The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-04-22
Tur WEATHER YESTERDAY was clear or fair
THE FREE-SCHoOL SYSTEM.
Reply Of Dr. Dabney to DIR. R"iiner.

HANPNEN StnNEN, ' A., [NPiii IL low
n II. II. Rqfncr. Esq, Superintendent.or
state .>cboolS:
n,ar >;r,-ln the third place this theory
=; universal education i'll letters by the state
j-yc)vcs the absurd and impossible idea OF
;n,. L.cycllrr. rs though it were possible lor
Ill men 10 have equal destinicS in human Sc
ri,.:y. II i Il fayoritr proposition WIN inc
.,.nrfcr> of these So-caird American ideas
,f., ..ryrrv American boy should improve
rir,,,lI n though he might some day he
President ii thc United States. ihat Is 10
,sv. the system >unpo>eS ana fosters uni
,..'r.yl discomfort with the aliotmcntS OF FRO
,.;Jrurr. and the inevitable gradations OF
INK. possessions, and privilege. 1t Is too
,l.,f,l,, 10 need many words. that this tenn
,.r j anti-C Chri>tan; the Bible, in its whole
:.rr. iuculratcS the opposite spirit OF mo-
E.,. ,on,,ntmrnt with our sphere, and di-
r..-. fi.y honorable aspiration OF the
.,,,d man 10 the faithful performance
., il. duties rather than 10 the am
Ni,jou> purpose to get out OF 1t and
above il. /; may be asked, Does not the
E+HIr recognize that fact, so pleasing to
,y,r, generous mind. that the lower ranks
NOW and then produce youth worthy OF
-, hi.M.-t: Yes. David was taken from
Ne .grr.-foldS 10 be lSraels most glorious
l;rr. Sul the Bible idea is (and David's
~, 4 c:l>c precisely in point that the hum
lnc 10Y i - exhibit this fitness for nobler
destiny not 10y discomfort and greedy
cravings. lat by his exemplary perform
lnn.> in his lower lot and that Providence
md liz irllow-citizcnS are to call him to
..cnlua up higher" For these instances OF
naive merit. which are usually few, the
STATE ha- m need 10 legiSlate. They will
ri,- ii themselves. They cannot be kept
town. provided only we do not leglslate
a.liu.t them. but leave them the c0rriere
cu.rfs al.r taicnts. Or, ii they will be the
better for any provision it should be eXcep-
;ioraI. ~ they arc exceptional cases.
WIKI this exception it is utterly false that
ey,rl American boy may aspire to the higher
stations Of life. In the lottery OF life these
,ri2r~ must he relatively icw-only few
can reach them. Nor is ii right or practica-
hlc t. .iVr /, all boys IN "eren start ii
the race i"r them. The State. of course,
should not lc-isiate 10 the disadvantage OF
aNy in this race : but we mean that Prorl-
dnnrr. social laws. and parental virtues and
efforts. do inevitably lcgiSlalc in favor OF
some cia>>,~ II boys in their start in that
race and II The state undertakes to counter
vail tina; legislation OF nature. by levclling
action tie attempt is wicked, mischevous,
and futile. The larger part OF every civil
i2.d ucope iS. and ever will be, addicted to
REGULAR. manual labor. The idea that the
diffusion oi intelligence and improvement
ii the arts are 50 to Tighten the doom OF Ia
tprlaat two or three hours work daily will
IroYidc for the wants of al and leave the
lowest llborcr the larger part OF his day
ior intellectual pursuits is preposterous
dream. Let experience decide. Does the
progress ci modern civilization tend to-eN-
act shorter hours" OF its laborerS than the
bartarml> state: Human desires always
outruu human means. II this Utopian era
j. ever 10 come when two or three hours of
the artisans time will be worth days
work the artificial wants OF him and his
family will have outrun him in demanding
The expenditure OF five or six days wages
in one. The labOrcr will still find motive
Tor working all day. aS noW-unlcSS he turn
l0aicr. Md the last words remind us that
the incN"r.Ibl" law Of nature we have Just
pointed Vut i, on the whole, q benetcent
enc: for il is necessary to prevent mankind
from abusing their leisure. The leisure
conferred hy wealth is now often abused.
- would that secured for the poor, by this
iaucird wealth Of intelligence, be yet more
ah'l>cd: and the six OF eight hours redeem
cd from manual toll would be devoted, not
10 intellectual pursuits, but to waSteful and
degrading vices. And these vices would
soon rivct again the yoke Of constant labor
upon their nccks, or the fetters OF the Jal
G. house ci correction. We repeat: The
destiny oi the major part of the human
family Is The alternative OF manual labor OF
s:tNayery.
Now. no people will ever connect rea
pursuit of mental culture with the lot OF
constant manual labor. The two are in.
Compatible. Neither time, nor taste, nol
strength, nor energy OF brain will be found
l"r both. Have not all manual-labor schools
been failures: The man that works all day
usually does not study. The nerye-Iorce
has been expended in the muscles, and none
i lett for mental effort. Hence we care not
how universally the state may force the arts
OF pcnmans!ip and reading on the children
"i Iaborcrs. when these become laboring
men they will cease to read and write; they
VIII practically diSasc the arts as clImber-
some and superiluous. This is fact at
winch your enthusiast for common schools
i very loath 10 look de,t it is stubborn one.
Inc aborng classes i'll States which profess
10 give Il universal education do not make
elsewhere. Prussia has for more than a
generation compelled all her peasantry to go
20 school, but she is full of middle-aged
Eea>ants who have forgotten how to read,
ana Who, in TACT, never read. In bOaSted
Massachusetts herself the very superintend-
eAl> Of the free schools lament that the State
H'> more than ever OF laboring poor, espe-
ciAIly among the agricultural laborers, who
neither know nor care anything concerning
!etlcrs Tor themselves or their children. The
aehyers OF these stubborn facts are only the
Natirrers, not the friends, of the laborers.
AGAIN our ncy-philanthropist will raise
MS cutlery that if these views are admitted
they condemn more than half Of our fellow
creatures to BTotian stupidity and mental
"alhhcss. We might answer, first, that his
Ga, ..,A,pcuichls arc futile to reverse that doom.
= Ae only difference between him and us is,
.'ta' hc Is TOO quixotic, or uncandid, or ln-
N'e"tcd, to admit the fact. God has made
a sochi sub-soil to the top-s0il, a social foun-
a@loh III the dust, for the s0cial superstruc-
lLJc the Utopian cannot unInake il, least OF
AZ " ms patchwork. But there is second
'h,Hcf: lie 1orgets that the use of letters IS
'''s Diac0t0n, but only one means OF edu-
eati"n, and not the only means. The labor.
iils classes find their appropriate mental and
moral cultivation in their tasks themselves,
ana In The example and influence OF the SUI
peflors for whom they labor. The plough
=; ':iaA " artisan cutivates his mental facul-
l!c, most appropriately In acquiring skill
Ahd resource for his work. He trains the
moral virtues by the fidelity and endurance
WIN Which he performs that work. He en-
iooies ms taste and sentiments by looking