The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1854-02-01
Mr., ThornWell's Letter


South CAROLINA Co! LEGE, Dec. 81 1859.
To Hoa. B. f. Perry-Dcar Sir: re-
ceivcd night before last, your letter of the
3Sth.
You propose to me series of questions
in regard to Mr. Taber,s Address. ! have
this difficulty in answering them. cannot
separate my recollections of the Address
from recollections of repeated conversations
which have had with Mr.. Tabcr upon the
subject OF popular education. He is
young man in whom feel great Interest,"
/ have always admired his talents, and have
never distrusted the purity of his intentions
nor the sincerity of his zeal to do the State
service. OF an ardent and impetuous TEN.
peramcnt, he Is exposed To the danger of be-
! ing hasty in his conclusions 0f taking alb.
soutely what is true only with limitations
and conditions, and, of course, is liable to
| great eXtra7agNnce of statement Such
men, while the fire of youth is in them.
should be treated with great lcni.y. En-
| perience will teach them sobrcty and mod
Grafton, and then they become % cmost ef
trctive instruments OF good. The impress
sioa left upon my mind in relation TO Mr..
Tabcr's opinions, partly by the ADDRESS it.
self and partly by free. personal -onycrsa.
tons, was briefly this: lie hId framed
! from the study of Grotc's History ofGrcrcc,
particular theory OF popular instruction.
lie had dwelt upon il in his thoughts until
his fancy ki died his affections, nj his at
! frctinns warmed into enthusiasm. In the
arIcr of his zeal, he overlooked the rh ,ngs
which the art of printing has Introduced IN
| to society the immense differences brtwruu
modern St ties and the city States of antiQui.
! - md I..Ii nf I'm, 1
nature and design of the modern system of
! Common Schools. Mr.. Taher contundvd
that education consisted in furnishing tho
mind with principles and truths that the
most successful method of doing so was by
! popular address -, forensic arguments pub.
! lie lectures, contact with able and gifted
men, theatrical representations, paintings
and monuments. In contrast with this sys-
TEN he presented that of the Common
! School, which. in his Judgement, madA the
! acquisition of the ar : of reading and writing
the great business Of education. lie main
tanned that men might be educated, and well
! educated, who could neither read nor write,
and that they might be wanting in all true
| and real education, and yet possessed OfthesS
arts. Under this apprehension If the Com.
mon School system, he denounced its pre-.
tcntions. He proceeded to canvass what he
considered the stcreotvpcd argument in de.
fence Of Tits tendency to promote moral
Ity; and under this head UNDERTOOK 10 shoN
that the claim was contradicted 10y expert
enct; that, in point OF t"ct, III. standa Il ot
morality VS. lowered rather than exalted,
whercvcrt system prevailed. 1t h nut
| been able TO SUPPRESS iTrciigioI, trres,'i.m,
aud manifold cNtrayignnceS in the Northern
States. cannot say that Gc attributed these
evils to the system. His argument was rath.
er defective than aggressive, though he may
! have carried The war into the encmc's cOun
Try. and have ascribed the vices Of the North
To the operation of the system. This siru.G
me as the general din of the discourse in
that part of it which partainc to popuIar
! instructions. confess that did not uud Z.
stand him as opposed to the education of
the p opl'. ] thought, on the coutr.rY, Tia /
he admitted the importance and NECESSITY Of
1t. His obj. ction 10 the Common Sthoo!
| system was that il did not educ tie. and his
Zeal for the Athcnian method s rang from
| the conviction that il did educate. In al
this think Mr. Tabor was wrong. The
athenlan method, in my judgement, is utter
~ lmpractlcable in modern times and in
| modern States, and the Common School
with the arts OF reading and wr ing, the in
dispcnsahIc organ OF popular instruction.
The Common school does not contemplate
these arts as au end, but as q means. They
| arc not edncatiun, but the instruments
OF 1t, and iustrum ,ntS wiIhout which it is
not likely 10 prevail. To oppose the Com.
mon School, is, in effect, TO oppose popular
instruction. But ] am Suro Tat tbs was
not the design Of MIR. Tabor as h ) argu
ment turned upon v-ry di.l.dent assump.
tion.
in relation to slavery understood him TO
! assert that it was the cons .rrgIGe element
IN republican institutions; that without il
they were apt to degenerate into wild and
lawlcss dcmucracies. think he said that
It was essential To their being preserved in
| their purity.
| This is the substance of what have gath.
cred from the Address, and from several in
ter'lews. Mr. Tabor knows nv opinions on
All These points, aud knows my regret that
he could not look upon iha Com aon School
| sy stem as DO. But am free to say--ard
feel bound in cardor md justice TO say
that do not believe that ne is unfriendly to
the Improvement and The elevation OF the
MASSES. In tie current of his address
his impetuosity hurried him into many
unguirdcd and sxtrayi rant expressions
and those who did not know the character
of his mind, might have taken up very un-
favoiablc impressions; but knew how to
make allowances for the urdOr of his TEN.
! permanent, and though dsscnted widely
rom ins conclusions, bad HU idea that y.
cherished sentiment in his heart, which
would lea him TO deprcss any class of the
community.
have written to you candidIy aud frank.
ly, and have eudcavercd to state my impres.
sion, in each case, of Mr.. Tabcrs meaning.
Ills address, think will be- made the instru.
Incnt OF great good. IL will awaken plbIic
attention TO tue general subject of popular
instsuction. IL viii lead to discussion, and
discussion will lead TO truth.
am, with very great respect and esteem,
yours, most truly,
J.H THORNwELL.