Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-07-16
hearty good will TO celebrate the glori-

BETTING token of this worthy remem-
brance. 1t were, certainly, quite I'M
necessary to attempt to speak upon the
aims and endeayors, struggles and priva-
tons, and the rewards that crowned
| the efforts of our forefathers. that have
given to their posterity this occasion for
continuous rejoicing. But the effects
upon us all as the units of a vast and
powerful nation are so complete, the
results OF so many vital principles that
rest upon that broad and immovable
base are so various, that subject matter
is by nc means deficient. 1t is pleas
ant thought, that we are enabled to
realize how great, how absolutely great,
is the permanent advancement of our
institutions and our national prosper
ity. May we not truly say: 1--WE have
a goodly heritage Evidences of al
most unlimited progress exist in the
time which ia, to us, scarcely more than
yesterday. The most rapid means of
transit of our immediate ancestry was
by the now antiquated stage coach and
they tell us of weeks and months of
anxious expectation for news from alb
sent friends, scarcely more than as
many miles away. 1t their Hottest
flights of Imagination they never con-
ceived of Union Pacific railroad,
threading this vast continent from ocean
to ocean, and bearing upon its iron
breast the crude material of California
TO the manufactures of New England,
perhaps three score times while the
earth performs its annual revolution.
And at the completion of the stipend
GUS work to which we have referred.
the sister cities of north, south, east and
west were for the moment all connected
by few simple wires. yet forming one
grand circuit, and the special announce
ment was made throughout the length
and breadth of this land with more than
lightning velocity that the great enter
prise was completed. This was all on
the land. Would not grand old ocean
form an insurmountable barrier to
mans progress in this direction? The
heaving pillows that divide Europe and
America might not admit of so grand a
feat. For moment let US 90 back to
the infancy of New England and OBJ
serve the spirit manifested there How
beautifully Edward Everett writes of
L
1T now, that one solitary adventurous
vessel, the Mayilower of forlorn hope,
freighted with prospects of a successful
voyage and bound across the unknown
sea. | behold her with a thousand
misgivings as she pursues the long and
perlous Journey My countrymeni
the lofty. enterprising spirit of that
little band in 1920 lives in the hearts of
the people of to-day. Let US refer back
to but little more than a score Of years.
Behold the Great Eastern, that master
piece OF mechanical power and skill, as
she plows her way through the illimita-
BILE waste of waters, leaving in her train
a tangible evidence of the mighty pro-
gress existing to-day. Old ocean at
first refuses to accept the decree, but
again she folds to her bosom, beneath
those blue waves, with more than ma
ternal affection, that gigantic line of
communication which unites a Cont
nent to a Continent, and by which
the queen of one of the proudest king
doms on earth and the president of the
of the greatest republic the world has
ever seen, exchange salutations in a
moment of time.
But extensive railroads, telegraphic
communications, telephones from the
ships deck to the diving bell at the
oceans bed, and instantaneous illumin-
alton of a city by electric light, are not
alone the evidences of the wisdom of
the age. There is mighty power I'M
DERIVING all these vast successes. Our
patriotism, our prosperity, our intelli-
gence. our happiness. must depend
upon the proper management of the
field left for our cultivation. We are
enjoined to perpetuate our love of free
dom, to cherish our patriotism, to cele-
brate with becoming reverence the re-
ward of mighty struggles, of endless
privation, of the nobleness of effort and
exalted motive that prompted our an
cestry to secure for themselves and
their posterity the blessings of political
liberty. We may commemorate the
valiant deeds of ancestric heroes; we
may hold before our mental vision, with
enthusiasm, names of the immortal
tifty-six; we may "swell the anthem,
raise the song" and "bear the starry
banner Free" and these are things
which we may hold and should regard
almost as sacred duties; but we may
not forget, in what the strong pillars
that sustain this mighty structure of
national freedom consist. What depth,
what solidity is there not found in the
toast, which we hear at almost every
patriotic gathering The common
schools are the bulwarks of this repub-
lie" And we must not underrate the
asf "a IN m nf hn
system. By-the-way, allow me TO speak
of at least one particular excellence in
McGuffey's School Readers, in use so
commonly when | attended the district
school. that Of containing extracts,
speeches and essays the eutgrowth and
result of the experience and thought OF
statesmen, orators, philosophers and
patriots. You realize how well we all
remember rhymes, paragraphs and Sc
lections which we learned by heart
when we read in Third, Fourth and
and Fifth readers One of these solid
paragraphs, so thoroughly learned when
little boy, will probably never be eff
faced from memory's page. | think it
will bear repetition now: "W We must
educate! We must educate! or we must
perish by our own prosperity Ii we
do not, short will be our race from the
cradle to the grave. If, in our haste to
be rich anG mighty, we outrun our lit
erary and religious institutions, they
will never overtake us; or only come
up after the battleof liberty is fought and
lost, as spoils to grace the victory. and
as resources of memorable despotism for
the perpetuity of our bondage
Can the stability of our republican in
stitutions be reconciled with universal
suffrage? Without the education of the
head and the heart of the nation they
cannot be, and the question to be de-
cided is, Must not the nation or the bal
ance of power in il, be so imbued with
intelligence and virtue as to bring out
in the administration of laws perpet-
ual, self-preserving energy?
This eminent writer emphatically as
sures us that the success and peipetuty
of any republican government depends
almost entirely upon the virtue and
educated intelligence OF its citizens
Shall we say something of the class and
kind of education belonging to this
great and important movement? 1t is
true, certainly. that Legislators. states
men and judiciary must be men of let
tiers; we must have classical literature
and scientific research; the departments
and administration of government must
be understood: but is there to be no
education in matters of the household?
No education as to the means of obtain
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