The New York herald., 1851-08-26
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION
Our u Oh1O RepOre
FOR THE
ADVANCEMEN OF.EDUCATION
FIRST DAY.-EvENING SESSION.

an ADDRESS upon the influence which the peculiar
condition Of different nations, and the spirit Of diff
aerent ages, have had upon education, inquirins
what were the governing ideas of the present age,
and their effect on education? He inquired If any
one could give q definition of education, which
would comprehend all the systems which the world
had tried, or if any could tell what was the e,-
sensial property ofeducaton. The Indian warrior;
the Chinese, the man of business; the pedantc
scholar-eech has his notion. But what is The
standardl Shall the same systems be applied to
all nations, even to all individuals in the
nations The great principles of developing the
moral, intellectual, and physical powers, were
common to all systems, being fixed unchangeably
by God. Men differed only as to which should
have the preponderance But in plans, in systems,
no universal rule could be established. The spirit
of different ages, the forte Of different natlons and
= in0eed all conceivable human differences, CON-
bined to pre- vent it, He illustrated this by q re-
view of the pecu arties in the manifestations of
education in past ages, and by brief sketch Of na-
tonal characteristics in modern education, showing
that the same differences which characterized them
rs nations, also manifested themselves in their
systems of education; that this underwent
responding change, according as the spirit OF the
age was warlike and powerful, and according to the
relations which nations had to each other, and to
the individuals which constituted them that edu-
caten had been, in turn, both the cause and conse
To give vividness to his view he conceived to be
present the representatives of different systems-
Spartan, Athenian, Roman, schoolman of the
Middle Ages, soldier of Cromwell and of Napo
leon, q German trancendentalist, a Jesuit, an
Eastern despot, q practical schoolmaster, aud a
theoretical friend Of education, &c.-that they had
just expressed their ideas of the true way to edu-
cate. The educational notion OF each may have
been suited to the time in which they were p-omu-
gated; but would they be suited to the present con-
dition of the world, the spirit Of the present age
H. x1k kl L: ~
Is there, then, any such thing as abstract educa-
tion! The youth must be educated, not to meet
every emergency, but only such as circumstances
determined are prepared for him Educatonists,
therefore, must study the spirit Of the age and the
forte Of the nation, before they put in i'll dgested
theories Experiment, at the hazard of genera
tion of minds, is a matter too serious for triaing
Immediately after the delivery of the lecture, the
Chair invited gentlemen to offer their opinions upon
the subject. The subject, he said, was certainly
one of great interest and Importance. There had
been always a connection between the spirit of an
age and It's education, and, but for some remarks
towards the close, he should conclude to adopt its
sentiments.
tracted to a late hour, in which Professor Agnew,
President Mahan, Mr.. Thayer, Mr.. Pierce, Mr..
Washburn, Professor Rainey, and Hon. Joshua r.
Giddings participated. send you some of the re-
Professor AGSEw, of the University Of Michigan,
said-After waiting long for older men to interrupt
the awful pause, and feeling it important that the
OF meeting 90 az ltS early SESSIONS
rise, sir, not to make a speech, but rather to
break the silence, and meet the expectation OF the
audience. Leaving the question OF history, whe-
ther edu .aton has been controlled by the spirit of
the age, and dissenting from the proposition that
it must necessarily be so in the future, propose to
remark briefly on two assumptions of the address
to wit, that science cannot be highly developed
under a republic, and that second rate talents COM
mand the most attention, and the best reward. Is
1T so that the secondrate merchant and mechanic
are the successful men in their respective depart
men.s Does the half-educated lawyer, physician,
theoogian, command the chief places, and obtain
ihe largest compensation My observation tells me
True, indeed, the qua;k will often have grea.
run of business but who secures the confidence Of
the community, and who is at length the man Of
substant al means! On the other point, the gen.
teman's own address contradicted him. Dad he
not portray very beautifully before US the high
state of Intellectual cultivation at ancien; Athens
And was not Athens a republic And who has sur
passed equaled her in her esthetic Development,
her high intellectual attanments Is it indeed so
that republican government is adverse to the cut
tvation Of the mind that under our free institu-
tions, inspiring energy and zeal, we cannot rise to
lofty aspirations and attain ments, too in all the
departments Of knowledge And when system Of
universal education, under free government, shall
have trained the mulitudes Of foreign as well as
native children, who shall say that republican
people will not appreciate and pay the best educated
men, and that there will not be found among her
noble those whose names, in science and lite
rature. shall give lustre to their countrys honor
Presiden. MAHAN said that there was one gene
raj feature Of the address which was somewhat Pc
culiar, and which seemed to require a passing
mark. He referred TO what, forrthe want Of a bet
ter form Of expression, he would denominate kind
of inds Eniteness, making upon the mind the i'm.
preston that something should be done, without
indicating what, and thus leaving US in a kind of
painful. i; not sgonizng suspense. He did no. be-
ieve in the principle of mainly consulting fears;
fears sakensd by wildly arraying before us the
pofs which attend action in every direction, in
stead OF exciting hope, and then laying open the
way by which the objects Of hope may DO realized:
IL would be vain for us to meet the discussion Of
great princip les of education, IL minds were TO
be chiefly occupied with impressions, and appalling
exhibitions of the perils attendant the attempt
to lay down any principles whatever. ln regard to
the principle OF government in our institutions Of
learning, alluded to in the address, he thought
that there were two extremes equally perilous-the
COVER oment of the rod, without explaining to the
child the reasons why authority Is exercsed-and
more moral suasion, without total reputation OF
the rod and even Of authority, properly so called.
The perfe cton Of government in his judgment, con-
sisted in the union Of the two prnciples-exercsng
authority in the spirit of love, convincing the pupil
that what Is require of him Is reasonable, right,
and best-and then insisting that what he himself
sees be ought to do he must do, and using the rod
only whcr under such circumst inces, ODE tcnce Is
refused All right government had Its basis in the
dictates of the common intelligence, and both In
its principles and forms Of administration commend
itself to the general conscience. The address, as
be thought, leaned too far towards the government
arbitrary, with the rod rs the symbol OF authority.
Nor co I'D he approve of the sentiment maintainod
IL he heard Alright in the address, that individuals
of Lesser talents and wisdom should yield their
judgments Of what is right and expedient, to that
ofndividuals above them in those endowments, and
tlat individual Judgment should be yielded to that
OF the majority. On the other hand, reason and
inspiration both united in requiring every man, on
all such subjects, to be fully persuaded in bis own
mind ard himself to "prove all things, and to hold
fnst that which is good"
Mir G.. f. THAYER, Of Boston, saiG-Alr. Prcsi-
dent, rise with great reluctance 10 do any thing
20 divert the attention Of the association from the
,leya,ing and expanding views of the gentleman
who has ist addressed you nor should do 1t at
all. having come here to be q listener and not a
spt aker, did not fear that Al appropriate oppor-
tunity might not again be sGercd me for the sug-
gestion Of single thought, which has occurred 70
my mind during the present discussion. ! shall
conne myself sir, to a single point, and that briefly
and thus consume but few moments of your