Mexico weekly ledger., 1880-01-22

i In order to ascertain the means
best adapted to the accomplishment
of an end, that end must be sharply
and accurately defined. To choose
wisely, therefore, the means of edu-
cation, its ultimate object must stand
out clearly and boldly before the
mind. In this subject we, the sover-
eign people OF America, are most se-
riously interested; for upon its right
dicision depends the veal of our Re-
Ipuhlic-yea, her enthronement among
the nations. sas
Entering at once upon the broad
est generalization before me, the le-
gitimate object of education, and in
deed the only one worthy of its striv-
ings, is the conservation and perpetu-
alton OF ouI civilization, which Is but
another name for our civil and reli-
gions freedom. Our civil liberty in
wolves an altogether new fundamen-
tai principle, namely: Government
by the whole people, not by direct
and impulsive action, but through
well defined and limited organs, ere
ated by the popular will. The foun-
tain OF life, then, for our government
tai organization, is the enlightened
popular mind. Upon our standard
we have written in letters of gold,
that government is the sacred right
of all, and is created for the highest
good of all and the doubling eyes of
nations gaze upon it from aiar. There
are two principles essentially charac-
. teristic OF every government that is
wholly free-its administrators must
have the head that knows how to
legislate, and the heart that will leg
islate wisely. The intelligence and
virtue, therefore, of this sovereign
people, are the broad foundation
stones laid deep and strong, upon
which rests the temple of American
civilization, radiant with the Shekinah
of civil and religious liberty. The
combined hosts of Europe and the
Orient are powerless to shake Its
foundations; but let ignorance and
corruption but look upon it, and its
light will be extinguished, and there
shall not be left one stone upon an
other. Thus, in order to the conser-
vatlon and transmission of free civ
ilization, the principle Of intelligence
must permeate the mass. The pris-
on doors of the minds of the mass
must be flung wide open by the holy
spirit of culture, aud we shall be n
saved Republic, rejoicing in the free:
oom wherewit4 4taftta fdsfhhinaa hfnhiina. Involving
. US iieeimsliion of knowledge, and
consequently the development of the
mental powers, Is the aisar .nn mat
structiop ~ inherent schools have /:
ueen instituted. The one inspires
the mind to thought, the other binds
it to repetition. The one enthrones {
principles, the other exalts rules. A.,
Under the gentle ralus of the one the {
b;Sh bfSSaha Jlilkk Jlike an ever widening RIVER .a Is
thousand rivulets that come lowing
down The mountain sides of truth :
while in the poisonous atmosphere Of
the other, the mind becomes green
and stagnant pool. The one gradu-
atcs Independent thinkers, the other
places its diploma in the bill Of
parrot. The one energies the indi-
vldual mind, and arouses the activi-
ties of the nation; the other paraly
zes the power of the citiz-n, and locks
the wheels of civilization. The one
gives life and vigor to civil and reli-
gious liberty, the other sheds forth
its blasting contagion, and inoculates
and destroys the freedom of both
church. and state. The one is Sarah
in the tent of Abraham, the other is
Hagar in the wilderness. The one
clothes us in gotd and purple and
crowns us ireemen, the other wraps
us in filthy rags, and brands US
slaves.
The decline and fall of many of
the mighty nations OF antiquity fur
nish indubitable proof that there may
be a so-called education that para
lyzes rather than develops Individual
and national life. Egypt and India
were not without educational sys-
tens, but therein were involved the
principles of their decay and ruin.
In the remote ages Of these countries,
before the mind was wholly enslaved,
the elementary principles Of few
sciences were dimly discovered. In
a little while, when mind was yet in
its infancy, the fetters of the repeti
ton school bound it. The people
laid the burdens of guilty consci-
ence upon the priesthood, and cast
the responsibilities of government
upon a strangely favored few to whom
had been given, by some mysterious
agel.t, the exclusive ability to govern
and the wonderful power to transmit
it, Science sank into dreamless
sleep, and the nations learned to re-
peat what she had dimly seen before
her eyes were closed. Thus the be-
ginnings Of civilization were handed
down from age to age as glorious
national heritage; while fettered
minds looked back through the thick
ening mlsts of the centuries, awed by
the magnified lights of antiquity
dumb in the far off presence of that
Wonderful genius who conceived the
Aphynx or the Pyramid of Cheops.
Five years ago, while travelling in
Upper Egypt, was struck with the
sameness OF design that characterized
its massive monuments of antiquity,
though many of them were exponents
of widely distant ages. Through
the indefatigable labors of M. Mari
ette thousands Of Egyptian antiqui-
ties have been collected in the Boolak
| Museum. The religious, civil and
historical monuments there deposited,
though representing the condition of
art during perhaps thirty different
| dynasties, bear no evidence of pro-
gress and the most critical observer,
were he ignorant of their history,
would pronounce them the produc-
tions of the same age of art. Such
is the miserable outgrowth OF the
repetition school.
Turkey. knowing nothing, desiring
to know nothing but the thoughts OF
those who, have gone before, sails her
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