The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1869-01-07


far better than would have been length
ened didactic discourse and the test had
its effect for the man went away sorrow
full"
On another occasion, he was asked by
one the question, ''Who is my neighbor ?''
lie does not go on to prove, by train of
abstract moral reasoning, that all men are
nelghbors and brothers, but He tells
plain and simple story about a certain
man, wht was going down from Jerusalem
to Jericho, and who fell among thieves,-
and about priest and a Levite, his own
countrymen, passing him by, and leaving
linn III his Distress, AND about g0ou Gu
maritan, with whom his nation would have
no dealings, befriending him and saving
his life; all bearing upon and illustrating
the point he wished to inculcate till by the
time the story was through, the answer to
the question, "Who was neighbor to him
that fell among the thievesY" flowed sponta-
neously from the mouth of the inquirer
himself; ''He that showed mercy on him."
Examples might be multiplied illustrative
OF the mode adopted by this Divine Teacher
in communicating instruction, by which it
was brought home to the mind of the hear
er with an irresistible power.
Now why is it that student will nomi-
nally go through the study of branch of
science or literature, and memorize nll the
rules and theoretical principles, and yet
know nothing understandingly about it
have no practical or valuable knowledge of
the subject Because the words and ideas
have not been to him the real pictures of
things. He has never thought of laying
the principles alongside of the resultant or
correspondent facts, and therefore has no
true idea of their coincidence or relation
Said a young miss to her uncle, as he
was holding up an apple, and twirling it
round to illustrate to her the figure and
rotary motion of the earth-"but do you
mean, uncle, that the earth is really round
and turns round ike the appler' "Why
certainly" said he, ''did you not learn it in
your Geography cob yes" said she, Il
| learned it, but L never knew it before"
H. The History Of our Country should
be made the constant study Of the american
| Student
1t Is custom in almost ell our Schools
and Colleges, to use histories of England,
Rome and Greece as class books, to the
exclusion almost of Amerieaa History
This Is bad custom. Our youth, who in
few years, Will have the whole weight Of
the government upon their shoulders,
should not be ignorant Of the history of
their country. They should possess full
information about the origin, the nature,
the cost, and the value Of the great inher-
itance, which is about to fall into their
hands. They should be made familiar, in
| early life, with the pure models of public
virtue which illumined the first days of
the republic. 1t is also important, that
they should study our history, in order to
acquire that proper degree Of national
pride and that delicate sense of national
honor, which are indispensable to an en-
lightened, ardent and enduring patriotism.
1t is not in the human heart to love
country of no character or distinction II
the world, so well as one whose history IL
glorious and honorable. We love Poland
the better, and feel more compassion for
It's fate, because it is the land Of DE kalb
and Koskiusko. In Ike manner the
whole world loves Greece-not for what
she is, but for what she has been-not for
her living, but for her dead, and will con-
tinue to love her and feel a kind of con-
sanguinity to her, so long as her soil linurns
the ashes of her ancient illHstrious men.
And wherever over the wide world, we
meet an honorable and generous hearted
Irishman, we cannot help feeling, that
apart from the virtues of the man, some
! little REGARD is justly due to the country
man Of Grattan, of Moore, of Curran and
of Emmet. We almost uacOnsciOusly
transfer to the country itself-to its inhabi-
tants-something Of the admiration which
wo feel for its distinguished citizens.
This disposition Of the heart operates
with increased force in relation To ones
own country. Let any one of you ana
! lyze your attachment to country, and you
will find that the renown of that country
adds not little to the strength and fe--
vency of this passion. You will find that
pride for her high reputation, for her great
names, and for everything In her annals
that sheds luster around national charac-
ter, is intimately and indissolubly associa-
| ted with the very idea of country. You
will find, indeed, that these, no less than
physical nature and civil institutions, con-
stitute country. You will find that though
we love our free institutions for their in
estimabIe value, and for the rich fruits Of
liberty, security, and prosperity which
thev disperse over the whole country, we
love them vet more for the glorious men
who moulded them into their strength and
beauty, and through many years of hard
fought battle, in field and senate, with the
sword and the pen, exerted every nerve e
BODY and all tie energies of their great
minds, at the expense of ease and fortune,
and at the peril Of their lives, to sustain
and defend them Now, as we venerate
these men. on account of the rich inheri-
tapce tber have transmitted to as. so we
, venerate the inheritance more highly on
account of the iilustrious donors. BY a
-, .,,.4;or IN our faolinos the