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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1877)
"TlIK SlUDY OK HlSTOHY. Bo r tf W i .&. . or ill their lunula, full to properly exorcise il. A pure public sentiment may lit1 oil served by contrasting (ho morals aiul son limciits ol two iHHercnt communities. The one, with its duns of infamy, haunts of vice, misery and ignorance depicted on every band, and a moral sentiment and stamina so feeble that uovigoious cllort is made to suppress those, tending to dogro date society. The otlier, with its quiet peaceful citizens; the absence of iniuioral influences; the sobriety and intelligence of its people, and the moral stamina which would rebel with energy against any encroachments of immorality on it fair boideis. These communities exist in fact, and not only in ibe mind's Imagination. There arc communities in which the vender of intoxicating liquors would lind no en couragement and vice a severe reception ; in which the people thereof would shun to be represented by men of inferior tal cuts. II we examine still further, we shall see that the moial and acsthcth nature of man is cultivated, and th it there exists an intelligent, refined a. id healthy public sen timcut 0:1 all questions whether of an ethical or political nature. A healthy public sentiment. can prevail only through the intelligence of a people. A people must have its intellectual hori .on broadened to compruhcd the various transformations of the world in which they live. E location then should receive every possible encouragement; and every in. duecment should by offered to the young to stimulate them to cultivate their mental faculties and make the most of them selves. Many a mind lies dormant for lack of encouragement to stimulate it to effort. Upon the patriotism and intelli gence of the rising generation depends the future glory of our republican institu tulions. The lives of men who have been illustrious iu American history should be placed before them. For do not the "LhcH or grunt men nil remind 11 h Wo cuu innko our lives nulillmc, Ami departing K'md liulilml us Footprint on the taiult of time.'' Place in the hands of every child the lives of eminent men, renowned alike for their virtues and their services to their country, of Washington, Jefferson, Sum nor or Greeley. Hid them read the life of that illustrious martyr, Abraham Lincoln, who was ushered before his God by an assassin's hand, with the shackles of four millions of people in his hands. With the belter education of the musses of the people, with the principles of justice and equity inculcated iu their minds, rover once for the laws of God and hatred of ihe ''ways that are dark and tricks that are vain," a healthier, purer public scnti ment will arise to guaid the fortunes and welfare of our country. A. .7. Tllti STUDY 0 HISTORY. The several branches of sluilj' which engross the student's attention me all im portant, but the oiifi most necessary for ov-. cry calling iu life is history; universal history, ami especially the history of our country should claim Hie attention of the studen's of America. It is the witness of ago.-., the oracle of life; it is, in fact, the interpreter of the past It "lakes the past present and entries us, in imagination, back century upon century, and describes how the people of the pat battled with Ihe .oalitks of life. This high integrity of the most intel lectual men. the patriotism and fid lity of the lowly citizen, and the heroic lives of the defenders of liberty, are all made fa miliar to Us. The causes which led to the great events of Ihe past, both civil and religious, are traced out and brought before us iu a manner more attractive than that of (ho finest novel. At times one man becomes the hero of the day. Whei'Ceasar entered Rome as Dictator, the movements of the world de pended upon his actions, and, iu the pe rusal of his life, the student is carried back to those old warrior days, and when .