The daily clarion. [volume] (Meridian, Miss.) 1863-1866, 1866-03-14
Moral Trichina'

Moral Trichina.
Hinder this title the Philadelphia Age com
nlents upon an article from the Baltimore
eazette portions of which, as well as OF the
c0nments, we copy:
Nv ,sIuNGTON Feb. The National Con-
~nnfion of School superintendent OF the
sTfferent States met in this city yesterday,
asslf Established a permanent association, to
rSnnt regularly in Washington. They also
gsaanimously adopted resolution i'll favor
VI 4 Bureau of Education, to be established
IIn4ler the Secretary of the Interior"
The foregoing telegram, says the Gazette,
diecloscs vet another and daring step i'll
the rapid and fatal progress of centraliza-
fion Not only is the government at WASH
fnwton to be supreme in political affairs-ab-
e0fbng the rights, subverting the institu-
ti0ns and practically destroying the polti-
Gil existence Of the States-but it is to as
sumo direction of mems minds. 1t is to pre-
scribe what the youth of the country shall
be taugnt and who shall teach them 1t is
to Regulate the system of education and the
book which shall be used under it.
No intelligent man can shut his eyes to
the fact that the radical agitation, which of
late covered the land with blood and is now
atruggliUg to degrade its civilization and
annihiate its free institutions, was the fac
&itfOIls product of deliberate conspiracy,
VI the part of "a few, TO poison aud
fnfiamc the popular heart and
mind, 1t spTang from the smallest begin
nings and although founded, III part, upon
the honest convictions of a few fanatics, de-
rived It's real existence, as a political power,
from the corrupt ambition of a coterie Of I'M
principled political adventures and preach
ars. But, If their ends were infamous and their
numbcrs small their policy was eminemtly Sa-
gaeious and effective. They determined to
obtain control over the machinery OF public
education not only in its obvious but its
less visible workings. They resolved to
MAKE their teachings part and parcel of all
that might he taught at the common school
and the Sunday school They sought and
finally obtained cngrOSSing influence over
the educational press. They wrote and
printed school books and books of devotion
They published magazines, OstenSibly for
other purposes, but in reality as vehicles of
They filled hymn books
with anti-slavcry dittics. AS they grew in
strength and numbers they availcd them
selves of that peculiarly New England trait,
which makes every man afraid to refuse
embarking upon what he thinks a tiood-tide
OF public opinion. They thus enlisted the
service of many of the best New England
minds. They set Mr.. Jared Sparks and Mr..
Bancroft to garbling aud classifying the story
Of the Revolution, and seduced even Mr.
LQngtellOw, from his favorite occupation of
stealing from the German and Spanish, to
wnte abolition lyrics. They prepared
WorkS of fiction, which they sold as such,
and others of the same sort, which they
sold as school histories" 1t was hard to
lind New England book which prudent
man could buy for his little ones with safety,
Of allow them to be Taught from with JUS
ice. We doubt whether the people of the
S0uthcTn and Middle States are yet fully
alive to the necessity of securing the edu-
cation of their children at institutions of
their own, conducted by men from among
themselves, using no books but those which
snail be prepared at a distance from the
sources Of radical iniquity. We say this in
n0SplrIt of narrowncss or cayil. There are no
h0nRt, exceptions to he found among north
ern InstItutlOns,a and there are many northern
men and women, both at home and here,
who have kept themselves Stainlessly free
rom the COntamImationS of their SectiOn.-
All honor to them for it But they are
the exception, and a tritling exception only.
1T would hardly be safe for lis here, i'll
Phlladelphla says the Age, to say how far
we agree with our Maryland contemporary.
Tn some points, not worth mentioning, we
dfffer from him. But the extent of our ac-
cord has to be guardedly statcd-for are we
not we PhIladelphians, if not subiugated,
very deeply lmpregnated by New England
ism! Is it worth while to munity Our
hair Is pretty well cropped, and the Philis-
tines are all around us. The pulpit is full of
New England-so are the schOols-so the
colleges. The only point where we are
strong and safe is the press-as well the
newspapers as the publishers. No daily
Fmladelpma wspaper-with, perhaps, one
exceptlon-haS New England editor or
pfoprletor TO New England, and especially
and its iTreligion, and its sen
timental intdelity is due not only the over
lhrow OF the ancient institutions of our count
~, but what Is worse, as we witness it around
as the acquiesCence and approval of the
Intelligence, such as it is, of the community
I'M which we live. Inhdelity, and rational
ism, and perverted sentiment, and loyalty
are in close communication here We do
not mean to say that there is no indigenous
lnfidellty and wrong-headednesS here. We
know there is. 1t is clumsy, coarse, vulgar
Tom PainiSm; but the sweet, "Sugar-coated"
poison, made attractive in a thousand
forms. IN poetry and fiction and every
mode OF seductive temptation, comes
rom Massachusetts. As to morality!
lSthat to come from Boston, at this moment,
axcept Washington, which, since the war,
has become the clOdcn marina of our latter
dayS the most immoral city of the Union,
the great manufacturer without the need of
Protective duties Ofindecent books As to
is 1t not intolerable that our mod
els are to be the descendants of those great
sprawlng PurtanS-as painted i'll the Ro-
tAnda of the Capitol, who now, III black
dress coats and satin vests stalk throughout
the land, walking emblems of sanctimonious,
A1drcSSed Journalism. Our style and even
our spelling are in danger. When we find
bancrott and Motley called models, and
stndled. and Noah Webster recognized as
authouty, who has inOculated our mother
tonGue with his phonetic veins and makes
~ write "theater," and center" and ''trav
eier 1t IS surely worthy of thought wheth-
OF there should not be some sort of literary
quarantine, Then, the human voice-that
Mpndertul organ in man, or woman, or child,
winch Is more seductive than beauty, more
winning than manncr-is that to be sur
to the dismal, nasal intouationS of
massachusetts, "individooal'' and ''eXecotor,"
and hum, and stun" or what is worse
SOL, that harsh, hgh-pitched infection
Whlch CRATES upon our Southern ear and
makes us thankful even when pretty lips
are silent? Our Baltimore neighbor is
right when he warns us against all this
There Will he revolt sona day. and so far
as social and intellectual Influences are in
N0lNed, We agree with our Baltimore con-
temporary, the sooner the better
q. n. MORRISON,
WHOEESAEE DRUGGIST