who combines with his industry a knowledge of the natural laws, which co-operate with him, is not only more likely to benefit himself by an intelligent application of his skill than one, who is altogether ignorant of them; but he is also more likely to benefit mankind, by the discovery of improvements, which might not have occurred to him but for the enlightened observation, under which his mechanical processes have been carried on. These considerations will be justly appreciated, when it is remembered that many of the most useful inventions of past ages as well as the present, have been made by practical men, though they may have been brought to perfection by the investigations of science.

By thus elevating the standard of individual character, both strength and duration will be given to our civil liberties. The virtue of the people is equal to every trial; but it is necessary that they be well informed, that they may not be deceived by false appeals to their judgment. It is only by early instilling correct principles and thus furnishing the mind with a standard to try the impressions made upon it, that the dangers of misconception and misconduct can be guarded against. The stability of our political institutions is essentially dependent upon an enlightened state of the public mind, and in proportion to the degree of intellecual improvement will be our security as a free people. These considerations derive additional importance from the fact, that the character of every representative government must necessarily be determined by the character of those whose action upon it is felt. The arguments by which its measures are supported or opposed, and in general, all appeals addressed to the public judgment, take their tone from the moral and intellectual character of those, in whose power it is to entertain or reject them. Under our institutions all political power results to the great body of the people, and it is of vital consequence, therefore, to our national character, that our plans of popular instruction should embrace the greatest possible amount of useful information, and produce the greatest possible intellectual improvement.

There is another view of this subject which ought not to be overlooked. Knowledge is in modern times the great instrument by which political results are accomplished. Indeed, it may be suggested with some reason, whether the observation is not equally true of ages less enlightened than our own. Writers upon government have, until recently, it is true, been accustomed to lay the

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foundation of political power in the possession of property. But in reverting to the times, in which the truth of this proposition has been generally received, it will be found that the possession of property and of knowledge had usually been coincident in the same classes, and the influence of one may easily have been confounded with that of the other. At all events, the observation is in modern times true alike of individuals and classes of men. Those whose minds are furnished with the greatest amount of practical knowledge, exercise, as a general rule, the most powerful and enduring influence over their associates in the active concerns of life. This remark is not intended to apply to merely scientific acquirements, but to that knowledge which is applicable to the practical business of mankind. So far, therefore, as it is attainable in the common schools, the proper branches of instruction should be introduced, for if they are excluded, forty-nine of fifty of our citizens will be compelled to gain useful knowledge elsewhere by their own efforts, and to enter upon the theatre of life under decided disadvantages when compared with those who have the means of procuring an education in schools of a higher grade. It is believed that the former might be made the vehicles of all the practical knowledge which is necessary to fit men for the discharge of the duties of citizenship, or which can be made applicable to the ordinary business concerns of life. Any thing beyond this may be left to those who have the means and taste for scientific acquirements, without the danger of detracting from the just influence in society of those, who have neither wealth nor leisure for such pursuits.

Although the additions to the common school system above suggested must be the work of time, it is believed that they may be made with ease and without adding in any manner to its burdens. The schools in our cities and large towns would naturally be the first to make them, and the influence of their example would gradually extend to the interior. The subjects of study may be succinctly presented, in such a shape as to possess sufficient attraction for the learner, and in so simple an arrangement as to be readily taught by persons of ordinary capacity. It is only necessary that some of the literary talent with which the State abounds, should be devoted to the preparation of proper books upon the subjects in question, and public opinion will not fail to secure their introduction. Every step which is taken in the acquisition of knowledge, leads with certainty to another; for knowledge gained contains within itself the desire for more.

The present condition of many of our common schools proves clearly, that there is nothing visionary in the anticipations indulged as to their improvement. By referring to the paper marked I, it will be perceived that Blair's Rhetoric, Blair's Philosophy, Blake's Philosophy, Comstock's Philosophy, Comstock's Chemistry, Emerson's Chemistry, Jones' Philosophy, Jones' Chemistry, Legendre's Geometry, Lacroix's Algebra, Paley's Philosophy, Watts' Chemistry, and several works on surveying and astronomy are used in a number of towns. Many of these branches of instruction are of great importance, but they were not enumerated by the Superintendent for fear that he might be considered as opening too wide a field. He proposed only to specify some of the most important without intending by the enumeration made, to exclude others of equal value, and with regard to which no difference of opinion can exist.

In presenting the foregoing suggestions to the Legislature, the Superintendent does not design to recommend any legislative action upon the subject matter submitted, but merely to set forth as he is required to do, for their information, the actual condition of the common schools. He concurs entirely with his predecessor in the views repeatedly expressed by him with regard to the impolicy of prescribing particular class books by public authority for the use of the common schools. Besides the difficulty of discriminating between the merits of different works on the same subject, the injustice of giving an advantage to favored authors to the exclusion of others equally meritorious, and the inconvenience and expense of substituting by a legislative act, a new work for an old one, with each successive improvement; the inhabitants of school districts are apt to regard any attempt to control them in the choice of books to be put into the hands of their children, as an interference with that independent exercise of judgment which is justly prized as one of the highest attributes of freedom.* Such a control might obviously be made to exert a powerful, and if injudiciously directed, a most dangerous, influence over the very fountains of opinion: and while such a possibility exists, absolute safety can only be secured by abstaining from its exercise. A simple recommendation may not, at first glance, appear objectionable, as it

• It is worthy of observation, that the distinguished Mr. Bulwer, in suggesting a plan of popular education in a late work on England, proposes to leave the selection of books to be used in schools to the local authorities, intimating plainly that this is one of the details of the system, with which the government ought not directly to interfere.

is not imperative, and implies a discretion with regard to its adoption on the part of those, to whom it is addressed. It must be admitted, however, that it carries with it the air of authority, and it is for that reason alone that it is sought. It may, to a certain extent, exert the same influence as an express direction, and is so far equally exceptionable. The same objection, however, may not apply with equal force to a recommendation of the course of instruction, so far as the subjects of study are concerned; it is believed that these might be made a matter of regulation without doing violence to any existing prejudice. But even this ought not perhaps to be done without some reservations in favor of the school districts, and only when it shall be manifest that the influence and authority of opinion have failed to introduce the desired improvements. Public attention is strongly attracted to the condition of the common school system, and voluntary associations of teachers and others, have already been formed, with a view to improve them by suggestions with regard to the books to be used, and the methods of instruction to be pursued in the schools. Such associations if directed with discretion, by men of intelligence and practical knowledge, may be of great utility; and the opinions of such men, sustained as they will be by the influence of their individual characters, cannot fail to have weight with those who know them, and who will feel assured that they are actuated by an interest common to all.

The public press also, by the diffusion of just sentiments, may come strongly in aid of the objects referred to. By pointing out prevailing defects, and suggesting the appropriate remedies, it may become a leading instrument in reforming the one and giving effect to the other. Many journals have already rendered essential service by the publication of essays on the subject of popular instruction. Of these no one has so strong a claim upon the friends of intellectual improvement as the Annals of Education, formerly the American Journal of Education, published in Boston. It is devoted exclusively to this interesting subject, and abounds not only with philosophical views interesting to all, but with practical information of inestimable value to those, who are engaged in the business of teaching. A greater service could not be rendered to the academies of this State, on which our common schools are probably destined to rely for the preparation of their teachers, than to furnish each with a copy, as an auxiliary in organizing and maintaining proper departments of instruction for the purpose.

If the inhabitants of school districts were authorised to lay a tax upon their property for the purpose of purchasing libraries for the use of the districts, such a power might, with proper restrictions, become a most efficient instrument in diffusing useful knowledge, and in elevating the intellectual character of the people. By means of the improvements which have been made in the art of printing, a volume bound in boards, containing as much matter as the NewTestament, can be sold at a profit for ten cents. The sum of ten dollars would, therefore, furnish a school district with one hundred volumes, which might be kept, under such regulations as the inhabitants should adopt, for their common use. A vast amount of useful information might in this manner be collected where it would be easily accessible, and its influence could hardly fail to be in the highest degree salutary, by furnishing the means of improvement to those who have finished their common school education, as well as to those who have not. The demand for books would ensure extensive editions of works containing matter judiciously selected, at prices which competition would soon reduce to the lowest rate at which they could be furnished. By making the imposition of the tax wholly discretionary with the inhabitants of each district, and leaving the selection of the works under their entire control, the danger of rendering such a provision subservient to the propagation of particular doctrines or opinions would be effectually guarded against by their watchfulness and intelligence. The power of the inhabitants to lay taxes is restricted to specific objects, and a legislative act would be necessary to enlarge it. Should the Legislature deem it expedient to pass such an act, and thus make the taxable property of each school district contribute to its intellectual improvement, in a still higher degree than it does already, it would be proper to limit the amount authorised to be raised annually to such a sum as would not be burdensome to the districts of the lowest pecuniary ability. Thus the amount authorised to be raised, to make a beginning, might be limited to fifteen or twenty dollars, and to five dollars annually for such subsequent additions as it might be desirable to make. So small a tax could hardly be felt, in any case, by those on whom it would devolve to contribute it; and, as its imposition would be voluntary, it would be made only where its tendency would be to produce salutary effects.

The Public School Society in the city of New-York is gradually extending the benefits of education, by adding to the number of