The banner of the South. (Augusta, Ga.) 1868-1870, December 26, 1868, Page 4, Image 4
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JtMHIltJt
EEV. A. J. RYAN, Editor
AUGUSTA, Ga ,DECEMBER 26,1888
THE LOST CAUSE.
The Banner of the South is now
the only weekly paper published, devoted
to the “Memories of the Lost Cause.” Will
not the people of the South and the true
people of the North extend to us that sup
port which it deserves ? We believe they
will, and. so believing, we will continue
to labor to make it worthy of a gen
erous patronage. We ask our friends
everywhere to aid us in extending our
circulation. Invite your neighbors to
subscribe. Send us their names and we
will send them specimen copies free.
Stories, sketches, and incidents of the
struggle for Southern Independence are
respectfully solicited.
[For the Banner of the South.]
COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM.
Rev. and Dear Sir:
An effort is being made to introduce
into the South the Common School system
of New England. What do you think of
the system. Believing that you take
great interest in the proper education of
our race, and the future prosperity of the
South; and that, from education and ex-
perience, you are qualified to give good
and sound advice on this question, I
write to get an expression of your views
thereon. My own, perhaps, ought to be
given, as yours are called for ; not that
they are considered more wise than
others ; but for the reason that every one
who asks a question, should be willing to
express his own views upon it; which
will be given in a few words. “By their
fruits ye shall know them” If the Com
mon School systems of New England and
Germany are to be judged by this test, it
seems to me, the decision may be an
nounced in the word “tekel,” as defined
in the sth chapter of the Book of Daniel,
by the translators appointed by James I.
Have the Common School systems, as
worked in those countries, been produc
tive of more good, or evil ? Have they
developed a higher and purer civilization
there than exists iu the South ? In my
judgment, the first question may be an
swered : “nrorc evil”—and the second, in
the negative. Look at the infidelity,
rationalism, and sublimated Puritanism
and crimes of New England and Ger
many, (the offspring, at least, in part, of
the Common School and the Common
Pulpit,) and tell inc, if you can, in what
does their superiority consist ?
It is a notorious fact that, to day, the
Catholic population of Germany and
Ntw England are more intelligent and
virtuous than the Protestant population
of those countries; and it is equally no
torious that the Catholics have little or
no connection with those Common
Schools. They are great levellers, down
ward, like the grave, I admit, and have
no vital, Divine power to raise up, ele
vate, to resurrect from that dead level
which it inculcates and fosters.
I am a Prstestant, by birth, education,
and opinion; but not one that sees and
loves no good but that which springs from
the Reformation, so-called; not one who
can see no evil from its vagaries.
Procopius.
The above letter wo have received
from a highly respected gentleman, re
siding in Alabama ; and we are glad of
the opportunity it presents to us of enter
ing our protest against the introduction,
or continuance, in the South of the North
ern born Common School system. It is
fair to judge that system, as our corres
pondent does, by its fruits; aud so judged,
it must be condemned. New England
is best off in the way of Schools; New
England, to-day, is worst oil in regard to
morality. Not that the Common School
system is the only cause; but that its
power is baneful, audits influence inju
rious, is a fact based upon too many
stubborn statistics to be denied. The
most of the isms that have cursed this
Country have found their source in the
land, and with the people, of “Plymouth
Rock.” Their Common School system,
it may be, makes many sharp men, and
cute women—as witness the fearful fact,
that, in Connecticut, there is one divorce
to every nine marriages—but in that
system there is little or no place left for
God and Religion. They read the Bible,
which wise men cannot understand, to
little urchins in their A, B, 0, and that
is the sum and substance of the Religious
element in the Common School educa
tion. And, the very Bible they read
contains blunders and mis-translaticns;
yet it is given as the pure word of God.
We oppose the system i 'intoto." >
A few days ago we met a zealous
Priest, from New England, in Florida,
whither he had come for the restoration
of failing health, and lie assured us that
the Common School system, in so far as it
fell under his observation, was an abomi
nation.
Not very long ago, an investigation
was made into the moral condition of the
Common Schools in Western New York,
and the report presented was enough to
show, by facts and figures, that a fearful
depravity reigned among the pupils—and
that not always were the Professors im
maculate.
And such fruits must, necessarily,
come from the system; for the system is
founded on a false principle. It trans
fers to the State what is the sole, exclu
sive right of the Church; and that Educa
tion, which is high and pure only when
kept in the Religious sphere, is made
corrupt, vicious, Godless, by being
brought down to the Political order.
We might not go as far as our corres
pondent in the assertion that “the Catho
lic populations of Germany and New
England are more intelligent and virtu
ous” (the virtuous we admit) “than the
Protestant population of those countries”
—but w r c would say, and are ready to
prove, that compare them class with class,
from the lowest to the highest, the Catho
lics will not sutler from the comparison,
on the score of intelligence, while they
will have the advantage on the score of
virtue.
And the reason of it is, we Catholics
claim the right, and, when not prevented
by power, exercise the right of educating
our own children.
The children are ours by Baptism ;
they are subjects of the spiritual gov
ernment of the Church, and in that
government is implied the right to edu
cate; and the State which comes between
the family and the Church, and demands
to be intrusted with young minds and
pure hearts, usurps a right and exercises
a power which are not its own, and
against which the Catholic Church has
always protested The Denominational
system of instruction is the only system
found iu reason and founded on right.
All other systems have ignominiously
failed in the moral order, even where they
were successful in the intellectual order.
Many Ministers of the Protestant
Episcopal Church admit this, and would
remedy the evil if they could. Some of
the leading minds in England have been
brought to the same conclusion.
Let every Church educate its own
children. The State either has no Re
ligion or is indifferent to all Religious
forms; and, necessarily and logically,
those educated under such a tutor, be
come indifferent to all Religious truth, or
go further, and become skeptics or in
fidels.
Education does not lie in the Political
order. Man’s deepest wants are religious,
and only Religion can meet those wants.
But more of this anon. We invite our
respected correspondent to write usagaiu,
and we challenge a discussion on this
point, so important to the interests of the
South.
The Southern boys and girls arc not
to be put into the mould of the New
England Education. Their noble char
acters are not to made ignoble by a
system of education as infamous in its
consequences as it is false in its piinci
ples. _ __
SOMETHING MORE ABOUT THE SCHOOL
SYSTEM.
We have received aud read the Report
made to the Mayor and Council of Sa
vannah by the Board of Public Education
of that city, in response to a petition
from the Roman Catholics for an appro-
priation of some of the School fund to
support and maintain their own Free
Schools. The petition of the Catholics
was refused. The reply to the petition
seems based on principle and law. It
may be that, under the apparent principle,
there may be real prejudice ; and it may
be, too, that the so-called law may not be
in accordance with equity and justice*
This week we offer a few remarks on
the Report. In it we read : “There is
nothing exclusive, denominational, or
sectarian in the Constitution of the
Board, or in the School system which
it has adopted.” That is false, gentle
men. Your Constitution is exclusive ;
you exclude the Catholic Bible. It is
denominational and sectarian ; you
force all children—Catholics, Jews, Infi
dels—to read, or listen, to the Protestant
Bible, and to say Our Father, with the
Protestant improvements tacked on to its
end. It is denominational and sectarian;
here is one of your text-books : “Wilson’s
Outlines of History.” In the narration of
lacts, that history is frequently false;
in the interpretation of facts, that history
is more frequently fallacious. Many of
its pages insult the fa’th of the Catholic.
Its religious spirit is Protestant; that is,
anti-Catholic. And you desire Catholic
children to read the prejudiced perversions
of the history of their Church out of your
Protestant text-books; and still, with
sublime nonchalance, you assert that there
is nothing sectarian in your School
system Your text-books, gentlemen,
belicVhe assertions made in your report.
We quote again from your Report :
“But the Board docs not desire, and
does not feel authorized, to mingle in the
piactical arrangements of the Public
School system, the doctrines or tenets of
any particular faith or creed, with the
general topics of School Education in
this country.”
Now, gentlemen, unless your system is
Pagan, there must be some sort of Reli
gion in it. Is it a Christian system ?
lias Christianity any place in it ? If so,
what sort of Christianity ? There used
to be only one sort; but now, thanks to
the fruitful Reformation, wc have many
kinds of Christianity. Is the kind which
dominates your Schools the Protestant
Christianity or the Catholic Christianity ?
or is it an eclectic Christianity represent
ing the “religious views” of your Board
of Education ? Answer that, gentlemen,
and your answer, in any case, will be the
assertion of what you so coolly and com
placently deny. But, we turn to your
Rules and Regulations for the Govern
ment of the Public Schools. Under the
head of “General Rules,” the fourth
article thus reads : “The Schools shall
be opened and closed with the readiug of
the Scriptures and the Lord’s Prayer.”
So you open your Schools in Protestant
style, with a Protestant Bible, and you
close them in the same manner; and
still your system is not sectarian, Fie,
gentlemen, fie, don’t be such cowards.
Come out bravely, and do not suppress
facts. Your Report is well written,
gentlemen, despite its lack of logic ; and
we will resume the consideration of it
next week,
“THE METHODIST BISHOPS TO GEN.
GRANT.”
“The Bishops of that powerful denomi
nation, the Methodist Episcopal Church,
have written a congratulatory- letter to
General Grant on his election, with a
promise that they will pray for his suc
cess in his great office, for his ultimate
salvation, and for the prosperity of the
country. The letter is a very neat one,
and, as General Grant has rather a family
leaning to the Methodist Church, we have
no doubt he will esteem this compliment
from the Bishops a very high one. Wo
are assured, too, that the ‘prayers of the
righteous avail much,’ and so w r e hope
that if General Grant should get into any
difficult snarl with the Radicals, these
worthy Bishops will not forget their
promise.” —New York Herald.
The Northern Methodist Episcopal
Church (what a holy set of adjectives !)
is a singular institution. It certainly has
improved on the ideas of the Saviour. If'
it be his Church, (these ifs are pitiless)
he would scarcely know it were he to re
turn to Earth. Os all Churches, it best
knows the exact balance to strike be
tween the things of Earth and the things
of Heaven. No Church knows better how
to'suit the modern taste, by mixing to
gether proper quantities of prayers and
politics. The spice of politics makes its
prayers pungent and tart; and that
Church is far too wise ever to break the
stale bread of the Truth for its children
without buttering the morsels on both
sides with fresh churned prejudices.
Now and then, that same Church dispenses
itself from certain old commandments ;
as, for instance, there is a very provoking
command: “Thou shalt not steal; but
that Church has stolen many meeting
houses and school houses in the South
It is a singular institution. But, of
course, it is, and must be, the blessed
Church of God; because, the so-called
Bishops of that Church prayed, and
pleached, and groaned, with the groan
ings of the Spirit, (we wonder what
spirit ?) for Grant—and Grant was elected.
And now, the so-called Bishops of that
Church, write a letter filled, of course,
with Apostolical unction to the Great
Mute , promising prayers for his salvation,
and for the prosperity of the whole
Country. We believe he needs their
prayers. We know their prayers are
powerful, politically; but we believe that
they themselves need prayers more than
any one else. So, gentlemen, hush your
ctriveiling cant, and go on your knees;
and, remembering those Scripture words,
“woe to hypocrites,” pray for yourselves;
pray your loudest, and your best; for
your pulpits, your prayers, your preach
ings, your drawling exhortations, are
red with the blood of thousands and tens
of thousands of the dead of the North and
of the South—and the lips of that blood
are crying to Heaven for vengeance—
and God is just.
LIBERTY,
“Oh! Liberty ! can man resign thee,
Once having felt thy generous flame ?
Can dungeons, bolts, and bars confine thee,
Or whips thy noble spirit tame ?”
When we say Liberty here, we mean
Political Liberty, National Independence,
Constitutional Freedom. We mean the
Liberty which gives a People the right
to select their own form of Government,
and when that Government becomes op
pressive, to withdraw peaceably from it,
and establish iu its stead one more in ac
cordance with justice and the public sense
of Right. This is the Liberty which the
People of the American Union exercised
in 1770, when in solemn Council, they
declared their independence of Great
Britain, and asserted that “these Colonies
are, and of right ought to be, free and
independent.” This is the Liberty which
the People of the South sought to exer
cise in 1861, when, in solemn Conven
tion, State after State withdrew’ from
that Union, andeutered into anew com
pact of Government, styled “the Confed
erate States of America.” This was the
Liberty which they sought, but failed to
obtain. They struggled nobly, manfully,
as their fathers had before them ; but
treachery within and overwhelming num
bers without, after a while turned the tide
of victory against them, aud crushed
their aspirations beneath its weight.
The sun of the Confederacy, after a four
years’ war, set in blood and ruin; and, as
it went down behind the clouds of war
aud defeat, the light of Constitutional
Liberty went out with it. The hopes of
myriads of freemen were crushed in that
moment of sorrow and despair; for, all
that had been gained in the year of ’76
was lost in the war of ’6l.
The strong arm of Tyranny was not
satisfied with subduing a brave and noble
People; it must needs trample them iu
the very dust; and, as their proud
banner, tattered and torn in the conflict
of battle was laid regretfully away, and
the stars and stripes, once the emblem of
a gallant and glorious Nation, reared in
its stead, its stars lit up the stripes which
were to be inflicted upon these People.
Every indignity and woe that the devilish
malice of the conqueror could invent,
was heaped upon them ; until the poor
South became a very “Niobcof Nations.”
The tears of the widow and the orphan
mingled with the cries of the starving
thousands, and the groans of the desolate
went up with the sighs ot the sorrowing
to curse the very name of the oppressor
and to make it a by-word and a reproach
to those, at least, whom he trampled
under his iron heel.
Had the Government of the United
States acted in that spirit of generous
forbearance and magnanimity which the
South had a right to expect from it, the
Union would have been to-day stronger
in the power of its Constitutional
authority—a very “union of hearts, and
a union of hands—American Union for
ever !’ But wicked and designing men
secured the control of National affairs,
and the glory of that Union has departed
forever. Its perfidy, its tyrauny, its con
tempt for Constitutional Law and Right,
have won for it the disgust and hatred, not
only of the Southern”Peopie, but of every
People who admire Justice and love
Liberty. It has required much of the
South ; and, with mild and uncomplain
ing resignation, the South has complied
with all its requirements. Our section
has been reconstructed and re-recon
structed, until it would seem that we had
done enough to satisfy all that the most
imperative will could demand ; and yet
more is asked. The Politicians are not
yet satisfied, They want the last hair’s
breadth of “the pound of flesh,” and they
intend to have it, or.] perish invthe at
tempt. But will tiie People of the Nortb
submit to the flagrant wrong that their
wicked Rulers would inflict ? Will not
some Portia rise up there to silence this
“Daniel come to judgment”—Congress—
and put a stop to its mad career of uncon*
stitutionality and flagrant wrong ? Will
not “the laws of Venice” at last be thrown
into the teeth of the Shy locks at Wash
ington, and at home, and they be forced
to cry for mercy from an outraged People ?
Surely, Justice must awaken, at last, aud
the wrong doers be hurled from power,
or, at least, be forced to desist from the
execution of their wicked schemes and
outrageous violations of the Constitution.
If not, then, woe be unto this land, and
woe unto the miscreants who seek to de
stroy Political Liberty. It is said, that
“Freedom’s battle, once begun,
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to eon,
Though baffled oft, is ever won.”
If not won very” soon, then all is lost,
and American Freedom and Constitu
tional Liberty go down into the diut
forever.
LETTER FROM GENERAL EARLY.
In our issue of last week, under the
head of The Lost Cause, we published an
article from the Savannah Morning
News, signed “A Virginian,” having
reference to General Jackson's proposed
attack on the Federals with naked Con
federates, as stated by Ed. A. Pollard, in
his biographical sketch of Gen. Jackson.
In our present issue will be found a
communication from General Early, in
vindication of the truth of History. This
letter is addressed to the Editor of the
Savannah News, which paper introduces
General Early, as follows :
“We publish a communication from
Major General Early, a distinguished
officer of the Army of Virginia, in vindi
cation of the truth of History, which we
feel confident will be read with interest
and gratification by all who cherish a
sincere veneration for the character and
memory of the Christian Patriot and
Hero, Stonewall Jackson. It will be seen
that Gen. Early, whose opportunities for
knowing what transpired in the military
councils of the Army were certainly
superior to those of the writers whose
statements he controverts, not only agrees
with us in the opinion that General Jacx
son never advised a night assault, in
which our troops were to he “stripped
naked and armed with Bowie knives,” as
stated by Pollard, but gives the most
convincing reasons to prove that no such
extraordinary movement was ever con
templated by him.
“Apart from its personal interest.
vindicating the characters of the i. o--
trious dead, and no less illustrious sur
viving chief of the Confederate armies,