The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1858-01-29
Communication.
For the Hancock Jeffersonian.
The scholars Mission.

1t may be observed by examining
the influences extant among the an.
clients, that when wisdom, virtue
and truth prevailed, ignorance, vice
and superstition, we're subject to the
will Of Of man; but when the former
lost their influence, tho powers oi
mind became latent-were veiled in
q curtain Of the bane Of human in
tellect-- skepticism and idolatry.
When man understood and &C.
knowledged the rights guaranteed tt
our race by the Creator-when wis
dom and virtue governed every &C
tion-when freedom Of thought wa.
regarded as sacred, and freedom o.
speech was granted as one OF the
'lrights of intelligence; then it was
that nations flourishcd - that the
poweres OF mind lowered to the
z nith--and that the race was exalt
ed to that intellectually which Sc.
cures peace and prosperity. But
when knowledge was regarded as a
curse and dangerous - when the
range ofthought was narrowed down
and circumscribed by the petty limits
ofselfish qualification, and to SUBJ
Ijacts Of sordid passion, ignorance
stalked rampant through the world,
and vice and infsmy and idolatry
and their concomitants took the lead
: of every mind. and marked every
whim and caprice Of perverted ma
ture. Turn, il you please, aud be.
hold the characteristics incident to
Grecian excellence; and the mind
will readily recognize those higher
attainments resulting from proper
value placed upon moral and intel
ectual worth. Or, with me, traverse
the panorama Of Roman greatness of
yore, ere the midnight pail Of the
dark ages had curtained the world,
and tell me to whom these nations
owed their success. Was it to the
lignorant-the illiteratel Or, was it
to the masses? Nay verify. 1t was
due to those only, who regarded
knowledge and her sister Truth, as
sacred boons-as priceless jewels.
But as soon as the Influence Of those
was stilled by party prejudices. or
state chicanery, the masses took up
on the inscription Of Mfdelity and
&epticism. Then when moral
might had settled down upon the
world, shutting out the light of reve-
lation and intellectual achievements,
when the gloom of ten centuries
had we'll nigh extinguished the last
spark ofan enlightened christianity;
the votaries of wisdom waxed indif.
ferent and the intellects OF men be-
came almost blanks, and were closely
allied to the instincts of the herds
that fiocked the mountains, or the
beasts that roamed the vallies. -
Crime filled the avenues of life, and
shame and degradation stained the
character of those who pleaded vir.
tues cause. The finer sensibilities
became dormant, and nothing WAS
too horrible or of too base q charac'
ter to glut the frenzied passions o
all Infamous people.
But wisdom, rightly applied, is
power. The oblations OF ignorance
had lost their Influence over the
minds Of a few--a brighter period
was dawning. Truth and Reason
were about to supplant the innova
tons Of Error. knowledge, like the
newly risen sun, ascended triumph
ant over hilltop and mountain, unit
the cloud which had curtained thu
X world for centuries, was driven away
and hope looked up and smiled
Her few scattered votaries rallied 4
her standard, until science and liter
ature had again revived, and th'
world had undergone complete ane
effectual, moral snd intellectual, ,ren
ovation, The present, with its fai
pages was ushered in, together will
those blessings and privileges whicl
Knowledge, aided by Truth, slone i
able to give. The present,in whicl
all the facilities calculated to exal
q people, are extended to every por
tion Of our globe. Whence thi
changed Has not the scholar beel
Ian active instrument II SO, hov
fgreat bis responsibility, how impor
tant his trust! Yes, the scholar ha
been the great actor in the scene, AN,
Iit Is owing to his in6usDce that thos
institutions Of learning through on
land, which will ever be monument
|of glory to the commonwealth, hsv
had an existence. II 10 to the liter
larry stars Of our land, whose ligh
1hss ever shons With stfllgence. ths
We owe our inAusnce ~ q nstion.-