The Arkansas banner., 1843-10-21

ed to large family of boys. Five sixths of these have charge of the farm; others
 are taught trades and handicrafts; and to these two classes is confded the task of
 providing for the wants of the family But,
 as necessary appendage to large family,
 one son is set apart as doctor, another as a minister, and third as lawyer; and to qualify these the better for their respective , duties, it is agreed that portion of the fam { ily funds shall be applied 10 the establish ,nent and maintenance of school, for their exclusive benefit. Thus, while the farmers and mechanics are getting their trades, by la bor in the field and in the shop, the doctor, the parson. and the lawyer, are getting their , professions in the public school. By-and-by, the working boys discover, that, owing to the rapid improvements of the age, school know { ledge is as advantageous to the trades as II IS to the professions that there have been great improvements made abroad in their several arts of labor, and t'lat without knowledge
 of these improvements, and of the laws upon
 which they are based, they cannot success-
 fully compete with their better instructed
 neighbors. Feeling themselves entitled to the same favor that has been shown to the
 doctor, the parson, and the lawyer,-desirous of acquiring this useful knowledge in their
 business. so necessary to the common inter-
 ests of the family, and influenced by laud-
 able pride to become in fact, what they are
 in name, on footing of equality with their
 already learned brethren,-the working boys
 now ask the family, to establish for them q
 school, adapted to their employments, now
 that the affairs of the family are prosperous.
 We cannot, say they, acquire the desired
 knowIedre in the doctors school, because 1t is not taught there; and because, were 1t taught, we cannot be spared from the farm and shop to go after it. We want school in which we can practice our hands to useful labor, gain instruction in the principles of our business, and at the same time qualify our selves for the higher duties of social and public life Is there anything unreasonable in this request Or is there aught in it which wise and prudent family would not grant with alacrity?
 The State has expended about three mil lions of dollars towards qualifying the doctor, the divine, the lawyer, and the gentleman, to discharge their several duties in society, from which the farmer and mechanic can derive but partial, if any, direct advantage The panest principles of justice, which accede to all classes an equal participation in the
 ayors of free government, as we'll as proyident foresight, require alike some special provision for those who live by the sweat of the brow.
 We affect to be above the people of the old continent in all our social and political privileges. To sustain this superiority, we should be above them, too, in our intellectual and moral improvements. But we are not We are superficial in too many things. We mistake the name, too often, for the substance We are satisfied with sowing few seeds at random, upon superficial tillage, leaving the after culture to chance; and tho consequence is, weeds spring up with luxuriance, and often smother and destroy the plants Of use- | fitness. We have but begun in cultivating the mind, the great lever to the arts, and the re- finer of human enjoyments. We do not go far enough 10 insure the harvest. In many | portions of Europe, the mind is brought into early discipline, carefully prepared, and sown with those seeds which promise the best re- turn to the individual and to the community. | Take Prussia for B. illustration of this re- mark. There the Government provides seven years instruction for every child in the king dom, at the public charge, when the parent Is unable to defray 1t. And what branches of instruction are there taught2 Not merely those elementary studies, as reading, writing, and the preliminary rules of arithmetic, which constitute the main studies in our common sohools-but the sciences which instruct and dgnity the useful arts-chemistry, geology, botany, &c.-geography, history, geometry, drawing, and music, the mechanic arts and agriculture. Nor does the Prussian Govern ment stop here; it provides the schools with the means of teaching this knowledge eff ciently And the primary, or common schools, are not only provided with books and other ordinary matters, but with a collection of maps and geographical instruments, models of drawing, writing, music, &c., with instru- ments and collections necessary for studying natural history, and according to the extent of the system of instruction, with the appa- ratus necessary for gymnastc exercises, and tools suited 10 teach the mechanic arts or manufactures in the school. She also attaches ! to every school in village, or small town. a kitchen or orchard garden, which is made available for the instruction of the scholars and to her normal schools, or schools for the education of teachers, a farm, for practical instructions in agriculture. Dr. Channing, in speaking of the Prussian system of in- struchon, says 1t is adapted to monarchy to bring the minds of subjects in quiet sub jectlon to the will of the sovereign. So far as we have sketched its features, it seems as well adapted to a republic as monarchy. If King finds 1t for his interest thus to have all his subjects instructed in the higher, or at least most useful branches of knowledge, of how much greater importance is it, that those who are themselves to share in the sovereign ty, to make and execute laws, should have their minds early imbued with useful know ledge. In giving these outlines of common school education in Prussia, we give, with trliiing variation, the system in operation in Wurtemburgh, Bavaria, and other German States, and which is now being adopted in the French Empire. The education of the great body of the people, with the view of "A 4. .I