The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-07-17
2ithmond 1ispatth,
Southern school Books - Cnivcrsity
Series.

Southern School Books - Cnivcrsity
Series.
| We invite attention TO the advertise.
mcnt Of the " Southern University Sc.
ries" Of school books about to be issued
from the press Of those enterprising and
liberal publishers Mcssrs. RICHARDSON
Co., Of New York. This series, ssfacccpt.
able to southern people at this time, comes
to us with the inprimatT, as it were, ofthc
University of Virginia. The entire Sc.
ries is carefully prepared by professors OF
that institution. This at once gives it a
passport to the whole southern public
The list includes "So,aher School Read
ers" for families and schools, consisting OF
seven volumes, by GEORGE +. HOLMES,
IL. D., Professor of History and General
Literature; "Aa Elementary English
Grammar" and "A Chronological Historyo ot
tie United States" by Professor HOLMES
"a Grammar il FGach," "A French
Render for Beginners," and another for
Schools aud Colleges, by NJ. ScnELE De
WERE, Professor Of Modern Languages
"Outlines Of Lutin Grammar" and "A
Progressive Latin Reader" by BASIL L.
GILDERsLEEvE, Professor of Ancient Ian
guages and a complete series OF -nathe-
matical 7ert Books, by CHARLES S. VENA-
BILE, Professor of Mathematics.
These gentlemen are in every respect
competent to the task they have under
taken, and We have not q doubt that, with
the motives which actuatcd them, stimu-
lated by the circumstances of the times,
they have performed it thoroughly. The
course of legislation Of the Republic and
the distinctions that flowed from it, as well
as the sectional differences Of character
owing to physical causes and peculiar in
stitutions-long before the recent war-had
rendered necessary the preparation OF
school and textbooks that were freed from
sectional bigotry and Misrepresentation.
1t was the misfortune Of the country that
the class of men at the North chiefly en-
gagged in the preparation of school books
were Puritanical moralists, who could not
abstain from forcing their views and OPT
Mons upon the world. These they sand
wiched ingeniously bctwecnthc paragraphs
imparting Juvenile knowledge of history,
geography, natural history, sc. They de-
liberatelv sought in this way to convert
the rising generations Of the South to their
views, to depreciate Southern fathers in
the minds of their children, and raise up
the young with horror Of the institutions
amidst which they were born. These were
the school books We of necessity put into
the hands of the children here and it is a
powerful testimony to the strength of cha
ractcr and force of domestic affection 1T
the South that they were utterly without
influence in all their obnoxious and poi
sonous teachings. Not so, however, was
it at the North. The New England teacher
there disseminated his worst seeds broad
cast, and a crop of tares became so deeply
rooted there that ages will not eradicate
them.
If this were the case before the war,
what may we not expect now from these
evil teachers? To their morality Of the
past must be now added the false showing
of the CAUSE and the garbled and distorted
histories of the war itself and all matters
relating thereto. 1t is impossible that ii
can be otherwise. While the Southern
people acknowledge the result of that war,
and have given in their adhesion and allie
glance to the Federal Constitution and
Government, they are not willing to be.
come instrument in their own abascment
they are not willing to dishonor the heroes
/ who poured out their blood in cause they
thought just-nor will the rising genera
ton, nor their Successors for ages to come,
assist in casting odium upon the actors OF
the thrilling period just past. The truth
of history must be detended-the charac-
ter of the people, their sincerity, their de-
votion to principle, must be vindicated; II
is necessary to iustice-it is necessary to
the honor and majesty Of the ,chole nation-
that civil war such as has been fought in
this country should appear to have arisen
from something more than mere faction
mere caprice. Else the dignity and force
| of the people themselves will be dcpre-
ciated before the world, and the national
character lowered in the scale Of nations
Therefore, for the honor of the South
for the credit of the whole nation-tor the
consistency and manliness Of our race
these false and prcjudiced teachers should
he more than ever avoided. The Soutl
should have its own books-books freed
! from bigotry, tanaticism, and sectional
ism. The minds of Southern youth
should be more than ever protected
and nourished with the ingenious
truthful, honorable instincts of Southern
character. 1t is by adhering to this char
acter and rcpudiating the cold, selfish, and
bigoted ethics of Northern school-mer
alone, that the South can in the future full
fill the high position it has maintained il
the past Of the destiny of this American
continent. 1t is to the valor, the states
manship, the conservatism of the Soutl
that this nation owes chiefly its indepen
dence and its fame amongst nations. In NJ
better way can the welfare and glory o
the people here dwelling and following th'
pursuits of life be promoted than by cher
isbinp the distinguishing features of South