Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1907-07-24


the Tennessee county superinten-
dents and teachers, is compiled from
notes by Mr.. Settle, of the Daily
American, Nashville, Tenn.D and
from memory after delivery by its
author, Mr.. Moore, having made no
notes at the time, the speech being
the occasion of extemporaneous
talks at the close of an educa.
tional rally)
thank you, Mr.. Chairman, for
your very kind introduction concern.
ing my "Bishop of Cottertown," and
the fact that you see in it an appeal
for the childhood of the land, and I
thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for
the privilege of addressing you on
this subject, so full of great and far.
reaching interest. And in the be-
ginning permit me to say to you
that myself have been a teacher
and that l consider it the grandest
profession of all those which make
for the uplifting of the human race,
save, perhaps, one. If you doubt
that l have been thereto use the
pungent vernacular of the times--if
you doubt that am familiar with
the hardships, trials, ay, and the tri.
umphs, of the average teacher, per-
nit me to relate this anecdote as the
stamp of the coin, the chip of the
block Of the profession.
In my younger days, when the
Alabama law required that teacher
should teach hygiene and physiology
along with other studies-the object
being to show the effects of alcohol
on the human body-there came to
my school a big, double-jointed plow
boy, whose opportunities for eduoa-
tion had been few, but he was OF
that stuff from which many of the
great men of the republic have been
made. After six months of grammar
and hygiene, when the class was
required to write composition on
the human anatomy, this is the mar
vellous work of art handed in to me
by the man of the plow:
"The human anatermy is divided
into three parts, the Head, the Chist
and the Stummic. The Head con-
tains the brains, if any. The Chist
contains the lights and the liver.
The Stummic contains the bowels.
There are five bowels, a, Q, i, o, u,
and sometimes " and y"
Have l not been there, my friends ?
"The Rights of Childhood"-t
is the subject you have given me,
Mr.. Chairman. Why, you might as
we'll have asked me to speak on the
rights of God. You know, and /
know, and all within the sound of
my voice know, what are the rights
of chiidhood-the right to an educa-
tion, to health, to play, to work in
proportion to its age and strength,
to fair chance and a square deal in
this greatest country of the worlds
greatest age.
We know, I say, what are the
rights of a child. The question
wish to put to you is, are they get
ting those rights?
The distinguished gentleman and
Ex-Governor who has just preceded
me has said most eloquently much
that 1 myself do most heartily en-
dorse. And while / dislike to sound
in this assembly one discordant note
to strike one chord of the minor
here-1 shall not be true to the great
cause of childhood if l fail to say
what l do know. 1t is good for us,
now and then, to be shown our
shortcomings. 1t is we'll for US to
sec at times into our soul of souls.
1t y progress to search after better
things. Self-sufficiency is retro
gresson self, satisfaction is decay,
and contentment is the sure mes
senger of degeneracy and death.
There is no god as gresO as the god
of discomfort. False glory is the
mark of ignorance and self-conceit is
the ranaN nantlo nf tho l.;.s.,. E. Il