Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1856-02-19

airy power Is incapable OF performing great deeds
and of winning honor and renown among men.
There is an old Latin maxim to the effect that
labor conquers all things it has made many a
great man out of a small one. BY incessant ap-
plcation and by the bountiful use of all means
and advantages for self improvement, many of
the men whose names are now the SYNONYMS of
learning, talent and genius, attained their great
eminence | think it was the learned Button
who said the only genius he knew was indus
try, and it may be asserted without the fear of
successful contradiction, that by far the largest
proportion of renowned men whom the world
has seen and honored were persons not gifted
by nature with extraordinary abilities, but were
made great by their own incessant labors.
man is quite as truly and quite as frequently
the architect of his own fortunes mentallu as he
Is pecuniarily When he as a child determines.
and during life abides by the resolution to be-
come great, and uses all the instrumentalities
then and afterwards within his reach to accom-
plish the great work, depend upon it the FIVE
talents which he had when boy, will be ten
when he becmes a man. This is a truth which
needs no lllustration-a fact proven bv univer-
sal experience and in harmony with philosophy
The modus operandi, and the means which are
to be used in affecting this transition will be
noticed hereafter.
The objects of Education are two fold The
first and chief one is the development of the in
dividual himself his preparation bv wise and
judicious training, by the imposition of proper
restraints, by the inculcation of truths and eie-
mentary principles, and by the direction of his
mind into proper channels of thought to perform
well not only the duties of life and of his own
vocation, but also thoroughly fitted to meet ev-
cry crisis, every emergency in his career-to ex-
ert the widest and healthiest inflence in his day
and generation-and generally TO accomplish
the most and in the best manner in the nature
if possible. This is the primary object of all
education. The other is but little inferior to it
in Importance, and that is, the benefit. which
thereby accrue to society. a stone dropped in
to the middle of the ocean makes series of con-
centric circles which gradually spread out and
enlarge until they are broken upon the rernotest
shores Every man is of influence and
the intlence which he exerts operates first upon
his family and his immediate neighbors. then
through them upon their neighbors and so on
throughout society at largc-and again first up-
on hls own children, then upon their children
their chlldrens children and 50 on throughout
the successive generations Of men. Five right
eous men would have saved Sodom One good
man IN any community, one who :" acts the law
he lives by without fear and follows RIGHT
because 1T Is right, in scorn of consequence"
will simply by the powerful purity of his own
r..t,,, Il.
crimes, suppress many vices, and lead back
again into the paths of rectitude NAV who have
wandered A highly educated man is public
benefit to any community, he is locked up to
and respected by the most illiterate for his ac-
QUESTIONS and for the power which they confer.
and either by the open promulgation Of his own
more correct and exalted views, or by their
enunciation in his daily life, directs into proper
channels the mass of mind by which he is sur
rounded.
In America the influence Of educated men is
more perfectly exemplified than perhaps in any
other country; here, intelligence confers the
only recognized patent Of nobility; here indie
pendent of political considerations, the first
question that is asked concerning a candidate
for any Office, is not, has lie an unsullied lineage
nor how great is his wealth. but what are his
qualifications, his fitness for the station to which
he aspires.
There Is another reason, tco, why education is
matter of public interest, and that is, preven-
tion Of crime. a highly intelligent is usually,
indeed always, very moral community, and
think it may be safely asserted that, generally
speaking, the morality of societies and nations
is in exact proportion to their intelligence. AT
any rate, ii is Il singular and gratifying fact,
which the records in this and other countries
prove conclusively, that among these who have
suffered the extreme penalty of the law and
those who have eXpated their offences in peni
tentiaries, not one in a hundred was well edu-
Gated man. indeed, more than one-half Of the
convictS in confinement for other than To-
litical offences, can neither read nor write. Why
this should be SO, is perfectly apparent to any
one who viii give the subject moments refec
ton. a thoroughly educated man is always
capable of acting well his part in any vocation :;
of bringing to his aid in every undertaking and
in every business disciplined powers, and know
ledge, which Is power-these ensure success.
Besides, for such men there is always constant
UefDan0 IN the sciences ana arts, In the profess
sions and in ordinary avocations, for mental dis
cipline and their acquisitions make them more
ingenious more vigorous, more skillful and more
useful One who always has. or who always can
have remunerating employment, and whose aid
and labor are constantly sought, Is not very
likely to run into crimes for there is adage
more true than that which says, an idle head
i ha daviI,O
What education should be, and what should
be its extent are themes which have puzzled
older and wiser heads than mine Innumerable
are the theories that have been broached and the
treatises which have been written thereon. OF
course some of them are altogether erroneous,
others are mixed and dashed with sense, and
others still, built upon truth. / apprehend that
the chief objections 10 most modern works on
the subject are two The first Is that their au-
thors seem to imagine that there Is some short
cut, some royal road TO knowledge. Education
is work accomplished by the aid of certain in
strumentalties; these within the last fifty years,