Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1884-12-12

a basis upon which to establish tn
right of the State to enforce cOmpul
cory education. /. it sufficient?
think not. For whileI cheerfully ad
init that popular education is neces
sary to the safety OF our peculiar insti
tutlons, yet | as emphatically den,
that it is OF itself Sufficient for this ob
iect. 1t is only one--a necessary one
1t is true-but only one Of the factor
Of the result to be accomplished. |
must be aided and supplemented b,
others, without which its utmost effort
must prove forever abortiye.
To assume that mere popular ed
ucation is Of itself sufficient for thu
purpose in view, is false as Statement
of fact, and misleading as a theory
As ii fact. it is eontradicted by The
concurrent testimony of history anG
observations; as a theory, it comes il
collision with the precepts Of Inspira
ton, and is therefore delusive. History
teaches that States, which once occu
piei the proudest position as to learn
ing and refinement, have passed from
the stage Of being, leaving but name
for all their greatness and renown.-
Though incomparably superior to sur
rounding nations in all the elements
of knowlg dge and civilization, vet.
neglecting the cardinal virtue of per
sonal and official integrity, they frit
tered away their advantages in ignoble
self ind. gence, and became an easy
prey to ba barians who. though ignor
ant, possessed the vigor and energy of
4 genuine manhood Norris the teach
ing observation less conclusive. Who
are the greatest enemies of cur political
s'fety, the most uncompromising foes
to public tranquility and prosperity: !:
The great body of the people, com
paratively unlearned, who labor con-
tentedly in the ordinary pursuits of
life: trow not. They are educated
men-it may be, distinguished men
who, impelled by personal or party
considerations, organic conspiracies
to cheat the people Of their rights,
and defraud them Of their lawful pre-
negatives who combine into aSsocia
lions to create corners in the markets,
and produce panics in the business
world. sending widespread calamity
on the wings Of their ill-omened enter
prlSes. These are our real enemies,
aud their numbers anu influence are
quite sufficient To show that education,
50 far from being al adequate conser-
vator Of the public safety, may be so
perverted rs to become its most deadly
adversary.
Except the Lord keep the city the
watchman waketh but in vain,' and
other declarations Of like import, show
the light i'll which the doctrine, under
consideration. appears when tried bs
The STANDARDS of nnerring truth. No
and left to itself, Competent to secure
itSawn preservation. y greater power
than man possesses is requisite tor the
mighty task.
There is a destiny that shapes our ends,
Rough new them as we may
a Providence that interiors in the af-
f,irs of men, setting up one and put
ting down another. according to the
purposes Of that Infinite Wisdom who
sees "the end from the beginning
and so orders the movements Of uni
verSal being rs to secure the results
contemplated in its creation. And
only those who conform their conduct
to the requirements of the Divine law,
who practice that Righteousness
which "exalteth nation," have any
lust and reasonable grounds for ex-
pecting permanency and stability In
their political institute ms.
Education, to be efftctual in this
direction. must be grounded upon
moral purity, rooted in virtue, and
controlled by those great principles
of personal rectitude and proolty,
which have their basis in true and
genuine religion. With these, it is a
blessing from which we may conf
IDENTIFY expect the most beneficent re-
suits; without them. it may, and pro-
bat tly will, prove an unmitigated curse
"a potent engine for the destruction
of that hich it is intended to defend
and maintain.
If this position be we'll taken (and |
believe 1t to be lmpregnable), 1t fol-
lows that popular virtue is quite as
necessary to our political welfare as
popular education. They are both
indispensable. If. therefore, the State,
on the ground of public safety, has
the right to enforce the one, it has an
equal right to enforce tie other. 1t
would be pucrile folly to say the State
has the right to strengthen the munl-
ments of its safety in one direction,
and at the same time compel 1t, by a
denial of right, to leave them broken
and PROSTATE in another. Grant,
therefore, the right of the State to en-
force popular education, as a measure
of public safety, b, compulsory laws,
and YOU grant at the same time its
equal right to enforce popular moral
Iity and religion, by the very same
means. This is the logical outcome
of the assumed right OF compulsory
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