Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1881-01-20

geneous quantItT-~part statesman, part
educator) is to supplement common
school instruction by collegiate course
for all who desire and merritt, and this,
of course, should be determined By
competitive: examinations That were
indeed system i'll adapted 10 the needs
Of the age which says 70 the poor but
ambitious youth struggling for an edu
cation TO which il is the duty of the
State 10 aid him, 'thus far and no
farther The State has direct and
positive interest in the culture Of its
youth, for they are to shape its future
destiny for good or i'll, and in refusing
10 aid the poor boy TO obtain high cul-
iure, it shuts out that class from par
sicipation IN governing power--a prin-
c1pie that is not consonant with our
idea of government, which gives to-
all high and low, rich and poor, the OPP
portunity Of attaining TO the highest po4
sitions in the gilt of the peopIe--nay,
to the highest the American people can
bestow. Distribute men of cultivated
mind among the people, and you raise
the mental standard of the many. These
cultivated minds must come from the
people themselves, as well as from the
better educated classes, else you refuse
the highest idea OF popular education.
Men OF culture, sprung from the hum
bic class, will exercise more pow
erful influence over the mind OF
those from among whom they take their
rise than those who have never known
the need OF aught TO grant them power.
The people look up to them with rev.
ercnt gaze, and their hearts glow al the
thought that a great man has risen from
| The ranks: noble and worthy emulation
l. engendcred--and they bless the pro-
violence aud Iiberaity oil the govern
meat that enables them 10 pluck jewels
from the golden crown of Fame. Shut
out this ayenua Of approach TO the halls
of learning. and you shut out from the
| culture, which brings strength TO the
/ State, those who, guided by an lmper-
| feet education, will make their power
felt, a. leaders perhaps OF soclalistic
/ revolution or a communal mob. In con-
neclion with this, Hon II +. Harring-
ton, OF Mass, says MAINLY the cul-
tured classes are found TO be the gov
eraag classes, aud among It's governing
classes, society needs the representa-
lives of the poor, 1t needs them that
there may always be strong men COM
ing 10 the front, with powers so temper
ed by culture as 10 make them wise, to
represent the humble class from which
they sprung, and demand the consider
alton due 20 their needs and their rights.
These are the men, too, 10 the social
exisencics which sometimes,occur when
passion becomes rampant among the
masses and the restraints OF law are de-
fed TO throw themselves into the track
OF the storm and allay lis violence. Far
better this than the alternative, If you
do not bestow the culture; Tor those who
are born t be the leaders of men will
assert their prerogatises whether or no;
and The born leaders from among the
poor, il they be not tempered by cul-
ture, become the ignorant demagogues
whose leadership is anarchy"
II is pure ignorance Of all laws Of So
GEOLOGY and self-government that tells
us that the State has no interest in the
superior culture OF its youth-the igno~
rance which pulls down in an hour what
1t has cost knowledge centuries of pa
tent thought to build up, and eloats
over the mass OF blackened runs which
lis red-handed vandalism has made in
the taHcied interests Of humanity.
Mr.. Holmes would have US tFHsow our
tfty tkss H. II
aud lei our higher institutions Of learn.
ing shift for themselves. In an address
before the Johns Hopkins University,
few years since, President Eliot, OF
Harvard, used the following language :
"There are those who hold that re-
publics can be saved by the general dil-
fusion Of primary education, bot the
mos; effectively despotic government OF
Europe is the one in which this educa-
ton is dilIused. There is, howeper, a
powey IN the spread Of higher education
md The sentiment Of honor associated
NTH culture"
II is the interest Of the people TO urge
this matter Of public instruction, TO up
hold the principle in all its steps from
the kindergarten to the university.
New England is Justly celebrated for
the efficiency OF her common school
system, but she does not stop here; she
goes further, and every town has It's
free academy, every State its colleges,
supported by appropriations from the
public treasury; aud until we follow her
example, our school system will want
its proper efficiency.
The gentleman refers to Germany
She has a worldwide celebrity for her
elementary schools, but not less Is she
celebrated for the high standard of her
numerous universities, all Of which re-
ceIye more or less aid from their State
governments. Says Mr.. Francis Adamss
IF the elementary schools Of Germany
are the best 10 the world it is owing in
great measure to the fact that the
higher schools are accessible TO all
classes"
France makes ample pro,i ion for
higher education. Her secondary