Wednesday, June 19, 2013

"It put arms into every man's hands, and entrusted to him the defence of his own and his country's rights..."

"...He placed the question of education on its true basis. The constitution of the state, he said, called on the people to judge of the most momentous questions affecting their own welfare and that of posterity; such as the currency, the powers which shall be wielded by every officer of the state, and the connection of this state with all the states of the Union: it entrusted them, as jurymen, with the lives and property of their fellow citizens; it gave them the election of the individuals who should exercise legislative authority over them, and it imposed on them a variety of important duties affecting the well-being of their own locality; the due performance of all of which offices was incompatible with ignorance. It put arms into every man's hands, and entrusted to him the defence of his own and his country's rights; and the alliance between arms and ignorance was terrific. He touched with great felicity, and with powerful effect, on a variety of other topics, urging the people to second the efforts of the state, and the teachers, to improve the education of the district."

[WALDIE'S SELECT CIRCULATING LIBRARY. CONTAINING THE BEST POPULAR LITERATURE INCLUDING MEMOIRS, BIOGRAPHY, NOVELS, TALES, TRAVELS, VOYAGES, &c. PART I.--1841. PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY A. WALDIE & CO. 1841. Pg. 227]

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