Necessity of a general- Ethical andPoUtical EdufaUon. 197 



read tfiP aiiricnts, were to iiubilje the 

 priiicipics of liberty, and there were 110 

 tr;tusl;itioi;.s of those aucieiils, then, sir, 

 I affirm, that to teach their languages 

 universtiily, would be lije most sacred 

 duty ol' a liec people. But it is not 

 from ancient lure that we draw the 

 grandest sentiments that can eimobio 

 the human heart ; Ave arc not, as Euro- 

 peans, comparatively iice, because we 

 are better acquainted than our Deigli- 

 bonrs witii Thurydides, Demosthenes, 

 I'acitus, and Cicero. With a know- 

 ledge of those authors familiar as onr 

 own, in what a debased state doth conti- 

 nental Europe at this moment e\ist ! 



You i)ercci\e, fiir, that as I, by no 

 means, disapprove the cultivation of the 

 dead languages, as such, so ncitia.T 

 would ] be very solicitous for their in- 

 troduclinn into the coiinnou spheres of 

 educatiuii, any more than I would re- 

 commend an extensive tield of erudi- 

 tion, e\cc{)t for pupils designed for the 

 learned jtrofcssions. Indeed, I see no 

 forcible objection to the including in a 

 popular plan of instruetion, any know- 

 ledge, the acquisition of which shall not 

 be foiuid to interfere with the cultivation 

 of moral philosophy in all its importanl 

 branches. A youth, pcrluijjs, had bel- 

 ter learn too much (admitting that to be 

 possible) than too little. He that ac- 

 quires more tlian Ik; is able to retain, 

 will still, probably, retain a sufTicicncf 

 for his station ; and, if tiie attainment of 

 what he is destined to lose, did not pre- 

 vent the acijuisition of that with which 

 he could least dispense, it may be urged 

 in its favoi- — That it was accomi)anieJ 

 with flic advantage of relieving, by va- 

 riegating his studies; and that it en- 

 larged, by its super-addition to his othcT 

 knowledge, the habitual grasp of his 

 conception. Guided, then, by these 

 considerations, t!ie tutor will apportioa 

 the degrees of his instruction to the ca- 

 pacity, views, and other circumstances 

 of his respective pupils. On two sub- 

 jects, however, he will be uniformly so- 

 liciti.'Us and nnrelaxing. Though some 

 o( his pupils are destined to be men of 

 letters and science, some artists, anil 

 others urtizans, merchants, and retail 

 dealers, he will not, for a moment, cease 

 to lellect, that they are all to be meiiv. 

 hers of a moral and a free commnvili/; 

 that |)rivate vice is j>ub!ic evil; that "to 

 abhor tyranny, is to love our coini- 

 <ry ; that the patriotic sjiirit of onr Ibrc- 

 faihcrs jnovidcd lor us a liberal con- 

 stitution: 



IS 16.] 



virtue in the governed, are irreconcil- 

 aibie and impossible? — that corrupt 

 ruleis inevitably vitiate the peo])le .' — 

 tliat such rulers have an interest in the 

 public ignorance, and a plea for their 

 encroachment upon human libertj', in 

 the vices grafted upon that ignorance? — 

 that of ait mental darkness, that which 

 veils the delinquency oi' public fanction- 

 Mries is the most detrimental to i\ic pub- 

 lic weal! — that, when a people snOcr 

 their municipal servants to become their 

 masters, tiicy surrender their own sacred 

 privileges, and encourage the invaders 

 of public rights ; furnish facility to cor- 

 ruj)lion, and triumph to power? — that, 

 indirectly, thej' depress art and science, 

 undermine commerce, invite poverty and 

 Jjumiliation, and intlict upon their inno- 

 cent posterity, evils which only them- 

 selves have deserved, because, evils 

 which only themselves have created ? 



In a word, sir, will the scope of in- 

 struction to which I am alluding, while 

 it multiplies scholars, add a unit to the 

 future number of our patriots? Will 

 the diflusion of literary and scientific 

 knowledge alone, produce a single inde- 

 pendant mind ? Will it elevate the sub- 

 ject to the citizen ? Will it beget a 

 spirit that shall identify private with 

 public prosperity ; seek its country's 

 glory in the exhibition of superior hu- 

 manity, superior generosity, superior jus- 

 tice, and superior freedom ? 

 • On the extensive latitude of the scheme, 

 1 siiall not, at present, remark ; nor in- 

 quire, how far the acquisition of so wide 

 a circle of knowledge may be acquira- 

 ble by connnon understandings, and be- 

 fore that age at whicli the sous of men 

 in business arc necessaiily called into 

 operative life ; nor (if such a range of in- 

 formation were acquirable) whether it 

 whuld be retained; nor, again, if retain- 

 ed, whetlicr it would serve any of the. 

 purposes of the mechanical avocations, 

 or amalgamate with that routine of ideas 

 to which the ordinary pursuits subject 

 and limit the mind. 



.\^'ith respect to the classics, Iknow 

 it has been asserted, that we are largely 

 indebted to their cultivation for that 

 love of freedom by which we are, even 

 still, so gloriously distinguished among 

 the nations of Europe. Were that as- 

 sertion founded, how bitter a rejiroacli 

 would it be to Englishmen, that Greek 

 and Homan literature has not, long 

 since, han among the studies of the 

 mtauest s<;uiijiurics in their luudi If to 



