The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1880-10-06
Tur PRINCIPLES or LEzE AND
JaCHSoy-FOET TIRE USE
or SCHOOLS.

school History OF the United States
of America" by J. s Blackburn,
PRINCIPAL of Potomac Academy,
Alexandra. Virgins. an1 ". y
Mcdonald. :. ". Principal II ihe
Nale High school ol LoniEllie,
Kentucky. IT IS published by VII.
liam J. C. Dulany & Co, Baltimore
The copy before rs is dated 1857,
and purports to be Of the eleventh
edition revised" We may fairly as
sumo. Therefore tiiat it enjoys an eil-
ieas;ve circulation in the region ior
which It is manilestly written, and
that Il se.s forth the latest yelFnn9s
for fraternity and Cancellation. The
authors believe that theirs IS The
only school history of The United
STATE. which meets -the demand OF
the present occasion.
Their objects were not merely 70
furnish Southern schools with a
book III which the galiantry OF South
crn soldiers should receive Us due
recognition. bul TO teach the young
that the Southern cause was eternai-
" rizht. and that the Southern peo-
Die are now crushed under vie
daspotism. The South was beaten
bv q variety Of errors and accidents; ;
but nothing whatever has been set
lied by the war; not slavery not
even seee .ou. Such history can
have no other tendency, OF course,
than to encourage the next genera
ton 10 try the Lost Cause again
aad tla. wo DO not doubt is what
tie teachers al over ile South who
have distributed ten editions, and
now call for ga eleventh, hope and
cxpec. from It. Aiessrs. Blackburn
aul Mcdonald begin with q Jealous
defense of slavery in colonial days,
tic natural condition OF the AZ
-rleau. and means OF spreading
-tae blessings Of Christianity. 1t.
Is true that there was ia some places
seu-.meltll prejudice against It,
and OLle.aorpc. Ia bis Georgia PLAN
lltion. prohibited slavery and rum.
Under tAis policy, however. -lae coli
-onv laugu bed, and there WAS no
pr9sperir iu Gc0rIia TIL theres.Tle-
lions were reucale8 ~and the inaab-
-iaa.s were permitted 30 ENJOY III
"tao rights and privileges pertaining
3tlo citizens OF the other colonies.
Virginia was settled by gentlemen ; /
the Puritan col0nists C. New Eng
land. oa Use contrary, belonged TO
the lower c'asses; hated their social
-aad Official -lpeior- and pro-
v5kcI -la severity ol tie English
G0venmaa. 5y their open defiance
-ofalilc.it.mate authority Ia the
framing %. the Constitution, the
South Waived her right 10 q fullrcp-
reseatati0a Of her slaves, p agreeing
that only ,hree-Etths of them should
be counted, though none Of them
were allowed 20 vote; and she con
scented % enter a Government in
(which the North had a controlling
MINORITY, only because she expect
ej soon ID oUtstrip the North The
utilization measures Of 1892 w09ld
have led 20 "civil wan between South
Carolina and the General Govern
-mcnt. If Nr. Clay had not carried
80 compromise measure. which was
accepted bv Mr. Calhoun The
North, however. after persuading
South Carolina not TO fight, soon
violated her pledge" II General
Jackson should hear this he would
turn over in his grave. The history
ot the struggle for the extension Of
slavery Is told briefly, but with the
set purpose of showing, in defiance
Of facts, that the North was perpetu-
ally breaking pledges and invading
Southern rights. The Missouri
Compromise was clearly unconsti- |
"tudonal, and thereforeit was right
" repealed-as soon as the South
got al she could out fit
The Republican party was entire /
ly sectional in its principles, and had
mo adherents in the Slave States.
The assent Of the South to the eXclu-
sion of slavery from the Northwest
Territory was q great mistake, since
that developed sectional antagon-
~ism. We ought to have had sla-
.'verv everywhere, and then there
would have been no secdonalism. .
The politicians, "thiIsting for dis
tinction at any price. " sought that
~cmiuence which they had failed to
get in an honorable way, by ap-
"pealing 20 the more selfish and
more violent passions Of the peo-
ple' and the consequence was the
election Of Abraham Lincoln. a sec.
tional candidate - as President Of
ihc United States. 'A large portion
"of the Southern people regarded
Ais election under the circumstances
as q virtual commencement OF hos
~tilitics. They asserted that for
wears they had been prevented by
mob violence from enjoying their
constitutional rights in the North
that thespirit OF abolitionism would
now. under tie countenance, and
by means Of Federal power, assume
the aggressive; and that it was
time for them 10 abandon a Gov
~ernmcnt which had fallen into the
'hanas Of their avowed enemies" "
Il was alleged that the right Of seccs-
sion was q necessary part Of the soy
ereigntv Of each State, and that the
property. lives. and liberty OF the
citizens were threatened bv the az
gressiye aspect of the incoming Adj
ninistration. " The authors Of this
school-book plainly intimate that
the reasonings and assumptions Of
the Southern people were entirely
right. The Southern Senators and
Representatives who left their seats
in Congress TO take part in the Re
bellion were driven 10 this last re-
sort of honor by their political enc
mies" andthcir petitions, like their
threats. were answered by looks OF
luminosity"
IN the narrative OF military opera
tons the Confederatcs are SO victori-
ous against overwhelming odds that
the lnal surrender at Appomatox
beeoms inc0mprehensible The Fed
cral hordcs are almost invariably
routed by handful of heroes.
Hs-arTo fT,-,r.f,.f, =. ,,c,.r,,,.-,o11, L.. ,.,,4