ourselves against every possible chance of abuse before we introduce any
system of instruction, we shall wait until the current of time has
flowed into the ocean of eternity. There is nothing which ever has been
or ever can be taught without some chance of abuse; nay, without some
absolute abuse. Even religion itself, our truest and our only lasting
hope and consolation, has not escaped the common infirmity of our
nature. If it never had been taught until it could be taught with the
purity, simplicity, and energy of the apostolic age, we ourselves,
instead of being blessed with the bright and balmy influences of
Christianity, should now have been groping our way in the darkness of
heathenism, or left to perish in the cold and cheerless labyrinths of
skepticism."

[57] Joseph Story, before the American Institute of Instruction.

Lord Brougham, one of the most powerful advocates of popular education
in our day, has made the following remarks, which can not be more fitly
addressed to any people than to the citizens of the American States. "A
sound system of government," says this transatlantic writer, "requires
the people to read and inform themselves upon political subjects; else
they are the prey of every quack, every impostor, and every agitator who
may practice his trade in the country. If they do not read; if they do
not learn; if they do not digest by discussion and reflection what they
have read and learned; if they do not qualify themselves to form
opinions for themselves, other men will form opinions for them, not
according to the truth and the interests of the people, but according to
their own individual and selfish interest, which may, and most probably
will, be contrary to that of the people at large."

Two very important inquiries here naturally suggest themselves to us:
they are, first, whether there is at present in this country a degree of
intelligence sufficient for the wise administration of its affairs; and
secondly, whether existing provisions for the education of our country's
youth are adequate to the wants of a great and free people, who are
endeavoring to demonstrate to the world that great problem of
nations--the capability of man for self-government. We judge of the
literary attainments of the citizens of a state or of a nation, _as a
whole_, by comparing all the individual members thereof with a given
standard, and of their arrangements for educating the rising generation
by the charac