not remark on the total difference of things in America. We are apt to think, that the only thing in which we have improved on other countries, is our political constitution, whereby we choose our rulers, instead of recognizing their hereditary rights. But a mi ch more important difference between us and foreign countries is wrought into the very texture of our society; it is that generally pervading freedom from restraint, in matters like those I have just specified. In England, it is said that forty days undisturbed residence in a parish gives a journeyman mechanie a settlement, and consequently entitles him, should he need it, to support from the poor rates of that parish. To obviate this effect, the magistrates are on the alert, and instantly expel a new comer from their limits, who dres not possess means of giving security, such as few young mechanics command. A duress like this, environing the young man, on his entering into life, upon every side, and condemning him to imprisonment for life on the spot where he was born, converts the government of the country,-whatever be its name,— into a despotism.

Such is the condition of mechanics abroad; such, thanks to our free institutions and the

bounty of a good Providence, is not the condition of mechanics here. They may-in fact they must neglect the cultivation of their minds; but the American mechanic is inexcusable if he neglects the great privileges which distinguish him from the less fortunate European.

verse.

Another reason why the American mechanic should cultivate his intellectual powers as far as possible, is the vastly wider field which is opened to him by the extent and the resources of his country, and the ever active enterprize of its citizens. The European mechanic is hedged in on every side by restriction, and by competitors without number. All the trades there are full. In our country we see the reHere we have not men enough to perform the work required. The demand for mechanical industry has never been fully met, and cannot be, for a long time to come. The immense amount of our land, the preponderance of agricultural industry, and the increasing demands of commerce, open an unlimited field to mechanical enterprise. We may infer what may yet be done from what has already been done. The service which the mechanical ingenuity of Americans has already rendered to

the country is at once a source of pride and of hope. Take, for example, the service rendered to the cotton growing interest by Whitney's invention of the saw-gin; or that rendered to internal commerce and to agriculture by Fulton's introduction of the steamboat into general use; or that rendered to every consumer in the country by inventors and manufacturers concerned in the production of cotton and woollen fabrics. These inventions and improvements, by increasing the resources of the country, have greatly increased the demand for mechanical products. Whether, therefore, the American mechanic addresses himself to increasing the quantity or improving the quality of his manufactures, the field before him is wide enough for his greatest powers and his most unwearied activity. In entering upon this field, let him remember that knowledge is power, and he will neglect no opportunity of impr ing his mind.

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CHAPTER VII.

MEANS OF INTELLECTUAL CULTIVATION ACCESSIBLE TO THE MECHANIC.

SUPPOSING that the reasons why an American mechanic should be well educated are sufficiently established, let us next consider the means which are at his disposal or may be brought within his reach.

1. Of course the first and most important means of intellectual cultivation are the schools; and those to the improvement of which the efforts of mechanics as a body can be most serviceably directed are the public schools. Wherever a system of public schools exists, it is the interest of the mechanic, in common with all other citizens, to aid in rendering it as perfect as possible. I believe that it is essential to the perfection of a system of public schools, that not only elementary instruction should be dispensed to the children of all citizens who require it; but that schools of a higher order should be placed within the reach of all pupils whose parents may wish to obtain

the advantages of higher instruction for their offspring. Experience shows that it is not a difficult matter to create a supply of this higher instruction equal to the demand, even where the provision of primary instruction is most abundant. In Boston, where the population is over eighty thousand, and the primary and grammar schools are sufficient to accommodate every applicant for admission without delay, the High School for twenty years has averaged only ninety pupils; this being the whole num ber of qualified candidates offered for admis sion.

In Philadelphia the supply has certainly been hitherto equal to the demand, as all applicants for admission to the High School who were qualified for the higher studies at the time of their examination have been admitted. I be lieve that the number of scholars who will leave the school every year to enter upon the active business of life, will always be found equal to those who shall be qualified for admission and shall present themselves for examination. The advantages resulting from High Schools are not confined to the pupils who receive instruction at those schools. The stimulus afforded by the hope of attaining admission