Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1875-07-30

the principles for which they fought,
and the Issues which we're staked in the
contest Were ever bullets sent against
an enemy with less of murderous hate
and more of Christian principle behind
them? Were ever saber-strokes dealt
more reluctantly, yet more efiectually,
than those by the sons of our farmers
and mechanics in the ranks2
We have lost, by that contest, an ar
my of heroes, but we have saved our
country. We cannot recall them. The
grass grows green over their graves. No
drum reveille can wake them from the
bivouac of death. For them no bugle
notes shall sound the charge again. They
fell on bloody fields, while fighting for
civil liberty, for the overthrow of caste,
and the elevation of labor and the la
borer. They went from hospitals, by
wounds received or diseases induced
while in their country's cause. They ex-
pired in rebel prisons, where they had
suffered tortures more fearful and long
continued than were ever inflicted by
American savages. No Spartan valor
could save them from their vile persecu-
tors. No human power of endurance
could avert the fearful death of starva-
ton, to which fiends in human form had
doomed them. No prayers and entrea-
ties could induce their tormentors to
remove the causes of loathsome disease
which prevailed among them, or furnish
the needed remedies when developed.
We mourn their sad fate, but shall we
heed the lesson which it should teach
us?
African slavery in the south caused
the ruling classes there to despise labor
and the laborer. This led to ignorance
degradation in the laboring classes, and
to pride and moral depravity in the ed
ucated aristocracy. The degraded mas
ses became the helpless tools of the un-
principled aristocracy, thus combining
the mental power of civilization with
the cruelty of the savage, and hence
the intensified barbarism of which l
have spoken, and its horrid consequence
es.
The only remedy for all this would
have been the abolition of slavery, in
the early days of the republic, and the
consequent increased respectability of
labor, and the elevation Of the laborer;
this would have led to improved educa-
tional facilities these to intelligence,
virtue and integrity in all classes, the
degree of which in all countries must
determine the degree of civilization, So
cial happiness and political freedom to
which people will attain.
The true ideal of perfection. in the
organization of society, is found in that
state where all its members start in life
upon an equal footing, with no distinc-
ton save that caused by the unavoida-
BILE variation in natural ability and in
herited wealth where every pursuit
which the legitimate needs of society
demand, is equally honorable; where
the members of every calling have equal
opportunities provided them in youth,
for selfimprovement, and for prepara-
tion for the successful prosecution of the
business in life which they may select;
where caste is unknown, and where the
social standing of every individual is
dependent npon his own exertion and
his own attainment, in mental and NOR
al worth.
do not say that we, or any future
generation, will ever witness the perfect
realization of such an ideal, but ! hold
that to be the goal to which true Chris
tian civilization tends, and for which we
should strive.
If you would create caste in society,
build up your colleges, and degrade
your common schools and academies.
Educate the few, while you neglect the
education of the masses. But all of
these should receive our fostering care,
and an increased number of Normal
schools and also schools for practical
education in the sciences employed in
industrial pursuits, should be added to
the list. AS have shown, the creation
of new capital and pecuniary prosperity
of Vermont, and with this the success
of every other interest depends upon the
intelligent skill and industry of our
class yet we have not one school where
practical knowledge and its application
to any Of the departments of industry
pursued among usis taught. Can we long
er afford to overlook this obvious defect
in our educational system Can the pro-
fessional classes afford it? Can the state
afford it?
If we have not all the educational or
social advantages which could be desir-
ed, it is our own fault. 1t is not with
us as with the laboring classes of Eu-
rope. We are not ruled by a selfish,
moneyed aristocracy. They are what