Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1846-08-14
Ia tn would carry human improvement! that

There is a wilderness more aa.h
Than giovrs of fr OH huron Shoie'
And in that cherries reeiol' n"lA ,,
Wha, ss,uen,s hiss, what monsters foa''
"'Tis in the dark uneuliured SOUL
BY Education unrefincd, 70,
fWhere Kissing Malice-yices ioui,
And nil tho hateful passions p,u,mi'i
The frightfu wilderness oil h'""'
What mus, he the character Of The unedncated
millions now growing up in the land, and whal
mus; be their influence on the tuiuie destiny 0,
This great and growing republic. the patriot anu
The statesman. with soliclluce lol ms couuu J,
must s,arle as he reads The history OF Inc u'uie
in The Past .. III;
have been addressing you as American cti-
zens-as portion OF the people OF Tue on'oni
Coming nearer home, what Is Inc lnte'ieclud' anu
moral condition OF the proud via Mo1he' -
Stales-lhe magma mater riT@m nave m
mary schools" those source, Oh na.cLai 'n.en'
gence and morality, received ia shsln'a mo. pc
care which their vital Importance demands Are
her living virlues or her consecraed ground ana
ancestral graves. Virginia's richest boast olaf-
lies NOT The blood in your VEINS when tell you,
The census of 1910 proves Virginia To be The BAN
ner Stale If Jonoyonce? Tingles not that blood,
when tell Won. ,hal in Virginia, (oncc The Cor
nelia OF STATES "nol only is there one In every
twelve Of her prown-up and governing population
who can neither read nor wrIte-pui, al ms mo
ment there are growing up IN our mius' lhify
thousand INDECENT children To whom not d soii'd-
ry hour Of instruction has been Afforded al any
school in the Stale 7" Feel you not in your DO
SONS the emotions OF shame ana feinorse, "neu
The records of your country publish the damnins
fact, and the press is daily hcraldins l0r'h win
unsurpassed sneers, that one-hlth oil Virsinias
whole population wears The chains oil darkness
that their mental visions are clrcnmscrlned Dy
The dark horizon of ignorance} People, VINO IN
heril The land OF Washington, the boon 81 liea-
ven 10 his country and The wor!d-you, VINO inhe-
rit the land of Jefferson, the author OF The Deca-
ration of independence, he who IS hailed IN every
land and By every tongue as N American STATES
man-you, who inherit the land oil Madison,
Marshall, Monroe and host OF iiiusIflouS men
who won for Virginia. in days gone by, Inc proud
fame sic enjoys-is il not burning seal Oh us
grace upon her brow, whitening The laureis she
has wen by the glorious deeds OF The pasl Is u
not a stain upon her escutcheon which, II mol
speedily washed out, will become an indeiIolc
stigma upon her name?
The hour has come for the Past 10 yield its
abuses and be changed. Virginia must arise
from her heightened slumbers, brace her Ian
guild nerves with energy, and go forth 10 bat
lie and 10 victory. Catching the Inspiration oil
The day, she must join in the cry, onward. on
ward!-io we live in an age whose Distinguish
ing feature is unexampled activity, displayed IN
enquiries after sound political and social princi-
Piles, AMI in their application 10 individual and
general improvement Hence The rapid AMI sub
lime developments Of mind-the daily and al
most hourly discoveries in the sciences, and I'M
provemenls in the fine and useful aris-ihs adj
vancement OF trade, and the growth OF COM
merce. Virginia cannot linger on the skirts Of
the age that is departing; she cannot longer be-
hold her houses going 10 ruin, her helds running
10 waste, her taveTns and country stores llled
with young men hall educated, altogether unused
10 rersonal labor, and not brought up in fond
ness for books. Her Legislature cannot longer
suppress the current in favor of Popular Ednca-
tam. unless she blows out all the moral lights
around her, and falls back into an inslorious
state Of "poitical Old-Hunkerism," thai seeks
the covert OF Intellectual night and wilhers from
The gaze OF day-a political horde of bearlless
hypocriles, banded together from motives Of de-
signing scifishness, and whose only hofe Of con-
linuance in place and power is in The ignorance
aud degradation OF the people.
But sirs, | indulge the hope that generous
movement, is al hand-lha the sons OF Virginia,
animated b. The spirit OF their immortal sifes,
are marching to the battlefield. Their object is
that system OF Education that will dcveope the
powers OF the mind-re1lne the feelings ol the
heart, and ennoblc The character OF the masses
Their weapons are truth, justice, and The rigats 81
The pcor'c. "Lct there BE- light" are the banner
words OF this host. Not on lions or Latium S
plains-on lar other plains and places, henceforlh
Shall noble deeds be done. Not On lions plains,
much less in May fair drawing rooms, shall vie
lory be won-but victory over the demons Of gene
raj Ignorance, general ScLfstnesS and general Ms
yne. Virginia, mindful of her glorious past and
emulous OF her sister States in the race OF the
future pcrceives that ere she shall come forth
again to the front rank oil glory-ihat ere The
bright sun Of improvement shall irradiate her
blue mountains rich in minerals, and Gid her
golden fields, whose harvests have been The bread
OF many Siates-that ere genius shall brighten as
OF old in The walks Of her Jefferson, and glory re-
kindle at the urn OF her Washington-thatihe great
talents that have laid dormant and uncuilvaed-
that the mighty spirits whose genius might have
shed cffulgence over our country by their efforts al
The forum or the bar, must be awakened by The pow
ers Of an education whose rays, like rays OF the
Tree sunlight, shall fall everywhere. Thus shall
she eouaize and avail herself OF The full powers
Of the physical, the Intellectual and the moral
man. The mishliesl minds that have ever as
lonished the civilized world, have been nursed in
the vale of poverty. There was The birthplace
of Franklin the philosopher, oil Hogarth the paint
er-oi Napoleon the conqueror OF Europe. Go
10 the highest councils oil The people, and you will
find, from stations Of poverty and toll came Shelf
iy. distinguished ornament in the halls OF Stale
and National legislalon-and from the vale Of
poverty came Allen, distinguished member Of
the present Senate of the u. States-and from the
same vale rose Andrew Jackson and Martin Van
Buren, 10 the first Office in the world.
The experience Of ages has demonstrated that
Of all the blessings which il has pleased benef.
cent Creator 10 allow man 10 cultivate, there is
not one that breaihcs purer fragrance or boasts
| hca venler aspect than EdncatioR.
| Il is system OF morality AMI justice that ope-
rates on the very fountains and springs o! human
action. 1t regulates the heart and the passions OF
| man in an eminent degree holding them in sub
lection and bestowins up them comfort, plea
sure and refinement IT'S The only hope Of hui
| manly; the only shield Of hepessness, inno.
cence and purity Without ii man is the sport
of caprice and The prey Of lanaticism; the slave
of passions in which he is Ivaled by The brute
a tool Of the political dernagogue who sees no
| country beyond The narrow horizon Of sell; and,
who, intoxicated with the love oil power, is ever
The first TO reel from his equilibrium and baseIy
| yield all that is ennobing in The sway OF a well
| regulated Democracy.
Casting your eye over the monumental map Of
ancient grandeur, once studded with the Stars OF
EiUpIc diu tHt SplcluOio VI tou
that il was Education (inteeclual and muIal)
that erected the Ii lie State OF Athens into pow
erlul onwealh-placns in her hand the
.cepire OF legislation and wrealhing round her
brow the imperishabe chapet OF literary fame
| Ii was the cultivation OF the civil and martial yr-
tues Of Egypt that led Scsostris victorious 10 The
remolesl confines OF India. Twas The cherishing
of these virtues that afterwards gave The Persian
empire ascendancy, and still later gave the splen-
doris OF Grecan civilization and The empire OF
Alexander the Great. And as the GROWING chap
ter of ancient history, it was the civil and military
education of The people that gave Western Europe
the power 10 sway The world, by the iron grasp Of
Rome's military cgions. II was BY the lights Of
Education that the first step in the march OF mind
and civilization began, ages ago, on The banks Of
The Gauges; the progress Of which has gone on in
every age and nation which has received the
transmitted heritage OF the great'rnst Of Humani-
IL; and there comes from The 1omJs sepulchral
voice Of warning that tells il was the exlingush-
ing OF these lights, intellectual and moral, that
sirewed world with the moulderino wrecks OF