The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-10-08
BY THE WAY.
BY GAsKEL.
".

| "a pCl lCuSO VI EAohJ PSNPIOO SeAA La
lions that the better and more per
feet The physical and moral train
ing of their youth the greater is
their prosperity and power. The
noblest minds have ever advocated
education and the advancement of
science, and the reformation of the
sixteenth century is worthy of CRATE
full acknowledgment, as much for
the impetus it gave to learning, as
for its religious enlightenment.
Whilst Luther looked upon the
Bible as the inspired word of God,
as the book of books, the fountain
from which all knowledge. all
correct knowledge of God is derived,
he countenanced and advocated
polite learning of all kinds. Until
he translated the Bible into the
vulgar tongue it was but little
known and its mission of enlighten-
ment, its comforting influence, its
faith-inspiring principles were but
little understood. Nor has any other
book ever welded such a power for
good. 1t goes hand in hand with
civilization and is the fountain Of
law and liberty.
No prosperity attends neglect and
dilatOriness, and darkness and
mystery are successful in obscuring
the vision and cloudingthe Judgment
of the ignorant only. The rise of
modern society from the darkness
and tyranny of the past to the en-
lightenment and civilization of the
present age has been won. No amel-
l0ratiOn of circumstance, mo blessing
of liberty, or religion, has been
secured that has not been toiled for
and paid for by the sweat and blood
of generations now no more. There
is much wickedness upon the earth,
much seltishness and hatred and
strife, and perhaps always will be,
yet progress is plainly visible when
we contrast what is with what has
beeh in any age that is past.
The greater number of people can
read and write among civilized ma
tons; yet not many centuries ago
even noblemen, and princes and
kings, were innocent of those &C.
cOmplishments. Clerkly skill was
confined almost exclusively to
certain guild or profession, and
prominent men legalized public
documents by the literal imprint of
the hand upon the paper or parch-
ment. When seals had been in
vented and became fashionable, they
were sometimes used instead of and
sometimes were accompanied by
the imprint of the hand. The "wit-
ness myhand and seal''of to day is but
symbolical of what was ence liter
ally marked upon legal papers, and
records an advance from the times
when mail-clad ehiValrous knights
thought it beneath their rank and
derOgatOry to their dignity to be
suspected Of clerkly knowledge.
so the world wags on, and
changes are continuous. From be-
ing goods and chattels, women have
risen to be companions and peers Of
men. If civilization has done no
more, it has raised our mothers, our
sisters and our wives to be our
equals in responsibility and social
status, and, consequent upon their
development and intellectual
growth, men are compelled to seek
a higher and purer standard, or be
distdnced in the race. Say what
we will of them, they are purer in
thought and action than men, and
more women fall through affection
ate sensibility than Unborn depraV-
ity.
Mahommed limited the number
Of perfect women to three, though
his sensual paradise was filled with
countless numbers Of blushing,
bright-eyed houries, whose only
duties were to wait upon the DALI
ence, and supply the wants Of his
faithful followers. But Christian civ
ilization demands something more
than this, and home is looked upon as
more than a place wherein to eat
and sleep, if woman ever, in very
deed becomes, as she was said to be
intended for, helpmeet to man.
Yet it is sescommOn for strength to
presume and claim for itself what
ever desire seeks, that there is little
hope for ameliroration of distress
and weakness. except in that geRer-
Gus civilization that recognizes the
Justice of a cause and the right of
all to security and protection and
happiness. There is c0mpresSi-
bility and an elasticity in human
nature, which falls and raises, dis
plte the crushing power of tyranny
and oppression; and knowledge is
the opening wedge that drives
asunder The shackles and chains Of
bondage. No Virtuous and enlight-
ened community can be, for any
lengthy period Of time, deprived eff
their first and inherant rights. A
reaction is sure to take place, then
woe to the placemonger and OF
RressOr. The steadfast, upright
and patriotic man, does not look
upon death as the end Of all and the
greatest Of evils, yet he rather esti-
mates a craven submission to in
justice and wrong, as far more dis
asterous than passing away from
earthly life. MAKE way for liber-t
ty" cried the peasent Winkelreid. as
be gathered to his bosom. the Aus
trian spears, to open way into their
dense an0 serried ranks, that his
countrymen might win the day,
go stranger, and tell at Sparta
that we died in obedience to her
sacred laws" was the laconic cpl
taph OF Leonidas and his brave fol-