The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1883-05-24


years var, through the age OF colonization,
commercial enterprise and discover; through
| our own revolutionary war-the more lear
, lul seenes.of the French revolution; through
the invention Of the steam engine, the wars
OF Napoleon, the growth and extraordinary
development OF the United States OF Amer.
lea. through the revolution OF 1880 and
18i8 in Europe; the quick popu-
lar gain and half reaction, the lay
ing of the telgraphic cable across the ocean,
through our own unhappy civil war, and
the campaigns OF Sadowa and Sedan;
through all these representative points OF
time the law OF special development flowed
down to our own day.
The general result has been lifting OF
the masses and pulling down Of the privi-
legged classes; government for the people
and by the people and great advance in
the manner of living, consequent upon the
wonderful development of the physical
science. Division of labor, which has beef
the economic result OF our modern develop
ment, secures great and tangible blessings
to the people at Large, q sure means OF sub
siseDce to skilled wurkmen and great ex-
cellence in the products Of labor. But it
will scarcely be denied that these profitable
results are to be secured by a dwarflng
of the individual man, by sharp divisions
of so,ial life, by uniting the MAJ nrty of
full equality their fel!ow-nien upon the
social platform. Still, We ca-hoJ escape
from the protective Tax Of those laws which
we ourselves impose Yet, who would not
rather he knife-griDder in Christian Shelf.
field shortening his hie by VERY turn of
his grindstoDP, than bs the Bedouin Arab
drying up under Syrian sun i'll the wild
freedom OF a wOltish old age?
Besides, the monotony aud disadvantages
of the human lot under the rule of the pres
ent order Of things are alleviated by the
beueticent effects Of certain institutions and
avocations which are addressed to the case
OF mankind in the aggregate. Socially,
human life will ever be sundered into
groups and classes even in the most demo.
cratic community. but there is a common
platform found for all mankind first, in
the church, that divine institute i'll
which there should absolutely be no
respect of persons. The effect of bib
lical force in the present civilization
is factor clearly outside of and in ad-
dition to the forces derived from the ancient
citizens. Besides this powerful moral force
continually acting on the masses, which
would be aside for me to expand, it is plain
that the chief agency is that OF the press.
The influence of the press at the present
day something immense. To a resurrected
Greek Pericles or Plato's day, it would APP
pear miraculous. The printing press is the
EN- bem of modern civilization, amid its
motto is read and known! am not such
hereto as to claim that all'education is com
prlsed in book.learning. Many livingin old
communities may think SO, but life in the
New West will dispel the narrow idea, and
reveal the fact that nature and experince
are above any merely formal or artificial
methods in the discipline of life. But 1t
may safely be said that the development OF
the age has brought man to that point
where he avails himself of the
swift and condensed methods OF
q com prehsnsion of human science possible
in iv- widest scope, and to utilize the expe
rience and learning of those who have expe
rlmentsd and studied i'll times past. The
charge of superficial ity attached to mere
book-knowledge may be made good IN the
main, but | submit that it is the CHI be-
tween some knowledge lin many depart.
ments) or none; while in the few cases of
original minds and true students, the helps
| TO deeper aud broader comprehension ere
| indefinitely facilitated and increased. In
| the day when manuscript Was worth | 600
sheep, the common people, so far from be-
the soil-adscnpti giebe. The patric AIS
turned up their noses at the ungentlemanly
accomplishments of literary Knowledge, |
and signed their names with u clumsy |
cross, of which our lately emanc'pated |
Sambo would be profoundly ashamed.
The Arabian schoolmaster. in many dis |
| tricts, at the present day teaches bis intel |
ligent pupils by means of letters and dia-
grams traced upon the sand. What the
Saracen teacher does from poverty, the an.
cient and medieval teacher did from ignor-
ance. tracing hie copies and instructions on |
paper or wax tablets. The number taught |
was of course uncomfortable. The lettered
class was handful among the millions
hopelessly illiterate. We are apt through the |
afiiuence of our literary knowledge, to for !
get the long night through which mon |
passed without printed book.
Charlemagne. after conquering Europe, |
In his old age became inspired with the am |
bition Of conquering the alphabet. He |
tailed. Think OF 1t. The hero of the age, |
the mightiest potentate on earth could not |
learn 10 write his own name. A child OF
the nineteenth century, six years old,
could have been the teacher Of the greatest |
statesman of the tenth century. IL is diff |
cult TO over-esttmate the influence |
OF the invention OF printing upon our
civilization. By degrees the wisdom Of al
ages conserved in books, filtered through |
layer after layer Of social qualification,
until finally il was poured upon the mil |
lions who had been so long serfs and bonds |
men. In the new order constituted the |
middle rank rose into consequential ct |
tate, the skilled artisan became a unit in |
the social and political body, the laborer AZ !
last began to spell out his rights, II not as |
dramatically as his baronial master did at
Runimede-yet as really-in the historic |
victories OF Wickliffe's Bible, at Marston |
Moor, in the Bill of Rights, In the free in |
stituies of the United States, in the consti- |
tutional triumphs OF France, Italy, Ger
many ard Spain. / do not tssert that the |
immediate result Of the invention Of print |
ing was the education of the masses, or |
that they are even now educated, directly,
in some countries, or thorouRhly anywhere; |
but do affirm that had II not been for the |
diffusion OF knowledge consequent on the |
great invention the elevation OF the masses
wou d have been indefinitely /
postponed or even rendered i'm |
possible. Knowledge is power. A little |
knowledge, even in 80 vast class as the /
common people, acts as prodigous
power. Before ITS sceptres are turned into |
bssb les, and by II standing armies are dis. |
armed. The army ever surreDder TO the /
people. The rudiments OF a literary educs-
ton is all that is needed TO place illimitable
possibilities within the reach Of the multi i
Jude In Great Britain, Germany. Belgi- /
um, Holland, France. Scandinavia and the
United States Of America this has been &C.
quired TO q great extent. and the people are
now Ia the ascendant, or are rising into ID.
The two most powerful means By which
this result has been produced are the
modern school system and the newspaper.
Men may differ honestly In opinion - o
the tact OF the pubic school ~ stem teepeci-
ally that which IL compulsory being the L
best possible for the education Of their chill
dren: still but lev will deny that In the ag-
Rregnte the beoehceDt results have been
vast The msjority Of those taught the rudi-
ments may never ute that knowledge
further than 70 read the Bible and nevspn-
per, with more or less eese, but IN doing 50
thty supply q normal want OF human
nature. evoked In accordance with the
spirit Of the age. This slender education
sufficss 10 lift them Out Of the lines Of man
usl work sDd advance them q. various places