Constitutions, and Statute Books; but alone by the rightly cultivated hearts and heads of the People. They must themselves guard the Ark. It is yours to fit them for the consecrated charge. Look well to it: for you appear clothed in the majesty of great power! It is yours to fashion, and to inform, to save, and to perpetuate. You are the Educators of the People: you are the prime Conservators of the public weal. Betray your trust, and the sacred fires would go out, and the altars crumble into dust: knowledge become lost in tradition, and Christian nobleness a fable! As you, therefore, are multiplied in number, elevated in consideration, increased in means, and fulfill, well and faithfully, all the requirements of true Teachers, so shall our favoured land lift up her head among the nations of the earth, and call herself blessed.
In conclusion, Gentlemen, to you, as the conspicuous leaders in the vast and honourable labour of Educational Reform, and Popular Teaching, the First American Edition of the Principia of Newton—the greatest work of the greatest Teacher—is most respectfully dedicated.
