Year: 1861

The allabsorbing topic of the day
is War. In every newspaper which
we take up we find " Incidents of the
War;" Progress Of the Rebellion, y
The Insurrection, Another Great
Battle aud it seems as though moth.
ing could interest the public, but tales
of blood and the sad details of scenes
of slaughter and of carnage; nor can
we be surprised that such is the case.
Our free institutions have been assail.
ed; the perpetuity of our Government
has been threatened; ruthless hands
have sought to rcnd in pieces the fair
fabric wrought by our honored sires;
and in response to our country's call,
the noble sons Of Freedom have rallied
in defence of the Right, and with lib
erty or Death for their Watchword,
they are pressing on to victory. The
exciting events of the day have a Pc
cu!iar interest to us all. Our friends
are on the field Of battle; our neigh
bors; our brothers; our sons; and
when intelligence is received Of an
other encounter with the enemy, how
anxiously do we scan the catalogue of
the wounded and the dead, trembling
lest, pcrchance, we find among the list
some dear familiar name! 1t is but
right that we should be interested in
the welfare Of our country, and he
who can stand by and witness the
mighty struggle now going on, with
no heartfelt interest, is unwor rtliy the
name Of an American citizen. But
while all this is true, we should not
forget that there are other duties de-
manding our attention foremost
among these duties is the proper edu-
cation of the young.


One of the first acts of the rebels in
Missouri was the confiscation Of the
School Fund of the State, and all the
schools were closed for want Of means
for their support; thus does this unho-
ly warfare affect the educational in
terests Of our country; and we ven-
turc to assert that had common schools
been universally diffused, and the cit
zens of all parts of our nation been
educated and intelligent, the present
conflict would never have occurred.
We earnestly hope that the cause Of
education will not be left to languish
during these exciting times, We can
not afford to allow rctrograde move
mcnt here. Let us curtail our other
expences; let us live on "half rations"
il need be; let US wear coarser cloth
ing and subsist on coarser fare, but
do not let us deprive our children Of
the means of obtaining q good CON-
mon school education; neither let us
consider our duty in this respect ac-
complishcd when school.houses are
erected and teachers employed. We
should, in our respective localities, see
that the school.room is made comfort
able; that it is kept in good repair,
and supplied with plenty of we'll sea-
soncd fuel; that the teacher is adapted
to his business; moral and capable.
These duties are usually left for Direct
ors, and arc by them too often but in
differently performed, but we wish to
see the people awake on this subject;
We wish to have every man and cv-
cry woman, especially every parent feel
an individual interest. just as long
as the majority Of the community is
inactive and Indifferent. just so long
will our schools prove inefficient and
to a great extent Improbable; but
when all unite, and school officers pa
rents and teachers work hand in hand,
and feel a common interest in eleva-
ting our educational standard and i'm
proving our schools. then, and not till
then, will our boastcd common school
system accomplish its mission.