Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-02-29

ward as things to be first sought and secured
not education, intelligence and morality, but
honors and orders of nobility to be maintain
ed "scigniOres, baronies and mauors, and
four estates OF the value proprcaries, land
graves, caciqucs and commons"
Several years passed away after the charter
was granted before the lord proprietor did
anything more than contemplate the orders
OF nobility, and the elaborate system of gov
eminent which Locke had produced. But
neither did the fancicd nor the real excel
lencics Of the Constitution, nor any admira-
ton Of it by the proprietares, settle the ter
rltory or fill ltup with an intelligent, brave
aud stable population. On the contrary, the
territory became the resort of adventures of
all classes place Of refuge for the awess,
thrfuess and disconnected, who are ever dis
satisfied with their lot and restless under the
restraints of tie governments from which
they iltc. Among such class of population
Ignorance and its evil dissouteness aboupdcd
Constantly, and till after the revolution, and
even down to the present time, license and
disorder has not ceased to characterize large
portions of the community II is here, too
That illitcracy and ignorance yet abo Ind, as
our statistics show.
Tue vices that follow III the train of igno-
rance and slavery have been perpetuated on
our Southern borders, not only because of
the low c. .Taricr of many of the early popu-
latiNr, but because of the continued absence
Of wei supported schools, well regulated
churches, well conducted press, and all
those institutions that spring from these to
promote intelligence and integrity in the
community. Even in Virginia, which was
first settled, aud ever the model of all the
colonial provinces southofit, at is probable"
says Lodge Writing Of the period of 1860
that there was little or no education of
any s2rt at that period in Virginia" The
governmcn, was generally luke warm toward
education, and the Stuart governors were
distinctly hostile. The governor, Sir William
berkeley, IN 1911 declared that every man
instructed his children according to his abil-
ity, and gave thanks to God that there were
no free schools in Virginia aud no probability
OF any for hundred years to come. This
prospect and prediction" says Lodge, twas
substantially verified. In the years pri n to
the revolution, education was at as low an
GLIB rs eau well be imagined No system of
public schools was even attempted b, fore
l''6.' The first newspaper, TIE Virginia
G"'elte, did not appear till 1886, and this was
Tor many years the only Journal in the colony
In thcycars prior to the revolution, Virginlaus,
as rule, read little AMI wrote less.
The society of the colonies further south
Us We have already sad took its cue from
the aiis,ocralic State In North Carolina
there was scarcely any means of education,
and 30 literature whatever Printing was
not introduced till l7G4. AT the time of the
revolution there were ''Only two schools IN
the whole pro7nce,' aud these lately incor-
pora'cd. South Carolina was little more
50. Here the daily life of both sexes was
one If Injury exceeding That of any other of
the American colonies. 1t was also as
consequence sensual, sclf-indulgcnt and in
dolCnt. General education could hardly be
said 81 exist even after the revolution there
were no free and scarcely any paid schools
and there was no college" In short litter
acy and Ignorance, and the vices that take
advantage of them, common in Virginia, was
extreme in the Carolnas and in Georgia
Aud 50 do they continue to be.
Contrast now these facts relating to the
carly and later history Of the Carolinas and
Georgia with those that characterize New
England. Note how the New England COL
ONES made Intelligence and integrity their
first care aud did not delay to organize the
means Of securing them. The general court
OF Mass 1chusc,ts in 1876 chartered Harvard
college aud gave literally TO its endowment.
In lGij system Of common schools was es-
tabllshtd at the expense of the towns.
Early was this system extended from the
Penobscot to the Hudson. Every town fur
nshcd Facilities for instruction and educa
ton. s. complete were the means Of in
stru"tlon that in the times preceding the
revolution historians record that there
was not to be found in all New Eng
land an adult born in the country who
could not read and write" Thus from the
INST did the people from the North and East
stamp their approval on the cause of educa-
lion and take measures to raise up free and
intelligent people. They made education,
religion, and next to politics, their chief con-
Germ. Thus they triumphed in spite of a
sterile soil, destroying climate, and wasting
disease and in the face of fear from Indian
massacres aud later French and Indian wars
ana became numerous people, stable and
strong. Therefore, then, if such be the result
OF putting forward intelligence and integrity
as the security of the people and the stability
OF the State, there can.no better advocacy for
the bill now before Congress than these his
t2ric facts suggest aud supply. Causes that
would have prevented illitcracy in the frs
place, aud the rcproach that has followed,
VIII now, If made operative, assist it and
cure II in due time.