Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1860-02-24
Nar. WEley,s Report.


port Of the State Superintendent of Com
mon Schools.
Ihls Report is now in press, and will
soon be ready for delivery. It contains
much interest on the subject of education.
Ihe Superintendent gives cheering ac-
count of the progress of Common Schools
ane OF education generally throughout the
State
This report is made to your Excelfency
at time of trial to you, and to all patri-
| otic guardians of the public interests.
The popular heart, North and South,
has been deeply stirred by the recent start
| ling but natural developments of pr:nci-
pies springing originally from opposition
to those teachings Of inspired Writ which
humble man and exalt God. There
has long been growing disposition, in
| certain, quarters, to defy humanity, and
practically to ignore the idea of mans sin
fuiness or frailty and this cannot be done
except in open contradiction to the lessons
of all experience, and to the doctrines of
the Holy Scriptures.
Such conclusions, too, strike at the root
OF all authority, Divine and human; for
every law is restraint, an abridgement
y
when imposed on beings whose instincts
are all just and holy, and thus entitled TO
qualification. These most absurd and
most dangerous doctrines once swayed,
for brief period, the heart of whole*
nation and it was hoped that they would
( be forever disgraced by the bloody hor-
( rors the unparalleled atrocities of that
Reign of Terror. But the recent exhibi-
| ton of opposition to all established author
ity, springing up armed from the bosom of
American society, and distinguished with
the sympathies of a large class of professed
reformers, has divulged the existence of
this fearful moral contagion in our midst !;
and now, while all are uncertain Of the
extent of the infection, there is natural
and general disposition everywhere to fear
an outbreak OF this most dreadful scourge
OF humanity.
These very acts, so fraught with danger
to every class Of people, demonstrate the
utter fallacy Of the doctrines in which
| they have their root {; and were there no
other evidence, these alone indicate With
sad and overpowering force of argument
| the depravity Of man, and the necessity
of divlnely ordained authority to RESTRAIN
| those instincts and passions whose full de-
! velopment in action would cause the eXter
mination of our race.
Their natural fruits are suspicious, evil
surmissings, alterations, bitter hatreds,
fraternal strlfes in short, to blight that
confidence and mutual dependence which
ho-d society together, and to convert the
whole human race into horde Of plum
dering and murderous Ishmaelites, every
| where lying in wait for each other, and
fighting over the natural fountains and
fruits Of the earth. They cause us to put
a much lower estimate than we ought
even on our fallen humanity, and, as a ma
| tural consequence, tend to arrest, for tie
time, the progress of every benevolent
agency, to unsettle the foundations Of all
order and subordination, to destroy all ma
tional and social cohesion, and to split So
ciety into innumerable hostile fragments
converting whole nations into the condi-
ton Of the pannic-stricken camp Of the
host of indian where every mans sword
was set against his fellow.
In such crisis, when all are disposed
to fear and mistrust their nearest neigh
bors, the public men Of the country have
high and most difficult mission to fill
but there is one rule which, If faithfully
illustrated in action, will certainly lead to
safety and success. 1t is a rule which nc
people can afford to violate, but one more
easy of observance by a population like
that of our beloved State, than by those
whose former departure from it has inyol
we'd us in our present troubles.
It is the rule OF absolute right, under
stood in the pure light of Gods infamable
world and surely people, who for gen
eratiors have made the teachings OF this
Book the only standard of public and pri
vate morality, cannot be IN danger of be
ing suddenly an universally overcome by
those fanatical delusions which originate
in persistent attembts to wrest these Scrip
lures of truth to the purposes OF human
vanity and pride.
We are, therefore, comparatively strong
in the conservatism Of sentiment, tht
soundness of the popular heart caused By
the long custum of imbibing our mora
philosophy from the pure fountain oftruth
and our first, greatest and most perma
nent interest as people, as well as indi
viduals, is to adhere strictly and honestly
to this method of reasoning, and this prin
) ciple of action.
Let us, then, manifest to the world on
confidence in the strength of our socia
and political fabric, passed on such solio
principles by continuing calmly to admin
ister them in their properzspirit, and b,
! the light of inspired wisdom.
In such state we ought not to antici
pate fierce and bloody hostility between
races and ranks and classes merely be
In France