The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-08-26
EaI,sri.I Correspondence.
My DeaT Sirs:

mu DcoI ctfts
In visiting Boston and its vicinity, ones
mind is very fOrcibly impressed with the inces-
sent activity of the people, and with their pow
er Of overcoming obstacles. These two traits
seem peculiarly characteristic. While spend
ing an hour or two, a few days since, at the
house Of friend, who lives few miles from
Boston on the line Of one Of the railroads,
wa. struck with the constant passing Of trains
Of cars, and, in answer TO some remark, my
friend said that every twenty hours hfty-siK
trains, freight and passenger, passed over the
road. When one considers the great length OF
many Of these trains, some Of the freight-trains
numbering twenty. thirty, or forty cars, and
that this road is but one Of eight over which
thousands of persons IRE daily carried to and
from Boston; and when, in addition, one reflects
upon the great, apparently almost insuPerable,
obstacles in the way Of the Construction OF
these roads, he ceases 10 wonder at the Prosperi-
" Of this city, though he can never cease TO
wonder at and admire the activity. courage and
perseverance, manifested. He feels that peo-
pie which has the confidence to plan. and the
energy TO carry through, such works, cannot
but succeed. Depressed they may be for time,
bet dishesrtened they never can be.
The power Of triumphing over obstacles,
which so strikingly distinguishes this people, il
also seen in the surprising beauty Of the neigh
bOFhOOd of Boston. Here is a country Of poor
soil, rocky and barren, and yet, by industry
and taste, it has become a paradise. BY skill
and intelligent, unwesrying lsbour, the soil has
been made to yield beautifully and on unsightly
rocks the hand of taste has erected cottages
models of beauty and elegance For miles and
miles you may ride, and at every turn your eye
will be arrested by some lowly building or some
palaee-like mansion from which it will turn
with reluctance.
Whence, you may ask, this success and beau
ty7 Two words give the snswer-intelligenf
labor. Active hands guided by active and
wsll-develoPed minds. Do you Inquire further,
whence this mental activity and development
The answer ia equally ObyiOus-uHiUersal edu-
cation. Education is regarded here not mere
by as an element, but as the element-the all
important and main element Of social prosperi-
~ and happiness. From the earliest settlement
Of this country the cause Of education has held
Appointment place in the affections Of the peo-
pie, and one only needs a glance at the magni-
hcent tthis epithet | use not carelessly, but as
truly eKPressiye) buildings which Boston has
erected for her public Schools to that the in
terest in this cause has not abated. In walking
through the various parts Of the city you con-
tinuslly meet with edi6ces whose external APP
idea Of the elegance and comfort which are
manifest within. The character Of these build
ings may be inferred from the fact, that three
We're finished within a year at en- average eK-
Pense Of not less than seventy thousand dollars.
YOu can easily imagine that q school house,
erected at an expense Of seventy or eighty thou
sand dollars, may be attractive not only 10 the
passing stranger, but to the young, for whose
special welfare it is designed.
IL Is not only in the style Of building that
the interest felt in the cause Of education is re-
Eesled. Such salaries are paid to the teachers
will insure talents Of high order and well
tried experience. The principals Of the Gram
mar schools receive fifteen hundred dollars per
annum, while to the principals Of the English
and Latin high schools twenty five hu inbred dol
lars are paid. These sums seem large, but
what is the result Of their appropriation The
standard of instruction in the high schools Of
Boston is, witho<e doubt, superior to that Of any
private school in the Union; and, what Is espe-
ciaIly worthy Of consideration, the unequalIed
privileges of these schools can be enjoyed by
the humblest boy in the city. This seems to
me true rePubicanism, beautiful manifesto
ton Of the spirit of our country.
l perceive by the Auditors report that the
amount expended in this city in a single year,
for schools and school-hOuses. was S29S GIG 40,
nearly one-quarter part Of all the ordinary ex-
psnses of the city.
To many this may seem enormous expen-
diture-bIt is IL not truly wise expenditure
What incalculable good is thus done to the
minds and hearts of the young; what increase
10 made in the productive energies, in the wealth
Of the whole community, by developing and
snriehing the intellects Of all classes, thereby
rendering labor intelligent and profitable; and
what a tribute is thus paid to the cause Of edu-
cation, which is thus emphatically and con-
stanty declared an all-importsnt and sacred
cause Yours, with esteem,
J. ii. II.