LECTURE II.

THE

EDUCATION DEMANDED BY THE PECULIAR CHARACTER

OF OUR CIVIL INSTITUTIONS.

BY BENJAMIN LABAREE, D. D.,

PRESIDENT OF MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE, VT.

It will be my object in the present lecture, to exhibit some of the characteristics of that education, which the peculiarities of our civil institutions, and our circumstances as a people, seem to demand.

Wise men are not well agreed in their definition of education. One restricts the meaning of the word to the development and discipline of the intellectual faculties; another includes the moral, and a third, the physical powers. To educe the primary principles and elements of knowledge in the human soul, is believed by some to be the appropriate province of education. Others maintain that the communication of knowledge to the mind, is an essential department of the work, and others yet, would include among the necessary duties of the educator, the training of the character of his pupils, and preparing them prospectively for the probable stations in life, which they may be called to fill. We would give the term a meaning so comprehensive as to embrace all these different views. Education we think, should be regarded under two general aspects, viz :the subjective, including the development, the culture and the discipline of the whole man, physical, moral and intellectual—then the objective, preparing the subject by the training of his character, and by appropriate instruction for the right discharge of his duties to himself, to his country, to his race and to his God.

Education, then, in its principles and prominent features, admits of little variation. As face answers to face in the glass, so the mind of man to man. Making due allowance for individual peculiarities, which the skilful educator will never disregard-the subject, the method, and the object of education, may be substantially the same, the world over. Physical, intellectual, and moral powers belong to man as man; duties to himself, to his race, and to his God are not very dissimilar in Asia, Africa and America, or in the islands of the ocean. As a subject of civil government, however, man's duties and obligations are variable, and depend in a high degree upon the relation, which, as an individual, he sustains to the State. Accordingly, systems of education have usually been modified by the form of government, and by the political duties of the citizen. In the free States of antiquity, the people were required to merge, in a great measure, their private rights and their individuality, in the public weal. The State was the absorbing idea. At Sparta, and sometimes at Athens, education was under the control of government; youth were educated by the State, and for the State. Among the Romans, education was more private and free; yet even there, the idea of Rome, the great, the renowned, the invincible republic, occupied and filled the minds both of teachers and pupils, and diffused itself, like leaven, through every department of intellectual training. It is obvious that the department of education which has relation to the duties of the citizen must ever be modified by the peculiar character of civil institutions.

As our Government differs in many important respects from that of other nations, it will follow that our methods of training youth for their duties and responsibilities must be adapted to our peculiar circumstances. Where is the nation in which the education of the young is so intimately connected with the prosperity, the happiness and the liberty of the whole people? Where is the nation in which it is so essential for the people to keep ever in view their responsibility as individuals? There are nations not a few, in which the people have no choice in the selection of their rulers, and no prospect whatever of becoming rulers themselves; the only part which they perform in the machinery of government, is that of passive, obedient subjects. A proud, imperious aristocracy, holds the chief places of power and influence, and indignantly spurns the approach of every aspiring plebeian, who attempts to rise above his social condition. Not so with us. The avenues to the highest places of authority and distinction are free from all artificial impediments, are open to competitors of every name and of every condition. A field most

ample and most inviting is presented for the exhibition and employment of every variety of talent, and of every degree of mental culture. Thus an appeal, silent but effectual, is made to the youth of our country, and awakens to life and action their intellectual and moral energies. The plough-boy at his daily task hears the appeal and feels the inspiration; he searches until he discovers the path plainly marked, through which he can ascend to a position among magistrates and statesmen. The young lawyer, unknown beyond the limits of his native village, or the commander of a platoon of militia, may, in a few years, be elevated to a station more honorable and dignified than that of marshals and emperors. How responsible, then, is the office of the instructor, who has the moulding and direction of youthful character ! who knows not but the pupil he is endeavoring to educate may be called to guide the helm of state, and thus effect for good or for evil, the condition of the world! But, should such prospect seem too distant and uncertain to have any practical bearing upon the instructor's action, another consideration, nearly allied to this, invests his office with solemnity and weighty responsibility. If the youth he is training do not occupy the nigh places of influence in the nation, they will soon have a voice in determining who shall sit in the chair of authority. We have high warrant for the truth of the maxim, “Like people, like priest ;'' and the maxim, slightly modified, will apply with equal propriety in a democratic government, to people and rulers. The character of the electors, will determine usually the character of the magistrate. In what way can we so effectually secure the services of intelligent, upright and incorruptible magistrates and statesmen, as by implanting right principles in the minds of our children, and giving an early, virtuous direction to their modes of thought and habits of life?

What, then, are the needful elements in that education, which will prepare our youth to guard successfully our civil and religious institutions against the dangers which surround them, and to transmit them to posterity, not only unimpaired, but improved and perfected? Without attempting to exhaust the subject, I shall mention and discuss four distinct characteristics, which such education ought to possess.

1. Our youth must be taught to entertain large and liberal views.

We have a country of vast extent, presenting almost every variety of climate, and developing every shade of human character. Conflict of opinion and collision of local interests are inevitable. The hardy laborer upon our rock-bound hills, can with difficulty sympathize with the indolent and effeminate dwellers on the Rio Grande. The people, whose staple products are dug from the mountains or drawn from the frozen surface of our lakes and rivers, would seem to have but little interest in common with the lordly proprietors of hereditary plantations. So diverse are the industrial pursuits of the people of different sections, that the wisest and most impartial legislators would be unable to frame laws that would meet the wants and expectations of all the people. To reconcile the conflicting interests of commerce and agricul