, 1864-02-19
SCHOOLS AT THE SOUTH.

There will be an immense work Of recoa-
struction In the South when this war CON -
to an cnd-a reconstruction not alone OF po-
1itical institutions, but of society, and Of
everything TINT goes to constitute it, and yet
reconstruction is not precisely the word !;
for 1t Is scarcely a setting up again Of thing
once pulled down. 1t Is rather the creation
Of things which never had an existence. An
entire system of schools will have to be cs-
tablishcd, and on entirely new foundations.
There were some good schools in the soutA
before the war. The people Of Tennessee in
pa1tieElar mad given much attention to the
establishment Of schools Of high grnde.
But there: was nowhere a system of free or
public schools, ct least upon any right ba,
sis. Such things were talked about, aavoca-
lad, and partially tried, yeurs ago; but Of
late the current YVES against them. The gov
erning class did not like anything that was
".n,rr" either in name or in fact least Of oil,
Free Schools. And the truth is, that with
slavery, no such thing il possible, Tie two
idcas clash, and not less the two things than
tho idcas.~ Free schools belong to free go
cicty. Slavery puts them out Of the question
by The fact that 1t creates an aristocraic class,
with eympathics, interests, maxims aud aims
peculiar to themselves and antsgouIstic to all
others. 1t gets the property Into Il few hands
especially the landed property-and thus
isolates the fanilics who support social insti-:
tutions upon 1argc plantations; SO that coin.
nor schools arc impossible. Consequently
the families whicL are able, hire teachers for
their own education, while such MS are too
poor 20 without any instruction at all And
hence we hnd in the South few well educa-
ted families, surrounded by large number
Of utter heathen. And this distinctive con.
dition gets only worse the farther it goes
AL this concerns the white people As TO
the blacks, they are not. to be taught at Ill.
OF course niggers" cannot learn. It Is
not the tntefest Of masters that they should.
a lev, about the house, may pick up little
cducation-pilfering it from the children, or
getting 1t Us gratu1ty from them, or from the
females of the house, whose couscieuces
have not died out On such matters. But for
the crowd there il 10 such thing,
As soon, therefore, as this condition of SO.
clety is once overturned, the very first thing
that vii be demanded will be schools-free
schools, common schools, public schoo|s.5
schools OF ell kinds-lor blacks, and whites
and yellows, and browns, and all other possi.
bic co1ors, existing In those realms Of anal
Eamatlons.s Tho first cry Of the negro is for
8 book. He We'll knows that he neods moth
ipg 50 much as Light kndlcd In Ills dark
mind, to shed %irradiation through Ills dark
slin; !, that there H. no real manhood for him
TIL he knows something becoming man.
Hence the spelling book is the opea sesan,e
into the daylight to him. And it has been a
singular spectacle Of the Wal, camps md
schools intermixcd in loving fellowship to-
gcthcr, to The intense horror OF all slave
mongers and niggcr-haters. But 1t Inns been
atrue part Of the war. Tint helps the war
which pulls down slavery and makes 1t here.
after impossible; and that Is what ails all the
sccesh tribes, North and South. The negro
Is 10 be made. man; and If he becomes
man he will not be beast Gen. Butler has
the r3ght Of. It. at Norfolk. Schools arc .
power militant In that darkened den OF 1gno.
: rance, arrogance and Fanity. The continent
, did not hold d city or town more benighted
aud more prctenttous than Norfolk place
where the cobwebs were denser and stronger,
or The owls bigger, grayer, and with Eyes
more tpll-orbed and staring. A man who
can wield The broom there like Butler Is q
Hercplcs among the Egean Stables; Ut:
Patrick among the toads and snakes. he IS
I, ieaisler Of political and social redemption