Huntington advertiser. [volume] (Huntington, W. Va.) 1874-1921, 1875-10-14

Nno'n pecuiiar stalc vi socielI III
Republic like ours has called into ex'
i.tence, who pass their lives in gath
ering sweets from those plants which
grow on the heights of olympus
but gather them only to bestow on the
object of their love. If it was the
highest honor which the ancient Ro
mans could confer upon him who had
saved the lite of a Roman citizen, to
place upon his head crown of oak
leaves, then | beg of you, who are
Teachers, permission TO do my hum
bic part By way Of assisting in plac.
ing upon your heads this ancient and
most honorable crown. Wear it; as
an American Citiz II, | have the
right TO bid you, wear it as the anti
tidote to many trials for which till
recently there WAS no remedy such
as YOU can now enjoy. Aad though
we have no titles of nobility in Il
land where all may be noble if they
will, ! cannot let this opportunity
pass and not pay you nay homage as
to royal race. x
These forces have, under God,
been placed in our hands as a solemn
and vet JOYOUS trust, As teachers
in our various capacities. it is our
privilege to train tail trees and grace
them with every variety of vines for
this garden of our American civili,
zation; we may place noble crowns
upon noble citizens which we our
selves have made, or neglecting our
duty, we may twist the sapling in
the earth and leave the thriced gnar-
led oak TO tell of us for ages to come.
Who was it that said, Napoleon or
Mad Campan? "What France
needs most is mothers !" We prefer
to assign the most exalted meaning
to this beautiful expression Of the
real want Of Frlnce, and are remind
ed that the mother of Napoleon HIM
self was heroine lie had inherit
ed her disposition and all her moral
forces ana which were highly culti'
waited both in the mother and the
son. We have 4 rema kable Illus
tration of our position in the Adams
family. certainly one Of the most re-
markahle and honored Of all the
families that our country has ever
produced, and OF which Mrs. Adams,
the wife of John, was the acknowl-
edged centre and support. "All
that am" said her son John Quin-
cv. II owe to my mother" | re
call a long list Of great and good and
honored pames; from their mott er,
they all borrow such q sacred lustre
that we lose sight of their fathers. -
The mothers of the Wesleys and the
Cdwardses, Of Washington and of
Jackson, yes and the mother and
grand mother of Timothy, and the
heroic mother of Moses whose own
spirit and hand could be seen in all
the wonderful life of that most won
derful of man, and Ruth too the
great grandmother of David, and Il
host OF still other great and noble
mothers still live and WELD IN in
huence that will never perish from
the earth. !; 4 4 = x x <
What our whole country needs Is
lust such mothers. And when We
consider the influence of woman,
whether for veal or for woe, who
can overcStimate the Importance of
female education and especially in n
country like ours? Good and noble
women have in all ages Of the world
moulded the lives of our best and no.
hlest men. We honor them and bow
at their knees, Bat blot from ex-
istence the school and the church,
we breed only vipers.
ylpers who creep, whc.c man disdains to
climb
And. having wound their noisCme fe.te:s
round
The pillars Of orr Capital Of state,
Hang kissing at the nObler man below.
When we compare the statistics of
illteracy and crime with the same
statistics gathered from other conn
tries we can but admire the sagac.ty
of people who decided at 50 early a
dav that the permauence Of truly
democratic and free institutions rests
necessarily, upon the intelligence OF
the people; in other words, that
where the people are to govern, the
people must be educated. Separate
from this, a government By the peo"
pie might fail to be government for
the people. Penn, Washington, JET
ferson, as well as the stern old Puri-
tans of New England, all insisted
upon the education of the people at
the public expense. No proposition
can be more strange than that a
State is bound to punish its subjects
for not knowing their duty. and at
the same time take no steps to let
them know what tha. duty i.
In 10 other country on earth. how
ever. are there so many tree schools,
and such Il sense Of personal respon+l-
biiity on the plrt Of every citizen
and such cea>eiees viGiIence. This
is the price Of our liberty. Our very
life a> nation, and We are proud OF
this, is nurccd in one hundred and
forty one thousand schools. in which
We have more than seven millions
of pupils in attendance. To support
these schools we paid in 1870 ninety
five millions Of dollars. Of which six
tv four millions were raised by taxa
ton, against le,. than two millions
raised by taxation in England -
And vet, perhaps, there is no feeling
50 general a. that we are not, after
all, doing bet share Of the noble
work which God in his amazing pro
vidence, has committed to our hands.
New hope. however, inspires US as We
Ill. g...,-,rl ~ rho t,,ura and Wit N