The Sweetwater enterprise. (Sweetwater, Tenn.) 1869-187?, 1871-06-29

IlOn, WIlne surrounded by hosts OF ser
wants to do their every bidding. Tn,
leading men of the South studied poll
tics, metaphysical philosophy, and til,
higher sciences, while they left our un
told wealth Of material resources gene
rally unknown and almost entirely un,
developed. The productions of our in.
dustry were either wasted at home fol
want of transportation to market, OF
were sent off to be, by more skilful
hands, transformed into useful shapes
and fesOld to us at immense profits
The mountain streams, capable of turn,
ing manufacturing machinery for Con
tinent, went splashing and foaming and
laughing and jumping on until lost in
the more dignifed river-yet, with all
its varied beauties, wealth of power, and
its noisy, eloquent pleadings for utility
found no one ready and willing either
to hear or to heed. The gold, the sill
yer, the "copper" the beautiful marble and
the mighty iron, slumbered ON beneath
the eternal hills, as for ages before they
had done, with only here and there q
feeble attempt to disturb their long re-
pose.
The result Of the war makes necessary
q change in all this The former wealth,
or what was considered the wealth Of
the South, has been swept away. Many,
who were raised in luxury and educated
in accomplishments, have been rendered
penniless, and thrown upon the world
to struggle, rs best they can, not only
with the reyerses Of fortune and the
pangs of wounded pride, but for subsist-
cnce itself A practical, utilitarian edu-
cation, if they only possessed it, would
enable them to triumph over these ad-
verse circumstances. And it is duty
they owe, if not to themselves, ut least
to those who are to succeed them upon
the busy stage of life, to prepare
them properly for the great struggle.
The first and greatest thing to be done,
is to modify, if not entirely change our
system of education. Let it be suited
to the times. Let it be planned and ex-
ecuted with Especial view to our changed
condition. Let the practical sciences be
more studied and taught. Let the dead
languages and metaphysical distractions
be reserved for the few who have both
inclination and means to prosecute their
study MS an accomplishment. Let labor,
physical rs well as mental, be displayed.
70 this end, our old ideas and princi-
pies must be eradicated Public opin-
ion must be changed and educated up
to the new and utilitarian standard.
Whether willingly or unwillingly we
must accept the actual situation in re-
gard to education as well as other mat
ters, and meet the issues forced upon us,
like mea,--nOt bemoan our fate, and
avoid, like cringing towards, the stern
battle of life.
Far be it from me, TO discountenance
the study Of the Ancient languages with
all their wealth Of thought and beauty,
or the pursuit of the higher sciences
with all their sublimity. But we must
either make them subordinate to the
practical sciences and living languages,
OF fall far behind in material progress,
national wealth and political power. 1t
is cash, not credit, practical sense, not
beautiful dreams and ideal fancies, -stur-
dy blows directed by practical science,
not impracticable plans based on fanci.
ful theories,-that makes both men and
nations powerful and prosperous in this
our day and generation. "It will no
longer do to fill the ear only with pleas
ant sounds, and the fancy with fine i'm
ages. The age of ornament is over; that
of utility has succeeded. Men fight now
with the clenched fist, not with the open
hand"
1t devolves upon you, young gentle
men, and to those OF your class of the
Southern people, to inaugurate and PER-
feet the needed reforms, and it will re-
quire much nerve and moral courage to
do it. But the greater the task, the
nobler will be the effort and the higher
the reward ofits accomplishment Each
and every generation, like each and ev-
cry individual, has its allotted duty to
perform, and you must not shrink from
that imposed on you. 1t is truly grand
and noble one. To restore the beloved
South to more than its former prosper
ity, and that too upon more solid and
enduring basis,-to develop the untold
wealth of your native land and make it
what it was designed to be, one of the
garden spots Of the earth, to dignity
labor and enable it to walk hand in hand
with science, to the worlds improvement
these, and such as these, are your du-
ties, and surely they are objects of ambi-
ton sufficient to satisfy the most aspi-
ring.
You must set the example, as well as
utter the precepts. Let me urge upon
you, then, that while you learn the beau
ties of the languagein which the Ancient
Greeks thought, and spoke and wrote,
you also learn to guide the plow and
WELD the axe; that while you dwell
upon the sentiments of Cicero, Sallust
and Virgil, as expressed in their native
tongue, you also learn the language and
master the mysteries Of machinery;
that while you are absorbed in the pro-
blems OF the mixed and pure mathe-
matics, you also learn the problem of
changing natures productions into the
various forms Of use to your fellow-men.
When you come to study the science of
medicine, you also learn, if you have
not done so before, the practical chemis-
try suitable to agriculture, and when
you search the laws Of your country to
learn tho rights Of men and property,
you also learn the laws that tend to in