The Westerly echo, & Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1854-1858, 1857-08-13
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Benenls Of ara EducatiOm.

man who had been suddenly laid low by
the stroke of death. The question
would not dismiss itself from my mind
and many were my reflections concern
ing it.
] had known the person referred to
even from my childhood. A man of
great mind--of mind that bungered
aud thirs,ed. after knowledge as does the
natural man for food aud drink--he had
drawn deep draughts from the fountain
Of wisdom Far reaching thought and
laboiious study had been the companions
of bis leisure hours those hours so uni
versally given to up and down street
walks, tobacco, day-dreams, and idle con-
versa,ion. He had satisfied the cravings
of bis immortal nature, he bad become
learned man, but "what. good has his
education done him :"
Had it carved his name in emtlazoned
letters high upon the towering temple of
fame No, he had never striven TO
scale its dazzling height, and place his
name among the great ones Of earth -
He had lived and died, like other men,
in the obscurity Of private life, and like
other mcn his memory Will pass from
the land of the Ii ing. Had it brought
him wealth. Alas, no wealth had not
been the object of his toil-gold had not
been his idol Instead of living by his
learning of coming bis genius--he had
depended solely upon an unpretending
trade for his subsistence and the means
ofpursuing his various studies. Not for
fame, nor for riches had he plungea in-
to the mysteries Of knowledge, but pure
~ from love OF learning. If he had
turned the channels of his education n-
to streams of wealth, none would have
questioned its usefulness. But where
tvre this Was his life a failure his
toll, labor lost his education useless :
Far from it. Did he not gain nobler
and moro enduring wealth than yellow
gold or glistening siivG:' What gold
can compare in value with tue riches c.
tho immortal mind : These are pure
and exalted--noble, and if eternal dur
alton. They perish not with the using.
They enter into the very element of the
soul, becoming an essential part Of its be-
ing.
Worldly riches can be useful to man
only so far as they supply him with all
that is necessary for his comfort and
happiness; but he who thus supplies
himself with reference to bodily comfort
end happiness, does DO more than the
unthinking quadruped and the soulless
insect. The man who Las cultivated to
the best of his ability his God given
powers Of mind, has not lived in vain
bis toll has not been labor lost-his
education has not been useless. He has
laid up for himself store OF int cllcctual
wealth of which nothing, no, not even
death itself, can deprive him. For who
can belive that the soul, emerging from
this into future existence, carries not
with it all the faculties which it here
possessed-and if the germ has been
richly cultivated here, why should we
not expect far more perfect and g!ori-
Gus plant when full expanded within the
richer garden of Heaven by educa-
ton the faculties of the soul are expand
ed, developed. It's capacity for happi,
ness is infinitely increased. We look
out upon the world with new eyes the
most common, everyday objects assume
new instruction, wonderful features. -
While the ignorant, thoughtlcss soul,
views only the surface of things, the man
of cultivated mind locks deep into the
hidden mysteries Of nature sees the de.
monstration of a perfect, all.wise, all
powerful creative Agency in everything
around, from the dull clod that cllngs to
his feet to the ETHEREAL atmosphere that
fans his brow aud expands bis hoaving
chest. The wonderful mechanism Of
that "barp of a thousand striLgs the
human body proclaims to him with re-
sistless eloquence the glorious might, the
infinite skill, the deep design of Deity.
He reads the majesty Of Omnipotence io
the nicely balanced evolutions of the So
lar system-sees the harmonic blending
of nature. lie possesses within him
self an uniathomable, incxhaustible
fountain of happiness. Riches caunot
yield such JOY, fame cannot afford such
pleasure.
Were the farmer and the mechanic
thoroughly educated throughout our
land, there would be less Of sordid gain,
more true nobility of mind among us
less Of the cringing homage SO eagerly
yielded to purse-proud fools-more Of
upright, manly independence-tbere
would be less of vice and dissipation
among your young men, less Of fashion
able frivolify and superficial display
among our maidens Our national char
acter would be nober, our political in.
stitutions freer from corruption, our cit
liens more truly noble and worthy to
govern themselves. Ignorance is the