We do not define the parameters of the education mandated by the constitution as that task is, in the first instance, for the legislature and the Governor. There is a wealth of historical data upon which the legislature and the Governor may choose to draw in the pursuit of their duty, spanning more than three hundred years from the 1647 statutory mandate that youths be instructed "so far as they may be fitted for the University," to mere recently recommended standards and practices such as the State Department of Education's 1958 report on Minimum Standards and Recommended Practices for New Hampshire Secondary Schools. The Encouragement of Literature clause expressly recognizes that a free government is dependent on its survival on citizens who are able to participate intelligently in the political, economic, and social functions of our system. The duty placed on the State encompasses cherishing the public schools. the constitution also provides that the legislature and the Governor have a duty to encourage "the Promotion or agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, [and] manufacturers" and inculcate "the principles of humanity and general benevolence, Public and Private charity, industry and economy, honesty and punctuality, sincerity, sobriety, and all social affections, and generous sentiments, among the people." N.H CONST. Pt. II, art. 83. The education necessary to meet the duty to cherish public schools must, or course, "be adapted to the various crises of human affairs." M'Culloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316, 415 (1819) (emphasis omitted)

Given the complexities of our society today, the State's constitutional duty extends beyond mere reading writing and arithmetic. It also includes broad educational opportunities needed in today's society to prepare citizens for their role as participants and as potential competitors in today's marketplace of ideas. Cf. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1 of King Cty. v. State 90 Wash. 2d 476, 585 P.2d 71 (1978) We are confident that, the legislature and the Governor will fulfill their responsibility with respect to defining the specifics of, and the appropriate means to provide through public education, the knowledge and learning essential to the preservation of a free government.

We remand the plaintiff's petition for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Reversed and remanded.