earth." Her domain includes both. In the beam of every star she sends us
a messenger revealing the fact that the stars are constructed of the
same materials as the earth. In like manner we have assurance that the
same is true of the nebulous masses, which seem to float, like
continents, in infinite space, awaiting the slow processes which are
destined to mould them into golden orbs. And thus from the depths of the
infinite comes world after world, system after system, ever sweeping
onward in the "eternal dances of the sky," until lost in the infinite.
And thus it is that the work of creation has neither beginning nor
ending, but is ever progressing in its subtile methods of combining,
dissolving, and recombining the entire matter of the universe.
Everything, whether orb or atom, moves in a circle, because there is a
divinity that stirs within it.
Philosophize as we may, it is certain that we are surrounded by the
infinite, and are of the infinite. All that is terrestrial in us, all
individualities, are evanescent, passing from one form into another.
Nothing remains identical. Yet in her experiments, Nature never fails
of success. In dissolving pearls, she creates others of higher value;
in extinguishing stars, she lights up others of greater brilliancy and
magnitude. And yet nothing becomes extinct; elements never die. Every
plant and every animal is but the fruitage of the inherent life that
pervades the material world.
In some form or other we always have existed and always will exist. It
has been well said that man in his nature is "half dust and half deity."
His life does not begin with his birth, nor does it end with his death;
he is immortal. And so is everything, whether animate or inanimate,
immortal. Even death survives itself. Nor is there a particle of matter
in the universe that has not lived and breathed; nor is there a drop of
water in the ocean that has not slaked the thirst of some living thing.
Every star that glitters in the fathomless depths of space swarms with
life, and every life achieves its aim. In a word, everything is
infinite, and subserves an infinite purpose. We need neither go nor come
to reach heaven. It is here; it is everywhere,--not a place, but a
state. It is only the moral atmosphere of our social and individual life
that requires purification,--a work that must begin in the head and in
the heart in order to be effective. When this purification has been
achieved, then with our earth-life will come moral elevation, and with
moral elevation, harmony with heaven. The God of Nature is the God in
Nature, who not only reveals himself in her lessons, but takes us by the
hand, and with the love and patience of a parent leads us onward and
upward--
"Along the line of limitless desires."
EDUCATION OF THE MASSES.
It is the welfare of society, rather than that of the individual, which
is sought to be promoted by a system of popular education. Every part of
the social fabric should be fitted to its place, and go into place like
the materials in Solomon's temple, without the sound of the hammer; yet
a refined civilization cannot be attained without first securing a
liberal mental culture of the masses.
Nature, as if inspired by a divine instinct, is ever engaged in refining
her materials. The laws by which she works are as applicable to mind as
to matter. In man we see both mind and matter combined,--two natures,
the intellectual and the physical. But in order to learn what we are and
what we should be, we must first understand the relations in which we
are placed. In attempting to do this, we must study man as well as
Nature, and advance step by step, if we would achieve the highest
attainments of which we are capable.
He only is a man in the true sense whose mental, moral, and physical
capacities have been fully developed. To be "twenty-one years of age
and six feet high" does not of itself constitute a man. He must attain
to something more than this,--he must have the head and the heart and
the soul of a man. He must appreciate the true character of his
position, and have the moral courage to discharge his duties,--in short,
he must live for others as well as for himself, act from generous
impulses, and in all he does, yield to "the divinity that stirs within
him," if he would comprehend the import of his godlike destiny.
The highway to knowledge, though rugged, is equally free and open to
all. Whoever will, may enter the temple of Nature, interrogate her face
to face, unlock her treasures, appropriate her wealth, and subject her
subtle agencies to human service. This the nineteenth century has
already done to a considerable extent. Thus far it has been a bold
century, and has taken many bold steps. It has "knocked holes through
the blind walls" of the last ten centuries, and exposed to daylight the
"moles and the bats" of antiquity; and still it demands more light. Such
is the spirit of the age,--a demand for naked truth in all its beautiful
proportions. Never, until this nineteenth century, have the masses
really discovered their mission,--the great fact that they were created
to think as well as work, and to govern as well as be governed. And yet
the world may be regarded as still in its infancy; nor has the human
mind, as compared with its possibilities, emerged from its cradle, or
even thrown off its swaddling garments.
Though capable of sublime achievements, man at birth is not only one of
the most helpless, but one of the most ignorant, specimens of animal
existence. It is said by physiologists that an infant can neither smile
nor shed a tear until forty days old. In his infancy the world to him is
but a panorama of strange objects. In due time, however, he discovers
that he has everything to learn, and needs to learn everything before he
can comprehend himself or wield the power which Heaven has assigned him.
The degree of culture required to render man what he should be--godlike
in his character--admits of no compromise with ignorance, superstition,
or sectarianism, but on the contrary, involves the necessity of
establishing and sustaining such an educational system as will be
adapted to the needs of the masses, and work in accordance with the laws
of matter and of mind.
It is to the masses that our country must look for her best material,
and for her future intellectual giants. In every age of the world more
or less great men have been produced. At a time when most needed, our
own country produced a Washington, a Jefferson, and a Franklin, who
distinguished themselves and the age in which they lived,--the age which
gave birth to human rights. At a later period appeared a Jackson, a
Clay, and a Webster,--the defenders of the Constitution and of the
Union,--who have left behind them a brilliant record; but
notwithstanding their conservative efforts, there came a spirit of
reform, sowing dragon-teeth, which soon sprang to life and filled the
land with armed heroes, who bravely met in deadly conflict and decided
forever the great question of human freedom; and consequently we now
have, instead of a few, a great many men of world-wide renown, who have
made for themselves and for their country a proud history.
In order to preserve our liberties we must have men of large hearts and
wise heads,--men who can wear the armor of giants because they are
giants. In short, we must recognize the great fact that every child in
the land has a God-given right to an education,--a right which no parent
should be allowed to sell for "a mess of pottage." Our national
watchword should be "Education;" and the system should be so
constructed as to reach all classes of youth by methods not only
efficient but attractive.
It will be said by some, perhaps, that it is quite impossible to educate
the masses in the higher branches of learning, unless they be withdrawn
from the indispensable labors of the field and the workshop, and thus be
compelled to neglect the industrial pursuits on which they must depend
for their physical comforts,--bread, raiment, and shelter. However
plausible this objection may seem, it certainly does not afford a
sufficient reason why the facilities of acquiring a good education
should not be equally extended to all classes.
Manual labor and a high degree of intelligence are by no means
incompatible, but on the contrary, must be associated, in order to
achieve great or brilliant results. It is true, however, that the
physical wants of man must first be supplied before you can proceed
successfully with the cultivation of his intellectual powers. The fact
is every day exemplified that bread is much easier gained by an
intelligent than by an ignorant laborer. Whatever faith may do, it is
certain that science and labor must be combined if we would either
tunnel or "remove mountains;" and though native talent may have been
distributed with more liberality to some than to others, all are under
the highest obligations to improve such as they have, whether it be one
talent or twenty talents.
The farmer, the mechanic, the merchant, and even the busy housewife,
have more or less leisure hours,--long winter evenings, holidays, and
sabbath days, amounting to nearly half a lifetime,--which might with
great profit be employed in the acquisition of useful knowledge through
the medium of choice books and interchange of thought. Indeed, almost
every one who has received a common-school education may so improve the
fragments of time which fall in his way as to acquire in the course of
an ordinary lifetime a pretty thorough acquaintance with the sciences,
and with general literature.
Though our leisure hours may seem too few to be worth improving, yet it
is by saving pennies that we accumulate wealth. Surprising as it may
seem, there are within the allotted age of man ten years of sabbaths
when taken in the aggregate,--ample time, one would suppose, for
perfecting, in a good degree at least, his intellectual and moral
culture. If mankind were as orthodox in their actions as they profess to
be in their creeds, the moral regeneration of the world would soon be
accomplished. One of the most formidable barriers in the way of human
advancement is the faith we have derived, not from revelation, but from
the blind interpretation of it. A true theology and a sound philosophy
can never come in conflict. In this enlightened age, it is absurd to
expect that Science will confine her inquiries within the circumference
of a circle, or so modify her annunciations of truth as to coincide with
the mystical traditions which have been handed down to us from a remote
antiquity.
As an encouragement to the friends of popular education, the fact should
not be overlooked that the masses have been to a great extent relieved
from the necessity of constant toil by the introduction of modern
machinery. In fact, genius has conquered time, and given time to the
masses. It has broken the fetters that bound them, and thus afforded
them leisure for self-culture, social intercourse, and the investigation
of truth.
It is the magic power of genius which has given life and brain to
machinery, and which compels it to perform the hard work of the factory,
of the workshop, of the farm, and of the household. In almost every
department of industry, machinery does the hard work. It spins and
weaves and knits. It saws and planes and wields the hammer. It reaps and
mows and thrashes. It churns and washes and plies the needle. In fact,
it does nearly everything else for us, except to breathe, eat, and
digest our food. It was the inventive genius of our Northern people--the
legitimate outgrowth of our common-school system--that produced, at the
moment when wanted, iron-clads, monster cannon, and Greek fire, and in
the sequel, saved the Union, and overawed the powers of Europe. It was
these warlike inventions which secured us the elements of a lasting
peace, and the respect of the civilized world.
It may be truly said that we now live longer in ten years than our
ancestors did in twenty, and accomplish twenty times as much. Still it
is not possible for any one man to know and do everything. Men of genius
are specialties, seldom or never universalities. Hence, a diversity of
talent naturally dictates a division of labor. And yet American genius,
if not universal, must be acknowledged eminently inventive and
practical. The Americans have made, we may venture to assert, more
valuable discoveries in the last half century than all the world
besides. The reason why this is so may be attributed to the operation of
a physical law, in connection with the effect of a liberal system of
popular education. The Americans are a mixed race, made up of all
nations, and have been improved and elevated as a race by transfusion of
blood, which has resulted in producing increased activity of brain,
with new modes of thought and new exhibitions of intellectual power.
But notwithstanding this peculiarity of character, there still remains,
as it seems to me, one great and glaring error in the prevailing system
of American education. This error consists in our neglecting to develop
more fully the physical man, through the instrumentalities of systematic
labor combined with systematic study. In many of the German States, if
not in all, the plan of educating youth is much more sensible and
philosophical than in this country. There they combine daily labor with
daily study; and the result is that the youth of Germany acquire vigor
of body and vigor of mind at the same time. From youth to manhood they
are taught to regard labor as honorable, and they feel that it is so.
Hence the Germans are characterized as a race by the possession of an
iron constitution, and by a mental energy which enables them to meet the
stern realities of life not only with fortitude, but with a spirit that
never yields to adversity. No country has ever produced a more athletic
or a more enduring race than Germany; nor has any country produced finer
scholars in every branch of human learning, especially in philosophy and
in classical literature.
But in this country it may be difficult, perhaps impracticable, to
establish an educational system of this character, to any considerable
extent, for the reason that we are for the most part an agricultural
people, who do not concentrate in hamlets, like the peasantry of Europe,
but prefer to occupy many acres and to distribute ourselves over a vast
expanse of territory,--and what is more, have a way of our own in all we
do. The truth is, Young America does not like work. He prefers fine
clothes and fast horses, and apes the man before he is a man. And yet he
assumes to know everything, and to do everything,--except work. These
peculiarities in the character of Young America seem to have been
generated by the spirit of our free institutions. Whether too much
freedom or too little freedom is the greater evil, presents a grave
question. Whatever may be the cause, it is evident that we as a people
are degenerating into a nation of speculators.
Almost every man nowadays seeks to acquire wealth by some grand
speculation,--by some other means than by the honest "sweat of his
brow." Even mental acquisitions are often sought as a means of
speculation,--as a means of living without work; and hence we see the
learned professions crowded to overflowing. Go into the main streets of
our cities and villages, and you will see the fronts of nearly all the
buildings on either side of the way shingled over with the signs of
lawyers and doctors, who in the estimation of the populace lead lives of
little work and great dignity. Doubtless a foreigner, with such an
exhibition before his eyes, would think us a nation of lawyers and
doctors, living on the misfortunes of each other; nor would his
conclusion be very wide of the mark.
Nor can it be doubted that there are thousands in the clerical
profession who, if they do not subsist on each other, subsist in a
"mysterious way" on salaries entirely inadequate to their support. It
would seem that the supply of professional men in this country exceeds
the demand. For this there may be no remedy. Yet a step in the right
direction should be taken by advancing the standard of professional
attainments so as to exclude mediocrity and shallow pretence from
registration on the "roll of honor." Wide as the world is, it has no
room for idlers or pretenders.
This over-supply of professional men not only indicates a false estimate
of what really constitutes a true manhood, but clearly proves that in
American education and in American public sentiment there are prevalent
errors which are inconsistent with the welfare of man and the democratic
character of our institutions. These errors can be corrected only
through the influence of a well-directed course of popular education;
but nothing is more difficult than the correction of popular errors. It
is a task the reformer often attempts, but seldom accomplishes. In most
cases it must be a work of time, perhaps of ages. In every school there
should be a regular system of physical as well as mental exercises
established. Health and strength of body are pre-requisites to health
and strength of mind.
In most of our colleges and boarding-schools the physical development of
the pupil receives but little attention; and consequently he is
enfeebled in body if not in mind, and is then sent out into the world to
endure its hardships without the physical ability to take care of
himself. All this is radically wrong, and calls loudly for reform. An
exclusive culture of the mental powers can never produce a strong man or
woman. This fact is painfully illustrated in all our large towns and
cities. The kind of education, therefore, which attempts to refine our
young men and young ladies by giving them an artificial nature too
delicate to endure soiled hands will never do. The coarse as well as the
fine work of practical life must be done by somebody. Though some may be
too proud, none are too good to work, however elevated may be their
social position. There is really nothing in our daily routine of
duty--in the coarse work of the world--from which an enlightened mind
should shrink.
It is to be hoped the time will soon come when all our public schools,
colleges, and universities will have their workshops and gardens,
affording the necessary facilities for instructing our youth, male and
female, in some industrial art or trade, as well as in books, and thus
give them a relish for labor, and the physical ability to endure it.
If such a method were adopted, the women of our country would soon
become practically fitted to compete with the men in many, if not all,
the channels of a business life. If it be true that the women have been
deprived of their rights, it is certainly not the fault of the men, but
a fault of education,--a radical error which should be remedied. If
parents will not apply the remedy in the early education of their
daughters, then there is no relief. Let a course of education make it as
fashionable for a woman to pursue some industrial art or trade as it is
to be a lily that neither "toils nor spins," and you would soon see
American women not only capable of taking care of themselves, but more
generally solicited than they now are to assume the endearing cares of
their appropriate sphere.
The true mission of woman is divine. To her belongs the post of
honor,--that of a wife and mother,--a position which she prefers to
occupy when yielding to the impulses of her nature. In educating her,
therefore, this great fact should be kept in view. There is no knowledge
she needs more than a correct knowledge of human character. This she can
only acquire by coming in contact with the world as it is, in childhood
as well as in womanhood; in the public school as well as in the social
circle. The old puritanic idea that the sexes must be schooled
separately in order to secure them from exposure to moral dangers, seems
to me not only erroneous, but absurd. The public school, when made up of
both sexes, is in fact an epitome of the world, where its good and its
evil are seen, and where the child should be taught to accept the good
and reject the evil under the guidance of correct moral principles. It
is in a pure home influence, however, that a primary education should
begin. Indeed, mothers must take the initiatory step in giving to
youthful impulse the right direction.
"Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."
But in order to appreciate the full import of their duties and
responsibilities, mothers themselves must first be properly educated.
Where, then, is this all-important work to be commenced? Where can it
be commenced, except in our common schools? It is in the common schools
only that the masses can be educated. It is to the common schools only
that we can look for the proper education of the future fathers and
mothers of the land, and for the correction of popular errors. It is to
this class of schools, more than to any other, that we must look for our
future patriots and scholars, statesmen and philosophers, and last, not
least, for our future school-teachers.
The mission of a school-teacher is truly a mission of divine import. It
is the school-teacher who moulds the youthful mind, and converts it into
a casket of gems; it is the school-teacher who gives direction to
budding thought, and awakens in the soul of youth the slumbering fires
of genius,--in short, it is the school-teacher who lays the broad
foundations of the Republic, and hews the pillars that sustain our civil
and religious institutions. The school-teacher should therefore possess
the qualifications of a master-builder, be able to plan his work, and
execute it with tact, taste, and judgment. He should not only govern
himself, but should be able to govern his pupils without seeming to
govern. In a word, he should be a model character, and regard his
profession as one of honor, and honor his profession by elevating it to
the dignity of a learned profession. He should remember that he is
placed in a position which gives him a vast influence,--an influence
broad as the ocean of time; an influence which should be pure in its
character, and as refreshing to the growth of the inner life as the dews
of heaven to the unfolding flowers.
There is no means, perhaps, more efficient in promoting the success of a
professional teacher than the instruction to be derived from institutes,
or normal schools, in which the art of teaching is made a specialty.
This class of schools should be made a part of our school system. At
least every Congressional district, if not every county, should have its
normal school. It is only in this way that our public schools can be
supplied with accomplished teachers, and be made worthy of being called
the "people's colleges."
But the truth is, the masses are not as yet more than half awake to
their real interests. In the cause of popular education the wonder is
that educators have done so much, and legislators so little. The true
educator is a philanthropist. He sees and feels that public sentiment
needs to be enlightened and liberalized before it will yield its
sanction to such a system of public schools as ought to be established.
In perfecting our present system, we need a National Bureau of
Education, authorized to act as a central power in directing, if not in
controlling, the general educational interests of the entire country. A
department of this kind, it is believed, would give efficiency and
equality to all public schools, and thus greatly elevate their general
character. And with this view Congress should be required by the
Constitution, not only to establish, but support in each of the States
at least one national college; and these colleges should constitute a
national university, in which the crowning studies should be natural
science, military science, and the science of government.
It is doubtless true that educators have already become a power in the
land. Of this fact they seem to be aware, and the danger is that their
influence may be subordinated to the uses of political aspirants. Every
educator has a right, of course, to express his own individual opinions;
but he certainly has not the right to employ educational
instrumentalities to promote the interests of a selfish partisanship,
either in State or Church. Whenever it is attempted to sow "tares" of
this kind among the wheat, it is to be hoped that an indignant public
sentiment will eradicate them with an unsparing hand.