The Aberdeen examiner. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1866-current, 1878-07-04

l
pheres; when the mysterious and obscure
laws Of light and heat and sound have
disclosed themselves, who can undertake
to fix the limit of human accomplish
ment And underneath all these, high
achievements lies the deep conviction OF
instinct of the human mind of its gigan-
tic capabilities that point the way tc
progressive and indefinite development
and improvement.
While oil this work is being done by
the lllustrious van-guards, and while
high intellectual capacity has only been
reached by the few, yet education and
learning in its ordinary forms has reach
ed the great masses in this country, and
the average standard of intelligence and
knowledge is rising year by year. It has
been estimated by careful statisticians
that fully more than one-half of the edu-
cable youth, from the ages of six to
twenty, attend schools. This includes
the colored people of the South. And
when this fact is considered, it will be
seen that this average is satisfactory
one. Comparative statistics, however,
indicate steady improvement in this
average. AS the cause of education ad--
vances and Ignorance retires, men will
become better individually, society will
improve, and perfection will approach.
Philosophically considered, education
certainly includes all manner of knowl-
edge, the natural laws; the great funda-
mental principles that underlie the insti-
tutions we call society, the various sci.
ences, the fine arts, and of first import
ance the greatest of all educators, that
wonderful system, the Christian religion.
Everybody who has thought on these
subjects, and of the immense influence
Of all these forces, is strongly tempted to
picture moral and social Utopia.
Lord Bulwer has written with infinite
wit the history of Coming Race" "a
race that has solved all the various and
complex problems of sociology and the
physical sciences, and is living in that
superb repose that is supposed to come
Of knowing everything about everything.
The scientific visionaries who worship
nature, and write it with capital n,
PROFOUND the theory of a spiritual evolu-
ton, sort of spiritual adaptation of Mr.
Darwin's notions, that is supposed to
end in something indescribably beautiful
| Spiritual perfection to come by this meth
cd, | presume, not great while after
we have ceased to resemble, in our bOpy
structure, Mr.. Darwin's original progen-
| itor But far below the dreams of impos-
sibilities lies the sphere of the attainable
the practical, that is certainly full of
promises to the world. It's promises are
something akin to these IDEALS embody-
ing perhaps something of them allan
| infinite improvement of former conditions.
Retrospecting, it is at once seen that an
enormous sum-total has been aecumula-
ted, though great distance remains to
| be traversed.
Humanity has SO much to accomplish,
/ the life of man is SO short, and each ones
labor is 50 small, that but for the great
store houses where successive generations
deposit their harvestings, with all it's
labor and trouble the world would not
advance ut all and when we contem-
plate the chatf tllt is gathered With in
/ finite pains takinBs, and stored f0r solid
grain; the labor that is wasted in vain
! efforts; the great capabilities misapplied
and the enormous forces that are used
altogether for soil, we wonder that the
world has advanced, or that it continues
/ to advance.
The school and college are indisponsa-
BILE in the system Of education, but not
exclusive; our education begins long be-
| fore we enter the school room, and con-
tinues until our lives are ended. in the
world this struggle for existence, OF as
it is not inappropriately termed in the
language of metaphor, the "battle of
/ life, is n ceaseless educator, and daily
and hourly it marks out for us the stern
/ lessons Of life. It should teach the faint
/ hearts to be brave and fearless; the strong
to be tender and gentle with the failures
and sorrows of their fellows; the soul to
| be faithful as the needle TO The pole, to
bear the burdens that Heaven has given
it, with fortitude, and in the economy OF
! this great beehive to shirk no manner Of
duty that comes to it. The man who
meets these duties is a hero. Does it
matter that he is not illustrious in histo-
ry, or distinguished among men? Yes
/ terday, with sooty face and horny hands
he gave his life for a comrade in the
depths of a coal-pit Hard handed, sun
Drowned child of toll; large-hearted,
/ brave souled, is it not to be said of him
as Of the greatest Roman:
ellis life was gentle, and the clements
/ SO MKT in him hat nature might stand up
| And say to all the world-ths is man"
While we cannot escape many Of the
trials and burdens Of life, or its eatastro-
phes, yet we are in great measure the
arbiters of our fortunes. From the hard
est lot, the severest trials, and possibly
the profoundest griefs, to the heroic soul
there is given some compensation that
comes from its own inner being, or is
given to it by supernatural agency.
| The design of all PHILOSOPHERS and scien-
!. ces has been to make man better individ-
| ually and in his social relations, and to
\improve his physical condition by con-
ilui1nnmn ais various wants and neces-
ID he vanguard Of
ianity, the great
yearr, both
I1sure genef p,.'s contrlbuting. ~ enf i;
thq encss sasees @l to this end. aHGS atimes clat
sVFSe methods; s,,;0NaIly %l disturbing 9srsgo sn'
gSsa nSSsi.entiy, but tR9 BE- an adyaee
otheE otanct will eventually ,aSyost It possibilities
nf humanity 20 .. which
odi- IL e Sis2ory Of eyi1oqin' la is eur
cry lho 80 for eauc"'ioa ,,,a may asSu
aina study stato Of nature, 'seaining i
laws from and retro8raoln9n, n9n,o{her; sh
yanoiaiS yEsa1iSn am and losing in "A 'Gus ono age,
y IN ooSssaoss aRothss and s,ars WITH @ss asss
infinite But SUs' from rS5,SSoilS SxSols moysm,
ana mo Pasa Peen an immense ""' -
mel; , conditions; - we are appfo"iinp ,"oin
wv, In America paSe rNeached the : potn CT
tl"'' .hs fine art, Mere Sre the sesthe'
aaa ss stGalei@ ~ntion are eeing S9,tS S9vtSfDps as
from the wlli oo ,ors more slowly o,o,eriod o.
,0p sper i've c0 ioTsad and our dep,SegpSm lpaSerpm
graph viii ernlla;u, erna;t;on. But gooa fg9ytunes
ore than a cohl'orned, the broken broa;a, az depre