The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-04-26

torch destroyed Jeph!hehs daughter,
While l speak the whole nation, with
oct emotion and without shame, looks
upon the stupendouS sacrifice.
In the first place, l remark that
much Of the system Of education in our
day is system Of sacrifice. When
;bildren spend six or seven hours in
school and ther must spend two or three
hours in preparation for school the next
lay, will you tell NE how much time
they will have for sunshine and fresh
air and the obtaining of that exuber
4nce which is necessary for the duties
Of coming life? No one can feel more
thankful than ! do for the advancement
Of common school education. The
printing of books appropriate for
schools, the multiplication of philoso-
phical apparatus, the establishment
of normal schools, which provide for
our children teachers of largest caliber,
are themes on which every philanthrop,
its ought to be congratulated. But
this herding of great muititudes OF chill.
dren in i'll ventilated schoolrooms and
poorly EQUIPPED halls of instruction is
making many of The places Of know
lodged in this country huge holocaust.
Politics in many of the cities gets into
educational affairs, and while the two
political parties are scrabbliag for the
honors Jephthahs daughther perishes.
1t is so much so that there are many
schools in the country today which are
preparing tens Of thousands Of invalid
men and women for the future; so that,
in many places, by the time the child S
education is finished the child is fin
ished. In many places, in many
cities of the country, there are large
appropriations for everything else, and
cheerful appropriations, but as soon as
the appropriation is to be made for the
educational or moral interests of the
city we are struck through with an eco
nomy that is we'll nigh the death Of US.
In connection with this | mention
what l might call the examining systen'
Of the common schools and many OF
the academies; children of delicate
brain compelled to tasks that might
appall a mature intellect; children
going down to school with a strap Of
books half as high as themselves. The
fact is in some Of the cities parents dc
not allow their children to graduate fol
the simple reason, they say, eve can
not afford to allow our children's health
to be destroyed in order that they
may gather the honors of an institn'
ton" Tens Of thousands Of children
educated into imbecility, so that con,
nected with many such literary estab,
lishments there ought to be asylums
for the wrecked. 1t is push aud crowd
aud cram and stuff and jam until the
child's intellect is bewildered and The
uemory is ruined, ard the health j.
ruined. and the health is gone. Their,
re children who once were full o.
tomping and laughter and had check>
crimson with health who are nov
turned cut in the afternoon pale faced.
irritsted asthmatic old before theirtime
1t is one of the saddest sights on earth.
an old mapnish boy or an old womanist
girl. Girls 10 years Of age studying al,
zebra! Boys u years Of age rackins
their brain over trigonometry! Chi
dren unacquainted with their mothc,
tongue crying over their Latin, Frencl
aud German lessons! All the vlvacit,
# their nature beaten out of them b!
the heavy beetle Of a Greek lexicon,
And you doctor them for this, and you
give them little medicine for that
and you wonder what is the matter
then. | will tell you what is the maj
ter of them. They are finishing thei,
education!
In my parish in Philadelphia it'll,
child was so pushed at school that sh'
was thrown into fever. and in her d.
ing delirium all night long she was try
ing to recite the multiplication table. H.
my boyhood l remember that in ouI
class at school there was one lad VIII,
knew more than all of US put together
If we we're fast in our arithmetic, be
extricated US. When we stood up for
the spelling class, he was almost always
the head Of the class. Visitors came
to his fathers house, and he was al
ways brought in as prodigy. At Is
years of age he was an idiot. He lived
len years an idiot and died an idiot, not
knowing his right hand from his left or
day from night. The parents and the
teachers made him an idiot.
You may fatter your pride of forcing
your child to know more than any other
children, but you are making sacrifice
Of that child if by the additions to its
intelligence you are making subtrac-
ton from its future. The child will 60
away from such naltreatment with no
exuberance to fight the battle Of life:
Such children may get along very well
while you take care of them, but when
you are old or dead alas for them if,
through the wrong system Of education
which you adopted, they have no
sWarrhlneSs er force OF character 10
take care Of themselves. Be careful
how you make the child's heal ache or
it's heart hutter. / hear great deal
about black mans rights, and China
man S rights, and Indians rights, and
woman's rights. Would God that some
body would rise to plead for children's
rights. The Carthaginians used to
sacrifice their children by putting them
into the arms of an idol which thrust
forth it's hand. The child was put into
the arms of the idol and no sooner
touched the arms than it dropped into
the FIRE. But it was the art of the
mothers to keep the children smiling
and laughing until the moment they
died. There may be fascination and
hilarity about the styles Of education
of which | am speaking, but it is only
laughter at the moment of sacrifice.
Wonld God there were onlv one .Tenh-