Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1846-05-20
VOL. II.
Smithsonian BeQueSt.

SORtdH Institute, .JOT "o U.U HStOH "
knowledge among men.
Sir, over this entire land must The rills |
from this sacred fountain freely flow; not |
TO be arrested and walled up here, to mi
mister to our pleasure or convenience.-
We greatly mistake, if we imagine that
our constituents are Indifferent to the pr- |
vilege of drawing from these waters OF
knowledge; that they cannot appreciate
their fertilizing influence. If there be
one feeling more powerful than another
In the hearts of the millions of this land,
even through its remotest forests, il Is, that
the intellectual cultivation which circum-
stances may have denied to them shall be
secured to their children. They value,
sometimes even beyond their worth, the
literary advantages, by aid of which the
few commonly distance their competitors
in the paths of emolument and honor
Az, and hey ond this, they feel-do we not
all feel2-that we are not in temper, in
habits, in feelings, or in intelligence, what
we ought to be, or what we might have
been; that our nature was better than our
education. They feel-has not the most
careless among Us felt it too?-that there
are springs of virtue within us that have
seldom been touched; generous aspirings
that have scarcely been called into action;
capabilities of Improvement that have hard
Iy been awakened; capabilities of enjoy
ment that have been turned into fountains
of bitterness. If we might now re-educate
ourselves even from the cradle upwards,
developing each mental power and moral
faculty, checking the rising vice, and cul-
tivating the nascent virtue bending the
plant habit to reason, and mastering the
evil passion at its bir!h-how gladly would
we grasp at the offer! how dearly value
the privilege! And what selfshness would
do for itself, think you not that parental
affection desires for its offspring? Yes,
vice itself desires it! Stronger than the
thirst after riches; deeper than the crav-
ing for power, springing from the best
and most enduring of human instincts, is
the parents longing for the welfare of his
child! Criminal he may be; ignorant he
may be; reckless even of his own charac-
ter, hopeless of a reputable standing for
himself; but his children! if british excess
have not utterly quenched the principle OF
good within him-ior them there is still a
rcdeeming virtue in his soul ; a striving
after better things; a hope that they may
escape the vices which have degraded
him; that they may emerge from the igno-
rance in which he is bGnighted, if not to
wealth and honor, at least to fair fame and
honest regulations; a credit TO his bIighted
name, and a comfort to his declining years.
Such are the sentiments that spring up
to meet US among the people; shared by
the bad as we'll as the good; universal in
their prevalence. And it is to such senti-
ments, the best earnest of progressive i'm
provementin man, that the provisions Of
this bill ought, so far as the amount of the
legacy and the terms Of the will permit
TO respond.
Such views are in accordance with the
spirit of the age, and the wants of the
times. 1t is not world all of flowers anC
sunshine, this we live in. 1t is a world
where thousands are starving; where ten'
OF thousands toll to live-live only to die
1t is world where cruel suffering exists
where shameful crimes are committed
where terrible oppression is endured
where dark ignorance is found. 1t ha
and wo. They rise before US. They
thrust themselves on our attention, No
10 gid, not to embeIish; a grayer, a sad
der duty is his, who would aid in such (;
worlds improvement.
To effect permanent good in such
world, we must reach the minds and heart
Of the masses; we must diffuse knowledg
among men we must not deal it out t
scholars and students alone, but even L
Tom, Dick, and Harry; and then, as
wise and witty female writer of the da
expressed it, ''they will become Mr.. Tho
mas, and Mr.. Richard, and Mr.. Henry.
They may not become profound scholars
erudite graduates. Nor is that necessary
Well to know common things is the essen
taI. 1t is not elaborate learning that mos
improves the world, or that cxerts mos
influence in its government. Working
day knowledge is simple, almost in the ra
ito OF its Importance and Milton LA
told US
"That not to know at large of things remot
From use obscure and subtle, but to kno1
That which before us lies, in daily life,
Is the prime wisdom"
The ancient masters realized not thes
truths. With the millions they had n
sympathy. In private, and to the initiate
few alone, did they degn to unroll III
mystical page of their philosophy the
scorned to expose it To the gaze Of the pr
lane vulgar.
Thanks to the Stirring spirit of pr
gressN improvement. al his, in our ag
Is changed. BY ~ d2rn teachers ii
PEOPLE are spoken Of, y k n -, cared tc