Part 3
Everything that lives, whether plant or animal, has its leading characteristics. Nearly all plants, as well as animals, evince a degree of intelligence in their choice of nutriment and in their methods of obtaining it. Some plants, like animals, shrink at the touch; while others have the power of locomotion. Some seek the sunlight; while others prefer the shade. Some imprison and appropriate insects as food; while others extend themselves in this or that direction in search of favorite companionship. It is doubtless true that plants, as well as animals, however low their grade, have sensation, perhaps consciousness, and if so, a ray of reason. It would seem that mind is but an outgrowth of matter, and that every living thing has a degree of intelligence. Indeed, every particle of matter, organic or inorganic, has motive power, and is therefore endowed with a living principle, however sluggish or inert it may appear. An intelligent vitality seems to pervade the entire material of the universe. Hence it has been said with some degree of plausibility that "matter thinks." However this may be, it is certain that its motive power acts in reference to adapting means to ends, and is therefore controlled by reason,--a reason that is infinitely superior to human reason. In other words, all matter is the subject of law. The one is manifestly the condition of the other. The law cannot exist without the matter, nor can the matter exist without the law. Both are therefore co-existent, and doubtless co-eternal.
Nature is ever active in working "wonders in the heavens and in the earth." Her domain includes both. In the beam of every star she sends us a messenger revealing the fact that the stars are constructed of the same materials as the earth. In like manner we have assurance that the same is true of the nebulous masses, which seem to float, like continents, in infinite space, awaiting the slow processes which are destined to mould them into golden orbs. And thus from the depths of the infinite comes world after world, system after system, ever sweeping onward in the "eternal dances of the sky," until lost in the infinite. And thus it is that the work of creation has neither beginning nor ending, but is ever progressing in its subtile methods of combining, dissolving, and recombining the entire matter of the universe. Everything, whether orb or atom, moves in a circle, because there is a divinity that stirs within it.
Philosophize as we may, it is certain that we are surrounded by the infinite, and are of the infinite. All that is terrestrial in us, all individualities, are evanescent, passing from one form into another. Nothing remains identical. Yet in her experiments, Nature never fails of success. In dissolving pearls, she creates others of higher value; in extinguishing stars, she lights up others of greater brilliancy and magnitude. And yet nothing becomes extinct; elements never die. Every plant and every animal is but the fruitage of the inherent life that pervades the material world.
In some form or other we always have existed and always will exist. It has been well said that man in his nature is "half dust and half deity." His life does not begin with his birth, nor does it end with his death; he is immortal. And so is everything, whether animate or inanimate, immortal. Even death survives itself. Nor is there a particle of matter in the universe that has not lived and breathed; nor is there a drop of water in the ocean that has not slaked the thirst of some living thing. Every star that glitters in the fathomless depths of space swarms with life, and every life achieves its aim. In a word, everything is infinite, and subserves an infinite purpose. We need neither go nor come to reach heaven. It is here; it is everywhere,--not a place, but a state. It is only the moral atmosphere of our social and individual life that requires purification,--a work that must begin in the head and in the heart in order to be effective. When this purification has been achieved, then with our earth-life will come moral elevation, and with moral elevation, harmony with heaven. The God of Nature is the God in Nature, who not only reveals himself in her lessons, but takes us by the hand, and with the love and patience of a parent leads us onward and upward--
"Along the line of limitless desires."
EDUCATION OF THE MASSES.
It is the welfare of society, rather than that of the individual, which is sought to be promoted by a system of popular education. Every part of the social fabric should be fitted to its place, and go into place like the materials in Solomon's temple, without the sound of the hammer; yet a refined civilization cannot be attained without first securing a liberal mental culture of the masses.
Nature, as if inspired by a divine instinct, is ever engaged in refining her materials. The laws by which she works are as applicable to mind as to matter. In man we see both mind and matter combined,--two natures, the intellectual and the physical. But in order to learn what we are and what we should be, we must first understand the relations in which we are placed. In attempting to do this, we must study man as well as Nature, and advance step by step, if we would achieve the highest attainments of which we are capable.
He only is a man in the true sense whose mental, moral, and physical capacities have been fully developed. To be "twenty-one years of age and six feet high" does not of itself constitute a man. He must attain to something more than this,--he must have the head and the heart and the soul of a man. He must appreciate the true character of his position, and have the moral courage to discharge his duties,--in short, he must live for others as well as for himself, act from generous impulses, and in all he does, yield to "the divinity that stirs within him," if he would comprehend the import of his godlike destiny.
The highway to knowledge, though rugged, is equally free and open to all. Whoever will, may enter the temple of Nature, interrogate her face to face, unlock her treasures, appropriate her wealth, and subject her subtle agencies to human service. This the nineteenth century has already done to a considerable extent. Thus far it has been a bold century, and has taken many bold steps. It has "knocked holes through the blind walls" of the last ten centuries, and exposed to daylight the "moles and the bats" of antiquity; and still it demands more light. Such is the spirit of the age,--a demand for naked truth in all its beautiful proportions. Never, until this nineteenth century, have the masses really discovered their mission,--the great fact that they were created to think as well as work, and to govern as well as be governed. And yet the world may be regarded as still in its infancy; nor has the human mind, as compared with its possibilities, emerged from its cradle, or even thrown off its swaddling garments.
Though capable of sublime achievements, man at birth is not only one of the most helpless, but one of the most ignorant, specimens of animal existence. It is said by physiologists that an infant can neither smile nor shed a tear until forty days old. In his infancy the world to him is but a panorama of strange objects. In due time, however, he discovers that he has everything to learn, and needs to learn everything before he can comprehend himself or wield the power which Heaven has assigned him.
The degree of culture required to render man what he should be--godlike in his character--admits of no compromise with ignorance, superstition, or sectarianism, but on the contrary, involves the necessity of establishing and sustaining such an educational system as will be adapted to the needs of the masses, and work in accordance with the laws of matter and of mind.
It is to the masses that our country must look for her best material, and for her future intellectual giants. In every age of the world more or less great men have been produced. At a time when most needed, our own country produced a Washington, a Jefferson, and a Franklin, who distinguished themselves and the age in which they lived,--the age which gave birth to human rights. At a later period appeared a Jackson, a Clay, and a Webster,--the defenders of the Constitution and of the Union,--who have left behind them a brilliant record; but notwithstanding their conservative efforts, there came a spirit of reform, sowing dragon-teeth, which soon sprang to life and filled the land with armed heroes, who bravely met in deadly conflict and decided forever the great question of human freedom; and consequently we now have, instead of a few, a great many men of world-wide renown, who have made for themselves and for their country a proud history.
In order to preserve our liberties we must have men of large hearts and wise heads,--men who can wear the armor of giants because they are giants. In short, we must recognize the great fact that every child in the land has a God-given right to an education,--a right which no parent should be allowed to sell for "a mess of pottage." Our national watchword should be "Education;" and the system should be so constructed as to reach all classes of youth by methods not only efficient but attractive.
It will be said by some, perhaps, that it is quite impossible to educate the masses in the higher branches of learning, unless they be withdrawn from the indispensable labors of the field and the workshop, and thus be compelled to neglect the industrial pursuits on which they must depend for their physical comforts,--bread, raiment, and shelter. However plausible this objection may seem, it certainly does not afford a sufficient reason why the facilities of acquiring a good education should not be equally extended to all classes.
Manual labor and a high degree of intelligence are by no means incompatible, but on the contrary, must be associated, in order to achieve great or brilliant results. It is true, however, that the physical wants of man must first be supplied before you can proceed successfully with the cultivation of his intellectual powers. The fact is every day exemplified that bread is much easier gained by an intelligent than by an ignorant laborer. Whatever faith may do, it is certain that science and labor must be combined if we would either tunnel or "remove mountains;" and though native talent may have been distributed with more liberality to some than to others, all are under the highest obligations to improve such as they have, whether it be one talent or twenty talents.
The farmer, the mechanic, the merchant, and even the busy housewife, have more or less leisure hours,--long winter evenings, holidays, and sabbath days, amounting to nearly half a lifetime,--which might with great profit be employed in the acquisition of useful knowledge through the medium of choice books and interchange of thought. Indeed, almost every one who has received a common-school education may so improve the fragments of time which fall in his way as to acquire in the course of an ordinary lifetime a pretty thorough acquaintance with the sciences, and with general literature.
Though our leisure hours may seem too few to be worth improving, yet it is by saving pennies that we accumulate wealth. Surprising as it may seem, there are within the allotted age of man ten years of sabbaths when taken in the aggregate,--ample time, one would suppose, for perfecting, in a good degree at least, his intellectual and moral culture. If mankind were as orthodox in their actions as they profess to be in their creeds, the moral regeneration of the world would soon be accomplished. One of the most formidable barriers in the way of human advancement is the faith we have derived, not from revelation, but from the blind interpretation of it. A true theology and a sound philosophy can never come in conflict. In this enlightened age, it is absurd to expect that Science will confine her inquiries within the circumference of a circle, or so modify her annunciations of truth as to coincide with the mystical traditions which have been handed down to us from a remote antiquity.
As an encouragement to the friends of popular education, the fact should not be overlooked that the masses have been to a great extent relieved from the necessity of constant toil by the introduction of modern machinery. In fact, genius has conquered time, and given time to the masses. It has broken the fetters that bound them, and thus afforded them leisure for self-culture, social intercourse, and the investigation of truth.
It is the magic power of genius which has given life and brain to machinery, and which compels it to perform the hard work of the factory, of the workshop, of the farm, and of the household. In almost every department of industry, machinery does the hard work. It spins and weaves and knits. It saws and planes and wields the hammer. It reaps and mows and thrashes. It churns and washes and plies the needle. In fact, it does nearly everything else for us, except to breathe, eat, and digest our food. It was the inventive genius of our Northern people--the legitimate outgrowth of our common-school system--that produced, at the moment when wanted, iron-clads, monster cannon, and Greek fire, and in the sequel, saved the Union, and overawed the powers of Europe. It was these warlike inventions which secured us the elements of a lasting peace, and the respect of the civilized world.
It may be truly said that we now live longer in ten years than our ancestors did in twenty, and accomplish twenty times as much. Still it is not possible for any one man to know and do everything. Men of genius are specialties, seldom or never universalities. Hence, a diversity of talent naturally dictates a division of labor. And yet American genius, if not universal, must be acknowledged eminently inventive and practical. The Americans have made, we may venture to assert, more valuable discoveries in the last half century than all the world besides. The reason why this is so may be attributed to the operation of a physical law, in connection with the effect of a liberal system of popular education. The Americans are a mixed race, made up of all nations, and have been improved and elevated as a race by transfusion of blood, which has resulted in producing increased activity of brain, with new modes of thought and new exhibitions of intellectual power.
But notwithstanding this peculiarity of character, there still remains, as it seems to me, one great and glaring error in the prevailing system of American education. This error consists in our neglecting to develop more fully the physical man, through the instrumentalities of systematic labor combined with systematic study. In many of the German States, if not in all, the plan of educating youth is much more sensible and philosophical than in this country. There they combine daily labor with daily study; and the result is that the youth of Germany acquire vigor of body and vigor of mind at the same time. From youth to manhood they are taught to regard labor as honorable, and they feel that it is so. Hence the Germans are characterized as a race by the possession of an iron constitution, and by a mental energy which enables them to meet the stern realities of life not only with fortitude, but with a spirit that never yields to adversity. No country has ever produced a more athletic or a more enduring race than Germany; nor has any country produced finer scholars in every branch of human learning, especially in philosophy and in classical literature.
But in this country it may be difficult, perhaps impracticable, to establish an educational system of this character, to any considerable extent, for the reason that we are for the most part an agricultural people, who do not concentrate in hamlets, like the peasantry of Europe, but prefer to occupy many acres and to distribute ourselves over a vast expanse of territory,--and what is more, have a way of our own in all we do. The truth is, Young America does not like work. He prefers fine clothes and fast horses, and apes the man before he is a man. And yet he assumes to know everything, and to do everything,--except work. These peculiarities in the character of Young America seem to have been generated by the spirit of our free institutions. Whether too much freedom or too little freedom is the greater evil, presents a grave question. Whatever may be the cause, it is evident that we as a people are degenerating into a nation of speculators.
Almost every man nowadays seeks to acquire wealth by some grand speculation,--by some other means than by the honest "sweat of his brow." Even mental acquisitions are often sought as a means of speculation,--as a means of living without work; and hence we see the learned professions crowded to overflowing. Go into the main streets of our cities and villages, and you will see the fronts of nearly all the buildings on either side of the way shingled over with the signs of lawyers and doctors, who in the estimation of the populace lead lives of little work and great dignity. Doubtless a foreigner, with such an exhibition before his eyes, would think us a nation of lawyers and doctors, living on the misfortunes of each other; nor would his conclusion be very wide of the mark.
Nor can it be doubted that there are thousands in the clerical profession who, if they do not subsist on each other, subsist in a "mysterious way" on salaries entirely inadequate to their support. It would seem that the supply of professional men in this country exceeds the demand. For this there may be no remedy. Yet a step in the right direction should be taken by advancing the standard of professional attainments so as to exclude mediocrity and shallow pretence from registration on the "roll of honor." Wide as the world is, it has no room for idlers or pretenders.
This over-supply of professional men not only indicates a false estimate of what really constitutes a true manhood, but clearly proves that in American education and in American public sentiment there are prevalent errors which are inconsistent with the welfare of man and the democratic character of our institutions. These errors can be corrected only through the influence of a well-directed course of popular education; but nothing is more difficult than the correction of popular errors. It is a task the reformer often attempts, but seldom accomplishes. In most cases it must be a work of time, perhaps of ages. In every school there should be a regular system of physical as well as mental exercises established. Health and strength of body are pre-requisites to health and strength of mind.
In most of our colleges and boarding-schools the physical development of the pupil receives but little attention; and consequently he is enfeebled in body if not in mind, and is then sent out into the world to endure its hardships without the physical ability to take care of himself. All this is radically wrong, and calls loudly for reform. An exclusive culture of the mental powers can never produce a strong man or woman. This fact is painfully illustrated in all our large towns and cities. The kind of education, therefore, which attempts to refine our young men and young ladies by giving them an artificial nature too delicate to endure soiled hands will never do. The coarse as well as the fine work of practical life must be done by somebody. Though some may be too proud, none are too good to work, however elevated may be their social position. There is really nothing in our daily routine of duty--in the coarse work of the world--from which an enlightened mind should shrink.
It is to be hoped the time will soon come when all our public schools, colleges, and universities will have their workshops and gardens, affording the necessary facilities for instructing our youth, male and female, in some industrial art or trade, as well as in books, and thus give them a relish for labor, and the physical ability to endure it.
If such a method were adopted, the women of our country would soon become practically fitted to compete with the men in many, if not all, the channels of a business life. If it be true that the women have been deprived of their rights, it is certainly not the fault of the men, but a fault of education,--a radical error which should be remedied. If parents will not apply the remedy in the early education of their daughters, then there is no relief. Let a course of education make it as fashionable for a woman to pursue some industrial art or trade as it is to be a lily that neither "toils nor spins," and you would soon see American women not only capable of taking care of themselves, but more generally solicited than they now are to assume the endearing cares of their appropriate sphere.
The true mission of woman is divine. To her belongs the post of honor,--that of a wife and mother,--a position which she prefers to occupy when yielding to the impulses of her nature. In educating her, therefore, this great fact should be kept in view. There is no knowledge she needs more than a correct knowledge of human character. This she can only acquire by coming in contact with the world as it is, in childhood as well as in womanhood; in the public school as well as in the social circle. The old puritanic idea that the sexes must be schooled separately in order to secure them from exposure to moral dangers, seems to me not only erroneous, but absurd. The public school, when made up of both sexes, is in fact an epitome of the world, where its good and its evil are seen, and where the child should be taught to accept the good and reject the evil under the guidance of correct moral principles. It is in a pure home influence, however, that a primary education should begin. Indeed, mothers must take the initiatory step in giving to youthful impulse the right direction.
"Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined."
But in order to appreciate the full import of their duties and responsibilities, mothers themselves must first be properly educated. Where, then, is this all-important work to be commenced? Where can it be commenced, except in our common schools? It is in the common schools only that the masses can be educated. It is to the common schools only that we can look for the proper education of the future fathers and mothers of the land, and for the correction of popular errors. It is to this class of schools, more than to any other, that we must look for our future patriots and scholars, statesmen and philosophers, and last, not least, for our future school-teachers.
The mission of a school-teacher is truly a mission of divine import. It is the school-teacher who moulds the youthful mind, and converts it into a casket of gems; it is the school-teacher who gives direction to budding thought, and awakens in the soul of youth the slumbering fires of genius,--in short, it is the school-teacher who lays the broad foundations of the Republic, and hews the pillars that sustain our civil and religious institutions. The school-teacher should therefore possess the qualifications of a master-builder, be able to plan his work, and execute it with tact, taste, and judgment. He should not only govern himself, but should be able to govern his pupils without seeming to govern. In a word, he should be a model character, and regard his profession as one of honor, and honor his profession by elevating it to the dignity of a learned profession. He should remember that he is placed in a position which gives him a vast influence,--an influence broad as the ocean of time; an influence which should be pure in its character, and as refreshing to the growth of the inner life as the dews of heaven to the unfolding flowers.