80 PROTECTIVE INTELLIGENCE. 



Very frequently gifted men who are so intent upon their professions 

 that they appear to the ordinary observer to be eccentric, complain of 

 their ideas being sometimes strangled by interruptions or forced delay. 

 The}' require a sanctum in which a freedom of thought has a quiet dis- 

 posal. From this class many noted anecdotes have emanated in which 

 a mixture of wit and humor has formed a delightful feature ; and one 

 of this order has truly and soberly said "that every true friend of 

 humanity and free government should give emphasis to the cry of 

 educate the masses, until intelligence, culture and virtue shall pervade 

 every home. Give every man such intellectual culture as will enable 

 him to think for himself on all questions which concern his own in- 

 terests, and his duties to others." 



Furthermore, if the proper and pleasant regulations of the olden 

 time could have been engrafted into a social law, there would be no 

 occasion to bewail the discrepancies or weak points of what may be 

 called a modern education. Not even a super-curiosity to ascertain 

 the origin of anj T fundamental custom appears to be prominent. The 

 love of freedom from every kind of restraint destroys the interest 

 which might be appropriately applied to the force and necessity of 

 intellectual acquirements, not for pastime but for the purpose of 

 strengthening character, and adding to the glory and refinement of 

 our united country. Purely intelligent persons are certainly not ex- 

 pected to aid in destructive or socialistic theories. The trail of the 

 demon should therefore be avoided by those who are perfectly aware 

 that the tearing down of useful institutions whether public or private 

 is never followed by a single reform — nothing but a temporary ad- 

 vantage is the result. The wicked ambition of their would-be anni- 

 hilators, ought to be crushed or set aside by the heroes of virtuous 

 intelligence whose studies have armed them with the material to 

 preserve such institutions. 



After all, we cannot prize too highly the existence of that intelli- 

 gence which cements the best characteristics of men with examples 

 or precedents that will never die ; and as we approach the middle of 

 life, and are employed in the study of human character, and with the 

 cause and effect of public circumstances that often decide the destiny 

 of fortunes, then we find, as our fathers did before us, that the ever 

 lingering rudiments of a good early education, helps us wonderfully 

 in our battle with the world, and its countless temptations. 



