"For the purpose of promoting the happiness of the State, it is absolutely necessary that our government, which unites into one all the minds of the State, should possess in an eminent degree not only the understanding, the passions, and the will, but above all, the moral faculty and the conscience of an individual. Nothing can be politically right that is morally wrong; and no necessity can ever sanctify a law that is contrary to equity. Virtue is the soul of a Republic. To promote this, laws for the suppression of vice and immorality will be as ineffectual as the increase and enlargement of jails. There is but one method of preventing crime and of rendering a republican form of government durable; and that is, by disseminating the seeds of virtue and knowledge through every part of the State, by means of proper modes and places of education; and this can be done effectually only by the interference and aid of the legislature. I am so deeply impressed with this opinion, that were this the last evening of my life, I would not only say to the asylum of my ancestors and my beloved native country, with the patriot of Venice, 'Esto perpetua,' but I would add, as the best proof of my affection for her, my parting advice to the guardians of her liberties, establish and support PUBLIC SCHOOLS in every part of the State." BENJAMIN RUSH. "There is one object which I earnestly recommend to your notice and patronage-I mean our institutions for the education of youth. The importance of common schools is best estimated by the good effects of them where they most abound and are best regulated. Our ancestors have transmitted to us many excellent institutions, matured by the wisdom and experience of ages. Let them descend to posterity, accompanied with others, which, by promoting useful knowledge, and multiplying the blessings of social order, diffusing the influence of moral obligations, may be reputable to us, and beneficial to them." JOHN JAY. "The first duty of government, and the surest evidence of good government, is the encouragement of education. A general diffusion of knowledge is the precursor and protector of republican institutions, and in it we must confide as the conservative power that will watch over our liberties and guard them against fraud, intrigue, corruption and violence. I consider the system of our Common Schools as the palladium of our freedom, for no reasonable apprehension can be entertained of its subversion, as long as the great body of the people are enlightened by education. To increase the funds, to extend the benefits, and to remedy the defects of this excellent system, is worthy of your most deliberate attention. I can not recommend in terms too strong and impressive, as munificent appropriations as the faculties of the State will authorize for all establishments connected with the interests of education, the exaltation of literature and science, and the improvement of the human mind." DE WITT CLINTON. "The parent who sends his son into the world uneducated, defrauds the community of a lawful citizen, and bequeaths to it a nuisance.” CHANCELLOR KENT. In the discussions which have taken place in the press and in the halls of legislation on the subject, the experience of the New England States is constantly cited as an irrefutable argument in favor of public schools and universal education. The character and value of this example are admirably set forth by Daniel Webster: "In this particular, New England may be allowed to claim, I think, a merit of a peculiar character. She early adopted and has constantly maintained the principle, that it is the undoubted right, and the bounden duty of government, to provide for the instruction of all youth. That which is elsewhere left to chance, or to charity, we secure by law. For the purpose of public instruction, we hold every man subject to taxation in proportion to his property, and we look not to the question, whether he himself have, or have not, children to be benefited by the education for which he pays. We regard it as a wise and liberal system of police, by North Carolina, John Bull of South Caro- The action of Congress, and of the early constitutional conventions of the several states, shows how nobly the public mind responded to these appeals. On the 17th of May, 1784, Mr. Jefferson, as chairman of a committee for that purpose, introduced into the old Congress an ordinance respecting the disposition of the public lands; but this contained no reference to schools or education. On the 4th of March, 1785, another ordinance was introduced-by whom does not appear on the journal and on the 16th of the same month was recommitted to a committee consisting of Pierce Long of New Hampshire, Rufus King of Massachusetts, David Howell of Rhode Island, Wm. S. Johnson of Connecticut, R. R. Livingston of New York, Charles Stewart of New Jersey, Joseph Gardner of Pennsylvania, John Henry of Maryland, William Grayson of Virginia, Hugh Williamson of 66 By one of its provisions, the sixteenth section of every township was reserved "for the maintenance of public schools;" or, in other words, one section out of the thirty-six composing each township. The same provision was incorporated in the large land sale, in 1786, to the Ohio Company, and the following year in Judge Symmes' purchase. The celebrated ordinance of 1787, for the government of the territory north-west of the River Ohio, and which confirmed the provisions of the land ordinance of 1785, provides further, that, RELIGION, MORALITY and KNOWLEDGE being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, SCHOOLS, AND THE MEANS OF EDUCATION, SHALL BE FOREVER ENCOURAGED." From that day to the present, this noble policy has been confirmed and extended, till its blessings now reach even the distant shores of the Pacific, and FIFTY MILLIONS OF ACRES of the public domain have been set apart and consecrated to the high and ennobling purposes of education, together with five per cent. of the net proceeds of the sales of all public lands in each of the states and terri During this period individual beneficence. and associated enterprise began to be directed to the building up, furnishing, and maintaining libraries, colleges, academies, and scientific institutions. Societies for the promotion of science and literature, and schools for professional training, were founded and incorporated, and men of even moderate fortune began to feel the luxury of doing good, and to see that a wise endowment for the relief of suffering, the diffusion of knowledge, the discovery of the laws of nature, the application of the principles of science to the useful arts, the conservation of good morals, and the spread of religions truth, is, in the best sense of the term, a good investment-an investment produetive of the greatest amount of the highest good both to the donor and his posterity, and which makes the residue of the prop erty from which it is taken both more se cure and more valuable. To understand the real progress which has been made in the organization, administration, and instruction of institutions of learning in this country, and at the same time to appreciate the importance of many agencies and means of popular education besides schools, books and teachers, we must, as far as we can, look into the schools themselves, as they were fifty and sixty years ago, and realize the circumstances under which some of the noblest characters of our history have been developed. As a contribution to our knowledge of the early history of education in the United States, we bring together the testimony of several eminent men who were pupils or teachers in these schools, and who assisted in various ways in achieving their improvement. LETTER FROM NOAH WEBSTER, LL.D. "NEW HAVEN, March 10th, 1840. "MR. BARNARD: Dear Sir-You desire me to give you some information as to the mode of instruction in common schools when I was young, or before the Revolution. I believe you to be better acquainted with the methods of managing common schools, at the present time, than I am; and I am not able to institute a very exact comparison between the old modes and the present. From what I know of the present schools in the country, I believe the principal difference between the schools of former times and at present consists in the books and instruments used in the modern schools. "When I was young, the books used were chiefly or wholly Dilworth's Spelling Books, the Psalter, Testament and Bible. No geography was studied before the publication of Dr. Morse's small books on that subject, about the year 1786 or 1787. No history was read, as far as my knowledge extends, for there was no abridged history of the United States. Except the books above mentioned, no book for reading was used before the publication of the Third Part of my Institute, in 1785. In some of the early editions of that book, I introduced short notices of the geography and history of the United States, and these led to more enlarged descriptions of the country. In 1788, at the request of Dr. Morse, I wrote an ac "Before the Revolution, and for some years after, no slates were used in common schools; all writing and the operations in arithmetic were on paper. The teacher wrote the copies and gave the sums in arithmetic; few or none of the pupils having any books as a guide. Such was the condition of the schools in which I received my early education. "The introduction of my Spelling Book, first published in 1783, produced a great change in the department of spelling; and from the information I can gain, spelling was taught with more care and accuracy for twenty years or more after that period, than it has been since the introduction of multiplied books and studies.* "No English grammar was generally taught in common schools when I was young, except that in Dilworth, and that to no good purpose. In short, the instruction in schools was very imperfect, in every branch; and if I am not misinformed, it is so to this day, in many branches. Indeed there is danger of running from one extreme to another, and instead of having too few books in our schools, we shall have too many. "I am, sir, with much respect, your friend and obedient servant, N. WEBSTER." Dr. Webster, in an essay published in a New York paper in 1788, "On the Education of Youth in America," and in another essay published in Hartford, Ct., in 1790, 66 On Property, Government, Education, Religion, Agriculture, etc., in the United States," while setting forth some of the cardinal doctrines of American education as now held, throws light on the condition of schools and colleges in different parts of the country at that date. "The first error that I would mention is a * "The general use of my Spelling Book in the United States has had a most extensive effect in correcting the pronunciation of words, and giving uniformity to the language. Of this change, the present generation can have a very imperfect idea." others in a volume entitled "A Collection of EsThese essays were afterwards collected with says and Fugitive Writings, etc." By Noah Webster, Jr. Boston: 1790. This * * * * * * too general attention to the dead languages, would be the most eligible for young men with a neglect of our own. who are designed for active employments. neglect is so general that there is scarcely an institution to be found in the country where the English tongue is taught regularly from its elements to its pure and regular construction in prose and verse. Perhaps in most schools boys are taught the definition of the parts of speech, and a few hard names which they do not understand, and which the teacher seldom attempts to explain; this is called learning grammar. The principles of any science afford pleasure to the student who comprehends them. In order to render the study of language agreeable, the distinctions between words should be illustrated by the difference in visible objects. Examples should be presented to the senses which are the inlets of all our knowledge. "Another error which is frequent in America, is that a master undertakes to teach many different branches in the same school. In new settlements, where the people are poor, and live in scattered situations, the practice is often unavoidable. But in populous towns it must be considered as a defective plan of education. For suppose the teacher to be equally master of all the branches which he attempts to teach, which seldom happens, yet his attention must be distracted with a multiplicity of objects, and consequently painful to himself, and not useful to his pupils. Add to this the continual interruptions which the students of one branch suffer from those of another, which must retard the progress of the whole school. It is a much more eligible plan to appropriate an apartment to each branch of education, with a teacher who makes that branch his sole employment. . . Indeed what is now called a liberal education disqualifies a man for business. Habits are formed in LETTER FROM REV. HEMAN HUMPHREY, D.D. youth and by practice; and as business is in some measure mechanical, every person should be exercised in his employment in an early period of life, that his habits may be formed by the time his apprenticeship expires. An education in a university interferes with the forming of these habits, and perhaps forms opposite habits; the mind may contract a fondness for ease, for pleasure, or for books, which no efforts can overcome. An academic education, which should furnish the youth with some ideas of men and things, and leave time for an apprenticeship before the age of twenty-one years, "But the principal defect in our plan of education in America is the want of good teachers in the academies and common schools. By good teachers I mean men of unblemished reputation, and possessed of abilities competent to their station. That a man should be master of what he undertakes to teach is a point that will not be disputed; and yet it is certain that abilities are often dispensed with, either through inattention or fear of expense. To those who employ ignorant men to instruct their children, let me say, it is better for youth to have no education than to have a bad one; for it is more difficult to eradicate habits than to impress new ideas. The tender shrub is easily bent to any figure; but the tree which has acquired its full growth resists all impressions. Yet abilities are not the sole requisites. The instructors of youth ought, of all men, to be the most prudent, accomplished, agreeable, and respectable. What avail a man's parts, if, while he is the wisest and brightest,' he is the meanest of mankind?' The pernicious effects of bad example on the minds of youth will probably be acknowledged; but, with a view to improvement, it is indispensably necessary that the teachers should possess good breeding and agreeable manners. In order to give full effect to instructions it is requisite that they should proceed from a man who is loved and respected. But a low-bred clown or morose tyrant can command neither love nor respect; and that pupil who has no motive for application to books but the fear of the rod, will not make a scholar." "PITTSFIELD, Dec. 12th, 1860. "HON. HENRY BARNARD: Dear Sir-I am glad to hear from you, still engaged in the educational cause, and that you are intending to 'give a picturesque survey of the progress of our common schools, their equipment, studies and character.' If my early recollections and experience will give you any little aid, I shall esteem myself happy in affording it. "The first school I remember was kept a few weeks by a maiden lady, called Miss Faithy, in a barn. I was very young, as were most of the children. What I learned then, if any thing, I have forgotten. This was in the summer, of course. The next was a school, so called, kept a month or two by a neighbor of ours, who was the best trout fisher, with his horse-hair line, in all those parts. He wrote a fair hand, as I remember, on birch bark. What he taught us, but to say tue and due, has escaped my recollection. We had no school-house then in our district, and we met as much for play as any thing, where we could find shelter. The next winter, another neighbor took us a few weeks into one of the rooms of his own house, where every thing but learning was going on. His speech bewrayed him of Rhode Island origin, and whatever he knew, he certainly could never have had much if any chance of being whipped in school when he was a boy. I remember his tremendous stamp when we got noisy in school-time, and that is all. This, however, is not a fair sample of school accommodations in my boyhood; and I had a better chance for two or three winters afterward. "SCHOOL HOUSES.-Most of the other districts in the town had school-houses, but not all. The first winter that I kept school myself, was in a room next to the kitchen in a small private house. Some of the schoolhouses were better than others; but none of them in that or the adjoining towns were convenient or even comfortable. They were rather juvenile penitentiaries, than attractive accommodations for study. They were too small, and low from the ceiling to the floor, and the calculation of the builders seemed to have been, to decide into how small a space the children could be crowded, from the fire-place till the room was well packed. Not unfrequently sixty or seventy scholars were daily shut up six hours, where there was hardly room for thirty. The schoolhouses were square, with a very narrow entry, and a large fire-place on the side near the door. There were no stoves then. They were generally roughly clapboarded, but never painted. They had writing-desks, or rather, long boards for writing, on two or three sides, next to the wall. The benches were all loose; some of them boards, with slabs from the saw-mill, standing on four legs, two at each end. Some were a little lower than the rest, but many of the smaller children had to sit all day with their legs dangling between the bench and the floor. Poor little things! nodding and trying to keep their balance on the slabs, without any backs to lean against, how I pity them to this day. In the coldest weather, it was hard to tell which was the most difficult, to keep from roasting or freezing. For those nearest to the fire it was sweltering hot, while the ink was freezing in the pens on the back side of the room. Master, I am too hot'-'Master, may I go to the fire?' That was the style of address in those days, and we did our best to be masters, anyhow. "All the school-houses that I remember stood close by the travelled road, without any play-grounds or enclosures whatever. If there were any shade trees planted, or left of spontaneous growth, I have forgotten them. And in most cases, there were no outside accommodations, even the most necessary for a moment's occasion. I now marvel at it, but so it was. In that respect, certainly, the days of the children are better than the days of their fathers were. "For the most part, the winter schools were miserably supplied with wood. I kept school myself in three towns, and in but one of the schools was there any wood-shed whatever; and no wood was got up and seasoned in summer against winter. Most of what we used was standing in the forests when the school began, and was cut and brought sled length by the farmers in proportion to the number of scholars which they sent. Not exactly that, either; for sometimes, when we went to the school-house in a cold morning, there was no wood there. Somebody had neglected to bring his load, and we were obliged to adjourn over to the next day. In many cases, the understanding was, that the larger boys must cut the wood as it was wanted. It always lay in the snow, and sometimes the boys were sent to dig it out in school-time, and bring it in, all wet and green as it was, to keep us from freezing. That was the fuel to make fires with in the morning, when the thermometer was below zero, and how the little children cried with the cold, when they came almost frozen, and found no fire burning; nothing but one or two boys blowing and keeping themselves warm as well as they could, by exercise, in trying to kindle it. Such were our school-houses and their disaccommodations. "BRANCHES TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOLS.They were reading, spelling, and writing, besides the A B C's to children scarcely four years old, who ought to have been at home with their mothers. They were called up |