Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1861-04-11
GOntatImal Department.
History in Common Schools.


great utility in the common concerns of life ;
that it is the key by which we unlock the
great storeh0use that contains the most of our
present knowledge, and because it is so useful
to the great masses of men, it ought to have
place in their system of education. AS this
is an age in which the practical is esteemed of
paramount Importance 70 the speculative, it is
proposed to carry the line OF argument farth-
er in the same direction. That which invests
the present With such great interest, is not
anything VIII ich there is in it, taken by itself,
but on account of its relations to the future.
We plan and act not so much for present ad.
vantage and happiness, as for future well be-
ing. Our anxieties are not for this feetiug
moment whose intangible form we cannot
grasp, the rustic of whose invisible wings tells
US of its rapid fight, not for the momentarv
joys aud sorrows we at present experience, but
for the long train of good or i'll which is to
follow them. The consequences which are to
come from our present conduct, and the de-
veopment Of our present plans invest them
with such immense importance But what
those consequences may be we have no means
of determining, but from knowing what conse-
quences have followed from similar conditions
in the past The light which shines from the
lamp of experience, is the only light, (save
that of revelation which glimmers through
the thick folds of that veil which the AImigh.
ty has hung up before the untrodden vista of
the future. Hence other circumstances being
equal, he is he safest counselor, and his plans
are most successful who has the greatest
knowledge Of what has been done under ike
circumstances. Hence it is, that past expe.
rience is appealed to, not only by politicians
and statesmen in managing the intricate affairs
OF government, but by men in the daily and
hourly concerns Of life, to the planting of
grain, to the harvesting of crops, 10 the laws
which regulate, supply and demand in trade
and manufacture, TO the speculations and ex-
periments, as well as to the philosophy OF
mankind Now it is not claimed that in the
ordinary course of common school education
such an extensive knowledge of history, gen.
eral and particular could be gained as to fit
men for all the circumstances and emergencies
Of life, but the scholar would form the habit
of gathering together and treasuring up such
knowledge, as fast as it comes under his OBJ
servation. He would form a habit taste
to re developed in the future just as in
arithmetic, il is not presumed that the pupil
has an example of everything that he may
ever wish to compute in all the mutiform op-
eratiQns of business, but that he has such
knowledge of the fundamental principles, that
he can readily apply them to every new case
in which his arithmetic may be involved
Were it not for the absolute necessity of
becoming somewhat acquainted with the past.
our knowledge Of history under our present
system of education, would be truly lamentable.
As it is, the ignorance of our youth of those
events which have marked the eras of the
worlds progress, which let in upon it the light
of civilization and freedom, and which ought
to be inscribed upon the tablets of the memo
~ with a pen of iron, is deporable How
little is known of the character and extent of
that cultivation and refinement which existed
thousands Of years gone by, how little is
known of the struggles for power by uuprin-
cipled men, Of the tolls and of the sacrifices it
cost to break the rod of oppression, of the
effects of the popular diffusion of knowledge
and religion to say nothing of the thrilling
events which tranSpired in our own country,
and which, if they were known, would stimu-
late to higher attainmentS and juster views
than the masses Of our people had yet reach
ed. We need this knowledge to give us truer
views of the principles of government, with
which every voter ought to be familiar we
need it to make US less boastful and self con-
fdent, and more conservative, to have higher
regard for religion and virtue, The need to
hold up the lamp of experience before the
transparencies of the present, and watch the
outline aud play of the figures as they are
projected into the future, so that we may
know what course and what conduct is the
most proper for US to presume, what will tend
most to our own happiness and to the happi-
ness of the race. Therefore on the score of
utility, no subject which has place in our
common schools, has stronger claim than
this. The facts which it brings forth sheds a
light upon all the concerns of life. The farm
er at his pillow, the mechanic ct his bench, the
merchant at his counter, or the statesman in
the halls of legislation, each in his sphere,
needs the lessons she teaches What thus
enters into the popular well being of society,
ought by all means, to have place in the
popular system of education.
TERRYTowN, Pa D. C.