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[Illustration: FREE ACADEMY, NEW YORK. [See p. 386.]]
POPULAR EDUCATION:
FOR THE USE OF
PARENTS AND TEACHERS,
AND FOR
YOUNG PERSONS OF BOTH SEXES.
PREPARED AND PUBLISHED
IN ACCORDANCE WITH A RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
State of Michigan.
BY IRA MAYHEW, A.M.,
LATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
82 CLIFF STREET.
1850.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and fifty, by
IRA MAYHEW,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
District of Michigan.
State of Michigan:
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, }
_Lansing, February 27th 1849._ }
HON. IRA MAYHEW, _Superintendent of Public Instruction_:
SIR: I am instructed by the House of Representatives to transmit to you
the following preamble and resolution, and to respectfully inform you
that the same were this day _unanimously_ adopted by the House.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. W. HOVEY, Clerk of the House of Representatives.
_Whereas_, In the opinion of this House, a Manual on the subject of
Popular Education, embracing such considerations as shall have a
tendency to arouse the popular mind to a due appreciation of the
importance--in a political, social, moral, and religious point of
view--of securing to every child in all our borders a good common school
education, together with such instructions to citizens and teachers as
shall constitute a directory to the highest improvement of which our
primary schools are susceptible, is a desideratum; therefore,
_Resolved, by the House of Representatives of the State of Michigan:_
That the Hon. IRA MAYHEW, the present Superintendent of Public
Instruction in this state, be requested to prepare for publication, in
book form, the various matters set forth in his public Lectures,
delivered by request of the Legislature, in the Hall of the House,
during the present session, together with such other matter as, in his
judgment, would tend to the further improvement of our system of public
instruction; to the end that the necessary information in regard to this
subject may be diffused throughout the state and nation.
*
* * A Preamble and Resolution similar to the preceding were likewise
adopted by the Senate.
PREFACE.
Who is sufficient for these things? is a question which any one may well
ask when sitting down to the preparation of a treatise on popular
education. The author of this work would have shrunk from the
undertaking, but from deference to the judgment of the honorable body
that unanimously invited its preparation. He has also been encouraged
not a little by many kind friends, one of whom, distinguished for his
labors in the department of public instruction, writing from New
England, says, "I rejoice at your good beginnings at the West. You have
a noble and inspiring field of action. 'No pent-up Utica contracts your
powers.' I beseech you, fail not to fill it with your glorious
educational truth, though you should pour out your spirit and your life
to do so."
The duties required by law of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
in the State of Michigan are comparatively few. The author, however,
five years ago, and soon after entering upon the discharge of those
duties, undertook _voluntary labors_ for the purpose of awakening a
deeper interest with all classes of the community in behalf of common
schools, and of inspiring confidence in their redeeming power, when
improved as they may be, constituting, as they do, _the only reliable
instrumentality for the proper training of the rising generation_. These
labors, which were hailed as promising great usefulness, and which were
prosecuted in every county of the state, were every where received with
unexpected favor, and constitute the foundation of the present volume.
Many of the subjects then discussed are here greatly amplified.
Among the lectures referred to in the resolution under which this work
has been undertaken, was one on the "Michigan School System." But as the
Convention for the revision of the Constitution of this state is now in
session, it has been deemed advisable to omit, in this connection, the
extensive consideration of the details of that system. This may
constitute the theme of a small manual which shall hereafter appear.
In the present volume the author has endeavored so to present the
subject of popular education, which should have reference to the _whole
man_--the body, the mind, and the heart--and so to unfold its nature,
advantages, and claims, as to make it every where acceptable. Nay, more,
he would have a good common education considered as the inalienable
right of every child in the community, and have it placed _first among
the necessaries of life_. For the better accomplishment of his object,
he has freely drawn from the writings of practical educators, his aim
being usefulness rather than originality. This course has been adopted,
in some instances, for the sole purpose of enforcing the sentiments
inculcated by the authority of the names introduced. Acknowledgments
have generally been made in the body of the work. These may have been
unintentionally omitted in some instances, and especially in those
portions of the work which were written several years ago, and the
sources whence information was drawn are now unknown.
An examination of the table of contents, and especially of the index at
the end of the volume, will show the range of subjects considered, and
their adaptation to the wants and _necessities_, I may say, of the
several classes of persons named in the title-page, for whose use it was
undertaken. Written, as it has been, for Parents and Teachers, and for
Young Persons of both sexes, it is what its title implies--a treatise on
Popular Education--and is equally applicable to the wants of families
and schools in every portion of our wide-spread country.
With all its imperfections, of which no one can be more sensible than
the author, this volume is given to the public, with the hope that it
may contribute, in some degree, to advance the work of general education
in the United States, but more especially in the State of Michigan.
IRA MAYHEW.
Monroe, Mich., July 4th, 1850.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
In what does a correct Education consist? Page 13
CHAPTER II.
The Importance of Physical Education 28
CHAPTER III.
Physical Education--The Laws of Health 44
CHAPTER IV.
The Laws of Health--Philosophy of Respiration 81
CHAPTER V.
The Nature of Intellectual and Moral Education 111
CHAPTER VI.
The Education of the Five Senses 146
CHAPTER VII.
The Necessity of Moral and Religious Education 193
CHAPTER VIII.
The Importance of Popular Education 224
Education dissipates the Evils of Ignorance 226
Education increases the Productiveness of Labor 253
Education diminishes Pauperism and Crime 286
Education increases human Happiness 311
CHAPTER IX.
Political Necessity of National Education 325
The Practicability of National Education 353
CHAPTER X.
The Means of Universal Education 362
Good School-houses should be provided 372
Well-qualified Teachers should be employed 410
Schools should continue through the Year 440
Every Child should attend School 442
The redeeming Power of Common Schools 454
INDEX. 461
NATIONAL POPULAR EDUCATION.
CHAPTER I.
IN WHAT DOES A CORRECT EDUCATION CONSIST?
I call that education which embraces the culture of the whole man,
with all his faculties--subjecting his senses, his understanding,
and his passions to reason, to conscience, and to the evangelical
laws of the Christian revelation.--DE FELLENBERG.
From the beginning of human records to the present time, the inferior
animals have changed as little as the herbage upon which they feed, or
the trees beneath which they find shelter. In one generation, they
attain all the perfection of which their nature is susceptible. That
Being without whose notice not even a sparrow falls to the ground, has
provided for the supply of their wants, and has adapted each to the
element in which it moves. To birds he has given a clothing of feathers;
and to quadrupeds, of furs, adapted to their latitudes. Where art is
requisite in providing food for future want, or in constructing a
needful habitation, as in the case of the bee and the beaver, a peculiar
aptitude has been bestowed, which, in all the inferior races of animals,
has been found adequate to their necessities. The crocodile that issues
from its egg in the warm sand, and never sees its parent, becomes, it
has been well said, as perfect and as knowing as any crocodile.
Not so with man! "He comes into the world," says an eloquent writer,
"the most helpless and dependent of living beings, long to continue so.
If deserted by parents at an early age, so that he can learn only what
the experience of one life may teach him--as to a few individuals has
happened, who yet have attained maturity in woods and deserts--he grows
up in some respect inferior to the nobler brutes. Now, as regards many
regions of the earth, history exhibits the early human inhabitants in
states of ignorance and barbarism, not far removed from this lowest
possible grade, which civilized men may shudder to contemplate. But
these countries, occupied formerly by straggling hordes of miserable
savages, who could scarcely defend themselves against the wild beasts
that shared the woods with them, and the inclemencies of the weather,
and the consequences of want and fatigue; and who to each other were
often more dangerous than any wild beasts, unceasingly warring among
themselves, and destroying each other with every species of savage, and
even cannibal cruelty--countries so occupied formerly, are now become
the abodes of myriads of peaceful, civilized, and friendly men, where
the desert and impenetrable forest are changed into cultivated fields,
rich gardens, and magnificent cities.
"It is the strong intellect of man, operating with the faculty of
language as a means, which has gradually worked this wonderful change.
By language, fathers communicated their gathered experience and
reflections to their children, and these to succeeding children, with
new accumulation; and when, after many generations, the precious store
had grown until memory could contain no more, the arts of writing, and
then of printing, arose, making language visible and permanent, and
enlarging illimitably the repositories of knowledge. Language thus, at
the present moment of the world's existence, may be said to bind the
whole human race of uncounted millions into one gigantic rational being,
whose memory reaches to the beginnings of written records, and retains
imperishably the important events that have occurred; whose judgment,
analyzing the treasures of memory, has discovered many of the sublime
and unchanging laws of nature, and has built on them all the arts of
life, and through them, piercing far into futurity, sees clearly many of
the events that are to come; and whose eyes, and ears, and observing
mind at this moment, in every corner of the earth, are watching and
recording new phenomena, for the purpose of still better comprehending
the magnificence and beautiful order of creation, and of more worthily
adoring its beneficent Author.
"It might be very interesting to show here, in minute detail, how the
arts of civilization have progressed in accordance with the gradual
increase of man's knowledge of the universe; but it would lead too far
from the main subject." The preceding sketch may remind us of the low
condition of man in a state of ignorance and barbarism, and of the high
condition to which he may be brought by cultivation. We possess a
material and an immaterial part, mutually dependent on each other. On
one hand, we may well say to corruption, Thou art my father; and to the
worm, Thou art my mother and my sister. On the other hand, the Psalmist
says of man, Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels.
In the Scriptures we learn the origin and history of man--the subject of
education. He was created in the image of his Maker. It was his
delightful employment, in innocency, to dress the beautiful garden in
which he dwelt. Presently we learn he transgressed. His subsequent
career becomes infelicitous. In the earlier history of the human race,
the days of his pilgrimage were protracted several hundred years. In
process of time, because of the prevalence of sin, a universal deluge
swept away the entire family of man, save _one_--a preacher of
righteousness--and those of his household. Subsequently his days were
shortened to three score years and ten. Much of this time is consumed in
helpless infancy, in sleep, and in securing the necessary means of
supporting animal life. This, it would seem, is calamity enough; but not
so. Man finds himself beset with temptations on every side, to deepen
and perpetuate his degradation, by giving reign to unbridled passion.
But a Light has shined upon his dark pathway, pointing him to a brighter
country, and beckoning him thither. Under these adverse circumstances,
it becomes the duty of the Educator to unfold the opening energies of
his youthful charge; to mold their plastic character, and to assist
their efforts in the recovery of that which was lost, and in the
attainment of immortality and eternal life.
These are strong views, I am aware; but nothing less would be adequate
to the nature and wants of man. In these views I am fully sustained by
nearly every writer of any distinction in Europe and America. In a
volume of prize essays on the expediency and means of elevating the
profession of the educator in society, published in London, under the
direction of the central society of education, one of the writers,
introducing a quotation from an American author, says, I can not resist
the pleasure of quoting a few of Alcott's brief sentences, by way of
conclusion to the present division of the argument. The voice that has
been sent athwart the Atlantic may find an echo in some British bosoms.
These are its words: "Education includes all those influences and
disciplines by which the faculties of man are unfolded and perfected. It
is that agency that takes the helpless and pleading infant from the
hands of its Creator, and, apprehending its entire nature, tempts it
forth, now by austere, and now by kindly influences and disciplines, and
thus molds it at last into the image of a perfect man; armed at all
points to use the body, nature, and life for its growth and renewal, and
to hold dominion over the fluctuating things of the outward. It seeks to
realize in the soul the image of the Creator. Its end is a perfect man.
Its aim, through every stage of influence, is self-renewal. The body,
nature, and life are its instruments and materials. Jesus is its
worthiest ideal--Christianity its purest organ. The Gospels are its
fullest text-book--genius is its inspiration--holiness its
law--temperance its discipline--immortality its reward."
Says Dr. Howe, in a lecture before the American Institute of
Instruction, "Education should have for its aim the development and
greatest possible perfection of the whole nature of man: his moral,
intellectual, and physical nature. My _beau ideal_ of human nature would
be a being whose intellectual faculties were active and enlightened;
whose moral sentiments were dignified and firm; whose physical formation
was healthy and beautiful: whoever falls short of this, in one
particular--be it in but the least, beauty and vigor of body--falls
short of the standard of perfection. To this standard, I believe, man is
approaching; and I believe the time will soon be when specimens of it
will not be rare."
The following thoughts are drawn from a treatise on the "Mental
Illumination and Moral Improvement of Mankind," by that very judicious
and celebrated writer, Dr. Dick, of Scotland. The education of human
beings, considered in its most extensive sense, comprehends every thing
which is requisite to the cultivation and improvement of the faculties
bestowed upon them by the Creator. It ought to embrace every thing that
has a tendency to strengthen and invigorate the animal system; to
enlighten and expand the understanding; to regulate the feelings and
dispositions of the heart; and, in general, to direct the moral powers
in such a manner as to render those who are the subjects of instruction
happy in themselves, useful members of society, and qualified for
entering upon the scenes and employments of a future and more glorious
existence.
It is a very common but absurd notion, and one that has been too long
acted upon, that the education of youth terminates, or should terminate,
about the age of thirteen or fourteen years. Hence, in an article on
this subject in one of our encyclopedias, education is defined to be
"that series of means by which the human understanding is gradually
enlightened, between infancy and the period when we consider ourselves
as qualified to take a part in active life, and, _ceasing to direct our
views to the acquisition of new knowledge or the formation of new
habits_, are content to act upon the principles we have already
acquired."
This definition, though accordant with general opinion and practice, is
certainly a very limited and defective view of the subject. In the
ordinary mode of our scholastic instruction, education, so far from
being _finished_ at the age above stated, can scarcely be said to have
_commenced_. The _key_ of knowledge has indeed been put into the hands
of the young; but they have never been taught to unlock the gates to the
temple of science, to enter within its portals, to contemplate its
treasures, and to feast their minds on the entertainments there
provided. Several moral maxims have been impressed on their memories;
but they have seldom been taught to appreciate them in all their
bearings, or to reduce them to practice in the various and minute
ramifications of their conduct. Besides, although every rational means
were employed for training the youthful mind till the age above named,
no valid reason can be assigned why regular instruction should cease at
this early period.
Man is a progressive being; his faculties are capable of an indefinite
expansion; the objects to which these faculties may be directed are
boundless and infinitely diversified; he is moving onward to an eternal
world, and, in the present state, can never expect to grasp the
universal system of created objects, or to rise to the highest point of
moral excellence. His tuition, therefore, can not be supposed to
terminate at any period of his terrestrial existence; and the course of
his life ought to be considered as nothing more than the course of his
education. When he closes his eyes in death, and bids a last adieu to
every thing here below, he passes into a more permanent and expansive
state of existence, where his education will likewise be progressive,
and where intelligences of a higher order may be his instructors; and
the education he received in this transitory scene, _if it was properly
conducted_, will found the ground-work of all his future progressions in
knowledge and virtue throughout the succeeding periods of eternity.
There are two very glaring defects which appear in most of our treatises
on education. In the first place, the moral tuition of youthful minds,
and the grand principles of religion which ought to direct their views
and conduct, are either entirely overlooked, or treated of in so vague
and general a manner, as to induce a belief that they are considered
matters of very inferior moment; and, in the business of teaching, and
the superintendence of the young, the moral precepts of Christianity
are seldom made to bear with particularity upon every malignant
affection that manifests itself, and every minor delinquency that
appears in their conduct, or to direct the benevolent affections how to
operate in every given circumstance, and in all their intercourses and
associations. In the next place, the idea that man is a being destined
to an immortal existence, is almost, if not altogether overlooked.
Volumes have been written on the best modes of training men for the
profession of a soldier, of a naval officer, of a merchant, of a
physician, of a lawyer, of a clergyman, and of a statesman; but I know
of no treatise on this subject which, in connection with other
subordinate aims, has for its grand object to develop that train of
instruction which is most appropriate for man considered as a candidate
for immortality. This is the more unaccountable, since, in the works
alluded to, the eternal destiny of human beings is not called in
question, and is sometimes referred to as a general position which can
not be denied; yet the means of instruction requisite to guide them in
safety to their final destination, and to prepare them for the
employments of their everlasting abode, are either overlooked, or
referred to in general terms, as if they were unworthy of particular
consideration. To admit the doctrine of the immortality of the human
soul, and yet to leave out the consideration of it, in a system of
mental instruction, is both impious and preposterous, and inconsistent
with the principle on which we generally act in other cases, which
requires that affairs of the greatest moment should occupy our chief
attention. If man is only a transitory inhabitant of this lower world;
if he is journeying to another and more important scene of action and
enjoyment; if his abode in this higher scene is to be permanent and
eternal; and if the course of instruction through which he now passes
has an important bearing on his happiness in that state, and his
preparation for its enjoyments--if all this be true, then surely every
system of education must be glaringly defective which either overlooks
or throws into the shade the immortal destination of human beings.
If these sentiments be admitted as just, the education of the young
becomes a subject of the highest importance. There can not be an object
more interesting to Science, to Religion, and to general Christian
society, than the forming of those arrangements, and the establishing of
those institutions, which are calculated to train the minds of all to
knowledge and moral rectitude, and to guide their steps in the path
which leads to a blessed immortality. In this process there is no period
in human life that aught to be overlooked. We must commence the work of
instruction when the first dawning of reason begins to appear, and
continue the process through all the succeeding periods of mortal
existence, till the spirit takes its flight to the world unknown.
While we would bring clearly into view the nature of that education
which is needful for man, considered as a candidate for immortality, we
would by no means overlook those subordinate aims which have reference
to his present condition, and the relations he sustains in this life.
The two are so intimately connected, and sustain such a reciprocal
relation to each other, that each is best secured by that system of
training and in the use of those appliances by which the other is most
successfully promoted. In training the rising generation for the proper
discharge of their duty to themselves and to one another--as children,
and subsequently as parents; as members of society and citizens of free
and independent states--we at the same time best promote their
interests as candidates for immortality. It is equally true that any
system of education which omits to provide for man's highest and
enduring wants as an immortal being, in a proportionate degree falls
short of providing for his dearest interests and best good in this life.
The system of education which we should promote comprehends whatever may
have any good influence in developing the mind, by giving direction to
thought, or bias the motives of action. To lead infancy in the path of
duty, to give direction to an immortal spirit, and to teach it to aspire
by well-doing to the rewards of virtue, is the first step of
instruction. To youth, education imparts that knowledge whose ways are
usefulness and honor, and by due restraint and subordination, makes
individual to intwine with public good in a just observance of laws,
comprehending the path of duty. To manhood, it "leads him to reflect on
the ties that unite him with friends, with kindred, and with the great
family of mankind, and makes his bosom glow with social tenderness; it
confirms the emotions of sympathy into habitual benevolence, imparts to
him the elating delight of rejoicing with those who rejoice, and, if his
means are not always adequate to the suggestions of his charity, soothes
him at last with the melancholy pleasure of weeping with those who
weep." To age, it gives consolation, by remembrance of the past, and
anticipation of the future. Wisdom is drawn from experience, to give
constancy to virtue; and amid all the vicissitudes of life, it enables
him to repose unshaken confidence in that goodness which, by the
arrangement of the universe, constantly incites him to perpetual
progress in excellence and felicity. Education is the growth and
improvement of the mind. Its great object is immediate and prospective
happiness. That, then, is the best education which secures to the
individual and to the world the greatest amount of permanent happiness,
and that the best system which most effectually accomplishes this grand
design. How far this is accomplished by the present systems of education
is not easily determined, but that it fails in many important
considerations can not admit of a doubt.
It is feared that, by a great majority, a wrong estimate is made of
education. Is it not generally considered as a _means_ which must be
employed to accomplish _some other purpose_, and consequently made
subservient and secondary to the employments of life? Is it not
considered as being contained in books, and a certain routine of
studies, which, when gone through with, is believed to be accomplished,
and consequently laid by, to be used as interest may suggest or
convenience demand? Education comprehends all the improvements of the
mind from the cradle to the grave. Every man is what education has made
him, whether he has drunk deep at the Pierian spring, or sipped at the
humblest fountain. The philosopher, whose comprehensive mind can scan
the universe, and read and interpret the phenomena of nature; whose
heaven-aspiring spirit can soar beyond the boundaries of time, indulge
in the anticipation of immortality, and discern in the past, the
present, and the future the all-pervading spirit of benevolence, is
equally the child of education with him whose soul proud science never
taught to feel its wants, and know how little may be known.
As we have already said, man possesses a material and an immaterial
part, mutually dependent on each other. These are so intimately
connected, and sustain such a reciprocal relation to each other, that
neither can be neglected without detriment to both. The body continually
modifies the state of the mind, and the mind ever varies the condition
of the body. Mental and physical training should, then, go together.
That system of instruction which relates exclusively to either, is a
partial system, and its fate must be that of a house divided against
itself. Education has reference to the _whole man_. It seeks to make him
a complete creature after his kind, giving to both mind and body all the
power, all the beauty, and all the perfection of which they are capable.
Our systems of education have hitherto fallen far short of this high and
only true standard. Education, in too many instances, has been confined,
almost entirely, to either the physical, intellectual, or moral energies
of men. With the greater part, it has been limited to the _physical
powers_. No effort has been made to develop any but their bodily
strength, animal passions, and instinctive feelings. Accordingly, the
great mass of mankind are raised but little above inferior animals. They
labor hard, and boast of their strength; gratify their passions, and
glory in their shame; eat and drink, sleep and wake, supposing to-morrow
will be like the present. They are scarcely aware of their rational,
intellectual powers, much less of their ever-expanding and never-dying
spirits; consequently they feel but imperfectly their responsibility,
and are governed principally by the fear of human authority. They have
been taught to fear or reverence nothing higher. Their education is
confined to animal feeling--physical energies. They have no conception
of any thing beyond. The whole intellectual world, and all hereafter, is
narrowed down to the animal feeling of the present time. How erroneous!
How badly educated! And what are we to anticipate when only the physical
energies of men generally are thus developed? Why, surely, what we are
beginning to witness--namely, physical power, trampling on all
authority.
The education of others is confined principally to _intellect_. Not that
their physical powers are not necessarily more or less developed, but
that their attention is directed almost exclusively to intellectual
attainments. From the earliest infancy their minds are taxed, though
their bodies are neglected, and their souls forgotten. Nor is it
unfrequent that their physical strength gives way under the constant
pressure of intellectual studies. And thus they are subjected to all the
evils of physical inability--the sufferings of living death, in
consequence of an erroneous education. Besides, they are destitute of
all those kinder feelings and sympathetic emotions which alone result
from the cultivation of the moral susceptibilities, and become
insensible to the more delicate affections of the soul, and elevating
hopes of the truly virtuous. They have nothing on which to rest for
enjoyment but intellectual attainments. And even these are small
compared with what they might have been under a different course of
education. Yet with what delight are the first developments of intellect
discovered by the natural guardian of the infant mind! and with what
anxious solicitude are they watched through advancing youth and manhood
by those employed in their education. In either stage the development of
intellect alone seems worthy of an effort. And yet, when carried to the
utmost, what may we expect of one destitute of virtue, and without
strength of body? Little to benefit himself or others. Like Columbus,
Franklin, or La Place, he may employ his intellect in useful
discoveries; or, like Hume, Voltaire, and Paine, to curse the world. In
either case he may lead astray, and should never be trusted implicitly.
As the bark on the ocean without compass or chart, that rides out the
storm or sinks to the bottom, he may guide us in safety, or ruin us
forever!
The education of others, again, is confined mostly to their _moral
energies_. Those of the body are almost forgotten, only as nature forces
their development upon the reluctant soul within. And those of intellect
are deemed unworthy of a thought, except as necessary in the rudest
stages of society; while the moral susceptibilities are cultivated to
the utmost. They are brought into action in every situation. They are
employed in private, in the social circle, and around the public altar.
Nor are those employing them ever satisfied. They become
fanatics--religious enthusiasts. They have zeal without knowledge, and
seem resolved on bringing all to their standard. They enlist in the work
all the sympathies of the soul--its tenderest sensibilities and most
compassionate feelings. Without intellect to guide, and physical
strength to sustain them, they sink under moral excitement, and become
deranged: a result that might be anticipated from such an education; and
one that is often developed, in some of its milder features, among the
reformers of the day. Nor may you reason with them. Reckless of
consequences and regardless of authority, they are not to be convinced
or persuaded. They are right, and _know_ they are right, for the plain
reason that they know nothing else, and will not be diverted from their
course. What degradation! Who would not shrink from such an education?
the development of the moral energies merely? It never qualified men for
the highest attainment--the utmost dignity of which they are
susceptible.
Diversified as are the developments of human character, and dissimilar
as they may appear to the careless observer, there are peculiar
characteristics of men that render them similar to one another, and
unlike every other being. In their natures, original susceptibilities,
and ultimate destinies, they are alike. They are material, intellectual,
and spiritual; animal, rational, and immortal. On these uniform traits
of character education should be based. It should develop and strengthen
the animal functions; classify and improve the rational faculties; and
purify and elevate the spiritual affections in harmonious proportion and
perfect symmetry.
The animal functions of the human system are to be developed and
strengthened by education. Hitherto they have been assigned to the
province of nature, and deemed foreign to the objects of education. But
a more unphilosophical and dangerous theory has seldom been embraced, as
the melancholy results abundantly testify. We shall therefore devote a
chapter to physical education, which seems to lie at the foundation of
the great work of human improvement; for, as we have seen, in the
present state the mind can manifest itself only through the body; after
which we shall proceed to the consideration of the other grand divisions
of the great work of education.