Part 18

36. In no part of the world has the education of all classes of people been more encouraged than in the United States. This has arisen chiefly from the circumstance, that a remarkable proportion of the colonists were persons of education. This was particularly the case with those of New-England, where the instruction of youth, from the very beginning of the settlements, was made a matter of public concern.

37. The principle of making public provision for this purpose, thus early adopted, has never been deserted; on the contrary, it has become so deeply interwoven with the social condition of the people of New-England, that there are few families in that part of the Union, which are not within reach of a public school; and, in every state where the influence of the people from that section of the country is predominant, public schools have been organized by legal provisions, and a fund has been provided, by which at least a part of the expense of supporting them is paid.

38. In all the states in which these primary institutions are established by legislative enactments, they are kept in operation, in country places, between six and nine months of the year. A _master_ is employed in the winter, and a _mistress_, in the summer: the former receives for his services from ten to fifteen dollars per month, and the latter, from seventy-five cents to two dollars per week, together with boarding. The teachers, however, during their engagement are compelled to reside in the different families of the _district_, their stay at each place being determined, with scrupulous exactness, by the number of children sent to the school.

39. From the low salaries received for these important services, and the short periods for which engagements are made, it is evident, that teaching a district school cannot be pursued as a regular employment. These schools are, therefore, supplied by persons who, during the rest of the year, follow some other business; or by students, who rely, in part or entirely, on their own exertions to defray the expenses of their academical, collegiate, or professional education.

40. These schools are, no doubt, institutions of great value; but, in the states where they have been established, they are evidently much overrated. They fail in accomplishing the ends for which they have been instituted, through the extreme tenacity with which the people adhere to ancient and defective methods of instruction, the frequent change of teachers, and the small compensation allowed for the services of competent instructors.

41. In the cities and populous towns or villages, the public schools are kept up during the whole of the year, and the system of instruction is generally better than that pursued in the country. In New-York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and in some other cities, the Lancasterian plan of mutual instruction, with many modifications, is preferred, principally on account of its cheapness.

42. Select-schools and private academies are, also, very numerous. These are located chiefly in the cities and populous towns, and are supported entirely by fees for tuition received from the parents or guardians of the pupils. These institutions do not differ essentially from those of a private nature in similar situations in other parts of the United States, where common schools are not established by law.

43. In the Southern states, wealthy families often employ private tutors. Sometimes two, three, or more families, and even a whole neighborhood, unite for the purpose of forming a school; and, to induce a teacher to commence or continue his labors among them, an adequate amount is made up beforehand by subscription. South of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the Ohio River, such engagements are commonly made for a year, as, in that section of the Union, the opinion prevails, that a teacher can do but little towards improving his pupils in a much shorter time.

44. The literary institutions which are next above the common schools, and which are established by legislative authority, are the academies, of which there are between five and six hundred in the United States. Some of these have been founded by the funds of the state in which they are located, some, by the union of a few spirited individuals, or by private bequests.

45. The course of instruction pursued in these seminaries of learning varies considerably from each other. In some of them, it is confined chiefly to the common branches of education; in others, the course is pretty extensive, embracing natural and moral philosophy, chemistry, belles lettres, and a sound course of mathematics, together with Latin, Greek, and some of the modern languages. One great object in these institutions is to prepare students for college. The teacher who has charge of an academy is called the _principal_, while the teacher who may aid him in his labors is denominated the _assistant_ or _usher_.

46. The highest institutions of learning among us are the colleges and universities. Between these, however, there seems to be but little difference, since the course of studies is nearly or quite the same in both, and since the charters obtained from the legislatures grant to both similar powers of conferring honorary degrees. The whole number of these establishments in the United States is about eighty.

47. The principal teachers in the colleges are denominated _professors_, who confine their labors to communicating instructions in particular branches of literature or science. These are aided by assistants called _tutors_. The latter are generally young men, who devote two or three years to this employment, before entering upon the practice of a profession. The number of professors and tutors in the several colleges varies according to their amount of funds, and number of students.

END OF VOL. I.

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Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious spelling and punctuation errors and inconsistencies were repaired, but period spellings retained (e.g. "grisly bear," "lama," "pistachoes," "hommony").

Negociat- and negotiat-, whale-bone and whalebone, ancles and ankle, color- and colour-, endeavor- and endeavour-, favor- and favour-, labor- and labour-, neighbor- and neighbour-, were retained as in original.

Contents page, Preface page number reads "7" but actually appears on page "vii"; retained.

Contents page, "Soapboiler" changed to more frequent "Soap-Boiler."

P. ix, "removed from the ignorance," original reads "ignora ce."

P. 16, "south-western parts," hyphen added for consistency within text.

P. 47, "maltster checks," original reads "malster."

P. 53, "render the wine palatable," original reads "palateable."

P. 66, Illustration at start of "Manufacturer of Cloth" chapter has no caption in original.

P. 101, "sewn together to form hats," original reads "sown."

P. 174, "released from his dependence," original reads "dependance."

P. 185, "Thomas Newcomen," original reads "Newcomer."

P. 249, Illustration at start of "Teacher" chapter has no caption in original.

P. 249 and 252, "rabbis," original reads "rabbies."

End of Project Gutenberg's Popular Technology, Vol. I (of 2), by Edward Hazen