The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1847-10-09

institutions Of the Stale. are Facts which are
self evident. The natural consequence is that
The rising generation is growing up desil-
tute Of that moral and Intellectual cultivation
which alone can serve to perpelrate the free.
dom aud excellence of our national charac-
ter, while the Teacher 5 profession is deem
ed almost as a disreputab!e calling and the
condition Of the school is still if possible
growing worse and worse. While other states
have taken up the march of educational
Improvement Maryland is sanding still
Let us for a moment pause, and examine
and compare tie statistics of our State and
some others, and we shall then see wheh-
CT there is not need for action in this matter
From official documents of the House
of Delegates 1916, we find that the num-
Der of persons in the State of NIassachu-
sets who cannot read and write, is as
to 1863, while in Maryland it is as 1 to 81.
In view Of this fact, prominent member
of the House after recapitulating the con-
dit n Of Education in other States and
drawing the comparison, SAID that, 'Ma-
ryland has been long settled and is pos
Sessrd Of far superior natural resources TO
TO those of ssachusetts, and to her
lasting shame, her scratching, scrambling
and disord red system Of education can
not furnish any certain and accurate in
formation as to the State of Education"
BY reference to the annual report of the
\. York state superintendent of Common
Schools, it appears that the aggregate pop
ulaton OF that state on the first of July
1873, was 2,GOi, i95, and from statistics
herewith presented, is dcduced the ia t,
that nearly one in every three and one
fourth of the entire population, or 4 of
every ID under instruction, some part Of
the year in The elementary and more adj
van ed branches Of English education and
in the classical departments of academies
and other schools. During the session
Of lStJ and AS, our state Legislature
attempted to do something Tor tn cause,
bu after spending much time in ondeay-
oring to collect Information respecting
The present condition Of cducatIon,s Cat
length gave If up, dec larinr he whole
system to be .Without head or connec-
ton" and consequently no system at
all. There the subject rests, and as a
matter Of course we as Teachers, are left
to our own resources, and it now remains
for US to say whether the purity Of our
institutions shall be perpetuated or, wheth
er they shall sink down beneath the rub
Dish Of ignorance and barbarism. There
is before MS a broad field, ripe for the
harvest. The youth of this common
wealth are anXiously looking up TO us
with lmploring eyes, bcsoeching us for
intellectual food, methlnks hear them
say, how long shall we be left to grovel
in mental darkness How long shall orr
beloved state remain a blank in all this
glorious creation Of intellectual wealth,
wisdom, power and beauty. Arouse then
Fedor Inche,s, for a stupendous work is
in our hands, a glorious cause calls for
our united energies and a glorious re-
ward awaits the consummation of our la
borS. We are called upon to perpetuate
W hat our toretathers purchased with
their blood, viz: the civil, political and
religious institutions Of our country. We
are called upon so to prune the miserles
of the nation that when those scions of
manhood are matured and transplanted
into the gre at field of active life, that ev-
cry ma" may know and proudly feel too
that he is the legitimate son of civil and
intellectual freedom, and thank God
that he is not the vassal slave Of igno-
rance.
Fellow Laborers, will you aid us by
your cooperation? Now seems to be
an suspicious time, let every Teacher
awake to his duty! I hail the organiza-
ton Of our Teachers ASSOCIATION, as
bright star, cleaning throu h the thick
mists Of midnight darkness, whose rays |
trust will, ere long, chase the dense mass
from the face of our be owed land, and
intellectual light, will beam forth from
the countenance of every freeman
throughout its broad domain.
Fellow Teachers, in behalf of the as