Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1895-04-03
CORRESPONDENCE
A Letter From Peabody College,
Nashville, Tennessee.

Mr.. EDITOR: I again have the
pleasure of writing your papr q
few notes. | love TO write to IL pa
per which l think and feel has
the interest of the people at heart.
Such IL paper | term the ADvER
TIsER
Our college is continually iIr
creasing in number of students.
The buildings are too small now
to accommodate the large !iurbHr
of attendants, but when this col
lege gets that two million dollar
fund in 1897, she will hoist her
head as the greatest institution in
the South. We understand tha,
Georgia is bidding high for he
Peabody fund, but from all APP
penrances al this time it will be
left in Tennessee.
The legislature Of Tennessee
sent committee of twelve to look
after the Interest of this college
last week. And We think that
body will give the Peabody Col
lege twenty thousand dollars this
year instead of fifteen thousand-
the amount heretofore annually
given.
We noticed not long since that
some one, writing to your paper.
condemed the legislature of South
Carolina for appropriatipg so
much money for the different COL
leges of the State on the ground
thatthe few only were benefited
by these appropriatins. The gen.
tleman may have been honest in
his convictions and thought he
was advocating economy on the
part of the State. Doubtless he
was moved by motives of justice
when he asserted that only the few
were benefited, while the whole
people had to furnish the means.
But the gentleman has not looked
beyond the first analysis of his
subject. Is it possible that only
the few who attend college are the
only ones benefited by the edu-
cation they acquire? Such an as
sertion seems to me to be- the
height of absurdity. Do not a
mans surroundings in a great
measure determine the man? Such,
at least, is the opinion of the
wisest and most logical thinkers
of the world. The progress of
nation is determined by the intel
Iigence of it's people. The civili-
zation of the individual is based
upol the civilization of the COM
munity in which he lives. A man
who halls from vicinity noted
for it's immortality, will be watched
wherever he goes, because the CIV
ilization of the community is the
civilization Of the man. Let us
illustrate: Here are two commu-
mites; in one there are no college
students. The people, knowing
nothing about the higher branches
of education, and not much about
the lower branches, pay little at
tention to the education of their
children. They don't want that
which they do not desire, and they
can't desire that which they do
not know, hence young men and
women grow up in ignorance, void
of intelligence, refinement, and,
to great degree, void of religion.
In this state of affairs, morality
struggles for existence, and the
word enlightenment suffers death.
On the other hand, there is the
community, in which, many schol-
ars live. There is the scientific
farmer with numbers Of copyists;
there is the good physician, there
is the brilliant lawyer, the model
school teacher. Not only these
professional men are benefited,
but all classes, surrounded by
wholesome influence, are raised to
a higher plain of civilization, and
thus we see the contrast between
the two communities.
Now what is true OF the commu-
nifty is true of the State at large,
because the State, after all, is
nothing but large community.
Whether a man is educated or
not, he certainly feels the inhu-
ence of education. We need the
scholar, and must have him, if we
prosper as q nation. There can
certainly be no mistake in the ap-
preparation of money for he sup
port of colleges, and Legislature
that ignores this fact, ignores the
one thing most needful.
There was in Nashville a few
days ago man who claimed that
he could read anybody's thoughts,
many of the students here went TO
see him, and the mystery Of all is
that he surely can read another
J.. to1, |