EDUCATION. 217 



,that he was not created for a solitary existence, but to maintain an 

 intercourse with his fellows ; and that he cannot be independent of 

 them, or can not say I have no need of thee, however humble his 

 fellow's rank may be. He, too, is the subject of government and law. 

 Obedience is to be learnt, as well as taught. Can it be supposed, 

 then, that too much culture can be bestowed upon the mind of man ; 

 that in vievvr of man as he is and must be, it is at all probable that 

 his advantages will, under any circumstances, be too great, or be- 

 yond his capacity for improvement, so rich that they will be regard- 

 ed as lavished and lost upon him ? 



Again, a more thorough education for those who till the ground, 

 than has hitherto been contemplated, seems especially demanded, 

 enable them to avail themselves of the discoveries of modern 

 <cience. This, however, is a position which many are now ready 

 (I lake, although its importance cannot be so well appreciated by 

 hose who are placed upon the very rich soils of our country ; but 

 hose who are tilling soils already exhausted of their natural fer- 

 ility, see the necessity, and would see it still better, if they could 

 lot sell or exchange their farms for the new and exuberantly rich 

 aiids of the west. 



Leaving this point as it is, we remark once more, that the times 

 [ind the circcmstances of our country require more than ever the 

 Itivation of the minds of this great class of the citizens of our 

 epublic. It was safe in the morning of our country, when oppres- 

 ion taught our fathers the value and the price of liberty, for the 

 usbandman and mechanic to commit most of the duties incident 

 office, to those who were by their profession allied to a public 

 ife. But now in this age, it appears to us, that to the owners and 

 ultivators of the soil should more especially be committed this 

 rust, as they have a paramount interest in the affairs of the state 

 .nd nation. They who are withdrawn from the sinister influences 

 f a dense city population, where the unworthy and the demagogues 

 f the land are wont to congregate, should now stand up in the halls 

 f legislation and justice, and at least possess themselves of that 

 ower to which their numbers entitle them. Some may sneer at the 

 xpression, but to us it is plain, that, to the cultivators of the soil is 

 ommitted the destinies of this country ; that to them more espe- 

 ally is committed the great duty of handing down, unimpaired, 

 mr institutions to posterity. If this is true, it follows that the in- 



