UNITED STATES (CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE). 



745 



visible in the number of academies, incorporated by 

 law for the purposes of giving higher instruction 

 than can be obtained at the common schools. In- 

 dividuals desirous of securing better teaching for 

 their children than the law provides, associate to- 

 gether and raise funds, obtain an act of incorpora- 

 tion from the legislature for the management of 

 their funds, and sometimes receive a grant of money 

 from the public authorities. These institutions 

 are often also founded by charitable donations of 

 individuals, and are supported in part by the tuition 

 fees of the pupils, which are generally very low. 

 They give instruction in the ancient languages, and 

 often in French, with the lower branches of the 

 mathematics and natural philosophy. Children 

 from the neighbouring towns are sent to them, and 

 are prepared for the colleges, or for active life as 

 traders, mechanics, farmers, &c. There are about 

 500 such institutions in the country, and they are 

 of great importance, by bringing the means of a use- 

 ful practical education within the reach of a very 

 large portion of the community. 3. The last step 

 in education, of which the government and the peo- 

 ple take any direct cognizance, is in the colleges, 

 which are incorporated institutions, possessing more 

 or less funds, a regular body of teachers, and the 

 power of conferring degrees. (See Colleges.) The 

 oldest and amplest of the colleges is Harvard col- 

 lege, in Cambridge, founded in 1638. The exam- 

 ple of Massachusetts was early followed by the 

 other colonies ; and in 1776 there were eight of 

 these institutions in the United States. The 

 number at present is sixty, differing, however, ex- 

 tremely in the extent of the course of studies, the 

 number of teachers, and other advantages which 

 they afford to the students. The course of studies 

 in all of them lasts four years, and embraces Greek, 

 Latin, natural philosophy, mathematics, metaphy- 

 sics, moral philosophy, chemistry, &c. ; but all these 

 studies are pursued very superficially, as may be in- 

 ferred from the circumstances of the age and quali- 

 fications of the pupils when they enter the institu- 

 tion, and of all being required to pass through the 

 same course without regard to the very unequal 

 attainments, and the different talents and objects 

 of each. The colleges have done much good in 

 preparing many, in some degree, for their profes- 

 sional studies ; but they do not give that thorough 

 education which is now more and more felt to be 

 wanted in the country. The period of education 

 is itself too limited ; most young men, in the United 

 States, completing their preparatory studies at about 

 the age of eighteen. These remarks, though still 

 applicable, in all their force, to nearly all the insti- 

 tutions of the country, are less strictly true at pre- 

 sent of two or three of the oldest, in which at- 

 tempts have been made to introduce a better 

 method of study. On leaving the colleges, the 

 young men who have been educated in the manner 

 described, have hitherto, with few exceptions, en- 

 tered upon the study of one of the three profes- 

 sions; but at present those who devote themselves 

 to the business of manufacturing and engineering 

 are more numerous than formerly. Beyond the 

 colleges little has been done by public legislation 

 for education. The law, medical and theological 

 seminaries have been generally established and 

 maintained by the exertions of private individuals, 

 although this remark is not without exceptions. 

 There are at present twenty-six theological se- 

 minaries in the country ; but a small portion of 

 the clergy have, as yet. been educated in these in- 



stitutions, most of which are, indeed, yet in their 

 infancy. The great body of the clergy pursue 

 their studies under the direction of some individual 

 clergyman, or do not study at all. The standard 

 of theological instruction in the United States must 

 therefore be considered as very low. The number 

 of medical schools is eighteen, in some of which the 

 standard of education is high, and the advantages 

 for scientific instruction great. The number of law 

 schools is nine, most of which are of recent origin ; 

 the lawyers hitherto having been educated chiefly 

 in the offices of the older and more eminent counsel- 

 lors, little more having been required, for obtaining 

 permission to practise, than reading more or less, 

 according to the inclinations of the student, for a 

 certain course of time. Besides these more public 

 and general means of instruction, the private 

 schools (i. e. such as are kept and managed by in- 

 dividuals at their own risk and discretion) are 

 numerous ; and, in many cases, they afford greater 

 advantages than the public schools ; several of these 

 have been organized and conducted on the plan of 

 the German gymnasia, and several mechanical and 

 agricultural institutes have recently been establish- 

 ed. Infant schools and Sunday schools also exist 

 in great numbers. Subsidiary to direct teaching, 

 the state of the public libraries should be considered ; 

 and in this respect there is a deplorable deficiency 

 in the country. The only respectable libraries are 

 those of Cambridge (36,000 volumes), Boston 

 Athenaeum (26,000 volumes), of Philadelphia 

 (24,000 volumes), of congress (16,000 volumes), 

 and of Charleston (13,000 volumes); and these 

 must, of course, be very imperfect. (See Libraries.') 

 Until the libraries of the country are put upon a 

 better footing, it is not to be expected either that 

 the scholars and scientific inquirers in that country 

 can take their place at the side of those of Europe, 

 or that instructors can be formed who will give the 

 coming generations such advantages as their situa- 

 tion and wants will require. There are other in- 

 stitutions, which are of great importance in pro- 

 moting general instruction, and which are little 

 known in the United States. There are botanical 

 gardens at Cambridge, New York and Philadelphia ; 

 there are few collections of instruments for teach- 

 ing natural philosophy and mechanics ; there are 

 some good collections of minerals, especially those 

 at Cambridge, New Haven and Brunswick ; but 

 there is neither an observatory nor a good cabinet 

 of natural history in the country. These are defects 

 which also call for remedies. On the whole, it will 

 be seen that, while popular education is very widely 

 diffused, and a great amount of knowledge is com- 

 municated to the mass of the people, the means 

 of education, as we ascend to the higher depart- 

 ments of literature and science, grow more and 

 more imperfect, and at last almost entirely fail. 



6. Condition of the People. The population of 

 no country in the world ever enjoyed the neces- 

 saries and comforts of life in such abundance as that 

 of the United States. The high rate of wages, the 

 great demand for labour of all kinds, the plenty of 

 provisions, the cheapness of land, and the lightness 

 of taxes, connected with the absence of all restric- 

 tions upon industry, and the character of the insti- 

 tutions, would naturally produce such a result. It 

 has been computed that a labourer can earn as much 

 in one day as will furnish bread and meat to him- 

 self, wife and four children for three days nearly. 

 It is observed by travellers and the observation 

 agrees with facts known regarding the lower ani- 



