Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1847-06-09
OLD SCHOOL AND NEW SCHOOL

IL lew months since, we were in conversation
with gentleman who after having graduated at
New England college, had devoted almost twenty
years to the business of teaching The topic of re-
mark being the great Improvements in the modes of
teaching which have been made within the last IS
or 81 years lie gentleman gave hasty snap of
his fingers, and in tone indicating impotence and
disgust, exclaimed" Improvement would not
give that - for the whole of themr' Old School.
we think, and somewhat ultra at that More re-
Gently we heard, from another gentleman. the own
er OF Collegiate diploma, and an experienced
teacher too, substantially the same remark about
the schools of former times. The schools of large
and enterprlsng town in an eastern state were the
topic of remark; and the gentleman, with very
significant snap of the thumb and finger, remarked,
they are not worth that, the whole of them" That
was Aew School; most transcendentalv So Such
indscrlminatc denunciation as either of the above
cases presents never be made to take with those
who are accustomed to reflect and to have good
grounds Tor what they assert or for receiving what
they hear asserted by others, 1t is very far from
being true that modern Improvements in the svs-
tenn and mode of education. are utterly worthless
and 1t is equally remote from truth that the schools
which our fathers taught, supported and patron
lied, were good for nothing. The mass of popula,
ton in New England, and the mass of population
in Virginia, exhibit very great contrast in respect
to cultivation energy, and worth of character And
while we readily admit that other causes, than the
existence OF schools in the one case and the want
of them in the other, have largely contributed to
furnish the opportunity for this contrast, we fully
believe that the Nec England school system has.
during the last two hundred years, done something
in the cause of humanimprovement; and something
which would not have been accomplished without
it. Some how or other it has happened that New
England as a whole, has been the most cultivated
spot on this or any other continent; and has sent
abroad, and continued to send abroad over all the
west and south, her hardy, enterprizing and nelli
geht sons, to be the ornaments and lights and lead
of all other portions Of the Union Other States
have received from New England not only their
men of business enterprise, their teachers editors
cergymen and lawyers, but, TO great extent their
judges, Legislators, governors and congressman
And. wherever we meet with most cultivation, the
best state OF society, and the most salutary charac
ter OF public institutions any where in the whole
country we are sure to find a connection of this
state of things with New England origin. or at
least with very considerable share of New Eng
land influence If this superiority of New England
character has resulted to some important extent at
least, from the common school system, dating al
most as far back as the landing of the Pilgrims and
never suffered TO fall into neglect even in the most
turbulent and calamitous periods of New England
history then 1t is undenable that the od-iashioned
system, of training and educating youth and chill
dren, ,oorih something. If il was not then all
our wise and good men of by-gone times and, we
think full half of the wise and good OF the present
day, have been, and are, grandy mistaken New
England churches, presses, iree-labor manufactures
commerce, and variety of other causes and inhu-
ences have contributed 10 establish and maintain the
great superiority of New England character But
none of these eau es have existed and operated I'm.
connected with, or independently Of the New-Eng
land common school system Sixteen wears ago.
Edward Everett declared that ever since the times
of the pilgrims, the common schools of \. Eng
land had been the living spring of public ntelIi