The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-11-26
BY DAVIS, g. CREWS.


Dsi;Jered before the TStdte Agricultural
.Seciety, IN tbs State House, on Wednes
aay Evening, November IL, 1851.
Before I'VE can carry out successfully
this great work of reformation. we must
prepare the minds Of the people by a sys
TEN ofpopulds.. education. But ami met
at, the stlireshliolds with the question, els i,
necessary that the farmers-lhat the til
,lers Of the soil-should know as mucl, rs
other3People z" To prove fl,at it is necccss
sary % an nsintelligcnt mind, would seem to
1e awork Of supererrogation but there
: ares,aany persons in this State who do not
ad,nitStlIe. neccssiiy y-belitving that t.o
much tdaaperins with the masses, might
cause them to rise in the majesty of ;.> ii
strength and Break over the old established
landmark usages and customs. I have no
fears of an educated people breaking over
. :. old land marks" customs and usas,:s, il
these hndsnarks are sin accordance with
: their advancement in civiIiz alton. But. ii
= they are not in ;,ccordanrc with the wants
OF the people and tile progress of tile age,
let them be upr"oted and exploded, and in
their stead let such improvements he intro
duced, as will tel,d 10 d.velope the power
and energies of ihe people
.l'nalntain, that in proportion you Gle.
Z vate the 'masses in the scale of education,
nthe. same ratio will the resources of the
State be developed. All will admit that il
shoul + be the first and great concern of the
State to PLACE the means of a good and
substantial education within the reach of
allsher people; but how few Of our legisa-
tors and men Of learning have devoted
the:rsslahor and talents to the digesting of
a plan suitable TO tiie condition and wants
oi the people. It IS true, that there is an
Allstop, a Thornweil and a Memminger in
our midst, WHO lave Investigated the sub
ject with zeal and ability, but their plans
; and schemes have time and again been re-
jected by your Legislators, for the want Of
thorough investigation. trust, however,
hat the day is now dawning upon US when
the State will turn her attention with zeal
and earnestness to the subject, laying aside
all sectional feelings or jealousies, and d.
gest suck a I,isn w!.ic!. vii! bring education
Z to+every mans door.
: This is essentially an agricultural coun-
try, and the tillcrs of the soil are the Boaz
and Jschia Of our State. Upon their p: os-
..perity depends all the substantial wealth of
our State. Deprcss them, and you derress
: the nrerchant, manufacturer, mechanic,
lawyer, doctor, in word, all branches of
I industry become paralyzel. Pancs may
come, banks suspend. merchants assign
manufacturers stop operations, and all
trades and professions become depressed
s and to whom do they look for relief! TO
the banks? No! They are the very
causes of the distress. To the lawyer and
doctor! Eheys are Consumers, and not pro-
y,ducers. 70 tie merchant, manufactures,
d ssor ineclaIic2 They have nothing within
themselves to afford relief. No. They
;altturn with q confding look to the tllers
!. OF the soil. 1t is the products of tho soil
that 'aione can afford relief 1t fills the cof
fers Of the bank with gold and silver; it
oilsstlie n,ecl,inary Of the manufacturer and
'meciahie;sit drives the slip across the
. .yssty deep, and feeds the countless lines of
lrailraads throughout the length and breadth
I I Of OUT cpuatrys. Then it is your duty to
Eafousellie; talent that now lies dormant in
q q iyanE sand hills, in your rich vaics, and on
& tile moantian. top! Send the schoolma~,cr
into every nook aud hamlet of the State,
AID tsacl. them. the laws Of nature--how
y ttte ssiEs Esnn become modified aud enriched
{ !. Judiciot,s application of The mineral
s I and gstabie Kingdoms. Teacl, them the
tsIciplss pf natural philosophy and me
! .sss!,anscs and let the State Collcge furnisl,
ssalfst addhio1ai instruction in Agricultural
sslIfmistty, so necessary to prepare our sons
( tor tle: ctieal asocaions Of life.
ssansa tdiiiuna| sonrcesfof information
Hotald h.s,ly recommend t" our farmers
sslhs stai,,ng the agricultural survey OF
eg1 gon the k""wIedgcs Of the
y i 1ass md sts 9constitucnt elements, depends
essess of: The farmer, aud any iniorma.
that subject. ,s worth to the
Md mining gsinlerest Of our State
sts,ss tSsAed, IA hundred times, the amour,
fisY tsts pl 1expend. Neither the man.
necl,anic, or the artisan can
!. u iib by degree of success, until
81 s tRofoi kly understand the capacity
B Heir machinery or the tools
viii, They call in science to
Il sIl ins tteir lsbors, and, hence we find
each l,as a.tsined in thei,
10 departments Of industry. No,