Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1879-11-14

l
say twill necessarily result in the subversioI
of our institutions, because It undermine.
the very foundation upon which they resi-
The law, although teeming with penal pro
visions, affords no real remedy for this seri
Gus, growing crime Nolaw Is ever enforce,
which is not sustained by q healthy publ
opinion, and 1t is just here where our cleo
ton laws are weakest. A paratical senti
ment has grown up in our midst that all i
fair in politics, as everything is said to b.
fair in war or love, and in this way tn,
sanctity Of suffrage has almost been de
stroyed What we want is TO re-suscitat
and re-animate the forces that lie back o
the law. II lis not law we want, but mo
ralty. Something to invigorate and stimu
late public conscience, until every man /
made to feel that the poluter Of the ballot
box, like the polluter Of chastity, should b,
scouraged from the face Of the earth.
think Ihave shown, as society is now
constituted, that we cannot look to the homel
OF the people as the source Of this instruc
ton, and as youth is the spring-time fol
sowing this seed, II can be cast and tended
by no other hands so well as by you, gen
tlemen, who next to parental influence wied
the greatest power in moding the character
and shaping the destiny Of the youth Of the
country. OF course, in engaging in this
work, you would shun the suspicion Of par
tizanship as you would the plague Il
would be your province to impart correct
ideas as to the uses and dignity of the bal
lot, leaving the pupil, without the shadow
of restraint, to the exercise Of his own choic,
| between the great parties Of the country
But you would see to II that he went on
from your care impressed with the elevated
views, as to tho value and significance o.
the elective franchise, which were rather
ludicrously expressed by an old darkey in
Virginia, in his blind worship of an un
known God. "Boss,p says he, "have voted =
after he had deposited his ballot for The
first time "Yes," replied the Judge
"rhcn,' says he, as he threw his arms
towards heaven, "Angel Gabriel, GOMEZ
am ready to go up" So think every mar
should be taught to approach the ballot.boS
with that serious sense as TO what he is do.
ing, which accompanies the gravest acts o.
his life, and that he should be made to fee
the same reyerential horror at the idea 81
fraud or violence daring to show itself IN
fhie uaa al l.at ha ~,
ence at an outrage upon the altar or the
communion table.
II is narrow view Of the subject, how.
ever, TO suppose that ethics in the school
house are 70 be confined to an educHtinn in
tho principles Of a sound political morality
There la much wider Geld upon which
they may he successfully deployed by the
jealous and thoughtful teaobcr
Cunning, which Bacon has defined a. n
'crooked WISDOM" has grown 10 be the ideal
standard of excellence by which the youth
of the'eountry are too much accustomed to
test and measure practical achievement A
shrewd man, ~ he Is called, Is the embodi-
ment Of all excellence; a successful man, II
matters not BY what means, is the person
upon whom hero worship lavishes It's devo-
| tion. The vices Of modern society originate
in cunning, and are colored by al Of IT,
characteristics. II Is the age Of intellectual
subtlcty manifesting itself in ingenious
contrivances to accomplish its ends, with
out resort TO violence or an open, ha-
grant violation Of law. You look around
and you observe that large part Of the
business of the world Is carried on by Joint
stock concerns, in which the individual Is
merged in the abstract entity of the corpora
ton, and the sense Of personal responsibility
and personal honor correspondingly de-
pressed.
II il fact that the sense Of crime weak
ems in the ratio of the numbers engaged in
1t. Multiply rioters and they become reyolu-
tionists, wage murder on large scale and Il
is war. And 50 a single act Of theft Is
larceny, but corporate frauds, particularly
when conducted on scale Of millions,
evaporate and vanish in some mild euphcm-
ism, such rs watercd stock or over issues
An individual obtains money or goods on
the faith Of representations that turn ont to
be untrue, and il IL a case Of indictable false
prctcnses. A Railroad Company scatters
among n conliding public its worthless bonds
"as thick as autumna leaves in Vallani.
brosa strewn," and II is Il case for a receiver
Our municipal governments and lcgisla.
lures, as ~ general rule, are devoid Of high
sense Of public duty, and in too many in
stances are but the III Representatives of the
constituencies thai are behind them This
very month we have witnessed the humlia-
ting spectacle Of a sovereign State in this
Union soemnly voting down proposition
Of compromise with It's creditors, which in
itself was population Of two-thirtls Of a
debt honestly contracted and faithfully ap.
piled.
But II Is useless 10 multiply instances Of
this wide spread corruption and fraud.
II is apparent 10 all that tIit morale Of our
people has fearfhlly detcriorated, and II not
sooner or later restored 10 a healthier tone,
will precipitate us into an abyss Of disgrace,
the depths Of which no eye can measure or
forcscc Here again look 10 the school
house for aid, II not for relief, and | appeal
10 the schoolmaster, not MS the teacher Of the
primer and The arithmetic, but IA the COVER
nor Of a little republic, q social and political
microcosm, where there will be constant oc.
casions 10 illustrate and enforce the great
principles Of morality, from fresh examples
arising out Of the daily intercourse Of the
pupils with each other and himself. Not a
day passes In school without the occur
renee Of some incident which an intelligent
and conscientious teacher could make use
Of in intoxicating those virtues which will
make, not a shrewd, but good and honest
man. II Is too generally assumed that this
Is domain peculiarly for home culture. and
that II u thoroughly titled and tended At
the frcside Even II II were true nothing
would be- lost, but much would be gained by
experimenting instruction received nj home
by preccpi and example at the school Bui
as matter ofiact, home In multitude Of cas-
! - not only fcaehca nofhinO that Il valuable