INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 
253 
mind, an occasion of great solicitude. Grand and glorious, if 
■wisely directed, they must lead to the irretrievable ruin of the 
individual and nation, if debased in their objects. 
Fifthly, the American is characterized by an unparalelled 
activity and energy. Restless as the forces of nature, he also 
has an intensity of will that makes him almost irresistable. 
Within the little more than two hundred years, since 
“A band of exiles moored their bark 
On the wild New England shore,” 
what a mighty work he has wrought! a work that baffles 
description and challenges the admiration of the world. 
Such, in brief, are the leading characteristics of the people 
of this country, requiring careful consideration from an educa¬ 
tional stand-point. 
3. Let us now, in the third place, look to the mould of our 
institutions. 
The Government, in view of the country, and the peculiari¬ 
ties of the people, could hardly be other than a Democratic 
Republic—a government of the whole people, by the whole 
people, for the whole people. And such it is, in theory at 
least, with manifest destiny on the side of improvement. 
See how the system of government, created and kept alive 
by such elements as I have named, itself fosters and develops 
them in turn. The love of independent action and individual 
freedom is strengthened by the frequent exercise of the right 
of sovereignty. The individual feels himself equal to any and 
as good as the whole, for nothing could be done without him ! 
Each man helps to make the President, and himself hopes to 
be one. The government also protects every free white man 
in the enjoyment of his natural rights, declaring them “ ina¬ 
lienable/’ and using, if need be, its whole power to preserve 
them inviolate. 
The desire to create is stimulated by large pecuniary advan¬ 
tage and the offered wreath of fame. In no country in the 
world is the Inventive Genius so much of a hero. 
The desire to know is fostered by an increased necessity for 
knowledge, and the high estimate put upon it. 
