Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-06-20
EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO.
Measures Proposed by Citizens Of OK
ford. Miss.

That the time has arrived when some
measures should be adopted by the Southern
people themselves to provide the ways and
means Of educating the freedmen, is a con-
clusion 10 which we have been led by the
following considerations:
| !. This people are now thrown upon their
own resources in state of freedom, for
which they are 10 a certain extent unpre-
pared.
| ,. They consider us, their former owners,
10 be now as we have always been, their nat
ural guardians, and their best friends.
3. 1t is our interest, as well as our duty,
TO difiuse the blessings Of education as wide
| ly as possible among all classes Of people in
| our country.
: 4. If it ever was good policy to keep them
| Ignorant, it certainly is no longer So but the
| very reverse.
s. The right Of suffrage will, in all pro-
liability, be given to this people at some fu-
ture day.
6. Ignorant voters are the curse of our
| country.
7. If we do not teach them some one else
will, and whoever thus benefits them will
win an influence over them which will con-
troll their votes.
8. If we perform this service then we
shall secure their identification with us in
promoting all our interests
So much for policy and interest-the least
elevated form Of the argument. Let us
look at the subject in its moral bearings.
/. The Church is the light of the world;
it Is therefore bound to illuminate the sur
rounding region. There is no special in
junction to enlighten the white race only,
lint 20, -, l.
creature "Search the Scripture" is the
command not addressed to our race only, but
10 mankind. God commander all qaen
everywhere TO repent" We are unquestion-
ably responsible to God for our influence
and ability to do good. "The poor We have
always with YOU" is the declaration of our
Savior, and by his providentiaI arrange
ment we are constantly reminded that we
live not for ourselves alone; the coloroed
race are now emphatically "the poor among
the people"
,. But do we not owe it to them as a debt
of gratitude? We remember how they, for
our sakes, endured heat and cold, wet and
dry, summer and winter, cultivating our
fields, ministering to our comforts, promo
ting our wealth, improving the country, and
actually advancing civilization, by their
physical labor; attending upon US at all
stages Of our lives, nursing our children,
waiting upon the sick, going with us to the
burial of our dead, and mingling their tears
with ours in the open grave Can it be that
all this is forgotten And is it not a small
return for all this that we are asked to
make, when it is proposed that we shall
give them that modicum of instruction
which will enable them to read, or at least
to know the way Of life eternal? 1t is un-
der the pressure of these and similar consid-
erations that few of the citizens of Oxford
have been moved TO take the initiative in
this enterprise.
We propose the establishment OF a Sab
bath school for the oral instruction of the
colored people, as well as to teach them to
read. We have organized this school with
more than 100 pupils, and twelve teachers.
Regular preaching also is provided for them
by the resident ministers of the different |
churches of Oxford We desire TO enlist in |
this work all our fellow-ctizens, as there is
room enough for all, and work enough for |
all. In such work as this, no doubt, the |
conviction of duty, and the command of |
God, should be sufficient motives to actuate |
us. But while we would not plead for the |
authority Of great names as a sanction to our |
course, or an inducement TO others, at the |
same tine we rejoice to find, that in many |
parts of the South, the prominent citizens |
and official dignitaries are actively moving |
in this matter. In South Carolina, Gov. |
ORR and the first citizens of Charleston,
are urging the establishment of the com |
mon school system for the freedmen. In |
Alabama, ex-Gov. MOORE and ex- Congress-
man CURRY are engaging in the movement |
and elsewhere in Mississippi, this field of !
labor is occupied by some of the most dis
tinguished of our citizens All this shows
that the influence is at work which is 10 put |
into general operation an effective system of !
instruction for this people, in sacred and in
secular knowledge. Let US, therefore, en-
gage in the work in eNnest, according as
God shall open the way for us, and as you
consider your duty in connection with the |
work, we ask you TO decide upon that course
that You will probably approve when the
light Of looming eternity shall be shed upon
the subject
J. n. WADDELI, T. Z. b. PEGUES
5. q. BURNEY, VIM DELAY,
\. |. QUNCHE, J. w. MCPHERSON. |
OXFORD, Miss, June II, 1866.