Poems (Sherwin)/Remarks on the education of the poor
REMARKS ON THE EDUCATION OF THE POOR.
The idea that knowledge incapacitates a person for some situations in life, is a very erroneous one. There is no state, however difficult, no employ however laborious, no situation however subordinate, no condition however low, but may be amended and rendered more easy and more respectable by a person possessed with a capacious and well cultivated mind, without doing the smallest injury to any individual, or disturbing in the slightest degree, the general order of society.
Man, in a state of ignorance, is scarcely a degree above the lower animals of the creation. In vain for him does the sun shed its mild lustre upon the earth—he feels the warmth, but sees no beauty in his smiling beams. In vain do the loveliest flowers enamel the soft grass—he passes them by unheeded: in vain do the birds chaunt forth their liveliest melody—'the sounds breath not of music in his leaden ears. Dull, sullen being: his musings are on carnal things. The thrilling voice of nature cannot rouse his drowsy soul. He may raise his eyes upwards, but he feels not those unspeakable delights which the cultivated mind experiences when gazing upon the clear blue vault of heaven, studded with countless glittering orbs, whilst the senses are soothed by the gentle pressure of the light evening breezes. Who that has experienced these pleasures would wish them to be withheld from the poorest being upon earth? No one possessed of common feeling and justice. A considerable portion of our mechanics and labourers
of the present day are but mere organized machines: their hours of relaxation are spent in sensual gratifications, and they are impelled to labour only by the knowledge that if they do not do so they must starve. They look upon their employers, and all those who move in a sphere above themselves, as beings of another nature, by whom they are trodden down and oppressed, and are restrained from outrage and insubordination by the iron hand of power alone. If this class could receive in infancy the foundation of a good substantial education, which would give them a taste for rational and intellectual amusements, and teach them the duty of respecting themselves, it would render them, as regards those above them, more obedient, more industrious, more respectful, and more just; and, as regards themselves, more frugal, more cleanly, more orderly, and far happier. It may also make them capable of distinguishing injury and insult from justice and acts of kindness, and enable them to show approbation or resentment accordingly; but this would be matter of pleasure to all who adhere to the golden maxim "Do unto others as you would they should do unto you." They may also evince a predilection for refinement and intellectual improvement, but the rules of good order would not be broken by their gratification in this respect. There is no just reason why a person engaged in the lowest employment should not have a neat little retiring room, with carpetted floor, comfortably furnished, with books, musical instruments, or anything which his taste may lead him to desire and his industry enable him to procure for the amusement of himself and family during the short intervals of cessation from toil. Surely, none can better deserve enjoyments than those who obtain them by the "sweat of their brow."
How many families who at this moment go clothed in rags, and present to the view a meagre, half-starved appearance, might be living in comfort and respectability, pleasing instead of offending the eye, if their means of living were properly and frugally employed, which would, in all probability, be the case if the parents had, in childhood, received a good education. By early education I mean that the infant should have the advantage of being placed under the care of a person who would keep a strict watch over the opening mind, and take all possible means to en- courage the intellectual qualities to expand and predominate over the passions, to assist in mounting the first and most difficult steps to knowledge, without frightening the mind from further progress,—thus encouraging virtue, and crushing vice in the bud. The adoption of infant schools is a plan in favour of which too much cannot be said, and the various government schools, are invaluable blessings; but the nature of the instruction should be attended to. With habits of early piety should be instilled a knowledge of those sciences which expound the laws of nature, and as much general information as possible.
It is evident to the careful observer, that the most ignorant are the first to murmur, and the loudest in their exclamations against tyranny, whilst those who are possessed with the largest share of acquired knowledge, have the largest share of common sense, and are the first to perform the most arduous and disagreeable duties of the stations in which an allwise Providence has placed them, knowing that their respectability does not depend upon the station they may hold, but upon their own individual con- duct in that station.
Youth being the time when habits are formed, and the character of the man fixed, how necessary it is that every possible means should be adopted to form the judgment, to direct the taste, to instil pure morals into the mind, to clear the reason with truths, to guide with an unflinching hand into the paths of strict rectitude, and to give the means of happiness in this world, and the hope of it in the world to come.
Those who possess knowledge should not hoard it up with the avariciousness of misers, but bestow it with liberal hands on them who have not the means of obtaining it.
May success attend the praiseworthy efforts which are made for the cultivation of the mind and the advancement of human nature; and may all unite with firm but peaceful ardour in furthering the best plans for improvement, and in support of "the Throne, the Altar, and the Land we live in."