Page:The collected works of Theodore Parker volume 7.djvu/191

Rh puts education to the ban, and glories in keeping three million barbarians in the land, and, of course, suffers the necessary degradation which comes thereof. But in the free States of the North the government is not a theocracy or an aristocracy; the State, in theory, is not for the few, not even for the majority, but for all; classes are not recognised, and therefore not protected in any privilege. The government is a democracy, the government of all, by all, for all, and in the name of all. A man is born to all the rights of mankind; all are born to them, so all are equal. Therefore, what the State pays for, not only comes at the cost of all, but must be for the use and benefit of all. Accordingly, as a theocracy demands the education of priests, and an aristocracy that of the nobility and the gentry, so a democracy demands the education of all. The aim must be, not to make priests and gentlemen of a few, a privileged class, but to make men of all; that is to give a normal and healthy development of their intellectual, moral, affectional and religious faculties, to furnish and instruct them with the most important elementary knowledge, to extend this development and furnishing of the faculties as far as possible.

Institutions must be founded for this purpose—to educate all, rich and poor, men well-born with good abilities, men ill-born with slender natural powers. In New England, these institutions have long since been founded at the public cost, and watched over with paternal care, as the ark of our covenant, the palladium of our nation. It has been recognised as a theory, and practised on as a fact, that all the property in the land is held by the State for the public education of the people, as it is for their defence; that property is amenable to education as to military defence. In a democracy there are two reasons why this theory and practice prevail. One is a political reason. It is for the advantage of the State; for each man that keeps out of the gaol and the poor-houee, becomes a voter at one-and-twenty; he may have some office of trust and honour; the highest office is open before him. As so much depends on his voting wisely, he must have a chance to qualify himself for his right of electing and of being elected. It is as necessary now in a democracy, and as much demanded by