The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1857-07-08


leges are necessarily local, their endownents.
their prosperity and influence, are matters Of
worldwide interest: and though the day IS
National, it cannot be said to be dcsccrated bv
discussing local topics, or making it subsidiary
to local interests, if those interests are an essen
tial part of the prosperity of the Common
wealth.
We most heartily endorse then, the nature
and object of the celebration in this beautiful
village With unity of purpose that has set
taxed most of the men # this valley. and enlis-
ted the eordi;9 aud substantial corporation Of
our public spirited ladies, and challenged the
generous efforts of our "young men and maid
ems, We have met to. make an offering to the
cause of learning among u.s.. On yonder beau
tiful eminemce stands monument to your en-
terprse that is rarely to be found, in a pio-
neer settlement of so recent a. date. That
Seminary from foundation to dome is genero;a
in its outline and would grace many an East
ern village whose population and means are
| far greater than ours.
1t is, so far as we know, the first chartered
| Institution in this part the great N orth West
Its funds too, are most ample and available:
for no institution can be called poor, possessing
the favor of the people and with their deter
mination to sustain it.
Its treasury is exhaustless while the people
are alive to their true interests and that they
are here on this subject, this occasion abundant
| ly proves.
Instead of an ordinary civil celebration, you
have chosen to devote the day TO the promo
! ton of Educational interests; and it seems al
most superf1uous To remark that we are assem-
bled under circumstances of peculiar interest
1t is to give impulse to learning by making
scieuce more attractive, and demonstrable-~-
1t is also to note an achievement that would
be considered an ample occasion for pride ard
congratulation in the Oldest and most intelli-
gent communities of New England. IF there
are ever circumstances when self graduation is
admissible, it is when, self denial public spirit
and enlightened philanthropy have engaged in
the erection either of christian temples or ed
ucational Institutions. 1t is a matter of no
small moment in old communities where the
| spirit of the people relating to all that con-
Germs the common good is regarded as settled,
and where the tone OF public policy has been
stereotyped for generations
Even there, such an event gives new inn
pulse to enterpr.ss in every other department
of business and life. The very act, seems to
elevate the ideas and purposes of men, and TO
create self-respect, and aspirations for still
higher attainments in all the elements of re-
spectability. 1t brings individuals out of
themselves, and the narrow circle of private
| interest, and associates them for legistimate
purposes, and imparts all the strength that So
cial organizations was designed to embody.
1t connects them with the past by comparison
or corporations, and with the future by con-
sequences that to effect the destinies Of men
in all coming time.
1t leads them to reflect upon the results of
their movements, and if they reason at all, it
will impress them sense of their personel in
fiuence, and responsibility, to society, to gov.
eminent and God
If such are the national results of nubIic
spirit, in places long settled where the current
of human affairs has worn channels too deep
to be easily turned Or INSTRUCTED, we can read
| lily infer the importance of the enterprise here
commenced, by pioneer settlement, whose i'll
fancy is thus early marked, by substantial
offering to learning, to intelligence TO virtue,
and we would humbly hope to Truth and Re-
ligion. Before the soil has to any great extent
been broken and subdued, before you hare got
so as to dwell in yonr ceiled houses, where the
Indian trail is yet fresh, and while laboring
under the privations and endorsements Incl
dent to early settlements you have contributed
literally to lay the foundations of your social
fabric on the only sure basis.
Your first care was to provide for the relig-
ious wants of the community; and now as a
! consequence and in its proper order, come the
means of intellectual dicipline and systematic
education All this is right; and it justly
gives to this people, proud pre-eminence over
scores of our western villages whose superior
wealth, population or commercial advantages,
constitutes their only claim to present distinc-
ton, and their only ground or hope of future
thrift
Without something TO answer the higher
wants of man, the demands of his nature and
position as being OF mind and morals,
subject Of civil government and creature of
God, no physical advantages can long avail.
Property can neither be accumulated nor re-
tained, without forecast, without understand
Ing something of the laws of production and
consumption, without intelligently balancing
the thousand contingencies with which we are
constantly beset; nor can it be regarded as
blessing at all, without virtue and intelligence
to teach and incline us to its proper use. 1t is
not secure unless men love virtue and regard
law; and they will do neither, whore the heart
and brain are without culture. The soil may
be prolific, but it matters very little. if the great
aim Of life be leisure, luxury, or self-aggrand-
izement. for its very exuberance viii oaly aug
ment the sources of dcgeneracy