Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1869-08-14
our southern CoIIeses.

The physical conquest Of th'
South is only a part Of tho hr
reaching plans Of tho dominant
section Of this country, and polili
cal and social humiliation only q
small portion of tho machinery
which Is to crush out tho lilo Of q
rosoluto aud high-spirited people :
Until wo ronOuneo with the heart
onr independence in matters Of ro'
ligion; until wo take into our sys.
tom false principles of morbid
growth; until wo give up without
reserve our ideas of manlincss and
honor aud truo worth; until, in
short, VIC cry out with unaffected
zeal, "livil, be thou our good" and
"Bittcr, be thou our sweet" and
"Blacls, be thou our white, we
may expect war, "without truce
and without herald" Too numcr'
GUS aud too tough TO DO cStcrmin.
atcd, too naughty and TOO rcscntinl
10 amalgamatc, the Southern people
cannot be wccdod out by tho Yankee
sword, cannot DO rogcncratcd, like
their Western noighbors, by the in
fusion of Yankee blood. What is
TO be done with these millions OF
rccalciirant barbarians? How is
such vast lump TO be lcavcncd?
Tho first thing TO bc done is to dc.
stroy our system Of education. Tho
Souihcrncr, rs n rule, believes that
the healthy growth of learning is
from above downward; that the
crudo sap must be elaborated by
tho leaves, and that the sturdy
trunk is the result Of steady pro
cess which cannot be artilicially
quickonod. His first demand is for
higher education; his first desire is
the thorough training of the upper
classes, his motto is pull, not push.
His aim is TO rear teachers and lead
crs for tho people c-such teachers
and such leaders as those TO whom
tho United States owe all that is
nobIy distinctive in their history;
for if you cut out tho Southcrncrs
from tho American roll of honor,
the record would not merely be jag
gcd and Scared, it would fall into
shrcds and tattcrs. Under such
teachers and leaders the Southern
people not only maintained their
importance in tho control of ma
tional affairs, but year by year the
masses were rising in intelligence;
year by year tho influence of sound
learning and thorough culture was
making itself felt, even to the re-
motost fibres of our social system;
and if safety and solidity be Gle
mcnts worthy Of consideration, wo
need not dread tho comparison of
our real progress in the matter of
education with sclfcomplaccnt COM
munities which affect to believe us
barbarians. Had not that great
uncivilizcr, war, intorvencd, the last
ten years would have been marked
by an advance of which any nation
might well be proud; and il is, al
though the rudo hand Of arbitrary
authority has struck down many of
our cherished institutions of learn
ing, and tho poisoned breath Of ma
lisnant faction has blasted not
fow, even under tho weight of our
manifold calamitics tho Southern
spirit bears up, and our Southern
ideal has been heightened rather
than lowered by our advcrsitics.
All this the enemies of our peculiar
civilization know full well, and un-
der the guisc of Christian charity,
of enlarged bcncvolcncc, of .phiIan
thropic sympathy with the ignorant
and the crring, they arc waging a
crusade against our educational sys-
tenn. Zeal for tho common school
is only another name for hatred of
the college and tho. university; for
so long as these remain in the hands
of Soutbcrncrs, they cannot hopo
to mould the rising raco. To do
them justice, however, some of the
missionaries of tho Yankee faith
really believe that they would bo
doing service to humanity, as well
as putting money in thoir purse,
by abolishing all our higher insti-
tutions of learning, and erecting in
their stead model school houses.
Such barbarians as might exhibit
capacity for a moro expanded course
OF study would be better taught in
Massachusetts than in Virginia, and
in tho course of time Plymouth
Rock would become the Caaba of
the Southern as il is of tho North
crn country. To Judge by the tono
of some of their journals, wo of
the South arc little better than Abys-
s;nians, and Richmond a kind of
Magdala. King Thcodorusdcad by |
a halftras;c. halfcomic suicide, his
son is carried or 10 be reared by his
fathers enemies, aud taught TO
curse his father's friends. And SO.
our rebellion over, on~ cities burned
our country ravaged, our colleges
closed, the youth Of the South -s,rc
TO be carried away captive 10 Nor
thern sehools-on condition of pay
ing their own expenses. just now
those apostles Of higher culture
are busy with the work Of dcstruc-
tion. They have laid hands on the
University of South Carolina; and
instead Of receiving new life from
above. it has given uP the ghost,
and California has gained from Car
Dina The two brothers Dec0nte,
worth all the pcddling pedaeogaes
the North cxCl sent the south