Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1838-06-11
THE SOUTHERN' I.s.STYTU7IO.y'
OF EDUCATION.

| "A (near Liberty, Na.) was opened in November
last and fitted up and organized, under good
corps of Instructors.
Its plan has been, in part laid before the public
But aiethods, once the only ones known among our
people, have completely sunk under the in.
yasions OF system OF claptrap that 1t Is necessary
both TO explain and TO vlndicate them. In such as
these, however, the modest but stately marons that
adorned the South in better days, were nu,sed be-
fore yet Short Methods had come n, or the erutlite
persons who now bring us their of Education
had iorsaken the kindred but more innocent trade Of
Tin-pans and Wooden-nu,megs.
Instead OF Methods foreign to our manners, our
feelings and our opinions, we aim TO revive system
domestic and home bred, that shall shun alike fall
lacious instruction and alien instructors. We
teach, then, first rs Indispensable the solid parts Of
an English Educaton-thngs which all the Sci
ences in the Encyclopedia cannot make IL less than
foolish not to know completely We labour to train
and store the Mind, before attempting 10 decorate it,
The first and principal points are, To read correctly
and expressivey; To write currently To acquire
the practical art Of Numbers To master that most
noble and useful branch Of knowledge, History and
To obtain familiarity with what Is called Polite
Letters in general. These are, in the prevailing sys-
tenn s hed in order hurry forward the scholar to
the shewy Nothings Of pretended Sciences.
Proprety of Speech we impari. not by Grammats
and Dictionaries, but by daily habit carefully en-
forced Composition is taught, not by rules and
FORMS but by the varied and progressive practice of
several Studies in which the daily examinations are
conducted in writing. Arithmetic, necessary in
every condition of life, receives strict attention.
Needle-work, Cookery, and tho other Household
Arts practsed, according the Pupils age pur-
nits The Manners the Temper, and the Con-
duet watched and formed, with the utmos, soil
citude, as things on which Happiness Rcspecta5y
and even the power of Pleasing depend far more than
| on wat, Learning, or the Accomplishments. Gen.
tleness OF demeanour attachment to Order, a care
| oil the Seemly, n taste for knowledge needing no
compulson, and the Sense and the Love of whatever
in Elegant Studies, inspires refined and elevated Sen
tmens, are, with US, the main thought of Education.
1t is not necessary that all women be learned or ac-
complished It IS necessary that all women be anna
! BILE.
History, the great key to knowledge of hu-
man affairs, the School of whatever is wise or
goods taught with a particular care not bv
barren Compends, COMPRISING the facts till every
thing truly instructive is squeezed out of them but
by Narrative. lively and detailed. Far possible that
OF the Original Writer'S OF each nation. 1t is accom-
panied with its necessary elucidaons; Geography,
the History Of Literature and Art and tina, of In
stitntionS, Manners, and Opinions.
y foreign Tongue (hc French,) is begun, as soon
as the pupil read English well. 1t is made the
common language Of the House; and is used, part
y for its own sake, but principally the means of
,rryIng at knowledge OF Grammar, unattainablc
without the stuIy of some dialect besides our
own. French is also employed the vehicle Of
part of the Historical Studies and those Of Taste
The Course, it will be perceived is far n
Literary than Scientific Its spirit is that
| of lilly heaped up things, untelt Misunderstood, or
amassed only for display. Regarding Modcsty as
the first law of Female Excellence, aud love OF
kno Wedge rs the only sound principle on which to
found 1t, plan avoids every thing connected with
Exhibition, aud even thesmulant5 OF Emulation as
usually brought to act.
The Discipline is careful, but genfle--copying, as
FAR possible, that of we'll ordered Domestic Edu-
CATION To thus indeed, the whole Plan endeavours
to conform itself. rs the purcs', the most efficient
and capable Of the best results whether to the
Morals, the Manners nr the Mind.
70 compare it with the adverse systematic one,
graspng at every thing, must. for that reason, fail in
every thing the other, selecting those better paris
Of knowledge, which fit the Sex and are attaua5e in
lis ordinary time of study, teaches these both well
and modestly. That system desires little, but the
ostcnation of Kuowclgc--ours, nothing but its re
atty. That seeks to adorn the outside of the Mind ;
this, to Inform and lnvcorate 1t within. The former
enamoured OF tinscl and eewgaws cares little what
poverty may urk beneath SO shine in confused
and useless 6nety: the latter studlons only OF an
elegant planncss, OF the becoming and the good The
foreign plan rejoiccS the shredS, the patches, the
clippings, the mu ilaons, the trash, of any pursuit
with a long name; and passes Common Sense and
Taste disdainluly bv. The bauished one, winch
we would revive, regards Science as Of small ac-
count for womcn-trSi because little applicable To
their occupations secondly, because always taught
them imperectIy Mirdiy, because lkc all other false
knowlcdgc) vltiatcs, Instead of improving both the
even its only purpose, Display, it renders
woman. in grown Society, ridiculous, instead Of
pleasing: that, being useless in itself, being
slightly tang ht and being langhed at whenever dis
played it is totally cftaced from the mind, eav
ing it as blank and barren if these unhappy pains
had never been taken.
Finaly-to state precisely the comparative results
of the two systems-the is admirable for ma
king marvellous School girls who will never he any
thing better, in either mind manners the prodi-
gies Of scene, fit only for breeding Acircsscs-a
Public Examination creatures that have learnt so
much as to be ignorant of every thing. The other
system is content to produce Childten far less
zing, in order that it may form something that shall
iipen into the we'll Informed, but modest woman, fit
for the Household, fit for Society," fit for the serious
duties OF life, and capable OF adjoining It's leisure.
SO much otlhe Principals life has been passed
abroad, that he may be pardoned if out of number
oil like testimonies, he publish the following.
From the Governor of ~. Carolina.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
COLUMBIA, S. CAROLINA, Dec. 26ih, 1886 {
My dear Sir:
nave Just learned, with great regret, that you are
about to quit our towna and State by which a per
sona deprivation your friends will ensue, and the
State lament the loss OF those high literary attain
ments that you have exerted among u.s. for some
years past. You may do better | trust sincerely
you will. Your distinguished literary taste, wher
ever called into requison, cannot but you Il
best wishes for your prosperity and happiness. With
great regard and esteem, p. M BUTLER.
From DIR. Thomas Cooper. late Pres. orthc $. Car