St. Clair County, Illinois - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 1 of those read), 1928

eDUCATION is an eternal process. Among primitive peoples it was accomplished chiefly in the home and by the efforts of the parents. Among civilized people while the home training has never been completely abandoned, tho perilously near it in some cases, the more important forms of education have been largely intrusted to institutions. From very early times history tells of schools of various kinds. There were the schools of the prophets in the days of King Saul, and not much later the schools of the ancient Greeks in which the Homeric poems were the text books and a Greek slave served as pedagogue to the Greek children. Then there were the rabbinical schools in which Paul sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and the Catechetical schools of the middle ages in which the future servants of the church were trained for their special religious duties. As the middle ages shaded into modern times and the renaissance developed in the fields of both religion and learning, the church began to foster the establishment of universities in important centers in Europe, such as Bologna which claims to be the oldest now in existence; Paris where the famous Abelard drew thousands to hear his learned lectures; Oxford, an offshoot of Paris, where rehgious conviction was so strong as to lead to the martyrdom of Latimer and Ridley on the very college campus; Cambridge, an offshoot of Oxford, which trained such master minds as Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, and Tennyson, who was England's greatest poet-laureate. Here Erasmus lectured and Tyndale began his work as a reformer. Dozens of other great institutions of the old world, similar to these in scope and purpose, might be mentioned.

Less than a score of years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth the foundations were laid for an institution of learning which has since become one of the greatest American universities. Harvard was to some extent modeled after Cambridge. It IS located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and named for Rev. John Harvard who was a graduate of Cambridge University. He contributed to the proposed college in the new world his library of about three hundred volumes and a considerable sum of money. A few decades later came William and Mary College, named in honor of the joint sovereigns who occupied the throne of England at that time. Then came Yale, King's (now Columbia), Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, and Pennsylvania. These eight had their origin prior to the Revolutionary War. The colleges of this period all had more or less of a European background, tho the conditions in the new country doubtless had a modifying influence in the organization and plans of most of them. The college existed in New England before the elementary school. Then the latter became necessary to prepare students for college entrance. Higher education in those days was intended only for the professional class, more especially the ministry, but the pioneers early came to a realization of the necessity of having elementary education for the masses. If public policies were to be determined by vote of the people the voters must have some education in order that democracy might be a safe form of government. Accordingly we find compulsory elementary education provided for by law in the Massachusetts colony as early as 1642. The whole college movement had a religious basis in an early day and much of it still has. The spirit and purpose of the first college in America is set forth in a little New England pamphlet printed in 164 j, as follows: "After God had carried us safe to New England and we had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God's worship, and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust." Thus the primary purpose of Harvard was the education of the ministry. Yale was founded by a group of Congregational ministers. In fact the church has been responsible for the founding of the most of our early colleges even in the West. Many of the state institutions originated with the church. We have good authority for the statement that the University of Kansas was organized by the Episcopalians and Presbyterians, while the State Agricultural College of Kansas began as a Methodist school. The University of Minnesota was first organized by church missionaries and later taken over by the state. Peter Cartwright, who was once a legislator as well as a pioneer preacher, introduced the bill in the Illinois Legislature which led to the founding of the University of Illinois. The Episcopalian Church organized the State educational system in Florida. Nineteen of the first twenty-two Superintendents of Public Instruction of Kentucky were ministers of the gospel. In fact Christian influence has always been evident m the educational achievements of our country. Where education has been taken over by the state it has been to avoid sectarianism, not Christianity. The school founded by Stephen Girard m Philadelphia is unique in that its by-laws provide that no Christian minister shall ever be permitted to enter its grounds. But even this strange rule was not aimed against Christianity, but the school was intended primarily for orphans, and It was the idea of Mr. Girard that their beliefs should not be biased by denominational teaching. It is also noteworthy that the Pilgrim Fathers believed that Christianity of the severe type which they enjoyed, not only justified three hour sermons in churches without fire in winter and equipped with seats without backs, but it also approved of compulsory education for much the same reasons that we do now. The leaders of that day said "The child is to be educated not to advance his own personal interest but because the state will suffer if he is not educated."

After the Revolutionary War was over there was a great tideof immigration into the MississippiValley.NewEnglanders moved into Ohio and Ohioans into Missouri. The population and development of this vast fertile region was soon well under way and educational standards began to be established. A few colleges were founded in this early period. Transylvania in Kentucky, Vincennes in Indiana, McKendree in Illinois, St. Charles in Missouri. The ordinance of 1787 provided that in the Northwest Territory a section of land in each township should be set aside for education. In some states there was also a provision for an additional section for the establishment of a university. Illinois had an excellent free school law passed as early as 1825, but it never really went into effect for it was practically nullified by the succeeding 1 egislature which passed a law providing that no citizen should be taxed for education without his own written consent. Illinois did not really have free schools till 1850. Prior to that time there were subscription schools in many communities where the teacher received a small fee from each pupil and "boarded 'round" among the various patronizing families during the school term. Abraham Lincoln managed to get enough education to enter the legal profession before the days of free schools, though the requirements for admission to the bar were not very severe at that time. As in New England, though perhaps in less degree, the church had its influence upon educational effort. About this time the academy came into prominence both in the east and west. The first, of which the record IS clear, is the one established by Frankhn in Philadelphia which afterward developed into the University of Pennsylvania. The Academy differed from the earlier Latin Grammar school in having a broader purpose. The earlier school was primarily to fit students for college, while the later was also expected to fit them for useful lives. The religious element was strong and many of them were under direct control of the church. Others were semi-public institutions of learning owned and controlled by stockholders. The religious aim is plainly shown in the charter of the Phillips Academy of Andover, Massachusetts, which is one of the oldest. Its purpose was "To lay the foundation of a public free school or academy for the purpose of instructing youth, not only in English and Latin, writing, arithmetic, and those sciences which they are commonly taught; but more especially to learn them the GREAT END AND REAL BUSINESS OF LIVING * * * It is again declared that the first and principal object of this institution is the promotion of true piety and vinue.'^ During the first half of the nineteenth century these institutions developed in large numbers. By 1850, according to Inglis, there were over six thousand in the United States, with an enrollment of 26j,ooo students. After the middle of the century these began to be displaced by the tax-supported high school, until now they have almost entirely disappeared. However a few still remain in the east as Wilbraham in Massachusetts, Cazenovia in New York and Williamsport in Pennsylvania. A considerable number existed in Illinois for a certain period but now have practically all been replaced by modern high schools. They were once found m Belleville, Edwardsville, Carlyle, Anna, Albion, and other important towns in southern Illinois.

IN 1757, John Wesley visited the University ot Glasgow. At that time James Watt was employed there as a maker of mathematical instruments. Thus two men met on common ground, both of whose achievements h.ive had a mighty influence in the new world. It was chiefly thru the efforts of Watt that we have the steam engine, while Wesley gave us Methodism. Both have been powerful forces m the civilization of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Methodism was not a new religion like Mohammedanism or Mor' monism, but merely a revival of vital interest in the Christian religion in England m Wesley's day. It has been well defined as "Christianity in earnest." Its earliest promoters were members of the Church of England. The Wesleys, Whitefield, and others preached a living Christianity first to the churches and then,when they were excluded from the church buildings, they preached to the multitudes in the open field, on the streets, at the fair, at the coal mine, or any place where a crowd of people could be assem bled. In 1739 the first Methodist chapel m the world was built in Bristol, England. Later m the same year the "Old Foundry" in London was opened for worship by Mr. Wesley. In course of time as many societies were organized their membership must have its terms fore the few preachers travelled from place to place preaching the gospel all the time, hence the "itinerancy" as a peculiar practice of Methodism came into use. When no preacher was available these societies would come together and tell their experiences and exhort one another to right living. From this came the Methodist class meeting. Methodism came to America in a very early day. Wesley and Whitefield both visited the new world. Wesley spent many months in the colony of Georgia, while Whitefield travelled and preached in all the colonies from Georgia to Maine. His wonderful voice was heard by thousands. So great was its carrying power that it was claimed that some had heard his sermons distinctly across the Delaware river. He was like a flame of fire . The great awakening under Jonathan Edwards had largely subsided. Whitefield revived it. He preached to the Congregational churches of New England, and to the Presbyterians and Baptists of the middle colonies and the south. His evan-