The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1878-12-05

failure of our institutions. other dam
gers than that of the pillage and destruc-
ton ct our cities nv armed mnhs may be
serious enough to tax the vital resources
of the uatIon to the utmost We must
somehow eliminate and tra,smute a large
proportion OF this dangerous and infiam
mahle material. and we must greatly
Increase the healthiul forces in the lie o.
th+ nation
The evil of false and foolish teaching
can be adequately resisted only by true
teaching and wise action. 1t is said that
persons who hold the sentiments and
cherish the aims here depicted are be
yond the reach OF argument Or r-ason
That is true OF many, probably of all. the
teachers aud leaders Of this class But
1t is not true, as yet, of the multitude
from whom this class is being constantly
recruited 1t is not vet true of the young
people who are coming up, year by year,
to take their places in those ranks. The
ideas and impulses which tend to disor
der and disintegratiou. when they have
taken possession of the minds of men. do
indeed constitute craze, an epidemic
hallucination or contagion of unrrasou
and folly This conception has been
well developed. and it gives us one of the
most acute and discriminating notions of
our time 1t is the key to many things
otherwise inexplicable in history But
the circumstances, influences, and condi-
tions which prediSpose or prepare mrn
for the reception and development OF the
germs of this contagion have not been
sufficiently considered Here is n fact of
great interest for US. The number of
those who cannot be Influenced by argu
ment or any direct intellectual appeal is
increasing from month to month, and 1t
is recruited from classes who are still
accessible. who could be guided If there
were any body tn guide them who could
be taught and enlightened If the right
means were used who mi ght be con
frmed and established in their now wa
vering allegiance to truth, justice, and
sound reason There is vast field and
opportunity for successful work in this
direction 1t waits only the awakening
OF 1.-THE cultured classes to the perils, needs,
and duties of the hour.
But the people who cannot be ipfu
enced by argument are 10y no means in
state so hopeless as most of our teachers
believe. The truth is that comparatively
few men are controlled or guided so
much by argument and reason as by the
earnestness, the convictions, and the
confident activity of those who have
made up their minds, and are heartily
interested in definite object And es-
pecially are men Influenced and attracted
by the volume aud mass Of the teaching
and movements around them They are
swayed and decided by the continuity OF
attack, by the cumulative iorce OF the
con slant iteration OF the same idea in
varying forms These things depend up
on natural laws. aud the apostles of dis
,pHn II n d4n IA
these laws, which are always potent in
the propagation OF feelings, opinions. and
convictions These laws are not partial
f,,ls+h ,oi and folly. They lend them
seive. az readily aud efficiently to tue
diss-m atom OF truth aud good sense
But there is "A kind 0t 'etich worship
ni the power OF ideas which prevails
among our cultivated people which leads
hem to think that when they have dem
on.trated the excellence and superiority
ot certain principles. by means OF a paper
in a review. essay at meeting OF
ministers, their work is done, and that
the CONQUEST of the world by their opin-
ions is only matter OF time; and 20
'hey turn away, serenely triumphant, TO
await the happy consum'natlon. But
ideas have little practical efficiency until
they err, incarnated 50 to speak made
alive and personal in men and women; !;
until few people. at least. care great
deal about them and feel resistless i'm
pulse to their propagation This impulse
is precisely what our cultivated people
do not teel in regard to any ideas what
ever Propagapdi.m of any kind repels
them This is the weakness of our nation
to day, and the source of its greatest dan
ger The people who believe in civiliZa
ton are giving away the victory to their
wild antagonists by their own inaction. a
delusinn of their culture which makes
them dsdain to learn the use of new
weapons and methods Culture itself is
not yet in this country vital or dynamic,
1t lacks the impulse and virility Decessa-
ry tor its own propagation 1t Is TOO
dainty for land like ours, aud is inclin-
ed to be discouraged about the masses.
or else to trust everything to the resist
less operation OF the laws of progress -
Now that is a phrase merely. Many per-
sons feel sonth-d and strengthened when
they hear it, but it does not mean much.
If any thing is done for the Improvement
OF lite and its conditions in this country
we must brgin, and must be prepared for
large and persistent expenditure OF
time, of thought, and of personal effort;
with the usual accompaniments of partial
-
the agents and of much unrecognized
and unhonored toll Direct endeavor
fo: the elevation of any class is less re,
puisive after we have heartily engaged in
it, However distasteful it may be, 1t Is
the condition of our success, and cannot
be safely postponed to a more favorable
time Such work is not SO hopeless az
some would have us believe. Two fluids
may be kept permanently apart by a
thin membrane if both are at rest; but If
one is set in motion the other will pass
through the intervening wall and join in
the movement. When there is vital
advance on the part of our cultivated
people new motions will be set up and
new centres of force developed in the life
of the nation at large. The working
people will exert themselves for their
own Improvement if we begin they are
not likely to do so otherwise
A farmer named Robert Gray, and his
hired man, named Thomas Huntsinger,
living near Indianapolis, were going
home in wagon. both being drunk They
got into a drunken quarrel Huut~inger
was cutting plug OF tobacco with large