The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-11-27
ma. BEECuER OS COMPULs0 EDU.
CATION.


anu hRhln was an auOlence more tnal sat
isfied. No man on the American platform
is more eagerly listened to than Henry
Ward Beecher, and from no lips flow such
thoughts of wisdom so eloquently express
cd. 1t was theme which he is most SYM
pathetically prepared to treat with force
and originality. The lecture was brimful
of sound, practical and earnest points, and
his words made deep impress on his
hearers. Mr.. Beecher commenced by say
ing that thought passed in waves. All
Europe was now considering the great
question Of the relation Of education to
statecraft. 1t was the poets dream and
statesmen studied it. At one time it was
q military period then literary period |:
again theology. Very many of those mat.
ters which once commanded the most tho
rough research and study were now con-
sidered of no account whatever.
Now much more important and practi-
cal question was attracting universal atten-
ton education occupies the mind of the
civilized world--common, rudimental in-
struction of the masses, and not the pecu-
liar privileges of the more favored classes
and for this he pleaded. In Great Bri-
tain the Church question had become SUI
coordinate to that of education, and now
the query of most importance was "Who
shall educate the children2" Shall it be
the State, and on what grounds? Shall 1t
be the Church, and on what GROUNDS In
this pending conflict my sympathies are
that the State should do it, not by priests,
but by statesmen and citizens. The priest
hood had done good service, but their day
had gone, and education had become
the duty of the State,
In Great Britain it had come to be con.
sidered the God-gisen right Of the people,
and German influence was being felt over
all Europe. The German Empire owed its
solidity to its schools. 1t was the intelll-
Gence of the North German soldierv that
conquered Austria, and she was learning
wisdom from her conqueror. In Italy and
Switzerland education has been made COM
pulsory, while France lags behind, is the
bottom State, because her masses are ig-
n0rant, and may never hope to cope with
her neighbors while such is the case. Gov
ernments have long been trying to learn
how best to ride the people, and it is prov
en- that the best saddle is intelligence; that
knowledge implies good citizenship. Edu-
cation is military force, and our civil con-
flict was really the Northern school against
the Southern plantation.
Our most intelligent people produce the
greatest wealth per capita our country
leading among the nations, and Connecti-
cut among the States. Prices are regulated
by the amount Of brains required in pro-
duction, and combinations can no more
produce uniformity than they can make
men look alike. The man who has the
most brains will receive the most pay and
stand highest in the estimation of his fell
l0w-men. The time is coming when our
600. How shall they be made safe and
orderly? Every known country was pay
ing tribute to America, and sending its
population here, with all their diverse reli-
gious customs and ideas. Such a combna.
ton can never be made harmonious except
by national education. If religion meant
love to God and love to man it would be
. controlling power.
But while in few hearts it means this,
in all other points 1t bristles with warfare.
Religion should mean harmony; inteli-
gence does. Education should include po
litical principles, morality, social duty. 1t
should be made compulsory. Every State
should provide for the education of it's
whole people. Such provisions had been
made, such principles settled; but as farm
ers sometimes plow up the old sod and SOW
again, SO it BELTS us to deal with mera
growths, and it is time now to discuss this
great matter once more. All old ideas and
matters of theology should be ripped up
once in fifteen years and be discussed, SO
that our children shall know what we were
learning when we were young. The infiu-
ence Of foreign elements in our population
demands lively interest in the whole mat
ter. The State must educate its people and
not the Church.
The State has q right to make its own
existence secure and security to the State
comes only from the education of the whole
people, which thus becomes self-defence.
Dogmatc religion IS not necessary to the
existence of the State; intelligence is.
School-honses should be multiplied till
they are ample for the accommodation Of
all, and the teacher should be among the
most honored of the land. No one stands
so near the father and mother in influence
upon the future Of ths country as the
school.teacher-not professors in colleges,
but the educators of the masses. That
nation is best governed that knows how to
govern itself. Nations have all along tried
to find out how to tax people.
There is no way SO easy as by develop
ing the intelligence Of the whole people.
Intelligence, too, makes a man as much
better soldier as anything else. 1t also in-
creases in remarkable degree the wealth.
producing powers of the State. He paid
merited compliment to women in general
for the frugality and economical manage
ment of their homes. Our schools do not
teach enough. They should include the
distinction between good and evil; inculcate
truth, honesty, temperance, self-control,
economy fidelity and patriotism. TWAS not
imperative that the use of the Bible be in
sisted upon, for really it was not the most
felicitous school-book; but more trsth
should be taught.
Every man could improve in the use of
truth. "Do you always tell the truth ~
said the speaker, looking at the audience,
''every day and all the time?" The mer-
chant, the lawyer, not even the minister,
always tells the truth. Nor are We all hon.
est. We grasp for more than we deserve,
and find ourselves cheated in the quality,
society is perfectly honeycombed with dis
honesty. Those that don't manufacture
are as bad as those that do. When you GO
into shop the spirit of the devil takes
possession Of you. Not that you intend
to steal, but you want to get thing that
ia worth one dollar for good deal less.
He that wants more than is equitable is