institutions of public justice, the privileges of civil and religious liberty, and our very existence as a free republic, depend on a high state of moral and intellectual culture.

The formation of the Institute, it is hoped, will do something towards elevating the standard and increasing the efficiency of popular instruction.

It will furnish the means, by the co-operation of its members, of obtaining an exact knowledge of the present condition of the schools, in all parts of the country. It will tend to render universal, so that it shall pervade every district and village, a strong conviction of the paramount national importance of preserving and extending the means of popular instruction; thus securing the aid of multitudes of fellow laborers in every portion of the country. It will tend to raise the standard of the qualifications of instructers, so that the business of teaching shall not be the last resort of dulness and indolence, but shall be considered, as it was in the days of republican Greece, an occupation worthy of the highest talents and ambition. It will hardly fail to show that education is a science, to be advanced, like every other science, by experiment; whose principles are to be fixed, and its capacities determined, by experiment; which is to be entered upon by men of a philosophical mind, and pursued with a philosophical spirit. It will be likely to bring forward the modes and objects of instruction in foreign nations and ancient times, and their applicabil

ity to the state of things among ourselves. It cannot fail to enlist openly, on the side of popular education, the highest intellect and influence in the nation. If it accomplish these, or any of these objects, it will amply reward the labors of all who have acted in its formation. And that it will have this tendency, the feelings of the teachers who attended the convention, may be appealed to, in proof. Great numbers of these had come hundreds of miles, some more than five hundred, to be present on this occasion.

6

Many a teacher, on the first morning of the convention, must have ascended the steps that lead to the Hall of Representatives, and looked out upon the unequalled prospect commanded by this chosen spot in the city of the pilgrims,' with a sense of loneliness, and of doubt and misgiving; but when he beheld the numbers that came flocking from near and distant parts, and saw the earnestness with which they were engaged in the good cause, and the ability evinced in conducting the business of the convention, every one must have gone home to his solitary duties, strengthened and cheered by the thought, that strong hands were in the work, and that he was no longer toiling alone.

1

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE.-BY PRESIDENT WAYLAND.

page 1

All

Introduction, p. 3-subject of the discourse. The subject of educa-

tion, and the manner in which it is to be obtained, 4.- -I. Object of Ed-

ucation-We are placed under a system of law, including the idea of

rewards and punishments; this system universal—invariable.

our happiness, therefore, must be the result of obedience, and our mis-

ery of disobedience to these laws. Hence, our business here is to know

and obey them, 5-mind the instrument by which they are to be known

and obeyed, but an useless instrument without cultivation, 6—the sci-

ence which renders it useful is education, 6—the object of education to

render mind the fittest possible instrument to know, apply, and obey

the laws of its Creator-improvement in all these respects necessary to

the good of the species-its practicability illustrated in discovery, inven-

tion, and obedience, 7—hence it is evident, that the nature of man needs

such a science, and that the object which it has in view may be accom-

plished, 8—hence, first, this is a distinct science; second, its connex-

ions are extensive; third, all other sciences depend upon it; fourth, its

importance calls for talent in instructers, 9.-II. How shall this object

be accomplished? 14-By cultivating the original powers of the mind,

16-But how shall this cultivation be given without neglecting the ac-

quisition of knowledge? Ans. The faculties are cultivated by use, and

the acquisition of knowledge, to be thorough, permanent, and made in

the shortest time, must be by the use of all these very faculties. Hence,

good teaching requires, first, that a pupil understand everything;

second, review it; third, put it in practice, 17--remarks-first, text-books

-their defects, 18-second, the objection, it matters not what we teach,

considered, 19-third, the utility of the study of the classics, 21-con-

clusion, 23.

LECTURE I.

ON PHYSICAL EDUCATION.-BY JOHN C. WARREN, M. D.

Introduction, 27-culture of the physical faculties effected by

unassisted nature, 27-evil effects of application on the health, 28-

of females, 29-effects of action on the bodily frame, 30-discouraged

by the prevalent systems of education, 31—effects of inaction upon

the vertebral column, 31-consequences to other parts, 33-general

causes of those derangements, 35-first, want of exercise, 36-for-

merly females less injured by application, because more employed in

domestic duties-second, too great occupation of mind in study, and

feelings and passions of a depressing nature, 37-cases of the in-

fluence of the mind on the body, 37-competition, 39-is there no

substitute? 39-influence of reason, 40-immediate local causes of

spinal distortion-bad postures of the body and limbs, 40-modes by

which physical education may be improved, 41-exercise, 42-pos-

ture, while at study, 43-carriage of the body, 43-expanded chest;

walking; dancing; the triangle, 44-battledoor; relaxation; recum-

bent posture; gymnasia-effects-used by the ancients, 45-how do

the German literati preserve their health without exercise? first, by

active habits when young; second, by temperate drinking; third, by

abstemiousness, 47-importance of regulating food and drink, 47—

pernicious fashions of dress; exposure of the chest; use of corsets

and stays, 48-effects, 49-consumption; headache; insanity; death,

50-use of the cold bath; practice of reading aloud, 50-concluding

caution upon sedentary pursuits, 51.