Year: 1866

OFFICE Of fiE SUMMEBNlLLE lNsIiil ~,
GnolsoN, Miss, Aug y, l-dG.
Editor of Clarion The moyemen
for a Teachers Convention now OF
foot is one Of the most important tha
+ has transpired throughout the history
Of the State. There are not wanting


teachers who, at this early day. pre-


dict failure, etc Let me tell YOU


and through you let me assure tLC


public, that there are men in thi,


Teachers movement who will not per


NIT the Convention to pass, and with


it the effects Of its action. There arc


men in the preliminary movements


that the Governor and Legislature will


hear with the profoundest respect,


though they may be not half score


in number.


There is a new era in our social ex-


istenee, in our political history; and


shall our educational affairs not be


elevated to meet the fearful RESPONSE


bilities of the times No man lives Il


life worthy Of his form and features


who lives for himself alone. He must


live for posterity. Cicero declares,


in his most finished Grafton, that s. we
should not make name for the present
time, but that we should equal the re
membrance of our good deeds to the
duration of all futurity." This same
matchless orator and philosopher, who
hoped, even in the absence of Revela-
ton, to exist after death in an eleva-
ton bathed in eternal light and hap
piness, expressed the opinion that a
desire to live, beloved in the memory
Of posterty, was the only incentive to
virtuous deeds. Let us come fully up
to the duties of the hour.


The Philadelphia Convention was
one of questionable political policy
the proposed Teachers Convention
looks to the gradual elevation of man
kind.


No teacher can fail to see that our
whole educational labor in this State
is mere guerilla warfare against
ignorance. We need systematic
warfare If the forty or fifty thousand |
dollars now annually expended upon
the new County Court were placed to
the credit of permanent school fund |
the greatest results would be achieved.
The morbid thirst of fever cannot be
removed by drinking cool water, nor
can the prevalence of petty larceny be
abated by the inhiction of stripes or
Imprisonment. In both cases the
cause must be removed. We must
have a system of common schools,
which shall cover the whole State.
The moral and intellectual sentiment
of our State must be raised above the
Of gross sensuality. Our
people must be taught the duty and
dignity Of labor. All this cannot be
done in day or in year, but it can be
done; and nor is the time to begin
The teachers are the men to inaugur-
ate the movement. 1t is common to
hear my brethren complaining that
their social status and influence is far
below their merits; that a young
gentleman cannot negotiate congo
nial marriage unless he abandons
and 90 into one of the learn
ed y professions, or embark in mer-
camille or agricultural pursuits. While
here is much truth in the complaint,
et it be asked when did the teachers
Of Mississippi make an effort to re {
cause Of their injustice This ,
does not exist in counties
distinguished by generous system of {
public instruction. Y


Let every teacher in Mississippi ]
low come forward to the good work q
If thorough emancipation of them
selves and society Let each one
hOw the interest in this matter mani
ested by gentlemen of the press, not
lone by the press of jackson, as is
.harged, but by every paper through 1
,ut the State. Let me instance the q
zeal of Col. A. g. Horn of the Me S
idian Messenger" He has. without !
.epublished all that has =
,een written in favor of this Conyen- a
ion. The Colonel's head has grown 5
rosty in the public service, and that !
90 with no adequate reward. In e
very liberal work that could rebound a
0 the benefit of society, for the last L
wenty years, we see traces of Colo y
el Horns brilliant pen Now in the =
natter Of a Teachers Convention, we 1
bserve him zealously at work. with a $
lear apprehension Of the vast respon- d
ibility Of existence, and with heart =
as the sunshine. o
Hoping to see a good gathering Of a
on the Sd proximo, l am, =
r


Your obedient servant, 4


THos. :. GATHRIGHT. il