore, while 
 its great caverns were fall of hidden things and 
 mysteries, which his earnest mind was thirsting to 
 discover when he was called away ! And does God 
 create for naught? Does that Being bestow such 
 gifts without granting the means for their improve- 
 ment ? Though we but commence their cultivation 
 in the brief period that is alloted to us in life, we 
 
Spiritual improvement our highest duty. Dignity of the Profession. 
 
 are impelled to the belief by every principle of hu- 
 man judgment, that abundant opportunity will be af- 
 forded for the full development of all our faculties, 
 and the comprehension of unbounded knowledge. 
 What more worthy occupation can employ our men- 
 tal powers in a future state ? Our physical needs 
 will then be at an end, for our employments will only 
 pertain to pure spirit. There will then be no occa- 
 sion for all that labor which is bestowed in acquiring 
 lands, and houses, and costly furniture, and in an- 
 swering those demands which are made upon us by 
 fashion and the eyes of other people. For, if our 
 lives have been consistent with His will, we shall 
 live in mansions that are prepared for us, we shall 
 need no protection or rest, for it is eternal sunshine 
 and summer ; we are dressed in the white robes of 
 purity, and the only occupations in which we can be 
 engaged will be such as pertain to us as pure intelli- 
 gences. 
 
 "We see then that the cultivation of the mind is 
 the noblest work we can accomplish for ourselves ; 
 that its results are unlimited in extent and unending 
 in duration ; that we derive from this the highest 
 gratification which a human being is capable of en- 
 joying ; that we thus begin that work of develop- 
 ment and improvement, for the attainment of which 
 we are without doubt expressly created ; and that we 
 
16 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 JEneas at the tomb of Anchises. 
 
 thereby secure the approval of Him, whose will it is 
 our life and light to obey. For upon the faithful 
 servant, who used the talents with unceasing dili- 
 gence, were bestowed the cheering words of praise ; 
 while he who hid his talent in a napkin, was sent 
 away in disgrace with merited reproach. 
 
 If what has been said be true, we must conclude 
 that the profession, whose business it is to train the 
 faculties and energies of mind, to have under con- 
 trol the spirits of childhood, fresh from the Creator's 
 hand, to impart knowledge which shall be the basis 
 and key to other knowledge, to lay burdens that 
 will make strong the mental sinews, to draw out 
 and set in operation all the latent faculties, to un- 
 fold those laws immutable which exist in the phy- 
 sical, the mental, and the moral, to plan conquests 
 and execute designs where the agencies are imma- 
 terial and spiritual, and to be the instrument of 
 developing character that shall outlive the years of 
 mortal life, such a profession can not be excelled in 
 dignity. In our short-sighted judgment we are likely 
 to lose sight of the importance that should be at- 
 tached to it. The spiritual is too often obscured by 
 the material and the tangible. 
 
 When ^Eneas was crossing the seas, as it is given in 
 Virgil's beautiful poetic account, he landed upon that 
 island sacred to filial affection, and ordered games to 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 17 
 
 Comparison of the Professions. Triumphs of the Farmer. 
 
 be performed about the tomb of his father Anchises. 
 Among others he instituted prizes for those who 
 would try their " skill with the swift arrow." The 
 mark was a dove, tied high up upon the mast of the 
 vessel. But when he came to award the prize, it 
 was not bestowed upon him who hit the mast with 
 his arrow, nor upon him who severed the string, nor 
 yet upon him who pierced the dove in her upward 
 flight ; but it was given to that aged chieftain whose 
 far ascending shaft kindled amid the clouds of hea- 
 ven, and marked its track with flame. 
 
 We are apt to forget that we are created with 
 other faculties than those which pertain to us as ani- 
 mals, which minister simply to our physical ne- 
 cessities. Surrounded as we are by the strife of men 
 fast to be rich and eager to lay up goods where moth 
 corrupts and where thieves break through, we lose 
 sight of the fact that we have hearts and an emo- 
 tional nature which demand our care and culture. 
 Digestion is not the highest order of development of 
 which this being of ours is susceptible. Had growth 
 been the end of our existence, we could have been 
 created without the means of locomotion, and stood 
 with our arms extended like the oak of the forest. 
 Had we simply been designed to fulfill the conditions 
 of animal life, we could have been made like the lion 
 who devours his prey and then sleeps by his lair till 
 
18 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Dignity and value of Teaching. 
 
 he needs more. But how different in purpose and 
 destiny is the creation of man ! What powers of 
 thought and action is he not capable of displaying, 
 how generous in impulse, how lofty in purpose, 
 how sublime in virtue is he capable of becoming! 
 Who can fully realize the invention displayed by 
 Homer, the analytic acuteness of Aristotle, the sub- 
 lime virtue of Socrates, the intuitive perceptions of 
 Bacon, the broad generalizations of Newton, the in- 
 comparable acquaintance with human thought and 
 feeling displayed by Shakspeare, without entertain- 
 ing a more exalted view of man's nature and man's 
 destiny, and unceasing delight in the thought that he 
 is himself a man, possessed of a spirit akin to these ? 
 
 That we may have a just conception of the dignity 
 and value of teaching, and the relation it sustains to 
 the world's thinking, let us compare it with some of 
 the other professions which are most highly esteemed 
 among men, and are usually looked upon as the most 
 honorable and dignified. 
 
 It is indeed a noble occupation to till the soil. 
 What glorious triumphs has the hand of the hus- 
 bandman achieved ! He indeed eats the bread of 
 labor, he toils early and late, and his garments at 
 times are worn and dusty. But what shapes of 
 beauty and magnificence does the earth take beneath 
 his hand 1 He hews down the heavy forest, and lets 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 19 
 
 Remark of Cicero. Beauties of Creation. 
 
 the warm sunlight in upon the damp, mouldy earth. 
 He breaks the stubborn and rocky soil, and clothes 
 it with verdure. He digs deep trenches and plants 
 the vine, with careful hand he prunes the too luxu- 
 rious growth, and hangs beneath the broad green 
 leaves long clusters of purple grapes. Orchards of 
 mellow fruit glow in the autumnal sunshine, and 
 along the hills are ridges of golden corn. In sum- 
 mer time the choicest varieties of stock graze in the 
 meadow beside the cool brook, and in winter they 
 delight in warm shelter, and pure water, and un- 
 stinted feed : and he rejoices to see them eat and 
 thrive. It was that great lawyer and statesman, 
 Cicero, who said, when contemplating -amid the cares 
 of state, the freedom and ease he enjoyed when sur- 
 rounded by the labors of his farms, that it was his 
 greatest delight to see his ewes eat and his lambs 
 suck. 
 
 But beyond this limited view, to the husbandman 
 the volume of nature is wide open. He is in the 
 very midst of the Creator's laboratory. It is indeed 
 ennobling to be a tiller of the soil, and to see the 
 work of creation that is constantly going on, to 
 witness the changes that are taking place in the vege- 
 table, and mineral, and animal kingdoms, whereby 
 the subtle and unseen elements take forms of beauty 
 and magnificence the fragrant shrub, the stately 
 
 [U1U7EBSITY; 
 
20 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Eesults of the Farmer's labor. Life of the Teacher. 
 
 tree the diamond, and the ruby the graceful turns 
 and curves in the contour of the horse, the stately 
 bearing of the king of beasts, and the strong wing 
 of the king of birds. And yet, what is the purpose 
 of the husbandman's work ? What the end of all his 
 labors ? Why ! that when tlie seed time has passed 
 and the harvest has come, he may furnish the market 
 a few score bushels of grain, that he may fit for the 
 sacrifice a dozen bullocks, and half as many swine, 
 that he may store up in cellar and granary enough 
 to feed himself and family till harvest shall come 
 again. 
 
 The life of the teacher is spent in a different 
 sphere. There are none of the elements of natural 
 beauty about him, that light up the path of the tiller 
 of the soil. The herds lowing for their keeper, barns 
 filled with plenty, the fruitery groaning with the 
 orchard's bounty, the broad, rich acres of nicely cul- 
 tivated land, are not his. His home, it may be, is 
 an up-stair tenement in some obscure court. His 
 mornings and his evenings are spent in study, pre- 
 paring for his daily task. If by chance he catch a 
 breath of fresh air, laden with the fragrance of new- 
 mown hay and apple blossoms, or the "sound of 
 bees' industrious murmur, " it is when wafted to him 
 as he passes the garden wall of the farmer. His days 
 are spent in the toil of the class-room. Patient and 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 21 
 
 Discouragements. Patience. 
 
 unceasing he must instruct the pupils committed to 
 his charge. One may be quick to apprehend, and 
 ready and attentive in all his tasks, while others are 
 drones and laggards. But he must adapt himself to 
 all. He may be obliged to repeat again and again, 
 processes and explanations the most simple in their 
 nature, and still realize the disheartening truth that 
 he has failed in making them understood by dull 
 and indolent members of his class. He may see his 
 instructions disregarded, and his good advice thrown 
 away. But he must be meek and patient still, and 
 renew his attempts as though all were equally apt to 
 learn and teachable in spirit, and never yield and 
 never tire in his exertions for the improvement and 
 welfare of the company that are gathered around 
 him. Indulgent parents may pour into his ear the 
 complaints of pampered and fault-finding children, 
 who have perhaps escaped un whipped of justice, 
 which, but for the kindness of his heart, would have 
 been meted out to them. But he must take it all in 
 sympathy and meekness, and still strive to go on in 
 harmony. Who can tell the heart-eating cares that 
 beset the life of the teacher in his accustomed round 
 of tasks? "Who can recount the burdens that he 
 bears on his bosom during his waking moments, 
 and the perplexities that disturb his midnight slum- 
 bers? 
 
22 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Imperishable material. Extent of inlluence. 
 
 Sucli is a picture of the daily life of the teacher. 
 As an occupation, as a means of support and pas- 
 time, it can not compare in independence and com- 
 fortable living with that of the cultivation of the 
 earth. But what is the end of his labors? The 
 work which the teacher accomplishes is unending in 
 its results. Eternity will alone suffice to measure 
 the fruits of his industry. He works upon a mate- 
 rial that will never perish. When he labors to 
 bring into operation all those faculties with which 
 the minds of his pupils are endowed, and inspires by 
 his enthusiasm their young hearts with a love for 
 learning, and a reverence for the truths of science, 
 and the beauties of literature, he wakes to action the 
 energies of a living soul, he tunes an instrument 
 strung by the hand of the Creator, that will never 
 cease to yield harmonious sounds. He disciplines, 
 and trains for usefulness in life, those who come un- 
 der his charge. But the influence of that training is 
 not confined to those who received it. They go forth 
 into life to impart to others in turn what they have 
 realized ; 
 
 " And each, as he receives the flame, 
 "Will light his altar with its ray." 
 
 What calling merely secular can equal in dignity a 
 work like this ? What profession in which the re- 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 23 
 
 Co-worker with the Creator. The Lawyer. 
 
 sponsibilities are so great, in which the future teems 
 with results so momentous ? The teacher is no less 
 a personage than a co-worker with the Creator in the 
 highest manifestations of his power. Without de- 
 velopment, the mind of man is naught but a blank, 
 a waste without beauty and without use. But when 
 the hand of culture is laid upon it, it praises alike 
 the handiwork of the Creator, and the developments 
 it receives from him who trains it. So that the work 
 of the latter approximates in dignity to the former. 
 
 There is a grandeur in the profession of the law 
 which is hardly equaled among the callings of life. 
 Though so often sneered at and despised, for the 
 reason that no profession is more shamefully abused 
 by many of the class who should defend its honor 
 and uphold its dignity, yet in its true purpose, and 
 in its legitimate results it challeuges our respect and 
 veneration. It is the business of the lawyer to search 
 out the facts which shall show innocence or guilt, 
 and thereby establish justice. The notion of a judg- 
 ment for the purpose of establishing right, is one 
 that inheres in the human mind, and is essential to 
 veracity and honor. "We can scarcely conceive a 
 more exalted idea than that of a general judgment, 
 when all the wrongs of ages shall be righted, when 
 the rights of the abused and long-suffering shall be 
 vindicated. But such is the daily labor of the law- 
 
24 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Defense of the guilty. Dignity of the law. 
 
 yer. His office is to correct the wrongs which man 
 suffers at the hands of his fellow-man. The idea 
 very generally prevails, that an advocate can not 
 take up on the side of the guilty without compro- 
 mising his honor and his integrity. But even the cul- 
 prit has rights which should be respected and de- 
 fended. Because he is in the hands of the law and 
 powerless, he should not be abused by the party that 
 is interested to crush him. He should not be made 
 to suffer for more than he is guilty of. It is quite as 
 honorable to defend and protect conscientiously the 
 rights of the accused, as- to be engaged in the prose- 
 cution> and even more creditable to a man's heart : 
 
 " For earthly power shows likest God's 
 When mercy seasons justice." 
 
 The honest advocate does not agree to prove a man 
 innocent when he is guilty, to misrepresent and 
 falsify to gain the suit of his client ; but to see that 
 no more than justice be done, that the rights and 
 privileges of that client are respected, and that he se- 
 cure " even-handed" justice. In this light, the pro- 
 fession of the law is noble and dignified. It awak- 
 ens the finest feelings and sensibilities of the heart to 
 feel that one is the vindicator of the injured, and 
 taxes the noblest powers of the intellect to search 
 out and set in order the facts that shall inevitably 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 25 
 
 Teacher successful, Lawyer's "occupation's gone." 
 
 conduct to justice. To feel that the life or death of 
 the client, the happiness or misery of an innocent 
 and dependent family may hang upon his words, is 
 sufficient to arouse him to the utmost of his capacity, 
 and to inspire him with, unwonted vigor. 
 
 But the genuine faithful teacher does more than 
 this. He is not only a vindicator of justice and a 
 defender of truth and virtue, when trampled on by 
 the offender, but he performs this labor prospectively. 
 He labors to establish in the character, principles 
 that are antagonistic to vice and crime, and to nur- 
 ture in the heart sentiments and feelings which shall 
 direct in the paths of rectitude and honor. His 
 office is to smooth and polish the gem whose ragged 
 corners would otherwise tear and lacerate whatever 
 it chanced to come in contact with. He subdues the 
 spirit of contention, he inculcates the universal broth- 
 erhood of man, and lifts his pupils up above the petty 
 spirit of jealousy and revenge, which leads to those 
 endless and harassing difficulties that principally oc- 
 cupy the time of the lawyer. The dignity of these 
 duties is apparent. They supersede in spirit the ne- 
 cessity of the legal profession, and hence rise above 
 it in honor. Whenever the mission of the school- 
 master shall be made perfectly successful, then the 
 lawyer's " occupation 's gone." 
 
 "We prize beyond the value of gold those master- 
 
26 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 The Artist. Teacher in honor. 
 
 pieces of art scattered over Europe, which attract the 
 connoiseur of every land. From generation to gen- 
 eration, and from age to age, they are preserved with 
 almost a religious veneration. We pronounce the 
 name of the artist with a thrill of feeling which his 
 own lofty genius alone can inspire. But he labors to 
 produce the form and features of these frames of 
 ours upon canvas and in marble ; and though he 
 inspire these, dumb and cold as they are, with the 
 grace and beauty of the moving, speaking form, yet 
 it is but a shadow that he creates. Scarce has he put 
 the final touch of his pencil, or has struck upon his 
 chisel the last tinkling blows, ere time's effacing fin- 
 gers are busy on its surface, and the canvas fades 
 and moulders, and the marble is crumbling into dust. 
 Not so with the work of the teacher. He draws the 
 lineaments and features of life upon a human soul, 
 warm with emotion and radiant with heavenly beauty. 
 His work does not fade and crumble, but is more 
 enduring with years. Every line from his pencil 
 takes deeper and brighter color as time wears on, 
 and every stroke from his chisel lays bare veins of 
 beauty which grow richer with age, and take a 
 higher polish from use. m 
 
 In ever}' age the teacher has been held in honor. 
 He is the interpreter to his own time of all the gener- 
 ations of thinking men that have preceded him. He 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 27 
 
 Sibylline books. Eome. 
 
 is the exponent of all cotemporary thought. He is 
 the chosen representative in the republic of letters. 
 The men of every profession seek to read and un- 
 derstand what he has written, and his books, like the 
 books of fate which the Sibyl presented to the 
 Eoman emperor, are preserved with religious care, 
 and are studied with pious veneration. As we look 
 back through the ages that are past, the eye rests on 
 many nations that have, in their day, shone forth 
 with transcendent glory, and have served as beacon 
 lights to those which followed. There are Troy, and 
 Thebes, and Athens, and Argos, and Sparta, and 
 Carthage, and Kome. They have achieved universal 
 fame. Though existing in those remote ages, the 
 mellow light of their glory rests down upon them 
 in unclouded serenity. And what among all their 
 grand achievements and boasted honors have they 
 bequeathed to us that we prize the most? The 
 books of their schoolmasters. There is no other of 
 their possessions that have come down to us, which 
 can be compared to these. Without them the glory 
 of those nations departs, for it is their books that 
 form the title-deed of their renown. 
 
 When the Goth and the Yandal uncouth and 
 savage, invaded Eome, and trampled out the last 
 remaining spark of Koman genius, the night of bar- 
 barism settled down upon Europe and the civilized 
 
28 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Dark Ages. "Western and Eastern Empires. 
 
 world. - Eome was the last of the great heathen 
 nations, and when the light of her civilization was 
 extinguished, a period of gloom and ignorance suc- 
 ceeded, which was significantly called the dark ages. 
 Generation after generation passed, and we nowhere 
 see any marked achievement of mind. There were 
 no triumphs in literature, in science, in art, and con- 
 sequently, there .'was no lofty impulse, no aspiring 
 purpose, that anywhere moved the national heart. 
 A universal gloom brooded over the nations. And 
 what was it amid this thick darkness that gave pre- 
 sage of the approaching dawn ? What was it that 
 stimulated thought and kindled that flame which was 
 soon to flood the world with light, and burn with 
 increasing splendor? It was the books of a few 
 schoolmasters, that had been hoarded up, and were 
 now scattered to the four winds. Upon the fall of 
 the Western Empire the writings of the Grecian and 
 Eoman scholars were collected at Constantinople, 
 and during that long period of intellectual darkness 
 they were preserved and reproduced with vigilant 
 and unceasing care. But at the breaking up of the 
 Eastern Empire, and .the overthrow of the power 
 there concentred, the books that had been collected 
 were scattered over the whole face of Europe, and 
 the energies of the nations, which had lain dormant 
 for more than three centuries, were inspired with 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 29 
 
 Printing-Preaa. Alexander the Great. 
 
 new vigor. The compass was invented, which sent. 
 Columbus in search of a new world. The discovery 
 of the explosive nature of gunpowder civilized the 
 profession of war ; and the invention of the printing- 
 press scattered thought as the wind drives the chaff 
 of the summer threshing-floor. The dozing millions 
 over all Europe were aroused, like the giant waking 
 from his long slumbers and girding himself for great 
 labors. The national pulse beat with new vigor, for 
 an element of life and activity was poured into its 
 veins. And this mighty revolution which followed 
 was achieved by the books of a score or two of 
 schoolmasters, who, centuries before, had lived and 
 died in peace on the shores of the Mediterranean. 
 
 In the same volume in which we read the history 
 of Alexander the Great, we read that of Socrates. 
 Alexander is recognized as one of the leading mili- 
 tary chieftains of any age. His conquests extended 
 'over half of the civilized world. He was worshiped 
 by his subjects as a demigod. While he lived he 
 walked the earth in glory, but he died a miserable 
 death, in a fit of beastly intoxication, surrounded by 
 a circle of drunken revelers. Scarce was he cold in 
 his grave, before the captains whom he had raised 
 to power quarreled over his tomb for the spoils of 
 empire. And whenever we utter his name, there is 
 no thrill of gratitude and veneration. 
 
30 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Virtue of Socrates. His memory. Extent of his influence. 
 
 Socrates, on the contrary, was an humble teacher ; 
 who spent his days in the groves of the Academy, 
 among his pupils, and dwelt beneath a " low-roofed 
 house." ' 
 
 " But from his mouth issued forth 
 
 Mellifluous streams, that watered all the schools 
 Of Academics old and new, with those 
 Surnamed Peripatetics, and the sect 
 Epicurean, and the Stoic severe." 
 
 His life was so pure and unsullied, and its closing 
 scenes were characterized by such sublime virtue, 
 that his praise has been upon the tongue of all suc- 
 ceeding ages. His pupils gathered around him at 
 his death, filled with unutterable grief, preserving 
 with religious care every word that escaped his lips. 
 The mention of his name thrills the heart with love 
 and admiration for his character. The thoughts 
 which were matured in his brain will never die so 
 long as there are admirers of virtue, and the con- 
 sistency of his life, like the jewel on the brow of 
 beauty, sheds unfading luster on his name. 
 
 Socrates indeed lived to a great purpose. His 
 power of intellect, the acuteness of his thoughts, and 
 the logical correctness of his reasonings, have made 
 him the teacher, not merely of the pupils gathered 
 about him in a Grecian city and speaking the 
 Athenian tongue, but he is the teacher of all time, 
 
Washington. Aristotle, tutor of Alexander. 
 
 and in every polished language of the earth. And 
 yet, his intellectual greatness has achieved for him 
 the least part of his fame. Many philosophers of 
 his own time, in mental vigor and acumen would 
 compare favorably with him. But in moral ex- 
 cellence he stands alone. And when the teachers 
 of other times have lectured to their pupils on the 
 principles of virtue and moral rectitude, and have 
 sought amid the records of the past for some ex- 
 ample which should inspire them with enthusiasm in 
 the pursuit and practice of it, they have pointed to 
 Socrates, to the integrity and honor of his life and 
 the sublimity of his death. It is only after the lapse 
 of ages, that we can point to a life so pure and un- 
 sullied, that of our own "Washington. 
 
 But even more intimately connected with the life 
 of the great warrior Alexander, is that of his tutor 
 the companion of his younger days. When Philip 
 of Macedon desired a teacher, who should conduct 
 the education of his son, he sought the services of 
 Aristotle, an humble citizen of Stagira, who by his 
 skill in the art of teaching had created for himself a 
 reputation that attracted the attention of the king. 
 And though the pupil became the hero of his time, 
 and achieved a glory that rivaled in brightness and 
 splendor the brilliancy of the noon-day sun, and cast 
 for the time in shade and obscurity the teachings 
 
32 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Philosophy of Aristotle. Bacon. Remark of Carlyle. 
 
 of the humble tutor, yet the period was not far dis- 
 tant when the deeds of the warrior were regarded as 
 mere bold and daring exploits, brutal and bloody in 
 execution, and unimportant in their results, so far as 
 they related to his design, upon the progress of hu- 
 manity ; while the teachings of the tutor have in- 
 creased to an importance that far transcends that of 
 any other man of ancient times. The systems of 
 Aristotle became universal. In the domain of 
 thought he was the monarch. His philosophy ruled 
 the world for centuries, and even now his treatise on 
 logic is the basis of the text-books in all our col- 
 leges. Up to the time of Bacon his philosophical 
 systems bore undisputed sway, and in the field of 
 criticism he can never be supplanted. 
 
 Such is the profession, my brethren, to which we 
 belong. Such are the men who have labored in it, 
 whose teachings have been lights to the world that 
 are still clear and bright as time wears on, and with 
 whom we can now claim companionship. Such are 
 the labors which this profession performs among 
 those great agencies that work out the problem of 
 civilization. In its results upon the race every other 
 profession sinks into insignificance beside it. Mr. 
 Carlyle has quaintly but very pointedly asked, " The 
 great event, parent of all others, is it not the arrival 
 of a great thinker in the world ?" It is surely the 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 33 
 
 Perpetuity of letters. 
 
 thought of the world that directs and controls its en- 
 ergies, and it is no less sure that the teacher directs 
 and controls its thought. Those nations that have 
 been most respected and honored, and have left their 
 impress upon the progress of the race, have shown 
 their appreciation of the profession of the teacher. 
 
 There are many events in the history of the past, 
 that have for the time excited the most absorbing 
 interest, and have engrossed the attention of prince 
 and people, which have long ago been forgotten, and 
 were not considered of sufficient importance to pos- 
 terity to form a part of the annals of the times. 
 But if a king has invited to his court an humble 
 schoolmaster, the fact is trumpeted to the ends of the 
 world, and the historian is careful to record it upon 
 his page. The best period in the history of every 
 civilized nation has been that in which the reigning 
 power and the people at large have shown most em- 
 phatically their appreciation of the teacher's profes- 
 sion. And well they may ; for it is by letters that 
 the glory of a nation is perpetuated. In letters is its 
 memory embalmed. 
 
 We have thus far considered the profession of 
 teaching absolutely, irrespective of the character of 
 those who fill its ranks. The object has been to show 
 its dignity from the results which it is designed to 
 
 accomplish. The dignity of the profession is always 
 
 2* 
 
34 DIGNITYOFTHE 
 
 Common School Teachers. First requisite, capacity. 
 
 and everywhere the same. It is unchanging as 
 truth. The ignorance or imbecility of its disciples 
 may tarnish its luster and obscure its brightness, and 
 society may be prevented from reaping those fruits 
 which it is capable of bearing. But still the fault is 
 not in the profession. 
 
 I am aware that many whom I see about me are 
 the teachers of our common schools. It may be 
 proper, before concluding, to inquire how the com- 
 mon school teacher, even in his humble sphere, 
 may uphold its dignity and honor 
 
 The first claim which he should seek to establish 
 is that of capacity. No man can put confidence in 
 another and intrust to him important duties without 
 assurance of his ability. He should therefore seek 
 first of all liberal culture. He should never be con- 
 tent with proficiency simply in those studies which 
 he is required to teach. The grade of his school 
 may be such that only the common English branches 
 are comprised in the list ; but a knowledge of these, 
 however elaborate, should never satisfy him. He 
 can better illustrate to a child the first lessons in 
 arithmetic who' has a thorough acquaintance with 
 the higher mathematics, than one who has no knowl- 
 edge beyond the simple acquirements of the class 
 he instructs. The light of liberal culture throws its 
 rays back upon even the rudiments of knowledge, 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 35 
 
 Mediocrity. Trials and perplexities. Archimedes. 
 
 and makes them appear brighter and clearer. The 
 resources for explanation and illustration are at hand, 
 and he has the discretion and judgment to use them 
 intelligently. The teacher who is satisfied with a 
 certificate of perfect qualification in the branches 
 required by law to be taught will soon fall into a 
 stereotype process, and will ere long be left to 
 mediocrity and obscurity, by his more enterprising 
 and ambitious brethren, in a profession whose fun- 
 damental idea is progress and development. 
 
 There are difficulties and trials which the teacher 
 is constantly obliged to encounter. It is eminently 
 a profession of labor and vexation of spirit. Per- 
 plexing questions, involving the knowledge he ought 
 to possess in order to inspire and hold the confidence 
 of scholars and patrons, are constantly arising. But 
 if amid all these harassing cares he has liberal cul- 
 ture, if his mind has felt the strengthening influence 
 of a thorough course in the gymnasium, he has a 
 place on which to stand, from which he can not be 
 moved. He has the spot of solid ground for which 
 Archimedes sighed. 
 
 The teacher who expects to become eminent, will 
 also be thoroughly versed in works of a professional 
 character. In each of the other learned professions 
 there are books detailing the theory and the practice 
 of the art, and the young man who desires to enter 
 
36 DIGNITYOFTHE 
 
 Importance of professional reading. True spirit of teaching. 
 
 either of them must become proficient in the princi- 
 ples upon which it is based. This should be ex- 
 pected of the teacher. The bare acquaintance with 
 the several sciences should not constitute the max- 
 imum of his knowledge. He should in addition to 
 this be familiar with professional books particularly 
 devoted to the practice of his calling. His success 
 mainly depends upon the conception he forms of the 
 duties which his position brings with it. If he has 
 no preconceived plans and purposes, then he will 
 have none to execute when he arrives at the school- 
 room, except such as are drawn forth by the emer- 
 gency, and must be adopted or rejected without 
 meditation. Those methods of governing and in- 
 teresting scholars, which the best instructors have 
 employed are unknown to him, and he must follow 
 on the old beaten track, which those who taught him 
 employed. But if his mind be thoroughly imbued 
 with the true spirit of teaching, if he has acquainted 
 himself with the opinions of those who have thought 
 and written upon this science, his plans can be 
 formed upon a basis of knowledge and mature de- 
 liberation. He has the theory of his profession, and 
 he can weigh the value of different methods, and 
 adopt or reject according to his faith in them. He 
 will have at his command the experience of those 
 who have had eminent success, and have had a life- 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 37 
 
 " Waking up process " Keep even with the times. 
 
 long acquaintance with its duties. His mind will be 
 rendered fruitful in expedients for managing a school, 
 for conquering the stubborn, for winning back the 
 disobedient to filial respect and submission, for arous- 
 ing the indolent to a sense of their shame, for quick- 
 ening the powers of the dull and unthinking, and for 
 animating all with the spirit of enquiry. He learns, 
 instead of tfte dull routine of enforcing lessons at 
 the point of the rod, to substitute the " waking up 
 process." He experiences the most grateful reward 
 of his labors which a teacher can know, that of see- 
 ing his pupils love to learn, and delight most of all to 
 be about him. To this end he should also have the 
 leading educational periodicals, and thus familiarize 
 himself with the improvements which are being 
 made, and those methods which are practiced by our 
 most distinguished educators. He should, in a word, 
 acquaint himself with the last best thoughts which the 
 world has produced upon the subject, and thus keep 
 even with the times. 
 
 Finally, the teacher who desires the respect and 
 confidence of cultivated and thinking men, should 
 possess extensive general information. Many of our 
 young men who aspire to this position are shame- 
 fully ignorant of the most common and familiar facts. 
 A teacher once enquired of me if Benjamin Franklin 
 lived in Boston now. And that young man was a 
 
38 DIGNITY OF THE 
 
 Ludicrous error. Historical reading. General literature. 
 
 proficient in Latin and mathematics, and was a splen- 
 did scholar in the Greek. Another, when, in con- 
 versation with him, I chanced to mention the name 
 of Alexander Hamilton, wanted to know if he was 
 not the president of Princeton Theological School. 
 When I told him that it was Dr. Alexander to whom 
 he probably had reference, " Oh! yes," said he, "that 
 is the man I meant." This young man*was about to 
 graduate from college, and was actually making in- 
 quiries about a subject suitable for his graduating 
 oration. Such shameful ignorance of the commonest 
 facts in our history is unpardonable. It is the fruit- 
 ful source of that derision in which many of our 
 class are held. 
 
 Let every teacher possess himself of a few books 
 on history, and especially the history of our own 
 country, so as to be able to trace out our na- 
 tional origin, and the statesmen who have taken a 
 prominent part in public affairs. He should be mi- 
 nutely acquainted with the constitution of the United 
 States, and with the opinions of those who framed 
 and adopted it. He should know something of the 
 history of politics, and the positions which parties 
 have held in the past. He should pursue a course 
 of reading in general literature, acquaint himself with 
 the best authors, and become familiar with their p-yle 
 and peculiarities. Let him study the poetry of the 
 
TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 39 
 
 Devotion to the Profession. Not one of ease. 
 
 great masters, and be able to converse intelligently 
 in a company of educated people upon any topic 
 connected with its structure and allusions. If any 
 young man thinks this too much for him to accom- 
 plish, then he had better quit the profession. 
 
 To the genuine, whole-souled teacher, nothing is 
 impossible. He will never submit quietly and tamely 
 to pass in the company of well-bred people, as a boor 
 and a novice. He will work when others sleep. He 
 will gather his knowledge from every source, from 
 conversation, from his daily walks, from his scholars, 
 and from his own quiet meditations. He will forego 
 the gratification of sense and the pleasures of the 
 passing hour, for that higher pleasure which flows 
 from the consciousness of intellectual superiority. 
 
 The life of the teacher is not one of ease. Though 
 his labors are not apparent, and he does not create so 
 much noise and stir in the world as some who are 
 engaged in other occupations, yet they are not on 
 this account the less arduous and real. A few of the 
 elements of success have been named. It is only by 
 possessing these, and indeed vastly more, that the 
 teacher can claim any part of that dignity which is 
 inherent in the profession. He must never expect 
 that it is to endow him with any honors if he has 
 not first earned them. If he depends upon the pro- 
 fession for his dignity, without any real claims, he 
 
40 THE TEACHER'S PROFESSION. 
 
 No dignity without merit. 
 
 will be of all men the most undignified. For the 
 more honorable the profession, the more shame to 
 the man who proves himself unworthy of belonging 
 to it. If we are scholars and play the man, we shall 
 at least merit the reward. The great lights of the 
 past are the companions of our labors. The future 
 teems with opportunities. The field is already white 
 for the harvest. "We have only to thrust the sickle 
 in. He who is worthy shall wear the crown, and 
 vindicate the dignity of the Teacher's Profession. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 THE BOYHOOD OF NAPOLEON. 
 
 A TRUTHFUL history of the youth and educa- 
 tion of one, who in manhood has manifested 
 transcendent powers of mind, must always be of in- 
 terest. If the conduct and glory of his life has 
 attracted unusual attention, there is a natural desire 
 to be acquainted with that portion of it which tran- 
 spired before he had come to public notice. But to 
 the rising generation, to those who are now receiving 
 that education which is to guide and support them 
 through life, the early history of such a man is of 
 vital importance. If a certain course of training has 
 conducted him to success in what he has undertaken, 
 it is fair to infer that similar training will exert a 
 corresponding influence. If a well- spent youth has 
 been rewarded with fortunate results, it will yield 
 encouragement for others to go and do likewise. If 
 his education has borne rich fruits in mature years, 
 it will be profitable for us to inquire, what was the 
 course of studies that he pursued, and what was the 
 manner of pursuing them. When a man has arisen 
 
42 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Labor and genius. Observation of Sir Sydney Smith. 
 
 from poverty and obscurity to such a brilliant career 
 as that of Napoleon, the force of his early example 
 speaks to us in a voice that commands universal 
 attention. 
 
 "We are apt to look upon every marked achieve- 
 ment of human effort as having been secured by 
 genius by gifts the special manifestation of Provi- 
 dence. The young especially, are ever ready to 
 believe that labor and genius are incompatible. 
 They would transfer that halo of glory, that sur- 
 rounds the reputed feats of the gods of antiquity, to 
 the real heroes of history. There can be no belief 
 more fatal to the claims of true greatness, and at no 
 period of life is it more disastrous to entertain it than 
 in youth. 
 
 Sir Sydney Smith has appropriately observed, that 
 " it would be an extremely profitable thing, to draw 
 up a short and well authenticated account of the 
 habits of study of the most celebrated writers with 
 whose style of literary industry we happen to be 
 most acquainted. It would go very far to- destroy 
 the absurd and pernicious association of genius and 
 idleness, by showing that the greatest poets, orators, 
 statesmen, and historians men of the most brilliant 
 and imposing talents, have actually labored as hard 
 as the makers of dictionaries and the arrangers of 
 indexes ; and that the most obvious reason why they 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 43 
 
 Genius and idleness. Five talents ten. Napoleon the warrior. 
 
 Lave been superior to other men, is that they have 
 taken more pains than other men." 
 
 Could such a collection be made, it would but add 
 another proof to the many which already exist, that 
 the only true glory of man is labor ; and that so far 
 from labor being incompatible with genius, it is in 
 fact the creator of it. The most brilliant powers 
 with which Heaven is pleased to endow men, must 
 inevitably grow weak under the blighting influence 
 of sloth and inactivity. While labor makes the five 
 talents ten, and secures those habits of mental action 
 which are absolutely indispensable to the loftiest 
 achievements. Let no youth despise labor, and 
 court the position of a luxurious life who hopes to 
 walk the paths of glory. The muscles pine, and the 
 strong sinews perish beneath the withering touch of 
 inactivity; while the smith at his sooty forge can 
 show a brawny arm and sinews like the steel he has 
 wrought. The faculties become weak and the pur- 
 pose wavering when pampered with inglorious ease, 
 but the mind that is accustomed to bend steadily to 
 its tasks will be ready to seize with firm grasp the 
 object of its labors. 
 
 It is common for us to think of Napoleon only as 
 a warrior, as General Bonaparte. At the mention of 
 his name the presence is a lofty form, with a sword 
 flashing by its side, and a plume bending from its 
 
44 THE BOYHOOD. 
 
 Bridge of Lodi. Helena. His tarnished sword. Once like other boys. 
 
 lordly brow. We would as soon draw the picture of 
 the lion without his claws and teeth, as Napoleon 
 without the trappings of war. Does he cross the 
 Alps ? He is seated upon a black charger with fiery 
 eyes and rearing form. Does he force the bridge of 
 Lodi ? He is amid the thickest of the fight, his saber 
 drips with blood, his enemies flee at his approach as 
 from the genius of war. Is he banished to Elba? 
 He must still be an emperor, and the commander of 
 a military establishment. He was put in his grave 
 at Helena in the habiliments of war, and when they 
 brought him back to France, his tarnished sword 
 surmounted his sarcophagus. 
 
 We seem to forget that he ever had a boyhood ; 
 that he was once an infant muling in his nurse's 
 arms; that he began in the world with as little 
 knowledge as any of us ; that he was obliged to re- 
 sort to the same means for the attainment of it that 
 we were all under the necessity of doing; that he 
 encountered the same difficulties which perplex the 
 mind of the youth who are to-day in our common 
 schools. Because he was a giant in manhood we do 
 not realize that he was in youth like other boys, sub- 
 ject to their weaknesses, captivated by their pleas- 
 ures, and joining with equal zest in their sports, and 
 that the only difference was, that he from his earliest 
 years had his faculties under the control of his own 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 45 
 
 Moral tendency. Born in 1769. Eoman blood. 
 
 will, while they suffered theirs to be led by their de- 
 sires and passions. 
 
 Of the moral tendency of Napoleon's life we have 
 nothing to say. "Whether his career was a blessing 
 or a curse to the world, is not material to the subject 
 which we are considering. There are those who 
 have stigmatized him as a demon, and others with 
 equal zeal have praised his patriotism and his de- 
 votion to the welfare of his country. Upon this 
 question we are not called to pass judgment. "We 
 do not desire by any praises we may bestow on his 
 talent and industry in youth, to encourage a taste 
 for military glory, or unholy ambition. He was a 
 noble pattern of a scholar, and as such we wish to 
 present him as an example to those who would 
 become eminent in learning. 
 
 About five years previous to the opening of our 
 [Revolution, in 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born. 
 His parents were Italian, and there consequently 
 coursed in his veins some of the old Eoman blood. 
 We discover in his character many of the Eoman 
 traits. "War was the profession of the Eoman peo- 
 ple. Peace was to them an abnormal state. We 
 see in his nature that boldness and energy, that iron- 
 will and unconquerable perseverance which so sig- 
 nally marked his progenitors. 
 
 He was born in the midst of a revolution. Cor- 
 
46 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Corsican revolution. Born amid convulsions. 
 
 sica, though an insignificant island in the midst of 
 the Mediterranean sea, happened at the time to be the 
 theater of a bloody strife. The French had invaded 
 the island to subdue the Corsicans and to make it a 
 French province. It was the scene of wild disorder. 
 Families were broken up and scattered. His mother 
 was at the time following her husband in the camp. 
 Her womanly and tender spirit was disturbed by all 
 those passions which the dangers of conflict must 
 arouse. With him she fled to the wild retreats of 
 the mountains, and shared in the alternate hopes and 
 fears which the varying fortunes of their party in- 
 spired. But two months previous to his birth the 
 Corsicans were beaten, and the dominion of the island 
 passed into the hands of the French. Thus at the 
 very dawn of existence Napoleon was nursed from a 
 bosom convulsed by the wild disorders of the times 
 the privations of the camp the dangers of the 
 battle-field and all the horrors of a most sanguin- 
 ary struggle. He was born with the sounds of war 
 ringing in his ears ; and though in infancy he could 
 neither know nor appreciate the state of affairs, yet 
 lie doubtless inherited the feelings which at the time 
 .inspired the mother ; and the conversations and tales 
 of heroic daring to which the conflict gave rise, were 
 repeated to him and gave bias to his opening mind. 
 We are told that he always listened with the greatest 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 47 
 
 Mother of Napoleon. Mother of Washington. Scenery of Corsica. 
 
 eagerness, in the most tender years, to the stories 
 about General Paoli, and to those heroic incidents 
 with which the accounts of the revolution abounded. 
 The mother, as she had shared in these scenes, was 
 fond of relating them to her boy, and was thus un- 
 consciously fostering in his young soul a taste for 
 arms and conflict. The character and future con- 
 duct of the man, is greatly affected by the influence 
 which the mother exerts during the first few years of 
 life. If the mother possesses a strong mind, with 
 marked characteristics, we almost invariably find 
 them impressed upon the spirit of the child, as the 
 seal leaves its impress upon the wax. The mother of 
 Washington was eminent for her moral virtues and 
 her deep-toned piety, and the man, amid the tempta- 
 tions of early life, the vicissitudes of the camp, and 
 the cares of state, was steady to the teachings of his 
 youth ; 
 
 "Nor constant more the needle to the pole." 
 
 Napoleon was true to his lessons ; and we find him 
 in danger always brave, and in times of trouble al- 
 ways heroic, pursuing with an eastern devotion the 
 love of glory which his mother's lips had inspired. 
 
 The island of Corsica is filled with scenery the 
 most wild and romantic. In the midst of this, 
 Napoleon passed his youth. To a mind cold and 
 
48 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Influence. Quiet retreat. Pale, thoughtful boy. 
 
 nnappreciative, dumb and unthinking, scenery can 
 have few attractions, and over such a mind can 
 exert but little influence. But a soul alive to the 
 tones of nature's many-stringed harp, a soul that is 
 stirred by the echoes of caverns, the voices of the 
 winds, the roar of ocean and the stillness of the 
 wood, is greatly moved by sublime scenery. Such a 
 mind had Napoleon. From his earliest years he 
 was reserved and contemplative, delighting in soli- 
 tary walks and silent musings. A seat by the over- 
 hanging rock was more congenial to his tastes than 
 youthful sports with a band of noisy companions. 
 Alone he wandered upon the breast of the rugged 
 mountain, and through the deep ravine ; he sought 
 the foaming cataract and the rocky cavern ; he stood 
 by the sea and mused on its lonely shore. There 
 was, near his mother's house, a quiet retreat em- 
 bowered in trees, in which he particularly delighted 
 to pass his time. Here he spent many of the hours 
 of boyhood, in silent meditation, or in reading, 
 which at this early period was his chief delight. 
 Even now, when a stranger visits the island, this 
 spot is pointed out to him, and he can imagine the 
 pale, thoughtful boy pursuing his meditations as of 
 yore. 
 
 Napoleon's first efforts at mental improvement 
 were made in reading history. The aged and ven- 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 49 
 
 Thrilling adventures. General Paoli. 
 
 erable Paoli, the general-in-ctrief of the Corsicans, 
 whose fortunes the father of Napoleon had followed, 
 was accustomed often to visit the family, and our 
 young hero was never tired of hearing from the lips 
 of him who had been a chief actor in the scene, the 
 accounts of those thrilling adventures with which that 
 fierce struggle abounded. In these early years his 
 spirit was fired with enthusiasm for deeds of noble 
 daring, and often his feelings became so much ex- 
 cited that he would break forth in those short, im- 
 passioned sentences, for which in after years his ad- 
 dresses to his soldiers were remarkable. Such was 
 the depth and penetration which was sometimes 
 evinced by his remarks, that Paoli was filled with 
 admiration at the sagacity which he displayed, and 
 treated him more as a companion than as a child. 
 He soon became familiar with all the history of the 
 island, the claims of the contending parties, and the 
 character of the leading men. Later in life, when he 
 was about closing his studies at the military school 
 at Paris, he prepared a history of Corsica, which he 
 was on the point of publishing, when the opening 
 scenes of the French Eevolution called on him to 
 lay aside the pen and take the sword. Thus per- 
 haps fortune made him a warrior, rather than an 
 author. 
 
 Akin to the stories which he heard of the Corsican 
 3 
 
50 THE BOYHOOD 
 
 Taste for reading. How acquired. Count Marboeuf. 
 
 revolution, were the accounts of the fortunes of 
 other nations which he found in history and biogra- 
 phy. His passion for hearing stories from the lips 
 of his friends, was transferred to searching for stories 
 in the records of the past ; and thus early in life was 
 established a taste for reading which was the founda- 
 tion of his future fortunate career. His appetite was 
 fed by his daily acquisitions. He devoured books, 
 such was his eagerness to know their contents. The 
 surprising amount of knowledge which he had early 
 in life obtained, and the habits of reflection and stu- 
 diousness which he thereby acquired, were the means, 
 as we shall soon see, of his promotion. 
 
 After the island had come into the hands of the 
 French, governors were sent from France to preside 
 over its political affairs. Among them was Count 
 Marboeuf, who became intimate in the family of the 
 Bonapartes. The thoughtful and studious air of 
 Napoleon attracted his attention. His conversation 
 seemed to be that of a person much beyond his 
 years. He was surprised at the extent of his ac- 
 quirements. He became convinced of the strong 
 natural abilities and studious habits of this strange 
 boy. He accordingly recommended him for promo- 
 tion to one of the national schools. 
 
 There were at this time twelve provincial military 
 schools in France, which were annually supplied by 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 51 
 
 School at Brienne. Striking lesson from his promotion. Golden chances. 
 
 the most promising youth to be found in the king- 
 dom. Through the recommendation of the gov- 
 ernor, Napoleon was sent to the school at Brienne, 
 near Paris. In this promotion of the Corsican boj, 
 is found one of the most striking lessons that can be 
 impressed upon the minds of the young. He was 
 promoted because he deserved to be promoted ; be- 
 cause by his own efforts and zeal he had prepared 
 himself to be promoted ; because he had convinced 
 his superiors about him whose attention he attracted, 
 that he desired to know more, and that he had the 
 resolution and the will to distinguish himself. The 
 idea too often obtains, that some meet with eminent 
 success because fortune favors them. But fortune 
 generally favors those who work hardest and most 
 merit success. The youth waits for some grand op- 
 portunity, when, by one long stride, he will acquire 
 knowledge and correct habits of thought. He lets 
 the little golden chances for improvement which 
 each day brings with it, pass by unimproved, until 
 sluggishness and imbecility of mind, and careless 
 habits utterly preclude the possibility of his ad- 
 vancement. 
 
 Not so with the youthful Napoleon. He com- 
 menced a brilliant career for himself. He did not 
 wait for a rare opportunity, when some one should 
 commence it for him. He was studious, he was at- 
 
52 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Tears on leaving his mother. Splendors of Paris. 1779. 
 
 tentive, he was thoughtful. He began early to make 
 acquirements in knowledge, and persevered with zeal 
 and energy in the course upon which he had en- 
 tered ; and when the time came he was not obliged 
 to seek for the situation, but he was sought to fill it. 
 Had his time been spent as most children spend 
 theirs, in play, and sports, and frivolous amusements, 
 with no thought, no aim, and no effort for improve- 
 ment ; had he not displayed the knowledge and 
 qualifications necessary for the place, he would not 
 have been recommended to the military school at 
 Brienne. 
 
 The world is full of opportunities, but the trouble 
 is we are not ready to embrace them. He was pre- 
 pared for this which now presented itself, and entered 
 at once upon the fulfillment of his destiny. Had the 
 preparation been wanting, he might have lived and 
 died in the island of Corsica, an obscure follower of 
 some trade or profession, and the world never known 
 of Napoleon Bonaparte. 
 
 It was at the age of ten, in 1779, that Napoleon 
 was transferred to the military school. He shed bit- 
 ter tears on leaving his mother whom he tenderly 
 loved, and separating from his brothers and sisters, 
 and the home of his childhood. On his way he 
 passed through Paris, and saw the splendors with 
 which that city abounded the monuments, the tern- 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 53 
 
 British arms. American colonies. Lafayette. 
 
 pies, the palaces, the parks and fountains, and the 
 throngs of people. Little did the poor boy then 
 dream of the destiny which awaited him ; that the 
 proud city would one day resound with his name ; 
 that all that grandeur and magnificence would ere 
 long be his ; that kings and emperors, the proudest 
 in Europe, would eventually be suppliants at his 
 feet. 
 
 It was about the middle of our Eevolution that 
 this event transpired. From the part which the 
 French people took in the contest, and the lively 
 interest which they ever felt in the defeat of the 
 British arms, it is probable that Napoleon now be- 
 gan to acquaint himself with the events transpiring 
 among the American colonies. The new position in 
 which he was placed would naturally favor the ac- 
 quisition of such general knowledge of events, as 
 would best fit him for that career which Providence 
 had marked out for him. About this time Lafay- 
 ette returned from America, to arouse the French 
 people and the French king in behalf of the feeble 
 colonies in their almost hopeless struggle. This gal- 
 lant young Frenchman everywhere inspired the live- 
 liest interest. His youth, his devotion, his manly- 
 attainments, the romantic project of aiding the weak 
 and feeble in the wilderness, in a far off land, ex- 
 cited the warmest sympathies of his countrymen, and 
 
54: THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Count de Maurepas. Students in the schools. 
 
 wherever he appeared in public he was received with 
 bursts of enthusiasm. The story of his adventures 
 was repeated upon the stage. This feeling was not 
 only felt by the people, but was shared by the king ; 
 so much so that the old Count de Maurepas re- 
 marked " that it was fortunate for the king that La- 
 fayette did not take it into his head to strip Yer- 
 sailles of its furniture to send to his dear Americans 
 - as his majesty would have been unable to refuse 
 him." There is perhaps no class of people in a na- 
 tion so quickly or so strongly moved by an incident 
 like this, as the students in its schools. The slight- 
 est variation in the rise and fall of public feeling is 
 discernible in them. It is not unlikely that Napo- 
 leon shared in this feeling, and was incited to re- 
 newed exertions, that he might himself one day 
 become a hero. 
 
 The entrance of Napoleon to the school at Brienne 
 was the beginning of a new life. He had been ac- 
 customed to the quiet and seclusion of the island of 
 Corsica, removed from the stir and commotion which 
 increase as we approach the capital. None of the 
 luxuries of wealth, or the refinements of courts, or 
 the allurements to vice with which the more favored 
 circles of society abound, had yet made his acquaint- 
 ance. During that critical period in the life of every 
 boy, he was secluded from the corrupting influences 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 55 
 
 Company of young Frenchmen. Best society. Scorn of those young noblemen. 
 
 of a great city, by which many a youth, ere he has 
 passed the age of ten, is hopelessly ruined. But in 
 his new home every thing was changed. He was in 
 close proximity to the metropolis of France, where 
 beats the heart of the nation, and where the strong 
 pulsations are quickly felt. He found himself sur- 
 rounded by a company of young Frenchmen, the 
 sons of noblemen and of the aristocracy of wealth. 
 They had plenty of money, and all those habits of 
 luxury and refinement which are cultivated in the 
 best society of the most polite nation in Europe. 
 Of these Napoleon could not boast. Money he had 
 not, for his widowed mother had seven children be- 
 side himself to support, and of refinement he had 
 only that which his strong native sense on every oc- 
 casion supplied. He was therefore looked upon by 
 his companions with contempt. They had been ac- 
 customed to consider every person in any way de- 
 pendent upon his own labors for support, as beneath 
 them in rank, no matter how exalted the occupation 
 in which he might be engaged. Hence they derided 
 him for being the son of a Corsican lawyer. These 
 reproaches, for which he could in no way be answer- 
 able, stung him to the quick. The scorn of those 
 young noblemen sunk deep into his heart. Friend- 
 less and alone, far away from his home, with no one 
 to bestow upon him sympathy and kindness, his only 
 
56 THE BOYHOOD 
 
 Their equal. Heart of youth. 
 
 alternative was to digest in silence their contempt. 
 But the spirit which they displayed taught him 
 to hate every pretension to superiority founded on 
 wealth or birth. He felt himself their equal in 
 every mental and moral gift, and he could perceive 
 no ground for the distinction which they saw fit to 
 make in the circumstance that they had inherited 
 wealth and he had not. The reflections which this 
 treatment gave rise to were undoubtedly the basis 
 of those broad republican principles which he after- 
 wards asserted. The sense of injustice and oppres- 
 sion is never so strong and deep-seated as in youth. 
 The heart has not then been wrung by cares, and 
 troubles, and hopes crushed. It expects every thing 
 to conform to its intuitive sense of justice, and when 
 it perceives the right trampled out by the wrong, 
 the shock is more keenly felt than in after years, 
 when the feelings have become callous by oft re- 
 peated agonies and injuries. It was an important 
 lesson, and if he had learned no other while at this 
 school he would not have left home and friends, and 
 endured the scorn of his associates in vain. Thus 
 early in life he imbibed and cherished that demo- 
 cratic doctrine, that there can be no claims to su- 
 periority not founded on merit. It was upon this 
 principle, that in after years he made all those 
 distinctions in his army, from the lowest subaltern, 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 57 
 
 Italian his vernacular. History and mathematics. Eose to front rank. 
 
 to him who wore the cross of the Legion of 
 Honor. 
 
 Napoleon was of Italian parentage, and Italian 
 was his vernacular tongue. He could scarcely speak 
 a word of French when he entered the school. On 
 this account he was more isolated than he would 
 otherwise have been. But this circumstance may 
 have been fortunate for him. He was looked upon 
 as a plebeian and a foreigner, and he was of necessity 
 driven to seek for society and amusement in books. 
 Thus, at the outset of his career as a scholar, he was 
 forced to adopt studious habits. Had* he been re- 
 ceived with open arms by his companions, and been 
 petted as a brilliant young fellow, and formed loose 
 and irregular habits, which are the almost inevitable 
 result of excessive convivial entertainment, he might 
 have come out a very ordinary man. 
 
 The course of studies in these military schools em- 
 braced an extensive range, including the languages 
 and the abstract sciences. But the branches which 
 received most special attention were history and the 
 mathematics. In these Napoleon particularly ex- 
 celled. By his indefatigable energy and studiousness 
 he immediately rose to the front rank in his class, 
 and at once secured for himself the reputation of a 
 scholar among his teachers and his companions. He 
 
 was indeed the plebeian and the foreigner ; but he 
 3* 
 
58 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 The plebeian. Use of mathematics to the military man. 
 
 soon taught those about him, that in mental powers 
 and accomplishments, the plebeian and the foreigner 
 was far superior to them all, and that so far from 
 poverty and obscurity being an impediment to men- 
 tal development, it is in reality one of the most 
 favoring circumstances, and that no one can become 
 a scholar till he entertains the spirit which it induces. 
 Napoleon had a particular fondness for the mathe- 
 matics. In this branch he excelled. And this is per- 
 haps of all others most needful to the military man. 
 The habits of mind which it cultivates, the precision 
 of thought which is required in conducting the pro- 
 cesses, the practice of confining the deductions to 
 the legitimate results of our reasoning, the habit of 
 admitting only known elements as the basis, the 
 foundation on which we build the superstructure, is 
 of infinite value in the training of a military com- 
 mander. Those elements of mind which are required 
 in conducting the various processes of the demon- 
 stration of a proposition in the mathematics, are the 
 same as those employed in conducting a campaign. 
 The elements of the reasoning alone differ. In the 
 one case, they are first truths and the deductions 
 therefrom. In the other, they are the varying facts 
 and probabilities of the case, wherein the conclu- 
 sions can never be more certain than the elements on 
 which they are based. In that department of math- 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 59 
 
 Fondness for history. Plutarch's ives. Heroic poetry. Homer. 
 
 ematics which embraces mechanics, civil engineering, 
 and gunnery, the military man derives that practical 
 knowledge which serves him in times of difficulty. 
 Napoleon became a perfect master of these branches, 
 and was never obliged to depend upon the knowl- 
 edge of his subordinates in forming his great plans, 
 for his own acquirements were superior to the ex- 
 perts of the army. 
 
 He delighted also in the study of history. The 
 fabulous accounts of the origin of the nations re- 
 corded in profane history, and the veritable accounts 
 of the daring spirits who figured in those early times, 
 possessed for him indescribable charms. Plutarch's 
 Lives were his delight. In reading these he was in- 
 troduced to the choicest spirits that have ever lived, 
 who acted their parts in the sunniest days of civili- 
 zation, and who contributed, by their wisdom and 
 bravery, to perpetuate the glory and renown of their 
 respective nations. He was fond of heroic poetry, 
 and read with the utmost avidity the great masters 
 of the art. Even at this early age he wrote to his 
 mother, " With my sword by my side and Homer in 
 my pocket, I hope to carve my way through the 
 world." The conduct of heroes and the fabled feats 
 of gods, as they \\cre conceived in the glowing imag- 
 inations of the poets, nursed in his bosom the spirit 
 for lofty achievement. The enthusiasm with which 
 
60 THE BOYHOOD 
 
 Kemark of Count Paoli. Too morose for a Frenchman. 
 
 he was inspired by his reading was manifest in all 
 his thoughts and conversation. " Oh Napoleon," 
 exclaimed the old Count Paoli, " you do not at all 
 resemble the moderns. You belong only to the 
 heroes of Plutarch." 
 
 He was at this period of his boyhood intensely 
 studious. He was never eminent for his social quali- 
 ties, though he was fond of the society of those who 
 could converse on topics that interested him. He 
 was always pointed and abrupt, and impatient with 
 those who could not be equally so. On this account 
 his companions never regarded him. as a favorite, 
 though his commanding abilities soon inspired re- 
 spect. He was looked upon as too morose and 
 secluded in disposition for a Frenchman. His habits 
 of study contributed to this result. The usual boyish 
 sports and amusements at this period had no attrac- 
 tions for him. He was rarely found upon the play 
 ground. He preferred to spend his noon and even- 
 ing hours in the library. The games of his com- 
 panions could hardly rival the sports of gods and 
 heroes of which he could there read, or the bloody 
 encounters of contending hosts in their strife for vic- 
 tory, which he pursued with breathless interest. He 
 not only mastered with surprising alacrity all the 
 studies of his class, but he devoured with eagerness 
 every thing upon history, politics and the practical 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 61 
 
 Extent of his information. Studious habits confirmed. 
 
 arts that came in his way. He was thus enabled to 
 commence life with the experience of all past ages 
 at his command. The remembrance of failures and 
 successes in other times, was the light by which his 
 feet were guided in pursuing the uncertain paths to 
 empire. 
 
 His studiousness and his laborious youth, bore 
 their proper fruits. His habits became confirmed, 
 and when in after years his position required of him 
 intense devotion to business, it was easy and natural 
 for him to apply himself, and accomplish almost 
 superhuman labors. The power which he acquired 
 of the undivided application of all his faculties to any 
 subject, gave him the ability to make every question 
 simple, and to decide with promptness in the most 
 critical circumstances. All his vast energies of mind 
 were by these means marshaled into the most com- 
 plete subjection to his will, and like the battalions 
 of his army they were under entire control. The 
 acquisitions which he made during his school days 
 must have been very great; for his career in the 
 field commenced when he had scarcely arrived at 
 the age of manhood, and the ardor with which he 
 pursued it left little time in later years for study ; 
 and in whatever position he was placed he evinced 
 unbounded knowledge. When he was made gen- 
 eral-in-chief of the army, his associate consuls be- 
 
62 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Child the father of the man. Incident of Dr. Franklin. Little brass cannon. 
 
 lieved that he would be satisfied with the manage- 
 ment of affairs in the field. But at their first meet- 
 ing he convinced them that he could and would 
 do every thing himself. Education, government, 
 finance, were as familiar to him as the tactics of 
 a campaign. 
 
 The remark has often been repeated that the child 
 is father of the man. Those traits of character which 
 we notice in the youth, are usually the ones which 
 mark the conduct of mature years. It is related that 
 Dr. Franklin, when a small boy and was assisting his 
 father to salt a barrel of meat, asked him, when it 
 was finished, if he could not ask a blessing on the 
 whole barrel at once, and thus save the time of 
 doing it every meal at the table. The mind that in 
 tender years could devise so ingenious a plan for econ- 
 omizing time, is the same that in maturity taught 
 us as a people the practice of economy, and has 
 stamped it upon us as a national peculiarity. One 
 of the playthings of Napoleon, when a child, was 
 a little brass cannon weighing about thirty pounds, 
 whose report probably sounded louder in his boy- 
 ish ears than the whole park of heavy ordnance 
 that played upon the field of Waterloo. "We can 
 fancy the great plans of battle and conquest which 
 he executed with that single little cannon. His 
 late biographer, Mr. Abbott, relates an incident 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 
 
 Incident related by Abbott. Snow fortification. Napoleon commands. 
 
 that occurred while at the military school which 
 marks his boyish propensities. 
 
 " The winter of 1774," says he, " was one of un- 
 usual severity. Large quantities of snow fell, which 
 so completely blocked up the walks that the stu- 
 dents at Brienne could find but little amusement 
 without doors. Napoleon proposed that to beguile 
 the weary hours, they should erect an extensive for- 
 tification of snow, with intrenchments and bastions, 
 parapets, ravelins, and horn works. He had stud- 
 ied the science of fortification with the utmost dili- 
 gence, and, under his superintendence, the works 
 were conceived and executed according to the strict- 
 est rules of art. The power of his mind now dis- 
 played itself. No one thought of questioning the 
 authority of Napoleon. He planned and directed, 
 while a hundred busy hands, with unquestioning 
 alacrity, obeyed his will. The works rapidly rose, 
 and in such perfection of science as to attract crowds 
 of the inhabitants of Brienne for their inspection. 
 Napoleon divided the school into two armies, one 
 being intrusted with the defense of the works, while 
 the other composed the host of the besiegers. He 
 took upon himself the command of both bodies, now 
 heading the besiegers in the desperate assault, and 
 now animating the besieged to an equally vigorous 
 defense. For several weeks this mimic warfare con- 
 
64 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Instance of discipline. Kecord of the Minister of War. 
 
 tinued, during which time many severe wounds were 
 received on both sides. In the heat of the battle 
 when the bullets of snow were flying thick and fast, 
 one of the subordinate officers, venturing to disobey 
 the commands of his general, Napoleon felled him 
 to the earth, inflicting a wound which left a scar for 
 life." 
 
 Napoleon remained five years at Brienne. It was 
 the custom to send annually from the twelve pro- 
 vincial schools, three of the best scholars in each, to 
 the military school at Paris. Napoleon was one of 
 the three, from his school, selected for that purpose. 
 From the fact that at the age of fifteen, the earliest 
 age at which any are admitted to this, the highest 
 military school of the nation, it is conclusive evi- 
 dence of his great proficiency as a scholar. The selec- 
 tion of these candidates was made after a thorough 
 examination. The following entry in the minutes 
 of the examiners may be found in the records of the 
 Minister of War: "State of the king's scholars eli- 
 gible to enter into service, or to pass to the school 
 at Paris : Monsieur de Bonaparte (Napoleon) born 
 15th August, 1769 ; in height five feet six and a 
 half inches ; has finished his fourth season ; of a 
 good constitution, health excellent, character mild, 
 honest, and grateful ; conduct exemplary ; has al- 
 ways distinguished himself by application to the 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 65 
 
 Promoted to the school at Paris. Luxury. 
 
 mathematics; understands history and geography 
 tolerably well ; is indifferently skilled in merely 
 ornamental studies, and in Latin, in which he has 
 only finished his fourth course ; would make an 
 excellent sailor ; deserves to be passed to the school 
 at Paris." 
 
 At the early age of fifteen the plebeian and the 
 foreigner had won his way to the highest military 
 school of France. This school had been founded 
 expressly for the sons of the nobility. It was fur- 
 nished with every appliance for the ease and luxury 
 of the young noblemen who were members of the 
 institution. "Each of the three hundred young 
 men assembled in this school had a servant to 
 groom his horse, to polish his weapons, to brush, 
 his boots and to perform all other necessary menial 
 services. The cadet reposed on a luxurious bed, 
 and was fed with sumptuous viands." Such refine- 
 ment as this was by no means congenial to the spirit 
 and habits of Napoleon. Had they been offered 
 him earlier in life, before his principles had become 
 fixed by reading and meditation, and before those 
 habits had become confirmed by necessity, he might 
 have been won by them. But it was now too late. 
 He regarded such luxury and effeminacy in a place 
 where young men were to be trained for one of the 
 most arduous and exposed professions known among 
 
66 THE BOYHOOD 
 
 Spartan habits. Difficult problem. Napoleon solves it. That iron will. 
 
 men, in which hardships and privations are unceas- 
 ingly encountered, as a shame and a disgrace to the 
 nation. He yielded to none of the blandishments 
 that were thrown about him, but established the 
 same Spartan habits which he practiced in his more 
 humble position at Brienne. He rose early and re- 
 tired late. His maps, and charts, and scientific 
 books were constantly before him. Here, as for- 
 merly, the mathematics were his favorite studies. 
 " On one occasion, a mathematical problem of great 
 difficulty having been proposed to the class, Na- 
 poleon in order to solve it secluded himself in his 
 room seventy-two hours; and he solved the prob- 
 lem." I mention this circumstance, to illustrate the 
 resolution and the will which characterized him as a 
 scholar. This same unflinching, unwavering deter- 
 mination which he manifested in conquering difficult 
 problems in the mathematics, characterized his efforts 
 in solving many a knotty problem in his life's career. 
 Many a day of darkness and difficulty dawned upon 
 him, whose shadows were dispelled by that iron will. 
 "While at this school he was introduced to some of 
 the best society in Paris. The advantages which he 
 derived from this source were very great. The stu- 
 dent, ambitious of success, faithful to his tasks, deaf 
 to the claims of society, shut up in his cell, and shut 
 out from the world, is apt to neglect that very im- 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 67 
 
 Society. Habits of the student. Vital questions. Dancing and cards. His bearing. 
 
 portant part of his training which can only be ac- 
 quired by mingling in the company of the educated 
 and refined. The habit of managing a conversation 
 with taste and ability, a becoming address, and ease 
 and unaffected suavity of manners, are among the 
 most important parts of an education, and no young 
 man should ever make any claims to culture till he 
 has acquired these. Napoleon was fond of elegant 
 society, though he felt that he could only spend a 
 limited portion of his time in it. He delighted in 
 the company of the learned who were capable of 
 conversing upon those vital questions which are felt 
 in a nation's pulse, but he had no taste for dancing 
 and cards, and the so called fashionable amusements. 
 He believed that these were proper for those persons 
 whose minds were not big enough to find entertain- 
 ment in any thing higher, but for him they had no 
 interest. In the circles in which he moved, he began 
 to make his influence felt. Whoever came in con- 
 tact with him, and saw the flash of his eye, and felt 
 the fiery energy of his bearing, and heard the opin- 
 ions which he had to advance upon any subject that 
 chanced to be broached, never failed to perceive the 
 superiority of his mind, and the immense extent of 
 his attainments.* 
 
 * One evening, in the year 1790, there was a very brilliant party 
 hi the drawing-rooms of M. Xeckar, the celebrated financier. His en- 
 
68 THE BOYHOOD 
 
 Abbfe Raynal. Party at M. Neckar's. Persons of distinction. 
 
 The Abbe Kaynal, one of the greatest philoso- 
 phers of the age, was among the first to perceive and 
 recognize the mature reflections and great acquire- 
 
 tertainments, embellished by the presence, as the presiding genius, of 
 his distinguished daughter, Madame de Stae'l, were brilliant hi the 
 extreme, assembling all the noted gentlemen and ladies in the metrop- 
 olis. On the occasion to which we refer, the magnificent saloon was 
 filled with men who had attained the highest eminence in literature 
 and science, or who, in those troubled times, had ascended to posts of 
 honor and influence in the state. Mirabeau was there, with his lofty 
 brow and thunder tones, proud of his very ugliness. Talleyrand moved 
 majestically through the halls, conspicuous for his gigantic proportions 
 and courtly bearing. Lafayette, rendered glorious as the friend of 
 Washington, and his companion in arms, had gathered around him a 
 group of congenial spirits. In the embrasure of a window sat Mad- 
 ame de Stae'l. By the brilliancy of her conversational powers she had 
 attracted to her side St. Just; who afterwards obtained such sanguinary 
 notoriety ; Malesherbes, the eloquent and intrepid advocate of royalty ; 
 Lalande, the venerable astronomer ; Marmontel and Lagrange, illus- 
 trious mathematicians, and others whose fame was circulating through 
 Europe. In one corner stood the celebrated Alfieri, reciting with 
 almost maniacal gesticulation his own poetry to a group of ladies. 
 The grave and philosophical Neckar was the center of another group 
 of care-worn statesmen, discussing the rising perils of the times. It 
 was an assemblage of all which Paris could afford of brilliance in rank, 
 talent, or station. About the middle of the evening, Josephine, the 
 beautiful, but then neglected wife of M. Beauharnais, was announced, 
 accompanied by her little son Eugene. Madame de Genelis soon 
 made her appearance, attended by the brother of the king ; and, con- 
 scious of her intellectual dignity, floated through that sea of brilliance 
 recognized wherever she approached by the abundance of perfumery 
 which her dress exhaled. Madame Campan, the friend and companion 
 of Marie Antoinette, and other ladies and gentlemen of the court, 
 were introduced, and the party now consisted of a truly remarkable 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 69 
 
 Music. Entrance of Napoleon. 
 
 ments of Napoleon ; and though but a boy the Abbe 
 delighted in his company, and often invited him to 
 his table, where he met many of the leading literary 
 
 assemblage of distinguished men and women. Parisian gayety seemed 
 to banish all thoughts of the troubles of the times, and the hours were 
 surrendered to unrestrained hilarity. Servants were gliding through 
 the throng, bearing a profusion of refreshments, consisting of delica- 
 cies gathered from all quarters of the globe. 
 
 As the hour of midnight approached, there was a lull in the buzz 
 of conversation, and the guests gathered in silent groups to listen to a 
 musical entertainment. Madame de Stael took her seat at the piano, 
 while Josephine prepared to accompany her with the harp. They 
 both were performers of singular excellence, and the whole assembly 
 was hushed in expectation. Just as they had commenced the first 
 notes of a charming duet, the door of the saloon was thrown open, 
 and two new guests entered the apartment. The one was an elderly 
 gentleman of very venerable aspect and dressed in the extreme of 
 simplicity. The other was a young man, very small, pale, and slender. 
 The elderly gentleman was immediately recognized by all as the Abbe 
 Kaynal, one of the most distinguished philosophers of France ; but no 
 one knew the pale, slender, fragile youth who accompanied him. 
 They both, that they might not interrupt the music, silently took seats 
 near the door. As soon as the performance was ended, and the ladies 
 had received those compliments which their skill and taste elicited, the 
 Abbe" approached Madame de Stael, accompanied by his young pro- 
 tege, and introduced him as Monsieur Napoleon Bonaparte. Bona- 
 parte ! that name which has since filled the world, was then plebeian 
 and unknown, and upon its utterance many of the proud aristocrats 
 in that assembly shrugged their shoulders, and turned contemptuously 
 away to their conversation and amusement. Madame de Stael had an 
 almost instinctive perception of the presence of genius. Her attention 
 was instantly arrested by the few remarks with which Napoleon ad- 
 dressed her. They were soon engaged in very animated conversation. 
 Josephine and several other ladies joined them. The gsoup grew 
 
70 -THE BOYHOOD 
 
 Group about him. Eemark of Bishop of Autun. Answer of Napoleon. 
 
 men of the metropolis. This afforded Mm a rare 
 opportunity for improvement, and one to which boys 
 of his age are not often admitted. He heard the 
 
 larger and larger as the gentlemen began to gather round the increas- 
 ing circle. " Who is that young man who thus suddenly has gathered 
 such a group about him ?" the proud Alfieri condescended to ask of 
 the Abbe KaynaL "He is," replied the Abbe, " a protege of mine, 
 and a young man of very extraordinary talent. He is very irrdustri- 
 ous, well read, and has made remarkable attainments in history, math- 
 ematics, and all military science." Mirabeau came stalking across the 
 room, lured by curiosity to see what could be the source of the general 
 attraction. " Come here ! come here ! " said Madame de Stae'l with a 
 smile, and in an undertone. " We have found a little great man. I 
 will introduce him to you, for I know you are fond of men of genius." 
 Mirabeau very graciously shook hands with Napoleon and entered into 
 conversation with the untitled young man without assuming any airs 
 of superiority. A group of distinguished men now gathered about 
 them, and the conversation became in some degree general. The 
 Bishop of Autun commended Fox and Sheridan for having asserted 
 that the French army, by refusing to obey the orders of their superiors 
 to fire upon the populace, had set a glorious example to all the armies 
 of Europe; because, by so doing, they had shown that men by be- 
 coming soldiers did not cease to be citizens. 
 
 " Excuse me, my lord," exclaimed Napoleon, in tones of earnestness 
 that arrested general attention, " if I venture to interrupt you ; but as 
 I am an officer I must claim the privilege of expressing my sentiments. 
 It is true that I am very young, and it may appear presumptuous in 
 me to address so many distinguished men ; but during the last three 
 years I have paid intense attention to our political troubles. I see 
 with sorrow the state of our country; I will incur censure rather than 
 pass unnoticed principles which are not only unsound, but which are 
 subversive of all government. As much as any one I desire to see all 
 abuses, antiquated privileges, and usurped rights annulled. Nay ! as 
 I am at the commencement of my career, it will be my best policy, as 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 71 
 
 Uneasiness of Xeckar and Lafayette. Mirabeau and Talleyrand. 
 
 best conversation which the capital afforded. He 
 made the personal acquaintance of those men who 
 were to guide the thought of the nation, and whose 
 
 well as my duty, to support the. progress of popular institutions, and 
 to promote reform in every branch of the public administration. But 
 as in the last twelve months I have witnessed repeated alarming pop- 
 ular disturbances, and have seen our best men divided into factions 
 which threaten to be irreconcilable, I sincerely believe that now, more 
 than ever, a strict discipline in the army is absolutely necessary for the 
 safety of our constitutional government, and for the maintenance of 
 order. Nay I if our troops are not compelled unhesitatingly to obey 
 the commands of the executive, we shall be exposed to the blind fury 
 of democratic passions, which will render France the most miserable 
 country on the globe. The ministry may be assured that, if the daily 
 increasing arrogance of the Parisian mob is not repressed by a strong 
 arm, and social order rigidly maintained, we shall see not only this 
 capital, but every other city in France thrown into a state of inde- 
 scribable anarchy, while the real friends of liberty, the enlightened 
 patriots, now working for the best good of our country, will sink be- 
 neath a set of demagogues, who, with louder outcries for freedom on 
 their tongues, will be, hi reality, but a horde of savages worse than 
 the Xeros of old." 
 
 These emphatic sentences, uttered by Napoleon with an air of au- 
 thority which seemed natural to the youthful speaker, caused a pro- 
 found sensation. For a moment there was a perfect silence in the 
 group, and every eye was riveted on the pale and marble cheek of 
 Napoleon. Neckar and Lafayette listened with evident uneasiness 
 to his bold and weighty sentiments as if conscious of the perils which 
 his words so forcibly portrayed. Mirabeau nodded once or twice sig- 
 nificantly to Talleyrand, seeming thus to say, " That is exactly the 
 truth." Some turned upon their heels, exasperated at this fearless 
 avowal of hostility to democratic progress. Allieri, one of the proud- 
 est of aristocrats, could hardly restrain his delight, and gazed with 
 amazement upon the intrepid young man. " Condorcet," says an eye- 
 
72 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 One year at Paris. Examined by La Place. 
 
 literary productions " future generations will not wil- 
 lingly let die." He became familiar with the correct 
 opinions of the actors in the scenes in that great 
 drama which had already begun. 
 
 Napoleon remained but one year in the military 
 school at Paris. As the result of his first examina- 
 tion he was recommended for promotion, and was 
 consequently appointed an officer in the French 
 army at the early age of sixteen. The mathemati- 
 cal section of the examination was conducted by La 
 Place, the author of the Mecanique Celeste. To 
 come out successful before such an examiner, was 
 indeed no ordinary honor. In history, Monsieur 
 Karruglion, after listening with admiration to his 
 answers, and the elucidations which he gave of the 
 various topics which were broached, wrote in the 
 
 witness, " nearly made me cry out by the squeeze which he gave my 
 hand at every sentence uttered by the pale, slender, youthful speaker." 
 The young Napoleon, then but twenty-one years of age, thus suddenly 
 became the most prominent individual in that whole assembly. Where- 
 ever he moved, many eyes followed him. He had none of the airs 
 of a man of fashion. He made no attempts at displays of gallantry. 
 A peaceful melancholy seemed to overshadow him, as, with an ab- 
 stracted air, he passed through the glittering throng, without being in 
 the slightest degree dazzled by its brilliance. The good old Abbe 
 Eaynal appeared quite enraptured in witnessing this triumph of his 
 young protege. AbbotCs Napoleon, vol. i., page 36. Narrative com- 
 municated to Chambers 1 JEdinburg Journal 6v an Italian gentleman who 
 was present at the interview at M. Neckar's. 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 73 
 
 Kemark of M. Karruglion. Lieutenant in the army. Ambition not satisfied. 
 
 records after the entry of Napoleon's name, " A Cor- 
 sican by character and by birth. This young man 
 will distinguish himself in the world if fortune fa- 
 vors." He might have written with greater pro- 
 priety, " This young man will distinguish himself 
 whether fortune favors or not." He had thus far in 
 life been successful at every point, and he had not 
 shared very bountifully in fortune's favors, and in 
 after years he never left any thing for fortune to do 
 for him. That qualifying phrase might have been 
 very appropriately placed after the names of some 
 young men, but it stands with an ill grace after the 
 signature of Napoleon Bonaparte. 
 
 At this point closes the boyhood of Napoleon. 
 He is no longer a scholar of fortune, fighting his way 
 up from obscurity, but a lieutenant in that army 
 of Frenchmen whose glory has sounded through the 
 world. He now lays aside the humble garb of the 
 student, and assumes the military costume of an offi- 
 cer, the heavy boots, the cocked hat, the buttoned 
 coat and epaulettes. There was much in the position 
 to which Napoleon had now attained to flatter the 
 pride and satisfy the ambition of a youth of seven- 
 teen, and it is feared that there are few, who would 
 not have considered their education complete, that 
 the object of their strife was now attained, and that 
 they might give themselves up to the ease and enjoy- 
 
74 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Studious habits continued. Lesson taught. 
 
 ment which their position as officers would yield. 
 But this honor was far from satisfying the ambition 
 of Napoleon. His habits of study had been labo- 
 rious and austere, he labored with indefatigable zeal, 
 he had made vast acquirements, he was petted and 
 flattered, and his company was sought by some of 
 the first literary men in the world. But there was 
 yet more that he wished to learn, and when he was 
 ordered with his regiment to Lyons, no sooner were 
 the troops quartered, than he sought out a room 
 where he would be secure from interruption, and 
 renewed those habits of laborious study which he 
 had been accustomed to while at school. Instead of 
 parading the streets to show off his plume and his 
 epaulettes to the young and the admiring, he bent 
 as steadily to his tasks as he had done previous to 
 his promotion. 
 
 The education of Napoleon teaches the world one 
 useful lesson, one which our youth especially need 
 to learn. We are apt in pursuing a course of study 
 to dally and procrastinate. Some one has said that 
 " man is naturally indolent, as lazy as he can be." 
 At no time in life do we yield so readily to ease as 
 during the period of mental and physical growth, 
 and this is the time usually allotted to study. Tasks 
 to be wrought out by brain work, look formidable, 
 and we often shrink from them on very slight pre- 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 75 
 
 Reflections. Influences against his success. 
 
 texts. Not so with Napoleon. He shrunk from no 
 tasks, he left no duty undone, and he has shown the 
 world the virtue of working while the day lasts. 
 Had Napoleon known his destiny from the outset, 
 he could not have labored more faithfully in prepa- 
 ration for its accomplishment. This example speaks 
 to every one who hopes to be a leader in the world, 
 " Go and do thou likewise." 
 
 In concluding this survey of the boyhood of Na- 
 poleon, there are some reflections which naturally 
 flow from the subject that may be of interest to us 
 as teachers who have much yet to learn/ and whose 
 business it is to direct the education of others. If 
 the mariner on an unknown sea can pick up the 
 chart of a fellow navigator who sailed those seas 
 before him, he feels a degree of assurance that he 
 can go forward in his voyage in safety. The educa- 
 tion of Napoleon was a success. It is not often that 
 we know the history of one so triumphant. There 
 are some important lessons to be drawn from it. 
 
 From the beginning the probabilities of success 
 were all against him. He was a poor boy, an or- 
 phan, and a foreigner, unable to speak the French 
 language, and without influential friends to advocate 
 his cause. There were only twelve of the military 
 schools in a population of thirty millions. The num- 
 ber of aoplicants would naturally be very great, and 
 
76 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Triumphs. Keview of his success. Reason for it. 
 
 the sons of the rich and powerful would be most 
 likely to succed in obtaining the place. The same 
 motives and influences would operate against his 
 advancement to the school at Paris, where the diffi- 
 culties would be still greater on account of the aris- 
 tocratic and exclusive style in which it was estab- 
 lished. But notwithstanding the apparent obstacles 
 that stood in his way, he invariably triumphed over 
 them, and the merit of his triumphs is due to him- 
 self. He won his way from one position to another 
 because he had first deserved the promotions. He 
 was sent from the humble island of Corsica to the 
 school at Brienne, because the culture he had already 
 acquired attracted the attention of the governor and 
 convinced him that the boy would honor the place. 
 Again, he is selected as one of the three from among 
 all his associates for a place in the highest school at 
 Paris ; and here he is promoted because of his great 
 proficiency in his studies, and the unusual maturity 
 of his mind. When we become familiar with his' 
 history during those five years, we feel satisfied that 
 if the selection were made according to merit, the 
 choice wisely fell upon Napoleon. At the age of 
 fifteen, that very critical period in the life of youth, 
 when most boys are " sowing their wild oats," we find 
 him the companion of philosophers and sages. With- 
 out any other influence to recommend him or secure 
 
OFNAPOLEON. 77 
 
 Early proficiency. Faithful to duty. 
 
 an introduction to the company of the learned, than 
 that which his own intelligence had created for him, 
 he wins his way to the best of French society. A 
 foreigner and of obscure birth though he be, and in 
 the midst of the nobility who are ever inclined to 
 look upon those beneath them with contempt, he is 
 welcomed with open hands to their circles, because 
 his good sense and great learning made him the light 
 and ornament of any society which he chose to grace. 
 And finally, at an age when most young men are 
 thinking about beginning their education, he is ex- 
 amined by some of the first scholars that the world 
 has ever produced, is pronounced a proficient, and 
 is recommended, for appointment as an officer in 
 the army. "We feel satisfied, when we read this ac- 
 count, that there was no favoritism, or under current 
 influence to which he owed his advancement, for 
 the poor boy had no means of securing such inter- 
 ests in his behalf, but that he received his just 
 deserts. 
 
 In this simple recital of the fortunes of this ob- 
 scure boy, we witness the happy issue of a faithful 
 discharge of duty. It is the most complete and 
 triumphant illustration of the success which follows 
 unremitting studiousness that we have on record. 
 He is noted for being a bright boy, because he has 
 improved the feeble talents of childhood, and has got 
 
78 THE BOYHOOD 
 
 Law of toil and recompense. Veracity vindicated in scholarship. 
 
 a little more knowledge than other boys of his age. 
 He moves among his fellow students, inspiring their 
 veneration for him as a prodigy of learning, because 
 he toiled when they slept, and he meditated when 
 they squandered time. He acquired the respect and 
 friendship of his superiors in knowledge and years, 
 because he had diligently pursued those researches 
 in which well cultivated minds delight. And those 
 habits of study and toil which we see rewarded 
 with success in the boyhood of Napoleon, are the 
 habits that will be rewarded with success in any boy 
 of fair ability. There is no well directed exertion 
 which does not sooner or later bear its proper fruits. 
 This law of 'toil and recompense holds good in the 
 physical world, in business, but especially is its 
 veracity vindicated in the history of distinguished 
 scholarship. There is no man of ordinary mental 
 endowments, who can possibly fail of becoming 
 eminent as a scholar, if he puts forth eminent ex- 
 ertions. 
 
 We hear much about the genius of Napoleon, and 
 we are treated to flaming dissertations on this unde- 
 termined specimen of the human species, which nat- 
 uralists are unable to classify, whose creation was 
 looked upon as a miracle of creative power, and 
 which was especially demanded by the French na- 
 tion, as though he had come upon this earth, 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 79 
 
 Genius of Napoleon. Power of endurance. Council of finance. 
 
 " Summoned direct from chaos and old night, 
 By Jove's power fledged, and ready for the flight." 
 
 But when we become familiar with his boyhood, the 
 genius of Napoleon ceases to be a mystery. We 
 wonder from whence his power and his success, but 
 the wonder is how the result could have been other- 
 wise. The fact about the genius of Napoleon is 
 simply this : he possessed by nature good common 
 sense, an unusual degree of physical and mental en- 
 durance, and an insatiable ambition. And only this. 
 He seemed to think* and never tire, to laborf and 
 
 * It was nearly midnight when Napoleon, accompanied by Jose- 
 phine, entered the darkened streets of Paris on his return from Vienna. 
 He drove directly to the Tuilleries, and ascended the stairs, with hasty 
 strides, to his cabinet. Without undressing, or even throwing him- 
 self upon a couch for a moment of repose, he sent for the Minister of 
 Finance. The whole of the remainder of the night was passed in a 
 rigid examination of the state of the bank of France. The eagle eye 
 of the emperor immediately penetrated the labyrinth of confusion in 
 which its concerns were involved. The next day at eleven o'clock the 
 whole Council of Finance was assembled. Napoleon kept them inces- 
 santly occupied during an uninterrupted session of nine hours. Thus 
 energetically, without allowing himself a moment for repose, he entered 
 upon a series of labors unparalleled in the history of mankind. J.6- 
 ~boWs Napoleon, voL i., page 487. 
 
 f The miseries of his progress in Egypt wero extreme. The air is 
 crowded with pestiferous insects; the glare of the sand weakens 
 most men's eyes, and blinds many ; water is scarce and bad ; and the 
 country has been swept clean of man, beast, and vegetable. Under 
 this torture even the gallant spirits of such men as llurat and Lannea 
 could not sustain themselves ; they trod their cockades in the sand. 
 
80 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Progress in Egypt. Best entitled to his position. 
 
 never be weary. These elements of character se- 
 cured him success in every step of his career, from 
 early boyhood to the last of his great deeds. There 
 is no mystery about his wonderful fortune ; for there 
 is not a position in the whole course of his life, to 
 which, if we become acquainted with the steps that 
 led him to it, we must not acknowledge he was 
 above all others the best entitled. His knowledge, 
 his energy, and his perseverance so far excelled those 
 who might be considered to come in competition with 
 him, that the scale at once turns in favor of Napo- 
 leon, and there is no propriety in questioning the 
 decision. 
 
 Of the moral and religious training of Napoleon, 
 we know but little. Indeed I am inclined to the 
 opinion that he never had much. We know that 
 he had a kind mother, who cherished with mascu- 
 line austerity, probity, and honor, and virtue. " Left 
 
 The common soldiers asked with angry murmurs if it was here the 
 general designed to give them their seven acres ? He alone was su- 
 perior to all evils. Such was the happy temperament of his frame 
 that while others, after having rid themselves of their usual dress, were 
 still suffused in perpetual floods of perspiration, and the hardiest found 
 it necessary to give two or three hours every mid-day to sleep, Napo- 
 leon altered nothing ; wore his uniform buttoned up as at Paris ; never 
 showed one bead of sweat on his brow, nor thought of repose except 
 to lie down in his' cloak the last at night and start up the first in the 
 morning. Lockharfs Life of Napoleon, vol. L, page 116. 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 81 
 
 France had no religion. The guillotine. 
 
 without a guide, without support," says Napoleon, 
 " my mother was obliged to take the direction of 
 affairs upon herself. But the task was not above 
 her strength. She managed every thing, provided 
 for every thing, with a prudence which could neither 
 have been expected from her sex nor from her age. 
 Ah, what a woman ! Where shall we look for her 
 equal ? She watched over us with a solicitude un- 
 exampled. Every low sentiment, every ungenerous 
 affection, was discouraged and discarded. She suf- 
 fered nothing but that which was grand and elevated 
 to take root in our youthful understandings. She ab- 
 horred falsehood, and would not tolerate the slightest 
 acts of disobedience. None of our faults were over- 
 looked. Losses, privations, fatigue, had no effect 
 upon her. She had the energy of a man combined 
 with the gentleness and delicacy of a woman." Dur- 
 ing the time that he was at the military schools, 
 France had no religion. The French people wor- 
 shiped at the shrine of base Indulgence under the 
 name of Liberty. The Sabbath was abolished and 
 the Bible burned, and every tenth day was appointed 
 by the government as a day of rest. The guillotine 
 was in active operation, and the blood of her best 
 patriots flowed unceasingly from it. The king was 
 sent to the block. Anarchy was rampant. Disorder 
 reigned supreme. Amid all this confusion, Napoleon 
 
 Of 
 
82 THEBOYHOOD 
 
 Saying of Demosthenes. Napoleon successful. 
 
 remained steady at his tasks, and did not suffer this 
 frenzy to disturb the equanimity of his mind or bate 
 one tittle of his devotion to his studies ; and amid 
 the corruptions of that corrupt age he escaped un- 
 stained. His mother's instructions in his youth were 
 the guiding principles of his manhood. He had an 
 intuitive sense of honor and justice, upon which he 
 acted. 
 
 It is good to trace the life of one who has been 
 successful. It is instructive to go back to boyhood, 
 and examine the education and habits which serve as 
 the foundation stones on which the superstructure is 
 built. Demosthenes has very pointedly observed, 
 "that in common life success is the greatest good, 
 and that the next is conduct, without which the first 
 must be of short continuance." It is certainly the 
 best fortune for which we can hope, to be successful 
 in our efforts. Often, as the world goes, the good is 
 left to obscurity and the undeserving triumphs. But 
 it is still a source of satisfaction to have the assur- 
 ance in one's own breast that he has deserved suc- 
 cess. It serves to cultivate a good companionship 
 with self. It enables us to merit our own esteem and 
 confidence. But he who never makes one honest 
 effort, and feels no enkindling aspiration that can 
 inspire a hope, who is satisfied to live without suc- 
 cess and without deserving it, is of all men the most 
 
OF NAPOLEON. 83 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 brutish, and miserable. He neither enjoys the ap- 
 plause of his fellow-men nor of himself. Few men 
 have been so successful as Napoleon. His was in- 
 deed a brilliant career. jHis triumphs in the cabinet 
 and in the field, are among the most remarkable ex- 
 amples of the sublime in action. The iron will of 
 that one man aroused all Europe in arms to oppose 
 him, and in the terrible struggles which he inspired 
 is seen the " compacted might of genius." But there 
 are other fields for triumphs than those of war ; and 
 whenever we would encourage the youthful mind to 
 put forth effort in preparation for triumphs, we can 
 point with pride and confidence to the Boyhood of 
 the humble Corsican 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 THE POWER OP SPOKEN THOUGHT. 
 
 MA1STY years ago, the streets of London were 
 filled with people, wending their way to 
 Kensington Common. The gathering multitudes 
 were composed of a motley throng from every class 
 in that crowded city. The rich and the poor, the 
 philosopher and the sweating mechanic, the poet and 
 the street singer, proud lords and gay ladies, peers 
 of the realm and ministers of state, all eager and 
 anxious, were there. The trees and fences, and 
 stages built for the purpose, and chariot wheels, and 
 the backs of gaily caparisoned horses, were crowded 
 with the living throng. The eager countenances of 
 these waiting thousands betokened some great oc- 
 casion. The pride of dress and the beauty of coun- 
 tenance added gayety to the scene. Yet there was 
 no sound of martial music or rolling drum. There 
 were no soldiers with gay plumes and epaulets, and 
 red coats and glistening bayonets. There were no 
 " white- winged" tents ; no amphitheater as at ancient 
 Home, where the wretched captive chiefs were bru- 
 
THE POWER OF SPOKEN THOUGHT. 85 
 Preaching of Whitefield. Effect of his eloquence. 
 
 tally murdered in gladiatorial contests for the sport 
 of a Eoman holiday. This throng were attracted 
 by no motives like these. They had come to hear a 
 plain man preach. They had come to hear White- 
 field preach. 
 
 Patiently they stand in the open field, in (rod's 
 first temple, whose only canopy is the blue vault 
 above, whose inlaid floor is the bright green earth, 
 and encounter the press and the crowd, to hear 
 the accents from the lips of him who was thought 
 unworthy of gorgeous churches, where the worshipers 
 recline upon velvet cushions, and where the mellow 
 light streams through richly stained windows. They 
 had come to hear a very common subject, but from 
 the lips of no ordinary man. The 'words from his 
 tongue reach every ear, touch every heart. "What 
 is in his countenance is reflected in theirs. Now in- 
 dignation burns on every lip. Anon their streaming 
 eyes attest the violence of their emotions. And now 
 hope smites through their tears. Thus he sways that 
 vast assembly to and fro upon the stormy waves 
 of his eloquence. It is not alone the tender-hearted 
 girl that weeps, but the stout heart shares unre- 
 strained the feeling which moves prince and peasant 
 alike. That emotion that comes unbidden, that sus- 
 ceptibility which nature has given all her children, 
 responds to the touch of that master spirit. And 
 
86 THEPOWEROF 
 
 Speech reported. Carefdlly written article. Tables of stone. 
 
 the voice of an eternal Providence, which for a 
 time infidelity may be deaf to 7 and which debauchery 
 and crime may drown, must still be heard. 
 
 The power of Mr. Whitefield's preaching was very 
 great. It is unusual that we meet with an exhibi- 
 tion of the force and attractions of eloquence, arid 
 of its despotic power over every class of mind and 
 character, such as was displayed by this wonderful 
 man. It illustrates the influence which spoken 
 thought is capable of effecting. In general, it is far 
 superior to written thought. If a speech of unusual 
 interest has been delivered on some public occasion, 
 the report of that speech, when published in the 
 journals of the day, will attract attention, when an 
 article of equal interest, and penned with the great- 
 est care, is passed by without notice. 
 
 The reason of this, preference is obvious. "We are 
 fond of identifying the thoughts with the speaker 
 who uttered them, and the occasion which called 
 them forth. Abstract thought, unaccompanied with 
 the incidents of its origin and promulgation, has few 
 attractions except for those who are fond of pure in- 
 tellections. The laws of God, when written upon 
 tables of stone, were dead and powerless. The 
 nations soon fell back into idolatry ; they became 
 oblivious to every element of religious feeling, and 
 worshiped and served the creature more than the 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 87 
 
 Remark of Macaulay. The sublime. Definition of Longinus. 
 
 Creator. But when God in the personation of Jesus 
 Christ came upon earth, and in the likeness of man, 
 " spake as never man spake," and went about doing 
 good, then the will of our Maker became a living 
 power, before which the pride of philosophy and 
 the blindness of superstition yielded, and gave place 
 to religion pure and undefiled. " It was," says 
 Macaulay, " before Deity embodied in human form, 
 walking among men, partaking of their infirmities, 
 leaning on their bosoms, weeping over their graves, 
 slumbering in their mangers, bleeding on the cross, 
 that the prejudices of the Academy, and the pride 
 of the Portico, and the fasces of the lictor and the 
 swords of thirty legions were humbled in the dust." 
 The feeling which inspires the orator, is the most 
 exalted of any that sways the bosom of man. In the 
 moment of .sublime conception and overwhelming 
 emotion, he feels, in common with his hearers, more 
 than words can express. At such a moment words 
 become powerless, and feeling, rising above such 
 poor exponents of thought, reigns supreme. This 
 is the sublime. For " the sublime," says Longinus, 
 " not only persuades, but even throws an audience 
 into transports. In most cases it is wholly in our 
 own power to resist or to yield to persuasion. But 
 the sublime, endued with strength irresistible, strikes 
 down and triumphs over every hearer. The sublime 
 
88 THE POWER OF 
 
 Eloquence defined. Dr. Campbell. Of a critic. 
 
 when seasonably addressed, witli the rapid force of 
 lightning has borne down all before it, and shown 
 at one stroke the compacted might of genius." 
 
 The faculties which eloquence calls into exercise 
 are the most exalted of which a human soul is pos- 
 sessed. Eeason, imagination, taste, those powers 
 that are last developed, and which are the crowning 
 graces of the mind, are the agencies of the orator. 
 But even these, without the inspiration of a spirit 
 burning with an ardent purpose, are powerless. 
 These faculties must arouse corresponding ones in 
 the minds of those who are addressed. The thoughts 
 which are in the spirit of one man, must be trans- 
 ferred to the bosoms of other men. The electric 
 chords which vibrate so musically in the breast of 
 the speaker must telegraph to those addressed. The 
 flashing eye, the burning lip, the beating heart, be- 
 tween speaker and hearer must be reciprocal. 
 
 Ehetoricians have attempted to define eloquence. 
 But the most truthful and refined definition can have 
 little relevancy to him who has not felt it. Dr. 
 Campbell defines it as "that art by which the dis- 
 course is adapted to its end ; and that all the ends of 
 speaking are reducible to four ; every speech being 
 intended to enlighten the understanding, to please 
 the imagination, to move the passions, or to influence 
 the will." This is the definition of a critic, rather 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 89 
 
 Quintilian. Cicero. Washington. 
 
 than that of a master of the art. It is eloquence 
 adroitly quartered and carefully dissected. It is a 
 definition which may be abstractly appreciated, but 
 one which would convey no idea to him who had 
 never felt it. Quintilian says that eloquence is " Sci- 
 entia bene dicendi" the art of speaking well, which is 
 as dull and lifeless as it is brief. This is also the 
 definition of a critic. But Cicero says, " Optimus 
 orator qui dicendo, animos audientium, et docet, et delec- 
 tat, et permovet" he is the best orator who in speak- 
 ing, both teaches, and delights, and greatly moves the 
 minds of his auditory. This is the definition of one 
 who has felt all that he describes, who has portrayed 
 the impression drawn from his own consciousness. 
 It was inspired by the remembrance of stirring 
 scenes in which he had been a leading actor; the 
 courts of justice where he had plead, the struggles 
 of the commonwealth for life when surrounded by 
 conspirators, and the senate house where Caesar fell. 
 
 But there is no definition, however pointed or life- 
 like, that can convey any adequate idea. The best 
 of them are merely formulae, to which he who has 
 heard and felt may refer his impressions. When 
 Washing-ton, after having led the feeble army of his 
 country for eight long years, struggling on against 
 every disheartening circumstance, and hoping even 
 against hope, at last had triumphed over his open 
 
90 THEPOWEBOF 
 
 Washington taking leave of his officers. His sword. Bossnet. 
 
 foes in the field, and the more dangerous ones who 
 in secret were plotting his overthrow, when peace at 
 length came, and he felt that his services were no 
 longer needed, he went to the hall of Congress to de- 
 liver up his sword. He saw about him those who 
 had stood by him with their counsels through many 
 dark and troublous days. With a voice faltering 
 with emotion at the remembrance of the past, he 
 spoke those sublime and pathetic words that are dear 
 to every lover of his country. But when he came to 
 take leave of his officers, those who had been his 
 companions in arms, who had shared with him the 
 privations of the camp and the carnage of the battle 
 field, and had been faithful to the last, the struggling 
 emotions quivered on his lips ; he could not speak, 
 his feelings were too strong for utterance, and he 
 pressed the hand of each in silence and departed. 
 This was eloquence. It was speaking without speak- 
 ing. It was the height of the sublime. 
 
 But one month from the time Bossuet pronounced 
 his funeral oration over the corpse of the royal 
 mother, he was called to perform the same solemn 
 rite over the young and beautiful Princess Henrietta, 
 "so highly stationed, so greatly gifted, so widely 
 admired, and so generally loved. The idol of the 
 world ! The pride of her august family ! The de- 
 light of all who approached her !" As he described 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 91 
 
 Funeral oration over the Princess Henrietta, Marseilles Hymn. 
 
 the short but brilliant career of the princess, every 
 heart was borne along upon the full tide of his 
 words. But the interest which the successive events 
 of her life excited, when portrayed in the lovely light 
 of his well-known eloquence, only served to make 
 the catastrophe to which he was approaching more 
 terrible, and as he came to utter that passage, " when, 
 like a peal of thunder, the dreadful words ' Henri- 
 etta is dying Henrietta is dead,' burst upon us, 
 nothing was discernible but grief, despair, and the 
 image of death ;" the effect was overwhelming ; the 
 whole audience rose from their seats, and Bossuet 
 himself was so much affected that for some moments 
 he was unable to speak. 
 
 It is only by experience in those emotions which 
 eloquence is capable of producing that we can form 
 any conception of its nature. He who has felt it, 
 and has a heart to appreciate it, alone has the key 
 that unlocks the mystery of its power. There are 
 certain tones of the voice that have a wonderful 
 effect upon the human soul. It is said that the sing- 
 ing of the Marseilles Hymn in the streets, of Paris 
 brought on the French Eevolution. Those electric 
 tones which thrilled the nerves of the young French- 
 man, which filled his heart with desire for glory, 
 which fired his passions with hatred and revenge for 
 his oppressors, and which inspired a love for liberty 
 
92 THE POWER OF 
 
 Speaker an exponent of thought Incident of the clergyman. Demosthenes. 
 
 and equal rights, nerved his soul to fight in their de- 
 fense to bare his bosom to that terrible death-storm 
 that swept the continent of Europe and with, his 
 dying breath exclaim 
 
 " Ye sons of France, awake to glory !" 
 
 The speaker is but the exponent of the thoughts 
 and feelings of those whom he addresses. If his 
 feelings are thoroughly aroused, if he is fully in ear- 
 nest, he will be likely to imbue the breasts of his 
 hearers with the emotions of his own heart. " A 
 clergyman of our country states that he once told an 
 affecting incident to Mr. Whiten" eld, relating it, how- 
 ever, with but the ordinary feeling and beauty of a 
 passing conversation ; when afterward, on hearing 
 Whitefield preach, up came his own story, narrated 
 by the preacher in the pulpit with such native pa- 
 thos and power that the clergyman himself, who had 
 furnished Whitefield with the dry bones of illustra- 
 tion, found himself weeping like a child."* 
 
 It is interesting to observe with what varied effect 
 different ..men may pronounce the same sentence. 
 Every school-boy has read how Demosthenes, after 
 having been unsuccessful in his first attempt at public 
 speaking, retiring from the assembly in despair, was 
 
 * Todd's " Girl at School," page 141. 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 93 
 
 Dull speaker. Archbishop "Whately. Sympathy with the speaker. 
 
 met by a friend who spoke to him some encouraging 
 words, and requesting him to recite a few sentences 
 of a familiar poet, repeated them in tones so distinct, 
 and with such force of utterance, that Demosthenes 
 could not believe it the same passage. 
 
 There are some public speakers who come before 
 us and read beautifully written pieces. The argu- 
 ment is well planned, and constructed upon sound 
 principles. The reasoning is perfectly accurate. The 
 imagery is beautifully wrought, and introduced where 
 Archbishop Whately himself would approve. Com- 
 bined, it is a perfect piece, and its delivery is well 
 toned. And yet, faultless as it is, it fails to attract 
 attention. No interest is excited. The speaker does 
 not enlist our sympathies. We strive in vain to ac- 
 company him upon the velvet lawn he treads. The 
 monotony induces stupor. It is by an effort that we 
 arouse to a sense of the proprieties of the occasion, 
 and we are relieved when the speaker closes his dis- 
 course, 
 
 " So coldly sweet, so deadly fair." 
 
 The contrast is agreeable when we are brought 
 into sympathy with one who inspires us with a fer- 
 vor of feeling which we can not resist. His words 
 come warm from a feeling heart. He is full of pas- 
 sion as well as argument and imagery. He not only 
 teaches, but he greatly moves the minds of his hear- 
 
94: THEPOWEROF 
 
 Speaker believes his own words. Incident of the farmer. 
 
 ers. That feeling which he possesses he transfers to 
 them. Our minds are taken captive ; we hear every 
 word ; we watch every action ; we laugh when he 
 laughs ; we weep when he weeps. "We feel no fa- 
 tigue, no weariness, and we regret when he is 
 through that he has no more to say. 
 
 Thought in the hands of such a man has life and 
 power. "We feel in his presence as though he were 
 the ruling spirit ; we realize the value of his thoughts 
 as he does himself. But it often happens that the 
 impression is felt among those who are endeavoring 
 to listen, that the speaker himself is not interested in 
 what he is saying, that he does not appreciate the 
 force of his own words, and leaves it doubtful 
 whether he believes them. It is related that a 
 farmer in the country once had a friend visiting him 
 from the city, and on the Sabbath took him to 
 church with him. When they were at home again 
 and seated by the fire, the old man, fond of having 
 his minister praised, asked his guest how he liked 
 the preaching. The friend replied, " tolerably well." 
 The old man, piqued at the slur cast upon the minis- 
 ter, turned with some warmth and inquired, " Did 
 he not tell the truth ?" " Yes," answered his friend, 
 " he told the truth, and he would have told the truth 
 had he got up and declared all the forenoon that his 
 name was John." 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 95 
 
 Mission of the preacher. Hindrances. Remark of Mr. Giles. 
 
 The minister of the gospel has, perhaps, of all 
 other classes of public speakers, the most difficulties 
 and discouraging circumstances to encounter. Dr. 
 Campbell, in his Philosophy of Ehetoric, lays down 
 this general principle: "that the more mixed the 
 auditory, the greater is the difficulty of speaking 
 with effect; and that we may justly reckon a Chris- 
 tian congregation in a populous and flourishing city, 
 where there is a great variety in rank and education, 
 of all audiences the most promiscuous." When the 
 Spirit of God moves the heart of the preacher of the 
 gospel, when he fully appreciates the greatness of his 
 calling, when he feels the stirring nature of the mes- 
 sage which he is delegated to proclaim to the world, 
 and the consequences which must result from his 
 labors, there can be no mission on earth more inspir- 
 ing. But this inspiration does not always operate 
 upon the followers of the humble fishermen. The 
 ministry are human, and are subject to the weak- 
 nesses and depressions of spirit that are incident to 
 us all ; and the trials and difficulties which they have 
 to encounter often press upon them with overwhelm- 
 ing power. Mr. Giles, in his essay on the pulpit, ob- 
 serves that a the necessity of periodical composition 
 is, in itself alone, no slight aggravation of ministerial 
 toil. Who, that has ever experienced the necessity 
 of stated intellectual preparation, will not unders:and 
 
96 THE POWER OF 
 
 Other professions. The Lawyer. 
 
 this ? The head may be heavy with bodily disease, 
 or the heart sick with inward grief; the pen may 
 tremble in the hand, and the eye grow dim with sor- 
 row ; but the shadow is already upon his imagina- 
 tion and the weekly sermon must be ready. Alas ! 
 the tale of brick must be forthcoming, and often 
 there is not wherewith to make it." 
 
 If the preacher of the gospel is highly educated, 
 his task may seem to be easy. But even education 
 acts as a clog upon the passions. Protracted contem- 
 plation wears the brain, and eats away upon the vital 
 energies. Intense application of the mental facul- 
 ties sometimes operates to smother emotion, and to 
 deaden the sympathies. The fastidious cultivation 
 of the style may depress the devotional affections. 
 Of the other professions in which public speaking 
 forms a part of the duties, there are circumstances 
 which render the labor less arduous and trying. 
 The pleader at the bar has only a bench of judges, 
 or a jury of twelve men to address, whose characters 
 he may individually study, whose prejudices he may 
 appeal to, whose vanity he may flatter, and whose 
 sympathies he may enlist. The circumstances of the 
 case awaken interest, and the anxiety of the client 
 spurs him on to exertion. When the excitement of 
 a term of court is over, which has served to quicken 
 his powers, he enjoys periods of relaxation from the 
 
SPOKENTHOUGHT. 97 
 
 The Legislator. Orator must first feeL 
 
 drudgery of public speaking. The legislator has a 
 body of equals before whom he speaks, who can 
 readily apprehend and digest his opinions, and whose 
 attention he can easily secure. The excitement of 
 debate is admirably fitted to arouse his talents, and 
 draw forth the fires of eloquence. Often he knows 
 not when he is to speak till the emergency is upon 
 him, and the principles of his party, with which he 
 is at all times familiar, demand his aid. 
 
 But whatever may be the character of the au- 
 dience, the subject of discourse, or the circumstances 
 of the speaker himself, it is a matter of the first im- 
 portance that he should thoroughly feel and under- 
 stand what he has to say. For we always conclude, 
 whether it be the minister of the gospel or the mem- 
 ber of Congress, the lawyer or the lecturer, if he 
 fails to impress his hearers, that the divinity does 
 not move in his own soul. It is necessary for a 
 speaker to realize fully the importance of what he 
 has to communicate, to be desirous that the minds 
 of his hearers may be precisely in that state in which 
 he finds his own. When he can open his discourse 
 with this feeling, he may consider it as a sure indi- 
 cation that he is to succeed, that he will in some 
 way reach their hearts with his words. But there 
 are too many men who attempt to perform the of- 
 fices of public speaking, like the character whom 
 
98 THEPOWEROF 
 
 Shakspeare's orator. Speak from a full heart. 
 
 Shakspeare describes, " Who speaks an infinite deal 
 of nothing, more than any man in all Venice. His 
 reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels 
 of chaff; you shall seek all day ere you find them ; 
 and when you have them they are not worth the 
 search." 
 
 He who would influence men and make them of 
 his mind, in these days so characterized by hurry 
 and commotion, of point blank directness and light- 
 ning speed, must speak from a full heart. He must 
 pour forth his words as though he meant men should 
 believe them. The hearer expects this, and he will 
 not be induced to take his attention from those 
 thoughts which haunt his brain, unless the speaker 
 presents him something of sufficient importance to 
 recall him from wandering meditations. Listlessness 
 and inattention on the part of the hearer speak in a 
 language no less audible than words, 
 
 "If you \tould have me weep, begin the strain."* 
 
 It has often been remarked, that it is not the 
 speaker whose opinions are most weighty, or whose 
 speech has most intrinsic merit, that always produces 
 the greatest influence. It is an observation that is 
 
 3i vis me flere, dolendum est 
 Primum ipse tibL" 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 99 
 
 Combination of gifts. Language of emotion. 
 
 often repeated, that if Mr. A's address could have 
 been delivered by Mr. B, it would have been excel- 
 lent. There is a happy combination of gifts which 
 seem to fit some men to be eloquent. We listen with 
 admiration to whatever they have to say, if it be 
 but a simple announcement. If we seek for the 
 secret of their skill, we must find it, if at all, in our 
 emotional nature. Eloquence is the work of the 
 emotions. A thought, to deserve the name of be- 
 ing eloquent, must originate in emotion and must 
 terminate in emotion. The voice is the agency by 
 which this effect is produced. The tones of the 
 voice, though they do not express words, are still 
 capable of being understood, and of producing an 
 effect upon the mind. Every person in this assembly 
 might speak in a language unknown to the others ; 
 and yet we could readily distinguish whether it were 
 in joy or anger. A screech of anguish or of fear 
 causes every one to start. The infant too young to 
 talk, will make its wants and feelings known quite 
 as successfully by its varying tones of voice, from 
 those of unbounded pleasure to uncontrollable grief, 
 as it can in later years by the use of words. 
 
 These tones constitute the language of emotion. 
 It is by means of these that feelings of extreme de- 
 light or anguish are made known. The man who is 
 ' overjoyed does not give utterance to his feelings in 
 
100 THE POWER OF 
 
 Secret of orator's power. David Garrick. 
 
 words, but he bursts forth in the full tones of laugh- 
 ter. Whereas he who is suffering intense pain ex- 
 presses it by moans and weeping. This language of 
 the emotions is easily communicated. "We may hear 
 a person laugh. He laughs from a soul full of the 
 risible emotion ; and although we know not the 
 occasion of his joy, yet we feel like laughing too. 
 On the contrary, we always feel sad when we ap- 
 proach the bed of a sick person and hear the voice 
 of anguish from the sufferer. In the skillful use of 
 these tones of emotion lies the secret of the orator's 
 power. 
 
 Perhaps no man ever understood the compass 
 and expressiveness of the human voice better than 
 David Garrick. His quick, intuitive spirit had 
 threaded all the secret mazes and windings of the 
 human heart. And by those silver tones of his. as 
 by the wand of the magician, he could "make 
 the past present, and the distant near." He could 
 take the minds of men and lead them on in what 
 track he would. It was true he was an actor, and 
 spoke the thoughts of others. Yet it was praise 
 enough for him, that he drew from those productions 
 which graced the stage, sparks of genius, which to 
 the reader's eye would have ever remained unap- 
 preciated. In him was seen the character which he 
 represented, in greater grandeur and majesty than it 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 101 
 
 The verse of Shakspeare. Lear. Othello. Macbeth. Caesar. 
 
 Lad ever appeared to the poet's eye rolling in its 
 finest frenzy. The delighted author saw his thoughts 
 take shapes which he had never himself fully real- 
 ized. The verse of Shakspeare was his delight. And 
 those beautiful and majestic words would never have 
 fallen upon the ear with half their sweetness and 
 their power, had it not been for the tongue of Garrick. 
 And yet he once declared that he would give a hun- 
 dred pounds, if he could only speak the word " Oh I" 
 as Whitefield did. In this he was conscious of his 
 inability. The training and course of thought of the 
 two had been widely different. Garrick was indeed 
 familiar with all the horrors of life. He could feel 
 and act and express the agony and madness of Lear, 
 the jealousy of Othello, the writhings of Macbeth 
 under the consciousness of guilt, and the imperial 
 majesty of Caesar. But the imagination of White- 
 field had traveled on beyond the grave. He had 
 not only contemplated the passions which rend the 
 bosom while living, and the agonies and struggles of 
 the death scene, but he could in fancy accompany 
 the soul to its destiny in the eternity beyond. In 
 view of the tortures of the lost, which were to him 
 ever present realities, he could but warn the living 
 in exclamations deep-mouthed and awful. 
 
 Few men of modern times have produced so great 
 an effect by preaching the gospel as did Whitefield. 
 
102 THE POWER OF 
 
 Anecdote of Lord Chesterfield. 
 
 It is related that on a certain occasion when he was 
 speaking to an immense assembly in the open air, 
 Lord Chesterfield came to hear him. He drove as 
 near to the speaker as he possibly could, and re- 
 mained seated in his carriage. "Whitefield was de- 
 scribing the condition and final fate of the sinner, 
 who refused to listen to the warnings and entreaties 
 of his friends, and compared him to one who is sus- 
 pended over a yawning gulf, reaching forth for what- 
 ever object meets his view, regardless of his peril. 
 Chesterfield was leaning forward from his carriage to 
 catch every syllable ; and the preacher represents the 
 friends of the deluded man coming to show him his 
 danger. They point him to the chasm below and 
 the brittle thread by which he is suspended. But he 
 refuses to hear them, and struggles and grasps for 
 the objects about him that please his fancy. The 
 thread wears away and begins to break, till he is held 
 but by a single fiber. His friends beg and entreat ; 
 he turns from them for his pleasure the thread snaps 
 he falls. At this word, Chesterfield exclaimed, 
 " My God, he's gone !" forgetting the proprieties of 
 the occasion, with all his sympathies enlisted for the 
 poor deluded being whom he sees suspended by a 
 brittle thread before him, arid shuddering as he be- 
 holds the fibers loosen, it breaks- he is lost and 
 the great man utters the exclamation as though it 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 103 
 
 Power of the speaker's words. All else forgotten. Patrick Henry. 
 
 were all real. It is rare that one acquires such a 
 command over his hearers, such a power that all is 
 forgotten, save the creations of the speaker's fancy. 
 Place and circumstance are unnoticed, and the hearer 
 bends forward spell-bound to catch the syllable glow- 
 ing from his lips. 
 
 "We have had one man in our own country who 
 possessed this power in an eminent degree. That 
 man was Patrick Henry. The opening scenes of the 
 Revolution were well fitted to arouse his passions, and 
 to work upon a mind so susceptible to emotion as 
 was his. Many of his speeches then made on politi- 
 cal questions, were characteristic of the skill which 
 lie possessed. But his true sphere, or rather the 
 sphere in which he could be most effective, was with- 
 out doubt before a jury as a criminal lawyer. This 
 was the stage on which he delighted to act. On one 
 occasion a clergyman was prosecuted in Virginia for 
 violating some sectarian law of the State, and in the 
 indictment there occurred this clause { l for preach- 
 ing the gospel of Jesus Christ." Henry volunteered 
 to defend him. The indictment was read and laid 
 upon the table. The prosecuting attorney delivered 
 a labored argument to prove the charge and secure a 
 conviction. When he was through, Henry arose, 
 grasped the indictment, swung it about his head and 
 exclaimed "My God! prosecuted for preaching the 
 
104 THE POWEK OF 
 
 'Not guilty." Study of character. Disregard of precedent. 
 
 Religion of Jesus Christ! What did our fathers 
 come to this country for?" He swung it again about 
 his head, dashed it upon the floor, stamped upon 
 it with his feet and took his seat. Such an effect did 
 those few words have upon jury and audience, that 
 they were seized with indignation against the man 
 who could prefer such a suit. Without retiring 
 from their seats a verdict of "not guilty" was 
 rendered. 
 
 The power of Mr. Henry's eloquence in many of 
 his early efforts seems past belief and well nigh mi- 
 raculous. From early youth he was quiet and con- 
 templative in his deportment, and possessed a pecul- 
 iar tact for relating striking facts and anecdotes. He 
 was particularly fond of argument, and often drew 
 the neighbors, who frequented the store where he was 
 employed, into wrangling discussions, that he might 
 observe the working of their passions or come to the 
 relief of the beleaguered party. He was much given 
 to meditation. And when he came to plead causes, 
 he made his argument from an original and element- 
 ary analysis of the case, paying little regard to pre- 
 cedents, with illustrations drawn from his own 
 fancy. He had not much reverence or use for law 
 books , and had his causes been decided according to 
 precedent, the result would have been very dama- 
 ging to his success as a lawyer. But a jury of com- 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 105 
 
 Powers at command. Parson's case. Appearance. 
 
 mon men will hear eloquence when they will pay 
 little regard to the dry details of co-ordinate cases. 
 
 In the management of a discourse Mr. Henry was 
 signally successful. All his powers of mind and of 
 body seemed to flock about him when he entered 
 the arena. His approach to a cause was like the 
 war-horse " that paweth in the valley and rejoiceth 
 in his strength; and goeth on to meet the armed 
 men." His frame dilated. The features of his face 
 took new relations. His head was erect. The whole 
 bearing of his person was noble. His biographer, in 
 narrating the circumstances connected with the cele- 
 brated " Parson's case/' has given a glowing account 
 of the trial, and in alluding to the plea of Mr. Henry 
 he says, " No one had ever heard him speak, and 
 curiosity was on tiptoe. He rose very awkwardly, 
 and faltered much in his exordium. The people 
 hung their heads at so unpromising a commence- 
 ment ; the clergy were observed to exchange sly 
 looks with each other; and his father, who was 
 upon the bench, is described as having almost sunk 
 from his seat. But these feelings were of short du- 
 ration, and soon gave place to others of a very differ- 
 ent character. For now were those wonderful facul- 
 ties which he possessed, for the first time developed; 
 and now was witnessed that mysterious and almost 
 
 supernatural transformation of appearance, which the 
 5* 
 
106 THE POWER OF 
 
 Effect produced. Dignified and manly eloquence. 
 
 fire of liis own eloquence never failed to work in 
 him. For as his mind rolled along, and began to 
 glow from its own action, all the exuvias of the 
 clown seemed to shed themselves spontaneously. 
 His attitude by degrees became erect and lofty. The 
 spirit of his genius awakened all his features. His 
 countenance shone with a nobleness and grandeur 
 which it had never before exhibited. There was a 
 lightning in his eyes which seemed to rive the spec- 
 tator. His action became graceful, bold and com- 
 manding ; and in the tones of his voice, but more 
 especially in his emphasis, there was a peculiar 
 charm, a magic, of which any one who ever heard 
 him will speak as soon as he is named, but of which 
 no one can give any adequate description. They 
 can only say that it struck upon the ear and upon 
 the heart, in a manner that language can not tell. 
 Add to all these his wonder-working fancy, and the 
 peculiar phraseology in which he clothed his images ; 
 for he painted to the heart with a force that almost 
 petrified it. In the language of those who heard 
 him on this occasion, * he made their blood to run 
 cold and their hair to rise on end.' " 
 
 It is not often that the power of intensely moving 
 the emotions, is found united with the highest order 
 of dignified and manly eloquence. It requires a 
 mind constructed on the grandest scale. The facul- 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 107 
 
 Daniel "Webster. Dartmouth College. Supreme Court of U. S. 
 
 ties need to be nicely balanced. The judgment must 
 be broad and firm ; the sense of justice and integ- 
 rity thoroughly inwrought into the mental consti- 
 tution. Providence rarely bestows such gifts. "We 
 find them perhaps more perfectly combined in the 
 mind of Daniel Webster than in any other in the 
 history of our nation. There are few positions in 
 which a public speaker can be placed, in which he 
 had not the talents to succeed. His power was 
 equally felt whether he spoke in presence of a bench 
 of learned judges, or before a promiscuous assembly 
 of ten thousand people. Nor does he, to accomplish 
 this result, adopt a method peculiar to the audience 
 whom he addresses. All his great efforts are marked 
 with that plain but lofty style, which identify it as 
 the stately stoppings of his giant mind ; and it is 
 equally characterized by a pathos and sublimity 
 
 which move the passions of his hearers. When he 
 
 % 
 argued the cause of Dartmouth College versus the 
 
 State of New Hampshire, before the Supreme Court 
 of the United States, composed of Chief Justice Mar- 
 shall, associated with Washington, Livingston, John- 
 son, Story, Todd, and Duvall, men the most vener- 
 able and august that ever graced that bench, it is 
 related by one* who heard him on the occasion, that 
 
 * Before going to Washington, -which I did chiefly for the sake of 
 
108 THE POWER OF 
 
 Argument of Mr. "Webster. 
 
 for upwards of four hours he detailed to the court, 
 in the most clear and lucid style, the features of 
 the case, without apparent effort to himself or his 
 
 hearing Mr. Webster, I was told that, in arguing the case at Exeter, 
 New Hampshire, he had left the whole court-room in tears at the 
 conclusion of his speech. This, I confess, struck me unpleasantly 
 any attempt at pathos on a purely legal question like this, seemed 
 hardly in good taste. On my way to "Washington, I made the ac- 
 quaintance of Mr. "Webster. We were together several days in Phila- 
 delphia, at the house of a common friend ; and as the College question 
 was one of deep interest to literary men, we conversed often and 
 largely on the subject As he dwelt upon the leading points of the 
 case, in terms so calm, simple, and precise, I said to myself more than 
 once, in reference to the story I had heard, " Whatever may have 
 seemed appropriate in defending the college at Tiome, and on her own 
 ground, there will be no appeal to the feelings of Judge Marshall and 
 his associates at Washington." The Supreme Court of the United 
 States held its session, that winter, in a mean apartment of moderate 
 size the Capitol not having been built after its destruction in 1814. 
 The audience, when the case came on, was therefore small, consisting 
 chiefly of legal men, the elite of the profession throughout the country. 
 Mr. Webster entered upon his argument in the calm tone of easy and 
 dignified conversation. His matter was so completely at his command 
 that he scarcely looked at his brief, but went on for more than four 
 hours with a statement so luminous, and a chain of reasoning so easy 
 to be understood, and yet approaching so nearly to absolute demon- 
 stration, that he seemed to carry with him every man of his audience 
 without the slightest effort or weariness on either side. It was hardly 
 eloquence, in the strict sense of the term ; it was pure reason. Now 
 and then, for a sentence or two, his eye flashed and his voice swelled 
 into a bolder note, as he uttered some emphatic thought ; but he in- 
 stantly fell back into the tone of earnest conversation, which ran 
 throughout the great body of his speech. A single circumstance will 
 show you the clearness and absorbing power of his argument I 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 109 
 
 Case of every college. Pathetic appeal. 
 
 auditory, and that in the few pathetic sentences, 
 with which he closed his argument, he so wrought 
 upon the feelings of his hearers that he left them 
 
 observed that Judge Story, at the opening of the case, had prepared 
 himself pen in hand, as if to take copious minutes. Hour after hour 
 I saw him fixed in the same attitude, but, so far as I could perceive, 
 with not a note on his paper. The argument closed, and / could not 
 discover that he had taken a single note. Others around me remarked 
 the same thing, and it was among the on dits of Washington, that a 
 friend spoke to him of the fact with surprise, when the judge re- 
 marked, " Every thing was so clear, and so easy to remember, that 
 not a note seemed necessary, and, in fact, I thought little or nothing 
 about my notes." The argument ended. Mr. Webster stood for 
 some moments silent before the court, while every eye was fixed 
 intently upon him. At length, addressing the Chief Justice, Marshall, 
 he proceeded thus : " This, sir, is my case. It is the case, not merely 
 of that humble institution, it is the case of every college in our land. 
 It is more. It is the case of every eleemosynary institution through- 
 out our country of all those great charities founded by the piety of 
 our ancestors to alleviate human misery, and scatter blessings along 
 the pathway of life. It is more. It is, in some sense, the case of 
 every man among us who has property of which he may be stripped ; 
 for the question is simply this: shall our State Legislatures be al- 
 lowed to take that which is not their own, to turn it from its original 
 use, and apply it to such ends or purposes as they, hi their discretion, 
 shall see fit ? Sir, you may destroy this little institution ; it is weak ; 
 it is in your hands ! I know it is one of the lesser lights in the liter- 
 ary horizon of our country. You may put it out. But if you do so, 
 you must carry through your work. You must extinguish, one after 
 another, all those great lights of science which, for more than a cen- 
 tury, have thrown their radiance over our land. 
 
 " It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet, there are those 
 who love it ." 
 
 Here the feelings which he had thus far succeeded in keeping down, 
 
110 THE POWER OF 
 
 Words of tenderness. Emotion of the judges. Scene for a painter. 
 
 and even that grave bench of judges, moved with 
 the strongest emotions, and eyes suffused with tears. 
 It was my lot to have heard Mr. Webster but once. 
 
 broke forth. His lips quivered ; his firm cheeks trembled with emo- 
 tion ; his eyes were filled with tears ; his voice choked, and he seemed 
 struggling to the utmost, simply to gain that mastery over himselr 
 which might save him from an unmanly burst of feeling. I will not 
 attempt to give you the few broken words of tenderness in which he 
 went on to speak of his attachment to the college. The whole 
 seemed to be mingled throughout with the recollections of father, 
 mother, brother, and all the trials and privations through which he 
 had made his way into life. Every one saw that it was wholly un- 
 premeditated, a pressure on his heart, which sought relief in words 
 and tears. The court-room, during these two or three minutes, pre- 
 sented an extraordinary spectacle. Chief Justice Marshall, with his 
 tall, gaunt figure, bent over as if to catch the slightest whisper, the 
 deep furrows of his cheek expanded with emotion, and eyes suffused 
 with tears ; Mr. Justice Washington at his side, with his small and 
 emaciated frame, and countenance more like marble than I ever saw 
 on any other human being leaning forward with an eager, troubled 
 look ; and the remainder of the court, at the two extremities, pressing, 
 as it were, towards a single point, while the audience below wero 
 wrapping themselves round in closer folds beneath the bench to catch 
 each look, and every movement of the speaker's face. If a painter 
 could give. us the scene on canvas those forms and countenances, 
 and Daniel Webster as he then stood in the midst, it would be one of 
 the most touching pictures in the history of eloquence. One thing it 
 taught me, that the pathetic depends not merely on the words uttered, 
 but still more on the estimate we put upon him who utters them. 
 There was not one among the strong-minded men of that assembly 
 who could think it unmanly to weep, when he saw, standing before 
 him, the man who had made such an argument melted into the 
 tenderness of a child. 
 
 Mr. Webster had now recovered his composure, and fixing his 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. Ill 
 
 Alma Mater. Personal recollection of Mr. "Webster. 
 
 He had been secured by a " Library Association" to 
 deliver an address. The occasion was one of simply 
 ordinary interest the usual weekly lecture. But 
 long before the time announced, the spacious hall 
 was filled to overflowing. I was so fortunate as 
 to secure a favorable seat, and waited patiently for 
 hours that I might fully satisfy the desire of seeing 
 and hearing the American Cicero. At a few mo- 
 ments before eight o'clock the side door opened, and 
 a hale, well-formed man, something past the meridian 
 of life, advanced unattended to the platform, which 
 he mounted with a ready step, and advancing a few 
 paces, retaining a kid glove upon the left hand in 
 which he held his hat, he bowed gracefully to the 
 audience, and retired to a sofa. Daniel Webster was 
 before us ! The grace and noble bearing of the man 
 upon his entrance, which seemed to sit so easily 
 
 keen eye on the Chief Justice, said, in that deep tone with which he 
 sometimes thrilled the heart of an audience : " Sir, I know not how 
 others may feel," (glancing at the opponents of the college before him,) 
 " but, for myself, when I see my alma mater surrounded, like Caesar in 
 the senate-bouse, by those who are reiterating stab upon stab, I would 
 not, for this right hand, have her turn to me, and say, Et tu, quoque, 
 mi fili ! And tkov, too, my son /" He sat down. There was a death- 
 like stillness throughout the room for some moments; every one 
 seemed to be slowly recovering himself, and coming gradually back to 
 his ordinary range of thought and feeling. Choate's Eulogy on Daniel 
 Webster, page 35. Incident communicated by Dr. Chauncey A. Good- 
 rich. 
 
112 THE POWER OF 
 
 Emphatically a man. The Constitution. His voice. 
 
 upon him, produced a favorable impression. The 
 thought that came to my mind, as we were greeted 
 with the bow, was, that if a being from another world 
 were to come upon this earth and desire to see a 
 specimen of the race, here is the individual I would 
 present, in form in features in full-souled bear- 
 ing, so entirely a man. As he arose to speak, I could 
 observe him more minutely. His cheeks were ruddy, 
 his eye was clear and bright, his dress was simple but 
 tasteful a blue coat, a buff vest and black pants, 
 his usual dress for a public occasion. His hair, thin 
 and sprinkled with the frosts of age, was brushed 
 back as represented in the pictures. 
 
 His subject was the Constitution, that instrument 
 which he first read, when a boy, printed upon his 
 pocket handkerchief, and the theme which of all 
 others he most delighted to speak about. The dis- 
 course was entirely extempore, and was mainly de- 
 voted to a history of the formation of the Consti- 
 tution, and the opinions entertained of it by the 
 framers. There was nothing particularly striking or 
 original in the matter. Yet there were many facts 
 which he had learned from the mouths of the men 
 who took part in those grave deliberations, which 
 were deeply interesting, and at times held the au- 
 dience breathless. His voice was bold and majestic, 
 like the full-toned bell of some lofty tower. It was 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 113 
 
 Eulogy of Adams and Jefferson. " Sink or Swim." 
 
 the voice which could represent our race. But there 
 was something in that presence which no pen can 
 describe a majesty which we attach to kings and 
 emperors. Sometimes he faltered for an instant, and 
 when the precise word or thought would not come at 
 his bidding, that noble eye would invariably roll up 
 in the socket as if in search, and he would pass his 
 hand over his forehead as though to arouse it. His 
 countenance rarely changed lofty and majestic like 
 the fabled countenance of Jove in the halls of the 
 gods. Every feature was lit up with the brightness 
 of a great mind filled with generous thoughts. 
 
 Once only during the discourse a smile was seen 
 to play upon his countenance. The occasion of it 
 was this: in that part of his lecture in which he 
 alluded to Adams and Jefferson, he said that at their 
 death he had, at the request of his fellow-citizens, 
 delivered a eulogy ; and in that part which referred 
 to Mr. Adams. that he might inspire it with life, 
 
 "^. ' 
 
 he was desirous of introducing his speech on the 
 adoption of the Declaration of Independence. As 
 Congress sat in secret session at that time, and no 
 speeches were reported, the remarks of Mr. Adams 
 were lost. He accordingly composed and inserted in 
 the eulogy, what he thought Mr. Adams would be 
 likely to have said, beginning, " Sink or swim, live 
 or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration." 
 
114 THE POWER OF 
 
 Instrument of good as well as of evil. 
 
 Since the delivery of that eulosry, Mr. Webster said 
 that he had received, on an average, two letters a 
 month, from 1824 to the time he was speaking, in 
 1851, from persons in various parts of this country 
 and from Europe, asking where he found that speech 
 of Mr. Adams, stating that they had searched the 
 records and the archives of state, without being 
 able to discover any trace of it. 
 
 My impression from this personal reminiscence of 
 Mr. Webster, is, that our opinion of his eloquence is 
 greatly modified by our appreciation of his overshad- 
 owing mind. At all events, it is a matter of consola- 
 tion to have seen the man and to have heard his voice. 
 It is good to look upon the face of one in whom com- 
 manding talents have been united with majesty of 
 person, to behold grace and dignity where nature has 
 set them, and to come into immediate contact and sym- 
 pathy with one of the leading minds of the world. 
 
 Spoken thought is an instrument of great power. 
 Its influence is confined to no sphere of action, and 
 may be employed for purposes of evil as well as of 
 good. It may be made to minister to virtue and 
 happiness. It may be the instrument of wrong and 
 incalculable sorrow. In the hands of the licentious 
 villain, it may arouse in the breast of innocence the 
 worst passions of which our nature is susceptible. 
 From the lips of the earnest minister of the gospel, 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 115 
 
 In the science of government. 
 
 it may lift us up and transport us to the very gate of 
 heaven. 
 
 At the tribunal of justice it may turn the scale in 
 favor of wrong, trample upon the most sacred prin- 
 ciples of honor, and crush the very heart of inno- 
 cence ; or it may inspire the evil doer with terror, 
 and lead him in the way of virtue. It may paralyze 
 the rights of the poor injured victim of that heart- 
 less man who would take advantage of weakness 
 and ignorance ; or it may pour into the wounded 
 breast a balm, and convince mankind that there 
 still is faith on the earth, and that the spirit of jus- 
 tice has not yet taken her final flight. 
 
 In the science of government it may serve the 
 purpose of duplicity and personal selfishness ; or it 
 may inspire the breast with undying courage in the 
 defense of liberty and the rights of civil society. 
 The man in whose heart burns not one generous 
 aspiration for the public good, who would sell the 
 liberties of his country for his own personal aggran- 
 dizement, may go on from court-house to court- 
 house, from city to city, and from State to State, 
 pouring out as it were his very heart in burning 
 eloquence, and all that his particular friend may be 
 elected President, and he be appointed a member of 
 the cabinet, a minister to a foreign court, or the 
 governor of a territory. Or it may be in the hands 
 
116 THE POWER OF 
 
 The achievements of virtue. 
 
 of the disinterested, noble-minded patriot, the power 
 which sunders the bonds of the oppressed, which 
 lights the torch of civil liberty, which rouses in 
 a nation the spirit that has slept for centuries, 
 and makes the heart of the abused and long suffer- 
 ing serf to leap for gladness. With the philan- 
 thropist it vindicates the brotherhood of man. It 
 binds up the broken heart, and alleviates the sor- 
 rows and distresses of the unfortunate. 
 
 If there is any thing that can be achieved by fo- 
 rensic eloquence by the spirit of man, which can be 
 a source of pride in life, which can adorn the name 
 when he who bore it lies mouldering in the tomb, 
 it is the achievement of virtue. If a distinguished 
 orator makes a speech on a topic which concerns the 
 public interest, what is the judgment of mankind 
 concerning it? If he has appealed to the sense of 
 right and justice, if he has shown a clean heart and 
 a disinterested purpose, and moves with power upon 
 their feelings, he is honored and revered, and his 
 memory is sweet to them. But if he displays the 
 traces of a low, mean ambition, if he attempts by 
 smooth words to create an under current, which 
 shall some day carry him into some position of 
 emolument, the universal sense of mankind is to 
 damn and execrate him for it. The orator, and es- 
 pecially the political orator, is too often captivated 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 117 
 
 Eloquence among the Greeks. Their language. 
 
 by present honors and gratifications than the more 
 enduring fame ; is better pleased with a green exotic 
 than the fadeless laurel. 
 
 No state, either ancient or modern, ever yielded so 
 much to the power of eloquence as did the Greeks. 
 They lived in a tropical climate where warm and 
 quick passions are nurtured. Theirs was the land of 
 the orange and the olive a pure atmosphere and 
 balmy breezes. Their language, too, was the most 
 accurate, comprehensive, and beautiful that has ever 
 been invented by the ingenuity of man ; capable of 
 expressing the profound conceptions of Plato, the 
 most accurate and exact rules of Aristotle, the re- 
 sistless eloquence of Demosthenes, the playful fancies 
 of Anacreon, and the liquid strains of Pindar. The 
 art of printing among them was unknown ; the free- 
 dom ot speech was unbounded ; and the passion of the 
 people was to hear news, and witness theatrical per- 
 formances. No wonder that eloquence among them 
 had such unbounded sway. The Athenian assem- 
 blies were stormy and tumultuous, and Athenian 
 oratory was of a corresponding character. Laws 
 were made and public ordinances passed by the voice 
 of the whole people. It will be readily perceived 
 that such a deliberative body would be liable to 
 be deceived and duped by the artful and designing 
 demagogue, who possessed in an eminent degree the 
 
118 THE POWER OF 
 
 Themistocles successful. Aristides banished. 
 
 power of forensic eloquence. But what has been the 
 judgment of succeeding ages respecting Athenian 
 statesmen? The glory has not been awarded to him 
 who best succeeded, but to him who best deserved 
 success. The wrangling orator who sought for per- 
 sonal advancement, and opened unprovoked attacks 
 upon the wise and virtuous to secure their banish- 
 ment, has merited and received the scorn of all 
 succeeding times; while he who was firm in his 
 attachment to the prosperity of his country, and who 
 would rather submit to banishment or even death 
 than compromise its honor or his own veracity, has 
 always been held in grateful remembrance. The 
 demagogue may be successful for a time, and the 
 good man may suffer deep wrong. But these cir- 
 cumstances only make us more thoroughly despise 
 the former, and bind to our hearts more firmly the 
 latter. Themistocles was eminently successful. Yet 
 we never pronounce his name without thinking that 
 he was a deep, designing politician, who was ever 
 working to secure to himself some political end. But 
 Aristides will ever be loved and venerated; and 
 though he is banished from his country by the in- 
 trigues of Themistocles, and by those who were tired 
 of hearing him called "the just;" yet as he steps 
 upon the trireme that is to bear him away into ban- 
 ishment, he can drop a tear of pity for his enemies, 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 119 
 
 Kemark of Sir Joshua Eeynolds to Mr. Burke. 
 
 and offer a prayer to the gods for the protection and 
 prosperity of his native city, that city for whose 
 glory he had toiled so long and sacrificed so much. 
 
 When we see the blackness and perfidy that is 
 wrapped up in the breast of Catiline, who does not 
 tremble for the fate of Kome, and grow indignant 
 over the story of this heartless villain ? But will not 
 those noble sentiments that burst forth from the soul 
 of Cicero, make us better citizens and greater lovers 
 of country? admirers not more of the beauty, ele- 
 gance and resistless power of his eloquence, than the 
 courage and fearless honesty of his heart ? We scorn 
 those tribunes who flattered the people with the prom- 
 , ise of securing some rights for the public good, and 
 when power was firmly in their grasp turned a 
 haughty look upon the plebeians. But when we re- 
 member the honesty and devotion of Fabricius, and 
 the noble death of Cato, it is pleasant to -think that 
 such men have lived. 
 
 Sir Joshua Eeynolds once made the following re- 
 mark to Mr. Burke : " I do not mean to flatter you, 
 Mr Burke, but when posterity reads one of your 
 speeches in Parliament, it will be difficult to believe 
 you took so much pains, knowing with certainty, as 
 you did, that it could produce no effect, that not one 
 vote would be gained by it." " Waiving your com- 
 pliment to me," was the reply, " I shall say in general 
 
120 THE POWER OF 
 
 Confederated republic. Liberty of the orator. 
 
 that it is very well worth while for a man to take 
 pains to speak well in Parliament. And if a man 
 speaks well, he gradually establishes a certain repu- 
 tation and consequence in the general opinion, which 
 sooner or later will have its political rewards. Be- 
 sides, though not one vote is gained, a good speech 
 has its effect. The bill you oppose may pass into a 
 law, but it will be modified and softened by it." 
 
 This little fragment of personal remark opens to 
 our view the heart of the great statesman. We dis- 
 cover that principle in his character upon which he 
 was willing to stake his reputation. It was not the 
 rule of mere expediency, or party triumph, or per- 
 sonal advancement upon which he acted. But deep 
 and unyielding devotion to those principles which in 
 his judgment were right, a fixedness of purpose 
 which no circumstance could change, obedience to 
 conscientious conviction that no hope of reward could 
 alter, were the elements which gave luster to the char- 
 acter of him who is the pride of British statesmen and 
 civilians, and which will entwine about the name of 
 Burke in perennial beauty. 
 
 In some respects civil society among us is similar 
 to what it was among the Greeks. Ours is a confed- 
 erated republic, and with us, as with the Greeks, the 
 orator is at liberty to think what he pleases and speak 
 what he thinks. Successful oratory is in high repute. 
 
SPOKEN THOUGHT. 121 
 
 Our nation. Its destiny. 
 
 "We pay great deference to the man who affects and 
 moves us by the expression of his opinions. We are 
 therefore, like the Greeks, as a people, liable to be de- 
 ceived by him who has a false heart and a persuasive 
 tongue. In many respects the prospects before our 
 nation are flattering. It occupies the fairest portion 
 of this western continent. It is situated in the most 
 beautiful and productive region of the whole earth. 
 It has ample territory, and boundless resources. For 
 beauty and grandeur of scenery, salubrity of air, and 
 serenity of sky, it is not surpassed. Its people are of 
 that stock who are ever restless and unsatisfied. The 
 arts eminently flourish. Intellectual culture is duly 
 appreciated and patronized. But, alas for its fate 
 if wicked men are suffered to control its destiny I 
 Heaven grant that wisdom may direct, that virtue 
 may prevail 1 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 YOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 ACOEEECT and ready elocution can not be 
 overvalued in a system of education. Speech 
 is that one of our faculties which is in almost con- 
 stant use. From the artless prattle of infancy to 
 the last trembling accents of age, the voice rarely 
 remains long unused. If it be employed for the 
 purpose of public speaking, there is special need 
 of a happy and effective utterance. But even in 
 ordinary conversation it is pleasant to hear a mu- 
 sical voice equally removed from ignorant vulgar- 
 ity and studied affectation. It is exhilarating to feel 
 in the tone, the sentiments that glow in the mind 
 of him who addresses us. An easy elocution is 
 among the first of accomplishments, because it is 
 one which constantly shows. They who labor so 
 assiduously to maintain a claim to aristocracy in 
 manners and dress should not neglect this. 
 
 When we speak, it is our object to convey to the 
 minds of others the thoughts which we have in our 
 own minds. We may fail to effect this purpose, 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 123 
 
 Tone repulsive. True idea of reading. 
 
 either wholly or in part, from a defective or care- 
 less habit of utterance. We receive and retain the 
 thoughts of some persons, because of the pleasant 
 and striking style in which they are spoken, and we 
 forget what another has said before he has done 
 speaking, because his style of address is so repulsive 
 and bungling. If we gain the attention of the one 
 we address and his mind is in a receptive state, still 
 we may fail to make him feel the force of a thought 
 as we do, because we have not the faculty of throw- 
 ing it fully into the words we speak. "We have all 
 observed that there is music, a magic in some voices 
 that is charming and attractive, while others are 
 capable of blunting our perceptions and forcing us 
 to close our ears. 
 
 If we read aloud what another has written, the 
 task becomes more difficult ; for in addition to what 
 has been named above, we have to learn and ap- 
 preciate what was the idea of the author. Heading 
 consists in conveying to the minds of those who 
 listen, the thought as it originally existed in the 
 mind of him who wrote it. If we fail to understand 
 and fully appreciate the meaning of the piece as we 
 proceed, then we do not read, but simply call words 
 like the parrot. If we have a correct understanding 
 of it, but still fail to communicate it by the words 
 we use, then we do not read in the proper accep- 
 
124 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 Imitation. False habits. 
 
 tation of that term. The requisites for reading are 
 an appreciation of the thought of the author, and a 
 correct and effective elocution which enables us to 
 convey that thought to the hearer. 
 
 The first knowledge of the use of the voice we 
 acquire by imitation. The child, before it is old 
 enough to talk, will express its ideas by a correct 
 modulation. In youthful play and sport we rarely 
 hear an incorrect inflection, and if the example has 
 been good scarcely a principle of elocution will be 
 violated. But when the child learns its letters, and 
 then to combine those letters into words, it usually 
 fails to understand and appreciate the thought, and 
 consequently fails to communicate it. Beading, ac- 
 cording to the conception of the child, is a process of 
 calling words more or less rapidily, and stopping to 
 spell out only the more difficult ones. The habit is 
 formed of reading and speaking in a set, measured 
 tone, without any reference to the sense, and ob- 
 serving none of the principles of inflection and in- 
 tonation which were in infancy correctly learned. 
 As the boy grows up he often indulges in animated 
 and impassioned conversation, and by using lan- 
 guage rapidly and without care, the very bad prac- 
 tice is indulged of omitting many sounds, and of 
 obscuring others, and the habit is soon formed of 
 incorrect and imperfect articulation. 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 125 
 
 Object of elocution. Enunciation. 
 
 The object of vocal culture or elocution is to 
 break up false habits and to establish those which 
 are correct, and to arouse the emotional nature of 
 the reader to a just conception of the thought to be 
 communicated. It is not the province of this science 
 to create an emotional nature, but simply to awaken 
 and direct that which already exists. It can not 
 bestow on the voice any new elements of power ; 
 but it may give to those which we have a new vital 
 force by unburdening them of many false habits and 
 imparting skill in correct ones. 
 
 In a systematic course of vocal culture, it is neces- 
 sary to give attention, in the iirst place, to enuncia- 
 tion and pronunciation. It would be time lost to 
 attempt to cultivate expression before the elements 
 of expression have been corrected. A class in al- 
 most any academy or college, will illustrate the 
 variety of habits to which they have been accus- 
 tomed. A sentence of ten words may not be prop- 
 erly read by any one of them, and yet no two may 
 have made the same mistake. It requires on the 
 part of the teacher a quick and nice sense in detect- 
 ing errors, and the power of imitating them, that the 
 force of the criticism may be appreciated. It is only 
 by a thorough drill that errors of long standing can 
 be broken up, and that correct habits can be firmly 
 fixed. The omitting or obscuring the consonant E, 
 
126 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 The Scotch. Habit of the French. Pronunciation. 
 
 is one of the most common mistakes. The E should 
 not be made so prominent and trilled as it is by the 
 Scotch, but it should be full and distinct. It is an 
 extremely pleasant sound when correctly given. It 
 is one of the liquids, and adds much to the beauty 
 and melody of a sentence. The consonant S is an- 
 other of those letters that commonly receives very- 
 harsh usage. It has a soft, flute-like sound that is 
 very agreeable. But most public speakers, and al- 
 most every one in conversation, substitute for this, 
 a rough harsh one that tears the ear. The French 
 exercise the greatest care in uttering all their nice 
 and pleasant sounds, that they may produce by 
 means of them a favorable effect. But we as a 
 nation are unmindful of the rich treasury of the 
 nicest and most exquisite elements in which our 
 language abounds. 
 
 Pronunciation is not a matter which strictly per- 
 tains to vocal culture, and yet it can not be neglected. 
 The standard of pronunciation, is the usage of that 
 class of society the most refined by mental culture. 
 There are provincialisms, and the style of speaking 
 in different cities, which may prevail even in the best 
 cultivated circles. But local peculiarities should be 
 discarded. A dictionary is usually considered the 
 standard ; but it can not be authority unless it give 
 what is good usage. A dictionary based upon any 
 
VOCAL CULTUBE. 127 
 
 Tongues of many nations. Pitch rind inflection. 
 
 other plan than that of detailing present usage is 
 worthless. The lexicographer can not make laws for 
 language. But he must be the faithful chronicler of 
 the custom of our best speakers. That dictionary- 
 should therefore be used, which most strictly con- 
 forms to this principle. The slightest variation of 
 sounds from true pronunciation should be promptly 
 corrected, and pupils should be taught to distinguish 
 the errors to which they are liable with the nicest 
 perception of what is correct, so that they may soon 
 acquire the habit of watching with critical care every 
 sound that escapes their lips. The child inherits 
 many errors in pronunciation. Our population is so 
 heterogeneous, being made up of representatives from 
 almost every nation on the globe, that we not un- 
 frequently find in the same school a variety of pecu- 
 liarities traceable to the language of the people from 
 which the family has descended. The greatest care 
 on the part of the teacher is therefore needed. These 
 peculiarities are to be dispelled, and' the tongues of 
 all nations made to blend in harmonious English, or, 
 if you choose, American. 
 
 Pitch and inflection should next receive our at- 
 tention. The best place for a boy to learn these is 
 upon the play-ground. During a single intermission, 
 a company of lads will give expression to almost 
 every variety of pitch and inflection known to elo- 
 
128 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 Tones in the class. Night soliloquy in Venice. 
 
 cutionists. In the exuberance of youthful feeling, 
 and the contentions for their privileges and rights, 
 they have occasion to utter thoughts and emotions 
 of every shade and degree, 
 
 " From grave to gay, from lively to severe." 
 
 In general these intonations will be correct. The 
 feelings one cherishes, naturally prompt to a proper 
 expression of them. But those same boys, at the 
 call of the bell, will enter the school room and read 
 a lesson from their books in their " reading tone," 
 entirely different from that which they so appro- 
 priately used upon the play-ground. They observe 
 the pauses, and give inflections according to some 
 spelling-book rule, regardless of the sentiment to be 
 communicated and the emotions which it is intended 
 to awaken. They have an abundance of tones at 
 command when surrounded by their companions, but 
 when they have taken their places in the class, their 
 command of voice forsakes them, and they have only 
 one pitch for every variety of thought. There is 
 a monotonous tone, uninterrupted by any species 
 of modulation, which is characteristic of most youth 
 at some period, and which many never abandon. 
 Whether the sentiment be intended to awaken peace- 
 ful and gentle thoughts, like the words of Lioni in 
 the night soliloquy in Yenice : 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 129 
 
 Words of Brutus. Dialogue for practice. 
 
 "All is gentle: nought 
 Stirs rudely ; but congenial with the night, 
 Whatever walks, is gliding like a spirit ;" 
 
 or, bold and defiant as the language of Brutus, when 
 chafed by the testy spirit of his friend : 
 
 " Fret, till your proud heart break 
 Go show your slaves how choleric you are, 
 And make your bondmen tremble ;" 
 
 it is all read to the same pitch, and upon that same 
 unvarying tone. The spelling-book has made it his 
 duty to keep the voice up at a comma, and to let it 
 fall at a period, and to this he religiously adheres 
 through all the storms of passion, and the peace and 
 quiet of a summer evening and moonlight hours 
 through the wild shouts of "sentries' shriek," the 
 clang of arms and the torrent's roar, or the gentle rip- 
 pling of the brook and the soft sighing of the breeze. 
 To break up false habits and establish correct ones, 
 can most easily be accomplished by employing for 
 practice that species of composition which the pupils 
 are accustomed to use in conversation, and which 
 they naturally use correctly. If the scholar reads 
 with an unnatural and drawling tone, let the teacher 
 copy upon the blackboard a little fragment of talk 
 which he has overheard in passing the play-ground, 
 and let that be the lesson. By the reading of a fa- 
 miliar conversation, and giving the correct, the nat- 
 
 6* 
 
130 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 Advantages. Calling words, not reading. Rhetorical thought 
 
 tiral inflections and intonations, the identity of con- 
 versing and reading, of speaking and declaiming is 
 established. For this reason, dialogue, carefully and 
 correctly read, has great advantages over any other 
 kind of composition. It is not well for a class to 
 read continually in course. Those passages should 
 be selected which illustrate the particular branch of 
 elocution upon which instruction is being given. It 
 is a great mistake, which many of our teachers make, 
 in allowing their pupils to read on, piece after piece, 
 day after day, as the squirrel turns the wheel of his 
 cage, knowing no object or end, and only correcting 
 the words called wrong; as though the calling of 
 words were reading. A single passage thoroughly 
 understood and correctly practiced may be of more 
 service than carelessly calling the words of many 
 pages. For the reading of that exercise is a pattern 
 by which all others may be read of that class. A 
 few such passages cover the whole ground of what 
 is termed by elocutionists rhetorical thought, and he 
 who has once mastered these is in the proper way to 
 improvement. 
 
 We would not be understood by these remarks 
 to discard extensive practice. The calling of words 
 readily is the basis of good reading, and the pupil 
 needs much exercise in acquiring the habit. But if 
 he first understand the meaning of the words he 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 131 
 
 Final object of vocal culture. 
 
 calls, and enters fully into the spirit of the thought, 
 the way, instead of being barren and gloomy, is joy- 
 ous and delightful, cheered by the odors of flowers, 
 the music of the grove and the companionship of 
 nature, living and animated. A word whose mean- 
 ing he knows and whose force he appreciates, is 
 at once remembered, and is ever after hailed with 
 familiarity; whereas a word or phrase which he 
 fails to understand, is encountered a thousand times 
 with the same vacant stare. "We need reading 
 books so graded and suited to the wants of scholars, 
 that at every stage the pupil may have something 
 adapted to his capacity and capable of interesting 
 him. He can then appreciate the value of inton- 
 ation in communicating thought, can practice calling 
 words understandingly, and much time may be 
 saved. 
 
 The final object of vocal culture is to make our 
 reading and speaking effective. It may not make 
 every one equally impressive, but no one can doubt 
 that careful training improves the utterance of all. 
 The proper modulation of the voice, adapting it to the 
 sentiment and the emotions it is capable of awaken- 
 ing, and sustaining the tone with the proper degree 
 of force and energy, may be to a person a source of 
 very great power. The child, by a natural gift and 
 by imitation, may learn many pieces of music. Its 
 
132 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 Puerile performance. The minstrel. Value of culture to the singer. 
 
 performances may be touching and pathetic and "be 
 tolerably correct, yet the lack of systematic culture 
 in giving power and expression is at once detected, 
 and the singing is pronounced puerile. In reading, 
 as in music, it requires much practice to acquire 
 great skill. The minstrel made many a disgraceful 
 failure and discordant sound, and long 
 
 "Amid the strings his fingers strayed, 
 And an uncertain warbling made," 
 
 before the hand had caught the cunning of the art, 
 and 
 
 " In varying cadence, soft or strong, 
 He swept the sounding chords along." 
 
 What culture can do for the singer, it can also do 
 for the reader and the speaker. It requires many 
 lessons to teach a singer to open his mouth. He 
 must know the value of a full round volume of 
 voice, of loud and heavy strains, and of those which 
 are soft and light. He must with many tedious 
 strokes beat the air to right and left, and up and 
 down, and with exactness measure time. It is 
 equally necessary that the person who would read 
 well should learn the use of all these elements, for 
 it is these that give the speaker the command of 
 force and power. 
 
 The value of systematic culture to the singer is 
 now generally felt and appreciated. "We have mu- 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 133 
 
 Jenny Lind. Admiring multitudes. Elements of her success. 
 
 sical festivals and conventions, in which it is the busi- 
 ness of the conductor to train the voices of the mem- 
 bers in expression, to draw out those powers which 
 have never been reached by the ordinary course of 
 instruction. An impulse was given to the progress 
 of this noble science by the visit of Jenny Lind to 
 this country. The power which the human voice 
 may be made to exert upon the mind when duly 
 cultivated was admirably illustrated in her perform- 
 ances. Wherever she sang, crowds pressed to hear 
 her. Sums of money, which for almost any other 
 purpose would have been considered the height of 
 extravagance, were freely paid. Captivated by those 
 bewitching charms of voice which she displayed, 
 breathless thousands gazed and listened with delight. 
 Such wealth of variety, such melody of utterance, 
 such sweetness of tone, and the inimitable command 
 of the most delicate expression, is the rare attain- 
 ment of mortals. Her songs, at times mild as the 
 morning zephyr, playful as the twitter of the swal- 
 low, soft as the cooing of the dove, at others wild 
 and piercing as the shrieks which express the fancies 
 that revel in the wild girl's brain, summoned from 
 almost every city in our nation delighted and admir- 
 ing multitudes. 
 
 It is difficult to comprehend how it is possible for 
 a mortal spirit to exert such unbounded sway. The 
 
134 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 Her devotion. 
 
 secret will be found in the elaborate cultivation of 
 the faculties to which her early life was given. 
 Those melting tones did not burst spontaneous from 
 her lips. It was not instinctive utterance, like the 
 song of the young nightingale that for the first time 
 opes its tender throat. That capacity which she 
 possesses is the fruit of long hours of weariness 
 and toil. Practice and unceasing effort were the 
 elements of her success and enviable fame. While 
 her young companions threaded the streets, or dozed 
 upon their pillows, she was 
 
 " at her work and her stern hours." 
 
 Gifted by nature with a delicate ear, all those tones 
 unusually sweet, expressive and forcible, which had 
 pleased her youthful fancy, still lingered in her mind, 
 and when alone with her worn instruments of sound, 
 she varied, combined, and practiced them till the 
 pallor of her cheek spoke her devotion, and her 
 wasted energies cried for relaxation from intensity 
 of toil. With a diligence scarcely paralleled, she 
 pursued the vocation which she loved, till she drew 
 forth from that voice of unknown and unmeasured 
 power, her matchless songs 
 
 " In notes, with many a winding bout 
 Of linked sweetness long drawn out, 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 135 
 
 Hungary's exile. His stirring eloquence. 
 
 "With wanton heed and giddy cunning, 
 The melting voice through mazes running, 
 Untwisting all the chains that tie 
 The hidden soul of harmony." 
 
 The counterpart of the visit of Jenny Lind to 
 this country, was that of Hungary's unfortunate 
 exile. Both were eminent examples of the power 
 which the human voice is capable of displaying. 
 Song was the instrument of the one, eloquence of 
 the other. It was not the novelty of seeing and of 
 hearing a foreigner, or merely sympathy for him in 
 his misfortune, that drew crowds of our nation's 
 proudest sons about him. But it was the resistless 
 power of his eloquence that marshaling of words 
 into harmonious phrase which captivated the soul of 
 the hearer those bursts of passion for the rights 
 of the injured and the oppressed those withering 
 words of satire, and exclamations of reproach and 
 denunciation against the oppressor's wrong and the 
 "proud man's contumely," which, could they have 
 heard who had been guilty of grinding out with iron 
 heel the last life spark of his native land, would have 
 inspired the vain attempt to stifle the workings of 
 their coward consciences, and caused 
 
 " Their knotted and combined locks to part." 
 
 The young and the old, the grave and the gay 
 everywhere, who heard, universally feel and express 
 
136 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 An English grammar and a Shakspeare. 
 
 a satisfaction that it has been their fortune to have 
 listened to those miraculous displays of eloquence 
 which were exhibited by that unfortunate exile. His 
 progress through this country was a triumph, prouder 
 than that of a conqueror. It was a triumph of elo- 
 quence ! A triumph of one mind over many minds ! 
 A triumph of the tongue ! Nor was this the spon- 
 taneous and natural outburst of untutored, unbridled 
 genius. It was the fruit of long, lonely hours of 
 weariness and toil in the dungeons of his enemies. 
 In a cold prison house, in a damp cell, with no books 
 but an English grammar and a Shakspeare, he caught 
 the inspiring breath of eloquence. There he famil- 
 iarized himself with words of power and energy and 
 might. During those dark and dismal hours, he 
 gained the rudiments of the English tongue; and 
 those conceptions, endued with such pathos and sub- 
 limity as alone characterize the spirit of the great 
 English bard, and which were so congenial to his 
 own, were the "studies" of his repeated brilliant 
 efforts. 
 
 The objection is urged by some to any attempt at 
 vocal training, on the ground that it induces an arti- 
 ficial and affected style of speaking. The principles 
 of elocution are all discarded, and the rules for the 
 government of the voice, and the notation for its 
 guidance which are employed in many elementary 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 137 
 
 Objection to culture. Experience of Demosthenes. 
 
 reading books are wholly rejected. It is repulsive to 
 many to hear the word culture in connection with 
 that of oratory. It is more congenial to think of the 
 orator as a genius, to believe him, like the poet, 
 " born, not made." But such was not the experience 
 of Demosthenes, beyond comparison the greatest or- 
 ator of all ancient times. Without culture he was 
 awkward and unnatural in his manners when speak- 
 ing. He had the habit of throwing one shoulder 
 higher than the other. The features of his face were 
 distorted into unseemly grimaces. He stammered, and 
 his voice was small and feeble. It would seem dis- 
 heartening for a man with all these physical defects 
 to attempt to excel in eloquence. Yet by systematic 
 training, these seeming insurmountable obstacles* 
 
 * "When Demosthenes was about sixteen years of age his curiosity 
 was attracted by a trial in which Callistratus pleaded and won a cause 
 of considerable importance. The eloquence which procured and the 
 acclamations which followed his success, so inflamed the young Athe- 
 nian, that he determined to devote himself thenceforward to the 
 assiduous study of oratory. At the age of seventeen he appeared before 
 the public tribunals, and pronounced against his faithless guardians, 
 and against a debtor to his father's estate, five orations which were 
 crowned with complete success. These discourses, in all probability, 
 had received the finishing touches from Isseas, under whom Demos- 
 thenes continued to study for the space of four years after he had 
 reached bis majority. An opening so brilliantly successful, embold- 
 ened the young orator, as may well be supposed, to speak before the 
 people ; but when he made the attempt, his feeble and stammering 
 voice, his interrupted respiration, his ungraceful gestures, and his ill 
 
138 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 Physical defects. Overcome by culture. 
 
 were overcome, and he rose to the first place in elo- 
 quence. His industry in breaking up bad habits, 
 and in learning and cultivating correct ones, is such 
 
 arranged periods, brought upon him general ridicule. Returning home 
 in the utmost distress, he was reanimated by the kind aid of the actor 
 Satyrus, who, having requested Demosthenes to repeat some passage 
 from a dramatic poet, pronounced the same extract after him, with so 
 much correctness of enunciation and in a manner so true to nature, 
 that it appeared to the young orator to be quite another passage. Con- 
 vinced, thereupon, how much grace and persuasive power, a proper 
 enunciation and manner added to the best oration, he resolved to cor- 
 rect the deficiencies of his youth, and accomplished this with a zeal and 
 a perseverance which have passed into a proverb. How deeply he 
 commands our respect and admiration by his struggles to overcome 
 his natural infirmities, and remove the impressions produced by his first 
 appearance before his assembled countrymen ! He was not indebted 
 for the glory he acquired either to the bounty of nature or the favor 
 of circumstances, but to the inherent strength of his own unconquer- 
 able will. To free himself from stammering, he spoke with pebbles in 
 his mouth, a report resting on the authority of Demetrius Phalerius, 
 his contemporary. It also appeared that he was unable to articulate 
 clearly the letter R, but he vanquished that difficulty most perfectly ; 
 for Cicero, says, " exercitatione fecisse ut plenissime diceret." He 
 removed the distortion of features, which accompanied his utterance, 
 by watching the movements of his countenance in a mirror ; and a 
 naked sword was suspended over his left shoulder while ho was de- 
 claiming in private, to prevent its rising above the level of the right. 
 That his enunciation might be loud and full of emphasis, he frequently 
 ran up the steepest and most uneven walks, an exercise by which his 
 voice acquired both force and energy ; and on the sea shore, when the 
 waves were violently agitated, he declaimed aloud, to accustom him- 
 self to the noise and tumult of a public assembly. He constructed a 
 subterranean study, where he would often stay two or three months 
 together, shaving one side of his head, that, in case he should wish to 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 139 
 
 Copying Thucydides. Cultivation of manners. 
 
 as we always find associated with eminent success. 
 The idea, that great ability is independent of faithful 
 industry in accomplishing great results, is a relic of 
 superstition which the light of a wiser faith has not 
 wholly dissipated. The same argument, which is 
 brought against the cultivation of the voice, might 
 with equal propriety be urged against the cultivation 
 of manners. It being desirable that our children 
 should possess easy and natural habits of address, 
 we might expect by this process of reasoning, that 
 neglect would be the surest means of attaining this 
 end. The absurdity of such a conclusion becomes 
 apparent upon a moment's reflection. 
 
 go abroad, the shame of appearing in that condition might keep him 
 within. In this solitary retreat, by the light of his lamp, he copied 
 and recopied, ten times at least, the orations scattered throughout the 
 history of Th'ucydides, for the purpose of moulding his own style after 
 so pure a model Whatever may be the truth of these several reports, 
 Demosthenes got credit for the most indefatigable labor in the acquisi- 
 tion of his art. His enemies at a subsequent period of his career, at- 
 tempted to ridicule this extraordinary industry, by remarking that all 
 his arguments "smelt of the lamp," and they eagerly embraced the 
 opportunity of denying him the possession of natural talents. A ma- 
 licious opinion like this would easily find credit ; for, since it is ac- 
 knowledged on all hands, that all successful men who are naturally 
 dull must be industrious, the converse of the proposition grows into 
 repute, and it is inferred that all men who are industrious must be 
 dull. The accusation against Demosthenes seems to have rested 
 chiefly on his known reluctance to speak without preparation. An- 
 ikon's Article, Demosthenes. 
 
140 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 A rustic lad. Introduction to company. Ease the result of culture. 
 
 Transfer a rustic lad who has never seen much of 
 life and society, but the disorderly kitchen scenes in 
 a log cabin, and whose most familiar acquaintance 
 extends only to his implements of husbandry, dressed 
 in his best sheep's-grey, to a nice drawing-room 
 where cultivated society is assembled, and the trepi- 
 dation which he evinces and the awkwardness which 
 characterizes every movement, show in his entire de- 
 portment and in every feature of his countenance 
 the embarassment by which he is oppressed. His 
 face glows with confusion, his hands instinctively 
 seek the pockets, and his legs tremble and smite 
 against each other as though they too would seek 
 a place of concealment. In this picture we have 
 none of the effects of culture. Nothing is artificial. 
 It is the action of a spirit under the simple teachings 
 of nature. But how is it with the boy who has been 
 carefully instructed in the principles of good breed- 
 ing, and in the practice of the best society? His 
 deportment in company does not attract attention. 
 His manners seem to set easily upon him. If he is 
 introduced into a gentleman's drawing-room, he ad- 
 vances with an elastic step, and salutes the company 
 with modest grace. His manners are pronounced 
 easy and natural. But it is that kind of naturalness 
 which is acquired by care and culture. It is the ease 
 which flows from unremitting attention to the cor- 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 141 
 
 Sentiment of Pope. The athletse. National games. 
 
 rection of errors, and the improvement of habits 
 which nature has ungraciously imposed upon us. It 
 is that ease, which though originally the effect of 
 discipline, when it has once become habitual, has a 
 more natural appearance than any movement which 
 untutored nature can produce. The sentiment of 
 Pope, 
 
 "That ease in writing flows from art, not chance," 
 
 is equally true of manners, and of every accomplish- 
 ment which we esteem. 
 
 The same principles are applicable to vocal cul- 
 ture. That ease and naturalness of expression which 
 we so much admire in eloquence and in common 
 conversation, is usually the result of careful culture, 
 and that which seems the artless flow of language is 
 itself the result of art. Our physical natures are 
 subject to the same laws. Culture produces power. 
 The athletae, who contended for the prize in the 
 great national games of Greece, understood its value 
 and gave their lives to preparation. And he who 
 engaged in the contests, soon learned that it was the 
 boxer who had acquired most skill, and not the one 
 who had the most brute force, who could deal the 
 blow with the greatest effect. Every fact and every 
 analogy teach us that culture of the voice, study 
 ' of correct habits, admiration of the best models, and 
 
142 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 Feel the spirit of what we utter. 
 
 persistence in practice, will be rewarded with their 
 legitimate fruits. Demosthenes by the sea shore, 
 with the pebbles in his mouth, or clambering up 
 the steep of some beetling cliff, or by his lonely 
 lamp in his secluded cell, are world-renowned ex- 
 amples of devotion to eloquence, which will ever be 
 connected with the merited success of that immortal 
 orator. 
 
 In a piece which embraces many of the principles 
 of rhetorical reading, there is special necessity of 
 being able to enter into the spirit of it. It is im- 
 possible for us to read properly and with effect, that 
 which we do not understand. There is no culture 
 of the voice that can be of any avail, until we fully 
 appreciate this principle. It has been observed, in 
 the early part of this lecture, that reading or delivery 
 consisted in communicating by the tones of the voice 
 the thought as it was conceived by the author. The 
 first object then to be accomplished is to become 
 fully imbued with the thought and spirit of the 
 writer. The voice at once indicates whether we feel 
 intensely or not. An audience readily detect if we 
 earnestly mean what we say. If then the voice so 
 readily betrays the state of the feelings, it is of im- 
 portance, in order to make it effective, that we study 
 to place ourselves in the position of the writer. 
 When we properly appreciate the opinions we utter, 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 143 
 
 First three requisites of oratory. Delivery. Fielding. 
 
 it inspires the whole person, and makes every look 
 and feature speak for us. Demosthenes felt the 
 force of this truth, for when asked what in his opin- 
 ion was the first requisite in oratory, he replied de- 
 livery. And when asked what were the second and 
 the third requisites, he made the same answer. 
 "Without doubt one of the principal elements of his 
 success was his ability to enter fully into the spirit of 
 what he said, of feeling with all the intensity of his 
 nature those thoughts which he meditated with such 
 elaborate care. 
 
 In this, probably, consisted the great power of Mr. 
 Garrick. It is safe to say that he never made an 
 audience intensely feel that which he did not first in- 
 tensely feel himself. Tragedy is the highest order 
 of rhetorical reading, and no person can properly 
 read or speak it, till he feels the passions that fired 
 the bosoms of the persons represented. Fielding, 
 that faithful delineator of character, has aptly repre- 
 sented the effect of Mr. Garrick' s speaking upon the 
 common mind, in that passage in his " Tom Jones" 
 in which Jones and Mrs. Miller are represented as 
 taking Partridge, a young man from the country, to 
 hear Garrick in the character of Hamlet. 
 
 " Partridge gave that character to Mr. Garrick 
 which he had denied to Jones, and fell into so vio- 
 lent a trembling that his knees knocked against each 
 
 >^^^3^5s 
 Kur^vt THI*^ 
 
 [inriVBEsiTr 
 
144 VOCAL CULTUKE. 
 
 Tom Jones and Mrs. Miller. Partridge at the theater. 
 
 other. Jones asked Mm what was the matter, and 
 whether he was afraid of the warrior upon the stage. 
 'O, la, sir,' said he, 'I perceive now it is what you 
 told me. I am not afraid of any thing, for I know it 
 is but a play ; and if it was really a ghost, it could 
 do one no harm, at such a distance and in so much 
 company ; and yet, if I was frightened, I am not the 
 only person.' : Why, who,' cries Jones, ' dost thou 
 take to be such a coward here, besides thyself?' 
 t Nay, an you may call me coward, if you will ; but 
 if that little man there, upon the stage, is not fright- 
 ened, I never saw any man frightened in my life.' . . . 
 Partridge sat with his eyes partly fixed on the ghost, 
 and partly on Hamlet, and with his mouth open; 
 the same passions that succeeded each other in Ham- 
 let, succeeded likewise in him. 
 
 " At the conclusion of the scene, Partridge says to 
 Jones, ' It is natural to be surprised at such things, 
 though I know there is nothing in them ; not that it 
 was the ghost that surprised me neither ; but when 
 I saw the little man so frightened himself, it was that 
 which took hold of me.' ' And dost thou imagine, 
 then,' cries Jones, 'that he was really frightened?' 
 'Nay, sir,' said Partridge, 'did not you yourself ob- 
 serve afterwards, when he found it was his own fath- 
 er's spirit, how his fear forsook him by degrees, 
 and he was struck dumb with sorrow, as it were, 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 145 
 
 His opinion of an actor. 
 
 just as I should have been, had it been my own 
 case.' 
 
 " Little more worth remembering occurred during 
 the play, at the end of which, Jones asked him 
 which of the players he liked best. To this, he an- 
 swered, with some appearance of indignation, ' The 
 king, without doubt.' ' Indeed!' answered Mrs. Mil- 
 ler, ' you are not of the same opinion as the town ; 
 for they are all agreed that Hamlet is acted by the 
 best player that was ever on the stage.' 'He the 
 best player !' cries Partridge, with a contemptuous 
 sneer ; * why, I could act as well as he myself. I am 
 sure if I had seen a ghost, I should have looked in 
 the very same manner, and done just as he did. 
 And then, to be sure, in that scene, as you called it, 
 between him and his mother, where you told me he 
 acted so fine, why, Lord help me, any man that is, 
 any good man, that had such a mother, would have 
 done exactly the same. I know you are only jok- 
 ing, madam ; though I never was at a play in Lon- 
 don, yet I have seen acting before, in the country ; 
 and the king for my money ; he speaks all his words 
 distinctly, and half as loud again as the other. Any- 
 body may see he is an actor.' " 
 
 In this excellent representation of character, is seen, 
 the effect produced upon the ingenuous mind, by one 
 who successfully enters into the spirit of what he says ; 
 
146 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 The speaking of Garrick. Partridge as a critic. 
 
 who exhibits the same feeling and passion which 
 would be produced upon one who should meet in 
 real life what he experiences in the play. In this 
 art, Garrick preeminently excelled. In his speaking, 
 we see the effect of personating with fidelity the 
 character which he represents. His words, the tones 
 of his voice in harmony with the look, the features, 
 the whole person, speak to us, and we are made 
 to feel all the emotions that succeed each other in 
 his mind, as the great poet himself first conceived 
 them. Partridge, in the simplicity of his unsophis- 
 ticated nature, is unable to keep up the distinction 
 between fiction and reality. He trembles when he 
 sees the little man upon the stage tremble. Like the 
 child who weeps and sobs over the story of the Chil- 
 dren in the Wood, he is moved with sorrow, as 
 though the play were a passage in real life. For this 
 reason, his judgment of the relative merits of the 
 speakers is false. To his simple and untutored feel- 
 ings, the performer who acts as though every thing 
 in the scene were real, seems to him to show no skill 
 or art, and exhibits no special excellence deserving 
 of praise ; but only speaks just as any one would 
 speak who is afraid, or pleased, or angry. But the 
 mouthing performer who personates the king, and 
 speaks his words half as loud again as the others, 
 and is the person whom we never meet in life, is to 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 147 
 
 SkilL Masterpieces of eloquence. 
 
 him the great actor. The agitation and trembling of 
 Partridge are a lasting tribute to the eloquence and 
 power of Mr. Garrick ; but his criticisms must ever 
 excite merriment for their simplicity. 
 
 We learn from this illustration, that to enter into 
 the spirit of what we say ? requires no seeming effort, 
 but, on the contrary, the greatest ease. If culture 
 of the voice induces a style like that displayed by 
 the performer of the king's part, it can not be too 
 much despised and discarded. To one who has not 
 a mind capable of understanding the thought and 
 feeling of an author, vocal training may produce 
 this effect. The culture which we have advocated is 
 not the universal panacea for imperfect delivery. It 
 only operates favorably upon those who have souls 
 to appreciate feeling and beauty. If it be made to 
 serve as the curb to our passions, if it enables us 
 to bring the voice, with all its energy and power, un- 
 der complete control of a correct taste, if it yield us 
 that fruit which is denominated skill, then it deserves 
 our highest commendation. 
 
 It should be the aim in all our practice, to secure 
 ease and simplicity in the style of speaking. Some 
 of the greatest efforts of human genius, which are 
 looked upon as masterpieces of eloquence, are con- 
 ceived in the plainest style. Perhaps history fur- 
 nishes no better example of the truth of this princi- 
 
148 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 The death of Caesar. The bloody mantle. 
 
 pie, than is presented by the poet in the funeral ora- 
 tion of Antony over the corpse of Caesar. All Eome 
 was in commotion. Caesar had been stabbed, while 
 sitting upon his throne in the senate-house in the 
 presence of that august assembly, a Eoman Senate. 
 All business was stopped. The people were filled 
 with consternation and horror at the perpetration of 
 the bloody deed. Under these circumstances, An- 
 tony, the friend of Caesar, carries the dead body, j ust 
 as the conspirators had left it, to the forum, and in 
 presence of a vast concourse of the people speaks in 
 his funeral. He recounts the martial deeds of Caesar, 
 and what he has done for the greatness and the glory 
 of Eome ; and when he tells them of the love they 
 once bore to Caesar, his heart swells and chokes his 
 utterance. He descends from the pulpit; raises up 
 the dead body of his friend ; shows them the rents 
 in the bloody mantle ; and tells them of the first time 
 ever Caesar put it on. It was a summer's evening 
 in his tent, after that bloody day on which he had 
 gained one of those signal victories which were the 
 glory and the pride of Eome. He tears aside the 
 bloody mantle and 
 
 " Shows them sweet Caesar's wounds, poor, poor, dumb mouths, 
 And bids them speak for him." 
 
 He tells them of the will of Caesar, and how he had 
 
VOCAL CULTUBE. 149 
 
 Orchards on the banks of Tiber. Antony's success. 
 
 remembered the poor people and given them all his 
 private walks and arbors, and new planted orchards 
 on the banks of Tiber. 
 
 The effort is successful. The effect is overwhelm- 
 ing. The populace had come rejoicing at the murder 
 of Caesar ; they go away bearing his corpse in triumph 
 and swearing revenge and death upon the heads of 
 the conspirators. They came burning with hatred 
 and indignation at the very name of Caesar ; they 
 go awav with such love and reverence for him, 
 
 " That they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds, 
 And dip their napkins in his sacred blood ; 
 Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, 
 And dying, mention it in their wills." 
 
 The elements of his success are apparent. Those 
 qualities which* have been presented are the basis of 
 its merit. This passage in Shakspeare has always 
 been admired as a choice specimen of eloquence on 
 account of its homely simplicity. The topics are so 
 artfully managed and so aptly chosen, that it seems 
 to be the spontaneous, unpremeditated expression of 
 his feelings. It is perfectly natural, and seems to be 
 just what we ourselves would have said under those 
 circumstances. And yet it is that kind of natural- 
 ness that is the result of art. It is that facility and 
 ease, apparently unattended by effort, which we de- 
 
150 VOCAL CULTUEE. 
 
 Topics aptly chosen. Simplicity. 
 
 nominate skill. It is characterized in all its parts by 
 the utmost simplicity. The speaker keeps himself 
 entirely out of sight of his hearers. They are not 
 aware that he is the agent that moves their feelings. 
 Like the glass that brings the star near to us, we are 
 unconscious of its presence in our eagerness to view 
 the object. He declares, and they believe it, 
 
 " I am no orator as Brutus is j 
 But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man 
 That love my friend ; 
 
 For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, 
 Action nor utterance, nor the power of speech 
 To stir men's blood ; I only speak right on, 
 And tell you that which you yourselves do know." 
 
 But in that very seeming simplicity of style, and that 
 ease and naturalness in the choice of topics, he steals 
 away their hearts, and leads them captive wheresoe'er 
 he will. He rouses their passions, he nerves them to 
 revenge, 
 
 " ^ and puts a tongue 
 In every wound of Caesar, that would move 
 The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny." 
 
 In writing and in manners, the simplicity upon 
 which we have dwelt is that quality that is last de- 
 veloped. The young composer acquires every other 
 element known to rhetoricians before he learns that 
 most important one of all, to use simple language in 
 
VOCAL CULTURE. 151 
 
 Culture of the style, the manners, and the voice. The gift of speech. 
 
 simple style. The youth who begins to move in 
 company, makes many mortifying failures before he 
 learns the golden mean between stiff and awkward 
 manners, the result of diffidence, and that over-much 
 politeness which characterizes the egotistic and self- 
 satisfied spirit. So in the education of the voice. 
 This simplicity and plainness of utterance which 
 is always found in our most successful speakers, 
 is the last grace of speech to be acquired. 
 
 The elements which we have now noticed, are the 
 ones to which careful attention should be given in a 
 systematic training of the voice. Speech is among 
 the noblest of the gifts which Heaven has been 
 pleased to bestow upon man; and it was not be- 
 stowed, as a wily diplomatist has observed, to con- 
 ceal our thoughts, but to enable us to hold ingenu- 
 ous and delightful communion with each other. It 
 is that gift which distinguishes man from all other 
 created beings, and enables him to fill up the meas- 
 ure of existence with sociality, and thus diversify 
 and gladden its otherwise unendurable monotony. 
 
 The limit to the improvement of the voice, like 
 that of the mind itself, is indefinite. It is an instru- 
 ment of great power and compass, capable of excit- 
 ing the most intense grief and ungovernable joy ; of 
 electrifying a people with patriotic enthusiasm, and 
 of paralyzing the heart with appalling fear ; of 
 
152 VOCAL CULTURE. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 touching, as with an unseen hand, sympathies for the 
 sorrowing and pity for distress, and moving the ten- 
 derest feelings of maternal love. 
 
 It is the duty of every one to give the voice the 
 most careful training. It is a shame for a man to 
 possess a gift so inestimable, and not be able, on ac- 
 count of a defect in early education, to use it with 
 taste and propriety. Its culture should form a prom- 
 inent part in the instruction imparted in all our schools. 
 It should be constantly subjected during youth to 
 that exercise which will strengthen it, and should 
 not be left to neglect even to the latest years of life. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 THE STUDY OF LANGUAGE. 
 
 DUKINGr the latter part of the last century, a club 
 of literary gentlemen in London were accus- 
 tomed weekly to sup together. From my earliest 
 reading, I have always been attracted by the charms 
 which seemed to cluster about it. They were brought 
 together because their tastes and their attainments 
 were congenial. Their learning and discrimination 
 were so far superior to the society which they en- 
 countered in the daily walks of the world, that it 
 was cheering to meet with mutual appreciation and 
 sympathy. They met for a social interchange of opin- 
 ions. They cast, as into a common treasury, the cu- 
 riosities of literature which they had chanced to pick 
 up in their daily reading. They discussed the mer- 
 its of authors. They talked of current events, and 
 criticised with unrestrained freedom the measures of 
 parties. They read to each other fragments of those 
 literary productions upon which they chanced to be 
 engaged, and commented upon their beauties and de- 
 fects. Sometimes the party was convulsed with mer- 
 7* 
 
154 THE STUDY 
 
 Literary club in London. Leading peculiarity. Patterns of English style. 
 
 riment, at others it was wrapped in the most pro- 
 found attention, as they discoursed of the principles 
 of morality, and those sublime truths which exalted 
 intellects have searched out. The hours were agree- 
 ably varied by the light artillery of wit, and humor, 
 and satire, and anon by the heavy ordnance of rea- 
 son and solid argumentation. The members of that 
 club were men of rare ability. Their writings 
 have made and will keep the literature of England 
 respectable throughout the world in all coming 
 time. 
 
 The leading peculiarity, the crowning excellence 
 of this school of literary men, was their great skill 
 in the use of language. It is true, they had won dis- 
 tinction in their specialties. Every Englishman will 
 point with pride to Burke, as the first of English or- 
 ators. Johnson is the moralist and the lexicographer. 
 Goldsmith is the pleasant bard ; Keynolds the painter, 
 and Garrick the actor. They are not, however, in 
 these departments, preeminently models ; but when 
 we select for patterns of purity and elegance of 
 English style, we unhesitatingly produce the genial 
 writings of Goldsmith, the finished periods of John- 
 son, and the magnificent speeches of Burke. 
 
 For eminence in conversational power, for social 
 entertainment, for enlightened opinions in the vari- 
 ous departments of high art, that club has never 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 155 
 
 Excelled in language. Present tendency. 
 
 been surpassed or equaled. Among its members, 
 the acknowledged head was Dr. Johnson. Though 
 mingling in social intercourse as equals, he acted 
 the monarch. "When he essayed to speak, all other 
 tongues were silent, and while he had aught to say, 
 no other entertainment was desired. This superiority 
 was not due to him preeminently for the soundness 
 of his opinions ; for his notions were often eccentric, 
 and his unconquerable prejudices frequently allured 
 him into false positions. But his strength was in his 
 great skill in the use of language. The art in which 
 he excelled all others, and by which he inspired his 
 friends and admirers with respect and reverence, was 
 in his power of expression. It enabled him to in- 
 vest his thoughts with unusual interest. There was 
 a loftiness and a nobility in his style of conversation, 
 which his companions could not assume. All his 
 thoughts were marked with that peculiar charm 
 which the great master painters, by a rare combi- 
 nation of colors, give to their pictures. 
 
 The importance of the gift of language, and the 
 necessity of its study and cultivation, are frequently 
 underrated. In the modern systems of education, 
 the attempt is made to treasure up vast stores of 
 knowledge, and to fathom the intricacies of the 
 abstruse sciences at the expense of the study of lan- 
 guage. Since the results of the recent researches in 
 
156 THE STUDY 
 
 To think. To express our thoughts. 
 
 the natural sciences have been published to the 
 world, and the unparalleled progress of the arts has 
 caused increasing demands for knowledge in prac- 
 tical mechanics and civil engineering, the study of 
 language has fallen into the background; and the 
 use of the ancient languages as a part of a system 
 of academic culture, which has had the countenance 
 and approval of a long line of generations, is now 
 scouted by many, as a barbarous relic of a bygone 
 age. 
 
 The comparative importance of the study of lan- 
 guage may be inferred from our wants as intelligent 
 and communicative beings. There are two general 
 purposes of education to teach us to think, and to 
 express our thoughts. The former is the basis ; for 
 if we use language without thought, we either speak 
 well by accident, or we speak foolishly and bring 
 shame upon ourselves by the use of the gift. The 
 latter is equally essential, practically considered ; for 
 although we might learn facts and be able to con- 
 struct arguments, we could not make use of them in- 
 telligibly beyond the narrow limits of our own minds. 
 The cattle upon the hills may be burdened with 
 many ponderous thoughts, but no one knows of 
 them. 
 
 A successful system of education ministers to our 
 wants in both these essentials. The study of the 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 157 
 
 Objects of inquiry in the natural sciences. Mathematics and logic. 
 
 natural sciences acquaints us with facts. They give 
 us knowledge of objects by which we are immedi- 
 ately surrounded in nature, and with which we have 
 constantly to do in life. Much that is curious and 
 wonderful in the designs of the Creator is brought 
 to light through the disclosures which they make to 
 us. We learn that the air we breathe is composed 
 according to the nicest system of weight and meas- 
 ure ; that its capacity for moisture, for heat and cold, 
 and the more subtle fluids, is subject to fixed and in- 
 variable laws; that the fauna and flora upon the 
 surface of the earth," are distributed through the dif- 
 ferent parallels of latitude, and the low and high ele- 
 vations of the same latitude, upon the law of adap- 
 tation ; that there is a correspondence in structure 
 between the paw of the lion, the fin of the whale, 
 the wing of the bird, and the hand of man. Nothing 
 can be more useful or interesting to the human mind 
 than such facts as these. They afford us fruitful 
 materials for thought and contemplation. "We may 
 conceive of a human being using no other or higher 
 powers of mind than those necessary for investigat- 
 ing and recording facts, for noting and observing 
 such truths as these we have mentioned, and satis- 
 fied with these acquirements. 
 
 If we advance a step further, we come to the math- 
 ematics and logic, the latter comprising the theory, 
 
158 THE STUDY 
 
 Dr. Johnson. 
 
 and the former the practice of the same art. By 
 these we are taught to use the reasoning faculties in 
 passing from the known to the unknown. I have 
 said that the natural sciences acquaint us with 
 facts. The mathematics make us familiar with the 
 process by which we pass from these facts to other 
 and new knowledge. "When to the faculty of search- 
 ing facts, arranging them, and treasuring them as 
 data, we add the power of syllogistic reasoning, we 
 greatly enlarge the power and capability of the mind, 
 and indefinitely extend the field of its operations. 
 
 But if the education to which we trust for the 
 formation of our intellectual characters stop here, we 
 perceive that it would be decidedly defective. A 
 man may acquaint himself with all that has been 
 observed in nature, or constructed in art ; he may go 
 back in the history of the world to the period of fog 
 and vapor, and come on up through the slime and 
 mud of the ages ; he may be thoroughly skilled in 
 all the processes of reasoning, and be familiar with 
 the progress of philosophy and the history of opin- 
 ions ; and yet he may be unable to express the re- 
 sults of his studies with such taste, precision, and ac- 
 curacy as to commend them to the minds of schol- 
 ars. Dr. Johnson had no better judgment or more 
 sound sense than many men of his own or succeed- 
 ing generations ; but his thoughts are embalmed in 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 159 
 
 Preponderance of the sciences. The Smithsonian Institution. 
 
 the English language, because the style in which he 
 has expressed them has met with almost universal 
 commendation. 
 
 Hence we conclude that no system of education is 
 complete, which does not provide for the successful 
 cultivation of language. There seems to be a tend- 
 ency in arranging the courses of study in our insti- 
 tutions of learning, towards too great a preponder- 
 ance of branches in physical inquiry, which are 
 dignified by the name of sciences, but which are as 
 yet vague and ill-defined. This remark is by no 
 means intended to discredit the ardor of research in 
 this direction, but to question the propriety of mak- 
 ing these inquiries in their crude state the subjects 
 for a course of mental discipline. A single illustra- 
 tion will show the progress of this tendency. Of the 
 patronage which has been bestowed by the Smith- 
 sonian Institution "for the diffusion of knowledge 
 among men," no considerable portion has ever been 
 given for investigation in any other department of 
 knowledge than the natural sciences. The whole 
 management of the institution has been under the 
 control of men who make these sciences their spe- 
 cialty. The memoirs of the several competitors have 
 been disposed of upon this principle, and the public 
 have received, as the yearly contributions of this 
 mammoth institution for the "diffusion of knowl- 
 
160 THE STUDY 
 
 Meager result. Languages excluded. 
 
 edge among men," a single volume of indifferently 
 written matter upon the shell-fish of some desert 
 shore, or upon the language of a decaying tribe of 
 Indians that has no literature, and can have no prac- 
 tical value to anybody. The committees of award 
 have been selected with an eye to this department 
 alone, which would seem to preclude competition in 
 any other field of inquiry. If the books which the 
 Smithsonian Institution have published should stand 
 as an index of the progress of knowledge among 
 men for the last ten years, it would show progress in 
 only one direction, and a meager result at that. 
 
 The same spirit is manifested in many of our sem- 
 inaries of learning. The time formerly given to the 
 study of the languages has been shortened, or they 
 have been entirely discarded, and a number of new 
 branches in the natural sciences have been intro- 
 duced. This latter step may be correct, but the for- 
 mer is at least questionable. If in the progress of 
 knowledge new branches of study need to be em- 
 ployed, then let the time for completing the whole be 
 proportionately increased, instead of enlarging the 
 field of inquiry in one department at the expense of 
 another. 
 
 Language originates .in the necessities of our na- 
 ture. "We express our wants, we gratify desires by 
 means of it A national language is enlarged and 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 161 
 
 Grammar and Rhetoric. Dialectics of Aristotle. 
 
 perfected, as the wants of that nation become more- 
 numerous and the capacity for satisfying them is 
 increased. It rises to its greatest perfection and 
 beauty, where civilization has been carried to its 
 highest point, and the systems of mental culture 
 are most complete. 
 
 The branches of study which are most usually em- 
 ployed for the cultivation of language, are grammar, 
 rhetoric, and foreign languages, both ancient and 
 modern. Grammar and rhetoric belong to the same 
 class, and may be considered rather as passive than 
 as active agents in enabling us to give expression to 3/ 
 thought. They are not so much for the cultivation 
 of ease and volubility, as a means to test the accuracy^,, 
 of language. They are to the writer and the speak- 
 er what the square is to the joiner, the water-level 
 and the plumb are to the builder. We sometimes 
 meet with a man who speaks very grammatically 
 who never saw the inside of a grammar who com- 
 poses with purity and elegance, and reasons logically, 
 who knows nothing of the elements of style, of rhe- 
 torical tropes and figures who hardly knows the 
 meaning of logic, and never heard of the Dialectics 
 of Aristotle. This is possible, and yet he may be 
 guilty of gross blunders without knowing them to be 
 such, and without the knowledge to correct them. 
 The joiner may put work together without the 
 
162 THE STUDY 
 
 A tasteful sentence. A great parser. 
 
 square, and the builder may lay foundations without 
 ^. the level and the plumb ; but he has no means to 
 test the accuracy of his work. 
 
 On the other hand, we not unfrequently encounter 
 those who know a text-book in rhetoric from begin- 
 ning to end, and can describe every trope and figure 
 known, and yet can not construct a tasteful sentence. 
 This is doubtless true, and it points to a defect in the 
 manner in which these studies are taught. Pupils 
 have been made to repeat rules and formulae, without 
 having exercises in the practical use of them. They 
 have been taught to give the part of speech of each 
 word in the parsing lesson, the "government and 
 rule for it," without ever dreaming that all this is to 
 JL^ enable them to speak and write the English language 
 correctly ; and they would doubtless be unable to tell, 
 if the question were propounded, whether man was 
 made for grammar, or grammar for man. The great 
 object of many a youth is to get through the text- 
 book and into the Paradise Lost, and the height of 
 his ambition is to be able to rattle off the lingo of 
 what is termed a great parser. 
 
 There are two legitimate results of studying gram- 
 mar. It enables us in the first place to perceive the 
 elements of a sentence and their offices. It shows 
 us how to take to pieces the thoughts of the best 
 writers, and to discover the manner in which those 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 163 
 
 Analysis. Synthesis. Rhetoric. 
 
 sentences were made. It imparts a clear notion of 
 the different shades of idea which successive added 
 words and elements will give. We thus acquire a 
 nice discrimination in the use of language, and 
 thereby form the habit of expressing our thoughts 
 with accuracy and point. This part of grammar is 
 termed Analysis. It has been treated with a master 
 hand by Professor Green, in his " Analysis of the 
 English Language." It is indeed a philosophic work 
 and one of great merit. 
 
 The second result of this study is to enable us to 
 take those elements which we have found to exist in 
 a sentence, and to recompose them, and thus make 
 sentences for ourselves. It not only teaches us what 
 offices the several elements are designed to fill ; but 
 what offices our own ingenuity can make them fill. 
 Composition should be a much more frequent exer- 
 cise than parsing, and should be interspersed with it. 
 
 Taking sentences to pieces that have been well 
 written, and writing sentences well ourselves, should 
 be the chief business in the study of this science. 
 And the learner should be reminded by each recur- 
 ring lesson, that the object is to learn to speak and 
 write correctly, and that whatever does not conduce 
 to this result is of but little value. 
 
 Rhetoric should likewise be made a practical mat- 
 ter. We sometimes think we have done well for a 
 
164 THE STUDY 
 
 Monsieur Jourdain in the French comedy. 
 
 student when we make him recite the author used, 
 and understand all the qualities of style and the 
 figures of speech. But we are by no means sure 
 that this will enable him to make a correct writer. 
 He may have a very exact verbal knowledge of the 
 concise and the verbose, of looseness and strength, 
 of the comparison, the metaphor, the simile, synech- 
 doche, ontonomasia and onomatopeia, and yet he 
 may be entirely innocent of their use. If we were 
 to teach a printer's apprentice to become a ready and 
 skillful compositor, we would not tie his hands be- 
 hind him, and then lead him round and explain the 
 use of the various objects employed in the different 
 parts of the work the compositor's stick, the fonts 
 of type, with the lines and leads. For although he 
 might by this means understand what was necessary 
 to be done, yet he would be little better prepared to 
 execute a fine job of work than before our instruc- 
 tions commenced. But we would place the composi- 
 tor's stick in his hands, put him to the font of type, 
 and combine instruction with practice. When Mon- 
 sieur Jourdain, in the French comedy, is told that he 
 must bring his jaws very near together, and stretch 
 the corners of his mouth towards his ears whenever 
 he pronounced the vowel I. the direction "seemed 
 to the unsophisticated ignoramus like very profound 
 learning. But whether the pupil was enabled to 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 165 
 
 Teaching should be practical. 
 
 give utterance to the sound any better after lie had 
 heard that learned rule than before, we are not in- 
 formed. 
 
 It may with safety be asserted, that a large ma- 
 jority of those who study grammar do not reap the 
 proper, _the legitimate results. A person who learns 
 to recite all the definitions of terms in grammar to 
 repeat the rules for the government of words and 
 to parse fluently in some poem, may acquire thereby 
 some discipline of mind and habits of attention ; but 
 these are only the subsidiary results. How many of 
 those who study grammar improve in speaking and 
 writing the English language, in any tolerable pro- 
 portion to the time and effort expended, I submit to 
 the good judgment of practical teachers to decide. 
 The position which the study of grammar now occu- 
 pies in many of our schools, is not very unlike that 
 held by the steam engine in the early history of that 
 invention, when nearly all the power was expended 
 in moving the wheels and gearing necessary to its 
 own motion. Until we as teachers, can learn to in- 
 struct in the branches of grammar and rhetoric in 
 such a manner that our pupils can bring into prac- 
 tice what they learn, and shall have their energies, 
 directed to the great results which it is the design of 
 those noble sciences to accomplish, we signally fail. 
 
 The second means employed in our schools for 
 
166 THE STUDY 
 
 Foreign languages. Active agent. 
 
 improvement in speaking and writing, is the study 
 of foreign languages. In the remarks which. I am 
 about to submit on the comparative value of the 
 ancient languages, I shall not attempt to advocate 
 the study of them on the ground of ancient prestige 
 and renown; I shall take no advantage of the fact 
 that Milton and Pope, and Newton and Johnson, and 
 Burke and Macaulay, and Webster and Prescott, the 
 acknowledged leaders of their respective generations, 
 were all ripe classical scholars. No principle of aris- 
 tocracy should be brought to bear in keeping any 
 study in a system of education longer than the best 
 good of the pupil demands it. If the ancient lan- 
 guages can not hold their place among the studies 
 usually employed for acquiring a liberal culture, on 
 their own merits, then let them give way to those 
 which will better accomplish the purpose for which 
 they are designed. Let every thing pertaining to a 
 course of study rest upon this basis. 
 
 I have said that grammar and rhetoric were pas- 
 sive agents in enabling us to speak and write. These 
 furnish us with rules and definitions by which we 
 may determine whether our use of language be cor- 
 rect. The study of foreign languages, on the con- 
 trary, is an active agent, which exercises us in the 
 expression of our thoughts. It gives us power and 
 fluency in the use of words, and precision in the ar- 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 167 
 
 Mental process in translating. Active agent. 
 
 rangement of them. It is frequently impossible to 
 translate a sentence so as to make it into good pure 
 English, by giving the meaning of each word as 
 found in the vocabularies ; but we can readily per- 
 ceive what the meaning of the author was designed 
 to be ; hence our ingenuity is taxed to select from 
 our stock of words, those which will best express 
 the particular shades of idea which we find in the 
 original. We not unfrequently meet with a sen- 
 tence in a foreign language, where the idea is ap- 
 parent enough, but which gives us quite as much 
 difficulty to put into good English as to word an 
 original thought. For this reason, I choose to call it 
 an active agent in disciplining those faculties which 
 are employed for the expression of our ideas. It 
 affords us a rich experience in originating and 
 framing forms of expression, and in adapting the 
 words of our own language to choicest specimens 
 of thought. Hence the advantage of studying any 
 foreign tongue, is to enable us to use our own with 
 greater ease and accuracy. This is the great object 
 which should ever be kept in view ; the end for the 
 attainment of which our efforts should be directed. 
 This so far transcends all others that it may be con- 
 sidered the only real purpose for which any language 
 is studied. It is rare that a person studies a lan- 
 guage for the immediate purpose of conversation. 
 
168 THE STUDY 
 
 Modern language simple. Geometry. 
 
 Of the thousands who acquire the modern languages 
 in schools and colleges, the number is comparatively 
 small who ever speak them with tolerable propriety, 
 unless they mingle with those nations which use 
 them. The culture to be derived from the study 
 of a modern language is the same in kind as that 
 from an ancient, only differing in degree. The 
 former is more simple, the order of the words more 
 nearly resembles our own, and there are fewer 
 idioms in its construction. There is therefore less 
 difficulty in translating it. Our judgment is not so 
 much brought into exercise in selecting words, and 
 arranging them in our minds so as to express the 
 particular idea of the author we read, as in the 
 ancient. Hence the culture to be derived from its 
 study is less severe, and as a consequence less power- 
 ful and abiding in its influence upon our habits of. 
 expression. If none of the propositions in Geometry 
 were more difficult to prove than that the three an- 
 gles of a triangle are equal to two right angles, the 
 labor would be comparatively easy, and the mental 
 culture to be derived therefrom would be corre- 
 spondingly small. But if we want a higher order of 
 discipline, we must grapple with those which are less 
 elementary in their nature. If, therefore, a person 
 only wants a limited amount of culture in expressing 
 his thoughts, or has not the time and means for more 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 169 
 
 The French. Objection to languages. 
 
 extended studies, a modern language would, doubt- 
 less, be more serviceable than an ancient ; and it is 
 advisable for those who are intending to pursue the 
 ancient languages to begin with some modern ; espe- 
 cially for young persons and for ladies, The latter 
 being easier, will serve as a stepping-stone to the 
 more difficult. For this purpose there is probably 
 none better than the French. It has the merit of 
 precision and accuracy, and very much resembles in 
 this particular the Greek. But it is not necessary to 
 institute a comparison between the merits of the sev- 
 eral modern languages a subject rich in thought. 
 
 A perfect system of education, as has been already 
 observed, acquaints us with facts, with the processes 
 of reasoning, and with the use of language. If it 
 fails in either, it is defective. There is an objection 
 sometimes raised to the study of the languages, on 
 the plea that much time is wasted in the attempt to 
 learn them, which might be more profitably expended 
 upon other studies ; that innocent boys and girls are 
 kept repeating the declensions and conjugations 
 the hie, hcec, hoc, bam, bo, bus, j'ai, tu as, il a, when 
 the time might be employed upon studies more con- 
 genial and practical.* It is not difficult to excite 
 
 * The memory can be as well disciplined by treasuring up in its 
 garner names of substances and their relations, which will be of real 
 value in life, and without a knowledge of which, men and women 
 
 8 
 
170 THE STUDY 
 
 Every science has its nomenclature. 
 
 derision in the minds of the young and the unedu- 
 cated, by representing the ultimate end of the study 
 of the languages to be the learning and repeating 
 these senseless sounds. Upon the same principle, we 
 might excite equal derision in the minds of this class 
 by the cosines and abscissa in the Mathematics, by 
 the barbara, darii, ferio, baralipton, in Logic, or the 
 MollusJcs, Entomostraca, Tubulibranchiates, Gasteropods, 
 and Rhizopods in Zoology. Every science has its no- 
 menclature. There are terms like these in all, which 
 are constantly recurring, which sound like a bar- 
 barous jargon to those who know not their use. 
 They are employed merely for convenience, and con- 
 titute no real part of the study. In a language, 
 we do not look upon the declensions and conju- 
 gations as any part of the labor from which we 
 are to derive the great advantage of studying it. 
 They are the media through which we look at the 
 thought. They are merely the A B Cs of the sci- 
 ence. We learn these as a matter of course, as we 
 
 ought to be ashamed of themselves as by repeating, till one is out 
 of breath, ode, tode, or that sublime piece of philology and poetry 
 
 From o, are formed am and em, 
 From i, ram, rim, ro, sse and sem : 
 U, us, and rus, are formed from um. 
 All other parts from re do come 
 As bam, bo, rem. 
 
 Address of R. P. Stebbins, D. D. 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 171 
 
 Opinion of Professor Pierce, of Cambridge. 
 
 learn the^ definitions of terms, and the rules in gram- 
 mar, or as a mechanic learns the names of his tools, 
 and the printer the places where his types are kept. 
 
 If by the objection (that time is wasted upon the 
 ancient languages which might be more profitably 
 spent upon some 'other studies), is meant that other 
 studies designed to cultivate language should be 
 substituted in their place, then, let the value of those 
 studies be tested, and if they are better adapted 
 to secure the end desired, let the languages give 
 place to them. I do not know that any such claim 
 is made. If it be meant that the study of the lan- 
 guages be discontinued* entirely, without any sub- 
 stitute, and the time devoted to the mathematics and 
 
 * " I will confirm my argument [in favor of the natural sciences] by 
 the excellent and weighty authority of Professor Pierce, of Cambridge. 
 In a letter written the last summer to Hon. Abbot Lawrence, founder 
 of the scientific school connected with the university, in which he con- 
 gratulates Mr. Lawrence upon the eminent success of the institution, 
 he says (I quote from memory) : ' The school has demonstrated that a 
 good education can be gained without classical studies.' Such an 
 opinion, coming from the shades of the oldest university in the coun- 
 try, is especially worthy of note. So far as mental discipline is con- 
 cerned, I have shown that the natural sciences are more efficient and 
 attractive than the study of the languages ; that in studying the works 
 of God we may do more for our intellectual culture than in studying 
 the words of man. I now proceed to show that the knowledge which 
 we gain in the study of the sciences is as much more valuable than 
 that which we gain in the study of the languages, as its discipline is 
 better." Address of R. P. Stebbins, D. D. 
 
172 THE STUDY 
 
 Several forms of objection. 
 
 the sciences, then the gift of language would be neg- 
 lected, and that balance of mind which it is the bus- 
 iness of education to strengthen and preserve, would 
 be lost. Again, if it is meant that too great a pro- 
 portion of time is spent upon the languages, then let 
 the time be readjusted and equalized, so that each 
 class of studies may have its due share. Let no 
 power perish through neglect. If a man should 
 keep either of his eyes shut continuously it would 
 soon be enfeebled, and that beautiful and delicate 
 organ would perish. We become culpable by neg- 
 lect as much as by misuse. The cultivation of all 
 the faculties should go on hand in hand. But, 
 finally, if it be meant by this objection, that time is 
 squandered in attempting to acquire a knowledge of 
 the languages without attaining the true object for 
 which they should be studied, or even understanding 
 what that object is, if it be meant that those who 
 pursue them study to no profitable purpose, then I 
 join hands with the objector, and declare the saying 
 worthy of all acceptation. As I have already stated, 
 there are but few of those who study English gram- 
 mar in the way in which it was formerly taught in 
 our common schools, who are enabled thereby to 
 speak and write the English language more cor- 
 rectly. So, of the vast number in our schools and 
 universities who study the ancient languages, but a 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 173 
 
 College degrees. Derivation of words. 
 
 small portion of them reap the rich fruits which 
 the classics may be made to yield. Indeed, there are 
 very many college degrees that stand for a very 
 small amount of philosophical knowledge of the lan- 
 guages. Students learn the declensions and conjuga- 
 tions, a few of the rules for construction, the vocab- 
 ulary definitions of the words, and then, as the ulti- 
 matum, to garble the thoughts of the classic writers 
 in horrid English. They hobble along through the 
 remainder of their course upon crutches, or such a 
 staff as they can pick up by the way. 
 
 We are aware that even this method yields a cer- 
 tain amount of advantage. The pupil learns the de- 
 rivation of many words, and gets a discipline of the 
 memory and other faculties. But these are merely 
 the incidental results, and can be attained much more 
 readily and economically in other ways. The great 
 business of cultivating power and expression of ac- 
 quiring exactness in the use of language of study- 
 ing the classics for the purpose of enabling us to 
 communicate thoughts in our own language with 
 greater ease and accuracy, is left untouched. The 
 skill derived from seeing a thought in a foreign 
 tongue, and making an expression to match it in our 
 own, is not appreciated. This class of students 
 would be much better off without the ancient lan- 
 guages than with them. They squander and waste 
 
174 THE STUDY 
 
 A glorious cheat. Ignorance of teachers. 
 
 much valuable time, that might be devoted to labor 
 in some useful and honest occupation. It is true that 
 they absorb something of the caste and polish of the 
 genuine students by mingling with them from day to 
 day, but in the main, they get in lieu of a great good 
 which they seek, nought but a glorious cheat. This 
 shocking waste of time and money, and of mental 
 energy in a few instances, is susceptible of explana- 
 tion. 
 
 In the first place, a large ^number of those who fail 
 are either persons of very moderate endowments, 
 who have not brains enough to learn an ancient lan- 
 guage, and would be much more usefully employed 
 if they were at home swingling flax, or they are the 
 sons of rich men, who do not want a college educa- 
 tion, but whom the aristocracy of the family requires 
 to take a degree at the university. A much larger 
 number, who have fair talents, who are anxious to 
 become good linguists, and who are honest and faith- 
 ful in the application of their energies to the accom- 
 plishment of that purpose, make a signal and most 
 shameful failure through the ignorance or negligence 
 of teachers in not pointing out the true object of 
 their labors, and the proper course to be pursued in 
 order to attain it. The ghost of a good lady once 
 appeared to her very dear friend, and on being asked 
 if she was happy, replied that she had but one de- 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 175 
 
 Mathematics. Skill of the teacher. Old method. 
 
 sire that she might come back to earth and ask for- 
 giveness for having attempted to teach what she did 
 not know. 
 
 When the scholar begins the study of a language, 
 he has no idea of the work to be accomplished. He 
 sees before him nothing but the blackness of dark- 
 ness, and often the shadows are very gloomy behind. 
 He must therefore be governed in his efforts by his 
 teacher. It is not in this study as in the mathemat- 
 ics, where a scholar by himself will, if he be honest 
 and earnest in his endeavors, rarely fail in pursuing 
 the true course to the end contemplated. But in a 
 language, he may expend much, useless time and la- 
 bor before he finds the direct road. Here there is 
 need of the ingenuity and judgment of the instructor. 
 He must direct the efforts of his pupils in learning 
 those things which he can put to immediate use, and 
 thus fasten them in the mind. Pupils are not unfre- 
 quently compelled to begin the study of Latin, by 
 learning from the grammar, principles, rules, excep- 
 tions one indiscriminate mass, without the remotest 
 conception of their application, and frequently not 
 knowing the meaning of the terms used, or the ex- 
 amples which he is obliged verbally to commit. This 
 usage is parallel with that of teaching the A B Cs by 
 calling the child up and giving him a daily dose of 
 twentv-six barbarous-looking characters, with un- 
 
176 THE STUDY 
 
 41 Et tu Brute /" Ollendorff method. 
 
 heard-of names, and requiring him to remember 
 them. 
 
 Many of those who now denounce in unmeasured 
 terms the study of the ancient languages, judge of 
 the difficulties to be encountered in mastering the ru- 
 diments, by the senseless labors to which they them- 
 selves were once subjected. The faults of the sys- 
 tems of instruction are charged upon the studies 
 themselves, upon which are bestowed curses loud 
 and long. And it sometimes happens, that those 
 very powers which have been acquired by the most 
 elaborate classical training, are employed in con- 
 demning their use. Whenever I see such shameless 
 ingratitude, I am forcibly reminded of the words of 
 the dying Caesar, " Et tu, Brute /" 
 
 There have of late been great advances made in 
 conducting the study of the rudiments of the lan- 
 guages. There are two general systems now in use. 
 One is called the Ollendorff method, from the fact 
 that he first introduced the leading features of the 
 system into practice in his classes, and afterward 
 published them for the use of pupils in the German. 
 Books upon that plan have since been prepared in 
 nearly all the languages, both ancient and modern. 
 The plan in that system is to put a thing into prac- 
 tice as soon as it is learned, and by constant repeti- 
 tion acquire the habit of using it correctly. As soon 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 177 
 
 Its peculiarity. Comparative merits of the two systems. 
 
 as the pupil has learned a half dozen words of Latin, 
 he begins to translate into English and to compose 
 Latin. When he has learned a declension, he is re- 
 quired to use the several cases till he has a practical 
 knowledge of them. Each of the constructions pe- 
 culiar to a language must be mastered, by the use of 
 numerous examples in which they are found, and he 
 is then obliged to make sentences in which those con- 
 structions shall be introduced. It will be seen at a 
 glance that this is the most thorough and comprehen- 
 sive course that can be pursued. By this, every thing 
 is mastered as we proceed, and a pupil is prepared to 
 read and compose at pleasure. 
 
 By the other system, the student first learns the 
 grammar, and then begins at once to translate. By 
 this method he is obliged to learn many things with- 
 out seeing their immediate use. He obtains an ac- 
 quaintance with the various constructions only as he 
 recognizes them in the author which he reads. In 
 thus learning a language, he will be enabled to trans- 
 late a classic work in a much shorter time than by 
 any other, and if pursued under the guidance of a 
 skillful teacher, may acquire a thorough knowledge 
 of it. 
 
 In deciding upon the comparative merits of the 
 two systems, we should take into consideration the 
 
 maturity of the faculties to be used. In acquiring a 
 
 8* 
 
178 THE STUDY 
 
 Age of the pupil. Knowledge practical. 
 
 language, the memory is the one chiefly employed. 
 "We have all observed that in youth the memory dif- 
 fers from that in later years. In youth, we can read- 
 ily remember facts ; in manhood, we remember prin- 
 ciples, facts being retained only as they are referred 
 to principles. In youth, we gather the materials 
 which we use when we come to the period of reflec- 
 tion. The mind in youth is more tenacious of facts 
 than it is in manhood, while principles can scarcely 
 be remembered because not comprehended ; but in 
 the prime of life we remember almost entirely by 
 classifying our knowledge. 
 
 From these facts, it would follow that the 01- 
 lendorff method is better suited to youthful minds, 
 and that of beginning with the grammar to minds 
 which have arrived at the period of maturity. 
 The latter method, however, should never be ex- 
 clusively used. The pupil should be exercised as 
 he advances, in putting the facts and principles 
 into practice. He should be taught to write in 
 the language which he is learning, such sentences 
 as will illustrate the use of the cases in the declen- 
 sions, the moods and tenses in the conjugations, and 
 all the difficult constructions in syntax. He will. 
 thus fix his knowledge, and understand its value.* 
 
 * It is scarcely necessary to add that the progress of the pupil will 
 be greatly accelerated by reducing his knowledge, as far as possible, 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 179 
 
 Habits of thoroughness. 
 
 In acquiring the rudiments of a language, the stu- 
 dent ought to be trained to habits of thoroughness 
 and accuracy. Its laws and the principles of inter- 
 pretation should be fully understood before he is al- 
 lowed to look into a classic author. He should not 
 only be able to explain all its peculiar constructions 
 by reference to the rules of grammar, but he should 
 be so familiar with them, that he can recognize them 
 as old acquaintances. Then there is some satisfaction 
 in reading a language, and the student can begin in 
 an original author, and advance at once to the higher 
 principles of interpretation and rhetorical criticism. 
 He thus realizes the true design of studying it. But 
 how numerous are the cases where a student rushes 
 forward to Caasar and Yirgil, and assumes the airs of 
 a perfect man in language, before he is prepared to 
 leave off his swaddling clothes, and instead of inter- 
 preting upon the principles of construction, and be- 
 
 to practice. From the necessity of the case, it is evident that much 
 of the pupil's time must be occupied in learning rules. If, however, 
 the teacher is confined to these alone, it becomes intolerably irksome. 
 The mind struggles against it, and is willing quickly to forget what is 
 associated with nothing but pain. It was formerly the practice to 
 carry a boy through the Latin grammar before he began to translate a 
 word ; and months were consumed in this dry and repulsive labor. 
 It would be no wonder, if, under such a discipline, he learned to abom- 
 inate the grammar, the language, and the instructor together. Way- 
 lanifs Intellectual Philosophy, page 277. 
 
180 THE STUDY 
 
 Good text-books. Resources of a scholar. A grave error. 
 
 cause he knows it is so, relies implicitly upon the 
 Yankee's prerogative, and guesses it out. Such a 
 course is fatal to scholarship. 
 
 But there is not so great a liability to error in ac- 
 quiring the rudiments of a language as in the subse- 
 quent career of the student. Mastering the rudiments 
 is, in a great measure, mechanical. It requires skill 
 on the part of the instructor, simply in introducing 
 things to be learned at the right time, and of repeat- 
 ing the matter accomplished at proper intervals ; and 
 in this the teacher is much relieved if he use a text- 
 book skillfully arranged, and based upon correct prin- 
 ciples. But when we come to the interpretation of 
 an original classic author, there is needed the judg- 
 ment and resources of a scholar ; not merely one who 
 understands the matter himself, but who can initiate 
 others into the mysteries. One great mistake that is 
 made in this part of the work, consists in being con- 
 tent with imparting rudimentary knowledge. Hence 
 all the efforts through the whole course are directed 
 to training in the grammatical structure of the lan- 
 guage, and the derivation of words. 
 
 Another error of a graver nature, consists in al- 
 lowing students to translate a classic writer by calling 
 the Latin words in their English order, and giving 
 their vocabulary meanings. This can not properly 
 be called translating, but garbling. That can never 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 181 
 
 Two requisites for a translation. 
 
 be a translation which is not good pure English. 
 There are two requisites for a translation ; the first 
 is, that it have the spirit of the original, and still be 
 correct English ; and second, that it be as strictly 
 literal as the former condition will allow. By pur- 
 suing the method indicated above, the student may 
 give the meanings of the words, and still not realize 
 the beauty and force of the sentence or paragraph 
 which he is attempting to read. His whole attention 
 is taken up with calling the words in two languages, 
 and keeping an eye to the correspondence of con- 
 struction. It is our object in studying a language, as 
 has been already indicated, to cultivate the habit of 
 making correct English sentences, of using language 
 with ease and accuracy. There are many idioms in 
 every foreign tongue. If, in such phrases, we call 
 the words and give their English meanings, though 
 they may be given in the right case, mood, tense, 
 number, and person, yet it would not convey the 
 true idea, nor would it be good English. The pur- 
 pose for which we are studying would be subverted ; 
 for we should not be learning to use correct En- 
 glish, but a mongrel. Ehetoricians have a term for 
 this ; they call it an idiotism. It is from the trans- 
 lation of idiomatic expressions that we derive the 
 greatest advantage. In these phrases we can usually 
 discover the meaning of the author, and our ingenu- 
 
182 THE STUDY 
 
 At a loss to express our thoughts. 
 
 ity is taxed in order to frame the expression which 
 shall properly translate it. This is the kind of 
 discipline we need. Those who have had no 
 lingual culture, often find a difficulty in expressing 
 themselves properly. They have the thought in 
 mind, their opinions are well matured, but they 
 can not use the language which will accurately ex- 
 press them, and they are obliged to appear to a 
 great disadvantage. The proper study of language 
 is designed to remove this defect, and to give power 
 and pointedness of expression. But if the pupil is 
 allowed to make translations as indicated above, it 
 has the tendency to cultivate the habit of looseness 
 and inaccuracy, the habit above all others which we 
 need to correct. A foreign language studied in this 
 way, instead of conferring a good, inflicts upon us a 
 decided injury, and the less time thus spent, the bet- 
 ter. The best period of youth is lost in laboring for 
 that which we fail to get. The pupil may seek with 
 diligence, and labor with earnestness, but the apple 
 turns to ashes in his mouth. 
 
 After having thoroughly mastered the rudiments, 
 the most efficient way of reaping the largest results 
 from translating, is to take a whole clause or para- 
 graph into the mind at once, and after having se- 
 lected the meaning of the words with taste, to make 
 the English sentence with the greatest care and 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 183 
 
 Gibbon's habit of composition. Awkward accuracy. 
 
 nicety, so that when uttered it may appear polished 
 like a gem. It is recorded by Gibbon, in that most 
 delightful fragment of autobiography which he has 
 left us, that in the composition of his History of the 
 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, he always 
 made a whole paragraph or section at a single cast, 
 before he had put a word upon paper. This habit is 
 worthy of our consideration, and can in no way be 
 so successfully cultivated as in translating from an 
 ancient language. In adopting, however, this elabo- 
 rate and comprehensive system of interpretation, there 
 is one error which should be scrupulously avoided. 
 While we make our translations pure English, we 
 should use no words which will convey a shade of 
 idea different from that intended by the author. Our 
 first object should be to ascertain his precise mean- 
 ing ; we have then to use our judgment, and to tax 
 our inventive powers to frame a thought whose lan- 
 guage shall correspond to the original. This exer- 
 cise is very much like looking our own thoughts into 
 shape, and cultivates that power and energy of ex- 
 pression of which we so often feel the need. 
 
 In following out the principles indicated in trans- 
 lating a classic author, there is a certain awkward 
 accuracy which should be avoided. The Edinburgh 
 Eeview for April, 1849, tells us of the case of the 
 Rev. Theophilus Mudge, " who translated Greek 
 
184: THE STUDY 
 
 Practical rhetoric. 
 
 through a brick wall. Imagination and invention, 
 whether in classics or mathematics, were strangers 
 to his soul. He could have walked on his head 
 sooner than have composed a line of Latin or Greek 
 which had a spark of vigor in it. He was familiar 
 with Yiger, and knew by heart all the private history 
 of Iva and OTTWC, and all the etiquette of the subjunc- 
 tive and optative moods." It is not enough to be ac- 
 curate, to be literal, to make good English ; but it is 
 requisite that a translation have some of the fire and 
 vigor of the original. 
 
 Another advantage which is attainable by the 
 study of the great master-pieces in the foreign lan- 
 guages, is apt to be either wholly overlooked, or 
 greatly underrated ; it is the opportunity which is af- 
 forded for the study of the qualities of style, or prac- 
 tical rhetoric. We there have, in their perfection, all 
 the elements which rhetoricians so learnedly, and often 
 so abstractly and obscurely talk about. If the stu- 
 dent is required carefully to distinguish and analyze 
 the qualities of style of the author which he reads, 
 and to refer each trope and figure to its proper class, 
 he would learn more of the principles of rhetoric, 
 and acquire a greater facility in their use, than the 
 most elaborate study of a text-book upon criticism. 
 He would not only learn how a critic says writing 
 should be done, but he would have continually be- 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 185 
 
 Opinion of Burke. Homer. Advantages recapitulated. 
 
 fore him a living model of the manner in which the 
 masters of the art have done it. " I am persuaded," 
 says Burke, " that understanding Homer well, would 
 contribute more towards perfecting taste than all the 
 metaphysical treatises upon the arts that ever have 
 or can be written ; because such treatises upon the 
 arts can only tell what true taste is, but Homer every- 
 where shows it. He shows that the true sublime is 
 always easy and always natural ; that it consists more 
 in the manner than in the subject, and is to be found 
 by a good poet and a good painter in almost every 
 part of nature." 
 
 Without dwelling at length upon the minor bene- 
 fits resulting from studying foreign languages, I will, 
 in concluding this part of my subject, sum up what 
 I conceive to be the advantages derived from devot- 
 ing a liberal amount of time and effort to the mas- 
 teiy of these studies. 
 
 I. The principal object, and the one before which , 
 all others sink into insignificance, is to cultivate the 
 power of expression, to enable us to use our own 
 language with greater ease and accuracy. 
 
 IL Among the subordinate advantages, we may 
 name : 
 
 1. The knowledge which we thereby obtain of the 
 derivation of all the words which have been trans- 
 planted from those languages into our own, thus giv- 
 
186 THE STUDY 
 
 Character of the ancient authors. 
 
 ing a more elementary and comprehensive idea of 
 their meaning. 
 
 2. The culture which we attain of the memory, 
 and a habit of concentration of mind, inasmuch as 
 the meaning of all the words of those languages 
 must be learned, and the principles of their con- 
 struction. 
 
 3. The opportunity it affords for the study of the 
 qualities of style, and of obtaining a practical knowl- 
 edge of the principles of rhetoric. 
 
 4. The information which we directly gain of the 
 history, mythology, politics, poetry, and oratory of 
 the ancients, in their original spirit, which we could 
 never gain by means of translations. 
 
 Thus far I have said nothing concerning the char- 
 acter of the ancient authors themselves. Are their 
 conceptions worthy of our examination ? Is the style 
 of their writings, their acuteness of analysis, and 
 power of disquisition, proper to become the models 
 for our imitation ? If we examine with minuteness 
 the works of the great classic writers which are put 
 into the hands of the pupil, we shall find that they 
 challenge our respect and veneration. All that is 
 lofty in thought, or sublime in action, is found upon 
 their pages. Homer, the father of poetry, whose he- 
 roes are the gods that tread the golden halls of Olym- 
 pus, and kings and mighty men clad in celestial ar- 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 187 
 
 Alexander. Poetry, history, and oratory. 
 
 mor ; Demosthenes, the orator whose " eloquence 
 shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece ;" Sap- 
 pho and Pindar, the sweet lyric singers, whose me- 
 lodious lines are the embodiment of fancy and senti- 
 ment; Eschylus, the tragic poet, whose actors are 
 the deep passions of the human heart, and whose 
 messengers are the winged winds ; Cicero, the law- 
 yer, the terror of conspirators and the defender of 
 the liberties of his country ; Horace, the good easy 
 man, whose odes smack of good cheer and sparkling 
 wine; and Tacitus, the historian, whose sententious 
 periods greatly please while they instruct such are 
 the men whom the student of classic lore may make 
 his friends. The productions of such men are fitted 
 to inspire the youthful scholar with new ardor in the 
 pursuits of learning. The reading of Homer made 
 Alexander a warrior ; and many a youth since the 
 days of Alexander has been enamored of all that 
 is noble and heroic in action, by the verses of that 
 blind old bard. In poetry, in history, in or- 
 atory, he has the choicest specimens constantly be- 
 fore him. When we throw aside the classics, we 
 banish from our systems of education the lights of 
 all past ages ; we separate from the company of those 
 whose genius and learning have won for them imper- 
 ishable fame ; we reverse the j udgment of the learned 
 of every cultivated nation ; we dismiss, for other 
 
188 THE STUDY 
 
 Models of excellence. Opinions of Lord Macaulay. 
 
 guides, those who, age after age, have furnished 
 models for every species of excellence in thought. 
 
 Lord Macaulay, in opening his critique on the 
 Athenian orators, says, " The celebrity of the great 
 classical writers is confined within no limits except 
 those which separate civilized from savage man. 
 Their works are the common property of every pol- 
 ished nation. In the minds of the educated classes 
 throughout Europe, their names are indissolubly as- 
 sociated with the endearing recollections of child- 
 hood the old school-room, the dog-eared grammar, 
 the first prize, the tears so often shed and so quickly 
 dried." And in closing his essay on Mitford's His- 
 tory of Greece, he uses these memorable words: 
 " Of the indifference which Mr. Mitford shows on 
 this subject [that splendid literature] I will not 
 speak, for I can not speak with fairness. It is a 
 subject in which I love to forget the accuracy of a 
 judge, in the veneration of a worshipper and the 
 gratitude of a child. If we consider merely the 
 subtlety of disquisition, the force of imagination, 
 the perfect energy and elegance of expression which 
 characterize the great works of Athenian genius, we 
 must pronounce them intrinsically most valuable. 
 All the triumphs of truth and genius over prejudice 
 and power, in every country and in every age, have 
 been the triumphs of Athens." 
 
OP LANGUAGE. 189 
 
 Necessity of harmonious development. Decide understanding!/. 
 
 Before deciding that the classics shall no longer 
 fill a prominent place in our systems of education, 
 we should consider the necessity which exists of 
 a harmonious development of the faculties of the 
 mind, the importance of that class of powers which 
 the classics are designed to develop, and whether 
 we have any other course of discipline to substitute 
 for them, which will accomplish the work so well. 
 It is idle to talk of substituting the physical sciences 
 in their place, or to advocate such a change on the 
 ground that it is better to study the works of the 
 Creator than the words of man, as though conscious- 
 ness were not as legitimate a field for the study of 
 the Creator's attributes as the objects about us in the 
 physical world. The fact is, man was made with 
 his face upward, and it is folly for him to spend his 
 days in poking about his feet. Bunyan's muck-rake 
 is a simile in point. Until we have meditated these 
 questions, and decided them understandingly, until 
 we are able to build in its place a more enduring edi- 
 fice, let us not tear down a structure whose founda- 
 tions are firm, and whose massive and majestic walls 
 are covered with the moss of centuries. 
 
 Whatever means we adopt for its culture, it is the 
 English language that we are to speak. That good 
 old English tongue has been mouldiog and perfect- 
 ing itself for many centuries. It had, at the outset, 
 
190 THE STUDY 
 
 The English tongue. Eminent writers -who have used it. 
 
 the strongest, yet rudest materials. It has plundered 
 from almost every language that was ever in the 
 mouths of men. It has had the advantage of the 
 highest civilization since the world began. 
 
 "When we consider that this language which we 
 speak and read, is the language in which Bacon con- 
 ceived and meditated those thoughts which changed 
 the whole course of metaphysical speculation, and 
 created a new era in philosophical investigation 
 when we remember that Shakspeare in this language 
 has ranged the whole field of human character, from 
 the monarch on his throne to the peasant in his 
 straw hut, and has touched, with a master's hand, all 
 the passions, and humors, and sentiments of the hu- 
 man heart when we read the poetry of Milton, and 
 are enabled by means of it to contemplate all those 
 images of beauty which, his plastic imagination has 
 created in Eden's garden, and those scenes of grand- 
 eur and sublimity where angels, and the Creator 
 himself, speak to us when we read the clear, the 
 polished, the transparent periods of Hume, the grand 
 and lofty paragraphs of Gibbon, the penetrating and 
 earnest words of Macaulay, the bold and manly elo- 
 quence of "Webster, and the sweet, graceful words of 
 Clay, and remember that all this is in our own 
 English tongue is it not worth while to study, and 
 meditate, and perfect our knowledge of it ? 
 
OF LANGUAGE. 191 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 A language of such depth, and force, and beau- 
 ty, is not to be learned in a few short terms of 
 school and college, or with little care. To acquire 
 a thorough knowledge of it is the serious busi- 
 ness of a lifetime. By the study of its structure 
 and its grammatical principles, by the attentive 
 reading of the best authors, by the study of foreign 
 languages, that shall throw light upon it, and teach 
 TIS its derivation, by careful and protracted medita- 
 tion, and by care in speaking, we should strive to 
 know it in its perfection. Some of the purest pleas- 
 ure of my life has been derived from the study of 
 language. And although the beginning of the way 
 was difficult, and dusty, and fatiguing, the elevations 
 are easy and pleasant, and the prospects delightful. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 THE MEANS AND ENDS OF EDUCATION. 
 
 IPUEPOSE to speak of the means and ends of 
 a practical education one that may produce 
 fruit. Education, in its special and restricted sense, 
 is the work of developing the faculties of the mind. 
 It is a process by which the mental energies are fur- 
 nished with material and put to work. The mind is 
 sometimes compared to a storehouse, where a profu- 
 sion of articles are indiscriminately stowed away. 
 This is an unfortunate figure. Better liken it to the 
 workshop of the mechanic, or to the hall of the ar- 
 tist, where numerous operatives are engaged in exe- 
 cuting forms of beauty and usefulness. The various 
 faculties of the mind, as memory, imagination, taste, 
 are the workmen employed. The material which 
 they are engaged in transforming into beautiful and 
 useful shapes, the marble, the steel, the gold, the sil- 
 ver, are the ideas which we have of the various ob- 
 jects by which we are surrounded. The means by 
 which those workmen have acquired skill in produc- 
 ing specimens of their labor of greater or less excel- 
 
MEANS AND ENDS OF EDUCATION. 193 
 
 Clear conceptions. Coin and the college degree. 
 
 lence, as regards strength, harmony, durability, fin- 
 ish, is, when applied to the energies of mind, what 
 we mean by education. 
 
 If this be a true idea, the means employed should 
 be such as to accomplish the end desired. "We should 
 not labor so much to accumulate vast stores, as to 
 give the mind clear and vivid conceptions, and to 
 stimulate its energies to long and vigorous exertions. 
 That man is not of necessity best educated, who has 
 read the most books, or spent most time in the 
 schools. Those patents of nobility in the republic 
 of letters, written upon sheepskin, and signed by the 
 president of a college, certifying that the bearer has 
 spent four years of his life within its walls, are, in too 
 many instances, synonymous with those labels we 
 see attached to bottles of patent medicine. Some of 
 them are good for all they call for; but too many 
 are the currency of quacks. This fact does not in 
 the least depreciate the value of a sound collegiate 
 education. The gold coin issued by government al- 
 ways carries with it the value upon its face, although 
 there is abundance of the spurious article in circula- 
 tion that is not worth the brass of which it is made. 
 But there is this difference between the coin and the 
 college degree. Government puts its stamp only 
 upon the genuine article, and we are left to detect 
 
 the bogus by the want of it ; whereas the faculty of 
 9 
 
194 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Knowledge of the present. 
 
 a college affix their official seal to the spurious and 
 the good alike, and we are without the means of 
 knowing the value of one A. M. over another, and 
 from frequent deception are inclined to doubt all till 
 we have proven them. 
 
 Many men in our midst are possessed of the sound- 
 est culture, who have never had the advantage of a 
 liberal education. The newspapers, and contact with 
 the world, have been their tutors. The intercourse 
 of society in the business of real life, where contend- 
 ing passions and counter interests impart a whole- 
 some discipline, is a much better nurse of common 
 sense than the cloistered cell. Careful, keen observa- 
 tion has furnished them with the material of thought 
 from sources in which we are least liable to be de- 
 ceived. The public journals, which are the only real 
 histories that the world produces, enable them to 
 compare the opinions and reasonings of other men 
 with their own. They thus acquire a discipline of 
 mind at the same time that they obtain an accurate 
 and practical knowledge of the times, and are thereby 
 prepared to act understandingly in any emergenc} 7 . 
 If we bear in mind the definition of education which 
 we have already given the furnishing the mind with 
 material and putting it to work we shall not won- 
 der at their success. The richest classical education, 
 unassisted by any kind of practical knowledge, af- 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 195 
 
 Thermopylae. Malakoff. Self-educated men. Halls of Congress. 
 
 fords a very uncertain guide in managing present 
 affairs. The student of Grecian lore may be inti- 
 mately acquainted with the tactics employed in the 
 siege and defense of Thermopyla3 ; but these would 
 by no means be adapted to the taking of the tower 
 on the Malakoff. He may know all the policy and 
 chicanery which Themistocles employed to deceive 
 the Lacedemonians, and secure the completion of the 
 wall of defense around the city of Athens ; and yet 
 he may be a novice in devising a network of plots 
 which shall introduce or exclude slavery in the Ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 The self-educated man frequently meets with emi- 
 nent success in the management of affairs, because 
 his school has been the present times ; while the 
 adept in classical learning fails, because his school 
 was exclusively among the ancients. If we look into 
 our halls of Congress we shall find that the sword of 
 argument cuts keenest, and is handled light and left 
 most dexterously, when wielded by a man who has 
 learned what he knows from his reading of men, and 
 the present workings of civil society, quite as often 
 as when managed by him who has acquired his 
 knowledge among musty folios, or has with pale and 
 sickly countenance delved deepest in the mysteries 
 of science. We often wonder how it is that the 
 members elected from the Territories and newly set- 
 
196 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Everett. Washington. Adains. 
 
 tied States, who have enjoyed few educational advan- 
 tages, can compete with our wisest and ablest men 
 from the old States, where every facility is afforded 
 for the most extensive culture. But it not unfre- 
 quently happens that the man transferred from the 
 prairies and stumps of the West, holds his opinions 
 and accomplishes his purposes quite as successfully 
 as his more polished compeer. Everett and Sumner 
 may upon occasion deliver very finished orations ; 
 but in originating and perfecting a bill, and in the 
 management of an impromptu debate, they find 
 themselves in an assembly at least their equals. 
 "Washington, and Franklin, and Eoger Sherman had 
 never received any thing from a college till its de- 
 grees of honor were showered upon them ; yet their 
 services were quite as important to the country as 
 those of Adams, and Eandolph, and Lee, though 
 these had been crowned with the bay of the univer- 
 sities. 
 
 I have said that the self-educated man is some- 
 times more practical and successful in the manage- 
 ment of affairs than the professed scholar. I may go 
 farther. We sometimes consider books as the only 
 source of education ; but a man may indeed be well 
 educated who knows nothing of books. Material 
 for thought, and the ability of thinking with inten- 
 sity upon any question at pleasure, may be possessed 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 197 
 
 Homer. Wandering minstrels. 
 
 without their aid. It is possible that a man might 
 possess intellectual faculties of the highest order, and 
 carried to the highest point of cultivation, who could 
 not write his own name. Homer, the father of poet- 
 ry, the favored of the muses, from whose heroes the 
 poets of all succeeding generations have formed their 
 models, and from whose glowing periods they have 
 drawn their inspiration, lived in an age of the world 
 before letters had been invented. His poems were 
 composed and treasured in the memory, and re- 
 cited to the people on festive occasions. Wandering 
 minstrels learned them from their author, and they 
 were thus handed down from age to age, through the 
 memory of men, till they were eventually rescued 
 from the weakness and casualties of that treacherous 
 faculty by the preserving power of letters. 
 
 It may possibly be inferred, from what has been 
 said, that I do not entertain a very high opinion of 
 our present systems of training, and do not look with 
 favor upon what is termed a liberal education. Such 
 a conclusion, however, would be unwarranted. The 
 remarks which have been made were intended to 
 throw light upon the term education, and to give us 
 a clearer conception of the true idea conveyed by it. 
 An earnest, genuine education is a very different 
 thing from those notions of it which exist in the 
 minds of many. The lad in the district school meas- 
 
198 THE MEANS AND 
 
 The student in the university. The man of mature years. 
 
 nres his progress by the rapidity with which he ad- 
 vances in the text-books placed in his hands, rather 
 than by the depth and accuracy of his knowledge of 
 a single principle which he has hurriedly passed over. 
 He judges that to be good reading when the words 
 are called most rapidly, instead of that when the idea 
 is studied, and the proper emphasis, tone, and modu- 
 lation are employed to convey the thoughts truth- 
 fully and vividly. The student in the university oft- 
 ener prides himself upon having risen to the dignity 
 of a more advanced class, than upon that depth and 
 richness of thought, which accurate scholarship in 
 the elements of knowledge is fitted to impart, or up- 
 on that retrospective glance which he is sometimes 
 compelled to take when he is called to give his opin- 
 ion of questions connected with his earlier studies. 
 He spends the best of his time in cracking the shell 
 of the nut, and rushes on, without stopping to take 
 out the meat, to something else that needs to be 
 cracked, and thus, ever cracking, he scarce enjoys a 
 nibble. He pursues the shadow and misses the sub- 
 stance. ISTor is this disposition confined to the lad in 
 the district school or the stripling at college. If 
 we knew the secret thoughts of our fellow-men, we 
 should not unfrequently find the man of mature 
 years, who loves to be classed among literary charac- 
 ters, priding himself more on the number of square 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 199 
 
 Education which will show. Popular delusion. 
 
 feet of books which he has in his library, than upon 
 the number of solid thoughts which he entertains in 
 his head. 
 
 We thus perceive that through all the grades of 
 honor, among those who cultivate their minds, from 
 the boy on the lowest form at school up to the coun- 
 selor and the man of letters by profession, there is 
 manifested a taste for that kind of education which 
 will show, rather than that which accomplishes 
 results, which gives us the power of continuous 
 thought, which nerves the mind to untiring exertion, 
 in which enables us to bring to the examination of 
 every subject, principles that have become settled 
 our minds from previous research and study. The 
 opinions of many men are worth nothing, because 
 they are based upon nothing. They have never 
 taken any pains to accumulate facts, or reflections, 
 and hence, without any capital stock, they issue 
 opinions which are the mere random workings of a 
 vacant brain. Perhaps we have not on record a bet- 
 ter example of popular delusion than that which was 
 practiced, a few years ago, by a waggish writer for 
 one of the New York journals. Sir William Her- 
 schell was, at the time, at the Cape of Grood Hope, 
 making observations upon the heavenly bodies. A 
 column appeared in one of the morning papers, 
 headed, in flaming letters, "Wonderful 
 
 fctafearrri 
 
200 THE MEANS AND 
 
 The image. Disposition to try opinions. 
 
 ments of the Telescope," in which it was asserted 
 that the great astronomer had succeeded, by intro- 
 ducing a strong pencil of light into the dark cham* 
 ber of the telescope, upon the image there formed, in 
 observing, with the greatest ease and distinctness, the 
 men and animals living upon the face of the moon. 
 By the representations of the piece, the man in the 
 moon had become our near neighbor. Now a mo- 
 ment's reflection, by any one who knew the first 
 principles of optical science, or who had even ad- 
 vanced so far in knowledge as to have observed his 
 own shadow, would have shown that the image 
 formed in a telescope, which is simply a shadow, 
 would vanish the instant a beam of light is thrown 
 upon it. But so artfully was the piece prepared, and 
 so little discriminating thought did the people bestow 
 upon it, that many of the learned, even, were success- 
 fully duped. Men were wild with delight at the tri- 
 umphs of the discoverer, and some, I have no doubt, 
 were ready to invest small sums in the purchase of 
 wild lands there. 
 
 The time has gone by when we are to take the 
 dictum of a man because he pretends to know, and 
 is supposed to have had the opportunity of learning. 
 But we are disposed to try every opinion, and prove 
 it before adopting it. The time was when authority 
 was proof, or at least equal to it in value; but it is so 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 201 
 
 Teachings of Bacon. Of Christ. Means compared. 
 
 no longer. In these ma,tter-of-fact times we have 
 come to deal with realities and not their semblances. 
 We have learned to judge of the culture of a man's 
 mind, not by the number of years he has been en- 
 gaged in study, but by what he is able to do -by the 
 fruits his mind is capable of yielding. This is the 
 great lesson that the philosophy of Bacon has taught 
 us to judge of every thing by its fruits ; and indeed 
 a greater than Bacon had, centuries before, declared, 
 " By their fruits ye shall know them." It makes 
 very little difference whether this mental culture, this 
 ability to think accurately, which is the result of a 
 sound education, was obtained by the light of a rush 
 candle, after the toil and sweat of a hard day's la- 
 bor, or was acquired while reclining at ease, listening 
 to the words of a learned professor, and gazing at 
 him through a gold-bowed quizzing glass. The only 
 question that concerns us is, has the education been 
 acquired ? Is it actually possessed ? Can we de- 
 pend upon the genuineness of the pretension? We 
 should be as ready to accord the palm to deserving 
 merit, when won we know not how, as to him who 
 has passed through a course of academic studies. 
 
 But lest I may be misunderstood respecting the 
 best course to be pursued in acquiring knowledge, 
 let us examine and compare the means usually em- 
 ployed for the accomplishment of the purpose. I 
 
 9* 
 
202 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Self-educated men. More practical than profound. 
 
 have already referred to a class who have figured ex- 
 tensively in public affairs, and in the domain of let- 
 ters, who are termed self-educated men. They de- 
 serve much credit, as well for their energy as their 
 success. Often they have been obliged to struggle 
 with adverse circumstances, and have accumulated 
 what they possess by dint of untiring application, in 
 the midst of the cares of laborious occupations. But 
 we should not allow them honor and confidence be- 
 yond what they deserve. Their education is usually 
 more practical than profound, more special and cir- 
 cumscribed, than general and comprehensive. In 
 common affairs in which they have had experience, 
 their judgment can be relied on. But lacking that 
 breadth and profoundness of view, which thorough 
 training in the elements of knowledge is intended to 
 bestow, they frequently find themselves in the dark, 
 and obliged to act without any settled opinions. 
 
 And yet those who have least information, often 
 have the greatest confidence in themselves. Their 
 views are advanced as absolute, and with as much 
 assurance as though they carried the keys of knowl- 
 edge. Assurance is so characteristic of such, that 
 Inspiration hath declared, " The fool rageth and is 
 confident." There are none so hopelessly foolish, or 
 whose advice is to be taken with so much caution, 
 as those who are over wise in their own conceit. 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 203 
 
 Sentiment of Pope. Socrates. Delphic oracle. 
 
 We not unfrequently meet with demonstrations of 
 the sentiment uttered by Pope, 
 
 11 A little learning is a dangerous thing." 
 
 As the spark which is suddenly struck, in the midst 
 of profound darkness, produces a blinding effect up- 
 on the sight, so the mind is sometimes overpowered 
 by being brought from the darkness of ignorance in- 
 to the light of very common truths. But as the pu- 
 pil of the eye opens and enlarges before the beaming 
 of inienser light, so the mind is strengthened and 
 expanded by the steady contemplation of new truths. 
 
 " shallow drafts intoxicate the brain, 
 
 But drinking deeper sobers us again." 
 
 Socrates was indeed pronounced by the Delphic 
 oracle wisest among men. But for what? Because, 
 in his own opinion, he knew nothing. Because he 
 had withstood the first blinding effects of knowledge, 
 and could now look into its serene depths, and see 
 how vain are our greatest acquirements compared 
 with what is possible to be known. The response 
 of the Pythia was in accordance with the declara- 
 tions of Holy "Writ. For we are represented as be- 
 ing truly wise, ^Yhen we have learned enough to 
 make us meek and humble like little children. 
 
 The empiric and the charlatan usually acquire 
 
204 THE MEANS AND 
 
 The empiric. His success. Well-read physician. 
 
 confidence much beyond what they deserve. Many 
 people manifest a disposition to confide in one who 
 boasts loudly, and who has seized the idea that he 
 has the qualifications for a leader in some art or pro- 
 fession, rather than in one who, by long study and 
 experience, has prepared himself for a responsible 
 position, and puts forth his pretensions with modesty. 
 The profession of medicine furnishes a good illus- 
 tration. There seems to be a charm that insensibly 
 draws many people to the quack. Let a man come 
 into a town with a name spelled with a continental 
 combination of letters, and post upon the corners of 
 the streets flaming advertisements that he is some 
 great somebody, from a great city somewhere, and 
 that he has letters from innumerable sick folk, who 
 have been miraculously cured of their leprosy by the 
 use of his all-curing and never-failing medicine, and 
 instantly the afflicted of every kind and degree of 
 disease, without any other knowledge of his charac- 
 ter or his acquirements than that which they can 
 learn from the trumpet which he himself blows, rush 
 forward, eager to see which shall trouble the waters 
 first ; and, without murmuring, pay any sums which 
 he in his caprice may demand ; while the well-read 
 physician at our doors, who has spent money and 
 the best years of his life in a careful study of diseases 
 and remedies, who is acquainted with the hereditary 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 
 
 205 
 
 Thorough medical knowledge preferred. Means. 
 
 taints and temperaments of our families, who, in sun- 
 shine or in storm, by night or by day, is ready with 
 a willing heart to turn out and minister to our suffer- 
 ings, who has watched by the bedside of the dying 
 mother, or father, or brother, or sister, or child, and 
 has faithfully tried his skill to the last, is passed by, 
 or paid grudgingly for his services. 
 
 In the profession of medicine, systematic and 
 thorough culture in the science often comes in 
 competition with skill practically acquired without 
 education. In general, when natural abilities and 
 application to duty are equal, it is always safest to 
 employ that man who has the most thorough medical 
 knowledge. For he certainly can best succeed who, 
 in an emergency, has the most resources at hand. 
 That physician who is content with the knowledge 
 which he was obliged to acquire before he could ob- 
 tain his degree, who neglects to take and read the 
 leading medical reviews, and who begrudges the pur- 
 chase of a few new books, from time to time, as the 
 knowledge of the science advances, is not the man in 
 whose hands we should willingly trust our lives. 
 
 It will be seen that it is my aim to advocate a 
 thorough, genuine education, and not the mere 
 vague and indefinite pretension. The best means 
 for the attainment of such an education are abund- 
 ant, and can not be mistaken by the honest seeker. 
 
206 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Thorough understanding of what is learned. 
 
 The first requisite is a spirit of inquiry a dispo- 
 sition to seek as for hidden treasure to separate 
 truth from error- to sift opinions and ideas till 
 the true gold has been found. When such a dis- 
 position exists, and is united with a resolute pur- 
 pose, the possessor will make real progress. Eeal 
 progress: I use the term in distinction from that 
 fictitious progress which prevails in many of our 
 highest institutions, which is measured by studies 
 finished, and terms passed in the college walls. "We 
 need a system of training which shall develop a liv- 
 ing, breathing, healthy education, and not the mere 
 dry bones of one. Let the boy who enters the com- 
 mon school, be thoroughly drilled in every princi- 
 ple, and be taught the why and the wherefore of 
 every step as he advances, so that he may depend 
 upon his own faculties for a reason, and not trust to 
 the mere arbitrary rule of the book, without know- 
 ing or appreciating its bearing. When he enters the 
 high school, the same thoroughness should be in- 
 sisted on in all that is taught. He should not com- 
 mence the study of Latin and Greek because he is 
 obliged to have a knowledge of these in order to get 
 to the university. But he should be inspired with 
 a taste for these studies at the outsat, and he should 
 be encouraged to pursue them with that enthusiasm 
 which is sure to be rewarded with rich fruits. The 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 207 
 
 Opposition to liberal education. First class. 
 
 attainment of a certain, positive good at each step as 
 we advance, should be the incentive to exertion, and 
 not the prospect of becoming a member of some 
 celebrated institution. The student in the university 
 should aim at the ripest scholarship. He should not 
 feel that any honor is to be conferred upon him for 
 having passed through it, provided he has not got 
 that for which the university was established. 
 
 There exists, in the minds of many, a feeling of 
 dislike and opposition to what is termed a liberal 
 education. This feeling is cherished on the part 
 of a certain class of the illiterate, who would in 
 general be opposed to all improvement beyond 
 what is absolutely necessary. It is the class who 
 send their children to the district school to learn 
 just enough that they may not be cheated when 
 they grow up ; who value the pieces of hard money 
 which they have laid away in a chest, more than the 
 number of bright ideas which they can store in the 
 mind ; and who look upon the life of the thinker, 
 and the professional man, as a life of laziness and 
 rascality, and regard with distrust all he does or says. 
 "We do not deny that there are some among the pro- 
 fession of thinkers who can, upon occasion, show 
 some acquaintance with laziness and rascality. 
 There are, indeed, in every rank and grade of so- 
 ciety, those who disgrace it. The argument of this 
 
208 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Second class of objectors. Defective early education. 
 
 class is that the tree of knowledge should be cut 
 down, because we sometimes chance to gather from 
 it bitter fruits. The objection of these is narrow- 
 minded, and goes for nothing. 
 
 But there is in a higher class, among our business 
 men, our practical men, an antipathy towards liberal 
 culture. They are not without valid .reasons for 
 the feelings which they cherish. There are several 
 causes which combine to produce these sentiments. 
 Many of those who receive a collegiate education 
 are wofully deficient in those branches which they 
 should have learned at the common school, and the 
 college is not a place to mend such deficiencies. 
 Many a young man who is entitled to put the first 
 two letters of the alphabet after his name, is unable 
 to spell correctly a large proportion of the words 
 which he uses, and in the practical business of life 
 he is found a complete novice, even in figures, in 
 geography, and in history. Having proved himself 
 wanting in the most common elements of an educa- 
 tion, he is judged to be equally so in all others, and 
 is at once set down as an ignoramus, and his A. B. 
 is at a heavy discount. 
 
 Again, many of those who pass through all the 
 grades of a liberal education, know so little about 
 the various branches to which they have been re- 
 quired to give their attention, that they scarcely re- 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 209 
 
 Ignorance of what is studied. Faults in organization. 
 
 member the names of the authors they have read, 
 or the text-books in the sciences which they have 
 studied. Such are held in the estimation they de- 
 serve. They have not been true to themselves, and 
 the confidence with which they would challenge the 
 world is forfeited. They not only bring disgrace up- 
 on themselves for making pretension to that which 
 they do not possess, but they cast a reproach upon 
 liberal education, and injure the good name of the 
 institution under whose fostering care they have 
 sought protection and support. 
 
 There is one fault in the organization and man- 
 agement of the higher institutions, which serves to 
 strengthen this feeling of hostility. The courses of 
 study, in many instances, are not adapted to the pur- 
 pose of making practical men, but simply scholars. 
 Instead of fitting them for the duties of life, it oper- 
 ates to unfit them for almost any place in society. It 
 is said that one of the most distinguished scholars of 
 the past generation, when asked by the lady where 
 he was spending his college vacation, to harness the 
 horse for her, actually put on the names first and 
 then the collar, and supposed that this was the way 
 they were intended to be worn. Students, on leav- 
 ing college,* are often compelled to begin life anew. 
 
 * " It is a very common complaint that thrifty, untaught farmers 
 grudge the cost of a thorough education for their sons and daughters. 
 
210 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Changes contemplated. Hodge's contempt for learning. 
 
 Instead of being fitted to take the lead in society, 
 they frequently find that they have much to learn, 
 and that those whom they left behind them when 
 they departed for its secluded walls, are infinitely 
 their superiors. In the English universities, and in 
 some of the best colleges in this country, changes 
 have been agitated in the courses of study, and 
 methods of discipline. Some wholesome improve- 
 ments have already been introduced. The demand 
 for the reform is manifested in the public mind, by 
 
 Hodge, industrious and independent in his ignorance, scorns his edu- 
 cated neighbor, who is but a drone and a beggar with it all. 'I 
 have succeeded well enough,' says he, 'without education; why 
 shouldn't my children do the same?' Now I regret Hodge's con- 
 tempt for learning, but I can not pretend to be surprised at it. On 
 the contrary, it seems to me most natural, and not very blameworthy. 
 For do but consider that the educated son or daughter too often re- 
 turns to the paternal home with an ill-disguised contempt for its 
 homely roof, and a positive aversion to its downright labor. Who 
 would expect a sensible, home-bred parent to relish and value such 
 an education? 
 
 " That son is not truly educated who can not grow more corn on the 
 acre than his unlearned father, and grow it with less labor. That 
 educated daughter has received a mistaken and superficial training, if 
 she can not excel her mother in making soap, or cheese, or butter. 
 All these are chemical processes, in which her education should ren- 
 der her an adept, far beyond any untaught person. The educated 
 lawyer, doctor, or clergyman, whose garden is not better (I do not say 
 larger), and his fruit trees more thrifty and productive than his illiter- 
 ate neighbor's, sadly discredits and damages the cause of education." 
 Lecture on Education, by Horace Greeley. 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 211 
 
 Another reason. .Remark of Scott. 
 
 the numerous attempts made for the establishment 
 of People's colleges, and the subject is receiving the 
 attention of some of our wisest educators. 
 
 Another reason which operates to produce a feel- 
 ing against liberally educated men, arises from the 
 fact that they seem to manifest a desire to withdraw 
 themselves as .much as possible from mingling in 
 business affairs. They strive to create an aristocracy 
 of letters, and draw a dividing line between them- 
 selves and the balance of humanity. Instead of 
 throwing themselves upon the current of every-day 
 life, and braving the struggles manfully, they stand 
 aloof, and talk and act as though they were a differ- 
 ent order of beings from their fellow-men ; as though 
 to mingle in the common labors of life would detract 
 from their dignity and standing. They look upon 
 business as degrading to the scholar.* They seem 
 to consider it debasing to education to make it sub- 
 servient to any practical or useful purpose. They 
 are the followers of Aristotle, who taught men that 
 if they would be real philosophers, they must with- 
 
 * Sir Walter Scott, whose literary accomplishments have filled the 
 world with admiration, once remarked, " There is no necessary con- 
 nection between genius and an aversion or contempt for any of the 
 common duties of life. On the contrary, to spend some portion of 
 every day in any matter-of-fact occupation is good for the higher pow- 
 ers themselves in the upshot." Lockharfs Memoirs of Scott. 
 
212 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Bacon. The thinking man. The laboring man. 
 
 draw themselves, as completely as possible, from all 
 the real affairs of life that can serve a practical or 
 useful purpose, instead of being the followers of Ba- 
 con, who taught that "knowledge is power," and 
 that philosophy is good for nothing unless it en- 
 ables us to accomplish some useful results, unless it 
 can bring forth fruits. 
 
 Such a disposition manifested by those who are 
 educated, is disastrous to progress. The basis of a 
 nation or community is the laboring population ; 
 and though it be true that the thinking men shape 
 the affairs of the world, yet they can never accom- 
 plish their designs without the aid of the former, and 
 the most splendid triumphs of knowledge must ever 
 be where there is the most cordial cooperation of the 
 two classes. The thinking man and the laboring 
 man must understand each other. They must re- 
 alize that each is working for the other's good ; that 
 they are in a common field, putting forth united ex- 
 ertions to overcome those obstacles which exist to 
 the progress of civil society, and that they are reach- 
 ing forward to a success equally desired by both. 
 There is perhaps a greater tendency towards this re- 
 sult in this country, than in our sister nations of the 
 globe, owing to our common school education, which 
 is open to every child, and to our free, political in- 
 stitutions, which act as a powerful stimulant in the 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 213 
 
 Preface of Mr. Agassiz's work. 
 
 universal development of mind. My confidence in 
 this assertion has been strengthened by a remark 
 which occurs in the preface to the great work of 
 Mr. Agassiz on the " Natural History of the United 
 States of America." " There is not a class of learned 
 men here," says he, " distinct from the other culti- 
 vated members of the community. On the contrary, 
 so general is the desire for knowledge, that I expect 
 to see my book read by operatives, by fishermen, by 
 farmers, quite as extensively as by the students of 
 our colleges, or by the learned professors ; and it is 
 but proper that I should make myself understood by 
 all." 
 
 The objections which are thus urged against a 
 liberal education, originate either from a narrow- 
 minded view of the subject, or from judgments 
 passed upon weak and imbecile representatives of 
 such culture, or from the fact that those institutions 
 which are established for giving it, are not fully 
 adapted to the purpose. The principal of these ob- 
 jections is not really made against the systems em- 
 ployed, but against the abuse of them. If the re- 
 sults accomplished by these systems be such as they 
 were intended to produce, these objections would 
 have no weight. Faults are charged upon the in- 
 stitutions for which they are not responsible. Not 
 every boy who goes to college is capable, or desirous 
 
214 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Faults charged upon the institutions. 
 
 of receiving that culture which the college is adapted 
 to bestow. It is ungenerous, to say the least, to 
 make the Alma Mater responsible for the ignorance 
 or imbecility of every graceless son. It is impos- 
 sible, by the nicest skill of the chemist, to make a 
 diamond out of paste, and he should not be censured 
 when he makes the best possible from the materials. 
 One man may lead a horse away to watering, but ten 
 men can not make him drink. Free mental agents 
 have their future intellectual destinies under their 
 own control, and however excellent or efficient the 
 instrument employed for their improvement, a way- 
 ward youth may use it for his own disgrace. An 
 awkward fellow may hack his face with the keenest 
 of razors. Indeed, some men have cut their throats 
 with razors. But these facts do not prove that a 
 sharp razor is not a most welcome and blessed im- 
 plement when a man would pare the beard smoothly 
 from his face. 
 
 The systems for the attainment of a liberal educa- 
 tion have been adopted from the experience and wis- 
 dom of many centuries. They have been modeled 
 and perfected by a long line of illustrious genera- 
 tions. They come to us stamped with the approval 
 of the profoundest scholars of any age. Still they 
 are not perfect. Improvements are yet to be made. 
 This generation has need of a different system of 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 215 
 
 Progress of humanity. Political tricksters. 
 
 training from that which preceded it. The tide of 
 humanity sweeps onward, and what was good for to- 
 day needs to be remodeled for to-morrow. There 
 are changes now that undoubtedly need to be made. 
 We should probably have more vigorous and pro- 
 found scholars from our colleges, if there were a less 
 number of studies pursued, with a more generous 
 culture in those which are left. Yet in general they 
 are admirably adapted to accomplish the end de- 
 signed. 
 
 I have thus dwelt at considerable length upon 
 these objections to liberal culture, that they might 
 be set in their proper light, and that its true interest 
 might not be prejudiced on account of them; and 
 have urged the importance of such culture, that 
 every one who has the ability may be induced to 
 acquire it. We have need of more educated men in 
 our midst. I do not say that we have need of more 
 educated ministers, and lawyers, and doctors ; for of 
 the latter two we have already enough to last a gen- 
 eration or two without any fear of failure. But we 
 want more educated farmers, and mechanics, and 
 laborers. This class of men should be so educated 
 that our governors and members of Congress can be 
 elected from among them, rather than from a set of 
 political tricksters, who will barter, and buy, and sell 
 the interests of their constituents, and sell themselves, 
 
216 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Honest yeomanry. 
 
 body and soul. If many who occupy the chief places 
 in our political synagogues were this day driven out 
 with a scourge, as were the sinners of old, and their 
 places filled from among the honest yeomanry of our 
 land, I believe our nation would be more wisely gov- 
 erned, more prosperous at home, and more respected 
 abroad. 
 
 But there are many young men in our midst 
 who have the ability and the inclination to obtain 
 a thorough education, who have not the means of 
 supporting themselves during the two or three years 
 necessary to prepare for, and the four years in pass- 
 ing through the university, with the numerous de- 
 mands that are made upon one in an incidental way. 
 But even in the midst of adverse circumstances, 
 courage will do much for a man. If, in the pursuit 
 of knowledge, fortune seems to frown upon your 
 way, take courage, and the shadows will lift before a 
 resolutely formed purpose, and let the light through. 
 Be diligent, and get all that is within your power I 
 Negbct no means of acquiring information, or of 
 securing wholesome discipline of mind ! Because 
 you have not all you desire, sit not with folded 
 hands saying you will have nothing! "When diffi- 
 culties irritate and perplex, and discouragements 
 thicken around you, do not retreat, with the excuse 
 that there is a lion in the way I Do not set out in 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 217 
 
 Majesty of life. James "Watt 
 
 the noble enterprise, and then lay down in your own 
 tracks ! 
 
 To the youthful aspirant of to-day, who is willing 
 to take so humble a sentiment as labor for his watch- 
 word, there are noble examples to cheer him among 
 the great names of the past. Some of the brightest 
 lights that have adorned the generations in which 
 they lived, and have led the way wherever they have 
 appeared, are those who have been obliged to trust 
 to their own hands for maintenance and aid. With 
 strong wills and trusting hearts, their lives have ex- 
 hibited that majesty which action, steady, noble, suc- 
 cessful, alone can give. 
 
 James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, was 
 in early life a toiling mechanic in indigent circum- 
 stances. He was employed by the university to re- 
 pair, and keep in order, the apparatus used in illus- 
 trating the principles of natural philosophy and 
 chemistry. Had he been like many mechanics, he 
 would have been content with doing the work as- 
 signed, receiving his pay, and then smoking and 
 drinking a portion of it, with such companions as he 
 could induce to join him in the nearest saloon. But 
 his mind, lit up with thought, was busy in inquiring 
 into those laws which the apparatus he was employed 
 to repair was designed to illustrate ; and the think- 
 ing of that one man has performed more actual la- 
 
 10 
 
218 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Nathaniel Bowditch. Cambridge commencement. Mechaniqae Celeste. 
 
 bor than all the slaves that have toiled and sweat 
 since creation. The thinking of that man has revo- 
 lutionized modern society, and unborn generations 
 will rise up to bless his name. 
 
 Nathaniel Bowditch was a Boston sailor boy, and 
 spent the greater portion of his years as a practical 
 sailor. He had no instructor, and no opportunities 
 for study, except such as the deck or the cabin of his 
 vessel could afford. On one occasion, it was wind- 
 bound for a week in Boston harbor. On commence- 
 ment day at the university, he walked over to Cam- 
 bridge to hear the performance. At the close the 
 president conferred some honorary titles, and among 
 them he thought he heard the degree of A. M. con- 
 ferred on Nathaniel Bowditch. He was not mis- 
 taken. They indeed gave their degrees to the sailor, 
 and well they might, for he was writing books which 
 scarcely one of the faculty of the university could 
 understand. The Practical Navigator, which was 
 the result of his studies, has carried many a sailor 
 through the storms and darkness of a tempestuous 
 ocean, and has guided him safely over unknown 
 seas. He translated the Mechanique Celeste of La 
 Place, made corrections in the original, and added 
 notes of his own, which caused the author to confess 
 that he was convinced that Bowditch fully compre- 
 hended his work. He died lamented as the man, the 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 219 
 
 " Elihu Burritt.. 
 
 Christian, and the first mathematical scholar of his 
 age. 
 
 Elihu Burritt, the linguist, antiquary, and philan- 
 thropist, was left fatherless when a youth, in com- 
 pany with a numerous family of children, dependent 
 upon their own exertions for support. He appren- 
 ticed himself to a blacksmith. But his mind was not 
 satisfied with blowing bellows, turning his iron, and 
 pounding it into shapes desired. He had, previous 
 to this, acquired considerable knowledge of history 
 from the school district library. It would be a con- 
 summation devoutly to be wished, I may remark by 
 the way, if the authorities of this State could adopt 
 some means of public policy by which every school 
 district should be provided with a library. He was 
 seized with a desire of learning Latin ; and while the 
 iron was heating, with his book secured in the chim- 
 ney, where the page could meet his eye, he conned 
 the declensions and acquired the rudiments of that 
 great language, and in the evenings of one winter he 
 read Virgil, that masterpiece of Latin poetry. From 
 Latin he passed to Greek, then to the modern lan- 
 guages, and finally back again to the oriental tongues. 
 And thus with no aid but his own right hand, and 
 with no teacher but his untiring mind, he has ac- 
 quired a knowledge of upwards of fifty of the lead- 
 ing languages of the earth, and has earned a world- 
 
220 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Fifty-two languages. Franklin. 
 
 wide reputation as the " Learned Blacksmith." I 
 have seen in the Antiquarian Hall in Worcester, 
 Massachusetts, writing done by him in fifty-two lan- 
 guages. "When a scholar at the preparatory school, 
 just commencing my classical education, I used fre- 
 quently to meet him upon the streets of that city, 
 and I never gazed upon that massive front, but with 
 the veneration of a worshiper. 
 
 Need I mention in this connection a name which 
 has become a household word, the cherished and 
 honored name of Franklin. Thrown upon the mer- 
 cies of the world while yet a boy, with no opportuni- 
 ties for school education, it is like listening to a fairy 
 tale, to read the simple narrative of his life as he 
 tells it himself. "We are carried along with magic 
 interest, as the panorama of his years passes by. 
 "We see him enter the printing office as an apprentice 
 the wearisome days and sleepless nights at his 
 books. "We accompany the youth as he leaves his 
 native city, on that then perilous voyage from Bos- 
 ton to Philadelphia, wandering from his home a 
 stranger, without friends, except such as by his in- 
 telligence and kindness, he never failed to make. 
 We behold him an awkward boy, wandering up the 
 streets of a strange city, with his three rolls of bread, 
 one under each arm, eating at the third. This was 
 indeed the day of small things, but he did not de- 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 221 
 
 Gold-pointed kite. British Honse of Lords. 
 
 spise it. He is deluded across the ocean by the false 
 promises of a knavish governor. He teaches the 
 London printers temperance by his example, and 
 philosophy with his tongue. He becomes the pro- 
 prietor of a printing establishment, and edits a news- 
 paper ; nor is he now ashamed of labor, for he car- 
 ries the paper from the warehouse to the office upon 
 a wheelbarrow, pushing with his own hands. He 
 becomes a master spirit in literature, and penetrates 
 the intricacies of science. He sends his gold-pointed 
 kite into the heavens with the simplicity and con- 
 fidence of a child he holds out his hand to receive it, 
 and the forked lightning lays harmless at his feet. 
 Step by step he steadily mounts the heights of fame. 
 It was no flashing meteoric light that dashes athwart 
 the heavens, which he sent forth in the domain of 
 thought, but the warm, steady, genial rays of the 
 summer's sun. "When the colonies became involved 
 in trouble with the parent country, and storms and 
 darkness seemed gathering in the political heavens, 
 the intelligence of America pointed to the humble 
 and self-taught Franklin as their safest counselor, 
 and we find him at the bar of the British House of 
 Lords, pleading for the interests of those weak and 
 struggling colonies, the objects of his affection, and 
 advising an infatuated ministry not to proceed to 
 violence against his American brethren. He joins 
 
222 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Court of Louis XVI. Effects of labor. 
 
 hands with the Father of his Country, and those other 
 patriots, in making and securing the adoption of a 
 constitution for the independent United States. In 
 his age he goes, the venerable man with sage white 
 locks and thoughtful brow, to represent a sovereign 
 nation at the court of France, there to mingle with 
 the wise men and philosophers of that land of letters, 
 and to stand in presence of Louis XYL, the proudest 
 monarch of his age. 
 
 Such are the examples which the history of our 
 nation offers for the encouragement and guidance of 
 the present rising generation. If we turn to the ac- 
 count of their lives, we can easily discover what les- 
 sons of wisdom they early took. The course was 
 simple, for they were not widely different from other 
 boys, except so far as their energy made them, and 
 their opportunities were less than what most enjoy. 
 They did not despise labor. Labor was the potent 
 spell that transformed their leisure moments into 
 golden thoughts. Labor excited their childish facul- 
 ties and strengthened the fiber of their minds, as the 
 sapling oak is strengthened by the winds and storms 
 of successive winters. Labor brought them into com- 
 munion with the great scholars of near and distant 
 ages, and enabled them to think the thoughts that 
 wearied their brains. Labor made the taste of books 
 sweet to them, as the toil of the husbandman makes 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 223 
 
 Fruits of labor. Lays grievous burdens. Presents it with a balm. 
 
 him relish food. Labor presented them with such 
 rich and golden fruits as encouraged and beckoned 
 them on. She opened before them long vistas of 
 glory and honor, and pointed them to the distant 
 goal. Labor indeed lays grievous burdens upon the 
 back of her devotee ; but she nerves him at every 
 step with a vigor and an enthusiasm which makes 
 the burden light, and leads him on through sylvan 
 scenes and lovely lawns, where at every step the 
 senses are regaled with pleasant sounds and delicious 
 odors. She racks the brain and strains the sinews 
 of the mind, but she in turn presents it with a balm 
 which makes it oblivious to every ache ; for who 
 does not forget the pains of study, and the weariness 
 of thought, when he knows that he has been a victor 
 in the fields of knowledge ? Oh ! never will he for- 
 get, who has sounded all the depths of science, the 
 ecstatic joy which thrills the soul, as some thought 
 sublime, or beautiful, or profound, breaks in upon 
 the mind. There are the pleasures of sense. The 
 palate may be gratified with the delicacies of the 
 table gathered from many a clime. The ear may be 
 thrilled by the melodies of the minstrel's harp. The 
 zephyrs of evening may cool the moistened brow, or 
 the fragrant breathing morn may gladden the early 
 riser, and the eye may feast on pleasant sights. But 
 these pleasures are small in comparison with those 
 
224 THE MEANS AND 
 
 An error. Let us be done with schools and colleges. 
 
 which fill the bosom of him who is an honest wor- 
 shiper at the shrine of knowledge. 
 
 These illustrious examples to which I have re- 
 ferred, are for the encouragement and instruction of 
 us all. But in our admiration of their great ac- 
 quirements and brilliant success, there is one error 
 respecting them to which some may be liable. It 
 may be hastily concluded, if self-taught men can at- 
 tain to such preeminence in knowledge, let us be 
 done with schools and colleges. Let us depend up- 
 on self-educated men entirely. "We need no better. 
 If all were like Franklin, and Bowditch, and Watt, 
 such reasoning might be accepted. "We say that 
 these men had no teachers. This is not true. They 
 had teachers, and those of the very best kind. They 
 were their own teachers. And who would not have 
 rejoiced to have been a pupil under such instruc- 
 tors? "Who would not have delighted in learning 
 philosophy of Franklin, or mathematics of Bowditch, 
 or languages of Burritt? Our academies and col- 
 leges were not good enough for them. They were 
 in advance of the universities. The wisest professors 
 could not teach them. But if the mass of mankind 
 were to depend upon such instruction as each could 
 give himself, education would meet with a signal de- 
 feat. 
 
 It is true that Elihu Burritt possessed a mind and 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 225 
 
 Franklin's plan of a State University. 
 
 a will sufficiently strong to enable him to conquer 
 the dry and intricate details of the dead languages, 
 during the leisure moments snatched from incessant 
 toil, and to become a finished classical scholar while 
 working eight hours a day at the anvil. But if we 
 were to search the whole earth, we could not proba- 
 bly find in his generation an example of so much 
 energy and self-sacrificing zeal. It is doubtful 
 whether he would himself have become such an 
 eminent scholar, had he not observed the respect 
 which is paid to the great minds of every age, and 
 been incited to exertion by knowing the results, the 
 fruits, which education produces. So that it is prob- 
 able that liberal culture was the means indirectly 
 of making him a scholar. But if we were to depend 
 upon such means for universal education, the great 
 mass of mankind would soon lapse into a state of 
 intellectual night, worse than that which brooded 
 over the dark ages. 
 
 Perhaps no man is oftener quoted as a leading ex- 
 ample of a self-taught man than Franklin ; and yet 
 he was one of the strongest advocates of common 
 school and collegiate education. In a plan which he 
 drew up for the establishment of a State university, 
 he speaks in the strongest language of the impor- 
 tance of a classical and scientific education. " When 
 
 youth are told," says he, " that the great men whose 
 
 10* 
 
226 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Studies for each of the professions. 
 
 lives and actions they read in history, spoke two of 
 the best languages that ever were, the most expres- 
 sive, copious, beautiful, and that the finest writings, 
 the most correct compositions, the most perfect pro- 
 ductions of human wit and wisdom, are in those 
 languages, which have endured for ages and will en- 
 dure while there are men ; that no translation can 
 do them justice or give the pleasure found in read- 
 ing the originals ; that those languages contain all 
 sciences ; that one of them is become almost univer- 
 sal, being the language of learned men in all coun- 
 tries ; and that to understand them is a distinguished 
 ornament they may be thereby made desirous of 
 learning those languages, and their industry sharp- 
 ened in the acquisition of them. All intended for 
 divinity should be taught the Latin and Greek ; for 
 physic, Latin, Greek, and French ; merchants, the 
 French, German, and Spanish ; and though all 
 should not be compelled to learn Latin, Greek, or 
 the modern foreign languages, yet none that have an 
 ardent desire to learn them should be refused ; their 
 English, arithmetic, and other studies absolutely nec- 
 essary, being at the same time not neglected." Such 
 was the language of the self-taught Franklin upon 
 the subject of liberal education ; and much of the 
 latter part of his life was spent in devising plans for 
 the systematic and thorough training of the young. 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 227 
 
 Columbus. Leverrier and Adams. Dr. GalL 
 
 In conclusion, we may remark that a cultivated 
 mind will always command respect. It is the think- 
 ing man that takes the lead in society, whether he 
 hail from college, from work-shop, or from tented 
 field. Intelligence everywhere challenges our rev- 
 erence. It has been somewhere remarked, that we 
 should honor Columbus not so much because he dis- 
 covered America, as for having thought through the 
 problem that there was in existence a continent here- 
 tofore undiscovered which he could go in search of. 
 We honor Leverrier and Adams because they figured 
 out, by means of mathematical principles, that place 
 in the heavens where a new planet could be found, 
 more than Dr. Gall, who actually turned his telescope 
 to the spangled vault and discovered the wandering 
 world. Our reverence and gratitude are due to James 
 "Watt, not because he actually made a steam engine 
 and put it in operation, but because he thought out a 
 plan by which a steam engine could be made. We 
 should ever be ready to give credit to him whose 
 thoughts are most valuable, and who thinks most 
 successfully. The day is past when men are held 
 in honor for what they are presumed to know, and 
 are only accredited with the amount of available 
 stock. 
 
 It is when such principles as these prevail that real 
 merit receives that encouragement and credit which 
 
228 THE MEANS AND 
 
 Our Common Schools. Eally around them. 
 
 it deserves; when thought is unfettered and is free 
 from embarrassing restraint, whether imposed by 
 arbitrary rule, or the forms and usages of an aristoc- 
 racy in letters, that the mass of intelligence in a na- 
 tion will produce its greatest results. It is then that 
 every means adopted for mental development will 
 meet with the greatest success. No step has ever 
 been taken by any nation, which is calculated to ac- 
 complish this result so successfully, as that for the 
 founding and putting in operation a system of com- 
 mon schools, one of the distinguishing character- 
 istics of our civil polity. Here all the children of 
 the State are put on a common level. Every form of 
 aristocracy is broken down, and the utmost freedom 
 is given to every child to make the greatest progress 
 possible. Around our common schools all good and 
 true men should rally, and every means which can 
 improve and perfect the system, should be freely lav- 
 ished upon it. It is only when made worthy the 
 confidence of all interested that it will accomplish 
 the greatest good. In general, the means that have 
 been adopted, are, as systems, well adapted to the 
 ends they are designed to accomplish. But the 
 chief trouble is, they have not been put into effective 
 operation. Our plans are good upon the statute 
 book and in the laws of the corporation, but we 
 fail in the skill necessary to make them work well. 
 
ENDS OF EDUCATION. 229 
 
 Disciples of Bacon indeed. 
 
 It is only when our combined organizations in all 
 their parts, from the primary department up through 
 the academy and college, to the university with its 
 professional schools, are made thorough and effective, 
 that they can produce satisfactory results, and that 
 the scholar who shares their benefits can become truly 
 learned. At every step of the progress ripe scholar- 
 ship should be the motto. Then should we behold 
 the lovely sight of education bearing rich fruits, and 
 the votary of learning would become the disciple of 
 Bacon indeed. 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 IT is with feelings of sincere pleasure that I come 
 to meet with an association of teachers, and with 
 citizens and friends anxious to promote the cause 
 of education. You are engaged in a noble enter^ 
 prise, one which can not fail to enlist the sympathies 
 of every generous bosom ; and although your Insti- 
 tute is in its infancy, you will be certain of produc- 
 ing good ; for if you fail to impart to those around 
 you that spirit which you possess, you will at least 
 strengthen your own aspirations, and nourish in 
 your bosoms a yearning for improvement and ex- 
 cellence, which is one of the fundamental conditions 
 of success. It is a source of consolation to feel that 
 one is aiding in the improvement of the race ; that 
 he is doing something to dispel the darkness of ig- 
 norance, even if he holds up but a feeble taper. 
 
 One of the means of pleasure and pastime among 
 the ancient Greeks was the Bacchanalia. These 
 were feasts in honor of Bacchus, the god of wine, 
 and were extremely popular throughout all Greece. 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 231 
 
 Ancient Bacchanalia. Modern Bacchanalia. 
 
 Men and women joined in his festivals, with their 
 heads wreathed with vine and ivj, with fawn skins 
 flung about their shoulders, and blunt spears, twined 
 with vines, in their hands. Dressed in these gro- 
 tesque habiliments they gave way to riotous revelry. 
 They sometimes wore the most indecent emblems, 
 they beat upon drums and sang lewd songs, and 
 thus they sought amid these frantic revels for plea- 
 sure and enjoyment. 
 
 In our own times, we have Bacchanalia, though 
 with less of poetry and aesthetic emblems than the 
 ancient. "We have not the vine leaves, nor the fawn 
 skins, nor the thyrsi. The scenes of our Bacchana- 
 lia are the breweries, the groceries, the country tav- 
 erns ; and instead of the juice of the vine we have 
 the juice of the barley, the corn, and the old rye. 
 Many of the rising generation among us, young 
 men at that period of life which is the bloom of 
 manhood, when the character is becoming estab- 
 lished, and those opinions formed which are to give 
 them influence among men, and by which an esti- 
 mate of their abilities is made, seek for the highest 
 pleasure and gratification which they are capable of 
 feeling, in some dingy saloon, on the floor of which 
 has been splashed from year to year the juice of that 
 filthy weed, ground and soaked in filthier mouths, 
 whose vapors mingle with the thick volumes of 
 
232 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Pleasures of the libertine. Intellectual pleasure. 
 
 smoke that curl about their heads, and with the 
 breath of human beings from lungs steeped in the 
 fiery poison of copperas and logwood, and nameless 
 drugs, more resembling in its conglomerate quali- 
 ties the deadly airs that arose from the fabled lake 
 Maeotis, the Stygian wave, or the fumes of hell fire, 
 than that sweet and pleasant atmosphere which mor- 
 tals ought to breathe, surrounded by companions 
 whose foul-mouthed conversation is in keeping with 
 the filthiness by which they are encircled, who are 
 satisfied with this enjoyment, and are waiting to re- 
 new it during the long winter evenings of the season. 
 And this is pleasure ! Without one ray of intellect- 
 ual light, without one generous aspiration for im- 
 provement, they are willing to give themselves up 
 a prey to the passions and the appetites, and degrade 
 themselves to a condition worse than that of the 
 brutes. 
 
 I rejoice that I am permitted to meet here with 
 those who have a higher notion of pleasure, who 
 are actuated by a nobler purpose, who are stimu- 
 lated to the attainment of a more exalted end. I 
 rejoice that I am brought into sympathy with those 
 who can find pleasure in intellectual pursuits. How 
 noble I how generous ! how philanthropic the pur- 
 pose for which you associate. It is not sensual 
 gratification that has called you here, but you have 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 233 
 
 Labor of the philanthropist. That of the teacher. 
 
 come to mingle in earnest inquiry for the elevation 
 and improvement of our common schools. You 
 have come to impart each to the other the fruits 
 of your own experience, to detail the plans which 
 have proved successful in arousing and energizing 
 the faculties of the youth under your charge, to 
 speak words of cheer and encouragement to those 
 whose faith is weak, and who are ready to falter by 
 the way. 
 
 We pour out lavishly the meed of sympathy and 
 praise to the philanthropist, who directly alleviates 
 human suffering and woe, who goes forth in a cru- 
 sade against misery and crime. Such a purpose is 
 indeed noble and generous. But he deals only with 
 our physical natures. He labors to relieve us of the 
 wants and distresses of the body, this mortal frame 
 which will soon crumble into dust. You have to 
 do with the mind, the intellect. You are laboring 
 to relieve the wants, and poverty, and nakedness of 
 the immortal spirit, to awaken within it new ener- 
 gies, to prepare it to battle successfully with igno- 
 rance and folly. 
 
 It is this business of education, of Popular Edu- 
 cation, upon which I propose to speak. Education, 
 the development of the faculties, the acquirement of 
 knowledge, must always depend upon two facts : 
 First, that all our perceptions either come directly or 
 
234 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Education dependent on two facts. 
 
 are suggested by the operation of external objects 
 upon the five senses; and, second, it must depend 
 upon the mind itself whether the impressions are con- 
 verted into permanent knowledge. There are these 
 two stand-points from which education should be 
 viewed. There is the process of reception and as- 
 similation. The basis of all learning is upon these 
 two conditions. We may force the elements of 
 knowledge upon the mind as long as we please, 
 but if there is not the power or the disposition to 
 assimilate that knowledge, and make it a part of the 
 mental energy and being, its presentation is useless 
 and our efforts are vain. Nay, more, it is like the 
 crude and indigestible food which is taken into the 
 stomach, which not only fails to nourish, and is not 
 used by the vital energies, but throws us into pain 
 and convulsions. 
 
 Hence, in adopting a system of education, we 
 should study not only the best means of presenting 
 the elements of knowledge, but also the most suc- 
 cessful methods of arousing the mind, of giving it 
 energy and vivifying power, of leading it forth to 
 seek for itself. There is no high-pressure system by 
 which knowledge can be forced upon the mind if 
 the mind is not prepared to receive it. You may 
 supply the child with the most skillful teachers, you 
 may put into his hands the best prepared text-books, 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 235 
 
 Disposition to learn. Books suited to the capacity. 
 
 but unless the faculties are alive, unless there is 
 something of intellectual hunger jour efforts will be 
 vain. 
 
 We often see, where the faculties are crowded be- 
 yond what their age or capacity will bear, that they 
 become surfeited, and that quickness and readiness 
 which was observed at an earlier period is gone and 
 can never be reproduced. We observe in childhood 
 that " Mother Goose Melodies" and stories told in a 
 very simple style, or united to rhythm and melody 
 are most attractive and can be most easily learned. 
 At a later period the elements of the sciences are 
 understood. At a later period still, when arrived at 
 the age of reflection and reason, of abstraction and 
 generalization, the more complicate principles of the 
 higher mathematics are grappled with and mastered, 
 and the taste for philosophical investigation is de- 
 veloped. If, therefore, the mind at one period is 
 put upon knowledge which is the appropriate ob- 
 ject of another period, instead of conquering it, the 
 mind may itself be conquered by it, and its power 
 and elasticity for ever lost. 
 
 When we consider these two facts which I have 
 named chronologically, we observe that the process 
 of reception must precede that of assimilation. But 
 when we examine them in their logical order we see 
 that the reverse is true ; that the mental energy, the 
 
236 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Logical order. Popular ignorance. 
 
 disposition to learn must exist anterior to the recep- 
 tion of ideas. I therefore propose to treat the sub- 
 ject in its logical order. 
 
 Let us then first consider this fundamental re- 
 quisite of knowledge, the disposition. "When we look 
 abroad upon mankind and observe the various forms 
 of popular ignorance, we can not but be filled with 
 feelings of sadness in view of the general degraded 
 condition of the race. What a vast proportion of all 
 who are created are content to go through life igno- 
 rant of almost every thing, except the few notions 
 which pertain to us as animal beings ! How large 
 a number, especially in the old world, are compelled 
 by the constitution of society to toil on day after day, 
 till the grave closes over them and relieves their 
 strained and aching sinews, for the morsel they eat 
 and the rags they wear! And yet, when we con- 
 sider ignorance even in its worst forms, when we 
 think of this dark veil which envelops the greater 
 portion of the race, are we not arrested with the 
 thought that there is in man the ability, if there 
 were the disposition, to know more and rise higher; 
 that there is a spark now buried that might be 
 fanned into a flame to give life and vivacity to the 
 energies? How many are there who have abso- 
 lutely no thoughts above the dead level of the ani- 
 mal nature, in whom, if some elements of knowledge, 
 
POPULAE EDUCATION. 237 
 
 Mind aroused. Course of folly. The rivulet. 
 
 some facts concerning the simplest phenomena we 
 meet could be divulged in youth, it would awaken 
 inquiry and set the mind in motion ; and those facts 
 recurring, even during the periods of incessant toil, 
 would be the means of suggesting other and original 
 knowledge, the product of the naked intellect itself ; 
 and thus step by step would they ascend in the scale 
 of intelligence. 
 
 How many do we meet whose minds have been 
 aroused and who have a purpose, but who have been 
 aroused by the word or deed of some base compan- 
 ion, and are sinking lower in ignorance instead of 
 advancing higher ; who are intent only upon revelry 
 and dissipation ; who, by passion and appetite un- 
 restrained, are blotting out the human shape divine ; 
 but who, if there had been awakened early, when 
 the mind was fresh and pure as the opening blos- 
 som, some aspiration for mental development which 
 should act as an impetus, might have made com- 
 mendable progress in knowledge. We do not know 
 how slight a circumstance may set in motion a train 
 of events which shall decide the career of the man. 
 Like the rivulet upon the top of the mountain, a 
 twig, or bush, or the footprint of an animal may 
 turn it on the one hand where it will descend gently 
 through fresh pastures, bright sunny plots, and rich ' 
 meadows, irrigating and gladdening as it goes ; or on 
 
238 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 No progress without desire. 
 
 the other, will divert it where rocks and barrenness 
 hurl it in devious ways, until it is finally lost deep 
 down amid the caverns and darkness of the moun- 
 tain. How many there are about us who actually 
 squander the time and opportunities in their pos- 
 session, and permit the faculties given them to rust 
 out in absolute idleness and inanity ; who sleep and 
 loll upon sofas one half of their time at least, and 
 spend the remainder in small talk and belittleing 
 thoughts ; who by a judicious direction of youthful 
 energy, might, instead of being dwarfs and pigmies, 
 advance to the proportions of generous and thinking 
 manhood. 
 
 In considering that part of our subject which re- 
 lates to the disposition of mind, we perceive that the 
 spirit of man can never make progress in any direc- 
 tion until there is a desire. One does not become a 
 libertine or a debauchee until he begins to satisfy 
 his tastes for those things which make one ; until he 
 sees something in that course of life that gratifies his 
 wishes, and is ready to put forth effort to satisfy 
 them. On the contrary, a man can never become 
 eminent for virtue until he loves the character of 
 those who practice it; until his imagination is ex- 
 cited in admiration of goodness, and he has en- 
 kindled in his bosom a desire to possess it. At 
 the foundation of every successful system of edu- 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 239 
 
 Thirst for knowledge. The rustic lad. 
 
 cation there must be created a thirst for knowl- 
 edge ; there must be a taste for intellectual pur- 
 suits, a sense of the dignity and influence of mental 
 culture. 
 
 Many years ago, a rustic lad, in a remote town in 
 Scotland, was sent to the metropolis with a message 
 to a man of letters. He had been bred in obscurity, 
 had rarely visited the village, and had never seen a 
 city, with its mansions, and stately edifices, and pub- 
 lic grounds with walks and fountains. His lot had 
 been one of want and poverty, his clothes home- 
 spun, his fare coarse. He had known nothing of in- 
 tellectual improvement, for he had been blessed with 
 no intellectual advantages, and had heard only the 
 coarse and vulgar talk of unlettered and ill-bred 
 husbandmen. He was ushered into the study of 
 the nobleman. He saw rare paintings and marble 
 sculptures of renowned men, his papers and man- 
 uscripts, his books and charts. The scenes were 
 novel ; his heart heaved with new-born emotions ; 
 he secretly vowed that the splendid equipage of the 
 scholar should one day be his. 
 
 The boy returned to his obscure habitation, bat 
 the beautiful vision went with him. His mind had 
 received an impulse, a new desire was in his heart. 
 With irrepressible energy of soul he toils on, anxious- 
 ly waiting for that day to come when he shall be free 
 
240 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 His vision realized. Lesson taught. Idea of utility. 
 
 from parental obligations, shall have the command 
 of his own resources, and be at liberty to direct them 
 to what end he pleases. During the long and weary 
 day the bright vision is before him. His faculties 
 are all awake, and he reasons out many a process 
 before he reads it in any book. The youth grows to 
 be a man, he obtains public consideration, he sits 
 in Parliament, he becomes a peer of the realm, 
 he possesses a mansion and pleasure grounds, he 
 collects a library and paintings finer than he had 
 dreamed in his most sanguine hour. His vision 
 was realized, his youthful desire was satisfied. 
 
 From an incident like this we learn a principle of 
 human nature. The life of a single individual is in 
 some sort an index of a propensity of the race ; and 
 we may derive therefrom truthful lessons which are 
 of universal application, and which may save us 
 much speculation and theorizing, and tedious exper- 
 iment. It, is not our first purpose to impose tasks, 
 and to insist upon a rigid and exact verbal perform- 
 ance of them, as we would teach a brute governed by 
 instinct ; but it is our primary object to create a de- 
 sire, so that the youth may approach the task with 
 a true idea of its utility, with a manly resolution, 
 and 
 
 " not like the quarry-slave at night 
 
 Scourged to his dungeon." 
 
POPULAE EDUCATION. 241 
 
 Irresolution. Friends of the French officer. 
 
 If this desire for improvement be united with a res- 
 olute purpose that will not be daunted or repressed, 
 it will necessarily result in progress, in noble at- 
 tainments. Without this latter element, the rich- 
 est powers of mind are useless. Many a youth has 
 formed the desire, and has looked with a wishful eye 
 towards that eminence where stand the good and 
 great of all ages and climes, but has not possessed 
 resolution enough to take the first step toward reach- 
 ing it. There have probably been many good poems 
 planned, and a few lines of the first cantos written. 
 Visions as grand and lofty as ever filled the poet's 
 eye have flitted in the fancy, but the poet's pen has 
 never turned them to shapes, and he dies, leaving 
 Milton still in the clear upper sky. The plea of the 
 eloquent advocate, in a cause that cries for justice, 
 has perhaps awakened in him a desire and a reso- 
 lutely formed purpose to promote its ends with tran- 
 scendant abilities. But he has formed a thousand 
 purposes with equal resolution, and not one of them 
 has ever been carried to its completion, and this one 
 likewise shares their fate. Many have desired to 
 be like Moses, leaders of the people. They think 
 very favorably of their own fitness for such a posi- 
 tion, and of their own superior skill to manage and 
 direct, but they neglect to do any deed which will 
 
 manifest their ability. The friends of a certain 
 
 11 
 
242 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Reply of Napoleon. " Makes no sign." 
 
 French officer besought Napoleon to confer on him 
 the marshal's baton. Napoleon asked them what he 
 had ever done. They replied that he had never yet 
 done any thing, but that he had great ability, and 
 they thought that he would one day do some noble 
 deed. " Well," said Napoleon, " wait till he does." 
 
 The mind of youth is not easily brought under con- 
 trol. It has a disposition to wander. Until strict 
 habits are formed, he finds a feeling of indolence 
 preying upon all his plans for improvement. Hav- 
 ing the desire to press forward and having given his 
 time to the work, he feels ashamed to squander it, 
 even if he is held accountable to no one. But how 
 ready he is to abandon his tasks on the slightest 
 pretext, and for the most trivial excuse that will ac- 
 quit him before the tribunal of self. Thus he fritters 
 away the precious hours. He is very exact about 
 the performance of minor duties. He is kind and 
 obsequious to friends, but he leaves undone the great 
 duties of life, and he dies and " makes no sign." 
 
 We have thus far considered the temper of mind 
 which must exist in the learner, in order that what 
 has been taught him may become permanent knowl- 
 edge. We come now to treat the second division of 
 our subject, which embraces the various methods 
 of presenting knowledge to the pupil. The means 
 which have been adopted in this country, for the 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 243 
 
 Pilgrim Fathers. 
 
 general diffusion of knowledge, whether from public 
 provision, or from private munificence, have in gen- 
 eral been crowned with flattering success. "We have 
 the advantage of the experience of all other nations. 
 "We are trying the latest experiment in civilization, 
 with a new model of government. To those ideas 
 which we gain from abroad, we add our own reflec- 
 tions and digest our systems. To some of those 
 means of communicating knowledge which have 
 been adopted among us, I shall now allude. 
 
 Of the first importance are our common schools. 
 To these, the populace as well as the higher classes, 
 are deeply indebted for whatever of education they 
 possess. When the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plym- 
 outh Rock, they raised their voices in thanksgiving 
 to Grod for their deliverance from persecution and the 
 dangers of the ocean, and erected a church in which 
 they might worship Him. But, hard by the village 
 church they built the school-house and established 
 the village school. Their primary devotion was to 
 the worship of God, their secondary to the education 
 of their children. To our Pilgrim Fathers belongs 
 the honor of first having established by the laws of 
 the State these two principles, that each man should 
 worship how, when, and whom he pleased, without 
 compulsion or restraint, and pay no taxes to support 
 a ministry except such as he should impose upon 
 
244 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Roger Williams. Scholars of antiquity. 
 
 himself; and, second, that all the children of the 
 State should be educated at the public expense. For 
 the former of these we are indebted to Eoger "Wil- 
 liams and the State of Khode Island ; for the latter to 
 the early settlers of Massachusetts. Never before 
 had these two principles been promulgated by any 
 nation upon earth. 
 
 There were indeed schools and systems of educa- 
 tion in the States of antiquity. There were men in 
 those times, who possessed as much mental culture, 
 and as great scope of thought and political sagacity, 
 as any in our own time. Pericles was as fine an 
 orator and consummate a statesman as was Burke or 
 the younger Pitt. Cicero was as able a lawyer and 
 as accomplished a rhetorician as our own "Webster. 
 But while there were a few who possessed the means 
 of prosecuting their studies in the celebrated schools 
 of those days, of becoming finished scholars, and who 
 uttered thoughts that have withstood the shock oi 
 upwards of twenty centuries, and that are now stud- 
 ied and admired as the choicest productions of the 
 human mind, there was a vast populace who lived 
 and died in ignorance, fit instruments of universal 
 slavery and vassalage. The pupils of Socrates and 
 Plato could loiter in the groves of the Academy, and 
 about the porches of the temples ; but a great major- 
 ity of the nation must sweat and labor on during the 
 
POPULAK EDUCATION. 245 
 
 Value of every human soul. 
 
 long day, blessing the night which relieved them of 
 toil ; and little cared the philosopher and statesman 
 how helots lived, or how helots died. 
 
 But when the Pilgrim Fathers came to these shores, 
 they brought with them an overwhelming sense of 
 religious obligation. They took the Bible as their 
 counsel and guide, and in accordance with that gos- 
 pel which Jesus Christ came upon earth to promul- 
 gate, they looked upon every human being as of in- 
 estimable worth. Actuated by those principles and 
 motives which are there displayed, they held fellow- 
 ship with every human soul* as an image of the di- 
 vine being, freighted with immortal hopes, and des- 
 tined to endless existence like themselves. The idea 
 that the child of the rich man was better than that of 
 the poor found no place in their code. Hence they 
 enacted, among their first laws, that every child 
 should be educated at the public expense, in a com- 
 mon school, where the rich and the poor, the high 
 and the low, should share in common privileges, and 
 where the only insignia of rank should be worn by 
 
 * " Therefore respect humanity in all its members, for in all its 
 members is the divine ray of intelligence, and there is an essential 
 confraternity in the unity of the fundamental ideas which the most 
 immediate development of reason produces." History of Modern Phi- 
 , Cousin, vol. i., page 134. 
 
246 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Eqality in the common school. Success of merit. 
 
 him who, by devotion to learning, should aspire to 
 the noble qualities of the scholar. 
 
 It is the glory of that system that it draws all 
 classes together and places them upon a common 
 level. It brings the whole collection of minds into 
 collision, and says to them, he alone shall conquer 
 who most nobly strives. There have been objec- 
 tions raised to the system of common schools by 
 those who by wealth or birth feel something of the 
 aristocratic notion. Their children will be contami- 
 nated by contact, and will imbibe the notions of the 
 ignoble throng. It would be equally reasonable to 
 shut a boy up in a tight, warm room, for fear that the 
 damp and cold of the out-door weather would injure 
 his constitution, when everybody knows that if you 
 wish him to be healthy and robust you must let him 
 take the rough and tumble of life, and inhale copious 
 draughts of the fresh, free air, damp and cold though 
 it may be. If children are allowed to imbibe into 
 their mental constitutions the idea that they are bet- 
 ter than other children, if they are taught to draw 
 lines and marks of distinction based upon wealth or 
 birth, they may, in mature years, be convinced by 
 some luckless urchin whom they were encouraged to 
 despise, that they have missed their calculations; 
 that he is the nobleman, and they are the base and 
 ignoble slaves, the slaves to pride and arrogance. 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 247 
 
 Parental restraint. Common school acquaints us with human nature. 
 
 The youth may be kept for a while from mingling 
 with those of his own age, and be educated in the 
 family. But a time will come when parental re- 
 straint must fail. He will go forth and find asso- 
 ciates, and he then will be at that age when imagi- 
 nation is strongest and the passions most impetuous, 
 and when he will have the least power to withstand 
 temptation. He will then be a fit subject for the 
 tempter. Flattered by the attentions of the genteel 
 but wily villain, he falls an easy prey to his deceitful 
 charms. Having been taught to hold in contempt 
 those beneath him in rank, and never having en- 
 gaged in tussles of physical and intellectual strength, 
 he has no experience for estimating his powers, and 
 is by no means so well prepared to act manfully his 
 part in life as one, who, from infancy has joined in 
 friendly strife with those with whom he will necessa- 
 rily mingle in after years, either as his equals in abil- 
 ity and influence, or as the objects of his regard and 
 charity. 
 
 The common school acquaints us with human na- 
 ture. He who has passed through the several grades 
 knows something of what he is to expect of man- 
 kind when he enters upon the active duties of life. 
 In general, the motives which actuate boys will ac- 
 tuate men, and he shapes his course in his dealings 
 with the latter, according to his experiencewith the 
 
 : 
 
248 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Its success. France and Spain. 
 
 former. It has a tendency also to break up those 
 artificial lines and distinctions* in society which are 
 its bane ; lines and distinctions which may exist in 
 other countries, and be permanent when upheld by 
 despotic power and the force of custom, but which, 
 in our country, can last only for a generation or 
 two at most, and which have no value founded upon 
 right. 
 
 The common school is the offspring of this nation 
 and of our fathers. The wisdom of the institution may 
 be seen in the general diffusion of knowledge among 
 us, in the success which has attended our elective 
 form of government, and the progress which is seen 
 in every branch of art and industry. Why do we 
 so often hear it remarked that France and Spain, 
 and those other nations of Europe, are not prepared 
 
 * "One invaluable merit of out-door sports is to be found in this, 
 that they afford the best cement for childish friendship. Their asso- 
 ciations outlive all others. There is many a man, now perchance 
 hard and worldly, whom we love to pass in the street simply because 
 in meeting him we meet spring flowers and autumn chestnuts, skates 
 and cricket balls, cherry-birds and pickerel. There is an indescriba- 
 ble fascination in the gradual transference of these childish compan- 
 ionships into maturer relations. We love to encounter, in the contests 
 of manhood, those whom we first met at football, and to follow the 
 profound thoughts of those who always dived deeper, even in the 
 river, than our efforts could attain." Atlantic Monthly, March, 1858, 
 page 589. 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 249 
 
 Foundation of the republic. Improvements. 
 
 for civil liberty? It is because the masses of the 
 people are not educated. The systems of education 
 which prevail there, even to the books and news- 
 papers, are under the control of priest-craft and 
 king-craft, and these well know that the best means 
 of effecting their security is to keep the people in 
 ignorance, or to instruct them in those dogmas 
 which are alike false in theory and damning in 
 practice. Our security and prosperity as a nation 
 must depend upon the excellence of our common 
 schools. If the influence of these is weakened or 
 destroyed we undermine the very foundation of the 
 republic. They are to the body politic what the 
 arteries are to the human system, which convey 
 nourishment to every part, and were these cut off, 
 the heart of the nation would cease to beat. 
 
 Within a few years there have been vast im- 
 provements made in our common schools. Keports 
 of the secretaries of the boards of education and 
 the superintendents of public schools in the several 
 States have been printed and circulated, in which 
 are embodied the statistics, the experience and prog- 
 ress of the year, reflections upon the failure or suc- 
 cess of the various methods adopted, with recom- 
 mendations for the guidance of future efforts, plans 
 for school-houses and cuts of furniture, the best 
 
 methods of heating and ventilation ; and by means 
 
 11* 
 
250 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Teachers' institutes. "Well-being of schools. 
 
 of these a vast amount of reliable information has 
 been circulated among the people. Normal schools 
 have been established, in which teachers have been 
 thoroughly instructed in the theory and practice of 
 teaching, and prepared expressly for their profes- 
 sion. Teachers' conventions and institutes have 
 been held, in which the most eminent teachers and 
 professors have been employed to instruct, and to 
 impart to their brethren the elements of their own 
 success, in some instances being paid by the State 
 for their services, and in others freely giving their 
 time and energies for the promotion of so noble an 
 object. As a consequence school-houses have been 
 vastly improved and furnished for the health and 
 comfort of the students. Apparatus and libraries 
 have been provided, and all the means of advance- 
 ment have been lavished upon the system. 
 
 It is only by, a combination of such means, and 
 by such exertions, that we can derive from it full 
 and legitimate results. We can not look after the 
 interests and well-being of our common schools 
 with too much solicitude. Each man should feel 
 that he has a personal interest in them. His dear- 
 est affections should cling about them as being the 
 nurseries of the thoughts and feelings of his chil- 
 dren. He should look upon the teacher as his 
 friend, laboring for his interests, and should incul- 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 251 
 
 Defend the teacher. Interest in his work. 
 
 cate into the minds of his children confidence and 
 respect for him. He should never countenance in 
 them a spirit of disobedience, and insubordination 
 to wholesome restraint, but be ready to stand by the 
 right, crush out the disposition to rebellion, and 
 never see the teacher misused by those whom he is 
 laboring to improve. 
 
 The teacher on his part should feel that he can not 
 be a drone in a common school. He should not 
 feel that he has come into a neighborhood where 
 he is to assemble with the youth and be a mas- 
 ter over them for six hours a day, and then receive 
 a certain sum of money for his authority. But he 
 ought to realize that the parents of the district are 
 placing confidence in his capacity and virtue, that 
 they are entrusting to his care their children, their 
 dearest and most cherished earthly possessions. 
 They are expecting that he will be to those children 
 a father, and will guide them in the ways of knowl- 
 edge and truth, that he will carefully unfold their 
 youthful faculties, that he will judiciously train and 
 conscientiously correct. He ought to feel that he has 
 a company of human souls from the hand of the 
 Creator entrusted to his care, whose character he is 
 to mould and fashion, and that he is not only respon- 
 sible to those who employ him, but that he will 
 one day be held to an account by the Judge of all 
 
252 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Mutual interest. Books and printed matter. 
 
 the earth for the good or evil which he may have 
 done, as well as for the opportunities for doing good 
 which he has neglected. He ought to feel that the 
 day is not long enough for the accomplishment of the 
 great work entrusted to him, and be willing to make 
 any sacrifice of ease and comfort for their benefit. 
 If such feelings could mutually exist between patrons 
 and scholars, and teachers, we need never despair of 
 the prosperity and ultimate success of the common 
 school. 
 
 The second means for the diffusion of knowledge 
 to which I shall allude, is that of books and printed 
 matter. Since the invention of the art of printing, 
 this method of communication has been regularly in- 
 creasing in power. At no period has that power been 
 so great as at the present, especially in this country. 
 Previous to the invention of the art, there were few 
 books, and those were in the hands of only a few 
 learned men, their possession being a matter of little 
 consequence to the great mass of the people, who had 
 never learned to read. The price of a book was 
 very great, as each copy had to be transcribed with 
 the pen. 
 
 It is with difficulty that we can imagine the con- 
 dition of a great and enlightened nation existing 
 without newspapers. The people of Athens were 
 accustomed to meet in the market-r>lace, where, if 
 
POPULAK EDUCATION. 253 
 
 ** What is the news?" Speeches in Parliament and Congress. 
 
 any thing had happened out of the ordinary course of 
 events, it flew from mouth to mouth until the whole 
 city knew of it. Their own historians tell us that the 
 first question of an Athenian was, " What is the 
 news?" It was no doubt from this anxiety to learn 
 the earliest intelligence of what was passing, and the 
 scene presented by the populace gathering in crowds 
 and knots to learn the particulars of some great 
 event, that Kumor is personified by the Grecian po- 
 ets, and is represented as a sleepless divinity mov- 
 ing amid crowds of people, arousing and exciting 
 their minds. There were some advantages in this 
 method of learning the news over that which we 
 have. Those interested would be likely to hear from 
 all sides of the question ; all the circumstances would 
 be brought out and discussed, and the opinions of 
 leading men would be known. 
 
 By our own method we hear in effect but from one 
 mind, with such coloring and bias as he may see fit 
 to give it, unless we take several papers. Knowl- 
 edge is however more wisely diffused by ours than 
 we could hope to have it by any other. When a 
 speech is made in Parliament at night, the mails of 
 the morning scatter it over the whole kingdom. 
 Not unfrequently is the first portion of a speech de- 
 livered in Congress being read by the people of New 
 York and Boston, while the member is making the 
 
254: POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Facilities for diffusing knowledge. Intellectual vim. 
 
 concluding portion of it. Not a circumstance of 
 note happens, but the newspaper carries intelligence 
 of it to every part of the world. 
 
 The question has been frequently raised, whether 
 our increased facilities for diffusing knowledge, and 
 the consequent increase in printed matter, have made 
 us really more learned than those of ancient nations. 
 If the question be whether we have as many very 
 eminent thinkers, it is an open one, for the best orig- 
 inal thinkers of our time are men of limited general 
 information. Many a boarding-school miss has read 
 more volumes than the best intellectual philosopher 
 in the country. Of course much new knowledge has 
 been added from generation to generation, to our ac- 
 cumulating store, and hence our educated men have 
 a broader and truer basis upon which to found their 
 reasonings and investigations, and may consequently 
 arrive at a greater amount of positive knowledge. 
 Whether this increase of printed matter has aug- 
 mented the mental energy the intellectual vim 
 may be a matter of doubt. But if we consider the 
 aggregate of knowledge, we must decide vastly in 
 favor of our time. Many a school-boy might have 
 instructed Plato or even Locke. 
 
 It is almost needless to observe in this connection, 
 that there is much printed that ought never to meet 
 the eye of youth. To say nothing of that class of 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 255 
 
 Remark of Cnrlyle. Provision of books. Taste developed. 
 
 books which is positively evil in its tendency, which 
 is debasing and demoralizing to the heart, the taste, 
 and the intellect ; many a man would have died bet- 
 ter satisfied with himself, and his heirs infinitely bet- 
 ter pleased, had he committed his manuscripts to the 
 flames instead of the hands of the printer. 
 
 It has been wisely said by Mr. Carlyle, that " the 
 true university of these days is a library of good 
 books." The responsibility which rests upon paients 
 of furnishing suitable books for the family is not 
 generally realized. Many men think the purchase 
 of a book a needless expenditure of money ; be- 
 lieving either that it will not be read, or if it is, 
 that it is thenceforth good for nothing, nay worse 
 than nothing, for it occupies space which might be 
 devoted to some other purpose. 
 
 The history of many a youth, if carefully traced, 
 would teach parents a duty they owe to their chil- 
 dren in providing intellectual food suited to the 
 several stages of mental development. There is 
 manifested in every youth, at some period, an incli- 
 nation to read. If the right kind of matter is not fur- 
 nished when this disposition is developed, that kind 
 may be procured which will act as a poison or a 
 loathsome drug. How many a culprit and degraded 
 villain has dated the beginning of his evil days to the 
 reading of some obscene book, borrowed from a 
 
256 POPULAE EDUCATION. 
 
 Biography and history. The newspaper. 
 
 companion and read stealthily. From its degrading 
 thoughts and pictures, his fancy, full of the impet- 
 uous vigor of youth, has been fired with lust and 
 passion that has only ceased to burn with his ruin. 
 
 Every parent, every farmer, every mechanic and 
 laboring man, ought to provide a few choicely se- 
 lected books, that shall be accessible to the members 
 of his family. If they are not read at one time, 
 they may be at another. If he does not feel capable 
 of selecting them himself, let him apply to some judi- 
 cious friend for aid. Do not buy a book for its fine 
 binding, or because it is recommended by some itin- 
 erant peddler. Better have no books than those 
 which are bad, or even indifferent. The biographies 
 of good and noble men, and histories of interesting 
 periods in human affairs, are the species which will 
 be most attractive and most useful to the young. 
 The first book that I ever read in course was the life 
 of Benjamin Franklin. I read it and re-read it, until 
 I knew it by heart ; and the reading of that one book 
 created within me a thirst for knowledge which I 
 hope wilLnever be quenched. 
 
 It is also necessary that there be provided in every 
 family the means of acquiring accurate knowledge of 
 current events. For this purpose a newspaper, which 
 keeps a faithful record of what is passing in this and 
 foreign countries, should be obtained. If the news- 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 257 
 
 Love story. Public lectures. 
 
 papers of the county fail to furnisli such record, if 
 they pander to a depraved taste if, instead of sup- 
 plying matter which shall encourage a desire for 
 elevated literature and morality, they contain tales 
 of passion improbable as untrue, throw them aside 
 and send to the city for one that shall meet your 
 wants. No journal or periodical is worthy of 
 patronage, that does not commend itself to reason 
 and sober thought, to candid and virtuous intelli- 
 gence. We can never have a high-toned morality 
 and a purified intellectual taste, until the common 
 people, the laboring classes, better understand their 
 duties, and have the inclination, yea, the resolution to 
 perform them. 
 
 I come now to consider the third means for the 
 diffusion of knowledge that of public lectures. This 
 method of imparting instruction has, within a few 
 years past, grown to importance with surpassing ra- 
 pidity. There is scarcely a city or a village of any 
 spirit in the land, that has not during the winter one 
 or more courses of public lectures from eminent men. 
 Lecturing has become a profession. There are many 
 men who make it their business to prepare in the 
 summer a number of well-digested lectures, which 
 they are employed to deliver during the winter. 
 
 There is one advantage in this manner of instruc- 
 tion not possessed by any other. The thinker him- 
 
258 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Effects of lectures . Error of lecturers. 
 
 self comes into the immediate presence of those whom 
 he would instruct. To the thoughts themselves are 
 added the effects of the tones of the voice, and the 
 accompanying look and gesture which constitute a 
 natural language of emotion. The influence which 
 one carefully-prepared lecture, pronounced by a bold, 
 fearless orator may produce, is incalculable. It may 
 set in motion a train of thoughts which will modify 
 or change the tone of life, not only of a single indi- 
 vidual, but of a whole audience. An accomplished 
 public speaker has the power of taking captive the 
 minds of his auditory, and swaying them at will by 
 the force of his inspiration. 
 
 There is one error of lecturers to which I must 
 refer ; it is that of framing the speech so that it may 
 create sensation, to the sacrifice of some leading 
 thought. Pleased with the applause which one 
 stroke of wit has called forth, he determines on the 
 next occasion to out-Kichard Kichard. He therefore 
 prepares a plum-pudding, and puts nothing in but 
 plums. He reasons like the Irishman, who took a 
 pill on retiring at night for some indisposition, 
 and in the morning, finding himself better, con- 
 cluded that if one pill had helped him, a whole box 
 would make him well, and died under the operation. 
 The experiment is a dangerous one, and he who 
 makes it is liable to share the fate of poor Pat. It 
 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 259 
 
 x x . 
 
 Other objects of education. Spirit of Washington. 
 
 should be the object of the lecturer to instruct as well 
 as to please. He should endeavor to create a sound 
 and healthful public taste, rather than stoop to a de- 
 praved one which already exists. He should lead in 
 the right way, rather than be led in the wrong. 
 
 I have thus briefly alluded to a few of the means 
 of education. As you perceive, I have treated only 
 of those which are employed for training the mental 
 faculties. I hope it will not be inferred that this is 
 all that is embraced in the term education. There 
 are the moral sensibilities, the manners, the habits, 
 and all those qualities which unite to form the char- 
 acter of a well-bred person, which are of equal im- 
 portance with the training of the intellectual facul- 
 ties, and which must form a constituent part of every 
 successful system. But this part of my subject I must 
 leave undisturbed. 
 
 These systems of education which were adopted 
 by the fathers of the republic, and which have been 
 developed and improved during subsequent time, 
 have been fruitful of wonders. Under the influence 
 and stimulus of these institutions, our nation has 
 prospered beyond any other on the face of the earth. 
 If the spirit of the sainted Washington could now 
 descend and visit us, could behold the improvement 
 and progress which has been made, and could look 
 through the length and breadth of our land, now 
 
260 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Uphold these institutions. Crime in 1854. 
 
 grown to a giant nation stretching from ocean to 
 ocean, he would hardly believe that this is the de- 
 velopment of those thirteen little colonies whose in- 
 dependence he fought to establish, and whose integ- 
 rity he prayed for and labored to maintain. And 
 who can say that this prosperity and growth would 
 ever have been attained without our educational 
 systems ? It is then the part of wisdom to uphold 
 these institutions. It is our duty to cherish them, 
 and build them up as the instruments of our suc- 
 cess. Where is it that we find most misery and 
 degradation, and fewest of the comforts of life ? It 
 is where there is most ignorance. Where, on the 
 other hand, do we find the greatest prosperity, 
 where do we find those communities that stand in 
 the very first rank, and take the lead in civiliza- 
 tion ? It is in those nooks and corners of the earth 
 where the spirit of education and improvement has 
 taken up her abode, where she is permitted to dwell 
 in peace and honor, and where she is cherished and 
 loved. 
 
 During the year 1854, one hundred and sixty five 
 men were hung in the United States for murder. Of 
 this number only seven could read and write ! What 
 a lesson 1 And will you, parents, neglect to educate 
 your children? Will you allow any opportunities 
 to pass unimproved, to draw out and expand their 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 261 
 
 Hard silver. Fable of the miser. 
 
 youthful faculties, to lift them up into a higher 
 and nobler life, to raise them above the dead level 
 of the beast that creeps, and enable them to know 
 something of the godlike and the divine? The 
 parent sometimes thinks that if he can lay up a little 
 hard silver, which his sons and daughters can use 
 after he is gone, he is conferring upon them the 
 greatest earthly blessing. 
 
 There is a fable in a French school-book which 
 reads thus : A miser being dead and decently 
 buried, arrived upon the borders of the river Styx 
 in order to pass over with the other spirits, the com- 
 panions of his voyage. The boatman, Charon, de- 
 manded of him the price of the passage, but was 
 surprised to see that, instead of paying it, he threw 
 himself into the black river and swam to the shore, 
 in spite of all the entreaties that could be made. 
 This action put all hell in a tumult, and each judge 
 endeavored to find a punishment proportioned to a 
 crime, the consequences of which would be so dis- 
 astrous to the revenues of the infernal regions. " Let 
 us chain him to the rock with Prometheus, where the 
 birds may perpetually tear his vitals," said one. " Let 
 us associate him with the torments of Tantalus," said 
 another. " Or, what is better, let us send him to aid 
 Sysiphus in rolling his rock up the hill, which rolls 
 back as often as he rolls it up." "No, no," said 
 
262 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 Intelligence the guide of the world. 
 
 Minos, the supreme judge, "let us invent a punish- 
 ment more terrible ; let us send him back to earth, 
 to see what use his prodigal heirs make of his 
 riches." 
 
 Ignorance, when put in possession of wealth, is 
 often the instrument of evil. But knowledge will 
 make its possessor an honor to his race, and will 
 enable him to obtain wealth if he desire it. Active 
 intelligence is a safe investment. It needs no in- 
 surance, for it is beyond the reach of fire and flood. 
 Intelligence guides the business of the world. "Who 
 is it that in your town-meetings takes the lead in 
 managing business, suggests the best plans, and ad- 
 vocates the soundest policy ? "Who is it that repre- 
 sents you in Congress, sits upon the judges' bench, 
 and fills the various offices of honor and trust ? It 
 is the man of intelligence. Who on the contrary 
 fill your alms-houses and jails and penitentiaries ? 
 The men who are debased by ignorance and crime. 
 Intelligence is the first element of prosperity. In- 
 telligence builds our factories, and invents the ma- 
 chinery with which to fill them. It constructs our 
 railroads, and places upon them models of beauty 
 and monuments of the skill of man. It stretches 
 the wire of the telegraph and teaches us to talk 
 with the lightning. It enables the farmer to make 
 two spears of grass grow where but one grew before. 
 
POPULAR EDUCATION. 263 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 It puts a better plow in his ground, better imple- 
 ments in all his labors, and thereby saves a vast 
 amount of the wear of muscle and weariness of 
 nerve of both man and beast. It gives to the pos- 
 sessor that confidence in his abilities, and that re- 
 spect for self, which raises us in the scale of being. 
 It makes the earth seem brighter, the foliage richer, 
 the bird's song sweeter, its plumage more gaudy, the 
 colors of the flower more brilliant. It is the result 
 of that improvement of the talents entrusted to us 
 for which we shall be accountable. It yields us that 
 satisfaction which prosperity may heighten but which 
 adversity can never take away. It enables us to in- 
 terpret the purposes and designs of the Creator, and 
 to approximate nearer to his character. It soothes 
 sorrow, tempers the asperities of disposition, mends 
 the broken threads of life, smoothes the rough places 
 in the mind and heart, and softens the pathway to 
 the tomb. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 THE EDUCATION OF THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE DEDICATION OF THE NKW SCHOOL EDIFICE AT TITUSVILLE, 
 
 1859. 
 
 IT is a custom hallowed by long usage, to dedicate 
 our clmrclies to the purposes of religious service. 
 On this account we regard the church with different 
 feelings from those entertained towards any other 
 place. It is sacred in our minds as the house of God, 
 the gate to heaven. It is here that the voice of in- 
 spiration speaks to us. Here the father assem- 
 bles with his family, where they join their voices in 
 songs of praise, and learn that wisdom which cometh 
 from above, which will make us wise indeed. There 
 is a sacred feeling which comes over us when we 
 enter the place thus consecrated, and we are filled 
 with better thoughts. Not that the service of dedi- 
 cation has rendered the church more holy than any 
 other place. But the thoughts we there think, and 
 the desires and aspirations we there cherish are more 
 holy. The place is united to us by sacred associa- 
 tions, and the spirit of devotion fills it in proportion 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 265 
 Dedication of the church. Dedication of the school-house. 
 
 as that spirit fills our own hearts. The custom of 
 dedicating our school edifices to the purposes of 
 education is not so common. But the propriety 
 can be established upon the same principles, and 
 will apply with equal force. The school-house 
 should be held in veneration, because our minds 
 are there occupied with the truths of science. It 
 is the place devoted to the culture of the mental 
 faculties, the spiritual nature, that part of us which 
 is imperishable. Here we discipline those faculties 
 so noble in power, so expansive in design, which the 
 Creator has beneficently bestowed upon us. Here 
 are developed and strengthened those gifts which at 
 birth are so weak and feeble. Here we become ac- 
 quainted with all those laws which have been es- 
 tablished for the government of the world of matter 
 and of mind. It is here that we acquaint ourselves 
 with every species of knowledge which can lift man 
 above the brute, and advance him towards those per- 
 fections which characterize the angels and God him- 
 self. If such be the purpose of the school-house, and 
 such the thoughts which there fill our minds, we 
 ought to honor the place. It should be linked in our 
 hearts with sunny memories. Our fondest affections 
 should linger about it, and it should be set apart by 
 exercises of learning and wisdom to these noble pur- 
 
 12 
 
266 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 Contempt. Marks of the jack-knife. The log school-house. 
 
 The youth often looks upon the school-house with 
 feelings of aversion and contempt. He regards it 
 as public property, and a fit object for the spoiler. 
 The marks of his ruthless hand prove his utter 
 disregard of its honor and sanctity. Its broken 
 windows attest his disposition to pelt it with stones, 
 and his skill with charcoal is displayed upon its 
 weather-beaten sides. The seats and desks set up 
 for his accommodation, while preparing to fill some 
 exalted station, as every fond mother hopes, and 
 to erect 
 
 <" monumentum sere perennius, 
 Kegalique situ pyramidium altius ;" 
 
 display evident marks of his jack-knife, where he has 
 by persevering efforts wrought shapes which do in- 
 finite honor to his skill with that useful instrument, 
 and rival in artistic merit Graecian frieze and archi- 
 trave ; but alas ! his brain- work is far less imposing, 
 and the memory of his school-days soon sinks into 
 oblivion, or is only perpetuated by the stripes on his 
 back. 
 
 The indifference which is manifested towards the 
 school-house is, in too many instances, founded upon 
 sufficient reasons. Formerly it was a poor hut, often 
 built of logs, cold, cheerless and dark, situated upon 
 the verge of a road trodden into a quagmire during 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 267 
 
 Cheerless aspect. The school. 
 
 a greater portion of the year, with no grounds, or 
 shade-trees, or out-buildings, destitute of every kind 
 of convenient furniture or apparatus within, and pre- 
 senting a dare-devil and repulsive air without. It 
 would be difficult to attach any reverence to the 
 place, even if the disposition existed. The very 
 thought of it makes one shake the dust from his feet. 
 The picture of the long rough board slanting from 
 the wall, and the slab seat supported by four ugly- 
 looking legs, sets the pains and agonies capering up 
 the spinal cord; and the remembrance of the cold 
 frosty mornings spent there, puts the teeth chattering 
 on a summer day. 
 
 The school was often very much after the pattern 
 of the house. It was thought economy to employ 
 the services of a man who was cheap, rather than one 
 who was competent. His capacity was measured by 
 his ability to twist the locks and wring the ears of 
 his pupils, rather than by his power to twist difficult 
 problems into intelligible shapes and ring the changes 
 upon the truths of science. His authority in preserv- 
 ing order was estimated more by the thickness of the 
 soles of his boots, than by the sensibilities of the 
 soul that filled his bosom. Tasks were imposed and 
 forced upon unwilling minds. In place of that in- 
 terest which the skillful teacher imparts to every 
 study, came the harsh complaint of the pupil that the 
 
268 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 Teacher's lack of interest Change. Consoling reflection. 
 
 lessons were Lard and dry. There was no throbbing 
 of the heart at a triumph achieved over doubt and 
 difficulty, for the pupil was not encouraged to mas- 
 ter a difficulty, and never knew when he had 
 triumphed. There was no beaming of the eye 
 which follows when those sublime truths are pre- 
 sented that make the breast of him who appreciates 
 them to throb with enkindling emotions, for the 
 teacher himself had little such knowledge to im- 
 part, and with such emotions his own bosom never 
 heaved. 
 
 It is a consoling reflection to the patriot and the 
 Christian, that a great change has taken place in the 
 spirit of the people, and in the intelligence and zeal 
 of the teachers. The ]atter now spends freely his 
 time and his substance in preparing himself to dis- 
 charge with fidelity the arduous, the responsible, and 
 the perplexing duties which are to devolve upon 
 him. He seeks a thorough acquaintance with the 
 branches of a liberal course of training. He searches 
 out the most ingenious methods of explaining the 
 difficult questions that arise, and plans the most 
 attractive style of presenting his knowledge to pupils 
 who have never known what it is to be interested in 
 study. He devises expedients for bringing the way- 
 ward to a sense of shame, and wins him by gentle 
 and persuasive means to a course of rectitude and 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 269 
 
 Corresponding change of feeling in the scholar. 
 
 honor. He is fired with a noble enthusiasm in his 
 labor, which he regards as a most delightful employ- 
 ment of his faculties, rather than a task and a drud- 
 gery. He loves most of all to be surrounded by his 
 pupils, to see them interested in his instructions, and 
 be satisfied that they appreciate as he does their force 
 and bearing. He enjoys the pleasing work of lead- 
 ing them forth to taste the delights of learning, and 
 to realize that he is ens tamping his own character 
 upon theirs, that he is fixing in their young and 
 tender minds his thoughts and opinions, his tastes 
 and habits, and that he is creating in them an in- 
 fluence and a motive power that shall outlive him 
 that shall widen and deepen to the end of time. 
 
 As a result of this improvement in spirit and capa- 
 city on the part of the teacher, there is a correspond- 
 ing change in the feelings and desires of the scholar. 
 He finds his tasks easy because they interest him, 
 and he is eager to feel all that satisfaction in his stud- 
 ies which he sees beaming in the countenance of his 
 teacher, as often as he explains or touches upon them. 
 He loves to encounter the difficulties of science, for 
 there is the field of his triumphs, from which he 
 bears away proud trophies. Instead of being hard 
 and dry, he finds his labors most pleasing and de- 
 lightful, and his path strewn with flowers instead of 
 thorns. 
 
270 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 The new school-house. This edifice. Its spire greets the eye. 
 
 The people are not behind in the spirit of improve- 
 ment. They have learned to honor the school-house 
 themselves, that they may with propriety impose it 
 as a duty upon their children. In the recent struc- 
 tures a commendable taste has been exercised. A 
 pleasant site has been selected, elevated, commodious 
 and attractive. They have secured a generous piece 
 of ground, in most cases not less than an acre. They 
 have planted it with shade-trees, and, nicely grading, 
 have sown it with a carpet of green. The structure 
 itself, a model of taste and beauty, light and airy, 
 graceful in proportion, and of approved architecture, 
 stands as a monument of the liberality and public 
 spirit of the neighborhood. Maps adorn its walls, 
 and books and charts and apparatus are furnished the 
 teacher with which to render his work successful. 
 Thus they provide, that the sacrifices they are mak- 
 ing may return in blessings upon the heads of their 
 children. 
 
 As a proof of the spirit which prevails, we can point 
 with pride and satisfaction to this edifice which we 
 have now met to dedicate to the pursuits of learning. 
 Central in location, convenient in arrangement and 
 division, simple but attractive in architecture, sub- 
 stantially built and tastefully finished, it commands 
 the respect alike of citizen and stranger. Its taper 
 spire, pointing heavenward, first greets the eye of the 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 271 
 The lawn. The shades. Education in its higher sense. 
 
 traveler as lie approaches this beautiful valley, and is 
 the last object that lingers in the vision as he leaves it. 
 The lawn, which you have provided, will be the scene 
 of artless and playful sport, and generations of chil- 
 dren will be happy because of it. The trees which you 
 have planted may not grow to shelter you, but your 
 children and your children's children shall sport be- 
 neath their shade, and when grown venerable with age 
 
 "Will mind them of departed joys, 
 Departed never to return." 
 
 You plant and build for the future. There is a plea- 
 sure and a satisfaction in the thought. You furnish 
 for posterity a better chance for education than you 
 had yourselves. You labor to leave the world bet- 
 ter than you found it. The time will come when 
 your work shall perish, and this noble edifice shall 
 moulder into dust ; but the record of your efforts 
 will be secure. It will be chronicled upon immortal 
 spirits which shall here be educated, upon a material 
 that knows no decay. 
 
 Education, in the common acceptation of the term, 
 has reference to that knowledge and discipline which 
 is acquired by pursuing certain branches of study in a 
 text-book at school. And when we speak of a com- 
 mon school education we usually intend the expres- 
 sion to comprehend a course of instruction in those 
 
272 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 The Pedagogue. Bard of the Deserted Village. 
 
 branches which, the law provides shall be taught. 
 Although this is a correct signification of the term in 
 the restricted sense, it is far from embracing all that 
 we ought to expect from a course of training that is 
 to prepare one for that higher life, which, in man- 
 hood and in a future state of existence, we should 
 be prepared to live. The boy may be very good at 
 arithmetic, but as he grows up he may make a very 
 bad citizen and an unprofitable member of society. 
 He may be an elegant grammarian, and still be- 
 come a wretched husband and father. He may be 
 an accomplished scholar in the Greek and Latin, 
 and yet be dead to every noble sentiment that 
 should fire the bosom of the patriot and the Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 That will prove a very unprofitable school for fit- 
 ting children to be men and women, in which there 
 is nothing learned but what is provided for by legal 
 enactments. The teacher who can give no other in- 
 struction than this, is unworthy of a place in a pro- 
 fession whose office is to develop and train our 
 spiritual natures with all their complication of de- 
 sires and energies. Under the soubriquet of Peda- 
 gogue such an one is everywhere the butt for mer- 
 riment and ridicule, and the sweet bard of the 
 Deserted Tillage has made him the object of his 
 playful satire : 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 273 
 
 Book knowledge. Practical thinking. 
 
 "The village all declared how much he knew: 
 'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too ; 
 Lands he could measure, times and tides presage, 
 And e'en the story ran that he could guage. 
 And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, 
 That one small head could carry all he knew." 
 
 Education, in its more liberal sense, or if you 
 choose to call it school-day culture, embraces a 
 wider scope. It includes in the means employed, 
 all those influences which can be brought to bear 
 upon the mental and moral improvement of the 
 pupil. Its excellence must depend upon its adapta- 
 tion to accomplish this result. In our haste to 
 make our children wise, we are often blind to their 
 real interests. "We give them a great deal of book 
 knowledge to a very little plain common sense. A 
 routine of tasks monopolizes the time for practical 
 thinking. The mind is jaded with words and rules 
 and problems, in place of being energized and 
 warmed by those thoughts and feelings which have 
 inspired the benevolent and good in all times. It is 
 quite as much a matter of education to learn a nice 
 sense of honor in keeping one's word, as the most 
 elaborate and complete explanation for extracting 
 the cube root that has ever been discovered. That 
 piece of knowledge which prompts us to for- 
 give him who has done us an injury, is not less 
 
 valuable than the precise whereabouts of Kamt- 
 
 12* 
 
274 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 Moral nature needs culture. Often in use. 
 
 schatka or the South Sea. The spirit of brotherly 
 love and generosity, that, spurning all mean and 
 selfish motives, will sacrifice its own advantage for 
 the happiness of another, or will dare even to peril 
 life for the general weal, will be quite as servicable 
 to a man as the ability to dispose of some knotty 
 point in grammar. To love God and to keep his 
 commandments is a lesson that we need thoroughly 
 to learn and constantly to practice, more than all 
 the sciences which human ingenuity has reduced to 
 form. 
 
 Leaving therefore those studies that are commonly 
 taught at school, I purpose during the remainder of 
 the passing hour to speak of THE EDUCATION OP 
 THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. We are possessed of 
 a moral nature as well as mental powers, and the 
 former need care and culture equally with the 
 latter. In the exercise of the common duties of 
 life, the moral powers are far more frequently 
 brought into action than the mental. As often as 
 man comes in contact with his fellow-man, he has 
 occasion to display some of the motives by which 
 he is governed. There are no text-books especially 
 adapted to giving instruction in this department 
 of culture, though the works of Mrs. "Willard, and 
 of Messrs. Cowdry and Hall, have of late sup- 
 plied teachers with what has been felt to be a great 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 275 
 
 Books on morals. Something constantly going wrong. Teacher will be heard. 
 
 want, and may with much propriety and profit be 
 used. But, though the teacher has no text-books to 
 guide him in his instructions, there are abundant 
 opportunities for impressing upon the young a sense 
 of their duties and responsibilities, and of making 
 virtue and honor respectable, yea, lovely in their 
 eyes. In the affairs of a school there is something 
 that is constantly going wrong and needs to be 
 righted. A company of youth whose habits are all 
 unfixed, vacillating in purpose, and weak in judg- 
 ment, many of whom have had little or no correct 
 training at home, and some even destitute of civil 
 breeding, may be considered of all others the most 
 fruitful of improprieties and errors, demanding the 
 most frequent counsel and correction, and the most 
 severely testing the virtue and faithfulness of him 
 who is its leading spirit. 
 
 There is no person from whom a word of advice, 
 a caution against the violation of a moral duty, an 
 appeal to the sensibilities, will be received and be 
 impressed upon the pupil with such force, as from 
 the lips of the faithful, conscientious, virtuous school- 
 teacher. He will get his ears and reach his heart 
 when no other man can. There is no other person 
 who stands in a position in which the opportunities 
 of giving such instruction are so abundant, and 
 which must be considered by the teacher not merely 
 
276 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 Teacher's responsibilities. Love to God. Profanity. 
 
 as opportunities which he may improve or neglect, 
 but as occasions imperatively demanding his guiding 
 hand. When I think of the vast and responsible 
 duties which properly devolve upon the teacher, and 
 which so much need to be performed in addition to 
 the regular routine of lessons, and remember the 
 indifference and unconcern with which they are 
 viewed by many who eagerly and unhesitatingly 
 assume them, I tremble for the interests of the rising 
 generation, and for the reckoning those teachers will 
 finally make with the Judge of all the earth. For 
 no man can assume a position of trust, without be- 
 coming amenable to justice for a neglect of its most 
 important duties. 
 
 The first and highest of the moral ideas which 
 should be instilled into the minds of children is that 
 of love to God. The propriety of this is so obvious 
 that it does not need to be urged. And yet there 
 are many teachers who never utter a word of coun- 
 sel or entreaty to enforce the duty. His pupils may 
 violate the Sabbath and hear no word of disapproval 
 from him, and perchance he is guilty of the same 
 offence himself. They may show a disregard, and 
 positive contempt for their Maker by cursing his 
 name, and he has not moral courage, or moral sensi- 
 bility enough to admonish them of their open de- 
 fiance and blasphemy, and perchance, in moments of 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 277 
 Alive to sensibility. The Scriptures. 
 
 passion, or of folly, such language is not an unknown 
 tongue to him. It may not be expedient for him to 
 make a law that his pupils should not violate the 
 Sabbath, or that they should not use profane lan- 
 guage. I believe that it is not wise for him to make 
 many arbitrary laws. But he can, by an appeal to 
 their better feelings, make those vices appear mean 
 and despicable, and particularly odious in the char- 
 acter of the youth. He can, if his heart is alive to 
 sensibility and these moral virtues, carry them along 
 with the zeal and enthusiasm by which he is actu- 
 ated, and make them think and feel with him. 
 
 A portion of Scripture, without note or comment, 
 should be daily read in school. The Bible is the 
 great source of spiritual life and light. It contains 
 every thing respecting our moral relations that we 
 need to know. There is in many parts of our 
 country, a strong opposition to the use of this book 
 in the common school. Bat there can be no valid 
 objection to its continuance, unless some considerable 
 portion of the scholars would be excluded on ac- 
 count of it. No man can be injured by reading its 
 truths ; and if he is disposed to receive he may real- 
 ize from it inestimable treasures. If God has made 
 a revelation of his will to us, he undoubtly intended 
 that we should read it. How can we make our lives 
 conform to the teaching of his word, if we do not 
 
278 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 Objections considered. 
 
 read it ? Is not the opening of school a proper place 
 and time for attending to it ? It is objected that we 
 have not a true translation, but this does not affect 
 the principle that Grod's word ought to be read in 
 school. If we have not the true translation, then let 
 us have one that is. He has given us his word in an 
 exact and definite language, and there is no doubt 
 but that it can be made truly into our language. If 
 those in present use are wrong, then let the errors be 
 pointed out and righted. It is God's word, not this 
 bible or that bible, that we claim should be read to 
 the young. We are not yet too wise to do without 
 it, and the youthful mind has need of its purifying 
 influences. It is objected that we can not under- 
 stand it. " Do unto others as ye would that they 
 should do unto you." Who can not understand 
 that? The bible is full of truths just as plain. 
 There is enough truth on almost any page, that can 
 be understood by the child even in tender years, to 
 give us correct moral principles in all the relations 
 of life. Every child in tke State has the opportunity 
 of becoming sufficiently well educated to read and 
 understand for himself the spirit and meaning of the 
 great moral lessons which the bible contains. I 
 would unhesitatingly condemn any disposition on 
 the part of the teacher to inculcate narrow or sec- 
 tarian dogmas. But against the simple reading of 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 279 
 
 The Bible as a literary production. ! moral precepts. 
 
 the Scriptures, either by the teacher or by his pupils, 
 there can be no reason assigned that can have weight 
 in a rational mind. 
 
 If we regard the Bible merely as a literary produc- 
 tion, where shall we seek one among the works of 
 the greatest masters, that for elaborate finish, for 
 figures of speech, for majesty and sublimity of 
 thought can be compared to it. Where in the whole 
 range of literature, ancient or modern, can we find 
 such a description of spring as that portrayed by 
 Solomon. " For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is 
 over and gone j the flowers appear on the earth ; the 
 time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice 
 of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig tree put- 
 teth forth her green figs, and the vines with the ten- 
 der grapes give a good smell; arise, my love, my 
 fair, and come away." It is but a few words that the 
 inspired penman employs. But in those few words 
 is brought to mind a combination of the most de- 
 lightful and pleasing objects that nature, prodigal of 
 beauty, presents. The senses each in turn are regaled 
 with an object appropriate to please. 
 
 "Where among the books of the sages do we find 
 such sentiments as these : " Love your enemies ; do 
 good to them which hate you ; bless them that curse 
 you ; and unto him that smite th on the one cheek 
 offer also the other ; and him that taketh away thy 
 
280 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 Antidote needed Love of country or patriotism. 
 
 cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also ; and as ye 
 would tliat men should do to you do ye even so to 
 them." What mind is not made better by the con- 
 templation of such truths as these ? Are not these 
 the sentiments which, of all others, need most to be 
 impressed upon the mind of the child ? Is it not by 
 nature selfish and revengeful, and envious and grasp- 
 ing? Does it not need an antidote to all these evil 
 desires and passions? "When our Lord was hanging 
 upon the cross, and his enemies were spitting upon 
 him, and in his agony giving him vinegar to drink, 
 and thrusting their spears into his side, those divine 
 sentiments which had marked all his teachings did 
 not forsake him, and he prayed, " Father, forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do." 
 
 The second of the moral sensibilities which the 
 scholar should sedulously cultivate is love of country 
 or patriotism. After the allegiance due to our Maker, 
 we owe our warmest devotion to the country in which 
 we live. It is from civil government that we derive 
 the right and privilege of enjoying every other bless- 
 ing. The state is the kind mother who dispenses the 
 means for using, unmolested and untrammeled, every 
 social and virtuous principle ; or, if she fails to do 
 this, it is because her. children have not been in- 
 structed in the lessons of patriotism. For, if the 
 rising generation as they grow up to assume the 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 281 
 
 Occasions for instruction. History. Geography. 
 
 rank of citizenship, are folly imbued with the love 
 of civil liberty and civil rights, they will never per- 
 mit any other form of government to dictate to them, 
 inasmuch as they are in their sovereign capacity the 
 primal source of all civil power. The pupil at school 
 should be reminded of these truths, and be taught to 
 feel and fully appreciate the spirit of independent 
 thought and action, subject only to the law of love and 
 virtue. The study of history, which should be one of 
 the branches taught in every school, will furnish abun- 
 dant opportunity for practically carrying into opera- 
 tion the spirit of the principle which has been stated. 
 But even if history is not a study in school, and 
 there is no text-book in civil science used, there are 
 numerous occasions constantly presented, in the oc- 
 currences of the school-room, in the allusions of read- 
 ing lessons, and in the facts connected with geogra- 
 phical science, which may naturally form the basis 
 for such instruction. The sensibilities of youth are 
 usually alive to feelings of patriotism, and to deeds 
 of noble daring. The interest is easily enlisted in 
 allusions to those adventures which characterized the 
 opening scenes of our revolution. "Where is the 
 scholar whose heart does not kindle with emotion at 
 a recital of the heaven-inspired patriotism of Wash- 
 ington ? Where is the scholar whose heart does not 
 beat quick in contemplating the self-sacrificing spirit 
 
282 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 Kevolution for Independence. Washington. 
 
 of the hero who, in the flower of manhood, left home 
 and the wife of his bosom, subjected himself to the 
 varying chances of war, and freely devoted life and 
 energy to the future good of his country? What 
 youth is not elevated in spirit as he beholds, in all 
 its breadth and loveliness, the sublime virtue which 
 was displayed in every event in the life of the Father 
 of his Country ? But the feelings which inspired the 
 chief were shared by every rank and grade of the 
 army to the lowest subaltern in the camp. There is 
 something marvelous and sublime in the spectacle of 
 a poor people, just established in their homes in the 
 wilderness, with no hope of profit or reward beyond 
 the inestimable treasures of civil liberty, embarking 
 in a cause so arduous, seeing in prospect their prop- 
 erty pillaged, their homes burned, submitting to a 
 sacrifice of all they held dear, periling even life itself, 
 and, in a spirit of unexampled patriotism, gathering 
 about their trusty leader and pledging " their lives, 
 their fortunes and their sacred honor." 
 
 " Patriots have toiled and in their country's cause 
 Bled nobly, and their deeds, as they deserve, 
 Receive proud recompense. "We give in charge 
 Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic muse, 
 Proud of her treasure, marches with it down 
 To latest times, and sculpture in her turn 
 Gives bond in stone and ever-during brass, 
 To guard them and immortalize her trust." 
 
THE MOEAL SENSIBILITIES. 283 
 Trophies of Miltiades. Sleepless nights. Patriots and martyrs. 
 
 I have always been struck with the spirit of that 
 Athenian youth, who declared that the trophies of 
 Miltiades would not let him sleep. So thoroughly 
 imbued was he with the spirit of patriotism and the 
 love for glorious action, that his young heart yearned 
 for labors fitting to the hero. The sight of the ene- 
 mies of his country, bearing down upon and ready 
 to crush her, enkindled within him the desire to 
 drive back the impending foe, and vindicate her 
 honor and her glory. He envied the renown of that 
 skillful leader who was achieving those honors in the 
 field which he longed to win. And those sleepless 
 nights gave presage of that future brilliant career of 
 glory that lay open before him. 
 
 It should be the care of the teacher to impress 
 upon his pupils on all suitable occasions, the neces- 
 sity of virtuous principle in the conduct of affairs. 
 He should strive to implant in their youthful minds a 
 love for honesty and integrity of purpose, that may 
 serve as their guide in transacting all the duties 
 which are incident to citizenship. They should be 
 made acquainted with the examples of those sainted 
 patriots and martyrs in all ages of the world, who 
 have sacrificed their lives to the living principles of 
 liberty and truth, and whose names, surviving the 
 wreck of thrones and dynasties, will be remembered 
 to the end of time. The struggles between privilege 
 
284 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 Privilege and despotism. Love to man. 
 
 and despotism from which they have been made to 
 suffer should be recounted, that the pupil may un- 
 derstand the full value of their virtue and at how 
 dear a price the present condition of society has been 
 purchased. He should be taught by a comparison 
 of the most striking lessons to appreciate the differ- 
 ence between good and bad government, and to love 
 those institutions which we, as Americans, prize so 
 much. In a word, the youth of our common schools 
 should treasure up the principles of the most en- 
 lightened patriotism. 
 
 The third of the moral virtues which should 
 receive attention, is love to man. It is compre- 
 hended in that golden rule, " Do unto others as ye 
 would that they should do unto you," and embraces 
 the principles of reciprocity and philanthropy. The 
 school is eminently the place where the evil passions 
 and propensities are most signally developed. Here 
 they are brought plainly to view. Families of chil- 
 dren are thrown together. Perhaps the parents 
 of those children have had difficulties and cause 
 for quarrel, and cherish bitter feelings of enmity 
 which are shared by them. Pride of family and 
 of birth is brought into collision with the born 
 plebeian. The aristocracy of wealth brushes against 
 the tattered garments of poverty. It is the task of 
 the teacher to reconcile all these conflicting elements, 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 285 
 Conflicting elements. Spartan youth. 
 
 to bring peace out of contention, and form and 
 beauty out of chaos. The law of love and kind- 
 ness is to be established, and the universal brother- 
 hood of man to be vindicated in the face of pride 
 and the dubious claims to ancestral honors. He is 
 to tax his ingenuity to see how mean, and cowardly, 
 and sinful he can make every species of vice appear, 
 
 " And virtue in her shape how lovely." 
 
 It was a part of the education of the Spartan 
 youth to learn to steal, and he who could take that 
 which did not belong to him, and avoid detection, 
 carried off the palm. We sometimes see a similar 
 disposition manifested in our time. There are those 
 who look upon a man who can, by misrepresentation 
 and deceit, overreach another in a bargain, as shrewd 
 and smart. That species of vice which, in common 
 parlance, passes under the name of cheating, is, in 
 some circles of society, considered as a fundamen- 
 tal element of success in business, and the boy who 
 manifests acuteness in the practice of it as possessing 
 flattering prospects ahead. It is evident that every 
 such propensity is directly antagonistic to the divine 
 precept, and that if one be right, the other must 
 be wrong. The teacher ought to labor assiduously 
 to eradicate from the mind any such impression, for 
 it is not only dishonest and sinful in itself, but it 
 
286 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 " Honesty the best policy" a sublime truth. 
 
 may be the fruitful source of other crimes of a darker 
 dye. That " honesty is the best policy" is not only 
 a trite maxim that is glibly spoken, but it is a sub- 
 lime truth that every man would do well to profit 
 by. Duplicity may succeed for a time, but ill-gotten 
 gains yield little satisfaction to the possessor, and 
 they leave a stain upon the soul which neither time 
 nor circumstance can remove. There is no feeling 
 that so warms a man's heart as a consciousness of 
 rectitude. Firm in his reliance upon his innocence, 
 he does not fear the face of any man. 
 
 " What stronger breast-plate than a heart untainted ?" 
 
 Hence honesty, in its broadest sense, becomes not 
 merely a moral duty, but a duty which he owes most 
 of all to himself, to his success and his happiness. 
 
 The minds of children are, in general, keenly 
 sensitive to wrong and insult, and the disposition 
 to retaliation and revenge is quick. Buoyant and 
 ingenuous in spirit, they have not yet learned to 
 brook delay and disappointment in the righting of 
 wrongs, and the impulse is to take justice in their 
 own hands. When cuffed and abused, the propriety 
 of turning the other cheek is not quite so apparent. 
 The North American Indians believed that revenge 
 was a duty and a virtue. Eevenge was sweet to 
 them. If a dispute arose between two, and an en- 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 287 
 
 Teachings of our Saviour. Spirit of the precept. 
 
 counter ensued in which one was killed, it was the 
 duty of the nearest relative to take up the quarrel, 
 and thus eventually whole tribes and nations would 
 become involved from a personal altercation, trifling 
 and unimportant. As a consequence, they were 
 kept constantly in warfare, and whole countries were 
 thereby depopulated. How contrary to this were 
 the mild and gentle teachings of our Saviour. Love 
 your enemies. Forgive as ye hope to be forgiven. 
 The teacher will often be under the necessity of 
 reproving and correcting the spirit of revenge in his 
 pupils, and if he would make his corrections effectual 
 and vital, he must labor earnestly to incorporate 
 into their mental constitutions the principles of a 
 perfect morality. 
 
 It is vain to attempt to point out all the varied 
 forms which a transgression of this golden rule may 
 assume. Nor is it necessary always to take notice 
 of all the violations of it that may come to his 
 knowledge, or to warn his pupils of all the sins 
 which they are liable to commit. It is sufficient if 
 he imbue them with the spirit of the precept, and, 
 by frequently reminding them, seek to establish it 
 as a ruling principle in their character. The great 
 design should be to make it appear lovely in their 
 eyes, for a youth will never be induced voluntarily 
 to adopt a principle and to enter upon a course of 
 
288 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 Mask of Comus. Character of youth easily moulded. 
 
 conduct which has not first been made to appear 
 desirable. Virtuous action ever carries with it its 
 own great reward, and he who in youth becomes 
 enamored of it, is likely to enter upon that bright 
 shining way that shines more and more unto the 
 perfect day, and is surely fortified against the allure- 
 ments to vice and folly. The invitation of the at- 
 tendant spirit in the Mask of Comus is seasonable, 
 and happy is he who accepts it : 
 
 " Mortals that would follow me, 
 Love virtue ; she alone is free. 
 She can teach ye how to climb 
 Higher than the sphery chime ; 
 Or if virtue feeble were, 
 Heaven itself would stoop to her." 
 
 The moral sensibilities comprehended in love to 
 God, love to country, and love to man, are the lead- 
 ing ones that pertain to our conduct in the affairs of 
 life. From the manner in which these are trained 
 and developed results that character which we are 
 to sustain. During our school days, our thoughts 
 and dispositions are pliant and peculiarly susceptible. 
 The character is then easily moulded. It is especially 
 desirable that wholesome instruction should then be 
 given. A neglect of proper training or a wrong 
 impression may be the source of incalculable evils. 
 Scratch the rind of a sapling, and the crooked and 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 289 
 
 Requisites for a teacher. Correct habits. 
 
 disfigured tree will bear testimony for ages to the 
 work of your ruthless hand. It is important that the 
 teacher should have a thorough acquaintance with 
 the branches he is to teach, be able to explain what 
 is difficult in an interesting and intelligible manner, 
 and have the desire and the ability to excite in his 
 pupils a zealous ardor in the preparation and reci- 
 tation of their lessons ; but it is even more important 
 that he should be capable and intent upon giving the 
 highest and best instruction to the moral sensibilities. 
 To this end it is absolutely essential that he be a 
 man of irreproachable character, nay, that his life be 
 a noble exemplification of the moral virtues. He 
 should be a pattern after which his pupils may profit- 
 ably copy. The child is naturally imitative, and the 
 teacher is placed in a position in which he is con- 
 stantly the noticed and the observed, and if his char- 
 acter be not exemplary, evil consequences may result 
 to his precious charge. It is desirable that the pupil 
 should be instructed and encouraged in the adoption 
 of correct habits. Neatness, cleanliness, proper care 
 of property, order, respect to superiors and to the 
 aged, politeness in personal intercourse, kind and re- 
 spectful salutations and adieus, courtesy to strangers, 
 a becoming modesty and reserve at all times to in- 
 culcate and enforce these upon his pupils should be 
 
 the object of his constant care. But alas! for the 
 13 
 
290 THE EDUCATION OF 
 
 A cracked belL Aaron Burr. Byron. 
 
 pupils and the best interests of the school, if the 
 teacher be not himself instructed in these habits. 
 
 "We hear much said about the importance of an 
 education, and we talk about the inestimable treas- 
 ures of knowledge ; but learning and knowledge, and 
 all the fruits of study and discipline, are of little 
 worth if not under the guidance of correct moral 
 principles. 
 
 "Talents angel-bright, 
 
 If wanting worth, are shining instruments 
 In false ambition's hand to finish faults 
 Illustrious, and give infamy renown." 
 
 A cracked bell gives forth discordant sounds, and 
 the more it clatters the more we are disgusted. 
 Knowledge without virtue gives to its possessor the 
 ability to perpetrate untold evil upon society and 
 upon himself, and is immeasurably a worse condition 
 than ignorance. Aaron Burr was a scholar of emin- 
 ence and one of the most accomplished lawyers of his 
 age, but he used his great abilities and his fine learn- 
 ing for the overthrow of the most cherished institu- 
 tions of his country, and died despised and abhorred 
 as a traitor and a villain. Byron, with all his talents 
 and fine poetic sentiment, was a shameless rake, and 
 with the might and power of his genius, which every 
 one of judgment and taste must admire, he inflicted 
 a wound upon society that ages of pious teaching 
 
THE MOEAL SENSIBILITIES. 291 
 
 Records of crime. The passions. 
 
 and example will not cure. That education may 
 be important, and possess the value of inestimable 
 treasures, it must be under the control of goodness. 
 The records of vice and crime which every week's 
 paper brings to us, and the disgusting and heart- 
 sickening details of the execution of miserable 
 wretches even in boyhood, declare with command- 
 ing emphasis that our systems of education are de- 
 ficient in the culture of the moral sensibilities. 
 
 Every person who has been eminent in a career 
 of crime, has, upon reflection, been constrained to 
 attribute his unfortunate course to the guidance of 
 his own evil passions. Indeed, the passions when 
 fired with sinful purposes make a man a very devil. 
 But there are no passions of which we are possessed 
 that are in themselves evil or unholy. They are 
 merely the instruments which we may use for a good 
 or a bad purpose. Our Saviour was possessed of all 
 the passions which fire the bosom of the most weak 
 and sinful, but under the control of fervent piety they 
 served to make his life sublime. The passions are 
 necessary to the highest attainment of virtue. With- 
 out them to inspire us with fervor, our mental facul- 
 ties would be powerless. There would be no high 
 purpose and firm resolve, no heroic valor and noble 
 daring, no martyrdom for truth, no self-sacrificing 
 philanthropy. Our passions are our best having 
 
292 THE EDUCATION OP 
 
 Eesponsibility of the teacher's position. Needs. "Weakness to falter. 
 
 when under proper control, and are the means of 
 that high life which commands respect and love. 
 
 The teacher occupies a position of great responsi- 
 bility. The importance of the trust must be apparent 
 to every reflecting mind. It is a profession requiring 
 qualifications the most varied, demanding a combi- 
 nation of rare talents and elaborate culture. The 
 demands which an enlightened discharge of his duty 
 will make upon him, require that he should go forth 
 to his labor fully panoplied with knowledge and vir- 
 tue. He needs liberal mental culture, but he needs 
 most of all a double portion of (rod's Holy Spirit to 
 enlighten his understanding and warm his heart, to 
 support and strengthen him in times of trouble, to 
 make him firm and resolute in the correction of the 
 wrong and the vindication of the right, to guard him 
 in the hour of temptation, and to refine and purify 
 every holy enjoyment. The teacher, in view of the 
 responsibleness of his position and the qualifications 
 needed, may despond, and say, these requirements are 
 too great for a station commanding so small remuner- 
 ation and so little esteem and honor. But you are 
 the one to make the profession honorable, to inspire 
 people with respect for it and you, and thus merit 
 better remuneration. It is weakness for you to falter 
 in this cause and fall back in presence of such weak 
 foes. He who would win victories in a field like 
 
THE MORAL SENSIBILITIES. 293 
 
 Sacrifice, labor, instruction. Intelligence an element of prosperity. 
 
 this, must not shrink from the arduous tasks it 
 imposes, or be daunted by the apparent difficulties 
 that he may fancy he sees staring him in the way. 
 
 " Then stand ye up, 
 
 Shielded, and helmed, and weaponed with the truth, 
 And drive before you into uttermost shame 
 Those recreant caitiffs." 
 
 The inhabitants of this village have sacrificed 
 their means, and weary hands have builded this 
 house, and teachers will be employed to give the best 
 of instruction, but vain will be sacrifice, and labor, 
 and instruction, if the knowledge acquired is not 
 sanctified by the spirit of truth. It is better that this 
 noble edifice should at once crumble into ruins, than 
 that these pupils should be taught the truths of sci- 
 ence without a corresponding cultivation of the moral 
 sensibilities. But we will not despond. A noble 
 work has been begun. The erection of this house 
 is an era in the history of this town. It is a mark 
 of the intelligence and public spirit which prevails. 
 The first means of prosperity to any community is 
 an educated and enlightened people. That nation, 
 or city, or hamlet has been prospered most that has 
 possessed the most intelligence. The erection of this 
 house will give a new impetus to the desire for ob- 
 taining it. You now have in your midst a building 
 suitable for a school of a high grade. You can now 
 
294 THE EDUCATION, ETC 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 command the means for the most liberal culture. 
 May children and parents and teachers and school- 
 officers be faithful to their trusts, and by their united 
 efforts make this the place where the rising genera- 
 tion may come up as to a fountain of living waters, 
 and take copious draughts of the pure limpid stream. 
 And when the people of other towns shall boast of 
 their public halls, and magnificent blocks, you may 
 point with pride and satisfaction to this place, and 
 say. the best public building of our village is de- 
 voted to the education of our children. 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY THE TRUE BASIS OF 
 LIBERTY- 
 
 DELIVEEED AT TOWNVILLB, JULY 4-TH, 1857. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS : It is a mark of enlight- 
 ened policy that we have a national holiday, 
 and I know no time in the year more appropriate for 
 the purpose than the fourth of July. The dreary 
 winter has given way to the jocund spring. The 
 husbandman has drained the damp earth of the 
 liquid frosts. The weary ox, bearing meekly the 
 yoke, has mellowed up the cold heavy acres. The 
 seeds have been scattered, and the vines planted in 
 deep trenches. The pruning knife and the imple- 
 ments of labor have been applied with tireless hand. 
 And now, as the dusty garb of husbandry is to give 
 place to the clean habiliments of summer, and the 
 grain and fruits are beginning to mature for the 
 sickle, what time can be more appropriate for a day 
 of national recreation than this point of transition 
 between seed time and harvest. 
 
 The time is appropriate. But were this all, it 
 
296 TRUE BASIS 
 
 Happy memories. This day brings joy to every class. 
 
 might become dull and meaningless. There would 
 be no living motive for its observance. It would 
 become a day of debauchery for the immoral, and, 
 consequently dreaded and hated by the intelligent 
 and virtuous. But it comes to us with happy mem- 
 ories and endearing associations, because it marks the 
 day of the nation's birth. The youth, the man of 
 affairs and hoary age annually look forward to this 
 day with buoyant and exhilarated feelings. Those 
 who are bending beneath the weight of years are 
 carried back to the time 
 
 " "When their hearts were stout and brave." 
 
 The celebrations of other days are brought back 
 vividly to mind, and they are again aroused by that 
 soul-stirring eloquence hurled from the lips of orators 
 and poets now mute in death. The man who is in 
 the prime of life, whose heart is eaten with care, and 
 whose head begins to blossom, is glad to turn aside 
 from the toilsome and dusty walks of life and breathe 
 the inspiring breath of patriotism, review the origin 
 and workings of civil liberty, tremble for its perils, 
 weep for its persecutions and rejoice over its tri- 
 umphs. And the child leaps for joy, he knows not 
 why, for his heart is lit up with hope and anticipation, 
 and his affections have not yet been chilled by the 
 disappointments with which life's journey is thronged, 
 
OF LIBERTY. 297 
 
 Young America's celebration. -Words of the patriot. 
 
 The grave and the gay, the matron and the maid, 
 all reckon its approach in eager anticipation, and on 
 the morning of this day a nation wakes like the child 
 to the enjoyment of a new toy. Cannon herald its 
 approach, and bells ring qut their merriest peals. 
 Music lends her spirit-stirring tones. The blast of 
 the trumpet, and the mellow strains from the bugle 
 and the horn of the well-regulated band which leads 
 on the gay procession, the chorus chanted by hun- 
 dreds of living voices, down to the tin whistle and 
 jews-harp of the boy who is obliged to stay at home, 
 and who gets up a celebration on his own account, 
 decorated with wooden sword and a paper hat sur- 
 mounted with cockade and feather, and who delivers 
 his own oration by crawling up into a tree or the 
 back end of a hay cart all unite to swell the foun- 
 tains of enthusiasm. The old patriot uttered truth 
 when he looked forth with prophetic eye and said, 
 " We shall make this a glorious and immortal day. 
 When we are in our graves our children will honor 
 it They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with 
 festivity, with bonfires and illuminations. On its 
 annual return they will shed tears copious, gushing 
 tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony 
 and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude and joy." 
 
 The celebration of this day is not to excite the 
 
 feelings of hatred and exultation over those who 
 
 13* 
 
298 TRUE BASIS 
 
 The goodly inheritance. Spirited Philippics. 
 
 formerly believed that they could with propriety 
 pursue a line of policy which was degrading to us ; 
 but of joy and gratitude that the fruits of its labors 
 have proved so glorious, that the era which this 
 day has heralded in, has been so fortunate and happy 
 to our youthful nation, that the fondest hopes and 
 anticipations of those who took part in its delibera- 
 tions have been more than realized, that a combina- 
 tion of such fortunate circumstances has centered in 
 this, the latest experiment in civilization, and that 
 we can this day rejoice together in the goodly inher- 
 itance bequeathed to us by the fathers of the repub- 
 lic. Indeed, we scarcely remember that England 
 ever attempted to force us to subjection at the point 
 of the bayonet, and hardly realize but that, in the 
 intimacy of her relations with us, she has her fourth 
 of July, and celebrates with us the triumphs of lib- 
 erty. That feeling of animosity which originally 
 existed between the generations which were parties 
 to the contest, and that was kept alive and annually 
 fed by spirited Philippics on our boasted greatness 
 and the defeat of the British arms, was buried in 
 the graves of the actors in the scene. 
 
 As the birthday of our nation, we celebrate it. On 
 its annual return, our thoughts are naturally directed 
 to the history of civil liberty, to its progress among 
 the nations, and the struggles it has met. We are 
 
OF LIBERTY. 299 
 
 Uses of the day. Foreigners. 
 
 reminded that we have a country whose welfare and 
 safety should be near our hearts. On this day the 
 rising generation may learn something of the history 
 of the past. They may imbibe the spirit of that 
 incorruptible virtue which animated the bosoms of 
 our fathers, may understand the dangers they en- 
 countered, the hardships with which they struggled, 
 the sufferings they meekly endured in establishing a 
 form of government which has secured the blessings 
 of liberty and prosperity through the successive gen- 
 erations, and, as we may fondly hope, to the end of 
 time. That portion of our fellow-citizens who come 
 among us from foreign countries, and who have 
 received their earliest impressions of civil rights 
 from experience under government exercised by 
 arbitrary power and a system of police, may learn 
 the basis upon which our government is established 
 and the essence and true spirit of our national origin 
 by listening to that Declaration of Independence 
 which has just been read, and which is so dear to us 
 all. The foreigner who comes here ignorant of our 
 laws and customs may, from the song that is sung 
 and the words that are spoken, catch a truer no- 
 tion, a more genuine inspiration of American liberty 
 and American law than from the reading of all the 
 volumes of her legal codes. 
 But the question which most concerns us, and 
 
300 TRUE BASIS 
 
 Need of watchfulness. Enemies of populo,r government. 
 
 which should on this day be the object of inquiry, is 
 how we may preserve the institutions which have 
 been bequeathed to us. If the government under 
 which we live is a good one, and has made us pros- 
 perous and happy beyond that of any other nation 
 whose history has been recorded, we ought to labor 
 to preserve it in its purity. If the liberty we enjoy 
 is precious to us, and we are privileged to move and 
 act in its ^sunshine and genial warmth, we should 
 guard it as a precious treasure, a priceless gem. 
 There is need of watchfulness. The casket that con- 
 tains the jewel is always in danger of being rifled. 
 Secure in the enjoyment of our boasted favors, and 
 flattered by the prosperity which they secure to us, 
 we may, in some unguarded moment, be deprived of 
 them ; our national temple may be rifled, and we be 
 despoiled of our dearest inheritance. The enemies of 
 popular government will ever be ready to lend a 
 helping hand to compass its ruin. Heartless villains 
 in our midst would sell its liberties for the gratifi- 
 cation of their own ambition and reckless lust for 
 power. To study the means for preventing so la- 
 mentable a result, should be the care of every good 
 citizen, and shall form the topic of the remainder of 
 this discourse. 
 
 To preserve a system intact we should first under- 
 stand the principles upon which it is based. What 
 
OF LIBERTY. 301 
 
 Basis of civil liberty. Nations of antiquity, Plato. Tally. 
 
 is the basis of civil liberty ? The answer to this 
 question will point out the interests which we are 
 to foster and protect in order to preserve it in health 
 and vigor. 
 
 EDUCATION unrestricted is the first element of 
 national liberty. The history of every civilized na- 
 tion has shown that the rights of the citizen, his 
 property, his person, are insecure in the midst of an 
 ignorant and brutish populace. The nations of anti- 
 quity invariably built strong walls of defense around 
 their great cities, in which the intelligent and edu- 
 cated could assemble with their treasures, where they 
 could outnumber and manage the servile class in 
 their midst, whose labor they needed, and, from its 
 ramparts, could govern and tyrannize over the ig- 
 norant and barbarous who dwelt beyond its limits. 
 During the best period of the most polished nations 
 of antiquity the great body of the people were never 
 enlightened. The cities in which letters triumphed 
 and art most signally excelled, in which Plato dis- 
 coursed upon the principles of his philosophy, and 
 where Tully plead, were surrounded by an unedu- 
 cated populace. Civil liberty was never enjoyed in 
 any of the boasted republics of antiquity by any ex- 
 cept the inhabitants of the cities ; and even the rights 
 and privileges of these were only possessed so long 
 as protected by the strong arm of a great central 
 
302 TRUE. BASIS 
 
 Republicanism in France. Number who can not read and write. 
 
 power. Their governments were never secure, be- 
 cause not founded on the true basis of that liberty 
 which they professed. 
 
 Attempts have often been made to establish liberty 
 for a people uneducated, and the efforts have always 
 failed. The wise and virtuous, with clear vision, 
 who have distinctly seen that liberty was best for a 
 nation, and have realized in fancy the blessings which 
 ought to flow from it, have labored and sacrificed to 
 give it to the masses ; but the ignorant and besotted 
 have only trodden it under their feet and turned to 
 rend their benefactors. [Republican principles have 
 again and again been established in France, but they 
 have never lasted a score of years. The efforts of 
 her patriots have been unreservedly given to the 
 cause, and it has been sealed with the blood of her 
 best citizens ; but even at this price it has not been 
 secured. And why is it ? "Why may not one of the 
 most polished and gallant nations of the earth enjoy 
 liberty? Why may not the nation which reckons 
 among its sons the first scholars of the age, in every 
 walk of learning, enjoy this inestimable gift? Figures 
 will tell. The report of the chief of the statistical 
 bureau shows that twelve millions ! (12,000,000) of 
 her population can neither read nor write. "When 
 we read these figures we no longer wonder why this 
 unhappy country has so often failed in establishing a 
 
OF LIBERTY. 303 
 
 Eequisites of freedom. Remarks of M. Montalembert. 
 
 republican government, nor why it is so often rent by 
 turbulent and treacherous factions. Until France* 
 shall learn to educate her masses she may never rea- 
 sonably hope for the full enjoyment of civil liberty. 
 
 A people to be free must have intelligence. The 
 walls with which ancient nations surrounded their 
 cities would not have been needed if the common 
 people had been educated. If the money which is 
 
 * An eloquent writer in a late French journal says, "Twelve mil- 
 lions of our fellow-citizens, entitled to vote and to decide the common 
 destiny, are still ignorant of the first rudiments of reading and writ- 
 ing." No wonder that he follows this astounding statement with the 
 inquiry, " How can France be free so long as you have to drag this 
 dead weight, to apprehend the explosion of these embittered and dis- 
 contented classes?" Never, of course. A free State including " twelve 
 millions" of citizens who can't read or write 1 The thing is impossible. 
 Freedom requires thought, knowledge, scrutiny into the claims and 
 measures of magistrates and law makers. The man who is " ignorant 
 of the first rudiments of reading and writing" is destitute of the first 
 
 elements and incapable of the first duties of freemen M. 
 
 Montalembert says, that, though he is not an old man he has lived to 
 see ten revolutions in his native country. No wonder : he may live 
 to see ten more, if he reaches a good old age, with " twelve millions 
 of voters in France who can neither read nor write." 
 
 Yet we may shed a tear over the unhappy condition of one of the 
 bravest, most generous and highly gifted of races. It is not their 
 fault that they can not read or write. No man learns quicker 01 is 
 more anxious to learn than a Frenchman. Ages of despotism have 
 made them incapable of freedom. It is to no purpose that the same 
 journalist affirms, " Our superior culture, our special schools, are the 
 admiration of Europe." It is not superior schools nor special culture 
 that can make a free people. New York Ledger, 1859. 
 
304 TRUE BASIS 
 
 Education an element of public safety. Kemark of President Wayland. 
 
 expended in building lofty walls of defense, and 
 maintaining a large standing army, with scarcely a 
 less body of police for enforcing* laws upon an un- 
 willing people, were used in supporting a system of 
 common school instruction in which every child of 
 the State could be educated, 
 
 " Thick wall or moated gate" 
 
 would be a useless appendage, and battalions of sol- 
 diers, with a detective at every corner and by-way, 
 would be a needless exhaustion of its life. 
 
 The man who can neither read nor write is not a 
 fit person to exercise the elective franchise. Some 
 of the States of our confederacy have enacted that 
 he who can not read or write shall not vote at an 
 election. " A man," says President Wayland, " who 
 can not read, is a being not contemplated by the 
 genius of our Constitution. When the right of suf- 
 frage is extended to all, he is certainly a dangerous 
 member of the community, who has not qualified 
 himself to exercise it." Knowledge is the first means 
 of safety and security to a nation. A body of uned- 
 ucated citizens, each with as loud a voice at the 
 ballot box as he who is educated, are fit tools for 
 the artful and designing. It has always been the 
 province of knowledge to dictate to ignorance, and 
 so long as there are those who will take advantage 
 
OF LIBERTY. 305 
 
 Knowledge. Vital questions. Declaration of Independence. 
 
 of the latter whenever the opportunity presents, there 
 can be no safety for civil rights till the people, the 
 <%*o?, are able to understand opinions and the tend- 
 encies of measures which they are urged to support, 
 and can judge for themselves of their truth or falsity. 
 The first element of security to civil liberty is educa- 
 tion. If then we would erect a bulwark which shall 
 be a substantial means of safety, if we would guard 
 against the assaults of open foes, and the more dan- 
 gerous attacks of the false-hearted and intriguing, we 
 should labor for the efficiency of our common schools. 
 That form of government which is most favorable 
 to the success of civil liberty is that in which the 
 decisions upon its great vital questions are kept 
 nearest to the voice of the people, so that abuses 
 may be speedily corrected when felt. This form is 
 a DEMOCRACY. The fundamental principles of this 
 are embraced in our Declaration of Independence. 
 Its simple statements are founded in truth truth 
 which has been developed by the struggles of civil- 
 ization during many ages. It is the natural expres- 
 sion, of the rights and relations of humanity, drawn 
 from the experience of every nation that has played 
 any important part upon the earth. No man who is 
 thoroughly imbued with the principles of Christian- 
 ity can deny its truthfulness or justly resist its bind- 
 ing force. 
 
306 TRUE BASIS 
 
 Prerogative and power. The republics of Greece. 
 
 There has always existed a struggle between pre- 
 rogative and power, between the class governed and 
 that exercising dominion. This struggle originated 
 either from the ignorance of the people in not being 
 content to submit to wholesome restraint, or from 
 an attempt on the part of those who hold the power 
 to assume to themselves arbitrary authority. An 
 equality in rights and privileges of every member 
 must exist, or the class deprived will contend with 
 those who withhold from them what they can justly 
 claim. Hence, whenever in any nation there is a 
 class under the authority of law which is deprived 
 of its political rights and can not have a voice in the 
 government, then the institutions of that nation are 
 not stable. Submission to power without a voice in 
 managing it, among a civilized people, will never be 
 endured, and, sooner or later, the contest will come. 
 
 "We have already referred to the States of an- 
 tiquity. Many of these possessed forms of govern- 
 ment applicable to the noble families of a single city, 
 commendable for the extent of political freedom 
 which they insured. The democratic republics of 
 Greece have long been celebrated as models. The 
 philosopher has dwelt upon the excellence of those 
 systems till, in his heated imagination, he has formed 
 his conception of the model republic. The historian 
 has portrayed in his brightest colors their splendid 
 
OF LIBERTY. 307 
 
 The model republic. 
 
 triumphs in cabinet and field. He has presented to 
 the dazzled eye the tramp of armies clad in buckler 
 and helmet and vizored in steel. He has pictured 
 the brazen-beaked galleys and fleets covering the 
 ocean and meeting hostile fleets the triumphs of a 
 handful of republican forces over myriads of bar- 
 barian soldiery. He has preserved with care the 
 speeches of their orators, powerful and persuasive 
 like the words of Jove, and the policy of her states- 
 men planned from the profoundest views of political 
 philosophy, and fruitful of wonders. The poet has 
 sung in his loftiest strains of their triumphs in arms, 
 in athletic sports, in letters, in art. 
 
 But while we gaze delighted at this picture of 
 renown secured under the protection of democratic 
 forms of government, we are filled with far different 
 feelings as we look beneath this semblance of liberty 
 and see that while the inhabitants of a single city, 
 who are enrolled as citizens, enjoy the privileges of 
 freemen, and have an equal voice in making the 
 laws, the great majority of the people, who culti- 
 vate the earth, who bear the heavy armor in war, 
 and help fight the stern battles, are in a condition 
 of abject slavery and vassalage ; who live tram- 
 pled in the dust, forsaken and despised, and die 
 unwept, unhonored and unsung. Sparta may boast 
 in pompous terms of the freedom of her city, of her 
 
308 TRUE BASIS 
 
 Boast of Sparta. A nearer view. The helots. 
 
 heraldry in arms, of the vastness of her power, and 
 her glorj in literature and art. But the tears, and 
 groans and blood of her serfs are unnumbered and 
 forgotten. 
 
 "When we are admitted to a nearer view of this 
 boasted free republic, and see the real condition of 
 that portion of her State on which she must of neces- 
 sity depend for her daily bread, we must conclude, 
 according to the proposition which we have already 
 advanced, that her institutions are not stable, and 
 can not long endure. From the facts in the organ- 
 ization of her society we may truly figure her con- 
 cluding scenes. Those who were enrolled as citizens, 
 and who alone had power in the government, were 
 soldiers and gentlemen. They bought and sold, 
 heard the news, discussed politics, made laws in the 
 assembly, managed the affairs of state, and lived at 
 their ease, while the helots performed the drudgery. 
 The clear-sighted of the Spartan statesmen plainly 
 perceived that so long as these relations subsisted 
 between the two classes the ruling party would 
 never be secure. They knew that idleness and lux- 
 ury would waste the energies of the one, while fresh 
 struggles and hardships would fill the other with 
 new vigor. Knowing that danger was lurking in 
 the future, and anxious to perpetuate institutions 
 under which the helots had to do the work while 
 
OF LIBERTY. 309 
 
 The Cryptia. Two thousand helots murdered. 
 
 they enjoyed leisure and the fruits of this labor, they 
 placed the helots under the surveillance of the most 
 vigilant police, and atrocious violence was used to 
 reduce their strength and break their spirit. In 
 addition to this, a law was enacted called the Cryp- 
 tia, according to the provisions of which* " a com- 
 mission was given every year to a select number 
 of young Spartans to range the country secretly, 
 armed with daggers, for the purpose of assassinating 
 those helots, wherever they might be found, who, by 
 eminent qualities of body or mind, had excited the 
 fear or jealousy of the government. * * * On 
 one occasion, when the weakness of Sparta gave rea- 
 son to dread an insurrection of the helots, all those 
 whose past services seemed to entitle them to claim 
 their emancipation were publicly invited to come 
 forward and receive their reward. The bravest and 
 most deserving presented themselves, and two thou- 
 sand were selected as the worthiest. They joyfully 
 crowned themselves, and went around the temples to 
 offer their thanks to the gods ; they were then se- 
 cretly dispatched, so that the historian could not 
 learn the exact manner in which the horrible crime 
 was committed." 
 
 No government can long be upheld by such 
 
 * Schmitz's History of Greece, pages 95, 96. 
 
310 TRUE BASIS 
 
 No class stationary. 
 
 revolting means as these, and it is a mockery to 
 call such a State a free republic. We can as surely 
 predict its downfall from its early history as the ris- 
 ing of the sun. A halo of glory may surround its 
 rise and progress, and its meridian splendor may 
 dazzle with its brightness far away in the midst of 
 those barbarous ages, but the damp shades of night 
 must ere long envelop it, and we hear 
 
 " its tuneful echoes languish 
 
 Mute but to the voice of anguish." 
 
 No class of people in an enlightened nation can 
 long remain stationary. If there is an order which 
 is rich and powerful, and which has exalted itself in 
 influence above the rank which they leave beneath 
 them, and hold the government in their hands, 
 they may perhaps be successful for a few genera- 
 tions to rule and domineer. But there will be 
 members of that class who will become degraded by 
 folly and crime, and will deserve to fall beneath 
 their companions. No despotic sj 7 stern can keep 
 them in their place. No law or force of family re- 
 nown can exalt a man and make him respected or 
 hold a rank which his ancestors held before him. 
 He who has pursued a deliberate course of evil, has 
 brought dishonor on himself and forfeited the confi- 
 dence of his fellow-rnen, deserves no longer their 
 
. OF LIBERTY. 311 
 
 Two classes. 
 
 friendship. On the other hand, however much a class 
 may be ground down and oppressed, or however 
 menial its labor, it will not be long before the spark 
 of true manhood which has been implanted in the 
 bosom of us all will show itself. There will be a 
 desire to rise higher and know more, to imitate deeds 
 of heroism, to labor meekly in a true philanthropy, 
 and work out a higher destiny. If government has 
 drawn arbitrarily the lines between them, and will 
 allow none of the former to fall to their true level, 
 and none of the latter to rise, then that government 
 is not firm, and will soon become the subject of con- 
 tention, and will eventually be overwhelmed amidst 
 the ruins of the temple in which it seeks to enshrine 
 itself. 
 
 There must always be two classes among every 
 people. There are those who, by weakness of tem- 
 per or inactivity of body will be imbecile to think 
 or act ; and there will be those who, with imperious 
 disposition and, constitutional strength, will push on 
 to eminence, whether in the field, the cabinet, in 
 trade, in philanthropy, or in letters. But because 
 the father was weak it is no sign that the son will 
 be so, and the son of the wise may be a simpleton. 
 Hence the sons may not be fit to assume the places 
 and join the ranks which their fathers filled. If in 
 society there is not a free passage between the two 
 
312 TRUE BASIS 
 
 Business men of New York. A nation truly free. 
 
 extremes, the progress of civilization is cramped, and 
 the safety of the government is endangered. For 
 the man who is held in a position above his talents 
 or morals, because he has gentle blood in his veins, 
 becomes an object of disgust, and impairs our confi- 
 dence in the law which keeps him there. And he 
 who is prevented from rising to that position for 
 which he is eminently fitted, and which he would fill 
 with honor and ability, nurtures a hatred of the op- 
 pression that keeps him down, which, like a smoul- 
 dering fire, is fed by that which is heaped up to 
 extinguish it. A large proportion of the active mer- 
 itorious business men of the city of New York were 
 once poor boys, the sons of farmers and mechanics 
 scattered over New England and the adjoining States, 
 who annually visit the old homestead in the country. 
 While a majority of the sons of those who were most 
 successful in business in a former generation, are the 
 bloated inmates of brothel and groggery, or figure 
 as dandies on Broadway, and mankind are none the 
 wiser or better for their living. 
 
 It is only when there is a free pass from one 
 extreme of society to the other, with no restraints 
 except virtue and her eloquent persuadings that a 
 nation can be said to be truly free when merit is 
 crowned with its deserts. It is then that the mechanic 
 arts best flourish. Then nature is most encouraged 
 
OF LIBERTY. 313 
 
 The Eoman republic. Patrician and Plebeian. 
 
 to perfect her work. Then literature accomplishes 
 its greatest results, and rises to its highest perfection, 
 because all have the assurance of a fair opportunity. 
 
 The contentions which have been constantly going 
 on between prerogative and power, and which have 
 occupied almost exclusively the pen of the historian 
 in every nation of any note, have originated in a 
 departure from the principle just enunciated. The 
 Eoman republic was founded upon the principle 
 that the governing was a distinct order from the gov- 
 erned, that an aristocracy and menials were the foun- 
 dation of power. But that haughty spirit which is 
 the characteristic of human nature everywhere when 
 placed in a position to domineer, and which was so 
 marked a characteristic of the old Koman, soon began 
 to manifest itself. The relations which originally 
 subsisted between the Patricians and the Plebeians 
 were such that the two classes were mutually de- 
 pendent upon each other, and were of consequence 
 naturally drawn together. But at the basis of this 
 organization there was established this barrier which 
 effectually prevented the worthy Plebeian from rising 
 to the rank of a Patrician, and that retained among 
 the Patricians, all whether good or bad. 
 
 The opportunity of being unjust begot reckless- 
 ness in power. The Plebeian became the object of 
 
 tyranny and insupportable bondage. He was dragged 
 
 14 
 
314 TRUE BASIS 
 
 Incident of the old Plebeian. 
 
 to the field and compelled to fight the battles of the 
 nation. When he returned to his home and found 
 it pillaged or burned, and his stock driven away, and 
 to replace it was forced to borrow money from the 
 Patricians at so exorbitant a rate of interest that he 
 could never pay it, he was then sold, thrown into 
 durance vile, and compelled to submit to stripes and 
 torture. Such is the tendency of power unrestrained. 
 It runs into the wildest excesses when not amenable 
 to any higher authority. But there was a point be- 
 yond which it could not advance. 
 
 An old man who had been despoiled of his prop- 
 erty and had fallen into the power of his debtors ; 
 appeared among his associates covered with blood 
 and wounds which were still fresh, and told his sad 
 story. This was a signal for universal rising. The 
 Plebeians stepped forward in their might, seceded 
 from the city, and demanded a restitution of their 
 rights which they could claim by virtue of their man- 
 hood. Their power was too great to be resisted, and 
 their wills too stubborn to be tamed. New political 
 rights were granted to them, their debts were abol- 
 ished, tribunes, who should defend and represent them, 
 were allowed, and that political standing was estab- 
 lished which enabled them to cope successfully with 
 the Patricians, and to maintain those celebrated strug- 
 
OF LIBERTY. 315 
 
 Struggles in England. Algernon Sydney. Eemark of Smyth. 
 
 gles which lend to Koman history and to Eoman char- 
 acter their peculiar charms. 
 
 We have witnessed the same struggles from time 
 to time in England. Encroachments upon the rights 
 of the people -have aroused the indignation of the 
 masses. Sanguinary contests have ensued, and al- 
 though at times the friends of constitutional liberty 
 have seemed to be stricken down, yet it has finally 
 appeared that the cause of humanity has steadily im- 
 proved ; that in every contention its course has been 
 onward. The happy fruits of a constitutional mon- 
 archy, one of the most fortunate forms of govern- 
 ment, which the English people now enjoy, has been 
 secured at a costly sacrifice. The lovers of liberty 
 have poured out their life's blood like water in its 
 defense. The world does not recognize its benefac- 
 tors till it has crucified them. Algernon Sydney, on 
 the night before his execution, said that for himself 
 he did not care a chip; but the law which con- 
 demned him to the block would condemn every one 
 of his associates. " He marched," says Smyth, " to 
 the scaffold as to a victory, displaying at his execu- 
 tion as at his trial, all the bold and sublime traits of 
 the republican character; the untroubled pulse, the 
 unabated resolve, the unconquerable mind, and free- 
 dom's holy flame; the memory that still lingered 
 with delight on the good old cause, as he termed it, 
 
316 TRUE BASIS 
 
 Eepublican character. No blessing without tribulation. 
 
 for which, he was to shed his blood ; the imagination 
 that even in death, disdainful alike, of the govern- 
 ment, its judges, its indictments, and its executioners 
 soared away to some loftier code of justice and of 
 right, and hung enamored on its own more splendid 
 visions of equality and freedom." 
 
 The struggles of the champions of liberty during 
 eighteen centuries could not secure to our fathers the 
 inestimable boon without a long and fearful contest. 
 The colonists brought with them to these shores the 
 experience of all the past. The infant nation was 
 far removed from the jealousy and intrigues of the 
 old continental powers. But the spirit of arbitrary 
 rule followed them even here, in the wilderness, and 
 placed its yoke upon their necks. The freedom which 
 they sought and for which they had periled the dan 
 gers of the ocean, had endured privation, and would 
 meet even death itself, was crushed to earth. 
 
 It seems that Providence has so ordered that no 
 signal blessing shall be enjoyed without passing 
 through tribulation to attain it. Power commenced 
 his encroachments, and prerogative must again to 
 the onset. It was fortunate in our Revolution that 
 men were found equal to the emergency, deter- 
 mined to embark in the enterprise and pursue it to 
 the last. With firm hearts, and unwavering pur- 
 pose, in the spirit of unexampled patriotism, they 
 
OF LIBERTY. 317 
 
 Ethan Allen. Samuel Adams. 
 
 stood around each other and pledged " their lives, 
 their fortunes and their sacred honor." In deed and 
 in word they stood faithfully together, and mocked 
 alike at promises or threats. The fortitude of those 
 has been rarely equaled, who, amidst the greatest 
 indignities and bodily sufferings, spurned with con- 
 tempt the offers of reconciliation. Colonel Ethan 
 Allen was taken prisoner and carried in irons to 
 England. The emissaries of the king offered him a 
 township in the new world when the war should be 
 closed if he would lend his aid to the royal cause. 
 The answer of the bold colonel was characteristic : 
 " Gentlemen, your proposition reminds me of the 
 devil's when he took Jesus up into an exceeding 
 high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of 
 the earth, and promised that they should be his if he 
 would fall down and worship him, when the poor 
 devil had not a foot of land on earth." When an 
 unlimited price was offered Samuel Adams by an 
 agent of the king, he replied, in a determined man- 
 ner, "I have long since made my peace with the 
 King of kings. No consideration would induce me 
 to abandon the righteous cause of my country. Tell 
 Governor Gage it is the advice of Samuel Adams to 
 him, to insult no longer the feelings of an exasperated 
 people." It was such men as these, that filled the 
 
318 TRUE BASIS 
 
 Conception of a perfect State. 
 
 vision of Alcaeus when he fashioned in poetic fancy 
 the ideal of a perfect State : 
 
 " What constitutes a State ? 
 
 Not high-raised battlements or labored mounds, 
 Thick walls or moated gate ; 
 
 Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned ; 
 Not bays and broad-armed ports 
 
 Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride. 
 Not starred and spangled courts, 
 
 Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. 
 No! Men high-minded men, 
 
 With powers as far above dull brutes endued, 
 In forest, brake or den, 
 
 As beasts excel' cold rocks and brambles rude. 
 Men who their duties know, 
 
 But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain ; 
 Prevent the long-aimed blow, 
 
 And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain. 
 These constitute a State ; 
 
 And sovereign law, that State's collected will, 
 O'er thrones and globes elate 
 
 Sits empress, crowning good repressing ill." 
 
 To education and democracy must be ascribed all 
 the triumphs of civil liberty, and to the want of 
 these must we ascribe its failures. Wherever the 
 people are enlightened and educated, there a demo- 
 cratic form of government is possible, and the fullest 
 enjoyment of rights is secured. It is the duty of 
 every lover of his country to labor assiduously for 
 the permanence of these two principles, for they are 
 the basis of liberty. Where liberty is, there is pros- 
 
OF LIBERTY. 319 
 
 Gifts of civil and religious liberty. 
 
 perity and life. Civil and religious liberty are the 
 chief of our blessings. For these have martyrs laid 
 down their lives upon the scaffold and at the stake, 
 and myriads of men fought to establish or defend 
 them. Take away these, and we are degraded to 
 the rank of slaves, of brutes, and life becomes not 
 worth the living. Give these, and every faculty is 
 exalted, the work of our hands is blessed, the gifts 
 of nature smile upon us, and brighter hopes beam 
 upon us from the future. 
 
THE SCHOOL TEACHER'S LIBRARY: 
 
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 THIS LIBRARY IS DEDICATED TO THE TEACHERS OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 AND DESIGNED TO AID THEM IN THEIR PROFESSION. 
 
 1, THEORY AND PRACTICE OP TEACHING ; 
 
 OR, 
 
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 By DAVID PAGE, A. M., late Principal of the State Normal School, 
 New York. Price $1.25. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
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 Responsibility of the Teacher. 
 Habits of the Teacher. 
 Literary Qualifications of the Teacher. 
 Right Views of Education. 
 Right Modes of Teaching. 
 Conducting Recitations. 
 Exciting an Interest in Study. 
 School Government. 
 
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 his Pupils. 
 
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 The Teacher's Relation to his Profession. 
 Miscellaneous Suggestions : 
 
 1. Things to be avoided. 
 
 2. Things to be performed. 
 The Rewards of the Teacher. 
 
 2, THE TEACHER AND THE PARENT : 
 
 A Treatise upon Common-School Education, containing Practical Sug- 
 gestions to Teachers and Parents. By CHARLES NORTHEND, A. M. , 
 late, and for many years, Principal of the Epes School, Salem ; now 
 Superintendent of the Public Schools, Danve,rs, Mass. Price $1.25. 
 
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 Parents should encourage the Teacher. 
 Specific Duties Candor and Charitable- 
 ness. 
 High and honorable Motives. 
 
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 This book is one of great weight and interest, and is admirably adapted for the 
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 the author's views on the American system of townships, counties, &c. ; Federal and 
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 CONTENTS. 
 Every Teacher his own Drill Master Gymnast-cr School Management 
 
 From the New York Teacher. 
 
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 from the hand of a master, who evidently knows that whereof 'he affirms. The 
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 Every page is fjll of instruction; and the work needs only to be knoa to be 
 appreciated" 
 
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 With copious Notes, and Biographical Sketches of each Writer. 
 
 These READERS have been prepared with the greatest care and laber, by RICHARD 
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 New York. No amount of labor or expense has been spared to render them as near 
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 Typography, are unrivalled by any similar works. 
 
 The First Reader, or " Word-Euilder," being the first issued, is alreadj 
 in extensive use. It is on a plan entirely new and original, commencing with word, 
 of one letter, and building up letter by letter, until sentences are formed. 
 
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 The Fifth Reader is a full work upon Reading and Elocution. Tne works of 
 many authors, ancient and modern, have been consulted, and more than a hundred 
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 Rhetorical delivery, and form a finished reader and elocutionist Classical and hia- 
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RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 PARKER & WATSON'S READERS. 
 
 From PROP. FREDERICK S. JKWELL, of the New York State Normal School. 
 It gives me pleasure to find in the National Series of School Readers ample rcom 
 for commendation. From a brief examination of them, I am led to believe that we 
 have none equal to them. I hope they will prove as popular as they are excellent 
 
 From HON. THEODORK FRELINGHUTSEN, President of Rutgers 1 College, N. J. 
 A cursory examination leads me to the conclusion that the system contained in 
 these volumes deserves the patronage of our schools, and I have no doubt that it will 
 become extensively used in the education of children and youth. 
 
 From N. A. HAMILTON, President of Teachers' Union, Whitewater, Wis. 
 
 The National Readers and Speller I have examined, and carefully compared with 
 
 others, and must pronounce them decidedly superior, in respect to literary merit, 
 
 style, and prire. The gradation is more complete, and the series much more desirable 
 
 for use in our schools than Sanders' or McGufifey's. 
 
 From PROF. T. F. TIUCKSTUN, Principal of Academy and Normal School, 
 
 Meadrille, Pa. 
 
 1 am much pleased with the National Series of Readers after having canvassed 
 their merits pretty thoroughly. The first of the series especially pleases me, because 
 it affords the means of teaching the " word -method"' in an appropriate and natural 
 manner. They all are progressive, the rules of elocution are stated with clearness, 
 and the selection of pieces is such as to please at the same time that they instruct. 
 
 From J. W. SCHERMERHORN, A. B., Principal Coll. Institute, Middletown, N. J. 
 I consider them emphatically the Readers of the present day, and I believe that 
 cheir intrinsic merits will insure for them a full measure of popularity. 
 
 From PKTER ROUGET, Principal Public School No. 10, Brooklyn. 
 It gives me great pleasure to be able to bear my unqualified testimony to the excel- 
 lence of the National Series of Readers, by PARKER and WAI-SON. The gradation of 
 the books of the series is very fine ; we have reading in its elements and in its highest 
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 succeeded in forming a very interesting and improving collection of reading-matter, 
 highly adapted to the wants and purposes of the school-room. In short, I look upon 
 the National Series of Readers as a great success. 
 
 From A. P. HARRINGTON, Principal of Union School, Marathon, N. Y. 
 These Readers, in my opinion, are the best I have ever examined. The rhetorical 
 exercises, in particular, are superior to any thing of the kind 1 have ever seen. I have 
 had better success with my reading classes since I commenced training them on these, 
 than I ever met with before. The marked vowels in the reading exercises convey to 
 the reader's mind at once the astonishing fact that he has been accustomed to mispro- 
 nounce more than one-third of the words of the English language. 
 
 From CHARLES S. HALSF.T, Principal Collegiate Institute, Newton, N. J. 
 In the simplicity and clearness with which the principles are stated, in the appro- 
 priateness of the selections for reading, and in the happy adaptation of the different 
 parts of the series to each other, these works are superior to any other text-books on 
 this subject which I have examined. 
 
 From WILLIAM TRAVIS, Principal of Union School, Flint, Mich. 
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 in advance of most other series now in use, and so well adapted to the wants of the 
 Public Schools. It is unequaled in the skillful arrangement of the material used, 
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 books I predict for it a cordial welcome and a general introduction by many of oui 
 most enterprising teachers. 
 
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 SPELLING AND DEFINING. 
 
 THE JUVENILE DEFINER: A Collection and Classification of FAMILIAR 
 WORDS and NAMES, correctly Spelled, Accented, and Defined. By W. W. SMITH, 
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 This is an invaluable book for young children : instead of long columns of to them 
 incomprehensible and meaningless words, the lessons are formed of those words which 
 they hear and use almost every day, but of which they have formed only imperfect 
 ideas. The words are grouped with reference to similar signification or use as the 
 several kinds of BUILDINGS compose one class; the kinds of VESSELS another; 
 VEHICLKS another; CLOTHS another, &c., fcc. ; experience having shown that th 
 knowledge of one word of a class produces in the pupil a strong desire to know ALL 
 belonging to that class, with their various shades of meaning, application, &c. The 
 principal words used in the definitions are also defined, and the arrangement is such 
 that almost every word in the book is defined at the time or before its employment. 
 
 THE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL SPELLER; or, SPELLER'S NEW MANUAL. 
 
 Containing Rules for SPELLING, with numerous Examples to illustrate the Appli- 
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 in the English Language, correctly Spelled, Pronounced, and Defined. Arranged 
 in Easy Lessons for Intermediate Classes. Price 40 cts. 
 
 This book is designed for those pupils who have studied through the JCTVENILR 
 DKFINKR. The Rules for Spelling are in simple language, having numerous examples 
 of familiar words attached to illustrate the intent of each. These Rules teach the 
 formation of the great majority of the derivatives, and consequently embrace the 
 greater portion of the words of the language. 
 
 The lessons consist of words grouped with reference to the sameness of sound of 
 certain syllables differently spelled ; as authorize, exercise, analyze, sacrifice the 
 pronunciation of each of these terminations has in it the sound of ize, though ex- 
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 all commencing with the sound of tc'ris and many others. 
 
 The words of the lessons have also the pronunciation (in italics), and a short 
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 position, Abbreviations, &c., &c. To which is added a Vocabulary of Reference. 
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 In this book, designed for the highest class, we have, 1st, A dissertation on the 
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 use them Rules for the use of Capitals, Rules for Letter and Note writing, with 
 diagrams, Ac. In the body of the work there are about 14,000 of the principal words 
 in the language arranged in classes according to their derivation, correctly spelled, 
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 swered, require the pupil to keep constantly in his miud the Rules for Spoiling, their 
 application. &c. 
 
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 are not in alphabetical order for obvious reasons, an alphabetical Vocabulary is plaoed 
 at the eiid, by which means any word in the book can be found. 
 
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 KEY TO DAVIES' BOURDON'S ALGEBRA. 
 
 DAVIES' LEGEN ORE'S GEOMETRY 
 
 DAVIES' ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 
 
 DAVIES' ANALYTICAL GEOMETRY... 
 
 D AV I E S' 
 
 Complete Course of Mathematics. 
 
 SElementavp Bourse. Re)ail rrice 
 
 DAVIES' PRIMARY ARITHMETIC AND TABLE-BOOK $0 15 
 
 DAVIES' FIRST LESSONS IN ARITHMETIC 20 
 
 I )AVIES' INTELLECTUAL ARITHMETIC 25 
 
 DAVIES' NEW SCHOOL ARITHMETIC 45 
 
 KEY TO DAVIES' NEW SCHOOL ARITHMETIC 45 
 
 DAVIES' NEW UNIVERSITY ARITHMETIC 7ft 
 
 KEY TO DAVIES 1 NEW UNIVERSITY ARITHMETIC 5 
 
 DAVIES' GRAMMAR OF ARITHMETIC 30 
 
 DAVIES' NEW ELEMENTA K Y A LG EBK A 75 
 
 KEY TO DAVIES' NEW ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA 50 
 
 DAVIES' ELEMENTARY GEOMETRY AND TRIGONOMETRY.... 1 00 
 DAVIES' PRACTICAL MATHEMATICS 1 00 
 
 gUibaiueli Course. 
 
 DAVIES' UNIVERSITY ALGEBRA 1 25 
 
 KEY TO DAVIES' UNIVERSITY ALGEBKA 1 00 
 
 DAVIES' BOURDON'S ALGEBRA. 50 
 
 50 
 50 
 50 
 25 
 
 DAVIES' DIFFERENTIAL AND INTEGRAL CALCULUS 1 25 
 
 DAVIES' DESCRIPTIVE GEOMETRY 2 00 
 
 DAVIES' SHADES, SHADOWS, AND PERSPECTIVE 2 50 
 
 DAVIES' LOGIC OF MATHEMATICS 1 25 
 
 DAVIES' MATHEMATICAL DICTIONARY 2 50 
 
 DAVIES' MATHKMATICAL Cu AUT (Sheet) 25 
 
 This Series, combining all that is tnost valuable in the various methods of European 
 Instruction, improved and matured by the suggestions of nearly forty years' experience, 
 now forms the only complete consecutive Course of MuthenwticH. Its methods, 
 harmonizing as the work of one mind, carry the student onward l>y the same analogies 
 and the same laws of association, and are calculated to impart a comprelien.-ive knowl- 
 edge ot the science, combining clearness in the several branches, and unity and propor- 
 tion in the whole. The higher Books in connection with Prof. Church' a Cnlculut 
 and Analytical Geometry are the Text-books in the Military Academies of the 
 United States. The Superintendents of Public Instruction in very many Slates 
 have officially recommended this Series. It is adopted and in successful use in the 
 Normal Schools of New York. Michigan, Connecticut, and other States, and in a 
 large proportion of the best Schools, Academies, and Colleges of the Union. The 
 Revised Editions of the Arithmetics embody all the latest and most approved pro- 
 cesses of imparting a knowledge of the science of numbers. 
 
 A. S. BARNES fe BURR have the pleasure of announcing AN ENTIRELY NKW WORK, 
 by Professor DAVIKS, entitled 
 
 KTEW EXiEXVXZ3NTAB.lT ALGEBRA, 
 
 Comprising the First Principles of the Science. 
 Also, just issued, 
 
 UNIVERSITY ALGEBRA, 
 
 Embracing the Logical Development of the Science, with numerous graded examples 
 The above works combine, with the BOURDON'S ALGEBRA, to form a complete and 
 consecutive course leading the pupil from the most elementary principles to the 
 consideration of the most difficult problems of the science. 
 
 A. S. BARNES & BURR, Publishers, 
 
 51 & 53 John Street, Nw Fork. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS OF DAVIES' MATHEMATICS. 
 
 DAVIKS' COURSE OF MATHEMATICS are the prominent Text-Books in most 
 of the Colleges of the United States, and also in the various Schools and 
 Academies throughout the Union. 
 
 YORK, PA., Aug. 23, 185S. 
 
 Danies* Swifts of Mathematics I deem the very best I ever saw. From a number 
 of authors I selected it, after a careful peru-al, as a course of study to be pursued by 
 the Teachers attending the sessions of the York Co. Normal School believing it also 
 to be well adapted to the wants of the schools throughout our country. Already two 
 hundred schools are supplied with DAVIK.S' valuable Series of Arithmetic* ; and I 
 fully believe that in a very short time the Teachers of our couniry en manse will be 
 engaged in imparting instruction through the medium of this new and easy method 
 of analysis of numbers. A. E. BLAIE, 
 
 Principal of York Co. Normal School. 
 
 JACKSON UNION SCHOOL, MICHIGAN, Sept. 25, 1858. 
 
 MKSSHS. A. 8. BARNES & Co.: I take pleasure in adding my testimony in favor of 
 Dalies' Series of Mathematics, as publi.Nhe<l by you. We have u^ed these works in 
 this school for more than four years; and so well satisfied are we of their superiority 
 over any other Series, that we neither contemplate making, nor de-ire to make, any 
 change "in that direction. Yours truly, E. L. EIPLEY. 
 
 NEW BRITAIN, June 12M, 1858. 
 
 MESSRS. A. S. BARNES & Co. : I have examined. Dames' 1 Series of Arithmetics 
 with some care. They appear well adapted for the different grades of schools for 
 which they are designed The language is clear and precise; each principle is 
 thoroughly analyzed, and the whole so arranged as to facilitate the work of instruc- 
 tion. Having observed the satisfaction and'success with which the different books 
 have been used by eminent teachers, it gives me pleasure to commend them to others. 
 DAVID N. CAMP, Principal of Conn. State Normal School. 
 
 I have long regarded Dames' Series of Mathematical Text-Books as far superior 
 to any now before the public. We find them in every way adapted to the wants of 
 the Normal School, and we use no other. A unity of system and method runs through- 
 out the series, and constitutes one of its great excellences. Especially in the Arith- 
 metics the author has earnestly endeavored to supply the wants of our Common and 
 Union Schools: and his success is complete ar.d undeniable. 1 know of no Arith- 
 metics which exhibit so clearly the philosophy of numbers, and at the same time lead 
 the pupil surely on to readiness and practice. A. S. WELCH. 
 
 From PKOF. G. W. PLYMPTON, late of the State Normal School, N. T. 
 Out of a great number of Arithmetics that I have examined during the past year, I 
 find none that will compare with Daviex 1 Intellectual and Dames? Analytical and 
 Practical Arithmetics, in clearness of demonstration or philosophical arrangement 
 I shall with pleasure recommend the use of these two excellent works to those who 
 go from our institution to teach. 
 
 From C. MAY, JR., School Commissioner, Keene, N. 17. 
 
 I have carefully examined Davies"* Series of Arithmetics, and Higher Mathd- 
 maticx, and am prepared to say that I consider them far superior to any with which 
 1 am acquainted. 
 
 From JOBS L. CAMPBRLL, Professor of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and 
 Aatronomy, in Wabash College, Indiana. 
 
 WABASH COLLEGE, June 22, 1858. 
 
 MKSSRS. A. S. BAKNES & Co. : GENTLKMEN : Every text-book on Science properly 
 consists of two parts the philosophical and the illustrative. A proper combination 
 of abstract reasoning and practical illustration is the chief excellence, in Prof. Davies' 
 Mathematical Works. I prefer his Arithmetics, Algebras. Geometry, and Trigonom- 
 etry, to all others now in use. and cordially recommend them to nil who desire the 
 advancement of sound learning, Yours, very truly, JO1IN L. CAMPBELL. 
 
 PROFKSSORS MAHAN, BARTI.ETT, and CHURCH, of the United States Military Academy, 
 
 West Point, say of Dames' University Arithmetic : 
 
 " In the distinctness with which the various definitions are given, the clear and 
 strictly mathematical demonstration of the rules, the convenient form and well-chosen 
 matter of the tables, as well as in the complete and much-desired application of all to 
 the business of the c juntry, the University Arithmetic of Prof. Davies is superior to 
 any other work of the kind with which we are acquainted.' 1 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS OF DAVIES' MATHEMATICS. 
 
 CANADA. 
 
 Since the adoption of a Decimal Currency, Dames' Nao Arithmetics 
 have been largely introduced in Canada, and are giving universal 
 satisfaction. They are also in use in other British Provinces. 
 
 MONTREAL, February 8, 1859. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : The adoption of a Decimal Currency in Canada having rendered it 
 necessary to change the Text-Books of Arithmetic for our High School, we have, for 
 some time past, used Dames' 1 University Arithmetic, with advantage. 
 
 HENRY A. HOWE/M. A.. &c.. 
 Rector of the High School of Me Gill College 
 
 MONTREAL, February 8, 1859. 
 
 SIRS: I have looked over the works comprised in pavies' series of Arithmetic*, 
 and have no hesitation in saying that they ought to be in the hands of every teacher. 
 Great care seems to have been taken with every part of the series, and the sugge>tions 
 at the beginning of each will be found of much use to those who have not Iwd the 
 advantage of thorough training in the art of teaching. I have recommended them to 
 the notice of teachers with whom I am in connection, and shaH be glad to find them 
 in general use. I am, Sirs, yours respectfully, WILLIAM HICKS. 
 
 We, the undersigned, having read the above recommendation of Professor Hicks, 
 cordially concur in his approval of these excellent books. 
 
 CHARLES NICHOLS, Principal of Collegiate School. 
 JAMES McGREGOR, McGlll Model School. 
 ELEANOR LAY. Young Ladies' Institute. St Helen-street 
 ELIZABETH TURNER, Ladies' School, 55 St. Urbain-street. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : I have been using some of Daviee' Course of Mathematics in my 
 echool for the last eight months particularly the Arithmetics for the use of Acade- 
 mic and Schools and I feel satisfied that they only want to be known to be appre- 
 ciated. They will fill a vacancy which has been caused by the introduction of the 
 Decimal Currency. I have the pleasure to be, &c. BENJAMIN LAMBE. 
 
 MONTREAL, February 12, 1859. 
 
 DEAR SIRS : I am indeed very glad to see you directing the Teachers' attention to 
 the works of Charles Davies, LL.D. I have examined the Arithmetics you sent me, 
 and am pleased both with their (simplicity and comprehensiveness. Teachers will 
 find them adapted-to the present Decimal system, which mode of instruction must of 
 course be soon adopted in our Public Schools. I am, Dear Sirs, truly yours, 
 
 FREDERICK BROWNE, 
 Teacher Grand Trunk Railway School, Point St. Charle*. 
 
 MONTREAL INSTITUTION FOR THK EDUCATION OF YOUNC LADIES, 
 
 51 Craig-street, February 14, 1S59. 
 
 SIRS : Having examined carefully the series of School Arithmetics compiled by 
 Dr. Charles Davies, I can confidently recommend them for the use of schools, as they 
 are evidently works of more than ordinary ability, and are tlie result, of much labor. 
 
 A. W. GRINTON. 
 
 MONTREAL ACADEMY, St. Helen-street, Feb. 8, 1859. 
 
 GRNTLE.MEN: I have looked over, as far as time would allow, the series of Arith- 
 metical works edited by Dr. Davies. I had at one time some intention myself of 
 publishing an Arithmetic suitable for the Provinces of British North America; but as 
 the adoption of a Decimal Currency and Weights is likely soon to become general in 
 Canada, I think more suitable works could not be furnished than those you have sent 
 me ; and I would strongly recommend it for general adoption in the Schools of this 
 Province, both from the well-known mathematical celebrity of the author, and from 
 an examination of different parts of it, giving, as it does, with a sufficient number of 
 questions in the several Rules, occasional explanations which greatly enhance it-* value. 
 I am, Gentlemen, respectfully yours, JOSEPH T. DUTTON. 
 
 STANBRIDOE. February 9, 1859. 
 
 DEAR SIRS: Davies' Series of Mathematics, which you kindly ?ent me for exam- 
 ination, 1 do not hesitate in pronouncing of a superior order. They are inductive in 
 their design, and embody the synthetical method more fully than most works ol 
 modern Mathematical authors. I would be much pleased to see Da vies' series gene- 
 rally adopted in our Schools. HOBART BUTLER, M. A.. 
 
 Preceptor of Stanbridge Academy. 
 
NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
 
 ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 
 
 BY S. W. CLARK AND A. S. WELCH, 
 
 CONSISTING Of 
 
 CLARK'S FIRST LESSONS IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR Price $0 30 
 
 CLARK'S NEW ENGLISH GRAMMAR 60 
 
 CLARK'S GRAMMATICAL CHART 2 50 
 
 CLARK' S ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 40 
 
 WELCH'S ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH SENTENCE 75 
 
 A more Advanced Work, designed for Higher Classes in Academies and Normal 
 Schools. By A S. WELCH, A, M., Principal of the State Normal School ot 
 Michigan, at Ypsilanti. 
 
 The First Lessons in Grammar are prepared for young pupils, and as an 
 appropriate introduction to the larger work. The elements of Grammar are here 
 presented in a scries of gradual oral exercises, and, as far as possible, !n plain Saxon 
 words. 
 
 Clark's New Grammar, it is confidently believed, presents the only true 
 and successful method of teaching the science of the English Language. The work is 
 thoroughly progressive and practical ; the relations of elements happily illustrated, 
 and their analysis thorough and simple. 
 
 This Grammar has been officially recommended by the Superintendents of Public 
 Instruction of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Missouri, and Is the Text-book 
 adopted in the State Normal Schools of New York, and other States. Its extensive 
 circulation and universal success is good evidence of its practical worth and superi- 
 ority. 
 
 Professor F. S. JEWKLI^ of the New York State Normal School, says: 
 
 " Clark's System of Grammar is worthy of the marked attention of the friends of 
 Education. Its points of excellence are of the most decided character, and will not 
 soon be surpassed." 
 
 " Let any clear-headed, independent-minded teacher master the system, and then 
 give it a fair trial, and there will be no doubt as to his testimony." 
 
 "Welch's Analysis of the English Sentence. The prominent features 
 of this work have been presented by Lectures to numerous Teachers' Institutes, and 
 unanimously approved. The classification, founded upon the fact that there are but 
 three elements in the language, is very simple, and, in many respects, new. The 
 method of disposing of connectives is entirely so. The author has endeavored to 
 study the language as it it, and to analyze it without the aid of antiquated rules. 
 
 This work is highly recommended by the Superintendents of Public Instruction ol 
 Michigan, Wisconsin, and other States, and is being used in many of the best schools 
 throughout the Union. It was introduced soon after publication into Oberlin Col- 
 Uge, and his met with deserved success. 
 
 A. S BARNES & BURR, Publishers, 
 
 51 & 53 John Street, New York. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 CLAEK'S ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 
 
 "We cannot better set forth the merits of this work than by quoting a part of a com- 
 munication from Prof. F. S. JEWKLL, of the New York State Normal School, in which 
 school this Grammar is now used as the text book on this subject : 
 
 "CLARK'S SYSTKM OF GRAMMAR is worthy of the marked attention of the friends o t 
 education. Its points of excellence are of the most decided character, and will not 
 soon be surpassed. Among them are 
 
 1st. "The justness of its ground principle of classification. There is no simple, phil- 
 osophical, and practical classification of the elements of language, other than tlmt built 
 on their use or office. Our tendencies hitherto to follow the analogies of the classical 
 languages, and classify extensively according to forms, have been mischievous and ab- 
 surd. It is time we corrected them. 
 
 2d. 4> Its thorough and yet simple and transparent analysis of the elements of the 
 language according to its ground principle. Without such an analysis, no broad and 
 comprehensive view of the structure and power of the language can be attained. The 
 absence of this analysis has hitherto precipitated the. study of Grammar upon a surface 
 of dry details and bare authorities, and useless technicalities. 
 
 3d." "Its happy method of illustrating the relations of elements by diagrams. These, 
 however uncouth they may appear to the novice, are really simple and philosophical. 
 Of their utility there can be no question. It is supported by the usage of other sci- 
 ences, and has been demonstrated by experience in this. 
 
 4th. "The tendency of the system, when rightly taught and faithfully carried out, 
 to cultivate habits of nice discrimination and close reasoning, together wiih skill in 
 illustrating truth. In this it is not excelled by any, unless it be the mathematical sci- 
 ences, and even there it has this advantage, that'it deals with elements more within 
 the present grasp of the intellect On this point I speak advisedly. 
 
 5th. -'The system is thoroughly progressive and practical, and as such. American in 
 its character. It does not adhere to "old usages, merely because they are vrnerat.y 
 musty; and yet it does not discard things merely because they are old, or are in un- 
 important minutiae not prudishly perfect. It does not overlook details and technicali- 
 ties, nor does it allow them to interfere with plain philosophy or practical utili;y. 
 
 'Let any clear-headed, independent-minded teacher master the system, and then 
 give it a fair trial, and there will be no doubt as to his testimony." 
 
 A Testimonial from the Principals of tJie Public Schools of Rochester, N. T. 
 "We regard CLARK'S GRAMMAR as the clearest in its analysis, the mo>t natural and 
 logical in its arrangement, the most concise and accurate in its definitions, the most 
 systematic in design, and the best adapted to the use of schools of any Grammar with 
 which we are acquainted. 
 
 C C. MESEEVE, WM. C. FEGLES. 
 
 M D. ROWLEY, OHN ATWATKR, 
 
 C. R. BUEEICK, EDWARD WEBSTER, 
 
 J. R. VOSBURG, 8. W STARKWEATHER, 
 
 E. R. ARMSTRONG PHILIP CURTISS. 
 
 LAWRENCE INSTITTTTE, Brooklyn. Jan. 15, 1S59. 
 
 MESSRS. A. S. BARWFS & Co: Having used Clark's New Grammar since its pub ica- 
 tion, I do most unhesitatingly recommend it as a work of superior merit. By th^ use 
 of no other work, and I have used several, have I been enabled to advance my pupils 
 so rapidly and thoroughly. 
 
 The author has, by an Etymological Chnrt and a system of Diagrams, made Grain 
 mar the study that it ought to be, interesting as well as useful. 
 
 MARGARET S. LAWRENCE, Principal. 
 
 WELCH'S ENGLISH SENTENCE, 
 
 From PROF. J. R. BOISK, A. M., ProfesRor of the Latin and Greek Languages and 
 
 Literature in the University of Michigan. 
 
 This work belongs to a new era in the grammatical study of our own language. Wo 
 hazard nothing, in expressing the opinion, that for severe, searching, and exhaust^ e 
 analysis, the work of Professor Welch is second to none. His book is not intruded for 
 beginners, but only for advanced students, and by such only it will be understood and 
 appreciated. 
 
NATIONAL SERIES G* STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
 
 MONTEITH AND UIcNALLY'S 
 Gr E3 O G- IFL -A. I* DE3Z I DE3 
 
 MONTEITH'S FIRST LESSONS IN GEOGRAPHY Price $0 25 
 
 MONTEITH'S INTRODUCTION TO MANUAL OF GEOGRAPHY. 40 
 
 MONTEITH'S NEW MANUAL OF GEOGRAPHY 60 
 
 McNALLY'S COMPLETE SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY... . 1 00 
 
 Monteith's First Lessons in Geography Introduction to Man- 
 ual of Geography and New Manual of Geography, are arranged on 
 the catechetical plan, which h:is been proven to be the best and most successful 
 method of teaching this branch of study. The questions and answers are models of 
 brevity and adaptation, and the maps are simple, but accurate and beautiful. 
 
 McNally's Geography completes the Series, and follows the same general 
 plan. The maps are splendidly engraved, beautifully colored, and perfectly accurate; 
 and a profile of the country, showing the elevations and depressions of land, is given 
 at the bottom of the maps. The order and arrangement of map questions is also 
 peculiarly happy and systematic, and the descriptive matter just what is needed, and 
 nothing more. No Series heretofore published has been so extensively introduced in 
 o short a time, or gained such a wide-spread popularity. 
 
 These Geographies are used more extensively in the Public Schools of New York, 
 Brooklyn, and Newark, than all others. 
 
 ffT" A. B. CLARK, Principal of one of the largest Public Schools in Brooklyn, says : 
 " I have used over a thousand copies of Monteith's Manual of Geography sinco ita 
 adoption by the Board of Education, and am prepared to say it is the best wa-/ >r 
 junior and intermediate classes in our schools I have ever seen." 
 
 Tfie Series, in whole or in part, has been adopted in the 
 
 New York State Normal School. 
 New York City Normal School. 
 New Jersey State Normal School. 
 Kentucky State Normal School. 
 Indiana State Normal School. 
 Ohio State Normal School. 
 Michigan State Normal School. 
 York County (Pa.) Normal School 
 Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. 
 Cleveland Female Seminary. 
 Public Schools of Milwaukie. 
 Public Schools of Pittsburgh. 
 Public Schools of Lancaster, Pa. 
 Public Schools of New Orleans. 
 
 Public Schools of New York. 
 Public Schools of Brooklyn, L. L 
 Public Schools of New Haven. 
 Public Schools of Toledo, Ohio. 
 Public Schools of Norwalk, Conn. 
 Public Schools of Richmond, Va 
 Public Schools of Madison, Wis. 
 Public Schools of Indianapolis. 
 Public Schools of Springfield, Mass. 
 Public Schools of Columbus, Ohio. 
 Public Schools of Hartford. Conn 
 Public Schools of Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
 And other places too numerous to 
 mention. 
 
 They have also been recommended by the State Superintendents of ILLINOIS 
 INDIANA, WISCONSIN, MISSOURI. NORTH CAROLINA, ALABAMA, and by numerous 
 Teachers' Associations and Institutes throughout the country, and are in successful 
 nee ia multitude of Public and Private Schools throughout the United States. 
 
 A. S. BARNES & BURR, Publishers, 
 
 51 & 53 John Street, New Yor*. 
 
MONTEITH AND McNALLTrS GEOGRAPHIES: 
 
 THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SERIES EVER ISSUED. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 A. B. CLARK, Principal of one of the largest Public Schools in Brooklyn, wiys: 
 "I have used over a thousand copies of Monteitlrs Manual of Geography sine* its 
 adoption by the Board of Education, and am prepared to say it is the best work fo> 
 junior and intermediate classes in our schools I have ever seen." 
 
 The Series, in whole or in part, has "been adopted in the 
 
 New York State Normal School. 
 New York City Normal School. 
 New Jersey State Normal School, 
 Kentucky State Normal School. 
 Indiana State Normal School. 
 Ohio ^rate Normal School. 
 Michigan State Normal School. 
 York County (Pa.) Normal School 
 Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. 
 Cleveland Female Seminary. 
 Public Schools of Milwaukio. 
 Public Schools of Pittsburgh. 
 Public Schools of Lancaster, Pa. 
 Public Schools of New Orleans. 
 
 Public Schools of New York. 
 Public Schools of Brooklyn, L. I. 
 Public Schools of New Haven. 
 Public Schools of Toledo, Ohio. 
 Public Schooto of Norwai'v, Conn. 
 Public Schools of Richmond. Va. 
 Public Schools of Madison, \Vis. 
 Public Schoote of Indianapc'is. 
 Public Schools of Springfield. Mass. 
 Public Schools of Columbus. Ohio. 
 Public Schools of Hartford. Conn. 
 Public Schools of Cleveland. Ohio. 
 
 And other places too numerous to 
 mention. 
 
 They have also been recommended by the State Superintendents of ILLINOIS, 
 INDIANA, WISCONSIN, MISSOURI, NOUTH CAROLINA, ALABAMA, and by numerous 
 Teachers' Associations and Institutes throughout the country, and are in successful 
 use in a multitude of Public and Private Schools throughout the United States. 
 
 From PROF. WM. F. PHELPS, A. M., Principal of the New Jersey StaU 
 Normal School. 
 
 TRF.NTOW. June 17, 185*. 
 
 A. S. BARNFS & Co.: GENTLFMF.N: It gives me much pleasure to state 
 that McNally's Geography has been used in this In>titntion from its organization in 
 1865. with great acceptance. The author of this work has avoided on one hand the 
 extreme ot being too meager, and on tlie other of going too much into detail, whi'e 
 he has presented, in a clear and concise manner, all those leading fm-.ts of Descriptive 
 Geography which it is important for the young to know. The mps are accurate and 
 well executed, the type clear, and ind<-ed the entire work is a decided success. I most 
 cheerfully commend it to the profession throughout, the country. 
 
 Very truly yours, WM. F. PHELPS. 
 
 From W. V. DAVIS, Principal of High School, Lancaster, Pa. 
 
 LANCASTER, PA., June 26. 1S38. 
 
 DKAR SIRS: I have examined your National Geographical /*/-/<!. with much 
 care, and find them most excellent works of their kind. They have been used in the 
 various Public Schools of this city, ever since their pub'ioation, with great siic<-fw<6 and 
 satisfaction to both pupil and teacher. All the Geographies embraced in your series 
 are well adapted to school purposes, and admirably calculated to impart to the pupil, 
 in a very attractive manner, a complete knowledge of a science, annually becoming 
 more useful and important Their maps, i lustrations, and typography, are unsur- 
 passed. One peculiar feature of McNally's Geography and whj, h will recommeud 
 it at once to every practical teacher i*> the arrangement of its maps and lessons; 
 ea.-h map fronts the particular les-ou which it is designed to illu.^traie thus enabling 
 the scholar to prepare his task without that ooastant turning over of leave*, or refer- 
 ence to a s* parate book, as is necess-ary with most othor Geographies. Yours. &c. 
 
 ftf 4 O 1> ....... 6, /~i XT "V-.^U 11 
 
 Messrs. A. S. BARNES & Co., New York. 
 
 V. TV. DAVIS. 
 
 From CHARLF.S BARNKS, late President Slate Teachers' Association, and Superin- 
 tendent of the Public Schools at New Albany, Indiana. 
 
 MKSSKB. A. S. BARNES fc Co.: DKAR SIRS: I have examined with considerable 
 care the Series of Geographies published by you. ami have no hesitation in saying 
 that it is altogether the best with which I am acquainted. A trial of more than a 
 year in the Public Schools of this city has demonstrated that Cornell is utterlv unfit 
 for the school-room. Yours, <fcc. C. BARNES. 
 
NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
 
 HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY. 
 
 MONTEITH'S CHILD'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Price $0 50 
 (DESIGNED FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS: COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED.) 
 
 WILLARD'S SCHOOL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 075 
 
 (WITH MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS.) 
 WILLARD'S LARGE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 1 60 
 
 ("WITH MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS.) 
 
 WILLAED'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 200 
 
 (Is SPANISH LANGUAGE.) 
 
 WILLAED'S UNIVERSAL HISTORY IN PERSPECTIVE 1 60 
 
 (WITH MAPS AND ENGRAVIXGS.) 
 
 EICORD'S ROMAN HISTORY 1 00 
 
 (WiTu ENGRAVINGS.) 
 
 DWIGHTS GRECIAN AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY 015 
 
 (SCHOOL EDITION.) 
 
 DWIGHTS GRECIAN AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY 150 
 
 (UsivBESiTT EDITION.) 
 MILLS' HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT HEBREWS ... . 75 
 
 Monteith's History of the United States is designed for yonng scholars, 
 on the catechetical plan, with Maps and Engravings. It has also Biographical 
 Sketches of the most prominent men in early history. 
 
 Willard's Histories fire r*ed in a large proportion of the High Schools, 
 Academies, and Female Seminaries throughout the United States, and have been 
 recommended by several State Superintendents. Tbo History of the United States 
 is so highly esteemed, as accurate, reliable, and complete, that it has been translated, 
 and published in the German, Spanish, and French language?. 
 
 The large work is designed as a Text- hook for ACADEMICS and FEMALE SKMIXA- 
 BIKS: ami also for DISTRICT SCHOOLS and FAMILY LIBRARIES. The small work being 
 *n~ Abridgement of the same, is designed as a Ttxt-bovk for Common School*. Tho 
 originality of the p'an consists in dividing the time into period*, of which the begin* 
 ninas and terminations are marked by important events; and constructing a erie 
 of map* illustrating the progress of the ncttlfmtnt of the country, and the regular 
 ai/rance of civilization. A full Chronological Table will be found, in which all 
 the events of the History are arranged in the order of time. There is appended to 
 the work the Conrtitulion if the United State*, and a series of Questions adapted to 
 each chapter, so that the work may be used in schools and for private instruction. 
 
 Dwight's Mythology is peculiarly adapted for use as a Clas.-book in High 
 8<-boo!s. Academies, and Seminaries, and is indispensable to a thorough acquaintance 
 with Ancient Hi.-tory, and to a proper appreciation of the classical allusions constantly 
 occurring in the writings of the best authors. It is also very valuable for private 
 reading and study. 
 
 Ricord's Roman History is also designed as a Text-book for Schools, and 
 for private reading and reference. It is the most complete and condensed History of 
 the Romans before the public, and will be found exceedingly interesting, and vory 
 valuable to ail, especially to those wishing to be familiar with the classics. 
 
 A. S. BARNES & BURR, Publishers, 
 
 51 & 53 John Street, New York. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 MONTEITH'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 This volume is designed for youth, and we think the author has been unusually 
 successful in its arrangement and entire preparation. Books of the same design are 
 too often beyond the full understanding of the scholar. As history is so much neg- 
 lected in all our schools, the publication of such a work as this should be hailed with 
 pleasure ; for if scholars find their first studies of history pleasant, it will become a 
 pleasure rather than a task. This is a book of 88 pages, and finely illustrated. It is in 
 every way worthy of a place in every Public School in the State. Maine Teacher. 
 
 This is a most capital work : just the thing for children. Our boy commenced the 
 study of it the dy it came to hand. It is arranged in the catechetical form, and is 
 finely illustrated with maps, with special reference to the matter discussed in the text 
 It begins with the first discoveries of America, and comes down to the laying of the 
 Atlantic Telegraph Cable. Many spirited engravings are given to illustrate the work. 
 It also contains brief Biographies of all prominent men who have identified them- 
 selves with the history of this country. It is the best work of the kind we have 
 seen. Chester County Times. 
 
 WILLARD'S HISTORIES. 
 
 From REV. HOWARD MALCOLM, D.D., President of the University of Lewisburg. 
 
 I have examined, during the thirteen years that I have had charge of a College, 
 many School Histories of the United States, and have found none, on the whole, so 
 pmper for a text-book as that of Mrs. Willard. It is neither too short nor too long; 
 til the space given to periods, events, and persons, is happily proportioned to their 
 importance. The style is attractive and lucid, and the narrative so woven, as both 
 to sustain the interest and aid the memory of the student Candor, impartiality, and 
 accuracy, are conspicuous throughout. I think no teacher intending to commence a 
 history class will be disappointed in adopting this book. 
 
 MRS. L. H. SIGOURNKY, the distinguished Authoress, writes: 
 Mrs. Willard should be considered as a benefactress not only by her own sex, of 
 whom she became in early years a prominent and permanent educator, but by the 
 country at large, to whose good she has dedicated the gathered learning and faithful 
 labor of life's later periods. The truths that she has recorded, and the principles that 
 she has impressed, will win, from a future race, gratitude that cannot grow old, and a 
 garland that will never fade. 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER wrote, in a letter to the Author : 
 
 I cannot better express my sense of the value of your History of the United State*, 
 than by saying I keep it near me as a book of reference, accurate in facts and dates. 
 
 DWIGHT'S MYTHOLOGY. 
 
 The mythology of the Grecians and Romans is so closely interlinked with the his- 
 tory and literature of the world, that some knowledge of it is indispensable to any 
 BciH.larly familiarity with either that history or literature. We have seen no book so 
 convenient in size that contains so full and elegant an exposition of mythology as the 
 one before us. It will be found at once a most interesting and a most, useful Look to 
 any one who wistes an acquaintance with the splendid myths and fables with which 
 the great masters of ancient learning amused their leisure and cheated their faith. 
 Michigan Journal of Education. 
 
NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
 
 NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND CHEMISTRY. 
 
 PARKER'S PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 PACKER'S JUVENILE PHILOSOPHY Price $0 25 
 
 PAKKEE'S FIRST LESSONS IN PHILOSOPHY 37| 
 
 PARKER'S COMPENDIUM OF SCHOOL PHiLOSOPHY 1 00 
 
 The present edition of PARKER'S SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY has been corrected, enlarged, 
 end improved, ami contains all the late discoveries and improvements in the science 
 np to the present, time. It contains engravings of the Boston School set of apparatus, 
 a description of the instruments, and an account of many experiments which can be 
 performed by means of the apparatus ; and it is peculiarly adapted to the convenience 
 of study and recitation. The work is immensely popular, and in very extensive use, 
 more so than Hny other work of the kind. It has been recommended by the Super- 
 intendents of I'ublic Inxtruction of six State*, and in tfie Standard Text-book in 
 all the principal citie* of Hie United Slate*, and throughout C>inad<i Wext. 
 
 NORTON'S FIRST BOOK OF PHILOSOPHY AND ASTRONOMY $0 50 
 
 By WILLIAM A. NOKTON, M. A., Professor of Civil Engineering in Yale College. 
 "Arranged upon the catechetical plan, and copiously illustrated. Designed for 
 Young Pupils commencing the study of the science. 
 
 THE FIRST BOOK OF SCIENCE Two PARTS IN OXE $1 00 
 
 PART!. NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND ASTRONOMY. PART IF. CHEMISTRY AND ALLIED 
 
 SCIENCES. By W. A. NORTON and J. A. PORTKR, Professors in Yale College. 
 This volume treats of the elements of Natural Science, and is designed to meet, the 
 wants of young persons who <*o not intend to pursue a complete cour>e of academical 
 study. It is deMgned for Public and Private Schools, and will be found admirably 
 adapted to private study, and home instruction in familiar science. 
 
 BARTLETT'S COLLEGE PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 BARTLKTTS SYNTHF.TIC MKCHANICS. $3 00 I BARTI.ETT'S OPTICS AND ACOUSTICS. $2 00 
 
 BARTLETT'S ANALYTIC MECHANMCS.. 4 00 | BARTLKTT'S SPHERICAL ASTRONOMY. 3 00 
 
 The above are the Text-book* in the U. S. Military Academy at West Point 
 
 PORTER'S SCHOOL CHEMISTRY. 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF CHEMISTRY, AND ALLIED SCIENCES, including *u 
 Outline of Agricultural Chemistry. By Prof JOHN A PORTKR. Price 50 cis. 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY, embracing the most recent Discoveries in tho 
 Science, and the Outlines of its Application to Agriculture and the Arts illus- 
 trated by numerous experiments newly adapted to t' e simplest apparatus. By 
 JOHN A. PORTER. A.M.. M D, Professor of Agricultural and Organic Chemistry in 
 Yale College. Price $1.00. 
 
 These works have been prepared expressly for Public and Union Schools, Academies, 
 and Seminaries, where an exU-nsive course of study on this subject and expensive 
 apparatus was not deMred. or could not be afforded. A fair, practical knowledge of 
 Chemistry is exceedingly desirable, and almost a necessity, at the present day, but it 
 has been taught in very few Public or Union Schools, owing entirely to the want of 
 suitable text-books adapted to simple apparatus, or such as could be readily obtained. 
 It is confidently believed that these works supply thi great want, and will be found 
 in every respect just what is required. Boxes containing ail the apparatus and mate- 
 rials necessary to perform all the experiments described in these books, can be ob- 
 tained .'or $8.00, by addressing A. S. BARNES &, BURR, New York. 
 The t-bove works are highly recommended. 
 
 PECK'S ELEMENTS OF MECHANICS. 
 
 Thi* volume is prepared by Prof. W. G. PECK, of Columbia College, New York. 
 Price $1.50. 
 
 A. S. BARNES & BURR, Publishers, 
 
 51 & 53 John Street, New York. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 PARKER'S PHILOSOPHY, 
 
 "PARKER'S PHILOSOPHY" is the Text-Book of Public Schools in Bos- 
 ton, New York, Brooklyn, and in a large majority of Schools throughout 
 the United States. 
 
 From PROF. JOHN A. NICHOLS, Free Academy, N. T. 
 
 The revised edition of Parker's School Compendium of Natural and Experimental 
 Philosophy is, in my judgment, a very instructive and interesting work. Besides the 
 statement and elucidation of the properties and laws of matter, and the general prin- 
 ciples of physical sciences, I am pleased to find such appropriate illustrations of those 
 principles as are contained in the clear descriptions and explanations of many im- 
 portant modern inventions, and their modes of operation. 
 
 From GKOKGK I). WILDES, Principal of Young Ladies'" School, Boston. 
 Parker's Philosophy I have long been familiar with, and regard it as one of the best 
 text-books upon the subject of Physics. 
 
 From PROF. 0. HOSFORD, A. M., Principal of the Olivet Institute, Eaton Co., Mich. 
 We have, for some years past, been using Parker's Philosophy in this Institution ; 
 and are better pleased with it, as a text-book in Philosophy, than any other elementary 
 work with which we are acquainted. I most cheerfully recommend, to those who 
 may wish to introduce into their schools some practical but elementary work on 
 Philosophy Parker's revised edition. ORAMEL 1IOSFOKD. 
 
 PORTER'S CHEMISTRY. 
 
 By PROFESSOR PORTER, of Yale College: the most Practical and Popular Scientific 
 Work ever published. 
 
 From the Amer. Journal of Education, Hartford. 
 
 We have examined it with reference to its qualities as a school-book, its adaptation 
 to the wants of beginners in the study of a science which to many, even of College 
 students, is as obscure in nomenclature and symbols as it is brilliant in demonstra- 
 tions. As a text-book for the higher classes in schools and academies, we regard the 
 work as deserving of high praise. The language is clear and concise, the illustrations 
 are well chosen, and the arrangement of topics is natural and methodic. While the 
 technical terms of chemistry are explained sufficiently to introduce the student to 
 more extended treatises in the science, they are not employed so much as to impede 
 hie progress at the outset of his course. 
 
 FIRST BOOK OF SCIENCE. 
 
 By PROFESSORS NORTON and PORTER, of Yale College, 
 
 Office of Superintendent of Schools, Buffalo, Feb. 27, 1359. 
 
 MESSRS. A. S. BARNES & Co. : GENTLEMEN : I have examined with much interest 
 the " First Book of Science," by Professors Porter and Norton, and I am free to say 
 that it is admirably designed to meet a want in the Public Schools. Comparatively 
 few of those who attend our Common Schools remain long enough to gain any valu- 
 able knowledge of Philosophy. Chemistry, and the Allied Sciences; and the text- 
 books on these subjects which have been in use hitherto are too abstruse and cumber- 
 some for the young scholar. I should regard the introduction of this book ts the best 
 m^ans <>f exciting popular interest in the Natural Sciences, and of giving pupils who 
 cannot pursue a course of study much desirable and practical information upon the 
 subjects treated. I am confident it will commend itself to the attention of the friends 
 of education throughout the country. Respectfully yours, 
 
 JOSEPH WAREEN, Sup't of Schools. 
 
NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
 
 ORTHOGRAPHY. 
 
 The following "Works upon the Art of SPELLING, PRONUNCIATION, and DEFINING, are 
 especially commended to Teachers. 
 
 NATIONAL SERIES OF SCHOOL SPELLERS, 
 
 PARKER & WATSON'S NATIONAL ELEMENTARY SPELLER ... 15 cts, 
 
 PARKER & WATSON'S NATIONAL PRONOUNCING SPELLER... 25 cts. 
 
 From M. R. BARNARD, Principal Union School, Ithaca, New York. 
 
 "I have examined the NATIONAL PRONOUNCING SPELLER, and am free to say that 
 it is the only work I ever saw which exactly meets my idea of what a spelling-book 
 should be. It is pre-eminently practical; it requires the child to do what it will be 
 necessary for him to do all through his life; it requires him not only to tell how the 
 letters are arranged to form the word, but to write it, using it according to its signifi- 
 cation. It needs only to be seen and understood to meet with favor." 
 
 The above Works are designed to accompany PARKER & WATSON'S popular Series 
 of NATIONAL SCHOOL READERS. 
 
 SMITH'S ORTHOGRAPHICAL SERIES, 
 
 SMITH'S JUVENILE DEFINER 25 cts. 
 
 SMITH'S GRAMMAR-SCHOOL SPELLER 40 cts. 
 
 SMITH'S DEFINER' S MANUAL 60 cts. 
 
 This series of Books is prepared by W. W. SMirn, Principal of Grammar School 
 No. 1, New York city, and extensively used in all the Public Schools of the city. 
 
 Public attention is now being extensively called to the deficiency of good text- 
 books, upon this hitherto much neglected branch of education. This series is admira- 
 bly adapted to meet this want. It is a COMPLETE treatise upon orthography. 
 
 WRIGHT'S ANALYTICAL ORTHOGRAPHY 25 cts. 
 
 The title of this Work is ''Elements of the English Language; or, Analytical 
 Orthography. Designed to teach the Philosophy of Orthography and Orthoepy. 
 By ALBERT D. WRIGHT, A. M." 
 
 Extract from Proceedings of Brooms County Association. 
 "A pupil will learn more of the power of Letters by studying this book for one 
 term, in connection with his other studies, than he would in pursuing the course laid 
 down in most other Spelling-Books for years." 
 
 PAGE'S NORMAL CHART OF ELEMENTARY SOUNDS $2.50 
 
 (MOUNTED UPON ROLLER.) 
 
 No School-room is complete without this Chart, prepared by D. P. PAGE, late 
 Principal of New York State Normal School. 
 
 "This Chart is designed to aid the Teacher in giving to his pupUs the true Ele- 
 mentary Sounds of our language, without a knowledge of which it is obviously im- 
 possible for any one to become a good reader. In our opinion, most of the poor 
 reading which we listen to in our public assemblies arises from inattention to the first 
 principles of the language. 
 
 " Wliere the child is made to thoroughly understand all the elementary sounds of 
 the various words used, he cannot fail of becoming an accurate and pleasing reader. 
 We have witnessed the great advantages of this method of teaching reading in our 
 Normal School, and therefore feel that we have a right to speak strongly on this 
 point." Albany Evening Journal. 
 
 A. S. BARNES & BURR, Publishers, 
 
 51 & 53 John Street, New York. 
 
NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
 
 ELOCUTION. 
 
 The following Series of SCHOOL SPEAKERS, now in course of 
 publication, compose 
 
 NOBTHEND'S NEW SERIES. 
 
 1. THE LITTLE ORATOR; 
 
 OR, 
 
 PRIMARY SCHOOL SPEAKER 
 
 By CHARLES NORTHEND, A. M., Author of " Teacher and Parent," and 
 " Teachers' Assistant." Price 30 cents. 
 
 " This is A nice little book, full of nice little pieces for the little folks to speak and 
 recite. The compiler has aimed to select pieces adapted to the capacities of children 
 under twelve years of age, and at the same time to have the matter such as will 
 make proper moral impressions. We think he has succeeded.'" New Hampshire 
 Journal of Education. 
 
 2. NORTHEND'S NATIONAL ORATOR. Price 75 cents. 
 
 3. NORTHEND'S ENTERTAINING DIALOGUES FOR 
 
 YOUTH. Price 75 cents. 
 
 4 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY ORATOR (In press.) 
 
 AIDS FOE THE TEACHEK. 
 
 SCHOOL MANUAL OF DEVOTION ; or, RELIGIOUS EXERCISES 
 for the Morning and Evening of each Day in the Month. By N. C. 
 BROOKS, President of Baltimore Female College. Price 38 cents. 
 
 u We are exceedingly well pleased with this little book, the only one we have ever 
 seen for the same purpose that has met our approval. There are nearly seventy 
 exercises, or lessons. Each exercise consists of two suitable hymns, followed l>y 
 Scripture verses to be read alternately by teacher and pupils, and also by an appro- 
 priate form of prayer. "We most cordially commend it" Connecticut Common 
 Scfuwl Journal. 
 
 SCHOOL TEACHERS' REGISTER Prepared by N. C BROOKS, 
 for the Teacher to record the Names and Standing of each Pupil. 
 Price LO cents. 
 
 A. S. BARNES & BURR, Publishers, 
 
 51 & 53 John Street, New York. 
 
NATIONAL SEBIES OP STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
 
 MATHEMATICS.* 
 
 1, Church's Calculus, ELEMENTS OF THE DIFFEREX 
 
 T1AL AND INTEGRAL CALCULUS. Containing the Elements 
 of the Calculus of Variations. Arranged by ALBERT E. CHURCH, 
 LL.D., Professor of Mathematics in the United States Military 
 Academy. Price $2.00. 
 
 This work was prepared for the students at "West Point Academy, but has been 
 introduced into many other institutions, among which are the following: Harvard 
 College, Cambridge; Yale College; Georgetown College; University of North Caro- 
 lina; University of Michigan. 
 
 2, Church's Analytical Geometry, ELEMENTS OF ANA- 
 LYTICAL GEOMETRY. By ALBERT E. CHURCH, LL.D. $2.00. 
 
 From Silliman's Journal of Science. 
 
 For a besinner. the best of these will quite surely, be Prof. Church's recent work. 
 The clearness and appropriate character of his instruction to fourteen successive 
 chides at the U. S. Military Acdemy, show that it was his duty to improve on his 
 predecessors. We think he has done so to such an extent, as much to facilitate the 
 study of this subject. 
 
 Courtenay's Elements of Calculus, THE DIFFERENTIAL 
 
 AND INTEGRAL CALCULUS. By EDWARD H. COURTENAY. late 
 Professor of Mathematics in the University of Virginia. $2.50. 
 
 Hackley's Trigonometry, A TREATISE ON TRIGOXOM 
 
 ETRY, Plane and Spherical, with its Application to Navigati-n? 
 and Surveying, Nautical and Practical Astronomy and Geodesy, 
 with Logarithmic, Trigonometrical, and Nautical Tables. By Rev. 
 CHARLES W. HACKLEY, S. T. D., Professor of Mathematics and As 
 tronomy in Columbia College. Price $2.00. 
 
 A New Treatise on Astronomy and the Use of the 
 
 Globes, Containing Definitions, Motions and Positions of the 
 Sun, Moon, and Planets; Kepier's Laws, and the Theory of Gravi- 
 tation ; Gravitation ; Refraction ; Twilight and Parallax ; Connec- 
 tions, Periods, Distances, Phenomena, and Magnitudes of the Heav- 
 enly Bodies, composing the Solar System, &c. ; also, an extensive 
 collection of the most useful Problems on the Globes ; illustrated 
 by a suitable variety of examples. By JAMKS McLvrYRE, M.D., 
 Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in the Central High 
 School of Baltimore. Price $1.00. 
 
 Practical Examples in Arithmetic, By WILLIAM H. RKUCK, 
 
 Principal of Wan] School No. 7 ; and Professor of Mathematics in 
 the Male Normal School of New York. Price 50 cents. 
 
 Practical Examples in Denominate Numbers, By the 
 
 Author. Price 25 cents. 
 
 A. S. BARNES & BURR, Publishers, 
 
 51 & 53 John Street, New York. 
 
NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
 
 |)etorit, f ogtt, anb Jiitdhiual 
 
 ELEMENTS OF THE ART OF RHETORIC. Adapted for use in Colleges and 
 Academies, and also for Private Study. By HENKY N. DAY, President of Ohio 
 Female College .................................................. Price 75 cents. 
 
 It is a clear and systematic exhibition of the elements of the Art of Rhetoric. The 
 prominent character! -tics of his work are. the general exactness of his definitions, 
 the clear limitation of his subject, the philosophic development of it, the large share 
 of attention which he gives to Invention as a branch of Ehetoric, and his Analysis 
 of Style. 
 
 THE SCIENCE OF LOGIC; or, An Analysis of the Laws of Thoug-ht. 
 By Eev. ASA MAHAN. Designed for Colleges ................... .. ..... Price $1.50 
 
 From the Banner of the Cross (Philadelphia). 
 
 "Taken as a whole, it forms the most full and complete text-book with which we 
 are acquainted, and is destined to render good service to a study which cannot be 
 safely omitted in the culture and education of any people." 
 
 From the New York Independent. 
 
 "Few men better understand the laws of thought, both in the way of mental analy- 
 sis and of practical application, than the author of this treatise. . . . After many 
 years of patient study and large experience as a teacher. Dr. Mahan brings forth in 
 this volume a System of Logic which has the merits of being intelligible and self- 
 consistent, and which, in addition to the author's carefully elaborated views, embraces 
 the results of the ablest minds of Great Britain, Germany, and France, in the same 
 department We have not yet found leisure to study the work with sufficient care to 
 pronounce a matured opinion as to its terms and method. But as a text-book for 
 Colleges, it will probably take precedence of any now before the public; for. with a 
 text-book in which the views of the author are so clearly and sharply defined and so 
 vigorously maintained, an intelligent teacher cannot fail to have a wakeful class, capa- 
 ble of appreciating his own criticisms upon that author." 
 
 KAMF.S' ELEMENTS OF CRITICISM. With Additions and Improvements. 
 By Eev. JAMES E. BOYD ............................................ Price $1.25 
 
 The chief points of superiority claimed for the present edition are the following: 
 
 1. The matter heretofore contained in an Appendix has been brought forward, and 
 forms the first part of the Introduction. 
 
 2. Frequent omissions have been made in the text and notes, where the matter was 
 found to be either obsolete, of no utility, or objectionable on account of its indelicacy. 
 
 8. Many poetical quotations (particularly some of those in foreign languages), that 
 seemed to be an incumbrance rather than an advantage to the work for purposes of 
 education, have been abbreviated or omitted. 
 
 It will be seen that the present volume is not an abridgment of Kamcs, but it em- 
 braces the entire work, with the exception only of those portions which every in- 
 etrnctor and intelligent reader must regard as blemishes, or consider useless ; while 
 large additions have been made, from recent and valuable sources, to render more 
 complete and satisfactory the incomparable treatise (as here presented) of this highly- 
 talented and justly distinguished and popular author. 
 
 Numerous additions, of great value, have been added to the original work; and in 
 scan-ely a less degree, by striking from it a large amount of matter that greatly im- 
 pairs its excellence and usefulness. 
 
 A SYSTEM OF INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY. By Eev. ASA MAHAH. 
 
 Prico $1.00. 
 
 From, PROF. HORACE WEBSTER, LL.D., of the, Free Academy, New York. 
 ' I do not know any other treatise on Elementary Philosophy so well calculated to 
 eive a thorough. correct, and critical knowledge of this important science. I trust 
 that it may I e the means of creating a taste for this science, as it certainly will be. il 
 studied, of giving a high idea of its importance in relation to all other departments 
 of human investigation." 
 
 A. S. BARNES & BURR, Publishers, 
 
 51 & 53 John Street, New York. 
 
NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS 
 
 THE ENGLISH POETS, WITH CRITICAL NOTES. 
 
 MILTON YOUNG-THOMSON-COWPER AND POLLOK, 
 
 The Publishers beg leave to commend these annotated editions of the ENGLISH 
 POKTS to the particular consideration of Instructors, and of all who are concerned 
 in selecting books for District School and other Libraries, as valuable text-books for 
 schools, and deserving of a place in every library, public and private. They cannot 
 better express their own views of the peculiar excellencies of these editions, than by 
 copying a portion of the introductory observations of the editor, prefixed to THOM- 
 SON'S SKASONB : 
 
 " In this age, when the press is covering our land with a frivolous and pernicious 
 literature, there is great danger that the rising generation will too much neglect, if 
 not entirely lose sight of those noble and solid productions of the British Muse 
 which have been familiar to their predecessors the Poems of Milton and Young, of 
 Thomson and Cowper. These are worthy, not of a hasty perusal only, but of fre- 
 quent and profound study especially by the young for the varied information 
 which they contain ; for the learning and taste, and high order of genius which they 
 display; &i\a/or the eminent service which they are adapted to afford in th* 
 proper culture of the mind and of the heart." 
 
 1, The Paradise LOSt, By JOHN MILTON. With Notes, Ex- 
 planatory and Critical. Edited by Rev. JAMES R. BOYD, author of 
 Elements of Rhetoric, &c. Price $1.00. School Edition 62 cts. 
 
 2, Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality. 
 
 By EDWARD YOUNG, LL.D. With a Memoir of the Author; a 
 Critical View of his Writings ; and Explanatory Notes. By Rev. 
 JAMES R. BOYD. Price $1.00. School Edition 62 cts. 
 
 3, The Task, Table Talk, and other Poems, By WILLIAM 
 
 COWPER. With Critical Observations of various Authors on hi* 
 Genius and Character ; and Notes, Critical and Illustrative. By 
 Rev. JAMES R. BOYD. Price $1.00. School Edition 62 cts. 
 
 4, The Seasons, By JAMES THOMSON. With Critical Observa- 
 tions of various Authors on his Genius and Character ; and Notes, 
 Critical and Illustrative. By Rev. JAMES R. BOYD. Price $1.00. 
 School Edition 62 cts. 
 
 5, The Course Of Time, By ROBERT POLLOK With Notes, 
 Critical and Explanatory. By Rev. JAMES R. BOYD. Price $1.00. 
 School Edition 62J cts. 
 
 flgf Library Editions of the foregoing Volumes are also published in various 
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NATIONAL SERIES OF STANDARD SCHOOL-BOOKS, 
 
 Brooks' dimfe an& ^atin Classics. 
 
 This series of the GREEK and LATIN CLASSICS, by N. C. BROOKS, of Baltimore, is 
 on an improved plan, with peculiar adaptation to the wants of the American student 
 To secure accuracy of text in the works that are to appear, the latest and most 
 approved European editions of the different classical authors are consulted. Original 
 illustrative and explanatory notes, prepared by the Editor, accompany the text 
 These notes, though copious, are intended to direct and assist the student in his 
 labors, rather than, by rendering every thing too simple, to supersede the necessity 
 of due exertion on his own part, and thus induce indolent habits of study and refine 
 tion, and feebleness of intellect 
 
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 This edition of Ovid is expurgated, and freed from objectionable 
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 together with original English Notes, historical, mythological, and 
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 man's system. Price 75 cents. 
 
 From. HALL EGBERTS, Secretary of the Board of Education 
 
 for New Hampshire. 
 
 Messrs. A. S. BARNES & Co. : Gentlemen Permit me to say, that at an adjourned 
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 80th, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: 
 
 On motion of Mr. Roberts, 
 
 Besolted That the Board of Education recommend Fulton and Eastman's Book- 
 keeping (Single and Double Entry) as an excellent Text-book for the Common 
 Schools of this State. 
 
 1. ChirOgrapMc Charts. In Two Numbers. Price $4.00. 
 CHART No. I. embraces Primary Exercises, and Elementary Princi- 
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 CHART No. II. embraces Elementary Principles for Capitals com- 
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 From JOHN WHITEHEAD. Commissioner of Public Schools for the 
 
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 proficients. 
 
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14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
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 (B&221slO)476B 
 
 General Library 
 
 University of California 
 
 Berkeley