Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1866-07-11
Education of the Negro.

"oIuoJ WltuOut dUfiuSueut, anu may, perhaps
be of some suggestive value-perhaps o
none. Let the wise of the land determine.
Education of the Negro.
We are pleased to see that there is grow
ing and general disposition throughout the
country in favor of aiding and encouraging
the education of the negro. It is the true
position, and it becomes us to see to it that
measures are everywhere introduced for this
especial'ohject. Let the colored man be edu
Gated, and he will all the better be enabled to
discharge the duties that will devolve upon
him by reason of the unsoughs freedom "
that has encompassed him.
The citizens of Oxford, Miss, are moving in
the matter, and committee of gentlemen Of
that place submit the following measures for
the consideration of their people:
That the time has arrived when some meas.
ures should be adopted by the Southern peo-
pie themselves to provide the ways and means
of educating the freedmen, is a conviction to
which we have been Led by the following con.
siderations:
l. This people are now thrown upon their
own resources, in q state of freedom, fol
which they are TO ac0rtain extent unprepared.
2. They consider US, their former owners,
to be now, as we have always been, their
natural guardians and their best friends.
3. It is our interest, as well as our duty, to
diffuse the blessings of education as widely
as possible among all classes of people in oul
country. =.
4. II it ever was good policy 70 keep them
ignorant, it certainly is no longer so, but the
very reverse.
5. The right of suffrage will, in al, proba-
bility, be given to This pcop!e at some future
day.
s. Ignorant voters are the curse of our
country.
Z. If We do not teach them, some one else
will, and whoever thus benefits them will win
an influence over them which will control
their votes.
8.~If We perform this service, then We shall
secure their Identification with ,ls in promo
ting all our interests.
So much for policy and intereat-the least
elevated form of the argument. Let us look
ut the subject in its moral bearings.
l. The Church is the light OF the world /;
it is therefore bound to illuminate the sur
rounding region. There is no special njunc-
ton to- enlighten the white race only, but We
are to "preach the gospel to eueyy creature,
" Search the Scripture is the commaDd nol
addressed to our race only, but to manklnc
God commandeth all men everywhere It.
repent" We are unquestionably responsible
to Gud for our influence and ability to do
good. "The poor ye have always with you
is the declaration of our Saviour, and by his
provideutial arrangement we aro constantly
reminded thst we live not for ourselves alone !;
the colored race are now empha.ically "the
poor among the people,"
2. Ept do we not owe it to them as a debt
of gratitude2 We remember bow they, for
our sal;es, endured heat and cold, wet and
dry, summer and winter, eultivating our fields,
ministeriag to- Our comforts, promoting our
wealth, improving the country, and actually
advancing civilization, by their physical labor;
attending upon us at all stages Of our lives,
nursing: onr children, waiting upon the sick,
going 'sith US to the burial of our dead, and
ming!iug their tears with ours in the open
grave. Can it be that all this is forgotten7
And is it not a small return for all this that
we arc asked to make, when it is proposed
that VIC shall give them that modicum of in
struction which will enable them to read, or
at leass to know the way Of life eternal? 1t
is undsr the pressure of these and similar
considerations that few of the citizens Of
Oxford have been moved to take the initia.
tive in this enterprise.
We propose the establishment of Sabbath
school for the oral instruction of the colored
people, as we'll as to teach them to read. We
Lave 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-citizens, as there is room enough
for all, snd 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 q sanction tp our course, or an in
ducemept to others, at tho same time we re-
.joice 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 fret citizens of
Charleston are urging the establishment Of
the common school system for the freedmen.
In Alabama, e3.Goy. Moore and ex. Congress.
man Curry are engaging in the movement,
and elsewhere in Mississippi, this field oflafor
is occupied by some Of the most distinguished
of our citizens. Ali this shows. that the in
Auence is at work which is to put into genses.:si
operation an effective systee..nl Of instruction
for this people, in sacred and in secular
knowledge. Let us, therefore, engage in the
work in earnest, 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 proba-
bly, approve when the light Of coming eter-
nifty shall be shed upon, the subject.
e According to the New York Tribune,
Santa Anna has $lO,O0O,000 on deposit in
England, and he is soon to return to Mexico,
drive away Maximilian, and call his country.
men oihis own standard they are to listen
to him, and will fall down before him and an:
pounce themselves as ready to do his bid
ding. Then Mexico will rise from her ashes,
A~