The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1865-04-13

intellectual culture, which enabled them
TO endure with heroic fortitude all the
hardships OF the struggle; to see clearly
their rights and duties, and embody tha'
for which they had been SO long contend
ing. in the simplest form, yet the stron
gest that could be devised, In which the
duties and privileges of the citizens are
clearly defined and set forth A form
that has been the admiration of man
kind. and has called forth the highest
eulogies of the ablest critics and writers
on political science.
do not hesitate in saying, that had
the actors in the revolution been as lg-
norant as those who had preceded them
in like contests, they would likewise have
failed, and after struggling for years, for
freedom and independence, would have
degenerated into a miserable despotIsm.
or become the subjects of some one
claiming the right to rule by divine
auth ority; and to-day, instead of being
free people, governed by laws of our
own making, having them executed by
men Of our own choosing, and having
Justice administered to us by Judges OF
our own election, we might have had q
hereditary peerage, hereditary mon
archy, gartered knights, Lords rich IN
some dozen paltry villages, great only
in that strange spell-a name. Instead
of being the sovereigns of the land as
we are, in whom and from whom all
power must emanate, We might have been
hewers of wood and drawers of water.
But those who fled from the oppression
of the old world, did not intend that we
should be such They adopted those
means of education by which they and
their children were instructed and OBJ
tanned a knowledge of those duties,
which would rest upon them in free
country and which made them learned
patriots learned statesmen; able war
riors and diplomatists. 1t was from
thi. reason more than any other, that we
were successful in our contest for indie
pendence. and this common school sys
TEN then and there established has been
the glory of New England, and has just
ly caused her name to be revered and
loved everywhere throughout the land,
where learning. intelligence, virtue and
Justice exist and are cherished.
If our fathers conceived it necessary
to educate themselves, and provide
means for the education of their children,
in order that they might free themselves
from oppression, and employ the bless
ings of free institutions. How much
more important is it then that we who
are the recipients of these blessings,
should maintain, support. and carry to the
highest perfection this system by which
they were educated. And what ere we
doing upon this important question :?
Are we giving it the attention its inror-
tance deserves? Are we endeavorirg to
build it up to those proportions which
will embrace all the people of the land,
and give education 10 all the chilCten
/ thereof? Are we mending its defects,
making additions where they are needed,
and harmonizing all its various parts, 80
| that there will be no discord or jariIg
t in its workings
I am fearful when we come to be hon
/ est with ourselves, we will have to ac-
knowledge that we are not as deeply in
terested in this great work as we should
be; that we are in the habit of consider
ing it OF minor importance that the peo-
Al. +!
that attention which its Importance would
seem to Justify and that it is not being
built up as rapidly and completely, and
its effects and influences are not as pow.
erful as they should be. Yet the com
mon school system has been improved
enlarg ed. and made much more effective
than when it was first established and
put in operation.
The common school is eminentlv anc
pre- eminently the school of the people
1t is the only system that will reach th'
mass and educate them. 1t goes to the
poor man and furnishes him with th'
means Of instruction, to the indifferen
man snd tells him or ought to, that h'
I shall enjoy it's benefits. 1t reaches every
condition, every sex and all classes 0
persons. 1t is found in the city, in th,
town, in the village and in every nool
! and corner of the country. To thi
!. should the attention Of every people b'
, bent They should come to look upoI
it As the chief pillar in the edifce of thei
. free institutions-the means which viii
f give their children such knowledge o
, the elementary branches of science, a
will qualify them to act we'll their part
| as members of society, and citizens o
this government Having made thes
general remarks on the importance Q
education among . free people, and Q
, that system which will reach the Who'll
of them, let us turn our attention for
short time 70 our own State and look q
her common school system and Sc