The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1883-10-25

lie eau DC more false than this II -
| opposed TO common sense TO derlde n
because be may have had good advNI
tages as IL would be TO laugh ut him
for having health. IL does not dimio
ish the merit OF those who have struggled
and been successful, to estimate Justly
those who have had good start aud i'm
proved u. Poverty and lack Of education
should DO looked upon as impeachment,
which the youth wich noble aspiration
| will overcome, not as recommendations
| The fact that the most blatant seltmadt
men covet nothing more than culture, indi
| dates how Indispensable thfy know 10 t.
| be, and we shall find that fhe rankest dem.
| agogues, Benjamin II. Butler, for in.
stance, VIII" has spent all his life in
| hooking c1llege.brsd men, have taken good
care to make up by studies 10 later life the
| opportunities that they missed in youth
Themselves ~ highly educated as nine
tenths of those whom they ridicule.
This j. sufficient proof OF their dema-
gogui.hnsss.
Would 1T not be interesting to inves.
tigate, by actual experiment, how far
the extrayapantly ilattered selfmsde
men, in opposition to men Of lib
eral culture, have been successful in
this conntry? II We make this ex-
without exception the leaders in every
walk OF life have had training far above the
average. Let us take first our presidents.
Washington never went to college, but he
studied advanced mathematics, civil en-
cheering and surveying; John Adams was
graduated from Harvard; so was his son,
John Quincy Adams. Jefferson, Monroe
and Tyler were educated ~ the College of
William and Mary; Madison went to
Dr,p oh III a 81
he would have gone to college, en-
listed as soldier, but Immediately after the
surrender OF yorktown studied law his sue
cessoI, Van Buren,, was also lawyer; Tay-
lor had no other training than that he
could get on his fathers farm; Harrison
was educated at Ham Sidney college;
Polk at the University OF North Carolna;
Fillmore had less opportunities than any
of his predecessors, passing his youth as u.
fullet's apprentice; Pierce took bis degree
at Boudon and Buchanan at Dick
inson; Lincoln and johnson had lit
tie schooling; Grant, on the contrary
lett West Point with fair credit
Hayes was graduated from Keny on college
ard studied law at Harvard; Garfield
auked high AT Williams, and Arthuris an
alumnus OF Union. Thus out OF twenty
men who have occupied the White House,
Washington, Jackson, Van Buren,. Taylor,
LlLColn JUuHSOu were UOI
college graduates, but OF these only four
Taylor Fillmore Lincoln and Johnson did
not have the equivalent of collegiate edu-
cation.
If now we examine the records of the
leading statesmen OF the country we shall
meet with similar results De Witt Gin.
ton and Alexander Hamilton were gradu-
ared from Columbia; Gallatin from the
University of Geneva, Switzerland; Calhoun
from Yale; Webster from Dartmouth; G
M, Dallas from Princeton; Everett and
Sumner from Harvard; Sew ard from Unto /;
Thaddeus Stevens from Dartmouth: Marcy
from Brown, and Cushing from Harvard,
Henry Clay Is the sole exception--but he
was brought up in lawyer 8 office
Even among the public men to-day the
proportion of those who have had collegi-
ate training is overwhelming. James G.
Blaine was educated at Washington college,
Pennsylvania; Roscoe Conkling and John
Sherman received an academic education
taught at Flushing school, Thurman
studied law; SO did Pendleton, Frelinghuy-
sen is a graduate OF Rutgers; Evarss and
HacVeagh, of Yale; ]. d. Cameron
studied at Princeton; George F. Hoar
at Hazard; Hamilton Fish at Columbia;
EdmuHds was instructed by private
tutor, and David Davis as an alumnus of
Kenyon. Even Benjamin f. Butler, who
jeers at college trained mon, was himself
educated at Waterville college, and Wen
dell Phillips, the visionary democrat, stood
high at Harvard.
This list might without much trouble be
heightened, but to what purpose2 Does not
the fact stand out that superior educational
advantages in youth have aim ost invariably
come to those who have led the counseIs
and politics of this oountry2 The fallscy
fees is exposed. Education, like blood in
animals, will tell,