eminent friend of education, Horace Mann, which shows the value of education in his opinion as a moral agent. Referring to the anxiety of the Pilgrim Fathers on that subject, and to the laws enacted by them in 1642, he says, "Thus were recognized and embodied, in a public statute, the highest principles of political economy and of social well-being—the universal education of children, and the prevention of drones or non-producers among men." And again, "The liberal, the public-spirited, those who see in our public school system the great upholding principle of all our institutions, and the means of advancing the civilization of the race—who see in it both the conservative and the progressive principle of society—will advocate a generous appropriation."
It will be perceived, as far as I have now proceeded, that I think highly of education even in the common acceptation of the term, as a means of elevating the social and moral condition of our people.
I have shown that our criminals are drawn from among the least instructed of our population; which fact tells us plainly that, in contemplating the means of social and moral elevation, we should ever keep steadily in view the necessity of attending to the intellectual improvement of the people.
Hitherto, I have alluded to the value of education in the popular sense of the term, which I take to be a facility of reading, writing, and ciphering, and a competent knowledge of the arts whereby we obtain a livelihood; these attainments, combined with religious instruction from parents and pastors, comprize what is ussually understood by the term education.
But there is much more than these essential, before me can secure the "social and moral elevation of our working classes," or of any of the classes of society. Education, in the true and useful sense of the word means, much more than these. I agree in sentiment with the eloquent and excellent Channing, when he says, in his address to the working classes, "I know but one elevation of the human being, and that is elevation of soul. Without this, it matters not where a man stands, or what he possesses; and with it he towers, he is one of God's nobility, no matter what place he holds in the social scale. There is but one elevation for the labourer, and for all other men. The only elevation of a human being consists in the exercise, growth, energy, of the higher principles and powers of the soul. Whoever seeks truth with an earnest mind, no matter when or how, belongs to the school of intellectual men. The more of mind we can carry into toil the better. I am asked, whether I expect the labourer to traverse the whole circle of physical sciences? Certainly not, nor do I expect the merchant, or the lawyer, or the preacher to do it." I might quote largely from this admirable address, and with great advantage, as illustrative of my views, but I must hurry on towards the termination of my paper, as my limited time will not allow me to do more than touch briefly on the many topics which crowd upon my mind while I dwell on this interesting question.
In drawing attention to social and moral evils, with a view to their extirpation, it often seems to me that preachers and writers
