12 Kansas Academy of Science. 



activity, famishes a fitting field for the demagogue and the charlatan, 

 both in church and state. There is no form of impostor, however 

 gross, however monstrous ; no radicalism or fanaticism, however 

 malignant or revolutionary, which this restless, speculative, busy, 

 adventurous American mind is not ready to adopt; and there is 

 no country, strange as it may appear, which affords such a field for 

 reformers, fanatics, enthusiasts and demagogues of every class, color 

 and sex as this same intelligent and free America. How respon- 

 sible, then, the work of educating a mind like this. How great 

 the task of giving to it proper tone, development, discipline, and 

 concentrating its masterly qualities to the best and noblest ends. 



The teachings of nature, the physical influences of our country, 

 are on the grandest scale and of the loftiest character, well fitted 

 ia their degree to develop and invigorate the minds of the people. 

 Our towering mountains, our ample prairies, our majestic rivers, 

 our mighty inland seas, our sublime forests, our magnificent cata- 

 racts, furnish a fitting physical school for such a mind, a noble 

 place for its education and activity. Let its mental training be of 

 corresponding breadth and grandeur. Add to all the sciences of 

 the earth the noble science of God; bring those principles of 

 moral science, which are lofty, like our mountains; those funda- 

 mental precepts of Christianity, which are broad, like our plains; 

 those motives of excellence presented by religion, whose power is 

 like the rushing of our mighty streams, and those wholesome re- 

 straints of moral law which are as unyielding as our granite rocks — 

 bring all to bear upon these vigorous, enthusiastic, active, adven- 

 turous minds, and you will insure their rapid and onward progress 

 in all that exalts and adorns the state. 



To such a solemn work as this; to a work with such noble ma- 

 terial ; a work with such grand results; a work which aims to 

 develop and make available the real wealth and resources of the 

 state, the teacher is engaged. A solemn trust is committed to their 

 charge, for, in the school room the children of the masses and the 

 classes are in touch. It is a time when character is being formed; 

 it is here that the American boy and the German girl associate; 

 the boy of the banker and the girl of the blacksmith meet. Upon 

 this level all classes and conditions come together, and the lesson 

 learned is, that brawn, will and intelligence, not the pocketbook 

 and social distinction, constitute the essence of life. They are 

 children of a democracy, upon one platform, one common level, and 

 a common aspiration. These conditions make children self-respect- 

 ing and representative citizens as they advance to manhood and 



