Education as connected with Agriculture. 
G5 
confidence in his own position, as meriting' respect and conside- 
ration whether from his landlord, his labourer, or his neighbours. 
I do not say that an educational degree alone would give this 
advantage where it is not combined with personal character, with 
respectability of connexion, and with sufficient capital for the 
position the man holds. But how often are one or other of these 
qualifications, when exclusively relied on, mere sources of pride 
and offence, of vanity and vexation, because the man himself, 
his family, or his purse have to sustain a disproportionate strain 
owing to one fatal defect, " under-education." 
But I must not think or write only of the social advantages of 
an educational degree. That degree should imply a thorough 
knowledge of the English and at least one other language, with 
a tolerably high standard of mathematical knowledge, besides 
history and geography. How many excellent men have now to 
regret the want of these attainments, not only as debarring them 
from much of the best social intercourse, but as actually hindering 
them in their business or profession! Any difficulty men find 
in expressing themselves, or readily ascertaining the meaning of 
others, whether in speaking or in reading and writing, is a 
serious impediment to business, in times when clear understand- 
ing and prompt despatch are of growing importance as the 
relations of men become more complicated, and the pressure of 
affairs more urgent. On the many occasions when time is money, 
slowness in calculation may be, in the short run, a cause of as 
much loss and hindrance as miscalculation is sure to be in the 
long run. And further, an ignorance of places and events may 
lead to a total inability in any practical sense to follow up the 
opportunities, or avoid the special risks of a man's own times, 
nation, or trade. 
Beyond his social position and his business, there are other 
relations in which to have attained a distinct standard of education 
will conduce even more to a man's happiness and usefulness. But 
lest I should be thought out of place, 1 will only say that I allude 
to religion and politics, — two subjects on which all men must 
think, and many will both think and speak strongly, but on 
which the ill-informed are almost sure (to say no more) to 
perplex themselves and mislead others. 
Education, however, does not consist only of information. It 
is not so much what a man knows as what he is that will deter- 
mine his conduct and success in life. And this a mere exami- 
nation can never ascertain. I do not speak only of raw, undi- 
gested knowledge ; for even sound knowledge carefully learnt 
and stored, — such as it is the peculiar attribute of a c/ood, exami- 
nation to distinguish from mere cram, — even this is unimportant 
compared with the character and habits of the man, and espe- 
VOL. XXV. F 
