The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1882-01-26

and the printer may have been stran
gers but the work of either woulC
have failed without the others help
For three hundred years the prosper
ity of any European nation can b,
gauged by the -faithfulness with
which it has improved upon the ser
mons of Luther and the press Of
Faust. Compare the Spain of Charles
V. mistress Of the world, and the
England of Henry VIII. and again
the Spain of Alphonso with the Eng
land of Gladstone. England turned
gladly to the light, Spain crushed all
freedom of thought by the mailed
hand of the Inquisition. England
has gone forward gladly in the march
of progress, Spain standing still has
been forsaken by the rapidly recedlng
tide. Shakespeare's dictum that,
There is tide in the affairs of men
which taken at the flood leads on to
fortune" is as true of nations as of
individuals. England got into the
tide Of modern intellectual progress,
Spain dropped aground on the shall
lows, and we only see her torn by
faction and folly, bankrupt, side by
side with Ireland, one of the two hope
less problems of European politics.
The Reformation threw wide the
gates of intellectual progress, Colum-
bus gave the world new hemisphere
and upon it the great battle of educa-
ted intellect, untrammeled by Europe
an feudalism, is being fought, against
established order. Columbus planted
the cross, Bradford brought the Bible
and almost in sight Of Plymouth
rock planted the Common School.
Virginia too began its career with
educating at least the higher classes.
When in 1889 the. Hartford Colony
ordered de that every family should sup
port a school, they put in motion a
power the results of which can never
be measured Yale and Harvard,
Williams and Mary and Hampden
Sydney have done good work, but it
has been the common schools that
have moulded American life and char
acter.
In Mexico, Cortez founded great
ampire, founded it in blood, and
based it upon superstition; the Inqui-
'ition destroyed the little intelligence
that the sword spared The time
came when the American Colonies
grew to manhood. with free hand.
hey threw wide the gate Of intellec-
5ual freedom. Mexico established the
,reed of Rome, with intellectual re-
preston as its cornerstone. The re-
'ult is matter of history. True
Mexico has at last turned her face to
he light, but she must now fight the
oattle of untrammeled intellect that
las been almost won whenever the
Anglo-Saxon race has been penetrated.
Our future as nation depends on
'ur faithfulness to the cause of popu-
ar education. Much has been done,
much is yet to be done, before the
sreat mass of unframed viciousness at
he base of society is broken up. They,
Who carry forward the cause Of popu-
ar education should bear in mind
hat the spirit of Middle Age repres-
ion is not yet dead. Romanism
lowls, against secular education and |
t times it gets an amount Of Protes-
ant sympathy that is shameful.
liant Pope, Middle Age superstition,
nd ignorance, still lives but as Bun
an so aptly put it his teeth are out
nd his limbs are palsied. Ancient
uperstitions, in the person of Leo
urling anathmas at modern educa-
ion, at free press, at republicanism
) as impotent as Canute in the old
egend was to keep down the waves of
he Atlantic.
Another instrumentality we can
ly afford to forget among the educa-
lonal influences of our century has
as been the Sabbath School. Raikes
a few children in an Eng
sh city, Asbury collecting group of
lave children on Virginia plantation
nd telling them of Jesus has done as
luch for England and America as
nathan or Jefferson have done
Iothing but honor is due to the
ames of the pioneers who conquered
continent for us and for those who
0llowed the steps Of the pioneers
-ho carried the Bible to the front
long with the march Of population,
ne men who in the forest clearing,
lille the war whoop still resounded
round the scattered hamlets planted
le church, the Bible, and the school.
care nothing for the creeds from
-hich their inspiration was drawn.
alvins stemess, Cranmer's ceremoni-
ism, Wesley's enthusiasm are alike
, me. I Judge men by deeds not By
reeds. Highest among these men
lust ever rank the Methodist pioneer
sbury. He died as he lived, at the
ost of duty, and his fame is Ameri-
is common property. The seeds
e planted from the Atlantic to the
Lississippi. from the Ottawa to the
ulf, has brought forth an abundant
arvist Af er all six thousand stormy
ears have fully proved it true that
It's only noble to be good" In all
ges, climes, and lands the truly good
ave been the truly great.
Americas future largely depends
pom its faithfulness to the cause of
opular intelligence, and that future
ow seems assured. We can trace
merican freedom to the ideas of
romwell and Sidney; the authors of
lr nationality were men who had
rawn their spirit from the great of
ther years; the men,
who had sat at sydney's feet, ,
And walked with Pym and Nane apart, !
Aud through the centuries heard the beat,
OfTeedom's march in CrOmwells heart"
To them it was given to impart to
reedom's S cause an impulse it never
new before. The peal of that old
ate house bell in Philadelphia has
laken every throne upon the planet.
; has tumbled oppression from its
LIZ ,.ol cont. % Ill IL H. D,nnlo