The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1879-09-27

'S-NS'SNs oaAciS,l AiuuUuCO IuVOT
iteism.
do not propose to discuss now, hoy
much or how little strength there may bt
! in this objection. 1t is met in the case O
fhe A. d M College, by the arrangement
that the attendants shall be obliged to worl
for the benefit of the institution suf1icien
to pay their board; and the adoption Of
the cheap uniform proposed doing away
with all distinctions in dress, thereby re,
moving all temptation to extravaganza, puts
1t in the power of nearly every one to at,
tend. 1t is said also that where real merit
is discovered the trustees have determined
to give its possessor, if too INDECENT to fur
nlsh his clothing, the opportunity of fur
ther laboring sufficiently to supply it.
If this institution shall really be conduct
ed on this plan, and it shall have a compe>
tent corps of professors, it is not going
too far to say that it will be one of the
main agencies in the redemption of Mis-
sissippi.
When it shall have turned out enough
graduates to furnish teachers to the COM
mon schools of the State, it will then be-
come proper to make part of the COM
mon school system the teaching of the ele-
ments of agriculture and mechanics.
The world has outgrown the old system
of collegiate education, which had its origin
in the middle ages. Then the people of
the civilized world were divided into two
classes-the lords of the feudal system and
their vassals-kings and mobiles on the one
hand, and their dependents and retainers
ON the other. To the latter, no education
was Furnished we're considered as of
no value except the good resulting from
muscle. The former were skilled in the
use of arms, and the literature of trouba-
dours, and the arts of the courtier. A class
of recluses in the monastaries cultivated |
ancient classical learning, and dreamed |
their lives away in the vain speculations Of |
false and barron philosophy, or in yet |
anu AhOlC PIOhClcoo uiSCttbbiODS Vi |
subtle theological questions raised by the |
early Greek Christians. The learned
themselves with words -theories-
and the real businesses of life were neglect
I'd. The effort was to say something elo-
luently-not to have something to say which
vas of value. smart epigram pun-the
'olling, and swelling sound of prevailing
pseudo euphemism, were more priced than
knowledge of truth and nature.
Though this system received a severe
hook from Bacon s philosophy, yet the
'orld has not BEEN entirely emancipated
rom 1t. The system of education now in
ogue in most of our colleges shows that
70 are still hampered by the shackles j
'hich the monastic recluse placed on the
uman mind. 1t is more concerned with
'ords than things-with the hoD and not {
18th the aohat men shall say A correct s
nowledge of the root of Greek verb is 8
ore priced than knowledge of success il
Il culture of all the great crops by which n
10 world is clothed and fed In short, I h
n sure do not go too far when I say "
at the prevailing system of education is d
utterly valueless to the majority of its Ii
ctims in practical life as if it were de-
5ned to unfit men to act a useful part in h
Q worlds great work 1t may be we'll r
Tough to prepare few men for profess a,
onal life, but all the professions are over d
DIVIDED. The briehess lawyer, and the ot
physician, are seen every le
lere Failure in these callings must cl
cessarily be the fate of the majority. &C
lis fate is a sad one indeed. 1t means b,
lshed hopes, disappointed aspirations, th
numbed energies, and a turning away M
m the laborious pursuits of life as a HI
yradation to him who has sung with an
mer, thundered with Demosthenes, th
lrched with Caesar and Alexandria, or Al
lrpened his wits in the logomochies of We
lrious logic. Gil
This system has divorced what God in pa
lded should not be put asunder-culture mi
| labor. We must re-unite them in an ey
Iissoluble wedlock. This can be done rls
y by adapting the culture of each child be
bis calling. Let him be educated to do we
t in the best possible manner, which his fri
tune in life shall place before him as his an
re in the worlds work. If this were by
le in Mississippi, we would haze plenty wo
Iead of want-prosperity and advance an,
ut instead of decay and retrogression- prC
Apply, contented, thriving, plucky and MI
ahead people, in lieu of decay and un- in
: apathy and fretful paralysis. the