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of diseases, by the application of water; and lastly those who cure by a wave of the hand.

Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, we are told, cured the spleen, by a touch of the great toe of the right foot. We are certainly in advance of the ancients. Esculapius, the son of Apollo, being instructed by his father, became such an adept in the healing art, as, not only to cure all the sick, but to raise the dead to life. He was physician in the far-famed Argonautic expedition, and acquired such a knowledge of the virtues of medicinal plants, as to restore a number of persons to life. At this, Pluto became alarmed, lest his dominions should be depopulated, and he be left, though sovereign of the ascendant, yet "solitary and alone.".

Now there are multitudes who verily believe that the modest(?) authors of these universal panaceas, are lineal descendants of Esculapius. If I mistake not, we have abundantly more evidence of their being the accredited agents of his sable majesty. Applied to this class of men, there is far more truth than poetry in the following gingle:

"Hail Columby, happy land!

If I an't a doctor I'll be hanged;

I pukes, I purges, and I sweats 'em,

Then if they dies, why then I lets 'em."

This same disposition to give credence to the opinions of others, and adopt their theories, may be seen in matters of State. We are all averse to mental labor; and the number of those who do their own thinking, is extremely small. "If I can induce a boy to think," said the venerable Dr. Nott, "I feel assured he will ere long become a man."

Most men, rather than endure the drudgery of thought, adopt the opinions of others, without even examining into their correctness. A few individuals, who do their own thinking, make their own deductions, and frame their own theories, dictate the opinions, and consequently direct the actions of the multitude.

Hamlet appears to have understood this subject when he said to Polonius, a supple tool of the king of Denmark, pointing to the heavens, "Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel?"

Pol. 66 By the mass, and 'tis like a camel indeed." Ham. "Methinks it's like a weazle."

Pol. "It is backed like a weazle."

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I have mentioned but few of the numberless evils growing out of imperfect education. Freedom of opinion, in matters of religion and civil polity, may with safety be tolerated, where a large majority of the community are so well educated as to think for themselves. But when it is otherwise, this freedom degenerates into licentiousness; and what was designed a blessing, becomes a curse, in the form of anarchy and misrule.

But what is the remedy? Education; not for the rich, for the few, but for the many, for the poor as well as the rich. In despotic governments, the more ignorant the subject, the more pliant tool does he become in the hands of his master. But 'tis not so in our republic. Every man, to a certain extent, is a public man. Every citizen has some part to perform in making and executing the laws. He is called upon to exercise the right of suffrage, to fill offices of trust, and to perform various

duties, which require mental discipline and information. It is not necessary that all should have an extensive and critical acquaintance with the sciences. This must, of necessity, be confined to a few. But a certain amount of knowledge, within reach of all, is indispensable to every freeman.

There is nothing of which man is so prodigal as of time. In other matters, we plan, economize and systematize; but in the use of this most valuable boon which heaven has bestowed, most have no plan, no fixed principles of economy. What wonder then, that so many are poor,―mentally poor!

The human mind is constantly in pursuit of something new, whether that object be conducive to its happiness or otherwise. Like the troubled sea, it cannot rest;and its purity is promoted or destroyed by its incessant motions, just so far as education may have infused the poison of vice, or the clarifying principles of virtue. It finds something to admire in the most trifling incident in life. The pebble, let fall from his hand, as it tumbles down the precipice beneath him,-the stately oak, beneath whose shadow he reclines,-the sweet melody of nature, which beguiles him from his retreat,—the fragrant flowers which carpet his path, these all evince to him the perfect harmony which pervades the material universe. When the sky is overcast with clouds, and the stillness of nature is suddenly broken by the vivid lightning's flash, succeeded by the hoarse thunder's roar, he recognizes the hand of Him, who rides upon the whirlwind and directs the storm.

In its best sense, education confers the only real distinction among men, and erects the only durable monu

ment to the memory of its possessor. Fortuitous circumstances may confer a temporary importance, but without education, it soon vanisheth, leaving but a valueless wreck behind. The morning of life, amid the gaieties of a giddy world, aided by youthful buoyancy, may be spent in a kind of negative enjoyment. But drear will be the twilight of age, if it borrow no warmth from the genial rays of a cultivated intellect.

Again, what is the remedy for the evils to which I have alluded? Not in the maintenance of colleges, academies and high-schools. These all occupy a highly important place in our system of education, but by no means the most important.

Much praise is due to our Puritan fathers for the early establishment of colleges. But, without common schools, the condition of colleges would be like that of the stomach denied the assistance of the other organs, or like the channel of a river, whose branches were all dried up. Much has been expected from the reflex influence of colleges and academies. Consequently, most benevolent individuals, who have wished to aid the cause of education, have contributed for the support of the higher seminaries; entirely neglecting the primary schools. Who ever thinks of immortalizing his name, by endowing a professorship, or teachership, in a common school?

That the

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Can bitter fountains send forth sweet waters? If you would purify the stream, go to its source. higher seminaries do exert some influence upon mon schools, by diffusing general information, must be admitted. Yet they borrow far more than they lend. The history of colleges in our country establishes this fact conclusively. What has become of the many richly

endowed colleges and universities in those States where the school-master has not been? Just so far as the common school system has been sustained, in a healthy condition, colleges have flourished. Beyond this, they have either drooped and died, or are now awaiting, in a state of hybernation, the approach of their natural allies.

I would by no means be understood as detracting from the merits of the higher seminaries; but merely as claiming for these elementary schools, the people's colleges, that rank which they deserve. The cause of education has suffered immeasurably by the estimation in which common schools have been held. The meed of praise has been very liberally and justly awarded to Washington Irving for his valuable contributions to our scanty stock of polite literature: yet it may well be questioned, whether the injury done the cause of common education, in the character of Ichabod Crane, has not more than cancelled the whole debt.

Though the praises of education are in the mouths of all, we have reason to fear that its importance is but partially appreciated. The statesman who disregards the intellectual and moral wants of those for whom he legislates, is no less a madman, than was he who thought to chain the waters of the Hellespont.

Our freedom will prove our bane, unless the people, the original source of all power, are so far enlightened as to be able to exercise the various functions of power aright. "Universal suffrage," says one, "is either a blessing or a curse, according to circumstances. It is a blessing to a nation whose citizens use it with intelligence; it would be a curse to any people, so far wanting in that attribute, as to allow themselves to be made the

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