The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-07-09

passed into oblivion. Thus the early efforts
an education TO her sons, proved, In q large
measure, abortive. For this there were,a as we
conceive, two reasons. First. because there
were two many colleges ; second, because The
ed. The system adopted was fatally defec-
tive, In thatit attempted to erect o house
without laying q foundation to build upon.
The masses were ~uneducated: Common
were rare. The demand for, higher education
was, therefore, limited. One college would
have been enough. Besides, the expense OF
sustaining four or five Colleges in the State
means Of the people. 1t wss . we'll meant.
but Ill advised scheme, and 1t broke down Of
its W weight.
Thus matters stood at the beginning of the
and placing that At the Capital. Ofthis i'm.
portant measure DR.. La Borde In mis- history
Of the South Carolina College. gives the fol;
In the contest which had arisen between the
upper and lower country OF the State, with
respect to representation In the Legislature.
The upper country, which, at the adoption OF
Door and unpeopled, had allotted to It, by the
provisionsO OF the constitution, q much smaller
representation. 1t had now grown In wealth,
fr out.numbering the lower country In Its
In the representation. This the people OF the
lower country feared to grant, on the ground
OF the general deficiency OF education and In:
render It inoompetkent TO exercise Wisely and
Justly the power which such q reform would
place In its hands. 1t was TO remedy this de.
acI E IT. s5 Gsfun II Tas P r p ssts 70 ssta sal au =
present purpose to say, That the College was
Established. Fifty thousand dollars were ap-
propriated for buildings, and q. < thousand
annually for the salaries OF President and
FsS.es From that hat day da;1v q the he'd day eye Of It's ' cIoss q
tie opening OF he war, In 1851. It was pros
porous In the main, and welded Q power in
South Carolina that was almost absolute.
makes up the second chapter In the history
Of education In South Carolina, comparative
ly little was done for common schools, by the
state. Private enterprise were insufficient to
proportion OF the children OF the State grew
up In Ignorance and south Carolina presented
the anomaly Of having more we'll educated
men In proportion to population than per-
haps any other State, and ut the same time Q
nor write than almost any other State. The
few were we'll educated, but he masses were
comparativelys1gnorant
Was not this an unfortunate state OF at1airs7
What was the cause? It grew out Of the pol
icy adopted early In the State Of providing
for the higher education without providing
for the lower. The theory was, "Give the
Light" said the advocates OF the scheme,
comes from above" So IL does, but II The
soil upon which that sun shines s not cult.
waited, the sun will shine In vain. It wal just
a repetition Of the former effort to make o
foundation. And 70 far as the education OF
the masses was concerned, 1t was q failure.
THE UNCONVENTIONAL COLLEGES.
In the progress OF time, say forty years ago,
the idea OF UNCONVENTIONAL education began
to take hold Of the minds OF the people. 1t
pidity and power it took hold Of popular feel.
Ing, and the result was the establishment
within a very short period Of Erskine College
founded In 1874, OF Furman University 10 IS
iese in IS, and later Of A.dser College IN ls7s.
The Presbyterians had Joined with their
friends in Georgia. In the support OF Ogle.
thorpe University. So that every denomina.
E~piscopailans, and the South Carolina Col.
lege, was, In some sort, under their control.
To these institutions for young men, have
been added Colleges for young ladies, at Col.
Vile, at Williamson, at ReidyIlle, at Wal.
halla, and last but not least, at Due West.
50 that South Carolina has to-day thirteen
chartered Colleges In active operation within
College, are within a radius OF is miles from
Columbia. ills questioned whether any 9th.
er portion Of America can say az much.
Besides these thirteen Colleges. the most OF
which are I'm active operation, there are some
PIRATES from three to four hundred thousand
dollars annually for free schools. But still
the cause OF education In the State Is very far
mon schools have been declared to be
free schools, and the compensation TO
teachers being inadequate, the effect
must be to drive the better class OF teachers
will close the Academies and semlnartes and
lower the standard OF education. While there
will be more children educated, there will be
fewer well educated than formerly. The I'M
mediate effect will be to diminish the matric.
ulatiois In the Colleges, or 10 increase their
troubles. by compelling them to do the work
that should be done in the preparatory
schools. The remote effect will be a low
standard OF education throughout out our
Suite.
WHAT IS NEEDED.
We need, then, a larger appropriation for
common schools, or authority to make the
common schools dependent In part, upon pri-
vate support, so as " afford to teachers better
pay, n thus to secure and retain the best
teachers. cheap teachers do cheap teaching,
teaching. The popular mind on this subject
needs to be educated. II we would get good
work In the school room we must give good
Second: We need more schools OF a higher
Crude. Academies, seminaries, where not
only the principles OF a primary education
Gun be obtained, but where q knowledge OF
the arts and sciences can be secured, at least
Many boys and girls have not the means to
securea cOllegiAte education let them have
the opportunity to obtain at their OWL doors
such an education as will tt them for follow
t.- hon - 81, md uY,rooaof1lIu tho rNmmnn
pursuits Of life.
Third: AS good teachers are required, Nor.
NAL schOols.-schOOls whose special business
1t is to teach teachers how 70 teach, are
teach who has not himself been taught, but
every educated man cannot teach, any more
b every man who understands music can
sing. Teaching Is both a science and an art.
and we may possess the one and lack the 9TH
er. Teaching Is now recognized as one Of the
learned professions, Inc 1t ought not to he en-
tered without thorough preparation, such
preparation as con be obtained only In Nor.
l no.l ss sae oi Ana Kss. soa u s,n GSiTo''sse orn nai
school for the whites. We need them and we
need them greatly.
THE RESULT.
When the common schools shall have en-
adequate support and the standard In them
teachers, and those that teach simply for the
pay, shall have been banlshed from the State,
or made TO retire TO the walks Of private life.
and competent, well-educated, well taught
teachers shall occupy the tripod; when the
good old.time academies, that stood halfway
between the primary school and the college
like that at Wilmington, under the celebrated
DR.. Waddel, or Mt. Bethel In Newberry, or
Ebenezeri In York, or Mt. Zion at WiDnsboro.
when schools like them shall again take their
places; and when, to supply all these schools
with fully equipped teachers, we have at least
one Normal school In every county; and
when oil our colleges, male and female, shall
be full Of pupils. then South Carolina shall
awake from her long sIumber; then the
clouds that have so long hung like a pail
about her, shall fee away, and the sun Of her
prosperity shall come forth In its glory. Then
Ignorance and crime shall, az ashamed, hide
their heads, and Intelligence and morality
shall distinguish our people, and South Caro-
lima shall take her place as q star OF the first
magnitude in the galaxy OF States. God
speed the day!
TO THE CLASS.
Young Ladies' : Whatever may be true OF
hundreds and Thousands OF your sisters In the
State and In the South, you at least have had
the advantages Of q liberal education. In re.
turn for this, one Of the first obligations that
will rest upon you, will be the study Of doing