Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-07-06

] retouched the whole picture of those
3 brightest years in our memory, and old
q Burr seminary stands out on the courses
' almost as bright and sharp as in former
9 days. Yet it is but dream Memory
? has been true to her Office and SO has
3 time. The scenes have changed and we are
{ strangers where once we were brothers
? But we return not with unalloyed pleas
t ure. In such a reunion there are vacant
i. places, that can never be again filed on
earth. Yet the recollection of what they
3 were and did, throws bright charm about
] the years of our seminary life. He could
7 not say less, must not say more.
> We are living the life that now is and
, must to some extent shoulder the burdens
which the departed have laid down. AS
educated men and citizens we have high
and holy duty to perform. His subject
would be the great want of our times.
The want and magnitude of it would be
!, seen by the items which make it up.
Il There is a want especially among our
young people, of feeling of individual
responsibility for individual training.
The vast importance of this idea, is not
appreciated. Individual training is the
instinct of nature, the dictate of reason
and the demand Of religion. 1t appeals
to us as men, tells US of the grandeur of
our nature, and tells us there is no assign
able limit to our growth. 1t impressess
us with the thought that each of US has
something to do for ourselves. Book lec-
lures and social intercourse may rouse u.s.
bus we must digest them and think for
ourselves. These are not the prevalent
ideas of our time self training requires
will energy and effort Men do not
Micawber for something to turn up, the
normal or acquired. +...
This want is sadly wanting in our
times. First in reference to physical
training. God gave us the body as the
residence and servant of the soul and as
nal world. He works for every part.
This is true of parents in the treatment
of their children by too early attempts to
educate the head instead of the body, re-
sulting in colds, coughs, etc, etc. They
confne them to close warm rooms and i'll
ventilated school rooms. He proceeded
to illustrate the various methods in which
the physicl health is impaired if not de-
stroyed by indulgent parents of the pres
ent day, and then paid glowing tribute
to old fashioned mothers. Work of some
kind is the normal condition of mankind
and he who despises or shirks it, does vio-
lence to nature. Work is honorable and
healthy, and was ordained by God, for
the proper development of our physical
frame. All classes seem however to de-
spise it. In one of our cities Is answered
E. l.
400 for gentlemen to travel and play the
banjo. 1t is no wonder that from the
strong healthfulness of our sturdy Eng
lish stock, we have become comparatively
feeble sickly race.
The want is also in our intellectual
training. Man was made for thought, in
telligenee and endless growth. In this
country our facilities for knowledge are
boundless. The statesmen, men of science,
and the President spring from the farm,
printing-ofhoe, tannery, etc. But we are
not only to acquire, but use knowledge. |
We may fill our minds with facts, but it
will do no good. unlesa we think. The |
n,iud, like steam, the more it rises to re-
eist tho rrooouro, the more we demand Of
it. We need in all our institutions of
learning to train men to gather facts, and
to think upon them and to enlarge on
them. We put our children into the |
hands of the teacher, who does all the |
thinking for them, if any is done. In the
true sense, teacher is the instructor, not
the teacher of the child. Children and
men know enough, but they do not think.
Every thing, almost, in the secular train
ing of our day looks only to business and |
to gold One.sixth of all volumes issued !
annually from the press are works of fc-
tion.
The second great want of our times is
the want of proper notions of social life.
BY nature we are social beings, and are
morally bound to cultivate an intelligent, |
cheerful, socisble and friendly spirit with
our fellow-men. To this end we should
seek to purify the social affections. We
are, however, anything but social. About
the only sociality that is at all hearty and
consistent is that among the gentlemen
in the club room, and in the smokingcar
The ladies are separated by various causes,
family, wealth, cliques, etc.
The children are an exception; all ages,
ranks and conditions play together as
though they were of one family. When
they are a little older, however, their
parents put a stop to il, and they are al
lowed to meet their former companions only
at distance. Fashion now comes in style
is everything. Here followed An anus
ing description of the fashionable young
gentleman and lady of the present day,
which frequently brought down the house
with laughter and applause.
Social life is robbed of all its charms by
making it conventional, social affections
are famished, and sympathy is martyred.
The third grand want is the want of
broad, sound and liberal political views.
The problem of the country's continuance
is not solved yet and cannot be while par
ty spirit rules the hour. We need to
study the history of the past, and to un-
derstand their lessons. We need feelings
that shall rise above party agrandisement
and realize that God has left the future in
our hands, and that to shape that future
Alright we mnst give to our children and
to the millions coming to us from the old
world an effective education, that shall
inspire them with hope and confidence
that they are men and freemen, and with
a sense of their accountability to God.
Politicians and the people must realize
that in the development of our resources,
in the purity and influence of woman, in
education, morality and religion are the
oi unonohch - NNh
institutions.
The base of true liberty is becoming
wider and wider, and the globe for all
practical purposes smaller and smaller
by bringing different nations nearer and
nearer. This is the palpable result of
agencies now at work in our own land
the tendency of our times is onward, in
deed progress is the law of man. ReVo-
l,,ks ffnrl
what mistakes are made. Something III
always gained for God and man in the
end. We stand in the very focus of
events. The result of all the labors and
history of the past, in their best form, in
this great nation under whose glorious
flag we dwell. True liberty under con-
constitutional forms is the great treasure
to be coveted. It holds all men to be
brothers. This will, in the end, sweep
all aristocracies and absolute govern
ments, custom house barriers, standing |