The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1842-03-01

read the book which apprentice lends hin, est
the masters seye should miss il in the morning,
shall stand and treat with kings, shall addssw pro-
vinces to the domain of science. shall bind the
lightning with hempen cord, and bring il harmles
fom he skies" (Applause.)
Yes, gentlemen, on that kite, when the city, mp
ON hieh it that day looked down, shall be know
only by its ruins will be read by posterily as il
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN-( Tremendous applause. D.
These are strong feelings, fellow citizens, but on
theme like this "'Iis impious to be calm; Here,
passion is reason" Shall there be an education
Tor the poor as such Rather, shall not the Com
mon School be the best school, and common TO ali
In the words Of Carlyle, speaking to the great
heart OF kumasity, will say to you at is not be-
cause Of the low tolls that plead for the poor !;
we must all toll and the struggle with the dense
brain is Of all labor the most Consuming. For the
laboring poor hungry and athrst there is food and
drnk-for the weary and heavy laden, the Heavens
send sleep the deepest and the sweetest.
ono AS a laborer, plead net for HIM !; but de
mourn that the lamp Of his soul should 90 out-that
no bright visions shoud visit him and that his
mind through the whole Of life should be filed
with two great spectres-fear and indignation.
oh that one man should die ignorant, who had a
capacity for knowledge, should make us all weep"
The common idea is, that man needs no other
education than will fit him for labor. But this is
treason to his divine nature. His claim for edu-
catien springs from his nature, and not from his
calling. He is te be educated because God made
him for this high purpose, and net because he 10
not mere animal OF muscles and work. He
has close and tender connections with his
neighbors and his God. He 10 father,
husband, son, friend, christian! He has home. q
lily and fearfally related to be educated only for
trade! Yes, says the spirit Of the age. an educa.
tion will only make him disconnected with his lot.
And now my Friendship is this spirit this cha.
nj U,st .lr~.
No; it is mechanical We live to make great
things, rather than great men. We set too much
value on the work, and too little the workman
II is an age of rail roads, canals banks currency,
and legislation. II you wish 10 the spirit of the
age embodied, and at one glancc-as you sit in the
rail car, carried through the air. like an arrow to
the target at the rate OF twenty miles the hsur look
into the field and see the free horse, throwing his
heels into the SIT, leaving fire horse yoked in his
stead !-(Redoubled applause.) The sailor, on the
wings OF steam, flies ever the ocean, and rides the
pillows as a tanned horse. We live to perfect the
outward machinery of life, rather than enducats
ship the bellows-blower Of LIES anthem, and not
the organist 1t 10 age not Of education, but of
profit and loss II does not adore the true and the
beautiful, but calculates the gain. The heart of the
nation pours out its worship toward the body poll
tic, but the soul polite is forgotten. Everything
is done,
"Not for Conscience sake, but for Purses sake"
Now, worth means wealth, and wisdom, the art of
getting it.-(Laughler and applause.)-And, As
Fielding said, "a patriot, in these days, means 4
man whe wants an office and politics is the art of
getting oae Worth, means power-wealth rank
and true knowledge means the art of getting all
three. "-(Laughter.)
We have become not only mechanical in action,
but mechanical in thought. We have now our com
mittees and societies for making and publishing
public opinon-aud our educational machines
Lancasterian and monitorial systems, and lessons
made easy.-(Applause) @
Thus, man has lest his conscience, his separate
existence, and become incorporated in the souless
mass. He has, in the words of Carlyle, become q
thng.many things. The planteris thing sent
into the field to gather food he his hashel and
his cart, and sinks into farmer instead Of being
man on farm: The merchant is Gagged in the hfg-
gngs Of his shop and his soul is subject to dollars
The mechanic becomes a machine, and the law
yer statute book. All is for sensation, motion,
mechanism! Nothing for thought, conscience,
love, education The great strife of the ration is
and where withal it shall be clothed" The body Is
Dives, clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring
sunptuously every day-while the mind is Lazarus,
lying In rags at the gate and fed only with crumbs
cheering Yes, gentlemen, the age has take.
away mans divinty-his noblsr part, and it would
be satisfied with King Henry w., il each pea.
SAINT had chicken in his pot, The age would in.
poem praised, asked IL It would make NATION
cheapsr.-(Roars OF laughter)
1t is age Of money and machinery-money
setting machinery in operation, in order TO repro
duec money. do not know how it is here, but
do know how it is in the city where live. You
can tell whether it be the same here There, the
great struggle, from sunrise to sunset, with each
man is to see how many pockets he can empty into
his ewn. (Renewed laughter and applause.) To
be rich there. 10 accounted merit; to be poor, an
offence Afalse standard of merit is thus erected,
by which it is less imp ortant to be wise and vrtuous
than to be rich.