POPULAR EDUCATION.
Towards the close of the sixteenth century, Galileo, while seated in the Cathedral of Pisa, had his attention attracted by the swinging of a lamp suspended from the ceiling. Observing that it performed its vibrations apparently in equal times, whether moving over small or great arcs, he was led to the investigation of the laws of its oscillation, and thus called the attention of philosophers to an instrument, which in the multiplicity of its applications has since proved of incalculable benefit to mankind.
It seems strange that a motion so familiar as the vibration of a suspended body had never before attracted the notice of observing minds; and still more strange would it seem, if, after its laws had been discovered, and its important practical applications ascertained, it had never been applied to its useful purposes. Yet has mankind very generally down to the present day, thus neglected an instrument of more extensive application than the pendulum. I allude to Popular Education, an agent certainly the most important of any that can be applied to the melioration of the condition of the human race. That knowledge is power, stands in no need of proof or formal illustration. It may be assumed as axiomatic. But if we reason from the conduct of mankind, we shall be led to the conclusion that the aphorism applies only when society is viewed in its constituent parts, and not when the whole mass is regarded. Still speculatively it is allowed to be of general application. How is this inconsistency to be reconciled? Has the importance of Education become one of those propositions which from being universally admitted, have ceased to interest the curiosity or engage the attention of mankind? Has the policy of former ages of keeping in ignorance the great body of the people, in order that they might be the more readily oppressed by the enlightened few, who held the reins of government, grown into a custom too inveterate for the more enlarged speculations of modern times to remove? These inquiries we will not pursue, but will proceed to offer some observations on the advantages of Popular Education.
Under Popular Education may be included an acquaintance with Reading, Writing, English Grammar, Geography, and the leading principles of Science; such information in fact as would enable the people to avail themselves of the lessons contained in books, and to discharge with ease and propriety the various avocations of common life. The advantages of Popular Education as thus defined are so diversified and so connected with the whole intertexture of society, as to render it impracticable on the present occasion to trace them out fully. Only some of its most striking effects on the condition of the people can be noticed. My purpose however will be effected, if I shall succeed in directing the attention of my young friends, many of whom will shortly engage in the busy scenes of life, to a subject fraught with interest to our common country, to a cause which, in the various stages they may occupy in society, will demand their liberal, zealous and patriotic support.
By the general diffusion of information, superstition will be banished from amongst the people. Superstition has been defined, "the error of those, who in their opinion of the causes on which the fate of men depends, believe or disbelieve without judgment or knowledge." It is a compound of the credulity and fears of men—a monster truly of frightful mien—destructive of the happiness of individuals, by continually presenting to the mind imaginary causes of terror, and associating with the most common occurrences of life, the dread of impending calamity—no less destructive of the welfare of nations, by affording an agent which designing men will ever be ready to employ in effectuating their schemes of oppression. It is indeed the fulcrum on which ambition may gain a leverage for moving the moral world. The feelings to which it gives rise are of a uniform character, and when they pervade a whole people, to address them effectually no great diversity of means are required. Hence the important part it has played in the subversion of kingdoms and revolutions of empires. Examples need not be adduced to illustrate its pernicious influence on individual and national happiness. It stands in bold relief on almost every page of history; three-fourths of the habitable globe are at this day living monuments of its power. The rest is still marked by the traces of its slow retreat.
The only effectual barrier to the desolating influence of superstition is to be found in the diffusion of Popular Education. Teach men that a sequitur is not necessarily an effect, and they will cease to regard many of the ordinary occurrences of life as portentous because they have once been accidentally conjoined with misfortunes. They will cease to regard those phenomena of the material world which present nature in aspects awful and sublime, as ominous of convulsions in the moral or political world.
The influence of the enlightened few will never be able to banish superstition from the unenlightened multitude. To eradicate it the torch of knowledge must be lit in every mind. So far from superstitious prejudices being removed by the authority of philosophers, they are contracted by them from the illiterate, through the influence of early education, and are persisted in through a disposition in the human mind to regard with some degree of favor that which has been believed in all ages, however absurd in reason. Addison affords a remarkable instance of the influence of popular belief over a philosophic mind. We learn from the Spectator1 that he did not entirely refuse his assent to the existence of ghosts, apparitions and witchcraft. In the time of this eminent writer, a period distinguished in the history of English Literature, there was scarce a village in England in which witchcraft was not accredited; so little authority did the great men of that age, who by their writings have had an acknowledged influence on the moral improvement of the nation, exert in eradicating superstition from the minds of the unenlightened common people.
1 Nos. 110 and 117.
Education exerts a negative agency in promoting human happiness by removing superstition, one of its greatest enemies. But by expanding the mind to more enlarged conceptions of the order and beauty of the universe, it makes a real addition to the sum of human enjoyments. Our capacities are at best but extremely limited. It has been permitted to us however, to explore the threshold of the labyrinth of nature. Our discoveries present us at every step with ends wisely and beneficently planned, and means adapted with the most admirable simplicity and economy to the production of those ends. No human investigation has ever advanced so far as to point out aught of error in the arrangement of the system of things around us. Every thing, whose purpose we can understand, bears the impress of wisdom. How elevating to the mind of man to rise from the contemplation of this visible order, to a Being on whom we can rely with the utmost surety as having arranged every thing, not only in our small planet but in the whole immensity of creation, with the same admirable wisdom and economy which our limited faculties enable us to trace in the small part which falls under our immediate inspection! Yet to the vulgar mind is denied this ennobling feeling. The ignorant man
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"marks not the mighty hand That ever-busy wheels the silent spheres; Works in the secret deep; shoots, streaming, thence The fair profusion that o'erspreads the spring: Flings from the sun direct the flaming day; Feeds every creature; hurls the tempest forth; And as on earth this grateful change revolves, With transport touches all the springs of life." |
It is true, all people, all nations have acknowledged a Supreme Being. But wherever the human mind has been enthralled by ignorance, he has been acknowledged rather as a being of Terror than as a being of Benevolence. 'Tis Education that endues men's minds with a just sense of the attributes of the Supreme Being, and brings them acquainted with their own high destiny, and is in truth, as it has been defined to be, the "handmaid of Religion."
Among an educated people morality and private virtue must flourish. For in the language of Lord Bacon, "learning disposeth the constitution of the mind not to be fixed in the defects thereof, but still to be susceptible of growth and improvement." The human mind is endowed with a variety of passions, implanted in it for the wisest purposes, but requiring the control of reason not to run into excesses destructive of individual happiness and the peace of society. A cultivated mind not only controls the impetuosity of those passions which hurry onward into crime and misery, but peculiarly encourages the growth of those benevolent affections whose gratification rests on prospective good. In the constitution of the mind experience shows the striking fact (and it pleads forcibly in favor of the general diffusion of Education among the people) that the growth of the malevolent affections is nurtured by ignorance, and that of the benevolent by knowledge. The former are more truly the instinctive affections and generally operate under immediate stimuli. The latter may be termed the rational affections, for their stimuli are often remote and chiefly felt by the mind, which traces the relations of things and sees the intimate connexion of virtue with individual and general happiness.
The diffusion of Education will heighten and extend the pleasures of social intercourse, pleasures which truly "exalt, embellish, and render life delightful." Regard for a moment the condition of the savage in that intercourse with his fellows, where sensual indulgences and rude exultation in the slaughter of his enemies, constitute the chief of that happiness which their society affords. Think of the aged and infirm parent falling under the parricidal hand, because forsooth his limbs are no longer active in the chase, his arm no longer nerved to deal the deadly blow to an insulting adversary. Think of the sick and afflicted, deserted in their last moments and left to expire without the hand of friendship to close the dying eye. Think of woman, formed to soothe, to polish and refine our ruder natures, doomed to a degrading servitude, and thought worthy only to minister to the passions of their haughty lords. From this rude society turn to that of civilized life. Benevolence spreads her arms to embrace the human race. Sympathy awakens at the notes of woe. Charity forgets not her work of love, but visits the habitation of poverty and wretchedness, and with a generous hand relieves want and soothes the wounds of adversity. Filial piety softens the pillow of declining age. Whilst friendship and affection wait upon the couch of sickness, forgetful of fatigue, contagion and death. In scenes of health and prosperity, peace and joy reign—mutual confidence and endearment characterize domestic life—rational enjoyment marks the social circle, nurturing feelings which strengthen the bonds imposed upon mankind by mutual wants and mutual dependance. Lovely woman holds her just ascendancy—shines alike in every relation of life—a voluntary homage paid to her charms—her smile encouraging to virtuous enterprise and noble achievement—her frown chilling the ardor of even hardy insolence and impious daring. Does this contrast result from difference in mental cultivation? History presents it as the primary cause. Ignorance and barbarism, as applied to nations, may in fact be considered as convertible terms. But if in reference to social intercourse, such effects as those which civilized society presents, are the results of the increase and diffusion of knowledge among the comparatively small portion of mankind who enjoy its immediate advantages, what might we not expect from the general spread of information among the whole body of the people?
Turning from society to the individual in his solitary moments, knowledge is no less the friend of human happiness. It affords materials from which the activity of the mind weaves a pleasing entertainment, when friends are no longer present to cheer with their social converse, and when the appetites revolt by reason of satiety from sensual indulgences. A book may beguile the tedium of a gloomy day, draw the mind abroad, and prevent its dwelling on imaginary ills that more truly destroy happiness than real misfortunes. The mind must have its excitement; and if it is not endued with that degree of knowledge necessary to stimulate inquiry, and afford a relish for books, it is liable to seek for this excitement in the brutalizing indulgences of the sensual appetites or in the uncontrolled movements of the passions. By furnishing the minds of the people with the due degree of elementary instruction, the best security will be afforded of their minds being usefully or innocently employed, instead of being perverted to their own misery and the disturbance of the public tranquillity.
Such are some of the moral effects of Education. Its diffusion among the people tends to improve their individual and social happiness. It is likewise the great instrument of improvement in the arts and sciences. Discoveries and inventions are said to be the product of the age in which they are made, rather than of the individuals who are immediately instrumental in bringing them forward. But are they not dependant more on the spread of knowledge among the people at large, than on any unusual advancement in learning among philosophers themselves? Speculative philosophy has done much in promoting useful inventions and discoveries. But on the other hand, how much that is really useful do we not owe to the active minds of those engaged in the ordinary vocations of life, and who never had the advantages of instruction in the higher branches of science? It would be a curious and interesting inquiry to trace out the numerous improvements in the arts and sciences, for which we are indebted to geniuses rising superior to the disadvantages of fortune and early education. The list of such names as Ferguson, Watt, Scheele, would be found to swell the catalogue of those whose exertions have contributed to enlarge the field of science, and extend the power of man over the physical creation. Genius is confined to no rank—it is to be found in all the grades of society. Spread elementary instruction among the people, extend to them the means of improvement, and superior minds wherever fortune may have placed them, will not long remain in obscurity. Their inherent vigor will break through difficulties, surmount obstacles, and supply the deficiences occasioned by the want of a collegiate education. In order too that profit be derived from the improvements of scientific men, the minds of the people must be sufficiently imbued with information to appreciate their labors, and to throw off prejudices and break through established customs so far as to adopt in practice what speculation teaches will be useful. Many important discoveries made in preceding ages, when the mass of the people were sunk in ignorance, have been lost to us, because there was not that diffusion of information necessary for preserving and handing them down. It may be said that science has nothing to fear from such a state of things for the future, since the press and other means of diffusing information preclude all danger of any of its discoveries being lost. We readily admit the great advantages afforded by the press and the extensive intercourse between different parts of the world in preserving and transmitting knowledge. But how many discoveries which contained the germs of future sciences have been made and neglected for the want of a proper depository in a cultivated and enlightened community? Scarcely a branch of science can be mentioned, in tracing the history of which, we cannot refer back to some neglected discovery which was its real origin. But neglect has not been the only impediment to the progress of science. The difficulties which the fathers of science had to contend with, in the prejudices of the people, at the revival of letters, are familiar to all. The propagation of the true doctrine of the solar system exposed Galileo to the persecution of the age in which he lived. Yes—not the illiterate only—the learned Cardinals of the seventeenth century (if they deserve the title of learned) compelled him, under pain of the awful terrors of the Inquisition, to abjure his conviction of the most sublime truth in science. And while Philosophy must drop a tear over this weakness in one of her most distinguished promoters, every friend of human happiness must regret that ignorance, or execrate that bigotry which could impose such degradation on one of the greatest geniuses of any age.
Inventions and discoveries owe their origin to chance, or some happy idea suddenly striking the mind, or to patient reflection and experiment. Those accidents that lead to them are as liable to occur to one individual as another. But to the uncultivated mind they occur and pass away without exciting one profitable reflection, without drawing the attention to those relations of cause and effect, which being pursued under different circumstances might lead to important discoveries in the arts and sciences. Accidents however occurring to individuals of cultivated minds, have led not only to important solitary discoveries, but to the origin of new sciences, and the formation of new systems of existing sciences. The origin of the science of Galvanism is too familiar to be repeated. It is well known that it was owing to accident. Accident likewise suggested to Haüy his beautiful system of Crystalography. It is said that whilst examining a collection of minerals, he dropped a beautiful specimen of calcareous spar crystalized in prisms, which was broken by the fall. He observed with astonishment that the fragments had the smooth regular forms of the rhomboid crystals of Iceland spar. "I have found it all he exclaimed:" for at this moment he conceived the fundamental idea of his new system. Thus, an accident which to ordinary minds would have been productive only of regret for the destruction of a beautiful specimen in mineralogy, was to the philosophic mind of Haüy the occasion of the most real delight; for it led him to a discovery which he saw was to be of importance to science. The circumstances of the early life of Haüy enforce strongly the importance of diffusing information among the people, sufficient to afford them the means of advancing in improvement, and to enable them to turn the accidents that are continually occurring in life, to the benefit of mankind. He was born in obscurity, the son of a poor weaver, and we are indebted to the primary schools in Germany for the evolution of his genius, and the valuable contributions made by him to science.
The diffusion of information among the people will be favorable, not only to the progress of discovery, but also to excellency in the mechanic arts. It is maintained by many that the practical artist does not require the aid of science. Manual dexterity indeed can be acquired by practice only, but yet a moderate share of scientific information will render skill more available. Every artist in fact, by experience, acquires that portion of science which is necessary for excellence in his art; but it is at the expense of much time and many failures. By the diffusion of Popular Education, this information would become a standing fund upon which artists could draw in pursuing their different occupations, without having to derive it from the slow lessons of experience.
By raising the standard of education among the people, the standard would be raised among the learned also; for what is termed learning is only a relative quality. The whole extent of human knowledge is insignificant in comparison with the infinity of truths which remain undiscovered or unobserved. The heights and depths of science, which in our pride we fondly imagine we have explored, only strike us with astonishment because we compare them with that even surface along which ignorance plods. As the progress of information advances, the greater is that portion of knowledge which becomes the heritage of the people. By the mere intercourse of society, much knowledge is diffused, independently of that which is spread by the regular institutions for learning; and the quantum of this erratic knowledge rises in a greater ratio than the general intelligence of the people. In this country a century back, the assertion that the sun remains stationary, or nearly so, and the earth by its revolutions gives occasion to day and night, and the rotation of the seasons, would probably have been heard with astonishment, and received with incredulity by the mass of the people; because their senses, and the common use and acceptation of language led them to believe the reverse. Yet what novice at the present day, enlightened in comparison with a period of one hundred years back, would require to be informed of a truth so well known? This important truth has, like many other scientific truths, become familiar to every member of society. The information thus diffused, would be increased by raising the standard of education among the people. Much of that knowledge which before constituted a part of the stock peculiar to the learned, would become the common property of the people at large. The former would necessarily conform to a higher standard of acquirements. The plan of instruction in colleges and universities would become more liberal and extensive: for on this condition would depend the distinction of their alumni from the uninitiated.
The education of the people presents itself in an interesting light, when viewed in connexion with our political institutions. The study of history and mankind shows the essential connexion of light and liberty. Wherever solid learning has prevailed, governments have been best administered, and the people have been most happy. And on the other hand the most barbarous, rude and uncultivated nations have been most subject to tumults, seditions and changes. In all governments learning exerts a most favorable influence, by impressing on the minds of rulers the true character of their station, and on the minds of the people a just sense as well of their rights, as of their duties towards the established authority. But in our government the intelligence of the people is the very soul of its existence. There are here no distinctions of rank—no great interests artificially balanced against each other, to keep the body politic in equilibrio. Our government recognizes but one class—the people; and but one interest—the interest of the people. To the good of the people the exertions of all must be directed; and this end, to be clearly discerned, and steadily pursued, requires the public mind to be enlightened. The constitutional distribution of the powers of government, constitutes the basis of a political system the most admirable which human wisdom has yet devised—a system which, duly administered in its several parts, tends more than any other to maintain the natural equality and liberty of man, and to promote the welfare and happiness of the people. But the just operation of our political system requires that the powers distributed to the several departments be kept within their proper sphere of action. Experience shows that written constitutions are in themselves an insufficient barrier to the encroachments of men in power. Ambition and interest can easily, by construction and implication, from the most limited grants of power, derive authority for the most arbitrary and oppressive acts. This evil has been provided against as far as practicable, in the separation of the powers, and the organization of the different departments of the government. But another check which our system contemplates, and certainly one of the most effectual in its operation, is to be found in the intelligence and vigilance of the people. Sovereignty residing with them, it is their opinion which must in all cases determine finally, what and how much power has been delegated, and to which government, and which department of government it has been committed. Measures affecting deeply the public interests must often be decided by a few voices in the state and national legislatures. Over these decisions the people exert a controlling influence. How important then is it that they be sufficiently enlightened to discern their true interests—to distinguish between sectional and general good—and with that spirit of liberality which free institutions engender, to submit to temporary and local evil, in consideration of permanent and general advantage!
But it may be asked, has not experience shown that a very moderate share of intelligence, in the great mass of the people, is sufficient for the harmonious and beneficial operation of our republican system? Have not the people, as they have advanced in intelligence, shown themselves less capable of self-government than their predecessors? To these questions it may be answered, that no precise degree of general intelligence can be marked as the point at which the people become capable of self-government; but the very nature of a republican government supposes them to be enlightened, and common sense dictates that by extending the breadth of that foundation on which the whole fabric rests, the best security is obtained for its permanency. Let us dismiss the narrow notion that degeneracy is the necessary accompaniment of learning and refinement. It is true, the boasted republics of antiquity, at the golden period of their literature, sunk into servitude. But their degeneracy and their overthrow were not the effects of their literature; they were only accidental concomitants. They were either overwhelmed by external force, or sunk at length the victims of their own policy. Rome, by her policy of subjecting all nations to her sway, neglected the sources of prosperity contained within her own bosom. By the spoils of foreign conquest the city became enriched—rapine became honorable—the provinces were plundered—wealth was acquired without labor—luxury and licentiousness prevailed—useful employments were neglected, (for the poor subsisted by the largesses of the ambitious great)—every thing was venal. The morality of the state became rotten to the core. Ambitious demagogues, with their mercenary followers, overturned the institutions of their country. Rome sunk—yes, even in spite of her refinement.
But no just comparison can be instituted between ancient republics and our own, in relation to the causes which produced the overthrow of the former, and those which may endanger the permanency of the latter. The theories of ancient and modern republics are essentially different. The science of government has become better understood than formerly, and a more liberal policy marks the practice of rulers. Statesmen have discovered that the prosperity of nations is dependant on the wise administration of their internal concerns. Wars have become less frequent and less dangerous to the existence of nations. And the modern mode of warfare has given to cultivated infinitely the superiority over rude and uncultivated nations. With these advantages, the fruits of science in our favor, we need not dread the fate of bygone republics; we need not fear that the progress of intelligence and refinement will occasion that degeneracy which has been falsely attributed to them on a superficial view of the history of ancient nations. The passions of men will indeed continue to operate as they ever have done: but the diffusion of information among the people will be the surest means of counteracting their evil tendency, or directing them to proper objects.
Late events in the history of our republic have indeed shaken the faith of some in regard to the permanency of our institutions. At its origin, we were united by external dangers and the common defence of our liberties. At a later period, the adjustment of foreign relations, and the development of our system of government, interested the attention of rulers and people. But now we have been for some time at peace with foreign nations—our national character has been established abroad—and the settlement of most subjects in controversy with other countries, together with the gradual extinction of the national debt, have given place to a more immediate attention to our internal concerns. Legislation on sectional interests has brought the public sentiment of the North and South into conflict. Organized opposition to the exercise of powers claimed by congress, has threatened the very permanency of the Union. But the patriotism which directed the councils of our fathers is not yet fled. The wisdom of our legislators, aided by an enlightened public sentiment, has happily averted the danger. Let us not rest in security however. The diversified interests of our wide-spread country will continue to give rise to legislation which will excite popular discontents, and conflicts of public opinion, in relation to the delegated powers of the federal government. A grievous evil confined to one portion of the Union, threatens at no distant day to test the strength of the bonds which bind us together. The tendency of the feelings beginning to be developed among our northern brethren, cannot be mistaken. Free from slavery themselves, the relations in which it stands to our citizens and our government cannot be rightly estimated by them. Abstract speculation, mistaken philanthropy, fanatic zeal in the cause of freedom, may exclaim—the rights of man must be vindicated—the crusade must be commenced against the violators of humanity—opposition must be borne down by the strong arm of government. But let the day come when a northern majority shall in madness interfere in this delicate subject, and our union as freemen is gone forever. Civil war and bloodshed will deface and destroy the beautiful proportions of the temple of freedom. The Cæsar of America will arise to bind together the disjointed fragments of the edifice with the chain of Despotism.
Means for averting these ills are to be sought. Where shall we look for them except in the general diffusion of intelligence among the people? Spread knowledge among the people, and their minds will be awakened to a due sense of the value of our free institutions. They will be quick to detect ambition, aiming under a false pretence of public utility, at private aggrandizement. They will be ready in discerning the true interests of the nation, however designing men may endeavor to blind their perception. They will cultivate that liberal, compromising spirit, which submits to partial evil for the general good. Yea, they will cherish that patriotism which in the hour of danger will stand by the republic, and seal with the blood of freemen the "esto perpetua" of the Union.