The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-02-20
SOUTHERN TEXT BOOKS.
Northern carping and Southern oogency.

Northern Carping and Southern Cogency
The New York Examiner and Ctroni
Gle, the organ of the Northern Baptis
Church, in its issue of January the Sd
criticised the use of Calhoun's work Oh
Government as n text book in the de.
partments of history and political
science in the University Of Georgia. Pro
fessor Browne, of the chair of history and
political science, replied to the Northern
critic, in o mastery and crushing re.
joinder, in justification of the use of the
text books complained Of The Ezam;.
ner and Chronicle, as we are informed by
the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, salts
fed itself by publishing the greater part
of the reply under the heading, "Cal-
hounism in o Georgia College-A Letter
Defending It," which the Northern edi-
tor kindly attached TO Professor Brownies
communication, interecting at the same
time several headings into the body OF
the professors letter, which he did not
see ft to make for himself. The Chroni-
Gle and Sentinel. in Saturdays issue, gives
us the whole reply of the able professor,
the material part of which we publish
below, and the perusal of which will
richly repay our readers.
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, DEPARTMENT
OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE,
ATHENS, GA, January 9, 1879.
Editor of the Examiner and Chronicle:
II
To the first of these textbooks you say,
prepared by Southerner, who certain
ly does accept the situation" you make
no serious objection; but you sincerely
regret that Mr.. Calhoun, whose political
heresies were the very tap-root of the re-
cent civil war, still furnishes the only
text book from which the students of the
University of Georgia are instructed res
pecting their duties as citizens of the
United States.
The political heresy which you charge
me with teaching consists in my instruct
ing the students as you suppose, "to re-
gard nation which has abundantly
vindicated its nationality, as mere fed
deration of sovereign and substantially
Independent 'States.'" hope have
stated fairly your charge and specifca-
tions.
admit that the text book you have
named are those which use in the Uni
versity of Georgia, and the only text
books that use which bear on American
affairs. But ifyou make no serious OBJ
lection to the use of those of which Hon.
Alexander II. Stephens is the author, you
cannot justly take exception to the use of
Mr.. Calhoun's work, because Mr.. Cal
houn has never, by pen or word, more
emphatically asserted the doctrine that
the union Of the States is federation of
sovereign and independent States, and
not nation in the sense of a consolidat-
ed drepublic, than does Mr.. Stephens in his
Constitutional View of the War Be-
tween the States" If the doctrine of the
great statesman of South Carolina as To
the nature of the Union is political here
sy, the great statesman of Georgia is
equally guilty, for the views of both on
the subject are precisely identical.
admit, further, that do teach the
students that the union of the States is a
federation of sovereign and independent
States, and not consolidated republic.
But is this political heresy" l do not
teach those solely because Mr.. Calhoun
or Mr.. Stephens asserted it, though ]
have the CHEST possible respect for their
opinions, nor do I teach it because it is
the view maintained by any political
party. I believe I do not allow party pol
itics or my individual party affiliations
to affect in the least my teachings Of
what I believe to be historical truth.
Did believe, rs fully and as conscien-
tiously as suppose you do, that the
fathers of the republic made mistake
in their choice of form of government
that it would have been much better
had all the States been fused into one,
and had a national government been es-
tablished-with the facts of history be-
fore me, I do not see how I can teach
otherwise than that purely Federal
government was established-a gov
ernment for States and By States
Whatever may be my individual opinion
as to the guilt of Charles I, whether / do
or do not believe that he ought to have
been put to death, / cannot teach stu
dents that he was guilty of treason, as
that crime was then defined in the statute
book of England. Nor, whatever l may
think of the political treachery of Straf-
ford, can 1 teach that means employed to
convict and condemn him were legally
or morally justi6able. ! may be the
firmest believer in the wisdom, justice
and good policy of the alien and sedition
acts but l cannot teach that there were
not fragrant violations of the letter and
spirit Of the constitution Of the United
States.
You quote three questions from my
examination paper which you say, are
especially suggestive" and "redolent Of
Calhounism." The first is:
"3. Show, by q consecutive statement OF
historical facts, that the thirteen States,
from the beginning of their dispute with
Great Britain to the ratification of the
constitution of 1887, always acted as sep
crate and distinct political communities,
and never Us one nation"
ALLOW me to cite few of the historical
facts which asked the students to state,
and let us see whether or not they
show what the question demands. ]
hold it to be an historical fact that from
their original settlement to the declara-
tion of independence the thirteen colo
nies we're separate and distinct, seyerally
governed by laws of their own making
and, beyond the ties of good neighbor-
hood, having nothing in common except
that their inhabitants we're subjects oi
the British sovereign.
The Congress of the colonies which
met in 1774 was, as the opening lines oi
its journal show, composed of "a mum.
ber of delegates" chosen and appointed
by the Several colonies and provinces oi
North america, to meet and hold Con.
gress." The very H.. thing which these
delegates did after they organized, was
to declare that they were Congress oi
separate and distinct political bodies
and that, in all their deliberations, each
colony should have one vote. In the
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