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REMARKS 
 
 MR. CARTER'S 
 
 OUTLINE OF AN INSTITUTION 
 
 EDUCATION OF TEACHERS. 
 
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 FROM THE U. S. REVIEW. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 pCBLISHED BY BOWLES AND DEARBORN. 
 
 FROM THE UNIVERSITT PRESS. 
 
 1827. 
 

 REMARKS 
 
 MR. CARTER'S OUTLINE, 
 
 Mr. Carter shows uncommon interepJ "^ the Important subject 
 of these essays ; he has long devote^ himself to it, and made it 
 the object of deep study and extensive research. His " Letters 
 to the Hon. William Prescott," published two or dn-ee years 
 since, on the free schools of New England, show him to be, not 
 only well acquainted with their origin, their history, the important 
 bearings they may have upon our national chrjracter, the delects, 
 or rather the injurious plans of instruclio-'i, which every where 
 prevail in them, but also that he has carefully investigated the 
 science of education generally, and knows well the principles by 
 which it must be directed, in order to act beneficially and with 
 effect. Nor is Mr. Carter a visionary, inexperienced theorist, 
 engaged merely in ingenious speculations on this subject. We 
 understand, that he is vve'j acquainted with it practically, that he ■ 
 has taught in our academies, examined many ol' the free schools 
 of our country towis, and that he has been much employed as 
 private instructer to young gentlemen of distinguished and wealthy 
 families ; so tJiat he gathers his knowledge from facts, and has had 
 every opportunity of trying the accuracy of his principles by actual 
 obser^'cltion and experiment. For all these reasons, his opinions 
 are certainly entitled to great respect and attention. 
 
 It is astonishing how little public inquiry has been hitherto 
 devoted in our own country, to the means of extending popular 
 
education. Abroad, in Great Britain particularly, it has long 
 excited every where the rnost intense interest. Their public 
 prints have been full of it ; parliament comes not often together 
 without having some bill to settle, or report to hear, relating to 
 it. It has formed, we may say, without exception perhaps, the 
 most frequent article of discussion in the highest of their hterary 
 journals. Separate independent pamphlets, on inquiries con- 
 nected with it, are continually issuing from the press ; and in 
 this truly useful employment, of aiding in the general diffusion 
 of kfiowledge all over the community, bringing it home to the 
 minds of the poor and humble, encouraging every improvement 
 in the art of popular instruction, their greatest statesmen, as 
 ^^'^U as their finest and most intelligent writers, are warmly 
 engaged, devoting to it much of their inestimable time,' and all 
 their sp/andid acquisidons. How different is it here ! We believe 
 that Congisss has never been called upon to act, in any way, on 
 oil the subject. Our politicians have been busy about every 
 thing else. Oa^ scholars and men of letters are engaged in 
 other departments, which, though more showy and alluring, are, 
 we venture to say, t.f infinitely less importance. Able inqui- 
 ries into it are seldom ^ny where seen among us ; and such a 
 pamphlet, as the one now under our consideration, is a rare 
 phenomenon indeed. 
 
 This is the reason, probably, why the public in general do not 
 see clearly, or are not sufficiently alive to the great national 
 importance of popular instruction. We are not kept sufficiently 
 on the alert to obsewe what is depending upon it. We all know 
 how much education Uas to do in forining the character of an 
 individual. We are selaom apt to think, that the whole commu- 
 nity receive their impression^ and are made good or bad, virtuous 
 or vicious, intelligent, enterprking, and peaceful, or inefficient, 
 weak, and factious, in precisely the same way. Mr. Carter 
 estimates, that nineteen twentieths o? our population are obliged 
 to get all th^ir instruction from our country free schools. How 
 important an influence, then, must they hsive in the formation of 
 our national character, and how necessary is k for our legislature 
 to take them under its close protection ; supply their defects ; 
 look well to their judicious and efficient management; raise their 
 standing in public estimation, and qualify them better foi the high 
 rank which their extensive influence ought to give them. 
 
 In our frame of government, we are trying a grand political 
 experiment, which, in the hands of other mighty and opulent 
 nations, has totally failed. It has not only failed, but led on to a 
 
state of disorder more terrific and appalling, than any despotism 
 that can be imagined. On what, then, rest our hopes of safety? 
 How are we to be exempt from the common fate of republics ? 
 What is to rescue or save us from popular outrage, corruption, 
 anarchy, faction, and misrule, which hurry a people on to ruin 
 more surely and with more inevitable speed, than any regularly 
 established tyranny, however arbitrary it may be, or even if it be 
 of a severe military character ? We answer, it is to be done only 
 by the universal diffusion of intelligence. Let government place 
 this widiin the reach, and, as far as possible, force it upon the 
 attention of every class of youth in die community. We speak not 
 now of the general happiness which it is almost sure to carry with 
 it ; but it is the only thing which can prepare men for the enjoy- 
 ment of liberty, and secure to them the possession of it. An 
 ignorant people can never govern themselves. It requires no 
 small share of intelligence to know what true political liberty is, 
 how far it may be extended, and where it must stop. An ignorant 
 people can never be a free people. It has been every where found, 
 that, when unrestrained by absolute authority, they naturally press 
 on to licentiousness, a state more degrading than servitude, until, 
 weary of the fruitless exercise of their own destructive powers, 
 they are glad to lay them down at the feet of some favorite 
 usurper, who has won them by the easy arts of popular intrigue ; 
 and die yoke, which such a people tend voluntarily to assume, 
 is incomparably more oppressive and galling than any which mere 
 despotic sovereignty could possibly impose upon them. 
 
 Much has been written about the checks and balances in our 
 frame of government working miracles in its support, and securing 
 us forever against its decline. But how is this.^ We now believe 
 the only good effect of them is to retard the progress of legisla- 
 tion, so as to let light and intelligence come in. Surely there can 
 be no conflicting interests necessarily interwoven in these several 
 branches of authority. They are all agents for, and representatives 
 of the great mass of the community who choose them. The senate 
 of Massachusetts, it is true, is said to be founded on wealth, in 
 order to protect it from violence and unjust appropriation; yet who 
 does not perceive this to be in a great measure nominal .'' It ought 
 not to have, and we hope it may never have a constant influence in 
 regulating the measures of legislation, or in giving a tone to the laws. 
 If there be any such influence springing from it, we believe it to be 
 often directly the opposite of what was originally intended. The 
 senate may become at some day the representative of the labor- 
 ing classes purely; for wherever riches are accumulating, the 
 
population of the poorer classes is increasing and crowding together 
 in still greater proportion, and the wealthy, who are not the only 
 voters, may be far out-numbered. So that, when competition for 
 superiority shall actually arise between these rival classes, we may 
 depend upon it, that the commons, who can very easily rally to 
 act in concert in such places, will send their o\vn tribunes to the 
 capitol to represent them ; and we have some slight experience 
 to show us, how possible and indeed practicable all this is. We 
 have not much to hope, then, from our checks and balances 
 alone. It is an intelligent and enlightened community, knowing 
 their own rights and respecting the rights of others, which must 
 make those effectual, and to which we are to look for the protec- 
 tion and durability of our political institutions. 
 
 It was not our intention to go into an argument in favor of free 
 schools as the instruments of popular education, because we be- 
 lieve their importance is generally every where acknowledged, 
 although they have ceased to awaken that lively interest which 
 they most truly deserve, and which is indispensably necessary in 
 order to make them as extensively useful as they may and ought 
 to be. But there is one point touched upon by Mr. Carter, which 
 we must bring fully before our readers, for it cannot be too often 
 repeated ; and that is, the exact coincidence of these insututions 
 v/ith all our purest and best republican feelings. Nothing can 
 more entirely harmonize with them. Those feelings may, and 
 ought to be implanted early in the mind of childhood. They 
 will then be fixed at a time, when impressions are the most deep 
 and durable. If our free schools were raised in public estima- 
 tion, as we shall soon see may be done very easily and with little 
 additional expense, the children of the affluent, of those in easy 
 circumstances, and of the poor and humble, will be brought 
 together, and taught to associate, and mingle intimately with each 
 other on the most perfect level of equality, where merit alone 
 forms the title to rank. This will be sure to make them true 
 to their political institutions. We are all republicans by nature ; 
 our education from infancy may be made to keep us so. Prin- 
 ciples thus early imbibed are not speedily to be unsettled. Our 
 national condition may change, our form of government may 
 change, our polidcal character may also in some respects change, 
 but we shall be a republic still, essentially and for ever. With all 
 their defects, die schools of which we speak, have in fact drawn 
 forth talents from the humblest stations, and given them the first 
 impulse, which ultimately carried them to the highest and most 
 elevated. They tend to make the proud and wealdiy willing that 
 
the people should rule, and convince the people, that the proud 
 and wealthy can in no way necessarily have any permanent advan- 
 tage over them. If there were among us a haughty hereditary 
 aristocracy, who wished to keep their families distinct, and pre- 
 vent native genius of humble origin from mingling with, or rising 
 superior to them, their first blow must be aimed at the free schools 
 of our country. But we ought to cite the few remarks which 
 Mr. Carter has made upon this interesting topic. 
 
 " If our ancestors were stern republicans, this institution did 
 more than any and all others, to make them so, and to keep them 
 so. While the best schools in the land are free, all the classes of 
 society are blended The rich and the poor meet and are educated 
 together. And if educated together, nature is so even-handed in 
 the distribution of her favors, that no fear need be entertained, that 
 a monopoly of talent, of industry, and consequently of acquirements, 
 will follow a monopoly of property. The principle, upon which 
 our free schools are established, is, in itself, a stern leveller of 
 factitious distinctions. Every generation, while the system is 
 executed according to the true spirit of it, as conceived by our 
 ancestors, will bring its quota of neio men to fill the public places 
 of distinction, — men who owe nothing to the fortunes or the crimes 
 of their fathers, but all, under the blessing of God, to their own 
 industry and the common schools. I say the principle in itself, 
 because it has never been carried into full operation, and probably 
 never will be. 
 
 " Its tendency, however, is not to level by debasing the exalted; 
 but by exalting the debased. And it is a more effectual check 
 against an aristocracy of wealth, and consequently of political 
 influence, than would be a national jubilee and the equal distribu- 
 tion of property once in fifty years, without such a principle at 
 the foundation of our system of public instruction. ' Knowledge, 
 is power,' says Lord Bacon ; and so is property power, because it 
 will procure knowledge. If we suppose society divided into two 
 classes, the rich and the poor, the property of the former class, if 
 there were no such institution as the free schools, would procure 
 such immense advantages of education, as to bring second, third, 
 and any rate talents, into successful competition with those of the 
 first order, without such advantages. 
 
 " This use of property puts upon it its highest value. And it 
 would not be politic, if it were possible, to destroy it. But it should 
 seem, that tiiis use ought to be limited ; and that some of our insti- 
 tutions, at least, ought to have the tendency to put all upon the 
 footing, on which nature and the God of nature left tiiem. And 
 just in proportion as you lose sight of, or abandon the true principle 
 qf the free schools, you lose sight of, and abandon all the moral. 
 
8 
 
 political, and religious blessings which result from them. You 
 check the diffusion of knowledge through all classes of people. 
 You stop the circulation through the extremities of the body politic 
 of the very life-blood, which must nourish and sustain them. You 
 may preserve and amuse yourselves with the name of free institu- 
 tions, and of a republican government, but you will not be blessed 
 with the reality. You may incorporate in your constitution, if you 
 like, the articles, 'that all men are born free and equal,' and 'that 
 all are eligible to the highest offices ; ' but this is not freedom, 
 while ninety-nine hundredths of the community have not the means 
 of fitting themselves or their children, for discharging the duties of 
 those high offices. As well might you tie the legs, and pinion the 
 arms of a man, and tell him he has as fair a chance to win the 
 race, as one who is free and trained to the course. Something like 
 this our ancestors must have felt, who established the free schools ; 
 and something like this their posterity must feel, if they would 
 cherish and preserve them." pp. 20 — 21. 
 
 Confming our remarks to the State, whose schools are the 
 subject of Mr. Carter's examination, we observe, that the house 
 of representatives supposes itself, whether truly or not, peculiarly 
 to represent the people. It holds the public purse, and has the 
 ordering and the appropriation of assessments all over the State. 
 Is it not strange, then, that it should enable so small a portion of 
 them to go to the support of those schools on which so much of its 
 character depends .'' This is a tax. too, mainly upon the rich, and 
 almost entirely for the assistance of the poor, for the rich send their 
 children elsewhere. It is a tax, however, wliich they ought, and 
 which they are generally willing to pay, because, like every other 
 judicious tax, it strengthens good government, and thus secures 
 to them the enjoyment of their property, which otherwise might 
 be in danger of violation or encroachment. How is it, then, that 
 almost all the late measures of the legislature have tended to 
 lighten this useful and indeed indispensable tax ? While the 
 demand for knowledge, Hke the demand for every thing else, 
 increases rapidly as society advances in opulence and improve- 
 ment, — the proportional number of teachers for the common 
 schools has been made less, and their requisite qualifications 
 strangely diminished. They were far greater and more, under 
 the colony laws, than they are now. The knowledge of Latin 
 and Greek, which were then requisites, and are now dispensed 
 with, are not, it is true, of much consequence alone ; but the 
 possessor of these will be likely to have other more valuable 
 attainments, and a mind, in some measure, properly disciplined 
 for the purpose of instruction. At the present time, nothing is 
 
necessary for the common-school teacher, but some slight recom- 
 mendations, which almost any one of common sense may obtain, 
 and, of those who do obtain them, the cheapest, and therefore the 
 most incompetent and the worst, is surest of success. How much 
 has this sunk, and is still sinking the character of our free popu- 
 lar education ? It has had the doubly bad effect of leading the 
 weak, the ignorant, and the presumptuous to offer themselves 
 as candidates for this truly responsible and important station ; 
 and of withdrawing those who are really able and meritorious 
 instructers from situations, where their services must be so 
 miserably paid. Tiie monies appropriated to it are every year 
 less and less, the qualifications of the teachers thus continually 
 diminishing ; and yet the committees, whom the towns appoint, 
 although disposed to employ better ones, are under the sad 
 necessity of accepting such as offer themselves, however meanly 
 they may think of their scholarship or their manners, simply be- 
 cause for the poor compensation, which they are allowed to make, 
 they can get no others. Where will the legislature order this 
 to stop ? 
 
 AU the consequences which might have been fairly anticipated 
 from this state of things, are now beginning to be fully seen and 
 felt. The coimtry schools are every where degraded. They 
 stand low even in the estimation of their warmest friends. It is 
 thought a mean thing for a man of competent estate, or for any 
 but Ihe mechanic, the artisan, or the laborer, to send their chil- 
 dren to them for their education. The pupils participate in this 
 degradation. It must and will affect their characters ; for these 
 are colored by the characters of those around them. Thus, 
 independently of the poor instruction which they now get, they 
 suffer a disadvantage, because their best associates, those who 
 might do much to elevate their views and refine their manners, are 
 taken away from them, as if they were an inferior order of beings. 
 Thus it is, that feelings and sentiments, not in perfect harmony 
 with our peculiar political principles, may be early taught and 
 deeply settled. Strong lines of demarkation are drawn between 
 classes of naturally equal rank and merit. The pure republican 
 nature of the free schools is, in short, wholly destroyed. Nor does 
 the evil rest here. The rich, the enlightened, the influential, all 
 indeed, who are of any weight and power in our country, have with- 
 drawn the interest they had in them, and transferred it elsewhere. 
 The seminaries, which require private pay, and which, therefore, 
 exclude necessarily nineteen twentieths of the community, absorb 
 all this interest. Innumerable academies have thus sprung up 
 2 
 
10 
 
 in different parts; new private schools are continually called forj 
 and the evils, which Mr. Carter has very happily described in 
 the following passage, are now felt and seen all over the State 
 of Massachusetts. 
 
 " Take any ten contiguous towns in the interior of this common- 
 wealth, and suppose an academy to be placed in the centre of them. 
 An academy, as I have before observed, commonly means a cor- 
 poration, with a township of land in Maine, given them by the 
 State, and a pretty convenient house, built generally by the patriotic 
 subscriptions of those who expect to use it ; the instructer bemg 
 supported, chiefly or altogether, by a separate tax on the scholars. 
 In each of these ten towns, select the six individuals, who have 
 families to educate, who set the highest value on education, and 
 who are able to defray the expenses of the best which can be had, 
 either in a private school among themselves, or at the academy, 
 which, by the supposition, is in their neighbourhood. Now of 
 what immediate consequence can it be to the six families of each 
 town, or to the sixty families of the ten towns, whether there be 
 Siich a thing as a free school in the commonwealth or not ! They 
 have a general interest in them, to be sure, because they have 
 themselves been there instructed, and the early associations of 
 childhood and youth are strong ; and they have a sort of specula- 
 tive belief, if it be not rather an innate sentiment, that free schools 
 make a free people. But how are their own particular, personal, 
 and immediate interests affected ? Without any libel upon human 
 nature, these are the main springs to human actions. Thefe are 
 the motives, which find their way soonest to the human heart, and 
 influence most powerfully and steadily the opinions of men, and 
 the conduct founded upon and resulting from them. 
 
 " As soon as difficulties and disagreements, in regard to the free 
 schools, arise, as they necessarily must, upon various topics ; such 
 as the amount of money to be raised, the distribution of it among 
 the several districts, the manner of appropriation, whether it be 
 to the ' summer schools ' or to the ' winter schools,' to pay an 
 instructer from this family or from that family, of higher qualifi- 
 cations, of this or that political or religious creed, or a thousand 
 other questions which are constantly occurring ; if any of our six 
 families happen to be dissatisfied or disgusted with any course 
 which may be adopted, they will, immediately, abandon the free 
 schools, and provide for the education of their children in their 
 own way. They may organizfe a private school, for their own 
 convenience, upon such principles as they most approve. Or, they 
 may send their scholars, at an expense trifling to them, to the 
 academy in their neighbourhood. Well, what if they do 1 The 
 free schools remain, all taxes are paid, cheerfully, for their support^ 
 
11 
 
 and the number of scholars is lessened. What is the evil of their 
 sending their children somewhere else to be educated ! Wc should, 
 at first, suppose, that it would be an advantage ; inasmuch as the 
 amount of money to be expended would be left the same, and the 
 number of pupils to receive the benefit of it would be considerably 
 diminished. 
 
 " But the evils of this course, and of the general policy of the 
 State government, which has led to it, are very serious ones. 
 Wiien the six individuals of any country town, who are, by the 
 supposition, first in point of wealth and interest in the subject, and 
 who will generally be also first in point of intelligence and influence 
 in town affairs, withdraw their children from the common schools ; 
 there is, at the same time, withdrawn a portion of intelligence 
 from their direction and heartfelt interest from their support. This 
 intelligence is needed, to manage the delicate and important con- 
 cerns of the schools. And this heartfelt interest is needed, to lead 
 the way to improvements, to stimulate and encourage larger and 
 larger appropriations, and to insure vigilance in their expenditure. 
 Patriotism and philanthropy are dull motives to exertions for the 
 improvement of common schools, compared with parental affection. 
 And this quickening power has gone off to the academies or some- 
 where else, with the children, who are the objects of it. 
 
 " Look at the operation of this influence of the academies upon 
 the free schools, on a still smaller scale. Examine the condition 
 of the latter in the very towns, where academies are placed ; and 
 where, if their influence be a happy one, we should expect to find 
 the common schools in the best condition. What is the fact ? 
 From observation and from information collected from authentic 
 sources, the assertion may be hazarded, that the condition 'f the 
 free schools will be found, on examination, to be worse, far worse, 
 in those towns, than in any others. And it is for this plain reason ; 
 because those, who can barely afford the expense of tuition, wiU 
 send their children to the academy, which the State or benevolent 
 individuals have built up for their accommodation, and give them- 
 selves no farther trouble about the free schools, but to pay the tax- 
 bill for their support when it is presented." pp. 30 — 32. 
 
 With the slender means appropriated to their support, and 
 the little interest taken in them, it is no wonder that errors of 
 instruction, the most perverse and injurious, should every where 
 prevail in our common schools. It is impossible to describe the 
 bad effects, which may thus be produced. Ease prejudices 
 are fastened upon the mind, which it can never entirely remove. 
 Children acquire a thorough distaste for education, and thus shut 
 themselves out for ever from those enjoyments, which are the most 
 elevating, as well as productive of the highest good. The pleasure 
 
12 
 
 of learning is naturally great even to the infant mind. The exis- 
 tence of strong early curiosity proves this incontcstably. A dis- 
 position to examine, to find out, to know, is among the first which 
 the expanding intellect puts forth. There must be a degree of 
 pleasure, too, in the judicious exercise of every one of the facul- 
 ties, which Heaven has bestowed upon us, that of the most useful, 
 probably, being the most interesting and delightful. To what 
 admirable account might not this be turned, in all our schools for 
 education ! To what feeble, and indeed ruinous account, is it not 
 actually turned in the schools of which we are sp(?aking ! I iCt any 
 body go into one of these, and mark the uninteresting discipline 
 of the master, the listless languor and weary indifference which 
 every where reigns, the unmeaning gaze with which the pupils pore 
 over and recite their lessons, and the joy, or rather the bounding 
 exultation, with which they greet even a momentary respite from 
 what they think their slavish toils. What is the reason of all 
 this ? They are called on to study what is far beyond the reach 
 of their intellects, and what their instructer, if he be able him- 
 self to comprehend, which, even to them, often seems doubtful, 
 has neither the means nor the ability to teach them, and, if 
 he did, would, nine times out of ten, be useless to them. We 
 cannot stop now to point out, particularly, these profitless, unin- 
 telligible studies ; nor is it necessary that we should. In the 
 " Letters " before referred to, Mr. Carter has exposed the prin- 
 cipal ones, and, in our review* of diese "Letters," we were at 
 pains to dwell at considerable length upon what we still diink the 
 greatest and most abusive of them ; to these we must refer tho;e 
 of our readers, who have any doubts on this su'iject. There s 
 no chance for their removal, or for improvement in them under the 
 present state of things. The instructers are incapable of it. Tie 
 committees, who have the ordering and management of the doings 
 of the schools, are in general also incapable of it, and commonly 
 follow the instructer's advice. Old errors will thus hold their 
 ground. The slight public scrutiny, to which they are exposed, 
 will never make them, nor the evils of them, sufficiendy known. 
 New ones, though of precisely die same character, will be likely 
 to creep in, and thus our schemes for the universal diffusion of 
 intelligence, instead of improving, like every diing else, as society 
 advances in opulence, are in fact on the decline, or at best but 
 stationary. 
 
 If the standing of the free schools were raised to its proper 
 elevation, as we shall presently see may be done with the utmost 
 
 • "United States Literary Gazette," Vol. I. page 185. 
 
13 
 
 «ase, and by the simplest act of legislation, every one of these 
 evils m\\ be lessened. The higher classes of people will again 
 lend a strong hand to their support. A somewhat greater amount 
 of money, it, is true, must be appropriated to them, than now 
 is. But the whole expense of common education in the com- 
 monwealth, will be far less, because large numbers of the pupils, 
 who are now driven to the academies or private schools, will be 
 withdrawn from them, and their bills therefore saved. There are 
 many who will thus receive some direct aid in the education of 
 their children, from the taxes which they are obliged to pay, and 
 which now benefit them only remotely and contingendy. This 
 education, toq,-may, for a variety of reasons, be far superior to 
 what it has been. The pa-ents will have it under dieir imme- 
 diate care and supervis on. The conduct of the free schools will 
 be watched by men of the highest intelligence; tlieir influence 
 over the pupil's mind easily ascertained ; and the vices in their 
 management, or modes of instruction, speedily corrected. At 
 least we may have incomparably more to expect from their 
 improvement, than we can possibly hope for now. There will 
 be some prospect of better things. 
 
 And how, then, are these schools to be most effectually rescued 
 from their degradation, and raised to the rank they deserve? We 
 have said, that the remedy was perfectly plain and easy. No 
 intricate scheme, nor refined, tedious, elaborate process of legisla- 
 tion is necessary for the purpose. Simply raise the qualifications 
 of the teachers. The character of the schools will follow those, 
 whatever they may be, and rise as they rise, or fall as they fall, 
 and in exactly the same proportion. These are Mr. Carter's 
 remarks on this subject. 
 
 " The character of the schools, and, of course, their political, 
 moral, and religious influence upon the community, depend, almost 
 solely, upon 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 direc- 
 tion, 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 upon the community. And whatever is done or suffered 
 to lower the character of the teachers, must sink, at Jhe same time 
 and in the same degree, the character of the schools, and destroy 
 or pervert their influence upon society. Many other considerations 
 must be taken into account in organizing a perfect and an energetic 
 system of public instruction. These are some of them ; a generous 
 
14 
 
 appropriation of money to the purpose, a proper classification of 
 scholars, an efficient and independent tribunal to ensure compe- 
 tency in teachers, and to overlook, examine, and report to the 
 public, whether their duties have been faithfully performed, and, 
 lastly, good books. But all of these objects, though highly impor- 
 tant, are subsequent in their nature to the preparation of teachers. 
 And no one of them can be attempted, with a reasonable expecta- 
 tion of accomplishing it to the greatest advantage, till good teachers 
 are provided and ready for the work." pp. 43, 44. 
 
 On this point we have something more than mere theory or 
 reasoning, however powerful these might be. Actual experiments 
 are before us, of the perfect truth of Mr. Carter's remarks. We 
 allude to the situation of some of the free schools in several of 
 the large towns. The free classical school in Boston, particularly, 
 which is under the care of a teacher of deserved reputation, holds, 
 perhaps, the highest rank in our country, and gentlemen of wealth, 
 intelligence, and personal power, are ambitious of procuring admit- 
 tance to it for their children, although they must there associate 
 intimately with the poor and humble, because it is thrown open 
 gratuitously to the youth of merit in every class of society, however 
 low and destitute may be their conditicn in life. Such establish- 
 ments do infinite honor to the republican feehngs of the city and 
 of the state to which they belong. And something of this character, 
 though certainly not so high, may and ought to be given to every 
 one of the free schools in our country. It is remarkable, that, in 
 acts of political generosity like this, the contrast should be such, 
 and so strongly marked as it is, between the villages, where the 
 utmost equality is supposed to prevail, and the large wealthy 
 towns, where the distinction of ranks is suspected and railed at. 
 The very reverse would be commonly anticipated. It shows 
 how false, unjust, and ungenerous, are all those suspicions and 
 intimations. Innumerable facts, as well as the equalizing, elevating 
 nature of our political Institutions, ought to destroy them. They 
 cannot, indeed, long continue. 
 
 But how are the instructers to be most surely and efficiently 
 qualified for their important business.'* The plan of Mr. Carter, 
 which we believe to be so far original with him, as to justify the 
 closest association of his name with It, seems to us equally simple 
 and satisfactory. It Is to found an Institution to be devoted 
 exclusively to* this peculiar purpose. 
 
 Let some Individual, or Individuals, first start and get such an 
 institution under way. Then let the State take it under Its im- 
 mediate patronage and support. Let private and public interests 
 
15 
 
 be thus mingled and mn(1e to co-operate, in order that by the 
 former it may be reguliirly, efficiently, and profitably governed, 
 and that, by the latter, it may be aided in its earliest efforts, 
 and afterwards snpervised so as to exclude party politics, local 
 prejudices, narrow, bigoted, sectarian views on any subject, from 
 ever having an influence in its administration. We consider 
 this union of interests, though not particularly mentioned, nor 
 we believe alluded to, by Mr. Carter, wlw seems to have 
 merely a private institution in view, to be of vital importance 
 to its establishment and utility. If it were left to be got up by 
 the State alone, it must be delayed, and would probably fall 
 through, as many excellent plans have done, from the variety of 
 the projects proposed, and, even if it were thus established, would 
 be almost sure to be irregularly, inefficiently, and unprofitably 
 managed, and might, at some future day, become the abode of 
 favoritism, of mere sinecures and placemen. Jf, on the contrary, 
 it were only a private establishment, the evils, which we have 
 alluded to, might still gradually creep in. 
 
 An institution founded and governed by an individual will be 
 sure of harmony among all its superintending teachers. If there 
 be one of these who does not agree with the others, in any of its 
 measures, and who cannot convince them that he is right, nor be 
 convinced himself that he is wrong, he will be discharged. This 
 could not be so, were it founded, and governed, and its officers 
 appointed solely by the State. Many of them might have very 
 discordant views, and there would be no little difficulty in making 
 them all act in perfect unison. It is needless, however, to state 
 the embarrassments and the evils, as well as the delays, which 
 must result from this mode of establishing the institution. 
 
 But a mere private institution, unassisted by the government, 
 will not be suited to the great purpose for which we particularly 
 want it. It will never prepare nor educate, to any considerable 
 extent, the teachers of the free schools, although it may teachers 
 for other situations. The former cannot afford to pay for being 
 thus judiciously instructed. The state must lend them its aid. 
 They are unable to do without it. With the slender funds allowed 
 to them, they can give very little for unrequired, unsolicited 
 qualifications, however valuable these may be, and how much 
 soever they may desire them, as many no doubt do. It would 
 be a most unproductive investment of their money so to employ it. 
 Cheap instructers are every where sought for. Those, who, from 
 their want of intelligence or acquirements, cannot find profitable 
 employment elsewhere, are necessarily procured. Ought such 
 
16 
 
 to be allowed to assume the high responsibility of forming the 
 intellectual character certainly, if not the moral and religious 
 character, of the great mass of the population? We are condemned 
 to it, unless the government, in some way, steps in to our relief. 
 Let it, then, lend its aid to some enterprising individual, who will 
 start such an institution as we have described, and claim as a 
 compensation therefor, the right, in some measure, of supervision 
 and control. This right should be co-extensive with the means 
 furnished. If there be enough to procure some general instruction 
 for all our common-school teachers, the public ought to have the 
 power of overseeing the investment of it, and of knowing well 
 that it is prudently, and economically, and impartially appro- 
 priated. It is by no means to be a mere gift, gratuitously 
 bestowed upon the institution. A full compensation is to be 
 previously made, and before any portion of the fund be paid, the 
 legislature, by their committee, should ascertain that the services, 
 which are to form this compensation, have been rendered fairly 
 and properly. 
 
 The plan of the institution, as we have already intimated, and 
 its site, ought to be left entirely to the individual who shall under- 
 take it. If the legislature interfere, or have any thing to do with 
 either of these, there may be conflicting interests, as well as 
 conflicting schemes, to reconcile. Almost every member of 
 influence, who is friendly to it, and we hope all are so, will have 
 some views of his own to propose, or some new modification 
 of those proposed by others, so diat, from the very multitude of 
 its warm supporters, there must be much delay, if not a total 
 failure at last, and the measures, which ultimately succeed in 
 such cases, are not always sure of being the best. Let an 
 individual, who has long devoted his attention exclusively to the 
 subject, and who must have the strongest partiality for the place, 
 which will be the most productive to the institution, and thus the 
 most profitable to himself, do all the planning alone. Mr. Carter 
 has in fact done it, we believe. In these Essays he has slightly 
 sketched the outline of a project, which he promises soon to 
 lay before the public moi-e at large. We hope he will do it 
 immediately. There cannot be too much promptitude in the 
 execution of a scheme like this. The principal features of it, 
 thus briefly drafted, we intended to give to our readers entire, 
 and in the language of Mr. Carter. But we have now room 
 to state only two of the most important of them ; these are, 
 the library and the school for children and youth; the latter 
 is tp be connected witli the institution, and to form a sort of 
 
17 
 
 experimental, or rather, we should say, practical department in 
 the system of its instruction. 
 
 "A library should, of course, be selected with particular refer- 
 ence to the objects of the institution. It would naturally and 
 necessarily, contain the approved authors on the science of educa- 
 tion in its widest sense. It would embrace works of acknowledo-ed 
 merit in the various branches of literature and science intimately 
 connected with education ; such as anatomy and physiology, the 
 philosophy of the human mind and heart, and the philosophy of 
 language. 
 
 " Physical education forms a very essential part of the subject, 
 and should be thoroughly understood. This branch includes the 
 developement of all the organs of the body. And works upon the 
 physiology of children should be added to the library. Books on 
 gymnastics, containing directions for particular exercises adapted 
 to the developement of the several organs, belong to the library 
 of the accomplished instructer as well as to that of the surgeon. 
 Indeed, if the former properly use them, they will enable him to 
 give a firmness to the parts of the body, which may, perhaps, super- 
 sede the necessity of the interference of the latter to set them 
 right in manhood. 
 
 " The philosophy of the infant mind must be understood by the 
 instructer, before much progress can be made in the science of 
 education; for a principal branch of the science consists in formino- 
 the mind. And the skill of the teacher in this department is chiefly 
 to be seen in his judicious adaptation of means to the developement 
 of the intellectual faculties. Every book, therefore, which would 
 aid in an analysis of the youthful mind, should be placed in the 
 library of the proposed institution. 
 
 " The human heart, the philosophy of its passions and its 
 affections nmst be studied by those who expect to influence those 
 passions and form those affections. This branch of the subject 
 includes the government of children, especially in the earliest 
 stages of their discipline. The success of the teacher here depends 
 upon the good judgment with which he arranges and presents to 
 his pupils the motives that will soonest move them, and most 
 permanently influence their actions. The mistaken or wicked 
 principles of parents and instructers, in this department of educa- 
 tion, have, no doubt, perverted the dispositions of many hopeful 
 children. If successful experience has been recorded, it should 
 be brought to the assistance of those, who must otherwise act 
 without experience. 
 
 " Lastly, the study of the philosophy of language would be 
 essential to the scientific teacher. The term, language, is not 
 here understood to mean a class of words called Greek, or another 
 class of words called Latin, or even that class of words which we 
 
18 
 
 call English. It means something more general, and something' 
 which can hardly be defined. It embraces all the means we use 
 to excite in the minds of others the ideas, which we have already 
 in our own minds. These, whatever they are, are included in the 
 general definition of language. This is a great desideratum in 
 our systems of education. We do not possess a language by 
 which we can produce precisely the idea in a pupil, which we 
 have in our own mind, and which we wish to excite in his. And 
 impatient and precipitate teachers often quarrel with their pupils, 
 because they do not arrive at the same conclusions with them- 
 selves, when, if they could but look into their minds, they would 
 find, that the ideas with which they begin to reason, or which 
 enter into their processes of reasoning, are altogether different. 
 Every book or fact, therefore, which would do any thing to supply 
 this desideratum, or enable the teacher better to understand pre- 
 cisely the idea which he excites in the mind of his pupils, should 
 be collected in the instructer's library." 
 
 " A school of children and youth of different ages, and pursuing 
 different branches of study, would form an essential part of the 
 institution, In the early stages of the education of children, the 
 discipline should consist almost wholly of such exercises as serve 
 to develope the different faculties, and strengthen all the powers of 
 the mind. And in the subsequent education of youth, when the 
 discipline comes to consist partly in the developement of the mind, 
 and partly in the communication of knowledge, the course of 
 instruction would be the same, whether the pupil were destined to 
 be a teacher or not. The objects of the institution do not, there- 
 fore, become peculiar, till after the pupil has acquired a certain 
 degree of freedom and strength of mind ; nor till after he has 
 made the acquisition of the requisite amount of knowlegde for the 
 profession of teacher. Though a pupil would necessarily imbibe 
 a good deal of clearness and method in his intellectual exercises, 
 by submitting the direction of them to a skilful instructer, the study 
 of the science of teaching cannot properly begin till he changes 
 relations with those about him ; and, instead of following a course 
 prescribed by another, and exhibiting the powers of his own mind 
 without an effort to take cognizance of them, he assumes to look 
 down upon humbler minds, to direct their movements, and to 
 detect and classify the phenomena of their subtle workings. 
 
 " After the young candidate for an instructer, therefore, has 
 acquired sufficient knowledge for directing those exercises and 
 teaching those branches, which he wishes to profess, he must then 
 begin his labors under the scrutinizing eyes of one who will note 
 his mistakes of government and faults of instruction, and correct 
 them. The experienced and skilful professor of the science vviM 
 observe how the mind of the young teacher acts upon that of the 
 
19 
 
 teainer. He will see how far and how perfectly they understand 
 each other, and which is at fault if they do not understand each 
 other at all. If the more inexperienced teacher should attempt to 
 force upon the mind of a child an idea or a process of reasoning, for 
 which it was not in a proper state, he would be checked, at once, 
 and told of his fault ; and thus, perhaps, the pupil would be spared 
 a disgust for a particular study, or an aversion to all study. As 
 our earliest experience would in this manner be under the direc- 
 tion of those wiser than ourselves, it would the more easily be 
 classed under general principles for our direction afterwards. 
 This part of the neceesary course in an institution for the educa- 
 tion of teachers, might be much aided by lectures. Children 
 exhibit such and such intellectual phenomena ; the scientific pro- 
 fessor of education can explain those phenomena, and tell from 
 what they arise. If they are favorable, he can direct how they are 
 to be encouraged and turned to account in the developement and 
 formation of the mind. If they are unfavorable, he can explain 
 by what means they are to be overcome or corrected. Seeing 
 intellectual results, he can trace them, even through complicated 
 circumstances, to their causes ; or, knowing the causes and circum- 
 stances, he can predict the result that will follow them. Thus 
 every day's experience would be carefully examined, and made to 
 limit or extend the comprehension of the general principles of the 
 science. Is there any other process or method than this to arrive 
 at a philosophical system of education ? If any occurs to other 
 minds, it is to be hoped that the public may soon have the benefit 
 of it." pp. 51—55. 
 
 We need say nothing in favor of these two parts of the plan 
 of Mr Carter. They must recommend themselves to the minds 
 of all our thinking readers ; it seems to us, that, if judiciously- 
 managed, they are sufficient of themselves to secure to the insti- 
 tution a most successful and salutary influence. The only doubt 
 which can arise, will be on the first; for some may suppose, 
 that it is refining too much, and carrying the qualifications of 
 the teachers of our common schools a httle too far. But let it 
 be remembered, that education has been confined too long to the 
 school room ; that the instructer ought, at least, to acquaint him- 
 self with every branch of it, both of the body and of the mind ; 
 that he may have an agreeable influence over his pupils, in their 
 hours of relaxation and play, as well as in those which are to be 
 devoted to serious study. It is by reasoning on things as they 
 are, and have been, rather than as they should be, that people 
 are apt to err. The whole system of free-school education ought 
 to be reversed. It cannot be done at once, nor speedily. All 
 great improvements must be slow ; and Mr. Carter here looks 
 
20 
 
 tbrward to the time, when those m popular education which are 
 of much utility, will be gradually seen, and at last thoroughly 
 understood to be such. It is in this way, that the above remarks 
 of his are to be considered. 
 
 We have left ourselves little room to speak of the probable 
 advantages of such an institution. They are great, and at present 
 certainly, must be incalculable. Its object is to teach the art of 
 teaching. In an early number of the " United States Literary 
 Gazette," we claim the merit of having been the first to call 
 public attention to the singular fact, that instructers are the only 
 class of people in the community, who are not in some way 
 regularly educated for their profession. This is the more singular, 
 considering the great number of them, and the invariable regularity 
 of their employment. There is no single calling, which re quires 
 nearly so many persons, — probably all the learned professions 
 together do not ; and the demand for them is sure, and increases 
 rapidly, and becomes higher as society advances in wealth. Yet, 
 with all its indescribable importance, not a day, nor an hour, is 
 given to direct mental preparation for this business, although the 
 humblest artisan thinks it necessary to devote whole years of 
 apprenticeship to qualify himself for his. What can be the reason 
 of this ? It is, we believe, because the true object of education 
 is overlooked or mistaken. The instructer is apt to think it amply 
 sufficient, if he be in the possession of stores of knowledge himself, 
 and have the talent of freely opening them to others. Nothing 
 can be more erroneous than such an idea. Learning is not intelli- 
 gence. That may belong to a very stupid, unprofitable member 
 of society ; while this is sure to give a man weight, influence, 
 and high character, wherever he may be placed, and how little 
 soever may be the extent of his erudition. It is not inert knowl- 
 edge, which the pupil wants. It is not the forced, struggling, 
 reluctant discipline of thought, which is ever to be imposed upon 
 him by his tutor. But awaken his curiosity ; lead him thus to 
 love the voluntary exercise of his intellectual powers ; interest 
 and engage him in the pursuit, and he is sure to acquire vigor, 
 energy, and enterprise, which will qualify him better to meet the 
 rubs of life, than all the erudition in the world without them 5 and 
 will, moreover, give him a power over erudition, which he can- 
 not possibly gain in any other way. In these remarks, we are 
 conscious of stating what is not new, and what we ourselves have 
 already stated long ago, The numerous, uncured popular errors 
 on this subject must form our only apology for the repetition. 
 To correct these, as Mr. Carter says, will be one of the greatest 
 object of the institution. 
 
21 
 
 Another great advantage of it must be, that it ^vill tend to 
 equalize the education ol the free schools all ov^er the common- 
 vveahh. At present, it is not only iar Irom being uniform, but 
 is also most variable and irregular. One town has immensely 
 the superiority over another; the same town will have different 
 privileges at different times ; and even the different districts of 
 the same town are never on a perfect equality in this respect. 
 Such inequalities in the general diffusion of education are not 
 likely to be relieved, but, on the contrary, are much heightened 
 by the multitude and the variety of our academies and private 
 schools. Every pupil may find one of these suited exactly to his 
 circumstances in life. Sensible parents of humble condition, who 
 can barely afford to give up their children's time, will yet labor 
 to rescue them, if possible, from the degrading influences of the 
 common schools, where they are sure of seeing them in bad 
 company, if not under bad tuition, and contrive to place them at 
 some cheap seminary, where they know they will have better 
 associates, although they are not capable of ascertaining that the 
 plans of education are in any measure superior, which is frequently 
 not the case. There is the greatest diversity, too, at all these 
 establishments, in the course of study, the modes of instruction, 
 the discipline, and even in the elemefitary books which the pupils 
 are called on to procure. The teachers, not being bound to any 
 rules of management, nor having thought seriously on the subject, 
 are obliged to follow each the natural bent of his own unenlightened 
 genius ; and thus some may be unduly severe, others be weakly 
 indulgent, and most of them act without being able to assign 
 any satisfactory reasons even to themselves, for their whole plan 
 of conduct. 
 
 This is not all, nor indeed nearly the worst of it. Changes 
 are frequently made, particularly at the common schools, in every 
 thing; changes in the instructers, in the modes of instruction, in the 
 course of study, in the discipline, and sometimes even in the books, 
 which must be at the pupils' expense. The evils of these changes 
 are most apparent. No general plan of education can be inva- 
 riably pursued for any length of time. Regularity and uniformity 
 are impossible. There is nothing of the natiue of system, on 
 which we know the success of all intellectual efforts so materially 
 depends. The first aim and effect of such an institution as we 
 have pointed to, must be to introduce every where in our coun- 
 try, some general plan of common education. This will tend to 
 equalize it universally. It will be sure of producing order, uni- 
 formity, regularity, system. Without this last, we know how 
 
22 
 
 unavailing is even the most enterprising industry. Even au 
 ardent passion for learning may thus run to waste. The pupil, 
 whose desire of intellectual labor is not steadily directed, and 
 whose course of study is subject to continual fluctuations, resem- 
 bles a man of irregular habits, who is often changing his profession 
 or trade ', though active, ingenious, and even energetic, he loses 
 much time, is always restless and uneasy, and rarely brings about 
 any great results. The total want of any common system, not 
 only in the internal management of the free schools, but also in the 
 control and supervision of them by the towns, must be obvious to 
 the most careless and superficial observer. There are very few 
 things, excepting the general character of the elementary books, in 
 which they all agree. This general character, we think, to be bad, 
 involviiig those errors of education, which we have briefly alluded 
 to before. It is singular, that the only measures or plans of study, 
 in which they entirely harmonize, should be the most injurious. 
 
 But the greatest diversity, irregularity, and change arise in the 
 internal government of schools, or in the master's mode of keep- 
 ing order and enforcing obedience to his commands, because this 
 must depend entirely upon his disposition, or his peculiar natural 
 temper, unless he has first coolly prescribed to himself certain 
 rules for administering his laws, from which he will never allow 
 himself on any occasion to depart. It is upon this subject, too, that 
 parents' apprehensions are the most serious, and that they justly 
 feel great anxiety and concern. They are unwilling to send their 
 children to schools where there is weak indulgence or inbsubor- 
 dination, for they can learn little in such places, but to be unruly, 
 wilful, and assuming. They ought to be, and always are, still 
 more averse to putting them into the hands of a teacher of a 
 severe and irritable temper, who rules principally by corporal 
 chastisement ; the child's spirit may thus be broken, bad feelings 
 given him, and he will surely acquire an early hatred for study, 
 for books, for every thing, in short, which wears the appearance of 
 instruction or of learning. Now it is in adjusting and regulating 
 properly this, that we are to expect the greatest benefit from 
 the proposed institution. We believe it will tend not only to 
 equalize, and render uniform and invariable the modes of dis- 
 cipline every where in the schools, but also to introduce one 
 far superior to that in common use, and, in all respects, more 
 agreeable to parents, to pupils, and to instructers. We know 
 such to be the natural result, in fact, of all the late improvements 
 in the art of teaching. They tend to soften the reign of terror, 
 which so long exclusively prevailed in the school room. They 
 
23 
 
 banish from it cruelty and suffering, both corporal and mental, 
 since these may be as injurious or as ineffectual in their influence 
 on the pupil's mind, as they are painful to parental I'eelings. 
 They show us, that there are better springs of action, even in the 
 infant's bosom, than fear, and that these may be made to act niost 
 powerfully in support of early intellectual effort. If learning, 
 when judiciously guided and governed, be in reality a delightful 
 employment, which, as we have already intimated, we hold to 
 be as clearly demonstrable, as any proposition founded merely 
 on moral reasoning can be, we know not why this should not 
 give a new character to the common discipline of our schools, 
 and indeed to the common principles of education every where. 
 It is this alone which will render obedience easy, or willing, or in 
 any great degree profitable to the student. It is this, too, which 
 will lighten the laborious duty of the instructer ; for as his business 
 is now conducted in most places, it must be as irksome to him, if 
 he have common sensibility, as it is wearing and unprofitable to 
 his most reluctant pupil. Our readers will perceive, that this 
 improvement in the internal discipline of the schools, can arise 
 only from an improvement in the usual elementary books, or in 
 the usual modes of teaching by them. We cannot expect it to 
 take place immediately or soon, however highly favored it may 
 be. But it is the result towards which all useful inventions in 
 the art of instruction certainly tend. We believe that the pro- 
 posed institution will do much to carry it, in some degree, into 
 our common schools, although it may long fall far short of its full 
 and perfect operation. 
 
 We have thus attempted to show, that the proposed institution 
 will naturally tend to raise the tone of free education throughout 
 the country, — equalize it every where, render it uniform, regular, 
 free from capricious, unreasonable fluctuations, and gradually 
 introduce the only effectual mode of governing or of exercising 
 power over the scholars, and insuring their obedience, which is, 
 to make instruction pleasing to them. On this subject, we are 
 not willing to be thought enthusiastic ; but may we not expect 
 more, and other benefits from it, than those, which we have 
 enumerated .'' Will it not help to diffiise more generally a knowl- 
 edge of the science and of the art of education .'' There is 
 scarcely any one, to whom this knowledge can be superfluous 
 or unimportant. Yet at present they are so litde known, even to 
 those most deeply interested in them, that many need be told, that 
 such a science and such an art are in existence. May we not 
 hope from it something more than this? Will it not be likely 
 
24 
 
 to multiply facilities ol instruction, and to suggest improvenieuti: 
 even in the best systems, which have hitherto been established ? 
 Here is an industrious body of young men, in the full vigor of 
 intellect, brought together for the sole purpose of examining this 
 subject. They will be liicely to look into all the treatises which 
 have been written upon it ; trace out their errors ; collect and 
 put together every thing that is valuable in each of them ; and 
 discuss questions which are connected with them, and which they 
 suggest, in such a manner as shall lead to a careful investigation 
 of the fundamental principles, by which education is to be suc- 
 cessfully directed. They are supposed to have always by them 
 skilful, practical, experienced superintendents to guide and direct 
 them. With these, and with each other, they may be in fair, 
 though earnest competition. The school, too, which is to form a 
 most important department in the institution, will always furnish 
 an opportunity of trying the accui'acy of every one of the measiu'es 
 proposed, by actual observation and experiment, which must take 
 place in the presence of the whole institution. The instructers 
 will be sure thus of gaining an interest in their employment, 
 which they could not otherwise have. When actually engaged in 
 educating, a confidence will be reposed in them by parents and 
 by pupils, which they do not now possess, but which is most 
 essential to the success of all their well judged efforts. They will 
 thus acquire the entire control and direction of the schools, and 
 the appointment of the elementary books, independent of the 
 committees whom the towns appoint for this purpose; for, although 
 no law confers these powers upon them, common consent will. 
 They must acquire, too, a high, a well merited, and an important 
 rank in the community. This they once indeed had. They 
 have long since deservedly lost it. It is most essential, however, 
 that the teachers of our free schools should be admissible into 
 the best, the most refined and intelligent classes of society ; be- 
 cause they may make there valuable acquisitions for themselves, 
 which will go into their course of instruction, and color materially 
 the manners and behaviour, as well as the whole intellectual 
 education of their pupils. This would be of incalculable advan- 
 tage to all those concerned in it. It would help, too, to carry 
 into effect, and turn to great practical account, the truly republican 
 nature of the free schools. 
 
 But we must dwell upon this theme no longer. The only 
 apology we have to offer for treating it so much at length, is its 
 confessedly great importance, and the litde interest, which, until 
 within a very few months, it seems to have excited in our literary 
 
25 
 
 journals, or in the minds of sensible public-spirited men. The 
 necessity of the States' appropriating money to this purpose, or 
 ordering the towns to do it, has in this country, we believe, 
 never been formally denied. The only shadow of argument, 
 which we have ever seen brought against it, arises from a mistake 
 or a misconstruction of those leading, indisputable principles in 
 political economy, that things naturally tend to find their own 
 level ; that the supply of the wants of a prosperous or opulent 
 society will be in full proportion to the demand ; and that govern- 
 ment ought never to interfere in the direction of private interests, 
 or to aid in the profitable appropriation of private property, because 
 individuals will do this much better themselves. It is said, that, 
 on these maxims, the supply of education will regulate itself, 
 and that statesmen should not trouble themselves to guide it ^ 
 much less to levy a high and most unequal tax for its support. 
 Nothing can be more false and abusive than such an application 
 of those great and admirable principles. If so understood, they 
 must go to the abolition of every tax, however slight, or however 
 important it might be. Smith, the profound author of them, did 
 not think them so to be applied, for he was the master advocate 
 of great national institutions for popular and general instruction, 
 and has devoted a large department in his inestimable work on 
 the Weahh of Nations, in defence of them. Those maxims can 
 be applied with propriety only to the investment of capital for 
 pecuniary profit or emolument. Every body must be convinced 
 that the individual owners can dispose of this most productively 
 to themselves, because they can see their own little interests 
 quicker, and more keenly, than any legislature, however wise or 
 impartial. Not so, however, with education. This stands on a far 
 different footing. The ignorant know not, and are wholly inca- 
 pable of estimating its value, until it is too late to acquire it. It is 
 here alone, we believe, that a government can righdy and profit- 
 ably step in to the direction of its subjects, and point out to them 
 their truest interests. We think it bound to aid them in the 
 acquisition of intelligence, and, as far as possible, force them to it. 
 Our own, we have said, must owe to this alone its power of self- 
 preservation. This is no modern opinion. It was held by the 
 most renowned statesmen of antiquity. The latest great historian 
 of Greece tells us, in a passage referred to by Mr. Carter in these 
 Essays, that Lycurgus resolved the whole business of legislation 
 i»t» the education of youth.