The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-07-25
THE NEEDS OF OUR PEOPLE.
A Lecture by a. S. Green, OF the Nashville
lnstitut , Nashville, Tenn

termine precisely all the needs of our people.
Any production that | could offer with the
pret-nse of describing such, would. as mat
ter of course, be futile. Various classes need
various things. What is pleasing and tasteful
to one class of persons, is disdained and alb.
horred by others. Our people are divided in
to various classes, and therefore need various
things. For that reason l shall not attempt to
lay before you all their needs, but simply
those that are the most apparent, and the
most essential. These may be classified I'M
der seven different heads. First,
EDUCATION.
Education, like great many other words,
which 60 into the composition Of the English
language, is derivative word. The English
language, as those of you know who have
made the language study, is derivative Ian
guage; that is, it is made up Of the Latin, the
Greek. the French, the Ango-Saxcn, and
other languages. principally however, from
the Anglo-Saxon. The Anglos and Saxons
we're Germanic people who invaded the
British Isle in the fifth and sixth centuries,
conquered the inhabitants, intermarried: the
result Of which was the Anglo-Saxon race
Again repeat that education is derivativc
word 1t derivation is from the Latin &C."
out of, and "duco," to lead or conduct: hence
the word then in its primal meaning means to
lead or conduct out of. The minds OF unedu-
Gated people are generally narrow and bigoted;
their thoughts low and sensual, but during the
acquisition of education they are drawn out
from that state of narrowness and bigotry, and,
being broadened, expanded, lifted up, ale
made to centre upon higher and nobler things
In short, then, education is process of ef-
fusion, instead of, as is commonly thought, a
process of infusion. That is, the capabilities
and will power, which render it possible for a
man to accomplish any undertaking, arc
drawn out from him, insteado being put int
him. Young men and women attend COL
leges and seminaries, not so much that they
may have their minds filled with knowledge,
as that there natural endowments and pro
pensities, with which they are endued, may be-
called out, aroused and improved. The intel
lect of every man, like electricity, lies dor.
mant until acted upon by some physical agent,
that calls into full and active exertion Unless
thus acted upon its power will never be known
or felt. Education is the agent of the intellect.
Education alone arouses it from its state OF
quiescence to full, free and vivid activity
Education promises to be the motor that con
trolls the world, that unites nations, that es-
tablshes free governments, free people, free
P!esseS' ~o NY SPeeShes' thdt PROMISES u
bind peoples of the same nations or republics
together in cords of unity and harmony:
that promises to unite the nations of the uni
versal world together in christian love, chris
tian sympathy, and fit them as a whole to
spend yea1 Of eternity and blessedness with
God, Christ and the holy angels, who sing
chorals of everlasting praise around his eter
nal throne.
From the fact of the cruel and torturing
bondage that our fathers suffered for 243 long,
tedious years, deprived of education or any
way to obtain it. kept in ignorance and the
grossest darkness, it will readily be seen tina,
we are most in need of education; not educa
ton in a worldly sense, which only swells the
head, pufts the soul. and makes it think there
is nothing noticeable except itself; but true,
genuine. christian education.
That is the only thing that will redeem our
people from the curse Of vice and ignrancc
That is the only thing that will render them fit
to take Their places by the sides of the
heroes of the world. That is the only
thing that will make them the equals of a
Cicero, or Cesar, or Demosthenes. That i,
the only thing that will make them masters OF
the arts and sciences 1t alone will open up
the avenues of success and happiness in thu,
world, and make man, but a man irrespeC
tive OF race, color, or previous condition.
They need education and christian eleva
ton to make them self-reliant, intelligent.
and morally courageous people.
We are no longer slaves to men, but many of
US are slaves to degraded habits, vice and ig
norance. Why was there so much tumult and
uproar at our last presidential election The
origin of the trouble lies below the surface in
that grave problem, "The safety of the ballot
in the hands of ignorant men," One hundred
years ago universal suffrage in this nation was
comparatively safe experiment, for the peo-
pie were then homogeneous and intelligent;
to-day the conditions are changed by the
presence of thousands of foreigners scattered
throughout the northern states, and millions
of our people in the south. But we can leave
the foreigners of the north to the Schools
numerous for all, and the moral and social in -,
huence by which they are surrounded but the
great source of danger is in regards to our
people of the south.
Lightweight (SS) per cent. of the colored
children Of the south do not attend any school
Only think fit; out of one hundred children
there are only twelve who attend school. in
opposition to eighty eight who do not. What
are those lightweight children doing who are
out of school? Think you that they are en-
gagged in industrial and honorable pursuits /?
Think you that they are in pursuance OF those
things that are beneficial and in ,tuctive I?
Those things which tend to strengthen. lift up
and elevate their minds?
Nay, but rather they are allowed to drift
around from place to place into every con-
ceivable. debaSing and runous practice, from
the work house to Jail. and thence to the
states prison Oftimes their crimes are SO very
heinous that they are not allowed to privilege
Of going to the states prison but re hanged