place themselves, in respect to the institution whose interests they have in trust. The countenance, encouragement and influence of a respectable and honorable body of men, such as our boards of trustees usually are, standing in this relation to their institution, shielding it from unjust prejudices, connecting it advantageously, by their intervention, with the public, and conciliating for it general favor and esteem, will be felt, imparting life, spirit and animation to every department. To take an illustration from Holy Writ, such influence and patronage in favor of an institution, is like the descent of the dew of heaven, and of the refreshing rain, upon the dry and thirsty ground. 4. The nature of the relation in which the faculty of a college stands to a board of trustees, makes it the duty of the latter to be governed by the advice of the former, in every case and branch of the collegiate business, which requires for its suitable transaction, the peculiar skill, knowledge and experience, which the faculty alone can, from the nature of the circumstances, be presumed to possess. From this principle many important results immediately flow. Among them are two that are most worthy of attention. 1. That the regulation of the course of study, including the choice of text-books, ought to be committed to the faculty. 2. That the mode of instruction, the discipline of the college, and the internal administration of its affairs, ought to be exclusively committed to them. It may well be admitted, that the suggestions of a respectable body of men, like a board of trustees, especially in their private capacity, may sometimes be useful. But any direct and palpable interference, especially in the instruction and discipline, is beyond their rightful province, and will infallibly ruin the institution. Without a sphere of duty, in which freedom and independence of action are secured to them, no faculty, whatever may be their talents and virtues, can be useful or successful. I repeat, that whenever the measures of an institution are to depend on the peculiar knowledge and experience alone possessed by the faculty, it is as absurd for the trustees to act otherwise than by their advice, as it would be for a patient to reject the advice of his physician and prescribe for himself; or for a client to advise and direct his lawyer in the management of his cause. patient would be likely to lose his life, and the client his cause, by his rashness and presumption. In the same way, more than one board of trustees has ruined, and every board will The ruin its college, which shall interfere with the province rendered appropriate to the faculty by the peculiar skill, knowledge and experience, which their education, greater attention to the subject, and practical opportunities, have naturally, and as matter of course, given them.* I have thus, Gentlemen of the Institute, brought to your notice, the relation, upon the right understanding of which, and the duties growing out of it, I am convinced, the success of our literary institutions essentially depends. As far as I know, it has never before been made the subject of special investigation. It is in some respects, I admit, a dry and uninviting discussion. Still, I hope the Institute will, by reason of its utility, consider me justified, in claiming for it, a share of their attention. Every faculty of a college must, I am sure, be anxious to secure to itself, a more independent and unrestricted sphere of duty, enterprise and usefulness, than those bodies have usually been permitted to enjoy. The subject is worthy, I am persuaded, of still further attention, and of being still further unfolded and elucidated. For, whatever pertains to the success of our universities, colleges, academies, and schools of the learned professions, pertains, it may be said with the most perfect truth, to the vital interests of the country. *It is true, the charters of our colleges generally, if not always, give to the trustees the right of regulating the instruction and discipline. But they ought always to regulate both the one and the other, through the faculty, and through the faculty only. They can never exercise this right successfully in any other way. I trust, the true doctrine is gaining ground in this country. "The immediate government of the several departments (of the university) must necessarily be entrusted to their respective faculties. The Regents (trustees) shall have the power to regulate the course of instruction, and prescribe, under the advisement of the professorships, the books and authorities to be used in the several departments."- Report, (respecting a university) of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan, made to the Legislature, January 5th, 1837, p. 36. SCHOOL REFORM OR TEACHERS' SEMINARIES. - I AM aware that the whole length and breadth of the subject of extended instruction and school reform or, in other words, teacher's seminaries may be summed up in this brief statement; viz. If teacher's seminaries should be established by every State in the Union and then properly endowed; if our young men could be educated in them gratis and afterwards, as teachers, could have the generous and permanent salaries which a fixed profession ought to have; then, our town schools, through the United States, would meet the deep wants of the republic and the age. To hasten improvements, which every christian patriot must desire for his country and his home, I proceed to the subject selected for this occasion. To educate is to form character. The universe, our globe, man, life, truth, art, science, faith, immortality; in short, everything our minds can know or hope grasp, are means. Man is making his passage through matter. He is here at school, schooling for eternity. He has an interest, an inevitable, positive interest in every moment of the everlasting future. I add therefore to the statement just made: TO EDU CATE IS TO FORM IMMORTAL CHARACTER. For the child's body God has prepared the best food fitted for every moment of its growth. For every moment of the child's mind he has also prepared the means of growth. |