made, one fifth of all the children in the state, between the ages of 5 and 16, were not in attendance; whereas, in 1839, but one eightieth part of the whole were in that condition." And while this system has been thus rapidly extending in our own state, similar systems have been rising, both in the new states of the West, and in several of the older ones on the Atlantic coast. By law, one thirty-sixth part of all lands owned by the General Government, within the limits of the new states, is reserved for the support of common schools, besides large tracts which are appropriated to academies and colleges; and thus provision is made that population, as it moves westward, shall carry education in its train, and be kept in constant contact with the genial influences of knowledge and civilization.

A similar movement in favour of the universal diffusion of knowledge by means of schools, has been made throughout a large part of Europe. Systems which had been gradually maturing for the last two centuries-some under the auspices of governments, and some through private beneficence--but which were still incomplete and unorganized, have at length been thoroughly digested, and have become more or less incorporated with the state. In Europe, the whole subject of education-from that dispensed in the primary school to that which is imparted in the university-is placed under the supervision of some public functionary; and by such means, the powerful aid of the government is employed in sustaining, directing, and stimulating the energies of the people, and the liberality of the benevolent. At

February, 1812; and on the 19th of the following June an act was passed, providing for the appointment of a superintendent. and the organization of a system substantially the same as the one now in force.

* See the able report of the superintendent for 1840-Table marked D.

this moment, provisions adequate to the elementary instruction of all the children in the land, exist not only in Prussia, but also in Holland, in Saxony, Austria, and all the other states of Germany; in France, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Even in Russia, so long the abode of barbarism, and associated now, in most minds, with little of refinement or civilization, a system of universal education is in the course of construction; and already the genial influence of the District School is enjoyed in unhappy Poland, in the dreary wastes of Siberia, and in the wild and inhospitable regions beyond Mount Caucasus.* Indeed, the time seems to have arrived-let the Christian and the philanthropist hail it with joy-when the great truth, so long overlooked by statesmen and philosophers, is to be universally recognised throughout the most enlightened parts of Christendom-the truth that all are entitled to a share in the great heritage of knowledge and thought—that the development of his faculties by scholastic culture is a right which belongs to every human being, and that it is not more the duty of governments to recognise and protect this right, than it is their interest to cherish and extend it.

Nor is this all. The last fifty years have witnessed another movement in regard to popular education, scarcely less cheering. It was once thought sufficient, if schools were established and maintained. But it is now known that all this may be accomplished, and yet little be really achieved for the cause of human improvement. That schools may, in some cases, be substantially useless and inoperativethat in others, they may be employed by a despotic government as convenient agents for keeping aloof the spirit of change and advancement-and that in others, again, they may, by a too exclusive cultivation of the intellect and by

* See the report of Prof. Stowe on the State of Education in Europe.

ministering to the lower propensities, train up a factious and disorganizing spirit-these are sad but momentous truths, which have at last forced themselves on the attention of the friends of humanity. It has been discovered, too, that everything human tends to degenerate, and that a system of public instruction, however perfect, can be upheld in its vigour and excellence, only by unceasing vigilance. A profound conviction of all this has led to the cultivation of a new art, and, it may be added, to the formation of a new science.

Elementary teaching, which, it was once supposed, might be intrusted to any one, and which was, in fact, usually committed (would that such were no longer the case) only to those whom physical infirmity had rendered unequal to every other employment, is now beginning to be regarded as an art requiring skill and address, and as implying, also, an active exercise of the moral sentiments and affections. It is discovered that pedagogy (as the Germans, by whom its principles have been most thoroughly investigated, term it) is a science founded on the nature of man, and to be deduced as well from the study of that nature as from the collective experience of mankind; that if it be absurd for a man to practise medicine or law, without any special instruction and training preparatory to his profession, so is it absurd in itself-fraught with danger to the subject, and with presumption in the operator-for one to attempt to develop, inform, and guide the faculties of a child without previous preparation. In connexion with improved methods of training teachers, there have been adopted more effectual means of supervising their labours, and of securing for them the co-operation of the public as well as the powerful aid of the government. Thus has arisen, in most of the countries of central Europe, a new branch of social science-one which occupies a prominent place in the eyes of the statesman, as well as in those of the philosopher.

The end of public instruction is no longer merely to have schools, but to have good schools; schools which shall be sure to awaken mind and cultivate good principles-which shall be imbued with the spirit alike of progress and of conservatism-which shall contain within themselves the elements of permanent improvement, and be the perennial sources of a healthy and powerful influence to those whom they train.

In this great and benignant reform the people of the United States have shared but partially. Though we are more dependant on education for our welfare than any other nation, it is still a melancholy truth that some of the most arbitrary governments of Europe have done more, within the last half century, to provide good schools and good teachers for their subjects, than has been done by the free people of this land, to make a similar provision for themselves. We are not left, however, without some grounds of encouragement. In Massachusetts and Connecticut, where the Common School system first saw the light, Central Boards have been instituted under the eye of the State Governments, and have been charged with the duty of awakening a new and more general interest on the subject of primary education among the people, and of leading them to the adoption of more uniform and efficient methods. A gentleman of ardent zeal and enlightened views has also been appointed in each of those states, as well as in others, to carry out these plans by personal visitation and addresses, as well as through the medium of the press, and by assembling the people of different districts for mutual conference. In New-York-besides measures, recently adopted for training teachers and establishing School District Libraries, which have been productive of the happiest results-a new element of vigour and improvement has been introduced within the last year, in the appointment of a Deputy Superintendent of Common Schools for each county. In the mean time, the press ev

erywhere teems with the most earnest and searching discussion of all subjects which have a bearing on the welfare of schools; and though the experienced observer may see much in these discussions which is crude and visionary, they still show that the public mind is awake, and that it is bent on improvement.

It would seem, then, that we have reached a most interesting era in the progress of popular education. With us, the people are now addressing themselves to the work of regenerating and perfecting their own schools. What, in other countries, has been accomplished mainly by the strong arm of law, is to be accomplished here (if at all) by the voluntary action of parents and citizens, aided and superintended by the state; and in no work more important, or fraught with more eventful consequences, were we ever called to enlist. Did our fathers assert successfully and triumphantly our national independence, it was chiefly because they had been fitted for the arduous and high task by the nurturing influence of schools and churches. Did they and their successors lay deep and broad the foundations of our freedom and prosperity, and rear with surpassing skill and prudence the structure of constitutional law, it must be attributed, in great part, to the same causes. An uneducated, undisciplined people, leave no such monuments of wisdom and patriotism behind them. Is it to be expected,

* More has probably been written on the subject of education within the last fifty years, than during all previous time. Another fact is also worthy of notice, as significant of the change which has passed over the opinions of mankind on this subject. Formerly, when writers treated of education, they had reference only to "our noble and gentle youth," as Milton terms them; to those who were intended for the higher walks of life. This was the case with Locke, Fenelon, Ascham, and with Milton himself. It is only within the last century that we find education proper, i. e., the education of the whole people, made the subject of prominent discussion.

B