LECTURE XXI.

MORAL EDUCATION.*

EPHESIANS VI. 4.

YE FATHERS, PROVOKE NOT YOUR CHILDREN TO WRATH; BUT BRING THEM UP

IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LORD.

AMONG the various theories of morals, which have been proposed and published to the world, and which generally lead to the same practical results, that seems to me to be the most simple and the most easily illustrated and comprehended, which makes the will of God at once the rule of action and the foundation of moral obligation. So far as obligation is concerned, the theory may be thus stated: All duty grows out of some relation; and all relations, which give rise to duties, are constituted by a direct act of our Creator, who made us what we are, and placed us where we are; or they are formed by man, in obedience to a divine command, or at least, in accordance with the divine will. Hence, in order to illustrate a duty enjoined in the Scriptures; or to discover the will of God where no distinct precept is given in the Bible, we have only to analyze the relation, out of which the du

The argument in this discourse constituted the substance of a lecture previously delivered before the American Institute of Education. But being revised and rewritten, it was delivered in its present form before the twenty-sixth Congress of the United States, in the Spring of 1840.

ty grows, and contemplate it in its various aspects and bearings.

Now, of all the relations, whether natural or instituted, which exist among men, none is more important to human happiness, or more fruitful in responsibilities and prerogatives, than that which parents and children bear to each other. From it flow all the duties connected with education, and all the rights, incident to those duties. In consequence of this relation, it becomes the duty of parents, to "bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;” and to them, as a farther consequence of the same relation, belong all the rights, necessary to a faithful and successful discharge of this duty. Both the obligation and the power may, indeed, be transferred temporarily, partially and, as in the case of the death of parents, entirely, to guardians and instructors. But neither the one nor the other can be renounced or cancelled, while the relation itself, whether natural or assumed, remains. They always follow the relation, wherever it is found, in all its changes and modifications; and just as far and as long as the relation is modified or transferred, by providential changes, by civil authority, by voluntary assumption, or by mutual compact, they are changed with it, and become the duties and prerogatives of those, to whom the transfer of the relation is made. Hence the whole course and business of education, from infancy to childhood, from childhood to youth, and from youth to manhood, by whomsoever conducted, should be conducted on the principles of the parental relation.

The direction of the apostle, in our text, therefore, may be applied to guardians and instructors, to trustees of schools, and legislators, as well as to parents, so far as children and youth are committed to their

care, and placed under their protection and supervision; and it may be applied to them, both as it regards the involved duties and the incidental rights. They are bound to do, and have authority to do, for their wards and pupils, and those who are in any degree committed to their care, what a parent should do in the same circumstances. They are required "not to provoke them to wrath, but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;" to treat them, and see that they are treated by others, not as sentient and mortal creatures merely; but as rational, moral, and immortal beings; to endeavor, so far as the trust is delegated to them, and so far as they have assumed the responsibility, to train them for active and useful employment in this life, and for blessedness in the world to come; to educate them in accordance with their nature and destination, and thus fit them to accomplish, in the best manner, the great purpose and end of their being.

The text viewed in this light, and contemplated with this extended interpretation, very naturally brings before us the subject of MORAL EDUCATION; a subject, as we shall discover in the sequel of the discourse, of deep interest and great practical importance to the rising generation and to our country. And though some things may be said which might, under other circumstances, seem a little too secular in their character and bearing for a religious discourse; I hope they may be thought not unsuitable for me to say, as a parent and for many years a professional teacher; and not unappropriate to be addressed to parents and legislators, on whose counsels and influence the education and character of the youth of our country, and the character and future condition of the country itself may very much depend.

Education, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, denotes the whole training of the physical, intellectual and moral powers of man. It includes every influence which is exerted, and every circumstance which has à bearing, in the formation of character; everything which serves to awaken and control the original susceptibilities of human nature; to develop, exercise, and mature all the powers and faculties of soul and body. In the language of philosophical poetry (a little modified and extended) I add, ''tis education forms the man.' The best system of education, therefore, is that which so disciplines all the powers, and trains all the faculties of the child or youth, as best to fit him for duty and for happiness; as most thoroughly to qualify him for the station to which he is destined, and the sphere in which he is to move; as to enable him most efficiently to act his part, and most perfectly to answer the great design of his existence in time and in eternity.

Were it my object to speak of the subject at large, I should follow the ordinary division of physical, intellectual and moral education. Physical education, I should say, in its highest perfection, is that system of diet, exercise and regimen, by which health, strength and activity are best secured; the powers of the body so developed and trained, as to produce symmetry of form and harmony and energy of action; and thus to render all the organs and functions of the physical system subservient to the higher and more enduring faculties of the man.

Intellectual education, I should add, does not consist, as some seem to suppose, merely or principally in the acquisition of knowledge. But it is such a disciplining of the mind as prepares it for the acquisition, retention and communication, as well as practical ap

plication of knowledge; such a training of the intellectual faculties, as gives vigor, proportion and symmetry to the whole mind; or, in other words, it is the formation of such habits of association, as brings the attention under the control of the will, gives acuteness and accuracy to the powers of investigation, and produces, at once, a ready and retentive memory, in connection with a lively fancy and a rich imagination.

So far as education involves the acquisition of knowledge, its utility is principally incidental or prospective. It is not so much the business of the teacher to crowd the mind of his pupil with facts and instil into it his own principles and deductions, as it is to teach him the art of observation, classification and arrangement for practical use; to direct the inquiring mind in its researches after truth and knowledge; in the often quoted and trite, but highly significant language of poetry, "to teach the young idea how to shoot."

"There is," says Dr. Brown, "a philosophical spirit, which is far more valuable, than any limited acquirements of philosophy; and the cultivation of which, therefore, is the most precious advantage, that can be derived from the lessons and studies of many academic years." In accordance with this remark, is the noted figurative observation of Locke, that "every man should know the length of his line;" or, without a figure, should learn to limit his inquiries by the extent of his faculties, and confine them to the proper field of observation.

Indeed, it is less the object of education to awaken curiosity, than to direct its course and restrain its wild and impetuous flights. The perfection of intellectual education, by no means depends on the eagerness of research, or on the quantity of knowledge actually ac