Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1855-06-07

School papers, No, 9.

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The Importance uf education can no longer
be a matter of speculation. II has become
settled conviction that our youth mus, be edu-
Gated to cit them for the responsibilities Of life.
It is seen that education gives coloring and
tone to everything pertaining 10 the welfare
and happiness of society. Knowledge is the
handmade of religion, and both knowledge and
religion are essential to the selEgovernment,
happiness and prosperity ofa people. 1t is to
these institutions, under God, more than to all
other influences combined, that our country
has risen to its present greatness and glory.
New England has sent forth her school
masters and missionaries, her mechanics and
artizans, her business men and agriculturisrs,
her ministers and statesmen, who have scat
tered broadcast over the land, the seeds of ma
tional strength and refinement, which are ev-
erywhere springing up and bearing fruit
These are the men to whom humanity is in
',ebied for rolling back the tide of corruption,
and lifting up into the sunlight and blissfulness
OF IlcdNeil, the uoWu-uVuuou dNu 0eErdueQ
sons and daughters of Adam.
1t is strange that England should have had
no part in this good work that she should
have established no system Of national educa-
ton that she should have neglected her mil
lions, and left them 10 perish in darkness
You can hardly find an allusion in the works
of her classic writers, TO the subject of educa-
ton; and the few that do occur are intended
to degrade the teacher and his profession.
This is true from Shakespeare down 10 the
meanest villi6er. John Locks treatise,-
Thoughts on Education" should be except
ed, for it is really one of his most valuable
works. Astounding in quaint criticisms and
valuable suggestions, it admirably answered
the plan the author had in view, viz the ed
ucatiou of an English gentlemen; but was OF
little account in its application TO the educa-
ton of the masses, and particularly of females.
But, it is to our own country, especially
New England, and to the State OF Massachu-
sets in particular, that the honor of first es-
tablishing tree schools is due Our Purita n
fathers, as soon as they had made provision
against the rigors of the climate and the at
tacks Of savage foes, founded college aud es-
tablished common schools.
Wherever the Capital of the United States
may be, New England will be its seat of en-
pire. No other part of our country or the
world-not the valley of the Danube, the
Ganges, the Nile or the Amazon, is ever to
exert so formative an influence as New Eng.
land, upoa she destinies of men and there
fore. in civil polity, in ethics, in studying and
obeying the laws of God, it must ascend 10 .
high and ennobliug state of cultivation and in
telligence. Abolish knowledge, and New
England, the beautiful, is again wilderness
and our children degenerate into new tribe:
of Shawnees, Narragansetts and Penobscots
But perfect education, and our children canno
but rise % an elevation as yet unknown in GU
annals, and unprophesied in our hopes
One point should be more fully realized
The boys of to-day will be the men of to-mor
row. These boys and girls are to live in
future generation. Some progress has beeI
made when we compare the present with tn,
past; but we must look forward from tn,
present to the future. Parents should see {,
it that their children are so educated that the,
can hold respectable positions twenty year
henca To Lear I'LL sahnni -.
I Il. L =
unprepared as he must be to take high plac,
among the men of his day, is the surest wal
to bring even learning itself into contempt
No one will have greater occasion to regre
this than the boy himself. The astonishin!
results of to-day are to be attributed to educa
ton, and this it is alone which has power suf
fcient to control the mighty elements whicl
it has reused into increased activity. He VIII,
gives his influence TO this great scheme of hu
man Improvement, does much toeivs dignii
to human character and 10 swell the tide @
human happiness. Those who do this act nc
for Bath, or New England, or this country
merely, but for the world.
| n generation modlhes tho character OF IT
children far more than it does its own. TIL
influence Of contemporaries upon contempara
ries is very great; but the influence of prede
cessors is far greater. Here every. blow j
struck in the direct line of gravitation, AM
therefore, the mighty laws of nature conspir
with human force to give it such weight an
power as will stamp its impress forever upol
all it strikes. MA. w.
Bath, June A, 1855.
j SHIPwREcK AND Loss OF LIFE. The emi
grant ship John, sailed from Plymouth, Eng
land, for Quebec, with large number of pas
sengers, encountered a heavy gale of win
from the northeast, 10 the westward of Eddy