Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1895-08-07
CORRESPONDENCE
Once More Into the Breach.

have much to do-much to keep in
peace
This waspish, wrong head, scriblins
race.
First Dido came, the incest OF them all
George ston whooped and
straightway burst his gall.
But Pedagogue-he cusses, snorts, and
cries;
He yells, he weeps, and then sneaks
off and dies.
Sam Jones says, "The hit dog
holIers and the harder the lick the
louder he hollers." My friend
sa, S that I am ignorant of history.
I don't deny it, but l have man-
aged TO learn thoroughly the histo-
ry of a certain self-sacrifcing hero
who has devoted his life to the
service of his county and State.
Being a young man l naturally
looked around for some model to
shape NY course by. l could find
no better one than the career of
the immortal Pedagogue. His
course can be traced in track Of
continuous light from his BIRTH to
the present hour. lie once even
offered to sacrifice himself to his
county by becoming school com
missioi.er, but old Edgefield did
not want her most famous sou thus
to bury his light under a bushel
and did not accept this unprece-
dented sacrifice. He wanted to
martyr himself, again she said no:
he was importunate, she firm.
Since then he has served her (and
without pay too!) by acrutinizing
with a jealous eye all the actions
of her county officers since that
time and raises bow-wow and
rumpus at every move. In the
words of Hugh Farley, ''He is fit
only to raise Cain and keep hell
a-brewing all the time"
But Pedagogue wants to be call
ed a reformer. Faugh! Pedagogue
would read me q lecture i'll man
ners. If be wishes me to follow
his precepts be should have set an
example worthy of my imitation.
Dick Steele says, "There is moth
ing gains SO much reputation for
preacher as practising" Instead
of Pedagogue's exhibiting his
lamblike courtesy, he opens the
windows of his wrath and pours
forth such a stream of vitupera-
tive filth that his article fairly
reeks with it, even in print. They
say that man always resorts to
cursing when be is in the wrong
on any subject and gets pinned to
the earth in a controversy. | do
not say it in a boasting mood, but
get every line I have written and
compare, and if I hav'nt kicked
every single prop from under him
then cuss me for a niger. He
virtually gives up the fortress in
his last piece for he doesn't say a
syllable about the question at is
sue. He merely dabs about and
picks out what be thinks to be
weak points and spews his saliva
over them.
Pedagogue, the theologians tell
us that antipathy to the Bible
arises from two causes: A de-
praved, enfeebled, besotted, mar
row, shallow intellect or a base,
black, crlme-steeped heart, re-
sulting from an evil life. Whence
comes yo,u fear? You wish to
wash your hands of the dear old
ADVERTISER just because few of
us boys have been little rough
through her columns-to wash
your hands of the paper which has
borne with your infrmaties all
the year, and through whose COL
umns your misanthropy has found
vent, under various aliases, for
twenty years. "Ingratitude thou
marble hearted fend, more hide
Gus than sea monster!" A man
who puts on record a vile oath
talking about mud throwing and
sarcasm!
Pedagogue talks as if 1 had a
clique of hackers ready to "nunce
him at any time; woulL, in
suit my friends bv asking them to
join me in all attack on such pig
my as he.
He lays the cause of the dark
ages at the door of the Catholic
church. A man who has the least
smattering of historical knowledge
will laugh at this child's talk.
On the contrary, the Catholic
church kept alive the spark of
learning and civilization through
the gloom of that dreadful night
which settled like a pail over hu-
manity after the fa:l Of the Ro-
mai empire. The Goths and Van
dals had more to do with bringing
on the dark ages than any other
cause.
Pedagogue has abandoned the
field of argument and hopes to
lead off the controversy to the
low plane of elimination and re-
elimination. I don't claim to be
equal in this respect to the mud
battery of Big Greek, the puissant
dominic, Pedagogue.
My friends objection to clergy
mems teaching in public schools
cen be applied with equal force to
their holding college professor
ships. Will any one say that the
sainted Drs. Smith, Maxcy, Basil