The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-04-17
6 aDISCIPLINE.n

| We have no taste for the horrible, and have
therefore generally refused to regale our readers
with the many highly wrought and revolving
stories we find almost every day in our exchanges
about whipping children to death ard other kin
dred atrocities. In the Northern and Northwest
ern States there appears to be mania at present,
making such occurrences alarminsly frequent.
One of the most recent instances of the kind comes
from Chicago, ch1onicling the drowning OF one
child and an attempt at numbering another by a
woman of that city. The motive was the desire to
revenge herself upon the parents OF the children,
because they had refused to recognize her on ac-
count of her abandoned practices. The Rev. JOEL
IINDsLEYs pious barbarity is still fresh in every
ones memory. Killing a little boy four years old,
because he would not say his prayers, Is an exem-
plifcation of Christian stoicism, that was never
equalled even by BRUTUs. So again case OF
long-continued systematic cruelty is related as
having been practised in Hackensack, upon an
orphan girl by her employers and another in In
diana, where an apprentice hoy was tortured by
burning beating, hanging and suffocation, till
death brought relief to the miserable creature. We
have read also, within the past few months, OF
several cases of undue discipline" upon girls in
the common schools Of Massachusetts this
not unfrequentlY by female teachers, who, upon
reference Of the cases to the Board, were exonerar
ted from all blame. But VIC delight not in such re-
voting scenes or incidents, and have generally
saved our readers from the painful persal OF such
brutalities.
But it may not be improbable to inquire into
the causes of this fearful epidemic, for it fairly
threatens to assume that form. Here we find most
disgraceful plague spot giving the lie to all our
boasted civilization; all our vaunted progress IN an
enlightened Christianity. The native depravlty Of
the human heart Of course will be called upon tc
father the whole enormity. It is such convenient
phrase; as, indeed, is all the catalogue OF social
and religious can't hypocritically saying something
yet meaning nothing. The stern Puritan tenets
carried out to their logical conclusions must GER
tainly be held responsible for very much OF this
inhumanity. The war and the evil passions en-
gendered by what was euphuisticaLy termed It's
ssyigorous prosecution, familiarized many persons
to hear, read, see, and even engage in much which
in other days they would have shrunk from in
horror. The law of compensation asserts itsel
here as it has 80 often donee<betora. ROBES
PIERRE, Familiarity painted as bloodthirsty demon
was in tho highest degree sentimental; and coulc
shed tears at the imaginary woes OF the heroine
of novel. ROUSSEAU, the prince OF sentiment, IL
reported to have been heartless, and even cruel
BERNARDM DE ST. PIERRE, the author OF Paul ant
Virginia, who, like Mrs. WrrTrTERLY, was al
soul, is described as being of character Tar IRON
| loveable. The first NAPOLEON speaks thus o.
| him. There is therefore, nothing new, however
| inconpruous it may seem at first sight, IN tne
circumstance that a man may weep over poor
downtrodden slave, suffering all kinds or lmagl-
nary torture two thousand miles away, and yet be
deaf to the piteous cries of the starving Wretchei
around him Thus We see Mr.. BERaH, no doub'
himself a most excellent gentleman, worlang nlgh1
| and day to ameliorate the condition OF the raD'
bits Mr. BAnNUM throws daily into the cage OF ms
Boa constructor; while not one hundred and my
yards from ti,e Museum, Mr. BERaH and all hls
| benevolent coadjntors could lind abundance O
scope for their most untiring energies, among
| their own kind How can they expect to effect
] general reform in the treatment OF dumb animals
| i they do not first ensure Justice and equity K
| mani BURNS lines are brought to mind Mans
inhumanity to man makes countless thousands
| mourn.
The coId-blooded stsListician, finding these
traits part of the average human character, makes
his calculations and cooly tells Us in Prussia SC
and SO many die annually OF poison 40 many are
murdered, so many commit suicide, etc., ETC., az
though it was law Of necessity. we resent sucl
soulless teachlns, Dut upon reiecIion ale IoiipS
ed to admit it's general accuracy. Why it Ii tha ia
| one form Of crime marks one era, and another tht
next, and so on, and why they appear to succeed
each other in periodical regularity, we are unable
to say. Thus we find suicide prevailing at q one NJ
time, then poisoning, then violent murder, theI
arson perhaps, and 80 on. Just now, as we hayt
seen above, child murder seems to be the prevail
ing form of the disease on this side of the Atlantic
Why Harper's Weekly has not yet embellshee
it's pages with cartoons suggested by these highly
suggestive occurrences, is to US inexplicabe. ART
the victims, perhaps, of the wrong color, leucopho
bia being one of the concomitaut diseases at pre-
sent prevalent in those hyperion IAN latitudes2 W.
| nanse for a ranlv