THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 AMERICAN EDUCATION: 
 
 STRICTURES 
 
 NATURE, NECESSITY, & PRACTICABILITY 
 
 Astern of ^rational IStmcation, 
 
 SUITED TO THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 BY REV. BENJAMIN O. PEERS. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTORY LITTER BY 
 
 FRANCIS L. HAWKS, D.D. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN S. TAYLOR, 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL BOOKSELLER, BRICK CHURCH 
 CHAPEL, CORNER PARK-ROW AND SPRUCE-STREET. 
 
 1838.
 
 
 
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by 
 
 BENJAMIN O. PEERS, 
 
 in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States, for the 
 Southern District of New- York. 
 
 
 G. P. HOPKINS, Printer, 2 Ann-street.
 
 Stack 
 Annex 
 
 LC 
 
 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 TO THE REV. B. O. PEERS. 
 
 REV. AND DEAR SlR : 
 
 IT affords me much pleasure to know that 
 you are about to publish your work on education, 
 the substance of which you did me the honour to 
 submit to me in manuscript, two or three years 
 ago. The work, I am persuaded, will need no 
 recommendation to the thoughtful reader beyond 
 the matter it contains. As, however, some friends 
 of the great cause you advocate have requested 
 an introduction from my pen, my deep interest 
 in the subject will not allow me to refuse my 
 humble aid in its support. Were you as exten- 
 sively and favourably known here as you are 
 in the field of your past labours, you would need 
 no introduction. Devoted for many years to the 
 work of instruction, bringing to it the enthusiasm 
 of a mind deeply impressed with its importance, 
 and eminently successful in your past efforts, I 
 think you have acquired a right to speak upon a 
 subject to which you have devoted so much 
 thought and observation. 
 
 961077
 
 1Y INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 I would fain avoid, too, the arrogance of seem- 
 ing to suppose that any introduction from me can 
 give, as it were, an imprimatur to your book. If, 
 however, my favourable opinion will have the 
 effect of inducing any one to peruse the volume, 
 I should be sorry to withhold the benefit of that 
 opinion. I desire that the book may be read ; for 
 though in some minor matters we might perhaps 
 differ in opinion, yet substantially I know we 
 agree ; and any discussion of the important sub- 
 ject of which you here treat must do good, for it 
 is a topic on which, as I think, we have yet a great 
 deal to learn in this country. There is not on the 
 face of the globe a land in which it is more essen- 
 tial that education should be generally diffused, 
 and of the right character, than in our own. Un- 
 der God, the preservation of our political institu- 
 tions depends upon the proper education of our 
 countrymen. The subject, (though it is begin- 
 ning to occupy the thoughts of many good and 
 wise men of the land,) is yet very far from re- 
 ceiving the attention to which its importance 
 justly entitles it ; and opinions are unfortunately 
 prevalent, the tendency of which is, to present ob- 
 stacles to the cause of sound education. 
 
 In the first place, the office of an instructer of 
 youth is not respected as it should be. We need 
 good teachers ; but under the present state of 
 public opinion are we likely to procure them ? 
 There are hundreds of men in our country pos-
 
 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. V 
 
 sessing the peculiar qualifications required for this 
 employment ; and occasionally the enthusiasm and 
 practical philanthropy, nay, I may add, the pa- 
 triotism of one of these prompts him to devote his 
 life to the work, despite all discouragements. 
 But much the larger number of those fitted for 
 the task, prefer to follow a business having more 
 of the world's respect than is met with in the 
 calling of a teacher of youth. An educated young 
 man, seeking means to prepare himself for some 
 one of the professions usually termed " learned," 
 may indeed resort to school-keeping to increase 
 his scanty means of support ; but he enters upon 
 it as a task to which necessity alone has forced 
 him ; he carries into it none of the zeal that stimu- 
 lates to vigorous effort ; there is no treasured ob- 
 servation from which to deduce practical rules in 
 the delicate and difficult task of disciplining mind ; 
 no efforts are made to introduce improvements ; 
 and at the earliest possible period, the unwilling 
 teacher gladly delivers himself from what he often 
 deems the disgrace of being a pedagogue, and 
 entering on his professional career, feels that he 
 has taken a step upward in society. Now there 
 is no disgrace in being a teacher of the young ; 
 the ancients very wisely deemed it one of the 
 most honourable of all callings; and it is so, if it 
 be estimated as it should be, by its importance to 
 the well-being of society. Let it then be con- 
 sidered as one of the learned prof essions ; let com- 
 1*
 
 VI INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 petent men be encouraged to give to it the labour 
 of a life; remove the temptation to undertake it 
 as a mere temporary expedient, and abandon it at 
 the earliest opportunity ; and the best abilities of 
 the country will soon be found engaged in the 
 work. The professors in our colleges are indeed 
 on a par with the other professions, and this is 
 right ; but why are not all the teachers in the land 
 so ? The common people, though often unedu- 
 cated themselves, yet feel that they are entitled to 
 look down on the teachers of our common schools 
 as an humbler class than that to which they be- 
 long : and what is the cause of this ? Obviously 
 this: incompetent men often obtain situations 
 as instructors, because competent ones will not 
 take them : the people feel but little respect for 
 such teachers, and thus the evil is perpetuated, 
 because a man of ability knows he must encoun- 
 ter a prejudice against his calling, founded on the 
 known incapacity of his fellow-labourers in the 
 work. The remedy for this is simply to elevate 
 the office of a teacher in public opinion ; to invite 
 the best talents to engage in it, and to afford ad- 
 equate remuneration for exertion. This would 
 bring forward, as it has done into our higher sem- 
 inaries of learning, many competent men. Let 
 there be an educational department of the govern- 
 ment, and let its details be managed by proper 
 officers, accountable to the representatives of the 
 people. In many of the States, funds have been
 
 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. VII 
 
 wisely provided to make, as far as possible, educa- 
 tion a common blessing. It is a sound republican 
 principle to provide funds and to watch over this 
 subject with sleepless vigilance ; but how much is 
 it neglected in most of the States ! It is lamenta- 
 ble to see the sad waste of pecuniary means in- 
 volved in this matter of so much public interest. 
 The waste consists in appropriating the money to 
 the payment of agents who do not, because they 
 cannot, render back to the country an equivalent 
 in the proper education of our youth. They are 
 not unfaithful, but they are too often incompetent. 
 I am verily persuaded that in the State of New- 
 York for instance, if our common schools were all 
 brought under a system, subjecting them in every 
 particularto the supervision of one competent man, 
 who, as a recognised officer of the government in 
 that department, was paid for his services and 
 held to a strict responsibility, we might, with 
 our present expenditure, accomplish more than 
 double our present results. There are, as you 
 know, rich lessons of wisdom on this subject that 
 we might gather from some of the monarchies of 
 Europe. I have not here time to go into all the de- 
 tails of the plan that has suggested itself to my 
 mind, nor is it necessary. The difficulty is that the 
 government has but half done its work: it has pro- 
 vided funds, but it has not provided an efficient sys- 
 tem to disburse them to the best advantage. One 
 essential defect I cannot, however, here pass by.
 
 Vlll INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 We want a normal school for the training of teach- 
 ers. Every man is not fit to teach the young, even 
 though he may be educated, and not destitute of 
 talents. In the German Universities, this training 
 of teachers is as regular a department of instruction 
 as any other. In such a school as I have named, 
 there will be found in the hands of a skilful profes- 
 sor, a concentration of all the wisdom and all the 
 light that experience and observation, carefully 
 gathered from all quarters, have shed upon the sub- 
 ject. Now if the experience and observation of our 
 predecessors on other subjects, are valuable, they 
 are emphatically so on the great question of the 
 best mode of forming morals, and developing 
 mind. But on this head a volume might be writ- 
 ten instead of a letter. 
 
 In the second place, an obstacle as I think to 
 the proper education of our youth is, that we do 
 not sufficiently bear in rnind that we are to edu- 
 cate them as American youth. We take European 
 plans and systems of instruction in the gross, in- 
 stead of merely taking from them that which 
 may be useful under our peculiar institutions. It 
 is true that the ancient languages and the sciences 
 are the same, whether taught in Europe or America; 
 a Greek verb is a Greek verb all the world over, 
 and the multiplication table is true on either side 
 of the Atlantic ; and yet there may be a wide 
 difference in the scope and bearing of a European 
 and an American teacher's remarks, even on the
 
 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. IX 
 
 Greek grammar, or on arithmetic. But what I more 
 particularly mean here is, that a great deal should 
 be taught to our children that can be found in 
 no European system, because it has no applica- 
 tion to the condition or future duties of a European 
 child. The very book, therefore, which might 
 serve well enough for an English boy, may not be 
 the best for an American. The instruction of our 
 children ought to be such as accommodates itself 
 to the peculiarities of a republic, not of a monarchy. 
 A great deal here must depend on the judgement 
 and good sense of the teacher who, by his obser- 
 vations is imperceptibly to imbue his pupil with 
 feelings such as become his situation to teach 
 him to feel that as a member of a republic he has 
 peculiar responsibilities for which he should fit 
 himself ; and in short, in a thousand ways to pre- 
 vent the lad from ever forming habits of thought 
 or predilections derived from a more familiar 
 acquaintance with English than with American 
 institutions. I hardly need say that I do not 
 mean the boy should be made a fool by being 
 taught to despise and decry all that is not American. 
 Let whatever is excellent in the institutions of all 
 lands be shown him let him, however, perfectly 
 understand the peculiarities of his own country. 
 You perceive I write as if I supposed education 
 to consist of something more than merely assign- 
 ing to a child a lesson in the printed book, and 
 requiring of him to repeat it memoriter. I would
 
 X INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 rather teach a child without book at all, than teach 
 him nothing more than such an exercise of me- 
 mory. 
 
 There is one other point on which I would say 
 a word. The education of this country is, I fear, 
 addressed too exclusively to the head. We have 
 not begun yet to make it a part of the business to 
 educate the heart. We provide for the man physical, 
 and for the man intellectual ; but not for the man 
 moral. This is wrong. Religion no more comes by 
 instinct than reading and writing do ; and we must 
 teach religion or abandon the only efficient agent in 
 training the moral man. I have alluded however 
 to this subject, because I could not in duty do less. 
 There is but little need of my enlarging on it to 
 you, for its discussion forms a prominent part, 
 nay, the staple of your excellent book. 
 
 I feel that I have troubled you long enough 
 with my thoughts, thus hastily thrown together, on 
 a subject to which you have devoted your life ; 
 and, as some atonement for my trespass on your 
 time, I will only say, that if this letter will serve 
 instead of an introduction, you are at liberty to 
 use it for that purpose. 
 
 Very respectfully your friend, 
 
 FRANCIS L. HAWKS. 
 ST. THOMAS' PARSONAGE, 
 SEPTEMBER 1, 1838.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Right of children to an Education. Obligation of parents 
 and of society to bestow it. Three questions to be considered 
 in this volume. Expectation and object of the author. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 
 
 Importance of moral as well as intellectual education in the 
 United States. Popular morality must have a religious basis. 
 Employment of the Bible in the national schools as an instru- 
 ment of moral culture Necessity of having professionally ed- 
 ucated, pious, teachers. Protest of Dr. Rush against the exclu- 
 sion of the Bible from schools. Victor Cousin's views of the 
 importance of religious education. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM OF NATIONAL EDUCA- 
 TION. 
 
 1. A system of national education suited to the United States, 
 must aim, above all things, to impress a virtuous character upon 
 the rising generation, and by means of the Bible as the instru- 
 ment. 
 
 2. In educating the intellectual faculties, it should be guided, 
 (with reference both to methods of practice, and the information 
 to be communicated,) by the laws of mind, and the future wants 
 of the individual ; and not, as is generally the case, by a too sub- 
 servient and blind regard to usage.
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 3. It must make such arrangements as will ensure the attend- 
 ance at school of every child of proper age. 
 
 4. It must cause them to continue at school for a period of seven 
 years. 
 
 5. It must establish seminaries for the professional education 
 of a sufficient number of teachers. 
 
 6. It must provide means for their accommodation and com- 
 fortable support ; and, 
 
 7. For the supervision and general execution of its plans, it 
 must appoint wise and energetic superintendents. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE PRACTICABILITY OF KATIONAL EDUCATION. 
 
 Proofs of the practicability of a system of national education 
 suited to the United States. Legislative measures requisite for 
 putting such a system in operation. Dependence of legislation 
 on public sentiment. Public opinion on the advance. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE CLERGY ON THEIR OBLIGATIONS TO ASSIST IN 
 EXCITING, ELEVATING, AND DIRECTING PUBLIC SENTIMENT ON 
 THE SUBJECT OF POPULAR EDUCATION.
 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I HOLD it to be self-evident, that an infant has a 
 right to the growth of its mind, no less than of its 
 body : in other words, that every human being 
 is entitled to an education. 
 
 THIS WE OUGHT TO RANK AMONG THE NATURAL 
 AND UNALIENABLE RIGHTS OF MAN. 
 
 We are forced to this conclusion, whether we 
 reason from the claims of the individual, or from 
 the obligations of parents and of society, or from 
 the will of God as indicated by his providence 
 and by his word. 
 
 An infant has no agency or choice in bringing 
 itself into the world ; and on its entrance into life 
 it is perfectly helpless : it has therefore a claim on 
 others for protection. It is altogether incapable 
 of taking care of itself; hence arises a claim to 
 comfortable food and clothing. It is expected, in 
 time, to perform certain duties to the family, to 
 society, and to God, which it cannot discharge 
 
 2
 
 14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 without an appropriate developement of its physi- 
 cal, intellectual, and moral nature ; and on this is 
 founded its claim to education. 
 
 Perfectly commensurate with these claims of 
 children, are the obligations of parents and of 
 society at large. 
 
 No man has a right to marry, unless he have 
 a prospect of being able to afford the leisure, and 
 to provide the means requisite for the education of 
 his offspring. 
 
 To a human being who, as a helpless animal, 
 is unprovided with nourishment and shelter ; or 
 as an intellectual and moral being, has his educa- 
 tion slighted ; or as an immortal being, is unpre- 
 pared for the glorious destiny to which Christianity 
 invites him, existence is in the highest degree a 
 curse ; a curse which no one is at liberty to inflict, 
 especially on an innocent, unconscious, unresisting 
 victim. 
 
 A parent expects, that at maturity, his children 
 will relieve him of their maintenance, and in turn 
 contribute to his comfort ; it is his solemn duty, 
 then, to fit them for this state of independence, and 
 to make them capable of rendering this service. 
 
 Society too demands of every one who is not 
 providentially hindered, that he support himself, 
 and conduct with justice, order, and benevolence, 
 in all his social relations ; it is consequently bound 
 to see that he is prepared to do so. A very deli- 
 cate question in casuistry might here be started.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 viz : how far should the circumstance of involun- 
 tary miseducation palliate the conduct of crimi- 
 nals in the estimation of our courts of justice ? At 
 present the law makes no allowance on this ac- 
 count ; while it is equally clear from Revelation, 
 that the Judge of all men does. And is it right 
 for man to be less lenient than his Maker ; to take 
 his fellow sinner by the throat, demanding, " pay 
 me that thou owest ;" when infinite justice has 
 proclaimed that a man shall be judged according 
 to what he hath ; not according to what he hath 
 not? 
 
 If the impracticability of human wisdom's mak- 
 ing those discriminations which are easy to Om- 
 niscience be pleaded in defence, this only heigh- 
 tens, and greatly heightens the obligation of soci- 
 ety to bestow that intellectual and moral training, 
 for the want of which its legal exactions make no 
 allowance, and in consequence of human igno- 
 rance can make no allowance, even at the bidding 
 of justice and mercy. 
 
 But these are selfish sources of obligation. I 
 mention, lastly, one that is more noble and more 
 binding, even the command of the Almighty, 
 " thou shall not kill." If this be violated by with- 
 holding needful nourishment and exercise from 
 the body, much more is it by denying suitable 
 aliment and discipline to the soul. 
 
 The existence of the sacred right to education, 
 and of the obligation to bestow it as founded on
 
 10 IN TROD U C TIO IT. 
 
 the will of God, is further indicated by the condi- 
 tion in which an infant is born, and the responsi- 
 bility with which he becomes invested in after 
 life. He is held accountable by God for the dis- 
 charge of duties for which education alone can 
 fit him. This fitness, however, owing to the igno- 
 rance and helplessness of infancy, he is unable to 
 acquire himself: it must therefore be secured to 
 him by others, who as his natural guardians and 
 sponsors, become accountable for his enjoying that 
 amount of developement both of body and soul, 
 which shall qualify him for answering the end of 
 his existence. Of course, a failure to bestow this 
 fitness subjects the sponsors to a large amount of 
 the responsibility which, under different circum- 
 stances, would appertain exclusively to the edu- 
 cated child. The Almighty asserts his claim to 
 the service of every power physical and spiritual 
 which he has bestowed ; and if it be not rendered 
 in consequence of the want of education, or 
 through miseducation, the guilt is mainly theirs to 
 whom the existence of this disqualification is 
 attributable. 
 
 From this it appears that there are some who 
 are charged by the Creator with bestowing a 
 suitable education on every human being ; and as 
 an obligation to give, implies in another a right 
 to receive, it is hence inferred that every human 
 being possesses a divine right to receive an edu- 
 cation.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 The circumstances under which a person is 
 brought into the world imply a promise of educa- 
 tion. This promise made by the parents is en- 
 dorsed by society ; and if the child do not receive 
 its due at the hands of the original promiser, it 
 has a right to come upon the endorser. Unless a 
 fraud be practised upon it, therefore, its prospect 
 of education is certain. 
 
 The existence of this right and obligation, so 
 far as the growth and nourishment of the body 
 are concerned, is practically acknowledged by 
 society in all civilized countries. If a father, who 
 has means, be so stingy or so cruel as to deny his 
 children food, the law compels him to bestow it ; 
 and where any are destitute of the necessaries of 
 life through the unavoidable poverty, or the death 
 of parents, society is taxed for their support. 
 Hence the origin of poor-laws, alms-houses, &c. 
 This much is guarantied by the inspired com- 
 mand, which affords a security for the enjoyment 
 of the food and circumstances requisite for the 
 healthy growth of the body, no less than against 
 the maiming of any of its members, or the summa- 
 ry destruction of life. 
 
 And thus it is and should be in all respects 
 with reference to education. The mind is of in- 
 finitely more importance than the body : in infancy 
 and childhood it is just as helpless ; and every 
 consideration that enjoins the duty of providing 
 for the support of the latter, demonstrates with 
 2*
 
 18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 augmented force, the obligation to attend to the 
 intellectual and moral culture of the former. 
 
 To stint the growth of the body, or to injure its 
 health, either by withholding food, or by mechanical 
 means, is not one hundredth part so cruel as by 
 neglect to hinder the developement of the powers 
 of the soul. 
 
 What is it in the story of Casper Hauser that 
 excites such indignation as well as sympathy in 
 our bosoms, but the case of" soul murder/' which 
 it exhibits? But is not every human being whose 
 education has been slighted, or who has been 
 miseducated, just as really and for the same 
 reasons an object of sympathy ? The power of 
 sensible impressions to warp our judgement and 
 modify our feelings, is nowhere more forcibly 
 illustrated than in this connexion. We pity a 
 dwarf whose body has attained not half its growth, 
 whilst the hundreds of cases of mental dwarfish- 
 ness we daily meet with, excite but little notice 
 or commiseration. The sight of a diseased or 
 fractured limb immediately arrests our attention 
 and commands our services, while the constant 
 inspection of vice and ignorance, the diseases of 
 the soul r awaken within us comparatively little 
 concern. 
 
 The process of reasoning, by which we thus 
 determine the right of every individual to educa- 
 tion, points out with equal clearness the length to 
 which it should be carried. The claims of chil-
 
 INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 dren upon their parents and upon society, though 
 equal in point of obligation, are not of the same 
 extent. The only limits to the former, are the 
 means of the parent, and the capabilities of the 
 child. The responsibility of the latter extends no 
 further than to bestowing such an elementary 
 training as will qualify each person to take care 
 of himself and to prosecute his own education. 
 
 The father who can afford to dispense with the 
 business assistance of his children after their ele- 
 mentary education is completed, so as to afford 
 them leisure for further improvement, is bound to 
 do so. Nor is he at liberty to withhold the means 
 under the pretext of laying by a capital with 
 which they may begin the world. Society is bound 
 to do no more than to prevent the individual 
 from becoming a burden to others, and to fit him 
 to discharge those relative duties for the perform- 
 ance of which it holds him accountable. 
 
 Here, then, we have a criterion by which to 
 ascertain the nature and extent of NATIONAL ED- 
 UCATION. It by no means proposes the absurd 
 idea of educating all alike. To attempt this, 
 would be to try to accomplish that which, under 
 any circumstances, is from the nature of things 
 impracticable. All are not endowed with the 
 same abilities, and no modification of artificial 
 culture can obliterate native differences of capa- 
 city.- Besides, all do not enjoy to the same extent
 
 20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the means of obtaining an education ; and it were 
 vain for government to try to place the children 
 of the rich and poor on a perfect equality in this 
 respect. When legislation shall have done its ut- 
 most at creating opportunities for the instruction 
 of all, the rich will have the power, (and in jus- 
 tice to the distinguishing goodness of Providence, 
 they ought to nse it,) to push the education of 
 their children vastly and indefinitely beyond what 
 is attainable by those whose parents are more 
 circumscribed in means. 
 
 In undertaking the work of education at all, 
 government, as the representative and agent of 
 society, is influenced by two considerations : its 
 duty to individuals, and its duty to society. Its 
 duty to individuals is measured by their rights ; 
 its duty to society, by its wants. 
 
 These, as has been already stated, exactly co- 
 incide in their demands ; both being satisfied by 
 the bestowment of such an amount of instruction, 
 and of physical, intellectual, and moral develope- 
 ment to every individual, as will enable him to 
 take care of himself, so that he may avoid becom- 
 ng a burden to the community ; and to perform 
 the duties growing out of his relations to God 
 and to society, so that he may swell the amount 
 of general happiness. The inquiry which I am 
 concerned to make, is not, how much education 
 is desirable for every one. and for society, but
 
 INTRODUCTION. 1 
 
 how much is essential ? It relates not to the 
 maximum, but to a minimum. 
 
 The questions therefore, which I chiefly pro- 
 pose to consider, are substantially the following, 
 viz : 
 
 What kind and amount of education do the cir- 
 cumstances of society in the United States re- 
 quire all its members should receive ? 
 
 What, and how much is every child, irrespec- 
 tively of the character or condition of its parents, 
 entitled to claim, and government consequently 
 bound to give? 
 
 And what arrangements had best be made for 
 the purpose of complying with this requirement, 
 of meeting these claims, and of discharging this 
 obligation ? 
 
 These questions, though they do not constitute 
 the heads of the formal divisions of this volume, 
 indicate correctly and comprehensively the nature 
 of its contents. 
 
 From this statement, it is obvious that my in- 
 vestigations are to be limited to the elementary 
 education which the government should provide 
 for all the children under its control, in its Com- 
 mon Schools. 
 
 So far as this extends, I have supposed that it 
 is not only desirable, but essential for political 
 considerations, that in the main, the education of 
 all the children of the nation should be alike, the
 
 22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 point of divergency commencing when they leave 
 the lowest grade of Public Schools. 
 
 The time which I have supposed to be requi- 
 site for imparting this elementary education in its 
 integrity, is at the lowest calculation, seven years, 
 commencing, say, at the age of seven, and termi- 
 nating at fourteen. During this period, every 
 child, without exception, is entitled to the leisure 
 and facilities requisite for acquiring the education 
 which it needs to enable it to act its part upon the 
 theatre of life. This follows of necessity as a co- 
 rollary from the reasoning at the commencement 
 of this chapter. 
 
 Civil society, (I have no allusion to any partic- 
 ular form,) is of divine institution. It has its ori- 
 gin in the native propensities and the natural 
 wants of man ; and as these are ordained by God, 
 that which properly flows from them is traceable 
 to the same source. Society then, having its 
 foundation in the will of God, cannot be adminis- 
 tered on principles contrary to his pleasure ; and 
 if, as I have tried to prove, it is his will that eve- 
 ry human being should receive a certain amount 
 of education, society has no right to make or to 
 permit arrangements that might prevent it. By 
 so doing, it would not only offend against the 
 rights of individuals, but sin against God. 
 
 There is no such thing as an obligation in the 
 gross which is not applicable to details. If, then, 
 it be the duty of society to see that every child
 
 INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 receives an education, it is equally its duty to fur- 
 nish every thing required for the attainment of 
 this end. Is money requisite ? Then it is the duty 
 of society to provide it. Is leisure ? Then there no 
 where exists the liberty to withhold it. Neither 
 a parent nor society under any circumstances has 
 a right to put children at work so early, nor to 
 keep them at work so long as to deny them the 
 necessary time for getting an education. 
 
 The well established principle on which every 
 efficient system of Common Schools is founded, 
 clothes the government with authority to secure 
 an education to every child. It virtually places 
 government in the relation of a common parent to 
 all the children under its jurisdiction, and by as- 
 suming the relation, it incurs the obligations of a 
 parent, among the first of which is that of giving 
 an education to the young. If therefore the posi- 
 tion be correct, that the only possible excuse for 
 parental neglect in this particular, be the unavoid- 
 able want of means, society can never be exone- 
 rated from its obligation, for it always may com- 
 mand the means, and it has no right to withhold the 
 means of education simply to relieve its purse. 
 When the sum and substance of parental duty 
 shall be proved to be merely to provide for chil- 
 dren, bread and meat and clothes, to take care of 
 the body to the utter neglect of the soul, then 
 may society be released from its obligation to af- 
 ford to all an opportunity for education, and not
 
 24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 before. The true way of looking at the question 
 of ability to educate all the children of a commu- 
 nity is, to consider not the means of individuals, 
 but those of society at large. The aggregate 
 property of the community constitutes the fund 
 for this purpose. Education is a social want : 
 its cost therefore ought to be sustained by so- 
 ciety. Popular education is a common good in 
 which every man is interested according to the 
 stake he has depending on the prevalence of or- 
 der, and therefore should be paid for out of the 
 common purse, and by each individual in propor- 
 tion to his property, that is, in proportion to his 
 share of the benefit enjoyed. 
 
 It will not do to say here that the present 
 structure of society is incompatible with the exe- 
 cution of this theory ; for society has no right to 
 put itself upon such a footing as may thwart the 
 benevolent designs of the Creator ; and the cease- 
 less effort of the wise and good and influential 
 ought to be, to bring it back, by the force of pub- 
 lic sentiment, to that condition which will be con- 
 sistent with the enjoyment of natural rights, and 
 favour the accomplishment of the divine intention. 
 
 In justice to myself I ought to state explicitly, 
 that my object in this work is to treat of the subject 
 of education, under the guidance of first principles. 
 Of course, just so far as a system is sketched at all, 
 it should be theoretically perfect. In all things 
 good, our aim and standard should be high, no mat-
 
 INTRODUCTION. $5 
 
 ter how defective we may find our execution. The 
 judicious artist selects a perfect model for the im- 
 itation of his pupil. A child cannot paint a rose 
 the better, for having a daubed picture rather than 
 the beautiful original before it. And in the solemn 
 business of religion, our aspirations ought not to 
 be lower than to imitate Jesus, and thus be per- 
 fect as our Father in Heaven is perfect ; because 
 we hear the Apostle Paul lamenting the imperfec- 
 tion of even his attainments. 
 
 I cherish no such visionary expectation as that 
 all the views presented in this volume are imme- 
 diately practicable ; nor do I believe that it would 
 be expedient to attempt at once the execution of 
 them all. None but an exceedingly imperfect 
 system would admit of this. 
 
 My object is to throw out such ideas as from 
 ten or fifteen years of reading, reflection, and ex- 
 perience, appear to me of great importance. Not 
 that I consider the views presented as originating 
 with myself. Far from it. I rejoice, and am 
 confirmed in my confidence in them, when I see 
 that they are cherished by the reflecting and ex- 
 perienced in almost every part of Christendom. 
 What is chiefly to be desired now is, that they 
 should be propagated and applied ; and I shall feel 
 that I have been amply rewarded, if it shall ap- 
 pear hereafter, that my humble efforts have con- 
 tributed in any manner to the accomplishment of 
 an object of such incalculable moment. 
 
 3
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Morality the stay of American institutions. Opinion of a for- 
 eigner. Bishop Otey on the necessity of popular morality. 
 The prevailing education addressed entirely to the under- 
 standing. Intelligence and virtue not necessarily coexistent. 
 Moral education more important than intellectual. Popular 
 virtue not of necessity included in the spread of popular intel- 
 ligence. The United States need a more sturdy kind of vir- 
 tue than that founded on expediency. 
 
 IN a society where every man may do pretty 
 much as he pleases, it is of the utmost importance 
 that its members be so educated that they shall 
 choose to do right. Such a society is that in the 
 United States. By usage, and the constitutions 
 of our country, the will of the majority is law, 
 from which if it be wrong, there is no appeal ; 
 and for whose decisions, if they be injurious, there 
 is no redress. The prospect, therefore, of social
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 27 
 
 order and happiness, bears an exact proportion to 
 the nearness with which the majority approach 
 infallibility. Hence the necessity for the general 
 prevalence of intellectual and moral culture of 
 the highest order, in a republic. 
 
 An intelligent foreigner who has studied the 
 structure of our institutions with great discern- 
 ment, happily describes the dependent relation 
 they sustain to popular virtue, in the following 
 language : 
 
 "I consider (says he) that domestic virtue of 
 the Americans is the principal source of all their 
 other qualities. It acts as a promoter of industry, 
 as a stimulus to enterprise, and is the most pow- 
 erful restrainer of public vice. It reduces life to 
 its simplest elements, and makes happiness less 
 dependent on precarious circumstances ; it ensures 
 the proper education of children, and acts by the 
 force of example on the morals of the rising gen- 
 eration ; in short, it does more for the preserva- 
 tion of peace and good order than all the laws 
 enacted for that purpose ; and is a better guar- 
 antee for the permanency of the American gov- 
 ernment than any written instrument, the consti- 
 tution itself not excepted. 
 
 " No government could be established on the 
 same principles as that of the United States with 
 a different code of morals. The American con- 
 stitution is remarkable for its simplicity: but it 
 can only suffice a people habitually correct in
 
 28 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 their actions ; and would be utterly inadequate to 
 the wants of a different nation. 
 
 " Changs the domestic habits of the Americans, 
 their religious devotion, and their high respect for 
 morality, and it will not be necessary to change 
 a single letter of the constitution in order to vary 
 the whole form of their government. 
 
 " The circumstances being altered, the same 
 causes would no longer produce the same effects ; 
 and it is more than probable, that the disparity 
 which would then exist between the laws and 
 the habits of those whom they are destined to 
 govern, would not only make a different govern- 
 ment desirable, but absolutely necessary to pre- 
 serve the nation from ruin." 
 
 The cogency and clearness of its reasoning 
 supply me with a sufficient apology for introdu- 
 cing an additional quotation, for the purpose of 
 showing, that the importanttruths just stated, have 
 not been overlooked among ourselves. It is from 
 the pen of a distinguished fellow-citizen whose 
 comprehensive views and schemes of education, 
 I fondly hope, are destined to exert a powerful 
 influence, not only upon the respectable body of 
 Christians with which he is connected, but through 
 them, also upon the sentiments and practice of 
 society at large. 
 
 The Rt. Rev. James H. Otey, Protestant Epis- 
 copal Bishop of Tennessee, in one of his annual 
 addresses to Convention observes :
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 29 
 
 " I wish to show that in the mighty rush which 
 has been making by our enterprising countrymen 
 to occupy the rich plains of the South, con- 
 servative principles have been lost sight of, and 
 that there is real and imminent danger of their being 
 totally disregarded. The elements of Christianity 
 art far more deeply and intimately interwoven 
 with the frame-work of society, and of our civil 
 institutions, than is generally supposed, or than is 
 apparent to slight reflection. That which most 
 nations have laid at the basis of their civil regula- 
 tions, and incorporated with the fundamental laws 
 of the land, our countrymen have taken for grant- 
 ed. They have supposed that our people would 
 at all times be virtuous and enlightened, and that 
 they would guard with vestal vigilance, the pre- 
 cious deposit of civil and religious freedom com- 
 mitted to their trust, by some of the wisest and 
 most pious men the world has ever known. Our 
 entire form of government is constructed upon 
 this idea ; nor has it a single provision to meet a 
 state of things, which must inevitably result from 
 a want of intelligence and sound moral principle, 
 in the mass of community. The constitution of 
 every state in the Union supposes that our citi- 
 zens can read that they can acquaint them- 
 selves with the laws that they have virtue to 
 sustain and enforce the laws that they can scan 
 the conduct of their representatives, and that they 
 can protect their rights from usurpation and un- 
 
 3*
 
 30 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 warrantable invasion by their public servants. 
 Thus we see, that for the execution of civil enact- 
 ments for obedience to the constituted authori- 
 ties of the country, and for the security and hap- 
 piness of society, we have to look to the preva- 
 lence of a sound moral sentiment among the people. 
 "Indeed, such is the nature of our government, 
 that it is obvious to reflection, that public sentiment 
 not only originates the law, but sometimes becomes 
 superior to it, rendering it null and virtually void. 
 The statutes of the legislature are for the most 
 part nothing more than public sentiment assuming 
 a particular shape from passing through the forms 
 of legislation. Let the current of popular favour 
 set strongly in behalf of any particular measure 
 and nothing is more certain than that that mea- 
 sure will presently assume the form of law. 
 Equally potential is public sentiment when oppo- 
 sed to an existing law of the land. Thus a breach 
 of the Lord's day takes place with impunity, not 
 a magistrate of the country deeming it due to his 
 oath of office to notice such a violation. The 
 same may be said in regard to profanity. Duels 
 likewise take place in sight of the halls of legisla- 
 tion, in defiance of all the sanctions and solemni- 
 ties of law, human or divine. 
 
 " Now all this results from the deterioration of 
 public morals from overlooking the great car- 
 dinal and conservative principles of our institutions ; 
 and if the process continues, as it is likely to do, in
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 31 
 
 the mighty impulse that moves our citizens to ' com- 
 pass sea and land,' and penetrate the depths of the 
 wilderness to gather pelf,' it is perfectly evident 
 that it may and must end in the subversion of all gov- 
 ernment by law, and throw society back upon its 
 original elements : or what is more frightful to con- 
 template as a probable issue, the strong hand of 
 despotism may seize upon and sway the sceptre of 
 arbitrary power over a land watered by the tears 
 and hallowed by the blood of some of the most 
 pious, enlightened, and patriotic men, that have 
 ever struggled for civil and religious liberty. I 
 feel perfectly confident that this view of our ac- 
 tual condition and prospects, must approve itself 
 to the judgement of every reflecting man as just : 
 and it is only necessary to see this subject in the 
 light in which it is here but very faintly presented ; 
 in order to perceive that it is to the interest of 
 every man in this community, who values his dear- 
 bought and inestimable privileges,to provide means 
 for averting the progress of an evil which is every 
 day and hour deepening and widening its influ- 
 ences. As Christians and friends of our country, 
 we cannot feel uninterested in these matters ; as 
 teachers of religion, it is our duty to inform our- 
 selves about them." 
 
 Our sense of the importance of these statements, 
 can be equalled only by the depth of our regret 
 that they are not felt ; or if felt, are not practically 
 heeded by us as a nation. We profess to be 
 convinced of the political necessity of the preva-
 
 32 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 lence of education, and we have made considera- 
 ble efforts to secure it ; but it is a species of 
 education which is addressed wholly to the un- 
 derstanding. 
 
 It is a mortifying circumstance, that the church 
 as well as the nation at large, needs to be aroused 
 to the practical importance of the truth, that in- 
 telligence alone, however accumulated and diffu- 
 sed, will not suffice for the safety and well-being 
 of a self-governing community. There is among 
 us an idolatrous respect for intellect, in which 
 Christians largely participate ; which, without re- 
 pentance, will bring upon us, if not the vengeance 
 of Heaven, yet certainly and in no measured forms, 
 the suffering that always awaits the disobedience 
 of natural laws. 
 
 It is true " Knowledge is power ;" but we seem 
 to forget that it is potent for evil as well as good ; 
 and that whether its effects be good or ill, depends 
 entirely upon the dispositions and sentiments by 
 which it is impelled and guided. The greatest 
 scourges of our race have been men of gigantic 
 cultivated intellect ; and omniscience would be a 
 terrific attribute of the Deity were it not allied 
 with infinite benevolence. If there be a case in 
 which unquestionably " ignorance would be bliss,'' 
 it is that where knowledge but qualifies its pos- 
 sessor for inflicting misery. Under such circum- 
 stances, intelligence is emphatically a curse. 
 
 There is nothing clearer from experience than
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 33 
 
 that a high degree of intelligence may co-exist 
 with a large amount of vice. It is far from being 
 uncommon to find those whose opportunities of 
 observing men have been the most extensive, en- 
 tertaining the belief that the highest order of 
 talents, and great moral worth, are seldom found 
 united in the same individual. 
 
 The voice of history too justifies this impression, 
 declaring unequivocally that a large proportion, if 
 not a majority of great men, or of those who by 
 virtue of their intellectual superiority have risen 
 highest in human estimation and influence, have 
 been bad men. How is it that Washington, 
 and Marshall, and Wilberforce, and John Jay, 
 and Patrick Henry, and a few other benefactors 
 of mankind, stand out so prominently amidst the 
 crowd of great men immortalized in history ? The 
 answer is, because such men have been few in 
 number. We single them out because their 
 group is small. They are conspicuous, because 
 they are acknowledged exceptions ; and they are 
 exceptions, with reference more to their moral, 
 than their intellectual greatness. That panegyrist 
 of these men is singularly faulty, whose praises 
 are not summed with an account of their piety, 
 their philanthropy, their patriotism, and their many 
 private virtues. It is simply because of these that 
 the remark is true, that " though there have been 
 many Caesars/ the world has seen but one Wash- 
 ington,"
 
 34 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 What too has been the almost uniform charac- 
 ter of the courts of kings, around which the most 
 learned and able men of a nation are usually gath- 
 ered ? Thousands have been the volumes composed 
 to satirize their vices ; but very few indeed, profess- 
 edly and sincerely to eulogize their virtues. It can 
 by no means be said either, of those who have been 
 most distinguished as poets, historians, philosophers, 
 statesmen, and generals, that they have been propor- 
 tionally remarkable for their moral and religious 
 worth ; nor does the language of observation tes- 
 tify, that at the present day, those who are the 
 most eminent for their intelligence, are at the same 
 time the most virtuous. Of the nations of anti- 
 quity, Greece and Rome were much the most 
 enlightened ; and it cannot be questioned that they 
 were among the most corrupt. The greatest 
 strength of the Barbarians who over-ran the latter, 
 consisted in the internal weakness consequent 
 upon the vices which reigned within the capital, 
 and spread their baneful influence out upon the 
 provinces. It is worthy of observation too, that 
 the Roman empire was most enlightened during 
 its decline and gradual overthrow, precisely the 
 period when it was most corrupt ; whilst her 
 proudest and most virtuous days were prior to the 
 dawn of science ; her youth having been a season 
 of comparative ignorance and virtue ; her old age, 
 of intelligence and vice. 
 
 Were we obliged to speak of the relative
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 35 
 
 importance of two things, both of which are es- 
 sential, we could not hesitate to say that society 
 has more occasion for the moral, than the intel- 
 lectual education of its members. This is uniformly 
 and practically acknowledged by our legislators, 
 since law is generally addressed to the moral 
 faculties of men. Differences of intellectual power, 
 whether native or the result of education, it seldom 
 takes into consideration, when deciding upon the 
 guilt or innocence of a criminal at the bar. All 
 penal laws, that is, all whether civil or criminal, 
 to which any penalty is annexed, take it for granted 
 that an observance of them by all to whom they 
 are addressed is practicable. They are not en- 
 acted with a view to enlighten the community on 
 the subject of morals, nor to supply capacity for 
 obedience. They are made necessary not by ig- 
 norance, but by indisposition to do right ; and 
 therefore amount to an attempt to coerce or pre- 
 vent by force, what ought to be and might be 
 avoided or performed from principle. Of the 
 two, then, ignorance and vice, it is evident that 
 the latter is much the greater foe to good govern- 
 ment ; for whilst, as has been stated, all penal 
 laws presuppose the possession of knowledge, or 
 the power to obtain it, (as is evinced by the max- 
 im "ignorance of the law excuseth no man,") 
 they equally assume that the peace of society is 
 in danger from the existence of a disposition on 
 the part of many, to do wrong.
 
 36 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 The difficulty of being good, consists, not so 
 much in knowing how, as in the want of inclina- 
 tion. Generally speaking, there is no knowledge 
 more easy of attainment than that of right and 
 wrong. The judgement would not often be em- 
 barrassed in its efforts to distinguish them, were it 
 not for the warping influence of passion, preju- 
 dice, or some improper feeling. In other words, 
 if the heart were right, the head would seldom 
 err in pointing out the path of duty. Were it not 
 for this, there would be no equity in punishment. 
 The sentiments of society revolt at the idea of in- 
 flicting suffering for the commission of crime un- 
 der an unavoidable absence of a knowledge of its 
 impropriety. This it is which exempts idiots and 
 infants from responsibility ; and yet the plea of 
 ignorance is seldom instituted in defence of a 
 criminal arraigned before the bar of justice for 
 theft, or murder, or any other violation of the 
 laws. 
 
 The superior importance of popular virtue is 
 manifest also from the republican nature of our 
 institutions. In a commercial partnership, when 
 several men unite their capital and efforts for the 
 accumulation of money, integrity and skill on the 
 part of all concerned, are both of them desirable, 
 but they are not equally essential. It may suffice 
 that only one or two possess a superior know- 
 ledge of business, but it is indispensable that all be 
 honest. The absence of principle in a single part-
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 37 
 
 ncr may defeat the end of the association. A wise 
 man and a fool, if both be just, may transact busi- 
 ness together with success. Not so a wise man 
 and a knave. And thus it is with an association 
 for any other purpose for that of government 
 for instance. In a self-managing community, it 
 may answer that the few be intelligent ; the many 
 must be virtuous. It does not require a large 
 number of educated minds to enact good laws 
 when there is a disposition in the people to obey 
 them. In such a case, the majority may be as 
 ignorant as savages, and yet the government flow 
 on smoothly, if wisely and humanely administered 
 by an autocrat. But the reverse of this in no 
 case could be possible. The moment the morals 
 of the people at large become corrupt, society is 
 set ajar ; every thing is out of joint ; discord en- 
 sues ; peace and tranquillity are destroyed ; and 
 the safety of the government is put in jeopardy. 
 
 A wholesome state of public morals therefore 
 is far more essential in a republic than popular intel- 
 ligence. A nation of devils would furnish poor mate- 
 rial for a society, though each of them should be 
 as intelligent as Milton's Belial. 
 
 Our error, however, consists not so much in 
 supposing that popular virtue may be safely dis- 
 pensed with, (the contrary is universally alleged,) 
 as in assuming that it will of necessity be included 
 in the spread of popular intelligence ; a position
 
 38 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 which neither philosophy, nor history, nor obser- 
 vation will sustain. 
 
 We have heard of a father who, having taught 
 his oldest son to read and write, gave as a reason 
 for not educating the remainder of his family, that 
 the first use the former made of his " laming " 
 was, to forge his name ; and if coexistence always 
 implies causation, it might be very plausibly main- 
 tained, as we have already shown, that mental 
 illumination was favourable to vice. 
 
 As our schools are conducted at present, it is 
 exceedingly questionable whether they have not 
 an immoral rather than a moral tendency. Of a 
 given number of youths, the half of whom shall 
 pass through college and the various preparatory 
 schools, and the other half be brought up in habits 
 of industry at home, the probabilities of virtuous 
 character are much in favour of the latter. The 
 moral exposure of the former is incomparably 
 greater, whilst the course of education to which 
 they are subjected, does but little to fortify their 
 hearts against the encroachments of vice. 
 
 Our political theory, if rightly interpreted by 
 our practice, takes it for granted, that if we make 
 our youth intelligent they will make themselves 
 virtuous. But does the experience of individuals 
 or of communities justify this inference ? Do the 
 prevailing opinions of society authorize it ? What 
 are the general impressions of mankind as to the 
 moral tendencies of our race ? Unquestionably
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 39 
 
 that they are to evil that to contract bad habits 
 we have only to be idle, to give them opportu- 
 nity to grow but that improvement of the cha- 
 racter is a laborious business, requiring effort ; 
 strenuous, judicious, and unceasing effort. 
 
 The sum and substance of the political creed 
 of republican America, at least when judged of 
 by her educational arrangements, is, that to quali- 
 fy a man to become a good citizen, capable of 
 taking part in the administration of the govern- 
 ment, all you have to do is to teach him to read 
 and write and cipher ! 
 
 All such expectations, however, involve a total 
 misconception of the nature of virtue. 
 
 As well may we expect that constant motion of 
 the fingers alone, whilst all the other members of 
 the body remain inactive, will invigorate the gen- 
 eral system, as that the isolated exercise of the 
 intellectual faculties will give a healthy tone to 
 the moral powers. Virtue is a habit ; and the 
 only way to induce a habit, is by long continued 
 and appropriate practice. 
 
 It has been often said in commendation of pop- 
 ular education in the United States, "educate the 
 people so that they may understand their true 
 interests and they will be infallible, they will not 
 sin against themselves." But is this supported by 
 experience ? Is it true of individuals ? Does the 
 miser deny that charity is a virtue ? or the drun- 
 kard the expediency of temperance ? Are all
 
 40 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 men strictly just who subscribe the maxim, "ho- 
 nesty is the best policy ?" or, are all those hearty 
 and consistent Christians who are convinced that 
 there is another world for which it is their high- 
 est interest to prepare in this ? Few things are 
 more frequently at variance than one's judgement 
 or conscience, and his conduct. Almost all men 
 are theoretically good, and are sincerely persua- 
 ded it is their interest to be so practically ; still, 
 those who "sin against themselves" are very 
 largely in the majority. Even "devils believe 
 and tremble," but they continue devils still. 
 
 Our national circumstances require a far more 
 sturdy kind of virtue than that which is founded 
 on expediency. The latter, upon which we have 
 hitherto relied, threatens to fail us even in the in- 
 cipient stage of our political trials. It is not true 
 that all persons are capable, even with the great- 
 est aid from intellectual cultivation, of always 
 forming a just estimate of their interests ; and if 
 they were, they would not act up to it. 
 
 Expediency, therefore, as a rule of conduct is 
 neither safe nor practicable. It is not safe, because 
 of the warping influence which our wishes and pre- 
 judices have upon our judgements. Men, like 
 children, are greatly influenced and determined 
 in their conduct by the proximity of rewards and 
 punishments. A child would prefer a single six- 
 pence now, to half adozen promised to be paid next 
 month. The threat of punishment to be inflicted
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 41 
 
 twelve months hence, would have but little influ- 
 ence on the present conduct of servants or soldiers. 
 Objects appear large or small to the intellectual, as 
 to our corporeal vision ; that is, according to the 
 distance. There would be very few confirmed 
 drunkards, if the awful effects of habitual intem- 
 perance were experienced by each individual the 
 first time he indulged in the use of alcoholic 
 drinks ; and it is not because the young doubt the 
 uniform testimony of age as to the ultimate con- 
 sequences, that they are so prodigal of their 
 health by personal exposure, by dissipation, and 
 by compliance with the extravagant demands of 
 fashion. 
 
 Expediency as a rule of conduct is not practi- 
 cable, because few or none know how to use it. It 
 is an essential requisite for a moral rule, that it 
 shall suit all moral beings, of all stations, ages, 
 and conditions. Now when we recollect, that to 
 estimate the real tendency, and therefore the ex- 
 pediency of an action, we must often look at the 
 remote and not at the immediate results ; we 
 must anticipate as far as from childhood to old 
 age, and sometimes take into consideration the 
 other world, the influence of our present conduct 
 on our happiness hundreds of ages hence ; it is 
 evident there is required an intellectual reach and 
 power of which the most highly cultivated are in- 
 capable. What then is to become of the mass 
 of mankind ; the comparatively ignorant, and the 
 4*
 
 42 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 inexperienced ? What encouragement have or- 
 dinary men to direct their mental vision where 
 the eagle eye of genius cannot penetrate ? Where 
 experience is puzzled, what is youth to do I 
 
 SEC T I ON II. 
 
 Not enough that Government in the United States lolerafe the 
 Christian Religion. Religious education of our youth essen- 
 tial to national prosperity. No such thing as popular morali- 
 ty without a religious basis. Washington's opinion on this- 
 subject. Bible the best, and an essential instrument of moral 
 culture planned and bestowed by God for this purpose ; its 
 use therefore no less obligatory on nations than individuals. 
 Bible contains the only perfect system of morals. Evils re- 
 sulting from false theories of moral*. 
 
 BY these preliminary remarks, the reader is pre- 
 pared in some measure to appreciate one of the 
 leading propositions of this volume, which is, that 
 the popular virtue which is essential under a go- 
 vernment like ours, can be produced only by 
 means of the Christian Religion engrafted upon 
 our systems of popular education. 
 
 In other words ; it is not enough that the inha- 
 bitants of the United States be made intelligent, 
 or even moral in the ordinary sense of the term. 
 WE MUST BE A RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ; and this can- 
 not be effected, unless the Bible be enthroned in 
 all our schools, legislative or public, as well as
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 43 
 
 private ; and unless all our schemes of education 
 be thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the reli- 
 gion of Jesus, considered not only as a moral code 
 or rule of conduct, but likewise as a sentiment, 
 and source of motives. 
 
 Experience, I trust, is about to force upon us 
 the lesson which reason and conscience should 
 have long since taught us, that it wijl not answer 
 for a government constituted as ours is, to say 
 that it will tolerate the Christian Religion. It 
 must do far more than this. It must espouse it. 
 It must appropriate it as its soul, its life, its stay, 
 its cementing bond, and the sheet anchor of its 
 hopes. Just as well may the body dispense with 
 food, the earth with fructifying showers, a palace 
 with a foundation, a steamboat with its rudder, 
 or the Emperor of Russia with his standing army ; 
 and it is altogether inappropriate to speak of tol- 
 erating that which is indispensable. The preju- 
 dices of the Pagan and the Mahomedan are re- 
 spected (as they should be) by our laws. We 
 may very properly speak of tolerating them. Juda- 
 ism is permitted. Deism and even Atheism may 
 be endured. But something more must be done 
 for the Christian Religion by a republican people. 
 They must adopt, and cherish, and apply it, and 
 obey its guidance, or else they will be compelled 
 to change their form of government. Our gov- 
 ernment could not subsist a single generation 
 without the Bible, and the religion which it
 
 44 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 teaches. It dares not discard its assistance. Why 
 then object, or be indifferent to the application 
 of its principles to education, for the purpose of 
 forming the national character? Evil surely 
 awaits that system which is incompatible with 
 genuine bible influences. Such will have a per- 
 manent and invincible antagonist always embar- 
 rassing its operations. 
 
 Public sentiment is fast advancing to the recog- 
 nition of these truths, and is inviting the friends 
 of the Bible, to take their post and do their duty. 
 For example ; the impression has of late years 
 rapidly gained ground, that our colleges are not 
 manageable without religious influences ; and the 
 experiment might with safety be submitted to the 
 choice of the most inveterate infidel, (provided he 
 were endowed with ordinary political sagacity,) 
 of demolishing our churches ; or of converting 
 them into theatres or even school-houses ; of ob- 
 literating the Sabbath ; and dispensing in all re- 
 spects with the influences of the Christian Religion. 
 He would not appropriate the offer. The French 
 Revolution, a beacon, which mere selfishness dare 
 not disregard, is too fresh in history to permit 
 him. He feels that the Bible, its institutions, its 
 ministers, its hallowed tendencies, are absolutely 
 essential to the maintenance of government. 
 
 The Bible has a hold upon society which can 
 neither be sundered nor slighted. It were easier, 
 by ten thousand times, to revolutionize our gov-
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 45 
 
 ernment, and establish in its stead a Turkish des- 
 potism, than to revolutionize our religion, to sub- 
 stitute the Koran for the Bible, or to eradicate its 
 influence in a Christian community. The very 
 constitution of human nature, its condition, its 
 wants, its hopes, its fears, must all be radically 
 changed before the Christian Religion can be ab- 
 rogated. Nothing therefore but the Omnipotence 
 to which it refers its origin and preservation, is 
 adequate to its suppression ; and whilst it lives, 
 it cannot fail to exert a powerful influence in reg- 
 ulating the affections, the sentiments, the conduct, 
 and the affairs of men. For these, and other rea- 
 sons such as these, it behooves the friends of the 
 Bible to make larger, and bolder demands in its 
 behalf. It does not receive its due ; and patriot- 
 ism and philanthropy, no less than religious duty, 
 imperatively call for a louder and more urgent 
 statement of its claims. 
 
 The religious education of the youth of our 
 country under the guidance of the Bible is abso- 
 lutely indispensable. The welfare of the country 
 cannot be secured without it. The happiness of 
 a nation is but a multiple of the happiness of indi- 
 viduals. It is the same in kind, and can be pro- 
 duced only by the extended operation of the same 
 causes. 
 
 Is it true of personal happiness, that it does not 
 consist in idleness, in selfishness, in wealth, in lux- 
 uries, in sensual gratifications, in vicious indulgen/.
 
 46 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 cies of any sort ? So it is of national. Is the 
 felicity of an individual derived from the constant 
 and appropriate employment of all the faculties 
 of his nature, the moral and religious, as well as 
 the intellectual and physical? from temperance, 
 from moderation, from contentment, from the 
 acquisition and application of knowledge? from 
 the exercise of the benevolent affections, from 
 love to God and man, to his family, his friends, 
 his neighbour, and even to his enemies ? 
 
 All this is true ; and, if possible, more emphati- 
 cally true, of a whole community of individuals. 
 A nation is not a chemical compound in which 
 the character of the constituent elements is dis- 
 guised or neutralized, possessing new and totally 
 different properties simply in consequence of com- 
 bination. It is more like the mechanical aggregate, 
 which is a homogeneous mass, differing in nothing 
 but in size from the integrant particles that com- 
 pose it. If this reasoning be correct, we have 
 possession of an infallible test by which to deter- 
 mine the relation that the Bible sustains to national 
 prosperity and happiness. Can a single man or 
 woman afford to dispense with the light of its doc- 
 trines, the guidance of its precepts, the restraint of 
 its admonitions, the support and consolation of its 
 promises ? Then millions cannot. Can a single in- 
 dividual be happy who is the slave of selfish and dis- 
 social passions ; of anger, pride, revenge, malevo- 
 lence in all its forms? If not, a myriad of such beings 
 would only aggravate each other's wretchedness,
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 47 
 
 I am fully aware of the delicacy of the ground 
 I am now approaching ; and yet I feel compelled 
 to speak with frankness, from an irrepressible 
 conviction, that our national circumstances call 
 upon us to survey it, and with the least possible 
 delay. No one is more deeply sensible, than am 
 I, of the difficulty, as well as of the importance of 
 the problem, which relates to the union of the re- 
 ligion of our country, with the education of our 
 country. I perceive, clearly enough, the prejudi- 
 ces that must be overcome, the jealousies which 
 must be allayed, and the conflicting interests that 
 must be reconciled, in attempting to effect it. I 
 would therefore speak with becoming diffidence 
 and caution, rather in the way of suggestion than 
 of recommendation as to modes ; but of its abso- 
 lute necessity, 1 deem it utterly impossible to speak 
 too strongly. 
 
 Consistency, it seems to me, must oblige all 
 those who regard the binding sanctions of religion 
 as necessary to the existence of popular morality, 
 and of popular virtue to national prosperity ; to 
 look upon it as entirely essential, that popular ed- 
 ucation should be thoroughly imbued with a reli- 
 gious spirit. There is no other way in which the 
 general prevalence of sound morality can be effect- 
 ed. This must be done, if done at all, through the 
 agency of the Bible operating on the tender hearts 
 and minds of children and of youth. 
 
 It may safely be assumed as settled, that there
 
 48 POLITICAL NECESSITY OV 
 
 is no such thing as genuine popular morality with- 
 out a religious basis. Religion and morality can- 
 not be separated. They are united by indissoluble 
 ties. The one sustains to the other the relation 
 which a part does to the whole. Morality is a 
 chain which is dependent on religion for support. 
 It is like machinery united with a mainspring, 
 without whose influence it can have no movement. 
 The father of our country but echoes the voice of 
 experience, and of the wise in all ages, when he 
 advises us "to indulge with caution the supposi- 
 tion that morality can be maintained without reli- 
 gion ;" alleging that "whatever maybe conceded 
 to the influence of refined education on minds of 
 peculiar structure, reason and experience both 
 forbid us to expect that national morality can pre- 
 vail in exclusion of religious principle." 
 
 To the same effect is the testimony of a cele- 
 brated living authority, Victor Cousin, whose 
 opinion, as it embodies that of the better part of 
 the French nation is, for obvious reasons, entitled 
 to peculiar weight upon this subject. Addressing 
 the minister of public instruction, in his report, he 
 exclaims with an earnestness expressive of the 
 importance he attached to the idea, " Thank God, 
 sir, you are too enlightened a statesman to think 
 that true popular instruction can exist without 
 moral education, popular morality without religion, 
 or popular religion without a church." When 
 France, as is thus manifest, concedes this point, it
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 49 
 
 were madness for any other nation to hold it under 
 discussion. 
 
 If the Supreme Being, in the exercise of infi- 
 nite wisdom and goodness, has seen fit to pre- 
 scribe a mode in which the moral faculties of our 
 nature shall be developed ; if he have given 
 written instructions for the express purpose of 
 guiding us in the formation of our characters, then 
 two inferences are unavoidable, viz : first, that 
 the Bible containing these instructions, is the very 
 best instrument which could possibly be devised 
 to answer this end ; and second, that it is the duty 
 of every human being to acknowledge its authority, 
 and to use it in his efforts for his own and other's 
 moral improvement. This implied command is 
 just as binding on us in our social, as in our per- 
 sonal capacity ; on nations as really as on indi- 
 viduals ; for numbers do not alter the nature, nor 
 lessen the force of moral obligation. 
 
 The standard of public morals ought to be at 
 least as high as that of private. We do not get 
 rid of our responsibility by becoming members of 
 society. The same authority which has made 
 personal well-being depend on goodness, has also 
 said, that it is " righteousness " and righteousness 
 only which " exalteth a nation." 
 
 The precepts of the Bible are universal laws 
 made for the human race ; and are equally obli- 
 gatory on individuals, families, neighbourhoods, 
 and nations. The Bible is the moral constitution 
 
 5
 
 50 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 for the entire family of man. When it furnishes 
 specific rules, they are binding on all ; and when 
 these are wanting, its principles are the criteria 
 by which human legislators must be guided in 
 supplying them. It respects not persons nor their 
 circumstances. The rich and poor are equally 
 amenable to its authority. Kings are as much 
 obligated to yield obedience as their subjects ; 
 the government as the governed. In this country, 
 Congress and our state governments are bound to 
 legislate according to its dictates and its spirit. 
 
 It affords a rule by which at once the acts of 
 the representatives may be tested, and the repre- 
 sented be fitted to exercise the delicate right of in- 
 struction. How would the business of making 
 laws be simplified, if incases affecting the conflict- 
 ing interests of individuals, districts, and nations, 
 the question chiefly and honestly debated were, 
 what is right ? 
 
 Our representatives should legislate with the 
 Bible in their hands, and the people approach the 
 poles with its principles deeply seated in their 
 hearts. 
 
 This world as a whole, or in any of its subdivi- 
 sions, large or small, cannot go on smoothly, until 
 in all its arrangements it is in harmony with the 
 divine will. A nation cannot prosper so long as 
 it refuses to acknowledge its accountability to the 
 Judge of all men; and the Bible alone tells us 
 how to act up to that accountability. It is
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 51 
 
 the only book which assigns a satisfactory reason 
 for the derangement that pervades our world, and 
 it is the only source from which we can obtain a 
 correct and ample knowledge of the remedy. It 
 ascribes all to the fact that man is endeavouring 
 to gratify his instinctive thirst for happiness in a 
 sinful and impracticable way, by methods of his 
 own devising, to the neglect or violation of the 
 plan of God ; and consequently, as disobedience 
 is the cause of all suffering, so repentance, faith, 
 and obedience are the only possible road to real 
 happiness. This is a universal truth ; applica- 
 ble to the greatest nation as much as to the hum- 
 blest individual. To assert the contrary would 
 be just as absurd as to suppose that the law of 
 gravitation which holds of an atom, does not ap- 
 pertain to a pyramid, which is but a combination 
 of atoms. In both cases, the force of the law is 
 only increased by augmentation. 
 
 This looks like axiomatical reasoning, and yet it 
 is not superfluous, because not practically heeded. 
 Where is the legislature in our country which suf- 
 ficiently and consistently recognises the supreme 
 authority of the Bible ? The fault, however, is 
 with their masters the people, who do not bid 
 them do so. The people therefore must be chan- 
 ged ; their sentiments, their dispositions, their hab- 
 its of thinking and of feeling, before this universal 
 derangement can cease or be diminished. 
 
 The only way to effect so great a change, is to
 
 52 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 employ the preventive influence of education, so 
 as to keep future generations from becoming like 
 the present. The Bible therefore must be brought 
 to bear upon the hearts and consciences of the 
 children of the nation ; in other words, it must 
 be universally introduced into our elementary 
 schools as the great instrument of moral culture ; 
 for it is in these schools alone that all the children 
 of the country can be reached. No matter what 
 may be the point from which we set out to rea- 
 son on the subject, we are forced at last to this 
 conclusion. To avoid it fairly, is impossible. 
 There is no other way of achieving the great end 
 of moral education. It cannot be accomplished 
 without the aid and guidance of the rules and 
 motives of the Bible. No where else whatever 
 can we find a correct system of morals. The 
 sages of Greece and Rome, with as much of mind 
 and study as human nature is capable of applying 
 to any subject, left that of morals exceedingly im- 
 perfect. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, who ap- 
 proached perhaps as near the verge of the limits 
 assigned the human faculties as any other unin- 
 spired men, felt, and owned the necessity of a re- 
 velation. Had they been permitted to listen to 
 the teachings of Jesus, in all probability they 
 would have been fully satisfied. They would 
 have perceived that the business of discovery in 
 the region of morals was forever terminated. It 
 is impossible to improve on that which is already
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 53 
 
 perfect. Since the completion of the sacred vol- 
 ume, all improvements in religion have been and 
 must ever be " advances backward." The Chris- 
 tian Religion has been encumbered with human 
 appendages foreign to its nature and uncongenial 
 with its spirit, and of these it may be disabused ; 
 but what it wants and what alone it is capable of 
 receiving on this account is restoration, not im- 
 provement. We may improve in our methods 
 of applying it of bringing its energies to bear 
 upon the minds and hearts of men ; but it is a sad 
 misnomer to pronounce this an improvement of 
 the system. We can no more improve the Chris- 
 tian Religion, than we can the laws of chemical 
 attraction, or of the animal economy, and for the 
 very same reason. 
 
 It is impossible to calculate the harm which 
 has been done by our persisting to theorize and 
 systematize upon topics which have been com- 
 pletely unfolded by the Son of God. It is strange 
 and lamentable that we should continue to light 
 up the dim torch of reason to elucidate a subject 
 which has been illumined by the full blaze of the 
 Sun of Righteousness. Our conduct in this par- 
 ticular, is one of the innumerable illustrations of 
 the centrifugal tendency which has marked the 
 actions of mankind since the sin of our first par- 
 ents. A great and distinguishing peculiarity of the 
 Christian system is, that it fastens every thing on 
 God. He is the source from which all emanates, 
 5*
 
 54 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 the centre to which all tends. His will is at once 
 the reason and the rule of human conduct ; and 
 to fear him, and keep his commandments, is pro- 
 claimed to be the whole duty of man. But all 
 reference to God is banished in the popular no- 
 tions of morality. They give consideration sole- 
 ly to the claims of our fellow-men, and to the 
 consequences of our conduct to ourselves. 
 
 Even Christian writers have been betrayed into 
 this " snare of the devil," and have helped to thick- 
 en and perpetuate the moral darkness of the world, 
 by deriving from expediency, and sympathy, and 
 other secondary sources, their flimsy and inopera- 
 tive systems of moral science. 
 
 Thank God, however, there are cheering indi- 
 cations of a change ; and Dymond and Wayland 
 deserve the thanks of all the friends of the Bible 
 and of their species^ for helping to unmask this 
 most pernicious error. 
 
 But we are chiefly indebted for this prospect, 
 under Providence, to that benevolent feature in 
 the moral government of God, the self-correcting 
 tendency of evils., 
 
 Painful and critical experience is beginning to 
 admonish the civilized world, and most emphati- 
 cally the people of the United States, that with 
 the universal advances of the democratic spirit, 
 society stands in need of some more substantial 
 safeguard, and of some less ambiguous criterion 
 of duty, than mere considerations of expediency.
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 55 
 
 Our country is becoming infested with a class of 
 men, (whose numbers, already formidable, are 
 constantly increasing and with geometrical ra- 
 pidity,) that have nothing to lose and every thing 
 to gain by changes in the circumstances of society. 
 Oppressed with the leisure which laziness affords, 
 they seek relief from ennui by disturbing the 
 peace of others. Popular excitement is their ele- 
 ment. Looking upon the rich as their natural 
 enemies, they are constantly complaining of the 
 unequal distribution of wealth, and in a political 
 struggle are always found arrayed against prop- 
 erty. Under the impression that the existing 
 state of things is adverse to their interests, they 
 are ever ready to go " en masse " against it ; and 
 they never want leaders. 
 
 But who that regards expediency as the reason 
 and the rule of human conduct, can consistently 
 complain of this ? These men are habitually told 
 that their " being's end and aim is happiness ;'' 
 that perfect liberty in the pursuit of this ranks 
 among the unalienable rights ; that in republican 
 governments every man is free to follow the dic- 
 tates of his own judgement; and as they very 
 naturally believe themselves to be the best judges 
 of their own interests, they easily persuade them- 
 selves that a division of property would be pro- 
 motive of them ; that a revolution in the existing 
 state of things would be conducive to their happi- 
 ness ; that it is expedient therefore there should be
 
 56 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 a change ; and accordingly, and with perfect con- 
 sistency, they act in a body to produce it. 
 
 Their conduct is the natural result of the false 
 theory of morals under which they have been 
 reared ; and this theory must remain in force so 
 long as the fundamental maxim which gives rise 
 to it is so generally, nay, so universally misinter- 
 preted by society. It is not true in the popular 
 sense of the expression, that our " being's end and 
 aim is happiness." Were it so, as we are taught 
 from our childhood upward, then it would be ob- 
 viously just that we should regulate our conduct 
 by our notions of expediency ; that we should pay 
 supreme regard to that which we may suppose 
 would conduce to the end of our being, here, the 
 attainment of earthly happiness. But the end of 
 our being is, and its highest aim should be, " to 
 do the will of Him that sent us ;" and thus to seek 
 for that felicity which relates to a future as well 
 as to the present world. This is the foundation 
 of a sublime yet simple code of morals which a 
 child may understand, and the most ignorant suc- 
 cessfully apply. It formed the sum and substance 
 of the laws by which "the Son of Man" was 
 guided ; and society will never cease to be morally 
 unmanageable until this sentiment be instilled into 
 the bosoms of our youth from infancy to manhood ; 
 and the easily answered questions, what is proper ? 
 what is right ? in other words, what would God 
 have me to do ? be substituted in room of the
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATIOW. 57 
 
 perplexing and delusive inquiries, what is expedient ? 
 what will promote my interests ? Unless this 
 change take place, the popular self-will, misled by 
 an erroneous and loose morality, will continue to 
 plunge into increasing and still greater lawlessness, 
 till the condition of society will be past endurance, 
 if not past remedy. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 The state of public morals in the United States perhaps never 
 worse than at present, when so much is doing for Public Ed- 
 ucation. This owing to the unnatural separation of Intellec- 
 tual and moral culture. In attempting a reform, we should 
 aim to make Education not merely moral but religious for 
 this purpose ought to have pious teachers. Judicious appeals 
 to the sense of duty, the best means of managing children. 
 Practice of the Author with his Pupils. Teachers must be 
 trained for the purpose before Christian Education become 
 general. Appeal to Christians and Ministers. Intellectual 
 and moral Education not only compatible but mutually bene- 
 ficial 'Importance of reuniting them.. 
 
 THE present aspect of things in our country, forces 
 upon us one of two conclusions ; either, that there 
 is something exceedingly faulty about our plans 
 of popular education, or else that the hopes which 
 we have entertained of the beneficial influence of 
 education on society, are fallacious ; for it is cer- 
 tain, that in no part of the United States has it 
 had the effect contemplated as necessary by the
 
 58 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 theory of our government. A great deal has been 
 done of late years to advance the cause of public 
 instruction ; but what has it accomplished for the 
 interests of public virtue ? What are the condi- 
 tion and prospect of American morals ? Is all 
 well ? Are there not many who believe that, in 
 despite of colleges, acadamies, and common 
 schools, we are rapidly degenerating ? that our 
 situation is at present well nigh desperate ? and 
 is there not abundant cause for apprehension that 
 what is already bad, is fast becoming worse ? 
 
 Is the spirit of legislation more honest and dis- 
 interested than it was in the earlier days of the 
 republic ? Is patriotism gaining the ascendency 
 over avarice and ambition ? Can we bring the sav- 
 age to attest that we are more virtuous than our im- 
 mediate forefathers ? Are we getting to attach a 
 greaterdegree of sanctity to the sabbath and to oaths 
 than formerly? Is the sacred character of juror 
 more respected, or more worthily and consistently 
 maintained ? Are the ends of justice less interrupt- 
 ed by favouritism, money, party feeling, or other 
 sinister considerations ; and more easily and effec- 
 tually attained than during our early history, when 
 public education was scarcely talked of? Has 
 the law become so prompt and faithful in vindi- 
 cating injured reputation that it is no longer deemed 
 disreputable to resort to it for protection and re- 
 dress ? Is the thirst for luxurious indulgence on 
 the wane ? Has the lust for instantaneous wealth, 
 the desire of fortune without the use of means ;
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 59 
 
 in short, the gambling propensity, been growing 
 weaker ? Is party feeling becoming shorn of its 
 acerbity, its selfishness, its recklessness ? Have 
 the spirit of insubordination, of disrespect of law, 
 and a disposition for personal revenge, been on 
 the decrease ? 
 
 What is the language of our newspapers on 
 this subject ? Do they say that duels, murders, 
 riots, robberies, assassinations, mobs, and such like, 
 are becoming rarities ? What is the voice of our 
 legislative records ? Have our legislators been 
 engaged of late in abridging the extent and miti- 
 gating the severity of the criminal code ? Why 
 this common movement in one part of our country 
 to suppress the barbarous practice of carrying 
 concealed weapons ? and whence the general effort 
 to protect the lives of citizens from fashionable 
 manslaughter ? What say the dockets of our 
 courts, and the number and condition of our alms- 
 houses, jails, and penitentiaries ? 
 
 Let us view the subject as we may, the picture 
 is anything but agreeable, the prospect anything 
 but pleasing ; and yet, there never was a time 
 when half the attempt was made to diffuse the 
 means of education. How is this to be accounted 
 for ? Here is a new question for the advocate of 
 social improvement. It is easily answered how- 
 ever. There is not the slightest room to doubt 
 that it is owing, not to the want of efficacy in 
 education properly so called, but to almost univer-
 
 60 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 sal w/A-education. It is the natural and unavoid- 
 able result of sundering moral from intellectual 
 culture. There is nothing in the knowledge that 
 two and two are four that " a verb is a word 
 which signifies to be, to do, or to suffer ;" and that 
 Paris is the capital of France ; which is calculated 
 to prepare our youth for becoming virtuous and 
 pious men, good neighbours, and orderly citizens ; 
 and yet this is about as near as most of our schools, 
 (I speak with reference to the nation at large,) 
 approach to an attempt to make them such. We 
 should not be surprised that society does not be- 
 come virtuous by miracle. Means are as neces- 
 sary to ends in the moral, as in the physical world. 
 The poet announces no discovery when he says 
 that the tree retains the inclination of the scion. 
 The philosophers of Greece and Rome understood 
 full well the dependent relation that exists between 
 youthful training and subsequent character. They 
 learned this from their fathers, and they again 
 from theirs. The Persians set an example worthy 
 of imitation, to a great extent, by modern Chris- 
 tians. In short, all history, and all experience, 
 together with the universal sentiments of mankind, 
 proclaim, that if we would have our children turn 
 out virtuous and useful men and women, we must 
 train them up from infancy in the way that they 
 should go: and yet it is strange, inexplicably strange 
 on ordinary principles ! whilst we admit all this 
 to be true, we act as if we believed it false. Ev-
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 61 
 
 cry one asserts the necessity of popular virtue to 
 the stability of our institutions, and of correct 
 education to popular virtue. The usual phrase- 
 ology on this subject has been repeated till it has 
 almost degenerated into cant ; yet where are the 
 statesmen, the philanthropists, or the Christian 
 ministers, who are doing justice to their convic- 
 tions in regard to it ? 
 
 It is obvious that our sentiments on this subject 
 are far ahead of our practice. It must be admit- 
 ted, some slight approximation to the discharge of 
 duty in this respect has been made in our colleges. 
 This, however, is travelling but an inch, where 
 there is before us a journey of leagues. Beside, 
 it is beginning the journey at the wrong end ; and 
 if it were not, it is stopping at the very threshold 
 of the understanding. It is providing for units, 
 whilst as many thousands are neglected. What 
 is the number of students in our colleges, to the 
 numbers in the various subordinate schools ? And 
 what has been done towards christianizing edu- 
 cation in these receptacles of the mass of mind in 
 our country ? There are in all the colleges in the 
 Union less than six thousand undergraduates ; 
 whilst the number of pupils, who are or ought to 
 be assembled in the different grades of prepara- 
 tory schools, is not far short of four millions. 
 
 Whence, then, the partiality manifested towards 
 the inmates of the higher institutions ? The senti- 
 ment is rapidly growing to practical maturity, 
 6
 
 62 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 that every college should be regarded as a spirit- 
 ual charge. But where shall we find an apology 
 for the astounding fact, that scarcely the first step 
 has yet been taken towards a systematic effort at 
 incorporating the religion of the country, with the 
 course pursued in those intellectual nurseries in 
 which the minds of the millions of our juvenile 
 population are instructed ? 
 
 As a nation, then, we are guilty of the flagrant 
 inconsistency of deeming that essential, which we 
 take no pains to supply. We are chargeable with 
 the absurdity of pronouncing indispensable, what 
 we do habitually dispense with. Which of the 
 various public school systems established, or pro- 
 jected in the United States, has practically recog- 
 nised the connexion between popular virtue, and 
 national prosperity ? Or, which of them has made 
 appropriate and competent provision for the moral 
 as well as the intellectual culture of the rising 
 generation ? And can we reasonably wonder that 
 society should be harrassed with grievous moral 
 evils, when the moral and religious culture of the 
 young is systematically slighted ? It is a solemn 
 truth, fraught with great responsibility to commu- 
 nities as well as parents, that (as has been already 
 intimated) to neglect the moral education of a child 
 is equivalent to miseducating it ; that to fail to 
 bring and keep it under good influences, is to 
 abandon it to bad. 
 
 It is a well established principle, that the omis-
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 63 
 
 sion of duty brings guilt as really as the commis- 
 sion of sin. If a parent from laziness, or indiffer- 
 ence, cause a child to die of hunger or of cold, he 
 is as really guilty as if he had brought about its 
 death by poison or deadly blows. The applica- 
 tion of this is obvious. Were a parent, for the 
 sake of pecuniary profit, to train a child to steal, 
 no one could doubt the propriety of his being cal- 
 led to answer for it, both to God and man. But 
 what is there to change the nature of the respon- 
 sibility, or the weight of guilt, when the child, ac- 
 cording to an obvious law of our nature, betakes 
 itself to stealing in consequence of the neglect of 
 the parent to give it a proper education ? Is it 
 not notoriously true that to fail to inspire children 
 with sentiments of justice, and with respect for 
 the rights of others is, for the most part, virtually 
 to train them up for theft and robbery ? In order 
 to contract bad habits, it is only necessary that 
 we abstain from strenuous and persevering efforts 
 to cherish good ones. 
 
 The only modifying consideration as to the 
 guilt incurred in such a case, is the amount of abil- 
 ity or inability, on the part of the parent, to be- 
 stow a right education on his children. In the 
 case of a Hottentot, for instance, the total want 
 of this would greatly palliate, if it did not entirely 
 excuse the fault of the omission. The inspired 
 volume teaches us, that a man shall be judged ac- 
 cording to his means and opportunities. But in a
 
 64 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 civilized and Christian country, few parents can 
 plead this excuse ; society, never. It is quite pos- 
 sible an individual parent may, from sickness, 
 death, or some other uncontrollable circumstances, 
 fail to give his children a proper education ; but 
 society never dies society may always have 
 means and opportunities ; for its neglect therefore 
 there is no possible apology. 
 
 There is scarcely a greater or more pernicious 
 error among the many complained of as belong- 
 ing to the education of our day, than that which 
 is evinced by the fact, that the province of the in- 
 structer of youth is confined, almost exclusively, 
 to intellectual culture. That children are moral 
 and religious beings, having hearts as well as 
 heads, affections as well as understandings, seems 
 to be almost totally forgotten in the school-room. 
 
 Were it not for the instructive and warning 
 voice of history on the subject, we should be 
 tempted to regard the sentiment which correctly 
 declares the formation of character to be the pri- 
 mary object of education, as one of the novel de- 
 vices of this inventive age. But the works of 
 Xenophen and Plato, of Cicero, Seneca, and Quin- 
 tilian, deny to us the credit of the discovery ; ex- 
 hibiting the fact that Romans, Grecians, and even 
 Persians, made familiar application of the truth ; 
 and that Christians of the present day, after the 
 lapse of many centuries of deadness to its impor-
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 65 
 
 tance, are but endeavoring to reinstate a sentiment 
 of heathen origin. 
 
 The consistent practice of the follower of the 
 False Prophet too, should raise a blush upon the 
 cheek of the disciple of the Saviour. The Koran 
 is the guide, the instrument, the sum of the edu- 
 cation of Mahomedan children ; whilst the Bible, 
 if introduced at all into Christian schools, is wield- 
 ed with so little skill and earnestness, as to have 
 raised a doubt whether the attempt is not pro- 
 ductive of more harm than good. 
 
 We cannot however be too careful, whilst in- 
 sisting upon reform in this respect, that we stop 
 not short of the proper point. Mere moral in- 
 struction of his offspring, or that which relates to 
 " loving our neighbour as ourselves," should never 
 satisfy the conscience of a Christian parent, who 
 acknowledges the " first and great commandment" 
 to be, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
 all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
 thy might." Children are religious beings ; that 
 is, they have consciences and affections peculiarly 
 susceptible of religious impressions ; and the fail- 
 ure to treat them as such, can only be regarded 
 as an act of criminal, not to say unpardonable infi- 
 delity. Children are immortal beings ; and any 
 scheme of education which comes short of a prac- 
 tical recognition of this truth, overlooks the most 
 important, solemn, and interesting relation they 
 sustain. 
 
 6*
 
 W> POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 However it might outstretch the popular senti- 
 ment, I know not that it would be going further 
 than the principles now stated logically demand, 
 to assert, that wherever practicable, the instruc- 
 tors of youth should be none other than pious 
 men. Once admit the fact that the most impor- 
 tant object of education is the culture of the 
 heart, and with the Bible as the instrument ; and 
 how can others be any thing else than blind lea- 
 ders of the blind ? The teacher is a partial sub- 
 stitute for the parent ; an auxiliary in the dis- 
 charge of the most solemn duty imposed upon 
 him by Providence. As such, he undertakes the 
 same task, assumes the same responsibilities ; nor 
 can he be released from the obligation to bestow 
 religious instruction in this character, until the fol- 
 lowing and similar passages shall, by Divine com- 
 mand, have been obliterated from the sacred vol- 
 ume : "And these words, which I command thee 
 this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shall 
 teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall 
 talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and 
 when thou walkest by the way, and when thou 
 liest down, and when thou risest up." 
 
 Not only should the instructor of youth be him- 
 self a Christian in heart and practice, but he should 
 avowedly endeavour to make his pupils such. He 
 should aim, not only at instruction of the under- 
 standing, but impression of the heart. He should 
 faithfully use every day in the school-room, all the
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 67 
 
 variety of means which the clergyman employs 
 from the pulpit on the Sabbath. He should use 
 them too in the same spirit ; for the same purpo- 
 ses ; and with the same supplicating dependence 
 on the Divine aid and blessing. He should ad- 
 dress himself to the tender sensibilities of child- 
 hood, by means of the mild and melting consider- 
 ations with which the gospel abounds ; and he 
 should make close and specific appeals to their 
 consciences ; remembering, that the sense of mor- 
 al obligation is in children peculiarly delicate and 
 acute. The meaning of the expressions " ought," 
 and " ought not," is perfectly comprehended by 
 them. There are in reality, and to the unsophis- 
 ticated mind of childhood, no simpler words in 
 our language. Adults create difficulty in regard 
 to them, by adventurous speculation. Their sig- 
 nification is so plain, as only to be obscured by 
 any attempts at explanation. Children, as well 
 as those of riper years,/eeZ that they are accoun- 
 table. They need not that it should be proved to 
 them. The sentiment of implicit obedience to 
 rightful authority, is one, of whose propriety their 
 judgements are perfectly satisfied ; and if their 
 feelings do not practically acquiesce in its de- 
 mands, it is owing, in a good degree, to the in- 
 judicious management to which they have been 
 subjected. 
 
 There are no motives for the government of 
 children, whether at home or at school, so cogent,
 
 68 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 and at the same time so salutary in their opera- 
 tion, as those which appeal directly to their sense 
 of duty. If judiciously administered, and with 
 proper reliance on the blessing of God, they may 
 supersede the employment of force, of emulation, 
 and of all other expedients, whose propriety is 
 questionable. 
 
 If the author may be permitted to refer to his 
 own practice and experience, for the purpose of 
 expressing his views more clearly upon this sub- 
 ject, he would state, that in his prospectus of a 
 school established several years ago in Louisville, 
 Ky., there is the following sentence : " I deem it 
 due to candour to specify, that I consider moral 
 education, or that which aims at the formation of 
 character, as of paramount importance ; and that 
 in executing this sentiment, the Bible will be re- 
 garded and used as an ultimate, sufficient, and au- 
 thoritative standard; whose promises and precepts, 
 containing an expression of the will of God, fur- 
 nish at once the motives, the reasons, and the 
 rules of human duty." In accordance with this 
 avowal, I devoted a full hour, the first of every 
 day, to religious exercises. My wish was, to em- 
 brace within this time all the elements of an act 
 of social worship. Accordingly, each pupil being 
 furnished with a Bible and a Prayer-book, we be- 
 gan with some responsive exercises from the lat- 
 ter ; then proceeded colloquially with the Bible 
 lesson ; next, sang ; (in which all joined, music be-
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 69 
 
 ing made a regular branch of instruction,) and 
 concluded with prayer. 
 
 As would naturally be supposed, the principal 
 part of the hour was taken up with the study of 
 the Bible. The whole school was thus virtually 
 resolved into a Bible Class ; and my pupils were 
 accustomed to regard the precepts of the sacred 
 volume, as the guide of their daily conduct. To 
 it we repaired for our principles, our motives, our 
 rules of life. They were directed to look upon it 
 too, as containing the code of laws for the school, 
 which both teachers and pupils were under a com- 
 mon and equal obligation to obey; and I take de- 
 light in bearing my feeble testimony in favour of 
 the efficacy and sufficiency of the moral influences 
 derived from this source. I used no other in the 
 government of my school ; and every day's expe- 
 rience but strengthened the conviction that I need- 
 ed no other. 
 
 Here, however, I deem it very important to 
 specify, that I found every thing depend upon my 
 basing all upon the footing of duty. God hath 
 spoken, and therefore we are bound to listen, is a 
 proposition which arrests the conscience of a child 
 more readily by far than that of an adult ; and 
 the preacher in the pulpit, may just as reasonably 
 expect success and God's blessing in moderating 
 this requirement, as the teacher in the school- 
 room. The man is but an expansion of the boy \ 
 the same, not a different being ; and I am fully
 
 TO POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 persuaded, that the principles and motives by 
 which religion requires that we regulate our feel- 
 ings and conduct in after life, are precisely those 
 to which we should be accustomed by incessant 
 practice, from the earliest dawn of reason. In 
 this consists more than half, and that the better 
 half of education. 
 
 And why may not these principles be carried 
 out in every school in our country ? I confess I 
 see no reason whatever to the contrary, but that 
 Christians, and especially ministers of the gospel, 
 do not will it. That the community is ready to 
 welcome such a course, at least in some instances, 
 (and I now allude to a region which by public 
 fame is not the most religious,) I bear my grate- 
 ful testimony. I never experienced the slightest 
 difficulty, nor heard the first objection to my prac- 
 tice in this respect. It is a curious and interesting 
 fact, that whatever may be their own sentiments 
 and feelings in regard to religion, most men wish 
 their own children, and the children of the com- 
 munity at large, to be brought up under the in- 
 fluence of pious principles. The painful experi- 
 ence of many men of wealth convinces them, that 
 nothing can save their sons from becoming spend- 
 thrifts and vagabonds, but a religious education; 
 and the alarming tendency to popular lawlessness, 
 which manifests itself, as readily in those regions 
 where public schools have done the most, as in 
 those where they have not yet taken root, is rap-
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 71 
 
 idly undermining that self-complacent confidence, 
 (which hitherto has characterized us as a nation,) 
 in intelligence alone, as a sufficient safeguard of 
 our social institutions. 
 
 Should it be objected here, that however desi- 
 rable the application of these principles for the 
 purposes of national education, we have not teach- 
 ers fitted by professional training to carry them 
 into effect ; then why not educate them for their 
 business, as we educate physicians, lawyers, and 
 mechanics ? Never did the eye of Heaven take 
 cognizance of a more glaring and pernicious error 
 than that which not only tolerates, but constrains 
 the commission of the intellectual and moral cul- 
 ture of the immortal mind to untrained novices. 
 Its parallel is not to be found in the annals of hu- 
 man folly ; and, certainly, if we look at consequen- 
 ces, its equal does not exist in the records of hu- 
 man misfortune. The reasoning by which its ab- 
 surdity is exposed, need not advance one step 
 beyond the employment of axioms. How can we 
 expect good work without good workmen ? And 
 how can these exist without appropriate educa- 
 tion ? 
 
 But it is not conviction, so much as impression 
 on this subject, that society stands in need of. 
 Most solemnly therefore would I appeal to the 
 consciences of Christians, and of Christian minis- 
 ters, for the prompt and thorough rectification of 
 this enormous evil. On them devolves the weighty
 
 72 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 responsibility of awakening and enlightening pub- 
 lic sentiment on this momentous subject ; and 
 through its agency, essential in this country, of 
 achieving a reform in national education, which 
 in Europe has been effected in some instances by 
 the application of arbitrary power. 
 
 Christian parents ! remember you are God's 
 stewards ; and that children are the most impor- 
 tant trust which Heaven has committed to your 
 care. How then can you reconcile it to yourselves 
 to bring them up in even partial forgetfulness of 
 their relation to another world ? And how can 
 you continue to delegate their education to a 
 class of men, in whom professional fidelity and 
 skill cannot reasonably be expected, because from 
 the very nature of the case, they are impractica- 
 ble ? 
 
 Fathers and brethren of the ministry ! let us 
 awake to a sense of the weighty obligation that 
 devolves upon us from the peculiar nature of our 
 political institutions. Being a Christian people, 
 let us resolve that we will have a Christian 
 education for our offspring. Let Mohamme- 
 dan consistency shame us into the performance 
 of our duty in this particular. Let us hence- 
 forth inscribe upon the doorposts of our school - 
 houses, as well as upon the lintels of (he sanc- 
 tuary, " Holiness to the Lord." Let us, with 
 united heart and voice, proclaim it to our fellow- 
 citizens throughout the nation ; (and let us do it 
 with the candour and composure that wait on real 

 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 73 
 
 firmness ;) that however we may be divided upon 
 other points, on this we know no discord of feel- 
 ing or opinion that as worshippers of a common 
 Father ; as disciples of the same Redeemer ; we 
 are firmly resolved to rally round the Bible they 
 have given us, as the only moral guide of our off- 
 spring that whatever others may do, we are 
 determined to " train up ours in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord " and that if they would 
 have us continue to educate their children, they 
 must consent that we shall do it upon Christian 
 principles. 
 
 It is possible, some may apprehend, that by be- 
 stowing upon the moral part of our nature the 
 amount of attention recommended, the proper 
 cultivation of the intellectual would be neglected ; 
 that by devoting so much study to the Bible, the 
 sciences and various other branches of ordinary 
 knowledge would be slighted. But for such a 
 fear there is less than the shadow of occasion. 
 The culture of the moral faculties, so far from be- 
 ing incompatible with the cultivation of the in- 
 tellectual, not only favours, but is essential to its 
 full achievement. There is a stern necessity im- 
 posed by Providence, which should command our 
 admiration and our thanks, that to perfect one 
 part of our spiritual nature, we must improve the 
 whole. A harmoniously educated head and heart 
 are the columns on which the edifice of human 
 character and greatness, whether individual or 
 7
 
 74 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 social, rests ; and if either be defective, the entire 
 fabric is in danger. 
 
 One of the most comprehensive reasons why 
 we have so signally failed in the cultivation of the 
 head, is, that we have neglected to take along 
 with it the cultivation of the heart. It may ap- 
 pear like superstition to such as deny themselves 
 the inestimable benefits flowing from the practice 
 of prayer ; but with such as have experienced its 
 advantages, the assertion will gain a hearty cre- 
 dence, that the understanding is never in a better 
 condition to take clear, unbiassed, safe, and am- 
 ple views of truth, than in those calm and hallow- 
 ed moments, when the passions have been lulled, 
 the spirits tranquilized, the affections purified, and 
 the purpose of amendment strengthened by com- 
 munion with one's Maker. This throws the mind 
 into a state the most favourable which can be im- 
 agined, for an impartial consideration of evidence. 
 Nothing is more conducive to a healthy condi- 
 tion of the intellectual powers, than to keep the 
 heart habitually under the influence of worthy 
 feelings. Philosophy herself is obliged to attest 
 this, when she states the manner in which the 
 passions impose on the understanding, and goes in- 
 to a specification of those various " idols " that 
 mislead and warp the judgement. To these, her 
 theory and history both, ascribe the origin of most 
 of the errors which pervade society ; and sanc- 
 tion the opinion, that the reason why the truth is
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 75 
 
 so little known, is not because it is hard to be 
 discovered, but because mankind are led astray 
 by the force of that mis-education which consists 
 in the neglect of moral culture. 
 
 That the education of the moral faculties is es- 
 sential to the full developement of the intellectual, 
 is a truth whose general acknowledgement and 
 application are destined to exert a powerful influ- 
 ence in favour of the best interests of the human 
 family. It is truly animating to see it apparently 
 originating with so many different men of emi- 
 nent wisdom, and proclaimed as one of the most 
 important facts connected with intellectual and 
 moral science. This is one of the many instances 
 in which an important truth simultaneously sug- 
 gests itself to different individuals, and which al- 
 most make us fancy that when a new idea of mo- 
 ment to the happiness of man is to be introduced 
 on earth, a beneficent angel is despatched to drop 
 it into the minds of persons widely separated 
 from each other. It is delightful also to perceive 
 that systems which by some are regarded as an- 
 tagonists, harmonize completely on this point. 
 Modern philosophy and the Christian Religion 
 conspire to enforce the truth, that education should 
 have reference to the entire being ; and pre-emi- 
 nently that in all its arrangements it should ac- 
 knowledge the supremacy of the moral powers. 
 
 For these and other reasons which might be 
 stated, it is the sacred duty of all the friends of
 
 76 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 religion, of their country, and of man, to contend 
 with uncompromising earnestness for the re-union 
 of intellectual and moral education. 
 
 This union is equally essential for the safety 
 and well-being of the State and of the Church. 
 May they not be too tardy in making the discov- 
 ery ! God grant that the conviction may not come 
 too late to be savingly applied ! The providence 
 of God is evidently calling our attention as a peo- 
 ple to the necessity of this association, reminding 
 us of our neglect, and admonishing us in the most 
 solemn manner of our danger and our duty. The 
 occurrence at the same juncture, of excesses in 
 religion from want of intellectual ballast, and of 
 popular disregard of law from want of religious 
 principle, is calculated not only to bring us to re- 
 flection, but to show us our error. It were diffi- 
 cult to tell which is in the most critical condition, 
 the Government or the Church. It is evident they 
 are both alarmed, not only for their prosperity, 
 but for their future safety. Hitherto they seem 
 to have acted under the assumption that their in- 
 terests were not coincident, if not at variance. 
 They appear to have been trying opposite experi- 
 ments ; the Church by her neglect of general edu- 
 cation, endeavouring to dispense with popular in- 
 telligence ; and the Government, with religion, 
 
 I humbly trust, however, they are about to per- 
 ceive their mistake. God in his providence is 
 kindly showing us the futility of attempting to
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 77 
 
 sever things which in their very nature are insep- 
 arable. He has joined them together by indis- 
 soluble ties, and is allowing our embarrassing ex- 
 perience to teach us 'that what God has joined 
 together, man cannot with impunity even attempt 
 to put asunder. 
 
 In originally severing the connexion of church 
 and state, there appears to have been an attempt 
 to carry the dissolution further than their outward 
 union. In the general breaking up at the period 
 of our revolution, it would seem as if there had 
 been a formal division of the faculties of the soul ; 
 the church, taking the heart ; and the state, the 
 head. 
 
 It does not militate against this view, that the 
 church has had the guardianship of education in 
 our colleges ; and that government has given its 
 authoritative sanction to the Christian Sabbath, 
 and has guarantied protection to the rights of 
 conscience. It is evident that the latter has taken 
 the form without the spirit, the body without the 
 soul; the mere ceremonies and outward institu- 
 tions of religion without its vital energy and 
 substance ; and that the former has acted as 
 though she thought the province of education 
 did not reach to the formation of character ; as 
 if its business were altogether foreign from the 
 cultivation of the moral powers. Though not 
 proceeding to the atheistical extent of the French 
 revolutionists, yet whatever may have been the 
 7*
 
 78 POLITICAL NECESSITY OP 
 
 opinions and solemn warnings of such men as 
 Washington to the contrary, our governments have 
 practically demanded for themselves intelligence 
 alone ; and the church, by one of the strangest and 
 most fatal inconsistencies to be found in her entire 
 history, has consented in the main, to conduct the 
 education of the country with faithful reference 
 to this unnatural and irreligious separation. It 
 cannot be disputed that the education of the youth 
 of our country at large, has been anything but 
 Christian ; that it has been addressed to the un- 
 derstanding almost to the total neglect of the will 
 and the affections. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Protest of Dr. Rush against the exclusion of the Bible from 
 schools. Cousin's views of the importance of Religious Edu- 
 cation. 
 
 IN presenting the views detailed in the preceding 
 sections, the author lays no claim whatever to 
 originality. They are at present entertained by 
 thousands, having been transmitted to us by the 
 patriots and Christians of another generation. His 
 only object is to " stir up the minds of others by 
 way of remembrance," and to aid in exciting a 
 practical attention to truths, about which, although 
 their importance is passively admitted, there pre- 
 vails an unfortunate, culpable, and alarming indif- 
 ference in this Christian country.
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 79 
 
 As long ago as 1791, the venerable Dr. Rush 
 foresaw the moral evils which now menace our 
 institutions ; and he considered them contingent 
 on our neglect of the religious education of our 
 children. Convinced, with Washington, that for 
 her future welfare, no less than for her then recent 
 deliverance, our country was essentially depend- 
 ent on the favour of the Governor of the universe, 
 he asserted the duty and the policy of having the 
 children of the nation educated in his fear. His 
 discerning mind perceived that there was danger, 
 lest in severing the outward connexion of church 
 and state, the process of political reform should 
 banish the spirit of religion also from our govern- 
 ments. He therefore raised his voice, and em- 
 ployed his pen, to assert the province of the Bible 
 in the work of education, and to protest against 
 its banishment from our elementary schools. 
 
 In a pamphlet entitled " a defence of the Bible 
 as a school book," he remarks "In contempla- 
 ting the political institutions of the United States, 
 I lament that we waste so much time and money 
 in punishing crimes, and take so little pains to 
 prevent them. We profess to be republicans, 
 and yet we neglect the only means of establishing 
 and perpetuating our republican forms of govern- 
 ment, that is, the universal education of our youth 
 in the principles of Christianity, by means of the 
 Bible ; for this Divine book, above all others, fa- 
 vours that equality among mankind that respect
 
 80 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 for just laws, and all those sober and frugal virtue^ 
 which constitute the soul of republicanism. 
 
 " The present fashionable practice of rejecting the 
 Bible from our schools, I suspect has originated 
 with the deists. They discover great ingenuity in 
 this new mode of attacking Christianity. If they 
 proceed in it, they will do more in half a century, 
 in extirpating our religion, than Bolingbroke or 
 Voltaire could have effected in a thousand years. 
 I am not writing to this class of people. / wish 
 only to alter the opinions and conduct of those 
 lukewarm or superstitious Christians, who have been 
 misled by the deists on the subject. On the ground 
 of the good old custom of using the Bible as a 
 school book, it becomes us to entrench our religion." 
 It is with no ordinary satisfaction I find myself 
 able to corroborate the views which have been 
 advanced in this chapter, by adding to the author- 
 ity of Dr. Rush, that of the celebrated Victor 
 Cousin. It will be perceived, by the following 
 extracts from his " Report on the State of Public 
 Instruction in Prussia," that in every position of 
 moment I am signally sustained by the views of 
 this distinguished statesman and philanthropist. 
 For instance, he asserts with singular boldness, 
 the necessity of making popular instruction moral, 
 and even religious ; declaring it to be of vital mo- 
 ment, that the education of the country should be 
 made thoroughly Christian. He even goes much 
 further than I have done, affirming that if govern-
 
 RELIGIOUS EDtJ CATION. 81 
 
 ment order it otherwise, the clergy ought to oppose 
 them ! He seems deeply impressed with the im- 
 portance of piety in schoolmasters, and urges the 
 expediency of making it a professional requisite. 
 The Bible, too, he declares to be the great instru- 
 ment of religious instruction, and moral culture ; 
 and he insists with manly eloquence, upon the 
 duty and policy of frankness in expressing our 
 sentiments upon such subjects. 
 
 In giving his opinion of the " authority to be 
 employed " in executing a system of national ed- 
 ucation, he remarks : " After the administrative 
 authorities, it is unquestionably the clergy who 
 ought to occupy the most important place in the 
 business of popular education. We must have 
 the clergy ; we must neglect nothing to bring them 
 into the path toward which every thing urges them 
 to turn both their obvious interest, and their 
 sacred calling, and the ancient services which their 
 order rendered to the cause of civilization in Eu- 
 rope. But if we wish to have the clergy allied 
 with us in the business of popular instruction, that 
 instruction must not be stripped of morals and re- 
 ligion ; for then indeed it would become the duty 
 of the clergy to oppose it, and they would have the 
 sympathy of all virtuous men, of all good fathers 
 of families, and even of the mass of the people, on 
 their side. 
 
 "Thank God, sir, you are too enlightened a 
 statesman to think that true popular instruction
 
 82 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 can exist without moral education, popular morality 
 without religion, or popular religion without a 
 church. Christianity ought to be the basis of the 
 instruction of the people ; we must not jlinch from 
 an open profession of this maxim ; it is no less 
 politic than it is honest. We baptize our children, 
 and bring them up in the Christian faith, and in 
 the bosom of the church ; in after life, age, reflec- 
 tion, the breath of human opinions modify their 
 early impressions ; but it is good that these im- 
 pressions should have been made by Christianity. 
 Popular education ought therefore to be religious, 
 that is to say, Christian ; for I repeat it, there is 
 no such thing as religion in general : in Europe, 
 and in our day, religion means Christianity. Let 
 our popular schools then be Christian ; let. them be 
 so entirely and earnestly" p. 124, 126. 
 
 Again at page 228, he proceeds : " Without 
 neglecting physical science and the knowledge 
 applicable to the arts of life, we must make moral 
 science, which is of far higher importance, our 
 main object. The mind and the character are 
 what a true master ought above all to fashion. 
 We must lay the foundations of moral life in the 
 souls of our young masters, and therefore we 
 must place religious instruction, that is, to speak 
 distinctly, Christian instruction, in the first ranks 
 in the education in our normal schools. I would 
 particularly urge this point, sir, which is the most 
 important and the most delicate of all.
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 83 
 
 " The popular schools of a nation, ought to be 
 imbued with the religious spirit of that nation. 
 Now, without going into the question of diversities 
 of doctrine, is Christianity, or is it not the religion 
 of the people of France ? It cannot be denied that 
 it is. I ask, then, is it our object to respect the 
 religion of the people, or to destroy it ? If we 
 mean to set about destroying it, then I allow, we 
 ought by no means to have it taught in the people's 
 schools. But if the object we propose to ourselves 
 is totally different, we must teach our children 
 that religion which civilized our fathers ; that re- 
 ligion, whose liberal spirit prepared and can alone 
 sustain, all the great institutions of modern times. 
 
 " We must also permit the clergy to fulfil their 
 first duty the superintendence of religious in- 
 struction. But in order to stand the test of this 
 superintendence with honour, the schoolmaster must 
 be able to give adequate religious instruction. The 
 less we desire our schools to be ecclesiastical, the 
 more ought they to be Christian. It necessarily 
 follows that there must be a course of special re- 
 ligious instruction in our normal schools. Religion 
 is, in my eyes, the best, perhaps the only, basis of 
 popular education. I know something of Europe, 
 and never have I seen good schools where the 
 spirit of Christian charity was wanting. Primary 
 instruction flourishes in three countries, Holland, 
 Germany, and Scotland in all it is profoundly 
 religious.
 
 84 POLITICAL NECESSITY OF 
 
 " The more I think of all this, sir ; the more I 
 look at the schools in this country ; the more I talk 
 with the directors of normal schools, and counsel- 
 lors of the ministers, the more 1 am strengthened 
 in the conviction that we must make any efforts 
 or any sacrifices to come to a good understanding 
 with the clergy, on the subject of popular educa- 
 tion, and to constitute religion a special and very 
 carefully taught branch of instruction, in our pri- 
 mary normal schools. 
 
 " 1 am not ignorant, sir, that this advice will 
 grate on the ears of many persons, and that I shall 
 be thought extremely devot at Paris. Yet it is 
 not from Rome, but from Berlin that I address you. 
 The man who holds this language to you is a phi- 
 losopher, formerly disliked and even persecuted 
 by the priesthood ; but this philosopher has a 
 mind too little affected by the recollection of his 
 own insults, and is too well acquainted with human 
 nature and with history not to regard religion as 
 an indestructible power ; genuine Christianity, as 
 a means of civilization for the people, and a neces- 
 sary support for those on whom society imposes 
 irksome and burdensome duties, without the slight- 
 est prospect of fortune, without the least gratifica- 
 tion of self-love." 
 
 There is something more than magnanimity, 
 there is a moral sublimity in the character of such 
 a man as Cousin, when we take into consideration 
 the people to whom he speaks, and the c!rcam-
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 85 
 
 stances under which he proclaims such sentiments. 
 If, in perusing my humble reasoning, the reader 
 have been ready to utter the charge of fanaticism, 
 or extravagance, he will certainly retract it when 
 he reflects upon the statements of the French phi- 
 lanthropist. SureJy, that American is behind the 
 age, and cannot be imbued with the genuine spirit 
 of his institutions, who shall complain of the Court 
 of France, as being too religious in its sentiments. 
 
 And only think of it : a French Philosopher set- 
 ting an example to American Christians, and even 
 Clergymen ! uttering with unflinching frankness, 
 and to a " nation of infidels," sentiments which 
 are but being broached in this land of liberty and 
 Bibles ; and that, with a timid caution, more wor- 
 thy of another cause, and more becoming the dis- 
 ciples of another master than of Him, whose 
 crowning example was, to lay down his life for 
 his principles. If there be wisdom in the maxim 
 which enjoins upon us to learn even from an ene- 
 my ; surely, heedlessness were sinful, when our 
 duty is made known to us from such a source as 
 this. 
 
 O, shame on our cowardly remissness ! Chris- 
 tian brethren ; if for a moment longer we hesitate 
 to think and speak, and act, as duty bids us, let 
 us at once set out upon a pilgrimage to the Court 
 of Versailles, to have- our Christianity quickened. 

 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM OF 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 
 
 THE questions proposed in the commencement 
 of this volume are, 
 
 What kind and amount of education do the cir- 
 cumstances of society in the United States require 
 all its members should receive ? 
 
 What, and how much, is every child, irrespec- 
 tively of the character or condition of its parents, 
 entitled to claim, and government consequently 
 bound to give ? and 
 
 What arrangements had best be made for the 
 purpose of complying with this requirement, of 
 meeting these claims, and of discharging this obli- 
 gation ? 
 
 These questions, (the two first of which in reality 
 come to one and the same thing, since the kind and 
 amount of education which society is essentially in- 
 terested each individual shall possess, are precisely 
 what he has a right to claim, and government is un- 
 der obligationto bestow,) cover the whole ground of 
 the subject of national education. This, in accord- 
 ance with the foregoing queries, naturally divides
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 87 
 
 itself into two departments ; the first, relating to 
 the character of the elementary education to be 
 given ; and the second, to the provision and appli- 
 cation of means. I propose to treat of both of 
 these in the present chapter ; or, in other words, 
 to the best of my ability, to answer the inquiry, 
 
 WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL, FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION, SUITED TO THE UNITED 
 STATES ? 
 
 In executing this task, I have so constructed 
 my remarks as to answer another very important 
 purpose at the same time, viz : that of pointing 
 out the dependent relation which wise and effec- 
 tive legislation on this subject sustains to public 
 sentiment. The history of legislative efforts for 
 the spread of education, clearly shows that this 
 has been too much overlooked, and that the ad- 
 vancement of the cause has been retarded by the 
 people being encouraged to depend too much upon 
 their governments, while, in reality, their govern- 
 ments have been waiting for their instigation. 
 
 There is no inference more deducible from the 
 experience of our eastern states in regard to com- 
 mon schools, than the proposition, that nothing 
 whatever can be achieved by legislation, unless 
 the people be previously or simultaneously inte- 
 rested. It is to public, sentiment, much more than 
 to their legislatures, that the New-England States 
 are indebted for their signal attention to education. 
 That public sentiment, the present generation of
 
 88 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OP A SYSTEM 
 
 their inhabitants has inherited ; and a more valu- 
 able legacy could not have been bequeathed them 
 by their fathers. It was started and cherished by 
 the religion of the Puritans. In a majority of 
 the states, however, it has to be created ; for it 
 does not exist, and its agency is indispensable. 
 Without its aid, legislation is altogether powerless. 
 What can a republican government accomplish 
 on any subject, without the hearty concurrence of 
 the people ? It may pass laws, and devise the most 
 plausible, and to appearance, practicable schemes ; 
 but unless a popular interest be excited in their 
 favour, all will be to no purpose. Supposing the 
 legislature stands in need of funds to carry out its 
 plans, how are they to be supplied unless the peo- 
 ple furnish them? By taxation? But what if 
 the people will not consent ? and they will not 
 consent, unless they first be prepossessed in favour 
 of the object, for which the funds thus raised are 
 to be expended. Even supposing, however, that 
 with reference to a scheme of education, the funds 
 are furnished, and their plan arranged ; who are 
 to put it into operation ? The ordinary executive 
 officers ? It is impossible for any legislative body 
 in this country, to act independently of local inte- 
 rest in such a case. The despotic power of a 
 worthy Prussian Monarch may dispense with this ; 
 because, when out of the royal treasury he has 
 provided houses, books, and teachers ; he may, by 
 the imposition of fines, or by other compulsory
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 89 
 
 measures, coerce the education of the children of 
 his peasantry. But in a free government, where 
 neighbourhood influence is to be exerted, legisla- 
 tion is mere paper work, unless neighbourhood 
 interest be first awakened. 
 
 This will account for the failure of many laud- 
 able governmental efforts for the benefit of educa- 
 tion. Their measures, however wise and practi- 
 cable in themselves, did not reach the people ; 
 because, not having emanated from the people ; 
 they were not seconded, sustained, and executed 
 by the people. 
 
 For the sake of illustration, I may mention, that 
 when on a visit to New-England for the purpose 
 of examining her common school systems, being 
 in Massachusetts, I was attracted to the towns of 
 Worcester and Springfield, by the distant reputa- 
 tion of their schools ; and I felt at no loss to ac- 
 count for their superior excellence, on being made 
 acquainted with two or three intelligent, patriotic 
 gentlemen, who spared no pains to awaken the 
 interest of the people to the education of their 
 children ; enforced with considerable rigour the 
 statute requiring the examination of instructers ; 
 assisted and encouraged the teachers by advice 
 and frequent visits ; and paid particular attention 
 to procuring the composition and distribution of 
 the best school books. 
 
 It is evident, then, that when the people are 
 indifferent to any object, legislatures cannot and 
 8*
 
 90 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 dare not move towards its accomplishment ; and 
 painful and invidious as the task may be. I deem 
 it necessary to prove, in the course of the remarks 
 relating particularly to the immediate subject of 
 this chapter, that the people of the United States 
 in general, certainly a majority of them, are not 
 prepared to welcome, or even to tolerate, (I am 
 sure the expression is not too strong,) a proper 
 scheme of national education. 
 
 For example, in perhaps the larger part of the 
 Union, the people are not prepared to admit the 
 essential principle which, for more than two hun- 
 dred years, has been assumed in England as the 
 basis of their common school systems, viz : the 
 doctrine of "ad valorem contribution," the right 
 and duty of government to tax the people accord- 
 ing to their means, for the education of their 
 children. They have yet to be familiarized with 
 the idea, to be reasoned into a conviction of its 
 truth; and it is rare a legislature can be found 
 possessing sufficient disinterestedness or moral 
 firmness, to press the delicate subject of taxation 
 beyond the well ascertained wishes of their con- 
 stituents. And what good if they did ? Their 
 acts, in such event, would only be reversed with 
 vengeance on themselves. 
 
 This being the case, a recognition of the fact 
 when treating of the elements of a scheme of 
 national education with a practical aim, is obvi- 
 ously important ; since it immediately suggests
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 91 
 
 the necessity of the preliminary work of prepar- 
 ing the public mind, before we can expect any 
 thing of value from our legislatures. From the 
 peculiar nature of our institutions, this will not be 
 accomplished by our legislative bodies themselves, 
 for they always follow public sentiment ; and I 
 shall endeavour to show in the sequel, that it de- 
 volves as a solemn duty, and an enviable privilege, 
 in a pre-eminent degree, upon the clergy. 
 
 The essential features in a system of national 
 education suited to the United States, I consider 
 to be seven ; as expressed in the following pro- 
 positions : 
 
 1. A system of national education suited to the 
 United States, must aim, above all things, to im- 
 press a virtuous character upon the rising gene- 
 ration, and by means of the Bible as the instrument. 
 
 2. In educating the intellectual faculties, it 
 should be guided, (with reference both to methods 
 of practice, and the information to be communi- 
 cated,) by the laws of mind, and the future wants 
 of the individual ; and not, as is generally the case, 
 by a too subservient and blind regard to usage. 
 
 2. It must make such arrangements as will 
 ensure the attendance at school, of every child of 
 the proper age. 
 
 4. It must cause them to continue at school 
 for a period of seven years. 
 
 5. It must establish seminaries for the profes- 
 sional education of a sufficient number of teachers,
 
 92 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 6. It must provide means for their accommo- 
 dation and comfortable support ; and, 
 
 7. For the supervision and general execution of its 
 plans, it must appoint wise and energetic superin- 
 tendents. 
 
 These I regard as the indispensable elements 
 of a system of public education adapted to our 
 wants. But strange to tell, there is but one coun- 
 try in the world, in which they have existence, 
 and that is under the government of an arbitrary 
 monarch. They are just as necessary, however, 
 in the United States as they are in Prussia ; and 
 even more so. But where, I ask with mortifica- 
 tion, with wounded pride as a republican; where 
 is the state in our confederacy, that would sustain 
 its legislature in the execution of such a system ? 
 And yet, I repeat it, this is just such a system as 
 is demanded by our political circumstances. Its 
 beautiful symmetry would be marred by the omis- 
 sion of a single link. Its efficiency would be 
 crippled, if not destroyed, by dispensing with any 
 of its requisites. 
 
 Of the first of the features which I suppose to 
 be essential to a public school system, viz : that 
 which asserts the necessity of providing for the 
 religious education of the young, I have already 
 spoken ; having devoted to it a separate chapter 
 because of its pre-eminent importance. 
 
 The question which relates to the best method 
 of employing the Bible in schools has not been
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 93 
 
 dwelt upon, because I do not profess to under- 
 stand it in regard to its practical details. I must 
 confess, I have rather a prejudice against the em- 
 ployment of it as a mere reading book. There 
 are so few children who, in learning to read, at- 
 tend to the meaning, that there would seem to be 
 danger lest the Bible, from the purely mechanical 
 use made of it in such cases, should get to be re- 
 garded as a common book. I am inclined to 
 think, children should be encouraged to use it 
 precisely for the same ends for which they will 
 have occasion to use it when they become men, 
 viz : " for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
 instruction in righteousness," and for no other 
 purpose. 
 
 This view does not forbid the study of its style, 
 its geography, its antiquities, &c., by the child, 
 any more than by the theological student, or by 
 the members of a Bible class. It decidedly en- 
 courages such research, for the sake of getting 
 clear conceptions of its meaning. But, unques- 
 tionably, the great object for which children, no 
 less than grown persons, should study the Bible 
 is, that they may become good, in order that they 
 may be happy and useful men and women. 
 
 A work which shall amount to an exact, judi- 
 cious, and specific answer to the question which 
 relates to the best method of employing the Bible 
 in schools, and shall be fitted to serve as a help 
 and guide to teachers in this respect, may be re-
 
 94 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 garded as one of the greatest desiderata in prac- 
 tical education. The existence of such a work 
 would do more than almost any thing else, to ex- 
 pedite the general introduction of the Bible into 
 schools, to make it efficient in the great business 
 of religious instruction, and to remove all doubt 
 about the practicability of using it habitually with- 
 out offending sectarian feelings. 
 
 It might reasonably be expected, that in treat- 
 ing of national education, the culture of the physi- 
 cal powers should not be overlooked. Nor is it 
 by any means because I deem the subject unim- 
 portant, that it is not touched. So far from this, 
 I regard it as a subject by itself; so extensive, 
 that he alone is qualified to treat of it, who, to a 
 knowledge of the science of mind, adds a very 
 thorough acquaintance with that of physic. It 
 begins with the all-important topic of marriage ; 
 (to the views of Professor Caldwell upon which, I 
 would particularly solicit the attention of Chris- 
 tians and philanthropists,) and embraces those 
 of nursing, diet, clothing, exercise, study, recrea- 
 tion, medical treatment, and many others of sim- 
 ilar importance, about which the author is not 
 qualified to write. 
 
 Another reason why this branch of the subject 
 of education is not noticed is, that some of the 
 most important practical questions in relation to 
 it, that of the introduction of manual labour for 
 example, seem as yet to be matters of experi- 

 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 95 
 
 ment ; and, also, because of an impression, that 
 this is a department in which the hired teacher 
 can do comparatively little ; that with reference 
 to the article of exercise, the most we need do 
 for children, is to afford them opportunity and 
 leisure to gratify their instinctive love of action ; 
 and that the whole subject, so far as it is desira- 
 ble to make it an object of systematic attention, 
 comes more appropriately within the province of 
 the father and mother in the domestic circle, aid- 
 ed and guided by the family physician. 
 
 With these introductory remarks, I proceed to 
 the immediate subjects of this section. 
 
 The second proposition relating to what are 
 considered the essential elements of a system of 
 national education suited to the United States, is, 
 that " In educating the intellectual faculties, it 
 should be guided, (with reference both to methods 
 of practice, and the information to be communica- 
 ted?) by the laws of mind, and the future wants of 
 the individual ; and not, as is generally the case, 
 by a too subservient and blind regard to usage" 
 
 It always appeared to the author to be one of 
 the most unfortunate mistakes in American edu- 
 cation, that its legislative friends have directed 
 their efforts exclusively to the multiplication of 
 means, being totally regardless of the mode of 
 using them. The diffusion, and not the impro^e- 
 ment of education, seems to have been their only 
 object. Their aim has been to increase as much
 
 96 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 as possible the number of schools, with little or 
 no practical regard to their character. Hence, 
 the first, and by far the most important, in the 
 whole series of measures requisite for the estab- 
 lishment of a public school system, has been ha- 
 bitually overlooked ; I mean the education of 
 teachers. 
 
 The business of education in the United States 
 has been, and still is, conducted for the most part 
 by apprentices ; that is, by men who begin to 
 learn the art they undertake to practise, only 
 when they begin to teach ; and who, from one 
 cause or another, never do acquire a knowledge 
 of it. I am aware that to this there are many 
 very honourable exceptions. But I am equally 
 aware, that the valuable teachers in our country 
 have made themselves such, by their own exer- 
 tions. For their professional respectability, they 
 are not, in the least, indebted to legislative aid. 
 
 It follows as a necessary consequence of this 
 neglect, that the art of education is in its infancy. 
 Indeed, I know not that I should express myself 
 much too strongly were I to say, that it has yet 
 to be created, or discovered. We do know some- 
 thing, it is true, of the science of mind, and of the 
 fundamental principles of education deducible 
 from these ; but of the details of their application, 
 we know comparatively nothing. 
 
 The process of education, as at present mana- 
 ged, is little better than a mere matter of routine ;
 
 Of NATIONAL EDUCATION. 97 
 
 a blind, implicit, and irrational following of cus- 
 tom. We teach our children as we were taught 
 before them ; and for no better reason, than that 
 such was the practice of our predecessors. The 
 proceedings of the school-room are conducted, 
 pretty much, by the same criteria as those of the 
 kitchen ; that is, by the help of recipes. The aid 
 of science is, in both cases, equally repudiated ; 
 and hence it follows, that we are in the habit of 
 making scholars as a cook makes pies " accord- 
 ing to the directions" It rarely happens that we 
 find a teacher who, in fixing upon his methods of 
 instruction, takes counsel of the science of mental 
 philosophy. 
 
 In most other departments of human labour, 
 theory and practice, art and science, have been 
 brought into co-operation. But in that of educa- 
 tion, (of all, the most difficult, the most impor- 
 tant,) they have been uniformly kept asunder. 
 Every art has its science ; and the prosperity of 
 the former, depends upon a judicious application 
 of the well ascertained principles of the latter. 
 Till recently, but little has been done in this way, 
 and but little attempted, for the benefit of educa- 
 tion. Hence it is, that we know so little about 
 the business ; and that the art of education is pret- 
 ty much in the condition now, that the art of physic 
 was, when practice was monopolized by barbers. 
 It consists of a settled course of practice, for which 
 no better reason can be given than that it is usual. 
 9
 
 98 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 With reference to "the information communi- 
 cated " in our public schools, there is as great a 
 want of proportion to the end to be subserved, as 
 there is, of philosophical fitness, in the methods of 
 instruction. 
 
 The responsible, and dignified position in which 
 every man is placed by becoming a citizen of a 
 republic where the right of suffrage is unrestrict- 
 ed, demands for him a species of intellectual 
 developement, and an amount and variety of 
 knowledge altogether superior to what is general- 
 ly afforded. When I speak of national education, 
 I of course mean American education ; or such 
 as is adapted to American institutions, wants, and 
 character. This supplies a criterion, by which 
 our legislators should determine the description of 
 mental training and instruction to be given in all 
 our school-houses without exception ; even in the 
 mud-daubed shantees of the remotest or poorest 
 portions of the Union. In other words, wherever 
 American citizens are to be formed, there, as a 
 matter of course, American education should be 
 given. 
 
 But what kind of education does this criterion 
 require, it is asked ? 
 
 That the children of the nation should be taught 
 to read, and write, and cipher, answers almost 
 universal custom ! They should learn to read, 
 that they may be able to peruse advertisements, 
 and be certified of the true contents of bonds.
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 99 
 
 They should be taught to write, that they may 
 be able to draft and sign receipts. And they 
 ought to learn to cipher, that they may know 
 the market value of their hay and corn, and keep 
 from being cheated. 
 
 I mean by this simply to assert, (as I do with equal 
 sincerity and mortification,) that the prevailing 
 education in the United States is much more suit- 
 able for a mere dollar and cent people, whose 
 " chief end " is " to gather pelf," than for a high- 
 souled republican nation, that boasts of having re- 
 stored man to the footing of his natural rights ; 
 and of having established an order of things, un- 
 der which, every citizen may stand forth in all 
 the dignity of a human being " redeemed, regen- 
 erated, and disenthralled, by the genius of univer- 
 sal emancipation." 
 
 To collect materials for giving a proper answer 
 to the question proposed, (so far, at least, as re- 
 lates to intellectual education, the immediate sub- 
 ject of this chapter,) I would station myself beside 
 "the stump" and the ballot-box, on the day of an 
 election, and there learn the mental habits, and 
 the information, requisite, to enable the farmers 
 and mechanics, the principal voters of the nation, 
 to distinguish the artful sophistry of the dema- 
 gogue, from the manly logic of the friend of order 
 and of the Constitution ; and to choose, intelli- 
 gently, between two candidates whose views of 
 national policy may be as opposite as day and
 
 10Q ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 night. I would then repair to our legislative 
 halls ; and hearing the yeomanry of the country 
 uttering their wishes, and opinions, through their 
 representative organs, I would inquire as to the 
 kind of education that will fit them for doing so with 
 wisdom and with safety. Thence I would go in- 
 to the business walks of life, to ascertain what 
 knowledge of things, and principles, is needed to 
 facilitate the task of getting honestly a comforta- 
 ble livelihood. In the social circle, next, I would 
 learn the mental qualifications necessary to make 
 recreation rational, and profitable, as well as 
 pleasant. Then, by the domestic fireside, I would 
 determine the amount of moral science requisite 
 for a wise discharge of the duties of the father, 
 the son, the brother, the relation, the neighbour, 
 and the friend. And lastly ; beneath the shadow 
 of the sacred desk, I would form my views of 
 the attainments which are essential to fit a man 
 for being happy in the faithful discharge of all 
 his duties upon earth, and to prepare him for the 
 purer blessedness of Heaven. 
 
 Do I hear the cry of " impracticable," " vision- 
 ary," and " Utopian," sent forth on the perusal of 
 these sentiments ? I deny that the charge justly 
 appertains to the sentiments themselves. These 
 form an unavoidable inference from our political 
 theory. If there be utopianism any where, it is 
 to be found in our general and state constitutions. 
 The framers of that venerable instrument, the
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 101 
 
 Declaration of Independence, are the Platos, and 
 the Mores, against whom this inconsiderate cry 
 is uttered. They have placed things on a footing 
 which makes it indispensable that every one shall 
 act intelligently, as well as virtuously, the part of 
 a man, and of an American citizen ; and if it be 
 " impracticable " to prepare our children for so 
 doing, w had better return as soon as possible 
 to our allegiance to the mother country. A far 
 worsefate mayhappen tous,if we persist in cherish- 
 ing our grovelling and skeptical views respecting 
 the education which should, and may be given, to 
 all the voters and virtual legislators of our beloved 
 country. 
 
 Our political circumstances imperatively de- 
 mand a certain kind and amount of education for 
 the people. Can we give it ? I believe we can. 
 But, then, in order to do so, we must provide a 
 national system, which, " in educating the intellec- 
 tual faculties," shall have a just regard to the 
 philosophy of mind ; shall prescribe more philo- 
 sophical methods of instruction than prevail at 
 present ; and shall introduce into all our public 
 schools, a course of studies suited in variety and 
 extent to the wants and dignity of self-governing 
 freemen. Before, however, we can indulge a 
 hope of the existence of such a system, public 
 opinion, (as is stated in the beginning of this chap- 
 ter,) must undergo a thorough revolution. The 
 people of the United States are not prepared for 
 9*
 
 102 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 a scheme of education that would do justice, ei- 
 ther to the moral or intellectual faculties of their 
 children. On this account, I grant that the im- 
 mediate introduction of such a system would be 
 impracticable. But this is far from admitting 
 that when duty, interest, and parental love call forit 
 so loudly, public opinion cannot be changed ; and, 
 that a rational* and competent plan of national 
 education cannot ultimately be established.* 
 
 * Having bestowed upon this branch of the subject of educa- 
 tion as much attention as on any other ; I had prepared for this 
 section, an extended statement of the principles on which the 
 culture of the intellectual powers should be conducted ; with a 
 minute description of the course of studies which, (in accordance 
 with the criteria laid down,) ought to be pursued in all our na- 
 tional schools. But finding, (unexpectedly, and not until the 
 publication had advanced thus far,) that its insertion would swell 
 the work beyond a proper size, I have been obliged to omit it. If 
 at any time hereafter it should seem desirable, I may possibly 
 enlarge it, and put it forth in a volume by itself.
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 103 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Parental love and duty do not cause parents to educate their 
 children. The state has a right to constrain them by its au- 
 thority. In Prussia, compulsion employed. No moral or 
 constitutional principle against it in this country not proper 
 here, simply because unnecessary and inexpedient. Only way 
 to ensure general attendance at the public schools, is by throw- 
 ing a considerable share of the cost of education upon property, 
 so that by the aid of a moderate tuition fee, the pay of teachers, 
 and consequently the schools may be good, and yet the poor be 
 able to send their children. The people of the United States 
 not prepared for the application of this doctrine. Popular in- 
 difference the great obstacle to the improvement and spread of 
 education. Legislative action essential, yet must be preceded 
 by great advance in public opinion ; this to be effected by 
 private efforts. 
 
 HAVING spoken in a general way of the nature 
 and extent of the education which " the circum- 
 stances of society in the United States require 
 all its members should receive ;" which " every 
 child is entitled to claim, and government is bound 
 to give ;" I proceed to the second great department 
 of the subject of national education, which, (as is 
 stated in one of the leading questions in the intro- 
 duction,) relates to the " arrangements that had 
 best be made for the purpose of complying with this 
 requirement, of meeting these claims, and of dis- 
 charging this obligation." This covers the entire 
 ground of the four remaining propositions that 
 relate to the essential features of a system of na- 
 tional education, suited to the United States.
 
 104 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 The third of these propositions, (which forms 
 the subject of this section,) maintains, that our 
 national system should include " such arrange- 
 ments as will ensure the attendance at school of 
 every child of the proper age." 
 
 By reasoning a priori, we should certainly arrive 
 at the conclusion, that the education of the young 
 is one of those interests which may be safely left 
 to take care of itself. Parental love would seem 
 to make all foreign instigation on this subject 
 needless. From an abstract consideration of its 
 nature, one would suppose that it would be just 
 as necessary to pass laws requiring fathers and 
 mothers to preserve the tender bodies of their 
 children from freezing, or from starving, as to 
 provide for the instruction and cultivation of their 
 minds, by the enactment of legislative statutes. 
 But the testimony of experience upon this point 
 is altogether different. It is a lamentable fact, 
 that the education of children is just one of those 
 things about which parents are particularly care- 
 less ; and as this is a matter of supreme impor- 
 tance to the state, an interest too precious to be 
 liable to be neglected, she finds herself obliged 
 to devise expedients for effecting by constraint, 
 what fathers and mothers ought spontaneously to 
 have attended to, at the bidding of the sacred 
 instinct of parental love. Hence, one of the most 
 important questions in the whole range of legisla-
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 105 
 
 tion on this subject is, how shall all parents be 
 brought to send their children to school ? 
 
 To effect this, various expedients have been 
 employed in different countries : some have re- 
 sorted directly to coercion. Strange as it may 
 seem, it is nevertheless true, that every subject 
 of the King of Prussia, is not only obliged to con- 
 tribute his proportion towards providing the means 
 of education, but is actually compelled, if necessary, 
 by the civil authority, to suffer his children to enjoy 
 their advantages, for the period of seven years ! ! 
 " No excuse, whatever, is admitted short of phy- 
 sical inability, or absolute idiocy. If the commit- 
 tee find that any child is negligent in his attend- 
 ance, or any does not attend at all, the parent or 
 guardian of such child is immediately visited ; 
 causes of delinquency are inquired into, and if the 
 reasons are not satisfactory, he is admonished to 
 do his duty, and if this admonition fails, he is again 
 visited and admonished by the clergyman of the 
 parish- and if he still continue negligent, he is 
 punished by fines or by civil disabilities ; and as a 
 last resort where all other means have failed, his 
 children are taken from under his care and edu- 
 cated by the local authorities."* 
 
 Such is the strange exercise of power by a 
 member of the holy alliance \ And what republican, 
 what philanthropist, can withhold from it his plau- 
 
 * Stowe on Prussian education*
 
 100 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 dits ? Would that all despots were tyrannical 
 after this manner. Welcome absolute power, 
 if it expend itself only in forcing blessings on the 
 people. And surely, a republican government 
 ought not to permit its citizens to envy the subjects 
 of an arbitrary monarch. Assuredly, enlightened 
 selfishness in a self-governing community, ought 
 to achieve as much as benevolence in a despotism. 
 Our kindness to our children, should not be sur-. 
 passed by that of a military despot toward his 
 serfs, a master to his servants. 
 
 When speaking of the Prussian system in this 
 and other places, I by no means design to propose it 
 as a model suited in all respects for our imitation. 
 We want, in the United States, a system of edu- 
 cation of our own, adapted to our peculiar cir- 
 cumstances ; in short, we want American educa- 
 tion. Still, as the fundamental features of a perfect 
 system must be pretty much the same every 
 where, and as the Prussian scheme is incomparably 
 superior to any other in existence, I shall frequently 
 refer to it for illustration. 
 
 With reference to directly coercive measures, 
 it were almost useless to say it would not do to 
 employ them in this country. Not, however, be- 
 cause it would be opposed to any moral or con- 
 stitutional principle ; but simply because it would 
 be inexpedient and unnecessary. We have, in 
 reality, though indirectly, resorted to coercive 
 measures wherever a public school system of any
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 107 
 
 value has been established among us. It has never 
 been found practicable to establish one without 
 them. Do we not employ coercion when we tax 
 a man against his will for the erection of a school- 
 house and the support of a teacher, and then 
 compel the payment of the amount by issuing an 
 execution against his property ? Is indirect taxa- 
 tion, (because the authority is disguised,) less the 
 offspring of authority than that which is direct ? 
 
 About the abstract right of government to com- 
 pel the education of the children of the country, 
 there cannot be a doubt. Is it not a much more 
 noble way of obliging people to be orderly, than 
 that of inflicting fines, and erecting jails and pen- 
 itentiaries ? Is it more offensive to employ coer- 
 cion for the prevention, than for the cure of moral 
 evils ? There is at least one state in the Union, 
 whose statute-book adopts the Prussian plan of 
 imposing fines on parents who fail to send their 
 children to school ; and there is no other reason, 
 than that it is inexpedient, to forbid a resort to 
 it by all. Is not the government as really a 
 parent in America as in Europe ? And do the 
 nature and strength of parental obligation depend 
 on geography ? Is it not an unalienable part 
 of this obligation, to educate children even against 
 their will if necessary ? Have not governments 
 loo, everywhere, the right to provide for their 
 own existence, safety, and healthy operation ? and 
 as it is admitted, that universal education is essen-
 
 108 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 tial to these, pre-eminently so, in a republic, is it 
 not peculiarly its duty, and consequently its right, 
 to coerce, if need be, popular attention to it ? 
 
 I fearlessly assume the position, that no man 
 has a right in this country, (less by far here than 
 any where else,) to leave his children uneducated. 
 To train up his offspring in the paths of knowledge 
 and virtue, is a debt he owes the state a debt 
 too, whose payment should be constrained by au- 
 authority, if not made willingly. Every man 
 demands for his children the rights and privileges 
 of citizens. Let society, then, as it values its own 
 existence, obeying the principle of self preserva- 
 tion, call upon him to remember, that right and 
 duty are reciprocal and commensurate ; that the 
 enjoyment of the one should be contingent upon 
 the discharge of the obligations of the other ; and 
 that voluntary ignorance amounts, in equity, to 
 self-disfranchisement. Let the voice of that public 
 sentiment, (which among us is omnipotentj pro- 
 Claim with authority, as stern and unflinching as 
 ever accompanied the mandate of a military des- 
 pot, that every man who expects for his offspring 
 the immunities of citizenship, should qualify them 
 by appropriate education for its duties. They 
 have no right to participation on any other terms. 
 A self-governing community is a voluntary asso- 
 ciation. As such, it has its terms of union, its 
 articles of agreement ; and every man who seeks 
 admission within its pale, does so on the implied 
 condition of conformity to their requirements.
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 109 
 
 Here, however, to guard against the possibility 
 of misconception, it may not be amiss to state, that 
 the only exercise of authority for the benefit of 
 education which I consider necessary, and there- 
 fore proper, in the United States, is the imposition 
 of a sufficient tax on property. By a sufficient 
 tax, I mean a tax whose proceeds, added to the 
 income from a moderate tuition fee, will make 
 the public schools so good, by the employment of 
 able teachers, that the rich shall not have occasion 
 to establish private seminaries ; at the same time 
 that the requisite additional cost of instruction, 
 may be so small, that the poorest can send their 
 children to schooL This much is essential. 
 
 Our legislation on this point is far from being 
 as bold and energetic as it should be, and hence 
 the necessity of making a stronger statement of 
 principles than otherwise might be required. 
 
 It does not throw the burden of supporting 
 general education as much as it should, upon the 
 rich ; or rather, it does not make property pay as 
 large a proportion of the cost of public instruction 
 as it ought to pay. If our governments possess 
 the right of taxing property at all, they certainly 
 have the right to make the tax sufficient to answer 
 the end proposed. Once concede the principle, 
 and the question of degree is settled of course. 
 The rule by which it should be determined, I have 
 already stated. 
 
 The object of taxation is two fold : it is designed 
 10
 
 110 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 to act as a constraint upon the rich, and as an 
 inducement to the poor, to educate their children 
 in the public schools. A national system propo- 
 ses to assemble the children of all, without dis- 
 crimination, in the same schools, where they shall 
 receive an education adapted to the genius and 
 wants of our government. Now, if the tax on 
 property be small, this object is inevitably defeated ; 
 for either the tuition fee will be very low, to ac- 
 commodate the poor ; and then the teacher's salary 
 being trifling, and consequently the teacher and 
 the school indifferent, the rich will establish supe- 
 rior private schools of their own ; or if, for the 
 sake of employing good teachers with a view to 
 have good schools, the insufficiency of the income 
 from taxation be made up by high fees for instruc- 
 tion, the poor are then debarred the privilege of 
 educating their children. On the other hand, if 
 the tax on property be high ; the rich having paid 
 so much towards their support, will of course send 
 their children to the public schools ; and the poor 
 having the prospect of good and cheap education 
 placed before them, (since, in this case, although 
 the tuition fee be moderate, the salary of the 
 teacher may yet be large,) will have the strongest 
 inducement to send theirs. This being the case, 
 our legislatures ought to impose a considerable, 
 that is, a sufficient tax on property, without regard 
 to the will of individual holders, and to employ 
 executive authority for its collection. This is the
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. Ill 
 
 only way to " ensure the attendance at good pub- 
 lic schools, of every child of the proper age." 
 
 There is nothing of extravagance in these posi- 
 tions. The chain of reasoning by which they are 
 supported, consists of self-evident propositions ; 
 and yet, where is the legislature in the Union that 
 dares advance and take the ground they bid it 
 occupy ? But although its immediate application 
 is impracticable, still a great point is gained, by 
 establishing the principle that the law ought to 
 enforce the moral obligation of parents, and I 
 may add, of society, to educate their children ; 
 for this being granted, the friends of education 
 have only to secure the approbation of a majority 
 of voters in any state, and the minority will be 
 obliged, in perfect harmony with the spirit of our 
 institutions, to conform to any financial arrange- 
 ment they may choose to make through their rep- 
 resentative agents in the legislature. It will be 
 seen by the following quotation that the abstract 
 principle, for which I contend, is distinctly asserted 
 by the highest authorities upon the subject of ele- 
 mentary law. In Chitty's medical Jurisprudence, 
 (first American edition, page 363,) I find the fol- 
 lowing language in regard to it : 
 
 " From these premises it results, that as happi- 
 ness is increased in proportion to the extent of 
 knowledge, and as the intellectual faculties may 
 be strengthened and extended by mental exercise 
 and attainments, not only in the individual, but
 
 112 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 even hereditarily, therefore enlarged education 
 should be encouraged, if not enforced by legisla- 
 tive enactments ; and though the natural affection 
 of parents towards their children ought and might 
 in general to induce them to afford adequate in- 
 struction ; yet, as there are lamentable instances 
 to the contrary, the law ought to enforce the 
 moral obligation. The court of chancery inter- 
 feres only where the infant has property ; in which 
 case the child may be taken even from the custody 
 of his father, if he should be giving him an im- 
 moral or improper education, and out of the fund 
 in court, proper education will be enforced. 
 But in the present state of our law, unless the 
 infant be the ward of that court, there can be no 
 interference with parental authority ; and neither 
 the common nor the statute law enforces more 
 than food and maintenance, and it does not inter- 
 fere with mental improvement. Sir Wm. Black- 
 stone observed, that the municipal laws of most 
 countries seem to be defective in this point, by not 
 constraining the parent to bestow proper educa- 
 tion upon his children ; perhaps considering that 
 the almost necessarily consequent defects in his 
 child would be so powerful a punishment upon the 
 parent as of itself to deter him from the moral 
 delinquency of omitting proper education." 
 
 The best school system in this country, that of 
 New -York, makes its boast of having enticed the 
 people into partial compliance with their obliga-
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 113 
 
 tions ; and in this particular, her example has, from 
 necessity, been very properly imitated by all her 
 sister states that have made any progress toward 
 establishing a system of public education. But is 
 it not humbling to reflect, that in a confederacy of 
 proud and boastful republics, the people have to be 
 decoyed into the discharge of their duties, even the 
 sacred duty of educating their own children, and 
 of providing for the perpetuity of their own insti- 
 tutions, by the mortifying stratagem of indirect or 
 conditional taxation ? This in an individual parent 
 that a wealthy father, for example, should have 
 to be bribed and lured into the education of his 
 offspring, would subject him to the reproach and 
 contempt of all around him. Upon what principle, 
 then, are the guilt and ignominy lessened, when 
 appertaining to whole communities of parents ? 
 It is a national reproach, that most of our provis- 
 ions for the spread of popular education, are the 
 products of disguised taxation ; and that they are 
 so, because the people are not sufficiently enlight- 
 ened or liberal, to consent to have it otherwise. 
 Oh ! tell it not in France proclaim it not in 
 Prussia lest the son of the infidel, and the boor 
 of the despot, flout at our political pretensions ! 
 
 It is perfectly useless to disguise the fact, that 
 the primary cause of all the defects complained 
 of in education, and the source of all the evils that 
 afflict our country in consequence of its imperfec- 
 tion, is popular indifference. The people do not 
 value education as they ought ; and hence, their 
 10*
 
 114 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 public servants do not take more pains to provide 
 it for them. No community in our country ever 
 yet complained of a persisting want of subservi- 
 ency in its government to the popular will. The 
 guilt, if guilt there be, (and I see not how it can 
 be disproved,) in not educating, and in miseduca- 
 ting our children, lies deeper than the mere form- 
 alities of legislation. Legislation is comparatively 
 not to blame. It has done much ; has done per- 
 haps all it could. One thing is clear, it has gone 
 quite as far as the people have given it liberty to 
 go ; and its future progress will be "pari passu" 
 with the advance in the sentiments and wishes of 
 our citizens. A substance is not more necessary 
 to, nor definitive of a shadow, than is public opinion 
 in this country, to governmental action. Let the 
 people call for education, and they will soon have 
 it. Let them rank it among the necessaries of life, 
 instead of making it prominent on the list of dis- 
 pensables ; let them be taught to think that they 
 cannot possibly do without it ; and they will spee- 
 dily possess it both in quantity and quality, up to 
 the full extent of their desires. Is it not, therefore, 
 evident that it is the demand which needs to be 
 stimulated ? Let this become what it should be, 
 and the supply may almost be left to take care of 
 itself. 
 
 Here, then, is noble work for the patriot, the phi- 
 lanthropist, and the Christian. Let them promptly 
 and zealously avail themselves of the eventful 
 juncture that invites their interference ; let them
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 115 
 
 boldly embark in the glorious enterprise that is 
 before them, of stimulating, elevating, and reform- 
 ing public sentiment in relation to education, and 
 they will have rendered a service truly worthy of 
 their professions ; they will have been the means 
 of procuring indirectly to their country, blessings 
 which, without their preparatory efforts, even the 
 strong hand of government has it not in its power 
 to dispense. 
 
 It must not be imagined, however, that I suppose 
 legislative action can be dispensed with. Far from 
 it. So far from it, I am forward to admit the truth of 
 the assertion, that a system of general education 
 has never yet existed, (and, so far as it is safe to 
 reason of the future from the past,) never can exist, 
 without governmental action. My only regret is, 
 that legislation on the subject, being so much fet- 
 tered, is not more energetic and productive. 
 
 That it is not so, I consider more its misfortune 
 than its fault. It would soon do vastly more than 
 it has been permitted to do, (for the way is per- 
 fectly clear in which it could do more,) if the 
 people would but grant permission. The want 
 of knowledge as to the best mode of procedure, 
 forms no part of the hinderance. The experience 
 of Europe, and of our older states, is so ample on 
 this subject, both for the purpose of warning and 
 direction, that the path of duty and expediency is 
 as plain as day ; so plain, that for a legislature to 
 wander from it in its efforts to improve, and to
 
 116 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 increase the means of, education, it must strive to 
 wander. Greater unanimity of opinion than exists 
 among all writers and thinkers on the subject, in 
 regard to the principles of action, and the best 
 practical expedients, could scarcely be desired. 
 Whether we repair for advice upon the subject 
 to the inhabitants of the old world ; to England, 
 Scotland, Denmark, Holland, France, to Prussia 
 or to Germany in general ; or whether we take 
 counsel of the intelligent in those sister states that 
 for a couple of centuries have been familiar with 
 legislative provisions for education, we receive 
 but one harmonious answer from the whole. All, 
 all concur in the opinion that every thing may 
 be accomplished which legislation can accomplish, 
 by first securing the professional education of in- 
 structers in sufficient numbers and of a proper 
 character; and then providing for their support, 
 in good part, by a tax levied upon the entire 
 property of the community. 
 
 In Continental Europe, these essential requi- 
 sites are ordered by government without consult- 
 ing the subject ; but in Great Britain, and in this 
 country, the approbation of the people must be 
 first solicited. Nothing can be done without their 
 consent. This, among us, they are not as yet 
 prepared to grant to the extent required. Con- 
 sequently, legislation, being unsustained by public 
 sentiment, cannot fail to remain comparatively 
 unfruitful, till such a change shall have been
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 117 
 
 wrought in the views and feelings of the people, 
 as may induce them to acquiesce in the execu- 
 tion of the above essential conditions ; and this 
 change, I reiterate, is in our country, the prerog- 
 ative and hence the duty of the private citizen to 
 produce, through the application of that moral 
 machinery, by which we see such mighty revolu- 
 tions wrought in the public mind on other sub- 
 jects. 
 
 Instead, therefore, of proposing to call in social 
 effort in lieu of legislation, I wish to see it hearti- 
 ly enlisted for the removal of that obstacle which 
 effectually bars the exercise of legislative power. 
 In short, I long to see the private patriot, the 
 Christian, and the philanthropist, act on the great in- 
 terests of education, not as substitutes, but as pio- 
 neers and aids to government. 
 
 SEC TION III. 
 
 ' Fourth essential feature of a system of national education. Its 
 necessity obvious, but its execution impracticable on account 
 of popular indifference. Political necessity of a far superior 
 kind of education to what is usually received by our citizens. 
 
 THE fourth feature which I have supposed to be 
 essential in a system of national education suited 
 to the United States is, that "It must cause the
 
 118 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 children of the nation to continue at school for a 
 period of seven years." 
 
 If the statement which has been made, of the 
 kind and amount of education needed by Ameri- 
 can citizens be at all correct, it is self-evident 
 that the time allotted by this proposition for its 
 acquirement is far from being too much. And 
 yet, so frightful is the interval between the theo- 
 retical, though stern demands of our political or- 
 ganization, and the description of education prev- 
 alent in the United States ; so utterly unprepared 
 are the majority of our fellow -citizens to appre- 
 ciate the principles by which alone we should be 
 guided in framing a scheme of national education, 
 and to apply the legitimate, unavoidable inferen- 
 ces which spring from them, that some share of 
 moral courage is required to enable one to state 
 with boldness, and without abatement, what is 
 the truth upon this subject. 
 
 Ought not every child to receive an education, 
 who, by the structure of the society in which he 
 lives, is placed in a situation that requires him, in 
 time, to act the part of an independent adult ? 
 Ought not the education of all to be adapted to 
 the future character they may have to sustain, 
 and the duties they shall be expected and required 
 to perform ? And will not every one, who has 
 reflected upon the tardy and deliberate nature of 
 the process of education, affirm that these objects 
 cannot be accomplished in less than seven years ?
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 119 
 
 These are questions, that, without the aid of dis- 
 cussion, must receive an affirmative answer the 
 moment they are propounded. It is necessary 
 only to propose one more, which, no less than 
 those just stated, carries along with it its own re- 
 ply, and the position taken with reference to the 
 fourth essential feature of our national system, is 
 clearly made out. That question is if our go- 
 vernments have the right and are under an obli- 
 gation to employ taxation, or any other coercive 
 measures, to constrain parents to send their chil- 
 dren to school ; have they not, as a matter of 
 course, the same right, and are they not under 
 equal obligation to continue to employ it until the 
 object aimed at is accomplished ? 
 
 But of what use is it, some may be inclined to 
 ask, to speak of the existence of rights and obli- 
 gations, the exercise of which, we, at the same 
 time, affirm to be impracticable ? To this I re- 
 ply, that there is a great deal gained by the set- 
 tlement of so important a principle ; for this be- 
 ing done, the friends of education may at once di- 
 rect their energies to remove whatever obstacle 
 may stand in the way of its application ; and this, 
 throughout the United States, is nothing more nor 
 less than popular indifference. This however is 
 so great, so stubborn, and so blind, that I could 
 scarcely fancy a more difficult task, than would 
 be incurred by undertaking to convince the mass 
 of the people in our country, that it is their duty
 
 120 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 not only to send their children to school, but to 
 keep them there seven years ! If I am not mis- 
 taken in this impression, why is it, that in many 
 of our states, not one-half the children of a school- 
 ing age can, at any given time of the year, be 
 found at school ? And why is it, that in quite as 
 many, the amount of schooling given to a majori- 
 ty of children does not exceed, if it can be said 
 to equal, two or three entire years ? 
 
 There never was a more flagrant violation of 
 the laws of proportion, a more pernicious forget- 
 fulness of the relation existing between cause and 
 effect, than that which is manifest when we re- 
 flect upon the theory of our social institutions, in 
 comparison with the means relied upon for ma- 
 king them at once practicable and perpetual. 
 God, in his providence, has allotted twenty years 
 for the education of the human being ; and an ex- 
 emplary European Monarch has decreed, that 
 the children of his subjects shall have, at the least, 
 seven years instruction ; but we, independent re- 
 publicans of America, reflect upon the wisdom 
 and benevolence of both, by putting our children 
 off with the stinted allowance of but two years 
 of very defective education. Truly, it would seem 
 as though we considered it a part of our boasted 
 liberties, to be independent of the aid of intellec- 
 tual and moral culture; that however necessary 
 this may be for a nation of servants who have a 
 wise and good king, who kindly relieves them of
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 121 
 
 the onerous task of making and executing whole- 
 some laws, yet, such is the charm of liberty, such 
 the virtue of democracy, that it is not at all re- 
 quisite for the freeborn sons of a self-governing 
 republic ! 
 
 I most devoutly pray to God, that his warning 
 voice in the riots, mobs, and lynchings, which 
 have grown so common in our land, may be duly 
 heeded by the nation, and may rid us of that fa- 
 tal self-complacency, which causes us to expect 
 the perpetuity of our government on any other 
 grounds than the general prevalence of something 
 more than a merely nominal education. We ap- 
 pear, as a people, to have become so completely 
 intoxicated with liberty, as to have forgotten that 
 " it is a state of duty as well as privilege." In 
 the licentious enjoyment of its delights, we over- 
 look its obligations. In our intemperate commem- 
 oration of National Independence, we are total- 
 ly forgetful, that to perpetuate its blessings will 
 demand of us quite as much of virtue and intelli- 
 gence, as its achievement cost our fathers, of their 
 blood and treasure. 
 
 The amount of information acquired, and the 
 intellectual and moral developement attained by 
 the generality of our citizens in the common 
 schools, are far below the demands of their poli- 
 tical relations. The theory of our government 
 calls for the highest kind of intelligence among 
 the people. In a certain political sense, it is strict- 
 
 11
 
 122 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 ly true, that " a little learning is a dangerous 
 thing." There are but two states of society in 
 which the administration of government is easy, 
 viz : where there is a great deal of ignorance, or a 
 great deal of knowledge. When sufficiently en- 
 lightened, the people are made capable of self-go- 
 vernment ; and when sunk in ignorance, they ea- 
 sily become the dupes and slaves of others. In 
 the one case, they are but brutes who submit, 
 without resistance, to be guided by reins placed 
 in the hands of a despot ; in the other, they un- 
 dertake and are fitted to manage for themselves ; 
 and the advantages of the latter over the former 
 condition, depends entirely upon the amount of 
 qualification for its arduous duties. 
 
 The most critical condition in which society 
 can be placed, is in the transition state ; where 
 a people too knowing to be slaves, have conceiv- 
 ed the desire, without possessing the ability, to 
 manage for themselves. This seems to be the or- 
 deal through which the civilized world in general 
 is at present passing. Nor can we deny that 
 there are thousands among us, and their number 
 is every day increasing, who do not believe that 
 even we have altogether escaped its limits. What 
 shall be the issue in any case, depends entirely 
 upon the energy and wisdom with which the 
 schoolmaster shall be enabled to do his office. 
 Our government is an impracticable farce, unless 
 every voter, or a very large majority of voters,
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 123 
 
 can be made intelligent enough to know how to 
 participate in managing it, and virtuous enough to 
 be disposed to make a right use of their power. 
 The theory of our political organization makes 
 every man a legislator ; its practice should see 
 that he is fitted for the task assigned him. The 
 administration of government would be unsafe in 
 the hands of a child, because of ignorance ; in the 
 hands of banditti, from want of principle. Now 
 both these disqualifications meet in an unenlight- 
 ened nation of adults. Who would feel safe on 
 ship-board with an idiot at the helm during a 
 storm ? Or with a crew of pirates, in a vessel 
 laden with valuable treasure ? The great vessel 
 of state is not one whit more independent of intelli- 
 gence and principle. To provide them therefore, 
 and of a high order, is the dictate of self-preser- 
 vation. National shipwreck must be the inevita- 
 ble consequence of neglecting it. 
 
 It is absurd then to suppose, as some do, that 
 the liberal education (not that which can be ac- 
 quired in two years,) of all the people, is an im- 
 practicability. None but a monarchist of the deep- 
 est stamp can with consistency maintain this. It 
 should be left as the exclusive privilege of those min- 
 ions of royalty, who " regard this scheme" (of gen- 
 eral education) "only as the baseless fabric of 
 a vision, happily quite beyond any man's power 
 to accomplish on a large scale, but calculated so 
 far as it can be accomplished, to alarm all sober
 
 124 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OP A SYSTEM 
 
 nnd prudent persons among the middle and upper 
 orders of society, and to render the labouring 
 classes uneasy, unhappy, and dissatisfied;" who 
 think that " it would not be one jot more ridicu- 
 lous for some friend of humanity to attempt to 
 improve the condition of the beasts of the field ; 
 to teach the horse his power, and the cow her 
 value, than to teach tailors and cobblers ' the 
 beautiful system of geometry.' " It ill becomes a 
 republican to doubt the possibility of universal, 
 and comparatively speaking, of liberal education. 
 It convicts him of the still greater absurdity of 
 supposing that the rulers, the legislators of the 
 country, (who in a government like ours are sy- 
 nonymous with the people,) have no occasion for 
 extensive intelligence. 
 
 Every reason that can possibly be urged, to 
 show the importance of intelligence on the part 
 of members of Congress and of the state legisla- 
 tures, demonstrates, with augmented force, the 
 necessity of the same for the people, who appoint 
 and guide them. Is intelligence essential to a 
 legislature ? Then, the people who control its 
 acts should be enlightened. Are the conse- 
 quences of ignorant legislation to be deprecated? 
 Then, ignorance should be removed from the 
 people, the fountain of legislation. Would it be 
 considered the height of folly, to send to the 
 legislature a man who knows nothing of the laws, 
 the history, the constitution of his country ? Then 

 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 125 
 
 there should not be such a private man in the com- 
 munity ; for constituted as ourgovernment is, every 
 man is a legislator. The people could not become 
 their own shoemakers without acquiring a know- 
 ledge of the art ; no more can they become their 
 own legislators, without suitable education. 
 
 Besides, it should never be forgotten, that in 
 this country every man legislates for others as 
 well as for himself. And are the sacred rights 
 of liberty and property to be entrusted to men 
 who are without information from which to form 
 their opinions, and who have so little principle 
 that their vote may be purchased for a pint of 
 whiskey ? Just as soon employ for your physi- 
 cian, a man who is unacquainted with the pecu- 
 liar properties of magnesia and arsenic. The 
 object of legislation is the protection of our rights ; 
 and it were better to risk our lives with the veriest 
 quack existing, than entrust those rights, without 
 which life is but a burden, to the control of men 
 who cannot anticipate, or who are regardless of 
 the consequences of their official conduct. On 
 the day of an election you go to the polls, and are 
 jostled from the door by a reeling drunkard on the 
 one hand ; and a blustering ignoramus, with a false 
 ticket which he cannot read, on the other ; to both 
 of whom as portions of the sovereign people you 
 must with all due deference give way. This though 
 is but a trifling consideration. Have you pro- 
 perty ? These men, with scarce a dollar they can 
 11*
 
 126 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 call their own, are about to express their will, (and 
 it will weigh as much as yours) whether your pro- 
 perty shall be taxed ; to what extent ; and for 
 what purposes ; and their voice is to be heard in 
 the decision of a principle which may affect the 
 safety of your dearest interests. What then is to 
 be done ? Shall they be denied their vote ? No ; 
 of two evils let us always choose the least ; espe- 
 cially when by prudent management, we can con- 
 trive to make its duration temporary. The only 
 effectual remedy in this case, is, to educate their 
 children ; and thus take care, that for every one 
 such character at present, we do not entail upon 
 the next generation, some half a dozen like him. 
 Most solemnly am I impressed with the belief, 
 that unless the country can be aroused to a far 
 deeper sense of the saving necessity of education, 
 and of a species of education incomparably supe- 
 rior to that which now satisfies it, we shall, in 
 a few years, have on our hands a populace, a 
 canaille, that will seriously endanger, if they do 
 not overwhelm our liberties. Are these apprehen- 
 sions groundless ? Whose heart does not quail 
 at the prospects of his country, when he reads of 
 hundreds of thousands of foreign paupers crowd- 
 ing our shores ; and hears of mob after mob, even 
 in regions where material for such a thing was 
 not suspected to exist ; and sees the elections in 
 our larger towns oftentimes controlled by a reck- 
 less populace ? A populace should have no exist-
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 127 
 
 ence in a republic. It is utterly incompatible 
 with its safety, to say nothing of its well being. 
 The people composing it will always make full 
 use of the power given them, and even more. 
 The rabble never fail to vote ; and being the 
 ready tools of demagogues, they generally vote 
 wrong. And yet, dangerous as such a descrip- 
 tion of persons is to our liberties, who does not 
 see the alarming agrarian tendency of things in 
 our country 1 From the period of our independ- 
 ence down to the present moment, power has 
 incessantly been striding from the few to the 
 many ; there has been, in the spirit and forms of 
 our associated governments, a steady departure 
 from monarchy toward extreme democracy, till 
 the right of suffrage is exercised without discrimi- 
 nation. The power of the people has been thus 
 extended to its utmost possible limits ; and without 
 the saving efficacy of universal education, it will 
 prove to be merely an augmentation of power, 
 without a proportionate increase of principle, and 
 knowledge, which alone confer ability to use it 
 safely. In such event, its possession cannot fail 
 to prove unprofitable to its holders, and dangerous 
 to the commonwealth. If the subjects of a despo- 
 tic prince must of necessity be brutes, what is an 
 ignorant self-governing people but a mob ? And 
 we had better risk the avarice and ambition of the 
 most arbitrary sovereign upon earth, than be at 
 the mercy of the passions of a lawless populace.
 
 128 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 No condition of society can be imagined more 
 deplorable, than that, in which numbers, or merely 
 muscular strength, set in motion by the baser pas- 
 sions, is disproportionately arrayed against virtue 
 and intelligence. 
 
 What then is to be done to arrest the progress 
 of this dreaded evil ? There is no other answer, 
 were the question propounded a thousand times, 
 than that we must, by the salutary influences of 
 real education, prevent the numbers of the igno- 
 rant and vicious, already formidable, from beco- 
 ming quadrupled, by their descendants, upon the 
 next generation. 
 
 But here it behooves us to consider, that the 
 education fitted to subserve this purpose cannot 
 be forced upon our youth in two or three years. 
 It amounts to something more than being able 
 simply to read and write. These attainments 
 alone, essential as they are, will not make their 
 possessor a valuable, moral member of society, 
 and an intelligent, safe voter ; and any amount 
 or kind of education that comes short of these 
 results, is unfit, and insufficient, for our national 
 wants. Our government contemplates and makes 
 every man & practical politician ; and I maintain 
 that what an individual is obliged to practise as 
 a man, he ought to learn in youth. Every man 
 among us has to act the legislator, and the only 
 question to determine is, shall he do it well or ill ? 
 Every body is expected to practise morality ;
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 129 
 
 all should then be taught the principles of moral 
 science. But where is the school system in our 
 country, whose requisitions are adapted to these 
 comprehensive ends ? 
 
 The sentiment is general enough throughout the 
 Union, that the happiness and prosperity of society, 
 together with the permanence of our free institu- 
 tions, depend upon the universal diffusion of know- 
 ledge. But, if I mistake not, we impose on our- 
 selves egregiously, by identifying the diffusion of 
 useful knowledge, with what is commonly called 
 education. We confound things which may easily 
 have a separate existence, as cause and effect, as 
 means and end. The education received at the 
 schools where nine-tenths of the children of the 
 nation are instructed, does little more than, by 
 teaching them to read, put it in their power to 
 acquire knowledge. It gives them none, or very 
 little. They learn to read, and thereby gain a 
 key to knowledge ; but where do they read to 
 learn ? It is certainly not at school. Look, for 
 example, at the list of school books, published a 
 few years since by the superintendent of common 
 schools, in the State of New-York ; and select, if 
 you can, the work designed to teach the young 
 their future duties as members of society, and of 
 a free government. Your eyes can fix on but a 
 single book used in a single town, out of the seven 
 hundred and fifty seven in the State, which pro- 
 poses to give instruction as to the principles of the
 
 ISO ESSENTIAL FEATURES OP A SYSTEM 
 
 government under which our children are to live, 
 and in whose administration they will have to par- 
 ticipate ! And yet, strange to tell, the New- York 
 common school system is decidedly the best in 
 the United States. To the honour of this noble 
 State, she has of late been making most exem- 
 plary efforts to elevate the standard of education, 
 by establishing neighbourhood libraries, and by 
 other measures ; but still the condition of her com- 
 mon schools, at the period of which I speak, would 
 present a very flattering picture of the present 
 state of things in the greater part of the Union. 
 Does not this most impressively demonstrate the 
 necessity of a radical reform in public sentiment 
 as to the kind and quantity of education requisite 
 for our social purposes ? 
 
 It could scarcely be believed, did not the gene- 
 ral practice force it on our notice, that the total 
 of instruction aimed at by a very large majority 
 of our citizens for their children, consists of read- 
 ing, writing, and ciphering ; to which are occa- 
 sionally added, by way of luxury, a little geogra- 
 phy, and English grammar. Now, to suppose 
 that this, even were it gained by all, is a suitable 
 and sufficient education for a self-governing peo- 
 ple, might be denominated ludicrous, were it not 
 too solemn an absurdity to admit of laughter. The 
 satirist could not make a more unexceptionable 
 use of his peculiar talent, than by exposing this 
 national error to the nation's eyes. Diogenes'
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 131 
 
 cock, when stripped of his feathers, was quite as 
 good a pretext for a man, as this, for national edu- 
 cation. We should be ashamed to employ the 
 following as our reasoning, when discussing the 
 practicability of self-government ; viz. every man 
 who can read and write (whether he reads or 
 not,) is capable of governing himself, and of assist- 
 ing to govern others ; and as every man can be 
 taught to read and write, therefore republicanism 
 is practicable ; and yet, miserable as this reason- 
 ing is, it appears to furnish the criterion by which 
 our general practice is regulated. Ludicrous as 
 this syllogism seems, it nevertheless exhibits the 
 foundation on which we profess to rest the hopes, 
 not only of our own nation, but, as identified with 
 the issue of our experiment, the prospects of other 
 countries and other generations. 
 
 Shame on that parsimony, the foulest blot in 
 our national character and history, which has 
 given practical currency to such preposterous 
 reasoning. 
 
 But such sentiments, and such extravagant 
 expectations, will not be suffered to continue long 
 among us. In despite of the too much dreaded 
 cry of " visionary," I dare avow that I cherish for 
 the cause of education in our country, not only 
 nobler aspirations, but far higher hopes. Yes ; 
 we want for every child in our land for the son 
 of the farmer, the mechanic, and even the day 
 labourer as well as for the child of the lawyer,
 
 132 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 the doctor, the clergyman, and the merchant, such 
 an education as will enable him to understand his 
 rights, and appreciate his privileges ; as shall 
 inspire him with respect both for himself, and for 
 the laws ; shall qualify him for discharging the 
 various duties he owes his God, his country, his 
 neighbour, and himself; in short, such an educa- 
 tion as can make him equal to his condition, both 
 as a private citizen, and as a participator either 
 directly or indirectly in the administration of the 
 government. There is ample time for education 
 allotted by Providence during the minority of each 
 individual ; and as a nation, we have most abun- 
 dantly the means ; what then hinders the attain- 
 ment of our proudest wishes, the realizing our 
 tondest hopes, but the want of faith and of a hearty 
 will? 
 
 To return however, to the point from which we 
 set out ; I conclude that although seven years are 
 by no means more than sufficient to give such an 
 education as is required by the nature of our 
 institutions ; yet, so far is this demand ahead of 
 the general practice throughout the United States, 
 that we have not a single legislature which could 
 attempt to execute it, as a part of its common 
 school requisitions, with the slightest prospect of 
 success. Nor will its practicability be rendered 
 in the least degree more probable, until a mighty 
 revolution shall have been effected in the senti- 

 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 133 
 
 ments of the people, both as to the range, and 
 as to the value of education. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Importance of establishing Seminaries for the Professional educa- 
 tion of Teachers. 
 
 THE fifth feature which I deem essential in a sys- 
 tem of American education is, that " It must esta- 
 blish Seminaries for the Professional education of 
 a sufficient number of Teachers." 
 
 This is by far the most important of all the 
 arrangements requisite to put in operation a pro- 
 per system of national education. Till this is 
 made, all other measures will have but little 
 effect. 
 
 The necessity and value of such a provision 
 have been so ably stated by others, that I shall 
 express my views in regard to it, by making a feyr 
 quotations. It will be perceived from these, that 
 the minds of all who have reflected upon the 
 subject, are fully impressed with the belief, that 
 every thing, as to the improvement and spread of 
 education, depends essentially upon the elevation 
 of the business of teaching to the rank of a pro- 
 fession. 
 
 The following is from one of the annual mes- 
 sages of Gov, Clinton to the Legislature of New- 
 12
 
 134 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 York. " Our system of instruction, (he remarks,) 
 with all its numerous benefits, is still, however, 
 susceptible of great improvements. Ten years 
 of the life of a child, may now be spent in a com- 
 mon school. In two years the elements of instruc- 
 tion may be acquired ; and the remaining eight 
 years must be spent either in repetition, or in idle- 
 ness, unless the teachers of common schools are 
 competent to instruct in the higher branches of 
 knowledge. The outlines of Geography, Algebra, 
 Mineralogy, Agricultural Chemistry, Mechanical 
 Philosophy, Surveying, Geometry, Astronomy, 
 Political Economy, and Ethics, might be commu- 
 nicated in that period of time by able preceptors, 
 without essential interference with the calls of 
 domestic industry. The vocation of a teacher in 
 its influence on the destinies of the rising and all 
 future generations, has either not been fully under- 
 stood or not duly estimated. It is, or ought to be, 
 ranked among the learned professions. With the 
 full admission of the respectability of several, who 
 now officiate in that capacity, still it must be con- 
 ceded, that the information of many of the 
 instructors of common schools, does not extend 
 beyond rudimental education, that our expanding 
 population requires constant accession to their 
 numbers, and that to realize their views, it is ne- 
 cessary that some new plan for obtaining able 
 teachers, should be devised. I therefore recom- 
 mend a Seminary for the education of teachers
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 135 
 
 in the monitorial system of instruction and in those 
 useful branches of knowledge, which are proper 
 to engraft on elementary attainments." 
 
 Of the source of the following remarks, on the 
 same subject, I regret that I am ignorant ; bat 
 they will be found to recommend themselves. 
 
 " The character of schools, and of course their 
 political, moral, and religious influence on the com- 
 munity, depend almost solely on the character of 
 the teachers. Their influence is strong or weak, 
 just in proportion as the instructers are skilful or 
 ignorant, energetic or feeble ; it is in this direction 
 or that direction, just as they are imbued with one 
 or another principle. So that whatever is done to 
 elevate the character of teachers, elevates at the 
 same time and in the same degree, the character 
 of the schools which they teach, and enlarges and 
 strengthens their influence on the community. 
 And whatever is done or suffered to lower the 
 character of teachers, must sink at the same time 
 and in the same degree, the character of schools, 
 and destroy or prevent their influence upon 
 society. I am aware that many other considera- 
 tions must be taken into the account in organizing 
 an energetic and perfect system of instruction. 
 But all of them, though important, are subsequent 
 in their nature to the preparation of teachers ; 
 and none can be attempted with a reasonable 
 expectation of accomplishing them to the greatest 
 advantage, until good teachers are provided and
 
 136 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 ready for the work. It would be beginning wrong, 
 to build houses, and tell your young and inexpe- 
 rienced instructers, to teach this or to teach that 
 subject, however desirable a knowledge of such 
 subjects might be, whilst it is obvious that they 
 cannot know how properly to teach any subject. 
 The science of teaching, for it must be made a 
 science, is first in the order of nature. And it is 
 to this point that attention must first be applied in 
 order to effect any essential improvements." 
 
 In strict accordance with these views, are those 
 of the illustrious Cousin, as expressed in the sub- 
 joined extract. 
 
 " It is a principle generally established in Prus- 
 sia, that the goodness of a school is in exact pro- 
 portion to the goodness of the master. What con- 
 stitutes a good school is not a fine building. It 
 is not even the excellence of the regulations, which 
 without a faithful and intelligent execution of 
 them, are only useless on paper. A school is 
 what its director is. He is the life and soul of it. 
 If he is a man of ability, he will turn the poorest 
 and humblest elements to account ; if he is inca- 
 pable, the best and most prolific, will remain ster- 
 ile in his hands." 
 
 A committee of the Legislature of Connecticut, 
 in its report, observes, that "inattention to the 
 character and qualifications of teachers will be 
 followed by deplorable consequences. Without 
 assiduous, efficient, moral, and learned teachers.
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 137 
 
 our schools must sink. The dividends of our mu- 
 nificent funds, may indeed be drawn from the 
 treasury, and the schools opened and kept for a 
 time sufficient to absorb them by incompetent in- 
 structers ; but the standard of education will soon 
 be lowered, the community cease to be animated 
 by the spirit of the age, and a large portion of 
 our youth be consigned to ignorance and immo- 
 rality." 
 
 A committee of the Legislature of Massachu- 
 setts, after declaring that the free schools of the 
 Commonwealth are not such as they ought to be, 
 that they fail most essentially of accomplishing 
 the high object for which they were established, 
 proceeds 
 
 " Nor is there any difficulty in arriving at the 
 true cause; can it in a great majority of cases be 
 traced to any other than the incompetency of 
 teachers ? And in this fact there is nothing mys- 
 terious. Can the teachers be otherwise than 
 incompetent, when no pains are taken to instruct 
 them in the business of their profession ; when in 
 one word, they are not reputed and constituted a 
 profession ?" 
 
 The following and last quotation that I shall 
 make, contains a very solemn, and I would fain 
 hope, irresistible appeal to the reason and affec- 
 tions of all parents. 
 
 " To whom do we assign the business of in- 
 structing and governing our children from four to 
 12*
 
 138 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 twelve years of age 1 Who take upon themselves 
 the trust of forming those principles and habits 
 which are formed and confirmed in manhood, and 
 make our innocent little ones, through life happy 
 or miserable in themselves, and the blessing or 
 the curse of society ? This is the only service in 
 which we venture to employ young and often ig- 
 norant persons without some previous instruction 
 in their appropriate duties. We require experi- 
 ence in all those whom we employ to perform 
 the slightest mechanical labour for us. We would 
 not buy a coat or a hat of one who should under- 
 take to make them without a previous apprentice- 
 ship. Nor would any one have the hardihood to 
 offer us the result of his first essay in manufac- 
 turing either of these articles. We do not even 
 send an old shoe to be mended, except it is to a 
 workman, of whose skill we have had ample 
 proof. Yet we commit our children to be edu- 
 cated, to those who know nothing, absolutely 
 nothing, of the complicated and difficult duties 
 assigned to them. Shall we trust the develope- 
 ment of the delicate bodies, the susceptive hearts, 
 and tender minds of our little children, to those 
 who have no knowledge of their nature ? Can 
 they, can these rude hands finish the workman- 
 ship of the Almighty ? No language can express 
 the astonishment which a moment's reflection on 
 this subject excites in me." 
 
 It would be as impracticable, as unnecessary,
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 139 
 
 to offer much in addition to these quotations, to 
 illustrate the importance of the subject to which 
 they relate. 1 shall sum up all I have to say in a 
 single suggestion, which affords a most impres- 
 sive and expansive theme for reflection. 
 
 Just let it be recollected, that where the theory 
 of our government is realized, every single indi- 
 vidual is supposed to have gone to school ; in 
 other words, that every mind, and every heart in 
 the community, has been subjected to the influence 
 of teachers ; and this, too, in the ductile period of 
 childhood, and tor six or seven years. Add to 
 this what every body remembers respecting the 
 reverence and confidence with which his teach- 
 er's opinions were received; that the "master 
 hath said it," were almost regarded as "sacra- 
 mental words ;" and to this, what every body 
 knows and feels in relation to the permanence of 
 early impressions ; and where, I would ask, is the 
 class of men in society, to whom one-half as 
 much has been entrusted ? And yet, this is the 
 station for which almost any one is considered 
 suitable, and in which alone, of all the various 
 avocations of life, professional experience and 
 skill, are practically deemed unnecessary. There 
 is not a single legislature in the Union but that 
 of New- York, (and it but very lately,) which has 
 commenced to act upon this subject ; or which, 
 (to speak without exaggeration of the importance 
 of this measure,) has begun at the beginning.
 
 140 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Love of money the true cause of the defective state of education 
 among us. Acknowledged imperfection of our best school 
 systems. Has been almost a universal mistake to try to make 
 education general by making it cheap. This has tended to 
 throw the business of instruction into the hands of inferior men. 
 Depreciation of the quality of education a necessary conse- 
 quence. Our pecuniary provision for the cause of education 
 altogether inadequate. 
 
 THE sixth essential feature of a system of national 
 education suited to the United States is, that " It 
 must provide means for the accommodation and 
 comfortable support of teachers." 
 
 Until this is done, that is, until school-houses 
 and teachers are provided, all other arrangements 
 are of no account. Hence the raising of money 
 has constituted one of the most difficult and im- 
 portant problems connected with legislation upon 
 the subject. But why has this been difficult ? 
 Because as a nation we are too poor to afford 
 to educate our children liberally ? Our commer- 
 cial, agricultural, and manufacturing statistics give 
 an overwhelming answer in the negative. What 
 then has been the cause of difficulty ? The real 
 answer expressed in the simplest language that 
 can be employed is, that the people have not felt 
 the necessity and worth of education as they 
 ought. The money requisite for all the purposes 
 of education must in one shape or other come
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 141 
 
 from them, and the great and engrossing legis- 
 lative question, in this country, has ever been, how 
 shall they be got to furnish it ? 
 
 In some other countries, in Prussia for example, 
 a very summary answer has been given to this 
 inquiry. A royal edict being issued, demanding 
 so much of each district, the officers of govern- 
 ment, backed by a standing army, enforce the 
 payment of the amount without regard to the will 
 of the people upon the subject. It has been 
 assumed that the welfare and safety of the country 
 and of the government require that the people 
 should be educated, and therefore the raising of 
 money for this purpose has been put upon the 
 footing of any other tax designed to further 
 these essential ends. 
 
 Precisely such have been the assumption and 
 the doctrine in the United States, as they should be 
 every where ; but we have to employ very diffe- 
 rent methods of putting them in execution. What 
 may be done under a despotic government by 
 force, must be done under a free government 
 from choice. With us, the government and the 
 governed are the same. The former has, or ought 
 to have, no interests, as it has no rights, nor means, 
 separated from the latter. In Prussia, the pay- 
 ment of taxes is involuntary. With us, taxation 
 (at least so far as relates to the majority*) is a 
 
 * This is a very important distinction ; for, taxation, with refer- 
 ence to the minority, is as really a matter of coercion in the
 
 142 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 voluntary contribution. It can in no case be im- 
 posed, or at least retained in force, without the 
 approbation of the larger part of the voters in the 
 country ; and as the advocates of efficient mea- 
 sures for the benefit of education are for the most 
 part greatly in the minority, they have been 
 reduced to the necessity of employing legislative 
 tact, to accomplish what they have not been able 
 to effect by the naked force of reasoning and 
 principle. 
 
 It was this that gave rise to the ingenious strata- 
 gem (for such it certainly is,) of a conditional ap- 
 propriation of the proceeds of a fund, which forms 
 
 United States, as it is in Prussia. A legislative statute, in this 
 country, is an authoritative expression ot'the will of the represented 
 majority which is as binding upon the minority both in and out 
 of the legislature, as it is upon the majority. All option 
 ceases equally on the part of both, the moment a formal expres- 
 sion of this will is made; and thenceforward, (unless the statute 
 expire by limitation, or be repealed,) both are obliged to obey ; the 
 former, even though a sufficient number should change their 
 minds to throw the balance in favour of the other side ; and the 
 latter, no odds how averse they may be to doing so. 
 
 Hence, taxation as really involves compulsion, in a Republic, 
 as in a despotic government ; and the represented majority have 
 as much a right, in strict accordance with the spirit of our insti- 
 tutions, to use coercive measures for the support of education, as 
 the king of Prussia has, or as they themselves have, for the sup- 
 port of government. 
 
 I avail myself of this opportunity to state this principle thus 
 explicitly, because of its important bearing on the cause of educa- 
 tion ; and to show still more clearly the propriety of the use which 
 has been made of it in other parts of this volume,
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 143 
 
 the leading feature in all our school systems, and 
 is rapidly bringing the children of the nation into 
 attendance upon the public schools, such as they 
 are. The people at large not being sufficiently 
 impressed with the importance of education to 
 allow, or rather to make, through their represent- 
 atives, a direct and ample draft on property for 
 its advancement, have been allured to acquiesce 
 in legislative action for this purpose, by the seeming 
 offer of pecuniary inducement. Their property 
 in lands, or stocks, or in some other form, has 
 been taken and converted into a fund, and then 
 they have been told, that if they would raise as 
 much more by a voluntary tax, they would receive 
 their quota of the proceeds of this fund. 
 
 The expedient is a perfectly fair one, and reflects 
 great credit on the tact of its originators, for it 
 has operated like a charm. It is only a very partial 
 exercise of the authority which the legislature has 
 a moral and constitutional right to extend much 
 further, were it practicable. All that can be 
 regretted about it, is the state of public sentiment 
 and feeling on which its necessity is founded. 
 That we should have to be beguiled into the execu- 
 tion of an end so important, and so noble, to say 
 the least, is mortifying. It does not present us in 
 a dignified or enviable light to foreigners who 
 reproach us for our boastful pride in our institu- 
 tions. It affords the rather singular if not ludicrous 
 spectacle of a wealthy, free, and independent peo-
 
 144 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 pie, saying to themselves "We are not suffi- 
 ciently persuaded of the advantages of general 
 education to allow our legislatures to tax us to any 
 extent, directly, for its promotion, but we will per- 
 mit them to take some of our property and use it 
 for this purpose, provided ,they will give it back 
 to us on the condition that we shall give them 
 more ! That is, we will first tax ourselves for the 
 creation of a common fund, and then we will dis- 
 tribute its interest among ourselves, for the purpose 
 of prevailing upon ourselves to tax ourselves still 
 further, to educate our children !" 
 
 But why should I seem to strive to give the utmost 
 prominence to circumstances which are by no 
 means creditable to our national character ? It 
 is precisely because I love my country, and would 
 infinitely rather contribute to her lasting benefit 
 by the exposure of her faults, than help to injure 
 her by flattering her vanity by their concealment. 
 Yes, I love my country, and am proud of her insti- 
 tutions : I am proud of her history, proud of her 
 present comparative condition, and still prouder of 
 her animating prospects. I dare avow, that I expect 
 for herself in the way of national glory and felicity, 
 the utmost that any rational enthusiast has ever 
 predicted ; and for the world at large, all the 
 benefit which has ever been promised it from her 
 example. But I expect this solely because of 
 my belief in the preserving, elevating, and trans- 
 forming influence of education, properly so called : 

 
 OF NATIONAL EDt CATION. 145 
 
 and when I see, that although a kind Providence 
 has blessed her with abundant means to make 
 this universal through her borders, she prefers 
 expending them for superfluous articles of dress, 
 or food, or furniture, or equipage ; how can I avoid 
 joining in the cry of shame! shame on such ingrati- 
 tude and want of policy ! 
 
 It is impossible to deny that the Ivve of money, 
 that " root of all evil," that foe to all good, 
 presents the only hinderance to the speedy estab- 
 lishment of a system of national education that 
 would soon dispel the forebodings which the re- 
 cent history of our country has forced upon the 
 minds of thousands of her most patriotic citizens, 
 and reinspire us with hope that there is yet before 
 her, a long, a glorious, and a beneficent career. 
 
 But what is the immediate object for which the 
 means are thus begrudged, or are so stintedly 
 supplied ? Is it designed to send them abroad for 
 the purpose of supplying foreign charities ? or to 
 expend them at home on public works, or upon 
 some other objects, whose benefits, though great, 
 are indirect ? No but for the education of 
 our children, and of the children of our political 
 brethren for the honour, the safety, and the 
 lasting happiness of our families, and of our com- 
 mon country. The spectacle of a rich but miserly 
 father poring over his dusty bags of gold, sur- 
 rounded by a family of half-starved, rag-clad chil- 
 dren ; or, of a noble vessel heaving and plunging 
 13
 
 146 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 on the eve of ruin, while her passengers refuse to 
 throw their chattels overboard, though to save her 
 from destruction, presents but a feeble picture 
 of a wealthy nation grudging a pittance from its 
 yearly earnings to educate its youth, and to pre- 
 serve its institutions from impending ruin. 
 
 The cry is general "the country is in danger!" 
 The opinion is universal, that in education is our 
 only safety ; and yet, millions of surplus wealth 
 are annually squandered upon objects worse than 
 useless, while the minds and hearts of our future 
 citizens are allowed to go uneducated, constantly 
 swelling the formidable mass of vice and ignorance 
 which even now, as some think, threatens the safety 
 of our government. Oh the waste of intellect ! the 
 waste of unemployed, and misdirected mind in our 
 country ! Who, who can rightl) 7 estimate it ? and 
 yet what is doing for its cultivation ? We cannot 
 evade the charge, that our legislative provisions 
 for this object have been wholly insufficient ; and ? 
 that as a necessary consequence, the prevalent 
 education in our country is alike beneath the dig- 
 nity and wants of a republican people. 
 
 I shall devote the remainder of this section to 
 a demonstration of this fact. 
 
 There are not a few who are disposed to ques- 
 tion whether legislation has not done more harm 
 than good to education in the United States. This 
 impression, however, is extravagant, and does not 
 sufficiently take into consideration the clogs with 

 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 147 
 
 which legislation has been fettered in consequence 
 of the dependent relation it sustains to public sen- 
 timent. Still, although our governments have 
 done much for which the nation's thanks are due, 
 their measures have been in some respects very 
 injudicious, and at best, when speaking compara- 
 tively with our social wants, have been in a great 
 degree unproductive, in consequence of the excess- 
 ive economy by which they have been uniformly 
 marked. 
 
 We have been so long accustomed to admire, 
 and even to revere, those common school systems 
 by which one-fourth of the entire population of a 
 state has been assembled, at the same time, to 
 receive instruction ; which have placed a school- 
 house within a mile and a half of the home of 
 every child ; and have professedly put the children 
 of the rich and poor upon the same intellectual 
 level ; that it is rather an invidious undertaking, 
 to allude to probable imperfections as appertain- 
 ing to them. Through the propensity we naturally 
 have to concentrate upon an object of admiration 
 all possible perfection, we are disposed to regard 
 such wonderful results as incontestable evidence 
 of the intrinsic merits of the systems which pro- 
 duced them, and to think it safe to adopt their 
 provisions almost without investigation or scrutiny. 
 But if it be, that there are obvious and acknow- 
 ledged imperfections belonging to them ; this very 
 propensity affords the strongest motive for our
 
 148 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM! 
 
 observing a cautious prudence in imitation. That 
 there are such imperfections, I shall endeavour to 
 show not only in ray own words, but in the far 
 stronger language of some who have been ac- 
 quainted with these systems from intimate obser- 
 vation and experience. The first quotation I shall 
 make is from the report of the superintendent of 
 common schools in New- York, made January 23, 
 1827, and is as follows: 
 
 " The system of education," says the executive 
 committee of Massachusetts, " as now supported 
 by the provisions of law, has but little changed 
 with all the astonishing changes which half a cen- 
 tury of national independence, of vicissitude from 
 poverty and privation, to public and private pros- 
 perity, wealth and luxury, has produced. 
 
 "This remark," the superintendent continues, 
 " is peculiarly applicable to our state. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the rapid advances which 
 this state has made in population, in wealth, in 
 agriculture, manufactures, and internal improve- 
 ments ; it is not to be denied, that the mode of 
 instruction in the great mass of the common 
 schools has remained almost stationary. This re- 
 mark is not applied disparagingly, but in reference 
 to the state of the common schools, compared with 
 that elevated character which it is desirable they 
 should attain. 
 
 " In Connecticut, the annual distribution of the 
 school money amounts to eighty-five cents to each 

 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. , 149 
 
 person enumerated between four and sixteen ; 
 and in a recent report of a committee to the legis- 
 lature, it is stated, that 'the common schools on 
 which as on a favourite child, the public resources 
 have been lavished with great liberality, but with 
 little care, have been gradually declining in their 
 standing. The result of the experiment, has de- 
 cided that no appropriations of money will secure 
 the increasing prosperity of schools.' " 
 
 Mr. J. Orville Taylor, to whom the American 
 public are indebted for a very valuable work on 
 "District Schools," expresses the opinion that " The 
 school systems which the several states in the 
 Union, with the exception of four or five, have 
 devised and adopted, are miserably deficient and 
 defective. Perhaps the workings of our best sys- 
 tems are such that even these exceptions should 
 not be made." 
 
 Another distinguished advocate of education in 
 New- York, John Duer, Esq. says, that, " Looking 
 to the modes of Germany and France, no system 
 of public instruction has yet been organized in 
 any of the states, and in none has the appropriate 
 work of legislation been more than commenced. 
 I do not hesitate to avow the belief that without 
 regulations far more extensive than have yet been 
 introduced, a control far more enlightened and 
 constant than has yet been exercised and fiscal 
 aid far more ample than has yet been afforded 
 it is vain to expect that the character of our 
 13*
 
 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 common schools can be truly and permanently 
 improved." 
 
 The following language on this subject, is em- 
 ployed by a committee of the legislature of Mas- 
 sachusetts in its report : 
 
 "It needs at this time, neither arguments nor 
 an exhibition of facts, to demonstrate to the legis- 
 lature, that the free schools of the commonwealth 
 are not such as they ought to be ; that they fail 
 most essentially of accomplishing the high objects 
 for which they were established, and towards the 
 support of which, so large an amount of money is 
 annually raised among the people. Upon this 
 subject, public opinion is fully settled-" 
 
 With such testimony of the imperfection, and 
 comparative unfruitfulness, of the common school 
 systems of the three states which have been the 
 pioneers and models for the rest of the Union ; 
 testimony consisting of direct admissions on the 
 part of persons officially connected with them ; it 
 cannot be considered presumptuous that I should 
 undertake to specify some of the details in which 
 these concessions are verified, and thus endeav- 
 our to make good the latter part of my assertion, 
 viz: that the measures adopted by the older 
 states for the promotion of education have been 
 in some respects extremely injudicious, and con- 
 sequently in a great measure unproductive. 
 
 Here, I would premise, that all the common 
 school systems in the United States may be re-
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 151 
 
 duced to three classes : the first originating with 
 Massachusetts ; the second with Connecticut ; the 
 third and best, (being but a combination of the 
 other two,) with New-York. In providing the 
 means for defraying the expense of general edu- 
 cation, Massachusetts relies almost exclusively 
 upon district taxation ; Connecticut to as great an 
 extent upon her fund ; and New- York, most wise- 
 ly, upon both ; using the proceeds of a fund as a 
 stimulant to voluntary taxation. 
 
 Not to dwell on mistakes appertaining to par- 
 ticular systems, it appears to me that all our legis- 
 lation throughout the Union is justly chargeable 
 with the following defect, viz. that the tenden- 
 cy, if not the aim of legislative action has been, 
 to make education general, by making it cheap. 
 
 The only, or at least, the principal object of 
 most of our legislatures seems to have been the 
 multiplication of schools. In this some of them 
 have succeeded to perfection. I can scarcely im- 
 agine an additional school to be wanting, where 
 there is already provided one for every fifty chil- 
 dren between the ages of five and fifteen. 
 
 But, generally speaking, it has been, (according 
 to the admission of eastern men themselves, as 
 already shown,) a multiplication of bad schools. 
 Regard has been had, almost exclusively, to the 
 amount, and not enough to the quality of educa- 
 tion. The character of schools has been sacri- 
 ficed to number.
 
 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OP A 
 
 In support of these assertions, I remark that 
 the excessive economy with which the business of 
 education has been managed could not fail to be 
 injurious to its character. There is in every thing 
 an invariable and obstinate relation between qual- 
 ity and price, which is above the control of legis- 
 lation ; and, as the theory has been to make ed- 
 ucation universal by making it cheap, deprecia- 
 tion in quality has been, as it must ever be in 
 such cases,the unavoidable consequence. Through- 
 out New-England and New- York, the average 
 wages of instructers in the public schools do not 
 exceed from ten to twenty dollars a month ; 
 whilst those of stage drivers, hostlers, and even 
 shoeblacks, are nearly, if not quite as much. 
 
 Now, unless it can be made to appear, either 
 that there is no occasion for talents, experience, 
 and attainments, in the business of education ; or, 
 that these can be purchased at the same rate with 
 the most menial manual labour ; the grade of 
 common school education in the regions mention- 
 ed, could not, in the nature of things, be different 
 from what I have represented it to be. I appeal to 
 political economists, and ask, if, according to the 
 laws and circumstances which govern human ac- 
 tion, it is not absurd to expect the services of the 
 mind and of the hand for the same remunera- 
 tion ? Suppose the wages of the clergyman, the 
 physician, the lawyer, and the statesman, were
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 153 
 
 regulated as are those of the schoolmaster ; what 
 would be the result ? 
 
 It is a principle or rule to which there is no ex- 
 ception, that " productive agents will always di- 
 rect their attention to those employments where 
 the greatest profits may be realized." It is true, 
 scantiness of remuneration may be compensated 
 by the bestowment of honours ; and the absence 
 of the latter may be supplied by an excess of the 
 former. For many civil offices which are far from 
 being lucrative, we often see a crowd of competit- 
 ors ; and the brutal traffic in human flesh, because 
 of its gains, is still vigorously prosecuted, in spite of 
 the execrations of Christians and philanthropists. 
 
 To the instructor of youth, however, neither of 
 these inducements is held out. It would seem 
 indeed, as if the employment of teaching were 
 purposely loaded with every thing calculated to 
 deter men of talents and attainments from em- 
 barking in it. In public estimation, it is scarcely 
 a reputable business ; schoolmaster, and peda- 
 gogue, being often used as terms of reproach. It 
 is habitually spoken of as an "humble calling." 
 The statesman, the lawyer, or the physician, is 
 lauded to the skies for having raised himself to a 
 dignified position in society, from having been a 
 schoolmaster. The young instructer is sustained 
 and stimulated by no hope of promotion. To ex- 
 pect advancement in society, he must rid himself 
 of the badges of his office. His salary, too, is not
 
 154 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 only on a par in many cases with that of the day 
 labourer, but connected with the smallness of the 
 pay, there is this peculiar discouragement, that it 
 is fixed and made permanent either by law or cus- 
 tom ; so that there is but little hope, (a hope en- 
 joyed by every other class of persons,) that en- 
 terprise and industry will be rewarded by such 
 an increase of his gains, as will enable him to lay 
 by something for the future wants of his family. 
 
 Under such circumstances, what else could 
 reasonably be expected, than that the business of 
 education should be conducted by the refuse tal- 
 ents of the country ? - What man of sensibility or 
 self-respect ever embarks in the employment if 
 he can avoid it ; or, if driven to it from necessity, 
 continues in it longer than can be helped ? 
 
 To corroborate these statements, I appeal to 
 the consciousness of every one who doubts their 
 truth, and beg him to ask himself the honest rea- 
 son why he himself does not become a schoolmas- 
 ter? I appeal also to fact, and inquire, for ex- 
 ample, who are the teachers of the common free 
 schools of New-England ? In the first place, they 
 are, in a majority of cases, young, unmarried men. 
 Secondly, and consequently, they are without expe- 
 rience. Thirdly, their engagements are but tran- 
 sient. Teaching is with them but a temporary 
 expedient, a means to some ulterior end. In the 
 summer, when the larger boys are needed to aid 
 in the operations on the farms, the schools for the
 
 M3T4W NATIONAL EDUCATION. 155 
 
 smaller children are taught by females, who us- 
 ually receive one dollar, or at most two or three 
 dollars a week. The winter schools are for the 
 most part taught, either by students of colleges, 
 who obtain leave of absence, that by teaching two 
 or three months they may supply themselves with 
 the means to pay their college bills ; or by the 
 sons of farmers, who, during the long winters of 
 New-England, are without employment. 
 
 In most cases, therefore, teaching is anything 
 but a permanent business in which ambition and 
 interest prompt the incumbents to excel. The 
 making a little ready money, and not the improve^ 
 ment of their pupils is, avowedly, their principal 
 object. Of course, it is a service they perform 
 with just as little trouble to themselves as possi- 
 ble. As the same individuals are rarely engaged 
 two or three winters in the same neighbourhood, 
 or even in the business any where, reputation for 
 teaching is scarcely an object of desire. The 
 character, with which they leave the school com- 
 mitted to their charge, is of little moment, as they 
 do not expect again to solicit the patronage of the 
 neighbourhood. In the absence of motive, there- 
 fore, fidelity could not be expected ; and in the 
 absence of experience and consequently of skill, 
 what can reasonably be looked for but the most 
 injurious preceptoral quackery ? We cannot 
 demand superior workmanship from raw appren- 
 tices ; nor expect that patient, painstaking, and
 
 156 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 devoted application, which successful teaching 
 requires, from mere temporary and uninterested 
 agents. 
 
 To show that I am sustained in these impres- 
 sions by the most respectable authority, as well as 
 by what I believe to be sound reasoning, I quote 
 the opinion and acknowledgement of one of the 
 superintendents of the New- York common schools 
 upon the subject. No one in our country has 
 ever enjoyed better opportunities of forming cor- 
 rect ideas on these topics than Mr. Flagg, and no 
 one has improved his opportunities better ; yet he 
 declares that " all the advantages anticipated from 
 training persons to become teachers, will be lost, 
 unless the inhabitants of the districts are willing 
 to make such compensation, as will secure the 
 services of persons thus qualified. The miserable 
 economy which not unfrequently prevails of employ- 
 ing cheap teachers without reference to their fitness, 
 has a tendency to depress, rather than to elevate 
 the standard of education in our Common Schools." 
 
 To prove still further that these assertions are 
 true and not illiberal, I may refer to the history 
 of pecuniary provisions for the advancement of 
 education. We cannot for a moment take 
 ground, in self-defence, in any quarter of the 
 Union, against the charge, that these have been 
 altogether inadequate ; beneath the dignity as well 
 as against the policy of a country organized as 
 ours is, and cherishing its lofty aspirations. In
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 157 
 
 almost every instance, our colleges have been left 
 dependant upon private contributions, and the 
 current fees for tuition. A table setting forth the 
 entire sums in money or property received by our 
 higher institutions, and classifying them according 
 as they have proceeded from legislative grants, or 
 private bounty, would form an interesting and 
 valuable contribution to our literary statistics; 
 whilst the result would present to our view a con- 
 trast by no means complimentary to legislative 
 liberality. And if there were appended to this a 
 list of the munificent donations made by European 
 governments to their Colleges and Universities, 
 there is an equal certainty that our national vanity 
 would not be flattered by the comparison. 
 
 But it is when we contemplate the provisions 
 made professedly for the universal diffusion of 
 knowledge, that we see narrow views, grovelling 
 aims, and inadequate arrangements, superlatively 
 exhibited. Every annual message of our Govern- 
 ors is filled with lofty encomiums upon the value 
 of education, making sufficiently distinct acknow- 
 ledgements of the necessity of general intelligence 
 for the " safety and well being of our political 
 institutions," and recommending liberal appropria- 
 tions by the legislatures ; but when we come to 
 scrutinize the practical sequel of these lofty pro- 
 fessions, we must prepare our minds for the most 
 mortifying disappointments. Truly, the ancient 
 fable of the mountain and the mouse involuntarily 
 14
 
 158 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 obtrudes itself upon the mind, when we are told 
 that the respective governments of an association 
 of aspiring republics consider they have amply 
 provided for a splendid, happy, and prosperous 
 career, by having set afloat a scheme of educa- 
 tion which proposes little more than to teach the 
 children of its citizens how to read and write ; 
 but our surprise is heightened by a survey of the 
 means relied upon for furnishing even this stinted 
 allowance of that intellectual and moral training 
 which is, by acknowledgement, so vitally neces- 
 Bary to social, no less than to personal well being. 
 The largest sum appropriated by any of the states, 
 exceeds, but little, one dollar a year for every 
 child ; and even this appropriation is made in such 
 a way as is calculated to induce the people to rely 
 upon it as sufficient to defray the entire cost of 
 the tuition of their children. 
 
 The unavoidable effects of such inadequate 
 allowances must be, that the schools will be kept 
 open but a small portion of the year, that the 
 teachers will be oppressed by too great a number 
 of pupils, and that none but the most incompetent 
 persons will be willing to engage at all in the bu- 
 siness of instruction, for no others will consent to 
 work for the pittance of remuneration that is 
 offered. And such, it is generally admitted in 
 Connecticut, has been the operation of their fund. 
 
 But even the ingenious, and deservedly praised 
 system of New- York is scarcely less liable to the
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 159 
 
 charge of pecuniary incompetency. In attempt- 
 ing to establish this position, I adopt most cheer- 
 fully as the standard of my views, and the crite- 
 rion for my reasoning, the statement of one of her 
 own distinguished citizens, John Duer, Esq. as to 
 what would constitute an adequate appropriation 
 for the support of common schools. "I would 
 recommend, (he says,) that each state should raise 
 a school fund, sufficient for the entire support of 
 schools ; that a suitable school-house and appara- 
 tus with a convenient dwelling-house for the 
 teacher, be furnished by the State, for each district ; 
 and that every shool-house be supplied with a well 
 qualified teacher, who shall receive from the State 
 a suitable compensation. This, I think, is the pro- 
 per size of a school fund." 
 
 The only point in which I should be tempted 
 to dissent from the views expressed in this quota- 
 tion, relates to the proposed dependence upon a 
 fund. I confess I am afraid of this. It is an im- 
 portant fact, fully established by experience, that 
 just in proportion as the people are apparently 
 relieved from defraying the expense of education, 
 will their estimation of its worth be lowered, and 
 their interest in the neighbourhood school dimin- 
 ished. Hence the more direct and responsible the 
 connexion between the teacher and his employ- 
 ers the better ; and hence also it is expedient to 
 leave the contribution and application of means, 
 for the most part, in the hands of the people,
 
 160 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 The primary object of a fund is not to relieve 
 the people from the cost of education, nor even 
 to aid them in defraying it ; but simply to induce 
 them to impose a tax, and a sufficient tax, on pro- 
 perty. The legislature, beyond a doubt, possesses 
 the right to impose this tax itself; but as its exer- 
 cise would do no good where the people are un- 
 willing, it has been driven to the expedient of a 
 conditional appropriation of the proceeds of a 
 fund, for the simple purpose of overcoming popular 
 indifference ; and it is truly surprising how small 
 an appropriation will effect this object. The 
 apparently large fund of New- York has never 
 afforded over twenty-jive cents to every child of a 
 schooling age ; and yet she has managed, by 
 means of this small sum, to make the people 
 raise enough, by voluntary taxation and otherwise, 
 to send to school every child (within a trifling 
 fraction,) of the legal age. 
 
 This exhibits the true theory of a school fund ; 
 and more than this a legislature is not able to do. 
 It owns no independent fund, from which to pro- 
 vide for education as a charity. " No matter, 
 therefore, how the operation may be cloaked in 
 mystery," all money appropriated by the legisla- 
 ture is the fruit of taxation, and comes originally 
 from the people. All common school systems 
 presuppose the ability of the people to maintain 
 them. If they are not able, the legislature has no 
 extra means from which to aid them. It cannot
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 161 
 
 even procure the services of teachers on terms 
 materially lower than they themselves can. The 
 only advantage which it has in this respect is in 
 its credit. But this can operate only as a guar- 
 antee, and not as a substitute, for the payment of 
 salaries. If, therefore, the people have to defray 
 the entire cost of schools, it is better to let them 
 feel it ; that according to an obvious principle, 
 they may attach a higher value to education. Let 
 the money be conveyed directly, and by them- 
 selves, from their own pockets to the teachers 
 who receive it. Thus, the parents, and the in- 
 structer, being often brought in contact, will ac- 
 quire, the one a lively interest in the school and a 
 disposition to co-operate in promoting its welfare, 
 whilst the other will be brought under the con- 
 stant influence of a quickened sense of responsi- 
 bility. 
 
 But this is nothing to my present purpose. My 
 only concern, just now, is with the amount asserted 
 to be requisite in order to put and keep in opera- 
 tion a competent school system ; and with the 
 views of Mr. Dueron this subject, I most cordially 
 and fully acquiesce. They are marked by any 
 thing but extravagance. A moment's analysis will 
 convince us of this fact. What, let us ask, are 
 the essential elements of a school ? It is evident 
 that besides scholars, there must be, first, a teacher; 
 second, a school-house, with suitable furniture ; and 
 third, apparatus, or appropriate instruments of in- 
 14*
 
 162 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 struction. These are indispensable. Less could 
 not be demanded, and this is the sum of the requisi- 
 tion made by Mr. Duer. 
 
 But when we come to make an estimate of the 
 cost of executing these reasonable demands, we 
 shall see at once, that it amounts to a sum too far 
 above what is now allowed by the people to admit 
 the hope, that the legislature dare venture to ap- 
 propriate it, at least for a very long time to come, 
 and before a radical change shall have been 
 wrought in the popular sentiment as to the relative 
 value of education and money. 
 
 In 1834 there were in New- York, ten thousand 
 one hundred and thirty-two organized school dis- 
 tricts ; and consequently, this number of teachers, 
 and of school and teachers' houses would be 
 needed. Now, supposing each dwelling house to 
 cost three hundred dollars ; each school-house the 
 same ; apparatus for each school one hundred 
 dollars ; we shall have the materials for the fol- 
 lowing table, exhibiting the capital necessary to 
 be at once invested, in order to provide accom- 
 modations for the existing schools, viz : 
 
 School-houses, 10,132 x 300 = 3,039,600 
 Dwelling do. 10,132 x 300 = 3,039,600 
 Apparatus, 10,132 x 100 = 1,013,200 
 
 Total of capital, $7,092,400 
 Besides these permanent investments, there are
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. J 63 
 
 current annual expenses which should amount to 
 nearly half this sum. For instance, not to say 
 anything about the cost of repairs which must be 
 very considerable, the wages of teachers alone, 
 es imatiug the salary of each at three hundred 
 dollars, would be 10,132 x 300 = 3,039,600 ! ! 
 And will any one say that three hundred dollars 
 is too much to allow for the services of a good 
 schoolmaster ? One thing is certain, they cannot 
 be procured for less. No man is fit to teach 
 school, unless he have been professionally educa- 
 cated, either by himself, (as most of our good 
 teachers have been,) or by others, for the business. 
 And can it be imagined that a professional man, 
 having incurred the expenses of a professional 
 education, will spend his time in a laborious em- 
 ployment for less than three hundred dollars, or 
 even for so small a sum as this ? Would a lawyer or 
 a doctor do it ; especially where a maximum of 
 pay is fixed ? Can teachers do with less ? It is 
 impossible. None but an incompetent drone, or 
 a menial, would attempt it. Generally speaking, 
 the man who would consent to work for less is 
 not worth having. His services would be dear 
 at three hundred cents ; for the irreparable injury 
 he might inflict on the mind defies computation in 
 money. If it be impolitic to employ a cheap en- 
 gineer, or architect, who, through professional 
 incompetency might squander in the space of a 
 few weeks fifty times the amount of his salary for
 
 164 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OP A SYSTEM 
 
 a year; surely it is more than folly, it is mad- 
 ness, it is downright cruelty, to jeopard the in- 
 tellectual and moral, the present, and it may be 
 the eternal well being of our children, by subject- 
 ing them to the empiricism of cheap teachers. No ; 
 we want for this sublime, this arduous employment, 
 a good, a competent man, cost what he may. 
 
 This is the sentiment that should pervade a re- 
 publican community. This is the feeling that 
 must be universal before we can attain that spe- 
 cies of education which is essential to national 
 safety, not to sp3ak of what is requisite to secure 
 those large and enduring ends to which we are 
 aspiring. But, alas ! the contrast between the ex- 
 pedient and the actual ! Although it may be proved 
 to demonstration, as above, that supposing the 
 schools to be taught by permanent teachers, (and 
 no others can acquire the experience and interest 
 requisite to make them skilful ;) and, supposing 
 these teachers to have families, (and any other 
 expectation is absurd,) New-York cannot possibly 
 provide for the respectable education of her chil- 
 dren, with a smaller expenditure than something 
 like three millions and a half a year ; and yet, a 
 very few years since, the whole amount of money 
 paid for teachers' wages, by the people of New- 
 York, was estimated by the superintendent at 
 something like six hundred thousand dollars, or 
 about one sixth the sum proved to be indispensa-
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 165 
 
 bly necessary as the minimum amount, to procure 
 the permanent services of qualified teachers. 
 
 Now, what have been the consequences of this 
 inadequate provision? Let history answer, and 
 by the mouth of their own superintendent, when 
 he appropriates " as peculiarly applicable to his 
 own state," the language of the executive com- 
 mittee of Massachusetts, who declare that the 
 system of education as now supported by law, 
 has but little changed with all the astonishing 
 changes which half a century of national inde- 
 pendence, of vicissitude from poverty and priva- 
 tion, to public and private prosperity, wealth, and 
 luxury, have produced ;" or, when employing his 
 own language as already quoted, he affirms, that 
 " The miserable economy which prevails of employ- 
 ing cheap teachers without reference to their fit- 
 ness, has a tendency to depress, rather than to 
 elevate the standard of education in our common 
 schools." 
 
 I flatter myself, enough has been said to prove 
 that our legislative provisions for the support of 
 education have been any thing but liberal ; that 
 they have been measured by the dictates of a 
 false economy, and have been altogether insuffi- 
 cient for the ends proposed. But as this is a point 
 of so much practical importance, I shall pursue it 
 in another section. Were I to speak of other 
 states than those that have been mentioned, I 
 might state the fact, that it was once the fortune
 
 166 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 of the author to point out the absurdity of a school 
 bill which had been printed by order, and was 
 actually pending before the lower house of one of 
 our legislative bodies, by an arithmetical demon- 
 stration, that it proposed to bring the inestimable 
 boon of education within the reach of even the 
 poorest and the stingiest, by reducing the price 
 of tuition to something like twelve and a half cents 
 a scholar per annum ! 
 
 I was informed, however, by one behind the 
 scenes, that there was concealed beneath this bill 
 an electioneering scheme, to be played off on the 
 multitude prior to the next elections ; and hence, 
 I gather another reason for distrusting an exclu- 
 sive reliance on legislative efforts in behalf of 
 education. If (as there is but too much cause to 
 apprehend,) the spirit of legislation shall become 
 so prostituted and degraded, that this sacred topic 
 shall be neglected, or attended to, as may subserve 
 the selfish ends of office-seeking, office-keeping lust, 
 does it not become our duty, as Christians and as 
 citizens, to look after its interests ourselves ; to 
 take the matter into our own hands ; to make up 
 our minds deliberately and intelligently as to what 
 had best be done ; and then, instead of trusting 
 longer to the spontaneous action of our legislatures, 
 speak to them in the language of authoritative in- 
 struction, which they shall not seek to evade nor 
 disobey ?
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 167 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 (CONTINUED.) 
 
 Two plans by which the diffusion of education may be effected : 
 the first, by making it cheap ; the second, by making it 
 good. The former, which is the expedient generally resorted 
 to, is not only unwise, but works its own defeat. This proved 
 by a reference to the theory and operation of our best and oldest 
 school systems. Separation of the children of the rich and 
 poor a necessary consequence of the excessive cheapening of 
 education. This to be avoided only by such liberal remunera- 
 tion of teachers as will induce men of talents and professional 
 skill to engage in the business. Impolicy of employing cheap 
 teachers. Belter to elevate the taste of the people than lower 
 the price of tuition. 
 
 THERE are, as has been already intimated, two 
 methods that may be resorted to for the purpose 
 of diffusing education through a community, in 
 choosing between which, it becomes us to pro- 
 ceed with the utmost caution and deliberation. 
 The first is, to put the price of tuition so low that 
 the poorest parent can afford to pay it ; the 
 second, to induce the people to set so high a value 
 upon education, that they will resolve to have it, 
 and of a good quality, regardless of the cost. The 
 former regards the task of providing for the cost 
 of public instruction as being almost exclusively a 
 legislative duty, and narrows it down to a mere 
 financial operation ; the latter contemplates it as 
 a social concern, and looks for the wisdom and 
 efficiency of measures chiefly, if not entirely, to 
 public sentiment.
 
 168 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 The first is the expedient which has hitherto 
 been generally adopted, and with what conse- 
 quences, I have partially pointed out. But 1 have, 
 by no means, done with the subject. It may be 
 very safely admitted, (though there is good reason 
 to doubt even this,) that upon this principle, what 
 is commonly called education, may become more 
 widely disseminated ; but on the oiher hand, there 
 is not ground for the shadow of a misgiving, that 
 its diffusion on this plan induces such a deteriora- 
 tion of its quality as makes it, to say the least, a 
 questionable blessing. It were a very doubtful, 
 as well as unavailing charity, to divide a loaf of 
 spoiled bread among a thousand starving indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 This, however, is not all ; and I proceed to 
 show respecting it, that it must necessarily fail of 
 attaining one of the noblest ends proposed by a 
 system of national education ; and that, with re- 
 ference to this, it works its own defeat. 
 
 Preparatory to this, it will be necessary to state 
 the theory of common school systems in those of 
 the older members of our confederacy, which 
 were the foremost to establish them. In these, 
 the right, policy, and duty of legislative provision 
 for the support of popular education, have from 
 the earliest period been distinctly and practically 
 asserted. To make such provision, the aggregate 
 property of the community has been considered 
 as being at the disposal of the legislature ; and
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 169 
 
 the only question has been, how the public re- 
 sources could be best employed for its attainment. 
 
 The right of suffrage, and the duty of fitting 
 one's self for the judicious use of it, are looked 
 upon as reciprocal and dependent. If a citizen, 
 therefore, have the means, but want the inclina- 
 tion, the authority of the state directly or indi- 
 rectly compels him to educate his children ; whilst 
 those to whom the means are wanting, are to be 
 provided for by taxation of the property of the 
 rich. In short, all the children of the community 
 are regarded as belonging to the state, whilst the 
 entire property of the state, as of a common 
 parent, is made responsible for their education ; 
 and the object is, to assemble in the same elemen- 
 tary schools, on terms of perfect equality, all the 
 children of the rich and poor ; thus to place in- 
 discriminately within the reach of all, knowledge, 
 that cardinal element of power, which not only 
 checks but controls all others, and constitutes the 
 only practicable and unexceptionable leveller. 
 
 These are the principles, and this the aim of 
 the common school systems of the states alluded 
 to ; but nothing is easier to prove, than that the 
 expedient now under consideration tends directly 
 to produce in schools that very discrimination of 
 the rich and poor, which it has been a primary 
 aim of these systems to prevent, and to accelerate 
 the classification of the members of society accord- 
 ing to their wealth. 
 
 15
 
 170 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 My appeal is to experience, in support of this 
 assertion. Let any inquirer travel through certain 
 portions of New-England where experience is 
 ripest, in Connecticut for instance, and the exist- 
 ence of this tendency will be made known to him 
 by the acknowledgement and complaint of every 
 intelligent citizen he may meet with. The reasons 
 for this are obvious. Education, in the free schools, 
 by being cheapened in price, has also been so much 
 cheapened in quality, that those who can help 
 themselves will not accept oi it even as a gra- 
 tuity ; and, consequently, they provide select pri- 
 vate schools for their children, in which, by the 
 payment of liberal salaries, they engage the ser- 
 vices of men of talents and attainments. 
 
 Nor shall we be surprised at this result, when 
 we reflect that it has followed most naturally 
 upon the preposterous attempt to put intellectual 
 and manual labour upon the same footing as to 
 wages ; and, that in numerous cases, the educa- 
 tion of young patriots in the school-house is ac- 
 tually undertaken for less pay than would com- 
 mand the services of carmen in the streets, or 
 knights of the blacking brush in the hotels. 
 
 These remarks, however, are applicable to the 
 lauded public schools of our cities, even more 
 emphatically than to the free schools scattered 
 over the country. These are any thing but re- 
 publican in their character. Two very simple 
 questions will decide this point, viz : do the alder-
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 171 
 
 men and the literary men, who manage and be- 
 praise them, send their children to these schools? 
 or, on the contrary, is it not, for the most part, 
 the children of the poor, or of the stingy, or of 
 those who do not set a proper value upon real 
 education, by whom they are frequented ? They 
 are "excellent schools," "first-rate schools," 
 " very good schools," (for the poor /) 
 
 As for the children of the rich and the aspir- 
 ing, you must look elsewhere for them, than in 
 these intellectual receptacles of pauperism. The 
 wealthy merchant, and the high-minded profes- 
 sional man, pay most cheerfully their proportion 
 of tax towards the support of the public institu- 
 tions ; but it is evident they regard it either in 
 the light of a benevolent contribution, or as a 
 matter of social expediency ; for instead of avail- 
 ing themselves, as they might, of the opportunity 
 thus created for the economical education of 
 their children, in these " excellent schools" they 
 send them to " select " private schools, conducted 
 by highly qualified instructers, who have but a 
 few pupils, for each of whom they receive from 
 fifty to a hundred dollars a year tuition. 
 
 It is a fact full of instruction, and warning, that 
 in most, if not in all our cities where public 
 schools have been established, from two to four 
 times the amount is paid to private teachers for 
 the instruction of a few, that is levied upon prop-
 
 172 ESSENTIAL FEATTTRES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 
 
 erty, for the maintenance of the public seminaries 
 where the many are instructed. 
 
 By the eighteenth annual report of the control- 
 lers of public schools of the city and county of 
 Philadelphia, there were gathered into these 
 schools somewhat over 13,000 children, for whose 
 tuition were paid about $40,000 ; or, not quite 
 four dollars a scholar ! Now I am sure, I hazard 
 nothing by asserting, in the absence of positive 
 information, that it would be an easy matter to 
 find in the city of Philadelphia, one-thirteenth of 
 this number of children, for whose instruction a 
 much larger sum is annually paid. 
 
 In the public schools in the city of Louisville, 
 there were by the report of 1835, seven hundred 
 and twenty children, taught by eight teachers, 
 whose aggregate wages amounted to $5,700, ma- 
 king the annual cost of instruction, for each pu- 
 pil, something under $8. And yet, I know that 
 two schools alone, out of a number on the inde- 
 pendent basis, could have been pointed out, in 
 which, fifty boys, most of them quite small, paid 
 within a trifle of this sum. 
 
 In the public schools of the city of New- York, 
 (the year before last if I mistake not,) there were 
 instructed 14,105 children at an expense of some- 
 thing like $90,000 ; or, less than $6 50 a scholar ; 
 whilst 1,500 at $60, or 1 125 at $80, or only 900 at 
 $100, (which are by no means uncommon prices,) 
 would pay as much !
 
 OF NATION All EDUCATION. 173 
 
 Now surely this inequality must be wrong on. 
 one side or the other. If the allowance of $60, 
 880, or $100, a year for tuition, is not the con- 
 summation of extravagance, where shall we find 
 terms to express our ideas of that mistaken econ- 
 omy, which reduces the price of tuition to $8, as 
 in Louisville, or to $4, as in Philadelphia, or to 
 $6 50, as in the city of New- York, for the pur- 
 pose of bringing the advantages of education with- 
 in the reach of the mass of the children in society ? 
 
 The higher price is voluntarily paid, that the 
 parent may secure to his child the services of a 
 superior teacher, who shall bind himself to attend 
 to a small number of pupils. But if these condi- 
 tions are requisite for good instruction, (which is 
 certainly as desirable for the many, as for the 
 few,) it is impossible that a teacher can attain 
 this end, no matter what his qualifications, when 
 overburdened with fifty, eighty, and sometimes 
 even a hundred pupils. Supposing the teachers 
 to be on a perfect equality as to professional qual- 
 ifications, (which, however, would contradict a 
 settled principle in political economy.) there still 
 must be a vast difference in the results, in conse- 
 quence of the difference of attention which each 
 pupil can receive. Education, in the private 
 schools, cannot fail of being superior to that re- 
 ceived in the public schools ; and when we recol- 
 lect that "knowledge is power," and that mind 
 will govern, what possible cause can produce so 
 15*
 
 174 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 marked discriminations in society, as that, on 
 which we theoretically rely for breaking down 
 or neutralizing the most stubborn of distinctions 1 
 
 The only possible way in which this separation 
 of the children of the rich and poor, and the exist- 
 ence of two sets of schools, Plebeian and Patrician, 
 can be prevented, is to make the public schools 
 such as will satisfy the rich ; in short, the best that 
 can be had. To accomplish this, it is indispensa- 
 ble that it be made the interest of men of talents 
 to fit themselves for the business of instruction as 
 4heir profession ; and there is but one conceivable 
 way in which this can be done, viz : by allowing 
 a liberal remuneration for their services. It is a 
 law, admitting as few exceptions as any other, 
 that labour always tends to the highest wages ; 
 and that the quality of the workman and conse- 
 quently of the work, bears a direct relation to the 
 magnitude of the pay. Men will not work for 
 nothing ; and teachers surrounding themselves 
 with families, have no right to do so, more than 
 other classes of men. The following language of 
 the Christian Examiner, used originally with 
 reference to a different, but kindred profession, is 
 peculiarly applicable to that of instruction. 
 
 " Public opinion has pressed upon members of 
 this profession in such a manner that many have 
 lost in a measure the sense of duty which they 
 owe their social relations. No impression is more 
 common, than that if they can be barely supported,
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 175 
 
 it is all they have any reason or right to expect. 
 That is to say all idea of acquiring property 
 from their calling is with most of them out of the 
 question from the very first. If the annual salary 
 pay the expenses of the year, they are to be con- 
 tent. Now this way of thinking is utterly wrong 
 in conscience and in duty. A man has no right 
 to surround himself with a class of beings entirely 
 dependent upon the thread of his life, not to say 
 these are his children, beings dearer to him than 
 life, and whom every law of God and nature give 
 a most absolute claim upon him he would have 
 no right to take beggars from the hedge, and treat 
 them so." 
 
 I dwell upon this subject because of its funda- 
 mental importance. Society may blame itself, 
 its own false notions of economy, for the defective 
 education under which it groans. That it is im- 
 perfect, none pretend to deny ; but, even were it 
 more so, the community would still receive a full 
 equivalent for the pitiful remuneration begrudged 
 to its conductors. The only proper cause for 
 wonder is, that it is so good. Instructors of youth 
 feel that talents and professional skill are property, 
 for which, when used for others' benefit, they 
 deserve to be paid, and in doing so, they but 
 think and feel as human beings. Good education, 
 like all other valuable products of human industry, 
 has its natural price, which is fixed by uncon- 
 trollable principles ; and the only alternative with
 
 176 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OP A SYSTEM 
 
 a community, whether acting directly, or through 
 its legislative representatives, is, to have it on 
 these terms, or not at all. Nothing is clearer 
 than that there exists a general wish to have it 
 below its natural cost ; and society itself needs to 
 be informed in the plainest terms of the futility of 
 all such expectations ; for legislation, more than any 
 other immediate cause, has contributed to the ex- 
 istence of wrong impressions and practice on this 
 subject, and cannot be expected to apply the cor- 
 rective to evils which it perseveringly upholds. 
 
 I confess, my hopes for the improvement of 
 education, bear an exact proportion to the advance 
 in the prices of tuition. The mercurial fluid is 
 not more obedient to variations of atmospheric 
 temperature. That there exists a favourable ten- 
 dency in this respect, I firmly believe ; and I hail 
 with joy every indication of its progress as a most 
 auspicious omen of better things. To this I fondly 
 trust for the rapid intellectual advancement, at no 
 distant day, of the south and south-west portions 
 of our Union. Possessing in profusion the means 
 of education, and inclined not merely to a liberal, 
 but a prodigal expenditure to gratify their wishes, 
 they have only to learn the best method of employ- 
 ing it for the attainment of real happiness, both 
 personal and social ; and the moral power of 
 money, when judiciously applied, will soon re- 
 ceive from them a new and striking illustration. 
 
 Kentucky, for example, were she only aware of
 
 IggT OF NATION AT, EDUCATION. 177 
 
 her advantages in this respect, (and her recent 
 movements show that she will not always remain 
 blind to her best interests,) might, in the language 
 of one of the ripest scholars of New-England 
 respecting her, " at no distant period boast of the 
 most enlightened population in the new world ; 
 and have her example looked up to with respect 
 and deference not only by the states beyond the 
 Allegany, but by all who border on the Atlantic 
 Ocean." In New- York, and throughout New- 
 England generally, the prices of tuition, (I refer 
 to the free schools,) must advance at least four- 
 fold, before they shall have reached their natural 
 height ; and many, many years I fear will have 
 elapsed, before the minds of the people can be so 
 far liberalized, and enlightened, as to make them 
 willing that the cost of education shall be quadru- 
 pled upon them. 
 
 In Kentucky, on the contrary, the general prac- 
 tice, and still more the popular sentiment, is fully 
 up to the demands of the natural law upon this 
 subject. I should not greatly err, were I to say that 
 the average price of tuition throughout the state 
 does not vary much from ten dollars a year, a pupil. 
 At this rate, it is only requisite to assemble forty 
 scholars in a school, and a salary of four hundred 
 dollars is provided for the teachers of common 
 schools ; a sum which is not unfrequently ac- 
 cepted in New-England, by college graduates, 
 who obtain situations in academies. Certainly,
 
 178 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OP A SYSTEM 
 
 then, I do not overrate the advantages which may 
 be enjoyed by Kentucky in this respect, (if she 
 will only be wise enough to use them,) since the 
 customary rates of tuition are such as may engage 
 in the instruction of her ABC scholars a grade 
 of talent, which at the north is employed in 
 fitting young men for college. 
 
 All that is wanting in Kentucky, is, that all the 
 people be induced to send their children to school. 
 The rates of tuition are reasonably high at pre- 
 sent, and are decidedly advancing. Twelve, 
 sixteen, and even twenty dollars are not at all 
 uncommon prices in country schools where the 
 studies rise above the ordinary branches. Only 
 let her Legislature then devise some measures by 
 which to induce a general attendance at school 
 of the children of the State, without a material 
 diminution of these rates of tuition, and Kentucky 
 may win the enviable distinction of having the 
 best public school system in the Union. 
 
 The almost unprecedented liberality of the city 
 of Louisville, in this respect, deserves to be univer- 
 sally known, that she may attract to herself that 
 competition of superior teachers which her con- 
 duct richly merits. A city that within two years 
 will advance the prices of tuition as she did, 
 from forty dollars as a maximum, almost to 
 forty dollars, as a minimum ; making fifty, sixty, 
 eighty, and a hundred dollars common prices, de- 
 gerves, as she cannot fail in time to enjoy, the ser-
 
 OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 179 
 
 vices of the very best teachers in the land. Such 
 liberality would soon create good teachers in any 
 numbers if they did not already exist; even attract- 
 ing talent from the crowded professions of law and 
 medicine. 
 
 The true and fundamental reason why the bu- 
 siness of teaching is in so degraded a condition, 
 is, that it is so badly paid. Only let it be put 
 upon a proper footing in this particular, and it will 
 be one of the most inviting employments in the 
 world. No wonder it is in disrepute, when so- 
 ciety suffers, or rather constrains it to be in such 
 a condition that it scarcely suggests any other 
 ideas to the mind of the aspiring youth when 
 meditating what profession he shall follow, than 
 those of starvation, drudgery, and disgrace. Let 
 it however become appreciated and rewarded as 
 it should be ; let society be brought to feel that its 
 amusements, dress, any thing, and every thing, in 
 short, must be selected as the objects of econo- 
 mical retrenchment, sooner than the minds and 
 hearts of their offspring, and it will not be long 
 before we shall see colleges for educating teach- 
 ers springing up in every state, and crowds of 
 talented competitors pressing forward to an em- 
 ployment, which, I repeat with equal sincerity 
 and emphasis is, under chosen circumstances, one 
 of the most dignified, useful, and delightful upon 
 earth. 
 
 Only let the skeptical on this point think of the
 
 180 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OP A SYSTEM 
 
 real position which the teacher occupies ; that to 
 him are delegated all the fascinating duties of 
 parental love ; that he becomes an auxiliary in 
 the animating task of training the immortal spirit 
 for usefulness on earth, and happiness in Heaven ; 
 let him remember, that his business is exclusively 
 with mind, with the affections as well as with the 
 understanding ; let him consider, too, that the in- 
 structer of youth has more leisure by far than any 
 other calling affords ; that he has generally one- 
 twelfth, if not one-sixth, of the entire year, vaca- 
 tion ; that of the remainder, two-sevenths, or two 
 whole days in each week are devoted to rest ; and 
 that even on the five school days he is not em- 
 ployed professionally more than one-half the hours 
 of daylight ; let him, I say, give due weight to 
 these considerations, and he will be prepared to 
 acquiesce in the assertion, that the only reason 
 why the employment of the schoolmaster is con- 
 sidered irksome is, that society does not render a 
 proper compensation for his services ; that he 
 himself has not right conceptions of its nature, its 
 pleasures, and its duties ; and above all, because 
 he does not fit himself by a deliberate, thorough, 
 professional education, for an easy, pleasant, and 
 productive performance of its various offices. 
 
 I cannot fancy to myself a more inviting and 
 endearing relation, than that which the qualified 
 instructer has it in his power to establish with their 
 families, as well as with the children themselves
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 181 
 
 committed to his charge. He may become the inti- 
 mate, the confidential, friend of each ; identifying 
 himself with their dearests interests. Almost for- 
 getting that his pupils have any other parents, he 
 may get to look upon them as his own. He may 
 share their sports, sympathize with their little 
 troubles, lighten their labour by judicious help, 
 exult in their manifestations of expanding intellect, 
 be cheered by their smiles, animated by their love, 
 live in their earthly hopes, and be thrilled with the 
 transporting anticipation of witnessing in a better 
 world the ceaseless progress of that education 
 which he had commenced in this. 
 
 I envy not that teacher his conceptions, and his 
 feelings, in relation to his office, who can coldly 
 call this fiction. I covet not his experience, if he 
 have not tasted sufficiently of the delights pour- 
 trayed, to induce him to believe, that under better 
 auspices, the whole may yet be realized. 
 
 And is it not the interest of society, (to say 
 nothing of duty to their children,) to provide men 
 capable of appreciating this relation, and every 
 way equal to the refined and noble labours it 
 enjoins ? If so, let it be carefully borne in mind, 
 there is but one way of effecting it they must 
 first educate, and then maintain them. 
 
 It would be difficult to select a case in which 
 
 the law " like produces like," is more exactly 
 
 verified, than in the work of education. As is the 
 
 teacher, so of necessity almost will be the scholar ; 
 
 16
 
 182 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OP A SYSTEM 
 
 and if it be true that as is the pay, so is the teacher, 
 it surely is unwise, if not unkind, to entail upon our 
 children the curse of miseducation, (an evil that 
 admits no remedy,) in obedience to the dictates of 
 a false economy. A Roman sage was once re- 
 quested by a rich but parsimonious citizen, to 
 state the price for which he would educate his 
 son. " For so much," was the answer. " I could 
 buy a slave to teach him for that," replied the 
 father. " Do so," said the philosopher, " and you 
 will have two." 
 
 Were further testimony wanted to support the 
 doctrine I am maintaining, I might refer to the 
 instructive experience of the eastern states. 
 
 Look for instance at the schools of Boston, the 
 pride of that literary capital. At the head of these 
 institutions, public and private, you will find gen- 
 tlemen of the first respectability for talents and 
 acquirements ; almost without exception, college 
 graduates ; some of whom have even abandoned 
 the professions of medicine and law, for that of 
 teaching. And why ? The answer is obvious. 
 Because it was made their interest. The salaries 
 of those engaged in the service of the city, vary from 
 eight to twenty-five hundred dollars per annum ; 
 whilst many of the proprietors of private schools, 
 receive eighty and one hundred dollars a year for 
 tuition, from each of eighty, one hundred, and in 
 some cases of one hundred and fifty pupils. 
 
 Contrast with this the state of things in Connec-
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 183 
 
 ticut, where, about the time of thanksgiving, the 
 roads will be lined with young cultivators of the 
 soil, who not being able to find, in winter, employ- 
 ment for their hands, itinerate the country, vend- 
 ing the services of their heads to the highest bidder* 
 and accepting of salaries of from eight to twenty 
 dollars a month ! 
 
 In the one case, you will find a proud and hon- 
 ourable satisfaction with their schools. In the 
 other, universal complaint, societies for the im- 
 provement of common schools, petitions to the 
 legislature for reform, a dissatisfaction with the 
 effects of their fund almost amounting to a wish 
 for its annihilation, a drain of scholars from the 
 public to the private schools, and the aristocracy 
 of wealth, fortifying itself by becoming an aristoc- 
 racy in literature. 
 
 These representations, so far from operating 
 against the interests of the poor, are expressly 
 designed and calculated to promote them. If it 
 be true that " knowledge is power," and that there 
 is a dependent connexion between liberal salaries 
 and the employment of talents, and between the 
 employment of talents and good education, whose 
 fruit is knowledge, how, I would ask, can the 
 unsuspected ascendency of the rich be more effec- 
 tually secured, than by putting off the poor in 
 means, with the present of a poor education ? Only 
 allow the rich, (no matter under what pretext; 
 whether of philanthrophy, or patriotism, or of inte-
 
 184 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 rest,) to prescribe the education of the poor, and 
 they prescribe their condition and relative impor- 
 tance. If any thing be anti-republican, it certainly 
 is so, directly or indirectly, to maintain that although 
 a hundred dollars a year is not too much to be 
 expended for the mental improvement of the son 
 of the wealthy merchant, lawyer, and physician ; 
 a two or three dollar education, (the estimated 
 cost of public school instruction at the east, is quite 
 sufficient for the children of the poor, or rather 
 for the mass of our fellow-citizens. 
 
 I think it perfectly manifest, therefore, that if 
 the aggregate property of the community is so far 
 a common fund, that it is responsible for the in- 
 struction of all its children ; then it is peculiarly 
 the interest of the poor, that the education imparted 
 should be of the very best character ; for if a 
 liberal expenditure of funds be necessary to secure 
 it, it is not from them, but from the property and 
 property holders of the country, that these funds 
 must be obtained, 
 
 It were a sufficient objection to the pseudo- 
 economic scheme that it helps the rich as well as 
 the poor. But it does far more than this ; for 
 while it tends materially to the pecuniary relief 
 of the rich, it operates essentially to the moral 
 injury of the poor, by lessening the value of the 
 education provided for their children, designating 
 them as a class, and ensuring permanently their 
 relative inferiority, by debarring them the benefits
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 185 
 
 of that liberal mental culture which alone can 
 enable them to rise superior to their condition. 
 
 On the other hand, if a common school system 
 be adopted, in which a large amount of money 
 accruing from taxation is expended indiscrimi- 
 nately for the benefit of all, it is obvious, that while 
 the intellectual and moral fruits are far more val- 
 uable, the burden of expense falls chiefly on the 
 rich. And so it should. They have a pecuniary 
 interest in the prevalence of good morals and in- 
 telligence in society which causes them to receive 
 in indirect returns, more than an equivalent for 
 all the money they expend to promote the cause of 
 education. They are not benefactors ; nor should 
 the poor regard themselves as beneficiaries in this 
 case, any more than in the application of these 
 principles to provide for the civil and military 
 expenses of the government. 
 
 Far be it from me to insinuate that our present 
 schemes of popular instruction originated in so 
 knavish and ignoble a purpose ; but it is clear that 
 if the property holders of the country had desired 
 to devise a plan by which, with the least possible 
 tax upon their purses, the poor should be made 
 satisfied with the semblance of education ; a more 
 ingenious and effectual stratagem could not have 
 been invented, than that which legislation has in- 
 advertently furnished to their hands. There is a 
 stubborn relation between quality and price which 
 holds of education as of every thing else. Univer' 
 16*
 
 186 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 sally, workmanship will be good or bad, according 
 to the remuneration of the operatives. And since 
 the chief cost of education is for tuition, and as 
 the only way of cheapening this is to reduce the 
 pay of teachers, it is self-evident, that a resort to 
 this expedient must raise an effectual bar to the 
 employment of talents ; and that the consequences 
 will be visited chiefly upon the poor ; for the chil- 
 dren of the rich will instantly take refuge in the 
 private schools conducted by masters of profes- 
 sional ability^ 
 
 I no less confidently believe, that to enhance 
 the cost of education so as to bring it to the na- 
 tural standard, would impose no material hinder- 
 ance to its diffusion. On the contrary', I indulge 
 the strongest hopes that its tendency would be 
 directly the reverse ; and that the most effectual 
 mode of securing the general spread of education 
 would be, to elevate its standard by the employ- 
 ment of none but teachers of superior qualifications. 
 Education, at their hands, would soon come to be 
 regarded as a token of distinction which every 
 parent would covet for his children. In times 
 when it was considered an honour for kings and 
 cardinals to read, it inflicted no disgrace upon a 
 commoner not to know his letters ; but so soon 
 as this attainment got to be common in society, 
 the want of it became, in the highest degree, 
 disreputable, and then every body learned to 
 read.. At present, in many parts of our country.
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 187 
 
 the fruits of education are so indifferent, as to 
 excite but little solicitude for their enjoyment. 
 When a year or two's attendance upon school 
 makes a man write so indifferent a hand that he 
 is ashamed to attempt the drafting a receipt ; and 
 gives him so slight a knowledge of arithmetic,, 
 that he is afraid to trust himself to make the most 
 ordinary calculation ; we need not be surprised 
 to hear the illiterate declare, "they do not see 
 what they are to gain by sending their children 
 to school, since they make just as good corn and 
 hay, plough, and cut wood, just as well without 
 knowing a letter in the book." 
 
 There is no room to wonder that the people 
 seem indifferent to that, whose value is so am- 
 biguous, and which is seen to confer so little of 
 honour or of profit. Under existing circumstan- 
 ces, in many of our states, the difference is so 
 trivial between the man who has spent some time 
 at school, arid him who has never entered one, as 
 to excite but little satisfaction in the one^ or un- 
 easiness in the other. But only let the advantages 
 of education be made so obvious, (by the employ- 
 ment of able teachers,) that intelligence shall be- 
 come a badge of honourable distinction, and very 
 soon ignorance will be regarded as a mark of dis- 
 grace, with which no parent who can help it will 
 permit his children to be branded. 
 
 In such a state of things, the only question 
 necessary to be asked, is, are the people generally 
 able to educate their children ? And to this it
 
 188 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A SYSTEM 
 
 must be answered, that in nine cases out often, 
 they are, if they can only be induced to set such 
 a value upon education as shall make them willing, 
 by economizing upon furniture, on dress, and vari- 
 ous superfluities, to provide the means for confer- 
 ring its inestimable blessings on their offspring. 
 Of our ability, as a nation, to educate our children, 
 and to educate them well, there is no question. 
 The money that is annually squandered upon 
 vicious pleasures would more than pay the differ- 
 ence between the demands of good and bad in- 
 structers. I question if the single article of ardent 
 spirits did not, some years back, cost the republic 
 quite as large a sum as she paid in tuition fees for 
 all her children. 
 
 It can then never be too much regretted, that 
 in providing the means for general instruction, the 
 people should have been encouraged to depend 
 on legislative aid as a measure of relief ; to station 
 themselves, like beggars, at the door of their own 
 treasury, uttering the incessant cry of give, give, 
 as though they were the merest objects of charity, 
 and the legislature had an independent fund from 
 which to dispense, at pleasure, its donations. 
 
 Were it in the power of our legislators to give 
 pecuniary relief to their constituents, there might 
 then be some pretext for this humiliating depend- 
 ence ; but they cannot afford a particle. They 
 can give the people nothing, for the best of rea- 
 sons ; they have nothing of their own to give.
 
 OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 189 
 
 The utmost they can do is to vote away the peo- 
 ple's contributions. The appropriations which 
 they make from funds, or otherwise, are not the 
 less taxation, because indirect. Nor can they re- 
 duce the natural cost of education. Instructers 
 will not labour for less than a support, because 
 paid by the state instead of the parents of their 
 pupils; nor will it take less lo support them in 
 this case. 
 
 We are forced then, irresistibly, to the conclu- 
 sion, that if we would enjoy the advantages of 
 genuine education, we must pay its price ; and 
 that, where a people are able to pay this, it is bet- 
 ter to elevate their taste, than to lower the wages of 
 instruction. I most firmly believe that every thing 
 may be- achieved by inducing the people to set a 
 proper estimate upon the worth of education ; 
 and that little or nothing can be done without 
 this. Only let them be brought to appreciate it as 
 they ought, and they will not only be willing, but 
 will either find, or by economy and industry will 
 create the means with which to pay for it* 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 THE last of the seven propositions laid down in 
 the beginning of this chapter, in relation to the 
 essential features of a national system of education
 
 190 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 
 
 suited to the United States, is, that " for the su- 
 pervision and general execution of its plans, it 
 must appoint wise and energetic superintendents." 
 The expediency and simplicity of such an ar- 
 rangement are so obvious, that it is scarcely ne- 
 cessary to enter into details, either for the sake of 
 illustration, or of proof; and as I shall have to 
 allude to it again in a subsequent part of this 
 volume, I pass it by for the present.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE PRACTICABILITY OP NATIONAL EDUCATION. 
 
 SECTION I> 
 
 Proofs of the practicability of such a system of national education 
 as is required by the United States. 1. It is practicable, be- 
 cause it is the will of God that every human being should re- 
 ceive such an education as it proposes. 2. Because every child 
 possesses a native right to it. 3. Because the great obstacle 
 to its execution is, not the want of ability, but popular indiffer- 
 ence, a moral hinderance which may be removed by the force 
 of moral causes. 4. Because its practicability is assumed by 
 the Christian religion, and by our political constitutions. 
 
 IF the reasoning in the Second Chapter of this 
 volume be correct, we cannot escape the convic- 
 tion, that the American people, in order to be 
 prosperous and happy, must be a religious people ; 
 that governments such as ours, are safe and prac- 
 ticable only in alliance with a popular morality 
 emanating solely from the Bible ; and that the 
 general prevalence of public virtue, of a genuine 
 sort, can be secured in no other way than by edu- 
 cating the moral as well as the intellectual facul- 
 ties, and by forming the moral character of the
 
 192 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 children of our country upon Christian principles. 
 The genius of our governments, and especially the 
 critical condition of the country, imperatively call 
 for a system of national education which shall 
 strictly harmonize with the great requirement of 
 inspiration " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy soul and mind and strength, and thy 
 neighbour as thyself." 
 
 We want an education which shall make each 
 voter go to the polls under a deep sense of reli- 
 gious responsibility ; conscious, as when lifting his 
 hand in solemn asseveration at the bar of j ustice, that 
 the eye of the Omniscient is upon him ; and that 
 his motives, and his vote, will undergo a strict re- 
 vision when the secrets of all hearts shall be re- 
 vealed. We want a system of education which 
 shall reform our corrupt and corrupting system of 
 electioneering ; which shall make the candidate 
 for office rest his claims upon his character, his 
 talents, his knowledge, and his experience ; which 
 shall prepare the poor and the necessitous to spurn 
 the offer of a bribe, and to record their detestation 
 of the vice, as well as of the tempter, in the poll 
 book ; which shall embolden the day labourer to 
 quit the spindle or the plough and to give his voice, 
 if duly bid him, against the election of his rich 
 employer ; which shall make the apartment where 
 the suffrages of the people are recorded, a court 
 of conscience, in which private interest, personal 
 predilections, and relationship, are cheerfully
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 193 
 
 sacrificed to a supreme regard for principle, and 
 the general welfare of the country ; which shall 
 restrain the excesses of party spirit ; shall encour- 
 age submission to law, and a cheerful acquies- 
 cence in the will of the majority. In short, we 
 want an education whose tendency shall be to 
 make every man industrious in his calling, honest 
 in his dealings, and benevolent in his disposition : 
 a judicious father, a good neighbour and a vir- 
 tuous, high-minded, patriotic citizen, 
 
 The application of the doctrines of the Third 
 Chapter would call for a thorough revolution in 
 the system of education now prevalent among us; 
 requiring that the process of intellectual culture 
 be conducted with a primary regard to the form- 
 ation of those mental habits which shall qualify 
 each person to become a safe, discriminating, 
 accurate, productive, independent thinker ; at the 
 same time that it would impart to each pupil an 
 elementary knowledge of such branches of science 
 as would make him acquainted with his physical, 
 intellectual, and moral constitution ; with the mine- 
 ral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms of nature ; 
 and with the duties, and privileges, growing out of 
 his relation to the family, the neighbourhood, his 
 country, and his God. 
 
 To bestow such an education upon all the 
 children of the nation, it would be necessary to 
 prepare, by appropriate professional training, up- 
 wards of fifty thousand teachers : and to secure 
 17
 
 194 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 the permanent services of these, there must be 
 raised something like twenty-five millions of dol- 
 lars annually in the United States, and this in 
 such a way as to cause the burden to fall lightly 
 on the poor, at the same time that it carefully and 
 utterly avoids the odious designation of their 
 children as a class. 
 
 The question which relates to the practicability 
 of such a system of national education is one of 
 the most important that can occupy the attention 
 of American citizens. I come now to the con- 
 sideration of this question, and in answer to the 
 inquiry is such a system practicable ? give my 
 response most cordially and emphatically in the 
 affirmative ; and proceed at once to assign the 
 reasons for this opinion. 
 
 I would premise that there are two ways in 
 which this subject may be discussed, or, that there 
 are two kinds of argument which may be em- 
 ployed ; the first, consisting of abstract reasoning 
 founded on elementary principles and facts ; the 
 second, of a statement of measures suitable and 
 sufficient to effect the end desired. I shall em- 
 ploy both these methods ; devoting the present 
 section to the first of them. 
 
 My first reason, then, for believing in the prac- 
 ticability of such a system of national education 
 as I have attempted to sketch, is founded upon 
 the fact that God has made it obligatory upon 
 parents and upon society to bestow on every child
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 195 
 
 the kind and amount of education which this sys- 
 tem calls for. 
 
 I assume it as a universal proposition whose 
 correctness it would be unnecessary if not wrong 
 to attempt to support by argument, that the Al- 
 mighty never imposes on us an obligation, nor 
 requires the performance of a duty, when obe- 
 dience is not practicable, provided the aids, facili- 
 ties and guidance which he promises, are properly 
 made use of. He has solemnly enjoined it upon 
 parents that they train up their children in the 
 way they should go, that they bring them up in 
 the nurture and admonition of the Lord ; and I 
 therefore believe it can be effected, if not in all 
 cases by the father or mother, yet invariably by 
 society, which, in cases of parental inability, suc- 
 ceeds to the parental obligation. 
 
 Another reason for believing in the practica- 
 bility of national education properly so called, is, 
 that such a system is in harmony with the natural 
 rights of man ; and because it implies a gross re- 
 flection upon Providence to maintain that their 
 observance and gratification are impossible. 
 
 By just so much as the soul is superior to the 
 body, would I rather believe that starvation in 
 hundreds of thousands of cases every year was 
 unavoidable in this land of plenty, than that, for 
 any providential reason, the minds of more than 
 half the children of our country should run to 
 waste, because of the impossibility of giving them 
 an education. If there be in this world of proba-
 
 196 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 tion an unhappy individual who by the force of 
 circumstances beyond the control of man is utterly 
 debarred the prospect of that spiritual culture 
 which shall prepare him for acting well his part 
 in life, and fit his soul for Heaven ; then in the 
 sacred name of charity, let him remain as pro- 
 foundly ignorant as possible of the dignity of his 
 nature, and of the hopelessnesss of his condition. 
 It is cruel to awaken hopes and aspirations which 
 we know at the very time can never be gratified. 
 It were mercy to such a wretch to seal up all 
 the avenues to his spirit, to cut off all the sources 
 of information, to repress the faintest rising of de- 
 sire, and thus to let him enjoy the pittance of 
 negative felicity which ignorance vouchsafes to 
 him. He is any thing but a benefactor who 
 shall apprise him of his hopeless slavery. 
 
 But we may rest assured th t the Almighty im- 
 poses no such necessity, as is here alluded to. 
 That it does exist ; that there are hundreds, and 
 thousands, who, by the power of the circumstan- 
 ces in which they are involuntarily placed, seem 
 to be shut out from the glorious career of improve- 
 ment that invites immortal beings, testimony in a 
 profusion which is painful, constrains us to acknow- 
 ledge ; but, that such is the ordination of infinite 
 benevolence, I will not, nay, I cannot believe. 
 Providence dooms no man's spirit to irremediable 
 servitude. He does not provoke his children to 
 envy the very brutes which perish. No the 
 

 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 197 
 
 disabilities which exist in regard to universal edu- 
 cation are of our own creating. That a state of 
 society incompatible with the intellectual and mo- 
 ral culture of all its members, does exist, we must 
 admit. But it is of human origin. We have cho- 
 sen to put things on a footing contrary to the wish- 
 es of our Heavenly Father. We have organized 
 society on principles at war with those established 
 by our Maker. In this respect "the foundations of 
 the earth are out of course." But are we there- 
 fore exonerated from our responsibility to execute 
 the designs, and conform to the purposes of the 
 Creator ? Every human being has a native, un- 
 transferable right to education, and it is obviously 
 the intention of the Almighty that he should 
 receive it. The bestowment of this blessing on all 
 is therefore practicable, and the fault is man's if 
 if they do not enjoy it. 
 
 But such are our business demands for time, 
 and such our love of money, that we try to per- 
 suade ourselves we are not able to afford the 
 necessary means and leisure, when in truth we 
 are only unwilling. If there is justice in the pro- 
 position, that the aggregate wealth of a nation 
 constitutes the fund pledged for the education of 
 its children, we have only to look at our commer- 
 cial and manufacturing statistics, to find, in less 
 than a moiety of what we pay for a very few 
 luxuries which might be specified, a fund amply 
 sufficient for all the purposes of national education. 
 17*
 
 198 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 That the difficulty of procuring means is a very 
 serious obstacle in the way of education ; that it 
 is the only formidable hinderance I grant. But 
 what is the reason ? It is not because we do not 
 possess them. The history of every year shows 
 that we have millions upon millions to expend ; 
 but a perverted national taste inclines us to ex- 
 pend them for the purpose of satisfying artificial 
 wants, rather than to procure the invaluable 
 benefits of education to the children of our country. 
 
 And can we, in such a case, institute the plea 
 of impracticability, as an apology for our neglect ? 
 This can be appropriated only in cases where 
 there is the want of ability or means, not where 
 there is merely the want of inclination. A rich 
 miser probably enough may lack inclination to 
 pay his tax to government ; but will this be con- 
 strued into inability to pay 1 Will he be excused 
 from payment on the ground of its being imprac- 
 ticable ? It is a strange view of morals which 
 tortures disinclination to perform a duty into an 
 excuse for not performing it. Ordinarily and cor- 
 rectly, it is regarded as an aggravation of the 
 fault. 
 
 The truth is, that as a nation, we are without 
 the shadow of apology for the state of education 
 among us. The money we spend for tobacco and 
 whisky alone, not to name genteeler luxuries, is 
 more than sufficient to educate our children. We 
 possess the means in abundance, and if we would
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 199 
 
 only appropriate them, all other difficulties would 
 melt away like dew before the summer's sun. 
 With what face, then, can we affirm that national 
 education is impracticable ? Who can state too 
 strongly the inconsistency, not to say the wicked- 
 ness, of ascribing to uncontrollable providential 
 arrangements, what is wholly attributable to a 
 corruption of the national taste ? Let us only be 
 prevailed upon to set a proper estimate on the 
 relative value of sensual and moral gratifications, 
 and we shall soon discover that infinite wisdom 
 and benevolence have not been guilty of the ab- 
 surdity of conferring rights which can never be 
 enjoyed ; of imparting susceptibilities that cannot 
 be cultivated ; of bestowing powers which can 
 never be employed ; of implanting desires that 
 can never be gratified ; and of imposing duties 
 which we are unable to discharge. 
 
 From these representations, it is obvious that 
 the real hinderances to education in the United 
 States are of a moral character, and may there- 
 fore be overcome by the application of moral 
 means. This affords another very encouraging 
 reason to believe in the practicability of national 
 education. 
 
 Were our condition that of Hottentots, who 
 may not have one cultivated mind to act upon the 
 rest, or that of savages, who can scarcely obtain 
 the necessaries of life, general education would, 
 I grant, be morally and financially impracticable.
 
 200 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 But we have surplus talent in abundance solicit- 
 ing employment ; and our national statistics show 
 that there is no lack of money, first to educate it 
 for the business of instruction, and then to secure 
 its services by the offer of liberal remuneration. 
 With us, therefore, I repeat, the question is not 
 one of means. It is a pure case of competition 
 between parental affection and patriotism on the 
 one hand, and sensual gratifications on the other; 
 between wine, tobacco, whisky, ribbons, silks, 
 and other luxuries, and the present and immortal 
 interests of our children ; and 1 think too well 
 of my species, and of my fellow-citizens, to indulge 
 the apprehension for a moment, that when the 
 case is fairly stated, the decision will not be a 
 wise and salutary one. I believe we love our 
 children and our country far better than we love 
 our money ; and, that when the criminal absurdity 
 of our present conduct shall be properly exposed, 
 the hoarding principle will be obliged to relax its 
 iron grasp. 
 
 If it were already true that the love of wealth, 
 and of luxurious indulgence, had fastened itself 
 impregnably upon the soul of the nation, why 
 then I grant we might, with some show of plausi- 
 bility, indulge despair ; but who is prepared to 
 make so humiliating a concession? Besides, what 
 effort has been made to dethrone the tyrannical 
 passion that has been starving the souls of our 
 countrymen ? We cannot wonder that the spirit
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 201 
 
 of the nation does not instinctively and revoltingly 
 throw off an incubus which the patriot and the 
 philanthropist, aye, and the Christian too, have 
 quietly endured till very recently. When such 
 sacred interests are at stake, it is worse than pu- 
 sillanimous to complain of the impracticability of 
 effecting that which we have not attempted. 
 
 The right of covetousness to almost universal 
 sway has just begun to be disputed ; and it is pre- 
 mature and cowardly, to own at the very opening 
 of the contest that its power is invincible. 
 
 The pulpit has scarce begun to thunder in the 
 ears of money-loving Christians, (if such a mis- 
 nomer can be tolerated,) that "idolatry" is the 
 synonyme of the passion which enslaves them ; 
 and that one and the same place will be assigned 
 to " fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, the 
 covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners ;" 
 and the all-subduing power of " the love of Christ" 
 is but just directing the attention of his true dis- 
 ciples to the heavenly maxim, " it is more blessed 
 to give than to receive." 
 
 The political economist, too, is just entering the 
 field with his demonstrations of the fact that EDU- 
 CATION is WEALTH, and that avarice is a passion 
 as blind as it is grovelling. The efficacy of this 
 appeal to enlightened selfishness, of this obla- 
 tion to the ruling passion of the land, is but 
 beginning to be tested ; and I confidently predict, 
 there resides in it a power which is to achieve
 
 202 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 wonders for the moral benefit of our country and 
 our race. 
 
 Nor has the historian yet come forward with 
 that most desirable piece of moral history, the 
 history of wealth in the United States. This, 
 when frankly written by an honest hand, must 
 exhibit the thrilling facts, that in a large majority 
 of cases the prospect of a fortune is a curse ; and 
 that the gaming-room, the brothel, and the grog- 
 shop, are the final reservoirs, if not of a moiety, 
 yet certainly of a very large proportion of the 
 hoarded riches of this nation. Such an exhibition 
 could not fail to induce parents to reconsider the 
 question as to the best method of ; n vesting a for- 
 tune intended for a child, and this as certainly 
 would lead to a conclusion highly favourable to 
 the interests of education. Let us look at this a 
 moment. 
 
 Let us suppose that an individual, arrived at 
 maturity, and observing the relation which culti- 
 vated mind sustains to respectability and efficien- 
 cy in life, were called upon to decide the ques- 
 tion, whether he would prefer to receive $20,000 
 with a stinted education, or only $10,000 with a 
 liberal, judicious education, can we imagine that 
 he could hesitate a moment to determine? If 
 parents therefore would spend the money design- 
 ed for their children, in the way which their 
 children themselves would infinitely prefer they 
 should have done when they come to enjoy
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 203 
 
 it, then let them spend it even lavishly for the 
 purposes of intellectual and moral culture. 
 
 Or let us suppose that education were an arti- 
 cle of ordinary traffic which could be acquired 
 or alienated in a moment for a monied considera- 
 tion, and then ask, what sum of money would in- 
 duce the well educated man, whose patrimony 
 had been exhausted in obedience to this policy, to 
 part with his education, on the condition that he 
 should remain as ignorant as the uneducated for 
 the balance of his life? Could all the pebbles 
 which line the bottom of the ocean be converted 
 into diamonds, they would not be sufficient to 
 purchase it. He feels that he has been put in 
 possession of that which is above all price. Of its 
 value, a pecuniary estimate cannot be made. 
 
 Now, I ask in sober earnest, in the name of 
 common sense, as well as of duty and humanity, 
 is there any other mode of investing money for 
 our descendants half so desirable and profitable as 
 this ? And then, too, it is an indestructible in- 
 vestment. Money may perish in the fluctuations 
 incident to stocks ; landed property may depre- 
 ciate in value, or be swallowed up by an earth- 
 quake ; wealth in all its forms is notoriously un- 
 certain, and may " take wings and fly away as 
 an eagle towards Heaven ;" but that which is ex- 
 pended in the cultivation of the mind, is placed 
 beyond the reach of accident. It constitutes an
 
 204 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 investment that cannot be alienated, and is as im- 
 perishable as the soul itself. 
 
 Oh ! if parents would but entertain these views, 
 and act them out ; if they would but restrain the 
 hoarding principle within due limits, or give to 
 this propensity its right direction, how different a 
 state of things would soon exist ! A moiety, nay, 
 a tythe, of the surplus wealth of our country, 
 spent judiciously upon the education of its youth, 
 would soon relieve us of our pressing social ills, 
 allay the current apprehensions in regard to our 
 national prospects, and decide forever the ques- 
 tion about the practicability of self-government. 
 Let the entire youth of but a single generation 
 be educated as they should be from infancy to 
 manhood, in body, heart, and mind, and the golden 
 age of the poets would soon cease to be regarded 
 as a fiction, the Millenium of the Bible would 
 speedily be realized. 
 
 Oh my countrymen ! when will you awake to 
 a consideration of these things, and to a know- 
 ledge of your true interests, and dignity, and du- 
 ty ? The hopes of other nations, as well as other 
 generations, are entrusted to your care. Would 
 you approve yourselves worthy of the trust ? 
 Know then, assuredly, that by the appropriate ed- 
 ucation of your youth and in no other way, you 
 may discharge your every obligation. Only per- 
 form this duty as you ought, and " generations 
 yet unborn will call you blessed." By all then
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 205 
 
 that is sacred in your duty to your children, by 
 all that is binding on the score of patriotism, and 
 by all the claims of degraded, suffering humanity, 
 I pray you not to sacrifice the priceless interests 
 committed to your care, in obedience to the man- 
 dates of a sordid thirst for gain ! Your children, 
 and your country, are too dear a sacrifice to offer 
 on the akar of this Moloch ! 
 
 Another reason for believing in the practicabil- 
 ity of a system of education which shall embrace 
 all the children of the nation, and shall address 
 itself to all the faculties, moral as well as intellec- 
 tual, of every child, giving at the same time such 
 an amount and variety of elementary knowledge, 
 as, by the additions each one shall be fitted to 
 make by his own exertions, will prepare him for 
 the business and the duties of life, is, that its prac- 
 ticability is recognised by our religion, and by 
 the theory of our political institutions. 
 
 There is a sophistical inconsistency in the rea- 
 soning of those who maintain the impossibility of 
 making a comparatively liberal education univer- 
 sal, or even general, which it is very important, 
 and happily, very easy to expose. They almost 
 invariably reason as if the demand originated with 
 the visionary enthusiasts, as they consider them, 
 against whose airy dreams they fancy themselves 
 to be contending. It is high time that the fact 
 should be placed in such prominent relief as no 
 longer to be capable of being overlooked, that 
 18
 
 206 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 this demand is imperatively made by our boasted 
 institutions, religious and political, by our common 
 Christianity, and our common republicanism. If 
 there be in the belief that society has it in its 
 power to give to every member such an education, 
 physical, intellectual, moral, and religious, as will 
 fit him to act his part upon the theatre of life with 
 credit to himself, and benefit to others, aaght that 
 is visionary or fanatical, then the blame of its ex- 
 istence belongs, not to the advocate of human im- 
 provement, but to the Bible, and to the Declara- 
 tion of Independence. These both assume the 
 practicability of such education as that for which 
 I contend ; nor are the ends of either attainable 
 without it. If the former is not practicable, then 
 the aims of these are not practicable. 
 
 The great moral struggle which is going on at 
 present in the world, is the struggle for empire 
 between precedent and principle. Hitherto, 
 that is, till quite a recent period, men inherited 
 the opinions and customs, as certainly as they in- 
 herited the features and the traits of character, of 
 their parents ; hence, the world went on in the 
 torpid, dull routine of imitation ; every thing being 
 prescribed, and no one dreaming of his being a 
 slave, nor thinking of a deviation from the beaten 
 track : then reflection, and consequently education, 
 was unnecessary. It is perfectly easy and natu- 
 ral for brutes, with halters to their heads, to follow 
 the footsteps of their leaders ; but, since Martin
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 207 
 
 Luther, and the fathers of our revolution, apprized 
 mankind that they had minds and rights, the moral 
 attitude of society has been changed : the passive 
 monotony of ages has been broken up, and now 
 people are obliged to think; for, amidst the end- 
 less diversity of conflicting views and guides so- 
 liciting their approbation, they know not whom 
 nor what to follow. The " war of opinions" has 
 commenced ; and it is a conflict in which the cir- 
 cumstances and spirit of the age compel every 
 man to join ; it is a struggle in which neutrality 
 is out of the question. There is no such thing as 
 being passive ; he who attempts to be so knows 
 not what moment he may become the foot-ball of 
 the designing or the ignorant. 
 
 Republican institutions have had an analytical 
 effect upon society, reducing masses to their con- 
 stituent elements, individualizing communities, and 
 placing every man upon the footing of an indepen- 
 dent, personally responsible agent. If each and 
 all can be prepared by proper education to act 
 well their parts in this respect, then these institu- 
 tions, however severe the trial to which they shall 
 be subjected, may survive and flourish ; but if not, 
 if the people of the present generation shall be 
 found to be correct in the impression which they 
 seem to entertain, that their revolutionary sires 
 were deluded in relying, as they did, upon the 
 assumed practicability of a saving and exalting 
 national education, then the reader and the writer
 
 208 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 of these pages may yet live to hear the exultations 
 of the monarchist,. and the wailings of republicans, 
 over the downfall of our blood-bought institutions. 
 
 Our holy religion, too, no less than our republi- 
 can governments, recognises men as individuals. 
 Jesus invariably approached them as such : and 
 the uniform tenour of the language of all the in- 
 spired writers is, we " speak as unto wise men ; 
 judge ye what we say ;" and " be ready always 
 to give an answer to every man that asketh you a 
 reason of the hope that is in you." Now, if indeed 
 a universal, rational, liberal system of education, 
 such as will fit men to be " wise," to "judge" and 
 " reason," be impracticable, what shall we say of 
 the prospects of a religion whose successful appli- 
 cation depends, upon the execution of injunctions 
 such as these ? 
 
 How strangely inconsistent oftentimes is human 
 reason ! We boast of the glorious prospects of 
 our religious and political institutions, whilst, at 
 the very time, we seem, to doubt the feasibility of 
 that kind of education which is essential to give 
 them effect and to preserve them : that is, we 
 believe the end is certain^ but the means imprac- 
 ticable ! 
 
 I feel disposed and authorized to demand of 
 those who doubt the feasibility of liberal, popular 
 education, that they take a position and adhere to 
 it. I ask them then distinctly the question, can 
 the people at large, / mean the farmers, the
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 209 
 
 mechanics, and the labourers of the country, be 
 made capable of that reflection and research 
 which are requisite to the formation of correct 
 opinions ? If they can, then the tyranny is equal- 
 led only by the impolicy of debarring them that 
 measure and kind of education which is essential 
 to qualify them for their exercise. If not, then 
 let it be avowed on all occasions, and in all its 
 bearings, as well in relation to the practicability 
 of our republican form of government, as in re- 
 gard to that extended education of all the people, 
 which is its best, its only support. We cannot 
 deny that these sustain to each other the relation 
 of cause and effect, of foundation and super- 
 structure. Consistently with our republican creed, 
 we are obliged to admit that ihe people may be 
 appropriately educated, or to maintain that Wash- 
 ington, and all our wisest and worthiest statesmen 
 have been wrong in supposing knowledge and vir- 
 tue, the fruits of education, to be essential as safe- 
 guards of our liberties; or to be guilty of the still 
 greater absurdity of supposing that intelligence in 
 our latitude and longitude will come without exer- 
 tion : that such is the inspiring influence of a re- 
 publican atmosphere, that our citizens are born 
 with the requisite qualifications for self-govern- 
 ment ; that their knowledge is instinctive ; and 
 that Locke, and others of the metaphysical fra- 
 ternity, were in error, at least so far as relates to 
 us, about the nonexistence of innate ideas ! 
 18*
 
 210 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 I beg particular attention to this reasoning. It 
 seems to me to be sound ; and if so, there can be 
 but one opinion about its importance. A greater 
 delusion cannot be adduced than that by which 
 our nation seems to be spell-bound on this subject. 
 We maintain one moment in controversy with the 
 monarchist, that with the aid of virtue and intel- 
 ligence our government is feasible ; and yet the 
 very next we dispirit the philanthropist and prac- 
 tical patriot, in their liberal efforts for popular im- 
 provement, by contending that the education of 
 the people is impracticable ! 
 
 But all such objections and misgivings as those 
 I have been combatting, are not only without 
 foundation, but are out of place and useless, with 
 reference to the popular mind in the United States. 
 Fortunately for the human race, we are placed in 
 circumstances under which we have no option as 
 to our conduct in regard to education ; experi- 
 ence is demonstrating, what correct views of hu- 
 man nature should have long since led us to anti- 
 cipate, that the low attainments, intellectual and 
 moral,, with which we have been hitherto con- 
 tented, and which so many deem unavoidable, are 
 not sufficient for our political necessities : unless 
 it be in the power of education, therefore, to do 
 vastly more for us than it has done, if the past 
 afford a just measure of the future, then our 
 case is hopeless. 
 
 It is quite too late for us to discuss the question
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 211 
 
 of the practicability of appropriate popular educa- 
 tion. The original framers of all our constitutions 
 have assumed it ; and acting upon this assumption 
 we have removed the few restraints upon the 
 elective franchise which they deemed it prudent 
 to leave. Our hearty undivided efforts therefore 
 should be given to spreading far and wide those 
 means of intellectual and moral culture which 
 our democratic ardour has made essential. The 
 time for entertaining doubts of the possibility of 
 the liberal education of all the people was before 
 our revolutionary struggle, before we had precip- 
 itated ourselves into a situation which makes this 
 impossibility essential. The vessel is fairly out at 
 sea ; a storm is gathering ; breakers are ahead ; 
 k is impossible to put about, for the people are at 
 the helm and in command, and will go forward ; 
 and if, while .under way, we cannot manage to 
 inspire them with caution and to teach them the 
 art of political navigation, then the best that can 
 be said of our prospects is that we must take our 
 chance. 
 
 If this be impracticable, if the great mass of the 
 people are insusceptible of a comparatively liberal 
 education, and yet if this be necessary for our 
 social welfare under the political institutions be- 
 queathed us by our ancestors, then it was unwise 
 as it was unkind in the fathers of the revolution 
 to break up a state of society with which popu- 
 lar ignorance was not incompatible, and to
 
 212 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 throw their children into a condition in which 
 the means of their security and happiness 
 are beyond their reach. If, I repeat, the liberal 
 education of all the people be from the present 
 structure of society indispensable, and at the same 
 time unattainable, better would it have been that 
 we had remained the subjects of monarchical 
 power; for better, far better, is it to have govern- 
 ment in any form, even the most arbitrary and 
 despotic, than to be exposed to the lawless anar- 
 chy and misrule which must ensue upon an eman- 
 cipation of the popular will, without appropriate 
 enlightenment of the popular mind. 
 
 Before I close this section I must not fail to re- 
 iterate that 1 by no means deem it essential to the 
 theory sketched in the preceding chapter, that the 
 improvements which it suggests be instantaneously 
 made. I regard this as the work of time, of suc- 
 cessive generations. I do not expect educational 
 and consequently national perfection to be reached 
 by a bound. All experience admonishes us that 
 the human mind does not go by bounds. I merely 
 contend, as I shall not cease to do while God 
 allows me breath to speak or strength to move a 
 pen, for the practicability of improvement, vast 
 improvement, time and favouring circumstances 
 being allowed. I alledge most solemnly the belief 
 that this is within our power, provided we shall 
 use the means which God in his providence has 
 placed at our disposal. Here is the source of diffi-
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 213 
 
 culty, here is the obstruction, here the point of fail- 
 ure. We do not exert ourselves as we ought and 
 as we might, for its achievement. 1 know it is 
 impracticable without exertion, and I complain 
 of that skepticism the absurdity of which I would 
 expose, that it is one of the principal causes of 
 that excessive torpor upon this subject which is so 
 prevalent. I admit the necessity of caution, 
 moderation, prudence. But these are virtues we 
 can bring in play only while we are acting, not 
 when we are sitting still. 
 
 I admit there is a species of hope which is ex- 
 travagant and injudicious, which enthusiastically 
 calculates on splendid results without the use of 
 adequate means. Such a hope, I grant, it is im- 
 politic to cherish. It can be the interest of none 
 to deceive or impose upon themselves. The 
 short-lived pleasure, arising from the temporary 
 indulgence of unfounded expectations, is but a 
 poor remuneration for the bitterness and mortifi- 
 cation of final disappointment. But then there is 
 also a timidity which is fatal to every thing like 
 enterprise, and there is a paralyzing skepticism 
 which is either based on uninformed indifference 
 or else affected as an apology for parsimony and 
 inaction. There is no greater obstacle to the es- 
 tablishment of a system of national education, of 
 American education, than this deep-rooted and 
 wide-spread skepticism, as to its practicability. 
 It is true in other things as well as in religion,
 
 214 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 that unbelief may make impossible what but for 
 it is only difficult. This though, thank God, is a 
 hinderance of our own creating ; and as it is based 
 upon erroneous reasoning and views, it is there- 
 fore superable, and there is abundant encourage- 
 ment to attack it. 
 
 One of the most alarming signs in our political 
 horizon is the despondency which has pervaded 
 the minds of some of our best and greatest men, 
 as to our national prospects. Those who indulge 
 this weakness cannot have reflected upon the 
 contagious influence of their example. They 
 ought to remember that despondency in them 
 tends to produce despair in ordinary minds. Such 
 a feeling, therefore, should not be tolerated by 
 them for a moment. Beside, such apprehensions 
 I most fondly believe to be unfounded, at all events 
 premature. Those who entertain them cannot 
 have reflected on the regenerating, saving power 
 of education. They misjudge the capabilities of 
 our nature, they degrade its prospects, they rate too 
 low its susceptibilities, and anticipate too little from 
 the application of means whose influence has 
 scarcely yet been tried : above all, they are want- 
 ing in faith in that wise and overruling Providence 
 who has thus far so signally guided and protected 
 our nation. 
 
 No let us "never despair of the Republic!" 
 With this as our motto let us awake from our leth- 
 argy ; let us banish our forebodings and lend our
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION, 215 
 
 undivided energies to improve and multiply the 
 means of education in which, under God it is 
 universally acknowledged, if there be safety any 
 where, safety only can be found. I admit that 
 there is danger, but let us be up and doing to avert 
 it. I know it is within the limits of possibility 
 that the great moral experiment we have been 
 entrusted with trying, may ultimately prove a fail- 
 ure. Yet if this be ordained, let us see that it be 
 not permitted to fail without a becoming struggle 
 in its favour. I grant it is not impossible, that 
 the noble vessel launched by our fathers, and on 
 which have been embarked the hopes of our own 
 and of other nations, of this and of future generations, 
 may ultimately be engulfed and perish ; but let us, 
 one and all, resolve that if this is to be her fate, 
 that if she must go down, she shall sink with sails 
 all spread, and colours flying, betokening to the 
 world it was not our fault ; that to the last we 
 were to be found at our post doing our duty ! 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 HAVING given in the preceding section my reasons 
 for believing in the practicability of such a system 
 of national education as is dictated by the philoso- 
 phy of human nature and the social and political 
 relations of Americans, I proceed in this to offer some
 
 216 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 suggestions as to the legislative steps which should 
 be taken to put this system into operation. In 
 stating these, I shall take them up in the natural 
 order of succession. 
 
 The first thing then to be determined by a 
 legislature or a parent when providing for the 
 education of children, is to say what that educa- 
 tion shall be. 
 
 It is not a little singular that this has been omitted 
 in all the legislative efforts made for the spread of 
 common school education in this country. It has 
 been left for neighbourhoods and teachers to decide, 
 not only as to the books which should be employed, 
 (this is well enough,) but as to the studies which 
 should be pursued, and the intellectual and moral 
 habits which should be formed. Now it is clear 
 that in this way a diversity of tastes would be 
 consulted, which must produce a diversity in the 
 results altogether inconsistent with that general 
 uniformity which is one of the most obvious fea- 
 tures in what may properly be called national 
 education. A nation is a large family ; and as all 
 the members of this family are to spend their lives 
 under very similar circumstances, and under the 
 same institutions, it is manifest that their elemen- 
 tary education should be pretty much the same ; 
 and that its character and degree should have a 
 primary reference to the nature of these circum- 
 stances and these institutions. But these ends 
 can never be attained if the choice of the plan
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 217 
 
 of education be left to children or their parents, 
 or their teachers. The legislature therefore should 
 prescribe it. 
 
 In expressing an opinion as to the nature of 
 American education, I of course should say, in ac- 
 cordance with the views advanced in the second 
 and third chapters of this work, that it ought to 
 be made emphatically religious, strictly philoso- 
 phical, and far more extensive in its range of studies 
 than it is at present. 
 
 In the first place, it should be emphatically re- 
 ligious. 
 
 If this be conceded, and legislatures be ready to 
 act upon it, and the people willing they shall do 
 so, the mode of effecting it is both plain and easy. 
 All that is requisite in this case is, that the study 
 of the Bible, with a view to teaching it, shall form 
 a part of the professional education of instructers 
 in the seminaries erected for this purpose ; and 
 that they shall be authorized, if not directed, to 
 take it with them into the schools where they 
 shall teach, and to use it daily for all the purposes 
 of the moral and religious culture of the children 
 committed to their care. 
 
 I embrace this opportunity to guard against the 
 possibility of unintentional misconception as to 
 what I mean by religious education. 
 
 I shall state, in the first place, what I do not 
 mean, and in the next what I do mean by this 
 expression. 
 
 19
 
 218 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 I say then at once, and with emphatic distinct- 
 ness, that by religious education I do not mean 
 sectarian nor (according to the general accepta- 
 tion of the word) even doctrinal instruction. It 
 is quite enough that the minds of individuals should 
 be perplexed by the consideration of controverted 
 theological dogmas, when they shall have arrived 
 at years of maturity ; and, therefore, to spare the 
 mind of simple hearted childhood this distracting 
 and too often exasperating task, is but the moder- 
 ate demand of ordinary charity. " Technical di- 
 vinity," even in its unexceptionable forms, is a 
 study for ripened understandings ; and to harass 
 the minds of children with doctrines which they 
 cannot understand, to involve them, if they are 
 connected with families belonging to different per- 
 suasions, in angry and interminable discussions, at 
 a place and time when all should be peaceful and 
 harmonious association ; in short, to convert the 
 school-room into a theological hall, and to pervert 
 education into a grand instrument for making 
 proselytes, would be cruel and dishonest in the 
 extreme. 
 
 If, as is reasonable, parents desire to have their 
 children informed as to the peculiarities of their 
 own faith, nothing is easier nor more simple than 
 to throw this task upon the Sunday-school, where 
 none but children of the same persuasion are as- 
 sembled, or (as is done in Prussia, so as to avoid 
 every difficulty,) to reserve it for their respective
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 219 
 
 spiritual teachers ; but never let the shadow of 
 sectarian influence be engrafted upon the exer- 
 cises of the ordinary school : on this point I would 
 be as strenuous as any one. 
 
 There are many, however, who are afraid that 
 the most prudent and impartial attempt to intro- 
 duce religious instruction into schools would una- 
 voidably have a proselyting tendency ; but all such 
 apprehensions are based upon an assumption which 
 is utterly without foundation. It is a most unfor- 
 tunate impression which has obtained general cur- 
 rency in our country, involving even Christians in 
 practical indifference where all should be stirring 
 and conscientious activity, that it is impracticable 
 for us, divided as we are into so many sects, to 
 make religious culture an object of attention in 
 our schools without interfering with peculiarities 
 of faith. 
 
 The question was sometimes asked myself, if I 
 did not find it hard to keep my promise of neu- 
 trality in this respect while conducting the morn- 
 ing exercises with my pupils, alluded to in the 
 third section of the second chapter ? In answer 
 to this, it always gave me pleasure to express, as 
 it does here to record, my sincere conviction that 
 to encounter any difficulty from this cause in an 
 honest effort to inculcate Scriptural truth for prac- 
 tical purposes, it must be wilfully sought after. I 
 never experienced the shadow of embarrassment 
 on this account, nor do I believe it necessary that
 
 220 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 it be experienced by any one in any case whatever. 
 There is abundance in the Bible which is matter of 
 common faith with all denominations, the commu- 
 nication of which may employ all the time of the 
 most assiduous teacher. When the copious his- 
 tory and biography of the sacred volume, its in- 
 numerable precepts forming the best code and the 
 only perfect code of morals in the world, its ex- 
 ceeding great and precious promises scattered on 
 ever) 7 page, and inspiring motives and ability to 
 those who will appropriate them to " become par- 
 takers of the Divine nature ;" when these, I say, 
 shall have been exhausted, then, and not till then, 
 can it be fairly objected to the employment of the 
 Bible as an instrument of moral influence, that we 
 cannot so use it, without subjecting the minds of 
 children to the study of metaphysical subtleties, 
 and disturbing the peace of society by embroiling 
 the young in the unfortunate religious differences 
 that divide their parents. It is truly cheering to 
 reflect, that for every verse of the inspired record 
 about whose meaning denominations differ, there 
 are at least a thousand in which they perfectly 
 agree ; so that upon the doctrine of chances, to 
 say nothing of the safeguard afforded by principle 
 and common honesty in teachers, there is but little 
 danger to be apprehended. 
 
 To admit, as has been generally done at least 
 in act by Christians throughout the Union, that 
 the Bible cannot be employed in education with-
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 221 
 
 out exerting a sectarian influence is virtually to 
 consent to the banishment of religion altogether 
 from our schools. And such is the singular and 
 inconsistent state of things in this Christian land 
 at present. To appropriate the language of Dr. 
 Rush upon the subject, there never was devised a 
 more ingenious stratagem than "this new mode 
 of attacking Christianity." Even allowing it to 
 be true that the only alternative for the banish- 
 ment of religion were a resort to the most flagrant 
 sectarian influence, still we should not hesitate for 
 a moment which extreme to choose, for any reli- 
 gion whatever, even if it be that of Mahomet or 
 Confucius, is to be preferred to practical Atheism. 
 So far from wishing to see our " common 
 schools " converted into proselyting engines, and 
 from believing that religious and sectarian in- 
 struction are inseparable, I am inclined to the im- 
 pression that the only way to prevent the educa- 
 tion of the country from becoming sectarian, is 
 for the government to make it religious. Reli- 
 gious it must be made in some way or other ; and 
 if our legislatures do not bring it about, the pious 
 portion of our citizens will do it for themselves. 
 That the moral faculties should be cultivated as 
 well as the intellectual, and that the Bible should 
 be made to lend the strengthening sanctions ana 
 the guidance of its religion to the popular moral 
 ity, are propositions which, in a Christian com- 
 munity, should not be regarded as open for dis- 
 19*
 
 222 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 cussion. They should be looked upon as matters 
 of conscience which do not admit of deliberation. 
 As such, they are attracting the notice of Chris- 
 tians of every name. And all who think and ex- 
 amine seriously, come to one and the same con- 
 clusion on the subject. 
 
 So soon as this impression shall have become 
 sufficiently general to induce concert in its appli- 
 cation, (and it behooves the legislators of our 
 country to mark the rapid progress it is making,) 
 a new and delicate question will arise, as to who 
 shall be the teachers in these schools, and what 
 the nature of the religious instruction communi- 
 cated in them ? This question, it could hardly be 
 expected the various denominations would be able 
 to settle to the satisfaction of all upon any amal- 
 gamating plan, and of course there would be dan- 
 ger lest sectarian jealousy should demand for the 
 children of each denomination, teachers of the 
 same shade of faith, and thus the country become 
 as much divided in regard to the support of edu- 
 cation, as it is about the maintenance of religion. 
 
 The effects of such disunion in the United 
 States would be disastrous in the extreme, far worse 
 with us than in France, or Prussia, or any other 
 European nation. The Prussian public school 
 system is said to experience little or no embar- 
 rassment from differences in religious faith among 
 the people. An adequate reason for this readily 
 suggests itself without the necessity of supposing
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 223 
 
 that there exists in that country greater indifference 
 about peculiarities in religion than here. In Prussia 
 there are but two sects, the Protestant and Ro- 
 man Catholic. In the United States there are 
 dozens. In Prussia, the Roman Catholics and 
 Protestants are for the most part settled in sepa- 
 rate provinces, which, according to the prepon- 
 derance of one or the other class, admit of being 
 designated in the Geographies as Catholic or 
 Protestant provinces. It is a very easy thing, 
 therefore, under such circumstances, to introduce 
 religious instruction into the schools without en- 
 countering difficulties from sectarian prejudice. 
 All that is requisite is (what would naturally oc- 
 cur,) to employ Catholic teachers in a Catholic 
 province, or neighbourhood, and the reverse in 
 Protestant settlements. 
 
 But in the United States, Baptists, Methodists, 
 Episcopalians, Presbyterians, &c. are scattered 
 promiscuously over the face of the country ; the 
 same neighbourhood commonly containing fami- 
 lies that belong to different religious bodies. If 
 by any cause, therefore, such a state of things be 
 brought about that the Baptist must have a Bap- 
 tist schoolmaster for his children ; others a Meth- 
 odist for theirs ; and others, still within the same 
 vicinity, a Presbyterian for theirs, the inevitable 
 consequence must be, that owing to this manifold 
 division of the strength of the neighbourhood, it
 
 224 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 will either have no school at all, or else several 
 of a very inferior character. 
 
 The costliness of such an arrangement which 
 would impose upon the same neighbourhood the 
 burden of erecting and furnishing several school- 
 houses, and of maintaining several teachers, when 
 one of each would be sufficient for the whole, is 
 of itself a sufficient objection against it. When 
 we consider, too, the sparseness of the population 
 in most parts of the Union, particularly in the 
 newer states, where attention to education is most 
 desirable because most likely to be neglected, 
 and when we reflect how very partially education 
 is diffused at present, in the absence of so for- 
 midable a hinderance as that of which we speak, 
 it surely must be admitted that the obstacles to 
 its dissemination are abundantly numerous and 
 great without adding others to the list. 
 
 But the most distressing of all consequences, 
 one by the side of which all others dwindle into 
 shadows, would be the infusion of religious party 
 spirit into the bosoms of the youth and children 
 of our country. The harmony of society is dis- 
 turbed enough at present ; its texture is sufficiently 
 rent and torn by differences of religious opinion 
 as they prevail among adults. But these evils, 
 already great, would be increased a thousand 
 fold and carried beyond endurance, if our off- 
 spring were to be made parties in sectarian strife, 
 if our children taking sides in infancy, were to
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 225 
 
 grow up to manhood with the confirmed habits 
 of religious partizans. At present, the peace of 
 the school-room, and the hilarity of the play- 
 ground are interrupted but little by diversities of 
 religious or political opinion existing among pa- 
 rents. God grant the day may never arrive when 
 the question shall be frequently and seriously enter- 
 tained, whether it is not better to have no schools at 
 all, than to have them at the expense of domestic 
 and neighbourhood tranquillity. But such a day 
 may come, (indeed an attentive observer may al- 
 ready discern its dawn,) unless our legislatures 
 will consent to introduce religious instruction into 
 the public schools in a manner and measure ac- 
 ceptable to all. 
 
 That this can be done I entertain a cheering 
 confidence. If there are formidable difficulties 
 in the way, they are not intrinsic but relate entirely 
 to popular prejudice which I would hope, by 
 proper exertions on the part of those who have 
 the control of public opinion, may be set right. 
 I am fully persuaded from experience that those 
 teachers who are disposed to do so, will find it 
 perfectly easy to avoid all proselyting efforts, 
 whilst I also believe that a system of checks and 
 safeguards may be adopted which must render 
 the exposure of those who might attempt to take 
 undue advantages of the trust reposed in them 
 both certain and speedy. 
 
 To accomplish this all that would be necessary
 
 226 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 is that the course of instruction be prescribed by 
 the State, the parts of the Bible to be taught being 
 marked out, and the particular lesson for each 
 day of the year being designated, (all of which is 
 perfectly easy;) that the candidates be made fa- 
 miliar with this course whilst learning their pro- 
 fession ; and that this exercise of the school be an 
 open one, having a stated hour assigned it, when all 
 the neighbourhood shall have a standing invitation 
 to attend. With such an arrangement the detec- 
 tion of unfaithfulness must be next to unavoid- 
 able, and the easy and obvious remedy would be 
 that complaint be lodged with the Board of 
 Trustees or other controllers of the school. Only 
 let a situation be made desirable by the offer of 
 liberal pay, (as should always be the case,) and 
 any teacher whom moral principle might not keep 
 straight, will be found to love his purse full as well 
 as he loves his sect, and therefore will do his duty 
 from motives of policy if not for conscience sake. 
 I cannot entertain a doubt that our legislatures 
 will in time be required by the urgency of our po- 
 litical condition, to take the ground which is here 
 suggested. Indeed, there is animating reason to 
 believe that they will be sustained in doing so, at 
 a much earlier period than the friends of religion 
 could have ventured to anticipate. The bold and 
 noble stand taken by the legislature of New-York 
 in January last, (1838,) has revived the hopes and 
 infused fresh courage into the minds of those who
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 22? 
 
 believe that the safety and welfare of our country 
 are essentially dependent on the prevalence of a 
 religious morality and a moral religion. 
 
 When it is borne in mind that the representa- 
 tives of this great State at one and the same ses- 
 sion doubled the amount of the public money for 
 the purpose of improving the education given in the 
 common schools, making it four hundred thousand 
 dollars instead of two hundred thousand ! and in 
 reply to the petition of sundry persons praying 
 that all religious exercises and the use of the 
 Bible might be prohibited in the public schools, 
 decided by a vote of a hundred and twenty one 
 to one, that the request of the petitioners be not 
 granted ! ! we are encouraged to hope that the 
 union of intellectual and moral education, of re- 
 ligion and morality, of the Bible and the ordinary 
 school-book,* which is required by the necessities 
 and interests of the State no less than of the 
 Church, is soon to be illustrated in the public 
 schools of that member of our confederacy, whose 
 " system" is becoming increasingly an object of 
 imitation in all the rest. The " Report" pre- 
 sented by the Hon. Daniel D. Barnard on the oc- 
 casion referred to, is one which does honour to the 
 heart and head of him who penned it ; and its tri- 
 umphant adoption will signalize the session at 
 
 * It must not be inferred from this expression that I am in fa- 
 vour of having the Bible used as a mere school or reading-book : 
 I have already expressed an opinion to the contrary.
 
 228 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 which it was presented as the commencement of 
 a new era in the moral history of our country. 
 
 I cannot refrain from copying a portion of this 
 report for the purpose of corroborating the doc- 
 trines of this volume by the noble, unequivocal and 
 almost unanimous testimony of the representatives 
 of the most powerful member of our political 
 union. The report closes in the following man- 
 ner : 
 
 " Moral instruction is quite as important to the 
 object had in view in popular education, as intel- 
 lectual instruction ; it is indispensable to that ob- 
 ject. But to make such instruction effective, it 
 should be given according to the best code of 
 morals known to the country and the age ; and 
 that code it is universally conceded, is contained 
 in the Bible. Hence the Bible, as containing that 
 code, so far from being arbitrarily excluded from 
 our schools, ought to be in common use in them. 
 " Keeping all the while in view the object of popu- 
 lar education, the necessity of fitting the people 
 by moral as well as intellectual discipline for self- 
 government, no one can doubt that any system 
 of instruction which overlooks the training and 
 informing of the moral faculties must be wretch- 
 edly and fatally defective. Crime and intellectual 
 cultivation merely, so far from being dissociated 
 in history and statistics, are unhappily old acquain- 
 tances and tried friends. To neglect the moral 
 powers in education, is to educate not quite half
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 229 
 
 the man. To cultivate the intellect only, is to 
 unhinge the mind and destroy the essential balance 
 of the mental powers ; it is to light up a recess 
 only the better to show how dark it is. And if 
 this is all that is done in popular education, then 
 nothing, literally nothing, is done towards creating 
 and establishing public virtue, and forming a moral 
 people. 
 
 " The moral powers then must be informed and 
 cultivated in our schools. Children must be in- 
 structed in moral truth and be taught to feel ha- 
 bitually the force of moral obligation ; and to do 
 this according to the best standard, the use of the 
 Bible for that purpose cannot be dispensed with. 
 So it is believed that the great majority of our 
 people think; and wherever they think so in the 
 towns, they will of course by their proper officers, 
 order and direct the course of instruction accord- 
 ingly- 
 
 " Nor is it discovered what good right the petition- 
 ers, or any minority of persons, have to object to 
 the use of this book for the purpose indicated, 
 as an approved and standard work for instruction 
 in morals, because their opinion of its merits in 
 this respect may differ from that of the majority. 
 If the minority may rule in regard to the use of 
 this book and forbid the teaching of its code, they 
 may do the same thing in regard to any other 
 book, or any other subject. They may insist that 
 the Christian code of morals shall be exchanged 
 20
 
 230 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 for that of the Brahmins, or turn the schools over 
 to Plato or Aristotle, or Seneca, or Mahomet. 
 They may prescribe the entire course of studies, 
 instead of leaving it to be done by those to whom 
 the law and the voice of the majority have con- 
 fided the power. 
 
 " Nor again, is it discovered that the practice of 
 teaching morals according to the Christian code, 
 and using the Bible for that purpose, the majority 
 adopting it, is any infringement whatever on the 
 religious rights and liberty of any individual. To 
 teach Christian morals, referring to the Bible both 
 for the principles and for their illustrations, is a 
 widely different thing from teaching what is under- 
 stood to be a Christian religion. Religion is a mat- 
 ter between a man and his God. It has reference to 
 the worship of the Supreme Being, and the mode 
 of such worship ; and has relation to a future state 
 of existence, and the retributions of that future 
 state ; and it is concerned with creeds and articles 
 of faith. Now, religious freedom consists in a 
 man's professing and enjoying what religious faith 
 he pleases, or in the right of rejecting all religions ; 
 and this freedom is in no degree invaded when 
 the morals of the Bible are taught in public 
 schools. 
 
 " And if the Christian religion, as a system of 
 faith, whether according to one creed or another 
 creed, according to the notions of one sect, or 
 of another sect, is not taught in these schools, then
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 231 
 
 of course there can be no pretence that this reli- 
 gion is in this way supported by the State. Your 
 committee in common, they believe, with nearly 
 the whole body of their fellow-citizens, would re- 
 gard it as the deepest of calamities, if religion, 
 the Christian religion, should fall under the pro- 
 tection and patronage of political power. That 
 religion is in its nature free ; it cannot take sup- 
 port from law without losing its lustre and its 
 purity ; it is in its very essence and spirit to de- 
 mand none but a voluntary worship, and allow 
 none but a voluntary support. But we cannot 
 discern that it is in the least danger of injury 
 from any public support in the schools on account 
 of the use which may be made there of the Bible 
 as a text or a class-book. 
 
 " Your committee have now given the reason 
 why they think the Christian code of morals 
 should be taught in our schools as an indispensa- 
 ble part of our system of popular instruction ; and 
 why the Bible should be employed for that pur- 
 pose. There are other reasons why it is exceed- 
 ingly desirable and important that this book should 
 be generally used in our schools and seminaries, 
 instead of being arbitrarily excluded as these pe- 
 titioners require. But we do not deem it neces- 
 sary to detail those reasons. If the Bible should 
 be studied for its moral principles, it should be 
 studied also as a history and as a classic. As an 
 authentic narrative of events, the most extraordi- 
 nary and the most interesting any where recorded
 
 232 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 of our race, it is invaluable ; and there is nothing, 
 and can be nothing, to supply its place. 
 
 " And such is the nature and antiquity of its 
 story, that no education in this department of 
 knowledge, not the most elementary, can be had 
 without some acquaintance with its contents. And 
 then as a classic, if generally employed as such, 
 it would certainly supply a want which no other 
 book can. The faithful and critical study of the 
 English language, in its purity, by the youth of 
 our country, is immensely important ; and it is 
 confidently believed, that no where can there be 
 found in the same compass, half as many speci- 
 mens of beautiful and pure Anglo-Saxon language, 
 as in the Bible. And we think it may be safely 
 said that, since the publication of the present 
 English Bible, as translated under the orders of 
 King James, no writer or speaker in that lan- 
 guage can be named, who has acquired any just 
 celebrity for the simplicity, strength, and beauty 
 of his diction, who has not been mainly indebted 
 to that book for his excellence in that particular. 
 Mr. Fox declared, that if he was ever eloquent, it 
 was because he had faithfully studied the book of 
 Job. 
 
 " In conclusion, your committee would only 
 say that, while after the most attentive examina- 
 tion, they have not been able to find, in the me- 
 morial before them, one fair ground of complaint, 
 they have been, and are, deeply impressed with
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 233 
 
 many and weighty considerations which urge on 
 all who value the interests of education, the inter- 
 ests of morals, and the interests of the country 
 and of mankind, the indispensable necessity of 
 preserving to the people the right to employ the 
 Bible as a means of invaluable secular instruc- 
 tion, in all the public schools and seminaries, to 
 which they may have occasion to resort. 
 
 " Complaints of whatever is valuable in civil 
 society will always be made. Some who make 
 them are honest, but mistaken ; more act under 
 the merest delusion; a few are speculative and 
 reckless. Men of this latter class are apt to be 
 ingenious, because restless and dissatisfied. Their 
 work is to destroy, but never build. The moral 
 restraints of society sit gallingly upon them. They 
 take the name of liberty on their lips, but they 
 mean license and confusion. With them nothing 
 is sacred, nothing is venerable, and nothing is 
 safe. And of late their boldness and strength seem 
 to have increased. Their spirit is seen every 
 where. It is busy with political institutions, with 
 religious obligations, with social forms and domes- 
 tic ties ; busy to weaken, to invalidate, and to un- 
 dermine. 
 
 " They are not supposed to be numerous even 
 yet ; but they have followers, who are followers 
 because they do not know who they are who 
 lead them, or whither they are led. This state 
 of things demands undoubtedly great firmness on 
 20*
 
 234 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 the part of those who would sustain and preserve 
 what is valuable in our social and political forms. 
 And it demands as much moderation as firmness. 
 We would always hear ; we would always con- 
 sider ; and we would always reply only by argu- 
 ment and by appeals to reason and to truth. It 
 is in this way that the committee have intended 
 to meet the complaints of these memorialists ; and 
 with what success they have done so, must now 
 be left to the judgement of the house and of the 
 country. 
 
 " The committee recommend to the house the 
 adoption of the following resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That the prayer of the memorialists 
 be not granted." 
 
 Having thus expressed my views as to what I 
 do not mean by " religious education," I shall in a 
 very few words state the meaning which I do at- 
 tach to this expression. 
 
 By "religious education," then, I mean the cul- 
 tivation of the moral part of our nature, the regu- 
 lation of the will and the affections, of the senti- 
 ments and conduct, in a word, the formation of the 
 character by the rules laid down, and the motives 
 presented in the inspired volume. Infinite wis- 
 dom, and I may add, Divine authority, has given 
 the Bible for this purpose, to be used by adults for 
 themselves, but by parents for their children, as is 
 clearly intimated by the only direction given in 
 its pages respecting the education of children,
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 235 
 
 which requires parents to " train them up in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord," and by the 
 only command expressly addressed to children 
 which bids them " honour their father and mother," 
 and " obey their parents." 
 
 In the view of God, the whole of moral educa- 
 tion is provided for by enjoining it on parents to 
 form the character of their children upon the very 
 same principles by which they are required to 
 regulate their own conduct. The parent in direct- 
 ing is not to be guided by his own will, nor by the 
 opinions of the world, but is to "speak as the 
 oracles of God ;" and the child in complying is to 
 be determined by the consideration that God has 
 bidden him, and is thus to be brought at the outset 
 of his immortal career under the influence and 
 guidance of the very same motives and the same 
 precepts by which he is to regulate his opinions 
 and his conduct in after life, and in the eternal 
 world. 
 
 Let the task of the parent, as here stated, be 
 performed in every common school, with every chiid, 
 by every teacher, (as the temporary substitute, or 
 rather auxiliary of the parent,) and we shall have 
 a state of things which will come up perfectly to 
 the idea I wish to convey respecting the theory 
 of the moral education which our political circum- 
 stances require, and which should be aimed at by 
 our national system, however far it may have to 
 fall short in the execution. There is not a moral
 
 236 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 duty, personal, social, or political, which is not 
 clearly pointed out either by a specific precept 
 or by a general principle in the Bible ; and there 
 are no motives on which it will be safe to rely for 
 the regulation of the conduct of society, but those 
 which influenced the actions of our perfect ex- 
 emplar and which he comprehensively expresses 
 when he says, "I came not to do mine own will, 
 but the will of him that sent me." The moment 
 we leave this ground, we get into the obscure, 
 uncertain, devious wake of expediency, which has 
 given birth to a system of morals the best of whose 
 fruits is likely to be that it may overthrow itself ; 
 for I very much mistake the signs of the times 
 if we are not about to discover that it is exceed- 
 ingly inexpedient to make expediency the basis of 
 our system of national morals. 
 
 But I will not enter again upon a statement of 
 my reasons for these views. These have been 
 expressed substantially in the third chapter of this 
 volume. 
 
 Nor am I prepared to specify the exact methods 
 in which it is best to employ the Bible in our 
 schools for the purposes of moral culture. A work 
 that shall do this judiciously is, I repeat, one of 
 the greatest desiderata in practical education. 
 
 I shall conclude this section by remarking with 
 respect to the improvement of intellectual education, 
 which is one of the objects that every government 
 should keep in view when arranging a system of
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 237 
 
 public instruction, that it can be effected only by 
 the proper professional education of teachers. Let 
 teachers once be got to understand their business 
 properly and education in all respects will be soon 
 enough improved. Good workmen, with fair op- 
 portunities, seldom fail to produce good work. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 THE nature, that is, the general features and the 
 spirit of the education which may subserve our 
 national purposes being determined by govern- 
 ment, a suitable theory having been adopted, the 
 next thing is to provide for its execution ; this 
 leads me to remark that the first step which should 
 be taken towards putting in operation a system of 
 national education in the United States, is for our 
 legislatures, each for its own state, and Congress 
 for the District of Columbia and the several ter- 
 ritories, to appoint at once Superintendents of 
 public instruction. 
 
 The only way in which the establishment of a 
 system of national education in this country can 
 be brought about, is by the co-operation of legis- 
 lative effort and public sentiment, acting and re- 
 acting on each other. Hence the government 
 should aim not only to keep up with public opinion, 
 but to go a little ahead of it. The general and
 
 238 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 enthusiastic approbation with which the stand taken 
 by the New- York legislature, in relation to the use 
 of the Bible in schools as well as in regard to the 
 increase of the appropriation from the public funds 
 for the benefit of common schools, has been re- 
 ceived, demonstrates, that when the people have 
 once become deeply interested, a legislature may 
 advance as fast as can be desirable toward per- 
 fecting its system of popular instruction. 
 
 It being true, then, that one of the ends of legis- 
 lation should be to exert a favourable influence on 
 the public mind, there is no measure better cal- 
 culated to have this effect (at the same time that 
 it is requisite for the judicious and energetic exe- 
 cution of any plans which may be adopted) than 
 the appointment of Superintendents. These in 
 all cases should be first rate men, whose pay should 
 be in proportion to their worth, and such as would 
 justify them in devoting their undivided attention 
 to their official duties. 
 
 Government has scarcely a more important 
 office in its gift ; and he who fills it properly will 
 find it impossible for him to do much else. The 
 duties of a Superintendent are by no means limit- 
 ed to making out reports. This is the smallest 
 and easiest part of his task. He should become 
 a devoted student of the whole subject of educa- 
 tion, that he may understand its nature and the best 
 methods of accomplishing it. If he be ignorant of 
 these, how can he offer intelligent suggestions to the
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 239 
 
 legislature, or aid teachers in improving the process 
 of instruction ? He must also feel himself charged 
 with the duty of preparing the public to permit a 
 system of popular education to be adopted where 
 none exists, and to welcome improvements where 
 one is already established. Could no other ends than 
 these be gained by the appointment of Superin- 
 tendents they are more than sufficient to justify 
 the requisite expense. Only let a suitable Secre- 
 tary of Education be appointed at once by each 
 of the states and territories of the Union, and I 
 see nothing to prevent the commencement of a 
 system of national education throughout the coun- 
 try in two or three years. 
 
 I take the liberty of suggesting a mode of 
 procedure, which, if heartily adopted, would re- 
 lieve this expectation from all appearance of ex- 
 travagance. I would have a proposition made 
 this winter, by some one of our legislatures to all 
 the rest, and to the general government, that a 
 Superintendent of Popular Education be forth- 
 with appointed in every state and territory ; that 
 a National Convention be held in New- York, in 
 the month of May next, immediately after the 
 anniversaries of the various benevolent societies ; 
 that a copious list of subjects for consideration 
 at this Convention be circulated throughout the Un- 
 ion; that the Superintendent of education in each 
 state be instructed to attend ; and that from five to 
 ten (I mention so large a number that the attendance
 
 240 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 of one or more may be certain,) respectable citi- 
 zens be requested, by nomination, to be present 
 to aid him ; that a general invitation be given to 
 all friends of education, whether in or out of the 
 United States, to attend and especially to go pre- 
 pared to give their views on some of the topics 
 embraced in the circular above alluded to ; that 
 the Superintendents be authorized to employ ste- 
 nographers to record the proceedings of the Con- 
 vention ; that the Superintendents be directed to 
 remain, after the adjournment of the Convention, 
 a sufficient length of time to enable them to arrive 
 at definite ideas as to the best method of procedure 
 in their respective states ; that each be required to 
 draw up a report to the legislature which he rep- 
 resents ; and that these reports, together with so 
 much of the proceedings of the Convention as the 
 Superintendents may think proper, shall be pub- 
 lished at the joint expense of all the legislatures 
 represented. 
 
 I cannot conceive of any measure or measures, 
 so well calculated at once to excite and to enlighten 
 the public mind on this most important of all 
 earthly topics; and how could our legislatures be- 
 come so well prepared to digest a system of edu- 
 cation accommodated to their respective wants 
 as by thus availing themselves of the united wis- 
 dom and experience of the entire Union ; and I 
 may add, too, without extravagance, of the civilized 
 world ? for if our shores are annually visited by
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 241 
 
 European philanthropists, who come of their own 
 accord or are sent to study our institutions, might 
 we not expect that at such a convention for such 
 purposes, (purposes of common interest to the 
 entire family of man,) and when invited in the 
 name of our thirty Republics, some at least would 
 attend and bring with them the rich stores of infor- 
 mation they possess in regard to education? 
 
 At such a convention as that proposed, the great 
 principles which should regulate the structure and 
 management of common school systems every 
 where, might be ascertained and settled ; each por- 
 tion of the Union might become accurately ac- 
 quainted with the condition of things in every 
 other ; local difficulties might be stated and re- 
 moved ; the great danger of too strict imitation 
 might be guarded against; information might be 
 gathered, or useful hints elicited as to the best 
 method of raising and distributing money, as to the 
 education of teachers, the formation of school dis- 
 tricts, the structure of school-houses, the studies 
 proper for common schools, the best text books, 
 and in short, the entire principles and machinery 
 of a system of public education. 
 
 By the adoption of a plan like this, the great 
 evils and dangers of detached and isolated ef- 
 forts might be avoided, and so much of uniform- 
 ity be introduced into all our systems as would 
 be prudent and attainable ; in other words, a fair 
 opportunity would be afforded of devising a sys- 
 21
 
 242 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 tern which, with a wise and due regard to local 
 peculiarities, would still be worthy of the dignified 
 
 title of A SYSTEM OF AMERICAN EDUCATION. 
 
 Is inquiry made as to the expense attending 
 such a convention? If we must resort to pe- 
 cuniary arguments in this case, they will be 
 found to be triumphantly in favour of the plan 
 proposed. The expense need not exceed six or 
 eight hundred dollars to any State or Territory, 
 viz. two hundred dollars to defray the travelling 
 expenses of the Superintendent, and the remain- 
 der to pay the printer and stenographer. Now 
 when we recollect that to proceed intelligently in 
 framing and managing a system of public educa- 
 tion, each legislature must inform itself of what 
 has been done by others, and that to gain a very 
 partial knowledge of this by the mission of an 
 agent, or by any other isolated effort, a consider- 
 able expenditure of money is necessary, and es- 
 pecially when we bear in mind the costliness of a 
 single mistake that may arise from erroneous or 
 imperfect information, we cannot avoid the con- 
 clusion that were the expense of giving to each 
 State and Territory in the Union a full and accu- 
 rate acquaintance with the real state of things in 
 all the rest, and with the best plan for itself under 
 its peculiar circumstances, five times, nay, a hun- 
 dred times as great as I have supposed to be ne- 
 cessary, it would be economical as well as wise 
 to incur it.
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 243 
 
 What a noble spectacle would be afforded by 
 the representatives of sixteen millions of people 
 deliberating in solemn convention about the intel- 
 lectual and moral culture of every child within 
 their territory without respect to its parentage 
 or circumstances, and about the best method of 
 employing the powerful agency of education to 
 preserve and to perpetuate those precious institu- 
 tions to which the eyes, and in no small degree 
 the hopes, of the civilized world have been di- 
 rected ! and when we reflect on the dependence 
 of legislation upon the popular will, how vast and 
 healthy must be the impulse which would thereby 
 be given to the cause of popular instruction 
 throughout our country ! By a judicious distribu- 
 tion of the copies of the proceedings of convention, 
 the Superintendents would find it easy during 
 their tours through their respective States to enlist 
 the press, the pulpit, and " the stump," heartily and 
 intelligently, in favour of their cause ; and with 
 such auxiliaries it is impossible that success should 
 not attend their efforts. 
 
 I know of no other plan than that suggested by 
 which our governments can so effectually bring to 
 their aid the great engine of public opinion ; and 
 if the results of employing this expedient be not 
 vastly overrated, it is clear that by resorting to it 
 for two or three years in succession, a system of 
 national education adapted to the United States
 
 244 pftACTICABILITY OF 
 
 might not only be commenced, but in a good de- 
 gree matured. 
 
 After determining the kind of education to be 
 given, and appointing agents who shall prepare 
 the people to receive it, the next step to be taken 
 by a legislature is to provide teachers in sufficient 
 numbers, who shall be qualified to educate the 
 children of the country in the way desired by the 
 government. 
 
 The best method of effecting this most desirable 
 object, is a subject which we are just beginning 
 to study in the United States. It is a question 
 which requires the united wisdom of the nation to 
 determine, and the settlement of which alone 
 would be a sufficient reward for the expense in- 
 cident to the holding a national convention on the 
 plan proposed, were there not another argument 
 in its favour. 
 
 What I have to say upon this subject I throw 
 out merely in the way of suggestion, as it is one 
 upon which I have not yet been able to come to 
 a settled opinion. 
 
 The first thought that naturally arises in relation 
 to the best method of preparing teachers is, that 
 they should be formed or educated just as most 
 other artists are educated, viz : by practising 
 under the direction of some experienced guide. 
 Why may not the plan of apprenticeship with a 
 view to acquiring the art of teaching, be as effec- 
 tual as it is with reference to any other business,
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 
 
 since all that is necessary to make a good teacher 
 is, that he shall practise teaching under a good 
 teacher ? 
 
 A threefold answer must be given to this ques- 
 tion. In the first place, the business of instruction 
 is so poorly paid, that there is very little induce- 
 ment for young men to go to the expense of study- 
 ing it as a profession ; and then there is no occasion 
 for this, as any one who wishes to teach can readily 
 obtain employment without the least experience 
 or training ; and, lastly, were both these difficul- 
 ties out of the way, we have not good schools, in 
 sufficient numbers, which would serve as nurseries 
 for teachers. It would scarcely ever be convenient 
 to have more than three or four apprentices in any 
 one school ; therefore the model schools needed 
 on this principle, would be at least one third as 
 numerous as the teachers we wished to form. It 
 is necessary to throw out these ideas, since there 
 are some who are opposed to establishing semina- 
 ries for educating teachers, because from analogy 
 it seems unnecessary. Under existing circum- 
 stances, however, I fear there is but little prospect 
 of obtaining any thing like a supply of qualified 
 teachers in any other way. 
 
 Respecting the best mode of organizing a school 
 for teachers, public opinion is unsettled. Some 
 think a college the best place ; and that, in addition 
 to the usual professorships, the legislature should 
 endow one for this purpose. But this proposition 
 21*
 
 246 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 almost always emanates from a wish to add to the 
 consequence of a favourite institution, to which the 
 department for teachers is chiefly intended to be 
 an appendage and a prop. Besides, a college is 
 not the place in which to learn to teach a common 
 scJiool : the subjects taught are not those which 
 the candidate would have to teach, nor could he 
 have those opportunities of practising which are 
 indispensable. 
 
 Others are in favour of using the academies for 
 this purpose. This is much the better plan of the 
 two, but there are serious objections to it also. 
 There is reason to fear lest in these, as in the col- 
 leges, the teachers' department would be an object 
 of secondary consequence. 
 
 But that we may prosecute this discussion to 
 greater advantage, let us inquire, for a moment, 
 what are the requisites for a good professional 
 school for teachers ? We shall be at once directed 
 to a correct answer to this question by considering 
 another, viz : what is a teacher expected to do 
 when he takes charge of a school ? The whole 
 of his task consists of three items : he has to im- 
 part knowledge to children ; to prescribe for 
 them such methods of practising as will form good 
 habits, intellectual and moral ; and he has to gov- 
 ern them. These three then, instruction, men- 
 tal and moral practice, and discipline, are the 
 duties for which he has to fit himself, and they 
 furnish an infallible criterion by which to deter-
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 247 
 
 mine the essential features of the professional 
 school in which he is to qualify himself for dis- 
 charging them. It is clear that this must be so 
 organized as to afford him an opportunity to ac- 
 quire the knowledge he may have to communi- 
 cate, and to practise teaching and governing, that 
 he may be able to learn the art of doing so. These 
 are the indispensable elements of a good school 
 for teachers, and that institution is essentially 
 faulty when either of these is wanting. 
 
 Being thus furnished with a test, let us apply it 
 to academies. In regard to the first particular 
 they may answer very well. They give such a 
 knowledge as a common school teacher wants. 
 Some of the branches, it is true, rise above what 
 he may have occasion to teach, but so much the 
 better, for every instructor ought to know a good 
 deal more than he shall have to impart. In rela- 
 tion to the two last particulars, however, they 
 are not so suitable. I doubt if the requisite oppor- 
 tunities of practice, both in teaching and governing, 
 can be afforded to a sufficient extent, where the 
 professional department is considered to be of 
 subordinate importance to the academy proper. 
 This, however, is being made a matter of experi- 
 ment by those (1 mean in New- York where eight 
 academies are employed in this way,) who are 
 qualified to judge, and whose recent spirit in be- 
 half of education makes it certain, that if it shall
 
 248 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 not be found to answer, they will find out some- 
 thing better. 
 
 Prof. J. O. Taylor, of New- York, has recently set 
 in operation a plan which promises much good. He 
 announced by advertisement in the spring, that 
 if fifty young men would come forward, he would 
 lecture to them for a given period, and at the end 
 of the time find them situations in which they 
 should have better pay than teachers usually re- 
 ceive. His class was immediately made up, and 
 he has already made engagements for a number 
 of them with schools whose supporters are willing 
 to give them higher wages than they have been 
 accustomed to give to others, because of the prob- 
 ability that they will be better teachers. 
 
 I would here take the liberty to ask, why may 
 not this plan in an expanded form be put in ope- 
 ration in all our cities and larger towns ? Why 
 may not a faculty be formed, (after the plan of 
 medical school faculties,) consisting of some three 
 or four of the ablest teachers in a city, each of 
 whom, beside lecturing to the candidates, shall 
 take a portion of them daily into his school, and 
 add a species of practical illustration similar to 
 that afforded by the clinical lectures of the medical 
 professor ? In this way, twenty or more respect- 
 able Normal schools might be at once commenced 
 in the United States ; and such is the demand for 
 teachers, there is no fear we shall have too many. 
 
 Upon this plan the essential requisites of a per-
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 249 
 
 feet school will be but imperfectly complied with, 
 it is true ; but this perhaps must necessarily be the 
 case with any other than that which is the natural 
 plan of making teachers, viz. the serving an ap- 
 prenticeship to the business under the direction of 
 a skilful and experienced master. So soon as 
 good schools shall have become sufficiently nu- 
 merous, and the prospects of better pay be held out 
 to instructers, we shall be at no loss for nurseries 
 or for teachers either. 
 
 It is quite certain, however, that in any event, 
 Normal schools of a high order, conducted by sev- 
 eral professors of distinguished ability, will still 
 be needed to meet the wants of those who shall 
 desire to excel in their profession. And why 
 may not such an institution or institutions be at 
 once established by every state in the Union ? It 
 should never be forgotten, that to improve educa- 
 tion, is just now an object of greater moment in 
 the United States than to spread it ; and there 
 is no expedient so likely to effect this, as the crea- 
 tion of schools, the possession of whose diploma 
 would be at once a matter of pride, an indication 
 of real merit, and a passport to immediate and 
 profitable employment. Only let such schools be 
 founded, and the experience of the medical pro- 
 fession justifies the expectation that a large pro- 
 portion of those who are now engaged in the bu- 
 siness of teaching, would be anxious, or be con- 
 strained (in order to maintain their ground,) to
 
 250 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 attend them for the purpose of professional im- 
 provement. 
 
 Before I leave this subject, I will suggest one 
 other plan of a seminary for teachers, which 
 may perhaps be adapted to the present state of 
 things in our country. So long as the business of 
 teaching continues to be in so low a condition, 
 both as to respectability and pay as it is at pres- 
 ent, it cannot be expected that any other than 
 poor young men will desire to fit themselves for 
 it. Hence, any plan provided for their education 
 must have a due regard to economy, and if possi- 
 ble, afford in some shape, pecuniary aid to candi- 
 dates. 
 
 To effect this object along with the essential 
 ends of a school for teachers, I would have the 
 seminary located in the country, where land is 
 cheap, and where the agricultural labour of the 
 students might help to lighten the expense of their 
 board. They, of course, would be capable of 
 productive manual exertion. I have been told by 
 the most experienced farmers, that twelve or fifteen 
 young men working day about in sets, could easily 
 provide the bread and meat necessary for one 
 hundred. The consumption of time upon this 
 plan would not be more to each than one day in 
 the week, which is usually lost by giving Satur- 
 day as a day of recreation. Let an able Profes- 
 sor be employed, and let the number of pupils 
 admitted at first not exceed twenty or twenty-five.
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 251 
 
 Let the whole of their time the first year, or the 
 first six months, be spent in studying, their teach- 
 er employing himself exclusively in giving them 
 instruction. At the commencement of the next 
 term, let another set be admitted, who, like the 
 former, shall spend the time of their novitiate en- 
 tirely in learning, their instruction to be conducted 
 chiefly by the class preceding them, under the im- 
 mediate professional guidance of the Superinten- 
 dent, whose time would be employed the second 
 and subsequent years, partly in giving fresh in- 
 struction to the upper classes, and partly in direct- 
 ing those who would be practising with a view to 
 learning how to teach. 
 
 In this way the professional training of any 
 number whatever might be economically provided 
 for. Two Superintendents, with the assistance of 
 the upper classes, every member of which would 
 be an usher, could do much more than conduct 
 the education of a hundred candidates. 
 
 The expense attending the establishment of such 
 a seminary need not be very great. It would re- 
 quire, perhaps, a hundred acres of farming land ; 
 a supply of implements of husbandry ; a sufficient 
 number of cows and horses, and plain buildings, 
 such, for the most part, as the students would 
 be able to erect ; the whole costing, say from ten 
 to twenty thousand dollars. The support of such 
 a seminary would, after two or three years, cost 
 the State little or nothing, since it would be per-
 
 252 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 fectly reasonable to exact of the graduates a mo- 
 derate yearly return, for as many years after they 
 have been engaged in teaching as they spent at 
 the seminary, and which, from a hundred indivi- 
 duals, would be amply sufficient to defray all cur- 
 rent expenses. 
 
 The trial of this plan, I grant, would be an ex- 
 periment ; but such, it seems to me, all plans for 
 the education of teachers must, of necessity, be 
 for some time to come. The interests of educa- 
 tion, however, imperatively demand that some- 
 thing be done, and done quickly, to effect this 
 most important object. 
 
 But it may be said it will be of no use to educate 
 teachers unless there can be a security that they 
 will follow the business of teaching after they are 
 educated. This I admit ; and the only security 
 society can have on this score, is that which will 
 be furnished by the offer of better pay than is 
 usually allowed. It is equally the dictate of wis- 
 dom and economy, that the pay of teachers be so 
 liberal that they shall not have any inducement to 
 change their employment ; and this suggests 
 another practical question which relates to the 
 next step, in the natural order that a legislature 
 should take for the purpose of establishing a sys- 
 tem of public instruction, viz : how shall the requi- 
 site funds be raised? 
 
 I have already expressed my views at large 
 upon this point, the substance of which amounts
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 253 
 
 to this, that the means of education ought not (if 
 they could) to be obtained from a fund alone, that 
 they cannot be obtained from taxation alone, and 
 therefore both these plans should be united pre- 
 cisely as is done in the State of New-York, to the 
 income from which may be added when neces- 
 sary, the proceeds of a very moderate tuition fee, 
 exacted indiscriminately of all the children attend- 
 ing school. It is a proposition of immense impor- 
 tance to the interests of education, that its support 
 should be thrown to a much greater extent upon 
 the property of the country in the way of an ad- 
 valorem levy, and thereby leave less to be de- 
 rived from individual contribution, at the same 
 time that the income be sufficient to make the pub- 
 lic schools decidedly good by the employment of 
 able teachers at liberal wages. 
 
 The next and the last thing to be done by a 
 legislature in order to put in operation a system 
 of public education, is to induce all parents to send 
 their children to the public schools. Some of the 
 most important objects of national education must 
 fail of accomplishment, if, after having determin- 
 ed the kind of education to be given, appointed 
 Superintendents, provided able teachers, and ob- 
 tained the means of paying them, a large propor- 
 22
 
 254 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 tion of the children of the nation should still repair 
 to private schools. How can this be prevented ? 
 
 To secure the attendance of all the children of 
 the country on the public schools, there are three 
 classes of parents that must be conciliated or 
 operated upon : the indifferent, the rich, and the 
 religious. 
 
 To induce those parents who are indifferent 
 about the education of their children, to send them 
 to school, a very certain plan will be to tax their 
 property, if they have any, and to bestow the 
 benefit of the tax on others if they will not permit 
 their children to enjoy it. If they be poor, the 
 only way in which the legislature can reach them, 
 is, (by the improvement of education,) to make 
 ignorance so disgraceful that public sentiment 
 operating on their pride will constrain them to 
 employ that industry, and practise that economy, 
 which alone are requisite to enable the poorest in 
 this country to pay so small a tuition fee as ought 
 to be exacted from each pupil. 
 
 To prevail upon the rich, or those whose esti- 
 mate of the worth of education is very high, to 
 send their children to the public schools, there is 
 but one possible plan that can or ought to succeed, 
 and that is, to make the public schools so good that 
 they can have no reason to send them elsewhere. 
 
 To make the public schools acceptable to the 
 more refined and aspiring part of the community, 
 and thereby prevent the drain which is constantly
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 255 
 
 going on from the public to the private schools, 
 the standard of education in the former must be 
 greatly raised. Let the intellectual character of 
 these schools be so much elevated that they may 
 not be easily overshadowed and eclipsed by those 
 of a select description, and others will soon cease 
 to have existence. The public schools, like the 
 public works and highways, should be of the very 
 best kind. If government have a right to take the 
 people's money at all for the support of schools, 
 it surely has the right, and it is its duty, to give 
 them good ones. If the government cannot man- 
 age an important interest better than the people 
 can themselves, why take it out of their hands ? 
 What do the people gain by paying taxes for the 
 maintenance of schools, which, when established, 
 are often so indifferent, that the better part of 
 society will not allow their children to frequent 
 them ? 
 
 No matter what the pretext under which gov- 
 ernment assumes the control of education, the 
 obligation is imperative, that she make it good. Is 
 it to produce in the youth of the country a uni- 
 formity of character, adapted to our social institu- 
 tions ? Desirable as this object is, it may be 
 purchased at too dear a price ; and we are inclined 
 to think it is so if it be achieved by making edu- 
 cation uniformly bad. Is it, that like an impartial 
 parent, showing no dislikes to some, nor favouritism 
 to others, she may assemble all her children on the
 
 26 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 same foundation, regardless of distinctions which 
 prevail at home ; thus cherishing, in early life, the 
 republican feeling of equality ? Then she fails of 
 her object most egregiously, when she drives the 
 children of what aristocracy we have, to them- 
 selves ; and this she certainly does by making her 
 public literary institutions so indifferent that none 
 but the poor or the grovelling will accept their 
 benefits. Is it that she may secure the blessing 
 of education to all, even to those from whom the 
 penury or selfishness of parents would withhold 
 it ? Then should she act more like a genuine 
 benefactor than to confer donations of questionable 
 value, and which, to those of finer feelings, and 
 more elevated taste, appear like the mockery of 
 charity. Is it that by making the people strong in 
 knowledge and in virtue, she may fortify herself 
 against decay and overthrow ? Then certainly 
 her means should be well adapted to her end. In 
 this respect pre-eminently the people and the 
 government have but a common interest, so that 
 the kind of education (regardless of its cost) which 
 is best for the one, is best for the other also. 
 
 To prevail upon the religious portion of our 
 citizens to send their children to the public schools, 
 it is, or I trust soon will be, indispensable that 
 the government make them in the best sense 
 " schools of morals," schools in which the head 
 shall not be cultivated at the expense of the heart ; 
 and where the faithful domestic efforts of the
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 257 
 
 parent to instil good principles and to impress good 
 habits shall not be counteracted by the contami- 
 nating influences of corrupt associates. 
 
 Having brought to a conclusion what I had to 
 say respecting the nature, necessity, and practica- 
 bility of a system of national education suited to 
 the United States ; having stated what I conceive 
 to be the essential features of suoh a system, and 
 pointed out the legislative steps which should be 
 taken to put this system into operation, I shall 
 close this chapter with a brief recurrence to the 
 fundamental idea so prominently referred to at the 
 commencement of my remarks upon this subject 
 in the beginning of the third chapter, viz : " the 
 dependent relation which wise and effective legis- 
 lation, for the benefit of education in the United 
 States, sustains to public sentiment." 
 
 From the evidence adduced in the previous 
 parts of this volume, I flatter myself there is no 
 room to doubt that the people have been encour- 
 aged to trust prematurely and too much to legisla- 
 tive effort for the promotion of education, whilst, 
 as has been shown, legislation from the very na- 
 ture of things depends for its inception, impulses, 
 direction, and results, upon the popular will ; 
 that this dependence is founded in forgetliilness, 
 if not in a mistake as to the nature of our govern- 
 22*
 
 258 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 ments ; that originating in an unfortunate trans- 
 position of cause and effect, its existence is calcu- 
 lated to retard the formation of that wholesome 
 public sentiment which, in obedience to the genius 
 of our institutions, is an indispensable preliminary 
 to valuable legislation on this or any other subject, 
 and that governmental action will not only com- 
 mence just when the people choose, but in its na- 
 ture, extent, and efficacy, will be precisely what 
 the people wish it, and no more. 
 
 It is a distinguishing feature of the Massachu- 
 setts system, that almost every thing is left to the 
 people. The part which the legislature acts in 
 the great work of popular education is compara- 
 tively trifling ; and it is a most instructive fact, 
 that under this state of things the condition of the 
 public schools is far more healthy, and public sa- 
 tisfaction with their fruits far more general, than 
 in the neighbouring State of Connecticut, where 
 the legislature does every thing, and the people 
 next to nothing. 
 
 We have been relying upon the legislatures of 
 some of our States for nearly two centuries ; but 
 what progress have they made ? It is alleged by 
 the best authorities, that in some instances they 
 have even retrograded ; and one of their own 
 committees has declared that " the system of edu- 
 cation, as now supported by the provisions of law, 
 has but little changed with all the astonishing 
 changes which half a century of national inde-
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 259 
 
 pendence has produced." What ! fifty years 
 elapsed, and no improvement in those systems of 
 free schools on which our national welfare hangs ; 
 and which, so far from being stationary, because 
 perfect and unimprovable, are, in the language of 
 the same committee, " not such as they ought to 
 be ; failing most essentially of accomplishing the 
 high objects for which they were intended !" As- 
 suredly, under such circumstances, longer forbear- 
 ance would partake of criminality as well as folly. 
 
 Pennsylvania legislated on the subject forty 
 years and more, having " nearly two hundred 
 laws spread over the journals," but with little or 
 no effect, till some of her citizens, perceiving 
 their mistake, set about the work of arousing pub- 
 lic opinion ; the almost immediate result of which 
 has been the adoption of a wise and efficient 
 school system, which is an honour and a blessing 
 to the State. 
 
 Virginia, too, has been making laws almost as 
 long as Pennsylvania, but with comparatively tri- 
 fling results ; and Kentucky has done her full share 
 of paper work, but without a particle of fruit, until 
 last winter, when (the people having become deeply 
 interested in the subject,) her legislature was en- 
 couraged to adopt a system which, though defec- 
 tive in not affording sufficiently strong incentives 
 to voluntary taxation, bids fair to do much good 
 through the wise and active efforts of her Super- 
 intendent, the Rev. Mr. Bullock.
 
 260 PRACTICABILITY OP 
 
 I might specify the same of many other States, 
 in none of which can legislation become efficient 
 until a wholesome state of public sentiment shall 
 have been created. This is the true basis of a 
 system of national education : this is the fountain, 
 according to the nature of whose waters the stream 
 which issues from it will be sweet or bitter, whole- 
 some or injurious. In short, every thing may be 
 done for the cause of popular instruction with the 
 aid of public opinion, and without it nothing. 
 
 Only let a large and enlightened sentiment pre- 
 vail among the people as to the value and neces- 
 sity of education, and instead of objecting, they 
 will invite taxation for its support. In this event, 
 our legislatures will easily find means with which 
 to command the services of able teachers, whilst 
 the prospect of respectable and well paid employ- 
 ment will attract a large amount of educated talent 
 into the seminaries founded by government for 
 the professional training of schoolmasters. The 
 result of all will be, that the public schools will be 
 placed upon a footing to compete with the best 
 private institutions, which, being shorn of their 
 distinctive advantages, must cease to interfere, as 
 they now do, with the public schools ; that the 
 entire strength of a neighbourhood may be united 
 in the support of one good school ; and that the 
 present tendency of our common school systems, 
 to create one set of schools for the rich, and an 
 inferior set for the poor, dividing society into the 
 well and badly educated castes, will be arrested.
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 261 
 
 There are numerous and cheering indications 
 that the importance of this view is beginning to 
 be felt throughout the United States. That mighty 
 engine, the political press, is beginning to lend its 
 efforts to quicken and enlighten public sentiment. 
 
 The Courier and the Traveller of Boston, the 
 Gazette of Salem, the Aurora in New-Hampshire, 
 the Providence Journal, the American and the 
 Journal of Commerce in New-York, the Albany 
 Evening Journal, the Newburgh Telegraph, the 
 Cayuga Patriot, the Newark Daily Advertiser, 
 the United States Gazette of Philadelphia, the 
 Jeffersonian of Michigan, the Baltimore American, 
 the Madisonian and Intelligencer of Washington, 
 the Cincinnati Chronicle, the Journal, and the Ga- 
 zette of Louisville, the Maysville Eagle, the Lex- 
 ington Observer, the Lexington Intelligencer, the 
 Russellville Messenger, the Nashville Republican, 
 and the St. Louis Bulletin, have all begun to 
 manifest a practical interest in the cause of edu- 
 cation ; and doubtless there are others of which 
 the author has no knowledge. 
 
 About a year ago, the public spirited editors of 
 the Louisville Journal, proposed to the editors of 
 all the papers in the Mississippi Valley, that they 
 should make an united effort to awaken and inform 
 the public mind upon this subject ; and why may 
 not this proposition be revived and extended to 
 every paper in the Union ? Only let the political 
 press of our country, bring its gigantic, undivided
 
 262 PRACTICABILITY OF 
 
 strength to bear upon this object, and it will not 
 be long before it will be accomplished. 
 
 Another animating symptom is, the rapidity with 
 which "Journals of Education" have sprung up 
 in all parts of the Union. Less than three years 
 ago at the house of a distinguished Christian phi- 
 lanthropist in Albany, a proposition was made 
 between two or three friends of education, that 
 they should start a popular paper, to be called the 
 " Common School Assistant ;" one promising to 
 defray the expense of an experimental number, if 
 another would prepare the matter. The matter 
 was speedily prepared, fifty thousand copies of 
 the number were circulated through the United 
 States ; two hundred and sixty agents have been 
 set to work delivering lectures throughout the 
 State of New- York ; these lectures have invaria- 
 bly been well attended ; sixteen thousand subscri- 
 bers have been obtained, and eleven hundred 
 thousand copies of the " Common School Assist- 
 ant" have been distributed, from the profits of 
 which the wages of the lecturers have been paid. 
 Some of the results of this wise and energetic 
 movement are, that the common school cause in 
 New- York has become one of more general and 
 hearty interest than any other ; so much so, that 
 the late act of the legislature increasing its common 
 school appropriation from two hundred to four 
 hundred thousand dollars, has been greeted with 
 universal satisfaction ; and (what I wished par-
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 263 
 
 ticularly to notice,) seventeen papers like the 
 Common School Assistant have been established 
 in various parts of the United States. 
 
 Here, however, I should not fail to give due 
 credit to a periodical which, more than any other 
 and all others, has helped to produce that benefi- 
 cial excitement in favour of education which has 
 grown up in our country within the last ten years : 
 I mean the Journal and Annals of Education, 
 published in Boston. To the successive editors 
 of this periodical, Messrs. Russell and Woodbridge, 
 the country owes no ordinary debt of gratitude. 
 The former commenced his labours when the 
 public mind was stagnant on the subject of edu- 
 cation, pursuing them through several years of 
 discouragement and loss ; and the latter has fol- 
 lowed up his efforts with a disinterestedness and 
 zeal that do him honour. Nor is it merely be. 
 cause of their exertions to produce the general 
 excitement in our country, that these gentlemen 
 deserve our thanks. We owe them quite as much 
 and more for having made it that intelligent excite- 
 ment which it is. From first to last, the improvement, 
 no less than the diffusion of education, has been 
 their aim ; and the all-important and comprehen- 
 sive distinction between " education and instruc- 
 tion" has never been lost sight of for a moment. 
 
 Another indication of a most animating charac- 
 ter, is, that teachers are embodying themselves into 
 a profession. They are beginning to feel the im-
 
 264 PRACTICABILITY DP 
 
 portance of their employment, and are preparing 
 to manifest it to the world. With the feeling 
 that their profession is a noble one, they have 
 the magnanimity to own that it is degraded, and 
 accordingly have set themselves to raise it ; and 
 if to the energy and wisdom and wide-spread co- 
 operation with which they have gone to work, 
 they will only add a little perseverance, the glo- 
 rious task of its regeneration, and through it, of 
 the regeneration of society, and the salvation of 
 our institutions will be effected. 
 
 Brethren of this honourable calling ! let us go 
 forward. There is every thing to animate us. 
 Let us resolve to show not only that " the school- 
 master is abroad," but that he is abroad to some 
 purpose ; that he is abroad for good. Let us 
 demonstrate not only that he is active, but that 
 he knows what he is about ; and in all our efforts 
 let improvement and diffusion be our motto. There 
 is not a more dignified vocation upon earth than 
 ours. Let us becomingly assert its dignity. It 
 is respectable in itself; let us determine that it 
 shall be respected. 
 
 American teachers, like the American clergy, 
 are placed in a peculiarly prominent and respon- 
 sible attitude before the world. They are alike 
 dependent on the efficacy of the voluntary sys- 
 tem, and are equally entrusted by the country 
 with the task of demonstrating that it has a self- 
 sustaining, self-impelling, self-expanding power.
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION, 265 
 
 The teachers of other countries may have taken 
 the lead in settling the fundamental principles of 
 education ; it devolves on us to take the lead in 
 applying them. From the nature of our institu* 
 tions, we have opportunities and stimulants which 
 they have not. In the monarchical countries of 
 Europe, teachers are the agents, the creatures of 
 the government. They are educated by its trea* 
 sury, directed by its ministry, and live upon its 
 bounty. Consequently they can move no faster, 
 nor in any other direction than the monarch 
 wishes. Here we are independent and untram- 
 melled. The government and the country look to 
 us, not we to the government. The popular mind 
 (in the children of the nation,) is placed at our 
 disposal, and we are solicited to mould it. Be- 
 side, its character and condition are in our favour. 
 It is freer, more accessible, more plastic, and 
 less enslaved by prejudices. In the United States 
 we have a more open, unencumbered field than 
 the teachers of the old world. Here there is 
 less to be undone. Our start is fair ; our course 
 is clear and broad ; a glorious race invites us ; let 
 us strive to run it with wisdom, energy, and pa- 
 tience. 
 
 But what are the clergy of our country doing 
 to excite, direct, and elevate the public senliment 
 in regard to education ? Where are the ministers 
 of the Gospel, that the pulpit does so little to 
 awaken the slumbers of the Church over the most 
 23
 
 266 PRACTICABILITY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION. 
 
 comprehensive and important of all human inter- 
 ests, the appropriate education of the young ? Is 
 there not too much reason to fear that Christians, 
 as such, are not doing their duty in this particular ? 
 I will not stop to reply to these inquiries, as I in- 
 tend devoting to them a separate chapter, and 
 shall merely close with the remark respecting the 
 clergy, that if power and opportunity to do good 
 constitute a measure of obligation, one scarcely 
 knows what limits to assign to theirs, in relation 
 to this subject.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE CLERGY, ON THEIR OBLIGATIONS 
 TO ASSIST IN EXCITING, ELEVATING, AND DIRECT- 
 ING PUBLIC SENTIMENT ON THE SUBJECT OF 
 POPULAR EDUCATION. 
 
 IT is an interesting fact, pregnant with instruction 
 and obligation, that for almost all the cultivated 
 mind which our country possesses, she is indebted 
 to religion, through the agency of the clergy. The 
 proof of this assertion is short and convincing. 
 
 In the first place it is certainly true in regard 
 to Common School education. To prove this, it 
 were sufficient to cite the following preamble to the 
 first act of Massachusetts respecting her shcools, 
 passed in May, 1647; which act formed the germ 
 of all the common school systems subsequently 
 adopted throughout the Union: 
 
 " It being the chief project of Satan to keep 
 men from the knowledge of the Scripture, as in 
 former times, keeping them in unknown tongues 
 that so at least the true sense and meaning of the
 
 268 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY, 
 
 original might be clouded and corrupted with 
 false glosses of deceivers ; to the end that learning 
 may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers, 
 in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting 
 our endeavours* It is therefore ordered by this, 
 court and authority thereof, that every township 
 within this jurisdiction after the Lord has increased 
 them to fifty house -holders, shall then forthwith 
 appoint one within their towns to teach all such 
 children as shall resort to him, to read and 
 write." 
 
 The colony of Connecticut followed next in 
 legislating upon this subject, and in the same 
 spirit. The New- York system is by acknowledge- 
 ment a combination of the principles of volun- 
 tary taxation, which is the dependence of Massa- 
 chusetts, and of reliance upon a fund which 
 characterizes the Connecticut system ; and it 
 again has been the model chiefly imitated in all the 
 states subsequently legislating upon the subject ; 
 so that all the provisions for popular education 
 throughout the Union had their origin in the desire 
 of the Puritans to qualify their children to read 
 the word of God. 
 
 In the second place, it is no less true of the edu- 
 cation derived from our colleges, and their pre- 
 paratory schools, that the country is almost ex- 
 clusively indebted for it to the clergy. In their 
 origin and in their management, they are equally 
 with the common school system, the fruit of reli-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 269 
 
 gion. The funds by which they are supported 
 have been collected by the clergy ; and the officers 
 by whom they are conducted are almost exclu- 
 sively either members of the sacred profession, or 
 candidates preparing for its duties. Legislation 
 has done next to nothing towards endowing the 
 older and more important colleges of the Union ; 
 and of some eighty institutions in our country 
 bearing this name, there are not ten that have not 
 clergymen at their head. 
 
 Hitherto there seems to have been a necessity 
 for clerical connexion, in some shape, with our 
 higher literary institutions. This is apparent 
 from the relative condition of colleges founded by 
 government and those belonging to some religious 
 sect. Not only is the number of the latter, at the 
 lowest calculation, ten-fold greater, but in pros- 
 perity and success they far outstrip the former. 
 It would be perfectly easy, were it not invidious, 
 to make specifications here, corroborative of this 
 statement ; but this would be superfluous, as they 
 must readily occur to the mind of every one who 
 has been observant of the state and progress of 
 education in his country. A state college cannot 
 stand competition with a denominational institu- 
 tion. The experiment has been repeatedly tried, 
 and with but one issue ; while there have been 
 cases in which, under the pressure of this convic- 
 tion, state institutions have been handed over to 
 some religious denomination. 
 23*
 
 270 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 From these facts, it is evident that the clergy 
 have had it in their power to give almost any 
 direction they saw proper to the education of the 
 youth of the United States. The question, there- 
 fore, very naturally suggests itself, why have they not 
 made it and kept it strictly moral ? Forty or fifty 
 years ago the Bible was the most common text 
 book in the hands of children. Why was it not 
 retained in schools, and employed with increasing 
 skill and energy, as the divinely appointed instru- 
 ment for moulding the moral character of the na- 
 tion ? This question cannot be answered, without 
 throwing upon the clergy the blame of too easy a 
 submission to the demands of the anti-religious 
 prejudices, growing out of the political changes 
 effected by the revolution. That the change 
 which we lament was yielded to almost without 
 resistance, is manifest from the absence of docu- 
 mentary evidence to the contrary. Owing to the 
 isolated position of the author at the West, remote 
 from public libraries, it would be wrong for him 
 to assume there are no others ; but the pamphlet 
 from the pen of Dr. Rush, already quoted, is the 
 only effort of the kind of which he has any know- 
 ledge. 
 
 How strong, then, is the obligation resting on 
 the clergy, to exert themselves to the utmost to 
 restore the Bible to its rightful position in the 
 school-house ; in other words, to assist in creating 
 a state of public opinion, which shall not only per-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 271 
 
 fPP 
 
 mit, but require the employment of the sacred 
 volume, for the purpose of impressing that reli- 
 gious character upon the children of the natiort 
 which the theory of our government, and more es- 
 pecially our critical condition at the present time, 
 so loudly calls for. 
 
 But there are many other reasons, of a no less 
 weighty kind, which urgently call upon the clergy 
 to do their best to create a public sentiment which 
 shall give the requisite religious impress to our 
 national education. 
 
 The first that I shall mention is, that if this is 
 not done by them, it is not likely that it will be 
 done at all. We cannot expect the politicians of 
 the country generally, nor even a sufficient num- 
 ber of them, to exert themselves for this purpose. 
 In all their legislation on the subject, our govern- 
 ments have been totally neglectful of direct pro- 
 visions for the virtuous education of the young ; 
 they have confined their efforts solely to the dif- 
 fusion of the means of intellectual instruction. 
 The statutes of our legislative bodies, in no case, 
 recognise the necessity of educational treatment 
 expressly directed to the moral faculties. 
 
 But even had this object been theoretically con- 
 templated, their practical arrangements have been 
 such as would effectually prevent its attainment. 
 The false economy which characterizes all our 
 legislation for the support of common schools, 
 utterly forbids the employment of competent in-
 
 272 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 structers ; and without judicious, faithful, conscien- 
 tious teachers, legislative enactments would have 
 been of no account. 
 
 This, however, is not the worst. It would be 
 well if the influence of our political rulers, both in 
 their efforts to obtain office, and in their conduct 
 whilst in office, were even indifferent in its effects 
 on public morals ; but this is very far from being 
 the case. With reference to too large a number, 
 it is decidedly prejudicial : there is scarcely an- 
 other cause which operates so injuriously. The 
 prevailing spirit of our legislation is not (it is to be 
 feared,) that which would be dictated by the im- 
 mutable principles of moral science. These, there 
 is reason to apprehend, have too little to do in 
 regulating the proceedings of our legislative bodies. 
 In general, the man who always keeps his con- 
 science about him in a legislative chamber, has 
 not the best prospect of being highly influential. 
 We have heard it gravely objected to two of the 
 brightest ornaments of our national councils, that 
 they would not do for politicians ; " they were too 
 conscientious." Would that all were obnoxious to 
 this distinguished compliment. 
 
 But it is chiefly by an improper system of elec- 
 tioneering that our political rulers exert a delete- 
 rious influence on public morals. It is deeply 
 mortifying to see (as we have too frequent occa- 
 sion,) some of the most prominent politicians of the 
 country, condescending to employ the low arts of
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 273 
 
 the demagogue for the purpose .of securing votes. 
 The miserable pretext of " beating an enemy with 
 his own weapons," will not excuse them. Let it 
 be admitted that without such means, an important 
 election, the most important in the nation, if you 
 please, must terminate unfavourably. Let it so 
 terminate. It were better thus a thousand times 
 repeated, than that the political guardians of the 
 people should steal from them their virtue. Admit 
 it, that without a resort to such expedients, the 
 demagogue may beat the advocate of the consti- 
 tution and of justice. Then let him beat him. If 
 the people continue virtuous, his career will be 
 short lived. If the people are merely duped by 
 him, there is ground to hope that experience will 
 bring them to their senses. They will in time 
 discover the cheat, will be indignant at the fraud, 
 and will hurl aside the knave with scorn for 
 him and all his measures. In this case there is 
 much to anticipate from the operation of a moral 
 vis medicatrix, the self-correcting tendency of 
 evils. But if the moral sensibilities of the people 
 have been debased, (and what so likely to do this 
 as the bad example of those whom the nation looks 
 to with respect ?) there is no hope ; all recupera- 
 tive power in the body politic is lost, and there is 
 nothing to prevent the progress of corruption ; the 
 corrupting and the corrupted becoming more cor~ 
 rupt, until the country shall be forced to take 
 refuge in the dictatorship of a military despot.
 
 274 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 There are few things more revolting to our 
 moral feelings than to see an influential politician 
 proud of the celebrity which he may have acquired 
 for tact in electioneering ; to hear him boast of the 
 adroitness with which he has appealed to the 
 grovelling prejudices of the people, thus dignifying 
 in their eyes the arts and trickery of the reckless 
 demagogue, sanctifying measures which he should 
 denounce with indignation, making habitual, what 
 but for his concurrence, would be only occasion- 
 al, stereotyping evils which but for his example, 
 would be transient, and sapping with his own 
 hands the true foundation of all government, whilst 
 he is proclaimed to be the enemy of agrarianism, 
 the supporter of the constitution and of moral order. 
 Misled by such examples, is it any wonder that 
 the people should never question their right to 
 vote for whom they please ; to give their suffrages, 
 for instance, to him who can crack the best joke, 
 tell the best story, sing the best song, drink the 
 most freely, and scatter his money most profusely, 
 without taking into consideration the intellectual 
 and moral qualifications of the candidate. 
 
 From these considerations, it is perfectly obvious 
 we cannot expect that measures calculated to 
 produce the moral improvement of society by 
 means of christianized education will originate 
 with our governments. By the government, I 
 mean of course, the representatives of the people, 
 who, for selfish considerations, too often accom-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 275 
 
 modate their official conduct to the existing tastes 
 and wishes of the people. Hence, they are almost 
 always found to act in the rear, and at the bidding 
 of public sentiment. In a republic the government 
 derives its character from the people, not the 
 people from the government. If therefore public 
 reform at any time be necessary, it must have its 
 origin elsewhere than with those whose interested 
 subserviency to the popular will is apt to lead 
 them to obey it even at so high a cost as disobe- 
 dience to the commands of conscience and the 
 law of God. 
 
 Let the people once demand the introduction 
 of religious influences into their schools, and their 
 representatives will be prompt enough to order 
 it. But it is essential that the desire pre-exist in 
 the minds of the people; whence it is perfectly 
 clear, that to expect a hearty movement on the 
 part of our governments in favour of religious 
 education previously to a favourable change in 
 public sentiment, produced by some other agency 
 than theirs, is to look for an effect prior to the 
 operation of its cause. Our legislatures, therefore, 
 however indispensable their final action, (and of 
 this 1 have not a doubt) cannot be depended on 
 to introduce spontaneously so great an improve- 
 ment as that of reuniting intellectual and moral 
 culture, of imparting to the education of the youth 
 of our country, a moral character, derived from 
 the principles and precepts of the Bible.
 
 
 276 APPEAL TO THE CLERGYi 
 
 Another reason urgently calling upon the clergy 
 to use their best endeavours to have a religious, 
 that is, a truly moral character impressed upon 
 the youth of our country, through the instrumen- 
 tality of the Bible employed in the common schools, 
 is, that under existing circumstances, there is no 
 other possible way of effecting it. 
 
 The means at present relied upon are altogether 
 inadequate. These are the Family, the Pulpit^ 
 the Sunday-school, and Boarding-schools. 
 
 In the first place parents are not to be depend- 
 ed on to give a religious education to the children 
 of the nation. 
 
 There are not a few who would oppose any 
 steps being taken toward introducing the Bible 
 and religious influences into the public schools, 
 because of the impression that children ought to 
 be taught religion at home by their parents, or at 
 church by their ministers. There would be some- 
 thing of plausibility in this position, if religion were 
 brought to bear judiciously and with energy in 
 forming the character of the youth of the country 
 under the domestic roof or in the church. But if it 
 be true, as unquestionably is the fact, that the re- 
 ligious culture of the young is notoriously neg- 
 lected by a majority of families, and but very im- 
 perfectly executed by far the larger part of those 
 who do attempt it, the force of this objection is 
 lost. 
 
 I grant that parents are the proper persons to
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 277 
 
 superintend the moral culture of their offspring ; 
 and if they would only do their duty, there would 
 be but little left to be accomplished through the 
 agency of the schoolmaster. Families are the 
 elements of a nation ; and if all these were rightly 
 disciplined there would be little or nothing defec- 
 tive in the aggregate. I concur most heartily 
 with those who would do reverence to national 
 institutions. Of these the family organization is 
 pre-eminently one ; and I would cordially depre- 
 cate all artificial arrangements which tend in the 
 slightest manner to impair or supersede its opera- 
 tion. 
 
 The goodness and the wisdom of God are in 
 nothing more conspicuously displayed than in the 
 admirable provision he has made for nurturing 
 the germ of intellect and feeling which distinguish 
 the human being. Where in the whole range of 
 nature and of art can there be found so complete 
 and beautiful an exemplification of the division of 
 labour ? The mighty work of educating an entire 
 generation is constantly going on in our world ; 
 and yet the task is so distributed, that for the cul- 
 tivation of every half a dozen minds there are 
 provided two instructers. The circumstances too 
 under which the teachers and the taught are 
 brought together, are the most favourable that 
 can be imagined for accomplishing the end pro- 
 posed. What facility is not provided ? What 
 requisite for the organization of a perfect school is 
 24
 
 278 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 wanting ? The number of pupils is small. They 
 are placed completely at the disposal of their 
 teachers, whose authority divine and human laws 
 conspire to support. They come on in succes- 
 sion, so that the society and example of the older 
 may facilitate the education of the younger; which 
 leads me to remark in passing, that it would be 
 difficult to over-estimate the importance of rightly 
 training the first born child. They come under 
 the tuition of their parents with minds peculiarly 
 susceptible of impression, with a mental appetite 
 which is insatiable, with a proneness to imitation 
 that seldom fails to transform them into the image 
 of their models, having no prejudices to be eradi- 
 cated, no bad habits to be undone. The material 
 is fresh, its ductility is perfect, and there is ample 
 time, even the entire period intervening between 
 infancy and manhood, allowed to give it the desired 
 shape. In short, every thing is provided, every 
 thing is complete, and nothing is wanting but that 
 parents do their duty. But alas for suffering hu- 
 manity ! here is just the point of failure. Parents 
 do not do their duty. This vale of tears would long 
 gince have been reconverted into one universal 
 fMen, from which, but for the infirmities attendant 
 upon age, we should scarcely wish to escape for 
 the sake of obtaining superior felicity had parents 
 done their duty ; and the brightness of the millen- 
 ial morning will never illumine our earth till 
 parents do their duty. But as things are at pre-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 279 
 
 sent, parents cannot do their duty ; and that they 
 cannot is perhaps more their misfortune than their 
 fault. Such is the state of miseducation which 
 almost universally prevails, that they are not pre- 
 pared beforehand and qualified to do it : and in 
 such a case can it be deemed officious that public 
 sentiment should interpose, and by the agency of 
 well constituted schools try to have the rising 
 generation prepared for the responsible stations 
 which await them ? and, above all, for this the 
 most responsible, the most important ? 
 
 The church, too, is scarcely less negligent than 
 the family, of the religious training of the young ; 
 the spiritual pastor than the parent. 
 
 The pulpit contributes very little, in a direct 
 manner, toward the moral education of children. 
 They cannot derive much benefit in the way of 
 instruction from hearing sermons. The Sunday 
 efforts of the clergyman are adapted almost ex- 
 clusively to adults. The greatest benefit we 
 can now expect for our children from taking 
 them to church, is, the formation of charch-going 
 habits and the cultivation of reverence for the 
 sanctuary and the Sabbath. 
 
 Nor does the too much lauded, or rather the too 
 indiscriminately lauded Sunday-school system* 
 supply the defects of the pulpit in this respect.
 
 280 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 I yield to none in thankfulness for the good 
 which this noble institution has achieved. The 
 name of Robert Raikes will "be had in everlast- 
 ing remembrance " as a benefactor of his race. 
 Estimating the value of the Sunday-school, retro- 
 spectively, by a comparison with what had been 
 done for the religious education of children prior 
 to its institution, it must be regarded as an admi- 
 rable advance upon nothing, upon almost total 
 neglect of this duty. But when we form our 
 opinion of its worth from a consideration of its 
 fitness, and its competency to effect the religious 
 culture of all the children in our country, I feel 
 constrained to regard it in the light of a tempo- 
 rary and most inadequate expedient. 
 
 I wish it to be distinctly understood, however, 
 that I criticise it as a friend, not as an opposer. 
 I conceive it to be my duty to do so, because it ap- 
 pears to me that the Church is too much disposed to 
 regard it as the "ne plus ultra" of provisions of 
 this sort. I wish to aid in producing the convic- 
 tion, that, with reference to the obstacles to the 
 religious education of the young, she has not yet 
 passed over Jordan ; and that it is too soon to take 
 up her rest, as though she had attained the con- 
 summation of what is desirable in the way of 
 moral attentions to the lambs of Christ's flock. 
 I would merely remind her that she has taken 
 but the very first step toward this result ; that 
 " there remaineth yet much land to be possessed," 
 and that she should still " go on unto perfection,"
 
 A PPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 Estimating it by the criterion above proposed, 
 the Sunday-school system cannot fail to be re- 
 garded as a most imperfect provision for the re- 
 ligious education of the young. 
 
 ]. In the first place, it embraces and can em- 
 brace but a very small proportion of the children 
 of the country. It is supposed that there must be 
 in the United States something like four millions 
 of chidren. Of these it may be doubted whether 
 one-eighth are in constant attendance upon Sab- 
 bath-schools. It will not do to rely upon the 
 published numbers in making this calculation, for 
 these are but the aggregate of nominal attendants ; 
 and every Sabbath-school teacher knows that be- 
 tween this list and the number of those who de- 
 rive much benefit from habitual presence in the 
 Sunday-school, the difference is painfully great. 
 
 Nor is it in the power of Christian benevolence 
 to increase the number of regular attendants very 
 much. There are impediments in the way over 
 which it has no control. The want of teachers 
 must for a long time to come effectually preclude 
 the multiplication of Sabbath-schools in the Uni- 
 ted States much beyond their present numbers. 
 It is not for want of suitable exertions that more 
 of the children of the nation are not already en- 
 rolled in Sunday-schools. The annals of benevo- 
 lent effort scarcely afford an instance of liberal 
 enterprise comparable to that which within a few 
 years back has lavishly scattered the money of 
 24*
 
 282 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 northern Christians over the southern and west- 
 ern portions of the Union to build up Sunday- 
 schools within their limits. But have the perma- 
 nent results been at all proportioned to the exer- 
 tions made ? It is painful to every friendly ob- 
 server, resident within the Mississippi Valley, to 
 witness the ephemeral existence that has too of- 
 ten awaited the fruits of such liberal and well- 
 meant efforts. It may be that the vanity of agents 
 has been flattered, and the good feelings of central 
 Boards of Managers gratified by the splendid nu- 
 merical success which they have been able to pub- 
 lish ; but it is, notwithstanding, true, that in very 
 many cases, the type has not been dried from 
 having impressed the name of a Sunday-school up- 
 on the pages of their report, before that schopj^ ^ 
 has ceased to have a being. It is quixotic benev- 
 olence to attempt to establish Sabbath-schools 
 where teachers are not to be had. The body is 
 not more dependent for its vitality upon the soul, 
 than is a school upon a teacher. 
 
 The difficulty of procuring teachers is the 
 greatest, too, precisely in the region where it is 
 most desirable that Sunday-schools should be es- 
 tablished, viz. in the country ; for it is here, that 
 owing to our agricultural habits, the mass of the 
 population are to be found. It follows as a co- 
 rollary from these facts, that the Sabbath-school 
 system is practicable only or chiefly in towns and 
 villages, which probably do not contain one-tenth
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 283 
 
 of our inhabitants, and therefore is not fitted to 
 meet the moral necessities of the children of the 
 United States at large. When we see how diffi- 
 cult it is to keep up a good set of Sunday-school 
 teachers in our cities, and how much harder still 
 it is in villages, we should be driven to anticipate 
 that it would be almost impossible in country sit- 
 uations ; and such experience has proved to be 
 the fact. 
 
 2. Another objection to relying upon Sunday- 
 schools for the religious education of the youth of 
 the country, is, the general incompetency of the 
 teachers. 
 
 There is scarcely a single qualification requisite 
 to make a good teacher which is not wanting in 
 a large majority of those who officiate as such in 
 Sunday-schools. They are for the most part 
 young men and women who are without expe- 
 rience in teaching, and therefore without skill. 
 They are under no responsibility other than that 
 which their own consciences voluntarily impose. 
 They are too commonly irregular in their atten- 
 dance ; and if they do attend, their own notions 
 of religious truth are so crude and ill-digested, 
 that they have occasion themselves to learn what 
 they profess to teach. But are not experience, 
 and skill, and responsibility, and constancy, and 
 knowledge, full as necessary in those who attempt 
 to teach religion, as in those who teach arithme- 
 tic ? To train the affections, to form the habits,
 
 284 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 to infuse good sentiments, to inspire love to God 
 and man, is universally conceded to impose a 
 harder task than to train the understanding. It 
 is strange reasoning then, by which we arrive at 
 the conclusion, that on this account inferior teach- 
 ers are adapted to its execution. 
 
 The result of all this is, that the benefits derived 
 from attending Sunday-schools are too often of 
 questionable value. I speak advisedly when I say 
 that some of those most prominently and efficiently 
 connected with the Sunday-school system, in our 
 largest cities, are so fully persuaded of its imper- 
 fection, that but for the sake of consistency they 
 would not subject their children to its influences. 
 
 3. Another reason for believing the Sabbath- 
 school to be an inadequate expedient, is founded 
 on the small amount of time during which its pupils 
 are attended to, and the length of the interval oc- 
 curring between these opportunities. 
 
 It will not suffice that children receive religious 
 instruction only one or two hours in a week. Al- 
 lowing ten hours for sleep, there are still fourteen 
 during the day, or near a hundred in the week, in 
 which most of children are awake and active, re- 
 ceiving impressions and forming habits. It surely, 
 then, ought not to satisfy the consciences of their 
 spiritual superintendents, that they have made 
 provisions for the fiftieth part of this period. 
 
 Beside, children require moderate and oft re- 
 peated attentions. This is a law which none can
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 285 
 
 disregard with safety who would be successful 
 teachers of the young. Their moral wants are 
 daily; I may say hourly: so should be the atten- 
 tion paid them. When the intervals between the 
 periods of instruction are too long, there is danger 
 lest all good impressions be effaced before they 
 can be followed up and confirmed by others. 
 Who does not admire the philosophy of the scrip- 
 tural rule, " Line upon line, and precept upon pre- 
 cept ; here a little and there a little ?" It seems 
 almost superfluous to add, that the Sunday-school 
 mode of teaching runs counter to this rule. 
 
 4. Another consideration calculated to inspire 
 diffidence of the Sabbath-school system, and to 
 repress extravagant expectations with regard to 
 its permanent advantages, is, that there is danger 
 lest it should encourage a neglect of domestic 
 education, and thus tend to perpetuate the evils it 
 was designed to remedy. 
 
 It is universally true, that we are not so likely 
 to attend to that which others will do for us ; and 
 there is reason to fear lest even some conscientious 
 persons, who feel it to be a sacred duty to "train 
 up their children in the nurture and admonition of 
 the Lord," should be induced, by the lofty ideas 
 they entertain of the Sabbath-school, in conse- 
 quence of the unmeasured praise bestowed upon 
 it, to suppose that comparatively little is left for 
 them to do at home. 
 
 I look upon the whole Sabbath-school system
 
 286 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 as a choice of evils. It is a very imperfect means 
 of religious cultivation, which is made extremely 
 valuable in consequence of the flagrant neglect of 
 parents, to whom Providence has committed the 
 great and responsible task of the moral education 
 of the young. If every family were managed as 
 it should be ; if every father and mother did their 
 duty, in the way of the religious instruction of 
 their children, there would be little or no occasion 
 for Sunday-schools as they are at present conducted. 
 All that is now done in them, and a great deal 
 more, would be better done at home. But as a 
 majority of parents are shamefully remiss in this 
 respect ; and as children, for the most part, are 
 precluded the advantages of that tuition which 
 God designed for them, and which, therefore, 
 must be the best, it is unquestionably to their 
 interest that this foster system of education should 
 be introduced. However defective, it is better 
 than absolute neglect. 
 
 The history of Sabbath-schools shows that they 
 had their origin in the want of fidelity in parents. 
 The idea was first suggested to their illustrious 
 founder by his sympathy for the little outcasts, 
 who on the Sabbath roamed about the streets of 
 his native city as lambs without a shepherd, being 
 treated by their proper spiritual guardians as if 
 they had no souls. The whole system, therefore, 
 must evidently be regarded in the light of a charity; 
 and, ae it is with all public charities, the poor-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 287 
 
 rates of England, for example, great caution is 
 requisite lest it be so managed as to encourage the 
 evil it was designed to remedy. 
 
 It will not suffice to reply to this by saying that 
 religious education is better attended to in families 
 now than it was before the institution of Sabbath- 
 schools. Is the improvement by any means so 
 great as it would have been had the advocates of 
 Sabbath-schools incessantly proclaimed the un- 
 alienable nature of parental responsibility ; and 
 whilst they cheerfully imparted religious instruc- 
 tion to their children, had reminded, at least, pious 
 fathers and mothers that they were permitting 
 them to do their work, and were thereby convicted 
 of an omission for which they should have to give 
 account before the Judge of quick and dead ? Has 
 not this idea been rather kept out of view by the 
 almost unmeasured admiration which the system 
 has attracted to itself? by the homage it has 
 accepted, if not courted, at the hands of the com- 
 munity ? Is the splendour which accompanies its 
 Fourth of July, and other public celebrations, cal- 
 culated to make the consciences of beholding pa- 
 rents sore at the recollection of their remissness ? 
 to start the idea that Sabbath-schools are so 
 many asylums for spiritual orphans ? and that 
 the thousands of scholars who swell the gay pro- 
 cession are so many refugees from domestic un- 
 faithfulness ? 
 
 I am delightfully aware that Sunday-schools
 
 288 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 often exert a happy reflex influence upon families. 
 I know that immense good has been done by 
 their making children, (through their tasks, their 
 conversation, and their library books,) indirectly 
 the religious teachers of ungodly parents. I grant 
 all this, and a great deal more, in favour of this 
 noble product of Christian philanthrophy, for, I re- 
 peat it, I am a friend, an ardent, practical friend, 
 of the Sunday-school system ; and yet I do main- 
 tain, most consistently as I believe, that the pro- 
 gress of religious education is kept back by a 
 cherished misconception (not intentional,) of its 
 true design, its nature, and its power. The ques- 
 tion is not, whether religious education is more 
 attended to than formerly by families ; but is it as 
 much attended to as it might have been under the 
 influence of appropriate and incessant effort, dis- 
 tinctly directed to this object during the whole of 
 the half century that Sunday-schools have been in 
 existence ? 
 
 What I feel disposed to complain of is, that 
 the spirit with which these schools have been 
 conducted, has had a tendency to repress a con- 
 viction of the necessity for such efforts. I do com- 
 plain that the self-complacent satisfaction with 
 which the Church regards her Sabbath-schools, 
 the unqualified praise which she bestows upon 
 them, does tend to quiet in too great a degree the 
 consciences of even pious parents ; and worst of 
 all, to divert the public mind from the true nature 

 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 289 
 
 and importance of the family constitution. This 
 is God's provision for the moral education of the 
 young, and we should be extremely careful how 
 we attempt to improve on what he pronounces 
 good. For this, man can find no substitute, no 
 equivalent. Parental accountability does not 
 admit of being delegated. The father and the 
 mother are the divinely appointed spiritual guar- 
 dians of their children, for whom no proxies can 
 be found. When these are brought to understand 
 and do their duty, and not before, we may hope 
 to witness the moral renovation of the world. 
 
 Yet where is the Sabbath-school society that 
 holds this idea up with sufficient earnestness and 
 prominence to the Church's view ? Does it not 
 engross their efforts to magnify their own impor- 
 tance ? to promote their prosperity by producing 
 inflated ideas of their own efficacy ? Is not the 
 Sunday-school proclaimed to be the great device, 
 the moral engine, by which the reformation of 
 society is to be effected ? 
 
 Where is the Sabbath-school association that 
 habitually and practically recognises its true sub- 
 ordinate relation to the family institution? Do 
 the spirit and the manner in which they are ha- 
 bitually eulogized tend to impress it upon the 
 hearts and consciences of Christians, that in 
 their highest state of perfection the best that Sab- 
 bath-schools can do, is, to aid domestic effort ? 
 That the most valuable corps of Sunday-school 
 25
 
 290 APPEAL TO THE CL.ERGY. 
 
 teachers are but auxiliaries to parents ? Is not 
 the tendency rather to make that be looked upon 
 as primary, which is, by Divine arrangement, 
 secondary ? The parent is now regarded and 
 treated as the auxiliary to the Sunday-school 
 teacher ; fathers and mothers, in too many cases, 
 as the aids to boys and girls ! 
 
 1 grant that Sunday-schools do, in some mea- 
 sure, induce parents to attend to their children at 
 home. But does this follow as part of their plan 
 and the principal part ? If the system is fitted to 
 have this most desirable effect, why has it not been 
 employed for the purpose more directly and more 
 earnestly ? Why has not this been avowed to be 
 its most prominent, its paramount object ? 
 
 But let us not mistake as to the amount of do- 
 mestic effort induced by Sabbath-schools. It is 
 not so great as some may think it. It amounts to 
 little more than assisting children to get their Sun- 
 day-school lesson. The parent is not incited to 
 put forth other and more extended and independ- 
 ent effort. And is one lesson a week enough for 
 the spiritual nourishment of children ? Children, 
 let it never be forgotten, have the same moral na- 
 tures with their parents. Their wants, therefore, 
 are the same, and should be met in a similar way. 
 They recur just as often, and should be supplied 
 when and as often as they require. Their pas- 
 sions are the same and need the same restraints. 
 Their appetites, for the most part, are the same,
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 291 
 
 and require equal care to keep them from running 
 to excess. They have the same disinclination to 
 the duties of devotion, and stand in need of the 
 same incitements. The principle of selfishness 
 in them is as constantly busy ; they have occasion, 
 therefore, for as constant encouragement to resist 
 it. Benevolence in them is no less sluggish than 
 in adults, and demands the same reiterated excite- 
 ment. Their hopes and fears and desires are 
 just as active as those of grown persons, and need 
 hourly guidance quite as much. 
 
 In short, the way to make and keep a human 
 being religious, is the same with a child as with a 
 person of riper years. There is not one code of 
 laws and one set of promises in the Bible for 
 children, and another for grown persons. No old 
 Christian can thrive unless he read his Bible daily. 
 No more can a young one. The adult Christian 
 is required to " pray without ceasing." So must 
 the youthful disciple. And thus it is in regard to 
 the practice of repentance, self-examination, and 
 every other duty. As I have said before, the en- 
 tire provision made in the Bible for the moral 
 education of children, consists in simply telling 
 parents how to do and what to be, and then en- 
 joining that they make their children like them- 
 selves. 
 
 The amount of religious attention daily required 
 by each child is something like this. Beside em- 
 ploying the almost innumerable opportunities for
 
 292 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 incidental instruction, that invaluable expedient 
 which our Lord employed so often and so happily, 
 there should be the morning and evening family 
 devotion. A verse or two of Scripture should be 
 committed to memory, and repeated at night. 
 There should be, at least, one Bible lesson of a 
 prudent length, to be studied exegetically, and as 
 one of a series of lessons, running through the 
 sacred volume. In the morning affectionate warn- 
 ing and counsel should be given, and with consid- 
 erable specialty, as to the duties and dangers of 
 the day ; and in the evening the child should be 
 gently assisted in reviewing its events, and kindly 
 blamed or praised, as his conduct may have been 
 marked by faults or virtues. 
 
 There is nothing of extravagance in this demand. 
 It requires nothing more than compliance with the 
 scriptural injunction, " These words which I com- 
 mand thee this day shall be in thine heart: and 
 thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children ; 
 and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, 
 and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou 
 liest down, and when tltou risest up" The amount 
 of effort it prescribes is perfectly easy to the child 
 and to the parent, if the law of distribution be pro- 
 perly observed. The labour specified is most easy 
 and agreeable to those who practise it most punc- 
 tually. It chiefly consists in giving the line upon 
 line ; the precept (not precepts) upon precept ; 
 now a little, and by and by a little, not (a great
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 293 
 
 deal) more. All of children's lessons should be 
 short, but they should occur at short intervals. 
 "Little and often," is the maxim for their teachers. 
 
 Now, where can these requisitions be complied 
 with, but in the family, and by the parents, espe- 
 cially the mother? How meagre and unphiloso- 
 phical is the Sabbath-school provision in compa- 
 rison with this ! and how poorly adapted to the 
 versatile minds of children ! A single lesson dur- 
 ing a period requiring at least a hundred, looks 
 like spiritual starvation. A grown Christian would 
 pine under such treatment : a young one cannot 
 flourish on it. 
 
 I object, then, to the Sabbath-school system, 
 not that it does not do good, but the unmixed 
 good it might do ; not that it is praised, but that 
 it is praised in too unqualified a manner. I com- 
 plain not that it undertakes to aid in the religious 
 education of the young, but that it attempts too 
 much, even the whole ; and, by engrossing it, 
 conflicts with the indispensable arrangement God 
 has made to effect this purpose. 
 
 If the Sabbath-school system profess to have 
 made an arrangement for the moral culture of the 
 young, which is inherently better than that of the 
 family organization, then it reflects upon the wis- 
 dom and the goodness of the Creator. If it con- 
 template itself as a substitute for this, then by 
 exonerating parents, and making their exertions 
 useless, it is guilty of the irreligious attempt of 
 25*
 
 294 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 trying to sunder an indissoluble obligation ; and if 
 it regard itself as merely the auxiliary of fathers 
 and mothers, the only light in which its perma- 
 nent existence is desirable, then we have but to 
 lament that, in its practice, it mistakes so widely, 
 or so entirely forgets, its true design and office. 
 
 Before leaving this subject, I must be permitted 
 to address a word or two to parents, in relation 
 to that duty which, next to love to God, I conceive 
 to be the first of human duties ; I mean the duty 
 of paying early, incessant, personal attentions to 
 the moral education of their children. 
 
 Since the sum and substance of the divine plan, 
 respecting our fallen race, is the restoration of the 
 soul to holiness, it might reasonably be expected 
 that suitable provision, in all respects, had been 
 made for accomplishing this benevoient intention. 
 Accordingly, as part of the arrangements for this 
 purpose, we find that every individual is placed in 
 circumstances the most favourable which can be 
 imagined, for the developement of his spiritual 
 nature, and for preparing him, from the opening 
 of his existence for being useful on this earthly 
 theatre, and for a final abode in the mansions of ho- 
 liness and bliss. The human being is ushered into 
 existence apparently in the most dependent and 
 pitiable condition ; utterly incapable of doing any 
 thing for himself, either bodily or mentally. He 
 is the picture of helplessness itself: but he is far 
 from being destitute. Instantly on appearing in
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 295 
 
 the world he is appropriated by an affection which 
 knows no limits, either in duration or in strength. 
 He finds two watchful guardians prepared to claim 
 him, whose greatest happiness thenceforth is, to 
 arise from devotion to his welfare. He is, in re- 
 ality, not more dependent upon them than they 
 on him. They are impelled to serve him by pa- 
 rental love, a feeling stronger than death, in- 
 voluntary, intense beyond description, and 
 completely untransferable. " Floods cannot drown 
 it, waters cannot quench it." Nor is it a blind 
 and unenlightened feeling. It has intelligence as 
 well as strength ; since it is allied with experience 
 and maturity of being. 
 
 One of the most interesting objects in creation 
 is a new-born infant. Whether we limit our con- 
 templations to his physical frame, the exquisitely 
 planned machine with which he is to act on the 
 material world, the wisdom of its contrivance or 
 the benevolence of its adaptations ; or whether we 
 turn our meditations to the immortal spirit by 
 which it is animated, " the divinity that dwells 
 within ;" or whether we contemplate the sublim- 
 ity of his relations to the finite and the infinite, to 
 time and to eternity, to man and to his Maker, to 
 this world and the next ; we are lost in amaze- 
 ment, reverence, and awe. Devoted mother, little 
 dost thou know to what thou hast given birth ! 
 Fond and joyous parents, little do ye realize the 
 stupendous task you have incurred ! The little
 
 296 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 babe, whose helpless frame is fondled in your arms 
 or dandled on your knee, is more than to your 
 outward eye it seems to be. It is a germ whose 
 expansion will be boundless. It is an emanation 
 from the Deity ; a fiend or angel in disguise ; and 
 on you devolves the tremendous responsibility of 
 choosing its destiny whether it shall prove a 
 blessing or a scourge to this world, a demon or an 
 arch-angel in the world to come. 
 
 And think not to evade the duties of your sta- 
 tion, nor to shift its obligations. You have vol- 
 untarily assumed a relation from which death 
 only can release you ; your accountability cannot 
 be alienated. For yourselves there is no substi- 
 tute. You cannot delegate the duties of your of- 
 fice to others. You may surround yourselves with 
 hired teachers, and with any other facilities your 
 means allow ; but remember they are but. auxilia- 
 ries ; you yourselves are to be its educators. You 
 may appropriate the aids afforded by the Sabbath- 
 school ; but beware how you suffer its advantages 
 to curtail your own devotedness. To you has the 
 keeping and the culture of an immortal spirit been 
 committed, and of you solely will an account of 
 its treatment be exacted. 
 
 Here, however, I would take occasion to sug- 
 gest a caution, for which I am indebted to a mother 
 whose fidelity and skill in managing her children 
 aie above all praise ; a caution which, as she 
 maintains, is made particularly necessary by the
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 297 
 
 tenour of the writings, and the tone of public sen- 
 timent on early education within the last half cen- 
 tury. From the venerable Pestalozzi down to the 
 most recent author, the general tendency has been 
 to concentrate on the mother the whole of paren- 
 tal responsibility in relation to the education of 
 the young. This is certainly a mistake, and a 
 serious one. The mother is not even principal in 
 this momentous business. The only direction 
 respecting the management of children given in 
 the New Testament is addressed to fathers : "and 
 ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath, 
 but train them up in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord." This implies most philosophically 
 the whole of moral education. 
 
 Every where, both in the Old and New Testa- 
 ment, the father is regarded as the head of the 
 family. In him resides the authority, and conse- 
 quently his is the chief responsibility. The wo- 
 man was formed only as a help-mate to Adam ; 
 and such is the mother to the father in the man- 
 agement of children. The facts that she is pecu- 
 liarly fitted by natural disposition for the delight- 
 ful task, and that the customary distribution of 
 social duties afford her facilities and opportunities 
 which are denied her husband, do not exonerate 
 the father from his obligations as king of his little 
 empire. This he cannot part with. It is insepa- 
 rable from the relation which he occupies. 
 
 True, it is impossible to overrate the impor-
 
 298 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 tance of the mother. Her aid is indispensable, 
 and the circumstances above alluded to designate 
 the part she has to act. On her, of right, devolve 
 the numbeiless details of execution which the 
 father's avocations forbid his seeing to. Still his 
 is none the less the duty of attending to the edu- 
 cation of his children, because the part assigned 
 him is that of supervision. This does not usually 
 lessen the responsibility nor care of a president, a 
 governor, a general, or an overseer, in any station. 
 To the father it belongs to plan and to direct, 
 to study and to read, that he may be able to 
 assist, with suitable counsel, his more dependent 
 agent ; to sustain her by his authority ; to furnish, 
 to the best of his ability, all the requisite facilities 
 for a pleasant and successful execution of her 
 task ; and especially so to regulate the arrange- 
 ments of the household, both as to various domes- 
 tic conveniences and to help, that the mother 
 shall have ample and uninterrupted leisure to 
 perform her part in the common task of training 
 up their offspring in the way that they should go. 
 
 I come next to speak of the moral influence of 
 the boarding-school system ; and here I feel con- 
 strained to remark that of all the means proposed 
 for accomplishing the great work of moral educa- 
 tion, boarding-schools are the most imperfect
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 299 
 
 and exceptionable. They are wrong in principle ; 
 anti-republican in their tendency; unfriendly to 
 the spread of education ; appropriable by few ; 
 while for the most part they disappoint the ex- 
 pectations they excite. 
 
 They are wrong in principle, because they con- 
 flict with the natural institution provided for the 
 moral training of the young, the family organiza- 
 tion. The general theory of boarding-schools is, 
 that they are large families under a delegated 
 parental government. Now what does this imply, 
 but that strangers can take better care of a large 
 number of children, than the natural guardians 
 whom infinite wisdom has provided, can of a few ? 
 that is, that man can make better arrangements 
 for his moral well being than God has made ; can 
 improve upon the plans devised by infinite per- 
 fection ? 
 
 Even under the choicest circumstances, board- 
 ing-schools must of necessity be wanting in some 
 of the most delicate, yet powerful means of moral 
 influence which appertain to the family, and which 
 can never be imitated in any artificial institution. For 
 example, the chief source of moral influence in 
 the family is in the mother, in " woman's love ;" 
 and who will have the presumption to undertake 
 to find an equivalent for a pious, faithful, and ju- 
 dicious mother ? In her affectionate rebuke, her 
 fond embrace, her smiles, her tears, her kiss, her 
 look of approbation ; there is a winning influence,
 
 300 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 a subduing power, a transforming efficacy, which 
 we should seek in vain in any other quarter. Now 
 all these are lost to children sent to boarding- 
 schools. 
 
 Again ; there is nothing which can compensate 
 for the loss of the softening and refining effects of 
 female society upon the harsher character of males. 
 Accordingly, infinite goodness has placed boys in 
 a situation, where they grow up and form their 
 character, in constant and intimate association 
 with a mother, with sisters, and perhaps with 
 other female relatives. Boarding-schools deprive 
 them entirely of these advantages, and confine 
 them to the society of males. 
 
 Another evil of great magnitude connected 
 with educating boys away from home, is, that it 
 tends to lessen filial and fraternal love. I know it 
 may be said, and correctly too, that separation 
 often gives intensity to family affection. But this 
 is true only of absence which is occasional and 
 temporary. The effect of that which is habitual 
 and permanent is just the reverse ; and to derive 
 the full benefit of boarding-school instruction, 
 boys must continue at them from four to seven 
 years. 
 
 Another great and irremediable defect in the 
 boarding-school system, is, that out of school hours 
 it throws children for the most part into the society 
 of children. In the family where God has placed 
 them, their association is, or may be, chiefly with
 
 APPEAL, TO THE CLERGY. 301 
 
 daults. Such is evidently the design of Provi- 
 dence, in which we discover equal benevolence 
 and wisdom. It is exactly suited to the laws of 
 the imitative propensity which he has made ex- 
 ceedingly strong in children, which contributes 
 more than all other things together to form 
 their disposition, character, and manners. Cha- 
 racter of almost every description is borrowed. 
 There are few originals in the world ; indeed, 
 none that are absolutely such. This is true of 
 men separately and in masses ; of families ; neigh- 
 bourhoods ; communities ; nations and genera- 
 tions, as well as of individuals. We are in almost 
 all respects copied from our seniors ; we are but 
 transcripts of which they are the originals. There 
 is no influence comparable in strength to that of 
 mental friction, the action of mind on mind, of 
 heart on heart. We imperceptibly and involunta- 
 rily imbibe the disposition and sentiments of those 
 with whom we associate; iron in contact with 
 a magnet is not more sure to acquire its myste- 
 rious property. Hence the infinite importance of 
 putting proper models before children. Accord- 
 ingly a wise and benevolent Creator, by the 
 family arrangement, places them in immediate 
 and constant association with a couple of individ- 
 uals whose characters are formed, and ought to be, 
 and may be, such as it would be desirable for 
 them to imitate. 
 
 The principle of boarding-schools is directly 
 26
 
 302 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 opposed to this arrangement. Providence locates 
 children in the society of adults. Boarding- 
 schools transfer them to the society of children. 
 God places them in contact with matured cha- 
 racter. Boarding-schools bring them in juxta-po- 
 sition with that which is unformed and immature. 
 
 It will not do to say, as an offset to this objec- 
 tion, that at boarding-schools their teachers mingle 
 with the children in their plays, and superintend 
 even their hours of relaxation. I know this is the 
 theory ; but, generally speaking, its execution is 
 impracticable, partly from the fact that children, 
 when they have an opportunity, prefer, and will 
 have, the society of those of their own age ; and 
 partly from the difficult) (the impossibility I might 
 almost say,) of getting teachers, in any numbers, 
 who from natural disposition, or for conscience 
 sake, acquire the art of completely identifying 
 themselves with their pupils, and who feel a pro- 
 per solicitude for their moral as well as their in- 
 tellectual improvement. 
 
 The social propensity in children is surprisingly 
 strong; and if its cravings be not allowed too many 
 other opportunities of indulgence, they will be per- 
 fectly happy and contented in the profitable society 
 of their parents. But, on the contrary, if we give 
 them a chance to gratify this instinct, either at 
 home or in the neighbourhood, or at the boarding- 
 school, by associating with other children, they 
 will invariably do so, and will be far more under
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 each other's influence than under that of adults. 
 As a teacher and a father, I know not that I could 
 state another fact of equal moment on the sub- 
 ject of practical education. The most powerful 
 moral influence to which children can be subjected 
 resides in their playmates. There is a public sen- 
 timent in the play -ground which is altogether irre- 
 sistible. Moral courage is a virtue which presup- 
 poses a good deal of experience. It is the fruit 
 of cultivation, and is rare among adults. It can- 
 not, therefore, be expected that children should 
 possess it in an eminent degree ; and yet, in their 
 association with each other, there is no virtue of 
 which they have greater need. In a miscellaneous 
 assemblage of twenty children, there will, in nine 
 cases out of ten, be some whose moral culture has 
 been neglected ; and all other things being equal, 
 a bad boy will have far greater influence than a 
 good one. 
 
 For proof of the truth of these assertions, it is 
 quite sufficient that I refer the reader to his re- 
 collections of his school-boy days. Among chil- 
 dren, as among adults, the decidedly good are in 
 a small minority ; and those whose principles and 
 habits have not acquired a very unusual strength, 
 are extremely apt to become assimilated to the 
 mass. It is hard for human nature not to " follow 
 the multitude to do evil." There are few tenden- 
 cies stronger than that which urges men to fall in 
 with the popular current. It is difficult for an
 
 304 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 adult to be singular ; it must be much more so for 
 a child. Every collection of children have their 
 habits of thinking, of feeling, and of acting ; 
 and no where is fashion more arbitrary and tyran- 
 nical than in the juvenile circle. 
 
 In the region of country where the author passed 
 his childhood, false and premature notions of man- 
 liness, cherished about the school-house, did more 
 harm (as is manifest from the subsequent history 
 of his playmates,) than almost any other cause to 
 which his mind reverts. In the youthful com- 
 munity, where to smoke, to drink, to sweaiv 
 are looked upon as indications of a man,; where 
 the independent lad is he who can laugh at the 
 restraints of conscience, and affect a swaggering 
 indifference to domestic authority ; who can crack 
 his jokes about the adroitness with which he cheats 
 " the old man," or " the old woman," by evading 
 their laws ; in short, whose boast is, that he does 
 as he pleases ; the virtue of even a young Socrates 
 would scarce be safe. Escape from corruption, 
 in such a case, is certainly providential, not to 
 say miraculous. 
 
 Now, this is the case, in a greater or less degree, 
 in every society of children. They will have their 
 private communications of sentiments and feelings; 
 the most rigid system of espionage would not be 
 able to prevent it ; and in despite of every precau- 
 tion to the contrary, these will do more to form 
 their character than all the direct or indirect in-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 305 
 
 struction of their teachers. Hence it is, that, 
 generally speaking, the pupils do more to give 
 character to the school, than the school to give 
 character to them. 
 
 The most delightful specimens of correct moral 
 education I have ever seen, have been in cases 
 where the chief society of children, for a number 
 of years together, had been that of their parents ; 
 and where, by a kind of moral absorption, the sen- 
 timents and feelings of the father and the mother 
 had been imperceptibly transfused into the bosoms 
 of their offspring. But, in all such instances that 
 I have had an opportunity to notice, the circum- 
 stances of the family were such, that the children 
 had not the choice of the society of children. This 
 seems indispensable. Give them such a choice, 
 and in a large majority of instances, they will pre- 
 fer it. I am sure 1 speak to the experience of such 
 parents as feel the importance of this principle, and 
 yet whose circumstances are adverse to its appli- 
 cation. They know how hard it is to make their 
 children love their company, when there are in 
 the neighbourhood other boys and girls who are 
 constantly soliciting association with them. 
 
 Even with the choicest corps of teachers, then, 
 tha evils that arise from too much juvenile society 
 could not be prevented ; but where is the super- 
 intendent of a boarding-school who is, at all times, 
 able to command just such a set of teachers as he 
 could desire, and as he stands in need of ? The 
 26*
 
 306 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 usual requirements of scholarship and aptness to 
 teach, (the latter of which few possess in an emi- 
 nent degree,) are nothing in comparison with the 
 moral qualifications that should appertain to an 
 assistant in a boarding-school. He must be able 
 to practise a playful familiarity with his pupils, and 
 yet maintain his dignity ; in other words, to be the 
 boy and the man at the same time. He must pos- 
 sess the extremely rare quality of governing with 
 strictness, and yet of making his subjects love him. 
 If he relax in discipline, he will cease to be re- 
 spected ; and if he rigidly enforce authority, there 
 is danger lest he be disliked. 
 
 But this is very far from being the whole of 
 the difficulty. To realize the theory of a board- 
 ing-school, all its teachers must be men possessing 
 an unusual degree, of piety. From a just and ne- 
 cessary regard to economy, they are for the most 
 part unmarried men ; and yet they are professed- 
 ly appointed to perform the most difficult and 
 solemn of parental duties. Their benevolence of 
 disposition, and their sensibility of conscience, 
 therefore, must be be truly great to enable them 
 to execute with constancy, fidelity, and skill, the 
 arduous task of training up the young in the ways 
 of piety and virtue without either the impulse or 
 support of the parental instinct. If even religious 
 fathers can reconcile it to themselves to be re- 
 miss in the moral culture of their sons, (and few 
 things are more common,) how great is the im-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 307 
 
 probability that a set of youths, not at all related 
 to them, should be more conscientious and pains- 
 taking ? That system cannot be susceptible of 
 general application, nor be otherwise than theo- 
 retically good, whose execution depends upon the 
 contingency of finding young men who shall be 
 more concerned for the moral welfare of children 
 than pious parents are themselves. As a rare 
 occurrence, such an instance may possibly be 
 found ; but the general rule, from the very nature 
 of things, must be different. 
 
 From long experience, I know something of 
 the difficulty of obtaining really good assistants 
 for merely intellectual instruction. Every head 
 of a college or extensive school, knows how hard 
 it is to be suited in this respect. A distinguished 
 professor, (whose name, were I at liberty to use 
 it, would add great weight to the statement,) 
 once informed me, that in the course of eighteen 
 years, and with the opportunity of an annual 
 choice from graduating classes, he had not been 
 able to get more than two or three tutors to 
 please him. As a general rule, young men who are 
 ushers, teach solely for the remuneration. This 
 being their principal inducement, it is not to be 
 expected that they will bestow more attention to 
 their pupils than will barely satisfy their contract. 
 If they devote themselves assiduously and faith- 
 fully during the six or seven tuition hours, their 
 task is done. They then desire relaxation, or
 
 308 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 they wish to study for their own improvement. 
 It rarely indeed occurs that principle or inclina- 
 tion causes assistant teachers to pay extra atten- 
 tion to their pupils. Now if this be the case 
 where intellectual education is exclusively or 
 chiefly aimed at, how greatly must the improba- 
 bility of procuring suitable assistants be increased 
 both in number and in force, where the formation 
 of the manners, and the cultivation of the affec- 
 tions are attempted ? 
 
 I grant that it is better for a child to be at a 
 good boarding-school, than in a bad family ; and 
 it is precisely upon this principle that boarding- 
 schools, as well as Sunday-schools, have become ne- 
 cessary ; for far be it from me to wage an uncondi- 
 tional warfare against these institutions. I grant 
 that the imperfect moral training which can be 
 given at boarding-schools and Sunday-schools is 
 a less evil, and therefore better than almost total 
 neglect at home ; and that on this account they are 
 made not only necessary but desirable. Whilst 
 I say this, however, I would be very careful to 
 state that I consider them desirable only as tem- 
 porary substitutes ; and so far as I animadvert 
 upon them at all, I do it chiefly because their real 
 object appears to have been misconceived, and 
 they seem to have been offered to the world as 
 permanent expedients, affording greater moral ad- 
 vantages than can be enjoyed under any other cir- 
 cumstances. I have yet to see the prospectus of
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 309 
 
 the boarding-school, and to hear the first speech 
 in favour of Sabbath-schools, which shall mourn 
 over the necessity of establishing such institu- 
 tions, and which shall strive to rebuke the awful 
 remissness (for it is awful in its consequences,) of 
 those fathers and mothers, who, instead of nursing 
 the religious and moral character of their off- 
 spring within the sacred precincts of the family, 
 can reconcile it to themselves (and too frequently 
 for no better reason than to get rid of trouble,) 
 to send them off to moral hospitals. 
 
 While, therefore, I admit that " it is better for 
 a child to be at a good boarding-school than in a 
 bad family," I must maintain that a bad family is 
 preferable, in point of moral influence, to a bad 
 boarding-school, and a good family to a good 
 boarding-school. If the former had over the lat- 
 ter no other advantage than in size, this were 
 sufficient. For the great purpose of moral edu- 
 cation, Providence has distributed the young of 
 the human family into schools not exceeding an 
 average of five or six. Boarding-schools would 
 assemble them by fifties, or by hundreds. Even 
 under the most perfect organization, a boarding- 
 school is not entitled to the appellation of a fami- 
 ly at all, since it is necessarily destitute of some 
 of the most essential qualities of this divine insti- 
 tution, a family being a society of the nearest rela- 
 tives, and of both sexes ; neither of which can in 
 any case be true of the best boarding-school. But
 
 310 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 conceding its right to the title which it generally 
 assumes, a boarding-school is still an overgrown 
 family, in which many different sets of children 
 are assembled ; and this circumstance alone, for 
 obvious reasons, must augment the difficulties of 
 moral discipline a hundred-fold. 
 
 It may not be superfluous to state that these 
 objections do not appertain to colleges ; for these 
 are, or ought to be, composed of young men, (not 
 of children,) whose characters may have been 
 formed, and in a good degree, confirmed at home ; 
 nor yet, in an equal degree, to those academies 
 and schools which are so near that children attend- 
 ing them may be at home as often as once in ev- 
 ery week or two. The great truth for which I 
 contend, is, that home is the natural place, the best 
 moral nursery for children ; and that it is infi- 
 nitely better to carry the school to them, than to 
 take them to the school. The practice of sending 
 children away from home to school, is, beyond 
 comparison, worse than the unnatural system of 
 putting infants out to nurse. 
 
 I speak with earnestness and at length upon 
 this subject, because of the great and growing 
 tendency there is in the United States, to encou- 
 rage foreign education. The Northern States cal- 
 culate with as much certainty, (and provide for 
 it almost as systematically) to manufacture the 
 mind of the Southern States, as they do to man- 
 ufacture their raw cotton ; and even in the East-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 311 
 
 ern States themselves, every one who has been in 
 the habit of noticing the advertisements in papers 
 of a literary cast, must have observed the rapid 
 multiplication of boarding-schools ; whilst the 
 country adjacent to the Ohio, and to the middle 
 portion of the Mississippi river, is becoming stud- 
 ded with institutions for educating the children of 
 almost the whole south-western section of the 
 Union. 
 
 Besides the moral evils of this practice, (which 
 I am more immediately concerned to notice,) 
 arising from the separation of children from their 
 homes, and the consequent alienation of family 
 affection, from the abstraction of boys from fe- 
 male society, from the substitution of juvenile for 
 adult company, and from too free an indulgence 
 with the use of money which is almost unavoid- 
 able ; there are one or two others, to which, 
 as being particularly injurious to the cause of ed- 
 ucation, I beg leave hastily to refer. 
 
 The boarding-school system operates as a serious 
 hinderance to the spread of education. It is univer- 
 sally true that those regions of country where 
 the custom of sending children abroad to receive 
 instruction extensively prevails, are poorly sup- 
 plied with the means of education at home. This 
 is easily accounted for. It is only the rich who 
 can afford the expense of foreign education, and 
 the resources of the neighbourhood are so much 
 weakened by the loss of their co-operation and
 
 312 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 interest, that the remainder cannot afford, or have 
 not the spirit, to sustain a good school. It results 
 of course, that but comparatively few enjoy the 
 blessing of a good education. 
 
 The costliness of boarding-school instruction is 
 another circumstance which confines its benefits 
 to a very small portion of society. To erect and 
 furnish a building capable of accommodating a 
 hundred pupils would require, at the lowest cal- 
 culation, the investment of twenty-thousand dol- 
 lars ; a sum sufficient to build forty good com- 
 mon school-houses at five hundred dollars each, 
 and which would be sufficient to contain with 
 comfort at least two thousand pupils. Again ; 
 the board, pocket-money, and travelling expenses 
 of a hundred boys at two-hundred dollars each, 
 would amount to twenty-thousand dollars annually, 
 or enough, at ten dollars, which is above the av- 
 erage price of common school instruction in the 
 United States, to pay for the instruction of two 
 thousand scholars. 
 
 If the money expended in buying bread and 
 meat at boarding-schools were spent in tuition-fees 
 at home, not only would the amount of education 
 be increased, but what is a matter, if possible, of 
 still greater moment, its quality would be vastly 
 improved. The quality of education, like that of 
 every thing else, will bear a very close relation to 
 its price ; and supposing that the cost of support- 
 ing half a dozen boys abroad were added to the
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 313 
 
 tuition fees which the rest of the neighbourhood 
 could easily afford to pay, it is obvious that a 
 very superior kind of education might be brought 
 within the reach of all. 
 
 I rejoice to see this subject beginning to attract 
 the attention of the Southern and South-western 
 portions of our country. The contribution which 
 they annually pay to other States for the educa- 
 tion of a very few of their children, is enormous. 
 But the loss of money is a trifling consideration, 
 in comparison with other evils which appertain 
 to the foreign or boarding-school system of ed- 
 ucation, not the least of which, as I have already 
 stated, is, that by dividing the interest and the pe- 
 cuniary strength of neighbourhoods, the multipli- 
 cation of the means of popular instruction at home, 
 is greatly hindered. Only let those portions of the 
 Union to which I have alluded, heartily unite 
 their efforts in support of institutions of their own, 
 offering such salaries to teachers of every grade 
 as would comport with the large ; nd liberal spirit 
 characteristic of the South ; and if there be any 
 truth in the doctrines of political economy, they 
 cannot fail to attract to themselves instructers 
 who will give them, at their homes, a kind of edu- 
 cation equal, if not superior, to any they could find 
 abroad. 
 
 Having expressed my reasons for believing that 
 the means, at present relied on for forming the 
 moral character of the 'children of the nation, 
 27
 
 314 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 " are altogether inadequate," I proceed to specify 
 the superior recommendations which the common 
 school system possesses, as an instrument to effect 
 this object ; and to point out the manner in which 
 the clergy, above any other class of men, may pro- 
 mote its interests, and thereby the interests of re- 
 ligious education. 
 
 The advantages which the common school sys- 
 tem possessc , over those of the Sunday-school 
 and boarding-school, are, that it may be made to 
 embrace all the children of the nation ; to employ 
 competent teachers for their instruction ; to repeat 
 their lessons with sufficient frequency ; to conduct 
 their education in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 their homes ; and that it does not conflict with fam- 
 ily education. 
 
 The illustration and proof upon these points may 
 be very brief. The facts stated in the first and 
 fourth, are manifest from the operation of the com- 
 mon school system, wherever it has been wisely 
 established. In New- York and Massachusetts, for 
 example, out of seven hundred thousand children, 
 only a very few thousands are not enrolled in the 
 common schools, which are not distant more than 
 a mile from the doors of a very large majority. 
 
 There is no process of reasoning which can so 
 forcibly demonstrate the superior importance of 
 the common schools, as the simple fact, that where 
 they are established, nineteen twentieths of our citi- 
 zens begin and end their education in them ! That
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 315 
 
 is, out of the four millions of children supposed to 
 be in the United States, three millions eight hun- 
 dred thousand would be in the common schools, 
 while only two hundred thousand would be left 
 at boarding and private schools. 
 
 Now, just look, for a moment, at the compara- 
 tive cost to the nation for education in these. Al- 
 lowing eight dollars for each pupil, (which is four 
 times as much as has been paid in New-York, until 
 this year,) the entire cost of instructing the four 
 millions of children would be only thirty-two mil- 
 lions of dollars ; whilst the expense, (including 
 board, tuition, travelling money, and numerous 
 extras; and allowing two hundred dollars for each 
 boy,) of educating only two hundred thousand at 
 boarding-schools, would be forty millions ! I leave 
 the reflecting to make their own inferences. 
 
 In asserting that in the common schools children 
 would receive religious as well as other instruction, 
 at the hands of competent teachers, I take it for 
 granted that provision shall have been made for 
 their professional education, and that a critical study 
 of the Bible shall constitute a part of this education, 
 to which state things will certainly be brought, if 
 the clergy will only be as active as they should 
 be, in trying to persuade the public mind of its 
 necessity. Now, supposing teachers of a proper 
 character to be thus trained, it is evident that they 
 will be able to impart a higher grade of instruction 
 from the Bible than parents can. Here, then, is
 
 316 APPEAL TO TUB CLKRGY. 
 
 the important point of difference between Sabbath- 
 schools and common schools, as to the opportuni- 
 ties they afford for religious instruction. For the 
 reason just given, the common school teachers 
 will always have an advantage over parents, and 
 will be able to. add something to the best instruc- 
 tion they can give at home. Not so the Sunday- 
 school teachers. These will always be,, for the 
 most part, young persons who cannot be as good 
 at teaching before as after marriage, provided they 
 continue to practise in their families. In this event,, 
 therefore, the family must be able to do more for 
 children than Sunday-schools can and must there- 
 fore supersede them. 
 
 As to the manner in which the clergy may 
 promote the interests of popular education, I re- 
 mark in general that they may do so by a great 
 variety of incidental methods, the whole of which 
 cannot be specified. For instance, they may make 
 it the frequent subject of their conversation, they 
 may induce their parishoners to read about it, and 
 furnish them at the same time, with means of in- 
 formation. They may occasionally supply the 
 neighbouring press with articles upon the subject, 
 and stimulate the editor to advocate its claims. 
 They may do much to encourage teachers by 
 visiting their schools, attending their examinations^
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 317 
 
 and prevailing upon the parents of the children to 
 do so likewise ; and even from the sacred desk, 
 they may and should, with frequency and earnest- 
 ness, call the attention of their people to the nature 
 and advantages of general education. In these 
 and a hundred other ways which experience will 
 best point out, they may contribute materially to 
 the promotion of this hallowed cause. And when 
 we reflect how many thousand clergymen there 
 are in the United States, what might not be an- 
 ticipated from a combined, harmonious effort on 
 their part ? Acting in co-operation with other 
 friends of education, only let them all consider 
 themselves as responsible agents in their respective 
 spheres, charged with enlightening the public mind 
 as to the true nature and worth of education, with 
 circulating the same views, guarding the people 
 against mistakes of practice and opinion, and ex- 
 citing them to a liberal provision of the means to 
 meet the current expenses of their schools ; and 
 ten years need not elapse before public opinion 
 throughout the Union shall have experienced a 
 complete and healthy revolution. Before leaving 
 this branch of the subject, however, there are one 
 or two expedients for influencing public opinion, 
 which it is in the power of the clergy to employ, 
 which in consequence of their importance I think 
 worthy of particular notice. 
 
 Might not the clergy make use of the " Tract 
 System? with great effect for promoting the interests 
 of education ? 
 
 27*
 
 318 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 By means of tracts, the views of Rush and 
 Cousin and Guizot and Grimke and Washington, 
 and others on the political importance of religious 
 education, might be made familiar to almost every 
 family in the nation. In the same way correct 
 views might be propagated respecting the impolicy 
 of employing cheap teachers, the economy of lib- 
 eral expenditures to procure good education, the 
 real state and condition of education in the United 
 States, the dignity and importance of the office of 
 a teacher, the responsibilities of parents as to the 
 education of their children^ the part which legisla- 
 tion should and may perform in this great work, 
 and many other topics that might be mentioned. 
 
 Another way in which the clergy may render 
 essential service to the cause of education, would 
 be by taking care that in all the libraries of common 
 schools there should be a suitable proportion of 
 moral and religious books. 
 
 If it be true that " the ballads of a people," ex- 
 ert a greater influence than the laws, they who 
 prescribe the reading of the common school chil- 
 dren, wield an instrument of incomparably greater 
 power still. The American Sunday-school Union 
 has taken a noble stand in this particular. 
 
 Ministers of the gospel may render a most 
 essential service to the cause of education, by 
 providing for the education of pious teachers. 
 
 This is a particular of immense importance. If 
 we insist as strenuously as I have endeavoured to
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 319 
 
 show that it is our duty to do, upon the introduc- 
 tion of religious influences into schools, we should 
 not be unmindful of the obligation which this stand 
 imposes. It throws on us the responsibility of 
 demostrating the compatibility of a highly intel- 
 lectual education with that which is strictly moral 
 and religious, and that the Bible may be employed 
 in schools without encroaching on sectarian grounds. 
 These are points on which society can be con- 
 vinced only by practical demonstration. We are 
 therefore called upon to act. So long as we 
 merely theorize upon the subject, we deserve not 
 to be heeded, and we jeopard every thing. We 
 owe it to our profession, to the rising generation, 
 to our country, and to the Master whom we rep- 
 resent to afford a visible illustration of the bene- 
 fits resulting from that union of intellectual and 
 moral culture on which we insist. The world is 
 tired of mere abstractions on this subject. It 
 therefore justly calls on us for practical reasoning, 
 in support of our views ; and there is no possible 
 way in which we can afford it, unless we first 
 provide a supply of skilful pious teachers. 
 
 Until Christians shall do something more than 
 merely speak and write in favour of this object, 
 it is not reasonable to expect that politicians will 
 even go thus far. How can we have religious 
 education unless we have religious teachers ? and 
 who is to furnish these, if the religious portion of 
 the community are indifferent about it ? Most
 
 320 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 gladly, therefore, would I see every denomina- 
 tion of Christians establishing its seminaries to 
 supply this cardinal want. There is no one 
 measure that is so much needed, there is none 
 that comprehends so much, and there is nothing 
 easier of execution, provided Christian benevo- 
 lence would only include it among the objects of 
 its benefactions. From ten to twenty thousand 
 dollars would be sufficient to put in operation a 
 seminary for this object, (on the agricultural plan 
 suggested in the preceding chapter,) which might 
 turn out annually fifty teachers. 
 
 Along with this, another object of peculiar in- 
 terest might be accomplished, and to which I em- 
 brace this opportunity to call the attention of the 
 Church. For the purpose of affording the candi- 
 dates in a Normal school the requisite opportunities 
 for practising, it is desirable that a model school 
 should be connected with every professional 
 school for teachers. Among the children in this 
 school, provision might be made for admitting the 
 children of deceased clergymen. Most of the 
 clergy are poor, and have no hopes of leaving 
 behind them a sum sufficient to secure the ines- 
 timable benefits of an education to their offspring 
 in the event of their death. To be secure on this 
 point, is their strongest earthly wish. The minis- 
 ter of the gospel may afford to renounce for his 
 children as readily as for himself, the hopes of 
 this world's goods, but accustomed to regard it
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 321 
 
 as the most invaluable blessing, without which 
 life itself were not desirable, he cannot forego 
 for beings dearer to him than his very soul, the 
 prospects of a liberal and Christian education. 
 If, then, professors of religion would make their 
 pastors happy men, relieving their bosoms of their 
 weightiest care, especially if they would spare 
 their dying hour a pang, which all the anticipated 
 joys of Heaven full in view, would scarce have 
 power to alleviate, let them provide asylums to 
 which their orphan children may repair, not to 
 obtain a scanty allowance of food and clothing, 
 this much the ordinary poor-houses of the country 
 will secure them, but to be " trained up in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord." I have not 
 room to pursue this subject ; but I cannot leave 
 it without commending it most importunately and 
 solemnly to the consideration of the clergy, and 
 especially of those for whose spiritual benefit they 
 spend their lives. 
 
 The next method I shall mention by which the 
 clergy may help forward the cause of religious 
 education, is to excite and aid the people of their 
 respective congregations to understand and to dis- 
 charge their duty as the moral guardians of their 
 children- 
 Only get this to be done, and there will be com- 
 paratively little left for other religious agents to 
 accomplish. Every minister of the gospel, there- 
 fore, should look upon his congregation as a mon-
 
 322 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 itorial school, and fathers and mothers as the mon- 
 itors through whom, he, as the representative of 
 Him who said, " Suffer little children to come 
 unto me, and forbid them not," may instruct 
 the lambs of his flock. I would by no means 
 wish to see Sunday-schools discontinued whilst 
 the religious education of children is so much neg- 
 lected ; but what is supremely desirable on this 
 head, is, that every family should become a school, 
 every parent a teacher, and every day a Sunday. 
 I know not a weightier obligation resting on the 
 clergy than that which calls upon them to do their 
 best to give to the divinely appointed instrument 
 for the moral culture of the young, its appropri- 
 ate efficiency. 
 
 To effect this object, they must give their 
 minds, and prayers, and efforts, expressly to the 
 work. They must make the subject of education a 
 study, that they may know how to execute the 
 command of Him who said, " feed my lambs." 
 Indeed, from some passages in St. Paul's Epistles, 
 it would seem that an acquaintance with the art of 
 education was regarded by him as one of the quali- 
 fications for the ministerial office. Is it not then wor- 
 thy of being taken into consideration in the pro- 
 fessional training of ministers ? Would it be in- 
 appropriate to the duties of Professors of Pastoral 
 Theology in our Theological Seminaries, that they 
 should give to candidates for holy orders, prac- 
 tical instructions as to the manner in which they
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 323 
 
 may conduct with most effect the religious instruc- 
 tion of the children of their parishes ? 
 
 But ministers of the gospel should not only in- 
 form themselves, they should also preach upon 
 this subject. As they are workers together with 
 Christ, they should not rest contented till every 
 father and mother are workers together with them. 
 How can they be said to declare the whole counsel 
 of God, if they are habitually silent about this, the 
 most comprehensive in the list of social duties ? 
 If, through their supineness, parents continue re- 
 miss in this particular, whose will be the fault ? 
 Should not, then, every pulpit, from one end of 
 the country to the other, direct its attention and 
 its efforts to this subject ? Should not sermons 
 be frequentl) r preached expressly designed for 
 children, and adapted to their comprehension? 
 Not that I would have them separated from their 
 parents. This would be neither necessary nor ex- 
 pedient. It would suffice that at an appointed time, 
 say of a Sunday afternoon, parents and children 
 both being present, the latter be assembled near 
 the speaker, and be addressed as the congrega- 
 tion. There are no discourses more instructive to 
 parents, than those simple, analytical, elementary 
 statements (abounding with illustrations,) of reli- 
 gious truth which are suited to the young. 
 
 Should not ministers, also, incessantly proclaim 
 in the ears of pious parents their solemn duties to 
 their offspring ; that they belong to every day ; and
 
 324 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 that they cannot be thrown off upon the hired, 
 nor the Sunday-school teacher? There is every 
 thing to entice, as well as to impel the clergy to 
 this effort. It is one in which it is next to impos- 
 sible they should fail of success. Can it be that 
 Christians may be excited to give their money 
 and their prayers for the conversion of the heath- 
 en on the other side of the globe, and that they 
 cannot be aroused to exertion for the salvation of 
 their own children ? Parents cannot think with 
 satisfaction of the joys of Heaven, whilst they 
 have reason to fear lest its portals should be bar- 
 red against their children. How then can we sup- 
 pose that they cannot be aroused to earnest efforts 
 for their religious education, when they are assur- 
 ed, (as I believe with all sincerity they may be,) 
 that in this case, they may expect to stand before 
 the Judgement Seat of Christ with their entire flock, 
 and be able to say, here Lord, are we and the children 
 whom thou hast given us ? The opposite result 
 is almost too awful to be mentioned, but it ought 
 to be stated from the pulpit ; and no minister is 
 at liberty to assume that it is impracticable to get 
 parents to do their duty, until he has perseveringly 
 tried all proper measures to effect it. 
 
 But the clergy should do much more than merely 
 tell parents of their duty ; they should show them 
 how to discharge it with reference to the details 
 of every day. I know no objects more deserving 
 of sympathy than those mothers (and I believe
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 325 
 
 they are very numerous) who feel their obligation, 
 and have the desire to do something effectual for 
 the religious education of their children, but they 
 know not what nor how. It is cruel to harrow up 
 the feelings of such persons by a statement of the 
 awful consequences of parental neglect, and there 
 to stop. A minister's duty is but just commenced 
 when he has aroused in parents a disposition to 
 exert themselves. Then it is that, as the head of 
 a large monitorial school, he should go forward 
 with his practical directions, and relieve the dif- 
 fidence, and gladden the hearts of mothers, by 
 showing them that God has not required impossi- 
 bilities at their hands. 
 
 Out of a variety of expedients calculated to 
 have this effect, I shall suggest a single one, viz : 
 that a clergyman having prepared the way by 
 perhaps a series of appeals to the judgements, 
 consciences, and affections of his people, s ould 
 announce that at a stated time, in every week, he 
 will meet all parents who may feel disposed heart- 
 ily to set about the religious instruction of their 
 children : that he should at each meeting specify, 
 with great precision, seven Bible lessons, that is, 
 one for every day in the week, to be taught by 
 the father or mother to the children of each fam- 
 ily ; and, chiefly, that he should spend an hour in 
 explaining the difficulties in these lessons, inviting 
 parents to ask questions and make remarks, point- 
 ing out the leading truths to be impressed upon 
 28
 
 326 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 the minds of children ; and (what is of especial 
 importance) throwing out such practical sugges- 
 tions as may facilitate for parents the execution of 
 their task ; such, for instance, as showing how this 
 difficulty may be removed, how that verse may 
 be best explained to children, what portions of 
 the lesson may be passed over slightly, and in 
 what manner particular truths may be applied to 
 the hearts and consciences of children with most 
 effect. 
 
 Is it not an animating idea to think of the pa- 
 rents in a congregation, certainly the mothers, 
 (for my hopes for the religious education of the 
 young are chiefly founded on maternal love and 
 piety,) assembling around their spiritual leader 
 once a week to learn the heavenly art of family 
 education, and then dispersing to irnpart to their 
 respective classes, that is, to their children, on the 
 morning or evening of each day, the lessons of 
 piety and virtue which they have studied with 
 the assistance of the superintendent of the con- 
 gregational school ? A partial experience of the 
 beneficial and endearing influence of such a plan, 
 prompts me to believe that he who will try it will 
 not speedily abandon it. 
 
 The last expedient I shall mention, by which the 
 clergy may promote the interests of education, es- 
 pecially of religious education, is the establishment 
 of private or parochial schools on strictly Christian 
 principles.
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 327 
 
 While I urge the political necessity of introduc- 
 ing religious instruction into all our public schools, 
 I by no means entertain the hope that it will be 
 soon accomplished. It would be improper, there- 
 fore, for those who are persuaded of their duty in 
 this respect, to wait until the entire country can 
 be brought to act in concert with them. The 
 position is, I think, a safe one, that this great im- 
 provement is not likely to be made, and made 
 properly, in the public schools, till an example is 
 set in private ones. Should not the clergy, then, 
 interest themselves to furnish this example ? Who 
 will attend to it if they do not ? There is no way 
 in which so strong an influence may be exerted 
 upon public sentiment, in favour of christianizing 
 .education, as by creating model schools, in which 
 shall be illustrated the reciprocal advantages of 
 uniting intellectual and moral culture. 
 
 But, apart from this consideration, do not the 
 clergy owe it to the children of their charge, to 
 provide that on every day of the week, as well as 
 on Sunday, their daily wants shall be met by daily 
 religious teaching ? I am not in favour of the un- 
 necessary multiplication of private schools, but I 
 am so thoroughly persuaded of the vital impor- 
 tance of religious education, that I would make 
 all things else subordinate and subservient to this. 
 I would rejoice to see the clergy, of all denomina- 
 tions, with one voice say to the government, " give 
 us religious education in the public schools, and
 
 328 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 we will encourage them ; withhold it, and we shall 
 feel bound to establish schools of our own." 
 
 If the government will make the public schools 
 acceptable to the religious part of the community, 
 it is much to be preferred that they should be re- 
 sorted to by all. Were there no other reason for 
 this, it is a sufficient and decisive one, that in any 
 other way religious education must be very im- 
 perfectly diffused. In our cities and largest towns 
 the support of parochial or denominational schools 
 I admit is practicable ; but what is to be done 
 when you come into the villages and the country, 
 where the population is scattered, and where the 
 children of the neighbourhood belong to families 
 connected with half a dozen different Christian 
 bodies ? It will be perceived that I here assume 
 what in another place is expressly stated, viz : that 
 the government can more easily introduce the Bible 
 into schools in a way agreeable to all, than the 
 different denominations can by agreement among 
 themselves. Upon any amalgamating plan, the 
 question relating to the omission of peculiarities 
 could hardly be settled by the sects themselves ; 
 whereas if the government were to prescribe a set 
 of lessons in the Bible, it would, of course, exclude 
 such portions as would be likely to bring deno- 
 minational preferences and prejudices into colli- 
 sion, and this could be displeasing to but few. 
 
 There are some I am aware who conscientiously 
 think that Christians are bound to have their chit-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 dren taught at school the whole body of religious 
 truth as they receive it, or to have nothing of 
 religion taught. Such persons I would beg most 
 earnestly, to reflect upon the stern alternative 
 which is placed before us in this country, viz : 
 that of having the religious instruction given in 
 our schools to be truly catholic in its character, 
 or to have none at all. Suppose we insist that 
 it shall be Episcopal, or Presbyterian, or Unita- 
 rian, will the government or the nation assent 
 to it in regard to the public schools ? And is it 
 not clear, from the miscellaneous and scattered 
 character of our agricultural population, which 
 constitutes nine-tenths of the whole, that when the 
 strength of a neighbourhood shall have been divi- 
 ded some half a dozen times, there would not be 
 enough in any fragment to support a respectable 
 school ? 
 
 Necessity is laid upon us, therefore, in con- 
 structing a system of religious instruction for our 
 common schools, to make it the product of secta- 
 rian compromise. And what reasonable objection 
 is there to this ? Is there not in the Bible enough 
 which is matter of common faith, out of which to 
 frame such a system ? Are not the principal re- 
 ligious denominations of our country agreed upon 
 ninety-nine out of every hundred verses in the 
 sacred volume ? I know that there are some 
 whose views are such that they could not be 
 suited upon any grounds short of the exclusion 
 28*
 
 330 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY, 
 
 of religion from our schools. But such are scarcely 
 one in a hundred to the mass of our citizens. And 
 are the wishes of so large a majority to be over- 
 ruled by so small a minority ? When could a 
 legislative measure of any sort be carried, if more 
 were required than an approximation towards 
 pleasing all concerned ? It is anti-republican to 
 maintain that a minority, however small, though 
 it be by a single individual, should control the 
 majority ; and that legislative assembly is fortunate 
 indeed, which in a measure of the greatest impor- 
 tance is able to satisfy nine-tenths of those it 
 represents. 
 
 I have now finished enumerating the expedi- 
 ents by which I suppose the clergy may facilitate 
 the establishment of a system of national educa- 
 tion in the United States, and shall close this 
 volume, by stating two additional considerations 
 to those already offered, to excite them to active 
 and untiring exertions for this object. Before I 
 advance to these, however, I beg leave to repeat 
 what I believe I have already stated more than 
 once perhaps, that I offer these and other sugges- 
 tions in this work with diffidence, and yet from a 
 sense of duty . This volume was commenced and 
 has been prosecuted with a practical aim. I have 
 endeavoured to form a correct idea of the present 
 condition and wants of education in our country, 
 and to throw out views which may have about 
 them something of practical adaptation. How far
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 331 
 
 I have succeeded has yet to be determined ; 
 and I can only say that if the result shall prove 
 that in any manner or degree I may have bene- 
 fited the cause of education in my country, and 
 especially the cause of Christian education, it will 
 afford a pleasure which I shall carry with me into 
 the eternal world. 
 
 One of the considerations referred to, and one 
 which should ope rate most powerfully with the cler- 
 gy to induce their heartiest efforts to create a pub- 
 lic sentiment which would place national or uni- 
 versal education upon a rational basis, is, that the 
 intellectual and moral culture of the young, when 
 properly conducted, affords the only possible means 
 of achieving " Christian Union." 
 
 I will not stop to discuss the question of the 
 expediency of Christian Union. I may safely 
 take it for granted that all those who entertain a 
 doubt upon this subject, attach a very different 
 idea to these expressions from that harmony of 
 feeling and op nion among the disciples of the 
 Saviour, which constitute the sum and substance 
 of that union to which I refer ; and for which, 
 could I command it, I would plead with angelic 
 eloquence and power. 
 
 About a union " in form," we may afford to be 
 comparatively indifferent, (I mean so far as re-
 
 332 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 lates to direct efforts to produce it,) because it will 
 naturally and spontaneously ensue upon the crea- 
 tion of unity of sentiment. Any diversity of prac- 
 tice that can co-exist with this, will do no harm. 
 Let us only secure that union of feeling and opin- 
 ion of which I speak, and forms may be left to re- 
 gulate themselves. Such an union, I not only be- 
 lieve to be desirable, but practicable ; and I shall 
 endeavour to show that it can be brought about 
 only by the instrumentality of improved education. 
 In prosecuting the inquiry as to the bearing 
 which education has upon the achievement of 
 Christian union, I remark, that a union of the va- 
 rious religions denominations can never be the re- 
 sult of compromise, nor of conventional agree- 
 ment. Whilst I honour the motives of those 
 who would by such means seek the attainment of 
 so desirable an end, I feel constrained to believe 
 they are pursuing an ignis fatuus. I sincerely be- 
 lieve, that upon such terms and in such a way, un- 
 ion would be wrong, even were it possible ; whilst 
 I maintain that it would be at once admissible, 
 safe, and most devoutly to be wished for, when 
 it can be made to have its foundation in harmo- 
 ny of sentiment. Prior to a revolution of opinion 
 which would result in this, it would not be extra- 
 vagant to say that formal union among Christians 
 is not to be desired. It would be productive of 
 mischief instead of good ; or at the best, being 
 based upon an unnatural foundation, it could not
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 333 
 
 last. We cannot become united until we are 
 agreed. This results from the very structure of 
 the human mind ; and external union upon any 
 other terms, cannot fail to prove deceptive and 
 ephemeral. It is not only impracticable, but were 
 it otherwise, it would be improper for the differ- 
 ent branches of the Christian family to come to- 
 gether upon terms which would do violence to 
 conscience. They have no right to seek the at- 
 tainment of the most desirable ends by means 
 that are exceptionable. Conscientious scruples 
 are not to be trifled with. The voice of con- 
 science, when properly enlightened, is the voice 
 of God ; and not to comply witli its requirements 
 is to disobey our Maker. Union among Chris- 
 tians, then, must be preceded by harmony of 
 opinion. But as nothing is more obvious than 
 that opinions may change ; and as a change of 
 opinion will naturally be followed by a relin- 
 quishment of scruples, here is afforded ample 
 room for effort after union, in a way that is as 
 promising as unexceptionable. I exult in the be- 
 lief that such is the benevolent constitution of the 
 human mind, that if you will teach and dispose 
 men to think right, they naturally and almost 
 unavoidably will think alike. What we supreme- 
 ly want, then, is such an improvement in the art 
 of education as will enable us to qualify the youth 
 of our country for engaging aright in the pursuit 
 of truth.
 
 334 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 Let this once be gained ; let our children while 
 growing up be fitted by appropriate mental disci- 
 pline, for exercising the natural and unalienable 
 right of every human being of thinking for himself; 
 let them from the earliest period, too, be thoroughly 
 imbued with the sentiment that it is their interest 
 to know the truth wherever it may be found ; let 
 them thus prepared undertake in manhood to 
 scrutinize the reasons for the views which they 
 had implicitly adopted from their parents in the 
 confiding years of childhood, and I firmly believe 
 that diversity of opinion on all important points 
 would soon dwindle into insignificance. 
 
 I confess I have great confidence in the inherent 
 power of the human mind, (of every mind that 
 is not disordered,) to arrive at a knowledge of 
 the truth. I do not believe this to be the preroga- 
 tive of genius. There are inspired as well as 
 philosophical reasons for believing, that honesty 
 and simplicity of purpose contribute far more to 
 the formation of correct opinions, than talents or 
 great learning. Much of the credit which is ordi- 
 narily given to common sense is due to these, or 
 rather these are among the prominent constituents 
 of common sense to whose influence its efficacy 
 in the discovery of truth is mainly owing. 
 
 The reason that there is so much error in the 
 world, and that it is so slowly removed, is not that 
 truth is inaccessible to the generality of minds, but 
 mainly because the education we receive is not cal-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 335 
 
 culated to give us due command of our reasoning 
 powers, and because the prejudices with ivhich we 
 are suffered to grow up shut our eyes to the percep- 
 tion of truth, or cause us to avert our ears from 
 giving to its evidence an impartial hearing. 
 
 Both as protestants and as republicans, consist- 
 ency requires that we entertain these sentiments. 
 The genius of our government places every man 
 upon the footing of his natural rights. Among 
 these it not only recognises the privilege of inde- 
 pendent thought, but puts him in a situation in 
 which he is compelled to exercise it, or be at the 
 mercy of others for his opinions. The fundamental 
 principle of the reformation asserts the obligation, 
 and of course by implication admits the ability of 
 every human being to ascertain the truth. 
 
 Let therefore the clergy of all denominations 
 conspire to produce that improvement in the pro- 
 cess of education which will fit it to perform its 
 appropriate office on the human mind ; let them 
 not rest satisfied either, until every mind and heart 
 in the community shall have been fairly subjected 
 to its influences, and then all that they will have 
 occasion to do more, and all that they will have a 
 right to do in order to bring about uniformity of 
 religious belief, is to make a full and candid expo- 
 sition of their sentiments with the reasons by which 
 they are supported, and to leave each individual free 
 to form his own conclusions as to their respective 
 claims, and practically to decide in favour of that
 
 336 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 system which, in his judgement, is best sustained 
 by reason and by the inspired volume. 
 
 The course here recommended is in harmony 
 with the requirements of genuine charity, no less 
 than those of a sound philosophy, and of republi- 
 can principles. 
 
 It is high time that the real nature and demands 
 of charity were better understood. Its office is 
 not to repress, but to further inquiry and discus- 
 sion, by regulating the spirit in which they ought 
 to be conducted. It encourages a frank and un- 
 reserved interchange of views, and a manly, cour- 
 teous, unshrinking scrutiny of reasons. It never 
 requires a sacrifice of truth nor a compromise of 
 principle. Its existence is incompatible with the 
 moral imbecility which would lead to this. Such 
 weakness would be sinful ; and genuine, that is, 
 Scriptural charity "rejoiceth not in iniquity, but 
 rejoiceth in the truth." 
 
 We should hold no opinions which we may be 
 ashamed to communicate to all the world ; for if 
 the effect of examination be to show that they are 
 erroneous, we ought to have the magnanimity to 
 renounce them at all hazards ; and if, for fear of 
 this result, we persist in keeping them to ourselves, 
 our pusillanimity only shows us to be wanting in 
 that charity whose sole alliance is with the truth. 
 A church, no more than an individual, will lose by 
 being honest. It is true with reference to asso- 
 ciations as well as persons, that " honesty is the
 
 A5PPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 33*7 
 
 best policy." The success which accompanies in- 
 sincerity is at best but transient, while it is incom- 
 patible with self-respect, and is often followed by 
 repentance. There is no trait of character more 
 distinctive of our Divine Master and his first dis- 
 ciples, than a magnanimous and intrepid frankness. 
 In this respect they cannot be too closely imitated 
 by his disciples in the present day. The Christian, 
 like his God, should dwell in light. All about him 
 should be clear and luminous, and easy of inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 What is chiefly wanted, then, to heal the divi- 
 sions in the Christian ranks, is not silence as to 
 differences of opinion ; (this would only tend to 
 prolong and to perpetuate divisions, and to maintain 
 a state of armed neutrality ;) but what the Church 
 supremely needs is, investigation in the spirit of 
 true charity, unlimited toleration as the precur- 
 sor and companion of an unrestrained communica- 
 tion and discussion of opinions. The only possible 
 way of arriving at a healthy and desirable uni- 
 formity of views is, by the impartial consideration 
 of testimony by every mind, the unfettered ac- 
 tion of understanding upon understanding. 
 
 Let the clergy, then, address themselves to the 
 delightful task of making the sacred right and duty 
 of investigation, and the real office of charity, to 
 be better understood. We should ever bear in 
 mind, that the most important part of the intellec- 
 tual task, which every one, of the present and the 
 29
 
 338 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 coming generation will have to perform, will be to 
 choose between conflicting opinions on religion, 
 government, and almost every other topic ; and 
 that it is consequently our duty, as the moral 
 guardians of the young, to qualify them for this 
 arduous work, by so managing their education 
 that they shall learn to think, and be inspired with 
 a chivalrous love of truth and justice. Let us then 
 with united hearts and hands, conspire to produce 
 that reform in education which alone can lead to 
 this result. Let us have the minds of our children 
 thoroughly impressed with the great philosophical 
 fact, that conviction is an involuntary state of 
 mind, and thus prepare them for endeavouring to 
 bring others over to the truth, not by inflicting 
 punishment, but by calm, rational, respectful, and 
 persuasive argument. Let us have them informed 
 how often their fathers had occasion to change 
 their views, and how unreasonable they felt it, to 
 be hurried or harshly treated whilst prosecuting 
 the investigation which went before these changes, 
 that thus they may be inclined to be patient and 
 forbearing toward those who may follow our ex- 
 ample. Let us teach them that our government 
 places every individual on the basis of his native 
 rights, among which stands pre-eminent the right 
 of thinking ; and that although every man is re- 
 sponsible for his opinions, as really as for his con- 
 duct, it is not to human tribunals. Let us have 
 them thoroughly inspired with the sentiment, that
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 339 
 
 it is equally the interest of all to know the truth ; 
 that in regard to this they sustain to each other, 
 and to society at large, the relation of consulting 
 physicians, not that of opposing lawyers ; that it 
 is inexpedient for any one to cherish or to propa- 
 gate error; and that consequently he is a distin- 
 guished benefactor who gives us a new truth, or 
 corrects a wrong opinion. Let us teach them to 
 respect honest differences of opinion, and to have 
 a proper charity for doubts, remembering that 
 doubt is the natural stale of a thinking mind prior 
 to a clear perception of the truth, and that it is to 
 be dissipated not by authority or force in any 
 shape, nor yet even by persuasion, (since no man 
 can believe as he pleases,) but solely by a frank 
 and perspicuous statement of good reasons. 
 
 Let us, in this way, prepare the rising genera- 
 tion to act the part of thinking beings in the spirit 
 of that religion which demands of every man that 
 he shall be ready always to give his reasons for 
 his belief, and also to act with meekness toward 
 those who are in error ; and then all else that will 
 be requisite to bring about the great result of 
 Christian union will be, that we bring forth our 
 various opinions to the light, and subject them 
 thoroughly and fairly to investigation ; that we 
 treat with kindness and forbearance all those who 
 may leave our ranks at the bidding of conscience 
 and their judgements, and receive with caution 
 those who may seem to come over to our side
 
 340 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 from partisan considerations. We are now by far 
 too ready to welcome such, forgetting that what 
 is true of a military is pre-eminently so of the 
 spiritual host, that strength does not reside alone 
 in numbers. 
 
 Nor let it be imagined that this recommendation 
 of universal toleration is superfluous. No one can 
 allege that the laws of toleration are yet perfectly 
 comprehended in this country ; or, that being un- 
 derstood, there is no room for improvement in 
 obeying them. If any one suppose that perfect 
 freedom of conscience and opinion are enjoyed 
 among us, the trial of a very simple experiment 
 would tend to undeceive him. Let him, if con- 
 science do not forbid, attempt a change of eccle- 
 siastical connexion, in a neighbourhood where con- 
 siderable rivalry has existed between the church 
 he leaves and the one he joins ;. and however up- 
 right he may be in his intentions, however mild, 
 and frank, and courteous, in the statement of his 
 reasons, he will assuredly suffer for it in some 
 way or other. If a merchant or a mechanic, his 
 business will be curtailed ; if a physician or a 
 lawyer, his practice will be temporarily impaired ; 
 and if he sustain no business relation to society, he 
 will be punished in a way most painful to a person 
 of proper sensibility, viz : by coldness of behav- 
 iour, by the abstraction of good will, by the 
 interruption of social cordiality, by misinterpre- 
 tation of his motives, and he may even think
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 341 
 
 himself fortunate to escape positive misrepresen- 
 tation and abuse. Now, such things ought not so 
 to be ; and I mention them thus plainly, because 
 they constitute one of the most effectual impedi- 
 ments to union. They are utterly at variance with 
 the requirements of Christian charity : they pre- 
 sent as real a case of persecution as any that 
 darkens the page of ecclesiastical history : they 
 manifest the same spirit, differing only in degree, 
 with that which fastened its victims upon spikes, 
 or committed them to the flames. There is no 
 other common ground on which all may meet, 
 there is no other principle, having the sanction of 
 the golden rule, but that every individual be left 
 as free to change, as originally to choose his church 
 connexion ; and that he be able to exercise this 
 privilege without a tongue being moved, or a fin- 
 ger raised, to inflict the slightest wound upon him 
 for so doing. Our only security against the evils 
 apprehended from an unrestricted extension of 
 this license, lies in qualifying all by appropriate 
 education for its safe and judicious exercise. 
 
 The only remaining consideration I have to offer, 
 to induce the clergy to lend their hearty exertions 
 to advance the interests of common school edu- 
 cation, is, that it is a duty which they owe their 
 
 country. 
 
 29*
 
 342 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 Aside from our religious obligations, our fellow- 
 citizens have a claim upon our active efforts to 
 promote the cause of popular instruction. They 
 support our families for the express purpose that 
 we may be able to give our undivided attention to 
 whatever relates directly or indirectly, to the mo- 
 ral and religious interests of society. Let us show 
 them that we are not ungrateful for their kindness, 
 nor unmindful of our political, any more than of 
 our spiritual obligations. Let us make it manifest 
 that genuine patriotism and religion are not incom- 
 patible ; that the charity which embraces in its 
 range the entire family of man, does not forbid an 
 especial regard for those who are most nearly re- 
 lated to us. Let us prove, by our conduct, that 
 we love our country ; that we sympathize with 
 our fellow-citizens in their hopes and fears re- 
 specting our national prospects ; and that we are 
 willing to spend, and be spent, for the promotion 
 of the common good. 
 
 There never was proposed a more momentous 
 question than that which must, ere long, receive a 
 practical answer from the issue of the experiment 
 which is in progress in this country, viz : Is a 
 people, under any circumstances, capable of self- 
 government ? To this we must reply, they are, if 
 properly educated, but not otherwise. It is there- 
 fore a perfectly synonymous question, can the peo- 
 ple be universally, or even generally educated ? 
 Tyrants say not ; and from this assumption they
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 343 
 
 draw the rational inference, that they are incapa- 
 ble of governing themselves, and therefore out of 
 mere parental kindness they undertake, " by the 
 grace of God," to manage for them ! Grant their 
 premise, and their conclusion is unavoidable. But 
 such reasoning would drive us to demolish our 
 school-houses, to silence our presses, to make a 
 bonfire of our Bibles, and to recommit conscience 
 to the keeping of men of like passions and frailties 
 with ourselves. Alluding, as they generally do, 
 when uttering such sentiments, to their own de- 
 graded subjects, they unquestionably speak the 
 truth. That the body of the Spanish and Italian 
 peasantry, for instance, are incapable of self-gov- 
 ernment, I grant without a moment's hesitation ; 
 but their rulers take good care to forget that the 
 ignorance and servility which constitute the dis- 
 qualification are of their own creating. Their 
 conduct, therefore, in pronouncing them incapable 
 of self-direction, under such circumstances, is just 
 about as plausible as would be that of an arbitrary 
 monarch, who should first bind and imprison a 
 wealthy subject, and then declaring him incom- 
 petent to manage for himself, should appropriate 
 his goods, under the pretext of receiving pay for 
 friendly services rendered in taking care of him. 
 It must not be supposed, however, that I would 
 rank with the enemies of human freedom, all those 
 who may entertain doubts of the immediate prac- 
 ticability of republican institutions. It cannot be
 
 344 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 disguised, that many of our best and wisest citizens 
 entertain such fears, and their number seems to be 
 increasing. But I cannot share their apprehen- 
 sions. Their forebodings I must consider prema- 
 ture. The crisis of our nation is but just com- 
 mencing, and the transforming power of education 
 has never yet been fairly brought to bear upon the 
 people. In it, when rightly administered, I fondly 
 trust there will be found an amulet to secure us 
 against all dreaded evils. I firmly believe that it 
 will prove an ample, as it is the only panacea for 
 our social ills. I confess I have unbounded confi- 
 dence in its salutary operations. 
 
 But whatever decision shall be given to this 
 question, either by reasoning or experiment, our 
 present situation and policy as a nation are as 
 plain as day. We are now, and at least for a 
 considerable time to come we must continue to 
 be, a self-governing people, and should make our 
 moral provisions accordingly. Even upon the 
 supposition that an immediate change were de- 
 sirable, it is utterly impracticable ; for no matter 
 what the motives by which he may be actuated, 
 woe be to the man who shall attempt to introduce 
 among us the mildest form of arbitrary govern- 
 ment ; to place upon our national banner the 
 " Dei Gratia" of despots, in room of the " E Plu- 
 ribusUnum" of our republican brotherhood. Ed- 
 ucation, then, properly so called, is the hope of 
 our republic, the only safeguard of our institutions
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 345 
 
 and our liberties. I have confidence in it, that it 
 can make our artists and farmers skilful, and 
 thereby be promotive of national prosperity ; that 
 its tendency will be to make us a virtuous, and con- 
 sequently a happy people ; that it will qualify our 
 citizens for the enactment of good laws, and inspire 
 them with a disposition to obey them ; that it will 
 divest them of religious bigotry, superstition, and 
 fanaticism, in all their forms ; that it will beget a 
 regard for personal reputation and public opinion, 
 which shall be equivalent to law ; and that it will 
 indemnify us against the arts of demagogues, those 
 worst foes of good government, by ultimately 
 putting a stop to unprincipled electioneering : for 
 only give a man sound principles and knowledge ; 
 accustom him to think for himself ; let him have 
 opinions of his own, respecting the relative merit 
 of questions and of men ; let him thus become 
 possessed of self-confidence and self-respect ; and 
 it will be quite a delicate matter even to ask him 
 for his vote; much less will he be elated and 
 duped by those coarse and hypocritical attentions 
 which, by a man of any intelligence and character, 
 must be looked upon as the grossest insult. 
 
 Our best interests, as well as safety, therefore, 
 impel us to aim at the universal diffusion of know- 
 ledge among the people. We are urged to it by 
 no weaker motive than the instinctive principle of 
 self-preservation ; for the very moment we acquire 
 a permanent indifference to public education and
 
 346 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 popular improvement in all its forms, that moment 
 we are guilty of political suicide. As a nation we 
 have embarked in the novel and perilous enterprise 
 of attempting to govern ourselves. The eyes of 
 the civilized world are upon us. The friends and 
 enemies of human liberty are anxiously waiting, 
 though with opposite wishes, the issue of the ex- 
 periment. Let us then exert ourselves to impress 
 it on the minds and hearts of our countrymen, 
 that with a wise and virtuous population, all is 
 safe ; but that disgrace, defeat, and national ship- 
 wreck, must inevitably ensue upon the prevalence 
 of ignorance and vice. 
 
 There is something most intensely interesting 
 about the moral attitude of our country at the 
 present time. She seems, without intending it, 
 to have brought herself under a stern necessity, 
 the necessity of uncontrollable circumstances, 
 to carry education to the highest state, both of 
 diffusion and improvement, of which it is suscep- 
 tible. The Church and the State in America have 
 become exposed to a common danger, and there 
 is before them only one and the same refuge. The 
 rapid strides of an unreflecting democratic feeling 
 have hurried both into a perilous situation, from 
 which they will find themselves obliged to look 
 for safety to education, superior, rational, reli- 
 gious, universal education, not the partial edu- 
 cation of the head, or heart, or body, but of the 
 entire being, a simultaneous and harmonious
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 347 
 
 cultivation of all the powers God has given us. 
 God in wisdom, and I trust in benevolence to us 
 and to the rest of mankind, has suffered us to rush 
 without reflection into a condition which requires 
 us to become not only almost, but emphatically a 
 Christian people ; in which the only alternative 
 placed before us is to make ourselves pre-emi- 
 nently intelligent and virtuous, or to perish. We are 
 thus subjected to the influence of the same power- 
 ful stimulant, which urges the intemperate to re- 
 form, when told by their physician that they must 
 moderate the indulgence of their appetites, or 
 quickly kill themselves. 
 
 In Great Britain, and on the European continent, 
 where things are more or less in that transition 
 state, through which the entire world seems des- 
 tined to pass, the change from arbitrary rule to 
 free government, from a monopoly of privileges 
 to a practical recognition of the natural rights of 
 man, goes on gradually and tardily. Among 
 the most zealous advocates of reform, there are 
 many who are aware of the danger of precipi- 
 tancy, and of the wisdom of proceeding slowly. 
 They have taken warning from the desperate ex- 
 periment of the French, which came too lateybr 
 us. Prior to its occurrence we had passed the 
 Rubicon. The French revolution now operates 
 (and who knows but it was intended for this pur- 
 pose,) as a providential beacon, to inspire innova- 
 tors wdth caution, and to teach them the necessity
 
 348 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 of prudence and deliberation, in bringing about 
 political changes. Such a restraint was needed 
 by Europeans, because the distance they had to 
 travel was greater than with us. They were not 
 so well prepared for making a political bound as 
 we. The moral position which we attained by 
 revolution, they must g'ain by a gradual process of 
 reform. Any other attempt must certainly result 
 in a repetition of the Gallic tragedy. Had we, as 
 a people, been similarly apprized of the danger of 
 rapid innovation, we too might have been afraid 
 to take the steps we have taken, and thus the 
 world have been denied the benefit of our exam- 
 ple. In the years immediately preceding '76, no 
 one dreamed of a separation from the mother 
 country. A redress of grievances, a lightening 
 of our political burdens, sought by ordinary means, 
 was all that was contemplated. The idea of 
 revolution was the involuntary suggestion of cir- 
 cumstances. National independence was not 
 sought, but forced upon us by the obstinate in- 
 fatuation of the British government. Theydreamed 
 as little of the consequences of our difference, when 
 in its incipient stage, as we. 
 
 The finger of God was evidently in this trans- 
 action. There is no event in the history of any 
 people that exhibits a more manifest providence. 
 The emancipation of this country was in its incep- 
 tion an event with which human volition or design 
 had nothing at all to do. It originated in the ju-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 349 
 
 dicial blindness of the parent government and 
 was achieved by our fathers under the pressure 
 of a stern necessity. Ours is a position, however, 
 which for the moral and political regeneration of 
 the world, it was requisite some portion of the 
 human family should take. The separation of the 
 Jewish nation from the rest of mankind was not 
 more necessary for the preservation of the know- 
 ledge and worship of the true God. In the latter 
 case, a world was to be redeemed from idolatry ; 
 in the former, from political misrule. An exam- 
 ple was needed pioneers were wanting and 
 God, I fondly hope, has selected the American 
 people, like Israel of old, to be the harbingers of 
 mercy to the race of man. Could the posterity of 
 Jacob, when enslaved in Egypt, have foreseen the 
 immediate consequences of their emancipation, 
 could they have anticipated the trials incident to 
 their transition state, the forty years of sojourn 
 in the wilderness, their numerous conflicts with 
 gigantic foes, their sufferings from hunger and 
 from thirst, together with the destruction of their 
 entire adult host, they might not have been pre- 
 vailed upon to forsake the country of their servi- 
 tude. But their eyes were fastened on the land 
 of promise. Their attention was at first directed 
 only to the glorious issue, and they thought not 
 of the toil and privations through which it was to 
 be reached, until it was too late for them to retrace 
 their steps. 
 
 30
 
 850 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 And thus it was, with a striking similarity, in 
 the case of the American people. Goaded to des- 
 peration by their oppressors, they adopted the bold 
 resolve of separating from the mother country. 
 The notion of independence once embraced, they 
 became intoxicated with the idea of liberty, an 
 intoxication from which we have scarcely yet re- 
 covered, and thenceforth all thought of conse- 
 quences immediate or remote was banished, and 
 they looked only to the glory and the happiness 
 which would ensue upon a successful termination 
 of their struggle. 
 
 The result has been an organization of society 
 in the United States, precisely such as seems most 
 favourable to a manifestation of the true nature 
 and power of the Christian religion, whilst the 
 Christian religion is just that moral system whose 
 aid and guidance American institutions need, and 
 must secure, to make them practicable. Our dem- 
 ocratic zeal has precipitated us into a condition, 
 in which we are likely to find the maintenance of 
 government impossible, without the restraining 
 and renovating agency of Christian education. In 
 our eager chase of political reform, there has been 
 a letting loose of power, which requires the prin- 
 ciples of the Gospel to control it. Society has 
 been dissected, and its component parts set free 
 to take what course each pleases. In monarchical 
 governments, the number of wills to be regulated 
 is small ; there is little individuality of character ;
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 351 
 
 and most men have no moral being aside from the 
 mass of which they constitute a part. But under 
 our republican forms of government, every man is 
 recognised as a free agent ; and now a species of 
 education is required, which shall have power to 
 make those who are left free to do as they please, 
 choose to do as they ought. Without such a power, 
 we shall be compelled to retrace our steps through 
 seas of blood to a more arbitrary form of govern- 
 ment. But, thanks to a paternal Providence, such 
 a power does exist, and is to be found in a con- 
 trolling union of the Christian religion with all our 
 schemes of popular instruction. My brethren ! let 
 us see to it that this power be applied. 
 
 The course which is pursued by our politicians 
 to avert the dangers that now threaten us, is in 
 itself calculated to increase the necessity, and to 
 ensure the adoption, of principles of education 
 which shall carry with them something more than 
 human energy. The means of relief to which 
 they commonly resort, only tend to hasten the 
 catastrophe they would prevent. They pursue a 
 temporizing policy which, reaching as it does, only 
 to the surface of our difficulties, accomplishes but 
 little for the present, and fills the future with ill 
 omens. There is an alarming tendency in our 
 rulers, to seek relief in remedies which are both 
 inadequate and inappropriate. They seem to 
 overlook entirely what every thing proclaims, that 
 the evils under which we groan at present, and
 
 352 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 the still greater ones that threaten us, are moral 
 evils, and that moral evils require moral remedies. 
 
 The country is supposed to be in danger from 
 the controlling influence exerted by a reckless, 
 selfish, and unprincipled party spirit in determining 
 our presidential and other elections. What is to 
 be done? "Mend the constitutions!" exclaim 
 many of our leading politicians. But what will 
 this avail if they do not at the same time mend 
 the people ? 
 
 The whole commercial world is thrown into 
 convulsions, as some imagine, by the mistaken 
 policy of our government. "What remedy is pro- 
 posed? "Fly to the polls !" " Effect a change 
 of rulers ! " is the general cry. And when 
 brought to the polls what are the expedients re- 
 sorted to to decide the people's choice? The coffee- 
 houses are thrown open ! Administration and 
 anti-administration grog-shops are established I 
 And worse than all, bribery, aye, the corrupt and 
 corrupting use of money is resorted to ! at first, 
 secretly, it is true ; but there is too much reason 
 to fear, that gathering boldness from success, and 
 hardihood from indulgence, it will be at length 
 employed openly, and with unblushing, undisguised 
 effrontery ! 
 
 And what is the pretext, what the apology for 
 such a course? "Self-defence!" is the mutual 
 reply, "The opposing party employ the money 
 of the public treasury to determine the elections ;
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 353 
 
 and improper as we think it, we are compelled to 
 use our own funds for this purpose or be beaten !" 
 That is, the one side are suspected of committing 
 a grievous evil grievous in the sight of God as 
 it should be in the sight of man and, forsooth, 
 because they are supposed to have sinned offi- 
 cially ; the others justify themselves thereby for 
 committing the very same sin unofficially ! 
 
 I am not concerned to determine the degree of 
 justice one way or the other, with which the crim- 
 ination and recrimination of our conflicting po- 
 litical parties in relation to this matter are made. 
 It is quite enough to justify the heartiest remon- 
 strance from the lips and pen of every moralist to 
 know, and this I do know from personal observa- 
 tion, that such iniquity is ever practised. This being 
 the case, it becomes the duty of every virtuous 
 member of society of every patriot, and espe- 
 cially of every minister of the gospel, for his coun- 
 try's sake no less than for religion's sake, to speak 
 out plainly in the language of rebuke, and particu- 
 larly to demonstrate the impolicy of a practice 
 in which, unhappily, some of our most patriotic 
 citizens have been, imperceptibly and in opposition 
 to their own principles and wishes, led to partici- 
 pate. That such measures are impolitic, is plain 
 as day. To resort to whisky and to bribery to 
 control elections is to resort to desperate remedies. 
 Jt is far worse than repairing to the bottle when 
 one's fortune is in jeopardy. It is true, apparent 
 30*
 
 354 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 good may be in some cases, the im mediate result ; but 
 it is good too dearly bought. By such a course an 
 irreparable injury is done the national character. 
 A wound is inflicted on the public morals, and 
 there is too much reason to fear it is in most 
 cases an immedicable one. From that citizen who 
 will barter his judgement or his conscience for a 
 bribe, little can be hoped. His bosom thence- 
 forth is a stranger to all nobler motives. 
 
 Beside, it should never be forgotten, that the 
 man who, this year for a pint of whisky, votes to 
 support the constitution, may next year for a quart 
 vote to overthrow it. To rely on such expedients, 
 is worse than to depend upon the pumps, and on 
 throwing the cargo overboard, to save a vessel from 
 destruction, while the water is suffered to pour in 
 through an unstopped breach. It is too much like 
 sowing up the lips of a putrid abscess, and thereby 
 sending the diseased contents to prey internally 
 upon the vitals. Nothing can have the effect of 
 divesting elections of unfairness and of making a 
 dependence upon the vote of the people safe, but 
 virtuous education. A permanent removal or even 
 a mitigation of the evil of corrupt electioneering, 
 cannot be effected in any other way than by fas- 
 tening on the moral sense of the community through 
 the agency of religious education, the stern im- 
 pression that their motives and their conduct at 
 the polls will form a part of the disclosures at the 
 day of judgement.
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 355 
 
 Other instances might be adduced to prove that 
 our legislators, for the most part, overlook the ne- 
 cessity of employing the transforming efficacy of 
 moral causes, for the removal of the moral evils 
 under which society is suffering. I might refer, 
 for example, to most of the recent legislation, 
 having for its object the protection of human life 
 against the carelessness of some, the lawless vio- 
 lence of others, and the influence of certain fash- 
 ionable principles in others still. These are evils 
 which can never be eradicated, nor perhaps greatly 
 moderated, by any power legislation can exert. 
 All that our legislative bodies can do, in the way 
 of preventing these, is to impose penalties ; but 
 these, if mild, will not be heeded, and if severe 
 cannot be enforced. 
 
 But thanks to Him, the economy of whose pro- 
 vidence is always to be " educing good from ill," 
 the effects of this mistaken policy are such as must 
 accelerate its overthrow, and bring honour to the 
 Christian religion, by demonstrating the necessity 
 of a restraining, and what is better, a reforming 
 influence, which can be found no where else than 
 in the application of its principles to the education 
 of the youth of our country. The present defec- 
 tive course of our rulers, if persisted in much 
 longer, cannot fail to make things go from bad to 
 worse, until society shall be brought to the eve of 
 dissolution, and all the advocates of law and order, 
 and of constitutional government, shall be obliged
 
 356 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 to throw themselves into the Christian ranks, and 
 make common cause in hastening the reign of 
 religious principles in our schools, and by their 
 means, throughout the length and breadth of our 
 country. Such, I fondly trust, is to be the glori- 
 ous result. Of its approach, I think, we may 
 discern, in the noble stand taken by the legislature 
 of New-York when viewed in connexion with 
 the circumstances which gave rise to it, a harbin- 
 ger and pledge. 
 
 It is because of considerations such as these, 
 that the Christian philosopher can survey the ex- 
 isting crisis of his country with composure and with 
 hope. Where all is dark to others, a pleasing pros- 
 pect opens to his view. With the telescope of faith, 
 he descries in the distance, beyond the reach of or- 
 dinary sight, benevolent intention, brighter light, and 
 better days. By"his discerning vision the rainbow of 
 mercy is seen to span the cloud, which to the sight 
 of others only menaces destruction. Though black 
 and threatening in its appearance, by him it is 
 regarded as the pillar of cloud, designed to guide 
 a mighty nation in its journey through a proba- 
 tionary wilderness. National misfortunes are 
 looked upon by him as blessings in disguise. Com- 
 mercial embarrassment, the wreck of fortunes, 
 the prevalent distress, he regards as so many 
 fatherly chastisements, intended to shield us against 
 the dangers of a too prosperous condition ; chas- 
 tisements, which, though for the present griev-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 357 
 
 ous, may yet work out for us the peaceable and 
 saving fruits of national righteousness. The reck- 
 less selfishness of party spirit, the ruthless perpe- 
 trations of popular lawlessness, he looks upon as 
 so many admonitions from a paternal providence, 
 giving us self-knowledge with a view to humble 
 us, and revealing to us our true condition, that he 
 rid us of that fatal self-complacency by which 
 we have been hoodwinked as to the dangers that 
 encircle us. 
 
 By this, then, as the last consideration I would 
 offer, by their love of country, I would call 
 upon my clerical brethren to address themselves 
 with zeal and concert, to create a public senti- 
 ment in the United States, which shall be favour- 
 able to placing national education on a religious 
 basis. Our country is in danger; and from a view 
 of the licentiousness of the populace on the one 
 hand, and the selfishness of many who seek and 
 hold office, on the other, it were difficult to tell 
 whether she is most in danger from popular ig- 
 norance, or unsanctified intelligence. One thing, 
 however, is perfectly clear, that her only possible 
 safety is to be found in UNIVERSAL EDUCATION, 
 UPON CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES ! 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I WOULD close this volume with an importunate 
 appeal to Ministers of the Gospel throughout the 
 Union.
 
 358 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 BRETHREN IN THE SACRED MINISTRY ! Suffer 
 me to propose to you a question or two with 
 reference to the all-important subject of which I 
 have been treating. But before I state them, I 
 would most earnestly request, (and I affect not 
 one particle of solemnity which I do not feel, in 
 doing so,) that you would give them a considera- 
 tion in those solemn moments, when oppressed 
 with a sense of your official responsibility, you 
 repair to a throne of grace for light, and guidance, 
 and support, and with the honest question on 
 your lips, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
 
 I ask, then, have I made an exaggerated state- 
 ment Of the " POLITICAL NECESSITY OF RELIGIOUS 
 
 EDUCATION?" Is it a correct view which has 
 been taken of the will of God that every human 
 being on whom he has bestowed the germ of in- 
 tellectual and moral susceptibility shall receive an 
 education of the right of every child to claim 
 it of the obligation of parents to bestow it and 
 on their default, of the duty of society, as their 
 sponsor, to discharge the debt? Have I over- 
 estimated the magnitude of the evils which result 
 from a separation of intellectual and moral edu- 
 cation, and of the religious as well as political ne- 
 cessity of reuniting them ? Is it true that popu- 
 lar morality can have no other than a religious 
 basis ? Have I claimed too much for the inspired 
 volume, in asserting that it is the sole authority 
 and guide which it is right and safe to follow in 
 forming the character of the children of the na-
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 359 
 
 tion 1 Does it, or does it not, sustain to govern- 
 ments no less than to private persons, the command- 
 ing relation I have supposed ? Is it true that the 
 FAMILY, the divinely constituted engine for effect- 
 ing the religious education of the young, does so 
 little to promote it ? and that parents who are 
 primarily charged with this most important of all 
 human duties, are so sadly remiss in their atten- 
 tion to it ? Have I rightly stated the controlling 
 relation which public sentiment sustains in a re- 
 publican government, to education as well as 
 every other interest, and of the sluggishness and 
 impotence of legislation when not impelled, or 
 not sustained by its co-operation ? Is it true that 
 the means on which we have hitherto relied, for 
 the moral education of the entire youth of our 
 country, have proved inadequate that the com- 
 mon school-house is the only platform on which 
 all the children of the nation ever meet, and that 
 there exists no other practicable mode of getting 
 at the mind and heart of every child, with a view 
 to achieve its moral and religious education, than 
 that of sending among them on this theatre, pious, 
 professionally educated teachers, with the Bible in 
 their hands ? Have I correctly represented the 
 inducements and the obligations of the clergy, to 
 exert themselves to create a wholesome public 
 sentiment throughout, the land in relation to this 
 all-important subject ? And, lastly, let us one and 
 all inquire at the bar of conscience, ARE WE
 
 360 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 DOING OUR DUTY? What have we done for the 
 multiplication and improvement of those nurse- 
 ries, in which three millions eight hundred thou- 
 sand, of the four millions of children in our country 
 are to receive all the education which they will 
 ever get ? Have we ever prayed for common 
 schools ? Have we ever preached about them ? 
 Have we ever written an article for the religious 
 or the political press in their behalf? Do we 
 make them the frequent subject of our conversa- 
 tion ? 
 
 Whatever may be our conduct now in relation 
 to this matter, a day is coming when we shall be 
 called upon to reply to these inquiries, and by an 
 authority which will not allow us to evade an an- 
 swer. May God, in mercy to his Church and our 
 country, grant that we may now prepare a prac- 
 tical reply of which we need not be ashamed 
 when we stand at his tribunal. 
 
 To this end, let us be up and doing, and by our 
 future zeal atone, in some measure, for our past 
 remissness in relation to this all-important subject. 
 There is every thing to encourage us to put forth 
 prompt and active efforts in this cause. The pub- 
 lic mind is peculiarly excitable just now in relation 
 to the interests of popular instruction. It is a most 
 auspicious circumstance, that a speaker of respec- 
 tability may, almost at an hour's warning and in 
 any part of the Union, assemble an audience to 
 hear an address on education. If we preach upon
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 361 
 
 the subject, therefore, the people will come to hear 
 us ; if we print, they will as certainly read ; and 
 if we make it a topic of conversation, they will not 
 fail to listen to us. 
 
 And let us not delay the discharge of this im- 
 portant duty. There are many things that con- 
 spire to direct our attention to the admonition, 
 " what thou doest do quickly." I will mention 
 but a single circumstance. There are abundant 
 indications that the control of education, which 
 the clergy have wielded for hundreds of years 
 past, will, in a short time, be transferred to other 
 hands. In every State in the Union it is about to 
 be assumed, as it should be, by the government. 
 It is a very serious fact, that whilst under our con- 
 trol we permitted its only religious feature to be 
 removed, by submitting too quietly, it is to be 
 feared, to the banishment of the Bible from the 
 schools. We have yet an opportunity to repair, 
 in some degree, the evils which ensued upon this 
 act, but let us bear in mind it is an opportunity 
 that cannot be enjoyed long. 
 
 The country is calling aloud from every quarter 
 for professionally educated teachers. Every one 
 must be impressed with the importance of having 
 pious men as the instructers of our youth. Whether 
 our schools shall be supplied with such depends, for 
 obvious reasons, upon Christians, and on Christian 
 ministers. There is every reason to believe that 
 the establishment of institutions for this purpose 
 by the church, on Christian principles, would give 
 31
 
 362 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 general satisfaction throughout the country ; but 
 it is quite as certain, that if she do not take mea- 
 sures to provide such soon, the government will be 
 required to establish them, when of course so strict 
 a regard will not be paid to the character of the 
 candidates admitted. The question then presents 
 itself to us with the most intense and pressing in- 
 terest, shall we not add the education of common 
 school teachers to the list of objects which already 
 command the attention of Christian benevolence in 
 our country ? 
 
 Will it be said by any that this list is already 
 sufficiently formidable ? that it imposes as heavy 
 a tax upon the church as she is well able to bear ? 
 If this be the only difficulty, go, I would say to 
 such an objector, and study the exhaustless re- 
 sources of that benevolence which has undertaken 
 ad has thus far prosecuted, not the improvement 
 of a nation, but the renovation of a world ! 
 go to the foreign missionary, and ask him what he 
 thinks of the amplitude of that fund, on the faith 
 of which he has attacked the inveterate supersti- 
 tions of six hundred millions of heathens ! go to 
 the first disciples of our Saviour and ask them 
 their impression of the range and the dimensions of 
 that love which caused the Son of God to under- 
 take the reformation of our race, although so poor 
 as not to be able to pay a trivial tax without the 
 performanceof a miracle, and which sent them forth 
 without either scrip or purse, to propagate his prin- 
 ciples. They will tell you of a charity that " never
 
 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 363 
 
 faileth," and which embraces in its benefactions 
 every object which either immediately or remotely 
 tends to spread the kingdom of their master. 
 They will tell you that to the fund of heaven-born 
 charity there belongs a fulness which precludes 
 insolvency, increasing as it is drawn, accumulating 
 by expenditure that in its nature it is elastic, 
 expansive, diffusive ; not as the'undulating pendu- 
 lum, always retracing the same beaten segment ; 
 but like the radii of a circle, whose centre is the 
 heart, and their circumference the universe. 
 
 May we rot, then, call on every Christian de- 
 nomination in our country for an additional ten 
 or twenty thousand dollars for establishing under 
 der the control of each, a nursery for pious 
 school-masters ? The history of our religious 
 charities encourages the belief, that if the com- 
 prehensive religious bearings of this measure were 
 fully stated, a favourable response to such an ap- 
 plication would be received. The nature of 
 Christian obligation and of parental love forbids 
 the indulgence of any other idea. Let us suppose 
 for a moment that a course of religious instruction 
 had been fairly established in our schools ; and that 
 a pious teacher had been placed at the head of each, 
 in whom religious parents found a wise and effi- 
 cient auxiliary in training up their children with 
 virtuous sentiments and habits. Let us next sup- 
 pose that a formal proposition were made by the 
 government to banish the Bible from the school- 
 house, and to displace the pious teacher to make
 
 364 APPEAL TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 room for one who, if not immoral, was not reli- 
 gious in his character ; in other words, to put 
 things on the footing which they occupy at pre- 
 sent : how would such a movement be regarded 
 by the Christian community ? Would they stop 
 their ears, and close their eyes, and shut their 
 mouths, and fold their arms with satisfied indiffer- 
 ence ? On the contrary, would not the entire 
 country be thrown into commotion by such a 
 proposition ? Would not the pillow of the pious 
 mother be bathed in tears ? Would not fathers 
 assemble in solemn council to deliberate about 
 appropriate methods of resistance ? Would not 
 protest upon protest urge their way to our legisla- 
 tive chambers, until the secretary's table should 
 groan beneath their load ? Would not the pulpit 
 and the press become vocal with remonstrance ? 
 And would not the throne of grace be almost 
 wearied with the supplications of anxious parents 
 praying for the prevention of so awful a calamity ? 
 But what is the difference as to the effects, be- 
 tween the introduction and the perpetuation of 
 this state of things? We have not the shadow of 
 a pretext for inaction on the ground of the im- 
 practicability of arousing the religious part of the 
 community to a proper sense of the importance of 
 this subject. May our future conduct then prove 
 that we have been duly mindful of the inspired 
 admonition, "To him that knoweth to do good, 
 and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
 
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