1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



319 



and stellar iaflaence ; and though like hundreds all others that had been or were then on the earth, 

 of others he may know nothing of the astrological To produce and maintain this difference, the insti- 

 principles by which nature is governed, he willbe-| tutions for education were to have a correspond- 

 iieve the results which he sees, and cannot contro- 

 vert. Then I shall expect to hear from him 

 again." 



For the Nev) Ens;land Farmer 

 MOUNT AIRY INSTITUTE. 



It appears by a notice in a number of the Far- 

 mer, that this institution has been discontinued, 

 after having been in operation eight years. It is 

 stated, also, that of the 217 pupils that have at 

 tended this agricultural school, four only were 

 sons of farmers. 



Had Professor Wilkinson been satisfied with 

 the above announcement, I should not have trou 

 bled you with this communication. It is to the 

 inference which he draws from the f;icts stated, 

 that I wish to call attention, — viz. : that the rea 

 son why less than one-fiftieth of the students were 

 sons of farmers, is because the latter think that 

 they are competent to educate their own sons. 



From these instructive facts, I draw a different 

 inference ; farmers do not patronize these isolated 

 institutions, because they believe our system of pub- 

 lic schools are, or should be, fully competent to edu- 

 cate their sons. 



It is hoped that a brief discussion of this subject 

 may do something towards turning the expecta- 

 tions and reliance of the friends of agricultural ed- 

 ucation, in this country, from schools of an Euro- 

 pean type, to those of the New England, or as it 

 is rapidly becoming, the American system. 



That isolated agricultural schools succeed in Eu- 

 rope, is with me prima facie evidence that they 

 will not succeed here. England has excellent 

 schools fjr the soldier, for the priest, for the gen- 

 tleman farmer, &e., but for the "myriads of chil- 

 dren that throng the by- places and thorough fores 

 of her great cities, — which cluster like bees in her 

 vast manufacturing establishments, and overspread 

 her well tilled fields," her government provides 

 none. Benevolent individuals have indeed done 

 something towards supplying this deficiency ; but 

 then it must be by means of "Ragged Schools" — 

 as though, in England, charity for the child of ne- 

 glect, dared not minister to its necessities, with- 

 out mingling insult with relief. This system of 

 education, or rather want of all system, may, and 

 probably does, accord with the principles of gov- 

 ernment and the forms of society existing there ; 

 and consequently is unsuited to either, as estab- 

 lished in the United States. 



However brilliant the success of the "model" 

 schools of Europe may appear, they are generally 

 schools that none may enter but tliose born in cer- 

 tain circumstances, or possessing certain patron- 

 age or influence ; and it is with the most pleasur- 

 able emotions that I tarn my thoughts from them 

 to our own New England system of education, with 

 her district and high schools, and colleges, — the 

 birth-right of every child born on our soil, and free 

 to the children of the thousands who annually come 

 to us from other lands. The world ha.s never seen 

 the like. "History," says Prof. G. W. Bknedict, 

 in a discourse upon the subject, "showed our fore- 

 fathers the close connection between the charac- 

 ters of the various governments of the world, and 

 that of the institutions of learning existing under 

 them. Our government was to be different from 



ing character." .... "It is from the want of a 

 right understanding of the system thus established, 

 that so many and such diverse schemes are en- 

 tered upon to effect what can be done in reality 

 only by the system itself. Thus, instead of all 

 devoting their care and their efforts to the advance- 

 ment and perfection of its several parts, attempts 

 without end have been made at all times and in 

 almost all parts of our country, by individuals, by 

 neighborhoods, and by assemblages of men,a'^ree- 

 ing in some peculiar opinions, to establish schools 

 of all grades and ^rms, quite different from the 

 public ones ; and by which out-of-the-way pro- 

 ceeding they have hoped some times to secure per- 

 sonal and local objects, and not unfrequently to ac- 

 complish some extraordinary good to their fellow- 

 citizens. These serve to distract the public atten- 

 tion from the schools o"f the system, and oft-times 

 for a while to do them a serious injury. Yet the 

 result always vindicates the excellence and power 

 of the public system, and its adaptednessto the 

 genius of our "government. It moves quietly on 

 its way, and inevitably they are so modified as to 

 conform to its principles and become a part of it, 

 or they fall before it. One after another it de- 

 vours them, as Aaron's rod of miraculous life swal- 

 lowed the magic serpents of Egypt." 



That the " public system " has thus far de- 

 voured the various schools which have been estab- 

 lished to teach the science of agriculture, is to me 

 a su'iject of congratulation ; although I would not 

 impeach the motives of the advocates of these 

 "out-of-the-way proceedings." Men are prone to 

 look beyond themselves and their circumstances 

 for the means of doing great things. The mind 

 somehow inclines to overlook the understood and 

 available, and reach forth for something new, 

 something distant, or mysterious, whenever a pow- 

 erful effort is to be made. Hence, good men,_in 

 their desire to,, advance the cause of education 

 among formers, seem to overlook our New Eng- 

 land system of schools, — a system born of the very 

 necessities of freedom — a system on which the lib- 

 erties of twenty-three millions of freemen rest — a 

 system in which they have themselves been edu- 

 cated, — and advocate the adoption of the schools 

 of England and of the continent as models for in- 

 stitutions in which American farmers are to be 

 educated ! 



That the demand for agricultural colleges add 

 schools involves this idea, I am fully satisfied. — 

 They do not harmonize with our free institutions ; 

 they fovor a c/ass— a large one, to be sure, but all 

 the worse for that ; as a large influence would be 

 withdrawn from schools common to all._ 



I fear our system of public schools is in danger, 

 both from the assaults of open enemies, and the 

 indifference of friends. A large portion of the 

 foreigners who annually flock to our shores are di- 

 rectly or indirectly opposed to the entire plan._ It 

 is boldly attacked, already, in our large cities ; 

 and will be everywhere, as soon as opposition can 

 be made with any prospect of success. Are the 

 descendents of the founders of this system of free 

 schools aware of the position they assume towards 

 it, when they acknowledge, that, as to the educa- 

 tion of nine-tenths of the people, it has proved m- 

 eflicientl ^* *"• 



Winchester, March, 1853. 



