Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1878-07-25

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every ropt; ;Swill haYe Increased yalaS for every
contth put into these tnstitutions.
But, In a degree, tho same thing Is true Of
the surrounding neighborlood and the whole
county. In fact, this whole "piodn,onp REQ
| glon, and oil tho tier Of counties in upper
i South Carolina, is interested deeply In tho
sucsoss Of this College; and il they had only
Icalled IL by that name, I should certainly
sound one voice loud and long In urging this
idea. As for the Presbyterians Of uppor
South Caroline, they wish we'll, of course, to
Davidson and they have reasons many and
strong for II. But yet here is homo school
managed by our own people. taught in part by
our own brethren, who arc beloved and hon.
ored by as, and!atthe same timo highly co9i--
petent Instructors, and it appears to me that
they oughtto giyc o very cordial and earnest
support to it, Many boy in these noun.
tains and in tho various upland counties OF
our State will never get q liberal edacation
unless this College is sustained. IF il is
sustnined,it will, in o generation or two,
change the whole aspect Of society in this
| region. Col. w. O. Keith we'll said that tho
existence Of a College at Wnlhalla for ten
yours past has absolutely revolutionized tho
placo-anu that he must bo right, stranger
as | was, could SEQ plainly. Without
spectacloe, ono could discover how .deop
and lively tho interest is which that whole
community now feels in tho education of their
sons and daughters.
spoke just now Of liberal education ne
desirable for tho boys ofthis mountain region.
That is M historical term. From almost tho
days of Oharlemague and his great teacher,
Alcuin, scholars havo beon using that term
liberal, in reference to education. The
"Soven Liberal Arts" consisted ofa Triuiun,
and Quadriui,tm--the former including
grammar, rhetoric and the dialects; the lattcr
arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy.
And when. ut the close of the eleventh centus
ry, tho University arose and multiplied
teachers to meet the wants proceeding out of
tho revival OF learning these ''sevcn liberal
arts" were classcd together as "philosophy, !"
and together with medicine, law and theology,
easy to see that grammar, rhetoric and dia-
lccts are that out Of which our classical
studies sprang. lt'is classical education
! (inoluding also mathematics) which we sig.
nifty whenever we talk of ''liberal eduoa.
| tion." Aud that is what we need now. as
much rs ever during oil these ages past The
| distinguished poet, Bryant, latoly deceased.
said that no deplorcd the growing neglect of
the classics at the North; for they were The
said) tho 'basis Of all true eduoation;" and
he condemned the system of leaving the
| choice of his own studies to tho deter rmination
of any untntored boy. Gov. Perry, of this
State, himself originally from this mountain
country, and whose name is deseryedly held
in honor through all this region. has lately
blown blast against the clqssics in educa-
tion. lie quotes Thomas S. Grimko and John
Locke for his opinion. But if namos are to
| sottle the question, we can quote hundred
or thousand to ono. agree with the
eentiments of a lato editorial in tho Charles,
ton Nc'os and Courier, that "the Greek and
Roman languages especially the Greek are
tho linguistic models their study is the bost
| discipline of tho mind, and their knowledge
furnishes tho highest examples Of the powor,
grace, and elegance of language. They
deserve to be studied, not only Tor mental
discipline and formative influence, but for the
kernel within the she'll, for tho human
life and tho montal light and heat that is
| within thcm. Sud. indeed, will 10 the
day when rash suggestion shall drive out Of
| our institutions the discipline and nourish--
ment of classical learning, regarding that as
useless which has developed and strengthened
the power and tho faculties of our great men
in the past, and through which, as n portal,
they have entered into tho great world Of
thought and Of lotters. Woo to our society,
our morals, and our manncrs, and our organic
life as State, when a cheap, utlitnriap,
slothful theory of culture shall mako barron
tho mental activity of this people," If the
College at Walhalla is to be indeed Ptesby.
tcrian institution, it will, Of course, not fail to
be good school Of classical learning.
| j. B. A.
TuoALoo HOME, July gid, 1878.
Mcssrs. Editors Keowee Courier: