But with us the
press and the school are free; and this freedom, denied through fear in
other countries, is the best evidence of the stability of our
institutions. It is now a hundred years since an attempt was made in
Massachusetts to exercise legal censorship over the press; but we
occasionally hear of movements to make the public schools of America
subservient to sect or party. The success of these movements would be as
great a calamity as can ever befall a free people. Ignorance would take
the place of learning, and slavery would usurp the domain of liberty.
No defence, excuse, or palliation, can be offered for such movements;
and their triumph will safely produce all the evils which it is possible
for an enlightened people to endure. Our system of instruction is what
it professes to be,--a public system. As sects or parties, we have no
claim whatever upon it. A man is not taxed because he is of a particular
faith in religion, or party in politics; he is not taxed because he is
the father of a family, or excused because he is not; but he contributes
to the cause of education because he is a citizen, and has an interest
in that general intelligence which decides questions of faith and
practice as they arise. It is for the interest of all that all shall be
educated for the various pursuits and duties of the time. The education
of children is, no doubt, first in individual duty.
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