Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1874-12-03
IGNORANCE AND VICE.


Few persons, except those who have had
their attention directed to the subject, have
any proper conception of the expense that ig-
norance inhicts upon a community. lgnor-
ance is the mother of crime Ifit is said that
this is not absolutely correct, we reply that
when the word ignorance is regarded in its
proper and full sense, the statement is suscep.
tible of a demonstration. 1t is true that many
who are Intellectually not ignorant, but indi-
viduals of culture, plunge head-long into the
most brutal crimes On close examination it
will be found that the education of such indi-
viduals has been neglected in some important
feature The head may have been educated !;
but the heart neglected. A law without a
penalty can effect no real good for society.
1t is powerless. 1t can neither promulgate
virtue, nor retard the progress of vice. Much
in the same way is it, that purely intellectu-
al education does not prevent vice; but when
both heart and head are properly educated,
crime in all its various forms, is abated. All
crime has its origin in darkened intellect
and calous heart. Usually, these two things
90 together. The thief must be ignorant Of
the law, or of the grand principle established
in the universe that like produces like; and
his heart is not capable of being moved by
the principle of right. The murderer sacrl6-
ces human life, the most precious of all earth
ly things, for 6gment Of his brain. He de-
mands all to liquidatea debt of a few farthings.
In the lower grades Of society in which
beastly ignorance prevails, crimes of the most
abominable and heinous character are perpe-
trated. Amongst this class Of society, power
ty of the most appalling kind prevails. This
class of the human family spend their lives
oppressed with misery and wretchedness which
no language can describe. In all classes OF
society, ignorance is always productive of
crimes which assign the perpetrators to infa-
my and shame.
Ignorance of the rights Of Others, leads to
lawlessness. That man who has a just and
clear knowledge of the rights Of his fellow men,
and has heart which prompts him to respect
those rights, is, in every country, law-abl-
ding citizen. The contrary is strictly true.
That man who is ignorant of the rights of his
fellow men, or who, if he knows those rights,
has heart so callous or so malignant that he
is not disposed to respect them, is a bad man
and dangerous to the community in which he
resides.
Ignorance entails upon the individual much
inconvenience, and upon the community
much useless expense Litigations, the most
expensive and the least profitable things in
the world, except it be war, are the offspring
of ignorance. Aside from the enormous sums
expended in their prosecution, they engender
strife and hatred which time cannot oblit-
crate, and which prove detrimental in the
highest degree to the general welfare. The
strength of nation may be judged Of by the
intelligence and morality of its citizens. Its
worldly prosperity keeps pace with its intelll'
gence and morality. An intelligent and
moral population converts barren waste in
to fruitful fields. On the contrary, an ignor-
ant and immoral population causes fertile val
leys to produce nothing but thorps and thistles.