Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-06-01
educational.

| given IL serious cohni"e'~ 81. r..
permit me &c suggest ,e" po'n,s
reflection. First-Who is reapo1y ~
American so long q resident OF Enr'an'
as 10 embrace all the fanaticism OF ina
countrv in reference 10 the social AM
noli,icsl status Of this, Being immensell
wealthy, with few heirs among whom =
show his great wealth, he conceived th'
idea. or II was suggested 10 him, TO maxi
himself famous by "bequest' to IN
South for educational purposes h'
selects for his agent whomY An ole
Yankee preacher. Rhode Island snc
! Massachusetts, are the scenes OF ms Tor
mer fanatical Trades against the Sou,h'
The object in this movement is nothing
more or less than as far as possible 70
Get control of the minds OF the young.
These New England fanatics look ahead
twenty FIVE, thirty or forty years to ac-
comnlish AN ulterior design. Whenever
This fund is accepted, they-the trustees,
Of whom. Rev. Sears is the head, body
and tail-will have control Of the schools
in appointing teachers, designating text
hooks, ETC., aud you know very well now
thew will use that power. The South
will be flooded with their fanatical
"school mArms" and pig beaded peda-
gogues. and the direction Of the young
ones of the South will be in the hands OF
this "God and morality party, OF which
we know little 10 our sorrow. Another
point Sears makes is economy That
argument may do at the North, but how
is il here2 Ifyou will take the trouble
to examine the last annual report oil the
city schools, you viii discover this fact,
viz; that the expense per pupil IN the
high and grammar schools is actually
greater than it is in any private insiiiu-
ton in the city. -,
AS 10 the comparative merits oil the
public and private schools, the accom-
modatious and eonyeniences afforded to
pupils, an investigation will, without
shadow Of doubt, prove that the private
schools are far in advance OF the public.
One proof of the superiority Of private
over public schools. in this city is, that a
Iar0s number of the young lady teachers
in he public schools icere educated a.
me pirate schools here Rev. Sears
assertion, that the motives and objects OF
private teachers are mereenary, is simply
ana pslpably false. There is no more
devoted, faithful aud Conscientious set OF
teachers any where than in the private
schools of the city Of Memphis. In refer
eucs TO mercenary motives, you have
only 10 remember that Immediately after
this magnificent bsquesi <as made. sew
eral extensive pui fishing houses in bos-
ton and New York made large donations
of school books to the SoufA- What was
the object? Evidently tEo-foldi VIZ: to
secure in the future the trade IN the To-
cslities where they gave away few hun
dreds, or thousands, Of old dead stock
Second to disseminate, SIS far as possible,
their New England fsnatieism, with
which almost all their school books are
filed. (E. G.-See Goodrich's History
of the United States, which comes down
10 1865. The Confederate are spoken
Of As rebels. and the Southern Navy as
piratss.) Is this, ask, st history to De
put Into the hands Of our children Is
It right that a boy or girl of our country
should read in history that his or her
father was pirdtei Dat upon this
whole scheme, it is trap set 10 ensnare
us. Let us touch not the unelean thing.
A PARENT
We had no idea of iniorsing the Pea
body educational movement" or any
other We were not aware Of any move
ment. In our remarks relative to the
address of DR.. Sears, we had reference
to what be said exclusively to his argu-
ments. and not to the man. We did not,
in fact, know that be was an agent at 81.
We are not hasty with suspicious. Men
respectfully Endorsed to Us pass after
ward without challenge, The successor
of the great Wayland, as an educator,
when dealing exclusively with subject
of common interest, wherein no sec
tional or fanstical views bad asy neceE-
sary or proper place, we we're not prone
to accuse of an insidious design, espe-
cially when be said nothing to warrant
such conclusion, and when, if II we're
so, the attempt must necessarily be fu-
tile. We had not been made aware OF
his former political trades against the
South" if such there we're. We would
not knowingly indorse or countensnee
any man vbs ever did, or could, make
them, unless it should be to confess his
talent for mischief. and give the devil his
due. The doctrine Of Wsyland was that
slavery was a political and moral evil, and
should be abolished by colonization and
other meaus Of gradual emancipation,
which should shock no interest and hurt
no section. This we know from his own
declaration when, in 1888. We we're hisp u-
pill at our oVn alma mater. II DR.. Sears
agrees to that view, I. is now too late TO
quarrel with it. If he has been geak
enough to go further, we can only say he
might have been wiser. But we have
Judged him by what be has said here oaly.
And as ts that, We think b. should be
met and resisted by argument, il at all
We see no necessity for any connec-
ton of "sehool marms, pig headed
pedagogues and false history with
the lecture we heard. II his design, or
that Of the association or fund he repres
sents, is to influence the South by food
ing it with fanatieal agents and false
and glsnderous histories, il is sufficient
the design should be known in order that
it should be thwarted. But his chief ar
gument, that in consequence of the div
ision Of labor, the spportionment Of
scholars, the responsibility Of teachers