An Oration Delivered Before the Authorities of the City of Boston, July 4, 1842, by Horace Mann

This First Edition copy of An Oration delivered before the authorities of the City of Boston July 4, 1842 by Horace Mann could well be sub-titled "Go Forth and Teach". Horace Mann uses the occasion of an Independence Day celebration to review appropriate history and preach the value of education for future success in all endeavors. As part of his conclusion, he states "...No longer seek knowledge as the luxury of a few, but dispense it amongst all as the bread of life. Learn only how the ignorant may learn; how the innocent may be preserved; the vicious reclaimed...collect whatever of talent, or erudition, or eloquence, or authority, the broad land can supply, and go forth, AND TEACH THE PEOPLE...".

The speech is contained in a 32 page booklet, without covers, that measures approximately 5 ½ x 8 ½ inches. The pages are tanned, with occasional mild foxing, but the text is clear and easily read. The overall condition of the item is good/very good.

The illustration accompanying this description shows the first page of the speech..

Horace Mann (May 4, 1796 – August 2, 1859) was an American education reformer, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1827 to 1833. He served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1834 to 1837. In 1848, after serving as Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education since its creation, he was elected to the US House of Representatives. Arguing that universal public education was the best way to turn the nation's unruly children into disciplined, judicious republican citizens, Mann won widespread approval from modernizers, especially in his Whig Party, for building public schools. Most states adopted one version or another of the system he established in Massachusetts, especially the program for "normal schools" to train professional teachers. Mann has been credited by many educational historians as the "Father of the Common School Movement" [Wikipedia]