The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1870-05-26

] IoAlOWlng pfactIcai anu Iimeiy nintS con-
corning the education of boys. 1t is al
most needless to say that they are from
the pen of Prof ThOs. s. Gathright,
Principal of the School:
We notice in most Catalogues Of
Schools, with which we meet, illusions
to the upright department, and high bear
ing Of students. The authorities of these
schools are honorable men, and we have
no doubt, that, as far as they knO'c, their
students are moral, upright, etc. We
challenge the whole country, and all the
schools in it, to show any institution, large
or small, that displays the same harmony
in government and conduct that Sum
merville Institute exhibits and vet, we
declare, that The thirst for virtuous knowl-
edge and distinction is less now than at
any previous period of the twenty-one
years of our professional life. This state
of things does not exist without a cause
Older people are affected by the distemper
that stands in the way of the successful
progress of our boys. Since the war, the
moorings of society are not firm as of old.
A general social revolution has disturbed
individual minds, as well as the country
This is evinced by the great rush to mer-
chandizing Immediately after the war,
! by almost every man who had ten bales
of cotton, as if some road to wealth midst
be found besides the old beaten one, that
leads the traveller through toll and econo-
my. Previous training was ignored, and
want of capacity and fitness never thought
of. All the boys in the country began
to diverge from the drudgery of "labor
and wait, in their school duties, and TO
seek special studies, clerkships, and the
various ct ceteras offered by newspaper
advertisements. The political status of
the country being unsettled, and the cur
rency, of a revolutionary memory and
character, tended to foster an unhealthy
condition of things. Thinking, long and
laborious thinking, fell into disuse.-
Schools were filled, particularly Com
mercial schools and special schools, in
the same measure as their cards pro-
missed a rapid transitNo an easy and lu-
crative livelihood, at a small outlay of
time and thought While these things |
have been going on, the laws of success
have remained as they were when men
were giants. Gods providence and the
laws of His moral government remain |
as fixed as the DEGREES that send Sun, |
Moon, and Stars along their unmarked |
way.
The morals of men and boyshave SYM
pathized with the disturbed condition of |
affairs To say that men have become |
more immoral, and that boys have not, !
sounds strange. That men have become |
more immoral, no one who will examine |
the testimony can deny. Note the IN
creased number of drinking saloons and |
the whisky invoices of our merchants,
to say nothing of other evidence equal |
ly patent. These reflections are sugges- |
tive to the thinking mind. Correctives |
must be applied Men, who have sons
growing up, must either assure them that
there is no royal road to learning" or
they must see them, in a general settling
of affairs, sink to a level with those who |
have neverlearned to think. Schools con-
Quoted upon the principle that boys are
to be taught, controlled and governed and |
fitted by laborious thinking obedience,
and self denial, for usefulness, and not
by smattering fattery, and gloss, for mis-
chief and shipwreck, must be encouraged !
and sustained.
We wish it distinctly understood, that !
we say these things in reference to no
school, and in opposition to no school,
Summerville Institute is the rival of no |
educational enterprise, great or small, |
near or remote. The times demand severe
cultivation and training. For a man to |
succeed at the Law, he, must know the |
Law. For a man to succeed at Medi-
cine, he must know its theory and doct- |
rines. 1t is equally true of other pursuits. !,
In order to know these special subjects, |
the mind must be trained by previous |
discipline and thought, and brought, Wig |
orous and healthy to the investigation of |
the mysteries of any profession.
BOYS who expect TO rule, must, them
selves, learn to obey, and every youth in |
the land must learn, if he would succeed, |
that he must subdue his desires, govern |
himself, deny himself, and labor and |
wait for that legitimate success, which is |
permanent Whoever fatters boy in a
vice, or the qualification of within, is his |
enemy. Whoever fails to restrain boys |
confded to their charge, is the same but |
the worst enemy of youth is parent,
who would, by ignoring the laws of sue |
cess, as old as time-gratify and indulge |
his son in the adoption of course, Sc
lected by his unhealthy appetites, or his
aversion to labor, and endeavor to pur-
chase for him with money, or family infu- |
ence, passage ''on fowery beds OF ease"
to the ranks and society of men of mind,
gravity, and dignity.
The discipline of Summerville Inst
tute has been maintained. No fatterz |
ing reports are sent to parents about
boys whose only amiable quality is that
they pay their bills promptly. Students
must study and improve, or they must
leave. 1t is not unfrequently the case
that those who are INDUCED at home, run
away from our systematic discipline
The great majority, however, soon see
that the whole system is conceived in
kindness, and that it is highly benef-
cent, and form habits that have made
students of Summerville conspicuous, in
all the pursuits of after life, and undyng
friends of the school
The Southern people stand now in a
fearful position, A once servile race,
with political advantages and numerical
superiority, is moving forward in solid
column, differed by the peculiar friends
contest the question of permanent supre-
macy. Immigration from the North and
from Europe, is sure to set in a heavy
current towards our region. In the gen
eral intermingling and strife for power,
is the Southern man to be left behind
and lost? God forbid The hopes of
our people are in the boys of this gen.
Grafton. They must educate themselves
by thorough and rigid course, and not
throw away their own hopes of prefer
ment, and disappoint the trust that
should reasonably attach to them. Pa