The Cecil Whig., 1871-05-20
Abstract of the Opening Address
At tile E.rhtjHjOn at Jacks0n HtH, deIiccred
Nay 5th, 1871, By D. S.

Solomon says, "Train up chld-in the
way he should go and when he is old he
will not depart from it," In considering
this admonition of Israels wise King,
will notice first the duty enjoincd in the
words "Train up a child in the way he
should go" and in the second place, the
reason assigned, viz: "when he is old he
will NOT depart from it,
If, in the treatment of this subject,
raise the standard of the Teachers qualifi-
cations above most living models, it will
not be for the purpose of vindicating pro-
fession but lightly esteemed and of elevat-
ing it to a position, approximating, in some
degree at least, to it's Importance. ''Train
up a child" How little is this monition
needed! How many children are growing
up without any moral training or any
proper restraint! The inferior animals are
in better condition than the untaught
human; for their instincts guide them with
certainty.
Reasoning at ev'ry step he treads
Man still mistakes his way;
While meancr things which instinct leads.
Are rarely found to stray.
The beaver builds his dam, without a
teacher. The birds built their nests as
nature teaches them; each species or varie-
~ building alike in all ages. The bees
construct their cells without line or pattern,
with geometrical eXactness as they have
done in all their generations, without
instruction, without improvement and
without failure. The same is true of all
the animal tribes,-their instincts prompt
them to provide for their comfort, and
beyond that they cannot advance.
But man, endowed with reason, and
made little lower than the angels, requires
to be taught; for he is the most helpless of
all animated creatures. Destitute of ami
NAL instinct; and before the dawn and
development of reason what a pitable
object he is. The lamb can recognize his
dam among thousand sheep. The same
is true of all young animals. But the
infant man cannot distinguish his mother
from stranger, nor nutriment from poison;
he has no idea Of danger and no power to
escape it. He is the most helpless of all
God infant creatures. But soon his latent
powers begin to expand in a few days he
can distinguish his mother or nurse from a
stranger; his eyes are attracted by the
light and they dwell with pleasure on gay
and beautiful colors; distance and sound
next claim his attention, and soon he COM
prehends the meaning Of words; first his
own name or the names of those about
him.
The mind, thus started, grows apace,
gathering food by contact with the world;
until the helpless infant ripcns into the
| sage philosopher, who, mastering all the
mysteries of nature, becomes familiar with
the laws by which God governs the materi-
al universe, and reads those laws, i'll the
face of nature, as plainly as he reads the
moral law communicated to Moses on Sinai S
burning, quaking mount.
Nor will the progress of the mind stop
with his earthly career, but will 60 on
increasing in knowledge and power,
throughout eternal duration. The infant
mind has been compared to a clean sheet of
blank paper on which characters good or
bad may be impressed with equal facility
bv the teachings and influence of those
having charge of it.
Dear Teacher, do you realize the impor-
| tance of the trust committed to your direc-
| ton? Do you reflect that those plastic
J minds are initiating your example and
shaping their characters after your model,
| and that their characters in this world and
their destiny in the next are affected i'll an
I inconcevable degree by your teaching and
example; not only while i'll School, but
whenever and wherever your words or
actions are within their inspection? Man
! is an initiative creature, especially i'll child
| hood. How much alike will the children
! of family speak, Not only will they use
\ the same words, but the accent and pro
! nunciaton will be the same. How early
/ do children initiate whatever they see older
! persons do. The little girl sews and knits,
washes and irons, bakcs miniature cakes
[ and sets her tea table; while her brother in
I frocks, rides his wooden horse, harnesses
| his cat or dog to his tiny wagon, cultivates
his little field or garden, builds his mill
i dam on the meadow rivulet or erects his
store under the shade of tree.
! Such, then, being the nature Of the
| human mind, its early training cannot be
| over estimated, for on that depends, in an
ucalculable degree, its character and condi-
ii on-its powers and capacity for good or
vii.
In illustration of this position let me cite
two examples only, to which thousands
mi .ght be added were it necessary. little
m ore than century ago, there rose in
E lrope, two persons of widely different
ch aracters, whose early histories show that
th cir infantile trainings were as different
as their widely different after-lives. One
be came the most renowned soldier of mod
err times-Napoleon l. Tho other the no
less distinguished Wilberforce.
Alike in the powers of their active minds!
| Alike in their ocean-w washed island home!
Alike in their early orphanage! Differing
mainly in their early education and its
influence on their characters. The one
| became monster in cruelty and crime.
delightirg i'll bloodshed, slaughter and
rapine III cities sacked and widows woes
and orphans tears, and garments rolled i'll
blood.
The iher, instructed in the benign
principles of christianity, by the precPpts
and example of a pious female relative,
| ~, into tha tact christian lori
tor and philanthropist of modern times,
whose uame will be pronounced by admir-
ing millions, to the end of time; and who
will say that the difference in these great
men, was not due, in an eminent degree,
to the different training they received in
youth.
This brings me to my second proposition,
viz:-'' When he is old he will not depart
from it,
In the every day struggles of life, failure
is n common occurrence. Our most cher
ished objects are rarely reached, or if we
reach them, it is only to find that distance
or ardor of pursuit, had invested them
with fictitious Importance which vanished
as we approach and when we grasp them,
s.Thev turned to ashes i'll our hands. y
Riches often take to themselves wings and
tiy away. Houses and lands the most
secure possessions, arc transient in their
nature and perish in the using. Worldly
glory-the warriors laurels and the sage S
fame, arc alike unstable and evancscent.-
Daniel Webster said, If we work upon
marble it will perish; if upon brass, time
will cflace it; if we rear costly temples they
will crumble into dust; but if we work
upon our immortal minds-if we imbue them
with principles, with the just fear of God
and love of our fellow-men-we engrave
on these tablets something which bright
ems through all eternity.
Here then is your reward in the perma-
nency of your work, which extends not only
to The end of your lives and the lives of
those you teach; but onward in never
ending progression, during all the genera
tions of mankind on earth and through
eternal duration hereafter.
Your calling, dear Teacher, is one OF
great Importance and responsibility. ou
have committed to your direction, the
training of immortal minds heirs, of an
endless existence. You have it in youl