The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1873-10-15


the South began to revive, even before trade ana
commerce revived aud were filed with eager, am'
bilious young men, determined to achieve |6ateV,
or victories may be won on the peaceful fields OF
studious letters.
la Virginia we have the advantage of an instltu-
ton which Is in effect Normal school to all otner
educational institutions The University OF Flr-
giuia was the first in the land organized on sys
tenn which made it the true elimination OF the prl-
mary school, the academy and the college, above
them all in its standards yet drawing them all up
ward, by degrees, to an approximation with ITSELF
by furnishing them with proper ideal, and by
supplying them with teachers and professors com
petent to apply the true principles OF instruction
Lest | should seem to speak too warmly 81 our
University, with It's elective system aud lndepen'
dent schoos-some of them of applied science
aud Professors, better known, perhaps, IN Europe
chan nearer home. | may say that a distinguished
scholar of Great Britain who recently visited this
country TO studyts educational systems, 10 his pub
isbed estimate Of our University, gives 1t rank
higher than [ have doae aud says some OF It's
methods Of instruction long familiar there, are Just
beginning to be introduced into the b.'t lnstltu'
tons abroad. Dr. Porter, author OF "Glant Vi
ties of Bashan," sc And now that Virginia,
100 long content with fostering her higher schools,
has taken up in earnest the education OF the mass
es IL Is easy to see what an impulse Will De gwen
60 the cause by such teachers the University Is
sending out, and ~ the elevated standard when
it presents 20 all institutions OF interior grade
But more important than the removal OF lgnor
ance is the removal Of spiritual blindness; and 1t Is
with Christian as with heather counties, that
though the teacher and the preacher may 90 to
getber, 1t Is the Gospel, after all, which, the pow
er Of God to the salvation OF men
Having spoken of obstacles | may now euumer
ate some facilities to the progress of the Gospel IN
| he Southern field.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUTHERN 'REoPLE'
One is. that the people of the South are the most
/ homogeneous on the continent. As yet the for
eien element is comparatively small, and the con-
tinental forms of unbelief do not prevail among
them. Speaking the same language, with COM
mon traditions and sympathies binding them to-
gether, of course the religious teacher obtains
reader access to them than where different races,
tongues, and creeds are elements Of dlsintegratlon
10 society
Again: our native population is not restless. 1t
cugs TO the old ancestral home; it also cleaves to
ancestral religious faith Itnot only abltes by the
soil 10 which che dust Of noble fOretathers IS min
gled; II is oyal 10 the creeds associated with the
I memories OF piOus parents. The novel and spe-
eious forms of error which elsewhere have Obllter
ated the old landmarks, find no welcome among
hem. TIE irreigion Of the South Is rather the
rreigOn Of reckesSness, OF ignorance, OF passion,
than Of iu6delity, or of erystazed forms OF unoe,
I lief There are many communities IN this land
where the truth can scarcely penetrate, so crusted
over are they, and ineaSed by formulated systems
of impiety. But no neghbOrhood IN the South Is
/ inaccessible because of intrenched ln6dehty.-
I Skeptieaisms, which spread like epldemlcs IN
some quarters, were never popular there. And
least of all are our people infected by the scientific
,keptical philosophy Of the day. which asserts such
an unvarying uniformity in the operation OF physi;
cal law as to leave DO place In the universe OF God
for the supernatural and therefore denies miracle,
dscredits prophecy, and silences prayer. lie FOL
lows, therefore, that when the Christian teacher
comes among US he does not have the double task
of first stOrmiug some ou-wOrk of in6dellty before
be attacks the central citadel of natural aversion
to evangelical truth aud this greatly facilitates his
labOrs among our people.
CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION OF THE SOUTH.
am tempted to enter into these details about
Southern characteristics because there Is perhaps
no part Of the world so little understood, no peo-
pie about whom so many erroneous impressions
prevail We have few opportunities tor correct
ing them Our large cities are few and tar apart
/ Our newspapers are tor the most part provincial.
Distinguished foreigners visiting the United States
I tnd more to interest them north OF the Poto
mac, aud seldom derive their information OF the
South from personal observation. 1t we sought
.
impartial aud official source, bearing testimony
to the Christiad civilization 50 embhatc as to be
worth reproducing.
Ole of the tables Of the United States Census
/ Reports gives the statistics Of pauperlsm and
crime in all the States Of the Union. Freedom
\ from both of these evils uDquestionably indicates
a healthful aud elevated civilization. The South
ern States stand highest In the list Ia these respects
/ | contrast the statements made in the Census
(, GFr,a nd RrIn
/ New England States and 10 the Southern States,
not for the purpose of making an invGiOus com
parsOn which | have no desire to do, but because
/ the New England States are generally spoken OF
as distinguished for thrifty industry and high NOR
! al character.
/. Pauperism prevails in the New England
/ States in the proportion OF Al to every 10000
Of the entire population In the Southern
States the proportion Is Is TO every 10000 OF the
entire population, ,. 10 the native New England
population the ratio Is II to every 10000 In the
entire white population of the South, native and
foreign the ratio is only Ia to 10000. 3. In the
foreign population of the New England States the
ratio Of pauperism is IS to every 10000. Among
the coored people of the Southern States the ratio
Is Is In every 10 900.
/. In the United States Census tables of crmi-
nal statistics we are told that In the entire New
England population the proportion Is Il in 10 600;
in the entire Southern population 1t Is In 10 600
>. In the native New England population 1t Is In
every 10 600. La the entire white population OF
the South, native and foreign, the proportion OF
criminals is little over A. In every 10000. 3. In
the foreign New England population the proper
ton Of criminals Is 26 In every 10 600; IN the col
ored population OF the Southern States 1t Is about
Is IN 10 600.
Another surprising revelation which these Cen
sus tables makes is in reference to church accOmmO-
dations l. la the New England States there are
5 42l churches with , 20S COZ slttlngs. Total
population, 8, 4S7 924 In the Southern States
there are Is 600 chuIcnes with Sittings tor 7O6,
937 persons. Total population, 9 4SI $50 2:
Or to state il in another form, in New England
there is one church for 643 inhabitants. La the
South there Is one church tor SIS inhabitants.
Thus We see that il the ability OF a people to
provide for their own support without being de-
pendent on charity If reverence Tor law, II gener-
Gus provision for the ordinances OF the gospel are
constituent elements of true Christian clvlllzl-
ton, then, when there is q call for judgment by
these creria the Southern States step TO the front
THE NEGROES.
And vet there is a vast work to be done for the
evsngezatiou of the native population of the South,
and a still greater for the spiritual welfare OF two
other very disS,mtar but most interesting races, the
one I'm the providence of God iuteSmlnged with Us,
aad the other dwelling upon our border. In the II
Southern States there are about $500, coo whites,
and little less than 600 600 negroes In three OF
the Southern States they ouJuumber the whites In
South Carolina they have majority of more than
l25 600.
IL will be interesting to those whose sympathies
have long been enlisted in behalf of the freedmen
and who have had little opportunity Of learning
what Christian philanthropy is attempting for their
improvements to hear something definite with regard
to the efforts which are made first for their secular
education, and, second, for their religious training
The Freedmen's Bureau, out Of Sl5 O00OOO ex
pended only So, 100000 tor educational purposes
Letter from Virginia, in old and Nelo, Boston,
November 1872 But what is needed is some
regular aud permanent provision such as is coutem-