1847.] Dvty of Educated Men. 329 



DUTY OF EDUCATED MEN. 



I am highly pleased in the main with your papers, and have only 

 met with one article that seems exceptionable: I refer to that in 

 the Journal for March, on the " Duty of Educated Men," by Ag- 

 ricola. I shall venture some remarks in reply. 



Asking an acquaintance of mine, to whom I had given the 

 Journal for perusal, his opinion of it, he excepted from his ex- 

 pression of general liking, the idea of '' farmers not knowing 

 anything." He referred to that portion of your correspondent's 

 article that speaks of " educating the sons of farmers at least, in 

 all those sciences necessary to make this art (agriculture) take its 

 highest place in the business of life" — that is, in geology, chem- 

 istry, natural philosophy, botany, &c." Agricola says, " all this 

 is as impossible as the attempt of the frog in the lable, to puff 

 himself up to the size of an ox." Why, if a farmer's son may 

 ask so contraband a question; why is this impossible? "Be- 

 cause there are few farmers who can afford to give their sons an 

 education; three fourths of our population are to become tillers 

 of the soil, and we cannot hope to procure schools or teachers to 

 educate them. It is looking too far down the future, to anticipate 

 any such Eutopian success in the present state of things." How 

 many are there at present, the sons of farmers, who have not the 

 opportunity of attending, for a portion of the year, the common 

 district school ? Comparatively few. What effort, on the part 

 of " educated men," would be necessary to introduce such works 

 as "Johnston's Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry," and " Theo- 

 dore Thinker's Botany" into our common schools, and even sup- 

 port practical illustration of their doctrines ? But little. And 

 were the minds of children, from six to twelve years of age, 

 instead of being disgusted with all thoughts of knowledge, by 

 constant drilling in studies (as English grammar) far too abstruse 

 for their ready comprehension; led into the fairy fields of nature, 

 and entertained with her variety and simplicity, how would open 

 and honest intelligence assume the place of ignorance and preju- 

 dice ! If we once enlist the human mind into the study of nature, 

 the works of God will ever exert over it an irresistible spell, and 

 though we may only countenance the catechisms and first princi- 

 ples, we shall find our student progressing by himself ; and in a 

 few years the primmers will be supplanted by octavos. I do not 

 urge that the farmer shall possess manipulative skill to analyze 

 his soil with scientific accuracy; but I do contend he may know 

 the theoretical doctrines, the principles of science as applied to 

 agriculture. 



After a forcible repetition of the assertion " that all hopes of 



