The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1866-12-16


aimed at with hearty good will
! regard the present field of colored schoC
toll as L did a battle field where / met tb
benevolent Union man with wine and waite
for the wounded soldier, irrespective of th
/ color of his uniform no one caring to as
whether the sufferer belonged to Jericho ol
the North, or Jerusalem in the South SoI
, row inspires catholicity of sympathy S
the necessities of the freedman appeal to hu
manity and the catholic sympathy of exalte,
manhood.
The present condition of the colored neo
pie is not III any degree a matter of thei
own procuring. they were faithful To tb,
Lost Cause" Exceptions are mere baga
telles. The whites were not more true. 4,
an entirety their conduct during the nast
five years especially, deserves the biohest
consideration, and demonstrates the s,IiG
Improvement they have made in tbe craat
elenehts OF true civilization, in the fostering
institution of the past At present we are
bankrupt in money. If the rich abroad will
oestow funds to assist the cOlored child TO oo
10 school, most aSSuredly we OuObt IN 6o
ready to cooperate with them in SEEING them
honestly and faithfully appropriated. when
fortune smiled on us in other wears. we shared
our comforts with the slaves They are with
us still, and will be- for veal or woe for oooe
to come. | think we ought for many reoSens go
to make it our business to care for nrotect
ldd' as Tar as practicable, encourage educa-
| tiOn among them
In addition to these considerations. if will
De found that schools will attract labor and
help to make the laborer happy and content
| Gu Gu livery P!ahter VIII at once appreciate
these suggestions | know of instances now
where young women of the highest type of
| fehnement and culture, bestow a portion of
| thelr Tune daily In teaching the children of
the teld-hands. This is no new thing. If is
an old custom. But prejudice has not de-
stroyed 1T, and the cOlored parents will cling
| 10 the plantations, and SympathiZe with the
employers, who thus manifest a regard for
| their offspring.
80, II even the most selfish reasons alone
may impel some to the discharge of their din.
ties, multltudes on the other hand will stea.
Oily pursue path alike approved of by their
own Judgment as proper, becoming, and well
pleasing to God.
Now, need any right minded person
pause moment to consult the theory
of the dignity of tins work? In the
condescending mission of the Son of God.
he embraced every child of this benigbted
race. Apostles We're their instructors. The
nObly good have ever been their friends. In
Vulnerable examples are everywhere found
IN the South of true sympathy with. and Ia
Dor TOR their Improvement among whom are
many OF the most eminent dignitaries of the
church, statesmen of most exalted worth
and women of imperishable fame | have
known the confederate soldier whose back
was never seen by his battle-foe on manv
bloody fields, with true manEness accent the
post OF teacher of a juvenile African school.
And why not! Why should any person
seeking employment hesitate. if Justly COM
pensated, to perform the work Are not the
first class merchants always gratified to wait
on them at their counters and bankers TO
receive their depOsites? The most skillfuI
physicians do not hesitate to administer to
them in their sickness. The legal profession
accept their fees and manage their business
and the clergy of all churches minister to
their spiritual necessities. | again repeat it
the work will be done if we do it we'll; if
not, let us forever hold our censures in ST.
lence, and allow those who will to toll ur-
trammelled. Whila | deplore the coming
South of an indiscriminate mass of foreign
teachers, it may not be amiss to remind |
some, whose prejudiceS still in the ascen- |
dant, that many hundreds of the best teach |
ers in the South for fifty years past, were of |
Northern birth and educaton-and none
We're truer, in the late crisis, to the interests |
of the South. True, some who have been
South engaged in cOlOred schools recently.
have greatly damaged themselves and the |
cause; yet it would be well to remember the
truth hidden in the adage that lone swallow
cannot make summer" By their fruits
We shall know them"
The past is your best guarantee for the fu-
ture attention to the welfare of the young
African the motivesRof religion will require
you to bestOw. Hundreds of thousands of
them have been taught in the Sabbath
Schools, and hereafter that form of ;nstruc-
tion, as we'll as the inculcatiOn of religious
in the hearts of the young in dav
schools and elsewhere, will still remain a
christian obligation.
We have expended unknown treasures in
gold, as we'll as the incalculable tolls of many
weary years in bringing the people up from
the gloom land guilt of the Fetch forest
serpent worship, and the Obeah Su-
perstitiOn of their native lands, to their pre-
sent elementary attainments in the religion
of Christ, and the alteration of the true God.
There is now great danger of their relapsing
into those heathenish barbarisms
But if christian people will address them
selves to the task of teaching the children,
the evil may be arrested.
In the southwest is said to be found a
stratum of soft, and seemingly worthless
substance, which may be quarried with a
knife. and carved and shaped to forms of
grace and beauty with it's slender blade,
but after exposure to the sun and air it
becomes as firm as marble. and mocks the
edge of the instrument to which it owes its
shape and attractiveness.
So the hearts of this sad and peculiar race,
taken while vet unpetrited by vice and SIM
and formed upon model of elevated charac-
ter, may become the firm, well established
christian disciples ofriper years.
Thus has it ever been found by our gOdly
fathers who died in the good work of their
christianization, and left behind them the
clear proofs that, as Christ died for them, so
are they capable of honoring him with their
affections and their faith. This work de-
mands the utmost patience and foTbearance
But it has its great rewards. As time ad-
vances and the freedmen have an Opportuni-
ty to manifest their gratitude, and their use
fnlness to society as cheerful laborers, new
impulse will be given to the work, and aid
will not be wanting for its performance
The whole experiment may prove failure
The race may be extinguished. But let 1t
never be thought for moment that we
caused it to fail, or pushed the negro, in an
CRY haste, out of the land of his birth
The means at command by General Wood,
Assistant Commissioner of Freedmen, etc,
enable him to offer the payment of a portion
of the rent of school rooms, as set forth In
the order above referred to, which will be of
great Importance in many cases, and, In ad-
dition, the transportation of teachers will be
paid from their homes to the place of teach
ing. Agencies for the supply of teachers,
where they might record their names, could
easily be established in our chief cities to ia
cilitate the enterprise. Applications for