Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-10-07

will be laid permanently and indestructibly be-
fore i, has attained the 10th year Of its being.
Subsequent influences may strengthen or i'm
pair that foundation, but they never can dis
place il. For the characters .! men DO not re-
suit from their own investigations; the pat.
terms are not selected and approved by ma
turc Judgment; they are formed by the com.
! bined development Of these associations and
sympathics of childhood from whose abiding
influence 10 reascnlngS or efforts OF mature
wears sill ever entirely elnancipate them. You
mast communicate, or you must withhold,
from that wave of human society which ioI-
lows after you, and will soon rise in your place,
those principles whose infusion will make It
pure, and whose absence will cause 1t TO spread
bitterness. corruption and desoIation wherever
il rolls.
What are those principles. and how arc they
to he communicated? We have said that the
ri,in. generation must be cinrdted; but
we 10 not Use the word in its popular acccPta::
ton. We nccer employ it III the degraded
sense. now 20 current, which excludes the dis
c;plinc Of the heGrt: and we now Use it, with.
OIL, reference 10 merely intellectual culture; our
present concern being with that sort OF educa'
ton which improves and cSatS the character,
not that which fills thc memory and en!arSeS
the understanding. know that It is che
rishcd idea in this country, that sound morals
and extended Knowledge are inseparable as
cause and elect and that the cOnsclences OF
men ARE enlightened to discern evil and armed
~ resist il. ny merely storing their minds with
learning. Virtue and Intelligence are the
strong pillars on which rests the social edliice
of our country, and To make society v!rtuouS
We must make men intelligent. This Is the
Gyuri:e maxim reiterated by the lips OF every
social rc.orincr Of the agc-by every aspran'
II popular favor and political distinction With
.:icli Of truth in the AZ horism there are MN.
rlcd with il clements which in their practical
Development are exceedingly dangerous, anu
make 1t, in Iac;, the most pcrllors sOphiSln oil
our are and country. We meet with 1t every
where: we hear it almost daily in conversation:
; il abm,nds in all the secular, and in most OF
, the religious journals which circulate through
the !and-it is assumed III popular addresses
Turks in legislative cnactmcnts and Is sanction
ed bv Tic erection Of scminareS OF learning.
which SEEM intended for beings purely
intellectual, callous TO all passions and des-
,itu,c Of all Observation-Disclosures where
every mental faculty is titled with minute
and systematic industry, while the whole
moral nature is left wilderness, in
which the mos, roxious weeds may spring up
and multiply knowledge, knowledge alone
is proclaimed 10 be the uniailing protector OF
ali rgh.s-thc kind and nursing parent OF all
yirtucS-thc certain cure for every malady that
can infrst human society.
Now. we hold this 10 be 4 SophiSm false III
theory and fatal in experiment, whose increaS-
Inr prevalence is Just c:tuse of alarm to reflect
| ing minds, and which it is the duty Of all who
stand responsible for the Interests OF their tel-
low.bcincs, both temporal and eternal, to resist
loudly and s,rcnuouSly. As an instrument TO
promote physical and mental enjoyment know
! ledge has genuine worth, amply sufficient to
attract the pursuit Of men, and afford matter
Tor rational approval without making prctcn-
7 sions which are absurd and dangerous. That
intelligence is lever which, properly applied,
mav sustain and elevate the public morals is an
obvious verify; but it has 10 moral character
and no moral preference of its own IL may
be abused, and may he employed in the work
OF demolition, rs well as Of construction. it'
results derive their moral tendency from the
! moral agency br which the Instrument Is
wicl,lcd-that i, the moral effects ct intciIi-
/ scncc depend upon the very circumstances OF
which this SophSri aii!rns them to be decisive
/ II is servant to that Of which it is said to be
/ master 1t is the clay, instead OF the potter,
in the formation of the social character. Show
me, 10y reasoning, or by experiment, the Sc
! yatnce which is claimed 10 exist between Intel
/ cctual wealth and moral purity. lake child
and teach him the truths Of mathematical SCI
eucc VIII you make him abaor fraud ana
! lalSchood: Teach him natural philosophy, and
will you thereby cxtinguiSh Scllishness and
malice or infusc purity Of thought and modes
~ of demcanor: Teach him the distractions
/ OF moral science, and will you thereby impart
the will ana the power to perform moral du-
ties Surely not Eat row try different
/ process. Let him be removed from the con-
tact oil every irrcli-ioilS impulse and association.
lie, him be cnvironcd rs much as possible by
whatsoever things are pure, just, true, honest,
lovely and Of good report Carry him TO the
word Of God, for standard OF morals, perfect,
unaltcrabc aud eternal, founded not on the
/ Spccrlatons OF man, but on the dittum of Om-
/ impotence; send him 10 the throne Of grace, and
/ thithyr let parent and teacher repair, utth him
hy their example, and for lin by their pray
crS. And what results may you then rational
| IL anticipate? In the human character, instead
( OF the antagonist principles Of intelligence and
vice mn:iing halmonously to make the COM
pound more offensive You inilIsc the religious
principle and everything gross is ncutralized
aud p-cclptatcd; everything noxicus is eXpe!i-
cd an. the character acquires permanent pu-
ritv and transparency. Now what Is true o!
the individual element must be true OF the uni
! form mass. For a people without intelligence
the ran:c OF physical and intellectual enjoy
! ment mus. be circumscr;bcd; but the purity Of
morals. the authority Of the laws, that fireaidc
happiness, which after all, is the most precious
I Of social treasures need not be impaired, nor jeO-
rGur,iZcd Nay, those tracts of mans history,
ON which both reason and imagination dwell
( with the most unalloyed complaccncy, are not
those most rcsp,endcnt with the illumination Of
: letters and polished by the art" OF civilized
/ life It's in communities where ignorance and
/ poverty have been ennoilcd By Il pure and
| beautiful simplicity Of manners. that We must
! look for the most illuSt:ious examples OF pat
I riotisrn and the most lovely portraitures Of
( domestic peace But what would be the con-
dition of 4 community destitute Of religion?
! This is picture which requires TO be exhibited
/ in n strong light, ard seriously pOndcred:
society in which religion is Suppanted in its
pscnliar functions by power utterly incom-
pctcn; for their performance. Let not your
/ ;macinatoaS wander laI away to savage tribes,
/ in search Of An actual example of the cond;-
tons OF the hypothesis. The most blinded
and dcpravcd, whose abode is marked on the
map OF any Continent or whose character is
portrayed i'll the annals 0: any age, are no;
I without religion God hath not left them en-
tirclv without witness; and We hesitate not TO
affirm. that il lie most horrible and distorted
creed, considered aS system, that ever deludcd
! mankind, there are yet fountains of truth, and
plants of nourishmcnt, and fences OF beneficial
restraint over the corrupt propenstics OF man,
which render il far better adapted to his moral
nature than the sickly and sterile wastes o: n
| lihcrtinc atheism.
We must suppose 4 case and, in order to con-
cairc the effects ola perfect religious darkness in
their most shocking and fearful manifestations,
we must come nearer home than the hauntS Of
savage life. We must suppose case where the
c,cr,rs of mind are the most powerful, and tic