The freeman. (Fremont [Ohio]) 1849-1850, 1850-03-16
Total State debt
Total Annual Interest
$l9,o26.2 200 A
l147955 AZ
Who are Interested III the Subject
Of Education!

Extract from the Report of the Superintendent Of
! l'ublIc Instruction ia Michigan
The cause of popular education commcnds
itself to every individual in the community,
whether he has children or not, and whether
those children are-already educated or not
1st This cause commends itself to every
citizen, even though he regards no other than
bis pecuniary interest, If civilization is pref
erablc to barbarism, then is every citizen, per-
sonally interested in the improvement of our
schools, and the education of all the youth of
the State. If our neighbors' children are un-
taught, and suffered to grow to years under
the influence of street education, in Incidence
and vice, we thereby leopard the safety of our
persons and properly. But if our own and
our neighbors' children are properly educated
if their minds are well cultivated, and they be-
come thoroughly established in habits of in
dustry frugality and virtue, then we are safe
in our persons and in our property
The man of wealth, who, from sordid mo-
tiyes, refuses or neglects to cooperate in this
noblest of enterprises, which contemplates the
greatest good of the present and all coming
generations, may in a few years, realize that
he was penny wise and pound foolish; for the
very children whose education he neglected,
would have become, under favorable auspices,
good citizens, peaceful neighbors, and prosper
Gus members of the community. But now
they are hardly better than barbarians. In
times of civil coumotion, political excitement,
or pecuniary embarrassment, they are ready
to mingle with, or head, ifneed be, frenzied
mob; and he, under whose benign patronage
they might have become prosperous citizens
Of fbo
sequence of his cold neglect if not contempt,
may be the first to see his own house torn
down over his head, and his family turned in
to the streets in penury, while his stores and
his warehouses; are broken open, and his goods
and merchandise are seized upon and distrib-
uted to the clamorous and hungry multitude.
ID This cause commends itself to the pat
riot How can he who loves his country, and
desires to see broad and deep-a sure foun-
dation laid, upon which may be reared a mag
ni6cent and enduring superstructure of ma
tional grandeur, so reasonably expect to see
the consummation of his hopes as when matur-
/ ing and executing liberal plans for the educa-
lion of his country's youth.
The language of George Washington, in
his Farewell Address, promote as an object
of primary importance, institutions for the gen
eral diffusion of knowledge" we have already
quoted.
Akin to this is the noble sentiment of John
Adams, which he conveyed to his wife when
public duties separated him from his family.
Said he, t'the education of my children is new
or out of my mind. Train them to virtue; ha-
bituate them to industry activity and spirit
make them consider every vice as shameful
and Unmanly; fire them with ambition to be
useful; make them disdain to be destitute of
any useful knowledge"
Every parent should make these sentiments
his own; and every man claiming to be pat
riot, should be able in some sense to say, "the
education of my country's youth is never out
of my mind' And be should act consistently
with this sentiment
Sd. This. cause commends itself to the phi
lqnthropist He who loves his kind and de-
sires to meliorate their condition, can, in no
other way so successfully labor to accomplish
the object of his wishes, as in building up
good systems of education for the young.
There is nothing valuable pertaining to man,
but what he is of himself; and it is the prov
ince of the educator harmoniously to develope
his infinite capabilities, and thus qualify him
| for the greatest usefulness to his fellows, and
the personal enjoyment of the maximum Of
human happiness.
/ 4th. Need l add, this cause commends it
self to the Caristian2 How can the disciple
of Jesus so successfully execute the instruc-
ltion of the risen Savior, ego teach all nations,
as in providing suitable schools for the educa-
ton of children ?-schools in which their evil
Ipropensities shall be subdued, and their mob
Ter powers be cultivated and cherished into a
healthful growth schools in short, in which
children should be trained up in the way they
should go''