was fifty-eight; and in one town there were only three persons who could not read or write, and those three were dumb." I readily assent to this, and I consider Connecticut equal to Massachusetts; but as you leave these two States, you find that education gradually diminishes.* New York is the next in rank, and thus the scale descends until you arrive at absolute ignorance. I will now give what I consider as a fair and impartial tabular analysis of the degrees of education in the different States in the Union. It may be cavilled at, but it will nevertheless be a fair approximation. It must be remembered that it is not intended to imply that there are not a certain portion of well-educated people in those States put down in Class 4, as ignorant States, * A church-yard with its mementos of mortality is sometimes a fair criterion by which to judge of the degree of the education of those who live near it. In one of the church-yards in Vermont, there is a tomb-stone with an inscription which commences as follows::- "PAWS, reader, PAWS." but they are included in the Northern States, where they principally receive their education. Degrees of Education in the different States in the Union. * New York is superior to the other States in this list; but Ohio is not quite equal. I can draw the line no closer. If I am correct, it appears then that we This census is an estimate of 1836, sufficiently near for the purpose. It is supposed that the population of the United States has since increased about two millions, and of that increase the great majority is in the Western States, where the people are wholly uneducated. Taking, therefore, the first three classes, in which there is education in various degrees, we find that they amount to 12,193,000; against which we may fairly put the 5,000,000 uneducated, adding to it, the 2,000,000 increased population, and 3,000,000 of slaves. I believe the above to be a fair estimate, although nothing positive can be collected from it. In making a comparison of the degree of education in the United States and in England, one point should not be overlooked. In England, children may be sent to school, but they are taken away as soon as they are useful, and have little time to follow up their education afterwards. Worked like machines, every hour is devoted to labour, and a large portion forget, from disuse, what they have learnt when young. In America, they have the advantage not only of being educated, but of having plenty of time, if they choose, to profit by their education in after life. The mass in America ought, therefore, to be better educated than the mass in England, where circumstances are against it. I must now examine the nature of education given in the United States. |