Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1882-07-13

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boasted blazonry j. the insignia Of
crime.
IL has torn the Royal mantle from
Ehe shoulders 81 Kingsand potentatea.
and displayed to an amazed world
the ralSedneas Of their arrogant and
unrighteons claims.
II hes formulated the viii Of tho
people in place Of imperial decrees
and. standing In the van Of The great
hattie Of human existence, has point
ed 70 the standard Of equal rights,
and enrolled upon its banners those
grand and glorious principles.
Education u tie nain-eprlng of
lia lhe broad ilsl a i
general and free education, distinc-
fionB cannot successfully thrive. In
the searching light Of universal ed
ucati0n,a crowns become baubles and
sceptres toys; the dungeon door
swings back on its rusty hinges, and
the victim Of lordly oppression shakes
off his letters and breathes the air Of
freedom. The mysteries Of courts are
discovered. Judicial corruption Is
exposed; and the false qlitter and hol-
low pretentions that DO hedge In q
King, are dispeIled 'as the shrinking
mists Of night before the morning
sun.
Such an educator is the press. The
rude blocks in the hands Of q Caxton,
become instinct with life when they
enshrine the thoughts of men. They
preserve to us the ideas of the sleep
ing dead. They gather the experience
Of cur lives, and they hand down to
generations yet unborn the glorious
heritage Of historic truth.
But we more fully realize the pow
er Of the press as an educator when
we leave the classic shades of the IL
brary and the schools and invade the
editorial sanctum Of the newspaper.
We see it gathering the news Of the
world; unearthing past history; re-
cording that Of to-day; listening with
ready ear TO the wants and demands
Of the people; discussing their ideas
and expressing their thoughts. 1t i
a reflection Of public sentiment; an
index of the age. Through the long
hours of the night the cylinders Of the
giant press revolve, and in the gray
dawn Of the morning the swift mes
sengers of steam carry this volume o
daily thought, expressions and fact t
the remote corners Of the globe.
Wherever the blue smoke curls up.
ward from the quiet homestead of the
farmegy wherevSs~sa4Ahe border land
the trapper sets his snare, or the
woodman swings the axe; wherever
in the depths of the earth men dele
for coal or metals; wherever a factory
is located; wherever the face of ths
white man is seen, or the hum of in
dustry heard, there the daily press
speaks to the multitude; breaches it
silent sermons, warns and directs, and
gives expression to that public opin
| ion which created and maintains It.
| The press is the servant of the peo
pie; it may express the convictions o
party, it may speak in the interes
of a representative, but doing so, it il
still the servant Of the people on tn,
broad platform Of equal rights ant
equal liberties.
The newspaper press thrives onl,
where freedom exists. AS the ten
dency of its education is to liberat
the minds Of men from the thraldor
Of despotic. superstition, so the free
dom which it creates reflects upon j
again. To exist it must breathe tn
air of liberty.
Here in our glorious land Of libeH
ty, under the stars and stripes, it en-
| joys the fullest latitude, and, with a
occasional exception, it is entirely fre
and untrammeled. II is, also, won
derfully prolific. Every day its yonn
ones are born and every day its ol
ones die. 1t locates at every cross
road; it nails its banner up in ever
hamlet and township in these State
. Every one reads it; every one mu,
read it; for not to read it is to !
dead; dead to the great breathing
moving, pushing world, which make
up the go-a-head republic Of the ives
No other press on the face Of Il
earth, nor none on the continent
, Europe or the British Isles, can
ikened unto it.
In the sleepy lands of oriental de
pots the newspaper is almost unknown
, In the cast-iron dominion of the in
perial Car, it is q political autom,
!, ton-a literary corpse. In France
is fippant. yacilating and extreme:
I revels in social scandal, and is Il
muck rake of sensation-mongers.
In England it is heavy, verbos
pOnderous: its stentorian tones &c
dom arousing hilarity or awakeniT
surprise. It is read as a duty, as
record Of deaths and marriage, and
! court circular. Newspapers cal
? not live and thrive where Royali
! breathes; the life is smothered out
!; ) them by the unnatural atmosphere
. a court.
2 Newspapers foster Republican idea
Y They need no forcing, no hot b,
! nursing. Here In this western lar
9 is their home. Free as the wind th
sweeps through our northern pines
q bright and joyous as the sunlight
9 our southern homes; broad and q
Q pansive as the rolling prairies of I
west; with a voice as the roaring "
Q ters of our mighty falls stern 6 I
Y everlasting; the very backbone of I
2 Repuhlic-the American press "
e survive while the American peov
rule and our republican institute