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ehtrationat.
AN ADDRESS ON EDUCATION,
DELIVERED BY
•REV. RICHARD CURRAN,
Ai Mooresville, December 11th, 1857.
in appearing before you, to speak on the
subject of education, this evening, I ought to
offer something in the way of apology, for
the imperfect manner in which I shall dis
charge the duty assigned me. Circumstan;
ces over which I had no control, . have pre
vented me from making such preparation as
the subject and the occasion demand.
I shall not discuss the importance of edu
cation, in order to give character to, and ren
der useful, and happy the young and rising
generation - nor shall I attempt to show how
necessary education is to our national virtue,
and greatness; nor how dependent we are
upon the intelligence of the masses of the
people, for the perpetuity of our free institu
tions. I - shall omit all this, and more that
might be said, and at once raise the question,
Whether education, in reference to the pres
ent life, is to be considered rather as a means
to an end, or is it the end itself?
It is a common saying, that the end of our
existence is happiness. But this involves the
whole theory of intellectual and moral life
in difficulty. For we are at once met with
the inquiry, 'What is happiness? Until this
question be answered, it must be presumed,
that, in our search after happiness, we grope
in the dark, after what we know not.
'What is our present life ? It may be said
to be a progress of existence—a process of
formation for a fixed and unchanging state.
The final cause of our existence does not re
spect ourselves. Although our lives answer
us some invaluable purposes ; yet it is not for
these purposes alone, that life was given.—
Though we account our lives a blessing, it is
not for the sake of that blessing, that we are
caused to live. The purposes of ouiexistence
respect our Creator. "He created all things,
and for his pleasure they are, and were crea
ted;' And if, in consulting his pleasure,
God has made happiness only incidental to
his work, will he not account it a departure
froth his plan to hold up man's enjoyment as
the object of his existence ? It is better phi
losophy to say that man was made for his
Maker's pleasure ; and that we fulfil the end
of our existence by the right operations of a
moral intelligence ; hrid to encourage and fa
cilitate the operations of this moral intelli
gence there is subjoined to the rational and
moral nature, the susceptibility of happi
ness, in the operations themselves, and their
results. It might be worthy of inquiry here,
whether this axiom of our philosophy be
true: That the faculties of our nature are
forted for the sake of the happiness follow
ing, or attending upon their operation. The
all-comprehensive relation of man is his re
lation to his Creator; and it is when we be
gin, rather with our duty, than our happiness,
that we have reached the most satisfactory so
lution of the problem of our existence. If
vre are the most happy in doinc , certain things,
it shows that we were formed to do those
things •, that rather by doing those things
than the pleasure of doing them, the end of
our being, as to those things is attained ; and
that our Creator is ultimately glorified rather
by the,deeds than the happiness which re
sults froni their performance. The happi
ness may be only as a tint of the beauty dis
played, by the perfect development of the
virtue in the deeds:
Suppose, then, that our highest enjoyment,
in a given case, points out that course as our
bounden duty. Since thetx we find our live
liest pleasure and purest enjoyment in the
exercise of right affections, and in the per
formance of right acts, it follows that al
though we might never know a verbal pre
cept enforcing the obligation, we might feel
ourselves bound, by the law' of our nature,
to keep our affections right, and do the works
. of love.
Among the phenomena of human nature,
there is no plainer fact, than that our minds
experience pleasurable emotions in a state of
cultivation ; and the highest degree of such
enjoyment is, not only suitable, but eminent
ly conducive to the perfection of the soul.—
This fact is undeniable ; and equally undeni
able is the doctrine it teaches. That every
human mind ought, in this life, to have the
highest attainable degree of cultivation. And
the right order of pursuit is the perfection,
by means of the enjoyment, rather than the
enjoyment by means of the perfection.
We do not regard it as a philosophical ac
count of virtue, to suppose that a man does
right simply for the sake of doing right. To
represent virtue thus would be to vitiate it.—
It does not faithfully describe the order of the
agent's OUT( mental exercises. To suppose
that a man does right, for the sake of doing
right, would be to suppose that he could do
wrong with equal pleasure, as readily as
right. But this would violate his nature in
more respects than one ; and the argument
from happiness, although natural ; and strong,
may not be the chief persuasive to Well being.
Apply this principle to education, or to
mental, or intellectual culture. That mental
cultivation is pleasant is one of the proofs
that all ought to cultivate their minds. And
we are now to commend, not the pleasure of,
but the obligation of mental cultivation. In
persuading you to seek knowledge, for the
sake of happiness, it is necessary to convince
you that the *ay of knowledge is the way to
the highest happiness. And this would be
no easy task, were we addressing ourselves
to the ignorant. But, from the pleasure ev
ery one enjoys in his better mental exercises,
we may infer the fitness and design a his in
tellectual powers, not only for such exercises,
but for better still ; and from that inference
the duty of improving the understanding,
the transition is easy and short. The best
exercises of the intellect is a part of the proper
employment of mankind, and the certain
pleasate of this employment, proves it to be
that for which man was formed.
It is a common observation that education
is sought rather fur the sake of incidental,
$1 50
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50
WILLIAM LEWIS,
VOL. XIII.
Mil
and remote advantages, than for its own sake,
as an . acquisition of the mind. It is the er
ror of the age, that education is sought, in
many cases,
as a means of acquiring wealth,
or power. But if the education of the young
be conducted with exclusive regard to other
ends, besides the character and condition of
the educated mind, it will be liable to be ex
ceedingly defective.
It is one of the plain and simple truths
pertaining to the nature of the mind,. that
cultivation is demanded by its constitution.
We form this conclusion, because rational ex
ercises are, to all minds, a rational pleasure ;
and because they are so, irrespective either
of immediate, or remote results ; and because
the mind spontaneously exercises itself upon
the objects of its knowledge, in the best man
ner admitted by its culture. Intellectual ex
ercise has a pleasure in itself which is a qual
ity, or property . of the exercise, and not sep
arable from it in the view of the mind. The
mind has a constant propensity to action,
without any other motive than the action it
self. As the healthy muscular system often
moves, by what seems to be an intrinsic pro
perty of its life, and not by any considera
tion of its results; so the mind rejoices in
its appropriate activity; and it rejoices the
more, for the greater expansion, harmony,
clearness, and strength of its operations.---:
The mind delights in an easy, and wide cona-;
mand of knowledge ; in seeing things as they
are, in their inherent properties, and - mutual
relations ; in forming its judgment : . with
truth, and maintaining an intelligent confi
dence in its own justness of conception and
reasoning.
The supposition that the mind always con
templates some result of its own improve
ment, distinct from the improved state of its
own exercises, derogates from the dignity of
the intellect, and imputes to its operations, a
sordidness unworthy of its nature. The great
charm of - the mental exercises, whether of
theory, thought, or feeling, is what may be
called their disinterestedness. Observe a
person in conversation. If he proceeds with
evident pleasure from social affection; if his
thoughts and words appear like the overflow
ing of lively and happy feeling, he appears
in an amiable character. But -suspect -him
of seeking, anything, not embraced in the ex
ercise itsef, and coldly consulting a benefit,
distinct, and remote from the present em
ployment, and you regard him with displeas
ure. Disjoin the motive from the exercise,
and you take away the beauty from the scene.
The social formalities move by constraint,•
and the chilliness of a heartless mechanism
pervades the whole. Unless our social inter
cmrse is prompted, and pervaded by the so
cial affections, it offends. The spontaneous
impulse, immediate, without calculations of
remote advantage; the speaking of the mouth,
not from the frigid suggestions of reason ;
but from the abundance of the heart, chast
ened, and regulated by reason ; these are the
properties of all the social exercises which
are regarded as true, lovely, and of good re
port.
Let the intellectual exercises be judged by
the same rule. All minds are susceptible of
cultivation ; and. all minds rejoice most in
their best exercises. The alternative is, that
the mind be educated, either from regard to
the state of cultivation, or some derivative
benefit. Suppose, .then, that we adopt the
latter, and let the object of education be
wealth. Nature however, as well as our Sa
viour teaches us, " That a man's life consist
eth not in the abundance of the things which
he possesseth." Material things, in them
selves, can afford the mind moral satisfaction.
Affection placed on worldly things is mis
placed and perverted. The man with such
affection is miserable. Aud while the strong
est propensity of the mind is towards the
treasures of this -world, it reveals its incon
gruity with the mental cultivation. Man
was formed to use these treasures, but not to
love them supremely. They are not the good
to which the intellectual powers are to be
subservient ; but they are a part of the means
of obtaining the chief good of the mind. It
is no more manifest that we were not formed
to breathe pure oxygen, than that we were
not formed to seek worldly gain, honor, or
pleasure; as the end of mental improvement.
The perverted affection, fixed on siich an ob
ject; disturbs the harmony of the mental ex
ercises, makes the pursuit of mental improve
ment irksome, misleads the mind's activity,
and often defeats its own ends. There is a
kind of desire for these things, belonging to
our nature. We have proper and important
occasion to use them. They are intended to
promote some inferior ends of our existence.
But that natural desire, which will prompt
us to secure them, in due, measure, and by
proper means, is the only affection for them,
consistent with the dignity and happiness of
mankind. To make these the end of mental
cultivation, deprives the mind of its dignity,
and overlooks the prime and pure motive of
all first efforts for education.
Sinee then knowledge and cultivation are
agreeable to the mind, we conclude, that such
degree of knowledge as will afford most pleas
ure, is the nearest to the mind's perfection of
intelligence ; and that such state of cultiva
tion, as will render the exercise of conception,
reason, and taste, most agreeable to the na
ture of things, and to our own feelings, is the
nearest to a perfect state of mental discip
line.
The mind begins its infancy in a state anal
agous to that of the body. it• is created in a
rudimentary state. Its powers are to be
drawn forth by a treatment suited to their na
ture. Its capacities, its susceptibilities, its
character, intellectual and moral, are devel
oped by degrees. And this, so far as we
know, is a law of all earthly life.
The body, in its growth, must have proper
nourishment and exercise; medicines for its
diseases, and due protection against violence ;
and, as to its training, who justifies any other
than that which tends to its perfection ?
None of its powers are perfect at first, but,
by nourishment, by exercise, by remedies for
its disorders, and protection from injury, it
must reach its perfection. The human soul
begins its life under a process of education,
which is to continue, in some form or other,
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•
4V4
throughout the whole term of its earthly ex
istence.
What then is education, and the work of
education ? ThiS question relates to the life
of the mind in the present and future state,
and brings before us the chief points with
which we are now concerned.
In relation to the nature and objects of ed
ucation, for the purposes of the present life,
the views of men are governed by the leading
passion: If wealth be the chief earthly ob
ject, the acquisition of wealth will be the
chief object for which a man will educate ei
ther himself; or his children ; and the educa
tion will be such; in kind, and degree, as will,
in his judgment, render the occupation most
lucrative.
As to the kind of education : Is the man
destined to live by agriculture. The kind of
education, for such, is supposed to be of that
kind which will most aid him in the tilling
of the ground, and obtaining the most money
for its products. That man must be a farmer,
soul and body. And the standard of the
mind's education, in this ease; will be adjust
ed to the temporal occupation: The benefits
of education, to his other relations, are for
gotten in the all-absorbing qualifications of
the farmer. The knowledge and discipline
which would fit him for any other sphere,
would be wholly superfluous ; he must spend
no money, in his education, beyond what is
necessary to enable him to till the ground, to
sow his seed, and to sum up, at the end of the
year, the amount of his earnings. The brief
term of the business portion of his life; and
the kind of business; which is to yield his
body a living, determine the studies for the
improvement of his mind. The employment
which is to form the working portion of his
time, during the working portion of the year,-
fixes the laud marks of his intellectual course.
The pretext of a provident and lucrative in
dustry devours the substance of his resources,:
and leaves for the hours, days, and months of
leisure, for mental improvement, only the
crumbs which fall from the table of his ava-:
rice. Thus is it, also, in many instances;
with the daughters of the farmer, mechanic,
or laborer. As it is supposed, that such will
never advance beyond the position of mistress
of the farm house, it is thought that very lit
tle education is demanded, and such accord
ingly receive but little. If such can make
good bread and butter, things veryimportant,
in any case, read and write, and cypher, so
far as to calculate the products of her dairy,
and the like, she has all the education, in the
opinion of some, demanded by her position ;
more than this would be considered a useless
expenditure of money, and waste of time.—
But why should not the farmer's son be as
highly edncated as any other individual, who
is to adorn professional life ? Such an one
may yet sit in the counsels of the nation, or
grace the Presidential chair. And shall that
young lady, who is to be his companion
through life—to share in the honors of his
promotion, shall she be less perfectly educa
ted? Such disparity would render both un
happy. The education of the young of both
sexes must advance in equal proportion, or
the race will decline in virtue and intelli
gence.
But some education is deemed necessary to
the farmer and mechanic. To read, write,
and cypher as far as the Single Mule of Three,
was, in times past, and still is by some, a
sufficient education, for the man, who is to
earn his bread by the sweat of his face.—
That so much learning is necessary, is thought
to be self-evident. Yet we arc of opinion,
that some argument is necessary to prove it;
and that argument is the same, which recom
mends all the branches of a - complete educa
tion. But why in the case of the farmer, or
tile farmer's wife, are these branches consid
ered necessary. Can any one tell how the
mere ability to write one's name, to write or
read a note of hand promotes the art of plow
ing, or sowing, or reaping, or making bread,
or butter, or raising poultry, and the like ?
The ability to read the news no more helps
the strength and skill of the'farmer than the
free command of the literary stores of all the
languages. Why then is this amount of ed
ucation, in this case, considered necessary?
The secret is this : it is found to be conveni
ent ; not for the purposes embraced in the
farming itself; but pertaininc , to sundry rela
tions of the man. How would any one un
dertake to show that the farmer, or his wife,
would not find it a great convenience to un
derstand chemistry, botany, and kindred sci
ences ? It is a very plausible presumption,
that where any one has so much to do with
seeds and plants, he would find such knowl
edge especially convenient. You will perceive
then,
that it is not just so easy to designate
that kind of education which the argument
from convenience would recommend, for any
situation, short of a general discipline in all
the sciences.
But what shall be the measure of educa
tion ? By what means shall we determine
how much knowledge or mental discipline of
any kind, shall servo the necessities or suit
the convenience of any given occupation ?
llow extensive a knowledge of languages, or
the intellectual discipline acquired by the
study of a language might serve a man in
obtaining the most perfect knowledge of his
art? How much is the least that will make
him as intelligent in the means, methods and
results of his industry as he might be ?
.How
much mathematical science is the most that
a farmer or mechanic can use in their occu
pation ? How little is the least of philosophy
that either of these can do with ? And how
much is the most that can be profitably em
ployed ? We must point out the bounds of
the practical utility of education ; for until
these bounds are shown, it is presumptuous,
and even Verillous to measure our intellec
tual necessities by what seems to be the calls
of a temporal occupation.
For the mere purpose of money getting,
then the kind and degree of education short
of the highest and applicablloith advantage
to any given occupation, not be clearly
defined. The saving, even in dollars and
cents, by limiting the mental culture, is too
uncertain to be our guide in training the
rational and moral powers. And. from our
different temporal pursuits themselves, and
the various situations in which we are placed,
(7,
HUNTINGDON, PA., DECEMBER 30, 1857.
--PERSEVERE,-
we have this argument against the depres
sion of the standard of education.
But the education of the human mind for
the present life, only. has to do with yet high
er things than these. The body is not the
man. The life of the body is not the life
of the man. The comfort of the body may
be fairly provided for, and yet the man may
fail of the chief end of his existence. Or
the body may live in comparative privation,
yet the chief ends of life as to this world
may be accomplished. Think of the exalted
nature of the mind, its capacities, its.suscep
tibilities and its certain destiny, and how
can we doubt the chief part of its design is
sought iu the cultivation, and exercise its
own powers? The higher powers of man's
earthly life flow in the channel of clear well
directed thought. The sound mind enjoys
thought. Exercise is its pleasure; and the
degree of pleasure is the degree of mental
cultivation, and intelligence. Let any one
be educated in the habit of clear and just
thought; then furnish' him with knowledge,
and his happiness wilt spring in a great meas
ure from his own intellectual exercises. To
say nothing here of the results, either tempo
ral or everlasting of this mental employment
if the workings of a disciplined and enlight
ened understanding are delightful, ought not
those workings themselves to be provided for
by education? Is not their blissfulness the
internal evidence that the mind was formed
for such operations ; and that it can accom
plish by no other means, the ends of its ex
istence? This is an object worthy of the
mind. Is it not worthy of a rational and
moral nature to prepare to enjoy itself; to be
happy at home ;—to find occupation within
its own resources to make its own intelligence
and reason as a river of life to its feelings ?
And whatever ends out of its existence, may
arise either to its Maker, or its fellow beings,
will not those end& be, in all respects, best
fulfilled by means of its own best states and
exercises ? Such facts amount to virtual de
monstration and the only oue possible from
the constitution and course of nature that the
highest attainable degree of knowledge, and
discipline is due by the law of nature to the
hinnan mind.
het its now turn to some other considera
tions pertaining to the present life. The re
lations of all men are manifold; and no one
of these relations can be a just guage of the
education of any individual. The farmer is
not a farmer only ; the mistress of the farm
house is not the mistress of a farm-house only;
the mechanic is not a mechanic only; he is
not merely a well constructed machine to do
certain kinds of work. His wife is more
than a dumb waiter, or a mere machine to do
the cooking. The interests of the temporal
occupation of either of these persons demands
only an inferior education. But that farmer
or mechanic is at the head of a household ;
and to feed, and clothe a famil y is the least
Ile has to do as their head. Their minds
must be nourished and trained to do this sue
cessfully, the nature and interests of the mind
must be understood. The relations of the
mind, as well as of the body must be under
stood. That farmer, mechanic, or laborer, is a
member of a social community, to which he
owes the issues of a pure heart, and of a cul
tivated understanding ; this is true of all.—
These ought to bear in mind, that it is their
duty to be perpetual contributors to the im
provement of society; and if they would de
rive benefit from the society in which they
live, they must freely give to it. These same.
persons are members of civil society, they arc
bound to understand, and uphold the govern
ment under which they live; its interests in
some measure belong to all, all are responsi
ble for its well-being; all exercise a control
ling influence over its destinies. Of the man's
earthy relations this is the highest, and in
them reside the strongest temporal motives
for his complete education. When is the man
furnished for the temporal purposes of his
life? Is it. when he is prepared to till the
ground, ply his mechanic art, buy and sell ?
When is the young woman furnished for the
temporal purposes of her life? Is it when
she is instructed in the art of house-keeping,
and when she has sufficient education to ena
ble her to buy and sell such commodities as
is necessary to her department. But she is
more than a house-keeper, just as the farmer
is more than a farmer. if it were not so,
then different occupations would require dif
ferent kinds and different degrees of educa
tion. But have not all these persons one
common circle of relations ? The common
laborer may need less knowledge of a par
ticular kind, to work his simple implement
and earn his daily wages than the lawyer does
to manage his causes, the Divine to - teach the
doctrines of the gospel, and enforce the du
ties of religion, or the Statesman to appoint
and execute the forms of a wise legislation.
But as the builder of a family, a constituent
of a social community, a citizen of a free
country, and a supporter of a popular gov
ernment, he requires intelligence, and uo less
cultivation of mind than the Statesmen and
Divine. Here as the men are all sovereigns
they should have a mental training befitting
kings ; and as the men are sovereigns, and
receive the education of kings, our daugh
ters are princess', and deserve the education
of queens. In our country, at least every man
shouldbe a. statesman, in wisdom, as ho is in
responsibility. All have a personal concern
in the government of the country. The most
profound, and vital questions of the state are
to be decided by the vote of the most humble
man in the community, and on his-influence
over the counsels of the nation depend the
security, and value, of his own capital and
industry. Shall such an one be educated
only for the farm cr the shop, or the counter?
Entrusted as he is with the well being, social,
political and religious, and unavoidably con
cerned with the interest of his fellow beings ;
a citizen of a nation whose interests are im
plicated in the policy of every other nation
on the face of the globe, and whose prosperi
ty depends on the intelligence and virtue
of all the people ; a diretor of a govern
ment formed and modified by the people
themselves ; shall the mass of such a people
be educated with no regard whatever, to
these relations and affairs? Between the
private pursuits, and public relations of such,
.4
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Editor and Proprietor.
there is an immense inequality of import
ance; and now the solemn question is, wheth
er, in the educational process it shall be in
the mould of his private pursuits or public
relations his understanding shall be cast.
Against these reasonings as against all true
and legitimate argumentation, for the refor
mation, and improvement of mankind, we
have the objection of practical difficulty to
contend with. There is the stubbornness
of intractable understandings, which this
theory has to encounter and which yields
no indulgence. There is the costliness of
the `education, compared with the means
of the majority. There is the immeasurable
disproportion between the powers of igno
rance to be subdued, and the power of knowl
edge to conquer. There is the seeming mu
tual repugnance between sundry manual em
ployments and tastes of cultivated minds.—
These difficulties and others, are formidable
indeed. - But they dwindle down before the
consideration, that most intellectual intracta
bility stands in a prejudice, fostered in a
prevalent ignorance, and a want of proper
mental cultivation that the costliness of a
commodity is commonly as its rareness, and
is not indirectly a result of it ;—that in well
concerted and resolute expeditions against ig
norance, one chases a thousand, and two puts
ten thousand to flight; and that the stern law
of necessity may always be trusted to recon
cile the highest cultivation of the mind, to the
lowest useful employment, even if such re
conciliation were not an effect of education
itself.
We ought not to distrust our arguments for
education, because they may point to meas
ures that may be impracticable now. We
are only accountable for the beginning of
good enterprises, the finishing;we may leave
to- others, and if we establish principles that,
arc true and unchangeable, we may disch arg6 ,l
our duty though it should be the work of an:- ,
other generation to carry out those princk
ples. We may assert with the greatest conii
donee that the principle-of educating either
male or female, fur the temporal situation of
each, requires nothing less than that they
should be well educated—that all should be
disciplined to clear, lo g ical and habitual
thought ;—that the relislfor intellectual oc
cupation ought to be awakened in every mind;
that all should have the means of knowledge
within their reach, and be made to feel the
proper motives to improve them.
But the great argument for education is
drawn from the life to come. There is a
strong probability that the intellectual char
acter will in the world • to come, forever be
influenced and. affected by the education it
receives here. For first : the necessity of ed
ucation is not wholly a result of the fall of
man from rightness, and this necessity is not
removed by his spiritual renovation. It- is
not because the race of man is a fallen race,
that every man is born in infancy, and comes
to his perfection by degrees. Nor does any
moral change in this world supercede educa
tion, for any of the purposes, for which edu
cation is ever required. The infancy of the
understanding is entirely compatible with
moral purity. The mind needs aid in its de
velopement, not on account of its moral in
firmity, but from the dependance of its na
ture. The necessity of education attaches to
man, as a human being, not as a sinful one,
and whatever may be the process of clothing
the mind within the heavenly perfection,- it
cannot be supposed to involve a miraculous
preparation of the intellectual powers fur
their most harmonious, and effectual opera
tion hereafter. No intimation of the kind
appears in the Bible ; nor any known condi
tions of the heavenly blessedness.
Secondly: the revealed connexion between
the present and future state of the mind
strengthens the probability, that the different
degrees of intellectual discipline in this life
will create everlasting distinctions.
We have a suggestion, on this point, from
contrasting, in a single particular, the mind
with the The body betrays a nature,
incompatible with immortality. Its present
phenomena raise frequent and perplexing
questions, concerning the true theory of a fu
ture state. They so disagree with our notions
of a future life, that, with respect to the ev
erlasting condition of the body, they surround
us with difficulties, insurmountable, except
by the supposition of some essential per
liminary.change. The grades of earthly pre
fection in the body, are no approximation
towards an immortal constitution. .But this
material organization, before it can reach a
changeless state, must be reformed? "lt must
be sown a natural body, and it must be raised
a spiritual body." The system of corporal
agencies, and susceptibilities, in the human
constitution, is to be transformed and modified
to correspond with any scriptural and philo
sophical intimations of the future state.
But the mind suggests its own immortality
by its very constitution and operations here.
Its present nature and organization raise no
difficulties in our theory o the future life.—
It is as fit for existence in a spiritual, as in
the natural world. For even here a large and
important portion of its exercises have no
connexion with matter, as their source or sup
port. And its imperfections themselves, so
far as they consist in a limitation of its pow
ers are not only adapted, but destined to ex
ist forever.
Now that all human understandings will
be placed upon the same level of power and
excellence, in the future life, we ought not to
take for granted. Analogy favors the opin
ion that the results of intellectual discipline
will be everlasting. And while we follow
that only guide in this matter, we may ob
serve that no analogy will help us to obliter
ate from our views of the future state, the
most familiar intellectual distinctions. The
different orders of created understandings
will never be assimilated to each other. The
angel and the man will never be confounded.
If any point in the doctrine of immortality
is settled, it is this, that man will forever be
man ;—that the general laws of mind which
govern our experience here, will prevail in
our experience hereafter ; and hence that ono
human intellect 1611 differ from another hu
man intellect in glory.
And what intellectual distinctions can be
more confidently expected to exist forever
among men, than those which result from
education, in this preparatory state ? What
distinctions are more worthy of everlasting
preservation than these ? There is the su
perior self-command, and the expansive and
harmonious movement of the intellectualpbw
ers accompanied by a vigorous discipline;
there is the capacity of perceiving, and en
joying the more remote relations of things' of
higher views of the beauty and xublitnity of
the mind, and especially the intellectual and
moral gitry of God. Shall all such noble
fruits of mental industry here, be merged
in undistinguishable uniformity of charac
ter? We dare not assert it; but - rather
presume that along the track of the minds'
unending progress will run the traces of
earthly discipline to graduate the intellectual
glory of the soul, and fix its place in the
ranks of light and power.
NO. 28.
It contravenes no revealed law of the Di
vine administration to suppose that the de
grees of intellectual perfection will depend
upon education here; and that only to him
who has a disciplined understanding will be
(riven the everlasting benefits of it. Indeed,
this view seems so agreeable to some notable
rules of future retribution, that it can scarce
ly be regarded as otherwise than true. We
certainly know one respect in which the fu
ture state of the mind is determined bti the
discipline of the present life. There are for
ever distinguished among the heavenly throng,
those who came out of great tribulation, and
whose peculiar experience here wrought out
for them a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory. It was the discipline of
the present life that made on those minds an
everlasting and glorious impression, and
this too, in agreement with the laws of the
mind. The superior glory and bliss of those
minds are the proper effects of their earthly
experience on the spiritual constitution.—
Their spirits thus become more delicately ad
justed to their condition, and more keenly
sensitive to the beatili,e influence of God, and
to the purity and glory of the heavenly state.
Since then, the moral feelings ; improved ac
cording to the laws of the mind, by the
earthly discipline, distinguish themselves for
ever by the legitimate fruits of their improve
ment; they furnish one clear case, in which
the temporal experience produces its proper
effects upon the everlasting character- and
condition_ of the mind.
That the gradatio - ns of human understand
ing, in the life to come, will be sunk and
lost;—:thitt the weak mind will become strong
as the strongest;—that the undisciplined and
intractable will share in the fruits of the
highest cultivation, seems so improbable, that
the supposition betrays an air of rashness.—
Will the most wayward and uncultivated
winds that may be raised by divine mercy
-16 heaven, enjoy forever au equal intellectual
; range with a Newton, an Edwards, and
others that may be mentioned? The rescued
slave of vice, who may have besotted and de
bauched his understanding into an instru
ment of appetite and passion;—trill he enjoy
with a l\lilton, or a Bacon, the same intellec
tual perfection, range through the same fields
of science, and find the same treasures there?
The supposition seems to contradict, I do not
say the attribute of divine mercy, for infinite
mercy is equal to such a redemption; but it
seems to contradict many suggestions of the
Bible, the conclusions of the soundest philos
ophy, and the acts of God in other respects.
These views of our intellectual immortality
are' not to be confounded with the views of
future happiness, except so far us that hap
piness is modified by the exercise of the un
derstanding. The bliss of pure affections
may be perfect, while the pleasures of the
freest, widest, and most harmonious exercise
of the understanding may not be enjoyed.—
While the uneducated christian in his meek
sense of ignorance is conscious of no lack of
enjoyment, he admires the greater knowledge
of his educated neighbor, and would have
a more cultivated intellect if lie could. his
religious faith may stand in full strength.—
lie may have the liveliest sense of his own
acceptance with God, and his christian hope
may be as an anchor to the soul, both sure
and steadfast, while, if he could, he would
have larger views of God and of the universe
than he now enjoys. Such an one has all the
joys of the heart, but fewer pleasures of the
understanding.
We may affirm, with a persuasion scarcely
\ less confident than pleasing, that the intellect
of man forms here its character for humor
' tality. The treasures and discipline of the
lunderstanding endure forever. Doubtless,
certain kinds of knowledge shall vanish
away. Many a dogma of false, and proud
philosophy will hereafter be unknown, as
many a vain speculation of former days is
now forgotten. Sciences now elaborate and
captivating, may then disappear like the
hues of the morning cloud before the flood of
day. But shall we consign the improvement
of the mind itself to the same doom with its
crude and evanescent fancies? These pow
ers of conception and reasoning, like the
pure affections of the heart, are preparing for
endless exercises_ Here then is the great ar
gument for a thorough discipline of the mind
by education, the motive of an everlasting
consequence. it opens before us a field where
the advantages of intellectual training ap
pear in boundless expansion and exaltation ;
—intellectual advantages indeed, intellectual
only ; we do not elainifor them alone the so
lemnity and worth of a moral character, yet
such advantages as one man has above an
other, as_ angels enjoy above men, and as
God enjoys above all.
Such warrant has the parent, who is train
ine, his child, by a rigid course of mental dis
cipline, for believing that he is giving to that
growing understanding an imperishable char
acter. The motives to a thorough education,
are, in this view infinitely magnified. To
train a mortal only were an inferior work.
It is a. man, and not a brute, that we are
rearing. Intellectual powers are preparing
under our hand for everlasting operations ; to
act forever with greater expansion, energy,
and blissfulness, for the blissfulness we are
here giving them. The parent, in the right
education of his child, confers on that intel
lect an unfading distinction. The touches of
his pencil are indelible. He paints for im
mortality, The undying and unchanging
mind retains the impressions of its educa
tion while itself lives; and, in the eternity of
its being, it will show its training, and thence
receive a ceaseless enlargement of its over
flowing blessedness.
The comprehensive view, of this great sub
ject may thus be stated : That as the heban
mind arrives at its proper perfection, only by
education, all require education to fit then
for the purposes of the present life ; and that
every human being has in this life, imperious
claim to the highest state of mental cultiva
tion which his circumstances place within
his.reach. Hence, too, it follows that the
great business of each generation is to edu
cate the generation that follows ; and that
the most ample and efficient arrangements
for the thorough and efficient education of
the masses, forms no small part of the policy
of all good government.
The reasonings which we have pre,ented,