Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1852-1852, 1852-09-28

! ton that heads this article, if more pains were
taken to guide those Alright, who, by position
or wealth, measurably control public amusements
and tastes and there will be no change for the
better in southern cities until class of healthy
minds, earnest in the affairs Of life and awake
to the proper duties Of Young Americans, have
been by common and normal schools, developed
from the so-called lower and middle orders.
Should that unhappy time ever arrive, when the
whole South must rally as one man, and resist
or perish, we may rel y upon it, that the "man
of the hour will not be found among the cured
darlings," who imbbed their education at the
feet of some abolition Gamaliel of the North;
but the "true man" will arise from the working
classes of brains and hands: he will be some one
who sat on the bench of the free school, and
obtained his first ideas Of the world, and of the
rights of man in the world, from noting and
mincling with representatives of all classes that
make up such schools, and from books and from
teachers that taught him the history OF the
South and the destiny of the South.
We have pnrposcly avoided any exhibition of
the details of the state and normal schools. But
as illustrating the value OF normal schools for
producing school-books and instructors, we lndl-
cate West Point Academy and the Naval School
at Annapolis. What are these but national nor
NAL schools, educating their pupils for certain
pursuits, and to fill certain posts in the army
ard navy? Look at the sckOol-bookS that have
emanated, especially from West Point graduates
are they not confessedy the best of their class,
and have they not larger circulation than any
others and are not these graduates "of the
Point" when they leave the army, always in de-
mand for engineers, teachers and officers Why
is this {? The answer is well known; their in
struction has been complete there is no sham
about it, and whatever they have been taught
has been thoroughly taught. So convinced has
public opinion become upon this point, that mill
tary schools, avowcdly adopting West Point as
their model, are rapidly growing up III several
of the states and wherever they are honestly
managed, they invariably break up the old four
years course Of some centy sciences and branches,
that adorn the list of studies in many of the
colleges and universities.
There are now in these United States some
one hundred and twenty colleges, trudging along
in the four years track. They teach Greek and
Latin where is the body of accurate classical
scholars to he found? They teach, too, mathe
mates and yet, with all the outcry for engineers,
caused by our internal improvements, how many
ever come from college, The Academy at
West Point, graduating yearly far less than many
of our colleges has furnished more engineers
than the whole one hundred and twenty colleges
combined We could show the same thing as
to many other branches Of learning did space
permit. But one question we must ask-what
are the school-books these colleges use? The
answer is, that hardly any three Of them adopt
the same textbooks throughout scarce one Of
them at the North but has some professor, who
according to tho measure Of his abilities, has not,
in conjunction with some publisher, vexed the
pockets Of the South with a book or books en-
| pounding coutounding sumo l--reir II vir-
mentary knowledge; and "the end is not yet"
and never will be- until the whole system Is bro
ken up, root and branch
1t is time, however, to close our article. The
subject is one of great interest, and needs dis
cusson. Whether tn" proper mode OF curing
the evils complained Of has been indicated, it is
not for us to say; but that evil exists is unde-
niable. Let public opinion wake up, and, if in
no other way, possibly selfintercst may induce
some lord Of paper and print to speculate in a
series of southern school-books, prepared, if it
must be so, by some alien to our soil, but with
reference to our wants; and even in this way
beginning of reform may come. But so long as
parents. teachers, school directors, trustees and
superintendents submit in silence and endure,
that long will the northern publisher pour on"
"Who would be free,
Themselves must strike the blow
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIoN--Thc Cnionvile
Journal speaking of the Alabama nomination,