The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-10-24
Education by the State.

literature of the subject has been made
recently thai the address of DR.. Sears,
| delivered beiore the Nashville Normal
School last May, and now published aud
circulated as an appendix TO his annual
| report to the Directors of the Peabody
Fund.
DR.. Sears sets out with this striking
statement of the philosophy of education
lin all great. public interests there ia a
simple underlying principle from which
the whole may be developed. That
principle in regard TO public schools may
be stated thus: Man was made for edu-
cation as much as the earth was made
for cultivation. Both the rational and
the material world lose most of their
value when neglected" Having eabo.
rated this idea from his own experience
and from history, thea speaker next al
luded us follows to the effects of q want
of general education on human happi-
ness. Said he:
with all the learning of individual
men, there is among us and around lis q
frightful mass Of ignorant and almost
useless citizens, which the educated class
cannot control. If you inquire
into the cause Of much of our domestic
unhappiness, you will find that it is the
want of culture and refinement. The
son goes out at night for pleasure, be.
cause he finds so little at home. The
daughter seeks amusement abroad by day
and by night, for the same reason. The
husband goes to the saloon and other
places OF resort, because his wife's stock
OF entertaining conversation is exhausted:
and she herself sits solitary at home i'm
the wearisome and dull evenings, be-
cause the family finds more pleasure else.
where. Now, II this be the history of
many families in every community, how
much Of intellectual elevation, Of high.
toLed moral sentiment and public spirit.
will be found among them9 What are
their social enjoyments ard manners
rational aud improving, OF low and de-
grading? eleyating and refining inter-
cours5, or sensus. pleasures, and vulgar
and commonplace conversation 2 /
need not ask what are the occupation of
such families. They will be of the
plainest and coarsest kind. The arts
Will be OF the rudest sort. That skill,
which in this age is an essential element
OF prosperity, will be wanting. The sad
story to be told of this class is that irdi-
vidual life is dull, monotonous, anu un.
thinking home life, coarse, blunt. and
uninviting social life, low anu uuim-
proving; civil life, jealous, selfish aud
quarrulsome and political life, narrow
minded, clansh and semi barbarous.
1t is US B9otia compared to Attica ;
Ireland compared to Scotland Spain.
to England or Prussia; Spanish Ameri-
ca, to the United States"
In regard 10 the opponents of pub
lie system of education DR.. Sears saws
And yet there are men who are in
different, and Others who are evon hos.
tile, TO the general diffusion of knowl.
edge by means of public schools. The
former know not its value, because they
have not yet learned what all others have
-that knowledge is power" OF its
elevatiDg influence, its broad daylight
upon the soul, and its life-giving energy
they are totally ignorant. Though the
world is full OF examples, to thom the
page Of history is blank.
The other class appear to be more
knowing than the wisest men are, and
assume to be public teachers and guides.
They are the apostles of ignorance, as ii
diVinaiy commissioned &c keep chs veil
on the human mind, which others are
endeavoring to remove. They forget
that truth and the soul are made for each
other, as much as light is made for the
eye and the eye for the light. They
heed not the proverbs of Solomon, nor
the voice of the wise men of a hundred
generations, in regard to seeking knowl-
edge. In their view, the many exist for
the benefit of the few tho one to do the
thinking of society. the others to do the
work. Light is to shine upon these few
favored sons of fortune, while thick
darkness is to cover the people"
The folly of the clamor about "cheap"
instruction is clearly exposed:
There are men who, If we may be-
lieve them, are not hostile to the public
schols: they only wish to cut down un.
necessary expenses. They want cheap
schools-the cheaper the better. They
Wouid graduate the pay of teachers by
the day laborer. The pour,' they say,
do not need accomplished teachers or ex-
Pensivc schools. Nothing but the simp-
lest elements of knowledge need be
taught them. They have no claim for
anything better. Many of them are
vicious. Let them put their children to
work. The lower classes will never rise.
Why trouble ourselves about them |?
Education ia to them q doubtful boon: it
often injures The laborer by making him
discontented. It is all fanaticism and
false philanthropy They are now pre.
pared to turn round and say that the
public schools are vulgar; that it is no
place for the children of good families.
Of course, the rich ought not to pay
taxes for schools that do not benefit them.
These men are not opposed to public
schools. Oh, nc! They are the friends
of q moderate, economical system of ed
ucation. Deliver rs from such friends.
How came such fossils to turn up in this
age? They are at least three centuries
behind the times. They were born and
bred in Sleepy Hollow. The wheel
OF time has been turning, and will not
go back to accommodate them. The
world has moved somewhat since such
ideas were entertained. Feudalism is
lead aiid buried, aiiii &c: aTcf &c Shi:c--...
will ever revis' the glimpses Of the
moon. The peasant of former centuries
has disappeared; the citizen has taken
his place. Now, We have only to neg
lect this mass of the people, to suffer
their offspring to grow up in ignorance,
and we shall have as plentiful harvest
of Communists as France and of Char
lists az England has ever had. Indeed,
these untutored, imported citizens, bu-
ried in our coal mines as deeply as they
are buried In ignorance, are foremost in
all disturbances. They come mostly
from the Old World. They arc secluded.
from society, and breathe not the atmos-
phere Of our institutions. They suffer
from want, and in their ignorance know
not the cause, and blindIy become the
enemies of the property-holders Strik-
ers are the natural outgrowth of igno-
| ~ ,Ca EIurotto,, q. ,to ort.,