The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-07-08
compare his state with the educated

compare his state with the educated
Englishman or American of the present
day. ALI the progress that the world has
made has come from education. 1t has
given US the civilization of the 18th
century, and its chief glory is that o.day
the blessings of education are participat.
ed in by the masses Of the people, and
this elevation of the masses is the source
alike of our prosperity and of our power.
It has given to all the people of our
country an indacement to press forward
and prepare themselves for the battle of
life, for here "every man is the architr It
of his own fortune" 1t has been &C .n
mon belief that great differences exist
between the minds of different persons in
point of capacity, but experience, while
confirming this theory to some extert,
has demonstrated beyond question that
nature has been much more equal in her
gifts to men than was formerly supposed.
There is far more difference in the uses
which men make of the gifts which
nature has bestowed upon them than
there is in the gifts themselves, and for
this reason the diligent boy accomplishes
most in school, and the laborious, pains
taking man achieves more in life than
men who start with more brilliant pros.
poets, but less willingness to win success
by patient labor. There are very few
geniuses and equally as few idiots. The
vast majority of mankind belong to ths.t
middle class with medium talents, which
they can develop by assiduous toll, or
by negligent application, dwarf and waste.
For this reason you will note that system
and careful method in the mastery Of
detail marks the student who will win
the highest honors in life, rather than
the ono who relies on his ready wits to
carry him through his studies. cannot
impress too strongly the necessity for this
mastery of detail as one of the essentials
to education. 1t meets US in every de.
partment of life, and observation will
soon convince any one that will take the
trouble to notice, that the man or woman
who cannot properly attend to the little
things, the details of his or her avocation
is most likely to prove failure in the
more important matters with which the!y
have to deal. "Thou hast been faithful
over few things, I will make thee ruler
over many things" is the language Of
nature as we'll as of Revelation.
In countries which rely upon large
standing armies and coercion for main
tenance of the government, the elevation
of the citizens is not so important as here
where, in the language of the declaration
of independence, the just powers of our
government are derived from the consent
of the governed. With US the whole
fabric Of our Union depends upon the
aggregation of the individuals who are
inhabitants of the country. It's progress
and elevation depends upon the wishes OF
this aggregation of individuals, and this
mass Of citizens can only be eimproved by
forces which act upon the individuals
who compose it. No force can be so
dangerous to republic as ignorance. It
abounds in prejudice, in passion and in
jealous rage towards all progress and i'm
provement. It is the easy prey of the
demagogue-the fertile resource of the
agitator. In all the ages of the world, it
has been the source from which opposi-
ton to the establishment of unknown
truth has sprung. 1t has the blood of the
martyrs aud the Saviour himself at its
door. In obedience to its behest, the
pioneers in science have always been i'm
peded, and even the CREST Galileo sleeps
as the murdered victim Of its intolerance.
1t has been the curse of nations-the bane
of individuals. 1t is that negative foe of
mankind which must be driven from our
midst, because it paralyzes all that is
good, and dwarfs the God.given intellect
with every noble aspiration of man.
The transformation which the Omnipo.
tent Creator wrought upon the physical
universe when by the word of His power
spoke the fiat "Let there be light and
there was light" changing darkness into
day and revealing the glorious mysteries
of creation was not greater than that
transformation which would be wrought
in the domain of mind if educated intel.
ligence could be exchanged for ignorance.
Oh what change! The work cannot be
accomplished in its perfection by finite
man. For more than six thousand years
the higher instincts and aspirations of
man have been warning with the baser
elements of his nature, and the work is
vet in its infancy. The most enlightened
nations are striving to go on with the
good work in which perfection caunot be
attained, though there appears to be no
limit to the progression which strives to
reach that state. The civilized world
to-day enjoys the progress that has been
made in education. 1t has not only given
to the nations of the earth the material
blessings of commerce, of railroads, of
ships, of telegraphs, of hundreds of fac.
tories thatsupply innumerable necessaries
and luxurics to man, and the various dis.
coveries which contribute to his health and
his comfort; but it has given to him a so.
cal system which is ennobling and pure
it has secured to him protection and the
exercise of rights which were never
known before it has enabled him to
grasp the truths of Revelation and derive
from them pleasure and hopes which
are heightened by the beauty that is
unfoldcd to him it has explored nature
with her wondrous glory, and wrested
from the silent rocks and trickling streams
and majestic dome of Heaven secrets
which the centuries that are gone have
never told before, and from which to-day
"man looks through nature up 10 natures
Cod"
This diffusion of education has brought
a new factor into play between nations.
That period has not come of which Pope
sang:
Gail crimes shall cease, and ancient frauds
shall fall,
Returning Justice lift aloft her scale;
Peace DER the world her olive wand extend
And white-robed Innocence from Heaven
descend.
No more shall nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Nor fields with cleaning steel he covered
o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falcon in plough-share
end"
And yet the diffusion Of education and
the progress which it has made tends to
the settlement of national disputes with
out resort to war for three reasons. l..
The improvement that has been made in
the implements for warare so great that
nations, recognizing the fearful sacrifice
of life which each must suffer, and the
reasonable certainty of success which
superior numbers will give, are more
careful of each others rights than they