The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1862-01-16
Teacnims .r,c srmx~ 70 wem,,.

Teachins Size sfnxe to Read. 4
At Beaufort South Carolina, there is q
building which, before the secession out.
break, was used for educational purpoces---
what in some purts Of the country would be
called a euhool-houso, but which. there, was
dignitied into a cullegc. At the heoira OF
the chvahy from that town in November,
this edifce, like the rest, was abandoned to
the Yankee invaders. Thew Yankee like,
have resolved that the "colege shall not
bc given up to the owls and bats. but that
they will usc il az u SentarTy for contra
bands. Here the refugee slaves or por-
ton Of them are 10 he taught tho alphabet.
Tho now collegiate cowse, il mny be pro-
sumcd, will include writing ua we'll IN
lack Of hooks, the bhckbcaYdu on which
select few ot the ardent youth Of South
Carolina were won't to draw their geometric
diagrams or solve algcbraic prohlrms. are
to bo used for chNlkine cut the A b c lea.
sons of the primary classes. Some us the
invalid volunteers are 10 oncpto temporori.
ly "a teachers, under the direction of Mr.
Lee, the superintendent of eontrabands at
that post,
The adoption Of the policy of teaching
the slaves, if extensively carried out, must
speedily result in the complete overthrow
of the institution of slavery. These let
ters which they learn 10 understand and use
are not dead sisns, but quick, procreativc;
as full of life as the brain from which they
spring, and capable of surviving all cdcts
for their extinction Cadmus, they tell us,
invented letters, Their rude, early forms
we're imagined to be like the sharp teeth
with which animals tear their prey And
hence, tho metaphorical narrative runs, that
Cadmus sowcd dragons teeth, and they
Sprang up armed meni The fable is sig
niiicant, and needs 40 Interpreter.
Let the adult males out of the 100000
slaves in South Carolina, or even the Young
er moioty Of them be taught to read, and
with that capahility will como new thoughts
knowledge, means of communication aud
concert. The chatlcl becomes man, aud
can no longer hc held as u thing Laws are
tel-talcs. The statutes which in all or
nearly all the Southern States, prohibit the
teaching of slaves to read, show clearly
enough what consequences were apprchcnd.
ed by the law makers. And the undiegujs.
ed dread uf free schools for the whites
which pcrvadcs those States, and which has
been recently shown in the Old Dominion
bears witness to the same we'll founded up
prehension as to what will cnsue from the
diffusion of knowledge even among thai
portion of the people. South Carolina, witt
a quarter Of million of reading blacks
would not be the South Carolina of to.lay
with 400 900 slaves almost as ignorant ant
unlettcred as the "white trash" Of tha
State. The trusm is too obvious to enlarge
upon, that the instruction OF slaves is Tx
annihilation of the system
1t was one of the provincial Governor,
of Virginia, we believe, who said al tLanl
God that we have ao.fl'ec $choo1S noj print
ing among rs, and trust that we shal
not have, for an hundred years, lol
eu"cW10h h0S 0foayH6 0tSo6elieHce INTO The
world, and printing has disseminated it
May God keep us from both" And in the
same spirit Henry A. Wise, when in Con
srcss, male it mattcr Of boast that thcy,
were no newspapers in his district" i
they thus dreaded the effects upon theppm
inally free whites, OF diiiusius kuowledgc
among them, how much greater tho reason
for fearing the revolution which would be
wrought by teaching elayeE
! When our armies invaded Mexico, the
printing press followed next toarmy uains
And 50 now, we shall, even in our tellpur.
airy camps in Carolina, have the press an,
the school. Formidable ine.ruuenta,itle,
these in such a state OF 50: city al exists
there.