obscure" and unpatronised, affords.* There may, and there certainly will, be a strong desire excited to improve the condition, and this will induce the various classes of society to acquire those accomplishments by which this end may be obtained: still, however, it is not probable. that many from the lower orders will supplant those who are already in possession of the market, unless they bring to it a better commodity, and perhaps sell it at an inferior price.

But supposing that the state were not to derive direct advantage from the education of the poor, to the extent which I contend for, it still would be its interest on the acknowledged principles of political expediency, that no member of the community should remain altogether uninstructed. The benefit it confers may, indeed, be chiefly indirect, but it is nevertheless very great, since it excites an inextinguishable aspiration after general improvement, which discovers itself by its ameliorating influence on the various conditions and ranks of society. And though its effects on the national morals has been formerly noticed, I cannot deny myself the pleasure of remarking in the words of

Dr. Adam Smith: That the state derives no inconsiderable advantage from the instruction of the inferior orders of the people. The more they are instructed, the less liable they are to the delusions of enthusiasm and superstition, which, among ignorant nations, frequently occasion the most dreadful disorders. An instructed and intelligent people, besides, are always more decent and orderly than an ignorant and stupid one. They feel themselves, each individually, more respectable and more likely to obtain the respect of their lawful superiors, and they are therefore more disposed to respect those superiors. They are more disposed to examine, and more capable of seeing through, the interested complaints of faction and sedition, and they are upon that account less apt to be misled into any wanton or unnecessary opposition to the measures of government. In free countries, where the safety of government depends very much upon the favourable judgement which the people may form of its conduct, it must surely be of the highest importance that they should not be disposed to judge rashly or capriciously concerning it.

The governments of the polished states of antiquity, paid very great attention to the education of the citizens. That was, no doubt, diversified according to the peculiarities of

the times, and the notions entertained of the acquirements requisite to promote the interests of the state, and to defend the country; but every government felt itself interested in prescribing a course of instruction for the children of all free men. They conceived, and justly, that every member of the state is bound, by whatever powers of mind or of body he possesses, to serve his country*; and that these were, therefore, to be improved by a preparatory course of study and discipline. But this principle, if not entirely overlooked in modern times, has seldom been fully acted upon; and the great body of the youth have had their opinions and habits formed, not by the aiding power of regular culture, but by the casual influences and impressions to which their circumstances have exposed them. Though this state of things might be unavoidable during the darkness of the middle ages, it has become, since the revival of letters, and the invention of the art of printing, altogether improper and inexcusable. Knowledge may now be diffused with the greatest facility; the intellectual and moral improvement of the popu

* Ad societatem, et communitatem generis humani nati sumus; itaque semper aliquid ad communem utilitatem debemus affere. Cicero.

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lace may, therefore, at a very inconsiderable expence, be secured.

Though it appears, then, that the first part of the supposition by which these remarks have been introduced,-namely, that by affording universally the means of instruction to the inferior orders of society, many will attempt to better their condition, and aspire to a more elevated rank than that which they enjoy,-is undoubtedly true, and so far from being an evil, is to be considered among the greatest advantages, since it is a powerful motive to active and persevering exertion; yet, the second part of this same hypothesis, viz. that the lower orders of the people will become discontented, and unwilling to perform that drudgery to which their circumstances confine them, is perfectly erroneous.

Those who make this assertion, must have very confused and inaccurate ideas of the constitution of human nature. They have probably taken up a certain number of opinions, on all subjects, which they deliver on all occasions, never doubting their truth, because they have never inquired into the nature of that evidence on which they are founded. A very slight attention, however, to this subject might convince them of the fallacy of the notions which they entertain.

For is it not

palpably manifest, that though education will enlighten the mind, and may excite the desire of wealth and honour, it cannot change the passions and appetites implanted in man, and which are necessary to the continued existence of the species? Knowledge will certainly make the poor rational and intelligent, sober and thoughtful, but cannot possibly make them forget to eat and to drink, nor to neglect those avocations by which the means of gratifying the imperious desire of food are obtained. Even though it were possible to make them all philosophers, yet, since philosophy cannot satisfy the returning importunities of hunger and thirst, nor supply the other necessities of nature, the great business of life would continue to go on as at present: there would be still ploughmen, and porters, and coachmen, farther removed, indeed, in point of intellect from the brute creation, but not less civil to their employers, and surely not less industrious and persevering in their employment. How preposterous is it then to suppose, that nature has left her great operations, her directing and impelling powers, to be changed or mutilated by the pleasure or caprice of man? These operations, and these powers, are equally constant amid the varied forms which society assumes,